The Portuguese version of Elden Ring lacks the key text found in the English version of the game, undermining much of its lore and world-building, as well as a frozen easter egg.
The missing text was highlighted in a lengthy Reddit thread comparing the two versions, showing that the game's Portuguese spell and armor descriptions omit much of the information found in their English counterparts.
In many cases, item descriptions spanning multiple paragraphs in the English version of the game have been reduced to a single sentence in the Portuguese edition. While the translated descriptions include basic information about item functionality, such as what they are and what they do, they leave out more extensive information about lore and worldbuilding.
Screenshots uploaded by Reddit user PicosauroRex show the extent of the differences. The English description of Hoslow's helmet, for example, spans three paragraphs discussing the appearance of the helmet, as well as the backstory of its former owners. The Portuguese version, on the other hand, has only seven words. Says it's a heavy helmet and a family heirloom.
Ten other examples uploaded by PicossauroRex show similar omissions. Most involve missing descriptions, though the Reddit user also points out that Blaidd's Armor seems to include a reference to the Disney movie Frozen in its English version that is missing from the Portuguese description.
PicossauroRex speaks well of the quality of the translated text, however, it emphasizes that the problem is not its accuracy, but its quantity.
This is not a small complaint. As with the Dark Souls trilogy, the larger story of the Elden Ring isn't explained as you progress through its main route, but instead is buried in descriptions of items and additional content that must be added gradually.
With these descriptions missing, the world building content has been removed from the game. Portuguese players will need to play in English instead of their native language if they want to enjoy the full lore of the game.
Another Reddit user claims that the Spanish version of Elden Ring also lacks full text descriptions.
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Analysis: why is tradition missing?
A couple of things could explain this missing content. The most likely explanation is that it is an unwanted error. As PicossauroRex points out, Elden Ring's Portuguese weapon descriptions match the size and content of their English versions, and the Portuguese versions of previous FromSoftware titles, such as Dark Souls 3, also appear equivalent to their English counterparts.
It is possible that the content was deliberately removed from the game. Localization is a challenge in any development project, and often one of the first components to be completed quickly as release deadlines approach. This could mean that secondary texts, such as lore dumps, have been removed from the game. However, there is no indication that this is the case, and it is possible that future updates will introduce the missing descriptions.
TechRadar Gaming has reached out to Elden Ring publisher Bandai Namco for comment, and will update this story when we hear more.
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