Imaginary Monsters: Alan Wake vs. The Evil Within [Franchise Spoilers]

[@parkerdixon-word6295]

Coming back to this one in 2024, and hearing Noah both say there won't be an Alan Wake 2 (though he does nail American Nightmare being non-canonical right on the head) but also talk about how he'd never touched Resident Evil to be able to judge The Evil Within in relation to those games, and talk about bouncing off Bloodborne is just a delight. Look how far we've come. It's been a hell of a couple of years.

[@Altrious]

"there is no Alan Wake 2 and there probably never will be." Alan Wake 2 video when?

[@BrunoMael]

"But there never was an Alan Wake 2 and it probably never will never be" GOD it's so good to hear this 3 years later and actually start laughing instead of crying

[@SidPhoenix2211]

I literally just rolled credits on Alan Wake. I'm watching the credits scroll by. I wanted to play it after I platinum'd Control (LOVED it). Plus finding out that Noah made a video about the game also gave some motivation to complete it. Having played Control, the AWE DLC, and now Alan Wake... I'm SOOOOOOOO excited for Alan Wake 2. I REALLY love the stuff that Remedy does and I cannot wait to see how they turn up the fear factor in AW2 (since it seems MUCH darker in tone and is going to be a proper survival-horror game. I wasn't really scared during Alan Wake. A number of tense moments, some mild jumpscares. But I was mostly okay and enjoying this eerie, spooky story. Had a good time :)

[@d3m0nlbyakuya19]

check again... now theres alan wake 2

[@maxmfpayne]

9 days my friend

[@albam6392]

you are in for a treat

[@joshuataff4911]

Alan Wake 2 kicks the originals ass in every way.

[@Ophelia381]

This would be a fun one to revisit now that there's a sequel to Alan Wake.

[@yikesmsmsmsm]

The Evil Within rocket launcher explanation - it's a Resident Evil trope. Resident Evil games have a tradition of all bosses ending with a rocket launcher. Honestly, I loved the callback, but for anyone outside the Mikami circlejerk, it comes across as just lazy.

[@GreebusBleeb]

@@Puma_UY oh yeah? Greebus Bleeb! Edit: damn straight I see you out there liking this greeby bleeb

[@giraton1]

It's funny seeing this vid after his resident evil video and him totally understanding the purpose of the rocket launcher as a result.

[@runedeadthA]

This is an old comment and video but every time I rewatch the video I think of this moment and have wanted to say something. The moment ruvik touched leslie, he was out of dream, there was no longer anyone controlling it. Under that lens the fact "he" turns into a big rampaging monster is more just a remnant, or it's the way the minds of the remaining dreamers, sebastion, sees him. With that it also makes sense that everything goes his way during the boss fight, a humvee, a convenient rocket launcher, it's what the protagonist wants and its what the dream gives him. It also makes the part where he just makes "ruvik" die through sheer protagonist-y willpower less dumb.

[@Deadforge]

Also it's because Sebastián has full control of the simulation at that time. So his mind was going for survival which is why the end boss doesn't make a lot of sense.

[@TerranPersoid725]

“Circlejerk?”

[@GabiSF]

You never know when Noah will come back with a video, he just does

[@heyyo3725]

I can't believe you don't receive his telegrams, Morse code messages, or announcements over ham radio like the rest of us😑😂

[@SomeAdam]

@@heyyo3725 Noah totally seems like a person who has a ham radio operator license

[@arieldreemurr6284]

Bloodborne is my favourite game of all time, but guys, he isn't slamming it. He's admitting that it isn't for him, as the Souls Series is for many people. That's it. Relax. He even said that horror means different things to different people. That's why the genre is so compelling. Anyway, great video. I literally just downloaded The Evil Within due to your recommendation, and I'm liking it a lot.

[@Langtw]

(I know I'm necroposting, shush) Yeah, in a later video he says "no one enjoys repeating content", which is the precise point of view that explains why he plays on Easy and will never do the Soulsborne games. It's not a negative judgment, but Noah is very clearly not someone who desires mastery in any way.

[@arieldreemurr6284]

@@LangtwIt's never necroposting when you reply to me. But yes, he clears a lot of this up in the Resident Evil video, and it's completely valid.

