The Medium - Story Explained
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- čas přidán 26. 05. 2024
- Hello everyone, and welcome to the next installment of Lore and Order, where I unpack game lore and stories from games. In this one, we look at Bloober Team's Dual Reality Su[pernatural Horror Game, The Medium. This game showcased the power of next-generation consoles by having a dual reality gameplay system.
CHAPTERS
Intro - 0:00
Plot - 0:45
The NIWA Resort - 27:20
Thomas Rekowicz - 28:56
Richard Tarkowski - 32:52
Henry Wilk - 36:18
Lilianne Rekowicz - 38:14
Jack & Marianne - 39:39
The Maw - 41:40
Symbolism - 45:45
ALL MUSIC IN THIS VIDEO FROM MOTION ARRAY & @epidemicsound
ALL GAME FOOTAGE CAPTURED BY MYSELF ON XBOX Series S
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Check out some of my other Lore & Order Videos:
Ghostwire: Tokyo - • Ghostwire: Tokyo - Sto...
Dying Light 2 - • Dying Light 2 - Story ...
Layers of Fear 2 - • Layers of Fear 2 - Sto...
Dying Light - • Dying Light - Story Ex...
Mothered - • Mothered - Story Expla...
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#gamingharry #blooberteam #themedium - Hry
As someone else wrote: Tarkowski's stepfather betrayed Jews, not protected them. He was killed not by the German services, but by the Polish Home Army (the resistance movement from WW2) and it was for the fact that he was killed.
Thomas is the vigilante dad we all want, but not the one we deserve
The Maw looking for "skins" or basically "hosts" makes me think of Stephen King's "Desperation", in which a demon needs a host so it can wreak havoc on Earth.
I love Lore and Order so much
Yeah me too. My favorite is Soma.
I like it has the mix of horror and sadness and emptiness, with deep lore and in the story knowing itll never return to normal ever again
Special victim unit goes hard
Lore and Order: "And I love you, random citizen!"
Awesome video as always. But you've missed one thing. The collaborator part as I understood it went slightly differnt way. Richards stepfather "sold out" the jews hiding in the garden, then Richards mother gave him up to polish resistance who execiuted him. In polish, word collaborator means people who were working with germans and it was punished by death by Polish Underground State. So it doesn't make sens that the Germans would mark him with that plate. And since it's polish game developer they've probably got it right.
Except it would appear that Richard's friend Rose ended up dying as an indirect consequence his mother's plan, the star of David Rose owned being something of a giveaway.
It's far more likely that this is what happened. Richard's mother is raped, she gets even by framing the stepfather as a Jewish collaborator, possibly throwing in the details of her assault to gain sympathy and spare her and her son from getting caught up in the net, as an indirect consequence of this, poor Rose dies.
@@Rammstein0963. man it's other way around. Stepfather is collaborator that was selling jews to germans and Richard's mom friends were polish partisans (freedom fighters) that came to settle the score by executing the sentence of the Polish Underground State. It was pretty common that during WWII people who worked with german occupiers were targeted by Polish Underground. Collaborator in Polish means a person who collaborates with the occupier and this is the sense of it. Rose probably died because of stepfather sold her out to germans. It's really basic history in Poland, you can check the whole case of Polish Underground State in google or wiki.
I also loved the use of symbolism with moths in the game. It’s mentioned very briefly that Marianne encounters moth that harm her. Later on, Sadness is introduced with a butterfly on her dress, and then at the end, Lily Ann has small moths on her clothing. It’s a nice touch to connect the two.
Once I got to the bit that introduced the SA storyline the game continuously hit me in the feels. It was a remarkable game
yep, you're going on the rape list!
Yes it’s brilliantly done
@@stephenfarley3098 Yeah I love games trying to sympathize with the predator and killing the victim
@@rosenrot234 I meant the game is brilliantly done 🤦♂️
@@rosenrot234 pfp checks out
I played this game when it came out it really made me feel things while I was playing it, as someone who has experienced what Lily Ann did anyway. It is a shame about the ending though.
