Summary
Shadow of the Erdtree is not a work in progress, a disappointment, or just more of Elden Ring. It’s one of the most promising video game open-worlds I’ve ever experienced. It’s a clear attempt to improve on the novel formula of Elden Ring in several ways that I instantly appreciated.
This DLC expansion is much better than Elden Ring’s average moment. It’s top-shelf. The exploration is more rewarding, the quality of boss fights is constantly excellent, the map is more dense and interesting, and its presentation is more seductive.
Introduction
This says something about the development of the base game. As an avid fan with over 1000 hours clocked in, I’m happy to admit that base Elden Ring has loud weaknesses. Too much of the wide overworld was left empty, positioned as fluff between actually rewarding locations. Even the underground dungeons felt largely monotonous and hard to tell apart. Enemies like Imps and Miners were re-used and re-skinned to hell and back. Dead-end quest lines and lifeless sections of the open world were the exception rather than the rule, but those dips in quality are pretty obvious. They’re a greater issue for repeat players like me.
Elden Ring was both a masterpiece and a prototype. I hoped the DLC would refine this weary open-world formula rather than expand it. They’ve done it. Shadow of the Erdtree is now the most memorable and impressive section of Elden Ring by a wide margin. It’s the perfected article and a reasonable 10/10 in my book, whereas I would give base Elden Ring a 9/10. The sheer quality and legendary blade-to-blade combat do not let up even a moment, and here’s how.
Visual Design: Scadutree
The makeup and layout of the DLC world are forever sublime and meticulous. The Lands of Shadow is a feast for the eyes and a grand adventure to explore.
The instant sight of the phenomenally detailed ‘Scadutree’ indicates that Shadow of the Erdtree is more than just a reflection of Elden Ring. It’s better art, with more time and passion put into it. This wouldn’t be the first time FromSoftware has used a DLC expansion to take creative and monetary liberties they didn’t take before. Elden Ring was a smashing commercial success, and FromSoft is superb at putting its growth forward to create better gaming. Lucky us.
I love the theme of this region. It’s a location advertised as an aesthetic mirror of the Lands Between. The great shadowy Scadutree dominates the landscape rather than the luminous Erdtree. It hangs crooked and leaks in the sky, which makes it even more beautiful. The Scadutree acts as a visual anchor that establishes the darker tone and spirituality of the entire DLC. It’s a clever narrative device in the same way the Erdtree was. As you approach the Scadutree, you can expect to go deeper into places haunted by death and taboos.
The artistic intention of the Scadutree trickles down to the rest of the game in an interesting way. The new crystal tears demonstrate this well. They are the ‘holy’ bounty of the Scadutree and look just as impure and dirty. They are found in the depths of the Furnace Golems, combining the motley essences of the tree’s sap and corpses fueling the furnace. Their exciting new gameplay effects make them seem more unique and concocted.
Visual Design: Lands of Shadow
The Lands of Shadow are motley amalgamations of all the darker, unwanted forces of the world. A wilderness of taboos. It is such a juicy premise for a video game. It’s a ferocious land waiting to be tamed. Engines of war, abandoned gods, and dragons of death reside here shoulder to shoulder, so encounters are always spicy.
The gravesite plains/cerulean coast are a great example of this. It’s described as a place where all sorts of death drift. Spectral tombstones dot the browning fields because the dead here are so ancient that even their graves have become spirits. Adornments like this that visually populate the lands are everywhere. This is especially true of the motley gravesite filled with tomb-ships you can find on the coast.
There are different climate types here for every player to appreciate, from blooming fields to rushing river lands. Much of the real estate is used as an opportunity to respect ideas from the base game that never came to full bloom. I think it’s excellent that they’ve used sections of the new map to revisit such themes with more emphasis. It makes the DLC feel like a proper attempt at perfecting Elden Ring. The base game can now be appreciated more as a prelude to the awesome thematic additions of the DLC.
Level Design: Exploration
The way you explore and discover these areas is a lot more engaging than before, though it might frustrate some. The map is laid out with greater density and verticality. It’s filled with elusive optional areas that can only be accessed through select, obscure pathways. Exploration is challenging enough that great expanding areas can be missed without a whisper. Players who keep solely on the beaten path will miss over 50% of the DLC and its content.
