I’m so happy I found this channel!

Stakes of Marika was truly a remarkable invention by From Soft.

would you look at that, the youtube algorithm actually recommended me something good for once.

Honestly, I've always seen the Ancient dragon fight and run back as just one large punishment for anyone evil enough to attack the helpful dragon

i love when i see a "worst souls runback" vid and i know im seated for some good old ds2 quality content

Wouldve been funny to mention how sometimes in ds2 after beating a boss. The enemies from the runback that havent de-aggrod can enter the arena, swarm you and kick your ass

Fun fact: that shortcut to old king Allant was added in the remake, the original has NO shortcut☠️

One of the best thumbnails ive seen in a while lol

I clicked on the video already saying to myself: "Frigid Outskirts must be top 1". I was not disappointed. Great video dude.

I've found, that the runback to the lothric twins without the shortcut is juuust long enough to reconsider All of your life decisions.

Bed of chaos should be an honorable mention simply cause if you decide to warp out to upgrade your weapons, you have to face the fact that you can't warp back to Lost Izalith for some reason. You can get into Seath's arena (for whatever reason) but not into Lost Izalith. The closest you can get is Daughter of Chaos so you do the elevator ride, run out the firesage arena, run through the shortcut which will still take minutes, evade the titanite demon which can oneshot you if you have low vigor and then potentionally (most likely) repeat the entire procedure when the ground just falls below you.

That Blue Smelter run back was syphilis. Another notable run is the chaos tree thing (qualaags mom) in lost izalith. The length of the run on top of the invader and the titanite demon that can impale you, all for an RNG fight. It definitely wasn’t well thought out.

The awkwardness mixed with the complete confidence in your delivery is delectable. New subscriber for sure

It really doesn’t hit you how bad the Lud and Zallen runback is until you’re actually doing it. It’s the only boss run that made me genuinely wonder what the hell they were thinking and if Fromsoft even tried it themselves. I literally could not reach the boss without using the 3 npc summons.

When you describe all the ds2 runbacks it really just puts into perspective how low the lows are in that game.

Sir alonne having such a rubbish runback is criminal. It's such a fun boss and probably my second favourite boss in ds2. I first tried him solely because I sweated hard and used every single buff possible while having an op dark rapier build all not do that runback again. The boss would've been so much better if there wasn't that kind of pressure to win on your first try. I don't think I learnt his moveset at all but I still won because the buffs and sweat, even though his moveset looked incredibly satisfying to master (which would be annoying because doing that runback everytime makes it feel tedious).

Another thing about the Sir Alonne run is that it's timed because you're in a memory. If you take too long you just get kicked out and have to start over again.

I only ever defeated blue smelter demon once. And I made heavy use of the fact that defeating the local enemies enough makes them stop spawning... By the time I actually beat the demon the walk there was completely empty Same for Sir Alonne

This video was extremely cathartic and hilarious to me. I love From Software's games, but I'm so glad that long "run-backs" to boss fights have been left in the past.

Few extra things to talk about: Seath's runback gets bonus points because the first time you go into Seath, you can get ganked by clams. This can't happen on future runs because the fog wall goes up, so therefore the first time you fight Seath, the fight is demonstrably harder. Seath is very easy on his own with curse resistance but a first time player that decides to run past the clams will likely get swarmed and die. This means you'll likely have to do the runback exactly once, continuously wondering why the hell the clams were let into the fight, before probably killing them all before going in, because how would you know as a first time player that they only grt in the first time? Total waste of time. Executioner's Chariot is a million times worse in NG+ because the red phantom before the fog gate respawns on NG+, meaning you have to fight him each time unless you want to get backstabbed by him while goikg through the fog gate. The Ancient Dragon runback is both far better and far worse than you said, because if the Ancient Dragon is aggressive, the acolytes don't aggro if you skip enemies, presumably because they want you to fight the boss honourably. Honour is their whole thing, after all. BUT, if you summon coop help, they all gank you! The boss with the most health in the whole game, and you demand us to do it solo to not get run over by 18 guys. Frigid Outskirts gets a special mention because for some reason, the kill limit on the reindeers is higher than the normal 10-14 that every other enemy in the game has. WHY?!?!

The normal smelter demon boss run broke my soul into a million pieces especially on ng+

Four Kings in DS1 was pretty long, all the way from Firelink. I remember going a little crazy one night doing it over and over as a low-level NG+ character.