I'd love a breakdown like this for an old GameCube series called second sight. That series was amazing.
That was a really good game, and would be awesome!
Added it to my list of gamecube games to play!
I've heard of it from my brother
He said it was good
They don't make games liked they're used to be.second sight was fun
That was a damn good game, I had to look it up again to make sure it was what I was thinking of since I didn't play it on gamecube
This is a really impressive game but I do think it’s a shame that Lily Ann’s predator was represented as having a scared little boy inside and it wasn’t his fault, it was the monster, but Lily Ann had to die because of the monster inside her. A monster that was only there because of her abuse. It just seems in really poor taste and has all sorts of nasty implications. I wish there’d have been a way for her to be saved, or at least redeemed in the end. Mertkaykay has a really good video on CZcams about it. Once i thought about it, the game was tainted somewhat.
I’ve never looked at it this way. Tbh, I don’t necessarily believe that Lily died; we don’t even see her dying. It’s the child within her, the innocence, that is gone/dead. In Richard’s case, on the other hand, I felt like they just given him that monster to imply there’s no redeeming qualities in him; like a child (that’s still within him), he believes thats all the monster’s fault.
@hitosan Said it perfectly.
I do apologize for the paragraphs, my explanation gets rather wordy, but I wanted to express my thoughts as elaborately as possible (I may or may not have a research degree). In broad lines, I agree with hitosan, if you don't feel like reading all of this. This, however, is my interpretation of the story, feel free to say so if I got any details wrong, it's been a while since I've seen footage of this game.
While video games are up to interpretation up to a point, more vague ones like this one especially, I don't fully agree with this view of the story. The game makes a point of people having an... opposite of sorts. In Marianne and Thomas, this opposite is close to a carbon copy, someone that grows with them and develops in the same way as them, which can develop into their own personality if separated, but is still heavily based on the person they are in the mortal realm. In more ordinary people, it seems this opposite is shown to represent feelings or intentions the person themselves doesn't necessarily want to associate with themselves, a 'demon' of sorts.
Now, all people whose mental world we see do have a representation of their 'true selves', or as close as they can get to that, present in their world, normally shown as a child, possibly implying innocence or raw emotion without the filter of ratio or societal norms. In Richard, his demon was the child eater, and the child was what was left of his 'true self'. His trauma made the child eater take over his mind, his demon took control, and this creature made him do the things he did. Now this is no excuse for his actions, it's just the viewpoint his mind took, possibly to protect itself and create something to blame. While it can be... somewhat icky to confront sometimes, predators, criminals and other outlaws are humans too, humans who gave in to something they shouldn't have, be it because of trauma, circumstances or a lack of willpower. The child eater imprisoned Richard's 'true self', and took over as the creature with control over the actions and emotions of the real body, this is how Richard sees it. We must keep in mind that the mind worlds are representations of a person's inner world, and are the perspective of one person on things they encountered in their lives. These representations can be wrong, as memories and interpretations can often blur with time or lack different perspectives. Richard very much sees the child eater as a separate thing, something he has no control over, which is why there was a 'scared little boy' inside him, it's what he sees as his true self that was trapped. The game, to me, never implied that the mind worlds contained 'the truth', they just show what different people view as their own truth, and truth can be very wrong.
Now for Lily Ann, I can be somewhat more brief as I did outline my basic interpretations. She possibly inherited some power from her father, as Marianne did, but it didn't take the form it took for them. Lily Ann was able to manifest her demon in the real world. The Maw gained power through killing, possibly through devouring the 'self' of others (the husks that need a name and a death mask to pass on), and through that, became its own creature, as spirit Thomas was close to becoming because it was separated from material Thomas for a long time. Now, the demons can be ousted and be separated from someone, as we see with the child eater, or with spirit Thomas, but the creatures are still linked to their original host. The child eater likely couldnt move, and neither could spirit Thomas move much, from the place where their host met their end. They are remnants of the mind, so to say. A lingering presence or a 'ghost'. Lily Ann's mind remains there in two parts. The girl, and the Maw. Now I did say that Lily's power is probably manifestation, and that power is what keeps the Maw material, to a point. It's possible that it wanted to possess Marianne because of shared trauma with its original host (or her powers), or that it couldn't access Lily anymore. Anyway, I think that Lily Ann, in this story, needs to die for the Maw to die. She's too intertwined with the creature to separate it, and it still relies on her power to exist.
