Game Composer Reacts to GEHRMAN THE FIRST HUNTER - Bloodborne 

Well, turns out that last build up was not a fake after all. That is what I get for thinking I had the music all figured out haha By the way, make sure the check out the videos I did on Dark Souls music if you haven't already: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-_AKjMqhE-mI.html

Wow, it's so incredible to see people who have never played Soulsborne describe the music of the boss and they're basically describing the lore of this Boss.

To Gehrman this is a literal death wish, the final fight. He doesn't want to kill you, but He doesn't want you to suffer the same fate He is suffering. Yet He definitely wants to die, It's all conflicted. He doesn't know what He wants.

"Oh, Laurence... Master Willem... Somebody help me... Unshackle me please, anybody... I’ve had enough of this dream... The night blocks all sight... Oh, somebody, please" - A victim of the Eldritch Truth

To me, that song has 2 components: -Gherman's leitmotif, the lonely melancholic one. Looping over and over it is his eternal loneliness, trapped as the overseer of the Hunt. Having lost all those he cared about, slowly going mad and apathetic. The counterpoint also echoes at how old this whole charade is by now, how long ago it started for him. -The repetitive motif that comes back several time. This is the Hunt, the Dream that always come back like a looming, foreboding cycle. Those build ups might be periods where another hunter challenged Gherman, being a note of hope for him to be released from his duty, only to be extinguished by his own blade. That last one that does turn out to not be a fake out though, I think this might be all the Hunters' voices, or at least the ones who marked our Hunter's journey. That final ray of hope that pierce through the nightmare when Gherman is close to being vanquished, and by that: woken up from the dream.

Almost like someone being put to rest, finally at peace, after so much suffering.

Out of all the 'final' bosses from FromSoft, this is the saddest for me. Even when you aren't clear on the backstory or lore there's an undeniable tone in the presentation alone which makes you question 'why am I feeling sad?' And then you find out more about Gehrman and it just makes it even more tragic.

Gherman wants to be free from the Hunter's Dream and an endless night. He doesn't want to kill you, but he must because of the being that has enslaved him. Everyone he knows is long dead, and their spirits/souls are stuck in an endless blood filled nightmare. You, as the Good Hunter, just want answers as to what's going on and to be free of the Hunt. When you die in the Hunter's Dream, you wake up and forget everything. And you never dream again. By killing Gherman, you free him from an endless nightmare, and finally allow him to rest. I'm really glad that you covered this one, the music really portrays the emotions and lore behind the fight perfectly. One very old hunter who has gone insane from loneliness and death, who is trapped in an endless nightmare. One fresh hunter, curious for knowledge and answers, half-cut with blood and in their prime. It's a fight to free the Original Hunter from his shackles versus a fight to stop a young hunter from the same fate as the Original Hunter. Bloodborne is a masterpiece. Can't wait to see if Elden Ring is going to have the same amazing score.

I am so happy you did this one as it's one of my favorite songs from the game and seeing your musical interpretation match with the narrative one just shows how well it was composed. Thank you for doing this one!

Of course Gehrmans theme is lonely, everything else is dead.

