“The summoning circle allowed you to summon even players who didn’t own the DLC.” Imagine getting summoned by another player, and ending up in Horse@&#% Valley before you knew the area existed.
Imagine if other game devs were this awesome and cared about the players. You don't even have to pay for this DLC and you can still play it for free if someone summons you. Now that is just one of many reasons why FromSoftware is the best game dev on the planet.
The idea of being able to summon players who didn't own the DLC, allowing them to earn limited access to DLC items, was a respectable concept, it's just too bad about the areas they decided to let you summon them into.
It's more that they designed the areas TO summon people. They're clearly unbalanced and unfun. If you summon other players it's still bad, but it's a bit better
I dunno, second dlc's coop area is pretty bad too, made worse by the fact that it leads to the reskin of the main game's one of the most broken bosses.
This area feels like it was made in direct response to people asking: "What could possible be worse than a seemingly unfinished area, wreathed in an eye melting orange glow, surrounded by lava and dragon asses, with a terrible, gimmicky, final boss?"
It's just one long-ass journey through a nightmare, and each time you fail you have to restart. Considering how you can barely see in front of you, it would not have killed them to make the whole thing a circle up until the chasm bridge, where you could then perhaps have used an invisible road to unlock a shortcut. It would still be nasty and challenging but at least you'd not have to redo the entire damn area to retry a boss.
What's funny / messed up is that I suspect Frozen Outskirts isn't even unfinished. I suspect it's just cruel by design. Ever felt like the game or the devs hate you? Well the Frozen Outskirts is the embodiment of that. Its designed to mess with you.
@@justanotheridiot8906 if i should guess, it would be demon ruins from dark souls 1, (but at least it feels finished and actually good, but the battle agains bed of chaos is terrible...)
Fun fact: That damn ruins never covered me from Kirin, they kept attacking me while i was in the ruins, and kept spawning and spawning That's how in a run i almost got 9 kirins running round the area trying to kill me.ihatethismap.
I discovered that they keep spawning on timer, so not only you had to kill those who were in front of you, you had to do it effectively and fast otherwise you'll get assfuggd
@@bljet4388 oh and there resistance to magic. I barely tickled them with crystal soul spear. it also made it worse when they did th massive nerfs to sorcery because the pvp community cried like a bunch of babies, so the casting time became agonizing unless you shoved every point into adaptability and intelligence almost exclusively.
@oohanalligator I got a much better solution by just never going there. its not worth it. a shitty shield that restores health and a shitty greatsword that has the moveset of a longsword and a claymore. honestly I rather not deal with that bullshit at all.
"Call Saulden for all your NPC needs and he'll be with you in a jiff, Yes you heard right, Saulden will help you with any DLC area in your snazzy new video game! (that's incredible!!) That's right so Call in today at 077-Saulden and get an exclusive 50% off just for today (Holy cow!!), again that's 077-Saulden, Hope to see you soon good Citizens of Drangleic."
If you didn't have to travel so dang far every time you wanted to fight the boss. This area might have actually been one of the more loved areas of the game. Imagine PVP in a snowstorm
@@bimmer8602 yeah, what I heard here is that it's the fact you have only ONE bonfire and have to try to run from Kirin all the way from the start of the level if you die that's insane. Why the devs are seemingly expecting this to be one and done is strange to me.
@@marhawkman303 I think this was the point in their development careers where they just wanted to troll people still. That or they seriously thought 2 player areas were actually a good idea.
Blindness ✅ No bonfires ✅ Relentless Enemies ✅ Respawning Enemies ✅ Safe houses that enemies can walk into ✅ Reused boss but just a gank version ✅ Longest boss run back in the history of mankind ✅ Honestly if the area just had a bonfire at the end barely anybody would care about it, it’s just the fact that it’s so bad and you have to do it again and again and again.
@oohanalligator Except the distance between safehouses is too long even with great timing to not at least encounter 1 or even 2 kirin on your way who will then proceed to gank you in the heal house. Also yeah they despawn eventually after you nonstop grind them for an hour because you end up having kill them all 45 times in total before they despawn.
@@pootislord3112 don't bother despawning them, takes too long, it's much faster to just learn how to kill them before the next blizzard and then make a run for it to the next ruin, doing it this way you only encounter two of these the whole way.