[@Randerson2409]

Absolutely. Heck, I love the Soulsborne games, and sometimes they're not even for me. Sometimes I just don't have the mental energy for them, so I can totally get why someone would just not find them appealing in general. Also, sorry for replying to comment 3 years old. Just wanted to agree

[@cappedminer369]

I think the evil within 2 is good

[@tryinglyon]

I do think Bloodborne has its problems, even if I'm bad at it. Most problems stem from a retrospective look into the series of Souls games. If we look back at Demon Souls, a technically inferior game, it has a lot that I think is desired in future FromSoft titles. Despite Demon Souls being the most impractical game in the series, it doubles down on its experimentation within combat and level design. Look at the bosses compared to Bloodborne. Leechmonger, Lady Astraea, Armor Spider. These bosses are unique and distinguishable from each other in description of how they progress and initiate battle with you. Then there's Bloodborne's bosses which, even though they are excellent battles that test your reaction timing and careful maneuvers...that's how all of them are. I'll make a bold opinion and say that my favorite boss in Bloodborne was Micolash. It might come off as a bizarre opinion, but what I love about this boss isn't how strong of a foe Micolash is, but how much of a coward he is. He runs away and taunts you, talking madness and moaning like the mad scholar he's designed to be. He sets a unique presentation that he ultimately becomes an unforgettable experience of the game, despite a large majority of the community disliking the boss. This isn't to say that all Bloodborne bosses should be like Micolash or completely complex. It's alright to have a few Flanelurkers in there. I'm just saying that Bloodborne bosses, although epic in scale, feel shallow in design.

[@angusnisbet6165]

The quality of these videos never cease to astound me. Incredible detail, well thought-out and consistently interesting to watch.

[@reluctantParticipante]

I came down here in search of "Alan Wake 2 is happening now"/"that didn't age well" comments. I got what I came for.

[@z3bra_f0untain36]

It makes me so happy to know that you played Bloodborne! That first area is hands down the hardest opening area out of any game I've played. The game doesn't become a good horror game until you're halfway done. Once the locales and enemies become absolutely "other" is when Bloodborne truly shines. Anyways, I just found your channel and I've been loving every video you make. I would love to see an essay on the dark souls series or Bloodborne in the future if you ever decide to do something like that!

[@KingMayuke]

I love myself about as much as Noah loves audio editing

[@NegitoroIsBestShip]

Same

[@АлексейЛогинов-ж1ц]

His audio is perfect

[@jakemitchell9853]

I think the warts-and-all approach Noah takes to his presentation is charming, and I suspect there are those that're equally charmed by you. Here's hoping that in the last two years you've grown a bit more charmed by yourself, bud.

[@ethanmcbride6811]

@@jakemitchell9853 one of the most wholesome comments on KZbin

[@donniedarko2815]

@@jakemitchell9853 you’re a fool. Stop.

[@MidnightMedium]

Right around 44:24 you completely capture my whole approach to gaming: high difficulty except when opted into for it's own sake often takes away the enjoyment of drinking in the environment and of playing with my tools to interact with it, and why I tend to hang out on the Normal/Medium difficulties.

[@CDexie]

Sifu is probably the closest I'll get to enjoying a Soulslike lmao

[@dagdammit]

A personal headcanon I find to really enhance the Evil Within series is that most of the weapons and resources Sebastian finds are his own form of reality-shifting influence. He changes the dreamscapes so that *somewhere* within them is something he can use to survive and fight back. His resourcefulness and resilience, made manifest as health and ammo pickups.

[@acehood9953]

I know this is a year old but I never noticed that. Evil Within should really have explored that idea more. It always felt like a good game, that could have been an amazing game.

[@DevilsMegaCreations]

Since you’ve never played any of Resident Evils the way almost all of them end in you shooting the big bad with a rocket launcher that appears outta nowhere. I get where you’re coming from though. Having the experience of playing most of Shinjis past work enough to know of this Rocket Launcher trope, that when it happened in this game it was amazing almost like Shinji himself saying hey thanks for following me even though this isn’t Resident Evil. I was giddy with a stupid smile on my face when the Rocket Launcher fell from the sky in the most random way possible. To me it was a fourth wall break a nod to this stupid trope scattered throughout most of his games that it made the ending so much better cause to me it was like heres a Rocket Launcher thanks for beating my game.

[@felisasininus1784]

DOOM 2016 is a horror game. For the demons! ha!

[@linusdn2777]

That's why the boss music is constant. You are the boss for every demon

[@TheAcidMines]

25:48 I’ve never heard this experience described before at all, but I definitely didn’t expect to ever find it in a game review or all places, and I think that’s one of the my favorite things about these videos. This is a great review overall but I think bits of writing like are perfect because they make it worthwhile to watch any content NCJ’s put out even if I have little interest in the topic going in, if only to hear lines like this.

