Souls Inheritors: Bloodborne vs. Sekiro vs. Elden Ring [Spoilers]

This is a comprehensive video retrospective and critique of the three follow-up games From Software did in the wake of their iconic Dark Souls trilogy-- Bloodborne, Sekiro, and Elden Ring. It looks at each game through the lens of both how they construct their unique artistic identities and how they all connect back through the legacy of their inherited systems. FULL SPOILERS FOR ALL GAMES.
This video made with production assistance from Nate Greene.
__Table of Contents___
Intro-- 00:00
Bloodborne-- 00:15
Sekiro-- 1:23:49
Elden Ring-- 2:41:17
Special Thanks-- 4:18:17
========================================
If you enjoyed this video and want to contribute to the production of others like it, please consider donating through the crowdfunding website Patreon: / noahcaldwellgervais

[@teddywithketchup]

This is a full-on masterpiece and I don't wanna hear any more self-deprecation about so-called "missed deadlines" or "not living up to the standards" of a very vocal minority. You do great work, Noah, and your videos showing up in my feed brighten my days significantly. The quality of your writing is unreal.

[@SoldierHawke]

Hey Noah. What this guy said.

[@Splitboltxful]

Yeah, i don’t know if noah actually reads all the comments but I hope he knows how much his content provides joy for others. Parasocial relationships are a weird thing, I don’t want to pretend to know the man but I feel a lot of him comes through his work. And to me, and many, it’s quite likable. Sometimes I wish I could express that I appreciate what he does in a more powerful way than pressing like or leaving a comment or patreon sub. Just so he knows that he’s doin a good job, because he’s earned the right to at least believe that.

[@Jedi-J2]

Aye. More than once one of these has dropped at just the perfect moment to turn a low moment into a good one for me. Longer waits have just been an implicit promise for an extra long, extra worthwhile video, and have never disappointed. Exceeded what I hoped for even by those standards more than once. I'm gonna only watch the first two thirds of this video, because I haven't finished Elden Ring yet, but I am already looking forward to the last section.

[@jago7990]

Real

[@Pouting_Tom]

Well said. You're the best, Noah. An inspiration even.

[@HadesWTF]

Fun fact about Horrah Loux. Though he may be somewhat silly, he is the only boss who shows you respect in the whole game. Instead of calling you "foul tarnished" he calls you "brave tarnished."

[@GreebusBleeb]

Makes sense he's tarnished too

[@MrGalaxypool]

Melania also shows a similar level of respect IIRC. She basically laments your incredible power, says you'll become Elden Lord for sure, and then apologises to her brother for not being strong enough.

[@jtlego1]

@@GreebusBleeb He’s basically *The* Tarnished. The head honcho, the original, the king of the tribe that would eventually be returned to Grace to fight for the title of Elden Lord once more.

[@dankwarmouse6248]

"Tarnished Warrior. 'Twas nobly fought."

[@octavianpopescu4776]

Yeah... it feels odd, having to fight some of these characters who I'd gladly join as allies because they're so awesome.

[@McSwift0421]

So, Buddhist here. I think you're spot on in you're understanding of the lore of Senpou Temple, but not why their religion brought them there. "To be undying is to walk the eternal path to enlightenment." The important part here is "to walk the path to enlightenment", which means to pursue enlightenment, not attain. The monks take on the centipede to live forever, in order to one day achieve enlightenment in this life, not the next. This is also evident in the fact that we always find them meditating, and with other monks of lesser status watching their bodies or meditating with them. They are trying to attain enlightenment, and they were likely given the worms in the first place because they had reached some level of spiritual attainment or status already. Put another way: They don't see physical immortality as a spiritual shortcut to immortality, they see physical immortality as a tool to further contemplate and pursue the path of becoming enlightened in this life rather than the next, potentially less favorable, life. They're still wrong, as you're saying, but it is more about them getting their religion twisted, not turning their backs on the concept entirely.

[@Kaleidescoop]

the phrase "she uses the cry of her lost child to paralyze you and get off devastating combos" is so funny to me, like, the way you phrased it makes it sound like new miscarriage tech just dropped in the competitive scene

[@EggBastion]

I swear I could hear a few notes of green greens as I read your comment

[@hardgay7537]

​@@EggBastionI swear I can already mentally visualize the upB into DAir nonsense.

[@SeekSeekLest]

Two best friends?

[@dixego]

The parts where Noah quotes from Buddhist belief to understand Sekiro and reinterprets the penultimate boss of Elden Ring as a wacky wrestling match are the reasons why he is the GOAT. Incredible work.

[@mammamiaculpa]

noah’s willingness to sincerely and wholeheartedly use buddhist scripture to interpret a game, as he did before with the souls series, is just *chef’s kiss*

[@StrikeWarlock]

What gets me is that he makes perfect sense as to how what happened with the Senpou Monks was tragic. The comparison to Midnight Mass was perfect.

[@hollandscottthomas]

As I understand it, GRRM's contribution was to write the characters/events of history that have long-since passed, and then Miyazaki picked that up and formed the game around it. There's a lot of hallmarks of Martin's work in there (the Night of the Black Knives is definitely his), but it's fairly ambiguous how much he actually contributed because Miyazaki is a special kind of refracting lens for all his influences. See also: Berserk.

[@cobra29935]

however when that one prisoner that sells you seafood says "Marika's tits, you must be 'ungry". that was definitely written by GRRM.

[@hollandscottthomas]

@@cobra29935 aaaaahahahahaha yes absolutely

[@jonathangiese5727]

It's a small thing, but I think the detailed heraldry we see sewn into the surcoats of Godrick's soldiers and on the banners strewn around Mount Gelmir also seems like Martin's doing - at least in "A Song of Ice and Fire", it's something he devotes a lot of time and attention to.

[@hollandscottthomas]

@@jonathangiese5727 For sure! That totally tracks.

[@Someone-vq6jk]

The houses as well were probably written by GRRM, like house hoslow and carian academy

[@blackstab3913]

One thing about Bloodborne rallying system : on top of being a breath of fresh air regarding Dark Souls "passivity" being the path of least resistance, it's also one of the best pieces of narrative design out there. You play as a hunter, the seemingly last bastion of humanity against the beasthood that took over Yharnam. And as you play the game, you'll realize that when an enemy dies, right after their health bar dissapear and they enter their "dying animation", their hitboxes are still active for a couple of seconds. Meaning that, if you continue hitting them after their death, you can still benefit from rallying and get back some Ô so precious HP. And before you realize it, in a game where one of the main themes is the beasthood that lies into the human heart, you witness yourself hitting over and over again your preys, even after they are dead, because you became obsessed over what your perceives as your means of survival. Absolute genius. This is my favorite piece of narrative design ever. Miyazaki and his teams are pulling the entire industry up.

[@Quercusrubis]

This is a super-cool point that I don't often see discussed when people talk about the rallying mechanic.

[@AProblemOfficer]

This does seem cool in concept but I wonder if it’s actually an intended mechanic or a bug that they just didn’t care to patch out…

[@blackstab3913]

@@AProblemOfficer You mean an extremely obvious, instantly recognizable "bug" during any playtest in a Miyazaki game? Sure.

[@AProblemOfficer]

@@blackstab3913 what I mean to say is: was it something that was intentionally put into the game with lore intention behind it like the original commenter said or rather something that unintentionally happened that they deemed too insignificant to fix.

[@wojciechciagaa7723]

​@@AProblemOfficer I think it's significant enough that it would be fixed if it was a bug

[@LonelyDad42069]

The thing that summed up Sekiro so well for me is is that I spent 2 months attempting Isshin but as soon as I finally learned "what to do" and how to respond to each attack I didn't even take a single hit when I finally was able to beat him. Not gonna lie it did feel incredible.

[@DarkMuj]

This is exactly the beauty of the game

[@travtuck7646]

Once you know what that MFer is gonna do before he does it, and how to deal with his overhead jumping slam and that glock, its just a matter of gourd and posture management. I think it took me a couple of months too.

[@jacobhumphrey3535]

That's been my experience with Sekiro so far on my first playthrough. One of three outcomes with every boss-1. I die, horribly. 2. I do okay, but don't get anywhere near close. 3. I do it perfectly.

[@Greyman-Gaming]

Same, I spent over 40 tries trying to beat Saint Isshin, and then on my winning try, I just did it, and I didn’t had to revive( I did get hit a few times tho). It felt so sastifying.

[@willsoe]

Totally agree. It really rewards mastery of its mechanics more than any other souls game for me. Take any somewhat hard boss in dark souls or ER. I don't think I could say with 100% certainty that I could beat them first try. However, with genichiro, it's almost muscle memory for me now. Any playthrough, new or ng+, I can beat him first go. The combat is so tight.

[@IronPineapple]

I’ve been slowly chipping away at this video for the past week, and I finally finished it. Incredible work, you have so many well articulated insights. Genuinely, no one else is even in the same weight class as you when it comes to writing within the gaming space. Also I’ve replayed the Hoarah Loux wrestling bit a dozen times. It’s the funniest thing I’ve ever heard in a video essay. These past 2 videos have been my favorite you’ve created, and I can’t wait to see more. Brings me so much joy to see what you’ve gotten out of the experiences for each of these games. Weirdos who are saying you’re playing these games wrong can shove it.

[@Blarglesnarfe]

1000% agree. Really funny, insightful, sincere, and enjoyable video.

[@C1yde902]

I would say Joseph Anderson is on the same of tier of analysis as Noah although his prose is nowhere near as elegant

[@dragontamer1012]

Funny, I've also been eating this video in chunks.

[@grfrjiglstan]

I agree with Tungsten Tropical Fruit

[@RemingtonDean]

@@C1yde902 Anderson is a pretentious twit.

[@koichilomoto968]

the man was born to say the word mechanically and I for one am fully glad he's made a career out of it

[@MegaBearsFan]

One of the strengths of the Spirit Ash system that Noah didn't mention is that it means that even after the servers go offline, players will ALWAYS have the opportunity to summon help against tough bosses, even if that boss does not have an NPC summon available for it.

[@333Trihll]

Something really prescient considering the lack of servers currently on the dark souls games on steam...

[@StrikeWarlock]

I think there's a convergence going on here since Monster Hunter Rise also implemented something similar via Followers in Sunbreak.

[@Civerius]

Ey, Moron. Just use a fucking trainer. You are confused about flying ontop of a fucking bird when we already have 22 1/2 ton planes. Wake up, already.

[@JayStryerTheDeadWizard]

@@StrikeWarlock and it's so good! love their banter that they do amongst themselves as well

[@Zoomy]

FromSoft games have always had that forward-looking idea of making sure as much of the experience is accessible offline as possible. The NPC summons, NPC invasions, the bits where you get to "invade" an NPC, even little things like making covenant items farmable. It's one of the reasons they're one of my favourite devs in an industry polluted with games that *will* die when the servers are turned off.

[@dudeskeela]

his name isnt actually sekiro, it's sekiro's monster. sekiro is the doctor. common misconception.