Better to skip the ruins altogether. Aim for the sun and hug the right boundary until you reach the chasm. The *only* worthwhile piece of loot in the area happens to conveniently be placed on the ridge of the chasm anyway. No need to go exploring and fighting 20+ reindeer when you can fight 3-5 and reach the boss in a couple minutes without having to use more than an Estus or two.
The horses constantly popping out of the whited out blizzard was annoying at times but it was also super intense and even in such an open area felt claustrophobic! The lack of any real variety or complex buildings really makes it a drag tho.
I never played far enough in DS2 to see this so this was extremely bizarre to watch. Between the music, the barren low-poly void filled with breathing but lifeless zombies, and the edibles this felt like a guided tour of someone else's dream. "Oh, here's a Sauldron. Oh, and here's another Sauldron. You know, a surprising number of people are Sauldron. Anyways..."
@@retro_tcb That's because they are not finished. The whole dreamy feel of Ds2 isn't intentional, it's a direct result of the player having to fill by himself the gaps in the unfinished world. Ds2 fans will say it's great and unique, and they would be right (though uniqueness doesn't warrant quality). People that don't have the same appeal for the game will see it for what it is.
I like this area on paper, but it was executed rather poorly. Should've had a bonfire at the end or something. I always thought, maybe it should've been the starting area for the Ivory King DLC. Finding a whole city to explore at the end of this level would've been a much better reward than the double Aava reskin we got
I only ever played through this area once and it was a huge emotional rollercoaster, ran out of heals before the boss duo but somehow managed to to victory.
The two bosses aren't actually difficult I beat them in 3 tries, it's getting to them that's the damn problem. Fuck the Kirin fighting three at a time is literally the worst and not knowing where the entrance is at half the time or having to heal as soon as you enter the boss fight is a pain in the ass.
It's funny how Elyeum Loyce, Brume Tower and Shulva are some of the best areas in the game and Frigid Outskirts, Iron Passage and Cave of the Dead are some of the worst.
I will never understand how in the world anyone working on this game thought this was a good idea. A giant snowy area that you can barely see in, filled with Kirin who seemingly spawn out of nowhere suddenly, with only three locations to give you a rest here (and the last one has an Ice Knight because screw you), all leading to an optional boss fight. And what is that boss again? Is it something that’s difficult but fair like Dark Lurker? Is it something that has significant lore implications like King Vendrick? Is it an awesome duel with a swordsman like Sir Alonne? Nope. It’s a reskin of Ava from the start of the DLC. Only this time there’s two of them and they have the ability to heal themselves while taking half damage. And there’s not an OP weapon or a cool item after the boss, it’s just the boss. What an immense disappointment…
I think the devs of the games have always had it in their core philosophy that frustrating level design can increase enjoyment because it creates an obstacle to overcome- which is what most AAA games lack, being super easy and handholding. However, where the frustration stems from is 🗝️, nobody likes to fail again and again when it's outside of their control. I love fighting O/S or Midir knowing I'll probably get my ass kicked, but that it's also a huge obstacle to overcome and I'll feel like a true warrior while sitting stoned in my room.
Still, theres something about this area I will always remember fondly. Theres just something so satisfying about overcoming this area through sheer determination.
I ended taking a few days killing those damned reindeer in the different zones so they wouldn’t respawn. Boss fight is cake compared to trying to get there in one piece. Not a fan.
Man, I remember this “fun” area. Seems kind of neat on paper. A wasteland plagued by a never ending blizzard, filled with mystic creatures who attack adventurers… it’s too bad that the execution of the idea made this whole area seem like a literal chore instead. And if you die to Lud and Zallen, tough stuff, you gotta tread the entire map again.
The worst part about this area for me was when I decided to try exploring it instead of following the path you are meant to I learned my lesson that completionism is not always a good attribute
Lake of Rot is only bad the first time. Area is small, out of the way, straight forward, and an easy to obtain low faith requirement spell trivializes the status effect. It really isn't that bad. Snowfield however, is just pure cancer and your reward for beating it is only more cancer.
I do absolutely love the vibes of it. Like... just endless snow and horizon. The emptiness but also knowing that there are Things out there. I've always liked desolation and this map has it.
