Note: I covered the Nacken's Pond Demo of Bramble: The Mountain King on the channel previously (it's linked at the end of the video if you want to see it), but this new build features two totally new areas and a different giant monster to deal with - Skogsrå, The Mistress of the Forest. Also don't worry about it saying "Internal Dev Build" at the bottom of the screen. The devs sent me the key and said it was cool to share the gameplay footage. :)
Also, if you're interested in the folklore, here's a little info about the Skogsrå (The Mistress of the Forest) She appears in the form of a small, beautiful woman with a seemingly friendly temperament. She appears like a woman from the front but seen from behind she often has a tail and a hollow back or skin like tree bark. Those who are enticed into following her into the forest are never seen again. It was said that any human man who has intercourse with the Skogsrå becomes an introvert, as his soul has remained with her. If the seduced man is a hunter, he may be rewarded with good luck in the hunt, but should he be unfaithful to the Skogsrå, he will be punished with numerous accidents. He may put an end to a stormy night caused by her vengeance by firing a shot against her. Late folklore in Nyland, Finland describes silver bullets as effective means of killing a skogsrå.
@@howardmurphy8019 It sure is a horrible curse. Someone should make a game about an introvert who fights to become an extrovert. He goes from being morose and lonely at the beginning to happy and cheerful and full of liveliness at the end. I love happy endings.
@@howardmurphy8019 I think the idea is closer to "anti-social feral woodland hermit", since introvert has a bit of a different context in their culture.
@@howardmurphy8019 Yeah, as V3RTIGO222 said, bear in mind this is a myth from a time and biome where "struck out on your own" in the best case scenario meant: "We have no idea how he's surviving alone out there in the woods." or "We're pretty sure he's a bandit preying on travelers living alone in the woods." But it usually meant: "Poor Sven. We tried to find him but all we ever found was his left foot, still in its boot." So the thought of a horrible forest monster that lures people out into untamed wilderness to try and live alone as a hermit and _almost certainly perish,_ is something that doesn't translate great in a culture that romanticizes survivalist culture, where buying groceries and supplies remotely is a thing, and that also has a basic understanding of neurodivergence and mental health.
Yeah, there’s a big difference between yer standard fantasy mook or bandit and someone/something who will brutally murder a child with absolutely zero pretense. Most fae in mythology abide by a twisted but consistent honor code, but now and then there’s a fundamentally evil and sadistic force of nature incapable of ever coexisting peacefully with other living things. Mercy is the sort of thing that always has to be given with a caveat of “Is this the sort of being who will immediately brutalize and victimize people with no shame or hesitation if I turn my back on them?” Usually, the answer is no, because the vast majority of people, even bastards, are not bastards for no reason whatsoever. This is not one of those cases.
9:18 For those who doesn't know about Norse mythology. This creature is called a Huldra, which are humanoid-looking creatures that inhabits the forests. It is said that these creatures are the guardians of certain places and their appearance are of beautiful woman with the tail of a cow or fox, it is also stated that her back has the texture of a trunk. They are endowed with superhuman strength, supernatural powers, and high resistance to injury. According to legends, they usually appear in front of humans in the mist or rain, always in a gentle and friendly way. Usually dressed as ladies, and they take special care to hide their tails under their skirts and the hollow on their backs with their hair, they also have a great appreciation for cattle and in fact the Huldra have large numbers of cattle in perfect physical and healthy condition. It is believed that a man can take cattle if he throws his belt over them; they give a lot of milk. It was also said, that the Huldra have hyperactive sexual drives and this is the reason why they enjoy seducing and luring men into the woods for the purpose of having sex with them. If the man attracted to a Huldra is able to satisfy her needs, she leaves him alive and may even bless him with her power. However, if the man fails to satisfy her, he will inevitably die. Even if the man manages to satisfy the Huldra sexually, this is not a guarantee of his safety, as he will end up obsessed with her and will return everyday until eventually he gets exhausted and unable to satisfy her any longer, and which dies at this point. Personally I like this part of the game, since the Huldra is one of my favorite mythological creatures in Norse Mythology.
