Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree

I’ve said it twice before and I’ll say it again: FromSoftware could have released Shadow of the Erdtree back in 2022, called it Elden Ring, and it would have still won GOTY. The sheer scope of this expansion, coupled with all of the different ways you can customize your build and the slew of new enemies you’ll face is enough to stagger you—but you’ll be floored before you even get to all of that.

Merely stepping foot onto the Gravesite Plain, the first area in the DLC, will wow you—the massive Scadutree in the distance, the hulking Golem in front of you, the impossibly large map you can procure with a press of a button. And as you work through all the difficult bosses and see the strange, almost-stagnant beauty of this world, you’ll experience hours upon hours of new wonders, struggles, victories, and more.

There’s just so much here, so much to do and see and fight and read, that it can get overwhelming. In those moments, I find myself walking to the nearest cliff edge to stare out at FromSoftware’s beautiful skybox and wonder what happened to this world and the gods and monsters within it. Then, I see a player message scrawled on the ground, step over to read it, see it just says “but hole,” and remember that this game is beautiful, absurd, silly, and stupid. And then I go back to try that boss for the 68th time. This time, I’ll get it. — Alyssa Mercante