Last night, the Song of the Elves rang out across Old School Runescape. The game’s biggest ever update let players enter the legendary elven city of Pfiddinas, and brought a 17-year quest line to its epic conclusion. But despite all of the new content available at their fingertips, some players have a different concern.
The cause of that concern is a series of graphical tweaks that have affected the facial features of a number of popular NPCs. Central to the current conversation is Elena, a human NPC who plays a central part in a number of quests pertaining to the Song of the Elves line.
Elena has been around since 2002, and is even something of a love interest (as far as that can ever go in OSRS), but with the new update, she seems to have undergone some significant facial reconstruction. Her once rounded face has now been replaced by a pointed chin, her messy bangs have been tidied up, and she has a new outfit.
It’s not a huge set of changes, but the Old School Runescape subreddit is filled with mock outrage over the change. One post notes Elena’s new-found similarity to Hugh Neutron from early-2000s children’s cartoon Jimmy Neutron.
Another side-by-side comparison between Elena’s old and new looks is simply titled ‘when plastic surgery goes wrong’, while one post simply asks “who’s responsible for this?”
Elena isn’t the only character to have had their in-game appearance altered in the latest update, and it looks like players will be uncovering the recipients of Jagex’s surprising plastic surgery over the next few days.