I actually love the idea that the layer of hell that Violent souls go to is incredibly calm. What could be more tormenting to someone who indulges in violence than an environment that actively forbids it from happening?
@@TheCuriousFan1in another part of the seventh circle, there’s a paradise full of centaurs that shoot souls trying to leave a river of blood, so maybe that’s related to “the world looks red” Also since the Minotaur guards the seventh circle in Dante’s inferno, I assume we’ll also fight him (maybe as a midpoint boss or the final boss depending on if there’s a V-3 or not)
don’t see anyone mentioning how a lot of the tiles here can be found in the dev museum. THE DEV MUSEUM WAS FORESHADOWING ALL ALONG this is truly a breaking kill moment, bravo hakita
I’m about to make The World Look Brown if Hakita amps up the horror in this level. 1 month later, upon viewing the newest preview, I can confirm: *I poopie pant.*
@@FungalFury I'm imagining that the weeping angel enemies (I'm already calling them weepers) are environmental hazards that disable your weapons when you either attack them, or get near them. That, or they cause hard damage.
Seeing a level in Ultrakill like this really changes the feeling. From a quick paced intense music slaughter to- This. Really shows how empty hell is becoming.
Hell is really slowly becoming empty By the point we are in 6-2 limbo and lust layers are completely destroyed and have no life left in them (atleast according to gabriel), it's likely by the time we get to treachery layers like gluttony and greed might follow the same fate as limbo and lust did
But V1 has not reached the final three layers so maybe it is supposed to look this empty or maybe something happened beforehand. because if it was originally full of souls and now it is empty even though V1 has not touched this layer yet, then what did?
Seeing as its theme is instead a palace of some sorts I imagine that the layer was transformed there by a king It also somewhat reminds me of the white palace from Hollow Knight, might just be that its all white + its a palace idk
THIS MAN GIVING DIFFERENT EMOTIONS EACH LAYERS Prelude "wow im cool robot!" Limbo "i love the atmosphere!" Lust "why is it so sad" Gluttony "stinky" Greed "god damn the sun" Wrath "its sad again" Heresy "damn!!! But a bit sad" Violence "uncomfortable"
for me it was more Prelude: alright this is pretty sick Limbo: what Lust: where are my boobies Gluttony: woah im inside a man Greed: holy shit the british are canon Wrath: mmmm water Heresy: angry air conditioner Violence: ive been having nightmares for the past week fucking help me
prelude:"oh yea fast paced doom" limbo:"it's beautiful and calming,but something's off." lust:"oh yea retro funky town but waa sad lore" gluttony:"hey look we are inside a man's testicles" greed:"the game said this is hell,not africa." wrath:"sad but rad water" heresy:"sheesh cool red and level designs but tragic oof" violence:"this is worser than the last time i took the limbo pills"
Damn, not even two minutes of footage and this is already my favourite circle. I love how this is essentially an extreme version of limbo, increasing the uncanniness from "just not sitting right" to borderline psychological torture. Makes more sense once you consider the fact "white room torture" exists IRL
@@steponkusceponas4085 honestly i'd be interested in trying out a sensory deprivation pool kinda thing, but i can easily tell why it could be used for torture
Even with the community theorizing 24/7 and coming up with lots of ideas of what future layers could look like Hakita still manages to surprise us, well, they surprised me at least.
not gonna lie, i kinda figured he'd go for a subversive theme with violence. it's the only thing left to do creatively at this point if you want to surprise people with level themes.
my brain has always connected terms like "violence" and "hatred" as this calm monochromatic feelings, not necessarily frenzied or loud but rather deadly in how it hides their intentions this good
I adore how at 0:15 you can't see anything besidds the wall and the entrance. No pillars, no windows. This makes this building, whatever it is, look like it's stretching miles upon miles in every direction. The paranormal and non-Euclidean part of hell really starts to kick in.
By this point, you have 15+ ways of blowing things up and have beaten demons, giants, and angels while drinking their blood... And Hakita still manages to take away your sense of security with just a few touches
I think it would be scary if no matter what you do, your attack will only make the "ting" sound effect. And if they're hostile, the only thing you can do is RUN.
@@cheemsburbger9943 I mean you ARE right we'll probably be able to kill them via a new weapon or something, I just think it would be spooky scary that's all
@@UserTheSecond hakita has confirmed the rocket launcher was the final weapon for your arsenal. unless you're talking about a new weapon variant that you pick up from the ground or a new arm (which will likely be in 7-4 as to continue the trend of only getting a new arm in the last level of the first layer) it would not be possible.
