วีดีโอ

i agree with your criticism although i think its unfair to expect a studio with their debut title to succeed in all aspects of its respective category..the flaws of this game like the cutscenes could indicate its limited budget.. also even though some of them were repetitive you can't deny that the puzzles in this game were super smart.. honestly i think this game had bigger puzzle variety than inside..one other criticism was how the world didn't change much as you navigate..sure but still the world and art style are so beautiful to look at...there are flaws but imo minor ones ..and all of them could be fixed in their next installment.. this studio has my attention from now on..big potential..also keep in mind that i played this game right after i played inside limbo neva gris and the little nightmares games..

I've seen a few other comments defending the tombstones, I also wanted to bring up my experience with them. Bloodborne was my first Souls game, and when I got to Gascoigne my first death to him was because I got stuck on a tombstone. I immediately saw the humor in this, I had literally dug my own grave by fighting him in that area. That death encouraged me to bring him to the stairs and the upper deck, which led me to the platform with the Red Jeweled Brooch. That whole area can be mercilessly abused to kill him, which in my early days with the game is exactly what I did. I felt like I'd discovered my own way to kill him, and this whole experience is how I fell in love with Souls games and their boss fights.

The first time I went through the woods, I was fully immersed, disoriented and confused. I did get both shortcuts before finding the boss though. Now, having platinumed the game, it’s an area that I find enjoyable because of its design and atmosphere. Still get lost every now and then though.

It really makes you feel like a hunter

I remember putting on a podcast and just playing this level for hours! I had already beaten the area but wanted to grind xp and this was the perfect level to get lost in and you come out way stronger for the rest of the game 😎

Dropping coins is what's helping me through this level. 🥴

Part 1 of the woods, 3 lanes that turn left and split into 3 destinations: celestial emissaries if you keep left, the shortcut elevator middle-left, and the boss on the middle-right. The right lane goes off a cliff and through a locked gate.

Not knowing what to do in the beginning and not having the impression to progress was one of my problems, too back then. BB was my first From Software Game. I made my way up to the Cleric Beast quite quick even though the masses of enemies killed me several times. But Cleric Beast was another brick for me. I quit the game only to come back almost a year later. This time I found out, that the doll woke up in the dream and I began to level up an progress through Yharnam. I was impressed how big Central Yharnam was. It already felt so big and confusing but turned out that the path to the bridge was only a small part of it. Once I picked up the Hunter's set (I found the same entrance to the sewers as you did the first time) I went back to the Cleric Beast and finally beat it. BB has become one of my all time favourites with Central Yharnam being my favourite Soulsborne level.

The Forbidden Woods windmill shortcut accomplished in one zone what took Dark Souls 1 three regions to do.

I hate this level, but I'll watch lol

I think the problem with this whole are is that it is extremely easy to just skip everything in it. On my first playthrough of Bloodborne, I just ran through the whole thing without too much trouble. Even if you don't, there isn't too much in the area outside of the most boring enemy type in the entire game(seriously what's up with those snake ball things). Compared to similar areas in Dark Souls and Demon's souls that aim to disorient the player like Blighttown, Darkroot Gardens or the Towers of Latria, it's very one note and boring.

Gotta be honest that filter you have on your videos is extremely dissorienting and hinders the image quality imo.

What's more important to me is the concept, the place the woods take in the world. Not my enjoyment, but the experience the game provides.

Love this series, wanted a little more into the details such as the story and how weird it gets here like the hemwick video, but still an awesome discussion here!

My favorite area to level grind before chalice dungeons I spent so much time there, one of my top 3 locations in the game

