While the latest Shadow of the Erdtree DLC does a splendid job of making sure the player lives through their worst nightmare once again, it also offers them an abundance of item-crafting cookbooks. It might be cool at first but becomes mundane after you start finding them in every single corner of the map.
It may have been better if Hidetaka Miyazaki, the game’s director, channeled his strength into providing players with answers they’ve been looking for since the main game’s release in 2022, but that remains a dream to be broken another day.
The Age of Cookbooks: What Was Elden Ring’s Director’s Idea While Creating Shadow of the Erdtree?
From the very moment the player steps into the Realm of Shadow, they are likely to come across a cookbook within the first few minutes of their gameplay. This may seem neat at first, but soon becomes a recurring pattern.
As they progress through the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC, it only seems to get worse. Despite offering the ability to create many items that could potentially come in handy in boss fights as well as in other gameplay aspects, making use of crafted items isn’t exactly a habit that players have formed, preferring to stick with weapons that are directly obtainable instead.
It remains unclear what Hidetaka Miyazaki’s intentions were when deciding on the number of cookbooks to be included in the DLC. Fortunately, it was all balanced out in the end, as the new expansion also introduced many new weapons and ways to fight that had never been seen before.
How the New Elden Ring DLC Introduces a New Way to Play the Game
From martial arts to new status effects, FromSoftware’s biggest expansion ever brings to the table a huge arsenal not seen before in Elden Ring. This allows the player to not only enjoy the Game of the Year of 2022 in new ways but also sanction many unique character builds, giving them more freedom with their playstyles.
There are a bunch of cool new weapons to choose from, and for the most part, they’re all viable in the DLC. Thankfully, it carries the exact same spirit as the base game.
As the player approaches the endgame, they will also experience a new way to lose the fight through one of the final boss’s movesets. Despite the fact that there seems to be no way to counter this particular attack, there remains one sneakily hidden item that will give the tarnished another chance to live and fight.
Have you have found the best cookbook in the new DLC? Make sure to let us know about it in the comments below!
