Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree Review – FromSoftware’s Most Ambitious DLC Yet

Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree is finally here! I’ve been more than excited to take a look at FromSoftware’s largest DLC ever made. Elden Ring was great because of its massive scope and ambitious open world, making exploration rewarding. Does that continue in the DLC? I’m here to find that out.

I’m extremely excited and humbled to be given the opportunity to review Shadow of the Erdtree. So, let’s get into it!

Game Name: Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree
Platform(s): PS4, PS5 (reviewed), Xbox Series X|S, PC
Developer(s): FromSoftware
Publisher(s): Bandai Namco
Release Date: June 20, 2024

Before we jump into the review, yes, this is spoiler-free. No worries about reading what we had to say about the game; we hate it when people spoil stuff for us, too. Alright, now you can get back to the review.

Will you walk with us?

The Land of Shadow is dark, dreadful, and often desolate. I became even more cautious about what was approaching as enemies took on new abilities, and traversal was more complex than ever. But we’re not totally alone in this journey, as others who follow Miquella are scattered around the map to help guide and support us. Even those who would not have been an ally before are now, as we all seemingly have one common goal. As we explore these treacherous areas, we also search for Miquella’s blessings to gain new powers to help players navigate the Land of Shadow.

Not Your Typical Leveling Up

As we traverse the Land of Shadow, we will find a new way of leveling up our character. Scattered around the Land of Shadow are 2 types of fragments that give us Miquella’s blessings. Scadutree Fragments increase our damage negation as well as attack power. Revered Spirit Ashes do the same but to our spirit ashes instead. Leveling up both stats will help us be better equipped for navigating the Land of Shadow.

What’s most interesting about these blessings is that we cannot manually see a stat increase in our character and will only notice them in their performance while we are in battle encounters. I didn’t really know how much these blessings were helping me until I was fighting enemies and bosses, which I thought was an interesting twist.

Don’t Take the New Enemies and Environments Lightly

One thing that immediately stood out to me was that these enemies are NOT messing around and came prepared. As with all FromSoftware’s DLCs, the challenge goes above and beyond, and that does not stop here with Shadow of the Erdtree. Outside of new intimidating enemies, there are also some familiar ones we’ve seen variations of before but now come with a twist. Whether it be magic or a new gimmick, enemies come prepared to make us regret stepping into the Land of Shadow. Never take them lightly, no matter how cute they look, because they will make you pay for it. The environments as well are beautifully deceiving. FromSoftware has always excelled in its environment and area designs, making them varied and diverse, with different enemies to populate them. That continues here in Shadow of the Erdtree, as enemies fill these areas and make them all look unique. There’s something about my character dying in a field of beautiful blue flowers that makes it even more okay to see the “You Died” death screen.

Traversal is the Hardest Enemy

Beyond challenging enemies and bosses, the strongest foe for me was none other than the traversal. Because the land of Shadow is very vertical in its design, I was often confused and asked myself, “How do I get over there?” multiple times. That really was the constant thought as I progressed and explored each area. There are so many cliffs, high and low layers to each area, as well as hidden pathways that can be easily missed. This sometimes caused some frustration because I had no clue how to reach certain heights, and some paths were easily missed. It can be a real brain teaser to figure out how to reach certain areas.

What can seem easy to reach, I quickly found out it wasn’t so easy. The map can be deceiving and seem smaller than it really is, but the more I played and explored all of the layers of each area, I started to see just how big this world was, which can feel daunting!

The good news is there are more ways for Torrent, our horse, to help us navigate these areas. When it comes to platforming and accessing hard-to-reach areas, Torrent is there to lessen the burden, and I appreciated FromSoftware giving us more reasons to use our horseback friend. Even so, conquering the high and low levels with endless cliffs is often a tall order that still had me scratching my head. Come prepared with a lot of time to spare because you will be asking, “How do I get over there?” multiple times too.

Interesting New Weapons and Gear

As frustrating as it can be not knowing where to go, it’s almost always worth the hassle. When I finally found passageways leading to catacombs and areas to collect items, I was rewarded with new armor and weapons I wanted to use. I typically have the habit of always using the same weapon I’m comfortable with, but this DLC had me giving second glances and leveling up my stats to try different weapons for once. Coming from me, that means something.

For magic and ash of war users, you’ll be rewarded as well when exploring and falling to your death countless times when trying to get somewhere. Trust me, it’ll be worth it, and you’ll have more opportunities to experiment with your build or make a new one entirely because the boss fights in Shadow of the Erdtree, which will surely tempt you to try different things.

Memorable Boss Fights That’ll Keep You Up at Night

One of the most important aspects of any Souls game is, of course, its boss fights. Elden Ring’s main game had some very uniquely designed bosses, as well as a variety of challenges they each possessed. That continues here in Shadow of the Erdtree as some bosses took me 1 attempt, while others took me hours to defeat. Even the ones that annoyed me a bit, I still loved them because of their design and creativity.

They are memorable and had me contemplating how to beat them, especially because I was just a simple bleed build coming in. The bosses had me trying different items and strategies, tweaking my build in order to be successful. That tells me the bosses did well in terms of difficulty, and while some of them felt impossible at first, I ultimately came away thinking they were tough but fair.

The Lore is BOOMING, and I Want to Learn More

Without spoiling the story, Shadow of the Erdtree has some very interesting NPCs and their connections to Elden Ring’s main game and why they are here now. As I fumbled around, getting lost on where to go next, I kept my eye on the story more than I typically do and looked to it to guide me and give me answers. It didn’t feel like I was mindlessly walking through new areas. I was walking (and sometimes running for my life) with purpose. I wanted to have questions answered to guide me through the experience, which is interesting as I typically don’t consider the story as the main draw. Shadow of the Erdtree has changed that for me and has made me want to do deep lore dives and learn more.

Damn this is Good

Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree was worth the wait. You won’t be disappointed if you are looking for more of the Elden Ring experience you know and love. Shadow of the Erdtree does a fantastic job of extending the Elden Ring story and world. Exploration comes in layers, literally, as more verticality opens traversal to take it to new heights. The environments and enemies are varied, making the Land of Shadow really feel like a different experience than Elden Ring’s Lands Between. This will give you more than enough to savor, with plenty of content to play through for many hours. So, take your time and walk with us.

Review Disclosure Statement: Bandai Namco provided a copy of Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree for review purposes. For more information on how we review video games and other media/technology, please review our Review Guidelines/Scoring Policy.

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