Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree

Elden Ring is magnificent, put. I can't believe it’s been 2 years since the launch and From Software hasn’t brought out another game already. Over 15 years, they’ve released 6 major games in the sub-genre they created and other titles from the Armored Core franchise. Truly amazing work from the studio and its lead director. But then again, how do you follow up something like Elden Ring? The biggest, most refined Souls-Bourne title in gaming, that’s immense, rich in detail and allows for the ultimate and deep RPG gameplay since the likes of Dragon Age.

Well, an expansion to the award-winning title is a brilliant idea, and a Swan Song note that will allow the veterans to face the most compelling challenge yet, and those wanting more from the Lands Between to explore, discover and be rewarded more so than before.

How does this expansion stand with those seen from Bloodborne and Dark Souls 3? It’s the best, and not for the faint of heart. 


Shadow of a massive f*** off tree


Elden Ring kept to the formula of Dark Souls and Bloodborne, where much of the world, story and lore was behind cloaks and daggers. The expansion is in the same vein, but there is a clearer goal set before you, with bigger breadcrumbs to feast on to ease your curiosity. The journey begins by examining a massive, cracked cocoon within the Palace of Blood, where touching the arm that lingers out of it, transports you to another place. A place between the Lands Between, a place of shadow, death, decay, and a huge spike in difficulty!

There are many friendly dudes and dudettes here, all wanting to follow the path of Melina, they gaze in wonder at signs she has left, beautiful golden crosses that show the way to a new beginning. But as with any From Software Souls game, there is a catch. And when you see a gigantic Tree in the distance that’s decaying, oozing what appears to be gold blood, and notes scattered from followers who’ve flown off the deep end, you might question a thing or two.

But as the Tarnished, that’s all fine. You’re here for the adventure, the thrills, the loot, and just to kill anything that takes one wrong at you.

For those who might be a little tired of the story-telling method by now, Shadow of the Erdtree won’t win you over per se. There are more crumbs, and an actual understanding of the main quest, where you’re not simply heading forth to kill a God or two for greater glory, but rather investigate strange happenings, in a decaying world with an unseen evil at the heart of it all. But supporting characters are still presented as somewhat distant, usually having vastly complicated, and long-winded arches that can be easily ruined by a rogue enemy coming in and taking a swipe at you, or you missing them entirely.

What I admire about Dragon’s Dogma 2 is the more personal nature of the presentation, like when you meet the Sphinx. Those moments are so intense, frightening, and so acutely cinematic in comparison. I know people make fun of Bethesda games for their framing of conversations and rightly so, but From Soft is doing something akin to that. Where NPCs stand there in a single pose, lacking movement and anything immensely organic. Cyberpunk 2077, despite issues with certain interactions with the world, nailed how characters moved, walked and talked when you were engaging with them, same for Dragon’s Dogma 2.

That's not to say there aren't any stellar cinematic moments here, as these guys can make a bridge closing/opening look mighty epic. Just wish some conversations, and small bits here and there were tweaked and animated a little more.

However, Shadow of the Erdtree is still highly break-taking with its art direction, phenomenal world-building, and atmosphere. Just wandering around on Torrent through the poison swamps, dense forests, and open world littered with ghostly gravestones always immersed me, and left me wanting more. Seeing the decaying Erdtree in the distance, the monolithic castles and forts bathed in black ash, and the stunning yet creepy vast plains where giant stone fingers point towards an unholy point of interest gave me goosebumps no matter what.

From Soft excels in world-building, even if you don’t know the context, the wonder and discovery won't disappoint. There are still plenty of great places, interesting weirdos to meet and plenty of that highly thespian gravitas and awe that grips all five senses.


Check out the sights and see what’s new


Aside from the breathtaking scenery, you can expect to get lost (in a good way) within the Realm of Shadow, as From Soft are masters at the old level design, and exploration. I always wanted to take another step forward, which would end up being two hours of me venturing forth, finding a map fragment and checking it out for anywhere which looked interesting, and all of it was.

There’s just a wonderous sense of structure and unknowing with Elden Ring and its DLC, with dungeons, strange beasts to run into, and haunting vistas to behold. But what to expect overall in The Shadow of the Ertree? All of what we have in the base, to the highest quality, where every place and surrounding landscape will compel you to explore. While the dungeon count is reduced in the DLC (considering it’s half the size of the base game, which is insanely good), the dungeons are of high quality and density. Remember those spooky stone dungeons usually with those green little critters? There’s just one of those (from what I saw), but it’s incredibly well-designed, and the others each have their own aesthetic choices. There is hardly any repetition, something the base game had quite often.

So, I admire the craft of From Soft to make everything feel its own, and not just use repeated props, textures and layouts.

