this "was it good" series has become one of my favorite thing on youtube

I love how the Essence of every FromSoft game bleeds into each other, like looking at a family of very different people and ages but you can tell they're related.

I'm married to probably the only person who counts this as one of their absolute favorite games but I'm not kidding when I say my wife has played through multiple copies of this game and cried happy tears when we found it on the PS4 store. I've never seen anyone else actually even talk about it (even when the PS2 first came out) so seeing it pop up here was almost surreal.

I'm sure someone already brough that up, but the idea of the kid suddenly growing up in a few seconds was reused in the Bloodborne DLC, where the Orphan of Kos starts crying like a baby, but his cries grows into a mature man's cry by the end. I never played Bloodborne but I remember that vividly because the first time I heard it, it was just that scary.

Fun fact: The composer of Elden Ring's main theme, Radagon and Elden Beast (Tsukasa Saitoh) was also the composer of this game

Eternal Ring, ooooh Eternal Ring.

For some reason, when I saw Soulus mulling over Lyla's death, I suddenly imagined the game with better voice acting, I thought about how Soulus would sound if he was genuinely upset at learning what mortality was.

Honestly I really like the sort of small implicit character development at the end, Cain just chilling with Solas and all that. We need more final bosses that mature and turn into friends in games

_"The King treated the man of unknown identity, as one of his vassals"_ *Manbaby Soulus:* You're my friends now, we're having soft tacos later

Well, the concept of a psychopathic child with godlike power learning the value of human life and what to be sad is, and becoming a better person for it is actually very interesting and wholesome for a Fromsoftware game.

I never watched anything from this creator before yet I just spent over an hour watching a video about a game I'd never played. This was truly well done.

I have to hand it to Soulus's child VA, before the line "This... this feeling... Sad..." he absolutely _nailed_ that concerned confusion of a child first encountering death It was honestly heart wrenching

"There's no morality, there's no sense, there's no desire. It just IS, and wants you to not be." Phenomenal writing man, I adore this description

Since you didn't mention it when it happened, the winged demon guy you fight after getting the fire key is the same corrupted expedition captain that killed the new expedition team earlier, just fully transformed, which is why he says "you followed me". He acts as a small bit of foreshadowing of the reveal that happens with Lyla and her father right afterwards.

I am pretty sure the pendant the one guy has is referenced in Dark Souls, with the pendant you can pick as your starting gift. It just acts as a reminder of your humanity and past, to not lose your mind and self, and has no special powers. And of course the Eternal Sword reminds me of the Moonlight Sword which is in SO MANY Fromsoft games.

About the day/night cycle. I vaguely remember the time of day effecting your rings in some way. It's just never explained well and really hard to notice. I vaguely remember was certain healing rings healing more at night? Also, fatal water is a staple of old Fromsoft games, rule of thumb, if the water is high enough to wade through it will kill you. One last thing, Eternal Ring did have fall damage but it wasn't anywhere near as punishing as you described, when you tested it in the video you landed in some nasty fatal water, thats what killed you. Amazing video as always Quick edit, the time of day also plays into a larger calendar system. Different elements are boosted on different days, I nearly forgot about that. Last edit I swear. Eternal Ring was a rushed game. The game was pushed out so the team could finish work on Kings Field 4 which ended up coming out a year later.

I can't believe he skipped over "IS THAT THE BEST YOU CAN D--" in the village attack, the cutoff always makes me chuckle.

I remember getting this game when it first came out. I unwrapped this game the Christmas it came out, my dad acted so pissed that the "Guy at the store gave him the wrong game" He took it from me and said he was taking it back with the receipt. I was so heartbroken and then I unwrapped the PS2 and I was completely overjoyed. I remember asking my dad how he got it all and he said that he waited in line in freezing october to get it lol along with the PS2. It was great too because I remember my mom getting so mad at him for "Picking up an extra graveyard shift" on his day off lol. I still have this game, the original one I got SO many years ago...damn this video brought back so many great memories!

Seeing this and then seeing how far we've come with Elden Ring fills me with determination

12:30 the fact that they animated the taking and opening of the letter is more effort on details than most games nowadays make. It's so interesting to see this game going out of its way on several small things while completely dropping the ball on bigger things.

That opening voice acting is amazing. It manages to sound exactly like a rudimentary text to speech program.

