i personally didnt like the haligtree i came to it knowing malenia was there and i didn’t want to kill every enemy and find every secret because i was done with the game i spent 130 hours playing it and didn’t kill malenia yet so i just wanted to get to her as quickly as possible but i couldn’t find the way to her so i just looked it up
This is such a cool idea, but had poor execution. Imagine if they were given a tour where they could really focus on what stood out to them. Instead, they were shown a video of someone in one of the worst helmets in the game to showcase anything beyond the character. And Raya Lucaria was just... Forgotten? Lol
Fromsoft's work definitely gives the players access to several scenic tools that improve the viewer's absorption of the surroundings. They could have made use of the Telescope to completely remove the character from screen and look at distant things with more detail
While I can appreciate the expertise that all guests bring in each video, it feels like a terrible waste to have them watching random clips of someone doing something almost aimlessly, rather than an image specifically tailored for them to put on full display their knowledge.
You gotta do a video for Bloodbonre. All of the victorian architecture stacked on top of each other is gorgeous. Fun fact: In the lore of Bloodborne, the blood of dead gods could heal any disease, so the population grew too fast for them to build out so they built up, on top of old structures
@@leinad2934 well according to Google images, they are rather similar. Victorian just seems to be a slightly more modern version of gothic revival. Ig sure I was wrong, but I wasn’t far off, c’mon
What I liked about the dining room in Volcano Manor is that the table isn't like just one giant wooden monstrosity that looked like it was only meant for that specific room, but instead it's a collection of like 10 smaller tables all stacked end to end then they just put like 2-3 long cloth strips over the top of them to blend them together. Reminds me of being back in school when we had to stack our desks together for group assignments.
"Like characters in a story" That's a good way to put it. Elden Ring's settings have such a diverse range of characterisation attached to them, that they make every new area so memorable despite the game's size. I could name my top ten favourite locations in Elden Ring off the top of my head. While I couldn't even recall the name of a single location in any of the ubisoft games I have played.
Those distinct characterizations also extend to the weapons too. The late-game weapon design is so memorable and unique, it's just amazing how they put so much replayability in a single game.
@@laizerwoolf I can only imagine how much more replayability will be contained within Elden Ring once the DLC is released. I can't stop thinking about it.
I love the shitty peasant houses on that basis because they’re so clearly cobbled together. You can almost feel how poor the people who live in those houses are, that it’s more like a shack made with scrap pieces of wood made into the shape of a house
The interconnected level design of Elden ring always fascinates me, so many developers tried to make a souls inspired game but most of them fails to replicate the amazing level design of a FromSoftware game.
I'm an architect and have 350 hours into this game. From Software's Designing work is insane since ever, but I have to admit all spaces are very hard to enjoy by wheelchair users, Gherman can tell you guys.
Them being able to understand that the widely varying architecture is intentional as environmental storytelling says a lot about how hard FromSoft worked to create such a unique and expansive world. Really cool to see how different people’s knowledge shapes the way they view and interpret the same media.
You should get them to play the games they react to. That way they can look at and focus on the stuff they want to instead of relying on someone else to showcase stuff.
@@fariyanahmed6592 Most people can muddle through after a few minutes of familiarization with the controls. Alternatively they could have a staff member play while the experts commentate and direct the player. That way there would also be a gamer at hand to offer correction when one of the experts inevitable misunderstands something about the game.
The thing is Elden Ring's architecture is fairly consistent. Tarnished Archeologist goes into *painstaking* detail about how everything is layered on older and older architecture.
Now as a guy who has studied medieval architecture for a book I'm working on. I will say that even though Japan has some of the worst ideas of what Europe architecture looks like. And how it works. It still does a good job. The biggest issue is that they confuse the castle shapes for style, instead of period. For example: The more square-shaped and angler the castle the older it was. Since making square-shaped castles was easier. The more rounded the castle was the later medieval to even early to mid-imperial it was (Square castle = 1000 to 1300), (Hexogon castle =1300 to 1400), (Round castles = 1400 to modern). (Note: some castles were made hexagonal even going into the imperial, pre-modern, to modern era since there where still as good as round) But besides that they do an amazing job getting it down to the theme of the era. Since a lot of these are based on Gothic and Spanish-style castles. Due to the first Europeans they closely documented were from Spain. Which at the time the areas of Germany, Spain, Portugal, and Italy were close friends and under one emperor. Due to the Habsburg dynasty. Meaning that they have a good idea of what those buildings look like, of that dynasty. Fun facts: That's why so many animes go Gothic and Spanish with their designs of Medieval castles. That's why so much of medieval fantasy animes are usually styled after the 16th century. AND why so many Anime characters are German and Spanish in name. Especially if you play games like fire emblem. In short: It's pretty much more Renaissance era, more than Medieval (Assassin's Creed 2's era).
You're very knowledgeable, and I respect that. But fantasy anime and Soulsgames are fictional, there's a lot of room for inaccuracies considering their world doesn't have to adhere to our understanding of physics, science, math, literature, architecture, and it genuinely shouldn't since it's purely fiction. They made it up. It was never real. A complete fabrication. Just a story. I appreciate that you're being informative, and I don't mean any disrespect.