I dont like many areas in Elden Ring. Siofra and Ainsel river regions feel boring, all the enemies are silent and slow. In fact, most mobs in Elden Ring dont make sounds. I dislike it. Leyndell is the same, its so golden and bright, yet feels like an empty shell. In most of Elden Ring, meeting NPCs feels sad, because the world is huge yet silent, and the NPCs seem to be the only sane creatures around that can actually talk. Bloodborne enemies say things like 'Away! Away!' or 'Its all your fault' or grunt and moan and scream. The crows make sounds too, townspeople do it, villagers do it. Even the sackers and insight-snatcher dudes make sounds. Its good! The enemies in Dark Souls series also make noises and grunts and screams at times. Even mimic chests make sounds! But Elden Ring feels so quiet. The perpetual background music (which gets annoying after some time) feels rather generic after a while and doesnt fill the hole in your heart that is created by this silence. The world is open, but feels empty, despite there being so much 'content'. I LOVED Caelid in Elden Ring because its filled to the brim with monsters and sounds. Crows and dogs are roaring and making noises at all times. I know its a scary, creepy and edgy place, but you must understand, there is no emptiness in **most** of Caelid. Everything is filled up with mob enemies, weird plants and trees, rotten lakes, random merchants, and monsters. It feels more populated. Compare that to the emptiness, slowness, and silence of the tempo of underground regions like ainsel and siofra, as well the overworld regions of leyndell. It feels off-putting. No battle feels worth taking, and you feel like just running past enemies not because they are difficult but because they are meaningless to do deal with. Broken shells of former warriors and guards scattered around the cities. No reason to engage with them. I know there are lore reasons, but from a gameplay point of view, its just boring. In DS, BB, and even Sekiro, running past enemies is done to avoid going through a bunch of fights and losing unnecessary HP, usually to reach a boss or miniboss. Even the metal armors in Dark Souls series makes those clink-clank noises that feel missing from Elden Ring, and the camera feels so far away from the player for some reason. It feels, distant. Elden Ring's Leyndell and underground regions feel so open yet so empty. The deafening silence and slow mobs dont make up for its painful emptiness. Stormveil never felt this way, Castle Morne didnt either. They were all somewhat more populated and closed-spaces felt more intimate. Intimate, thats the important word here. A lot of Elden Ring's openness doesn't feel intimate. Skyrim's openness felt more intimate even in Third person. Same with Witcher 3. And I am not even talking about the presence of sane people you can talk with. Just the map feels more intimate. The Depths in DS1 vs the sewers in Elden Ring. Compare the intimate-ness and close-spacedness of the two. There is something going on in Leyndell and the rivers that is too liminal and doesnt feel like natural level design.

Im 100% convinced that the level would be significantly less divisive if it wasn't for the enemies. Specifically the big snake balls and snake heads. They make every encounter such a miserable experience. So im not just dealing with disorientation im dealing with these annoying ass enemies. The snake head dudes dont stagger every hit which would be fine except their hitbox is so indecipherable. Its just a writhing mass of snakes as a big hurtbox. The big snake balls have the same issue. To this day I still cant fight these guys with any sort of tangible strategy. Usually its spam them down and eat the damage or charged R2s

Belongs to one of top 10 bullshit levels in Bloodborne list.

I really enjoy the Forbidden Woods; but I'm also the type of player who likes to explore and take time with the levels. I think if I were the type to rush straight to the bosses I would find it annoying.

I just got legitimately hyped when I realized your next video was out! Wanted to leave a message before diving in. Keep up the amazing work; we appreciate you.

Well, if we're talking Bloodborne, then the area I dreaded going into would be the Nightmare Frontier Unlike the other Nightmare planes like Mensis, it is an optional area with not so good encounters and loot, but is mandatory for 100% completion due to the Chalice from Amygdala

I'd love to see you explore Yahargul in this series, both before and after Rom! I'm a fan of the Forbidden Woods, because of how successfully it does what it set out to accomplish. Despite having Platinumed the game and completing it several times since, I always get lost, and that reminds me of why I fell in love with it (the ATMOSPHERE!).

I can’t believe how they made such a relatively small space feel so huge and disorientating. I still get lost in it.

I still remember freaking out when that guy's head exploded :D

Dude please do more bloodborne level breakdowns

Dude, your is one of the very few channels for what I have activated de f!@#$% bell, and it doesnt work. Your videos are simply the best, with an impeccable analysis in the true meaning of the term and a lot but precise ammount of context information, besides a very clear and stylish visual design. I just dont understand why your content hasnt skyrocketed yet, but please, dont give up! You deserve way more attention ♡

One of the reasons that I think Dark Souls (specifically the first one) has such staying power is the amount of investment it requires from the player. The fact that the game gives you so little means that the player's investment is almost totally determined by their own willingness to press on, experiment, and engage with it. Because the game can be so punishing, this commitment feels consequential. Also, the fact that the game is so one-sided makes the jank more easy to forgive: the game is a wall and you are expected to accept it as it is, and find some way of surmounting it. It really doesn't feel fair, because it isn't, especially to first time players. Fairness is about being on equal terms, and Dark Souls does pretty much everything in its power to put you on unequal footing. It has the appeal of climbing a mountain more than participating in a sport. You just have to decide whether you're willing to commit to the endeavour and then accept its character, jank and all, as a fact of nature, and because that decision is yours and what you get is almost entirely determined by what you're willing to give, the experience can feel extremely personal in ways most other games are not. Dark Souls is proof that greatness has almost nothing to do with perfection, and is often even contrary to it.

Dark Souls was boring, ugly and clunky as shit.

