Compared to others I had to do all steps to get the unknown element. It was in year 7, I had all verses of the poem. There were even red X on the map on the castable terrain. also it was in cycle 2. I can also confirm that it was not there in cycle 1. All solo.

Yeah I didn’t do any of this, the element changer is just there, hangin out ready for you in the remaster

Yeah, this is no longer required for the remaster. At least this means more accessiblity for multiplayer since it's kinda hard to miss.

Is it just me, or did the remake completely remove all the steps to get the unknown element and just automatically drop the hotspot where the flower was supposed to be?

On Step 5, it should be Holy on the Plant, not Life. Tested just now.