Top 10 Soulsborne AREAS

[@StrengthGamerOfficial]

Hey guys! This video took an unnecessarily long amount of time to make due to the holidays as well as a particularly annoying infection. I'll try to be more consistent from now so look forward to more frequent uploads and I'd love to hear about topics you'd like to see covered!

[@lethalz891]

Ash lake and dranglic castle being in this list is wild 💀. Personally number 1 for me is central Yarnham.

[@ah_helou2845]

Dope video man keep it up!! P.S. shoutout to Fishing Hamlet & Cathedral Ward & Farum Azula I think those areas are masterpieces

[@StrengthGamerOfficial]

Thanks man I appreciate it!

[@domaccola582]

Fishing hamlet feels like such a simple level on the surface, but it’s always the highlight of bloodborne when I replay it.

[@upsideproductions2]

Leyndell at number 1 will always confuse me. Why do people like it so much? It’s only all that good visually. gameplay wise it’s very boring to explore, the enemy’s are uninteresting, and morrgott carries the area to much. The shunning grounds are good, but I personally count them as a separate area. The entirety of Leyndell is just a few roof tops, and some empty streets ways. Why people like that area, and let alone place it as number 1 is beyond me.

[@domaccola582]

For me, Leyndell is a huge city to get lost in. The area has a handcrafted feel to it, that makes it feel grounded (even more so than other Elden Ring levels). I think the level succeeds in spite of the poor enemy variety and repetitive sections. But that’s all subjective, I don’t actually disagree with your criticism, it just didn’t bother me as much.

[@inoodlesi4459]

100% agree. if it had to be the big city/castle spectacle, either Anor Londo or Cainhurst, or Drangleic Castle. Lyndell is the most overrated area and funny enough my least favorite. The main goal/area of the game has all the same enemies you fight throughout the game? No thanks.

[@purplesky2369]

yeah I played elden ring first and played dark souls remastered later and I preferred anor Londo to leyndell.

[@ah_helou2845]

@@upsideproductions2 bro I can understand if it’s not your fav but saying it’s boring to explore is crazy ngl🤣 It’s a non linear multilayered complex city with alleys, streets, rooftops, balconies, gardens, big & small courtyards, indoor rooms and hallways, a massive stone dragon + tree branches to parkour, some big open fields, underground tunnels (besides the shunning grounds), and of course you discover the actual round table hold in the city which was a great moment in the game. The only issue of the area for me is that it reuses so many enemies and introduces too few new ones

[@youdontknowme9184]

@@purplesky2369 opposite lol started with ds1 and now playing through elden ring, leyndell is like what I wanted from anor londo. But thats the beauty of these games, how everyone can have valid opinions cos they so good

[@youdontknowme9184]

leyndell was the only souls area where i took like 5 to 10 mins at that spot (yk the one) taking in the sight of just getting there. A huge sprawling city, like anor londo, but you can explore it all. A huge stone kaiju sized dragon towering over the city and harbouring a unique weapon. And to think all these are dwarved by the absolutely breathtaking erdtree. Yeah this is an easy no1 for me too.

[@GODzilla.1402]

Hemwick's Charnel lane underrated fr!

[@GibboYouTube]

Ash lake is great, but getting in and out without the lords vessel is painful and makes the area rough (for me)

[@Late_NightRev]

Props to putting Drangleic Castle in the Top 10, it’s a very underrated level that would at least make my Top 30 areas. The soul-key mechanic was genius and very interesting, and I liked how it had great enemy especially after some other areas in the game. I also liked the puzzle in the second half, I was pretty stumped the first time I experienced it.

[@IsaiahAnderson-o2v]

I’d like to see a video about your personal favorite fromsoft games in order of least favorite (hard to decide I know) to favorite (again hard to decide

[@StrengthGamerOfficial]

That's a hard list but I'll give it a go sometime

[@shut]

Ash lake respect = like Finding it on accident was maybe the highlight of the game for me. One of my fav areas in my fav game for sure

[@lotrfan4237]

Props for not completely disregarding Dark Souls 2 like the other content creators doing these lists

[@reixx-_-]

Drangleic Castle over Stormveil Castle is criminal imo

[@odkjqedlkd]

Im 100% on board with this list

[@domaccola582]

100% agree that Leyndell is is the best. It feels like the culmination of every level they’ve done and it feels earning of the title ‘Royal capital’. I think what’s so impressive is that the entire game builds to the moment you reach Leyndell and yet it still exceeds all expectations.

