Bioshock 2 • Retrospective • Through the Looking Glass

[@Oranalysis]

The perfect thing to listen to whilst blasting through the Elden Ring DLC. Thank you!!

[@AesirAesthetics]

Elden Ring dlc is perfect to have in the background of this video, you mean? 🤔

[@cyberninjazero5659]

​@@AesirAestheticsI appreciate that you have enough faith in our skills to think we could take Renalla while having most of our attention focused elsewhere. Unlike Bioshock Infinite, you don't talk down to us

[@AesirAesthetics]

@@cyberninjazero5659 my children WILL defeat Rellana while listening to Pauper's Drop lore ✝

[@willschannel_]

I did actually play bioshock 2 first, and then 1 later. They honestly both do such a good job at establishing and fleshing out the world and standing as their own rapture stories that I wasn't confused whatsoever when i eventually got around to playing 1

[@AesirAesthetics]

thanks!!!👏

[@ezekielrose5173]

I am actually one of those people who did play BioShock 2 as their first one (I actually played it before either System Shock game or Deus Ex for that matter), and I would personally say that yes: the layered world building did do a good job of getting me up to speed. I thought it was pretty effective in presenting Ryan's ideas and how Lamb's were an inversion of them, and when I went back and played the first game later I felt like I was coming back to the very same world. It's nice that BioShock 2 is seemingly getting a re-evaluation, I distinctively recall my taste being mocked for considering it my favorite of the trilogy back in the day.

[@AesirAesthetics]

Thanks for gettin back to me on this one fren :)

[@larsrikardsen4964]

Can’t wait to find out about Ken Levine’s take on Kegare

[@AesirAesthetics]

He's NOT a fan!

[@mitchellradspinner4491]

genuinely laughed hard at this.

[@Krisorsomething.]

Bioshock 2 has my favorite game play out of the series.

[@jackplisken4738]

Drill Build is so friggin fun

[@ZomboidMania]

This channel is so PAINFULLY underrated, it actually hurts my soul

[@thewayfarer8849]

I played 2 first, and nothing quite hit me as much in my early gaming life. I think it showed a lot of philosophical potential in games by showing the effect of a daughter surrogate. We are told in Infinite to be enamoured with a quirky character; but seeing Elanor learn from us and harvest or save a swathe of Little Sisters, and see what happens to a hateable Lamb rather than nothing ever happening to the Lutece Twins...it's much more interesting to learn about an ensemble cast, rather than a tale that assigns guilt to the protagonist, and multiverse stories steal agency and consequence, compared with seeing Little Sisters growing up logically means GENUINELY fascinating and original characters to fight. That there is no Big Sister game, especially in the modern climate seems stranger to me than seemingly giving up on the IP because the pretentious multiverse ideas ruined creative inertia. I still haven't regretted a "Bad Choice" playthrough more in any game than when Elanor started harvesting the Little Sisters and drowning Lamb. I realised that the revenge was actually leading to something worse, she says in a young woman's voice "I indulge"...THAT felt much worse than being drowned for being Comstock in another life, where nothing I did really mattered and it's some nihilistic joke/accusation

[@Sam-lf3hn]

While I've never played any of the Bioshock games, I do agree that it would probably be best if Rapture remained as the primary setting for the series. There is a lot you can do, such as seeing how the city changes as its inhabitants change. Seeing how its citizens change Rapture and how Rapture in turn changes its citizens. Rapture can be this place in which people attempt to enforce their will on others in a vain attempt to bring their vision of a utopia into reality. Something that I appreciate is that Bioshock isn't trying to criticize specific philosophies. It is show casing the dangers of people who become possessed by their philosophies/ideologies, which opens up numerous narritives about obsession, hypocrisy, and zealotry. Not to mention exploring the ramifications of the men and women who force their will upon the world and how it can lead to misery and degradation. We could also follow the stories of those who are still trying to keep those same philosophies in place, and their refusal to change and evolve (in terms of thinking) can be used to explore concepts such as kegare. One last note about continuously using Rapture as a setting is that settings oftentimes can be really great characters that can tell stories all on their own without the need of dialogue. Sorry for the rambling and word wall.

