"Feel's like an duel". It's not a duel, its an execution.

This soundtrack isn't the same without the constant grunting of the character and Smough's hammer crushing things.

@supersbbrawl4ever

8 ай бұрын

And Smough's laughter

I have one word for this track. *Oppressive.* You are small,and they are giants. You are nobody,and they are nobility. You're a trespasser,and they're guardians. This is *their* home. You're *not welcome.* Stand and deliver,Chosen Undead. Stand and *die,* Chosen Undead. The amount of oppressive gravitas that the track,arena,boss design,and boss fight itself exudes is just phenomenal.

It's interesting how Marco calls them both Knights. If I remember correctly Ornstein is the only Knight as he was one of the Four Knights of Gwyn. Smough was a sick executioner. And of course he is spot on when it comes to them 'protecting' something. They are of course protecting Princess Gwynevere. Or at least the illusion of her.

@unlimited971

10 ай бұрын

A big chest ahead

@hmmmooops

10 ай бұрын

Smough was denied knighthood because he was a canibal, but at the same time he was the one who stayed behind and defended the princess when everyone else left.

@poopmangaming5684

10 ай бұрын

did they know gwynevere was an illusion?

@Cruzsader

10 ай бұрын

​@@poopmangaming5684as far we know both of them are ilussions

@unlimited971

10 ай бұрын

@@Cruzsader quite thecpercuting illusions. But again you can interact with them that much...the princess...

Ornstein is a knight, Smough was a borderline insane executioner. They are not only a fun duo to fight but also reflect on the state of the kingdom. On one side there is Ornstein as the pinnacle of a knight, leader of the noble dragonslayers and holy spear of the royal crown. Everything the kingdom superfically shows to be. But then he is paired with Smough, quite literally the most ruthless executionier in the lands who not only reveld in torture and painfull death to his victims but was even said to season his food with bonemeal from the bones of his victims. Ornstein alone isnt the truth about the kingdom. The reality is that the royal system was NEVER all shine and glamour like Anor Londo wants you to think. While the upper kingdom was living in the illusion of prosper, the lower cities where dying in pestilence, deliberately flooded to hide political secrets or just abandoned. For every upstanding knight protecting the royals, there also was an unrelenting and merciless executioner to slay the lower folk. O and S where quite literally the pillars of the kingdom.

@djspit8929

8 ай бұрын

Beautifully put

@nightmike7655

3 ай бұрын

You got it exactly. And even more when in ds3 you can come to the conclusion that Ornstein left his duty to seek his master, whom you fight in ds3, and where you can find his actual armor, and the one you fight is probably a Gwyndolin illusion. It shows the current Anor Londo, the most brilliant features of it are just illusions.

Ornstein is the more knightly of the two since he was a dragonslayer. Smough is essentially a jumped-up gluttonous executioner paired with Ornstein.

@twiddlerat9920

9 ай бұрын

Ornstein arguably is one of the few bosses in the game who is a good guy

@tuyoufpazic5746

8 ай бұрын

​@@twiddlerat9920he didn't really do that much that was good

@v.0190

8 ай бұрын

@@tuyoufpazic5746 Well he was honorauble and wasn't doing some bad shit, so he's a good guy for a Dark Souls

@gimmeyourrights8292

20 күн бұрын

It's quite telling what happens when you kill either of them. Kill Smough and Ornstein will honor him, kill Ornstein and Smough will crush him.

I could make a comment about how comical this is in context, but in truth it's probably better to simply say that this encounter with two golden knights standing guard at a castle standing apex to a kingdom of sunlight truly sets a scene with the grand choir and orchestra being the pièce de résistance Brave Fromsoft, truly magnificent

O and S are the epidomy of the fun ragefest for me. Usually when I'm havimg a hard time with a Dark Souls boss, I resort to getting help. But there's something about this boss that felt fun in a strange way. I sunk at least a few hours into them the first time I beat them. Maybe the music helped, its still one of my top 5 favorite Dark Souls tracks.