You seemed interested in learning a bit more about the context of this song, so I'll summarize it as best as I can with regards to someone who's not familiar with Bloodborne's lore. (It's a bit long, but I just wanted to follow through with my train of thought. Don't feel like you have to read this.) "Gherman, The First Hunter" is the final boss theme of Bloodborne (connecting to how you related it to "Gwyn, Lord of Cinder" from Dark Souls 1, who was the final boss of that game), belonging to the character of the same name. The events in Bloodborne take place during the "night of the hunt", where monsters flood the streets, men turn into beasts, and specialized warriors referred to as "Hunters" are tasked with dispatching these creatures while trying not to fall prey to their own bloodlust and turn into beasts as well. Your player character is one of these hunters, and finds refuge within a space called the "Hunter's Dream", a realm that preserves one's consciousness while their body traverses the real world. Essentially, it's how your character can die and come back to life multiple times. The Dream was created when the first of the Hunters, Gherman, made a pact with an otherworldly being called the "Moon Presence" . Gherman would serve as the dream's host, and other hunters that were bound to it could traverse the real world without fear of death. Once the hunters had fulfilled their purpose, Gherman would sever them from the dream so that they could wake up once morning came and live out the rest of their lives. It's a cycle that Gherman has repeated many times, and it is the same cycle that the player finds themselves in. The player's hunter is bound to the dream until the night is brought to an end. Gherman, introducing himself as a friend, aids you on this journey as much as he can, offering you free use of whatever tools that you can find. However, Gherman himself can never leave the dream, as he is bound to it as its host. While he may be a hunter, he himself cannot fulfill his own purpose. He can never know rest, never be free, he is trapped within the dream, forced to repeat the same cycle over and over, bringing about the end of one hunt only to have to wait for the next to begin again. From the dialogue that the player can hear from him in-game, it's clear that he resents this life. Skipping ahead to the end of the game, Gherman offers the player a choice, the same choice he had offered all the hunters that had passed through the dream before. By submitting their life to Gherman in the dream, the player's hunter will awake underneath the morning sun with no memory of the night's events, freed from the dream. However, if the player refuses, then Gherman will try to force you out by fighting you. But the player, perhaps realizing Gherman's suffering at this point, might elect to refuse and fight him in an effort to free him from his curse. This is the final battle of Bloodborne, not a epic clash between the hunter and a beast, but rather, two people fighting each other out of a desperate, piteous attempt to *save* one another. It's the theme of Gherman, trying to spare you from becoming the dream's next host and living like him. It's the theme of your hunter, perhaps trying to spare Gherman from the fate that he's currently trapped in. It's the theme of the hunt, of your first and Gherman's last, giving him one final hurrah before his dream finally comes to an end. Perhaps that's why it's composed the way you mentioned, with intermingling elements of hope and sorrow. Perhaps your hunter might find the strength to resist the Moon Presence, and prevent the cycle from repeating any longer, finally granting Gherman peace. Perhaps not. Who knows? _"The night, and the dream, were long..."_

Gehrman is such a tragic character. A man abandoned by his comrades, alone to wallow in his self hatred for his horrible actions. He's seen hunters come and go so many times, and as you refuse to die, he sadly gets up from his chair, adamant in his resolve to save you from his fate. Thank you, Gehrman, First of the Hunters. Thank you, and rest. You've earned it.

10:05 "See? It's fake build-up again" The music 4 sec later: "SIKE!" I love seeing his surprise reaction

Fingers crossed for Abyss Watchers breakdown!

Orphan of Kos is another theme that's also sad but then gets pretty terrifying

this is a true "where man cried" moment, it's a fight between 2 friends trying to save the other, he's trying to save you from the burden he's willingly carrying from what seems to be an eternity, sacrificing himself so you, and every hunter that came before you can live a peaceful life outside of the hunter's dream, you're trying to deliver him from the hunter's dream shackels as an act of recognition and sympathy for what he endured, putting an end to his misery, unending tourment and lonelyness so he can finally rest in peace, inevitably dooming yourself with his burden, only one can be saved, but none wants to be for the sake of the other, it's so beautiful i'm literally crying right now

You can feel sad for gehrman couse he is trying to save you for the nightmare leaving his humanity and his soul. I love this track so much

"Lonely, sad, and intimate" My favorite comment about Soulsborne music was replacing Dark Souls with "Fighting Old Men to Sad Music" Great analysis as always!

A perfect theme for such a tragic battle. The classic mentor vs student. Each is trying to save the other from a terrible fate. The lyrics (roughly) translate to Gherman begging the hunter to let him free them from the nightmare of the hunt and to leave him to his fate as the host of the dream. The Hunter (You), is trying to release him from his shackles and grant him rest, even if that means wearing those same shackles yourself. Incredible fight on all accounts.

Gherman was fighting you to save you from the dream. He's been dreaming and suffering so he knows the pain of being trapped. The happy chords maybe represented his complex emotions since if you defeat him, you're freeing him from the night and the dream, so maybe he felt a bit hopeful and happy from that.

Hey Davi, loving these Soulsborne music breakdown videos, especially seeing you play and explain certain elements!