I can actually see that. My favorit area in the series is the large swamp in "Demon's Souls" where this is the exact case: Huge, you can barely see anything and you're just completely lost in it. I like this idea with the snow storm on paper, but unfortunatelly, I think it's really poorly executed, at least for my taste. Strangely enough, I probably would have prefered it, if it had been larger and more to discover. But the fact that it just becomes this linear slog makes it just really dull and annoying for me.
I was stunned too. Even though it was very rage-inducing, but it was something very novel, atmospheric and captivating too. You had to actually learn cues to navigate. Definitely a thing to remember and a positive one for that matter. In general this crown DLC with its winter theme was the most amazing aesthetically.
To this day, Lud and Zallen are the only bosses in the Souls series that I have yet to beat. I have no intention of ever dealing with this area again either.
For me it’s Laurence from bloodborne. Legit forgot he existed until ng+ but I had no intention of playing the game through again. Maybe I’ll fight him in my bl4 run
I honestly enjoyed fighting Kirin. The only time I struggled was MR Kirin, but that was because my armor was bad and I got cornered by a Barioth halfway through. Maybe it's worse in other MH games but World's Kirin was enjoyable
I thought Kirin was one of the more bearable monsters, all you do is run around dodging lightning and smack its face a few times lol. BUT, if you've ever gone against a GOLD CROWN KIRIN it's THE WORST, it's so big you can BARELY hit its stupid face.
You know what? I played every From Software game with the exception of sekiro and i completed every single one of them (right now i'm finishing elden ring). But the only boss i never could fight are those damn cats, for that fucking zone, after 2 hours of not knowing where to go and dying to those shitty ice zebras i said "i'm not having fun, and this is optional so fuck it" and never played it again. So thanks for showing me what i was missing, is something i always wanted to know without having to suffer it again
Funnily enough this was my favorite co-op assistance area because it took like 5 seconds for someone to summon me. And I liked the "deadly storm" idea and even the respawning horse, the worst thing about it is the boss which is just two tigers with ridiculous damage.
The fact that if you die to the boss you have to run for almost 5min to get to the boss again is also one of the reason that everyone despite this area
@@luisfilipe2747 same problem with sir alonne only that is worse since you have time limit and (i think) have to place a sign inside for your friend to summon you
Honestly I love this map due to how desolate and foreboding it is. You usually see these kinds of areas as deserts with sandstorms in games, so the snowfield feels unique. I think it would have been a much better experience to keep the horse spawns though to wandering “out of range” as a punishment.
I’m looking forward to the lore video that will explain how Saulden and all of his duplicates were actually an attempt by a long dead lord to recreate the Chosen Undead.
You have a knack for showing the seen and the unseen. Your videos are like a story of your own within the game. You expose the game while still appreciating it. Interesting indeed.
I've been in this area a few times, and I've never encountered either of those human NPCs that were shown here. It's scary to know that they were in there with me the whole time.
I like this area so much... *aesthetically.* I love tromping through the snow with a bunch of summons, going from ruin to ruin. But these ice unicorn ki-rin things really do just ruin it so much. I still try to beat it often but it feels like so much wasted time. Shame, because wintery DLCs are basically an automatic favorite for me.
@@deragafer5928 Honestly Iceborne didn't really do it for me on the wintry vibes. Wonderful expansion in every sense of the word, but it just didn't tickle the snow area itch for me. Not enough blizzard, really. Frozen Islands in Rise has the same issue really. It's just the desert area but white and less vertical
Me when finally making it to the boss: "phew, finally made it. Now, where can I find that bonfire. After all that, there has to be one around here......right?"
Eleum Loyce is one of the greatest areas in the series, a massive sprawling enviorments with that is full of secrets, short cuts, and a feeling of interconnected ness. Frigid Outskirts was made by a psychopathic sadistic goblin creature fromsoft had locked up in their basement that broke out one day and made this location. The fact they’re both in the same DLC is still mind boggling to this day.
It’s not supposed to be interesting or pretty though, it’s supposed to be bleak and boring, a place that shows what happened to criminals or hollows when they were captured, you were sent to the frozen tundra to wander lost in a blizzard for all eternity, or until you were buried under the snow. Personally I like the outskirts, the long trek gives you an idea about how fucked you really were if you were exiled here.
Yes, it's the same Goblin that comes out from the basement to INSIST that ALL Fromsoft games MUST have a poison swamp area. All of them, even when it doesn't make sense.
