FromSoftware is one of the few developers that has largely avoided microtransactions and egregious pre-order bonuses. Its games still feel like complete packages, while expansions like Shadow of the Erdtree are practically games unto themselves. Unfortunately, that reputation has taken a bit of a hit with the release of Elden Ring's Tarnished Edition.
The Tarnished Pack upgrade for PC, Xbox, and PlayStation adds two new starting classes, additional weapons and equipment, NPC invasions, and... Torrent skins. Yes, FromSoftware is really having its own horse armor moment.
That isn't an exaggeration for the headline, either. Players are calling out the upgrade in reviews, on Reddit, and across social media. There is currently, in 2026, a $5 bundle selling horse cosmetics. It's hardly surprising then that the Tarnished Pack has debuted to 'Mixed' reviews on Steam, with more than 1,000 ratings at the time of writing.
"I just really REALLY hope this being a paid DLC is a Nintendo-pushed exception," winter-lantern-fly wrote. "If not, the existence of this is a very bad sign for the future of FromSoft."
"Nice to see the Switch 2 content added, but I'm not happy that we get a repeat of the Oblivion horse armor here," MB said. "Hopefully it ends with this."
"Takes a generation to build up a reputation, takes far, far less effort to trash it. Don't slaughter the golden goose. The industry [is] literally back to selling horse armor," wrote Null.
"CDPR is upgrading [an] entire game for free, BG3 has had so many free upgrades. This feels like insane greed for FromSoft. What I hope is that it's not a decision that they made themselves but it's still a problematic step forward," Brainware's review read.
It might seem a bit dramatic to look at $5 armor and scream that the world is ending. It's just a couple of cool bonuses, a tip to thank FromSoftware for a sprawling RPG epic that we've spent countless hours exploring over the last few years. But it's a slippery slope, as many of the reviews rightfully point out.
سەرچاوەی فەرمی بە زمانی ئینگلیزی: https://www.thegamer.com/elden-ring-tarnished-pack-mixed-reviews-steam/
