ELDEN RING SHADOW OF THE ERDTREE Review!　Enjoy new stories, dungeons, and tough bosses in a field as vast as the main game!

In this article, we will review the DLC after having played it first.

The "Land of Shadows," filled with dungeons of all sizes and discoveries

The story takes place in the "Land of Shadows," hidden in the shadow of the Golden Tree. In this land where the god Michaela went, players can enjoy adventures in a new land and stories not told in the main story.

There are various fields and dungeons in the Land of Shadows, including golden fields, ruins reminiscent of traces of ancient civilizations, steep mountains, and dungeons with a large number of vases scattered about. There are a variety of ways to get to each of these places: you can go to the front along the path, or you can take a big jump on the air currents and suddenly find yourself inside. The process of observing the surrounding structures and terrain, and pondering the paths that lead to unexplored areas, is an attraction that continues from the main "Eldenring" series.

In dungeons, you will often find weapons and items as you progress, or battle powerful enemies, but in some cases, the dungeon itself doubles as a path, and the path you take leads you to a completely different land. There is always something or someone at the rooftop of a structure, at the far end, in the center of a plaza, or at the top of a protruding gazebo, so you can always be on the lookout for new discoveries.

Enemies so large that you can look up at them. If you get close to them, you will be killed in an instant by their flames. There seems to be an effective way to fight them, but we were unable to find it this time.

Except for a map and the location of NPCs, most of the detailed information in this DLC is available only by visiting the location by yourself, but this lack of information tickles the adventurous spirit and curiosity of the player.

In the 20 hours I spent playing the game for this review, I was not able to grasp the full scope of the Shadow Lands, the stage of the game, nor was I able to complete the map of the various regions. The entire area is one-third the size of the main game, or even larger, and as I tried to investigate every dungeon and suspicious place I could find, the time was quickly running out. The volume of this DLC is so large that it could stand alone as a stand-alone work.

The characters follow in Michaela's footsteps. As they conquer each location, their stories unfold.

Level 175 is still a tough level of difficulty, but there are also elements that strengthen the game exclusively for the shadow lands.

As mentioned at the beginning of this article, the conditions required to release this DLC are the defeat of "Radahn the Star Crusher" and "Morg, Lord of Blood. Both are so-called "big bosses" and are quite powerful enemies; perhaps because it is assumed that the two have been defeated, the enemies that appear in the shadow lands are very strong, even if they are zakos.

At the time I started this DLC, I was on my first lap and my character level was 150, which was enough to clear the main story, but I personally felt that even this was not enough to conquer the various locations that appeared in the DLC. When I fought the bosses waiting for me at the end of the dungeons in the shadow lands, a single blow would take away 50 to 70% of my strength. In addition, the opponents generally have a lot of physical strength, and their defenses are also high. No matter how many levels you raise, unless you are a very skilled player, you will inevitably have a hard time. In the end, I raised my level to 175.

Many bosses move quickly and are not easily frightened by our attacks. You need to assess their attacks and respond appropriately, whether to attack, catch them with a shield, or avoid them by jumping or rolling.

Perhaps in consideration of the high level of difficulty, there is a remedy in this DLC. These are the "Shadow Tree Blessing " using "Shadow Tree Fragments" and the " Spirit Ash Blessing " obtained by using "Spirit Ashes. With these, players can strengthen themselves, horse torrents that serve as a means of transportation, and "ashes" that can be summoned to fight alongside the player.

Shards of the shadow tree and spirit ashes can be found throughout the shadow lands, and once a certain number are collected, they can be used through "blessings" that serve as the player's base of operations.

If the player obtains the blessing of the shadow tree through the shards of the shadow tree, the player will receive the blessing of the shadow tree, and if the player obtains the blessing of the spirit ash through the spirit ash, the torrent and the ashes will receive a stepwise increase in their attack power and reduction rate of damage received, respectively. Note that this effect only works in the Land of Shadows. When the player returns to the land of shadows, where the main story takes place, the attack power and reduction rate will return to normal.