Now of course I do wish we could save her, but I do think this is a powerful ending. Marianne isn't as powerful as Thomas yet, and had Thomas remained he maybe could have done more. I don't entirely agree with the ending, it's the only thing that weakens the story for me, but I do get why they did it. It creates heavy emotions in the player, and it's a good conclusion which wraps up that story but leaves room for other stories. From a dev's standpoint it's a good way to show off your storytelling skills and to get interest in different titles or follow up stories of these devs.
Same. From my personal experience, my assaulter made himself out to be the victim the second everything was proved true. Said things disturbingly similar to the one in the game, “I didn’t mean to,” and “I feel bad about it.” Even though I was the one who was assaulted as a minor and he was the one in full control and knew what he was doing. I know the game is out and there’s no use saying it here, but I hope future devs use this game as a framework to make a great game and work on the flaw this one had.
Edit: Just finished the video. I’m a bit disheartened. This ones a bit more of a rant, dont mind me. Don’t get me wrong, it’s an excellent game, but I just wish that it had a happy ending. It’s not up to the victim and death isnt the way out, not for them, not for their loved ones. The monster born from your trauma never dies, nor does it grow smaller, you just grow bigger and stronger around it. I wish that was the ending. That she grew so powerful she could keep it from controlling her, escaping her. That both managed to survive at the very least.
@@sero.toniii I think for people who have never experienced abuse it can be easy to overlook and explain these issues away. Especially in such a beautiful, otherwise pretty impressive game. But as you say, the whole ‘I’m a poor damaged little boy inside so actually I’m the victim’ story is used by so many abusers to control and discredit their own victims. And it’s not like it’s a true story or something, the game was written to be this way. The devs chose to give an abuser a sad sympathetic backstory, fine I guess, but to then write it so that the victim was dangerous as a result of that abuse in a way she can’t control, and that the best way to deal with that danger was her death is a terrible message no matter how you look at it. I dread to think how a struggling victim of abuse might take that to heart. To think that they’re the problem. The game would have been no less impactful if Lily Ann had been able to overcome it all in some way. It would probably have been a lot better. And I know a lot of abusers have been victims themselves but that’s no excuse to do it to someone else. The MertKaykay video explains it a lot better than I ever could and is really worth a watch if you don’t find the subject too upsetting.
My one, and biggest, complain with this game is the same as with almost all of Bloober Team's games.
((Game Ending Spoilers Bellow))
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They have this absurd insistence on making trauma something that there's no escape but death. There's no "moving on", no "learning to cope", it's always "trauma will kill you. It's the only way to deal with it" (sometimes by you killing yourself even).
And this is not a simple pet peeve of mine (I wish it was, because at least I can deal with it), but it's a very dangerous message, specially if it ends on people who experienced intense traumas in the past.
Silent Hill 2 was, in my opinion, one of the best games that represented trauma, in it's case, the trauma of losing a loved one. Because while, yes the game had endings where James end up not being able to deal with his loss (killing himself, leaving with a "replacement Mary", trying to bring her back to life through a ritual), there's also an ending were he accepts what happened and is able to move on.
And that Bloober Team is the one working on the remake of the game really worries me that they'll try to "fix" what is not broken when it comes to the game story and plot.
Who cares? Not every story needs to have a good message
@@visassess8607 It's not about having a bad message, but a dangerous one.
A horror story (this don't goes only for games) where the character ends up dying or sacrificing themselves to stop some evil entity is one thing and can be done well, like "The Exorcist" did.
But "there's no recovery from trauma. You're a danger to others and the only way to solve it is killing yourself" as Team Bloober Team been doing in many of their games is a VERY dangerous message.
