Surprised you didn't mention the amazing story and characters. I'm disappointed by the clumsy horror aspect, but the plot kept me going through the game. It's fantastic.
+tltar253 Not an MGS fan but man, I still can't believe how they simplified the Skull Face. He was so promissing, cruel charismatic and mysterious villain in Ground Zeroes, and in V they turned him into a typical bad guy obsessed with destruction with a silly mask on his face.
+FlymanMS Skull Face, by far, is the worst villain in the series. I was re-playing Rising the other day and I couldnt believe Senator Armstrong was a lot better villain than him. But the "whoooooooooo!?" line is the most memorable part of the game...and that says a lot. Is so cheesy, bad, and stupid (not just the line, the acting too) that you have to love it.
+tltar253 Armstrong is essentially some good old comic relief. But yeah, that one line made the entire shit character skull face was worth that line. Also just had a genius idea. What if Skull face is a metaphor for Konami? Think about it. I mean he has that weird paint remover thingy that removes the id on his helicopter, mabye their is more if you look closely enough.
+[Jacket] Armstrong is a lot more memorable and even menacing than Skull Face. I just cant fucking believe that. When Kojima wrote Skull Face, he was Konami's vice president, so that would make HIM Skull Face...such a lust for bad writting, whooooooooo!?
Death is an immersion breaker. You're about the first game reviewer I've heard saying something like that and it's something I'm bothered by not hearing more. A sense of dread can add to the experience of gaming but actually dying is kinda bad for games that aim at immersion.
+PauLtus B Seems like a case-by-case analysis. Horror games need an atmosphere, and dying destroys that atmosphere. In that aspect, I can totally agree that dying breaks immersion. Swap that with Contra or Demon's Souls and it's part of the experience, though.
+PauLtus B But let me quote many people, mainly TB: " A game is defined by having an express or implied failure state." We have to make set paths within our games. Convincing the player to get through a path requires brute force, if player strands too far, they get set back to the point where they should go(via death, teleport or whatever makes sense within the universe). So we're at a limbo uncracked for all of humanity: "How to tell someone what to do without telling him what to do?". We simply can't deal with a clueless(etc.) player without making glowing orange arrows or timer/zone deaths.It's a shame, byt it will push many more players to not judge the book by the cover.
PauLtus B I suppose it's fine if the Souls games fail for you in the matter, but I think it's worth noting regardless. And I would argue Contra is more immersive than most games, even current ones. There's a much more vested interest in what's happening on screen when a singular segment can kill you in a multitude of different ways from any vector.
It sort of feels like George contradicts himself somewhat when it comes to comparing this game to previous titles from the developer and stating what a first-person/horror game it suppose to be. He has a video discussing video game trends and how they can be bad, even if not necessarily. It feels like he was criticizing the game for not adhering to the trends that a first-person horror game should, or at least what trends a Frictional game should (this is not a new Amnesia game, so why some many reviewers treat it as such is almost puzzling). I see reason that this kind of game should feature more hiding places or more stuff to collect and use. I played through it, felt I had enough dark places to hide, and large enough environments to get around. If there was a crunch, it was probably done on purpose (like that one part with the "you cannot look at it" enemy, on the way to disrupt some power-thingy which leads to a chase by that same "monster"). That said, I did not encounter bugs, did not see any monster-timing (where they zone out after X-number of minutes - perhaps a bug that added to my experience if the timer George mentioned was not a bug itself), and enemies mostly behaved as I would expect them to (roaming the environment, reacting to sounds as they should, not seeing me when it made sense that they could not). If I have any complaint about their AI, it is that they sometimes showed some ESP. That is, I would be located around one side of an environment, and they would be there. I would then sneak to the other side without them being able to know, yet their patrol route magically changed to be the side I was then located on. Other times they seem to know when I did or didn't have an item I needed to progress and would therefor be closer to where the item is gotten, and then closer to where it was used after I got it. I also disagree about the potato comment. Only one really looks that way if you do not look close, and another looks somewhat similar if you do not look too close. What they were showing was a sort-of 'evolution' from what these things are closer to the beginning of be transformed to what they end up looking like in a more final form. I think this game should be reviewed for what it is, not what it is not as compared to the developers previous efforts. Not just because that might be a wrong perception (if there is such a thing), but because it is obvious that everything about the game was beholden to the world building and story/ideas. You do not manage flashlight battery power or food or sanity, because what the main character(s) are mean those sort of things make no sense (it would seem somewhat dishonest to shove a replacement in there just for the sake of it, or to fill some checklist of trend). I guess one area where they could have had more "inventory" is with the audio you end up listening to. It would make sense for the main character to be able to store those, and good for the player to be able to go back and re-listen to something with new context (and just in case you missed something the first time). I would would have enjoyed being able to play the files while moving around at my leisure. Actually, when it comes to just about any of complaints or critiques, they are more about how THIS game could have been somewhat better, not really about how it would have been better for it to be more like previous Frictional games. At the end of the day, this game was, it seems to me, suppose to be less scary, and more horrifying. The body horror is good, the sound design excellent, and the general tone is perfect. The ideas are also of the existential crisis kind. Really, this is a different beast from the past games, and I feel it was intentional, not a misstep. I would be nice if more games dared to go where this was does. Some of the writing and voice work could of used a large budget. I would love to see what this game might have been if it had been given a couple of extra million, with no strings attached. The wrap this too-long, somewhat-meandering post, I would ask anyone who wanted Amnesia 2 to let go of that, and enjoy the game for how it (perhaps momentarily) evolves "Frictional FPH(orror)". Actually, I cannot wait for whatever game they come out with next - will they stick with sci-fi for another outing, or take yet another right-turn?
Ok, now that I have replayed Amnesia after nearly 5 years, I am sorry, but George is overplaying Amnesia and downplaying Soma. Some >>> Amnesia. The things that Soma streamlines compared to the Amnesia make total sense for the world that the game exists in, and makes the journey A LOT better. Amnesia also starts to feel like a repetitious slog once you enter that first dungeon (the maze-like one with lots of stone walls and prison cells) - you will repeatedly enter a new area and then travel left and then right to get (sometimes nonsensical) items (in old school adventure fashion) you need to open up the next area where you go left and right (etc.). Also, Amnesia's stealth is actually worse - ignoring the awesome water monster thingy, the enemies are braid dead and easy to avoid and there are NOT more hiding places, just different types of them (I really had no issues figuring out ways to get Soma enemies to go to one room while I hid in another and then snuck out). I literally almost stopped playing Amnesia this second time, it was just... boring. I am not sure how this game, save for the water monster, scared anyone (I remember having a similar feeling 5 years ago). Also, the HP Lovecraft horror included just doesn't strike the same cord as cybernetic body horror and other existential questions concerning consciousness. If I was a "professional" reviewer, Amnesia gets a 3/5 or a 7/10 (maybe an 8/10 since it was a trend setter), and Soma gets a 4/5 or a 9/10 (8-8.5 for gameplay, 10 for the world building and story, etc.). ANYWAY - It is good that I do not agree with George - always agreeing with someone is boring, always disagreeing is tiresome; a mix of both is much more interesting and rewarding - even in a one-sided, virtual relationship. ;-)
Just to add, even if a little late at this point in my little own comment thread, the world of Soma is in-fact just as interactive, it just has less useless, adventure-game inventory crap, and thank god for that. Opinion/assholes, you know the saying and meaning.
