After approximately several thousand years of waiting, we can finally look upon the face of that product which was promised in our previous lifetimes. Thawed out of the iceberg after a hundred years of hibernation just when the world needed it most- we can finally put our hats together and celebrate the coming of Hollow Knight Sil- huh? Oh wait, this is the other thing that we've waited all our adult lives to release. My bad. No, this was actually the trailer for the DLC of Elden Ring which was so belated I assumed that FromSoftware simply forgot they ever announced it and had moved onto their next game. But no, we have one last adventure to go on in The Land Between, on that journey to drive a wedge into the powers vying for the throne of Elden Lord in gaming's own answer to Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings. And I wouldn't have it any other way.
Right away from the very first screenshot that released for the DLC upon it's announcement about a year ago, we pretty much had a decent idea where the DLC would be heading. Well- "under the Erdtree" was a decent guess with the name 'Shadow of the Erdtree' to work off, but I mean even further than that-slueths could deduce who's rune we were going for. The golden haired figure riding saddle on a white horse? Yeah, that was going to be Miquella, the missing demi-god of the Elden Ring line-up best known for being kidnapped by the twisted Mohg (from whom we actually take Miquella's rune given his absence) and for being name dropped by his big sis Malenia every time she skewers you from four different angles through her iconic waterfall dance. A plague upon that whole family for hosting two of the most annoyingly painful boss fights in FromSoftware history; I can only imagine Miquella will prove just as frustrating.
And yes, to the surprise of no one Miquella is indeed present in this trailer in some form, proving that the grossly disproportionate limb sticking out of Mohg's cocoon is both accurate to the disfigured form of the ungrowing child, and that the limb does not actually belong to the boy. God, I'm always so excited to peel back some of the ever reclusive FromSoftware lore and peek on the goodies within! What I was quite surprised about, however, was the fact we actually get to see Miquella in this trailer, with his bizarre snake-balancing body- and even spy a glimpse of what appears to be his boss fight! I can only interpret this as either some sort of bait and switch or the team are holding back one of those crazy second-stage transformations that Elden Ring seems to love so much- because otherwise that would be a spoiler for one of the coolest parts of any FromSoftware game- the memorable bosses!
As expected considering the artists we're working with here the trailer is resplendent with unnerving imagery, monsters pulling swords out of their eyes and being generally disfigured in appropriately creative and thoughtful ways; although to be absolutely honest- I think the team are holding back majorly. Nothing I've seen thusfar pertains to any kind of absolute showstopper monster that I simply have to fight. Even Miquella looked a little lowkey in what little of his battle we witnessed. The most crazy looking creature here is the giant candelabra that spews fire out of it's head- but that's a Torrent fight and those tend to be less exciting and challenging in practice than they seem like they'll be initially. Probably because Torrent isn't that agile so FromSoftware can't get too crazy with their attack cycles. Then again the Fire Giant is a stand-out whilst also being a Torrent fight, so there's definitely potential there somewhere!
'The Shadow' portion of the title does not, surprisingly, seem to refer to a location underneath the famous tree of life around which every single JRPG that isn't Final Fantasy is based. (I wonder what sort of devil sacrament Final Fantasy had to perform in order to publish a game where the 'world tree' trope was replaced with a 'world Crystal' instead.) Instead we are literally going under the canopy of the Erdtree (or is it behind the Haling Tree?)- in view of the gnarled and twisted roots of the primordial deity but unable to bask in it's sun-like light. What we experience instead are these drapes of light that, as people are already starting to notice on Twitter, hang like the curtains of Queen Marika's bedchambers- fitting given this is said to be where Marika first stepped when she came to The Lands Between.
It is striking. Already Shadow of the Erdtree delivers something to us not yet present in the vast and varied world of the base game, teasing at darker and deeper conjurations yet to be dreamed of. Who would find themselves in The Land of Shadows, untouched by the grace of the tree around which the world's order is meant to reside? I mean beyond the ever-young Miquella who famously turned to the Haling Tree in an attempt to age himself and establish an alternative world power strong enough to cure Malenia's Scarlet Rot where the Golden Order could not. And I wonder what our purpose could be seeking out there, if his Rune has already been discarded and recovered from Mohg? Oh... and I guess this means killing Mohg is necessary for accessing the DLC, doesn't it? Bugger. (I can here the 'Nihil's now...)
What I'm curious of most of all is actually whether or not this will count among the very few FromSoftware DLCs that present a new ending to the game, as there have been surprisingly few. Dark Souls 2's Scholar of the First Sin presented the ability to turn away from the throne, and in doing so provided any alternate ending to a game which previously only had one. And aside from that... I don't they've ever actually presented a ending changing DLC. But this would be such a great opportunity for one! Elden Ring's core narrative is all about weighing up the interests of the various duelling factions that all wish to seize the god-like powers of the Elden Ring in order to shape The Lands Between for themselves- but aside from literally becoming the embodiment of a vengeful god of ultimate destruction, there's no way to break the land free from control of the order. (Unless you side with best-doll Ranni but let's be honest- that girl's got her whole own dictatorship in mind!) Creating the ability to side with Miquella, a royal consort who rejected the Golden Order whole heartedly, might just present such an opportunity! (And I love an alternate ending path. Particularly one like 'Phantom Liberty' which reminded us why a risky life with everything to live for is better than a safer one with nothing to ground you.)
Shadow of the Erdtree has a lot of expectations to meet given the pedigree of the game it is coming to compliment, but at the very least it is really coming to fruition. Unlike another long beleaguered product which haunts our every waking moment- I might actually get to play this DLC someday! (I know that Silksong is no longer DLC but an actual standalone now, but the comparison still stands up, I think.) As the final underlying chapter of the epic that is Elden Ring, I expect to be wowed to some significant degree- and of course to be met with an boss so brutal it'll scare me back into fighting Malenia just to try a fight I have a chance of winning. That's all I want out of my FromSoftware games- a total diminishment of my ego until I feel as ugly and detestable as I truly am. So humble me once more, Elden Ring, I'm literally asking for it!
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