Gorogoa - Story Analysis
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- čas přidán 6. 06. 2019
- Few games of the past decade have been as important to me as Gorogoa. It's a beautiful game with a powerful message. So here is my attempt at a full story analysis and an in-depth interpretation of what all of its imagery means.
/ boukenjima_
last-life.net/ - Hry
When the old man dissolved into light at the end to be replaced by the dragon, I took it to mean he *became* the dragon -- or more accurately he *had been* the dragon all along. This fits beautifully with the game's theme of all time existing at once. The 'dragon' is his fully realised self, and he had been guiding, punishing, and inspiring himself his whole life, and it was only at the end did he accept his life for exactly what it was in all its beauty and flaws.
That's why when the dragon appears it's over the same background from the very beginning, and the game starts again as soon as you finish it. Love this game.
You can also see it as the dragon standing for knowledge, or wisdom (the boy wants it, fails, tries to reach it all his life, finally gets there as an adult), or inner peace. It can also mean death, (you go through the stages of life before finally dying), or even acceptance/understanding of death. Or perhaps inspiration/creativity, or war/destruction (the boy tries to appease it, fails, the city is destroyed, but he manages to calm it down in the end) or the other way around, it's peace/prosperity and the boy chases it away by giving the incomplete offering (the fruits are offered by both an old man and a young boy) but when he does complete the offering the dragon/peace/prosperity returns.
The sense of accomplishment you'll feel when you finally "get it" is unreal. The puzzel mechanics are like no other. Buy it.
or download it as a apk
I think a big part of the theme is the way memory works. We don't necessarily remember things in a linear way, our memories are entangled with each other, one memory calling up another from a different time and place. So I think that our entire vantage point in this game is the vantage point of the old man and his memory, looking back through the events of his life as an interconnected whole. And its the final bringing together of all of these threads that the dragon finally accepts, letting him reach enlightenment.
I think the dragon is a force of nature: something he cannot change or understand, but he dedicates his life trying, to the point of obsession. It's a futile effort, and he only finds himself when he _stops_ trying to chase it.
I think that the last part with the old man with the purification of the spheres shows that the mistake he made in youth was that he tried to search for the spheres as external objects. In this final sequence all spheres appear directly connected to the main character, as thought, ritual and study. I think the sequence shows that he got closer to this deity through his action and thinking and not through the physical spheres. More so since the deity rejected him first time when he had them as objects and accepted him when he had the epiphany on the top of the tower. What he had as an old man were his experiences and travels, not the spheres and with this realization the picture he saw at the beggining, of the child and the old man holding the spheres was complete
The main character experiences a literal fall from grace and, throughout his life goes In Search Of Lost Time like Alice in Wonderland. I don't think the dragon (which looks more like a lionfish) was ever evil, it was more like a direct herald of the divine the main character desperately wanted to reconnect with. Going through maturity, studies, war and old age wasn't caused by the dragon, they were all things that occupied his life without it. Maybe the fall was caused by his young age when confronting it for the first time- he wasn't "worthy" then, he needed to live life before becoming worthy.
Loved the analysis. I played it 3-4 times before I watched this. Did you notice that when sorting out the fruits for the last time, the moth gets too close to the light and bursts into flames ..to becomes a fruit? To me this is about what we gain from the pursuit which isn't as fruitless (pardon the pun) as it seems to be sometimes. Spiritual journeys are like this. You get a flash of the divine that is so amazing you spend your whole life trying to get back to it. Also, the horrible crash was necessary for all the pieces to be there. Even during the crash, there is a revelation. The patterns and colors of the dragon and clear..and then disappear.
The old man is able to look back and find them quickly. Each chapter of life, the fruit was there but just nearly missed. As the picture portrays, the boy alone could not do this venture.
I thought that the old man died at the end, consumed by and merged with the light of the divine. There is so much to think about here.
this game is a masterpiece ,too bad its not that well known ,many more people should experience its greatness
I often cried at some video game endings but no game left me behind with such goosebumps at the end. I felt so little. Very nice video, thank you for sharing your thoughts that you worked out!
