Really hope you guys enjoyed this episode! If you'd like to see me & Ludo do more level design breakdowns like this in the future let us know down bellow! Also we have no begun paying salaries at Second Wind after 3 months of not taking pay to build up our war chest so now more than ever your support on Patreon means the world to us. Thank you all

Blighttown became far more tolerable on hardware that could run it faster than 3 FPS.

I'm surprised that Poison and Toxic being different status effects didn't merit a mention here because that's a particularly memorable bit of cruel design

The best part of Blight Town is when you leave Blight Town. I'm not trying to be facetious either. When I entered The Depths, I didn't know if I was going to be able to beat the game. When I left Blight Town I knew I would get to the end.

I wouldn't call that the "Back entrance" to Blight Town. I'd call it the exit. Assuming the Devs want you to experience all of the game, and considering the scaling of the enemies, I would say going through the Depths is the intended entrance, and leaving through the Valley of the Drakes is the intended exit. Especially as going back up that way brings you right back to the Undead Parish and the entrance to Sen's Fortress. With a Blacksmith right there to upgrade your gear before heading inside.

From the sound of it, he never found the Bonfire mid-way through Blight Town.

The best part of Blighttown was the feeling of isolation, being so far from Firelink Shrine with seemingly no way back. It was such an oppressive area that conquering it and leaving it for the first time was one of my favorite moments in gaming.

10:28 it reminds me a lot with how RPG games will ask you if you want to retry a boss fight only to have the items you used up still be consumed, encouraging people to just restart from a checkpoint to get those items back

Don't forget Blighttown also features a poison resistant armor set before you reach the swamp, and a poison-resistant shield in the Depths.

The bonfire higher up that he didnt even mention was what made me truly love this game. Blighttown is such an unrelenting hellscape but that bonfire is a godly reprieve from the madness. You're crushingly alone, but that bonfire is your tiny bubble of safety, a literal light in the darkness. No other game has elicited the same feeling for me

Maybe it's because I picked the key on my first playthrough, maybe it's because I found that hidden bonfire, maybe it's because I've only ever played the Remaster, and maybe it's because I only visited the Depths later to see what I missed, but Blighttown is one of the most hauntingly beautiful areas in any Fromsoft game, and I genuinely love it everytime I visit.

2:20 There’s a few things overlooked here about the master key: 1: The master key has a 3rd obtaining method and thats picking “Thief” as your starting class. 2: Buying the master key from Domhnall is mainly for those who want to NG+ with the key as it is one of the only items to not reset when defeating the final boss.

If nothing else, it's a memorable level~ just not always for the right reasons.

I've always loved how the, like, second thing that the game makes you do after beating the Bell Gargoyles is going down, and down, and down, and down. From the Undead Burg, to the Lower Undead Burg, to the Depths, to Blighttown, to Quelaag's Domain. It certainly does wonders for an oppressive atmosphere.

The dart blowers did respawn in earlier versions. A later patch adjusted this specifically because it was too much. Also the mosquitoes have a chance to drop poison curing moss as well.

Lot of great points about Blighttown but I want to talk about the path there. It's linear! The description on the basement key tells you where to use it, and if it weren't for one wall you could see the door to use it on from the spot you pick it up. There's also two sources of poison moss on your way, the first being in Darkroot which is right off the bonfire you would have used by Andre. So, linear path: you take the key across the dragon bridge, down into Lower Berg, fight the Capra for another key, and the door for that one is _immediately after the Capra_. Right beside that door is not only a shortcut back to Firelink, but a shop that also sells more moss. The back door you mention is the **exit**, that's why the key for it is in Blighttown itself - and right beside the door itself too.

Oh shit, I am HYPE. Worst take I've ever seen is that the framerate dip is intentional, to induce more panic.

One thing to note is those darts inflict the much more debilitating Toxic status effect, an effect that requires a different (and rarer) type of purple moss to cure.

