@@bengorham1605there is also a part where is stated that body and mind can't be truly cut, since Godwin didn't have a closure in the main game my hopes are rekindled once again. Also being mesmerized by someone is being fascinated by someone so messmer alter ego of miquella or even better part of the duality of miquella alongside st Trina makes a lot of sense
Also while Messmer having a staff as weapon and a snake might be just due to other reasons, it seems to have parallels to the original form of the caduceus symbol for medicine, which had a cult around it that interpreted dreams and visions.
you think Godrick is a "hero"? i think that comment more likely means that the bosses are "grand" and "imposing" or somthin like that. cause i for sure know godrick hasnt really done anything good in the lands between, ever lol
Those runebears were just minding their own business leading happy lives, until we started terrorizing Limgrave. Face it, we’re an invasive criminal species
“I make games not just for work, but also for my purpose in life…” we need more people like Miyazaki who genuinely have passion for the games they create. We have too many developers nowadays that just make games to get paid.
I woul agree only to say that the people at the top need to have more passion for the creation of their games while the developers actually working on it need to get payed fairly
the majority of developers make games because its their passion. Gamedev is severely underpaid so "We have too many developers nowadays that just make games to get paid." is just completely false. The biggest issue we have are large companies who do not care about making good games and only care about making money; And while they are doing this they are exploiting the passion of the developers and justifying low wages and suboptimal working conditions (crunch, layoffs, etc.). Do you really think people would pursue a job in games in the industry that had a RECORD YEAR (!!!) in sales but a record year in layoffs at the same time, if it were only to make money?
"Mother, wouldst thou truly lordship sanction in one so bereft of light?" He's talking about the player character, who was given lordship, or would be given lordship if they havent completed the game yet, by marika. According to the gladiators helm, snakes are the enemy of the erdtree and he has 2 snakes adorning him. Imo it lines up for him to be the spurned offspring of marika and radagon that was banished into the shadowrealm after commiting some sin against the erdtree and that's why he isn't mentioned in the base game. There's also the 3 butterflies, the 2 that represent malenia and miquella and the third smoldering butterfly that people speculated represented melina. I think, however, given messmers relation to fire it's likely that it represents him. Id also speculate that his sin against the erdtree is him burning it, or attempting to.
So, this would be like how nameless king was erased from history in Dark Souls due to his alliance with dragons. In the same way, Messmer has been thrown away due to his alliance with the serpent.
The translation regarding Messmer being a child of Marika is worded oddly because machine translation and commas but it is correct. Miyazaki says he is an 'existence of the same rank' (同格の存在) as her other children and 'he can also be called a "child of Marika"" (彼も...“マリカの子”とも呼ばれています). Also "heroic story" is a translation of 英雄譚(eiyuutan) which is an epic or heroic tale. Kind of like the Epic of Gilgamesh. Stories (譚) of great men (英雄) doing extraordinary deeds, not necessarily typical heroes taking down evil. To the people of the Lands Between, the war against the giants could be a part of the Epic of Godfrey. Wasn't necessarily good as he massacred an entire race but it was a great deed in the eyes of his subjects. Gyateken is 逆手剣 which is actually sakate-ken = backhand-grip sword. So holding the sword upside down.
It basically comes down to a difference of interpretation of the word "heroic." In ancient times, a hero was someone (usually royalty and/or someone of semi-divine birth) who accomplished great deeds and had the power to force their will upon the world, triumphing over odds that would be impossible for a normal person. Nothing in that definition requires a hero to be a good person, or even someone with noble goals or motivations: it was just about their power and their unbreakable wills. Gilgamesh, whom you mentioned, is the perfect example. He was never a great person throughout the story, but the impossible deeds he accomplished cemented his legacy as a larger-than-life figure. The modern definition of heroism takes that ancient standard and applies moral standards to them: it's not enough that a hero embody the power to force their will upon the world, they must also embody the righteousness of the ruling culture. Disney's Hercules is a perfect encapsulation of the difference between the ancient and modern interpretations. All of the great deeds Hercules performs, such as slaying the Hydra, killing scores of legendary monsters, and becoming world famous (in ancient Greece at least), all qualify him as an ancient-style hero. However, none of those things make him a modern-style "true" hero. Being a "true" hero isn't just about the size of one's might, it's about the strength of their heart, and Hercules only becomes a "true" hero when he's willing to give up his own life to save the life of the one he loves.
Could you translate/explain the part about DLC non-influencing the main story then? I'm really surprised that it's implied that Miquella won't have his own ending
@@ni9274 I haven't played Sekiro but 攻め力 is "attack power". I'm sure googling sekiro attack power will explain what it is better than I can. In the DLC along with the already established levels, there's an additional levelling system unique to the DLC. He didn't say what it was but that it was similar to Sekiro's attack power. The rest of his answer was him referring to "the freedom to challenge threats" from an earlier answer, that is in the DLC it remains unchanged from the main game for the player to decide for themself whether to challenge a boss at level 1 or to go off and raise their new DLC level thing before challenging them.
2:49 "メスメルが座っている椅子は、本編で“忌み王、モーゴット”との戦いの舞台にあった椅子と同じもので、彼もまたゴドリックやマレニア、ラダーン、ライカードなどと同格の存在であり、“マリカの子”とも呼ばれています。" I can confirm it does say Mesmer "can also be called a child of Marika".
Can it mean empyrean As all Markia child are demigods, empyrean.... Edit: can it mean marika's grandchildren My theory, game theory is Mesmer is Miquella's son and inturn markia's grandson As to why i think that, in Bandi Namco tweet it stated, Miquella awaits return of his lord and Mesmer at same time ask if such lord can have MOTHER's lordship scantion who is so bereft of light. In all this mother is miquella and lord are us - tarnsihed
@@justsomeone883 this is true but her father was Radagon, and her m pretty sure her grandmother would then be marika? (I forget some lore) so that’s like 75% the same god, which is probably close enough.
@@uncleolWhen isolating them they make no sense but when the whole lines are played in their scenes it kinda just clicks. But it is incredibly cryptic to no surprise.
@uncleol the prior statement is using the term "kind" as a title sort of like if you called him "Miquella the Kind" and is asking the question "what is he doing in the shadow lands?" The latter satement is asking "you'd really give them the title of lord?" I believe intended as an insult to the strength of the player (a bit like margit saying "foul tarnished") Neither is difficult to understand.
Well the dialog that Mesmmer says, "Mother, why wouldst thou sanction lordship to one so bereft of light" means in simple words, " Why would you allow someone so empty of grace(basically a tarnished) to become the lord". The only one who can sanction us becoming lord is Marika hence I believe he is indeed Marika's child, perhaps a bastard child
Undoubtedly. This makes a lot of sense because their dynamic is similar to another set of 'triplets' in the game: Ranni, Radhan, and Rykard. Mesmmer is the "Rykard" to Malenia and Miquella: the heretical outcast associated with snakes
@@stradify1it would make sense, godfrey and marika have 3 children, radagon and rennala also have 3 children, radagon and marika are the only ones to have two children but mesmer being the third child makes it right. Also mesmer's name starts with "M" just like miquella and malenia.
Well he's actually a piece of a puzzle I was missing. Radahn, Rykard, Ranni is a trio. Malenia, Miquella, and people presumed Melina were also a trio. But it's not Melina. It's Messmer.
"making games is his purpose in life." You will always have my support, and the passion in your games really show up. no wonder I never feel robbed playing FromSoft games. It's always an experience worth going through. over and over again
The Offensive Power mechanic totally seems like a work around to keep your level at the 150 meta, while still being able to get stronger in the dlc if youre having trouble. Awesome addition
His humbleness and being so thankful is probably why his work is so masterful; he doesn’t take his audience or his team for granted. That’s how you get such a masterful work of art for the finished product. More developers could learn from humble men like Miyazaki and his team.
@@DefineHatespeechjesus Christ just marry the guy. Literally every dev interview talks about time and talent of their company, this is literally nothing special
@@fulltimeslackerii8229 Hello, this is CVS reaching you through TH-cam comments, we've noticed you ignoring calls, texts, and the doctor's orders; so we'll use TH-cam comments to help you understand how to properly use your new prescription. It is called mewing, its intended effect is to strengthen the jawline and improve bone structure. Please follow the given instructions. 1. Close your mouth. 2. Lightly rest your bottom front teeth behind your upper front teeth or close to them. 3. Keeping your lips sealed, flatten your tongue against the roof of your mouth. You should feel your jaw muscles engaged. 4. Place the tip of your tongue just behind your upper front teeth. The position of your tongue should be similar to the position it takes to make the "n" sound. 5. Hold for at least 20 seconds. Repeat multiple times throughout the day. You should COMPLETELY SILENT during the ordeal. We hope you achieve great results and thank you for your time reading this message, have a good day.
@@fulltimeslackerii8229 Tell us you work for a AAA publisher without telling us you work for a AAA publisher. Jealousy is a disgusting trait; you proved why it’s necessary to give proofs to people who are humble.
The separate scaling only within the DLC actually makes a lot of sense to me. You have to beat Mohg to get in, and this is such a late game area many builds have already reached their offensive soft caps by this point. Which would mean the difficulty curve of the DLC would have to be relatively flat, and you wouldn't get to experience much of a power or difficulty increase as you go along. So it sounds like they are sort of manufacturing a scaling curve to incentivise you not to skip all the side content.