I felt like that but a littlw more extra. Like that big guy would come back at some way, and he came to my dream, it was like he was looking at my soul, and then, the end of the game happents. Everythink on my dream, was inside Gorogoa eyes
I just realized that the themes of the story tie in to the core loop of gameplay. Especially towards the end, you will be presented with a series of disparate images that make very little sense together but through trial and error you will find two images that are somehow related BUT they don't work together. Then you will keep trying to make the images fit or just keep trying random combinations frustrated that your first discovery was fruitless but then you will realize there is a deeper layer to the puzzle and suddenly all the little details and every bit of knowledge you have gathered fits easily in an elegant pattern. It's exactly what the boy goes through in the story!
I think that aspect makes the game genius.
Hey I just beat this game and I'd love to see your analysis. I'm deaf. Can you please add captions?
Hey, thanks for letting me know that I never added subtitles to this! They should now be available.
@@BoukenJima thanks!
@@BoukenJima Thank you so much for your perspective on this. Really helped me tie the whole experience together and it's very moving to take time to reflect this game on my own memories
@@sjsamphex damn this must be like one of the most perfect games for deaf people, what did you think of it?
OH MY GOD. I just finished the game today and immediately looked for the explanation. Your video is just perfect. When I played the game, admittedly I was just focusing on how to solve the puzzle with zero regard to the story. Just like what you said, I was too busy brute-forcing the game. Thank you so much for your concise and clear analysis. It's unbelievably satisfying to finally understand everything. You, Sir, are the dragon ❤
Fantastic analysis! What a wonderful game and story this is. Thanks for doing this video!
What a wonderfully thought out and communicated interpretation of this game! Thank you! After playing through it, I was left a bit confused with some of the themes and the overall arc of the story, your interpretation makes a lot of sense and fills in a lot more of the story that I think I missed while actually playing the game. It really is a very unique and beautiful game.
Just finished the game 2 days ago. What an insanely in depth and beautiful analysis of an absolutely stunning game.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR MAKING THIS. Never would have found out about this amazing game otherwise ;D So glad I listened to the "please play it first" for once!! Such a unique and evocative game, there really is nothing else like it... I had such an amazing experience with it! Amazing vid BoukenJima, a vid of this quality and a game of Gorogoa's quality both need so much more attention...
Ah you played it first? That's all I need really. That makes me happy. Cheers!
I can't help but see the black fruit that are burning as canon balls. I believe that in that moment as a boy when he went up to the tower, it was bombarded by canon balls.
I just finished the game and I believe your explanation is the closest I've come across. The only thing I differ with yours is the injury. I don't believe he was physically disabled, but emotionally, physiologically, or maybe spiritually disabled. And greatly discouraged, he may had begun checking boxes until the mystery clicked at the end of his life.
i listen to gorogoa soundtrack every single day, glad to know more about this game
What a wonderful and comprehensive Interpretation. It really helped me to understand. While a had some ideas during my run, it all makes more sense to me now.
I'm glad! Thank you for watching
wow what a great analisis , i just finished the game and many things passed above me. Thank you great reflexion about the message!
Truly fantatsic analysis, thank you for doing this ^_^
Great video, man, Gorogoa is a hidden gem
YES! Finally a vid on Gorogoa!
Thank you. I missed a lot of the details of the story when I played it because I was too focused on the puzzles.
I took the dragon to mean enlightenment but I can see your interpretation too.
The game is great, and this video is amazing. I cried a little bit. Thank you.
Thank you very much! It's really great to see more people come to this video all of a sudden.
Loved the analysis, thanks for this.
pretty interesting game concept. I never play something like this before. Tnks for sharing
very insightful interpretation. thank you!
The dragon is death. The child tried to kill himself, sacrifice himself to the dragon, but failed and crippled himself. Only by truly collecting his life experience did he gain the right to die.
That’s what I thought too!
Loved the editing.
Thanks man. Unfortunately I can't take credit for it haha.
i would be reely interested in your recommended list of games to play all your recomendations in the channel are priceless(i mean mostly becase of story and gameplay in 2nd)
Damn thanks man. Can't say I've made a full list yet for the past decade but definitely all the games in the few game of the year videos I made. To that you can add The Witness, Celeste, Return of the Obra Dinn, Baba is You, Outer Wilds, Monster Hunter World, uhhh so many more haha.