@@GreyfoxRaposa not really if the game was more realistic maybe
@@GreyfoxRaposa but the game isnt trying to give life advice? Its telling a story.
@@GreyfoxRaposa im really struggling to understand how people are getting "kill yourself if you've experienced xyz".
Again its telling a story, and thats it.
Your lore series, are on of my favorite on youtube. Keep up the good work Harry.
I love your content bro! Keep up great work!
Been waiting for you to cover this one! It isn't perfect, but the concept is so interesting. I really enjoyed it.
The problem with this story is so much deeper than victim blaming. This story is really trying to make a point about how trauma and abuse perpetuate trauma and abuse. Lilly's abuser was abused and his soul was split because of it, and it made him abuse another child. Lilly's soul split and the trauma escaped into the world rather than just being trapped inside her like it was with Richard. It's uncomfortable seeing Richard as that child, knowing what he does to another innocent as an adult, but that is what has happened. He was once a victim and probably still is in his own head, hence why he's that little boy. I think it's very dangerous to be viewing predators like this, but we have to acknowledge the role that his own unresolved trauma played in making him like this. But I would still argue it goes too far in painting him as semi sympathetic when they make him a little kid in that scene. I can't imagine how it would feel to be a victim seeing my abuser portrayed as a scared kid.
The other major problem: Lilly isn't set free from her trauma- or rather, she has to die (or watch her sister commit suicide) over it in order to be set free. That's a terrible message to send to victims- that they have to die so that their demons won't hurt anyone else. A 'good message' ending would involve Lilly's soul healing after the split, but unfortunately the horror universe that this is placed in doesn't really allow for any kind of a happy ending.
Ultimately it starts out as a great metaphor- trauma splitting the soul and causing more pain to others in the long run- but fails twice over when it matters most.
So now we gotta deal with people like you who want to be moral authority on what endings or “messages” are being sent? SMDH.
Beautifully put. I remember feeling icky about this particular portrayal as well. I think they had a great idea going but it’s a fine line to walk and the fell on the wrong side
Hey victim of abuse here with my abusers being victims...
On watching a play through i never felt anything was victim blaming but finally showing the harsh reality on child abuse. These are all the motions victims can go through... really wish ppl stop feeling "icky" over basic reality, and maybe see it to how it is.. Maybe learn to do things like help, cuz abuse at its core is a never ending cycle till someone comes to break it.
@Aza Hokkaido I also have childhood friends who survived and were very upset by this game to the point of boycotting it (only told me after I bought and paid for it, sadly). I'm glad you weren't triggered by it though- it sounds like you've processed what happened in a healthy way. I became a social worker specifically because I met a child who was returned to her abuser (who was also allowing her boyfriend to SA the child) after bouncing around in foster care with her 5 siblings. I was only sixteen so I couldn't really help then but I'm trying to make a difference now. People really are trying to help break these cycles.
It’s the truth though most villains were/are victims of abuse, I think this game did an excellent job of separating the victim from the villain yet not excusing the evil they did onto others
This is fascinating to watch. Keep up the good work.
So excited to see you’ve covered this! Loved this game!
Harry! Excited to see another video! Hope the coverage keeps coming 🦾
what a great video as always! thank you for your work! this game is awesome
Would have loved to see a Let's Play of this from Harry, but I NEED a Story/Ending Explained on "Somerville" please!
Even when it’s a game I strongly dislike (don’t like the suggestion that you “just have to live and not be damaged by your abuse” or it’ll become a murderous monster that will harm others where the only solution is suicide/murder), your video of it was enjoyable. Good job 👍
There is a literal demon that kills and manipulate people so don't give this too much thought as if they're strictly based on reality. Have a sense of context before linking this to a moral lesson or something in the real world.
Oh yes the classic abuse turning into a murderous monster
@@bozo3557 abuse can definitely affect the victims but that depends on individual hurt by abuse on how much, there definitely were cases where victims have snapped.
