Exploring Shadow of the Erdtree: A Review

History remains in the shadows

The adventure begins in the mysterious Shadow Realm, a new and unknown place in the original game. The player keeps his starting character, a Shardless. He is led to follow in the footsteps of Miquella: a demigod best known for his family. His mother, Marika, is the one who started the Shattering War (the story setting of Elden Ring). His sister is Malenia. She is the Goddess of Rot and is considered the hardest boss in the game.

Shadow of the ErdTree is therefore an opportunity to learn more about one of the predominant characters in the Elden Ring universe. He decided to abandon his divine nature to go to the Shadow Realm. As usual, the FromSoftware studio provides few explanations about this new world. It leaves it to players to discover the hidden secrets through item descriptions and rare dialogues with the inhabitants of the kingdom.

The narration of Shadow of the ErdTree therefore remains faithful to that of Elden Ring, with a fragmented and mysterious story. This DLC introduces seven new characters, each with their own quest. These quests offer multiple branches and choices impacting the evolution of the story. However, these new protagonists lack charisma and presence, making the player's emotional involvement more difficult. Unlike the significant encounters with characters like Ranni or Melina in the original game, these DLC figures struggle to captivate. And overall, the storyline of this DLC is not very significant: we are as little advanced after forty hours of play as during our first steps in this new kingdom..

However, we manage to perceive their weight, the influence of our answers to their questions. Finding them through their own wanderings within the kingdom of shadows is often one of our objectives. An objective that we cannot bring to the forefront but which goes well with the exploration of this new region. Like Elden Ring, that's good, exploration is one of the major qualities of this DLC.

A three-dimensional kingdom, a very and too controlled architecture

The Shadow Realm is vast and varied, with areas distinct in terms of architecture and design. The verticality of the map is impressive, literally adding an extra dimension to exploration. If it is indeed a 2D map that is displayed at our request on our screen, we do not see the different additional strata that coexist with each other. Enough to make sure of it. Hidetaka Miyazaki, studio boss and director of Elden Ring, subtly suggested it. The Shadow Realm is equivalent on the surface at Necrolimbe but has a volume much greater than the first zone of Elden Ring in terms of its floors.

It is the Black Castle, located in the center of the map, which serves as the main crossroads by connecting the different zones. However, this complexity can lead to confusion. Some passages are difficult to find without a guide, several requiring quite a few detours. Some even ask for special items. Impossible to know where to go when you realize this! We can already imagine the frustration of certain players not understanding where to go or not understanding where certain paths are. The director himself acknowledged that there are still improvements to be made to make the content easier to fully discover.

Despite some areas less rich in content, the DLC introduces some interesting new features. Forges, for example, allow you to collect materials to upgrade weapons, while nameless mausoleums, hidden behind puzzles, house mini-bosses offering valuable rewards. Spiritual seals, for their part, block ascending currents that must be unlocked to access chests. Enough to add an extra layer of mystery and challenge to exploration.

Personally, I admit that I expected a few more caves or catacombs to discover. That being said, there is ultimately enough stuff to look for that you are naturally lugged from one place to another. We take pleasure in it thanks to a variation in the approaches. There is combat, but also puzzles. Sometimes they are platform sequences.

But it is especially the feeling of adventure that I expected a lot from Shadow of the ErdTree. My jaw dropped in February 2022 when I took the elevator to Siofra for the first time. This is what I wanted to relive with Shadow of the ErdTree. An expectation that is all the stronger as it is one of the reasons why this DLC took so long to arrive. Shadow of the ErdTree, according to Miyazaki, is the biggest DLC ever made by From Software. Something that we can confirm today: I finished my adventure after around forty hours. That's almost as much as my time playing Bloodborne and Demon's Souls (both of which I completed) and almost as much as all the old DLC combined. Two years of development because Miyazaki wanted to “reproduce that feeling of adventure” that he had cultivated and developed with Elden Ring.

It didn't fail.

I was regularly amazed throughout the adventure. Once again, From Software succeeds in constantly renewing this feeling of discovery. With Shadow of the Erdree, he makes us curious! It's impossible not to exclaim at times thanks to the level design, as we have said, astonishing. And especially when it is combined with sublime artistic direction.

Between shadow and light: an artistic direction that leaves you speechless

The art direction of Shadow of the ErdTree is breathtaking. Each zone offers a unique visual identity. There are landscapes that look like Gardens of Eden which contrast with the apocalyptic decor of other areas. From heavenly landscapes to apocalyptic environments, each new discovery is a feast for the eyes. This is also what pushes us to explore the kingdom of shadows with a fine-tooth comb, as inhospitable and dangerous as it may be!

The soundtrack, although discreet during exploration, stands out particularly during boss fights, with memorable compositions which accentuate the intensity of the clashes.

We were able to see twelve major bosses (there are seven obligatory ones), or a little less than half of Elden Ring. We even wonder if they are not more impressive than those of the original game. There is a bit of this masochistic side: we want to start a game with another character just to rediscover the adrenaline and the festival specific to each confrontation.

Gameplay and difficulty symbols of From Software's know-how

With Shadow of the ErdTree, we continue to enjoy it for our eyes and ears, but also for our faces. It must be said that the gameplay remains faithful to the proven and polished formula of FromSoftware: it is a big spike in difficulty that awaits players from the first hours. A way for the studio to welcome. A very wise choice!

The enemies are formidable and require caution and strategy from the player. Enough to immediately put everyone back in the mood. Above all, enough to break the pedestals of certain veterans who could tire of an overly permissive experience. The most seasoned can also count on the presence of new categories of weapons, new equipment, spells and incantations. There are therefore many things to test between throwing weapons, light swordfish or even reverse blades which can bypass the enemy's guard. Enough to always be able to find a solution against recalcitrant bosses when they can resist magic or the alteration of sleep state for example. A real lack for me in Elden Ring, Shadow of the ErdTree does not correct the absence of a functionality allowing you to face bosses already defeated. Today, it is still necessary to recreate a character with good statistics if we want to put our new discovery to the test. An investment in time and energy that few will be willing to invest.

Secondly, this difficulty subtly introduces the progression system specific to Shadow of the ErdTree: it is based on the collection of splinters and ashes. They allow roughly speaking allows you to improve your offensive and defensive capabilities (the first of the character, the second of summons and Torrent), making the gaming experience more fluid. In our game, we had to put aside our frustration with the first two bosses to discover a satisfactory progression curve: demanding, punishing fights, but far from insurmountable. And we say to ourselves that after having finished our adventure by defeating the final boss under the bell of the fortieth hour (Miyazaki was not mistaken this time), that this is what we came to look for.

Conclusion