SOTE if it was good

1.0K

I think the parallels between Ranni and Miquella would've been more impactful if you could chose a side

745

My face when the award winning genre changing RPG has no decisions that meaningfully impact the story at all

https://rannirespecter.wordpress.com/2022/03/31/miquella-malenia-and-the-age-of-abundance/

379

The DLC is a good story but at the same time really disappointing. Certain areas and aspects feel rushed and incomplete. And something is unsettling about the narrative direction they went. It kind of feels forced. St. Trina's questline is an example of this imo. Your choices didn't really matter and your reward is nothing really. No closure besides a 10 second cutscene at the end. Really underwhelming.

It didn't feel like I completed an epic journey. It felt like I was a side character

ohohoboe

I agree, St. Trina’s quest line felt so non-essential. It really only exists to provide a bit more context/buildup for the ending, which will play out with or without us having completed the quest. It feels like one of many pieces of side content with low replay value in the DLC, and left me with a strong feeling of “👍”

veryconfusedspartan

215

Battlemage (mostly melee)

Agreed. I am reminded about this article that speculated on a possible 'age of abundance' ending (and a scrapped Malenia questline)

But what do we get instead? A DLC with little impact on the main game. Where have the minds that had Sif at least react to the player's actions in the DLC gone?

alexdotfm

123

The Malenia fight having a different cutscene if you go there after the DLC would've been insane

129

We walk in her boss room to see a cutscene of Malenia holding spirit Miquella's hand one last time before saying goodbye and she immediately starts the fight in her Goddess of Rot form

Z4rc0nv1c

108

"My brother.... bested by thee. I swear upon my title as Malenia, Blade of Miquella...

I Will Kill You."

Absolute_Bias

“You will fall like the rest.”

Drakeskulled_Reaper

Tarnished: "Have you met my friend?"

*As a head concealed in a pot starts to emerge from the mist gate.

#1 Miquella Hater

Justice for Malenia

YES! the age of abundance being cut was truly criminal. And then to see what we get in the DLC vs what could have been… just disappointing

117

To add to this it feels like Miquella was guiding your journey a bit through The Lands Between. If you beat the Grafted Scion in the beginning, Miquella's butterflies are waiting for you at the edge of the cliff you fall off. We were given Torrent and the Spirit calling bell which might've suggested a connection between Miquella, Melina and Ranni. It's never explained why Torrent chose us. There's also the Candlelit spirit tree we can see whenever a spirit is around to guide us somewhere. Miquella can be seen holding the same tree in some of his statues suggesting he might be connected to the spirits guiding us. I'm not 100% sure on this, but I think there are times where those spirits leads you to an item connected to him or St. Trina.

When you add this on top of the promotional material we got suggesting we might be able to help Miquella; the story we got feels last minute and this set up feels intentionally misleading. I kind of feel cheated. There definitely should've been another ending at the very least.

#1 Miquella Hater

Justice for Malenia

Yep, agree 110%.

I think so many people, myself included are having a hard time stomaching the dlc lore because of two things.

1- there was no hint or any context implying the relationship between Miquella/ Radhan. It felt like a twist to subvert for the sake of shock value ( I’m getting GOT ptsd)

2- The Miquella presented in the DLC is wildly different than the character painted in the base game. I know, he supposedly abandoned everything that made him who he was. But the drastic difference is still jarring.

Also, Miquella essentially forgot (best case scenario) or no longer cares about the most important person in his life. It reminds me of Dany just “forgetting” about the iron fleet.

I don’t know whether it was Fromsoft writing outside the lore GRRM had written, wanting to shock/surprise people with something out of left field, or if the production was rushed. But the lore is underwhelming and undermines the near perfect lore of the base game.

It's so weird. The story is good in the DLC but for some reason it just doesn't sit right with me. It feels like things weren't supposed to be this way at all. We get all this set up for all this different kind of shit just to have all of it sidelined for something that wasn't set up at all. And people just accept it as From being From.

#1 Miquella Hater

Justice for Malenia

Absolutely. And I hate that any criticism of the plot or valid frustration with it is met with others saying shit like “you’re illiterate” and “that’s the point of the story arc” and “fromsoft games aren’t magical with happy endings”. Were allowed to engage with the story and even like the dlc as a whole and still feel like the story doesn’t meet expectations.

Waste_Researcher_471

Where there's smoke, there's fire. If people are complaining about the story of the DLC, then there's obviously a problem with it, even if they can't give a "good reason" why. You don't need to be a chef to judge food. The consumer is ultimately the judge.

