The wonderful thing about Bloodborne is that, the entirely of the game,through monster designs and story, is all a tribute to the horror genre in general. We have werewolfs, vampires, mad scienties, lovecraftian horrors, haunting places, body horror, medical horror, psychological horror, surreal horror, religious horror and even slasher horror. Even the butcher set invoques this imagenary as its an obvious homenage towards Leatherface from "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre". Even the first part of the game, with the sunset sun giving you not a comfortable feeling like most horror stories, but a very eerie one, just like in the Chainsaw Massacre original movie. And even Japanese Horror through references and homages of the works of Junji Ito and the manga Berserk from Kentaro Miura. More amanzangly, it manages to combine all of these horror aspects in a very organic way without feeling disjointed or gimmicky. The title Bloodborne invoques horror imagenery because of the blood title in it, after all, what unites almost all of the horror genre is blood, either directly or otherwise. The game by on itself is an enourmous, spine chilling, lovely crafted, tribute to the horror genre.
@LokiRudder I think he's referring to the fact that he's impressed that Bloodborne's usage of horror is both broad, nearly all-encompassing, and yet not intrusive. Which I agree. Bloodborne made vampires and werewolves genuinely horrifying and terrifying once more.
That was really well done and I enjoyed it a lot! On the other hand, I think you fail to mention that a large majority of blood borne centers around the unseen- even after the blood moon descends, a large amount of the forces in the game remain unseen. Mainly, the main god Oedeon, the one possibly pulling all the strings. As well, Mergo’s wet nurse and mergo herself are relatively unseen- mergo’s wet nurse being nothing but cloth, symbolizing the unseen. I think the unseen in blood borne creates suspense and drives the plot but I also think it developed a theme in line with the work of lovecraft that human experience is limited. Even after the amgdalyas are revealed, the fabric of the world and how it works is still mysterious. I think that this whole idea could be developed in another video, as the dichotomy of the seen vs unseen in this game is really interesting. Another thing: eyes in this game can also represent a symbol of futility, as the people of byrgenwyrth took “lining your brain with eyes” much too literally. The symbol of eyes shows the futility of man to try to understand the universe, as man will never fully understand. But anyway, your video was fantastic! Stuff like this is why I’m subscribed to the channel and why I love bloodborne as a a game.
I think it's also interesting that the blood-drunk hunter's eye has a collapsed pupil, and is useless. They can no longer make discoveries because they've reverted to their bestial natures
SicParvisMagna yeah I know right,but such a beautiful and well rounded discussion on the feel you get from playing made think just how much I was in awe of the environments and the real horror I felt at the beginning after I have gotten used to taken out the more beastly town folk and for the first time had a great deal of blood echoes I come across a figure dressed in black with their back turned I said to my self easy prey and did a stealth attack,but then I saw and heard that this was no beast but another hunter like me and then I realised that I was indeed becoming a beast, and the feeling of regret as I spent my time trying to find redemption and just trying to make since of all the madness around me throughout the rest of the game for me Bloodborne was Gothic horror at it's finest.
Both of your Bloodborne videos are just amazing. I really love how you approached this idea of provoking the mysteries through scientific observation by comparing it to "the spirit of Byrgenwerth". It would have been amazing if you explored how these themes show in the DLC, specially through the experiments in Research Hall and the violation of the Fishing Hamlet, and the hunting of Kos, in search for eyes. Nevertheless, your work is amazing and inspiring.
These videos are brilliant! I am a firm believer in video games as a literary medium, and your videos do a fantastic job of conveying that point. Keep up the great work!
this is so lovely!!! i loved your other bloodborne video and i was so happy to see you elaborate on this game! bloodborne will always be among my favourite games and i love hearing these types of insights into the game! thank you for this wonderful video!
A very good addon for your first video. As always, it was a pleasure to listen to you talking about Bloodborne. The fact you illustrated correctly and simplicity the gothic horror in the first part reveals the rest of the video following a very simple logic, which I think, add so much to your video. 10/10.
I adored your previous Bloodborne video. It was simply excellent. And this was very good too! I loved that you mixed 2 of my favorite things in this world: Final Fantasy music and Bloodborne analysis.
Haven't posted but still working my ass off on the next video. New video's in the production phase-early in the production phase-but it will be out in the next several weeks. :)
Bro Ive missed you. Bloodborne is one of my favorite games and ive been thirsting for new essays about it. Thank you! You gave me some great story ideas as well.
