Out of allElden Ring’slocations, players seem to have come to a consensus that Caelid is the most grisly and fearsome. Perhaps this is due to how early players may stumble upon its scarlet rot swamps after they are sent there by one ofElden Ring’s treasure chest teleporter traps, or perhaps because it features some of the game’s most terrifying enemy designs.
Indeed, Caelid can prove to be a unique test of the player’s will.Caelid’s shardbearer bossis none other than Starscourge Radahn, for example, and scarlet rot is introduced in many areas. There are many ways players can approach or reach Caelid, and its striking red color palette clearly distinguishes it from other biomes. Recently, a fan known as Alhin Row has depicted Caelid’s hellish landscape with an homage to another franchise’s locale that bears a resemblance.
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Alhin Row’s illustration of Caelid reimagines it as the promotional key art and optional box art forDoom(2016). Indeed, Caelid features a resemblance toDoom’s Hell as both environments are starkly red and indicative of some of the more monstrous creatures that players encounter. Caelid does not feature the samedemons or hellspawn featured inDoom, but what it lacks in demonic presences it makes up for in horrific canine and crow creatures, who are portrayed in Alhin Row’s illustration.
Instead ofDoom’s title emblazoned at the top, the word “Caelid” appears in the same iconic, angular font. Alhin Row’s illustration depicts a knight player-character grappling with one of the enormous crows in a stance that emulates Doomguy’s pose fromDoom’s key art, where he wields a shotgun instead of a sword. Once players have leveled up enough to be able to tackle these monstrosities in mobs, the experience becomes even more synonymous withDoom’s one-man-army style of gameplay.
Later locations inElden Ringmay present foes that are much fiercer and arguably scarier, such as the spider-like hands found in Caria Manor or the Leyndell, Royal Capital region. But Caelid’s uniquely identifiable aesthetic may offer new players a sense of dread as they advance through it for the first time.Doom’s Hell is also less synonymous with players' anxieties and fears, probably becauseDoom’s stoic protagonist is overwhelmingly competent and slays Cacodemons, Imps, and Revenants with considerable style.
Rather, FromSoftware titles relish in the player’s incompetency, at least early on, before they are able to level up and find favorable armaments. But like any locale inElden Ring, players can simply choose to abandon their current destination and explore tons of content in another direction before they decide to return and facethe horrors that await them in Caelid.
Elden Ringis available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
