On February 28, we finally have news about Elden Ring DLC, a full expansion titled “Shadow of the Erdtree”

All we have right now is this one image, but they didn’t go with 1080p, 1440p or even a 4K resolution. And they made this teaser at 7500p. To put that into perspective, you’d need 336 SpongeBob-themed 13-inch televisions to display every pixel here. With all that space to work with, FromSoftware had plenty of room to hide some nice details in here, a lot of which can help us guess what this expansion will be about.

Shadow Of The Erdtree

First, let’s not discuss the details that can be seen at a glance for a moment. The Erdtree is not looking too hot. I mean, you’d expect that given the title, but there’s a bit more going on here. It’s visibly mangled, blackened, and dripping what looks like some kind of sap, but it also looks like there might be two trees here. One of which is very straight and lines up pretty much exactly with the Erdtree seen in-game, while the other is twisting around it, almost like a hand choking out its life.

But, the thing that caught everyone’s attention is this character riding what looks to be Torrent down here, since their hairstyle matches the one seen on Miquella in Elden Ring’s intro sequence. To keep things relatively simple, let’s just assume this is actually Miquella.

Beyond that, we also see a bunch of spectral graves and monuments, which all hold secrets of their own, but let’s back up and see what this could be setting up. The title “Shadow of the Erdtree” makes it pretty clear that whatever is going on back here will be central to the plot. The “O” in the word “shadow” looks like two branches wrapping through each other, and there’s probably a bit of Berserk World Tree inspiration in there, so I think this is a separate tree.

Perhaps it’s another version of the Haligtree, since the in-game Haligtree was planted and watered by Miquella himself, but there’s also a case for it being related to the Helphen lampwood, since that’s associated with the spirit world and there are a lot of weird spirit-y graves in this image. But, I don’t think the branches look enough like how they do on the Haligtree, and we really have little to go off of for the Helphen, so I think the strongest case is that it’s made of deathroot.

While not technically a separate tree, it’s important to note that deathroot is made of the Erdtree’s own roots, and the branches are similar enough to what we can see in deeproot below the royal capital. And this might be a bit of a stretch, but it almost looks like the second tree has the same texture and eye-like growths as what we see in deeproot. So, that’s my guess for the premise, but where is this all taking place?

Miquella/Trina’s Dream

The location in the image can’t be found anywhere in-game, but judging by the Erdtree’s angle it seems like this shot was taken in the far south.

The problem with that is the landscape looks nothing like what you’d expect it to from that location. Therefore, I think Miquella being in this shot is so important. So I’m sure you’ve heard this before… I’ve said it, other people have said it, everyone’s saying it, but there’s a lot of stuff about Miquella’s world of dreams that was either left open to interpretation or removed during development.

I don’t know if they’ve been planning to make this DLC since the start, but focusing on this dream world could fill in a lot of the gaps of what we don’t know. And, not only would this explain the bizarre landscape, it would also shed some light on pretty much everything else shown in this picture. I’m not a botanist or anything, but I think this is meant to be a vast field of domesticated wheat, which isn’t really something that happens in nature.

But, an unused twinblade claims that Miquella possesses the “rune of abundance,” and what better way to reflect that concept than his dream world being just endless grain? These taller monuments also look like the ones from Dark Souls 3’s Crucifixion Woods, and while crucifixion is an important concept in Elden Ring, their designs are just different enough that I don’t think they’re related.

You could also say these monuments resemble the Cleanrot Knights’ Halo Scythes or Torrent’s Whistle, but my current guess is that they’re modeled after Miquella’s great rune, since we don’t know what that looks like yet and you could easily make that shape out of the Elden Ring.

A lot of this might also be inspired by Greek mythology… “ZEUS!!!”… Especially Miquella’s connection with the gods of sleep, trade, and harvest is closely related to the underworld, so I think there could be a sort of Hades or afterlife theme to all of this. As for these coffins, archways, and ruins, I’ve got nothing.