@MarzaButTube

2 ай бұрын

I despised this boss, came back to it recently with a lot more experience and I still think its bad. But none of that stopped me from getting this song stuck in my head

People saying that Smough is not a knight, he's just an executioner. While it's true that his title is "executioner smough" it's important to understand the context of this fight. Anor Londo is all evacuated, totally abandoned, you have a few scarse souls that remain, and even Ornstein himself has left the city, being replaced by an illusion just like gwynevere itself. In this desolate place, Smough is literally the last stand, he might not be formally a knight, but yet he's there, protecting gwynever to the very end. What king of "executioner" does that? This resonates very well to the idea that Smough always wanted to be a knight, but that his many flaws an savage way didn't allow for that to happen.

6:22 just a thought, if you ever wanted to, you could always engage in some jolly cooperation with fans in Dark Souls Edit: I happen to be one of those lucky people who didn’t struggle with this fight. I went in with my enchanted claymore and sorcery and beat them first try. And that was with going after Super Ornstein rather than Super Smough. Really fun fight, much better than a certain other Duo fight I could mention

@LittleSilva422

10 ай бұрын

*Apostles start approaching your destination at alarming speeds*

@conspiracypanda1200

10 ай бұрын

Summoning or being summoned in DS is a hell of a different experience from running solo, for better or worse. For instance, I've never struggled against the Curse-rotted Greatwood in DS3 until I got summoned (for what I assumed would be easy souls) and watched as my summoner got himself squashed flat by the tree's ass three times in a row because he couldn't intuit the boss' targeting switch.

This fight was very difficult, but also probably the best and most rewarding!

Ornstein & Smough really was the moment it divided newcomers to veterana on the Souls genre. Really tough fight but not unfair too

An amazing detail during phase transitions depending on who you kill in the first phase. Ornstein, once smough is defeated, rests a hand on him in a form of respect before borrowing his power to become massive. Smough, once Ornstein is defeated, you can see Ornstein still twitching showing signs of life, smough, without second thought or mercy smashes Ornstein to death absorbing his power becoming massive. It shows in game how distinguished the duo is, one is an honor bound knight sworn to duty to defend The great illusion, whilst the other is a horrific beastly cannibal appointed as executioner. It’s beautiful.

what i love about this theme is how it encapsulates both characters. On one hand, it sounds triumphant and noble, almost heroic. This is a reference to ornstein, the gallant and noble dragonslayer. A knight directly under the lord of cinder himself and harnesses the power of the sun itself. On the other hand, it also sounds dark, oppressive and almost creepy. this is in reference to smough. He is the complete opposite to ornstein. Smough is an executioner. He loves his job. he is cruel, sadistic and incredibly gleeful when carrying out his duty. He's cannibalistic, and unlike the heroic and beloved ornstein, smough is despised and feared throughout anor londo.

I love this theme so much u can hear wen the theme give weight like smoughs slow and devastating hits but also the strings wen ornsteins quick agilness and elegance overall

Now listen to Dunkstein and Slamough! No need for a full video, just you'll enjoy it.

I AM FOAMING. AT THE MOUTH.