"Attacking an enemy's source, not the enemy itself" *cries in Bed of Chaos*

As a souls fanboy, I thought this game would be another in their list of "janky but interesting" titles everyone forgot about. But, wow, that storyline is something else. From has always been good at their stories, but Lyla's death teaching Soulless empathy is excellent. It was only with the death of someone he actually cared about that he learnt that there would be others whose deaths would carry meaning for someone else who cared about them. That is just mesmerising. Justifies my From fanaticism even more. :')

Holy crap, 58:15-58:17 You just uncovered the origins of the Pendant meme LMAO

I think only Drakengard fans can share the difficulty of explaining an obscure jrpg with Baby gods at the end.

Lmao I love how the running theme of FromSoft not being able to finish the snow levels they oh so love to try and include or having them be rushed is consistent here too.

Plot twist: This game does not exist and is all part of Josh's imagination. Baby birds and a floating baby.

I would love to see the current fromsoft team make a game like this again.

This game looks like proof of concept for the ancient city. They saw what worked and what didn't with the new PS2 technology and made a great game after

Something about the final boss being a child with godlike powers who acts like a kid is absolutely terrifying

26:49 is just Heide's Tower of Flame 32:40 is just the 3 giants room in Black Gulch and 39:28 is the Iron Golem! These guys just wanted to make Dark Souls for a loooong time

There is ONE other 'use' of the day/night cycle and it's really a hinderance. The npcs in the 1st village move around at different times of day and the guy you're supposed to give the letter to will go to bed and lock the door until like 8 am, preventing you from progressing if you happen to go there at the wrong time. One of the best spells, especially for killing the floating mages is Poison especially when you get Power of Seek ring. Lvl 3 Earth gems are able to be farmed once you have access to forest right after the 1st dungeon (the water temple) and it lets you bypass the awful poison valley area that the npcs tell you to go through instead. Tornado is excellent as well but it will suck up a lot of MP early on and can be really dangerous without Seek because it often drifts around. (Yes, your own spells can hurt you. The dragon summons are typically lethal if you're too close when you cast them.) Also, both you and enemies can cast spells through walls and doors, so be ready to cheese or die horribly in the Iron Mill. Holy moly! That footage at like 7:26 is the bonus secret dungeon in the start area, and somehow you have less than 300 hp. You must have sped your way through the game to get that, because that's pretty underleved for how nasty those monsters are, esp in the ice area. The cockatrices can prob one-shot you at that level.

Fun thing, the "analog" option in the game isn't referring to the sticks, but rather the d-pad. If you turn it on you can push it softer to walk

as someone who always used to read game manuals cover to cover (and honestly misses them today), this game is amazing.

Even the concept of humans turning into dragons dates back to this game. Jesus.

Several years back I went and played every kings field and eternal ring. Was such a fun experience seeing the building blocks of what would eventually become my favorite game series ever. The aesthetics and music of Kings Field & Eternal Ring are so amazing to me

The age of manuals was great. You give your friend the first go, agree to swap seats when they die, then learn how to play properly between the manual and examples of gameplay on screen. You take over when they die and get to play till dinner time while they're stuck watching because you know what you're doing.

i'd actually love to see you cover kings field. Also I love how the Eternal Sword is straight up the Moonlight Greatsword. The MGS roots run deep.

HOLY SHIT! THIS IS THE GAME THAT'S HAUNTED MY DREAMS FOR YEARS. YES! FINALLY, I REMEMBER IT! THANK YOU! now to watch the video❤

39:00 Probably the coolest explanation for a plain enemy design and now makes me appreciate geometric ememies a lot more. Eternal Ring seems like the type of game that has the most amazing potential. It could've come out in recent years, even if it wasn't as fleshed out but added what was recommended and better graphics and animations and genuinely it would be a good modern game.

There is a strange lack of detail in some places and a great amount in others like the man actually opening the letter in the beginning. Overall it shows what fromsoftware's ambitions we're back then and seeing them getting it right with the newer titles is amazing. I replay freelancer a 2003 flying space shooter game every year as a nostalgia vibe. I would be interested in seeing what you think of it if you're interested

I remember when I was a kid, I was very creeped out by Adult Soulus for the ten seconds he's on screen. My dad was also unimpressed by the ending screen text, rolling his eyes and sarcastically saying "GEE, I wonder who THAT COULD BE" Still, this made me nostalgic for how fantasy rpgs used to be watching it

"Having a snowy tundra connected to a massive storm tower by a tunnel would be silly so they teleport you around" >Dark Souls 2: you climb up to the top of a poisoned windmill, then take an elevator UP to the fiery depths of the Iron Keep

Reminds me of two highly underrated games on the PS2 which were extermination and EOE Eve of Extinction. Definitely worth checking out both of them.

