Interestingly, this is one of the few moments in DkS2's troubled development cycle where a major change was very justified. The Giants were narratively supposed to be fellow victims of Nashandra's machinations, not monsters, even admitted by Drummond so making their faces into a more unique and mysterious hole made them more interesting while also preventing them from having monster faces that would make it difficult to emphasize or pity them in their ultimate fates. It also made them a lot more memorable for having such a bizarrely alien feature, rather then turning them into generic big bruiser monsters.
I was thinking of contrary to that. Them looking threatening will make it ever more surprising that they used to be friends with humans and are actually victims.
The way I see it, the hole is what happens when a giant goes hollow It makes the most sense with the tree thing they got going on, and it explains why they look different from the giants in Dark Souls 1 and 3
@@hairlessgrizzly559 DS2 Giants are implied to be something entirely different from DS1 and DS3 giants though Yhorm throws that into question. They seem to be an artificially race.
I'm happy they chose the model with holes in their faces. Yes, at first I thought "why is there an ass hole on their face?" you think. But then you realize that this was a smart design choice. The DS2 Giants are not the same race as the Giants in the first and last games. DS2 Giants are made up of Archtrees and gray crags, just like Everlasting Dragons. When they die, they turn into trees. They have holes instead of faces. This creates a kind of unknown, mystery, fear and curiosity in the person who sees them. It feels quite foreign yet familiar. Unique. I think the Giants have been this way from the very beginning. The giants with faces were early models designed solely for gaming. Lore-Wise I don't think it has any value. Also, the Giants were supposed to be much bigger in size. Like giant trees, but much larger. Giants at least 2-3 times bigger than Giant Lord were designed, but they were never used in the final game. Yet they are still embedded in the game. Giants can also breathe poison and fire from the holes in their faces. I think some giants worshiped the Witch of Izalith or Filianore. The giants seem like a peaceful people who worship the forces of nature. They live on a continent of their own, but they have a Kingdom of their own. This shows that they are civilized. I think Yhorm's ancestor was the Giant Lord, we can think that over time or due to events that occurred Yhorm evolved to have a face. Also, another interesting similarity between Giants and Everlasting Dragons: We know Dragons can somehow counter Abbys. Because they don't actually live, they are technically immortal. For example, Midir was consuming Abbys the entire time. Now look at Throne of Want. The throne room is completely covered in Abbys. The First Flame is completely surrounded by Darkness. However, with the Giant's kinship, we can revive the golems and move towards the throne through them. Golems (created from the souls of Giants) can walk in the Abbys. Giant Spirits have a deep darkness inside and are surrounded by a bright light. Giants are really interesting.
Despair is one of the earliest trailer of actual gameplay if I recall correctly. Though I don't know if I agree that the image in the trailer is definitely that of a giant. It looks more like a first pass at the Old Iron King or Smelter Demon to me, with those giant horns coming out the side of its head and what may be fire hovering above it.
Not only this, zullie has a video showing a model that could easily be the bigger giant on the entire game. The video is called "Dark Souls II was very ambitious"
I instantly thought "shark jaw" when I saw the one with the gaping maw. I guess we know where the idea for the shark giants in Bloodborne's Fishing Hamlet came from.
I definitely think they arrived at a much more striking design for the giants. the simpler single hole in the head fit well with them feeling inhuman, and showing an inner darkness. Plus the tree motifs as well. Just a lot better than generic big trolls or big guys.
In cut content There was supposed to be another giant boss named Captain Giant and most likely the giant who has horns is Captain Giant and his weapon is still there and you get it from the soul of the last giant boss
So if we agree that these Giants are basically living Trees, then the holes for faces begin to make sense. For one, trees don't have faces, the Scarcrows neither the Demonic Foliage in DS1 appeared to have faces. There is a condition that can befall a tree called "hollowing," that's when a breakage of bark or a tree limb on the exterior goes so deep into the tree that it penetrates the sapwood. The heartwood then gets attacked by fungus or insects which enter through the hole (called a Cavity) and consume the heartwood at the interior of the tree. Though the innermost rings are gone, it can continue to live. If you look up pictures of Tree Cavities you will see they much resemble the hole faces of the DS2 giants.
I like them. The final design was a smart choice. Although they could of reused the model, tweaked it a bit and have the enemy become a new enemy. Maybe as a Orge or a Half Man Half Giant hybrid made by Aldia.
