If ya want to see me rank & review nearly every Soulsborne level for nearly five-and-a-half-hours, I've got you covered: ua-cam.com/video/nRdKtQumjUk/v-deo.html Also, lots of people surprised that I didn't put the Frigid Outskirts as worst DS2 area. I'll be honest, I straight up just forgot about it when putting together the video lol. It absolutely is a stinker of a level though.
Well, it is a personal ranking. While bad, apparently it wasn't so traumatizing that you automatically default to it being the worst like so many do. What I'm surprised over was Iron Passage or Cave of the Dead not being there.
@@thedarkgenious7967 imo the worst one is shrine of amana, because while iron passage, cave of the dead, frigid outskirts and undead encrypt all get significantly easier with summons, shrine of amana is still a homing magic fuckery fuckfest even with all 3 summons
For me my least favorite level in Bloodborne is easily Nightmare Frontier. Getting slowed down by a poison swamp (with no way to go faster) all while getting pelted by boulders AND dealing with Winter Lanterns is just too much for how mediocre the loot is.
It looks cool asf though, never seen such an interesting alien horror like world in a game. My least favorite area is definitely research hall, the level design is very good, but I hate hospitals and the enemies are extremely annoying, the vibe is just horrible and sad as it should be. Bloodborne has no bad area tho
I feel no other DS2 area has the right to be judged as soon as you compare it with frigid outskirts. The mere mention of it makes my blood boil with the rage of a thousand suns. I genuinely believe it made me forget every other time i felt slighted in my entire playthrough of ds2.
I was gunna say! I must've missed the part where he said he'd exclude DLC because the frozen outskirts is one of there worst areas in ANY GAME. (period!) I actually I'm starting to admire how awful it is. I haven't played it since Ivory king first released and I still get short of breath and shudder at the mention of frigid outskirts.
It really wasn’t that bad. Tedious? Yes. Challenging? Depends. Actually challenging combat wise? Not really. It’s just the most tedious run in the game besides maybe iron passage or shrine of Amana, but again all of these things are only hard depending on how you approach them. Frigid outskirts had potential to be really interesting if they would have made the reigndeer like the out of bounds exploration prevention by them ganking tf out of you, and have other enemies that are more interesting. Or at least more variety to the area in general. Definitely not a good area but I think it’s not as bad as people make it out to be.
Worst in ER for me: Consecrated snowfields. Just a whole lot of nothing with boring enemies and blinding snowstorms. I did enjoy the subterranean shunning grounds, especially the area that leads to the three fingers. So creepy.
I feel like CS was a missed opportunity to try out environmental hazards. They could have made the whole map like a puzzle you have to solve by killing spirits that are causing storms.
The Haligtree is still my favourite level in Elden Ring. It feels so weirdly nostalgic with the soundtrack. The first time I entered the city I somewhat felt like I've already been here in a previous game. I loved the design of the town build around the tree, starting at the top branches and going all the way down to the roots.
I love doing lists like these: DeS: Best is 3-2, Worst is 5-2 Dark 1: Best is Painted World, Worst is Tomb of the Giants Dark 2: Best is Castle Drangleic, Worst is Frigid Outskirts Dark 3: Best is Ringed City, Worst is Profaned Capital Bloodborne: Best is Nightmare of Mensis, Worst is Forbidden Woods Sekiro: Best is Fountainhead Palace, Worst is Ashina Depths Elden Ring: Best is Farum Azula, Worst is Lake of Rot
Storm veil is my favorite castle they’ve ever made. Because it’s a straight up medieval castle like textbook. You got the ramparts a small area for peasants the streets and the throne area It’s even got a fucked up sorta moat with an advanced form of death root at the bottom. And I love that you have 2 vastly different options of tackling the beast as well. Leyndell is stunning and all but I rarely explore the whole place because a lot of it is just full of crafting materials. The bolt of gransax is a good pick up and I always go to the round table hold but other than that I mostly skip past it. Surprisingly I enjoy my time in the shunning grounds more because of its atmosphere. It’s the best sewer level they’ve ever made imo. I will say on my first playthrough leyndell was the best moment of the entire game and when I got teleported there to see I was miles away from home I was shaking because of how excited I was to explore my way up there. And a close second would be when I got to farum azula. In the leaks I heard about a place called the temple in the sky and I kept looking up through out my playthrough to see it and when I finally got there I was blown away such a beautiful area. Oh and also that first time taking the lift down to siofra, holy shit such a magical yet eerie moment I was shocked at how big the game was. I stayed up for 36 hours playing it when it first came out and I’m not ashamed of that😂😭 50 hours in I thought it had to be over soon but my first playthrough took 130 hours I explored everything I could find. Elden ring is so easy to rant about I wish the women I was into could understand
My only issue with Stormveil is that I felt like every other boss area except the one that houses Malenia was not nearly as good. They were all good enough, but walking into Stormveil the first time was amazing. The library was meh, Volcano Manor I didn't like much, Leyndell was good but not as good as Stormveil, and all else was lesser in my opinion. Stormveil felt like a castle that a king would reside in, and with how it was designed there were separate paths to go everywhere. So many secrets, ambushes. I think everyone remembers the first time they opened a specific door and it closed behind them, only to have to come face to face with a shield bearing knight.
honestly, I quite enjoyed the subterranean shunning grounds. I really liked the atmosphere and maze-like layout. for me, the worst area in elden ring would probably be ainsel river. not because it's bad, but because those ants are terrifying, and it makes the area really hard and stressful to go through. no other game or piece of non-live action media has ever managed to trigger my fear of insects and other such creatures quite like the ants in elden ring do. even something like the giant spiders in bloodborne are no problem. but those ants... why did they have to make them so terrifyingly realistic? I mean, I respect it to an extent, but that doesn't mean I enjoy it.
Oh man, never play EDF. Me and a friend who played that together played Elden Ring, and we were humming the battle song from that as we hacked our way through
I’m not even scared of ants specifically but those ants terrified me, and fromsoft knew what they had because they stick the things around corners, have them hide of cellings or just spawn them behind you in the dark.
Sen’s Fortress is still my favourite Soulsbourne area ever. I get why people prefer Anor Londo but Sen’s Fortress is so unbelievably intricate. Nothing else compares.
I’m the same way. It’s not my top area in all of Souls (I’m a huge sucker for practically every Sekiro area), but it is my #1 area in Dark Souls. There’s just a fun, obstacle course feel to this area that no other area from FromSoft gave me
Great choices! My least favorite Bloodborne level is Byrgenwerth. It feels so incomplete, as if they built a small area that was intended to serve as the beginning and end of a giant underground level. And then cut out the giant underground part of the level and knocked a hole in the fence so you can just stroll right through to the end of the level.
I do wish Byrgenworh had been properly designed like the Raya Lucaria Academy, which is my personal favorite Elden Ring area. For how big the church was…you’d expect the headquarters to be this huge sprawling area
I really liked the lake of rot, it was so alien, it was where all the muck that Malenia had brought had drained to, I actually wish I got to have more of it rather than just cross it once.
Frigid outskirts is a given😂 also I feel like we shouldn’t consider it an area it’s just a godawful run up to a mediocre boss. there’s almost nothing good about it so there’s not much interesting nuanced conversation to be had about it. But yeah township is great I quite enjoy it. It’s like undead burg if it got hit by an earthquake
Absolutely agreed with your best Elden Ring area. Leyndel feels like what Anor Londo would've been if Fromsoftware had the budget and time to do it back then. You aren't just going through a cathedral and palace and only looking down on the city, you're exploring the entire city yourself. And I especially love how it has 2 different points of entry (3 if you use the elevator exploit). I actually accidentally used the alternate route (the teleporter from deeproot depths) and my jaw dropped when I was teleported there cause I hadn't even set foot on Altus Plateau at that point.
That teleport was also how I ended up in Leyndell for the first time! 😭😭😭How do I erase my memory so I can experience Elden Ring for the first time again!
I'm sad people don't like Undead Settlement much. It's such a refreshingly picturesque location contrasted with hte funny jester like enemies and those fat nuns. It's one of my favorite DS areas!