+BINARYGOD Long-ass posts. But I was thinking the same thing. The inventory management and sanity mechanics are not a meaningful layer of play-based horror like George says they are. They're part of a very simple aesthetic layer which besides being displayed to the player, doesn't change anything. Under that thin veil, Amnesia is in many ways a simpler game, and yeah, I find it hard to imagine people would actually find it scarier than SOMA in most cases. It just has an arbitrary sanity mechanic, and arbitrary inventory puzzles. I found the monster encounters in Amnesia far too transparent. Most of the time it didn't feel like I wasn't hiding from monsters, it felt like I was going into a closet and waiting for the music to stop. Amnesia just gets repetitive with its mechanics, and its art and sound too. SOMA keeps it a much more novel experience throughout, in comparison. Not to make it sound like I hate Amnesia or something, I really enjoyed it when it came out... Anyway, I too am very interested to see what direction Frictional goes in next. They have particular goals they're trying to reach with their horror games, and I see each of their games as an experiment with their theories to try and hit the sweet spot they're looking for. It's exciting to see and to, in a way, be a part of.
Archmage Nemo Ah yes, the good old "you not permitted to disagree or critique a critique unless you can do it as well, perhaps better"-style of argument. Well, if were going to go that way, then George should never review a game or an E3 again since he apparently cannot make a better one.
I think the problem here is that Bunnyhop thought of SOMA as first and foremost a horror game…which it's not. Like Pat from Super Best Friends Play talks about certain games, it's horror-THEMED, but not a horror game in itself. It's not like Amnesia because that wasn't really the goal, and disparaging it for not doing what it wasn't meant to feels a tad unfair.
they did apparently deliberate tone down the horror elements in the gameplay to focus more on story - which personally, I think was a mistake, as it leaves the game as little more than a walking sim through the haunted mansion.
AydarBMSTU agreed. The thing is, the vocabulary of horror is way wider than most people realize. It's not all just slasher flics and monster movies. This game fit in great with the world of literary horror, something I haven't really seen since Silent Hill 2.
this game has the best QTE's in the history of gaming because they were so organic most people didint notice nor failed them one of them was when you fix a elevator and the monster sneaks up behind you and roars at you and you will instinctively run into the elevator you just fixed and push a random button another one is when your walking down a hallway and a monster roars behind you and chases you down the hallway and when you enter the door your comrade closes the door no button promps no cinematic no in game cutscene no instructions just common sense and reflexs
I find it weird that the large part of the video is George talking about the story of the game, yet doesn't realize the impact that harder, Amnesia-like, mechanics could have on it. Inventory management is something that is a pretty hardcore mechanic, one that failing at might require a lot of gameplay-focused thinking of how to avoid the problematic situation, without necessary resources, or simply setting you back much further than simply getting caught due to save reloading. Constantly thinking about managing resources makes people focus more on the ludic than narrative part of the experience and sometimes might actually encourage skipping plot-related exploration - why would you go through some notes when you're wasting your resources you might need later to do so, after all.
I actually like that there isn't much convenient hiding space on offer. At least it forces the player to think about the stealth as much as think about the puzzles and the narrative, instead of sleepwalking past the threats.
Oh that pun at the end haha. I honestly really like this game so far, I don't think the monitor effect or lack of effect bothers me that much. Its really nice to see frictional take the genre a step forward by getting out of the mundane jumpscares and really focusing on atmosphere for this game.
A big pro for me was the lack of IT'S A TWIIIIIST. Most of the things that happening where predictable in some way, but there was a good bildup. I was always interested in finding out more about my character and the world, because it felt cohesive. As you're into the game design, navigate to the SOMA folder and extract the _supersecret.rar (19PzQ8arc11rkdv) you'll find some early game design documents and drafts from where the game was called Depth, also quite a lot of background infos and staff videos/images.
Interesting POV, Bunnyhop. Personally, this was the most thrilling game I've played in at least two years, especially in light of how thoroughly MGSV disappointed me and how much I begged the Witcher 3 to get on with its story, already. But, I think my interest in story/storytelling over mechanics and visual fidelity put me in a minority of gamers. This game spends about 9-10 hours being a really intriguing albeit creepy mystery. Then, it makes the player spend about 1.5 hours in their own diarrhea. Finally, it spends 30 minutes working its way to a crushing, delightful, confusing ending that's worth every second of the next 3 weeks spent pondering it. I felt immense joy every time I would stumble into more environmental storytelling. And the writing and voice acting are both excellent--Simon had a tendency to say what I was feeling or thinking at all times, and Catherine made me feel infinitely better every time I got to talk with her. Nonetheless, I love your reviews. Your POV is crystal clear in every one of them.
What's awesome is that the ending to this game theorizes exactly what I imagine ACTUALLY happens in time travel stories/movies. Sure, you travel back in time but what about the people you left behind in the future? They're still fucked lol! Apply this to ANY game or movie that has time travel and its crazy!
+Shukterhouse Jive bro, Doom 3 was very revolutionary on quite a few fronts, it did come out all the way back in 2004, and was one of the first games to do alot of things such as the way it handled shadows and lighting.
Keith Filibeck it was so revolutionary that nobody else did lighting that way because any game that wasn't 95% darkness was unplayable on period hardware. And by the time hardware caught up, STALKER introduced deferred rendering and no-one looked back. Also the game was bad. That part's more important.
@@AeonsAegis The switch from Simon 2 to Simon 3 more than justified it being a video game, it was one of the most gut punching moments I've experienced in media, and it totally relies on you controlling the character from first person.
I like hearing there's a lot of sci fi here. I find the stranger sci fi ideas a lot more scary than most horror. There's actually plenty of movies I find scary but actually non of them is straight up horror.
+ReppeNThA707 I have changed my mind a bit. I recently saw half of "El Orfanato". I want to fully watch it, but it was scary to a point where I decided to quite watching because I wanted a good sleep.
Really enjoyed the story, despite the main character still not understanding how this "thing" worked by the end, which he should already have understood once it's explained to him how he ended up there and then (in the future). But I guess any other reaction from him would have made the scene less dramatic. Could definetly have lived without the hide and seek portions, though. They just felt like, getting in the way of an enjoyable sci-fi trip.
+The Algerian I feel the same about both your points, although I'd say the survival horror trope fits well within the story, since it's about survival among other themes: your own survival, humanity survival, what it takes in order to survive and "what" is surviving (are you the "real" you ?). But I totally agree about the dumbness of our Jason (Simon) Brody here, although maybe his car accident explains why he has half a brain, but there is not much emphasis on this theory. It's funny how I thought the exact same thing before watching george's video: here comes Jason Brody again. Also I think that when you play an fps you tend to play "as yourself" and having a character that doesn't understund what you already have figure out creates distance and have you remember you're playing a game.
Billy John That's a very good point. I feel a lot less annoyed when Geralt (in a third person rpg game) needs half an hour to figure out which type of monster is responsible for any given problem when I understood what was going on the second I stumbled upon said problem. Even though he's supposed to be the professional, not me.
