American Arcadia: Your Life is a Reality TV Show, Escape it

[@RTGame]

This game is so entertaining and one of the best things I've played in 2023, I cannot recommend it enough. I've seen very few people talk about this game which is a genuine shame. The variety of mechanics and gameplay styles easily put this game as innovative as the likes of INSIDE, but with a much more lighthearted tone. It has an amazing voice acting cast as well, starring Yuri Lowenthal (Spiderman 1 & 2), Krizia Bajos (Cyberpunk, League of Legends) and Cissy Jones (Firewatch!!). The game is genuinely great and I recommend trying it for yourself if you enjoy this video

[@potatopepperoni]

🕺

[@YouDontSeeMeh]

easily my favourite game this year

[@nrdcrimsoncam-vet1225]

Loved your playthrough of it, its a refreshing take on Dosney Corporation Epcot Failure

[@Arumia13]

I knew he sounded familiar!, I managed to link to to Ben 10, even though I’ve played spiderman 2 more recently and knew they had the same voice actor, but hey ho

[@sunnycriicket]

this is why i love RT! always so passionate about everything he plays, i love it! also as an aspiring va and someone who just loves seeing my favorite voice actors in other things, loving the va appreciation! yuri lowenthal is THE GOAT!

[@LegoEngineer003]

The most unrealistic thing about the game’s twitch chat is that despite a million viewers, it’s still possible to read the chat

[@frankfort332]

Must've been Sub only mode (I know a guy said he just joined but shhh)

[@otamatone603]

probably ultra-slow mode

[@grugiv]

5 hour timeout between messages

[@w花b]

Don't be a fool ! 🎶 They're watching you, get out of the stage, you're on camera...

[@TheArklyte]

Haven't you used YT in past 2 years? Haven't you noticed "show popular comments/show latest comments" buttons that conveniently hide most negative comments behind making you scroll through months of conversations to fin the ones you were looking for?

[@landobando2352]

Fun thing I noticed: Angela's fake name while going on vacation to Arcadia is Sylvia Lauren, which is both the real and fake name of the lady on The Truman Show who Truman fell in love with and helped get him out.

[@cureidolsmile9820]

I knew that name sounded familiar!

[@ironicallyedgy7234]

They also mention a Burbank incident at some point, a clear reference to the film.

[@boiyado6717]

I find that interesting because it sets up a neat narrative device. The plot of the game is essentially Arcadia articfically creating its own version of the Truman Show, so Angela's fake name is forshadowing that this entire series of events was faked.

[@pembertr0n]

“Arpad” is just DARPA with the D on the end, and I dunno if this is a reference, but Bill Kovacs was a computer animation pioneer. His software was used to make the original Tron.

[@kllause6681]

@@ironicallyedgy7234 vivians real name is also emily garland! sylvia laurens real name in the truman show was lauren garland

[@Bloodpix]

Man my favorite is when Trevor was talking to the audience and one man goes "Let him cook" This game better not age quickly.

[@donovanjoseph737]

Since it’s cemented in specifically 2023, it’ll be more of a time capsule for what our slang used to be at this time, rather than simply being “outdated”. If the game wasn’t set in a specific year or earlier than late 2020, it would probably just seem outdated.

[@alachedelmictlan648]

My favorite was when Trevor had the lsd trip and heard Ángela say "I am Ángela Guardiana" JAJAJAJAJA

[@spyderxx6309]

the character models are hell of uncanny sadly. look at those eyes! D:

[@iknowurip8151]

He cooked enough tho

[@wildfire9280]

⁠@@alachedelmictlan648 my favorite part was when the chief of security said “it’s securiting time” and securitied all over Trevor

[@ThatSpecificIndividual]

Good news, they updated the game so you can now boop the cat on the nose.

[@joescraft123]

Nice

[@eyeofgafeeney]

One small step for man one big leap for petting the kitty

[@valiang8867]

I think I just gained a year of life

[@Blwbelle]

This game is officially the best

[@zed12-ui4jy]

I'd like to remark that Fiji was actually of some significance in the Truman show.

[@finalfroggitapproaches6418]

1:43:29 “ruuun Flanders ruuuun” in the chat is the funniest thing they could’ve possibly written and I love the devs for it.

[@Gaminginvrrr]

there shouldve been a 1 in 1939 chance that someone would say NIGERUNDAYOOOOOOOO

[@colorphone5154]

I love the fact that the ending, for the most part plays it straight. Walton goes unpunished, and hell, even finds success in the actions that happened.

[@santiagobarreraruiz7280]

Gotta love capitalism, were the real winner is the one who has the money :/

[@CaptDuty491]

And the best part is that both Trevor and Angela watch Escape from Arcadia despite both of them saying that it is f'ed up. Really just tells you that even if we want to deny it, it is just too entertaining to watch someone suffer.

[@-letspretendidontexist-8479]

@@CaptDuty491 honestly i think something else. i think its more so trying to mock that one company you dont like because you know their discreet lies. kinda like how alot of people will just mock walt disney nowadays while seeing their ads on the telly. thats at least how it felt, i really didnt feel that feel of the "watches the show despite knowing all of the fucked up things about it" feel. it doesnt help that trevor just called it "a thing you wanted to see" and not the typical "Your favorite show is on!" or something like that. so yea. but who knows, thats at least my take on it.

[@MySnugglePuppy]

@@CaptDuty491 To be fair it was clearly an advertisement for Escape from Arcadia, not the real show.

[@birodactyl_of_the_web]

Well, angela and trevor are planning to release a documentary about everything, so there’s that at least.

[@crow2596]

the one guy in the arcadia chat who said "Truth is, the game was rigged from the start" made me laugh so fucking hard, the devs are geniuses

[@thealchemistking4063]

I cannot fucking get over the fact they RESEARCHED MEMES to make a dynamic twitch chat.

[@gdottothegamer1001]

​@@thealchemistking4063or maybe they're just a bunch of chatters

[@coolaidenrb]

I LOVE FALLOUT NEW VEGAS GRAHH

[@Margen67]

Crows need HUGS

[@saccorhytus]

when did that happen

[@Foxy_AR]

For anyone who was in the stream, you will know how much twitch chat freaked out because how accurate the in game chat at the end was

[@sinteleon]

but what if... the game is actually capturing a live feed of twitch chat? :V

[@gidi3044]

you know i really thought we were being recorded an put in the game

[@raflamar4146]

It was so accurate, that REAL Twitch Chat started copying the twitch chat IN THE GAME I was there, it was hilarious

[@espammerofthealgorithmgods649]

E

[@some_one]

Yeah lmao

[@chia9409]

57:45 its crazy how he literally said “hes spiderman! theres gotta be a reference somewhere” while the voice actor of trevor is literally the same guy who voices spiderman in the ps4 games

[@itstherealbrace6424]

Ben 10 voiced Spiderman?

[@theregidavis]

I thought that was pretty cool, too.

[@awesam2399]

“MY BACK! OH, MY BACK!” -Trevor Hills, 2023

[@darkdecidueye9628]

​@@itstherealbrace6424SASUKE AND BEN 10 HAVE THE SAME VA?!?

[@cauthrim4298]

​@@darkdecidueye9628it's all Yuri Lowenthal, always have been

[@qwardel7799]

1:37:50, I just realized after a second watch that this is the moment Vivian aka Number 6 inserted her own part of the jingle, without it Trevor would just escape instead of trying to be a hero and save the city.

[@Lumberjack_king]

Yeah it makes him appear as a better protagonist

[@bucca2]

"Now he becomes death, crasher of cars." My god. They truly captured Twitch chat in a bottle. "Truth is, the game was rigged from the start" oh my GOD??

