A masterpiece of boss design
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- Опубликовано: 28 сен 2024
- Playing through The Old Hunters for the first time was a profound experience, I already loved Bloodborne and the DLC really put it over the top.
Song used: Ludwig the Accursed/Ludwig the Holy Blade - Bloodborne OST
![Yailin La Mas Viral, @kreizyk.official - Dale 2 (Remix) [Video Oficial]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/JaYHBzgqz94/mqdefault.jpg)
They say you don't know what a story is really about until you've written it, which I think is part of what makes the DLC for each game stand out among From's content. Completing the base game gives them something to build on top of and realize everything the base game was moving towards. I personally consider The Old Hunters to be among the best content From has ever created, and Ludwig shines as one of the most compelling creative designs in their entire catalogue. The added weight of incorporating the Moonlight Greatsword, essentially an icon of the entire studio's legacy, is sublime and lends a presence to Ludwig that extends even beyond Bloodborne.
Zullie could you make a video about Midir? As well as this one about Ludwig😊😁
Interesting... 🤔
Isn’t Ludwig demonic horse look inspired by the Rape horse from berserk?
@@zachtalkssmack4470 No.
The way the old hunters DLC had us experience the story in reverse was incredible.
Blew me away when i worked it out.
Something I realized about ludwig’s iconic scene where he holds the moonlight greatsword up to cover half of his face, he’s covering the side of his face that is more disfigured and has the blind eye, meanwhile the remaining clear eye stares back at us, signifying his humanity resurfacing for one final battle not as a beast, but a hunter.
"Remember me, good hunter, as the man I was. End me, this last moment of lucidity, so I die as a man. HAVE AT THEE"
deep
Yeah I read someone else’s theory about this somewhere too 🙄
Sorry, but I thought this was obvious lol.
And in that scene his face looks so calm and his eye so focused.. Ludwig's gotta be my favorite bloodborne boss and one of my favorite soulsborne bosses ever
I read a theory that the lyrics of the boss music are actually being sung from the point of view of the Moonlight Greatsword. It pities Ludwig and the grotesque form he's taken. Because of this, its my belief that the restoration at 50% health happens not because the sword is responding to Ludwig's predicament, but because its responding to the player's strength. You've proven that you can fight this beast on equal ground, and so the sword grants its former master a parting gift, the chance to die honorably in battle as a man instead of a beast, and in doing so, the sword is also choosing its new master.
I really like this theory
holy shit, I was in a trip from this fight's story and music, which always shooks me, and then read this theory and almost teared up
Holy shit, the Moonlight Greatsword is one of my favorite parts of From's games, and you just elevated that by 11. seriously gave me goosebumps reading this.
you got a source on the song translation? I'd love to give it a looksie.
beautiful
Don't know if this theory holds any water but I really like it
I really do love his return to sanity during the fight, and he is the only known person to recover from the process of being turned into a mad beast.
In the Old Hunters' nightmare you move backwards in time, which is masterfully displayed in the middle of the Ludwig fight
@thedestroyer_ yeah but i think he talk strictly Bloodborne here
@thedestroyer_ Lol wut? Gael is not a bloodborne character. He has nothing to fo with anything in bloodborne. Also Gael didn't turn into a beast, he went hollow. Complely diiferent thing.
@@5.99USD 'turning hollow' and 'turning into a beast' sounds essentially the same, as in they regress to their most basic instincts. so maybe that's what he's getting at. that being said, not a bloodborne character, though imho he moves alot like one.
@@5.99USD saying it's kind of the same.. just recycled like half the things in fronsoft games
I think Ludwig is scripted to always give you a visceral attack when he's one hit away from death, just so you can kill him in the most satisfying way possible. I love that; they KNEW how cool this fight was
not only that, but by visceraling him or not gives a different death sound. If he dies to a visceral, his voice is human, you've given him respect through this mercy and he dies the man he is mentally . If you continue wailing on him without the visceral, his voice is that of beast, squealing madly, dying as the beast he is physically
It isn't, it's most likely because you use a similar weapon a lot or use transformation attacks a lot.
the 2nd Phase is much easier to stagger.
@@The-Omega-Blade it actually is scripted he always gets staggered when hes near death and ive done several playthroughs. Also he always gets staggered in all the ludwig fights i see. Cant be a coincedence right?
