Elden Ring Shadow of Erdtree beats Witcher 3 and becomes the highest-rated DLC of all time, as per Metacritic

Elden Ring's Shadow of the Erdtree expansion was expected by many to be good, but no one could've predicted the sheer magnitude of the DLC's quality. Shadow of the Erdtree, as of writing this article, has 95 on Metacritic, which is the highest for any DLC released to date, beating the previous "highest-rated DLC" record holder, The Witcher 3 Blood and Wine.

The critic reviews for the expansion came out on June 18, 2024, and were almost unanimously positive across the board, with reviewers praising the DLC's approach to difficulty, storytelling, and world-building. Essentially, everything that the base game of Elden Ring got right, the DLC did too, which admittedly, isn't surprising.

Shadow of the Erdtree's triumph over The Witcher 3's Blood and Wine also serves as a redemption arc for FromSoftware and their brand of role-playing experiences.

NOTE: Parts of this article are subjective and reflect the writer's opinion.

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Elden Ring's Shadow of the Erdtree expansion surpassing The Witcher 3 Blood and Wine also feels like a redemption arc for FromSoftware

Back in 2016, The Witcher 3 Blood and Wine, which was the final piece of additional content for CD Projekt Red's critically acclaimed RPG, surpassed Dark Souls 3 to be crowned the best role-playing game of that year. This was a bit surprising for many fans considering Blood and Wine, despite its quality, wasn't technically a standalone game.

Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree has 95 on Metacritic, the highest score for any DLC to date. (Image via FromSoftware)

Although Dark Souls 3 isn't the best showing of FromSoftware and Hidetaka Miyazaki's creative talents, it still was an excellent role-playing experience, and also a worthy finale to the phenomenal Dark Souls series. And now with Shadow of the Erdtree, FromSoftware finally got their victory over The Witcher 3.

As of writing this article, Elden Ring's Shadow of the Erdtree DLC is sitting at a Metascore of 95, with Blood and Wine trailing it closely at 92. However, it should be noted that The Witcher 3 did hold the title of the "highest-rated DLC" for roughly eight years, which is a very impressive feat.

However, it seems with Shadow of the Erdtree, FromSoftware has now set a new benchmark for both the role-playing as well as souls-like genres. Most critics seem to voice similar praise towards the expansion and how it delivers everything that the base game did, while also upping the ante with more challenging enemy and boss encounters.

Some reviews did express some concern over the early adoption of the expansion, and the convoluted process involved in even getting access to the new region - the Shadow Realms. However, those are minor gripes against what is heralded by many as one of the very best FromSoftware creations to date.

The expansion comes with a new set of challenges and adversaries to face off against. (Image via FromSoftware)

Elden Ring's Shadow of the Erdtree DLC is scheduled to be released on June 20, 2024, for all platforms, including PS5, PS4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and Windows PC (via Steam).