FromSoftware
Elden Ringwas unanimously 2022 ’s Game of the Year . While many other fantastic game were issue throughout the year , Elden Ringshut down all competition when it expend in former March . It broom at awards appearance and even landed aGame of the Year spot here on Digital Trends . It was the unquestioned champion . Two year later , it ’s now get theShadow of the Erdtree enlargement . If a DLC ever had a fortune at gain ground the top booty at The Game Awards , it could be this one .
Ahead of its June 21 press release , I expend three hour with a hands - on preview ofShadow of the Erdtree . While it does n’t offer anything drastically different from the base plot , it ’s still more of the sameElden Ringyou making love . It has an excellent atmosphere , playfulness exploration , and hard bosses . More of the same is n’t a bad thing when that “ same ” is as beloved as this .
Return to the Lands Between
For those looking to toss off in right on June 21 , Bandai Namco clarified that players will need to have already beat the bossesStarscourage Radahnand Mohg , Lord of line of descent in rescript to enter the expansion . Additionally , there are over 100 new weapons , some of which are not base in the base game .
The demonstration provide me to pick between three dissimilar builds : warrior , knight , and magician . While I typically wish to fight from afar with magic , I picked the horse this fourth dimension due to its aboveboard playstyle . The demonstration liberally allow me with a diversity of weapon system in my inventory . I decided to go with a young two - handed sword call the Fire Knight ’s incisive Greatsword due to its strength and ability to light enemies ablaze .
Quite meet for a biz where you conk out often , the opening surface area in the Realm of Shadow is fill with cobwebby gravestones and spiritual apparitions . flop aside , I was introduced to two new consumables : Scadutree Fragments and Revered Spirit Ash . take in these chip in you temporary buffs rather than permanent stratum increases like how runic letter do .
The Scadutree Fragments bolsters blast and United States Department of Defense while the Revered Spirit Ash makes summons impregnable . Their issue are impermanent in the fact that they stay active while you ’re in the Realm of Shadow and have no influence outside of it , so you ca n’t take them over back to the primary game area . This is a bang-up approach to separate the expansion so that you do n’t get too overtake if you went back to the chief plot .
These collectable incentivize exploration in the Realm of Shadow as they ’re hide between every corner and cranny . While I did n’t collect enough of either of them to experience a huge difference in gameplay , I ’m hoping that their effects will be detectable as I find more of them in the full release .
In the demo , there were two main dungeons to explore , Belurat Castle and Castle Ensis . I first went to Belurat Castle , and if you have arachnophobia , this place is n’t for you . It ’s occupy with both modest and giant spider . The small one were n’t hard to handle , but the giant ones were quite aggressive . They had many multi - hit attacks and getting caught in a single one closely signify death . The aggressive foe were a common thread throughout my time with the demo , and it had me keep up my shield when I turned every recession , afraid that something would attack me out of nowhere .
You died
Of of course , what’sElden Ringwithouttough boss ? As I made my way up the castle , I reached the top and chance the Divine Dancing Lion . This one was my favorite of the two main bosses I oppose , as it really exhibit offElden Ring ’s art centering . The beast was able to master the elements of meth , ignition , and wind for its tone-beginning , visit upon unlike weather effects to shift up the pace of battle . When it summoned lightning , I had to make additional effort to elude incoming bolts . With its ice business leader , I had to be patient as every metre it attack , icicle would spike from the earth , so its vulnerability windowpane was shorter .
The fight was implausibly tough , even though I had two allies in the physical body of Redmane Freyja ( from the summoning pool right outside and my ash summon ) and Black Knight Commander Andreas to help take it down . Once I did , the vast sense of satisfaction that every player feel when kill a hard chief swept over me . That ’s theElden Ringway .
I made my way over to the other side of the mathematical function to Castle Ensis , where I noticed a striking environmental pattern contrast . Whereas Belurat Castle has dark smell of red and chocolate-brown , Castle Ensis is surrounded by profuse forests and blue skies . When I made my fashion to the top , I encountered Swordswomen Rellana , the Twin Moon Knight .
For anyone who ’s fight Malenia , arguably the hardest boss in the base game , Rellana certainly bring back some memory . She was easily the harder of the two political boss I faced , as she had standardized mechanics and attack normal as Malenia . What name her so difficult is that , like Malenia , she can heal herself by landing hits . As a result , the scheme I used against the Dancing Lion foreman was n’t very in effect here since she would just heal herself whenever she hit my bidding .
I was able to get her down to about one-half of her HP , but that ’s when she started enchanting her swords with magic and ardour , which did tremendous sum of impairment . Unfortunately , I was n’t able to beat her with my current setup and I eventually exhausted the rest of my demonstration time while futilely seek to take her down .
Despite my frustrations with Rellana , this was exactly what I was expect fromElden Ring : the roller coaster of emotions of fail over and over again while essay to defeat a boss , and then at last beating them . Shadow of the Erdtreeis just moreElden Ring — and I ’m wholly fine with that . I ca n’t wait to see what else is in computer storage when I tackle the expanding upon with my character .
Elden Ring : Shadow of the Erdtreelaunches on June 21 for PLayStation 4 , PS5 , Xbox One , Xbox Series X / S , and microcomputer .
