FromSoftware's Weirdest Game - Shadow Tower Abyss

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Shadow Tower Abyss is a spin-off of Fromsoftware's King's Field series. This is one of FromSoftware's most niche games, but does it deserve to be played by more people? And are there things here that showed up in the Souls series later?
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TIMESTAMPS
0:00 intro
0:54 background/context
2:11 story/first moments
3:30 dark souls 2...?
4:10 armor/stats
4:56 COMBAT
6:48 journey to the tower
7:29 progression/exploration
8:04 creature design & insect zone
8:37 scarce resources & shops
9:21 poison zone
9:53 gray cavern/first boss
11:00 chill elevator beats to relax/study to
11:06 parasites, tentacles, and patches
12:02 water zone & item burden
13:11 cliff zone & sand zone
14:02 last 3 zones, this is now an FPS
15:03 misc. thoughts/observations
16:04 ending section
16:42 final thoughts
17:13 outro/sponsor
thank you to kevin's computer for the very cool animated intro and knight renders throughout the video: / kevins_computer
thank you to Onua for rendering the SFM pose for use in the thumbnail: / odynom

[@Enragedlime]

I can't believe bloodborne was a sequel all this time

[@bigboi1265]

Does that mean Bloodborne is technically Bloodborne 2?

[@jairovsleon]

@@bigboi1265 no, is the spin-off of the sequel of the spin-off

[@Alan-gu1hp]

@@jairovsleon hmmm 🧐

[@nobodyreally4749]

I can’t believe it still isn’t on ps5 or pc

[@soulreaper1461]

Hum... so now we should ask From for Bloodborne 3? Or should we stick to Bloodborne Kart?

[@alexsheperd2060]

I love how the story is basically that this dude shows up goes “oh no” and murders nearly everything in his path for hours on end then just goes “Welp time to go home”

[@theone-tg4ey]

Lul

[@Mysticfateee]

Literally what it felt like as a kid playing Duke Nukem 3D not having any idea about the series. Dude just lands on a roof and starts murdering everything in his path

[@Spaccaspecchi]

OH, NO! Anyways...

[@bluemas5]

@@theone-tg4ey why is your comment translated to “a hole”?

[@orenges]

i always think of stories like these, they are very underrated. I also love the guns in a fantasy era thing

[@beanieguitarguy4070]

The Virgin “Blighttown” vs. the Chad “Poison Area”

[@EraVulgarity]

Kid named poison area 😮😢

[@caseyclark5174]

Wow the pendant even says it's useless but gives the traveler "fond memories" it's totally a reference to their older games I can't believe we spent all this time theorizing what it did when it was just a cute reference to an old game no one played

[@scarymonsters524]

It still allows you to get max ranked DMB early if you trade it with Snuggly for a Souvenir of Reprisal and then Frampt dupe them.

[@bobdylanlovr69]

and it makes miyazakis response even more funny. "Dammit just play my games yall!"

[@nifftbatuff676]

Souls gamers are truly the last.

[@youwhotubedew8702]

I can imagine Miyazaki having a few beers while browsing the subreddit with all the people theorizing and just laughing his ass off.

[@yehuda8589]

@@bobdylanlovr69 I'm pretty sure Miyazaki didn't even work at fromsoft when Shadow Tower Abyss came out.

[@generalgk]

From probably has several early 2000’s games that nobody has even discovered yet sitting in a warehouse somewhere next to the Ark of the Covenant.

[@inwanthariq5105]

There's armoredcore and tenchu 2000's fromsoftware old game

[@acetrigger1337]

i'll never forget Tenchu Z. we need a remaster... or a sequel.

[@EnthuZee]

@@inwanthariq5105 Ah, yes. Armored core... Only really played "AC" For Answer, which seemed like a mess at first as a young teen who barely knew english at the time. I took one look at the menu for the part upgrade efficiency thingy and just called it quits after the info overload. Went back to it a few years later just to end up on my top 10 list of games ever played. Who knew one could take out a flying fortress with a bunkerbuster fist weapon...

[@Sleepy_Kitsune]

@@inwanthariq5105 holy shit, never realized tenchu was fromsoft, wow fucking LOVED those games

[@hemangchauhan2864]

PS1/PS2/PS3 emulators is there. Use them to try those games.

[@JoCat]

the time travel animation sequence is therapeutic

[@IronPineapple]

hi

[@Dasvolge]

Yo it’s JoCat! This warms my heart to see people I watch watching each other hahah

[@MrHeorhe]

Does jocat like fromsoft games almost as much as he likes girls?

[@jeremytitus9519]

“¡ia!”

[@2013HORSEMEATSCANDAL]

What's the name of the song in it ?

[@invaderatlai3433]

Something interesting to note about from soft and their themes is that Patches also appears (by name, and as far as I remember this is the first time he's named) in Armored Core For Answer, from softwares original flagship series. All these games have reoccurring themes and I love that. Also of note is that Armored Core For Answer was Miyazaki's directorial debut at fromsoft, and it also has the Moonlight energy blade as a weapon in game. He's been on this shit for years. Even more down the rabbit hole, For Answer's composer, Kota Hoshino, is in a band called FreQuency whose members are made up of many of the composers of bloodborne.

[@IAmMadMattDog]

Armored Core has had a Moonlight energy sword in the series since the first one back in 1997

[@Robocopnik]

​@@IAmMadMattDog The Moonlight Greatsword is from Kingsfield.

