Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree launched some weeks ago, meaning players have hopefully managed to surmount its immensely difficult fights (the last one in particular) and roll credits on the expansion. However, a contingent of players have found themselves underwhelmed by the conclusion, and the expansion’s narrative content as a whole, since Shadow of the Erdtree is Elden Ring’s only DLC and bears the weight of sending off one of the biggest games of our time.
Some have expressed frustration with the ramifications, or lack thereof, of Shadow of the Erdtree. Many expected characters from the base game to return in some way, react to the events of the expansion, or simply play a bigger role in it, especially ones who have close ties to Miquella, the DLC’s central character. The lack of consequence, and the absence of new dialogue that’d further the player’s understanding of the story, have been a sore point for folks who are starved for morsels of Elden Ring’s massive, sometimes inscrutable narrative.
There’s a contingent of folks who are especially disappointed in the final cutscene of the DLC, feeling that it does very little to pay off the experience that preceded it. That sentiment is likely bred from the fact that Shadow of the Erdtree ends in a massive fight. I’m talking, like, a huge pain in the ass that is even rigged against the player thanks to insane hitboxes, seemingly unavoidable attacks, and the kinds of long combos that Elden Ring has become infamous for doubling down on. Once you have beaten that absolute unit of a final boss, there’s a cutscene that can be triggered, and many fans of the game are none too pleased with its brevity and lack of oomph, for lack of a better word.
Spoilers for Shadow of the Erdtree’s ending follow.
For many, this ending to Elden Ring’s saga seems like a whimper rather than a triumphant bang. The scene is straightforward enough (or as clean-cut as FromSoftware’s esoterica can be) and that appears to be the source of the tension. Miquella, the quintessential character of the entire expansion, appears for the first time and effectively doubles down on his goal, or at least restates it. There is no pomp to the affair. Miquella is kneeling throughout the scene, which takes place in a void save for the nearby throne of the Elden Lord, and it is over before you know it. It betrays no significant new insight.
I won’t lie: this does kind of suck ass. I actually get the contingent who were maybe expecting more from the end of this DLC. Elden Ring is an epic, and if this is the end of it, yeah, it’s not exactly what I would’ve expected. But while some are fixated on the short nature of the ending, others are pissed because of how little it appears to add to the story, or at the least their understanding of it all.
Elden Ring, like most of FromSoftware’s oeuvre, is fascinating to digest and think about. I love people who sniff out bits of lore and propose theories about the motivations of characters and the larger schemings of the world. I too have fallen asleep to many Vaatividya videos piercing together scraps of item descriptions into a cogent and deeply tragic narrative. However, these practices have also borne a kind of fan that demands “truth” from these games. People who expect answers for their sleuthing and investment. In my humble opinion, those folks are playing these games—and engaging with art—in a reductive manner, and only getting in the way of their own enjoyment.
Read More: Elden Ring: Shadow Of The Erdtree’s Story, Explained
The absolute truth of these games is supposed to elide you, you dingbats. Whatever absolute meaning you are trying to wring from them flies in the face of the entire point of FromSoft’s preferred method of storytelling. If Miyazaki wanted players to know everything about the game, he and his team could’ve simply written it out for you in a game rich with endless dialogue, exposition, and scenes pontificating on every minute detail. The fact that these games have never fit that mold should have clued you all into an obvious fact: there is no truth waiting for you at the center of Elden Ring or its expansion.
Disgruntled players who can’t believe that Shadow of the Erdtree would end in such an abrupt and curt manner are outright hoping that there’s a secret ending to be uncovered. Though Elden Ring didn’t have a secret one, it did feature multiple endings depending on what quests you completed and what force/faction you ultimately aligned with. Shadow of the Erdtree lacks a similar framework, and Miyazaki has outright stated that the DLC wouldn’t impact the endings already baked into the game, but that hasn’t stopped a select few from praying that those claims were little more than a red herring.
I find how little I understand Elden Ring to be a fucking joy, y’all. When I do come back to it, I love trying to click the puzzle pieces together. Some of them fit, and others don’t. Some of them may never click and that’s okay. I can master the game’s mechanics and dog-walk half of these bosses in my sleep, but there’s something about the fact that I may never really understand all of its mysteries, including Miquella’s motivations for abandoning the Lands Between and seeking godhood, or whatever people are bent out of shape about. I’ll never really stop exploring the larger-than-life cast of Elden Ring and that keeps the thrill of it alive. I don’t need to know everything about Elden Ring to know that I love it and love being engaged by it. Believe it or not, that’s enough.