Cry of Fear Is The Most Swedish Horror Game Ever Made

[@pimscrypt]

I have literally no idea how this happened, but the last name of one of my patrons is completely wrong in the end credits. It's obviously too late to change it, so here is an apology to Oskar, who's last name is Sandström and not "Söderström".

[@Pleyway]

Man that Arbetsförmedlingen story hit hard, too relatable. That said, dealing with unemployment in Sweden would make for a great horror game honestly.

[@pimscrypt]

That we can one hundred percent agree on.

[@KamiKaZantA]

I've been unemployed for a few months in total in my life. I never signed for unemployment, I never went to arbetsförmedlingen, because I've heard it over and over again how soul-sucking it is.

[@tafferinthedark]

23:58 I interpreted the Dr. Purnell situation as follows. All the previous scenes with Dr. Purnell displaying cruelty or suspicious behavior is a representation of Simon's distrust and fear of Dr. Purnell in real life. The stigma around mental health issues and professionals is very widespread, making it "scary" and making people very hesitant to seek help. This tries to make it hard to trust him as would be for a lot of people to trust a psychiatrist in real life. I think the in-game Dr. Purnell doesn't represent the Doctor himself, but the negative concept Simon has of him. Defeating him (and stomping him) represents dealing with the problem for good. If you trusted him, you accept his help, if you don't you get rid of him, either way the problem is gone. As for the gunshot after trusting him. I think it represents that treatment of mental health can be a really difficult and painful path, but with a potentially better ending than the alternative. (By the way, he shoots you whether you trust him or not, just if you didn't trust him he shoots you with a different gun the deals much less damage). 26:53 I got the best ending on the first go. On the rooftop encounter against Carcass I didn't even know you could run away, I just saw him and said "Come at me bro". However, if I had seen the prompt asking me if I wanted to leave the fight, I would have been extremely suspicious and go back to fight him. Might be "gamey" but I have experience to know the smell of "punishable choices", haha. When facing th doctor I immediately knew it had to be something about trust. By that time, the plot about the book was already out of the bag, so I knew I was supposed to trust him.

[@SpacePrincessNilah]

As someone whose 'known' about Cry of Fear but never interacted with it, I enjoyed this video a lot! There are a lot of interesting beats that, as an American, I would never have picked up on, even if I played the game myself. I personally feel very icky about anything that doesn't handle suicide very well- and I don't think this game does!- but seeing the half life engine re-create near-perfect recreations of Stockholm was very neat! Probably my favorite video of yours yet.

[@pimscrypt]

Thank you! I’m glad that you liked it that much!

[@willhart2188]

I really enjoyed the visual style Cry of Fear as a Finnish person, since many of the locations looked familiar yet strange. Many of the monsters felt really scary at the time too. Other game of a similar style I would recommend is "Infra". It's not really horror, but it explores some really neat environments.

[@willhart2188]

Watched the video now. I think there was Cry of Fear 2 at some point, though I never tried it.

[@pimscrypt]

Infra sounds vaguely familiar. I might check it out at some point!

[@willhart2188]

@@pimscrypt As a warning it also has some thick Finnish accent and jank, but getting past that there is both a mystery and some heart in there.

[@pimscrypt]

After having experienced the thick swedish accents of this game I think I’m ready for anything haha!

[@EXapade]

Your story about seeing the swedish job center in a videogame reminded me about An Outcry (austrian horror game made by a nonbinary person with a nonbinary protagonist, currently a demo) and how I felt when the protagonist steps out to the Gürtel (including an offbrand campaign poster of the austrian far right party). Weird stuff. Hits home when it actually hits home.

[@pimscrypt]

I'm gonna have to check that game out, thank you so much for the tip!

[@anderso80]

Great observation about Arbetsförmedlingen. There really is something in swedish culture that makes you feel like a worthless piece of garbage if you're unemployed. Also, the type of people who work as job coaches are generally not the kind you should interact with in that situation. To anyone reading this who's still in the struggle, a lot us posting about it here in the comments got out of the trap, and so can you. And if you're suffering alone it's not your fault. That's just what you're taught to do if you're swedish. You can go against that. This video has a lot of good qualities but that's the most important point I think.