There are a ton of new weapons, cookbooks, resources, armour, and more which makes exploration extra rewarding, but everything can be taken back to the base game map. There is indeed that deep level of lore, hidden mechanics and more which only comes about by thoroughly exploring/examining or simply looking up a guide. And it’s great, but again some aspects of the world and mechanics can be too well hidden.

There are new mechanics you can easily miss, including a new resource that allows them to charge and headbutt foes when fed to Torrent. It’s amazing. Now you can easily speak with NPCs and all, and that’s not the issue for finding out information. My big problem is the UI, as it’s so cumbersome. You can pick up maps to points of interest, clues and other notes but in the menu, you can’t view them in full screen … why? Even in full view is like 1/3 the screen, which is not good. The text is way too small and I can't see any useful accessibility options.

That is a shame, as the minimal HUD and lack of hand-holding are great, but basic UI, and lacking features, such as viewing a clue in full-screen mode, are staggeringly off-putting. Especially if like me, you’re old and your eyesight isn’t what it was.

But the biggest change here is the new levelling system, which is isolated for just the Realm of Shadow. See no matter what level you are in the base game, you are nothing in here buddy. You will have everything brought from the Lands Between, but you will deal little damage and die with a gentle blow from the weakest of foes. By gathering Scadutree fragment, a new resource allows you to level your “Scadutree blessing”, which is the ranking within the Realm of Shadow, and increases your damage negation, and damage dealt. This is vital to your survival.

Now this is a system that will throw people off and it certainly did me, as getting wrecked by the first optional boss in the game, let alone a basic dweeb peasant. It’s a crushing reality that feels unfairly kicking you in the nuts, but to be fair, this was the best way to handle the difficulty and scaling. It also ensures that you go forth and search for a purpose, other than just seeing the sights and sounds. It’s immensely rewarding and highly beneficial in the long run.

And while you will get you’re a*** handed to you without much logic or reason from the off-set, you can level up quite easily without facing any major, or optional boss, and with Torrent, you can fly by most enemies. Indeed, it can feel like a mad rush, and you have to pass by the points of interest until you level up a decent amount, just so basic enemies can’t smash you within a second or two. But again … it’s a system that makes the most sense, and after an hour or so, I was getting into the groove.

As for enemies, there’s the same as you’ve seen before, with fan favourites such as the giant Golems, rapid mutts, and a new stone bird enemy which can royally f*** off. But as for the bosses, they’re terrific overall, and while there aren’t any neat trick bosses, or a change to the dragons and so forth, the main bosses are all very cool! Although I wasn't so keen on the few optional bosses which were repeated from the base game, like certain dragons and the Death Bird.

The format is still largely the same, but that’s all great, as Elden Ring’s base game was phenomenal, so expect the same level of detail and craft with the immense dungeon design, fantastic (if not some annoying) bosses, great sense of reward and progression, and the wonderous vibe from exploration will hook you for hours on hours on end.


Now, let’s discuss the difficulty.


Upping the ante, upping those stats


Now the thing with Elden Ring and having a bold DLC come 2 years after the base game was released, was the scaling and difficulty matching. And by the time this review is out, there will have been tremendous discussion on the topic of difficulty yet again. And for good reason when it comes to The Shadow of the Erdtree.

This DLC is hard, like a damn good challenge that will feel quite overwhelming in the grand scheme of things. Basic enemies will have a better chance to Wack you silly until you die, and beefier enemies can easily two, or one-shot you. The first optional boss I discovered hit me once with a bow and I died… Other enemies slightly stronger than the feeble, shuffling corpses you will see, again will kill you with two flicks of a wrist.

Bosses can and will destroy you before you have a chance to drink from your wondrous physick or summon your trusty ghostly ally. This DLC does not mess about, even if you are on level 200, you will feel pain, taste defeat repeatedly and struggle with little room to learn and grow.

And that’s the point though, right?

These games have always been tough, with some parts harder than others, and the DLCs for previous From Soft games always being the ultimate challenge to face in that respected game. Shadow of the Erdtree has all the same lessons from the base game, but the punishment for a misstep is vastly crueller and more sudden as enemies hit harder than you ever will.

But is it unfair? Majority, no. And like the base game, the DLC allows immense flexibility and freedom and thus grants you to go at a pace that suits you. With the new feature of Scadutree fragment, which allows you to become stronger, and take less damage from foes in the realm, you need to hunt these out as much as possible, and you can do so rather easily.

The great thing about nearly all Souls-Bourne games is that you can run past many enemies, find useful items, and keep going without facing a boss, or a major blockage for quite some time. And here it’s just the same and even more so. You can ride Torrent and discover 15 of these fragments without facing a boss, and that does make a difference in your attack/defence in the Realm of Shadow. You will have to evade plenty of enemies sure, but on Torrent, not much of a problem, and from here, you will be able to push on, defeat a boss or two, and scale up with the difficulty. You can exit the DLC at any time and upgrade your weapons, there are plenty of resources and useful items to find, that will indeed help out massively.

