#fromsoftware meta narrative

[miirshroom]

"If the gods saw peoples' souls but not their bodies in mirror to the way people saw bodies but not souls it might explain why the gods were so careless of such things as appearance or other bodily functions. Such as pain? Was pain an illusion from the gods' point of view?" - Curse of Chalion, Lois McMaster Bujold

The design philosophy of FromSoft's souls games (and Elden Ring) is simple: adapt the above concept from book format to video game. The players are in the role of the omnipotent god who can play and replay the game and memorize all of the pieces of how it all fits together. With effort, a person can know the past, present, and future of every character. And the pain of the player avatar - and indeed all characters - is an illusion. They are distant abstract constructs. Not real.

Where the quote says "soul" what it means is "thoughts". Narratives written from the point of view of a specific character can give an unparalleled view into their thoughts about the situation they are in. Sneaky writers can use this to show that even the worst person in a story views themself as a hero who fully believes themselves justified, even as another character identifies them as careless or a dangerous tyrant.

So the characters in the videogame are conceptualized as more than just "people" - they are souls. They are bundles of thoughts. Their affect and quest lines and naming schemes and even the directions that they are facing in game are all highly structured to convey theme, cautionary tales, or to act as microcosms of the macro forces at play. And when they die, their animating thoughts become exposed as one or more pieces of equipment that the player can take for their own use.

Counterpart to the soul, the word "body" is used less often than you'd think in Elden Ring. More often the physical form is described as "flesh". "Cursemark carved into the discarded flesh of Ranni the Witch." "As for his flesh, he gave it to me, Shabriri."

What I mean by this is that when Ranni says "this doll's body is not without its hindrances" the body in question is not the doll. When Ansbach says "After Lord Mohg's slaying at his dynastic palace, it appears his body has been absconded with. And taken straight to Kind Miquella." he is not really talking about the physical appearance of Mohg Lord of Blood that we fight.

Think of the "body" of each demigod as a world. Thoughts occupy a body and so "Elden Ring" the videogame is the body of work that contains the characters. The Lands Between itself is the body that Ranni's doll form exists within. The "Shadow of the Erdtree" is a body nested within the greater body. A game world accessed within a game world.

Important is the extrapolation of this understanding. The Shadowlands in all its hostile glory is the "body" of Mohg that we are all trampling about in - the "inner world" that he stole from Miquella and made his own. Recall that Mohg appears from nothing - he forms from the formless blood that pools out of the corpse inside the cocoon in Mohgwyn Palace. He is possessing this corpse like a demon - like Shabriri - possesses the flesh of others. But Ansbach has no obligation to tell you the history of the flesh or the body. He only says the most recent true thing because it is most flattering to his cause - that Miquella has seized control of the body that was most recently under control of Mohg. He neglects to mention that Miquella's claim to the body pre-dates Mohg's.

And Mohg, Lord of Blood, claimed the body by soaking it in blood.

“Blood is memory...Blood is who we are...Blood recalls who we were. Blood is how we will be remembered. Work it well into the womb wood.” - Fool's Fate, Robin Hobb

It's a fantastical explanation that could have been pulled directly from the Realm of the Elderlings. Blood is memory, and blood worked into the Wombwood (the chrysalis of dead dragons) allows a person to superimpose their thoughts and memories over those of the never-metamorphosed dragon. And so, many souls who experience bloody violence are trapped in the Cocoon of the Empyrean in a living death.

And whether Miquella is a victim who suffers from being drowned in blood, or whether this bloody ascension was all according to plan becomes a topic of debate for us careless player-gods. The pain of characters in a story is an illusion. What you get out of it depends on the perspective you put in.

[miirshroom]

In regular English it's a nonsense string of words. To understand what it could mean requires examining the words more closely.

A cadaver is a corpse, but more specifically a corpse that is autopsied as an anatomy study or to find abnormalities that may indicate cause of death.

A surrogate has common modern usage in the sense of "surrogate mother" who is implanted with an embryo and undergoes pregnancy in place of the genetic mother. But in the general definition it means "a substitute, especially a person deputizing for another in a specific role".

So a cadaver surrogate could mean something similar to "body double" - another dead body similar to Godwyn's which can be dissected for meaning and to provide the material to bring about the birth of the next age in his place.

can someone explain to me like I'm five what a "cadaver surrogate" means ? I'm not that good at english but i can't understand anything else than Godwyn's death being faked or something like that.

[williamsjoan]

DualShockers’ Game of the Year 2018 Awards — God of War Takes Home the Gold

Welcome back, everyone, to DualShockers’ annual Game of the Year awards selection! We are all one year wiser, and one year more excited than we were in 2017. Thankfully, 2018 has been a rather contentious year with mega-hits like God of War, Red Dead Redemption 2 and Monster Hunter: World having a strong showing — we are in no shortage of amazing hits to choose from.

To begin, a quick shoutout to everyone who has checked out DualShockers through the year. As we approach our tenth anniversary as a site, there is nothing that we appreciate more than the active community willing to read our hot takes, reviews, and uncut excitement. Even better, we appreciate the participation that everyone put in with helping decide the Readers’ Choice Game of the Year and Readers’ Choice Most Anticipated Game of 2019! As always, our community has impeccable taste, and we are looking forward to one of the strongest years in gaming.

As a quick note, for more information on the popular votes and how everything was determined, please check out the respective posts for GOTY and Most Anticipated. You can also listen to our own extended discussion where we determined our own staff Game of the Year in our new episode of Drop In/Drop Out.

Without further ado, here are DualShockers’ Game of the Year Awards for 2018!

DualShockers Game of the Year 2018: God of War

For the past two years, we’ve coincidentally shared a tradition of agreeing with our readers on what Game of the Year is, with 2016 going to Final Fantasy XV and 2017 going to Persona 5. We’re happy to report that this happened again this year, with Sony Santa Monica’s God of War winning both DualShockers Game of the Year Award and our Readers’ Choice Game of the Year Award.

While there were many games in 2018 that will likely go down as some of the best of the generation, God of War was able to stand above the rest thanks to the masterful character building, a clever and engaging twist on an older franchise, and some of the tightest controls we have seen within the action-adventure genre.

In addition to DualShockers Game of the Year 2018 and Readers’ Choice Game of the Year Awards, God of War also manages to bring home the following: Best First Party Game of the Year, Best PlayStation 4 Game, Best Action Adventure Game, Best Narrative, and Best Soundtrack. If you haven’t read it yet, take a moment to read our review of the game where DualShockers awarded it a perfect score.

Of course, the DualShockers staff was incredibly split on the decision — though our other votes were handled through a voting system, we chose to make our cases for all of our favorites of 2018 in a recorded debate. If you want to hear what that sounds like, make sure to check in on the latest episode of Drop In/Drop Out: GOTY 2018 podcast.

As for the Readers’ Choice award, turnout heavily favored God of War with it nabbing over 50% of the votes — the largest win we’ve had in a Readers’ Choice award ever. Coming in second was Rockstar Games’ Red Dead Redemption 2 with over 10% of the readers’ vote.

Outside of the top two games, Insomniac Games’ Marvel’s Spider-Man takes the third place with Square Enix’s Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age in fourth place and Capcom’s Monster Hunter World in fifth.

Below you can see a pie chart with the vote split, and the indication of the games that receive the most nods from our readers. Congratulations to Sony Santa Monica and God of War for reaching DualShockers’ top honor for 2018!

Most Anticipated Game of 2019: Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice

There were a lot of great looking games that were revealed at E3 2018, but none really captured our hopes as much as FromSoftwares Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. There are a lot of buzzwords and marketing spin that hits home for us — there are no microtransactions and the game will be similar in size to both Dark Souls 3 and Bloodborne. More important to us, our E3 preview felt like everything we wanted from a Souls-like game but evolved.

Most Anticipated Game of 2019 (Readers’ Choice): Kingdom Hearts III

In a funny enough twist, Kingdom Hearts III is taking home the same prize it won in 2017: Readers’ Choice Most Anticipated Game of 2019. Pushed from its Winter 2018 release slot in an early-E3 announcement, it’s no wonder why people are so hyped for the game. It’s been over a decade since the last mainline series title, so do yourself a favor and keep well away from potential spoilers.

