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And here are all the Elden Rings articles PCGamer has written since Friday, so you can either devour them or skip them altogether:

'We just happened to release it into the market at the right time': Even after Elden Ring's DLC victory lap, FromSoftware's Hidetaka Miyazaki still wears the 'soulslike' crown with humility
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/we-just-happened-to-release-it-into-the-market-at-the-right-time-even-after-elden-ring-s-dlc-victory-lap-fromsoftware-s-hidetaka-miyazaki-still-wears-the-soulslike-crown-with-humility/
It's not an understatement to say that FromSoftware changed the gaming industry with Demon's Souls in 2009 and, later, Dark Souls in 2011—proving that challenging, punishing games can absolutely find mainstream success.
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Yet even in the wake of Elden Ring's DLC victory lap, Shadow of the Erdtree, FromSoftware president Hidetaka Miyazaki is still very much humble about the honour of producing an entire genre named after his work, as per a recent interview with Rolling Stone.

Miyazaki 'went a little too far' with Elden Ring's poison swamps but says he learned a lesson, which unfortunately is that he needed to come up with new and different ways to kill everyone
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/miyazaki-went-a-little-too-far-with-elden-rings-poisons-swamps-but-says-he-learned-a-lesson-which-unfortunately-is-that-he-needed-to-come-up-with-new-and-different-ways-to-kill-everyone/
Apart from a wasted hour or so dabbling in Dark Souls, Elden Ring was my first soulslike, and so I think it's understandable that when I found myself standing in the muck in the middle of Caelid, my immediate reaction was, "This is bullshit." I was surprised to find out later that it was also tradition: Director Hidetaka Miyazaki has been throwing these things in since the very first Dark Souls because, apparently, he just can't help himself.
Big surprise, then, that the Elden Ring expansion Shadow of the Erdtree has its very own poison swamp—something Miyazaki confirmed earlier this year, in case there was any doubt. But it may not be quite as big and bullshit as Elden Ring's Swamp of Aeonia and Lake of Rot: In an interview with CNet, Miyazaki acknowledged that he "went a little too far" with Elden Ring, and he's "trying to take some lessons from that."

Lowering Elden Ring's difficulty would attract more players but would also 'break the game itself,' says director Hidetaka Miyazaki
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/lowering-elden-rings-difficulty-would-attract-more-players-but-would-also-break-the-game-itself-says-director-hidetaka-miyazaki/
The launch of Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree means, among other things, a resurrection of the timeless debate over difficulty in Dark Souls games. In the eyes of many soulslikers, Elden Ring was notably gentler than its predecessors because if you're getting hammered by one demigod clown or another, you can always take off, do something else for a while, and come back later when you're better equipped to clean house.
Even so, Elden Ring does not have any kind of difficulty selector: It is what it is, and you're either the windshield or the bug. And this is how it needs to be, according to game director Hidetaka Miyazaki, who said in an interview with The Guardian that decreasing the difficulty might open up the game to more players, but would also compromise the experience.
>> Dear God. How many interviews has the guy done?

Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree currently has a 'Mixed' status on Steam, with many of the negative reviews complaining that the bosses are too hard
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/shadows-of-the-erdtree-currently-has-a-mixed-status-on-steam-with-many-of-the-negative-reviews-complaining-that-the-bosses-are-too-hard/
Everyone is loving Shadow of the Erdtree: We gave it a 95% in our review (higher even than the base game two years ago) and Erdtree has even surpassed The Witcher 3: Blood and Wine as the best-reviewed RPG expansion on Metacritic. Despite all that buzz, it's currently taking a beating in one major metric: Steam reviews.
Shadow of the Erdtree is sitting at a "Mixed" status, with 61% of its over 14,000 user reviews being positive. There is one recurring criticism that makes a lot of sense: PC performance. Back at Elden Ring's launch, PC Gamer editor-in-chief Evan Lahti mused about how Elden Ring was the rare game that's so good, people gave it a pass for stuttering, a 60fps cap, and no ultrawide support. 
Two years later, that's still the case for good and bad: Shadow of the Erdtree was so good, I didn't mind its performance issues, but as PCG hardware writer Nick Evanson laid out in his tech overview of Shadow of the Erdtree, these are many of the same problems we've been having for the past two years.

Model viewer forensics reveal that Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree's Dancing Lion boss is actually two little guys piloting it around
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/model-viewer-forensics-reveal-that-elden-ring-shadow-of-the-erdtrees-dancing-lion-boss-is-actually-two-little-guys-piloting-it-around/
Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree's first major boss is a real statement of intent: an aggressive, high-flying creature inspired by Chinese Lion dances that seems to be serving as a bit of an early game, Margit-style blocker to many players' progression. But it turns out the real life Lion dance inspiration goes deeper than I first assumed: A new video by BonfireVN on YouTube has revealed that there are actually two little guys under the lion getup.

There is an early power up in Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree that basically turns the game into Sekiro, but the description is so vague I didn't realize how good it was until 40 hours later
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/there-is-an-early-power-up-in-elden-ring-shadow-of-the-erdtree-that-basically-turns-the-game-into-sekiro-but-the-description-is-so-vague-i-didnt-realize-how-good-it-was-until-40-hours-later/
I found the Deflecting Hard Tear super early in my Shadow of the Erdtree playthrough, went "well, that's neat," and promptly forgot about it for a good 40 hours or so. It turns out, though, that this confusingly-described Physick mix-in is an utter game-changer worth basing an entire build around. "Enhances spontaneous guard" basically means "Turn Elden Ring into Sekiro."

As Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree continues to pound players into the dirt, Bandai Namco calls them out in the most devastatingly polite way possible
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/as-elden-ring-shadow-of-the-erdtree-continues-to-pound-players-into-the-dirt-bandai-namco-calls-them-out-in-the-most-devastatingly-polite-way-possible/
Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree is hard—real hard, in fact. Having just wrapped up my ashes-free playthrough myself, I definitely feel like everything in it is a major step up when compared to the base game. Nothing insurmountable, but the exact opposite of a cakewalk, as FromSoftware DLCs tend to be.
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Bandai Namco, seemingly in response, has tweeted a devastatingly polite reminder to the player base among the melee: "This is a suggestion to level up your Scadutree Blessing". Simple, efficient, ruinous.