Continue thread...

Unfunnycommenter_

Naked Fuck with a Stick

1- there was no hint or any context implying the relationship between Miquella/ Radhan. It felt like a twist to subvert for the sake of shock value ( I’m getting GOT ptsd)

There is 1 (one) Miquella's lily near the bridge leading to castle redmane. Bravo fromsoft

#1 Miquella Hater

Justice for Malenia

Environmental story telling 🥵💧👏🏼

Trinas sword being in caelid finally makes sense

Coffee_J4CK

Not to mention how the advertising for the dlc made it seem like Miquella had a closer connection to the tarnished (You know, the whole Miquella on Torrent and following in his footsteps thing).

Combine that with the fact that Elden Ring's story seems different than their previous titles, it makes you feel like you aren't just some runt who just happened to pick up a blade or a staff. (Bosses like Morgott and Godfrey acknowledge your strength and ambition. Hewg and other npcs show respect and care for you. Hell you can even get a smurf 4 arms consort.)

And when you add all your previous points and these then compare it to what we got in the dlc it seems like our tarnished just tripped over Mohg's body and landed head first into the cocoon which got them to the dlc area. The whole thing just seems jarring to say the least. Like they hated how the base game made you feel

polski8bit

The worst part about the advertising, is the last, story trailer. They end it with the Tarnished entering some kind mystery room, then immediately following this up with "promise me... You'll be my consort".

Combined with the cut ending for him in the base game, I'm not surprised that so many would believe we'd get an ending, or an option to help him achieve his goal at the very least.

GoldenSpermShower

Also the Scadutree veil thing.

The reveal trailer ended with a scene of Miquella seemingly removing the veil over the Realm of Shadow.

There’s even an interview where Miyazaki was talking about it being important.

And then it doesn’t even happen in the game

Continue thread...

arafella

Waste of skin

1- there was no hint or any context implying the relationship between Miquella/ Radhan. It felt like a twist to subvert for the sake of shock value ( I’m getting GOT ptsd)

I kind of think this decision was made after they saw so much of the community reactions to Radahn and all the prime Radahn vs. prime Mellenia etc. discussion and the story was warped to make it fit.

Its a terrible thing when writers who should listen to the fans don't and the writers who absolutely, under no circumstances, under threat of utter failure should not do that instead.

wach0064

My boy Miyazaki got fed up with you guys actually being able to predict his writing so he said nah FUCK THAT. That’s my head canon right now at least, seems like petty changes that haven’t had a good reason to change them. Like cmon, you gave us this instead of THAT? and your answer is that THIS is supposed to not be absolute MID? Hmmmm.

#1 Miquella Hater

Justice for Malenia

He took a page out of their playbook

Ausar2004

In fairness, from’s dlc has never really had a pact in the main game (ds3 for instance), however I completely agree that Miquella having no death dialogue, no real ending cutscene, made killing him kinda just fall flat. Personally, I do kinda like that after killing a god it’s just… nothing, the contrast between the fanfare going into the fight and then after he dies it’s just… empty, coupled with the description of the crown thing he drops mentioning it is fading away does kinda work, I’m still pretty sure that was not the intention.

LLLLLL3GLTE

-11

I see where you’re coming from, but the only FromSoftware DLC with any tangible impact on the main game is DS1. It’s not something they’ve done in a long time, and I think that’s intentional

SpoopySara

ds2 with the crowns and vendrick, and it's minor, but there's dialogue about lord of hollows in 3

LLLLLL3GLTE

-1

Yes, but (correct me if I’m wrong) the crowns have no clear cut story addition or worthwhile change that makes it impactful.

That DS3 thing I’m unfamiliar with, I’ll check it out.

Also is that a Gup on your pfp?

SpoopySara

yes, gup!

LLLLLL3GLTE

LETS GO GUUUUUUPPPPP! RISK OF RAIN IS THE GOAT

DianaBladeOfMiquella

“Good story” is being generous

The original ideas are good, I like characters like Messmer, Rellana, Romina, etc. but what they do with base game lore? Nah.

The story is good in a vacuum, I mean. In terms of the overall narrative though... Yeah, it's in the trash now. Things are convoluted and messy. Fromsoft's method of storytelling does not work here. We're left with unanswered questions, new questions and no closure

sergeantbigjohnson

kenneth haight's fort knight

The new Marika lore is cool and fits in nicely with the base game imo

Vyke The Dragonfucker

Hey, hey careful there buddy that sounds like legitimate and well thought out critisim!

