Shadow of the Erdtree – “Bruised and battered” after an encounter with a group of “little demons” that seemed “easy to deal with” right after entering the game.

Nervously and insecurely, tiptoeing through each narrow corridor, dark tunnels with dozens of traps lurking everywhere, and enemies always lurking, waiting to suddenly attack.

Excited, anxious, then extremely tense every time you enter a gate covered in yellow mist, behind which are evil bosses that can easily “kill” the player in just a moment.

Those are the typical “austere” spices that are all too familiar to fans of products from game developer FromSoftware and all have returned after many months of waiting in the expansion (DLC) Shadow of the Erdtree of Elden Ring , the artistic masterpiece that brought the famous Director, Hidetaka Miyazaki a series of prestigious awards (including the most prestigious title “Game of the Year”, “blowing away” the blockbuster God of War Ragnarok at The Game Awards event in 2022) and is still honored as one of the best open-world action games of all time.

But like the saying “Rome wasn’t built in a day”, the success of Elden Ring back then didn’t come overnight, but was a long process of honing the player’s experience, the way the character class system was built, the meaningful storytelling, and the unique combat mechanism that brought about distinct emotions that could not be confused between the “original” Soulslike game and the rest of the action role-playing game market.

And certainly, at present, there is no DLC game that can bring such a terrible attraction as Shadow of the Erdtree , when not only it swept all over social networks and media, but it also just reached the sales milestone of 5 million copies in just… three days of release, a number that even the famous Phantom Liberty DLC of Cyberpunk 2077 (the most pre-ordered game in history with more than 8 million pre-orders) took several months to achieve.

With such great expectations, will Shadow of the Erdtree continue to succeed, surpassing the great shadow of the “giant tree” Elden Ring ? 

Let’s climb on the back of the divine horse Torrent with MarkGame, galloping into the dark land of Land of Shadow to find out the truth through the following article, guys!

Please also note that the author will keep all bosses anonymous and limit mentioning major events as much as possible so that readers can enjoy the game to the fullest.

YOU WILL LIKE

Strange yet familiar!

To reach the new location Realm of Shadow, the game requires players to complete a number of specific tasks in the original Elden Ring such as defeating the two demigods Radahn and Mohg, reaching the chrysalis located at the end of the Mohgwyn Dynasty Mausoleum palace, where the journey to find answers to the fate of Miquella the Merciful, a mysterious character and also the twin brother of the undefeated female warrior Malenia will begin.

These requirements are not unfamiliar to anyone who has played previous DLCs from FromSoftware such as Ringed City in Dark Souls 3 or The Old Hunters in Bloodborne , but the interesting thing is that Elden Ring is the first large open world game from the company and with the massive amount of content, there are current gamers who have “plowed” to the threshold of Rune Level (character level) higher than… 500 or are even “riding around” literally in the 7th replay round (New Game+).

So wouldn’t the challenges that Shadow of the Erdtree brings be insignificant to these “hardcore” players and, on the contrary, would it be too “thorny” for those who only play to a level sufficient to “unlock” the DLC?

FromSoftware cleverly solved this balancing problem with a completely new character development and summoning mechanism through collecting Scadutree Fragment and Revered Spirit Ash fragments scattered all over the map, or dropped from some tough opponents in the game.

This mechanism is similar to the Prayer beads in Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice , the more you have, the stronger the main character Wolf becomes, but the difference is that Scadutree Blessing simultaneously enhances both the damage and the character’s ability to withstand attacks in Shadow of the Erdtree significantly, and of course… also loses its effect when the player returns to the original game.

Thanks to this feature, the game creates a great motivation for players to constantly explore and discover to the “ends of the world”, taking advantage of new advantages instead of just focusing on the existing advantages to hunt for “bosses” or “race” to complete the game as quickly as possible!

Specifically, when I first entered the DLC, my character with Rune Level 160 (higher than the game company’s requirements), Vigor 50, wearing Medium armor, could only take about two hits from a lowly soldier in the Shadowkeep castle, and when I entered the boss battles, it was truly “oh my god”, it was ironic that the title of Elden Lord that I achieved when I “returned” to the game in the past was now only worth calling… “famous without real”.