[@filipecordeiro7109]

@@Robocopnik the moonlight greatsword is originally from kings field but it appears in EVERY fromsoft game since then in some shape or form and that includes every armored core

[@Robocopnik]

@@filipecordeiro7109 No shit.

[@dougrichards5298]

@@Robocopnik then why even make the first comment nonce

[@MainAvel]

I love how this game handles guns. It actually makes fucking *sense* you know? Guns are the reason we no longer go to war wearing armour, because even a bullet from a 15th century muzzle-loader could go right through plate armour and that meant a very bad time. Like oh sure this giant man who can crush a boulder with his hands is running at you... but he's still very much a man and GLOCK is very effective against man.

[@filipecordeiro7109]

true, hell id fight monsters, demons and dragons with an assault rifle and a rocket launcher, modern weapons would be so OP against mystical/fantastic creatures it would make the fantasy setting feel dull

[@Shagaru_Bleed]

@TheFallenRuler If you had said that to RussianBadger I'm pretty sure he'd shit himself to hell and back laughing his ass off.

[@elloo98]

15th century muzzle loader would be things like handgonnes or tiller guns. They could certantly not punch through plate armour as it was invented, at least in part, to stop bullets. Even later when you get in to the 16th century you still see a lot of plate, since it was still efective against swords, pikes and most kinds of gunfire. An arquebus would probably punch through at close range, but not a pistol.

[@lemonadeutube]

@@filipecordeiro7109 Tiny Tinas Wonderland is coming out and it does exactly that

[@filipecordeiro7109]

@@lemonadeutube id hope so, i am thinking about playing it but gonna wait for reviews on that one since i didnt really like borderlands 3

[@theconqueringenigma]

I've heard "rocket launcher" and "from soft" in the same sentence because I grew up on Armored Core.

[@ariesforce1988]

THANK YOU! Why does everyone seem to forget that From Software also made the Armored Core series? Feels like a injustice really. Lol

[@IronPineapple]

you're right, my lack of armored core experience is showing

[@theconqueringenigma]

@@IronPineapple it doesn't really fit your channel's content, but if you get the chance you should definitely play them!

[@ariesforce1988]

@@IronPineapple It's cool. :) But if you do get to play any of them, for you I can honestly suggest Armored Core V (AC5) and/or Armored Core Verdict Day (its sequel). And before you guys kill me in the comments, I'm only suggesting them to Pineapple because I honestly believe he would actually enjoy them for the sheer fact that those entries in the series were basically this question: "What if Dark Souls, but with customizable house-sized mech suits?". I believe From was on to something... ;)

[@ksm_ngr]

Recently, there's also "FromSoft" and "President of the United States wielding rocket launcher"

[@IronPineapple]

⚔ + 🔫 = 👹

[@brosty_Star]

Very accurate

[@Kristian2801]

Fuck the Video the outro w andre was awesome

[@mannyR8]

🥒💦

[@akaicedtea6236]

Maybe clip and share andre's video as a way of encouraging views (awesome video btw. Love your deep dives, and your dumpster dives too.)

[@v15c0un7]

🔨 + 🎥 + 💻 = NICE!!!

[@natesturm448]

Holy shit I remember seeing this a long long time ago. Was living in Cincinnati and a friend I made at school had a birthday party, I was invited, and I remember him pulling this gem out and kicking it on. Why did he have this game? He grew up in Japan. Didn't understand anything because I didn't speak Japanese. He translated for us but we we're just interested in how bonkers this game was. Awesome time, and awesome to see this game brought into light on youtube.

[@enigmatics69]

Based Cincinnati mention

[@caiobruno8006]

I would love to see something among the lines of a gun manufacturer going into a parallel fantasy universe where he's forced to use guns as sparingly as possible due to the lack of resources and has to make due with a mix of fantasy weapons and home-made Fallout-esque guns. What a novel and under-played idea

[@bobwall8021]

I got hit by a bus and now I'm in another world with only my gun maker knowledge! I'd watch that anime. Like everyone is running from a dragon and he just blasts it with a 50 caliber hand gun

[@patricknorris9334]

"The other worlder exploring the dungeon" is exactly that lol.

[@bugsephbunnin4576]

That's seems a lot like Evil Dead 3

[@raaph1027]

​@@bobwall8021ever heard of Arifureta

[@Activated_Complex]

Making him a gun manufacturer would really limit your options of where and when to send him, if you still want, at minimum, black powder revolvers to be a problem for him to produce. Probably to the Stone Age. But that would also dramatically improve his ammunition supply relative to the size and sophistication of any hostile communities of humans.

[@ThePigKnight]

I’m like 70% sure the Shadow Tower is an alien zoo spaceship

[@IronPineapple]

honestly that makes the most sense

[@nikitas1841]

Nice theory. Wish there was more lore in the game to be able to say for sure one way or the other. The worldbuilding in this game is just so barebones (talking about world as a whole, because individual locations are very well developed).

[@LTCloud9]

And the player character is an interstellar PETA member freeing the captives.