[@pimscrypt]

Thank you for this comment. 💜

[@orlaithmcg]

This was a really interesting video. I've never played the game, but I still enjoyed learning about it. It was also cool to see a perspective on some of Sweden's issues (Sweden is often held up as the paragon of a perfect society here in Ireland, which is stupid, of course - everywhere has its problems).

[@pimscrypt]

Thank you! And yeah, that doesn't surprise me since Sweden is claimed to be, among other things, one of the world's most equal countries in terms of gender equality. Sadly though that doesn't exactly convey the whole picture.

[@orlaithmcg]

@@pimscrypt I also love the point you made about how our relative distance from the environment of a game impacts our understanding of it and how it affects us. Dear Esther was a game that really impacted me. I'm not from the Hebrides, but I'm from the north-west of Ireland, which looks virtually identical. Walking around the fictional island of the game felt just like walking around the beach and fields near my home and made the story that much more real to me.

[@FpsGamer43]

I feel like this game was made for you. The most horrifying part is your making me wait 3 days for it.

[@pimscrypt]

If you only knew how correct you are. I hope it will be worth the wait! 💜

[@cantonnierbethcepourlavhy6343]

This reminds me of a french or belgian movie called "C'est arrivé près de chez vous" (this happened near your place) who's a dark-comedy about a documentary crew interrogating then assisting a serial killer in his actions in an urban setting, absolutely delivering on the threat of the familiarity of the environment

[@Erinkyan]

Something I really love and appreciate about you and your videos is your thoughtful kindness and compassion, it really shines in you and your work.

[@pimscrypt]

Thank you so much, that really warms my heart! 💜

[@FpsGamer43]

I feel like the wheelchair boss also symbolizes how you won't get any better if you run away from your problems. Anyone who's ever been mentally unwell knows that you don't get better by ignoring it, likewise getting the gun for the doctor is Simon putting in the work, the real world parallel isn't a gun, but maybe a medical history form, a referral from another specialist, ect. I'm not sure how the Swedish medical system does things. Like you can just not show up to doctors appointments due to lack of spoons, and if you do, it can feel like its doing more harm than help at first. Like being shot in the shoulder might parrelel into side effects of medication or spending time in therapy.

[@pimscrypt]

Might be something to that, sure!

[@Skyehoppers]

This channel always bring to my attention pieces of media I never would have found on my own, and then presents with an angle I never would have noticed. I always learn something from these videos that I feel I wouldnt have learned anywhere else on youtube and thats really cool :)

[@pimscrypt]

That makes me very happy to read, thank you! 💜 One of the struggles of writing these videos is the persistent thought that what you’re writing has already been said, and in a much more elegant way. Sometimes I just skip doing entire projects for that reason. It makes me happy to see that things that might seem obvious to me can be new and interesting to someone else!

[@kairnning4473]

Hidden edgy depressed teen memory unlocked: I wrote a short story inspired by cry of fear for norsktentamen in eight grade.

[@pimscrypt]

Petition to rename teen years as "The Cry of Fear Phase".

[@spooksdraws]

I've been excited to watch this all day and finally got to! your take on this game, or rather cultural and individual perspective, is very refreshing and insightful. as always your writing and production value is amazing and lead me through your thoughts without fail. I have many thought on the game but my favorite thing is getting to hear others perspectives so thank you for sharing them.

[@pimscrypt]

Thank you so much, I'm very glad that you liked it! Even though I had to write and talk about some pretty heavy subjects for this video it feels good to be able to share a perspective that a lot of people might not have heard about the game before.

[@BobLogical]

Cry of Fear is to trauma and depression as the Buu Saga is to mid-life crises and searching for the meaning of life as you get older.

[@eurothug4000]

FANTASTIC AS ALWAYS

[@pimscrypt]

SO ARE YOU! But seriously, thank you so much!

[@MrRaivokasMagma]

Weird looking the game as a Finn who has lived near the border their whole life. So familiar, yet weird.

[@pimscrypt]

Oh I can imagine!

