By Ronald Gordon

Shadow of the Erdtree is one of the hardest DLCs I’ve experienced. After losing my original save data, and going on a long and tiring rerun of the entire game, I made it to a level where I thought the DLC would be a small thing. I was not prepared for how exhilarating it would be, for how blood boiling, or for how much it’d make me love Elden Ring all over again. 

Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree is a downloadable content pack that expands the world of the Lands Between into a separate dimension called the Shadow Realm. Following the demigod Kindly Miquella and his many knights into the realm overlooked by the Scadutree, it’s your task as a Tarnished to rid the Shadow Realm of the tyrannical Messmer and his flames. Eventually, you may get to witness the birth of a new god, and vanquish them right after. 

FromSoftware pulls no punches in this download, giving you an expansive new area to explore, plenty of new weapons to find, a new system to increase ability scores and grow stronger – more than you could imagine! Diving into the Shadow Realm, a place where the dead go to rest, is no easy task and requires you killing the Lord of Blood Mohg before you can venture into such a place. Upon stepping into the Shadow Realm however, you’re greeted by a whole new world fraught with turmoil, pain, and death much like the Lands Between. Although unlike the Lands Between, there is no healing to be done here, only the culling of the Impaler’s forces and of a new God. 

Shadow of the Erdtree is hard. Not because of the difficulty scaling to your level, or because of the new enemies and bosses that would seek to haunt my playthrough, but because my second run of Elden Ring had always felt like I was missing something. Ever since my first save was corrupted, and I had lost nearly 130+ hours of gameplay, I never truly felt whole playing the game again. I would pick it up for a day or two only to put it back down when I reached a boss that I had previously beaten and suddenly couldn’t. Everything felt bland, the various sights in the Lands Between weren’t as pretty, the Erdtree wasn’t as appealing. I lost the spark for adventure and conquest I had for quite a long time. 

Then with the announcement of the DLC, something clicked inside of me. I had something new to look forward to; I had something to fight for. Finally getting back to the endgame in only 100 hours, I fooled myself into thinking I was prepared for what Shadow of the Erdtree had to offer. Little did I know that these new enemies would end up erasing my health as soon as I got hit once, but then something else clicked.

I enjoyed this new difficulty more than I should’ve. It felt good to lose. It wasn’t just that the enemies were difficult, it was something I was doing that didn’t work. I didn’t dodge at the right time; I healed at the wrong time; was using a weapon that wasn’t compatible with my playstyle, everything about Shadow of the Erdtree’s difficulty was rooted in something I could fix internally rather than externally. 

Indulging in these new challenges in Shadow of the Erdtree made Elden Ring beautiful to me again. The Shadow Realm is dim and bleak with light that almost looks like it’s draping over the horizon, in contrast to the Lands Between which is bright and bathed in rays of gold. The Scadutree, which copies what the Erdtree does, lies broken and oozes a strange black substance. But even in its decrepit state, it still looks magnificent. The music brings with it similar orchestral vibes to the base game’s soundtrack, but there’s a new sort of energy and fire hidden underneath the many boss themes. One of my favorites out of all the boss themes is the theme of Bayle the Dread, a battle wounded dragon that fights with an exposed elbow bone. His theme features tense violins, cellos and booming horns that make it truly feel like you’re fighting. Not many songs get me as excited as Bayle’s theme did when I fought him. 

Shadow of the Erdtree brought fire and light I didn’t know I could find in this game again. Jumping into the Shadow Realm for the first time was like diving into the game for the first time: I was happily lost immediately in it. As of writing this review, I’ve invested far more hours than I ever have on my original save, and I don’t plan on stopping anytime soon. To anyone wanting to play Elden Ring because of the DLC, I suggest getting a feel for the game in its final stretch first beforehand. I dove in without a New Game+ and just before the final boss, and the DLC still kills me more than the base game. It’s tough, but it’s fair – if you’re skilled enough (or stubborn enough) to push through and conquer the odds. 

Ronald Gordon is a New York Videogame Critics Circle Member & Mentor. He was the first of our writers – or any intern anywhere – to complete an internship at Rockstar Games.

---