Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree
If you saw CelJaded’s 10th anniversary list last month, you’ll know Elden Ring is now one of my favourite video games. And yet, I felt cautious when FromSoftware announced an expansion simply because Elden Ring was massive enough already. The question was, could it grow even bigger whilst retaining the same graceful design and sense of discovery?
Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree takes place in a murky realm adjacent to the Lands Between where the once beloved character, “kindly” Miquella, undertakes a pilgrimage to godhood. However, players discover that Miquella’s ascendency has grave consequences for the denizens of this world, and so they follow in the young deity’s footsteps on a quest to stop him before it’s too late.
The Land of Shadow is expansive. From the scarred fields of Gravesite Plains, to the labyrinthine depths of Shadow Keep, this DLC has a gigantic new map to explore, whether on horseback across fresh acres of open world, or on foot for several new legacy dungeons and optional side areas. It’s large enough to be considered a mini campaign in its own right; one possessing a twisted sense of beauty and plenty more amazing vistas to take screenshots of.
The expanded open world can still be a delight to explore, and there are many familiar moments where players will find wonderful sights and set pieces in unexpected places. One memorable side dungeon brings some very chilly vibes early on, several warmer forge areas promise new weaponry for those brave enough to enter, and anyone who escapes the Abyssal Woods without a stressful tale of the sadistic enemies living there, is more competent at this game than I am! Also look for the unassuming cave entrance leading to a dangerous mountain pass and summit trek where yet more spectacular battles await.
There are new NPCs to follow throughout The Land of Shadow as well. Their personal stories aren’t as easy to progress as they were in the base game, and their associated quest lines will end abruptly if you don’t have an FAQ telling you exactly where to go. Returning players will expect this kind of design by now though, so it’s not a big deal.
Legacy dungeons feature tighter maps perfect for cooperative gameplay, but the abundance of grace site checkpoints makes unlocking shortcuts feel somewhat pointless. Despite this, and despite a few awkward instances where summoned phantoms are blocked from moving past invisible barriers, the new dungeons in this DLC are fun to play. Shadow Keep is one such highlight, but overall there is a sense of design fatigue here. I’m thinking mainly of the overly familiar grey colour palettes and recycled enemies. There are some inspired new additions to Elden Ring’s bestiary, but it is tiresome seeing so many enemies return from the base game.
Some asset recycling is understandable considering FromSoftware likely had a tighter budget to work with, but then producing a huge expansion for an already huge game was bound to prompt questions like the one I asked at the beginning. Often were the times I found myself galloping past enemies and items simply because this self-contained land doesn’t feature any collectables a high level character desperately needs. Players must defeat a challenging endgame boss in the original campaign (amongst other requirements) before entry is granted, so players can’t easily come here at lower character levels either. FromSoftware were clearly thinking of ways to keep experienced players engaged, but the solution they chose was not a good one.
This is where Scadutree (“Shadow Tree”) fragments enter the conversation. These collectables are a purely artificial mechanic for limiting a player character’s effectiveness in the DLC areas. Players must hunt down fragments to level up their Scadutree blessing, lest their attack and defence stats are suppressed below the combat curve. There are 50 of these fragments to find scattered around the world map, and while they do encourage exploration in a basic sense, their presence never feels intuitive — the tutorial messages are easily missed in the new (very useful) inventory tab — and it’s hard to gauge what level your blessing should ideally be for each new area.
It’s an added layer of complexity Elden Ring doesn’t need (the mechanic has already been patched once since release), but it wouldn’t have been so frustrating were it not tied to these collectables players will have to spend considerable time relocating whenever they replay the DLC using a new character. It’s also annoying because FromSoftware already used this mechanic to much better effect in Sekiro where a player’s power level was tied to the number of bosses they had defeated. This offered bosses a much greater sense of purpose than superfluous collectables do, which is a shame because Shadow of the Erdtree has several optional bosses of its own, so copying Sekiro’s mechanic and making their defeat count towards progression could have given them more meaning.
The final boss exacerbates this problem. Shadow of the Erdtree features several decent boss fights, with the final big baddie arguably being the hardest yet seen in a modern FromSoftware title. It’s yet another incentive for players to max out the blessing level before reaching the end. This design approach almost forces players to consult a walkthrough guide to find all the fragments, of course then if you didn’t keep a record of which ones you already found, the whole process becomes even more annoyingly time-consuming. Honestly, for all the hassle it causes, I just wish the developers had scrapped this blessing idea altogether.
Even though Shadow of the Erdtree has a ruthlessly epic finale, the ending sequence is anticlimactic and completion doesn’t seem to have any subtle effect on the base game. It makes me question whether to include this DLC in my future playthroughs of Elden Ring, unless it’s to collect the admittedly entertaining new weapons and skills. Examples include basic laser beam spells and consumables, as well as outlandish armaments like ravaging beast claws, martial arts gear, and revamped perfume bottles which spray poison and fire. Pretty sweet!
So to answer my original question, yes, Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree has plenty of new surprises for players to enjoy discovering. It also represents good value for money considering the wealth of quality content and play time it offers. That it doesn’t achieve these feats in the most gracefully designed way is a disappointment, but I’m sure FromSoftware will improve things in time for Elden Ring II.
Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree on Steam »
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