I do see what they may have been going for with the Giants original fishlike faces, though the execution is terrible. My theory is that they were originally a take on Fomorians, a race of giants from Irish Myth that have ties to the ocean, sometimes even depicted as rising from it. They have rivals known as the Tuatha Dé, an opposing race of holy beings that bested the Fomorians in battle. As for how this ties to the game or it's development, I don't know. I never played DS2 (I'm working on it), but I'm glad they changed the designs as they are super Fromsoft-esque.
They kinda looked like Orcs before, I wonder how more "standard" races would look like in the fromsoftware style, I'm especially curious to see what the elves would look like
Elves kinda already exist, they are similar to those elevated to Gwyn's kin by accepting a shard of his Lordsoul to become his knights, recruited by the Battle of Stoicism. Like the Lord's blades, Silver Knights, and black knights. Long Life, not human, and the silver knights are deadly accurate with a bow,.
I'm seeing now, the fromsoft take on the Tolkien orc. Made of twisted elf flesh; the distinct features of a humanoid body exist, but are warped and rearranged in a tortured jigsaw of flesh and bone. Skulls made of a pelvis, shoulders made of thighs, spines made of longbones, and longbones articulated like spines. Fingers made of ribs, with long claws that distinctly resemble elongated ears, and ribs made out of moving spires of meta carpels and tarsals, knees that are hands clutching the lower limb. The vestiges of elven grace and agility linger, but, the movements are bizarre and unnatural, as if the body is trying to contort to its original form, to make the motions, irrespective of its current configuration.
I wouldn't really say DS2 represents what the fromsoftware style is as a whole. DS2 is very unique looking, to it's detriment. With DS1+DS3 and bloodborne and either version of Demon's souls and Elden Ring, you can tell the same art people worked on them. DS2 had almost an entirely different team. Like Yhorm in DS3 still has no face, but the rest of him looks way better than any giant in DS2, and the golems in Elden Ring are pretty much littler versions of Yhorm
Yeah, i can see why they went with the Hole Faces. The typical Troll/Orc face makes them less mysterious and turns them from "Oh, god, what is that?!" to "Oh, its just a giant orc"
I really like the hole-face, gives these Giants so much more intrigue, I wish they reused that 4 armed Giant with a hole in the face because that’s a cool model.
1) FROM being lazy leaving around assets that they though "nobody will look at with unlocked camera..." 2) DS2 was originally a separate game, so when it was decided it's going to be the DS franchise after all, then the giants got their hollow faces. 3) Miyazaki clearly wanted it to be this way - all the giants in DS1 have their faces covered, and it's still the same with DS3's Yhorm. It was 100% a conscious design.
They look fucking ridiculous! Even the final versions. Super roided out with a hole for a face. DS2's art team was pretty good at doing environments, but I can't think of a single character model in the game that looks good and looks like it fits in the Souls universe. Not even the cat.
DS2 is different in art style, I agree. The character and environment designs are awesome. It was trying to be its own thing, but the reigns were pulled in on it. I'm not a fan of the hole face either, but it makes sense in the story. Vendrick took something from them, maybe they should've looked like Hollows from Bleach. A hole in their chest might have looked cooler.
Interestingly, this is one of the few moments in DkS2's troubled development cycle where a major change was very justified. The Giants were narratively supposed to be fellow victims of Nashandra's machinations, not monsters, even admitted by Drummond so making their faces into a more unique and mysterious hole made them more interesting while also preventing them from having monster faces that would make it difficult to emphasize or pity them in their ultimate fates. It also made them a lot more memorable for having such a bizarrely alien feature, rather then turning them into generic big bruiser monsters.
I was thinking of contrary to that. Them looking threatening will make it ever more surprising that they used to be friends with humans and are actually victims.
I personally prefer the hole over the more generic troll/monster face. I just think they should look more like wood.
They could be made of petrified wood
The way I see it, the hole is what happens when a giant goes hollow
It makes the most sense with the tree thing they got going on, and it explains why they look different from the giants in Dark Souls 1 and 3
@@hairlessgrizzly559 DS2 Giants are implied to be something entirely different from DS1 and DS3 giants though Yhorm throws that into question. They seem to be an artificially race.
they aren't supposed to be wood, they "become" wood, through the cycle of life.
Totally
They made the correct choice in the end. The hole faces are so much more memorable.
