⭐Maps and Development ⭐ Bloodborne ⭐Dark Souls ⭐ Demon's Souls ⭐ Soulsborne Lore Podcast ⭐

[@POW3RSAUC3]

You guys act like you’ve never seen an underground windmill farm located beneath a volcano. So uncultured.

[@areshseptango9619]

I've always taken the layout of anor londo to mean the gods literally just lived and lazed around in their respective temples being worshipped and left everything else to lesser kings and clergy who used the smaller areas to live and work, as the large stairs and walkways all lead to the cathedrals

[@beneathsands]

These group-hug episodes are always the best and the most informative

[@c.l.a.u.d.e]

That awkward silence when the guy called DS2 hitboxes good lmao

[@rida81]

I feel starstruck every time they answer my questions, especially if I can get them to read a dumb one. This is such good content. Sin and Richie, you're the best! Redgrave and Kayin, be on more of these! :P

[@hiddenshadow2105]

I am maybe stretching an owl to fit onto a globe but Dark Souls 2 maps and the way they were disjointed also reflected to me the theme of forgetting of the world - paths between places are similarly fractured, forgotten and distorted as the history of the world. Even if it wasn't an intent it fits it well. I love the world of Dark Souls 2 the most - it has a frontier sense about it, the real sense of unknown and strange, a sense of the distant horizon which both DS1 and DS3, IMHO, lack. Also the only game out of Dark Souls games to have a sea. Even areas that aren't developed in DS2, such as Doors of Pharros, are very evocative.

[@troy8420]

My issue with DS2 is that I was just exhausted from the base game alone. There's way too many bosses and areas that weren't really necessary, I think it would be better if they focused on the more interesting areas.

[@hiddenshadow2105]

@@troy8420 I like variety of DS2, even if some areas aren't as well developed (for example, I'd love if Earthen Peak inner machinery was interactive and parts of the castle could be manipulated to open new areas or create new paths). This is my main aesthetic 'beef' with DS3, for example, that it is all too similar in colour palette (and dull, IMHO) - it suits the theme of the world being worn out threadbare, but it doesn't make it as interesting to play. Going through DS2 I often had unexpected sense of wonder. DS3 has dramatic vista but less moment-to-moment wonderment.

[@JohnSmith-op3qj]

You're right, you are stretching an owl to fit a globe :v

[@RatazanoMaldito]

If you go up in the wolf tower in Farrom Keep, you can actually see that there's a sea in DS3 too.

[@Arkygator]

Yeah, I love the whimsy of DS2.

[@thulsa_doom]

For everyone wondering, the Duke's Archives were modeled after this library in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: maps.app.goo.gl/fr6719fCJ7CaLMBv5

[@GiraffesEatStuff]

I just wanted to say that I loved this podcast. Not sure what to comment on, but it was really informative and fun.

[@classiter1]

I am a huge fan of all your Soulsborne content (KZbin, iTunes, and Patreon), and this may be the best episode that you have ever released.

[@SinclairLore]

Glad you enjoy it!

[@Kucoz]

My life is being revitalized by all the dark souls 2 love. Favourite of the series

[@loubloom1941]

It's delusion

[@bagofrandom]

Another legendary soulsborne podcast that will be listened to again and again and again and again Richie: right Sin: right Richie: right

[@SinclairLore]

XD

[@hopebringer2348]

Redgrave is like that one meme with the bird that talks over the littler bird

[@Yhorm333]

I was seriously typing about “A” not being a number to be funny when Redgrave beat me to it. A sarcastic man after my own heart.

[@SinclairLore]

lol

[@humblegamer7876]

Moving all the enemies around in scholar was awful to me because it means there is no lore significance to where you find enemies and you can't really work out what they're supposed to be about. They're just random monsters now In ds and ds1 things were placed where they were for a reason and you get story and context from that

[@scottfremin7850]

Maybe I’m getting this wrong, but wasn’t Aldia just recreating all the world’s monsters at some point, and presumably some of this went on before he and Vendrick fell out? That’s what I told myself anyway.

[@JeffGoldblum64]

There is no lore significance to finding Heide Knights at Heide's Tower of Flame? What was even the lore with finding Heide Knights all over the place randomly?

[@waynenorrisV2]

Fun podcast! turns out I missed dark souls stuff!

[@mitchellradspinner4491]

Been working my way through every episode of you guys and this may have been my favorite!

[@Mrcrazy80]

I can totally see the reasons, but I always get a bit sad whenever a lore-talker expresses contempt for Ringed City. :(

[@kalxek1462]

So Im listening to this while playing through areamis for the first time and as the Skeleweel's were being mentioned, I found out what they were talking about

[@andrusman100]

This this is wonderful discussion

[@MissScarletTanager]

UNREGISTERED HYPERCAM 2. (it just made me laugh, since that's not normally there. I just use Shadowplay, which is free for Nvidia cards, and OBS, which is also free.)

[@stut7177]

DS1 by far the best map.