Interlude From Future-V

While editing this, I noticed that the arches have that Caduceus spiral that FromSoftware loves so much, and the coffins remind me of the ones used to travel through the underground, which, kind of reminds me of the ferryman of the greek underworld, who is already associated with deathroot with stuff like the tibia mariners. Just a few more points for the greek symbolism thing.

Conclusions & Predictions

So, with all of that in mind, here are my predictions: This expansion will be about a world where deathroot has grown out of control and is strangling the Erdtree. This doesn’t happen before or after the game, but instead takes place in Miquella’s dream, and either Miquella himself or his alternate persona known as St.Trina will be a major character. We actually see a glimpse of the dream world in the main game, being at the end of Fia’s questline in deeproot, and the deathblight curse seems even more pronounced than usual here.

If these are the same world, maybe the true source of deathblight is currently inside the world of dreams, which you might already know is actually Godwyn, the half-dead demigod. His physical corpse is still in deeproot, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he could be found in the dream world as well. Miquella, being the half brother of Godwyn, likely wants him to die a true death both for his sake and for the well-being of this world of dreams.

After you defeat whatever is spreading this infection, which I imagine could include a fight with Godwyn himself, you’ll receive some kind of Elden Ring Runes and make your way back to the real world. Of course, this is all wild speculation.

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In 2023, Blizzard will release Diablo 4. This hack-and-slash RPG will be a bold entry in Diablo series, transporting you back to its dark fantasy world. In order to push the boundaries of the genre, the game needs to make a series of additions, such as comprehensive progression and open world of the sequel. But these ambitions shouldn't underestimate the dungeon-crawling impact of Diablo's previous years. In fact, Diablo 4 exists, so you definitely want the game to learn from other successful titles of its kind, as well as the history of the series, and keep improving to enhance your gaming experience.

Diablo 3 is a hit game, and despite its shortcomings, it can serve as a benchmark against which to target a wider range. ARPGs have grown in popularity in recent years, with rivals like Path of Exile praising the best parts of Blizzard's classic games. As one of the most expected games of 2023, you must have high expectations for Diablo 4, and the IP can still fuel your enthusiasm. As long as Blizzard can keep adding to its groundbreaking properties, its relevance will continue. So, the game team had to consider the breadth of experience available across the genre, as well as the ongoing Diablo game.

Diablo 3 Features That Need To Return In Diablo 4

When Diablo 3 was first released in 2012, Blizzard promised you that installments would be available online in the future. For now, Blizzard has confirmed that future installments will be online-only. To keep players engaged with the sequel, the live service should justify its existence by producing a consistent cadence of new events. However, there may only be one last major update for the game, the next season of Diablo 3. Because once Blizzard takes over the game later this year, it's likely that Blizzard's priority will be post-launch support for Diablo 4. In this case, user experience is particularly critical. In order to get the next game off the ground, Blizzard is hoping to fix some of the early issues with the third game, namely server issues.

Another important factor in continuing a franchise is authenticity. In order to make you feel at home, the game needs to integrate a series of traditional elements. If you're a long-time player, in Diablo 4 you'll see the return of several original characters, which means the story should carry over from Diablo 3 and the Reaper of Souls expansion to the follow-up. While the game's lore and atmosphere are valuable for contextualizing the adventure with a uniquely grim tone, at the heart of the entire Diablo series is the gameplay.

For now, Diablo 4 has to focus not only on the core narrative, but also on the various classes and action-based abilities. While the fundamentals of the second and third Diablo games are good, Diablo 4's combat needs to balance well-balanced combos and synchronized controls that favor rewards and allow you to maneuver them flexibly. In ARPGs, your choice is often tied to the process of equipping a character with impactful swings and spells, and these skills often improve over time. In fact, the class-based mechanics of both Diablo 3 and Path of Exile's spiritual successor are deep, though many believe the latter is more involved.