[@greasymonk3y]

No way time stamp please

[@asoupyferretnamedfar3634]

​​@@greasymonk3yfirst one is 1:42:45 Second one is at 1:50:57

[@N95j]

@@asoupyferretnamedfar3634thanks

[@dudekazoo]

It was unspeakably well done. Right down to the typos.

[@AManWithNoName]

NEW VEGAS REFERENCE YOU CAN NEVER ESCAPE NEW VEGAS

[@PLAYER42_ready]

Gotta love how they barely change Walt to Walten so Disney doesn’t sue them for making him look like Walt Disney, sounding like him and semi acting like him lmao

[@austincantswim3383]

Even Walten’s first name being Elijah is a twist of Walt’s middle name, Elias.

[@RTGame]

Mickey Mouse please don't sue

[@terrarian7910]

pray the mouse doesn’t turn it’s eyes upon us

[@ryshow9118]

They chose not to include the virulent antisemitism so they wouldn't have to worry about a lawsuit 😅

[@averyfields8183]

​@@austincantswim3383is his last name Bouchard?

[@StickMaster500]

This game is probably one of the best meta games I’ve seen in a while that’s really immersive doesn’t make things cringey, especially with its real depiction of this game’s version of Twitch Chat. But hey, at least RT isn’t a subject to this kind of experiment where thousands of people watch him play games and let people know he used to be called the Drift King back in college on a daily basis 🙂

[@gabe456]

i havent seen any other game that depicts a twitch chat as accurate as this, and the fact that in rt’s playthrough the messages changed as he stopped progressing

[@zeldacrafter4578]

great to see you're still commenting

[@LineOfThy]

I really love it because it doesn't hold its punches. It doesn't fill you with any revolutionary nonsense. The truth is the truth - there is nothing you can do. Every critique and every revolution will simply be recycled back into more content to feed Capitalism. The only real thing you can do - is leave. Don't get involved. Live your life and separate yourself from the cesspool that is a media-saturated America. Which is ironic for me to say because I am the one participating in this cesspool that is a media-saturated America.

[@leithaziz2716]

I don't really enjoy many meta narratives, but I did find this one one of the more entertaining ones.

[@slywhemwick8071]

That’s our Jingle that keeps us coming back.

[@rizsilons]

god, the credits as the game ended.... "the jingle has been declared legal by the supreme court" is PAINFULLY goddamn real. wow. they did not pull their punches

[@Sov_spoiled]

truly a steamboat willie momento

[@Lumberjack_king]

I mean they kept it realistic mega corporations can get away with anything

[@shocktnc]

people can kill kids legally and you think brainwashing is too far these days 😂

[@cbbblue8348]

Government be like "hmm interesting, share this research to us and you're pardoned"

[@jakeboling4350]

Trevors ranking is 23409th.. vivian says there are 23414 arcadian citizens. So trevor is the fifth lowest ranked person. That is almost impressive

[@Looona_fan]

I wonder who was below them.

[@AllegedlyHuman]

​@@Looona_fandoesn't it show fairly early on, when showing the people who may or may not have been eliminated? Those people all had lower viewer counts than Trevor at least - and Gus was the one right below Trevor on the rankings

[@wildfire9280]

@@AllegedlyHuman We can only pray his other neighbor wasn’t a Mo.

[@wolflightning2331]

Angela was the only one stopping him from going below the rank

[@usernotfound-jw7xs]

they should make a show for the least interesting people to compete to have the least viewers or something

[@thornels]

I love how the moment Dan noticed he was also 28, the entire game became a comparison to his own life and made the whole experience that much more relatable

[@simonschnedl]

Truly a game for streamers

[@Lumberjack_king]

Yeah

[@ihavekalashnikovyoudomath9275]

And then having fake Chat at the end. Cherry on top. Makes me wish the game had a way to plug into actual twitch chat for those who have it

[@simonschnedl]

@@ihavekalashnikovyoudomath9275 that's for the dlc

[@78declan]

​@@ihavekalashnikovyoudomath92751Q+Aq11Q!¡!AAAA1!A!!!!A!!A!!!!A!AAAAAAA!A1QA!1!QAQQ1AA!!!!QA!QA1!!QA1Q!!!Q!QA!!1!A!Q1!QAAAA!A!QA!Q1AQ!!A1Q!!AQ!Q1Q11A!A😛A!😛🤩!!!!A🤩🤩😛😛😛A😛😛😛😀😛🤩🤩🤩!AA🤩🤩🤩!A🤥🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩!!🤩🤩😀🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩😶🤩🤩❤!❤1Q❤A❤1❤❤€€❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤1❤❤

[@Brian-tn4cd]

At 1:50:59 someone in the ingame chat said "Truth is, the game was rigged from the start".... This chat is way to freaking real man

[@jaybirdrosewater-holmes7071]

Omg I didn't even notice. Fallout NV my beloved

[@X-SPONGED]

Yeah, noticed it too. They REALLY nailed Twitch chat on this one. We probably should heed the message too tho....

[@NightMeteor21]

​@@X-SPONGED Heed the message of it's extremely funny to see twitch chat so accurately portrayed? Seriously I really love how it is extremely realistic to how people would react.

[@jebfezos598]

I feel like a more accurate representation would have been a few chatters just typing RIGGED in all caps

[@Ixarus6713]

It's genius. I think I know how they essentially faked it too. There are probably two classes of "chat members" 1 = Randomised, reactionary 2 = Plot driven, preprogrammed 1's are the people you see say stuff like "boring!" Or " Based Trevor" and 2's deliver custom lines or plot important ones at specific moments. I'd hesitate to say that ALL of the usernames are randomly generated but I'd guess all of the 1's names are at least. A really smart system. They ought to fix a few subtitle errors though, I caught quite a lot through RT's playthrough. An inventive and well made game, bravo developers! And remember: DON'T BE A FOOL!

[@mr.meloetta1939]

One thing I love about this game his how it captures the look of the 1970's Disney futurism aesthetic, I've always thought that kind of setting would be great for a game.

[@Elijah1573]

The first thing i thought of was the actual city of tomorrow from walt disney before he died So far im loving the game! Havent finished the video yet though

[@WaterWeight.]

Epcot Center but Evil

[@Soroboruo]

The curve of the TV screen in the intro really sold it for me. It's a small detail but it really enhanced the clear show of effort and care in the design.

[@slywhemwick8071]

Well I mean… Ebcot WAS supposed to be a city, like a working, functional city and Walt’s brother said they couldn’t make it cause “they can’t control people’s lives”

[@ThisIsNotADrell]

EPCOT not Ebcot. It's an abbreviation, just watch the musical documentary, you'll feel it.

[@haraldlindohf4032]

The twist at the ending is actually genius! Without spoiling too much, it reminded me of how todays society relies on manufactured consent to handle dissidence. How being a "rebel" and against the system is sold to us like a product. Che guevara T-shirts and all that.

[@souvikrc4499]

And the people who buy those shirts may sometimes support autocrats from abroad

[@archivist_13]

It also did a great job of touching on the tropes of typical rebel stories, more specifically the more generic ones. "Breakout" feels very tropey and almost comical in retrospect

[@monad_tcp]

@@souvikrc4499 or how autocrats from abroad are totally right about our actions for the correct geopolitical reasons, because we're literally breaking the terms of past deals, but we act like they're evil villains and we are saints totally not at fault for causing conflict

[@souvikrc4499]

@@monad_tcp or people simp for autocrats for all the wrong reasons

[@bluedragonfly8139]

@@monad_tcp Okay, kiddo.