[@katiekaliber]

Columbia can still build on what was before, the rules of a lot of things could still be the same and i'd say we've already explored so much of the rapture world, i love rapture but a new setting imo was not a bad move since it could become a little repetitive to play 3 games i the same place. There is plenty wrong with Bioshock Infinite gameplay wise and cut content wise but i think Columbia as a city was actually extremely well done. It was amazingly fun to run around and discover a whole new area, especially one so contrasting it's own truth so hard (Bright world vs dark society). They put so much effort into how the world looks and i'd be more than happy with it if they would have gone with more of the stuff that was initially planned, with the game being way more interactive instead of button prompts. Also the gameplay itself just feels off and not as good as in Bioshock 1 and 2. Columbia wasn't the problem imo.

[@UberCletus]

Nice, an hour and some. Looks like were sleeping well tonight men!

[@AesirAesthetics]

Be sure to click many ads while u sleep!!

[@Impressive__]

great video. would LOVE a retrospective of the book "A History of Central Banking and the Enslavement of Mankind" Oh uuhhh I mean Silent Hill 4.

[@AesirAesthetics]

Something was born on Jekyll Island and the people must be told!

[@SentientMeatloaf1]

A toast to Aesir and all the hard work he put into this video. No matter what you get out of this video, that fact that we get to enjoy it for free is miracle none of us deserve

[@AesirAesthetics]

A MIRACLE! THE PEOPLE ALL SAY IT!

[@zlodrim9284]

Ever since I heard your Maligned Sequels episode of the Essays and Espresso podcast, I've liked the term and saw it befitting of Bioshock 2. On all accounts, it's a pretty good game, refines the core of 1's gameplay in some clever ways and it also expands the world and shows what happens after 1 ended, while also telling its own story and not being that codependant on its predecessor that it would limit itself in doing its own thing here. The combat was more strategic, weapons more imaginative and the skills more flexible in their application and function. The interactions with Little Sisters were better and expanded upon, playing as a Big Daddy wasn't a marketing gimmick and Minerva's Den DLC is simply great and so severely overlooked if we're to go by achievement rates and how rarely people bring it up and discuss it. Yes, Bioshock 2 isn't as novel or iconic, but it's a good sequel through and through and it's my favorite Bioshock game to return to, mainly because it plays the best and I really do like to abuse the drill. Great to finally see you making this video, good work!

[@AesirAesthetics]

Thank you for liking video :) Also, E&E is deep channel cut so you get heart

[@jacklucy8745]

Aesir, I can’t help but be pained by your lack of views… More than just entertainment, MANY of your videos have made me think in a way that is qualitatively and importantly different. That’s an amazing feat. I am talking even exceeding game stuff…. Thank you for what you do; there are people who appreciate it deeply.

[@rhast57]

I love 2. Flipped the story to see the extreme other side and updated the combat and hacking. It did its job perfectly

[@ConorMacFJB]

How you manage to keep a thread running through so many thoughts, told like a story that I can follow so easily is astounding considering the quality and quantity of your videos. They feel shorter than they are.

[@AesirAesthetics]

Thank you :) Glad you enjoyed

[@mrm0nty550]

Bioshock 2 was my introduction to the series. Although I prefer the first game overall, Bioshock 2 was still a superb game and I'm glad it's been vindicated.

[@AesirAesthetics]

:)

[@exodus9001]

