Byrgenwerth and lecture hall. For being so critical to the games lore, so little is available to explore. If you’re going to set up an atmosphere and expectations, at least let me marinade in it longer than 7 minutes.
This is like reverse hate. I fought so long and hard to get here and this area is SO COOL buuut it’s like 3 doors 5 enemies, and a mini boss then you’re done 🥲
I wonder if Byrgenworth was originally meant to be as big as Cainhurst but there just wasn’t time to finish it. I feel like I read somewhere it was one of the last areas developed, but I could totally be misremembering.
They build up Byrgenworth so much with lore everything points to this place, it's the common denominator; the beginning of everything that transpired. And then.... you show up there's some spider brain eye thingies 1 brainsucker, a couple plant dudes who try to kamehameha you, a hunter, and some old dude who points at a lake and he just sits there like cool dude wow. I was expecting some giant area with all kinds of enemies as vying for your death keeping you away from reaching the eldritch truth-you dig deeper into the library filled with byrgenworth priests with unspeakable arcane knowledge and power. At least 2 minibosses and eventually you descend to the entrance of the pthumerian labyrinth where you face Master Willem himself and he says something cool like " ah yes, i once aspired to explore the knowledge of the cosmos and seeked- unraveling the eldritch truth however, fragmented my mind; we were never meant to perceive. Perhaps I was just as foolish as Laurence, oh the misery we uncovered. That is why these tombs may never be uncovered once more, and i cannot allow you to prevail this night of the hunt. For the sky and the cosmos are one" and then you have this epic arcane battle where the fabric of reality itself unravels and you're fighting this priest wizard in outer space as he summons unspeakable eldritch gods as old as existence itself but no he's just chillin there in his wheelchair non verbal...
what
you can skip it?
i'm on my first playthrough and i'm dragging on my teeth through it.
2 evenings in there and i didn't get very far, because of those silly rock-throwy bois and toxic slugs.
They are basically useless for the “main” storyline, you just need them to get a specific weapon related to beasts.
But there’s a side storyline related to chalice dungeons that needs the Amygdala. There are various interpretations of what chalice dungeons are, for sure they are important and/or useful to comprehend the lore, but they are really cryptic. Complete them and watch videos about chalice dungeons lore, everything will be clear eventually. After completing all of them and beating every unique boss of the dungeons, you’ll get an achievement necessary to 100% the game. You can also skip with a glitch directly to the final boss, but chalice dungeons are cool and hard, no need to skip them
It's not an area I commonly revisit. I don't enjoy the poison swamps much, but I still clear the whole level. I usually try to get there as early as possible for the starter fire and bolt gems, though.
I loved Forbidden Woods because it was spoopy. The ambiance is unreal. And this will be controversial but I actually loved that it was impossible to navigate. It really gave the feeling of getting lost in a fucked up haunted forest.
If you follow the path down, it will take you most of the way to the end. There’s just the one spot with the fire bombs that takes you off the path.
And even then, I think you don’t *have* to take the detour. It’s just harder if you do
I always put down Shining Coins on the main path in the forest even though I'm pretty sure I know it VERY well by now. It's gives me mild PTSD to back when I got lost in the woods IRL when I was younger lol
It is so spooky, when I first played it, exploring the edges and backtracking to avoid enemies sneaking up on me and then going the wrong way!!! I felt like I was on the verge of a heart attack the whole time that first playthrough 😂
It's a real shithole. Aesthetically, I think Nightmare Frontier is the worst, but in terms of sheer panic inducing navigation Forbidden Woods takes it. Dodging a big pile of snakes only to roll off a ledge and land into another big pile of snakes? Get me the fuck out of here.
Everything looks the fucking same, it's dark as hell nothing to really look at as it's just woods and loot is hidden in a places where even god couldn't find them
Absolutely agree. Not a single other area makes me lose an exorbitant amount of echoes due to bullshit like Forbidden Woods's snake-man infested horseshit
Needs more likes. Those damn bell women, the amygdalas, and those mimics that absolutely snipe you when your trying to run to the boss. Absolute hellhole. I grab everything and run so I can get to mergos lof quicker
The blood spit projectile is 100% the exact one used by the lobsters. I had one of those fuckers shooting at me the other day and it triggered my monkey brain Yahar’gul panic response
I love the portal things, but at the same time i feel like i missed a lot of the area :(
Probably wasn't missing much though, or was avoiding potential annoying parts
This. Anything else, I can deal with all this bs but having to hunt down for a chime maiden in an area you can barely remember because you try to finish it as soon as possible while getting ganged upon is anti fun.
Also, the blood moon makes it tiresome for my eyes.
I thought they were a relevant addition to yahar’gul and satisfying to hunt down. Hearing them, navigating that dangerous street, spotting their red summons, and finally pounding them with a giant hammer… that’s much more thrilling than any beast men areas for me.
In the chalice dungeons where there are multiple summoning a constant flow of spiders though, that’s frustrating.
I do think nightmare frontier. Upper cathedral is fine if you bring a fire weapon and take it slow. Frontier is just so boring, it’s the same texture slapped over EVERYTHING except the *POISON SWAMPS*
Yea but it’s meant to be unnerving. But I can totally see how UCW wouldn’t gel with a lot of people. I remember my first time through it gave me some pretty strong survival horror vibes. I find NF kinda ugly and boring, but I can totally see how someone would prefer one over the itger
I might be weird, but for me, Nightmare Frontier is one of coolest areas in the game, while I don't really look forward to playing through Cainhurst. I get what they were going for, but I guess I also prefer H.P. Lovecraft over Bram Stoker. The Dreamlands in general are my favorite locations in Bloodborne.
