The FromSoft Games That Lie To You

[@officialprozac]

hey kbash, long time listener first time caller, at 35:03 i was drinking the last dregs of my hot ginger drink and at the thumbs up emoji clipart and your falsely enthusiastic "we care about fun!" i laughed while drinking. Immediately, hot ginger shot to the back of my esophagus, as well as through my nostrils. I was coughing for at least five seconds straight, in tremendous pain. great video man keep it up

[@ThatReplyGuy]

It's about freaking time someone did a video on the Otogi games. I've been mentioning them in video game essay-tuber comment sections for years.

[@nunothedude2]

Why didnt YOU make a video abt it, im sure ude learn so much

[@ThatReplyGuy]

@nunothedude2 I'm busy enough as it is, I don't have the time or talent to make content like this. I listen to these types of videos while working, and I've always felt that when people talk about older From Software games, the Otogi games are never mentioned, so I would bring it up in comment sections just to shed some light on them. I assume most people have never heard of the Otogi games since they were Xbox exclusive games with no PC release.

[@nunothedude2]

@@ThatReplyGuy what do u do? I mean u can def do that, its just something we tell oursels, i am like that too but i try to make stuff here and there

[@OneSleeplessOne]

A bit of context, Raikoh and his family were executioners and political assassins for the imperial court. He left the capital after orders to kill his father and nearly died after a supernatural storm leveled everything. The only reason he's "somewhat" content to fight demons is to redeem himself.

[@SnakebitSTI]

I was wondering if the story wasn't some variation the classic samurai theme of "sure sucks how your boss is evil. Now go follow those orders or bury a knife in your own guts, because there are literally no other options".

[@yurareigiryu]

5:38 I appreciate you calling out players that slap "lag" on anything that isn't actual lag like hitstop, hitstun, blockstun, and recovery frames.

[@mrlucy7197]

I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS VIDEO FOR 20 YEARS! Finally we get some Otogi love. I played this so much as a kid, and forgot it was even Fromsoft game for a while.

[@RougeMephilesClone]

This was deserved and appreciated. I've wanted to hear more about Otogi for a long time, and I don't know if many other video essayists would have broken down the full scope of what these games are like Kbash did. Now I really want to see a Kbash Lost Kingdoms video, even though 2 is one of the first reviews on the channel or something.

[@EmissaryOfSmeagol]

If _Lost Kingdoms_ is the Dark Souls of early-FromSoftware, _Otogi_ is the Dark Souls 2 of early-FromSoftware.

[@ncrtrooper7153]

Patrolling the Mojave almost makes you wish for a nuclear winter.

[@LuciferHunter-kt7pm]

Froze my ass off out there in the Mojave in 2011. Ate turkey puck for thanksgiving in the sand.

[@DirtyMike124x]

​@@LuciferHunter-kt7pm lmao I just tried to look up "turkey puck" and had no luck. It's beyond the expertise of AI apparently too when I tried to ask one. I'm committed now. Please tell me what turkey puck is 🥺 lol

[@LuciferHunter-kt7pm]

@ army turkey. Looks like a hockey puck. lol

[@DirtyMike124x]

@@LuciferHunter-kt7pm 😂 I figured but had to make sure. I'm going to ask my army buddy about it and see if he's partaken 🤣 puck turkey lmaooo

[@LuciferHunter-kt7pm]

@ and turkey puck isn’t even the only puck! There’s all kinds of meat type pucks

[@Seoul_Soldier]

Raikoh's existence is honestly horrific. I feel for him.

[@dragamation3266]

Loved that ending. So many amazing games that are made by so many folks that weren't that well known and still aren't When I find a not well known game I really like but with sparse info about it or the folks that worked on it it's a bummer, because I wanna see what else those artists worked on

[@apophisgaming4964]

I wake up and get new kbash straight up? Breakfast of Champions.

[@abrigedon]

Love your videos KBash! Thanks for covering Otogi!

[@nkozi]

This ending statement is one of the most gorgeous and heartfelt you've made yet.

[@justindibe8543]

Babe wake up

[@KAKA42-c3t]

Maybe that is the thing about not caring for the canon of a medium: it takes a while to get used to notion that you are walking your own path, but eventually you realize that not a lot of people would dare wade through that path. By rejecting the canon you become an illuminating figure of your time.