The two long ass ladders are just so out of place and make absolutely no sense in the world.

It's a forgettable area.

Not gonna this game has some stupid ass long ladders. I find the ladders are the laziest was to connect areas because some of them makes zero structural sense.

An old Indie I found really interesting is The Flame in the Flood. A rouge-like rafting survival game where you're trying to outrun a storm and find freedom in the open ocean. It's really stuck with me since playing and has this great Appalachian melancholy atmosphere.

have you played Yellow Taxi Goes Vroom? that's quite wacky! Thank Goodness You're Here is another hilarious title. other games that are an interesting mix of genres: Laika: Aged Through Blood and Minishoot Adventures

This needs more attention!!

Awesome to see this series coming back! As a Level Designer I really like this kind of videos.

Your so right

One day I will finish my No-Death-Run and proudly say that this will be the second game ever I finished 100% (the first being Ender Lillies)

I actually love the Forbidden Woods. I think it might be my favorite level in Bloodborne. The game basically shifts to full survival horror at this level, with a maze of twisting paths and corridors to explore, while your resources slowly deplete. I think the first time I played Bloodborne, I actually made it through almost the entire level without dying. This was because I approached the level very slowly and methodically. It got more and more tense as I got deeper and deeper, and the enemeies became more surreal (transitioning from townsfolk to snake balls to aliens), and my character's coat became increasingly soaked in blood. It was the best kind of terrifying that only a video game can provide.

for a realistic city design it's make no sense

Was thinking how good the level design was just a few days ago after watching a video were the player descended to the sewer, from where you get the hunter set, just by landing on the boards on the way down which obviously got placed for this purpose but are easy to miss even after almost ten years.

13:05 the moment I realized this might be my favorite game

I WANT TO PAY FOR THIS!!! HOW?

Totally agree on how the design sours new players to the game. Bought it back in 2015. Absolutely adored the atmosphere and combat, but Central Yharnam felt like bashing your head against a brick wall. On my first, second and third attempts at starting the game I gave up before reaching any of the bosses, and only when I picked it up years later during Covid did I finally made it to Cleric Beast and unlocked the doll. The extra dumb thing is - by that point I was in possession of several pieces of Madman's Knowledge, and if I knew I had to use it to unlock the Doll, I would've been able to acclimate to the game much sooner.

One of the best level designs ever

Excellent breakdown and analysis, I can't wait for part two. I have very mixed feelings about the Forbidden Woods. I should mention that I have never finished Bloodborne. I've been slowly chipping away at the same save file for about 7 years. It was the first game I got with my PS4, and it's one of my favorite games of all time - due largely to how TH-camrs (like yourself) have helped me garner a deeper appreciation for its magic even if I haven't played the whole thing. The first time I got to Forbidden Woods, I think I was feeling fatigued, between the twisting and confusing paths to the relentless onslaught of enemies and traps. I made it to that little bridge right before you cross over and can open the shortcut elevator. I talked to the cannibal guy (and I think I ended up fighting him then and there), and then as I went to cross that bridge, I saw a dude with snakes for a head, and freaked out. I don't think I managed to see one of those guys while making it down the windmill. I may have tried to hit him a few times and died, or something along those lines, but either way I ended up back at the lamp without the shortcut open, and I was disheartened. I put the game down, and I think I didn't touch it for another year or two. Again, not because I didn't like it, but just because my experience with these long sprawling games is a slow one. But I do remember that was the last thing I did before I stopped that time. Then when I picked it back up, I left the area, wandered around a bit, cleaned up some side stuff, and eventually realized I needed to head back there and just buckle down. So I did it. I discovered (For the first time) the weird little cave system that leads all the way back to Central Yharnam (and my mind was blown), and I ended up making it through again, across the bridge, and got that shortcut open. It was like a whole new world opened up to me (the area I tend to think of as the proper Forbidden Woods, what will be your part 2). I fucking loved this area. I hated it too, but I just absolutely loved the feeling of exploring it. Eventually made it down to the Shadows of Yharnam and beat those boys in 2 tries I believe. While the first half of Forbidden Woods felt uninviting, the second one didn't. Yes, it felt quite dangerous, but it also felt more mystical, strange, and all around interesting to explore. My memory is that Bergynwerth is immediately after the Shadows of Yharnam, but I don't remember clearly. Maybe there's more gubbins in between and I'm folding them into the Forbidden Woods itself, which is part of why I'm excited for part 2.

I absolutely love Hemwick. To me it's a critical area for BB's overall atmosphere and contributes in interesting ways to the lore.

This channel will be huge one day, this is EXCELLENT quality content. Keep it up, bro🔥