“Shadow of the Erdtree” is the first and only planned expansion for the video game “Elden Ring.” It continues the epic story in a new area that brings in harder bosses, grander views, a new soundtrack and all the world-building one can imagine.
To quickly talk about its gameplay, “Elden Ring” is a soulsborne. Soulsbornes are made up of slower-paced fantasy combat and exploration that is very difficult. It’s not for everyone, but it is one of the best games that have been made so far.
“Shadow of the Erdtree” takes the difficulty and cranks it up to 11. It is glorious.
One of the best parts of Elden Ring was the way that it revealed new areas, and how it let players explore everywhere that they can see. With a game full of beautiful sprawling landscapes, this is extremely impressive.
“Shadow of the Erdtree” does this even better. Moving throughout the dark fantasy landscape of the shadowlands to reveal abyssal ravines, mountains surrounded by endless storms, the corpse of a giant dragon or a massive fortress on the horizon is extremely exciting. It also serves to foreshadow future areas and parts of the story.
My only critique about the exploration is that almost all paths through the expansion lead either to or from the same fortress and it gets repetitive. That said, it serves a purpose in the plot so it’s not the worst thing.
The story and structure of “Shadow of the Erdtree” is also immaculate. Each of its stories are tonally and aesthetically diverse. Players will go from sneaking through terrifying haunted forests and mansions to playing a retelling of “Moby Dick.” The only consistent part is that each path looks like stepping into a painting and further develops its characters and parts of the world.
Every path ends with at least one boss fight, and each boss or area has a unique theme. I don’t think the soundtrack of “Shadow of the Erdtree” ever hits the same highs as the main game; it also doesn’t have as low of lows. Instead, it opts to be far more consistent and sits at a consistent eight out of 10 for me.
I don’t want to spoil the story of the expansion. It takes place near the end of the story of the main game. Also, both stories were good enough that I wish I could see them again for the first time. I will say that I find the villain tragic and it continues the story of the demigod Miquella. It also gives a ton of insight into Queen Marika’s character and the inner workings of how The Land Between came about.
Once again, it isn’t for everyone but it’s worth putting in the time and effort to play through “Elden Ring” and “Shadow of the Erdtree.” I consider them to be the best game that has been made so far and rate them five out of five Loper stars.
