Video Gamer is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Prices subject to change. Learn more
One of the most anticipated changes to Elden Ring that the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC brings with it is such a minor adjustment, that you might not even notice it. Fans of the 2022 Game of the Year have been asking for this since launch, and it’s only now that the “issue” is being addressed. I say issue like that because it’s hardly an issue, and only really impacts the game for a few seconds.
When you boot up Elden Ring, you’re greeted with a darn bright and abrasive look at the Bandai Namco logo. In the world of the Lands Between, darkness punctuates each scene. Bright, friendly, and safe areas are hard to come by, and Shadows consume all. Not when you boot the game up, though.
When the game launched, Hard Drive wrote that the “blinding white Bandai Namco logo is the closest thing to sunlight Elden Ring player has seen in weeks.” After playing the Elden Ring preview for the DLC, IronPineapple reported that they had in-fact changed the background of the splash screen so that it no longer discharged the same amount of energy as a solar flare: “they changed the background color of the Bandai Namco logo so you don’t get flashbanged when launching the game anymore.”
A few other new introductions to the game include well over 30 hours of gameplay, quality of life upgrades, new bosses, and new enemies, though the change to Bandai Namco’s logo is surely the most important. Right?
Responses to IronPineapple have said that this is the “most important change in the history of important changes,” while others have said that “Elden Ring can win Game of the Year twice now after this lmao.” Another critique brought up by the conversation focuses on the same ‘flashbang’ effect when you enter the fight Radagon. I would include a screenshot of that moment, but it really is just a harsh white screen. You can recreate it with the color code #fff in your favourite photo editing software.
In all seriousness, there have been other changes implemented in the DLC that you could easily miss too. For example, there is now a Recent Items tab, which is going to make inventory management much easier, alongside a red dot next to new items in the inventory. It’s a wonder that it took almost two years to implement these features, though I suppose a lot of quality assessment time over at FromSoftware was spent on how to improve the splash screen logos.
