Hey all - We're doing a difficulty community ranking for the major bosses of Shadow of the Erdtree. Interested? Use this link & let your voices be heard! - forms.gle/7JdYAC795vqNe5ir8
I will say this. The absolute chills I got when I finally saw Enir-Illim cannot be undone. It was the same chills I got when I first arrived to Liurnia and Leyndell. Absolutely breathtaking experience.
I'm going to slightly defend Enir-Ilim on a few spots. It gains a LOT of points because of the Tower of Babel connection, but even moreso than that, for the hidden horror when you realize what makes up this structure. You look at the trees, at the stonework, sometimes at the base of some of the pillars rising up into the heavens... The realization that this whole place is made up of people, a much larger scale version of what you see in the jars, it adds some fantastic horror to it. And think back to the trailer: The Gate of Divinity is made up of all these corpses, but when Marika is there, the bodies still look fresh. That realization hits hard. Beyond that, I just overall really like it as a final push kind of level, it made me think of those final levels from classic Castlevania which aren't all that long and are just this charge towards the final boss kind of vibes. I just wish the game wouldn't teleport you there, but instead made you go from the Dancing Lion again, but either way, the linear challenge nature of it works for me as this final push. I see it in the same vein as 1-4 in Demon's Souls, too.
I love the abyssal woods but totally agree about a roaming monster, my initial thought was an enormous, lanky giant with a hooded head that just silently wanders, causing a creaking in the trees, and if it spots you, it pulls you up into the mist never to be seen again. It’s so big you can’t see it’s upper body besides two leering yellow eyes through the fog above, just a huge silhouette stalking the treeline
I really would've liked to see this in effect rather than - and I might overly negative about it - half-assed patches of stealth they made. Abyssal Woods was my favorite area in the beginning, but the more I'm there, the more I'm mad seeing mostly rats and sheep.
@@drphilsranch6782 I was thinking that. Imagine if you had to outrun some frenzy-themed monstrosity on Torrent like the snake in Sekiro. Would have made for a way more exhilarating level and would have justified the emptiness.
Honestly, my main defence of Enir Ilim is that whole section that links the dungeon back to Belurat and leads to Euphoria.You're right there there isn't a whole lot of alternate paths, but I think that whole section is so cool and easily missable that it kinda shoots the dungeon as a whole up a few places for me. Like, I'd almost argue that one path is more involved than a lot of the side paths in the other DLC legacy dungeons.
Do you count them as one dungeon? I count Leyndell/Subterranean as one dungeon even though most people don't, especially because you can access the latter even when it's the Ashen Capital. I think I'd consider them two halves of the same legacy dungeon in a similar vein.
Agreed. To me, Belurat and Enir-Ilim are two legacy dungeons built on top of each other, with one most likely being the first you do and the other being the last. That's insanely cool to me. I think we can let some linear level design slide on this with what From was able to pull off.
@@geordiejones5618 I count Leyndell and Subterranean as one huge one but I don't with Belurat/Enir due to the fact you'll most likely play through them separately. The fact that you can drop into a well in the middle of Leyndell and accidentally end up in the entire shunning grounds -> frenzy flame area is what truly ties them all together. If you count Belurat/Enir together then its one of the bigger and better legacy dungeons, and if you count them apart and compare them to something like castle morne or Caria Manor then they blow the competition out of the water so its good either way
Shadow Keep is probably my favorite legacy dungeon in the game cause I can’t really rush through it like other legacy dungeons and I have to come back to it multiple times to access other areas.
honestly i liked that enir-ilim was more of a really hard hitting faster dungeon. the divine beast warriors are rough as hell but the game more or less gave you a break in the constant exploration from the rest of the game and instead gave you a mini-boss rush. i would probably dislike that area if it was another giant complex dungeon that i have to find my way through while getting ripped apart. i did that already in the base game and the DLC, multiple times it's fitting. the final mile of the 100 mile journey
I thought Ensis Castle was kind of a below average legacy dungeon but its classed as only a minor legacy dungeon which was quite surprising for how big it was! Love the video!
@@BillySYTThe only legacy dungeons are Belurat/Enir Ilim and Shadow Keep. I've also heard a couple of people call Rauh Ruins a legacy dungeon for Torrent, which I completely agree with.
@@BillySYT Pretty sure they follow the logic of how the map handles them, usually legacy dungeons have their own pages in the graces list, not the case for Ensis
I got to Castle Ensis with the expectation that it would be akin to Caria Manor, and find it satisfying from that perspective. If you were expecting Raya Lucaria 2 Electirc Boogaloo, I understand being disappointed.
Gayle’s build up was perfect, all the areas are filled with enemies and monsters, but the jagged peak is so barren and filled with corpses it just screams Bayle killed everything
There are 2 sides to that coin. On one hand, yes it's building up tension for Bayle, it makes you anticipate the sheer dread you're about to face... but on the other hand, Jagged Peak is a gauntlet preceded by a shitty humanoid boss, and then you fight one drake with ginormous hp and a whole lot of 2 new attacks compared to Agheel, then you fight him again except there's 2 of them AND they're a quest prerequisite, and then you get the worst Ancient Dragon fight in Elden Ring. Jagged Peak is great until you start bonking its bosses, the second you do that it falls apart because they're all either mediocre, or straight up vile until you get to Bayle.
I agree on your opinion of enir ilim, but honestly I personally think it works to its advantage. Having a linear gauntlet of challenging enemies with a beautiful layout and aesthetic is a pretty fresh change of pace compared to the other legacy dungeons. It also makes the euporia a really cool subversion, since you wouldn’t think to look there because of how linear and straightforward everything was.
One big thing that you missed with shaman village is that you can get to the very top of rabbath’s rise and truly finish Jolan’s quest. Upon getting her ashes, you can take them to the doll of Anna, her sister, to get a duo ash summon. Kind of random but a cool little secret
Despite not liking how linear and lost potential with underusing sleep, coffin fissure is my favourite place because of the lore and the putrescent knight who has to be my favourite boss.
After raging for two hours learning how to dodge the projectiles consistently without a shield I came around. Love the vibes and once you get the timing down it's really not as bad as it feels when you first get down there. The place I hated most was that dumb fort beside Castle Ensis. Took me forever to figure out how to get in and once you do it's just a boss that by itself isn't annoying but you have to clear the soldiers because they don't ever de-agro. Seriously pissed me off and the boss doesn't drop anything I cared about.
I think the Coffin area is too linear. Yes there’s like 2 side paths you can take and the only weapon I’ll ever fight Godskins with again but really it’s kind of uneventful. Now Belurat main was dope. I loved every second exploring it it felt like a mini DS1. Shadow Keep would be the coolest area in the game if the fire knights were toned down just a little.
Technically, there are only 3 main regions, according to the map: - Gravesite Plains, which includes Cerulean Coast, Hidden Grave, Finger Ruins, and Jagged Peak - Scadu Altus, including the Hinterlands and Abyssal Woods - Rauh (also known as the Land of the Tower), which includes Rauh Base AND the Belurat/Enir Ilim legacy dungeon ('The Tower', and yes, it is strongly suggested by the map that they are two parts of one dungeon; you also literally go back to Belurat for the Euporia, meet Enir Ilim enemies there, go back through another path that connects the two, while also there being a third connecting path through the Dancing Lion arena. They also have the same lore and architectural style) How I explore open-worlds personally is quite different from your own style. I like to take my time, soak in the atmosphere, appreciate the sights, try to figure out the lore through the environment, items, and contextual clues, and tend to fight most things in my way. I also just accept that reused content comes with open-world games, and have thus far found no game that breaks that mold; their size, and even just the concept of 'worldbuilding' kind of precludes that. As such, things like Charo's Hidden Grave, Finger Ruins, and Cerulean Coast were all very interesting to me. Sometimes, just the discovery itself - if executed well, which I think SotE outright excels at - is enough to keep you going. Edit: Also, while I love the Shadow Keep, the Specimen Storage is NOT a maze, not in the sense of Leyndell or Stormveil Castle; it is very much another vertical hallway with very little to no interconnectedness. If you actually consider the main path from the first grace to Messmer, then it's a very straightforward, point A to B line with no real alternative routes or layers to that path, a fact thinly veiled by either short side routes that lead to dead ends or major ones that lead to entirely different sections. It's not like going from the rampart grace in Leyndell to Gransax's wing, where the whole city section is one giant maze with many layered, branching, and interconnected pathways, where even a seeming side route can be another road to the obligatory part of progression. This is my main issue with the legacy dungeons in SoTE, basically the inverse of the wide but shallow criticism; very vertical but a bit too thin for my liking.
My favorite area is the ancient ruins of rauh. I know its not considered a legacy dungeon but it honestly feels like one. So many secret paths and its feels so huge. Also them placing a 2nd dancing lion here was so cool. Its my favorite boss of the dlc and was amazing to fight again. The area is just so beautiful and it feels like its this almost untainted piece of the map that has remained beautiful even tho we know messmer has also been here.
