THY KINGDOM COME

SHADOW OF THE ERDTREE is the culmination of decades of FromSoftware RPGs, and a gargantuan finale for ELDEN RING

- Wes Fenlon

Even when you reach the heart of FromSoftware in glittering western Tokyo, the studio behind Elden Ring holds tight to its secrets. Tantalizingly close, beyond a door my guest keycard won’t unlock, its developers are putting the final touches on expansion Shadow of the Erdtree after more than two years. After playing it for seven hours straight and felling three brutal bosses, I can’t believe how little it feels like I’ve seen of this new doomed realm. According to Elden Ring’s director, its one and only expansion was always destined to be a colossus.

Hidetaka Miyazaki has a cold bottle of water in front of him. He wears long sleeves despite the looming summer heat outside. He does not have a watch. He keeps his phone politely ensconced in its wallet-style case, but I can tell by the thickness it’s the snazzy type that unfolds into a small tablet. None of these small details reveal much about the president of FromSoftware, who rarely divulges much about the cryptic stories of his games and even less about himself.

“We think the DLC will provide some supplementary information and some extra ideas. We wouldn’t necessarily call them answers, but something that will stir the player’s imagination in regards to the base game even more,” he says slyly.

There’s a gold ring on Miyazaki’s left hand, the only hint at the private life he’ll be heading home to late tonight. After tending to what was almost certainly more important business until 5 o’clock, he has our interview standing between him and the end of the day—or perhaps, given his famous work ethic in a country known for its long hours, I’m just a miniboss standing between him and more quality time in his office, and not a particularly imposing one next to the Erdtree boss that just killed me a dozen times by flattening me with a gigantic magical moon.