This is probably my favorite area in all of Bloodborne. It's (literally) dripping with atmosphere and also features some of the most memorable enemy encounters in the game. Hope you enjoy this one!
i agree with you on this one 100% its also one of my most loved areas in all of souls if not my most loved one. thx for the uploading. going straight to my playlist. you are doing gwyns work my friend!
@@OXhuls Thanks for your kind words, as always. I think this is a wrap on BB unless I decide to revisit the chalice dungeons. Honestly can't remember if they have any especially unique ambience.
The lead up to the hamlet is sad. You can see clear signs of a burial at sea, respect for those who have passed on, and this dark, decrepit place not even tall enough to really loom, but nevertheless the two collapsing, waterlogged buildings forming an short entryway are disheartening at least. But it's the actual entrance itself that startled me. Or, rather, it was the Hunter's Mark that startled me. The symbol of the hunt. And as I stopped in realization, I started to hear the baneful chants...and the sounds of the storm swelling not just angrily, but bitterly. The creaking droned on in an ominous rhythm, the distant thunder a horrible warning of what was to come, and the repeated curses and laments of the priest was both chilling and tragic. I don't think there is a single person who came upon this for the first time and didn't ask: What happened here? There is more to be heard deeper in, the wet gurgled of the deformed villagers, constantly sounding as through they have already drowned but they haven't died yet. The weak priests who loose their curses upon any trespassers, the towering shark giants who lumber about, and yet all of this is still sad. That even in the utter state of their village and themselves, they have to constantly patrol and protect their home, afraid of the hunters who so deeply violated them so many years ago. It is clear that the time since doesn't matter. The villagers have not forgotten. And they have made sure Byrgenwerth hasn't forgotten either. The hymn of the Winter Lanterns should be no surprise to those who have explored Nightmares before. They simply appear in these twisted places, feared even by the Nightmare's own inhabitants, perhaps even a manifestation of the Hunter's own fears. It's the distant bell that is far more dreadful. Most hunters should be familiar with that particular chime; the Sinister Bell, drawing invaders to your world, mad or cruel hunters who seek your blood as opposed to the monsters of their own world. And yet, you may be in such a situation in which it is impossible for a Bell Maiden to appear. So, how is this possible? Who, or what, is ringing the bell? Well, you should have already encountered what is left of your guide, Simon the Harrowed, and he offers a clue. This "beast-hide assassin" who has relentlessly pursued him until his death, with Simon refusing to give up his pursuit of the Nightmare's secret. And just moments later, you likely also encountered him. Brador, Assassin of the Healing Church. Wielding the demented Bloodletter, he blindly "protects" this village, but not because he regrets what has happened here, or seeks some atonement for his sins. Brador is a cruel man who would prolong the suffering of the village and the Nightmare, partially in his blind faith, and mostly because he has seen the Church for what they really are, and takes of mankind as scum that deserves their fate. From here you will either defeat him several times, as his bell can be rung endlessly, and therefore he will hunt you endlessly, or you can leave this village to kill him yourself, although that's exactly what he expects of you, sooner or later. His fate, however, ultimately has little impact on this place. It's the chasm of the slug farms that we see this hamlet was quite aware of what was becoming of them, and they thrived on it. The snail women at the bottom are content to sleep until disturbed by a blood-soaked hunter smashing through their home, shamelessly looting what little they have down here. The priests seem to be blessing the many smaller shells and stones in some way, casting small sparks of yellow lightning, and the other villagers are searching for something as well. It is apparent that these villagers were self-sustaining and simply content with their lives. They were happy as they were...until the scholars arrived. Finally, you reach the beach. You will have seen it already, multiple times, and you may have had a strong suspicion about the large slug-like creature beached there, clearly dead. You don't need to begin the final battle to know you are not wanted here. The wind billows powerfully, blowing back your clothing, and the infected Nightmare sun looms directly ahead, glaring angrily at this intruder. The sky is darker than before, and the weeping women behind you are all a clear indication that this place doesn't need to be disturbed anymore than it already has been. But if you have the courage, and wish to see just what Byrgenwerth and the Healing Church have tried to hard to bury, you will take one more step, realized why they wanted it buried. The Fishing Hamlet is sad, but is not as despairing or disgusting as the Research Hall that immediately preceded it. I couldn't even find myself able to be so angry at Byrgenwerth as I was... disappointed? It's clear that Byrgenwerth has powerful foundations on a great discovery, but the further back we look, the more we realize that these great minds were grasping at straws when they could have stepped back and viewed the larger picture. But they were driven by dreams of divinity, both beheld and achieved, and they were willing to travel any lengths to reach it. Cross any line. They had such great resources and opportunities, but they squandered all of it in pointless desperation. They were undoubtedly vain, so certain that they could reach some grand ascension they sabotaged and killed each other to achieve it first, like children racing to complete a game, when the prize is the same regardless of who wins first, and how fast you move doesn't matter either. But it was all for nothing. In the end, both Byrgenwerth and the Healing Church were reduced to little more than a cult of madmen seeking answers to the cosmos itself from water and eyes. This hamlet is empty now. The power of Kos, the ancient Great One, passed down to her child, in the end was only a weak shadow. Like the Eldritch Truth these scholars sought, the key to stopping this Nightmare was never to defeat some giant, evil creature. It was to give peace to a tormented child, and reunite them with their mother, in the cool depths of the ocean beyond. Give mercy and respite to the Orphan of Kos, and the horrible Nightmare sun vanishes, replaced by a bright, soothing distant sunlight on the horizon. The coming dawn on an endless night of blood and beasts, and madmen scrambling for the faintest hints of an unknowable truth. If anything in Bloodborne can truly come to an end, it is this Hunter's Nightmare, and the undeserving souls trapped within it, cursed by the actions of their ancestors, a sin they never knew.
