Miyazaki says don't worry, the shiny new weapons in Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree shouldn't overtake your old favorite weapons.

Lina Portman2 weeks ago

0 2 minutes read

Shadow of the Erdtree features, like any good FromSoftware expansion, a bunch of new weapons with which to commit murder: claws, censers, broadswords and, a personal favorite here at PC Gamer, punches that let you doing cool kicks and flips. It's also recommended for higher level characters, and we're just creatures of habit.

Which begs the question: Will all your old guns be obsolete models compared to the new, shinier kids on the block? No, says FromSoftware president Hidetaka Miyazaki in a recent interview with CNET:

“New weapon classes aren't necessarily better than existing weapon classes, so I don't think players will feel a drastic or insurmountable change in the difficulty curve. [of the base game] simply because they have access to these new weapons. »

Having played a lot (although not as much as I thought), I can comfortably confirm this. I'm one of those dirty Force/Faith gremlins who shook the Blasphemous Blade (although I also have a weakness for the Gargoyle's Black Blade these days), and even though I found a new love story in a pair of beastly claws, they failed to do so. I have in no way outgrown my main kit.

Instead, I found them to be useful side notes – an asset in my back pocket whenever a boss hits a little too hard and too fast for my slow sword swings to be handled, hence Miyazaki's follow-up statement: “Could some weapons be used?” be better against certain bosses? Maybe” tracks, here.

He also argues, perhaps less convincingly, that the new weapons shouldn't give you too many advantages in PvP: “Naturally, the increase in variety may lend itself to new strategies that people who don't don't have the DLC might not use. exposed to… Of course my desire is for everyone to experience the DLC, but other than that I think the experience won't be that jarring. “

I'm sure the kit I've seen so far will lend itself to some completely botched builds, especially when they fall into the hands of aficionados who are much more scientific in their approach than my strategy of “hitting really hard with the biggest piece. of metal you can find”. Mind you, this is Elden Ring – the base game already has enough wacky nonsense in it, so I'm not really worried about there being anything too over the top .

The proof will be coming soon: Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree is coming later today, and I'm sure the voracious theory-makers will have a field day with their new arsenal of tricks.