I certainly feel that way about Bloodborne and Dark Souls 3’s faster pacing and multi-directional rolling. Perhaps the ability to jump and engage in spacious combat set-pieces are a natural evolution of the blueprint, and perhaps you’ll find me come February 25 next year hailing simple jumping mechanics and wondering how we ever played FromSoftware games without them. But it nevertheless retained that sense of dread and claustrophobia its spiritual forerunners delivered so well – something I’m just not feeling from the admittedly short glimpses we've seen of Elden Ring so far. Sekiro, of course, introduced grappling to the tried and tested Souls formula in 2019 to great effect, which blew its combat mechanics wide open. If I can simply turn, tail and run into a vast open field, whistle on a magic horse, or hoist myself out of danger as a matter of course, how the game will manage to maintain tension is something I find really intriguing at this stage. In this instance, the player prevails but if we’re afforded the same options in reverse – i.e., if we can clamber to safety when things inevitably go wrong in combat – will that drain the drama from battle? One of the reasons I love Souls games is that cycle of gauntlet-running it forces me on, where I’m constantly on edge, constantly surrounded by overpowered enemies, and constantly recalculating my tactics on the fly with only a reflex fast roll to save my skin. Granted it all looks great, but while positioning themselves above, the player is seen hopping from ledge to lintel, approaching the fight from the perfect angle before making their break, in something that better resembles Uncharted or The Last of Us than anything Soulslike.

The narrator informs that there’s treasure in a cart that’s being guarded by a group of spear-wielding knights – before the player leaps from their vantage point, breaks into a sprint and slays their enemies unawares with a volley of neat swordplay. Later in the gameplay demo, the player is shown perched on a hill, surveying a group of enemies stationed in a wide open space below. 'The question is: if we can clamber to safety when things inevitably go wrong in combat – will that drain the drama from battle?'

Dark souls 3 spear build