ELDEN RING: SHADOW OF THE ERDTREE REVIEW AN ABSOLUTE TRIUMPH
” Courage, touch the withered arm and leave for the kingdom of the shadow “: these are the words that the Knight of the Needle Leda addresses to us in front of Miquella’s cocoon, a few steps from the fleshless remains of the shining empyrean. Having entered a dark dimension, full of mysteries to reveal and adversaries to fight, we began the journey of Shadow of the Erdtree, the first expansion of Elden Ring due out on June 21st . After analyzing it in depth for about 40 hours , we can tell you that it is an experience that is absolutely worth trying, whether you are an experienced Senzaluce or whether you find yourself facing the dangers of the Interregnum for the first time .
ELDEN RING: SHADOW OF THE ERDTREE REVIEW AN ABSOLUTE TRIUMPH
Now let us descend down here into the blind world
Just as Dante descended into the “blind world” of the underworld, we Senzaluce too are called to enter a land that cannot be seen, hidden by the other veils that cover the leaden sky in the shadow of the Mother Tree . The setting that From Sotware offers us in Shadow of the Erdtree is a true masterpiece of level design, in which vast prairies thick with vegetation alternate with steep headlands.
A scenario in which breadth and verticality come together in a harmonious marriage capable of making exploration full of surprises and constantly keeping us on our toes. To accompany such a majestic stage there is a very well detailed map, willing to reveal all its secrets to those who take the right time to examine it. Castles, caves, riverbeds, abandoned manors and flowery cliffs are just some of the landscapes we find ourselves wandering through.
We reassure you, however: the Shadow Lands are a readable scenario , and in our experience we were able to easily see almost all the paths that led to places of interest. When we reached our destinations, we often found ourselves in awe at the masterful way in which the setting unfolded.
Going over a slope and admiring an expanse of scarlet flowers that spreads out like a sea of blood, or throwing ourselves down an apparently fatal cliff and then finding ourselves in a fetid swamp full of dangers : these are just some of the memorable moments that emerge among the meshes of content capable of offering hours of painful wonder. Even the invisible walls – a great classic of Miyazaki’s sagas – are easily identifiable, as their camouflage is often betrayed by the presence of suspicious torches or overly conspicuous paintings . As in the base game, our trusty steed Torrente accompanies us on the adventure, which in addition to being indispensable thanks to its practical double jump is capable of exploiting the already known ascending air currents. In the DLC, however, these vortices are sometimes blocked by small environmental puzzles whose nature never varies: they did not seem particularly brilliant , both because they were trivial to resolve and because on certain occasions they broke the rhythm of exploration.
A world as beautiful as it is hostile
As you well imagine, wandering in the lands in the shadow of the Mother Tree is not the same as a picnic in a bucolic grove: you must always keep your eyes wide open to be able to find objects scattered throughout the various areas and guard against countless dangers. The world bosses return , powerful enemies located in specific areas capable of making the blood freeze in the veins and divided into predictable returns (the ulcerated tree spirits, the dragons and birds of the mortal rite) and new entities.
As for the Furnace Giants (who appeared numerous times in the trailers), we’ll tell you right away that the battles with these flaming constructs are among the most boring in the expansion, and not just because they last a long time. In their bare-bones moveset we find various attacks capable of roasting us with a single blow which , for the reasons just explained, contribute to making the fight even more tedious.
Don’t worry though: these self-propelled braziers are not the only secondary bosses present, and the others offer far superior challenges in terms of stimulation and fun . Here we will avoid going into too much detail so as not to ruin the surprise, but know that there is certainly no shortage of irons in the fire between ferocious beasts and brave knights. To complement the Legacy Dungeons – mandatory stages to continue the story – there are numerous secondary areas.
From this point of view, Miyazaki’s team worked very well , because both the Ruins of the Forges and the Catacombs are better created than their counterparts in the main adventure, not only because they are characterized by a more stimulating and less linear level design, but also for the rewards that await us at the end of the journey. Let’s think, for example, of unique instruments of death with varied movesets, as well as previously unseen war ashes . In this regard, it is certainly worth mentioning the forged weapons, i.e. hammers, axes, daggers, spears and shields created with a special technique that allows them, once thrown, to return to the owner’s hand. These unconventional throwing weapons have proven to be truly effective and we are sure that, once in the hands of the community, they will give life to truly powerful builds and setups. It’s just a shame that these tools make the presence of other throwing objects almost superfluous, eclipsed by griffin-forged weapons from all points of view .
Arms race
Shadow of the Erdtree significantly expands the Senzaluce’s arsenal, not only from a numerical point of view, but also in terms of variety and offensive possibilities. There are eight classes of new weapons in the expansion , including thrusting shields, perfume bottles, feral claws, melee gloves, giant katanas, reverse blades, light greatswords and throwing blades. Needless to say, each of these tools can be valid and effective in the right situation.
ELDEN RING: SHADOW OF THE ERDTREE REVIEW AN ABSOLUTE TRIUMPH
We were very impressed by the movements of the new equipment: From Software did an excellent job in making them all unique , intriguing and genuinely different from those already seen in Elden Ring. Without going into too much detail, we will simply provide you with an overview of the weapons that most impressed us in terms of aesthetics and effectiveness, and others from which we would have expected a little more.
Wearing the crown of king and queen of the (mortal) ball are undoubtedly the giant katanas and the inverted blades . The former feature versatile animations – with sweeping sweeps and targeted lunges – and an extremely fruitful war ash.
