Finally, the truth about the Firmament-and about us-will be revealed! Get the game: www.gog.com/ga... Playlist: • Let's Play Firmament Facebook: / dilandau3000 X (Twitter): x.com/dilandau...
The conveyance pods being elevators I did actually figure out early. If you watch the flashing yellow lights in the portholes as you travel, you can see them change direction. Down, sideways, up. I did not figure out the white lines until the end though. Some sort of artificial gravity or momentum absorption system.
On my first play through, I didn’t catch the fact that the all conveyance pods were just elevators. I assumed they were still teleporters and I thought the Atelis one was just special, which it is, in that it doesn’t need all its paneling to conceal the fact it’s traveling through space, since the Keepers can’t use it. Thanks for setting me straight. It’s actually brilliant twist, because being a Cyan game, I immediately assumed teleportation was fair game, and thus didn’t even question the pods. I think you can even see the tracks on the outside of the ship.
I suspect that raising the spires is what caused the realms to retract into their high-acceleration positions, and "awakening the embrace" locked them into place. The gravity situation is pretty weird, though, considering how the realms rotate. Incidentally, you have to wonder how long Turner was actually in the Threshold, because he was chosen for the mission in 2118, yet the year he completed the mission is 2231. The maximum speed that a ship can travel on solar sails would be about 10% of the speed of light (so in theory, the Aetelis could have reached another star system after a journey of over 300 years), and the level of time dilation at that speed is nowhere near what I would expect to turn seven years into 100+ years. Additionally, our mentor has decomposed to just a skeleton, suggesting that she has been dead for quite a while.
I noticed the 100 year gap and and the state of her body and it left me with a deeply disturbing question. Who dragged out the sleep pod? Unless she could program it to open on a timer outside of the theshold.
Thanks so much for playing Firmament with us. Your LPs are awesome in how well you prepare them and how you create the atmosphere of sitting along side you while we discover the game together! Thanks Sven!
Dilandau - thanks so much for coming back and doing a lets play for us all. Even though this wasn't really my favorite game, YOU did an excellent job walking us through it all - as you always do. You've definitely become one of my favorite lets play streamers. Definitely keep these coming and I missed seeing your new content! Maybe pick some smaller games that are quicker and easier to complete so you don't get overwhelmed making the content? Just a thought and great to see you again.
Also, I must confess, I didn't see the Turner thing coming until early in this video. Maybe I'm easily led astray? In any case, The Big Reveal is kinda one of my worst nightmares, having the reality of my whole world unraveling around me. I think Cyan actually managed to do that part pretty well, as they often do.
Completely agree with your review at the end. Loved this playthrough as always. You are one of my favorite lets players, i like how you go slow and take your time, really showing off all the details of the game so we can enjoy it like were playing ourselves. I also like how you explain how to you work out the solutions for dofferent puzzles by observing the clues in the world around you. Hope to see more from you soon!
Something that stood out to me pretty strongly was the fact that the crew's chess set is normal, while the set on St Andrews is only pawns. In fact, just seeing the chess set with pawns for the first time, made me go "Ah, because everyone is equal. We can't introduce an idea like kings and queens." I also got Ahnonay vibes as soon as I exited the bunker because the clouds don't move. But what I didn't realize is that we are Turner until that very end. I guess I was good about at seeing, but not listening.
Thanks for bringing this experience to us! You have a wonderful way of adding your experiences while playing the game to voice what we're feeling and seeing. I enjoy your playthroughs and look forward to hopefully more.
As I mentioned in the cyan discord one time... comparing the Adjunct we got with the one from the Kickstarter Launch trailer is interesting. The launch trailer showed a potentially semi-autonomous thing, which you could grab or gesture at to insert it into sockets, which might then cause a bridge to automatically but temporarily open, or which would then reveal a lever to pull... or you'd push a button on the adjunct to turn on a flash light to help with visibilty in dark areas. Ie a device that is really quite flexible. But what we got to me makes it feel like Cyan hit problems making that fun (likely at an early point, given the Making Of video they released showing a tethered placeholder Adjunct). If all the socket does is reveal a lever, why have the adjunct there in the first place. If you can leave the adjunct behind if you forget to wave at it, then people will leave it behind and be backtracking constantly to find where they left it. I guess that at some early point (given that Making Of video) Cyan tried to address those problems - but given how heavily they'd promoted the Adjunct since launching the Kickstarter they felt they had to keep the Adjunct as a central part of the puzzle interaction system.
My thoughts as the video progresses: Yep. The pictures of Marx, Tesla, Verne, and Tsiolkovsky are fairly obvious. Can't say I am not surprised. "SPAAAAAAAACE!" - Space Core This spaceship reminds me of the Silurian Ark in the Dinosaurs On A Spaceship (2012) episode of Doctor Who (2005). "The Gate Is Down!" - Ender's Game (1985) by Orsen Scott Card. Wow! That newspaper article is wild. We all write dates ass-backwards. We should write them Year, Month, Day in order to eliminate confusion. RAIL GUNS?! 🤣 We are Turner, confirmed. Yeah, that was fairly obvious. Some of us guessed it back at the Seed Vaults. Folding Space! I miss Wheatley. He was the best thing in that game. I kinda got emotional during our mentor's final words. Say what you want about the game, but the sound and music is on point. Alright. I agree with your assessment. I don't have to add anything else.
Thank you so much! I have always enjoyed watching your playthroughs....they are always very entertaining and I have learned to enjoy gaming so much more, thanks to your insights and humor!