As someone who knows nothing about music theory, I appreciate the way you're able to explain some of the logic behind music. It's eye opening and forces me to listen to music with a more nuanced view; so thanks for that😄 Also if you're interested in more bloodborne, I recommend "Orphan of Kos" or maybe "Lady Maria of the Astral Clocktower"

I was waiting for this one. One of the most emotional osts I've ever heard

Also to keep in mind for Bloodborne Boss themes, when the boss hits 50% HP they always transition into phase 2, which is always accompanied by the theme exploding or getting more intense. They always try to make that transition dynamic, because each player will always take a different amount of time to get the boss to the next phase, so a theme like Gherman's having this many "opportunities" to explode into something more intense gives them also multiple neat means of transition into his P2 theme. So either it's intentional for it's effect like you described, or just a means for a better and more smooth transition... or of course, it's both! A practical solution that also serves a thematic purpose and artistic expression and aids the musical story telling.

Makes me remember when you find Gehrman crying in his sleep begging for the dream to end. This is the most human track in Bloodborne, hell maybe almost in all of music

It's not the same without Gherman going "KHAA HAA HAEP HAA GHHAAAAARG"

It’s amazing because the fakes build up seemed like a rejection to fight from a character then when the chords come up it seems like the same character finally accepts the fight. Perhaps our character or the boss? It’s so sad and I think Bloodborne just got my heart and attention!

This near perfect (possibly even straight up perfect) masterpeice, is so incredibly emotional and leaves me speechless with tears in my eyes, my favorite soulsborne peice by a longshot. Everything about this peice speaks to my soul, the fight, the theme and the setting just absolutely unmatched by any other boss i have fought, such an incredibly amazing peice. Thank you for breaking down this masterpeice. BTW, the lyrics during the climax are talking about the mercy that gherman desires and how he was decieved by the moon presence.

I relate to Gehrman more than I can even express. Over the past several years, I've allowed myself to become almost nothing. All in an attempt to extinguish my inherent ego, destructive nature, and preconceptions. To this day there's this ripping tearing feeling accompanied by a feeling of being utterly trapped in myself. I know theres so many more out there suffering in these ways that most cannot even begin to understand. And I hope we all find our way. In the end maybe we can even be our true selves

Out of Bloodborne OST, you could react next to Laurence the First Vicar, basically Ludwig, except it's not a dance, just straight up chaotic church music, and DS3's Slave Knight Gael aswell, they're really different and more emotional than the other boss musics in the series; Really sad that Yuka Kitamura didn't win any awards in both Bloodborne or Dark Souls, let's hope she does with Elden Ring. Also i've just discovered your channel and learned you're brazillian too, mostly from your accent, abraço :D

I just have to suggest Darkeater Midir. That theme is absolutely amazing. It matches the ferocity supposed to be felt in a battle with a true descendant of the ArchDragons. Especially phase 2. That’s when Midir begins to realize “oh shit, I could actually die here”. The vocals kick in even more, the strings begin to rise. So beautiful and imposing. The vocals at the beginning almost give the feeling that this beast is completely otherworldly, the introduction like a choir of angels presenting their warrior.

when the choir start, thats when this theme hurts emotionally, it literally makes cry sometimes, It hurts a lot all of the sudden. I only have a bit of knowledge of Bloodborne, cuz I havent seen a full gameplay or lore video explaining, but the music gives me the information I need.

I'm always so impressed by Davi when he perfectly describes a character through the music. It speaks volumes to both his knowledge and understanding and the skill of the composer and musicians. Every time he points something out, i'm like "oh I hear it perfectly now it should've been obvious."

The reason I like this theme isn’t just because of how the song actually sounds, but because how well it fits the emotion of the fight, 2 men fighting to the death to prevent the other from a horrible fate

Bloodborne is the best game i have ever played. This game is one of the kind. Nothing is good as this game. Absolutley perfect. Waiting for next gen patch to play this masterpiece again. Music is one of the best in games.

Gehrman's theme almost sounds like he's expressing his feelings about the whole situation, the buildup representing his growing hope that your character will accept the freedom from the hunters dream when he offers it only for the melancholy part afterword to represent his shattered hopes when you reject his offer. The bits with the vocals feel like a mix of him begging you to free him from his current fate while simultaneously begging you to just let him free you, to not shackle yourself the the same fate he's suffered for who knows how long.