Dude, I know it's only been, like, 3 days, but I'm so glad you're back to some extent... I'm going to watch a bunch of your old stuff to hold me over 😄
It really is amazing how much you can get by reading into this game, even almost four years after it's been out. This truly is From Software's magnum opus.
Searched up Bloodborne, saw the letters OTH next to a unusual thumbnail, thought u changed thumbnails on your last Bloodborne video and was puzzled, realized it wasn't and got really excited for a new video. After watching your lasts Bloodborne video a while back I went and watch all of your videos and they've all been extremely....well I'm not sure what word to use to describe that but it's really great, keep up the good work
Dude! I never thought you'd make another video on Soulsborne because your previous two were just so well articulated! I think you're honestly one of my favourite analysts of story, etc in games. Subbed ever since your first Bloodborne video!
Yes! I remember watching you stream to gather footage a few months ago, and I wondered if you’d forgotten about it. Great video! I’m glad your back man. :)
Dude, I've been watching your videos over and over again, I've recommended them to teachers and professors. Still I am sitting in front of this, with my jaws wide open. Thank you for sharing your thoughts
I know that I have arrived late to the party... But I just saw this video for the first time after watching again after a long long time your video about the mythos and... Awesome. You did an amazing job, I love to see this passion and love for a game that I have close to my heart. To conclude, I wanted to compliment you for your work, I know it is not much but i hope it'll put a smile on your face (:
Damn! Thought this channel had been abandoned. What a nice surprise to see signs of life on it finally again :) Guess we're gonna see an another vid some day in 2019 then....
Hmm... I kinda feel you're overlooking a very important detail in this video: "Weird fiction", Lovecraft's genre, was created as a response to and literary argument opposing the gothic genre: While gothic horror focuses on making things we're already familiar with and/or already understand scary (humans coming back from the dead as animated corpses or ghosts, wild and dangerous animals, blood and gore, etc,) weird horror instead focuses upon instilling fear by confronting us with not only something we're unfamiliar with, but things we _cannot_ understand. Weird horror was founded by people whose response to gothic horror's "the world becomes scarier the more about it we come to understand" was the argument "the world is scary because there are things out there that we will _never_ be able to understand." And Miyazaki, the mad lad, took these two fundamentally opposed and, in fact, incompatible genres and flawlessly merged them together in a way that (unto my knowledge) no-one has been able to do before.
Interestingly, 'eyes' in Japanese (in Bloodborne) is often written as '瞳', which refers not to the whole eye but specifically the pupil, and generally the pupil and iris. Maybe this is to emphasise, as you say, that it's not eyes per se that are important, but what we see is. As the pupil, as we know, is what receives visual information.
I’m so fucking glad you’ve uploaded, I loved the first part so much. I really want to learn more about gothic horror now, need to pick up a book or two now.
2:25 I didn't know Ciarán Hinds was in a Jane Eyre adaption. Cool. Also great video Sole, second I've seen of yours and I think you've more than earned a sub.
Dude this is so intelligent. I think you should write a book on bloodborne about these topics in academic spaces like NYU that study narrative development in gaming. You’re a very intelligent person for making this.
Man, had I known you were planning on making another Bb video I would have told you about the huuuuuge catalogue of video footage I've got on my channel.
Oh how I love this new turn, you explain the fundamentals so very well from the gothic to the lovecraftian. And while I would have liked to hear more on what this beast within us mean, I think you give just enough for us to poke and prod at ourselves. Your examples of scientific discovery and basic empiricism in the game were excellent. Feel proud of yourself!
