GamesAction RpgElden RingElden Ring’s DLC can only be reached from a very specific late game location – 13 years later, is this signature FromSoftware access method still practical?When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
GamesAction RpgElden RingElden Ring’s DLC can only be reached from a very specific late game location – 13 years later, is this signature FromSoftware access method still practical?When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: FromSoftware)
The long-awaited and much-anticipatedElden RingDLC is almost upon us,finallygiving usthe Miquella expansion we’ve wanted all along. As you might already know, the first official slice of added content to befall the Lands Between can only be accessed via Mohgwyn Palace, a spot that can be quite tricky to get to – which means if you’ve beaten the Elden Beast and have ventured into New Game+ (or beyond), you’ll need to get yourself back to this very specific late game location between now and June 20, when the DLC arrives.
DeveloperFromSoftwareis, of course, no stranger to convoluted DLC access routes. The original Dark Souls is likely the worst offender, but Dark Souls 2 and Bloodborne enforce equally strict criteria to gain entry to a stretch of content that costs actual money. Accessing Dark Souls 3’s post-release offerings, Ashes of Ariandel and The Ringed City, was far more straightforward in comparison, but with Elden Ring set to return to OG Dark Souls levels of complexity, a valid question is: why?
Souls searching
(Image credit: FromSoftware)
Before we attempt to answer that question, it’s probably worth recalling the aforementioned Dark Souls and Bloodborne DLC access routes in more detail.
Entry to Dark Souls 3’s added content simply involves heading to specific locations and either chatting to specific characters or accessing specific bonfires. Bloodborne, on the other hand, involves defeating Vicar Amelia who, no matter if you’re playing in New Game, NG+ or more, is a total bastard. Prevail here and you’re required to return to the Hunter’s Dream before acquiring The Eye of a Blood-drunk Hunter from a messenger on the floor. You’ll then head back to the Cathedral Ward area, nip through to the graveyard on the left, locate a gravestone with a corpse draped over it, hang tight for several seconds, and watch in awe as an ethereal disembodied hands reaches over the fence, clutches you tight, and transports you to the Hunter’s Nightmare, where you’ll kick off Bloodborne’s DLC.
Against the grain
(Image credit: FromSoftware)
TheElden Ring Shadow of the ErdtreeDLC access point stands at the end of a totally optional area that I missed entirely during my first playthrough. Despite having made it to Miquella’s Haligtree and having defeated Malenia (thus being up to speed with Miquella’s storyline), I didn’t actually make it to Mohgwyn Palace to defeat Mohg, Lord of Blood. The reason for this was pretty simple, because while the path to the Haligtree is well off the beaten track, there’s an easily readable order to getting there. Mohgwyn Palace, however, involves either completing White-Faced Varre’s questline (also easily missed) or being teleported via a secret Waygate located in a far-flung corner of the Consecrated Snowfield – a massive late game area that can only be accessed after finding both halves of the Hildtree Secret Medallion.
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Down with the sickness(Image credit: FromSoftware)I’m so obsessed with Elden Ring’s twisted sickness cult that my family has banned me from talking about it at home
Down with the sickness
(Image credit: FromSoftware)I’m so obsessed with Elden Ring’s twisted sickness cult that my family has banned me from talking about it at home
(Image credit: FromSoftware)
I’m so obsessed with Elden Ring’s twisted sickness cult that my family has banned me from talking about it at home
So now that the history lesson is out of the way, why do we reckon FromSoftware appears so keen, for the most part, to push these convoluted pathways to their DLC? For my money, it’s a mysticism thing. As far back as Demon’s Souls (which didn’t receive added content at all), FromSoftware has gone against the grain. Its games are renowned for being more punishing than pretty much every other action RPG in the genre. They’re unrelenting and stick rigidly to a formula that’s steadily won over more and more players, over the course of a 15-year period.
George R.R. Martin’s involvement will have undoubtedly played a part in Elden Ring’s unprecedented success at launch, but the fact that Elden Ring is Dark Souls 4 in all but name remains, again fitting the same tried and tested template FromSoftware has continually refined with each passing project. The difficulty has endured. The combat mechanics have endured. The massive bosses and sprawling landscapes have endured. The intricate routes to access DLC have endured.
Of course, the fact that we pay good money for these DLC packs makes analyzing FromSoftware’s motives, for me at least, slightly more complicated. I love the fact that the studio has interminably stuck to its guns, but likewise could totally understand if someone felt aggrieved for having paid $40 (£35) for Shadow of the Erdtree, only to learn they’re required to retread old ground for hours simply to access the thing they’ve just purchased. I think things become even less clear on the devs' end when you consider the fact Dark Souls 3 basically lets you stroll into both portions of its DLC, assuming you’d finished the base game.
I’ve fallen in love with Elden Ring’s absolute worst area – just like I did with Dark Souls and Bloodborne.
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