The biggest game of 2022 “Elden Ring” will soon be even bigger with the long-awaited DLC update most fans have been salivating over just right around the corner. 

Officially titled “Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree,” the DLC is scheduled to release June 21 as confirmed by the trailer released on Feb. 21. 

The trailer revealed a huge amount of content in the upcoming update that was far greater than what fans were expecting. 

In addition to an ominous new world to explore called the Land of Shadow, as well as new enemies to challenge and conquer, the DLC will also include more new skills, characters to interact with and juicy secrets to uncover. 

As to how to get to the Land of Shadow, the trailer confirmed the key is the hand of Miquella’s egg in the Mohgwyn palace, as many fans theorized. 

The demigod Miquella will be the main focus of the DLC and will guide the player through this eerie new land, serving a similar role as Melina, the spirit who helped the player in the main game. 

Unlike the one-eyed spirit, however, Miquella’s intentions are not yet clear. 

Different parts of the new world look absolutely stunning, such as the field of azure flowers and the spectral gravestones in front of a heavenly sunset. 

Of course, it wouldn’t be a FromSoftware game without a few nightmare-inducing areas and hellish horrors. 

One of the most dreaded parts of the upcoming DLC is what appears to be a Death Blight swamp. 

In the main game, Death Blight was a condition that Tarnished, characters who were brought back from the dead by the Erdtree in order to become Elden Lord and bring peace, needed to be wary of more than any other. 

If a Tarnished were exposed to too much Death Blight, it would instantly kill them in one of the most brutal ways possible by having spiked brambles come out of their body and hoisting them into the air for all to see. 

While there were some small encounters with foes who used Death Blight before, the game never threw this much at you, not to mention the swamp’s enemies who most likely specialize in it as well. 

Even after all of that, perhaps the strangest part of this new land is the giant, odd-looking Erdtree in the center of it all. 

Unlike the glowing, vibrant one players are more familiar with in the Lands Between, this one is dark and twisted. 

The tree itself almost seems to be crumbling and barely-visible veils spread from its outstretched branches over different parts of the land. 

Along with new lands come new bosses, some having particularly intriguing designs. 

One of the bosses from the trailer resembles the traditional Chinese dragon costumes operated by multiple people and used in festivals and parades. 

This boss could be based off of this idea and, similarly, have two enemies underneath the costume working together to appear as one being. 

The second boss that catches the eye is the creature with golden tattered clothing. 

Early in the trailer, a painting of an old man and a young woman is shown. This creature bears a striking resemblance to the old man and even has the same brooch tying his mangled clothes together. 

The obvious similarities between the two brings up more thought-provoking questions about who the old man is and what happened to him and the girl from the painting. 

The third and most important boss of all is Messmer the Impaler, who will serve as the endgame boss and perhaps the most powerful one in the entire game. 

The key detail about him is that he shares the same striking red hair as Malenia and Radagon, two of the game’s hardest bosses and most important characters. Messmer the Impaler also has golden eyes which resemble those of Queen Marika’s aura. 

This brings up quite a few questions such as whether he is the third, hidden child of Queen Marika, god of the Lands Between and consort Radagon, or why he is even in the Land of Shadow in the first place. 

While the longer-than-hoped-for wait may be upsetting to some, it could be a blessing in disguise. 

The long wait brings with it solid content to keep players busy for a good long while on release and grants more time for developers to crack down on any issues the DLC may have.

The few answers given in the trailer only lead to more questions and a greater desire to finally play the DLC the second it releases.