Why Elden Ring's Base Game May Be The End Of Its Story For Good

Although Elden Ring was 2022's GOTY and one of the biggest releases of the 2020s, FromSoftware has confirmed that there are currently no plans to make a direct sequel, despite many other projects currently being worked on. This is after a lengthy battle to secure the sole rights to the IP from their publisher, Bandai Namco, who previously co-owned the rights, which concluded shortly before the release of Shadow of the Erdtree. That doesn't mean that FromSoftware isn't doing anything with the IP; however, announcing the spin-off Elden Ring Nightreign at the 2024 Game Awards.

It may come as a surprise to some that FromSoftware hasn't immediately begun work on a direct Elden Ring sequel, given how explosively successful the first game and its expansion were. Back in 2011, FromSoftware was quick to jump on the success of Dark Souls, developing a trilogy in five years, so it would make sense for the developer to do the same with Elden Ring, given that its popularity has eclipsed Dark Souls. Despite this, FromSoftware has chosen to work on other projects instead, and this might be due to the story not having many places it can go.

Does Marika's Story End In Elden Ring?

Her Lineage Is Practically Gone

Elden Ring feels like the story of Marika and her family, from the war her children waged against each other with The Shattering to everyone fighting to be her consort and become Elden Lord. Everything seems to begin and lead to Marika, but her story ends quite conclusively in Elden Ring. Every single one of Marika and Radagon's many children is some form of dead after Shadow of the Erdtree. Even Ranni's original body was burned to a crisp, and it doesn't seem that Marika has enough relatives left for her presence to carry another game.

Marika herself is in a sorry state, with her body crumbling apart after shattering the Elden Ring, leaving her many children fight over the pieces. Being little more than a broken statue by the end of the game, it doesn't seem like she's in much of a position to do anything, let alone another event like The Shattering, and the endings don't feel like they lead to anything with Marika. Many feel like hollow victories or apocalyptic events, and even the Age of Stars doesn't seem to lead to somewhere that would make sense for an Elden Ring sequel.

In the Age of Stars ending, Ranni leaves the Lands Between behind to go on a thousand-year voyage among the stars, having taken Marika's powers for herself with the Tarnished acting as her consort. With all the world-building done for the Lands Between by both game director Hidetaka Miyazaki and George R. R. Martin, setting a sequel with this ending doesn't seem like the right move. Despite this, Ranni still has more to give than Marika does, and yet without Marika, it doesn't feel like the story of Elden Ring has a lot of places it can go.

Elden Ring Shouldn't Repeat Dark Souls' Story Beats

Making The Elden Lord Cycle The Same As Linking The Fire Would Be A Mistake

Elden Ring already has enough similarities to Dark Souls as is, and although making generations of Tarnished become Elden Lord over and over would work for crafting sequels, it would be a lazy retread. FromSoftware is better off making Dark Souls 4 instead of trying to use the same story beats for Elden Ring, especially given how the game has often been joked about as open-world Dark Souls. Although it is a formula for success, Elden Ring needs to lean into what makes it different from Dark Souls to be a distinctive IP.

Unfortunately, a lot of what made Elden Ring distinctive literally died at the end of the game, whether that be the demi-gods or the divine royal family. Almost everything that could be a threat is dead after the Tarnished has run through the Lands Between, and that probably means an Elden Ring sequel might have to do what Dark Souls 2 attempted to do by going in a completely different direction in a different land. Leaving Marika and the areas of the Lands Between behind might be an impossible task, however, depending on George R. R. Martin's availability.

Martin is famously busy with a book he can't finish and plenty of HBO spin-off shows, and although there could be lore written that hasn't been explored, everything so far revolves around Marika, from the Hornsent of the Land of Shadow to Those That Live in Death doing so because of the rune she sealed away being stolen. The Frenzied Flame seems to be the only exception to this, and it feels like a lot more lore needs to be written to walk a different path to Dark Souls' cyclical themes. Martin, however, might not be available to write this lore.

Where Could Elden Ring's Story Go?

A Lot Of Elements Need Fleshing Out

With the Lands Between being in ruins and quite desolate, it seems that an Elden Ring sequel would have to go to different lands already mentioned, like Kaiden or the Badlands where Godfrey and his army of Tarnished were first sent. Although these places are mentioned, it isn't clear how much information has been written about them. Considering how much lore there is for the Lands Between alone, there probably isn't anywhere near enough to base a whole game in either Kaiden or the Badlands, and some serious fleshing out would be needed.

Elden Ring 2 might need another big figure to replace the likes of Marika, and going to other lands could keep things vague as to which ending is canon. It could be an excuse to bring back the Gloam-Eyed Queen, since her fate after her defeat is largely unknown. She was once a rival to Marika, and once her great rival had largely lost a lot of her power due to the events of Elden Ring, she could be the one to establish a new world order in another land with another Outer God.

Still, a lot of new things will have to be done to make a sequel to Elden Ring, and that's assuming that FromSoftware even wants to take on something as daunting as a sequel to 2022's GOTY. If it does, then it needs to come up with enough fresh ideas to give the story somewhere to go, since both the base game and expansion's stories seem pretty conclusive. A new land with a new figure at the center of it all is necessary if Elden Ring wants to avoid retreading the footprints of the Dark Souls franchise.