FromSoftware’s award-winning RPG Elden Ring showed off its upcoming and long-awaited Shadow Of The Erdtree DLC today with a trailer that gave us an idea of what to expect when it drops later this year. Get ready, Tarnished, because things are going to get wild.
The trailer begins with a shot of Miquella, the brother of Malenia, a god who encased himself in a cocoon in order to grow alongside the Haligtree (which Miquella created in an attempt to save his sister from the Scarlet Rot disease). “Pure and radiant, he wields love to shrive clean the hearts of men,” a voiceover says as we see Miquella’s arm hanging out of a crack in the cocoon. “There is nothing more terrifying.” The trailer then proceeds to show us a lot of other, very terrifying things.
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We see the Erdtree, the huge, golden tree that lies at the center of Elden Ring’s The Lands Between. But this Erdtree appears to be covered, shrouded, as if this is another land—and so it is, the “Land of Shadow” according to the official Elden Ring X account. This shadowland is a clever little plot device that will likely allow players to explore different areas in The Lands Between and fight new foes without compromising the story from the main game.
“In that forsaken place, blood must spill,” the voiceover continues. “Blood of your fellows, the Erdtree Faithful.” Here we see shots of new foes, what appears to be new armor, and new locations. A massive boss, made of twisted metal and glowing fire with a huge sun for a face, looms over the player. “They were never saints, they just happened to be on the losing side of a war.”
Elden Ring’s base game centers on you, the Tarnished, attempting to defeat the demigod children of Marika, who shattered the Elden Ring (which maintained order in the Lands Between) and scattered its pieces everywhere, sending the land into disarray. The Erdtree, that big, golden tree that’s now covered in shadow, was the physical manifestation of that Ring, and its loyal followers are likely the “Erdtree Faithful” mentioned in the trailer.
Based on the trailer, it appears that the “big bad” of this DLC is Messmer the Impaler, the red-haired, red-outfitted guy with a snake curled around him who refers to someone as “mother” in the trailer. He then calls you “bereft of light,” so he’s clearly not a fan of you, Tarnished. The DLC trailer also includes some new fighting techniques, like some hand-to-hand combat, what seems to be a new crossbow, and a giant, flaming ball that’s hucked at a group of enemies. New ways to kill, new ways to die, it’s very on-brand for Elden Ring.
“Come now, touch the withered arm and travel to the realm of shadow,” Melina, the deuteragonist of Elden Ring’s base game, says in the trailer. “I will not be far behind. May we meet again.”
I don’t know about you, but I’m so hyped. Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree DLC drops June 21 of this year. You can pre-order it now, but the link shared by the official Elden Ring account appears to be broken at the moment. We probably broke it.
Update 02/21/24 at 4:50 p.m. EST: Updated Messmer’s spelling, removed errant word.