I'll try to be as direct as possible with this review:


When I started the DLC, I fell in love almost immediately, until I realized fromsoft did it again. Few to no directions to where to go, very few lore elements to know the DLC story and only possible replayability stuck behind Nightreign (Or NG+ , again and again). Can we please leave it behind? I am so tired of having to look up what a youtuber found out analyzing 300 items to know the basic dynamics of the story, or having to look up a guide to find where to access half the map (hidden behind like 3 secrets in a row).

Can we stop normalizing not giving directions to players at all?

I want to feel like part of the story, I want to feel like me, as a player and not an hardcore Elden Ring fan, can grasp even the basics of the story I'm playing through. I want to be able to play a damn game without having to look up internet guides on how to achieve the bare minimum to withstand an enemy or a game phase.


Animations and stuff are really really good, they truly make you feel like a demi god, however, as time goes on bosses become exponentially powerful until you are forced to explore the map to gather more upgrade materials. If you don't do it enough, the bosses become a nightmare. Even if you are upgraded, most bosses from a certain point are basically oneshot machines, or combo-to-death spammers.

The final boss was the final straw, it feels like they wanted to make something harder just for the spite of it, not to mention the lack of imagination when coming up to it. Really you didn't have anything else on your mind?


It's almost like level systems are not made this way for a reason.

You can't introduce a new levelling system that is not direct on how to increase it. I get the thing, you want to highlight exploration, but that's not how you do it. If the player wants to explore, he should do it because he wants to, because he likes the environment or feels rewarded, not because he is forced to. I loved the environments, they were all very unique and well thought, but I don't like the idea of chasing every single corner because FromSoft thought it would be funny to hide a key item behind 3 consecutive secrets.

Exploration isn't the actual problem, don't get me wrong, but the absence of indications on where to go. This would be fine for optional content, not required materials. Not everyone gets back on the game thinking "I can't wait to waste hours moving around erratically looking for upgrade materials."


There were bits of the game that I truly enjoyed, after like 60% of the DLC done, it started getting more and more frustrating and lack of information by the game's side started to kick in. In a souls game, if I get frustrated it should be because the game gets difficult, not because I have no idea of what to do. Of course the game has very high quality, it's From Software after all, but It shouldn't justify the lack of information given to the player. I wouldn't recommend this DLC in general unless you are ready to look up every location of every item, every hidden shortcut or secret required to even play half of the game. When I killed the final boss, I didn't feel proud of the accomplishment nor satisfied, and most important, I still was not aware of what the hell was the story about aside some tiny bits.


PS.
That aside, I felt like I should have finished the DLC before getting into a review, just to make sure it was not a skill issue by my side. The more you approach the end, the more frustrating it gets, it feels like DS2 all over again, except that DS2 was funnier. And it's a shame, because this DLC had tons of amazing moments, all ruined to the game's greed of becoming uneccesarly unfair just for the sake of it.