AAA Studios Should Learn From Shadow of the Erdtree

Elden Ring, the game of the year 2022, recently released a new trailer for a new DLC that sets new criteria for AAA studios. Elden Ring itself broke the internet with its immersive gameplay, massive open-world map, and fierce enemies while still having that classic Souls game touch. It attracts people’s attention by being more than just a DLC, like a new game part, thanks to the massive amount of additions it offers.

New Enormous Map

The first major addition to the DLC will be the new map called the Shadow Realm. For now, it’s speculated to be in a separate dimension than the already present Lands Between. But, the thing that makes this different from other game’s DLCs is its size.

The Shadow Realm is said to be equivalent to the size of Limgrave; the first location players face in Elden Ring. From my perspective, it’s a huge addition that most developers don’t usually add to DLC expansions.

Having an enormous map allows players to invest more time into the game, to understand the newly added locations, and to find the mysteries hidden in it. It would be really exciting to explore this place and tackle the various dangers present there.

The Fascinating Lore

The lore of Elden Ring is already very exciting and intriguing, and the addition of location, NPCs, and other stuff makes it even better. Elden Ring features around seven endings, each providing different playthrough experiences that have a special part in the history of Lands Between.

In my opinion, this is one of the primary aspects that makes this DLC special. Many games lack this aspect, and they just focus on adding more weapons, and game modes, but nothing that actually intrigues the people’s interest. Most of the endings are also open-ended, allowing gamers to interpret their own stories and reasons for specific events.

The hints dropped as poems or poetic words also have a huge impression. Answering many riddles and breaking the cryptic text makes the lore even more interesting.

New Characters

The DLC adds more characters and creates their relations to the already present ones, answering many of the untold questions. The prominent of these is Messmer the Impaler, who might be the offspring of Queen Marika and Miquella, whom we know very little about from the main story.

There is a lot of information on Miquella, but his whereabouts are unknown. Such mystic and mythical characters and their attachment to the story raise players’ interest and curiosity to understand their personalities fully.

Unique Weapons

Elden Ring – Shadow of the Erdtree announces new weapons and weapon categories, as seen in the past FromSoftware games. The new swords and martial arts (like in Sekiro)-based weapons are ones I am most hyped about.

These allow for a newer and richer experience and improve replayability and diversity in the game. Moreover, Elden Ring is already famous for its variety of powerful and unique builds.

In an interview, Hidetaka Miyazaki, the director of Elden Ring, said they added a new power-up system. Previously, runes were used to level up. Now it’s similar to what it is in Sekiro, getting power-ups by defeating certain bosses. I think it adds to the game’s replayability, giving people a lot more to test out in their already-perfected builds.

Menacing Enemies & Bosses

Following the tradition of unique, overly powerful, and terrifying bosses, Shadow of the Erdtree continues adding more. I am excited to see more of undefeatable bosses like Malenia. Having such entities makes the game more challenging and time-consuming.

It takes the average player to beat the game in tens of hours. In contrast, most games usually conclude in a few hours, diminishing people’s engagement and delight.

Shadow of the Erdtree Is More Than Just A DLC

Elden Ring – Shadow of the Erdtree DLC has several characteristics that make it far better than most AAA titles in the present era. It isn’t here yet, but its trailer showed a lot to us. The newly added map, an antagonist for the story, fresh weapon categories, and fearsome enemies all have hyped up the public well. In my opinion, it’s more than just a DLC.