[@owenreece1754]

shadow tower has nothing to do with space and spaceships originally. First game is super dark fantasy horror without any futuristic elements

[@seraphcreed840]

@@LTCloud9 underrated comment. Nice

[@jerama]

I legitimately love the premise of this game. "Descend into this fantasy dungeon, slay the dark beasts and demons as best you can. If your blade cannot find purchase in the monsters' hides, here have *this glock* " I also love the honesty of "Poison area" ticking the Souls trope

[@procow2274]

The armored core series also likes purple poison/acid

[@Orinslayer]

This area is too polluted with Kojima particles. You won't be able to use your primal armor. Fuuuuuuuuuu-

[@lukeskywalker987]

That tone gives me a "Darkest Dungeon" vibe. Although it's kind of inverted, as DD focuses on Lovecraftian monsters from modern horror during the 14th/15th century.

[@cosmic2750]

So that's where Isshin got his glock from...

[@alexmorrison3442]

So anyways, I started blasting.

[@samfletcher8338]

me : I really should study also me : this obscure from software game that ive never heard of and will never play looks pretty neat

[@Jackson-en2qx]

me in this exact moment

[@laius6047]

Curiousity is dumb as fuck. That's why we're here

[@felipemoreira8308]

same here, comrade lol

[@AkashWShah]

I love how FromSoft has been doing nearly the same thing for twenty years, just iterating the games very slightly with each release, getting closer and closer to perfection. This is kind of different from other game studios, since after doing two or three sequels to an original game, you'd usually see them move onto something different since they probably got tired of making almost the same thing. But with FromSoft, I guess they just got really really good at doing what they do.

[@Joshua_N-A]

It's like a learning curve

[@pikadragon2783]

Well, they also made amored core.

[@LordSevla]

Yakuza series is kind of like that too. There's a HUGE improvement since the PS2 era. The newest games are really amazing with everything they learned in the last 20 years.

[@kalierdarkekd]

@@pikadragon2783 And lets not forget Lost Kingdoms

[@fellicojelisarrivera8434]

As Hewg wisely states: "Given time, Technique never fails"

[@DrBreezeAir]

Finally, a game that understands that firearms deal a ton of damage.

[@YourPalKindred]

"FOOL! YOUR BLADE CANNOT PIERCE MY HIDE, FOR I AM BLESSED BY THE DEMON GOD - YOUR MORTAL WEAPONS ARE USELE- what is that?" "Gun" "What... I've never heard of that, what does it do?" "Die" "Excuse m-"

[@gagne6928]

@@YourPalKindred *BANG*

[@deviouscat4571]

@@YourPalKindred B R U H

[@Sumea_Saukko]

Wym?

[@OtakuUnitedStudio]

​@@Sumea_Saukko Let's put it this way. A sword is completely safe to just be in the same room as, whereas a gun should be treated with caution even in the hands of an expert. You can't accidentally kill someone a mile away with a sword by mishandling it. Most video games attempt to "balance" their range with damage dropoff over a range of a few meters, whereas in real life that doesn't happen for hundreds of meters. And a small caliber bullet like a 9mm or .45 is capable of punching through plate armor. And the person wearing it. When aiming a gun, you have to account not only for your target but also what's behind them. Not just if you miss, but if the bullet exits whatever you hit. Meanwhile, even shooting games have characters that are able to take dozens of bullets without dying and usually don't even knock them down, when one shot will usually have enough force to knock a person off of their feet and three will generally do enough damage to make them bleed out.

[@SuperLlama42]

To be fair, refusing to drop anything as I'm slowly crushed to death by my own loot is exactly how I play games with inventory weight limits.

[@filipecordeiro7109]

same, any rpg player worth theyr salt would pick up anything not nailed down, hell id even take the nails if the game let me

[@Neuvost]

This and your King’s Field vids are so, so good. Any plans to cover Armored Core or Echo Night?

[@VioletteZero]

So in one of his Armored Core 6 videos he mentions that he intentionally deprived himself of all Armored Core content just to have a fresh perspective going into AC6.

[@Chinothebad]

One fun fact I noticed with this game, the previous Shadow Tower and King's Field: the Ancient City was that you had a deadly woman with a scythe. All before we had Priscilla, Nashandra, and Sister Friede. Auriel/Rurufon (the scythe woman, basically the same character with the former being her name in the first Shadow Tower, the later her name in Abyss) may as well be the one to start it.

[@Dis_Dis]

Ah yes, the real Gun Souls made by FromSoft that is not just a mod.

[@spartacus778]

hello me

[@omegazx7236]

Touch this game so that it can blow up a bit more

[@shadowrealms2676]

Thats basically mmhm how was that game called? Hold on...

[@s.c.2180]

@@shadowrealms2676 plasmabirth?

[@paxhumana2015]

@@spartacus778 , so, you actually worked on this game?

[@Garl_Vinland]

That exploding treasure bit. Literally the same thing happens at the end of the Pate and Creighton Sidequest.

[@IronPineapple]

you're right, I totally forgot!

[@jingalls9142]

I was thinking the combat looks like morrowinds combat kinda. Just moving clip art phasing through each other lmao.

[@mileator]

0:16 honestly, a couple of years ago, I heard around the interwebs that Fromsoft wanted to make a DarkSouls-shooter. This was after blood-borne had been made, and I thought to myself. "Those insane crackpots... I can't imagine the love child that they would create when combining firearms with dark souls... I can't imagine the world they would concoct, to justify medieval holy knights who exclusively use nickel-plated Desert Eagles. Or ninja flipping Ultra Gatling gun users. Or automatic shotgun Mages!" And then it never came to be... Oh well... I'm more than happy with what we got, but your thumbnail does make me wish for what could have been...