@@ronaldbernik7357 How is anyone supposed to know that though? Plus I feel like regardless of the lore of the area its not going to make a difference after you've died for the thousandth time not being able to figure out where in the fuck to go with no ability to leave
I remember doing this on a late Sunday evening. Took me 2 or 3 hours of straight running through this hell and until 1 am or so until I killed the boss. The boss itself was fairly okay and only needed 3 or 4 attempts in total but holy shit, I was so close to destroying my controller and quitting because it was so infuriating. Without getting interrupted by anything it literally takes you 10 minutes to just get to the boss without any shortcuts or bonfires inbetween. How this garbage even made it to the final game is beyond me.
The concept was really cool, but it was way too long and without a bonfire. I almost always died from running out of Estus, and the time it takes just to run back to where you were is infuriating. Dying at the boss fight knowing it'll take at least 10 minutes to get back (if you make it in one try) is just not fun. Maybe it'd be worth it for a new boss, but it was basically a reskin.
Could you show us all White and Red phantoms with ring of living equipped? It is rather hard to appreciate npc costumes due to appearance of the phantom.
+1 for this, would love to see the local inhabitants fashion. Not sure how much of a pain it'd be though, sotfs has a bazillion npc friends & invaders tbh lol.
@@wallacesousuke1433 so cap. ds3 sekiro and bloodborne have some of the best enemy and boss designs ive ever seen in gaming. and gameplay wise they are wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy better like its not even a contest. monster hunter is good in its own way but gameplay and enemy design from is the best. but thats my opinion
@@Oknahidwin Yeah, that's YOUR biased opinion, at least you acknowledge that :) Can't compare human(oid) enemies since MH has none of that, but dragon/beast-like enemies considered, It's not even fair to compare, MH is leagues above anything From creates. Kalaamet, Sihn, Midir look like monsters from some RPG/mmo compared to jaw-dropping monsters such as Valstrax, Misutsune, Deviljho, Lunastra, Xenojiva, Shara Ishvalda, and Iceborne's Fatalis.. They look so epic, intimidating, moveset is cool and trick, animations are second to none, their roars are badass and unique, and fighting them with each weapon feels like an entirely different game each, whereas in Souls games weapon classes have nearly the same moveset.. Also there's no nuance, depth to combat, just mash R1, dodge (and dodges are way too safe in From games, tons of i-frames), and that's it.
@@hammer768 nope, I provided evidence and elaborated on my response where the kiddo that replied to me just threw in baseless assertions.. Just be a man and admit that Souls games are leagues below Monster Hunter
I believe that they should have placed magic crystals in each ruin that lessens the blizzard for the reminder of the playthrough. Would have even used 3 pharros lock stones for them if they implemented them behind pharros walls.
@@garybrown2039 Indeed, enemy variety that increases in difficulty upon reaching each ruin could've perhaps also benefitted the area, instead of only spawning the same enemy all the times.
This was honestly the hardest thing I’ve ever done in the Dark Souls trilogy. Pretty sure I spent about 6-8 hours in this areas before I finally cleared the boss. I had the area down really good and was able to make it to the boss fairly “quickly” as far as this frozen hell hole goes. Nameless King was tough and I had a rough time of it in his area as well, but this definitely challenged me more.
@@fatalishuntinghorn I hear people complain about Shrine of Amana, but don't recall it being that bad. Then again I had a tank build, so I probably just put on a huge shield with huge magic defense or something.
Twilight Princess is one of my all-time favorite video games and I just wanted to say that it means a lot to me hearing its soundtrack in these videos. Puts a smile on my face every time. Still holding out hope that it'll come to the Switch some day!
I haven't fully played the HD version. But the GameCube version has my money over the Wii version. Do to a readjustment to the mechanics to better suit the default pointer option on items, you get items like the Gale Boomerang not working correctly for how it was designed to be implemented. I also as a side note, love playing as the Cuccos.
Thank you for this video. I hated this area so much thanks to those Kirin. It is the only area in the entirety of the Soulsborne series, I never completed.
