Elden Ring DLC Shadow of the Erdtree Manages to Miss the Point Of the Story It’s Telling, and Hidetaka Miyazaki Might Need a Rewrite

The Elden Ring DLC has captured the hearts and minds of FromSoftware fans across the globe with its stellar offerings. This is coincidental, as one of the central characters in Shadow of the Erdtree is Miquella the Kind, who can win nearly undying loyalty from those he charms.

The Tarnished’s quest will take them on a long journey that ends with an inevitable fight against not one, but two demigods. It’s not an easy fight, but one fan feels small changes could have made the fight and the story feel far more worthwhile and substantial.

Elden Ring Fan Unhappy with SOTE Ending Due to Lack of Agency

Aside from Sekiro, Hidetaka Miyazaki’s games have always allowed the player to choose the ending they wish for their experience. One fan believes the same could have been done with the Elden Ring DLC, but it fell short of this objective.

Ironically, we are denied agency in SOTE’s ending
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The argument from Reddit user JeSuisBigBilly stems from the fact that there is enough evidence in the game that Miquella would not be a beacon of benevolence. It makes sense then why players would need to take down the demigod, but this should ideally have been a choice granted to the Tarnished rather than forced upon them.

Elden Ring has several endings that can be achieved, and many of these are also theorized to have led to the creation of the world of other FromSoftware titles! Each ending brings about a new age for the world, and an Age of Compassion could have been counted among them if FromSoftware so wished. The OP states that while they enjoyed the DLC, it did leave them feeling empty and wanting more from a clash that decided the fate of a world.

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The Land of Shadow is completely divorced from the current Lands Between, but Miquella is the bridge connecting the two worlds. Miyazaki had previously stated that the DLC events would not affect the endings of the base game in any way, but the story could have reached new heights of grandeur.

FromSoftware Can Improve Many Aspects of the DLC

While very important, the story is just one part of the Shadow of the Erdtree experience. Along with a new story, the studio also introduced many new weapons, spells, and items to the game. Not all of them were great, such as the Euporia, but FromSoftware has released a new patch that should tweak the damage output of this weapon, among others.

The new patch has also buffed several Spirit Ash summons, offering them better poise across the board so they are not interrupted by enemy attacks as much. This does not include the Mimic Tear summon, as that is the strongest summon in the game and doesn’t require more advantages.

Shadow of the Erdtree has been one of the best releases of the year so far, and many have called it the unofficial Game of the Year too. While it’s the only expansion planned for the game, it has cemented Elden Ring’s position in gaming history.

What would you like to see changed in the expansion’s story? Let us know in the comments below!