FromSoftware's Elden Ring has been a smash hit, selling millions of copies and earning acclaim from critics across the board. Elden Ring provides a massive open world, plenty of bosses to defeat, and an exhausting number of secrets to find, yet there are many who have finished the game and are waiting patiently for DLC. Based on FromSoftware's past releases, Elden Ring DLC of some kind is a virtual guarantee, but when it comes, it should break from tradition in two key ways.
Traditionally, DLC for FromSoftware games, including the Dark Souls series, has not added any new achievements for players to unlock. This holds true for the original Dark Souls, Dark Souls 2, and Dark Souls 3, and in general, FromSoftware avoids adding trophies or achievements for players to unlock in DLC for any of its games. One of the few exceptions to this rule is with Bloodborne, which added trophies with The Old Hunters DLC. But otherwise, FromSoftware hasn't added achievements or trophies to DLC for its games.
If an Elden Ring DLC expansion ever materializes, it would be great to see it break away from Dark Souls tradition by including a fresh batch of achievements and trophies for fans to unlock. This would give players extra incentive to explore any new areas that the DLC brings to the table, not to mention immortalize accomplishments like defeating new bosses and the like.
The other way Elden Ring DLC should break away from Dark Souls tradition is with how the DLC is implemented in the game. For the most part, Dark Souls games have added DLC in a way that makes the DLC areas inaccessible until players have fulfilled certain requirements or progressed to a specific point in the story. Elden Ring has a sprawling open world with some areas that are completely inaccessible until players put in significant hours, meaning it could take especially long for players to get far enough to access the DLC area.
Someone who hasn't already beaten Elden Ring may not mind this, but there are those who have likely completed the game and started a New Game+ run, and don't want to have to redo a bunch of content just to access the new areas like is required in Dark Souls. Elden Ring should break away from this Dark Souls tradition as well, letting players fast-travel to the exact spot where the new content takes place.
As it stands, FromSoftware hasn't actually announced any Elden Ring DLC in any capacity, so fans should keep that in mind. It has promised that more Elden Ring free updates are on the way, but what they will entail has yet to be revealed.
Elden Ring is out now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