[@JBshreds]

"Lily looks like she escaped from a precious moments greeting card" You say some of the best shit I have ever heard

[@Laura_5757]

I’d love to see an addendum (or an additional video all on its own) now that Alan Wake 2 has been released

[@meursault7030]

I can't bring myself to dislike American Nightmare. The main game and AN both 100% nail the feelings of my favourite types of night: Foggy woods night and clear desert night. Even as a writer myself, I'm not interested in the stories of these games. I'm not scared of the "Taken", I don't feel compelled to rescue Alice. My main motivation to go through the games as many times as I have is to experience a pleasant walk at night, almost taste that 3am fresh air, poke around those lovely bespoke interiors, chill in the Twin Peaks police station. They're just so cosy.

[@remembertotakeshowerspleas355]

56:04 That's actually an old Resident Evil tradition, killing the final boss with a rocket launcher. I guess Mikami wanted to stay true to his roots. Anyway, it's made for some of my personal favorite moments in gaming and while I get your issues with how The Evil Within ended, I couldn't help but like that bit in particular. If they were already going to go all out with the ending they could have done a lot worse than pay homage to a classic.

[@justinw1384]

Idk, paying homage isn't great all in its own. Killing the boss with a rocket launcher seems totally out of tone with the rest of the game and it's such a game thing and an ultimately lazy way to end a game on a bang that I'm not sure I think that it being a homage let's the game off the hook for using it.

[@remembertotakeshowerspleas355]

I'm not saying that the rocket launcher bit made up for the tonally inconsistent ending so much as I was saying I was cool them doing it if they were already going to go in that direction. And I don't think doing "game things" in a video game is a bad thing on it's own.

[@TheSoulHarvester]

Japanese games tend to be far more self-consciously aware of themselves as games imo, allowing for homages & so on like this. I liked the nod to Res Evil, personally, in the same way I liked the Colonel in Metal Gear Solid telling me to "press the crouch button." Western games tho tend to be far more interested in "immersion," the developer's role being primarily to submerge the player in the fiction, seamlessly. It's always been weird to me that we white folks tend to view our entertainment as transcendent, & our spirituality as a willing illusion. :\ That's kind of a tangent I guess. POINT IS: This kind of self-aware nod isn't out of character for Japanese-influenced games, & imho you should just roll with it.

[@ChadVulpes]

@TheSoulHarvester I see your point, but I can't stand that you just use "white folks" for term of American culture. There are too many cultures within the group of "white folks" to just say it like that.

[@TheSoulHarvester]

I wasn't talking about Americans specifically. I was talking about white folks. Why would someone assume when I say "white folks" I mean Americans? Y'all aren't even that white smh

[@Harry_S._Plinkett]

Mobius: The forbidden corporation. A corporation that is, yes, FORBIDDEN TO YOU!

[@matics898]

Could you send me a pizza roll?

[@symmetrymilton4542]

Go my Roboscorpions! Go and sting in all things MOBIUUUUUS!

[@jazxsora]

"But there never was an Alan Wake 2 and there probably never will be." Quote that hasn't aged well in 2022, still made me really wanna replay the series though!

[@maxmfpayne]

So happy he was wrong

[@father042]

Alan Wake was one of the best and most underrated games of the last generation

[@nathaneskin3572]

Ivan Malek The only problem I had with it was how it always telegraphs exactly where and when enemies show up. Kind of ruined the horror feeling when I always knew whether or not enemies were around. Other than that it's really great.

[@nathaneskin3572]

Ivan Malek On the other hand silent hill also telegraphs enemies, but you never knew exactly where or what the enemies were until you found them, and there were some enemies that didn't cause the radio static until they started to attack you.

[@TheCivildecay]

agree

[@shane8426]

I got pretty sick of it after one hour-long sitting. 5 minute hallway, cutscene, hallway, cutscene. It was really irritating.

[@bennygerow]

Meh it was boring and repetitive

[@leftpastsaturn67]

Good to have you back.

[@Ethan265Stapley]

"Alan shoots the enemy and runs to the next scene." Don't stop there, I was hooked.

[@ZappBranniglenn]

Only discovering Evil Within recently, and it gave me serious Alan Wake vibes. Really happy to have discovered both series.

