After I gave Elden Ring a ten two years in the past, I did so not simply because it’s an unimaginable sport, 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 search out your personal particular person options to troublesome fight encounters by together with tons of various viable weapons, spells, and different construct choices is completely exemplary. Now, FromSoftware is again to boost the bar on everybody but once more, this time in relation to what you’d count on from a “easy” DLC. Shadow of the Erdtree could not do something radically completely different from the bottom sport, however this enlargement one way or the other appears like a scaled-down model of that very same expertise that recaptures the entire magic of taking part in Elden Ring for the primary time, with extra content material packed inside than many absolutely priced video games. Its unexpectedly giant realm is crammed with new secrets and techniques, new discoveries, a ton of recent construct choices to experiment with, in addition to a few of the most difficult and unforgettable boss battles Souls followers could 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 large menace round. My degree 150 character was armed with absolutely upgraded gear and the utmost variety of flasks… however let me inform you, it didn’t take very lengthy for the Realm of Shadow to humble me. Although the one requirement to entry the brand new areas is to beat Radahn and Mohg – which, granted, is not any small feat – you’re going to need to over put together earlier than stepping foot into this new area, as a result of it’s brutal. FromSoftware positively skirts the road between truthful and unfair with a few of the later boss designs particularly, maybe getting nearer than ever. However crucially, it by no means really crosses that threshold, and that masterful tightrope stroll – together with some actually spectacular boss design – ends in a few of the most thrilling and satisfying bosses Elden Ring, and your entire Soulslike style, has to supply.
It’s not simply the standard of these fights, both: Erdtree has them in amount, too. In response to our rely, there are greater than 40 bosses, with 10 of these being the large, showstopper fights that reward you with a Remembrance upon defeat. Examine that to the greater than 100 within the base sport, and it’s a big chunk.
Once you convey up the map, it could not appear to be The Realm of Shadow is that large, however it’s extremely dense as a result of it’s stacked in layers. Paths lead upwards towards ruins suspended within the sky, others delve deep beneath the floor, and a few even pull you in instructions you may not have believed you would even be pulled. You would possibly discover a hidden ladder tucked away within the far nook of a fortress rampart, solely to comply with that path for an hour earlier than it will definitely spills out into a very new, otherwise-inaccessible space.
However even with the entire discoveries to be made, I by no means felt misplaced or uncertain 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 refined signposts to let while you’re within 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 express route.
Other than the primary quest, there’s an entire host of recent NPCs, together with seven followers of Miquella that you just’ll encounter at numerous factors within the journey. Every of them have their very own small questline that ties into the primary story, and people may even affect a few 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 a few 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 top of this story which are effectively well worth the effort of attending to.
It took me about 25 hours or so to beat the ultimate 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 would like 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 need to comply with to completion. That’s just about precisely like once I accomplished my evaluate of the bottom sport 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 Alternative
Whereas I haven’t had any “holy ****” moments of awe like the primary time I took the elevator all the way down to the Siofra River, exploration and discovery all through the Realm of Shadow remains to be a delight because of its stellar artwork design, a fantastic selection within the areas you get to discover, and the tantalizing rewards just about in every single place 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 brand new arsenal, although, is the sunshine greatsword, particularly the Milady. True to its identify, the Milady has a really regal-looking moveset with combos that movement properly into one another and hit exhausting, however are additionally comparatively quick in comparison with precise greatswords. For me, it’s a candy spot. I really swapped off of my highly effective twin Bandit Curved Sword bleed construct (albeit, minus the White Masks, which I ruined my likelihood to get) to as an alternative rock a Energy/Dexterity-focused construct utilizing certainly one of these and located nice success for almost all of the DLC.
I experimented with a few different weapons as effectively, one thing that’s doable because of the ample alternatives to gather a bunch extra Historical Dragon Smithing Stones of each the usual and Somber varieties. Nevertheless, in all my travels I discovered that whereas the brand new weapon sorts are enjoyable – there’s definitely an attraction to going hand-to-hand towards a military of fingers – none of them in the end measured as much as the energy of the weapons that I carried over from the bottom sport. It’s completely doable that there are some talismans I used to be lacking to actually make the brand new ones sing, however I hoped to undergo everything 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 received powerful – however hey, that construct did have two years to get optimized by means of the unique endgame.
Moreover, selection is the spice of life, and Erdtree is one scorching dish. Not solely are there a ton of recent weapons, there are additionally loads of new spells, Ashes of Warfare, Spirit Ash summons, and talismans to cowl an unlimited vary of various 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 talents that contain stances; and one other nonetheless that will increase your harm each time you defeat an enemy. Sure, there are additionally loads which are simply higher variations of very helpful talismans you most likely 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 had been extra plentiful so I might respec my character just a little extra freely, as I began to expire by the point I completed Erdtree’s marketing campaign. I nonetheless have a ton of various builds I need to attempt, and I’m already fortunately onto my second playthrough to see them.
The Pleasure of Freedom
The journey by means of The Realm of Shadow is structured very equally to The Lands Between, in that the map is break up up into numerous completely different areas. Proper from the get-go, you’re capable of head wherever you need to: you would comply with the preliminary Miquella Cross to the primary large “legacy dungeon,” referred to as Belurat, and cope with the brand new horrific scorpion enemies; or head throughout a bridge to the east and work your method over to the magic crammed Fort Ensis the place it’s important to cope with this jerk (the place you’ve gotten go up towards one of the difficult bosses of the DLC instantly), or discover a approach to bypass the necessity to undergo both of these and get straight to the Scadu Altus, which largely serves because the central hub of the Realm of Shadow. Then you would head straight towards the Shadow Preserve combating your approach to the highest of it in an effort to tackle one of many main bosses, or going by means of certainly one of its different exits to discover in any other case inaccessible elements of the map. It’s a liberating sense of freedom, and the identical masterclass degree of open-world design as the bottom sport, simply on a scale that isn’t fairly so huge.
After all, whether or not or not you ought to make a mad sprint in the direction of the Shadow Preserve is one other query fully. Although that is endgame content material and also you most likely received’t be leveling up fairly as quick as you probably did within 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 would be able to accumulate and switch in at Websites of Grace to extend your general harm and resistances. Likewise, you may also 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 helpful reward for exploration, and one thing else to hunt for for those who’re getting wrecked by a boss and want to come back again while you’re stronger – all whereas cleverly preserving a few of the authentic endgame’s stability for those who’re bravely tackling this DLC earlier than circling again to beat it.