Elden Ring’s upcoming expansion, Shadow of the Erdtree, has been a bit of a mystery for everyone keeping up with the announcements and interviews. In classic FromSoftware fashion, we have gotten a new story reveal trailer dropped casually on a Tuesday with no preamble or hype.
The trailer itself is typical for FromSoftware. We get a better look at the world we will be exploring, but that only leads to more questions than answers. There are answers for those willing to find them, though, and one of them may have been given away by Hidetaka Miyazaki in a recent interview.
Sites of Grace Might Be Replaced with Miquella’s Marks and Footsteps
Sites of Grace in Elden Ring are beacons of safety and rest. Seeing the golden shimmer, especially after wandering around for a long time, is met with a sigh of relief, knowing you can refill your flasks and level up. Well, these safe zones might not be there in the upcoming expansion.
The Shadow of the Erdtree story trailer had a fair bit of information hidden between the lines that can hint at what we will be doing in the Land of Shadow. One particular aspect that stood out was the golden markers forming what appeared to be a Great Rune.
Great Runes are held by all the demigod Shardbearers, and Miquella was one of them. The Rune we see emerging from the ground, which resembles a crescent moon, could act as a Site of Grace in the Land of Shadow. This might also be where we can manipulate the new ‘attack power’ buff that is exclusive to DLC areas.
Later on in the trailer, we also see one of the Tarnished brushing their hands on the ground against some sort of golden mark. In a Famitsu interview a little while ago, Hidetaka Miyazaki mentioned we would be tracing the demigod’s path by following in his footsteps. The new trailer could confirm this to be a very literal interpretation of our mission.
Elden Ring’s DLC Will Reveal Much of the Golden Order
Established by Queen Marika, the Golden Order is a religion, philosophy, and governing principle that dictates the cycle of life in the Lands Between. Going by the trailer, especially the opening segment, we are going to learn more about Queen Marika’s past in Elden Ring’s DLC, along with what role she had to play in the Land of Shadow.
We also learned more about Messmer, the antagonist of the expansion. Miyazaki has referred to him previously as a “hero,” which is an odd choice of title given what we’ve seen him do in the trailer. We also know that because of the events that occurred in the Land of Shadow, Marika had all the records and history of Messmer and the events struck from history.
That’s why we never even hear of the other realm or Messmer within the base game. We are going to be walking into an entirely new realm with little to no information, aided only by the haunting words of a demigod we have never met.
What caught your eye in the story trailer? Let us know in the comments below!