[@dethtrain]

Glennjamin Glutton I got the same vibe with the second game. More silent Hill with the first one

[@nealforreal]

13:52 Sun Kil Moon reference? We would totally be best friends in real life Noah come pick me up with the travel van!

[@ancientdweller309]

Great album

[@baseysmint]

I particularly enjoyed the section where you talked about difficulty in the evil within

[@Reubel]

Put everything else on hold: It's Noah Time!

[@maureenbouterse]

You're back and as always with a video that leaves me pondering. Worth every second.

[@justinfenton9983]

Awesome Video Man! I'm sorry to hear about your trip and to a much lesser extent your experience with bloodbourne. I know what you mean in the context to the video and that the experience isn't for everyone. But most of all I am just happy that you have given us another great video.

[@this.is.spencer]

Really great video. Especially enjoyed the discussion that horror is meant to take our mundane fears to their extremes. This was a revelation for me, but now I can see it everywhere. I Am Legend isn't about vampires as much as it is about loneliness. Invasion of the Body Snatchers and The Thing aren't so much about an alien invasion as it is the sinking suspicion that someone is only not who they say they are. So that's the appeal of horror movies, perhaps, that we can face our fears in their most intense form in a safe way. It's almost cathartic.

[@whitedude877]

Well said.

[@thinkstoomuch4445]

Mr. Gervais, first I want to thank you for your videos. They are high quality as always. Second, thank you for giving me inspiration to start my own channel on looking at video games from various meaningful perspectives. I always felt I had something to say about many games but I always feared people laughing at me on what I thought was a fruitless venture. But you proved me wrong and even though my channel is young, I feel accomplished thanks to losing the fear of what other people think and just put my thoughts out there. So thank so again for the inspiration. Lastly, keep doing what you're doing!

[@PatrickProductions12]

Your analysis of the second game was spot on. Such an improvement over the first game it's absurd. I joked about Sebastian's character during the first game, and I couldn't believe it when I teared up at the end of the Evil Within 2.

[@4T3hM4kr0n]

Yeah I screamed with joy when kidman rebelled and killed that G-man knockoff. After the living nightmare that sebastian had to go through I was really happy for him to get his daughter back and actually have a life.

[@supersonicknockout5143]

Best game i ever played (the Evil within 1)!!! perfect 10/10. on pc max settings 100fps 1440p. perfect story and characters and gameplay. WOW my favorite game of all time, and i played alot. now i will start the DLCs i played TEW2 before the first one, and it was really exhausting but also good id rate it at 8/10

[@LorneOfTehInterwebz]

I wouldn't say the first game is exceptional, but the second game absolutely feels like it's playing it safer than the first game, and I can't stand that. It had some very interesting ideas but at the end of the day the antagonists are clearly created to be beaten by Sebastian, and he even does a complete 180 in his own character arc out of nowhere. I just think they could have made an exceptional game rather than an average one. Also fuck the Marrow. Those sections were easily 10x worse than the city segments from the first game. Maybe it's just me but those sections really killed the game for me.

[@aidenp6001]

"There wasn't an Alan Wake 2 and there probably never will be." Glad to see this aged poorly.

[@TankorSmash]

Haha, about 22:20 in, you can hear you scroll the mouse wheel. Great video so far!

[@lucignolo8333]

we missed you so much dude, cheers from italy

[@SquidWithABigIdea]

It's great to come back and watch this video after the new RE one, especially when Noah mentions that he has never played a RE game. How things change!

[@muratgaev9310]

Since Dead Space was mentioned 2 times, I'm wondering if we'll ever see Noah's take on the franchise?

[@matics898]

Murat Gaev That would be awesome.

[@ChunkyAppleCider]

just dropped an hour ago

[@kalinflip]

@@ChunkyAppleCider I love how things come full circle like that.

[@thescatologistcopromancer3936]

I've always had a fascination with pissing into the abyss during camping trips

[@habadasheryjones]

4:30 For the uninitiated, that hard boiled detective is Max Payne, the main protagonist of Remedy's two previous games before Alan Wake. Remedy effortlessly incorporates their previous games into their new game's lore. Those who have played Control know what I'm talking about

[@CheesyCola1]

Loved that Mark Kozelek reference!

[@taylorciccotelli7822]

13:53 very nice Sun Kil Moon reference.

[@SanDeygo]

Just want to leave my support Noah. Your videos make me think about games in a way few else do! Keep doing you!

