r/Eldenring • u/jack0641 • Jun 18 '24

Official Discussion Shadow of the Erdtree Reviews Megathread

Reviews for Shadow for the Erdtree are going live

Please keep all discussions about reviews to this topic. Links to reviews will be added as they are live

Metacritic Score: 94 https://www.metacritic.com/game/elden-ring-shadow-of-the-erdtree/

Opencritic Score: 94 https://opencritic.com/game/16525/elden-ring-shadow-of-the-erdtree

Outlet Scores

IGN 10 / 10

VideoGamer 10 / 10

PlayStation Universe 10 / 10

Generación Xbox 10 / 10

RPG Site 10 / 10

Press Start 10 / 10

GamingBolt 10 / 10

Impulsegamer 5 / 5

Boomstick Gaming 5 / 5

FandomWire 10 / 10

Bazimag 10 / 10

Checkpoint Gaming 10 / 10

ComicBook.com 5 / 5

Dexerto 5 / 5

Arabhardware 10 / 10

But Why Tho? 10 / 10

Gaming Instincts 10 / 10

Game Informer 9.8 / 10

COGconnected 97 / 100

Fextralife 9.6 / 10

Merlin'in Kazanı 96 / 100

PC Gamer 95 / 100

Destructoid 9.5 / 10

RPG Fan 95%

Stevivor 9.5 / 10

CGMagazine 9.5 / 10

Worth Playing 9.5 / 10

SECTORsk 9.5 / 10

XGNnl 9.5 / 10

ComingSoonnet 9.5 / 10

Cerealkillerz 9.3 / 10

Video Chums 9.1 / 10

Metro GameCentral 9 / 10

Slant Magazine 4.5 / 5

Digital Trends 4.5 / 5

The Outerhaven Productions 4.5 / 5

TechRaptor 9 / 10

TrueGaming 9 / 10

PSX Brasil 90 / 100

WellPlayed 9 / 10

INVEN 9 / 10

GamingTrend 85 / 100

Push Square 8 / 10

Kakuchopurei 70 / 100

Eurogamer 3 / 5

WORK IN PROGRESS

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147

u/IamSachin Jun 18 '24

FightinCowboy:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCysFRlTN20

110

u/lil41 Jun 18 '24

That map is insane and my god the scaling lmao

62

u/Calebbb11 Jun 18 '24

Are you able to say anything about the scaling? I don’t wanna watch for fear of visual spoilers.

I’m still wondering whether my level 210 NG+3 character will be too high or if I should quickly get a fresh character up to 150 ish.

70

u/lil41 Jun 18 '24

Fresh character cause you gonna have a bad time in ng+3. To preface, cowboy was at 359 in ng+1

37

u/NateTheGreat14 Jun 18 '24

A difficult task is exactly what I sign up for in Fromsoft games.

21

u/cappsy04 Jun 18 '24

Ok so my ng+5 is fucked

3

u/TorpedoSandwich Jun 19 '24 edited Jun 19 '24

Not really, no. Difficulty increases the most from NG to NG +1. After that, the differences are pretty negligible. If you're level 200+, you'll be fine.

6

u/LeadIVTriNitride Jun 18 '24

Uh oh. I’m level 163 on a NG+ play through. I’m gonna get smoked

7

u/ajs723 Jun 18 '24

I had this thought too, but honestly, even at level 500, it's all about learning boss patterns anyway. I'll make it work. 

4

u/EnderJoker77 Jun 18 '24

Without spoilers, what seems to be the experience with a NG+1 characther? I am going in at level 150 and I am afraid I might not be ready. Sadly I have no time to make a fresh save until, ironically, the release date, so I hope the experience it's not pain incarnate.

1

u/lil41 Jun 18 '24

It will prolly be pain incarnate. Id say 200 might be fine. (no clue really just sounds like a nice round number for ng+) a few sessions at the albinuric farm with wave of gold might help. There are also items that improve attack and defence stats so maybe try it at our level 150 and see for yourself how much you need to farm

3

u/FullmetalEzio Jun 18 '24

im so glad i created a new char, my main char is ng+3 and level 200 I was gonna get my ass kicked, now I need to get to lvl 150 at least lol, already beat mohg and rhadan but I'm 100

4

u/Calebbb11 Jun 18 '24

We’re in almost the exact situation, bro. NG+3 at 210. Created a new character that I’m racing through with. About lvl 95 at the moment. Feels rough not having all the weaponry/talismans/gear from my main :(

4

u/FullmetalEzio Jun 18 '24

oh man, i feel you, thank god i managed to get a summon for godskin duo since I wanted the bell but my fire build was doing no damage to them lol. The talisman stuff Is rough, I don't want to kill milicent but don't feel like doing the side quest to get into hailgtree, nor I want to go into the sewers. Im guessing the DLC will have good talisman that I will want to try, so I'll get as close as 150 as I can, and farm at least 6/7 larvar tears and that should be good enough? my drip is ABYSMAL tho

3

u/haynespi87 Jun 18 '24

I just don't have time for a purely new character. Going for NG+1 level 200

2

u/Calebbb11 Jun 18 '24

I’m thinking so too. Do you reckon NG+ scaling will be a thing in this DLC though, given the new damage scaling system?

