Elden Ring's Shadow Updates Difficulty

Elden Ring's Shadow of the Erdtree DLC: A Double-Edged Sword of Difficulty and Praise

While Shadow of the Erdtree has received critical acclaim, its Steam reception is more nuanced, revealing a split between praise and player frustration. Many cite difficulty and performance issues as significant drawbacks.

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Steam Reviews Reveal a Divided Playerbase

Despite pre-release Metacritic scores placing it among the highest-rated games, Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree launched to a wave of mixed Steam reviews. While the challenging gameplay was lauded, many players found the combat excessively difficult and unbalanced. Complaints included poorly designed enemy placement and excessively high boss health pools.

Performance Problems Compound the Difficulty

The intense battles weren't the only source of frustration. Numerous PC users reported crashes, stuttering, and frame rate limitations. Even high-end systems struggled to maintain 30 FPS in crowded areas, significantly impacting gameplay. Similar frame rate drops during intense moments were also reported on PlayStation consoles.

As of Monday, Steam shows a "Mixed" overall rating for Shadow of the Erdtree, with 36% negative reviews. Metacritic reflects a more positive, yet still divided, user score of 8.3/10 (Generally Favorable) based on 570 ratings. Game8 offers a contrasting perspective with a 94/100 rating.