Soon, we’ll likely hear officially about the release of Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree. The expansion is set to take the stories of the Lands Between even further and breathe life into the universe of Elden Ring as we know it.
From possible settings to new character arcs, that’s a lot to get excited for, and the community has been piling up theories about what fans can expect from the game when the DLC finally arrives. At the time of writing, the most powerful expectation lies in the campaigns length; which will spend across 20 hours of single-player adventure.
What can players expect from Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree?
For those of you who have played Elden Ring and completed its main questline, you’ll be aware of the multiple endings it has to offer. Chances are, you might have even tried your hand at getting more than one ending, making the best of the NG+ feature. However, for those of you who are new to the game altogether, there’s a lot going on in Elden Ring that has the potential to make its way into the DLC.
First things first. What is the story even going to be about? Well, there are multiple fan theories about this, and the most probable lies in Melina’s journey across the Lands Between. There’s a high chance we’ll learn more about her ‘purpose’ and how she takes the narrative forward in Shadow of the Erdtree.
Another highly possible direction is the story of Miquella, whose body is stuck (along with his storyline?) in Elden Ring. Players encounter this arc when visiting Mohg’s palace. However, there’s nothing much to his narrative, except, it should have been! After all, Miquella is an essential character to everything that has happened in Elden Ring so far.
Furthermore, there are several themes that could shape up as major points of plotlines, including time travel and the afterlife. Both of these concepts have been dealt with in the past, thanks to FromSoftware’s creative directions for the Dark Souls games, as well as Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice and Bloodborne. Perhaps, this time we can have it as an entirely playable mechanic rather than just points in the narrative.
When is the DLC set to release?
A year ago, FromSoftware made the announcement official. Along with this, came months of speculation about when exactly fans will be getting the first look at the game, in the form of a trailer or concept art. Unfortunately, nothing major has been uncovered since. Even though recently players got a look at certain Steam stats indicating the dev-debug process, it’s not indicative of a clear release window.
However, if the speculations are correct, fans can expect to hear from the studio towards the end of this month (February 2024). It’s also possible that we’ll receive a trailer for Shadow of the Erdtree, and eventually a release date around later this year or sometime in 2025. Yep, it’s possible that the wait doesn’t seem to die down.
In the meantime, however, the Elden Ring community online is full of surprises, lore deep-dives, speculations, and art projects. It’s fascinating to see the hype for the DLC find a productive outlet through the gamers. Have you been anticipating the expansion in a similar fashion? What do you think Shadow of the Erdtree will be about? Let us know in the comments below.
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