Yes! I am so glad to see how this game ends. I watched the Mostly Walking playthrough and I had no clue what had happened in the end as some of the plot points were missed in their game.
so in space, very much like synopsis to Myst Uru Path to the Shell, the Ahnonay Age. This age leads you to the fake space, and then to the three huge globes that contained the smaller ages. I love Cyan, but they seem to always connect the games. so many similarities between them all.
The main similarity is found in the underlying wireframe models, which become repurposed with new skins. After all, there is only so much geometry that one can employ to architect structures.
Wow, that was a cool story and was very glad to experience it with you! Thanks for your time on this and cannot wait for what you have in store for us next!
When she asked us to retell their story , I think of how stories are passed down family lines. Everyody has a life story they should pass on to their children.
This was quite an adventure! Thank you, Sven, for once again guiding me through a delightful and fascinating game that I almost certainly wouldn't be smart enough to make it through on my own. ;) Your LPs are always so engaging and relaxing after a long day, and while I'm sure you have tons of real-life responsibilities to worry about, I do hope we'll see you again before too long!
Came here from your old Uru playthrough. Good to see you're still making stuff! ... I may have already said this before, I'm kind of dense. All the best!
Nooooooooo. I don't want it to end. I didn't really like this game much at all unfortunately, but it was really nice you see you again Sven. You are definitely one of my favorite people here on CZcams, and I hope you find another game to share with us in the future. Hopefully sooner than later! Other thoughts: 🖐I had a feeling we were Turner from the first mention of him as well. For some reason this game made me really want to see you play Prey 2016. 1:03:57 My name is there, and I literally backed this just because I wanted to watch you play it Sven haha.
I pretty much came away with the same impressions and thoughts you did. I enjoyed my time with it and I will always back a Cyan game, but it felt like they didn't get to do what they wanted to do in the end. The atmosphere, the story (bare as it was), the visuals - all of that was great. The puzzles....Were fine. I was able to complete it with no issues except the voltage puzzle (and that only because like you I accidentally solved the first iteration, which means I never learned the pattern the electrodes were in, making the second time around rather more complicated (since I was actually trying to solve it, rather than randomly changing it around. In hindsight it was all a simple mistake, but at the time I was very frustrated by a puzzle that looked illogical but I was simply missing information the game had expected me to gather the first time around). But I do overall agree it would have been nice if they were something that required actual pen and paper thought. The starship reveal took me completely by surprise, as I'm sure it did for many.
Loved these videos. I don't have the patience to play these games, butI've watched pretty much all of your vids on Cyan games. This one in particular reminded me of a couple of books called Inside Out and Outside In. They have a very similar plot twist. Honestly it was giving me anxiety considering the big reveal in the books involves opening a cool future door and oopsie doodles there is nothing on the other side to protect from the big reveal. I figured Cyan wasn't going to horrendously do that in their game, but there were a lot of cool future doors at the end there.
You may wish to try "The Invincible", based on Stanislav Lem's eponymous book, made by a team of Polish professionals, and very tightly woven into the book's plot. The aesthetics and choice making are perfect, even if it's a small game.
Regarding the means of providing artificial gravity, once the Engine Fold Upgrade is completed, the Atelis will be continuously accelerating for half the distance to Tau Ceti, providing a new form of artificial gravity along the spine of the ship. So the Realms will still have artificial gravity in their new orientation and location astride the spine.
The style influence of Prey and Bioshock is obvious. But thats ok. Game story is on a short story "Der zweite Schritt" (I don't have English title) of Marcel Rarun. 1981 or 82, short before his death. Some details and names is other, there is four sectors (one by each element), not three and the swan the transporter (somewhat paternoster elevator). The basic idea and concept is same. An older story "Besucher am See" (again no English name) from 68 was his first try by the concept. I think it never appeared due to gdr censoring. After he emigrate to Austria in 1980 he write the second story as somekind remake for different market. It influence many works, the four pods in System Shock, the forest orbs in Silent Running and even Lem mention it. A second story "Das Kind mit den langen Beinen" only exist as summary. As I know that is the only two sci-fi storys he ever write. Or are published? I have no idea.
this game felt short. i think i now understant the less than ideal feedback it got. they made a good choice with the end credits music. from the moment i saw this space scene i had to think this whole set up they had going here was basiclly anhonay only slightly more convincing. i look forword to what's next for the channel. there's a lot of great games out there that fit the theme of the channel would be a fun watch
Hello ! i am currently watching your gabriel knight 3 lets play and wanted to check if you were still uploading ! And 11 years after what i am watching you still are ! i love youtube for this ! Glad to see lot of people comment and watch your stuff :)
It would have been more enjoyable if the player could pick up and investigate the many items, the books, papers, photos. Which is naturally what a person exploring a new area would do.
This is yet another wonderful and thorough play through series, so well done. The game could have been programmed better as you explained about the addition of the adjunct. The puzzles (with regards to the sockets that are activated via the adjunct) were simple, but I wished Cyan would have integrated more Myst-like puzzles and puzzle solving into the books that were placed on tables within the game. I am definitely interested to see what your next video will be like.
It's awkward that the adjunct is used for things that could have just been a button/lever, it made sense for remote concatenation and advanced machine controls. And I would certainly have preferred to have learned a little chunk of the truth at the time, not all at the end.
