When I gave Elden Ring a 10 two years ago, I did so not only because it’s an amazing game, but because it raised the bar for open world games in general. The way it encourages exploration, rewards curiosity, and challenges you to find your own individual solutions to difficult battles, featuring tons of different viable weapons, spells, and other build options is absolutely exemplary. Now, FromSoftware is back to raise the bar for everyone once again, this time in terms of what you’d expect from “regular” DLC. Shadow of the Erdtree may not do anything radically different from the base game, but this expansion somehow feels like a scaled-down version of that same experience, recapturing all the magic of playing Elden Ring the first time around, with more content packed into it than many games at full price. His unexpectedly large realm is filled with new secrets, new discoveries, tons of new build options to experiment with, and some of the most challenging and unforgettable boss battles Souls fans have ever seen.
I went into Shadow of the Erdtree thinking I was some badass Elden Lord who had defeated Malenia, Mohg, Placidusax, Elden Beast and every other major threat around. My level 150 character was armed with fully upgraded gear and maxed flasks… but let me tell you, it didn’t take long for Shadow Realm to humble me. While the only requirement to access the new areas is to defeat Radahn and Mohg – which is, of course, no small feat – you’ll want to do a lot of prep before stepping into this new arena, because it’s brutal. FromSoftware definitely skirts the line between honest and dishonest with some of the later boss projects, in particular, perhaps closer than ever. But most importantly, it never actually crosses that threshold, and this masterful tightrope walking—along with some truly spectacular boss designs—results in some of the most exciting and satisfying bosses that Elden Ring and the entire Soulslike genre has to offer. .
It’s not just the quality of these battles: Erdtree has them in quantity, too. By our count, there are more than 40 bosses, 10 of which are the big, show-off fights that reward you with a Memento upon defeat. Compare that to more than 100 in the main game, and that’s a significant chunk.
When you bring up the map, it might not seem like the Shadow Realm is that big, but it’s incredibly dense because it’s laid out in layers. Paths lead up to ruins hanging in the sky, others dig deep below the surface, and some even pull you in directions you might not have believed you could even be pulled. You might find a hidden staircase hidden in the far corner of a castle wall, only to follow that path for an hour before it eventually spills into a completely new, otherwise inaccessible area.
But even with all the discoveries I had to make, I never felt lost or unsure of where I could or should go next. The main purpose of this DLC is to follow in the footsteps of the demigod Michela, who abandoned his flesh and fled to the Shadow Realm. These steps are marked with large crosses that elegantly serve as subtle signposts to let you know when you’re near a plot-critical path without ever feeling like your hand is being held while you’re being pushed in a clear direction .
Aside from the main quest, there’s a whole host of new NPCs, including seven followers of Miquella, who you’ll encounter at various points along the journey. They each have their own little questline that ties into the main story, and they can even have an effect on some of the final boss fights, depending on your actions. And while I consider myself a rather casual enjoyer of the vast lore of the Elden Ring compared to some of the scholars out there, even my limited knowledge of the deeper plot allows me to appreciate some pretty fantastic eye-opening revelations towards the end of this story that are worth the effort to get there.
It took me about 25 hours to beat the final boss of Shadow of the Erdtree, but I could easily see myself scoring another 15 or 20 in this game alone. I still have a handful of optional bosses to go back and cross off my list, areas of my map I haven’t fully explored, weapons and skills I haven’t played with yet, and side missions I still want follow to completion. It’s almost exactly like when I finished my review of the main game after about 80 hours, which makes sense because Shadow of the Erdtree is essentially a full Elden Ring adventure done in miniature. It condenses the entire experience into something relatively compact, with everything satisfyingly set up specifically for late-game characters who thought they’d seen it all.
Weapons of choice
While I haven’t had any “holy ****” moments of awe like the first time I took the elevator down to the River Siofra, exploration and discovery in the Shadow Realm is still a joy thanks to its stellar art design, great variety in areas , to explore, and tempting rewards almost everywhere you turn. There are eight brand new weapon types, ranging from throwing knives to beast claws to giant samurai odachi swords. My favorite of the new arsenal though is the light greatsword, specifically Milady. True to its name, Milady has a very regal-looking moveset with combos that flow well into each other and hit hard, but are also relatively fast compared to true greatswords. It’s a sweet spot for me. I’ve actually swapped out my powerful dual bandit curved build for bleeding curved sword (albeit minus the White Mask I blew my chance at getting) to rock a strength/agility focused build using one of these and had great success for the majority of the DLC .
I also experimented with a few other weapons, something made possible by the abundant opportunities to collect a bunch more ancient dragon forging stones of both standard and dark variants. However, in all my travels I’ve found that while the new weapon types are fun – there’s certainly an appeal to going hand-to-hand against an army of hands – none of them ultimately measure up to the power of the weapons I carried over from the main game. It’s entirely possible that there are some talismans that I was missing to make the new ones really sing, but I was hoping to go through the entire Erdtree with a brand new build. Instead, I found myself going back to my smooth build to get the damage I needed when the going got tough – but hey, that build had two years to be optimized through the original finish.
Besides, variety is the spice of life, and Erdtree is one hot dish. Not only are there tons of new weapons, there are tons of new spells, Ashes of War, Spirit Ash summons, and talismans that cover a huge range of different playstyles. There is now a talisman that improves two-handed attacks; one that drastically reduces the cast time but makes you take increased damage; another that increases the damage of abilities that involve stances; and another shot that increases your damage every time you defeat an enemy. Yes, there are also many that are simply better versions of very useful talismans you probably already have, and there’s no shame in sticking with what works. There are so many promising new builds that I couldn’t help but wish Larval Tears were more plentiful so I could respect my character a little more freely, as I started to run out when I finished the Erdtree campaign. I still have a lot of different builds I want to try and I’m already happily on my second playthrough to see them.
The joy of freedom
The journey through The Realm of Shadow is structured very similarly to The Lands Between, as the map is divided into several different regions. Right from the start, you’re able to go wherever you want: you can follow the original Miquella Cross to the first major “legacy dungeon” called Belurat, and deal with the terrifying new scorpion enemies; either head across a bridge to the east and make your way to the magic-filled Castle Ensis, where you must deal with this moron (where you must face one of the DLC’s most challenging bosses right away), or find a way around the need to go through one of them and get straight to Scadu Altus, which pretty much serves as the central hub of the Shadow Realm. You can then head straight for the Shadow Keep, fighting your way to its top to face one of the main bosses, or go through one of its other exits to explore otherwise inaccessible parts of the map. It’s a liberating sense of freedom and the same level of open-world design masterclass as the main game, only on a scale that’s not quite as grand.
Of course, whether you are or not Must making a mad dash to the Shadow Keep is another matter entirely. While this is final content and you probably won’t level as fast as in the original campaign, there is a separate power scaling system that only works while in the Shadow Realm. Scattered across the lands are Scadutree shards that you can collect and transfer to Sites of Grace to increase your overall damage and resistances. Similarly, you can also find blessings from Revered Spirit Ash to increase the damage and survivability of your Spirit Ash summon. These are two very smart inclusions, as they add a much-needed sense of progression, a valuable exploration reward, and something else to look for if you get smashed by a boss and need to come back when you’re stronger – all while cleverly retains some of the balance of the original end game if you bravely tackle this DLC before going back to beat it.