[@upsideproductions2]

Why do people like Leyndell so much? It’s only all that good visually. Gameplay wise it’s very boring to explore, the enemy’s aren’t all that interesting, and morrgott, while a good boss, carries the area way too much. The entire area is just a few rooftops and some empty street ways. To be frank, I had more fun going through the lake of rot than I did Leyndell.

[@domaccola582]

I agree about the bosses. I think while Morgott is a good boss, he needed a bigger health bar. He has a lot of attacks that should be really threatening but you can kinda just tank your way through it. I think leyndell is successful in spite of the bosses. Maybe it’s a personal preference thing, because I don’t disagree about the enemies being a bit boring. I think the main reason I like Leyndell so much is because it feels like an actual place. Whereas other areas in Elden ring (Volcano Manor, Raya Lucaria) are good levels they still feel like videogame levels. I could see Leyndell being an actual place people once lived. The place has a very hand crafted feel imo. Maybe from a pure gameplay perspective that isn’t the most satisfying for everyone, but for me it was a joy to explore.

[@jarlwhiterun7478]

​@@upsideproductions2edgelord alert! I bet you liked that one band way before they were popular, and now they suck because they are known!

[@upsideproductions2]

@@jarlwhiterun7478Leyndell glazer got there feelings hurt?

[@craftihlow69]

Bloodborne was my first souls game so maybe im biased but Central Yharnam is just massive. Its my favorite starting area in any souls game ever and in my top 10, maybe in the top 5.

[@domaccola582]

Top 2 for me. Bloodborne wasn’t my first but Central Yharnam is one hell of a way to start a game.

[@craftihlow69]

@domaccola582 Was pretty overwhelming tho when I got to the werewolves. But that area has everything. I had like over 100 hours of playtime and still found new stuff.

[@domaccola582]

Agreed, I think an argument could be made that it’s not so great as a starting area. It can be really overwhelming at first, definitely more fun when you’re familiar with the game.

[@jarlwhiterun7478]

You are biased, clearly.

[@caesarpompey9583]

my top 10 would be: 1.Irithyll of the Boreal Valley (DS3) 2.Undead Burg (DS1) 3.Sen's Fortress (DS1) 4.Leyndell, Royal Capital (ER) 5.Anor Londo (DS1) 6.Ashina Castle (Sekiro) 7.Volcano Manor (ER) 8.Lothric Castle (DS3) 9.High Wall of Lothric (DS3) 10.Oolacile Township (DS1) Honourable Mentions: Ashina Outskirts, Drangleic Castle, Archdragon Peak, Stormveil Castle, Fountainhead Palace, Undead Parish.

[@poll3787]

Where is Vulcano Manor???

[@grayhat_9x]

I feel like top 5 best locations are all from Elden Ring. Followed by Irythil, Ashina castle, Yharnum

[@khash6419]

I think a factor you should have included in your decision for each area was how integral the level design is in terms of story progression and character progression. The main thing a level serves to do, is progress you in beating the game, or leveling up your character, which usually happens in the side areas. If there is an expansive sewer system under Leyndell, what does it do? Why does it exist; does it reward you with good powerups for your character (other than generic 'runes' you can get or minor items) or does it serve you to better beat the game progression wise? If it does not do any of these two, it should in my opinion be treated as an afterthought for the sake of worldbuilding, rather than be one of the few main things about the level. Leyndell is in fact very dense, but as a player what you want to do is beat the game (not to say exploring for fluff and worldbuilding purposes to look at the game serves no purpose) but sometimes having an area that is dense for the sake of being dense, packed rooms that you can go into and sewers, but for no real reason, could be seen as a downside. I do feel that a lot of areas in Elden Ring suffer from this, being big for no reason other than being big. It's cool to find the secrets, but at a certain point you don't care anymore and want to just get on with the game, which usually has an obvious main path to follow. All that being said I'm not trying to invalidate your opinion, but this is a factor that I feel should be important in why a level is a good level and maybe you could have touched on more. Either way, great video and it was a fun watch

