Artificial Loneliness

I slept as never before, a stone on the river bed,
nothing between me and the white fire of the stars
but my thoughts, and they floated light as moths
Support me: / jacobgeller
Follow me: / yacobg42
---------------------
Aristotle Roufanis photography- Alone Together: aristotle.phot...
Games shown: Red Dead Redemption, Red Dead Redemption 2, Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey, Breath of the Wild, Far Cry: Primal, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Super Mario Bros., The Witcher 3
Music used: Main Menu (Modern Warfare 2), Golden Ratio, On the Motorway (Dear Esther), It All Makes Sense Now, Blessed are the Peacemakers, By 1889 The Age of Outlaws and Gunslingers Was at an End (Red Dead Redemption 2), Born Unto Trouble (Red Dead Redemption 1), Prologue, Camp Approach (Firewatch)
Description Source: Sleeping in the Forest by Mary Oliver

[@fuckshit3919]

thought this was a review, ended up being psychologically evaluated

[@jdubbbz8616]

David Lopez 666 likes 👀

[@fuckshit3919]

@@jdubbbz8616 i had no idea i got more than 2 likes

[@kingsleyknapp8217]

Ahahah

[@AverageAlien]

Pscychologically*

[@dijanab8900]

@@AverageAlien psychologically*

[@NintendoCokeBear]

"Things don't have to be constantly happening to remind you of being alive." Such a simple statement yet so reassuring.

[@shirori2004]

I agree

[@atmywhitson]

YES

[@shirori2004]

@@realityresearch2974 ya know. I don't not wanna be alive but I don't particularly enjoy living. The message here is that people don't need to be constantly doing stuff for society or themselves because as long as you are still here you are still alive. I think it applies more to those who don't want to be alive actually.

[@rainyatsu4588]

Which is why I always loved playing DayZ on empty servers. Wondering through the empty wilderness for long periods of time and coming across a small abandoned town to pick up a few things then keep on going was a very peaceful zen feeling. I wish there were more massive open word games where you're the only if not one of very few characters in the world, just exploring, no real objective, just chilling.

[@FancyTophatDude]

Really helpful, especially right now...

[@anthonysimpson01]

you know it's a good game when it starts to not feel like a game anymore

[@username9506]

anthony simpson gta and rdr2 do it for me cause i’m a different character in a huge different world

[@baguette574]

RDR2 is shit wish I get a refund

[@altprince1961]

Bobby Bill your opinion and i respect that. I, instead really like the game for the facts spoken out during this video. I hope you get your refund back and have a nice day.

[@xoticon]

Uncle don’t let him get to you uncle, it’ll worsen your lumbago.

[@anthonysimpson01]

@@baguette574 did you get the refund tho?

[@lafleurR1ddl3]

I always found it strangely satisfying not to be forced into doing the next mission, but also loved the fact that if you’re gone too long, a member of the gang will come and find you and remind you that there are people waiting on you. There are still things to be done, but you are by no means forced to go back.

[@ariconditioner]

i just know you can be anywhere but camp for too long because if you stay too long every time susan comes across you she berates you for being lazy and talks about how you used to be such a go-getter 😢

[@efesezer8206]

really?? damn i didnt know that feature in the game its crazy

[@jacobp-i.5738]

“this world may be artificial, the isolation coded, the darkness an illusion... but the feeling is real.” video games are art.

[@jacobp-i.5738]

@@50shekels nerd

[@Connor.214]

@@50shekels ok boomer

[@alt1f4]

@@50shekels Shitass

[@thisstatementisfalsenothin5312]

@@50shekels video games are art And unlike other forms of art you can interact with them Just because you don’t like them being art doesn’t mean they aren’t

[@thisstatementisfalsenothin5312]

@@50shekels never heard that one before Explain why you dont think video games classify as art

[@liam8664]

This is the same feeling I get when I sit outside at a party and watch everyone else go about their thing, like you watching the world go by

[@Thalor]

I do that pretty often

[@kavashaman7555]

That’s depressing

[@abhineetthaire4602]

@@kavashaman7555 nah man. its fun.

