Once I gave Elden Ring a ten two years in the past, I did so not simply because it’s an unimaginable recreation, however as a result of it additionally raised the bar for open-world video games as an entire. The way in which it encourages exploration, rewards curiosity, and challenges you to seek out your personal particular person options to troublesome fight encounters by together with tons of totally different viable weapons, spells, and different construct choices is totally exemplary. Now, FromSoftware is again to boost the bar on everybody but once more, this time in relation to what you’d anticipate from a “easy” DLC. Shadow of the Erdtree could not do something radically totally different from the base recreation, however this enlargement in some way seems like a scaled-down model of that very same expertise that recaptures all of the magic of enjoying Elden Ring for the first time, with extra content material packed inside than many absolutely priced video games. Its unexpectedly giant realm is stuffed with new secrets and techniques, new discoveries, a ton of new construct choices to experiment with, in addition to some of the most difficult and unforgettable boss battles Souls followers can have ever seen.
I strolled into Shadow of the Erdtree considering I used to be some sort of Elden Lord badass, having defeated Malenia, Mohg, Placidusax, the Elden Beast, and each different massive menace round. My stage 150 character was armed with absolutely upgraded gear and the most quantity of flasks… however let me let you know, it didn’t take very lengthy for the Realm of Shadow to humble me. Although the solely requirement to entry the new areas is to beat Radahn and Mohg – which, granted, is not any small feat – you’re going to wish to over put together earlier than stepping foot into this new enviornment, as a result of it’s brutal. FromSoftware positively skirts the line between honest and unfair with some of the later boss designs particularly, maybe getting nearer than ever. However crucially, it by no means truly crosses that threshold, and that masterful tightrope stroll – together with some really spectacular boss design – ends in some of the most thrilling and satisfying bosses Elden Ring, and the total Soulslike style, has to supply.
It’s not simply the high quality of these fights, both: Erdtree has them in amount, too. In keeping with our rely, there are greater than 40 bosses, with 10 of these being the massive, showstopper fights that reward you with a Remembrance upon defeat. Examine that to the greater than 100 in the base recreation, and it’s a major chunk.
Whenever you deliver up the map, it might not seem to be The Realm of Shadow is that massive, however it’s extremely dense as a result of it’s stacked in layers. Paths lead upwards towards ruins suspended in the sky, others delve deep beneath the floor, and a few even pull you in instructions you won’t have believed you may even be pulled. You would possibly discover a hidden ladder tucked away in the far nook of a fort rampart, solely to comply with that path for an hour earlier than it will definitely spills out into a completely new, otherwise-inaccessible space.
However even with all of the discoveries to be made, I by no means felt misplaced or not sure of the place I might or ought to go subsequent. The principle aim of this DLC is to comply with the footsteps of the demigod Miquella, who left his flesh behind and fled to the Realm of Shadow. These footsteps are marked by giant crosses that elegantly function delicate signposts to let if you’re in the neighborhood of a plot-critical path, with out it ever feeling like your hand is being held as you’re nudged in a single specific route.
Other than the major quest, there’s an entire host of new NPCs, together with seven followers of Miquella that you just’ll encounter at numerous factors in the journey. Every of them have their very own small questline that ties into the major story, and people may even affect some of the latter boss battles, relying in your actions. And whereas I take into account myself a reasonably informal enjoyer of Elden Ring’s in depth lore in comparison with some of the students on the market, even my restricted information of the deeper plot let me admire some fairly incredible, eye-opening revelations in the direction of the finish of this story which can be properly value the effort of attending to.
It took me about 25 hours or so to beat the remaining boss of Shadow of the Erdtree, however I might simply see myself placing in one other 15 or 20 on simply this one playthrough. I nonetheless have a handful of non-compulsory bosses I want to return and cross off my record, areas on my map I haven’t absolutely explored, weapons and expertise I haven’t gotten to mess around with but, and sidequests I nonetheless wish to comply with to completion. That’s just about precisely like once I accomplished my evaluate of the base recreation after about 80 hours, which is sensible as a result of Shadow of the Erdtree is basically a full Elden Ring journey made miniature. It condenses the entire expertise all the way down to one thing comparatively compact, all of it satisfyingly tuned particularly for end-game characters who thought they’d seen all of it.