The light blow inflicts a lightning-fast vertical cut capable of affecting the enemy’s balance, stunning him, while the heavy one launches a series of three slashes which, in addition to inflicting considerable damage, are perfect for applying the bleeding status which is present by default on such weapons . The reversed blades amazed us mainly for the lethal fluidity of the moveset and for their standard war ash, which allows the Senzaluce to dash behind the enemy and hit him with an attack, capable – in almost all situations – of interrupting the our opponent’s action. The use of these tools of death is truly satisfying , as is the aggressive gameplay style they allow us to implement, which reminded us of the hours spent sowing corpses through the streets of Yharnam . On the other hand, the perfume bottles and throwing blades are a little subdued and, although they are absolutely effective in terms of damage and the ability to inflict altered statuses, they appear slightly more limited in terms of practicality and animations . In fact, by using these weapons one has the sensation of using unlimited consumables which, in our opinion, fail to convey the same adrenaline-filled sensations as other war instruments.
Malenia and Mohg are just the beginning
The strong point of From’s productions has always been the boss fights, epic clashes fought with seemingly invincible enemies, capable of keeping us in suspense and putting the sanctity of our souls to the test. Shadow of the Erdtree is no exception and has presented us with memorable opponents , despite presenting some rough edges in terms of balance and readability of the clashes, but let’s proceed in order.
Take for example the Dancing Lion Divine Beast , a wonderful and fearsome colossus located at the top of the Belurat settlement. This is probably the worst boss in the entire game, due to chaotic animations and shaky camera handling , which is an additional difficulty factor. Mind you: when it comes to spectacularity, Shadow of the Erdtree is a guarantee, but in the case of the Dancing Lion and other opponents, the necessary balance between epic nature and clarity of the movements on the screen has not been maintained .
The creature’s movements are in fact erratic, and with each blow the monster inflicts damage equal to more than half of our life points. If the general quality of the boss fights has marked a constant crescendo after this first obstacle, we want to point out a few things. In the DLC, the Senzaluce’s resistances have not been balanced in such a way as to make defensive builds effective : attacks that knock us down with two or a maximum of three hits are frequent and several times we have found some that cause instant death.
Having said that, not only do the tools made available allow us to implement truly lethal strategies, but spiritistic ashes are also present – and more effective than ever . The latter are a way to greatly simplify the most difficult battles, allowing anyone to overcome them after a few attempts. We therefore recommend that you tackle each boss alone at first, and then use these friendly summons if necessary . As anticipated, the other “boss fights” were much more balanced and pleasant, such as the one with Rellana, knight of the Twin Moons . Without going too much into the lore details, this knife fight represents what the souls have become famous for, harbingers of majestic death dances with goosebump-inducing musical accompaniments .
In general the balance of the main battles is more than positive, we are only sorry that the game forces the user to rely more on extreme aggression than on defensive setups , since – we repeat – we frequently happened to go down with a couple of hits, net of a character with 60 vitality and medium armor. This type of balance in favor of offense is nothing new for Elden Ring, and enemies like Mohg and Malenia are excellent training for what awaits you in the Plains of the Tomb.
Also know that in Miyazaki’s epic adventure it is almost always possible to develop builds capable of trivializing almost every fight: just like in the base game, this structure seems to respond to a very specific desire , namely that of making the experience accessible even if you have great play skills.
Following in the footsteps of Gentil Miquella
The expansion takes place in the Kingdom of Shadows, a land now devastated by the brutal Messmer , who with his army has burned entire villages and executed every omen that came within his reach. Our aim, as Senzaluce invested with the two fingers of the task of eliminating the demigods unworthy of the power of the Ancestral Ring, is to identify the Gentle Miquella , son of the empyrean Marika and brother of the infamous Malenia.
During the adventure we will learn, through dialogues, descriptions and environmental narrative, a great deal of information regarding both our mission and the world around us . From the genesis of the Fingers, to the Scarlet Rot, to the Flame of Frenzy, there are many themes that are explored in depth in the DLC. As is typical of From Software’s stories, we will not have access to all the answers and – to have as complete a picture of the situation as possible – the work of the entire community will be necessary . What we can tell you, however, is that the main questline is quite simple to follow, also thanks to the trick of Miquella’s crosses which signal the presence of key Graces , around which there are NPCs who are fundamental to understanding the story.
The precautions that the player will have to take are the usual ones, since there remains the risk of “breaking” some quests should you decide to enter the more advanced areas of the DLC prematurely. In Shadow of the Erdtree there is no shortage of references to other important characters in the plot and we were pleasantly surprised to see how generous the catalog of themes covered was. Unfortunately during our adventure we ran into a bug – which we are sure will be fixed in the launch versions of the game – which seems to have compromised the smooth running of one of the quests .
ELDEN RING: SHADOW OF THE ERDTREE REVIEW AN ABSOLUTE TRIUMPH
In general the missions are quite intuitive to follow although – we specify – without a guide there remains the risk of losing something along the way. The strong point of the expansion is undoubtedly the group of NPCs that we will learn to know from the first minutes, all well characterized and each driven by motivations that it will be up to us to discover. Not all that glitters is gold, however, and in fact if the figure of Miquella plays the role of glue that holds the story together very well, we would have expected more from the descriptions and dialogues regarding the Empyrean . Obviously we cannot go into details but some more direct interaction with the child would have been welcome, given the enormous influence that her character has in the game world and her multiple links with various protagonists of the story.