00:00Elden Ring and its ever-deepening lore, mechanics, and expansive world is pretty
00:05assuredly dominating the lives of a lot of gamers right now. Whether you're a From Software devotee
00:10who's played every Soulsborne game end-to-end or a newbie to the studio's brutal offerings,
00:15it's undeniable how rich each title is. 2022 RPG Elden Ring is absolutely no exception.
00:22It's packed to the brim with granular combat considerations, dense RPG mechanics,
00:27and lore tidbits that are extremely important to the overall narrative. For this list though,
00:32we're putting the spotlight on the mechanics, story elements, and features that Elden Ring
00:37could definitely have done without. But the fact that From Software decided to include them anyway
00:42is exactly what we love about them. Just how pointless you find each of these entries will
00:47depend on what you like out of your RPGs, but it's worth mentioning that each one is still cool in
00:52its own unique way regardless. I'm Jess from MoreCulture and here are nine pointless details
00:56in Elden Ring that'll blow your mind. Number 9. Accurate instrument playing for merchant songs.
01:03One of the few characters in Elden Ring who is not actively trying to kill you are the merchants.
01:08And while his haunting song played upon his string instrument is stunning in and of itself,
01:13there's a little more going on here. Attentive players discovered that the NPC's hand movements
01:18line up perfectly with the melody being played. A violin player weighed in to confirm that the shifting
01:24and vibrato animations are impressively replicated. Why From Software would go to the effort of
01:30implementing this when it is arguably a pointless detail is anybody's guess, but I think we can all
01:36agree we love they decided to do it anyway. Number 8. It won't let you fall. That title probably has
01:42you feeling a little suspicious since I'm sure if you're playing Elden Ring, you've fallen off many
01:46things many times to many deaths. While that's true, there is one circumstance where the game won't let
01:52you fall to your death. While traditionally attacking with your weapon, you've probably noticed that
01:56your character tends to step forward to execute a swing. In noticing that animation, you'd be
02:02forgiven for being pretty hesitant about attacking anything close to a ledge. Funnily enough though,
02:07despite the game's apparent delight in killing you off 100 ways from Sunday, it won't let you tumble
02:13off a cliff to your death just for attacking too close to a ledge. You'll still be able to jump off
02:18intentionally or unintentionally, but a much appreciated invisible wall will pop up if you're
02:24just trying to hack at something hanging out near an edge. That said, if you aren't at an edge where
02:29the drop would be fatal, you can and will still fall to the landing below. This probably isn't a tip
02:34you want or need in your arsenal since it just is the way the game is programmed, so it's kind of
02:39pointless but definitely cool nonetheless. Number 7. Star Scourge Redan's powers and his steed,
02:45Leonard. General Redan, now Star Scourge, is a very large boss who rides a very tiny horse.
02:52Well, the horse is probably regular size, but given that Redan is enormous, it begs the question of
02:57how he manages to stay atop his comparatively little steed. Of course, the studio could have
03:02gotten away with just making this another incredible grand enemy design without a lot of explanation as
03:08to what is exactly happening and getting into the whys and hows, but we know from software and we know
03:13they love the whys and hows. If you're a read-every-item-description type, you might already
03:19be across this one, but it's the description for the remembrance of the Star Scourge consumable that
03:24sheds a little more light on the matter. It reads, the Red Lion General wielded gravitational powers
03:30which he learned in Celia during his younger days. Also, he would never have to abandon his beloved
03:36but scrawny steed. The Red Lion, of course, being Redan and his beloved scrawny steed is Leonard.
03:41If you're wondering how we know the horse's name, that's because one clever player dug through the
03:47NPC AI scripts for the reference names and uncovered one for Redan that read,
03:52Redan and Leonard. In essence, this formidable boss is using gravity magic so he doesn't squash his
03:58tiny little steed underneath him, so hopefully he's not too uncomfortable under there.
04:02Number 6. The backstory of the crappiest summon. If you've spent any time at all battling in the
04:07harsh and unforgiving world of Elden Ring, you've probably come to appreciate the usefulness of
04:12summons. That said, much like all the gear you'll come across, not all summons are made equal. There's
04:18one such example which might have you giving up on the idea of summons altogether, but there's a pretty
04:23good reason as to why. The Noble Sorcerer is one of the spirit ashes you can come across and call upon
04:28when needed, but this guy really isn't much use. Despite the promising name, summoning this guy
04:34immediately feels like a waste of time because he'll basically rock up, stand around, maybe fire
04:39off a spell and get killed. The item description for it reads, Spirit of a nobleman who once asked
04:45to be given a place at Raya Lucaria to learn glintstone sorceries. His talents were insufficient to be
04:51worthy of donning the stone crown however, and he's only capable of using the most rudimentary sorcery.