When i saw Sennesax, a living ancient dragons among drakes, due to the lack of any lore of explaination i assumed she just sided with the drakes instead of her kind before i ever saw the rewards after the fight
Honestly I don't consider Enir-Ilim a full on, standalone legacy dungeon. I think it is meant to be the second half of Belurat. A similar example in the base game is like how Miquella's Haligtree and Elphael sort of combine into one legacy dungeon
@@ShrimpEmporium To be fair, the emptiness really helps to sell the atmosphere, but yeah it doesn’t hit the same on the second playthrough. It’s kinda just a beeline to Midra at that point
Enir-ilim feels like a Elphael. Both are end game areas that are meant to challenge the player and mostly use recycled enemies and are fairly linear. Enir-ilim though has better atmosphere and adds new notable enemies, while Elphael has better level design but worse enemy placements.
I would not put Enir-Ilim that low, but i agree with all the criticisms. In my opinion, Belurat & Enir-Ilim should have been one big dungeon (which they "techinically" are)
shadow keep reminds me of lothric castle from ds3. with the first half being the invasion of the castle fighting soldiers and militiamen around the area with the second half being the storehouse calling back to the grand archives being a large area filled with bookshelf mazes and elevators with all culminating to fighting the hyped up boss (messmer and the twin princes) in their chambers
Yep, I see that. The Specimen Storehouse being so similar to the Duke's Archives wasn't lost on me - Shadow Keep felt like a best hits of concepts from the past games. They could have done a tad more for the gatehouse segment, but it's still easily the best area in the DLC.
Enir Ilim defender here reporting for duty! The way I interpreted Enir Ilim on my playthrough was as an extension of Belurat. Or more like a progression gated end stretch of it. The Burned Leyndell after Regular Leyndell if you will. Plus gameplay-wise, it was cool to see it was where the bulk of all the remaining Hornsent were, protecting Miquella's climb to the top since he has promised them justice and retribution That's just how my brain interprets it, at least.
I feel like many areas could've been so better but the enemy choices briing it down. The entire Cerulean Coast, Charo's hidden grave and to some extent, Rauh ruins were filled with reused enemies and things we saw already. And while basegame areas had plenty of repearing enemies, at least every area tried adding something new. Mountaintop of the Giants got bashed left and right for "just reusing assets" and "being uninteresting and just to bloat content" so I really don't get how From didn't hear these complaints. There was literaly more content in Belurat Gaol than Hidden Grave and Cerulean cost combined, two main map areas.
I remember going to Belarut, up the steps, opening the door, walking for about 5 seconds and then full sprinting back out of the door and half way down the steps because a giant fucking spider scorpion decided to be a Miyazaki creation. I was rather displeased with this discovery and I can not forgive either this, or the large fucking spiders that inhabit Bloodborne - whether that be the standard ones, Rom's spiders, or the enormous spider in Nightmare of Mensis
This review is absolutely fantastic. I agree with your assessment of almost every area. Really glad to hear you discuss the many areas that felt underbaked or too vast for the amount of content they offered as well as some of the regions which really hit the mark. Well done.
I think I will always love Enir-Ilim maybe more so than it deserves because my immediate impression upon burning the tree was “I have burned a tree and am returning to a city - this is Ashen Capital”. Enir-Ilim is not Ashen Capital. Outside of initial impressions though I would still like to give it some credit. The atmosphere and aesthetic is great, it feels like a sacred place and I think it being a shorter, more direct dungeon adds to that, I’m not in a sprawling city or crumbling castle, I’m trespassing in a god’s home. I think it’s level design is the greatest impacted by it being a mostly vertical level, in my opinion it is much harder to include alternate routes and side paths when the whole point of progression is to ascend. We find Miquella’s discarded self in the deepest part of the DLC and spend the rest of our time going higher and higher to reach him, it was only fitting that the final level would be a tower. The easiest way to add to a tower is to add more layers, but I don’t think that would add more alternate routes or shortcuts, just more level to progress - and as the final challenge with a series of stronger enemies - it doesn’t seem like that’s what you would want, given you chose to skip a horned warrior. I do entirely agree though that the teleport should’ve brought you to the front entrance after the Divine Beast but I feel that the entire level still gives the sense of ‘this is where I came from’. It being a vertical level I would frequently look down, often into Belurat, for that same feeling. This feeling also gave me the impression that Belurat and Enir-Ilim were to halves of a whole, similar to the Haligtree (albeit smaller), rather than two separate dungeons. With that being said, I wouldn’t say it is the best level of the DLC and I don’t think it was ever intended to be. I don’t think it wants to be competing with the Shadow Keep - it’s the final step of the journey, not another marathon.
One major thing I love about the Shadow Keep is that its size and interconnectivity and secrets rival that of older DLCs. It just by itself is probably the equivalent of any DS2 DLC or the length of DS1's. Really shows how much improvement From has come and is willing to push their creativity.
Scadu Altus has the single best view of this expansion. Go to the cliff just south of the Church of Crusade, and slowly pan around to see a fantastic panoramic of most of the map. I've put my Tarnished to sleep there a few times instead of closing the game.
I absolutely appreciate every area in dlc, and feel like everyone serves a purpose in one way or another. With my personal defense for enir -Ilim being that it reminds me of running across the rooftops of lothric castle in ds3, where it feels like the game is throwing everything at you to stop you. A utter adrenaline high. But if I were to say my favorite area, it’ll probably be the thorn covered oily marsh you fight the scadutree avatar in. With the sickly glow of the scadutree looming over you, reflecting off the liquid’s surface. It’s horrifically beautiful in a breathtaking way. Radiating a sense of pure stubborn filled spite. Which the fact that this neglected tree can still produce dew,(which you fight ankle deep in) something it’s pampered twin the erdtree has given up on is honestly inspiring. It’s like this sunflower is a representation of those who’ve made it this far to see it.
I actually teared up when I first came across the Shaman Village. The beautiful and solemn vista and music just made me appreciate how much I love this game both in gameplay and lore
The Shadow Keep is literally the most insane major dungeon they’ve ever made. It may not be your favourite (Leyndell has a special place in my heart), but objectively they’ve way and by far outdone any level they’ve ever made before. It is as you said, it’s far more than just a level or castle, it’s a central point at which the world is built around - giving access to most of the World’s content. It’s literally if the original firelink shrine was a giant caste. Oh, and speaking of which, I haven’t even talked about the level structure of the castle itself. It’s literally THREE major levels into ONE. (1) You have outer ramparts and courtyard of the west that mirror the scaling of Stormveil castle; (2) you have an entirely optional area at the east that is entirely unique, gameplay wise, mirroring the new Londo ruins - with further access to a hidden boss; (3) then you have the holy grail, the storehouse - It’s literally the Astral Clocktower on crack. incredible convoluted vertical ascension, entirely new and unique enemies with the Fire Knights variants, the environmental storytelling of the horned artefacts, the significance they gave the Narrative and NPC quests that all concentrated into the level. Another positive I’d like to give is the mandatory progression: as much as I love the skippable content of a lot of the legacy dungeons, offering more creative optional replayability (of which the Shadow Keep still has PLENTY btw), I appreciate that the mandatory progression of The Shadow Keep is more tense and forced like the earlier games. You can’t run through it all like you can with Leyndell or Stormveil It’s as I said earlier, I’m a big nostalgia-merchant so Leyndell will have a special place in my heart. So for me, time is the best healer. And given how much praise I have for the Shadow Keep THIS early in the DLCs lifecycle, I would NOT be surprised if the time it takes for the Shadow Keep to top Leyndell for me is only a few weeks to a few months. P.S. oh, and this level alone also has THREE remembrance bosses, two of which are some of my favourites and most creative bosses in the game.
If you see any Statues of Marika closely, one of her braids is shorter than the other. With that in mind, the golden braid talisman is an incredibly powerful item.
How is enir-illim so low??? It’s a really solid dungeon. A bit linear but it’s very competent. Your points are valid in its criticism but having said that, it is a beautiful area with a lil verticality. It is a spiral tower so it is understandable why it does not have many alternate pathways. It’s not the best area but it does not deserve such a low spot. It definitely deserves its position in the top 5.
It's moreso because, having played the whole series, I just have high expectations for those final area type zones. Souls games tend to land more often than not, but I just didn't think Enir-Ilim held my attention in the same way the rest of the game did.