+The Algerian I guess tps invites you more to roleplay, whereas fps feels more like "you" are the one in motion. And since no one want to be treated as dumb, tps feels more legit for the protagonist to do dumb things. I don't know if the solution should be gordons freemans in every fps, but definitly not having a universaly dumb character.
sorry to reply to a 5 month old comment thread but I believe the main characters inability to understand certain things is because he was based on a "flat" scan, or whoever it was put - everyone else was based on a modern day (well, future to us in the 2000-teen's) version of the scan that the WOW came up with.
I think he actually understood it well, but was in denial and so emotionally exasperated by the end that he just lost it. Naturally, most people took that frustration of his as "LOL, he's stupid". I think both main characters deserve a more emphatic assessment than a dismisal like that.
Will you also make a review that talks about the story? Knowing how well made your MGS analysis are, I would love to see one such video done by you for SOMA. :)
isorSOT good sir tips f'dora nice meme good sir yes jolly good meme quite epic good sir good sir dont steam my beans with that good sir internet talk please but thank you for the correction
What the hell George!, what kind of review was that? You spent half of it talking about the less relevant part of the game, the monsters. And then you add a minor problem like that of the monitor art as if it was nearly a deal breaker. If you ask me, the problem with the monsters in this game is that the "monsters gonna getcha!" mechanic of horror games, which ironically was popularized by Frictional's Amnesia, is a mechanic that has nothing more to offer and that is becoming a problem to progress satisfactorily in games with great stories as this one. Your problem is that you like that mechanic and want it to be more expanded. But, while that was fine in a horror game like Amnesia, where the story was serviceable and the experience was the mechanics of avoiding monsters, you are asking me to enjoy waiting inside a closet in a game where the story is king and progress should be paused as little as possible. You are framing your review around a game mechanic that is overdone and irrelevant at this point and because of that you have given a low score to a game with one of the best stories of the decade, amazing graphics and sound directions and the most natural puzzle design I can think of in an adventure game. Still love your work, though.
Good video, but I'm curious if something happened to your footage or if it's in-game chromatic aberration. It's a little over-the-top, even for a proto-cyberpunk setting. Probably gonna wait for a price drop even though I loved Amnesia and Penumbra (until the third game).
+WayToTheGrave It's the game, when done correctly it looks nice (Think PT) but it's extremely overused in SOMA. Thankfully there's an option to disable it entirely.
+daidabus Also Transhuman Space (though likely unintentionally) , as " Ghosts " is the in-setting name for mind uploads and they run on (besides normal computers) robot bodies called " cybershells " and cybernetic bodies called " bioshellls. "
Holy shit, I got stuck at PRECISELY that spot at 4:19 because the monster wouldn't go away nor kill me outright. I'm so glad you pointed out this design flaw specifically, because it was extremely immersion-breaking and a great disappointment, given the atmosphere they were going for up to that point in the game.
Damn, George knows how to review a game. The way he writes everything really shows off his journalistic talent, complete with pun endings every time. Love it.
You're underselling this game. It's very polished if you ask me. Enemy AI has always been retarded in Frictional's games but it's handeled better than in Amnesia. I mean are you honestly trying to tell me Amnesia did a good job of hiding the monster's "zippers"?! Good one. In Soma it's also harder to break immersion by sneaking a closer peak at an enemy because you can stay in character more easily. It makes more sense for morbid curiosity to arise in-character, because the "monsters" are very ambiguously "monsters". Also what's with the nitpicking about the static screens? Don't you understand that it's not the screens that are malfunctioning but that it's the data that's corrupted?
+Dash I'm not very good at explaining these sorts of things but the design is very pleasing and interesting. I played the whole game in one sitting because I just couldn't stop playing, the world is immersive and beautiful. I really recommend it, only problem I would say I've had is that it's not as scary as their previous games and there's no worry of running out of power for your flashlight, so there's less depth I feel for the more survival aspect unlike in penumbra. Sorry if some of that didn't make much sense
There was a bit of Alastair Reynolds in there too, by my own reckoning. Maybe they haven't read him, but his works have tackled a lot of the same ideas.
As a fan of your channel and someone who just really appreciates what your doing to show gaming as a genuine art form, I was wondering if you would consider doing a video on Gaming Preservation. Personally I believe that its a topic not discussed much, but it most definitely needs to be. Here's a great article on what exactly I mean. www.popmatters.com/feature/182714-why-dont-videogames-have-a-criterion-collection/
First off, since it's the first time I post a comment on your channel, I have a long due thank to adress to you because... Well, it's a great channel ! Your points on the gameplay are very valid although what's seems new here is the story and thus this game could almost be a "walking simulator" and be fine for me. I wrote "seems new" because anyone who has red Greg Egan's Permutation City and Diaspora, and Peter Watt's rifters trilogy, can heavily feels the "influence" (to say the least) of these books. And it's under the influence of those books to such a detailed extent that it made me question what defines intellectual property (which stays a bit within the themes of the game, so cool !... But not so cool really) and if one could invoke plagiarism. Games have copied one another gameplays from the beginning of... Video games (and it's fine, because they need it to "move on"... And it's legal), but it's the first time I felt the story similarities between a game and books felt this akward. I think it lies in the fact that this game might be praised for it's story (like you did) without giving credit to the "real" writers of those stories. I know Frictional games tweeted their influences, but it felt more than influences for me and at this level of similarities a tweet felt "light".
Dude greg egan didnt invent the concept of copied conciousness and peter watt didnt invent underwater sci fi It uses these concepts to push the player into diffrent scenarios and saying that frictional arent the real writers is being kind of dishonest
I personally really enjoyed this game. It was so easy to immerse myself into it, and get scared shitless by all the stupid little jumpscares (especially in the beginning. My god was I shitting my pants) I found the game really interesting and melancholy, if that's a word for how I felt. I see what you mean about the monsters and at one point I did find it a little annoying rather than scary, when I died about 3 times to one of them patrolling a part in Curie, I believe it was. Either way, I see this game as a virtual masterpiece and i absolutely loved it. It puts very strong feelings into you, especially when you have to "kill" a robot to progress. Their dying words makes you feel like a total ass but you have no choice unless you want to quit right there. The ending was a total mindfuck and left me sitting in my chair for 20 mins thinking about how Simon's consciousness will literally be stuck down there forever until he eventually, after who knows how long, shuts down in some way just because neither machines nor humans can keep working forever. It left me with an empty, lonely and hopeless feeling and to me, that's what makes a good game good. The writers, directors and developers.ect, in my opinion succeeded in doing something that's pretty hard to do, which is make you feel something. Horror games mostly just get you by cheap jumpscares that last a bit but this was one psychological horror that I wont forget for a long time. Bravo.
That was my favourite game of 2015, but you do have a point and I do agree the game had many flaws. Also, I love how you do your reviews. The way you present pros and cons and what you like/dislike, I can relate most of the time, which makes you a perfect reviewer for me. Keep up the good work.
JUST finished this game for the 3rd time about 3 minutes ago.. all said, its a great story. like a long movie that you need to progress yourself, it is what it is and I find it endearingly interesting
I think principle flaw of this game is the lack of an inventory system. Yes, you could say that it increases immersion... but... It would of been cool to have a backpack you can interact with physically (and put small random objects in for distractions, as well as the puzzle items). Basically, you press a button and your character stops and the bag spawns in front of you - you can then place any object inside, then when you press again the contents are saved and can be used later. That would be pretty awesome in a Frictional game.