Well done and thank you Sven!!! Man I loved this game! Despite the shortcomings mentioned at the end of Svens review, the way the narrative was slowly revealed through the environment and one-way dialogue was a bold choice from Cyan that, in my opinion, paid off in the end. What they've created here is a work of art that stands apart from their other games in a unique way. I wouldn't say it's their best game - but it is a GREAT game! And it's one that I will certainly enjoy revisiting. Oh, and it was nice to be able to pause the video and finally see my backer name in the credits 😁
This ending feels really weird. I clearly want to be aspirational and uplifting, but at the same time the situation of the Keepers is so absurd that the only way it could arise is if the society that exists in that alternate history is truly horrendous. One shudders to imagine what the world of Firma holds for our Keepers if no one bothered to free them in 200 years.
The early 20th century was rather horrendous as far as human rights go; it was the age of eugenics and forcible sterilization. And I assume that the Keepers _originally_ agreed to the mission voluntarily, their memories were just erased afterward.
This was wonderful. It was good to hear from you Sven. I know you're probably busy with irl things, but don't be a stranger. Have you ever played the game Quern? It would suit very well to your style.
@@therabidscorpion I dont know if you knew this, but the people who made Quern are making another game titled Dimhaven: Enigmas. I don't think it's a sequel or anything; it's just made by the same people.
thanks for the awesome lets play. as a backer who has the game but not a decent pc to truly get the best playing experience i feel it fell a bit short, i was expecting better and more. the game itself looked ok but there are so many questions, like if there were people there then it seemed a bit lacking with the lived in feel with more accommodation and stuff. i also feel disappointed that the decent music at the end with the songs was not included in the soundtrack.
Only realised youve been back uploading. I still hope someday you do Star Trek: DS9 Harbinger since thats basically a Myst type of game and would complete doing the main DOS Trek games for your channel
Hrmm. The Keepers were a kind of slave worker, not unlike the Bahro. Yeesha freed the Bahro, just as the Mentor Keeper gained her liberation from the Keeper Workforce.
1. Have you ever heard of Qube 2? It's very Portalesque 2. I'd like you to play Torin's Passage. Good plot, great humor. 3. Are you ever going to play another LucasArts game? 4. For another Myst-like game I'd recommend Lighthouse: the Dark Being 5. Will you ever play any other RPGs or was Mass Effect a one-time ordeal? 6. Other point-and-clicks I would recommend include Freddy Pharkas and Return of the Phantom.
1:04:28 - my name is visible on this screen. My parents, who were also backers, are visible at 1:04:30. Now for my thoughts of the game, but as it does contain spoilers, I'll put it several rows below this line, so click read more at your own discretion. I deliberately chose to put this on the last video of this LP, so if you skipped all the way here, that's your own fault. You have been warned. I really like this game. The atmosphere, the puzzles (other than the diabolical one in the ice world, I forget its name). I did most of the game without a guide (since I was among the first, few guides were even available when I first played it). I don't like the fact that there wasn't a final choice at the end. You go to the last room, and the last scene plays out. Why did Cyan do that? I hope they do better in future projects, which I will certainly back.
I predict your next game will be.... Entropy Centre. A portal clone game with a talking gun who has an affection for cats. I know you don't like suggestions in the comments but anyone who has played Portal might enjoy it. I did. I would most certainly enjoy your LP of it.
I really liked this game not withstanding obvious nitpicks. The major one being that it raised more questions throughout than it answered. Like why would an advanced Earth send a nincompoop like Turner on any mission at all, let alone one that, let's be fair, had to be unique? There are many other unanswerable questions but my overall impression is the game was fun and interesting.
46:27 I was going to comment that it bugs me that the animation of the spheres moving involves the spheres changing orientation relative to the axis of rotation, which should have caused the gravity in the realms to shift direction, but now that you mention this theory, a different but related theory occurs to me: There might be pairs of nested spheres, the inner of which contain the realms and reorient relative to the outer ones such that the direction of gravity stays the same, and the arches are the tracks along which the reorientation happens. Such a procedure wouldn't necessarily be visible from inside the realms. The player character surely would feel the lateral acceleration and the reduction in gravity. In that respect it's like when you move the spheres in Ahnonay while still inside, in that the player character has information the player doesn't have if only because there's no clean way to communicate it to the player.
Another great Let's Play Sven...thanks! Personally I have very mixed feelings about this game. The graphics looked fantastic, I really liked the art design. But the storytelling was pretty empty, the vague comments from the woman that woke us up were more annoying than anything else. And as you said, having all the puzzles based on one mechanic made them feel very repetitive. It's not a trash game...not even sort of. But it could have been better and it's for sure not Cyan's best work. I'm looking forward to seeing the demo...hopefully you'll post that tomorrow.
Thanks for another great Let's Play, Sven! I can definitely see the Ahnonay vive through the whole Firmament lore, which kinda ruined the surprise to me but it's still an interesting concept. Kinda disappointed in no final choice before the ending though...
I think we share the same opinion. Good game, especially for a small studio, hoped for a bit more in terms of lore and gameplay, but the visuals and sound design and feel are unparalleled.
Considering that King George V would be formally crowned on the 9th May 1910 and one of the articles is headlined 'England Embraces Their New Ruler' , the articles may have been pulled from somewhere.
Will you be playing the Riven remake? I really hope so. I’d love to see you working through the new puzzles in real time. I REALLY enjoyed. I still think the original looks better with its photo realism and live FMV actors. The new one was really good though, and I hope you get to play it
Hey man! I would love to see you do the Riven Remake PLEASE! Your Riven playthrough is one of the first I remember watching on youtube all those years ago, I want to see your reaction and take on the new game.
