Elden Ring DLC Gets Mixed Steam Reviews Because, Surprise Surprise, It’s Darn Tough

A few days before its release, many critics reviewed the Elden Ring DLC, Shadow of the Erdtree, stating that the game is tougher than the base title it’s expanding, but is still fun to play and a joy to explore for 40+ hours. Some critics like Eurogamer got called out for giving the game a fair 3/5 score because of its massive difficulty, which is pretty common for From Software DLC of its base Soulslike titles. Keep in mind that a 3/5 or even its equivalent like a 70/100 is a fair score and is a great score; certainly better than a 2/5 for sure.

A day or four after its release, the DLC on Steam has been getting “Mixed” reviews, with criticisms mostly being about the game being harder than the original 2022 title. These gamers found out that no matter what build you have in the OG title, bosses and enemies will scale to you in the DLC; the only buffs that are available are the Scadutree Fragments and Remnants of Sacred Ashes that can give you a slight boost to your stats against all odds in the Shadow Lands.

Other complaints are legitimate too, like missing hitboxes for bosses so your attacks don’t land like they should, and obtuse solutions to certain platforming and dungeon puzzles. Oh, and performance issues on the PC version which hopefully can be ironed out a week or so later.

Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree did not just break regular players; it also did a number on certain high profile streamers and content creators. These include Asmongold who said it’s “too hard to be fun”, and Jynxi who quit 49 hours after powering through the title.

Jynxzi admits he’s a quitter and ends his Elden Ring marathon stream after 49 hours ? https://t.co/P9c47I4EWf

— ryan ? (@scubaryan_) June 19, 2024

As we’ve stated before in our review, you have to play by the DLC’s rules so your builds in the base game may not work as intended. For more tips on where to find the Scadutree buffs and early weapons like the Great Katana and “Beast Claws from Bloodborne”, check out our quick guide.