#We never even get to see what weapon Godwyn used to use!

[tlgtw]

Man that DLC's final boss has got me feeling kinda fucked. I'm kinda depressed about it now that I'm done. Everything else is, was, so good. But I do not like that plot development. I honestly think it is bad. Why did they choose not to foreshadow this in literally any way? Why did Miquella attempt to resurrect Godwyn at all in the first place, then? Practice? Was this really what was originally planned? There's no actual evidence to the contrary so you gotta assume it must've been.

So yeowch...

[landoftheway]

Finished Shadow of the Erdtree! Thoughts are below the cut but TL;DR it's a mixed bag leaning positive.

First of all here's how I feel about all the bosses (save for the Enir-Ilim Royal Rumble which ranks as Very Fun)

Special mention goes to Radahn cause phase 1 of that fight is fun enough to go in the top tier, but phase 2 is downright miserable between the headache-inducing flashbangs and PS4 lag.

Broadly I think the whole area is pretty fun to play in. There's a LOT of cool new weapons and spells and the areas are mostly fun to navigate, with special mention going to the Abyssal Woods and the Shadowkeep for keeping things fresh and fun. That said the roaming Furnace Golems fucking suck and were always tedious and shitty to deal with and quite a few sub-areas, dungeons, and bosses never really rose above the level of just Kinda Fun.

Narratively I really like the themes explored but I feel like we could have gotten a bit more characterization in a few places. Some things are obviously left vague on purpose and I think those work for the most part, and the characterization we get for Miquella is quite good in spite of its indirect presentation, but I feel like certain figures like Rellana, Gaius, Romina, and the denizens of Enir-Ilim could have done with a little more direct characterization.

Hot take (I think based on what I've seen of others' opinions) is that I actually like getting to fight Radahn in his prime even if the previously mentioned mechanics are bullshit; there's some specific stuff related to my Tarnished I like that I'll mention in a different post but I think it serves a good narrative role and lets us see what one of the toughest dudes in the land was really like at their best. That said I do kinda wish Godwyn had gotten to be Miquella's consort instead if only so we could have had a single proper fight with him. Also wish the Gloam-Eyed Queen and the Godskin Apostles could have gotten some relevance to the proceedings.

So yeah, definitely got some flaws but overall I had a good time.

[dragon-communion]

Okay, the anthropology degree is clawing at the inside of my bones. I haven’t seen anyone study the Blasphemous Serpent to a satisfying degree and I might just teach myself how editing works explicitly to explain at length why it’s fascinating as hell.

Like. Basic recap:

Mentions we have of living gods include Marika/Radagon as emissaries of the Greater Will; the Twinbird, mother of the Deathbirds; the Scorpion God sealed under the Lake of Rot, succeeded by Malenia; and potentially Shabriri. I would also argue that Godwyn’s corpse counts, at least as a figure of worship and the main vessel of Death Blight.

The Blasphemous Serpent isn’t as abstract as the Greater Will, the Scarlet Rot, or even the Moon- people enact the theoretical will of these things, but we never see them except through representations. You could argue that all Rot is the Rot god, for example. But the Serpent is a singular entity with agency, plans, and perhaps even actual emotions to some degree. You can find its skin in Mt. Gelmir. When we face the lord of the manor, it’s a combination of Rykard and the Serpent. How much is left of Rykard is debatable, but considering we talk to his face in its throat rather than the snake itself, I feel like he’s definitely still present in some sort of partnership.

Then there’s the gladiators to consider, the Formless Serpents, and the Serpent God’s Curved Sword.

Most armor and weapons we have that directly reference the Serpent talk about Rykard, his devouring, and the reaction of his men. After that comes the man-serpents and their own innovations in magic and lava-forged weaponry. There isn’t a lot of content about before Rykard made his bargain, and the culture of Mt. Gelmir before a wayward son of Caria got it into his head to kill the gods by becoming one. Why he thought that was a good plan is its own topic.

