Pixel Sundays: Elden Ring Explained – Unveiling the Lore & History

9 June 2024 at 10:00 in Gaming News with no comments
Elden Ring

Summary


What is Elden Ring?

Elden Ring is a Soulslike game from FromSoftware, the developers of the Dark Souls games as well as other well-known Soulslike titles such as Bloodborne and Sekiro Shadows Die Twice. It is the latest Soulslike from FromSoftware, which was released only a few years ago. This game was very popular from the start and deservedly became the game of the year in 2022.

But now, Elden Ring is back in the hype after two years. The reason: the new and first Elden Ring DLC, Shadow of the Erdtree. This DLC, as usual for FromSoftware, will be large and bring many new things to the game, but more on that later. Let’s start with the main game first.

Elden Ring

Elden Ring

As mentioned, Elden Ring was released in 2022, to be exact on February 25, for PC, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, and Xbox One. This game was born from the desire of lead developer Hidetaka Miyazaki, who wanted to collaborate with George R.R. Martin, known for A Song of Ice and Fire (Game of Thrones). In Elden Ring, George R.R. Martin took care of the backstory and mythology. The game enjoyed very high popularity, as mentioned earlier. Within a year, the game sold over 20 million copies.

Elden Ring Story

The following section contains some spoilers for the Elden Ring story. If you don’t want to be spoiled, you can simply click here to skip the story part.

Elden Ring

Let’s get to the story of Elden Ring, which, as just mentioned, was largely designed by George R.R. Martin. Many who have played Elden Ring might think: Was there a story? Yes, there is indeed a story in Elden Ring, but it is not essential to play the game. Many players simply explore the open world of Elden Ring and fight their way through numerous bosses. To follow the story of Elden Ring directly in the game, you should look at a guide on how to “properly” play through the game. Only then will you get the full chronological story, in which some NPCs and, of course, the Elden Ring play a significant role.

The story of Elden Ring takes place in the Lands Between. This world was ruled by the divine Queen Marika and her husband Godfrey, the first Elden Lord. They had their power through the Elden Ring, a powerful divine artifact. This maintained order in the world and was protected by the Erdtree.

Elden Ring

But then disaster struck, known as the “Shattering.” This all happened on the “Night of the Black Knives,” when some assassins killed several of Marika’s demigod children, including her firstborn Godwyn the Golden. As Marika had now lost her faith and wanted to be free, she destroyed the Elden Ring and was punished by being imprisoned in the great Erdtree to serve as the next vessel for the Elden Ring. But this led to a war among the remaining demigods, a war for the fragments of the Elden Ring, the Great Runes. With these, each wanted to reassemble the ring to gain the power of the Elden Lord. But this power struggle devastated the Lands Between, resulting in a 5000-year war that never ended and never produced a winner.

But order must be restored. There is only one way: A new Elden Lord must emerge to restore the Elden Ring. And this is where you come into the game, playing as a Tarnished. The Tarnished is a banished warrior caste that had once lost the grace of the Erdtree and is now called back to the Lands Between. The Tarnished have been tasked with collecting the Great Runes and restoring the Elden Ring. By doing so, they become the new Elden Lord and can restore order in the world.

On the way to finding all the Great Runes, you will encounter several characters who want to assist you. First, you meet Melina, who proposes a partnership to support you on your journey to the Erdtree. But Ranni, one of the three witches, also offers you a partnership.

Elden Ring

The Tarnished realizes during the game that the Elden Ring gives him the power to shape the world according to his wishes if he really uses Marika’s body as a vessel. Elden Ring has a total of 6 different endings. To achieve all the achievements, you need three of these endings, so to get 100% of the achievements, you have to play through the game three times, which is not easy at all.

Gameplay

Elden Ring is a classic Soulslike. So, every enemy poses a threat and can kill you with a few hits. But you can become stronger, of course. By defeating enemies, you earn Runes. You can use these runes to level up your character. For example, you can increase your health or stamina or boost your strength. Your weapons scale with specific abilities, allowing you to deal more damage. You can also further improve these weapons with gems at the blacksmith. Additionally, using magic is possible in Elden Ring, allowing you to summon helpers or injure your enemies from greater distances.

Elden Ring

But besides the regular enemies, Elden Ring also has brutal boss fights, in which you can die over 100 times. There are over 160 bosses in total that you can find in the world, but nearly all are optional. Technically, only four of these bosses need to be defeated to complete the game. Since it is an open-world game, you can skip many bosses entirely. But let’s talk a bit about the beautiful open world of Elden Ring.

In Elden Ring, no one tells you what to do; you can go wherever you want and discover new things and bosses. You travel through various stunning and breathtaking sceneries. To move faster through the world, you have a mount from which you can also attack. Unlike Dark Souls, you can refill your healing flasks without a rest stop in this open-world game. If you defeat entire groups of enemies, your healing flasks partially refill, so you don’t have to return to Sites of Grace as often to heal.

Elden Ring DLC Shadow of the Erdtree

Now let’s talk about the Elden Ring DLC, Shadow of the Erdtree, which is set to be released on June 21 for PC, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, and Xbox One. The DLC Shadow of the Erdtree was announced on February 28 and has excited many fans. Unfortunately, this DLC will not be free. Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree will cost €39.99, but later I’ll show you a way to save even more.

Elden Ring

Those familiar with FromSoftware know that the DLCs are always quite large and bring many new things to the game, and it will be the same with Shadow of the Erdtree.

You can expect two entirely new areas: the Land of Shadow, a place shrouded by the Erdtree where the goddess Marika first set foot. In this land, you will discover many dark secrets of the world and encounter other people following in Marika’s footsteps. The second area is Belurat, a new dungeon. But that’s not all. Besides new areas, there are 8 new weapon types, three new major bosses, 9 new spells, new armors, new NPCs, and much more.

Let’s talk about the new weapon types. The base game already had 30 different weapon types and a total of 309 weapons. Now, 8 more weapon types are added. The new weapon types are: light greatswords, great katanas, perfume bottles, beast claws, close combat arts, reverse swords, throwing weapons, and thrust shields.

Elden Ring

The DLC also introduces some new mechanics, such as the new level-scaling mechanic. This mechanic is entirely optional; if you think it affects the game too much, you can ignore it completely. But let’s talk about how it works. You can now find “Scadurtree Fragments.” Once you have them, a new option will appear at the Sites of Grace. Here you can increase your level in “Scadurtree Blessing.” This increases the damage you deal and reduces the damage you take. However, this strength only applies in the Land of Shadow; once you leave, you will lose this strength again.

The spirit ashes in Elden Ring have also been slightly adjusted for Shadow of the Erdtree. You can now boost spirit ashes and summons to a level above +10. This means they will continue to scale for the DLC. But this is also purely optional and does not have to be done.

Save on Elden Ring and Shadow of the Erdtree

Are you interested in Elden Ring or want to buy Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree at the best price? Then you should definitely check out AllKeyShop. AllKeyShop compares the prices of video games from more than 60 verified retailers for you. This way, AllKeyShop can always tell you where to find the game you are looking for at the best price. Below, we have directly compared the prices of Elden Ring and Shadow of the Erdtree for you. Save now on all your games with AllKeyShop.

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By Kilian Kilian

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