I got nothing to say here but that I'm checking out for the year! Hope everyone has a happy and safe New Year, thanks for 15k subs which I just hit a week or two ago, and I got more for ya in 2024. Have a good one
Something that helped me use the knuckle blaster a lot was rebinding it too z. Because it brings it a lot closer to other keys including punch making it less of a stretch to switch to.
Earthmover brain is only bad because it's ridiculously difficult. It should have a slight weakness against everything because it's the one weak spot of the earthmover, AND IS FUCKING INFURIATING
I think part of the reason it feels like a whole act is because, in Dante’s Inferno, the Violence layer is made up of 3 sub-layers. So when people are like "the Violence levels are each like their own layer!" it’s because they are
To be honest most colossal bosses are less about being actually challenging, but more about looking good like the corpse of minos having like 3 attacks and the leviatan being so slow that even a mountain could dodge
100% The same criticism of “the boss has a boring and easy strategy” could just as easily apply to Leviathan, if you simply dodge the telegraphed attacks and spam bullets at the thing. However you also have the option to approach the boss in a variety of ways, and it’s your choice if you pick the safe and less-rewarding one.
A lot of people just kinda forget they're playing Ultrakill when they get to the brain fight, don't know why. A single magent-saw and 2 parries and that thing is dead, and you also play as John "V1" Ultrakill who can just move faster than the lasers.
People assume the big imposing brain in the center of the arena is the boss, and you have to play by IT’S rules. When in reality, has V1 ever cared about rules?
Honestly yeah. I've seen multiple playthroughs of Violence at this point and they've all tried to skipping rope the lasers. And maybe you could get good at that but it doesn't look easy. I don't know why they didn't just try to orbit the brain and stay ahead of the lasers.
@@themockingdragon135 It's actually pretty easy really, there are only 3 levels and they're all clearly meant to be standing, jumping and slam jumping so it doesn't require much thought (especially since the boss dies extremely quickly)
I think there's a whole other layer of cool added to the Earthmover boss when you realize that it's heavily implied in the lore that V1 was designed _specifically_ to kill those things. For a layer that puts so much focus on your own violence and the violence caused by other machines it couldn't have had a better conclusion imo
"The first machines large enough to house a shield generator, these walking fortresses could only be made vulnerable from within, making them the frontline for smaller, more mobile machines" The way I interpreted this was that V1 was made to be deployed from the Earthmovers as a surgical strike sort of unit rather than the blunt instrument of the fortress
@@ethanstyant9704 that, and the fact that the guttertank lore mentions that each wave of robots was made to counter the last wave, and the earthmovers were the last wave of robots pushed out before the great war ended. V1 was in prototyping when the war ended, heavily implying that he was made to counter earthmovers, and there would've been *ARMIES* of V1s had the model gotten out of prototyping.
@@ethanstyant9704 I imagine V1's would be deployed to an Earthmover from either an aircraft or a cannon of some sort, potentially launched from an Earthmover to another through the kind of shells we have Guttermen and such launched at us? They would also probably be used as protectors of Earthmovers from other V1's and similar machines.
"Violence is really the layer that asks do you know how to switch fists" is so damn accurate lol. parrying and knuckleblastering are your two strongest tools on this layer. I really really wish we could bind knuckblaster to a button itself like we can the whiplash though, it sounds like a horse is galloping across my keyboard when I play this layer. I'd even accept it as a minor assist at this point.
@@soccpuppet4638 Not really, while I use parries on F, if you're used to the keyboard you are not limited on that regard until and unless the keys are really far apart
I always wanted a ultrakill boss that genuinely went for the 3d bullet hell so I really liked the brain, and how you can’t just dash through the lasers.
The Brain had a very neat concept. I think the only change I would make to the lasers would be to make the focus not be going through a specific gap, but rather evenly spacing the lasers and making the player weave through whichever hole is closest.
@@jimboanimations4041 tbh, I've seen multiple fight the Earthmover's brain at this point. And one thing I've noticed is that they all tried to skipping rope the lasers initially and kept doing so despite dying over and over. I can imagine after enough time practising you'd be able to do it nearly flawlessly, but it surprised me that that's what they all did instead of attempting to run around the boss and stay ahead of the lasers (which is what I did).
@@themockingdragon135 Running around the lasers is what I attempted as well. I think skip-roping does make the fight a *bit* more interesting, but it feels a bit clunky and restrictive. Even the Minos Hand fight felt like a more fun puzzle.
