"Elden Ring's Shadow of the Erdtree: Too Hard for Gamers?"

Despite widespread critical acclaim, *Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree* has experienced a rocky reception from players since its launch. While praised for its ambitious design and deep lore, the expansion has drawn significant criticism over its steep difficulty curve and technical performance issues across PC and console platforms.

Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree Falls Short of Player Expectations

The expansion pack, released on June 21, was met with high anticipation following its impressive pre-release Metacritic score. However, shortly after launch, it began receiving a wave of mixed reviews on Steam. While critics appreciated the intense combat and artistic direction, many players found the gameplay excessively punishing and less forgiving than the original game. Some described enemy placements as haphazard and noted that certain bosses seemed to have disproportionately inflated health bars, contributing to a sense of imbalance.

Performance Issues Distract From an Otherwise Polished Experience

Beyond difficulty concerns, several players reported performance-related bugs and glitches. On PC, users with high-end rigs still encountered frame drops below 30 FPS in heavily populated areas, along with micro-stuttering and occasional crashes. Console players, particularly those on PlayStation, also noticed severe frame rate dips during intense combat sequences, which detracted from the overall experience.

Player Feedback Highlights Growing Divide Between Critic and Community Reception

As of Monday, *Shadow of the Erdtree* holds a "Mixed" review status on Steam, with 36% of user reviews being negative. Meanwhile, Metacritic reflects a “Generally Favorable” rating at 8.3/10 based on 570 user reviews. Despite this, some outlets like Game8 awarded the DLC a near-perfect score of 94/100, highlighting the gap between professional critiques and player sentiment.