Actually, Gothic horror - or perhaps Gothic literature at the very least - predates the Romantic movement at least by a couple of decades, even though dates for movements are never totally concrete (although 1770-1850 are typical estimates). For comparison, Blake wrote The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole (published in 1764). It set up several of the tropes that became common in the genre. That isn't to say Gothic literature didn't influence English Romanticism. In fact, I believe that if it weren't for Gothic literature, the Romantic movement wouldn't have been created in the way that it was. While it was a reaction against the Enlightenment Movement, I believe Gothic horror also had an impact on Romanticism. Look at writers like Shelley and Byron and Blake. Hell, even Keats and Coleridge had many darker sentiments in their writings. Wordsworth and Blake - among others - were writing by the 1790's. Perhaps the most notable work within the Romantic movement is Wordsworth's and Coleridge's Lyrical Ballads. The preface of which has become very influential to how the commonality of poetry can be perceived. Regardless, There were no doubt writers within the Gothic genre writing from the time the Romantics were at their most prominent. The two are intertwined at various points. Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is one such novel in the Gothic vein that also doubles as a distinctly Romantic volume (and by some accounts may also be considered a prototype of science fiction literature). Nevertheless, the Romantic movements encompassed more than just literature. When it did, it focused on more than just the emotions, but on martyrdom and the imagination to name a few motifs. The oft-gloomy nature of Romanticism I owe to Gothic literature itself. Indeed, I'd also say both genres of literature developed and bounced off of each other as much as they intersected. While Gothic horror has had several resurgences (and not just within the 19th century as it fell in and out of favour, but also in the 20th century and so on), we really haven't seen the same amount of popularity regarding Romanticism. Of course the Romantic movement has gained more traction in academia over the last 100+ years, I don't think it's always had the same thriving mainstream popularity that Gothic literature, and by proxy Gothic horror, has enjoyed. Even so, it was still more or less influential in the later years of the Victorian era, even if its influence was a rejection of its sentimentalism (influence is still influence, however it is handled -- just like the Romantics' rejection of the Enlightenment era of total science and logic and reason and technology was itself a profound influence on the shaping of the movement as a whole). It's a shame, really. Both genres are infinitely fascinating. Nevertheless, the Gothic is still alive in well, all the way through to the 21st century, in spite of its various rises and falls in popularity. It was only a matter of time before video games would explore the Gothic in and of itself, just like film came to do before it. If you want my opinion, Castlevania was perhaps one of the first franchises to successfully do this. I'd even go on to say that From Software's Dark Souls and Demon's Souls delves into the Gothic more or less, and this was before Bloodborne was released. The staying power of the genre is prevalent and I don't really see it going away any time soon.
I probably would have begun with Charles Brockden Brown's work in your description, since the English, French, and American romantics adored Brown's novels from the 1790s. Brown's gothic literature seems more terrifying and mature in the literary sense. Victims in his novels experience severe episodes of mental illness, shocking suicides, the impulse to murder one's loved ones, and grotesque torments from cult activities. Brown also wrote a story about a horrific epidemic, which isn't so unlike a later work by Mary Shelley, The Last Man (1826).
To add / rebut - Blake is considered a proto-Romantic writer despite the time in which he wrote. Perhaps not the best example to cite if you are arguing that the gothic predates the Romantic. :)
Im learning Gothic Horror in university and it is impressive! Gothic Romance is a counter culture to ideas that humans are center of the world instead of God.
These two bloodborne videos really make me wish you had used it as your example of ludonarrative harmony in your most recent video (I watched that one first, but the connection would have been perfect)
Mary Shelly wrote Frankenstein as a challenge in the friendgroup she was in. The story goes that she, her husband and a few of their friends were at some mountainside lake house and one evening they decided to have a scary story challenge the next night. They went to sleep and Mary had the dream of the story and told the next night. It was so creepy, so eerie, that she was declared the winner of the contest.
8:10 Okay, this is somewhat true when offline. But when online, there is always a message that tells you to jump, usually with a high score. So you are, in a sense, prompted to jump by an outside force
When I jumped into the lake, I did it not because I understood the clues, but because someone literally left a note saying “Take a step forward” and I had already killed the church hunter so I knew I was in no real danger of losing Bloodechos.
The wonderful thing about Bloodborne is that, the entirely of the game,through monster designs and story, is all a tribute to the horror genre in general.
We have werewolfs, vampires, mad scienties, lovecraftian horrors, haunting places, body horror, medical horror, psychological horror, surreal horror, religious horror and even slasher horror. Even the butcher set invoques this imagenary as its an obvious homenage towards Leatherface from "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre". Even the first part of the game, with the sunset sun giving you not a comfortable feeling like most horror stories, but a very eerie one, just like in the Chainsaw Massacre original movie. And even Japanese Horror through references and homages of the works of Junji Ito and the manga Berserk from Kentaro Miura.
More amanzangly, it manages to combine all of these horror aspects in a very organic way without feeling disjointed or gimmicky. The title Bloodborne invoques horror imagenery because of the blood title in it, after all, what unites almost all of the horror genre is blood, either directly or otherwise. The game by on itself is an enourmous, spine chilling, lovely crafted, tribute to the horror genre.
