404 deaths and 32 hours deep into his DLC marathon, Elden Ring streamer Kai Cenat tells difficulty critics to 'put your big boy pants on, go out there, and go fight'

Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree
(Image credit: FromSoftware)

Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree has drawn some criticism for being too hard—spinning up the FromSoftware design discourse anew two entire years after the base game's release. Its flavour feels different this time around, though, since even supposed souls superfans have been antsy about it, earning it a "mixed" user review score on Steam at the time of writing.

There's a few culprits here. The new Scadutree Fragments scaling system has caught players off-guard, bosses are hyper aggressive with the longest combo strings Miyazaki's devised yet, and a sadly choppy performance isn't exactly helping people feel the flow.

While I think the DLC bumps against the ceiling of what FromSoftware can get away with right towards the end, I'm not really on the "it's too hard" train. Neither is Elden Ring streamer Kai Cenat who, sat in front of both a life-sized Malenia statue and an Iron Throne replica, tore into difficulty critics on stream yesterday (thanks, GamesRadar).

As shared by domainsdomain on Twitter, Cenat dropped some hard truths on his viewers while roughly 32 hours deep into his Elden Ring marathon. In case you're unfamiliar with Cenat's style, the streamer is known, chiefly, for starting FromSoftware games and not quitting until the job is done, as he did with the base game after 130 hours. He sleeps on stream, too—like some kind of voluntary Truman Show for gamers, just with more freestyle diss raps.

"I'm getting through these motherf*ckers, bro, it's a skill issue," he says, which is genuinely an excellent mantra for any FromSoftware boss that's giving you problems. "I'm ass and you're ass—but, you're ass though, 'cause you say it's too hard … put your big boy pants on, go out there, and go fight."

Honestly, he's at least partially right. I may have muddled and complicated thoughts on what FromSoftware's power creep means for the genre, sure, but it's my job to dissect things critically, even the things I like. That doesn't change the fact that every boss I fought was doable with a little practice (or scrapping my build). I don't think the DLC's impossible, not by any stretch of the imagination.

Cenat adds: "Here's the thing, right—this is the first major release since the actual game two years ago, correct? If you went through all that hassle two years ago, why else would they make a DLC for you to breeze past and be done with [it] in a day or two?"

As for how that's holding up, Cenat is currently 88 hours in (and sleeping) at the time of writing, seeming to have struck a wall with the DLC's final boss. Spoilers in the following clip for said bosses' identity, but he is, uh, having some problems:

Normally I'd say this contradicts his past statement but, honestly, after 10 hours of slamming my head against the same boss on Sunday, I can't even blame him for blowing his lid, especially since he doesn't have the luxury of taking a break like me (even if that's limit's self-imposed and making him lots of money). Erdtree's final boss is its own special tier of hell that even a blunt recommendation from Bandai Namco to level up your Scadutree Blessing can't fix.

Leda questAnsbach questHornsent questThiollier questFreyja quest

Leda quest: Track the Erdtree main quest
Ansbach quest: Help the former servant of Mohg
Hornsent quest: Complete the quest for vengeance
Thiollier quest: Pay homage to the saint of sleeping
Freyja quest: Where to find Redmane Freyja

Harvey Randall
Staff Writer

Harvey's history with games started when he first begged his parents for a World of Warcraft subscription aged 12, though he's since been cursed with Final Fantasy 14-brain and a huge crush on G'raha Tia. He made his start as a freelancer, writing for websites like Techradar, The Escapist, Dicebreaker, The Gamer, Into the Spine—and of course, PC Gamer. He'll sink his teeth into anything that looks interesting, though he has a soft spot for RPGs, soulslikes, roguelikes, deckbuilders, MMOs, and weird indie titles. He also plays a shelf load of TTRPGs in his offline time. Don't ask him what his favourite system is, he has too many.

Read more
Elden Ring Malenia
'That's why they call me the Elden Ring sicko' proclaims streamer as he beats FromSoft's RPG at NG+1000 without taking a single hit
Olivia scowls in Monster Hunter Wilds.
Monster Hunter Wilds feels easy at launch—but after a decade of fighting post-release elder dragons and Master Rank monsters, I'm not worried about the light warmup
The Dark Queen of Mortholme screenshots
I finally understand why all those Soulslike bosses hated me so much, thanks to The Dark Queen of Mortholme, which pits you up against some plucky upstart who just keeps coming back
Margit, grinning
'I strive to be half the hater he is': Elden Ring Nightreign players have decided that Margit was the most annoying invader during the playtest
The boss of Dawntrail's 4th raid, Wicked Thunder, holds an Electrope cube to the air and floods it with levin.
'It's simply impossible to make a difficulty level that's just right for all players': How Final Fantasy 14's lead battle designer has been playing a precarious balancing game for Dawntrail's dungeons and raids
Elden Ring Nightreign screenshot
Elden Ring Nightreign's Steam page lets slip it'll have DLC bosses and player characters
Latest in RPG
Lady smiling with the sun in her face
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33's director was 'starving for new turn-based RPGs,' and figured if he wanted them, there would be others out there who'd want to play his game
Astarion, a silver-haired vampire from Baldur's Gate 3, places a hand on his chest and pouts.
Wizards of the Coast gaming head says Baldur's Gate 3 'certainly raised the bar' and changed how they think about big budget D&D, but they still want 'different entry points' including smaller games
Natarkveld, a horrific amalgamation of Nata and Arkveld, screeches like a creature in Monster Hunter Wilds.
Monster Hunter Wilds player spits in the face of creation, fuses Nata with Arkveld like they're doing a Full Metal Alchemist villain speedrun
Fallout 76 ghoul screenshots
How to become a ghoul in Fallout 76
Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 barbers change hairstyle - Henry sitting on a horse wearing armour.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 sold 5 times more than the original in its first month
Ghoul in sunglasses
Some Fallout 76 players have encountered a 'major game-breaking bug' which either makes it impossible to complete the ghoul quest or just makes you temporarily invisible
Latest in News
A woman with short hair stands next to a pot plant, provocatively
GOG's version of Silent Hill 4 has been updated with missing content from the original console game
A blue dragon rises into storm clouds
Wizards of the Coast throws a bone to players who miss vanilla Magic: The Gathering with a dragon-themed set called Tarkir: Dragonstorm
Lonely Mountains: Snow Riders
Lonely Mountains: Snow Riders is getting a new mountain next month and a whole bunch more throughout the year, including a game editor
Lady smiling with the sun in her face
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33's director was 'starving for new turn-based RPGs,' and figured if he wanted them, there would be others out there who'd want to play his game
farcana
'The Middle East's answer to Marvel Rivals' is an 'AI-powered', crypto-infused hero shooter that looks like hot garbage
A monster made of glowing skulls has a brinrevolver aimed at it in Abyssus.
Wield a brinerevolver as a brinehunter in Abyssus, the briniest ‘brinepunk’ shooter this side of the Mariana Trench