You weren't seeing things, Elden Ring: Nightreign's trailer saw the return of Dark Souls 3's iconic hidden megaboss, and I have no idea what it means

There was a metric ton going on in Elden Ring: Nightreign's first trailer—and even more in PCG senior editor Wes Fenlon's massive hands-on preview of the game. But among the familiar sights of the roguelike spinoff's bizarro Limgrave, there was an even deeper bit of deja vu: The return of a previously one-of-a-kind boss from Dark Souls 3.

At the 2:09 mark of Nightreign's debut trailer, who should swoop down but Dark Souls 3's Nameless King, and there's no mistaking him for an enemy who's just indulging in FromSoft's long tradition of iterative design. It's difficult to tell if his textures have been updated from the trailer, but he's got the distinctive plume, Dragonslayer Swordspear, and a mount that's very much not an Elden Ring dragon—it has the beak and scales of a Dark Souls dragon. The New Nameless King even shares his predecessor's affinity for lightning spears.

This isn't the cheeky evoking of a well-known standard enemy design from games past, like Elden Ring's deathblight basilisks—it's a very specific, memorable hidden boss with a crucial place in Dark Souls' overarching story. The Nameless King is probably the most difficult fight in base Dark Souls 3, a climactic duel with a forgotten god of war in an arena beyond time.

FromSoft has reused named, climactic bosses in the past—see Dragonslayer Ornstein's reappearance in Dark Souls 2 as the Old Dragonslayer—but this is the first time the settings of Dark Souls and Elden Ring have been so overtly bridged, aside from studio hallmarks like the Moonlight Greatsword. As for what the Nameless King is doing in Limgrave, I haven't the faintest idea. The lizard part of my brain that enjoys seeing things I recognize is elated, but I'm also concerned that some kind of crossover or reuse might cheapen a series favorite boss for me. We'll know more when Elden Ring: Nightreign releases sometime in 2025. For more coverage of the game, you can check out Wes' step-by-step breakdown of what Nightreign even is.