Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree will have a poison swamp, after much reflection by Miyazaki 

FromSoftware released the latest trailer for the Elden Ring “Shadow of the Erdtree” DLC on February 22. According to FromSoftware’s CEO and director of Elden Ring Hidetaka Miyazaki, Shadow of the Erdtree will be the largest DLC the company has produced to date. It will also include one of Miyazaki’s beloved poison swamps (source: Eurogamer). 

The Shadow of the Erdtree DLC is set in the Land of Shadow, where Queen Marika descended. This is a brand-new map physically separate from the Lands Between, and it features seamlessly connected fields and dungeons, allowing a high degree of freedom. 

Speaking to Eurogamer, Miyazaki clarified that there was no additional writing done by George R.R. Martin specifically for the DLC, and that it was simply based on one part of Elden Ring’s original lore  

Miyazaki also commented that Shadow of the Erdtree will be FromSoftware’s largest DLC to date in terms of volume.  It will feature a new map with new areas and dungeons of various sizes to explore. In terms of surface area, the new map will apparently exceed that of Limgrave in the base game. 

Furthermore, Shadow of the Erdtree is expected to feature more than 10 boss fights, as well as additional equipment, skills and 8 new weapon types. The DLC will even include challenges on par with the Malenia, Blade of Miquella boss fight in terms of difficulty. 

But above all, players can also expect to have another run-in with poison swamps, as Miyazaki has unfailingly included one in Shadow of the Erdtree too. Miyazaki’s love of swamps is well known among players, and he has even commented this quirk of his in the past, saying that he just can’t help himself and before he knows it, he’s made another one.  It seems he has grown even more self-aware recently, as he mentions that a lot of “reflection and introspection” on his love of swamps went into creating the one for the upcoming DLC. Players can look forward to finding out for themselves how this creative process shaped Miyazaki’s latest deadly swamp.   

The Elden Ring DLC “Shadow of the Erdtree ” is scheduled for release on June 21 for the PC (Steam), PS4/PS5 and Xbox series X|S/Xbox One. 

Written by. Amber V based on the original Japanese article (original article’s publication date: 2024-02-22 09:45 JST)