KZfaq algorithm delivered for a change. Your script and delivery, plus your spot on analysis made this a great watch.

This is the first video I’ve seen of yours and I’ve instantly subscribed. Great content man. Love the almost weatherman-esque way of presenting the list too. Makes it way more interactive

I definitely think half of dark souls 2 run backs would be much more forgivable if fog walls still had their I frames. Also I would have put iron keeps smelter demon up there for sure.

What makes the runback to king allant worse is the fact that the shortcut was only added in the remake and you have to deal with the dragon and fat official every time in the original

I really enjoy your style of videos. Keep it up. I laughed out loud when “LAME” popped up when you mentioned fall damage

Would you look at that!? The earlier titles pretty much filled the list! It’s almost like FromSoft learned we like hard games… not tedious run backs lmao Great video! I was also going to comment about how the Stake of Marika spoils us but saw I was beat too it. Found your channel just now by KZfaq recommendation… I’ll be watching much more of your content!

Removing the larger runbacks from Elden Ring entirely was possibly the best choice that Fromsoft has ever made. There's a reason Lady Maria of The Astral Clocktower is my favourite Bloodborne boss, and it's probably in part because she has absolutely no runback.

The blue smelter demon broke me more than once. Over 50 deaths at least. That boss run will forever haunt me. The boss himself. I just can't think about it. It took years off of my life

Yo man, love the video, it really helped me with picking what bosses to playthroughs and fight next, it’s nice to see KZfaq finally got some authentic people back on it again

What an absolutely fantastic video- subbed. Love your style, editing is good, content is on point. Was totally expecting Ocelot and Lothric & Lorian to make it but after viewing the video in full and reflecting back on the anguish and debauchery of the top 10 I must concede they are honorable mentions at best. Great stuff dude keep it up!

You didn't mention it, but another thing that makes runbacks so utterly frustrating in DS2 is the stupid infinite aggro most enemies have, they'll just chase you to the ends of the earth for no reason at all.

I can just imagine a perplexed undead knight watching the main character _absolutely tear ass_ right past them with a look of pure rage on their face, screaming and gibbering like a rabid beast.

I appreciate a video like this. It's nice to see all of the optional stuff and expansion content to a game that I refuse to reinstall after finishing the main story.

Found this channel a couple days ago and I gotta say I love your content! Top 10s are dying out while they're one of my favourite types of content so I'm happy you're keeping them alive! Subscribed (and I love the beard you have nowadays)

You missed the Elden Beast - every time it goes underwater and appears it's another gauntlet of hell to get back to the boss

The trauma I have from getting two-shotted by the blue smelter demon's weirdly delayed attacks, having to do the runback so often until most those enemies would stop respawning, and the useless reward that is given to you at the end after finally having bested him, is never going to disappear from my brain.

Trae and this video were both so bloody endearing, great job man!!

The gank squad boss fight was so bad that I genuinely forgot about the run back until watching this.

Im surprised that the red smelter demon wasn't mentioned does nobody remember the 20 knights chasing you and the 4+ archers shooting at you?

Hope you guys enjoy the video! It definitely took longer to make than I expected but I think it was worth taking the extra time to iron out any kinks 😅 feel free to throw out out any ideas for future videos, this was a viewer suggestion and a great one imo!

I love your video style, reminds me so much of early youtube from the script to the editing. well done

I’ve been playing through Dark souls 1 remastered again and it’s been a blast so far. Then recently started playing Ds3 again and this video just brought back so many memories of playing the other games haha. Thank you for an amazing video.

I love that elden ring added the stakes of marika to respawn you right in front of like, 99% of the bosses without graces. Really great addition. I DONT like that they didnt put any in raya lucaria and that for some reason there’s one way outside the church of vows when the grace is right in front of it, so when you fight bell-bearing hunter you can accidentally spawn in front of the graveyard instead of the building.

This has the energy of my dad if he was actually good at video games, telling me about playing the souls games while we are eating his famous spaghetti bolognese

Man I loved this video and the quality of it, I gotta check out some of your other stuff. Respect!

Bro theres something about your video style and delivery that makes this channel just perfect haha. Subbed!

The shortcut in 1-4 was added in the remake. Pretty much one of the only changes besides visuals and music, but a very welcome one.

My brain tried so hard to repress the memories of these runbacks for the rest of my life...thanks for brining them back

This video was very enjoyable. There is alot of charm in the green screen b roll, and you have good comedic timing.