The DLC's Japanese site also says that the new area is where the Erdtree was born and Marika became a god. Very, very cool stuff. It's amazing that we're getting all this without time travel, as this interview says. I'm very happy. I do still wonder what's up with the dying tree we see here, since I always assumed the Erdtree came from the primordial crucible, not that there was this weird intermediary. On top of that, if the Land of Shadows offers us the cultures of the Lands Between before Marika, we might see the Eochaid region that Elemer came from! More than that, we'll get more info on the Elden Ring before Destined Death was confined, and that may include the Gloam-Eyed Queen as well. But above all else, the implication I'm getting is that the Erdtree was so mighty, and the Order so strong, that it totally ripped apart reality. Since the interview says there is no story carry-through between the DLC and the main game....... this has some absolutely fascinating implications. Whatever Miquella is trying to accomplish, for whatever reason he guides us to this new world, it will be settled within this new world. Is he trying to fix that world with our help, or is Miyazaki using vague wording to say that although the main story and DLC won't intercept, an alternate ending *does* lie in the DLC? Otherwise I can't think of a reason Miquella would lead us there besides clearing out that shadow land. Maybe he intends to rule that place after we fell Messmer.... but that would break his promise to Malenia, right? That he'd return?
Yooo this just made me think up a theory. So we all are aware the Miquella having a bunch of similarities with Griffith from Berserk. One of the biggest story plot points to Berserk is Griffith combining the Astral plane and the Physical world, what if Miquella is attempting something similar. He wants to combine the shadow realm and lands between realm into one. Don’t forget that Miquella also attempted a ritual to presumably revive Godywn, what’s the ritual called one might ask? Eclipse. Shadow eclipsing the Erdtree? God the lord is getting DEEP.
miyazaki is so wholesome man, you can feel his passion for the craft. if every big developer had that same passion for making games as an artform and money wasnt a factor,, we'd live in an ideal world.
No one mentioning the Briar spells on Messmer? He is holding flames with black tendrils in it, and Briar magic comes from an exiled criminal. You know, maybe the snake wielding demigod who is in the Shadow of the Erdtree instead of the Lands Between?
He's definitely connected to the giantsflame and that whole flame cult. The trident that can be seen around their camps are the exact same as the impaled giants in the mountaintops. And that same trident is the same as Mesmer's hilt visible in the trailer.
I always thought Messmer was related to the dragon communion since when he conjured they flame it looked like their seal. Plus the armour he wears looked like an altered version of the drake set
You’re the only lore guy I see eye to eye with on ringed city and ds3 more generally. Also, loved the Dostoevsky vid. Thanks for these uploads today! Great info!
Whoa! So Elden tree is all glowing, humongous tree, so we can't see the shadow But this dlc is in its shadow which was missing from The Lands Between Quite a sick concept, I don't know why It took so long for me to figure out
The lion being called a 'Dancing Lion' also seems to confirm it as indeed being inspired by the 'Lion Dance' aka those Costume Lions being puppetered by people to make them seem like Lions that well... dance. I love that! It also having omen horns is interesting because regular lion Guardians (Those grey maned Lions with blades you see for example in Castle Sol) also have them in Elden Ring wich makes me wonder if these Costumes are ment to celebrate the age of the Crucible. And considering we see aspect of the crucible: Wings. In the dlc makes me believe this is the case. The big Hippo, Dragon Rhino thing we see in the trailer also Explodes into Branches at one point wich again reflects to the Crucible era as we see on 'Crucible Knight Tree Helmet' and 'Silurias Tree' Great Spear. Makes me wonder if the Tree we see in Shadow of the erdtree is infact the erdtree descriped in 'Erdtree incantations' wich say that erdtree once flourished with Ambundace and in Aspects of the crucible that say 'Erdtrees Primal Vital Energies' . Perhaps the Tree was replaced as we hear the tree didint allways Glow like it does ingame. At one point the tree looked like just a Tree like Miquellas Haligtree. But even tho Erdtree is seemingly alive and well, the roots under it dont glow and are decaying seemingly due to Godwyn but what if this wasent the case? What if The Shadow Tree is the original Primordial Erdtree that was Replaced by Elden Beasts Tree and just was moved and veiled into the lands of Shadow and what we see under erd tree capital arent infact the roots of the erdtree we see but instead the roots of the Primordial Erdtree left there when the tree was moved. The elden beasts erdtree was placed on top the left roots and stump of the Primordial Erdtree where it took the 'Primal Vital Energies' to grow into the giant glowing tree we see today?
Tarnished Archeologist has a great vid speculating that the Erdtree we see in the game is not only illusory, but when it was real (before being burned by Messmer presumably) it was grafted onto the roots of the Greattree which may have been coniferous instead of the decidouos
@@michalnowacki1489 oh. I wasent the first to make this theory then lol. But yeah i asume the same as him. I think i heard the erd tree wasent allways all Glowy from Smoughstown refrencing Tarnished Archeologist now that i think about it.
The most surprising aspect is how generous Miyazaki has been in these recent interviews. Having watched all of DondonRV’s “making of” videos on the Souls games, I don’t think there’s ever been interviews where Miyazaki has explained so much in his answers!
the lands between being translated by google into the land of interstice is pretty interesting as interstice basically means something between other things yes but it makes me think of the interstice from berserk which we all know micheal zaki is a big fan of and draws a lot of inspiration from. probably just a coincidence but funny to think about
The Erdtree being born in the Land of Shadow seems absolutely huge? It suggest the Lands were separated during or after the War against the Giants for one. Getting some clarification on all the confusingly interconnected history is very exciting, glad to know Marika's history will get a heavy focus.
Maybe removing the Rune of Death is what separated the Land of Shadow, if it's some sort of underworld or spirit world. Maybe the spirit world mentioned in Helphen's Steeple.
@@YEY0806 This is entirely speculative theory, but this does line up with several theories/ideas about the Crucible. The Crucible is the primordial form of the Erdtree, and the Erdtree was born in a place seemingly with some connection to the Crucible. The Crucible is associated with conflict and competition, the Land of Shadow is potentially an afterlife of some sort that had a war. If the Land of Shadow is Helphen, it's a place only warriors go in death. If the Land of Shadow was indeed separated by the removal of the Rune of Death, and that coincided with the transition from Crucible to modern Erdtree, the color red would tie everything together: red Rune of Death, red gold of the Crucible, red grace of the Helphen, even the red lightning of the Ancient Dragons. Death is red. You remove death, you cut off the spirit world. You remove the red rune from the Elden Ring and grace/gold no longer has that hue, the Crucible is now the Erdtree. Super speculative and it's built on numerous assumptions and theories, but I could see them going that route.
Here's what that probably means: The Crucible was a time where many trees were competing to take over the Deeproots and grow into their own trees, thus the symbol of a stump with branch-like spikes coming out of it (think Siluria's helm, and the tree statues outside of Leyndell). Those spikes are a real thing in horticulture, where you put young trees into the stump of an old tree (they are called scions, and the process is called grafting). So the Erdtree was probably born in the Shadow lands, then taken to the Lands Between and grafted onto the Crucible by Marika.
The impression I got from that passage about the DLC ending (though it might be fault of the translation) read to me not as "DLC will not add a new ending" and more as "No event in DLC itself will be affected by what you do in the Base game."
That last quote from Miyazaki is really something else. The fact he takes making games as his life's purpose can be felt in every aspect of FromSoft games. I can't imagine what gaming would be like if there was a Miyazaki at every studio. What a class act and one of the most profound creators of my lifetime
You can also see the duelling shield in the trailer, but people keep mistaking it for a twinblade. Its the sheild with a spike on top and and bottom. It's visible when the character is grabbed by messmer
Thank you so much for this video! I would have never known about this interview and it's awesome to find out a few extra details! I'm so hyped for this dlc it's not even funny! Appreciate the content man, keep it up
After going over Messmer's design, I believe Messmer is Melina in the same fashion that Radagon is Marika. Marika is confirmed to be the mother of Messmer and is strongly implied to be the mother of Melina. Melina claims to be burned and bodiless, and apart from the three fingers seems to be the only entity we know of in the game able to burn the Erdtree, so she would seem to be of fire in the same way that Messmer is. Both Messmer and Melina have their left eyes permanently closed (not counting the frenzied flame ending for Melina, when Torrent dies and the rules of the world appear to drastically change). This would also justify why we know so little about Melina or her motivations in the base game despite her clearly being one of the most prominent characters in the base game. It would also give additional payoff to the reveal that Radagon is Marika, as that would be a clue that other gods in this world might have a male/female split in this way.
I'm super glad that they implemented some sort of power up progression mechanic that is detached from the conventional level and EXP system. Since I am at level 160 and hit all of my soft caps this makes me super stoked. And creating a whole new character is out of the question for me.
I have the feeling that the dlc will have a lot to do with the Gloam-eyed Queen since Marika became a god by defeating her. Maybe Farum Azula, or at least the time of the Beastmen in general will play a big role and we will see alot Chimaera-like creatures. Messmer also has draconic eyes.
It is weird that Miquella wouldn't get his own unique ending, it could be true or it could maybe be a translation error? Idk I'm a little hopeful of that because there is only 2 unique endings in base game and the other 4 are all altered endings to the standard ending.
