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Shadow of the Erdtree, what delighted me, part two

Posted on July 20, 2024 by Minna Hong • 0 Comments

Back at it to praise Shadow of the Erdtree, the DLC for Elden Ring (FromSoft) some more. At the end of the last post, I was talking about

*SPOILER WARNING*

Mohg’s body and Sir Ansbach being concerned as to what Miquella wanted with it. This would have been very important to know in real time because it has implications for the final boss. This is another thing that has split the community–whether the last boss is brilliant (in design/lore/story) or terrible. Let’s talk it out because I have mixed feelings about it.

Here’s the basic story: Miquella the Knd (yeah, right. I mentioned yesterday that if you have to say you’re kind, you probably aren’t. Any time you apply a label to yourself and think that’s a core component of your personality, you are protecting an image of yourself rather than truly being about that). Someone who is kind doesn’t have to say it because other people will see it for themselves. It’s like the self-proclaimed nice person. They are too invested in being perceived as nice.

I have never liked Miquella. Even the little we were given in the base game made me suspicious. The fact that he was considered charming and could sway anyone to his side was a big reason I side-eyed him. I have lived my whole life with two narcissists, and I can tell you that no matter how well-meaning they appear or want to appear, they are, ultimately, in it for themselves. In what, you ask? In anything. That’s how I feel about Miquella. He keeps emphasizing how kind he is (as do his acolytes), and that makes me supremely wary of him.

I was right to be wary of him, it turns out. He had a supreme plan for a better world, and it’s a plan that was horrifying in isolation. In order to get to the DLC, the player had to kill Radahn and Mohg. The lattel was implied very early on, and it made sense. Mohg snatched Miquella and put him in an egg (yes, an egg. Go with it), so it made sense that you would have to go back to this egg to get to the DLC. But Radahn? Why would you have to beat him?

Turns out you have to beat him because he’s integral to the DLC story. And this is where people are split on whether the idea is brilliant or terrible. See, Miquella is a frail and physically weak being. All his charm is for naught in the realm of fighting. Miquella wants to be a god. In order to do so, he needs someone who will be his blade. Now. Why wasn’t it Malenia? No idea. She was the Blade of Miquella in the base game, after all. I briefly went down a rabbit hole about this very question and found some interesting theories. One that made me roll my eyes, though, was that ‘the Elden Lord can’t be female.” Um. Really? *Glances at all my characters*. Given that the Elden Lord is where the character player ends up if they finish the game, that is a terrible theory.

Shadow of the Tree, what delighted me

Posted on July 19, 2024 by Minna Hong • 0 Comments

Back to talk about Shadow of the Erdtree, the DLC for Elden Ring. By FromSoft, duh. Because I have been bitching at it for the past several posts, I want to talk about what I like/love about it in this post. It’s interesting because in looking for reviews that were less than glowing, almost all of them casually acknowldege that, yes, the level design is beyond compare. Yes, the environments are varied, rich, and visually dazzling. Yes, there are interesting new NPCs with really good voice actors who will tug at your heartstrings.

*SPOILER WARNING*

Weirdly, or maybe not weirdly, there is one NPC who has won the heart of so many people. His name is Igon, and he is Captain Ahab to a dragon called Bayle’s Moby Dick. So many people love him and his rallying cry of, “Curse you, Baaaaayle!” Briefly, you come across Igon sitting in the road, crying out in pain. He talks about his pain at length. Then he rants about Bayle. At top volume. It’s all very over-the-top, and people seem to love it.

Then, later, you run into him as he’s lying in the road, and he’s whimpering. I think I missed that in my first playthrough. After you fell a dragon, he shouts and rants some more. (This is in a third place). He asks you to call him in when/if you face Bayle the Dread. Then, in the fight with Bayle, you can summon Igon in the arena. His first words are, “Curse you, Bayle!” And he rants throughout the entire fight. The. Entire. Fight.

You may be able to read between the lines to see that he is not my favorite. I don’t hate him, but I think he’s overwrought and way too dramatic. The voice actor has been talked about it and said that he didn’t even know Bayle was a dragon when he was reading his lines. They just kept telling him to go bigger. Then again, I am also not a big fan of Solaire, either. Who is in the same vein as Igon, though much more lowkey.

I love several of the other NPCs, though. Redmane Freyja was my bae, and I wish there was more of her. Hornsent is such an interesting character. He hates the Tarnished for what they (we) did to him, but he will aid the Tarnished if it’s in his best interest. I can respect that. And the fact that he invaded me after I helped him against Leda and after he helped me against Messmer, well, I thought that was a great touch.

I have to give a massive shoutout to the level design. I cannot just shrug it off with, “Of course the level design is great. It’s Miyazaki.” It’s more than that, really. The video I have included just below by Agt Jake mentions that there are some areas he hasn’t yet figured out how to get to, even when he can see them. That one is mind-blowing in particular because once you figure out how to get to that specific area, you just…keep on going. And going. And going. Until you pop up somewhere completely different, and it’s a whole new area.