It’s a toss up for me, as far as visuals and such I think cerulean coast is one of the most beautiful places in any souls game. Reminds me a lot of the boss arena for Gehrman with all the pink flowers. Just visually awesome and so cool that it changes at night as well. As far as atmosphere and a true “dungeon” feel I think shadow keep was absolutely amazing. As far as my least favorite i would have to say either the finger ruins just because of those pink magic snipers or the bottom part of Uhl ruins you have to traverse to get to church of the bud with all the pest thread enemies
@@mito569 The only tremendous ones are Irithyll and Lothric Castle, the rest compared to the Elden Ring ML are quite basic, including the Cathedral of the Deep.
Enir elim has the vissuals that just get me, I am such a sucker for them goodness. I also fairly enjoy the harder enimies and i like the linear level Design with many little secrets , i think it is a great change of peace for it to be more linear. The ascent higher and higher lead to great anticipazion for what is to come. I love the area for its atmosphere and enjoy the "simple" layout, but i can see someone having other exspectatipns for the final area/leagacy dungeon.
The thing that I think of when I think of Enir Llim is a stairway to heaven, with the difficulties and challenges on the way but a reward on the top. Dropping down to the weapon on the other hand is like signing a deal with the devil, you get a reward, but once you’re down there you can’t go back up. (Don’t mention fast travelling, I just mean on foot.)
Finally found words to defend Enir-Ilim. It reminds me of Haligtree(not the Elphael). Straight path, short in length, majorly reused enemies, but where enir ilim succeeds is that it actually has some unique-ish enemies, and it actually has diversion from main path that rewards you. Cross that, it has something worth to do outside sprinting from grace to grace. And that's miles more than can be said of Haligtree.
i liked enir illim personally, not my fav area in the dlc but i enjoyed it a lot. obviously it’s not super complex but i didn’t mind this at the end of the dlc. imo the rest of the dlc had plenty of complexity and alternate paths and looping back and things that i didn’t mind a more linear trip to the final boss, and the feeling of climbing higher and higher towards the ending through these linear but winding towers was really fun for me. i also loved the visuals a lot. it felt like a great buildup march to the final boss and i enjoyed that. i definitely prefer more complex levels but i liked it as a final area personally.
I've seen people say that the open world is too empty, which is true when it comes to the southern regions. However, I saw someone argue that gravesite plain was an empty area and that there is nothing there. I genuinely wondered if we had played the same game, honestly I think way too many people come into the dlc expecting a dark souls level and when they get another limgrave level open world area they are annoyed. I agree that tbh a lot of the areas are quite empty, but too many people just dismiss the exploration entirely due to it.
@@opethmike tbh only really a problem in the south of the map, but I agree that some areas are too void of rewards. I think they could have just made a few of the rewards a little more abundant.
@@thecenturion1634 Finger area is really empty; woods are pretty empty. Graveside plains is bordering on empty. The maps are simply purposelessly too large.
@@opethmike Gravesite planes isn't empty, theres a dragon in a lake, a ruined town in the middle of the, a cave, a gaol, a side path that leads to a ruined town that leads back to the starting area, and two legacy dungeons. Although its all spaced out its definitely there. Abyssal woods is just plain empty, but its mainly atmospheric, but tbh if it had better enemies it would be great. Finger ruins are just empty space with one talisman. But at least the one in the south is not filled with enemies ripping me off my horse constantly. It should be noted though that its really not that big of a deal, as we can just skip these parts on repeat playthroughs. I would much rather have empty space than have it filled with recycled bosses. Like imagine if they added a full grown fallingstar beast to the finger print ruins in the south (although tbh it would actually be pretty cool to see that ngl), or god forbid another astel.
I'll defend Enir-Ilim sure, it reminded me of Kiln of the First Flame in Dark Souls 1, both areas definitely feel like one final victory lap that keeps it simple and gives you tough 1-on-1 battles against elite enemies thst you've faced before in some form. It's a slow buildup as you go up the stairs and reach the final section amplified by a very haunting ambient track. And the best part is? The final stretch after the NPC boss battle silences the music entirely, and its this silence that amps up the ascent to the final boss fight. After you kill said boss-fight you are forced back into that silence again which hits very hard innthat arena.
since I have finally beaten the dlc and can finally speak on the areas I do want to give love to Castle Ensis. Yeah I see the points made but I like that it plays into who Rellana is in comparison to her twin sister. She is the knightess to her sister's mage status. It is clear she was the spare as Rennala was the main heir to the Carian Royal Family. Unlike her sister who married Radagon, a true leader in his own right, Rellana fell in love with Messmer. Both her and Messmer were discarded parts of their families and she vowed to guard him best she could. The dlc as a whole is similar to Old Hinters in that it's the warped and dark version of the main areas. Castle Ensis is that for Raya Lucaria so it having nods to that location are important. This was the last line of physical location defense for Shadow Keep. Even Rellana's fight is that. A strong adversary that shows she's not going to give up no matter what. Her home location is going to represent how she feels she is. Inferior to her sister but at the very end she fights with all her might to protect it and what lies beyond. Yeah it might be a rehash with a twist but if you wish to praise other locations similar to that then Ensis deserves that praise too. Also it pays homage to Carian Manor as well as Raya Lucaria and shows that sometimes how we perceive ourselves is reflected in how we are presented.
Shadow Keep reminds me of Ashina Castle from Sekiro in the way that it acts as kind of the core of the Land of Shadow, connecting everywhere. Very enjoyable.
Fun fact: the shaman Village has the only Marika statue thats eye to eye to the tarnished which just makes it so much more special. Sorry but 10/10 best area in all of elden ring this is exactly what I payed for when I bough the dlc.
@@magganboi1350 1. why would there be a statue of Marika in her own home town, which she left before she became a worshipped god? 2. it isn’t her grandmother, it’s the Grandmother - they capitalise it like all the other gods in game specifically to show that it isn’t someone’s actual grandma. 3. the statue is clearly wrinkled and old - why would Marika be depicted this way if she left the village and was imprisoned/died long before she became visibly old?
Commander gaius is an albanauric that's cool. I love ablanaurics. Also enir illum has got a lot of similarities and some what combination to leyndell and elphael.
While I agree that Enir-Ilim is a little too short and linear (and I definitely agree we should have teleported to the Belurat door), it’s still one of my favorite areas in the game, second only to Shadow Keep. The atmosphere is incredible, the combat encounters were all engaging, tough, and super cool, and the trip to Euporia was awesome and very tense with all the platforming. It definitely can’t compete with the complexity of Leyndell or the Shadow Keep, but it’s still one of my new favorites in the game Edit: also, I like how stealth is a legitimately viable option in several sections. I’m not much of a stealther myself, but the fact that you can sneak past multiple encounters is cool and adds a bit of variety to the dungeon
I have a slightly different list, mostly because of enemy variety! I think the Abyss suffers a lot from just having those little lanterns. They're not very intimidating. And Shadow Keep had little more than the soldiers and fire knights, whereas Belurat feels really fresh.
The athmosphere in enir-ilim is fantastic, the architecture is something unique (but it kinda looks like a elden ring version of only up), i love the enemies and as the final level i dont think it's too bad for it being linear.
when i first found Shaman Villiage i didn't summon Torrent. i felt like i'd be disrespecting the place. it was like i was in a cathedral, i didnt want to ruin the peaceful feeling i felt
When I clicked this video, I thought "if that finger garbage isn't dead last I'm leaving, if it is - I'm giving it an instant like". So here's your like, well done xD A worthless location with nothing in it, just an empty space that's like 1/5 of the map in size. Worse than the demon location in DS1...
I feel like Abyssal woods are gimmicky to the point, that it can work on the first playthrough, but without intrigue? On subsequent playthroughs it'll tank its rating to some of the worst locations fromsoft created. What worked first time for atmosphere(stealth, no torrent) will drag out section player KNOWS holds nothing except entrance to actually engaging location.
On a second playthrough, I fully agree. I'll always enjoy that first experience, but I know in the future I'll just be thinking "How long till I can refight Midra?"
My only real complaint about Gravesite Plain is that, because my eyesight is "not great," the glowy translucent graves hide all the actually interactable plants you can get crafting materials from. Every time I stumble over a rada fruit bush its on complete accident, compared to base Elden Ring, where rowa fruit bushes, mushrooms, herba, etc, are all easy to see compared to the grass and dirt surrounding them.
My favs are: 3. Abyssal Woods & Midra Mase: Unique & thick atmosphere that feels almost like a horror game at times. Midra is an incredible boss, one of the best in the entire game. Just like you though I do wish Midra Mase could have been much bigger. 2. Jagged Peak: Best atmosphere in the entire game (including base game). Makes me feel like I was ascending to hell. One of the best side quest in the game, and to top it off Bayle is one of the best bosses in the entire game (and the best dragon boss in any game Ive ever played). 1. Shadow Keep: I just agree with everything you said about this place. Messmer is currently my favorite Elden Ring boss, and Shadow Keep is currenlty my second favorite Elden Ring dungeon, after Volcano Manor
Abyssal Woods perfectly highlights my personal issues with ER. As much as i love the game, i feel like the open world format doesn't play to From Softs strengths. What started out creepy with a thick ambience, quickly became a slog for me, as there was so little to do and find compared to its size.