FromSoftware cleverly solved this balancing problem with a completely new character progression and summoning mechanic through collecting Scadutree Fragments and Revered Spirit Ash.

On the contrary, after traveling from north to south, searching every corner of the map and reaching a decent Blessing level, everything becomes much easier, bringing back experiences that are truly “worth the money”.

It is worth mentioning that those journeys not only helped the writer’s character become stronger but also brought about overwhelming emotions when suddenly discovering new and unique areas, just from a few very small details such as accidentally jumping into a… hole, encountering monsters with strange shapes, unexpected encounters with equipment and weapons that must be called masterpieces.

Full of equipment, the way to “build” a character is very diverse.

If the number of equipment in the original game could have made many people “dizzy”, Shadow of the Erdtree also brings more than… 100 weapons, dozens of shields and armor sets, Talisman charms, new magic, so much so that the game company added a category to display the newly collected items in the inventory called “Recent Item”, so that players do not have to struggle to find the right item they need in an oversized storage!

The author also guarantees that all “building” paths (character building) from the pure physical system (Strength), the sword system wearing light armor (Dexterity), the magic system (Intelligence), the spell master (Incantations) or a combination of many things together will all find for themselves in the DLC version new “truth” toys, not only strong, beautiful, unique in appearance but also “given” with more cool Ash of War (ultimate moves)!

For example, a person who is passionate about the Samurai character class like the author also tried to change the system and “fell in love” with the Dryleaf Art gloves that have martial arts moves using a series of punches and kicks, not only helping to “cosplay” the favorite character Tifa in Final Fantasy VII , but also being able to combine (Fuse) it with elements like Ice or Blood to create debuff effects such as Frostbite, Blood Loss, easily making many strong opponents “disappear” before they can even strike.

With the “pure” Dex system direction, we can also mention a few typical names for players to choose from, such as Light Greatsword Milady with a “spinning dance” attack stance that reminds the writer of the legendary “Wolf Song” Geralt in the game The Witcher 3 , Japanese sword (Katana) Sword of Night has unique auxiliary effects and a magical Ash Of War combo attack chain like the Waterfowl Dance technique of “idol” Malenia in Elden Ring .

In addition, the game also has some “funny” items such as a greatsword that can shoot out… geckos, a shield but has two sharp ends used for stabbing or on the other hand, weapons with terrible damage that can “break the game”, for example, the Bloodfiend’s Arm hammer can pump the initial parameter of the “debuff” blood loss (Blood buildup) up to approximately 200, the magic spell Carian Sovereignty can easily blow away nearly 10,000 blood points from some tough bosses after only 2 slashes, I really hope that they are not “patched” by the game company too soon.

Fortunately, Shadow of the Erdtree adds 9 Larval Tears for players to freely “clear points” and experience new builds, along with a fair amount of Ash Spirit Summons added for those who like the style of summoning “disciples” to support fierce battles.

And of course, when you have “good items and good “builds”, you must have the opportunity to experiment and there is no better ideal than using them in the mind-boggling boss battles, the heart of any Soulslike game, since this concept appeared in the early 2010s.

As mentioned before, the writer will not “spoil” too much about the “big” bosses appearing in this DLC, but it can be said that most of them bring a sense of satisfaction in both the gameplay experience and the visual aspect, even bringing a bit of nostalgia for the “notorious” names in the past in Dark Souls 3 such as Pontiff Sulyvahn or The Nameless King.

Bosses at Legend level and above will all have at least two phases, with the latter being epic, impressive, and easily “sorrowful” to even the most experienced gamers.

The remaining opponents are also very diverse, inheriting the typical designs from the original game, such as giant stone Golems shaped like mobile torches, mini-bosses in the form of human souls hidden beneath the ruins, NPC characters from friends to enemies, to strange monsters or powerful and mighty ancient dragons.

If the number of equipment in the original game could have made many people “dizzy”, Shadow of the Erdtree also brings more than… 100 weapons, dozens of shields and armor sets, along with Talisman charms, new spells.

Overwhelmed!

