Elden Ring almost included a mechanic for players to steal enemy dreams to turn them into alcohol to serve to NPCs.
That's according to a pair of From Software YouTubers and data miners, Sekiro Dubi and Lance McDonald. Digging around the limited-time network test version of the game players previewed in November 2021, they found a cut NPC character named Monk Jinko who would have lived at the Scavenger's Shack near Stormveil Castle.
On meeting, the Monk would offer to whip up some Dreambrew for the player if they brought him the necessary ingredients. To that end, he would hand over an item called St. Trina's Crystal Balls that allowed the player to harvest Slumber Fog from sleeping enemies marked by a small cloud of fog over their head. Bringing two Slumber Fogs to Jinko would let him brew some Dreambrew, which could then be given to some NPCs to unlock new dialogue.
For example, if the player gave the merchant Kalé from the start of the game some Dreambrew, he would fall asleep and have a nightmare. Subtitles then describe the nightmare, mentioning the Frenzied Flame in the process.
Data miners have also found an unused attack animation for the player's magical goat-horse Torrent.