[@jamm6_514]

that feeling is most of my life

[@jetstreamdefalpha5411]

I get the same feeling watching my GF eat out her Bestfriend

[@Munch180]

Another appropriate title would be 'I played so much red dead I had an existential crisis'

[@jvelin9723]

But its not really a crisis

[@jvelin9723]

@@pauljames1807 i- dude why u so mean omg

[@Gamboño]

Tbh yea after I finished it i kinda saw every decision I made like a game option.

[@Ray-fk4vh]

Bruh this KZbinr read wayy too much into this game

[@eseliljoker5150]

It's 3/5 for me. The game is mostly digital tourism. Now if you look to the left, you can see a virtual horse eating some virtual grass. And if you look closely virtual horses shit.

[@spiderill7791]

Yesterday I was stood in my garden; hungover, bare feet on wet grass, watching birds in a tree. A cat crept over the fence and joined me for a while. I had this amazing sense that we don't always need a narrative to enjoy being alive. Sometimes simply existing is the most wonderfully serene feeling. I then watched this video today and have had that belief confirmed.

[@dylanevartt3219]

That's the basis for meditation

[@ChristEnlightenment]

​@@dylanevartt3219no that's what having a relationship with God is for, I've meditated more than half my life and quit, it's really nothing.

[@Alex10daysago]

Clearly you were still hammered.

[@sndr.]

Real. Have had that feeling too

[@buruguduystunstugudunstuy1063]

“Loneliness is dangerous. It's addicting. Once you see how peaceful it is, you don't wanna deal with people.”

[@buruguduystunstugudunstuy1063]

@Der Stürmer np

[@danieljordan9404]

@Der Stürmer Its true tho im no edgy emo dude but i can assure you getting lost in your thoughts while being alone can be some of the best experiences you will ever have. Sitting there listening to the wind make the tree's rustle or the ocean quietly crashing on the beach while lost in your thoughts really shows you what type of person you are

[@lamaosama9342]

@Der Stürmer Was ein cringe Name hahahaha

[@emi-hy2ri]

@@lamaosama9342 welch unangenehme Grammatik.

[@DingleCerri]

Facts

[@ColdHawk]

My guy, if you felt like this playing through that part of the game you should actually go hiking alone in the deserts of the Southwest. I did that in my twenties, just after getting out of the Army when my head was clouded by a lot I needed to sort out. Out in the desert, 3 days after last seeing another person, was the first time in my life that my mind actually got quiet. There is indescribable value in silence, simplicity, and solitude.

[@MidnightStrikesTabby]

You just explained exactly what I went through. Stay strong brother

[@ColdHawk]

Ismael Damian Valle - Likewise - take good care of yourself brother.

[@adamporter3402]

Reminds me of the song"A Horse With No Name"

[@robinlundkvist1941]

@@adamporter3402 america gta sa 🔥

[@NoOneYouKnowYet]

That's so beautiful I would just go crazy

[@damonmcknight]

"My pa used to say, you look into the fire long enough you can see the whole world pass by" - Hosea Matthews

[@TheMr1911]

And man, ain't that the Truth.

[@manwithnoname8229]

That reminds of when reading Blood Meridian, when Glanton stared into the fire. Here's the whole quote, quite long though: “That night Glanton stared long into the embers of the fire. All about him his men were sleeping but much was changed. So many gone, defected, or dead. The Delawares all slain. He watched the fire and if he saw portents there it was much the same to him. He would live to look upon the western sea and he was equal to whatever might follow for he was complete at every hour. Whether his history should run concomitant with men and nations, whether it should cease. He'd long forsworn all weighing of consequence and allowing as he did that men's destinies are given yet he usurped to contain within him all that he would ever be in the world and all that the world would be to him and be his charter written in the orestone itself he claimed agency and said so and he'd drive the remorseless sun on to its final endarkenment as if he'd ordered it all ages since, before there were paths anywhere, before there were men or suns to go upon them.“

[@蓬头垢面-n2c]

"You look into the fire long enough you can see the whole world pass by" - Hosea Matthews' Father

[@gremlinman9724]

"just smoke this pipe and wear this hat, you'll be my idiot brother" -hosea matthews

[@yanwestsid3]

Can anyone tell me what it means in clear words? I kinda get it but not fully. I'd love to know, pls clarify. Thank you.

