Future Press recently revealed its latest project, announcing the pre-orders of the official Elden Ring guide books. Like FromSoftware’s previous Souls-like games, Elden Ring has quickly become well known for its difficulty level. The developer has taken numerous steps to balance Elden Ring with patches, the most recent of which quietly nerfed some of the game’s bosses, but many aspects of the game are still difficult without help from online walkthroughs.
Over the years, FromSoftware has cultivated a reputation for creating difficult games, including titles like Dark Souls, Bloodborne, and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. The challenge in these games usually comes from the intentional lack of direction, forcing players to learn how to conquer games on their own, or from the experiences of fellow players through sharing information. Upon release Elden Ring followed a similar design philosophy, becoming the best-selling Souls-like game to date. With so much attention, FromSoftware has offered in-game adjustments to its Souls-like formula, making Elden Ring more accessible to a broader audience.
The latest asset to help players on their journey as the Tarnished comes from Future Press, which recently announced its two-volume Elden Ring “Books of Knowledge”. Volume one serves as a complete location guide for the Lands Between, with detailed maps of every location and information on important NPCs. The second volume focuses on the enemies the Tarnished encounters and offers strategies that are best suited for each combat situation. Pre-orders are now live for the guides, though currently there are no official release dates provided for either book. The potential release window for the first book is currently set for some time at the end of summer and the second around the end of fall.
Prior to this official guide, many fans compiled information about the Lands Between. Some examples include one Elden Ring player who developed an app to help keep better track of their notes or those that contributed to the official wiki’s interactive map. These practices have become standard for the Souls-like fan community over the years. While fan-made resources are invaluable for those who become stuck during gameplay, a lack of official details can sometimes lead to struggles that will likely be circumnavigated by the release of the guide books.
While Future Press has done guides for other FromSoftware titles such as Dark Souls and Bloodborne, there will likely be some backlash from fans who believe this goes against the developer’s design philosophy. However, these frustrations shouldn’t prevent those who want to purchase these guides from setting up pre-orders. One of the biggest perks of Elden Ring is the diverse ways players can tackle challenges and explore the vast world. While the guides will be useful assets to players, it is likely plenty of secrets will still be hidden away, making every adventure in Elden Ring exciting and fulfilling.
Source: Future Press