I agree. It feels like such an underrated level in ds3, it branches to allow a choice of which path to take, as well as smaller areas to explore. Despite this it still had memorable moments like the giant archer, and fighting the demon with seigward.
i think that for bloodborne the worst area is byrgenwerth, since its hyped up for all of the travel there and then its just a small mansion with 3 rooms .... i was hoping for a grand school to explore with a plethora of information to gather and strange relics and experiments to find, no just a few fly monsters, a cthulu baby and a centepied outside and a hunter inside before fighting Rom theres even a closed hatch in the floor suggesting there should be more to explore but its just there, doing nothing
I love the Shunning Grounds. It has that old-school looping level design around one central bonfire. I love how you can get utterly lost and turned around in the pipes (and that a torch is necessary for part of it). I love the atmosphere, that massive circular shaft with elevator is so fuckin cool. I love the lore of it being where society throws away the Omen when they're born (such a great enemy type, btw, with an extensive moveset). You can even find catacombs and the frenzied flame nomad graveyard is perhaps the creepiest area in the game (the soundtrack is so good throughout the whole Shunning Grounds, btw). Finally, just the fact that this massive intricate level is hidden in a well in Leyndell blew my mind on my first playthrough. Also, Old Yharnam? Lol, that's one of the best areas in Bloodborne (with Central Yharnam, Cathedral Ward, and Old Yharnam Bloodborne's first few areas are a work of art).
the part in the shunning grounds where you come across all of the merchants corpses is FUCKING TERRIFYING, i almost shit myself when i turned the corner and saw them all there. god damn that was horrifying.
Once you figure out the way it ain't that very bad. After opening the shortcut, drop down the pipe with a hole in the top and always go left. That's literally it, you'll arrive to Sewer Mohg in like 3 minutes.
I wouldn't say i love It, but shunning grounds is a better depths, is a pretty decent area with good level design, though the enemies goes from the excelente omens to the awful imps and revenants, i like the catacomb minidungeon hiden in the legacy Dungeon below another legacy Dungeon And old yharnam is defo a good area, yhargaul and Frontier's nightmare are the bad areas, but at least yhargaul after you get kidnapped is pretty cool, is the obligatory stage of the area that sucks
I really like brightstone cove tseldora. It has a lot of variety going on, from the tent encampment to the church to the sand pits to the spider cave. And even better, it has Ornifex.
I might sound crazy, but I loved the Subterranean Shunning-Grounds just as much as Leyndell. It was the sheer contrast of the two areas, the difference in challenges you faced. The first fight with Mohg and the Frenzied Flame area were both stand-out moments for me. I think they hit the nail on the head with it, the desperation and hopelessness in a place nobody should live. In Leyndell you feel like you could belong, but down in the sewers you start wondering what the splendour up above was built on top of.
It still blows my mind that elden ring exists. I love ds3 and thought it was untouchable, in terms of ascetics. But elden ring had so many times i just put the controller down and took it all in. Especiallythe first time seeing the erd tree
I have to admit I sort of like the shunning grounds. I remember when I first got there and was exploring. It was so creepy and put me on edge. I loved it. I haven't replayed Elden Ring and I doubt I will get that feeling again but It was a highlight when I first played.
God, EVERY TIME I hear Majula's opening first notes I feel so damn nostalgic and emotional. DS2 will always be my favorite of the series because it had the best pvp, weapon, build and armor variety as well as best pvp and covenants. Sure, it's bosses are no where near as good as it's predecessors or ancestors....but the DLC helps that a lot. I will always love DS2 and especially Majula. Best hub for sure.
Oh man I honestly really enjoy the shunning grounds! For worst I would honestly consider volcano manor. It has a really cool atmosphere but there is just not alot to explore compared to the other legacy dungeons. It’s not bad and I am sure people out there consider it to be the best or close, but for me it’s always just like this quick little run that doesn’t offer alot(other than a somber stone 7.)
So far elden ring is the only soulsborne game I've played where I really can't think of any one level that I would whole heartedly call bad, the lake of rot is the only option that comes to mind, but if you've saved up enough boluses or have something like flame cleanse me then you're really just running through a really big cavern. I guess if I had to pick one I'd go with Mountaintops of the Giants, the game starts to feel so much more isolated after you beat Morgott, you occasionally run into an NPC along the way, but it feels like bumping into an old friend at the store whenever you do, like "Oh, what a coincidence, you're here too!"
@@logiclunacy606 ya idk if I would say it was my favourite but it was up there! It really feels like the concept of the depths or the gutter but fully realized in a game where it works really well. Even more confusing than the depths but you never feel actually hopeless since you can just teleport away and go somewhere else. Also the fact that it has a catacombs inside it that is one of the better mini dungeons makes it really seem unique. It’s a legacy dungeon within a legacy dungeon that has a mini dungeon inside it; I don’t think anywhere else in the game has something like that.
worst level in elden ring is the consecrated snowfield. it feels so... tacked on and random. i think my favorite level was probably crumbling farum azula, at least from a grandiosity aspect. i was freaking blown away when i first went there, and i enjoyed exploring it and even kinda liked some of the platforming.
I would like Leyndell a hell of a lot more if it wasn't so confusing. Naturally you want to go towards the erdtree, it's been your destination for the entire game, but if you just run straight towards it you will run into a wall, you have to find this roundabout way that really doesn't feel very intuitive, I had to spend so much tine just combing the place trying to find a passage that let me get higher. Not at all a bad area, just laid out in a really annoying way
I found it relatively easy the first time but thats probably because I didn't care about the erd tree and there was a big fucking dragon so obviously I'm going to climb it
Also I can’t name you 1 full fromsoft level where you run in a straight path to your destination with no detours whatsoever. Also, you climb a dragon instead of going in a straight path to get to the erdtree, that’s far more cooler and intuitive than your proposal.
2:50 Good pick. I think Boletaria in general has amazing level design. I’m currently on my third playthrough, one boss from the platinum, and I’d say my favorite world is the Shrine of Storms, with its awesome verticality, compelling set pieces and the most cinematic end boss fight in the game. My favorite level is probably 1-1 or 3-1. Great video again! Your upload schedule is frenetic and your long form critique quality remains high. Big Ups! Edit: 11:50 Good pick again lol. Heide’s Tower of Flame is gorgeous. My favorite is probably Shulva. Least favorite is No-Man’s Wharf.
@@oxxylix504 3-2 is an awesome level. First time through I loved the atmosphere but found the layout confusing. After going through it a third time, I love that place. I dig how you gotta drop the heart, and how the boss is essentially towards the first part of the level, up a long staircase with a black phantom waiting. Great pick!
Awesome video! I think I would select pretty much the same levels you had for all the games, perhaps with the exception of Elden Ring. I'd have to give my favourite level to Stormveil over Leyndell. Admittedly both are fantastic
@@Sephirothkingdom782Stormveil can be very short, or very long depending on the route you take and if you care about going through each side part of it. Amazingly crafted for a first legacy dungeon
Valley of Defilement comes in 2nd for me but the worst in Demon's Souls has to be Tower of Latria. I can never figure out where to go and those mind flayers are just ridiculous
For the dragon in the tower of flame the only way I’ve ever really done it is fire res armor and popping a couple of life gems and praying it’s time right so I don’t die getting hit by the flames as I run up to it.
I love DS2 but for me the worst area is Belfry Sol, because of how pointless it is. I hate the bad interconnection it has with the Iron Keep, how you make a little step and you can't go back until you beat it (and it's kind of hard-ish) or you figure out the weird drop you have to make, which seems almost an oversight. After you complete it, it doesn´t give you anything remarkable although I did enjoy completing the Bell Keeper Covenant for nice PvP action and the boy scout suit, and also the Mad Warrior set. Best areas are perhaps all the rest, all full of discoveries and scares. I'm not too fond of Shulva as a whole, as they promise "a city" and it's almost a quite dull Aztec pyramid. I do like the third third of the area, Inner Sanctum, tho. But then Forest of Fallen Giants is enormous and filled with surprises and unlikely places, Heide's passage into No Man's Wharf is quite mystic, No Man's Wharf is absolutely atmospheric and sets you in for an adventure towards the Lost Bastille, a "spot on" a medieval prison with tons of action, NPCs, connection toward two other areas and a gorgeous view. The descent and advancing towards the Sinner's Rise is very scary and spectacular. Harvest Peak is also blandish, but it's an intro to Earthen Peak, wich after Covetous Demon gets super interesting with its bridges and branching paths. Iron Keep is all good except for perharps the way ganks are dealt in the furnace section (in Vanilla it's really fun to play) and the moving platforms, but I like the upper part when you go up a stair instead of the fog fate, you deal with a couple of knights and then you descend thru some kind of chimney into Iron Passage which gameplay-wise has the very impish Fromsoft seal of evil. The boss fight is a downer, but at least you have a bonfire nearby to explore quite easily. The rotting trio of Grave of Saints, The Gutter and Black Gulch is like The Depths and Blightown, but with a more obvious access, less framerate drops and no movement penalty. I like all the descents into it, and The Gutter is fun to explore while The Black Gulch is frankly gorgeous, like an evil poisonous shrine that glows of how toxic it is, filled with blasphemous idols that spit at you. It's very degrading being so much spat at. Cool concept. And so on and so on and so forth.
i think stormveil is the best of elden ring It's super sand boxy and the ambience music makes it so foreboding With it's unique and fun knight's creepy and difficult grafted scions and the amazing level design with shortcuts and ballista's everywhere and that's why i think it's better than Leyndel (Also you cant go everywhere in leyndell cause 99.9 percent of the house's in there are blocked shut)
Same, not many legacy dungeons you can fully get lost in and Leyndel city just felt like a area where someone forgot to lock up the shortcuts, there wasn't really a sense of progression which I did actually feel in the shunning grounds.