Ornstein & Smough are an infamous "wall", which means you have to learn the fight to advance, and if you haven't been diligently learning the mechanics you will get stuck on this fight. This fight is the midpoint in the game, the last trial the Chosen Undead faces before being entrusted with vanquishing the four Lord bosses and sacrificing themselves to keep the world lit. That's why O&S are hard, harder than any of the non-DLC bosses: on top of representing the (illusory) splendor of Anor Londo, the (abandoned) city of the gods, they're there to ensure that the Chosen Undead is powerful enough to succeed Gwyn, the first to sacrifice himself to bind the world to the order of flame and the king that O&S served a thousand years ago. Gwyn had four chief knights. Ornstein was one of them. Smough, despite his strength and loyalty (staying in Anor Londo long after it was abandoned), was denied because he was a cannibal, and the sinister, plodding aspects of the theme represent Smough. The fight itself tests everything previous bosses did, all combined together. It's easy to get into positions where the bosses combo/stunlock you, which can be fatal: Ornstein shoots lighting from across the map, you mistime the dodge, it hits you and staggers you, and Smough's hammer slams down before your character recovers, and 80% of your HP is gone like that. A lot of their attacks play on your instinct to retreat into a corner or an attack from their counterpart, so you have to keep your nerves and learn not just the correct timing, but the correct spacing and positioning to dodge each attack safely. Positioning and situational awareness is the key to making this fight manageable, since there being two bosses means correct roll timing by itself will still leave you getting hit by the other boss. Either boss by himself would be easy enough, but O&S are complementary in a way that is perfectly tough but fair: if you don't know what you're doing (and a new Souls players usually won't for several hours of attempts) they'll work together to make you feel despair, but between Ornstein being faster and more aggressive and the pillars letting you distance Smough for brief times, you can learn how to separate the bosses, turning their teamwork against them to rack up safe damage. The pillars are a great example of why arena design is important for boss fights like this (and one of the advantages O&S has over the better-polished Demon Prince duo in DS3), since O&S would be less fair and less fun in a flat, empty arena. While it hasn't aged well (with egregious but hilarious jank like Ornstein's lunge physics), O&S is one of the most meaningful boss fights I've experienced, since it took me 7 hours and DS1 was my first Souls game, and their theme might just be my favorite FromSoft track, rivaled only by the likes of Nameless King, Mohg, and Sif.

Ornstein & Smough is a really good example of how a friend can take a massive burden off your shoulders in these fights, making it into a fair 2v2 where you don’t have to worry about their combined fury. O&S have largely complimentary attack sets - Ornstein with his speedy stabs and swipes, and Smough with his brutal and barbaric slams and charges. The music really fits the duo.

@mokshitsati7248

8 ай бұрын

even if you dont have friends solaire got you

This fight was the first wall I hit the first time I played DS. Love this fight and the music is A M A Z I N G

genuinely my favorite song ever, that feeling of being overwhelmed and tiny, that fierce combat against two great warriors, the beautiful setting of Anor Londo, inside a great cathedral. god i love Ornstien and Smough. God i love their music. God i love Dark Souls.

The perfect duo...always respect for O&S.

Marco i just listened to some of the boss themes of Lies of P and oh boy... you gonna love those

@MarcoMeatball

10 ай бұрын

I do love those. Hoping to record some next week with an ost impressions video

Hey, I just came from your Kirby video here to recommend you look at "Supreme lords Coronation ~OVERLORD~ (Full Theme). Kirby's Return to Dreamland Deluxe came out in February 2023 and took an already existing Remix of CROWNED from Kirby Star Allies. It put a whole new twist on it and I'd like for someone to listen through the whole thing and give their expetize on everything. More info: The version of that theme only plays in the True Arena and puts the twist mentioned earlier ONLY in the Second Phase of the Magolor Soul fight, that's why you have to listen to the theme TWICE, once in the normal Star Allies rendition and once in the Return to Dreamland Deluxe variation to grasp it fully. There's a lot of room for interpretation and the theme is rather grand and complex. I hope you visit it sometime, as you probably already have Moonstruck Blossom or something like that on your list.

As one person said “ this makes you feel like you’re screwed but also encourages you too” it’s an amazing fight

SMOG MY BELOVED

@SimonSenaviev

10 ай бұрын

Yes it's Moghing time

My experience 1st time went something like this: - Music starts - Gets stabbed by charging Ornstein because forgot again that he does that - Doesn't recover, because these two don't let you breathe at all, and dies 11 times - Finally kills Smough and then proceeds to get rolled by giant Ornstein - Figures electric Smough is easier and goes in that order - Still dies 11 more times - Finally wins and praises the sun

I put my Sunbro summoning mark right outside this fight often, both because it's awesome and because it's way, way easier when there's a player for each opponent. Also, I'm eternally amused by the conflict over how to pronounce Smough's name, even though we hear Hawkeye Gough's name spoken later.

@Soridan

10 ай бұрын

Yeah, because if you hear "laughter" you will know how to say "slaughter" ;D

This is one of the few FromSoft themes that occasionally gets orchestrated live. There's a couple on KZread, and they're worth checking out!

I had this as my phone ringtone for a long time. It made picking up the phone so dramatic.