[@Tassanamm]

"The thing about violence in videogames is that nothing is ever risked and nothing is ever gained, that's why it's fun, that's why it's inherently meaningless beyond the emotions it can provoke as a work of art" goddamn that line

[@plipplop7343]

I understand where that sentiment is coming from, but I'd have to disagree. The depth of meaning and significance in the media we consume definitely goes way beyond just our immediate emotional reaction to the experience of engaging with it. Art is always a form of communication, and more specifically, argumentation. There are assertions being made, those assertions are supported in some way by the work and how it is presented, and the perceiver is always being encouraged by the work's existence to come away agreeing with what the work is saying, even if it's only being said in a way that is subtle, indirect, and implied. Even something as simple as a doodle of a puppy is ultimately communicating something. It can be assumed that the artist sees puppies as significant in some way. If the puppy is happy, maybe they are trying to express happiness, or trying to evoke happiness in others. If they are emphasizing features that are generally considered "cute," then they are trying to communicate the cuteness of puppies. But this is also an argument. The artist is asserting that puppies are worth depicting, that puppies are cute, that puppies represent in some way the concept of cuteness, or of joy, or innocence, and they are supporting those assertions through their work. Of course, not all of this dialogue is necessarily conscious or deliberate. The artist might not know what they are trying to say, might not even feel that they are "trying to say" anything. And likewise, the perceiver may find the work to be meaningless, or be confused as to what meaning exactly they can extract from it. But just because things might be lost in translation or the meaning created might be accidental, doesn't mean that the meaning isn't there and that nothing is being said. But the point to my rambling is this: Art *pursuades*. Not always significantly or effectively, and not always in the ways the artist meant for it to, but art has the capacity to radically influence how people think about and conceptualize different ideas. This is where the notion of propaganda comes from. It is why there is a commonality to the aesthetic elements of religious artworks, no matter where in the world you go. It is why poets write poems, authors write stories, and painters paint paintings instead of just saying what they wish to say plainly. The emotional relationship one has with a work is the solvent that allows its message to better diffuse into their psyche. It is part of the persuasive process. So yes, while obviously, a rational adult who does not condone violence is not going to be "turned violent" by playing violent video games, we can't deny the notion that there is deeper significance to fictional depictions of violence beyond how they make us feel as we experience them. Sekiro, for example, *argues* that wanton violence is a bad thing, it *argues* that we should only seek violence if it is ultimately in the name of peace. But there exist games that argue that violence is good in other contexts that make the message more dangerous. Maybe they argue that violence in the name of nationalism is good, or that violence against women is good. And such games *are* dangerous, because art always has, and always will, possess persuasive power.

[@perchy22]

Glad to see I'm not the only one moved by that line. Also, I would add on that the comment book from Bbbb Bbbb (which I only skimmed) does not rebut that line, since it is from said emotions, and the audience working with said emotions, that such meaning and persuasion stem. Further, I would disagree that all art is inherently an argument, as that would require actually positing something and supporting that position (I would even argue that persuasive art need not be an argument, and that not all art is persuasive/meant to be persuasive/etc). I would say it is a stretch of definitions to call art simply meant to be fun an argument that said things are fun, in not that dissimilar of a way as calling the enjoyment gained from doing something selfless a form of selfishness is an abuse of definitions. Yes some art is those things, and yes some make persuasive arguments that lead to (in my view) terrible conclusions. But there are reasons why art is so hard to define and why it can be found in (almost literally) anything.

[@God-mb8wi]

@@plipplop7343 my boy has read his fuller lol

[@God-mb8wi]

@@plipplop7343 but i should say, art does not persuade. good art should *provoke*, as emerson said

[@VashdaCrash]

@@plipplop7343 persuades* but yeah, I agree with your argument. I think people adapt to their environment by learning constantly about everything they experience, and that's what makes people be "persuaded" by anything they are exposed to, specially if they are not conscious about it. Now that is in conflict with the whole freedom of speech thing, because most of us aren't responsible enought about the content we create, but that's another can of worms.

[@seahorsemafia]

A content creator I like described Noah’s work in the most endearing way. He said Noah’s videos are like he retreated to a writing den for weeks and then emerged with a giant parchment and quill manuscript, which he then read in front of an odd device his wife held in front of him, recording it. They just have such an earnest unedited feeling to them. Even though they are of course edited, for hours probably.

[@peacemaster8117]

He's like Martin Luther nailing his theses to the church door.

[@amysteriousviewer3772]

His writing is honestly in a completely different league to most other content creators out there. It has such a literary and academic quality to it. The way he manages to weave threads between different media to create a new and fresh perspective is truly masterful.

[@NIL0S]

The editing and recording actually got a lot better over the years, it's almost perfect now,besides some occasional difference in tone when cutting together huger chunks. He doesn't cut himself off anymore as much and the delivery is not as "read" as it was in the past. Good job.

[@meltingsquash1645]

vowsh

[@acjackson127]

Fat Ian Kochinski

[@SpoonyBard88]

This man just casually releasing the most well-written and genuinely thoughtful game critiques of all time.

[@mazanakaUA]

There's a lot of factual mistakes and ass-pulls throughout the video, and most thoughts expressed can be expressed in more eloquent manner in far fewer words. Which would lend itself to less mistakes as well... It didn't give me a new perspective on the subject of the video. Just a perspective on this "reviewer". >genuinely thoughtful game critiques of all time I know people like to grossly exagerate on the internet, but I wouldn't even call it "decent". And not even as a joke would I call this self-indulgent graphomania "great".

[@Unending_Joy]

​@@mazanakaUA you sound like a massive loser lol

[@COOMmanderInChief]

@@mazanakaUA hating ass gremlin

[@longlivesteelo]

⁠@@mazanakaUA Brother , you do know this entire video is about HIS experience with the game and HIS thoughts on it ? The video wasn’t made as a end-all wholly factual critique of the series. It’s an opinion piece . The beauty of interpreting art is that it’s subjective. The reason why people like this guy’s opinion is that you can tell he puts the upmost respect towards these games and puts the time and effort to understand as much as he can about them so that he can deliver a very entertaining video essay on them .

[@pancakemogul]

@@mazanakaUA God, you sound bitter. What, did he block you on Twitter?

[@joeblack9745]

I feel like the criticism of Bloodborne’s birth and feminine themes can be seen another way. If the horror in the game does a great job turning relatable human themes on their head and bastardizing them to illicit an uncomfortable response then the birth metaphor fits with that perspective. To me it isn’t making a statement like “having babies is weird and hard to understand” or “female bodily functions are a total gross mystery” instead its making us observe something beautiful that the human race puts on a spiritual pedestal (women and birth) and twisting it and debasing it. It adds another great layer to the vampires, wherewolves, fish people, and elder gods. Freaky freaky stuff in my opinion.

[@TheCompleteMental]

Also almost every single time its evoked, it's nonconsensual. That's the entire reason it's disturbing.

[@legitimatemedicine]

​@@TheCompleteMentalThe birth and menstruation isn't being presented as horror tho, it's the fact that this tyranny of gods and the church is based on rape and coercion. Rape is the inconceivable horror whether by man or kin, the women and children involved are always presented as sympathetic victims

[@Funko777]

​​@@TheCompleteMental it's definitely not tho? Literally everybody except you as the player see the great ones as Gods and simply interacting with them as a blessing. Yoesefkas replacement (however you spell it) literally says she feels blissful or something close to that after her impregnation.

[@contractzero1194]

​@@Funko777does not mean she agreed for it to happen. The God's had their way with yarnham.

[@ClericalError87]

​@@Funko777 you're forgetting Arianna, for whom it was definitely not consensual.

[@wcs792]

"I'm bad at games," says man who beat Sekiro.

[@Violaphobia]

With enough patience, all things are possible

[@kevinwillems8720]

​@harmonyolivierbaker6662without using what?

[@tranjimmy]

@@kevinwillems8720play Sekiro and you will figure it out

[@rajayonandroruslito]

​​@harmonyolivierbaker6662 tbf i wasnt using mikiri until genichiro's 3rd phase the first few time i fought him, before then i didnt even know it existed lol and by god it was such an important technique later on that i was glad i learned it while fighting genichiro

[@itcouldbelupus2842]

​@@hollyc5417you haven't played it

[@LateNightHalo]

Noah, I hope you understand that whatever controversial opinions you have about these franchises with deep fandoms.. .. you spent 4 hours explaining yourself. Even if people disagree, those who have maturity can “see where you’re coming from” You did incredible work. Hearing your thoughts on Bloodborne was beautiful as someone who loves the game! I hope you eventually do the Halo series at some point!

[@puddel9079]

Halo is a rather special kind of game. If I have one piece of advice: play with the original graphics. There are little animations and (camera) framing that were eschewed with the remaster. Edit: I'm assuming this will be read *if* Noah picks this series up.

[@brendanjackson9870]

Qd

[@JbJonesIV]

@@puddel9079 I'd hope he'd do a review of the games both with their original graphics and their new ones, distinguish between the designs and what was better/worse

[@thepayneboy804]

u speak the true true

[@jamesbailey6257]

Yeah, there's a lot I disagree with on the Sekiro segment personally, but Noah very well explained what he believed was an issue and why, and I completely understand where he's coming from, this was an exceptionally well written video essay

[@danielwareking]

Noah I just read your twitter thread about feeling like a failure and I just wanted to come over here and drive home the point that your stuff is GREAT and you really need to not listen to the minority of mouth breathers who don't appreciate what you're doing here. Love your insights and your writing!

[@emulation2369]

Lol, everyone can have their own opinion even if you don't like it, I doubt that the reason being his depression is someone else, usually the problem sits inside of the person

[@henrycrabs3497]

I have only contempt for people that use Twitter

[@raevenrises7595]

@@emulation2369 serious mouth breather energy here

[@nate567987]

@@emulation2369 and the shit stains are here

[@catastrophucked]

Well, when you refuse to update your visual audio quality unless your patreon only subscribers demand it (unprofessional), calling tloup2 haters, bigots, and intentionally reducing the flaws of games you do like to appear as a more long-winded way of saying "get good", and then calling people turds... Yeah, Noah is a step above others, but he damn sure ain't a step above the majority. He's a sub-A tier youtuber, so too bad, get over it.

[@DavidTizzard]

"It's actually very in keeping with the patterns of history to have the whole world come down to unpredictable selfish decisions made by a handful of nobles who were too busy fighting or fucking each other to notice their kingdoms dying around them." What a line!!

[@meric2]

One thing about the rally mechanic in Bloodborne that I haven't heard anyone mention yet is that you can continue to get health from an enemy that's already dead. I thought it was a glitch the first time, but now I think it's a way to represent the player being overcome by bloodlust, the player becomes so focused on the drawing of blood they no longer care that their target has died. There's still flesh to draw blood from even if there is no more threat

[@goroakechi6126]

Yes, there’s even a parallel to this in the Gascoinge fight. During the opening scene, he’s slashing a dead corpse, as you do every time you get in that extra hit to soak the blood out of their lifeless body.

[@Sahdirah]

Holy dhit - I’d never heard of this! That’s fascinating.

[@phant0mdummy]

But dead ass, it's prob just sloppy coding that doesn't cut off the system until around 1.5 seconds after the enemy dies. For more sloppy fromsoft coding, see all their games frame pacing issues. Or the beauty of their frame rate issues across most of their titles. Nutshell: cute concept but you're giving them too much credit.