I also enjoyed the game, even though I found the story was not at the level of Obduction, but still, I it was really nice to play. I didn't mind all the wait since the backing campaign, which I gladly participated in :) The recent announcement of a Riven remake, made be consider buying a VR set. Now your comments on this video made me want it even more... Do you have any recommendations, on what to look for or avoid?
Of the Inaugural Founders, bottom row, third from the left, it looks a lot like Jeff Dunham. Could just look a lot alike, or maybe Jeff Dunham is a Cyan fan?! 63 pages of backers. Not a problem, but a fraction of the scope of insignificance presented by the story to think that you are just one name among that many brings awe.
There is a setting somewhere in the settings that you can customise one of the lockers to your preference. don't knotice it until I got to that part after messing around with it at the start.
Yeah, so this is such a meh game. So between it coming out and now I have thought about this game twice - when it came out and now watching your lets play. Besides that, nope, not even thought of it, except insofar when I think about Cyan stuff and Myst and then Obduction. Now those games I still think about. So yeah. Meh. Not bad. Not good. Just meh. That said your playthrough was fun and enjoyable and I super appreciate you doing this. So yeah, awesome, thank you! Now I have to decide do I go and watch Obduction or do I go and watch Uru. so many thoughts. hehe
I can't help but feel that I don't like this game. It's funny, because right before this video I was thinking of recommending it to a friend, but... The reveal comes out of the left field. There are no clues that would hint at it even a little bit. And the "see the void" moment was ruined because I saw the airlock and went "Ah, we are in space." without the mitigating influence a properly built up suspence would provide. There needed to be more journals from different people, maybe memory vapours like the keeper woman, scattered throughout the realms and depicting the stories of these people. Or at the very least just some signs of keeper culture beyond the "We are the Keepers" blasting over the megaphone every few seconds, which in itself isn't even their culture, but just a directive imposed on them, telling us nothing about the actual people. And then there are the unanswered questions. How did Keeper lady implanted her echo into our mind? Why did she die while sitting on the captain chair? What are the light lines that appeared all over the place? What is the freaking culture of the Keepers the lady wanted us to learn about? And did she really just left the guy who already proven that he was willing to lord over people in the position of absolute power over the keepers she was trying to save?! I get that they were trying to make a cool VR game, but even Myst 5 had more to offer that this in terms of story.
Honestly, the game is good enough. Puzzles are all industrial which both makes sense with the story, but also they are not that different from Myst. What makes Myst special and this average is mostly Myst has nostalgia and it was on the forefront of gaming for its release years. The large amount of exposition in Myst is lore dump in books, puzzles are simple and the graphics is way too good compared to the games of that era. Since then, the bar of "good" puzzle game was raised significantly, so when this game does the same as Myst, it no longer feels special, it feels average. But in isolation, it was a good game, although a bit small for the price they want.
Dude one of the pictures at the end were you said they might have been the backers are true. I recognized one of the pictures as JEFF DUNHAM my favorite comedian and ventriloquist. You can see his name on the credits in the j's at timestamp 1:04:48 in the first column. if you want to see his picture then go to 12:38 and look on the 2nd row 3rd picture. he is one of the inaugural keepers which is so cool that a celebrity that is well known backed a video game.
Wow, that was special. The ending was totally unexpected and amazing. Thank you for sharing your insightful playthrough, Sven!
Nice game my dear Dilandau3000, I'm gonna miss your voice until the new Cyan game
New riven will be avalible soon so sven will be back
I didn't expect this Ending ! Thank you for the let's play, it was a joy to watch 💚✨
The conveyance pods being elevators I did actually figure out early. If you watch the flashing yellow lights in the portholes as you travel, you can see them change direction. Down, sideways, up. I did not figure out the white lines until the end though. Some sort of artificial gravity or momentum absorption system.
Unfortunately I didn't figure out much of the rest of the lore. I never got truly immersed in the story, it was more a bunch of puzzles for me.
On my first play through,
I didn’t catch the fact that the all conveyance pods were just elevators. I assumed they were still teleporters and I thought the Atelis one was just special, which it is, in that it doesn’t need all its paneling to conceal the fact it’s traveling through space, since the Keepers can’t use it. Thanks for setting me straight.
It’s actually brilliant twist, because being a Cyan game, I immediately assumed teleportation was fair game, and thus didn’t even question the pods.
I think you can even see the tracks on the outside of the ship.
I suspect that raising the spires is what caused the realms to retract into their high-acceleration positions, and "awakening the embrace" locked them into place. The gravity situation is pretty weird, though, considering how the realms rotate.
Incidentally, you have to wonder how long Turner was actually in the Threshold, because he was chosen for the mission in 2118, yet the year he completed the mission is 2231. The maximum speed that a ship can travel on solar sails would be about 10% of the speed of light (so in theory, the Aetelis could have reached another star system after a journey of over 300 years), and the level of time dilation at that speed is nowhere near what I would expect to turn seven years into 100+ years. Additionally, our mentor has decomposed to just a skeleton, suggesting that she has been dead for quite a while.
I noticed the 100 year gap and and the state of her body and it left me with a deeply disturbing question. Who dragged out the sleep pod? Unless she could program it to open on a timer outside of the theshold.
Thanks so much for playing Firmament with us. Your LPs are awesome in how well you prepare them and how you create the atmosphere of sitting along side you while we discover the game together! Thanks Sven!
