My palms sweat and my coronary heart thunders as I scale Belurat, Tower Settlement. A refrain swells as a sinister lion-headed beast scuttles in direction of me. Resembling a Chinese language dancing dragon, it speeds round on grotesque human arms, capturing lightning in all instructions. It takes me a couple of makes an attempt, however my trusty scimitars and I finally emerge victorious and aid surges via me.

We’re so again.

Like tens of tens of millions of gamers the world over, Elden Ring hooked me on this exhilarating, sadistic sport loop when it got here out in 2022. After two years of group lore movies and exhibitions of unbelievable ability, we lastly have Shadow of the Erdtree. In a couple of brief days, legions will embark on what’s more likely to be the most important gaming launch of the summer season.

The Lands Between in miniature

The brand new growth drops you into The Land of Shadow, a scaled-down echo of the bottom sport’s huge territory. An enormous, decaying “Scadutree” looms over the world — the photonegative of the golden “Erdtree” from the unique sport. There’s a lot to entice you in all instructions: withering castles, spectral headstones, and a large Furnace Golem that appears like a large strolling wicker man (belief me; don’t attempt to combat it!).

However whereas Shadow of the Erdtree is undeniably beautiful, it pissed off me greater than the bottom sport. I usually galloped in circles, trying to find paths down forbidding rock faces. The labyrinthine Ruins of Rauh particularly sucked hours of my time as I fought the identical foes and hit the identical dead-ends. But tenuous because the traversal may be, it’s by no means been extra important.

It’s not simply that this end-game realm expects gamers to have mastered the unique content material — it additionally introduces new assets to gather that completely buff your harm and protection towards enemies within the Land of Shadow. When you might attempt to energy via with out “Scadutree Fragments,” you’ll seemingly must scour the map to amass them as a result of even early bosses are not any joke.

Candy struggling

Fortunately, Shadow of the Erdtree’s fight shines as brightly as Elden Ring’s. The duels are masterfully constructed, making you’re feeling helpless within the face of big scorpions, fire-wielding knights, shambling mutants, and extra. Whereas they could be insanely tough, these fights are at all times honest — and the enjoyment you’ll really feel when lastly overcoming them is pure online game ecstasy.

Within the week I’ve spent with my Shadow of the Erdtree overview copy, I’ve had a blast plunging again into this world brimming with uncanny vistas and terrifying adversaries. Though this growth doesn’t really feel as contemporary as FromSoftware’s finest downloadable content material (like Bloodborne’s The Outdated Hunters), it’s nonetheless a panoramic sequel of one of many biggest video games ever made. I’m anxious to proceed my journey, dive deeper into fathomless lore, and snort every time I get impaled, crushed, electrocuted, lacerated, poisoned, and/or set aflame.

James Perkins Mastromarino contributed to this overview.