| Hi everyone. I've played a whole lot of the new Elden Ring expansion and want to tell you all about it, but first... This week's top gaming news: When I first started playing Shadow of the Erdtree, the massive new expansion to 2022's hit game Elden Ring, I thought to myself, "Okay, it's more Elden Ring." Although the original game was a masterpiece, it was so overstuffed with content that playing through it all would make you feel bloated, like a Thanksgiving dinner with too many sides. I was worried this would send me reaching for the Pepto Bismol. But now, after dozens of hours battling demonic aberrations through dank castles and azure coasts over the last few weeks, my thoughts have slightly evolved to, "Hell yes, it's more Elden Ring." Fans have been waiting more than two years for the expansion to From Software Inc.'s hit roleplaying game, which won countless awards and has sold 25 million copies. Their patience has paid off. Shadow of the Erdtree, which came out last week, has already sold more than 5 million copies and, despite being an expansion, is now the best-reviewed video game of the year, with a 95 out of 100 on Metacritic. Despite some minor (and misguided) complaints about difficulty, fans appear to love the new content. It's no wonder that I've become re-obsessed with the world of the Lands Between, hunting for every secret crevasse as I watch YouTube lore-masters piece together the story from vague dialogue and esoteric item descriptions. One of the best games of all time has been augmented with one of the best expansions of all time. Shadow of the Erdtree takes place within a giant new area called the Land of Shadow. Like the base game, this expansion is filled with gorgeous vistas, fiendish bosses and an incomprehensible story. This time, there's a demigod named Miquella who is on a journey to do…something. He can charm people into following him? And also there's a guy named Messmer, and everyone's really angry. Let's be real: none of that really matters. Elden Ring's lore is fascinating but I'll leave it to VaatiVidya to unpack it for me over the next few weeks. The real reason to play this expansion, just like the original game, is to get lost in its world, overcome its excruciating challenges and marvel at its intricate level design. It's there that Shadow of the Erdtree truly shines, with its poisonous swamps, decrepit castles and ancient ruins filled with statues of curling fingers. Some areas play around with darkness, forcing you to navigate labyrinths by sound and lantern. Others put an emphasis on verticality, teasing you with glimpses of villages and catacombs that are too far below you to reach and might in fact only be accessible through a secret passage that you're hours away from finding. The modus operandi of From Software is to create beautiful yet horrifying worlds filled with weird guys who want to kill you, and its designers and artists remain unmatched at that task. One of the first monsters you'll encounter is a hulking giant with a torch for a head and a proclivity for grabbing players and sticking them into the flames, where you'll have to watch your character gradually die with no hope of escape. New areas include the Cerulean Coast, a serene beach dotted with what appear to be pebbles but, upon closer inspection, reveal themselves to be sentient floating hands that will, naturally, try to kill you. A buzzing orb of electricity perched among violet flowers might beckon you closer to see if it might contain some sort of cool secret…only to try to kill you. To take on these challenges, Shadow of the Erdtree offers a host of new spells and weapons that allow for both heavy and agile play-styles. One highlight, called Milady, is a "light greatsword" that balances speed and power. If there's a downside to all this new stuff, it's that "respecs" — changing your character's stats — are still limited, so experimentation isn't quite as encouraged as I'd like it to be. Still, this expansion represents a development team that has mastered their craft. One dungeon, called the Shadow Keep, is full of delights to discover: deadly ramparts peppered with cloaked, fire-spewing knights, a library dedicated to taxidermy and a raging hippopotamus that conjures golden needles. There are hidden passages, monstrous bosses and, of course, the messages from other players that fill Elden Ring with helpful advice and inside jokes. Whenever you see a turtle, it's safe to say that you'll find a note next to it that says "dog." If you don't know why…well, you need to play more Elden Ring. If Elden Ring isn't your thing, check out Dawntrail, the new expansion for Square Enix Holdings Co.'s longrunning online game Final Fantasy XIV. I'm pretty far behind in the story, but everyone who's stuck with it is raving about it, including my colleague Cecilia D'Anastasio. | 
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