Summary
- DLC progression differs from base game, with immediate buffs reducing need for gradual leveling.
- Exploration in the DLC lacks abundant discoveries like base game, more dead ends than expected.
- The final boss, Messmer, in the DLC is incredibly difficult, following pattern of tough DLC bosses from FromSoft.
Comparisons are inevitable between a game and its DLC. Often it comes down to whether the DLC feels like additional content, or simply content that belonged in the base game but was cut just to justify selling a content add-on. Other times, it's a question of whether a DLC feels too similar to - or too different from - its base game. The best DLCs of all time, from The Witcher 3's Blood and Wine to Ghost of Tsushima's Iki Island, build upon the success of their base game while elevating gameplay aspects or creating entirely new areas to explore. FromSoftware are masters of this.
Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree No Longer Has 'Mixed' Steam Reviews
Following a rough start, Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree's Steam user reviews have recovered and are no longer in the 'Mixed' category.
As such, Elden Ring's DLC, Shadow of the Erdtree, does just that, providing a brand new (and almost unbelievably massive) area to explore, along with new weapon types, armor sets, spells, dungeons, and bosses, all of which build upon what made the base game so mesmerizing. As with any DLC, the inevitable comparisons to the base game are on their way, and there are a few areas where Elden Ring's base game is better than Shadow of the Erdtree, even two years since its initial release.
Spoilers Ahead For Elden Ring And Shadow Of The Erdtree
6 Progression
From A Gradual Climb To A Roller Coaster
The idea behind progression in Shadow of the Erdtree is a good one. It's possible to start the DLC at any level (as long as players can take down Mogh) because every character will be under-powered when facing the new content; until they start stacking some Scadutree Blessings, that is. These blessings are found throughout the Realm of Shadow, frequently under Miquella's crosses, but also in other locations as well, through items known as Scadutree Fragments. There are even some enemies who carry them. Amassing these fragments and spending them at Sites of Grace will buff the Tarnished's overall damage by an ever-increasing multiplier, and decrease the damage they take by an ever-shrinking multiplier. Stats and gear are not nearly as important as these blessings are in Shadow of the Erdtree.
It's an elegant solution to a problem FromSoft have faced with many of their previous DLCs, where players were going into them way over-leveled and breezing through the content. However, the downside is that, where progression in the base game is gradual and feels deliberate, progression in Shadow of the Erdtree is almost immediate and a bit jarring.
There just isn't the same sense of earned strength in the DLC. When a boss fight is too challenging, all players need to do is explore enough to find some Scadutree Fragments, spend them at a Site of Grace, and the boss is instantly manageable. The need for deliberate leveling, and the swapping out of gear and weapons to increase the right resistances and damage types for a particular fight, isn't nearly as prominent, and it makes the DLC's progression feel a bit transactional.
5 Discovery
That's A Lot Of Empty Space
The world of Elden Ring is massive. It's almost too much to fathom at first, with The Lands Between stretching out in every direction as soon as the Tarnished emerges from the underground. It's nothing short of astonishing how much stuff there is to find in this game, and seemingly every path, every forest, every hill, is hiding something new to discover.
That is not the case in Shadow of the Erdtree. The explorable area is still massive, and is easily one of the most expansive DLC worlds FromSoftware has ever made. There's just not a lot going on outside the main areas. This criticism needs to be taken in context, because saying "Exploration in Shadow of the Erdtree isn't as good as in the base game" isn't meant to suggest that exploration isn't still more rewarding than 85% of the other open-world RPGs on the market. It only pales in comparison to the other Elden Ring content. Taking a romp through a forest that borders the main path in the DLC rarely results in finding anything, and while the directions available to explore are as boundless as ever, the things that are there to be discovered aren't nearly as abundant, and there are a lot more dead ends than in the base game.
4 Dragons
Quantity Over Quality
To be clear, the dragon fights in the base game also start to get a little tired; but come on, it's like a 120-hour game. By the time players face Borealis, The Freezing Fog in the Mountaintops of the Giants, they're likely familiar with the movesets of these bosses, and won't find the battle all that challenging. Still, there is only ever one dragon per region (other than the lesser Drakes in Crumbling Farum Azula and Caelid), so these fights don't ever overstay their welcome.
The same cannot be said for the dragons in Shadow of the Erdtree. First off, there are the three Ghostflame Dragons, roaming bosses that are found while exploring the Realm of Shadow. These are akin to the roaming bosses in the base game, except they use Ghostflame attacks. Then there are the Jagged Peak dragons, and this is where the problems arise.
Elden Ring: Shadow Of The Erdtree - What To Do With The Heart of Bayle
The Heart of Bayle in Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree presents players with two of the strongest Dragon Incantations in the DLC.