When this guy says “…so beautiful…” We all felt that. Right in our feely feels.

I love how much lore is in the music, that composers analyzing the music almost figure out accurately the lore of the boss! Would love to see how you interpret Laurence The First Vicar... I kinda wanna put in some lore for Gehrman, trying to do so without too many spoilers lol (not something worry about in Soulsborne though, cause the story is not handed to you on a platter so): Gerhman is basically the first Hunter after the Hunters split from the Healing Church. He was the one who founded the Abandoned Workshop (which is basically the Hunter's Dream in the real world), and he was the one who made the Doll to keep him company as he grew old. He played a crucial role in the main story, and the events that led up to it, mainly the incident at Fishing Hamlet. Gehrman, Maria, Laurence. Maria lies in the Astral Clocktower now, drifting in the realm of Nightmare. Gehrman is trapped in the Hunter's Dream, with no means of escape since well, Laurence isn't coming back to rescue him. (this you may consider spoilers...so if you don't want to, don't read further if you wanna actually play Bloodborne sometime in the future) One of the best things about Gehrman is that, unlike Gwyn, you are not fighting a kind of antagonist, no no, he's the hero of the story. You are fighting because he wants to save you (since the only way to escape the wretched nightmare is death), and you want to save him. Its not a epic heroic piece where "good" is fighting "evil". Its a fight between two equals, between two..."old friends", fighting each other to save the other from an eternity of suffering.

You have done what ATLAS never will, and held the dream, the dread. Feel pride in that, Hercules.

Everything hurts my heart like a truck here, be it the tragic score, the tragic story, that choir beat drop, or Gehrman’s fist…

“Solo violin,very lonely “ Fffff that hits hard… The whole breakdown is amazing and on point tho The lyrics btw Hunter. Ah, I have hunted. I did it all to cleanse my soul from evil. An insidious hunt. The wonderful darkness (or "These mysterious nights") This way I knew eternal mercy (or "eternal misery"). My Hunter Let the evil be hidden (from you) My life devoted to sustaining the Dream The insidious Moon The wonderful darkness (or "These mysterious nights") Great One, look upon me and grant eternal mercy (or "Great One has looked upon me and grant this eternal misery"). Take my sickly vein My soul hurts, free me, rightly The insidious Moon The wonderful darkness (or "These mysterious nights") Great One, look upon me and grant eternal mercy (or "Great One has looked upon me and grant this eternal misery"). Hunter, who hold in awe the abyss But you are never supposed to be a scapegoat I would swing this scythe once again, to offer an end to your nightmare But please, give me an end to my role. Edit: holy heal,hearing now about the two voices hits even harder

Probably one of the best breakdowns I’ve heard. Definitely nailed this one, and I hope you keep doing more soulsborne music!

It never ceases to amaze me how he always describes the lore to a T while describing the tones of the music, as a massive music and bloodborne fan alike I must say Great job!

i still cry to this piece im weird

Gherman's theme sort of displays his entrapment in the hunter's dream since he desperately wants to leave as we can hear him beg for help from Lawrence and we as the player can lore-wise free him from this "nightmare" of his, a common theme of bloodborne, which is overcoming your nightmares in manner of speaking. That explains the hopeful tunes that come and go just as the others like Djura and Eileen came and left the hunter"s dream as Gherman waited for someone strong enough to overpower and kill him. Also for more info just read the "Paleblood hunt" by red grave or one of Vaati's videos hope this explains some stuff even though everyone who's played the game probably knows this.

Wonderful breakdown man. I'm learning and revisiting.

Would love to hear what your thoughts are on the 'Living Failures' boss theme. It's one of my favourites in Bloodborne it's unlike any other. Also the track Queen of the Vilebloods is incredible

I'm so glad the algorithm threw your channel my way. Beautiful descriptions of the two lone voices of violin duel

What I'm glad for is the fact this game was such a masterpiece we're still talk about it almost 6 years after its release.

Can't help but love your video's, it's so pleasant to hear those theme once more with someone describing, trying to figure out the meaning of them

So glad you're getting to appreciate the masterpiece that is the Bloodborne soundtrack. Listen to this and then remember this games soundtrack was completely snubbed by the game awards. Unforgivable.

