Summary
While many of the most impressive events inElden Ringrevolve around boss fights, theShadow of the Erdtreeintroduces a number of set pieces that go beyond a cutscene and brutal encounter. However, what could have potentially been one of the best events in the game is quickly made underwhelming byElden Ring’s overuse of repeating boss fights.
Hidden through a side entrance into the Shadow Keep dungeon, players can find the Church District, a waterlogged location where progression mostly takes place by walking along rooftops. Eventually, though, that progression leads to draining the water and uncovering all the secrets thatElden Ringhad previously been hiding below the surface, including some monsters that had been making themselves known as players explored.
Elden Ring’s Long Walk for a Short Drink of Water
Setting the Stage for an Epic Ambush
To set the stage for this event, players find themselves arriving at the Shadow Keep Church District from a secondary entrance to the east of the dungeon. Once there, players are then greeted with a flooded district that requires jumping around on the rooftops in order to make it far enough to either reach the Specimen Storehouse, or eventually drain the mostsecret filled Legacy Dungeon inShadow of the Erdtree. However, as the player continues to jump from roof to roof of these drowned ruins, the area begins to rumble and some of the trees sticking out of the water start to get knocked over.
Players on controller will also feel some rumbling as they head through, their camera shaking at the same time to really give some weight to whatever creature appears to be lurking under the surface of the flooded Church District. Some of the event triggers that cause extra shaking and the sounds of a large creature swimming under the water are scattered throughout the area, including lying in wait for players to hunt down the items sprinkled across the district. It’s a chilling experience on a first trip through this area, promising to reward players with an intense fight and a puzzle that brings someclassicDark Soulsdesign intoElden Ring.
A Payoff Weakened by Repetition
With all the setup that went into making the Church District feel alive and dangerous, and a mysterious danger lurking under the water, this would have been a great chance to introduce players to a new aquatic enemy. Unfortunately, what players find after draining the water and exploring the lower areas of the Church District are two ofElden Ring’s notorious Ulcerated Tree Spirits. These are the lesser, non-boss variants of the Tree Spirits that are scattered all over the Lands Between, with little alteration made for these Shadow Lands versions aside from a chunk of them being missing to show the negative effects of living in the new location.
Pitting players against a couple of Ulcerated Tree Spirits that erupt from the ground is nothing new forElden Ring. In fact, this is such a common occurrence for the base game, that finding any in the DLC at all is enough to be a disappointment on its own, let alone all the pomp and circumstance added to these two specific enemies. With so many original enemies added toShadow of the Erdtreelike Rellanaor the Golden Hippopotamus, having another set of Ulcerated Tree Spirits appear for this set piece comes off as an uninspired choice. Not to say that FromSoftware should have taken the extra months needed to create a completely unique encounter for this specific event, but even something as simple as an extra-large crab or crayfish would have been more impressive than what wound up holding this place.
Elden Ring
WHERE TO PLAY
ELDEN RING, developed by FromSoftware, Inc. and BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Inc., is a fantasy action-RPG adventure set within a world created by Hidetaka Miyazaki and George R.R. Martin. Danger and discovery lurk around every corner in FromSoftware’s largest game to date. Hidetaka Miyazaki - President and Game Director of FromSoftware Inc. Known for directing critically-acclaimed games in beloved franchises including Armored Core and Dark Souls.George R.R. Martin is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of many novels, including the acclaimed series A Song of Ice and Fire - A Game of Thrones, A Clash of Kings, A Storm of Swords, A Feast For Crows, and A Dance with Dragons. As a writer-producer, he has worked on The Twilight Zone, Beauty and the Beast, and various feature films and pilots that were never made. He lives with the lovely Parris in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
