New video! A Personal Examination of Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree (ad-free!)

Hey everyone!

Just to let you know that the new video is now available, ad-free for patrons!

How does one preview an expansion for what is already one of the most expansive, flexible games ever made? When so much of what players enjoy and don't is going to come down to granular choices made in terms of build, an expansion as massive as Shadow of the Erdtree, coming two years after Elden Ring's release, is only going to complicate matters—making it impossible to state with any degree of universality.

And so, when Bandai Namco invited me to a preview event for the upcoming Shadow of the Erdtree expansion last week, allowing me three hours hands-on with the game, I decided I wasn't going to try and cover absolutely every new aspect of the DLC, instead simply trying to honestly describe my own personal experience and the complicated feelings I had to work through during those three hours. Insodoing, however, I come to the conclusion that the most exciting part about the upcoming Elden Ring expansion is that it is bigger than any of us could have possibly envisioned.

Let's talk weapon arts, environments, bosses and difficulty in this (sort of) preview for Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree!

Honestly up until the last minute I didn't know if I was going to make this event—they aren't the cushy experience a lot of people likely have in their heads. Very much a "travel, wait around a bunch, play a game with the team watching over you like a hawk, leave" kinda affair. Says a lot about the DLC though that I'm glad I decided to go, because it really did rule. Got me excited about Elden Ring again.

Plus, at least I didn't get any massive apples thrown at my leg so hard that they burst while walking through Paris in the middle of one of its worst heat waves in years all in service of playing The Sinking City for ten minutes, so as far as I'm concerned this was a major success by comparison.

Maybe I'll write something at some point about the shite I've dealt with doing preview events. Lot of stories there.

Anyway, thank you once again for your continued support. Been working pretty constantly to get this done as well as the Balatro vid while also working on the Mad Max project, and I wouldn't be able to dedicate close to the time necessary were it not for your generous pledges. Seriously, you're all the best.

Oh, and here's a photo of my new pal and I from the event:

More videos very soon!

Thanks again,

Hamish

Writing on Games