"FromSoft's Greatest Hits" - Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree Review

feels like a well-executed victory lap for FromSoftware. This isn't just DLC for the sake of it; it's a greatest hits album of poison swamps, mountain ledges, sweeping vistas, and entire gimmicks ripped straight from the company's back catalog. As someone who beat the main game's story three times in full (once as Elden Lord, once for Ranni, and once for the Frenzied Flame) in addition to my main NG+4 character, I was incredibly curious as to what else FromSoftware had planned for to tie off. After more than 60 hours, I haven't been disappointed.

There's a lot of in, most notably in its level design. Structural callbacks to areas like The Duke's Archives and New Londo Ruins are littered throughout, and longtime players who still remember how to reach one particular boss will be in for multiple treats. Enemy design contains echoes of the past, too — of course you fight a boss that is part beautiful woman, part giant insect at some point. Why wouldn't you?

That's not to say there's nothing new under the Erdtree in DLC. The expansion boasts plenty of new weapons, Spirit Ashes, Ashes of War, spells, and outfits to find (including my new favorite piece of headware, pictured above, which is dropped from one of early bosses). There are dozens of new enemies to encounter, a great lineup of boss battles to both locate and overcome, and some of the most beautiful locations FromSoftware has ever produced. After hours upon hours of being worried that the whole DLC was going to take place in the heavily advertised yellow, hazy landscape of ghostly graves, discovering a coastal shore littered with glowing blue flowers literally had me gasping and smiling with relief.

Elden Ring's director has revealed exactly where players need to go to access the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC's content.

It's tradition at this point for FromSoftware's soulslike DLC offerings to challenge players even more than the base game, but like before it, difficulty is a bit of a mixed bag. In my original