I love DS2 but in same time I am kinda glad a lot of the game's bosses are mediocre or straight easy, because damn...a lot of the runbacks are straight painful (Looking at you the duo reskin tiger, blue smelter demon, and executioner chariot!!). But then there is a tough one like Sir Alonne, he would be one of my favorite fights in souls games if not because the disaster runback to reach him..

Im kinda surpriced that Shrine of amana wasn’t here, it basically took me 6 HOURS OF PURE HELL AND MISERY to reach the semon of dong for the first time since getting the closest bonfire. Imagine me being more nervous than getting told that the exam was today

When I learned that Elden Ring would pretty much do away with boss run backs, I initially thought it would ruin the experience. Part of the difficulty of the Soulsbornekiro games is that *every* time you reach a boss and start fighting them, you have a *really* good reason to fight as hard and cleverly as you can, so as to avoid having to do the run back. Then, before Elden Ring came out, I replayed DS3 and BB; I very quickly changed my mind about the run backs. Praise the Stake of Marika!

The one upside to all of those ds2 runbacks is they’re all optional, and only one or two of them are worth doing at all really.

The shine from the greenscreen and the uneven lighting really gives this a special vibe. awesome

You actually awoke something deep in my consciousness when you reminded me how bad the boss run back the the tigers were, dear god

My Dark Souls 2 runbacks: 1. Put on some show or video you want to listen to 2. Summon NPC helpers if you can 3. Kill EVERYTHING with their help until it despawns 4. Level up with the gazillion souls you've collected 5. Go kill boss 6. Profit I really don't get bored of doing that, especially for Sir Alonne and the like. The despawn mechanic is godlike and should have stayed. Same for the Bonfire Ascetics.

My least favorite part about old king allant is that he also drains a soul level with a certain attack, so not only is it a pain to get there but I'd also have to go farm another level if I didn't want a fat roll during his fight :\

I did bed of chaos runback atleast 20+ times. Can’t wait to see how i’ll manage in DS2

As soon as I saw one of the Dark Souls 2 co-op bosses, I knew they would all be there. The co-op designed areas were an interesting concept and it's kind of sad they didn't refine it in later entries.

For the Ancient Dragon runback you don't have to fight anything. The little Dragon Knights only aggro the first time you walk up, but as soon as you defeated the larger one at the end they bow down and respect you for subsequent runbacks

This video feels kinda old fashioned if anyone knows what I mean. It feels like one of those late 2000s or early 2010s top ten lists before the corporatization of KZfaq. I dig it.

Thank you for acknowledging my suffering. I clicked on this vid so fast knowing zal and lud were #1 and love your delivery bro. Keep it up👏👏👏

Seeing that Logarius runback, I think that the Laurence one should be there too. For me its several times worst than Logarius' because of those hunters trying to hit you, and the giant fire ball coming at you, and that giant Cthulhu monster with that giant axe blocking your way and probably taking out your entirely HP right there if you get hit. Oh and of course, you can't forget that you WILL die like dozens many more times comparing to Logarius because Laurence is so much goddamn hard than him, making you repeat your journey up there.

I went through DS2 for all the trophies recently, and I just skipped the frigid outskirts. The pain was to much to go through again.

Honorable mention to the godskin noble when people get stuck in volcano manor. There is a way to avoid it but a lot of people don't find it without having to look it up.

Great video! Keep up the good work!

For Logarius, I've learned to keep in my inventory a weapon with a Tear Blood Gem, as it regens HP. If you're willing to wait a few seconds after the final fall, you can regen to full HP.

Bed of chaos should definitely be on this list from ds1. Seath is pretty easy so the runback is not much of a hassle but with bed of chaos I had to run back so many times after getting double slapped ten seconds into the boss fight

Oh my god, this video came up in my recommended a day after I just spent hours in the Frigid Outskirts, turning hollow IRL from that hellscape. Imagine my surprise when I guessed correctly what the worst boss run in this video would be before I even started watching. Good stuff man!