Dilandau - thanks so much for coming back and doing a lets play for us all. Even though this wasn't really my favorite game, YOU did an excellent job walking us through it all - as you always do. You've definitely become one of my favorite lets play streamers. Definitely keep these coming and I missed seeing your new content! Maybe pick some smaller games that are quicker and easier to complete so you don't get overwhelmed making the content? Just a thought and great to see you again.
Also, I must confess, I didn't see the Turner thing coming until early in this video. Maybe I'm easily led astray? In any case, The Big Reveal is kinda one of my worst nightmares, having the reality of my whole world unraveling around me. I think Cyan actually managed to do that part pretty well, as they often do.
Completely agree with your review at the end. Loved this playthrough as always. You are one of my favorite lets players, i like how you go slow and take your time, really showing off all the details of the game so we can enjoy it like were playing ourselves. I also like how you explain how to you work out the solutions for dofferent puzzles by observing the clues in the world around you. Hope to see more from you soon!
Something that stood out to me pretty strongly was the fact that the crew's chess set is normal, while the set on St Andrews is only pawns. In fact, just seeing the chess set with pawns for the first time, made me go "Ah, because everyone is equal. We can't introduce an idea like kings and queens." I also got Ahnonay vibes as soon as I exited the bunker because the clouds don't move. But what I didn't realize is that we are Turner until that very end. I guess I was good about at seeing, but not listening.
Thanks for bringing this experience to us! You have a wonderful way of adding your experiences while playing the game to voice what we're feeling and seeing. I enjoy your playthroughs and look forward to hopefully more.
As I mentioned in the cyan discord one time... comparing the Adjunct we got with the one from the Kickstarter Launch trailer is interesting. The launch trailer showed a potentially semi-autonomous thing, which you could grab or gesture at to insert it into sockets, which might then cause a bridge to automatically but temporarily open, or which would then reveal a lever to pull... or you'd push a button on the adjunct to turn on a flash light to help with visibilty in dark areas. Ie a device that is really quite flexible.
But what we got to me makes it feel like Cyan hit problems making that fun (likely at an early point, given the Making Of video they released showing a tethered placeholder Adjunct). If all the socket does is reveal a lever, why have the adjunct there in the first place. If you can leave the adjunct behind if you forget to wave at it, then people will leave it behind and be backtracking constantly to find where they left it.
I guess that at some early point (given that Making Of video) Cyan tried to address those problems - but given how heavily they'd promoted the Adjunct since launching the Kickstarter they felt they had to keep the Adjunct as a central part of the puzzle interaction system.
My thoughts as the video progresses:
Yep. The pictures of Marx, Tesla, Verne, and Tsiolkovsky are fairly obvious. Can't say I am not surprised.
"SPAAAAAAAACE!" - Space Core
This spaceship reminds me of the Silurian Ark in the Dinosaurs On A Spaceship (2012) episode of Doctor Who (2005).
"The Gate Is Down!" - Ender's Game (1985) by Orsen Scott Card.
Wow! That newspaper article is wild.
We all write dates ass-backwards. We should write them Year, Month, Day in order to eliminate confusion.
RAIL GUNS?! 🤣
We are Turner, confirmed. Yeah, that was fairly obvious. Some of us guessed it back at the Seed Vaults.
Folding Space!
I miss Wheatley. He was the best thing in that game.
I kinda got emotional during our mentor's final words. Say what you want about the game, but the sound and music is on point.
Alright. I agree with your assessment. I don't have to add anything else.
It was kinda eerie seeing her skeletal remains in the chair I was like “OHH sheeeit!!”🤣🤣
You've done so well with these. Thank you!
Thank you so much! I have always enjoyed watching your playthroughs....they are always very entertaining and I have learned to enjoy gaming so much more, thanks to your insights and humor!
Literally was thinking “I swear if this is Ahnonay in space…” 🤣 Got some “2001” and “Matrix” vibes too.
Yes! I am so glad to see how this game ends. I watched the Mostly Walking playthrough and I had no clue what had happened in the end as some of the plot points were missed in their game.
so in space, very much like synopsis to Myst Uru Path to the Shell, the Ahnonay Age. This age leads you to the fake space, and then to the three huge globes that contained the smaller ages. I love Cyan, but they seem to always connect the games. so many similarities between them all.
The main similarity is found in the underlying wireframe models, which become repurposed with new skins. After all, there is only so much geometry that one can employ to architect structures.
Thank you Sven. It’s always a pleasure watching your well-crafted videos.
Wow, that was a cool story and was very glad to experience it with you! Thanks for your time on this and cannot wait for what you have in store for us next!
When she asked us to retell their story , I think of how stories are passed down family lines. Everyody has a life story they should pass on to their children.
This was quite an adventure! Thank you, Sven, for once again guiding me through a delightful and fascinating game that I almost certainly wouldn't be smart enough to make it through on my own. ;) Your LPs are always so engaging and relaxing after a long day, and while I'm sure you have tons of real-life responsibilities to worry about, I do hope we'll see you again before too long!
Since Obduction was also kind of space related, I wonder if Obduction and Firmament might be revealed to have a shared universe in future?
Would be nice, but Obduction had standard tech level while Firmament had steam-powered starship.
That would be interesting!🤔
Another great Let's Play. I always enjoy your insights and explanations.
Came here from your old Uru playthrough. Good to see you're still making stuff! ... I may have already said this before, I'm kind of dense.
