Oh, Good. Artorias Is Back to Ruin Our Lives in the New Elden Ring: Nightreign DLC
Just when I thought my controller was safe, FromSoft announced the first proper DLC for Elden Ring: Nightreign. And they're bringing him back.
The State of Play was mostly a blur, but I snapped to attention when the FromSoft logo hit. They just announced The Forsaken Hollows, the first real, meaty DLC for Elden Ring: Nightreign. It’s dropping on December 4, which is way too soon for me to emotionally prepare. The trailer was a classic FromSoft "what the hell is happening" montage, and I am so ready for it.
So, Artorias Is Back...
Let's just get this over with. The trailer gave us a quick, horrifying glimpse of the Abysswalker himself, Artorias. After all these years.
He's almost certainly going to be a "Night Boss," which means he'll probably have some new, bullshit-level shadow moves. I can already feel the PTSD from the original Artorias of the Abyss DLC creeping back in. My dodge-roll finger is twitching.
New Ways to Play (and Die)
It's not just about being traumatized by old bosses. We're also getting two new playable Nightfarers. One was zipping around with some "swooshy shadow powers," which looked pretty slick. The other looked like a proper battle mage, throwing buffs and debuffs around.
We also saw a new "Shifting Earth" event. A giant ice or crystal spire just... erupts... from the middle of the map. Classic FromSoft, just casually changing the geography to make our lives harder.
Good Luck With the Lore, Nerds
As expected, the story was completely incomprehensible. That voice (who I'm swearing is the Duchess) mentions the "aftermath of the Long Night," which might mean this whole thing is a sequel to the main game's ending. Someone also muttered about a "Dreglord".
Honestly, who knows. We'll all just have to wait for the lore hounds to make sense of why a tree-king and a crystal spire are connected.
The Forsaken Hollows drops on December 4. Start practicing your parries. It looks like we're going to need them.