Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree Review – Tarnished to the Shadow Realm

It’s arduous to imagine that Elden Ring launched 2 years in the past in 2022. Whereas FromSoftware haven’t precisely been slacking with the improbable Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon releasing final 12 months, followers of their extra conventional Soulslike style have been eagerly awaiting Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree since its announcement.

Now, we’re off to the Shadow Realm in pursuit of Miquella and a few very long-standing lore questions relating to the bottom sport’s story are lastly explored. Is Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree price selecting up in case you’re a fan of the bottom Elden Ring sport ? And may newcomers be diving into this DLC ?

Shadow of the Erdtree

To the reply the questions above, sure, in case you’re a fan of Elden Ring, you’ll most positively wish to decide up this DLC. Ought to a newcomer decide up this DLC ? The reply to that is a little more difficult. It’s a “Sure” as a result of if you buy the bundle that features the bottom Elden Ring sport and the DLC, you’ll simply have upwards of 200 hours of gameplay content material to get by means of right here relying in your playstyle.

If you wish to head straight into the Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree content material although as a newcomer, you gained’t have the ability to do that till you defeat two particular boss enemies within the base sport and attain some extent of development which helps you to journey to the Shadow Realm. This sadly would require you to play by means of fairly a hefty chunk of the bottom sport and in case you’re model new to Elden Ring, you’ll solely have the ability to get so far after a big time funding and plenty of levelling up.

From Software program is extremely daring in releasing a DLC that requires you to be to date into the sport to entry it. The mad lads over there have crafted such a beautiful world, you’ll wish to acquire entry as quickly as doable. When you loved the Elden Ring base sport, you’ll most probably love Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree with the one main caveat being that in Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree, you’ll have to actually draw upon your abilities to defeat foes attributable to a brand new mechanic that’s been launched.

Scadutree Fragments is the important thing facet to contemplate in Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree. These fragments will increase your injury output and as such your survival price within the sport. It doesn’t matter an excessive amount of in case you’re tremendous excessive stage within the base sport as a result of when you head into Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree, you’re going to be in for a world of harm. The enemies proper within the beginning space will completely destroy you in case you take them calmly.

You’ll should focus and do your utmost greatest at retaining your self alive and therein lies the great thing about all of it. Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree makes it fairly clear to you that that is “endgame” DLC content material and in case you’ve been away from Elden Ring for some time, you’ll have to rapidly adapt and get used to the controls once more.

Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree is a outstanding DLC in that, the whole DLC is just not solely extremely effectively designed however the sheer scale of the DLC is mindblowing. From Software program have delivered an enormous new area to discover and there may be a lot on provide right here it would captivate you and hold you coming again for extra as you slowly uncover new lore and face off towards some extremely difficult new boss enemies. Idea crafters may have a subject day with the brand new story data out there.

After all, since this can be a new DLC, we’re additionally in a position to acquire entry to some brand-new weapons and armour too which makes the sport all of the extra engaging. For instance, I performed as a samurai for essentially the most half however Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree required me to adapt to the state of affairs readily available and alter up my construct a bit to take care of the onslaught of threats.

Twin-wielding blades and performing some fast hit and run assaults was the order of the day for me for various the DLC however in case you’re a magic consumer, you’ll have much more success than I did. The brand new weapons additionally imply that you just’ll be altering up your tried and trusty construct most probably and this introduces much more longevity to the sport.

The Shadow Realm isn’t any pushover and actually, this DLC jogged my memory a lot of one in every of From Software program’s different video games. Sekiro. Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree is the “Sekiro” DLC in you could’t depend on your stats from the bottom sport to tackle enemies till you amass much more Scadutree Fragments and Revered Spirit Ash. Getting the fragments and Ash isn’t any straightforward feat both since you’ll have to actually use your abilities in studying enemy assaults and taking the chance to strike at opportune moments. Precisely like in Sekiro. Shadows die Twice eh?

Going out of your option to discover the Scadutree Fragments and Revered Spirit Ash can be fairly a problem as a result of Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree’s area is kind of frankly, freaking insanely huge. From Software program actually outdid themselves right here by designing a brand new area with so many interconnected areas.

You’ll spend hours exploring and love each second of it as a result of the Shadow Realm is full of beautiful visuals, enemy designs and an aesthetic that’s really fascinating. Heck simply coming into the Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree space and taking one look firstly part with the darkened tree within the background is sufficient to attract you in already. Wait till you get to the bigger castles and darkish swamps. The soundtrack of the sport is great and the voice performing is really superb particularly in very particular encounters that shall not be spoiled right here.

The place Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree additionally stands out above the bottom Elden Ring sport lies with its bosses. This time round From Software program actually didn’t maintain again. These are a number of the hardest boss fights you’ll ever encounter and also you’ll have to essentially focus in your builds and gameplay techniques to remain alive right here. The pure unadulterated pleasure you get after beating a troublesome boss nonetheless is immense and very rewarding.

My solely main gripe with the DLC lies with the truth that after traversing some extremely robust sections out within the open world in Shadow of Erdtree, you’ll be introduced with objects which might be most probably ineffective to you as a late sport participant. Sure the Scadutree Fragments and Revered Spirit Ash are nice however selecting up smithing supplies or one more cookbook or useful resource you don’t really want isn’t precisely rewarding. Although the identical is also mentioned for the Elden Ring base sport itself in some particular sections which might get fairly tedious.

One other problematic facet of the sport lies with the truth that Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree runs rather a lot choppier than the bottom Elden Ring sport. The Lands Between map ran completely superb however Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree has some sections the place inexplicable slowdown would happen or texture pop in can be fairly noticeable.

Fortunately this by no means occurred throughout boss battles the place precision timing is required to beat a few of their assaults however dropping frames every so often whereas adventuring and seeing grass and different objects immediately seem is jarring. Hopefully that is ironed out with some post-launch patches on PC.

Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree nonetheless continues to be top-of-the-line DLCs From Software program has put out. It’s stuffed with a lot content material, it’s virtually as if we acquired one other complete Elden Ring itself right here. The sport doesn’t maintain something again and you’ll have to actually faucet into your dodging, parrying and leaping abilities when combating enemies since their assaults felt much more menacing within the DLC.

With that mentioned although, in case you protect sufficient, it is possible for you to to get by means of this DLC as you acquire extra Scadutree Fragments and Revered Spirit Ash. On the time of scripting this assessment, a patch was additionally applied which improved the scaling of the fragments which can make some encounters within the DLC really feel much more balanced. Updates like this are one thing to maintain a watch out for since there’s clearly some tweaking occurring behind the scenes to get every part excellent.

Ultimate Verdict

Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree is a masterpiece of a sport that brings a flood of latest content material to an already stacked sport. There’s a lot on provide right here it might actually have been a sequel. When you liked Elden Ring, there isn’t any purpose to not get the DLC. The problem is daunting however it’s not unbeatable. Persevere Tarnished! Clutching victory from the jaws of defeat is so so candy within the Shadow Realm.