Two indie Soulslikes have announced new release dates this week, which obviously turned out to be an unfortunate mistake as Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree's surprise trailer cast a pretty big, well, shadow. To make matters worse, one of those indie games just so happens to share a release date with Shadow of the Erdtree.
I'm talking about Enotria: The Last Song, a gorgeous fantasy roleplaying game inspired by Italian folklore and drenched in some perfect summery vibes. What sets this one apart is the role-altering masks that let you switch between three customizable loadouts at any time. Could be super interesting in action! I'm only worried that I won't have time to play it when it releases on June 21, the very same day as the Elden Ring DLC.
Another Crab's Treasure - the exciting shellfish Soulslike where you play as a crab who uses junk as a shell alternative (climate change, eh?) - also made a similar, less dire whoopsie. Developer Aggro Crab announced the game would launch on April 25, just mere hours before the expansion trailer dropped, which sadly buried the news.
Both developers basically walked into a surprise FromSoftware boss battle in real life, though neither team seemed too worried about it all. Enotria: The Last Song's developers took to social media to memeify the genre's granddaddy as the Undertaker. "Fate brought us together, Elden Ring, We Are No Longer Maidenless."
Fate has brought us together, @ELDENRING, We Are No Longer Maidenless#ELDENRING pic.twitter.com/m9LxhiUMq9February 21, 2024
Aggro Crab instead used a meme format originally inspired by Dark Souls, depicting FromSoftware as the big boss Yhorm looking down at "us trying to get coverage for our indie Soulslike." Mission accomplished.
dont come for the king i guess pic.twitter.com/9Kqt0Cq7EnFebruary 21, 2024
Elsewhere, we recently learned that Shadow of the Erdtree's map is bigger than Limgrave and much denser than any area in the base game. For a company known for its spectacular expansions, this one is shaping up to be the studio's biggest to date. If you’re otherwise interested in the quainter Soulslikes mentioned above, you can find Enotria: The Last Song and Another Crab's Treasure on Steam.
Elden Ring’s director hasn’t ruled out the “possibility” for a sequel or second expansion.