From a conceptual point of view I love the idea of Blighttown. The first bell sends you up to a soaring tower which is closely connected to your "safe space" of Firelink Shrine. The second (if you take what I feel is intended to be the "default" route, i.e. not through Valley of the Drakes/Master Key) sends you down to Lower Undead Burg. Then further down to the Depths. Then further down first through the "top part" of Blighttown to the first bonfire half way to the bottom. Then even further down to the sewage sludge of the world above. (And potentially even further if you go down the Great Hollow.) By this point you're a long, long, long way from Firelink, or Andre, or any other familiar beacon of safety. As you say - the point is being trapped and being forced forward to the encounter with Quelaag. Yes, the level geometry during the descent is questionable to say the least, the enemies are annoying, and the toxic blow dart dudes can suck an egg. And while the experience is painful, I feel that's partially the point of the game sending you ever further down to increasingly hostile and frustrating environments (the Rusted Iron Ring from the Asylum alleviates at least some frustration in the swamp). The torches highlighting the path down feel like a begrudging concession to offer some hope to the player. After beating Quelaag, you can try to progress further - you get a tease of the Demon Ruins, but you will eventually be blocked by one of the gates locked until you receive the Lord Vessel. So the only way out is up. You find the key guarded by way too many toxic blow dart jerks, see the elevator leading up, and eventually - literally - light at the end of the tunnel. You find yourself in the Valley of the Drakes, find the door to the elevator and .... Firelink at last. By this point you will feel like you've crawled through shards of glass and barbed wire, through mud and fire, and earning every inch of progress with your blood. But you're home. It's the journey from Undead Church to Blighttown, but the relief will be so much greater, because you had to master this ordeal without an easy way back to your home base. But yes, the mechanics and everything are all kinds of jank in the area - I kind of guess they looked at it and decided that it just reinforced the theme of increasing despair the further you go down. 😀 Well, at least that's what I think was the intention with the overall design of Blighttown, and I might very much be talking out of my behind here (it's not a sexual thing 😛 ).

Not even in horror games have I experienced such intense dread as in the crawl through Depths and Blighttown.

One of my favorite areas in the series is an attempt to retry upper Blighttown, The Gutter in DS2. It takes the rickety, narrow, and chaotic layout of Blighttown. But it has easier to manage enemies, and it utilizes the torches mechanic brilliantly. The path to the exit isn't that hard to reach, if you know where to go. But it's pitch black until you light the torches, which are arranged in recognizable patterns and seen from anywhere. Black Gultch is exponentially worse than lower Blighttown, though.

Once I realized that being poisoned by the swamp was inevitable, and that it doesn't actually cause much damage, I stopped worrying about curing it. Blight Town became a lot easier.

Design Delve, where you learn about game design and learn new swear words like "Gigabitch." And I'm all for it.

The dreaded Blighttown. I find it interesting that in the example provided, you choose the most convoluted pathway as the more obvious one when I always felt that going through the Undead Burg and below through the Depths was the natural progression feeling. All the mistakes made in the depths pushes you further into Blighttown and many of the annoyances you speak of don't happen in the same manner. Example, there's a Bonfire right next to the entrance of Blighttown from the Depths and is also next to the Gaping Dragon boss fight. Most of the perils of Blighttown are still a falling hazard, but the enemies aren't overwhelming and the game allows you to move forward slowly with little backpedaling. As you mentioned the lighting, this also guides you to the "hidden" bonfire once you get to the bottom level. All of this feels more intuitive from how the level is designed when coming in from this point. If you come in "the back way" as I refer to it, then you run into a lot of annoying enemies very quickly when you get through the cavern, you're more likely to not follow the expected guidance since there's lights leading you up and down. You'll run into an optional item area which has a ton of those toxic dart enemies (toxic is twice as bad as poison btw), and on top of all of that, the bonfire isn't easily visible when coming from this direction even when you get to the bottom level. I viewed this entrance as more of the exit with a cheeky way to bypass the majority of the area using either the Master Key or by coming through the Darkroot Basin. If any part of Dark Souls is a mistake, it's The Lost Izalith. It's extremely unfinished, the brightness is off the charts, it has inconsistent frame rate problems and the general design, both level and enemy, is just very bad

You mentioned around 10 min that enemies normally respawn in DS1. But there are several enemies who don't respawn you will have encountered before you reach blight town. There's the channelors, the berenike Knight, the black knight, the armored boar from the top of my head.

My guess is they eliminated the navigation question with torches because they realised the zone was a complete nightmare if you had to search where to go on top of trying to navigate the space mechanically. It reminds me of Dishonored where the developers added quest markers near the end of production because they realised people were lost without them.