@@MisterAnonymous1000 Yeah, but a fictional story with little to no grounding is complete non-sense and not really worth the watch. Due to having too many plot holes. I mean really, If a fantasy story was complete fiction without any rules to bind it together. Then The main hero could just wish a pawn a star and save the day before dawn of the next day (Which would be a really short read).
@@averytucker790 I think they mean is that in fiction writers and developers probably take a lot of creative liberty in creating something that they think looks cool, maybe not always realistically accurate. Which ends up not catering to hardcore architecture enthusiasts. FromSoftware’s vision of their worlds with heavy influence from european architecture created a setting that feels unique to their universe, despite not being realistically accurate.
@@averytucker790 That assuming it needs ground to stand on. They're alternative universes that, design wise, did not follow the path of what it's influenced by and doesn't try to establish that relationship. Even in traditional history, you have a very volatile structure for design; if Di Vinci or some other great artist had not made a work or made it differently, an entire history would be different. A design difference is not a plot hole.
@@averytucker790 grounding to what??? the world in the game isnt earth, it isn't our world. What is it supposed to be grounded to?? You have an undead war lord that uses his energy power to hold the stars in place and can crash down on you like a comet from the sky in this game and you're talking about the architecture lacking "grounding"?? WTF are you talking about my guy?? lmao 🙄
I like how they mention all of the architecture they've seen in these games is a Westernized / European centric vision. Definitely should show them architecture from games set in non-Western areas, like Ghost of Tsushima or Sekiro.
8:40 How convenient that he mentions this. There are quite a bit of South-East Asian design motifs used for the Hornsent areas in the DLC. I recognised them 'cos I'm from S.E.A.
The coffered barrel vault is not that unheard of. There are some châteaux in the Loire Valley that have main Halls built like that. They do that a lot in the East as well if I'm not mistaken (Orthodox churches, Mosques etc in Turkey for instance, where Western and Eastern styles meet). And late Antiquity went that way too (the Temple of Jupiter in Split, Croatia, 4th century). There's also the Expiatory Chapel in Paris. It's half-domes instead of barrels, but the optics produce a similar result. As for "everything making sense in a historical period"... even in real life that doesn't exist. Unless the castle was built by a 19th century industry giant fond of neo-gothic, medieval castles don't often have a cohesive style for the simple reason that they were transformed along the centuries to answer new challenges or uses. A castle with 12th century foundations, 14th century guards rooms and kitchens, 15th century walls and an additional tower, and a 17th century main Hall for living quarters is not rare. It's more or less the rule. Even a chateau built simply for living later on in history will have changed because of subsequent changes and additions by later generations with a different sense of style.
You guys definitely should hire a modder or someone who does ingame freecam photos for these things. Walking around ingame does really show off alot of the detail, especially for buildings
The idea that Ben said where these arent just buildings they're settings for a story is spot on. The designs may be inspired by real world architecture but the end theme is appropriate for the setting of the story, the characters that resided there, and the culture behind it. Redmane Castle is much more fortress and combat oriented due to this idea that Caelid has been at war for so long and everything is set up to really drive that idea of hostility home. Leyndell is clean grey and white stone capped with gold shingles and accents because it is the home of Marika, of essentially god and all things royal. Stormveil is very much a combination of the two, having been originally ruled by Hoarah Loux a warrior but also first Elden Lord. Volcano Manor is a place steeped in class and fanciful design but underneath the surface its very dark and grim much like the residents of the manor and their lord, Rykard.
Even though Elden Ring has in my opinion the most interesting looking areas such as Caelid or Farum Azula, architecture wise I think DS3 and Bloodborne have the best looking places. Irythill and Cainhurst are just breathtaking. Even the murkier places like Farron Swamp look incredible when you actually see the architecture such as the Abyss Watchers' domain.
This would be more interesting if it also had a structure integrity engineer. As in those that take drawing from architects and create the functional designs that actually enables the building to not fall apart. How are large windows held in place. How are those metal bars connected to the concrete in a manner that can hold 100 windows on 10 metal bars etc.
But UA-cam comments are gonna get angry and say "oH hurrdur bUt iTs A vIdEo GaMe iT dOeSn'T hAvE tO bE rEaLiStIc" despite the fact that is literally the entire point of them being in the video to compare it to real life.
Should be live screensharing with them, so they can direct the camera. Itd be cool to watch them get curious about some weird corner's design and talk about it for a sec. This is like a whistle-stop tour where they shout a bunch of buzzwords on the way past
Yeah I agree. I like castles and everything, but I want to be in a new environment inspired by something other than Western Europe. I wonder why these other places are so rarely used tbh. It seems like introducing a whole new cultural inspiration as the dominant design would be a breath of fresh air and drum up interest in a game.
@@Gandhi_Physique The answer is pretty simple : the fantasy genre comes from Europe, the major works like LOTR, Dungeons and dragons, ASOIAF, the legends of the knights of the roundtable, are all inspired from european folklore and setting. No other continent has established its own fantasy genre with its own popular artworks that were later exported internationally, the closest is Asia.
