I’ve always come to FromSoftware games for the vibes. Ever sinceEternal Ring on the PS2, which saw you exploring a harrowing fantasy world where monsters had long ruled over the human occupants, it felt like you were trying to survive and eke out a purpose, no matter how fruitless it might seem. The actual context behind who you were and why you’d stumbled on this battered, broken land distatic.aayyy.com/topic/dn/’t matter, only that you felt compelled enough to embrace it.

While it woulstatic.aayyy.com/topic/dn/’t achieve global recognition until the release of Demon’s Souls in 2009, From has carried this narrative philosophy with it for decades. It rarely seeks to unfurl a simple narrative with a beginning, middle, and end, nor the binaries of good and evil. You are often a fading husk tasked with achieving the impossible, rising to a nebulous throne where your decisions can either save a dying world or doom it to further oblivion. Sometimes you can just walk on by, and FromSoftware almost never lets you know which choice is the right one to make.

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is the only FromSoftware game in the past several years that has placed you in the shoes of a named protagonist with basic motivations, pushing us to achieve an obvious goal across a game world that is largely defined by easy rules for the player to follow. Everything else has been deliberate journeys into the unknown where you stride into mysterious worlds ready to swallow you whole. How you come to interpret the monsters you fight, people you meet, and things you witness is up to you.

Note: Atmosphere is everything in FromSoftware titles, and its esoteric narratives would not be nearly as compelling if the worlds you explore weren’t so naturally mesmerising.

This is why lore YouTubers dissecting From have become so popular. Curious players like myself aren’t in a place to piece together everything ourselves, so we put our trust in talented creators like VaatiVidya to express these stories in emotional, comprehensive, and detailed ways that do more than fill in the blanks; they weave together overarching narratives across myriad masterpieces.

Nothing in these games is required reading, nor does every player feel the need to read item descriptions for their entire inventory and cross-reference cryptic bits of dialogue, so they don’t feel completely lost. But your experience isn’t weaker because of this. If anything, I embrace the mystery and my unwillingness to comprehend much of it, as entire stories are written through wayward glances across the environment, or fallen heroes and villains I stumble across on my odyssey. There is space for both of these outlooks.

Elden Ring had a range of endings and primary characters you could pursue and eventually align yourself with, but even those aren’t explained as much as you’d expect them to be. But Shadow of the Erdtree is a little different, because the expansion manages to tell a strangely cohesive story that sets out its key players and stakes moments after you enter the Realm of Shadow.

Miquella has surrendered his mortal form and split his physical and mental faculties at golden crosses found across the new open world. Lying beneath each is a quote that provides subtle narrative context, and chances are you will find supporting characters surrounding them who have their own bone to pick with the ancient lord.

I’m yet to beat the final boss myself, but I’ve been told that even after you do, you’ll be granted freedom to return to the open world and see the rest of the expansion.

Your job in this expansion is to find Miquella and figure out what they’re up to and how those events connect to the main game, while also acting as an epilogue of sorts. Years before the expansion was even revealed, fans had already theorised that it would explore Miquella and his journey in some way, because he is constantly brought up in Elden Ring but seldom ever explored in favour of his siblings or other surrounding big players.

Most of the people I talked to throughout the expansion weren’t afraid to let me know what they thought of Miquella and why they ended up in the Land of Shadow. Some would cast me aside, encourage me, or vent their trauma about this abandoned dreamscape, and what we must do to restore it.

I’m still only a handful of hours into Shadow of the Erdtree, but its smaller scope and increased focus on density has me paying far more attention to the narrative, knowing that each dungeon I conquer is yet another storytelling hallmark. I have all the information I will need to fully understand. Obviously, this is still a FromSoftware game, so there are arcs and quests you can inadvertently sabotage without the right knowledge, but right now at least, it’s more forgiving, and thus more enjoyable to see unfold.

FromSoftware games will always be the kings of atmosphere, and with each new project I’ll jump into them knowing that I don’t need a cohesive narrative to feel immersed. But when it does decide to tell a relatively easy to parse tale, I’m going to take notice.

Erdtree remains a terrifyingly beautiful glimpse into a sprawling fantasy world filled with deadly monsters and a range of fascinating dungeons to explore, but it provides us with a means to continue on that isn’t merely fueled by our own curiosity. I am ready to get to the bottom of Miquella’s plight or figure out my exact role in all of this, and whether my eventual destiny as Elden Lord will end up affecting the decisions this expansion

forces me to make.

Better yet, I actually know what’s going on. Or at least I think I do, the jury is still out on that.

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Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree

5.0/5 Released June 21, 2024 ESRB M For Mature 17+ Due To Blood and Gore, Language, Suggestive Themes, Violence Base Game Elden Ring Developer(s) FromSoftware Publisher(s) Bandai Namco Entertainment, FromSoftware Multiplayer Online Co-Op, Online Multiplayer Engine Proprietary
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Shadow of the Erdtree is the first and only DLC expansion for FromSoftware's groundbreaking Elden Ring. It takes players to a whole new region, the Land of Shadow, where a new story awaits the Tarnished.

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