[@cheeto6137]

First of all: I saw the video about FNaF 4 video and i really agreed on a lot of things. Even though a lot of people think it's the least scary because of the character designs and jumpscares, i disagree immensly. The dread of having to click your light or close the door when you have a nightmarish "creature" in front of you, or maybe not. Great game to play with friends. Just wanted to mention that, otherwise Pyrocynical's video informed me of Cry of Fear and that video was amazing. I think it might've gotten me more into horror games. I've always loved FNaF and all of the lore a lot but that video really extended my view of horror games. My favorite part of Cry of Fear is probably the devs, Swedish vibes, unlockables and also the story and ideas of the game, of course the game itself is great too but those are my faves. Psykskallar are amazing, Scott Cawthon is amazing. Love these videos and as a fellow swede these videos are even better! This might be a bit too much for one comment, but i just felt i needed to share my experience with Cry of Fear, FNaF and my opinion on the FNaF 4 video.

[@tjecce]

This video slapped! I had heard about this game before, but didn't know much about it. Was a cool experience seeing a Sweden that I'm so used to in this context. Also, your take on the swedish angst among men was very interesting. The game very much seems to come from developers in that place of silent, hidden pain. And that part about Arbetsförmedlingen. Yeah.

[@MortalGlare]

Pim calling me out in the first 80 seconds because i don't know my Italian horror stereotypes :'(

[@pimscrypt]

But now you're curious to learn more right? ;)

[@MortalGlare]

@@pimscrypt Damn, you got me with that one.

[@anmanarrative]

Excellent video! I admit that I know pretty much nothing about Sweden, so seeing Cry of Fear analysed through a Swedish lens was really interesting. And you've given such a thoughtful discussion about how the game handles sensitive subjects, really fantastic work as always. However this does not excuse what you did to that poor cake, shame on you Pim!

[@pimscrypt]

Thank you so much! Since there's so much that's depicted in the game that I as a swede take for granted, it's a lot of fun to see and read the reactions of people who know little to nothing about this country. It makes me really hyped to talk about other swedish horror related stuff in the future! Also yeah I really have no good excuse for what I did to that piece of cake.

[@anmanarrative]

@@pimscrypt I would love to see you talk about more Swedish horror, it's always cool to see how other countries approach the genre and frankly you can never have enough horror. The only Swedish horror I can think of are the games by Angry Demon Studio (Unforgiving: A Northern Hymn and Apsulov: End of Gods), I'm curious to see what else is out there.

[@thanatophobia13]

I will never forget my first playthrough of Cry of fear, I had never genuinely cried over a game before and Cof changed that for me. Cof will always have a very special place in my heart for how it changed my view on life, I've never been diagnosed with any forms of depression but I'm able to relate extremely well with Simon's condition and mental state from thoughts or actions of self-harm, to nearly having an attempt. Cry of fear broke my heart all over again and showed me so much I wish I had been given during my years of struggle. I am forever grateful for Cry of fear and this video even further helps that.

[@pimscrypt]

I’m very glad the game gave you some sense of catharsis, and that my little video made you appreciate the game even more. Bless you. 💜

[@JediBunny]

I never knew Kabob Pizza was a thing, and now I will spend the rest of my days searching for it! Another excellent video, Pim, thank you!

[@pimscrypt]

Thank you so much! It wasn't until I started writing this video that I realized that a lot of people have never heard of Kebab Pizza before haha! I highly recommend it though.

[@carlosfromearth]

The best analysis of this game I have ever seen. Truly captures the strengths and shortcomings of the game and it opened my mind on how to improve on these ideas.

[@pimscrypt]

Thank you so much! That's very kind of you to write!

[@carlosfromearth]

@@pimscrypt Of course! Keep up the great work!

[@Weighty68]

Finally got around to watching this video and am BLOWN AWAY. Fantastic work covering this game that feels like a fever dream to have experienced 3 years ago, and then never touched again. Hell, I never even completed it getting stuck in the train escape on Hard mode and not being able to switch difficulties lol. I loved your direction with in not only talking about how Cry of Fear nails the aesthetic of your country, but generally getting to a deeper issue Sweden faces on the whole. Probably the most interesting discussion I've seen on the game yet outside of the typical "is it good?" format. Congrats on making something so well-rounded, reverent and challenging, Pim!