@@lahunica2726 Assuming you are right, that makes sense. I say who cares where it came from! Be original and/or be inspired by something else. Maybe one day. I guess another benefit is Europe documented a lot of stuff throughout history so we might have a lot more to go on.
I'm a little sad that they failed to mention the ceiling of the Pantheon in Rome, but merely mentioned NY subway... Also, while the game is full of anachronisms, it's actually a good thing to combine various styles. Just think about it: people didn't just wake up one day and thought that now it's renaissance. New building styles were used in places full of older styles. Old buildings were at times modernised, etc.
Speaking of NY, St. Patricks comes to mind. I really kind of like the fact that in the middle of these slim towers of glass is plopped an old gothic Cathedral.
Gamology...as an Architect student myself I ask you to make them react to this game and Bloodborne gothic/Victorian architecture with modded panoramic footage,bird eyes view, to help them them see the whole large scale design of the game...
I wish you would let the guys you get in to dwell a bit more on the subjects or even give them time to see things before hand so that they can have a better opportunity to talk on their speciality and the game or film world more.
I know you don't wanna put ideas in their heads, but they really should have been told this wasn't a game that takes place a few centuries ago in a fantastical version of Europe, that it's actually a timeless liminal space like Purgatory. The combination of defensive and processional features suddenly goes from being a mash-up to a brilliant expression of what life is like in The Lands Between.
I fucking love the mutual lingo they’re bouncing back and forth with. I really enjoy listening to two or more people who know what they’re talking about just relish in their craft even if I have no clue wtf they are saying
A ways to think of it and think of it realisticly, think of the workers building those castles brick by brick, and the men or women with blueprints planning out how there going to build a architecturebuilding and the engineering in all of it.
I’ll be honest for a minute I love the fantastical plausibility of all the Medieval mechanisms in these games. Like obviously we didn’t have rolling Iron Maiden’s or Iron Mechanical Drawbridges but the way it’s presented makes you believe “if we had a firmer grasp on machinery at an earlier stage this is the stuff we would have built.” It’s weirdly grounded despite being outside of reality
As a kid playing RPGs back in the day I would always marvel at the architecture and wonder, how long it would take humans to build such things in the real world. Hundreds of years? thousands maybe? can they even be built at all even with modern technology?
There have been a couple of Kingdom Come: Deliverance combat videos on this channel, I think architects should take a look at the game as well. A couple of nice castles, churches, a monastery, and of course a lot of medieval houses. And a trebuchet.
Pretty sure those aren't ionic orders or barrel vaults. Closest I can see were doric capitals, rib vaults and groin vaults. In the first place, barely anything is earlier than late renaissance let alone classical antiquity. These experts are wrong lol.
The thing is the lands in between is a place where people from different eras go after death (tarnished mostly) thats why you see different styles because they are from different eras with different styles of architecture people brougth
6:12 it correct me if I am wrong but it was built by the head inquisitor of the land who was also the son of the king AND a step-son of the goddess. He was probably extremely rich.
The whole thing of mixing different styles kind of is the point, since ER is based on a long period of building on top of the past and everything gets kind of mixed after a while.
"I don't think it's too random, I think it's about telling a story. I mean, if it was architecture, you're not looking at architecture, you're looking at a setting for a story. You're in one kingdom, and then another kingdom, and so to use different architectural styles almost like characters in a story - is it random? No, it's not random, it's very thought out by the game designers." Yeah that's.. Pretty much hitting the nail on the head. I like how these kinds of videos don't miss the point of what the devs are trying to do, but just analyse it and take it for what it is. Clearly these two have not touched Elden Ring, and have no idea what it's about, but they understand, from an architectural point of view what From's level designers are going for, and appreciate it. Love it. Need more of this kind of content.
It is great that she mentioned about not needing to be historically accurate, unless the setting was grounded to a certain period, considering that it could be on a different world. Just wanted to add that the game has magic and mythological creatures. So the functionality of the buildings as well as the artistry would understandably be different.
*please have the gun expert react to Wolfenstein or Homefront: The Revolution next.* *Oh, and I'd like to see that MMA guy react to Punch Out the Wii version.*
I do like how they mentioned how it tends to always be western or euro. Wouldnt hurt to see you know other places or places where the dev let their imagination do more of the building.
Humans draw upon what they see so a dev letting his imagination take the wheel would likely just design an exaggerated, fantastic form of whatever he is familiar with or admires. Hence all this Western/Central European architecture, the Japanese seem to really appreciate it. Other cultural styles would be cool as well of course (just not as familiar and beloved generally). I think Indian architecture would really resonate with the Fromsoft devs based off their tastes.