Same
@LokiRudder I think he's referring to the fact that he's impressed that Bloodborne's usage of horror is both broad, nearly all-encompassing, and yet not intrusive.
Which I agree. Bloodborne made vampires and werewolves genuinely horrifying and terrifying once more.
You just became a friend of mine.
There's one more type: "water horror" or whatever the fishing hamlet's gothic elements specifically fit into.
@@BellBOYd128 probably still lovcraftian, what with the shadow at innsmouth and all that jazz
Grant us eyes, grant us eyes, SolePorpoise and cleanse us of our beastly idiocy!
ITS ALIIIIIIIIIIVE
Big Krit
I saw...that furry image you snuck in.
GoatJesus NEW VIDEO POGGERS
Where?
Umm, asking for research purposes of course.
3:46
th-cam.com/video/VKcAYMb5uk4/w-d-xo.html
it's in there for almost 20 frames. pretty hard to miss. should've put it in for 1 or 2 frames.
That was really well done and I enjoyed it a lot! On the other hand, I think you fail to mention that a large majority of blood borne centers around the unseen- even after the blood moon descends, a large amount of the forces in the game remain unseen. Mainly, the main god Oedeon, the one possibly pulling all the strings. As well, Mergo’s wet nurse and mergo herself are relatively unseen- mergo’s wet nurse being nothing but cloth, symbolizing the unseen. I think the unseen in blood borne creates suspense and drives the plot but I also think it developed a theme in line with the work of lovecraft that human experience is limited. Even after the amgdalyas are revealed, the fabric of the world and how it works is still mysterious. I think that this whole idea could be developed in another video, as the dichotomy of the seen vs unseen in this game is really interesting. Another thing: eyes in this game can also represent a symbol of futility, as the people of byrgenwyrth took “lining your brain with eyes” much too literally. The symbol of eyes shows the futility of man to try to understand the universe, as man will never fully understand. But anyway, your video was fantastic! Stuff like this is why I’m subscribed to the channel and why I love bloodborne as a a game.
Oh my god what a fantastic analysis. Beautifully done, and I look forward to more!
I think it's also interesting that the blood-drunk hunter's eye has a collapsed pupil, and is useless. They can no longer make discoveries because they've reverted to their bestial natures
That piano version of City Ruins - Ray's of Light from NIeR Automata OST fits perfectly :) Great video dude, I was missing a good bloodborne video!!!
Bloodborne and Nier: Automata... Two of the most important games of all time.
yeah the OST for that game is amazing
ahhh nice, i was thinking what it is but i couldnt figure until i read your line! now i remember :D
Man I got so emotional when that song came on I couldn't even concentrate on the vid anymore
I thought I couldn’t be convinced this game was any better...
I love your content!
SicParvisMagna yeah I know right,but such a beautiful and well rounded discussion on the feel you get from playing made think just how much I was in awe of the environments and the real horror I felt at the beginning after I have gotten used to taken out the more beastly town folk and for the first time had a great deal of blood echoes I come across a figure dressed in black with their back turned I said to my self easy prey and did a stealth attack,but then I saw and heard that this was no beast but another hunter like me and then I realised that I was indeed becoming a beast, and the feeling of regret as I spent my time trying to find redemption and just trying to make since of all the madness around me throughout the rest of the game for me Bloodborne was Gothic horror at it's finest.
Greatness from small begginings
Both of your Bloodborne videos are just amazing. I really love how you approached this idea of provoking the mysteries through scientific observation by comparing it to "the spirit of Byrgenwerth". It would have been amazing if you explored how these themes show in the DLC, specially through the experiments in Research Hall and the violation of the Fishing Hamlet, and the hunting of Kos, in search for eyes. Nevertheless, your work is amazing and inspiring.
These videos are brilliant! I am a firm believer in video games as a literary medium, and your videos do a fantastic job of conveying that point. Keep up the great work!
this is so lovely!!! i loved your other bloodborne video and i was so happy to see you elaborate on this game! bloodborne will always be among my favourite games and i love hearing these types of insights into the game! thank you for this wonderful video!
A very good addon for your first video. As always, it was a pleasure to listen to you talking about Bloodborne. The fact you illustrated correctly and simplicity the gothic horror in the first part reveals the rest of the video following a very simple logic, which I think, add so much to your video. 10/10.