Diablo 4 Should Have The Power To Compete With Path Of Exile

As one of the many games tried before Diablo 4, Grinding Gear Games' Path of Exile has been recognized by many players, because the game's ARPG design in the free online world is very good. The game's team took inspiration from Blizzard's game, developed a modern game that is enough to attract many hardcore fans, and now has a powerful community with its excellent game quality. In some ways, Grinding Gear Games' project might be seen as an extension of Diablo's history.

That kind of uncompromising gameplay in Path of Exile makes for a great experience, especially for optimizing passive stats. In addition, in order to achieve a variety of play styles, Blizzard can also design a streamlined character building system similar to Path of Exile's skill tree. Diablo 4 has an example of this customization, Codex of Power. If you want to invest the time to perfect your career, all the possible specializations might be an avenue.

In fact, Diablo 4 needs to cover its bases as an advanced ARPG offering. But there's no question that the sequel could be wide-ranging. For upcoming releases, it could have a longer lifespan if developers add new hooks or endgame content to it. Path of Exile's Ruthless Mode, which debuts in 2022, is a good example of this. In Diablo 4, if Blizzard succeeds in developing its own best version, it will leave a glorious achievement in the history of the game, and it will also leave an excellent memory in your heart.

Related: POE 3.21 Expansion Release Date Speculation, Content, Changes And More

Finally, according to reliable sources, Path of Exile 3.21 will be delayed due to the release of Diablo 4 in June. Because by convention, if Path of Exile 3.21 continues to be released in March, then Path of Exile 3.22 will be released around the second week of June, which will conflict with Diablo 4's release time.

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If you no longer want to play Diablo 2 Resurrected's ladder economy and would like to reset the leaderboard, you will be able to do so soon. The next ladder season will start on February 16th.

As is customary with Season 1 and Season 2, the new ladder will include new content not found in Diablo 2. Season 3 or patch 2.6 will add eight new runewords. Most of these new runewords are easy to come by, although some may have never seen a high rune drop. And only one high rune needs a runeword, that is Metamorphosis. Runewords can provide some stats that are beneficial for melee-driven builds, such as crushing blows, and cannot be frozen. However, crafting Metamorphosis by getting Cham runes is hard. Overall, these new runewords are great for players who like to play the game in single player.

At present, whether non-Ladder or Single Player users can use legal means to get Sunder Charms, there is no news yet.

Since its first ranked season, Diablo 2 Resurrected has been adding new content to its ardent fans. This includes 8 new runewords, introducing a new endgame activity and reworking under utilized skills. Players can also use some equipment obtained through D2R Ladder Items to increase their chances of winning. From these contents, we can see that Season 3 seems to follow the pace of Season 1 and Season 2.

In addition to Diablo 2 Resurrected, Blizzard is working on another Diablo project, which will be released this year. Currently, June 6th is the confirmed release date for Diablo IV. Compatible with previous and current generations of Xbox and PlayStation consoles, it will also feature the series' origin platform: PC.

Since 2012, the next major entry in Diablo series will be Diablo IV. Diablo III was released as a PC exclusive game that year.

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Once upon a time, there were four people Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw and Salazar Slytherin - the founders of Hogwarts. All had different values and so after the school was founded they divided their students into different houses based on their values and the same will happen to you once you start Hogwarts Legacy, which is why today we are going to look at which house you should join in Hogwarts Legacy.

First of all, I want to say it doesn't matter which house you actually choose. The main story of Hogwarts Legacy will not change. So, you will have exactly the same story in Gryffindor as in Hufflepuff or in Ravenclaw. But, which house suits you the best? Therefore, we have to check all the different houses.

Gryffindor is for the brave students of Hogwarts and the line symbol basically represents that braveness. In the Hogwarts symbol, the colors are red and yellow and the common room is in Gryffindor Tower.