What I love about Dark Souls 1's design is how it teaches you that getting lost is a form of exploration, and as long as you are trying to get somewhere you are almost guaranteed to be doing some form of progress. I did get to Blighttown through the Valley of Drakes. No Master Key, fed up with Capra Demon, ran into it by accident, got to the bottom bonfire and... Climbed all the wya up to The Depths becauss it was in the same direction as the entrance from the Valley of Drakes, so I went all the way back down and finally fought Quelaag. It was super time consuming and phenomenally relaxing with how methodical and careful the trip was. I also got a ton of levels from the wandering. I get why it's a difficult area, and your points are all super valid, but man did I enjoy ny time down there. As for the Master Key, I do adore it as a way for experienced players to break the game as soon as they start, it's my favorite starting item for a reason :P I often do a tank build for co-op, thus I can get the Stone Armor, Partizan and Eagle Shield before killing a single boss... AND an Estus Flask +3, ans for that you need to remember to kick Lautrec at the right time

There is a bonfire on the descent down the silt village

Would love to see your next video on the other poison swamp areas from the DS2 and DS3, if nothing else than for comparison to see how the idea progressed though the games

I thought blighttown was pretty rough, then I went back and played Demon Soul's and could see his inspiration being channeled a bit because that endless sea of poison and unknowing when it would end couldn't have been worse. At least blighttown had visibility when it would end, Demon's Souls Swamp of Sorrow was aptly named.

Also of note for the level is the mobs at each entrance of blight town. The beefy boy and the beefy boys, respectfully, are tuned way off for the area. Their attacks do massive damage for this point in the game and the swing of their weapons does an enormous amount of knock back with HP pools as bloated as them. They encourage running past them but that almost encourages you to give gravity a hug instead of them. Kind of the first real kick in the teeth after fighting the gaping dragon

I guess for those like me who played Demon's Souls first and were traumatized by the Valley of Defilement, facing Blight Town knowing what to expect wasn't all that bad. When I got to the place I made sure to stock up on purple moss and even found the shadow set, which the game graciously offers you early into Blight Town, so I actually enjoyed my time down there.

Ive been playing darksouls for years and never knew about the candles!! thats a great tip

Blight Town is why I plan to get a master key on any additional playthroughs.

I'm 100% sure this video is going viral, great job on the video!! Hope to see more of Design Delve.

I'm loving the Design Delve series, please keep doing more!

Blightown is good area, complex layout in the first half and there's a path from the second bonfire to Quelaag that let's you avoid most of the swamp sludge. The area also has several highly poison resistant armors scattered throughout it.

Blight Town is basically the Valley of Defilement 2.0 from Demons Souls. The depravity is definately intended, but much like all of Dark Souls, not everything worked out design wise. Every Souls game has had their nasty poison level ever since, because the struggle is not only frustrating, but also very rewarding to overcome.

Nice vide. Also great point at 11:38, I also think that getting trapped in games is a cool experience but never really thought about why

LOVE this topic for a video series. More of this please!! ❤❤

While I won't defend blighttown as a whole, I think that some aspects of what you're saying are a bit wrong. the key to open the "Shortcut" door is in a chest on the path to the door from blighttown. a path that is incredibly hard to miss when you've beaten the boss and want to leave. that door isn't intended as a shortcut in, it's a shortcut out. the moss problem isn't a thing if you take the lower undeadburg path, as there's a merchant who sells it that you meet in the shortcut between lower undeadburg and firelink, and while it's not impossible to miss the merchant, it's unlikely. that being said, it's also the ONLY place in the game where the "Toxic" status occurs, a status which isn't well explained at all, and is essentially guaranteed to kill you if you aren't ready for it.

No but it's optimisation was

Love that you covered this!

Really enjoying this series. Loving the changes since the creation of this channel.

I got stuck crawling all over blight town for a couple of days because after reaching the poison shore, I assumed that the lake of poison was clearly not the way to go, being both mandatory damage, slowing the player and being huge, it seemed that the game was clearly communicating "Go another route.".

One of Dark Souls' biggest themes is that of overcoming depression, and Blighttown is the peak of that. It's dark, oppressive, dangerous, yes, and can only be overcome by either already knowing the secret to skipping it or by pure determination. While there are certainly ways to improve Blighttown while keeping to the theme--especially the "finding Blighttown" part, I literally had to use an online guide my first two playthroughs--I do think the unpleasantness of it is both intentional and needed, and the game wouldn't be as good without a lot of the aspects people complain about.

Great video as always

I hope this show gets more views, because I really dig every episode and hope they keep coming.