[@lvkeyne]

I've never considered Alan Wake to be "true bona fide horror game, driven by fear". I always thought it was intended as a goof on Stephen King. And others. It's hard to be scared while you're grinning at one referrential joke after another.

[@drakenfist]

I partially agree, just as Noah says, when the Taken are attacking, the way they move is genuinely unnerving. Yet its hard to fully get freaked out when you have Barry saying stuff like "The birds are going all Hitchcock on me!". Also, after having just watched the original Twin Peaks (not the return, yet), I did garner a new found appreciation for its level design, as the Diner, the lodge (which also stated in game used to be a hotel) and the sheriff station all appear to be a very faithful recreation of the double R diner, sheriff station and the great northern from that series (there are some changes of course, but for the most part it feels like i'm walking around the twin peaks set, which is pretty cool).

[@lvkeyne]

Yup. I was all like "Hey Margaret, is your log a lamp now?" "Hey Shelly, where's Norma?" "Hey sheriff, you have your own Bookhouse Conspiracy too?" Quite comforting setting actually.)

[@maxmfpayne]

I'm glad Alan Wake 2 has leaned more into the horror then the original

[@thirdcoinedge]

Compared to the original, I think the sequel is actually the greater horror game. The first is more of an action game with horror elements - it has the axe murderer and psychological elements, but you're never in too much danger - while the second is more overtly a survival horror game - you are in an unfamiliar environment with limited ways to fight back against the monsters. But fortunately, it keeps all those Stephen King and Twin Peaks references, and ties into the other Remedy games pretty well (Control and Alan wake go surprisingly well together).

[@АлексейЛогинов-ж1ц]

HE IS ALIVE, THANK GOD!

[@brianolsen5435]

I was actually starting to get a bit worried. Wouldn't miss a Noah Caldwell video for anything!

[@alyssagoss2299]

Haha! When I first started following Noah, I checked his twitter and saw a tweet that his dog had been attacked and was being rushed to the vet, then nothing for months. I've never been more worried about a dog I've never met in my life. But my fears were all for nothing. Noah lives on the road which means he tends to be out of contact for weeks at a time. His little family takes care of itself pretty well and there is a rhythm. Once a season or so he shows up with two or three videos to post and all is good.

[@pvtpain66k]

7:00 "so you can go 'pew pew' with the more boring weapons" I love your descriptions.

[@fuzzydunlop7928]

So spot on about the majority of human history being "alone, in the woods." We are built to deal with catastrophes, not these modern trivialities. EDIT: Just to play devil's advocate with the ending, I figured it was supposed to indicate that Sebastian was able to exert a modicum of control over the mindscape. Hence the incredibly coincidental stuff.

[@maxmfpayne]

The rocket launcher deus ex machina is also a resident evil reference, pretty sure every RE game ends with a rocket launcher coup de gras on the final boss excluding RE7.

[@Davidesrajohn]

great to have you back.

[@macabre101]

O thank God your back ....I was starting to get worried .KZbin needs you ...Hell we need you .

[@Rocksteadyz1]

Another great vid Noah. I've been following your work for quite a while. Nothing better then having a long interesting vid to listen too in work

[@DJWolfHouse]

“Suggestion is the oil in the mood machine that makes horror work.” Infinitely quotable as always.

[@DaveTrippin]

Great to see ya back man. Solid writing. Really excellent stuff.

[@68marshy]

Wooo. I turn on notifications last night and bam new video good job mate

[@walrusman86808]

Well said in every area! I loved the part about the dreams as well as the difficulty discussion!

[@zachwave]

Reference to Dead Space makes me yearn for a NCG franchise look. Thanks for the video. And I wish you wouldn't stress about us who back you on Patreon. You do you.

[@anthonycoleman9463]

I love your videos bro! You’re the only channel that I actually look forward to sitting down and watching 👌

[@benstermeg]

You're voice matches your diction and delivery so well. Really feels like being in a college lecture in a good way.