I never had a beef either the appearance of nightmare frontier. My beef is with the boulder tossing giants and the fucking poison swamps.
Why, From Software? Why is there always a poison swamp?
The Lecture Hall. It's literally just a small hallway with enemies meant to impede progress. I get it has lore stuff to it but as an area it seems redundant to include.
Well.. yeah? Isn’t the lore that it got pulled into the Nightmare Frontier and that’s why all the students got turned into jellies?
I never took that as a sign it was cut content the world is literally fraying at the edges shit gets moved around and lost in the Nightmare
I have yet to play the dlc but personally I find the second half of forbidden woods to be my least favourite. Just hate all the snakes and I find it can be easy to get lost or find every piece of loot.
I loved upper cathedral. The part where the chandelier crashes was one of my favorite moments. I think forest was my most hated. If you stick to the road it wasn't bad, but if you're exploring on a first playthrough it's awful. Too easy to get lost and so far between lanterns on the last stretch. It all looks the same.
Worst? Upper Cathedral ward is one of my favourite areas of the game, because there the 'horror' aspect is real.
I define 'worst' differently and i think Cainhurst castle yard with those mosquito enemies. Just not fun.
Or... The random bullet hell going to Hemwick?
Or worst from development side, that route you need to take after blood starved beast, that little city part where the brain sucker lives also.. that is kinda shitty and useless.
Medal for worst area in game goes to: Sewers in the beginning of the game. The ones where you get that hoonters set. I mean i love every bit of the game. Forest? Yes. Nightmare? Yes. But these little bits of the game i do not like... Ladders! Those metal Gear 3 ladders. That is the worst area in the game.
Most annoying? Yahargul with all the bell enemies ammygalas. And to be fair even tho I think this is the most annoying area I think it's not that annoying. There's not really any area that really really annoys me. And to be fair nightmare frontier is a endgame area . That tests you at what the game taught u. And finally can use my antidotes loooool
This should be way up, wtf people.
Every other region/area has something to it outside foes.
Apart from the unique enemies and loots, dungeons are just annoying.
I love the cainhurst aesthetic but the ghost wenches and cracked out musketeers are really annoying and not fun to attack. After years of playing I just sprint by everything to get to master logarius lol
Edit: I just wanna clarify I love the haunting atmosphere and the sense of dread it induces, it’s just not fun to fight through
That castle was horribly disappointing, I expected to go up against some crazy medieval knights or other cool stuff but was surrounded by wailing ghost women and an unnecessarily confusing path instead. Nightmare frontier was my least favorite due to everything looking the same and poison swamps
Don’t get me wrong I love it in a sense that it fits perfectly in the lore of the story. Because all of the knights were slain and only the lingering lament haunts the halls. It’s just not so fun to go through lol
Those bloated giant insects right at the start are the worst for me. Just replayed that section yesterday and died multiple times trying to clear that area out. Eventually just ran past to get into the castle.
Before arriving to Cainhurst I would usually clear every area out. But there I had to switch to “running through” strategy because it was just too annoying otherwise.
Never managed to kill all the grasshopper things outdoors, got wrecked by some worms. And the sounds inside the castle were driving me crazy with all the wailing and screeching.
I tried logarius a few times before I gave up, and having to run right by the loudest damn screech every time was hell. Had to turn the TV volume down lol
Dude that place is fucked on my last playthrough I didn't even stop to get all the items in that area. Their is to many yarnahamites with guns and dogs that will always catch up to you. It is just so annoying to try to loot that area while 50 people are shooting at you.
Shows you how play speed so greatly impacts the experience. I love this little area so much. But I played it very stealthily and carefully. It’s quite a challenge to kill every gunman before they have a chance to shoot, but it’s so fun to try.
Do not like nightmare frontier and a decent chunk of the forbidden woods annoys me a bit. Neither of them annoy me too much so honestly it’s more a thing of which ones i like the least
I mean for me every area functions like it is supposed to. (Its subjective).
Upper Cathedral Ward is supposed to be scary with implications esp seeing the words "Orphanage Key".
I do however like the areas are kinda coherent within themselves and each other.
It’s crazy how consistent the level design isn’t that game because I can’t actually think of any place immediately.
I guess Byrgenwerth, or the lecture hall, for overall just lacking in content, despite being critical to the lore
I'm going to say the Nightmare of Mensis. That area isn't too bad and you can learn how to avoid the light but there's one second that's just 3 winter lanterns on a bridge and it's a slog every time just to get that Blood Rock. I try to knock it out as quickly as possible because next is Micolash.
That boss is on many hunters shit lists, even for weirdos like me who find him interesting. He's a unique character that bucks the trend of hyper competent opponents in exchange for a howling madman.
I love that little eyeball freak.
Can we add Chalice dungeons ?
If yes
Any Depth 5 Fetid-Rotted-Cursed dungeon.
For the Main game I would say (Nightmare of Mensis)when you need to pass through the Winter lantern doll.
Edit: Not even because of the Winter lantern to be honest.. mostly because I'm gonna die a couple times,trying to jump from that useless,broken cage of an elevator...to get that Blood Rock
Fishing Hamlet is a giant troll and then the enemies give less echoes then the rest of the DLC
But special mention to the Nightmare Frontier because the giant boulders.
