Dark Souls 2 dataminer shows off massive prototype coliseum level from early development

The rough prototype looks to have been binned early in development, and it's largely avoided discussion before Doneda's work.

Some portions appear to have been part of an interconnected area, others are likely different versions of the same concept.

It may have been related to what became the Undead Crypt in the final game.

Doneda uses Elden Ring Nightreign to load in and explore what remains of the levels.

The files contain a coliseum zone, mines, a strange underground tower (potentially a sequence of arenas, like Nightreign's DLC?), and a crypt portion.

Doneda, the dataminer who showed off the unused levels, has been proving a genuine authority on Dark Souls 2 in particular. Previously, they made a Nightreign-compatible version of Dark Souls 2's Eleum Loyce. Doneda has also shown off a tantalizingly ambitious early version of Dark Souls 2's The Gutter.

In hindsight, the entire pre-Sekiro Souls series (perhaps sans-Bloodborne) seems defined by difficult, rushed development cycles. …