This is such a cool concept for a game, I love Nordic folklore so much growing up and it makes me happy to see stuff that isn’t as famous as the gods of Asgard take the spotlight. That Huldra (though here she’s called Skosgrå) design is awesome! When I watched you play through the first demo, I certainly wasn’t expecting it to go in this direction with poor Olle. I’m super hyped for the full release
From what I can find, Skosgrå is sometimes called Huldran, and is probably sort of a regional variation on the Huldra. They have _most_ of the same attributes, though they seem to vary in a number of regards, so my money is on regional variation. I couldn't find much on that aspect, but online mythology resources are woefully poor most of the time. Edit - Found it! Hulder/Huldra is Norwegian in origin, and Skosgrå, Skogsrådan, Talle-Maja, and Skogskäringen are all Swedish forms of the same mythological creature, like the difference between the Kelpie, the Glashtyn, and the Bäckahäst.
Honestly, I'd love to see more Nordic mythology-themed video games in the future. God of War is already one of my favorite series, and more Scandinavian representation is always appreciated.
Haha, yeah, that was pretty brutal! Even more unsettling is that you can just keep stabbing her in the face forever. The scene won't stop until you stop pressing the X button prompt!
11:38 stabbed through the heart, and you're to blame, you give plot armor a bad name 12:58 Huldra: "I am weakened, I must immediately face the shorty buttwise, heart exposed" 16:42 actually huldras would eat their victims before enchanted men would realised what they are. They are definitely coniferous creatures.
Amazing!! I can't wait for the full release! I see last time, Olle ran from the Neck, and now fought the Huldra. I wonder if he'll have to fight the Nattravnen, Mylingar, or maybe even the Kyrkogrim.
The story telling is clever in this one, perhaps more impressive than the graphics. It exploits your feelings of guilt and forces you to make decisions you would rather not make, and then you're left with questions.
It is not the Nordic only. In Ukraine we have the very similar characters ) Actually this female-undead is called Navka or Mavka from old slavic - Nav (deadman). This is specifically girls or women who sink in the river or lake and they have no back (as here in the game)
I think you are brambling on. Get to the joint. You may need a more fir grasp of narration. Tell a story where the protags pine for each other. The story should be logical, not too fernfetched. We don't want a non-sequoitur. Don't make the story oak like old floorboards when stepped on. Use a plan to maple out the story. There should be conflict, but not only in the sense of the protags constantly hickorying. Make it so one spruces his bone or breaks his elmbow when chased by something. It's a locust way to bass up the action. The story should be something new, but not like fresh off the vine. It should be familiar. It's vine to play with reader expectations. I don't like to be mistle(d)toe.
@@julianemery718 Thank yew, redbud. Ash should clarify I wanted to include a bit of creative wilting bassics. A protag shrub want something so bad they are willowing to sewcrifice everything flower it. This want shoot stand in opposition to a need that our birch motherpotter wallflower protag doesn't realise they nettle it fulfilled to fill a hole in their soil. In the climbax they should be apple to reeds the goal or get the opportunity to, butt ultimately abandon it for the need, cypressing their egoistic urges. After that the protag burns all bushes, but might unexpectedly still get their want granated. But in order to create an apricot plot we need an antangerinest who will throw logs under their feet also spurting their undergrowth. So many stories don't get the basilcs and the stories get nothing but orchard. The creators larch onto big franchises, are junipering to conclusions, potting over structures, and think it will cedar right with people. And to think they had a good story in the palm of their hand, hemlocked tightly on the great premise. And their chances to succseed plum-met. They should pear with the pine of writing and branch out, instead of klinking to ideas they aren't firing. Things aren't always so peachy.
If a character is named Lillemor (like little death), I don't foresee an impressive lifespan for them. From what I gather this game is about Frodo Baggins on his way to throw his little sister into the fire 4:40 yup, that's Galadriel's voice speaking about shiny things and hope. Shit's bout to go down. 7:09 *Lillemor throws a rock at your head, giggling* 12:35 rich of cocaine Galadriel trying to stab you while repeatedly calling you "Mithrandir" (the grey pilgrim/wanderer). Funny fact is that Gandalf is an existing name coming from old norse and meaning "staff elf". 14:10 you can see Erebor, the lonely mountain from here
@@lonewolf8667 that's why I said it is LIKE that, not that it means exactly that. Mor does sound like the various forms of "mort" meaning death. And I turned out to be right.