[@StrengthGamerOfficial]

I see your point and I can understand where it's coming from. But I don't personally agree. I love getting "lost" in big areas and exploring every corner in my first playthrough of a Fromsoftware game and finding any little secret that I can. Even if the area in and of itself doesn't hide anything major. I also certainly never feel the urgency to beat the story quickly, in fact I try to explore everything that I can before that. Which is why Leyndell was at the top of my list. But hey, different strokes for different folks

[@ah_helou2845]

@@khash6419 I mean yeah that’s how optional areas within a level work. In fact, souls games are the best at using these optional areas to really expand the world, for example in Lyendell there’s a random hidden well that’ll take you to the shunning grounds, a whole other expansive area. Also, for example, in the forbidden woods in Bloodborne there’s a random hidden path that takes you to a cave that leads you all the way back into Yarnham

[@khash6419]

@@ah_helou2845 I didnt know that about bloodborne but that is a separate thing; the path that takes you back to the starting area and Iosefka's clinic isn't a dense and large for the sake of being large area, it's an actual shortcut and level design that loops the world back and makes it feel whole. That being said, after searching on the shunning grounds, I think it is a great area. I mentioned in my comment if the area doesn't have story or CHARACTER progression (levels, items etc) then it should be treated as an afterthought for the sake of coolness. But the shunning ground and the final boss have cool lore implications, and cool items (erdtree's favor like the FAP ring from DS1 is great) and I did not know that prior to making my comment. I'm not going back on my point, but just saying yeah it does not really apply to the shunning grounds and Leyndell

[@mirayoquese8608]

The shunning grounds area basically gives you access to two of the five different endings of the game, with all the story, lore and worldbuilding they imply, so there's that.

[@DutchPlanDerLindeFromTahiti]

Can't believe Nokron isn't here

[@upsideproductions2]

I’ll give you my top 10: 1. Cainhurst castle 2. The ringed city 3. Tomb of the giants 4. Abyssal woods 5. The haligtree/ephael 6. Shadow keep 7. Irithyll 8. Cathedral ward 9. Research hall 10. Central yharnam.

[@StrengthGamerOfficial]

Noice

[@ah_helou2845]

@@upsideproductions2 first time I’ve ever seen someone rate Tomb of the Giants highly🤣

[@jarlwhiterun7478]

Jesus, this is a bizarro world list. Tomb is the singular worst area in Dark Souls, Abyssal Woods was atmospheric the first time, after that it's a slog, and all the generic areas in Bloodbourne bore me to undeath!

[@upsideproductions2]

@ ok

[@ah_helou2845]

@@jarlwhiterun7478 I agree with you about tomb of the giants but ngl Bloodborne’s “generic” areas are better than most areas in other souls games, and the best areas in Bloodborne are some of the best in the series

[@inoodlesi4459]

Leyndell is always confusing to me. Its packed with all the same enemies you fought in the game which ruin the spectacle, including reskined bosses. Yes its beautiful, but its just a bunch of hallways and stuff you already since in a different color, despite it's verticality. Just imo, Leyndell was a "Holy hell I finally made it," while somewhere like Ash Lake was a pause and stare at the screen "Holy shit...what game am I even playing right now?

[@Hauri1972]

Sorry to disagree, but I on my behalf absolutely don’t like Irrithyl in DS3. Very much like Pontiff Sulyvan though.

[@Reez22154]

Im in a minority when i say ash lake didnt do anything for me. Its a great piece of world building but for how frustratingly unfun the jour ney getting to it was i could appreicate some worthwhile content instead of a useless covenant and those dogshit hydra enemies.

[@ah_helou2845]

@@Reez22154 it is an entirely optional area that exists mainly for storytelling and world building reasons, not really for gameplay