I'm happy they chose the model with holes in their faces. Yes, at first I thought "why is there an ass hole on their face?" you think. But then you realize that this was a smart design choice. The DS2 Giants are not the same race as the Giants in the first and last games. DS2 Giants are made up of Archtrees and gray crags, just like Everlasting Dragons. When they die, they turn into trees. They have holes instead of faces. This creates a kind of unknown, mystery, fear and curiosity in the person who sees them. It feels quite foreign yet familiar. Unique. I think the Giants have been this way from the very beginning. The giants with faces were early models designed solely for gaming. Lore-Wise I don't think it has any value. Also, the Giants were supposed to be much bigger in size. Like giant trees, but much larger. Giants at least 2-3 times bigger than Giant Lord were designed, but they were never used in the final game. Yet they are still embedded in the game.
Giants can also breathe poison and fire from the holes in their faces. I think some giants worshiped the Witch of Izalith or Filianore. The giants seem like a peaceful people who worship the forces of nature. They live on a continent of their own, but they have a Kingdom of their own. This shows that they are civilized. I think Yhorm's ancestor was the Giant Lord, we can think that over time or due to events that occurred Yhorm evolved to have a face.
Also, another interesting similarity between Giants and Everlasting Dragons: We know Dragons can somehow counter Abbys. Because they don't actually live, they are technically immortal. For example, Midir was consuming Abbys the entire time. Now look at Throne of Want. The throne room is completely covered in Abbys. The First Flame is completely surrounded by Darkness. However, with the Giant's kinship, we can revive the golems and move towards the throne through them. Golems (created from the souls of Giants) can walk in the Abbys. Giant Spirits have a deep darkness inside and are surrounded by a bright light. Giants are really interesting.
Despair is one of the earliest trailer of actual gameplay if I recall correctly. Though I don't know if I agree that the image in the trailer is definitely that of a giant. It looks more like a first pass at the Old Iron King or Smelter Demon to me, with those giant horns coming out the side of its head and what may be fire hovering above it.
I'd say the wide shoulders and skin color, as well as resemblance to other alpha Giants' faces make it highly possible it was a Giant.
That was captain giant a cut boss with four arms
Not only this, zullie has a video showing a model that could easily be the bigger giant on the entire game. The video is called "Dark Souls II was very ambitious"
Thanks! Watched this video many months ago, forgot its name and wasn't able to find it until today.
thers something aquatic about them to me, like they're deep sea fish. It would make sense with them coming from the sea.
_when angler fish hit the gym_
I instantly thought "shark jaw" when I saw the one with the gaping maw. I guess we know where the idea for the shark giants in Bloodborne's Fishing Hamlet came from.
I definitely think they arrived at a much more striking design for the giants. the simpler single hole in the head fit well with them feeling inhuman, and showing an inner darkness. Plus the tree motifs as well.
Just a lot better than generic big trolls or big guys.
In cut content There was supposed to be another giant boss named Captain Giant and most likely the giant who has horns is Captain Giant and his weapon is still there and you get it from the soul of the last giant boss
Where’d you get info on captain giant?
1:59
“Desert Sorceress”
“Desert Sorceress Set”
“Desert Sorceress Kiss”
So if we agree that these Giants are basically living Trees, then the holes for faces begin to make sense. For one, trees don't have faces, the Scarcrows neither the Demonic Foliage in DS1 appeared to have faces. There is a condition that can befall a tree called "hollowing," that's when a breakage of bark or a tree limb on the exterior goes so deep into the tree that it penetrates the sapwood. The heartwood then gets attacked by fungus or insects which enter through the hole (called a Cavity) and consume the heartwood at the interior of the tree. Though the innermost rings are gone, it can continue to live. If you look up pictures of Tree Cavities you will see they much resemble the hole faces of the DS2 giants.
The face seems generic. Glad they went with the hole. That was an enemy design that stood out.
I like them. The final design was a smart choice. Although they could of reused the model, tweaked it a bit and have the enemy become a new enemy. Maybe as a Orge or a Half Man Half Giant hybrid made by Aldia.
59 seconds in he's like "Do you have games on your phone"
>:O
I do see what they may have been going for with the Giants original fishlike faces, though the execution is terrible. My theory is that they were originally a take on Fomorians, a race of giants from Irish Myth that have ties to the ocean, sometimes even depicted as rising from it. They have rivals known as the Tuatha Dé, an opposing race of holy beings that bested the Fomorians in battle.
As for how this ties to the game or it's development, I don't know. I never played DS2 (I'm working on it), but I'm glad they changed the designs as they are super Fromsoft-esque.
They kinda looked like Orcs before, I wonder how more "standard" races would look like in the fromsoftware style, I'm especially curious to see what the elves would look like
We got the onyx dudes in elden ring. P much elves
Elves kinda already exist, they are similar to those elevated to Gwyn's kin by accepting a shard of his Lordsoul to become his knights, recruited by the Battle of Stoicism. Like the Lord's blades, Silver Knights, and black knights. Long Life, not human, and the silver knights are deadly accurate with a bow,.