[@kyletrout3828]

@@phant0mdummy which in and of itself is part of the brilliance of their story telling. That an oversight on their part can be seamlessly folded into their world building and lore lol.

[@jimjam9387]

@@phant0mdummy You should have at least came with good examples. Like dead angling, or the RCE exploit which are actual problems with the games code. From had the foresight to enable things like toggle escaping before to circumvent real issues in their code. Enemies in BB bleed while they’re still standing but won’t once get hit the deck. It’s obviously an intentional mechanic.

[@fnkyron]

If anyone ever tells you that you need to “git Gud” Noah, keep in mind that you beat Sekiro. I know plenty of souls vets who can’t. Hell, I couldn’t and I’m a supreme masochist for this stuff. Thanks for all your hard work, Noah.

[@thats4thebirds]

I firmly believe if you struggle with other souls games sekiro is an easier sell. It was my first souls win. I didn’t have “bad habits” from the other entries to break.

[@fnkyron]

@@thats4thebirds I couldn’t beat any Dark Souls and thought they were horribly designed for years… until I picked up Bloodborne during the lockdowns. And then it all clicked and I was hooked. So there’s definitely some truth to that. Different approaches to the same general idea.

[@thats4thebirds]

@@fnkyron yeah same thing to me. These games are so different in what they ask the player to do on a moment to moment basis that I think they hit a completely different gamer brain haha there’s obvious overlap, but I am not a patient player so I struggle with the earlier souls games where as these give me some freedom to mess up while being aggressive.

[@VaydaladaVodalada]

It’s me

[@assassinofkeyblades]

I only beat sekiro in the past 2 months even though I bought it on release I loved all the from soft games but sekiro just wasn't clicking for me and couldn't get into until I finally picked it up again and met it halfway and now it's probably my favorite fromsoft game

[@PvtRangDang]

I don't usually comment on videos but your commentary about Lady Butterfly with the "yes call me a puppy" vent just had me laughing so hard I was crying. Which is something I haven't done in a long time. I love your videos with the insightful commentary and nonchalant humor. It's like a breath of fresh air.

[@Esrevereverse]

Quotes Dyer 40:56 Davenport 1:41:55 and response 1:48:08 The Tengu 2:05:09 Isshin 2:05:49 Kuro 2:20:10 Buddha 2:21:49 and 2:23:20 Senpou Monk 2:26:05 Paul 2:27:23 Ghost Woman 2:33:14 and Samurai Singer 2:34:17 Miyazaki 2:45:26 Hyetta 3:48:53 Millicent 3:51:49 Miyazaki interview 3:56:42 Ranni 3:58:54, 3:59:33 and Aldia 3:59:59 Bonus 6:55 16:02 1:09:38 1:34:45 1:45:53 3:27:03 3:36:13 4:01:19

[@EtherBotGames]

this is so useful /gen and also why did u make it

[@Esrevereverse]

I looked for them for the Dark Souls video as well, just liked his choices of quotes. In a text essay you can recognize quotes more easily, and I wanted that guide for myself.@@EtherBotGames

[@AbhishekPatel-gb6ni]

Noah is the textbook definition of imposter syndrome. He’s absolutely brilliant, each of his videos are masterpieces, he makes me sit through a 4 hour video in rapt attention, but still can’t see how amazing he is. Dude, if you read this, be kind to yourself. Whatever your doing, it’s working.

[@JustinZode]

My favorite content creator, favorite game critic, favorite author, all rolled in to one. Truly and unironically creating insightful, genius content. I watch and rewatch and always look forward to the next. It really is that good, and I’ve been paying close attention to writing in film and game criticism for 20 years.

[@jeffbloke2157]

@@JustinZode it is literally impossible (not actually impossible, but for it to be taken seriously at least) for anyone to say that Noah hasn't "git gud" when he has beaten Sekiro with every ending. the game sets an extremely high bar for tenacity _and_ reflexes, and as he points out, makes no fucking compromises with those who would try to beat it without that tenacity and ability to be fast enough. Even the final boss fight that he said required "luck" can't be beaten on luck alone. it probably required a good amount of luck to bring the fight within his reach, but his reach had to be improved with dedicated practice and careful, strategic forethought... which he even says when he mentions that he used a rare artifact at a critical moment to give him the victory.

[@thedoomslayer5863]

Thats probably bc hear me out now, hes a normal guy like u and me. Not some wordsmith god that makes anyone cream their pants the second his videos begin and crack the meaning of life. It's a normal video essay on the souls games when theres been many of them. The only real difference is some have takes u agree with some dont. Thats probably why he might not think hes all that when you guys act cringe and tell him hes gods gift to youtube or to writing or to video game essays ect. Stop this weird parasocial idol worshipping and just be normal for once. It's not even like you're gargling his epeen as a meme to be funny its just cringe bro.

[@ldskjfhslkjdhflkjdhf]

"Noah is the textbook definition of imposter syndrome" is an awful sentence and I'm annoyed for having read it. Terminally online.

[@AbhishekPatel-gb6ni]

@@ldskjfhslkjdhflkjdhf lol

[@malachimusclerat]

the turnaround insane. hitting us back to back. he just doesn't miss.

[@kylenyce8198]

2 months later isn’t back to back?

[@arsebiscuitsandwine]

​@@kylenyce8198 I've been writing a book for 8 years and it's not even close to this good. Noah is a gem, and you have some real warped expectations.

[@corvoriever539]

@@kylenyce8198 “If he doesn’t upload mediocre 15 min content every Thursday, he’s not that good” - Probably You

[@salmonformula4377]

@@kylenyce8198 Between this video and the other one there is about 10 hours of content. Most video essayists don’t put out that much in that time. Let alone work of this quality.

[@ordinarytree4678]

Now he reviews as HOARAH LOUX

[@PhabioTheHost]

Huh, I loved the Hoarah Loux fight. I thought the transition to maniac magic barbarian gave a great deal of context to what it means to be a barbarian of such might that he could kill every giant but one. His transition was so unexpected and surprising that while I did laugh it was almost more incredulity and then he grabbed and killed me in one hit. To me it was a reveal that civility and "honor" were such a burden and limitation as he abandoned it for the ideal of doing whatever it takes to win.

[@peacemaster8117]

My reaction was "Oh SHIT, THAT'S Hourax Loux?! Lets go!". It's so hype. Reminds me of fighting Armstrong in Revengeance.

[@idlemindedmage6925]

He is a past relic of the raw brutal strength it took to found the golden order. An era where strength alone warranted rulership.

[@Demonboy007]

My reaction was "THIS MAN SAID FUCK STANDS, WE'RE GOING BACK TO HAMON!" Loved that fight.

[@masonrockwood7732]

I liked it my first time too, but the voice acting is off and the cutscene is janky no matter what settings I apply.

[@enman009]

Yeah, Hoarah Loux is when the real fight started and your mechanical knowledge was pushed to the absolute limits. Such a gigachad.

[@gp8268]

Loving this so far, but I'd like to suggest an alternative reading of the unwanted pregnancy and birth themes of Bloodborne- the video essay "visceral femininity". Absolutely fantastic watch

[@detCap]

Absolutely agree, one of the few videos that I think really nailed how essential these themes are to the overall narrative of Bloodborne.

[@christianhowell3140]

Masterpiece of a video hands down singlehandedly made me scared of women

[@flamingmanure]

@@detCap that video and comment section are abit too femcel-ish for my tastes, too many instances and anger towards men for "not realizing" these themes, mostly because they arent essential themes to begin with, and frankly i dont think any gender themes are essential to the overall themes of lovecraftian horror in bb, godbirth has always been a central theme in lovecrafts works, and the horrible gory births were pretty fucked up in it, and the way i see it women are just tools for the gods to find a way to give birth to their offspring, and men are just tools to start the hunt, maintain the church and fulfill the tasks of the gods in the human world, thats pretty much how deep the gender and birth themes go in bb, they are just minor spices for the buffet that is bb, for me at the very least.

[@quasarone3083]

@@flamingmanure The entire story revolves around slaughtering a newborn child that was ripped from its (non-consenting) mothers womb. I do not see how that is "just minor spices to the buffet". Even the true ending is not available without engaging with at least two of three possible "unwanted/dubious pregnancy" plots. Also; "The way i see it women are just tools for the gods to find a way to give birth [...]" is something you bring up to _downplay_ gender themes in this game? Excuse me?

[@shyguyrocks1]

@@quasarone3083 They were saying both genders function as tools to the Great Ones, whether it's through the Hunt or impregnation. I do think there's definitely a lot of themes surrounding femininity but this is all just interpretations.

[@Narokkurai]

I can agree that Godfrey's fight came out of nowhere and was a pretty unfortunate bit of narrative whiplash at the end, but I don't have anything bad to say about his transformation into Hoarah Loux. It felt very appropriately dramatic. Maybe the fighting style itself was a little goofy, but I thought it did a great job of representing pure barbarian power. It was a moment where he sacrificed all the dignity and all the reserve that he had put on himself specifically to be a better Lord, just for the chance to win it back again. To fight for the Belt one last time. Say what you will about the cheesiness of pro wrestling, but they know good drama.

[@Hifuutorian]

I think the goofiness is a part of the charm. Something that Dark Souls imitators forget is just *how* goofy the games are after all.

[@int3r4ct]

When he kills his Lion and swaps back to his former pro-wrestling self, I saw it as him acknowledging you as a warrior strong enough to warrant him throwing away all of his “proper” methods of fighting when he was king. He’s testing you to make sure that you are stronger than him, when he was made First Elden Lord. That’s why when you actually beat him, he says something along the lines of “Well fought, maybe you are a strong enough warrior to take the throne after all.” (It’s been a while since I last fought him, so I’m paraphrasing.)

[@Odinsday]

@@int3r4ct At the end of the fight, Hoarah Loux says, "Brave Tarnished. Thy strength befits a crown." In a very short amount of words, he says that you are THAT guy and that you will be the next Elden Lord.

[@LarryHazard]

@@Hifuutorian why did you write how in bold

[@Hifuutorian]

@@LarryHazard Put an asterick on both ends. I think certain things like periods can break it though.

[@noahdavidson1343]

I'm honestly impressed you beat Sekiro seemingly without using mikiri counter considering that it's the strongest tool in the game and the window to time it is huge. I think you played the game on hard mode unironically. I can't imagine fighting Ishin without Mikiri.

[@alexanderkentopp3070]

Agreed, my guess was that he didn't trust his reactions

[@dorkmoonblade4315]

Yeah the timing is honestly easier than regular parries.