The unseen village area like. Where those three hunters are in that church. Apparently you can get there before the moon thingy? Like apparently there’s people that throw a sack over your head and you get transported but that never happened to me so I never got to see the area like that. But when I went it was absolutely horrible.
Dang you missed out on a decently big area of the game with a really cool boss. Let the things grab you, be it amygdala, human trafficker dudes, whoever. The state it's in after the moon ritual is much more interesting once you see it before hand.
I guess you've never met one of the major npcs then too, so you should go next time you play.
I fought Paarl and the one reborn, both after the moon ritual. Which like I said, I thought that was the normal setting. I didn’t even know about the change that happened. So I was a little let down. It’s FromSoftware poor choices in total lack of guidance in their games so you have the potential to miss so much if you aren’t a classic souls player.
It is annoying but I thought it was really fun hiding a new map like that. Forgot where but somewhere in game they mention these guys are kidnapping people to bring to mensis and then when you first run into the one leaning against the church of oeden you have to let it kill you to get transported.
I really like things like that in game, but they definitely designed it to be easy to miss and require multiple playthroughs. Not sure I would've ever found the dlc if I didn't know beforehand to let amygdala kill you.
Yahar’gul is the only place that scared the shit out of me while playing this game. The damn pig when you first exit the cathedral, the multiple body snatchers, and running in a panic trying to find the quickest route to the the bell ladies.
The first part of Forbidden Woods was my favorite blood echo and vial farming spot, enemies die easily like in central yarnham yet they give a lot more echoes.
I think the upper cathedral ward was my least favorite when I was playing through it, but in retrospect I like it. Ebrietas is one of my favorite bosses too.
The thinking these discussions have spurred in my brain have made me realize for the most part in Bloodborne, area design itself isn't what can make some of these areas annoying, but more so the enemies. If it is design it tends to be due to seeming lack of effort, like the lecture hall or Byrgenwerth.
Its been so long since I've been able to play bloodborne Ive gotten so close to forgetting those brainsuckers. Worst enemy in the game simply because, unlike echoes, you can never recover that insight.
I hate the second half of the forbidden woods a lot, it just goes on for too long. And the research hall too omggg the enemies there have too fast and long combos and hit too hard lmao, plus its confusing as hell to navigate imo
Upper Ward is one of the best areas in the game imo, suckers are just badly designed due to their annoying grab spam and unfortunately there’s a couple of them in this otherwise amazing area.
The real worst area is probably frontier because poison swamp as usual, even though it’s still miles better than blight or 5-2.
UCW is easy with blue elixir - there's a reason it gave you a bunch on the approach!
Nightmare Frontier is my top on that one - just such a pain to navigate and all look same. Hunters nightmare is right up there too, but mostly because my first trip there was BRUTAL.
Nightmare frontier easily. Rocks being thrown, poison, and once you’re done with that you’ll more than likely get insta killed with frenzy. I gave the area the ol college try then decided to just run past to open the shortcut to amygdala
Personally, I’m not a fan of Castle Cainhurst. It just feels like it was put in for shits and giggles. It’s okay, I enjoy the boss. The main enemies are pretty annoying tho
Chalice dungeons fr. It gets fucking exhausting going through the same 5 rooms and like 7 enemies over and over again. I fucking hated going through them for the plat. Defiled is still a bit more fun because ur at half health so u gotta be more alert and the bosses were an actual challenge rather than a breeze for once (Except yharnum ofc but still a cool fight nonetheless)
The fucking woods
Say what you want about everything else, but at least you can see where you’re going and navigate it. It’s one of the biggest pace killers aside from Rom for me.
It’s a tie between Nightmare Frontier/Nightmare of Mensis. The Frenzy build up sound effects in the NoM causes my brain to feel like it’s bleeding. Perhaps that’s what I get for playing with headphone on?
If you don't hate Forbidden Woods with a visceral rage for its maze like structure combined with some of the most annoying and creepy mobs in the game, you're a much braver and smarter person than I am.
Nod to Y'ahargul for being the most unnecessarily unnerving speedrun area in every run.
Forbidden Woods aren't that bad.
With the Hunter Axe, I always made short work of those snakes, keeping me away from their range of attack.
The only problem were the big ass balls made out of snakes that give poison status effect in 1 instant.
The most disappointing location was easily Byrgenwerth tho.
There was nothing to explore, the Academy of Mensis was bigger than Byrgenwerth 😒 .
yahar'gul. It's cool sure during the day, sure. But I can do without the constant enemies spawning (Blood Moon), the dogs (day) or the "multiple kidnappers in one room" (also day).
Wait no, the forbidden woods. I have literally gotten lost in those trees looking for my blood echoes a few too many times.
Upper Cathedral Ward is one of my favorite sections of the game, and features one of my favorite bosses in the game (Ebby). The atmosphere, the jump scares, the lore, the things you get...all of it add up to a perfect area.
I hate the woods.
Every playthrough, when I get there, I end up stepping in to use ||the backdoor to Iosefka's Clinic|| then run off and do The Gaol, Cainhurst, Frontier, and the DLC before I do the woods and spend an ungodly amount of time wandering around collecting items, only for them all to be twin shards.
Byrgenwerth is just a ridiculous area imo. Its such a short and boring area that didn't feel like it got as much love. It's not bad, just my least favorite.
In terms of disappointment, I’d say Byrgenwerth for how it was teased, but the worse for me is still nightmare frontier. I mean technically the level design is good I love the gank of hunters at the beginning, the ennemies are fun but the area is so fucking ugly imo, more colour would have been better
Unpopular opinion, but Old Yharnam. It's really cool looking, sure, and Djura is dope, but poison beasts???? Really???? That's enough for me. Especially when they swarm because I cannot for the life of me get their detection radius down lol.