[@kusachki]

Honestly that "I QUIT" line was so accurate. I used to work at a restaurant and you know what? My boss not only looked like Kendra, but had the same vibes. And I even quitted while being on a shift

[@xmascritter2383]

Reminder: this isnt just fantastical. Walt Disney the real human person wanted to make epcot a real city, where appliances and homes would be regularly renovated and updated with prototypes of the latest products from their sponsors. It was for all intents and purposes supposed to be a company town, where anyone unable to work would be evicted, but the residents would also have to serve double duty as entertainers as the true main source of revenue would be tourism from the people visiting both epcot and disney world. The only reason epcot didnt end up a city was because Walt Disney died before he could see it through, and pretty much all of his buisness associates saw the problems with trying to run a city like that

[@bloodshriker4430]

Not that this doesn't totally seem like something Disney would do, but I'd love a source.

[@MrSkerpentine]

Not gonna lie even with this truth exposed I could totally see a TON of Disneyheads still wanting to live there

[@TheBarneStorm]

At first epcot was just going to be a yearly fair for companies to show they’re new products to consumers, think like the stark expo in Iron man 2, then what OP said he wanted it to be a city with monorails and transport. However the actual reality was then changed when Walt died.

[@cantthinkofaname5046]

@@bloodshriker4430 Epcot was originally supposed to be a city, look it up. Walt wanted it to be futuristic, but he was a man from the 1920s so his vision of society was destined to be capitalist hell even if it was not intentional

[@milanesadearsenico]

​@@bloodshriker4430you can just Google them, or watch Defunctland's EPCOT documentary. Walt pretty much wanted to do this city and let the people living in be the show

[@usonohoshi6165]

Not going to lie. "what if the Epcot Walt Disney originally planned, was made into a larger version of the Truman show" is a fun idea.

[@bloodren0374]

For how much Trevor complained about getting Pavloved, I don't think Trevor truly realized how much "Don't be a fool" ingrained an instinct to question and disobey what he was being told. At the very end, if Vivian didn't tell him "Don't be a fool" I'm not sure he would've reacted how he did. To comment on the game itself this was truly out of nowhere for me, I haven't heard a single thing about this game before watching this, and I think that sells the idea very well. We too, are just living our ordinary lives until something snaps us to a realization of the truth.

[@Fluff_Noodles]

Yes!! I love how this is a story where the "heros" don't win!! Trevor still got brainwashed in the end! The jingle became legalized! Angela took a cash settlement and the show ratings are higher than ever and they can only HOPE the documentary makes people change their mind on all of the Arcadia stuff! Its so sad how i never even heard the name of this game before this. Its fantastic

[@feder28]

​​@@Fluff_NoodlesThe game launched a couple of days ago afaik

[@HexoHorizon]

“Don’t be a fool” was the real anti-jingle

[@popsicleman8816]

I wonder how much actual control the walton team had over the escape including letting him hear a song like "Don't be a fool" so often. Imagine if trevor was literally just a tad more vengeful or violent. What was stopping him from beating the shit out of vivian or killing her at the end? Or imagine he's less questioning and just goes with the path of least resistance (leading to a boring 'failed' escape). Or what if he's just a crappy driver, or clumsy, or unlucky? He could have easily killed interceptors or died himself in the car (and this is after they start streaming his escape attempt to millions of live viewing audience) Hell, why even reveal yourself at the end? What benefit does it have other than giving us as the players/audience closure? The whole point is that they don't care about Trevor or any other arcadians as individuals in the slightest, so why bother at all? You'd have to be so insanely confident in your assessment of this guy (after a massive traumatic experience which he's never had before so no idea how they can assume he'll act in an expected way)

[@Fluff_Noodles]

@@feder28 yeah but games normally have promo before launch. It's strange that I haven't heard a single thing about this release before the release....

[@icecreamcat2476]

I listened to the whole DON'T BE A FOOL song, and it's actually really good. It even incorporates those song bits that seemed absurdly convenient really well.

[@vaquedu]

Yes,..... ;)

[@ActuallyMori]

THE ACTUAL COMPOSER

[@K1ttyGam3r]

“Average White Guy Experiencing The Horrors” is my favorite game genre Edit: This goes for pretty much every average dude tbh

[@catg4343]

modern day? half life 1 was the OG Average White Guy Experiencing The Horrors game back in the 90s. also, Trevor looks exactly like Gordon Freeman at the end of the game.

[@garnet1918]

Got any more good ones?

[@-TheCrisisNight-]

yesss like this and then The Stanley Parable (Stanley isn't canonically white but still-)

[@someoneunknown7655]

I’m going to be honest I wish there were people other than white guys who Experienced The Horrors

[@missrebel634]

Silent hill with the exception of silent hill 3

[@bippythechippy882]

One thing I'll admittedly took me a bit too long to realize is that Angela and Trevor were mirroring early and modern time periods. Trevor is a middle-aged, young adult male who dresses like he lives in the 70's and prefers not to cause a fuss at his generic office job while doing everything he can to keep his head down. Angela is a latina young adult female with dyed hair, who works for what she thought was an activist group, and openly crap-talks her superiors. This even reflects in their gameplay while Trevor is a classic 2-d platformer (who even mentions that he loves arcade games) Angela is a 1st person puzzle solver which has actually become exceedingly popular with VR. There's also kind of an interesting parallel between individualism and collectivism. Trevor is referred to as a boring person who single handedly escapes from Arcadia and frees everyone. For crying out loud, the dream sequence at the Drive-In literally shows him singlehandedly freeing everyone from Arcadia by pushing a button. Meanwhile Angela just views herself as another person in an activist group who is just doing what she can to help. And the game ends with them learning to find a happy medium. Trevor mentions that he could've never done it without Angela and how Angela realizes she could make a bigger impact than she thought she could.

[@boiyado6717]

How can Trevor both be middle aged and a young adult? Honestly, at 28 i'd put him in neither category.

[@TheLukesub0]

I interpreted the difference in camera angle to reflect that Trevor literally has camera's watching him at all times, so he has a 2nd person perspective as opposed to Angela's more natural first person view.

[@bippythechippy882]

@boiyado6717 I wrote this stream of consciousness style so there's gonna be some mistakes. Thx for pointing that out.

[@madensmith7014]

@@TheLukesub0 You could play the camera in 3rd person view if that was all it, but I'd like to buy into the omage to earlier games even if I know the 2D platformer genre is still alive til this day

[@fakename3010]

🤯 This is why I love reading comments/watching playthroughs in the first place, because you can get so many cool, new, and ingenious interpretations. Honestly, great job with this realization!

[@mannymoctopusREAL]

Something really cool I noticed was that the main security guy’s name was Javert. I think this is a reference to Les Miserables because the character Javert in that story only calls the main character by his assigned number and not his name, much like the one in this story.

[@nixel1324]

I immediately thought of the DaThings ytp. The one about the sammich.

[@latnorth]

even better! he's named after + plays a similar role to javert, but his lines and presence in the story are also pretty similar to inspector gerard (which angela even references after tasing him). they really pulled out all the stops for clowning on the detective archetype

[@biteingcobra363]

Oh wow! good catch! I'm a theater nerd myself and didn't notice that! I love it!

[@bigooble]

I immediately thought of that too!

[@cononsberg6919]

And I'm Javert!

[@shoeboxbistro]

It's crazy how this game started out as a basic re-tred of the Truman Show, then turned into a whole new thing with themes relevant to the modern day obsession with viewership.

[@ZeallustImmortal]

Yeah, like 20 mins in I was wondering why this needs to exist when we already have Truman, by the end, i like it even a little more than truman

[@franciscoguinledebarros4429]

That and a very good reframing of the steak dialogue from the matrix, the whole paradox of being trapped in Eden

[@Vysair]

truman wasnt relatable due to how it aged but this is a brand new game of OUR time so it hit harder

[@Adalore]

I am glad the turtle was evidently rescued from his house. - Also hotdamn, managers can just enter your apartment? This outer world context is at least 2 notches further on the dystopic scale than we are right now, not that far off though.