[@jimmyoats]

The finding of a secret place in a game gives the same feeling. Not an intended secret place, where some reward is hiding. But genuinely somewhere meaningless you didn’t think you could access or initially didn’t notice. Great video.

[@ethancobb4002]

There is a legend that little people know of. Me and my best friend believe it to be true. There is a small indie game called survival postapocalypse now that has gone through several revisions. In one of its earliest versions we could have sworn we heard mention of a secret cave somewhere, although it was all in russian so we never ended up finding if it was true or not. No mention of this really exists, just a memory that we have. It might still be true but we probably will never know.

[@RKaidan]

​@@ethancobb4002OMG I actually played that game, there definitely was a secret cave, it was behind the fountain in the mountain town you unlocked with the rock the warden gives you

[@ethancobb4002]

@@RKaidan thats so wild! Thanks for sharing :) I knew there was something

[@LaFaveBros]

Damn dude. Good shit.

[@Lucas02000]

Love the content guys, since you're here are you gonna play RDR on the channel?

[@methodhardie9193]

Wonderful to see you guys here, keep up the amazing content!

[@blackshirts_and_breads]

have u heard of the high elves uGh AuRgh UuUuugh

[@IlNordFiero]

What is it citizen?

[@GetYaWhat]

this makes me think of arthur, and the fact that he's lost in history. Yes, millions of people know of him, because we play as him, but in the game, he is forgotten. And that shows how a game can be 'alive' I think.

[@kirarares8241]

Yes

[@miggiesmalls19]

Fuuuckk brooo :(

[@miggiesmalls19]

It’s like real life - a good person is forgotten.

[@aldraeg1768]

Well written congrats kissing you

[@yungoldman2823]

No

[@holdentudiks7123]

"As little spoliers as possible" *plays as Jim Milton*

[@theodorusalvinly9502]

Who’s Jim Milton? Isn’t that John Jim?

[@Benweboo]

I thought it was rip van winkle

[@sneakysnake7695]

@@Benweboo for some reason that name always makes me laugh

[@Benweboo]

SneakySneaky Snake it’s the blank expression on his face when he said it 😂

[@smugaladdin8372]

@@theodorusalvinly9502 play the game, don't look up anything about the game while playing. You'll see spoilers everywhere.

[@NameNik223]

I remember how Hayao Miyazaki once said that he always tries to put in his animated movies some moments where nothing important happens so the movies would feel more alive. The train scene in Spirited Away is a good example of that. Just a train ride from a city to a suburban forest and yet that's one of the most memorable scenes from all the movies of Studio Ghibli.

[@Eric19361]

I think those moments are difficult to adjust to sometimes. When you are doing any activity like watching a movie, you expect constant momentum through its visuals, story, and music. Breaking that expectation abruptly like in Spirited Away is jarring. It requires the viewer to slow down and just vibe in this liminal moment, as we make our way to an uncertain visit with the witch's sister.

[@Durminator]

breaking bad episode fly

[@abstract5249]

It's kind of weird when you think about it. Everything a movie shows, every location, every word uttered, every facial expression. They're only shown because they're relevant to the plot. You never hear two characters talking about something unless it has something to do with the story. Which is very unrealistic, because people talk about random irrelevant things all the time.

[@NameNik223]

@abstract5249 That's true! Not only this often ruins the immersion, but it also doesn't give you room to breathe, as if someone would keep talking to you, not letting you answer or think.

[@Louiscare]

"there is a loneliness in this world so great that you can see it in the slow movement of the hands of a clock, people so tired, mutilated by either love or no love" - Charles Bukowski

[@atmywhitson]

❤️

[@Mario-tp4gb]

"I've never been lonely. I've been in a room -- I've felt suicidal. I've been depressed. I've felt awful -- awful beyond all -- but I never felt that one other person could enter that room and cure what was bothering me...or that any number of people could enter that room. In other words, loneliness is something I've never been bothered with because I've always had this terrible itch for solitude. It's being at a party, or at a stadium full of people cheering for something, that I might feel loneliness. I'll quote Ibsen, "The strongest men are the most alone." I've never thought, "Well, some beautiful blonde will come in here and give me a fuck-job, rub my balls, and I'll feel good." No, that won't help. You know the typical crowd, "Wow, it's Friday night, what are you going to do? Just sit there?" Well, yeah. Because there's nothing out there. It's stupidity. Stupid people mingling with stupid people. Let them stupidify themselves. I've never been bothered with the need to rush out into the night. I hid in bars, because I didn't want to hide in factories. That's all. Sorry for all the millions, but I've never been lonely. I like myself. I'm the best form of entertainment I have. Let's drink more wine!"

