FromSoftware's Skyrim, thanks to Elden Ring-style mods), Elden Ring features asynchronous online messaging, which players can use to leave cryptic notes for each other throughout the game world. It's through this highly specific form of messaging that players across the globe have been able to help one another with various puzzles, secrets, and boss battle strategies.
While these notes can be incredibly helpful, a significant portion of them are more focused on getting laughs than offering . In typical FromSoftware fashion, the messaging system in Elden Ring doesn't simply allow the to type whatever they want, instead forcing them to choose between a curated selection of words and phrases. This might not be ideal for those interested in providing detailed notes and clues, but the restrictions have been a blessing for the comedically inclined, as they have led to numerous in-jokes.
Some of these notes, like the recently discovered Obi-Wan Kenobi reference in Elden Ring, are isolated incidents. However, due to the limitations imposed by the feature and the nature of many of Elden Ring's challenges and environments, a great deal of these messages are repeated references and ironic inside jokes. The most popular repeated jokes will be recognized by any avid Elden Ring player, but some of them are undeniably more successful when it comes to their comedic power.
#5 - Illusory Wall & Jump Suggestions Are Elden Ring Trolls' Best Friends
After a few hours in Elden Ring, it will become clear that many things are not quite as they seem; there are invisible paths and platforms hiding past cliffsides, and a great number of the game's walls are mere illusions, crumbling after a single hit or roll. One of these hidden walls was infamous for taking 50 hits to break, though an Elden Ring update patched out this controversial inclusion.
These hidden paths add to the excitement of exploring Elden Ring's world, but many have turned this feeling of endless potential against their fellow players. The Lands Between is littered with notes urging players to "try jumping" or directing them towards a "hidden path ahead," though ultimately not leading to anything at all. Granted, these messages can be quite hilarious at times, especially when someone isn't on their receiving end, but they can also be frustrating and are a bit overused.
#4 - Fort, Night Elden Ring Messages Are Almost As Popular As Fortnite Itself
Though not nearly as mischievous as the previous items on this list, "fort, night" is a message that may rival them in of their ubiquity. A clear reference to Epic Games' best-selling battle royale Fortnite, this message can be found lying in and around the game's many fortresses and castles. These Fortnite messages keep appearing in Elden Ring despite their already-immense popularity, and while they may be good for a chuckle or two the first couple of times, it's likely that players will grow sick of them as they continue to pop up time and time again.
#3 - Elden Ring Players "Don't Have The Right" To Hate These Messages
The most attention-grabbing challenges in Elden Ring come from the game's many brutally difficult enemies and bosses. However, the open-world and open-ended nature of the game poses its own challenges, as players may find themselves unsure of where to go at times, especially given the lack of any waypoints or clear objective markers. There are, thankfully, countless different paths to go down, ensuring players are never stuck in one spot for too long, but other routes are simply blocked off until a certain task is completed or an item is obtained. For instance, players can't get into Elden Ring's Raya Lucaria without a Glintstone Key.
This is where Elden Ring's "O, you don't have the right" messages come in. These notes will be placed near a path that, for whatever reason, is currently inaccessible to the player, usually repeating the phrase multiple times, really driving the point home. These joke messages may also come across as annoying to some players, who may already be frustrated about not knowing where to go. However, they are helpful in many situations, and the oddly joyful and celebratory tone of these messages is, generally speaking, quite funny.
#2 - Confusion About Animal Species Is One Of The Funniest Parts Of Elden Ring
There are numerous creatures in Elden Ring both hostile and docile, real and fantastical, but these roaming NPCs are not safe from the game's jocular messages. This is another instance where the limited word pool of the note feature helps players make jokes, as there are just a handful of different words for various animals. This has led to many Elden Ring creatures being labeled as "dog" regardless of species. This joke has become incredibly widespread, with the game's turtles, goats, and crabs all being called dogs. While not as common, some creatures have been mislabeled as "horse" as well, leading to even more absurdly funny in-game moments.
#1 - Metal Gear Solid References Are Elden Ring's Best Joke Messages
Elden Ring and Metal Gear Solid, at the end of the day, have just about nothing in common. The former is an action-adventure open-world game with RPG progression elements while the latter is a long-running, tactical stealth franchise. Aside from the fact that both entries come from iconic video game auteur directors (Hidetaka Miyazaki and Hideo Kojima), they couldn't be more different.
Despite this, the two have been brought together through Elden Ring's messaging system in a way that is oddly fitting. There are Elden Ring messages referencing Metal Gear Solid's stealth mechanics, which may be the most obvious, but the references don't end there. There are also notes that poke fun at the iconic way MGS allies like Colonel Roy Campbell will yell out Snake's name upon death. Perhaps the best Metal Gear Solid inside joke, however, is a direct reference to the iconic ladder-climbing scene from Metal Gear Solid 3, which serves as a tranquil moment of reflection near the end of the game. In Elden Ring, this moment has been translated to the joke message "visions of Snake" that appears near several of the game's ladders. These many Metal Gear Solid references are some of the most clever in Elden Ring, and their endearing nature serves as an extra bonus for Metal Gear Solid fans.
Elden Ring's message system may work in Fallout and other games thanks to mods, but there is something special about their original FromSoftware implementation. The charm and hilarity of these messages form a sort of comradery within the Elden Ring player base, as they connect players to one another. While each individual Elden Ring player is sure to have their own preference when it comes to these joke messages, there are certainly some that are more original and clever than the others.
