The images include various interpretations of the hammering scene that we see in the trailer – including a version of the scene covered with tree roots that has been described as “very Dark Souls” – different interpretations of the scepter and dais being used in that scene, and a ‘exploration concept’ for the appearance of the final blow effect (below).
Stiernström explained the process of his work at Digic Pictures, the company charged with helping to create the hammering scene in the E3 teaser, saying “I had no idea what I was working on”.
“Most of them were made for internal discussion at Digic Pictures between the art director, the director, the producer and the leaders,” continues Stiernström. “When they were satisfied with something, they then shared those concepts with the customer. In the end, FromSoftware would more or less provide us with most of the conceptual art in any case.
“I received a briefing for each task, but ideas change during production and the briefing too. What you do today is irrelevant tomorrow. Sometimes a briefing is very clear and other times it is open to interpretation. We try to provide our experience on how we can convey the mood and style desired by customers through lighting, animation, composition, camera angles, focal lengths, colors, etc. “
Notoriously, with so little to happen since the teaser arrived, the Elden Ring community is incredibly hungry for new details, even creating an entire story for the game while they wait. So, while it may not be the real Elden Ring, this art is the closest we’ve come to official images since that trailer. As you can imagine, he fell well among the fans, with many thanking Stiernström for the post, calling the artist a hero and praising his art.Of course, others took this as an opportunity to make self-deprecating jokes at the expense of the community, with many memes appearing shortly after posting.
And, of course, there were still those who, despite Stiernström’s warnings, sought information. GoatKiddclxvi wrote: “Roots everywhere! In fact, the scene takes place in a tree! Man, this is nuts, thank you very much”, to which ForeverEqual replied: “This was also noticed for the first time. tree! “(This theory is that the game is inspired by Yggdrasil, the world tree of Nordic folklore).
Others interpreted the unexpected post as meaning that the internal NDAs about the game are coming to an end, meaning they may receive more news in the near future. LentStories wrote “The fact that he posted this on his official portfolio makes me think that he is not doing this without some kind of permission; an end to NDA or direct permission from Fromsoft. Both give me some degree of hope for more news. “The most impressive thing is that the predominant response, in all the posts I read, was positivity. It is genuinely a joy to read the Elden Ring subreddit today, as people celebrate something new to study and incorporate it into the self-reflective tradition that the community has built. If this is the answer to concept art for a trailer, I can’t wait to visit it after FromSoftware finally reveals more.
So, what do we really know about Elden Ring? We know it’s an open world like the Soulslike of Dark Souls creator Hidetaka Miyazaki and Game of Thrones writer George RR Martin. Miyazaki says it is an evolution of Dark Souls, and we know that Xbox boss Phil Spencer played it. In addition, it is a blank page. We expect 2021 to be when it is filled.
Joe Skrebels is the Executive News Editor at IGN. Follow him on Twitter. Do you have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Send an email to [email protected]