Summary
FromSoftware has a reputation for releasing ambitious expansions to their Soulslikes RPGs (Sekiro: Shadows Die Twicenotwithstanding), butElden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtreetakes the cake. The much-lauded,surprisingly controversialElden RingDLCbuilds on what the first game accomplished in many key ways, hitting many of the same highs and ultimately delivering something far beyond most DLCs, both in terms of quality and scale.
Shadow of the Erdtreetakes place in the Land of Shadow, a new area that is totally disconnected from The Lands Between. This new map facilitates all-new open-world gameplay and is the stage for the expansion’s narrative, which naturally includes a number of new NPCs, some friendly, others not so much.Shadow of the Erdtreealso introduces a plethora of new weapon types, spells, and gear to collect, expandingElden Ring’s already impressive build variety. Of course, all of this is to be expected from a major expansion, but it’s the scope ofShadow of the Erdtreethat makes it a truly special project.
Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree Might as Well Be a Sequel
Shadow of the Erdtree Is Absolutely Massive
While no one was expectingShadow of the Erdtreeto have a small map, the sheer scale and complexity of The Land of Shadow is something to behold. Ahead of the DLC’s release, Director Hidetaka Miyazaki claimed that the size of its map would be comparable to Limgrave from the base game. This claim is not accurate.
The Land of Shadow is several times bigger than Limgrave, which is something that players will notice after just a few hours. It’s hard to say exactly, as the expansion is defined by its verticality, but it’s fair to say that it is between a third and half the size of the entire base game’s map. This unyielding, unfolding breadth causesShadow of the Erdtreeto be filled with surprisesand deliver an experience that few would have expected from a mere $40 DLC.
Shadow of the Erdtree Recaptures the Experience of the Base Game
One of the greatest strengths (or weaknesses, depending on perspective) ofElden Ringis that it’s a game that can really only be played once. Of course, players can always start a new run, experiment with different builds, and make different story choices, but the game’s defining trait, its sense of exploration and discovery, can’t really be enjoyed in the same way for a second time. This makesElden Ringless replayable than other FromSoftware games, which focus more on combat than exploration.
ButShadow of the Erdtreereintroduces the same sense of awe-inspiring discovery, giving many players the same feeling they had when playing the originalElden Ringback in 2022. The DLC could have been a 10-20-hour affair, set in a more linear environment, following the lead of previousFromSoftware expansions likeThe Old HuntersandArtorias of the Abyss. It could have been an epilogue for the main campaign, wrapping up some loose story threads and adding some new weapons. But it’s an entirely new world to explore. It’s smaller thanElden Ring’s base game, but it will take most players around 30 hours just to beat the main story, making it about as long as FromSoftware’s other releases.
Regardless of one’s opinion of the DLC, its size and depth of content can’t be denied. If FromSoftware only added a few more hours of gameplay, and perhaps two or three more substantial regions, it very well could have been passed off as a properElden Ringsequel.
