Over two years on, and before the release of its DLC expansion, it seems that Elden Ring is still housing a few secrets and mysteries, as one fan has uncovered a set of unused voice lines which were apparently hiding in the action RPG's files on PC up until version 1.06.
Well, 'unused' might not be quite the right word, as the dialogue itself can still be found in the game now, just not with this voice. As highlighted by Twitter user @MagicalShion, the lines in question belong to the NPC Nepheli Loux, who has a full questline and can be summoned for some extra help during the boss fight with Godrick the Grafted. In the final version of the game, she's voiced by Cara Theobold, but in these datamined audio files, she sounds very different – almost as if she's voiced by Roderika's actor, Helen Monks, although this isn't actually confirmed.
Elden Ring on PC shipped with an entire unused audio archive that remained in the files up until version 1.06. I just discovered that Nepheli's entire set of dialogue exists in this archive, but recorded by Roderika's VA. @sekirodubi will have a field day with this xd pic.twitter.com/pzhXoHH2kzMay 25, 2024
It's not clear why these fully recorded lines were included in the game's files for so long, but it's been claimed by Elden Ring dataminer and cut content restorer Sekiro Dubi that in the Elden Ring network test credits, Nepheli Loux didn't have a confirmed voice actor. Instead, the credits simply state (translated to English), "to be decided." So, perhaps this was just due to her actual voice actor only getting decided upon relatively last minute.
According to @MagicalShion, there's no music hidden in the so-called archive "that's not in the 1.00 build, that includes: Mountaintops with extra recording noise, unfinished versions of Altus, and Mountaintops battle layer, and seven seconds of DkS3 Ancient Wyvern BGM split into two layers, for testing [of course]. It has more BGM missing than 1.00, nothing else." So, we're apparently not missing out on any cool remixes that didn't make the final cut.
This isn't the first time we've seen unused audio clips and content surface from Elden Ring. In March, Sekiro Dubi showcased an alternate version of the game's opening that would have apparently seen the Tarnished warrior's adventure kick off on a beach, rather than the Stranded Graveyard you plunge into after that very first fight with Grafted Scion. In some ways, the beach version would have made more sense, but at least the graveyard location leads to that jaw-dropping moment when you open the door and see the sheer scale of Limgrave in front of you.
If you're on the lookout for more challenges, be sure to check out our list of 10 games like Dark Souls to test your survivability.