@@logiclunacy606that’s part of why I like leyndell. Its basically a fully realized anor londo and is the largest level in the game with so many things to find and explore if you want to. It also leads to the shunning grounds and even below has mohg and EVEN below that has a secret wall within a secret wall that leads to an entirely new level. Its a great middle section that branches off into other parts of the game and also has morgott which is one of the best bosses in the game
@jaswanthvardireddy2243 I mean yeah I definitely appreciate that Leyndel city went for something different and area is definitely a feast for the eyes. The city itself is great but I feel people over rate a little, there were definitely areas I preferred like the tornado area, halagtree, hogwarts and the ancient roman city under the ground. Forgive me for forgetting names but it has been a while.
@@logiclunacy606 all those areas are quite “secretive” but I don’t think they’re very great on their own besides haligtree, which is basically leyndell but shorter and doesn’t lead into the shunning grounds
you are right, mohgwyn palace is so mid, it has those annoying ass crows and albinaurics and its just not fun, the only good thing mohg palace ha its the boss fight
Thanks for the vid, watching it I caught biggest PTSD filled nostalgia outbreak in a long time. The first FS game I tried was DS2 in 2014. I knew absolutely nothing about souls games. I wasn't very attentive to the menus and messages and I did not check my character sheet that much. So, having played around 5 hrs and checking out Majula, I saw the beautiful ruins in the sea, lit by a dusk sun. I was lvl1 cause I didn't get it, you can level up with this pretty lady, not only buy stuff. So, I went to explore the sea ruins and met these big bad knights. I dont remember in details how it went. Just some fragmentary details: - I had a longest continuous game session in my life. 42 hrs non stop playing. No breaks, not much of a food, shower or other stuff. - I don't think I ever managed to straight up beat any of them but I mastered the skill of snooping around their legs, dodging and forcing them to fall of the bridges. Like, I could in the end clear the whole path to the boss like this - I don't remember if I managed to kill the boss, was it some especially fat armoured knight? I probably gave up in the end of that long session and never come back fearing for my sanity. I all sounds pretty messed up as a story but my point is, this very experienced made me absolutely fall in love with souls game and got me anlittle addicted to pain and suffering they cause players. So, when I start new souls game, I actually can't wait to meet the strong foes who will totally obliterate me, bosses and levels who will take hours upon hours to beat them. When watching playthroughs I hate it when people take the easy road and breeze through the game. You can't play souls game without struggling and suffering, it's just wrong! ...anyway, thanks again for this beautiful memory from my younger days.
Ive only ever done one playtrough of each. But my 2 cents? Best DS2 area? Majula. I dont care that it is "just" a hub. If I ever replay it, it will be because of Majula. Best BB. Central Yarnham. Just copy what the video said. Best Eldenring. Its an entire map piece. Liurnia. The mood. The beauty. The just right level of difficulty. Where you slowly begin to piece together the whole royal divorce drama. Pope-dog.
heides tower never really worked for me as a turn back now level. it's easier to find than the catacombs was with tanky but slow enemies you fight one by one instead of tanky quick enemies that gang up on you. on my first attempt at a playthrough I thought it was the path forward.
Oh boy shunning grounds surprised me, I would have expected Rahdan's castle since it's so bland. Shunning grounds is one of my favorite levels, it's by far the best sewer level in the meta-series too
I've just started playing Bloodborne and hit a roadblock with Old Yharnam as I was constantly running through and decided to reawaken when I found the boss because I was low on resources, completely missing a shortcut. This is how I found out it was actually optional so thank you
Shunning grounds is great, i really loved that confusing dungeon. I understand if you don’t like the confusion but for me it was awesome. I like that type of level design.
I think you could rank your favorite weapon of each class from each game split them up into different videos for that sweet content and then make a compilation of them all. Rank favorite rare enemies things like that.
Agree on DS3's Demon Ruins. Everyone's first playthrough in there is a nightmare. So easy to get lost among all the identical hallways. Then there's the godforsaken fireball spam. My strategy with that place now is usually to hold off until I'm over-leveled, bait the ballista to shoot open the hole in the ground, speedrun to the bonfire, then quickly grab the estus shard and bone shard (which are actually quite close together). Then GTFO unless I want to grab the pyromancy tomes, in which case I just run past all the enemies and afterward don't even bother going up to turn off the ballista. Just Homeward Bone outta there.
It is completely understandable why many people's favorite Elden Ring level would be Leyndell, but I kind of end up running through it. I enjoy every second of it though. But Stormveil is what made the game click with me on my first playthrough and my enjoyment of the game peaks every playthrough when I get to Stormveil Castle. It is the first level in the game that shows how many possibilities the jump function added to the game. It is so open in the sense that there are so many side paths and side paths for the previous side paths, be it on rooftops, on ledges or inside the castle that lead to so many different places and it's all so compact. The enemy placement is immaculate as well. I love every section, such as the barrel-laden stairways you run through as commoners throw firebombs at you, the section to Godrick where you get chased by a whole legion, the secret section to the underground area with Godwyn's face. I seriously cannot find a single fault with Stormveil Castle. However, because of Leyndell's expansiveness, it creates a situation where I either run through it to get to Goldfrey or explore every nook and cranny if I feel up to it. It's a massive achievement in level design, but I do not always feel the same incentive to explore as I do with Stormveil Castle because it's so damn big and convoluted. So I still think Leyndell is objectively the best, but I just love Stormveil Castle more.
I've gotten red titanite off those weird icky things a few times. Heck, just yesterday I was playing and I got to that place where you fall down into that pit with several of them and 2 of them dropped one. But then I had 10 humanity and the gold ring on.
This video popped up in my recommendations, and I found you so likeable, insightful and entertaining (never drop those dad jokes!) that I binged all Demon's and Dark Souls retrospectives of yours just yesterday. I've watched my fair share of those over the years, and still yours are absolutely worth seeing. Because I have a love-hate relationship with Evil Within, I watched that one, too, and boy, have you come far, as far as your narration's concerned. Back then you sounded a bit dispassionate and detached, now you sound like a bloke I'd love to have a beer with. One of these days I'll work up the courage to watch the four and a half hours Souls boss video. You are mental! Anyway, easiest sub in quite a while, good sir!
Aw, thanks man, glad you enjoy my vibe (and dumb jokes haha)! I know what you mean about my earlier stuff too, and I agree lol. I literally can't sit through my earlier videos these days, not least of all cos of the shitty sound quality lmao.
Dude one of the best Souls area rankings I've ever seen imo. I agreed with just about everything in the entire list except in DS2, I absolutely despise Frigid Outskirts, but you mentioned it in comments so whatever. In Bloodborne, the best area is in my mind, without a doubt, Hunter's Nightmare. It is this twisted and warped nightmare version of Cathedral Ward and Central Yharnam. So cool. Then, it's inhabited by Old Hunters, the most badass and insane enemies in the game. Then, there's so much good loot in it and you can find so many awesome weapons. It also has a few traps in the best places and Simon. The blood river sub-area is not my favorite, since it's filled with those damn Bloodlickers, and I absolutely hate the cave where you find the Amygdalan Arm. First, a BS hunter with a gatling gun far away from any lamp, then a BLOOD-STARVED BEAST at the back. A LITERALL BOSS (a tough one at that) is recycled. Despite all that, Hunter's Nightmare is my absolute fave. For least liked, I really don't like Nightmare Frontier, Forbidden Woods and Yahar'gul. Frontier is just a poison swamp with some dull enemies. Yahar'gul has EXCELLENT art direction but is frustrating as hell to play through. The Woods is just bland, boring, wayy to big, too many traps, and looks kinda shitty. Therefor, the Forbidden Woods is pick for worst area in that game.