I think a lot of elden architecture isn't medical based most of it are mixtures of classical,medical and the renaissance, think about the the Lyndel capital, it has the walls of a medical castles, colossiums pantheons and other classical era architecture and most of the interiors are like from the renaissance inspired, this is not just about the architectures, the armors are mixed like that too
Yeeeeeesssss!!!! I’ve been suggesting this for the dark souls series, since before elden to g came out!! I’m so glad you’re finally doing it!! Please do it for dark souls and bloodborne aswell! That’d be amazing
I hope they cover Nokron next time. Btw. I would love to see more different style maybe in a DLC like what Dark Souls 2 City of Shulva did. More eastern-inspired or exotic styles in architecture than just making everything Western European.
Watched your 2nd video on Elden Ring, now watching this one. I think that with taking in these types of game worlds it might help to know where they take place. So this is the land between... Whatever that means. So, it's not Earth at any point and time and it might help to remove frames of reference to any historical time period, excepting that the designers were influenced from our reality of historical architecture. The reason I say this is because many of your architectural opinions are based in Earth reality and realistic function. It would be nice to add some fantasy elements instead of viewing it specifically from the realm of what is realistic or exactly functional.
Interesting comment about Thai architecture. I honestly don't think I've ever seen it in games. Maybe Aztec in incredibly rare cases (Sea of Thieves kind of).
These types of videos never seem to give the experts any context to what they're viewing, and I really wish they would. There were many parts where they said "you wouldn't do something like x unless it was y" and they are actually hitting the nail on the head. Like Benjamin commenting that a Caelid fort was very defensive and crude looking, well yeah because it's a defensive military fort. Or Alexis commenting on the hero's grave that a place like that would only be in an underground tunnel, which is exactly what it is.
Can't believe you guys forgot to show them Raya Lucaria. It was the most beautiful place for me, alongside Haligtree.
Or maybe we intentionally saved it for a part 2 😉
i personally didnt like the haligtree
i came to it knowing malenia was there and i didn’t want to kill every enemy and find every secret because i was done with the game i spent 130 hours playing it and didn’t kill malenia yet so i just wanted to get to her as quickly as possible but i couldn’t find the way to her so i just looked it up
^ me with almost 2K hours never heard of her...
@@Gamology the ultimate checkmate
Basically Hogwarts
"My knowledge of medieval architecture gets kinda murky" - yeah, sounds like the perfect dude to take a look at fantasy architecture...
Yea and someone who specializes in restaurants and hotels too, just perfect
This is such a cool idea, but had poor execution. Imagine if they were given a tour where they could really focus on what stood out to them. Instead, they were shown a video of someone in one of the worst helmets in the game to showcase anything beyond the character.
And Raya Lucaria was just... Forgotten? Lol
This whole series of expert reacts seems to be a really good idea poorly executed
I keep watching hoping they’ll use the experts better each time 😅
I totally agree, they put the Radahn set on because it looks cool but he head to big for he gotdam screen 😭
@@duncanpope2899 yea it’s too bad the person playing has the gaming ability of a game journalist
Fromsoft's work definitely gives the players access to several scenic tools that improve the viewer's absorption of the surroundings. They could have made use of the Telescope to completely remove the character from screen and look at distant things with more detail
They didn't even use the Telescope...Zero effort
While I can appreciate the expertise that all guests bring in each video, it feels like a terrible waste to have them watching random clips of someone doing something almost aimlessly, rather than an image specifically tailored for them to put on full display their knowledge.
You gotta do a video for Bloodbonre. All of the victorian architecture stacked on top of each other is gorgeous.
Fun fact: In the lore of Bloodborne, the blood of dead gods could heal any disease, so the population grew too fast for them to build out so they built up, on top of old structures
Agreed, Bloodborne has such a cool setting & atmosphere.
Yeah, maybe they could have experts that are actually relevant if they do that.
Thats the first thing I was gonna comment i love the Gothic look in bloodborn
lol Bloodborne is gothic revival, not victorian. Completely different kind of architecture from a different era.
@@leinad2934 well according to Google images, they are rather similar. Victorian just seems to be a slightly more modern version of gothic revival. Ig sure I was wrong, but I wasn’t far off, c’mon
What I liked about the dining room in Volcano Manor is that the table isn't like just one giant wooden monstrosity that looked like it was only meant for that specific room, but instead it's a collection of like 10 smaller tables all stacked end to end then they just put like 2-3 long cloth strips over the top of them to blend them together. Reminds me of being back in school when we had to stack our desks together for group assignments.
"Like characters in a story" That's a good way to put it.
Elden Ring's settings have such a diverse range of characterisation attached to them, that they make every new area so memorable despite the game's size.
I could name my top ten favourite locations in Elden Ring off the top of my head.
While I couldn't even recall the name of a single location in any of the ubisoft games I have played.
Those distinct characterizations also extend to the weapons too. The late-game weapon design is so memorable and unique, it's just amazing how they put so much replayability in a single game.
@@laizerwoolf I can only imagine how much more replayability will be contained within Elden Ring once the DLC is released. I can't stop thinking about it.
I love the shitty peasant houses on that basis because they’re so clearly cobbled together. You can almost feel how poor the people who live in those houses are, that it’s more like a shack made with scrap pieces of wood made into the shape of a house
I would also say that the mix of styles is the point. So much time building and rebuilding that everything just blends together.
