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He's the former TCG Editor for CBR and holds a Master's degree in Chemistry from the University of Edinburgh. Tom spent six years as a Science Editor for the Royal Society of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, and AstraZeneca before leaving science to pursue his dream career in games journalism at the start of 2023. He loves MMOs, RPGs, TCGs, and pretty much every game by FromSoftware\u2014especially Dark Souls.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.tpefoley.com\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/tpefoley\/","https:\/\/x.com\/tpefoley"],"url":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/author\/tomfoley"}]}},"raw_content":"It\u2019s understandable if you have high expectations for Shadow of the Erdtree. I do, too. FromSoftware\u2019s monumental action RPGs never cease to amaze, and Elden Ring had a shattering impact on the gaming industry when it launched in 2022, snagging Game of the Year and instantly becoming a favorite for many gamers---myself included. So, I hope you can imagine my excitement when I was among the lucky few invited to play Shadow of the Erdtree at Bandai Namco\u2019s preview event in Paris. Now, after three hours with Elden Ring\u2019s first and only expansion, I\u2019m confident it won\u2019t just meet our expectations but will raise the bar for post-launch content and proudly claim the top spot as FromSoftware\u2019s best expansion yet. I hope you\u2019re hungry After touching Miquella\u2019s withered hand, I awaken in the Land of Shadow, a hauntingly beautiful dreamscape that feels deliciously fresh but comfortably familiar. Shadow of the Erdtree\u2019s new region is easily one of the most visually stunning landscapes ever created. It\u2019s strange setting foot in a new Elden Ring region for the first time in nearly two and a half years, but it feels good to be back. Moments later, I\u2019m treated to a gorgeous vista: A twisted, infested Erdtree towering above while countless upcoming landmarks loom enticingly on the skyline. The longer I look, the more I see: Castles and settlements, encampments and ruins, mountains and valleys. The Land of Shadow\u2019s somber horizon rivals the Lands Between for spectacle and scale, and you can bet you\u2019ll be visiting all those distant areas later. Bandai Namco only let us access the Land of Shadow\u2019s first map piece, but there was more than enough on my plate for the three-hour preview. The first area is surprisingly expansive for such a small portion of Shadow of the Erdtree, and in a few short hours, I found everything we\u2019ve come to expect from a FromSoftware classic. Dungeons of varying sizes, wandering elites and field bosses, NPCs with eerily vague dialogue, and tons of powerful new weapons and spells, the latter of which was easily my favorite part of the preview. Like a kid in a candy shop Shadow of the Erdtree gives you so many new toys to play with that it feels like Christmas came early. The expansion adds eight new weapon types and, staggeringly, over 100 new weapons\u2014an impressive addition to Elden Ring\u2019s already gigantic arsenal. I tried around a dozen weapons during the preview, and each had an interesting moveset or fun ability unlike anything in the base game. There\u2019s a two-handed great hammer you can whirl around and throw like Mj\u00f6lnir, throwing daggers and axes, a great katana, and even perfume weapons that spray enemies with harmful elemental vapor---the ultimate alchemist fantasy. I chose the Sorcerer class, a lightly-armored spellcaster that uses a mixture of Intelligence and Faith and wields one of the new hand-to-hand combat styles. The new martial arts attacks pack a punch (pun intended) and feel borderline OP, but I can say the same about every new weapon I tried. Another of my favorites is the Beast Claw, a fast, close-range fighting style that sees you darting around the battle and swiping at your foes like a juiced-up animal. It\u2019s essentially an upgraded version of Bloodborne\u2019s Beast Claw, and I can\u2019t wait to try it in a full playthrough.\u00a0 The sheer breadth of what\u2019s on offer is staggering, and I\u2019m so excited to experiment with all these new tools. Elden Ring\u2019s build diversity was always one of its strengths, but with Shadow of the Erdtree\u2019s new additions, there\u2019ll be a staggering number of options at our disposal---vastly more than every Souls game, Soulslike, and action-RPG out there. Plenty of meat on the bones You can put these new tools to the test in Shadow of the Erdtree\u2019s legacy dungeons, the first of which is Belurat, Tower Settlement. It\u2019s an enormous, crumbling castle town with impressive verticality and feels like peak FromSoftware level design. You\u2019ll traverse winding alleys and twisting interiors, jump between rooftops, and unlock clever shortcuts as you ascend to the summit of a once-proud fortress, now crumbling and overrun by mindless denizens. It\u2019s reminiscent of Demon Souls\u2019 Boletaria, Dark Souls 3\u2019s Ringed City, and Elden Ring\u2019s Leyndell in all the best ways, and I loved exploring its countless nooks and crannies. There are branching paths, optional areas hiding missable goodies, an expansive underground section hidden behind a locked door, and even a poison swamp. FromSoftware is back and ready to rumble. Belurat has to be one of my favorite legacy dungeons in Elden Ring, and it culminates in one of FromSoftware\u2019s best boss battles to date. You might remember it from the trailer---the Divine Beast Dancing Lion. This is the first of 10 major bosses in Shadow of the Erdtree, and as you\u2019d expect, it