Despite receiving critical acclaim, the Elden Ring DLC, Shadow of the Erdtree, has launched to mixed reviews on Steam and has drawn criticism from players regarding its challenging difficulty and performance issues on both PC and consoles.
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Screenshot taken from Steam
Despite earning widespread critical acclaim and achieving the highest Metacritic score for video games prior to its release, Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree launched on June 21 to a wave of negative feedback from players on Steam. While the DLC was lauded for its challenging gameplay, many players voiced frustration over its demanding combat, perceived issues with difficulty balance, and performance problems across PC and consoles.
Players Cite Performance Issues and Perceived Disproportionate Difficulty
Screenshot taken from Reddit
Many players highlighted the intensity of the expansion's combat as a major concern, noting that battles felt even more challenging and sometimes disproportionately difficult compared to the base game. Reviews of Shadow of the Erdtree on Steam indicated that enemy placements seemed "rushed" and not thoroughly considered, with some players feeling that "bosses have overinflated health bars."
Additionally, performance issues were a common complaint, particularly among PC users who reported crashes, micro-stuttering, and frame rate caps. Even users with high-end systems noted frame rates dipping below 30 FPS in dense areas, making gameplay challenging. Similar performance concerns were echoed by PlayStation console users, who experienced significant frame rate drops during intense gameplay moments.
Screenshot taken from Metacritic
As of Monday, Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree has an overall Mixed review rating on Steam, with 36% of reviews being negative. On Metacritic, it is rated as 'Generally Favorable' with a score of 8.3/10 based on 570 user ratings. Meanwhile, Game8 has awarded Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree an overall rating of 94/100.
