Elden Ring "looks incredible", says George R.R. Martin

The Tarnished and the Elden Lord in Elden Ring
(Image credit: FromSoftware)

Game of Thrones creator and the mind behind the story of FromSoftware's upcoming Elden Ring, has taken to his personal blog to call the action RPG "incredible".

Acknowledging the game has long been in development – George R.R. Martin describes how he "did [his] bit and handed off to [his] new friends in Japan" before "years passed" – he talked about FromSoft's "groundbreaking stuff with gorgeous art" and how he helped with "just a bit of worldbuilding".

"A few years back, Hidetaka Miyazaki and his incredible team of game designers, the creators of the Dark Souls video game series, reached out from Japan to ask me to help them create the backstory and history for a new game they were working on," Martin writes in a recent blog post.  

"Miyazaki and his team from FromSoftware were doing groundbreaking stuff with gorgeous art, and what they wanted from me was just a bit of worldbuilding: a deep, dark, resonant world to serve as a foundation for the game they planned to create," he adds. "And as it happens, I love creating worlds and writing imaginary history.

"So I did my bit, and handed off to my new friends in Japan, and they took it from there.   And years passed. Video games are as big as movies these days (bigger, actually)… and take just as long to create. But the day of Elden Ring is finally at hand.

"And I’ve got to say, it looks incredible."

Oh, and he talked briefly about the kind of games he personally enjoyed playing, too.

"Now, video games are not really my thing — oh, I played a few back in the dawn of time, mainly strategy games like Railroad Tycoon, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and Master Of Orion — but this offer was too exciting to refuse," he adds (thanks, PC Gamer). 

Elden Ring's final launch might be less than two months away on February 25, 2022, but there's still plenty more to learn about the new game.

In Edge E367 (which you can pick up from Magazines Direct now), Hidetaka Miyazaki was asked to talk about the imposing figure with the huge axe on Edge's cover, Godfrey.

"When we were talking with George R.R. Martin, we had these themes and ideas for creating pieces of artwork for the bosses, for these core characters of the story," Miyazaki explains. "And when he wrote the mythos, we asked him to create these dramatic heroes of this ancient mythos that takes place before the events of the game.

"These dramatic and heroic characters weren’t really present in our previous titles, so this is something that was really appealing to me – how he would depict the mystique and heroic qualities of those characters. And Godfrey, the character in your cover artwork, is sort of an embodiment of that. He’s one of the major players in the game."

Read up on our new games 2022 guide for a complete look over all the other games launching over the next few months.

Vikki Blake
Weekend Reporter, GamesRadar+

Vikki Blake is GamesRadar+'s Weekend Reporter. Vikki works tirelessly to ensure that you have something to read on the days of the week beginning with 'S', and can also be found contributing to outlets including the BBC, Eurogamer, and GameIndustry.biz. Vikki also runs a weekly games column at NME, and can be frequently found talking about Destiny 2 and Silent Hill on Twitter. 

Read more
Elden Ring
Game of Thrones author George R.R. Martin says "there is some talk about making a movie out of Elden Ring" but admits there's a big novel-sized block in his way
Elden Ring screenshot showing Ranni, a young woman with pale ice-y blue skin and a large brimmed witch-like hat
The Elden Ring anime made entirely by fans of the RPG is almost here, and even Let Me Solo Her can't wait: "They're honestly cooking up something amazing"
Screenshots of battle in Elden Ring Nightreign along with a logo for GamesRadar+'s Big in 2025 features
Elden Ring Nightreign could be the Fortnite of Soulslikes, but probably not for the reason you think
Elden Ring DLC Messmer
It's about sending a message: Elden Ring fan waits for Nightreign by no-hitting Shadow of the Erdtree's Messmer on NG+7 difficulty with a new weapon every single day
Elden Ring Nightreign screenshot with three players battling an explosive creature
Elden Ring Nightreign stands out among FromSoftware's raft of difficult RPGs by making enemies feel like "prey to strengthen my character with"
Dexter Sol Ansell as Egg and Peter Claffey as Dunk in A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms
George R.R. Martin has high praise for the next Game of Thrones spin-off: "It's as faithful as adaptation as a reasonable man could hope for"
Latest in RPG
Stardew Valley Baldur's Gate 3 mod Baldur's Village
Baldur's Gate 3 director Swen Vincke gives his official approval to the Stardew Valley mod that brings the D&D RPG to Pelican Town
The Witcher 3 lead says "not many games" were trying to match the RPG back in 2015, and that meant "there was a risk" to making it in the first place
The Blood of Dawnwalker
The Witcher 3 dev says his new vampire RPG Blood of Dawnwalker wants to challenge genre conventions, but only if "we're changing them to actually achieve some goal"
The Blood of Dawnwalker: A screenshot of the vampire Brencis holding up a crown during the trailer for the upcoming game.
The Witcher 3 devs created a Jekyll & Hyde-style character for their new vampire RPG "because nobody yet has done that"
The Witcher 4 screenshot with Ciri using sword and sorcery to fight an ancient monster
The Witcher 4 devs explain how Ciri's fighting style will differ from Geralt's: "He's nimble, but he feels like a block...she's liquid"
Kai and Giatta battle Xaurip in Avowed
I get why Obsidian doesn't like The Elder Scrolls comparisons, but Avowed is the first RPG to have its hooks in me this deep since Skyrim took over my life 14 years ago
Latest in News
Lego Mario & Standard Kart being held by a person sat at a table
The new Lego Mario Kart set is so much better than I was expecting it to be
a titanium watch with grey and orange features on the arms and face
You can look like Solid Snake with this Death Stranding 2 watch, but it'll cost you over $1,500
Daniel Craig in No Time to Die
James Bond will reportedly remain male and British under new Amazon management, as Pierce Brosnan says it's "a given" that the next actor must not be American
Monster Hunter Wilds trailer screenshot showing a young woman with long blonde hair tied back into a ponytail smiling slightly, pumping her left fist in the air
Monster Hunter Wilds' Gemma actor requests "tips for beginners" from fans of Capcom's action RPG as it's the "first MH game that I've ever played"
Doom: The Dark Ages screenshot
Doom director claims The Dark Ages can be beaten without using a gun, but "the game's not necessarily built to do that"
Giancarlo Esposito in The Electric State
The Electric State may be the Russo brothers' most challenging VFX project yet, but stars Stanley Tucci and Giancarlo Esposito say it's one of the easiest films they’ve ever done