@@BoukenJima tnks for answering, time is priceless. I may be lost in maze of moral relativism, but still. Hope you a good holiday.
love to see a storm trooper playing a game of art and life like you!
Of course, we have hobbies too
That was a good review.
Real nice video man, for a very interesting game. I always thought video games were a good place to explore themes of spirituality and reason. A good way to empathize with people with a different philosophical point of view
Thanks man. Why specifically games though?
@@BoukenJima I guess its because, unlike books or movies, the interactive element of games can really help us walk in the shoes of others. Like, on the spirituality thing, I feel that Journey for example, can communicate what a "religious" experience feels like for those who claim to have one. I'm not saying that game made me a dyed in the wool Deist or anything, but I was incredibly moved by it. Of course, subjectivity is going make that game mean something different to everyone
Thx for the upload.
A very good analysis! thx
Thank you!
Masterpiece in every way!
Great analysis.
I think he was trying to appease the dragon by chasing after worldly desires but that didn't work as the dragon is treacherous. He was duped.
Once he used enlightenment instead of the wordly desires to find the dragon, he did and perhaps ready to fight the dragon. After all the dragon isn't good in anyway. It caused corruption in his land and made him crippled.
There could very well be a sequel.
Thanks! I'm not sure I agree with the search for worldy desires though since 3 out of 5 chapters show the man mostly reading and studying, not trying to accumulate wealth.
It's an interesting idea to pin his broken leg and the war directly on the dragon trying to punish the man. I guess in my reading I've just never seen the dragon as a malicious entity.
The dragon may not necessarily be a malicious entity, but it hurts the man all the same very traumatically for life. So the theme I think is about accepting the pain from your past that you will never forget and learning to move past it to embrace who you are and achieve enlightenment. Just a shame it takes the man his whole life to realize haha.
I was thinking the story had something to do with fate being unavoidable. Your analysis is fantastic
That would be rather grim. I didn't get that kind of vibe from it.
very nice
Muito boa interpretação, eu amei
good
I just finished the game
One of the best.
15:32 you can't tell me what to do!! i find it infinitely cooler if there was an actual weird giant dragon just out there
Man I loved this it was so pleasant
Damn, I love the Emancipator in the background. This guy gets it. What's the second song? I don't think I know it
Hey thanks! Can you give me a timestamp? The second song in the video from my counting would be Emancipator - 1993 but presumably if you've already recognized Emancipator that's not the one you mean.
@@BoukenJima I must have spaced out for a chunk of it listening to your analysis lol. I was thinking of the song that was playing at around 11:00 and after. I didn't recognize it
@@orinblank2056 Ah. Yeah there are a couple tracks inbetween that haha.
That song is The Cinematic Orchestra - The Awakening of a Woman
czcams.com/video/2G_oYwfa70c/video.html
@@BoukenJima oh wow that's fire. Thanks for responding with it!
It look like element
Red symbol= fire
Purple Symbol= darknes
Yellow Symbol= light
Green Symbol= Winds or plants
Blue Symbol= Water
It's one of those that I would've taken years to get to without watching this video, and now having watched it I wish I had played it instead :S oh, what can you do :)
Haha sorry man. I did warn you.
Excellent explanation. Just beat the game. It was OK. I mostly brute forced my way through it. I didn't need to go online for any answers, however. I feel like there were a lot of extra clues in the game that made no sense. Like the scene with the tread and scissors. I am like, do I need to do something with this tread. No, nothing. I think the concept of the images and zooming in and out is basically good, but could be used in a much better game.
I don't remember the tread and scissors right now. Execution could be a lot more refined for sure but I think that's just not gonna happen with such a unique concept on the first attempt. Honestly for the sake of the story I'm glad that the creator didn't drag it out too much by adding more and more challenging puzzles.
emm good... 👍
damn 777 likes
lucky number
I didn't care for it one bit.
Bad taste.
@@BoukenJima Bad channel.
@@BoukenJima If I don't agree with the great BrokenZima, I have bad taste. He was born wiser and more able to discern the quality of pretentious indie games.
@@jameschestnut9839 Did that really sting so hard you had to come back 8 hours later for another reply?
@@BoukenJima Don't flatter yourself. I just like torching fools.