GamesAction RpgElden RingThere’s a strange sound haunting Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree players, and nobody’s figured it out yetWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
GamesAction RpgElden RingThere’s a strange sound haunting Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree players, and nobody’s figured it out yetWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: FromSoftware)
A mystery is afoot in Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree. Since release, players are investigating why the game suddenly makes your controller vibrate at seemingly random, in ways that it typically doesn’t. As you would expect from hardcoreFromSoftwarefans, people are theorizing all sorts of explanations– some of them mundane, and others, far more unusual.
Monstrous theories
(Image credit: FromSoftware)
Best in class(Image credit: FromSoftware)Five expansions have changed the face of gaming, andShadow of the Erdtree is one of them
Best in class
(Image credit: FromSoftware)Five expansions have changed the face of gaming, andShadow of the Erdtree is one of them
(Image credit: FromSoftware)
Five expansions have changed the face of gaming, andShadow of the Erdtree is one of them
Over at Screen Rant, they’re musing that perhaps the game is trying to lead you to a quest that involves an enormous enemy, Bayle the Dread – the DLC’s toughest dragon. Part of the reasoning is that the rumble seems to happen near Igon, one of the central characters in the dragon quest. Once you kill Bayle, you receive a heart, which could explain the vibration’s beating rhythm.
The problem with this theory is that while the idea of a pulse and a heart fit nicely together, every defeated dragon drops a heart, which are used for upgrades in the base game. It seems unusual that FromSoftware would throw in a detail like this just for one dragon, fearsome as it may be. And frankly, I’m not sure that the vibrations can really lead the player to their intended destination were this actually the case. After reading the Bayle theory, I tried finding the characters involved since I hadn’t encountered them yet. Even with a guide in hand, it took me a while to track down Igor’s location – meaning that the vibration did nothing to help me go toward this quest. At this point, I’ve also killed Bayle and every other dragons in the DLC, but the rumble still happens in the same places.
Mysterious or mundane?
(Image credit: FromSoftware)
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In a game where sometimes a secret is hidden behind a random gesture that will unlock something dozens of hours later, the door’s existence seemed to align perfectly with FromSoftware’s sicko design ethos. But not long after the apparent discovery, players found out that the door didn’t mean anything at all. It was a glitch, and the “50 hit” thing wasn’t some unusually perverse mechanic meant to befuddle even the most dedicated fans. The door’s gigantic HP was merely the result of an error, and shortly after discovery, it was patched out of Elden Ring altogether.
While we might be seeing Occam’s Razor when it comes to Shadow of the Erdtree’s mysterious vibrations, there’s plenty of reason to believe it could mean something else. We’re talking about a game that gives you an item that “quivers” whenever you’re near specific mini-bosses; making the controller’s vibration seem like a natural extension of something that’s already in the game.
For now, nobody can explain what’s causing the heartbeat-like pulse with certainty. I’m guessing the enigma is more tantalizing than whatever is actually causing the pulse, though.
Have you foundShadow of the Erdtree’s creepiest areayet?
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