Good review but I found the game having less features worked in its favor for me, because while I liked the idea of the mechanics of the dark descent they were never really executed in a way that felt satisfying, like being able to stack stuff in front of doors to stop a monster from getting me never mattered when I could just kind of crouch in the corner a lot of the time. i mean that is present in soma too but at least I can write it off as the cancerous blobs of technowhatsit thats chasing me cant see very well, well and many of them do have purposefully limited view ranges or cant see at all. idk maybe I'm just biased because I love the scifi aesthetic of soma much more than the gothic aesthetic of the dark descent. But, it really comes down to how I frame it in my mind.
If you enjoyed the plot of the game you should try out the Talos Principle sometime. It explores the same philosophy but in a very different way. Unfortunately the only monster you'll find in that game though is your own lack of understanding spatial puzzles.
"...tactile and meticulously detailed world..." So, walking simulators where you examine things basically. Gone Home VR confirmed? Glad to see it was just ahead of its time. ;)
Gone Home but with actual gameplay. Yeah it's not as scary as Amnesia and yeah you die multiple times before understanding how to avoid a particular enemy, but gameplay-wise it's pretty nice, having to figure out each enemy and putting your plan in practice without losing your nerve is good gameplay, it's just a lot less horror-like and a lot more puzzle-like. In SOMA the horror comes mostly from the story and the environment rather than gameplay.
So, what your saying is, they threw away all the shitty jump scares and shitty designed/non-scary monsters to make a dark as fuck sci-fi point and click adventure more in the vain of the penumbra series? Insta buy then.
Kept nodding in agreement as I watched. The observations about the lack of hiding places and comparisons to Alien: Isolation were spot on. At least regarding hiding dynamics, Frictional has been out-frictional'd (!) by Creative Assembly. Otherwise great game.
I'm actually totally okay with them reducing the survival horror aspects and doing more world building instead (and branching out the tone of the dialogue and writing from the default Unnameable Horror overwrought, vaguely Victorian dourness you got in Amnesia). Being chased is pretty scary and stressful, but I feel like it's not very...interesting, artistically? It's been done a lot and hasn't really developed mechanically either. Being hunted by the Xenomorph or Chicken Nugget Man or a Roomba with a frowny face drawn on it all feel pretty much the same. Jim Sterling said that this game may actually have benefitted from emphasising the "walking simulator" aspect (even) more, and I think I agree. Or maybe I'm just a big baby who wants to enjoy these games' tone and setting but gets too scared by the monsters XD
I just finished playing this game in one single run, I just couldn't stop playing. The atmosphere is so incredible, I don't even have words for it. Well, I am also tired af now tbh.
great review amazing story crappy monsters there just isnt a way to deal with them, no hiding spots, no way to crouch or hide under a table, nothing seems like a victim of too many redesigns and looming deadlines
Not much to argue regarding gameplay, but I feel like you haven't emphasised the philosphical and ethical side of the game as would've been appropriate, seeing that it's a major strong point imo and clearly what the developers were going for. The review was only floating on the surface in that regard.
So it looks like an amplified A Machine For Pigs; gameplay even more stripped down, but tone and setting even more enjoyable. I'll have to consider it, but I guess I should get round to Amnesia first since it was free.
I really can't get enough of this game, I love the story, I wish we got like a prequel movie or game. Showing the WAU slowly mutate into what it is now
Right because every other monster in the game is basically a walking chicken nugget, and for some reason those are less inspired and aren't made as well as the extremely stupid very glitchy robot that can stick its head through walls.
Surprised you didn't mention the amazing story and characters. I'm disappointed by the clumsy horror aspect, but the plot kept me going through the game. It's fantastic.
Two reviews in one week? such lust for informing, whooooooooooo!?
+tltar253 Not an MGS fan but man, I still can't believe how they simplified the Skull Face. He was so promissing, cruel charismatic and mysterious villain in Ground Zeroes, and in V they turned him into a typical bad guy obsessed with destruction with a silly mask on his face.
+FlymanMS So true man, so unfortunately true.
+FlymanMS Skull Face, by far, is the worst villain in the series. I was re-playing Rising the other day and I couldnt believe Senator Armstrong was a lot better villain than him. But the "whoooooooooo!?" line is the most memorable part of the game...and that says a lot. Is so cheesy, bad, and stupid (not just the line, the acting too) that you have to love it.
+tltar253 Armstrong is essentially some good old comic relief. But yeah, that one line made the entire shit character skull face was worth that line.
Also just had a genius idea. What if Skull face is a metaphor for Konami? Think about it. I mean he has that weird paint remover thingy that removes the id on his helicopter, mabye their is more if you look closely enough.
+[Jacket] Armstrong is a lot more memorable and even menacing than Skull Face. I just cant fucking believe that.
When Kojima wrote Skull Face, he was Konami's vice president, so that would make HIM Skull Face...such a lust for bad writting, whooooooooo!?
One of the greatest feats of the future is finally perfecting the technology to freeze scanlines.
Death is an immersion breaker.
You're about the first game reviewer I've heard saying something like that and it's something I'm bothered by not hearing more. A sense of dread can add to the experience of gaming but actually dying is kinda bad for games that aim at immersion.
+PauLtus B Seems like a case-by-case analysis. Horror games need an atmosphere, and dying destroys that atmosphere. In that aspect, I can totally agree that dying breaks immersion.
Swap that with Contra or Demon's Souls and it's part of the experience, though.
+PauLtus B whats the solution for keeping that immersion without dying?
+PauLtus B But let me quote many people, mainly TB: " A game is defined by having an express or implied failure state." We have to make set paths within our games. Convincing the player to get through a path requires brute force, if player strands too far, they get set back to the point where they should go(via death, teleport or whatever makes sense within the universe). So we're at a limbo uncracked for all of humanity: "How to tell someone what to do without telling him what to do?". We simply can't deal with a clueless(etc.) player without making glowing orange arrows or timer/zone deaths.It's a shame, byt it will push many more players to not judge the book by the cover.
WayToTheGrave I don't concider Contra to be pushing for immersion.
And really the Souls games totally fail for me for that matter.
PauLtus B
I suppose it's fine if the Souls games fail for you in the matter, but I think it's worth noting regardless.
And I would argue Contra is more immersive than most games, even current ones. There's a much more vested interest in what's happening on screen when a singular segment can kill you in a multitude of different ways from any vector.
It sort of feels like George contradicts himself somewhat when it comes to comparing this game to previous titles from the developer and stating what a first-person/horror game it suppose to be. He has a video discussing video game trends and how they can be bad, even if not necessarily. It feels like he was criticizing the game for not adhering to the trends that a first-person horror game should, or at least what trends a Frictional game should (this is not a new Amnesia game, so why some many reviewers treat it as such is almost puzzling). I see reason that this kind of game should feature more hiding places or more stuff to collect and use. I played through it, felt I had enough dark places to hide, and large enough environments to get around. If there was a crunch, it was probably done on purpose (like that one part with the "you cannot look at it" enemy, on the way to disrupt some power-thingy which leads to a chase by that same "monster").