Like the first time stepping out to admire the Limgrave field, opening the journey to become the Elden Lord of The Tarnished, Shadow of the Erdtree also makes a strong visual impression when starting with a majestic, wide-angle scene that covers the entire frame with the end of the distant horizon is the giant Erdtree tree with a dark color contrasting with the original game.

Along with that are the hidden images of the main areas, arousing the player’s sense of adventure, exploration and discovery.

Perhaps Director Miyazaki was being too “modest” when he described Shadow of the Erdtree as being of a scale comparable to Limgrave, because in reality the game world is not only larger than players expect, but also develops vertically, with many hidden layers deep below the starting terrain surface.

The DLC also continues to inherit the values ​​that not only made Elden Ring a great success before, but also brings the characteristic Soulslike style that is “hard to swallow”, closer to the general public, which is an endless freedom in the spirit of “sandbox game”, no “hand-holding directions”, no specific route, players can go wherever they want or do whatever before or after.

Tracking down Miquella’s relics, exploring the Catacombs, following NPCs in search of new gear, or getting lost in a giant castle designed in a Legacy Dungeon (a typical area in the Dark Souls series ) can take hours just to uncover all the secrets hidden within.

Stuck on a boss? No problem, you can keep exploring until you get stronger and then come back.

You come to the end of a tunnel with nowhere else to go? Just wander around and find a vital clue or even step into a completely different world!

Miyazaki was being too “modest” when he described Shadow of the Erdtree as being on a scale comparable to Limgrave, because in reality the game world is not only larger than players expect, but also develops vertically, with many hidden layers.

If in the original game you still had a clear goal of hunting down at least two Demigods holding Great Rune fragments, assisted by Melina or guided by waifu Ranni, then in this DLC it is a true adventure… “do it yourself”.

The entire journey is also adorned with picturesque frames, sometimes magical and mysterious, sometimes magnificent and splendid, sometimes making the writer stunned and “frozen” for a few seconds, continuously pressing the screenshot button, forgetting about the enemy… sniping from afar.

If not counting the time spent beating the bosses, the total number of hours the author played would be more than 25 hours, a number equal to the length of a single blockbuster action game!

YOU WILL HATE

Several factors can cause discomfort !

When Shadow of the Erdtree was first released, it was met with many comments from players that the game was… unnecessarily difficult, culminating in a wave of low ratings on Steam, causing Elden Ring to drop to a near-negative rating on the platform for the first time.

Indeed, after “plowing through” the DLC, the author also somewhat understands these complaints and clearly they have a basis when FromSoftware immediately released the first patch (patch 1.12) to make the game somewhat easier, similar to what the company did before with the Ringed City expansion in Dark Souls 3 , which made many players… “depressed” because it was too difficult!

To be fair, everyone’s experience will be different, but in general, this issue can still be explained by two main factors: limited camera angle and boss attack range.

Basically, Shadow of the Erdtree has at least 4 bosses that are either too big or move too much, causing the game’s overly close-up camera angle to accidentally become… the player’s main opponent when they can’t keep up with their actions, especially for character classes that use melee combat.

Many times the writer witnessed the screen “spinning” when using the Target Lock feature on the boss, being covered by “colorful” effects that almost completely covered the field of view or even being unable to hit a single point of the opponent and having to suffer unjust damage.

Next, the attack amplitude of some bosses in the DLC is “beyond imagination”, the series of more than 10 consecutive attacks, sometimes fast, sometimes slow, difficult to “read” is “a daily occurrence”, the player has very little time to react and just a split second of wrong judgment will easily lead to two outcomes, being “beaten face down” while drinking a health potion due to AI analyzing “input reading” or… “taking the breathing tube” back to the checkpoint (temporary save point) to try another luck.

Not to mention, there is a boss using a mount… rushing straight at the player as soon as they enter the battle location, causing many players to not even have time to press the summon button (summon) Spirit Ash. Luckily, this error has also been “patched” by the game company with the recent patch 1.12.3.

Finally, although the game’s performance optimization has improved compared to Elden Ring when it was first released, frame rate fluctuations still occur frequently, even in Prioritize Frame Rate mode.

Basically, Shadow of the Erdtree has at least 4 bosses that are either too big or move too much, causing the game’s overly close-up camera angle to accidentally become… the player’s main opponent.