Is the DLC for Elden Ring really that hard, or are you just bad at it? The expansion has been buried under an avalanche of criticism, despite many gaming sites praising it highly. We at MeinMMO are trying to understand where this discrepancy comes from.
With the announcement of the DLC “Shadow of the Erdtree,” a dream came true for many fans. A sequel to the game that enchanted them so much.
Many gaming sites, including ours, were among the first fans to visit the Shadowlands and test the expansion. The result: reviews with very good scores and endless praise – on metacritic with an overall score of 95.
On June 21, 2024, the players got their turn. They eagerly awaited a DLC that would be on par with the base game. Now, a few days after release, reality sets in.
The expansion is being bombarded with criticism on Steam. The DLC is said to be far too difficult and poorly optimized. We looked at both sides and will show you where legitimate criticism lies.
Masterpiece or pure torture? – What the reviews say
What were the reviews like on the websites? Extremely positive. Many gaming sites praised the DLC and shared their opinions on metacritic. With an overall score of 95 points, the expansion catapulted itself to a must-have. The following aspects were celebrated:
- The great bosses
- The secrets that await you
- The items like weapons, armor, and spells
Additionally, the scope of the expansion was celebrated. The DLC feels like a game within a game and offers fans many things to explore to get lost in for hours.
There was hardly any negative criticism. The difficult bosses were mentioned, but not cast in a bad light. Performance issues? Again, not really. However, it is a different story in the communities.
What did fans complain about? Fans had a lot to complain about:
- Way too difficult bosses
- Slow progress
- Poor performance
- Co-op mode for seamless gaming no longer works
On metacritic, the user ratings are divided. A large portion of fans (465 votes as of June 24, 2024) loves the DLC, while only a small part of fans (95 votes as of June 24, 2024) is dissatisfied.
The situation is different on Steam. There, the expansion is being bombarded with criticism and dropped from a “very positive” rating to a “mixed” rating. The main reason: The DLC is simply way too hard. The following opinions can be heard on Steam:
- “It’s too hard for me, I admit that. I feel a bit like I’m in a gamble hoping the bosses will use their very punishable attacks too often.” – Corpse Patty
- “It needs optimization; the frame rate always drops to 20 FPS and it’s very laggy.” – arda.guersoy
- “I’m very disappointed. You can go too far with this. The bosses are extremely aggressive, leaving hardly any opportunity to attack.” – PilotFrosch
- “Good DLC, but I’m not sure if I would recommend it unless you’re a hardcore fan of the base game.” – Halver
It becomes clear that the DLC is much harder than the base game, and if you’re not used to such difficulty, frustration will arise sooner or later. A run through the DLC can feel like pure torture. But why do the opinions of players differ so much from those of gaming sites?
An expansion, two player experiences
Why are the opinions so different? One could philosophize about the reasons, but for me, the reason is clear: time and experience.
Players who eagerly wait for a release play the expansion in their own way, unlike editors who have to report on it. Critics are given early access to such titles or expansions to test them and write about them.
For them, the focus is to gather as many impressions as possible in a short time to report on it. Many impressions may be overlooked or missed, which would be important in a review.
Players, on the other hand, have all the time in the world. They enjoy games and expansions at their own pace and do not have to figure out where the best dungeon or next meta weapon is hidden. This makes problems much easier to notice, as such things can dampen the enjoyment of gameplay.
As for the difficulty classification, one could attribute this to the experience of the players. Elden Ring attracted many new fans upon its release who had never had anything to do with the souls genre before.
Those who have been around for a long time know the approximate difficulty level of new expansions in the Souls games. Many players seem to be overwhelmed because the DLC is essentially Elden Ring, but 10 times harder.
Even I, with my 10 years of experience in the genre, was thrown to the ground by the bosses and had to experiment for several days with two bosses before I got through them. But that was something I was used to. I enjoyed that challenge, and I believe many veterans of the genre feel the same way. However, players who are used to the relaxed vibe of the base game and then find themselves overwhelmed by the Shadowlands will look back with frustration sooner or later.
Conclusion: An expansion that is one of a kind
Shadow of the Erdtree is a topic in itself. Those who know the lore of Elden Ring understand that the Shadowlands is not a place for relaxation. Only the toughest have survived in this place, and that perfectly fits the expansion.
The “base game” of Elden Ring was relaxed and resembled a mystical wonderland full of freedom. The expansion is its distilled form, with only the hardcore left. As newcomers to the genre, it is understandable to feel quickly overwhelmed.
Even veterans of the genre are finding their difficulty with the expansion, but I can tell you that if you take your time and first collect most of the Scadubaum fragments, the DLC will be a walk in the park.
As for performance, not much can be done besides upgrading hardware. Elden Ring runs on the engine that also powered Dark Souls 3, which is very old. Depending on the platform you are playing on, you may experience more or fewer issues. In our tests on PS4 and PS5, we found no problems other than some stutters. Essentially, these are the same performance issues we encountered at the release of Elden Ring.
If you overlook these and focus more on the game, you can also overlook some hiccups in the world of Shadowlands. For my part, I must say that the DLC for Elden Ring is the toughest piece I have ever played from FromSoft and I love it.
What do you think about it? Did you have fun, or are you still playing? Let us know your opinion in the comments! You can find more about the bosses here: The bosses in the Elden Ring DLC shouldn’t be harder than in the main game – But that was an outrageous lie