The items in yellow are those that have received the blessing of the Shadow Tree.

In the Elden Ring, players can use the runes they have collected to enhance their stats by raising various parameters such as muscle strength and skill. The level of the player's status is also increased accordingly. However, the degree of growth in status varies depending on the numerical value of the parameter being referred to, and when the value reaches 50 or 60, the growth becomes noticeably slower. Since the release condition of the DLC is to defeat the powerful enemies Radarn and Morg, it is likely that by the time a player character reaches the Shadow Lands, his or her status will have risen to the point where there is a limit to the amount of enhancement that can be achieved through normal leveling up.

Since the enhancement by the blessing is treated completely separately from normal growth, it successfully solves the problem of "difficult growth of high-level characters" for those players who have raised their level to a certain level. It is up to the player to decide whether or not to use the blessing or how much to extend it, so it is recommended to leave it alone if you can afford it, or if you do use it, to extend it according to the degree of your struggle.

A variety of weapon types newly added to the light great sword, the great sword, and the bottle of perfume ......

In the Land of Shadows, you will find a number of new weapons that are not available in the Land of Narrows, where the main story takes place. In addition to the light great sword, which combines a quick attack with a long reach, there are many other weapon variations, such as the great sword, which has a longer range than the sword, the bottle of perfume, which attacks the surrounding area by scattering its contents, and the throwing sword, which throws a series of gains in succession.

There are also many types equipped with flashy techniques. The "Rensei Ken," a sword, can use the "Onji no rensei," a technique in which it launches a series of attacks with a shining blue blade that has an extended reach. The "Lerana's Twin Swords," which is a two-sword sword, has the "Moon and Fire Stance," a technique in which the blade is covered with blue and orange flames, respectively, and after holding the sword in a stance, it sends out a slash for a weak attack, or spins around and sprays flames at the enemy for a strong attack. Some of the weapons look flashy but have strong techniques that can overwhelm the enemy, and I was able to skillfully use these weapons depending on the type of enemy, or I was able to play with a new weapon that I had decided on as my weapon of choice.

There is also an unusual weapon type called a stabbing shield. I found a "dueling shield," which looks like a shield with spears strapped to the top and bottom of it. Since it can attack and defend at the same time, it is resistant to enemy counterattacks, and since it is a completely different type of weapon from other melee weapons, I enjoyed experimenting with it to see what would happen if I used it against zombie enemies or if I could use it to fend off a boss's attack.

This title originally had many ways to fight, including melee weapons such as straight and large swords, magic that can be used to attack from a distance, and relics that can be summoned to fight alongside the user. In the main story, if certain conditions are met, the "re-birth" function, which reassigns various parameters in exchange for the item "Shizuku no juvenile" at the Magic Academy Realgaria, can be used, so when using new weapons, it is a good idea to try this function depending on the required parameters.

The price of 4,400 yen (tax included) is a bit steep for a downloadable content. The DLC is a massive volume, with a field so vast that it approaches that of the main game, dungeons with mountains, dungeons, forests, ruins, and other variations, and so many new weapons that it could be considered the density of a standard game. The DLC is a must-have for those who want to delve deeper into the world of "The Eldenring," which won the "Game of the Year" award at the time as the best game of 2022.

Title Information

ELDEN RING SHADOW OF THE ERDTREE

Genre: Action RPG

Release date: June 21, 2024 (Friday)

Supported platforms: PlayStation5/PlayStation4/Xbox Series X|S/Xbox One (SMART DELIVERY supported) /Steam

Number of players: 1 to 4 players

*Up to 6 players can play in the "arena".

Rating: CERO D (for ages 17 and up)

Standalone price: 4,400 yen (tax included)

NATSUMUJI UCHIYOSHI

Freelance writer with about 10 years of experience. After graduating from a technical college, he experienced writing articles for major game magazines and creating strategy books for editorial production companies. After working for a weekly magazine for a long time and rewriting press releases, he recently started writing for Akiba Research Institute and other web-based magazines. Basically an omnivore, he plays everything from RPGs to action, simulations, and FPS.