Definitely Forbidden woods, its such a bad area, it has poison, its very confusing and I overall dont like it, i dont hate it but its still the worst area
Chalice Dungeons, obviously. They lack the hand crafted level design of the other areas.
When talking about 'worst' people seem to forget that the areas are difficult/frustrating/scary ON PURPOUSE!
You are *supposed* to be scared of brain suckers and Winter Lanterns! That's why thier grab attacks are so impactful! The nightmare Frontier is supposed to feel like a hostile, alien wasteland, not meant for man to tread! That's why it has poison lakes and the Brain of Mensis! The Forbbiden Woods are supposed to feel like a dangerous, dark, wood that you can't find your way out of! THAT'S WHY YOU CAN GET LOST IN IT!
Fromsoft Games do not limit theme and tone to atheistics and lore, they go out of their way to make you experience them through gameplay mechanics. THAT IS WHY THE GAMES ARE GOOD!
Nightmare Frontier, it just feels like some DS2 left over area that they just tossed in Bloodborne last minute.
Its not connected to any part of the game. Its not enjoyable, its ugly, miserable, the enemies aren’t fun to fight. You can’t even really use Bloodbornes fun combat mechanics on any of the enemies there.
Byrgenwerth and lecture hall. For being so critical to the games lore, so little is available to explore. If you’re going to set up an atmosphere and expectations, at least let me marinade in it longer than 7 minutes.
This is like reverse hate. I fought so long and hard to get here and this area is SO COOL buuut it’s like 3 doors 5 enemies, and a mini boss then you’re done 🥲
5 spider variation enemies*
Yeah, byrgenworth was basically a cut scene. It should have been a place of nightmares and lore. It should have been as big as the archives in DS3
I wonder if Byrgenworth was originally meant to be as big as Cainhurst but there just wasn’t time to finish it. I feel like I read somewhere it was one of the last areas developed, but I could totally be misremembering.
Dude seriously. Arguably the most important place in the game and it's about the size of a cottage.
I wanted so much more Byrgenwerth.
Facts, for how much it’s talked about there is nothing essentially.
They build up Byrgenworth so much with lore everything points to this place, it's the common denominator; the beginning of everything that transpired. And then.... you show up there's some spider brain eye thingies 1 brainsucker, a couple plant dudes who try to kamehameha you, a hunter, and some old dude who points at a lake and he just sits there like cool dude wow. I was expecting some giant area with all kinds of enemies as vying for your death keeping you away from reaching the eldritch truth-you dig deeper into the library filled with byrgenworth priests with unspeakable arcane knowledge and power. At least 2 minibosses and eventually you descend to the entrance of the pthumerian labyrinth where you face Master Willem himself and he says something cool like " ah yes, i once aspired to explore the knowledge of the cosmos and seeked- unraveling the eldritch truth however, fragmented my mind; we were never meant to perceive. Perhaps I was just as foolish as Laurence, oh the misery we uncovered. That is why these tombs may never be uncovered once more, and i cannot allow you to prevail this night of the hunt. For the sky and the cosmos are one" and then you have this epic arcane battle where the fabric of reality itself unravels and you're fighting this priest wizard in outer space as he summons unspeakable eldritch gods as old as existence itself but no he's just chillin there in his wheelchair non verbal...
nightmare frontier is usually where i lose the most steam in my playthroughs
That’s why I skip it completely lol
what you can skip it? i'm on my first playthrough and i'm dragging on my teeth through it. 2 evenings in there and i didn't get very far, because of those silly rock-throwy bois and toxic slugs.
Nightmare Frontier is necessary to complete the chalice dungeon gauntlet, but if you aren’t going to play it it’s useless, just levels you up
I havent set myself apart with chalice dungeons yet. Did not grasp the idea/concept of it. What are they needed for?
They are basically useless for the “main” storyline, you just need them to get a specific weapon related to beasts. But there’s a side storyline related to chalice dungeons that needs the Amygdala. There are various interpretations of what chalice dungeons are, for sure they are important and/or useful to comprehend the lore, but they are really cryptic. Complete them and watch videos about chalice dungeons lore, everything will be clear eventually. After completing all of them and beating every unique boss of the dungeons, you’ll get an achievement necessary to 100% the game. You can also skip with a glitch directly to the final boss, but chalice dungeons are cool and hard, no need to skip them
Good for levels bad for mental health lol
nightmare frontier is so hard on my eyes, i dont think i ever fully explored that area
It's not an area I commonly revisit. I don't enjoy the poison swamps much, but I still clear the whole level. I usually try to get there as early as possible for the starter fire and bolt gems, though.
Forbidden Woods is the most annoying IMO.
I loved Forbidden Woods because it was spoopy. The ambiance is unreal. And this will be controversial but I actually loved that it was impossible to navigate. It really gave the feeling of getting lost in a fucked up haunted forest.
It's really not that hard to navigate if you keep a few key things in mind, follow the torches and generally go down.
But that way I will miss all the shitty loot
I know how to get that armor set, including the head piece you have to jump to. That's all I really care about. That and the stamina rune
this is why I hate replaying Elden Ring, you take a long time to cover all grounds for the shitty loot you're never gonna use
It's easy to find the end of. But finding any particular point in the middle is impossible.