I know it's not a horror game, but good lord does Ultrakill know how and when to create an uncomfortable and terrifying atmosphere. God Bless, Hakita. You wacky madman you.
I'm gonna confess something. I play a lot of horror games and watch horror stuff so Something Wicked didn't really make me uncomfortable (I mean it was still awesome, not a bad thing). however the scariest thing was when I accidentally punched KITR in the interactive credits and it started to follow me.... I ran around the map trying to hide from it because I thought it wanted revenge 🥺 this lasted about 14 minutes...
I wouldnt be surprised if this level onwards doesnt throw out the basic husk anymore but instead a fairly harder mob type enemy to reflect that you're so deep in hell its sending elite basic mobs at you from here onwards
I'm pretty sure we won't see the basic enemies we've had for awhile, which were pretty much food since act 1. (Filth, Husk, ETC) It's probably gonna be composed of much, much stronger enemies instead.
@@2001CuisinartToasterr You can practically dodge a Comically large Horde of Filth by simpily pressing S And D (or S and W) can't really blame hakita for not Doing including filth. unless in burtal and UKMD They predict your movement
Theorizing here, pardon me if you wish to not hear some ramblings. I'm theorizing that all of these enemies we see here in this chapter are those of the violence layer who committed violence against self. In Dante's Inferno, those who have committed the ultimate form of violence against themselves are sentenced to the violence layer and are to serve punishment as their bodies becoming twisted, thorned trees, unable to move and unable to speak unless harm comes to them in the layer. While there are some contradictions, there are a solid bit of striking similarities between this preview and what is written in Inferno. The level name is titled "Garden of Forking Paths," which warrants an association between the garden of this layer and the gardens we know. While it is not always so, gardens do usually have trees within them, a grand garden having nigh a small forest's worth of them. The design of the enemies is quite peculiar as well. We see lots of blood from the joints of these enemies, most of all the neck, with a large amount in the center of the torso. Their forms are twisted such that their poses are close to being that of human, but never quite being able to reach it. Whilst the symbolism behind the inversed face is still possibly some mystery, we can still observe the symbolism behind the locations of the blood and the twisted posing. The blood is likely in relation to where most fatal self-violent actions occur, especially in older times, where a common form of such involved a sword causing fatal damage to the stomach region. The blood around the neck is also in relation to one of the most common ways of fatal self-violence in modern day. The posing being twisted and malformed as they are is likely inspired by Inferno, as the trees of the self-violent are described as being gnarled, which implies them to be revolting in some capacity. The ability for these enemies to be able to move is quite different than what is written in Inferno, however. The inspiration for their ability to move without seen may be either that of the Weeping Angels from Doctor Who, or SCP-173 from the SCP Foundation. It is unknown if these beings will be able to converse or talk, although if that is the case, it is likely only after V1 causes some level of harm to them. If this is such, it would be quite interesting to look at what their audio would sound like. TL;DR: Uuuh yeah Dante's Inferno inspiration baybeee now if you'll excuse me I'm going to play Mario Paint in the violence layer
@@shrummajor114 the mannequins have armor that looks similar to hideous mass', wouldn't be surprised if it turned out they're invulnerable to explosions.
@@ShockInazuma probably semi-based on the dante's inferno interpretation wikipedia says The Eighth Circle is a large funnel of stone shaped like an amphitheatre around which run a series of ten deep, narrow, concentric ditches or trenches called bolge (singular: bolgia). probably just a bunch of bolge idk
In Dantes Inferno, Violence was divided into three circles; Violence towards self, violence towards others, and violence towards God. I take it from the trees, fog, and melancholy that this has more influence from Violence towards self
Imagine the lights go out after the music ends and you just hear: *Haaaaaa...* "Something wicked this way comes." And you just get jumpscared by him running up to you before disappearing.
Props to you Hakita. You managed to make me, the player controlling an indominable robot capable of the most batshit insane things in this game, to fear some goofy ass looking Build-Your-Own-Slenderman that jojo poses. Kudos.
imagine if hakita and PITR added non-euclidean geometry to this level? multiple rooms interscting yet existing seperately, rooms changing as you pass by, entire areas closing up as you exit without any sound to announce it. it would be so uncanny and cool at the same time
Technically all irl geometry is non-euclidean. As it is just geometry on a curved surface. What you are referring to is H.P Lovecraft non Euclidean geometry
"this is going ti be one if thise times where they make it seem like something will happen but in reality its not going to happen" *turns around* "i was sorely mistaken."
Forcing people who spent their lives expressing themselves primarily through anger and shouting to an existence in perfect stillness is a fairly clever punishment.
