Would love to shout out the Haligtree as an honorable mention. You start at the top, go through Elphael entering the Haligtree until you spiral down to its roots to fight Malenia. Truly brilliant level design
@@ColetheFlame01i just beat fume knight for the first time about 3 minutes ago (while watching this vid, in fact) and i gotta say, brume tower is incredible. i’ve played every other souls game except DeS at this point, and brume tower is probably a top 10 level across the entire series for me
Major hot take but I absolutely adore Blightown. I recently did my first playthrough of DS1, and let me tell you Blightown was the most fun I've had transversing a level. Easily my second favorite area in a souls game. It just feels like one giant rat maze, and seeing the flat swamp after finally getting through Blightown is an unmatched feeling. Honestly I wish Blightown town was a lot longer. The gimmick there is also great, the none respawning poison archers were tons of fun. Definitely my favorite vertical area.
This goes to show soulslike games really have something for everyone, because I hate Blighttown for all of the reasons you listed hahah (well, the swamp not so much, it's kind of whatever)
Most of the hate for Blighttown comes from people who played the original release on 360 or PS3. The frame rate was absolutely terrible and made it a lot more difficult to traverse
So happy to see Dark Souls 2's Brume Tower get top place on this. For a verticality ranking nothing beats what is essentially a miniature game inside of a game. I always remember the sheer relief on reaching the Foyer bonfire, knowing I now have access to so much more of the level and don't have to go through a quite frankly bs path from the Upper Floor to the Foyer. I love the Maldron tower as I call it for not being entirely needed if you aren't going for Nadalia's soul, but what it gives you for putting up with it is extremely good, being the Majestic Greatsword, 2 or 3 bonfire ascetics and a halfway upgraded Alonne Greatbow at +5. I may hate most of the boss runbacks here but at least they are short and finding the secret explodable wall pieces for some much needed equipment and upgrade materials is super fun to find too. I swear for all the hate Dark Souls 2 gets, it does some very good things right that the rest of the series honestly doesn't get right, or doesn't even try.
I would like to give an honourable mention to Upper Latria from Demon's Souls. It's already a great level for its Lovecraftian theme and setting, narrow paths, and disturbing enemies. But you're greatest enemy in that level is gravity itself as you run the risk of fallen off or being knocked over the edge, and you have to climb some tall towers to progress and ultimately confront the Maneaters
Even tho Eleuom Loyce is my favorite part of DS2 Brume Tower is still such a peak. Also I love the youtuber thing where you talk about sounding different but you sound same as always
Cant believe high wall of lothric made the cut but haligtree didn't 😮 Do top ten soulsborne traps! (Either environmental threats like bloodbornes swinging logs, or enemy traps like the giant spider monster in that one empty room in cathedral of the deep, or the twin sullivan beasts in the sewer)
My new favourite place to watch Souls related content. ✌️ I can't believe you have under 30k subs. The quality of the videos you produce is outstanding. I'm not great at parrying, so I have panic rolled the subscribe button 😅.
Been watching your stuff for some time, Billy. Love your content and I'm frankly subbing now of all times purely for realizing at 12:18 that "Feel" is playing in the background.
It's really not as great as you're making it out to be. Combat and bosses wise, it's amazing, but the exploration, variety, and level design (for the most part) is very lackluster
Honestly I’m so glad to see Brume Tower on the top of this list. IMO it’s a strong contender for best level in the entire series, it really just feels like souls at its peak
Earthen Peak is super underrated. I don’t usually like the poison levels all that much but something about climbing up this big ass dilapidated windmill resonates so well with me lol Haligtree kicks ass too I’m surprised it didnt make the list
I would have liked to include St Trina area as well. That area has quite a fair bit of verticality and has been laid out exceptionally well. Mildly punishing but could have benefited from a little more length and enemies variety but overall as a thematic area to St Trina it is really good.
Brume tower has some horrid sections with that curse tower and trying to kill the giant ganks with the shitass-pathing barrel enemies is very irritating. But I do agree it has a very good layout.