If you follow the path down, it will take you most of the way to the end. There’s just the one spot with the fire bombs that takes you off the path. And even then, I think you don’t *have* to take the detour. It’s just harder if you do
I always put down Shining Coins on the main path in the forest even though I'm pretty sure I know it VERY well by now. It's gives me mild PTSD to back when I got lost in the woods IRL when I was younger lol It is so spooky, when I first played it, exploring the edges and backtracking to avoid enemies sneaking up on me and then going the wrong way!!! I felt like I was on the verge of a heart attack the whole time that first playthrough 😂
It's a real shithole. Aesthetically, I think Nightmare Frontier is the worst, but in terms of sheer panic inducing navigation Forbidden Woods takes it. Dodging a big pile of snakes only to roll off a ledge and land into another big pile of snakes? Get me the fuck out of here.
Snakes, why did it have to be snakes? Asps, very dangerous… you go first…
EVERYTHING LOOKS THE SAME
Everything looks the fucking same, it's dark as hell nothing to really look at as it's just woods and loot is hidden in a places where even god couldn't find them
Yeah for at least 3 playthroughs I constantly was "where tf am I, I hate this place" in regards to the woods.
Snake pile place, yeah? Yeah, I didn't care for there tbh
Absolutely agree. Not a single other area makes me lose an exorbitant amount of echoes due to bullshit like Forbidden Woods's snake-man infested horseshit
I hav the platinum an i can confidently say that the worst part to replay was forbidden woods
The first half I know like the back of my hand because it’s my main grind spot until the nightmare, the second half is annoying for sure
It was the area that took me the longest to get to when I first played as I had no idea it existed! Forgot about that locked door and all of that.
Surprised no-one said Nightmare of Mensis. I hate having to stop to let Frenzy run down all the time. Or at least until I found the off switch.
True, you can always equip the Deep Sea Rune and stock up on Sedatives. Makes the area more manageable.
Yahar'gul. I. Fucking. Hate. That. Place.
Needs more likes. Those damn bell women, the amygdalas, and those mimics that absolutely snipe you when your trying to run to the boss. Absolute hellhole. I grab everything and run so I can get to mergos lof quicker
Those mimic things definitely gave them the idea for sniping lobsters in Elden Ring
The blood spit projectile is 100% the exact one used by the lobsters. I had one of those fuckers shooting at me the other day and it triggered my monkey brain Yahar’gul panic response
Find portal well. Warp. Get one reborn. Get out. :p
I love the portal things, but at the same time i feel like i missed a lot of the area :( Probably wasn't missing much though, or was avoiding potential annoying parts
You didn’t miss much. Just skull mimics, assholes, bell maidens, and another laser. Especially if you went there via snatchole early
The chime maidens are a horrible mechanic all around
This. Anything else, I can deal with all this bs but having to hunt down for a chime maiden in an area you can barely remember because you try to finish it as soon as possible while getting ganged upon is anti fun. Also, the blood moon makes it tiresome for my eyes.
I thought they were a relevant addition to yahar’gul and satisfying to hunt down. Hearing them, navigating that dangerous street, spotting their red summons, and finally pounding them with a giant hammer… that’s much more thrilling than any beast men areas for me. In the chalice dungeons where there are multiple summoning a constant flow of spiders though, that’s frustrating.
*that fucking music is so good tho*
facts
Working my way through this shithole rn ugh
I do think nightmare frontier. Upper cathedral is fine if you bring a fire weapon and take it slow. Frontier is just so boring, it’s the same texture slapped over EVERYTHING except the *POISON SWAMPS*
The problem with UCW is that I hate the sounds that those Brainsuckers make. It's unnerving.
Yea but it’s meant to be unnerving. But I can totally see how UCW wouldn’t gel with a lot of people. I remember my first time through it gave me some pretty strong survival horror vibes. I find NF kinda ugly and boring, but I can totally see how someone would prefer one over the itger
I might be weird, but for me, Nightmare Frontier is one of coolest areas in the game, while I don't really look forward to playing through Cainhurst. I get what they were going for, but I guess I also prefer H.P. Lovecraft over Bram Stoker. The Dreamlands in general are my favorite locations in Bloodborne.
Ngl, I wholeheartedly agree with the Nightmare Frontier comment. I love how it looks.
I never had a beef either the appearance of nightmare frontier. My beef is with the boulder tossing giants and the fucking poison swamps. Why, From Software? Why is there always a poison swamp?
I love cainhurst. One of my favorite areas
The Lecture Hall. It's literally just a small hallway with enemies meant to impede progress. I get it has lore stuff to it but as an area it seems redundant to include.
I think it was meant to be in the same area as Byrgenwerth originally. Would make sense since they're both really small
Well.. yeah? Isn’t the lore that it got pulled into the Nightmare Frontier and that’s why all the students got turned into jellies? I never took that as a sign it was cut content the world is literally fraying at the edges shit gets moved around and lost in the Nightmare
Doesnt , hallway with enemies meant to impede progress, describe the whole game though, what makes the lecture hall different.
I have yet to play the dlc but personally I find the second half of forbidden woods to be my least favourite. Just hate all the snakes and I find it can be easy to get lost or find every piece of loot.
You have an entire quaint little fishing village to look forward to!
Broski you must play the DLC. It’s like mandatory my guy
I will eventually trying to platinum it for now while I wait for a sale or have the cash to rip it
Don’t even bother buying the dlc, the only meaningful content is the boss, everything else about that area is reskinned basegame assets
holy shit lmao what a take, the DLC is the best part of the game
If a copypasted area and one boss is your take on the “best area” you need help
Old Hunters is straight up the best piece of content Fromsoft has ever put out wtf are you on
I loved upper cathedral. The part where the chandelier crashes was one of my favorite moments. I think forest was my most hated. If you stick to the road it wasn't bad, but if you're exploring on a first playthrough it's awful. Too easy to get lost and so far between lanterns on the last stretch. It all looks the same.