A grand video. Two is definitely my favorite of the games. Ive replayed a ton of times, with random cravings for it as a teen having me pop it in for a two or three day Delta fest. I really agree with the ideas of paid vitachambers and the interesting compass routing system put forward. Petsonally i think a giant golden glow on quest stuff would be good enough for people to consider them worthy to investigate. I'll also agree that it woulda been nice to have something on the level of the artist area from the first game to give some of that creep factor. I really like how the gameplay was vastly upgraded but hadn't really considered how that puts the creepy factor of Rapture on the sidelines. It woulda been fascinating to see something exploring 'what can scare a big daddy.' personally i felt Alex's section had some good scares with the foggy room but more of those feels would have been cool. I think I want to push back a little on the notion of no builds, since i recall the playthrough where i focused on the security plasmids being way different from one focusing on leveling up the damage dealers. Summoning buddies and making the choice to use EVE in the middle of combat for temporarily gaining sec allies or getting up to them for hacking permanent ones. Then having the ability to heal them which I can't recall if that was money or a tonic or some plasmid, but that made for a fun minion mancing playthrough. I suppose one real build and then several 'what balance of strong vs variety do you want for your plasmids' isnt exactly superb tho. I need to play the old Shocks for myself. I'd argue that choosing which weapons get upgraded is somewhat akin to choosing which ones to take, since both will have you likely using the ones picked rather than the others. I will concede after a certain point you've you've found enough stations that you can squeeze most of the quality boosts out of every gun, but you will end up choosing between getting the third super dope upgrade or gettin QoL on other guns. I dunno I just hate Infinite and its bullshit two weapon system that every single shooter was doing at the time when we had the choice of all of em in the previous game. But im not gonna rant about that dumpsterfire or else this really will be a novel. I think something missed in the discussion about how Little Sister relationship is focused on in the second game is something I'm surprised you didn't mention: the gifts. Saving set amounts of the kiddos has them gifting Adam, tonics, money, plasmids i think in some of them. One of the tonics in particular increases the amount of Adam gathered at each corpse, which I feel is at once a mechanical benefit that would extrinsically provide one with a greater bond to the girls since they're more useful as well as perhaps inspiring intrinsic desire to keep helping them and discover what else they might bring. Or just informing you that they appreciate it and its prob for the best if you keep saving. Though from a meta sense if you save them up until you get this tonic and THEN start harvesting you get the most Adam possible in a single run which was a glorious playthrough. Ultimately I think mote could have been done to really bond you to them. I enjoyed all their little voice lines for things you do when they're riding but perhaps some more unique ones per sister would have made them stand out more as characters rather than avatars of the upgrade system to cart around. I'll end by agreein that Bioshock 3 should definitely take place in Rapture again. By now who knows what kind of crazy nonsense has happened. We could have a John Carpenter's Thing level where someone grew out of control into an entire level or something suitably insane of that caliber. Leaning into the genetic warping we saw with Alex on a greater scale would be a supremely cool way to reallt distinguish levels from one another. Really make it bioshocking as it were. Oh wait i forgot about my main gripe with B2. My 360 copy has an infuriating glitch. Upon reaching Pauper's Drop, should I foolishly decide to save within it AT ANY POINT past the first arrival autosave, when loading back in the battle music will just be stuck on for the rest of the game. Yes I once went through to the next level and it was still on. No i did not beat the game with this challenge mode on. And despite how incredibly annoying this is I nearly ALWAYS forget about it and when I turn the game on i have to start from that auto save. Needless to say I have the Drop memorized to beginner speedrun levels.

[@jackplisken4738]

Ah , my favorite Type of Video Bioshock Retrospectives

[@gregorymifsud5389]

cant wait on the thief series 😁😁 great vid

[@AesirAesthetics]

thank you! Looking forwards to making the thief series one of these days :)

[@goldchalice]

Bioshock 2 is a game I remember enjoying but also don't remember anything about

[@AesirAesthetics]

Lol

[@brianbrianbification]

MUCH anticipated

[@AesirAesthetics]

😎

[@jtreview7506]

Wooo, this’ll help get me through this crappy work day

[@AesirAesthetics]

Enjoy fren :)

[@jtreview7506]

Was a great listen! Any plans to cover the Minerva’s Den DLC?

[@AesirAesthetics]

@@jtreview7506 was planning to, but wanna focus on Sielnt Hill 4 Commentary now. Maybe in another 7 years :)

[@jaredmatthews9403]

Great vid as usual! (That one song with the alarm clock is triggering my ptsd haha)

[@bradleyallen6883]

A Bioshock where you're in the golden era, kind of noir, very early splicers who are more powerful because they're young, and experimental plasmids. It's a run on sentence, but I'd play it.

[@iamthehobo]

Oh shit? Save to watch later immediately

[@AesirAesthetics]

Watch now!?!? With ads?!?!

[@portsilpa]

Late, but here I am to listen to (sleep through) the entire video!

