Creator and writer of Game of Thrones George R. R. Martin has taken to his blog in the wake of Elden Ring's release, on which he played a 'worldbuilding' role. Titled 'Grab the Ring' (sounds like one of the in-game messages) Martin shares a few of the many, many positive reviews the game has received since launch, and the below game overview trailer. Elden Ring currently has a Metacritic score of 95% on PC and, despite some negative user reviews due to performance issues, is now 'mostly positive' on Steam.
"The wait is over," writes Martin. "Years in the making, Elden Ring was released last week, and has been taking the gaming world by storm. But don’t listen to me. FromSoftware brought me on to do their worldbuilding, so I can hardly pretend to be objective."
Martin cites some reviews and praise for the game, which he calls "Music to the ears." He then goes on, rather graciously, to emphasise how small his role in the final product was and give props to FromSoftware.
"Of course, almost all the credit should go to Hidetaka Miyazaki and his astonishing team of games designers who have been laboring on this game for half a decade or more, determined to create the best videogame ever," Martin writes. "I am honored to have met them and worked with them, and to have have played a part, however small, in creating this fantastic world and making Elden Ring the landmark megahit that it is."
Landmark megahit is quite the designation but, if any game stands a chance of being remembered in this way, Elden Ring is a good candidate. There will be a backlash at some point, there always is, but for now it seems like everyone is blown away by FromSoftware's achievement—and best of all, though we'll have to wait for the sales figures to be sure, it seems to have brought the studio's talents in front of a much bigger audience than ever before.
Martin always ends his blogposts with an emoji encapsulating his current mood. This post on Elden Ring ends with a happy little alien head bouncing up and down, which sure enough means he feels bouncy.
