Shadow of the Erdtree, the DLC for Elden Ring, is releasing in two-and-a-half hours.
Wild.I just learned this is for PC only (it’s releasing at the same time across the world). Console release is midnight local time, except in America where it’s being released at midnight Eastern time, all across America.
Whatever the reason, that means I get it before console players! Which is hilarious to me and very cool.
At any rate, the day it was announced with a fantastic trailer that I’m including below, I had a personal tragedy that made it nearly impossible for me to fully celebrate. Which is a damn shame because I had so been looking forward to the DLC. I mean, I still was, but the personal tragedy meant that the joy was, well, nonexiistent for the next week or so. I was able to find some joy in it after that, but it was still subdued.
Now, I’m fully hyped for the DLC, but there’s still a part of my heart that is aching. I will never not be able to remember that day (and the few following it) without my heart breaking into millions of pieces. I still haven’t been able to write about it, and I’m not sure I will be able to any time soon.
The hype for the DLC has been unreal. I’ve had to avoid all my favorite YouTube channels in gaming because every one of them is wall-to-wall coverage of the DLC. I’m not complaining, man. I’m very happy for FromSoft that they are finally getting the recognition they deserve. They were considered niche for a decade, even though they were lauded in the industry. Hell, they birthed a whole new genre (soulslikes). And yet, they felt very much like the plucky underdog until Elden Ring was announced.
I’m not saying they WERE underdogs or not a triple A developer, but something about the way they operated made them feel like they were closer to indie. Maybe because they published with anyone. Mostly Bamco , but also Sony and Activision (which I bet they regretted. I’m not going to get into why because I’ve done it in other posts). Someone once quipped that they were guns for hire. And, yes, it felt very much like that.
I don’t know exactly why Elden Ring became so huge. I mean, yes, it’s the first time they did an open world game. And, yes, it was their first release after the pandemic. And sure, it was supposed to be friendlier to newbies than their previous games. All of this was true, but it doesn’t quite explain why it became SO huge. How huge? 25 million copies huge.
I guess I should not be surprised that this means wall-to-wall coverage of the DLC. It’s the only DLC (well, except the Colisseums for PVP, which, whatever. That was free and so not my jam), and it’s supposed to be massive. I’ve heard that it takes 30 hours to finish, which means 60 for me because I’m so bad at these games.
I also heard that there are eight bosses in the game (from SkillUp before I hastily Xed out of the video), which is a shit-ton. The most in any other DLC is four is The Ringed City for Dark Souls III, no, wait. It’s five in Bloodborne, The Old Hunters. Both of which, by the way, made me so frustrated and angry. The former actually made me cry.
Here’s the thing. I have a love/hate relationship with the DLCs of the From games. They are for the hardcore fans who are, and this is crucial, good at the games.
Side note: The DLC is downloading now! I’m so incredibly excited for this. I know it’s going to kick my ass, but I’m so stoked for it at the same time. I have heard that it’s more straightforward in the story than usual and that there is something of a tutorial for new combat moves. I also know there has been martial arts moves added, which is interesting. I like the idea in theory, but I’m not sure I’m good on extremely close-up melee moves. I can’t even do regular melee that well.
There’s one person in the RKG Discord who is already playing. From the snippets that they’ve posted, it’s going to be really hard. I expect to get my shit pushed in over and over again, and I think I’m far enough away from my first playthrough to not get aggravated to the point of tears. Maybe.
I am so thrilled to have more Elden Ring. At the same time, I’m so worried because I have never gotten on well with the DLCs. As I ave said many times, I don’t play the games for the dififculty. I have accepted that this is part of the games, but I am not really into the difficulty. And, yes, I know that many hardcore fans now like to say that the games aren’t hard. That’s horseshit, by the way. They are hard for the gen pop and for people like me.
Anyway. I’m about to play it, and I’m filled with excitement and trepidation. I know that it’s going to have breathtaking environments that I will want to soak up. The perosn in the Discord said that they got beaten to a pulp by an ememy, and they are something like 210 (in levels). I’m 183 with my first character, the one I’m taking into the DLC. I’m hoping that the damage scales, but wel’ll see. I know it doesn’t scale to your Vigor, I’ll tell you that much. When I had 18 Vigor for the first hundred hours, so many things could one-shot me. I now have 34 or so, which is still not very much. I read that you should have 60 Vigor by the end of the game, which I think is ludicrous. I did not have that much with my strength character until the end of the game, and I thought it was overkill. It’s nice, though, I’ll tell you that much. I didn’t have to care about being hit because I could just tank it.
I have both my first character, who is a caster with enough strength to wield the first greatsword you find. I used that sword throughout the game and never changed it because I was mostly doing magicks. This is how I always do my first character, much to my detrtiment. My strength character, who is also ready for the DLC, creamed almost every boss in one go. And it wasn’t even hard for most of them.
I probably will start the second character in twenty hours or so. I know myself, and I’ll want to feel like I’m actually doing ok. I will not feel that way with my first character, I’m pretty sure.
The download is almost finish. I’m about to jump into the DLC. I’m ready to soak it all up.