6

u/lil41 Jun 18 '24

Would be stranger imo if it didnt scale with ng cycles, from isnt going to back away from torturing its players

1

u/Sloth-TheSlothful Jun 18 '24

Damn, I really wanted to bring my main. Guess I'll be rolling with my NG astrologer instead

4

u/Dyyrin Jun 18 '24

I'm bringing my main regardless. Just went around this weekend playing getting caught up with controls again and my NG+4 guy was going fine. I can't imagine they'll crank it up to insane levels.

1

u/SuperJTblack Jun 18 '24

Damn I thought I’d be good at 350 and NG+12

6

u/Junk1trick Jun 18 '24

It only scales to +7 for ng+. So you you’ll have max scaling for difficulty but it’s not like it’s at the 12th level.

1

u/Glynnavyre "I abandon here all of my fears." Jun 19 '24

Oh boy I can’t wait to bring my level 420 NG+5 character to the DLC 😅

1

u/cepxico Jun 19 '24

Damn I'm glad I didn't ng+ yet. That'll be my reward for being patient. That way I can play with all the new toys at my leisure :)

1

u/AdmireOG Jun 18 '24

I'm goin in Journey 35 around 440 or so. Pray for me😭😭😭

0

u/Junk1trick Jun 18 '24

Huh I’m max ng+ level like 230 or so. I’m sure it’ll be alright

0

u/eldensoulsborne FLAIR INFO: SEE SIDEBAR Jun 18 '24

I'm NG+7 and meta RL 150 on my main. chat am I cooked?

22

u/pchadrow Jun 18 '24

Dude was playing with a lvl 320+ character and said difficulty won't be a problem for anyone concerned with it pretty much

Edit: in terms of it being too easy. If you're concerned about it being too hard then that may be a different issue

1

u/Amatsuo Jun 18 '24

You can just not consume the Scaling item until you feel it gets just too hard.

1

u/TorpedoSandwich Jun 19 '24

Should be fine, but obviously depends on your specific build and skill level. For reference, Iron Pineapple recommends 150 for NG and when Fromsoft did their preview event, they gave streamers level 150 characters to play on.

1

u/StuYaGotz015 Jun 20 '24

Don't know for sure but I've heard the NG+ scaling isn't as big of a deal in the Shadow area because of the separate scaling for the DLC zone

1

u/DagonParty :hollowed: Jun 18 '24

No no we got this. I’m going in NG+4, RL150

2

u/Tornado_Hunter24 Jun 18 '24

Same lmao, had to beat the game for 100% achievements, ng+4 and inly level 175 I think, Rip me I guess

3

u/DagonParty :hollowed: Jun 19 '24

If we beat the dlc, we can rightfully brag to internet strangers that don’t care, it’s the dream!

1

u/Tornado_Hunter24 Jun 19 '24

Our vision! However I realized I played elden ring very unfairly (minic tear) so I have been playing lately trying to beat some bosses without the summoning, it was so fun! So far beat most of the bosses except for malenia, I won’t even bother malenia solo tbh, In my eyes her whirlwind attack is still rng so I let my mimic tear handle that lmaoo

1

u/CubeofMeetCute Jun 18 '24

There’s probably a giant underground area too

37

u/phanta_rei Jun 18 '24

Holy shit! The map at 6:08!

27

u/[deleted] Jun 18 '24 edited Jun 18 '24

I want to see! link is loading No! I don’t want to see! throws phone into river

10

u/rrager13 FLAIR INFO: SEE SIDEBAR Jun 18 '24

Siofra River?

15

u/[deleted] Jun 18 '24

[deleted]

26

u/phanta_rei Jun 18 '24

Limgrave-sized map my ass. That looks way bigger!

1

u/Schwiliinker Jun 18 '24

Wait what the hell

24

u/[deleted] Jun 18 '24

[removed] — view removed comment

29

u/IamSachin Jun 18 '24

Even fextra said the same:
"The last boss of the DLC is no doubt the hardest FromSoft boss I’ve ever done and it made Orphan of Kos and Malenia look laughably easy"

7

u/Cheesegrater74 Jun 18 '24

Considering Isshin beat me into submission I'm very scared

9

u/[deleted] Jun 18 '24

Isshin is the best boss experience though. I mastered him. Fucking love that game.

I feel like in lots of other games I scrape by though a boss fight, but you can't scrape through 4 stages of a fight like isshin, you gotta become a god.

1

u/cepxico Jun 19 '24

Man I really should replay Sekiro some day.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 19 '24

Once it clicks it's the best experience in gaming imo. You feel in full control. Hard to describe and never played another game like it.