I'd say the Haligtree is the worst Elden Ring level for me (counting the branches and Elphael together). You basically don't have to fight any of the enemies, and in fact it's almost always faster and easier to run past them. I think Elphael kind of encourages this given how many big groups there are and how those Putrid Avatars can start sniping you. There's only one shortcut, disappointingly few sidepaths, and there's that dreadful revenant corridor.
I completely understand what youre saying about DS2, but I LOVE the areas in Dark Souls 2. I loved the vast exploration, and I hope a game is made with this sort of variety of medievil locations
Me too man it has my favorite atmosphere out of any game ever and it just always seemed like I never ran out of places to explore or things to do. Even if some of them were kind of waste
Best areas; Stormveil Castle, Sanctum City Shulva, Sen's Funhouse, Central Yharnam, Ringed City. Worst Areas; Brace of the Haligtree, Farron Keep, Iron Passage, Forbidden Woods, Blighttown.
Any area with a poison swamp is auto bad area for me, also the frigid outskirts is just the worst area in the entirety of soulsborne . As for some favorite areas in souls' games are Irithyll of the Boreal Valley, Crystal Cave, and Darkroot Garden.
Crystal cave ???????? That must be one of the hotest takes i've seen for areas, for me, It sucks, my hotest take IS that sen's fortress is not a fun area to go though, and the second bonfire is soo far away, while not having shortcuts, but i have to admit that the level design is great, with Lots of side paths and the first mimic of the game
for me it's the opposite. I actually now understand Miyazaki's kink for swamp areas.They are so silly. I feel that Valley of Defilement is the best swamp area in the series. On it's own, it is an A tier area for me lol
@@Sephirothkingdom782 Farron woods is fine though there really isn't much going on there anyways, but just no to farron swamp. The enemies are downright annoying, not to mention dealing with poison and curse in the same area. Abyss watchers are 🔥though.
In defense of DS3's Demon Ruins, while gameplay-wise it doesn't feel great I agree, but it does capture the feeling that there is pretty much nothing left of Izalith. And all those demon corpses surrounded by skellies and Ghrus makes me a bit sad for the demons lol. Farron Keep is the one I don't look forward to. The most swampiest of the swamps.
Honestly the worst take imo is that tseldora is the worst area in ds2. I really enjoyed slowly making my way down to the bottom and the boss was pretty fun. How can that be worse than the hell that is iron keep immidiatly following from earthen peak which also sucked.
13:23 You just need to run towards the dragon, but if you completely run out of stamina, you likely won’t make it, so just make sure to stop running before you run out, otherwise you won’t be able to run for a few seconds. Also, it’s only killing the Dragonrider that activates the Heide knights. One last thing: really? Tseldora? Not the Frigid Outskirts?
to be honest. even if dark souls 2 isnt the best souls game. it still isnt a shit game. but i am also kinda biased because this game introduced me to soulsbourne games so it will always have a special place in my heart. but to be honest i think the original version of this game is much better then the scolar of the first sin version. yeah its great that it made the game harder for some challenge or something. but it kinda feels like its just made harder on porpuse but it somehow doesnt really fit into the world. there are suddenly some hard random enemys that really dont fit in some areas, just feels wrong somehow from a world building perspective and it really ruins the atmosphere.
I'm so happy to see the Shunning grounds as the worst area in Elden Ring. Like, it's by far not the worst area in terms of level design, that would be the lake of rot and the consecrated snowfields, but holy hell is it a miserable level to play through. In my first playthrough, i played through the entire thing in one sitting and I felt like I lost my mind in that place.
For as stunningly beautiful as Lyndell is, the Shunning Grounds are truly horrid. All those Omens in the beginning of the area are a microcosm of what you are facing in there. It’s scary as shit in there…..not to mention the imps and lobsters smh
If ya want to see me rank & review nearly every Soulsborne level for nearly five-and-a-half-hours, I've got you covered: ua-cam.com/video/nRdKtQumjUk/v-deo.html
Also, lots of people surprised that I didn't put the Frigid Outskirts as worst DS2 area. I'll be honest, I straight up just forgot about it when putting together the video lol. It absolutely is a stinker of a level though.
When a level is so shit your mind erased it from memory
Well, it is a personal ranking. While bad, apparently it wasn't so traumatizing that you automatically default to it being the worst like so many do.
What I'm surprised over was Iron Passage or Cave of the Dead not being there.
@@thedarkgenious7967tbh the most common answer anyone could give would be one of those three, so to maybe shake things up a bit by discluding them
@@thedarkgenious7967 imo the worst one is shrine of amana, because while iron passage, cave of the dead, frigid outskirts and undead encrypt all get significantly easier with summons, shrine of amana is still a homing magic fuckery fuckfest even with all 3 summons
@@themightylordofgoblins6880Also, all of them are very skippable, while Shrine of Amana is mandatory.
Being from scotland is basically like living in dark souls tbf
No surprise, DS universe was also colonized by wankers
@@AlegIronFist oh, sad now :(
Scotland makes Blightown look good
@@Daniel_K95loyalist wanker
Just pretend all the Communists among us are the enemies and hack them to pieces. I like this idea.
How can we ever forget Central Yharnam.. the existential horror of living in modern day London has never been conveyed so well.
@Dio-xo9rvrahhh rule Britannia (I’m Canadian so I know exactly what you’re on about bro)
You sound transphobic...
@Dio-xo9rvkeep london white and british! You guys are genociding your own people over there
@Ambander1”non-white invanders” otherwise known as, *imported slaves*
@@GeorgeZimmermen Lmao, living around nonwhite people isn't a genocide, you're just a garden-variety racist
For me my least favorite level in Bloodborne is easily Nightmare Frontier. Getting slowed down by a poison swamp (with no way to go faster) all while getting pelted by boulders AND dealing with Winter Lanterns is just too much for how mediocre the loot is.
There are lots of tunnels though
The first portion of nightmare frontier is normal but when you get to the poison swamp it becomes very frustrating until you unlock the shortcut
Two words. Winter lantern…💀
It looks cool asf though, never seen such an interesting alien horror like world in a game. My least favorite area is definitely research hall, the level design is very good, but I hate hospitals and the enemies are extremely annoying, the vibe is just horrible and sad as it should be. Bloodborne has no bad area tho
Good thing it's optional.
I feel no other DS2 area has the right to be judged as soon as you compare it with frigid outskirts. The mere mention of it makes my blood boil with the rage of a thousand suns. I genuinely believe it made me forget every other time i felt slighted in my entire playthrough of ds2.
I was gunna say! I must've missed the part where he said he'd exclude DLC because the frozen outskirts is one of there worst areas in ANY GAME. (period!)
I actually I'm starting to admire how awful it is. I haven't played it since Ivory king first released and I still get short of breath and shudder at the mention of frigid outskirts.
It really wasn’t that bad. Tedious? Yes. Challenging? Depends. Actually challenging combat wise? Not really.
It’s just the most tedious run in the game besides maybe iron passage or shrine of Amana, but again all of these things are only hard depending on how you approach them. Frigid outskirts had potential to be really interesting if they would have made the reigndeer like the out of bounds exploration prevention by them ganking tf out of you, and have other enemies that are more interesting. Or at least more variety to the area in general. Definitely not a good area but I think it’s not as bad as people make it out to be.
@@thelocdesiringentryintoyou3686 I agreed with this sentiment.
@@xXLunatikxXlul what’s your opinion on ds2 as a whole comparatively to 1 and 3?
I think I'm the only person who struggled with lud and zallen. I quit because of them. Eventually, I went back, but damn
Worst in ER for me: Consecrated snowfields. Just a whole lot of nothing with boring enemies and blinding snowstorms.
I did enjoy the subterranean shunning grounds, especially the area that leads to the three fingers. So creepy.
I feel like CS was a missed opportunity to try out environmental hazards. They could have made the whole map like a puzzle you have to solve by killing spirits that are causing storms.
The Haligtree is still my favourite level in Elden Ring. It feels so weirdly nostalgic with the soundtrack. The first time I entered the city I somewhat felt like I've already been here in a previous game. I loved the design of the town build around the tree, starting at the top branches and going all the way down to the roots.
Haligtree is such an underrated area. It feels like it came straight out of Sekiro
@@TheSuicune7 So does the area's boss 🤣
@@alexmoberg8943 you’re not wrong! 😆 it seems every game takes a boss from at least one previous game. I wonder who’ll be the next “Sekiro” boss
yeah you are right i say the same for ainsel river and the lake of rot @@TheSuicune7
I'm running a dnd campaign in a megadungeon I created based off the Haligtree. Elden Ring just had some insane dungeons.