[@thegamingoutlaw7349]

@@Mario-tp4gb damn.

[@tatesherman8273]

This game is a masterpiece. I miss the first hours of playing through it, when I discovered St Denis by accident in the middle of the night and was amazed.

[@drefter6701]

Me too,i remember when watching the map IRL(the one that you get when you buy the game's disc). And seeing this enormous city in south-est,i was at the Valentine station in chapter 2 and tried to reach that city. When i get out the train and saw what was all over around me,i was amazed too,i quickly runner in a street and the immediately took the train back again and White coming back ti Valentine,tought:this game is so big! I've always been patient while plaiyng this game since that time,beacuas,i understood that there'll be always something to di After and in fact,i've always been busy while plaiyng that game for months over untill i finished it

[@chumbucket3475]

I went to Saint Denis for the first time after the gunslinger who’s on a train - the train took me there, so I explored it

[@shanedixon6627]

I started the game when it first came out, played maybe an hour or so of it, and quit playing it until last year. I heard so many things about this game, you have to eat to keep yourself alive, you have to change clothing in the game depending on your location, all things about the game that I had little to no interest in. Survival in a game wasn't something that I wanted. I wasn't a fan of the idea of having to keep myself alive. I didn't like the fact that your horse would seemingly die from a small run off of a cliff. I finally gave in and decided to give the game a genuine play through. I wish I could go back and play it all again for the first time. It's such a master piece that I find myself in a bit of a slump when playing other single player games because they do not feel as good as this. I wish the online community wasn't in the state it is currently. Such a huge missed opportunity for Rock Star.

[@penguino2115]

i remember when i first discovered saint denis, i was doing that mission where you rescue that guy who falls off his horse and you take him to the doctor, i was shocked when i ran into a city

[@apike_72]

I played RDR2 a few times on my Xbox and just finished it for the first time on my PC. I was awestruck when I saw St Denis for the first time at night on my PC in 4K Ultra settings.. actually insane

[@josegurrola9021]

How the hell did you put into exact words the feeling you get when you look in a mirror and think: 'Wow. I'm alive. We really in this bitch rn"

[@sol4453]

That’s the same feeling i get when I watch other humans or my baby brother

[@rohankishibe3696]

@@sol4453 ikr, every person have complex lives just like you. The best way I can describe it is: others are side characters in your lives but you are the side characters in their lives

[@dejavu3547]

Sometimes i just look at mg hands and im just like "damn this reality huh?"

[@wtf_is_this_handle_shit]

Is it worth it, though? "This bitch" is being kind of a bitch right about now, and it's not getting any better. This throbbing meat mannequin I live in is falling apart. And all because I can't maintain it like I should. I am alive, and that's amazing. But why bother if being alive sucks the life out of you so fast?

[@rohankishibe3696]

@@wtf_is_this_handle_shit you good bro?

[@murrayrodriguez878]

Artificial loneliness is a great way to explain part of the Fallout: New Vegas experience. Loved that game

[@majorghoul9017]

The parts where you're just walking to new spots with the radio playing feel so real, I love them as boring as they are

[@murrayrodriguez878]

@@majorghoul9017 Literally the most sublime solitude I've experienced. It's crazy you can get that out of a video game.

[@PolishGod1234]

New Vegas is a GOAT game. Wish It had more time to be developed though

[@bogiebomb08]

fallout 4 gets a lil lonely sometimes too

[@Kexetey]

omg so true

[@georgemuller308]

“Artificial Loneliness” dude I’ve already got enough real loneliness I don’t need artificial loneliness.

[@jowyjozef]

If you get out and live life rather than play video games all day and all night maybe you won't feel so lonely.