Best of all, plenty of sites of grace to save at, and usually in the best spots, like right before a boss, or one right after the other to ensure you don’t have to repeat long stretches. Genuinely speaking, there is a lot here to ease the pain, especially when it comes to bosses, as you can repeat, die, repeat and succeed without having to make an epic journey from the last checkpoint. It’s a ton more forgiving than Demon Souls, and Bloodborne for that matter (I wish there was a lantern in the poison forest right before the boss …).

But does that mean everything feels balanced and rightly fair? … A firm yes, with a but…

Lots of bosses are super-fast, lots of overbearing enemies who I feel should move slower go at a relentless pace, and hit, so hard with a wide birth that gives you little room to breathe. One of the first main bosses is The Dancing Dragon, and while I beat it after 6 attempts, it still is a sight to behold seeing it move, shoot lighting and never take a break will indeed leave you a little flustered. The fight can be done, but yeah, it’s intense. Prepare to time everything perfectly and give yourself enough room away from his far-reaching attacks. For some builds, it might be a problem though.

All the bosses have openings for attacks, weak spots and all that, but I can’t help but dislike the thought process of a massive giant being able to move more quickly than me. Doesn’t sit well with me. Bloodborne managed to balance the weight of bigger enemies and their movement speed. Wu Long did something similar where for example, the Giant Boar boss moves at a speed that seems right, and when it does a charged attack, it can hit a wall if you dodge at the right time and knock itself out for a short bit. Giving you time to attack.

From Soft should look more at patterns and openings, as the reliance on “cheesing” and summons is becoming more and more noted in these games. I also think the lack of variety is what I felt disappointed about, as everything has to move incredibly fast, take 10 or 12 swipes before giving you the smallest room to breathe and hit back. There aren’t any trick bosses from what I can see, and a trick boss is always a nice icebreaker in the roaster, as it feels more like a well-constructed puzzle compared to a frantic Hellfire.

At the end of the day, these games are meant to be hard, and generally, Elden Ring is still the most approachable, and forgiving with the amount of summons, talismans, spells, weapons, and vast amount of nicely placed Sites of Grace to keep you invested. But there are attacks and manoeuvres which are way too overpowered … I mean, they did tweak Starscourge Radahnin the base game, and the Forsaken Duo.

And again, you can summon allies, a lot of bosses allow you to summon good fighting allies once you either discover them in the world or ride Torrent for fast movement. You can play with friends, use rune farming spots, and explore without any serious encounters to gather the resources you need to beat them. I changed my play style more here, switching from sword and shield to two swords, focusing on magic, and so forth.

And I still loved this game and the DLC, despite some hiccups, and the shortcomings which always pop up in each From Soft game (UI, and presentation limitations).


Overall?


I must ask you, if you own the base game of Elden Ring, why are you reading this review and not just buying the DLC? On track record, From Soft has a stellar lineup of games, and expansions. And Shadow of the Erdtree is not ruining that streak at all, and still captures the same staggering level of depth, immersive sense of discovery and exploration, phenomenal RPG mechanics and action gameplay, that’s still highly approachable, enjoyable and incredibly rewarding for those willing to fight tooth and nail to claim the ultimate prize.

But for those wondering, yes, the difficulty has been increased, and while still fair, I can’t help but think of some BS moments and overpowered attacks which almost broke my patience. The underwhelming UI and the vague storytelling are holding back From Soft from achieving that next stage of greatness. While I wasn’t a massive fan of Sekiro, I did admire the UI changes and presentation which made it feel like a step forward for the masters of the sub-genre. And Elden Ring while impressive, still feels somewhat dated and restricted. While not damaging in the long run, I wish there were some changes at least to the UI and handling of certain features. And the same goes for this expansion.

But Elden Ring and the expansion are incredible, overshadowing even some of the most known AAA adventure games out now. I’m not a massive Souls vet, but I love Bloodborne, Demon's Souls, and thoroughly love Elden Ring and Shadow of the Ertree, as one of the best games ever made, and one of the best expansions ever made.

Now … I think From Soft should bring back Tenchu.

+++ Tremendous world-building and exploration
+++ Engaging gameplay mechanics with plenty of depth and approachability
++ Looks and sounds amazing
++ New bosses and locations are wonderous
+ One of the best expansions in gaming, bigger than some other From Soft games

-/+ The new learning curve is brutal and feels unbalanced at first / But it is fun/fair to adapt to after a couple of hours

- Few too many reused side bosses and enemies
- The UI and presentation is still lacking - accessibility needs to improve
- While wonderful and breathtaking, nothing truly shocked me (same old trick of dragons in the lake etc.)

A review copy of Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree, was kindly provided by Bandai Namco for this review.