Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree Review

FromSoftware's 2024 expansion is roughly the size of a full game and considerably harder than the one it attaches to. The Land of Shadow is a compressed, vertically stacked map reached only after beating Mohg, and it does not respect your existing build. Scadutree Fragments are a parallel upgrade currency found only here, so your damage and defence are re-levelled inside the DLC regardless of what your character achieved in the base game - a decision that generated weeks of argument and is, mechanically, the only way a new region could threaten a maxed-out Tarnished. It adds eight new weapon classes, a large set of new spells and incantations, and bosses that are widely considered the studio's most demanding, particularly the final one. The area design is the real achievement: a layered world where a cliff you noticed on arrival turns out to be the roof of somewhere you reach fifteen hours later. Around thirty to forty hours, and best attempted at a high level.