Elden Ring remains to this day one of the most striking titles of this generation of consoles. Rich, brutal, melancholic, capable of making us go through all the degrees of existing feelings, the game of From Software could have stuck to its original adventure and shine for a long time. But instead Elden Ring welcomes an extension called Shadow of the Erdtree and it is like vulgar docile and blissful avatars that we reenlist for dozens of hours of tears and sweat.
Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree extends the original adventure by joining it in the middle (more or less). Accessing the new area and the upcoming fights requires having progressed in the game until having defeated Radahn, a mandatory boss, but also the good old Mohg. The latter is not one of the adversaries that it is necessary to cross paths with to complete Elden Ring; the developers however thought – we imagine – that the candidates for exploring the DLC would have wanted to sand down the basic universe before diving into Shadow of the Erdtree. The optional therefore becomes mandatory by defeating Mohg to meet the person who invites us to walk towards the new area that this DLC offers.
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It's an understatement to say that a certain level of play is expected here, in the Shadow Realm. But we also quickly understand that it's absurd to rely solely on our character's level to hope to progress. Perhaps he is capable of unsoldering just about anything that moves in the base game, but other rules apply in the DLC. The game thus adapts significantly to the level with which the player enters the new region to set the basics of the difficulty. It relies mainly on an additional leveling system to frame its progression. It is then appropriate to find as many items as possible called “shards of the occult tree” and “venerated spiritual ashes” to inflate the character's statistics. We find these objects by exploring, by fighting, in short by doing what we do best in Elden Ring: leave nothing out. Note that this improvement system is specific to the DLC and its map and does not in any way influence the player's power in the base game.
Boosting the character's power is essential as Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree is so difficult. While the base game isn't always a walk in the park, it still gives the player some latitude to try to progress and ultimately overcome all obstacles. In the DLC, however, the level of brutality of the enemies is immediately extremely high, whether they are bosses or not. We also struggled a lot more at times against so-called “basic” enemies than against certain bosses. Beyond the sheer difficulty, what poses a problem in Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree is rather the overall balance. It is very difficult to perceive a real coherence between the different levels of the opponents when they must be fought obligatorily (we were already rather used to large gaps on the side of the optional bosses). Just as there are within some closed areas real chasms between the enemies encountered along the way: some are apathetic, while others are real killing machines. Generally speaking, some fights are made difficult by an exaggerated combination of speed, power and combo longevity among the enemy. Fans of defense based on good endurance have something to be disoriented, for example. Despite a recent update that significantly facilitated the first hours of play, Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree is an adventure with extremely high difficulty, to the point of irritating regulars.
Notwithstanding this intractable aspect that makes you pay a high price for the satisfaction of slaying demons, Shadow of the Erdtree is, like the original game, a real factory of strong emotions. The gigantism of the content for what is, let's remember, a DLC, is unusual. If it is only necessary to take down a dozen bosses to see the end of this adventure within the adventure, the extension has a good forty. Like Elden Ring, Shadow of the Erdtree is teeming with areas annexed to the main progression, entrenched places, environments with difficult access at the end of which lie as many rewards as wait in the shadow of great scourges. New weapons and armor of all types can be found in Shadow of the Erdtree, as well as talismans and enough to launch yourself on a whole new build, that of the “perfumer”. But it is above all in the eclecticism of the environments, in their improbable assembly and in the grandeur that emanates from the main enemies that Shadow of the Erdtree hits the mark. This DLC allows us to rediscover the immeasurable pleasure of discovery specific to Elden Ring, between permanent anxiety and excitement.
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The epic breath of adventure would not be the one we (re)know without this incredible ability of the developers at From Software to create real paintings. However, we know the old tricks and yet it works. We are systematically blown away by the clear view that appears after having progressed, not without difficulty, in some stifling corridor. The artistic direction is impeccable as always. It manages to avoid too much recycling to give us the discovery of a new world that is at the same time consistent with the rest of the adventure. However, we regret the general technical aspect without any notable evolution since the release of the original game, always punctuated by problems of late display of elements of the decor in the vast areas.
There are also some slowdowns and the usual camera problems against lively and/or colossal enemies. Not enough to shake the fun of the game more than is reasonable. The same goes for the story of this additional chapter, told in snippets of conversations with the few NPCs encountered and too rarely staged in the cutscenes. As usual, we don't necessarily understand everything (we sometimes look to see if there is really something to understand), but let's be honest, that is clearly not the priority.
An exceptional game, exceptional DLC. Without reinventing anything from the formula that brought Elden Ring to the roof of the world in 2022, Shadow of the Erdtree gives it a new lease of life. Whether through its new world, its numerous high-class bosses or new models of weapons and accessories, Shadow of the Erdtree extends the adventure by several dozen hours for immense gaming pleasure. However, this comes at the cost of accepting and assimilating a level of difficulty greatly increased compared to the original adventure. We manage to overcome obstacles, of course, but this time it requires rigor, composure and investment which may possibly annoy some of us.
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- Huge content for a DLC
- New bosses galore…
- …For very successful fights overall
- Sublime artistic direction, once again
- A hundred weapons, armor and accessories
- Unparalleled atmosphere
–
- Extreme difficulty and not always optimal balancing
- Technically imperfect
- Father Castor, we need you!