Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree is finally here, and after two years in development, it’s understandable that fans are expecting it to be big and expansive. I’ve defeated all of Shadow of the Erdtree’s major bosses and discovered most of its secrets, so I can give you a rough idea of how long you’ll be exploring the Land of Shadow.
Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree DLC Review – FromSoftware Has Never Been Better
I spent somewhere around 40-50 hours exploring Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree before quitting, and beat the expansion’s final boss around the 40-hour mark. I took my time scouring every inch of the map to find all of the optional bosses and secrets, so I’d expect the average playthrough to be somewhere in the neighborhood of 30-40 hours.
After nearly 50 hours, I feel confident that I’ve found most of the hidden content and defeated nine out of ten major bosses, but this is a FromSoftware game, so there are undoubtedly a lot of things I’ve missed. It’ll probably take you 50+ hours to find everything, but it’ll be easier if there are plenty of guides available, such as our handy guide to help you find all the Scadutree Fragments in Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree.
If you’re quick or skip most of the side content, you can reach the final boss in 15-20 hours, but you’ll be missing out on the fun. Elden Ring (and every other FromSoftware game) is all about exploration and discovery, and some of the best content is hidden where you least expect it.