With the Frostbite Horned Warrior, if you run up the stairs, agro him, run down the stairs & drop down to the other stairs with the soul item he will jump down & die.
The abyssal wood was great really creepy but my favourite area was the ancient ruins of rauh there are so many hidden paths and it home to my favourite dlc boss.
Gravesite Plain is the best open world area in the entire game IMO. I 100% agree with all of your points about it. It's kind of like a microcosm of the entire DLC. It set the bar so, so high, and I'm kind of sad that the other open world areas in the DLC weren't of the same quality. Scadu Altus and Rauh are fine in my opinion. Not as good as the plain but at least respectable. But the Cerulean Coast, the Jagged Peak, the Hinterlands, Charo's Hidden Grave, Rauh Base, and the Abyssal Woods all have just a few interesting things in them. They feel empty and featureless in comparison to the Gravesite Plain and all of the open world areas in the base game.
Tbh i enjoyed Enir elim. After the massiv dlc and exploring all of it, having straight forward Level u can Just rush trough, with the great design felt good to me. The enemys were kinda hard but there were Not so much of them. Yes i expected more, but i was Happy with what we had. Except the Endboss, wich sucked in my opinion but maybe thats Just me
What I dont see getting talked about that much is enemy variety. The enemies you see in the first few hours is all there is, with the few exceptions (fire knights, winter lanters and maybe a few more). And even those ones that we got were really nothing wild or spectacular. Fromsofts trademark is unique enemies in every zone, and in SOTE almost all of the zones share the same enemy variants, which is depressing considering how visually distinct they are. I also hoped that SOTE will also have those unique encounters back, that bizzare enemy that you only encounter once, and never see it again, which again didn't happen. This made most of the areas feel somehow modded, with the encounters not really fitting their environment, and brought the whole experience down by a ton for me, and if it werent for good bosses (i liked even gaius), this dlc would be one of the worst from created for me.
I get why people like the Abyssal Woods but its kinda a miss for me. It’s waaay too big to run around without Torrent and there are too few of the Winter Lanterns to make it all that interesting, plus they all behave the same way. With the insta-kill unless you parry it was just annoying to me. It kinda hinges on whether you get immersed in it or not which I honestly didnt. It was a big piece of landmass that could have been filled with more meaningful content, but once you get it after having gone thru it the first time it loses its charm big time to me
Charo’s Hidden Grave was so disappointing. Seeing it from Gravesite Plain at the beginning of the DLC made me so excited to find my way down there eventually. Imagine my disappointment when I learned that the only things down there were a field boss we saw four of (and basically eight since the regular Death Birds are so similar) in the base game, one of EIGHT furnace golems, and an admittedly cool jail. A unique field boss or another catacomb could’ve gone a long way towards making the area feel worthwhile, but alas. Most disappointing area goes to the coffin fissure though. Finding that was so exciting, but all you end up doing is fighting… gravity rocks? Seriously? Ugh. At least St. Trina was a pleasant surprise.
BRO I did not know about this puzzle at 13:38. I used torrent to do some janky parkour and that’s how I got into those ruins lmao. Had no clue about this whole hefty pot trick with the giants
various thoughts on areas in no particular order Fissure - I just really wish the Purple Garden had a bit more actual area to it and buildup to St. Trina than just the boss room and the St. Trina cave. but overall a cool location Charo and Cerulean are actually pretty equal to me. and both are just okay areas to me I really wish they were both a bit smaller. like in retrospect I don't mind the lack of content per se but said lack of content in combination with the pointlessly large size of these areas made me feel very confused on my first pt. I don't mind Enir Ilim's linearity. I kind of appreciated it as a sort of JRPG final dungeon towards the final boss that is god trope. it's at least nice to have something of a final dungeon again considering I barely consider Leyndell Capital of Ash much of an area. it's no Fountainhead Palace and I don't like it as much as Nightmare of Mensis. but eh I don't mind the area itself. I really like the Leda fight. but am really disappointed by the final boss itself sadly that's my actual big knock on the area.. I don't mind Castle Ensis' lowkey-ness. I just expected, and now wish, that final building actually had more to it but no you just go straight to Rellana. I was like, okay then..? Ancients of Rauh might unironically be my 2nd fav open world area in the game behind Liurnia ngl. I do wish Romina's buildup had more to it but the rest I really enjoyed exploring and the atmosphere with the silhouette of Enir Ilim floating in the sky actually gives me so much chills lastly I think Abyssal Woods & Midra's Manse is the most overrated area in the DLC to me. I'm not actually a fan of it being behind an illusory wall to begin with. The atmosphere is on point but the area being so big detracts from that a bit too much for me. especially in tandem with there being only one threatening enemy type. I seriously expected a Brain of Mensis type deal after seeing the dev messages but we got nothing of the sort (as you said a wandering Frenzy boss could have gone a LONG ways). Midra's Manse I wish was longer and overall I'm just meh on it even if it's nice that it's tightly designed. maybe I would have flipped my perception of this area if I 1) didn't have to look up how to get to it and 2) caught up with Frenzy lore bc ngl I barely followed it
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Hey all - We're doing a difficulty community ranking for the major bosses of Shadow of the Erdtree. Interested? Use this link & let your voices be heard! - forms.gle/7JdYAC795vqNe5ir8
I will say this. The absolute chills I got when I finally saw Enir-Illim cannot be undone. It was the same chills I got when I first arrived to Liurnia and Leyndell. Absolutely breathtaking experience.
I'm going to slightly defend Enir-Ilim on a few spots. It gains a LOT of points because of the Tower of Babel connection, but even moreso than that, for the hidden horror when you realize what makes up this structure. You look at the trees, at the stonework, sometimes at the base of some of the pillars rising up into the heavens... The realization that this whole place is made up of people, a much larger scale version of what you see in the jars, it adds some fantastic horror to it. And think back to the trailer: The Gate of Divinity is made up of all these corpses, but when Marika is there, the bodies still look fresh. That realization hits hard.
Beyond that, I just overall really like it as a final push kind of level, it made me think of those final levels from classic Castlevania which aren't all that long and are just this charge towards the final boss kind of vibes. I just wish the game wouldn't teleport you there, but instead made you go from the Dancing Lion again, but either way, the linear challenge nature of it works for me as this final push. I see it in the same vein as 1-4 in Demon's Souls, too.
Wait people don’t like enir ilim? It’s one of my favorite areas
@@Stanzbey69same
I like the area but it was legit a bit too short. At this point just give us a straight run to the bosses.
@@Stanzbey69Same. One of my favorite areas.
@@Stanzbey69 Felt like a perfect send-off for Elden Ring. Absolutely beautiful.
I love the abyssal woods but totally agree about a roaming monster, my initial thought was an enormous, lanky giant with a hooded head that just silently wanders, causing a creaking in the trees, and if it spots you, it pulls you up into the mist never to be seen again. It’s so big you can’t see it’s upper body besides two leering yellow eyes through the fog above, just a huge silhouette stalking the treeline
Yeah it would’ve been sick if it was more of an environmental hazard like the snake from Sekiro.
I really would've liked to see this in effect rather than - and I might overly negative about it - half-assed patches of stealth they made. Abyssal Woods was my favorite area in the beginning, but the more I'm there, the more I'm mad seeing mostly rats and sheep.
@@drphilsranch6782 I was thinking that. Imagine if you had to outrun some frenzy-themed monstrosity on Torrent like the snake in Sekiro. Would have made for a way more exhilarating level and would have justified the emptiness.
Honestly, my main defence of Enir Ilim is that whole section that links the dungeon back to Belurat and leads to Euphoria.You're right there there isn't a whole lot of alternate paths, but I think that whole section is so cool and easily missable that it kinda shoots the dungeon as a whole up a few places for me. Like, I'd almost argue that one path is more involved than a lot of the side paths in the other DLC legacy dungeons.
I agree, best part of the dungeon for me. Reminded me of Anor Londo, so did the church district.
Do you count them as one dungeon? I count Leyndell/Subterranean as one dungeon even though most people don't, especially because you can access the latter even when it's the Ashen Capital. I think I'd consider them two halves of the same legacy dungeon in a similar vein.
Agreed. To me, Belurat and Enir-Ilim are two legacy dungeons built on top of each other, with one most likely being the first you do and the other being the last. That's insanely cool to me. I think we can let some linear level design slide on this with what From was able to pull off.