With that said, there was pretty hefty competition for every game that wasn’t Kingdom Hearts III with a broad range of diversity. Next on the list is Capcom’s Devil May Cry 5, a game similarly with a prestigious background and one set to blow away expectations.

Following that, readers on the site are similarly interested in the remaster of Resident Evil 2 that continues to look oh-so-juicy in trailers and screenshots. Rounding out the top four is FromSoftware’s Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, ultimately meshing well with the staff pick for Most Anticipated of 2019.

If you are interested in the breakdown from votes, check out the quick infographic below:

Hardware of the Year: Xbox Adaptive Controller

While this year was devoid of any major console hardware releases, there was still a ton of competition within this category. And while headphones, capture cards, and laptops blew us away, the easy choice among staff was to award Hardware of the Year to the Xbox Adaptive Controller.

Announced and released this year, the Xbox Adaptive Controller is an ambitious and inclusive project that brings many differently abled gamers into the fold, allowing them to play more games than ever before. Even better, Microsoft decided to keep the hardware accessible to anyone who is able to develop it further for more interesting ideas. The collaborative mindset behind this, as well as the message behind it, gives Microsoft and the Xbox Adaptive Controller the nod as the best gaming hardware out this year.

Indie Game of the Year: Celeste

While there is a good chance that Celeste may get a cold eye from other publications due to the fact it was one of the first games released this year, it is an indie game that demands your attention. With all of the sweet platforming mechanics of Super Meat Boy and the heart and wit of puzzle platformers like Braid, Celeste is an unmistakable achievement in the already-competitive platforming and indie scene.

In addition to Best Indie Game of 2018, Celeste also takes home the prize for Best Platformer Game. If this game slipped under your radar, feel free to check out the review from earlier this year.

Best Online Game: Monster Hunter: World

The Monster Hunter series has always been a powerhouse in the East, but never before has it had so much sway globally as it did in 2018. With the release of Monster Hunter: World the once dense and impenetrable meta of Monster Hunter opened its doors to the world, presenting a masterful online experience that required determination, cooperation, and strategy to overcome. With a good group of friends, this is the best time online you will have all year.

While there may be a few hiccups of the PC version of the game, don’t miss our original review of the PS4 version of Monster Hunter: World.

Best Developer: Santa Monica Studios

This may be no surprise given the awards that Santa Monica Studios received from us on God of War. However, this goes further than that.

While Santa Monica Studios has been helping and collaborating on a collection of Sony titles over the year like The Order: 1886 and Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture, we haven’t seen a fully-internally developed game for five years. Specifically, God of War: Ascension which released on the PlayStation 3.

Since that time, Santa Monica Studios (led by Shannon Studstill and key figures like Cory Barlog) have honed their crafts — arguably giving them the slot of Sony’s best first party studio. Time will tell how competitive that spot is with major releases next year, but Santa Monica Studio has cemented itself as more relevant than ever in 2018. We can only look forward to their next project.

Best Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment

While it is easy enough to heap praise on Santa Monica Studios, it’s important to note that Sony Interactive Entertainment went above and beyond as a publisher this year. This year alone we got God of War, Detroit: Become Human, Marvel’s Spider-Man, and Shadow of the Colossus. And that is ignoring the VR space — Astro Bot Rescue Mission and Firewall: Zero Hour are amazing in their own right. As a publisher, there is no company that has been more consistent with high-quality releases.

Best PlayStation 4 Game: God of War

Best Xbox One Game: Forza Horizon 4

While the Xbox One was rather light on console exclusives this year, Forza Horizon 4 remains a gold star among the racing genre. In fact, we go as far as saying it is one of the best racing games this generation of consoles has to offer.

Along with Best Xbox One Game, Forza Horizon 4 picks up Best Racing Game this year. Feel free to check out our review of the game where we awarded it a 9.0 out of 10.

Best Nintendo Switch Game: Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Meanwhile, on the relatively new Nintendo Switch, we saw a bit of a slower year for Nintendo compared to 2017 which produced The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Super Mario Odyssey. Even with that said, the late-2018 release of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is the complete package. While other fighting games are looking to tweak, tune, and find a new hook to keep everyone and everything interesting, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate does exactly what it needs — adds everything from the series in. Add an eventual Persona 5 character and we are in the money.

Along with Best Nintendo Switch Game, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate takes home Best Fighting Game. We won’t dive into the deep conversation on whether Smash Bros. series is a “fighting game” — there was plenty of disagreement among staff. However, make sure you check out the new review that went up earlier this week for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

Best PC Game: Hitman 2

Best PC game was a rather elusive mistress, with plenty of titles in hot contention. However, IO Interactive’s Hitman 2 takes the prize by offering one of the most satisfying gameplay loops that gaming has to offer. Even better, the Hitman series evolving into more of a “platform”-type release gives us a lot to look forward to moving into 2019.

If you haven’t read it yet, check out our review of Hitman 2 — a game that was so good that the writer couldn’t get it off his mind while writing it.

Best PlayStation Vita Game: Persona 3: Dancing in Moonlight // Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight

The PlayStation Vita is starting to get long in the tooth, with the releases slowly waning in the West. And while that is something the whole DualShockers staff is mourning on, the dual release of Persona 3: Dancing in Moonlight and Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight are the must-grab games for Persona and PlayStation Vita fans this year. Make sure you check out our dual reviews on the game to see if they are games you can groove to.

Best Nintendo 3DS Game: WarioWare Gold

Similar to the PlayStation Vita, it seems like the Nintendo 3DS is starting to finally slow down from a long reign of releases. Even still, WarioWare Gold was able to offer a short-but-sweet experience packed with the series’ signature style, humor, and quick reflexes. If you have been keeping your Nintendo 3DS somewhere collecting dust, check out our review of the game and consider picking it back up for a brand new outing.

Best Mobile Game: Donut County

Another console that had a shining year was the mobile platform, including mobile ports of games like Fortnite and PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds to flesh out the market. Even still, we come down that Ben Esposito’s Donut County is the Best Mobile Game of 2018. The hook of the game is charming and straightforward, but just as satisfying to pick up and play in short bursts as it is on consoles. Even if you typically avoid mobile games, check out our review for Donut County.

Best Action-Adventure Game: God of War

Best Battle Royale of 2018: Fortnite

Unlike other genre categories, Best Battle Royale of 2018 isn’t limited to games that release this year. Instead, we are looking at the meta development, evolving gameplay, and fanbase of the different Battle Royale games to choose the winner. With this in mind, Epic Games’ increasingly popular Fortnite takes home the gold, proving time and time again that they remain popular not just because of the excellent game design and free-to-play model, but also their approach to development and interacting with the community.

Alongside Best Battle Royale Game of 2018, Fortnite also takes home the Best Ongoing Game award.

Best DLC or Expansion: Destiny 2: Forsaken

Destiny has been on the scene for many a year now, and developer Bungie has really gotten around to perfecting the art of annualized releases. This year’s addition, Destiny 2: Forsaken is one of the best the series has ever seen and our choice for the best expansion of the year. The pièce de résistance is the newly-added Gambit Mode, a mixed cooperative and competitive multiplayer mode that really tests the bounds of what Destiny 2 does that other games simply can’t.

You can check out our review of Destiny 2: Forsaken where we go into more detail on those points.

Best Family Game: Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! // Pokémon: Let’s Go, Eevee!

The Family Game genre had a relatively light year, though Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Pokémon: Let’s Go, Eevee! are standouts. Not only does it remain a terrific way for you to introduce younger kids to Pokémon, but it shows the initial promise of what a Nintendo Switch core Pokémon RPG will look like in 2019. Our review of the game is available here if you were looking to grab a kid-friendly holiday game for Christmas.

Best Fighting Game: Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Best Horror Game: State of Decay 2

Love it or hate it, State of Decay 2 can really do something right: catch you by surprise. While the world is filled with zombies, some of the best jumpscares you may get all year can come from Undead Labs’ third-person zombie survival game — whether it was intentional or not. Check out the review of State of Decay 2 for more info on the sequelized horror title.

