Elden Ring is a special game. The creation of the authors of Dark Souls captivated players and deservedly became the game of the year at The Game Awards 2022. FromSoftware studio managed to transfer the proven formula of hardcore action games to the open world, while retaining almost all the main advantages.
Despite the warm reception from players and critics, Elden Ring was not perfect. Weapon balance issues, a drawn-out final act, and the same type of dungeons with the same bosses seriously ruined the experience of the project for many players.
Two years later, Shadow of the Erdtree was released, the only add-on for the cult action game, designed to correct the main shortcomings of the original game. Were FromSoftware studio and game director Hidetaka Miyazaki able to eliminate the shortcomings of Elden Ring and release their main masterpiece? The answer to this question is not as simple as it seems, especially considering the incredibly high ratings in the foreign press.
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Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree: Game Information
Name: Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree. Platforms: PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series, PS4 and PS5. Developer: From Software. Editor: Bandai Namco. release date: June 21, 2024. Gender: Action Adventure. Access in Russia: officially launched in Russia.
The video is available on the BANDAI NAMCO Europe YouTube channel. The video is copyrighted by Bandai Namco.
Searching for problems
The events of the Shadow of the Erdtree add-on take place in a separate location – in the Shadowlands, where the demigod Mikella the Unshadowed once lived. It’s a pretty impressive world, comparable to several biomes from the original Elden Ring.
The add-on immediately greets the experienced player with a powerful punch in the gut: ordinary enemies deal an incredible amount of damage, and the boss at the nearest gateway turns out to be more tenacious than the famous Malenia. And this is the beginning of the game!
A little later, the developers introduce players to the basic mechanics of the expansion – the fragments of the Tree of Decay. These are individual particles that can be found throughout the Shadow World. They are needed to increase the character’s damage and increase protection from local creatures.
After reaching the boss of the first story, it becomes obvious that the developers balanced the bosses precisely for the new mechanics. Without the Tree of Decay, enemies can literally kill the hero in one hit, and this is very depressing. It was thanks to this mechanic that numerous reviews appeared on the Internet about the incredible difficulty of Shadow of the Erdtree – many players did not understand this and began to complain about the unfair challenge.
The first mausoleum proves to be a serious test even for an animated character.
Photo: DesdeSoftware
In this sense, you should approach the add-on like at the beginning of Elden Ring: study the environment in small steps, read the tips and be careful of every enemy you meet along the way. Fortunately, there are many new enemies in the expansion and it is necessary to study each of them first.
The first thing that strikes you about Shadow of the Erdtree is its well-developed locations with plenty of paths, gaps, and hidden passages. At first, the map of the Shadow world appears relatively small, but this is just the first impression. In fact, the expansion contains multi-level locations with different biomes, and the local castles and cathedrals are reminiscent of the epic structures from Dark Souls 3 and Bloodborne.
What I would like to praise in the expansion are the improved caves. If in Elden Ring most of the underground locations were extremely similar in terms of architecture and opponents, then in Shadow of the Erdtree the situation is completely different. The dungeons in the expansion are unique places with their own fauna and rare monsters, and some dungeons do not even have a final boss.
One of the best dungeons in Shadow of the Erdtree is found in the Forge.
Photo: DesdeSoftware
However, there is also a catch in the ointment. The authors decided to go for gigantism again, which is why interesting and well-developed locations are separated by empty spaces with the same type of opponents. The original game also suffered from this, but it had one important trump card: there was useful loot everywhere.
The fact is that most of the items in Shadow of the Erdtree are absolutely useless to the average player. Scoffing around top-level runes, crafting kits, crossbow bolts and arrows, smithing stones and other consumables do not make life in the Shadow world any easier and only discourage the desire to explore every corner of the local area.
A typical landscape of the expansion is a misty field and a large enemy on the horizon.
Photo: DesdeSoftware
The most useful loot in the expansion is the Tree of Decay particles. You can sometimes stumble upon unique armor sets and weapons, but the best ones can only be obtained from boss souls.
Get better or don’t play at all
Bosses are the most controversial element of Shadow of the Erdtree. Moreover, there are a lot of them – about 80, but only about 10 unique ones. FromSoftware was famous for its elaborate, story-driven bosses: each of them was introduced in an epic cutscene, and after the player died, they always said a lame line related to their backstory.
Also, the developers clearly made a mistake and seemed to… cheat. Some of the bosses in the story don’t have a single line or introductory video, even though they are directly related to the plot of the original game. But if that was the problem.
The plugin clearly went too far with the dragons: they appear at all times
Photo: DesdeSoftware
Apparently, the developers closely followed the passages of Elden Ring and decided to make the bosses in Shadow of the Erdtree as difficult as possible for all classes. And the difficulty here seems artificial: many enemies attack with long combos with rare pauses, during which you can land a maximum of one or two hits.
Given the survivability of local enemies and the Tree of Decay mechanics, the once-epic boss fights in Shadow of the Erdtree become a tedious marathon where the price of a mistake is death. One gets the feeling that the battles were meant to be team fights, where the player summons one spirit or another Extinct and fights the boss in co-op mode. In this case, the battles feel much fairer, even despite the enemy’s increased health.
Some locations in the add-on are incredibly atmospheric.
Photo: DesdeSoftware
Another problem with bosses is the drop in frame rate. The second phase of Many Enemies has so many effects that the frame rate can easily drop below 30 FPS even on powerful computers. Digital Foundry experts also criticized the technical state of Shadow of the Erdtree and urged players to wait for the first patches – drops also occur on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X.
Overall, the bosses leave a mixed impression. Yes, there are worthy opponents among them with an unusual set of moves, but most of the story bosses feel underdeveloped and unfairly strong, so defeating them doesn’t bring much fun and satisfaction. And this is not at all the effect you would expect from the only addition to one of the best games of recent years.
Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree – Is it worth playing?
If you’re a fan of the original Elden Ring and love the studio’s other games, then you should definitely buy this add-on. This is a nice addition to one of the best action games ever made, which will take dozens of hours to complete.
For other players, it’s better to wait and hope for the first discounts. There’s nothing really new in Shadow of the Erdtree, some bosses cause frustration, including due to the controversial mechanics of the Tree of Decay, and optimization in certain places is boring even on powerful consoles and PCs.
Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree Rating – 7.5/10
Appreciated
Amazing location design with lots of detours, hidden passages, and forks. Improved dungeons that are not similar to each other. New weapons with unique perks. Some bosses are just amazing. It’s still the same Elden Ring.
I dont like him
Balance: Most enemies deal an unfair amount of damage. Difficulty completely tied to the Tree of Decay stat. Lots of empty spaces with the same types of opponents. Few relevant items: In the vastness of the Shadow, crafting kits, arrows, and other useless loot are far too common. Some bosses are clearly unfinished. Optimized against framerate drops even on powerful PCs.
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