Oh my God you did Eternal Ring. This was one of first ps2 games. Back when I first got my ps2 I didn't have a memory card for around a month, so I left my ps2 on while I was at school and beat the game without ever turning it off. Such nostalgia

Eternal ring was fascinating one. It worked like a dark souls game, but played like echo night, really under-rated fromsoft series where you communicate with the dead and help them pass on with their own heartbreaking yet realistic stories of unfinished business. Man, echo night was such a good game. Maybe you should play that next, josh.

I find videos about obscure videogames like this one to be way more interesting when compared to the pokemon one. We've all experienced pokemon, while this is a hidden gem. Amazing video!

I personally think the atmosphere in this game is amazing.

this is truly the eternal ring of king’s field 2

The last 4 nights in a row, I begin playing this video and I am sleeping 15 minutes later. Thanks for helping me sleep. One day I will watch the whole video

I loved shadow tower just for the audio. You need headphones to experience it right. Every bleep and bloop sounds like nothing to start, until you realize you can track 5 things moving in different directions and patterns and speeds behind you just by elaborate sound design.

For years I thought this game was a fever dream I had. Like, this weird kind of unfinished memory that my brain had tried to put together. I even asked my dad if I played something like this and he couldn't remember buying it for me. I saw this video and I knew instantly that this was it. It was so surreal hearing about each boss and level and reliving things I straight up forgot I had. The weird legs guy, the baby, the valley with the one shopkeeper. I even remember reading the manual and it mentioning summon rings. I was obsessed with making one and that thought pushed me to finish I think. The fact that later in life the same company would make some of my favorite games is insane to me. My mind is literally blown right now. Awesome video, for real.

Lyla: "He COMPLETELY lost his human consciousness. Let me handle this!" Oh cool, is she going to take down the fire dragon, because she can use magic too, and is much more badass, being an ancestor to what we are? Can't wait to see how she handles it! Lyla: "Father, it's me, Lyla, can you stop, pretty please?"

This game hit me like a fever dream. I was just watching a video about the history of Patches in fromsoft games and one of the older games triggered me into remember playing Eternal Ring, a game I haven’t thought of in over 20 years

I had a blast with this game as a kid and remember all the frustrations as well. This game should definitely be remade.

As good as FromSoft's games have gotten since this, you gotta give them credit for having animated mouths when the NPCs talk

1:05:38 "The mechanics of a decent game are there. What the game lacks is any way for a player to understand them in game." The more things change, the more they stay the same.

40:50 Attacking the source of an enemy instead of the actual enemy is present in the Ringed City DLC for Dark Souls 3. In the Dreg Heap area the angels can be instantly killed if you go for the weird screaming slug people tied to each one.

I forgot this game was even a thing. My PS2 game case was full of folded up A4 paper of my hand drawn maps and ring crating notes, good times!

Too many games would have had the "big bad" just get a second phase after experiencing loss for the first time, instead of growing as part of the experience.

Just found this channel, I think it's great Richard Hammond is doing video game reviews

This was a joy to watch, Thank you. the voice acting at the beginning was peak and the ending was something I wouldnt have expected but is on brand. lol

One of my very favorite games from my childhood! Thank you so much for doing this playthrough! It was a continuation of the feng shui magic/ring system games, Lagoon from SNES and Quest 64.

The ring system reminded me about Summoner 1 and 2 from Voliton also - final boss turning into David Bowie was quite a twist

16:45 I love how the death animation was almost the same as it is today :D

Okay, I can't be the only one who thought this. I'm only a minute and a half in and everything about this video; your accent, cadence of speech, style of video, even the TITLE, all remind me of Totalbiscuit and his "WTF is...?" video series. Keep up the good work!

I didn't expect to fall in love with the OST and writing of this game but dang your review makes me want to play this game!! Even with all the antiquated "quirks" I really got absorbed in the cutscenes you put in this video...even the voice acting feels so nostalgic and special, like Oblivion voice acting but more serious. The score is so epic and grand and really reminds me of Twilight Princess.

Hope you'll take a look at Dark Cloud at some point. It was my first brush with Town building/RPG, but it was a slog to get past the first village so I never really got far.

Man with Eternal Ring knocked out, if Josh does Evergrace after this he'll complete my list of "Games i played alot as a Tween and never understood how to play or complete".

I like that you breakdown everything including controls, UI, and all that. I appreocate knowing how that effects the experience without having to play it myself.