You know what would be really funny? That in the Violence layer killing is completely optional, also i love how more involved hell is becoming, like closing doors right in front of you and stuff, that's cool and i imagine that the book in the pedestal at 0:54 has some lore for P-3. Lil edit: thinking about the idea and the replies, maybe not the whole layer but like a challenge for 7-1, although you couldn't get p-rank doing the challenge. Also to give it a name, "finish the level without killing any enemy" or something like that
Yea, after listening to The World Looks Red I noticed, despite it's intencity it doesn't really feel like a combat sond. Maybe V1 is the only one who brings violence to the 7th circle
It's likely that they will try to goad you into combat, first by mocking you by doing the Weeping Angels thing and moving when not looking at them, then by generally being a nuisance by clogging hallways and the like, all to get you to attack once. If you do attack you get piled on. Violence begets violence. As something I noticed, before the door to the blue skull key closed there were none of these enemies in there, by the time you run to the alpha button and open the door, its filled, like they are waiting to start tormenting you. This layer is your layer, your punishment for all the violence committed. Can you do no harm, or will you leave the layer stained red?
Post release of violence completely blew my expectations out of the water and I'm awaiting eagerly for the next layers and prime sanctum. This is peak fps Hakita and team, don't stop.
"ie. Sure i could come up with whatever company made V1 and all the things leading up to its creation, but there’s nothing inherently interesting about any of that nor does it expand or explore the game’s themes or message, so i wont" -Hakita
@@ultrafun2227 Ah. Still an interesting thought. If I were in that situation it would fill me with boundless joy to see my baby tearing things up in hell.
Alright, list of things that piqued my interest upon watching this: -It's confirmed that Treachery will be the standard 2 levels like the last layer of the prior two acts. While this isn't a surprise to many people (including myself), there were a handful of people suggesting that Treachery could be a full length layer, but we now know that that won't be true. -While it was guessed that Violence would be themed around this idea of having nothing to distract you from violence from the music preview, it's now confirmed that that's' going to be the case (which looks cool as hell). Interestingly however, the marbled temple backdrop and the graveyard with tasteful tombstones could insinuate the existence of another Minos-esque character that viewed the punishment of Violence to be too cruel, attempting to mold something nice out of it. This could very possibly be the character that'll end up as the prime soul of the last prime sanctum, but I'm not gonna speculate on who that could be since that's a whole other can of worms that I don't have enough time to get into. -While it is almost definitely a product of overthinking, this level design-wise seems to be fairly similar to 1-1 with the classical architecture, open and "inviting" rooms, and somewhat maze-like layouts. Despite that though, this is likely unintended or not meant to be used as hard proof of anything. -The influence of Hell itself seems to be growing stronger as doors close in front of V1's face, skull podiums rise only upon V1's entry, and statues seem to be moved and posed when V1's attention is elsewhere, making Hell's taunting and games more and more prominent. -While I don't have much to say about the mannequins (the confirmed name of the statue-like enemies), I do think it's interesting that they appendages are comprised SOLELY of arms. Probably a literal metaphor for the violence committed by the hands of men or something like that. They also seem to be feminine in design, so the mindflayers won't be quite as lonely in that department. -We can see that there's a book, which further feeds into the possibility of this level introducing us to the final prime soul. While there are books that don't directly correlate with prime souls like the books in 1-4 and 5-2, the odds of it being unrelated seem pretty low to me. -The mannequin with the ferryman skull is intriguing, but probably isn't meant to mean anything deeper than being a neat interaction with a new enemy. -The final shot where all of the mannequins are surrounding V1 could imply one of two things to me. The mannequins are either a swarming type of enemy, something akin to the filth, but are much more threatening. The other potential option is that mannequins act as a horde of mostly non-living statues with a couple of actual threats hidden within kind of thing. -The music cuts out once V1 picks up the skull, and despite the final shot insinuating a possible altercation where The World Looks Red (TWLR), the opening of TWLR sounds much more like a reveal for a cool environment rather than an opening for a fight. This leads me to believe that the ending of this video with the mannequin crowd is simply meant to act as a scare rather than a fight. My guess is that once V1 walks past the crowd and places the skull on its podium, the door which the skull is meant for will open up to reveal the REAL deal with Violence, the true brutality of the layer. -As a final note that's more of a guess than an observation or theory, but this level seems as though it'll contain this layer's secret level entrance, it's just too perfect. -Alright, ACTUAL final note I'm adding in a couple days later. While I still don't think that the final mannequin room will be a combat encounter, it's VERY interesting that there's a checkpoint before you enter the room. What's up? Popping back in a couple of weeks after the fact to add in one more thought. While I'm unsure of where exactly he said it, Hakita has said that Violence will be focused more on the player's own violence rather than global violence. Other than explaining why the layout of the level has many segments that are reminiscent of prior levels, it could also hint at who the final boss of Violence will be. While not a super uncommon guess for the boss, the final boss being the original swordsmachine talked about in the terminals could simultaneously explain how we obtain the golden arm (since swordsmachine is yellow, duh), it would continue the trend of having a machine-based boss for the first layer of an act, and it would tie into the theme of the player's violence since we have a history of dealing with swordsmachine imposters. Plus, we know that V2 is FOR SURE dead and it's confirmed in lore that there was no V3, not leaving many options for machine bosses. Basically, original swordsmachine now has way more evidence and is most likely gonna be the final boss in 7-4.
