Hidetaka Miyazaki Is in the Habit of Ruining His Own Masterpieces, or So Elden Ring Fans Think After Completing the Most Important Event in the Storyline

Elden Ring is the culmination of everything FromSoftware has produced since disrupting the industry with Demon’s Souls. The latter was, after all, what started a nearly decade-long process that took the company from near-bankruptcy and turned it into one of the most beloved developers in the gaming world.

But Elden Ring isn’t an absolute masterpiece and has its relatively fair share of flaws. What we’re talking about today, though, is a peculiar visual flaw that stands out quite a bit, leaving some fans highly divided on what to make of it as they reach the game’s final stretch.

The Sight of a Burning Erdtree Isn’t a Pleasant One for Many Elden Ring Players

There’s little arguing with the fact that Hidetaka Miyazaki and his team have captured pure magic with Elden Ring, delivering a massive open world that feels full of possibilities on a first playthrough, compelling combat design that feels like the iterative peak of the souls formula, and rich lore that frankly, you cannot find elsewhere.

Not only that, but the addition of the unbelievably massive Shadow of the Erdtree expansion has only deepened the overall package’s appeal, all while offering new heights of challenges and giving answers to some of the base game’s biggest mysteries.

However, for some players, the game falters when it comes to maintaining the visuals near its end. Specifically, the burning Erdtree, while visually striking, doesn’t evoke the same awe as its golden, ethereal form.

I don’t like burning the Erdtree
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Thematically, it brings about feelings of a near-crisis of faith, as if we broke some cosmic rule that was never meant to break. The once serene and majestic centerpiece of the Lands Between transforms into a fiery ruin, with a reddish sky covered in embers.

It’s not a pleasant sight by any stretch of the word, and it simply gives the Lands Between a rather hellish feel.

That said, it is understandable why this change is jarring. It is, after all, a shift that exaggerates the emotional impact of the final chapters—for instance, seeing the ruined Leyndell after exploring the glorious city a few hours ago against the burning Erdtree serving as a backdrop can be quite a sight to digest.

It turns what was once a symbol of peace into a hellish reminder of the player’s destructive actions throughout their journey.

Players in Elden Ring Should Be Given a Choice on How the Lands Between Looks Afterwards

Burning the Erdtree doesn’t just change the landscape—it alters the fates of beloved characters in ways that are difficult to process and even think about in certain cases, leaving you with nothing but a gaping emptiness inside.

Blaidd, the loyal half-wolf, loses his mind and is forced to turn against the player and Ranni. Iji becomes a burning corpse at the hands of the Black Knife Assassins. Gideon, well, gets stun-locked to death by our hands.

Others, like the innocent Boggart, meet gruesome fates at the hands of the Dung Eater, the worst of the bunch. Even the Roundtable Hold isn’t spared, with Hewg and his “adoptive daughter,” Roderika, becoming engulfed in the flames.

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In the default ending, the player is left in a sort of emotional purgatory, isolated with only the weight of their actions to bear and their destiny to complete. It’s no wonder many players gravitate toward the Frenzied Flame ending, perhaps as a way to escape this overwhelming sense of despair.

But on a serious level, FromSoftware should have added an option to let players decide how they want The Lands Between to be upon the game’s completion; having to live with the sight of the Erdtree unless we start New Game+ isn’t an ideal situation, after all.

With that said, though, what are your thoughts on this? Should players be allowed to set how the Lands Between looks after completing a playthrough? Let us know in the comments below.