Best Interactive Story Game: Detroit: Become Human

In a relatively bleak year for interactive story games (following the closure of Telltale Games), Quantic Dreams’ Detroit: Become Human is a standout in terms of the studios’ prior games and complex storytelling. With some of the best acting the industry has to offer and a terrific story, we go as far to say it is Quantic Dreams’ masterpiece.

If you are looking for a spoiler-free review of the game, DualShockers has you covered.

Best Metroidvania: Dead Cells

While Dead Cells has been a game everyone was talking about in Early Access, we finally saw the official release of the game this year. And it certainly lived up to the hype. Mixing equal points platformer, Metroidvania, and rogue-likes, Dead Cells is a complete pick-up and play package that should be giving you Spelunky vibes. Add in a lot of customization, and this is a game that was heavily vying for Indie Game of 2018. For more information on what you may be missing, check out our review on the game.

Best Platformer: Celeste

Best Puzzle Game: Tetris Effect

Tetris is a game series nearly as old as gaming itself, and it’s almost hard to believe that they can improve on the formula even more. Well… think again. This time placed within a VR space, developer Monstars Inc. and Resonair have molded Tetris VR into a must-buy experience for the PlayStation VR. This is a game with near-universal appeal thanks to the simplicity of the puzzle, stunning visuals, and hypnotic beats; all things perfect for virtual reality.

Along with Best Puzzle Game, Tetris Effect also wins the award for Best Virtual Reality Game. Make sure to check out our review of the game.

Best Racing Game: Forza Horizon 4

Best Remake or Remaster: Shadow of the Colossus

While there were many amazing remakes and remasters that came out in 2018, developer Bluepoint Games did something magical with Shadow of the Colossus. Feel free to check out the video above showing off the comparisons, but the new remaster of the game is a ground-up improvement of everything: textures, gameplay, framerate. It breathes life into one of the most important games in history and immediately makes me yearn for a The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remaster.

Feel free to check out our review, where we called the game “one of the best remakes ever.”

Best Role-Playing Game: Octopath Traveler

2018 was host to many premium JPRG’s — games like the Eastern Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom and the Western Kingdom Come: Deliverance. However, our pick of the year is developer Acquire and Square Enix’s Octopath Traveler. Not only is it a terrific game in its own right, but it shows how the traditional top-down JPRG can be evolved from both a storytelling and visual perspective. With definite room to grow, we hope the ambition that was thrown into this project will influence games both within and outside the RPG genre. For more takes on the game, check out our review where we noted it was “a new look for the legendary genre.”

Best Shooter: Call of Duty: Black Ops 4

For all the grief that Call of Duty gets as a series, it is undeniable that the game has one solid foundation: unmistakably tight shooting mechanics. This year’s iteration, Call of Duty: Black Ops 4, is no exception, eeking ahead of games like Far Cry 5 for best shooter. Once again, if you missed our review in the busy Fall release schedule, you can check it out here.

Best Sports Game: Mario Tennis Aces

Sure, it may not be your “traditional” sports title like your FIFA’s or Madden, but Mario Tennis Aces is still at heart a sports game — and one that approaches tennis in a way no other game in the past few years has been able to do. With a (somehow) constantly evolving meta and frequent updates, it’s hard not to be impressed with what Nintendo is able to do with sports games. Now bring back Mario Superstar Baseball!

For a more detailed explanation on why Mario Tennis Aces had such a strong showing, check out our full review on the game.

Best Strategy Game: Valkyria Chronicles 4

One of our few contenders for Game of the Year 2018, Valkyria Chronicles 4 managed to be everything the fanbase wanted — and there were a lot of expectations. However, developer SEGA SC3 was able to show that the company is getting back in the game; SEGA is not to be messed with in 2018, or the upcoming years. If you were ever looking to jump into the Valkyria Chronicles series, there is no better time. For more information, check out the full review.

Best Virtual Reality Game: Tetris Effect

Best Art Direction: Return of the Obra Dinn

Leading the technical awards is The Return of the Obra Dinn, developer Lucas Pope’s adventure puzzle game. Without a major PR budget, this is a game that may have entirely sneaked by you in 2018. However, if you have any doubts in your head on why the game deserves the award for Best Art Direction, check out the video above and note the unique 1-bit aesthetic that the entire game is based in. In a world of bleeding edge graphics and experimentation, The Return of the Obra Dinn takes the gold.

Best Audio Design: Red Dead Redemption 2

Appearing for the first time on the list so far, Red Dead Redemption 2 is a technical marvel unparalleled within the industry — a fact that everyone at DualShockers agrees with. Whether we are talking graphics or audio direction, or the art of building a living, breathing world in-game, Red Dead Redemption 2 has raised the bar on game development in ways unseen since The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.

Alongside Best Audio Design, Red Dead Redemption 2 also wins Best Graphics and Best Open World. For a deep-dive into what makes Red Dead Redemption 2 so special, check out our review of the game.

Best Character: Kratos (God of War)

Kratos has been with gamers for over a decade, making his original appearance on the PlayStation 2 with the initial God of War. Thirteen years later, we see an evolved Kratos — one touched by misery, loss, and the grief of his burdens. Better yet, he is a father, yearning to develop his son into a better person– err… god, than he could ever hope to be. Since his last appearance, Kratos has evolved into a character that can evoke more than just anger — thanks to the intricate development of God of War‘s story, it is hard not to award him Best Character.

Best Graphics: Red Dead Redemption 2

Best Narrative: God of War

Best Open World: Red Dead Redemption 2

Best Ongoing Game: Fortnite

Best Performance: Christopher Judge (Kratos, God of War)

Christopher Judge isn’t Kratos’ first voice actor, but he is the one who is able to give the most depth to the god of war. With each “Boy!” or angry growl, there was a nuance that only Judge is able to add to the equation. Judge is a leader in the industry, showing how the voice acting work can play equal parts in developing a story and character — if not more so — than the script itself.

Best Soundtrack: God of War

If you are interested in listening to the Norse-inspired soundtrack of God of War, check out the spotify playlist below:

Biggest Shocker of 2018: Sony is Skipping E3?

Leading our two superlative awards, the Biggest Shocker or 2018 was the official announcement that Sony will be skipping out on E3 next year. Sure, Nintendo has done something similar in the past opting for Nintendo Directs instead of a major press conference. While we think this is far from an E3 killer, having the biggest game publisher step away from the biggest gaming conference is no small announcement and took us entirely by surprise.

Worst Game of 2018: Fallout 76

Meanwhile, Fallout 76 is managing to “win” our Worst Game of 2018 award. While there are more than a few big games that could have stolen this honor from Bethesda, little had as much promise or fan build-up behind it to propel it to the top. Even worse, the first few weeks of the game felt nearly-unplayable, even compared it Fallout 4.

On the bright side, Fallout 76 is another title meant to be a game as a service. Hopefully, we will see a big year for Fallout 76 in 2019 to win back a jaded community.

And there you have it! Those are the official picks for DualShockers’ 2018 Game of the Year Awards.

Over the next week or two, each individual staff member, editor, and community manager will be listing out their Top 10 games of 2018 — make sure to tune in to see where you fall in comparison. And as always, let us know how we did in the comments below.

Top 10 of 2018 Schedule:

December 18: Lou Contaldi, Editor in Chief // Logan Moore, Reviews Editor December 19: Ryan Meitzler, Features Editor // Tomas Franzese, News Editor December 20: Scott Meaney, Community Director December 21: Reinhold Hoffmann, Community Manager // Ben Bayliss, Staff Writer December 22: Ben Walker, Staff Writer // Chris Compendio, Staff Writer December 23: Eoghan Murphy, Staff Writer // Grant Huff, Staff Writer December 26: Iyane Agossah, Staff Writer // Jordan Boyd, Staff Writer December 27: Max Roberts, Staff Writer // Michael Ruiz, Staff Writer  December 28: Noah Buttner, Staff Writer // Rachael Fiddis, Staff Writer  December 29: Steven Santana, Staff Writer // Tanner Pierce, Staff Writer December 30: Travis Verbil, Staff Writer // Zack Potter, Staff Writer

The post DualShockers’ Game of the Year 2018 Awards — God of War Takes Home the Gold by Lou Contaldi appeared first on DualShockers.