I love doing lists like these:
DeS: Best is 3-2, Worst is 5-2
Dark 1: Best is Painted World, Worst is Tomb of the Giants
Dark 2: Best is Castle Drangleic, Worst is Frigid Outskirts
Dark 3: Best is Ringed City, Worst is Profaned Capital
Bloodborne: Best is Nightmare of Mensis, Worst is Forbidden Woods
Sekiro: Best is Fountainhead Palace, Worst is Ashina Depths
Elden Ring: Best is Farum Azula, Worst is Lake of Rot
Storm veil is my favorite castle they’ve ever made. Because it’s a straight up medieval castle like textbook. You got the ramparts a small area for peasants the streets and the throne area It’s even got a fucked up sorta moat with an advanced form of death root at the bottom. And I love that you have 2 vastly different options of tackling the beast as well. Leyndell is stunning and all but I rarely explore the whole place because a lot of it is just full of crafting materials. The bolt of gransax is a good pick up and I always go to the round table hold but other than that I mostly skip past it. Surprisingly I enjoy my time in the shunning grounds more because of its atmosphere. It’s the best sewer level they’ve ever made imo.
I will say on my first playthrough leyndell was the best moment of the entire game and when I got teleported there to see I was miles away from home I was shaking because of how excited I was to explore my way up there. And a close second would be when I got to farum azula. In the leaks I heard about a place called the temple in the sky and I kept looking up through out my playthrough to see it and when I finally got there I was blown away such a beautiful area. Oh and also that first time taking the lift down to siofra, holy shit such a magical yet eerie moment I was shocked at how big the game was. I stayed up for 36 hours playing it when it first came out and I’m not ashamed of that😂😭 50 hours in I thought it had to be over soon but my first playthrough took 130 hours I explored everything I could find.
Elden ring is so easy to rant about I wish the women I was into could understand
My only issue with Stormveil is that I felt like every other boss area except the one that houses Malenia was not nearly as good. They were all good enough, but walking into Stormveil the first time was amazing. The library was meh, Volcano Manor I didn't like much, Leyndell was good but not as good as Stormveil, and all else was lesser in my opinion. Stormveil felt like a castle that a king would reside in, and with how it was designed there were separate paths to go everywhere. So many secrets, ambushes. I think everyone remembers the first time they opened a specific door and it closed behind them, only to have to come face to face with a shield bearing knight.
@@georgen5882 and then there’s castle more😂
I broke my controller in half in 7th grade playing through Shrine of Amana. Good Times.
honestly, I quite enjoyed the subterranean shunning grounds. I really liked the atmosphere and maze-like layout.
for me, the worst area in elden ring would probably be ainsel river. not because it's bad, but because those ants are terrifying, and it makes the area really hard and stressful to go through.
no other game or piece of non-live action media has ever managed to trigger my fear of insects and other such creatures quite like the ants in elden ring do. even something like the giant spiders in bloodborne are no problem. but those ants... why did they have to make them so terrifyingly realistic?
I mean, I respect it to an extent, but that doesn't mean I enjoy it.
Oh man, never play EDF.
Me and a friend who played that together played Elden Ring, and we were humming the battle song from that as we hacked our way through
invest in the jar cannon
I’m not even scared of ants specifically but those ants terrified me, and fromsoft knew what they had because they stick the things around corners, have them hide of cellings or just spawn them behind you in the dark.
Fridged outskirts not being the worst area for ds2 is wild
At least frigid outskirts can be skipped though, probably the one thing that makes its existence bearable
That's cuz no one does frigid outskirts.
The shunning grounds is fantastic, i love how labyrinthine it is and its thematic. Also use rainbow stones to mark your way
Sen’s Fortress is still my favourite Soulsbourne area ever. I get why people prefer Anor Londo but Sen’s Fortress is so unbelievably intricate. Nothing else compares.
I’m the same way. It’s not my top area in all of Souls (I’m a huge sucker for practically every Sekiro area), but it is my #1 area in Dark Souls. There’s just a fun, obstacle course feel to this area that no other area from FromSoft gave me
Counterparts, nice
Have you played and beat all the soulsbourne games?
@@billwoods7578 All except Sekiro
@@MrPatrickbuit damn that’s the best one you gotta play it
Great choices! My least favorite Bloodborne level is Byrgenwerth. It feels so incomplete, as if they built a small area that was intended to serve as the beginning and end of a giant underground level. And then cut out the giant underground part of the level and knocked a hole in the fence so you can just stroll right through to the end of the level.
I do wish Byrgenworh had been properly designed like the Raya Lucaria Academy, which is my personal favorite Elden Ring area. For how big the church was…you’d expect the headquarters to be this huge sprawling area
NPCs talking about it made it sound super cool and interesting to explore but it’s just a glorified schoolhouse
@@jeffbezos3200 I wonder if the chalice dungeons were originally intended to to launched from that hatch on the floor.
I really liked the lake of rot, it was so alien, it was where all the muck that Malenia had brought had drained to, I actually wish I got to have more of it rather than just cross it once.
I always felt like Oolacile Township gets ignored. Its a great branching level.
Surprised there was no mention of Frigid Outskirts.
Frigid outskirts is a given😂 also I feel like we shouldn’t consider it an area it’s just a godawful run up to a mediocre boss. there’s almost nothing good about it so there’s not much interesting nuanced conversation to be had about it.
But yeah township is great I quite enjoy it. It’s like undead burg if it got hit by an earthquake
Absolutely agreed with your best Elden Ring area.
Leyndel feels like what Anor Londo would've been if Fromsoftware had the budget and time to do it back then. You aren't just going through a cathedral and palace and only looking down on the city, you're exploring the entire city yourself. And I especially love how it has 2 different points of entry (3 if you use the elevator exploit). I actually accidentally used the alternate route (the teleporter from deeproot depths) and my jaw dropped when I was teleported there cause I hadn't even set foot on Altus Plateau at that point.
Let’s not forget the claimable dragon. One of the best exploration moments of gaming ever
That teleport was also how I ended up in Leyndell for the first time! 😭😭😭How do I erase my memory so I can experience Elden Ring for the first time again!
The only good things about the bad areas is watching your newbie friend reach them and anticipating their suffering.
Blight town spawned many misery videos 😂 especially with it's 15fps on ps3
@@wngmv I can barely beat Blighttown with *60*
I'm sad people don't like Undead Settlement much. It's such a refreshingly picturesque location contrasted with hte funny jester like enemies and those fat nuns. It's one of my favorite DS areas!
I agree. It feels like such an underrated level in ds3, it branches to allow a choice of which path to take, as well as smaller areas to explore. Despite this it still had memorable moments like the giant archer, and fighting the demon with seigward.
i think that for bloodborne the worst area is byrgenwerth, since its hyped up for all of the travel there and then its just a small mansion with 3 rooms ....
i was hoping for a grand school to explore with a plethora of information to gather and strange relics and experiments to find, no just a few fly monsters, a cthulu baby and a centepied outside and a hunter inside before fighting Rom
theres even a closed hatch in the floor suggesting there should be more to explore but its just there, doing nothing
Imo:
Demon's Souls
Best: Gates of Boletaria (1-1)
Worst: Swamp of Sorrow (5-2)
Dark Souls
Best: Sen's Fortress
Worst: Demon Ruins/Lost Izalith
Dark Souls 2
Best: Shulva, Sanctum City/Dragon's Sanctum
Worst: Frigid Outskirts
Bloodborne
Best: Central Yharnam
Worst: Nightmare Frontier
Dark Souls 3
Best: Grand Archives
Worst: Irithyll Dungeon/Profaned Capital
Sekiro
Best: Ashina Castle
Worst: Ashina Depths/Hidden Forest
Elden Ring
Best: Leyndell, Royal Capital
Worst: Lake of Rot
I love the Shunning Grounds. It has that old-school looping level design around one central bonfire. I love how you can get utterly lost and turned around in the pipes (and that a torch is necessary for part of it). I love the atmosphere, that massive circular shaft with elevator is so fuckin cool. I love the lore of it being where society throws away the Omen when they're born (such a great enemy type, btw, with an extensive moveset). You can even find catacombs and the frenzied flame nomad graveyard is perhaps the creepiest area in the game (the soundtrack is so good throughout the whole Shunning Grounds, btw). Finally, just the fact that this massive intricate level is hidden in a well in Leyndell blew my mind on my first playthrough.
Also, Old Yharnam? Lol, that's one of the best areas in Bloodborne (with Central Yharnam, Cathedral Ward, and Old Yharnam Bloodborne's first few areas are a work of art).
the part in the shunning grounds where you come across all of the merchants corpses is FUCKING TERRIFYING, i almost shit myself when i turned the corner and saw them all there. god damn that was horrifying.
