Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree: PS5 Review

Developed by FromSoftware
Published by Bandai Namco
Platform: PS5

Shadow of the Erdtree carries on Elden Ring's tradition of being punishingly hard and forcing you to consider every single move and choice you make during your campaign.

Essentially a mini-Elden Ring shrunk down to one map and truncated to only punish you over a 20-hour period, the game's raison d'etre is inherently obvious to those who've played the game before.
With exceptionally difficult to beat bosses - just above 10 of them in total - inhabit the Land of Shadow - and you can only access the game if you've beaten the base game's Radahn and Mohg bosses.

From Software does a little more hand holding this time around, and perhaps the purists who have satiated themselves on Elden Ring's more obtuse edges will feel a little disappointed with the lack of freedom.

But what's clear about this DLC is that it's anything but a rushed out release, just birthed to bolt on to the original game without care and consideration.

Every element of the DLC is draped in the game's DNA, but with newer characters, creatures and locations, it does feel like diving into the original game once again - a feeling that's both overwhelmning and a little bit thrilling.
Yet perhaps this is also a problem for those not coming to the game from years of practice and perfection behind them.

It's unforgiving in parts and while there are elements scattered around that could help, it's worth realising that this isn't a DLC for non-players of the base game - and even in parts, hardcore players of the original will struggle with if Elden Ring is not their constant thing.
Fitting wonderfully within its sub-genre, but continuing From Software's MO of seemingly punishing its players with challenges, Shadow of the Erdtree represents both the very best of the genre and also the hardest of it as well.