Elden Ring was for many the game of the year when it released as it combined the awesome Dark Souls formula with a giant open world full of content. It was From Software's biggest success and that meant an expansion of course had to be made. It took over two years to make Shadow of the Erdtree which is rare for an expansion, but now that we have received the final product I can see why it took so long.
Shadow of the Erdtree transports us to the Realm of Shadow where we find a band of explorers who follow in the footsteps of Miquella the Kind. And as we try to find Miquella we have to traverse dense forests, dark dungeons and spooky mansions. This expansion is one of the best expansions ever made where the real star of the show is the open world itself. Compared to the original Elden Ring, there is much better level design within the open world. The enviroment plays a bigger part when it comes to gameplay as you can jump from rock to rock near huge waterfalls or move alongside narrow ledges at the top of giant ruins. This type of level design was often reserved for the Legacy Dungeons, but now has been translated to the open world.
The enviroments themselves are also awesome and really varied with the beautiful Cerulean Coast, the terrifying Abyss or the awe inspiring Jagged Peak. Once you enter the Realm of Shadow you are immediately greeted with so many points of interest and you just want to explore them all. The fact that this world is smaller means it can be more dense with so many cool areas you immediately want to go towards.
Now From Software had the impossible task to balance the DLC to all players which could differ drastically in terms of level and gear and thus they used a scaling method and items called Scadutree Fragments that scale the damage dealt and received during fights. Now I have heard that a few people don't like this method and though I prefer the original Rune Leveling as well, I think the Scadutree Fragments offer a fair progression and playstyle catering to From Software's tastes.
When it comes to the bosses there are some of From Software's finest work as well including the Dancing Lion, Messmer and Bayle the Dread.
Over the last couple of days there also has been some critique when it comes to the game's difficulty. There are those who think the game is too difficult, but I think that is aimed at a certain type of playstyle. I absolutely adore all the Dark Souls games and Bloodborne, but the worst part of that franchise is how the community can be on "playing the game the correct way". When I played Dark Souls for the very first time when it came out I beat the game by using a sword and shield combination. Then much later I learned how to properly use the roll by beating Bloodborne and ever since I only ever use rolling with no magic or spirit ashes. It gives me the most joy and satisfaction when I beat a boss using melee only and not other methods like bleeding, frost, magic or a spirit ash.
But I am of the opinion that people can enjoy a From Software game however they like and will not moan when they play it a certain way. This goes directly into the philosophy of Miyazaki as well.
The Dark Souls games were never made with the intent of having players just roll and play using specific weapons. Each boss has a certain weakness and the difficulty was there to make it so that the player could change gear or spells and try out different things.
Is a gaint weapon too slow? Maybe try a smaller, fast weapon. Or are you taking too much damage? Maybe equip some heavier armor. Is the boss strong against magic? Maybe use fire to your advantage. This whole idea of just using melee and rolling has been created by the community itself and I even think you undermine the gaming experience for yourself. I am guilty of this too as I often stick with only a handful of weapons whereas there are over 300 (!!!) weapons in total in the game.
Now for this video and this build I went with the Guts Berserk build by using melee only with the Greatsword. And many of the bosses are really tough, but also fair and can be beaten in that playstyle. The only boss that I think they went a little bit overboard is the final boss and his second stage. I think that this boss is From Software's toughest boss ever made and almost specifically feels made to finally convince people who just roll and melee to use something different. I have seen other Streamers and YouTubers resort to Bleed builds, Greatshields, Scarlet Rot, Summons etc. And because of that I hope in the future there will finally be more understanding and support to let people play these games however they want. I am still unfortunately stuck and guilty of playing melee only with no magic, but I hope for my next Elden Ring video to change that and finally dip my toes in the unknown world of Magic Builds.
Thank you Miyazaki for giving us Elden Ring.

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