When we first played Elden Ring around the year 2021, it undoubtedly showed us that it was on par with the already beloved Dark Souls, a franchise that, apart from sharing developer and publisher, have been part of many players who were captivated by this type of games.
The best Elden Ring DLC without a doubt.
Elden Ring had already set expectations far above its predecessors Dark Souls when it was released, now with a DLC that has proven to be one of the best in recent years, no doubt, this game has marked a before and after. This DLC is called Shadow of the Erdtree which is a super amazing expansion, not only for its enormous size (which is about as big as half the original map) but for all the ways in which it challenges the nature of its world, coming from the main campaign and the limits of an open world narrative.
Shadow of the Erdtree has you embark on a much more explicit mission: to find Miquella, or at least find out what happened to him after Mohg kidnapped him. The Shadow Realm itself offers variations on the same aesthetic themes as Elden Ring, sprawling plains, dense clusters of forests, massive fortresses and, of course, pockets of everyone’s favorite poisonous swamps. There are five main regions, each with their own little terrors, but it’s all FromSoftware-designed terrain that demands careful scrutiny in search of hidden paths and other secrets.
FromSoftware has certainly perfected its mastery over creating a dark fantasy world packed with details that cement Elden Ring as one of the best, most creative and satisfying action RPGs ever created. Old enemies return in new contexts, new weapons and spell types expand your approach to combat with acrobatic animations and powerful synergies with existing elements, and new characters come to blur the morality of important figures we’ve spent hundreds of hours learning about. Shadow of the Erdtree’s narrative is so masterfully embedded into the structure of everything you see and do that it’s practically elementary.
Throughout the open world, there are also new gigantic enemies, Furnace Golems, with which it is not recommended to get head-to-head, as there is a lot to do and thanks to the developers they are totally avoidable. The priority here is to see as much of Shadow of the Erdtree.
New weapons have been added to the game, such as the new large katanas, which make you take Elden Ring’s rhythmic combat into new directions. Upgrade materials are plentiful enough that it’s not a chore to give many new weapons a try. These weapons, and some of the newer move-based spells, show that FromSoft has the skills to innovate a style of combat that made the Dark Soul games what they are known for today, as well as compete with the best action games out there.
But it doesn’t end there – for every trick the developers will no doubt find a catch, and that’s because some enemies, like the new Fire Knights, are too clever and will launch delayed magic attacks in a circle around you. Other enemies, such as the imposing golems, don’t take significant damage until you find a way to expose their weak point, which adds a satisfying touch to mounted combat.
Conclusion
We can satisfactorily say that FromSoft is still one step ahead no matter how much experience you have with their games and that they have shown that even if their games go years without content, when they decide to give you some DLC they will certainly innovate and show what they are made of. If you are one of the few people who still doubt whether or not you should buy this DLC, believe us that you are missing out on an incredible Elden Ring content.