Video Game Review: Elden Ring Shadow of the Erd Tree

ELDEN RING is a game that Epic Indie absolutely loved, like most of the internet (link: https://www.epicindie.net/movies-games-shows/game-review-elden-ring?rq=Elden). Elden Ring is the story of a land ruled by gods that has been wrecked by the shattering of their holy order by the top god, Marika. It combines the work of George R.R. Martin and Hidetaka Miyazaki into a work that draws from the best of both. So, I was very excited about seeing what they managed to do for the DLC. So what did I think of it?

It is damned hard.

I know, I know, complaining a Soulslike is like saying that there's too much jumping in Mario Brothers. However, this is really hard. So hard that the game developers agree with me on this as there's special power ups that reduce damage as well as increase the power of your attacks by a massive amount spread throughout the DLC. Ones that only work within the DLC because they're aware of just how overpowered the new enemies all are.

Indeed, Shadow of the Erd Tree is something that requires you to have progressed pretty far into the main quest of the game before starting. You have to defeat Radahn Starscourge and Mogh the Lord of Blood before you're able to enter the Shadowlands. This is due to the nature of the game's plot, which we'll get into. Still, you should probably be 150 levels into the game and closer to 200 if you want to actually play it. Thankfully, you don't have to defeat Malenia despite the fact that she's someone who should be tied to the main story.

The main story is that Miquella, demigod son of Marika, wishes to become the god of an Age of Compassion. He has brainwashed a set of followers from each of the major factions in the game and set them loose in the Shadowlands. The Shadowlands is an alternate dimension that was once home to Marika in her pre-divinity days. Because you wish to be the Elden Lord, you have to stop him before he brainwashes everyone into following him instead. Along the way, you'll also have to deal with Messmer, Marika's forgotten son, that has been carrying out a genocide against the locals for the past few centuries.

There's a lot of world-building in this game that relates to the backstory of the Lands Between, Marika, Miquella, and the heretofore unknown Hornsent. A lot of this will go by the average player, though, who just wants to fight against a variety of bosses in a new terrain. For the most part, this new region provides all of that and more. Indeed, this could easily have been marketed as its own game in terms of the sheer size as well as well as breadth of the game. While the actual physical size of the Shadowlands is only about as large as Leyndall, the verticality of the gameworld means that there's a lot more to explore.

The graphics are excellent but it is a dark, dreary, and depressing land. The majority of the region is literally a graveyard with thousands of tombstones spread throughout the ruined cities as well as overturned grave ships. In addition to Miquella and Messmer, you'll also be able to deal with bosses like Bayle the Dragon Lord to Metyr the Finger Mother to a bunch of hippos that I curse to hell. ****ing Hippos. The difficulty spike is way too high, IMHO, but a lot of players will just take that as a challenge. Overall, this is well-worth the money but don't expect to finish it if you're a filthy casual like me.