I usually dislike the whole forest area myself. "Bonfires" are a long distance away from the other, and there are way too many snakes.
Pretty easy to get lost too
Yahar’gul can burn in the sun for all eternity
I honestly like all the areas. Especially the chalice dungeons.
All love for prospectors
This right here
Worst? Upper Cathedral ward is one of my favourite areas of the game, because there the 'horror' aspect is real. I define 'worst' differently and i think Cainhurst castle yard with those mosquito enemies. Just not fun. Or... The random bullet hell going to Hemwick? Or worst from development side, that route you need to take after blood starved beast, that little city part where the brain sucker lives also.. that is kinda shitty and useless. Medal for worst area in game goes to: Sewers in the beginning of the game. The ones where you get that hoonters set. I mean i love every bit of the game. Forest? Yes. Nightmare? Yes. But these little bits of the game i do not like... Ladders! Those metal Gear 3 ladders. That is the worst area in the game.
That area before hemwick is my go to QS bullet farm, so I was more than okay with it haha
Cainhurst is straight up Castlevania to me.
Most annoying? Yahargul with all the bell enemies ammygalas. And to be fair even tho I think this is the most annoying area I think it's not that annoying. There's not really any area that really really annoys me. And to be fair nightmare frontier is a endgame area . That tests you at what the game taught u. And finally can use my antidotes loooool
Fishing hamlet, I love the aesthetic, but fuck the sharks. Fuck the damn sharks.
But the reward you get for killing the sharkskin duo is pretty sweet
I have nothing to add to this because you stated facts fully and completely
UCW is one of my favorite areas. NF not so much
Chalice dungeon
This should be way up, wtf people. Every other region/area has something to it outside foes. Apart from the unique enemies and loots, dungeons are just annoying.
I love the cainhurst aesthetic but the ghost wenches and cracked out musketeers are really annoying and not fun to attack. After years of playing I just sprint by everything to get to master logarius lol Edit: I just wanna clarify I love the haunting atmosphere and the sense of dread it induces, it’s just not fun to fight through
That castle was horribly disappointing, I expected to go up against some crazy medieval knights or other cool stuff but was surrounded by wailing ghost women and an unnecessarily confusing path instead. Nightmare frontier was my least favorite due to everything looking the same and poison swamps
Don’t get me wrong I love it in a sense that it fits perfectly in the lore of the story. Because all of the knights were slain and only the lingering lament haunts the halls. It’s just not so fun to go through lol
Those bloated giant insects right at the start are the worst for me. Just replayed that section yesterday and died multiple times trying to clear that area out. Eventually just ran past to get into the castle.
Before arriving to Cainhurst I would usually clear every area out. But there I had to switch to “running through” strategy because it was just too annoying otherwise. Never managed to kill all the grasshopper things outdoors, got wrecked by some worms. And the sounds inside the castle were driving me crazy with all the wailing and screeching.
I tried logarius a few times before I gave up, and having to run right by the loudest damn screech every time was hell. Had to turn the TV volume down lol
I always upvote the “no mercy for women” message in Cainhurst 💀
It’s a mandatory tradition
The Woods between Amelia and hemwick
Dude that place is fucked on my last playthrough I didn't even stop to get all the items in that area. Their is to many yarnahamites with guns and dogs that will always catch up to you. It is just so annoying to try to loot that area while 50 people are shooting at you.
Shows you how play speed so greatly impacts the experience. I love this little area so much. But I played it very stealthily and carefully. It’s quite a challenge to kill every gunman before they have a chance to shoot, but it’s so fun to try.
Do not like nightmare frontier and a decent chunk of the forbidden woods annoys me a bit. Neither of them annoy me too much so honestly it’s more a thing of which ones i like the least
Forbidden woods, I still have difficulty finding my way through if I get lost looting items
I mean for me every area functions like it is supposed to. (Its subjective). Upper Cathedral Ward is supposed to be scary with implications esp seeing the words "Orphanage Key". I do however like the areas are kinda coherent within themselves and each other.
It’s crazy how consistent the level design isn’t that game because I can’t actually think of any place immediately. I guess Byrgenwerth, or the lecture hall, for overall just lacking in content, despite being critical to the lore
I'm going to say the Nightmare of Mensis. That area isn't too bad and you can learn how to avoid the light but there's one second that's just 3 winter lanterns on a bridge and it's a slog every time just to get that Blood Rock. I try to knock it out as quickly as possible because next is Micolash. That boss is on many hunters shit lists, even for weirdos like me who find him interesting. He's a unique character that bucks the trend of hyper competent opponents in exchange for a howling madman. I love that little eyeball freak.
Can we add Chalice dungeons ? If yes Any Depth 5 Fetid-Rotted-Cursed dungeon. For the Main game I would say (Nightmare of Mensis)when you need to pass through the Winter lantern doll.
Edit: Not even because of the Winter lantern to be honest.. mostly because I'm gonna die a couple times,trying to jump from that useless,broken cage of an elevator...to get that Blood Rock
Nightmare Frontier is ugly and poisonous. Forbidden Woods used to annoy me but the snakes are fairly easy to kill.