[@briancurry6251]

In my first dark souls playthrough, I tried fighting the skeletons first for a couple hours. I didn't return the game because I'm not a little bitch. 😝 💀

[@nataliealphonse4634]

I would argue that more games need to do that and have obstacles a new player just can't feasibly overcome. Its modern gaming to feel like the world should care how you feel things should be for some reason

[@briancurry6251]

@Kommissar Rex where did you read that? I've beaten dark souls many times. You must have read it as "I didn't return (to) the game." When in reality I wrote, "I didn't return the game (to the store)"

[@bigdog517]

Thank you

[@vaultt309]

I'm honestly in disbelief that I just heard someone say Dark Souls 2 has better hit boxes than Dark Souls 1. I'm honestly in disbelief that I just heard someone say Dark Souls 2 has better hit boxes than any game. By coincidence, I literally got done doing another play through of Dark Souls 2 earlier today , and I can confirm it has the worst hit boxes I've ever seen in a game.

[@flabbajabba9527]

They're not the brightest group of folks.

[@insertedgynamehere___969]

I think the hit boxes better in ds2. The problem is had to balance the combat around ADP

[@JeffGoldblum64]

This is easily confirmed. Have you even looked at the hitboxes? DS1 absolutely has easily the worst hitboxes. Titanite Demons don't even have hitboxes on their weapons when they should for god's sake, it's on their tail.

[@DarkBloodSouls]

Hell yeah awesome!!

[@CrimsonReaper189]

dark souls 2 has always been my favorite. the game play its self and the enviroments are amazing. i also like the fact that at the start u have 3-4 ways u can go in dark souls 1 and 3 u have 1-2 if u remove the master key from 1 u can only go to the graves and undead burg thats it for ages then by the time u unlock a new area u have basically finished the burge anyway. and dark souls 3 has the same problem very straight forward till u get top set points

[@loubloom1941]

In ds1 you have just as many options, if not more than in ds2 though. Yeah you have to have the master key but in ds2, you're blocked off from the underground areas unless you have the cat ring. Which is basically the same thing. Also, the gameplay in ds2 was made worse, and so were the environments.

[@JeffGoldblum64]

@@loubloom1941 DS1 does NOT have as many options. Simply false. Easily false. Me getting to the final boss just bonfire ascetic fighting the same two bosses over and over again without even obtaining a single great soul. You still having to ring two bells, still having to go to anor londo, still having to obtain all 4 great souls and only AFTER anor londo even though you can go to all those places.

[@OliviaOnline]

A is Alpha, Alpha is a number

[@SinclairLore]

[@OldManMcLoyf]

Easaleath

[@rida81]

He's doing it just to spite us, isn't he.

[@hiddenshadow2105]

Redgrave!

[@junjiitowafflehouse9750]

Easeileeth is easeileeth my least favorite souls word pronunciation

[@luispedrocosta4346]

💖💖💖

[@deathbyslipknot]

Dark Souls 2 will never work for me simply because the character movement and animations are so stiff and unresponsive. I feel like I'm constantly fighting the controls. Every other game in the series is better in this regard. I also can't stand the majority of Dark Souls 2's bosses or how almost every room in the game is a massive gank fest that forces you to cheese.

[@pauliusthemad3498]

"Scowering everything head to toe to find a treasure" To be honest oblivion and skyrim are bad for it, but morrowind....Morrowind can be like that, I have found great stuff in random ass caves before.

[@Legather]

Did you guys ever watch Hawkshaw's vids on Dark Souls? He/they seem to have a unique take on the story of DS, character motivations, even down to item and enemy placements. Speaking as someone who played DS2 when it first came out, played the SotFS edition and nearly had my interest in the whole genre killed by the ordeal, I don't think DS2 is going to earn postmortem acclaim. Going back to it isn't a great experience. I'll concede that there are some interesting environments and that it's a testament to the achievements of DS1 and later DS3 that the name alone makes you want to give DS2 another chance but by comparison or on its own merits DS2 is not a great game. "If you're good enough...you don't have to do the level at all. Which is awesome" sorta reminiscent of hbomberguy's defence of also DS2 where he applauded the ability to skip whole parts of the game. I mean, if it's a good game then why is the capacity to not play it a good thing?

[@rustedgreatsword4902]

ds1 would be a better game if I could skip lost isalith and tomb of giants. Having optional areas isn't a bad idea and not everything needs to be shown every playthrough. You can also skip several areas in ds1 (depths, upper blighttown, painted world, most of the garden area) and ds3 (hidden shrine area, demon ruins, and dragons peak) so that's not a ds2 exclusive thing anyways.

[@jenb9402]

I'm playing through DS2 (sotfs) for the very first time and I see both the defense and criticism: I was getting impatient at a lot of the early-game areas because I felt lost, but one of the strengths of the series is that they explicitly don't tell you much about the world/where to go. It's about exploration and discovery, which with enough time, I could have made progress more thoroughly in the early game. DS1 is more linear and it's better about directing you, while DS2 lacks some of that direction (like Richie, I've spent a long while in Heide without realizing that I wasn't meant to be there yet?); what I've found interesting about DS2 and have continued to enjoy is how they take some familiar items and extend your knowledge of them. There's giants, hollows, and basilisks, but they're not the same as they were in DS1. Shaded Woods is a very new experience, but I can still rely on DS1 muscle memory for how to path an area, how to circle enemies, how to explore each winding path. I think DS2 is not as strong, sure, but as a companion piece to DS1, I find it interesting and enjoyable so far.