My only problem is that, like all the other FromSoft games I've seen, the world doesn't feel completely livable especially in areas like Caelid
The interconnected level design of Elden ring always fascinates me, so many developers tried to make a souls inspired game but most of them fails to replicate the amazing level design of a FromSoftware game.
Very reminiscent of ds1
@@A_328FL it's still a very different approach than in ds1.
I'm an architect and have 350 hours into this game. From Software's Designing work is insane since ever, but I have to admit all spaces are very hard to enjoy by wheelchair users, Gherman can tell you guys.
Bro.... Benjamin Ball looks like a person that would free an ancient god
Rise, Benjamin
Amit 🛐
And then there's a guy with a mommy issue trying to stop him
10:01 "I don't think it's random, I think it's telling a story". The man got it perfectly, the FS way
Have you considered getting Zoologist and a Paleontologist to look at monster hunter?
That's an amazing idea! Monster Hunter takes biology very seriously and pushes fauna to the limits of possibility.
"Is that a laundry"
Yes it is, but there's people inside the laundry
6:13 "That person must be highly taxed" - Finally we know why Rykard chose the path of Blasphemy
Them being able to understand that the widely varying architecture is intentional as environmental storytelling says a lot about how hard FromSoft worked to create such a unique and expansive world. Really cool to see how different people’s knowledge shapes the way they view and interpret the same media.
I would love to see them actually play Elden ring and explore the world for themselves. It would be a good video.
You should get them to play the games they react to. That way they can look at and focus on the stuff they want to instead of relying on someone else to showcase stuff.
Most of them probably can't play because either they are illiterate in gaming or don't have a powerful console or pc
@@fariyanahmed6592 Most people can muddle through after a few minutes of familiarization with the controls.
Alternatively they could have a staff member play while the experts commentate and direct the player. That way there would also be a gamer at hand to offer correction when one of the experts inevitable misunderstands something about the game.
Doubt they get pass the *Tutorial Boss* unless they are an actual gamer than "Game Journalist"
@@Hammer1987 They simply do not have enough time to play to make one video, they might be just very busy both of them lead design companies.
Redmane straight up hangs their swords of damecles out to dry in the courtyard.
The thing is Elden Ring's architecture is fairly consistent. Tarnished Archeologist goes into *painstaking* detail about how everything is layered on older and older architecture.
The architecture has been my favorite part of the Soulsborne games and Elden Ring set a new bar. Was genuinely excited to see this video pop up
Now as a guy who has studied medieval architecture for a book I'm working on.
I will say that even though Japan has some of the worst ideas of what Europe architecture looks like. And how it works. It still does a good job. The biggest issue is that they confuse the castle shapes for style, instead of period.
For example: The more square-shaped and angler the castle the older it was. Since making square-shaped castles was easier. The more rounded the castle was the later medieval to even early to mid-imperial it was (Square castle = 1000 to 1300), (Hexogon castle =1300 to 1400), (Round castles = 1400 to modern). (Note: some castles were made hexagonal even going into the imperial, pre-modern, to modern era since there where still as good as round)
But besides that they do an amazing job getting it down to the theme of the era. Since a lot of these are based on Gothic and Spanish-style castles. Due to the first Europeans they closely documented were from Spain. Which at the time the areas of Germany, Spain, Portugal, and Italy were close friends and under one emperor. Due to the Habsburg dynasty. Meaning that they have a good idea of what those buildings look like, of that dynasty.
Fun facts: That's why so many animes go Gothic and Spanish with their designs of Medieval castles. That's why so much of medieval fantasy animes are usually styled after the 16th century. AND why so many Anime characters are German and Spanish in name. Especially if you play games like fire emblem.
In short: It's pretty much more Renaissance era, more than Medieval (Assassin's Creed 2's era).
You're very knowledgeable, and I respect that.
But fantasy anime and Soulsgames are fictional, there's a lot of room for inaccuracies considering their world doesn't have to adhere to our understanding of physics, science, math, literature, architecture, and it genuinely shouldn't since it's purely fiction.
They made it up.
It was never real.
A complete fabrication.
Just a story.
I appreciate that you're being informative, and I don't mean any disrespect.
@@MisterAnonymous1000 Yeah, but a fictional story with little to no grounding is complete non-sense and not really worth the watch. Due to having too many plot holes.
I mean really, If a fantasy story was complete fiction without any rules to bind it together. Then The main hero could just wish a pawn a star and save the day before dawn of the next day (Which would be a really short read).
@@averytucker790
I think they mean is that in fiction writers and developers probably take a lot of creative liberty in creating something that they think looks cool, maybe not always realistically accurate. Which ends up not catering to hardcore architecture enthusiasts.
FromSoftware’s vision of their worlds with heavy influence from european architecture created a setting that feels unique to their universe, despite not being realistically accurate.
