FromSoftware is not your typical type of developer, hungrily chasing after the sweet nectar known as 'Live Service' games with reckless abandon despite the abject failure of 99% of them- and then wondering why video game development is such a risky endeavour after investing so much into a doomed-to-fail venture. FromSoft actually just kind of do their own thing a lot of the time, which is unique and praise-worthy across an industry terrified of being wrong in the question of 'Is this the crazy new hit?' Of course, it helps that they helped define a burning subgenre of games that they corner the market on- because even at their best other Souls-like games are only ever called 'as good as' Soulsbourne offerings. But within that 'pick me' energy coming off of FromSoftware's bearing, lies a deeper and decidedly more twisting unpredictability that has me and others worried pretty much everytime the team steps out of their wheelhouse.
When Sekiro was revealed to not have in-depth character creation there was genuine concern about whether or not there would be enough build variety to warrant this game growing as big as it's predecessors'. (If I can't build my character into a caveman with a club than why am I even playing this franchise?) And when Elden Ring was unveiled, I'll admit to harbouring genuine doubts whether or not the precise and organised layout of FromSoftware's design ethos would be able to be translated in any significant way to giant open world spaces- or if we were going to get a watered down Ubisoft-version of the Souls gameplay we know and love. Obviously I was made to look the fool there too, FromSoftware know what they're doing.
But no one is flawless. No one is perfect. Not every choice this studio makes is going to result in a game that raises the profile of their prestigious brand. (there's that word again!) Especially not when we have the evidence of the DLC for Dark Souls 2- which all feature stunningly bad design choices in some way or another. The gank squad from the Sunken King- the no-bonfire Painting section in Old Iron King- and the bloody frigid wastes in Ivory King. Of course, Dark Souls 2 is a uniquely twisted mess of half-swallowed ideas that never got their chance to fruition, but it's evidence enough that FromSoftware are not gods. They show cracks and weakness, and sometimes I think we might be able to see a mess coming before it lands. Although when we're talking about mobile games in general, I suppose that is no great feat- now is it?
Yes, there is an Elden Ring mobile game that is secretly in development right now, let that sink in. Somehow the razor sharp precision gameplay of Elden Ring, a FromSoftware critical darling, is going to slip onto the touch-screen confines of Mobile gaming. Sounds like the set-up to a bad joke featuring a Nun and a Rabbi, doesn't it? And for the apparently totally self sufficient and not trend-chasing FromSoftware to commit to such a move, even in the most abstract fashion, seems utterly bizarre- like we're the one's missing a beat here! Not to mention the additional fact that we're hearing about this Elden Ring game before any information on the apparently upcoming Elden Ring DLC that has been an enigma for close to a full year at this point. That's a way to kick up a fuss, eh?
And the game is indeed being made by the absolute pits of the mobile industry itself- its a Tencent product because of course it is. At this point I wouldn't be all that surprised if I went to the doctor and found a barcode in my ribcage that denoted I was under the ownership of Tencent. Those absolute vultures have stuck their peaks into the refuse of every possible corner of the game's industry- in such a bizarre display given the inherently anti-gaming sentiment their home government is solidifying. Although maybe that's the rub- they see the walls closing in and want to keep their foreign investments good and diversified. And I suppose a direct assassination of everything that Elden Ring stands for is a diversification of a kind.
As the apparent report goes, Tencent have been looking with envy at the rampant success of MiHoYo's Genshin and they want in on that crowd of Gatcha goodness, and for some reason that translates to a Mobile port of a Souls-like game. Unfortunately this isn't the first strange mobile adaptation I've heard of- and if Devil May Cry: Peak of Combat is anything to go by- we should all be very afraid. Peak of Combat was a well received little side-game adapting the basic combat style of the DMC games when it launched, but the second it made it's way over to the Western world it came with a total restructuring of it's core systems to absolute oblivion- all in pursuit of Gatcha mechanics which are supremely unpopular in the West so I have no idea why they didn't just tie those into the China debut. (Seriously, it's like they just wanted the West to hate the game as much as possible.)
Peak of Combat removed the weapon switching that had become a stable of Devil May Cry since 3 (although 4 was when you could first do it on a whim) and all guns were pulled from secondary weapon slots. Combo attacks were reduced to one-button prompts with a cooldown. The franchise's inherently skilled based style-combat is gutted in favour of giving players a necessity to gamble on Gatcha pulls for variations of series regular weapons that come with previous input combos stapled on them as incentives. That is the extent to which these people will go to try and make their mobile games profitable. Literally sacrificing the core identity of the franchise. What do you think they're going to do to Elden Ring?
Hopped up as I am on copium, I'm choosing to read into the curious readings of these reports as indication that this is an Elden-ring inspired game- that is simply going to try and spectacularly fail to ape the atmospheric excellence of the Lord of the Rings of modern fantasy games. But god if my heart isn't in the huff! Devil May Cry isn't a franchise that well known for it's lore, so I can forgive a crappy spin-off that isn't worth my time. But a canonical Elden Ring mobile game that destroys the core of the franchise for the money store? Oh god, I might just have to bend over backwards finding a way to port and hack the crap out of that just to keep up with this world I've come to love! (Oh god, where will these vultures go next? Like a Dragon?)
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