One Month Later: Do you feel Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree is a GOTY contender?

[Remember_Spinal]

I enjoyed Shadow of The Erdtree, it’s a really good dlc, but outside of the two big dungeons (The Shadow Keep and Inir- ILim) it’s kind of more of the same stuff. It’s a lot of nice looking empty fields with maybe a mini-boss roaming about, some smaller caves/dungeons with a repeatable boss, and couple more shorter dungeons.

The highlights would be all the big boss fights, depending on how much you enjoyed the challenge. Also, just having more elden Ring in general to play.

I think the story is very barebones and not that interesting at all. You think they’re building up to something to give you a new perspective on the games lore and characters but it’s literally just Radahn wearing a Miqulla backpack in the end with no real satisfying conclusion. When you finish the last boss you get a 15 second cutscene tht doesn’t give you any more information than what you already got and a little crown and they send you back on your way.

Overall I’d give the DLC a 8/10 (i still think CDPR are the masters of dlc expansion content) and I don’t think those conversations of having to nominate a DLC over other games this year should even be a thing. It should have happened with Phantom Liberty not so much with this. There’s enough good games this year that we don’t have to glaze elden ring again for some satisfactory DLC

 

[peter42O]

No.

Personally, in general, I don't believe that any dlc/expansion should ever be nominated for game of the year. That to me is pathetic and ridiculous. First and foremost, dlc/expansions wouldn't exist if the base game never existed and the base game regardless of the game already had it's chance to be nominated for game of the year. In this case, Elden Ring won 2022 game of the year so that's it. It had it's time and it's now time to move on to a new game.

Should it be nominated for dlc/expansion of the year? Sure. This I would have no issues with because it makes logical sense while allowing the actual new games of 2024 to be given their fair chance at winning game of the year.

 

[Ico]

not really, its just more elden ring, the lows still lows and the highs still highs (even do i feel we got less highs than the base game)

there are like 2 good dungeons and 3 good story bosses with a weird leveling system, i think other games bring a lot more to the table like FF7, Tekken, Granblue and some new faces deserve a chance too, like Stelar Blade and Astro Bot

So in the same way i didnt think it was nice to have zelda totk and spiderman 2 on the goty i dont think this dlc deserves to be there too

 

[voke]

Not even close to be completely honest. It was a fantastic DLC, big, beautiful, wonderfully paced with some of the best bosses in the game, but it was mostly the same experience I had in 2022. When I beat the final boss I didn't feel compelled to stay, I wanted to be done with it.

Love FROMSOFTWARE but I am ready for them to overhaul their gameplay systems, as they did in bloodborne and sekiro. The boss design (while still great) now lacks player agency... we need more than dodge rolls if the game will be this fast.

Definitely recommend the DLC but to compare it with whole game experiences? that's just glazing

My top 5 this year goes something like this

1. Dragon's Dogma 2
2. Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth
3. Rise of The Ronin
4. Stellar Blade
5. Helldivers 2

 

[Yeona]

Not to me.

It's yet another trope-rehashing of "The Hits", with the Lands of Shadow feeling almost like an alternative universe version of the Lands Between. It felt exactly as eyerolling as Dark Souls 3 calling out to other FromSoft games around every corner, except this time "The Hits" were from the exact same game the DLC is in, which is gonna make this already arguably bloated as fuck game have even worse pacing in the future than it already has.

It's a culmination of every single thing I hate about modern Fromsoftware games and I'm tired of pretending this is in any way shape or form an improvement over something like Demon's Souls, Dark Souls or even Bloodborne. I'm tired of waltzing into a place, murdering absolutely everything in sight ruthlessly, and then leaving. I'm not being particularly challenged by this beyond my ability to just memorise movesets, which a literal chimpanzee can do after a while.

I adored exploring the open world and the genuinely breath-taking discoveries you can make. But I enjoyed it despite the rest of the game, which to me felt like a scream of a team desperate to pander to a mainstream audience that's convinced that the whole identity of these games is that they're difficult.

FromSoftware were never ones to cater to mainstream appeal. It's funny, but also a bit sad, to see them pidgeonholed into doing the exact thing they thought was going to make them stand out, but now it's mainstream and they're stuck escalating until the end of time until the inevitable breaking point.

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth clears.

Fuck Elden Ring.

 

[voke]

FromSoftware were never ones to cater to mainstream appeal. It's funny, but also a bit sad, to see them pidgeonholed into doing the exact thing they thought was going to make them stand out, but now it's mainstream and they're stuck escalating until the end of time until the inevitable breaking point.

Honestly, this is the hard truth about FROM games right now. Something has to change, a lot of those who have been there since Demon/Dark Souls are beginning to feel jaded/see the cracks in their formula.... well at least I am, despite always enjoying what they put out.

Armored Core 6 was was more hype than Elden Ring IMO

 

[Ico]

we need more than dodge rolls if the game will be this fast.

This. Rellana and other enemies felt like they are just Sekiro enemies on the wrong game. To the point its better to just pick a shield and invest your points into stamina to eat a lot of attacks instead of trying to dodge lol

 

[peter42O]

My top 5 this year goes something like this

1. Dragon's Dogma 2
2. Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth
3. Rise of The Ronin
4. Stellar Blade
5. Helldivers 2

Great list. I have only completed four games thus far this year and are as follows -

1. Stellar Blade
2. Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
3. Rise of the Ronin
4. Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden

 

[John Elden Ring]

The DLC lacking Achivements were the biggest downside for me.

It will win best community support but it wont win GOTY, that will be FF7 Rebirth

 

[Al Catone]

It will get awards, but not GOTY

 

[Yurinka]

One Month Later: Do you feel Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree is a GOTY contender?​

No, because it isn't a game.

GOTY means GOTY and DLCs and expansions shouldn't be there.

I think awards should have a "Best post launch support of the year" category to include there DLCs, expansions, season content etc. different from the GOTY category, which should only include new games released that year (this also means no remasters, ports or remakes).

 

[Sircaw]

Astro is coming

 

[ethomaz]

Destiny 2 Final Shape is.