@@averytucker790 That assuming it needs ground to stand on. They're alternative universes that, design wise, did not follow the path of what it's influenced by and doesn't try to establish that relationship. Even in traditional history, you have a very volatile structure for design; if Di Vinci or some other great artist had not made a work or made it differently, an entire history would be different. A design difference is not a plot hole.
@@averytucker790 grounding to what??? the world in the game isnt earth, it isn't our world. What is it supposed to be grounded to?? You have an undead war lord that uses his energy power to hold the stars in place and can crash down on you like a comet from the sky in this game and you're talking about the architecture lacking "grounding"?? WTF are you talking about my guy?? lmao 🙄
I like how they mention all of the architecture they've seen in these games is a Westernized / European centric vision. Definitely should show them architecture from games set in non-Western areas, like Ghost of Tsushima or Sekiro.
8:40 How convenient that he mentions this. There are quite a bit of South-East Asian design motifs used for the Hornsent areas in the DLC. I recognised them 'cos I'm from S.E.A.
8:48 well he should see Shulva, Sanctum City from Dark Souls 2. That's kind of in that realm.
Would be nice to see the architect and historian collab thou. Would be perfect blend of time travel.
The coffered barrel vault is not that unheard of. There are some châteaux in the Loire Valley that have main Halls built like that. They do that a lot in the East as well if I'm not mistaken (Orthodox churches, Mosques etc in Turkey for instance, where Western and Eastern styles meet). And late Antiquity went that way too (the Temple of Jupiter in Split, Croatia, 4th century). There's also the Expiatory Chapel in Paris. It's half-domes instead of barrels, but the optics produce a similar result.
As for "everything making sense in a historical period"... even in real life that doesn't exist. Unless the castle was built by a 19th century industry giant fond of neo-gothic, medieval castles don't often have a cohesive style for the simple reason that they were transformed along the centuries to answer new challenges or uses. A castle with 12th century foundations, 14th century guards rooms and kitchens, 15th century walls and an additional tower, and a 17th century main Hall for living quarters is not rare. It's more or less the rule. Even a chateau built simply for living later on in history will have changed because of subsequent changes and additions by later generations with a different sense of style.
You guys definitely should hire a modder or someone who does ingame freecam photos for these things. Walking around ingame does really show off alot of the detail, especially for buildings
The idea that Ben said where these arent just buildings they're settings for a story is spot on. The designs may be inspired by real world architecture but the end theme is appropriate for the setting of the story, the characters that resided there, and the culture behind it. Redmane Castle is much more fortress and combat oriented due to this idea that Caelid has been at war for so long and everything is set up to really drive that idea of hostility home. Leyndell is clean grey and white stone capped with gold shingles and accents because it is the home of Marika, of essentially god and all things royal. Stormveil is very much a combination of the two, having been originally ruled by Hoarah Loux a warrior but also first Elden Lord. Volcano Manor is a place steeped in class and fanciful design but underneath the surface its very dark and grim much like the residents of the manor and their lord, Rykard.
This is worded together perfectly
please do one for dark souls!, the three games have amazing architecture in some locations i would love to see their thoughts
I think bloodborne is a better choice.. Cus I heard there were some actual places that inspired Yharnam.
@@mardelmarcano of course, all fromsoftware games have good architecture, i like Bloodborne's
Bloodborne, Demon's Souls Remake and Dark Souls 3 would have been the better choice for architecture review
@@mardelmarcano a lot of places in dark souls are also inspired by actual places.
Even though Elden Ring has in my opinion the most interesting looking areas such as Caelid or Farum Azula, architecture wise I think DS3 and Bloodborne have the best looking places. Irythill and Cainhurst are just breathtaking. Even the murkier places like Farron Swamp look incredible when you actually see the architecture such as the Abyss Watchers' domain.
This would be more interesting if it also had a structure integrity engineer.
As in those that take drawing from architects and create the functional designs that actually enables the building to not fall apart. How are large windows held in place. How are those metal bars connected to the concrete in a manner that can hold 100 windows on 10 metal bars etc.
But UA-cam comments are gonna get angry and say "oH hurrdur bUt iTs A vIdEo GaMe iT dOeSn'T hAvE tO bE rEaLiStIc" despite the fact that is literally the entire point of them being in the video to compare it to real life.
@@shradicle8576 yeah, there is always a few of "those" people around.
Should've shown them Raya Lucaria and Nokron, but good to hear some insight on things like architecture in video games
Using a freecam mod would have made this so much better
Love these type of videos ❤️
Should be live screensharing with them, so they can direct the camera. Itd be cool to watch them get curious about some weird corner's design and talk about it for a sec. This is like a whistle-stop tour where they shout a bunch of buzzwords on the way past
8:45 good thing this was mentionned, I would love to see From Software work with that kind of setting, some we barely get in video games.
They already did this in ds1 with lost izalith having an Angkor wat inspiration to that area architecture.
@@Omega77232 Indeed, but I want a whole game in that setting or another.
Yeah I agree. I like castles and everything, but I want to be in a new environment inspired by something other than Western Europe. I wonder why these other places are so rarely used tbh. It seems like introducing a whole new cultural inspiration as the dominant design would be a breath of fresh air and drum up interest in a game.
