Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree story trailer releases

FromSoftware has released a brand new story trailer for Elden Ring DLC Shadow of the Erdtree.

The trailer lasts three minutes and provides a fresh look at the story, which for the most part has remained under wraps until now despite analysis and speculation on previous trailers.

You can watch the trailer in full below.

So what do we see?

“Miquella the kind spoke of the beginning,” the narration begins. “The seduction and the betrayal. An affair from which gold arose. And so too was shadow born.” That certainly seems to encapsulate the backdrop of the narrative, which is spoken along with images of Miquella walking up bloody steps towards an archway of bloodied bodies, presumably awakening from his slumber.

We witness a war of flames, with plenty of those caged fiery giants from the previous trailer. “A purge without grace or honour, the tyranny of Messmer’s flame,” says the narration as the big bad presides over the battle. We see another previously seen boss too as eventually the camera pans upwards from the battle in the shadow of the golden erdtree. It seems clear that the golden Miquella and the flaming Messmer are at odds.

Repeatedly we see this golden symbol, presumably marks left by Miquella, in various environments. Is this a new type of site of grace, or just an indicator of our goal?

The final shot sees the camera pan backwards to reveal a number of characters stood at one of these symbols, the golden erdtree in the background. Are these characters we’ll meet along the journey as we follow in Miquella’s footsteps? And, in typical Souls fashion, are they not to be trusted? “We choose to follow,” speaks the narration. “Will you walk with us?”

We don’t have long to decide now as Shadow of the Erdtree will release next month on 21st June across all platforms and will be FromSoftware’s “largest expansion” ever. It will also be the sole DLC, but maybe not the end of the series.

In the lead up to this new story trailer, the studio has released artwork of some new enemies including a Bloodborne-esque enemy with a bulbous golden head, and a masked creature some have likened to a uterus.