SUMMARY
  • Elden Ring and Shadow of the Erdtree have allowed Miyazaki to stretch his creative limits with a lot of success.
  • The action RPG and its DLC have allowed him to weave mysteries on an unprecedented scale compared to his previous titles.
  • Miyazaki's tendency to raise more questions than he provides answers for has once again come into the spotlight.

With Elden Ring’s expansion Shadow of the Erdtree nearing two months after its release, fans of Hidetaka Miyazaki’s vast and nuanced open-world adventure have explored the Land of Shadow to their heart’s content – and begun to discuss its many obscure secrets in the process.

While many mysteries from the base game have been resolved to its players’ satisfaction in the DLC, the Land of Shadow has created more mysteries than it resolved – a trademark of Miyazaki’s unique form of environmental storytelling in which he leaves his players to interpret many aspects of his environments and lore.

Hidetaka Miyazaki’s Web Gets a Little More Tangled

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Hidetaka Miyazaki knows how to keep a secret – and Elden Ring is full of them.

While Miyazaki’s tendency to include details in his games’ whole significance may initially baffle players before discussions around them provide a little clarity, the legendary director’s tendency to leave crucial plot points open to interpretation has been frustrating to his players even as it makes them fall in love with his creations even more.

This time around, it is the Roundtable Hold, Elden Ring’s version of a central hub that has apparently received the Miyazaki treatment, as players are left scratching their heads as to why it catches fire after they defeat the Fire Giant and set fire to the Erdtree in the base game – a story thread that allows them to finally face Queen Marika in battle to claim the title of Elden Lord.

The Roundtable Hold’s Fiery Fate Remains Shrouded in Mystery

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Shadow of the Erdtree takes Miyazaki’s unique brand of storytelling to new heights.

It’s a testament to Miyazaki’s ability to get players interested in his antics that an Elden Ring player remembers a detail he mentioned in an interview about Shadow of the Erdtree, in which he states that the significance of the Roundtable Hold burning in tandem with the Erdtree was going to be a part of the DLC’s narrative.

However, that does not seem to be the case and the player in question quickly turned to Reddit for answers.

Some players remain hopeful of another DLC chapter for Elden Ring despite Miyazaki’s assertion that the game would only receive one.

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Other players look to Miyazaki’s past titles and the manner in which he practiced the art of misdirection as a part of his magic while promoting those games.

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It is amusing that Miyazaki continues to leave his players baffled at the unresolved mystery even as he basks in the praise that Elden Ring has garnered from his fans. He even inspires other players to try their hand at misdirecting their comrades in arms from the looks of it.

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It is certain that Elden Ring and Shadow of the Erdtree will continue to raise more questions than answers in the coming months as players and content creators alike dive into the expansive lore of the two titles while bashing their heads against figurative illusory walls that Miyazaki has put in their path.

For the legendary director, that’s business as usual – and his fans are here for it all!