| Platform | OVERALL |
|---|---|
| PlayStation 5 | 9.60 |
| Overall | 9.60 |
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FROM does it again, Shadow of the Erdtree is every bit as good as Elden Ring and longer than most standard Souls game. This isn’t just an expansion, this is basically what used to be a sequel before sequels took 5 years. With a massive new world to explore, tons of new weapons and some of the toughest bosses in the series, this “expansion” is one of the best games in the series and one of the best period. I’m not going to go over what worked in Elden Ring, the formula is well known, if for whatever reason you didn’t care for it this expansion is not changing your mind. It is literally more of Elden Ring but it feels like the best parts streamlined into a smaller package… that’s still like 80 hours long. The level design is where this shines, I loved the world of Elden Ring because of these random discoveries that lead to incredible levels, they doubled down on that concept here. Nearly every corner, every path, any section of the map where you think I wonder what is there, there is something of interest and many times a rabbit hole to go down that leads to a beautiful or terrifying new location. My mind was blown when I entered a random catacomb (these are far fewer in this game and they are far better designed), fought my way down down down and battled a great boss only to have the usual exit change on me. Instead the back way opened up, lead to a hidden path down to a secret garden that ended up into a foreboding forest where my horse was even too scared to come out. From there I fought strange new enemies that couldn’t be killed leading to a little stealth and discovered a mansion which lead to a totally optional legacy dungeon. That’s just one of many many examples of exploring leading to hours of quality content. The map size isn’t close to as large as the core game but it’s so dense. They layered the levels on top of each other so even though it seems there isn’t much to cover if you stay on top you will miss the entire world below, secret tunnels in between, hidden rivers and so much more. There are some stunning vistas, I stood in awe many times as I looked off to the horizon and saw something in the distance, the light hitting the world in such a picturesque way. There is not a bad location in the entire game and each area is well themed and feels unique. Legacy dungeons return and for the most part they are high quality. I wouldn’t say any match stormveil castle or farum azula but they generally all very well done. No one making souls like can match the level design of FROM games, it feels like Shadow is then flexing, showing off how effortlessly they create such complex, fun to explore and devilishly dangerous locations. Of course these levels culminate in a boss battle that will test every player. I know many disliked the direction Elden Ring took with bosses and there extremely long string of attacks and short punish windows. Clearly ER designed bosses for all the new systems in play like summoning spirits or playing coop, many players just want to do it the “correct way”. They double down on all those mechanics here, bosses are relentless. Two in particular make Malenia seem tame. I spent a good 3 hours on the final boss, yes I’m hard headed and wanted to do a pure battle, that’s my choice and im glad I did it because I loved learning the pattern. It took me forever but eventually it clicked and I could see the progress being made on the boss, it was thrilling to get closer and closer to defeating it. As much as people complain the bosses aren’t fair, they still are, the pattern and windows are just much more complex and faster. What I love though and many seem to ignore this, the options available to the player in how to attack any situation is incredible. I had a whole bunch of tears that let me respec my character from my original play of the game, so with this DLC I experimented a ton with builds. There are over 100 new weapons and so many of them are so much fun to use. New style of weapons include a karate style fist weapon, the perfumer where you spray mysts of damage and katana greatswords. There are a ton of new special attacks, wild ones that can do massive damage to the right kind of enemy. Some of my favorites included new beast claw attacks that have you jump forward and go full Wolverine berserker mode on enemies, works great to build up bleed status. There is a double sword where one can shoot out magic beams and the other creates a tornado of fire. A new blade dancer stance where you can build up power and then unleash a leaping slash. I tried a strength build for the first time in a long time and was reminded at how crazy powerful it can be. I found a great sword that allowed me to dash forward and at the end of the attack allowed me to leave a magic explosion that wrecked enemies. I can do this while hiding behind a massive shield giving me excellent defense and offense. I went back to dex build soon but enjoyed being reminded at how different a style another player can build. Dex is still best, my favorite new weapon was two discs that could be thrown, I added a special that basically let me do a shadow dash so I was kind of teleporting around throwing discs at enemies, so much fun. Oh there is a shield throw, you can be captain america! Oh and then there is all the magic! I would mix and match, have some fun spells to go along with my quick strikes. The amount of builds and viable fun weapons is nearly endless. I think part of why I loved this expansion so much is because I was so invested in trying every new weapon out. Exploration didn’t just lead to a bunch of useless stuff I couldn’t use, now the rewards were quality. Of note is the new leveling system added to the DLC, there is a second level system that buffs all stats, this is earned by finding special seeds. The allure of finding these valuable rewards made me want to explore every area. There is almost always bound to be a new weapon or seed at every notable location, I rarely felt like I did something for nothing. I will say there was maybe too many upgrade items, I could buy those at any time at the store so they weren’t really necessary but it’s clear the game wanted the player to max out all new weapons quickly. The only area I felt Elden Ring was a step back from past souls game was the online modes and lack of covenants, that continues here. Invasions and pretty much busted as when you do invade it’s almost always only going to be someone playing coop, so you are outnumbered many times getting ambushed right away by a gang of players. The only areas I had fun invading were in catacombs as those had small spaces and so many traps I could sort of surprise and separate groups. I usually enjoy helping people fight bosses after I beat them but this game really made coop hard. Bosses gain much more health the more players join, if you have one bad player in the group the fight is usually much harder. I rarely got a boss kill this time because players generally sucked and bosses were much harder. I hope the next Elden Ring makes the online mode more of a focus as I love what they add to the souls game. Jumping into others games is still a fantastic way to see imaginative builds you would never think of, almost no two players were alike. Shadow of the Erdtree is another souls game classic. To me it’s a sequel, a shorter but more focused sequel that hits all the highs that Elden Ring does. Sure it’s doesn’t have the same wow factor being an expansion of Elden Ring but the experience is top notch. This is the best gaming experience I have had this year, I don’t know how I would feel about giving GOTY to an expansion but I feel this is really its own game so I’ll allow it. There is a sea of souls clones out there but clearly no one does it better than FROM, they are at the top of their game and this is a showcase of that talent. I wish more developers would bring back the quick sequel that builds on the last game, especially if it’s this level of quality. |
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Posted by Dvader Tue, 13 Aug 2024 08:28:31
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