[@Erekt0]

The concept of making the final boss harder, for no reason other than reducing the harm done to others, is actually so fucking sick.

[@marsrobotic6940]

Dude that last chapter single handledly was one of the best narrative retrospections I have ever heard. I hope that games are taken more seriously as an art form someday. Your videos are the best things I've ever seen on KZbin.

[@myminion74]

Holy shit the peanut butter and fish fucking got me so bad I'm still giggling in the workroom over it and looking like a maniac Absolutely not expected at all

[@Loganmccoy1996]

Thanks for talking about one of my favorite franchises I have the moonlight great sword in both. Wish there was a third love Otogi hopefully new players will finally find this absolute gem of a series

[@JimFaindel]

I love this era of gaming, and am immediately reminded of my beloved Kingdom Under Fire series. Now those are some underrated games!

[@HalcyonAeterna]

Finished the video and amazing work as always. The ending especially really resonated with me and interestingly enough made me think of Hbomb's Plagiarism video, though of course the focus is different. So much contemporary cultural history (even pop culture) isn't being recorded or even considered, and in turn we lose a lot of that history. Anyway I'm glad you covered these because I adore the early full 3d area of games because a lot of them were experimenting both mechanically and at times narratively.

[@Juwce_86]

Finally someone is talking about this classic. I have both on the OG xbox and number 2 was absolutely incredible with different story beats depending on whomst you finish certain levels with. The wolf guy really hates the spiders.

[@Tolly7249]

I love this video. It feels like you feel about these games the same way I feel about the original Drakengard. It's not a good game, in some ways it makes me crazy with frustration, but the story and characters and the alternate timelines that wind up leading into the vastly more popular Nier series will stay with me forever. I still sit back and just... think about Drakengard and the risks Yako Taro took. He made some fascinating games with some truly horrible lead characters who are somehow more relatable than the army of Serious Brown Haired White Men we deal with in most games the last couple decades.

[@Vulgarth1]

I agree, but also: Caim is a very serious brown haired white dude.

[@Tolly7249]

@@Vulgarth1 Oh, he is... But he's also the kind of EXPLICITLY bat-guano unbalanced that would lead to someone actually merrily slaughtering their way through an entire empire and enjoying it.

[@ryuke8866]

The ending section was great omg

[@blackdragoncyrus]

Please play the Trails series.

[@backlogburning]

Oh good, I’m not the only one asking. … Or is the phrase “cursing?” Because…holy time sink.

[@Ragefat]

Kbash will die, Trails is just too much.

[@daviddobarganes9115]

I just wanna say your pacing and jokes are on point this one, very clean

[@SomniaCE]

Otogi is damn near peak Fromsoft tbh and I'd absolutely rank it up there for its era. Hope it gets remastered someday.

[@thelongerrun]

When I saw Otogi in the first frames of the video, I knew I was in for a treat. I feel like history just swallowed this awesomely fun game. Yes it's janky, but it was the right jank for me in the XBox days.

[@creativeusername6453]

I appreciate that you have knowledge in or are willing to research topics outside of video games. That's something thats severely lacking in video game coverage, people that are able to approach games within the context of art or just human history as a whole.

[@iwanriley8047]

Jebus Chrimst my dude you’re putting our bangers at an insane rate! 😍

[@MaximumDong]

people of the algorithm detection team, I need your power!

[@yeetkunedo]

Bruh. A Xmas present like this is too much.

[@DaikonDev_]

This may be the only time I see a kbash video with 1 view

[@TyGuy9001]

Ok, so the editing in this is especially well done, a big fan of that hard work! It’s interesting to see a game just strip most of the interesting narrative away for a sequel, It’d be better to have Otogi 2 follow up that narrative with some good reveals and nuance instead, but what’s there is ok I guess. Always more interesting to see a game tackle some class conflict and themes of governmental oppression/corruption. Some of the jokes in the video overall were great, not so sure about the lie creeping behind you bit, but not every joke is for everyone. Always love hearing about a game I’ve never played and some interesting stuff about it, so I appreciate what you do as always KBash! It’s been a great year for these videos! I look forward to stuff on the second channel and the new stuff in the future!

