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00:15Welcome to MojoPlays and today we're looking at those butt puckering moments in Souls games
00:20that had us squeezing our controllers to the point of breaking. This isn't just about tough
00:24bosses, these are the 20 most stressful moments in Souls games. Let's wipe our brows and do this
00:29thing. Before we continue, we publish content all week long so be sure to subscribe and ring the bell
00:35to get notified of our latest videos. Laggy Invaders Dark Souls series
00:48Multiplayer in Souls games has always had its own style and Dark Souls PvP ranges from honorable
00:53duelists who bow politely to gremlins hiding behind cliffs waiting to yeet you off with the force like
00:58they're auditioning for WWE. But there's one stressful moment that accompanies an already
01:02stressful invasion. Internet. And you won't know whether it's going to be a problem until the player
01:08invades and the fight starts. The invaders internet connection becomes the real boss. Some players
01:12have such low bandwidth they teleport behind you like budget anime villains. And that's not even
01:17counting lag switches. Playing with friends is great but dealing with rubber banding backstab ninjas?
01:22Less great. Tomb of the Giants Dark Souls
01:36Making it through the catacombs is tough but trying to clear the Tomb of the Giants without a light
01:41source is basically Dark Souls saying what if we turn the difficulty knob past 10 and straight in to drive
01:46the controller through your skull. Every late game zone has its gimmick. Dukes archives have rotating
01:51floors. Lost Izalith makes you stroll across lava you know like you're late for work in Mordor. A new
01:56Lando forces you to accessorize with exactly one specific ring. But Tomb of the Giants its gimmick
02:02is simple. You can't see Jack. It's pitch black. Perfect for walking off cliffs. Without a sunlight maggot or
02:08cast light you have to give up your offhand just to see two feet in front of you. Which you'll
02:12need since
02:13you basically signed up for a blindfolded skeleton beatdown.
02:25Being cursed is expensive Dark Souls.
02:34If you get caught in the giant gas cloud of a basilisk you get cursed and trust me you want
02:39to
02:39avoid this with every roll you've got in your back pocket. But if you do get cursed boom instant
02:45death. Doesn't matter if you had full HP or drank 10 Estus flasks. Congrats you're now a stylish stone
02:50lawn ornament. The real pain comes after though. Curse halves your max HP, turns off kindling and
02:56humanity and basically tells you to enjoy playing an extra hard mode. The only cure is a purging stone
03:01which means trekking back from the depths to one of the two NPCs and paying 3000 or 6000
03:06souls. Depending on how long you want your walk of shame to be. Next time, don't inhale evil gas.
03:18Ashen Idols Dark Souls 2
03:26The Dark Souls 2 DLC, Crown of the Old Iron King, comes with one very tough mechanic. Smelter wedges,
03:33the tiny metal toothpicks of justice used to break Ashen Idols. Destroying an idol gives you a soul
03:38fragment, which is nice, but these little statues also constantly heal every Ashen warrior nearby.
03:44So you're trying to fight these lava-proof jerks while they regenerate HP faster than a shampoo
03:48commercial model. Add in broom towers, traps, narrow ledges and generally upsetting vibes and things
03:54get spicy pretty fast. Worse, smelter wedges are limited and have to be scavenged throughout the
03:58tower. At the bottom, Ashen Idols even heal the boss. If you don't destroy both or run out of wedges
04:04entirely, the fight becomes a soul-crushing marathon. I hope you like hitting things forever, because it's not
04:09stopping. The road through the gutter Dark Souls 2
04:31Most Dark Souls 2 players remember the gutter as that place where I fell off every five seconds.
04:36It's a pitch black maze of platforms where progress basically means climbing up and down like a
04:41confused plumber while you frantically light torches just to see three feet in front of you. Then you
04:45escape the gutter and think, surely it gets better. No. Welcome to Black Gulch, aka Poison World 2,
04:52now with worms. It's more linear, but the statues return in greater numbers. Darksuckers and giant worms
04:57block your path like bouncers at a nightclub, and before you reach the next bonfire, an NPC invader jumps
05:03you because apparently the developers want to pay your medical bills. The boss is easy, admittedly,
05:08but that doesn't erase the poison frustration.
