Recent reviews by Rainn

I have quite a lot to say about Shadow of the Erdtree, with some controversial takes at the end.

First and foremost, is it worth it? Yes, absolutely. As all From Software DLCs have done before, Shadow of the Erdtree enhances the experience to its fullest potential and still manages to bring new sensations to players.

The deeply vertical and interconnected map is a very, and I mean VERY welcome nod to From Software's past level design, as in Dark Souls and Bloodborne. This makes the world very engaging to explore and expands on the sense of freedom the base game provides. 
I personally enjoyed all the new side dungeons, as they are much more intricate and demanding than most of the ones found before. Of course, the bosses in these dungeons are, for the most part, a bit underwhelming, but there are a few memorable ones nonetheless.

The Scadutree Fragment and Revered Spirit Ashes progression system is a solid attempt at making a more balanced experience for players, and I personally love how it forces us to explore the well crafted map to its fullest in order to make us thoroughly prepared for our next encounters. 

The new weapon classes and spells are probably one of my favorite aspects of this DLC. I made sure to have a complete character from the base game, with all the weapons, spells, cookbooks, items, armor, and talismans you can possibly find in a normal NG. That said, I also made sure the character stats were balanced enough so I could wield and try out every new weapon in the DLC, and I was not disappointed. 
There is something for everyone here. Whether you enjoy face-to-face fast-paced combat, ranged battles, or just like smashing the weapon art button until your enemy is dead, you'll certainly find something that appeals to your own voice. I also can't wait to replay the game with all this new gear.

I also personally enjoyed how the NPC quests and most of the narrative are a bit easier to follow. I do love From Software's storytelling, but it being locked behind obscure scenarios most of the time is a bit tiring. I love watching VaatiVydia as much as the next guy, but I like putting the pieces together for myself as well when I play their games for the first time, which I felt was much more doable here, with me even figuring out what the final boss would be like mid-game.

Before touching on the main subject (Bosses), I'd like to address the new enemy types. My first death was right as I entered the Shadow Realm, to one of, if not THE hardest mob in the entire game right now, one of those dancing disk wielding creatures. And I must say, I enjoyed it and, basically, all the new additions to the mob roster. They are harder than most of the enemies in the base game, and that is a must in any DLC. The amount of challenge some of the mobs present would probably be enough for them to be considered bosses in other FromSoft titles, and maybe even in the base game, but alas, I haven't found any of them uniquely unfair or unbalanced in any way, they are simply a step up in the challenge of exploration. The furnaces are amazing as well, especially the ones you can't fight through conventional means, love it.
As for the repeating enemies: I sincerely don't think there was an overuse of base enemies in the DLC. One could argue that there were far too many dragons, and I would've agreed in my first hours in the DLC, but their placement and unique new strategies make most of these encounters fresh.

Now, regarding the elephant in the room.

I have played every From Software souls title since Demon's Souls and Dark Souls 1. I have played on multiple platforms in over a decade, have had dozens of playthroughs on each game with every possible build, and have played every DLC prior to this one as well. Suffice to say, I knew what to expect from Shadow of the Erdtree: the cherry on top of an already marvelous cake.

However, I have some issues with it. 

No, I'm not gonna rant about the bosses being too difficult. I am a casual player, an experienced casual player, but a casual nonetheless. I use spirit summons, try many different weapons, spells, and items, and ultimately play with what I enjoy the most, not what kills the boss the fastest or safest. I have done all kinds of playthroughs on Elden Ring, from full melee fists with no summons to full on mage, RL1, so on and so forth. So I KNOW most bosses can be approached in vastly different ways for everyone, and that will drastically impact their experience and how difficult they thought the fight was. All that said, if you think the DLC is far too hard for you, try new builds, train your patience, do yoga, meditate, and try again. This is ultimately it, you will die countless times, much more than you did before, and you should have been ready for it. This is the product, and if you paid for it knowing FromSoft's history, that's on you. 

With that out of the way, I'd like to discuss the actual boss designs. 

For 90% of it, I think they did a phenomenal job. The buildup for some of these fights is honestly the best that From Software has ever done. The amount of emotion they were able to evoke with just the path to the bosses alone was surreal. I will never forget my first time getting up the Jagged Peak, as I see the clouds getting angrier and more and more corpses of dragons pilling up on the sharp rocks while lightning strikes your feet. 
The Abyssal Woods are easily my favorite portion of the entire game now. The instant realization that this would be something completely different from any other area they have done before had me gasp out loud: "♥♥♥♥."
And the bosses for both of these areas are my top 2 favorites, 11/10, absolutely mesmerized by both of them.