@@lonewolf8667 You are reading too much into something what was essentially a joke. If I wanted to be educational I would have put it in a way that creates no doubt like "In norse the word "Lille" means "small" and "mor" means "mother". I usually even do translations in separate posts, solely devoted to them. I would argue and bite back but I'm honestly too tired and annoyed by my furnace blowing smoke up the lid and into my face, so let's leave it at that.
I prebought this game the moment I knew about it. It looks so creepy, and the Nordic mythology part got my hopes up. hope It will fulfill my expectations. How much long is it?
NGL, this got me less interested in the game. Seems like they decided to take the game to a completely different direction after the other gameplay videos
Thank you for the Video. Beautifully crafted, but i'd never play this game. The way that lil' boy is stabbing that woman in the face, just too much lol. Plus, she's Norn-Vegan..
even indie games are going to shit... big production companies stopped caring for their products before the beginning of the last decade. i used to still see innovation and care in indie games, or minor developing companies, even mobile games could sometimes show originality that stopped existing completely in aaa games. now i see that the indie games, as they get better technically, they worsen under all other aspects, or straight out copy each other. this game graphic was fine, but what did it give to me? meaning? vibes? thrilling gameplay? nada! for me we entered a dark age for gaming. i am gonna become a retrogamer i think. just got the first max payne for 3 euros, i believe it's a deal.
its very pretty but the gameplay really seems tacked-on and oddly outdated, like this is being developed by people who dont play a lot of games themselves. the character design style is also very standardized, the basic Disney-type Pretty Girls with big eyes and body language without any nuance, that i've seen in hundreds of cutscenes in hundreds of games already. they could be someone's Frozen OCs. even the hazy green palette is overdone at this point. the huldra has what appears to be a basic "girl" body model asset from an asset pack, there's no nuance or deviation from standard shapes you see everywhere else. this stuff makes me frustrated because it seems like devs use up all the originality theyre willing to expend on an odd subject matter like scandinavian troll folklore and then play it EXTREMELY safe and conservative with everything else in the game. but that doesn't suit your central themes!
Note: I covered the Nacken's Pond Demo of Bramble: The Mountain King on the channel previously (it's linked at the end of the video if you want to see it), but this new build features two totally new areas and a different giant monster to deal with - Skogsrå, The Mistress of the Forest.
Also don't worry about it saying "Internal Dev Build" at the bottom of the screen. The devs sent me the key and said it was cool to share the gameplay footage. :)
Also, if you're interested in the folklore, here's a little info about the Skogsrå (The Mistress of the Forest)
She appears in the form of a small, beautiful woman with a seemingly friendly temperament. She appears like a woman from the front but seen from behind she often has a tail and a hollow back or skin like tree bark.
Those who are enticed into following her into the forest are never seen again. It was said that any human man who has intercourse with the Skogsrå becomes an introvert, as his soul has remained with her. If the seduced man is a hunter, he may be rewarded with good luck in the hunt, but should he be unfaithful to the Skogsrå, he will be punished with numerous accidents. He may put an end to a stormy night caused by her vengeance by firing a shot against her. Late folklore in Nyland, Finland describes silver bullets as effective means of killing a skogsrå.
@@AlphaBetaGamer "becomes an introvert", what a horrible curse.
@@howardmurphy8019 It sure is a horrible curse. Someone should make a game about an introvert who fights to become an extrovert. He goes from being morose and lonely at the beginning to happy and cheerful and full of liveliness at the end. I love happy endings.
@@howardmurphy8019 I think the idea is closer to "anti-social feral woodland hermit", since introvert has a bit of a different context in their culture.
@@howardmurphy8019 Yeah, as V3RTIGO222 said, bear in mind this is a myth from a time and biome where "struck out on your own" in the best case scenario meant:
"We have no idea how he's surviving alone out there in the woods." or "We're pretty sure he's a bandit preying on travelers living alone in the woods."
But it usually meant:
"Poor Sven. We tried to find him but all we ever found was his left foot, still in its boot."
So the thought of a horrible forest monster that lures people out into untamed wilderness to try and live alone as a hermit and _almost certainly perish,_ is something that doesn't translate great in a culture that romanticizes survivalist culture, where buying groceries and supplies remotely is a thing, and that also has a basic understanding of neurodivergence and mental health.
