Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree review

Exploration and lore in Elden Ring aren’t as on the nose as episodes of Dora The Explorer. So you can expect the same level of vague storytelling and head-scratching character dialogues from the DLC. Naturally, the focus of the DLC is smaller than the base game so the characters and their motives all align with the DLCs purposeful storyline and Shadow of the Erdtree rarely reminds you of Elden Ring’s lore outside of the Shadow realm, in a good way, because there’s so much fresh content here. Oh, and Messmer isn’t even the strongest boss in the game so prepare your controllers for another set of sweaty dodge roll-mashing and exciting challenges.

Shadow of the Erdtree brings a ton of lore content to fill the gaps and slap speculations. There’s a proper answer for many of the things related to Miquella, The Fingers, people stuffed inside jars and folks with horns. For someone who has 140+ hours in Elden Ring, the lore reveals in DLC had me very excited about everything. Each monument, dilapidated castle, freaky mansion, haunted swamps and the suffocating tomb had an answer to expand the Elden Ring universe. These bits of information came from item descriptions, enemy and level design, materials and most importantly, the environment.

The gorgeous level design only gets better with the lore details you find within it. A massive map is nothing new for a DLC in a videogame but Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree adds meaningful content in all corners of the game. There are either lore bits, new weapons or fun boss encounters to be found in every part of the map. 

Don’t expect to go into the DLC as an overpowered Elden Lord because there’s a new way of scaling damage in the DLC section. Scattered around the map are Scadutree fragments which scale damage dealt and negated. Similarly, there’s another item for scaling summoned spirits and spectral steed damage dealt and negated. So besides the usual stat scaling, Scadutree fragments significantly impact your offense and defence.

This means even if you sit and farm for runes to level up, finding Scadutree fragments is now equally necessary too and that encourages exploration. The DLC is designed in typical FromSoftware fashion and open areas seamlessly blend with everything you see on the horizon. Almost 90% of the time, if you see something on the horizon, there’s a way to reach it. The sense of adventure from this DLC is almost unbelievable, dwarfing even some entire open-world games like Dragon’s Dogma 2.

No point reaching the far end of the map, only to find a crafting material but Shadow of the Erdtree handles it cleverly. If you find something underwhelming around the corner, it may offer compensation for it with a beautiful view of the area and a small message from another player saying ‘Behold, gorgeous view’. These player messages scattered across the game are what make Elden Ring one of the most unique community-driven experiences in my opinion. There are warnings, insights, hints, jokes and directions given by other players to help each other. You can only use a limited set of words to convey your message and this makes for some accurate and also hilarious messages in the Lands Between. These messages also make sure you don’t miss a single thing, from the smallest material to the alluring armour pieces and weapons.

The list of new weapons and armour sets is staggering but it’s not about the quantity here. Erdtree brings a new class of weapons too. Great Katanas, Hand-to-Hand Arts and Light Greatswords. All of these weapons have new animations but the most interesting one is the hand-to-hand arts which is martial arts! No weapons, just let your fists do the talking. New backhand blades have also been added which bring new Ashes of War and other great weapon animations which I am sure the community will exploit and torture Elden Ring bosses. Yes, you thought the DLC was difficult? It sure is but like the base game, these new weapons and Ashes of War bring an unimaginable level of combinations and creativity to slice and dice any enemy that could potentially throw a wrench in your exploration fantasies.

We’ll avoid spoiling any bosses for you but expect car-sized animals, 5-storey golems, jailed knights, tanky horseriders, gooey jars, religious shamans, frenzied enemies and yes, fodder enemies that are easy to kill but hit back harder than UFC champion. All this and with a healthy list of heart-pounding boss battles that cement the legacy of this DLC as one of the best in videogame history.

This expansion packs a ton of content – new weapons, armour, enemies, and enough lore dumps to satisfy even the most die-hard Elden Ring fan. The level design is even better than the base game, constantly rewarding you with secrets and breathtaking vistas. Whether you're a fist-fighting fanatic or a colossal katana connoisseur, the new combat options will have you experimenting for hours.

Shadow of the Erdtree is a brutal love letter to the Lands Between, reminding us why Elden Ring took the gaming world by storm. It's challenging, funny, mysterious, and beautiful – everything a good DLC should be.