I go for this kind of challenge as well. Tough navigation is a great way to keep the player engaged with their environment. It is up to your initiative to find out how to reach the coolest landmarks and where you’d like to go first.
The Scadutree fragments feed this sense of adventure. They are key items the player needs to collect throughout the region to increase their stats. It’s an effect unique to the DLC that buffs all damage and damage negation. It’s sorely needed to grow your power for the challenges of the DLC after you’ve hit level caps. But you’ll need to find the fragments, similar to Golden Seeds. So be prepared to explore as many side areas and crannies as you can to keep up with the main bosses. Happy hunting.
Level Design: Legacy Dungeons
My two favorite Legacy Dungeons (primary dungeons) of the base game were Leyndell and Elphael. They shine as foremost examples of FromSoft level design because they lack any wasted or uninteresting space. It also helps that they’re absolutely majestic. They are awesome spaces of spiritual fervour with enough residents that they feel like true cities. The cultural color of these surroundings makes them fun to experience and conquer. They contrast with Elden Ring’s hollow areas, lacking in encounters and architecture. You get the wheat, and you get the chaff.
I count four areas that were so amazing to experience that they left a permanent impression on me with their splendor. Belurat, Shaded Castle, Rauh Ruins, and Enir Ilim. Shadow of the Erdtree has more than doubled Elden Ring’s greatest triumphs despite being a fraction of the size.
Belurat
These new spaces are complex, vertical, stunning, combative, and exciting, segmented into multiple parts and layered with secrets. They are powerhouses that could be considered worlds all to themselves. They are the ultimate stages on which to fight and explore, flanked by flowing banners and sculpted monuments. The first one out of the gate, Belurat, is exemplary. It is the home and religious center of the native people, and its visual design and OST are impeccable. A reverent vibe of primal worship and war losses lingers here in the music. The Horned Warriors are towering enemies but draped in cloth and spiritual symbols. The general populace remains only as desecrated ghosts, and the boss is iconic but also reduced to its last legs.
In short, Belurat is a fort flush with artistic nuance. It offers new challenges and striking lore experiences. Pore over this area and its layered and bunkered secrets, and you will not be disappointed. It is such a coherently designed and beautiful location that you might wish it were real.
It’s a marvelous show of quality and faith that this is the first Legacy Dungeon you encounter. It sets an excellent standard for the castles and ruins going forward, which is a very addicting feeling.
Related: The First Descendant Review
Level Design: Underground Dungeons
As I mentioned, the minor Underground Dungeons of base Elden Ring struggled to retain quality. They made up most of the game’s interior spaces and were scattered throughout the overworld to incentivize open-world exploration. While some could be bigger and labyrinthian, they were mostly miniature dungeons that held a couple of useful items and a perfunctory miniboss at the end. There were so many of them, and they all followed a philosophy of reusing enemies and assets. A gaggle of imps could be found in catacombs, miners in mining tunnels, and wolves in caves. The encounters weren’t identical, but they were hardly original. Experiences and place names blurred together.
They were a toss-up somewhat similar to Destiny’s Strike missions. Sure, they were still pleasant to play through, given the fundamentals of combat are so enjoyable that every combat encounter is appreciated. Loot is loot. But they let down the overall experience with their repetitive structure. Awesome gameplay craves inspired level design.
Improvements
In Shadow of the Erdtree, Underground Dungeons are now a league above. New caves, forges, and catacombs are more sensible in number, and in return, they have resolved every issue of monotony. They are as deep and boggling as any from the late game, but they are more rewarding, distinct, and inventive.
They have a very keen thematic identity now. The new Gaols are cold, eery spaces that contain tortured enemies and unpredictable bosses. They are magnificently cavernous, with a lot of vertical navigation amongst ruins and locked jail doors. Catacombs are back in force. Each of the 3 has its unique structural challenge to navigate and find all the secret rewards, from avoiding a Deathblight sentry to taking a ride on massive spike traps.
What’s super impressive about these dungeons is they have more collective identity and individual identity than their predecessors. All Catacombs contain traces of the same faction with rewards related to Godwyn, yet each contains a unique design gimmick as well. They are just as rich with enjoyable content as any other part of the expansion, and I’ll be sure to remember their names.
