9.1/10 – ~30 hours
Good video that summarized my stance
Who doesn’t love more Elden Ring? You’re a liar if you say otherwise lol. The genius of the base game’s loop flourishes here, with tons of new challenges, areas, weapons, and overall excitement. The base game is easily one of my favorite games of all time, and the fact we get such a juicy expansion to an already massive game is such a blessing. The Shadow Realm is so much fun to explore with absolutely GORGEOUS aesthetics. Between the dark golden plant life, Scadutree, ghost gravestones littering the place, Furnace Golems, and streaked yellow skybox, I just couldn’t stop gawking at every scene. It was so immersive, and I felt so amazing experiencing something new in this game again. The vibes in the Abyssal Woods were cool too, with the invulnerable Untouchable enemies chasing you down horror game style. Felt like a different game at times. (that area was a bit too empty overall though)
I absolutely love the Scadutree and Revered Ash spirit fragments you find throughout the world. To level the playing field with incoming players and the absolute monsters living in the shadow realm, these fragments help bolster you, your steed Torrent, and your spirit summons to actually have a chance in the DLC. At first, the combat experience does seem overtuned, but one must remember the best part about Elden Ring. Say it with me. “IF YOU CANT WIN, FUCKIN LEAVE”. You can always come back after exploring, getting a few levels, new gear, and these new fragments and try again. This is why I think these new items are an excellent design choice. You gain so much from exploring and it’s a significantly more fulfilling and memorable experience than doming the satanic Big Bird off a cliff in Moghwyn palace 300 times while chomping on golden chicken tootsies. Doesn’t matter if it takes longer, it lets you enjoy more of the game!
Love new weapons, talismans, and crystal tears. There’s so many I can’t decide on a single build (THRUSTING SHIELDS MY GOATS, RELLANA TWIN BLADE)
Let’s get the lefant in the room out of the way now. At the launch of this DLC, people were DOGPILING it for its “overtuned” damage and difficulty. Apparently enemies do way too much damage and bosses leave no openings.
Can we just calm down for a second?
I understand these bosses can be frustrating, and they are quite often. And I understand that not everyone has time to scour the whole world to grow stronger just to fight a single boss. But…those two things are the point of this game. Elden Ring is an open world game, so they added the fragments to incentivise exploration and add a better, more fulfilling way to grow stronger without massacring the sleepy frog blunt rotation at Moghwyn Palace 40 times over. Look, I don’t have all the time in the world for games either, but just slow down for a second. Enjoy the plethora of new places to explore and grow stronger. And once you do, you can piece together a strategy for the boss all while doing more damage than a gnat would by sneezing on you. Plus, wouldn’t it be boring if this DLC was just…more base Elden Ring or Dark Souls III but open world? It would be the same shit we’ve been playing for years and it wouldn’t feel special or new. It’s the job of these Fromsoft DLCs to challenge us in new ways. These bosses are far from insurmountable, even if they’re extremely aggressive and hit like a meteor.
I’ll say I hate fighting that dancing lion though, even if it was absolutely stunning visually. And that Hippo. Bastard.
The worst by far is the final boss Consort Radahn. I just hate his lack of openings and the constant explosions that cover almost all evasive options. Plus the invincibility during Miquella’s grab attack on a summon is MIND NUMBING to sit through. Feels less like the traditional “boss dance” and more fighting a computer. That shouldn’t be the thing coming across from a cinematic final boss.
Some other criticisms I have are the lack of proper explanation for things. Many item descriptions describe when their desired effect will take place, but that usually uses some jargon that will fly over most players’ heads. It’d also be nice if the maps you get from NPCs actually properly marked stuff that they supposedly highlight for you. And why do we still have no way of searching for items?
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