That said, I did not encounter bugs, did not see any monster-timing (where they zone out after X-number of minutes - perhaps a bug that added to my experience if the timer George mentioned was not a bug itself), and enemies mostly behaved as I would expect them to (roaming the environment, reacting to sounds as they should, not seeing me when it made sense that they could not). If I have any complaint about their AI, it is that they sometimes showed some ESP. That is, I would be located around one side of an environment, and they would be there. I would then sneak to the other side without them being able to know, yet their patrol route magically changed to be the side I was then located on. Other times they seem to know when I did or didn't have an item I needed to progress and would therefor be closer to where the item is gotten, and then closer to where it was used after I got it. I also disagree about the potato comment. Only one really looks that way if you do not look close, and another looks somewhat similar if you do not look too close. What they were showing was a sort-of 'evolution' from what these things are closer to the beginning of be transformed to what they end up looking like in a more final form.
I think this game should be reviewed for what it is, not what it is not as compared to the developers previous efforts. Not just because that might be a wrong perception (if there is such a thing), but because it is obvious that everything about the game was beholden to the world building and story/ideas. You do not manage flashlight battery power or food or sanity, because what the main character(s) are mean those sort of things make no sense (it would seem somewhat dishonest to shove a replacement in there just for the sake of it, or to fill some checklist of trend).
I guess one area where they could have had more "inventory" is with the audio you end up listening to. It would make sense for the main character to be able to store those, and good for the player to be able to go back and re-listen to something with new context (and just in case you missed something the first time). I would would have enjoyed being able to play the files while moving around at my leisure.
Actually, when it comes to just about any of complaints or critiques, they are more about how THIS game could have been somewhat better, not really about how it would have been better for it to be more like previous Frictional games. At the end of the day, this game was, it seems to me, suppose to be less scary, and more horrifying. The body horror is good, the sound design excellent, and the general tone is perfect. The ideas are also of the existential crisis kind. Really, this is a different beast from the past games, and I feel it was intentional, not a misstep. I would be nice if more games dared to go where this was does.
Some of the writing and voice work could of used a large budget. I would love to see what this game might have been if it had been given a couple of extra million, with no strings attached.
The wrap this too-long, somewhat-meandering post, I would ask anyone who wanted Amnesia 2 to let go of that, and enjoy the game for how it (perhaps momentarily) evolves "Frictional FPH(orror)". Actually, I cannot wait for whatever game they come out with next - will they stick with sci-fi for another outing, or take yet another right-turn?
Ok, now that I have replayed Amnesia after nearly 5 years, I am sorry, but George is overplaying Amnesia and downplaying Soma. Some >>> Amnesia. The things that Soma streamlines compared to the Amnesia make total sense for the world that the game exists in, and makes the journey A LOT better. Amnesia also starts to feel like a repetitious slog once you enter that first dungeon (the maze-like one with lots of stone walls and prison cells) - you will repeatedly enter a new area and then travel left and then right to get (sometimes nonsensical) items (in old school adventure fashion) you need to open up the next area where you go left and right (etc.). Also, Amnesia's stealth is actually worse - ignoring the awesome water monster thingy, the enemies are braid dead and easy to avoid and there are NOT more hiding places, just different types of them (I really had no issues figuring out ways to get Soma enemies to go to one room while I hid in another and then snuck out).
I literally almost stopped playing Amnesia this second time, it was just... boring. I am not sure how this game, save for the water monster, scared anyone (I remember having a similar feeling 5 years ago). Also, the HP Lovecraft horror included just doesn't strike the same cord as cybernetic body horror and other existential questions concerning consciousness.
If I was a "professional" reviewer, Amnesia gets a 3/5 or a 7/10 (maybe an 8/10 since it was a trend setter), and Soma gets a 4/5 or a 9/10 (8-8.5 for gameplay, 10 for the world building and story, etc.).
ANYWAY - It is good that I do not agree with George - always agreeing with someone is boring, always disagreeing is tiresome; a mix of both is much more interesting and rewarding - even in a one-sided, virtual relationship. ;-)
Just to add, even if a little late at this point in my little own comment thread, the world of Soma is in-fact just as interactive, it just has less useless, adventure-game inventory crap, and thank god for that. Opinion/assholes, you know the saying and meaning.
+BINARYGOD
Long-ass posts. But I was thinking the same thing. The inventory management and sanity mechanics are not a meaningful layer of play-based horror like George says they are. They're part of a very simple aesthetic layer which besides being displayed to the player, doesn't change anything. Under that thin veil, Amnesia is in many ways a simpler game, and yeah, I find it hard to imagine people would actually find it scarier than SOMA in most cases. It just has an arbitrary sanity mechanic, and arbitrary inventory puzzles. I found the monster encounters in Amnesia far too transparent. Most of the time it didn't feel like I wasn't hiding from monsters, it felt like I was going into a closet and waiting for the music to stop. Amnesia just gets repetitive with its mechanics, and its art and sound too. SOMA keeps it a much more novel experience throughout, in comparison. Not to make it sound like I hate Amnesia or something, I really enjoyed it when it came out...
Anyway, I too am very interested to see what direction Frictional goes in next. They have particular goals they're trying to reach with their horror games, and I see each of their games as an experiment with their theories to try and hit the sweet spot they're looking for. It's exciting to see and to, in a way, be a part of.
+BINARYGOD You should start your own channel. I will like to see you reviewing games.
Archmage Nemo
Ah yes, the good old "you not permitted to disagree or critique a critique unless you can do it as well, perhaps better"-style of argument. Well, if were going to go that way, then George should never review a game or an E3 again since he apparently cannot make a better one.
Still salty about this game stealing my username.
Soma means body/skin in ancient greek
I think the problem here is that Bunnyhop thought of SOMA as first and foremost a horror game…which it's not. Like Pat from Super Best Friends Play talks about certain games, it's horror-THEMED, but not a horror game in itself. It's not like Amnesia because that wasn't really the goal, and disparaging it for not doing what it wasn't meant to feels a tad unfair.
SOMA IS a horror game, don't even try to damage control it. It's horror, end of story, no middle path, it's not just horror themed
they did apparently deliberate tone down the horror elements in the gameplay to focus more on story - which personally, I think was a mistake, as it leaves the game as little more than a walking sim through the haunted mansion.
And a damn good horror game. It's just not scary, sorta like Lovecraft or black mirror
AydarBMSTU agreed. The thing is, the vocabulary of horror is way wider than most people realize. It's not all just slasher flics and monster movies. This game fit in great with the world of literary horror, something I haven't really seen since Silent Hill 2.
It's existential horror, and very good existential horror. I'm still thinking about it a week after finishing it.
this game has the best QTE's in the history of gaming because they were so organic most people didint notice nor failed them
one of them was when you fix a elevator and the monster sneaks up behind you and roars at you and you will instinctively run into the elevator you just fixed and push a random button
another one is when your walking down a hallway and a monster roars behind you and chases you down the hallway and when you enter the door your comrade closes the door
no button promps no cinematic no in game cutscene no instructions just common sense and reflexs
SHUT THE DOOR, CATHERINE. LOCK IT UP.
QTE???
@@Gentamoru quick time event
@@hypnotickiller4802 Oh thanks lol
Those are not qtes you clown
I find it weird that the large part of the video is George talking about the story of the game, yet doesn't realize the impact that harder, Amnesia-like, mechanics could have on it.
