Yes, Elden Ring's Shadow of the Erdtree will have a poison swamp
Well, Elden Ring's Shadow of the Erdtree DLC has been revealed, and it's a testament to the powers of FromSoftware that it's been the most exciting trailer debut in a day that also featured a Nintendo presentation.
The DLC is ready to take off, and as players gear up to enter the Land of Shadow, they're picking the trailer apart to discover what new weapons, armour, and abilities await them on their new dastardly, deadly, journey.
But there's one thing you won't pick up from the trailer alone - and it's a feature of the DLC that fans were dreading would appear.
Shadow of the Erdtree features a poison swamp
Click to enlargeWe're a long way from Blighttown, but that doesn't mean its sickly influence won't stretch into this new area of The Lands Between.
Hidetaka Miyazaki sat down with Eurogamer in the run-up to the big trailer release for Shadow of the Erdtree, and when he was asked about the potential appearance of a poison swamp, he was candid.
"In a word, yes," says Miyazaki. "But this was actually a point of introspection for me after creating the base game. It was only after creating it that I realised I really like to create poisoned swamps. And this was a little place of introspection and reflection for me.
"So maybe, when players reach the poisoned swamp in the DLC, they will feel a little bit of this retrospection." Poison swamps have been the scourge of many fans’ fun in FromSoftware games ever since the first Dark Souls, inflicting status effects on players that drain their health gradually if they stand in them too long.
Poison swamps and FromSoft go hand in hand, with many listicles on the internet ranking the developer's games based on their swamps. They're an agonising feature, but at least there might be enough changes to make the experience feel a little less grim than it was in Bloodborne.
When is Shadow of the Erdtree coming out?
Click to enlargeThank goodness, we have the answer to the question we've been begging for a year - we actually have a release date for Elden Ring's Shadow of the Erdtree DLC.
The pack will be released on June 21, 2024, which is a little further away than some fans predicted, but at least we have our first look to get us excited. From its monsters to its new strafe ability, we're combing through the trailer with a fine-tooth comb. The next era of Elden Ring is here, and might we venture to say it could be better than ever.