You’re following Miquella’s footsteps into the land of shadow. You’ll probably come across a version of him throughout the land of shadow like you did with Melina. Miquella’s conclusion/ending is in the land of shadow and maybe it will translate outside of the land of shadow and affect a new ending.
If Miyazaki hasnt planned on sequel or another DLC and SotE is a self contained DLC without any impact on the base game. How are they gonna tie up the loose ends ? Especially with the Melina and Godwyn
@@alnorris251 are you new to Fromsoft games? One of those Elden ring first timers? They have actively left loose threads hundreds of times. Because that's not how they tell stories. They don't need to tie everything off neatly lmao.
The lion dance boss, and stuff like the big hippo reminds me so much of something from Chinese mythology. And since he said it is part of a different culture from before the great tree, I think that’s really cool. maybe we will get some more East-Asian inspired mythology like the land of reeds?
They talked about endings already, but I'm curious if there's gonna be changes to the base game aside from endings depending on progress in the DLC. Kinda similar to how beating Artorias changes Sif's intro cutscene. I wanna know how much I should progress different questlines in the base game when prepping for DLC so I can see all the changes
Yeah, I was hoping the base game would be altered in such a way that starting a whole new character would be desirable, but every signal they've given has been that the DLC is an island unto itself outside of equipment you take out of it.
It should be noted that the word "heroic" tends to have "good" and "moral" as connotations but historically "heroic" and "heroes" have also been used to refer to scale. Size. So, he might be saying that Mesmer is a good guy and that Elden Ring is a good guy's story, but I find it far more likely that what he means is Mesmer is a powerful demigod and Elden Ring is a very grand story in terms of scale.
In the EU interview he says something similar but different to the children of Marika line. I'm pretty skeptical that he said Messmer is Marika's child there. I'd really like to see some confirmation of that part of the interview from a fluent speaker. I'm curious about how the Shadow Lands got to be where they are. It sounds like from other interviews that it wasn't always the way it was. Could it have been where the gaping hole in the Lands Between is? Was Farum Azula connected to what became the Shadow Lands at some point? So many questions.
That one castle we see in the trailer has bit crumbling near the top but it doesn't quite look like it belongs with Farm Azula. There still could be a connection there, the dancing lion wields lightning and seems to be fought in that castle?
There's another comment under this video going over a couple of the translations, they confirm he is calling Messmer a child of Marika. Not as though it isn't a fairly-supported theory. His name starting with M, the red hair marking a child of Radagon, references to a mother sanctioning lordship. It's there.
Yeah, I think it was obvious that Messmer was Marika’s child with how he refers to ‘Mother’, the Grace of Gold, and the fact he has Radagon’s red hair. It’s also cool to see that we’ll be exploring more of Marika’s past in this expansion. I hope this means we’ll learn more about the Gloam-Eyed Queen or Placidusax’s God, assuming they aren’t the same individual. It’s also interesting to hear how the Erdtree was born in the Land of Shadows, as compared to Altus Plateau aka Leyndell where we can literally see its roots underground. Though it does suck that Miquella isn’t getting his own ending. Was hoping that doing the DLC would cause an alternate chain of events with Malenia and maybe unlocking his or Malenia’s ending. Guess that Age Absolute ending theory is debunked
This expansion kinda goes along with this verse from the Bible. Basically in the spiritual realm we cannot see what's taken place being in the physical, is how I interpret Shadow of the Erdtree. Ephesians 6:12 For our fight is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, and against spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
I expected something regarding progression as he stated previously that there will be a new type od progression introduced in the DLC. The route this is hinting at is very interesting indeed. I feel like this is the solution they came up with to support the casual player base for the notoriously tough DLC bosses.
I fully expected that Miquella’s quest would have some effect on Malenia, as well as giving us some ability to settle or skip the fight peacefully. I have a twin sister in real life, and I would be serious disappointed if this wasn’t a possibility.
I’ve already been playing the game as a great-shielder, both attacking and blocking with one shield. Can’t wait to see what is meant by ‘dueling shield’
For the alternate ending discussion I think it might be a little different from the interpretation in this video. Its done with google translate and I don't know Japanese so I can't check, but it seems like Miyazaki was more focused on the idea that base game progression will not interfere with the DLC. (ie: burning the Erdtree, or unlocking destined death, or even beating the game won't change the DLC world or anything like that.) Its possible he was talking about both being exclusive, but I'm not confident in there being no alternate ending from that answer.
Messmer, has to be a Golden Order member that ended up being removed due to his methods being too violent, but is still an ally. He’s clearly inspired by real life Vlad the Impaler, known for his Christian faith, choice of weapon, draconic symbolism, to the point that the famous Dracula, trope codifier of modern vampires, was inspired by him, and, extreme bloodlust when fighting. Depending on how much Miyazaki wants to amp him up (kinda worried that he spoke more about optional bosses when referring to Malenia being hard), he might make Malenia look like a joke, healing included, his remembrance might finally give faith arcane users a weapon that scales with both, and some random incantations, possibly the spears erupting from the ground, looks to be extremely painful vs big bosses. Still hoping we get the Sunlight Spear, though! No, Granssax doesn’t count.
The DLC having its own power up system is intriguing. I wonder if it'll be like eating shadow goo to grow stronger. The suppression bit and mention of sekiro makes me think there will be something to turn off the boost, akin to the demon bell or what have you. Super cool idea. Cant wait for the SL1 no booster challenge runs
The separate offensive power makes complete sense to me. The base ER progression probably would not really work for the DLC. You're probably like at least level 100+ after mohg, and your power level is already starting to plateau. Chances are you won't feel much progression in the DLC just from leveling. Then you've got people who cleared the game, maybe level 150, or people higher on NG+. By having some separate progression system for the DLC, it ensures a smooth feeling of progression for everyone.
I think in addition to the DLC exploring more of Miquella’s story (and possibly Godwin’s) it’s going to focus a lot on the origin of the great Serpent that Rykard fed himself to. There are many references in the base game to the serpent being the ancient archenemy of the erdtree, from item descriptions and design details related to the gladiators/arenas, but details are extremely sparse. Messmer clearly has lots of snake iconography and is even dressed similarly to an arena gladiator. His weapon is also a glaive/swordspear similar to the Serpent Hunter, which could be significant. Seems like From cut out nearly everything related to the great serpent to save it for DLC, which matches up nicely with hints Miyazaki gave about parts of history being struck from the records in the lands between. It would also make sense considering that Rykard/Volcano Manor had a rather disappointing ending. I have a feeling that there will be a big reveal about Godwin too, there’s too much deathblight stuff in the trailer for him to not be involved somehow, not to mention his connections with Miquella. It seems likely that they’re going to flesh out all of those things at the very least, in addition to the origins of Marika and the Erdtree as Miyazaki said.
When you said Shadow dimension It reminded me of Ywuach Quincy realm in Bleach, which is just a shadow of the Shikigami HQ. So I think the Lands of Shadow it still exist yet it is a reflection reality conjured by the user.
Looks like that centerpiece building that's places just underneath the Shadow tree's overhang, is positioned just right to catch the runoff of sap that's seeping out of it. The scene showing the manor in the swamp, with the dead trees above it, there seem to be ten corpses sitting in front of it, all kneeling with hands behind their backs, and what look like little lights where their heads should be. The corpse pulling out the object from it's head looks to be the remains of the old man in the painting shown before, the clasp on his cloak is identical. Mesmer, with glowing yellow eyes, red hair, and name beginning with an M, could very well be a discarded sibling of Melania and Miquella. The beast that appears to be the boss of the quagmire manor based on background scenery, is quite hard to describe, there are two hands holding up its face and bottom jaw, and an assortment of legs supporting the rest of it, with what look like omen horns as well, Miss Chalice mentioned it had the look of a parade creature, that required multiple people to wear the suit and make the movements, so I wouldn't be surprised if it had a phase while cloaked and one with it revealed in entirety. There's spiral symbolism all over the trailer, in architecture and some creatures, but maybe that's me being paranoid after running through Alan Wake 2 six times. All in all, this area and the context I'm given, leads me to believe that this place has long been the trashcan of the Lands Berween, the denizens here are what Marika swept under the rug during her rule, including what seems to be a discarded child.
I think it might be the sword held backwards that we saw briefly in one of the gameplay segments, as "gyakuten" is "reverse" or "inverted" in Japanese, and "ken" is one of several ways of saying "sword". Probably translates to "reverse-grip sword" or something akin to that.
I’m gonna choose to believe there’s some mistranslation/misunderstanding with the question of endings… I want a Miquella’s simp ending like I was Ranni’s
2:21 - I read the Famitsu interview of Miyazaki and about this part - Google somewhat got it right. Yes. The theme of a heroic tale will remain the same. You can easily recognize the character "Messmer The Impaler" depicted in the key art also a hero. The chair in which Messmer sitting on is the same chair that was used in the battle against "Morgott, the Omen King" in the main story, and he is also one of the same ranks as Godrick the Grafted, Malenia Blade of Miquella, Starscourge Radahn, Rykard, Lord of Blasphemy, also called "Children of Marika". NOTE: In the official interview it specifically says MARIKA NO KO (マリカの子) and since we all know that Marika has a lot of children then it is literary translated as Children of Marika.
