Disjointed thoughts on Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree

It's been over a month since I completed the Elden Ring DLC, and I think I'm ready to write a few things about my experience.

I think it's a great DLC, and everything it does well is very impressive. I also think it drops the ball in a few aspects that hold it back from being the best DLC FROM has given us.

I am not very good at describing why I like or dislike certain things, especially when it comes to games. Part of it is that I lack the technical vocabulary needed to express these ideas using the right terms, and part of it is that I am not very well-versed in the art of deep introspection. I want to get better at this, and maybe writing about it will help me get there faster.

So, here are some of my thoughts and experiences on SOTE!

Scadutree blessings

I completed my first playthrough before they rolled out a patch that balanced the progression, smoothing out the power curve. I've heard it's working better now.

I completed the game with a negative opinion of the new progression system, the Scadutree fragments/blessing thing. With time, my opinion of the system became more positive and I could see why they decided to implement it this way, but I'm still not a big fan.

It felt a bit unbalanced and gave me the impression that the transition between getting steamrolled to destroying everything in your way was abrupt. To me, it felt like a downgraded version of the attack power progression system in Sekiro, where each upgrade is hidden behind an important story boss. I thought it would have been much better if the way you earn the blessings was tied to specific bosses, instead of showing up in (sometimes) random places.

The only important role the Scadutree fragments play is to serve as the only valuable extrinsic reward for exploring the new map. Yes, everyone loves another cookbook, but without the Scadutree fragments exploration (kind of the central allure of this iteration of FROM's mono-game) would have been far less rewarding.

Areas and art direction

It's excellent, and I think it's the best aspect of the whole DLC. Every area is unique and breathtaking, each with its atmosphere and identity. It's also jaw-droppingly beautiful very often, somehow they managed to top the art direction of the base game.

The areas are all beautiful, but most of them are also quite empty. And I'm not talking about the really empty ones like the Finger Ruins or the Abyssal Woods, almost all of them have a very sparse distribution of interesting things to do (with two exceptions where most of the content is). I think it's fine, because the DLC seems to go for quality over quantity when it comes to smaller dungeons, and the verticality of the map makes it more interesting to explore than any major area in the base game.

New weapons, armor, and spells

I like all the new weapon categories and their movesets, I felt sad there are so few of each type (and many of them have only one variant that can be infused).

All the new incantations and spells are a ton of fun. Same as always, some of them are super overpowered, and others are unusable except for meme purposes, but that's fine, variety is what matters and a balance patch may come someday.

NPCs and questlines

I wouldn't say I like FROM's design methodology for questlines, and I still don't believe it works particularly well for an open-world game. It was special when I played Dark Souls for the first time, but "sad knight who shows up in random places in your journey just to eventually die or go crazy" does not hit the same way anymore.

In SOTE, they did a better job at making them more intuitive and easier to follow, with one exception (drinking a bunch of St. Trina nectar) I managed to do them all on my first run, which is a first for me.

If you played any game after Demon's Souls you already know what's going on and who's going to do what, nothing new on that front.

Dungeons

Smaller dungeons are far less frequent, but it seems like they listened to the criticism many people voiced about the base game (the smaller dungeons get a bit samey after a while) and decided to go for a quality-over-quantity approach. They are all unique and interesting, even the ones on the simpler side (forges) are distinct.

The Legacy dungeons are good. They are all visually striking and have the excellent encounter design we've all come to expect from the studio. From all of these perhaps my favorites are Enir-Ilim (visually) and Shadow Keep (design-wise).

Shadow Keep is perhaps my favorite rendition of the Archives archetype to date, a dungeon that was missing from the base game. It has multiple entrances and exits, lots of enemy variety, a great boss fight, and a very intricate level design.

I also like the callback to New Londo (when draining the water from the lowermost district) and Duke's Archives (the last section of the dungeon is an archetypical archive level). It feels like a level assembled from some of the greatest ideas from previous games, a culmination of what they can achieve in level design.

Bosses

I know that everyone will face most of the major bosses in different order, so I'll just talk about them in the order I beat them on my playthrough.

Divine Beast Dancing Lion

I like the dancing lion, and I think it's a great first boss for the DLC.

The intro cinematic, the creature's design (well, the costume design, it's just a totem pole trench kind of situation), the soundtrack, and the moveset all complement each other for a very cohesive fight that reflects both the feel and aesthetics of both Belurat and the Hornsent culture.

I thoroughly explored the initial area before doing the first dungeon, so by the time I reached this fight I had already gained a couple of Scadutree blessing levels and the fight felt easy. I found the multiple stages, each using a different element (there's also a hidden version of this fight that includes a Deathblight phase) visually impressive and fun, I just wish the camera worked better in this game, especially for a boss that moves this much.

I don't understand why the camera is still an issue in FROM games when fighting big bosses, especially when they already had Sekiro's implementation.

Still, I liked this one a lot.

Rellana, Twin Moon Knight

Rellana felt like a step down in quality relative to the divine lion.

She's still a good boss, and I always like the chance to fight against another Carian royal, but I feel all its good aspects are mostly mechanical.