7:07 This has excellent meme potential

I really liked blighttown. It was one of my favorite areas to be honest. Fighting the weird pink guys and fire dogs on the rickety moving bridges just never got old. Yoloing off the buildings, dudes stuck in pots. It was charming and it was fun. Idk. Being slow in the swamp was a bit unpleasant I'll grant you but come on it was a cool area and we all know it!

This series is so charming, I'm glad I gave it a shot with Second Wind!

Design Delve is one of my favorite KZfaq series. I love hearing breakdowns of great and not so great games. ❤

Pretty sure the thief starts with the key, so you can still get an additional gift. Also, the gifts 9ther than the key are basically useless except maybe trading them to snuggly, especially for new players. Theres a bonfire on the aquaduct about halfway down. Once you get to the bottom you are not trapped. You can go back or climb the windmill. The key to the gate should be in a chest during the windmill ascent to the valley of drakes.

There are certainly mistakes in Blighttown, but it also features some of my favorite DS memories. You have to fight through the Depths to get there, so Firelink Shrine is a good distance away - this enforces careful planning as you move through. I carefully, CAREFULLY got midway through, burning all of my estus, humanity and moss until I was out of resources... I saw the bonfire in front of me, I sprinted... and I died a few steps away, succumbing to toxins from the last sniper I couldn't find. I quit playing for a week out of the heartbreak of having lost those souls (not knowing the toxin snipers didn't respawn), then came back fresh and easily waltzed up and claimed my bloodstain. Then I struggled down and got to the big mudpit. Well, everybody knows that you never go straight in a wide open area - you map out your surroundings by hugging walls. I went right and found the bonfire, and then went up the elevators and finally found SKY again. When I discovered that I had looped back to Firelink Shrine, I actually cried and... quit playing for another week. I was satisfied. I had pushed through some of the hardest stuff in any video game I had played, and made it back home. The terrible framerate on my PS3 is a problem. The lack of respawning on the toxin snipers is a bit annoying as it takes away some of the achievement of fighting past them. The janky bridges are frustrating and the worst part of the whole experience. But the oppressive terror of Blighttown has never been recreated.

very quickly becoming my favorite series on the channel

The toxic dart throwers aren't the only enemies to drop healing moss thankfully, as the tree golems in Darkroot Garden drop a steady supply of purple and blooming purple moss clumps provided one's willing to do some light farming, plus the lovely undead lady is all too willing to sell us some while laughing madly about how attractive we are to her. Also, one can easily get the Rusted Iron Ring right before they face the Bell Gargoyles if they bother to do a bit of exploring to avoid spending too long in said swamp water. Blighttown's just the same as any of FromSoft's areas, a learning experience. If you take the time to explore the side paths and not become too obsessed with finishing the story, you ultimately will have a better experience in the long run. That's how it was for moi back in 2011 anyhow.

I think it was intentional. It's a clear hurtle you need to get through to get to the second bell. Not just the swamp, the poison, the enemies, and the lack of bonfires, but all of it together works to make sure you haven't become reliant on a single strategy. You will need to change your methods to deal with the area as a whole. I like it even if it's a love hate type thing.

There is even an other way to get to blight town. You can go to New londo, kill Ingward and open the flood doors that connect to the valley of the drakes. Not sure if you would want to go that route , but it's there available right from the start.

I remember the first time I played this area, the terror and how surprised I was to be afraid in an RPG game... it was etched in my memory with one of the most memorable moments in my gaming life, once you understand how and the hallways of blighttown it became one of my favorite areas

It's always fun to hear Hollow Knights Hornet and Nosks boss music in these videos.

I actually really like blighttown after it's been figured out what you need to do to prepare for it. Rusty iron ring from the asylum, spider shield from the depths, a spear with reach. Unlocking the back entrance through the valley of the drakes letting you easily go back to firelink > andre is important. It's one of my favorite areas now, but it's also because I like invading people in the swamp.

Its not even bad with proper performance in DS Remastered

Loving this series, top work

This has quickly become my favorite series on this channel!

As someone who went into dark souls heavily spoiled, I actually found the depths-blighttown gauntlet to be an enjoyable challenge. I farmed the ents in darkroot garden for (blooming) purple moss and understood that suicide running to kill the blowdart guys was worth it. Also, the way to the bottom of blighttown is surprisingly short if you don't go on any optional paths of the area. But if you go in blind, you don't know any of that, and you get punished with an extremely difficult challenge that leaves you basically no options to adapt in the moment. Because if you realize that you should have been prepared for blighttown, you're stuck at the bottom of the depths and have to fight your way back out to get the necessary equipment. Tl;dr: Blighttown offers the satisfaction of overcoming a difficult challenge when you know what you're getting into, but it's way too rough the first time around.