I like how you try to spare her at the end and then she immediately kills you without hesitation. That shit caught me off guard.
No sympathy for the wicked, it will be used against you every time. ☠
@@silversobe When fighting monsters one should see to it that one does not become the monster.
Self defense on her part if the player dithers too long.
A certified "Mmm whatcha sayyyyy" 🎵 moment 😭
Yeah, there’s a big difference between yer standard fantasy mook or bandit and someone/something who will brutally murder a child with absolutely zero pretense. Most fae in mythology abide by a twisted but consistent honor code, but now and then there’s a fundamentally evil and sadistic force of nature incapable of ever coexisting peacefully with other living things.
Mercy is the sort of thing that always has to be given with a caveat of “Is this the sort of being who will immediately brutalize and victimize people with no shame or hesitation if I turn my back on them?”
Usually, the answer is no, because the vast majority of people, even bastards, are not bastards for no reason whatsoever. This is not one of those cases.
9:18 For those who doesn't know about Norse mythology. This creature is called a Huldra, which are humanoid-looking creatures that inhabits the forests. It is said that these creatures are the guardians of certain places and their appearance are of beautiful woman with the tail of a cow or fox, it is also stated that her back has the texture of a trunk. They are endowed with superhuman strength, supernatural powers, and high resistance to injury. According to legends, they usually appear in front of humans in the mist or rain, always in a gentle and friendly way. Usually dressed as ladies, and they take special care to hide their tails under their skirts and the hollow on their backs with their hair, they also have a great appreciation for cattle and in fact the Huldra have large numbers of cattle in perfect physical and healthy condition. It is believed that a man can take cattle if he throws his belt over them; they give a lot of milk.
It was also said, that the Huldra have hyperactive sexual drives and this is the reason why they enjoy seducing and luring men into the woods for the purpose of having sex with them. If the man attracted to a Huldra is able to satisfy her needs, she leaves him alive and may even bless him with her power. However, if the man fails to satisfy her, he will inevitably die. Even if the man manages to satisfy the Huldra sexually, this is not a guarantee of his safety, as he will end up obsessed with her and will return everyday until eventually he gets exhausted and unable to satisfy her any longer, and which dies at this point. Personally I like this part of the game, since the Huldra is one of my favorite mythological creatures in Norse Mythology.
Can we pay some respect about the soundtrack? For real, this game is in another league! DAMN!
This is Geralt's origin story we need, but not the one we deserve.
Damn...poor kid got raspberry jam all over his face....
This is such a cool concept for a game, I love Nordic folklore so much growing up and it makes me happy to see stuff that isn’t as famous as the gods of Asgard take the spotlight. That Huldra (though here she’s called Skosgrå) design is awesome! When I watched you play through the first demo, I certainly wasn’t expecting it to go in this direction with poor Olle. I’m super hyped for the full release
From what I can find, Skosgrå is sometimes called Huldran, and is probably sort of a regional variation on the Huldra. They have _most_ of the same attributes, though they seem to vary in a number of regards, so my money is on regional variation. I couldn't find much on that aspect, but online mythology resources are woefully poor most of the time.
Edit - Found it! Hulder/Huldra is Norwegian in origin, and Skosgrå, Skogsrådan, Talle-Maja, and Skogskäringen are all Swedish forms of the same mythological creature, like the difference between the Kelpie, the Glashtyn, and the Bäckahäst.
@@DMTrojan Thank you for the info!
Honestly, I'd love to see more Nordic mythology-themed video games in the future. God of War is already one of my favorite series, and more Scandinavian representation is always appreciated.
Try Rune from 2000, very good game focused on melee combat.
Yes! Nordic mythology was meant for video games--or seemingly so, anyways.
God of War was Marvel tier representation.
Bastardization would be a better word.
@@MoaRider Nah, it was good representation. You sound like a drag at parties.
Nordic mythology is one of my favorite subjects. Glad to see it’s getting love from people who know and understand it well
I cant wait to see the whole of bramble!
This is a cool game! I love the animation and the aesthetic of it!
Alright pinecones... keep your secrets.
I like Norse mythology on video games. It makes it so interesting
Reminds me of A Tale of Two Brothers, cried all the tears in my body on that one...
This is something new and so beautiful..if the narrator is my school teacher i will not skip my classes 😊
First I was like: what a cute little game...