@@crit1kal_z there must be more to it, as i've had vastly different timings for when he staggers, and I've played this game for years testing and screwing around with whatever i can in this game, seems i'll have to do some testing with Ludwig some more.
@@crit1kal_z it's not scripted, his crotch counts as a breakable part and if you're attacking him head on that area will "break" and cause him to stagger.
I love that Ludwig uses the same model for both phases, it’s just that his posture changes. Excellent story telling with just body language alone
I also love the part where the name changes from "Ludwig the Accursed" to "Ludwig the Holy Blade"
@@revanf3719 Plus serrated damage no longer applies, he might still be beastly in a physical sense but he's returned to his humanity for this moment
I don’t know about 3D animation but that seems very impressive seeing as phase 1 Ludwig it s such a mangled grotesque beast. They managed to make him stand up, and hold a sword. I think that’s very impressive
I just want to keep replaying the dlc bosses (except living failures ofc lol)
@@DanS044 and lot more dangerous!! 😎
200 bones to his rig..
The unimaginable pain of manually keyframing every single one of those bones would be more terrible than fighting Ludwig as yourself.
And then godrick just doubles that with 400+ bones lmao
@@safijivvaboi5081 My hands are cramping and my back hurts from thinking about this. Hope they have good chairs with support, that's so tedious sounding.
"This is the first boss of the DLC, probably should be on the easier side"
**200 bones later**
"My body is battered and broken, and my mind shattered like cheap porcelain. My shoulders don't have the strength to bear this pain alone, so you shall bear it with me!"
**Makes possibly the second hardest boss in the game**
@@Sorrelhas the 3 horsemen of beating your ass:
Laurence, Ludwig, and Orphan of kos
They will have used animating techniques like IK rigs to be able to keyframe a lot of detail in a much smaller, simpler time frame
My favorite part about the fight has to be that everyone including myself thought Fromsoft left out their most iconic weapon, The Moonlight Greatsword. The combination of the weapon reveal and Ludwig being setup in the base game through lore is just perfect.
its the coolest version of the sword we've ever seen and it fits more thematically than in the other games
Sadly I spoiled myself on it's existence sifting through the wiki before I got the game (I wouldn't have gotten it if I hadn't found a dirt cheap used PS4, eff exclusivity), so I missed out on the moment. Still had a bit of impact but going a game without the sword and then it reappearing in the DLC after one has mentally written if off must've been such a greater moment.
"my true mentor....MY GUIDING MOONLIGHT" gives me chills and goosebumps like no other boss battle ever has
the feeling you get when he says "Ah, you were at my side, all along" is just on a whole other level. one of the best fromsoft boss battles of them all.
@@JMDofficialpage best battle imo
With half of his face covered in blood. This cutscene is simply amazing
Bro don’t forget mohgs orgasm: NIHIL NIHIL NIHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIL
He really does contrast with gascoigne who is loosing himself when you fight him, and laurence who is already lost. Their tragedy makes it all the more glorious that HE comes back where they could not.
I love how even though Ludwig’s return to sanity is a glorious demonstration of his resolve, and an example of the human will overcoming the horrors of this world, it still contributes to the overall despair and hopelessness of the game, as now the symbol of resistance against the nightmares is trying to kill you with all his might. The allies you have are few and too weak to make a real difference, if they don’t decide to kill you. The ones who were strong enough to help you have already lost.
The fact that he goes from crawling around to standing upright, even with the four legs, also stands to symbolize his humanity reigning triumphant over his bestial transformation. Its almost like fighting against a hunter allowed him to see clearly for just long enough to get hold of his precious moonlight, and die as a human and a hunter, than as a beast.
On another video about Ludwig, someone said this about his transformation "he isnt gonna fight you as the beast he is but as the proud hunter he once was and then you notice (...) This isnt the hunt for a beast, this is a final dance with a fellow hunter"... It made me tear up for real
This was always my favortie boss in Bloodborne, fully encapsulating a beast boss and a human boss in one, loved it to death! Keep up the great work Zullie
sick videos you make yes
Yooo didn't know you were here Evan
"the boss that changed Bloodborne"
Holy shit I didn’t expect you here
Didn't expect you here, Mr. Destiny Man.
Nearly 7 years later and Ludwig the Accursed and Holy Blade is still Froms best boss theme, maybe even in general. I've heard it like a 100 times now and it's literally never failed too give me goosebumps
Too bad the composer joined Nintendo right after Bloodborne. He also composed the Living Failures theme which I consider to be the third best boss theme in Bloodborne.