All the best!
Nooooooooo. I don't want it to end. I didn't really like this game much at all unfortunately, but it was really nice you see you again Sven. You are definitely one of my favorite people here on CZcams, and I hope you find another game to share with us in the future. Hopefully sooner than later!
Other thoughts:
🖐I had a feeling we were Turner from the first mention of him as well.
For some reason this game made me really want to see you play Prey 2016.
1:03:57 My name is there, and I literally backed this just because I wanted to watch you play it Sven haha.
I pretty much came away with the same impressions and thoughts you did. I enjoyed my time with it and I will always back a Cyan game, but it felt like they didn't get to do what they wanted to do in the end.
The atmosphere, the story (bare as it was), the visuals - all of that was great. The puzzles....Were fine. I was able to complete it with no issues except the voltage puzzle (and that only because like you I accidentally solved the first iteration, which means I never learned the pattern the electrodes were in, making the second time around rather more complicated (since I was actually trying to solve it, rather than randomly changing it around. In hindsight it was all a simple mistake, but at the time I was very frustrated by a puzzle that looked illogical but I was simply missing information the game had expected me to gather the first time around). But I do overall agree it would have been nice if they were something that required actual pen and paper thought.
The starship reveal took me completely by surprise, as I'm sure it did for many.
Very interesting, and you've guided us through this game wonderfully once again. Mijn complimenten en bedankt!
Thank you for your amazing walkthrus!
Loved these videos. I don't have the patience to play these games, butI've watched pretty much all of your vids on Cyan games. This one in particular reminded me of a couple of books called Inside Out and Outside In. They have a very similar plot twist. Honestly it was giving me anxiety considering the big reveal in the books involves opening a cool future door and oopsie doodles there is nothing on the other side to protect from the big reveal. I figured Cyan wasn't going to horrendously do that in their game, but there were a lot of cool future doors at the end there.
Thank you Sven for the walktrough! ❤
Great video series :) look forward to more
You may wish to try "The Invincible", based on Stanislav Lem's eponymous book, made by a team of Polish professionals, and very tightly woven into the book's plot. The aesthetics and choice making are perfect, even if it's a small game.
Regarding the means of providing artificial gravity, once the Engine Fold Upgrade is completed, the Atelis will be continuously accelerating for half the distance to Tau Ceti, providing a new form of artificial gravity along the spine of the ship. So the Realms will still have artificial gravity in their new orientation and location astride the spine.
The style influence of Prey and Bioshock is obvious. But thats ok.
Game story is on a short story "Der zweite Schritt" (I don't have English title) of Marcel Rarun. 1981 or 82, short before his death. Some details and names is other, there is four sectors (one by each element), not three and the swan the transporter (somewhat paternoster elevator). The basic idea and concept is same. An older story "Besucher am See" (again no English name) from 68 was his first try by the concept. I think it never appeared due to gdr censoring. After he emigrate to Austria in 1980 he write the second story as somekind remake for different market.
It influence many works, the four pods in System Shock, the forest orbs in Silent Running and even Lem mention it.
A second story "Das Kind mit den langen Beinen" only exist as summary. As I know that is the only two sci-fi storys he ever write. Or are published? I have no idea.
I need to see Sven play Prey now.
I _loved_ this twist, because I _recognized it!_ It's the same twist from Uru's Path of the Shell dlc, with the false time travel!
this game felt short. i think i now understant the less than ideal feedback it got. they made a good choice with the end credits music.
from the moment i saw this space scene i had to think this whole set up they had going here was basiclly anhonay only slightly more convincing. i look forword to what's next for the channel. there's a lot of great games out there that fit the theme of the channel would be a fun watch
Hello ! i am currently watching your gabriel knight 3 lets play and wanted to check if you were still uploading ! And 11 years after what i am watching you still are ! i love youtube for this !
Glad to see lot of people comment and watch your stuff :)
It would have been more enjoyable if the player could pick up and investigate the many items, the books, papers, photos. Which is naturally what a person exploring a new area would do.
This is yet another wonderful and thorough play through series, so well done. The game could have been programmed better as you explained about the addition of the adjunct. The puzzles (with regards to the sockets that are activated via the adjunct) were simple, but I wished Cyan would have integrated more Myst-like puzzles and puzzle solving into the books that were placed on tables within the game. I am definitely interested to see what your next video will be like.
It's awkward that the adjunct is used for things that could have just been a button/lever, it made sense for remote concatenation and advanced machine controls. And I would certainly have preferred to have learned a little chunk of the truth at the time, not all at the end.
Well done and thank you Sven!!!
Man I loved this game! Despite the shortcomings mentioned at the end of Svens review, the way the narrative was slowly revealed through the environment and one-way dialogue was a bold choice from Cyan that, in my opinion, paid off in the end. What they've created here is a work of art that stands apart from their other games in a unique way. I wouldn't say it's their best game - but it is a GREAT game! And it's one that I will certainly enjoy revisiting.
Oh, and it was nice to be able to pause the video and finally see my backer name in the credits 😁
This ending feels really weird. I clearly want to be aspirational and uplifting, but at the same time the situation of the Keepers is so absurd that the only way it could arise is if the society that exists in that alternate history is truly horrendous. One shudders to imagine what the world of Firma holds for our Keepers if no one bothered to free them in 200 years.
The early 20th century was rather horrendous as far as human rights go; it was the age of eugenics and forcible sterilization. And I assume that the Keepers _originally_ agreed to the mission voluntarily, their memories were just erased afterward.