I love this song, but I think my favorite one in the game is probably Sif's theme. I think it's much more narratively and thematically poignant, especially if you save her in the DLC first (and defeat Manus alongside her) to trigger the alternate cutscene when you go into her arena to start her fight.

one of my alltime favorite songs from video games, its really baroque, creating a sense of old and majestic as davi vasc explained in his video, really cool if you wanna learn what the song means and why they make it like that

Here we go :D I'd like to recommend Bell Gargoyle next!

Ive always loved this one, and ive been replaying some ds1 so, perfect timing.

Listening to this song again I feel a wave of overwhelming pressure. I’m pretty sure that my brain has this locked this into my subconscious because of the fight but I really find it hard to feel anything else haha

of course i suffered, we all suffer our first playthroughs, but growth comes through hardships, we learn to love the fights we died to the most.

This was great, the Souls games have so many gems with their boss themes, would love to see you react to more!

Dark Souls 2 indicates that Ornstein either survived his encounter (or just returned to life because he was an undead like the player) or had already left the castle to search his lord, son of Gwyn, by the time the fight happened and in his place was another illusion created by Gwyndolin. This is further confirmed in Dark Souls 3 as you can actually find his armor near Nameless King who is indicated to be the forementioned song of Gwyn and the armor description mentions that he did find his lord.

Your reactions are the best. I would like to see one day that you could listen "Those Who Deny the Dawn" from the Octopath Traveler 2. the songs in the game are epic

If you’re going to continue the fromsoft music, you HAVE to do the Burnt Ivory King and Great Grey Wolf Sif. Two absolutely beautiful pieces 🙏🏽

Another banger, hoping you’ll delve some more into dark souls 2 with things like burnt ivory king, sinh, or back into dark souls. 3 with demon princes and halflight. Always cool to see the general differences and evolution of the dark souls games music.

Looking forward to seeing your reaction to some more of the armoured core boss themes

@MarcoMeatball

10 ай бұрын

More to come!

have you been playing Lies of P at all Marco? been loving the more in-depth break downs these last few videos!

@MarcoMeatball

10 ай бұрын

Ya I got one coming soon!

i'm so corrupted by the internet i expected to hear the slam jam version

The elegant/prideful parts in the track definitely depict ornstein while the more sinister and less extravagent parts portray smough for sure. Ornsteins side is more flashy and honourable while smoughs side has an eerie lack of emotion and complexity. I really like how the parts I imagine represent smough give off an urgent/threatening undertone of impending doom but ornsteins is like gracefully overwhelming.

Ah, yes. The Pikachu and Snorlax theme.

Yo, you should check out the dancer of the boreal valleys fight. I might be wrong but i swear they made the timing on the boss to 3/4 to match the waltz esque music. I remember struggling with dodging her attacks until i listened to the music and chnaged my rhythm.

Definitely recommend listening to Old Dragonslayer from DS2 now that you’ve heard this. The fight is against Ornstein only, or at least someone in his armour, and the music builds amazingly on this song. It still sounds regal, but the empty space and lack of vocals represent the absence of Smough from the fight and subsequent imbalance this leads to in Ornstein’s fighting style

definitely spent a lot of time on this fight my first time playing it 😅 I remember that little string, organ, and harpsichord (?) break in the music standing out to me a lot, and when I played dark souls 3, a part of the nameless king theme reminded me of that section. Which kind of makes sense in the lore, seeing as ornstein and the nameless king were very close it seems

I was wondering if you'd thought about going back to some more music from Lost Ark. Brelshaza's theme is certainly one of the best the game has to offer, but the Akkan raid came out recently in NA and has some really fantastic pieces. In particular Plague Legion Commander (gate 3) is a great piece for another try not to headbang challenge.

i always loved how each part of this song descibes the two characters. Smough is a horrible barbarous cannibalistic monster who was knighted. ornstien is an honorbound and regal knight of valor. but both are forced to work together. both parts of the song show off those aspects of them as they intermingle

I wanted to toss Remnant 2's ost in as a suggestion. It's got some amazing music in there especially for the boss fights. Sha'Hala is one of the more interesting ones if you want a starting point.