Fantastic writeup! Thank you for sharing this evocative description of the hamlet and the philosophical implications of the tragedies which happened there. The storytelling that the game manages to achieve with environmental cues is really staggering, and connecting the dots is so satisfying. I'm glad that you've posted here.
Wow. That is some deep stuff. It just goes to show that, even in search of secrets, humans are monsters not even deserving of praise. It is humanity that has destroyed the Fishing Hamlet all so they can search for the eldritch truth, and it is humanity that has done its best to go to extreme lengths to find what they’re looking for. “Nothing changes,… such is the nature of men,” after all. Humankind, even after its founding of Byrgenwerth & Yharnam, has not learned its lesson, and has done its best to find the secrets of the Great Ones no matter what it takes. Be it mass experimentation or mass genocide, even Master Willem didn’t stop until his goal of ascension was complete. And now look what happened! And this just makes the world of Yharnam all the sadder, as nothing could be done to stop it; it’s now up to you to put an end to this nightmare, the mess others before you have caused!
It was a rainy afternoon while i was playing Bloodborne, it was raining heavily and it was my first time in that area, I felt like I was really there, I will never forget that feeling
You always pick great shots to display, gives me back memories its comforting. Similar feeling as if I’m looking at old photos of somewhere I’ve been before in real life. I have been relying on your channel everyday since it got suggested to me almost a month ago. This has been helping me quite a lot and helping me get a full nights rest often.
I'm really glad it helps! Thanks for your kind words. Picking the angle and shot is always a fun challenge. I have some more traditionally relaxing videos in the pipeline, so I hope you'll get some use out of them. 🍻
I wish i could find a version of The fishing hamlet priests dialogue. Not with the backround noise but only what hes saying. Or how its done in this video. Because i love his dialogue and how it sounds
It is wonderfully spooky. There are a couple of good clips on RU-vid with all his dialogue, although there is some background noise. I don't have the whole thing recorded, or else I would be happy to share.
my absolute favorite area in any video game ever. love the atmosphere. let’s be real tho, the real bosses in this area are those damn sharks in the well
I was just listening to this and I don’t usually play with sound on right so I forgot completely what winter lanterns sound like. Headphones on, dark in my room, got to 25:00 and was like oh that’s pretty fucking ominous what is that? The villagers praying to kos? Then it just hit me like a brick and like made me go all cold and shiver up my spine-thanks Ambient Souls for making me NOT relaxed 😂
I finished this area and orphan of kos days ago, and by far this is the best area in the franchise. It's remind me about the shadow over innsmouth. Bloodborne did so right about taking inspiration of such an amazing book. 😮
I love this area too! Did you struggle with Orphan? I actually had a harder time with Laurence. But the Ludwig fight is the best for me: spectacle, music, art design; it's the whole package.
@@AmbientSouls I kill the five at first try. Laurence is the hardest by far. All the bosses were hard but amazing, Ludwig is the best one. It's such a work of art this game.
This goes amazingly well when reading H.P. Lovecraft's work like Dagon and The Shadow Over Innsmouth. The similarities with this area from The Old Hunters DLC and those two stories are eerily striking. Also I can't be the only one thinking Mother Kos is a reference to Dagon, the Fish God.
This area is without a doubt my favorite. This area makes me feel like the captain of a pirate ship who has returned to see his birthplace in such disarray.
Fishing hamlet is one of my favorite areas in the game, its calming but also mysterious but the boss in the area is really sad because in my perspective the orphan of kos thinks the hunter killed its mother but we didn't and seeing the orphan's spirit right next to its mother is really sad and i like how bloodborne makes us feel different emotions to npcs like we are part of the world
On nights like tonight, when I can't sleep due to PTSD, or some other reason, I like to put on pieces like this and just, listen. Hearing the Storm, the rain, the whispers of the Hamlet Denisens and the far off chime of Boradors Bell, just seeing what would come to me... Then, 25:00 happened, and I snapped up again because of the Damn Winter Lanterns...
