Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree Map Combines Tradition with Modernity. 'We Wanted to Not Just Capture the Sense of Scale and Granularity, but the Sense of Variety as Well'
The map in the upcoming Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree should appeal to fans of both the base and Dark Souls games.
One of the most important elements of Elden Ring, which is appreciated by many fans, is the exploration of the Lands Between. However, it didn't appeal to everyone as much because of the overly extensive areas, repetitive motifs in side dungeons, and copied bosses.For this reason, many people missed the more classic world structure known from the Dark Souls series.
During the recent show, the editor of PC Gamer asked the father of these games - Hidetaki Miyazaki - whether the upcoming Shadow of the Erdtree DLC will introduce any changes in this matter.
I think what you're describing there is what we tried to achieve this time, with something that's not quite open field and not quite legacy dungeon. It's something that kind of blends the two together and creates that better sense of verticality. While you do have the large open field area… we wanted to not just capture the sense of scale and granularity, but the sense of variety as well. So we hope what you were experiencing was that attempt to add to the variety of how we space out and structure the open field to the legacy dungeons.
We already know that the expansion for Elden Ring will be the largest one that the studio has developed so far. Completing it will require between 30 and 40 hours, and the map is intended to be approximately the size of the combined areas of Limgrave, Weeping Peninsula, and a portion of Caelid. Such sizes, according to Miyazaki, were necessary for players to "experience that sense of discovery, and that sense of wonder and exploration again."
Nevertheless, his words provide hope that the new world will be a bit leaner. It will maintain the characteristic grandeur of Elden, while also ensuring fewer empty spaces between interesting locations and more of the latter.
If this is confirmed, Shadow of the Erdtree should satisfy fans of both Dark Souls and Elden Ring. Will it? We will find out on June 21, when the expansion will be released on PC, PS4, PS5, XOne, and XSX/X consoles.