Gameplay: Superboss Design
Bosses have raised the standards of majesty and challenge even more than the dungeons. Elden Ring built a catalogue of striking Remembrance Bosses or Super Bosses. Mostly they were great gameplay events, each one a distinct challenge with awesome presentation and rewards that raised the game to stardom. Scary and significant bosses evoke real emotion and adrenaline. From one perspective, they’re the lifeblood of FromSoft.
The DLC has nearly doubled the number of eventful Remembrance Bosses Elden Ring offers and easily tripled the number of top-tier bosses. On the main path, we have Divine Beast Dancing Lion (elemental powerhouse), Rellana (majestic spell blade), Messmer (demigod of flame), Rowina (saint of Rot), and an earth-shattering final boss. At the ends of various side paths, we have Putrescent Knight (undead ghost flame rider), Bayle (rebel dragon), Lord of Frenzied Flame (chaos-possessed sage), Metyr (cosmic monstrosity), and Scadutree Avatar (dark tree monster).
Every Super Boss of the pile fights and rages with a beautiful aura on the same level as Maliketh, Malenia, or Radagon. I found the difficulty impressively consistent and arresting, which I can only praise as a masochistic Souls aficionado. Considering how illustrious even the optional bosses are, I didn’t mind fighting them after dozens of deaths and retries. You’ve just got to commit to a winning mentality, don’t let the game win.
Boss Experience
I remember vividly that certain bosses like Divine Beast Dancing Lion were so impressive and inspirational to me that I actually enjoyed dying. This isn’t a cope; usually, I get frustrated even when I die to boss fights I love and respect. But I can’t stress enough just how performative these new bosses are. The evolving elemental stage dance of the Divine Beast is such a sight to behold and listen to. There is massive fanfare and spectacle whenever it transforms between elements, adding new tricks to its moveset. By design, these transformations strike in awesome sync with the soundtrack. So I took deaths from this boss very graciously, knowing that every death was a chance to revisit the performance and become a better dance partner for that glorious enemy.
This is when FromSoft boss design peaks, when you feel so awed and impressed by the enemy that you feel like you’re letting them down. Meeting their match in style and substance is an awesome proving experience that can span multiple playthroughs.
Some of these high-profile bosses are disliked and dismissed as cheap and frustrating to fight. But I’d defend bosses like Metyr and Scadutree Avatar by pointing out their artistic splendor. They may have enough frustrating attacks that the fun of the duel is tainted, but honestly, that’s ok. Every FromSoft game contains bosses designed to be strange, esoteric or fearsome to fight rather than pure fun. They’re not the best of all, but I appreciate them. There’s little reason to consider them a minus when we have plenty of perfect fights besides.
Gameplay: Miniboss Design
Regular bosses are much more thoughtful and impressive in the DLC, avoiding the cookie-cutter formula of the base game. Head into a mini dungeon out in the world and you’re guaranteed to find a unique boss encounter. The practice of recycling regular enemies as bosses is massively reduced. Some regular enemies are given hectic advanced abilities to raise them to boss-tier. Only certain world bosses are repeated, those which are more like wildlife. They’re more challenging and robust than their predecessors, so I think this is ok. Other than that, you never know what to expect.
Consider the ice-cool Death Knight as an example. It’s a minor boss that still controls the tide of battle. Some of its insane attacks include a grab in its second phase it uses to completely heal itself and a lightning-warp ability it uses to teleport in your face before unleashing massive damage. And, of course, the best part about this is you earn its weapons as loot, gaining this warp ability for yourself. Respect.
The constant difficulty is a humbling experience above all. You might spend most of a fight splayed out onto the ground as the boss spews so much elemental fury at your face that you begin to ask how this is even fair. But fairness aside, these bosses are proof of FromSoft’s current ability to design enemies of supreme might and engineering. There’s a level of visual and thematic genius on display which can only be the work of a peerless team of game designers.
Gameplay: Player Tools
I’ll keep this section brief. Shadow of the Erdtree introduces countless excellent new weapons and spells for the player to expand their divine arsenal. Approaching release, one of the DLC’s main selling points was its introduction of 8 new weapon types. This promise was delivered with flying colors. The weapons within these new categories have completely novel movesets, covering every possible class of speed, weight, and power. The weapon types contain unique and modifiable weapon options, supplemented by specific Ashes of War.