6:36 Miyazaki: As for the system, we have added a DLC-only leveling mechanic. It would be easier to understand if you imagine it like the "Attack Power" in "SEKIRO: SHADOWS DIE TWICE". This is the "threat" that we have been talking about. This is for the "freedom to take on bosses" as I mentioned earlier, and makes it easier to experience things like, "This boss is tough, so let's explore another place, get stronger, and try again," even at higher levels. On the other hand, the player can refrain on using this mechanic to face the bosses for greater challenge.
Mogh does so much damage and getting an entire area after mogh means that we have an entire area with that level of damage... I'm glad they sort of addressed this. Also I wonder if this shadow realm is like a weird mirror world or negative zone. It'll be cool to see alternate versions of charctaers in the base game.
I want to remond everyone that he always undersells his games. Before launch he said with confidence that elden ring was a 20 hour experience. If he says its as big as limgrave what he is saying is "not as big as the entire map" but by thinking of limgrave going in you will have lower expectations. When it is bigger then limgrave that will trick you into thinking its bigger than it is because it was bigger than previously described
People were able to squish a least 20 hours of the network test and it didn't even had all of Limgrave. I think the playtime of the DLC won't be a trouble, it doesn't need to be a least half of the main game to be worth the price tag, as some people are suggesting, if we can get more than 15 hours of gameplay plus all the new gear and bosses, I think it is already better than a lot of 70$ games that probably have less replayability.
7:10 This is just a Speculation, but I think miyazaki was trying to say that You will be able to do different types of level ups in the DLC that are NON-RUNE BASED, that will only be active while in the DLC, so when you finish the DLC and come back into the Lands Between, you wont be level 165 and squashing every boss in the main game because you are so powerful and over-leveled.
I think their should be an statement made that you HAVE to complete a certain(mohg)quest line before accessing the dlc. Because the internet literally waits to complain about anything
In reference to the “offensive upgrades” within DLC-only, makes me think that like maybe there is a special sort of “barrier” if you will that encompasses all the enemies or bosses in the DLC, and as you “break those down,” as it were, you are capable of being a stronger “shadow warrior,” If that makes sense. Like imagine there is an all encompassing defensive power that all the shadow enemies are buffed from, and you collect a sort of “rune” or something that will break down that defensive ability they all have, so if you, say, get all 10 runes or whatever it may be, the final boss will be at it’s weakest point, but acquiring none of them, he will be at his strongest. Like imagine Mohg’s Nihil attack… sure you can fight him head on, but it sure helps if you have the lord of blood physick. So I picture like the enemies will have a sort of inherent power in their own realm that you can get passive buffs via the runes that will break down some of those capabilities. Which would also mean, that it would be important to plan out which bosses to face in which order, as some will be incredibly difficult at full strength whereas others will be easier(comparatively), at full strength. So like he mentioned realizing a boss is too hard and coming back to them later, this would make sense, where you need to realize some bosses might be too powerful without your passive buffs and you’ll end up being sort of naturally funneled into a certain order of bosses based on how many runes it would take to make them manageable for you. Obviously there will be beastly players who will be able to handle all of it at full strength but the majority of players will probably need to do a certain order of bosses to make it reasonable for them, which could funnel the path of storyline in a more cohesive narrative if you were to find a “too hard” of boss or area/dungeon too early. Essentially using the difficulty as a tool for laying out the narrative in more-or-less the “correct” order to make the most sense.
If beating rhadan is part of the dlc like necessary to get there, what if the guy with the boomerang on the horse is something to do with rhadan, like a decaying version of him
I don't see what's confusing about the comparison to Sekiro's offensive power. It means exactly that: item you get and need to use to become strong in the Shadow Realm. Since your character would be already at max upgrade level, it gives a sense of progression even after having already cleared the main game.
I wonder if any of the new stuff in the DLC will be strewn about into the main game, or if it's all going to be exclusively obtained within the DLC area. That's the most important factor for me in deciding whether to start a new game soon, or wait until the DLC releases.
@@ZaLewdWarudo fair. I honestly don't remember how it was in dark souls 1 or 2 cuz it's been so long. But I've played Bloodborne enough times and I feel like I didn't see any new systems are items in the main game. Probably safe to go ahead and start playing earlier then, since that means there's nothing to be missed.
So here’s me theory about Messmer, that he is the Elden Ring equilivant to Satan (not LITERALLY the devil but he probably shares a similar story to Lucifer. Considering his motiff is snakes and they represent betrayal in Elden rings world and of course snakes mean a big thing to satan in Christian lore. And while Rykard is also associated with snakes its implied that the snake betrayal theme existed before him. Considering he has snakes and also has dragon armor on it paints a picture of someone wanting power. In the trailer he ponders why Marika would allow us the throne even though we are Tarnished. And considering we haven’t hear anything about this character before it makes me think he has The nameless king status. Perhaps he made a power grab even before the war started and he may have been banished to this shadow land. And he may be trying to get out. It’s just a theory I highly doubt its that simple but its what his design makes me think of.
Interviewer: What is the relationship between Miquella and Mesmer?
Miyazaki: Yes, there will be swamps in the DLC.
😂😂😂😂😂😂
they are the same.
You either live for the swamp or die in the swamp
Miyazaki: We are born of the swamp, made men by the swamp, undone by the swamp; Fear the poison swamp!
Mesmers lair is deep in a Deathblight Swamp....
Edgar Allan Poe wrote about mesmerism in terms of a journey to the land of shadow, clearly the inspiration for the setting of the dlc
This is insane… I hope rat sees this comment specifically because I’m looking into mesmerism right now and it’s so related it’s not even funny
@@bengorham1605there is also a part where is stated that body and mind can't be truly cut, since Godwin didn't have a closure in the main game my hopes are rekindled once again. Also being mesmerized by someone is being fascinated by someone so messmer alter ego of miquella or even better part of the duality of miquella alongside st Trina makes a lot of sense
Very important wow
Also while Messmer having a staff as weapon and a snake might be just due to other reasons, it seems to have parallels to the original form of the caduceus symbol for medicine, which had a cult around it that interpreted dreams and visions.
@@SaHaRaSquadthat is NOT a staff, thats a spear, dude is called messmer the impaler, its pretty obvious he is suposed to be also based on vlad.
Miyazaki: “Mesmer…Also one of the heroes”
Tarnished: Are we the baddies?
Nah, impossible.
Ranni wouldn't lie to me.
the chosen one was the antagonist....arguably
@@moosiemoose1337I mean she only turned Godwyn into a fucking tree branch😂
you think Godrick is a "hero"? i think that comment more likely means that the bosses are "grand" and "imposing" or somthin like that. cause i for sure know godrick hasnt really done anything good in the lands between, ever lol
Those runebears were just minding their own business leading happy lives, until we started terrorizing Limgrave.
Face it, we’re an invasive criminal species
Hidetaka is actually an incredibly Humble human, this is probably why his work reflects greatness.
Just marry him
Buddy, relax. That's just pathetic.
Lmao
Weird ass replies
wtf
“I make games not just for work, but also for my purpose in life…” we need more people like Miyazaki who genuinely have passion for the games they create. We have too many developers nowadays that just make games to get paid.
I woul agree only to say that the people at the top need to have more passion for the creation of their games while the developers actually working on it need to get payed fairly
the majority of developers make games because its their passion. Gamedev is severely underpaid so "We have too many developers nowadays that just make games to get paid." is just completely false.
The biggest issue we have are large companies who do not care about making good games and only care about making money; And while they are doing this they are exploiting the passion of the developers and justifying low wages and suboptimal working conditions (crunch, layoffs, etc.).
Do you really think people would pursue a job in games in the industry that had a RECORD YEAR (!!!) in sales but a record year in layoffs at the same time, if it were only to make money?
Shit genuinely made me tear up hearing such passion from someone in gamedev. Fucking love that man fr.
@@nundulanstop the glazing
@@fulltimeslackerii8229your comment is as unnecessary as your continued existence.
"Mother, wouldst thou truly lordship sanction in one so bereft of light?"
He's talking about the player character, who was given lordship, or would be given lordship if they havent completed the game yet, by marika.
According to the gladiators helm, snakes are the enemy of the erdtree and he has 2 snakes adorning him. Imo it lines up for him to be the spurned offspring of marika and radagon that was banished into the shadowrealm after commiting some sin against the erdtree and that's why he isn't mentioned in the base game.
There's also the 3 butterflies, the 2 that represent malenia and miquella and the third smoldering butterfly that people speculated represented melina. I think, however, given messmers relation to fire it's likely that it represents him. Id also speculate that his sin against the erdtree is him burning it, or attempting to.
OR he could be talking to the formless mother about Mohg becoming the lord of blood
So, this would be like how nameless king was erased from history in Dark Souls due to his alliance with dragons. In the same way, Messmer has been thrown away due to his alliance with the serpent.
@@skinless5136potentially, mohg would be dead at this point in the game though
Where is the spirit you're talking about? I looked around the Impalers catacombs area and couldn't find him
It's near the church iirc
The Japanese IGN interview also says that Messmer is a son of Marika that has been deleted from the annals of history
Where have I heard that before?
@@thepeanutter9972Good Ol’ Nameless King!