[@Lumberjack_king]

They probably own the building and she’s renting that room

[@Deleted_Cat]

@@Lumberjack_kingland lords still need to give a notice before entering a tenant’s house Also can we appreciate how large the apartment is, like god damn is it massive.

[@theshadowreborn4778]

@@Deleted_Cat they might have had some sort of clause in the contract. or just hoped no one would report them.

[@sebastianolsen4856]

I love that this whole game is basically one big Plato’s Cave, with Trevor and the player wanting so desperately to escape when we find out Arcadia is a fake world, and “Vivian” explaining how, the real world could be considerably worse, and how she begged to go back. Amazing work

[@cooltwittertag]

Okay but platos cave leads to the conclusion that going back to the cave isnt actually better, but that learning about the truth is painful enough to not be able to want to

[@bloxxer_tv]

the part that broke me was the fact that, despite everything, BOTH companies are doing better than they ever have before. the bit about "being 30 years old with no experience or a job" was equally horrifying. and the fact that the supreme court said the "jingle" was still legal... fuck dude

[@terribleideas9876]

It's a bittersweed bad ending done right (it's realistic). Rare to see in stories.

[@pkfiremain710]

Hey, what the fuck? Regfunkid? We used to (very rarely) talk on twitter and Discord. Neat.

[@joehole1975]

Yeah and yet I swear the exact kind of thing has happened numerous times irl.Supreme court does some batshit insane thing and both parties get insane famous money?

[@joelthorstensson2772]

Which Supreme Court justice saw/heard the jingle and was like "yeah, this totally isn't torture and a cruel and unusual punishment. I love my job, next!"

[@lamidene8139]

@@joelthorstensson2772the legal logic probably goes that since arcadia is owned by the walton corp it is private property, and the owners have the right to play whatever music they want. As tenets of arcadian homes the citizens are implicitly agreeing to being subjected to the jingle. Thats what i imagine a Walton legal team would argue. It’s not false imprisonment because there is no physical barrier preventing citizens from exiting, only a mental one.

[@MLGHazrad]

I instantly recognized Yuri Lowenthal's voice the moment Trevor spoke. Man is way too iconic.

[@cantthinkofaname5046]

For a the first half of the video I was questioning if I’d gone crazy by thinking it’s him, “why is Spider-Man in the Truman show?”

[@thatpersonyt247]

I knew I’ve heard him before

[@flouaena127]

⁠@@cantthinkofaname5046same for me but instead of thinking of spiderman i thought of yosuke from persona 4 running from the law lol

[@matthewduncan3285]

I knew it was a spider man, but I thought it may have been Toby Maguire. Then I looked it up and saw it was Yuri

[@Monobrobe]

I didn’t recognize him until he started yelling 😂

[@chrystianodell1344]

I think both the credits and the post credits scene is what really makes this game for me. Dont get me wrong, the twists and hooks all throughout had me fully invested, but once you see the end, and how Walton Media really barely got more than a slap on the wrist, Trevor and Angela are still alive. They're happy, and pushing back the same as they always were. They see the new content, all the drivel being churned out by focus groups and machine learning algorithms, everything they're fighting against, all still working away as if nothing ever happened, and they laugh. Really wholesome moment and a great reminder that despite all the control that media exerts on us nowadays, we always have the choice to be free.

[@jadedragon1406]

Bro they even got the "Jingle" legalized 💀 (how, though? Because those citizens are *not* giving consent simply by living there or something, they'd have to give informed consent for this to be legal so really that part is a HUGE stretch but still works to emphasize their point that Walten got away with this horribly messed up shit.)

[@somerandomgamer8504]

​@@jadedragon1406How the hell do big companies always get their way? A hell of a lot of money, that's how. You think the law matters when you're richer than the government?

[@Thelegoterrapin]

@@jadedragon1406the angle I thought they were aiming for with the jingle is that it really does provide a sense of comfort and peacefulness. When Trevor steps out, nothing is actually ‘wrong’ with him, he just starts experiencing regular human anxiety and such. Well, I don’t know how much additional lore was cut from the highlights.

[@malpheus4299]

​@@Thelegoterrapinthat's still ultimately fucked though, you're essentially dosing people on a cocktail of drugged emotions.

[@jadedragon1406]

@somerandomgamer8504 well the legal system has rules, the way companies get away with stuff isn't paying someone off or something, it's by paying for a good legal defense and I don't think any sane lawyer would argue for this case, let alone win.

[@jwyatt]

The enemies summoning the drones on trevor is the true "mods, crush his skull" of the Arcadian world

[@wildfire9280]

Every scene with the “Chief of Security” is amazing. They just never miss.

[@theregidavis]

Thank you!

[@salc8589]

@@theregidavisWait… you are actually Regi Davis? Dude you knocked this one out of the park! That tonal switch towards the end was amazing.

[@donpollo3154]

@@theregidavis KING 👑

[@ddd4040]

@@theregidavis You were incredible man

[@he-man9413]

re-playing it, it has that amazing effect that I love with movies and books with big twists where you can see just how obvious it feels re-viewing it, yet how oblivious you were.

[@CeHee123]

The Truman Show turned into a game? That sounds like a hell of a time. Real talk Dan sounds like he adores it from the description. I might have to check it out and come back to the video later to avoid spoilers because I'm very intrigued.

[@erc3338]

There was another game like this that came out a few years ago. I wish I could remember its name. Edit: CAPTIVE AUDIENCE

[@RTGame]

That is very valid, enjoy playing it!

[@CeHee123]

@RTGame Thanks for understanding. I'm on the steam page right now. Thankfully its on sale right now!

[@AnotherGeek....]

​@@erc3338thanks you so much, I love Truman stuff

[@zackl2000]

This also seems inspired by something Walt Disney REALLY wanted to do, make an actual "city of tomorrow" and house employees, artists, inventors, architects. It was the last thing he worked on I believe and everyone called him crazy for it because it fucking was.

[@djsac2513]

Imagine how horrifying it must be knowing that all your life you have had people staring at you, even in areas that might be undesirable…

[@kukui79]

With how bad my IBS gets, my main hope would be that the advanced society outside had figured out how to transmit smells through the TV. Revenge served fresh and steamy. 😂

[@Zombienekers]

well yknow not trevor cuz he's a nobody

[@HansWurst1569]

There is a movie about this: The Truman show, great watch :)

[@aquatech1753]

Well surely the least they could do is censor those part of the stream... UNLESS YOU'RE A TIER 3 SUB, BABY

[@griggorirasputin6555]

I mean they're already listening, that's been known for a long time.

[@bleeve9425]

As a fan of theme parks and more knowledge about Walt Disney’s EPCOT than I should realistically know, they absolutely fucking nailed it to even the smallest details. Example: the group badges for tourists are this game’s version of the Experience Band at WDW.

[@jonasquinn7977]

Same man, I’m honestly shocked it took this long for someone to make a game about the original concept for EPCOT

[@Skornish]

The head of security was definitely one of the best characters, and his reveal at the end was hilarious.

[@CipherCutie]

I'm sure other people mentioned things like this, but I'm impressed by the other subtle references. Like the big 6 badge and Number Six being likely references to The Prisoner, which was a show from the 70s about a man trapped in a fantastical resort town that was being constantly monitored, or Kovacs probably being a reference to Ernie Kovacs, the man who pioneered so many In Camera effects for television.