[@MAXISORAWIGGLES]

He's just bad at using the mechanics in the game

[@C1yde902]

@@MAXISORAWIGGLES I’d argue that he’s actually very good at using game mechanics. He openly admits, and rightly so, that he is not very good at these games, and instead gets by by using the various options the games provide to their fullest extent. The fact that he was able to get through Bloodborne and Sekiro at all, much less beat every boss and achieve every ending, while missing the majority of his dodges and parries is a testament to how good he was at abusing hunter tools and shinobi prosthetics. He had a clear understanding of game mechanics and how to take advantage of them to achieve his goals

[@MAXISORAWIGGLES]

@@C1yde902 I mean the proof is in the game footage he uses, he's not very good at these games whatsoever. It's actually pretty painful to watch this in video form

[@Keaton_Ambrose]

It's worth noting that Ranni's ending was grossly mistranslated; she and you are leaving but the people stay, she is removing the temptation to worship her from the Lands between, not throwing everyone to the stars

[@gabebernhard4601]

Idk if this will get lost or not but George R R Martin’s contribution to Elden Ring was largely to the world and the characters, and that’s very much reflected by the game. The Lands Between feels more like a real (fantasy) lived in world than previous nonsensical, dream-like worlds. This is a continent that was torn apart by a massive civil war sparked by the death of a monarch. As for the characters, the demigods of Elden Ring are not the esoteric gods of Lordran, they are basically just a hyper-dysfunctional family, with two branches from two fathers, several rivalries, one insestuous member, and a whole bunch of collective trauma that manifested in a war that broke the world. Elden Ring is, at its core, the story of a dysfunctional royal family whose infighting and scheming led to mass death. What could be more GRRM than that?

[@ethanhernandez9889]

Underrated comment

[@Dext3rM0rg4n]

I wish I got all of that when I played the game., to me the main flaw of elden ring is how bad it is at conveying it's story. Fromsoft games hide their world building behind item description but the main story are usually easy to follow, but in elden ring I had zero clue of what was going from the beginning to the end of the game.

[@pitofomen]

​@@Dext3rM0rg4n So strange, for me it was the complete opposite, especially Margotts little "competent bastardchild hungry for attention" Spiel and Marikas Greek/Egyptian genderbending tomfoolery. I wonder what makes it click for some and just not for others. Maybe the open world risks some people not getting info in an order that puts things proper into place.

[@trustytrest]

I have to know if George R.R. Martin was the one who came up with the Frenzied Flame concept. It hit me so much harder than any light or dark in the past games. It really managed to feel like despair incarnate. The very manifestation of the thought that being dead would be better than the current state of the world. Coming off as both a hatred for the world yet also a strange compassion to life itself, wanting all of its sufferings to end. I can't think of Georgie writing anything similar before, but it's such powerful writing that it was the biggest sign to me that FromSoft had a real writer on board this time.

[@adamplentl38]

That's very strange to me because I felt like Elden Ring was the easiest narrative to follow on account of how the characters in the hub literally explain every step of it to you.@@Dext3rM0rg4n

[@TheTongueTwisler]

Anyone having issues with blood vials in Bloodborne, here's a tip. Whenever you level up, repair weapons, upgrade weapons, etc. Spend the remainder of your blood echoes on blood vials before you leave. Even if you can only buy 2 or 3, do it. It adds up. I've been doing this since my second playthrough of the game years ago and have never encountered a shortage of blood vials since.

[@dankwarmouse6248]

Yes, this is the strat. Let no blood echoes go to waste before you leave the Hunter's Dream. Think of the blood vials (and bullets, which are cheaper) as being a store of value, since in most other scenarios they'll just be lost before you have a chance to use them again.

[@sonicstage1]

That works after you get a fair bit into the game, but for the first few hours you still need to grind after every death to regain your vials. The mechanic is such a head scratcher for me in an otherwise perfect game.

[@TheTongueTwisler]

@@sonicstage1 It's actually a great idea to do it early because they are dirt cheap the earlier you are in the game.

[@gamegyro56]

Or just visit the Cum Dungeon (assuming you have online).

[@smithmichael8144]

I used the blood vials like fire paper, and bolt paper. If I didn't know what I was doing, I wouldn't use it yet. I REALLY didn't want to have to farm for 40 of them at a time, and so I'd really just use them to push to the checkpoints, or just to see what the new boss phase was like

[@TheAngryTrapezoid]

Something I love about Ludwig that I don't think you mentioned is that in his first phase he's weak to serrations as a beast should be, but when he regains his mind in the second phase he loses that weakness

[@waltersullivan2727]

I like little details like that. Same thing with Gael but in reverse. After he sees the blood of the Dark Soul he takes extra damage from the Hollowslayer in phase 2. Which does additional damage to undead/hollowed foes. Something that would fly over the head of 99% of the players.

[@kurtgrgelwrx8376]

What's so interesting for me is how I very much love playing without summons, taking the hard way, banging my head against the wall for hours and hours until I finally manage to finish a boss, with Sekiro, for this simple reason, being my favourite of all those games And then this man, while enjoying most of the gameplay as well, even more enjoys the artistic choices Fromsoft have made which never even cross my mind when playing. I like watching the occasional lore video, but I'm not thinking too deeply about it myself, ever, I really suck at putting the pieces together and even less so am I able to see the deeper meanings that Noah talks about in hour long videos. It's very cool to see different people enjoy the same game from so completely different perspectives

[@Aloiv]

Mentioning how Elden Ring resonates with player agency, it might be one of my favorite things about the game period. My first NG+ run was especially impacted by this and made that play through so much more profound than the first one. In particular, I tried something different as I got toward the end where an NPC had mentioned that Melina would be spared from sacrifice if the player was embraced by the three fingers instead. But doing so is against her wishes and she leaves you if you do. However, my interest in that option changed when I found out about Miquella's Needle and how it'd purge the flame's influence before reaching the end. What makes it truly special though is doing so doesn't just reverse the story; the glowing eyes were gone, but Melina never comes back and your character's body is still covered in the horrible burns from the three fingers. The game leaving those effects empowered me to feel my character did all of that to save Melina from sacrifice, even if it meant her thinking they were the scum of the earth. Because From Software left so much of this game's story open, it gave me so much more freedom to actually, you know, roleplay and find meaning through agency. And that is such a hard thing to find in video games.

[@JMoore-vo7ii]

"A hunter is a sinister figure..." immediately cuts to the Bloody Crow of Cainhurst

[@StrikeWarlock]

It was still rather enlightening. The Hunter isnt a hero, the Hunter is a predator. I never saw it that way but it's a line that perfectly describes what I feel about the Hunter.

[@anonymousmurphy]

Way I see it, Godfrey didn’t return to randomly usurp the throne he came back to test you. If a new Elden Lord must inevitably rise, it must be earned through strength. He makes it pretty clear through his dialogue, i.e. “[…] I am returned […]
To be granted audience once more”, not “I am returned to reclaim what is lost” or somesuch. He reiterates whenever he defeats you: “Tarnished Warrior. 'Twas nobly fought.” “A crown is warranted with strength!” AND when you finally defeat him: “Thy strength befits a crown.” Hoarah Loux, bless his heart, did indeed return to make sure the championship belt went to someone worthy-no weak jabronis up in this Erdtree.** **This message sponsored by Leyndell Chevrolet.

[@StrikeWarlock]

>Chevrolet Hoaruh Loux confirmed Midwesterner

[@seanylewl]

When you start the fight against Godfrey, you can see that he has a guidance of grace as well, and his is pointing directly towards you. He didn't come to test you - he was sent by the Greater Will to impede you, a last ditch effort to protect the Elden Ring, now that you have proven that you are not willing to be a pawn like Marika was. Of course, to him it is not an act of aggression or malice, simply a test that you each must face together.

[@yamnbam4346]

Despite being a savage, ironically his transformation is the most honorable part of the fight. A reverse Ludwig.

[@brya9681]

his Godfrey take is actually really awful

[@theringbearer1881]

I disagree on some points, smaller and also critical, to differing extents, but you excel at explaining yourself, you do so with clarity and a great command over your words, and the honest and genuine nature of both your criticisms and praise shines through at all times. This is wonderful and I dare say necessary content complimentary to Soulsborne, ‘Souls-likes,’ and the fandom for all, and it’s fascinating and fun to watch/listen to. Great, great work here.

[@butHomeisNowhere___]

He really epitomizes the term "good faith criticism, and I always love hearing his opinion on games. Also, your comment is quite good faith as well 😊

[@FSVR54]

"Necessary" lol. get outta here. He's just some dude online like everyone else and has some bad opinions here and there

[@yeehawtaw2134]

Something to note about Bloodborne's sunrise ending is that while it may be the best ending for YOU, it is not necessarily a "good ending" for everyone. Gehrman is still trapped in the Hunter's Dream, and presumably another night of the hunt will come, drawing in some poor sod to take up the mantle you once held.

[@TannerHartgrove]

OMG I died laughing at your Horah Loux wrestling announcer bit 🤣 seriously, that was just fantastic on your part. So well done (as is, well, literally everything else in the video). Thank you for the amazing content, good sir!

[@benjscar1540]

"nOw I fIgHt aS hOrAh LoUx!"

[@Wizuu0274]

I never gave thought to the idea of Noah being a wrestling narrator but now I have a mighty need.

[@IAmMaxwellHearMeRoar]

Noah, you have a lot of support coming to you on this video, and I've liked them all, but I want to add to the pile anyway. You have done such an incredible job articulating what I love about FromSoft's catelog of games that these videos can only be peerless successes in my mind. You continue to show that you are the best video game essayist writing today; endlessly insightful and endlessly kind. I'm sorry that the response from bad actors has poisoned this project in your mind.

[@connoredavidson]

This and your main Dark Souls video are two of the best pieces of criticism I've ever seen. The breadth and depth of your analysis made me not just think about these games in new ways, it changed how I think about all other pieces of art.

[@Chickennuggetsbd]

1:58:20 "Violence is the way those in power destroy the world and so violence is the only way to make them listen" is a pretty good political philosophy

[@marcogianesello6083]

Yeeeah no way for that to go south

[@StrikeWarlock]

@@marcogianesello6083 the begrudging tone he does implies disappointment, but it can't be helped since it's the only language that will get through.

[@ordinarytree4678]

@@marcogianesello6083 there is no other option. Psychopaths and the forever priviledged dont listen to empassioned pleas, they only listen when their teeth are broken and their piles of money are on fire.

[@marcogianesello6083]

@@ordinarytree4678 Such virtuous sentiments would be enough to make ghandi weep. I don't know whether this sort of low brow, wanna be deep, sloganistic "attitude" is more so ridicolously stupid and devoid of any substance/insight that it borders on the comedic, or more egotistical considering the bottomless lack of self awareness necessary to congratulate oneself on its great nobility, or whether to just to call it even on a nice mixture of both. Keep at it, uncle joseph would be very proud.

[@ordinarytree4678]

@@marcogianesello6083 funny you mention Ghandi: remember he got shot because although he freed India from Britain, the muslims and hindus still hated (and still hate) one another. He achieved great things and was loved, but in the end his ideals didnt achieve utopia. Know what happened to the French monarchy? To Hitler? To Japan in ww2? They got obliterated. Because violence was the only solution that they would listen to. Violence is the simplest form of communcation: "you are infringing on my ability to survive, therefore you must stop living." For all your talk of violence bad, do you go around policing ants to get them to stop murdering other ant colonies? Do you restrain eagles so they dont kill rabbits? Do you beg for the religious orders of the world to stop killing each other? Do you preach tolerance, even while the Proud Boys exist? Does any of that work, long term? This world, this shitty world, can only have peace exist in extremely rare instances after you have violently defended your territory. You know why Ghandi was remembered? Because he was the peaceful exception to the violent rule that is our existence as living things. If I never have to be violent in my life going forward, I will have been extremely privileged. But I have had to be violent, and I will have to be again, and so will you. Someone will mug you, some lawyer will sue you, some domestic conflict will get out of hand. And then what will you do? All the food you eat, meat or not, all the land you sit on, all the services you enjoy, require death and violence. How many people died to mine the components in these devices we are communcating on. How many animals died to make those mine shafts. How many chickens have died for both of us to continue existing. How many people fought in wars and died so we could sit on the land we have in this temporary peace-time "The answer is dont think about it. Violence bad."

