In November 2022 FromSoftware surprised us all with Fire Ring, a game with a gigantic world full of secrets and challenges in every corner. As time went by, FromSoftware’s latest ‘soulslike’ garnered more followers. This led to a public demand for more content. Fortunately, FromSoftware continued the work and last year they announced Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree. We dust off our soot to travel to the Kingdom of Shadows and in our review you will learn about our experience in the new DLC of Fire Ring called Shadow of the Erdtree.
Shadow of the Erdtreea DLC with hours of fighting, exploration and a lot of frustration.
Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree introduces a new region called the Kingdom of Shadows to the FromSoftware game. To enter this DLC you must meet a requirement. This is having defeated Mogh “the lord of blood”, enemy of Fire Ring which according to Steam has only been defeated by 38% of the game’s owners. However, there is another “requirement” to enter the new DLC of Fire Ring
Upon entering the Kingdom of Shadows, we let ourselves be carried away—on the back of Torrente—through a series of dreamlike landscapes. Fields of luminous flowers or coastal cliffs bathed in ethereal light contrast with darker, more oppressive areas, such as poisonous swamps or ancient ruins. This duality between the beautiful and the terrifying – which captivated us in the original game – expands and without losing the ability to surprise in Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree.
A new story to reconstruct
The story of Shadow of the Erdtreethe DLC of Fire Ringfocuses on Miquella, son of Marika and brother of Malenia, Goddess of Rot. Miquella, cursed with the eternal appearance of a child, sought a cure for his and Malenia’s curse. After failing and abandoning the Golden Order, he created the Haligtree to rival the Erdtree. However, he was kidnapped by his half-brother Mohg, who longed to make him a god and be his consort. Our smut stops Mohg, leaving Miquella in a comatose state inside a cocoon.
The rest of the information about the history of the new DLC of Fire Ring called Shadow of the Erdtree —as is tradition in FromSoftware games— is spread across the map in fragments. We must reconstruct these through exploration and interpretation. But a new piece in the history of Fire Ring and a new region is not the only new thing that it introduces Shadow of the Erdtree a Fire Ring. Since, FromSoftware also has an arsenal of spells, armor pieces and weapons.
New ‘builds’ for our sooty ones
In Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree, players will have eight new types of weapons, among them the claws for melee attack, the halberd scythe or the grooved daggers. Additionally, new spells await us in the Kingdom of Shadows, some of these—with our INT build—surprised us with their devastating damage. On the other hand, in Shadow of the Erdtree, we will find manuals to create new support objects. As well as armor and talismans. We haven’t had enough time yet to collect all the new items, weapons, spells or talismans. However, the possibilities for new combos or ‘builds’ are latent in every corner of this new DLC and we can’t wait to see how the most experienced players in this game can take full advantage of everything that FromSoftware offers in Shadow of the Erdtree.
As for enemies, we cannot say that we have seen them all, but we have faced several of them. Some will be located in secret mausoleums, dungeons or will impede our progress in the history of Shadow of the Erdtree. The latter, when defeated, will leave us a memory that we can take to the Finger Reader at the Round Table. Regarding the difficulty, Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree
Lugubrious and melancholic atmosphere
The music of Shadow of the Erdtree is characterized by its melancholy—while remaining epic—perfectly reflecting the atmosphere of the Kingdom of Shadows and Miquella’s story. But the sound setting of Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree It is not limited to music. Ambient sounds, such as the wind whispering among the ruins, the singing of birds in the darkness and the wail of souls in pain, contribute to creating an immersive atmosphere and in some cases to filling the player with tension after a battle. .
It should be noted that in our original review of Fire Ring we highlight the game’s performance issues on PC. Fortunately, during the review of the new DLC of Fire Ring called Shadow of the Erdtree these issues were not present and we never had an FPS drop. Last but not least, it is worth talking about the duration of Shadow of the Erdtree. Since although we have seen that the comparison that FromSoftware made comparing the size of the Kingdom of Shadows with that of Limgrave has fallen short. If we only dedicate ourselves—having hands or more than the minimum required level—to defeating the main enemies, Shadow of the Erdtree It lasted us around 20 hours. However, we have not yet exhausted the exploration and encounters with secondary enemies.
Review made with a digital copy of the Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree DLC for Steam provided by Bandai Namco Latinoamerica.
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