You can cheese the whole area using fire, the barrel enemies, the traps or the attacks of the enemies that do fire damage so you can make them kill themselves while you dodge the explosion.
realizing that demon souls swamp area, the first grand archives, and the carrion study hall didn't even make the list, i'm actually surprised there are so many vertical levels in these games.
I'm someone who's cynical and critical on DS3 levels on the whole but the Grand Archives (and endgame Lothric Castle overall) will always remain one of my exceptions I feel like it stands on its own pretty well, and I enjoy just about every enemy scenario
I instantly thought ‚Brume Tower‘ when reading the title of the video :D this is THE vertical level in Souls games for me. Also, shoutout to Elphael and the gutter which didn’t make the list:)
Me when I see a Soulsborne ranking not by Billy S: Don't care. Not a Billy S ranking. Also me when I watch a Billy S ranking: I disagree with 60% of this man's opinions but I also appreciate his reasonings.
I don't know why old souls players are so reluctant to appreciate anything Elden ring related. The Haligtree and Shadow Keep are easily top 5 or top 10 dungeons in the series, but the recency "anti-bias" keeps people from recognizing that. This is a great list overall, but Haligtree definitely deserves a mention, and Shadow keep should be way higher
I think the only issue there is until you get into the Sanctum itself it doesn't really use verticality. and Cave of the Dead is its own location and that area is a terrible place if you plan on bringing the summons which I heavily recommend you do, they aren't great but they take the heat off you so you can actually focus on each boss individually. my favorite part of Shulva though is the path down to Elana namely cause you get to fight the Drakeblood Knights which I think are great enemies.
I’m surprised Ranni’s tower didn’t make it on here. Not my favorite area and it’s pretty small comparatively but the concept of flipping the vertical level upside down is so cool to me
I always like to use my own footage where possible & I don't own a PS5 (We recently began renting an apartment so we don't have the money to spend on a 500 euro console atm). And honestly, I just like the art direction of the original Demon's Souls - It's so similar to Dark Souls that it makes me feel at home ^^
It’s very well designed, but unfortunately got put into Dark Souls 2; the game that thinks more enemies is the best way to create challenge. Not to mention that the platforming is terrible in DS2. If the game had a dedicated jump button and was a bit faster like Elden Ring, then I think people would appreciate the level a lot more.
Nice to see the Funhouse so far up the list. I remember being utterly confused about its layout the first time through but after a couple deaths and repeats it turns out it's actually pretty straight forward. Sen's is a fantastic transition between the early game and the final hurdle before the second half. A worthy ascent to the city of gods. Especially seeing that humongous iron mass looming over the area as you make your way to the fog gate.
![BOWKYLION - วิงวอน (ex-change) [Official MV]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/cLdnZWDaO-w/mqdefault.jpg)
Would love to shout out the Haligtree as an honorable mention. You start at the top, go through Elphael entering the Haligtree until you spiral down to its roots to fight Malenia. Truly brilliant level design
yeah there's no way Brume's tower is better than Haligtree lmao
@@JLchevz have you played Brume Tower? its a hell of a fun level and actually lives up to the Tower part of its name.
@@JLchevz personally, Brume tower is better
Elphael was brilliant, but the part leading to loretta was a bit subpar imo
@@ColetheFlame01i just beat fume knight for the first time about 3 minutes ago (while watching this vid, in fact) and i gotta say, brume tower is incredible. i’ve played every other souls game except DeS at this point, and brume tower is probably a top 10 level across the entire series for me
Huge respect for putting the Specimen Storehouse on here. It's still new but climbing up the statues are awesome
Major hot take but I absolutely adore Blightown. I recently did my first playthrough of DS1, and let me tell you Blightown was the most fun I've had transversing a level. Easily my second favorite area in a souls game. It just feels like one giant rat maze, and seeing the flat swamp after finally getting through Blightown is an unmatched feeling. Honestly I wish Blightown town was a lot longer. The gimmick there is also great, the none respawning poison archers were tons of fun. Definitely my favorite vertical area.