I like them synergy of these characters at the start of the fight ornstein takes the front rushing down the player while smough in the back comes towards you pushing his hammer towards you

Lore-wise Ornstein’s a regal, dedicated character… and DS3 indicates Smough also cared very much, though in his own twisted way. This fight is built on such a powerful, elegant contrast that’s reflected in how the voices and instruments work together :) Also it's Orn-sty-in and Smo, I will die on this hill lmao

@Valsorayu

10 ай бұрын

Gough is pronounced G-ocht (spoken), so why not sm-ocht?

@miliocito2293

10 ай бұрын

Do you pronounce “summons” with the same “su” as in “sure ‘bout that?” (Joking aside, ”Goh” vs “G-ocht” is a whole other curious quirk in the localization. Ornstein is a reference to the composer Leo Ornstein/Lev Ornshteyn, while Smough's name is likely a reference to sumo rikishi, so I pull from there. It's also the closest I can get to the Japanese phonetics. But eh, most of these names we only see in writing anyways, so truthfully as long as we understand what we mean it’s cool)

I first heard a theme of one warrior fighting for peace and one warrior fighting for the will of a dark lord. By your point of two knights fighting for what they're sworn to do it drives the theme home for me, especially since I've never seen Dark Souls game play so this is my best guess of what it's like

@Spiderella3959

9 ай бұрын

You actually kind of guessed correctly! Good job ^^ the overall theme, especially with the harpsicord, the harp and the strings is indeed a symbol for the honourable great Dragonslayer Ornstein, and the unnerving choir and more dark, sinister parts are the shady untrustworthy personality of the giant Executioner Smough being exposed :D Both are fighting together against the player, but have different goals from one another

Also this fight was tough I need a break before beating them but they were also my fav bosses for sure

Even by today i get PTSD while hearing the first notes, it makes me want to hide in a hole in front of such an imposant majesty. But it's still one of the best ds1 song for me

it's crazy that fromsoft still hasn't managed to recreate a 2vs1 as perfectly designed as O&S, gameplay wise they are a treat and the lore only helps to elevate them, the noble dragonslayer knight of gwyn Ornstein, nimble and graceful and the brutish grotesque executor, denied knightship due to his cannibalistic and brutal nature, Smough, they get small character moments when you beat either of them first, Ornstein places his hand on Smough and takes his power to become huge and Smough instead crushes Ornstein's body (effectively killing him since seemingly he's still alive after you defeat him) and takes his lightning DS3 gives us some more lore with it's alternative timeline stuff, despite his status Ornstein did abandon his post and pursued another path, while Smough never left Anor Londo and kept guarding Gwynevere, making a nice contrast between the noble knight being the one who left and the gross executioner being the one to uphold knighthood, I just love these 2 goofballs

Im still waiting for the vordt from dark souls 3

Drake and Josh were awful to fight. I played using magic so I was throwing off the difficulty curve wildly. My whole strategy was to backpedal at a precise speed whilst launching soul arrows so I could bait Smough into using a hammer charge that was easy to dodge whilst I whittled down Ornstein.

@zombiewafle

10 ай бұрын

No one believes me when I say I beat em first try. I was also powerlevelling cause of all the hype surrounding them tho lol Subsequent runs? I got my shit pushed in

Hello Marco came across your channel when you listened to Children of the Omniessiah, I would like your opinion of the music from the warhammer fan production of "The Lord Inquisitor"

@MarcoMeatball

10 ай бұрын

I'll check it out!

Plin Plin Plon.

you should react to some star ocean OST. it's from the same composer. and it's some of the most beautiful compositions. specially star ocean the 2nd story. and Valkyrie Profile OST is equally phenomenal.

Hello Marco, it could be fun if you took a look to Ceadus theme from Monster hunter, it's a banger

Have you listened to DS3s Oceiros, the Consumed King yet? I think you’ll have a riot with this one

When are we getting our Ornstein nanda Smough buddy cop show?

Remember, Smough rhymes with snow

My god, do I love watching your reaction vids. May I recommend the boss music from Lost Ark's Thaemine battle? I believe it's titled Apocalyptic Poem.