[@esmeecampbell7396]

Thought I was going to be the only person who recognised that, assumed it was a coincidence. It was 1968 and filmed in Wales, about a Spy being trapped in a town used to house defectors. "I AM NOT A NUMBER! I AM A FREE MAN!" It also draws a connection with the leader of the secret Police being called "Javert" and referring to Trevor by his number, just as "Javert" refers to "Jean Valjean" as "24601" throughout Les Miserables.

[@waddly]

Incredible respect for editors for being able to pump out the highlights so fast

[@Mantis24513]

Chloe is the goat

[@Sir_Bucket]

Well, you know what they say, They called Dan the Sl*ve king back in College ;)

[@whatsunderthetable]

@@Sir_Bucket never try to make a joke ever again

[@Est.-.]

​@@Sir_Bucket you not only have failed at comedy but you embarrassed yourself, please cease and never attempt humor ever again.

[@ArshadZahid_nohandleideas]

@@Sir_Bucket :(

[@JustABroom]

I love how the ending is, just like The Truman Show all it shows is that people want a good story and nothing else, you can see human injustice, blatant tragedy being exploited for views and by the time it's all over all anybody says is "I wonder what else is on?" and it continues like clockwork.

[@taydoingthings549]

I love how the worldbuilding feels its own thing despite us all being familiar with a truman show-esque premise. Arcadia feels like its own thing with its own unique aesthetic enough to make you want to investigate, and its great.

[@milanesadearsenico]

It's more Walt Disney's EPCOT turned into a game

[@tweetug3697]

It feels like an expansion on what Truman Show was going for.

[@Gracosef]

It remind me a lot of Fallout's atompunk for some reason

[@woomy2179]

I'd say it's more of an EPCOT/Storyliving

[@blakksheep736]

​@@woomy2179 how is that Storyliving thing even going down?

[@YosherYosh]

I love the symbolism in how playing as Trevor is 2D while Angela is 3D which shows how Angela knew of Trevor’s life but he was trapped behind a barrier not allowing him to view hers

[@ruthiewitter569]

The smile fell clean off my face when Gus was missing one day and announced the winner of a huge travel grant the next day. First time watching this, I have no context- that man is *definitely* dead.

[@Cinnaschticks]

Oh, absolutely. Either dead or ditched somewhere outside is what I was thinkin.

[@forceofsilver5466]

In the immortal words of that one Arcadia chatter: "7.8/10 - too much police" This chat had no right to be that well done. Even including the correct current time to completely shatter the 4th wall. It was literally perfection

[@HazeEmry]

"Let him cook chat" fkn killed me. I need to check the Twitch vod and see our chat's response

[@nixel1324]

Man, that sounds like something _I_ could have said. They really nailed it.

[@jamesclarkson156]

@@HazeEmry Starts at about 1 :04: 00 in the second vod.

[@_wheat856]

the 8th wall is in shambles

[@privatesectorsec]

They had the opportunity to go all the way with “too much water”

[@snowymass854]

24:43 Fun Fact: The poster on the left "Call of the Sea" was the developers previous game! A woman exploring an island in search of her lost partner with some lovecraftian twists.

[@RepublicOfUs]

Oh, that was them! I remember that game, it was an interesting time.

[@archivist_13]

Sounds cool, I'll have to check it out

[@CaptainJLinebeck]

Oh this is the Call of the Sea devs? I really liked that game

[@lknapp235]

Also, in 'our reality' Gregory Peck and Joan Fontaine never had a film together, so it's interesting to see them in this alternate reality starring in a Walton Studios picture!

[@X-SPONGED]

Yeah, I watched someone play the game before. I thought the title was familiar but I didn't know it was them who also made it. Cool.

[@uhohmemebiggestboy212]

So Vivian made Angela purposely brain wash Trevor into becoming an action hero just so she could get the first person to press the button. Not only that but she has the player convinced it's what they want too.

[@nathanaelwaters2509]

No, I think the while escape from Arcadia thing was there cover if something like this happened.

[@jonasquinn7977]

@Nathanael Waters but the entire thing wouldn’t have been set in motion without her reaching out to Angela.

[@uhohmemebiggestboy212]

@@nathanaelwaters2509 that's exactly what I mean, they knew it was going to happen eventually so they made it into a action show separate from the normal one. It was always a set up and Vivian set up the whole organization trying to help people escape just accelerate that process

[@Finn_the_Cat]

​@uhohmemebiggestboy212 so Angela was ultimately trying to help the player escape but didn't realize that she was also being manipulated?

[@uhohmemebiggestboy212]

@@Finn_the_Cat yeah, Vivian set up the whole organization to help people escape and got Angela and possibly others as well to talk to people inside, all just to set up a spin of show

[@brans2329]

story aside can we talk about how good this game looks.. hyper realism isn’t required to make a stunning game

[@BeanMann]

We need more writers like this, the diologue manages to be up to date, funny, with good chemisty and doesnt sound cringy. I especially loved how accurate the AA live stream chat was. Story games arent dead, they are just waiting for good writers to be a part of them.

[@dannmcdan2185]

This game has some cool details like in 5:17 when Romano says hed want to travel to Fiji. Thats cool because in the Truman Show Fiji was also used as a cover for the people who got removed from the show

[@fireradfieritis8953]

It weirdly gave me the Island vibes too. Different context, sure, but... Similar in a smaller sense.

[@ienjoyoranges]

oh yeah i forgot about that

[@X-SPONGED]

55:11 If I had a nickel everytime Yuri Lowenthal played a role where his wimp-turned-hero character had a terminal weakness of being rendered useless and in agonizing pain when exposed to certain sound frequencies which would then later in the story, get resolved by the 2nd mc messing with his subconscious to get rid of the problem, I'd have two nickels! Which isn't a lot but it's weird that he had two completely different VA roles exactly like that.

[@chrisdaughen5257]

If I had a nickel where Yuri Lowenthal's characters go crazy from rage... I'd have a lot of nickels.

[@zacharyriley4561]

Who’s the other.

[@oumarathie8881]

Spider-man

[@shadowsnstars]

whats the other role?

[@fantalone666]

@@shadowsnstars I'd almost like to say Dainsleif, because he was exposed to Khvarena and was in agonizing pain and rendered useless. But that one wasn't a wimp-turned-hero, nor was Khvarena a sound (probably).

[@MrLast98]

YES! I knew that number 6 was Vivian. You could tell because they both said the same thing, Vivian at 1:04:29 and number 6 at 1:25:01. Same timings on the word, same words, same situation. What a masterpiece.

[@Toucanz]

good catch

[@tomc.5704]

Hot damn, foreshadowing done well? This game is art

[@cpMetis]

Also, VI VI an. 6-6-an

[@LobstertheGiggy]

Honestly, I also love that's she's literally almost front and centre of the security footage image of the 6. It's not even hidden a little bit but you'd likely not put two and two together that early on

[@MrLast98]

@@LobstertheGiggy i think i'm getting mandela effect here, because i could swear that the picture wasn't really that clear earlier in the game but she is. Like the Earth King in AtlA

[@henrybonneville4667]

I've been absolutely loving the long-form playthroughs recently, Killer Frequency, Slay The Princess, and now American Arcadia, were all games I had never heard of but fell in love with because of these videos, I'm really hoping for more of this content in the future!

[@Tonini08]

1:47:25 the fact that the in game twitch chat has an argument here is way funnier to me than it should be

[@soupyssoup]

hearing Yuri Lowenthal yell "LEAVE ME THE FCK ALONE!" is such a beautiful experience.

[@idkbrah473]

imdb completely got the cast wrong and i swore that was yuri -- thank you for confirming that this guy is played by SPIDERMAN???

