Elden Ring could seemingly have kicked off with you on a beach instead of in a cave - here's what it might have looked like

You. Yes, you. Did you know that the base version of Elden Ring could seemingly have started off with the Tarnished being casually discovered on a beach, rather than with you ending up in a cave, after taking your little fall? Well, even if you had - you should probably check out a recreation of this apparent alternate starting point using some cut content.

At the very least, it’ll probably be less excruciating viewing than you’ll be in for if the warp Shadow of the Erdtree kicks off with involves being dragged through that weird egg in pretty grim fashion. It’s also pretty cool if you’re into trying to dig so deep into FromSoft lore that you’ve ended up reading past iterations of Portuguese item descriptions.

“Two years after release, we found Elden Ring's original starting location,” Elden Ring dataminer and cut content whiz Sekiro Dubi, says regarding their latest video. “This means, Melina's and Torrent cutscene was different. There [were] even alternate audio files for it.”

So, they’ve had a go at re-creating what this alternative version of the game’s opening might have looked like. They've seemingly inferred its existence - and the fact that it’d appear to have you spawn in down on the beach under the Seaside Ruins - thanks to a note in Japanese found in the 2021 network test version of the game and some unused dialogue.

The result of their efforts - while seeing you miss out on that big door-opening reveal as you enter Limgrave properly for the first time - is pretty cool, especially if you’re a fan relaxing sloshy water sounds played while Melina gently says some things about the Elden Ring (roll credits) and a curse. “So, in early development, you would wash out at this small beach,” Sekiro Dubi says via on-screen text once their character’s managed to get up.

From there, you’d stroll past a mercenary and on to the Stranded Graveyard to kick off your adventure properly. They’ve even managed to suss out how you’d end up back in the Chapel of Anticipation after this point - it was via a teleport within Stormveil Castle that also existed - or at least had a visible framework - at the time of that network test.

So, there you go. Sekiro Dubi and some of the Elden Ring heads who’ve commented on the video think this opening might’ve actually made a bit more sense lore-wise compared to the game’s actual opening, even if it does sacrifice a bit of the spectacle. What do you think?

Regardless of whether you're a fan of the beach, you're after some top Elden Ring tips to help you prep for Shadow of the Erdtree's arrival, make sure to check out array of guides to the base game, which can help you do things like grabbing some rather nice Talismans, if you're a bit rusty