@@jimboanimations4041i found the repetitiveness of the lasers fun. Trying to perfect your movement to the restricted area was my favorite part, as in other parts of the game it never really mattered where you were at every given point. Don’t get me wrong, positional advantage is always something you need but unless you’re being dogpiled by a bunch of enemies all at once you can just easily get out of it. The lasers of the brain practically require you to do a specific thing for a specific time and I could not be happier with that. Especially since you need to know game mechanics to more accurately get through the lasers anyway. I see a lot of people go through the one high laser gap by jumping and dashing, but jumping after sliding gives you a lower jump which fits perfectly into the gap. TL;DR the lasers reward players with knowing their game mechanics by restricting movement (and also keeping it fun)
@@pancakesareawesome3121 I just never saw it that way, tbh. I play Ultrakill because I love how it keeps things *open* and lets me find multiple ways to deal with threats. Even in Ultrakill's most restrictive situations previously, it was up to the player to figure out how they kill the enemy. The brain fight on the other hand restricts dodging pretty much exclusively to moving through the lasers and parrying a projectile. Sometimes idols pop up which force you to move around the map to get them (which makes it harder to continue to dodge the lasers in their intended pattern), and the only way to avoid this issue is by simply DPS racing the boss so fast that the fight is over near immediately. Killing the boss the intended way feels cheap, irritating and counter-intuitive. Killing it the efficient way feels unrewarding, easy and unengaging. I like the premise of the boss, but the Brain feels as if it goes against what makes Ultrakill so fun to me to begin with.
Honestly, Violence is an extremely well-made layer, if Hakita ever goes back to the older levels to remaster them (Which he probably wouldn't and shouldn't because first levels should be simple) Ultrakill would be an absolute masterpiece if it isn't already.
I would love to see ACT 1 receive a remaster, though the actual gameplay could be kept mostly the same. I would just love to see better textures, updated tracks, more detailed maps, ect. Lust in particular could have its levels given more distinct looks, given they feel awfully samey when compared to the rest of Hell.
100%, id love to see a remaster of act 1. i dont want the level layout to change or any of the gameplay, but just polish some things and bring it all up to standard with modern ultrakill
@@grease887 Agreed. Just some touch-ups, bug fixes and improved cutscenes would be lovely. It would also be cool to see the act 1 and prelude tracks be remastered.
the brain becomes less of a main fight and more of a piece of a great level if you sawtrap it, it goes faster and it feels more like the defense system fight in it’s briefness
To clarify what the Trees in 7-3 are: In Dante’s Inferno (what the layers of hell are based off of) Violence had 3 rings, Those Who harmed Objects (7-1), Those Who Harmed Others(7-2) and those who harmed… themselves (7-3). The trees are those who harmed themselves (if you catch my drift).
The way I see it, all of 7-4 is one big boss fight. And when you look at it that way, the brain fight is just one of many phases of it. If you can deal enough damage to it in a short amount of time, you can 1-cycle it and barely engage with the laser mechanic.
While there were a few complaints people had with the layer (mainly a couple enemies inside), the layer as a whole was a mind-blowing experience! I loved just how special each level felt, and how many surprises were stuffed into each level. 7-1 and 7-2 introduced a *ton* of new hazards, while 7-3 came with a unique gimmick and some extra-difficult challenges. 7-4 gave us more platforming (which ended up being pretty fun), and some unique foes! My only grievance was that it was all done and over for me in the span of 2 days, which left me once again yearning for more. I cannot wait for the new secret level and arsenal additions coming next!
I also finished everything in a couple days, but what this update really did for me was get me back into the game. Like 100 hours in the past two weeks back into the game
@@thelonelylump4015 I think it will likely be an Alt Shotgun or Rocket Launcher. A Railcannon Alt would indeed be really cool, but I really don't see how the could make it work in a way that competes with what the current one does, yet stays true to its point of existence.
@@toast1612 Custom levels are what got me into Ultrakill again, though this update unfortunately broke a lot of them. I am excited to see what else we will get now that Violence is out though!
@@jimboanimations4041I could see the alt railguns having "weird" effects, sort of like the screwdriver but more options, all tied to the railcannon cooldown. A mini black hole that eats projectiles? Maybe a temporary sentry gun with an ultrakill twist? A BFG?
