Summary
For many,Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtreehas delivered on almost every front. It has presented players with a new, massive area to explore that is several times larger than Limgrave, has the enemy difficulty cranked up to 11, and bucket loads of lore for the Soulsborne scholars to sink their teeth into. Many of the bosses also deliver, such as Messmer, the Impaler and Rellana, Twin Moon Knight, but it falls at the final hurdle a little with its final boss.
[Warning: Major spoilers for Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree.]
That’s not to say that the final boss ofFromSoftware’s biggest ever expansionis bad by any means. It delivers a concept that many players in the fan base have asked for, is as difficult as one would expect, and is an awesome spectacle to behold. Still,the final boss is an amalgamation of two prior bosses that has come together thanks to a myriad of complicated reasons, yet it only seems to borrow heavily from one of these bosses, instead of taking as much as possible from both.
Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree Review - FromSoft’s Greatest Hits
Elden Ring’s Shadow of the Erdtree DLC is a victory lap for FromSoftware, bringing in elements from past games without losing what made it special.
Shadow Of The Erdtree Missed An Opportunity With Promised Consort Radahn
The Concept Is One Of The Coolest In Soulsborne History
Thefinal fight inShadow of the Erdtreetakes place when a reborn Radahn fights on behalf of Miquella on the latter’s path to godhood. The Tarnished stands in their way, of course, ready to do battle with the Starscourge for a second time, yet players may remember that the legendary general was previously seen as a cannibalistic zombie roaming a wasteland. It is revealed that after Radahn and Mohg are killed,the former’s soul is put in the latter’s body, resulting in the boss fight at the end of the expansion.
Conceptually, this is an awesome idea, combining two great bosses (and three demi-gods with profound lore presence) together into one mighty enemy, but FromSoftware didn’t do much with this. For the most part,The Promised Consort takes after Radahn. In fact, he looks almost entirely like Radahn, since he is wearing the general’s armor, and only has a few of Mohg’s Omen horns. His face looks like Radahn’s too, lacking the facial horns of the Omen demigod, despite it being his body.
Mohg is one of two Omen demigods and the twin brother of Morgott, the Omen King.
It seems likethe only things that transferred from Mohg to this boss are one blood attack and the boss' size. The Promised Consort version of Radahn is significantly smaller than the Starscourge variant, which is likely a good thing considering how hard it already is to dodge most of his attacks. The model is Mohg’s size, which makes sense considering it’s meant to be his body, and yet the boss looks nothing like him. It just seems like an excuse to have the player fight a physically fit Radahn, rather than properly incorporating the established lore.
Elden Ring: Shadow Of The Erdtree Is Missing One Key Feature To Improve Its Story
Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree featured 80 new bosses, a new area to explore, and plenty of challenging fights – but it’s missing this key piece.
Not Enough Of Mohg Was Put Into The Boss' Design
Mohg Is One Of Elden Ring’s Best Bosses
With Mohg’s status as a completely optional boss in a secluded area and no presence in the CG trailer,he isn’t quite as popular as the Starscourge and was able to fight the Tarnished at his strongest. Fighting Radahn in his prime was always a cool concept, but this isn’t the great general in his prime. His soul has been put into the body of another while being controlled by someone else, and if the body belongs to Mohg, more of theLord of Bloodshould have made its way into the final boss' moveset.
There are plenty of things that could have been added to make this feel more like an unholy amalgamation between the mighty Radahn and the zealous Mohg. During the fight, The Promised Consort will practically fly into the air while tossing flying rocks at the Tarnished.Mohg has wings, and this could have been used during the move to make Radahn flywithout affecting the mechanics of the fight whatsoever. On top of that, some flaming blood effects could have been added and maybe even a classic Nihil (although this could be a little overkill).
Overall,the final boss ofElden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtreeis a dynamic, difficult fight that is a visual spectacle, has cool lore implications, and gifts players with an amazing feeling of euphoria when it has finally been conquered. That doesn’t excuse the missed opportunity of not having more of Mohg in the fight to reinforce its lore. Radahn’s soul has been put into the Lord of Blood’s body, and more of him should have been allowed to shine through in this final duel.
Elden Ring
Elden Ring is a popular game released by From Software, creators of games such as Armored Core, Dark Souls, and Bloodborne. Players assume the role of a Tarnished, a being once exiled to the Lands Between and has returned to repair the Elden Ring after the events of “The Shattering.” “The Shattering” occurred when the offspring of Queen Marika battled to claim the shards of the Elden Ring, known as Great Runes. Their war has brought lawlessness, destruction, and chaos to the land, and the player will challenge them with the assistance of a Maiden known as Melina as they travel towards the great Erd Tree to face their destiny and to become the one true Elden Lord. Players can tackle the game how they choose and can adventure across realms as they build their character how they want - be it a powerful magic caster or a brutal swordsman - they will have complete control over their build.