I'm seeing now, the fromsoft take on the Tolkien orc.
Made of twisted elf flesh; the distinct features of a humanoid body exist, but are warped and rearranged in a tortured jigsaw of flesh and bone.
Skulls made of a pelvis, shoulders made of thighs, spines made of longbones, and longbones articulated like spines. Fingers made of ribs, with long claws that distinctly resemble elongated ears, and ribs made out of moving spires of meta carpels and tarsals, knees that are hands clutching the lower limb.
The vestiges of elven grace and agility linger, but, the movements are bizarre and unnatural, as if the body is trying to contort to its original form, to make the motions, irrespective of its current configuration.
I wouldn't really say DS2 represents what the fromsoftware style is as a whole. DS2 is very unique looking, to it's detriment. With DS1+DS3 and bloodborne and either version of Demon's souls and Elden Ring, you can tell the same art people worked on them. DS2 had almost an entirely different team. Like Yhorm in DS3 still has no face, but the rest of him looks way better than any giant in DS2, and the golems in Elden Ring are pretty much littler versions of Yhorm
@@aprinnyonbreak1290 If fromsoft made LOTR, then the humans would be the twisted versions of elves, and the orcs would be the good guys
I changed my mind. Nashandra was completely right
Yeah, i can see why they went with the Hole Faces. The typical Troll/Orc face makes them less mysterious and turns them from "Oh, god, what is that?!" to "Oh, its just a giant orc"
Damn
Ds 2 is the best game in series
And find out new details is so cool
I really like the hole-face, gives these Giants so much more intrigue, I wish they reused that 4 armed Giant with a hole in the face because that’s a cool model.
They are the giants that didn’t meet Optimus Prime.
Dark souls 2 giants seem more golem/elemental in nature compared to lets say the fire giants of elden ring or the giants in dark souls 1/3
It’s funny one of the early giants can still be found in the floor in one of the memories, an oversight very likely.
I would like to see that four armed giant in game
Despair trailer giant looks like a buffalo monster
The giant looks like hes taking a selfie in the thumbnail
The face of the giant looked like a shark face to me, I don't know why.
100 shrugs, 100 shoulder presses, and 100 oil injections every day for three years.
peak souls 2
My favorite ds2 giant is the really big one
Honestly this could have been very cool. It almost has a very Biblical tone to it.
The giants we encounter are also hollowed, just google Hollow Tree.
That last one looks like Radahn.
my theory is
nobody said the dark sign had to be on the chest and that theirs is on the head and they got big hollow head face
Don't stick your Things Betwixt in that
They look like they belong to Arlong Park
they really look like knaarens from rayman 3
They looked more like kna'reens from Rayman 3
Im scared....... HOLD ME!!!!!!!!
Need some AC6 model showcases ngl….
I personally believe the DS2 giants are the progenitors to the giants from 1 and 3 kinda like how the pigmes are primordial humans.
Unbased
The goldish model looks like a goron lol
DARUMA LOL
They look like trolls
0:59 >:O
1) FROM being lazy leaving around assets that they though "nobody will look at with unlocked camera..."
2) DS2 was originally a separate game, so when it was decided it's going to be the DS franchise after all, then the giants got their hollow faces.
3) Miyazaki clearly wanted it to be this way - all the giants in DS1 have their faces covered, and it's still the same with DS3's Yhorm. It was 100% a conscious design.
Stop spreading misinformation,ds2 was always meant to be a dark souls game.
:o
Weird.
Hideous. What else can I say?
I still don't understand why they changed the faces to the hole
1st... ah~ feels nice. I wasn't the 1st in a long time. 😏😆
Goddamn do I hate this game
Why?
@@SunWarriorSolaire Yes why?
So don't watch videos related to this game.
1:31 seems chill to me
They look fucking ridiculous! Even the final versions. Super roided out with a hole for a face. DS2's art team was pretty good at doing environments, but I can't think of a single character model in the game that looks good and looks like it fits in the Souls universe. Not even the cat.
"Not even the cat"
Opinion Discarded.
DS2 is different in art style, I agree. The character and environment designs are awesome. It was trying to be its own thing, but the reigns were pulled in on it. I'm not a fan of the hole face either, but it makes sense in the story. Vendrick took something from them, maybe they should've looked like Hollows from Bleach. A hole in their chest might have looked cooler.