[@volpe2077]

Really cool look into early FromSoft!!

[@Ameiii]

This one video has more accurate lore on this game than 20 years of the internet, nice.

[@flumphflumph6021]

This was a nice Christmas Present. Thank You KBash.

[@quinnviandsej]

THAT'S WHY FINAL FANTASY USES A MINI MALLET TO CURE THAT AILMENT?!?! I don't know which deranged patrons requested a review of these two oddball games, but they and you deserve a medal for this video. Otogi seems pretty dope, narratively at least.

[@Valkenhyne]

Damn, just happened to refresh as this dropped lmao. Let's goooo!

[@METC500]

thank you for another great year of videos, man

[@HateSonneillon]

This world and story is so interesting that I started writing a d&d campaign based on it. This is really cool, namely the twist about most of the demons once being humans. I can imagine, if given the chance people would want to rebel against the princess after figuring it out.

[@LorenzoErialtiAudio]

I remember playing the first one 20 years ago on the first Xbox, it's a series I hold dear in my heart :')

[@blaiseoffury4866]

Please play enchanted arms, so I’m not alone

[@the13thjoker]

Oh boy i love when you cover up a game i never hear or see ! I might try this game now

[@RetroEmulationArchive]

Finally...I was starting to believe that this game was just a dream of mine...nobody talks about Otogi for some reason...

[@ToastyCubes]

The Four Kings fight in DS1 is literally just a condensed version of Otogi 2.

[@steampunkerella]

lost kingdoms 1 & 2 are some of my most fav video games ever. it was funny going into demons souls being like, hey wait a minute, an evil fog enveloping the land??

[@DanielBrown91]

RADIATA STORIES ANALYSIS TEASED

[@Redbri3]

oh god I bounced off otogi when I was a wee lil bab. I did not have the motor skills required to get good

[@gandorokkorodnag9028]

Damn bash you gave me war flashbacks mentioning enchanted arms…

[@DrakeDoe]

Going to have to come back to this one when I'm not trying to fall asleep because I have to be up in 6 hours. 50/50 if a k-bash video is going to have loads of the equivalent of a jumpscare audio sting but for comedy.

[@randomsandwichian]

Abe no Seimei, Abe no Lincoln, and Abe no Shinzo; what problems do people have with Abes?

[@Kyoslilmonster]

6:19 dont think i didnt hear that Parappa x Daffy Duck clip

[@Sylnir]

What? A KBro video shadowdropped?! I’m on it! 👏🏼

[@sylviastone628]

"Blow it all like your next paycheck" Cut to me, crying, as I look over at my $150 Klonoa Nendoroid (you should check out the Klonoa series btw, it doesn't get nearly enough love or recognition)

[@ShirtlessCouch]

I've had these games on my radar for quite sometime and i seen them on the xbox game store and considered... but i am too chained by nostalgia i need to get the original xbox versions to experience it the "intended" way... thank you for re lighting my interest in these games i can't wait to play them myself.

[@xXIzZy120Xx]

So glad you got to these, always felt like these games were too underrated. Hoping FromSoft brings Otogi back after Armored Core

[@billy65498]

Always a good day when kbash uploads

[@TheMrHego]

HOLY SHIT! THANK YOU FOR SOLVING A 20 YEAR OLD MYSTERY! When I was a kid, I'd regularly buy an XBox magazine wich came with a disc full with demos. I'd often spend hours replaying demos for hours on end. One of them was Halo CE, where the silent cartographer mission was the demo and I've replayed that mission 30 times. Anyways, there was one other demo I've played a lot and I couldn't remember what it was, just that it was an asian fantasy game starting with the letter 'O'. Each time I've tried to find it, I just found Onimusha, which wasn't at all what I remembered. Because it was Otogi! It's kinda funny, because I'm a huge dark souls fan, but I never knew they made something else than armored core and kingsfield.

[@hemangchauhan2864]

HOW DID I MISS A KBASH UPLOAD

[@ImUsingTiltControls]

Radiata Stories mentioned! Hopefully one day KBash will talk about it and Radiant Historia.