I think comparatively eathmover's bossfight isnt as cool and sort of is just a dumbed down panopticon, however this is the first X-4 with other enemies other than the boss, the enemies, defense system, flooding and parkour all are there to test your fundamentals, this is reflected in the lore. Earthmover is more of a set piece you've been conidtioned to fight. We have to remember ultrakill is still in early access, the intended experience is to play through the layers then do P-ranks, secrets then the P levels. I think Earthmovers bossfight was to signal the flesh prisons later
I agree. It felt like a baby's first Flesh Prison. I can totally understand being disappointed by the Earthmover fight. It's fairly easy, however, in my eyes, the "boss" of the level is the level itself, and the Earthmover brain is one of it's many segments. The brain boss is just a cog in a clock. It's a damn good clock, so I see no reason to hate a single cog.
@@theluckduck548i feels more like a reward for doing the stage Maybe I'm just bad but this stage felt long AF(while still being fun) so it was nice to just relax and nailgun the hell out of the brain
I think its just the same effect Wrath and Heresy update had, everyone was expecting something really hard after Minos Prime and, well, Ferryman, Leviathan and Gabriel arent really hard but they are great campaign bosses after all!
@@nocwed4831 Yeah, but it wouldn't make any sense to have a main "campaign" boss be harder than/as hard as the secret prime bosses, except maybe the final one in some way. A person doing their first playthrough wouldn't have the same set of skills to deal with it as someone who has P-ranked entire acts of the game, which usually requires a lot of practice and replaying that isn't required for just going through and beating the levels as someone who just got it on a Steam sale might be.
You made the brain fight extraordinarily harder on yourself by trying to move against the lasers consistently, and also not approaching the cylinder in the middle for healing (you also "move faster" when closer to it because it takes you less distance when you're closer to the center of the circle). You're kind of supposed to be able to stomp it, relatively speaking, even if it does a surprising amount of damage.
17:28 SPEAKING OF REFERENCES: the "Bull Of Hell" OST is probably a reference to the experimental/drone band "Bull Of Heaven" that hakita likes a lot + reviewed like EVERY piece of their discography "Do Robots Dream Of Eternal Sleep?" is also a reference to "Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?" book by Philip K. Dick on which by the way "Blade Runner" movie was based
i think earthmover might just be my favorite boss in the entire game, not only because of how much of a spectacle it is, but also because of its lore significance. the earthmover's terminal entry states that it the last great war eventually devolved into humanity creating stronger and stronger machines specifically designed to overpower each other, and that the earthmover was the final machine to have been mass-produced for the war. v1's terminal entry states that it was originally made for the war, but never reached mass production. _the earthmover fight is literally the entire purpose of v1's existence._
The brain is not supposed to be the centerpiece to 7-4, it's supposed to be a stepping stone towards the end of the level. Unlike p-2 there is not a level and then a difficult boss, but a boss that is part of the level. I feel like the whole layer was very innovative and the only gripe that I have is the fact that the layer is a bit too varied
7:30 Violece is the layer that taught me to just use everything to the point I wasn't even pulling off the actual good combos, had to figure then out again so I could get enough style to actually P-rank 7-4
The thing i thought was funniest was him not realizing that he can just move right and/or use the idol stands as cover from the lasers during the fight
Honestly I think the brain is meant to be quickly killed (as a stationary enemy), just another set piece in the great level, especially it makes sense considering V1 was made to kill this thing it better be damn good at finishing the job
With several new machines, this layer was also an absolute lore-dump about humanity and the Final War. Like we now know that the Final War was WW1 that turned into hundreds year conflict with new and new machines made to counter previous ones, and that it ended not because of some divine revelation or discovery of hell or whatever, but because the latest and yet uncountered weapon - the Earthmovers wandering the scorched ruins of Earth after 200 years of war - relied on solar power as well as blood and once the conflict ended up completely darkening the skies Matrix-style but unintentional, Earthmovers could no longer move and with this sudden pause the remnants of humanity just looked around and gave up on this stupid war. Plus I like the idea that since "every new machine was made to counter the previous one" and since Earthmovers were the last adopted war machine, the prototype V1 was made to counter them. Simce Earthmovers are shielded from the outside, a V1 model could be mobile enough to inflitrate the interior, fight past the security and take out the Earthmover from the inside, and it's active blood absorption plating is perfectly suited for solo missions behind enemy lines.
i think moving with the lasers is the point; considering the style system encourages constant movement, with the breaks being a chance to recover without penalty if you can be on the ball after being caught out.
In my opinion I think the climax isn’t in the actual arena with the EarthMovers heart, but it’s after that when it’s about to blow up and you have just over a minute to kill enemies and escape. The boss fight wasn’t the heart it was the entirety of the EarthMover, escaping it was the climax.