14:37 ...
Haha, yeah, that was pretty brutal! Even more unsettling is that you can just keep stabbing her in the face forever. The scene won't stop until you stop pressing the X button prompt!
@@AlphaBetaGamer looks like a good place where to put a good/bad ending decider
Kill or be barbecilled
@@AlphaBetaGamer Then I can't wait to see youtubers fighting for the world record of Bramble's longest stabbing streak...
11:38 stabbed through the heart, and you're to blame, you give plot armor a bad name
12:58 Huldra: "I am weakened, I must immediately face the shorty buttwise, heart exposed"
16:42 actually huldras would eat their victims before enchanted men would realised what they are. They are definitely coniferous creatures.
14:38 - "The Cycle Ends Here"
This game looks interesting specially with the nordic folklore.
Amazing!! I can't wait for the full release!
I see last time, Olle ran from the Neck, and now fought the Huldra.
I wonder if he'll have to fight the Nattravnen, Mylingar, or maybe even the Kyrkogrim.
14:51 Stop! Stop! She's already dead!!! 😭😭😭
Whow! First time I see navka in the game. Locks really interesting
6:41 I feel like I just watched a murder.
The Smeagol instinct
And the Best Graphics of the Century Award goes to…
The story telling is clever in this one, perhaps more impressive than the graphics. It exploits your feelings of guilt and forces you to make decisions you would rather not make, and then you're left with questions.
It is not the Nordic only. In Ukraine we have the very similar characters ) Actually this female-undead is called Navka or Mavka from old slavic - Nav (deadman). This is specifically girls or women who sink in the river or lake and they have no back (as here in the game)
I think you are brambling on. Get to the joint. You may need a more fir grasp of narration. Tell a story where the protags pine for each other. The story should be logical, not too fernfetched. We don't want a non-sequoitur. Don't make the story oak like old floorboards when stepped on. Use a plan to maple out the story. There should be conflict, but not only in the sense of the protags constantly hickorying. Make it so one spruces his bone or breaks his elmbow when chased by something. It's a locust way to bass up the action. The story should be something new, but not like fresh off the vine. It should be familiar. It's vine to play with reader expectations. I don't like to be mistle(d)toe.
Damn, those puns are tree-mendous! :)
Goodness, yew were really rolling there, I log over a dozen or sew puns
@@julianemery718 Thank yew, redbud. Ash should clarify I wanted to include a bit of creative wilting bassics. A protag shrub want something so bad they are willowing to sewcrifice everything flower it. This want shoot stand in opposition to a need that our birch motherpotter wallflower protag doesn't realise they nettle it fulfilled to fill a hole in their soil. In the climbax they should be apple to reeds the goal or get the opportunity to, butt ultimately abandon it for the need, cypressing their egoistic urges. After that the protag burns all bushes, but might unexpectedly still get their want granated. But in order to create an apricot plot we need an antangerinest who will throw logs under their feet also spurting their undergrowth. So many stories don't get the basilcs and the stories get nothing but orchard. The creators larch onto big franchises, are junipering to conclusions, potting over structures, and think it will cedar right with people. And to think they had a good story in the palm of their hand, hemlocked tightly on the great premise. And their chances to succseed plum-met. They should pear with the pine of writing and branch out, instead of klinking to ideas they aren't firing. Things aren't always so peachy.
@@AlphaBetaGamer thank yew, I barked treelly hard on them!
You've barked up the wrong tree. Don't worry, all willow be well.
Man this game looks amazin.
If a character is named Lillemor (like little death), I don't foresee an impressive lifespan for them.
From what I gather this game is about Frodo Baggins on his way to throw his little sister into the fire
4:40 yup, that's Galadriel's voice speaking about shiny things and hope. Shit's bout to go down.
7:09 *Lillemor throws a rock at your head, giggling*
12:35 rich of cocaine Galadriel trying to stab you while repeatedly calling you "Mithrandir" (the grey pilgrim/wanderer). Funny fact is that Gandalf is an existing name coming from old norse and meaning "staff elf".
14:10 you can see Erebor, the lonely mountain from here
@@lonewolf8667 that's why I said it is LIKE that, not that it means exactly that. Mor does sound like the various forms of "mort" meaning death. And I turned out to be right.
