Summary

• Expansions benefit from having a brilliant base game to build on.
• DLC and expansions can be completely different from the base game, like Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon.
• DLC can play on nostalgia from the series, like Blood and Wine with the Witcher books or Dragonborn with The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind.

DLC has somewhat of a bad reputation with all the microtransactions in the world, but some DLC and expansions like Monster Hunter: Iceborne buck the trend by being bigger and better than some full-priced games. Of course, many expansions benefit from having brilliant base games to build upon, offering players more of what they love. There is some controversy about the price of some expansions of late, but the best earn their price.

Whether it means adding a whole new way to play a game that everyone loved or expanding on the preexisting story with more lore and a larger world, expansions can add a lot to the experience. It also allows the developers to tell the rest of a story if they were unable to do so with the base game for whatever reason. Sometimes, developers take the core mechanics of the base game and make something entirely different that is capable of standing on its own.

10 God of War: Valhalla Is Kratos' Rogue-lite Adventure

Expansion For God of War Ragnarök

God of War: Ragnarök continued the Norse Saga of Kratos' journey, competing with the legendary Elden Ring for 2022's Game of the Year. Although it ultimately lost, there was no denying how great the game was and the satisfying conclusion it offered for Kratos and his son, Atreus, but Santa Monica had more of a story to tell. God of War: Valhalla is an awesome addition to the Norse Saga, helping Kratos become a new man while offering prior characters who were underutilized a chance to shine.

Valhalla is available for both PS4 and PS5. It will be included in the PC port, too.

Shockingly, Valhalla is free for anyone who owns the base game. It makes God of War a rogue-lite adventure with near-infinite replayability while also offering a distinct ending, similar to Hades in a way. The new boss fights are challenging yet fun, and, for fans of the Greek Saga, the game uses the nostalgia of the past well, allowing Kratos to venture through familiar environments while using the weapons of old.

9 Idris Elba Says Phantom Liberty Is An Expansion, Not DLC

Expansion For Cyberpunk 2077

CD Projekt Red made it very clear that Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty is not a DLC; it is an expansion. Idris Elba, who has a starring role, said so himself, and it turns out he was right. Phantom Liberty continues CD Projekt Red's trend of leaving some of its best storytelling for its expansions, with the writing being a major highlight. Plus, Phantom Liberty introduced general improvements with the 2.0 update that made the game better in general, revamping a lot of gameplay.

Phantom Liberty adds a new area to Night City called Dogtown, expanding the world as good expansions tend to do. Side quests with the typical CD Projekt Red moral dilemmas are back, highlighting some of the incredible writing. Along with the new area, the expansion adds depth to Cyberpunk 2077, with it taking around 20 hours to beat, depending on playstyle, which is considerably longer than some campaigns for full games out there.

8 Tiny Tina's Assault On Dragon Keep Gives Borderlands A D&D Twist

Expansion For Borderlands 2

Of all the properties to make a reference to Dungeons & Dragons, Borderlands might not be the one most think of. Still, Gearbox decided to do it anyway with its Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon Keep expansion for Borderlands 2. With its not-so-subtle references to D&D, the expansion allows the charm of Borderlands' writing and characters to shine through while also delivering a surprisingly heartfelt conclusion.

This concept was made into its own game, called Tiny Tina's Wonderlands.

Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon Keep isn't the longest story out there, taking around five and a half hours, but with a new map to explore and plenty of side quests to do, it can take more than thirty hours to fully complete. It adds even more weapons (as if Borderlands 2 needed any more) and a fantasy take on the pre-exisiting characters, giving the DLC its own charm separate from the rest of the game. Plus, the character interactions really allow the relationships of said characters to shine.

7 Reaper Of Souls Adds The Angel Of Death

Expansion For Diablo 3

Diablo 3 had somewhat of a rough start to life. It wasn't that well received on launch, especially because it had to follow up the legendary Diablo 2, but the Reaper of Souls expansion, along with the updates that it brought with it, made Diablo 3 the game that everyone thought it could have been. It also helps that the mascot and main villain of the expansion is one of Diablo's coolest characters, Malthael, The Angel of Death.

Although the main story only takes around nine and a half hours, provided that players speed through it, the extra end-game content increases that time dramatically. End-game content has traditionally been where the Diablo series shines, and Reaper of Souls adds to this with new bosses and gear to grind. It also added a new class, the Crusader, giving players another character to take through the game.

6 Blood Dragon Is Practically Its Own Game

Expansion For Far Cry 3

Most expansions take the base game and add to it, expanding on the story while giving players new areas to explore. Blood Dragon is not like most expansions. It is a far cry (pardon the pun) from the base game it is DLC for, introducing an entirely new setting, gameplay features, characters, and environment. Were it not for the Far Cry 3 name slapped in front of the DLC, Blood Dragon might as well be its own game, especially since it is now sold separately.

