It’s been a little over two years since FromSoftware released Elden Ring and redefined the Soulslike genre that they pioneered fifteen years ago. Now, with the release of the Shadow of the Erdtree expansion, FromSoftware have made a DLC feel almost like a true successor to the base game with how much time you can spend in it discovering all the new and interesting things that they have hidden in this massive expansion. I had 98 hours in the base game, and, by the time I finished Shadow of the Erdtree, my game clock was at a resounding 151 hours, and I did almost everything I could find in the game. Thus, let get into what made this expansion so special.

The first thing you’ll notice about Shadow of the Erdtree is that the expansion definitely has a difficulty jump compared to the base game, and I am someone who believes the insane difficulty of their games is overblown. Enemies, especially the new bosses introduced, are highly aggressive. You cannot go into this expansion unprepared. This isn’t like the DLC for FromSoftware’s previous games where if you are already high enough level you can breeze through the DLC without issue. No, the developers have added a new leveling system that only works within the DLC area of the game which means no matter if you come into Shadow of the Erdtree at a low level or at max level you will be in for a challenge.

This new leveling system is unique compare to the traditional form of leveling in the game. Instead of spending runes that you collect from the enemies you’ve defeated, you must explore the world to find fragments that you spend to level up yourself and a separate item that you use to level up your Spirit Summons and your mount. There are 75 of these items in total allowing you to reach level 20 for yourself and level 10 for your mount/Spirit Summons and provide a significant boost to your stats as you gain more levels. You can still level up in the traditional way, but the additional levels here have a minuscule return. Thus, you must find these new items used to level up to take on the difficulty challenge the DLC provides. With these items being scattered across the DLC, it gives you a bigger incentive to explore every nook and cranny you can get to.

That gets us to the world of the DLC itself, the Shadowlands. This new area isn’t as big as the main game, of course, but it is deceptively bigger than you would think at first glance. There are a litany of different environments for you to explore with a mix of major and minor dungeons full of enemies to encounter. The verticality of the world is immense as I kept being surprised at how deep a dungeon might get before I got to the end or how high above I was from other areas I had been to earlier in my journey. Some areas do experience a lot of pop in for the landscape or feel a bit too barren of actual interesting items to find.

Then, there’s the best part of Shadow of the Erdtree, the bosses and weapons. There are of myriad of new weapons to get to experiment with and there are a plethora of upgrade materials to find throughout the DLC so upgrading these new weapons is done easily. I was constantly respecing my character to change up my build and trying out the weapons I found the most interesting. The new bosses are some of the best and most challenging bosses I have ever gotten to experience in a FromSoftware game. From the design to the intensity of the fight, some of the bosses are a pure spectacle to witness and fight. The euphoria I experienced after spending 4 hours taking down one of the toughest, yet cinematic, bosses was exceptional, and this wasn’t even the final boss. The fun of fighting these bosses really makes me wish that the game had some way for you to be able to rechallenge them without having to tackle them on new game + or with a different character.

Shadow of the Erdtree is the biggest and most ambitious FromSoftware has ever released. It’s no surprise as to why it took them over two years to create an expansion that flows so easily from the base game and still almost feels like a small sequel. While the difficulty spikes and new leveling system might not be everyone’s cup of tea, this expansion is a shining beacon as to why FromSoftware still sits atop the genre that they invented over a decade ago.

Score: 9 out of 10

Reviewed on PlayStation 5