[@soupyssoup]

@lettucefish7318 haha, one of my favourite things is guessing voice actors, and I can very positively affirm that this is Yuri Lowenthal (I mainly recognised people by their voices, even irl). Personally, I had no idea he voiced spiderman? I know him as Dainsleif from Genshin impact best. That's definitely interesting to learn though, so thanks!

[@localinternetclown]

Yuri Lowenthal’s been in SO MANY THINGS. It didn’t surprise me at all to hear his voice here. He’ll still always be older Ben 10 to me though.

[@thew00dsman79]

He’s also the English voice of Marth in Fire Emblem

[@glitchedmatrix55]

​@lettucefish7318 I knew he was played by Spiderman, too!

[@themudkipninja5772]

The game’s livestream chat when Trevor climbs the building was amazing. When he punched Steve people told him to get good LOL.

[@MrSkerpentine]

All it missed was someone doing a Snake Eater reference while Trevor was climbing up the stairs because that’s definitely what I would’ve done

[@ryshow9118]

Git gud Steve 😂😂😂

[@HarperNell]

I went from hypercritical to amazed so fast- I noticed the little dialogue hints at the twist (Six calling Trevor and asset, Vivian giving Trevor detailed instructions on how to beat the game, Trevor essentially doing in show product placement) but didn't think any of it was gonna come to fruition. It's such a good mystery because it makes the player feel smart for figuring it out.

[@completelybored9228]

You know what I think? Vivian and the other original escapees were still affected by The Jingle when they managed to escape, explaining why they found the real world so unbearable and she begged to go back...

[@sand_sand7304]

The jingle was added right after the incident though.

[@completelybored9228]

@@sand_sand7304 Oh really? Damn, I forgot that. There goes my theory. ...Unless whoever said that was lying! Which isn't the most likely, but I'll take it. Altering the facts to fit the theory is like the #1 rule of theorycrafting lol

[@Lumberjack_king]

I think it’s more of a Plato’s cave situation they enjoyed the simplicity

[@SlushieSlasher]

nah dude real world just sucked ass. In Vivian's words, they thought they left a prison but it was really eden

[@hedgehog3180]

It's a neat bit of game design that Trevor is only allowed to move on a 2D plane while Angela can move freely in 3D. The ending being presented from a 2D perspective seems intentional.

[@awesam2399]

Watching versus controlling

[@alriune]

I find it really interesting how American Arcadia (the game itself) could actually have been the documentary the both of them released. It makes sense, at least to me: the media inserts and the interrogation scenes (the latter which was actually just interviews done for the documentary) would doubly make sense as context for the player *and* a watcher of the documentary! It's genius, and I only really realized it after the game.

[@detrilogue3174]

And the Solano Hills logo in the intro :P

[@unu9651]

@@detrilogue3174 0:27 for the Solano Hills logo

[@StartledOctopus]

​@@detrilogue3174 daaamnnn

[@brendenhawley2225]

Funny enough my game crashed right at the end, and I thought that was some meta work.

[@jordanfry5138]

This is fascinating and incredibly well done, it's almost not satisfying cause it's so accurate. You want to be vindicated somehow, but the win involves Angela settling out of court and a documentary as a takedown attempt, and it's so believable it hurts. I can honestly say this is some of the best writing from any game I can think of, and it[s almost hard to enjoy it because of it. Bravo

[@NightMeteor21]

I get what you mean but it's also what makes me like the ending more instead of the classic hero trope of the hero gets told how to stop everything by the villain then proceeds to stop everything. instead he falls straight into a trap which ended up letting them get away with everything.

[@fakename3010]

@@NightMeteor21 Well, like I said in an earlier comment, it's something that real people can actually do to make even a little change. While it's not the "cool hero action thing (wow wow wow wow)", people are able to do this, and even just a fictitious example could very much help some real cause. Because for a lot of people, they just need to be told. (Just making sure you know, this is not against you in any way just putting the same comment in different writing and used your comment as a way to do that.)

[@wildfire9280]

@@fakename3010 On the other hand, there’s another 3rd option but it’s always advised against by my lawyer for some reason…

[@LeHarmacist]

@@wildfire9280the scorched earth approach. We leave that as a last resort… …or if you’re just bored out of your mind

[@chattychatotchannel]

34:24 this is REALLY good game design having narrative interwoven with gameplay the emotions haven't seen something like this since edith finch

[@SurprisinglyDeep]

The game seems to be talking about 6 things in particular: 1) Alot of the time it's immoral to criticise something while still taking part in it. Like Arcadia would've ended decades before the year 2023 in that universe if people outside Arcadia had just stopped watching the GD show. 2) Large corporations and unscrupulous individuals will literally do controlled dissent and turn would be attempts to stop them from doing immoral and/or unethical things into ways to make more profit if they can. Like the Walton corporation clearly anticipated that people like Angela Solano would try to end Arcadia so they set up events that instead tricked her and Walter into helping them create a new spinoff TV show Escape from Arcadia instead. 3) The banality of evil, like how almost all the people running or working for Walton media were not really evil people but instead had just normalised something f+++d up like a Truman show featuring tens of thousands of trapped people that should NEVER be normalised. 4) It was showing that in real life it's very hard to stop a large rich corporation from doing something immoral and unethical if they've been doing it for a long period of time and it's become an institutionalised evil. A small group of people just working a short period of time is usually NOT enough to stop an institutionalised evil, usually it takes dozens if not hundreds of people working for decades to end it. 5) There's little that individuals can do to stop corporate corruption if the political system is corrupt or prioritises the wrong things. Like Angela Solano was sadly rightly worried she was going to go to orison for exposing the Walton corporation's Jingle mind controlling thing rather then being confident that she would be defended by legal whistleblower protections. Also sadly it seems Angela and Walter's efforts were largely for naught since that universe's Supreme Court did f++k all to ban the Jingle and is doing f++k all to prevent the Walton corporation from creating genetically modified citizens as seen in the end credits 6) Sadly there's a problem where sometimes anti-corruption protester later betray their principles and end up working for the company or corporate interests they originally worked in opposition against.

[@cairoraiser9338]

This is the most interesting commentary about how hard it is to fight against the machine and the way things are in modern times that I’ve ever seen.

[@WasatchWind]

And yet it has a slight optimistic tone to it - maybe optimistic isn't the right word - just a way for us to get through it. He escapes Arcadia, refuses the money, cause he wants to live a real life. And in real life, a lot of people and organizations do crappy things - but he finds peace in his individual relationships as he's trying to push forward social change. I think that it communicates in a mature, honest manner the best way for us to be happy in life.

[@fakename3010]

@@WasatchWind Sort of like Everything's Not Awesome from the Lego Movie 2: Yeah, this over-idyllic song from the first movie is cool and all, but maybe not possible. Actually, I'm just gonna paste the lyrics cause the songwriter(s? I'm gonna leave room for multiple) clearly knew exactly what they were saying Everything's not awesome Things can't be awesome all of the time It's an unrealistic expectation But that doesn't mean we shouldn't try To make everything awesome In a less idealistic kind of way We should maybe aim for not bad 'Cause not bad, well that would be real great

[@patopotato9988]

This is like Disney's initial dream of Epcot. He was going to build a town where all of his employees would live; a paradise much like Acardia. There were concerns over privacy issues because the citizens would basically be on display to tourists. However, Walt would die before he could achieve this. Defuntland did an amazing video on it. This game has a lot of parallels to it

[@joescraft123]

Wouldn’t even surprise me if the team behind American Arcadia was inspired that dream

[@yamato6114]

@@joescraft123They were actually. They actually studied the initial project for the city and make references to both it and Disney.