[@SpringStingray]

Something I did for my brother when he was first playing Bloodborne was spending a few hours for him farming blood vials when he got tired of the scarcity. Removing that limitation immediately improved his experience in a way that I wish Bloodborne didn't need.

[@nebs6888]

You could also use the cum chalice!

[@timpeterson175]

Just. Buy. Them.

[@Guil_P]

@@timpeterson175 bruh, if someone is already struggling a lot, they are likely strapped for cash. Whether you grind lucrative blood echo enemies, or those that drop a lot of vials, you're still spending time farming repetitiously. Repeating the same farm and resetting with the lenghty load times is just tedious. I absolutely love Bloodborne and consider it a near perfect game, I'm personally a bit love/hate about blood vials depending on how I look at them. You have to understand right that the consumable nature of your main healing source can create tedium for some players.

[@goroakechi6126]

I honestly don’t really get this complaint. Bloodborne is plentiful with blood vials to loot off of enemies. I always found I had enough to get by and more, and I doubt I’m much of a good player.

[@nebs6888]

@@timpeterson175 That's what I said, use the cum chalice and just max out your blood vials in like a few minutes.

[@Tobascodagama]

Hoarah Loux and his lion pal kinda worked for me, I think because by the time I got there I had spent a lot of time spoiling myself on lore and found the pre-Marika societies really interesting. There's a minor sidestory about the Beasts that involves them being granted intelligence and becoming less savage over time. And then here you have Godfrey who grafted a Beast onto himself because he didn't know how else to quell his savage side long enough to be an appropriate consort for Marika. The WWE reveal is still *very* funny, but it's a bit less random at least if you go into that fight already knowing the extra context. The thing is, I'm pretty sure you can only learn what the deal with Serosh is *after* you beat him for the first time, unless you're like me and read item descriptions on wikis and watch lore videos before finishing the game for yourself. It also retroactively makes Godrick a little more interesting and a lot more pathetic when you realise that his ancestor, Godfrey, had strength but needed Beast intelligence to temper it, while Godrick possessed neither but tried to use grafting to approach Godfrey's strength -- and fails miserably, since he's one of the easiest bosses in the game.

[@armedweiss5531]

The Hoarah Loux reveal worked for me *because* of how he stood out compared to the vast majority of major bosses in modern Fromsoft games, even when I knew nothing of the lore in my first playthrough. Throughout the Dark Souls trilogy, Demons' souls, Bloodborne, Sekiro, and Elden Ring itself, these games are filled with bosses and NPCs who have become shadows of what they used to be, became warped due to either their own actions or actions done to them, or characters that refuse to stay true to themselves. In Elden Ring itself we have Godrick pathetically trying to gain strength by grafting the various body part of tons of people to himself becoming a horrifying amalgamation of limbs and body parts on top of body part, and still being the "runt of the litter" among the demigods in spite of his efforts. Radahn and Malenia had their minds either completely destroyed or warped beyond recognition due to the Scarlet Rot that afflicts them. Rennala has become completely mad with grief over Radagon abandoning her causing her to become almost completely helpless as a result despite being one of the strongest sorcerers in the setting's entire history. Rykard allowed himself to be devoured by the God-Devouring Serpent so that he could parasitically attach himself to it and take control over its power. Morgott assumes a false identity as Margit due to the Golden Order's hatred and persecution of Omens. Maliketh had a fragment of Destined Death stolen from him which no doubt weakened its power, and he then sealed it within his own body which causes him to feel a constant, insatiable hunger for deathroots. Even the bosses that aren't even humanoid show aspects of this like Placidusax and the Elden Beast who show immense damage done to their bodies as a result of actions that happened long before we arrive to nail in their coffins. Admittedly Mohg doesn't really fall under the previously mentioned categories, but he's like the one exception in this game's story relevant bosses. But then we have Godfrey aka Hoarah Loux. At first he starts no different from Morgott, assuming a false identity so he could appear more presentable as a consort of Marika and to the general people of the Golden Order. But that's not who he is at all. Deep down he's always been a bloodthirsty savage that wants nothing more than to fight strong opponents. So when the Tarnished pushes him hard enough, he decides to throw away everything about his identity as Godfrey the first Elden Lord. The armor, his axe, the very beast that kept his bloodlust in check Serosh, he removes everything about Godfrey so that he can be being true to himself, Hoarah Loux the warrior. The reveal having him scream out his name tonally clashing with most of the rest of the game works because he's one of the only bosses in the game that's staying true to himself while not also being a pathetic shadow of what he used to be.

[@clemenscohn7371]

There is no evidence anywhere that Godfrey grafted Serosh onto him. If Serosh is grafted, so is Ranni as she has the same spirit accompanying her.

[@TheSuperZammy]

Man that Sekiro segment has got to be the most beautiful piece of game criticism I've come across. Beautiful work

[@neighbourhoodmusician]

It really has something meaningful to say about games in terms of the philosophy of art. Really excellent stuff.

[@TheGemsbok]

2:37:53 "If the numbers change out of sync too much, the physical rhythm of the game will also change too much. I've talked a lot about how alienating and excessively frustrating it can be to become stuck in Sekiro, but I only really ever got stuck on a few of the bosses. And when that was over, I was breathlessly immersed once again. Sekiro is one of the most surprisingly artistically dense titles that I have ever played. I was so put off by its reputation for difficulty, and its actual difficulty on playing it, that I nearly passed by all it had to offer. But I'm glad that I stuck with it long enough to figure out what I would've been missing otherwise. Sekiro is cinematic in ways that cutscene-driven games have only ever gestured towards. I'm still in shock that this, one of the hardest action games that I have ever even tried to play, uses every ounce of that difficulty for dramatic purposes, to tell a better story in a more novel way." While he is obviously conflicted about it at times in this script, it is remarkable how pushing through and playing the game to completion---and even getting multiple endings---has ironically made Noah one of the most eloquent defenders of Sekiro's difficulty I have ever encountered.

[@markm5927]

Yeah it's funny, he seems pretty disdainful of rigid difficulty on the whole, but ultimately comes to the same conclusion due to how well Sekiro employs it.

[@flavionms]

​@@markm5927it's almost like being stubbornly against certain concepts is counterproductive when it comes to an art medium, and there is no one right answer to everything. It's a shame that even after experiencing it himself he still stands by that position.

[@nilzero5686]

I think the story of bloodborne's first ending really explains the story itself. You can put the whole thing together, alongside the little blurb from the instruction manual. The protagonist is a denizen of a Dreamland-esque fantasy world who is sick and hears the story of Yharnam, and travels there. They at some point fall asleep upon its territory, and wakes up in the events of the game. There's little tells that time in the world is fluid (the way Old Yharnam was supposed to be destroyed a long time ago yet is still actively on fire, the man who asks the password yet is long dead when the door opens), because you're experiencing the memories of the downfall of the city, You dig through it all, following the time backwards into the hunter's nightmare to the fishing hamlet and the origins of the corruption, and then, should you submit to Gerhman's mercy, you wake up in the morning light in a city that looks like Yharnam, but it's the true Yharnam as it is now: Abandoned, empty, and lost. Your character is presumably free to walk away from the ruins and write some winding account of the entire adventure for their children. Also it's the same ending as Lovecraft's the Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath, lol

[@mtlacunae8659]

And their children, forever true.

[@homosexplosion]

Well said! cheers.

[@maybemablemaples2144]

I mean you can even look at certain parts of the sky and see the different dreams because all of them are layered on top of one another. And you can see it pretty early on in the game too.

[@henrymilek]

I’ve never heard this interpretation before, very cool

[@flamingmanure]

"it's the same ending as Lovecraft's the Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath, lol" im not even an avid reader of lovecraft and even i always felt like bloodborne is basically hp craft fanfiction, a bit too much actually. its kinda why its my least favorite of the souls games barring ds2.

[@Jaytaxman]

It's been six months since his last video essay. I wish him all the best as I continue to watch his back catalog for lofi commentary to do mindless work to

[@YaroslaffFedin]

Judging by the twitter it will be worth the wait

[@kyletrout3828]

I've now watched this video probably 5 times. 4 of those times I had to skip over the Sekiro portion because, even though I was scared to try and play it, I was sure I would eventually give it a try. Our great orator actually playing and beating Sekrio convinced me that I should give it a shot. The next couple times I had to skip the Sekiro portion because I was still playing the game. Now, finally, I have been able to watch this video in its complete form. It's as much of as a masterpiece as the games it covers.

[@notsuchabadguy]

This whole video is a gift, but I would just like to highlight this one golden nugget of a line: "She holds the Mortal blade, and will give it to anyone who survives unsheathing it. Wolf dies, of course, but he can do that from time to time, so he still gets to keep the blade." You're a fantastic writer, Noah.

[@thats4thebirds]

“It’s willing to meet you half way, even if half way is a few more miles up the road than other games” Is exactly the kind of writing I come here for. Gotdamn.

[@prof_parahelix2390]

I love watching the footage of you fighting the cleric beast so close to the Old Hunters DLC-- just seeing you go from those Dark Souls habits where you approach the fight in a more stationary, slower way to nailing the forward dash into the swing practically has me cheering. Especially since you were having to struggle adapting to something you didn't find initially appealing-- props to you, man. Er, and also these essays are flipping excellent bits of writing and analysis and whatnot.

[@joeyboom117]

It cannot be overstated just how impressive killing the Chalice Watchdog on his first try is. Even with the proper precautions this fight is still extremely brutal, after taking a hit one wrong call on how to dodge and when to heal can be fatal given how fast and how wide a lot of his attacks are

[@Lucivius27]

He had a summon down to Watchdog's 20% HP left. Summon will always make something easy

[@trevorBbracket]

​@@Lucivius27 I had a summon down to 20% of your mom's health too

[@detCap]

​@@Lucivius27 don't make me tap the sign...

[@anonymous01201]

He literally summoned lmao all summons make every boss ever in the series except maybe Radahn nothing but pinatas for you to pop. I’m not trying to be an elitist but it really is not that impressive seeing as he used a summon. That summon seemed to survive pretty long into the fight too. It really means nothing. It’s like saying you wrote a masterful essay but you used ChatGPT to assist you.

[@trevorBbracket]

but what if you checked out the real masterful essay that noah wrote about the real time that he beat these games on his own terms. I think it's pretty cool even if he did summon :D

[@sydposting]

The smile on my face when I heard The Masochism Tango at the beginning of this video! The intros to your essays are always fantastic -- seriously, using the theme from The Dead Don't Die for your Resident Evil retrospective was genius -- but as a longtime Tom Lehrer fan, I had to voice this particular appreciation. 😊

[@meander112]

Hear, here!