What's most interesting about Blood Dragon is that it is drastically different in tone compared to Far Cry 3. Far Cry 3 is a title that takes itself quite seriously, but Blood Dragon is an 80s sci-fi action movie made into a video game. It is complete with over-the-top violence, just the right amount of cheese, and corny one-liners, all focused on fun. It may be shorter than the base game, but it makes up for it with immense quality and entertainment value.

5 Monster Hunter: Iceborne Doubles The Size Of The Base Game

Expansion For Monster Hunter: World

Monster Hunter is known for its grindy gameplay. The base game of Monster Hunter: World will likely take hundreds of hours just to get everything a player needs to make the best gear, so when Iceborne basically doubled the game's length, it was a shoe-in for one of the best expansions around. Not only are there new environments to explore and even more monsters to hunt, but there is also a cabin to customize, which is a strange yet nice touch.

With Monster Hunter: Wilds around the corner, now is one of the best times to get into the series with World as a starting point.

Fan favorite monsters are back in Iceborne, like the Nargacuga and Fatalis, but the difficulty has also been cranked up. Players are pushed harder with Iceborne, and the icy new environments test players with stamina-eating cold and sections that can break off during a hunt. The snow also reacts to a player's movement too, demonstrating the detail in the expansion. It adds to the main story of World, although Monster Hunter has never been known for its storytelling. Fans of the series are there to fight monsters, and Iceborne has plenty.

4 Dragonborn Adds A New Island To Explore

Expansion For The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim

The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim is so large and replayable that it still endures to this day with a healthy and dedicated fan base. Although the world of Skyrim is already so detailed and vast, Bethesda added the island of Solstheim to add even more to one of the biggest games ever. The ashy island off the coast of Skyrim adds a completely different environment to explore for players, and the focus on Hermaeus Mora gives the expansion a strong, eldritch aesthetic.

Dragonborn explores the lore of the Dragonborn (as one would expect), introducing Miraak, the first to earn that title. Interestingly, although the expansion already adds so much, there is also room for some nostalgia. Since Solstheim is a dark elf colony, there are a lot of references to The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind, perhaps the most beloved title in the series, and these references are done tastefully. Dragonborn adds to the wonder of Skyrim and makes its already massive world that much bigger.

3 Blood And Wine Adds A Picturesque Place To End Geralt's Story

Expansion For The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

Both of The Witcher 3's expansions are brilliant. While Hearts of Stone adds one of the best narratives seen in an RPG, it doesn't match the size of Blood and Wine. The added country of Beauclair is not only massive for an expansion, it is also very different from the Northern Realms and Skellige from an aesthetic standpoint, being bright and fairytale-like. The contrast was a wonderful idea by CD Projekt Red to make the expansion almost feel like The Witcher 4.

The next Witcher game is in the works, currently under the working title Polaris.

There are plenty of sidequests with moral dilemmas scattered throughout Beauclair, but the expansion's main story is very strong. It has references from the book series, such as the introduction of everyone's favorite herbalist vampire, Regis, and gives a satisfying conclusion to one of gaming's best modern icons. Geralt gets a great ending that also acknowledges the choices the player has made up until that point, despite Blood and Wine adding even more of these choices.

2 Shadow Of The Erdtree Is As Big As Limgrave (And Then Some)

Expansion For Elden Ring

Elden Ring exploded onto the scene when it was released in 2022, winning that year's Game of the Year award. Although it has certainly taken a while, Shadow of the Erdtree has followed in the base game's footsteps, breaking the internet since its release. It adds the Land of Shadow, which claims to be the same size as Limgrave. That claim was false, since the Land of Shadow dwarfs Elden Ring's starting area, and if it was any bigger, the expansion could have been Elden Ring 2.

The new area is not only massive, it is detailed and includes many gameplay changes to keep the game fresh after all this time. With new bosses, weapons with completely different movesets, and a mountain-load of lore to discover, Shadow of the Erdtree has everything an expansion should have. It also adds considerable challenge to an already difficult game, but this might be a step too far for some. Still, this shows that FromSoftware will always make the games they want to and will never compromise on their creativity.

1 Shivering Isles Is A Brilliant Descent Into Madness

Expansion For The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion

Although massive expansions may seem like a newer thing in gaming with modern DLC models, Bethesda has been doing it for a while. The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion has arguably one of the best ever made, expanding on the base game with the Daedric Plane of the Shivering Isles. It is certainly creative, which can be seen in the introduction of the new area and its famous butterfly effect, preparing players for a wonderfully bizarre adventure.

The Shivering Isles utilize the extensive lore of The Elder Scrolls to great effect, introducing Sheogorath, one of the best villains in the entire series. The expansion is unlike anything else in the franchise, feeling alien and hostile. It stands alone from the rest of the game with its setting, which is unique for a fantasy RPG, and the witty, strange, and seemingly random remarks of Sheogorath are some of the best pieces of dialogue in the game. As DLCs and expansions go, Shivering Isles set the standard.