DualShockers’ Game of the Year 2018 Awards — God of War Takes Home the Gold published first on https://timloewe.tumblr.com/

[miirshroom]

The "Anchor" Runes

Have been discussing great runes in the discord chat recently, and we got around again to the debate about where to place Morgott and Mohg's Runes in the Elden Ring: top slot or middle? In my opinion they are intended to stack based on shape fitting. And in terms of symmetry the top makes sense - otherwise this leaves the top arc of the top rune incomplete because Godrick's Rune only has fragments of circles. Also, the centre ring has a larger diameter than the others, and it would thematically work well if this was the centre master rune of the Elden Ring (That is - Miquella's Broken/Shattered Rune).

The main counter to this is that in the text both Godrick's and Morgott's runes are called "the" anchor ring. The Japanese text uses identical kanji for anchor ring (要の輪) so translation of this single component doesn't help distinguish them. However this translation is a bit of an anomaly in that there is minimal relationship between the English text and the selected kanji. The kanji for nautical anchor or fixed point of a grapple (as used in the "Rusted Anchor" weapon item) is entirely different (錨). So to illuminate this discrepancy I decided to do an expanded review into the text of both languages.

Morgott's Great Rune

A Great Rune of the shardbearer Morgott. Its blessing greatly raises maximum HP. This Great Rune is the anchor ring that houses the base, and proves two things: That the Omen King was born of the golden lineage, and that he was indeed the Lord of Leyndell.

Godrick's Great Rune

A Great Rune of the shardbearer Godrick. Its blessing raises all attributes This Great Rune is known as the anchor ring, found in the center of the Elden Ring. The first demigods were The Elden Lord Godfrey and his offspring, the golden lineage.

It seems odd that both claim to be "THE" anchor ring, so there is the possibility that two different definitions can apply between the English and Japanese (which probably won't hold up if other languages are examined, but until I get access to those, let's try this).

The kanji for anchor (要) when pronounced "kaname" generally means "pivot point" or "rivet" especially when related to the pinhead of a folding fan that resembles a crab's eye "kani no me". This makes me think of Godrick's Rune since he has the crab theme. So that would be "anchor" in the nautical sense of device that holds in place and resists motion in one plane, but allows rotation in another. Which I suspect could contribute to the modern English use of "anchor points" in rotating digital objects:

The original meaning of 要 when pronounced "yo" is the one that means "key", "important point", or "essential piece". Technically Morgott's rune is an important piece because it is the only mandatory rune to beat the game. The kanji was originally a pictogram for "waist" adapted from the kanji for "woman". I guess in a sense the waist is the point that ties the top and bottom together. Focus on "woman". An "anchor" is the gender neutral term for "anchorman/anchorwoman" - a person who is the host of a TV program. Marika's rune sits far above this cluster of runes, so perhaps it can be conceptualized that the top ring rune is the "waist" of the entire symbol.

Regarding the word "base" it has some vague connotations - it can be the "bottom" or the "primordial template from which other things are constructed on top of". Another prominent use of the word "base" in Elden Ring is in the "Base Serpent" in the DLC. But an important point is that the part about "housing the base" doesn't seem to translate directly from Japanese which is instead "[anchor] ring with a trunk" (kanji for "trunk" is 幹 and pronounced "kan"). So it's an important rune with a tree trunk - which in the original Chinese can also be a "body torso" or "heavenly stem" with regards to one of the ten suns to appear through a traditional 10-day week.

On the other hand: combine the two meanings and it is the rune at the base of a tree trunk - the point where the trunk connects to the roots. In the primordial Farum Azula Elden Ring the ring structure appears to be embedded near the top of a branching root system, but the stalk of the "tree" that Marika hangs on has not yet grown so high. This also works with the understanding of the "base" serpent as the dragon and/or serpent Nidhogg (Níðhöggr/"malice striker") which is trapped by and gnaws at one of the three roots of the world tree, Yggdrasil.

At this point I'm somewhat biased as it's already been my pet theory that Morgott's rune is an abstraction of the story of Elden Ring. So as I interpret it, Morgott's rune is the one that "hosts" the "heavenly stem" of the Erdtree. Paralleled in Marika being the body or anchorwoman that "hosts" the Elden Ring symbol.

In conclusion: Morgott's ring can be located somewhere other than the centre of Godrick's rune, if you want it to be. There is enough ambiguity in the terms "anchor (要)" and "base" and "幹". Also, that would be somewhat appropriate in the sense of having a second anchor point offset from the first: this would lock a mechanism in place and stop it from spinning around either point. Suits the idea in Elden Ring of stagnation or stopped motion.

[miirshroom]

The Age of Wood and the Winds of Change

In Elden Ring the "Ruins" type structures are some of the most enigmatic to me. I have recently found an in-game strategy for reading the environment that may help shed more light on what they're all about, but first I have some thoughts that I want to record. This is a post about intersectionality between Elden Ring and other FromSoft games, using meta information to delve into the hidden distant past.

I was going through the Woodfolk ruins because I had some cleaning up to do there and found something that sparked a thought:

From the vantage point at the Altus Bloom behind this Wormface boss there is an optical illusion of a twister in a doorframe of the nearby ruins. That this can be seen from the location of an item that can be interacted with is important - the environment designers deliberately placed something in this spot to draw attention. The appearance of the twister recalls to me a theory proposed by another person on Reddit that Farum Azula was once located above the Woodfolk ruins and was picked up by the twister and moved around. But more importantly I realized that the last time that I spent a significant amount of time in this area I had not thought to look for hints in my spreadsheet.

Intro to The Spreadsheet

I don't think I've discussed on tumblr my FromSoft spreadsheet. The basics is that it's where I collect various date-based information that corresponds to the release days of various FromSoft games. It has sortof been evolving over time into the present monstrosity. First I started with the astrological zodiac, because I noticed some astrology trends in Elden Ring itself, and reading the synopses of Armored Core games there are enough hints to piece together an astrological timeline across the games. There is confirmation of this in ACV where you fight through the zodiac as enemies. Then I had the idea to search for whether anyone had noticed a zodiac trend in Sekiro and as it turns out 8 of the 12 Chinese zodiac animals are represented - and once again they match to release years of Armored Core games including matching elements (i.e. 3 visible Folding Screen Monkeys matches to 3 AC games in the year of the Wood Monkey - 2004). In fact, 2004 is practically a convergence point for all of the weird meta stuff that traces back to it.

Sometime later I saw a post where someone was speculating about numerology in Elden Ring and learned that numerology has ties to tarot. Coincidentally, the major arcana has 22 entries when "The Fool" is counted twice as both 0 and 22, which is exactly the span of time between Eternal Ring (2000) and Elden Ring (2022). So I added that to the spreadsheet, where 2004 is "the Emperor" and 2005 is "the Hierophant". And when anomalies started converging on 2004, I noticed that April 1, 2004 (April Fool's Day) provides a unique opportunity to set up a second lagging-behind tarot track. And it also happens to fall within the Gemini era of AC games, so it's the ideal time for an imposter zodiac to split off as well. Silent Line: Armored Core (2003) is about the discovery of a second underground twin city. Armored Core: Nexus sees the short-lived emergence of a new corporation who had uncovered an ancient superweapon - a spin on Gemini's trait of "communication between the surface and the underworld". This seems to create the headache that is AC games following the "false" but flashy Western Zodiac while the vibes-based vedic astrology continues to be expressed subtly, but lagging behind as it does in the regular calendar year. I have guessed that this is where twin cities Nokron and Nokstella enter the picture in Elden Ring - and their development of the mimic tear.

And what ties this all off nicely is that FromSoft axed 14 game franchises by the end of 2004. With the benefit of hindsight it can be seen that only two (2) game franchises were receiving new entries both before and after 2004: Armored Core and the newly acquired Tenchu. There was a deliberate change in direction this year.

At some point I had a thought to check the moon phase for every game FromSoft has ever released (in my defense - they really like referencing the moon), and found exactly 4 dates that they had ever released a game on either a new moon or full moon. Three of these dates are in 2004. The single instance in another year is Forever Kingdom on June 21st, 2001 - the date of a solar eclipse. The same eclipse occurred in 2020 without a single release from FromSoft directly - only Demon's Souls remake by Bluepoint. The Shadow of the Erdtree is scheduled for June 21, 2024. Applying a bit of math, this should be the year of the 20th major arcana "Judgement", which was in 2020 on the main track.

