While Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree has received critical acclaim, its Steam reception is more mixed, with players voicing concerns about difficulty and performance.
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Mixed Reception for Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree on Steam
Despite pre-release accolades and a high Metacritic score, Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree launched to a wave of negative Steam reviews on June 21st. While the challenging gameplay was praised, many players found the combat excessively difficult, citing poor enemy placement, excessively high boss health, and overall balance issues.
Performance Problems and Difficulty Concerns
The intensity of battles was a major point of contention. Players described encounters as significantly harder than the base game, with some suggesting rushed enemy design and disproportionately large boss health pools.
Performance issues also plagued the DLC. PC users reported crashes, micro-stuttering, and frame rate caps, with even high-end systems struggling to maintain 30 FPS in crowded areas. Similar frame rate drops during intense moments were reported by PlayStation console players.
As of Monday, Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree holds a "Mixed" rating on Steam (36% negative reviews). Metacritic shows a more positive "Generally Favorable" rating of 8.3/10 (based on 570 user reviews), while Game8 awarded it a 94/100.