@MarcoMeatball

10 ай бұрын

Cool! And thank you ❤️

Well. Ain this interesting. Smug was an executioner. Ruthless and monstrous, with a giant hammer turned the victims into goo. Ornstein was the most regal of knight, disciple of the Nameless King. A dragon slayer knight. And they are guarding a master. Now, her is the fun part, Ornstein its an illusion, he by this time already left searching for the Nameless King. Smug, a monster, turned to be the most loyal of the knights, he stood guarding, there for real. He was the only one doing his job to the end. I dont know if that is expressed in the music, since you are not supposed to know at this point. But, they are nobility, larger than life and you are nothing, just an undead. As usual melancholy is ever present. Love it.

Can you do Halftlight's ost next?

Bruh this is my favorite ds1 boss

snorlax and pikachu as one of my friends grandkids called them.

Everyone suffers with this fight. It's a filter for sure. There are usually some other players you can summon though. Dark Souls is so good. It uses environmental music so sparingly that getting to Ash Lake was extremely memorable to me. Totally optional area and just so cool.

Oh yeah nothing like a better time to listen some classical music while being pound. Quite litt double tapped.

Maybe it is an unpopular opinion, but I would recomend the Burnt Ivory King OST next. It's simple, but I love everything about this character.

From a cinematic perspective you can se clearly that Ornstein was depicted as a most important figure than Smough...You get a first shot of Smough that is implying you should be careful with this one, but Ornstein comes from a top witch means that hes a Knight of a higher status than Smough and as he walks through the edge you see that he looks down(to us player) implying that Ornstein sees us the player as nothing more than a nuisance that sould get rid of quickly like a roach. Its fascinating how much a short cinematic can tell us so much about those two.

This. This is such a classic. A masterpiece. A *paragon* of video game music.

This fight is the true test of mettle. It is what determines if you have what it takes to play dark souls.

@marcomeatball was having PTSD from the song.

Everybody suffered this fight when the game came out, and everyone is still suffering after hearing Orstein and Smough's theme because they remembered how much they died to them, thinking how unfair the fight was to their virgin Souls-game mind. When you hear it again after fightning (and winning against) them even years after, you still have this strange ominous feeling of "Man, I hate them, so much ... But they are still cool, but man I hate them !"

@ISSO1407

10 ай бұрын

Not really. I killed them on my sixth or seventh try i think and these two were one of the easiest boss encounters for me. Pretty much all of the bosses were jokes to be honest, i wiped the floor with a third of them first try, the normal enemies + environmental shenanigans were much harder. Artorias the Abysswalker and the endboss of the DLC where the only bosses who actually gave me trouble for a while and killed me ~50 times together.

yo this song is longer than 5 seconds?

Idk why but i always read this theme as kinda schlocky, like somthin you'd hear in an 80's fantasy film that overextended on the budget for practical effects and had to kinda scrape by with a friend of a friend as composer who still knocked it out of the park and matched the tone perfectly. That silly cheesy overly earnest and completely self serious despite the ridiculousness of it all kinda vibe. (now that i think about it that's kinda the vibe i get from dark souls 1 over all lol)

@dopaminecloud

9 ай бұрын

Dark Souls 1 is a pure hearted maiden of a game. And also a slapstick dark comedy.

Now that you've heard the original version of this song, it's time for the vastly superior and improved Space jam version /watch?v=3OZU3fi08-o

Music from the first three gears of War games would likely pique your interest if you haven't heard it already

O and S time

Fatty ahead In short, Try roll

Pronounciation is “Orn-steen” and “Sm-oh”

@MarcoMeatball

10 ай бұрын

exactly

Smough : Hohohoho

Yes, my first playthrough i suffer But I was mentally prepared for hard fight, knew they are assholes

i just killed these two on my first playthrough and the music although not being exceptionally good (in fromsoft standards) is what stood out for me the most

Nah the black knight sword carries through the entire game

He stopped on O&S. Guys he needs help with them. We should help

Well techinically its only smough the fat gluttone That you are fighting in this ornstine left in search of his mentor the nameless king long ago Its just that blob here you are fighting and ornstine is just an illusion

I belive it is pronounced: Orn-Steen and Ow, rude, stop it