Basically, it is my belief that Elden Ring has a built in Augmented Reality Game component that can be uncovered by paying attention to what the writers pulled as inspiration from past games. Such as a past Age of Wood that correlates directly to the era of the Woodfolk Ruins. See below screenshots for what this data collection looks like for the years of 2004 and 2005, which were the years of the Wood Monkey and Wood Rooster:

Twisters and the Winds of Change

"The wind was not the beginning. There are neither beginnings or endings to the turning of the Wheel of Time. But it was a beginning" - Wheel of Time Book 1: The Eye of the World

Following the trail of the Wood Rooster led me to discover that I am missing yet another column of data. I was on a wiki binge about the exact sequence of events at the end of WWII and from an article on the Potsdam Agreement I noted that Potsdam is on the Havel River. "Havel the Rock" is a character in Dark Souls who I was certain was inspired by Taurus because of his rocky, mountain-like design, and hoof-like feet and proximity to the Taurus demon. But actually looking at the name "Havel" it's a Gaul word that means "rooster", which would fit him to the year of the Rooster. And indeed his helmet resembles a cock's comb. But that made no sense for the spreadsheet - there is nothing "Taurus" about the year of the Wood Rooster in terms of the AC game matchup and there is no year of the Earth Rooster within the history of FromSoft. So failing all other options I turned to tarot. I knew very little about tarot before this little project, and did not realize that there is also zodiac tied to tarot suits. And sure enough, the zodiac attached to The Hierophant is Taurus. Strengthening the association, this is also probably why Havel's backstory has him as being a Bishop - the Heirophant is otherwise known as "the High Priest". Havel is known to hate the magic of Seath the Scaleless - I wonder if this hints that Seath is the Magician of the 2nd tarot track...

Some key art for Havel the Rock

So why was I looking at the Potsdam Agreement? The last game of 2004 was Metal Wolf Chaos. Of all of the games in their extensive library, FromSoft chose to bring back this game in response to popular demand. And of all of the dates to release a bombastic game about an over-the-top American President carelessly using weapons of mass destruction they chose August 6, 2019 - anniversary of the day that an atomic weapon was first detonated over Japan. I don't believe in coincidences when it comes to the release dates of FromSoft games, at least not in the past few years. Bloodborne: The Old Hunter's DLC released on November 24, 2015 - the birthday of Carlo Collodi, author of Pinnochio. This DLC sees the appearance of Lady Maria in the flesh, after previously meeting a doll fashioned in her image in the base game. I can only imagine that the developers of Lies of P sussed out some part of what FromSoft is up to and used it for their own Bloodborne-inspired game. Pinnochio is an impudent boy made of wood, perhaps what might be described as a Wood Monkey even. And once again, the Armored Core series pulls through in confirming that yes, FromSoft did have Pinnochio in their back pocket dating far earlier than you'd think. In Armored Core 2 (2000) and Armored Core 2: Another Age (2001) the corporation Balena has an "inside weapon" part called Puppet which "fires a dummy for enemy radar". Baleen is an archaic word for whale, from French - as in the whale that swallows the wooden puppet. The worm face in the Woodfolk ruins is not actually looking directly at the Minor Erdtree - it is looking at the pine tree in front of the tree. Pinocchio means "pine eye".

The 3 corporations of the AC2 generation. Zio Matrix I think to have the strongest ties to astrology, because Mars is the planet ruler of both Scorpio and Aries. Emeraude will be discussed below

As an observation of how this ripples forwards, 2024 is the Year of the Wood Dragon.

We're still a few meanders away from my point about the twister. In Metal Wolf Chaos, the president of the United States of America Michael Wilson has a lady on the coms named "Jodi". A charming gal who talks in his head and tells him what to blow up next on this whirlwind of destruction. I think it's a perfectly fitting origin for Marika ('murica) and her loyal shadow the Metal Wolf Maliketh. It's strange, isn't it, that Maliketh and Gurranq are the same, but displaced in time? Well, Metal Wolf Chaos (2004) exists beyond time trapped on the ancient device of Xbox Japan. Metal Wolf Chaos XD (2019) is much closer to the present, hence Gurranq's presence in the Bestial Sanctum. And maybe take a look at the white haired protagonist of Tenchu Dark Shadow (2006) - was not Marika's only use for her shadow as a place to keep Destined Death? I don't really think it matters if FromSoft always had the meta-narrative in mind when they picked up the Tenchu series or if this is a new lens applied with hindsight - it fits on the timeline.

Is it a weak connection that they both have white hair and hold sword in reverse grip and are Shadows? Maybe so, but I will grasp these straws

But Michael Wilson and Jodi are imposters - they are mimics of something older. That's what everything about the Gemini twins and the Wood Monkey and the new April Fool's Tarot are hinting at. Even on a surface level, it's a self-parody of the Armored Core format. And so the search continues with Armored Core (1997) where the major corporations are "Chrome" and "Murakumo Millenium" (murakumo means "a gathering of clouds"). The game has 29 template emblems, some of them generic and some silly and some obtuse, and the one that is most relevant for this train of thought is "Comet Judy". The name Judy being a very close corruption of Jodi. There are 3 leading candidates for what this emblem could be a reference to:

The Yokosuka D4Y Suisei (彗星) - a Japanese WWII dive bomber with a name meaning "Comet" but which the Western Allied reporting name was "Judy". A Suisei plane was used by 3 men in one of the final kamikaze ("divine wind") attacks by Japan in the hours after surrender on August 15, 1945.

A song called "St. Judy's Comet" which is a lullaby from father to son by Paul Simon (most famously from the musical duo Simon and Garfunkel), released on May 22, 1973.

Judy Garland - an actress who is most famous for playing Dorothy, a "good witch who fell from a star" in 1939's Wizard of Oz. Comets are not the same as shooting stars - that would be meteor fragments - but the actual art of the emblem does show a star.

Aside from Comet Judy I added 2 other emblems that are my favourites to make the embedded visual look better

The first two candidates will come up when you search "Comet Judy". And honestly, I would not count them out as being relevant in some manner (May 22 was the earliest release date of Lost Kingdoms 2 in 2003). The third only really makes sense with context clues. After all, there are dozens of Oz references in Elden Ring, and a handful here and there in Demon's Souls (the Twister-like shape of the Old Monk's Robe - perhaps a connection to think on between "Monk" and "Monkey") and Dark Souls (the "Homeward" miracle - good witches do "miracles", according to the 1939 film). They had to be inspired by something. And finally this is where the twister comes in. The one that picks up Dorothy's house and carries it off to Oz and a journey to find the wizard at the Emerald City. Another corporation of AC2 and AC2: Another Age is called "Emeraude", a French word meaning "Emerald". And after getting into the lore of the Wizard of Oz is when I start realizing that the twister can be a recurring phenomenon - The Wizard also arrived to the Land of Oz on a twister and it was through his influence that the Emerald City was constructed. Emeraude is a rival corporation to Balena - who is the corporation that manufactures the Moonlight laser sword in the AC2 generation of games. Luckily, following the guiding moonlight is where I find another solid point of comparison anchoring the Woodfolk Ruins twister to the years 2004-2005. Armored Core Nexus (2004) and Armored Core Nine Breaker (2005) are follow-ups to AC3. And in this generation of games the Moonlight laser sword is manufactured by the corporation "Mirage". As in Elden Ring's "Mirage Rise", which is found right next to the Woodfolk Ruins.

Here's another wrinkle to all this though. I know that the twister in the Woodfolk Ruins that I believe to be corresponding to Metal Wolf Chaos is not the first time a numen has fallen from a star/comet, or been carried in on the wind, or whatever. Both because of the pre-existence of the Emeraude Corporation, and because the name and context of Chelona's Rise tells the story of a witch who had a house dropped on her - and I think that Chelona's Rise pre-dates Mirage Rise by the nature of their puzzles. The question becomes: how many times before and after have the winds of change blown through, and when exactly were the other times? I think that there have been at least 4 twisters, as demonstrated by the 3 smaller twisters that can be seen accompanying timeless Farum Azula from the disconnected area through the Four Belfries "Crumbling Lands" portal. For the view of Farum Azula seen from the Isolated Divine Tower there is only one single twister seen spinning at the centre of the ruins - what possible meaning does this have?