[@karlklein2263]

My first playthrough of sekiro was one of the most frustrating things I've done in a game. Making me wonder if I was starting to "lose my touch", getting older, my reaction time finally starting to crack. By contrast my second playthrough was some of the most fun I've had in gaming. Truly. Realizing that even if I'm slower than I used to be, sekiro also leans heavily on pattern recognition and problem solving. Sword Saint isshin will go down as Mt favorite fromsoft boss they've ever made. When you finally beat him and he shouts "DO IT SEKIRO!!" I felt there was something genuine to the connection between those 2 characters and by extension my connection to fromsoft. It's hard to put in words, even still that memory will always stick out in my kind.

[@peacemaster8117]

HESITATION IS DEFEAT! RE: pattern recognition, I love the jump/parry/dodge system. In Soulsbourne you can reliably reduce/negate damage with a series of options, but Sekiro's insistence on requiring specific evasions for specific attacks really forces you to learn the enemy's tells. You become hyper-focused on the enemy's small gestures, trying to read their hand movement and translate it into the correct button press in the second or so you're given to react. At top speed it feels exactly like a rhythm game. It's insanely satisfying.

[@TheLethalIntrospectionCrew]

Dude, same! I was stuck on Genichiro and honestly thought I had to give it up (not realizing I had missed almost all optional prayer beads and super low hp) but oh lord, once it clicked…

[@297fihsy]

Essential viewing for any huge fan of these games (myself included). Staggeringly brilliant work, particularly in how you found new things to say about these games that the hundreds of video essays prior from across this website had not yet articulated.

[@munjatkumo1929]

Hi Noah. I watched this video the summer of 2022, during the worst flu I've ever had. It wasn't just a runny nose, I actually had trouble breathing and I felt like I was in a sauna all the time. It was that bad partly because it was the summer. And it just went on and on, probably a couple of weeks. It probably wasn't covid, weirdly enough. I went to the hospital to check it and the test came back negative for covid. Anyway, I was feeling like shit, and I was watching this video, and at some point during the Sekiro-review you mentioned something about buddhism I found really insightful. You quoted a precept from Buddha or something, and then explained in clearer words what it is about, and I started thinking about how it relates to everything else I've heard about buddhism. And I had a couple revelations about buddhism and life in general. And I cried alot because of that. In pain, in delirium, I cried and thought about love and acceptance. Thanks to a video essay about a videogame. That moment helped me, in its own part, to solidify some of my personal philosophy. And I can't understate your part in it. Thanks for unknowingly taking part in the conversation I have with myself. This video brought me comfort during a difficult couple of days in a difficult couple of weeks in my life, not only because of the aforementioned part about buddhism, but mainly because I like hearing you talk about videogames. Well, about stuff. The travelogue-videos rock, for example, they're beautiful. Talk about whatever you feel like talking about Noah. It will have a positive impact on the world.

[@kef0205]

Your meditation on and critique of Sekiro's difficulty is the most clear-eyed and lucid I've thus far heard.

[@cantrip7]

+

[@EtherBotGames]

+

[@TheStraightestWhitest]

Sekiro starts out the hardest but ends the easiest by far.

[@TheStraightestWhitest]

@@nosleep1111 That's a single playthrough. By your third they're all pushovers.

[@thedoomslayer5863]

@@nosleep1111 you'll eventually reach the point i did where u can beat INNER isshin without kuros charm and demon bell on back to back to back if u keep practicing enough

[@Prnnce]

For those who were around for Pat and Woolie's Gascoigne vs Gascwang spelling debate Noah has come back in to relight the debate with a new and terrifying third option in Gasyione

[@DarkMuj]

It’s honestly so creative

[@MINTY_FN]

I had the same thought when he said that. For those who stumble on this unaware, Pat and Woolie were two of the members of Super Best Friends Play, who did a play through of Bloodborne.

[@jameswalker9664]

Fun fact, pat has mentioned on their podcast listening to this exact video.

[@k.-flynn]

"It's o-i-n-... o-i-g-... o-i-g-n-e. That's WANG."

[@Prnnce]

@@jameswalker9664 this is very late but do you remember the episode number?

[@chop5652]

There's just something so invigorating, so joyful about hearing someone do the deepest of dives and discuss every single tangent of the games I love. It's like that feeling when you finish a game and desperately want to talk to someone, anyone about what you just experienced, bottled up in to one succinct video. It's a genuine pleasure to hear your innermost thoughts, impressions and opinions expressed so eloquently.

[@emilbj23]

It took me two full months to finish this video. Thanks Noah for this incredible achievement of a video critique.

[@int3r4ct]

Honestly I’ll always appreciate FromSoft for being willing to make extremely large changes to their base gameplay formula in a way that a lot of other companies seem very very afraid to. Also the fact that the artists/creators at FromSoft have a vision and just execute that vision to their own standards, even if it isn’t what the people might want. This is probably most evident in the fact that Miyazaki keeps adding poison swamps even though players always complain about the poison swamp areas. I respect the man immensely as a fellow artist for just saying ‘no’ to the players and adding the Lake of Rot to Elden Ring because that’s what he wants in his game.

[@brendanspaulding7930]

Yeah you make a really good point. I feel like video games have yet to consistently produce true artists, not for a lack of trying of course. I just feel like the mass amounts of money and skill needed to make games and their still juvenile state (compared to how long other art forms have existed) has constrained the artsy side in the more big budget areas of the industry. That being said companies like fromsoft, people like Lucas pope, and other people like hideo kojima, setting aside the quality of their work, have proven time and time again that they want to make art, experiment, and produce what they want to. It’s extremely important when every interesting idea is continuously snuffed and diminished in the triple A space.

[@AveSicarius]

While I would say that Bloodborne and Sekiro are examples of refining specific aspects of the games you've made, Elden Ring to me feels very much to me like Dark Souls 3+ (now with added "open world mechanics). This isn't some kind of critique of it, I love these games, I'll continue to play them, but it very much feels like FS is just constantly making Demon/Dark Souls with slight changes to mechanics or the focus of the game. This is great for people who like this specific subgenre of ARPG, but I wouldn't say it is the height of innovation in my opinion. It is, however, a sort of pursuit of "perfection". Miyazaki has themes and ideas he incorporates into every project, he enjoys Gothic Central European influenced architecture (like that seen in Prague's St Vitus Cathedral), and his team knows how to make Action RPGs, which they've been doing since the King's Field games. It's like he wants to combine all of these into some ultimate variation on these themes, and every single game has just been a new iteration for the purpose of finding that optimal mix. You can tell that FS has been aiming for a refinement of the same game for decades now. Dark Souls 2 was a prototype of the more open world of Elden Ring, Bloodborne was a mechanical prototype, and Sekiro was an experiment into a more stealth (it actually feels a bit like the old Tenchu games which I assume isn't a coincidence) and mechanically focused gameplay (the former of which made it's way into Elden Ring somewhat). I wouldn't be surprised if Elden Ring 2 pushes this even further towards the ideas that have been milling around for the entire series. I also think that we should expect creator's to refuse to bow to player demand unless it is something absolutely that needs changing (like broken aspects of a game). The catering to the playerbase is a relatively recent thing centered around corporate profit and maximum marketability, unlike game design largely as it was a decade or two ago, and I think it's really quite a good thing that FS created more niche games so that BNC never focused their attention on the series. I'm honestly worried that with the success of Elden Ring, we might see more corporate oversight now that they have identified ER as a potential gold mine.

[@lahunica2726]

@@AveSicarius There won't be a sequel to Elden Ring. Remember that ds2 and ds3 did not happen because of Miyazaki, they happened because of the former CEO and Bandai Namco. Miyazaki decided to make ds3 the conclusion, it's very clear in game and ds1 alone already told the great themes and questions of the world of dark souls. Every since Miyazaki became CEO, from software didn't release any sequel, spin off, prequel, etc yet they totally could have. Now a new IP is on its way and multiple projects are being developped by different directors. All of this confirms that From Software is expanding on ideas, as usual.

[@AveSicarius]

@@lahunica2726 With how profitable Elden Ring is I don't think that will be the case at all. There will be extreme pressure for a sequel, but like DS2 that doesn't necessarily mean Miyazaki will work on it. Companies run on profit, and while Miyazaki might be an artist, it really is irrelevant because he's going to have incredible pressure to make a sequel. Why would they spend so much time and effort on a new IP, one which sold incredibly well, and not capitalize on that? Also I believe the plan was always to make a new franchise based on the Elden Ring universe no? They didn't release a sequel to Sekiro because it was intended as a standalone or for DS3 because they didn't want to just remake DS, which is what DS3, basically catering to everything DS1 in both story and gameplay compared to DS2 (which tried to innovate). Elden Ring is basically DS4 with a different world to tell stories in, and it will absolutely have a sequel.

[@lahunica2726]

@@AveSicarius No, first of all, Elden Ring was planned to have adaptations beyond the realm of video games, so whatever it is, movies, shows, books, that's what Bandai Namco is aiming at. Miyazaki decides what he wants for from FS, maybe Kadokawa would put pressure on him, but we'll have to wait another 5 years to have confirmation because an Elden Ring 2 is certainly not coming any time soon. Dark souls was planned as one game, for Miyazaki at least who wasn't CEO at that time. Demon's souls also, Bloodborne also, Sekiro also, and Elden Ring absolutely. Why ? Because they follow a similar pattern, encovering a whole world, its mythos, its important protagonists and antagonists, a plot that ends by the end of the game, major themes presented in both lore, story and environmental narration. Each of these games are packages that are difficult to expand on (except sekiro for one ending) because they would mostly not surprise the players, recycle ideas of the first games and by a combination of these two not surpass their first episodes.

[@edwardsmall3680]

Wow, almost 5 hours! I cannot imagine how long this must have taken to make. What a phenomenal achievement Noah. Please take some time to relax, I cannot imagine the stress involved in playing all of these games then creating something as epic as this!

[@susseratal]

This, much like your previous Dark souls essay (and your other essays, I have since learned) are beautifully articulated. Calm, concise but incredibly insightful and well written. Absolutely sublime critical analysis and deconstruction of games. You are an absolute inspiration to me as a critic, a developer and a writer in general. I can't stop watching your essays. Thank you for doing what you're doing!

[@KanoKendama]

I finally finished Elden Ring and could wrap up this video (wanted to avoid spoilers). I just wanted to say your essays are hands down my favorite thing on this entire platform. They provide a truly catharthic experience that has made some dificult times much more bearable for me. From the bottom of my heart, thank you!

[@fahimfaysal1753]

The part about Sekiro's difficulty defining the wolf's story was quite an interesting bit of insight. I probably did acknowledge it subconsciously but never directly thought about it. I do happen to be making a game with a similar sort of narrative and this video couldn't have come at a better time.

[@johnynoway9127]

whats the name of your game?

[@GodJack2099]

What’s the game called

[@IFinishedAVideoGame]

As much as Dark Souls is an interesting series - it's these games that really grew my love for what this company can do. I've also got to say that this run you've been on over the last few years has really been incredible - it's been an inspiration to just cover whatever you want and be yourself on this platform.

[@TheScotty1122]

Love your videos dude! The LoTR retrospective was a masterpiece!

[@IFinishedAVideoGame]

@@TheScotty1122 Thanks my dude!

[@mirrorblade6268]

You appreciate demons souls and dark trilogy better if you played kings field and shadow tower beforehand.

[@leftovernoise]

your videos are amazing dude!