@@Gandhi_Physique The answer is pretty simple : the fantasy genre comes from Europe, the major works like LOTR, Dungeons and dragons, ASOIAF, the legends of the knights of the roundtable, are all inspired from european folklore and setting. No other continent has established its own fantasy genre with its own popular artworks that were later exported internationally, the closest is Asia.
@@lahunica2726 Assuming you are right, that makes sense. I say who cares where it came from! Be original and/or be inspired by something else. Maybe one day.
I guess another benefit is Europe documented a lot of stuff throughout history so we might have a lot more to go on.
*zooms out to giant castle
That lamp post tho...
I'm a little sad that they failed to mention the ceiling of the Pantheon in Rome, but merely mentioned NY subway...
Also, while the game is full of anachronisms, it's actually a good thing to combine various styles. Just think about it: people didn't just wake up one day and thought that now it's renaissance. New building styles were used in places full of older styles. Old buildings were at times modernised, etc.
They did at 9:00
They aren’t criticizing the fact that the designs are drawing from different time periods for inspiration, just pointing it out
Speaking of NY, St. Patricks comes to mind. I really kind of like the fact that in the middle of these slim towers of glass is plopped an old gothic Cathedral.
Gamology...as an Architect student myself I ask you to make them react to this game and Bloodborne gothic/Victorian architecture with modded panoramic footage,bird eyes view, to help them them see the whole large scale design of the game...
I wish you would let the guys you get in to dwell a bit more on the subjects or even give them time to see things before hand so that they can have a better opportunity to talk on their speciality and the game or film world more.
this is actually hella dope, really cool idea for a video
Interior decorators react to some of the housings in Final Fantasy 14. Some of those loadout are nuts.
I know you don't wanna put ideas in their heads, but they really should have been told this wasn't a game that takes place a few centuries ago in a fantastical version of Europe, that it's actually a timeless liminal space like Purgatory. The combination of defensive and processional features suddenly goes from being a mash-up to a brilliant expression of what life is like in The Lands Between.
I fucking love the mutual lingo they’re bouncing back and forth with. I really enjoy listening to two or more people who know what they’re talking about just relish in their craft even if I have no clue wtf they are saying
A ways to think of it and think of it realisticly, think of the workers building those castles brick by brick, and the men or women with blueprints planning out how there going to build a architecturebuilding and the engineering in all of it.
I agree, whenever I see something in these games that really stick out yo me I imagine how they must have built it
I’ll be honest for a minute I love the fantastical plausibility of all the Medieval mechanisms in these games. Like obviously we didn’t have rolling Iron Maiden’s or Iron Mechanical Drawbridges but the way it’s presented makes you believe “if we had a firmer grasp on machinery at an earlier stage this is the stuff we would have built.” It’s weirdly grounded despite being outside of reality
“I’m not sure if it’s a plank or a shingle’
You’re in a village built by crazy people it’s probably both.
"Plumbers react to Leyndell's sewer system" when?
I would love to see architects react to Dishonored 1 & 2. Especially the Clockwork mansion.
We need long version of these architect react.
As a kid playing RPGs back in the day I would always marvel at the architecture and wonder, how long it would take humans to build such things in the real world. Hundreds of years? thousands maybe? can they even be built at all even with modern technology?
crumbling of farum azula from the distance was my pick from this game, just surreal and beatifull.
There have been a couple of Kingdom Come: Deliverance combat videos on this channel, I think architects should take a look at the game as well. A couple of nice castles, churches, a monastery, and of course a lot of medieval houses. And a trebuchet.
Pretty sure those aren't ionic orders or barrel vaults. Closest I can see were doric capitals, rib vaults and groin vaults. In the first place, barely anything is earlier than late renaissance let alone classical antiquity. These experts are wrong lol.
The Romans also had domes that were much more difficult to build structurally than vaults all the way before renaissance.
I just realized that the volcano manor, built on top of an active volcano, which would probably be very hot
Has a fireplace
Why
cant wait for" A real cat REACTS to stray"
Why have an armour set that blocks 1/3 of the architecture?
I would love to see an Architects play video games where you build a base.
in the middle of the video I was like "talk about the castla lady! look at that!" while she continues about authenticity and rugs and what not 🤣🤣🤣
The architects are back! I love them!
The thing is the lands in between is a place where people from different eras go after death (tarnished mostly) thats why you see different styles because they are from different eras with different styles of architecture people brougth
soooo satisfying to watch to watch professionals complimenting the game design
Yall gotta show them bloodborne, that game is absolutely beautiful
3:07 How on earth this ionic order?
8:35 You should react to Final Fantasy X -- The world is inspired heavily by Thailand and Japan
6:12 it correct me if I am wrong but it was built by the head inquisitor of the land who was also the son of the king AND a step-son of the goddess. He was probably extremely rich.
Could you imagine if they implemented structural integrity to every building. Jump on the roof, suddenly fall through.
Glad to see 4 strokes got his act together ❤️
The whole thing of mixing different styles kind of is the point, since ER is based on a long period of building on top of the past and everything gets kind of mixed after a while.