[@jospwasp3504]

i mean his name IS Walton, honestly as a person who knows the Epcot lore because i love the world showcase. its a bit on the nose

[@quenquent95]

Fun fact (which I guess others commented on already): Walt Disney actually wanted to make a "Town of the future" in Florida. He bought huge parcels of lands to build that city. Just like in the game, he died before it could come to life. Unlike the game however, it was turned into Disneyland Florida. Defunctland made a great video about it : Walt Disney's City of the Future, E.P.C.O.T.

[@datrtzhush3734]

Defunctland mentioned

[@blakksheep736]

Defunctland is a banger channel.

[@fweezie9659]

That new docu Defunctland made on EPCOT is such a banger dude, stellar quality and clearly a project of passion. So much love and dedication for his craft and it's amazing to see. Also w Defunctland mention

[@thesparklesauce1936]

The fact that Kovacs piano was still in tune after all that time was incredible

[@faebees5793]

You never know, they mightve had it tuned shortly before Trevor got there. Yknow, just in case their star had any "hidden talents" they could discover

[@Mantis47]

Going through the game again after you know the twist, you see it differently. Like Old Arcadia was in shambles and rusted, but everything that Trevor needed was in perfect working condition and in plain sight, it was all planned. And yeah, the piano is perfectly centered, under a spotlight, ready for an emotional moment to get recorded on stream.

[@AustralianGrizzly]

@1:50:00 Just before she notices that Tervor is outside the window. we can see that the Camera catches her lift going up as well... BUT Stream Chat has some nice lines there... "This mans the boss." "yep, but Vivians the FINAL Boss" "So we are at the end of the game. "I think so." This is a TV Show not a game, you stupid." "We know, but what if this is a TV show inside a game???"

[@braydeslaurier5960]

Wow...they sure are self aware arent they

[@SumitRana-life314]

What if we are a game about KZbin though?

[@werewolfwerewolfwere]

As someone who lives with a spine twisted like a corkscrew I can say this, take care of your back. The unending pain isn't worth it, and really does terrible things to your mental state. Please, take care of your skeleton, it holds you up.

[@GunSpyEnthusiast]

ok?

[@Olivethefey]

This has been a PSA, thank you kind commenter

[@TK-7193]

your heavy flesh weighs down your poor bones. you dont need it, your flesh, pull it off, take off your flesh. free your skeleton, it need to breath and its too cramped.

[@Yanramich]

​@@TK-7193can't breathe if you're a skeleton mboy

[@TK-7193]

@@Yanramich your flesh suit only has three holes to breath out of. without your handicap you can breath from nearly every surface!

[@arealginvr]

I loved watching the full vod for this game, it was sooo good. I kinda love how the game uses swearing quite sparingly, making the ending hit so much harder. Such a well done story.

[@austincantswim3383]

Reminds me of how Bojack Horseman only had one F-bomb per season. Makes it far more impactful.

[@therindler]

@@austincantswim3383i was thinking of just that! each f bomb in bj is only ever used when a relationship with BoJack is permanently damaged.

[@fakename3010]

(Yet another personal tangent in these comments) That's actually one of my main gripes of people swearing up a storm. If you use a word enough, then people who use it for extreme emphasis might lose it. But yeah, it really took out to me as well.

[@derpyfailz572]

A lot of people are comparing this game to the Truman Show and rightfully so, but I think a lot of people forget that Walt Disney legitimately pitched something similar to this as his original vision for EPCOT

[@jonasquinn7977]

To be completely fair the original concept didn’t involve the people’s lives being broadcasted or not knowing they were living in an artificial environment. It’s half EPCOT and half Truman Show

[@jacob5169]

@@jonasquinn7977 Part of EPCOTs original plan was to have it be a tourist destination with people an attraction for them to view neighborhoods and workplaces from a peoplemover train. If you lived in that neighborhood, tourists would be watching you every time you stepped out onto your backyard.

[@Killerqueen69420]

My favourite thing that RT does is just when he sits down and plays some indie game from start to finish

[@Nuoance]

Holy shit this game just took me on a roller coaster of emotions. It was a hilarious watch, and a bit TOOOOOOOOOOOOOO close to home with the "we're obviously doing a LOT of illegal things but guess what? It makes money and the public thinks its okay!" Zoinks

[@Astatine95]

The "cs" in Kovacs is pronounced kind of like "ch." It also means Smith in Hungarian so Arpad Kovacs is kind of an equivalent to John Smith, Hans Schmidt, Jan Kowalski or some such.

[@akifaiman7388]

What a generic name, at least better than john doe

[@pichugirl-me7tp]

"don't be a fool" is the new "would you kindly"

[@velvetdraws3452]

"trevor, dont be a fool and bash my skull in with a 9 iron"

[@cureidolsmile9820]

They have such opposite energies, yet it works so well...

[@simonschnedl]

"Don't be a fool" "I'LL SHOW YOU A FOOL!!!"

[@mathmaniac3033]

The world is a lie, but based on the trend of how these games end up being, I'm not surprised if the whole escape ends up being a lie too.

[@aspwned]

honestly the intro kind of spoiled it with him saying "i'm the most popular person in arcadia", even if you didn't have a pre conceived notion of these sorts of tropes. unless he actually does just get popular from escaping and it's not staged..

[@Brayslayer]

​@@aspwned Honestly was kinda hoping that he did bring down all of Arcadia, even though it was highly unlikely

[@TheMadwomen]

Half-right. At the very least, our boy Trevor isn't a sellout.

[@ihavekalashnikovyoudomath9275]

​@@TheMadwomenThat's where you're wrong kiddo. They sued the company, but the case was settled privately before it went to court

[@dakotah2468]

The twist was basically the same sort as 1984

[@stefondiggs-gr3wm]

Interestingly, Javert, the policeman, is the same name of the legendary police inspector Javert, from the iconic musical Les Miserables. Nice of them to do that.

[@theregidavis]

I agree. Nice touch.

[@thelonleygengar]

1:12:11 around here I like how they were taking about Trevor here and that person's leg you broke And Trevor only starts swearing after his jingle changes

[@panzerkamphwaggenlll5247]

Cringe pfp

[@thelonleygengar]

@@panzerkamphwaggenlll5247 your PFP is just a tank Also idk I've gotten at least 6 people saying it's cool

[@panzerkamphwaggenlll5247]

@@thelonleygengar apologies, I was very tired last night

[@bonyuki3872]

I actually kinda appreciate the realness of the ending. The big bad actually had some compelling points that might have swayed someone more desperate in the real world. You can’t destroy an entity as massive as dis- I mean Dosney just as one person. And when the hive mind is too apathetic to do anything, is resistance truly futile?

[@azuquirtle]

I can only imagine Dan's chat going absolutely nuts at how accurate the in-game chat was. Everything in this game is so well done but the twich chat has to be my favourite bit.

[@ian562ADF52E]

That's dope. I'm a security engineer, and steganography is a real technique used to obfuscate malicious code.

[@jesperwillems_]

One thing I haven't seen anyone comment on: In the final scene, when Angela turns off the TV show they're watching and the game ends, it doesn't cut to black, but rather turns the scene we're looking at off like a tv turning off. While maybe just an artistic choice, it could also imply that they're, in fact, still being watched, and that the 'real world' they escaped to, is just another Arcadia layered on top of it, inception style

[@awesam2399]

You’re not wrong…WE are watching them

[@SpaceLobster21]

I love the detail that you always control Trevor from a third-person/sidescroller perspective. It's like you're not actually playing as Trevor, moreso controlling him like a character in a video game (which is pretty fitting considering 90% of the game is just other people telling him what to do and him blindly following directions).