[@DavetheTurnip]

Once again you show why you're my favourite game critic. The metaphors, the examples drawn from your life, and the easy to listen to cadence. It all makes the 90 minutes pass as both information and entertainment. I was one of those people who was so annoyed with the annoyance and frequency of Alan Wake's combat, that when the game ended, I had no desire whatsoever to play the DLC. Listening to you talk through it, I think I made the right decision. That whole game just rubbed me the wrong way, but I did get a good critique out of it on my channel :) Your discussion of The Evil Within DLC and The Evil Within 2 shows me just why the game got a sequel and that there's a lot more to the series than I thought. I don't do well with horror games so having not played that series, my impression was always "Mikami makes new horror franchise that was critically panned, but somehow got a sequel". Thanks for opening my eyes to what the series is trying to do (and it sounds like it mostly succeeds at). I look forward to watching your SOMA vs Tacoma video in the next day or two. Glad to see new content from you. Keep up the great work :D

[@AlexanderZigle]

You're great with taking games apart when it comes to things like atmosphere and emotional impact, so I'd love to someday see videos on STALKER and Gothic - series being famous for those things exactly.

[@Coypop]

It's a beautiful day when this chap-lord uploads. Edit: 26:00 I work graveyard shifts a lot so my sleep schedule is irregular at best, silver lining however I'll often sleep lightly and have very vivid dreams, waking up several times coherent enough to remember the dream's when and where and whom, and be confident enough to anticipate picking it up right where I left off, as one would pause and unpause a 1 hour 37 min video.

[@baker90338]

Same with nightmares?

[@Vortal_Cord]

As someone who's been working graveyard for 7 years now I can not understand how you can get through the night if you don't follow a relatively strict sleep schedule. I need my 7 hours, man or I start howling at the moon.

[@dethtrain]

Coypop I'm the same way. I actually love it. But I hate the fatigue because of my own sleep problems. The sleep paralysis hallucinations are fun too

[@edwardlucas6843]

New sub here , for me the best in depth game analysis on KZbin bar none.

[@prosiescoteau2152]

I had a good chuckle at "theoretically more sinister."

[@Aggrofool]

The Evil Within's Rocket launcher finale is a homage to the ending of the first Resident Evil, Mikami's work. For Alan Wake, Barry as a surprise villain reminds me of John Goodman's character in Fallen.

[@electronkaleidoscope5860]

One last bit of spooky to send off October this year. Great as always man :)

[@Kurvits]

Dude I check this channel for new stuff every other day and FFYAAAAAH new stuff!!

[@stephensmith7327]

35:47 i can hear the "SUPRISE MOTHER FUCKER" edit already

[@Artersa]

Omg so happy... Love your vids dude, this is EXACTLY what I needed today.

[@lllROXASlll]

I know it's not really useful for context about who the main character is to be in written notes that are easily missed by the player, but Sebastian does have an "extensive" back story concerning his wife who disappeared after their daughter died in a house fire - connecting him, in some way, to Ruben (and the whole fire theme).

[@mikel66661]

I wouldn't call it extensive back story. Anyway, we already know that it was a last minute addition and that is why is presented in that lame way and really do nothing to flesh out the chatacter. At least it help to tied it up to the sequel.

[@cappedminer369]

The sequel was so much better

[@maggitPL]

It seems that The Evil Within wears its Resident Evil heritage on its sleeves. Starting with the Mission Complete sceens. The rocket launcher in the ending is definitely a come back, a reference, if you will to Resident Evil. Every Resident Evil game ends with a big monster fight and rocket launchers. Another very similar thing is that the characters are cliches and that the atmosphere and plot go off rails around the third/fourth chapter. Not to mention that Moebius is just The Evil Within's version of Umbrella.

[@TevyaSmolka]

Yay Allan wake and Evil within comparison awesome

[@Jerkovski]

noah, first off, so happy to see another one of your comprehensive video essays/reviews. i implore you to give bloodbourne another shot. i HATED dark souls to begin with and honestly never felt more uninterested in playing a game in my entire life when i started. but the souls games have a very steep learning curve but once you "get it" the rest of the game becomes a breeze and now i've put more time into the soulsbourne series than all the games i've ever played combined. when you understand the formula of the gameplay (less of a memorizing enemy placement and more of a very fair trial and error game that becomes instinctual even when you enter new areas and fight foreign enemies) then you'll have a LOT less trial and error and you'll be so immersed in the world because they're always designed to put you in the seat of the character you create in the context of the world they've made. you'll begin longing to find out whats going on around you in terms of lore and you'll soon become obsessed like most others have. it's got a LOT of what you seem to admire in games and does it WAY better than most other games in this respect. the only issue is the steep learning curve but that too plays into the idea of putting you in the character's position and when it becomes clear, you'll begin to like the trial and error and repetition as it too, links into the lore seamlessly and in a very complimentary manner. the philosophy of the game is literally the gameplay. "persevere despite overwhelmingly unfavorable odds by turning every loss into a learning experience" i think you would actually love it if you got past the insanely tedious learning curve. if you ever run out of things to play, i would highly reccomend you give it another go while practicing a lot more patience this time around. i wish i had the money to fund you on patreon, you're one of the very few youtubers who i feel deserve to be funded. your content is seriously gold and i look foreward to your takes on this medium more than i look forward to high budget TV shows and movies. keep up the amazing work, my man.

