Dark Souls Director Solves Pendant Mystery

The game’s mysterious pendant that claims to do nothing actually does nothing.

Dark Souls is not exactly what you’d call a transparent game. After an instruction manual that makes the work of Raymond Carver look positively brimming with detail, the game launches you, feet first, into a brutal world with opaque gameplay systems that want you dead at every turn. With some persistence and thoughtfulness, you can figure out how to conquer the game, but it’s doubtful that any one player can solve all of its mysteries. The pendant, for example, is a much-talked-about accessory that you can grab at the beginning of the game without any clear use. At long last, the game’s director has put to rest any notions about the pendant’s hidden utility: The pendant has no in-game use, just as the item description states.

“When it comes to the pendant, I actually had a little bit of an intention to play a prank,” says Hidetaka Miyazaki, director of Dark Souls. The game’s recent DLC package Artorias of the Abyss features a boss named Manus, who ends up losing his sanity over a pendant. Asked whether this was a commentary on the Dark Souls fanbase, Miyazaki denies any conscious associations. “That is a very interesting consideration. But I suppose I did not include the meaning.” In short, there’s no special meaning behind the player avatar’s pendant, or the DLC boss’s pendant.

While this news may disappoint hardcore Dark Souls who had a good time speculating about the pendant’s potential significance, there’s no shame in choosing a starting item because it’s cool or mysterious without any tangible benefits. In fact, the pendant still represents one of the most enigmatic aspects of the Dark Souls backstory, even if acquiring it won’t necessarily help you best a boss or evade a trap. That, or it could show up in a future game.

Source: IGN