To be honest it's no doubt one of the best, but I prefer Gehrman's, Gwyn's, living failures', and perhaps Gael's themes a bit more.
the way it builds up and explodes, even seemingly when it has to for the best impact with the boss fight is so insanely strong, I get goosebumps just thinking about it
The DOOM cover of the track is dope af.
_Only_ a hundred times? :0 BLASPHEMOUS
Also I'm pretty sure weapons meant to kill beast actually do less damage to Ludwig once he regains his humanity. Showing that not only does his beast body straightens to that of a man, his blood has begun to change back.
Yeah you don't get serration damage on his second form
@@Haseebuif also, runes that grant beat damage or penalize damage to beasts don't function.
@@Haseebuif you dont get serration on his first one neither
His voice acting, his design, the combat, the boss room, the music, the lore..... They nailed every aspect of this boss. One of the most epic moments in gaming history if you ask me.
Absolutely!
Perhaps since Ludwig was an actual Knight before his accursed transformation, his horse melded with him, giving him the four extra equine limbs and horse-like face...
Ironically, he can talk... even though he is very horse.
I don't know why some people think he was a knight who rode a horse. There's no indication that was ever how anyone in the Church hunted or if it would be particularly strategically useful (it's way different from how most hunters work, and being on a horse drastically reduces maneuverability.)
Ludwig and the "Holy Blades" are related to ancient knightly heroes according to the Radiant Sword Hunter Badge, but that THEMING is probably why Ludwig is horse-like, not that he's literally partially a horse.
@@mastermarkus5307 to add to this the hunters nightmare is not the real world so most of the design choices can be interpreted as metaphorical or symbolic.
"Ironically, he can talk... even though he is very horse"
stop...
the internet isn't ready for this level of humor.
Just my personal theory but I often thought it had something to do with saggitarius constellation since it is “the hunter”
@@rookmorggrimmar8432 That... is a good point! Though that should make all hunter to beast transformees more horse like if that was the case...
Never thought about how Ludwig's change from "The Accursed" to "The Holy Blade" is an antithesis of all other boss battles in the game.
Every one starts out like fighting your typical, albeit stronger, enemy, but devolves into increasingly savage attacks as the boss nears its death. But Ludwig goes from unmatched, blood-drunk, bestial rage, to a resolute, graceful fighting style (complete with back-stepping, like a hoonter) once he picks up his sword.
"A hoonter must hoont"
Gael goes from deranged savage to composed to angy composed
o venator
Yeah he’s sorta like the inverse of Gasgoine
Malekith (Elden Ring) could be argued to join that club, now :)
I think fromsoftware has more freedom for the DLCs. The release date does not matter as much as the basegames release, and if the basegame was succesfull the DLC is almost garanteed to be to from a marketing perpective, so there is less weight on their shoulders.
designing for DLC also has the advantage of experience. They already worked out a lot of the bugs and technical aspects while working on the basegame, and learned tricks along the way, so they are at a higher technical skill level when making the DLCs.
plus having feedback from the basegame helps make the DLCs capitalize on the good stuff.
“The release date doesn’t matter” *cringes in lost izalith*
@@weirdalexander8193 lost izalith isn't a DLC, what are you talking about
@@weirdalexander8193 last time i checked lost izalith was not a DLC area
@@weirdalexander8193 yeah Izalith is the biggest case study in rushed development killing an area but the guy is talking about dlc. Not to mention Izalith is from an Entirely Different Game, if anything you should've at least brought up rushed development killing the Mensis Nightmare! Then you'd be wrong but at least you'd be talking about the right game!
@@internetdragon7624 Honestly, the areas in Bloodborne never felt rushed but the main story of the game definitely did.
The interesting thing about Ludwig is that every single other instance of a boss fight, it's something that lost its humanity and became something else. Ludwig is the one exception where he manages to do the opposite and claw his way back into control. He is the antithesis of everything that is Bloodborne.
_watches video_
Well, I guess I shouldn't have commented before watching.
