Elden Ring archeologists are still finding unused content hidden in the action RPG's files, seemingly revealing that one popular NPC was almost given a completely different voice
Over two years on, and before the release of its DLC expansion, it seems that Elden Ring is still housing a few secrets and mysteries, as one fan has uncovered a set of unused voice lines which were apparently hiding in the action RPG's files on PC up until version 1.06.
Well, 'unused' might not be quite the right word, as the dialogue itself can still be found in the game now, just not with this voice. As highlighted by Twitter user @MagicalShion, the lines in question belong to the NPC Nepheli Loux, who has a full questline and can be summoned for some extra help during the boss fight with Godrick the Grafted. In the final version of the game, she's voiced by Cara Theobold, but in these datamined audio files, she sounds very different – almost as if she's voiced by Roderika's actor, Helen Monks, although this isn't actually confirmed.
Elden Ring on PC shipped with an entire unused audio archive that remained in the files up until version 1.06. I just discovered that Nepheli's entire set of dialogue exists in this archive, but recorded by Roderika's VA. @sekirodubi will have a field day with this xd pic.twitter.com/pzhXoHH2kzMay 25, 2024
It's not clear why these fully recorded lines were included in the game's files for so long, but it's been claimed by Elden Ring dataminer and cut content restorer Sekiro Dubi that in the Elden Ring network test credits, Nepheli Loux didn't have a confirmed voice actor. Instead, the credits simply state (translated to English), "to be decided." So, perhaps this was just due to her actual voice actor only getting decided upon relatively last minute.
According to @MagicalShion, there's no music hidden in the so-called archive "that's not in the 1.00 build, that includes: Mountaintops with extra recording noise, unfinished versions of Altus, and Mountaintops battle layer, and seven seconds of DkS3 Ancient Wyvern BGM split into two layers, for testing [of course]. It has more BGM missing than 1.00, nothing else." So, we're apparently
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