@@geordiejones5618 I count Leyndell and Subterranean as one huge one but I don't with Belurat/Enir due to the fact you'll most likely play through them separately. The fact that you can drop into a well in the middle of Leyndell and accidentally end up in the entire shunning grounds -> frenzy flame area is what truly ties them all together. If you count Belurat/Enir together then its one of the bigger and better legacy dungeons, and if you count them apart and compare them to something like castle morne or Caria Manor then they blow the competition out of the water so its good either way
Raya Lucaria rooftops from wish
I love the aesthetic of enir illim, it feels so grand and godly. Kind of elvish like you said and also Greco Roman. I liked it a lot
Best part of the DLC
Shadow Keep is probably my favorite legacy dungeon in the game cause I can’t really rush through it like other legacy dungeons and I have to come back to it multiple times to access other areas.
honestly i liked that enir-ilim was more of a really hard hitting faster dungeon. the divine beast warriors are rough as hell but the game more or less gave you a break in the constant exploration from the rest of the game and instead gave you a mini-boss rush. i would probably dislike that area if it was another giant complex dungeon that i have to find my way through while getting ripped apart. i did that already in the base game and the DLC, multiple times
it's fitting. the final mile of the 100 mile journey
Plus it had the best aesthetic in the DLC by far
I thought Ensis Castle was kind of a below average legacy dungeon but its classed as only a minor legacy dungeon which was quite surprising for how big it was! Love the video!
My problem is that I don't really trust the wiki when it comes to what is and isn't a Legacy Dungeon - Like, Fextralife really just say whatever.
@@BillySYTThe only legacy dungeons are Belurat/Enir Ilim and Shadow Keep. I've also heard a couple of people call Rauh Ruins a legacy dungeon for Torrent, which I completely agree with.
@@BillySYT Pretty sure they follow the logic of how the map handles them, usually legacy dungeons have their own pages in the graces list, not the case for Ensis
@@geordiejones5618rauh is a bit like nokron. You can use the horse but it feels like a dungeon
I got to Castle Ensis with the expectation that it would be akin to Caria Manor, and find it satisfying from that perspective. If you were expecting Raya Lucaria 2 Electirc Boogaloo, I understand being disappointed.
Abyssal Woods is basically when Elden Ring becomes Echoes of the Eye 🏮
Both DLC are 10/10 for sure, but Echoes of the Eye was way more spooky to me then SotE lol
For Real?
The finger ruins should have had a unique boss
@lord_nem3sis they do though
Except echoes was actually scary
Gayle’s build up was perfect, all the areas are filled with enemies and monsters, but the jagged peak is so barren and filled with corpses it just screams Bayle killed everything
There are 2 sides to that coin. On one hand, yes it's building up tension for Bayle, it makes you anticipate the sheer dread you're about to face... but on the other hand, Jagged Peak is a gauntlet preceded by a shitty humanoid boss, and then you fight one drake with ginormous hp and a whole lot of 2 new attacks compared to Agheel, then you fight him again except there's 2 of them AND they're a quest prerequisite, and then you get the worst Ancient Dragon fight in Elden Ring.
Jagged Peak is great until you start bonking its bosses, the second you do that it falls apart because they're all either mediocre, or straight up vile until you get to Bayle.
I agree on your opinion of enir ilim, but honestly I personally think it works to its advantage. Having a linear gauntlet of challenging enemies with a beautiful layout and aesthetic is a pretty fresh change of pace compared to the other legacy dungeons. It also makes the euporia a really cool subversion, since you wouldn’t think to look there because of how linear and straightforward everything was.
One big thing that you missed with shaman village is that you can get to the very top of rabbath’s rise and truly finish Jolan’s quest. Upon getting her ashes, you can take them to the doll of Anna, her sister, to get a duo ash summon. Kind of random but a cool little secret
Oh damn, I'll have to do that when I have some time.
Miyazaki heavily undersold the size of the DLC when he said it was the size of Limgrave. If it is, it didn’t feel like it
it is, but it's 6 Limgraves stacked on top of each other
Yeah but it feels barren
Despite not liking how linear and lost potential with underusing sleep, coffin fissure is my favourite place because of the lore and the putrescent knight who has to be my favourite boss.
the coffin fissure couldve been one of the best but its enemy choices brought it down
After raging for two hours learning how to dodge the projectiles consistently without a shield I came around. Love the vibes and once you get the timing down it's really not as bad as it feels when you first get down there. The place I hated most was that dumb fort beside Castle Ensis. Took me forever to figure out how to get in and once you do it's just a boss that by itself isn't annoying but you have to clear the soldiers because they don't ever de-agro. Seriously pissed me off and the boss doesn't drop anything I cared about.
Fr I can’t believe those trash ass piles of gravity rocks are the main enemies of the area. So disappointing cuz man that’s such a sick area visually
I think the Coffin area is too linear. Yes there’s like 2 side paths you can take and the only weapon I’ll ever fight Godskins with again but really it’s kind of uneventful. Now Belurat main was dope. I loved every second exploring it it felt like a mini DS1. Shadow Keep would be the coolest area in the game if the fire knights were toned down just a little.
Technically, there are only 3 main regions, according to the map:
- Gravesite Plains, which includes Cerulean Coast, Hidden Grave, Finger Ruins, and Jagged Peak
- Scadu Altus, including the Hinterlands and Abyssal Woods
- Rauh (also known as the Land of the Tower), which includes Rauh Base AND the Belurat/Enir Ilim legacy dungeon ('The Tower', and yes, it is strongly suggested by the map that they are two parts of one dungeon; you also literally go back to Belurat for the Euporia, meet Enir Ilim enemies there, go back through another path that connects the two, while also there being a third connecting path through the Dancing Lion arena. They also have the same lore and architectural style)
How I explore open-worlds personally is quite different from your own style. I like to take my time, soak in the atmosphere, appreciate the sights, try to figure out the lore through the environment, items, and contextual clues, and tend to fight most things in my way. I also just accept that reused content comes with open-world games, and have thus far found no game that breaks that mold; their size, and even just the concept of 'worldbuilding' kind of precludes that. As such, things like Charo's Hidden Grave, Finger Ruins, and Cerulean Coast were all very interesting to me. Sometimes, just the discovery itself - if executed well, which I think SotE outright excels at - is enough to keep you going.
Edit: Also, while I love the Shadow Keep, the Specimen Storage is NOT a maze, not in the sense of Leyndell or Stormveil Castle; it is very much another vertical hallway with very little to no interconnectedness. If you actually consider the main path from the first grace to Messmer, then it's a very straightforward, point A to B line with no real alternative routes or layers to that path, a fact thinly veiled by either short side routes that lead to dead ends or major ones that lead to entirely different sections. It's not like going from the rampart grace in Leyndell to Gransax's wing, where the whole city section is one giant maze with many layered, branching, and interconnected pathways, where even a seeming side route can be another road to the obligatory part of progression. This is my main issue with the legacy dungeons in SoTE, basically the inverse of the wide but shallow criticism; very vertical but a bit too thin for my liking.
I had no idea the Tibia Mariner could summon something, I just nuked the poor guy with glintatone
My favorite area is the ancient ruins of rauh. I know its not considered a legacy dungeon but it honestly feels like one. So many secret paths and its feels so huge. Also them placing a 2nd dancing lion here was so cool. Its my favorite boss of the dlc and was amazing to fight again. The area is just so beautiful and it feels like its this almost untainted piece of the map that has remained beautiful even tho we know messmer has also been here.
I really wished cerulean coast just had more to it... it's so empty, no new enemies and nothing special to it. what a waste of a beautifullll place :(
There's actually a hidden visual design if you look at the area from the big dragon. It is shaped very conspicuously 👀
@@geordiejones5618 its a penis
When i saw Sennesax, a living ancient dragons among drakes, due to the lack of any lore of explaination i assumed she just sided with the drakes instead of her kind before i ever saw the rewards after the fight
Honestly I don't consider Enir-Ilim a full on, standalone legacy dungeon. I think it is meant to be the second half of Belurat. A similar example in the base game is like how Miquella's Haligtree and Elphael sort of combine into one legacy dungeon
Nope. Haligtree is one experience. Same difficulty, both of the sections are accessible at the same time. Nothing blocking your progress.
Favorite area is Abyssal Woods. Love it's creepy atmosphere. 🎃
Definitely one of the stand-outs. Absolutely eerie atmosphere - I've never been afraid going into a Soulsborne location, except for the Abyssal Woods.
Just one tinsy tiny problem- It's empty.
@@ShrimpEmporiumThe atmosphere makes up for it
@@ShrimpEmporiumit has a mini legacy dungeon and a major boss, also has fragments and weapons. also more unique than the entire dlc
@@ShrimpEmporium To be fair, the emptiness really helps to sell the atmosphere, but yeah it doesn’t hit the same on the second playthrough. It’s kinda just a beeline to Midra at that point
Enir-ilim feels like a Elphael. Both are end game areas that are meant to challenge the player and mostly use recycled enemies and are fairly linear. Enir-ilim though has better atmosphere and adds new notable enemies, while Elphael has better level design but worse enemy placements.
