DLC and standalone expansions: the perfect complement to original games
, by Quentin
Very often, when a game turns into a critical and commercial success and there's room in its world for it, devs choose to extend the experience with some additional content, be it via DLC or with a standalone game. Of course, more often than not it ends up with little additions, but among these, some manage to offer content on the level of the original title. Let's see some of these examples:
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Blood and Wine
The third game in The Witcher is the one that propelled the series in terms of popularity, continuing to make some great numbers almost a decade later. CD Projekt Red created a real hit of a video game, offering hours of epic adventure with a perfect sense of pacing.
Following on from this, the teams decided to release a first DLC, Hearts of Stone, which was very good, but didn't reach the same heights. We had to wait for Blood and Wine to finally get on to that level. This new experience adds hours and hours of new, superbly written quests, as well as an overhaul of several aspects of the interface and plenty of new equipment.
The Last of Us: Left Behind
Having left their mark on players with The Last of Us, Naughty Dog wanted to expand their already great adventure by focusing a little more on Ellie and her story before meeting Joel. We delve into her relationship with her best friend, Riley, who disappears for weeks before reappearing with some intriguing news.
More focused on exploration and narrative, this exceptional DLC will end up being a memorable standalone.
Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City
While Rockstar Games was on a roll with Grand Theft Auto IV, the studio decided to keep striking while the iron was hot, keeping the city of Liberty City as their playground, but taking advantage of the opportunity to delve deeper into the lives of some of its protagonists.
This is the case with Luis Fernando Lopez in The Ballad of Gay Tony, which plunges us into the world of nightlife and its excesses, or with Johnny Klebitz in The Lost and Damned, donning leather in the atmosphere of a biker gang.
Two diametrically opposed atmospheres, but both a masterclass by the developers, these two expansions are so complete that they ended up being released as standalones.
Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree
Elden Ring is undoubtedly the game that got FromSoftware to make the jump to a wider audience, long put off by the difficulty of the studio's works. It took advantage of an extremely dense open world to allow a smoother progression in its own way.
When a title reaches such a level of success, you need to be sure of being able to offer DLC to match before embarking on this adventure. FromSoftware has achieved it with Shadow of the Erdtree, which is quite simply exceptional. We begin in a new location, the Land of Shadows, where we cross path with seven new characters, each with their own quest and distinct choices and branchings. Of course, it adds hours and hours of gameplay to an already vast game.
The Elder Scrolls IV Oblivion: Shivering Isles
One of the most memorable entries in The Elder Scrolls franchise, Oblivion, needed an expansion to its story and world on the same level. We're going to focus on the second, Shivering Isles, which takes us to the Kingdom of Madness, ruled by the Daedric Prince Sheogorath.
This kingdom is divided into two regions, Mania and Dementia, each subdivided into three parts: Bliss, Crucible and the New Sheoth Palace. This expansion gives rise to an entirely new storyline, with over 9,500 additional lines of dialogue, as well as 200 weapons and 80 sets of armor. Once again, it adds many more hours to such a fantastic universe.
Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare
We remember its presentation, but also the fears it aroused. We were in the middle of the zombie era, with zombie games aplenty, and a little exhausted from it all. So when Rockstar Games announced that it would be adding to its game with a standalone based on this theme, we were afraid.
But we didn't count on the studio's know-how, which offered us a rich and enjoyable experience that quickly made us forget our fears once we had the controller in hand. We still control our hero, John Marston, as he watches an epidemic spread through the Far West, turning humans and animals into the undead. While it might not have the greatest story ever, it was good enough for what it was.
We could have listed other extraordinary experiences such as Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty, but as always, we'll leave it up to you to tell us in the comments which DLC or standalone has left such a mark on you.