I didn't mind it even on my first run through.

Takes me back to the extra credits guys playing dark souls. Their commentary got me to buy a controller and pick up the game before they got to gargoyles. I liked Blighttown, not so much on the way down, but getting cursed by the frogs behind 2 illusory walls and fighting my way back up the long way (didn't find the shortcut) was one of the most intense experiences I've had in these games and when I made it back to the depths it felt amazing. The key is, imo, for later playthroughs that want to skip the whole ordeal. I tell people not to take the master key first run, since they'll likely end up somewhere they shouldn't. Only wish the ledge archers had a similar bypass (I'm bad I know)

I always enjoy design delve. Thanks!

Blighttown wasn't even the first Souls poison swamp; I still remember trekking through Valley of Defilement 2's utterly MASSIVE poison swamp But at least I wasn't be hounded at every step

I got into Dark Souls after playing Monster Hunter for years. This meant I was more familiar with the combat and the difficulty it presented. Going in completely blind, I actually took the skele-path on my first playthrough. I had heard the game was difficult and just assumed I was on the right path and pushed on. It wasn't until the dark void that was Tomb of the Giants that I realized something was up.

I don't think we can complain about the dart guys not respawning here 😅

I’m liking this guys content ❤ new channel is awsome guys

One important aspect of artistic intent that I feel should be brought up here is that Miyazaki loves poison swamps. Not only is he on the record stating such, he went on to say that he is _psychologically incapable_ of stopping himself from adding them.

I believe Matthewmatosis said it best - the first poison swamp you go through is an experience. Every poison swamp after that is just a slog.

I started my first ever Dark Souls playthrough this week. Finally beat the bell gargoyles last night and was about to try to head from firelink on to the skeleton path or the ghost path. What a perfectly timed video!!!!! I did not choose the master key as my starting gift and had no clue Blighttown involves backtracking through Undead Parish for two different keys. Thank you, and fantastic analysis. I now feel mentally prepared for the impending slog.

In the first run into the game back in 2011, i didnt even know there was a bonfire down there. Every death to quellag was a ticket back to firelink.

That door in the valley of drakes is supposed to be a way OUT of blight town. You find a key on the way UP that can open it from the other side.

Blighttown was my favourite area in Dark Souls. Never had a problem with it and was surprised to find out it was devisive.

Ive been playing through Dark Souls for my first time for the past six months, gradually working through the daunting hurdles and spikes created from my own lack of knowledge. I took the back route through Blighttown and had heard of the terrors that awaited, so I worked my way through patiently, arduously, until I reached the bottom - only to not find a bonfire anywhere. I took the lift up thinking it would be there - nope. I opened up the entire shortcut and got back to Firelink Shrine before I could rest. I only found out after I put the game down out of utter frustration that there was a bonfire in that little tunnel that you couldn't see because (at least in the Remaster) that tunnel was pitch black darkness until you went inside it, which I of course avoided. The worst part of Blighttown wasn't navigating or poison, it was that tiny bit of reprieve hidden away from me.

Awesome to see you guys tackle this! Personally, I didn't have trouble with FPS when playing (Remaster on PC), but I struggled because of the lighting. Undead Burg was VERY well-lit, and even The Depths was okay-ish. I struggled in the Catacombs for the same reason (in tomb of the giants, even with Cast Light, I gave up and looked up a guide) - I couldn't make a mental map of the area, I couldn't see how anything connected, and the looong walk between bonfires really discouraged me. The water-wheel is one of my favorite sub-locations IN Blighttown, largely because of how it's a shortcut AND well-lit AND run by a dog on the wheel, I just find that funny. It's just too long, imo, that the walk up to the Exit side takes AN ADDITIONAL minute-plus of taking, like, 8 separate ladders. The water-wheel should be almost all of it, imo. make it longer, maybe? IDK, i'm not a game designer. Personally, what I would change about Blighttown would be to shrink the upper area. IMO, that stage is just toooo long, too easy to get lost in, too easy to fall off everywhere. (As another commentor said, I too prefer DS2 Gutter because the platforms are larger, and the lighting-sconces really make the level visible, and I feel like I have conquered the area when they're all lit up! Plus, I get the Gutter Denizen mini-boss and her dope witch set as a reward!) I'd give the angry cannibal-dudes poison attacks, make THEM drop the poison-proof moss, and take out the blow-dart dudes ENTIRELY. Or move them into the swamp at the bottom. And even then, just have, like, 2 in the very corners, with small aggro range or less frequent attacks. And have them guarding loot, or the way to Ash Lake. (I'd liiiike to take poison quality out of the big fat dudes' clubs, but that might be a step too far. it's very thematic, since they drop dung pies.) Either way - I love thinking about this sort of stuff! What was the intention, did it succeed, how would you change it? That's exactly the sort of mental work I love to put into my favorite media consumption. I get so much out of it, real Critical Thinking! Love this series, keep up the good work!