04:58So essentially this dude failed at learning magic and now you can summon him to watch him continue to
05:03be bad at it in the ghostly flesh. The lore is easily missable and pointless, but it's a cute
05:08humorous addition that's a fun inclusion for attentive players. Number five, a slight adjustment
05:13for certain armor types. There are a substantial amount of untraditional armor sets and pieces in
05:18Elden Ring, plenty with designs that while admittedly impractical, do look super freaking cool.
05:24One example is the twinned armor, which features a silver bust encrusted into the breastplate.
05:30It depicts two entwined twins of gold and silver respectively, and it looks awesome and incredibly
05:36cumbersome. Interestingly, this clearly occurred to From Software as they adjusted the character
05:41model to account for the armor. You'll notice that when the armor is equipped, your character
05:45holds their weapon higher than normal to account for the protrusion. It's a welcome detail, but not
05:51one that would have upset players were they to not address it, particularly since the same can't be
05:56said for the multiple armor sets that do clip into one another. I'm looking at you, permanently skewered
06:01pumpkin head. Number four, footprints in the sand. As mentioned, you have loads of different options
06:06when it comes to what gear you want to equip and how each piece complements your chosen play style.
06:11While the intricacies of these choices aren't pointless at all, what could be considered pointless
06:16is what happens when you wander across the sand. This one was uncovered by Soulsborne super sleuth
06:21and Twitch streamer Lance MacDonald, and while it may be very minute, it's pretty damn charming.
06:27Basically, if you walk across a sandy beach with shoes on, you'll leave shoe prints, but if you
06:31take your shoes off, you'll leave little footprints, complete with those little dots for your toes.
06:35It's a lovely little detail that, much like the rest of the entries on this list, showcases the
06:40developer's attention to detail, even down to the most mundane aspects.
06:45Number three, the overworld is always rendered. This one is pointless because it doesn't actually
06:50affect the way that you're going to play the game at all, but I think you'll find it pretty
06:53mind-blowing anyway. This little detail was also uncovered by Lance MacDonald, who revealed that
06:58Elden Ring always loads in a very low-detail copy of the entire overworld at all times,
07:04no matter where you are. This is because the weather progression and timekeeping through the
07:08day-night cycle is handled by ensuring consistency across the entire map, so there must be some version
07:14of the overworld rendered at all times. Though none of the actual geometry of the game is rendered in,
07:19and this system uses as little RAM as possible, it's still more than you might expect.
07:24Number two, getting custody of the dog. One of the bosses you have to fight in Raya Lucaria
07:29Academy is called the Red Wolf of Radagon. Now, this is interesting because Radagon is the
07:35ex-husband of Rinala, the master of Raya Lucaria. If all those R names are getting confusing already,
07:41then I apologize for this next bit. Basically, before the shattering of the Elden Ring, Radagon was a
07:47warrior of the Golden Order who fell in love with the woman he was supposed to be fighting,
07:52the full moon queen, Rinala. They had three kids called Rani, Riket, and Radon. Yes, that Radon,
07:59the one with the little horse. Radagon abandoned her after the shattering of the Elden Ring, however,
08:04and things went sideways. Awful as that may be, the fact that his dog appears as a boss in her castle
08:10suggests they must have got a dog while they were together, and she kept it. It's a tiny,
08:14pointless detail and one you might not even notice since there's a good chance you don't know who
08:19Radagon is when you meet his dog, but it's pretty darn cool all the same. Number one, you can take a
08:25bath. Okay, look, this entry is as close as we're getting to an actual tip, so it might seem a little
08:30less pointless, but we are talking about soaping yourself down in a grand gothic fantasy RPG, so I'm
08:36gonna allow it. You might already know that if you go rolling around in poison, you'll get coated in the
08:41stuff, which is usually not good news for your health bar. Poison is a huge pain in Elden Ring,
08:47so knowing how to deal with it quickly before it takes you out is very important, and it turns out
08:52the answer lies in one of the most mundane items in your inventory, a bar of soap. Elden Ring may
08:58offer up a world of fantasy adventures, horrifying creatures, and gorgeous yet threatening biomes,
09:03but even here, taking a bath is never a bad thing. Using the soap dually gets you all cleaned up,
09:09and dramatically reduces and reverses your poison builder, unless you run out of soap,
09:14in which you may want to take advantage of one other silly detail in the game,
09:18and that's standing on breakable objects to give yourself a breather. That gives you a window to
09:22wind that poison meter back down so you can live another day, or another minute. This is Elden Ring
09:27after all. That's the end of our list, but do let me know down in that comment section if you can think
09:32of any other pointless details in Elden Ring that blew your mind. As always, I've been Jess from WhatCulture,
09:38thank you so much for hanging out with me. If you like, you can come say hi to me on my Twitter
09:42account where I'm at JessMcDonald, but make sure you stay tuned to us here for plenty more gaming goodness.
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