[@AesirAesthetics]

be sure tosleep thrgugh many ads!!! :V hope you enjoy the video :)

[@kellypanda4243]

Thanks for another great video. Would love to see you cover infinite one day ❤

[@SerpC]

Great video; deserves way more views

[@AesirAesthetics]

Thank you :)

[@tlozfreak888]

I think Bioshock does offer a valid critique of objectivism, although I understand why Ken Levine says it wasn't the point. It's kind of hard to do a take on Ayn Rand without showing how completely insane her world view was without ignoring a lot of practical questions.

[@GFXCXZ]

There are two people in the comments Those that actually watched the video and gained a deeper understanding and love of the game. Those that are literally the very type of idealogue the game itself and the view analysis is directly telling them it is about. And even when handed the games message and analysis on a plate, can't let go of the sense of bitter resentment towards people of different ideas from the past that they will never get to meet, and most likely will never actually read the material of. Because they are the Idealogues that would make a rapture. Be it in game 1 or game 2 is irrelevant.

[@victorbianquini3636]

What a way to start the week

[@AesirAesthetics]

Enjoy fren!

[@deschain1910]

People who were wanting Bioshock to be an anti-capitalist commentary were really missing the point. Went right over their heads...

[@SentientMeatloaf1]

Very true, but, A. People will hear what they want to hear, and won’t let reality get in the way of a convenient lie B. Pretty much every piece of media for the past several decades has been a hit-piece on capitalism. We have been trained to expect it at this point. C. Despite not being an anti-capitalist message at its core, it still doesn’t have anything nice to say about capitalism. It’s a very surface level read, but it’s not an unreasonable conclusion to come to given the context of the game. Perhaps it’s more appropriate to say that the game takes potshots at it in the process of being about something else.

[@fhjunior6183]

Thanks for the vid

[@AesirAesthetics]

Thanks for watching and liking and subscribing and telling friends and subscribing to onlyfans and praying for my well being and tithing for me and ❤️

[@avennoronha7081]

Great video, my man! A classic for sure. Would love to hear your thoughts Returnal 🎉

[@NikoTeaJay]

The Best Bioshock. Fun look at a game. Played some Elden Ring on the side while watching.

[@AesirAesthetics]

Thank you for acknowledging Elden Ring as the SIDE ACTIVITY to your watch :)

[@DevaPein]

Anyday now. Mgs3 retrospective. Im sure of it lol

[@AesirAesthetics]

O_o

[@GooberSmoobert]

I really liked all the points that you made in this video specifically the one where you said how you think any future BioShock games should return to rapture because everyone else I've ever heard talk about that has said they wanted it to not return to rapture. I think the point you made is good but the thing is is that honestly I feel like rapture might seem boring for a new game. We have visited rapture four times throughout the series and a fifth might be a little too much but then again your point about the formula repeating could also make the franchise seem stale

[@hadouken_irl5654]

Infinite was such a letdown because as a sequel, Bioshock 2 is pretty damn great. I love both Bioshock 1 and 2, and seeing it be turned into crazy multiverse crap annoyed the hell out of me to no end. There was no need to make the metaphysics of the Bioshock universe even more insane than how crazy they already were.

[@cosyisconflicted]

I don’t think it’s a bad game I feel like it’s just bioshock 1.5

[@sircamquat]

1:14:22 Discord notification sound

[@Dave-um7mw]

Andy Ryan, Ayn Rand. I just put that together now lol.

[@GreyFeather9]

As a normal human in B1 splicers are sometimes 1 shot kills even with a shotgun. As a big daddy in B2, your most fearsome enemy in B1, your drill is worthless unless you stack multiple end game perks, your "pistol" that shoots steel rods and your shotgun both deal less damage to splicers than B1. It makes no sense at all, within universe, within your experience of the previous game. It breaks immersion and is clearly a game design decision meant to raise difficulty artificially. I'm not asking to mow down enemies, that's never fun. but the game never made me feel like a heavy machine of destruction. I played B1 on the hardest difficulty and B2 on hard.

[@Dizqard]

How far do you have to fast forward to get to the part about how grass is better than estus?

[@AesirAesthetics]

😏

[@wolfiewoo3371]

1:09:48 song?

