So, apparently there are rumors that FromSoft is working on a pirate game, code name Cerusean Onslaught. Before I go further with this into the realm of pure speculation, here is the post I wrote yesterday. Now, let’s go on with baseless spinning of what probably isn’t happening. Cerulean was a key word in Elden Ring for two reasons. One, it was in the name of the flask for casting magicks (Flask of Cerulean Tears) and two, it was the name of an area in the DLC.
*Spoilers from here until I’m done theorizing*
The area is called the Cerulean Coast, and as has been pointed out, the–ok. It’s like this. In each of the four cardinal points it the DLC, there is a a mauseoleum. In each of them, there is a powerful enemy you can fight for some pretty tasty rewards. In fact, the first one you can come across within the first five minutes of the DLC. He wrecked my shit for an hour and was the sole reason I respecced my health so he could not kill me in one hit. I went from 38 Vigor to 60 (the recommended amount of Vigor for the game in general), and that made such a big difference. No way I would have had fun doing the DLC with less than 40 Vigor.
Fun fact; I played the first hundred hours of the base game (which was roughly half the game) with 18 Vigor. I do NOT recommend that at all! I didn’t plan on doing that, but I always found something else to put the points in. It was only when I wanted to use the best spirit ash in the game–and that took 21 Vigor (instead of Mind, which is what the Flask of Cerulean Tears is for). If it weren’t for that, who knows how long I would have went with only 18 Vigor?
Back to the mausoleums. The one in the Cerulean Coast has a boss who is a woman who is a dancer. But also looks like a pirate–sort of. If you squint. There is also a marooned (what looks like a) pirate ship near the ocean in this area.
FromSoft has a habit of putting an NPC in the DLC of a game who signifies what the next game is going to be like. They put Marvelous Chester in the first Dark Souls DLC as a nod to Bloodborne. Then, in Bloodborne’s DLC, they had Old Hunter Yamamura, a hunter from a foreign eastern land who was a nod to Sekiro.
I see that some people consider the Armored Warrior (a boss) in Sekiro, a heavily armored person who came from a distant land to find a cure for his sick child to be a harbinger of Elden Ring, but I’m not so sure I buy that one. I mean, yes, the Armored Warrior doesn’t fit the aesthetics of Sekiro, but that wasn’t the only thing that people noticed about the out-of-place NPCs who seemed to indicate what the next game was about. In the other game, it was in the DLC, and it wasn’t a boss.
If the NPC I mentioned in the DLC of Elden Ring is the indicator (and she’s in the video I’ve included above), then she fits. Well, except she’s a boss. But you don’t have to fight her. And you can fight Marvelous Chester if you’re human (he invades you). And this NPC is in their spirit form when you fight her, so it’s similar. And with Old Hunter Yamamura, well, the kindest thing you can do to him is, ah, let’s just call it a mercy killing.
I have no idea if this is real, but it’s certainly fun to speculate about it. In fact, because we don’t know what the next From project will be (after The Duskbloods), we can go as wild as we want about this. Is it likely to be right? Yes. Is it likely to be wrong? Also yes. Does anyone know at this time? Nope! And no one cares about being accurate at all. I’ve always loved this about the community, by the way, especially since there’s nothing else going on at the moment.
The best was during lockdown when FromSoft went radio silent about Elden Ring (for good reason), and From fans started creating the game on their own (in words, on Reddit). They made up whole-ass areas, bosses, armors, magicks, etc. I read some of it, and it really moved me. Why? Because they were so earnest and so dedicated to the world they had created. Plus, it was touching because so many people added to it. It was oddly sweet, and I really enjoyed traipsing through this faux Elden Ring world.
Are pirates my thing? Nah, not really. Would I be intrigued by a pirate-themed third-person RPG action adventure game by FromSoft? Hell, yes. There’s an hook weapon in the second game, so you could conceivably piece together a pirate look throughout the games, but it would be so fun to be able to do it in one game.
Also, having Patches make you walk the plank would be hilarious.
Oh, let me explain. Patches is a recurring character in almost all the From games. He was first in one of the Armored Cores, and then showed up again in Demon’s Souls to push you down a pit. Which would then become his thing in future games. Also, he hates clerics. A lot. He’ll tell you good info about other NPCs, though. And he sells some good shit, too.
He’s a very polarizing character in the games. Some people hate him, and some people love him. There doesn’t seem to be any in-between. In the Discord I’m in, it seems people are split roughly in half. There are those who kill him on sight (or at least want to. Fromheads know that it’s folly to kill an NPC on first sight, but some people just can’t help it), and there are those of us who will not kill him for love nor money–unless it’s needed for the plat (like a gesture).
If you can’t tell, I’m in the latter camp. I love Patches. Unabashedly. Yes, he’s a shithead who lies and steals from me, but he’s one of the few constants in a From game. I know that I’ll see him in most of their games*; I know he’ll push me down a pit/make me fall down a pit/cause me to fall down a pit, etc., and I will love him for it.
In Elden Ring, he had a storyline that humanized him. It made me actually tear up and want to comfort him. It didn’t negate the fact that he was still a shithead at heart, but it did tug at my heartstirngs. I don’t know how people who hate him felt about it in general, but the let’s players I watch felt some sympathy for him after hating him through all the other games.
I would love for there to be a Patches solo game, but that isn’t going to happen. At least, I don’t think it will. So many people hate him. Also, while he’s a great NPC, I don’t know how I would feel about him if he were more present. In the prior games, you could run into him three or so times. In this game, I think it’s five or six times, which feels about right.
More tomorrow. That’s for now.
*We don’t talk about Dark Souls II or Sekiro.