The issue isn’t that you can’t be damaged by your abuse, the issue is that you cannot accept it as an excuse to harm others. Plus, the more she rejected those feelings of resentment the more they grew. She needed therapy BADLY but good luck finding a therapist qualified to deal with the inner demons becoming real enough to cause that massacre. Liscensed psychiatrists don’t respond well to “the voices saved me!” And would unintentionally cause MORE trauma like what the father did by locking her away. Instead of a bunker, it would be a mental ward where the demons would gain access to all of the other patients locked in with her.
You only ever get better when you embrace your shadow self and show it love. Persona 4 handled that part really well
Love your work my man, got a few videos to catch up on I'm excited.
By the forgotten consoles I'd spamed your other vids with request to do a video on this and had lost hope, but here we are you did it.
By far my favorite series on youtube!
Your Lore and Order videos are my favorite Harry!
Some things were not very clear to me, when i finished the other day the game. But now, with your video, all clear to me. Thank you, Harry!
Really enjoy these videos. It doesn't feel like a game but an amazing story with a very talented storyteller. Keep looking forward to more of your content!
I know it's gonna be a good, relaxing, long day when this guy uploads
I thought that the cats were a reference to Alice in Wonderland, cause the ability to go through the mirrors.
You are absolutely amazing sir! ❤
Man I love your videos, and I always look forward after playing a horror game if you have made a video about it. Recently finished Song of Horror and I was surprised that you haven’t done a video on it.
Not to be annoying, but I really wanna know if you have played it and if yes, what do you think of it, also if yes, do you plan on making a video on it.
Cheers keep up the good work on the channel and good luck.
Love the lore and order series.
Wanted to play this but it left my PC burning. Glad you're telling the story. Ty
The deathmasks were two gold in Egyptian mythos. Since it was believed that the essence of the person would walk to the sun and meet the sun God. Only to come back after a 7,000 year journey; those who didn't have a death mask were often slaves and the poor. Those who did allowed the soul to find the body.
Holy shit i saw the steam sale of this game *TODAY* !!!
I swear to you, i checked a few hours ago if you had made a video about it ! Talk about timing ! 🤣
Great video as always!
I've finished this game yesterday, great timing 😄
Very intriguing haven't even heard of this game
awesome vid, good going man!
Fantastic explanation
I have a feeling that this game would be a lot shorter if she just carried a pair of bolt cutters and learnt to pick locks....
I remember watching this and getting annoyed with the "oh this glass door is locked. Gotta find a key."
No it's an abandoned resort, screw finding a key find a brick and break that thing open. Who's gonna care?
I don't know if you take suggestions or if someone has already suggested this but I would love to see a video on Signalis
Love your vids! ! !
actually my comment shows a minute before yours so🖕🖕😂😂
I remember watching Hollow play this and then I discovered G Harry afterwards. A perfect combo :) that said, I struggled to watch this game as it set of my trypophobia like a mf everytime Sadness popped up as well as some of the stuff in the background.
best channel. i love you
Author got the Richard's plot all messed up. Stepfather was SELLING jews to germans, and the friends of Polish mother were the Polish resistance fighters. Polish Underground State during WWII (organization that fought german occupiers) were doing undeground trials on traitors (in Polish they are called "collaborators", because they collaborated with germans) and they hang him as an example for the others. Probably the stepfather sold out Rose.
Wow!, I gotta play this game now.
Underrated game! As always thanks for the great content 😄
This game is straight up trash,what's underrated about it?
You wrote overrated wrong
Nice new law and order vid
That "hello" at the start was remarkably close to Obi-Wan's "Hello there".
I just found out my husband is deploying much earlier than we had thought. This has been the perfect distraction for me. I’ll probably go back and re-watch a lot of your videos today to keep my mind off it
I hope the deployment goes well 🫶🏿
Don't distract yourself to much, you either live facing your fears or die tasting your tears.
@@Cold_Zero_The_Wise I think I’d rather die tasting my tears. If I’m dead I can’t feel much can I 😂(just kidding). I usually save tears for closer to the date :)
@@smithtierra05 me too. It’s somewhere he loves and is safe for the most part. It’s more the surprise that’s the upsetting part. Changing plans is always difficult
Wishing you both the best!
