Dataminers reveal Elden Ring initially had a bestiary

According to new game files discovered by data miners, Elden Ring might have had a helpful bestiary at some point. 

As reported by Eurogamer, dataminer JesterPatches discovered 128 icons showing different Elden Ring NPCs. Each NPC has two icons, one filled in and the other greyed out, hinting at a bestiary that was removed at some point in development. 

JesterPatches confirmed there are 64 unique icons featuring different NPCs and animals like the “Caelid Dog,” “Caelid Crow,” and a “Pigeon.” The icons also show enemies like demi-humans, foot soldiers, and nobles. 

Elden Ring is full of dozens of characters, enemies, and animals scattered throughout the Lands Between. Keeping track of every character can be tedious and confusing, especially when looking for a specific NPC. A bestiary would’ve been a helpful resource, even if it just gave a short description of each character. 

JesterPatches also mentioned that they don’t recognize all characters that appear in these files, meaning there might be cut content hiding among the images. It’s likely FromSoftware created other enemies and NPCs that didn’t make the final cut, and these files might be an excellent way to check out unused assets and ideas. 

Some hardcore players would likely scoff at the idea of a bestiary, but even the most die-hard player would probably have appreciated the bestiary. It is unclear why or when the idea was removed from the game, and fans can only imagine how it would’ve been in-game.