Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree DLC – A Challenging Debut
While lauded by critics, Elden Ring's Shadow of the Erdtree DLC has received mixed player feedback on Steam, primarily concerning difficulty and performance.
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Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree - Unmet Expectations?
Shadow of the Erdtree Presents a Brutal Challenge --------------------------------------------------Mixed Reception on Steam for Elden Ring's New DLC
Despite pre-release critical acclaim and a high Metacritic score, Shadow of the Erdtree launched to a wave of negative player reviews on Steam. Released June 21st, the DLC's challenging gameplay, while praised by some, has frustrated many due to demanding combat encounters, perceived imbalance, and performance issues across PC and consoles.
Performance Problems and Difficulty Concerns
A major complaint centers on the increased combat difficulty. Players report battles significantly harder than the base game, with some citing poorly designed enemy placement and excessively high boss health pools.
Performance problems are equally prevalent. PC users report crashes, stuttering, and frame rate limitations. Even high-end systems struggle to maintain 30 FPS in crowded areas. PlayStation users report similar frame rate drops during intense gameplay.
As of Monday, Steam shows a "Mixed" user review rating for Shadow of the Erdtree (36% negative). Metacritic's user score is "Generally Favorable" (8.3/10 based on 570 ratings), while Game8 awarded a 94/100 rating.