Holy shit, I was waiting for this
Thanks Harry!
Great video 🤩
Such a pleasant break from the zombie with a low ammo games❤
I didn't realise how much of this art was ripped off of Beksinski's work. What a visually stunning game!
Loved this game. It had some visually stunning set pieces/environments, like a painting and pure concept art- Really purposeful environments. Idk, there was a lot that I loved about it, it's probably just personal preference. I don't think this game is perfect, and games are subjective when it comes to enjoyment. In the end I found more things I appreciated than disliked. Thanks for taking the time to break down The Medium. It was a treat to listen to.
Thank you for this series. I don't like playing horror games but I do like learning about them.
Hi Gaming Harry I Hope A Part 2 Of This Game Series Will Be Made In The Future
Damn Harry great video.
Dman fukin Interesting, Awesome vid
What a great game I really loved it
Take a drink every time the narrator says”…but we’ll cover that later on in this video.”
This game is amazing
Amazingly trash
Yeah I haven’t played but I wanted to at launch but just never got round to it now I’ve watched this got a bettter picture on the game now and will be on pc
His back!!!!!!
16:19 Me & My Demons, we're Best Bros
Everybody knows, we always stay close! ( OMIDO and Silent Child Song)!
Hermaeus Mora the origin story. Lol Amazing video, I just can't avoid grinning when I hear Maw's voice. Don't mind me.
You heard it too.
Ok. I think its unique that Richard was portaited as a kid cuz most of the time its evil that fell on the person who did the evil. (Like Richard was traumatized but then again Not all the time but most of the time its that the person was evil due to being inflicted with the same evil) but they could of made the maw quickly try to attack the protag as he let his child mask down to reveal that the maw and child are the same despite them being two sides of the same coin.
Gaming harry 🐐
Peak youtube content has been dropped again
I don't think it's intentional, but here is a bracket in the description where supernatural is. Just a little typo.
Hmm haven't you done this one already ? 🤔 I'm pretty sure I've seen it before on lore and order
now im waiting for Haay to do a vid on Sons of The Forrest
I absolutely adored this game. I watched Gab Smolders play it. Awesome game!
Mom! Get the popcorn, Gaming Harry posted a new Lore and Order video! Thank you for covering this. 😍
Where do you get to know these games
wasn't it that cats are seen to exist in both worlds at once like Mariann?
This was an amazing game with a well written story. I wish there was a sequel
It did set things up for one.
its weird hearing Graham Vick as thomas all i can hear is him telling me dino facts and dumb puns from Jurassic world evolution haha
I never realized why Thomas wore gloves. I thought he controlled his contact abilities, and he pictured himself with motorcycle gloves
Gaming Harry literally is the place to find out about good horror games.
"In classic style the door to the daycare is bolted shut"
Oh.
You should do the forest and sons of the forest
Pat and Woolie have entered the chat.
sequel’s name “The Large”, prequel’s name “The Small”
love your videos, cheers!
more videos on old games and please video in siren games
Everytime I tried to Watch the cutscenes only video I fell asleep,lets see how It goes
Let’s face it, most of us watching never played the game but still wanted to know the story
I really enjoyed this game, the spiritual and physical world split reminded of Soul Reaver, im always a little confused as to why some people didn’t like the story. I interpreted it a lot differently
44:50 that's not merians shadow hand look closely it's a Maw's
No, it was Marianne's hand. The angle it was at in the light just made it look like it had three fingers, not five.
34:10 I understand that.
10:30
“I HAVE SOMETHING INSIDE OF ME, YOU’RE JUST A CREEP!”
Seems to be a common thing in these stories, woman dies of complications after giving birth. I've been binge watching these so this is really standing out.
so who do you think she shot was it herself or her sister
Imagine taking a nice walk and then you just see some woman screaming and talking to her self
Retro Vault 2 when?
I am glad you enjoyed the medium more then I did because I found this game to be so disappointing In my opinion.
yeee
Crazy how many people don't comprehend mental health , nurture and nature