A surprise to be sure, but a welcome one :D
Hello there
General kenobi
I adored your previous Bloodborne video. It was simply excellent. And this was very good too! I loved that you mixed 2 of my favorite things in this world: Final Fantasy music and Bloodborne analysis.
3:46 had me in stitches
Also one of the influences of the Gothic genre were the medieval ruins. As they presented an eerie mysterious allure to them.
*gasp*
Welcome back.
Thank you! And thank you for your patience!
That Nier Automata soundtrack!
I'm so sad just found this dude today and he hasnt posted in a year :,(
Haven't posted but still working my ass off on the next video. New video's in the production phase-early in the production phase-but it will be out in the next several weeks. :)
@@SolePorpoise Heh, several weeks.
Oh well, I'm subbed now and eagerly waiting :)
Same just found this channel and Im already waiting for the new stuff
SolePorpoise the return of the king is nigh
@@SolePorpoise just saw this 8 months later lol I cant wait to see what masterpiece you create this time
Bro Ive missed you. Bloodborne is one of my favorite games and ive been thirsting for new essays about it. Thank you! You gave me some great story ideas as well.
Dude, I know it's only been, like, 3 days, but I'm so glad you're back to some extent... I'm going to watch a bunch of your old stuff to hold me over 😄
Seven. Months. Mother of God.
Also haven’t watched the video yet, but I’m sure it’ll be great. Cause you’re great!
EDIT: Yeah, it was great
Another fantastic video man! also, welcome back :P
IVE BEEN WAITING SO LONG FOR ANOTHER ONE OF THESE! WOOO!
It really is amazing how much you can get by reading into this game, even almost four years after it's been out. This truly is From Software's magnum opus.
WHY YOU GOTTA DROP A BIG TIDDY FURSUIT ON ME LIKE THAT
I was so unprepared
The true horror.
I think everyone was unprepared for that eldritch abomination.
Weak.
Searched up Bloodborne, saw the letters OTH next to a unusual thumbnail, thought u changed thumbnails on your last Bloodborne video and was puzzled, realized it wasn't and got really excited for a new video. After watching your lasts Bloodborne video a while back I went and watch all of your videos and they've all been extremely....well I'm not sure what word to use to describe that but it's really great, keep up the good work
Dude! I never thought you'd make another video on Soulsborne because your previous two were just so well articulated! I think you're honestly one of my favourite analysts of story, etc in games. Subbed ever since your first Bloodborne video!
What a beautiful breakdown. Love this!!
Yes! I remember watching you stream to gather footage a few months ago, and I wondered if you’d forgotten about it. Great video! I’m glad your back man. :)
Dude, I've been watching your videos over and over again, I've recommended them to teachers and professors.
Still I am sitting in front of this, with my jaws wide open. Thank you for sharing your thoughts
Was just dreaming of another video from you on this subject two days ago
Always nice to see a video by you
This video, and all the other on the channel, is pretty great. I hope you can grow in numbers fast, so that more and more people can enjoy your work.
I know that I have arrived late to the party... But I just saw this video for the first time after watching again after a long long time your video about the mythos and... Awesome. You did an amazing job, I love to see this passion and love for a game that I have close to my heart. To conclude, I wanted to compliment you for your work, I know it is not much but i hope it'll put a smile on your face (:
Yeah, wow, that pulled together a lot of errant strands of things I noticed in the game into a beautiful reading. Well done!
Damn! Thought this channel had been abandoned. What a nice surprise to see signs of life on it finally again :) Guess we're gonna see an another vid some day in 2019 then....
It is so great to see you here again. I was really enjoying your Twitch streams when you were doing FF12.
WOW. This was absolutely brilliant… So inspirational! I will definitely be coming back to this video a bunch of times in the future…
Man I've been looking forward to your videos 😍 Awesome video as usual !
Hmm... I kinda feel you're overlooking a very important detail in this video: "Weird fiction", Lovecraft's genre, was created as a response to and literary argument opposing the gothic genre: While gothic horror focuses on making things we're already familiar with and/or already understand scary (humans coming back from the dead as animated corpses or ghosts, wild and dangerous animals, blood and gore, etc,) weird horror instead focuses upon instilling fear by confronting us with not only something we're unfamiliar with, but things we _cannot_ understand. Weird horror was founded by people whose response to gothic horror's "the world becomes scarier the more about it we come to understand" was the argument "the world is scary because there are things out there that we will _never_ be able to understand." And Miyazaki, the mad lad, took these two fundamentally opposed and, in fact, incompatible genres and flawlessly merged them together in a way that (unto my knowledge) no-one has been able to do before.
