SCREEN STUDIES

Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree

Shadow of the Erdtree is an expansion for Elden Ring, one of the most acclaimed games of 2022. Elden Ring was directed by Hidetaka Miyazaki with worldbuilding & lore provided by fantasy author George R. R. Martin.

Deemed an action RPG, this game is usually called a “Souls-like”. A subgenre known for high levels of difficulty and emphasis on environmental storytelling, typically in an epic, dark fantasy world named after the Dark Souls game series. These games have core concepts of repeated character death driving player knowledge and mastery of the game world along with a sparsity of save points.

The battles can be brutal, but extremely fulfilling when you defeat a boss.

The Basics:

Released: June 21st, 2024

Platforms: PS4 / PS5 / Xbox One / Xbox Series X|S / PC

Pricing: Standard Edition - $39.99 / Base + Expansion Edition - $79.99 / Physical Collector's Edition - $249.99

As this is an expansion, the base game of Elden Ring is required in order to play Shadow of the Erdtree.

Whether you’re watching your favorite streamer or family member play, or you’ve been thinking about trying it out, here’s what you’ll be seeing on screen:

1. The blank square is for when you take on powers granted by defeating major bosses. You activate the power, or Great Rune, and it appears there. The squares to the right are the buffs/character effects currently active

2. Your key info bars: red = health, blue = mana, green = stamina

   1. Once your health bar is empty you are dead, but you can use health potions to replenish it 💓 

   2. Mana is used for some abilities, special moves, and spells ✨ 

   3. Stamina is the most important to manage: Every move matters and “Spamming” (pressing buttons over and over) = death. Stamina allows you to sprint, jump, dodge, roll, block, and even swing your weapon. 💦 

3. An enemy - in this case, the big bad is an Ancient Dragon 🐲 

4. This is a ghost of another player, it shows you how other players have died to the boss 👻 

5. YOU - the hero! You’re on your mount in this screenshot.

6. This “ghostly” symbol means you can summon help, basically a ghost form of one of the enemies in the game, but you need to find something called spirit ashes to do so.

7. The weapon special move assigned to the current weapon, using it drains mana. The name changes based on your weapon

8. Name and health bar of the boss/enemy

9. Your items. The left and right slots are for weapons/shields/other equipment. The top slot is for spells while the bottom slot is for consumables

10. Your currency (called runes). You can use it either increase stats (which levels you up) or buy items. You lose it on death and can pick it back up by going to where you died, but if you die before getting it, it's gone forever