05:24Melania, Blade of Mechela, Elden Ring
05:26I dreamt for so long. Yay, our first entry from Elden Ring. We got so far into this list without
05:37it.
05:37Here we go. This is one of those bosses everyone knew about long before actually meeting her.
05:42Thanks to the legend of let me solo her, players basically got a public service announcement.
05:47Melania is coming. Prepare your tears. And your anus. Melania, Blade of Mechela,
05:53sits comfortably in the S tier of From Software Pain Dealers, right next to Orphan of Kos and Sister
05:58Frida. Her first phase is tough, but doable. Then phase two hits and she becomes Melania,
06:05goddess of rot. Melania, but with DLC installed. Now she's throwing out lightning-fast combos,
06:11arena-wide explosions, phantom clones, and enough scarlet rot to qualify as a biohazard.
06:16The cherry on top, she heals any time she pokes you. So sometimes your spirit ash helps her more than
06:21you.
06:27MESMA's second phase, Elden Ring.
06:29That tarnished, it seemeth.
06:38Mother, wouldst thou truly lordship sanction?
06:43Elden Ring twice in a row? Boss fights twice in a row? God damn, well done, Elden Ring.
06:48MESMA was, at least for me, the first boss in the Elden Ring DLC Shadow of the Earth Tree
06:52that stood out for difficulty. Difficult bosses had been fought, but MESMA stepped things up,
06:58and it was the second phase that took things from, hmm, this is tough, to I might never finish this
07:02game.
07:03In phase two, MESMA decides being a murderous pyro isn't spicy enough and upgrades into a giant snake,
07:09and acts like it. Everything you learned in phase one? Useless.
07:13He slithers in with brand new moves designed specifically to ruin your muscle memory and your mood.
07:18It's one of those fights where you get so close to victory once,
07:21and then spend the next 12 attempts wondering if the first run was just a hallucination.
07:39The pickaxe in Dark Souls 2 isn't just hard to get, it's basically the game whispering,
07:53you weren't supposed to find this. Its requirements are so absurd, you'd think From Software lost a bet.
07:58You have to lure a wild pig halfway across Drangleic, like you're starring in the world's
08:03angriest petting zoo, guiding it through enemy gauntlets until it reaches the sacred mushroom snack
08:08spot, TM, and digs up the pickaxe. Yes, the pig can do this naturally, but getting it to cooperate
08:13is like convincing a toddler to walk a marathon. No wonder this thing is one of the most hidden items
08:18in the whole game. Guiding this thing through enemies without it losing focus, getting killed,
08:22or killing itself is a stress on par with carrying those goddamn eggs in Monster Hunter.
08:40A baiting dog.
08:42Promised Consort Radhan, Elden Ring.
09:01In the Elden Ring DLC, Radhan makes a brutal turn, and if you think he was tough in the base
09:05game, you're done for.
09:07Promised Consort Radhan is basically Star Scourge Radhan
09:11after chugging five energy drinks and deciding therapy is for quitters.
09:14Easily one of the most soul-crushing bosses in The Souls-like history,
09:18he snatches the hardest boss crown for millennia comfortably.
09:21He's a demigod turned god turned nightmare
09:24with both long-range and close-range attacks
09:26that feel like they were designed by someone who thinks Dark Souls is easy.
09:29You'll cycle through more builds than a contractor on a deadline,
09:32and it still won't feel fair.
09:43Losing a Bloodstain Dark Souls Series
09:51Everyone knows the pain of dying in Dark Souls
09:53and then making the long, sweaty pilgrimage back to your bloodstain
09:56to collect your souls, or runes if you're playing Elton Ring.
09:58The stretch between bonfires is a gauntlet designed
10:01by someone who got fired from a funhouse for going too far.
10:04This trek is stress on top of stress,
10:06and if you die again, maybe to a trap, an enemy, or good old Sir Isaac Newton,
10:11it feels like you're watching your entire retirement plan evaporate
10:14because you tripped on a pixel.