Oh shit I've missed you. I still go back and watch your video on Dark Souls and Bloodborne analysis from time to time because they're so entertaining.
These videos are incredible. Making me fall in love with bloodborne all over again. Thank you!
Interestingly, 'eyes' in Japanese (in Bloodborne) is often written as '瞳', which refers not to the whole eye but specifically the pupil, and generally the pupil and iris.
Maybe this is to emphasise, as you say, that it's not eyes per se that are important, but what we see is. As the pupil, as we know, is what receives visual information.
I’m so fucking glad you’ve uploaded, I loved the first part so much. I really want to learn more about gothic horror now, need to pick up a book or two now.
2:25 I didn't know Ciarán Hinds was in a Jane Eyre adaption. Cool.
Also great video Sole, second I've seen of yours and I think you've more than earned a sub.
Out-fucking-standing. One of the best videos on gameplay as narrative I've ever seen.
The fact that you added the piano version of city ruins from nier automata makes me happy because that game had a really good ost
Ay, welcome back man :)
Yay so glad you're back :)
Glad to be back! Sorry for the delay! :D
MMMM GIMME THAT GOOD BLOODBORNE STUFF MANG
Love your OTH videos, please keep making them
This vid is the last thing I expected tonight, but also exactly what I needed.
Excuses are for laziness. Reasons are for time management. Thanks for the video!
Damn... this was an excellent video that really made me rethink my opinion of the video game and myself as a person when i tried to play it.
If anyone is wondering what the piano is at 6:30 it's from Nier automata. You can find wonderful piano playlists from that game on youtube.
Dude this is so intelligent. I think you should write a book on bloodborne about these topics in academic spaces like NYU that study narrative development in gaming. You’re a very intelligent person for making this.
I got an ad for Acuve contact lenses in the middle of this that started with "SEE ALL"
I see you doing great things. nice job once again
Love the video and music selection!
Aww shit the Porpoise is alive!
This is really going to help me with my break into Lovecraftian horror. Thank you.👍🏾
That Barkerville theme drop at 1:42
oh man that automata cover was out of no where, god i love the ost from that game
I'm glad you're doing another video on bloodborne.
Heyyyy welcome back :)
you finally did it man, a new bloodborne video!
Nice to have you back.
Another great video, and nice taste in music.
Man, had I known you were planning on making another Bb video I would have told you about the huuuuuge catalogue of video footage I've got on my channel.
Excellent work, as always.
I have just discovered your content and it's wonderful
Shout out to TPR's Final Fantasy VI remix music in the background!
Oh how I love this new turn, you explain the fundamentals so very well from the gothic to the lovecraftian.
And while I would have liked to hear more on what this beast within us mean, I think you give just enough for us to poke and prod at ourselves. Your examples of scientific discovery and basic empiricism in the game were excellent.
Feel proud of yourself!
Actually, Gothic horror - or perhaps Gothic literature at the very least - predates the Romantic movement at least by a couple of decades, even though dates for movements are never totally concrete (although 1770-1850 are typical estimates). For comparison, Blake wrote The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole (published in 1764). It set up several of the tropes that became common in the genre. That isn't to say Gothic literature didn't influence English Romanticism. In fact, I believe that if it weren't for Gothic literature, the Romantic movement wouldn't have been created in the way that it was. While it was a reaction against the Enlightenment Movement, I believe Gothic horror also had an impact on Romanticism. Look at writers like Shelley and Byron and Blake. Hell, even Keats and Coleridge had many darker sentiments in their writings. Wordsworth and Blake - among others - were writing by the 1790's. Perhaps the most notable work within the Romantic movement is Wordsworth's and Coleridge's Lyrical Ballads. The preface of which has become very influential to how the commonality of poetry can be perceived. Regardless, There were no doubt writers within the Gothic genre writing from the time the Romantics were at their most prominent. The two are intertwined at various points. Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is one such novel in the Gothic vein that also doubles as a distinctly Romantic volume (and by some accounts may also be considered a prototype of science fiction literature). Nevertheless, the Romantic movements encompassed more than just literature.