Me, a ZP enjoyer, on first design delve video: "eh this guy sounds overly timid, and a dog gimmick? Ok" Me, now: "OMG hell yeh another design delve I can't wait to see what weird little interesting things he talks about today and what Ludo thinks"

The best part about Blighttown will always be that it's completely optional. Every first time player has that moment of realization when they discover the way out, explore all the paths, and realize they could have just gone around through darkroot basin and avoided everything from the lower city down. Edit: So he did mention the back way out as an alternate entrance, but I think given the hidden path and wyverns you have to go through it's unreasonable for a first time player to find it and use it as an entrance. Plus using this way as an entrance doesn't give the 'proper' blighttown experience.

One of my favorite Design Delves video in terms of humor

12:10 The closest Bonfire to where you're standing is literally Firelink above you. It's a longer walkback than it needs to be because of the elevator, but it's also devoid of any threat until you get into the tunnel for Blighttown. Except our ever present and greatest foe, gravity. Even then, she only threatens us on the way in as we walk across a rickety plank to get to the tunnel.

Believe it or not, Blighttown was an absolute standout in my first playthrough for me. It was the moment the sheer hopelessness of the setting truly sunk in. This is a horrible, forbidden, place where no living being should ever go.

I love the barks

Id love to see a design delve into the history of JRPG mechanics :)

Just loving these design delves

Yes. Because nobody could ever match its greatness

I think a lot about the entrances can be forgiven if you just take as a given that you are SUPPOSED to enter Blight Town from the depths, and every other way in is just a cheeky shortcut if you have played through the game a few times already. The level geometry and random kill-boxes in places that seem like you should be able to stand is pretty bad, but my biggest complaint about Blighttown is that the ring you need to efficiently traverse the swamp is hidden away in an optional location with no connection to blight town or swamps at all. If the rusted iron ring was somewhere you were more likely to find it either in or around the swamp then I would have almost no problems with the zone

The best part of Blight Town was the amazing chest ahead.

I honestly think the frustration, in all the forms this video describes, even the linear path that truly gives you no option but to press on and keep fighting, is simply the price you pay for such a rewarding and memorable area. You’re absolutely right about the feeling of being trapped. On my recent second playthrough my weapon got close to breaking while I was fighting Quelaag and I was so scared it would break I made the arduous trek all the way back up to get it repaired. Obviously that was a horrible feeling - but it added that much more exhilaration to the moment when I was finally done with the damn place. I really believe that the best design sometimes has to be a flawed design. It’s like you can figure out the “perfect” design through careful testing and logic, but if that’s what you go with it can end up feeling flat - and going that way every time leads to the kind of snoozefest that the worst triple-A games offer. Sometimes you really do have to embrace chaos and allow a bit of jank and shoddiness in to get an experience that feels alive and real. I’m not suggesting From are such geniuses that everything about Blighttown is deliberate. Maybe they did aim for perfection and miss the mark. I just think that if they had hit it, we wouldn’t still be talking about Dark Souls today.