Hufflepuff, on the other hand, is for the hard-working and the loyal students. So, Hufflepuffs don't care about hard work. They enjoy doing it. They are loyal to their fellow students. The badger is the mascot of the Hufflepuff house and the colors are yellow and black and the common room is next to the kitchens. And the common room here is designed very very nature, oriented you have plants. You have basically earthy colors, like dark green, a brown, a beige, a yellow, which is just super beautiful. And Hufflepuff is actually my second favorite common room in this game.

Ravenclaw is for the smartest students. The eagle basically represents that a little bit. And the blue colors just complement the Ravenclaws perfectly. The Ravenclaw common room is found in Ravenclaw Tower and is designed completely different to the other common rooms. It's basically designed in its colors, blue light, blue sky. Blue is very beautiful. But, the main difference here is that there are many tables and many desks, where the Ravenclaws study for their next exams or are just educating themselves. Because that's what they are best at and what they are enjoy doing.

The Slytherins are the most different from them. All they are very ambitious and very pride of their lineage. That's what we also see in the books or in the movies where the Slytherins basically pride themselves of their pure blood nature and actually put other students down that are not. In the eyes of the Slytherins are blessed with that pure blood and the serpent basically represents Salazar Slytherin because he was a parse of mouth. He could talk to snakes, which is why the serpent or the snake basically is the mascot of the Slytherins. And the green colors also represent the house and the common room is by the dungeons under the Black Sea. And that might also be very important for the game because maybe we can actually see some creatures like mermaids or the giant squid in the Black Sea from our common room window, which I think would be very very cool. And there are also different companions in each house, which you might find very interesting.

For your decision, it is not known if these are only available for each house or in general I think they are available in general because in the dark arts trailer where we basically play the companion quest of Sebastian Sallow, which is the companion for Slytherin there.

Here, we are a Hufflepuff student. So, I'm under the impression that this means we can actually choose the companion not based on the house, but based on sympathy basically. Gryffindor has not say Onai as a companion, but Hufflepuff has Poppy Sweeting as a companion. And as I said Sebastian Sallow is the companion for Slytherin. Ravenclaw is not known, yet I think on the next showcase, we might see something like that. And it is also very likely that there will be many many more each with their own story. If they're all very detailed like Sebastian Sallow's Quest, then the game is going to be just huge just based on the companion quests.

And also each house has its own ghost that is probably involved in the story a little bit. Because in the state of Play Trailer, we can actually see a little scene where the almost Headless Nick, ghost of Gryffindor floats next to the Gryffindor student and which is basically our character. So, the house ghost is maybe somehow involved in it and the Hufflepuff house ghost is the Fat Friar. And the Ravenclaw goes the Grey Lady and the Slytherin goes to the Bloody Baron. So, based on that, you might have it easier with your decisions - which house you should join in Hogwart's Legacy?

But, if you are still unsure in general, you can also answer a few questions on wizarding world.com and you'll be assigned to a house. So, the decision is basically made for you. If you now connect your Warner Brothers Games account and your platform, for example the PlayStation Network, you will also get some cool rewards like ropes or masks based on your house. And you can also take your house and your wand from the Wizarding World over to Hogwarts Legacy.

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When it comes to Path of Exile, some RPG players who love the dark style will be familiar with it. This is the crystallization of the Diablo game inherited by the fanatic Diablo fan "Chris Wilson" after ten years of research. In addition to the various dungeons, weapon matching and other gameplay of traditional Diablo games, the game has also added a huge skill tree system. Adding points in the game can even make the talents and skills of each character point different from other players!

It is worth mentioning that, as a sequel to Path of Exile 1, Path of Exile 2 retains almost all gameplay, and even realizes dual-terminal intercommunication. The characters and items in the first generation will be transferred to the second generation. In terms of plot, Path Of Exile 2 tells the story that happened 20 years after Kitava's death. Naturally, this land is still full of monsters, which require players to explore and decrypt.

