3.5/5 ★ – dylan09's review of Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree.

I think the dlc is incredibly overhyped. First, let’s start off with the positives. The Bosses are incredible. Messmer, Rellana, Midra, Bayle and (hot take) even Radahn are all incredible bosses and in the top 10 elden ring bosses. In my opinion, the only bad main boss is Gaius, there are great. Shadow Keep is an absolute masterpiece in level design, and in my top 3 elden ring areas. And the 2 starting areas (Gravesite Plains and Scadu Altus) are relatively fun to explore. And remember, a 7/10 is still a good game/dlc, so I still had a good time with it, but there are some big negatives I have. The World design isn’t that good. Yes, I also love the vertically of the Land of Shadow. It is fun to explore and find new areas, but that’s all the praise I can give. Aside from the first 2 areas I mentioned, and maybe the Ruins of Rauh, the rest of the overworld areas are trash, especially the whole southern region of the map. Cerulean Coast. Abyssal Woods, Charo’s Hidden Grave and Jagged Peak, which are all southern areas, have absolutely nothing to do. Some reused bosses and maybe some secrets here and there but that’s it, litteraly nothing. Now, i actually like the Abyssal Woods. I get what they were goinf for, and if it was just the Abyssal Woods that was empty, then I would be fine with that, but it’s not, so I have knock off a few points. The Hinterlands is also really empty. The Legacy Dungeons are also quite dissapointing. Belurat is good, but no where near the caliber of the base game dungeons. Horrible enemy variety, amazing atmosphere, good level design and okay branching paths, there’s not really much to it. Enir Ilim sucks, without the path to the Euporia, this area would be a 5/10 at best. literally just a straight line to Radahn, with like 3 different enemy types. The Minor Dungeons are also pretty bad. Stone Coffin Fissure is the straightest line of straight lines ever, so boring to explore, and Castle Ensis is so bland and borin(, honestly worse than Castle Sol because atleast Sol have a cool art style with the snow. Midra’s Manse was fine, it could’ve been an absolute masterpiece if it was way longer, but it’s just whatever. 7/10