My issue with the DLC is that I'm starting to feel like From Software might be running out of ways to innovate their formula, especially with the boss designs. It's clear I loved this expansion, as I have all the other ones they have put out throughout the years, but this is the first time I felt like I was seeing too much of the same.
And yes, most of this feeling stems from the final boss. I wasn't very surprised by it, but I was, in fact, slightly disappointed. I know there is lore that makes it all tight together, I know it gives some answers to the story; I know it is a battle of epic proportions, but none of that felt satisfactory to me.
I don't intend to spoil it for anyone who hasn't finished the DLC, but if you have played previous From Software games, you might get what I mean when I say they might be running out of ways to innovate.

With that said, I sincerely hope their next game goes in a different direction. Elden Ring was the peak of their Souls formula, and I find it quite hard to see how they can improve on it for their next titles. But who knows, they might put out a game that is basically the same as their last ones and still brings something new to the table and surprises me, I can only wait for now.

And while I do, I'll be sure to replay Elden Ring and its DLC for a LONG time. And my opinions may even change as I play through the Land of Shadows more and more times, as they have with the Lands Between in 2 years.

Some final notes:
It took me a bit more than 40 hours to finish the DLC for the first time, and I had beaten all 11 main bosses and all side bosses and dungeons, with the exception of 1 cave that I checked on the wiki after I had beaten the game. 
I had performance issues. As I entered the DLC, I immediately saw my frames dropped significantly (from 60 to 40-45 on High presets). I don't have an amazing PC, but up until the DLC's release, it ran on High Presets at 60 FPS with no problems, and that is not possible anymore.
I experienced a couple bugs, such as walls with no collision that made me fall through the map and a painting quest not triggering. Nothing major, and the painting issue has been resolved, but keep in mind that they have to polish one or two things here and there.

That accent kills me everytime.

Uma das melhores experiências pra aqueles que curtem um game de mundo aberto e principalmente pra quem gosta de aventuras épicas. É a terceira vez que compro Skyrim, primeira no Xbox 360 depois no PS3 e agora no PC, a diferença é gritante.
Fazendo uma análise dos aspectos mais importantes aqui:

-Ambientação: 8/10
Skyrim consegue retratar muito bem aquele clima nórdico frio e brutal, tanto pelas cidades, as montanhas, campos, cavernas, tumbas e muito mais. O que deixa a desejar aqui é a repetição de cenários, e não são poucas vezes. É comum você entrar numa tumba e achar que já esteve lá antes;

-Trilha sonora:10/10
As músicas se adequadam perfeitamente a cada ambiente e situação do jogo, desde uma trila calma e relaxante numa taverna à outra épica e forte durante uma batalha;

-Direção de arte: 9/10
A diversidade de armaduras, armas, efeitos de magia, itens, sem falar dos inúmeros locais merecedores de uma pausa pra se admirar é muito grande. Quanto a esse aspecto não há muito do que se reclamar, talvez apenas a falta de cores pra certas coisas, pois o jogo às vezes te parece muito "pálido";

-Jogabilidade: 7/10
Aqui tenho que ser mais rígido. A movimentação do jogo é boa, pra época. Quanto ao combate... depende de que forma você está lutando. Uma das minhas maiores frustrações com skyrim sempre foi a amplitude dos ataques, por exemplo: Têm 3 inimigos(zumbis) na sua frente, um à esquerda, um no meio e outro à direita. Você tem uma longsword de duas mão que faz um ataque horizontal. Na lógica, todos os inimigos levariam dano devido ao tamanho da lâmina(como em Dark Souls), isso não acontece aqui, apenas o inimigo à sua frente recebe o ataque, e isso é muuuito irritante quando há mais de um tentando de matar.
Quanto ao uso de magias e arcos, a precisão é boa, nada mais, nada menos.

-Gráficos: 7/10 (pra época)
Se comparado a outros jogos do mesmo ano, Skyrim deixa a desejar nesse ponto. As texturas não são lá essas coisas, e os personagens possuem apenas duas expressões facias: Neutro e bravo. Há certos delays de renderização e um iluminação não muito boa em alguns lugares.

-História: 9/10
Pontos positivos: Mitologia muito bem elaborada e imersiva; muitas missões secundárias com histórias divertidas e interessantes; a maneira como você descobre as coisas através de conversas com NPCs é algo que eu até diria ser "aconchegante".
Pontos negativos: A história principal do jogo não é tão boa quanto poderia ser. O enredo é um tanto simples e muitas vezes não te prende tanto quanto deveria.

-Grande problema: BUGS BUGS BUGS EVERYWHERE!

Veredicto final: Skyrim é um jogo que todos os gamers deveriam experimentar um dia, e com certeza é um dinheiro muito bem investido e acho que podemos considerá-lo um clássico. O maior ponto negativo do jogo são seus bugs, alguns até mesmo comprometem a jogatina, como já aconteceu comigo em alguns saves.

Nota final: 8/10