Shadow of the Erdtree Steam score plummets to ‘mixed’ amid claims its ‘unfinished’ and ‘empty’

Elden Ring is one of the most popular games of modern times, selling over 25 million copies since it’s release in 2022. The game was also given 331 Game of the Year Awards making it one of the most decorated titles of all time. FromSoftware has now released it’s Shadow of the Erdtree DLC for the game that has received widespread critical acclaim, with some claiming it’s like playing “Elden Ring for the first time again.” But, not all players agree and the Steam score has been slowly slipping with many complaining about the emptiness of the world and difficulty of the enemies.

At the time of writing, Shadow of the Erdtree has a Steam review score of just 62% placing it in the ‘Mixed’ category. This is a far cry from the 90% score that the base Elden Ring game has. While some players, such as Grobyc315 left a positive review saying “What a great time to be alive and experience this piece of art,” not everyone shares the same sentiment.

Many players have criticized Shadow of the Erdtree for its baron landscape and difficult bosses that are vastly more challenging than the ones found in the base game. Jeledraws gave a detailed review of various aspects of the game, citing enemy difficult as being a main negative point stating,

“The amount of damage bosses do is ridiculous. I went into the DLC at just level 140 which is probably below what is recommended, but even by the end of the DLC when I was around 240ish I found that all of the bosses would would put me down to one hit territory after one hit.”

Doge also took to the Steam reviews to criticize the performance issues that DLC is currently suffering from saying “Good DLC, but performance has gone down as of the latest update. Constant micro-stuttering and frame drops, freezes as well as increases in loading times make it difficult to enjoy and play the game. One of the early boss fights takes place around a puddle of water, which drops frames considerably. Wait for performance improvements before buying.”

Within also touched upon the uninspiring landscape saying “The open world, whilst pretty has practically nothing to do or see aside from some weapons and ashes of war, exploration pretty much results in the above or upgrade materials for weapons/spirits.”

Of course, a review is just an opinion and everything is subjective. Thousands of players are currently enjoying Shadow of the Erdtree, just as thousands aren’t. To see what we thought of it, check out our Shadow of the Erdtree review here.