So calming music at begining
This was wonderful. It was good to hear from you Sven. I know you're probably busy with irl things, but don't be a stranger. Have you ever played the game Quern? It would suit very well to your style.
Yes! Quern was awesome, and would make a great Let's Play on this channel
@@scottmacfeat2568 Keith Ballard did an awesome LP of it, but i would LOVE to see Svens take on it.
@@therabidscorpion I dont know if you knew this, but the people who made Quern are making another game titled Dimhaven: Enigmas. I don't think it's a sequel or anything; it's just made by the same people.
@@DavidRay39 I was not aware of that, but am now curious if it will be the same style of game. Thanks for the info!
thanks for the awesome lets play. as a backer who has the game but not a decent pc to truly get the best playing experience i feel it fell a bit short, i was expecting better and more. the game itself looked ok but there are so many questions, like if there were people there then it seemed a bit lacking with the lived in feel with more accommodation and stuff. i also feel disappointed that the decent music at the end with the songs was not included in the soundtrack.
Only realised youve been back uploading. I still hope someday you do Star Trek: DS9 Harbinger since thats basically a Myst type of game and would complete doing the main DOS Trek games for your channel
Hrmm. The Keepers were a kind of slave worker, not unlike the Bahro. Yeesha freed the Bahro, just as the Mentor Keeper gained her liberation from the Keeper Workforce.
I liked musics in this game
Are you going to do an LP of The Talos Principle 2?
1. Have you ever heard of Qube 2? It's very Portalesque
2. I'd like you to play Torin's Passage. Good plot, great humor.
3. Are you ever going to play another LucasArts game?
4. For another Myst-like game I'd recommend Lighthouse: the Dark Being
5. Will you ever play any other RPGs or was Mass Effect a one-time ordeal?
6. Other point-and-clicks I would recommend include Freddy Pharkas and Return of the Phantom.
I did love the ending, but the game had some flaws. Thanks for the excellent LP. You always point out things I missed.
1:05:36 Sven’s name waaaaay down at the bottom of column 4 🕵🏻♂️
1:04:28 - my name is visible on this screen. My parents, who were also backers, are visible at 1:04:30.
Now for my thoughts of the game, but as it does contain spoilers, I'll put it several rows below this line, so click read more at your own discretion. I deliberately chose to put this on the last video of this LP, so if you skipped all the way here, that's your own fault. You have been warned.
I really like this game. The atmosphere, the puzzles (other than the diabolical one in the ice world, I forget its name). I did most of the game without a guide (since I was among the first, few guides were even available when I first played it).
I don't like the fact that there wasn't a final choice at the end. You go to the last room, and the last scene plays out. Why did Cyan do that? I hope they do better in future projects, which I will certainly back.
Exposition…in…spaaace!
I predict your next game will be....
Entropy Centre. A portal clone game with a talking gun who has an affection for cats. I know you don't like suggestions in the comments but anyone who has played Portal might enjoy it. I did. I would most certainly enjoy your LP of it.
Hi sven riven is ready and ull do lets play of it yayyyy im waiting will be fun
I really liked this game not withstanding obvious nitpicks. The major one being that it raised more questions throughout than it answered. Like why would an advanced Earth send a nincompoop like Turner on any mission at all, let alone one that, let's be fair, had to be unique? There are many other unanswerable questions but my overall impression is the game was fun and interesting.
And when we move suns moves with us too lol
The Riven remake is officially out today! Are you going to be streaming it soon sven?
46:27 I was going to comment that it bugs me that the animation of the spheres moving involves the spheres changing orientation relative to the axis of rotation, which should have caused the gravity in the realms to shift direction, but now that you mention this theory, a different but related theory occurs to me: There might be pairs of nested spheres, the inner of which contain the realms and reorient relative to the outer ones such that the direction of gravity stays the same, and the arches are the tracks along which the reorientation happens. Such a procedure wouldn't necessarily be visible from inside the realms. The player character surely would feel the lateral acceleration and the reduction in gravity. In that respect it's like when you move the spheres in Ahnonay while still inside, in that the player character has information the player doesn't have if only because there's no clean way to communicate it to the player.
Another great Let's Play Sven...thanks! Personally I have very mixed feelings about this game. The graphics looked fantastic, I really liked the art design. But the storytelling was pretty empty, the vague comments from the woman that woke us up were more annoying than anything else. And as you said, having all the puzzles based on one mechanic made them feel very repetitive.
It's not a trash game...not even sort of. But it could have been better and it's for sure not Cyan's best work. I'm looking forward to seeing the demo...hopefully you'll post that tomorrow.
Sven when u r reading i imagine steven seagal is reading haha
Its not bad, but I still prefer Riven over all. I've enjoyed your commentary and play a lot. Thanks again for all your work.
Just Subscribed 🙂😀
Thanks for another great Let's Play, Sven! I can definitely see the Ahnonay vive through the whole Firmament lore, which kinda ruined the surprise to me but it's still an interesting concept. Kinda disappointed in no final choice before the ending though...
I think we share the same opinion. Good game, especially for a small studio, hoped for a bit more in terms of lore and gameplay, but the visuals and sound design and feel are unparalleled.
Considering that King George V would be formally crowned on the 9th May 1910 and one of the articles is headlined 'England Embraces Their New Ruler' , the articles may have been pulled from somewhere.
Are you still around? I don't want another hiatus.