7-4 is actually crazy amounts of fun to me, despite struggling with the shielded brain and lasers section very much at the start. Once I realized I can actually move WITH the lasers while doing damage combos, the whole fight dynamic changed. Standing still and jumping through the lasers drags the fight to a halt, while sliding and hopping alongside them and spamming the core with gunfire is just absurdly fun in my opinion because it really makes you hold your breath when you get it low, then remember you only have a minute to get the hell out of there again. I feel as though Violence levels as a whole can sometimes take too long due to their vast size but the pacing in 7-4 was really the icing on the cake for me when you focus on utilizing speed as a mechanic because it makes the level feel rigorous and brutally fast-paced again, and just as chaotic as the all-out enemy-on-enemy warfare in 7-2 and 7-3. This is all to say though that it really requires re-trying levels over and over again to figure out what tactics work- but that's basically the spirit of the game. Nobody opens up Ultrakill and plays a level one single time and then quits again. Overall I am obsessed with layer 7 and i really hope you can grow to love the core fight too! There's so much there to play around with :) Anyway this was such a fun watch, great video!!! Off I go to play the layer again and work on my P-ranks for it :33
The spinning lasers specifically in 7-4 feel like they need a significant rework. Two of them are positioned at heights that are incredibly awkward to reach when jumping (one is slightly too low so you jump too high, the other is slightly too high so you always jump too low), and one of them doesn't require anything. The "envelopes" you need to be in to avoid them are just totally whack, I think the gaps for some of the more awkward ones need to be widened by a laser and I'm satisfied with it.
Really enjoyed the criticisms you gave here, because I, too, absolutely LOVE this layer - it's my favorite layer as of right now - but I think the main two critiques you brought up were really important and were on my mind as well. I did also miss the cohesiveness of arena layouts in older levels, but as you said, it is also fitting to an extent considering Violence's theme of chaos and war. As much as I love and adore 7-4, yeah, the brain is definitely a bit of a letdown. I'd been theorizing there to be an idle boss that attacks with the environment (definitely wasn't expecting Violence to do it tho lmao) but I can't say it was as well executed as it could have. As you said, I don't think it's something that outright taints the level, I think it'll be something to look back on as the game improves in its next developments. Overall, great layer and great video
I actually took some advice from thattravguy on rebinding the fist swap to one of the thumb buttons on my mouse. It helps IMMENSELY with the new enemies and the changes made to the old ones to make the knuckleblaster more viable
The "One of you fuckers is gonna come alive" and they all do, and the terror in your eyes reminds me of the clip from hollowknight where some guy said "What? are we going to fight the sun". With obvious sarcasm, and then the "sun" unfurls, you both have the same terror
Hey man just wanted to let you know I checked out Godspeed You! Black Emperor because you mentioned it so happily. That album is transcendental it's so good. Thanks!
I spent so long stuck on one of the levels because I had completely missed the fact you could break the gutterman's shield with a shockwave.... I felt so stupid
Honestly agree with tou about the brain lol. Its a bit weird, considering how good the security system fight was, but tbh idk how youd go about fixing it. Maybe remove some lazers, but make them come from different directions? Idk. Anyways, great video!
when i first played through layer 7 the mannequin crawl jumpscare scared me more than most horror games did i knew that it was coming but thought it'd be farther in the level
I totally agree with you. The brain bossfight was certainly an easy one, without actually attempting to beat it as intended which was a big letdown but the rest of the layer? Nahhh Hakita and his team cooked. 🔥🔥🔥
i personally dont think the final boss of the last layer was bad. mainly cause i really like how its all connected with the theme. even tho from the gameplay perspective, its less enjoyable. i mean, you already destroyed the defense mechanism of the earth mover. so that makes sense technically. the fact that there was any fight in the brain at all was a plus.
You can literally beat the brain of Earthmover in 3 seconds. 4 coin charge alt pistol, 1 overheat of nails, electric railcannon, and shotguns. It doesn't even get to bring out the idols.
I'm 99% sure the Earthmover brain is very much inspired by the first boss of Metroid Prime 1 This layer gave me metroidvania vibes all throughout the layer due to how much you backtrack to certain rooms in each level
Honestly, I still think that King Minos is fucking amazing, despite just how much of a punching bag he becomes once you get a hang of it. The sheer wesome factor from parrying his fist is the same as Raiden having a sword clutch with a Metal Gear. It just never gets old.
