Elden Ring Features A Notable Jerk From Dark Souls, Bloodborne

Elden Ring could look rather a lot like Darkish Souls however, so far as we all know proper now, it’s totally its personal factor when it comes to narrative and lore. That doesn’t imply, nonetheless, there aren’t reliable hyperlinks between From Software program’s newest motion RPG and former video games like Demon’s Souls, Bloodborne, and even Armored Core.

I actually don’t know what you’re doing right here should you’re attempting to keep away from spoilers, however that is your final likelihood to shut this tab or click on on a hyperlink to certainly one of Kotaku’s different implausible tales should you don’t wish to see Elden Ring content material earlier than it launches on February 25.

As a part of a current Crimson Bull-branded preview occasion that introduced in a number of notable Twitch personalities to demo Elden Ring forward of its launch, it was revealed {that a} character named Patches seems within the upcoming recreation. Spanish streamer ChusoMMontero got here face-to-face with Patches throughout his session, apparently inviting the NPC’s scorn after looting a treasure chest.

Chuso was rapidly lower down, however not earlier than offering us with this wonderful footage of Patches in motion.

Patches ought to be a well-recognized face to longtime followers of From Software program’s historical past, particularly on the subject of the corporate’s genre-defining Souls and Souls-like video games. Whereas he first debuted in 2008’s Armored Core: For Reply as Patch the Good Luck, a faceless, rival pilot with a passion for sniping you from the air quite than dealing with you head-on, most folk acquired their first style of this character’s distinctive model of tomfoolery the next yr courtesy of Demon’s Souls.

Very like his Armored Core look, Patches the Hyena (as he’s recognized in Demon’s Souls) is a cowardly, conniving NPC who twice leads you into compromising conditions within the hopes that you just’ll die in order that he can loot your corpse. In each cases, he apologizes for his actions when you escape his traps. In the event you let Patches stay, he units up a store within the recreation’s hub space.

Whereas most folk disapproved of the modifications made to Demon’s Souls aesthetics in its PlayStation 5 remake, I applaud developer Bluepoint Software program for utilizing the upgraded visuals to present Patches some of the punchable faces I’ve ever seen in a online game. I’d be curious to study if extra individuals killed him on PS5 versus the PlayStation 3 unique.

“Trusty” Patches subsequent confirmed up in 2011’s Darkish Souls, introducing himself to you in numerous places relying in your progress via the sport. Very like in Demon’s Souls, he lures you with the promise of treasure, solely to ship you careening over cliffs and into darkish chasms. And if, like in Demon’s Souls, you don’t give into the temptation of slicing him down the place he stands, Patches turns into a service provider, promoting his ill-begotten loot in Firelink Shrine.

My favourite Patches cameo comes courtesy of 2015’s Bloodborne. Deep into that Lovecraftian journey, you meet a personality named Patches the Spider, who’s mainly the Patches we’ve come to know and love with a creepy, arachnid-style physique.

He first seems unseen behind locked doorways early within the story, offering you with a key merchandise for progressing via the sport, earlier than his full visage is revealed within the otherworldly Lecture Constructing.

After all, what sort of jerk would Patches be if he didn’t kick you right into a gap? Approaching a selected cliff within the late-game Nightmare Frontier prompts a brief, point-of-view cutscene during which he knocks you over the sting. That’s the Patches we all know and tolerate!

And at last, 2016’s Darkish Souls 3 marked the newest look of “Unbreakable” Patches. Once more, he places you thru a sequence of trials and even steals the armor and identification of a beloved ally referred to as Siegward of Catarina, however his story involves a becoming conclusion within the totally pleasing Ringed Metropolis enlargement.

In the event you haven’t already, I extremely advocate watching Souls loresmith VaatiVidya’s video essay on Patches’ journey from loathsome parasite to ruthless survivor.

As an apart, Patches may also have analogs in Darkish Souls 2 and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, although not with the identical identify. The previous’s Gentle-Mannered Pate appears pleasant while you first meet him, however in a while turns into a part of a quest line involving a betrayed former associate, whereas the latter’s Anayama the Peddler is taken into account a attainable stand-in because of his historical past as a former thief turned service provider. Whereas these aren’t direct references to the true Patches, one can simply argue they had been meant to fill the identical position.

Hidetaka Miyazaki, who many credit score for establishing the Souls-like style together with his work on Demon’s Souls, Darkish Souls, Bloodborne, and Sekiro, reportedly claimed throughout a 2011 interview on the Japanese podcast Sport no Shokutaku that each recreation he makes may have Patches in it. Joking or not, it’s good to see Elden Ring maintaining with this continuity. Darkish Souls 3 felt like the right send-off for the little asshole, however I stay up for seeing what position he performs, if any, within the story of this and future From Software program tasks to return.