Entire song basically describes how Gehrman is as a character in the story, trapped in a dream, a dream with supposedly no end.

You explain the music well 10:48 and in doing so nailed Gehrman's tragedy. Gehrman was trapped there waiting for Lawrence to return there to free him there was always a build-up and then disappointment for him (Just like in the music). Just as Gehrman loses hope and offers to release your character you refuse and offer instead too end his suffering and free him. It's bitter-sweet because you want to release him but know you are dooming your character to be trapped for eternity and he doesn't want you to have to make that sacrifice therefore he MUST defeat you. The music captures this conflict and sadness so well. It isn't until he is on the verge of death that the choir comes in with the epic climax as he realizes that this is the moment he's about to be free AND THEN HE FIGHTS HARDER so that you don't have to suffer in his place!!!!

I love the fact that you listened to half of the song and you nailed the story behind it. As it does refer to a lonely man ready and accepting of his death

Gehrman is probably my favorite boss in bloodborne. His fight is intense and fun. The lore is sad and can be felt here in the fight and, of course the music is amazing!

Very impressive, detailed & accurate analysis of Gehrman's theme! You are amazing. More Bloodborne OSTs please!

Gerhman the First Hunter! A beautiful track that I absolutely adore from Bloodborne. I'm kind of sad that I didn't love the gameplay of Bloodborne, but I will never not enjoy the soundtrack, setting, and characters. The First Hunter is a very sad and somber song for a very sad and somber fight. A fight between the First and Last Hunter. It's quite a poetic end, and quite a beautiful song.

Your content has for the last few months bin my favourite. Keep on the great work at bringing music analysis to the world 🤟

Awesome analysis, I love seeing these! It's so interesting to watch people pick apart core themes about these songs and be pretty right to what the song is trying to convey, I keep my fingers crossed for Ebrietas, Daughter of the Cosmos one day! Definitely underrated and a beautiful piece in my opinion.

this is a great breakdown, love the video. hope you could do more reactions to the Bloodborne ST, I look forward to the Maria and Ebrietas themes.

So happy I discovered this channel! Soulsborne music is a treasure trove for music nerds!

The live orchestra for this is so good. It’s so amazing!

This song is very special for me. A very sad song about master and student, two close partners that refuse to leave the other face eternal sorrow. The first hunter is trying to save us from his own destiny. That's why the lyrics say something like: "Oh hunter... i know the hunt myself, everything i did was to purge evil from my soul..." He is trying to warn us about the horrible destiny that awaits the winner of this duel. My favorite comments about this song would be: "Two hunters, fighting to save the other" and "The first hunter vs the last"

My god, this song. Every single time that final buildup comes up I catch myself having to breathe away the wave of emotion that just kind of swallows me whole. And that choir right after is a real tear jerker.

this is the first video i’ve seen by you, and you are a genius!!!

Great video as always! This is the memorable fight for me. Fluttering petals were beautiful and sad. Gehrman is so exhausted from the eternal dream. His sleep-talking is so painful. I love this beautiful piece since expressed Gehrman’s solitude, suffering and conflict beautifully, it sounds like a lullaby or a requiem for Gehrman and all the hunters. Giving that Gehrman was released, it’s no wonder this piece sounds hopeful. Thank you for this amazing video, Davi!

I absolutely adore this song, but I feel like I learned so much about /why/ I love it watching this. And it was beautiful watching your journey through hearing it for the first time, seeing you react so strongly to many of the same bits that also provoked emotion from me, and having you explain why it has that effect. This video earned a sub from me, I'm late to the party but thanks for this.

I came here to watch your view on Gehrman theme but now im crying :c good job

I appreciate you making this video as I now have another channel to subscribe to. I love how you explain the music using proper jargon as well as explaining it for viewers like myself. Thank you!

I really like how you basically touch on the fact that Gerhman is finally done. The peacefulness.

It's simply incredible how music can move you to tears. It taps into the innermost confines of your heart and bypasses all the barriers that have been built up over a lifetime. Bravo 👏🏻

2:15 For me these chords feel like Walking over a field of Sunflowers at Dawn. Kind of poetic because Maria (The Person Gherman was in Love with) resides behind a Garden of Sunflower-Type-Flowers. The theme puts everything that this character went through and is destined to do in such a great perspective and Emotion its actually crazy. Bloodborne will be my forever favourite Game, and the music played a big Part in that.

