Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree | Expansion to Elden Ring | June 21, £35 | Gameplay trailer, interviews out now

Product page wrote:The Shadow of the Erdtree expansion features an all-new story set in the Land of Shadow imbued with mystery, perilous dungeons, and new enemies, weapons and equipment.

Discover uncharted territories, face formidable adversaries, and revel in the satisfying triumph of victory. Dive into the riveting interplay of characters, where drama and intrigue intertwine, that create an immersive experience to savor and enjoy.

site23 wrote:Gonna try to hit myself in the head with a brick just hard enough that I'm in a coma til June.

Victor Mildew wrote:

site23 wrote:Gonna try to hit myself in the head with a brick just hard enough that I'm in a coma til June.

I'll hit you if you hit me. Hopefully we'll double K.O. and wake up in June.

Godzilla wrote:Is it a standalone game (new create a character) or is it the same world but new areas so I can use my current saved character?

jawa_ wrote:EDIT: Looks like this expansion is for current gen systems only.

IGN wrote:Q. Can you set the stage for us with Shadow of the Erdtree? Where is it taking place? [...]
Miyazaki: First of all, the setting of Shadow of the Erdtree is a brand new land. It's a brand new map separate from the Lands Between. [...]

Q. Speaking of this new land that we're traveling to, how is it structured? Is it structured in very much the same way as the Lands Between, where there are legacy dungeons and minor dungeons? [...]
Miyazaki: Yes. We think players can expect a similar experience to what they had with the base game. This is going to be structured in a similar way, as you said, with open field maps, with large scale legacy dungeons, and with small to medium scale legacies as well. [...]

Q. Can you approximate the size of the world compared to the world in the base game?
Miyazaki: It's hard to answer without giving away too much and to a high degree of accuracy, but if you think in terms of scale or size, it's probably comparable, if not larger, than the area of Limgrave from the base game.

Q. [...] How do you approach difficulty with a DLC such as this?
Miyazaki: Our general approach to difficulty has of course not changed to Elden Ring. [...] We do want to stress that there's still a freedom of approach and a breadth of strategy to these encounters. [...] To our more hardcore players, they will find optional bosses who have been tuned in a similar way to the likes of Malenia, who I'm sure you remember from the base game, who are not crucial.

Eurogamer wrote:[...] Compared with previous games, Miyazaki said this DLC is "our largest expansion to date in terms of overall volume".

[...] 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.

[...] Further, there will be over ten 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.

Drej wrote:

Godzilla wrote:Is it a standalone game (new create a character) or is it the same world but new areas so I can use my current saved character?

From the trailer It seems like the DLC is triggered at Mog's palace, but I am also curious to know if we can use our saved characters. Kinda tempted to start a new character for this..... but I don't know if I can go through all the initial struggles again

site23 wrote:

IGN wrote:
Q. [...] How do you approach difficulty with a DLC such as this?
Miyazaki: Our general approach to difficulty has of course not changed to Elden Ring. [...] We do want to stress that there's still a freedom of approach and a breadth of strategy to these encounters. [...] To our more hardcore players, they will find optional bosses who have been tuned in a similar way to the likes of Malenia, who I'm sure you remember from the base game, who are not crucial.

site23 wrote:Interviews of Miyazaki by IGN here: https://www.ign.com/articles/hidetaka-miyazaki-elden-ring-shadow-of-the-erdtree-interview
... and by Eurogamer here: https://www.eurogamer.net/elden-ring-shadow-of-the-erdtree-is-fromsoftwares-largest-expansion-ever

There were bits of those interviews which were a bit spoiler-y for my taste. (It was nothing major, but I let my eyes glaze over when they were talking about specific bosses -- I don't want to know, I'll find that out when I play it!)

So, I've summarised some key non-spoiler info below in case it helps others get hyped while staying as blind as possible.

IGN wrote:Q. Can you set the stage for us with Shadow of the Erdtree? Where is it taking place? [...]
Miyazaki: First of all, the setting of Shadow of the Erdtree is a brand new land. It's a brand new map separate from the Lands Between. [...]

Q. Speaking of this new land that we're traveling to, how is it structured? Is it structured in very much the same way as the Lands Between, where there are legacy dungeons and minor dungeons? [...]
Miyazaki: Yes. We think players can expect a similar experience to what they had with the base game. This is going to be structured in a similar way, as you said, with open field maps, with large scale legacy dungeons, and with small to medium scale legacies as well. [...]

Q. Can you approximate the size of the world compared to the world in the base game?
Miyazaki: It's hard to answer without giving away too much and to a high degree of accuracy, but if you think in terms of scale or size, it's probably comparable, if not larger, than the area of Limgrave from the base game.

Q. [...] How do you approach difficulty with a DLC such as this?
Miyazaki: Our general approach to difficulty has of course not changed to Elden Ring. [...] We do want to stress that there's still a freedom of approach and a breadth of strategy to these encounters. [...] To our more hardcore players, they will find optional bosses who have been tuned in a similar way to the likes of Malenia, who I'm sure you remember from the base game, who are not crucial.

Eurogamer wrote:[...] Compared with previous games, Miyazaki said this DLC is "our largest expansion to date in terms of overall volume".

[...] 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.

[...] Further, there will be over ten 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.

In summary, he says it's bigger than any previous Souls DLC, comprising a completely new area larger than Limgrave and with an emphasis on very dense level design. In this dense area there are legacy dungeons (like Stormveil), minor dungeons (like tombs or caves), and also open areas -- though their goal is for the open areas to be rich enough that they blend with the legacy dungeons. The expansion contains over ten major bosses and so many new weapons that they had to create eight new weapon categories.

It sounds really good!!