Tobias Capwell is an independent scholar, curator, an expert on arms and armor, as well as a historical advisor for movies and TV. In this video he reacts to the armor and combat in 10 games featuring medieval, fantasy and historical weapons and armour.
Toby Capwell breaks down fantasy armor and weapons such as Geralt’s Viper School gear from The Witcher 3, Solaire’s Iron set from Dark Souls, as well as the iconic horned Iron and Glass armour from Skyrim.
How real is For Honor’s crossover of Roman Centurion and Greek pieces? Is Kingdom Come: Deliverance still the most authentic and realistic example of video game armor? Does Link’s armor from The Legend of Zelda have and real world inspirations?
Tobias Capwell is an American historian who lives and works in London. His principal interest is in European arms and armor of the medieval and Renaissance periods. He has written and spoken extensively on both the historical and the practical aspects of his subject.
00:00 – Intro
00:46 – Dark Souls
03:42 – The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
07:39 – For Honor
10:43 – Kingdom Come: Deliverance
13:33 – Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
16:28 – The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
18:29 – A Plague Tail: Innocence
21:52 – Total War: Medieval II
23:23 – The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
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Medieval Weapons & Armor Expert Rates 10 Video Games’ Armor Sets
Furkan ÇEVİK
06.06.2023where is the chiv 2?
Matias Martinez
05.06.2023How was Mordhau not added in the vid???
Kriminell
05.06.2023Mordhau would've also been a fitting inclusion. Maybe in part 2
Robert Harris
05.06.202311:52 has he not played any video game? Or atleast RPG.
Robert Harris
05.06.2023You should of shown the plate and ebony armor fron skyrim.
Conor MurphyYoung
05.06.2023In Medieval 2 Total War's defense, its gotta cover the whole of Europe, North Africa and the Middle East over the whole Medieval era with a limited amount of assets. I'm sure if it only covered the Hundred Years War it would have been able to give way more attention to the armour and heraldry from within that time and place.
Still, if you're interested in accuracy there's a really great mod for the game called Tsardoms, which covers the Balkans and Italy during the late Middle Ages and has a huge amount of attention to historical detail.
zhain0
05.06.2023he should really look at kingdom come more, the types, layering etc. he would love the detail of it
Adrian Alcomendras
05.06.2023do the armor of the main dude from Tales of Arise
Omega Soypreme
05.06.2023Should have shown him some world of warcraft armor. Make his head explode.
succboo
05.06.2023Obviously not an expert but and he's going purely off historical precedence but I don't see how Geratls chainmail leather is completely useless. You have the lightness of the leather and use the chainmail to reinforce areas like the shoulderpads and chest with the light and flexible chainmail. Seems extremely logical to me I don't see how he's missing that point.
Dear Castiel
05.06.2023Kinda sad to have him react to Havel and Solaire armors from Dark Souls when they are among the worst/more cartoonish of them all…
Knight armor, Hard boiled armor, elite knight armor and many more are much more realistic than those two…
TheAussieBlue
04.06.2023Oh my god the roman dlc was real, I thought it was a joke.
Aki Laukkanen
04.06.20232:10 You expected to see a generic Sun with a face, but it was me, Dio!
Aki Laukkanen
04.06.20237:35 The "no helmet" thing is probably done for storytelling seasons to make the character more obviously human and identifiable as opposed to faceless goons with enclosed helmets. The same reason bad guys love to wear face shields or gas masks in videogames, films and so forth.
Ratul Wahed
04.06.2023Could it be that geralt doesnt wear a helmet because it reduces his peripheral vision ?
KanuckStreams
04.06.2023To be Devil's Advocate for the Glass Armour from Skyrim, it is not the same "glass" like you would put in windows or cups, and the game even has an in-universe book that talks about the differences, and how it was only called "glass" because it did not have the same properties like metals they worked with, but was extremely strong and resilient.
Aethgeir
04.06.2023I think this guy is my favorite "expert reacts" expert!
theroguenob
04.06.2023I can confirm that even modern ceramic body armor is very difficult to swim in
Logan Boyd
04.06.2023I’m a simple man. I see Toby, I click.
Raze Chaos
04.06.2023I really love his analysis of Solaire's armor, he was supposed to have made his kit all by himself. It was amateur work, sturdy, but not that of a studied armorer. As with the focus on his heraldry. I love it.
Arrhidaios Pydnaean
03.06.2023It's Matt Easton's friend!