She has fair combos, a beautiful moveset that applies constant pressure, and a nice callback to Pontiff Sulyvahn when transitioning into her second phase. However, she still feels kind of ... generic. It doesn't feel right that we did not even get an intro cinematic, some dialogue, or at least some effort to establish any form of context or personality for such an interesting character.

The only mechanical hiccup in the fight is the Twin Moon attack. I am not a fan of gotcha moves that end up doing more damage than expected, and this one being a stunlocking-3-hit-combo felt a bit cheap.

Scadutree Avatar

I have nothing interesting to say about the sunflower.

Fun moveset, easy to read and dodge, and an interesting arena under the shadow of the Scadutree. It felt like an old-school FROM boss fight, which is the best I can say about this one.

Putrescent Knight

I like the Putrescent Knight a lot, but I think it has more to do with the area he's in (and St. Trina, mostly) than the fight itself.

I like the concept of putrescence being reanimated by St Trina's nectar to serve as her champion, and how it shares a few parallels with Miquella's champion/consort.

The fight is engaging, it has a few delayed attacks, which I don't love, but a very consistent rhythm that is not hard to get used to. The few ranged options (the cleaver boomerang and fire attacks) make the fight more engaging, and the aesthetic callback to Orphan of Kos was interesting.

Midra, Lord of Frenzied Flame

Midra may be my favorite boss in the entire DLC. It's a toss-up between him and Messmer, both are excellent fights.

The area leading to his main chamber, the lore surrounding the character, and the chilling transformation cinematic are all effective in creating a creepy atmosphere for the fight.

The mechanics of the fight themselves are also very well thought-out, it's not another flailing monster with 13-hit combos, instead, it goes for the reserved moveset that characterizes the best FROM boss fights from previous titles. Maybe the most impressive thing is that FROM finally managed to make a fun fight against a boss that inflicts a status aliment!

In a game where FROM's boss design is characterized by excess and speed, Midra shines because of his willingness to hold back, and I think that's worthy of appreciation.

Commander Gaius

Gaius is fine.

He's an albinauric who rides a huge boar and hits you with gravity magic, that's cool.

He does not feel as mechanically sound as the rest of the lineup, and it makes me think he may still need a few adjustments to shine. His charge hitboxes and tendency to stun-lock you against a wall are not what I would call great boss design, but that will probably get ironed out later on a patch.

As it is now, it's probably the worst remembrance boss in the DLC.

Messmer the Impaler

I enjoyed Messmer, he's a great character with a great boss fight.

Messmer and Midra have an important common characteristic: Well-telegraphed and varied moves that don't rely on excessive pressure, leading to a dance-like back-and-forth that amps up in pressure and tempo as the fight goes on.

I think Messmer should have been the final boss of the DLC, I think it's just far better than what we ended up getting.

He's just a ton of fun, and already one of my favorite bosses across the complete FROM catalog.

Metyr, the Mother of Fingers

Original Bloodbornesque design, check.

Impactful lore drops tied to Metyr, check.

A flashy black hole move in the middle of the fight, check.

Metyr is good, it feels like a boss from a different game that somehow found its way into Elden Ring, and that makes for a memorable experience.

Romina, Saint of the Bud

Romina is my third favorite boss in the DLC: amazing design, very fun and fluid moveset, and interesting lore backing her character.

This is another example of a status boss done well, not too punishing, and with properly telegraphed moves.

I liked the area leading to the fight too, and I appreciated the opportunity to see the god of rot's handiwork one last time. The only thing I regret from the experience is how easy it was to beat her, but again, balancing the late part of the DLC was always going to be challenging.

Bayle

Igon makes this fight much better than it should be, #1 hater right there.

What I like the most about Bayle is the reveal of his role in the events that transpired in Farum Azula and how it all led to the creation of the different dragon cults you see in the game.

It's also good to finally get an explanation for Placi's missing heads. A mechanically-sound dragon fight with a lot of thematic weight, mechanically sound.

Radahn & Co.

I like the first phase of this fight. The moveset is (mostly) fair, easy to get used to, and also a ton of fun to fight against.

The second phase is quite tough, and it may be a bit above the level of difficulty I feel comfortable with. I know the game gives you tools for making the fight easier and I intentionally ignore them, so perhaps that's on me, but I still have a hard time getting used to the idea that fights are balanced around some of those tools.

The aspect of the fight I have more trouble justifying has to do with its visual design: Too much light, and too much hair. Because of this, there will be some instances where you can't see what Radahn is doing and will end up getting killed. It will sometimes impact the framerate or make the game stutter, resulting in bullshit deaths. Getting killed because I missed a dodge is fine, but getting killed because of sudden stutters or from being blinded by light effects is not fun.

And then the fight is done and ... nothing happens? All previous FROM DLCs provided some form of closure or deeper thematic understanding once you beat the final DLC boss, but I can't shake the feeling that SOTE somehow missed the mark with the ending. Maybe I will change my mind someday with more context, but at the moment, it feels a bit disappointing.

I wish this was a better fight, it felt like a mediocre finale for an otherwise outstanding expansion.