Highlights

  • Elden Ring's Shadow of the Erdtree DLC stays true to Soulslike traditions, making players feel small and underpowered against formidable enemies.
  • The Land of Shadow in Elden Ring offers a massive, challenging experience with gigantic structures, enemies, and heightened difficulty.
  • Shadow of the Erdtree is even more challenging than the base game, setting a high standard for the Soulslike genre and honoring its traditions, with one of those traditions being a world where the sense of scale is never forgotten.

Here lately, it seems like the term "Soulslike" has been losing its flavor due to how many modern titles are now claiming the genre without truly honoring its traditions. More than ever, the genre's characteristics have been stretched to the point that if a game simply offers a great challenge, it might be considered a Soulslike. Thankfully, that's not the case with Elden Ring and its new Shadow of the Erdtree DLC, primarily due to it being developed by the team who invented the Soulslike genre and therefore keeping its traditions to the utmost. Shadow of the Erdtree does pose a significant challenge, even for Elden Ring veterans, but it qualifies as a Soulslike for more than its difficulty.

One of the defining characteristics of the Souslike genre is the ability it has to make players feel small, insignificant, and underpowered as it throws every force both imaginable and unimaginable at them. It typically accomplishes this by ensuring that every single enemy, even those considered rank and file, poses a considerable threat to the player, even after they've leveled up their character dozens of times and acquired some of the best armor and weapons available. Elden Ring certainly achieved this level of challenge, and Shadow of the Erdtree does as well. However, Shadow of the Erdtree takes this characteristic of the Soulslike genre to greater heights by literally — not just figuratively — making players feel small as they explore its Land of Shadow.

elden ring shadow of the erdtree players are getting wrecked by curseblade
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Elden Ring Players Are Getting Wrecked by One of the DLC's Very First Enemies

A tide of Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree players are being repelled by the very first enemy that can be encountered in the Land of Shadow.

Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree's Open World Is as Soulslike as They Come

Everything Is Bigger in Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree's Land of Shadow

Elden Ring may be a massive experience from border to border, but Shadow of the Erdtree is on an entirely different level. Everything in the Land of Shadow is gigantic, from its structures to its hills and mountains to many of its enemies. In fact, shortly after their initial arrival in the Land of Shadow, players should see an enormous Furnace Golem lumbering toward them. Unfortunately, it's likely too big of a challenge for most players, as it has a wealthy health pool and can deal incredible damage to players if they get too close.

Shadow Keep, where the demigod Messmer can be found, is particularly large, seemingly having been built to house a giant. As players explore the colossal castle, they may eventually find themselves in its rafters, only to feel like a harmless house mouse — especially as they regularly encounter the quick and fearless Fire Knights who can send them careening down to their death with a well-placed attack. All in all, the Land of Shadow does an excellent job of doubling down on the Soulslike genre's ability to make players feel small.

Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree Is Even More Challenging Than the Base Game

The Land of Shadow in Elden Ring's Shadow of the Erdtree DLC may literally be much larger in scale than the players who explore it, but it also maintains and even heightens the challenge typically offered by a Soulslike experience. Shadow of the Erdtree is significantly more difficult than Elden Ring's base game, which was already challenging enough. Players will encounter plenty of enemies and bosses in Shadow of the Erdtree that are much more agile and hit much harder than anything in the base game. Along with the sheer magnitude of many of the structures and geological formations in the Land of Shadow, Shadow of the Erdtree's increased difficulty makes players that much smaller.

In the midst of many self-claimed Soulslike games that neglect to honor the genre's traditions, Elden Ring's Shadow of the Erdtree DLC stands tall — literally. Upon their first steps into the Land of Shadow, players are likely to feel threatened by the size of the world they see before them. This is just another way Elden Ring cements its position as a leader in the Soulslike genre.