Summary

  • Elden Ring's open-world design allows players to tackle challenges at their own pace, avoiding roadblock bosses.
  • The Shadow of the Erdtree DLC introduces new difficult bosses, encouraging players to try out new equipment and builds.
  • By finding a balance between accessibility and challenge, Elden Ring has become FromSoftware's most approachable game.

If there's one thing that players can almost certainly count on, it's having the conversation of difficulty in games being reignited following the release of a new FromSoftware title. Like clockwork, the release of Elden Ring's Shadow of the Erdtree DLC almost immediately divided players on the subject of its challenge, with FromSoftware even going so far as to provide players with a helpful reminder of the importance of Shadow of the Erdtree's Scadutree fragments and a useful map to their locations. Truthfully, though, regardless of how players feel about Shadow of the Erdtree's approach to scaling and progression, there's a case to be made that Elden Ring has resolved the Soulslike difficulty debate for good.

Simply by nature of being an open-world game, Elden Ring already sidesteps one of the more common reasons players abandon FromSoftware titles – skill checks or "roadblock bosses" – by abandoning the bottleneck of its more linear titles and allowing players to explore other areas and come back to previous challenges stronger. Further, the sheer amount of weapons and equipment that players have access to (along with the ease of respec-ing using Larval Tears) means that a new build and accompanying change in strategy are never out of reach. Elden Ring and the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC prove that the flexibility FromSoftware affords players in their expression makes the difficulty discussion a bit of a moot point.

Elden Ring Open World Limgrave
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Shadow of the Erdtree Continues a FromSoftware Tradition to Appease Longtime Souls Fans

As a studio, FromSoftware has a longstanding tradition of crafting incredibly challenging DLC intended to be tackled in the late or endgame. Expansions like Bloodborne's Old Hunters DLC or Dark Souls 3's The Ringed City are notorious for introducing some of the hardest bosses that FromSoftware has ever devised, and Elden Ring's Shadow of the Erdtree is no exception. While the base game of Elden Ring is home to plenty of substantial challenges in its own right, the DLC takes things a step further, introducing several new boss encounters that each hold their own alongside the likes of Orphan of Kos, Sister Friede, or Malenia, Blade of Miquella.

The new bosses in Shadow of the Erdtree are a suitable challenge for even the most skilled veteran players, while also serving as a great excuse to try out new equipment and builds introduced in the DLC. Similar to the base game of Elden Ring, Shadow of the Erdtree encourages players to experiment with various play styles and builds to overcome seemingly impossible challenges, and the ability to take a break from a boss and grind out runes to gain strength (or travel the Shadow Realm in search of Scadutree fragments) means players are never out of options when it comes to tackling a daunting boss.

FromSoftware's Next Game Will Likely Continue to Strike a Balance With its Difficulty

best stat distribution for greatsword of damnation in elden ring shadow of the erdtree

Between its open-world format and the ability for players to use several new combat additions to their advantage (Ashes of War, Spirit Summons, and the like), Elden Ring strikes what could be considered a delicate balance between accessibility and challenge. Make no mistake, Elden Ring is a FromSoftware game through and through, and its Shadow of the Erdtree DLC provides a suitable endgame challenge like the studio's other expansions, but it's almost surely the most approachable experience for players new to FromSoftware's unique and captivating gameplay. And Elden Ring has the sales figures to back that sentiment up.

Thanks at least in part to its accessibility, Elden Ring would achieve sales figures surpassing the entire Dark Souls trilogy in just a fraction of the time it took for that franchise to reach the same milestone. Similarly, Elden Ring's success and welcoming of newcomers to the FromSoftware fold would crossover a bit into Armored Core 6, which is now the best-selling game in that franchise by a large margin. Elden Ring occupies a satisfying middle ground where its difficulty is concerned, and future FromSoftware games will likely continue to follow its lead in an effort to replicate its breakthrough success.

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Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree Tag Page Cover Art

Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree
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Released
June 21, 2024
ESRB
M For Mature 17+ Due To Blood and Gore, Language, Suggestive Themes, Violence
Base Game
Elden Ring
Developer(s)
FromSoftware
Multiplayer
Online Co-Op, Online Multiplayer
Engine
Proprietary
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WHERE TO PLAY

DIGITAL
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Shadow of the Erdtree is the first and only DLC expansion for FromSoftware's groundbreaking Elden Ring. It takes players to a whole new region, the Land of Shadow, where a new story awaits the Tarnished.