He can only hold on for so long but in that final last bit of humanity and dignity he is simply beautiful
Yeah you see this, but when I look at this guy all I hear is “mount woman.”
i love how they handled Ludwig, it was quite like Artorias, we heard about him and his dees, recovered some of his heirlooms, then the mystery of Lduwig's holy blade that many speculated to be the moonlight gs, because of the shape and how it looks with the weapon buff hunter tool, only to be shown Ludwig and validating the theories
Now imagine how majesty Lady Tomoe's fight in Sekiro if dlc isn't getting cancelled, we heard about her tale almost in every part of the game story, even the strongest being respected her, must be hella of fight if that happened.
Artorias is a fraud tho
@@irvancrocs1753 There was an info about dlc?
@@invi022 Yes, iirc before the release of base game they already announced that Sekiro would have dlc, but months after the release they officially announced the dlc was cancelled, many said that they want to focus a lot on Elder Ring which is why they sacrificed the dlc in the process to help the development.
When the choir sets in after his transformation, you can feel the physical and mental pain, struggle to hold on to sanity, and desent into madness all at once without it being spoken in a common tongue. You don't need to know the words themselves. Music is damn powerful and Fromsoft nailed it.
It was just his journey at that point
Ludwig's Boss music is among the top scores that From Software has ever created.
I think I might only like Laurence's music better, but his fight felt a lot less inspired.
I will never forget the feeling of watching the second stage cutscene and hearing the glorious second half of the OST for the first time. My entire body was in goosebumps as I was fighting the rest of the bossfight standing up since I was too excited to keep playing seated. Every possible aspect of this boss is executed masterfully. Thank you FromSoft.
A fun fact about Ludwig: when his health is critically low you can finish him off with a visceral attack: doing so causes him to play a different death animation where he hangs on his sword before falling face-first into the ground, groaning in his human voice. If instead you keep bashing him, he won't hang on the sword and he will let out a beastly screech.
It actually brought me to tears when Ludwig regains his sanity, the magnificence of humanity
Same. I, no joke, cry everytime. Something special about the most horribly corrupted human talking again, unlike (almost) any beast-man in the story.
The sprite of man is unbreakable even as the body is destroyed if it is granted only a bit of peace it will regain itself
The choir during his second phase is one of the most beautiful pieces of music I've ever heard. It encapsulates the absolutely horrifying, towering presence that he becomes. Whenever I hear it, I just imagine a fight between the hunter and Ludwig in which Ludwig's sword swings go with it in such an epic fashion. This fight is a true masterpiece.
His reactions to the state of the church as told by the player, are two of my favorite exchanges in this game.
Only behind the most pivotal encounters in the fishing hamlet.
Gael 🤝Ludwig:
[DLC bosses with an animalistic and brutal fighting style throughout the first phase, which is changed by a respectable and calculated style on the second phase by just standing straight and honoring the duel]
Both start out beast like in nature Ludwig has his resolve and realizes he’s more than just that. He’s man! Coming to his senses and recovering the ability for speech despite the horrors he’s seen. Gael on a nigh endless journey full of battle never forgets his mission even after his deformation. Yet the very second he bleeds the blood of the dark soul he goes hollow realizing his jobs done now ready to die.
Both stand upright not speaking another word throughout the boss battle. Really great portrayals of them getting in touch with their humanity. That coupled their themes rising to phase two and the fights being phenomenal is just peak moments in gaming.
This was truly From’s supreme mic drop. The exact instance in which everything Miyazaki helped design all came together in a perfect embrace of world building and game mechanics. The entire team perfectly encapsulated their brand’s distinctive themes in one moment, and from this game on, they’ve made hit after hit.
I cannot overstate how great Ludwig is in every single aspect. I'm glad people feel the same way!
I wasn't into fromsoft games and had only played sekiro, but once I saw this design I instantly went and bought a hard copy of Bloodborne and it very quickly became my favorite game
It's all fun and games until the Berserk Horse gains his sentience back.
FIRST
ayooooo
From goes absolutely off the charts when it comes to DLCs. It's incredible.
Zullie, I literally found your channel like 2 days ago and I have watched almost ALL of your videos since then!! You make such wonderful content whether it be about technical knowledge or analysis of themes and game design like this video. I’ve watched Dark Souls content for years and I’m thrilled that I found someone to reignite my love for Souls games and show me things I’ve never seen!
My favorite boss in the series, it felt like From hit it out of the park with this fight in terms of atmosphere, lore, music, challenge, and that cutscene.. Wish they would’ve followed their own lead and eased up with the refilling lifebar move they’d go on to use in DS3.
