Ever since the release of Demon’s Souls all the way back in 2009 on PS3, developer FromSoftware has been the subject of several jokes and memes about its infatuation with swamps. Even future titles like the Dark Souls trilogy, Elden Ring, Bloodborne and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice have featured swamps in some capacity.
Now, with the upcoming release of Elden Ring: Nightreign’s first major DLC – The Forsaken Hollow – swamps will be showing up in the multiplayer title as well. Director Junya Ishizaki spoke about this running joke in a recent interview with GameSpot where he acknowledged the existence of this meme, and how the idea of the studio’s titles always featuring swamps has taken a life of its own.
“We’re definitely aware of the [swamp] meme,” said Ishizaki. “It’s not like there’s a rule or any sort of policy here where it’s like we have to have a swamp in there, but it always seems to be [that before you realize] someone’s come up with the idea, it’s already sort of in there, and it’s just sort of taken a life of its own.”
He also acknowledged the humour behind how the base game of Elden Ring: Nightreign didn’t have a swamp, and how it’s finally getting one thanks to The Forsaken Hollow. He went on to note that, while there isn’t any specific rule or mandate at FromSoftware to always feature swamps, the geographical feature always ends up showing up in the studio’s games.
“The main game for Nightreign did not have a swamp, so I do see what you mean now, having it added after the fact with the DLC,” he said. “But yeah, it’s definitely one of those things that [it] always just seems like [our game] ends up with a swamp. Even if there’s not a specific rule like, ‘Oh yeah, we have to put that in there,’ [that’s] just always how it kind of ends up.”
It is worth noting that, while almost every title developed by FromSoftware has indeed featured a swamp since Demon’s Souls, each depiction has been a unique take on the biome when compared to other games. Elden Ring’s main swamp area, for instance, is a lot more dangerous and has immense implications for the world’s lore due to the nature of Caelid. Dark Souls, on the other hand, included an entire society built out along the walls of a vertical swamp with Blighttown.
Elden Ring: Nightreign – The Forsaken Hollow was officially unveiled last month, and will bring with it a host of new content, including two new playable characters: the Scholar and the Undertaker. Along with this, the DLC will also bring with it changes to the map, as well as a new Shifting Earth effect dubbed The Great Hollow. The game will also feature new challenges for players to take on in the form of brand new boss fights.
Elden Ring: Nightreign is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S, and The Forsaken Hollow is slated for release later this week. For more details, check out our review of the base game. Also check out details about the Undertaker and the Scholar.