[@Winasaurus]

Just IMAGINE the PVP. "Ooh good parry, I've got enough time to pull out my Mossberg 500 with dragon's breath incendiary rounds for bonus damage to riposte" Or that Anor Londo path with the 2 greatbow archers. Except they have Barrett 50.cals with explosive rounds.

[@mileator]

@@Winasaurus "Welcome back to Dark Souls PVP. Today I'm going to be using three underutilized weapons. First. The flashbang shield. It used to be really good, able to guard break at an insane range, but after it got nerfed into the ground, I don't see people use it anymore... ...Next up we've got the dragon launcher found just before plague town... ...Oh no. We've got a greatrifle user. What's he got? He's using the Bren? Yeah he's new. Honestly, solid choice, easily obtainable early in the beginning of the game. Great moveset, great range... could carry you through the game, but... yeah he's trying to gank me with this Phantom... what is that?! Fast rolling juggernaut?! Dual Magic Ultra Greatsnipers? Yeah this guy is hacking. No skill... git gud..." ...Finally we've got a weird one, The Moonlight grestsword. And guys. Let me tell you. It's ranged attack makes it totally viable..."

[@filipecordeiro7109]

@@mileator id play it, hell id play the shit out of it, a flashbang shield sounds absolutely awesome

[@mileator]

@@filipecordeiro7109 I think i would be a great-rifle user myself. American B.A.R. or Stoner 63a automatic rifle... Madsen machine gun... I would definitely spec into miracles for flashbangs. Or at least make my gun holy so occasional holy tracers have a chance to do increased stagger and stun damage.

[@originalityisdead.9513]

Severance: Blade of Darkness was an action adventure game that released in 2001 for PC in which you could as the title suggests sever limbs and you could also pick those limbs up and beat people to death with them, it's was wild.

[@ThePainkiller9995]

he played this game in "i played another 6 souls like games you've never heard of" from april 2020

[@kurisuchiinathecrocodile333]

@@ThePainkiller9995 were "die by the sword" and "deathtrap dungeon" also there?

[@afatneckbeard5272]

@@kurisuchiinathecrocodile333 can confirm that die by the sword is somewhere in the series, unsure about deathtrap dungeon

[@kurisuchiinathecrocodile333]

@@afatneckbeard5272 i usually refer to deathtrap dungeon as "sen fortress the game", lol. i mean ps1/pc game from 90s ofc.

[@letthebasscannon223]

that "DS2 is based on classic Fromsoft games" theory is pretty accurate afaik, a lot of the DS2 "b-team" devs were Fromsoft old guard who had been at the company pre-DeS

[@starhammer5247]

I wish that old-guard made more games then.

[@Lowlightt]

@@starhammer5247 They do, there actually the armored core team. Fromsoft just hasn't been making armored core for a hot minute so they've been making other stuff.

[@starhammer5247]

@@Lowlightt I see. But I mean I wish they made more games outside of Miyazaki's guidance, do their own thing I mean.

[@letthebasscannon223]

@@starhammer5247 Here's hoping that whatever project they make after Elden Ring isn't just another Soulslike is2g if Armored Core 6 ends up being Mecha Souls

[@voidkirb5477]

@@starhammer5247 IIRC lots of them were on Sekiro which explains its similarities to DS2 in terms of lifegems, enemy hordes/arenas, and generally less depressing tone and more weirdness.

[@YGOFosho]

It's always jarring to see how many concepts they share amongst all their games. Not just the Moonlight Greatsword, but so many things.

[@datboarboss8569]

Still amazed the Moonlight sword got in one of their mech games.

[@arginduol7060]

@@datboarboss8569 *all

[@fulltimeslackerii8229]

From soft? More like formula soft

[@HoHhoch]

@@fulltimeslackerii8229 Uh-huh...

[@42Mrgreenman]

@@datboarboss8569 And it's quite the beast, I refuse to use anything else unless I need the funky ranged "energy wave" one, which is odd as both mechanics were incorporated into the moonlight greatsword for DS...Kudos for actually referencing it correctly. It's actually the LS-Moonlight in AC2, which I'm assuming stands for "Light Sword" or "Laser Sword"

[@DONKINDONUTS]

I absolutely *LOVE* the idea of guns mixed with old fantasy like this. The idea of a big-bad boss just showing up and then... you just shoot his head off is _hilarious_ and with how it mixes with the rest of the game, I think it's actually done pretty damn well!

[@erickbelvin4781]

Hey I know I'm late to say anything but the ring magic gameplay came from their game Eternal Ring made in 2000. It's a good game, had the poison biome that you had to craft a ring for and the best weapon in the game looks like a sundial and is easily missed. Both Eternal Ring and Evergrace, which had a dual character storyline, were amazing and weird filled with absurd stories.

[@RahkshiMaster]

Can't believe you just solved the mystery of Miyazaki's cryptic interview answer about the old pendant

[@zenwithoutmasters]

I imagine what more people can find in the other unreleased games

[@addictedtoRS]

Actually though. Decade old conspiracy solved.

[@jaylenpeoples6517]

huh?!? i need context bby

[@jackwithahat8601]

@@jaylenpeoples6517 The old pendant is an item in dark souls 1 that apparently doesn't do anything at all. No one found any use for it in over a decade, yet Miyazaki said that you should choose it as the starting gift over any other item. This sparked a boatload of theories and speculation about the pendant. To this day nothing was found.