Developer Grinding Gear Games has confirmed that the long-awaited Path Of Exile 2 will be fully unveiled in 2023. The debut will be at Exilecon 2023. Until July, the game will also go to Gamescom for European players to enjoy. In fact, Path Of Exile 2 was originally slated for a 2022 release date, but it now looks like the sequel may be released in time for the series' tenth anniversary. As for the public beta time, it is still uncertain. But what is certain is that the exact time for the public beta will be announced when Path Of Exile2 is officially showcased at Exilecon.

Seeing that Blizzard's Diablo 4 is intensifying, here Grinding Gear Games also released a real machine demonstration of Path Of Exile 2 in April last year. Judging from the video, the game screen is as delicate as Diablo 4. Characters and enemies move in subtly different ways depending on the situation. Battles also leave physical scars on the environment, especially after intense battles, leaving piles of charred bodies and bones.

It is understood that Grinding Gear Games has invested a lot of effort into Path Of Exile 2, and it is expected to provide many new features, including 19 occupations, a new Skill Gems system, updated functions, and new weapons and armor. In addition, the sequel will delete 70% of the existing content. This is undoubtedly good news for new players, because they will no longer be confused by too much content!

Since the equipment no longer needs 6-Link, the first thing to delete is naturally Orb of Fusing. In addition, Portal Scroll, Sextant, Perandus Coin, Orb of Binding, Engineer's Orb, and all quality currencies will be removed. These currencies have always been less useful things when they were added.

Most of the existing old season content will also be deleted, such as Manors, decryption, Heist Filters, etc. These contents will become an affix on the map, appear in the form of monster groups, and will also drop season unique items and Orb of Alchemy.

At the same time, the map will also delete the reflection modifiers, and Vaal Orbs will make the map modifiers * 2, up to 16 modifiers. Presumably, it will take a long time to farm a picture in the future, and it will no longer be possible to complete it in a few minutes or even tens of seconds like now. Orb of Alchemy needs to be combined with POE Currency to use it, and an Orb of Alchemy crafting table is added at the same time.

Overall, Path Of Exile 2 is basically a brand new game, and it no longer needs to be dragged down by various season content. The benefits of this are also obvious, at least newcomers don't have to re-study the old seasons one by one. With the injection of fresh blood, Path Of Exile 2 must be able to shine again.

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Hades is a high-degree-of-freedom action game developed by Supergiant Games. It won the "Best Independent Game" and "Best Action Game" awards at TGA (The Game Awards) 2020.

At this year's TGA 2022 awards ceremony, that is, on December 9th, Supergiant Games officially announced Hades' sequel, Hades II. The studio attached two character designs and released the first trailer. It can be seen from the trailer that this new work is still the RougeLike gameplay familiar to players. Due to the huge success of the previous game, it's hard not to let players look forward to it.

What Is Hades II?

Hades II is a rogue-like dungeon crawler. In the game, you will use dark sorcery in the Underworld of Greek myth against the evil Titan of Time. Hades II is arguably Supergiant Games' first ever sequel. This new work will be developed on the basis of the original Hades, and will bring players a new, action-packed, infinitely replayable experience. However, the story line of the new work is still rooted in the Underworld of Greek myth and its deep connection with the dawn of witchcraft.

In Hades II, you will explore a larger and deeper mythical world from the perspective of the Princess of the Underworld, Melinoë. You too will defeat the power of the Titan of Time with the full support of Olympus behind you. With every setback and achievement you make, you'll be drawn deeper and deeper into an all-encompassing story. New locations, challenges, upgrade systems, and surprises await as you delve deeper into the ever-changing Underworld time and time again.

Who Is The Protagonist Of Hades II?

In Hades II, you play as the Princess of the Underworld, Melinoë. She's an immortal witch and sorcerer with powerful magical abilities and deadly feats of shadowy weapons, and she has an old score to settle.

Like her older brother Zagreus in the first game, Melinoë is not an original Supergiant Games character, but is based on an ancient Underworld deity believed to be related to Hades. As a result, players' perspective on the Underworld expands as they explore her story and connection to her family.

Will Hades II Launch As An Early Access Game Initially?