This goes to show soulslike games really have something for everyone, because I hate Blighttown for all of the reasons you listed hahah (well, the swamp not so much, it's kind of whatever)
The poison archers were the worst, but I also grew fond of Blighttown on subsequent playthroughs
Blighttown and the Catacombs are underrated for sure
Most of the hate for Blighttown comes from people who played the original release on 360 or PS3. The frame rate was absolutely terrible and made it a lot more difficult to traverse
The falls guys music in sens fortress is perfect
So happy to see Dark Souls 2's Brume Tower get top place on this. For a verticality ranking nothing beats what is essentially a miniature game inside of a game. I always remember the sheer relief on reaching the Foyer bonfire, knowing I now have access to so much more of the level and don't have to go through a quite frankly bs path from the Upper Floor to the Foyer. I love the Maldron tower as I call it for not being entirely needed if you aren't going for Nadalia's soul, but what it gives you for putting up with it is extremely good, being the Majestic Greatsword, 2 or 3 bonfire ascetics and a halfway upgraded Alonne Greatbow at +5. I may hate most of the boss runbacks here but at least they are short and finding the secret explodable wall pieces for some much needed equipment and upgrade materials is super fun to find too. I swear for all the hate Dark Souls 2 gets, it does some very good things right that the rest of the series honestly doesn't get right, or doesn't even try.
I absolutely get your points with the brume tower. Another honorable mention whilst not being part of Soulsborne would be Lies of P's Arche Abbey.
Arche Abbey was amazing for me
I would like to give an honourable mention to Upper Latria from Demon's Souls. It's already a great level for its Lovecraftian theme and setting, narrow paths, and disturbing enemies. But you're greatest enemy in that level is gravity itself as you run the risk of fallen off or being knocked over the edge, and you have to climb some tall towers to progress and ultimately confront the Maneaters
sometimes I forget how much I love sen's fortress, its honestly probably my favorite level from the series
Only with a great club...
Even tho Eleuom Loyce is my favorite part of DS2 Brume Tower is still such a peak.
Also I love the youtuber thing where you talk about sounding different but you sound same as always
Blightown was so easy i went through the back exit and front, it was fun challenging and a thrill to navigate
Cant believe high wall of lothric made the cut but haligtree didn't 😮
Do top ten soulsborne traps! (Either environmental threats like bloodbornes swinging logs, or enemy traps like the giant spider monster in that one empty room in cathedral of the deep, or the twin sullivan beasts in the sewer)
My new favourite place to watch Souls related content. ✌️
I can't believe you have under 30k subs.
The quality of the videos you produce is outstanding.
I'm not great at parrying, so I have panic rolled the subscribe button 😅.
Been watching your stuff for some time, Billy. Love your content and I'm frankly subbing now of all times purely for realizing at 12:18 that "Feel" is playing in the background.
I like how Billys always uses OG footage for Demon's Souls. When look at it, it's quite remarkable how much was created there.
Putting Sekiro against any other game feels like a legendary Pokémon vs 100 lions argument 😂
It's really not as great as you're making it out to be. Combat and bosses wise, it's amazing, but the exploration, variety, and level design (for the most part) is very lackluster
Sekiro is wayyy better than Elden Snooze 😂😂
@@votch2798 Least glazing sekiro fan:
Honestly I’m so glad to see Brume Tower on the top of this list. IMO it’s a strong contender for best level in the entire series, it really just feels like souls at its peak
Earthen Peak and Haligtree are easily my all time fav vertical levels
Earthen Peak is super underrated. I don’t usually like the poison levels all that much but something about climbing up this big ass dilapidated windmill resonates so well with me lol
Haligtree kicks ass too I’m surprised it didnt make the list
I would have liked to include St Trina area as well. That area has quite a fair bit of verticality and has been laid out exceptionally well. Mildly punishing but could have benefited from a little more length and enemies variety but overall as a thematic area to St Trina it is really good.
Brume tower has some horrid sections with that curse tower and trying to kill the giant ganks with the shitass-pathing barrel enemies is very irritating. But I do agree it has a very good layout.
You can cheese the whole area using fire, the barrel enemies, the traps or the attacks of the enemies that do fire damage so you can make them kill themselves while you dodge the explosion.
@Ex-memegodita I would prefer ganks without a herding gimmick. I do like the traps, though.