Something I'd like to add to the whole "overthinking" part is that parts of this level seem as though they were taken from other levels. For example, the room with the alpha slab is very similar in design to the room straight ahead of 1-1's spawn (Red pedestal, right door is the path forward and only unlocks with the red skull). The T-junction hallway ending in the cross mural is quite similar to the 4-3 TRAITOR hallway (you can't go left and can only go right along with there being a design carved into the far wall).
@@Powerdestroyer The section where V1 has to climb the wall is also reminiscent of the room directly after the blue skull door in 2-3. It's definitely bizarre how many segments of 7-1 mirror prior levels.
The sheer amount of atmosphere and storytelling that is done with this games areas is incredible, and you still manage to blow it out of the water with every new layer
Just finished layer 7, the level design is flawless and the final boss is honestly one of the most fantastic moments in this game, keep up the great work man.
Huge weeping angel vibes from those bleeding mannequins. Love the concept of enemies that only move when you look away. I wonder what names these demons have.
the music cut and the end is incredible , it really spikes the tension for when you turn around and see them . i have a feeling that Act 3 is going to be one of the best updates this game ever got.
damn this looks good though, im already lost just watching this, everything constantly changing but always out of sight is such a powerful effect everything being such a harsh white is also really cool, such a distinct feeling and a huge contrast to everything up to now its going to be a while, but cant wait to get to play through this and the rest of what violence has in store in due time
I really like the contrast between white and calming architecture, and these really creepy statues, it's just magnificent. Also this soundtrack that gives you chills and eery feeling. Just as always, great job, Hakita.
It gives of a unique sense of violence. In the clean, calming, uncanny space, you have these messed up, bloodied statues that only act when you don't see them. It gives off a sense of unseen violence, which is often the worst kind.
They look quite feminine, which is odd because I thought most of Ultrakill's significant angels were male (Gabriel and the rightfully deceased Council of Heaven). Idk much about weeping angels tbh
AMAZINGLY well done Hakita. This went way beyond my expectations for 7-1. Can't wait to play it! Also a prediction I came up with: I feel like the mannequins won't move or attack you at all. Since it's the Violence layer, Hell would lock the door forcing you to kill all of the mannequins to make any progress going through the level, painting the walls red.
Looks sick, I wonder how those statues will work as enemies, hopefully we get a boss fight out of it like Cerberus. Edit: Oh hey 1.3k likes, more then I’ve ever gotten before, still not the most liked though! Keep going!
This feels like an odd combination of 4-3, 1-1 and 5-2 and I love it. The weeping-angel style enemies are absolutely terrifying, and it seems like the level will be a bit of a maze as well.
GREAT! Level looks so pristine. The beginning of the level reminded me that in dantes inferno, trees represented those who committed suicide and they were found near the heresey layer. Well, at least that's what i came up with instantly :)
If I recall correctly, harpies were a part of that punishment in Inferno. And the new enemies have feminine bodies, so it wouldn’t surprise me if they are called harpies (if Cerberus ain’t a three headed dog in this game, then Harpies don’t need to be bloody seagulls).
@@serraramayfield9230That is what the tweet called them, but I think that is because they look like mannequins. Hakita probably used it as a placeholder in order to keep spoilers to a minimum. The only way we will know for certain what they are called is when Violence drops or when Hakita makes a demo video about these enemies.
@@serraramayfield9230 I know. And now that I read the tweet a bit more, they might be called that. But as always, we don’t know for certain until we reach it ingame.
This reminds me of a dream that I had. It had similar-looking architecture but with a lot of mirrors both on the walls and on the roof, it was more baroesque than this map, and the major difference is that in some walls there was a statue with glowing red eyes, if you were to stare at it the statue would suck your soul out.