[@soulmechanics7946]

"..almost an impossible task to write a good book about a bad one.." you say? You have caught the ear of the most prolific author alive, and your challenge is lovingly accepted.

[@donkey0303]

great a new video been waiting for this

[@professordetective807]

39:45 | Since the majority of those (in one form or another) are now on PC, I wouldn't mind seeing a retrospective on Resident Evil. A fresh perspective on a storied series is always welcome.

[@SpellhausChannel]

13:50 my guy, did you just reference Sun Kil Moon? One of my favorite songwriters.

[@nathaneskin3572]

Noah, if you like Evil Within's and Alan Wake's and Dead Space's gameplay so much, I really recommend you give Resident Evil 4 a shot. It's real good. Disclaimer: I have no idea how it would play with a mouse, I've only ever played with a GameCube controller. Seems like the mouse control might be a bit odd since you can't move and aim at the same time.

[@rafihardadi8002]

I've actually played with mouse control for the port released on steam. It's pretty good with the way it handles. I played until completion without feeling the need to plug in a controller at the very least compared to a few other ports like the one for Binary Domain at times.

[@DawnofInfo]

Since RE 4 is a first person shooter, mouse and keyboard work much better then a controller. And of course you can shoot and move at the same time, there's probably not a single FPS in existence that doesn't let you do that.

[@returnbydeath2037]

DawnofInfo What are you talking about? Resident Evil 4 is definitely not a First Person Shooter.

[@nathaneskin3572]

DawnofInfo RE4 is not a first person shooter

[@nathaneskin3572]

DawnofInfo I think you are thinking of RE7?

[@hecku]

How about a STALKER retrospective?

[@tibne2412]

And the movie.

[@donniedarko2815]

How about you shut your mouth simpleton

[@hecku]

@@donniedarko2815 this comment is 3 years old dude what's your deal lol

[@InfinityPotato97]

Shit, I was waiting for it for weeks! Guess it was worth it. So what's next? Penumbra vs. Amnesia? :D

[@matrix255]

NOAH PLEASE READ THIS COMMENT AND DO IT.

[@xanaxodgrindcorelover9191]

i still want STALKER franchise exploration

[@trfsphone8509]

Hold up you're on to something

[@InfinityPotato97]

slighted suture Not only you :)

[@kinoepigrafe]

^ I actually DM'd Noah some months ago about his thoughts on the STALKER series and apparently he has already considered doing a video on it, with the main issue being that he wasn't sure on what to take as a frame of reference for comparisons, e.,g., the Strugatsky book and the Tarkovsky film or Metro instead. So yeah, it's probably not coming all that soon, but at the very least it seems to be in his list of interests.

[@matthiasthulman4058]

I'd love to hear you do something on Darkest Dungeon. I am enraptured with that game, mostly because of the story and atmosphere. I suck at the game itself, I just love the environment and themes.

[@crashed6510]

Great job as always

[@MailmanTheShopKeep]

Interesting to see you talk about a Japanese game. I remember playing through The Evil Within and thinking "huh, it's like Shinji wanted to make Resident Evil 4 again but this time it takes itself seriously". I'd like to see you talk about Resident Evil REmake and RE4, it may influence the way you view the Evil Within as well.

[@asherauthement-garza1223]

Welcome back to KZbin.

[@rotisseriepossum]

‘agonized and angry skin’ is SUCH a good phrase. I bet Noah’s great to play dnd with

[@MegaVidFan1]

I was wondering when the last time I’d watched one of your videos was. So I made my way to your channel and found you uploaded one today! Weird Coincidence

[@Armaan8014]

Love it! Gonna listen to this while working.

[@tyefiles3750]

Man what keeps happening is I start your videos, you make the games sound extremely interesting, so I stop like 10 minutes in, and add the game to my steam wishlist. Now I have like 20 games on there: Max Payne 1/2/3, Planescape Torment, SOMA, Alan Wake, Evil Within, Tyranny, etc. I will finish these one day videos, after I finish the games.