A firstborn, huh? Also if he is her child and has a snake influence, could he be god devouring serpent's son, too?
@@AydarBMSTUhe’s the heretic of the erdtree
Screw Radahn and Malenia. Messmer is the true most powerful Demigod!
The translation regarding Messmer being a child of Marika is worded oddly because machine translation and commas but it is correct. Miyazaki says he is an 'existence of the same rank' (同格の存在) as her other children and 'he can also be called a "child of Marika"" (彼も...“マリカの子”とも呼ばれています).
Also "heroic story" is a translation of 英雄譚(eiyuutan) which is an epic or heroic tale. Kind of like the Epic of Gilgamesh. Stories (譚) of great men (英雄) doing extraordinary deeds, not necessarily typical heroes taking down evil. To the people of the Lands Between, the war against the giants could be a part of the Epic of Godfrey. Wasn't necessarily good as he massacred an entire race but it was a great deed in the eyes of his subjects.
Gyateken is 逆手剣 which is actually sakate-ken = backhand-grip sword. So holding the sword upside down.
It basically comes down to a difference of interpretation of the word "heroic." In ancient times, a hero was someone (usually royalty and/or someone of semi-divine birth) who accomplished great deeds and had the power to force their will upon the world, triumphing over odds that would be impossible for a normal person. Nothing in that definition requires a hero to be a good person, or even someone with noble goals or motivations: it was just about their power and their unbreakable wills. Gilgamesh, whom you mentioned, is the perfect example. He was never a great person throughout the story, but the impossible deeds he accomplished cemented his legacy as a larger-than-life figure. The modern definition of heroism takes that ancient standard and applies moral standards to them: it's not enough that a hero embody the power to force their will upon the world, they must also embody the righteousness of the ruling culture.
Disney's Hercules is a perfect encapsulation of the difference between the ancient and modern interpretations. All of the great deeds Hercules performs, such as slaying the Hydra, killing scores of legendary monsters, and becoming world famous (in ancient Greece at least), all qualify him as an ancient-style hero. However, none of those things make him a modern-style "true" hero. Being a "true" hero isn't just about the size of one's might, it's about the strength of their heart, and Hercules only becomes a "true" hero when he's willing to give up his own life to save the life of the one he loves.
Could you translate/explain the part about DLC non-influencing the main story then? I'm really surprised that it's implied that Miquella won't have his own ending
Can you explain what « offensive power »
based
@@ni9274 I haven't played Sekiro but 攻め力 is "attack power". I'm sure googling sekiro attack power will explain what it is better than I can.
In the DLC along with the already established levels, there's an additional levelling system unique to the DLC. He didn't say what it was but that it was similar to Sekiro's attack power.
The rest of his answer was him referring to "the freedom to challenge threats" from an earlier answer, that is in the DLC it remains unchanged from the main game for the player to decide for themself whether to challenge a boss at level 1 or to go off and raise their new DLC level thing before challenging them.
2:49 "メスメルが座っている椅子は、本編で“忌み王、モーゴット”との戦いの舞台にあった椅子と同じもので、彼もまたゴドリックやマレニア、ラダーン、ライカードなどと同格の存在であり、“マリカの子”とも呼ばれています。" I can confirm it does say Mesmer "can also be called a child of Marika".
Can it mean empyrean
As all Markia child are demigods, empyrean....
Edit: can it mean marika's grandchildren
My theory, game theory is Mesmer is Miquella's son and inturn markia's grandson
As to why i think that, in Bandi Namco tweet it stated, Miquella awaits return of his lord and Mesmer at same time ask if such lord can have MOTHER's lordship scantion who is so bereft of light.
In all this mother is miquella and lord are us - tarnsihed
@@rad_rex They are not empureans all of them. Only Malenia, Miquella and Ranni. Since they are born of the same god (Radagon and Marika).
@@YourEmperorStef Ranni isn't from Radagon and Marika's brood,her mother is Queen Rennala,not Marika
@@justsomeone883 this is true but her father was Radagon, and her m pretty sure her grandmother would then be marika? (I forget some lore) so that’s like 75% the same god, which is probably close enough.
What about that "Gyateken" thing? Google translate is no help.
I never realized that the name "The Lands Between" could also be called "The Interstice," another cool Berserk nod among the many many more.
Ratatoskr: "Translation gonna be tough"
Trailer : "I dare you to understand me"
The dialogues in the trailer made almost no sense at all. "Just what kind is Miquella doing here?" and "Wouldst thou truly lordship sanction?"
@@uncleolboth of those things are pretty clear tbh
@@Kenseigan To me they aren't really, and English is my first language. I had to use AI to explain to me what they meant lol
@@uncleolWhen isolating them they make no sense but when the whole lines are played in their scenes it kinda just clicks. But it is incredibly cryptic to no surprise.
@uncleol the prior statement is using the term "kind" as a title sort of like if you called him "Miquella the Kind" and is asking the question "what is he doing in the shadow lands?"
The latter satement is asking "you'd really give them the title of lord?" I believe intended as an insult to the strength of the player (a bit like margit saying "foul tarnished")
Neither is difficult to understand.
Well the dialog that Mesmmer says, "Mother, why wouldst thou sanction lordship to one so bereft of light" means in simple words, " Why would you allow someone so empty of grace(basically a tarnished) to become the lord". The only one who can sanction us becoming lord is Marika hence I believe he is indeed Marika's child, perhaps a bastard child
He has red hair, so probably Radagon and Marika's child.
@@SmallAxolotl Marika's mysterious ability to bear children with herself 😂😂
Undoubtedly. This makes a lot of sense because their dynamic is similar to another set of 'triplets' in the game: Ranni, Radhan, and Rykard. Mesmmer is the "Rykard" to Malenia and Miquella: the heretical outcast associated with snakes
@@stradify1it would make sense, godfrey and marika have 3 children, radagon and rennala also have 3 children, radagon and marika are the only ones to have two children but mesmer being the third child makes it right.
Also mesmer's name starts with "M" just like miquella and malenia.
Well he's actually a piece of a puzzle I was missing.
Radahn, Rykard, Ranni is a trio.
Malenia, Miquella, and people presumed Melina were also a trio.
But it's not Melina. It's Messmer.
"making games is his purpose in life."
You will always have my support, and the passion in your games really show up. no wonder I never feel robbed playing FromSoft games.
It's always an experience worth going through. over and over again
Zaki isn’t reading your comment here
@@popcornfilms1 he don't need to. he knows.
The Offensive Power mechanic totally seems like a work around to keep your level at the 150 meta, while still being able to get stronger in the dlc if youre having trouble. Awesome addition
I wonder if it will be a way for people to make their RL1 runs easier too.
@@melissazadrozny5167 They'll just do rune level 1 power level 1 or 0 runs
@@melissazadrozny5167Probably, there’s just something in my heart that makes want to hate on people who use these crutches
@@melissazadrozny5167 I don't think it'll make them easier. As Miyazaki said, those powerups don't work outside the DLC.
@@ColonCommander sounds like a you problem
That 'my purpose in life' comment. Good stuff.
His humbleness and being so thankful is probably why his work is so masterful; he doesn’t take his audience or his team for granted.
That’s how you get such a masterful work of art for the finished product. More developers could learn from humble men like Miyazaki and his team.
@@DefineHatespeechjesus Christ just marry the guy. Literally every dev interview talks about time and talent of their company, this is literally nothing special
nothing wrong with appreciating the guy @@fulltimeslackerii8229
@@fulltimeslackerii8229 Hello, this is CVS reaching you through TH-cam comments, we've noticed you ignoring calls, texts, and the doctor's orders; so we'll use TH-cam comments to help you understand how to properly use your new prescription.
It is called mewing, its intended effect is to strengthen the jawline and improve bone structure. Please follow the given instructions.
1. Close your mouth.
2. Lightly rest your bottom front teeth behind your upper front teeth or close to them.
3. Keeping your lips sealed, flatten your tongue against the roof of your mouth. You should feel your jaw muscles engaged.
4. Place the tip of your tongue just behind your upper front teeth. The position of your tongue should be similar to the position it takes to make the "n" sound.
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@@fulltimeslackerii8229 Tell us you work for a AAA publisher without telling us you work for a AAA publisher.
Jealousy is a disgusting trait; you proved why it’s necessary to give proofs to people who are humble.
The separate scaling only within the DLC actually makes a lot of sense to me. You have to beat Mohg to get in, and this is such a late game area many builds have already reached their offensive soft caps by this point. Which would mean the difficulty curve of the DLC would have to be relatively flat, and you wouldn't get to experience much of a power or difficulty increase as you go along. So it sounds like they are sort of manufacturing a scaling curve to incentivise you not to skip all the side content.
I can’t believe the Lore dump we are getting from the trailer and the massive amounts direct from the main man!
He knew we'd dig through the 3 minute video like madmen anyway. Decided to give us some leads
The DLC's Japanese site also says that the new area is where the Erdtree was born and Marika became a god. Very, very cool stuff. It's amazing that we're getting all this without time travel, as this interview says. I'm very happy.
I do still wonder what's up with the dying tree we see here, since I always assumed the Erdtree came from the primordial crucible, not that there was this weird intermediary.