Inventory management is something that is a pretty hardcore mechanic, one that failing at might require a lot of gameplay-focused thinking of how to avoid the problematic situation, without necessary resources, or simply setting you back much further than simply getting caught due to save reloading. Constantly thinking about managing resources makes people focus more on the ludic than narrative part of the experience and sometimes might actually encourage skipping plot-related exploration - why would you go through some notes when you're wasting your resources you might need later to do so, after all.
I actually like that there isn't much convenient hiding space on offer. At least it forces the player to think about the stealth as much as think about the puzzles and the narrative, instead of sleepwalking past the threats.
Oh that pun at the end haha. I honestly really like this game so far, I don't think the monitor effect or lack of effect bothers me that much. Its really nice to see frictional take the genre a step forward by getting out of the mundane jumpscares and really focusing on atmosphere for this game.
A big pro for me was the lack of IT'S A TWIIIIIST. Most of the things that happening where predictable in some way, but there was a good bildup. I was always interested in finding out more about my character and the world, because it felt cohesive.
As you're into the game design, navigate to the SOMA folder and extract the _supersecret.rar (19PzQ8arc11rkdv) you'll find some early game design documents and drafts from where the game was called Depth, also quite a lot of background infos and staff videos/images.
Another one so soon? I love your videos! Keep what you're doing my man.
"Diving Deep into this story." Yet again, your scripts are amazing.
My personal GOTY of 2015.
Loved every minute of it.
Awesome review as usual, SBH
Interesting POV, Bunnyhop. Personally, this was the most thrilling game I've played in at least two years, especially in light of how thoroughly MGSV disappointed me and how much I begged the Witcher 3 to get on with its story, already. But, I think my interest in story/storytelling over mechanics and visual fidelity put me in a minority of gamers.
This game spends about 9-10 hours being a really intriguing albeit creepy mystery. Then, it makes the player spend about 1.5 hours in their own diarrhea. Finally, it spends 30 minutes working its way to a crushing, delightful, confusing ending that's worth every second of the next 3 weeks spent pondering it. I felt immense joy every time I would stumble into more environmental storytelling. And the writing and voice acting are both excellent--Simon had a tendency to say what I was feeling or thinking at all times, and Catherine made me feel infinitely better every time I got to talk with her.
Nonetheless, I love your reviews. Your POV is crystal clear in every one of them.
What's awesome is that the ending to this game theorizes exactly what I imagine ACTUALLY happens in time travel stories/movies. Sure, you travel back in time but what about the people you left behind in the future? They're still fucked lol! Apply this to ANY game or movie that has time travel and its crazy!
I still think that Doom 3 and to some degree Riddick games had one of the best monitor UIs.
+Le Green Bean Please tell me more about it.
+253637zero2 You simply looked at the monitor and your crosshair would be your mouse. And well they were really well done.
+David Kirth it had to get at least one thing right I suppose
+Shukterhouse Jive bro, Doom 3 was very revolutionary on quite a few fronts, it did come out all the way back in 2004, and was one of the first games to do alot of things such as the way it handled shadows and lighting.
Keith Filibeck it was so revolutionary that nobody else did lighting that way because any game that wasn't 95% darkness was unplayable on period hardware. And by the time hardware caught up, STALKER introduced deferred rendering and no-one looked back.
Also the game was bad. That part's more important.
Unrelated, but whenever I’m feeling glum, I come here and re-binge watch way too many of your videos and it brings up my spirits. Thanks friend
the gameplay was not what made me like the game. the pretty graphics and philosophical ideas where. it was like a good book not a game.
But it IS a videogame. The devs could have easily, actually more easily, made a visual novel.
@@AeonsAegis The switch from Simon 2 to Simon 3 more than justified it being a video game, it was one of the most gut punching moments I've experienced in media, and it totally relies on you controlling the character from first person.
I like hearing there's a lot of sci fi here.
I find the stranger sci fi ideas a lot more scary than most horror. There's actually plenty of movies I find scary but actually non of them is straight up horror.
The only movie that really terrified me as a kid was The Changeling.
The one from the 70's
+ReppeNThA707 I have changed my mind a bit.
I recently saw half of "El Orfanato".
I want to fully watch it, but it was scary to a point where I decided to quite watching because I wanted a good sleep.
The ending scared me more than anything else in this game. Like it legit has been bothering me for the past 3 hours.
+AProbablyPostman me too. I beat it last night and I swear i couldn't sleep because i kept thinking about it!
+AProbablyPostman 2 days later, still thinking about it.
I'm the same. Though I'm not sure if the ending is really scary. I'd say it's more haunting in the nature of its horror.
Does that include the post-credits scene ? (Yes, there is one, and it's genuinely interesting.)
ZemplinTemplar The post-credits scene made it even freakier.
Really enjoyed the story, despite the main character still not understanding how this "thing" worked by the end, which he should already have understood once it's explained to him how he ended up there and then (in the future).
But I guess any other reaction from him would have made the scene less dramatic.
Could definetly have lived without the hide and seek portions, though. They just felt like, getting in the way of an enjoyable sci-fi trip.
+The Algerian
I feel the same about both your points, although I'd say the survival horror trope fits well within the story, since it's about survival among other themes: your own survival, humanity survival, what it takes in order to survive and "what" is surviving (are you the "real" you ?).
But I totally agree about the dumbness of our Jason (Simon) Brody here, although maybe his car accident explains why he has half a brain, but there is not much emphasis on this theory. It's funny how I thought the exact same thing before watching george's video: here comes Jason Brody again.
Also I think that when you play an fps you tend to play "as yourself" and having a character that doesn't understund what you already have figure out creates distance and have you remember you're playing a game.
Billy John That's a very good point. I feel a lot less annoyed when Geralt (in a third person rpg game) needs half an hour to figure out which type of monster is responsible for any given problem when I understood what was going on the second I stumbled upon said problem.
Even though he's supposed to be the professional, not me.
+The Algerian
I guess tps invites you more to roleplay, whereas fps feels more like "you" are the one in motion. And since no one want to be treated as dumb, tps feels more legit for the protagonist to do dumb things.
I don't know if the solution should be gordons freemans in every fps, but definitly not having a universaly dumb character.
sorry to reply to a 5 month old comment thread but I believe the main characters inability to understand certain things is because he was based on a "flat" scan, or whoever it was put - everyone else was based on a modern day (well, future to us in the 2000-teen's) version of the scan that the WOW came up with.
I think he actually understood it well, but was in denial and so emotionally exasperated by the end that he just lost it. Naturally, most people took that frustration of his as "LOL, he's stupid". I think both main characters deserve a more emphatic assessment than a dismisal like that.
I agree it was unpolished in some areas, but the story is so excellent for me it more than made up for it!
Will you also make a review that talks about the story?
Knowing how well made your MGS analysis are, I would love to see one such video done by you for SOMA. :)
It's so dense. Every single image has so many things going on.
+Dan Greene It's sort of like poetry.
+Dan Greene Fuck you Rick Berman. Stop ruining SOMA. Wait... your not Rick Berman.
WHAT'S UP WITH RICKS?!
"comparison" woooooaaaaah, did I just hear George say comparison right??? 4:09
+BassbaitGG compairishun is the right way.
+TheDastardlyDerek how
+ChuffinMuffin he's just taking the piss, lol
FUCK. CHROMATIC ABBETATION.
abberation, friend
+Mariner1712 It makes sense in this game at least, contrary to others.
+Josue Lobos Aberration, good sir.