wants to put your insides on the outside. The Dancing Lion is ruthlessly punishing but hugely satisfying to beat. It prances around the arena unleashing a cacophony of storm magic and barely gives you a moment to breathe, but it\u2019s an awesome fight, especially once you hit phase two. Just try not to get caught by its grab attack---it\u2019ll eat you alive. A feast to look forward to FromSoftware always underpromises and overdelivers, so when the developer spends two years working on an expansion to one of the biggest and best-reviewed RPGs of all time, you know there\u2019ll be lots to sink your teeth into. I loved every minute of my three hours with Elden Ring\u2019s expansion and can\u2019t wait for it to launch on June 21. If the rest of Shadow of the Erdtree is anything like the three hours I played, it\u2019ll easily be From Software\u2019s best expansion, and the sheer amount---and quality---of content on offer will undoubtedly make it worth the $40 price tag.","apple_news_notices":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/ELDENRING_SotE_Screenshot_4.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1249882"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2277"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1249882"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1249882\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1250106,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1249882\/revisions\/1250106"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1250101"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1249882"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1249882"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1249882"},{"taxonomy":"invoiceable_action","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/invoiceable_action?post=1249882"},{"taxonomy":"internal-label","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/internal-label?post=1249882"},{"taxonomy":"article_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article_type?post=1249882"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=1249882"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

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He's the former TCG Editor for CBR and holds a Master's degree in Chemistry from the University of Edinburgh. Tom spent six years as a Science Editor for the Royal Society of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, and AstraZeneca before leaving science to pursue his dream career in games journalism at the start of 2023. He loves MMOs, RPGs, TCGs, and pretty much every game by FromSoftware\u2014especially Dark Souls.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.tpefoley.com\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/tpefoley\/","https:\/\/x.com\/tpefoley"],"url":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/author\/tomfoley"}]}},"raw_content":"It\u2019s understandable if you have high expectations for Shadow of the Erdtree. I do, too. FromSoftware\u2019s monumental action RPGs never cease to amaze, and Elden Ring had a shattering impact on the gaming industry when it launched in 2022, snagging Game of the Year and instantly becoming a favorite for many gamers---myself included. So, I hope you can imagine my excitement when I was among the lucky few invited to play Shadow of the Erdtree at Bandai Namco\u2019s preview event in Paris. Now, after three hours with Elden Ring\u2019s first and only expansion, I\u2019m confident it won\u2019t just meet our expectations but will raise the bar for post-launch content and proudly claim the top spot as FromSoftware\u2019s best expansion yet. I hope you\u2019re hungry After touching Miquella\u2019s withered hand, I awaken in the Land of Shadow, a hauntingly beautiful dreamscape that feels deliciously fresh but comfortably familiar. Shadow of the Erdtree\u2019s new region is easily one of the most visually stunning landscapes ever created. It\u2019s strange setting foot in a new Elden Ring region for the first time in nearly two and a half years, but it feels good to be back. Moments later, I\u2019m treated to a gorgeous vista: A twisted, infested Erdtree towering above while countless upcoming landmarks loom enticingly on the skyline. The longer I look, the more I see: Castles and settlements, encampments and ruins, mountains and valleys. The Land of Shadow\u2019s somber horizon rivals the Lands Between for spectacle and scale, and you can bet you\u2019ll be visiting all those distant areas later. Bandai Namco only let us access the Land of Shadow\u2019s first map piece, but there was more than enough on my plate for the three-hour preview. The first area is surprisingly expansive for such a small portion of Shadow of the Erdtree, and in a few short hours, I found everything we\u2019ve come to expect from a FromSoftware classic. Dungeons of varying sizes, wandering elites and field bosses, NPCs with eerily vague dialogue, and tons of powerful new weapons and spells, the latter of which was easily my favorite part of the preview. Like a kid in a candy shop Shadow of the Erdtree gives you so many new toys to play with that it feels like Christmas came early. The expansion adds eight new weapon types and, staggeringly, over 100 new weapons\u2014an impressive addition to Elden Ring\u2019s already gigantic arsenal. I tried around a dozen weapons during the preview, and each had an interesting moveset or fun ability unlike anything in the base game. There\u2019s a two-handed great hammer you can whirl around and throw like Mj\u00f6lnir, throwing daggers and axes, a great katana, and even perfume weapons that spray enemies with harmful elemental vapor---the ultimate alchemist fantasy. I chose the Sorcerer class, a lightly-armored spellcaster that uses a mixture of Intelligence and Faith and wields one of the new hand-to-hand combat styles. The new martial arts attacks pack a punch (pun intended) and feel borderline OP, but I can say the same about every new weapon I tried. Another of my favorites is the Beast Claw, a fast, close-range fighting style that sees you darting around the battle and swiping at your foes like a juiced-up animal. It\u2019s essentially an upgraded version of Bloodborne\u2019s Beast Claw, and I can\u2019t wait to try it in a full playthrough.