On top of that, if the Land of Shadows offers us the cultures of the Lands Between before Marika, we might see the Eochaid region that Elemer came from! More than that, we'll get more info on the Elden Ring before Destined Death was confined, and that may include the Gloam-Eyed Queen as well.
But above all else, the implication I'm getting is that the Erdtree was so mighty, and the Order so strong, that it totally ripped apart reality. Since the interview says there is no story carry-through between the DLC and the main game....... this has some absolutely fascinating implications. Whatever Miquella is trying to accomplish, for whatever reason he guides us to this new world, it will be settled within this new world. Is he trying to fix that world with our help, or is Miyazaki using vague wording to say that although the main story and DLC won't intercept, an alternate ending *does* lie in the DLC? Otherwise I can't think of a reason Miquella would lead us there besides clearing out that shadow land. Maybe he intends to rule that place after we fell Messmer.... but that would break his promise to Malenia, right? That he'd return?
Yooo this just made me think up a theory. So we all are aware the Miquella having a bunch of similarities with Griffith from Berserk. One of the biggest story plot points to Berserk is Griffith combining the Astral plane and the Physical world, what if Miquella is attempting something similar. He wants to combine the shadow realm and lands between realm into one. Don’t forget that Miquella also attempted a ritual to presumably revive Godywn, what’s the ritual called one might ask? Eclipse. Shadow eclipsing the Erdtree? God the lord is getting DEEP.
Part of me wants to say that the shadow tree is the result you would see if you did the fia ending
"I make games not just for work, but also for my purpose in life"
That's why Hidetaka Miyazaki is the goat
miyazaki is so wholesome man, you can feel his passion for the craft. if every big developer had that same passion for making games as an artform and money wasnt a factor,, we'd live in an ideal world.
No one mentioning the Briar spells on Messmer? He is holding flames with black tendrils in it, and Briar magic comes from an exiled criminal. You know, maybe the snake wielding demigod who is in the Shadow of the Erdtree instead of the Lands Between?
He's definitely connected to the giantsflame and that whole flame cult. The trident that can be seen around their camps are the exact same as the impaled giants in the mountaintops. And that same trident is the same as Mesmer's hilt visible in the trailer.
@@Iseenotix Also, he's known as Messmer the Impaler.
I always thought Messmer was related to the dragon communion since when he conjured they flame it looked like their seal. Plus the armour he wears looked like an altered version of the drake set
Veil is also called a Baldachin….hmmm someone gives you a hug for a blessing.
You’re the only lore guy I see eye to eye with on ringed city and ds3 more generally. Also, loved the Dostoevsky vid. Thanks for these uploads today! Great info!
Rata did a video on elden Ring and Dostoyevsky?
@@VideoGameAtlasyes. I believe it was part of the frenzied flame video
Whoa!
So Elden tree is all glowing, humongous tree, so we can't see the shadow
But this dlc is in its shadow which was missing from The Lands Between
Quite a sick concept, I don't know why It took so long for me to figure out
It's pretty mind-bending and I didn't
This hadn't clicked for me before your comment, either 🤯
The lion being called a 'Dancing Lion' also seems to confirm it as indeed being inspired by the 'Lion Dance' aka those Costume Lions being puppetered by people to make them seem like Lions that well... dance.
I love that! It also having omen horns is interesting because regular lion Guardians (Those grey maned Lions with blades you see for example in Castle Sol) also have them in Elden Ring wich makes me wonder if these Costumes are ment to celebrate the age of the Crucible.
And considering we see aspect of the crucible: Wings. In the dlc makes me believe this is the case. The big Hippo, Dragon Rhino thing we see in the trailer also Explodes into Branches at one point wich again reflects to the Crucible era as we see on 'Crucible Knight Tree Helmet' and 'Silurias Tree' Great Spear.
Makes me wonder if the Tree we see in Shadow of the erdtree is infact the erdtree descriped in 'Erdtree incantations' wich say that erdtree once flourished with Ambundace and in Aspects of the crucible that say 'Erdtrees Primal Vital Energies' .
Perhaps the Tree was replaced as we hear the tree didint allways Glow like it does ingame. At one point the tree looked like just a Tree like Miquellas Haligtree.
But even tho Erdtree is seemingly alive and well, the roots under it dont glow and are decaying seemingly due to Godwyn but what if this wasent the case?
What if The Shadow Tree is the original Primordial Erdtree that was Replaced by Elden Beasts Tree and just was moved and veiled into the lands of Shadow and what we see under erd tree capital arent infact the roots of the erdtree we see but instead the roots of the Primordial Erdtree left there when the tree was moved. The elden beasts erdtree was placed on top the left roots and stump of the Primordial Erdtree where it took the 'Primal Vital Energies' to grow into the giant glowing tree we see today?
Tarnished Archeologist has a great vid speculating that the Erdtree we see in the game is not only illusory, but when it was real (before being burned by Messmer presumably) it was grafted onto the roots of the Greattree which may have been coniferous instead of the decidouos
@@michalnowacki1489 oh. I wasent the first to make this theory then lol. But yeah i asume the same as him. I think i heard the erd tree wasent allways all Glowy from Smoughstown refrencing Tarnished Archeologist now that i think about it.
I always thought the erdtree glowing like that was weird and unnatural. So cool.
The most surprising aspect is how generous Miyazaki has been in these recent interviews. Having watched all of DondonRV’s “making of” videos on the Souls games, I don’t think there’s ever been interviews where Miyazaki has explained so much in his answers!
You missed an interview? Absolutely maidenless behavior.
Well rata is maidenless so it tracks.
He's a Rattata. Can they even have maidens? @@moosiemoose1337
the lands between being translated by google into the land of interstice is pretty interesting as interstice basically means something between other things yes but it makes me think of the interstice from berserk which we all know micheal zaki is a big fan of and draws a lot of inspiration from. probably just a coincidence but funny to think about
I sure wish to get to know michael zaki. I think that miquela will try to have the same path as grithff, trying to merge worlds for power.
The Erdtree being born in the Land of Shadow seems absolutely huge? It suggest the Lands were separated during or after the War against the Giants for one. Getting some clarification on all the confusingly interconnected history is very exciting, glad to know Marika's history will get a heavy focus.
Maybe removing the Rune of Death is what separated the Land of Shadow, if it's some sort of underworld or spirit world. Maybe the spirit world mentioned in Helphen's Steeple.
@michaelhenry3234 I wonder what this also means for the crucible, considering that the trailer had some crucible like powers
@@YEY0806 This is entirely speculative theory, but this does line up with several theories/ideas about the Crucible. The Crucible is the primordial form of the Erdtree, and the Erdtree was born in a place seemingly with some connection to the Crucible. The Crucible is associated with conflict and competition, the Land of Shadow is potentially an afterlife of some sort that had a war. If the Land of Shadow is Helphen, it's a place only warriors go in death. If the Land of Shadow was indeed separated by the removal of the Rune of Death, and that coincided with the transition from Crucible to modern Erdtree, the color red would tie everything together: red Rune of Death, red gold of the Crucible, red grace of the Helphen, even the red lightning of the Ancient Dragons. Death is red. You remove death, you cut off the spirit world. You remove the red rune from the Elden Ring and grace/gold no longer has that hue, the Crucible is now the Erdtree.
Super speculative and it's built on numerous assumptions and theories, but I could see them going that route.
Here's what that probably means:
The Crucible was a time where many trees were competing to take over the Deeproots and grow into their own trees, thus the symbol of a stump with branch-like spikes coming out of it (think Siluria's helm, and the tree statues outside of Leyndell). Those spikes are a real thing in horticulture, where you put young trees into the stump of an old tree (they are called scions, and the process is called grafting). So the Erdtree was probably born in the Shadow lands, then taken to the Lands Between and grafted onto the Crucible by Marika.
The impression I got from that passage about the DLC ending (though it might be fault of the translation) read to me not as "DLC will not add a new ending" and more as "No event in DLC itself will be affected by what you do in the Base game."
same as always
I also thought this is what Miyazaki meant. I don’t see them NOT adding a new ending in their most successful game and largest dlc.
That last quote from Miyazaki is really something else. The fact he takes making games as his life's purpose can be felt in every aspect of FromSoft games. I can't imagine what gaming would be like if there was a Miyazaki at every studio. What a class act and one of the most profound creators of my lifetime
Ah, the mystery and speculation in these months leading up to release. I missed this feeling. Can't wait. What a breath of fresh air.
"Looks like you're going to the shadow realm, Jimbo." - A Great Man
Can't wait! Going to get one of each build ready at DLC entrance :)
You can also see the duelling shield in the trailer, but people keep mistaking it for a twinblade. Its the sheild with a spike on top and and bottom. It's visible when the character is grabbed by messmer
I'm extremely interested in its moveset. We might finally have a way to defend while attacking which sounds amazing.
Thank you so much for this video! I would have never known about this interview and it's awesome to find out a few extra details! I'm so hyped for this dlc it's not even funny! Appreciate the content man, keep it up
Im glad the souls community can all simaltaneously crawl out from under our rocks for elden ring again
After going over Messmer's design, I believe Messmer is Melina in the same fashion that Radagon is Marika. Marika is confirmed to be the mother of Messmer and is strongly implied to be the mother of Melina. Melina claims to be burned and bodiless, and apart from the three fingers seems to be the only entity we know of in the game able to burn the Erdtree, so she would seem to be of fire in the same way that Messmer is. Both Messmer and Melina have their left eyes permanently closed (not counting the frenzied flame ending for Melina, when Torrent dies and the rules of the world appear to drastically change). This would also justify why we know so little about Melina or her motivations in the base game despite her clearly being one of the most prominent characters in the base game. It would also give additional payoff to the reveal that Radagon is Marika, as that would be a clue that other gods in this world might have a male/female split in this way.