[@jackwithahat8601]

@@anthurium6 15:19

[@joanvega2177]

10:00 Didn’t know Nietzsche had made his way into a FromSoft game. The character design is a bit cruel tho. They did my man wrong.

[@IronPineapple]

I actually originally had a line in my script that said “take it easy, Nietzsche”

[@atolllion7092]

@@IronPineapple wow.

[@messiah1295]

@@IronPineapple nice lol

[@patrickmcgann2673]

@@IronPineapple Did you decide the joke was too...niche?

[@dinokaiser]

Something Fromsoft clearly nailed with this entry are the animations, they always looked REALLY clunky before this game (almost like I animated them XP ) but just look at the writhing movement of the worms at 9:41 or 15:26 with those twitchy Skull Ray things with there gross little spikes on the edge of their "fins", you really see how this would lead into things like the Gaping Dragon in later entries where much of the terror and threat is derived from making so much use of their design. Also I love that they reused this concept at 5:28 for Sekiro for what was a proper jumpscare.

[@thearchivist6546]

I realized some of the rune-looking carvings in the stone doors when you first enter the tower look similar to the Formless Oedon rune from Bloodborne. Just thought it was a lil funny

[@mololabo]

"If you ever want to hear the words 'from soft' and 'rocket launcher' in the same sentence [...]" *stares in Armored Core*

[@Naruxos07]

Or Metal Wolf Chaos

[@justRICHTOFEN]

Was looking for this comment lol.

[@awesomehazimex7410]

@@Naruxos07 RICHAAAAAAARD!!!

[@ArgenteonYT]

@@awesomehazimex7410 LET'S PARTYYYYYYYYYYYYY

[@nifftbatuff676]

Darks souls fan are so slow...

[@222virgule]

I just love the idea of random modern dude just blasting through a cursed dungeon with a rocket launcher and it's the intended way to play

[@thelonelystankmuncher8879]

All its missing now is a double barreled shotgun with a hook

[@collinb.8542]

@@thelonelystankmuncher8879 yeah actually I just realized that's pretty much the situation with the character that I think your referencing lmao.

[@abyssstrider2547]

I think that a game which would have multiplayer and all kinds of mechanics for different classes and weapons/equipment all inspired by modern,medieval, sci-fi and fantasy tropes would be cool as hell with many fantasy races and aliens,cyborgs,etc that you could play and all having pros and cons. Would be pretty sick to play.

[@user-po9sd8nq8v]

Serious Sam

[@ologracz1110]

@@abyssstrider2547 Shadowrun (the online shooter one)?

[@RayShadow278]

FromSoft's hard-on for poison isn't even limited to their King's Field/Souls-type series. Most Armored Core games have at least 1 mission set in an area that just constantly zaps your health too

[@deanb5912]

I feel like we need a renaissance of games from this kind of genre. We have had a good amount of Doomer Shooters come out like DUSK or Amid Evil to help make that genre feel alive again, but we need something that tries to make the magic that these games still bring today.

[@Delmworks]

Well there’s luneacid… and luneacid

[@ColorfulHelices]

"If you ever wanted to hear Fromsoft and Rocket Launcher in the same sentence" Armored Core fans dont deserve this

[@riccardo1796]

It's OK, not even from remembers they made those

[@charcoal4742]

@@riccardo1796 damnnn ok then

[@danielk6005]

I literally paused the video, it hurt my soul too bad.

[@bags.]

"I'm a huge Fromsoft Fan, I love their 6 games!"

[@DejitaruGhost]

It hurt me... To my core...

[@junkoenoshima4457]

remember when this was simply a Meme channel? Now this guy educates me about old games and i 100% love it too.

[@lordkenyonkmp]

Its a neat little evolution

[@mantistoboggan5346]

Changing genres midway without you noticing just like this game!

[@kageakiminato8536]

play the games ZOOMERS

[@Space_Australian]

Just found this channel and I can't get enough of your vids. The chill no-BS gameplay/commentary/reviews, genuinely funny/awesome edits, and piecing together how these older games seem to have inspired some of the best aspects from modern From games. It's all so well done, I only wish I had learned of you sooner! Keep it up brother

[@Sword420]

Whoa. I don't think I've heard of this game. Kind of reminds me of Hellgate London. Totally going to grab this. Great video. It's really too bad that Demon's Souls, Dark Souls and Elden Ring don't have dismemberment. Would've immensely helped the combat feel and Berserk vibe.

[@flynnmayne2055]

Kinda wish these old fromsoft games, that weren’t really in the spotlight got remasters lol.

[@immajellal5325]

I would do terrible things for an Otogi rerelease

[@light819]

Absofreakinglutely

[@Gentleman_33]

I would love that

[@jerekheadrick3379]

Or maybe make something in the same vein that is entirely new in terms of content. I genuinely dislike people's hyping up remasters because you can and should ask for more. Although, I'm not sure how much that applies to this game in particular as dark souls and bloodborne appear to be just that.

[@StraightOuttaJarhois]

I just want another Armored Core

[@Jhost90]

"Giant plants in a jail cell definitely have their charm." I agree

[@tsm688]

it does kind of suggest ... well. Were they giant plants when they were put in there?

[@OtakuUnitedStudio]

That intro NEVER gets old. Also, your description of what you imagine your character wearing sounds like Hunter S. Thompson.

[@alexdivision4320]

I love how FromSoft loves poisonous areas so much they went as far as making toxic areas, poison but worse!!