[@StephanuSneed]

@@rustedgreatsword4902 You can skip the lava section and centipede boss of Lost Izalith, and saying you'd like to skip tomb of giants is like me saying i would like to skip shrine of amana or Anor Londo, they are important places of the world and you are being really arbitrary. Also, the point of being able to skip parts of DS1 is that you do so by being able to navigate the world, which you can do because it's well constructed. It's not like DS2 letting you skip half of the game if you kill the rotten 4 times or farm a lot. It's an objective + that you are allowed to do that, but it's lazy compared to DS1. Altho to be fair, DS2 allows you to skip things if you know how to navigate a level: you can get to lost bastille through 2 paths, skip the ruin sentinels and the smelter demon. And DS2 doesn't have the monopoly on optional content, it just does it worse than the other games. Most of it are straight paths to mediocre or bad bosses, and a covenant after you beat them, 2 of which are blocked until you get tokens, and 2 others are the same rat covenant. Or it can lead you to a cul de sac where the game tries to murder you with an invader and 7 dogs to punish you for trying to explore.

[@rustedgreatsword4902]

@@StephanuSneed I dont see how stating a fact about being able to skip parts of the other games or saying i think certain levels are better off being skipped makes me arbitrary. Just because they are important doesnt make them objectively fun. I was just making an observation based on the series as a whole. You saying the game is worse than the others on design and saying being able to do the same thing in a different way makes it lazy seems quite arbitrary to me.

[@StephanuSneed]

@@rustedgreatsword4902 You talk about levels being "objectively" fun and then ask why i called that arbitrary? You saying you want to skip Tomb because you don't like is arbitrary because it's based in your subjective feelings. I like Tomb of the Giants, and i think it's a decent level, but that's arbitrary too. Which one is right or wether one can be right is however a different discussion. What matters is that area is a vital part of the game that the developers wanted to make unskippable, and for good reason given its importance. While having skippable levels is cool because it gives you freedom, there must be something you have to do, there must be content you have to tackle. I would like to skip nashandra and watcher & defender, but fighting them is not only vital to the story but also the final challenge of the game. Something similar happens with TotG. It's an important part of the story and the world. I said the world design is worse, because in DS1 they bothered to make it layered and to give you different paths to reach different places, while in DS2 the only place that happens is in the path towards Lost Bastille, and arguably to reach the gutter. In DS1 you have 2 ways of reaching the bottom of Blighttown, 2 ways of reaching the gargoyles, 2 ways of reaching Bed of Chaos from the Demon Ruins, areas several connections to different areas (not just hallways or passages from one are to another one like gutter, the castle, shrine of amana, dragon aerie, earthen peak) like Blighttown, Firelink Shrine, Darkroot Garden, Valley of the Drakes. As i said it's less lazy to bother designing the world in a way that allows to navigate it creatively than to seal progress behind what is essentially a paywall (get a 1 000 000 soul memory and you can pass). It still gives you freedom for sure, but in a really lazy way. The same way mobile games allow you to either grind/wait for an item, or buy with microtransactions. I will admit that this idea isn't as bad thanks to the ascetics system, which is interesting, but my point of it being lazier than the other way still stands.

[@deathxul777]

How late am I?!

[@PrimordialKrishna]

What ethnicity is Sinclair ?

[@hopebringer2348]

What kinda question is that

[@insertedgynamehere___969]

I heard she lives under the Soviet union in a couple of other podcasts (can't remember which)

[@Sitruk86]

as a person who could not give less of a fuck about co-op or pvp, ds2 sucked. everything about it is just wrong. the movement feels slip-slidy, the hitboxes are ridiculous, the sheer number of 720 ohk grabs is ... ugh... i've tried to go back to Scholar like 4 times. and i spend like 30 minutes and just quit.

[@HoneyDoll894]

I find it funny how these guys always trash The ringed city. Like I wish they'd have done more with it, and that some of the story on it wasn't so convoluted. (like you can explain it but there's some time fuckery going on), it's by far one of the best areas in the souls series. It's way better than anything I've seen in dark souls 1, and darksouls two has like maybe a couple areas on that level. Bloodborne I feel mainly has that in the DLC and ds3 has irithyl. Also now years later, I still think dark souls 3 is still by far the best dark souls game

[@flabbajabba9527]

DS1 definitely has a few areas that are on that level, if not better. DS2 not so much.

[@flabbajabba9527]

"why did they never make maps like dark souls again? Because they wanted to make good maps" I guess they failed because DS1 still has the best/most interesting map (maybe not counting elden ring). DS2's map is mostly ugly, lazy, and nonsensical. And Bloodborne's and DS3's maps are good but a bit boring in terms of how it all connects. DS1 still reigns supreme in that regard. Also, ringed city is amazing.