The Portuguese version of Elden Ring is missing key text found in the English-language version of the game, undermining much of its world-building and lore, as well as a Frozen easter egg.
The missing text was highlighted in a comprehensive Reddit thread that compared the two versions, demonstrating the game's Portuguese spell and armor descriptions omit much of the information found in their English counterparts.
In many cases, item descriptions that span several paragraphs in the game’s English-language version have been reduced to only a single sentence in the Portuguese edition. While the translated descriptions include basic information about the items’ functionality - such as what they are and what they do - they omit wider lore and world-building information.
Screenshots uploaded by Reddit user PicossauroRex show the extent of the differences. The English description of Hoslow’s Helm, for example, spans three paragraphs that touch on the helmet’s appearance, as well as the backstory of its previous owners. The Portuguese version, meanwhile, is only seven words long. It says it’s a heavy helmet and a family heirloom.
Another ten examples uploaded by PicossauroRex show similar omissions. Most involve missing lore descriptions, although the Reddit user also points out that Blaidd’s Armour appears to include a reference to the Disney film Frozen in its English version that’s absent in the Portuguese description.
PicossauroRex does, however, speak well of the quality of the translated text, highlighting the problem isn’t with its accuracy, but quantity.
That’s no small complaint. As with the Dark Souls trilogy, Elden Ring’s wider story isn’t spelled out as you progress along its main path, but buried within item descriptions and supplemental content that must be gradually pieced together.
With those descriptions missing, the world-building content has effectively been stripped from the game. Portuguese players will have to play the game in English rather than their native language if they want to enjoy all of the game’s lore.
Another Reddit user claims Elden Ring’s Spanish version is also missing full text descriptions.
Analysis: why is the lore missing?
A couple of things could explain this missing content. The most likely explanation is that it's an unintended bug. As PicossauroRex points out, Elden Ring’s Portuguese weapon descriptions match the size and content of their English versions, and the Portuguese versions of past FromSoftware titles - such as Dark Souls 3 - also appear equivalent to match their English counterparts.
It’s possible the content was deliberately cut from the game. Localization is a challenge in any development project, and often one of the first components to be rushed to completion as launch deadlines loom. That could mean subsidiary texts, such as lore dumps, were dropped from the game. However, there’s little to suggest that’s the case, and it’s possible that future updates will introduce the missing descriptions.
TechRadar Gaming has reached out to Elden Ring publisher Bandai Namco for comment, and will update this story when we hear back.
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