I would not put Enir-Ilim that low, but i agree with all the criticisms. In my opinion, Belurat & Enir-Ilim should have been one big dungeon (which they "techinically" are)
Fucky wucky is the most accurate way to describe the woods 🤣🤣
shadow keep reminds me of lothric castle from ds3. with the first half being the invasion of the castle fighting soldiers and militiamen around the area with the second half being the storehouse calling back to the grand archives being a large area filled with bookshelf mazes and elevators with all culminating to fighting the hyped up boss (messmer and the twin princes) in their chambers
Yep, I see that. The Specimen Storehouse being so similar to the Duke's Archives wasn't lost on me - Shadow Keep felt like a best hits of concepts from the past games. They could have done a tad more for the gatehouse segment, but it's still easily the best area in the DLC.
Dont forget the flooded section of the castle that leads to the scadutree avatar. That was great aswell.
Shadow keep is better then every area in ds3 level design
@@Jbswe Obviously, it is a version of Lothric Castle taken to another level.
@@Jbsweyeah
clocked the thorgy thor "love pink" reference. subbed
Oh thank god, I wasn't sure anyone was gonna get that lmao
Enir Ilim defender here reporting for duty!
The way I interpreted Enir Ilim on my playthrough was as an extension of Belurat. Or more like a progression gated end stretch of it. The Burned Leyndell after Regular Leyndell if you will. Plus gameplay-wise, it was cool to see it was where the bulk of all the remaining Hornsent were, protecting Miquella's climb to the top since he has promised them justice and retribution
That's just how my brain interprets it, at least.
I feel like many areas could've been so better but the enemy choices briing it down. The entire Cerulean Coast, Charo's hidden grave and to some extent, Rauh ruins were filled with reused enemies and things we saw already. And while basegame areas had plenty of repearing enemies, at least every area tried adding something new. Mountaintop of the Giants got bashed left and right for "just reusing assets" and "being uninteresting and just to bloat content" so I really don't get how From didn't hear these complaints.
There was literaly more content in Belurat Gaol than Hidden Grave and Cerulean cost combined, two main map areas.
Shadow Keep at #1 is well deserved! It brought back everything I loved about base game ER, and reminded me of Bloodborne's DLC as well. Such a joy.
I remember going to Belarut, up the steps, opening the door, walking for about 5 seconds and then full sprinting back out of the door and half way down the steps because a giant fucking spider scorpion decided to be a Miyazaki creation. I was rather displeased with this discovery and I can not forgive either this, or the large fucking spiders that inhabit Bloodborne - whether that be the standard ones, Rom's spiders, or the enormous spider in Nightmare of Mensis
This review is absolutely fantastic. I agree with your assessment of almost every area. Really glad to hear you discuss the many areas that felt underbaked or too vast for the amount of content they offered as well as some of the regions which really hit the mark. Well done.
I think I will always love Enir-Ilim maybe more so than it deserves because my immediate impression upon burning the tree was “I have burned a tree and am returning to a city - this is Ashen Capital”. Enir-Ilim is not Ashen Capital. Outside of initial impressions though I would still like to give it some credit. The atmosphere and aesthetic is great, it feels like a sacred place and I think it being a shorter, more direct dungeon adds to that, I’m not in a sprawling city or crumbling castle, I’m trespassing in a god’s home.
I think it’s level design is the greatest impacted by it being a mostly vertical level, in my opinion it is much harder to include alternate routes and side paths when the whole point of progression is to ascend. We find Miquella’s discarded self in the deepest part of the DLC and spend the rest of our time going higher and higher to reach him, it was only fitting that the final level would be a tower. The easiest way to add to a tower is to add more layers, but I don’t think that would add more alternate routes or shortcuts, just more level to progress - and as the final challenge with a series of stronger enemies - it doesn’t seem like that’s what you would want, given you chose to skip a horned warrior.
I do entirely agree though that the teleport should’ve brought you to the front entrance after the Divine Beast but I feel that the entire level still gives the sense of ‘this is where I came from’. It being a vertical level I would frequently look down, often into Belurat, for that same feeling. This feeling also gave me the impression that Belurat and Enir-Ilim were to halves of a whole, similar to the Haligtree (albeit smaller), rather than two separate dungeons.
With that being said, I wouldn’t say it is the best level of the DLC and I don’t think it was ever intended to be. I don’t think it wants to be competing with the Shadow Keep - it’s the final step of the journey, not another marathon.
One major thing I love about the Shadow Keep is that its size and interconnectivity and secrets rival that of older DLCs. It just by itself is probably the equivalent of any DS2 DLC or the length of DS1's. Really shows how much improvement From has come and is willing to push their creativity.
Scadu Altus has the single best view of this expansion. Go to the cliff just south of the Church of Crusade, and slowly pan around to see a fantastic panoramic of most of the map. I've put my Tarnished to sleep there a few times instead of closing the game.
I absolutely appreciate every area in dlc, and feel like everyone serves a purpose in one way or another. With my personal defense for enir -Ilim being that it reminds me of running across the rooftops of lothric castle in ds3, where it feels like the game is throwing everything at you to stop you. A utter adrenaline high.
But if I were to say my favorite area, it’ll probably be the thorn covered oily marsh you fight the scadutree avatar in. With the sickly glow of the scadutree looming over you, reflecting off the liquid’s surface.
It’s horrifically beautiful in a breathtaking way. Radiating a sense of pure stubborn filled spite. Which the fact that this neglected tree can still produce dew,(which you fight ankle deep in) something it’s pampered twin the erdtree has given up on is honestly inspiring.
It’s like this sunflower is a representation of those who’ve made it this far to see it.
I actually teared up when I first came across the Shaman Village. The beautiful and solemn vista and music just made me appreciate how much I love this game both in gameplay and lore
The Shadow Keep is literally the most insane major dungeon they’ve ever made. It may not be your favourite (Leyndell has a special place in my heart), but objectively they’ve way and by far outdone any level they’ve ever made before. It is as you said, it’s far more than just a level or castle, it’s a central point at which the world is built around - giving access to most of the World’s content. It’s literally if the original firelink shrine was a giant caste. Oh, and speaking of which, I haven’t even talked about the level structure of the castle itself. It’s literally THREE major levels into ONE. (1) You have outer ramparts and courtyard of the west that mirror the scaling of Stormveil castle; (2) you have an entirely optional area at the east that is entirely unique, gameplay wise, mirroring the new Londo ruins - with further access to a hidden boss; (3) then you have the holy grail, the storehouse - It’s literally the Astral Clocktower on crack. incredible convoluted vertical ascension, entirely new and unique enemies with the Fire Knights variants, the environmental storytelling of the horned artefacts, the significance they gave the Narrative and NPC quests that all concentrated into the level. Another positive I’d like to give is the mandatory progression: as much as I love the skippable content of a lot of the legacy dungeons, offering more creative optional replayability (of which the Shadow Keep still has PLENTY btw), I appreciate that the mandatory progression of The Shadow Keep is more tense and forced like the earlier games. You can’t run through it all like you can with Leyndell or Stormveil
It’s as I said earlier, I’m a big nostalgia-merchant so Leyndell will have a special place in my heart. So for me, time is the best healer. And given how much praise I have for the Shadow Keep THIS early in the DLCs lifecycle, I would NOT be surprised if the time it takes for the Shadow Keep to top Leyndell for me is only a few weeks to a few months.
P.S. oh, and this level alone also has THREE remembrance bosses, two of which are some of my favourites and most creative bosses in the game.
If you see any Statues of Marika closely, one of her braids is shorter than the other. With that in mind, the golden braid talisman is an incredibly powerful item.
How is enir-illim so low??? It’s a really solid dungeon. A bit linear but it’s very competent. Your points are valid in its criticism but having said that, it is a beautiful area with a lil verticality. It is a spiral tower so it is understandable why it does not have many alternate pathways. It’s not the best area but it does not deserve such a low spot. It definitely deserves its position in the top 5.
It's moreso because, having played the whole series, I just have high expectations for those final area type zones. Souls games tend to land more often than not, but I just didn't think Enir-Ilim held my attention in the same way the rest of the game did.
It’s a toss up for me, as far as visuals and such I think cerulean coast is one of the most beautiful places in any souls game. Reminds me a lot of the boss arena for Gehrman with all the pink flowers. Just visually awesome and so cool that it changes at night as well. As far as atmosphere and a true “dungeon” feel I think shadow keep was absolutely amazing. As far as my least favorite i would have to say either the finger ruins just because of those pink magic snipers or the bottom part of Uhl ruins you have to traverse to get to church of the bud with all the pest thread enemies
33:36 "If I ever need a place to chill, I can just warp to shaman village" That's the neat part 😅
It's says a lot about how great the dlc is that even the worst areas on your lists are mostly just unremarkable, and not actively bad.
