While we're still two days out from Shadow of the Erdtree and a mass of eager Tarnished being unleashed to chase Miquella beyond the Lands Between, we've got advanced reports from critics who've gone in ahead to survey the scene. Erdtree reviews started hitting this morning, and you're never going to believe this: People are pretty into Elden Ring. There are a lot of perfect and near-perfect scores in the mix, and we've added our own mark to the tally.
PC Gamer's Shadow of the Erdtree review is already up, and our Tyler Colp had plenty of praise to share for Elden Ring's last hurrah, ensuring its place as "one of the most creative and satisfying action RPGs ever made." Here's a roundup of reviews from critics elsewhere. IGN : 10/10 For Mitchell Saltzman at IGN, Shadow of the Erdtree basically manages to deliver all the hard-won satisfaction of an entire Elden Ring playthrough in a convenient, fun-sized DLC form factor—if a few dozen hours can qualify as fun-sized.
"Shadow of the Erdtree may not do anything radically different from the base game," Saltzman writes, but its array of new bosses, new equipment, and new areas to explore "somehow feels like a scaled-down version of that same experience that recaptures all of the magic of playing Elden Ring for the first time." GamesRadar+ : 5/5 Over at our sister site GamesRadar+, Joel Franey found a lot to love in Shadow of the Erdtree, which shares the base game's ability to deliver beautiful landscapes, stunning bosses and enco.
