Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erd Tree review

    ELDEN RING: SHADOW OF THE ERD TREE is a DLC expansion for the Hidetaka Miyazaki and George R.R. Martin penned Elden Ring. The premise of the game is that the God Queen Marika has shattered the Elden Ring out of grief for her murdered demigod son, Godwyn the Golden. This has plunged the Lands Between into a horrific civil war where the dead rise and chaos reigns. The player character, the Tarnished of No Renown, has set upon a quest to become the new Elden Lord by repairing the Elden Ring then becoming Marika's consort.

    Shadow of the Erd Tree introduces a new land for the Tarnished of No Renown to explore as well as a plot dealing with Marika's youngest child, Miquella the Compassionate. Miquella wishes to become a god and has assembled an oddball collection of servants that he's brainwashed into believing in his vision. The Shadowlands are also tied to God Queen Marika's origins and introduces a new child of hers: Messmer the Impaler. It's more plot than your typical Souls-like and includes a lot of fodder for lore junkies.

    The Shadowlands are a lot more dark and depressing than anywhere in the Lands Between. It is littered with thousands of tombstones and the sign of the ongoing genocide that Messmer has conducted on his mother's behalf. A harrowing tale of revenge and tragedy that you have to do a lot of investigation in order to find out the full horror thereof. The design for the Shadowlands are depressing but beautiful with the empty plains, endless ghosts, and ruins of a once thriving civilization.

    Most Souls-like gamers are not here for the lore or world-building, though. They are here for the gameplay. In this case, Shadow of the Erd Tree is extremely difficult. Not entirely fairly difficult either as some of the bosses go past the enjoyment factor of "Souls difficult" to "the computer is a cheating bastard." Indeed, the developers seem to be aware of this and have introduced a new mechanic called Scadutree Fragments that basically just exist to increase your damage resistance as well as damage output only in the DLC.

    There's some genuinely great bosses like the Royal Knight Rellana, Messmer, and the Dancing Lion. However, there's also some bosses that just flat out are unfun to fight like the Golden Hippopotamus and the Putrescent Knight. Some of the story beats are also accidentally lost as you move through the story. For example, if you want to explore the history of Miquella and Saint Trina then you can't have burned open the path to the final level.

    There's some good loot in the Shadow of the Erd Tree as well as several new abilities that are worth enjoying. This includes new armor, Talismans, and Remembrances that are worthwhile. There's nothing that's particularly gamebreaking but some of the rewards in the DLC could be used to finish the main game easier. I was particularly glad to get some Talismans that can hold off Fire, Holy, and Lightning attacks.

    In conclusion, Shadow of the Erd Tree is a solid DLC. Unfortunately, it is something that is designed for artificial difficulty. When the hippo ignores your Mimic Tear and turbo charges you repeatedly like a heat seeking missile, it is not particularly fun. There's also a lot of platforming that I'm not fond of. Many times, I would try to explore the map only to get completely lost. Still, the expansion is beautiful and the plot is extremely well done. I came to love the characters and lore of this DLC more than anyone in Elden Ring's primary game and I love those characters. Sadly, there's no option to romance Leda the Needle Knight.

8.5/10