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I’m pretty sure more people watch Elden Ring on YouTube than have actually played the game. Back in the early days of Dark Souls and Bloodborne, I remember VaatiVidya was one of the few creators making lore content on the game. Now, FromSoftware videos are an industry on its own, and it’s booming thanks to the Elden Ring DLC. Shadiversity aren’t necessarily Elden Ring focused, though they have made various videos on the game. One in particular critiqued greatsword animations for inaccuracy, though it looks like the DLC has fixed them, suggesting that FromSoftware aren’t just watching YouTube content, but listening to it too.
Two years ago, Shadiversity released a video showing off a ‘remake’ of Elden Ring’s combat. One of the criticisms focused on unrealistic footwork and movement with the Greatsword. Now that the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC is here, the animation has had a little work done on it, and now it seems to reflect the suggestions that Shadiversity made.
The YouTuber said “it would be cool if FromSoft saw [his] video [and] took inspiration from it,” and that the new animation is “so much better,” although the title of the video does underplay it a bit.
Well, I think there’s reason to believe that FromSoftware really are listening. In a recent interview with Gamespot, Miyazaki said that he does watch Elden Ring theories and fan videos, although he didn’t say whether or not he’s ever taken inspiration from them. I think there’s a strong case here that an animator at FromSoftware really did heed the video’s advice, since it’s quite a stern and direct move in the direction of realism. I guess we’ll never really know.
It should also be noted that Shadiversity has a video titled: “What pisses me off about Elden Ring story and worldbuilding.” I’m going to assume that Miyazaki didn’t pay much attention to this one.