Elden Ring DLC review round-up: Critics react to Shadow of the Erdtree

Other times, though, DLC and expansions can be just as good as the base game and prove to be unmissable.

Where does Shadow of the Erdtree fall?

Read on to find out the Metacritic score for Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree, and for a review round-up for the Elden Ring DLC.

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At the time of writing, The Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree DLC Metacritic score is 95 on PS5 (based on 56 critic reviews), 94 on Xbox Series X/S (based on eight critic reviews) and 92 on PC (based on 45 critic reviews).

Simply put, the Elden Ring DLC reviews have been overwhelmingly positive.

The base Elden Ring game received a Metacritic score of 96 on PS5, so for the DLC to score a 95 means it is essentially the same quality and just as impressive.

The Shadow of the Erdtree DLC Metacritic score is so high that it is the 36th highest-rated game of all time on the website (as of writing, based on the PS5 version reviews).

It shares a 95 Metacritic score with Baldur’s Gate 2, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Vice City, Gran Turismo 3, LittleBigPlanet, Halo 2, The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask, Twilight Princess, Persona 5 Royal, Red Dead Redemption, Portal 2 and The Last of Us to name a few stone-cold classics.

Review round-up for Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree DLC

The Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree reviews have essentially all been glowing, with some critics awarding the DLC full marks.

IGN (and writer Mitchell Saltzman) was one such publication, awarding Shadow of the Erdtree 10 out of 10.

Saltzman explained that: “Shadow of the Erdtree may not do anything radically different from the base game, but this expansion somehow feels like a scaled-down version of that same experience that recaptures all of the magic of playing Elden Ring for the first time, with more content packed within than many fully priced games.”

This large new DLC is impressive in scope and “is filled with new secrets, new discoveries, a ton of new build options to experiment with, as well as some of the most challenging and unforgettable boss battles Souls fans will have ever seen”.

Another site which awarded Shadow of the Erdtree full marks is GamesRadar+. Critic Joel Franey explained in their five-star review that “it’s almost getting boring praising FromSoftware every time”.

Franey added that even its “exhausting final boss can’t detract from what is a sumptuously rich experience”.

“If FromSoftware is going to keep making games of this calibre, there’ll always be hope for the creative future of the industry,” they concluded.

PushSquare, though, wasn’t quite as glowing in its 8/10 review. Reviewer Liam Croft told us that: “Shadow of the Erdtree delivers more of the same style of content you loved two years ago rather than introducing new ways to engage.”

Croft added: “That’s enough to consider it a fantastic expansion, though it’s hard not to feel like you’re just going through the motions again.”

Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree is out on 21st June (on consoles) and 20th June (on PC) on PlayStation, Xbox and PC.

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