FromSoftware games like Elden Ring and Dark Souls are known for many of the foes players fight. All Soulsborne games also contain designs inspiring fear either due to pure intimidation or being disgusting, but Bloodborne can be noted as having some mortifying foes. From normal enemies like the Brainsuckers to neigh incomprehensible bosses like The One Reborn, the Lovecraft-inspired title often pits players against beings that arguably make it resemble horror games.
Elden Ring carries on this tradition with some truly eldritch bosses such as Astel, but does not have nearly the same number of terror-inducing entities. Still, its DLC presents an opportunity to go even further with a potential fantasy-horror theme should it take inspiration from one particularly infamous Bloodborne enemy.
Winter Lanterns Are An Unknowable Horror
The Winter Lanterns in Bloodborne are one of the most terrifying enemies in any game, horror or otherwise. Describing them is difficult because it is hard to discern what they are at a glance. The best way written language can express their appearance is that they are figures with lanky, almost humanoid bodies and heads that resemble giant brains with protruding eyes where eyes should not be. Tentacles hang from the bottom of the head, ready to grab anyone unfortunate to be nearby. Based on design alone, they encapsulate Bloodborne's eldritch horror by presenting players with something most words fail to describe beyond invoking a feeling of disgust and terror.
Things only get worse when describing the Winter Lanterns' abilities and actions. When players gain enough insight, a Bloodborne stat that doubles as the game's method of showing the player's mind unlocking the universe's secrets, they sing an off-tune song, proclaiming their presence to little comfort. Their true terror kicks in when attempting to kill them, not because of a specific attack they have since they only have a grab, but because they inflict Frenzy on players.
Frenzy operates similarly to other ailments like bleed since it can take a massive chunk from players' health, but is so much worse because it continues to build up even after the one who inflicted it is dead. In other words, in a game where players often have to be near enemies to fight, being near the Winter Lanterns will very likely inflict one of the worst ailments in the game if players do not have anything to get rid of it or resist it.
This means Elden Ring should take inspiration from Bloodborne and implement an enemy type or several enemy types just as horrifying as the Winter Lantern in the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC. Confirmed details about the DLC are scant, but it offers an opportunity to dive into some of the most horrifying things in Elden Ring's universe. A concept like grafting does an excellent job of fusing body horror and magic but is limited to specific areas at the beginning of the game. It still shows strong potential in further exploring the most unsettling concepts in Elden Ring's world, whether it leans into the eldritch side or not.
There is no equivalent to Frenzy in Elden Ring, but there is still potential for enemy designs that capture the raw terror over not comprehending what is being seen. Something that even when eyes meet it, any description fails to capture what makes it so unsettling.
What makes the Winter Lantern memorable is not just how it looks but how it acts in the game, so assuming Frenzy does not return in the DLC, there has to be something that makes it as horrifying to fight as it is to look at. FromSoftware will undoubtedly introduce new abominations in Elden Ring's Shadow of the Erdtree, but what can help make it special is if one of them is hard to comprehend looking at while having a gimmick that adds to its horror.
Elden Ring is out now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
