The Worst Ways To Die In Elden Ring
Without a doubt, "Elden Ring" has become one of the most lauded and engaging video games of all time. A spiritual successor to the "Dark Souls" franchise and boasting some contributions from the legendary "Game of Thrones" author George R.R. Martin, "Elden Ring" has received universal acclaim for its gameplay, visuals, and design, with the PlayStation 5 version of the game having a wild score of 97/100 on Metacritic, making it one of the best-reviewed video games of all time.
Another source of discussion "Elden Ring" is its high difficulty. In keeping with the tradition of the "Dark Souls" games that preceded it, players are dying at extremely high rates in an attempt to vanquish their foes as they venture into the Lands Between. The game is so hard, in fact, that one user on Twitter, @DuncstarTV, has claimed that he averages at least one death every 5.75 minutes.
So yeah, dying will be quite commonplace in "Elden Ring" for even the most dedicated of gamers — but not all deaths are created equal. In the world of "Elden Ring," there are many different ways to die, with some being worse than others. But how much worse are we talking? Here are the absolute worst ways to die in "Elden Ring."
Devoured in a statue
Some of the enemy types in "Elden Ring" are extremely difficult to explain. There's something that looks like a shrimp. There's another enemy that looks kind of like a giant in a Burger King mask. Yeah, it's all really bizarre. One of the most interesting designs is that of the Pendulum Statue. It's name is essentially a perfect description — a giant mechanical statue that uses a wagon to maneuver around and possesses two huge pendulums as weapons. But the pendulums aren't the only weapon dealing damage to a player.
You see, the Pendulum Statue isn't exactly organic, and it isn't sentient in and of itself. Instead, its controlled by a horrifying, hideous creature inside of it that will pop out of the statue's metallic torso and pull you inside should one get too close. What happens when the player is grabbed and pulled into the statue's interior isn't exactly known as the fold out doors on the exterior close upon being pulled inside. But we can suspect it isn't anything good judging by the copious amount of blood splatter that is seen when being killed by it.
Yikes.
Impaled and eaten -- at the same time
In "Elden Ring," there are a lot of things that can kill you. Like, a lot of things. Sometimes, the stars align, and all of the said things are perfectly positioned to completely ruin your day and send you right back to the Grace Point you came from. Such a thing happened to a YouTuber by the name of Wallace J. Mongers, and the result is both brutal and hilarious.
While battling an enemy that can only be described as being a giant, slender creature with tentacles for a head, the player gets impaled by some sort of branch that rises from the ground. While impaled by the branch-like appendage, the player then gets picked up by the giant enemy, chewed in its mouth, spit out, and thrown right back into the killer tree root, dying soon after.
The entire sequence is obviously brutal on a visual level, but also from the perspective of a player who now has to restart at the nearest respawn point. The death was posted to the "Elden Ring" subreddit and was subject to some extremely funny scrutiny, with one commenter hilariously suggesting that such a death should "should take you to the character creation screen directly."
Hammered off the internet
Sometimes, the worst way to die in "Elden Ring" isn't limited to the brutal deaths the player gets subjected to. In some cases, the timing of everything beautiful aligns and creates a death so insanely frustrating and inconveniencing, that you can't help but laugh at the metaphorical pain and confusion the player must have felt in the aftermath. Enter this gem that was posted to the "Elden Ring" subreddit.
Having entered the Academy of Raya Lucaria, the player encounters an array of dangerous enemies all capable of doing immense damage. One such enemy is the Raya Lucaria Sorcerer, an enemy type that resembles the old Burger King mascot but from even worse nightmares than the one the original gave you. One of the Sorcerers' weapons is a staff that emits some kind of magic ray, but they also possess a book-like weapon that will hit you so hard, the damage registered will sever one's connection to the internet, apparently.
In this instance, the player avoided the staff attack, but then got hit in the head with a book so hard, their connection to PlayStation servers was lost. It's just a case of dumb luck that the player was "bonked right out of the universe," as one commenter put it, but the idea of being killed in-game while simultaneously being sent back to the console's home menu is just pure fun.
Give this monster a hand
Book-wielding sorcerers, a giant Slender Man, and killer statues aren't the only threats in the Lands Between. Apparently, giant dismembered hands are also among the dangers the players will face while getting from point A to Z. Known as Spider Hands for, well, resembling a hand that makes arachnid-like movements, these things will be the bane of your existence with how swift and dangerous they are.
While playing "Elden Ring," Tyler Colp of PC Gamer found himself battling tons of smaller enemy types while a bigger Spider Hand loomed in the distance. With the more dangerous threat outside of his immediate vicinity, all looked to be going fine for Colp. But, that quickly changed as, out of nowhere, a Spider Hand emerged from the ground directly underneath him and crushed Colp in its killer grasp before coldly throwing him several yards backwards and killing him.
The death is so sudden and out of nowhere, it was included on PC Gamer's list of funniest deaths while playing "Elden Ring," and rightfully so. But imagine for a second that you're just cruising through an area, only to be walloped by some underground hand that kills you instantly. That can't be fun.
I don't feel so good...
When evaluating the worst ways to die in "Elden Ring", there are several things that can make the cut. Being devoured by a statue-controlling beast, being crushed by a hammer, and being eaten by a creature straight out of some unknown dimension of hell are all great candidates when showing the many ways death comes calling for players in FromSoftware's wondrous, mythical, and horrifying world. But what about those times where the player is killed through no fault of their own?
While mounting their horse, YouTuber RyzeNvidia hit a glitch where the they spawned their horse and immediately attempted to mount it, only for the horse to ride off without them and disappear, all while they were left suspended in midair. In a moment taken straight from a certain memeable death in "The Avengers: Infinity War," the glitch holds out for several moments before the player just dematerializes and dies.
What's worse? Being killed because you bit off more than you could chew, or literally being glitched out of existence?