Prior to now couple of years, builders have tried to reclaim the time period “growth”. Arguing there is a distinction between conventional DLC and fully-fledged add-ons, the likes of Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty and Horizon Forbidden West: Burning Shores have been used as poster childs for the motion. Whether or not there actually is a distinction between the 2 is up for debate, but when battle strains needed to be drawn, Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree would snort off claims it’s “only a little bit of DLC”.
FromSoftware has returned to its open world masterpiece with a big add-on that borrows the Andrea True Connection hit as its prime descriptor: “Extra, Extra, Extra.” Shadow of the Erdtree doubles down on all of the hallmarks of the 2022 base recreation in a brand new location, full with further boss fights, contemporary NPCs and quests, and a lot extra gear. It is an extension within the 15 to 20-hour vary should you stick purely to the principle path, however set within the Realm of Shadow — the place half your complete map kinds non-compulsory content material — vital development solely scratches the floor.
Having fulfilled the necessities to enter the brand new space, you will be introduced with a landmass on roughly the identical scale as Limgrave, the Weeping Peninsula, and a little bit of Caelid mixed. It is a sizeable growth of the world that brings again the identical construction as the unique title: choose Websites of Grace direct you alongside the principle path, Legacy Dungeons signify grand places to discover off to the facet, and additional non-compulsory catacombs, caves, and pits densify the map. It is extra Elden Ring, which is each a implausible and ever so barely anticlimactic factor. Magnificent within the sense you might have the possibility to return to one of many PS5’s all-time greats with new content material, however it’s onerous to not shake the very fact you are simply going by the motions once more.
New places are what thwart that unlucky feeling more often than not. Following within the footsteps of Miquella, the DLC spans towering castles, lush historic ruins, sinister woodland, menacing mountains, and extra. It manages to supply rather more visible selection in a smaller house than the bottom recreation does, making every zone distinct in each feel and appear. A number of the most enthralling locations within the Realm of Shadow are completely non-compulsory and take appreciable effort to even attain, so venturing off the core narrative path will show simply as rewarding as overcoming any mainline boss battle.
And what a set of boss fights awaits. FromSoftware has dialled its encounter design as much as 11 in Shadow of the Erdtree, with new shape-shifting villains to remove alongside a contemporary set of accomplices that populate the facet dungeons. The brutal issue returns — Shadow of the Erdtree may be very a lot endgame content material regardless of the very fact you’ll be able to entry it earlier than slaying the Elden Beast — coupled with new issues to contemplate like elemental shifts and projections. When you’ll have a greater understanding of how the sport performs based mostly on years of expertise at this level, the DLC makes up for it within the sheer harm numbers these bosses can produce.
One approach to enhance your personal stats past regular level-ups is to have interaction with a brand new function launched within the growth: the Shadow Realm Blessing. By amassing Scadutree Fragments and Revered Spirit Ash throughout the open world, you’ll be able to enhance your assault energy and harm negation with the previous and enhance your spirit summons with the latter. The upgrades kind a vital a part of upgrading your character past their regular means as the usual levelling system will solely offer probably the most minute of enhancements when you’re able to enter the DLC space.
The system works nicely, offering motive to completely discover new locations. Nevertheless, it is also emblematic of the growth as an entire: Shadow of the Erdtree gives appreciable quantities of visible newness, however by no means does it change the way in which the general bundle truly performs. Whereas there are new weapon varieties to experiment with, your construct from the bottom recreation will stay greater than viable from the begin to the very finish of the DLC. Solely a single new armour set proved objectively higher than what we had geared up going into Shadow of the Erdtree, and our Lordsworn Greatsword was by no means bettered.
After all, gear acquisition in Elden Ring is about greater than sheer stat developments; you’ll be able to spec in the direction of a sure harm sort, develop into probably the most trendy Tarnished potential, or customise for a sure weight load. Nevertheless, such is the sense of familiarity coursing by the growth that you just by no means actually really feel the necessity to change issues up or method the sport in a brand new approach. It is nonetheless the identical Elden Ring of 2022 in a giant new playground. That is going to be music to the ears of some returning followers, however it’s tough to not really feel such as you’re merely doing the identical issues over once more. Whereas there may be a lot for the eyes to see, your button presses by no means differ. It simply feels a bit too acquainted, particularly coming greater than two years after the bottom recreation.
That sense of familiarity considerably carries over into a couple of small technical drawbacks. Texture pop-in is as soon as once more a slight downside — notably for grass out within the open world — whereas, fairly surprisingly, it is extremely tough to see typically when the in-game clock is about to nighttime. It is powerful to say whether or not it is a glitch or intentional, however a few of the visible backdrops (throughout the Scadu Altus particularly) merely aren’t there while you go away a Web site of Grace. But they are going to be should you quick journey elsewhere throughout the identical time of day.
Conclusion
By doubling down on what made the bottom recreation so elegant, FromSoftware has crafted an Elden Ring growth that is simply as nice as it’s acquainted. Shadow of the Erdtree delivers extra of the identical model of content material you liked two years in the past fairly than introducing new methods to have interaction. That is sufficient to contemplate it a implausible growth, although it is onerous to not really feel such as you’re simply going by the motions once more. With a brand new land to discover, a contemporary set of bosses to struggle, and further lore to devour, it is a lot extra Elden Ring.