[@axellycan5070]

Even for 2010 that blog quote is something else hahaha

[@ParmMannREBORN]

Woah I've never heard of these games before. Got emotional hearing about the amount of lost info there probably are about games

[@Juwce_86]

The fact they were exclusive to the OG xbox alot of people havnt heard of it. Niche Japanese games back then weren't popular. Hence why okami unfortunately failed at launch. I was there. I tried to educate everyone around me to the joys of these games but they were too COD and halo washed.

[@pikaboom6539]

I am addicted to Xanax but when I listen to Kbash I am healed

[@jofzzlszzl]

new kbash upload baybeeee

[@kademcneely6009]

Onmyoji would be a fire username

[@sanfransiscon]

I enjoyed learning about these games, they seem pretty interesting to me in gameplay. But I've come to realize I can't stand misanthropy and moral nihilism.

[@PowerfulMint]

Me, seeing this drop in my inbox: "New kbash video? Oh joyous day!" Me, at that ending section, taking a drag off a metaphorical cigarette and thinking existentially: "man..."

[@lrodrigues7488]

Need more marriage jokes!

[@dulemaster1]

Wats the ending song i feel like I've played the game for hours

[@abdirahmansaid2674]

I'm looking for it too. He lists a few series the music in the video is from in the description like castlevania, f-zero, sonic adventure 2 and fable so that might nudge your memory. Please do tell me if you end up finding it lol

[@Labyrinth____]

Radiata Stories!

[@zachfutv9986]

Hey, that was Radiata Story, one of my favorite games.

[@GuiltyGaming]

I beat you to making an NG/Eva crossover and you do this to me? I’ve been writing an Otogi retro for two months and you do *this* to me??!

[@Vulgarth1]

No Ninja Blade? KBash....

[@Markmywolf]

Damn. Not the adventures of cookies and cream. The game with the two bunnies. One is pink and the other has a pot on his head

[@qsmith2514]

YUGIOH FALSEBOUND KINGDOM MENTIONED 🎉🎉🎉

[@FoxLenar]

"Me when I take off my pants" took me by surprise 🤣

[@DonutSwordsman]

Thanks for continuing to make awesome long vids. I remember years ago I whined in the comments and you replied and was like, homie is dope and cares. You'll always be a giga Chad of true patrician taste to cover such underground games

[@joemama2499]

Hey, you're into highly specific games for weird people, you should cover Penny's Big Breakaway. It's highly off putting to casual players but once you understand its momentum mechanics it's really neatly designed (bar a few level specific pacing issues) and a really great first effort for a new studio.

[@katielaforet5652]

I could listen to you talk about anything and I do

[@antoniusrexplays9657]

YES OTOGI! Man, these are such great games.

[@RedSageGames]

Enchanted Arms! rented that game forever ago.

[@anguset]

As if KBash wasn't based enough, bro is getting into the From back catalogue

[@shiina4826]

new kbash wowie zowie

[@kyubbiman2255]

So I actually played Enchanted Arms, it is like a half remembered dream. It was alright kinda hard though. Think I got stuck on the Earth Emperor

[@aokyoutsuki7744]

45:43 keepin this for personal use

[@gweeen_tea]

The otogi 2 entourage is just the average discord server tbh

[@blahfantasy]

Radiata Stories coming soon I assume ❤

[@gray1665]

so which britney videos were included?

[@sinmenon4347]

Seimei was also a girl in Kuon, so maybe they are being consistent? Fromsoftware interconnected universe

[@abdirahmansaid2674]

What's the ending song?

[@Rihcterwilker]

I'm still waiting for a pc version of Radiata Stories.

[@colinwilliams9436]

That first otogi game looks like the 2002 shinobi game on ps2

[@crls4726]

another banger

[@ergothgamingfillername5202]

YO WAS THAT FUCKING RADIATA STORIES AT THE BEGINNING

[@ClarkKentai]

FUGGEN WHAT BRO BROOOOO BLESS THIS LOVELY WORLD

[@dustyyyyyyyy7]

I've thought about this game ever since I played it on the original Xbox next to Morrowind and Phantom Dust. I've never played a game like this since that had something this unique. If you have, I'd love some recommendations.

[@LucasGhazarian]

Now I wonder... does peanut butter and fish taste good? Edit: it does not.

[@lukep.]

Wake up babe the preview for 2025 just dropped

[@Noah-zo6zn]

Never been this early