[@thecircleoft.e.d2121]

I was introduced to BioShock via the release of the 2nd; the Siren Alley trailer caught my eye and I was easily interested in the game. When I played the original BioShock long after the 2nd, I saw where the 2nd improved on, preferably the lack of any plot twists; when the WYK twist in the climax of the 2nd act was over, it left the rest of the game feel like it was dragging its legs, like man who lost the use of his legs. It feels like the twist was too soon, and the following level isn't enjoyable (the gradual loss of health was rather irritating in a stressful manner) and the introduction of Frank Fontaine being Atlas was a downgrade; I just can't stand Fontaine's cocky, arrogant and thick...New York accent overall equalising to him having an obnoxious voice. I liked his Irish Atlas persona better. Plus, there's the "Big Daddy phase" where you pretend to be a Big Daddy and have to protect the little sister, and that's not fun; it's the fact they gave her a health bar, and made the protection aspect harder than it probably should have; the fishbowl perspective certainly didn't help. And finally, the underwhelming boss fight with Fontaine. What BioShock 2 did so well is that it wasn't going to a big twist; I think they learned from the 1st game and realised they couldn't top it, and that it made the game afterwards feel a lot less fun. So they went with a front and centre approach, with the only considerable twist being that Eleanor was aware of what you were doing across the game, due to the pairbond, and what Lamb did in that scene. It was just what my young mind was in need of, and I still stand by saying that BioShock 2 is a better game then the original, even story-wise.

[@sewnmind1786]

First. I've waited for this day for so long.

[@AesirAesthetics]

Enjoy

[@jaredmatthews9403]

1:20:35 And I took that personally

[@MrXtr1]

Delectable

[@AesirAesthetics]

Enjoy

[@MrXtr1]

​@@AesirAestheticsHaving seen the video now, Ive been wondering whether you ever played Arkanes Prey? Its propably the closest thing we ever got to a System Shock 3

[@AesirAesthetics]

@@MrXtr1 I played it for a bit but I got the PS4 copy and realized immediately I should've gone for PC. Will fix one day when immersive sim fever hits me :) Also, I consider Deus Ex to be System Shock 3 in all but name

[@MrXtr1]

@@AesirAesthetics Deus Ex as SS3 is an... interesting take. Might have to replay all of em to see what you mean. Just the excuse I needed

[@piotr78]

"Since bioshock isnt so much about ideology but about ideologue" (if that's what you said, I'm not sure!) I'm lost here. Did you mean to say ideologues or am i misunderstanding? Cause ive heard it used singular multiple times now

[@AesirAesthetics]

Ideologue is the act of belief Ideology is the belief Bioshock is abotu people who are more invested in their beliefs than in the real world,

[@piotr78]

@@AesirAesthetics ooh I thought "ideologue" always referred to a person that follows/advocates an ideology. Never heard it used to describe the act of belief by itself. Interesting!

[@darkrulerbob]

Everything i can findsays bioshock infinite was a huge success. Critically and financially. Good video but it was confused by the beginning saying infinite was bad. It was controversial because it talked about racism and that brought about the usual actors on both sides of american politics. But it was critically acclaimed from what i could find and sold 11million.

[@GreenEyedDazzler]

I don’t remember it having ANYTHING significant to say about racism. They completely chickened out. They barely even touch on poverty. It’s like all they cared about was time travel. It was very bad compared to other “shock” games

[@jarlwhiterun7478]

It's a bad game. A very repetitive gallery shooter that wants to be smart, but is mostly pretentious

[@JFKHaircut]

I am hungry mommy

[@AesirAesthetics]

Luckily for you, I just cooked! 😎👉👉

[@IGotDiabeetus]

I rarely leave comments but this video really was great. I've seen a lot of Bioshock analysis vids and I think this is the best of them. Your deep dive into the mechanics and suggestions on possible fixes was really intriguing, especially the idea of having vita chambers and a compass be unlocked in level. I'm also glad that unlike some other reviewers, you actually understood that BS1 was criticizing extremism and not objectivity specifically. I think objectivism is dumb but some reviewers are treating BS1 like it's a great showing of how terrible pure objectivity would be if implemented, meanwhile because they themselves are socialists or have collectivist tendencies, they'll say BS2 doesn't showcase "real" collectivism and is an unfair caricature of it. Which is obviously biased because BS2 shows the dangers of unchecked collective thinking. Hats off to you.