But we have clear indications of Leyndell’s attitude towards the Serpent, what it might have been up to, and the behavior of the people loyal to it. Heck, it’s called the Blasphemous Serpent. If we assume the blasphemy is against the Golden Order, what does that look like? What does that mean?

Before I run away with that, let me show you why I’m so fixated on this.

I am haunted. I’m obsessed. The only other weapon I know of off the top of my head that’s blatantly stated to be used for sacrifices is the Sacrificial Axe, which depicts a Deathbird.

Both of them restore a bar- the Curved Sword restores HP, the Sacrificial Axe restores FP. I’m also very interested in comparing this sword to the Blasphemous Blade, which we get right out of the gullet of the Serpent itself, which is covered in the still-living remnants of previous sacrifices and also restores HP.

Some comparisons could be drawn between the idea of the Crucible and what the Serpent is doing- Rykard prattles on about the idea of joining together as family, bound together by blood, and through that union devouring the gods too. If devouring isn’t destruction, but unification, that matches up with what we hear from Shabriri and Hyetta about the Frenzied Flame wanting everything broken down into the great One again.

And the topic of blasphemy- particularly the gladiators and their armor. Like the heel in wrestling, it seems some prisoners might have been dressed in Serpent imagery and then sent into the arena for not just entertaining bloodletting, but perhaps particularly vengeful and politically-minded bloodletting showing the superiority of Leyndell’s might over the barbaric followers of the Serpent. There’s an interesting video on YouTube showing that the serpent armor might not just be superficial- it could be piercing into the flesh of the gladiators, or worse. I’ll have to study them again to see if any serpents come out of them.

That speaks of an old hate, targeted. Granted, it’s always nice to have a scapegoat to shake a fist at to distract the populace from your failing regime, but the inescapable Satan analog is almost too easy. What’s going on here? Who lived on Gelmir, what was compelling about the Serpent as opposed to the Erdtree, what was it like before Rykard, what exactly is the blasphemy being reviled here?

I’m going to do something about this at some point, just black out and wake up with a video essay on ancient serpent cults, and then I will finally have sweet release from my hyperfixation. Maybe.

There’s always the rune on the Moon and the ghost-banners around Leyndell after that.

[nerendus]

Okay, chances are we will be getting a DLC trailer soon (my bet is on a Thursday....because my dreams told me so), and I am just going to get myself unnecessarily hyped by listing some things I want to see. Please, Fromsoft, don't let me go hollow....

Obvious one first, Miquella boss fight. But specifically I would really like him to be like Gael and Friede where he starts first as an NPC, maybe even do an optional quest for him, before fighting him in hell. I think it would be cool.

New scythe weapons. Base game scythes are...pretty mid in terms of appearance. I want some really pretty scythes.

No new information on the Dusk Eyed Queen. I just really like my personal vision of her, and I really don't want Melina being the queen to be canon. Aesthetically, she just....doesn't make the cut.

New covenants. I know ER doesn't have covenants in the way that Bloodborne and Dark Souls has them, but we only have Volcano Manor and Bloody Fingers as covenants and I just...want something new and significantly sexier.

Black Knife NPC or a Nox NPC. I am obsessed with these people so much, I just want to be able to talk to one of them.

More cute girly dresses. The world can never have too much of them.

Another NPC that we have this weird romantic thing going on with them (think Ranni or Varre....but preferably on the creepier side like Varre.)

Godwyn's normal face. He doesn't have to show up in the flesh as a normal man, it can easily just be a painting of him, I just want to see what his beautiful face looks like.

A new ending isn't necessary, but it would be nice. I'm keeping one of my PCs right before the fight with the Fire Giant because I couldn't defeat him just in the event new things occur in the endgame.

A proper Frenzied Flame boss fight. I'm sorry, Vyke, I need something more exciting.

That's about it in terms of hopes, but one last prediction I have is based on how we enter the DLC. My bets are on that little alcove where you get the amber for Seluvis's questline. The fact that they use a statue that's only otherwise seen at the Haligtree feels a little too intentional to just be an aesthetic piece. To me, at least. Hell, for all I know it's in Random Cave #124 past an illusory wall.