+Mariner1712 I actually liked it here, you get it when you are damaged iirc.
isorSOT good sir tips f'dora nice meme good sir yes jolly good meme quite epic good sir good sir
dont steam my beans with that good sir internet talk please but thank you for the correction
What the hell George!, what kind of review was that? You spent half of it talking about the less relevant part of the game, the monsters. And then you add a minor problem like that of the monitor art as if it was nearly a deal breaker.
If you ask me, the problem with the monsters in this game is that the "monsters gonna getcha!" mechanic of horror games, which ironically was popularized by Frictional's Amnesia, is a mechanic that has nothing more to offer and that is becoming a problem to progress satisfactorily in games with great stories as this one. Your problem is that you like that mechanic and want it to be more expanded. But, while that was fine in a horror game like Amnesia, where the story was serviceable and the experience was the mechanics of avoiding monsters, you are asking me to enjoy waiting inside a closet in a game where the story is king and progress should be paused as little as possible.
You are framing your review around a game mechanic that is overdone and irrelevant at this point and because of that you have given a low score to a game with one of the best stories of the decade, amazing graphics and sound directions and the most natural puzzle design I can think of in an adventure game.
Still love your work, though.
@@Gubers Not everyone reads and I'm sure most people haven't even heard about Philip K Dick
I love when George gets all flustered over things XD
Good video, but I'm curious if something happened to your footage or if it's in-game chromatic aberration. It's a little over-the-top, even for a proto-cyberpunk setting. Probably gonna wait for a price drop even though I loved Amnesia and Penumbra (until the third game).
+WayToTheGrave It's the game, when done correctly it looks nice (Think PT) but it's extremely overused in SOMA. Thankfully there's an option to disable it entirely.
you should do a review of undertale.
+MadMax you sound mad.
+MadMax you should change your name to "chillmax"
+MadMax holy shit
+Resmer Lockheart Amazing idea
+MadMax HAHA WOW!
I fuuuuckin LOVED this game. Its an atmospheric horror game. Which they nail
I love stories about AI and I thought this game did a great job in telling a deep narrative.
Just finished it. Holy. Shit. GOTY Material.
So glad you made a second video this week! Couldn't watch the MGS:V one because I dont' want to spoil it, so this was great!
Ghost passing more shells then mass effect cosplay party, did he referenced ghost in the shell too ?
+daidabus Also Transhuman Space (though likely unintentionally) , as " Ghosts " is the in-setting name for mind uploads and they run on (besides normal computers) robot bodies called " cybershells " and cybernetic bodies called " bioshellls. "
+Elround4 yea i didn't get that one :P
I swear, you are one of the most competent video game reviewers of all time. In-depth and critical, but fair enough, it's а joy to watch your videos.
Holy shit, I got stuck at PRECISELY that spot at 4:19 because the monster wouldn't go away nor kill me outright.
I'm so glad you pointed out this design flaw specifically, because it was extremely immersion-breaking and a great disappointment, given the atmosphere they were going for up to that point in the game.
tha-that-that's-tha-that's-that's a new one for me.
I think this might be my favorite horror game so far, I like that existential horror take
"Dive Deep" I see what you did there, I see with my EYES 0 ___ 0
so... what does soma have to do with oculus rift? I'm confused...
ok... is it just me or does it look like this was recorded in 3d mode? im getting a weird red blur effect.
Damn, George knows how to review a game. The way he writes everything really shows off his journalistic talent, complete with pun endings every time. Love it.
The chromatic aberration is the health effect, and it only happens when you're severely injured.
This worth a pickup during a major Steam Sale?
it's worth a pickup at ANY time...the story is absolutely epic and it only costs 27€ on steam
+brummfahrer When I get some more games in my library, sale or not, I may pick it up. Thanks for the reply, fam.
+Bluesparks why when you have more games?
+brummfahrer I phrased that incorrectly. I meant when I get through more games in my catalogue, my mistake.
You're underselling this game. It's very polished if you ask me. Enemy AI has always been retarded in Frictional's games but it's handeled better than in Amnesia. I mean are you honestly trying to tell me Amnesia did a good job of hiding the monster's "zippers"?! Good one. In Soma it's also harder to break immersion by sneaking a closer peak at an enemy because you can stay in character more easily. It makes more sense for morbid curiosity to arise in-character, because the "monsters" are very ambiguously "monsters".
Also what's with the nitpicking about the static screens? Don't you understand that it's not the screens that are malfunctioning but that it's the data that's corrupted?
So it's basically Machine for Pigs
+Dash Only good
Harry That's good to know. Though, I was referring more to the design rather the quality. I should've been more clear.
+Dash I'm not very good at explaining these sorts of things but the design is very pleasing and interesting. I played the whole game in one sitting because I just couldn't stop playing, the world is immersive and beautiful. I really recommend it, only problem I would say I've had is that it's not as scary as their previous games and there's no worry of running out of power for your flashlight, so there's less depth I feel for the more survival aspect unlike in penumbra. Sorry if some of that didn't make much sense
Harry Your're too hard on yourself, that made perfect sense.
+Dash Does machines for pigs involve mind uploading? I'm curious and don't mind spoilers. ^^
>60's and 70's
If anything inspired SOMA it was Peter Watt's books. from the last two decades
+ryan gardiner Along with Greg Egan. Shall I spoil the first part of Diaspora to explain? ^^
There was a bit of Alastair Reynolds in there too, by my own reckoning. Maybe they haven't read him, but his works have tackled a lot of the same ideas.
Hey george , did you ever play the evil within?
Why is it named after a skeletal muscle relaxer?
As a fan of your channel and someone who just really appreciates what your doing to show gaming as a genuine art form, I was wondering if you would consider doing a video on Gaming Preservation. Personally I believe that its a topic not discussed much, but it most definitely needs to be. Here's a great article on what exactly I mean. www.popmatters.com/feature/182714-why-dont-videogames-have-a-criterion-collection/
Looks like there was a new junior artist on the case for some models.
First off, since it's the first time I post a comment on your channel, I have a long due thank to adress to you because... Well, it's a great channel !
Your points on the gameplay are very valid although what's seems new here is the story and thus this game could almost be a "walking simulator" and be fine for me.
I wrote "seems new" because anyone who has red Greg Egan's Permutation City and Diaspora, and Peter Watt's rifters trilogy, can heavily feels the "influence" (to say the least) of these books. And it's under the influence of those books to such a detailed extent that it made me question what defines intellectual property (which stays a bit within the themes of the game, so cool !... But not so cool really) and if one could invoke plagiarism.
Games have copied one another gameplays from the beginning of... Video games (and it's fine, because they need it to "move on"... And it's legal), but it's the first time I felt the story similarities between a game and books felt this akward.
I think it lies in the fact that this game might be praised for it's story (like you did) without giving credit to the "real" writers of those stories. I know Frictional games tweeted their influences, but it felt more than influences for me and at this level of similarities a tweet felt "light".
Dude greg egan didnt invent the concept of copied conciousness and peter watt didnt invent underwater sci fi
It uses these concepts to push the player into diffrent scenarios and saying that frictional arent the real writers is being kind of dishonest
Hello, Love you videos. You one of the best youtube game reviewers. please try the cat lady. Want to hear your thought about it.
An unknown gem, that one.
Whats the song at 0:51?