Rovinne Jean Cuenco
03.06.2023Dragons dogma armor sets are pretty good
abc xyz
03.06.2023I would like to know his opinion on the armor sets of kingdom of amalur: reckoning 😀
dumnor
03.06.20232:49 "Wasn't meant to be worn by anybody" … I mean it was meant to be worn by a body. I will show myself out.
Ptaaruonn
03.06.2023At least show the man some Dwemer Armor 😀
@🏳️🌈⃠TheSkorpio
03.06.2023How dare you insult solaire like that |T|/
Revy
03.06.2023Yeah… cool… but like, why are we only and exclusively applying real world logic to fantasy pieces?
Deathstruck
03.06.2023I love how during the Kingdom Come segment he ends up being impressed by not just the armor, but also by the combat animations and techniques. You know you have a winner when an expert can't help himself and compliments the rest as well. 😀
Definitely have him come back and react to Kingdom Come: Deliverance in general, please. Would love that!
DrakoBlood
03.06.2023Bonk
Anton Ego
03.06.2023Haha this guy is great, and I legit learned a lot. More please! Total war games would be good
Bruce Martin
02.06.2023I always thought Havel’s knights armor was dragon scales from Havel the rock himself. And he rips out his own teeth to supply as weapons.
Havel the rock being a dragon 🧐🤔🤷🏻♂️
nameish17
02.06.2023I really like his insight and respect him experience and knowledge, but he's taking this way too seriously.
Ike Beckman
02.06.2023Homie is insufferable ngl
Two Horses in a Man Costume
02.06.2023I'd love to see what he thinks of the NordwarUA armor mods for Skyrim. His stuff tends to make the armor in Skyrim look like actual armor.
timlamiam
02.06.2023i tried fencing once at school, and i don't think I've ever sweat more in my life after 15 minutes of moving around in that felt suit. armor must be 100 times worse
Czars Epidemic
02.06.2023Important context for Glass Armour in Skyrim/ Elder Scrolls in general is that it's more akin to a metallurgical ore than what we would think of as glass. It's mixed in with other materials to make an alloy, which makes it strong and hold a really keen edge. Ebony in Skyrim/ TES is actually a type of volcanic glass which may be formed from Lorkan, a dead god's, blood.
The Knight Who Seals the Darkness
02.06.2023Most of Geralt's armor is tailor-made for a Witcher, not a knight.
Frank D. Tank
02.06.2023how can he comment on geralt when he obviouspy knows nothing about the character. He dosen't wear a helmet because it's a videogame and ment to be fun, geez… not everything has to be so serious…
Lofirainbow
02.06.2023Dark souls was poorly represented by Gamespot; there are very realistic examples but they choose the fantasy ones, expert was great though
THExWASP
02.06.2023i feel like the staff should of told him the context for each game/armor for a better understanding of why the armor would/wouldn't work realistically
Цзин Кэ
01.06.2023No Mount & Blade?
Richard Pierre
01.06.2023Oh no… That guy just immediately showed he's got no clue what he's taking about…. First off, there are real historical suits of armor that that armor in the witcher is based off of, secondly, the witcher's biggest asset is his super human reflexes, agility, and speed, while his primary foe are monsters who won't be aiming for weak points with a sword.
Richard Pierre
01.06.2023What, no comment about how the roman for honor armor is filled with gaps of literal exposed skin? Oh but the gambeson the witcher is wearing is soooo impractical and incapable of providing protection….
Pvt. Mini
01.06.2023I reckon some sets from AC: Odyssey would be interesting to look at!
Jonatan E
01.06.2023I'd love to see this guy react to Destiny 1/2 armour sets, especially the Iron Banner stuff but other medieval looking sets from those games as well
MrMeme171
01.06.2023Great video, I would love to see their thoughts on more armor from Dark Souls 1! Specifically the elite knight armor, knight armor, and the Catarina armor… Also Kirk's armor, because we all know how much Mr. Capwell loves spiked armor 🤣
James Adair
01.06.2023I realize Skyrim is a complete fantasy… but you guys didn't have him respond to the actual sets of plate armor? Such as the steel plate armor or ebony armor? I just feel it was a wasted opportunity.
D
01.06.2023Meanwhile, I'm living in ebony armor
Ian Mangia
01.06.2023Could have shown some better Skyrim armors lol like steel or imperial armor maybe something that looks somewhat realistic
YetiCoolBrother
01.06.2023These types of videos are dope and one thing yall can do better than other channels is actually give the experts some context on what they're looking at so they can better comment on it. There's some other channels that shall remain nameless where they dont do that and the commentary is generally pretty shallow and/or misinterpreted as a result.
For example, he commented on the heraldry of Solaire's shield being cartoony but thats because he literally drew it himself.