NGL, the ending of the DLC is super underwhelming (obviously spoiler ahead)

[CastielArch]

So, the final boss fight is a total ass-pull in terms of story, we get absolutly 0 info regarding Marika (the trailer tells a better story than the game yet again...), Miquella gets honnestly no further development in any way, if you've watched the trailer you already know everything the DLC is going to tell you, the weapon and armor descriptions are absolutly pointless they all tell things we either already know are don't add anything. The ending memory cutscene is utterly pointless, you expect a revelation ? Nope, just Miquella saying what you can already read in his soul's description or was told by NPCs.

The DLC is honnestly compleatly pointless in terms of story, or did I miss something so big I couldn't tell it was right in front of me ?

[Karamell]

Originally posted by Aerieanei:

Originally posted by Karamell:

There's no mention of the Gloom-Eyed Queen, not much

She was cut in favour of Saint Trina's terrible quest. The Putrescent Knight is called "Knight of the Gloam Eyed Queen" in the files. So they were going to include lore on Gloam Eyed Queen at some point but was scrapped for a hastily put together Trina vs Miquella.

Wow that's dog water. And worst part is St. Trina's quest is so easy to miss because the requirements to advance it is weird af. Gotta die 4 times to the nectar before getting any dialogue, and then for each 2 lines you gotta die AGAIN to get more dialogue from her. Both tedious and dumb tbh; all for stuff we already low key know and can easily assume just based off what Miquella is essentially trying to do.

Overall yea this feels like a major let down, a step down in quality by a mile, ngl.

[Karamell]

Originally posted by Aerieanei:

Originally posted by Karamell:

Wow that's dog water. And worst part is St. Trina's quest is so easy to miss because the requirements to advance it is weird af. Gotta die 4 times to the nectar before getting any dialogue, and then for each 2 lines you gotta die AGAIN to get more dialogue from her. Both tedious and dumb tbh; all for stuff we already low key know and can easily assume just based off what Miquella is essentially trying to do.

Overall yea this feels like a major let down, a step down in quality by a mile, ngl.

Yeah I feel the same way. What's the point of her saying "kill Miquella" when that's the only thing you can do anyways? I would have been fine if we could at least collect everything Miquella discarded and give it back to him and give up becoming a god and instead focus on making everything he does have better. He has come close but never finished like his Needle that wards off the influence of Outer Gods. He's done enough work on it that it works on us to avoid Frenzy taking over. It'd be nice to save Trina and Side with Miquella in a different way and not just end every NPC quest in death.

Speaking of why did Miquella abandon trying to save his own sister? You know, the whole reason he set out on a quest to try helping both Melania and Godwyn whom he also loved? Feels like they did all this as an excuse to have us fight Prime Radahn for 'the fans' but it was so terribly executed it screws with both the lore, the story, and assassinates most of the character's motivations.

We don't even get to try saving Malenia ourselves, or try to help Miquella in anyway but we're forced to kill them because "It's two Lords who have different ideals." .... I mean why does the base game allow us to become the Lord of Frenzy, to let Ranni choose the world's fate, but cannot let Miquella decide with our influence??

Overall DLC's plot and story is just terrible, shameful is what it is.

[almost_a_jill_sandwich]

Originally posted by CastielArch:

So, the final boss fight is a total ass-pull in terms of story, we get absolutly 0 info regarding Marika

not reading the rest of this post. we get introduced to two of her children, we see how she became a god, and we even get to visit her hometown, meet her grandmother, and learn the fate of her people.

op is such a clown

[Kyutaru]

Originally posted by Karamell:

Speaking of why did Miquella abandon trying to save his own sister?

Theory is that the Haligtree didn't work and never became an Erdtree so his mission was a failure. So he decided rejecting the Golden Order and making his own safe space wasn't going to work. The only solution? Become God! ... with Radahn as daddy.

And he would have gotten away with it too, if it wasn't for you meddling Tarnished!

[Karamell]

Originally posted by almost_a_jill_sandwich:

Originally posted by CastielArch:

So, the final boss fight is a total ass-pull in terms of story, we get absolutly 0 info regarding Marika

not reading the rest of this post. we get introduced to two of her children, we see how she became a god, and we even get to visit her hometown, meet her grandmother, and learn the fate of her people.

op is such a clown

That doesn't make the OP a clown. I too agree with the OP, it doesn't make much sense.

