Messmer and all things you missed in Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree reveal trailer

Elden Ring fans have been waiting for it for a long, long time - and today they finally got their first look at the upcoming expansion for the smash-hit game as publisher Bandai Namco today dropped a gameplay reveal trailer for 'Shadow of the Erdtree'

The 3-minute trailer for the expansion, watched live by over 550,000 viewers, showed off new locations, monsters and features including a focus on Elden Ring background character Miquella, brother of Malenia as well as confirming a much-rumoured June 2024 release date as 21st June. It's coming!

The focus of Miquella was also rumored - with the blond figure in the promo believed to be him.

Miquella shown in Shadow of the Erdtree's promo image.Bandai Namco

In the lore of Elden Ring, Miquella was doomed to eternal youth and devised to escape that fate via the use of a cocoon stored in the Haligtree (an in-game location and home to a boss fight with Malenia, now dealing with curses of her own). Those circumstances caused the slumbering Miquella to miss the action of the story that unfolds before the player in Elden Ring - so Miquella's inclusion in the expansion was an obvious prediction and an open goal.

With the line of narration in the new trailer that ponders 'just what kind Miquella is doing here.', as well as the shots of Miquella's cocoon, it's very clear just who will be taking the lead in Shadow of the Erdtree.

But with a fairly lengthy teaser, there are plenty of details to dig into.

Here are a few more things you might've missed in the Shadow of the Erdtree trailer:

The withered arm and a new realm

It's clear how Elden Ring players will access the Shadow of the Erdtree content in June.

The remaining trace of Shadow of the Erdtree figure Miquella is within his cocoon - a withered arm hanging from the shell of it.

Miquella's withered armBandai Namco

Specifically, this is shown and mentioned within the new trailer along with the line: "Touch the withered arm and travel to the realm of shadow."

They couldn't spell it out any clearer than that.

It's unknown how far you'd need to get within an Elden Ring save file to access this DLC as of writing, but you can safely assume you'd need to be at least close to halfway through the game's existing content before you can touch that withered arm, and indeed access this realm of shadow.

Messmer the Impaler

The villainous redhead fond of snakes who dominates plenty of the trailer is known as Messmer The Impaler - and you can get a statue of them paired with the game and DLC in a special edition.

But who is Messmer? There is of course the text that accompanies the trailer: “The Land of Shadow. A place obscured by the Erdtree. Where the goddess Marika first set foot. A land purged in an unsung battle. Set ablaze by Messmer’s flame. It was to this land that Miquella departed. Divesting himself of his flesh, his strength, his lineage. Of all things Golden. And now Miquella awaits the return of his promised Lord.”

Fan theories are starting to link Messmer to both Rykard (via snakes) and Marika (via a voice line calling her mother), but information is thin on the ground. Apart from the information in the trailer, and that description, not a great deal is known about Messmer, but one location in game could refer to the character. Impaler's Catacombs is a dungeon tacked onto the side of the Weeping Peninsula - but it already has a boss - Erdtree Burial Watchdog and doesn't inhabit the same 'realm' as Messmer.

Fans looking to dig into their backstory as much as they did with Miquella and Malenia will have to wait until the DLC drops.

Miquella's voice?

Key to Elden Ring is the Grace of Gold, which as explained by the Elden Ring Wiki, gives life to the player character; Tarnished.

That explanation makes this trailer statement a bit matter of fact: "Those stripped of the Grace of Gold shall all meet death."

Well, right, you - the Tarnished - die if you were stripped of the essence that is giving you life. It seems fairly prescient that it remains a focus, though. Gold is a colour linked to Miquella often in the lore of Elden Ring so it might be possible that this line - or another - offers a Miquella voice reveal within the trailer.

Unarmed/martial arts combat

Many Elden Ring weapons offer additional movements tied into heavy combos - and there'll be more come Shadow of the Erdtree.

Especially when it comes to dealing out some hands to mobs. Unarmed combat isn't currently a major focus of Elden Ring, but it looks as though the game might take some learning from Sekiro.

Even if these foot weapons are not truly 'unarmed', as seen on X/Twitter:

Possible Berserk reference

From Software games and Berserk go hand-in-hand. The tone of Dark Souls, Elden Ring and Demon Souls has linked up with the vibe of Kentaro Miura's hideously dark manga series like no other - and eagle-eyed Redditors spotted a potential reference with one of the flamed-cloaked enemies displayed in the new trailer.

Enjoy doing battle with this new fire giant.

A new swamp?

From Software love their awful swamps that consume players by the thousands - and Shadow of the Erdtree looks to double up on the offerings in Elden Ring.

A new dilapidated area seems to exist in this new shadow realm, and it'll be sure to bring plenty of disgusting mobs and enemies to meet players before they get to Messmer, Miquella and conclude this new DLC.

Thanks a lot, FromSoft.

Releasing in 2022, Elden Ring quickly became a cultural phenomenon and broke into mainstream culture in a way that From Software stablemates Bloodborne, Dark Souls, Sekiro and Demon Souls didn't manage (despite being excellent games in their own right).

One such example of Elden Ring breaking boundaries was when X owner Elon Musk was roundly rinsed by the public when he showed off - and tried to justify - his terrible character build on the game.

Two years on from release, we'll have even more stories to tell thanks to Shadow of the Erdtree.

When it finally arrives, that is.

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