He may be a scientist, but this paleontologist is blown away by Elden Ring’s beasts—not because they’re realistic, but because they’re believable. Dr. Darren Naish praises FromSoftware’s commitment to creature design and the environmental storytelling that brings the game’s wild biology to life.

Years from now, Elden Ring will still stand as FromSoftware’s defining masterpiece. More than just a game, it’s an intricately crafted mythology where every enemy, dungeon, and NPC has purpose and meaning. Thanks in no small part to George R. R. Martin’s worldbuilding, the fusion of fantasy biology and environmental storytelling in this game is so strong that it’s catching the attention of real-life scientists.

One such expert is Dr. Darren Naish, a paleontologist who studies prehistoric life through fossils. In a recent episode of Reality Check on PC Gamer, Naish took a deep dive into Elden Ring’s bestiary and found something remarkable: “It’s top-level speculative biology,” he said, noting that many of the game’s monsters display an internal evolutionary logic that makes them feel authentic within the game world.

The Paleontologist Praises Elden Ring

Among the creatures Naish studied, he pointed out the “land octopuses” as particularly well-conceived. They live in coastal areas and exhibit movement patterns that closely resemble real-life cephalopods. On the other hand, new bosses introduced in Shadow of the Erdtree—such as the Golden Hippopotamus and Bayle the Dread—are so fantastical that they defy anatomical possibility. Still, Naish argues that this kind of exaggerated design strengthens the game’s worldbuilding: these monsters may be unrealistic, but they’re narratively coherent.

What impresses him most, though, is how FromSoftware integrates biological thinking into its environmental storytelling. Without the need for exposition or dialogue, the world of Elden Ring tells its story through visual and anatomical details. “Everything fits together,” says Naish. Scars on bosses, mutations on enemies—all of it contributes to an unspoken evolutionary narrative that deepens the lore of the Lands Between.

Source: 3djuegos