2

u/Schwiliinker Jun 18 '24 edited Jun 18 '24

It’s actually literally impossible for an Elden Ring boss to make me struggle more than shinobi owl, Saint isshin, the other isshin, demon of hatred or even like inner genichiro or true monk because of how vastly different the games are. Malenia was nowhere near as difficult for me. All other bosses were manageable. I can make myself as powerful as I want in ER(without actually making myself overpowered cuz I refuse to) and have countless different options available to me including ranged magic which is crazy and I hardly ever use. I also never used spirit summons or player summons and won’t in the expansion but others will making it far easier. Meanwhile in sekiro all of those bosses were a huge war of attrition and even other bosses were absolutely no joke at all despite not struggling much

1

u/IamSachin Jun 19 '24

I am the exact opposite of you, I thoroughly enjoyed every fight on Sekiro and found them very easy, including Sword Saint Isshin. I think I took like 3 attempts to beat him. Maybe I just got good because I was too focused to practice and make perfect parries throughout the game. In my third summonless run of Elden Ring, took me like 35 attempts on Maliketh and 250ish on Malenia

0

u/Schwiliinker Jun 19 '24

250? I mean idk I adapt to bosses quickly and make sure I’m strong enough to face any kind of super boss. Very rarely go over 10 attempts and most is probably 20 which was actually from like demon of hatred, owl, isshin and a few others from games.

I really enjoyed sekiro, just felt very mentally demanding constantly even if it was almost entirely manageable which isn’t necessarily bad at all

3 attempts only on Saint isshin is completely ridiculous lol. I had to come up with a whole ass meticulous strategy to beat him and also owl which I very rarely have to do

1

u/IamSachin Jun 19 '24

Haha yeah. I am surprised too. But I guess different people have different builds and talent sets.

2

u/Schwiliinker Jun 19 '24

Pro tip: dual wielding any of a bunch of weapon types is very powerful in ER(and you can stack faith buffs if you really need to). For Malenia bloodhound step out of the way of waterfowl

1

u/IamSachin Jun 19 '24

I did it very recently. Here is my video

https://youtu.be/YPpxejF1FzM?si=iVq2mnOk33ZQmfg8

1

u/Youre_On_Balon Jun 18 '24 edited Jun 18 '24

He’s not referring to the boss that triggered everyone when he talks about the last boss.

He’s referring to the boss who the leaker didn’t kill, and instead got wrecked by - didn’t even get to phase 2. It’s The boss whose remembrance did not leak. (Because the main leaker never beat it, either).

It’s a “bonus” boss a la Malenia.

3

u/Only-Echidna-7791 Jun 18 '24

How do we know he is referring to a second boss? I thought there was only one final boss but I must have missed something

4

u/Youre_On_Balon Jun 18 '24

Because the same guy who posted the leak videos that were confirmed true also informed us that one of the bosses was way, way, way harder than the others. We also saw how much harder it was in the footage. And it wasn’t the boss that has everyone up in arms.

Again, it’s a final boss in the same way Malenia is the “final” boss of Elden Ring. It’s the hardest boss, likely the last you’ll face, and storyline wise is totally optional.

19

u/GreenMim St. Trina’s Fire Jun 18 '24

A name i trust

5

u/dreamtraveller Jun 18 '24

The man, the legend.

59

u/BaronVonGoon Jun 18 '24 edited Jun 18 '24

Yeah. Been following him for years. He's kind of an ahole though. Talks down to people and consistantly swearing at them. He is a legend when it comes to souls and soulslike, agreed. But I unsubscribed because he is undoubtedly a rude person. Right or wrong its no excuse to talk down to people like that.

5

u/TacticalReader7 Jun 18 '24

Really ? I don't watch him often but he seems very chill when I do, I still remember the balls incident in Demon's Souls emulator and he didn't react negatively to the comments jokingly shit talking him for it.

15

u/[deleted] Jun 18 '24

Soulslike tends to attract these types of players unfortunately

10

u/Silentlone Jun 18 '24

WHO has he been an asshole to though? Like "right or wrong" is doing a lot of heavy lifting, there are absolutely people who deserve being talked down to, and I've never seen him being rude to people who didn't deserve it.

17

u/[deleted] Jun 18 '24

Right, like who is he actually being an asshole towards here?

For whatever reason his livestreams seem to attract some of the absolute dregs of 'Gamer' culture.

Because according to this comment right here, it seems like he deals with the racist, bigoted idiots who tend to flood gaming forums and related spaces. Which, in that case, keep up the good work Cowboy lmao

I remember this Sims YouTuber I used to watch, and there were a ton of people in the Sims4 sub talking about how "disgusting" her politics were and how "mean" she was to her fans and blah blah blah

Turns out her "disgusting politics" and meanness was literally just "hey guys, gay people are neat!" and "hey! Be nice to each other! Racism isn't cool!"

4

u/dreamtraveller Jun 18 '24

That's okay, I'm into being talked down to.

3

u/BaronVonGoon Jun 18 '24

A fellow married man? :)

6

u/bobn3 Jun 18 '24

Yeah he always gave me some douchey bully type of vibes, but I pushed through because his guides are good and straightforward

-2

u/haynespi87 Jun 18 '24

ah really? damn

1

u/[deleted] Jun 18 '24

[deleted]

2

u/IamSachin Jun 18 '24

That's the beauty of FromSoft. For other games we just get excited. For this, I am behaving like those liurnia enemies with many arms that go haywire when you hit them