The new expansion drops you into The Land of Shadow, a scaled-down echo of the base game's vast territory. There's much to entice you in all directions: withering castles, spectral headstones, and a massive Furnace Golem that looks like a giant walking wicker man.
While Shadow of the Erdtree is undeniably gorgeous, it frustrated me more than the base game. The labyrinthine Ruins of Rauh in particular sucked hours of my time as I fought the same foes and hit the same dead-ends.
It's not just that this end-game realm expects players to have mastered the original content - it also introduces new resources to collect that permanently buff your damage and defense against enemies in the Land of Shadow.
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