Weapons of Selection
Whereas I haven’t had any “holy ****” moments of awe like the first time I took the elevator all the way down to the Siofra River, exploration and discovery all through the Realm of Shadow continues to be a delight because of its stellar artwork design, a terrific selection in the areas you get to discover, and the tantalizing rewards just about in all places you flip. There are eight brand-new weapon sorts, starting from throwing knives to beast claws to massive odachi samurai swords. My favourite of the new arsenal, although, is the gentle greatsword, particularly the Milady. True to its identify, the Milady has a really regal-looking moveset with combos that circulate properly into one another and hit arduous, however are additionally comparatively quick in comparison with precise greatswords. For me, it’s a candy spot. I truly swapped off of my highly effective twin Bandit Curved Sword bleed construct (albeit, minus the White Masks, which I ruined my probability to get) to as a substitute rock a Power/Dexterity-focused construct utilizing one of these and located nice success for the majority of the DLC.
I experimented with a pair of different weapons as properly, one thing that’s attainable because of the ample alternatives to gather a bunch extra Historic Dragon Smithing Stones of each the customary and Somber varieties. Nonetheless, in all my travels I discovered that whereas the new weapon sorts are enjoyable – there’s actually an enchantment to going hand-to-hand in opposition to a military of arms – none of them finally measured as much as the power of the weapons that I carried over from the base recreation. It’s completely attainable that there are some talismans I used to be lacking to actually make the new ones sing, however I hoped to undergo the entirety of Erdtree with a brand-new construct. As an alternative, I discovered myself swapping again to my bread-and-butter bleed construct to get the sort of harm I wanted when the going obtained robust – however hey, that construct did have two years to get optimized by way of the authentic endgame.
Apart from, selection is the spice of life, and Erdtree is one sizzling dish. Not solely are there a ton of new weapons, there are additionally lots of new spells, Ashes of Warfare, Spirit Ash summons, and talismans to cowl an unlimited vary of totally different playstyles. There’s now a talisman that enhances two-handed assaults; one which decreases spellcasting time dramatically, however causes you to take elevated harm; one other that will increase the harm of skills that contain stances; and one other nonetheless that will increase your harm each time you defeat an enemy. Sure, there are additionally lots which can be simply higher variations of very helpful talismans you in all probability have already got, and there’s no disgrace in sticking to what works. There are such a lot of promising new builds that I couldn’t assist however want Larval Tears have been extra plentiful so I might respec my character a bit of extra freely, as I began to expire by the time I completed Erdtree’s marketing campaign. I nonetheless have a ton of totally different builds I wish to attempt, and I’m already fortunately onto my second playthrough to see them.
The Pleasure of Freedom
The journey by way of The Realm of Shadow is structured very equally to The Lands Between, in that the map is cut up up right into a quantity of totally different areas. Proper from the get-go, you’re in a position to head wherever you wish to: you may comply with the preliminary Miquella Cross to the first massive “legacy dungeon,” known as Belurat, and take care of the new horrific scorpion enemies; or head throughout a bridge to the east and work your approach over to the magic crammed Fort Ensis the place it’s important to take care of this jerk (the place you may have go up in opposition to one of the most difficult bosses of the DLC straight away), or discover a strategy to bypass the have to undergo both of these and get straight to the Scadu Altus, which largely serves as the central hub of the Realm of Shadow. Then you may head straight towards the Shadow Hold preventing your strategy to the prime of it as a way to tackle one of the main bosses, or going by way of one of its different exits to discover in any other case inaccessible components of the map. It’s a liberating sense of freedom, and the similar masterclass stage of open-world design as the base recreation, simply on a scale that isn’t fairly so huge.
In fact, whether or not or not you ought to make a mad sprint in the direction of the Shadow Hold is one other query totally. Although that is endgame content material and also you in all probability received’t be leveling up fairly as quick as you probably did in the authentic marketing campaign, there’s a separate power-scaling system that solely works when you’re inside the Realm of Shadow. Scattered all through the lands are Scadutree Fragments that you could accumulate and switch in at Websites of Grace to extend your general harm and resistances. Likewise, you may as well discover Revered Spirit Ash blessings to extend the harm and survivability of your Spirit Ash Summons. These are two very good inclusions as they add a much-needed sense of development, a invaluable reward for exploration, and one thing else to hunt for should you’re getting wrecked by a boss and want to come back again if you’re stronger – all whereas cleverly preserving some of the authentic endgame’s stability should you’re bravely tackling this DLC earlier than circling again to beat it.