Sven is waiting riven to arrive
0:25 this so reminds me of MYST IV. Love pd that game. And this game look amazing
Hi sven 24 minutes ago i watched riven teaser so game will be ready soon and ull play it yaayyyyyyy
Will you be playing the remake of Riven when it's released on June 25th? I'd love to see that. I'll be doing it myself soon.
Will you be playing the Riven remake? I really hope so. I’d love to see you working through the new puzzles in real time. I REALLY enjoyed. I still think the original looks better with its photo realism and live FMV actors. The new one was really good though, and I hope you get to play it
At last that dude shut up in space
This is a *world* seen through the eyes of an... ant!
I'm so... _jealous!_
😀
We must hear elevators sound coz we have air in our suit
Its one of miller bros voice
Come back soon Sven! I doubt it'll happen but I've been praying for 14 years that you'll do the Leisure Suit Larry series lol
Thanks again!!!
I doubt it also but I would love a return to Sierra someday. Maybe Freddy Pharkas or Torin's Passage.
Hey man! I would love to see you do the Riven Remake PLEASE! Your Riven playthrough is one of the first I remember watching on youtube all those years ago, I want to see your reaction and take on the new game.
Still waiting for Dilandau3000 to do a new Riven Remaster playthrough ;)
I do hope he is alive and well still and doing ok!
Oh maybe this station or something is rotating and it has its own gravitation?
I also enjoyed the game, even though I found the story was not at the level of Obduction, but still, I it was really nice to play.
I didn't mind all the wait since the backing campaign, which I gladly participated in :)
The recent announcement of a Riven remake, made be consider buying a VR set. Now your comments on this video made me want it even more...
Do you have any recommendations, on what to look for or avoid?
Soooo . . . are you going to do the Riven Remake?? Love to see it.
Check the post on my channel's community page!
Of the Inaugural Founders, bottom row, third from the left, it looks a lot like Jeff Dunham.
Could just look a lot alike, or maybe Jeff Dunham is a Cyan fan?!
63 pages of backers. Not a problem, but a fraction of the scope of insignificance presented by the story to think that you are just one name among that many brings awe.
There is a setting somewhere in the settings that you can customise one of the lockers to your preference. don't knotice it until I got to that part after messing around with it at the start.
I theorize that using these solar sails we can get all the way to Cardassia Prime!
Only if we run into some tachyon eddies.
Yeah, so this is such a meh game. So between it coming out and now I have thought about this game twice - when it came out and now watching your lets play. Besides that, nope, not even thought of it, except insofar when I think about Cyan stuff and Myst and then Obduction. Now those games I still think about.
So yeah. Meh. Not bad. Not good. Just meh.
That said your playthrough was fun and enjoyable and I super appreciate you doing this. So yeah, awesome, thank you!
Now I have to decide do I go and watch Obduction or do I go and watch Uru. so many thoughts. hehe
I found Sven's name in the Backer Credits @1:05:36.
20:44 What are you referencing there? I can't quite understand what you're saying and subtitles aren't working.
I can't help but feel that I don't like this game. It's funny, because right before this video I was thinking of recommending it to a friend, but...
The reveal comes out of the left field. There are no clues that would hint at it even a little bit. And the "see the void" moment was ruined because I saw the airlock and went "Ah, we are in space." without the mitigating influence a properly built up suspence would provide. There needed to be more journals from different people, maybe memory vapours like the keeper woman, scattered throughout the realms and depicting the stories of these people. Or at the very least just some signs of keeper culture beyond the "We are the Keepers" blasting over the megaphone every few seconds, which in itself isn't even their culture, but just a directive imposed on them, telling us nothing about the actual people.
And then there are the unanswered questions. How did Keeper lady implanted her echo into our mind? Why did she die while sitting on the captain chair? What are the light lines that appeared all over the place? What is the freaking culture of the Keepers the lady wanted us to learn about? And did she really just left the guy who already proven that he was willing to lord over people in the position of absolute power over the keepers she was trying to save?!
I get that they were trying to make a cool VR game, but even Myst 5 had more to offer that this in terms of story.
Sun and stars and everything must be static how miller bros can make mistakes like this
Yes sven we r immortals
No one can reach the stars
Yay this vid is hour lengh hope stupid ads will not interrupt it
So No Mofang waiting to attack us in the last world?
So sven we all this time were in space?
1:05:57 what does the cryptic text by Jeff Lanctot say?
Honestly, the game is good enough. Puzzles are all industrial which both makes sense with the story, but also they are not that different from Myst. What makes Myst special and this average is mostly Myst has nostalgia and it was on the forefront of gaming for its release years. The large amount of exposition in Myst is lore dump in books, puzzles are simple and the graphics is way too good compared to the games of that era. Since then, the bar of "good" puzzle game was raised significantly, so when this game does the same as Myst, it no longer feels special, it feels average. But in isolation, it was a good game, although a bit small for the price they want.
Dude one of the pictures at the end were you said they might have been the backers are true. I recognized one of the pictures as JEFF DUNHAM my favorite comedian and ventriloquist. You can see his name on the credits in the j's at timestamp 1:04:48 in the first column. if you want to see his picture then go to 12:38 and look on the 2nd row 3rd picture. he is one of the inaugural keepers which is so cool that a celebrity that is well known backed a video game.
14 Years of Adventure Gaming and NO LARRY?
As in Leisure Suit Larry? I doubt he'd ever go to Ao material like that.