Elden Ring DLC Could Revive Bloodborne’s Unique Feature

The upcoming DLC for Elden Ring, Shadow of the Erdtree, has the potential to reintroduce one of the most distinctive features from Bloodborne, the Chalice Dungeons. Bloodborne, a highly acclaimed FromSoftware title, has significantly influenced the Soulslike genre and has left its mark on subsequent FromSoftware games, including Elden Ring.

However, some of Bloodborne’s unique mechanics and features have not been fully utilized in subsequent games. One such feature is the Chalice Dungeons, which could be a valuable addition to Elden Ring’s DLC.

The Chalice Dungeons: A Unique Feature in Bloodborne

The Chalice Dungeons in Bloodborne are a significant yet optional part of the gameplay experience. These dungeons, located deep within the city of Yharnam, are filled with enemies, traps, and bosses, some of which are unique to the dungeons. There are two types of dungeons: some have a fixed layout, similar to a standard level in the Soulsborne games, while others are procedurally generated when the player enters.

These dungeons offer opportunities to acquire more blood echoes, which can be particularly useful in the later stages of Bloodborne. They also contain armor and weapons that cannot be obtained elsewhere in the game. Moreover, the Chalice Dungeons reveal the ancient lore and background of Bloodborne’s story.

The Potential of Chalice Dungeons in Elden Ring

The concept of a PvE challenge mode in Soulslike games is an exciting prospect, and Elden Ring’s DLC could deliver on that front. Elden Ring’s map is vast and offers much to explore and many enemies to fight, but it is possible to run out of challenges. A PvE challenge mode could offer a ton of gameplay value, opening up new challenges for players to dig into.

Elden Ring has already taken inspiration from Bloodborne’s Chalice Dungeons, particularly from a level design standpoint. Elden Ring’s optional dungeons and caves are highly reminiscent of the level structure of Chalice Dungeons. However, once Elden Ring’s dungeons are cleared, the only option is to start over in the new game plus. Adding an equivalent to the procedurally generated Chalice Dungeons would solve this issue.

Expanding Elden Ring’s Lore with Chalice Dungeon Equivalent

One of the most intriguing aspects of Bloodborne’s Chalice Dungeons is how they tell the story of the game’s ancient past. Elden Ring’s timeline is seemingly even more wide-ranging than Bloodborne’s, so a Chalice Dungeon equivalent would be a great avenue to tell more of its primeval story.

Several item descriptions mention what existed before the Erdtree rose over The Lands Between. In its place, there once existed something called the Crucible, in which all life was blended together. More lore about The Crucible and the age before the Erdtree can be elucidated in a Chalice Dungeon equivalent.

Shadow of the Erdtree has quite a lot to live up to, and expectations for the expansion only continue to pile up. Adding a new mode based on Bloodborne’s Chalice Dungeons would be a clever way to add more gameplay and replay value to Elden Ring and expound upon some of the deeper, primordial lore that the base game only briefly touches on.

To get yourself prepared for the next upcoming (and probably the biggest yet) DLC, Shadow of the Erdtree is reportedly massive as it seems.