I think the only issue is the toxic dart blowers. I'm not sure what they add other than annoyance.

nothing in DS1 was a mistake except Demon Ruins + Lost Izalith

I honestly like Blighttown; that is, everything but the actual bottom. I also like The Gutter in DS2, but not Black Gulch at the bottom. I think the narrow walkways combined with mostly weak enemies are fine in a situation that bleeds so much atmospheric unease. The layout of Blighttown is very interesting to me, the swaying is so perfect (and this is coming from someone who is very terrified of heights) and the whole area really just feels like it could collapse at a moment's notice. It's a unique kind of setting for a level. While I feel like the poison enemies are unnecessarily irritating, having done the level quite a few times on different characters, they are really just kind of a punishment for not knowing the area already. If you don't know where they are already and how you'll kill them, or didn't know you'd need to be so prepared for poison, they'll end you. As well, I'm someone who always went into the zone going through the Depths, and doing that path you get a much more convenient bonfire for your inevitable deaths. The first time through, even with a guide Blighttown seems just a nightmare of half-built geometry and poison damage, but when you're no longer overwhelmed by the place there's a lot to admire there and it can feel good to find those efficient paths through the area. Weak enemies mean you're more able to go outside your specialty to get answers to the hard-to-hit enemies. The bugs are a pain... Unless you use Pyromancy, which is good at hitting enemies that are clipping or flying with its basic Fireball and Combustion spells. If you've gone through the Depths, you've met Laurentius and thus have a Pyromancy flame and the ability to purchase those two spells. In DS1, any build can use Pyromancy so it's always an option and the enemies in Blighttown are weak enough that you don't need to have invested significantly in Pyromancy for it to do work. It's really that, IMO, the way to Blighttown mostly discussed in this video shouldn't be used, because of basically exactly what this video talks about, and it will sour the game's experience. A bit of a failure on the devs part for making it an option tbh, when going through the Depths is so valuable (and also fun). The path with the key may have been intended as a shortcut for experienced players, but it's still iffy and I'm glad the other games didn't really do that kind of thing again. The angle that you approach Blighttown from makes a big difference; in-game and IRL.

I’ve never played this game but i could listen to people talk about the design of it for hours! Good episode M8

I personally never found Blight Town to be all that bad... Maybe it was just the way I happened to come in the first time, down past the Gaping Dragon and the Capra demon... And I remember being astonished when I happened to discover one of the alternate paths in, and the huge swath of it that I had missed through the flying buttresses... Now, proto-blight town in Demon's Souls... that place can F* right off! At least Blight Town's enemies are easily dispatched with a bow, or some pyromancy. Pick your way carefully through blight town, and it's not so bad. But Demon's Souls has swarms of enemies, and those big lads that are actually difficult in a straight up fight, let alone one on a walkway barely wider than you are.

There's a reason for the master key shortcuts being restricted to a specific starting item. The intended/new player-friendly path (well, as friendly as Dark Souls gets, anyway) is the one without the key, but the key is meant to be an option for experienced players to sequence-break and choose their progression order once they know what each area is like and what challenges they can handle when.

When I played my proper playthrough of Dark Souls Remastered, I chose the Master Key because it didn’t seem like an item I could use up like Divine Blessings and read like something I could get good use out of, which I was correct about. My problem was actually finding the damn place. I had completely forgotten about my key pick up for the Depths due to deaths and struggles in Undead Parish and with Gargoyles, so that option was out until much later when I found it again in my inventory. So instead, I went to Darkroot Garden, as it seemed like the next way forward. I cleared my way through, killed the butterfly among other things, and eventually got past the Gwyn Knight to find the bonfire and the elevator down to Valley of Drakes. I killed many drakes trying to open the big door right in front of me, and after I had determined it was NOT the right way, I cheesed my way up the valley path and found the entrance. I used my Master Key on the New Londo ruins door before finding the key for it a minute later, and discovered the path that was behind Firelink for the first time. Then I descended my way into Blight Town and realized the swamp was poisonous. To which point I immediately decided it was a no man’s land and began ASCENDING. Look I’m probably just dumb. But when I finally reached the top of Blight Town and walked up to the iron clad locked door that’s behind Gaping Dragon, a boss in an area neither of which I knew existed at that point, then went to Google and looked up where the bell was. Suffice to say I was not exactly joyous. But besides that, I didn’t have much trouble with Blight Town. Honestly I don’t think it’s a terribly designed area, it’s just not comparable to the usual DS1 feeling. It also helps that I got to play the Remastered version on a halfway decent PC. It’s not terrible, but it definitely feels sub par in comparison. Especially with the moss grinding or shelling out at the one shop in the sewer pipe.

A small tip for Blighttown. Don't waste your moss curing the toxic, instead use Dung Pie's to inflict toxic on yourself. Why, you ask? Because Dung Pie's toxic deals something like 10 hp per second where as the blow dart toxic does 100 hp per second. Toxic doesn't stack meaning if you inflict it upon yourself first, you are essentially immune to the blow darts.