[@pimscrypt]

Thank you so much Weighty! 💜💜💜

[@engineer0323]

I don't mean to sound like a dick or anything, this is just my opinion! One of the major complaints with the game, and referred back to several times in the game is the fact that it doesn't have a good ending. That it" Digs an emotional black hole, and revels in it." Not all media can end with a happy ending, that is pure ignorance. Simon represents something, and it is sad to say, but this is a real path people have taken. Choosing to end their own life, or take another. Having the game take place in the deepest and darkest parts of the psyche, without crawling out of it shows that in real life, not everyone with these issues come to a happy ending, even in most cases, its to the contrary. One of the major points of the game is the 'Human Condition in Sweden, and particularly that with men. The point wouldn't be nearly has effective if it wouldn't have been for the sheer desperation of Simon. It shows that in cases that really happen, it doesn't get better. Having an ending like this, in my opinion, actually goes for the theme that we need to raise awareness for mental illness. The shock from this really shouts in your face "This happens." If you really don't, believe that this is a real issue, look at global suicide rates in men, and even school shootings where the majority of the causes can lead back to trauma and mental issues. Whelp, this concludes my little counter argument. This was not meant to be shitty or anything, just thought i'd throw my opinion out there. Sorry for mean wording aswell, it's just to help me get my point across

[@pimscrypt]

I genuinely appriciate this comment, and your politness. While I do see some of your points, but I also feel like you're maybe putting words in my mouth. Not all stories should have a happy ending, that I absolutely agree with. I'd even argue that there are stories related to mental health that potentially could benefit from more bitter endings. The point of this video is not to argue against such endings as a whole, but to argue why I personally don't think it works for *this* game. Personally I fear that the theme of men's mental health, and how men should deal with it, is explicit enough that a large majority will read the game as having an ultimately encouraging message, rather than a deeply doomerist one. For that reason I don't believe that "this happens in real life" is enough of an excuse, because this is a story. And the developers could've written it any way they wanted. They certainly could've made the point about men's mental health without tricking the player into choosing one of the more sensationalized outcomes, diminishing what could've been a one *way more* potent ending for the sake of creating replay value. That being said, this is just my reading of the game, and I'm not trying to say that you're reading isn't valid. As long as people find a message in this game that resonates with them, in a way that doesn't cause them to make the same mistakes as Simon, I think that's very neat.

[@engineer0323]

@pimscrypt I see! Thanks for the response. I really wasn't expecting one XD. But now I do kind of see where you are coming from. Once again, Thanks for your imput!

[@Miamicop100]

As a Swede myself my final verdict of this game, or videogame experience IS that I DO like what it does to you. I justify its poor judgment of not leaving you to get a way out of depression, but rather like you said have you stuck in it, makes the game so effective in its horror troops. And yet, since it is a game, YOUR only way out of Simons depression that you as a character experience, can be dealth with by shutting of the game, when you feel like you had enough of this dark decent, at any time given. And that may sound strange, but this is why it is such an excellent horror "game". You are welcomed into the horror in a heartbeat, and you can leave the enviroment at any time, and not feel robbed of your time, as it works as a pit of darkness, a drag me to hell-and Ill be back for supper kinda experience that most games or movies dont have.

[@Coffeepanda294]

Really relatable point about dreaming of seeing your neighbourhood, or hometown, in a video game. As someone who grew up in rural Norway, I of course never got to experience this. Heh, now I kinda want to learn Unity and make such a game myself. edit: in general, I hope people continue to make games based on their own experience with a certain place or region. Games like Night in the Woods (the US Rust Belt) and Embracelet (a windswept island in northern Norway) do such a good job at giving us an insight we wouldn't otherwise have.

[@mynameisozymandias7150]

10:00 Man, I relate so much. I live in Italy and I suffer of Asperger syndrome. I tried to get help to find a job with the program "Garanzia Giovani", and... Believe me, it's even more dysfunctional and exploitative than the Swedish employement program that you talked about. It's a bad waste of EU funds... Now I'm trying to find a good state job thanks to the "Law 68". That should seriously help me and other people in my condition.