\u00a0 The sheer breadth of what\u2019s on offer is staggering, and I\u2019m so excited to experiment with all these new tools. Elden Ring\u2019s build diversity was always one of its strengths, but with Shadow of the Erdtree\u2019s new additions, there\u2019ll be a staggering number of options at our disposal---vastly more than every Souls game, Soulslike, and action-RPG out there. Plenty of meat on the bones You can put these new tools to the test in Shadow of the Erdtree\u2019s legacy dungeons, the first of which is Belurat, Tower Settlement. It\u2019s an enormous, crumbling castle town with impressive verticality and feels like peak FromSoftware level design. You\u2019ll traverse winding alleys and twisting interiors, jump between rooftops, and unlock clever shortcuts as you ascend to the summit of a once-proud fortress, now crumbling and overrun by mindless denizens. It\u2019s reminiscent of Demon Souls\u2019 Boletaria, Dark Souls 3\u2019s Ringed City, and Elden Ring\u2019s Leyndell in all the best ways, and I loved exploring its countless nooks and crannies. There are branching paths, optional areas hiding missable goodies, an expansive underground section hidden behind a locked door, and even a poison swamp. FromSoftware is back and ready to rumble. Belurat has to be one of my favorite legacy dungeons in Elden Ring, and it culminates in one of FromSoftware\u2019s best boss battles to date. You might remember it from the trailer---the Divine Beast Dancing Lion. This is the first of 10 major bosses in Shadow of the Erdtree, and as you\u2019d expect, it wants to put your insides on the outside. The Dancing Lion is ruthlessly punishing but hugely satisfying to beat. It prances around the arena unleashing a cacophony of storm magic and barely gives you a moment to breathe, but it\u2019s an awesome fight, especially once you hit phase two. Just try not to get caught by its grab attack---it\u2019ll eat you alive. A feast to look forward to FromSoftware always underpromises and overdelivers, so when the developer spends two years working on an expansion to one of the biggest and best-reviewed RPGs of all time, you know there\u2019ll be lots to sink your teeth into. I loved every minute of my three hours with Elden Ring\u2019s expansion and can\u2019t wait for it to launch on June 21. If the rest of Shadow of the Erdtree is anything like the three hours I played, it\u2019ll easily be From Software\u2019s best expansion, and the sheer amount---and quality---of content on offer will undoubtedly make it worth the $40 price tag.","apple_news_notices":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/ELDENRING_SotE_Screenshot_4.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1249882"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2277"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1249882"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1249882\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1250106,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1249882\/revisions\/1250106"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1250101"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1249882"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1249882"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1249882"},{"taxonomy":"invoiceable_action","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/invoiceable_action?post=1249882"},{"taxonomy":"internal-label","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/internal-label?post=1249882"},{"taxonomy":"article_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article_type?post=1249882"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=1249882"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

Rokurou

{"id":1249882,"date":"2024-06-04T09:00:34","date_gmt":"2024-06-04T14:00:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/?p=1249882"},"modified":"2024-06-04T09:01:21","modified_gmt":"2024-06-04T14:01:21","slug":"elden-ring-shadow-of-the-erdtree-preview-fromsoftwares-best-expansion-yet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/elden-ring\/news\/elden-ring-shadow-of-the-erdtree-preview-fromsoftwares-best-expansion-yet","title":{"rendered":"Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree preview: FromSoftware\u2019s best expansion yet"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s understandable if you have high expectations for Shadow of the Erdtree<\/em>. I do, too. FromSoftware\u2019s monumental action RPGs never cease to amaze, and Elden Ring<\/em> had a shattering impact on the gaming industry when it launched in 2022, snagging Game of the Year and instantly becoming a favorite for many gamers—myself included.<\/p>

So, I hope you can imagine my excitement when I was among the lucky few invited to play Shadow of the Erdtree<\/em> at Bandai Namco\u2019s preview event in Paris. Now, after three hours with Elden Ring<\/a>\u2019s<\/em> first and only expansion, I\u2019m confident it won\u2019t just meet our expectations but will raise the bar for post-launch content and proudly claim the top spot as FromSoftware\u2019s best expansion yet.<\/p>