Yeah cool, we learn about Marika but much of Miquella's stuff feels rushed and even borderline fan fic- cause why would Miquella choose Radahn, the guy who loves war and wants war always, as his consort for a peaceful, gentle world? Makes no sense.

Godwyn actually revolved the war with dragons through peace and was much better. I'm sure From Software could of had a way to bring him back if they wanted to, but we instead got Radahn 2.0, and a very bad final boss. Worse, the ending cutscene is something we know about already, doesn't conclude anything, and there's no ending to the DLC but just us awkwardly standing in the arena. Very bad writing I don't blame OP at all for feeling this way.

Also most of Marika's lore is still unknown in regards to the Gloom-Eyed Queen, as well as other matters. We just learn about her origins of being a Shaman, and why she had the Hornsent purged- that's not much, in the grand scheme of things.

[Not Rawr]

There's only so much "gay incest" as you imagine
Consort ≠ sexual relationship

[hemorrhage911]

Originally posted by almost_a_jill_sandwich:

Originally posted by CastielArch:

So, the final boss fight is a total ass-pull in terms of story, we get absolutly 0 info regarding Marika

not reading the rest of this post. we get introduced to two of her children, we see how she became a god, and we even get to visit her hometown, meet her grandmother, and learn the fate of her people.

op is such a clown

Nobody cares where Marika was born. It means nothing.

What was her motivation to betray the grater will? Marika's story in the DLC was written in such a way to mirror Miquella's failure. That's it. It wasn't about Marika HERSELF.

I still have absolutely no idea why Marika willingly subjected herself to the Greater Will and at what point, and why, she eventually betrayed them. All we got from the DLC is the same as Miquella's: "To become a god, you shed your humanity"

And we already knew from the base game Marika had a billion children and some of them were discarded. We even find one of them in Limgrave, which is a land where outcasts are sent.

[Eren Jäger]

Originally posted by hemorrhage911:

Originally posted by almost_a_jill_sandwich:

not reading the rest of this post. we get introduced to two of her children, we see how she became a god, and we even get to visit her hometown, meet her grandmother, and learn the fate of her people.

op is such a clown

Nobody cares where Marika was born. It means nothing.

What was her motivation to betray the grater will? Marika's story in the DLC was written in such a way to mirror Miquella's failure. That's it. It wasn't about Marika HERSELF.

I still have absolutely no idea why Marika willingly subjected herself to the Greater Will and at what point, and why, she eventually betrayed them. All we got from the DLC is the same as Miquella's: "To become a god, you shed your humanity"

And we already knew from the base game Marika had a billion children and some of them were discarded. We even find one of them in Limgrave, which is a land where outcasts are sent.

Marika's motivation for betraying GW is mentioned by Count Ymir. The Fingers claimed to be in contact with GW which was a lie. By the time Marika became queen, the fingers had long since lost contact with their god. This means that the commands that Marika carried out, which she thought were of divine origin, were actually the commands of the fingers. There was also the murder of Godfrey. Many of her children were cursed. The golden order didn't really help her.

Melina: "In Marika's own words. I declare mine intent, to search the depths of the Golden Order. Through understanding of the proper way, our faith, our grace, is increased. Those blissful early days of blind belief are long past. My comrades; why must ye falter?"

[Agravain]

Originally posted by CastielArch:

So, the final boss fight is a total ass-pull in terms of story

My brother in christ Georgey boy was helping write this game, asking for him to write non-contrived incest fanfiction is like asking for Bethesda to make a good game. Literally impossible

[CastielArch]

Originally posted by Aerieanei:

Originally posted by Karamell:

There's no mention of the Gloom-Eyed Queen, not much

She was cut in favour of Saint Trina's terrible quest. The Putrescent Knight is called "Knight of the Gloam Eyed Queen" in the files. So they were going to include lore on Gloam Eyed Queen at some point but was scrapped for a hastily put together Trina vs Miquella.

