Shadow of the Erdtree is a weird expansion. It has a problem where everything is good, but nothing excels. The open world is okay, legacy dungeons are good, the overall boss roster is ok, nothing stands out here except that it's just more Elden Ring. Which is good! But there's just a core part missing somewhere.
To start off, the open world is very empty. There's not much to really see or do here. Sure there's a couple of buildings around, but it's mostly just forest with the actual content being split into different areas, instead of sprinkling some around. And exploration doesn't feel very rewarding either, because there's nothing to find. And the way you get to new areas of the map is so convoluted i just never found it.
The legacy dungeons are good. Nothing special really. They all felt a little bit too cramped with enemies and there's nothing in them except some crafting materials and some smiting stones i guess. There are some cool new things to find, but they're far and wide apart.
The bosses are, for the most part, pretty good. There are some pretty bad ones, but i'll get into that later. I can't say much about the bosses since i never found any, since they're all so hidden on the map because like i said earlier, you can't find anything because the path to everything is so hidden and convoluted. Messmer was my personal favorite, and quickly turned into an all-time favorite. Makes me proud to have that statue of him from the Collector's Edition on my shelf.
And Scadutree Fragments are kinda a flawed mechanic. They’re good in theory, but in practice they’re not. There are fifty Scadutree Fragments, which is more than the amount of Golden Seeds and Sacred Tears you need to max out your flask COMBINED, and the fact that they’re scattered around everywhere makes exploration very forced and unfun.
Story-wise? it's bad. Really bad. You pop into the Land of Shadow to find Miquella, which is a pretty simple goal, but you're never told why either you, or these other people, are trying to find Miquella. Or even what his goal is. It's very dissapointing. Because i'd very much like to know why i'm running around on a wild goose chase for this guy. But i won't find out. They also don't mention a lot of the loose threads from the main game. Such as Melina, The Godskins, Godwyn, etc. They make up a whole lot of new stuff, don't delve incredibly deep into it, and then don't mention the other questions we've had for two years.
SPOILERS INCOMING. SCROLL DOWN TO WHERE IT SAYS "SPOILERS END" TO GET MY FINAL THOUGHTS
Just to delve deeper into what i've already said, Radahn as a fight and story element is fucking stupid. The fight itself is shit. The first phase is okay, but the second one is just spam and AoE hell. Nobody can convince me that his second phase is good.
AND MIQUELLA'S WHOLE GOAL WAS TO PUT RADAHN'S SOUL INTO MOHG'S BODY TO MAKE HIM HIS CONSORT BECAUSE HE REALLY LIKES HIM OR SOMETHING?? AND BY THE WAY, WE HAVE NEVER HEARD ABOUT MIQUELLA EVEN MENTIONING RADAHN BEFORE. WHAT THE FUCK??
And just to say some more about being left completely in the fucking dark about what's happening, the Gank Squad version 2 fight is so fucking stupid, because you guys are turning on me because i supposedly follow the Erdtree?? Bitch, i don't even know why i'm here and even trying to find Miquella. So don't betray me because you think i'm doing something, i'm not even aware of myself!
SPOILERS END
But overall, i would still reccomend Shadow of the Erdtree. It's good when it's broken into smaller parts, but in it's whole it suffers greatly
To start off, the open world is very empty. There's not much to really see or do here. Sure there's a couple of buildings around, but it's mostly just forest with the actual content being split into different areas, instead of sprinkling some around. And exploration doesn't feel very rewarding either, because there's nothing to find. And the way you get to new areas of the map is so convoluted i just never found it.
The legacy dungeons are good. Nothing special really. They all felt a little bit too cramped with enemies and there's nothing in them except some crafting materials and some smiting stones i guess. There are some cool new things to find, but they're far and wide apart.
The bosses are, for the most part, pretty good. There are some pretty bad ones, but i'll get into that later. I can't say much about the bosses since i never found any, since they're all so hidden on the map because like i said earlier, you can't find anything because the path to everything is so hidden and convoluted. Messmer was my personal favorite, and quickly turned into an all-time favorite. Makes me proud to have that statue of him from the Collector's Edition on my shelf.
And Scadutree Fragments are kinda a flawed mechanic. They’re good in theory, but in practice they’re not. There are fifty Scadutree Fragments, which is more than the amount of Golden Seeds and Sacred Tears you need to max out your flask COMBINED, and the fact that they’re scattered around everywhere makes exploration very forced and unfun.
Story-wise? it's bad. Really bad. You pop into the Land of Shadow to find Miquella, which is a pretty simple goal, but you're never told why either you, or these other people, are trying to find Miquella. Or even what his goal is. It's very dissapointing. Because i'd very much like to know why i'm running around on a wild goose chase for this guy. But i won't find out. They also don't mention a lot of the loose threads from the main game. Such as Melina, The Godskins, Godwyn, etc. They make up a whole lot of new stuff, don't delve incredibly deep into it, and then don't mention the other questions we've had for two years.
