Elden Ring (Shadow of the Erdtree) (PS5 version played for review)

The “Minerva’s Den” DLC of “BioShock 2” proved a single bit of post-release content can turn a middling product into a must-play experience. The problem is hardly anyone regards “Elden Ring” as the disaster it is, so the motivation behind the YaHeard Tree seems to be “just more Elden Ring”: more terrible storytelling, more combat ruined by input lag, and more dark places that hurt your eyes to look at. I guess it’s a tighter experience, but any brownie points gained in that regard are lost with the final boss, the worst boss in any Soulslike I’ve ever played. Ghastly.

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