Elden Ring First Boss Almost Took Inspiration From Dark Souls 1

Elden Ring dataminer and YouTuber Zullie the Witch has uploaded a video explaining how FromSoftware likely experimented with different bosses before ultimately landing on the Grafted Scion as the first boss encounter for the game. Elden Ring files indicate that FromSoftware likely considered the Banished Knight, the Crucible Knight, and the Erdtree Avatar to be featured at the Chapel of Anticipation at the start of the game instead of the Grafted Scion.

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Zullie the Witch’s video points out that the Erdree Avatar would have been a particularly interesting choice for Elden Ring’s first boss due to its connection to the original Dark Souls game. According to Zullie the Witch, the Erdree Avatar has the same animation skeleton as the Asylum Demon, the first boss that players fight in Dark Souls, itself inspired by the Vanguard monster in Demon’s Souls.

The video offers a good reason why FromSoftware likely passed on featuring the Erdtree Avatar as the first boss in the game. Since the Erdtree Avatar has the same animations as the Asylum Demon, hardcore FromSoftware fans may have been able to defeat it in their first encounter. However, the idea is that players will die in this first boss fight and then get transported to the Lands Between proper. While it’s certainly possible to beat the Grafted Scion, it will be much more difficult for new Elden Ring players to pull off, and most won’t be able to do so until they start a New Game+ run of the game.

There are other reasons why having the Grafted Scion as the first boss in Elden Ring makes sense. As pointed out by Zullie the Witch, the Grafted Scion is a brand-new enemy to Elden Ring, not based on any previous FromSoftware bosses. The Grafted Scion also gives players an idea of the kinds of enemies they will be encountering early on in the game, as the early areas focus on grafted enemies, like Stormveil Castle’s leader Godrick the Grafted.

Elden Ring is out now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.

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