10:15Losing thousands of souls in one go hurts.
10:18When the You Died screen pops up in the exact same spot,
10:22it's relatable misery every Souls player knows too well.
10:25Hours of life, eat it straight into the void.
10:34Fishing Hamlet and Shark Giants Bloodborne
10:47Welcome to the Fishing Hamlet.
10:49Annoying enough on its own, but home to one of the most annoying enemy types in Bloodborne,
10:53Shark Giants.
10:54Narrow walkways, limited cover, and swarms of aggressive foes
10:58force players into annoying spots for swinging swords,
11:01leaving almost no room for error.
11:03Then, there's the Shark Giants,
11:04the hard-hitting enemies whose attacks can one-shot or stagger.
11:08Don't even bother thinking you can duck this section with aggressive healing
11:11because it's strikingly limited.
11:13Let me quote the great, a good hunter from Reddit.
11:16What am I missing here?
11:17What can I learn, practice, and get good at to reliably kill this enemy?
11:21Nothing, Hunter.
11:22Nothing.
11:32The Lake of Rot, Elden Ring
11:46The Lake of Rot in Elden Ring is one of the game's most stressful areas,
11:49placing players in unrelenting danger with almost no room to relax.
11:53The stress of navigating this area, reaching every corner, solving the puzzles,
11:56and fighting the bosses is turned up to 11 with Scarlet Rot infecting you almost instantly,
12:02a status effect that steadily drains health and demands constant cures or meticulous preparation.
12:07Movement is sluggish and punishing,
12:09while lurking enemies and environmental threats heighten the pressure.
12:12Every resource must be carefully managed as the inevitable rot builds.
12:16Combined with its oppressive atmosphere, unsettling music,
12:19and pervasive sense of helplessness,
12:21The Lake of Rot turns each step into a tense gamble for life,
12:25which is also the name of my autobiography.
12:35Anor Londo Dark Souls
12:47Have you tried to move through Anor Londo in Dark Souls?
12:51Trust me, if you had, you'd never forget it.
12:53First off, flying buttresses are infamous for breaking newcomers,
12:57and then the section of Anor Londo with the silver knight archers has become a true rite of passage,
13:01testing whether players can stay calm while being relentlessly shot off narrow ledges into the abyss.
13:06Many gave up here entirely.
13:08Those who persevered soon faced another war.
13:11Ornstein and Smaug, the game's most brutal boss duo.
13:15Without solid dodging skills and careful stamina management,
13:18players were doomed to repeat the fight until they adapted.
13:21For many, this section was the ultimate test of patience and rage.
13:24And stress.
13:37Frigid Outskirts Dark Souls 2
13:39On to another stress-inducing section, we have the Frigid Outskirts.
13:50All of the Dark Souls 2 DLCs are notoriously tough,
13:53but none compared to the misery of the Frigid Outskirts in The Crown of the Ivory King.
13:57This area features some of the franchise's worst enemy designs and one of FromSoftware's most punishing boss runs.
14:04Much like the Tomb of the Giants, a blinding snowstorm limits visibility,
14:08while reindeer enemies charge out of the whiteout to knock you down and deal heavy damage,
14:12something Elden Ring players would have experienced years later at about 10% the annoyance.
14:17After minutes of wandering aimlessly, players finally reach a boss fight against two re-skinned versions of Ava.
14:23The fight is easier than the trek itself, but guess what death means?
14:26Repeating the entire run.
14:28F***.
14:36The Ritual Path Demon's Souls
14:38I mean this with absolutely no hyperbole.
14:46I googled the Ritual Path so I could revisit it before writing about it,
14:50and in all my days at Mojo, I've never seen so many Reddit posts about how the hell do I
14:56get through this section.
14:57The Ritual Path in Demon's Souls is notoriously difficult because it combines oppressive design with brutal enemy placement.
15:03Placement that requires a complete knowledge of the area,
15:06as walkthroughs will often have you cheesing kills with well-placed shots and magic before even getting there.
15:11The area is shrouded in darkness, making navigation tricky and giving enemies the advantage of surprise.
