Despite warnings from reviewers and FromSoftware itself, fans are quickly finding out that Shadow of the Erdtree is extremely difficult . The expansion to 2022’s Elden Ring was released on June 21 and has gained a reputation for being tough, even for a FromSoftware game. This has led to the DLC’s review status on Steam dipping to “Mixed” after people began review-bombing the game over its difficulty.
Just a few days before Shadow of the Erdtree’s release, director Hidetaka Miyazaki discussed the challenge the expansion would pose for players. “We’ve kind of really pushed the envelope in terms of what we think can be withstood by the player,” Miyazaki told CNET in an interview. While the Soulslike genre has typically been synonymous with tough difficulty, some players think Shadow of the Erdtree may have gone too far.
“I’m here to play the game, not to be tormented by it,” wrote one Steam review . It’s a sentiment shared by many. Another reviewer said that FromSoftware has “lost the essence of what made their games fun—fairness.
” They are referring to the idea that most Soulslikes give players the skills to overcome challenges, but claim Shadow of the Erdtree lacks that balance in combat encounters. The review-bombing and overall discussion of Shadow of the Erdtree’s difficulty has revived a conversation around Soulslikes as old as the games themselves: Are these games too difficult, or are people just too used to handholding in modern games to .