I recently revisited DS2 sotfs a week ago (with new character) n I have to say: Dark souls 2 really have a lot of horrible boss runbacks. Especially Iron keep's smelter demon runback is annoying af with those 2 ranged alonne knight captains and their goons running at you in full speed 😅 (regardless, glad youtube recommend your channel dude! You just earned yourself a new subscriber! ❤)

There is unlimited human effigies method. 1. Use Bonfire Ascetic at Aldia's keep first bonfire. (Killing 2 hollows upstairs grants you x3 Elizabeth Mushroom (very powerful heal that can be combined with lifegems for fast healing) and +2 Ascetics, one can be used again on bonfire enabling this loop and the other one is bonus, of course always have at least 1 to repeat the loop) So reward is actually +3 Elizabeth Mushrooms and +1 Ascetic. Now use bonus Ascetic at Forest of Fallen Giants first bonfire, run back and take +5 humanities from the chest. Repeat the process. Yes it is a little bit of 'farming' but it guarantees drop. I easily got up to 20 humanities and 12 Elizabeth Mushrooms this way. Method 2: Save the game while you have it all, if you fail miserably you can load it all back. (bit less cheaty) Method 3: Save the game in front of boss fogwall and reload every time you die, that's how l dealt with Lud and Zallen boss on my SL1 (you can call this more cheaty, and it is) but l don't care, actual challenge should be bossfights not bullsh*t areas.

Lol great video man, love your style. I can tell this came from the heart.

Thank you for deservedly handing most of this damn thing to Dark Souls II. Super entertaining video, nice work!

I actually liked the despawning mechanic in DS2, after I finished the game i spent a lot of hours essentially going through every area over and over again to ‘clean’ the area of enemies. I wanted to leave the world empty, with me being the only being left in the world

The runback to Nito can be made much shorter in two ways - first, start from Patches' bonfire and head to the isle with the silver serpent ring, from which you can jump a few more times and avoid the entire Tomb. Second, don't go down to the baby skeletons - go up to the Pinwheels. And the fall damage is dependent on your equipment load, so strip naked. In defence of DS2 - those are all optional bosses, and the Blue Smelter Demon, the Gank, Sir Alonne, and the Horsefuck Valley Cats live in high-level, coop-oriented areas. They're supposed to be a bit harder. Just summon a friend.

Super entertaining thanks for the video bro!

Really enjoyed that video, and yeah, spot on on the 10 most annoying run backs,.

I was so happy when sekiro had no real runbacks for bosses, if only they could remember to do that every time

Bonfires/grace outside boss rooms is simply the greatest invention since the light bulb. Great video btw I really enjoyed it.

Nice tone and delivery, comfy af. have a sub!

For the Seath run you can actually jump off the wooden platform without taking damage, you have to go the very right hand side and the ground should be elevated over there, still doesn't change how much of a pain the run is tho

i just love how this looks like a 2009 videogame review, can definitely tell the inspiration from AVGN and the other videogame reviewers from that era. I'm glad the algorithm recommended me this. New sub!

There is a second bonfire in the grave of giants, so you don't need to run by the skeleton dogs. When you run by the executioers to get to the chariot, just jump on the little platform on the right at the end of the wooden bridge. The executioners will retreat then after a bit. This is much faster than fighting them.

First video I’ve seen from ya and I’m subbing. You’re like that dude who owns the comic book store and ya hope is working when ya go get your pulls

lmao the darklurker farm explanation had me laughing my ass off great vid bro!

You definitely have a noticeable style in your videos that's completely unique. Keep it up brother you're gonna blow up in no time

Wow, a recommendation that is actually fun to watch! I agree with most of the picks, but I would personally add the regular smelter demon run on scholar as well. That one has had me raging more than every single other I think lol

You remind me of angry video game nerd but with the very dry humor that just gives you the chuckles all the time, great video man you’re heavily underrated !! :D

Great video, you did justice to those terrible runbacks.

This is the best video I've seen on KZfaq in ages. Subscribed.

Dont forget Sen's fortress with iron golem. Sure there's a hidden bonfire or the lift, but how many of us figured that out in the first run.

Don't Hug Me I'm Scared is top ten best introspective mini-series of all time.

I love this channel it surprised me so much, I love this dude!

My number 1 was actually in Elden Ring. There was a dungeon with a bugged stake of marika which sent you back a little further than the actual grace. It's been patched out now and the run itself wasn't super terrible, but the psychological damage cannot be overstated.

Surprised Four Kings didn't make the list! Secretly I actually enjoy boss runbacks but in my experience Four Kings was by far the most challenging one I've done

You're funny af my guy. Thoroughly enjoyed this and the gimmick boss video 🤘

Once you understand the snowstorm horse fuck valley becomes way more manageable.

You know, my mind completely supressed the runback to the Blue Smelter Demon. But then I saw the Mages on the high ground and got legit Vietnam Flashbacks.