[@pimscrypt]

I hope that you'll find a job that works for you!

[@OK2BeFat]

I really needed to hear this today. Thank you

[@nadiaromantini8836]

This was a very good video, but while I don't think this was your intention, I don't think you should shuffle every male depressive into incel territory. Male hopelessness doesn't always have to correlate into joining a sub-culture dedicated to hating women. If I'm just misinterpreting what you said, I apologize.

[@pimscrypt]

You are absolutely right, and I'm glad that you pointed this out. I never ment to imply that the transition from being depressed to being an incel is inevitable, only that men who're suffering from depression etc are more likely to be susceptible to the reasonings of those communities. Regardless if you misinterpreted that part of the video or not, it's good that you brought it up. I could probably have clarified that a little better in the video.

[@WarMomPT]

This was a really great watch, thank you.

[@pimscrypt]

Thank you! I'm glad you liked it!

[@alphamale7388]

Great video, my man; you raise some interesting points and like you, I hope the devs of this game address the weakness of this game. And I gotta say, you bring your eyeshadow A-game for this video! It really makes me wish I knew more about make-up.

[@pimscrypt]

Thank you! If it weren't for my primary partner, who helps me out with the makeup, I would know very little as well haha!

[@maxaroni39]

Hi, new subscriber here! I stumbled upon your channel through Codex Entry's Pathologic video, and I just wanted to say that I'm really glad I discovered it! I love hearing people talk about horror games, and your videos are incredibly high-quality ^-^ (PS, I love your outfit!)

[@pimscrypt]

Thank you! Ruby is really cool. I feel honored to have been a part of that video, and I'm glad you found me because of it!

[@datguyuno98]

Literally only just started this video and thank GOD for mentioning Year Walk, I fucking love that game and it's criminally underrated

[@oj4696]

Hej i live in Slovenia and some locations feels like Ljubljana despite the fact Slovenia is very far away from Stockholm . I even recognised the same crosswalklights. It's realy cool to see places that Fell like home. Cry of fear is one od my favorite games.

[@starrychan33]

Fellas, is it gay for a station to be dark? 🤔🤔🤔

[@mranderson4739]

Really great video. Hits on a lot of topics that are in need of serious discussion in America.

[@thisguyfromtherenaissance934]

God damn it you're such a cutie. But yeah, seriously what a good video essay. Really happy to be here because of HeavyEyed video.

[@pimscrypt]

That's very sweet of you, thank you! HeavyEyed is so bloody good. I feel very honored to have been featured in that recommendations video!

[@corwin32]

When I pick up on Swedish horror (whether made there or based there), I expect a mind-fuck of a story that leaves me asking, “What’s happening?” In a good way

[@s.a.l.1974]

Idk if you'll see this but I had the exact same experience w Videodrome and The Brood by David Cronenberg that you described with Cry of Fear, a lot of stuff is shot here but it rarely reflects what it is like here

[@Randalftown]

Scandinavian horror is definitely children

[@Som_nobody]

This video was amazing, some of these things I never even noticed due to me… well not being Swedish or even knowing any words in Swedish. I love this game a lot though, and what the devs did with the engine is amazing.

[@pimscrypt]

Thank you! It’s been very neat to read reactions like these, from people who are not as familiar with Sweden.

[@Gaawachan]

Why? Why did you do that to that cake? ;_;

[@pimscrypt]

It was Kiki's idea to do a visual demonstration, but I'll take all of the blame for actually doing it (and for wasting *way* to much ketchup on it).

[@FrokenKeke]

Ketchup is the best cake topping! (Also, so sorry for suggesting that.)

[@pimscrypt]

I regret nothing and neither should you!

[@yennefer440]

Omg I love your jumper!

[@pimscrypt]

Thank you! The print was made by one of my patrons. You’ll find a link to their redbubble shop in the video description!

[@yennefer440]

@@pimscryptOh I can't find the link in the description?

[@pimscrypt]

@@yennefer440 I'm terribly sorry, I must've forgotten to add it. My bad! It should be there now!

[@yennefer440]

@@pimscrypt Thank you!

[@nastiii7924]

great video :)

[@pimscrypt]

Thank you!

