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Bonfireside Chat: A Dark Souls and Elden Ring Podcast
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An undead favourite. From Gary Butterfield and Kole Ross, the creators of "Watch Out for Fireballs!", Bonfireside Chat is a podcast dedicated entirely to the Souls series of games. Starting with Dark Souls, we take a journey through the areas of the game and comment on lore, gameplay, bossfights... everything. Now covering Elden Ring on Patreon. Praise the Sun!
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Though the Abyssal Woods and Midra’s Manse aren’t huge areas gameplay-wise, we adore their lore and story so much that we had to camp out for some extra time. So this episode concludes our discussion of Midra’s Manse, including the boss fight, and a long talk about what Midra and Nanaya’s deals were.
Though the Abyssal Woods and Midra’s Manse aren’t huge areas gameplay-wise, we adore their lore and story so much that we had to camp out for some extra time. So this episode concludes our discussion of Midra’s Manse, including the boss fight, and a long talk about what Midra and Nanaya’s deals were.
This week we find the very hidden entrance to a very hidden path to a very hidden area. Shadow Keep hides a way to reach the Recluse’s River, which is the warpath that the hornsent inquisition took to bring great force to bear on Midra in the Abyssal Woods. Along the way we will complete our final two mini-dungeons and descend further than ought to be possible, as we approach the coolest area in the game.
The hands of the cosmos have many fingers, and all of their movements tell a story. But what that story means is up for interpretation. And this week we venture to the Cathedral of Manus Metyr and meet a very strange man named Count Ymir, who claims to have knowledge of the true nature of the Greater Will, the Two Fingers, and the origins of Marika’s divinity. Is he trustworthy? Who knows!? Let’s go blow whistles for him.
This week we complete the last of Shadow Keep, exploring the rear of the Specimen Storehouse before killing Messmer’s best bud Commander Gaius, and stumbling across the location where Marika’s whole story began.
You’d never guess it, but there’s still more Shadow Keep left to explore. Approaching from the Bonny Village side gets you into the flooded Church District, an area that calls New Londo to mind. But what lies beneath the water is stranger and more mysterious than the Darkwraiths.
This week we head on down to Bonny Village, which doesn’t seem so bonny to us. Instead, it was the beating heart of the hornsent’s jar-making operation. This is where the shamans, Marika’s people, were butchered and put into jars in order to make them into “saints”. Eventually they wish they didn’t do that.
This week we are joined by Sophie Pilbeam of the Sinclair Lore YouTube Channel. We talk about the world and narrative design of Shadow of the Erdtree, and how well it meshes with the base game. Afterwards, we read your responses about the Cerulean Coast and Shadow Keep areas of the game.
This week’s episode concludes the Specimen Storehouse, and concerns itself mostly with the fight against Messmer and an exploration of what his whole deal was. What led to his genocide of the Hornsent, and how exactly did Marika screw him over?
After clearing Shadow Keep proper, we find ourselves in a tower dedicated to the study and preservation of living beings touched by the Crucible. This is… unexpected in the home of someone leading a genocide against the Hornsent. But as we climb, we learn more about Messmer, and also discover the horrifying truth of Miquella’s plans.
For this entire season we’ve been walking in the wake of Messmer’s works, a fiery genocide of the Hornsent people. But now it’s time to visit the home of Messmer himself and breach the Shadow Keep which looms large over landscape. We talk about the level’s intricate design, and advance some quests related to Needle Knight Leda and her treachery about treachery.
Charo’s Hidden Grave is a region that is true to its name, resting above, but out of reach from, the Cerulean Coast. But once you get up there, you learn a little bit more about this cosmology’s relationship with death, and find a dirty little secret that the Hornsent tried to hide away from themselves.
Miquella threw something away which he should not have, and we’re going deep into the Stone Coffin Fissure to find it. So dress appropriately for wading through hip-deep putrescence, and let your least secure friend know where you’re headed, and come with!
Having broken a Great Rune somewhere in the Shadow Realm, we now head south toward the Cerulean Coast, a beautiful region littered with gigantic stone coffin ships. But the path leading there is anything but obvious.
This week we speak with Jeremy Greer, of Days of Future Cast and many other shows, about his experiences with the Shadow of the Erdtree. We also read your responses to Castle Ensis and Scadu Altus!
This week we head deep into the Scorpion River valley to explore the base of the Rauh Ruins, a.k.a. that one very hidden map marker. No, not that one. The other one. We end up hitting our final forge dungeon, and exploring a catacomb with a very goofy and deadly threat.
This week we turn our attention to Scadu Altus, the region north of Castle Ensis which Messmer’s armies call their home. This region is less populated with notable landmarks than its non-shadow counterpart, but we end up finding something pretty important in the grisly fort where the Crusade executed those who failed it.
This week we tackle a Legacy-ish Dungeon, Castle Ensis. Don’t get us wrong, the boss fight here is very good… but the level design and lore here are both threadbare. They can’t all be winners, but the good news is that every other dungeon is better than this one.
Before we attack Castle Ensis, there’s more ground we need to cover on the far side of the Great Ellac Bridge. This week’s episode introduces a brand new kind of mini dungeon, the Ruined Forge, full of big goofy golems with obvious weak points on their butts. We also meet sleepy, insecure Thiollier before ascending the Suppressing Tower and speculating about what exactly is going on with that thing.
The Great Ellac Bridge crosses a dividing line in the Gravesite Plain, a large canyon that stands between the ground we’ve already covered and Castle Ensis. The far side is fortified and narrow, but has many mysteries to explore before we head into the castle itself. This week we tackle castle-front encampment before heading north into a misty valley to delve into the Fog Rift Catacombs, where Godwyn and his forces are working toward mysterious ends.
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