[GIF]

Vyke The Dragonfucker

[GIF]

Vyke The Dragonfucker

Vyke The Dragonfucker

Easy low-diff

crz4r

Graftussy changed me as a person

It didn't feel like I completed an epic journey. It felt like I was a side character

B-but... The w-world doesn't revolve around yo-ou, it's peak game design you don't understand it smh😨😨😓😓

Ethel121

The ironic thing, is the world kinda does revolve around us by the end. We're the most important non-God individual in the lands between.

crz4r

Graftussy changed me as a person

Yep, 100% agree

Competitive-Row6376

I feel like they never planned for a dlc and only made one because of the millions of copies they sold. They probably just started making it around the time when they released the first screenshot teaser for the dlc

Yeah that along with the Radahn shit feels like a Bandai Namco thing

Pathos_3v

Said it perfectly. Good, cept for all the super disappointing stuff.

AceViper1827

Dude I was so sad that you couldn't even talk to Gideon about finding this little brat or anything

Evening-Teach-3719

-2

I mean, we were guided here by Miquella both to complete Radahn but also, perhaps, put Miquella down and save him from being imprisoned in godhood.

It felt like we were a means to an end, no matter how you slice it, yeah. But I like FS games for that.

Peter00th

-2

I think the answer is that it's disconnected from the base game.

PostalDudeLover911

I really wish future From Software titles have more player involvement story wise with the rpg mechanics, instead of being forced against Leda and the gank crew you could side with Miquella etc.

PataponEnjoyer

Kid named Mass Effect

FaithUser

Bear Seek Seek Lest

I didn't see no 'decisions matter' tag on steam so they must be trivial 😎

LeadStyleJutsu762-

I never even heard elden ring described as a RPG before you said this even tho I know it is lol

Kiss_in_Danish

Tbf, do arpgs like diablo even have story choices at all?

Codename_Oreo

One night with Gwyndolin

The only option you really have is frenzied flame if you want anything to happen

Raaabbit_v2

Maybe Miyazaki's next RPG game will have game-changing dialogue mechanics? Cause I swear, if the character can talk. The game will literally be a different game.

LumenBlight

Kid named sekiro

"yes" "No" "I see..." "..." "...!" "My lord..."

LumenBlight

Tell me you haven’t heard about the conversations between Emma and wolf without telling me you haven’t heard them. Wolf actually questions her unnatural level of sword skill and calls her out of trying to bullshit him by calling it a “passing interest”. I platted the game and beat all the boss fight gauntlets with no charm, nice try though, you should also look into the dialogues he has while making his way towards the other endings.

I am joking, sekiro has more dialogue than that of course. I have also platted the game and gauntlets. Not sure what the gauntlets add to the dialogue topic but I'm happy for you. Its just most of what I remember lol

NBFHoxton

I mean that's typical fromsoft, sadly

_hisoka_freecs_

So you actually hated miquella this whole time? You wish to massacre him and his everything he stands for? Me: wait what, I do?

seductivehambone

Patches' uncircumcised fat cock

Me when my souls game has a persona type dating sim

mr_fucknoodle

We've been asking for this since Dark Souls 1, Mickey Zachary is leaving money on the table here

already4taken

Warrior Class Femboy

Yes please

lazsy

Everyone chooses Miquella cause brainwashed

IudexGundyr3

-2

You kinda can, just get grabbed by Radahn twice

No-Employment-8127

445

Bro, imagine if Ranni joins us when fighting Radahn, that would be Peak fiction

crz4r

195

Graftussy changed me as a person

Litteraly mecha battles but in middle ages fantasy

justicemouse_

Just turned into armored core.

GlauberJR13

There’s a lady in my head who calls me stud muffin

Niko2065

"Raven....I think we took a wrong turn in belius..."

"...this doesn't look like the central icefield."

DropshipRadio

“Got a job for you, 621; this one comes right from the Carian Lunar Princess herself…”

Careless-Platform-80

Yeah. When coral waifu Join you against the Boss, that was Really hype. The DLC would be Peak with Ranni joining for the couples battle

She would be one of those mage hosts spamming Rannis Dark Moon at Malenia making sure you definitely can’t see anything in melee range.

Sebmusiq

134

Pinkfag class

Imagine if she join us in a threesome with prime Radahn😳

ConsequenceUnusual50

168

guy from dak sol

100

Vyke The Dragonfucker

AshyLarry25

Imagine if she doesn’t join us and we have a threesome with Radahn and Miquella 🗣️

𓀐𓂸ඞ

Pinkfag class

Even better

Imagine if you could breed Ranni, all four of her arms pulling you in closer, while Miquella is breeding you. You just know he's packing.

