Dark Souls 2's cut hermit crab proves that FromSoft's love affair with angry crustaceans goes way back.
Dark Souls 2 is widely considered the “worst” Dark Souls game, which is not only wrong (that distinction goes to the greatest hits listlessness of Dark Souls 3) but ignores the fact that it could have had a giant hermit crab with a castle tower as a shell.
As discovered by YouTuber Zullie the Witch, the Lost Bastille area was originally meant to have a big ‘ol crustacean boss battle, which would have marked the first appearance of a crab in a series that absolutely loves ’em. The one cut from Dark Souls 2 wasn’t just a typical giant crab either, but instead a crab wearing a portion of the Lost Bastille itself on its back.
The video speculates about how this boss battle could have played out. It’s possible that the giant tower-bearing crab could have been fought in the large arena in front of it, which is as boring as it is probably true. The other option is much more interesting: the player could have entered the castle tower itself in order to descend the spiral stairs and wack the poor decapod in the backside until it died, all the better to receive the Malformed Shell, which actually exists in Dark Souls 2 and was originally titled the two-handed hammer of the Hermit Crab (the Malformed Claw is also associated with this ditched boss). It’s also possible that the player could choose either option.
FromSoftware seemed pretty determined to get a crab into Dark Souls 2 for a while, which is pretty on brand. There’s a second crab-centric mockup in the game files, also in the Bastille area. This version had more legs, a rounder body, a big long head, and based on its design, might have been able to leave its tower shell—presumably offering the player a brief window in which to slash away at its underside thus causing massive damage.
Whatever was actually planned, it’s more proof that Dark Souls 2 had a lot of good ideas left on the cutting room floor, the most famous being its dynamic lighting system—which FromSoft actually showed off pre-launch, and which modders have since reinstated. Less quantifiable, but more pervasive, is the game’s austere sense of emptiness in some areas, like it was never given a final decorative coating. In this way, it kinda reminds me of all the PS2-era aping dungeon crawlers that are popular at the moment. Dark Souls 2 has a special vibe about it, something vague and indescribable, that I love.
Arguing about Dark Souls 2 is a sport around here. In 2020, James Davenport controversially brought attention to its brilliance, a fact that many simply will not countenance due to a lack of imagination. In 2022 Lincoln Carpenter saw fit to chronicle the difficulties and injustices experienced by Dark Souls 2 defenders. A year later, Sam Greer proclaimed that “time has redeemed Dark Souls 2” which is controversial only in the sense that—c’mon Sam—it didn’t need redeeming.
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