Yes! Like its predecessor, Hades, Hades II will be in early access mode for a while until its official V1.0 release. Expect more information on Hades II early access sometime in 2023.

Early access means you'll be able to buy and play a beta version of Hades II, with the option to provide feedback and gameplay data. This will be invaluable to Supergiant Games as they work to perfect the game's potential. Feedbacks from the player community are fundamental to the design during development and was critical to the quality of the original game, so Supergiant Games plans to replicate that process in Hades II.

On Which Platforms Will Hades II Launch?

For this issue, Supergiant Games did not make a clear statement, they just expressed the hope that Hades II will eventually be released on PC and console platforms. Therefore, the platform on which Hades II will be released will not be revealed until the game is completed.

According to Supergiant Games' early plans, what we can know is that they will have an early access period for Hades II on PC, and it will be on Steam and the Epic Games Store at the same time.

Recently, Hades also took advantage of the popularity of Hades II to promote it on the Steam platform. Not only is it half price, but it's only $15.73. It can be seen that Hades has currently received a 98% favorable rate. Instead of waiting, you might as well experience Hades first, which may be helpful for you to experience new works later.

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As Diablo 4 developers prepare a final push to the game's planned release date next year, a number of current and former Blizzard employees who worked on the project described a troubled development process to The Washington Post.

The Post published an article today based on discussions with 15 current or former Blizzard employees. While the current plan is for the game to release June 6, they said it has already been pushed back multiple times, and even meeting this date is likely to require significant crunching.

While Activision Blizzard is not mandating crunch, it is incentivizing it with perks some developers described as "paltry."

Those perks range from $25 in DoorDash credit for people working more than 10 hours a day to a stock bonus plan where developers who finish the game and stay with the company for at least a year after can get anywhere from $5,000 (for entry-level employees) to $50,000 (for senior-level developers) in stock if performance targets are met.

Employees blamed poor management for the crunch and the repeatedly shifting release date.

Original director Luis Barriga and lead designer Jesse McCree – both of whom were fired last August in the wake of state and federal gender discrimination lawsuits against Activision Blizzard – were blamed for not following through on decisions, abandoning features and throwing away the work already done on them, micromanaging, pursuing certain elements of the game and then losing interest and delegating them for others to finish, a process that was said to begin burning people out.

Former Epic Games and Irrational Games veteran Rod Fergusson was also cited as a problem. Having parachuted into Irrational Games late in BioShock Infinite's development, Fergusson had some reputation for getting troubled games across the finish line. However, Blizzard employees said when he joined the team in February of 2020, his big contribution seemed to be launching a "Rodcast" weekly Zoom meeting where several hundred people would listen to him mix addressing legitimate development issues with talk of movies or celebrities he knew.

"People got frustrated because we all thought he was gonna come in and fix the game," one former employee said. "And when nothing happened, that's when you started to see this massive turnover."

Other factors that developers said exacerbated the loss of experienced developers and institutional knowledge were poor pay, unsatisfactory working conditions, and morale. After the company's gender discrimination lawsuits landed, senior leadership changed at both Blizzard and on the project itself, and Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick blamed the publisher's falling stock price not on the mounting scandals it was facing but on the delays of Overwatch 2 and Diablo 4, which one developer said did not go over well.

For those at Blizzard Albany, seeing their former studio head Jen Oneal promoted to co-leader of Blizzard and then resign months later saying Activision Blizzard refused to pay her the same as co-leader Mike Ybarra was a further blow.

"You're like, 'Man, I feel like I'm working for the bad guys," one women who formerly worked at Blizzard Albany said. "I feel like any work I do is tainted by this name."

A Blizzard spokesperson told the Post, "As you may know, game development in general, and Diablo 4 specifically, follows an iterative process where the scope evolves over time. Production on the game is going extremely well. Overtime is voluntary and limited to specific teams. We regularly survey the team on their professional well-being, and the latest results are the most positive they've been in years.

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