"I don't think it's too random, I think it's about telling a story. I mean, if it was architecture, you're not looking at architecture, you're looking at a setting for a story. You're in one kingdom, and then another kingdom, and so to use different architectural styles almost like characters in a story - is it random? No, it's not random, it's very thought out by the game designers."
Yeah that's.. Pretty much hitting the nail on the head. I like how these kinds of videos don't miss the point of what the devs are trying to do, but just analyse it and take it for what it is. Clearly these two have not touched Elden Ring, and have no idea what it's about, but they understand, from an architectural point of view what From's level designers are going for, and appreciate it.
Love it. Need more of this kind of content.
It is great that she mentioned about not needing to be historically accurate, unless the setting was grounded to a certain period, considering that it could be on a different world. Just wanted to add that the game has magic and mythological creatures. So the functionality of the buildings as well as the artistry would understandably be different.
I love it how they were more amazed than trying to criticize it
“Where is elden ring? It could be in an alternate universe”
A likely theory…
Now do a video in which carpenters and sculptors react to Elden Ring's furniture and pottery.
I would've liked to see how they reacted to seeing Mohg
*please have the gun expert react to Wolfenstein or Homefront: The Revolution next.*
*Oh, and I'd like to see that MMA guy react to Punch Out the Wii version.*
I do like how they mentioned how it tends to always be western or euro. Wouldnt hurt to see you know other places or places where the dev let their imagination do more of the building.
Humans draw upon what they see so a dev letting his imagination take the wheel would likely just design an exaggerated, fantastic form of whatever he is familiar with or admires. Hence all this Western/Central European architecture, the Japanese seem to really appreciate it.
Other cultural styles would be cool as well of course (just not as familiar and beloved generally). I think Indian architecture would really resonate with the Fromsoft devs based off their tastes.
8:35, he makes mention of Thailand or Aztec. I personally would love a middle-eastern/persian style.
This proves that Elden Ring is a bunch of universes that melted together.
Show them the tarnish archeologist dudes explains everything with the architecture and everything so good
I think a lot of elden architecture isn't medical based most of it are mixtures of classical,medical and the renaissance, think about the the Lyndel capital, it has the walls of a medical castles, colossiums pantheons and other classical era architecture and most of the interiors are like from the renaissance inspired, this is not just about the architectures, the armors are mixed like that too
2:01
Did he just say? "MURKY"?My Murky Hand Scythe PTSD is going nuts! All the horrible memorys are coming back into my head noooooooo!
I work in different branches of construction for years and I can say from first hand: architects know absolutely shit about building or construction!
Yeeeeeesssss!!!! I’ve been suggesting this for the dark souls series, since before elden to g came out!! I’m so glad you’re finally doing it!! Please do it for dark souls and bloodborne aswell! That’d be amazing
Why did they equip the MOST screen blocking armor for this?
Now I want to see a game world designed by Architects.
That giant table reminded me of Harry Potter and the Death Eaters.
i would have love for them to see the cinematic of that bridge coming out of the lava xD
I'd like if they explained some of their terms
I hope they cover Nokron next time.
Btw. I would love to see more different style maybe in a DLC like what Dark Souls 2 City of Shulva did.
More eastern-inspired or exotic styles in architecture than just making everything Western European.
Watched your 2nd video on Elden Ring, now watching this one. I think that with taking in these types of game worlds it might help to know where they take place. So this is the land between... Whatever that means. So, it's not Earth at any point and time and it might help to remove frames of reference to any historical time period, excepting that the designers were influenced from our reality of historical architecture. The reason I say this is because many of your architectural opinions are based in Earth reality and realistic function. It would be nice to add some fantasy elements instead of viewing it specifically from the realm of what is realistic or exactly functional.
Interesting comment about Thai architecture. I honestly don't think I've ever seen it in games. Maybe Aztec in incredibly rare cases (Sea of Thieves kind of).
I want to know an armor expert take on the armor in Elden Ring
"i think that what they've done here is just exaggerated" wait until he see the size of their gods
8:45 I'd absolutely love to play a game set in fantasy Thailand
There needs to be a video where they should view the cyberpunk architectures
we need experts react to scorn architecture :p
Vocano manor reminds me of Châteaux Frontenac in Quebec city
I liked th a t they could tell that the whatever snake manor was maintained, as opposed to everything else
These types of videos never seem to give the experts any context to what they're viewing, and I really wish they would. There were many parts where they said "you wouldn't do something like x unless it was y" and they are actually hitting the nail on the head. Like Benjamin commenting that a Caelid fort was very defensive and crude looking, well yeah because it's a defensive military fort. Or Alexis commenting on the hero's grave that a place like that would only be in an underground tunnel, which is exactly what it is.
I Hope you Show Them anor Londo but hopefully the City and the Ruins...
The Architecture in these games is usually based in medieval Gothic and Romanesque and a mix of both
"Beautiful capital you got there. Would be a shame is someone I don't know...crashed into it."---Granssax