Shunning grounds is possibly the most oppressive level in any of the games. It's the sort of satisfying that is a little painful. Amazing level.
Once you figure out the way it ain't that very bad. After opening the shortcut, drop down the pipe with a hole in the top and always go left. That's literally it, you'll arrive to Sewer Mohg in like 3 minutes.
I wouldn't say i love It, but shunning grounds is a better depths, is a pretty decent area with good level design, though the enemies goes from the excelente omens to the awful imps and revenants, i like the catacomb minidungeon hiden in the legacy Dungeon below another legacy Dungeon
And old yharnam is defo a good area, yhargaul and Frontier's nightmare are the bad areas, but at least yhargaul after you get kidnapped is pretty cool, is the obligatory stage of the area that sucks
Its also a loving tribute to the depths in DS1, even down to the rat that jumps out of a box to attack you
I really like brightstone cove tseldora. It has a lot of variety going on, from the tent encampment to the church to the sand pits to the spider cave. And even better, it has Ornifex.
I might sound crazy, but I loved the Subterranean Shunning-Grounds just as much as Leyndell. It was the sheer contrast of the two areas, the difference in challenges you faced. The first fight with Mohg and the Frenzied Flame area were both stand-out moments for me. I think they hit the nail on the head with it, the desperation and hopelessness in a place nobody should live. In Leyndell you feel like you could belong, but down in the sewers you start wondering what the splendour up above was built on top of.
It still blows my mind that elden ring exists. I love ds3 and thought it was untouchable, in terms of ascetics. But elden ring had so many times i just put the controller down and took it all in. Especiallythe first time seeing the erd tree
I have to admit I sort of like the shunning grounds. I remember when I first got there and was exploring. It was so creepy and put me on edge. I loved it. I haven't replayed Elden Ring and I doubt I will get that feeling again but It was a highlight when I first played.
God, EVERY TIME I hear Majula's opening first notes I feel so damn nostalgic and emotional. DS2 will always be my favorite of the series because it had the best pvp, weapon, build and armor variety as well as best pvp and covenants. Sure, it's bosses are no where near as good as it's predecessors or ancestors....but the DLC helps that a lot. I will always love DS2 and especially Majula. Best hub for sure.
Oh man I honestly really enjoy the shunning grounds! For worst I would honestly consider volcano manor. It has a really cool atmosphere but there is just not alot to explore compared to the other legacy dungeons. It’s not bad and I am sure people out there consider it to be the best or close, but for me it’s always just like this quick little run that doesn’t offer alot(other than a somber stone 7.)
So far elden ring is the only soulsborne game I've played where I really can't think of any one level that I would whole heartedly call bad, the lake of rot is the only option that comes to mind, but if you've saved up enough boluses or have something like flame cleanse me then you're really just running through a really big cavern. I guess if I had to pick one I'd go with Mountaintops of the Giants, the game starts to feel so much more isolated after you beat Morgott, you occasionally run into an NPC along the way, but it feels like bumping into an old friend at the store whenever you do, like "Oh, what a coincidence, you're here too!"
@@thomasdevlin5825 he said he is only considering legacy dungeons otherwise it would easily be the snowfield
The shunning grounds was honestly my favourite area, I liked how expansive and mazelike it was.
@@logiclunacy606 ya idk if I would say it was my favourite but it was up there! It really feels like the concept of the depths or the gutter but fully realized in a game where it works really well. Even more confusing than the depths but you never feel actually hopeless since you can just teleport away and go somewhere else. Also the fact that it has a catacombs inside it that is one of the better mini dungeons makes it really seem unique. It’s a legacy dungeon within a legacy dungeon that has a mini dungeon inside it; I don’t think anywhere else in the game has something like that.
@michaelbarker6732 Yeah I loved the gravedrop platforming section towards the end, it was super unique
Well met, Fellow Heide’s tower of flame enjoyer!!! In the deeper lore analysis, Heide’s Tower actually ties to the whole lore of the series together.
worst level in elden ring is the consecrated snowfield. it feels so... tacked on and random. i think my favorite level was probably crumbling farum azula, at least from a grandiosity aspect. i was freaking blown away when i first went there, and i enjoyed exploring it and even kinda liked some of the platforming.
I would like Leyndell a hell of a lot more if it wasn't so confusing. Naturally you want to go towards the erdtree, it's been your destination for the entire game, but if you just run straight towards it you will run into a wall, you have to find this roundabout way that really doesn't feel very intuitive, I had to spend so much tine just combing the place trying to find a passage that let me get higher. Not at all a bad area, just laid out in a really annoying way
Agreed. Leyndell is wonderful, except for how *much* overlapping there is in level design.
I found it relatively easy the first time but thats probably because I didn't care about the erd tree and there was a big fucking dragon so obviously I'm going to climb it
It’s not very confusing and even if it was that’s probably the whole point of it, it’s a damn city
Also I can’t name you 1 full fromsoft level where you run in a straight path to your destination with no detours whatsoever. Also, you climb a dragon instead of going in a straight path to get to the erdtree, that’s far more cooler and intuitive than your proposal.
Bro just learned about exploring an area.
2:50 Good pick. I think Boletaria in general has amazing level design. I’m currently on my third playthrough, one boss from the platinum, and I’d say my favorite world is the Shrine of Storms, with its awesome verticality, compelling set pieces and the most cinematic end boss fight in the game. My favorite level is probably 1-1 or 3-1.
Great video again! Your upload schedule is frenetic and your long form critique quality remains high. Big Ups!
Edit: 11:50 Good pick again lol. Heide’s Tower of Flame is gorgeous. My favorite is probably Shulva. Least favorite is No-Man’s Wharf.
Boletaria really is amazing. But Tower of Latria 2 is the best in DeS for me
@@oxxylix504 3-2 is an awesome level. First time through I loved the atmosphere but found the layout confusing. After going through it a third time, I love that place. I dig how you gotta drop the heart, and how the boss is essentially towards the first part of the level, up a long staircase with a black phantom waiting. Great pick!
Awesome video! I think I would select pretty much the same levels you had for all the games, perhaps with the exception of Elden Ring. I'd have to give my favourite level to Stormveil over Leyndell. Admittedly both are fantastic
Stormveil was something else, I’ll never forget my first time going through it
Stormveil felt far too short of a level compared to leyndell imo
@@Sephirothkingdom782Stormveil can be very short, or very long depending on the route you take and if you care about going through each side part of it. Amazingly crafted for a first legacy dungeon
Valley of Defilement comes in 2nd for me but the worst in Demon's Souls has to be Tower of Latria. I can never figure out where to go and those mind flayers are just ridiculous
Just now realizing the demon boss in Lunacid is just the Titanite Demon
I love how all Souls fans are warming up to Lunacid. The game’s THAT good, and the full release is coming at the end of this month.
I still love the DS1 parry animation with the great scythe simply because it makes no sense 😂
For the dragon in the tower of flame the only way I’ve ever really done it is fire res armor and popping a couple of life gems and praying it’s time right so I don’t die getting hit by the flames as I run up to it.
I really like your content man, you're putting the work in!
Good call on sekiro, 500hrs ng+7 @ my highest. Love it dude.
I love DS2 but for me the worst area is Belfry Sol, because of how pointless it is. I hate the bad interconnection it has with the Iron Keep, how you make a little step and you can't go back until you beat it (and it's kind of hard-ish) or you figure out the weird drop you have to make, which seems almost an oversight. After you complete it, it doesn´t give you anything remarkable although I did enjoy completing the Bell Keeper Covenant for nice PvP action and the boy scout suit, and also the Mad Warrior set.
Best areas are perhaps all the rest, all full of discoveries and scares. I'm not too fond of Shulva as a whole, as they promise "a city" and it's almost a quite dull Aztec pyramid. I do like the third third of the area, Inner Sanctum, tho. But then Forest of Fallen Giants is enormous and filled with surprises and unlikely places, Heide's passage into No Man's Wharf is quite mystic, No Man's Wharf is absolutely atmospheric and sets you in for an adventure towards the Lost Bastille, a "spot on" a medieval prison with tons of action, NPCs, connection toward two other areas and a gorgeous view. The descent and advancing towards the Sinner's Rise is very scary and spectacular.
