Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree on PS5
A missed dodge, a miscalculated attack, and getting utterly annihilated, it’s been a good while since we last visited The Lands Between in FromSoftware and Bandai Namco‘s Elden Ring, but that thrill of getting better at overcoming its challenges and coming awfully close to victory never goes away. And that’s just for the normal enemies milling about in the new Shadow of the Erdtree DLC for Elden Ring.
Two years after being crowned Elden Lord, there shouldn’t be a sense of trepidation coming in. After all, having mastered the various systems and putting together a killer build, nothing stood in our way on the ascent to the top. Yet, this is a FromSoftware adventure, one that is full of ample opportunities to explore, discover, and feed your curiosity, all while making sure you are humbled at every turn. It is exactly what fans love, and the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC delivers on all fronts.
Focusing on Miquella, the brother of the fearsome Malenia and described as the most fearsome Empyrean of all, players will enter the Land of Shadow and follow in his footsteps, attempting to uncover the mysteries behind his actions and dealing with the fallout of the fiery war waged by Messmer the Impaler. A more than adequate setup to get us right into the mood, and even more so if you are a fan of the environmental storytelling that is in abundance.
While the developments of that tale are best left to players to discern for themselves, what deserves to be applauded is everything else that accompanies the narrative. For starters, Shadow of the Erdtree has a ridiculous amount of content within, and we are not just talking about all the new weapons, armour, sorceries, Spirit Ashes, and more. The Shadow Realm is sprawling and fully fleshed out, with tons of verticality built into it, and breathtaking to marvel at most of the time.
Wide open terrain invites players in as they step into Gravesite Plain, and as you spy the legacy dungeons that are Belurat, Castle Ensis, and the Shadow Keep, there are whole other areas that lie below and within the Land of Shadow, ripe for further instances of death and glory. The world design remains a work of art, constantly teasing players to go off the beaten path and, in some cases, take literal leaps of faith to continue their journey; there’s really nothing that comes quite close.
As you follow Miquella’s path using those helpful, unmissable crosses, there will also be a new group of NPCs that make their presence known. Whether you interact with them and their diverging questlines is entirely up to you, but investing time and effort to see their stories out leads to useful rewards and, oftentimes, vital pieces of information that add vibrant colour to the story. A particular favourite involves a vengeful quest against a legendary dragon that takes us into a gauntlet of draconic dangers, as the red skies crackle with foreboding lightning, all the way to an amazing boss fight that ranks amongst the most testing and satisfying of Elden Ring.
Speaking of combat, Shadow of the Erdtree has some of the most masterful encounters when it comes to optional and unavoidable bosses, even for the most seasoned of Souls players. The quality on show is matched by quantity as well, with more than a few dozen named encounters to take on throughout your time spent in the Land of Shadow. These are wonderfully designed opponents, both in terms of visuals and mechanics, requiring players to learn new tricks in order to come out on top.
It helps then that there are plenty to find in this new environment, with eight brand-new weapon types being the main highlight to enrich player options when threats are nearby. Throwing knives are neat secondary tools to have, while the addition of beast claws and the hand-to-hand Dryleaf Arts combat style provides probably the most distinct ways of going about your Tarnished business in a long while. Together with all the fresh talismans and armour sets, there is so much potential for new builds to take advantage of them all.
Furthermore, there are compelling reasons for players to keep a sharper eye while out in the DLC’s world, especially when it comes to survivability. The new Shadow Realm Blessing system helps to even the playing field when it comes to overpowered players, requiring the use of Scadutree Fragments and Revered Spirit Ash items to increase their respective blessings. The former boosts both your attack and defence in the Shadow Realm, while the latter does the same, but for your Spirit Ash summons. This alternate form of progress is key to keep driving players into doing more than just blow through the main content and make things easier if the enemy is simply too daunting.
With the breadth of new bells and whistles that enhance existing systems and create new ones, it is almost a disservice to term Shadow of the Erdtree as just a piece of DLC for Elden Ring. Everything that fans loved about the base game is squeezed into a shorter experience of about 30-40 hours, and the content is of the highest calibre, building on what was great and making it better. Just like how FromSoftware has always delivered excellent full-fledged adventures for the masses, this DLC expansion continues the studio’s hot streak, and all the Tarnished are blessed.
Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree is now available on the PSN Store.
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Summary
Elden Ring was already amazing, but the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC expansions shows us just what it means to surpass expectations and build upon the past.