Bloodborne's OST is one of the best in video game history, the DLC soundtrack being the best in my opinion. Nioh 2 has incredibly well orchestrated music as well you should react to, like "Tokichiro's theme" or Nobunaga's theme or "The Interim."

To me, Bloodborne is one of the greatest, if not the greatest, video game of all time. It's a masterpiece and a true work of art. I pity all the people who see video games just as a silly waste of time. Some games definitely are art, and within this world of art Bloodborne is the Mona Lisa. Truly the peak for From Software.

Kinda late for this one but here I am, great video as always! I’ve never played bloodborne but the music is great!

Nothing compares to fighting Gehrman and hearing that opera come on in the back. Knowing the lore and hearing that while fighting him will make you shed some tears

Your videos are dope to watch. Never thought id enjoy watching videos like these

Nunca pensei que veria um compositor brasileiro reagir a OST do Gehrman! Principalmente vc falando do sentimento da música q relembra um pouco da vida do Gehrman! Se for continuar nessa pegada de reacts de Soulsborne, recomendo as Ost de Laurence do Bloodborne, e a Ost do Gael de Dark souls 3! Mas de qualquer maneira continue com seus vídeos, são excelentes! Um abraço!

Wow that was an incredibly analysis for an incredible theme. Love it!

I absolutely love this analysis! I'd like to get into creating music, so videos like these are highly uplifting. The biggest thing that strikes me about this song is that for me at least, it it sounds almost like a lullaby. And when the choir kicks in, it's like the song itself, while limping through the buildups and falls, is trying to usher or urge the listener to sleep as though it's swinging/rocking to and from the positive-sounding chord in there. Combined with the melody starting in at around 5:16 it gives off the feel of somebody who is tired, and someone who is soothing a person to rest, then several someones later on doing the same. It's one of the most emotional songs in a game I've ever heard, and was enough to, despite me never having played Bloodborne, make me have to wipe my eyes.

Oh my God! Finally! Someone actually reacted to it. I've been waiting for someone for years - years, to react to this! Thank you Davi! Will rewatch again.

I can't help it, the music makes me cry. Even though I haven't played Bloodborne for once, it was so sad and I was gonna cry at the beginning even, but thankfully you cut and speak and I had some time to build myself up LOL. But at the ending... Even you've stopped speaking, and I, literally fell into tears. What a beautiful and sad song OMG

thx for reminding me why and how good this games soundtrack is!

I love your content man!

The song gives me goosebumps from the start, then the choir kicks in and i get goosebumps on my goosebumps

Amazing analysis! thanks for letting us see these songs in a new way. I would be really interested in Lady Maria of the Astral Clock Tower's song

Seeing you get lost in the music is so relatable, just so...I have no words for what is like it's just wow

Gerhman was always a tough boss for me, mostly because it's hard for me to see my TV through all my tears from the music and what the fight means lmao

The two voices thing had my jaw on the floor such an incredible breakdown of one of the greatest soundtracks in any game ever.

Laurence, The First Vicar is my personal favorite soundtrack from this game

Oi Davi. What a moving piece of music, it made me quite emotional. Thank you for your reaction video - very insightful, as always :)

Been loving the reactions as of late! Just a suggestion, I would love to watch a breakdown of the theme Slave Knight Gael from Dark Souls 3! Gael's theme really paints a picture of one who becomes that which he spent his life looking for.

What a beatiful OST! Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this one sir! Great content as always!

Thank you for covering this song, it's one of my favorites and oft gets ignored.

my description for this OST has always been "Hauntingly beautiful". its SO GOOD.

It's very interesting seeing someone just get the core of these characters and fights without any context beyond the music- your metaphor of Ludwig the Holy Blade being a deadly dance was incredibly apt. I'd love to see what you can glean from Lady Maria's theme at some point, if possible. Very glad I stumbled across your channel, keep up the good work.

Amazing soundtrack! Great video!

Man I can’t believe I haven’t stumbled across your channel earlier.

This is probably the best music reaction channel.

That last high pitch before the main chorus always gets me, such a beautiful build up