More Shadow of the Erdtree speculation because I can. And I wll. And because I need to distract myself from my real life sadness right now. I don’t want to get into that because it’s still raw. And I’m in tears. So I’m trying to distract myself. I am very sad that the trailer came out on the same day that my life changed, irrevocably, for the worst, but there’s nothing I can do about that. Oh, and *spoilers* and all that for the base game.
Instead, I’m going to speculate more about the Elden Ring DLC and talk about what was in the trailer. First of all, the music in From games is so underrated. It’s gorgeous. And it’s fashioned in a way to guide the action. There is a moment in the trailer that gives me literal chills–and the action on the screen is by far the most innocuous (not action-y at all). It’s just the Tarnished walking purposefully forward.
By the way, I mentioned in yesterday’s post that I loved the fact that the Tarnished in several of the shots are just the starting class characters. I don’t know why, but it’s more meaningful than if it were the Tarnished tricked out in late-game armor. I mean, you’re going to have to be pretty beefy to take on the DLC because that’s how FromSoft rolls, but the imagery of the base Tarnished taking on these fantastical creatures just strikes a chord in me. Also, the first Tarnished they showed–wait. The Bloody Wolf was in the Closed Network Test, but not the actual game. The Raging Wolf armor set (this class’s armor) can be found in the game. I still think of this as the the iconic Tarnished, though.
Anyway. The rest of the Tarnished shown in the DLC trailer are actual starting classes, I think. Let’s watch the tralier (which I included again) and I’ll point out if there are any that aren’t.
In the beginning, we see the feet of a presumably female character. I will admit that I went into the game and tried on any armor that I thought might match the fancy pale blue silk dress and black shoes of the character, but I could not find any. The closest, and I will admit this is confirmation bias at work, was the Traveling Finger Maiden’s set, but it was not blue. And did not have the pattern the dress in the trailer did. And the shoes were not black. But other than that, nearly identical.
Next shot, the egg in Mohg’s arena. But we all knew that. Then the Bloody Wolf riding Torrent to the Erdtree (or Haligtree) and whatever the hell happened to it. In the official gameplay reveal trailer for the base game, there’s a sequence of him jumping onto Torrent and riding away from the Erdtree.
Next, there is like a bat signal, which I assume is a rune calling to the Tarnished, and a Tarnished that looks similar to the Vagabond, but not quite the same. Then a magnificent new…enemy? NPC? in gold with an absolute fuck-off sword. Cannot wait to meet her. Hopefully, she’s a friend. Then a guy in heavy armor with a holding a big pot. He’s a chonker, and his armor is reminiscent of the Veteran’s Set, but isn’t that one. That’s just what it’s closest to. Then, there is a dead white mask in a field. Or, at least everyone is assuming it’s a white mask. (Varre). But it seems to be the skin of the actual character and they have long flowing white hair (and maybe they’re just sleeping).
The next shot is the one in which I was sure it was the lower level of the Caria Manor. It’s not. After looking in the game, it’s definitely the Church of Cuckoo in either an earlier time or a different universe. Which in my mind means the regal-looking woman is a younger Rennala. Another wild theory I came up with today was that it was Ranni, but it’s not. Since I’m 99% sure it’s Raya Lucaria, that would make it Rennala. Which was my first thought, anyway.
Next is a Tarnished wearing the Raptor set galloping through the poison swamp near the Village of the Albinaurics–or something similar. I’m not wedded to that, though it does look very similar. Then there’s a portrait of a couple who a lot of people assume are Fia and some old man. He shows up later pulling his own head off. I think it’s Tanith and Rykard–and then him pulling his own head off later makes sense (because he becomes a snake). Then a brief shot of walking in an area with huge pots–maybe where they are being made? Then a shot of the prisoner Tarnished wakling up a pillar over a pool of lava. Maybe still where the pots are being made? At first I thought it was Volcano Manor, but I don’t think it is.
Then a shot of a city that at first I thought might be Leyndell, but I’m more inclined to think is Elphael. Which is where Malenia was. And in Miquella’s tree. The Haligtree. which means the tree that we see in the beginning may be the Haligtree rather than the Erdtree.
Oh wow. I’m not even halfway through the trailer. Guess this won’t just be one post.
Next up is the Wicker Man Fire Giant. Yes, another fire giant. I hope ti’s a better one to fight than the one in the main game–who is boring and not skippable. And infuriating. Although I will say that it was partly my fault because I skimped so hard on my Vigor. I only had 18 Vigor until I wanted to use my Mimic Tear–which takes 21 Vigor (because you use HP to call it) and leaves you with 20 HP. I probably had it at 22 or 23 by the time I met up with the Fire Giant in the main game. And he could one-shot me. I cannot stand fighting a boss who can one-shot me. And, yes, it was my fault for skimping on my Vigor, but still. I was so mad about it, I summoned two humans to help me with that fight–and I have no guilt about it.
That one also had the most HP in the game–and it was such a boring fight. I’m hoping this one is more varied. It’s too bad because it’s such a pivotal moment in the game.
Next up, the brainsucker. No, that’s not going to be what it’s called, but that’s what it’s going to be like–and I am going to hate it. It’s like a bastardized verison of the wormface in the base game. People really did not like it, but I didn’t mind. I didn’t love it, and I’m going to hate it actually doing that to me, but it didn’t gross me out.
Last thing I want to tackle in this post is the lion boss that is not actually a lion. Or rather, it’s someone wearing the lion. As I saw pointed out several time. The lion head has horns on it and teeth of its own, but there is another set of horns (omen) under it and another set of teeth as well. In addition, the shot of the not-lion foot is very similar to a shot of Margit’s foot.
I maintain it’s him with his own version of a beast regent. I am sticking with that for now.