Elden Ring's DLC Proves That Soulslikes Still Have The Potential To Surprise Me

In the last days before came out, I was preparing myself for disappointment. I loved the base game. I’d invested over 200 hours in it, perfecting my sorcery build, and finding as many secrets, dungeons, and optional bosses as I could. I knew absolutely nothing could match the thrill of beating Margit for the first time, or finishing my first catacomb, or discovering my first illusory wall. I knew concessions would be made to ’s map — I knew it'd be smaller and shorter. I knew it'd never live up to the original.

But I'm willing to admit that I was wrong. From the moment I started playing ’s DLC, I could tell my experience wasn't diminished, or in any way less-than. It didn't feel like a reunion with an old friend — it was a brand-new experience, unlike any game I had played before. I was hooked instantly, and the experience proved to me that, as many Soulslikes as I've played in the interim, the genre still holds infinite potential for innovation.

I like to think of as the title that reintroduced me to FromSoft’s Soulsborne games. I had played around the time it came out, but never actually finished it, and had mostly ignored the genre since then. But ’s release was the perfect convergence of factors to rekindle my interest. I had time to kill, and two friends with more experience in the genre who I knew would be interested in co-op. So I figured, why not give it a shot?

What followed was a total obsession with all things. I scoured every inch of the Lands Between. I kept a journal with detailed notes on the characters, quests, and lore. I was the first, and to date, am still the only member of my initial play group to beat the game. From there, I went back and played (almost) every other FromSoft game available on modern consoles: all three,,. And from there, I played every Soulslike I could get my hands on:,,.

By the time I was finished with my Soulslike binge, I began to believe I'd seen everything the genre had to offer. I'd seen its combat mechanics