Elden Ring‘s expansion Shadow of the Erdtree was released on June 21 to overwhelmingly positive Steam reviews. However, a few days later, reviews are mixed due to its difficulty and performance. Elden Ring has been a smash success for FromSoftware, selling over 25 million copies since its release in 2022. The game’s long-awaited expansion is finally here, and it’s pulling no punches.
FromSoftware games are known for their extreme difficulty. From Dark Souls to Bloodborne, players will undoubtedly face the “You Died” text hundreds of times. Elden Ring is no exception to this, but out of all the Soulslike games, Elden Ring is the most beginner-friendly. This is thanks to its open world. Most FromSoftware titles are linear, forcing players to either get better to progress or die trying. But in Elden Ring, if players face a challenge they can’t seem to overcome, they can leave and return later once they’re stronger.
Shadow of the Erdtree Is Soulslikes At Their Hardest
Shadow of the Erdtree seems to have increased the base game’s difficulty, which is catching players off-guard. The enemies move quickly and erratically, leaving players with no opportunity to attack. “Legitimately there is no window to attack. There are challenging boss fights that are still enjoyable, because there are windows where you can actually go in, well this DLC has none of it,” reads one negative Steam review.
In addition to its increased difficulty, Shadow of the Erdtree seems to run worse than the base game. Players are sometimes reporting massive dips in framerate, dipping down into the single digits. “I don’t recommend the DLC until they got the FPS issues fixed hitting 5 fps on the final boss attacks with 3070 ti should not happen,” reads a negative Steam review.
The poor performance and difficulty are not enough to hold Shadow of the Erdtree back for many players. “I wanted more of the hard game, and I got it,” one player said in a positive Steam review. For these players, much of the fun of Elden Ring comes from its difficulty, and now Shadow of the Erdtree is offering more of that and then some.
Shadow of the Erdtree is available now for fans of Elden Ring. Players will have to conquer Mohg in the base game before being able to tackle the expansion.