New Ashes of War and Spells push the boundaries of the destructiveness of the combat sandbox. If the combat possibilities of Elden Ring felt endless before, they are super endless now. New gear evolves and shakes the PvP landscape and creates new methods to kill old enemies. Entirely new classes of spells and Talisman buffs invite players to experiment and create novel builds. For example, the new Talisman ‘Enraged Divine Beast’ provides a new effect that increases the damage of all your storm abilities.
For a more thorough rundown of the most fun additions to player power, you can check out our other articles on the subject.
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Soundtrack
The soundtrack is a master class of spiritual fantasy, assaulting the senses with the most epic bombastic sounds you’d ever expect from FromSoft. Honestly, I think most of Elden Ring’s soundtrack was one of its few letdowns, but they have come back strong. There’s a mixture of genuine tearjerkers, unforgettable pious epics, and nightmare anthems reminiscent of Bloodborne. Every Super Boss makes an audible impression perfect for them and their significance thanks to FromSoft’s incredible musical range.
Divine Beast Dancing Lion is blessed with music as primal and booming as the boss itself. It’s a shouting match, ingraining the experience in your mind. On the other hand, Messmer’s theme is evocatively depressing and hollow. I would say music like Messmer’s morose choir is FromSoft’s most important narrative device. Such evocative music is essential to the success of the story, convincing players that the tragic or ironic circumstances of these characters are worth some thought.
Story: Characters
Direct and structured storytelling should not be expected from FromSoft games. In Elden Ring, you play as a blank slate of a character with no significant relationships or motivations besides fulfilling your duty to a ruined world. It’s the world of the past that is rich with history, events, and character dynamics. Besides the rare cutscene and cryptic dialogue, the game does not tell a story and instead hides one in the clues throughout the world.
However, Shadow of the Erdtree takes ‘story’ a step further in a new direction for the studio. There is a group of strong and relevant characters who involve you in their united mission to serve the Demigod they worship. This dynamic still lacks all the bells and whistles of a direct or cinematic story. Still, there are some running interpersonal relationships and narrative decisions the DLC offers that are more investing than usual. You can summon almost all of them to aid you, turning the tide against monstrous bosses and helping you create your own story.
Quest Issues
FromSoft has a habit of making character questlines unnecessarily obtuse. It’s the most sore weakness of the studio. An NPC will introduce themself with cryptic dialogue, under the pretense that you will meet again as two wayward travelers. You follow these side stories to alleviate the sad loneliness of the game world. The problem is, they hardly ever pan out. The questlines are scripted step-by-step so strangely that if you miss the character in one location, complete the game in the wrong order, or fail to exhaust their dialogue; you will never see them again.
Thankfully the character questlines of Shadow of the Erdtree are far better. While they’re still far from perfect, they do not have to be pushed along so tediously. The primary characters you’ve met will come back for a cathartic payoff in the end, regardless of how meticulously you’ve checked up on them.
Story: Dialogue
The dialogue in Shadow of the Erdtree is impeccably written. This was standard already for Souls Games. FromSoft’s visionary approach to crafting tragic medieval fantasy worlds has tussled with poetic concepts of death, submission, forlorn dreams, naivety, resentment, and hopelessness. Characters are crafted to represent the historical culture they hail from and such concepts by waxing lyrical. Thanks to the combined efforts of the studio writers and localizing teams, characters speak ingeniously about their circumstances in illustrious dialects and Old English. DLC characters such as Ansbach and Leda stand out as thoughtful, self-assured, and chivalric men and women, thanks to the elaborate zeal of their dialogue. They’re peak.
Boss dialogue is just as great. The antiquity of Messmer’s dialect and the tone of his disillusioned drawl, even when he defeats you, are both some of the most direct and intriguing story clues the DLC has to offer. The grand emotional conflict of Messmer and his incendiary crusade mark him as a worthy promotional character for the DLC. In terms of indirect story, lore hunters who appreciate the bold and subliminal worldbuilding of the Lands of Shadow and the revelations of new item descriptions will not be disappointed. While many raging questions are left unanswered, revelations large and small await you in Shadow of the Erdtree