[@orca1361]

My roommate gives me hell cause when I’m down and out from depression or being rejected too. I will watch a let’s play or play cry of fear or one of the silent hill games. I guess as a way of coping.

[@evanwong2422]

"a bit gay that the whole station is dark"!! the days when the (straight) internet called everything gay was really something

[@craigshaw8761]

What was the song on the title card for the conclusion

[@pimscrypt]

It's the song I quote at the end, "Det finns inga ord" by Kent!

[@ProfessorFlowers]

The laugh at 15:36 😂

[@pimscrypt]

I did multiple takes trying to get the perfect laugh. Can’t imagine what my primary partner was thinking while having to listen to it all from the other room. 😅

[@mranderson4739]

Knowing my kids they still would have eaten that cake and my wife would say they got that from me.

[@pimscrypt]

As a former kid who once wished for a birthday cake with ketchup, spaghetti and bananas I 100 percent believe they would.

[@GooeyGremlin]

Hmn, my younger sibling used to be really into this game. They'll enjoy this :)

[@retu3510]

Woow. That was great! Now I want to explore "German Horror". Beginning with the Nibelungenlied. Than the famously gruesome German fairy tales and myths. The classical German fear based pedagogy of Der Struwwelpeter. Kafka and the terror of German law and burocracy to this day! The horrors of WWI and Fritz Haber. German Expressionism (Nosferatu, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari). And of couse World War 2 and the Holocaust. Followed by the GDR the most intense survalence state we know of. 1 in 63 were Stasi and one in 6,5 were occasional informents!! Jesus, this country is has soo many horrors! No wonder the OG mad scientist is Dr. Frankenstein. And through archeology we even now know of ancient horrors. At Herxheim 7000 years ago hunderts of humans where killed and probably eaten. Yes, Germany even had cannibals.

[@starrychan33]

Ugh why does KZbin never show me your videos? You make videos all the time about video games that the algorithm knows I care about and then it doesn't show them to me for a year. Guess I got to ring the bell and see if that works

[@pimscrypt]

Yeah sadly there seems to be a lot of people who don’t get notifications about my videos. It’s a real shame, since there is so little I can do about it.

[@necrobata1]

Loved it :)

[@pimscrypt]

I'm glad you did!

[@destroyerofidols]

great video

[@pimscrypt]

Thank you!

[@Furore2323]

Did you read this from Pim's Script.

[@pimscrypt]

I was expecting to see this joke at some point, but not this soon.

[@thelegendofner0]

Would you do a Review on Decarnation?

[@pimscrypt]

I haven’t played it yet, so I don’t dare to say. Either way it probably wouldn’t be a review, but more of an essay or comparison type thing. I’m really interested in playing it though. Thank you for the question!

[@MrBjort]

Holy shit I feel seen

[@pimscrypt]

It sure is a feeling.

[@funk.4480]

You’re a game now???

[@pimscrypt]

Always was.

[@slevemcdichael4481]

37:53 WHAT?

[@pimscrypt]

Yeah I don't get it either??

[@mr.hashundredsofprivatepla3711]

@@pimscrypt It’s actually kind of funny because on Cry of Fear’s ModDB page, there’s this one image with a troll comment on it. Andreas responded to this with the following “Welcome to ModDB! This your first time? Maybe a fake account? Maybe you want to unzip my pants and put my giant c0c|< in your mouth and swallow my /_0@d?” That’s a very gay thing to say for someone who throws around homophobic slurs all the time, assuming the person he said this to was male

[@K3k_M0m3nt0]

sverige!!!

[@thexbriannova]

I don't think you understand Cry of Fear at all. There isn't always a happy ending, and I don't think it's right either to avoid telling those stories. Events in the game are extreme, but it's because it's the product of a very damaged mind with no self-censorship whatsoever. Don't know how you connect incel into this either when Cry of Fear isn't about sex. Romance and Sex are two different things.

[@markbaker2370]

So boring ...

[@StarfighterJohansson]

While your channel on the other hand is filled to the brim with insightful entertainment, a bastion of pristine quality content surpassed only by your brilliant wordsmithery in god tier comments such as this.