"Love her weapon, love Pink!" ☠
I have to wonder if anyone in my audience will understand the reference lol
@@BillySYT It was the last reference I expected to hear in a SOTE video but here we are... This truly made my day 💅
16:53 Theres also a way to access it through charo's hidden grave by jumping down to a huge stone thing near miquellas cross in the cerulean coast
Enir Ilim despite it's problems is still better than like half of the areas in DS3 in my opinion
What are you smoking? Dark souls 3 had one of the best area's and athmosphere
@@mito569 bro their atmosphere was just grey
@@sparklepuff9330good grey
@@mito569 The only tremendous ones are Irithyll and Lothric Castle, the rest compared to the Elden Ring ML are quite basic, including the Cathedral of the Deep.
@@raydark100 Facts. DS3 area are quite hit or miss. They can't match up to the best legacy dungeons in Elden Ring.
Enir elim has the vissuals that just get me, I am such a sucker for them goodness. I also fairly enjoy the harder enimies and i like the linear level Design with many little secrets , i think it is a great change of peace for it to be more linear. The ascent higher and higher lead to great anticipazion for what is to come. I love the area for its atmosphere and enjoy the "simple" layout, but i can see someone having other exspectatipns for the final area/leagacy dungeon.
The thing that I think of when I think of Enir Llim is a stairway to heaven, with the difficulties and challenges on the way but a reward on the top. Dropping down to the weapon on the other hand is like signing a deal with the devil, you get a reward, but once you’re down there you can’t go back up. (Don’t mention fast travelling, I just mean on foot.)
Finally found words to defend Enir-Ilim. It reminds me of Haligtree(not the Elphael). Straight path, short in length, majorly reused enemies, but where enir ilim succeeds is that it actually has some unique-ish enemies, and it actually has diversion from main path that rewards you. Cross that, it has something worth to do outside sprinting from grace to grace. And that's miles more than can be said of Haligtree.
i liked enir illim personally, not my fav area in the dlc but i enjoyed it a lot. obviously it’s not super complex but i didn’t mind this at the end of the dlc. imo the rest of the dlc had plenty of complexity and alternate paths and looping back and things that i didn’t mind a more linear trip to the final boss, and the feeling of climbing higher and higher towards the ending through these linear but winding towers was really fun for me. i also loved the visuals a lot. it felt like a great buildup march to the final boss and i enjoyed that. i definitely prefer more complex levels but i liked it as a final area personally.
I've seen people say that the open world is too empty, which is true when it comes to the southern regions. However, I saw someone argue that gravesite plain was an empty area and that there is nothing there. I genuinely wondered if we had played the same game, honestly I think way too many people come into the dlc expecting a dark souls level and when they get another limgrave level open world area they are annoyed. I agree that tbh a lot of the areas are quite empty, but too many people just dismiss the exploration entirely due to it.
the walking for minutes on end to find some shitty loot
@@opethmike tbh only really a problem in the south of the map, but I agree that some areas are too void of rewards. I think they could have just made a few of the rewards a little more abundant.
@@thecenturion1634 Finger area is really empty; woods are pretty empty. Graveside plains is bordering on empty.
The maps are simply purposelessly too large.
@@opethmike Gravesite planes isn't empty, theres a dragon in a lake, a ruined town in the middle of the, a cave, a gaol, a side path that leads to a ruined town that leads back to the starting area, and two legacy dungeons. Although its all spaced out its definitely there.
Abyssal woods is just plain empty, but its mainly atmospheric, but tbh if it had better enemies it would be great.
Finger ruins are just empty space with one talisman. But at least the one in the south is not filled with enemies ripping me off my horse constantly.
It should be noted though that its really not that big of a deal, as we can just skip these parts on repeat playthroughs. I would much rather have empty space than have it filled with recycled bosses. Like imagine if they added a full grown fallingstar beast to the finger print ruins in the south (although tbh it would actually be pretty cool to see that ngl), or god forbid another astel.
@@thecenturion1634 As it is right now; it's empty space AND recycled bosses. ER is a victim of its size.
Midra's Manse is basically a dark souls level in Elden Ring, loved it!
Ergh, Bloodborne?
Shadowkeep is probably the greatest "evil guy's castle" area Fromsoft has ever made. It's complex and both gameplay and aestheticaly pleasing
I'll defend Enir-Ilim sure, it reminded me of Kiln of the First Flame in Dark Souls 1, both areas definitely feel like one final victory lap that keeps it simple and gives you tough 1-on-1 battles against elite enemies thst you've faced before in some form. It's a slow buildup as you go up the stairs and reach the final section amplified by a very haunting ambient track. And the best part is? The final stretch after the NPC boss battle silences the music entirely, and its this silence that amps up the ascent to the final boss fight. After you kill said boss-fight you are forced back into that silence again which hits very hard innthat arena.
29:36 sneaking "LOVE pink" in here is CRAZY
since I have finally beaten the dlc and can finally speak on the areas I do want to give love to Castle Ensis. Yeah I see the points made but I like that it plays into who Rellana is in comparison to her twin sister. She is the knightess to her sister's mage status. It is clear she was the spare as Rennala was the main heir to the Carian Royal Family. Unlike her sister who married Radagon, a true leader in his own right, Rellana fell in love with Messmer. Both her and Messmer were discarded parts of their families and she vowed to guard him best she could. The dlc as a whole is similar to Old Hinters in that it's the warped and dark version of the main areas. Castle Ensis is that for Raya Lucaria so it having nods to that location are important. This was the last line of physical location defense for Shadow Keep. Even Rellana's fight is that. A strong adversary that shows she's not going to give up no matter what. Her home location is going to represent how she feels she is. Inferior to her sister but at the very end she fights with all her might to protect it and what lies beyond. Yeah it might be a rehash with a twist but if you wish to praise other locations similar to that then Ensis deserves that praise too. Also it pays homage to Carian Manor as well as Raya Lucaria and shows that sometimes how we perceive ourselves is reflected in how we are presented.
Shadow Keep reminds me of Ashina Castle from Sekiro in the way that it acts as kind of the core of the Land of Shadow, connecting everywhere. Very enjoyable.
Fav area is Charo's Hidden Grave, not sure why but it just strikes right yknow? Though I wouldn't mind a bit more content ofc
Aesthetically, one of my favourite locations. Content-wise, it's like the Sahara Desert, but that's still cool
I personally love the abyssal woods and the jagged peak. What was the armor set you were wearing at the beginning of #3’s entry?
I think it was the Night's Cavalry set?
You can also drop off the ledge from the Shaman village to land on top of Rabbath’s Rise and get the Anna spirit ash (if you have Jolan’s ashes)
Finally, belurat gets some respect
Not “love Pink” ☠️☠️☠️
"Gorgeous aestetics, but I wish there was more to see and do."
You summed up alot my frustrations with this DLC 😅
I am 100% convinced that the finger ruins were supposed to have a unique field miniboss at each one, also the waterfall end of the abyssal woods
Fun fact: the shaman Village has the only Marika statue thats eye to eye to the tarnished which just makes it so much more special. Sorry but 10/10 best area in all of elden ring this is exactly what I payed for when I bough the dlc.
wait where’s that statue?
@@ninjaholicgaming5005 In the tree where you find the golden braid talisman
@@magganboi1350 that’s not Marika, read the golden braid description. It’s the Grandmother
@@ninjaholicgaming5005 it clearly is a statue of marika, I think it was gifted by marika to her grandmother and was just placed by the statue
@@magganboi1350 1. why would there be a statue of Marika in her own home town, which she left before she became a worshipped god? 2. it isn’t her grandmother, it’s the Grandmother - they capitalise it like all the other gods in game specifically to show that it isn’t someone’s actual grandma. 3. the statue is clearly wrinkled and old - why would Marika be depicted this way if she left the village and was imprisoned/died long before she became visibly old?
Commander gaius is an albanauric that's cool. I love ablanaurics. Also enir illum has got a lot of similarities and some what combination to leyndell and elphael.
While I agree that Enir-Ilim is a little too short and linear (and I definitely agree we should have teleported to the Belurat door), it’s still one of my favorite areas in the game, second only to Shadow Keep. The atmosphere is incredible, the combat encounters were all engaging, tough, and super cool, and the trip to Euporia was awesome and very tense with all the platforming. It definitely can’t compete with the complexity of Leyndell or the Shadow Keep, but it’s still one of my new favorites in the game
Edit: also, I like how stealth is a legitimately viable option in several sections. I’m not much of a stealther myself, but the fact that you can sneak past multiple encounters is cool and adds a bit of variety to the dungeon
I think senessax is left alive because they serve bayle meaning senessax probably betrayed placidusax
I managed to find the swamp area in Belurat without ever finding the well key by discovering a secret path down from Enir Ilim
I have a slightly different list, mostly because of enemy variety! I think the Abyss suffers a lot from just having those little lanterns. They're not very intimidating. And Shadow Keep had little more than the soldiers and fire knights, whereas Belurat feels really fresh.