[@demomainintf2963]

Bioshock minerva's den when?

[@AesirAesthetics]

7 years!

[@demomainintf2963]

@@AesirAesthetics you're joking right? Its a short expansion but a very good one

[@AesirAesthetics]

@@demomainintf2963 lol, I'll do it when inspiration strikes, no fixed time schedule

[@demomainintf2963]

@@AesirAesthetics ok babe

[@sam2399]

🤔

[@alexandrucatalindragan6842]

sh 4

[@daspotato]

Man, I like the points you're making but they're hampered by Ken Levine sure seems to have a hamster's attention span and spends 7-8 years on games constantly rebooting things in mid-production. :c

[@clvr51]

It's not Ken Levine that gave Objectivism a bad rap, it was Ayn Rand herself simply by crafting an incredibly childish and flawed philosophy, and the fact her protagonists end up being paragons of her ideology (instead of believable characters) is again down to Rand being a terrible writer, in addition to being an abysmal "philosopher" and a bitter human being in general. So no, it couldn't have been any ideology, Ken. This is further demonstrated by how nebulous, weak and poorly thought out Lamb's "collectivist" ideology and its link to her being a psychologist are. BioShock 1 jad a great story because it explored and deconstructed an existing, albeit flawed, ideology. BioShock 2 just makes up one on the spot to have a face value foil to Ryan's objectivism, and speaking as a person with a background in psychology (and anthropology to some degree), that's incredibly disappointing, especially regarding the way they implement Lamb being a psychologist in all this. So yeah, I love BioShock 2 to bits and it remains one of my favourite games ever, but the main story is a complete mess. To be honest I found Mark Meltzer's story to be way more memorable, and every time I replay the game, those bits are always rhe one I look forward to the most.

[@clvr51]

@@secularv could you articulate a reply that has anything at all to say? How does originality factor into the discussion? Are you trolling? Bah.

[@secularv]

You say person somehow personal responsibility And productiveness is childish another question is are you? Religious because she who is atheist provides an actual stance for objective morality that even a socialist agreed with her. She also is the best defender of capitalism which is a very great economic system. But also her philosophy is very easy to understand for people to embrace their individuality and live their own life. How is that childish? Now, when you said her protagonist are paragon of her ideology even knowing the purpose of ideal characters and protagonist are meant to embody the philosophy of that philosopher Many writers and philosophers obviously would make their beliefs very clear and have the protagonist and characters embody those beliefs. And also her philosophy and writing still gives a good critique of altruism and collectivism she’s not a perfect person and she’s not right about everything, but she was truly a unique person and gave the best proper defense on individualism that people are individuals and should be see in that way

[@clvr51]

@@secularv well, if you still think capitalism is a "very great economic system" in 2024 I now understand why are so quick to defend Rand.

[@secularv]

@@clvr51 you’re just economically illiterate. I heard many people like you before. Literally taken an economics textbook or just doing your own research and history on economics you would know that we mixed economy.

[@benjaminsente7430]

Both the second and the third game followed a gynocentric agenda. But BS3 also degraded due to it´s heavy Disney-like aesthetic and leaning into feminism. None of BS1 , BS2 and BS3 explored the theme of the BIO-shock in particular.

[@AesirAesthetics]

Bioshock 2 goes somewhat into the biological horror of he setting

[@benjaminsente7430]

@@AesirAesthetics Maybe they should have named the games Bloodshock. Or Psychoshock.

[@AesirAesthetics]

@@benjaminsente7430 Moneyshock@

[@Omnywrench]

Feminism? I didn't really get that sort of vibe from Infinite. I was more disappointed by its clumsy handling of racism themes

[@benjaminsente7430]

@@Omnywrench Hm. Those things tie into each other actually, since the racism was a mediocre way to demonize the father-figure beyond the relative crime of imprisonment as a means for protection.

[@MrKiller1250]

Ayn rand had a big hand in creating the hellhole of capitalism we live in today where so many richest countries su k to live in lol

[@secularv]

Your economically illiterate and know nothing about economics and we’re not a capitalist economy where a mixed economy read a textbook on economics or just do your own research

[@tha_juice3262]

Coffee: check! Prepared to dive 🫡

[@AesirAesthetics]

Dont drown!!