What i love is that the name "Garden of Forking Paths" comes from a book about a labyrinth that shows people inside their lives and what could've been. This definitely is going to be the section of the Violence Layer about the "Violence Against Oneself." This section is a long, unnavigable maze that shows the sinners their lives if they never killed themselves and if they never did such self destructive actions. Maybe the mannequins are sinners that forced themselves into those bodies to try and forge a new identity to redeem themselves, but the blood leaking out symbolizes that no matter what can be done now, it won't fix what was done. The song,"The World Looks White," and the overall aesthetic just has the feeling of being put into a psyche ward, just so much emptiness, to avoid future actions, and force the sinners to live with themselves over what they have done. When everything gets intense though, with "The World Looks Red," and the mannequins becoming hostile, maybe it's due to V1's very presence, something new, something with weapons, something not of Hell, are engaging in fights just to finally die again and to never suffer this eternal world of nothingness and no hope of forgiveness/redemption.
I love how you all come up with new twists for the already existing layers of Dante's inferno, like how in limbo the false paradise is constructed with technology (fake skyboxes and hologram water) or gluttony where the hot mud from The divine comedy is now replaced with gastric juice, fitting really well with the sin the layer represents, it really gives the game a unique look, straying away from the usual "hell is big lava lake full of demons" trope many games use.
I agree. The hell in ultrakill definitely feels very "mythological". Hell is usually just portrayed as an endless plain of lava and gore, as you said. I love that this version of hell is very complex and subvertive.
@@serraramayfield9230 I Imagine an iced wasteland, almost plain except for some ice formations o the distance, your vision limited by darkness and snow
Im in love with the tone shift between the acts. At first it feels like an action shooter where you feel super powerful then it slowly descends into depression and insanity. Reminding you that Hell is not only full of demons and husks, but tortured souls and the tormented.
@@bwalimniad My first instinct when I saw that crowd was "core eject + red railcannon" though given their hard-looking white husks, those things are probably gonna be completely immune to explosions
Weirdly enough, after hearing the soundtrack, I said that violence would be more of a silent whisper that it's always there, rather than a raging scream of horror and hate, and this level definitely complements that prediction, the manequins and the mausoleum aesthetic, radiates an utterly threatening and ominous aura, but never to the point of being overwhelming, just enough to make you realize that in the end, violence is the main reason we are here, all the damned souls are quietly raging and cursing their existence, but violence is utterly meaningless now, because everything is dead, they can curse and destroy as much as they want, but in the grand scheme of things, it is completely useless.
The moment i saw the word "garden" in the name i just instantanly understood the melancholy of the song and the level, if i remember correctly, in dante's inferno, there was the equivalent of a forest at the start of the 7th circle of hell, and each tree in that forest represented someone who, "commited die", idk if this will have anything to do with the violence layer since its only in the start but i am excited for it
@@maximeleninja4029so then the statues are the harpies that feed on them? Maybe that's the enemy type: "Harpy" It'll be like what Hakita did with Cerberus.
@@laitiermilkman4290 We might see a forest in 7-2 or 7-3 once we've seen more of Violence's true colors, from my understanding this level is themed around a cemetery, likely reflecting the consequences of violence and the guilt those who've inflicted it are forever forced to endure, may not seem to be too harsh of a punishment at first but even Limbo's was able to push some to the brink of madness, being more of a phycological one than a physical one. Violence also supposedly has a flaming desert within it, but I highly doubt that will make any appearance in Ultrakill since the entirety of Greed is already a desert.
The way The World Looks White plays really sells that it's just desolate and abandoned. Then once you enter, it's still desolate, but now you have the company of the weeping angels to keep you company
I had many ideas for what the Violence layer would look like, but I never thought of a mausoleum, perhaps representing those who died in violence? I can't wait to see what you have cooked up for this last act.
The game utilizes such beat moments in some cases. For an example 0-1: Just before picking up the revolver 1-2: When leaving the room with blue skull 4-3: Inside the 4 pillar room and inside the final area.
There's a book called "El jardin de senderos cambiantes" literally translated to "the garden of forking paths" by jorge luis borges who is a known writer in argentina (my nation) and i think the title may be inspired from the book, does it gonna be related with gameplay or lore?
i absolutely adore the contrast between what you'd expect and what this is like. like this layer is literally VIOLENCE, but it's all empty and barren (besides the statues). It'd be really powerful if enemies feared you instead of fought you at this point, as the player would question their morals at that point, ironically in the violence layer. might be a good time to turn on gore if you haven't, btw :))
I saw this somewhere else, but Violence in Inferno (and to an extent this layer) isn’t violence towards others, but to yourself (suicide) and nature. Which explains the bleak appearance.
@@TheAbyssalStormthere is a different variant of the violence layer for violence against "neighbors" and "god" but im pretty sure one of those is literally just greed so yeah