The athmosphere in enir-ilim is fantastic, the architecture is something unique (but it kinda looks like a elden ring version of only up), i love the enemies and as the final level i dont think it's too bad for it being linear.
even the ps5 had big framerate issues lol its not just ps4
when i first found Shaman Villiage i didn't summon Torrent. i felt like i'd be disrespecting the place. it was like i was in a cathedral, i didnt want to ruin the peaceful feeling i felt
I really appreciate your Thorgi reference with your “love pink” comment!!!
When I clicked this video, I thought "if that finger garbage isn't dead last I'm leaving, if it is - I'm giving it an instant like".
So here's your like, well done xD
A worthless location with nothing in it, just an empty space that's like 1/5 of the map in size. Worse than the demon location in DS1...
I feel like Abyssal woods are gimmicky to the point, that it can work on the first playthrough, but without intrigue? On subsequent playthroughs it'll tank its rating to some of the worst locations fromsoft created. What worked first time for atmosphere(stealth, no torrent) will drag out section player KNOWS holds nothing except entrance to actually engaging location.
On a second playthrough, I fully agree. I'll always enjoy that first experience, but I know in the future I'll just be thinking "How long till I can refight Midra?"
My only real complaint about Gravesite Plain is that, because my eyesight is "not great," the glowy translucent graves hide all the actually interactable plants you can get crafting materials from. Every time I stumble over a rada fruit bush its on complete accident, compared to base Elden Ring, where rowa fruit bushes, mushrooms, herba, etc, are all easy to see compared to the grass and dirt surrounding them.
My favs are:
3. Abyssal Woods & Midra Mase: Unique & thick atmosphere that feels almost like a horror game at times. Midra is an incredible boss, one of the best in the entire game. Just like you though I do wish Midra Mase could have been much bigger.
2. Jagged Peak: Best atmosphere in the entire game (including base game). Makes me feel like I was ascending to hell. One of the best side quest in the game, and to top it off Bayle is one of the best bosses in the entire game (and the best dragon boss in any game Ive ever played).
1. Shadow Keep: I just agree with everything you said about this place. Messmer is currently my favorite Elden Ring boss, and Shadow Keep is currenlty my second favorite Elden Ring dungeon, after Volcano Manor
Abyssal Woods perfectly highlights my personal issues with ER. As much as i love the game, i feel like the open world format doesn't play to From Softs strengths. What started out creepy with a thick ambience, quickly became a slog for me, as there was so little to do and find compared to its size.
With the Frostbite Horned Warrior, if you run up the stairs, agro him, run down the stairs & drop down to the other stairs with the soul item he will jump down & die.
The abyssal wood was great really creepy but my favourite area was the ancient ruins of rauh there are so many hidden paths and it home to my favourite dlc boss.
GREAT content. Keep it going.
Gravesite Plain is the best open world area in the entire game IMO. I 100% agree with all of your points about it. It's kind of like a microcosm of the entire DLC. It set the bar so, so high, and I'm kind of sad that the other open world areas in the DLC weren't of the same quality. Scadu Altus and Rauh are fine in my opinion. Not as good as the plain but at least respectable. But the Cerulean Coast, the Jagged Peak, the Hinterlands, Charo's Hidden Grave, Rauh Base, and the Abyssal Woods all have just a few interesting things in them. They feel empty and featureless in comparison to the Gravesite Plain and all of the open world areas in the base game.
What armor is that when you're talking to Igon after the double drake fight?
Did anyone else immediately pop miquellas great tune without realizing it helped with the final boss?
Tbh i enjoyed Enir elim. After the massiv dlc and exploring all of it, having straight forward Level u can Just rush trough, with the great design felt good to me. The enemys were kinda hard but there were Not so much of them. Yes i expected more, but i was Happy with what we had. Except the Endboss, wich sucked in my opinion but maybe thats Just me
Greetings from Germany btw, Love your content
What I dont see getting talked about that much is enemy variety. The enemies you see in the first few hours is all there is, with the few exceptions (fire knights, winter lanters and maybe a few more). And even those ones that we got were really nothing wild or spectacular. Fromsofts trademark is unique enemies in every zone, and in SOTE almost all of the zones share the same enemy variants, which is depressing considering how visually distinct they are. I also hoped that SOTE will also have those unique encounters back, that bizzare enemy that you only encounter once, and never see it again, which again didn't happen. This made most of the areas feel somehow modded, with the encounters not really fitting their environment, and brought the whole experience down by a ton for me, and if it werent for good bosses (i liked even gaius), this dlc would be one of the worst from created for me.
This is actually my only big complaint about the DLC, I'm glad someone else thinks so too
Buddy doesnt know about the aging untouchable, thats what the messages were referencing
Lies of P music went so hard in this episode 🔥🔥
I get why people like the Abyssal Woods but its kinda a miss for me. It’s waaay too big to run around without Torrent and there are too few of the Winter Lanterns to make it all that interesting, plus they all behave the same way. With the insta-kill unless you parry it was just annoying to me. It kinda hinges on whether you get immersed in it or not which I honestly didnt. It was a big piece of landmass that could have been filled with more meaningful content, but once you get it after having gone thru it the first time it loses its charm big time to me
Let us not forget how the base game was on release. I bet we'll be getting some extra or reworked deleated content here shortly.
FYI: the dancing lion boss had harsh FPS drops on Ps5 too
I love the Resident Evil reference. One of my favorite game series!!!
As soon as you said “LOVE her weapon,” my brain went right to “LOVE P!nk.” Clearly you did that on purpose 😂
Charo’s Hidden Grave was so disappointing. Seeing it from Gravesite Plain at the beginning of the DLC made me so excited to find my way down there eventually.
Imagine my disappointment when I learned that the only things down there were a field boss we saw four of (and basically eight since the regular Death Birds are so similar) in the base game, one of EIGHT furnace golems, and an admittedly cool jail.
A unique field boss or another catacomb could’ve gone a long way towards making the area feel worthwhile, but alas.
Most disappointing area goes to the coffin fissure though. Finding that was so exciting, but all you end up doing is fighting… gravity rocks? Seriously? Ugh. At least St. Trina was a pleasant surprise.
1: Shadow Keep
2: Stormveil
3: Leyndell
4: Belurat
5: Farum Azula
BRO I did not know about this puzzle at 13:38. I used torrent to do some janky parkour and that’s how I got into those ruins lmao. Had no clue about this whole hefty pot trick with the giants
The notes actually saved me with it. I knew there must be something there but didn’t discover it until 20h after my initial discovery of it
My ps5 was also struggling with fps against the dancing lion so it's not just a ps4 thing, it's an issue on their end
various thoughts on areas in no particular order
Fissure - I just really wish the Purple Garden had a bit more actual area to it and buildup to St. Trina than just the boss room and the St. Trina cave. but overall a cool location
Charo and Cerulean are actually pretty equal to me. and both are just okay areas to me I really wish they were both a bit smaller. like in retrospect I don't mind the lack of content per se but said lack of content in combination with the pointlessly large size of these areas made me feel very confused on my first pt.
I don't mind Enir Ilim's linearity. I kind of appreciated it as a sort of JRPG final dungeon towards the final boss that is god trope. it's at least nice to have something of a final dungeon again considering I barely consider Leyndell Capital of Ash much of an area. it's no Fountainhead Palace and I don't like it as much as Nightmare of Mensis. but eh I don't mind the area itself. I really like the Leda fight. but am really disappointed by the final boss itself sadly that's my actual big knock on the area..
I don't mind Castle Ensis' lowkey-ness. I just expected, and now wish, that final building actually had more to it but no you just go straight to Rellana. I was like, okay then..?
Ancients of Rauh might unironically be my 2nd fav open world area in the game behind Liurnia ngl. I do wish Romina's buildup had more to it but the rest I really enjoyed exploring and the atmosphere with the silhouette of Enir Ilim floating in the sky actually gives me so much chills
lastly I think Abyssal Woods & Midra's Manse is the most overrated area in the DLC to me. I'm not actually a fan of it being behind an illusory wall to begin with. The atmosphere is on point but the area being so big detracts from that a bit too much for me. especially in tandem with there being only one threatening enemy type. I seriously expected a Brain of Mensis type deal after seeing the dev messages but we got nothing of the sort (as you said a wandering Frenzy boss could have gone a LONG ways). Midra's Manse I wish was longer and overall I'm just meh on it even if it's nice that it's tightly designed. maybe I would have flipped my perception of this area if I 1) didn't have to look up how to get to it and 2) caught up with Frenzy lore bc ngl I barely followed it
Shadow keep is Duke's Archive's done right imo.