Hands off preview details are starting to filter in from various sources. Deets in no particular order:
-Gestures are still there.
-Lore is meant to be “easier to understand than previous games.”
-Elden Ring’s story is more about characters in the world than previous games.
-George RR Martin wrote the ancient backstory of Elden Ring, and Miyazaki created all the characters you meet during gameplay.
-Binoculars are back. Apparently they will be “a lot more useful.”
-Stealth similar to Sekiro’s stealth. So perhaps insta-kill backstabs. The gameplay demo apparently had a lot of the player using Sleep Arrows to put enemies to sleep so they could just avoid them. Implies? That maybe enemy tethering has changed too. Usually you can just run past Souls enemies. Wouldn’t be the first feature they’ve made that is completely invalidated by enemy behavior.
-Guard Counters. An attack you can launch immediately after a “normal block.” Guard Counters themselves can be countered.
-The Posture system from Sekiro Is present. Really all FromSoft Souls games have had some form of it running in the background, but in Elden Ring it may be a more core part of gameplay.
-Elden Ring will have the most weapons in it if any FromSoft game to date.
-Weapon Arts are now called “Skills”, and can be equipped to the weapon you’re using. Not all Skills can go on all weapons. Skills are found by killing bosses, certain enemies or being found as treasure.
-There is now a dedicated jump button. Jumping comes into play in more places in levels, and can be used more freely in combat.
-FromSoft compares the “Spirit Steed” to the horse in Witcher 3, in terms of usefulness and companionship.
-The Spirit Steed has a health pool and can be healed by feeding it, which also helps you “bond with it.”
-You can do mounted attacks from your mount. You can use items, throw stuff and cast spells, all from horseback. It’s been said that the mount is for fighting bigger single enemies while non-mounted combat is for groups of enemies.
-You cannot use your mount while you have friends summoned or doing PvP. Mounts can only be summoned and ridden in the “Open Field.” They’re disabled once you enter the Legacy Dungeons.
-You can have up to two friendly summons.
-Summoned minion helpers can only be summoned while you have no friends summoned. Summoned helpers can be upgraded and leveled up. They cost FP to summon and use.
-You can only be invaded while you have friends summoned. There is currently no invasions of hosts that are alone.
-There’s Estus and Ashen Estus flasks again, that are refilled by resting at “bonfires” and you can choose your allotment between them just like DS3.
-Estus refills when killing enough enemies.
-When you’re not in combat, stamina does not deplete. So you can infinitely sprint until you enter combat.
-Some “bonfires” in the Open Field can only be unlocked by defeating Open Field min-bosses.
-Leveling up is only done at the Fire Keeper-equivalent character.
-The game world has a map you can pull up. I get the sense this map is only for the Open Field, and not the Legacy Dungeons.
-The map is not revealed to start, you have to discover map fragments to fully reveal it.
-The map also shows underground passages, so it looks like there some sort of labyrinth underneath the open field.
-Players can make notes on their map, and set a waypoint that shows up as a vertical beam of light in the game world, helping guide you.
-There’s a Compass to tell you your heading. Unclear if it’s like Skyrim where PoI’s show up on it.
-Resting at a bonfire causes a little trail of light that can guide you, I guess?, to where the game thinks you should go next, but you don’t have to follow it.
-You can fast travel to any checkpoint from anywhere in the Open Field or when “not in a dungeon.”
-There are “retry points” in levels which, once you find them you can heal and replenish at them, but don’t function like full bonfires.
-There are hard coded choices you have to make sometimes about how to approach things. An example given was approaching the first Legacy Dungeon, a prompt appears asking if you want to storm the gates or sneak in a side entrance. It’s unclear but my sense is this choice is binding and may alter the way the level plays out for there on out. Otherwise, why even have a prompt?
-There’s hunting and crafting, so you can get materials to make consumables and gear. Both can still be bought in various places, but crafting is required for some. As an example, Green Blossoms (aka stamina regen consumable from Dark Souls) is called Dried Meat, and is made from animals you hunt and harvest. Ammunition like arrows can also be crafted from stuff you hoont.
-Crafted items require blueprints, which Are gotten from defeating certain enemies or being found as treasure.
-Pot Boys are sounding like the games’ equivalent of Crystal Lizards.