Like in any Soulsborne game, the environmental animosity in Elden Ring gets so bad that any act of kindness from a random NPC or even just mere flower beds is a respite for the player’s tortured soul. Among these foul places, however, a handful of them stand out for draining all the hope and happiness from the players’ faces.
10 Godwyn’s Corpses
The first time players get a glimpse of Godwyn’s corpse— what’s left of it, anyway, is in Stormveil Castle. By then, fans of the franchise could have sworn that Bloodborne was bleeding into the game because Godwyn’s severed head is one of the most Lovecraftian objects in the game.
His other original corpse is situated in Deeproot Depths and either of those corpse locations paints an ugly and eerie portrait of a god’s death in Elden Ring. Godwyn’s soul apparently died, but his body lived on, assuming many other spliced forms while rotting in an attempt to complete itself. Fia, the Deathbed Companion doesn’t mind, and she still happily shared a bed with Godwyn’s corpse. That’s even more disturbing.
9 Village Of The Albinaurics In Liurnia
Who in their right mind establishes a village here? The area is devoid of sunlight and underneath it is a poison swamp whose vapors will surely turn any air musty with the scent of moldy cheese. The plausible explanation is that the Albinaurics are a shunned race, so any home that won’t spit them out is good enough.
Still, the players happen upon the village in its sorriest state. It’s dark, bloody, and there are Omenkillers carrying out their genocidal clearing against the Albinaurics. Thankfully, the boss fight with the Omenkiller is easy, it’s just that all the surrounding corpses and the aroma of death and decay all over the place make it seem a lot more intimidating.
8 Caria Manor In Liurnia
North of Liurnia of the Lakes is an interesting location; it’s a manor that doesn’t like visitors. So even if the players manage to evade the homing magic lasers and run straight into the Caria Manor gate, they’ll be forever haunted by an even freakier sight— some of the worst enemies in Elden Ring; presenting the Fingercreepers.
It’s those giant hand monsters that give the players the middle finger which shoots magic projectiles. But before they do that hilariously obscene move, they’ll molest the players first with their dirty, unwashed hands (no pun intended). That;’s why a lot of players just run past these Addams Family rejects, while screaming like milquetoasts.
7 The Wormface Valley In Altus Plateau
Probably the first impression that players produce upon entering Altus Plateau for the first time is that they’re safe. The area looks somewhat healthy with all the trees and the gold hue means there’s nothing but knight enemies here, right? That is until players venture into that large basin in the middle of the map.
After that, the incomprehensible Eldritch horrors called the Wormfaces will gang up on the players while spitting vile vomits of death that can kill the players in one hit if they’re not careful. But of course, the worst part about them is their otherworldly appearance and their dangling, diseased heads.
6 The Windmill Village In Altus Plateau
Oh but the horrors in the Altus Plateau don’t end in that Wormface valley. Because if players venture further north, they’ll arrive at Dominula, the Windmill Village, and it’s filled with nothing but crazed, dancing zombie women whose laughter will forever echo in the player’s slumber, turning their dreams into nightmares.
Granted, most of them are harmless. They’re just practicing their blissful dance moves, but every once in a while, a red-eyed woman will punish the players for crashing the dance party. This is a classic Souls environment where the sparse background and inexplicable ominosity make the players both curious and terrified.
5 The Subterranean Shunning-Grounds In Leyndell
Once players step foot into Leyndell, they might stumble upon the sewers if they’re curious or compulsive enough with the exploration. The Subterranean Shunning-Grounds is easy to miss and thank goodness for that. Because it’s the dirtiest cesspool in all of the Lands Between, so much so, that the players can almost smell liquefied dung flowing in this pit.
The enemies are some of the worst. They have Fingercreepers, centipede-men, bloated and smelly Omens, and imps. Lovely. Oh, and Dung Eater is also there, doing one of his pastimes, which is smacking his head against the wall and yelling his psychotic, perverse rants.
4 Blood Lake In Mohgwyn Palace
Mohg, Lord of Blood wasn’t kidding when he picked his name and title. Because the whole underground area he built and claimed as his own is, for the most part, submerged in rivers and lakes of blood. If that’s not enough, there’s even a blood waterfall falling down to who knows where.
It’s safe to assume that they’re not collecting all that blood to donate it to the hospitals in the Lands Between. There’s also this one huge open blood lake area filled with nothing but giant crows in one of the most macabre and hellish sceneries in Elden Ring. It’s poetic; a murder of crows bathing in a pool of blood. Bravo, Miyazaki.
3 Lake Of Rot
But what could be worse than a lake of dirty, diseased blood? How about a lake of pure evil? There’s plenty of that to go around in the Lake of Rot which is connected to Nokstella in the underground areas of Elden Ring. Players will practically poison themselves with magic rabies if they so much as dip a toenail in the Lake of Rot.
If one somehow gets past all that level design nonsense, they’ll be greeted by an Ulcerated Tree Spirit in the temple along with a cult of centipede-men. The Lake of Rot outside would have been preferable to these miscreants. But if players push themselves even further, they’ll have to fight for their lives and their sanity in facing an alien boss like Astel, Naturalborn of the Void, plucked straight from the most perverse recesses of H.P. Lovecraft’s imagination.
2 Caelid
Caelid is where Satan goes to whenever it gets too bland or cold in hell, and he needs a more exotic scenery complete with hot springs that singe off the flesh and bone. Everything in this region can or will kill the players— even the fetid air contributes to killing what little lucidity the players have left.
The place is barely a continent anymore and is mostly just a giant festering wound whose denizens prevent from healing by tearing off the scabs and letting the bloody ooze flow profusely. If the T-Rex dogs and the giant crows are not enough to discourage any brave soul from entering this place, then the pus-filled rot swamp in the center should seal the deal.
1 Volcano Manor
Nothing is as it seems in Volcano Manor. Everyone living in his castle has a horrid past, an ulterior motive, or a dark secret. The walls have eyes and ears, and sometimes they even hiss and make slithering sounds. The red lighting certainly doesn’t help make the place a bit more hospitable.
On the second floor, there’s a madman wielding a giant pizza cutter to mutilate new guests; in the basement, there’s a huge anaconda who thinks the best way to make a family stay forever is to devour the whole family tree. But hey, at least they’re all kind enough to offer a room to the guests.
Elden Ring is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
More: Elden Ring: Best Weapons For A Level 1 Run