Harvest Peak is also blandish, but it's an intro to Earthen Peak, wich after Covetous Demon gets super interesting with its bridges and branching paths. Iron Keep is all good except for perharps the way ganks are dealt in the furnace section (in Vanilla it's really fun to play) and the moving platforms, but I like the upper part when you go up a stair instead of the fog fate, you deal with a couple of knights and then you descend thru some kind of chimney into Iron Passage which gameplay-wise has the very impish Fromsoft seal of evil. The boss fight is a downer, but at least you have a bonfire nearby to explore quite easily.
The rotting trio of Grave of Saints, The Gutter and Black Gulch is like The Depths and Blightown, but with a more obvious access, less framerate drops and no movement penalty. I like all the descents into it, and The Gutter is fun to explore while The Black Gulch is frankly gorgeous, like an evil poisonous shrine that glows of how toxic it is, filled with blasphemous idols that spit at you. It's very degrading being so much spat at. Cool concept.
And so on and so on and so forth.
Thank you dude the gutter is sick. I love the concept of using torches to permanently light the area.
i think stormveil is the best of elden ring It's super sand boxy and the ambience music makes it so foreboding With it's unique and fun knight's creepy and difficult grafted scions and the amazing level design with shortcuts and ballista's everywhere and that's why i think it's better than Leyndel (Also you cant go everywhere in leyndell cause 99.9 percent of the house's in there are blocked shut)
I’m glad you chose to play fountainhead palace track in the beginning of the video 😊One of my favorite pieces of music from software
Nice, another High Wall of Lothric fan. Underrated level.
For me it is Castle Cainhurst, just fell in love with the atmosphere of it
Dark Souls 2 was my first Fromsoft game, it wasn't the best game but it will always give me fond memories.
Great video, was hoping you'd say Tower of Flame and really glad you did, by far my most memorable part of DS2
I went through the comments and I refuese to believe there is actual people who enjoyed the shunning grounds
It surprised me too haha
"It is dark, expansive, labyrinthine, confusing, dangerous,"
Dang, that's why I like the Shunning-Grounds.
one of the best parts of the game. I honestly hate the open world and love the legacy dungeons
Same, not many legacy dungeons you can fully get lost in and Leyndel city just felt like a area where someone forgot to lock up the shortcuts, there wasn't really a sense of progression which I did actually feel in the shunning grounds.
@@logiclunacy606that’s part of why I like leyndell. Its basically a fully realized anor londo and is the largest level in the game with so many things to find and explore if you want to. It also leads to the shunning grounds and even below has mohg and EVEN below that has a secret wall within a secret wall that leads to an entirely new level. Its a great middle section that branches off into other parts of the game and also has morgott which is one of the best bosses in the game
@jaswanthvardireddy2243 I mean yeah I definitely appreciate that Leyndel city went for something different and area is definitely a feast for the eyes. The city itself is great but I feel people over rate a little, there were definitely areas I preferred like the tornado area, halagtree, hogwarts and the ancient roman city under the ground. Forgive me for forgetting names but it has been a while.
@@logiclunacy606 all those areas are quite “secretive” but I don’t think they’re very great on their own besides haligtree, which is basically leyndell but shorter and doesn’t lead into the shunning grounds
My list:
Demon’s Souls • Best: Prison of Hope / Worst: Ritual Path
Dark Souls 1 • Best: Anor Londo / Worst: Tomb of Giants
Dark Souls 2 • Best: Drangleic Castle / Worst: Frigid LOLskirts
Dark Souls 3 • Best: The Ringed City / Worst: Demon Ruins
Bloodborne • Best: Central Yharnam / Worst: Yahar’Gul
Sekiro • Best: Fountainhead Palace / Worst: Ashina Depths
Elden Ring • Best: Lyendell POG Capital / Worst: Mohgwyn Palace
you are right, mohgwyn palace is so mid, it has those annoying ass crows and albinaurics and its just not fun, the only good thing mohg palace ha its the boss fight
Thanks for the vid, watching it I caught biggest PTSD filled nostalgia outbreak in a long time.
The first FS game I tried was DS2 in 2014. I knew absolutely nothing about souls games. I wasn't very attentive to the menus and messages and I did not check my character sheet that much. So, having played around 5 hrs and checking out Majula, I saw the beautiful ruins in the sea, lit by a dusk sun. I was lvl1 cause I didn't get it, you can level up with this pretty lady, not only buy stuff. So, I went to explore the sea ruins and met these big bad knights.
I dont remember in details how it went. Just some fragmentary details:
- I had a longest continuous game session in my life. 42 hrs non stop playing. No breaks, not much of a food, shower or other stuff.
- I don't think I ever managed to straight up beat any of them but I mastered the skill of snooping around their legs, dodging and forcing them to fall of the bridges. Like, I could in the end clear the whole path to the boss like this
- I don't remember if I managed to kill the boss, was it some especially fat armoured knight? I probably gave up in the end of that long session and never come back fearing for my sanity.
I all sounds pretty messed up as a story but my point is, this very experienced made me absolutely fall in love with souls game and got me anlittle addicted to pain and suffering they cause players. So, when I start new souls game, I actually can't wait to meet the strong foes who will totally obliterate me, bosses and levels who will take hours upon hours to beat them. When watching playthroughs I hate it when people take the easy road and breeze through the game. You can't play souls game without struggling and suffering, it's just wrong!
...anyway, thanks again for this beautiful memory from my younger days.
Ive only ever done one playtrough of each. But my 2 cents?
Best DS2 area? Majula.
I dont care that it is "just" a hub. If I ever replay it, it will be because of Majula.
Best BB. Central Yarnham.
Just copy what the video said.
Best Eldenring. Its an entire map piece. Liurnia.
The mood. The beauty. The just right level of difficulty. Where you slowly begin to piece together the whole royal divorce drama.
Pope-dog.
On replays Luirnia is one of the worst the lake is just so empty and boring.
heides tower never really worked for me as a turn back now level. it's easier to find than the catacombs was with tanky but slow enemies you fight one by one instead of tanky quick enemies that gang up on you. on my first attempt at a playthrough I thought it was the path forward.
Oh boy shunning grounds surprised me, I would have expected Rahdan's castle since it's so bland. Shunning grounds is one of my favorite levels, it's by far the best sewer level in the meta-series too
@@TurnersTeawell he’s right for the most part, shunning grounds is a phenomenal level
I've just started playing Bloodborne and hit a roadblock with Old Yharnam as I was constantly running through and decided to reawaken when I found the boss because I was low on resources, completely missing a shortcut.
This is how I found out it was actually optional so thank you
you're a random guy from scotland but you're more entertaining than most "well known" guys with millions of subs.. great content friend
Haha, thanks so much man, comments like this really motivate me to keep going with the channel!
Shunning grounds is great, i really loved that confusing dungeon. I understand if you don’t like the confusion but for me it was awesome. I like that type of level design.
I think you could rank your favorite weapon of each class from each game split them up into different videos for that sweet content and then make a compilation of them all. Rank favorite rare enemies things like that.
Man i had so much fun watching your videos over the last couple of days. keep it up mate
I haven’t watched the video yet, but I am excited to see how you made a 30 min video of just saying “swamp” over and over
I honestly think the original Demon's Souls is better than the remake in everything except performance.
People need to learn that graphical fidelity doesn't equal bestest graphics
Monumental work ethic
Agree on DS3's Demon Ruins. Everyone's first playthrough in there is a nightmare. So easy to get lost among all the identical hallways. Then there's the godforsaken fireball spam. My strategy with that place now is usually to hold off until I'm over-leveled, bait the ballista to shoot open the hole in the ground, speedrun to the bonfire, then quickly grab the estus shard and bone shard (which are actually quite close together). Then GTFO unless I want to grab the pyromancy tomes, in which case I just run past all the enemies and afterward don't even bother going up to turn off the ballista. Just Homeward Bone outta there.
This is one of the best thumbnails I’ve seen all year
amazing video! altho im ngl hearing u say " impressively large wang of the dragon" made me crack up a bit hehe
Great video. I did think leyndell was the end of the game, I was disappointed. And hyped the fuck up when there was more
It is completely understandable why many people's favorite Elden Ring level would be Leyndell, but I kind of end up running through it. I enjoy every second of it though. But Stormveil is what made the game click with me on my first playthrough and my enjoyment of the game peaks every playthrough when I get to Stormveil Castle. It is the first level in the game that shows how many possibilities the jump function added to the game. It is so open in the sense that there are so many side paths and side paths for the previous side paths, be it on rooftops, on ledges or inside the castle that lead to so many different places and it's all so compact. The enemy placement is immaculate as well. I love every section, such as the barrel-laden stairways you run through as commoners throw firebombs at you, the section to Godrick where you get chased by a whole legion, the secret section to the underground area with Godwyn's face. I seriously cannot find a single fault with Stormveil Castle. However, because of Leyndell's expansiveness, it creates a situation where I either run through it to get to Goldfrey or explore every nook and cranny if I feel up to it. It's a massive achievement in level design, but I do not always feel the same incentive to explore as I do with Stormveil Castle because it's so damn big and convoluted. So I still think Leyndell is objectively the best, but I just love Stormveil Castle more.
