Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree

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Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree is FromSoftware's "largest expansion" ever

Elden Ring DLC expansion Shadow of the Erdtree finally has a release date: 21st June.

FromSoft boss Hidetaka Miyazaki told Eurogamer this is the biggest expansion the company has ever worked on.

The announcement comes with a new trailer you can watch below.

"As for George Martin's involvement, essentially it is the same as it was with the base game," said Miyazaki. "The DLC Shadow of the Erdtree is based on one part of that original mythos that he penned for us. It's not a brand new mythos that he's written specifically for Shadow of the Erdtree, he has not created something new which informed the design of the DLC. It's simply another part of the original story that we thought fit to tell as a new expansion."

Ideas for the DLC began to form around the end of Elden Ring's development, as there were remaining ideas that were "clearly not going to fit in" and would make more sense as DLC. Development then began around the time updates and patches for the base game had begun to settle down.

So what can we expect from Shadow of the Erdtree? Compared with previous games, Miyazaki said this DLC is "our largest expansion to date in terms of overall volume".

It takes place in a brand new area of a brand new map, which includes a similar structure to the original game: field areas, legacy dungeons, and other dungeons of varying scale. "In terms of pure surface area, you could think of something larger even than Limgrave in the base game," said Miyazaki.

FromSoft has also developed its approach to field design. Previously the divide between field and dungeon areas was quite distinct. "This time, we wanted to go more in depth and bring a denser and richer level design, which brings these types of layout together a little more seamlessly," said Miyazaki. "There of course will be large open areas, there of course will be legacy dungeons, but we've also experimented with something a little more in-between these as well to bring a more diverse gameplay experience."

Further, there will be over 10 new boss fights, plus plenty of new weapons, equipment and skills to find. And eight new weapon categories have been added to account for new weapon types.

https://www.eurogamer.net/elden-ring-shadow-of-the-erdtree-is-fromsoftwares-largest-expansion-ever