When it did, it focused on more than just the emotions, but on martyrdom and the imagination to name a few motifs. The oft-gloomy nature of Romanticism I owe to Gothic literature itself. Indeed, I'd also say both genres of literature developed and bounced off of each other as much as they intersected. While Gothic horror has had several resurgences (and not just within the 19th century as it fell in and out of favour, but also in the 20th century and so on), we really haven't seen the same amount of popularity regarding Romanticism. Of course the Romantic movement has gained more traction in academia over the last 100+ years, I don't think it's always had the same thriving mainstream popularity that Gothic literature, and by proxy Gothic horror, has enjoyed. Even so, it was still more or less influential in the later years of the Victorian era, even if its influence was a rejection of its sentimentalism (influence is still influence, however it is handled -- just like the Romantics' rejection of the Enlightenment era of total science and logic and reason and technology was itself a profound influence on the shaping of the movement as a whole). It's a shame, really. Both genres are infinitely fascinating.
Nevertheless, the Gothic is still alive in well, all the way through to the 21st century, in spite of its various rises and falls in popularity. It was only a matter of time before video games would explore the Gothic in and of itself, just like film came to do before it. If you want my opinion, Castlevania was perhaps one of the first franchises to successfully do this. I'd even go on to say that From Software's Dark Souls and Demon's Souls delves into the Gothic more or less, and this was before Bloodborne was released. The staying power of the genre is prevalent and I don't really see it going away any time soon.
I probably would have begun with Charles Brockden Brown's work in your description, since the English, French, and American romantics adored Brown's novels from the 1790s. Brown's gothic literature seems more terrifying and mature in the literary sense. Victims in his novels experience severe episodes of mental illness, shocking suicides, the impulse to murder one's loved ones, and grotesque torments from cult activities. Brown also wrote a story about a horrific epidemic, which isn't so unlike a later work by Mary Shelley, The Last Man (1826).
To add / rebut - Blake is considered a proto-Romantic writer despite the time in which he wrote. Perhaps not the best example to cite if you are arguing that the gothic predates the Romantic. :)
6:33
Wait, they were jars filled with eyes?
I thought they were cakes this whole time.
@ 5:34 NieR Automata memories come flooding back
Im learning Gothic Horror in university and it is impressive! Gothic Romance is a counter culture to ideas that humans are center of the world instead of God.
Excellent work as always!
These two bloodborne videos really make me wish you had used it as your example of ludonarrative harmony in your most recent video (I watched that one first, but the connection would have been perfect)
I am waiting until I finish Bloodborne to watch this vid. So excited.
Love your videos, keep the good work.
Great video. Also loved the music choices, haha. Thumbs up for Nier Automata and FF IV, I know those soundtracks anywhere.
👊 *This was AWESOME. Best analysis of **#BloodBourne** on TH-cam.*
I don't know what I'm more excited about - that there's a new OTH or that it's another episode on the greatest game of all time?
I hear City Ruins, I subscribe.
‘Nough said
3:46 okay, you got me there XD
Nice vid, good to see you in my sub feed again!
Glad to see you back.
"blurs the line between man and beast"
Me who's only half watching "wanna run that by me again chief?"
Mary Shelly wrote Frankenstein as a challenge in the friendgroup she was in. The story goes that she, her husband and a few of their friends were at some mountainside lake house and one evening they decided to have a scary story challenge the next night. They went to sleep and Mary had the dream of the story and told the next night. It was so creepy, so eerie, that she was declared the winner of the contest.
Insight... IN SIGHT... eyes on the inside
8:10 Okay, this is somewhat true when offline. But when online, there is always a message that tells you to jump, usually with a high score. So you are, in a sense, prompted to jump by an outside force
Dude step up your upload up to unleast a video per quarter
I'd rather sheer quality over watered down quantity. Let the man take his time to produce amazing works like this!
Dave Rennick there are plenty of content creators who post better, longer content than this on a weekly basis
RIP Souls Porpoise, Good Night Sweet Prince
This is terrific, make more videos!
OH MY GOD I WAITED THIS FOR SO LONG LOVE THIS CHANNEL SEND HELP
When I jumped into the lake, I did it not because I understood the clues, but because someone literally left a note saying “Take a step forward” and I had already killed the church hunter so I knew I was in no real danger of losing Bloodechos.
Plus a billion points for all the Final Fantasy piano music.