[@IFinishedAVideoGame]

@@leftovernoise Thanks my friend!

[@bepkororoti8019]

I truly appreciate the approaches and perspectives taken here, nobody but Noah does essays of this kind. Thank you!

[@Kendrubbin]

3:25:00 I really want to highlight this part. I have done exactly one run of Elden Ring, and no matter how hard I try, I cannot, and will not, be able to ever achieve the sheer wonder, thrill, and joy of the first time experience along with the rest of the world's players, where no one knew what was good, where things were, or how events at large interplayed with each other. I now know too much about the game through my single playthrough, that it has tarnished any sequential playthroughs. Maybe in a decade's time, when I may have truly forgotten most of the world, but I can't count on that at all.

[@malum9478]

i honestly wish i had done LESS on my first playthrough, like, just enough to do most of the sidequests and get some gear, so that i could make my subsequent playthroughs more interesting

[@maxdishaw]

Oh completely agree with you. And I like how you used “tarnished” there. Nicely done. But seriously my first playthrough was nearly 160 hour and my second one was about 35…The second play through felt pointless and for that reason I’d argue it’s the least replayable of all the games. Where I found the most joy and thrills was exploring the phenomenal world and building the map fragments.

[@filurenerik1643]

Your "The fallen leaves tell a story" analogy on forging your own story in elden ring is very powerful. Thanks for that one!

[@Necrapocalypse]

It's interesting to me how not knowing what Ranni was up to is so common at the point of choosing to enter her service. I summarize her initial request if you don't have Rogier's reason to seek her out as "Hey I know we've just happened to meet twice but want to help me destroy all of reality?" To which I, on my first playthrough, replied "Uh... no?" and quickly fled the creepy doll's tower, never sparing her another thought.

[@einherjar77777]

I recently discovered your channel and have been slowly making my way through your videos. One thing I just wanted to mention was how much I appreciate how clear it is how much thought and time and analysis you do when putting these together. Rather than just writing a summary, you spend time analyzing game play, narrative, plot, theme, and how they all intertwine to explain the experience you have with a game. It is very well done and I'm enjoying your content immensely. Thanks for what you do

[@ZorroLocoStudios]

Came here from your Fallout Retrospective Remake, and once again, I am blown away by your eloquence and your ability to deftly weave between and connect topics, back and forth between gameplay, story, presentation, etc. Well done!

[@barberza]

Logged hundreds of hours in these games over years. Noah binges them over a few months and has the nerve to show up and teach me things I'd never noticed before. I'm always amazed by how these videos show me things I'd intuitively noticed about the games, and stuff I'd never have been able to figure out myself in a million years. There's truly no one else close to Noah's level in games writing rn.

[@keyanklupacs6333]

Actually you CAN level up in bloodborne before encountering a boss. There a few madman's knowledge that will give you insight around the area which enable the doll's animating in the hunter's dream to level you up.

[@mbh9566]

As soon as I heard him say that I came to the comments to see if anyone had pointed that out. Although I think most players won’t figure that out, I didn’t figure that out until after I had played through the game and got the Platinum.

[@keyanklupacs6333]

@@mbh9566 maybe not the specific insight thresholds and triggers but certains people will realize exploration = good and use the item prior to the boss. They may put it together as early as the cathedral ward when they are able to see amygdala

[@TheFlakZak]

Damn i never knew that, that can be a very good tip for new players, by now i rarely ever die before making it to the cleric beast on new playthroughs. A friend came to my house and played bloodborne the other day, it took him a long time to kill cleric beast and he had a bunch of souls saved up, never knew there was a chance to level up.

[@keyanklupacs6333]

@@TheFlakZak You can also get your weapon up to I believe +3 before you even fight the cleric beast or Gascoigne

[@Slaanash]

I remember beating the first scourge beast bare-handed and I think you can level up even if the doll is inanimate. You can if you go back down to 0, at least.

[@abyss9316]

I really appreciate that you share your experiences with all of these extremely unique games with us Noah always love hearing your enlightening form of narration in your videos

[@semeras]

I think this is now my favorite youtube video and I have seen a lot of good youtube videos. Like holy crap thanks for existing and putting so much work into these just wow

[@TimBagels]

It's so interesting to hear you talk about how punishing and difficult the start of Bloodborne was. I don't know if you'll end up reading this, but your essay on the Souls trilogy was the deciding factor that convinced me to give FromSoftwares games an honest chance. I don't remember your exact phrasing word for word, but I remember you talking about how there is no single "get good" path the game demands of you. There are options to circumvent challenge baked in, and if you can think of it, there WILL be a way to overcome a challenge without resorting to brute force. And when I was playing through central Yharnam, I 100% was seeing that in the level design of the area. Take that big room filled with 20 enemies. I have a friend who ran right into the horde, and died over and over until he "got good" and could fight all of them. But after watching your video, I saw that as a learning room, where the game was asking me "find a different path, think this through if you don't want to fight everyone." And that thinking lead me to the side paths winding around the room, where I could gradually take out the horde one or two at a time, whittling it down to manageable numbers. And I felt that design was consistent through the game. Bloodborne is challenge, but it WANTS you to win and will encourage cleaver thinking to circumvent challenge. It's honestly really surprising that you had an opposite experience with it from the sounds of it, but I guess that's a testament to individual experiences.

[@Msatthew]

What stood out to me, in the first few minutes, is when he said “You have to fight a boss, before you can level up”. This fascinated me, because I know this isn’t strictly true… but that’s because I KNOW this game. I’ve played through it, I know where to get the good gear that is hidden away, how close an Insight item is, that you could just straight up run with the bold hunters mark after just walking through the door… But that is all experience and hindsight! In a first time play through? You aren’t going to know where to get the ONE insight item before getting through Papa Wolf is, and bold hunters marks aren’t much more common. And even if you do stumble upon it, how many plays are going to pop it, with no idea of what it is, or what it would do? Same for for using the bold mark to escape the boss: why run, when up ‘til now, you have had nothing to meaningfully spend your echoes on? When you have nothing of value to lose? It is only after returning to the hunter’s dream, in incredible triumph or inglorious yet fully acceptable defeat, that you learn: Everything. Has. Changed. That you, dear hunter, are no longer maidenless… I couldn’t resist that last bit, ok? It made me do it, it was too obvious not to!

[@Adoochi]

@@Msatthew For what it's worth, you don't need a Bold Hunters Mark. Once you get the point of insight from either the Cleric Beast or Gascoigne, you can just quit out to be placed outside the boss arena. From there you can run back to a lantern.

[@davidamidon571]

Though I'm still a light dabbler in the franchise overall - about a quarter of Demon's Souls PS5 (which I enjoyed quite a bit, just found other things to play), about a quarter of Sekiro (which I was incredibly impressed by until I hit a wall around Snake Eyes/Butterfly/Genichiro/and like three other bosses that infuriated me) and played Bloodborne through to Mergo twice, Micolash three times, but never beaten it...I really love the first half so much but just run out of steam for some reason and have seen many discussions of the endings at this point...so no Dark Souls experience AT ALL... But the experience I had my first time with Bloodborne was what convinced me I WILL play all of these games at some point even if Elden Ring is the only one I ever beat. I played Central Yharnam for damn near seven (SEVEN) straight hours while sipping whiskey and wondering what the hell was wrong with this game that I had no way of leveling up and yet I just could not master my route through to...whatever was on the other end of that interminable courtyard of death. And yet I never faltered. I loved the feel of the combat, the way it always felt like I was trying too hard to mash my way through it or prove to one group of enemies I'd killed 50 or 100 times that I had them dead to rights only for them to set me straight... Woke up the next morning, defeatedly Googled what the hell was going on, immediately sprinted to the bridge hosting Cleric Beast and the game was on. An experience like that should've never resulted in one of my favorite games of all-time, especially considering again that I've never actually seen it through to the end, but I've watched Aegon of Astora's entire Let's Talk Lore series (about, oh, 30 hours of Bloodborne discussion) twice through as well as two Giant Bomb longplays of the game and various essays like this one. What a hold that game had on me, even when I was plainly awful at it and learning just how casual a game player I'd grown up to be.

[@DoomMunky2]

Best comment ever: "Bloodborne is challenge, but it WANTS you to win and will encourage **cleaver** thinking to circumvent challenge."

[@pievancl5457]

@@Adoochi he’s not talking about gaining insight from encountering either of the bosses- you can find a madman’s knowledge in the sewers by wrecked row boats and rats before encountering either. Then you can choose to bold hunters mark out of there and level before cleric beast or Gascogne

[@AcencialAMV]

Just a small correction (but very important) about Kuro's charm. The charm doesn't make (or just make) the game harder with damage numbers, Kuro's charm also makes your block window non-existent. This means that if you don't do a perfect PARRY, your health is chipped through your block and you take higher posture damage. This is really important because there are bosses specifically designed in a way that they work better with the charm debuff. For example Genichiro has a few situations where he keeps a 7 hit attack combo which if you don't parry will fill your posture to the max, and if you continue attacking - you can't regain posture. What happens is that you play a lot of the fight with posture maxed out, but unlike in the normal mode if you don't PARRY every upcoming attack you get stunned. It's a much more interesting modifier than a % damage buff.

[@Bastelkorb3]

You will get stunned even in normal mode when your posture is maxed when blocking. It just don't happen that often. Elemental buildups are increased without the charm, too. This is a really good hard mode implementation in my opinion, it heavily changes the way you have to play to overcome the bosses in this game. Perfect parrying is a must at this point, using all mechanics, like mikiri counter and jumping over sweeps are mendatory. If you completed the game on hard mode eg charmless run, you truly are Sekiro. In my mind this is the way he would fight, so if really want to be him, you have to achieve this kind of skill level the game demands for hard mode.

[@AcencialAMV]

@@Bastelkorb3 I agree. And then after you beat charmless almost no other game feels as satisfying as doing that

[@Bastelkorb3]

@@AcencialAMV That is sadly true. After playing Eldenring the fights there where a bit hollow after playing Sekiro. But interenstingly they felt more like a recognition game rather than an actual fight against someone... And for me this heavily incouraged me to use every tool to cheese the shit out of them...

[@ceciliagently]

this may be too much my own personal experience , but i think rannis ending is the most popular because it genuinely *feels* like a main quest above all others in the game. it ties in so well to a lot of the (granted optional) content in the game to such a degree that it feels like its guiding you through the game in a way that, again, none of the other paths really do. most of fias quest happens alongside the main game, in the roundtable hold until you reach a completely optional side area INSIDE of a completely optional side area. chaos ending comes close but you mostly just have to come across the girl to give the grapes & then you have to traverse probably the most optional area in the game (the sewers , with a hidden wall to ANOTHER optional area). all the endings have paths that lead you through optional content, but rannis i believe is the only one that feels directly tied to the events of the game & your progression through them. fighting radahn is optional, but it doesnt FEEL like it. following the meteor underground is optional, but doesnt FEEL like it. ive seen a lot of new players choose rannis ending almost entirely by happenstance just by following the natural progression of events.

[@alvarodiazrodriguez2603]

Nothing like a bite-sized video to pass the afternoon. Thank you, Noah.

[@orufus12]

The value of the analysis from this more casual perspective can not be overstated. I have learned so much about this series by watching some one who is self described as "not good" allowing themselves to understand the intention behind these games, for better or worse.