[@GhettoBagel]

Hey, that video on the direction of Dark Souls 2 seems like a REALLY good idea...

[@planescaped]

I can wrap my head around a fantasy world having a baselard, zweihander, billhook, or any other specific real-world melee weapon. Little bit harder to for a M1911 and a freaking Ingram. I have so many questions...

[@drivanradosivic1357]

ah, but if it was a Fantasified copy, that would be fine? I ask with genuine interest.

[@planescaped]

@@drivanradosivic1357 If it had a different name and/or the slide was shaped like an eagle it'd be fine. It's mostly that the game uses actual real-world gun names. Back when games could get away with that.

[@forickgrimaldus8301]

Me a 40k fan: Space Templar stabbing a Greater Daemon with a Black Sword while a Space Cathedral bombards the planet with Shells that move as fast as light. And a the Other Robot Cathedral destroys a City the size of a Country.

[@matrix3509]

Its not really a stock fantasy world with guns. Its just the real world if it had fantasy elements. Like Final Fantasy XV, but good.

[@forickgrimaldus8301]

@@planescaped the closest thing I can compare this to is Army of Darkness.

[@samkerski]

FromSoft started making games right around the time of the sarin nerve gas attacks on the Tokyo subway system. I wonder if their use of poison areas were, consciously or not, tapping into the suddenly very real fear of being poisoned during your daily life.

[@chickenmaster3658]

If they make a remaster/remake of this game I would go to ANY lengths to play it. Someone start a petition, please.

[@FlameJackstar]

Real talk, this game looks hella dope.

[@LoponStormbased]

I've been really surprised by all these old FromSoft games. Bunch of really sick looking games I've unfortunately never heard of.

[@handemorebattlelands4009]

AS THE LIGHT GAINS PURCHASE, SPIRITS ARE LIFTED, AND PURPOSE IS MADE CLEAR

[@gagne6928]

A remaster of this game that gave a cross hair for the gun and some more fluid controls would be sick

[@nikitas1841]

I would love to see a video dedicated to exploring Dark Souls 2 through the lens of KIng's Field games! There's just so many callbacks to those games In DS2, I'm excited to see them all put together in a video.

[@bradleyanderson8311]

The first shadow tower does so much to differentiate itself from the king's field games, from the atmosphere to the economy, the soundtrack(or lack thereof), the level design, the character and enemy design, the overall look of the game... It's more of a horror game than the king's field games

[@C0llinsW0rth.]

I love that lil intro with the portal, great job!

[@Daimyokage]

Honestly looks badass. Id love to see a remake of this series.

[@paxhumana2015]

...and have Agetec and From Software team up with 3D Realms and Ion Storm or Bethesda and id Software to get it done as well.

[@tchitchouan]

unlikely

[@Web720]

I think something like this but with very realistic weapon handling would be great. Your character could be a newbie at the beginning and would sway his guns way too much and will take a bit to line up their shots. And maybe early levels would have very rusty guns. As well realistic weapon damage, handling, degradation, jamming, cleaning, reloading, etc. Maybe upgrade system like going from an MP5 using 9mm to the MP5 FBI 10mm. Or a Deagle going from 357 -> 44 -> 50AE. As well as attachments.

[@gunnerbellow6703]

@@Web720 make the gun handling get better the more you level your dexterity

[@Web720]

@@gunnerbellow6703 For each archetype of weapons.

[@kungfuskull]

This would be FANTASTIC to see remade with modern tech and design innovations

[@killerluuk]

You mean demon souls

[@kabusohikaru6187]

@@killerluuk Demon souls isnt a first person dungeon crawler with rifles and rocket launchers

[@user-og6hl6lv7p]

Graphics and animation can be improved, sure, but modern design trends are awful.

[@vizthex]

ikr

[@misanthropiclusion]

@@user-og6hl6lv7p name one

[@mmsL125]

That symbol on the doors and stuff looks like it’s part of the elden ring, it all ties together

[@johnnyhellkite6347]

Dammit your editing is very good and the sounds effects were perfect

[@ashwolf2006]

It's all fun and games until the chosen undead pull's out a rocket launcher. and Mick Gordon's the only thing they fear starts playing.

[@theguy3851]

"I'm just an undead with a rocket launcher."

[@krisonveloc25]

@@theguy3851 "This is serious, everybody in Lordran have Bazooka"

[@pratikmandal1350]

@@krisonveloc25 Lordran is Wakaliwood confirmed.

[@VacantSpirit]

just imagine parrying that

[@hossdelgado626]

Bearer Seek Seek *click BOOM*

[@turntapeover5749]

"Surely this isn't a mistake Sony is gonna repeat when it comes to a Fromsoftware game" made laugh out loud. XD

[@filipecordeiro7109]

shadow tower, metal wolf chaos and demons souls, they take a while to learn dont they?

[@Dennis-lz9lw]

I've been loosely following this channel ever since the DkS (one) days. It's delightful to see how far you've come as a content creator. Congrats on your success, mate, you deserve it.

[@MarceloVillarrealR]

Your production sure is upgraded, congrats bro, you deserve it

[@theredneckunicorn9752]

Cargo shorts, plate armor, pro mask and shotgun... Remaster when?

[@Simetrico]

BTW in dark Souls 2, Pate also tricks you with a explosive chest at the end of his quest.