@@RahatAzim998 yeah but it could've used more environmental detail to compensate. An outpost here, a frozen half-eaten corpse left behind by the kings pets there, dead invading soldiers from a forgotten age scattered about, etc
The reason why Saulden has given up and sits by the "total wordwide deaths" monument is because you killed him at every location already and he's sick of it Lol
@@abaddon130 The Crestfallen Warrior is kind of a staple since then. Also, DS2 reminds me a lot of the original Demon's Souls. So I wouldn't be surprised if they used him as a model or a nod to Demon's Souls.
@@LuizAlexPhoenix it seems as Crestfallen reencarnates in every Souls game, Crestfallen Warrior at DeS, Crestfallen at DS1, Saulden at DS2, but I'm not sure about DS3 tho.
This area is absolutely phenomenal and has such a great feel. I think if it didnt have a boss or like an easier boss with a really cool weapon soul, this area may have been one of the most beloved in the game. Eh, at least they are willing to take risks. As it stands, I just summon and enjoy the cool snowy wasteland :3
the aesthetic and atmosphere of this area is really fantastic, and i like the idea of the snowstorm on paper. Shame you pretty much need a partner to make it enjoyable in the slightest
I have never used summons to beat a boss but after several thousands runs of this annoying place I gave in. Only boss in the entire FromSoft library that I never beat by myself.
I never died to them nor the Killins but that is because I always go there overleveled while full of healing items and AoE spells/pyromancies. It's more of a slog than a challenge at that point.
I just wish they added a bonfire that would be closer to the bridge atleast. Luckily, I was able to slay those twin kitties so I didn't have to run for 3 mins + everytime 😭
Welcome to Dark Souls series. EVERY SINGLE DARK SOULS GAMe has some idiotic runback(s) for no reason other than to waste players time. Most souls-likes even copy this for some dumb reason Thank god for Salt and Sanctuary and it's Shrine mechanic. The amount of annoying runback is absolutely minimal
@@raven75257 Its to increase the stakes of the bossfight. It seems to be worse at the beginning of the games though. Its almost as if the devs are testing the player's will at first, and later on they decide to just stop annoying the player.
@@monkeman5895 Fair enough about the 4 Kings, I didn't think the Twins were bad, but then again I beat them in a few tries. Lud/Zallen are located in an area that is entirely poorly conceived.
I love this level. Of all the hostile regions you travel through in the game, this is one of the bleakest, most ruthless places, and the blizzard totally fits that feel. I also like that you're racing against the clock as more enemies spawn, it adds to the feel of fighting against the elements, and it's not just some castle that you can clear out. I totally understand though why other people don't like it and I wish it had been tweaked and implemented a bit better. Maybe if it were a little less empty of terrain features...
@@frogery yeah its the same area, except done right. Though I do still wish there would have been a new unique enemy to ambush you in the snow. Very surprised they didn't put those snow white birds everywhere 🤣
How could people hate such an area that clearly took such dedication to craft? That couldn't have taken any less than an hour to put together. A masterpiece is what I see.
Easy, because if you die fighting the tigers, you have to worry (again) of not making it to the boss due to the fucking horses that not only charge at you, but they can fly and summon lightning, i hate this map more than i hate myself, and i'm a LoL player
Dude I did this on my first ever playthrough of the game with killing every boss and this one was the most painful one to do, I think mostly all the dlc bosses were a pain for me especially like Sir Alonne and Fume knight.
@@fabi3790 I'd agree on the way to reach those bosses were fucking painful but I hate the smelter boss though sir alonne was a fine but a struggling one to fight especially if you fuck up.
Wouldn't mind if From did more areas as wide and open as the Outskirts but with more to explore around. It was kind of exciting exploring this area during the first day of the DLC's release during the brief two seconds I wasn't being annoyed, and before I realised there wasn't actually much to see.
I recall trying this area enough times that I found out highly specific that avoided most if not all Kirin. It was a tedious process, but better than getting body slammed and using up all healing on the way to the boss.
It’s cool seeing this area without the blizzard. I think this would have been a more fun area (with a little less horror) if there was more in there to explore. More ruins and stuff, maybe with a way to dispel the blizzard or make it a little less…. Obscuring.
I like the final idea a lot, actually. I’m sure there’s a better example in the games but the one that pops into my head is how you can illuminate the Lost Sinner fight. Or I guess also just the parts when you can remove environmental hazards like turning off the Ballista in DS3.
Dark Souls 2 had this mechanic of enemies not respawning after you killed them like 10 or 15 times. So in the end, that's what I did. I killed all the Kirin 15 times so that I could finally walk up to the boss arena with full health and flasks because otherwise it was impossible to beat.
