[GameSpot] - Elden Ring's Torrent Used To Have An Attack

[343iBot]

Elden Ring's magical horse Torrent is already a top contender for the best video game horse of all time thanks to its double jump, but at one point in the game's development, it looks like Torrent also had its own attack.

The discovery comes from popular Soulsborne YouTuber Zullie the Witch, who regularly unearths fascinating details and oddities found within games like Dark Souls and, now, Elden Ring. When it comes to Torrent, it seems the horse has several unused animations, including a powerful backwards kick. As shown in Zullie the Witch's video, the attack can still connect with enemies once enabled, and even launches them into the air.

It's unclear why Torrent's attack was removed for the final game, but Zullie speculates it may be simply because of how impractical the attack is to land. Because the attack uses Torrent's two hind legs, players would need to essentially back Torrent up to an enemy in reverse in order to line up the blow. Torrent's kick also is mostly useless against larger foes since they can't be launched, meaning there would be little reason to use the kick over weapon-based attacks from horseback. While Torrent isn't able to use its attack in the final version of Elden Ring, the attack can still be seen in-game, as there are several mounted enemies, such as Royal Knight Loretta, that do use the kick attack to potentially devastating effect.

The double-kick isn't the only unused animation for Torrent that can still be found in Elden Ring's files. Other animations include Torrent being able to eat grass and shake its mane, which could mean Torrent was able to exist independently of the player at some point during development.

Elden Ring recently received its first major post-launch patch, which nerfed various popular abilities like Hoarfrost Stomp as well as the powerful Mimic Tear summon. Elden Ring has sold more than 12 million copies so far, with GameSpot's Elden Ring review calling the game "a masterpiece of open-world design that places exploration and player agency at the heart of the experience."

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