I have no words regarding the end of Trina's quest. She asks you to kill Miquella (after you unalived yourself 4 times to get the dialogue) and she just...dies and you get to put a flower in your hair. Wow nice, super interesting story (and oh so much original to just have the NPC die at the end, if they don't even bother making the character's death tragic I don't know why I bother giving a rat's ass about the same story since 2009...). Trina was so pointless like half the character and bosses of this DLC (shout-out to Romina, the most filler boss of filler boss).

[hemorrhage911]

Originally posted by Eren Jäger:

Originally posted by hemorrhage911:

Nobody cares where Marika was born. It means nothing.

What was her motivation to betray the grater will? Marika's story in the DLC was written in such a way to mirror Miquella's failure. That's it. It wasn't about Marika HERSELF.

I still have absolutely no idea why Marika willingly subjected herself to the Greater Will and at what point, and why, she eventually betrayed them. All we got from the DLC is the same as Miquella's: "To become a god, you shed your humanity"

And we already knew from the base game Marika had a billion children and some of them were discarded. We even find one of them in Limgrave, which is a land where outcasts are sent.

Marika's motivation for betraying GW is mentioned by Count Ymir. The Fingers claimed to be in contact with GW which was a lie. By the time Marika became queen, the fingers had long since lost contact with their god. This means that the commands that Marika carried out, which she thought were of divine origin, were actually the commands of the fingers. There was also the murder of Godfrey. Many of her children were cursed. The golden order didn't really help her.

Melina: "In Marika's own words. I declare mine intent, to search the depths of the Golden Order. Through understanding of the proper way, our faith, our grace, is increased. Those blissful early days of blind belief are long past. My comrades; why must ye falter?"

It was not the fingers she was communicating with in the trailer when she held up strand and it was forming the elden ring. It was the greater will....

This doesn't explain her motivation nor why she subjected herself to the greater will. She also didn't hide the tarnished from the fingers, she wanted them removed the influence of the greater will and to grow stronger without the guidance of grace.

[CastielArch]

Originally posted by almost_a_jill_sandwich:

Originally posted by CastielArch:

So, the final boss fight is a total ass-pull in terms of story, we get absolutly 0 info regarding Marika

not reading the rest of this post. we get introduced to two of her children, we see how she became a god, and we even get to visit her hometown, meet her grandmother, and learn the fate of her people.

op is such a clown

She comes from a small village that were being turned into pots. ok cool. What did that ass to the story ? Nothing.
Messmer has a snake in him. What does that mean ? No explanation, at best it's his curse for being born of Marika and Radagon, ok cool, can we have some actual story with that ? No ? Just the repeated stuff about a crusade on 10 different items ? Nice.
And the base game already said Melina is Marika's daughter, it's the only reason why she could talk for her and was born in the Erdtree and keeps speaking about her mother and is one of the 3 butterflies. Only reason it wasn't a fact is because she didn't spell it out directly.

[Rotunderance Prime]

They had to get grrm's pedo fetish in there some how..

[Eren Jäger]

Originally posted by hemorrhage911:

Originally posted by Eren Jäger:

Marika's motivation for betraying GW is mentioned by Count Ymir. The Fingers claimed to be in contact with GW which was a lie. By the time Marika became queen, the fingers had long since lost contact with their god. This means that the commands that Marika carried out, which she thought were of divine origin, were actually the commands of the fingers. There was also the murder of Godfrey. Many of her children were cursed. The golden order didn't really help her.

Melina: "In Marika's own words. I declare mine intent, to search the depths of the Golden Order. Through understanding of the proper way, our faith, our grace, is increased. Those blissful early days of blind belief are long past. My comrades; why must ye falter?"

It was not the fingers she was communicating with in the trailer when she held up strand and it was forming the elden ring. It was the greater will....

This doesn't explain her motivation nor why she subjected herself to the greater will. She also didn't hide the tarnished from the fingers, she wanted them removed the influence of the greater will and to grow stronger without the guidance of grace.

The fact that she had to make great sacrifices and was still lied to all the time is no motivation for you to "betray" the golden order? As for your second question. It's obvious why she became a god and joined the GW. So that she no longer had to be a victim but instead became a perpetrator herself. Hence the crusade against the Hornsent.

[GT-R]

I also feel like so. The bosses also feel a little underwhelming. Maybe there will be another dlc in the future to conclude the story.