@@lonewolf8667 The mort part is also in Latin as well as some other languages influenced by it.
Wouldn’t be a surprise if Shelob also shows up.
@@lonewolf8667 You are reading too much into something what was essentially a joke. If I wanted to be educational I would have put it in a way that creates no doubt like "In norse the word "Lille" means "small" and "mor" means "mother". I usually even do translations in separate posts, solely devoted to them. I would argue and bite back but I'm honestly too tired and annoyed by my furnace blowing smoke up the lid and into my face, so let's leave it at that.
@@AntipaladinPedigri Shit joke, backtracking what a hill to die on
Mistress of the forest lookin kinda thicc tho ngl hmmm
yeah
Was thinking the same thing
Gorgeous!
14:29 that's what you get for simping 😂
14:29 Well damn ya'
I prebought this game the moment I knew about it. It looks so creepy, and the Nordic mythology part got my hopes up. hope It will fulfill my expectations. How much long is it?
She a contender for Atomic Heart’s twins?
*Looks AMAZING*
one step closer
Mistress of the forest looks like a huldra
She is. They had more than one name, but hyldra was one of them.
Looks interesting
🖤🖤🖤 graphic
The mistress of the forest Here me out 😮
Is that succubus???
Hi! I guess she's a little similar to a succubus, she's a Skogsrå ('the Mistress of the Forest') - a mythical female creature from Swedish folklore.
@@AlphaBetaGamer hm alright
Wasn't that game 2D like?
Wait, this isn’t part of the demo?? Did the full game come out??
Hi! no, the full game isn't out yet. This is a development build I was sent to cover. The full game will release towards the end of April.
It's on April 23rd
A lot of nines in this video
Nor-vegan lol +1
Slay
Okay hear me out
✌👍
NGL, this got me less interested in the game. Seems like they decided to take the game to a completely different direction after the other gameplay videos
👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
Lillemor.......
Thank you for the Video.
Beautifully crafted, but i'd never play this game. The way that lil' boy is stabbing that woman in the face, just too much lol. Plus, she's Norn-Vegan..
🤣🤣🤣
Too many horror Gamez
Never enough!
#ProjectStrix
I would take a chance with you guys I’m sorry
even indie games are going to shit...
big production companies stopped caring for their products before the beginning of the last decade.
i used to still see innovation and care in indie games, or minor developing companies, even mobile games could sometimes show originality that stopped existing completely in aaa games.
now i see that the indie games, as they get better technically, they worsen under all other aspects, or straight out copy each other.
this game graphic was fine, but what did it give to me? meaning? vibes? thrilling gameplay? nada!
for me we entered a dark age for gaming.
i am gonna become a retrogamer i think.
just got the first max payne for 3 euros, i believe it's a deal.
i wrote a long comment saying exactly the same thing before i even scrolled down and saw this, but you're completely correct
Девка нормально бежит, а этот же как будто обосрался. Ненавижу игры где убиваешь босса, а потом он встаëт и поновой боришься с ним.
The art design of the game is gloomy and excellent. But the gameplay is unfortunately boring.
its very pretty but the gameplay really seems tacked-on and oddly outdated, like this is being developed by people who dont play a lot of games themselves. the character design style is also very standardized, the basic Disney-type Pretty Girls with big eyes and body language without any nuance, that i've seen in hundreds of cutscenes in hundreds of games already. they could be someone's Frozen OCs. even the hazy green palette is overdone at this point. the huldra has what appears to be a basic "girl" body model asset from an asset pack, there's no nuance or deviation from standard shapes you see everywhere else. this stuff makes me frustrated because it seems like devs use up all the originality theyre willing to expend on an odd subject matter like scandinavian troll folklore and then play it EXTREMELY safe and conservative with everything else in the game. but that doesn't suit your central themes!
They should've used Swedish voice acting like the game unforgiving. The English really ruins the mood.
Wtf
beautiful game, beautiful Nordic culture, beautiful white children... OH NO! the woke don't like this! I WILL BUY THE GAME
Oh look pre game whining, how fun!
Nobody would go after this game, stop your snowflake shenanigans.
@@ghostwalker89 Oh look! Another bud light drinker! Go to the nearest Walwart to get a box, for free!
I would like to know the name of the song starting at 5:51
She kinda bad tho😳