FromSoftware has always included a healthy dose of Easter eggs in its games and according to Hidetaka Miyazaki, Elden Ring will be no different. Elden Ring is said to be littered with many different callbacks to the FromSoftware library.
In a recent interview, Miyazaki divulged that there would be a bevy of Easter eggs from its Soulsborne games. These Easter eggs are not always obvious and some will only be found by those who are willing to look high and low. According to Miyazaki, the ever deceitful Patches will be included as an NPC in Elden Ring. So far Patches has featured in Demon's Souls, Dark Souls, Bloodborne, and Dark Souls 3. For those who don't know, Patches is an NPC in these games who goes out of his way to trick and attempt to kill a player's character.
Another returning Easter egg is the Moonlight Greatsword, which has been in every FromSoftware title (besides Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice) since King's Field where it was simply known as the Moonlight Sword. In Bloodborne, the weapon features briefly in the second phase of the boss fight with Ludwig. Even the Stormruler, which featured in both Demon's Souls and Dark Souls 3 is said to make an appearance.
Elden Ring genuinely seems to be Miyazaki's magnum opus as he seems to have included all of his favorite tropes in the game. Elden Ring is said to include multiple swamps, something that most Soulsborne fans dread, but according to Miyazaki, he just can't help himself and has even included a new effect called Scarlet Rot to go alongside poison and toxicity.
Even with the inclusion of multiple poison swamps, it is alleged that Elden Ring has toned down the difficulty that most FromSoftware games are known for. According to Miyazaki, this was done in an effort to make Elden Ring more accessible to players new to FromSoftware games and also not to make the game difficult just for the sake of it.
Much like the other FromSoftware games mentioned, Elden Ring is set to have multiple endings and a new game plus mode. This shows that while Elden Ring may be more accessible to new players, the same core features that make it a FromSoftware game will be there.
Miyazaki also recently stated that George R.R. Martin may end up being surprised by what FromSoftware has done with his characters. It seems as though the famous authors' task was to create heroic yet flawed characters that FromSoftware could then turn monstrous.
Elden Ring releases February 25 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
Source: Game Informer