[@sdquad6]

This man knows exactly one way to go back in time and it's perfect every time

[@LunarPrism34]

7:03 Nobody wanna talk about scythe Mommy? Aight, cool

[@Puddiable]

I gotta recommend Lost Kingdoms, a Fromsoft game from 2002 with the plot driven by an all-consuming fog a la Demon's Souls. It also has a fairly unique battle system in which you control the main character in real time and use cards to summon allies or attack enemies directly, and must manage the resources required to use these cards.

[@SimonPiano42]

Lost Kingdoms and its sequel were some of the most memorable games in my childhood. They are mysterious and fun, if flawed, with unique real time card systems, as you say. LK2 fixes a lot of the gameplay problems of LK1, but i think i enjoyed the world of LK1 more. In Japan, the game is called Rune by the way.

[@lMaBanana]

HOLY SHIT I had no idea I played a game by FromSoft prior to Dark Souls. Lost Kingdoms was dope; it and another card based RPG (Baten Kaitos) were wonderful fun for young me and my GameCube :D *Edited to add: The card summoning mechanic was super novel, at least as far as I'm aware; next closest I can come up with was M:TG Battlegrounds the next year, which was a pretty limited game..

[@SimonPiano42]

@@lMaBanana Yes, i was also surprised when i learned that Lost Kingdoms was by FromSoft! That was a few years after i started Dark Souls, i think. Also, i was always intrigued by Baten Kaitos, hope to play it soon :)

[@BlinJe]

@Puddiable Thanks for this comment. I never hear Lost Kingdoms mentioned unless it's some witless twat reviewing it saying " HUH THIS ISN'T LIKE YUGIOH "

[@Thanoss.13]

the time travelling sequence is literally perfect

[@Axeldjn13]

I really have to say that I absolutly love these kinds of videos. Thanks for the work man!

[@WBF_III]

I love your style! Passionate, funny, authoritative. Looking forward to seeing more from you.

[@Datightguy]

Absolutely love this game, very underrated From Software title.

[@continuer1337]

true

[@SpecShadow]

you could say that about every FROM game before Demon's Souls

[@silverreaps6803]

You mean every non souls fromsoft game

[@doolenny9458]

@@silverreaps6803 well besides sekiro that is a weird one

[@silverreaps6803]

@@doolenny9458 fair

[@aidenmclaughlin1076]

Hell yeah! Always down for some Iron Pineapple!

[@aetherspiralknight]

Videos you can really break yer teeth on

[@cadainn3718]

0:28 „I can't breathe, I'm waiting for the exhale“

[@TheTruePacmanMG]

How am I just now finding you? Love the content. Subbing and watching your library.

[@lucasgilmore9068]

I love the little animated knight in this series! It gives me so much nostalgia for old clay-mation style and just makes me smile :)

[@Atrahasis7]

A cool aspect of the game is how you find armor from previous eras like a roman legionary lorica, greek swords, or katanas, medieval helms, making it seem like you are from a long line of warriors attempting to conquer the tower, but now you have guns. When I played the game I got this overbearing feeling of dread usual from From Soft, but also that your character didn't matter individually, it was like what was actually conquering the tower was human perseverance and ingenuity, and by never giving up, the human race won. I guess its time for the magical monstrosities to eat lead.

[@V.Sensei]

After watching this video, I decided to play this game. It was hella fun and I even did a ng+ playthrough. Ng+ was a breeze, but i have to note that the loot actually changes. The first guy will give you a golden 1911! The gear collected on the first playthrough does not respawn and chests will be empty. A few more things to note: on the bug area, you can find a super blackhawk. Cheap ammo, and hits like a truck. The mist and moving block areas are optional (I missed the on my first playthrough). Also, the red string samurai armor has a description on all its pieces that says they "long for reunion" or something like that. Wearing the full set gives you bonuses to all stats!

[@spectralotter]

Love this. I hope you do the deeper analysis in a later video (maybe you already have?)

[@Krystalmyth]

The animation in this game is amazing. The way everything moves when they get hit is really impressive.

[@jdirksen]

I am SO GLAD you finally gave this game a review, it’s really cool and it’s a shame we never really had a proper sequel to the game, in actuality or in spirit. The whole ‘train by doing’ thing was also a pretty cool mechanic.

[@dakotarubeck7366]

I think you should definitely make that video idea come to life, Pine

[@arthurdurham]

*Fromsoft:* "Look at all these cool melee weapons and rings you can use to customize your combat build!" *Pineapple:* "Gun go boom"

[@usedcolouringbook8798]

Wait wait wait... is Miyazaki just releasing sequels to games he liked/worked on while at From?

[@somechinesedude5466]

That's like.... learning from past to be better?

[@ukaznipsigururuk8685]

Not Miyazaki, it's Fromsoft. What Miyazaki achieved was bringing their games to greatness, using his cryptic lore writing ability. But game design wise I would give the team more credits.

[@Dong_Harvey]

@@ukaznipsigururuk8685 my favorite thing about Miyazaki's lore writing is that it's a reflection of his dyslexia and fandom of English fantasy that lead him to create 'unfinished' sagas that force fans to interpret them... This is what makes the stories so entrancing

[@SimonPiano42]

​@@ukaznipsigururuk8685 The Fromsoft team for sure deserves more credit, though on the other hand, Miyazaki was the director on the later games, and he basically gave the direction on everything. Art (see the undead dragon in DS1 that "shouldn't be grotesque, but still dignified"), world design, gameplay and game systems. And he wrote the whole story and dialogues himself as far as i know. It would be interesting to explore just how big Miyazaki's influence was on all these titles, but i'd estimate it to be huge.