[@samuelcolt7034]

Two videos for Halloween? This is like christmas come early, damned good show! Now, which to watch first...

[@TheCivildecay]

I'm still sad that Alan Wake never got the praise and recognition that it deserved :( Next to silent hill 2, it's still my favourite horror/thriller game

[@AwesomeCrackDealer]

Your videos are always a pleasant notification

[@grammcourse]

This is one of my all time favorite Noah Gervais videos. Idk if it’s the Stephen King references in Alan Wake (one of my favorite authors) or the talk about Shinji Mikami and the RE franchise in The Evil Within (one of my favorite game series) but whenever this shows up on my feed / suggestions, I re-watch it. Does anyone else feel that way?

[@halifaxsteppenwulf7980]

I never really considered Alan Wake a horror game because I hold that any game that has a basically functional shotgun cannot be scary

[@SoundPeaceLover]

Noah has one of those channels where it feels like you're actually learning something.

[@darkchild130]

>Plays Shinji Mikami game >Wonders why it ends with a rocket launcher.

[@colincruickshank7679]

[@Dr.Yakub22]

I had the same feeling when persona 5 started with a 16 year old getting a phone app and ended with the devil shooting the holy grail with a giant pistol.

[@jonajacket]

lol

[@anghbalahr2971]

>The moment you got an elaborate video together, trying to convince everyone to understand gaming and not getting a homage to another franchise >feelssoyman

[@LorneOfTehInterwebz]

Angh balahr I've heard some pretty convincing arguments as to the ending being intentional. Ruvik wasn't in STEM by the end of the game when you fight him. Sebastian in theory begins to exert control over STEM because of Ruvik's absence, thus the convenience of the rocket launcher. It's pretty neat as an idea. And then TEW2 came along and took a big poopy shit on that idea.

[@princeanime]

The song he's referring to at 13:54 is Ben's My Friend by Sun Kil Moon

[@neddles33]

I love Alan Wake, even if it's more of a thriller than a horror to me, and playing it before and after reading up on King was a great change in perspective. I think the best chill in it was probably getting the manuscript page that ends "then Alan heard the chainsaw", it gave me the same cloying paranoia as when my game of bioshock 2 glitched so I had a big sister scream at me for about 20 minutes solid and had the benefit of being intentional

[@TheDominitri]

Noah have you seen any Lynch films? They perfectly capture the feeling of dreaming you describe unlike anything else. Inland Empire is a masterpiece but Blue Velvet & Mulholland Drive are better starting points.

[@Sean-yd5lr]

I'd also recommend The Sopranos for its handful of infamous 'dream episodes' which are some of the strongest examples I can think of dream logic being translated well to the screen.

[@tibne2412]

We live inside a dream

[@sunainahussain]

Also for a movie that portrays the clusterfuck of dreaming, I highly recommend Satoshi Kon's Paprika

[@GreedAndSelfishness]

@@Sean-yd5lr Those dream scenes were so well done. I was impressed.

[@hariman7727]

Alan Wake deliberately uses the medium to full effect. Mr. Scratch is a representative of Alan's flaws, his own dark side. American Nightmare goes into a different type of horror altogether. The horror of being trapped by your own flaws, your own darkest desires, and having to fight against them.

[@FireTrainer92]

The only thing I disagreed with was that looking at the repetition as a potential negative. That very same repetition was what made Survival Horror what it is. The Horror never came from just monsters but how you managed them and seeing if your decisions made throughout the game cost you or benefited you by the end (by tallying deaths or seeing your score) are major parts of it. Resident Evil was more of a puzzle box of horror elements than a straight up horror tale and its sequels up until RE0 pretty much follow that design philosophy. I honestly suggest you play REmake soon Noah because a lot of the Evil Within design decisions really start to make sense when you put them side by side.

[@LorneOfTehInterwebz]

FireTrainer92 I disagree with your first statement. I don't get horrified thinking about my score. And repetition is extremely counter intuitive to horror, as the unknown is exactly what makes horror horror. If a horror game becomes repetitive, that means I can guess what's coming next reliably and unless that's used to effectively subvert expectations it comes off as a way to pad difficulty or panic the player, usually resulting in frustrating them more.

[@Col_Panic]

I have to wonder what kind of people "dislike" these videos. Are they confused by what they are? Even if you don't agree on personal taste issues, the amount of work, detail, and general insight that is applied to them is at the very least extremely admirable. I have a feeling they are very disappointed in life as well as quite disappointed in themselves. 😞