Looking back on this map all these years later it's no surprise everyone hated this. It's got all the makings of bad ideas one after another, and yet I can't help but look back on this place so fondly after all these years. This place had some of the best PVP moments for me during DS2s most active years, and I helped Gwyn knows how many people get through this place! 😄
If only there were just an end to the horses but i did like one thing about the blizzard itself made it feel unique its been mostly caves, castles, and towers, lava places. Only place with weather i suppose fog kinda counts but not as epic.
Honestly, Eleum Loyce isn't too bad and it's pretty cool when you're on the hunt for the Loyce Knights. The Ivory King boss fight is also really cool, albeit a little frustrating with the continually spawning Charred Loyce Knights. Avoid the Frigid Outskirts. You can have the Eleum Loyce experience and NOT enter the outskirts. I raged for a good while before I did research, found out EVERYONE hates it and thinks it's the worst and even mentioned the "boss soul weapon" of the 2 tigers sucks. So yeah. I'm avoiding that
Getting chased down by all those horseys gave me enough motivation to big-brain - I discovered that there are specific areas that the horses can spawn in, and there are two spawns per area and they CAN be depleted by 12x klling em just like the rest of DS2. So I took Repair sorcery and a Fire-infused Great Club and two-shot them with two-handing. Actually, I fire-infused TWO Great Clubs and got them BOTH to 10+ just to get thru this area :P And THEN the boss which I could not dodge enough to live thru, so I got every single NPC Summon to help me.
@@TheStraightestWhitest i really want to know because in battle, at least a few times, I SWEAR I have come close to her face for like half a second and there’s kind of a face under it, if only a little bit deformed, but that may just be my own imagination
Thankfully one of the best ways to completely trivialize the ice stallions is to just use a +10 dark infused old knight's hammer. R2s will pancake them making them super easy kills, if it's done optimally you'll reach the fog wall while only killing 2 stallions in less than 4 minutes and this feat can be done at sl1 as well so basically any build can do it as long as they have at least 6 str and the equipment to boost it further
With the amount of knowledge you have and everything you do with these areas I feel like you should have a strategy guide made. It would be way better than the ones that get released anymore
They aren't even that tough. Its that broken charge move they have. It must have over 14 active frames or smth because its impossible to roll thru unless you have max i frames.
In DS2, all enemies respawn 14 times, unless you're using the Covenant of Champions. The Kirin are treated as ONE enemy, so once 15 total spawn, you wont have to fight anymore. You can summon a bunch of NPCs and just bait out the Kirin and kill them all and not have to worry about them again.
i cheesed that shit the only time i went there, i was doing a shield only run. Turns the only shield powerstance can not only block that atack but stagger the deer and 2 shot them.
Ah yes. Frigid Outskirts. Traversing a blizzard ridden tundra inhabited by the breed of reindeer Santa disowned while trying not to lose my sanity. It was quite the experience. It was also the very last bosses I beat in my original DS2 playthrough before moving on to NG+. I procrastinated the hell out of completing that area. This section frustrated me so much that I almost said fuck it and gave up on completing it. My completionist mentality wouldn't let me rest if I didn't though. So I begrudgingly returned to that icebound hellscape to face my fate and the fearsome fury of those frigid frozen fuckers who ferociously felled me with their fervent use of firing fucking lightning bolts at my face every opportunity they got. Channeled Rusty for a moment there. 😂
1:09 I wish I could see the hitbox of this charge attack. I've beaten this area many many times, but I am still unable to dodge this attack with any confidence or consistency. I feel as if it lingers and it has a lot of tracking.
Same. On ng Is not that much of a deal, getting hit once in a while by the charge, but on ng+ AND ng+2 for the first Time in Ds2, I decided to use a shield just to survive the charge.
Cant blame you, both have the 2nd best aesthetics in the whole souls series, only next to ALL OF DEMON SOULS. (And a tiny portion of the original like ash lake and anor londo) also fuck ds3, it has all the makings of a generic cod release, similar weapons with very little variety between them, adds 2 new mechanics. Makes it more polished, adds new game modes, has the good stuff require you to pay extra. And also has a unbalanced meta and glitches/techs that make it unfun for casual players.