@@Downsquad ds2 and especially the DLCs loved to put traps and cool ways to kill the enemies, personally I really liked them.
Kudos for a very unique and interesting top 10
I love the Catacombs and Blighttown
I love that you know kingsfield! It was my first fromsoftware game, way back on the PS1.
Good job on the vids! I've got no notes and am leaving a comment to try and farm the algo for you. Good luck!
realizing that demon souls swamp area, the first grand archives, and the carrion study hall didn't even make the list, i'm actually surprised there are so many vertical levels in these games.
I'm someone who's cynical and critical on DS3 levels on the whole but the Grand Archives (and endgame Lothric Castle overall) will always remain one of my exceptions
I feel like it stands on its own pretty well, and I enjoy just about every enemy scenario
I instantly thought ‚Brume Tower‘ when reading the title of the video :D this is THE vertical level in Souls games for me.
Also, shoutout to Elphael and the gutter which didn’t make the list:)
The Gutter honestly was so close to making the list :
Such a unique idea! I like it
Brume tower is literal peak
Yes
Already working in EoW dungeon music, very nice.
1 colossal weapon, 1 great shield, divine beast head and sword of damnation. Jesus equip load.
Me when I see a Soulsborne ranking not by Billy S: Don't care. Not a Billy S ranking.
Also me when I watch a Billy S ranking: I disagree with 60% of this man's opinions but I also appreciate his reasonings.
At the end of the day, it's no fun if everyone agrees xD
I don't know why old souls players are so reluctant to appreciate anything Elden ring related. The Haligtree and Shadow Keep are easily top 5 or top 10 dungeons in the series, but the recency "anti-bias" keeps people from recognizing that.
This is a great list overall, but Haligtree definitely deserves a mention, and Shadow keep should be way higher
It's more like "ranking vertical levels from worst to Brume Tower"
I thought it was going to be Shulva Sunken City lmao it's an amazing place
I think the only issue there is until you get into the Sanctum itself it doesn't really use verticality. and Cave of the Dead is its own location and that area is a terrible place if you plan on bringing the summons which I heavily recommend you do, they aren't great but they take the heat off you so you can actually focus on each boss individually. my favorite part of Shulva though is the path down to Elana namely cause you get to fight the Drakeblood Knights which I think are great enemies.
Fck yea man, Brume Tower owns so hard.
I’m surprised Ranni’s tower didn’t make it on here. Not my favorite area and it’s pretty small comparatively but the concept of flipping the vertical level upside down is so cool to me
does anyone else not notice the echo?
He literally Acknowledged it in the beginning of the video
@@Intergalactic420the use of "anyone not" means that he didn't hear an echo. I didn't hear one either
@@hollow8586 oh you’re right. lol. I certainly misread it.
I didn't.
No Haligtree is a sin
Where is Shulva
why don't you use the Demon souls remake in your videos?
I always like to use my own footage where possible & I don't own a PS5 (We recently began renting an apartment so we don't have the money to spend on a 500 euro console atm). And honestly, I just like the art direction of the original Demon's Souls - It's so similar to Dark Souls that it makes me feel at home ^^
Sekiro is NOT a soulsborne game.
Nope Sekiro has the DNA of an action adventure game. It is not an action RPG...
@@nayyarrashid4661 just so
Honestly, hard to focus with all the echo
Think we’ve reached the point where you stretched the souls rankings a bit too thin man
Blasphemy!!!
???
This is a certified L opinion
First lets gooo
Brune tower is dogshit compared to the research hall lmfao
Hell no
It’s very well designed, but unfortunately got put into Dark Souls 2; the game that thinks more enemies is the best way to create challenge. Not to mention that the platforming is terrible in DS2. If the game had a dedicated jump button and was a bit faster like Elden Ring, then I think people would appreciate the level a lot more.
Nice to see the Funhouse so far up the list.
I remember being utterly confused about its layout the first time through but after a couple deaths and repeats it turns out it's actually pretty straight forward. Sen's is a fantastic transition between the early game and the final hurdle before the second half. A worthy ascent to the city of gods. Especially seeing that humongous iron mass looming over the area as you make your way to the fog gate.