A fitting tribute to one of the most powerful moments in a game full of them. I still listen to this song for inspiration, as well as Laurence's and Maria's themes, all from the DLC. The Old Hunters is easily one of the greatest single Expansion Packs of all time, right up there with Lord of Destruction and Frozen Throne. That's a fun Best-Of list to mull over, wonder what would round out the Top 10
Bloodborne is truly a masterpiece! This game has the best pve of all from software’s games, in my opinion.
Ludwing was so difficult for me that i hated it until I loved it, the music, the cinematic, the backstory made this the best boss of bloodborne in my opinion.
That orchestral score, the bossfight, the visuals.
This was truly peak kino. Nothing comes close to Bloodborne.
God, I love the Soulsborne community for this sort of stuff. Never would I have noticed details like the eyes in the monstrous maw during gameplay, it really shows how the fans love to pinpoint every minute detail, as well as the sheer effort Miyazaki and co put into the designs.
good ole Berserk (Redacted) Horse, good to see him and his sword.
and his... 7th Leg.
PAUSE.
Somehow Ludwig also reminds me of the studio itself, falling from grace in the last Armored Core game and then regaining humanity by creating the Souls IP, an even bigger accomplishment than their previous ones. I still miss Armored Core and hope they'll revisit the IP someday.
I've never felt more like a badass facing an incredible foe in any from game like the time the music queued just right for his transformation and we started his second phase in a dark waltz of horror. Loved every minute of it.
Ludwig has always been my favorite Soulsborne boss. A rough but reasonable challenge with a dynamic boss theme and easily the most beautiful iteration of the Moonlight Greatsword in Soulsborne history? Hard to have a list of favorites that doesn't at least mention him.
GOD, I thought his change used a differing model but to know his change from beast to human using the same model only cements the impact Ludwig has in the entirety of his existence!
Ludwig one of the greatest looking boss designs ever in the souls series but one of the most struggling bosses to fight. come to think of it most bloodborne bosses were quite tough.
What I love about this fight is that Ludwig, finding his Moonlight Sword, represents the feelings that old From Software gamers have towards the Souls series.
As with Ludwig, the moonlight sword has always been at our side, being a faithful companion of successive players, from Demon Souls to Dark Souls and Bloodborne, in worlds where evil, darkness and degradation reign. With its delicate blue light it gives us hope to overcome difficulties and leads us to a glorious victory.
I think of that little parasite lined with eyes as Ludwig containing the worst of his beasthood into one isolated area, which could help to explain why he retained his humanity more than any other beast. I think of it similarly to how Youpi from HxH isolated his "rage" in order to draw from its power without letting it consume his mind.
I personally think it's the opposite. That horrible mouth lined with eyes I interpret as what remains of his human head (Ludwig has 8 limbs, 4 horse and 4 with human digits, implying he fused with his own horse). Because of the whispers of the Holy Moonlight Greatsword, he gained eyes on the inside, and was perhaps on the brink of ascension, which made his fall to beasthood all the more tragic.
Ludwig shows that a truly memorable boss must go behind the mechanics, you need a strong presentation and build up. And they nailed it here
There's a saying along the lines of "if you fight monsters long enough, you slowly become one yourself". Ludwig seems to have gone to transforming to better fight the creatures in that nightmare that never ends and the consciousness remains buried
My favorite boss in the game with my favorite cutscene, in anything. Period.
Just something I've noticed, outside of the pontiff arena at to the left there is a stair case and right below it is a curved rail I jumped down to the rail and then fell off like an idiot. But for some reason it didn't instant kill me. I'm wondering if you could cancel fall damage it might allow you to walk around right there next to the wall. Not entirely certain though.
Normally it'll kill you in a few seconds but it looked like I fell all the way to the ground and took fall damage from that.
My favorite is still Gael. The whole of the Ringed City DLC builds to his encounter, which is an ending to what the first DLC started, which is also an ending to the whole Dark Souls series. He embodies want, which is at the core of humanity which the series (and Bloodborne, also) taps into as a game. If you think about it, the protagonist of the games isn't the character you build, it's actually you, the player behind the screen. All the games are built to make you go through a journey, to force you into thinking, adapting, learning, transforming. It's a painful process, but you always end up with something gained from the experience at the end. What drives us through this painful process is want. We started this game, and we have the desire to see it through to the end. All the humanity is described in the game as having this will of its own, that primordial emotion that all of us have at our cores in the real world as well, and I think Gael is the culmination of it.
