FromSoftware Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree released last Thursday, giving fans a good reason to revisit FromSoftware’s dark fantasy action RPG. However, not everyone is having a good time, pushing its Steam reviews down to “Mixed.” Some users report performance issues with the new expansion, while others say that FromSofware’s pursuit of difficulty might finally have gone too far.
Is Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree too hard?
Players will disagree about which of FromSoftware’s Soulslike games is the most difficult, though there are plenty who would award the crown to Elden Ring. For many Steam users however, it seems that Shadow of the Erdtree is a bridge too far.
“I’m here to play the game, not to be tormented by it,” begins one negative review. The Elden Ring player goes on to describe unfairly difficult bosses, an overuse of ambushes, and mostly useless rewards. Another player complained about the visual clutter during boss fights, which likely contributed to the difficulty. Others complain that the bosses no longer seem bound by the same rules as the players.
Notably, publisher Bandai Namco has a hint for struggling Shadow of the Erdtree players. “This is a suggestion to level up your Scadutree Blessing,” the company wrote on Twitter. Gained by spending Scadutree Fragments as Sites of Grace, the Blessings give players significant bonuses to damage dealt and damage negation.
However, part of Shadow of the Erdtree’s perceived rise in difficulty also seems to come from its diminished performance. Multiple players have complained of low framerates during boss fights, even on systems that handled the base game fine. Even players who say they otherwise like the DLC have noticed a significant drop in performance.
