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Arise ye Tarnished, as we are only a few weeks away before Shadow of the Erdtree dives in like Radahn’s meteor onto Elden Ring. Excitingly, we got a chance to have a hands-on session on the highly anticipated expansion, allowing us to venture forth into the unknown of the Land of Shadow.
Before we march into the shadowy realm to uncover Marika’s dark scandalous secrets, we must first find our way there. As revealed previously, to trigger the DLC, you would have to defeat Starscourge Radahn and Mohg, Lord of Blood first. After that, simply touching the withered arm hanging from the cocoon in Mohg’s arena at Mohgwyn Palace will transport you to the Land of Shadow.
The first moment you step foot into this realm, you would be greeted by the sight of the burning wicker man giant from the trailer lumbering in the far distance. Unlike Limgrave with rays of golden grace illuminating its lush yet melancholic grass field and autumn birch trees – the Land of Shadow is eerily haunting and disconsolate, with the environment ashen in tone and decorated with the expanse of ghostly translucent tombstones.
The immediate bleak atmosphere I got from the Land of Shadow is that it is a place ravaged by war and left in desolation. Even the wandering hostile inhabitants in this area are semi-translucent, appearing spectral and giving off a spine-chilling aura.
Follow the Paths of Miquella
The Land of Shadow can be described as melancholy, but touches of Erdtree’s gentle radiance can still be found with the return of the Sites of Grace from the Lands Between. In addition to the Sites of Grace, one notable element spotted throughout the trailers is the glowing golden runic signs with a crescent patterned at the top – these are called Cross, a new landmark that bears a message left by Miquella, in ways similar to how Melina conveys Marika’s saying at the Churches of Marika.
These Crosses are no doubt going to give lore nerds a field trip. Through interacting with them, Miquella left some messages that spoke of him abandoning something in the Land of Shadow. Further bolstering its world building, you may also find NPCs, likely followers of Miquella, standing near these crosses, providing players with more information about the demigod. The NPCs I encountered thus far do not seem to be the ones revealed in the trailer, though it is hard to say when it comes to Elden Ring – where any NPC could end up with someone important with expansive questlines.
Near each Cross, you may also find a material called Scadutree Fragments, a new item that enhances Scadutree Blessings – which bolsters your Tarnished’s overall attributes much like Godrick’s Great Rune. However, unlike Godrick’s Great Rune, the Blessings improve stats by levels and the attributes provided are permanent. Similarly, your Spirit Ashes also got an alternate upgrade item called Spirit Fragments, found near the legs of some form statues of seated humanoids. These also work similarly to the Scadutree Fragments, adding attributes to your Spirit Ashes, and strengthening your loyal companions. You can think of these items like the Golden Seeds you found at the golden sapling in the Lands Between, something you would want to seek out, not to strengthen your Flask, but yourself.
These are also likely the independent upgrade system that only applies in the DLC that director Hidetaka Miyazaki spoke of in previous interviews.
Lands of Punishing Goodness
The Shadow of the Erdtree expansion is no doubt varied in content, with a good variety of places to explore, such as the classic underground tombs and castles to high towers and more. In typical FromSoftware fashion, also expect a new army of enemies about to give you a tough time.
Take the legacy dungeon Belurat, Tower Settlement as an example, through navigating its corridors, you will face spectral foes armed with swords and knives, or mages ready to bombard you with an array of sorceries. There are also arachnid-like monsters crawling about, as well as your typical knight enemies who will be some of the toughest adversaries you face. These enemies will take you out in one or two strikes if you are not careful and the expansion does feel significantly more challenging than the latter half of the base game.
Worthy Challengers
Speaking of enemies, the bosses are easily some of Elden Ring‘s biggest highlights and in my hands-on session of Shadow of the Erdtree, I got to face 2 major bosses – Divine Beast Dancing Lion and Rellana, Twin Moon Knight.
Divine Beast Dancing Lion is the big boss of Belurat, Tower Settlement as well as one of the major bosses revealed in the reveal trailer. This beastly costume is covered with Omen horns and takes pride in its resemblance to the traditional Chinese lion dance, with people underneath the red cloth operating the lion with ferocious movement. Despite its size, this boss is agile and aggressive, with individual targeting pounce and roll attacks, as well as multiple wide-hitting abilities. A notable attack of them is how they would leap into the air and transform into wind, lighting, or ice, unleashing devastating AoE blasts upon landing depending on the element.
The second boss is an intriguing one. Her name is Rellana, Twin Moon Knight, and she is a dual-wielding knight clad in shining armor. She wields short swords, but do not let the length fool you as she is capable of some astonishingly wide-reaching attacks. Based on her name, one would assume she has some relation to Queen Rennala and the Carian Royal family.
Her abilities are also heavily themed in Glintstone sorceries, with one notable move of her enchanting her own swords with fire and ice – perhaps, she has some connection to the Sword of Night and Flame armament found in Caria Manor? In her second phase, she even cast spells reminiscent of Rennala’s Full Moon sorcery. She is a boss of ferocity, with frequent output of attack chains that require careful assessment to avoid.
The Erdtree’s Seduction
Fans of Elden Ring are in for a treat because Shadow of the Erdtree would no doubt deliver another unforgettable experience – it offers fair new enjoyable challenges, extremely intriguing lore, and fascinating places to visit. The new upgrade system in place is also carefully implemented to ensure seasoned players who have maxed out their characters can venture into the Land of Shadow and still enjoy new challenges.
Walking around the gloomy realm of the Land of Shadow evokes a sense of freshness, as though you entered a new world. As someone who gets nerdy with the game’s lore, an extremely exciting prospect of the DLC is to learn more about the characters and their motivations, especially about the mysterious demigod Miquella, who is getting a lot of attention this time.
The level of deviousness in level design matches, if not exceeds, that of the base game – enemies still lurking around ready to ambush you in unexpected places, areas where careless steps would lead to accidental fatal falls, and paths that can be tricky to bypass, all perfectly presented in typical FromSoftware greatness.
In short, we are all excited for Shadow of the Erdtree to arrive, and my hands-on session proved that it is without a shadow of a doubt, something worth the wait. FromSoftware is cooking something truly special here.
Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree expansion DLC is slated to release on 21 June 2024 for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC via Steam.
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