The song is so good for this fight too, all his attacks feel like they completely match the rhythm
Have you guys ever noticed even in this hideous form ludwig's skill and training shows when he wields je sword? Like his stance before he swings. His consistent poise throughout his motions. Its quite elegant
Something i've messed around with occasionally is luring a Living Failure into the Maria boss fight. Sometimes at the end of the LF fight, one of them wont despawn with the others. It cant fallow you into the Research Hall but it can enter the Astral Clocktower & will even remain for the fight with Maria. Besides adding another enemy to deal with alongside Maria, the more fun aspect of it is that the LF will still be able to summon the cosmic light show turning the boss room into a planetarium (The arcane asteroid attack also gets summoned but is contained in the LF boss arena).
But i was wondering, can they summon that effect anywhere else in the game or does it only work in that area?
Whoa! I had no idea that was possible
Post a video of that happening, I’ve never seen it
It's the fact that you go through the whole base game without the Moonlight Sword, being teased by Ludwig's Holy Sword... and it gets introduced at THAT moment with THAT musical score and it's absolutely perfect. A genuine "LET'S GOOOOOO" moment if there ever was one
I think my favourite detail has to be that his good eye becomes clearer when he regains his humanity. It's especially obvious in the cutscene once he actually sees the sword
He does actually have a different mesh for his face that it switches to for phase 2.
This is a fine note. A beautifully written and shot video commemorating one of the greatest and most disturbing boss battles of all time. Well done.
I love how well they built up the dlc prior to release. Ludwig being a prime example. But other smaller things you notice, like the fishing hamlet's ship masts being visible from the nightmare frontier and NPC summons with dlc exclusive weapons. Master piece of a game
Zullie you are my #1 favorite content creator, for real. You always show the most interesting shit. Thank you so much.
Cool, I now get to appreciate the prototype of the golden king in Eldren Ring.
even the boss fight music changes to the more glorify and majestic to even more emphasize his humanity coming back
I love how his song is similar to a waltz towards the end the battle of a hunter is like a dance of blood and plagues him returning to that is so masterfully represented here it makes me want to cry
What I love about Ludwig's design is that it implies he fused with his horse somehow. The top of the cloak ending where the growth of eyes sprouts is a great way of showing that the growth was the human's head, now split open to reveal the eyes on the inside.
Ludwig: *Straightens back*
Zullie: pure pinnacle of From's technical & narrative sense
And not only a storytell and design achievement but we can also sum up the music that is astonishing
I still shiver when he regains his sanity, and the music switches to a waltz (somewhat orderly amidst the chaos)
You can play through the games, watch all the lore videos, watch all the speculation but the most interesting shit is stuff like this. Just wow ty for this
Ludwig's 2nd phase theme is also one of the only orchestrated pieces of music where the phrase "wait for the drop" still fits
Easily my favorite boss in all of gaming everything about him is absolutly amazing especially the amount of fun you have fighting him
What a legend for actually using Ludwig’s music in his own video
Him, Father Gascoigne and Lady Maria are my favorite bosses, just due to the sheer incredible amounts of character they exude. Their fights are all incredibly well made as well, and you feel like you both know the character, and have bested the hard fight at the same time when you beat them.
There's just something about the state that we find Ludwig in that is so striking. He has fallen so far from what he once was and is now nothing but a horrid abomination. His conquering that dishonor bestowed upon him by the old blood is so raw and human, purely expressing our natural fear of humiliation and our constant effort to reject any aspects of divergence from what we should be and do. Plus, I also get the same feeling from Ludwig that I do from Phalanx because their lore is so centered around their descent from grace but also their humiliatingly grotesque transformation.
I'm so bummed that I haven't gotten to play Bloodborne. I would do despicable things to get a PC port.
If im not wrong i have heard that there are talks for a PC Port in the near future, and possibly even Bloodborne 2 mad by Bluepoint. I dont know if thats confimred tho, but i have heard it from multiple different sources
The fight, cinematic, phase 2, MUSIC!
