As we famous in our preview of Shadow of the Erdtree final week, the enlargement’s new map is notably totally different from the Lands Between, which we explored in Elden Ring. It is smaller, sure, but additionally denser with enemies, actions, and notable areas, and never fairly so easy to navigate. You will discover extra cliffs, valleys, and bridges blockading new areas you will have first thought you’d be capable to gallop to.
FromSoftware boss Hidetaka Miyazaki stated that the crew deliberate for this enlargement to be huge from the beginning, as a result of they wished gamers “to expertise that sense of discovery, and that sense of marvel and exploration once more,” and so they wanted a big scale map “to uphold and bolster that.”
However how did the extra intricate design of the brand new world map come about? After we spoke for PC Gamer’s cowl story on Shadow of the Erdtree, I requested Miyazaki if there was a bit extra DNA from Darkish Souls’ tightly interconnected map right here, this time.
“There was a way of that as we have been constructing it,” he stated. “I feel what you are describing there may be what we tried to realize this time, with one thing that is not fairly open subject and never fairly legacy dungeon. It is one thing that sort of blends the 2 collectively and creates that higher sense of verticality. Whilst you do have the massive open subject space… we wished to not simply seize the sense of scale and granularity, however the sense of selection as nicely. So we hope what you have been experiencing was that try so as to add to the number of how we house out and construction the open subject to the legacy dungeons.”
Once I performed by Elden Ring again in 2022, I liked a number of the freedom and adaptability its open world design supplied, but additionally discovered myself worn out by the scope of all of it and a number of the repeated boss battles. It was a grand accomplishment but additionally made me pine for FromSoftware to return to a recreation the dimensions of Darkish Souls 1 (with all of the experience the studio has picked up within the decade since). Miyazaki’s feedback made me marvel, although, if one other FromSoftware open world recreation may retain Elden Ring’s mass enchantment whereas nonetheless being a bit slimmed down—much less “open house between factors of curiosity” and extra, simply, of curiosity.
Simpler stated than carried out, I do know. Nonetheless, I hope this DLC factors in direction of what to anticipate from Miyazaki’s subsequent recreation. And as soon as we have absolutely explored the DLC’s new Land of Shadow, we’ll have a greater sense of simply how efficiently FromSoft blurred the strains between the open world and its intricate legacy dungeons. Perhaps in no matter comes subsequent, the 2 will successfully really feel one and the identical.
Look out for extra from Shadow of the Erdtree—together with our cowl story dropping on-line—earlier than the enlargement’s launch.