I've gotten red titanite off those weird icky things a few times. Heck, just yesterday I was playing and I got to that place where you fall down into that pit with several of them and 2 of them dropped one. But then I had 10 humanity and the gold ring on.
This video popped up in my recommendations, and I found you so likeable, insightful and entertaining (never drop those dad jokes!) that I binged all Demon's and Dark Souls retrospectives of yours just yesterday. I've watched my fair share of those over the years, and still yours are absolutely worth seeing. Because I have a love-hate relationship with Evil Within, I watched that one, too, and boy, have you come far, as far as your narration's concerned. Back then you sounded a bit dispassionate and detached, now you sound like a bloke I'd love to have a beer with.
One of these days I'll work up the courage to watch the four and a half hours Souls boss video. You are mental!
Anyway, easiest sub in quite a while, good sir!
Aw, thanks man, glad you enjoy my vibe (and dumb jokes haha)! I know what you mean about my earlier stuff too, and I agree lol. I literally can't sit through my earlier videos these days, not least of all cos of the shitty sound quality lmao.
i love the shunning grounds, miles better than any of the later snowfield areas imo.
The first word you said and the only thing my brain could hear was “och aye the noo!” Great video 🎉
This lad isn't listening his favourite areas, he is just naming his favourite castles
Dude one of the best Souls area rankings I've ever seen imo. I agreed with just about everything in the entire list except in DS2, I absolutely despise Frigid Outskirts, but you mentioned it in comments so whatever. In Bloodborne, the best area is in my mind, without a doubt, Hunter's Nightmare. It is this twisted and warped nightmare version of Cathedral Ward and Central Yharnam. So cool. Then, it's inhabited by Old Hunters, the most badass and insane enemies in the game. Then, there's so much good loot in it and you can find so many awesome weapons. It also has a few traps in the best places and Simon. The blood river sub-area is not my favorite, since it's filled with those damn Bloodlickers, and I absolutely hate the cave where you find the Amygdalan Arm. First, a BS hunter with a gatling gun far away from any lamp, then a BLOOD-STARVED BEAST at the back. A LITERALL BOSS (a tough one at that) is recycled. Despite all that, Hunter's Nightmare is my absolute fave. For least liked, I really don't like Nightmare Frontier, Forbidden Woods and Yahar'gul. Frontier is just a poison swamp with some dull enemies. Yahar'gul has EXCELLENT art direction but is frustrating as hell to play through. The Woods is just bland, boring, wayy to big, too many traps, and looks kinda shitty. Therefor, the Forbidden Woods is pick for worst area in that game.
I hate Old Yharnam because I wish I could just skip it and the blood starved beast but I can't if I want access to the best rune farm in the game
I'd say the Haligtree is the worst Elden Ring level for me (counting the branches and Elphael together). You basically don't have to fight any of the enemies, and in fact it's almost always faster and easier to run past them. I think Elphael kind of encourages this given how many big groups there are and how those Putrid Avatars can start sniping you. There's only one shortcut, disappointingly few sidepaths, and there's that dreadful revenant corridor.
My favourite ds2 level is the pirate area level
I completely understand what youre saying about DS2, but I LOVE the areas in Dark Souls 2. I loved the vast exploration, and I hope a game is made with this sort of variety of medievil locations
Me too man it has my favorite atmosphere out of any game ever and it just always seemed like I never ran out of places to explore or things to do. Even if some of them were kind of waste
The worst area in Bloodborne is the Nightmare Frontier, based purely off its absolutely boring aesthetic imho.
Best areas;
Stormveil Castle, Sanctum City Shulva, Sen's Funhouse, Central Yharnam, Ringed City.
Worst Areas;
Brace of the Haligtree, Farron Keep, Iron Passage, Forbidden Woods, Blighttown.
Have watched most of your videos in a few days sin e finding you. You are gonna have many a subscriber in no time
The shaded woods hate is crazy, that place is dope.
Any area with a poison swamp is auto bad area for me, also the frigid outskirts is just the worst area in the entirety of soulsborne . As for some favorite areas in souls' games are Irithyll of the Boreal Valley, Crystal Cave, and Darkroot Garden.
Crystal cave ???????? That must be one of the hotest takes i've seen for areas, for me, It sucks, my hotest take IS that sen's fortress is not a fun area to go though, and the second bonfire is soo far away, while not having shortcuts, but i have to admit that the level design is great, with Lots of side paths and the first mimic of the game
for me it's the opposite. I actually now understand Miyazaki's kink for swamp areas.They are so silly. I feel that Valley of Defilement is the best swamp area in the series. On it's own, it is an A tier area for me lol
Farron woods isn’t even bad though, it’s a mid level with a fantastic boss in the end
@@Sephirothkingdom782 Farron woods is fine though there really isn't much going on there anyways, but just no to farron swamp. The enemies are downright annoying, not to mention dealing with poison and curse in the same area. Abyss watchers are 🔥though.
Valley of defilement almost feels like a day out in Glasgow
In defense of DS3's Demon Ruins, while gameplay-wise it doesn't feel great I agree, but it does capture the feeling that there is pretty much nothing left of Izalith. And all those demon corpses surrounded by skellies and Ghrus makes me a bit sad for the demons lol.
Farron Keep is the one I don't look forward to. The most swampiest of the swamps.
leyndell really captured the feeling of “you do not belong here”
Honestly the worst take imo is that tseldora is the worst area in ds2. I really enjoyed slowly making my way down to the bottom and the boss was pretty fun. How can that be worse than the hell that is iron keep immidiatly following from earthen peak which also sucked.
Old Yharnam is probably in my top 5, maybe even top 3 levels in the game. Least favourite is probably Byrgenwerth, purely due to missed potential.
These were some hot takes, but I live for those. Great video. Personally I would have chosen Fishing Hamlet for Bloodborne.
was it the sharks?
@@flamingcat1101 bro I love the sharks, fishing hamlet has the best mood imo
@@SoupWizard776 Oh sorry you mean for best
@@flamingcat1101 yes fishing hamlet is my all time favorite area
@@SoupWizard776 that's awesome. Orphan of Kos was such an emotional boss fight for me
Frigid outskirts not being the worst DS2 area is WILD
13:23 You just need to run towards the dragon, but if you completely run out of stamina, you likely won’t make it, so just make sure to stop running before you run out, otherwise you won’t be able to run for a few seconds.
Also, it’s only killing the Dragonrider that activates the Heide knights.
One last thing: really? Tseldora? Not the Frigid Outskirts?
to be honest. even if dark souls 2 isnt the best souls game. it still isnt a shit game. but i am also kinda biased because this game introduced me to soulsbourne games so it will always have a special place in my heart. but to be honest i think the original version of this game is much better then the scolar of the first sin version. yeah its great that it made the game harder for some challenge or something. but it kinda feels like its just made harder on porpuse but it somehow doesnt really fit into the world. there are suddenly some hard random enemys that really dont fit in some areas, just feels wrong somehow from a world building perspective and it really ruins the atmosphere.
I'm so happy to see the Shunning grounds as the worst area in Elden Ring. Like, it's by far not the worst area in terms of level design, that would be the lake of rot and the consecrated snowfields, but holy hell is it a miserable level to play through. In my first playthrough, i played through the entire thing in one sitting and I felt like I lost my mind in that place.
Great thumbnail, like the book covers
This guy's hella underrated tbh. He could really blow up
*HorseFuck Valley is heavily breathing during the intro*...
[EDIT]
HorseFuck Valley: I LIVED ANOTHER DAY!!!!!!!! I'M NOT THAT BAD DO YOU SEE?!
I strangely enjoy the subterranean shunning grounds. Reminds me of the depths from darksouls 1 and yes I do enjoy that level weirdly enough as well.
The consecrated Snowfields is the worse area in Elden Ring.
For as stunningly beautiful as Lyndell is, the Shunning Grounds are truly horrid. All those Omens in the beginning of the area are a microcosm of what you are facing in there. It’s scary as shit in there…..not to mention the imps and lobsters smh
The sunterranian shunning grounds is probably one of my favorite in elden ring
Eleum loyce is the best area in the series imo