SPOILERS INCOMING. SCROLL DOWN TO WHERE IT SAYS "SPOILERS END" TO GET MY FINAL THOUGHTS
Just to delve deeper into what i've already said, Radahn as a fight and story element is fucking stupid. The fight itself is shit. The first phase is okay, but the second one is just spam and AoE hell. Nobody can convince me that his second phase is good.
AND MIQUELLA'S WHOLE GOAL WAS TO PUT RADAHN'S SOUL INTO MOHG'S BODY TO MAKE HIM HIS CONSORT BECAUSE HE REALLY LIKES HIM OR SOMETHING?? AND BY THE WAY, WE HAVE NEVER HEARD ABOUT MIQUELLA EVEN MENTIONING RADAHN BEFORE. WHAT THE FUCK??
And just to say some more about being left completely in the fucking dark about what's happening, the Gank Squad version 2 fight is so fucking stupid, because you guys are turning on me because i supposedly follow the Erdtree?? Bitch, i don't even know why i'm here and even trying to find Miquella. So don't betray me because you think i'm doing something, i'm not even aware of myself!
SPOILERS END
But overall, i would still reccomend Shadow of the Erdtree. It's good when it's broken into smaller parts, but in it's whole it suffers greatly
9 Comments
@EmehVukii Thanks for clearing it up.
STORY SPOILERS
But i still think that it’s stupid that we’re not told this in any way shape or form. The overarching goal of why we’re even here is such a goddamn mystery throughout the entire DLC that i just can’t excuse it like i normally do with the Souls Games’s story.
Like Leda, my brother, i didn’t even know myself that i support the Erdtree.
STORY SPOILERS
But i still think that it’s stupid that we’re not told this in any way shape or form. The overarching goal of why we’re even here is such a goddamn mystery throughout the entire DLC that i just can’t excuse it like i normally do with the Souls Games’s story.
Like Leda, my brother, i didn’t even know myself that i support the Erdtree.
@NeatNoMercy Well it's certainly a bit more confusing this time around, so I don't really blame you lmao. I luckily did a certain quest that gives a lot of insight into why we should stop Miquella.
I agree the "main thread" (Miquella) could have been done a lot better, but me and many others find some of the side threads (especially Messmer & Marika) to be some of the strongest and emotional writing they've done
The story trailer released a month ago really needed to have its scenes as an opening movie before you reach Gravesite Plains or something. I connected w/ and understood the story reasonably but I'm biased bc I've become familiar with the lore. but for people not as versed it's a little disappointing they didn't do a little more to set things up in a clearer way (like the base game's story lol)
The story trailer released a month ago really needed to have its scenes as an opening movie before you reach Gravesite Plains or something. I connected w/ and understood the story reasonably but I'm biased bc I've become familiar with the lore. but for people not as versed it's a little disappointing they didn't do a little more to set things up in a clearer way (like the base game's story lol)
I'm not expecting it but I'm hoping for a smaller scale DLC that touches upon Melina, the Godskins/Gloam and Torrent some more (imo Godwyn is completely fine as is)
Spoilers obv but...
I think it's weird that in the base game we can choose to side with Ranni who, just like Miquella, wants to get rid of the whole golden order/elden lord structure and start the age of stars where she's basically the god or whatever. Why then can't we choose to side with Miquella who's basically doing the same thing? @EmehVukii said our objective is becoming Elden Lord and it kind of is except for the Ranni ending. IDK Just chiming in to say that I agree with you about the story not really making that much sense here.
I think it's weird that in the base game we can choose to side with Ranni who, just like Miquella, wants to get rid of the whole golden order/elden lord structure and start the age of stars where she's basically the god or whatever. Why then can't we choose to side with Miquella who's basically doing the same thing? @EmehVukii said our objective is becoming Elden Lord and it kind of is except for the Ranni ending. IDK Just chiming in to say that I agree with you about the story not really making that much sense here.
@TimAlien The thing is, at least as I see it, that Miquella is quite different from Ranni. Miquella is following Marika's steps to godhood, he hopes to achieve a new age on the lands between with him at the helm. With Ranni's ending, yes you're also ushering a new age, but it's an age without gods. Ranni doesn't intend to take the role of a new ruler, or will let anyone take it for that matter. I don't think there's an ending where you work towards making someone a god or the new ruler of the lands between, it's either you become Elden Lord or bring a new age without gods. (Frenzied Flame Ending, Ranni's Ending, Goldmask's ending).
@EmehVukii That makes sense that their purpose isn't quite the same. Still I think the main frustration just stems from the fact that we don't get any new choices for endings from the DLC which makes the ending of the DLC feel a little bit hollow. It is kind of frustrating that you can't decide to go along with Miquella's plan in some way. Maybe they could've let you replace Radahn as the consort or something like that. I get why it happened the way it did it's just not very satisfying from a narrative standpoint.
EmehVukii
6 days ago
STORY SPOILERS
From what I understand, we're essentially trying to stop Miquella from becoming a god, since it goes directly against your objective of becoming Elden Lord. There just can't be two lords.
I'll also point out the fact that the term "Consort" is not exactly fully accurate when accounting what the Japanese version says. I don't think there's a word in English for the original meaning, but it's something closer to a king rather than a consort iirc.