15:17Reaper enemies summon waves of lethal shadow creatures, forcing players to either rush the Reaper or risk being overwhelmed.
15:23The narrow pathways leave little room for maneuvering, and a single mistake often results in death.
15:28Add in powerful black phantom enemies and a deadly fall to the abyss below,
15:31and the Ritual Path becomes a test of patience I'm not interested in repeating.
15:51Old Yharnam in Bloodborne is stress on stress on stress.
15:54From the moment you enter, you're greeted by Jura's Gatling gun raining down bullets,
15:57forcing you to dash between cover while beasts swarm the streets.
16:00These stressful moments would be well and truly enough to get it onto this list, but it goes on.
16:05The level's vertical design makes you feel constantly exposed, with enemies lurking around blind corners.
16:11Most foes inflict poison, punishing hasty movement while also forcing you to fight with speed.
16:15It's just an impossible combo.
16:17Old Yharnam teaches you that rushing ahead is deadly, yet lingering too long is equally dangerous.
16:22A lot of this list is about stressful areas, but this one stays with me personally more than most.
16:38Blighttown Dark Souls
16:47Even by modern Souls-like standards, no poison swamp compares to the nightmare of Blighttown in the original Dark Souls.
16:54It's lake of rot on crack.
16:56Even the path to get to this infamously sh**ty swampland is stressful.
17:01Inside Blighttown, players must navigate a ramshackle vertical maze of rickety platforms and awkwardly placed ladders,
17:07all while exposed to enemies at every goddamn angle.
17:10Hulking ogres hurl cleavers, toxic darts shooters drain your HP, and insects lash out with blood and fire.
17:17This area is achievable now, with everyone having their methods pinned down.
17:28Ringed City Dark Souls 3
17:41Yay, Dark Souls 3 made it on this list.
17:44Oh no, it's because of the Ringed City.
17:46The Ringed City DLC for Dark Souls 3 stands among the hardest content in the entire trilogy.
17:52Traversing its ruined streets is brutal, with Ringed Knights arguably the series' toughest standard foes,
17:57and don't forget the Relentless Angels.
17:59This city requires complete, unfiltered mastery of combat fundamentals.
18:03Designed for endgame characters, the enemies here are stronger than anywhere else in DS3.
18:08Its bosses, especially Dark Eater Medea and Slave Knight Gale, push players to their limits.
18:13Is it cheating to include the entirety of a DLC in an entry?
18:16Maybe.
18:18But I'm gonna.
18:22The Obsidian Greatsword Dark Souls
18:25Dark Souls is infamous for its grueling challenges,
18:39but the Artorias of the Abyss DLC pits players against the legendary boss Black Dragon Calamite,
18:45whose overwhelming health pool and punishing attacks test every part of a player's skills.
18:49Beating Calamite is already a monumental task, but obtaining the Obsidian Greatsword from him is even tougher.
18:55The weapon can only be acquired by severing his tail, a near-impossible feat requiring precise timing, rare openings, and
19:04immense patience.
19:04It's truly like if I said, you need to defeat Mike Tyson in his prime in a boxing match,
19:09and then I said, I'll also give you a billion dollars if you can take one of his socks off.
19:26Gauntlet of Strength Mortal Journey, Sekiro Shadows Die Twice
19:37Truly, any of the Gauntlet of Strength challenges could be considered the most stressful sections of any Souls game,
19:42but we're focusing on the Gauntlet of Strength Mortal Journey Challenge,
19:45because it demands perfection over an exhausting marathon of some of the hardest boss fights available.
19:50Players must defeat a gauntlet of Sekiro's toughest foes back-to-back without checkpoints or healing between battles,
19:57aside from limited healing gourds.
19:58The sheer endurance required makes even minor mistakes costly,
20:03as losing late in the Gauntlet means starting all over again.
20:06Pressure builds with each victory as the fear of slipping up grows heavier.
20:09Mortal Journey pushes players' mastery, patience, and nerves to the limits,
20:14amplifying stress right throughout.
20:16It's easily an hour of your life, and it can disappear with the clink of a sword.
20:21Come on, Sekiro!
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