23:42 I also thought the exact same thing and beat the earthmover brain only by parring the projectile for some reason. Only realised that I could just shoot it when I saw a speedrun later.
also, random fun fact, if you are close enough to the first bull when he spawns in and runs into the next room, the maurice at the end of the room straight up will NOT respawn, pretty sure it's an oversight, but I thought it was pretty funny
I learned a lot from this layer. One being that my mic when I scream dislikes it (mainly from the Mannequins) and how Hakita is able to consistently pull on the emotional strings of the audience. Ultrakill (as stated in the Steam Page) is inspired from Dante’s Inferno and 7-3 specifically is meant to punish those who have taken their own lives. In late August, I lost my adopted brother to suicide (this ties into it, I promise). I didn’t know much about Dante’s Inferno aside from what Ultrakill showed. I then started doing a little bit of digging (mainly watching Wendigoon’s video on it) and discovered what 7-3 was roughly going to show us. We got the teaser for 7-3 on Twitter just before Haloween this year. Part of me knew Hakita was going to tug on those emotional strings in more ways than one. Then the update dropped. When I loaded into 7-3 before stepping out the elevator I wanted to keep my talking to a minimum if all possible. I even went as far as tossing a coin near the base of those trees to say, “May you find peace once again, fallen soul”. Violence (or Ultrakill in general) can convey different emotions with many different things. From the dialogue of the characters, to the environmental storytelling. Ultrakill can master that, and I’m excited for whatever else Hakita cooks and how this story comes to an end.
I view the earthmover brain as a non-boss so I can view 7-4 as some sort of mission impossible sequence or something like that where you get in and get out fairly smoothly
fun fact: The first level of this layer "7-1 Garden Of The Forking Paths" is based on an Argentine novel made by a famous argentine writer named Jorge Luis Borges "El Jardin De Cenderos Que Se Difurcan" is the original name in spanish lmao PD: ñ
quick tip for killing benjamin (the brain) use the freezeframe rockets and shoot as many as you can before the timer runs out, then use the nailgun overheat, 3 coins, and an electric railgun shot (it just does a lot of damage which would make it easier to kill in a shorter time)
Reading the Terminal Entries for the earthmover and the V models, (as many comments say) it is implied that V1 was created to specifically eliminate Earthmovers maybe the fact that, when you use all of your abilities, the earthmover is a complete and utter pushover, could be an intentional decision given it is your purpose. Or it is just a below average *part* of a boss for the INCREDIBLY high standard this game set for its bosses previously. Even though i personally find the fight against the brain very fun, it is clear not many show the same experience.
random thing i noticed on the current patch: when mannequins are on the walls or ceiling, they count as "in the air" for the purposes of rocket explosions. do with this as you will. also I agree with your 7-3 recap point. It feels like the point of Violence is that it is *chaotic as hell* and strips you down to just bare instinct at times. And with the Earthmover fight. Personally I just spun with the lasers. why dodge through them when you can just follow along with them, you can move plenty fast enough. fun fact, going by the lore it's highly likely that V1 was specifically designed to counter the Earthmover.
24:59 Its possible to kill it faster than it can even spawn the first round of idols Just a couple saws and shotgun parries do huge damage to it, combining it with parrying its normal projectile back, it goes down very very fast
I wish the earthmover brain bossfight was more bullet hell and less like the column thing from ghostrunner. Idk, for ultrakill it just didn't seem all that bombastic, especially when put up against everything else we saw. I honestly thought we would've been zipping around the boss like gilgamesh in dmc5, fighting it as we dodge around its own body, but the brain battle just didn't feel right. Maybe it's personal taste or getting my hopes up, but after things like the corpse of minos, it seemed unimpressive. I still loved the level design though, just the boss fell flat to me.
Please don't remind me about the column thing from ghostrunner... actually the worst boss I've played against in any game in the past few years. Unrewarding and often felt like "oops, you got unlucky, better learn all the laser patterns by heart! :)" On the point of the brain, I think it's just because it's not the main focus of the level (compared to corpse of king minos which is the only enemy in the level)
Lets not bring up Gilgamesh as a good thing alright. I agree the brain laser boss is not very good, Id go as far as to say its the first meh/bad boss in the game. The way it challenges you is just not interesting and incentivizes just killing it asap so you dont have to engage with the mechanics, even outside of p-ranking. I dont know how to change it to make it more interesting. Id rather just drop the laser/brain thing altogether.
I started playing when this update came out and when I first got to it. it scared the ever-living s*** out of me. Personally I hate things that only move when you don't look at them and that alone was enough for me to be terrified of them but they also skitter.