Climbing Jagged Peak to fight Bayle the Dread is an epic journey, and it makes sense that there would be dragons littering the route. This is, after all, the hunt for the dragon who betrayed Dragonlord Placidusax. It should be challenging. Yet following the battle with the Ancient Dragon-Man in the Dragon's Pit, the ensuing climb to the summit of Jagged Peak is just dragon fight after dragon fight, with almost nothing to break them up. First it's one Jagged Peak Drake, then it's two Jagged Peak Drakes, and then it's Ancient Dragon Senessax. The latter of those has a different moveset (although it is very similar to Ancient Dragon Lanessax and Lichdragon Fortissax in the base game), but even so, by this point the shine has worn off of these showdowns, and the player won't have even reached Bayle yet. It's a question of quantity: While the base game featured more dragon fights overall, they were spread out across a massive runtime, which kept them fresh. Cramming so many together in one area sees them wear out their welcome quickly.
3 The Icon Boss
FromSoft Has A Habit Of Doing This
FromSoftware always saves their toughest battles for their DLCs. This isn't ever a bad thing, some of the studio's most iconic boss fights are found in their DLCs. Lady Maria, Sister Freide, and Artorias are prime examples of this, standout battles with the faces of their respective DLCs; aka. "Icon" bosses. However, while these iconic bosses are what make FromSoft so renowned for their additional content, some of these bosses are brutally difficult. While he may not be the final boss, as the face of Shadow of the Erdtree, Messmer is no exception to this trend.
Typically it's the final bosses in FromSoft's previous DLCs that are almost all impossibly hard fights: Manus, Father of the Abyss from Dark Souls: Artorias of the Abyss is the most agonizing fight in the game, battling a jet-black enemy in a pitch-black room. The Fume Knight in Dark Souls 2: Crown of the Iron King is a damage-sponge boss who is a battle of attrition more than skill. The Orphan of Kos in Bloodborne's The Hunter's Nightmare DLC, is easily the hardest boss in the game and a contender for the hardest Soulsborne boss ever. Slave Knight Gael in Dark Souls 3: The Ringed City is a damage-sponge boss who also requires tons of player skill to defeat. Is there a pattern emerging here? FromSoftware have a habit of making the final bosses of their DLCs incredibly hard.
Even with all this in mind, Messmer might still be the worst of them, and there are still bosses to come after him. He's so fast, his attack combos so long and unforgiving, that defeating him requires nothing less than 10 minutes of absolutely perfect gameplay. His second phase is where it really gets insane, where his attacks suddenly have increased range and, sometimes, Messmer will summon a giant snake from a portal. Calling the fight "hard" is an understatement. That's not to mention the later fight with Radhan the younger, which is equally painful. While there are plenty of fair criticisms about the Elden Beast fight in the base game, it's hard imagine anyone would think that Messmer is the more manageable boss fight between the two.
2 Legacy Dungeons
They're Kind Of...Small?
The approach to Stormveil Castle in the Elden Ring base game is an incredible experience. The wind picks up, the path curves toward those giant gates, and enemies litter the road forward. It was a statement moment in the game; for all those optional dungeons that litter the open world outside, Stormveil Castle was something much, much grander. The same could be said for many of the other legacy dungeons in the base game, including Volcano Manor, Raya Lucaria Academy, and Leyndell, Royal Capital. It cannot be said for those in the DLC.
Again, this needs to be taken in the context of Elden Ring, because relative to other open-world RPGs, the legacy dungeons in Shadow of the Erdtree are still right up there with the best in the genre. Compared to the base game, though, they all seem like they're over really quickly.
Think back to Leyndell, Royal Capital. Remember how absolutely massive that area was? Riding through the outskirts of the city and up to the city gates, fighting along the ramparts, then climbing down into the city itself. Then there was the option to head to the castle courtyard or down into the sewers. The sewers led to a crypt which led to the Three Fingers. The courtyard held a giant dead dragon which could be climbed. After all that, there are the branches of the Erdtree, which can be scaled to access the castle proper. Then climbing through the castle up to its pinnacle, and to the foot of the Erdtree itself. It's an astonishing video game level, and while that may be the high bar that FromSoftware set for themselves, nothing in Shadow of the Erdtree clears it.
1 Enemy Mobs
Where Is Everybody?
Exploring The Lands Between is a dangerous endeavor. The Tree Sentinel that players encounter about five steps into the game drives that point home right away. Beyond him, there are threats around every corner, and exploration is a constant weighing of risk versus reward. There are well over 100 enemy types in the base game, which simply means a lot of different people, animals, beasts, and ancient gods are looking to kill a wandering Tarnished at every opportunity.
Shadow of the Erdtree: Every Furnace Golem (& How to Beat Them)
How to find and defeat all 8 Furnace Golems in the Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree DLC.
There simply aren't as many of these enemies in the DLC. Mobs are more strategically placed throughout the world - not unlike how they're placed in the more linear Dark Souls series - but for the most part, they don't roam around the game world and catch players unawares. It'll happen on occasion, but the typical enemy mob in Shadow of the Erdtree will always be found in the same place, and the rest of the game world is fairly vacant. It's another odd shift from the base game, which truly felt like an open-world evolution of the Soulsborne formula. Shadow of the Erdtree feels more like a regression back into the formula of old in this regard.
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