FUCKING FOUND IT!!! It's called Theta Approach.
Watching your into in glorious 60FPS is beautiful LOL
I heard that George Lucas there... You're not hiding from me, uh, George.
...It's gonna be great.
I personally really enjoyed this game. It was so easy to immerse myself into it, and get scared shitless by all the stupid little jumpscares (especially in the beginning. My god was I shitting my pants) I found the game really interesting and melancholy, if that's a word for how I felt. I see what you mean about the monsters and at one point I did find it a little annoying rather than scary, when I died about 3 times to one of them patrolling a part in Curie, I believe it was. Either way, I see this game as a virtual masterpiece and i absolutely loved it. It puts very strong feelings into you, especially when you have to "kill" a robot to progress. Their dying words makes you feel like a total ass but you have no choice unless you want to quit right there. The ending was a total mindfuck and left me sitting in my chair for 20 mins thinking about how Simon's consciousness will literally be stuck down there forever until he eventually, after who knows how long, shuts down in some way just because neither machines nor humans can keep working forever. It left me with an empty, lonely and hopeless feeling and to me, that's what makes a good game good. The writers, directors and developers.ect, in my opinion succeeded in doing something that's pretty hard to do, which is make you feel something. Horror games mostly just get you by cheap jumpscares that last a bit but this was one psychological horror that I wont forget for a long time. Bravo.
For uttering Ghost and the Shell and Mass Effect in the same sentence you deserve a severe punishment George...
+Wind Falcon I don't even get how the metaphor works honestly. A Verbal slip up perhaps?
For writing "Ghost AND the shell" YOU deserve severe punishment.
That was my favourite game of 2015, but you do have a point and I do agree the game had many flaws.
Also, I love how you do your reviews. The way you present pros and cons and what you like/dislike, I can relate most of the time, which makes you a perfect reviewer for me. Keep up the good work.
diving deep" i see what you did there! ;-) great review as always
1:20 Tachikoma saw what u did ther.
JUST finished this game for the 3rd time about 3 minutes ago..
all said, its a great story. like a long movie that you need to progress yourself, it is what it is and I find it endearingly interesting
I think principle flaw of this game is the lack of an inventory system.
Yes, you could say that it increases immersion... but...
It would of been cool to have a backpack you can interact with physically (and put small random objects in for distractions, as well as the puzzle items). Basically, you press a button and your character stops and the bag spawns in front of you - you can then place any object inside, then when you press again the contents are saved and can be used later. That would be pretty awesome in a Frictional game.
Frictional game....
I want more soma, but without risking retreading it. I don't think it possible.
5:17 C-C-C-C-C-COMBO BREAKER
Great video! I love your content. So entertaining
Good review but I found the game having less features worked in its favor for me, because while I liked the idea of the mechanics of the dark descent they were never really executed in a way that felt satisfying, like being able to stack stuff in front of doors to stop a monster from getting me never mattered when I could just kind of crouch in the corner a lot of the time. i mean that is present in soma too but at least I can write it off as the cancerous blobs of technowhatsit thats chasing me cant see very well, well and many of them do have purposefully limited view ranges or cant see at all. idk maybe I'm just biased because I love the scifi aesthetic of soma much more than the gothic aesthetic of the dark descent. But, it really comes down to how I frame it in my mind.
If you enjoyed the plot of the game you should try out the Talos Principle sometime. It explores the same philosophy but in a very different way.
Unfortunately the only monster you'll find in that game though is your own lack of understanding spatial puzzles.
Well that was fast.
Wow just how many good games came out this year?
This guy's voice sounds like a two-bit local news reporter.
the issue with the monitors is due to the WAU, not a normal hardware error
"...tactile and meticulously detailed world..."
So, walking simulators where you examine things basically. Gone Home VR confirmed? Glad to see it was just ahead of its time. ;)
Gone Home but with actual gameplay. Yeah it's not as scary as Amnesia and yeah you die multiple times before understanding how to avoid a particular enemy, but gameplay-wise it's pretty nice, having to figure out each enemy and putting your plan in practice without losing your nerve is good gameplay, it's just a lot less horror-like and a lot more puzzle-like. In SOMA the horror comes mostly from the story and the environment rather than gameplay.
2:44 is exactly where im at in the game right now
So, what your saying is, they threw away all the shitty jump scares and shitty designed/non-scary monsters to make a dark as fuck sci-fi point and click adventure more in the vain of the penumbra series?
Insta buy then.
BTW HR Giger's name is pronounced [gi:gr], phonetically "ghee-gur". Just for eventual future.
This was chock full of puns I love you
Hope you're doing good mate.
ha, zippers on the costume. Somebody used to watch Doug.
Great review!
Please make a retro review of Shadow of the colossus
Kept nodding in agreement as I watched. The observations about the lack of hiding places and comparisons to Alien: Isolation were spot on. At least regarding hiding dynamics, Frictional has been out-frictional'd (!) by Creative Assembly. Otherwise great game.
I didn't have trouble running and avoid the enemies for the most part. Maybe I was lucky.
I'm actually totally okay with them reducing the survival horror aspects and doing more world building instead (and branching out the tone of the dialogue and writing from the default Unnameable Horror overwrought, vaguely Victorian dourness you got in Amnesia).
Being chased is pretty scary and stressful, but I feel like it's not very...interesting, artistically? It's been done a lot and hasn't really developed mechanically either. Being hunted by the Xenomorph or Chicken Nugget Man or a Roomba with a frowny face drawn on it all feel pretty much the same. Jim Sterling said that this game may actually have benefitted from emphasising the "walking simulator" aspect (even) more, and I think I agree.
Or maybe I'm just a big baby who wants to enjoy these games' tone and setting but gets too scared by the monsters XD
I just finished playing this game in one single run, I just couldn't stop playing. The atmosphere is so incredible, I don't even have words for it. Well, I am also tired af now tbh.
Pharmacy staff know it as Carisoprodol
i completly agree with this. The story is great. But the gameplay could use polish, and it's many times more tedious than scary
It's unfortunate that the game is a step back from previous Frictional games gameplay-wise, but I'm really interested on the story and atmosphere.
Shit, didn't even know this was out, let alone looking this fantastic. I need to get my hands on it at some point.
(...)before diving in(...)
I see what you did there ;)
"More ghosts swapping out of more shells than a Mass Effect cosplay party" What?
great review
amazing story
crappy monsters
there just isnt a way to deal with them, no hiding spots, no way to crouch or hide under a table, nothing
seems like a victim of too many redesigns and looming deadlines
Not much to argue regarding gameplay, but I feel like you haven't emphasised the philosphical and ethical side of the game as would've been appropriate, seeing that it's a major strong point imo and clearly what the developers were going for. The review was only floating on the surface in that regard.
So it looks like an amplified A Machine For Pigs; gameplay even more stripped down, but tone and setting even more enjoyable. I'll have to consider it, but I guess I should get round to Amnesia first since it was free.
I really can't get enough of this game, I love the story, I wish we got like a prequel movie or game. Showing the WAU slowly mutate into what it is now
Got this on Steam sale. Score!
The protagonist of soma is exactly the same as Jason from FC3
Right because every other monster in the game is basically a walking chicken nugget, and for some reason those are less inspired and aren't made as well as the extremely stupid very glitchy robot that can stick its head through walls.