This Was Nearly FromSoft's Gnarliest Boss Battle

It's impossible to miss Consumed King Oceiros’ little speech concerning the baby Ocelotte in DARK SOULS III. When you first enter his arena, the crazy, old half-dragon makes clear mention of the boy before looking down into his empty palms.

“Perhaps he's just completely mad, like every single other boss ever encountered throughout all of DARK SOULS,” I hear you cry.

Well, what if I told you that at one stage in development, Oceiros did, indeed, hold his crying son in his hands. Yes, Oceiros’ first phase was intended to see him battle the player with the little Ocelotte tucked away under his arm.

Now, note that I said “first phase” because, eventually, Oceiros was to start angrily smashing his infant son to pieces on the stone floor during his phase two warm-up.

Very heavy, I know…

It was so heavy, in fact, that the newborn was eventually cut entirely from the game — audibly and physically — leaving Oceiros wittering away to nothing at all. And honestly, I'm really not sure which of the two scenarios makes the King appear more insane, but I do know which the censorship boards of the world definitely prefer.

As it stands, I don't actually hate what we ended up with, as it does a solid job of conveying the failed mental faculties of Oceiros. However, with that said, I won't pretend that the sick side of me wouldn't like to catch a quick peek at what was originally planned. I've seen Antropophagus; I can take it!

And with that said, we draw to a close; I hope that you enjoyed this light bite of development insight, brought to you by GameGrin, my fellow Soulsphiles, even if it was somewhat grim overall.