Shadow of Erdtreefirst DLC sinceElden Ring, was undoubtedly one of the most anticipated releases of the summer, and even of the year. Given that the base game was absolutely praised by critics as the title of the game of the year 2022, we could expect another hit.
However, at the time of writing, the expansion is the subject of fairly mixed comments from the community. Expansion must make do with the meager 65% positive reviews on Steam – far from 90% of the base game. Many players had very harsh words for the studio FromSoftware. A good opportunity to talk about weight, but also about the evolution of the study recipe over the years.
The first observation that emerges is that some of the new bosses the studio has introduced are truly brutal – even compared to those from the Dark Souls 3 DLC, which already had a reputation for being harsh.
A section of the public therefore decided to let off steam on the game’s Steam page and on community platforms like Reddit. “It’s really nonsense”, “it’s a lack of respect for the paying players”… the disappointed players definitely didn’t go on the spoon.
“Digital” difficulty…
There are two factors that can explain why Shadow of the Erdtree evokes such reactions. The first is strictly mathematical; not only do some of these bosses deal terrifying damage and have huge amounts of health themselves, but they also benefit from very significant scaling.
In other words, the stronger the player’s character is when he arrives in the Shadow Realm, the more powerful the enemies will become. Consequently, followers of the good old technique of temporarily going backwards while turning your character into a true killing machine are at a dead end.
No more destroying enemies in the blink of an eye by default: In Shadow of the Erdtree, there is no choice but to persevere and improve your strategy during defeat.
Developers at FromSoftware are not inherently sadistic. To balance this scaling, they’ve also introduced higher-level gear as well as new gameplay elements like Scadutree Fragments, objects scattered around the four corners of the map that allow you to massively increase your avatar’s power. An idea that, from our point of view, is fresh and interesting.
It forces the player to explore the magnificent landscapes designed by the studio and to gradually discover this mountain of new content. But part of the community doesn’t seem to subscribe to this approach – or, more broadly, the evolution of FromSoftware’s game design philosophy.
…and a concept in constant evolution
Because these purely numerical obstacles are not the only elements that make the expansion difficult and frustrating for some players. Indeed, the way developers work has evolved a lot since the release of the first Dark Souls game in 2011.
At the time, bosses were quite rudimentary, with easily recognizable attacks punctuated by long periods of inactivity, leaving the player with the ability to deal heavy damage in return. That’s the problem this design philosophy quickly showed its limits ; With a little practice, these enemies quickly became predictable and too easy, and the community demanded more.
FromSoftware is therefore committed to intensifying combat during games. IN Dark souls IIthen even more in Dark souls III AND Elden Ringbosses have become faster and more complex.
And as we explained in our previewthe studio pushed this aspect even further Shadow of Erdtree. After Maliketh, Radagon and the merciless Malenia, FromSoftware once again showed with this DLC that it is definitely done with clumsy bosses that easily allow themselves to be victims between several small phone attack sequences; Miyazaki bet on everything battles more demanding and intense than ever.
Unfortunately for some players who can no longer find a solution. ” Bosses are really unfair, I’m sick of 10 attack chains killing me in one or two hits », explains the author of the negative review on Steam. “ How can I dodge if my boss gives me absolutely no advice?! “, complains a Reddit member.
To be or not to be public, that is the question
If we take a step back, we are faced with a very old but still interesting question of game design. It is really difficult to please everyone because of the great heterogeneity of the community. On the one hand, the hard core of the fan base consists of seasoned veterans with years of experience behind them.
They have long mastered the basics of the franchise and are actively looking for this progressive increase in difficulty which forces them to outdo themselves and explore new strategies.
On the other hand, we also have a horde of newcomers who have discovered souls like with Elden Ring and simply want to treat themselves to an epic adventure without having to sweat profusely at every encounter. And it must be admitted that they are in a potentially frustrating situation.
Those who didn’t have the opportunity to grow in touch with the franchise like early fans will inevitably more difficult to jump into the circle.
In this context, how can we ensure that everyone can find what they need? For the studio, the answer is obvious: this dilemma is ultimately not one, and the developers have clearly chosen their side.
Franchise father Hidetaka Miyazaki defends his vision of game design and he openly accepts the fact that he has created a game that is not made for everyone — and too bad if that means leaving a few casual players behind.
” If we really wanted everyone to play the game, we could have simply reduced the difficulty. But that was not the right approach “, he explains in an interview for the Guardian. ” If we had gone that way, I don’t think the game would have had such an impact. This sense of accomplishment that players feel when they overcome these obstacles is a core component of the experience. Reducing the weight would rob them of this joy, and in my opinion, break the game itself “, he specifies.
Besides the difficulties, a very important artistic bias
You get the idea, we won’t have to count on FromSoftware to abandon their vision… and with all due respect to those who didn’t appreciate this DLC, it’s very good news that the studio is sticking with it like this.
Ultimately, video games remain art, and prejudice is a key component of the artistic process. More and more studios are sacrificing this idea on the altar of business by offering pure titles to reach the widest possible audience. But if we think globally, it’s a dynamic that can only hurt video games in general: essentially, a game that is meant for everyone without exception, it is ultimately a game that will not speak to anyone.
Elden Ring and its DLC are a prime example of the opposite. Of course, they are certainly not exempt from all criticism (cruel camera control, optimization problems, etc.). But it’s still absolutely terrifying and, above all, an incredibly memorable piece of work.
And this influence is essentially a consequence of clear and assertive study choices. Such a spicy recipe will never appeal to everyone – but it would also be much less tasty to fans if it were more diluted, and it is fundamental to cultivate this variety of flavors through this approach.
In a sense, a fairly average score of Shadow of Erdtree therefore, it can be interpreted as good news. It perfectly illustrates just how divisive this kind of bias is, as we’ve seen especially evident in the comments on our double dossier on the difficulty of video games (see below).
In doing so, it also encourages important discussions about the very nature of our favorite leisure activity, which we enjoy. Elden Ring or not, the entire industry will benefit in the long run.