That lore drop about the pre-existing culture just confirms my beliefs that tarnished archeologist was right on the money with his theories
I don't know why but that last sentence from Miyazaki brought me to tears, there was just something so beautiful about it.
I'm super glad that they implemented some sort of power up progression mechanic that is detached from the conventional level and EXP system. Since I am at level 160 and hit all of my soft caps this makes me super stoked. And creating a whole new character is out of the question for me.
Love the Nier music in the background. Nice touch. Can’t wait for the DLC. Cheers.
Thanks for doing your best to translate this.
At risk of being a soppy shit, I tear almost came to my eye hearing that final quote from Miyazaki
I have the feeling that the dlc will have a lot to do with the Gloam-eyed Queen since Marika became a god by defeating her. Maybe Farum Azula, or at least the time of the Beastmen in general will play a big role and we will see alot Chimaera-like creatures. Messmer also has draconic eyes.
Please be right, I need that story so bad.
It is weird that Miquella wouldn't get his own unique ending, it could be true or it could maybe be a translation error? Idk I'm a little hopeful of that because there is only 2 unique endings in base game and the other 4 are all altered endings to the standard ending.
Yeah, I'm a little disappointed to hear about this.
It means that the end of SotE is going to be effectively meaningless if it's true.
You’re following Miquella’s footsteps into the land of shadow. You’ll probably come across a version of him throughout the land of shadow like you did with Melina. Miquella’s conclusion/ending is in the land of shadow and maybe it will translate outside of the land of shadow and affect a new ending.
If Miyazaki hasnt planned on sequel or another DLC and SotE is a self contained DLC without any impact on the base game. How are they gonna tie up the loose ends ? Especially with the Melina and Godwyn
@@alnorris251 are you new to Fromsoft games? One of those Elden ring first timers?
They have actively left loose threads hundreds of times. Because that's not how they tell stories. They don't need to tie everything off neatly lmao.
We found out a little about the expansion 1 month before the spring equinox and we’ll find out on the summer solstice.
The lion dance boss, and stuff like the big hippo reminds me so much of something from Chinese mythology. And since he said it is part of a different culture from before the great tree, I think that’s really cool. maybe we will get some more East-Asian inspired mythology like the land of reeds?
Imagine getting a glaive weapon or Chinese style swords, that probably seems possible considering there will be Monk style fighting in the game
@@YEY0806Will this be Glaive Master Hodir's long awaited return?
Please continue your heroic concept series
They talked about endings already, but I'm curious if there's gonna be changes to the base game aside from endings depending on progress in the DLC. Kinda similar to how beating Artorias changes Sif's intro cutscene. I wanna know how much I should progress different questlines in the base game when prepping for DLC so I can see all the changes
Yeah, I was hoping the base game would be altered in such a way that starting a whole new character would be desirable, but every signal they've given has been that the DLC is an island unto itself outside of equipment you take out of it.
It should be noted that the word "heroic" tends to have "good" and "moral" as connotations but historically "heroic" and "heroes" have also been used to refer to scale. Size.
So, he might be saying that Mesmer is a good guy and that Elden Ring is a good guy's story, but I find it far more likely that what he means is Mesmer is a powerful demigod and Elden Ring is a very grand story in terms of scale.
In the EU interview he says something similar but different to the children of Marika line. I'm pretty skeptical that he said Messmer is Marika's child there. I'd really like to see some confirmation of that part of the interview from a fluent speaker.
I'm curious about how the Shadow Lands got to be where they are. It sounds like from other interviews that it wasn't always the way it was. Could it have been where the gaping hole in the Lands Between is? Was Farum Azula connected to what became the Shadow Lands at some point?
So many questions.
That one castle we see in the trailer has bit crumbling near the top but it doesn't quite look like it belongs with Farm Azula. There still could be a connection there, the dancing lion wields lightning and seems to be fought in that castle?
There's another comment under this video going over a couple of the translations, they confirm he is calling Messmer a child of Marika.
Not as though it isn't a fairly-supported theory. His name starting with M, the red hair marking a child of Radagon, references to a mother sanctioning lordship. It's there.
Yeah, I think it was obvious that Messmer was Marika’s child with how he refers to ‘Mother’, the Grace of Gold, and the fact he has Radagon’s red hair.
It’s also cool to see that we’ll be exploring more of Marika’s past in this expansion. I hope this means we’ll learn more about the Gloam-Eyed Queen or Placidusax’s God, assuming they aren’t the same individual.
It’s also interesting to hear how the Erdtree was born in the Land of Shadows, as compared to Altus Plateau aka Leyndell where we can literally see its roots underground.
Though it does suck that Miquella isn’t getting his own ending. Was hoping that doing the DLC would cause an alternate chain of events with Malenia and maybe unlocking his or Malenia’s ending. Guess that Age Absolute ending theory is debunked
This expansion kinda goes along with this verse from the Bible. Basically in the spiritual realm we cannot see what's taken place being in the physical, is how I interpret Shadow of the Erdtree.
Ephesians 6:12
For our fight is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, and against spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
I expected something regarding progression as he stated previously that there will be a new type od progression introduced in the DLC. The route this is hinting at is very interesting indeed. I feel like this is the solution they came up with to support the casual player base for the notoriously tough DLC bosses.
Honestly in terms of the classical sense of the word heroic is one of the first words i think of when i think kf elden ring
pre ordered! lets support devs who make full proper games!
ratas really proud of that clip he shows at the end beating a gank of 3 huh, it isnt the first time it has appeared in a video
I fully expected that Miquella’s quest would have some effect on Malenia, as well as giving us some ability to settle or skip the fight peacefully. I have a twin sister in real life, and I would be serious disappointed if this wasn’t a possibility.
2 uploads in 1 day!?!? We’re living in the good ole days rn boys and girls
“Scolded”? That’s exactly the kind of thing we want to hear from developers it means they have a genuine passion for what they make
I wish I can Chryosleep to the exact date of this dlc
I’ve already been playing the game as a great-shielder, both attacking and blocking with one shield. Can’t wait to see what is meant by ‘dueling shield’
I like to think the shadow tree is the original erdtree being consumed by the golden order and were under the lands between
For the alternate ending discussion I think it might be a little different from the interpretation in this video. Its done with google translate and I don't know Japanese so I can't check, but it seems like Miyazaki was more focused on the idea that base game progression will not interfere with the DLC. (ie: burning the Erdtree, or unlocking destined death, or even beating the game won't change the DLC world or anything like that.) Its possible he was talking about both being exclusive, but I'm not confident in there being no alternate ending from that answer.
love your content. have not been alienated yet.
Messmer, has to be a Golden Order member that ended up being removed due to his methods being too violent, but is still an ally.
He’s clearly inspired by real life Vlad the Impaler, known for his Christian faith, choice of weapon, draconic symbolism, to the point that the famous Dracula, trope codifier of modern vampires, was inspired by him, and, extreme bloodlust when fighting. Depending on how much Miyazaki wants to amp him up (kinda worried that he spoke more about optional bosses when referring to Malenia being hard), he might make Malenia look like a joke, healing included, his remembrance might finally give faith arcane users a weapon that scales with both, and some random incantations, possibly the spears erupting from the ground, looks to be extremely painful vs big bosses.
Still hoping we get the Sunlight Spear, though! No, Granssax doesn’t count.
I have never been this hyped for a DLC
The DLC having its own power up system is intriguing. I wonder if it'll be like eating shadow goo to grow stronger. The suppression bit and mention of sekiro makes me think there will be something to turn off the boost, akin to the demon bell or what have you. Super cool idea. Cant wait for the SL1 no booster challenge runs
God tier content! Praise be the sun!
The separate offensive power makes complete sense to me. The base ER progression probably would not really work for the DLC. You're probably like at least level 100+ after mohg, and your power level is already starting to plateau. Chances are you won't feel much progression in the DLC just from leveling. Then you've got people who cleared the game, maybe level 150, or people higher on NG+. By having some separate progression system for the DLC, it ensures a smooth feeling of progression for everyone.
Mesmer sitting on the throne Morgot sits on is symbolic to Mesmer’s power level and importance of the other demi gods, Marika’s children.
Really great video!
8:49 gyatt weapon confirmed
I think in addition to the DLC exploring more of Miquella’s story (and possibly Godwin’s) it’s going to focus a lot on the origin of the great Serpent that Rykard fed himself to. There are many references in the base game to the serpent being the ancient archenemy of the erdtree, from item descriptions and design details related to the gladiators/arenas, but details are extremely sparse. Messmer clearly has lots of snake iconography and is even dressed similarly to an arena gladiator. His weapon is also a glaive/swordspear similar to the Serpent Hunter, which could be significant. Seems like From cut out nearly everything related to the great serpent to save it for DLC, which matches up nicely with hints Miyazaki gave about parts of history being struck from the records in the lands between. It would also make sense considering that Rykard/Volcano Manor had a rather disappointing ending. I have a feeling that there will be a big reveal about Godwin too, there’s too much deathblight stuff in the trailer for him to not be involved somehow, not to mention his connections with Miquella. It seems likely that they’re going to flesh out all of those things at the very least, in addition to the origins of Marika and the Erdtree as Miyazaki said.