The next lead that I have is Wyndham Ruins. Sometimes I'll idly do a "this day in history" kind of search for the various available dates. And it happens that July 10th is both the release date of the original Armored Core and the birthday of sci-fi writer John Wyndham, whose most famous work is The Chrysalids (as in how Roderika describes the Grafted Tarnished), and it's a story about a post-apocalyptic future where women are ostracized for giving birth to mutants. Wyndham also wrote The Day of the Triffids which is described as "After most people in the world are blinded by an apparent meteor shower, an aggressive species of plant starts killing people". And also The Midwitch Cuckoo "in which the women become pregnant by brood parasitic aliens". So, some interesting parallels there. For the Cuckoo in particular, this meshes with the knowledge that it's an old motif in the Lands Between - even the Moon of Nokstella has two cuckoos perched at the top of it.

Also notable that Wyndham Ruins is infested with deathroot. An aggressive species of plant that grows like a Cancer - which is one of the zodiac that spans across the "Age of Wood" according to my timeline project.

[miirshroom]

Armored Core 4: Solar Faction War

When I finally started a deep dive into AC4 I expected to find something to back up my hypothesis that it should represent the astrological "Leo" in the FromSoft astrology meta-narrative that I'm working through. What I found instead was a six-or-so-sided war between different concepts of the sun (which is sometimes a lion).

A major corporation called "Rayleonard" or "ray lion's strength" that pioneered the "Kojima" particle technology being used in the current generation of AC units called "NEXT's". The technology was used by the major corporations to overwhelm and make obsolete the sovereign nations, after which this corporation set up a base of operations in Canada. The use of Kojima particle technology turns out to have devastating repercussions by the time of AC4A as the Kojima particles are found to be highly radioactive and are poisoning the Earth. Also relevant that this corporation manufactures the Moonlight sword in this iteration of Armored Core (used by a LYNX pilot named "Anjou" whose trivia section on the wiki says "Her name may be a mistranslation error seeing as how her status points towards Ankou, a french skeleton that watched graves while carrying a lantern and scythe."). And Rayleonard is the corporation that is most completely destroyed by the end of the AC4 storyline by the alliance formed by corporations Global Armaments America, Omer Science Technology, and Rosenthal.

LYNX pilot Leonhardt, piloting the AC NEXT "Noblesse Oblige" draws upon the concept of lionhearted nobility and the use of lions in coats of arms in his emblem. Richard Lionheart of England may not have been equating lions to suns when he set the trend of the British monarchy being associated with 3 gold lions, but Shakespeare prominently uses the sun to represent kingly power in the play Richard II among others in the Henriad. And Louis XIV in France did call himself the sun king. For context, this character works for a second major corporation called "Rosenthal", which has close ties with West Asian "Omer Science Technology" - a corporation that has had significant success developing the Kojima particle technology.

Another small corporation allied with these two is Aspina, whose main LYNX pilot is Joshua O'Brien piloting the AC "White Glint" with an emblem that is an Eye of Horus, which represents the moon.

Another major corporation called "Leonemeccanica" (Lion Mechanics), is European based and has Italian roots, judging by "leone" being the Italian form of lion. This corporation would later merge with the Melies corporation to form the Interior Union corporation - a corporation which employs only female LYNX pilots including among them the player character's Operator in AC4A. I suspect an early reference here to the Jungian anima that would become more prominent in later FromSoft games - which is all tied up in alchemical and esoteric concepts of the sun.

A fourth major corporation is named Bernard and Felix Foundation, and they are an early game rival known for being a leader in sea based warfare. The LYNX most strongly affiliated with this corporation is called Mary Shelley and she pilots the AC Prometheus. This stems from the full title of the real Mary Shelly's novel "Frankenstein: the Modern Prometheus". Prometheus originated from the myth where he steals fire from the gods to bring to man and is punished for it by having his liver pecked out every day by vultures, until being released by Heracles (In the Greek tradition, the liver is the centre of human emotions). Element 61, Promethium, was named by Grace Mary Coryell, and it was first observed in 1945 - the same year that the first atomic bombs were detonated. The name represents "both the daring and the possible misuse of the mankind intellect". Something poignant I feel about humans gaining the ability to manufacture new heavier atoms like the sun (i.e. the creation of Plutonium by exposing Uranium to neutron radiation) and using it for weapons.

The fifth major corporation is called "Eqbal" in AC4 where it is represented by a hand symbol evocative of a hamsa hand or shrub. This symbol is switched for a sun when the company rebrands to "Algebra" between AC4 and AC4A. The name "Eqbal" I'm guessing was derived from Eqbal Ahmed, a Pakistani political scientist, writer and academic who was critical of American interventions in the Middle East in the pre-2000's. This Eqbal was born in India and had positive feelings towards the Islamic Sufi population of his hometown, although he was himself a secularist. My guess for this company referencing the name of a writer is because the logo also incorporates an excerpt of the poem that was used in the national song of India "Vande Mataram (Mother, I Salute Thee,)". This corporation manufactures the "SOLUH" core in AC4A, which was rebranded from "SALAUX" in AC4. In general the rebranding of iconography and name seems to be indicative of an adapt or die kind of mentality - conforming to the theme of sun symbolism used by the dominant corporations. A character named "Irbis Orenstein" works for Eqbal with the logo of a mountain cat (Irbis is Russian for "snow leopard"), of which Orenstein would be the future name of a golden lion themed character in Dark Souls.

The last major corporation is Global Armaments America. Which in my opinion is putting forth the concept of Christ as a lion and son/sun saviour figure. This one is implied through the theming of a certain character. There is a pilot represented with an emblem of Madonna and child as a stained glass window - in the Japanese version only. In the later release of the American version this is instead a Winged Lion holding a gold scepter with an English Cross, again as a stained glass window. This character's name is "Menno Ruh" (which I expect would be pronounced quite similar to "menorah" - the seven branched candlestand that is important in Judaism) and pilots an AC called "Primative Light" (which uses SUNSHINE parts - once again the sun implication is strong). Which taken altogether can be read as a commentary on religion if one so chooses. Shades of the Sol Invictus worship that merged with early Christianity to form the basis for Catholic rituals and so forth.

Despite supposedly both working for GA, this LYNX pilot attacks the player while on a mission and her last words upon defeat are "It's a lie...".

And the sun as a literal deadly laser - in the form of a spherical weapon called "Sol Dios" meaning "Sun God". This weapon is manufactured by Akvavit, a smaller corporation with close ties to Rayleonard. Akvavit produces the "MADNESS" model AC. Also interesting: a Lynx pilot named "Tepes V" is employed by Akvavit and is noted to be dying of Kojima poisoning. This character pilots the "Silver Bullet" AC with the emblem of 4 silver bullets emblazoned with filigree red crosses with gold centre. "Tepes" means "Impaler" and is most famously applied to Vlad III Dracula, for whom this character seems to be named.

[miirshroom]

Elden Ring and Introduction to the FromSoftware Meta-Narrative

If a rune is a story and a great rune is a great story, then what are the great stories represented by the Great Runes? The answer that I have arrived at: The abstract concept of FromSoftware's various videogame development pipelines. Afterall, the Elden Ring represents a metaphysical concept, so why not an examination of the past, present, and future identity of a company that produces videogames. Major spoilers ahead for Elden Ring, Bloodborne, and Armoured Core 6, and minor spoilers for several other FromSoft games.

Godrick's Great Rune

The Dark Souls (2011-2018) Great Rune seems obvious - Godrick's Great rune. If the 3 ringed shape wasn't the tip-off (corresponding to 3 games) then perhaps that the dragon figure on top of the Banished Knight helmet is the same creature as the Nameless King's mount. Dark Souls Eygon of Carim wears the Morne set and guards a fire keeper named Irena, while in Elden Ring Edgar of Castle Morne in Godrick's territory loses his eyes to frenzy after discovering the death of his daughter Irena.