I love watching games I never played and games I played alike. You make it wonderfully entertaining. When you said this could have been enjoyable, it made me want some kind of remake 😂

the starter basecamp village coming under attack is a moderate twist. in some classic dungeon crawlers like angband or castle of the winds the shop village at the surface was usually inviolable

I absolutely love games of this style. First person dungeon crawlers. King's Field, Shadow Tower, Eternal Ring... I just finished playing Lunacid (which is in early access) and have an eye out for Monomyth which is also in development. I don't know of anything else out there outside the titles I just mentioned... If only this genre could have a renaissance :(

Your channel is hands down one of if not my favorite channel atm, please never stop making these videos lol

Love all the little parallels with their later games. The two red swordsmen being harder than some bosses is giving me flashbacks to the archer knights in Anor Londo

New microphone? His voice has a bit more timbre than usual, has a kind of comfy PBS feel to it.

The music in Eternal Ring is really good and honestly one of the best things about it

The entire premise of this game and its story are so cool. It feels very very inspired from the twilight zone “it’s a good life” one of my favorite episodes but it could just be a coincidence.

As janky and dated this game might be, I love those kind of games more than modern realistic titles. It feels otherwordly and fascinating.

I really liked the ending. Unlike most fromsoft stuff where it's just kind of bleak, this one was bittersweet, and it felt more compelling than if it had just been a happy ending

I listen to a lot of KZfaq videos at work while moving stuff on a forklift I hit lunch around the 44 minute mark of listening to this video and was surprised that the graphics were 3D instead of 16 bit haha

Got this in a pile of free bargain bin games when I was a kid. I stopped after getting to the giant tree but this video made me want to give it another go on pcsx2. Mapping the movement and camera to the sticks made it way more playable and I'm having a good time with it.

I remember this game in vaguebfoggy memories from my child hood. Oh, this is like going back to a place you didn’t even remember you missed. Thank you.

You should do one on the PS2 game Dark Cloud. One of my childhood favorites that seems to be almost forgotten and would love to see your take on it!

I think the fact that the baby grows into a man is a good thing because he finally understood the meaning of life and this makes him grow as a person figuratively and literally. The ending also let's you understand that even if he's a unkillable god he doesn't try to harm anyone anymore but tries to learn more from them, something that he refused to do before the final confrontation. That's very good in my opinion

it's actually incredibly impressive how much from software has improved since this game.

The red and blue thing for increase and decrease is not due to the time I think. In japan red is attributed to something positive and blue to negative. Its a cultural thing not necessarily time related. Even modern japanese games do this a lot. One example I can think of is the gacha game touken ranbu where you get a message in red if your postition is advantageous and blue if not.

This is so strange, I was at CEX today and saw a copy of this on the shelf. Had never heard of it so had a look and saw it was FromSoft and considered picking it up before leaving it be, then you end up putting this out a few hours later!

i love your content so much. thank you so much for all the videos.

This is probably my favourite video on all of youtube. Thanks, Josh.

Wow, I've had vague memories of having played this game rattling around in my head for the last 15 odd years, the stab and the gems and the not knowing where the hell I was going the only things I remembered for certain. Thank you so much for letting me lay this game to rest in my head, and for playing it to completion so I don't have to. Keep up the good work sir!

Idk if anyone has told you yet, but great audio quality in this vid. You've improved hella significantly over the years and it shows and sounds. Keep it up.

I played this way back in the day and really enjoyed it. The gameplay was very odd, and frustrating at times, but enjoyable. (And I did explore that dungeon in the beginning after clearing the game). I only recently learned this game was a FROM software title and completely forgot about it until three months ago. It makes so much sense to me, especially seeing as I haven’t missed a FROM game since Dark Souls 1. Funny how things work out.

The nostalgia-relief laughter that emerged from deep within my abdomen when Josh said the word “angelfire” scared and surprised even me 😆😰🫠

Oh. My. Gooood! Finally someone I know talking about Eternal Ring without me having to specifically look for it. I love this game so much! Sure it has a lot of issues, but it is such a neat package.

As game dev hobbyist i watched EVERY of your videos and I like your take on many aspects of games. Opened few discussions on my projects. A kind of new point of view to things.

HOLY SHIT thank you I could not remember this games name for the life of me. I remember trying so hard to understand this game as a kid and not really being able to do so. But i had a lot of fun

Fantastic episode. Its great to see games I never knew about.

I literally watch this channel just for the "Was it good series" well done! Also that ending line from the boss is on another level of disturbing lol

Watching you play obscure games I never played as a kid and having you complete the story knowing I'll probably never have time or get the chance to do it myself. Your doing a great service ;)