[@nineel7395]

The man has given us TWO multi hour essays on these games. Their stories, their lore, the gameplay. The man is more of a fan than anyone who'd critique him based on the gameplay he's chosen to share with us. I'll say it again, after killing that dragon up on dragonstone peak with regular attacks than the plunging attack you're plenty more of a 'player' than anyone who'd rip you down. The video was fantastic, you were fantastic. Don't ever stop.

[@tomroberts883]

This content keeps me coming back time and time again - I consume these essays like podcasts, while I work, while I unwind. These works are not the product of a failure - they are a product of a passionate and thoughtful individual.

[@EvolvedDinosaur]

Slight correction at 1:43:35 Returning Kuro’s Charm actually does not give another flat damage modifier like the Bell Demon. Instead it’s much more cruel and makes it to where any attacks that are not reflected now deal chip damage to Wolf. This forces you to learn how to reflect all enemies, including basic goons. Otherwise, they’ll slowly eat away at you, leaving you with nothing for the actual bosses. And god forbid you can’t reflect them!

[@Thisisthegreatestatofalltime]

It’s both in addition to extra to the rest of their stats all being noticeably buffed

[@peacemaster8117]

I'm doing my Charmless NG+ playthrough right now and Isshin is FUCKING INSANE on this difficulty.

[@EvolvedDinosaur]

@@peacemaster8117 have you tried fighting Inner Isshin yet? Or really the boss gauntlets in general. They’re so much fun!

[@peacemaster8117]

@@EvolvedDinosaur No, I haven't touched the gauntlet feature yet. Are you recommending I use him for practise?

[@EvolvedDinosaur]

@@peacemaster8117 No way! The inner versions of the bosses are significantly harder than their base versions. NG+ Isshin is probably easier than inner Isshin lol

[@saloonboone]

I remember you previously saying that Bloodborne didn’t feel accessible to you because of the higher demand on reflexes compared to the souls series. I’m glad to see you gave it another chance as it’s my favorite souls game and probably my favorite game of all time at that.

[@thomasmaddox8688]

I hate to break it to you, but according to a 0/10 user review I saw on metacritic, it turns out Bloodborne is actually just a terrible ripoff of Monster Hunter.

[@sodajoke348]

Juggling my undying love for Noah Caldwell-Gervais with my cringing heartache from watching him never do a single Mikiri counter in Sekiro is a perilous challenge, but one I gladly accept. Great video.

[@Bikonito]

seeing him get hit by every attack in every clip is painful but his commentary is as enrapturing as ever

[@GermanyCanal]

Another truly amazing video of 3 of my favorites games. Both the DS trilogy video and this one have left me speechless. Looking forward to see what the next video is gonna be about.

[@zzonahzameson3888]

Noah is the Bob Ross of video essays. His videos are incredibly thoughtful and very relaxing to listen to. Really appreciate ya Noah

[@matthewchapman7301]

"Yes Lady Butterfly, I am puppy, pat me on my damn head, give me my treat and send me on my way. Woof woof." I fucking LOST it. I alarmed the ladies in the cubicles next to me for the hyena-like bark of laughter that came out of me. Edit: 'Puppy Mode' needs to be on a t-shirt

[@jacob9728]

Love how you link Sekiro's gameplay differences and choices to the narrative/character. Absolutely fantastic writing and the video as a whole was a joy to listen to

[@saltiney8578]

I found his incessent complaining about them not adding a easy mode for him to be a bit annoying, like if you want to play an easy game just go play a easy game why bother playing one of the hardest games on the market and then complaining about how it should be made easy so you can beat it.. why do you need to beat sekiro just play a game thats more your speed and enjoy beating it easily.

[@nevinmyers1245]

@@saltiney8578 You're missing the argument. He said that, in a game that trusts skilled players to set difficulty to a level appropriate to them, why can't it trust unskilled players to do the same? He actually seemed to appreciate Sekiro as a very good game that isn't made for him. Heck, he even said it's the best game From has ever made and also the one he was most frustrated by. Regardless, he couldn't really just not play Sekiro, because he had a bit of an obligation to in order to make the video essay "complete."

[@noahmartinez7088]

@@saltiney8578 Obviously if he picked it up and got halfway through then called it quits this might be an understandable frustration on your part but considering his completion of every ending and defeat of every boss I don't get it. If someone can go through all of that, very clearly demonstrating that they are capable of meeting the game at its hardest challenges, and still make this argument then surely they're not looking for an easier game. I think his repeated call for a difficulty modifier (inverse of demon bell) is a product of the many hours he invested into crossing the barriers of his own skill baseline and still not meeting the mark at times.

[@karma6761]

@@noahmartinez7088 It’s entirely possible to live up to the challenge of the game and appreciating what it does for it artistically while also not personally enjoying the difficulty’s impact on experience of playing it.

[@noahmartinez7088]

@@karma6761 You're replying to the wrong person: I replied to someone complaining about Noah's argument for an easy mode, citing his qualms with the game providing experienced players a hard mode but not providing a same luxury on the flip end. I expressed confusion as to the other commentor's frustration because Noah is not simply whining for an easy mode as they seem to interpret. You telling me the exact same thing that Noah highlights at the end of his section on Sekiro is not meaningful because I watched the video and I understand this point, obviously he recognizes the artistic merit but disagrees personally because of his own experience with the game. This is exactly what I tried to explain to the person that I responded to because it's crazy that someone can watch that section and the comment they choose to make is on how Noah provides an argument to an easy mode for those that would personally have more fun and still get a challenge out of an easier time (in the same vein that the demon bell already provides in the current game)

[@rayfurtado]

Perfect video. Thanks for all the retrospective.

[@berkutsierra7887]

I just cant deal with how good this and the previos one on the Trilogy is. The games mean so much to me and you made me understand so much more about them and also about why and how i enjoy them and your commentary on difficulty is much needed.

[@sj_bardplays6416]

Hey Noah, I just wanted to take a minute and thank you. See when sekiro launched there was a lot of talk about the dragon rotation mechanic eventually progressing to a point that can kill characters. So in your video when you mentioned it just denied access to them I did a double take. Like I couldn't believe it and Google it. I remembered the discussions of the time. And realized I had been lied to by the internet, at the time of launch. The idea of losing permanent progress was too much when my primary means of getting into the flow of these games was to just keep throwing myself into the bosses until I memorized them or got into the flow or some variation of both. The perceived permanence of the dragon rot mechanic undercut my openness to make mistakes and therefore learn. So thank you. Sincerely. I'm going to try Sekiro again. And this time I will beat it

[@bigboi8028]

Yeah, the Dragon Rot isn't actually as big of a threat as it's made out to be. Originally it was meant to kill the characters, but now it just means that some merchants won't sell anything while sick and characters with a story will have it paused until they get cured. The only real threat of Dragon Rot is that it increases the chance for your money and experience to be halved, but that's barely even a threat unless you're specifically farming for a skill.

[@baymax6024]

Just don’t dodge as much as Noah does dodging is often pointless. Good luck!

[@BlueIron64]

PTSD from losing Siegmeyer in Lost Izalith ç_ç

[@RedFifth]

Dragonrot is such an overblown mechanic. I barely noticed its presence because you can just pop a single consumable when you finally get unstuck and boom, every NPC is back on their feet. Its main mechanical effect, aside from temporarily denying you access to merchants and questgivers, is to gradually shave down the percentage chance of receiving divine aid that prevents you from taking the XP and gold penalty on death, and that percentage doesn't get very high even with no Dragonrot at all. Other than that, its main purpose is narrative and thematic. It's nothing to be scared of at all.

[@auellaitaela8035]

I always liked the Ashina style quote "There are no hard rules, you just win your battle." That one quote is a basic summary of how all their games are to be interacted with. It's like Fromsoft themselves are telling off all those people that say there's a "right way" to play the games, or that people who use the included tools are somehow playing wrong or dishonorably. There's no wrong way. You have tools, you use them, you win, you played correctly. Ashina style. Interesting meta comment on their entire catalogue, as well as the fanbase that's developed.

[@dominiccasts]

That's a throughline I've often considered as being the underlying drive for making Bloodborne and Sekiro what they are. Bloodborne took away the shield, as players were too dependent on it and not engaging the game with the more mobile tools, but then another group got pissy about how shields are bad and rolling is the only way, so Sekiro comes along to balance that out by teaching that blocking has a purpose, and that the relevant point Bloodborne was making was to avoid being passive, not to avoid defending.

[@stebsys3865]

Amazing video I really love that you make such incredible long form videos it really is amazing content your making, really looking forward to whatever your next project is. Keep up the amazing work!!!!

[@LillianRyanUhl]

Noah I think you've convinced me to give the From Soft games a try; I want to thank you for that, and remark that these videos are extremely high quality. Thank you for making them :)

[@stickpeoplegamedudes]

It's interesting how mechanically Sekiro curtails a lot of "cheaty" behaviors and strategies even though "anything to win" is a pillar of the narrative more than any other From title. That didn't really strike me as a contradiction when I played it, since I always went the simple sword-and-board route in the other games and using the prosthetic tools was a new feeling for me. Have to disagree with you on the Hoarah Loux fight though, I will accept any amount of strain on the narrative to get a fight with animations that sick.

[@lutherheggs451]

There really aren't "cheaty" behaviors in Sekiro....Usually it seems the people that complain about cheap bosses or "cheaty" behavior in Sekrio are the ones that refuse to actually learn the game's mechanics. That refuse to acknowledge you need to learn the deflect system and that its not something you can use forever...Some just either refuse or lack the common sense to notice that deflecting is like a rhythm game instead of quickly mashing L1.... With exceptions depending on the boss it was just literally a rhythm of 1 and 2 and 3 and 4, occasionally 1, 2 pause, 3, 4 pause, 12, pause 3, 4 pause..It made a hell of alot more sense to learn the deflect rhythm and kill a boss at half health rather than waste tilme, look god awful playing and weakly chip all the boss health away.

[@jakekneega7400]

@@lutherheggs451 Ayyy, someone gets it. That's the thing a lot of people never realize about Sekiro, you don't fight to your own rhythm, you fight to the game's rhythm, and not learning to move along through the flow of battle will leave you in the dirt. Sekiro is very much a game of give and take, each battle having a different flow depending on number and quality of opponents. The Ashina Elite are mechanic checks, making sure you understand the deflect right before you fight Genichiro. Lady Butterfly is an optional deflect check you can do at any time once you get to her. The Shinobi Hunter makes you understand the Mikiri Counter so you know to use it later on. Ishiin is the culmination of everything you have learned and demands you play to his strengths, waiting for a moment to strike. Sekiro is a game of patience and measured aggression, versus Bloodborne's reverence for overwhelming violence and pressure for pressures sake, versus Souls' slower, more measured, almost poke-style combat, where turtling up is encouraged in multiple instances.

[@stickpeoplegamedudes]

@@lutherheggs451 I was referring to "cheaty" behavior on the *player's* part. Like Noah says, Sekiro broadly doesn't allow for alternative playstyles or cheese strats to the extent the Souls games do - it forces you to use and get good at the base mechanics, and I thought this was an interesting irony considering how those base mechanics are characterized in-universe as dishonorable tactics.