Godrick himself seems to function as representative of Dark Souls Remastered, in a sense that the repulsive practice of grafting is being equated to the creative dead-end of revisiting old games such as Dark Souls (2011) and pasting on updated graphics and quality of life features while having to work around out-dated code. I think that Godefroy could be seen as a much earlier use of this practice as the difference between original Dark Souls and the Prepare to Die edition (2012) that included improvements + Artorius DLC. And Godwyn's parallel would be Dark Souls 3 (2016). I would thus consider Godwyn and Godrick as brothers in Elden Ring because in the internal logic of FromSoftware there were always planned to be a trilogy of Dark Souls games.

Dark Souls 2 is annoying to explain succinctly partially because it was directed by Naotoshi Zin Yui Taimura (correction: Naotoshi Zin was the supervisor, which was his role on all Dark Souls games as president of the company from 1986-2014) instead of Hidetaka Miyazaki. In short, there are some blurry lines between Dark Souls 2: Scholar of the First Sin and Bloodborne.

Malenia's and Miquella's Great Runes

Malenia herself has an obvious match in Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (2019) - it is in the Dragon Rot being correlated to Scarlet Rot, the parallels between Malenia's dedication to Miquella and Wolf's dedication to Kuro, and that it's one of the few recent FromSoft games to be released without paid DLC or sequel (which as it happens is common among all empyrean and their game counterparts). Numerous people have commented that Malenia feels like a Sekiro boss to fight - although with the added twist of mechanics like clearing her poise break that allow her to "cheat" compared to the bosses of that game.

However, the exact nature of Malenia's Great Rune is more nebulous - probably could be a stand-in for multiple Japanese-style combat games in the catalogue including Shadow Assault: Tenchu (2008) and Otogi: Myth of Demons (2002). Certainly, it has been confirmed by FromSoftware representatives that Sekiro was internally considered a Tenchu game for some time before release, as discussed in the aptly titled 2018 GameSpot article "Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice Originally Started As A Tenchu Game".

Miquella may or may not have a Great Rune. If he does, it would correspond to games in a similar spirit to Déraciné (2018), the game which Miquella most likely represents. A much smaller game, the idea of which originated in the wake of Bloodborne's release at around the same time that the idea for Sekiro began to form - twin ideas. The game Kuon (2004) also seems to have served some inspiration for the Haligtree, as there is a side-story told about silkworms and a central Mulberry Tree in that game.

Radahn's Great Rune

Radahn's Rune represents the Armored Core franchise - or perhaps the broader idea of mech combat games - while he is himself a personification of Armoured Core 6: The Fires of Rubicon (2023). The opening part of his boss fight is an artillery bombardment, similar to the long range weapon capabilities of the AC units. The central motifs of AC6 are "fire" and "coral" - and the general theme of Caelid is using fire to control the rot that has eaten Radahn's mind and which manifests in the landscape as growths resembling coral reef.

A major part of Radahn's character is that he idolized Godfrey, who is himself embodying AC4 (2006)/4A (2008). The name "Loux" means "Lynx" - and in a departure from the Ravens of earlier titles AC4 introduces the Lynx units. It also simply makes sense that the progenitor of the Golden Lineage - who I previously correlated to Dark Souls - would be represented in the first game that Miyazaki directed.

And I can see the objection that this doesn't make sense because we know that Radahn must have been born before Malenia/Miquella, so how can he represent a game that came after? Simply: it's not about when the game idea was executed, but about when the concept was first proposed. FromSoftware probably knew that they would eventually return to Armoured Core at about the time they wrapped on AC5V.

Morgott and Mohg's Great Runes

Now that some boundary conditions have been set it is easier to speculate on the nature of Morgott and Mohg - AC5 (2012) and AC5V (2013), respectively. Points of comparison: 1) They are of the Golden Lineage as they preceded from AC4A represented by Godfrey, 2) They are omens that any game without Miyazaki attached will be perceived poorly in hindsight (as he did not direct either game), 3) The AC games were at the time FromSoftware's most well known and active franchise before being overshadowed by souls games - those touched by the Crucible were once considered divine and only later fell into disfavor.

But as I already mentioned, with speculation that Radahn holds the Armoured Core Great Rune Morgott and Mohg must have claimed some other stories. This also aids in understanding how they can exist as multiple copies - there is the version of them before and after claiming Great Runes that do not match their original natures. Morgott is the easiest to figure out - it's the Elden Ring (2022) Rune. There is one Great Rune in the entire game that is mandatory to beating the game, and it is the one held by Morgott. Perhaps this raises a question of how can the Elden Ring have a single Great Rune dedicated to itself, but as I have been attempting to describe - all FromSoftware games should be treated as a single body of work looking backwards from Elden Ring. The initial concept of an "Elden Ring" stretches back at least as far as Eternal Ring (2000), and Morgott's rune is described as an "anchor ring that houses the base" so it does have a central importance.

And there's a relatively straightforward answer to which game would be considered a twin to Elden Ring - Demon's Souls (2009). The leitmotif in the menu music for Elden Ring has been identified as a more triumphant version of the Demon's Souls menu music. The core themes of Elden Ring are also much concerned with philosophies of identity in much the same way that Demon's Souls explores the definition of the self as an entity that thinks (look up "Philosophical Analysis of Demon's Souls" by The Gemsbok on Youtube for more on this). And Elden Ring serves as something of a bookend to Demon's Souls - both games are divided into 6 sections via 6 stone structures (the Archstones of Demon's Souls and the Divine Towers of Elden Ring). The 6th Archstone of Demon's Souls is broken, but what lies beyond is a snowy landscape. Elden Ring finally provides access to that snowy landscape in the Forbidden Lands, which is again only available after defeating Morgott - and with the Great Rune being activated at the tower closest to this area.

But there are independent reasons why Mohg's Great Rune should be the one that encompasses Demon's Souls. The Demon's Souls franchise potential has been irreversibly corrupted by the recent remake. The philosophy is still generally intact - that is portrayed through text. But critical aspects of art design have been altered beyond recognition - mostly of interest to me is the portrayal of the Yellow Monk and the Fool's Idol and the area of Latria in general. Mohg himself has this in the design of his robes and trident which steal the motifs of the helix and the black flame but corrupt them in ways that read almost as gibberish compared to their deliberate uses elsewhere.

The four-armed doll of the Fool's Idol hints at who the original owner of this rune might have been - Ranni's mentor Renna. And through embodying the witch Renna, it may be that ownership of this rune was transfered to Ranni before she chose to discard it. Demon's Souls did generally fit the previously established criteria of Empyrean game (no sequels or DLC), but the potential for future games is lost now as creating a sequel to the original would alienate people confused by the aesthetic corruption of the remake. There is also a rabbithole here for what all this Great Rune encompasses because Demon's Souls itself did not spring out of nowhere - it is of a similar approach to game design that was previously last seen in Shadow Tower Abyss (2003) and Kingsfield IV (2001).

The Great Rune of the Unborn

The Great Rune of the Unborn is a difficult one to pin down through this method of unpacking the Great Runes as much as any other. It seems possible that Miquella wanted this Great Rune and thought that it could be obtained by arranging his own rebirth. It is also one of two stories that must be obtained for Ranni's Age of Stars to be possible (the other being Radahn's story) - indicating that it represents something that did not exist at the time of Elden Ring's release. Running low on demi-gods, perhaps this is best understood as Melina's Great Rune. It is implied through Melina's abilities to channel Marika's echoes and through her descriptor in the code "MarikaofDaughter" that she is an offspring of Marika. Contradictory to the other demi-gods who can typically be matched to FromSoftware games, Melina's bodiless status seems to indicate that she never has been and her burning at the Forge of Giants is acknowledgement that she never will be. A comparison can be drawn between Melina and the disembodied Ayre - voice of the Coral in AC6. The unrealized potential of the Great Rune of the Unborn seems a good match to Melina.