Tarnished and goldpilled

Miquella is a power bottom though

AnAverageHumanPerson

She gets on your shoulders then it’s a chicken fight between her and miquella

Homewra

Ranni appearing only if you finished her questline to aid us against Miquella and Radhan? It was the only way to redeem the DLC.

ChaseThePyro

She pilots us like Ratatouille

LumenBlight

I’m saving this comment because it’s so peak.

Big-Cap4487

276

Messmer's fucktoy

The only way sote would be good is if they made messmer hotter 🥵🥵🥵🥵🥵🥵

Opening_East7561

203

Inconceivable

TotalMitherless

Unknown DBD lookin ahh

Finally a fomsoft character I could cosplay, though my scoliosis is the wrong direction

AnormalMaymun

His anatomy looked odd but didn't expected it to be this bad.

#1 Miquella Hater

Justice for Malenia

*good

Shorttail0

I'm still in a dream, Dung Eater 🏳️‍⚧️

Marika didn't dump him in the shadow realm for no reason.

Drozey

Asmon cosplay

Almadula9

What having a 2 meter long cock does to a mf

duckontheplane

140

Physically impossible

#1 Miquella Hater

Justice for Malenia

18 inches of the impaler pls

dongless08

136

💙Leader of Team Sellen Feet💙

Save me from these allegations, blue wife :(

_The_Mother_Fucker_

126

My family and I stood and applauded LOUDLY when Kenneth entered from the fog wall and said, “The Shadow of the Erdtree has yet Ringed for an Elden”. It was very cool to see him in the Desert Pyromancer set.

UKunrealz

Damn. Kenneth Hot

enomis97

233

DS II Enjoyer

Brain_lessV2

123

Players using Miquella's great rune after getting hit by the grab:

Brock_Drinkwater

Empyrean bussy enthusiast

I'll say it again: if SOTE was good, Radahn would have tore off Miquella like Godfrey did Serosh and went in for phase 3 against you

SECRET THIRD ENDING?

Ahhy420smokealtday

Godfrey is his idol too. It would have been peak.

Careless-Platform-80

Not gonna lie, would be kinda cool Radahn rejecting miquella because he want to have a true fight with you. Without the madness If the rot, without Miquellas Power, Just two gigachads having a last fight

ZeroBae

Naked Fuck with a Stick

source

WanderingSatyr

It doesn’t work :(

Araborne1

You need to be logged in to twitter or else it'll say the link doesn't exist. This is because hews' acc is mostly hentai.

john-jack-quotes-bot

I like the way you decided to portray Doll Ranni as startled and Ghost Ranni as pissed, it's a nice way to show how she feels

BeetlBozz

It’d be interesting given their siblings, but given they have no qualms killing nor assassinating their own family…

Goodestguykeem

129

Unironically if Ranni would join you paralleled to Miquella in this fight I would have forgiven the choice of final boss.

If she could summon or even just remove miquellas rune it would be peak. Not actually doing offensive spells but randomly healing you or summoning beefy (but unarmed) fellas to just soak up a hit or two like alluring skulls. Or just piggyback you and shoot spells at miquella

Niko2065

Or just an animation where she slaps miquella away when he grabs you.

OOOOOOOHHHHHHH that would be sick

Grigser

191

Goldmask's strongest soldier

173

The only morally correct choice.

165

That is mine now

What

Your username is crazy

skeeber

Wait I’m confused on the “my child” part, sorry if I’m Fuckin stupid lol

Its a spin on the devil saying "my child will pay full price for ______" or whatever and then a picture of Jesus and instead of text it's a gif of someone not doing that. Its usually probably illegal or piracy of some kind. Peter out

Ranni is mommy

LEGITPRO123

Get off me tickla 💔💔

Purple_Picture_2106

Miyazakiii... hand it over, that thing, our femboy ending. (maybe polygamy?)

#1 Miquella Hater

Justice for Malenia

Mommy malenia's husband

Fuck he's hot

zoltar_thunder

Blue Witch Fucker

I would never betray my 4 armed wife, sure she's a bit of a psychopath, but that just makes the hot sex freakier

ssleeps

Rope burn

Shad0w2

every ring has its elden

The age of the femboy

#1 Miquella Hater

Justice for Malenia

Miquella / Messmer femboy / twink duo when?