When you said Shadow dimension It reminded me of Ywuach Quincy realm in Bleach, which is just a shadow of the Shikigami HQ.
So I think the Lands of Shadow it still exist yet it is a reflection reality conjured by the user.
8:48
“Gyatt”teken
This explains a lot thank you 🙏🏼
Looks like that centerpiece building that's places just underneath the Shadow tree's overhang, is positioned just right to catch the runoff of sap that's seeping out of it. The scene showing the manor in the swamp, with the dead trees above it, there seem to be ten corpses sitting in front of it, all kneeling with hands behind their backs, and what look like little lights where their heads should be. The corpse pulling out the object from it's head looks to be the remains of the old man in the painting shown before, the clasp on his cloak is identical. Mesmer, with glowing yellow eyes, red hair, and name beginning with an M, could very well be a discarded sibling of Melania and Miquella. The beast that appears to be the boss of the quagmire manor based on background scenery, is quite hard to describe, there are two hands holding up its face and bottom jaw, and an assortment of legs supporting the rest of it, with what look like omen horns as well, Miss Chalice mentioned it had the look of a parade creature, that required multiple people to wear the suit and make the movements, so I wouldn't be surprised if it had a phase while cloaked and one with it revealed in entirety. There's spiral symbolism all over the trailer, in architecture and some creatures, but maybe that's me being paranoid after running through Alan Wake 2 six times. All in all, this area and the context I'm given, leads me to believe that this place has long been the trashcan of the Lands Berween, the denizens here are what Marika swept under the rug during her rule, including what seems to be a discarded child.
You really had to sneak in the "gyat"eken. heh. I wonder what kind of weapon that is.
Caught that
Found in a forum somewhere its a type of fighting armor worn on the shins, this could be the actual weapon that the 'monk-like' fighting style uses
I think it might be the sword held backwards that we saw briefly in one of the gameplay segments, as "gyakuten" is "reverse" or "inverted" in Japanese, and "ken" is one of several ways of saying "sword". Probably translates to "reverse-grip sword" or something akin to that.
I’m gonna choose to believe there’s some mistranslation/misunderstanding with the question of endings… I want a Miquella’s simp ending like I was Ranni’s
Miyazaki is the name of actual GOATs
I fucking love when TH-camrs use Nier and Persona music as their bgm
If you can tell me the name of this song please 3:00
2:21 - I read the Famitsu interview of Miyazaki and about this part - Google somewhat got it right.
Yes. The theme of a heroic tale will remain the same.
You can easily recognize the character "Messmer The Impaler" depicted in the key art also a hero.
The chair in which Messmer sitting on is the same chair that was used in the battle against "Morgott, the Omen King" in the main story, and he is also one of the same ranks as Godrick the Grafted, Malenia Blade of Miquella, Starscourge Radahn, Rykard, Lord of Blasphemy, also called "Children of Marika".
NOTE: In the official interview it specifically says MARIKA NO KO (マリカの子) and since we all know that Marika has a lot of children then it is literary translated as Children of Marika.
6:36
Miyazaki: As for the system, we have added a DLC-only leveling mechanic.
It would be easier to understand if you imagine it like the "Attack Power" in "SEKIRO: SHADOWS DIE TWICE". This is the "threat" that we have been talking about.
This is for the "freedom to take on bosses" as I mentioned earlier, and makes it easier to experience things like, "This boss is tough, so let's explore another place, get stronger, and try again," even at higher levels.
On the other hand, the player can refrain on using this mechanic to face the bosses for greater challenge.
Will you make a video about how to prepare for the expansion? I'm wondering if stuff like burning the erdtree may affect access to the realm of shadow
2 video one day pog u great vid
Mogh does so much damage and getting an entire area after mogh means that we have an entire area with that level of damage... I'm glad they sort of addressed this.
Also I wonder if this shadow realm is like a weird mirror world or negative zone. It'll be cool to see alternate versions of charctaers in the base game.
LEVEL UP YOUR VIGOR
Break stances. You'll be ok. Those new daggers can break stances from far away.
I want to remond everyone that he always undersells his games. Before launch he said with confidence that elden ring was a 20 hour experience. If he says its as big as limgrave what he is saying is "not as big as the entire map" but by thinking of limgrave going in you will have lower expectations. When it is bigger then limgrave that will trick you into thinking its bigger than it is because it was bigger than previously described
"As big or bigger "
People were able to squish a least 20 hours of the network test and it didn't even had all of Limgrave. I think the playtime of the DLC won't be a trouble, it doesn't need to be a least half of the main game to be worth the price tag, as some people are suggesting, if we can get more than 15 hours of gameplay plus all the new gear and bosses, I think it is already better than a lot of 70$ games that probably have less replayability.
7:10 This is just a Speculation, but I think miyazaki was trying to say that You will be able to do different types of level ups in the DLC that are NON-RUNE BASED, that will only be active while in the DLC, so when you finish the DLC and come back into the Lands Between, you wont be level 165 and squashing every boss in the main game because you are so powerful and over-leveled.
Wait so what if the 6 towers are holding up thr veil and the shadow realm is actually in the center of the map? Because the towers surround it?
Whoa.... This is such a sick theory!
Miyazaki absolutely goated
It's clear to me that this land of shadows *IS* the other world where the Numen came from.
I think their should be an statement made that you HAVE to complete a certain(mohg)quest line before accessing the dlc. Because the internet literally waits to complain about anything
In reference to the “offensive upgrades” within DLC-only, makes me think that like maybe there is a special sort of “barrier” if you will that encompasses all the enemies or bosses in the DLC, and as you “break those down,” as it were, you are capable of being a stronger “shadow warrior,” If that makes sense. Like imagine there is an all encompassing defensive power that all the shadow enemies are buffed from, and you collect a sort of “rune” or something that will break down that defensive ability they all have, so if you, say, get all 10 runes or whatever it may be, the final boss will be at it’s weakest point, but acquiring none of them, he will be at his strongest.
Like imagine Mohg’s Nihil attack… sure you can fight him head on, but it sure helps if you have the lord of blood physick. So I picture like the enemies will have a sort of inherent power in their own realm that you can get passive buffs via the runes that will break down some of those capabilities.
Which would also mean, that it would be important to plan out which bosses to face in which order, as some will be incredibly difficult at full strength whereas others will be easier(comparatively), at full strength. So like he mentioned realizing a boss is too hard and coming back to them later, this would make sense, where you need to realize some bosses might be too powerful without your passive buffs and you’ll end up being sort of naturally funneled into a certain order of bosses based on how many runes it would take to make them manageable for you. Obviously there will be beastly players who will be able to handle all of it at full strength but the majority of players will probably need to do a certain order of bosses to make it reasonable for them, which could funnel the path of storyline in a more cohesive narrative if you were to find a “too hard” of boss or area/dungeon too early. Essentially using the difficulty as a tool for laying out the narrative in more-or-less the “correct” order to make the most sense.
If beating rhadan is part of the dlc like necessary to get there, what if the guy with the boomerang on the horse is something to do with rhadan, like a decaying version of him
Thanks ratatoskr. I'm excited for this dlc
Something that I noticed about the logo of the DLC is that the "O" in "Shadow" reminds me of the Ouroboros symbol.
I don't see what's confusing about the comparison to Sekiro's offensive power. It means exactly that: item you get and need to use to become strong in the Shadow Realm. Since your character would be already at max upgrade level, it gives a sense of progression even after having already cleared the main game.
I wonder if any of the new stuff in the DLC will be strewn about into the main game, or if it's all going to be exclusively obtained within the DLC area. That's the most important factor for me in deciding whether to start a new game soon, or wait until the DLC releases.
More than likely all in the DLC. When has one of their games ever done otherwise?
@@ZaLewdWarudo fair. I honestly don't remember how it was in dark souls 1 or 2 cuz it's been so long. But I've played Bloodborne enough times and I feel like I didn't see any new systems are items in the main game.
Probably safe to go ahead and start playing earlier then, since that means there's nothing to be missed.
I just recognised the background music. Holy shit. I wondered why this always makes me so sad.
So here’s me theory about Messmer, that he is the Elden Ring equilivant to Satan (not LITERALLY the devil but he probably shares a similar story to Lucifer. Considering his motiff is snakes and they represent betrayal in Elden rings world and of course snakes mean a big thing to satan in Christian lore. And while Rykard is also associated with snakes its implied that the snake betrayal theme existed before him.
Considering he has snakes and also has dragon armor on it paints a picture of someone wanting power. In the trailer he ponders why Marika would allow us the throne even though we are Tarnished. And considering we haven’t hear anything about this character before it makes me think he has The nameless king status.
Perhaps he made a power grab even before the war started and he may have been banished to this shadow land. And he may be trying to get out.
It’s just a theory I highly doubt its that simple but its what his design makes me think of.
I feel fortunate to live in a time where Miyazaki is making games