[@ukaznipsigururuk8685]

@@SimonPiano42 oh yeah I forgot that Miyazaki is also an art director. Even though i really like his take and design in his games, most of it are generally his own inspirations (from george rr martin, berserk, tolkien and studio ghibli for example) and trends from the dark fantasy genre. Miyazaki fleshes them out, and make them memorable.

[@cvf4ever]

5:17 Eternal Darkness from 2002 also reminds me of dismemberment that affects gameplay, not in the extension of Shadow Tower Abyss but there was some mechanics to it and you could do it to every enemy

[@TK-7193]

do not remind me of that acursed game

[@zamplify]

Get a character up to 40 BloodTinge and watch the Bloodborne guns do damage.

[@MaDDsHoTT]

Yes I am bingeing everything you have tonight. Keep up your amazing work brother. Lovin it.

[@barnes9211]

I’m actually wildly impressed at how much thought and effort was put into this game. FROM has an eye for quality for sure.

[@hazzar7784]

It's nice to see this game catching a little limelight finally. Seriously needs a remaster/port. I recall when I played the original Shadow Tower via ps3 I felt like this was the actual game Miyazaki meant, and he said Kings Field just cause it was more popular/marketable.

[@ShujinPJ]

I love your videos because you're so clearly passionate but also very chill. No forced hype, just words and gameplay speaking for themselves. I always look forward to your videos. Keep em coming, please 👍

[@killbeers6890]

Great video, I loved the King's Field IV one too. On keeping the same theme, please do Eternal Ring next!!

[@ruffah9811]

This reminds me of Oni in the way that it's a successor to something that hadn't even been imagined at the time. (Oni being an extremely early Bungie game with references to things that are now all over Halo / Destiny.)

[@42Mrgreenman]

As a big fan of both Akira and Ghost in the Shell, I really dug ONI...didn't really get into Halo that much, but it's cool that Bungie referenced their earlier stuff...

[@Genasidal]

Medieval fantasy with a gun is such an unexplored area of niche setting ideas that I want to see more. It has such comedic value to me

[@thomasingram8713]

I hope youve seen Army of Darkness then

[@THEchosenDIN]

That slow turning makes my thumbs feel heavy. I love these videos and appreciate the dive because present day me could never play these games.

[@youngmacz9699]

You need to bring back that intro with the surfing Knight, it's awesome.

[@asraelconcreteeatingcat1528]

I usually distance my self from leaks, rumors and non official stuff when it comes to new games. Im the kind of person whose veins pop out of anger when a new Bloodborne 2/remake rumor appears. But when at TGA 2017 "Shadows die twice" teaser trailer for Sekiro came out i passed months esulting for a Shadow Tower spiritual sequel

[@asraelconcreteeatingcat1528]

@@aweigh1010it seems pretty self-explanatory? Once in your life you make bad guesses because of hype culture and the first two games were super cool and the aesthetics grew on me so much that i instinctively thought "the shadow is coming back=shadow tower". Seems generic hype driven speculation

[@ibragimowbekhan0987]

>Flame axes and lightning Zweihanders are great, but, to repeat myself, i had a rocketlauncher! >Meet Joker, from Persona 5! For hes passive, HE WEALDS A GUN!

[@soulreaper1461]

What a stupid and forced analogy

[@ibragimowbekhan0987]

@@soulreaper1461 yet it's so acurate

[@Xendra]

@@ibragimowbekhan0987 this game's mix of fantasy and modern weapons is a lot closer to a mainline entry like SMT4 than a persona game

[@MoistCheeks]

Cringe.

[@quite1enough]

14:17 resembles red phantom

[@cuddlequeen3225]

I would love to see you cover more old Fromsoftware games. They actually have a huge backlog, as they used to release upwards of two games a year. Some examples of ones I'd be interested in seeing covered is: the Evergrace games, the Otogi games, the Lost Kingdoms games. Thank you. Keep up the great content! 😊

[@thequietbisharp]

I’d love a souls-megami tensei crossover where you talk to monsters, negotiate, and dungeon crawl

[@sas647]

I was just thinking about a crossover like this and never imagined anyone else would want it too. Well, at least in Elden Ring we can kinda summon "demons" now (only at certain places though, sadly), so that's something, but imagine being able to recruit enemies and them having their own abilities and stats that you could level up...

[@ettu357]

If Souls had SMT-style negotiating every NPC would be Patches lol

[@jack-exzolt9858]

"If you ever hear the words "rocket launcher" and "from soft" in the same sentence." Armored Core fans: Well yes we have already.

[@bags.]

Like 20 times, too!

[@42Mrgreenman]

Bah...rockets...unguided pieces of crap...missiles are where it's at...Here you go, try to dodge this, then do so eleven more times within five seconds...

[@Azure9577]

@@42Mrgreenman rockets having manual aim is actually good for indoor missions and large bosses

[@baranpourtahmaseb-sasi1421]

My brother ironically linked me this video since I was a Shadow Tower fan (though I never got into playing Dark Souls). Good to see it getting credited as the curiosity it was which inconspicuously influenced far more prominent titles decades later.

[@TheHunter-um5bo]

10:56 Ironpineapple: Yes before anyone comments it, it is Bloodborne if gun actually did damage Ymfah:Sad gun only challenge noises :(