Rykard's Great Rune

So, by process of elimination there is one rune left and it is Rykard's Great Rune. Fitting that the one game candidate remaining is Bloodborne (2015). An article titled "How the Spirit of Bloodborne Lives on in Elden Ring" (posted on VG247 by Alan Wen) goes over the ways that Volcano Manor evokes Bloodborne. The Manor sits on top of a hidden town of gothic architecture similar to Yharnam being stacked on top Old Yharnam, the Ghiza's Wheel weapon found in the manor has a clear design lineage to the whirligig saw from Bloodborne, the Iron Virgin at Raya Lucaria transports the player to a secondary location similar to Bloodborne's Kidnappers. But to me, the most clear connection is the finding of the Serpent's Amnion and Rya's dismay of being born of a hideous ritual. This seems a form of call-back or iteration to the ending of Bloodborne that involves consuming four 3rds of umbilical cord and being reborn as a Great One - a repellent little squid-slug thing.

[miirshroom]

Elden Ring, Dark Souls, and the Sun God

Dissecting the names of FromSoft characters and locations for amusing results. "Ra" is an Egyptian god of the sun, and the use of this two letter word string shows up in some interesting contexts in FromSoftware's naming conventions. Heavy use of Wikipedia and Wiktionary.

Radagon = Ra Dagon

Dagon was a Syrian god of prosperity worshiped at the middle Euphrates who is sometimes incorrectly identified as a god of grain/agriculture (i.e. is actually grain AND a lot more). Dagon is also a name co-opted by Lovecraft for the fish deity in 'Shadow over Innsmouth'. It is thus implied that "Radagon" is a syncretization of Ra and Dagon, similar to how Ra was syncretized with Horus as Ra-Horakhty or with Amun as Amun-Ra during certain periods of history in Egypt.

Radahn = Ra Dahn (Ra, ruler of the world)

Dahn is an English form of the Scottish name "Domhnall" meaning Ruler of the World. There is an NPC in Dark Souls named 'Domhnall of Zena'.

Ranni = Ra nni = Rán Ni

Incredibly, there is at least one use of "nni" as an alternate spelling of a Sicilian word meaning "us" for the overall phrase "Ra us" (or with better grammar "We are Ra"). Which makes sense in context since Ranni's Age of Stars is about becoming a star and the sun is a star. Rán is Norse goddess of the sea, who catches men in her net and drowns them (and once loaned her net to Loki - who took credit for inventing the net). "Ni" can mean many things - in Welsh alone it means both "us/we" AND "not". In German/Norse it also means "not". "Ni" means "two" or "towards" in Japanese and "two" in Atong Indian. As a sum total, a name expressing a lot of duality.

In the languages of Malaysia and New Guinea "ni" means "water". It is also an abbreviation for elemental Nickel.

Raya Lucaria = Ra Ya Lucaria (Festival of the Grove in affirmation of Ra)

This one has layers. There's the interpretation above where "Lucaria" is a straightforward term borrowed from a Roman festival and "ya" or "ja" is a common word for "yes" in multiple languages. It is not farfetched to think that the institution originally had closer ties to the sun than the moon - there is a sun motif in the Debate Parlour, on elevators, and on the Telescope item. The Japanese Kanji blur together the words "Raya Lucaria" such that レアル` includes Rayalu and is pronounced more like "real". Despite there being kanji available for the "ya" sound.

One meaning of や (ya) is a specific nuance of "and", as in "the Academy of Ra and the Festival of the Grove, among other things". Another is the hiragana spelling of 矢, which can mean "arrow" or "wedge used to break hard objects such as wood or stone" - causing Raya to mean "Ra's arrow" or "Ra's axe/chisel", perhaps. Additional hiragana uses include 屋 (house), 八 (eight), and 輻 (spoke of a wheel), which has a great synergy with something I have been working with for a while. This being that Radagon's time at Raya Lucaria began during the eighth house of a zodiac wheel that describes the history of the Lands Between. Likely Scorpio, if the start point is considered to be Aries, although it could also be Leo from a start point of Capricorn (more on that in further names to follow).

Siofra = Siof Ra (Sheep Ra)

Acknowledging that that "síofra" is also an entire word meaning "changeling", "elf", or "weakling" in Irish, "siöf" is a word meaning "sheep" in the nearly extinct Germanic language of Vilamovian.

Yura = Yu Ra

"you Ra" is funny, but not very helpful. However, Yu the Great was a Chinese sage-king (more of a mythical figure) known for a great feat of flood control somewhere around 3000-2000 BCE

Eleonora = Ele Ono Ra

"Ele" means "firewood" in Abure - a language native to the Ivory Coast. In Finnish it means "gesture" or "sign". It is "eel" in Middle English and "oil" in Old English, and "she" or "wing" in Old French. Also has some associations with "hand" or "foreign person" or "country" in Turkish.

"Ono" is Czech for "id" of psychoanalysis (so called "the impulsive (and unconscious) part of [a] psyche that responds directly and immediately to basic urges, needs, and desires"). And in Japanese can mean "ax" or a pronoun for "oneself", or as a name means "small field". It is also proto-polynesian for the number 6.

So "Ele Ono Ra" is the "female sign of the unconscious desires of Ra" and also has connotations of firewood doused in oil.

Another potential reading is "E Leo No Ra". "E" is a very flexible sound that variously means "and", "the", "of", etc. It is the 5th letter of the Latin alphabet as "Leo" would be the 5th sign of a zodiac beginning with Aries. The full phrase might be "And Leo (5th sign of zodiac) not of the sun". Which - taken in combination with the use of "6" (matching 6th zodiac sign of Virgo) in the first interpretation - this gets into the really complicated thing where the wheel of Vedic astrology based on the position of the moon lags behind Western (i.e. Greek) astrology.

Zorayas = Zo Ra Yas

There are many ways to break up this name - but for simplicity I focus on the "Ra" version. "Zo" is a language spoken in Myanmar and India, but also the prefix "zo-" generally means "of or relating to animals" (derived from Greek). The most likely meaning of "Yas" in context is the Turkish "mourning" which was derived from proto-Turkish "damage, loss; shame". Therefore an overall meaning something like "animal of Ra's mourning".

In the Aleut (Alaskan area) language "Yas" can mean "reef of rocks at or near surface", and in Navajo it is a word for wet snow.

There are notable uses of "Ra" as a suffix showing up in Dark Souls. It is a game with the catchphrase "Praise the sun", afterall.

[DS1 & DS3] Astora = Asto Ra (Assisting Ra)

"Asto" is Latin and means "assist" or "assisting". Notable characters from Astora: Blacksmith Andre, Solaire, Fire keeper Anastacia, Knight Oscar, Undead Prince Ricard, Anri of Astora. All appear in DS1 except Anri who appears in DS3.

Anri is an anagram of "Rani" which is rather similar to "Ranni" and yet as demonstrated above there would be a significant difference between the declarative "Rán, i", and the more "yes, but also no" nature of "Rán ni".

[DS3] Shira = Shi Ra (Temporarily channeling the spirit of the deceased Ra)

"Shi" has meanings associated with death in both Chinese and Japanese. The Chinese version of "shi" is a "ceremonial 'personator' who represented a dead relative during ancient Chinese ancestral sacrifices". These are ceremonies with food and drink where the living worship the dead and the dead bless the living. On the other hand, there are a lot of Chinese kanji that are pronounced with "shi" with different inflections - could be that any of those is relevant.

[DS2] Nashandra = Nash and Ra (By the Ash Tree and Ra)

Could be a play on words here of "Ashen" tree, considering that the player character of the following game (DS3) is called "Ashen One".

[DS1] Capra = Cap Ra

"Cap" is an abbreviation derived from "captain". It is also the abbreviation of "Capricorn" - which is the chronological start of the zodiac theme used in most of FromSoft worldbuilding, as indicated in Armored Core V. The Capra demon is a humanoid with a bull head, which resembles Mnevis, the black bull god who was worshiped in Heliopolis and later assimilated as the "personality of Ra".

[DS1] Ciaran = Cía Rán = Ciar An

It's a Ra adjacent name. The meaning of "Cía Rán" would be something like "who is Rán?", where "cía" is from Old Irish. "Ciar" is a Spanish word meaning "to reverse the direction (of a boat)". "An" has entirely too many meanings, though a common one in French and other languages is "year". Which makes sense in the context that this this character is associated with the Artorius DLC about travelling to the past and the whole Souls series of games is about the Argo Navis sailing in search of the Golden Fleece (the story tied to zodiac Aries).