[@roobeedooo]

this reminds me of that one indie game where you and a neighbor escape a reality tv show... forget the name but its awesome to see more of that genre

[@literally-just-j]

captive audience? markiplier played it iirc

[@erc3338]

if its Captive Audience then i'm happy others remember it too

[@Robust_Laser]

it's so funny seeing this having just watched the new defunctland, and having an immediate comparison to how spot on it gets a lot of the original epcot proposal aesthetics.

[@cullenlatham2366]

It was still a legitimate twist, but i called number 6 almost immediately. The fact that the reveal wasnt contrived despite my ability to call it is amazing.

[@palecaptainwolfkayls8499]

A poor twist comes from absolutely nowhere. You are left questioning it, and it drives the last part of the story for the plot. A good twist already has the overarching narrative in mind, something that adds a little more to rewatch. It is not just integral to the story, usually it _is._

[@cullenlatham2366]

@@palecaptainwolfkayls8499 You pretty much got it exactly, but my comment on "contrived" is that a twist can be foreshadowed, but still fail for the wrong timing, incoherent reality warping, or simple oversights in the backstory. Yes, 6 isnt without issues if i go out of my way to nitpick, but every issue is equally as likely to be "it was always the plan" as it is to be an oversight or theory fodder "vivian has more rebellion in her than it first appears, as it is equally likely that the inconsistencies can be used as evidence". Frozen Hanz is a bad twist that does not hold up to scrutiny. Evil monologue or thoughts to let the audience in on a twist tend to be hit or miss, as it sets the audience up to scrutinize all the dumb moments the rest of the cast didnt catch on to obviously evil intent. 6's twist holds up to scrutiny and makes perfect sense why trevor and korvacs didnt catch on; they both only had half the puzzle pieces. Heck, the audience has to be pretty astute to pick up on the foreshadowing, the most blantant of which is her leaking false information about "the only way to escape from arcadia is to shut it down with my kill switch". If anything, THAT is my point about contrivance; good foreshadowing is easy to miss until rewatch, but not impossible to catch for astute and trope-savvy audience members. Bad plot twists beat you over the head with foreshadowing and think they are clever when the rest of the cast catches on, despite how little impact it has on the audience. Contrived twists have no foreshadowing, or the instances that do exist are far too subtle to tell the audience anything. (one of the few legitimate issues with avatar the last air bender; the lion turtle ex machina was not properly established even if it appeared throughout the show in very subtle ways. its appearances dont hint at the creature's existance, always being in contexts where it can easily be dismissed as myth, legend, or artistic fiction within the world itself, whilst boasting powers never even hinted at. Energy is a fifth element in a world who's fundamental rule is that everything is comprised of only 4 elements.)

[@AllegedlyHuman]

​@@cullenlatham2366yeah, just a hobbyist writer (and formerly voracious reader), but I've never really liked the plot twists that come out of nowhere. It's waaay more satisfying to be on both ends of clues sprinkled throughout the story, especially when you manage to figure out the twist *before* the reveal! Heck, sometimes I skip foreshadowing and just go straight to fiveshadowing lol As for number 6, I didn't see it *coming*, but the way it was done left me satisfied nonetheless because it felt fair - like something an observant observer could plausibly piece together. Of course it isn't flawless, but nothing is - everything is flawed when you look close enough

[@cullenlatham2366]

@@AllegedlyHuman I cant place the exact moment i figured it out after this much time, but there were enough small details and inconsistencies to clue me in very early on. Korvacs' identity was revealed early, yet her primary source of clearly insider information remained anonymous? Why does 6 have insider information? How do they know about the trouble Korvacs is facing before Korvacs herself catches on? I want to say i could put my uneasiness into words during the apartment raid, but it became crystal clear when vivian leaked false information. I tend to be a bit trope savvy and tend to notice a lot of twists (that make sense) long before the reveal, but it is very rare for those twists to feel earned as part of the full narrative compared to a twist for the sake of intrigue that only make sense in the context of a story; one where foreshadowing exists, but doesnt hold up to scrutiny.

[@kingawsume]

I like how this game plays how Walt Disney actually wanted his legacy to happen. Look up the plans for his city. If EPCOT survived into the 21st century, it 100% would've become a real-life Truman Show eventually.

[@SloMoMonday]

So glad I stopped 10 min in the vid and got the game for myself. Something about how they kept cutting away to other footage and the contrasting perspectives had me hooked and the whole package was well worth it. My god, this was a good year for smaller and independent studios.

[@kboombite]

I like how rt lowkey predicted like the most jaw dropping scenarios in the game. He, for one, is not a fool

[@fable23]

This game is great, but it seems to suffer a lot from what I call "Gotcha Difficulty." It's when the game isn't _hard_ per se, but it throws a lot of deadly "surprises" at you that you can't reasonably be expected to react correctly to the first time because they're so sudden. Once you know what is coming, it's easy to react to, so it's like the game is just jumping out from behind a bush and shouting "gotcha!"

[@Bloodlyshiva]

Another World/Out of this world? Is that you? I read what you say and immediately hear the death theme from that game. He's even in an updated visual style from that game....I'm not saying it's deliberate, but it's like history and gaming repeating itself.

[@palecaptainwolfkayls8499]

Probably the saving graces of that is that these moments have checkpoints immediately after, and moreso turn into timed puzzles instead. Although, it is peculiar that there seems to be so many at the start (a la the crane segment). One can argue that it’s just preparation for the expected difficulty ahead, but still…

[@missrebel634]

Inside and Little nightmares for example

[@sharkeep4269]

I know it's a coincidence, but this being posted a bit after Defunctland's EPCOT Center document dropping is so funny. Just.. something about watching the video about irl EPCOT and what it became at the end and then this game having the premise of 'What if Walt's original EPCOT plan happened'.

[@nomannic1]

Fun fact: the music notes at 35:01 are notated incorrectly on screen! The sequence played was actually a fifth above what was notated, which is: A, A, E, C#.

[@Suegiclah]

Can't believe Trevor Hills is voiced by the same VA as Yosuke Hanamura from Persona 4

[@thomasbennett5724]

So this is basically the Truman Show but a video game? Alright, I’m game.

[@milanesadearsenico]

It's more Walt Disney's EPCOT turned into a game

[@DParkerNunya]

No this is the game

[@thomasbennett5724]

@@milanesadearsenico I don’t know man, seems like the Truman Show to me.

[@TK-7193]

@@thomasbennett5724 no, its clearly minecraft.

[@SamWulfign]

@@milanesadearsenico Why not both?

[@ramblingdemon9471]

Waiting for someone else to talk about how this whole thing is to prevent her favorite character from being killed off. Great stream RT! Always love your vids.

[@honkstheclown8631]

She's just trying to save her poor little meow meow!!

[@treebit]

and eventually marry her, the ultimate parasocial dream EDIT: he did *NOT* marry her, i was wrong, they're just roommates. good for them

[@archivist_13]

They even got to make a documentary about the whole thing

[@Castersvarog]

@@archivist_13so thinking about it, is the game the documentary then, because that’s just making things even more meta

[@archivist_13]

@@Castersvarog damn we're getting into levels of meta that shouldn't even be possible

[@BaeYeou]

I "love" that the game ended with American Arcadia still on the air and Walton Media getting away with it all, because really that's how it is with megacorps. Just throw money at the problem and stuff PR shit down everyone's throats and they'll forget about it all. It's both a good ending and a bad ending, which I personally find very interesting.

[@giulianodenardi7654]

For me, what was foreshadowing was the description of this button-pressing feature. In reality shows like Big Brother (at least the Brazilian version), there is the same mechanism for participants to quit the program, that is, even the person leaving is still bound by the contract afterwards and still just an "asset" of the show/company.

[@LaBatata5419]

1:44:56 "Let him cook" best game 10/10