AnAlpacaIsJudgingYou

-8

Aren’t they a child

Numbcrep

I'm pretty sure the curse was on his body and he got rid of that. So no

lavrme

he doesn't look like a child, he looks like a young woman

veryconfusedspartan

Battlemage (mostly melee)

I dub thee molester

Coffee_J4CK

Why is this not in the main game Miyazaki? Give me the god damn Goldilocks wannabe twink you cowards!

Slight-Bedroom-8655

Ok but like damn this artstyle is actually really fucking good

Araborne1

hews' style is so goated

#1 Miquella Hater

Justice for Malenia

Unironically, this would have been better lol

No-Training-48

I'm sorry Miquella but she is a misterious anime blue haired girl , and has a blue skin and 4 arms making her mostergirl too, you aren't winning this one.

Besides I'm pretty sure she knows how to cast testicular torsion.

skeeber

4 arms on one blue puppet wife means it’s sort of pseudo threesome if you squint hard enough that it’s blurry.

Also means she can finger your bum while you get that sloppy toppy.

Ranni best Elden Waifu hands down.

Asneekyfatcat

Miquella also has 4 arms what are you on about

badassmotherfucker21

He only has 3 actually

ACynicalScott

I wish there was a Renala ending.

raf-owens

The Age of Feet.

ACynicalScott

Milf feet specifically.

HoytKeyler

"and I not even needed to brainwash him" "yeah I know"

Zollery

Ehhh, I do wish we had a few different endings for the dlc. Tbh, I wouldn't have minded an ending where you join the followers of Miqualla rather than fighting them, or at least an extra ending for the main game.

Original_Friend1750

Laurence is such a bitch

Imagine trying to fight with that twinks hair on your back, I hope that shit was for aesthetics because I’d trip over his locks 9/10

Warrior Class Femboy

Miquella my beloved

HERESY!

Sweating profusely "...And so, due to how things panned out... yould you mind accepting Miquella as my newest god?"

GhostCrackets

mentally stable Sekiro Sweat

Miquellas Great Rune in my back pocket:

spyguy318

I would have loved a bloodborne-style ending where you could either choose to be Miquella’s consort and get a new ending, or refuse and then have to fight Mohg-Radahn.

Icethief188

I wish Miquella chose us

Initial-Armadillo-31

The age of bussy

Slavicadonis

Scholar of the erdtree

criticalascended

Why is this so well drawn

Svartya

I would ditch that annoying doll in a heart beat for Miquella. Femboys are always superior!

enderfrogus

Mr_Noir420

I Wanna Fuck Gwyndolin

Bussy over pussy any day.

dulledegde

ahh no you see this a dead body i got it off the final boss i liked his cape so i took it

Korfusan

NTR 🤭

Ok_Understanding3636

A part of me that still hopes Miquella is good and only misunderstood likes this. A part of me that hates NTR and cuckold doesn't like this.

KeyboardBerserker

Was I the only guy kinda grossed out by the final boss?

Narrow_Parking

Wait....what?? Maybe I don't want this dlc...

EmmyHomewrecker

Maybe Radahn is the ultimate weeb who goes "He’s like 500 years old but his body just doesn’t age, so it’s not the same thing!"

JaydenTheMemeThief

Or maaaybe Radahn didn’t consent to this and Miquella brainwashed him

WolfWalksInBlood

He wasn't. It's heavily implied both Radahn and Mohg were basically Miquella's puppets. Same with Malenia, she only attacked Radahn because Miquella was controlling her and needed Radahn dead.

themadman502

i feel like if he wasn't being controlled we would have at least heard him speak a single line

Tallia__Tal_Tail

Weak shit, embrace the empyrean polycule, we can fix him

Thorn_Move

Art sauce?

HanN1B4L

This is why I always went for age of frenzy

EmmyHomewrecker

They put cuckqueaning in Elden Ring way before anyway. Poor Rennala…

Strange_Position7970

That's terrifying.

MasterChef5311

Would never betray my ranni

JaydenTheMemeThief

Nah I’d win

u_slashh

Me who chose Marika....

chrometrigger

Only person I simp for is St Trina

karlsefniTM

Haven't gotten to the DLC yet but man I'm just hugely disappointed that there's no "side with Miquella" path to take. You just fight his flesh-puppet Radahn, and then that's it. Ok... I guess?

4DCheese

“I have given thee courtesy enough”

TheVoid000

The reason the DLC suck for me is because they dug up Rahdan, and give him a role he didn't even wanted, a role we are meant to have.

Own_Watercress_8104

I will NOT be Miquellested

Maleficent-Flow2828

25m

Got to bring the broken rune of pepper spray

[deleted]