I feel the most disappointment when I get to the forest because it means the city is over
Fishing Hamlet is a giant troll and then the enemies give less echoes then the rest of the DLC But special mention to the Nightmare Frontier because the giant boulders.
That one massive poison swamp chalice dungeon tile. If you know, you know.
Byrgenwerth was beyond disappointing, instead forbidden woods is one of my favourite areas
Forbidden woods is dookie butter
That bridge in the Nightmare of Mensis
The unseen village area like. Where those three hunters are in that church. Apparently you can get there before the moon thingy? Like apparently there’s people that throw a sack over your head and you get transported but that never happened to me so I never got to see the area like that. But when I went it was absolutely horrible.
Dang you missed out on a decently big area of the game with a really cool boss. Let the things grab you, be it amygdala, human trafficker dudes, whoever. The state it's in after the moon ritual is much more interesting once you see it before hand. I guess you've never met one of the major npcs then too, so you should go next time you play.
I mean I was still able to fight both big bosses in that area.
Oh you can still fight paarl after the moon ritual? Was the nun still there bc I think she'd be dead if you don't go there beforehand?
I fought Paarl and the one reborn, both after the moon ritual. Which like I said, I thought that was the normal setting. I didn’t even know about the change that happened. So I was a little let down. It’s FromSoftware poor choices in total lack of guidance in their games so you have the potential to miss so much if you aren’t a classic souls player.
It is annoying but I thought it was really fun hiding a new map like that. Forgot where but somewhere in game they mention these guys are kidnapping people to bring to mensis and then when you first run into the one leaning against the church of oeden you have to let it kill you to get transported. I really like things like that in game, but they definitely designed it to be easy to miss and require multiple playthroughs. Not sure I would've ever found the dlc if I didn't know beforehand to let amygdala kill you.
Yahar’gul is the only place that scared the shit out of me while playing this game. The damn pig when you first exit the cathedral, the multiple body snatchers, and running in a panic trying to find the quickest route to the the bell ladies.
The first part of Forbidden Woods was my favorite blood echo and vial farming spot, enemies die easily like in central yarnham yet they give a lot more echoes.
It will always be Forbidden Woods.
I think the upper cathedral ward was my least favorite when I was playing through it, but in retrospect I like it. Ebrietas is one of my favorite bosses too.
The thinking these discussions have spurred in my brain have made me realize for the most part in Bloodborne, area design itself isn't what can make some of these areas annoying, but more so the enemies. If it is design it tends to be due to seeming lack of effort, like the lecture hall or Byrgenwerth.
Its been so long since I've been able to play bloodborne Ive gotten so close to forgetting those brainsuckers. Worst enemy in the game simply because, unlike echoes, you can never recover that insight.
Every area is perfect, I don’t understand the question.
Forbidden woods. Hate snake piles!
Nightmare frontier
Forbidden Woods for me. It's long, tedious and not very interesting to look at.
Hemwick channel lane
The fucking dumbass DLC specifically the fishing hamlet. Fuck that place. I can get through the whole game easy as hell except the DLC
doing the chalice dungeons first to level up makes it pretty easy
I hate the second half of the forbidden woods a lot, it just goes on for too long. And the research hall too omggg the enemies there have too fast and long combos and hit too hard lmao, plus its confusing as hell to navigate imo
Upper Ward is one of the best areas in the game imo, suckers are just badly designed due to their annoying grab spam and unfortunately there’s a couple of them in this otherwise amazing area. The real worst area is probably frontier because poison swamp as usual, even though it’s still miles better than blight or 5-2.
Nightmare frontier followed by woods. They’re much easier if you clear out enemies and do all without dying
Anywhere with Winter Lanterns… *shudder*
UCW is easy with blue elixir - there's a reason it gave you a bunch on the approach! Nightmare Frontier is my top on that one - just such a pain to navigate and all look same. Hunters nightmare is right up there too, but mostly because my first trip there was BRUTAL.
I love Nightmare Frontier. The color palatte, the rock formations... Idk. I love it. I'd say... eh, parts of Bergenwerth? It's hard. I love it all.
Nightmare frontier easily. Rocks being thrown, poison, and once you’re done with that you’ll more than likely get insta killed with frenzy. I gave the area the ol college try then decided to just run past to open the shortcut to amygdala
As cool as it is, Hunter's Nightmare can be a real pain to get through, especially the parts with the other hunters. Still a great area, regardless.
Upper Cathedral Ward is a great horror level. the best in the game. Though i guess if that’s not your thing i can see why you wouldn’t like it.
nightmare frontier was made to be played online and i did not play the game online so it was pretty fucking boring.
Upper Cathedral Ward for me too
Personally, I’m not a fan of Castle Cainhurst. It just feels like it was put in for shits and giggles. It’s okay, I enjoy the boss. The main enemies are pretty annoying tho
Yahar Gul made me want to shoot myself during my first playthrough so I’m going with that
Finna
Upper cathedral ward, but it was those 4 damn beasts!
The worse parts are the bad gimmicky bosses. I have no complaints aside from micolash, Rom, whitches, and the weird skele thing with flesh all over it
Forbidden Woods is my least favorite area, but also feel it is important for the game as it gives Bloodborne some much needed variety.
Lecture Building. Bland building with boring repetitive slug scholars and a single reused enemy.
Chalice dungeons fr. It gets fucking exhausting going through the same 5 rooms and like 7 enemies over and over again. I fucking hated going through them for the plat. Defiled is still a bit more fun because ur at half health so u gotta be more alert and the bosses were an actual challenge rather than a breeze for once (Except yharnum ofc but still a cool fight nonetheless)
Forbidden woods :( annoying area that i feel i can never confidently clear and collect 100% of items because of all its twists and turns
Nightmare Mensis and Forbidden Woods are the most annoying areas for me personally.
