Like the base game did before it, Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree raises the bar for single-player DLC expansions. It takes everything that made the base game such a landmark RPG, condenses it into a relatively compact 20-25 hour campaign, and provides fantastic new challenges for heavily invested fans to chew on.
I love these games. They’re the perfect blend of old and new design. They put gameplay first, and then write the story around the game. They’re like the modern equivalent to Castlevania for me.
It’s true. I still routinely go back to the first Dark Souls and remember the amount of time I dumped into it trying to keep progressing. The amount of times I’d die and then test out a new strategy on something as simple as dispatching 5 enemies in a series of hallways, or going down the rabbit hole on boss fight strategies. I have the hardcover guide for the first DS game and it’s amazing. It’s weird how the brutality of those games can also be something you get peace from. Souls games are still among the few that I can truly disconnect with and be completely pulled in. Just talking about it makes me want to start a new character.
Impressive. Last game I had hours like that in was Dark Souls 2 round 10 years ago. I am shortly going to break my first 200 hours for Elden Ring though, the DLC will send me over the breakpoint pretty comfortably. Then I get to start my second character for real, now that I have all the content for them to explore.
I have 306 hours in Elden Ring and I think 250+ of that was me wandering and killing minor bosses.
I’ve got about 200 hours each on just my first 3 characters on PC. And I have the game on PS5, too.
Game’s alright, I guess.
Holy cow, you put in work!
I love these games. They’re the perfect blend of old and new design. They put gameplay first, and then write the story around the game. They’re like the modern equivalent to Castlevania for me.
Plus I like invading. I can be a mini boss :D
It’s true. I still routinely go back to the first Dark Souls and remember the amount of time I dumped into it trying to keep progressing. The amount of times I’d die and then test out a new strategy on something as simple as dispatching 5 enemies in a series of hallways, or going down the rabbit hole on boss fight strategies. I have the hardcover guide for the first DS game and it’s amazing. It’s weird how the brutality of those games can also be something you get peace from. Souls games are still among the few that I can truly disconnect with and be completely pulled in. Just talking about it makes me want to start a new character.
Impressive. Last game I had hours like that in was Dark Souls 2 round 10 years ago. I am shortly going to break my first 200 hours for Elden Ring though, the DLC will send me over the breakpoint pretty comfortably. Then I get to start my second character for real, now that I have all the content for them to explore.