Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree is absolutely worth the long wait

After waiting for something for too long, doubt can creep into your mind, making you anxious about what’s coming, and perhaps making you wonder if it’s even worth the time. With Elden Ring, after FromSoftware delivered one of the greatest video games of all time in the form of a massive adventure full to the brim with secrets to uncover, challenging bosses to beat, and tons of lore, what else could they add to such a title to make it “better”, and what would that look like?

Perhaps many fans worried about its DLC, Shadow of the Erdtree, not living up to expectations after the studio went for over a year in silence, and then some. To be fair, they didn’t feed the typical “hype machine” that almost every other AAA company abuses. Before launch, we’ve only got 2 trailers in total, and a handful of pictures that show off some new enemies, areas, and weapons. Were they trying to hide something?

The short answer? No. FromSoftware knew what they had in store for players, and tirelessly worked to provide fans of Elden Ring with an amazing experience that could very well have been sold as a full sequel, but they chose to build upon what they had on the base game. Shadow of the Erdtree is a fantastic experience, that brings with it oodles of hours more content, answers to lingering mysteries, and of course, some of the best boss encounters in FromSoftware history.

The long answer?

Shadow of the Erdtree is made for soulsborne players

There is no way to describe the Elden Ring DLC without making it sound like hyperbole, and that isn’t without good reason. What Shadow of the Erdtree is delivering to players who can access it (in itself a couple of literal achievements that most of the community has not completed) is akin to what Metroidvania fans felt in Castlevania: Symphony of the Night when discovering the inverted castle. Yes, perhaps it being a DLC removes the element of surprise, but what you get is still an entirely new map full of new bosses, new content, and so much more.

The difference, of course, is that all of this is new content that builds upon the myths whispered in hushed voices in the main game. You know the ones, those talked about by armies of (admittedly super talented and dedicated) YouTubers that dissect every little detail placed by the developers, forming one of the most epic stories you’ll ever hear.

Shadow of the Erdtree finally gives players a deeper insight into Miquella, one of the Empyrean children of Marika and Radagon who was considered the most likely candidate to become the next lord of the Golden Order, and that in the base game was absent after an altercation with his half-brother Mohg. Traveling with a band of his followers to the Land of Shadow, a mysteriously forgotten place that seems to reflect the Lands Between, you chase the demi-god while fighting the remnants of a war that decimated the region, all under the command of one Messmer, the Impaler.

We will not go into the details of the story, as this time it’s been made a much more prominent aspect of the title. Yes, we’re not only talking about the fact that there are as many (if not more) actual cutscenes as in the main game, but you also continually encounter traveling companions that tell you more about the places you visit. NPCs are a welcome sight at key points throughout the massive maps, and if you wanted to stick strictly to the story you could easily follow the markings. But as is to be expected, the world itself is densely packed with hints at larger stories, both unique to the Land of Shadow as well as connected to the Lands Between.

Suffice it to say that those who are in it for the lore will have hundreds of pieces of story scattered throughout many new items and gear, as well as thrown bluntly at their faces through location names, details on the walls, and off-hand comments from downtrodden, crestfallen characters.

You must be *this* tall to ride…

Of course, if you want to see everything we mentioned above, you wouldn’t expect just to be able to walk up to it and get it, right? The developers revealed long ago that to even get access to the DLC, players need to have defeated Starscourge Radahn and Mogh, Lord of Blood in the main game. Those are the only two requirements, with no level or gear restriction. There is no need to have completed the game, nor is there a mysterious and complex quest to complete like in Dark Souls and the Artorias of the Abyss DLC.

So theoretically, you could get into the DLC pretty early on in your playthrough. Or, you could go the long way and be high enough level to defeat the boss early. Either way, when you finally take the leap and reach the Land of Shadow, you’ll be greeted with many areas to explore, and plenty of new enemies to die to. Yes, even if you’re at level 150+, the Land of Shadows should present you with a formidable challenge, at the very least on your first run.

After director Hidetaka Miyazaki revealed that there would be " a way to adjust the challenge” of the DLC, some fans worried that this would mean the inclusion of an “easy mode” that would take away the difficulty. In practice, the game introduces a new system called “Blessings”, of which there are two kinds. One raises the damage you deal and your damage negation, the other does the same for your spirit ashes. These upgrades are percentual, and they’re based on the stats your character has. However, this is actually more of a “how much of a challenge you want” situation, as the enemies in the DLC are way stronger than those in the main game.

Not only do they hit harder, but they move in new and unique ways that’ll throw veteran Elden Ring players for a loop. Their cadence and rhythm of attacks is different enough that you’ll have to get used to each of them. Most enemies have also been given options to deal with ranged combatants, unlike many of the main bosses in the base game that get confused when a player is too far away from them. This is where the main difficulty of the DLC lies, however, as each new enemy manages to be surprising enough to catch players off-balance, and a single mistake is everything they need to pummel you down. Only those with massive amounts of Vigor will be able to survive at the start.

The other important thing to note is that the new blessings will not make things that much easier. Each new level is a percentual increment that isn’t noticeable until you level them up many times, and as the resources needed for it are extremely rare you won’t be doing it too often. Additionally, these upgrades only work when in the DLC, and are deactivated when returning to the original map and its content.

FromSoftware’s seal of quality

Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree is set to be the one and only piece of downloadable content for the now legendary game, but that doesn’t really feel like a bad thing after spending close to 80 hours already exploring every inch of the Land of Shadow. That’s 80+ hours of new content, on top of everything that the main game has to offer, which will vary from player to player.

However, there is no denying that FromSoftware spent the last two years perfecting its craft to make the most out of this expansion. Even though the game is 2 years old, and having seen some phenomenal heavy-hitter titles in the industry with mind-blowing graphics, you simply need to take a look at the screenshots in this review: all of them were taken (on PlayStation 5) from the first few hours of the expansion, none of them pre-rendered and yet jaw-droppingly beautiful.

From the new otherworldly castle settlements to icy caverns, intimidating graveyards full of bright flowers, and more environments hiding the way to some epic fights which we’ve been asked not to spoil for players going it blind. Shadow of the Erdtree brings with it much more than we expected from the scant few trailers that have been released until now.

Now we are left with many questions posed by the game: what is the true nature of the Outer Gods? Why is Miquella in the Land of Shadows? Who is Messmer, and how come we’ve never heard of him before? And most importantly… What is FromSoftware preparing next, that could compete with what is now a complete masterpiece?

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