All indicators of my fave SoulsBourne boss EVER
*Plays Ludwig Ost on loop*
"It seems like it's always the DLC bosses"
Gwyn, Gherman, Nameless King, SoC, Lothric and Lorian : *loud cough*
More seriously I totally agree with your broader point on DLCs in general and Old hunters specifically : although I'm not quite satisfied with BB's main story, for quite a number of reasons, the one hunter stands out to me as plausibly the best soulsborn content to date, and if not then at least without a doubt one of the very best content they made, probably because as you say they can work on it with the benefit of hindsight from the main game, not to mention probably also the possibility of developping stuff they wanted but couldn't put in the main game ^^
with all of this detail surrounding ludwig, one could almost imagine him as the real final boss of the dlc. he's built up as a hero in base game, his glory is torn down in the nightmare, and we witness his final scraps go out strong. as good as the rest of the nightmare is, it pales to this fight.
Literally one the pinnacles of the gaming medium. Visuals, audio, narrative, and gameplay, all in complete unison. Now only if we could experience it in 60fps......
Indeed this is the pinnacle of From's boss design. While being a great boss, one important thing Gael misses is this kind of build-up. Of course DLCs do not need to be related with base games, but From always had some factors that foreshadowed DLC characters until DS3.
We can notice that even in the sound desing. In phase 1 Ludwig makes the sounds of an animal, like roars and screeches. But in phase 2 he makes the sounds of a human. The sound a person makes when exerting physical effort, in this case, brandishing the greatsword
Ludwig is basically Fromsoft's magnum Opus of Boss Design. They build up his lore in the base game, and the payoff is basically Flawless in the Dlc, Displaying all themes of bloodborne in a single boss fight.
I remember fighting this boss for the first time taking an hour just to finish the first phase and then being absolutely blown away by the Moonlight reveal. I've fought this boss probably a hundred times but I still get that powerful feeling that I got the first time I fought him everytime I walk into the arena.
The amount of lore details I have come to understand and appreciate because of Zullie is surprising. Told in tiny snippet videos.
Dude it was the music, it's sudden intimidating and uproar of badassery, almost like this mix of man and beast is one of if not the most to be feared, for its the drive of a human with the power of a beast, both unstoppable and relentless in nature.
I can't agree more, Ludwig is my absolute favourite. I'd already decided I was getting a Guidance rune tattoo because I love Bb, Ludwig, his story, and of course the look of the rune and what it stands for, and this video perfectly lays out why I feel that way.
Thank you for this, one of my fave bosses all time and you perfectly captured why
living for Zullie singing bloodborne's praises, it's exactly how I feel about the game even 7 years out. Amazing stuff, so happy to see bloodborne getting the love it deserves.
Hum yes, and some say that Elden Ring is the best from soft game out there. Yeah no, no Elden Ring bosses can compete with Ludwig, I’m sorry
Yeah but Ludwig is dlc
FUN FACT: during the second phase, serrated weapons lose the bonus damage they deal against beats, so do blood gems that deal damage to beasts, such as the one we get from Amelia. This is because Ludwig recovered his sanity when he saw his Moonlight sword again, implying that the Scourge of Beasts is largely a state of mind, not a disease, and can in fact be prevent or reverted if certain cobditions are met. Small detail with astronomical relevance.
Ive never even played Bloodborne and Ludwig is still such a unique, memorable character in my mind.
Can't begin to say how happy I am you're doing BB stuff again!!!!!
Ludwig's phase transition is amazing. The music and dialogue is just perfect.
What I really love is how much you love this.
I've never played bloodborne, but you've conveyed this in such a way that I feel like I understand it.
Keep sticking to you 3-day schedule. Your videos are gems and I'd hate to see you get burnt out again.
Perfect lore, flawless fight, with a moonlight waltz raging in the background...as a kid, I never expected video games to reach these heights. What a fuckin time to be alive
I always pictured Ludwig as a mounted calvary knight, horribly melted and fused to his horse in the nightmare, resulting in the extra limbs head and twisted form.
I fully believe that Ludwig is the greatest boss fight ever created. From the fight itself, the technical things shown in this video, the visual design of Ludwig, and definitely not forgetting the phenomenal music, every part of this boss fight is flawless imo.
Also, I love how he's like a messed up centaur, horse body but "human-like" torso, especially considering in mythology centaurs are often considered very noble, which matches very well with his lore.
Djura shouting atop the clock tower in old yharnam will always be my favorite moment in bloodborne. Made the game feel huge.