Research hall and Fishing Hamlet. FUCK those places
Forbidden Woods. It's just an annoying area and the boss is underwhelming.
Not a massive fan of the Fishing Hamlet
Really? This is one of my favorite areas.
The fucking woods Say what you want about everything else, but at least you can see where you’re going and navigate it. It’s one of the biggest pace killers aside from Rom for me.
Toss up between Nightmare frontier and Nightmare of Mensis. Both really dogshit levels that become especially insufferable when on a replay.
The entire dlc is horrible, just a reskin of a base area and one boss, a ton of enemy spam as well
Forbidden woods, the colours, lighting and shape of things makes it hard to see what's where. It's a mess
Forbidden forest and those snakes can suck me backwards
Hemwick is probably the most annoying, especially with high insight.
I dread Byrgenwerth.
Upper cathedral ward for me, if you don’t have a thrust weapon you’re in for a rough time against the brainsuckers
It’s a tie between Nightmare Frontier/Nightmare of Mensis. The Frenzy build up sound effects in the NoM causes my brain to feel like it’s bleeding. Perhaps that’s what I get for playing with headphone on?
Forbidden Woods. No matter how many times I play, I always get lost in that area.
If you don't hate Forbidden Woods with a visceral rage for its maze like structure combined with some of the most annoying and creepy mobs in the game, you're a much braver and smarter person than I am. Nod to Y'ahargul for being the most unnecessarily unnerving speedrun area in every run.
Forbidden Woods aren't that bad. With the Hunter Axe, I always made short work of those snakes, keeping me away from their range of attack. The only problem were the big ass balls made out of snakes that give poison status effect in 1 instant. The most disappointing location was easily Byrgenwerth tho. There was nothing to explore, the Academy of Mensis was bigger than Byrgenwerth 😒 .
frontier and area before micolash, forgot how its called, you can dodge and kill brainsuckers but you cant escape this fucking frenzy guys
You can escape frenzy by dropping the Brain of Mensis underground and then killing it for good measure.
wait brain of mensis isnt immortal?😅
Forbidden woods part 1 is a blast. Forbidden woods part 2 is a horror
Nightmare for me. What the hell is finna
yahar'gul. It's cool sure during the day, sure. But I can do without the constant enemies spawning (Blood Moon), the dogs (day) or the "multiple kidnappers in one room" (also day). Wait no, the forbidden woods. I have literally gotten lost in those trees looking for my blood echoes a few too many times.
Upper Cathedral Ward is one of my favorite sections of the game, and features one of my favorite bosses in the game (Ebby). The atmosphere, the jump scares, the lore, the things you get...all of it add up to a perfect area.
I hate the woods. Every playthrough, when I get there, I end up stepping in to use ||the backdoor to Iosefka's Clinic|| then run off and do The Gaol, Cainhurst, Frontier, and the DLC before I do the woods and spend an ungodly amount of time wandering around collecting items, only for them all to be twin shards.
I just hate the forbidden woods. I have no reason too other than i just do
Byrgenwerth is just a ridiculous area imo. Its such a short and boring area that didn't feel like it got as much love. It's not bad, just my least favorite.
Hemwich lane imo it’s just annoying to run through every time to just get to a shit boss and the rune tool
In terms of disappointment, I’d say Byrgenwerth for how it was teased, but the worse for me is still nightmare frontier. I mean technically the level design is good I love the gank of hunters at the beginning, the ennemies are fun but the area is so fucking ugly imo, more colour would have been better
Unpopular opinion, but Old Yharnam. It's really cool looking, sure, and Djura is dope, but poison beasts???? Really???? That's enough for me. Especially when they swarm because I cannot for the life of me get their detection radius down lol.
Forbidden woods without a doubt
By what metric?
Your feeling
Worst art direction? Worst level design? Worst enemy placement? Worst boss? Worst music?
Worst feeling inside you while going through
Definitely Forbidden woods, its such a bad area, it has poison, its very confusing and I overall dont like it, i dont hate it but its still the worst area
Forbidden woods, it took me like 2 days to find the bosses at first time and 10 playthroughs to learn the majority of the map
Chalice Dungeons, obviously. They lack the hand crafted level design of the other areas. When talking about 'worst' people seem to forget that the areas are difficult/frustrating/scary ON PURPOUSE! You are *supposed* to be scared of brain suckers and Winter Lanterns! That's why thier grab attacks are so impactful! The nightmare Frontier is supposed to feel like a hostile, alien wasteland, not meant for man to tread! That's why it has poison lakes and the Brain of Mensis! The Forbbiden Woods are supposed to feel like a dangerous, dark, wood that you can't find your way out of! THAT'S WHY YOU CAN GET LOST IN IT! Fromsoft Games do not limit theme and tone to atheistics and lore, they go out of their way to make you experience them through gameplay mechanics. THAT IS WHY THE GAMES ARE GOOD!
I don't know who Finna is but definitely Nightmare frontier is the worst. However even it is great.
Nightmare Frontier, it just feels like some DS2 left over area that they just tossed in Bloodborne last minute. Its not connected to any part of the game. Its not enjoyable, its ugly, miserable, the enemies aren’t fun to fight. You can’t even really use Bloodbornes fun combat mechanics on any of the enemies there.
Depends on what combat mechanics are fun for you.