[@dukeofnuke2446]

@@jowyjozef funny thing to say while we are in lockdown lol

[@jowyjozef]

@@dukeofnuke2446 lol....trueee....😎 Where you from? Cuz I'm a truck driver driving through all the states and I see nobody in lockdown.... especially in Florida where I live at...lol.......😌

[@TheHawkeye96]

@George Müller One of the most difficult thing with loneliness is to find that you are not lonely. Keep fighting, the world is way more big than we think, we just need to change the way we see it.

[@georgemuller308]

@@TheHawkeye96 Thank you, I’m happy to say I’m less lonely then I was when I wrote the comment!

[@scheppusmaximusgaming]

thats basically the biggest easter egg. the whole damn map as a wasteland..

[@AChunkyDog]

@james frank You couldn't breathe? I think you should step outside.

[@djcm_223]

Fester the Nationalist hahaha he’s trying to sound really artsy

[@AChunkyDog]

@@djcm_223 Artsy Autsy

[@fonzi55]

Fester the Moose it’s not his fault you have a tiny pecker

[@smilenowsmileforever4226]

@@fonzi55 ayeeeee

[@switch_cave9247]

These are the kinds of videos I love to find in my recommended feed. Thoughtful, advancing, amazing. I love it.

[@GreggyAck]

My thoughts exactly.

[@Nerule]

Same

[@GreggyAck]

@Boston is my race track I bet you're a barrel of laughs.

[@GreggyAck]

@Boston is my race track Well, that explains the pessimism.

[@tinycockjock1967]

Boston is my race track You alright pal?

[@AsphaltMuesli]

Personally, I felt extreme loneliness by the end of the Arthur's story. He is trying his best to help others fix their lives, as they still have future ahead, while he knows he is nearly done. After missions Arthur is often left completely alone and that's where it gets atrociously depressing. I don't know, maybe it's just me, but I did feel completely alone back then

[@cracked_davud5031]

I felt this especially after that mission where you blow up the bridge in chapter 6. Arthur takes a moment to catch his breath, coughs and weezes, seemingly reflecting on his actions, knowing he doesnt have much time left. He doesnt move until you press another button.

[@troystephen5584]

Same feeling when I get back to my home after my wife's funeral. Front door is waiting locked and knowing that I always have to unlock it by myself forever. I miss you honey...

[@SemperFine]

I wish I could sad react. Have my like instead

[@linkh200]

I couldn't imagine that. Just thinking about that makes me tear up. I don't what I'd do if I lost my wife.... I'd still have my son, but holy cow there would a very empty hole of my life...

[@tigerrclaw3772]

Hopefully things will be better soon

[@surplusvalue5497]

Solidarity, friend

[@GakeJaskin]

Troy Stephen dawg wtf

[@hhotsauce]

I'm amazed how he put such a complicated feeling into words.

[@alisonmccain]

Yeah right? It's amazing

[@eagleeye8237]

Agreed

[@biggiecheese6425]

no

[@maxdrags3115]

Not really, could have done it in way less words.

[@artyom1792]

@@maxdrags3115 yeah but the point of essays, especially in video form, isn’t to try to get a point across in as few words as possible. it’s to explore the topic at hand in as much detail as you can without delving into redundancy or boring the listener/reader. i could probably listen to this guy describe the poetic significance of his grocery list for 30 minutes and still be engaged in whatever he’s saying

[@fantasy1land]

It’s so refreshing you don’t cut serious moments with humor, thank you.

[@desertracoon9599]

Right. I’m so tired of that.

[@spartanwar1185]

That joke about how people "meat" on tinder just goes under the radar? damn lol

[@stickmanstudios4609]

Did you not see the part about tinder?

[@FetalWarhorse]

@@stickmanstudios4609 doesn't count

[@chesscom6199]

@@FetalWarhorse hmm quite convenient indeed lol

[@luismakingvids2872]

RDR2‘s impact on me was incredible. Though yesterday I realized how “alive” this game actually makes you feel. So I played for about 2 hours already and then got a phone call (which means switching from one reality to another) and I needed some seconds first to cope with my actual surroundings

[@thesurvivalistpotato3117]

Bro I thought I was the only one. I would play this game for an hour or two, then go out to my kitchen for a drink or something, and a sibling would talk to me. I have to reset my brain

[@Cerati223]

Bro I went through a post depression after the death of arthur , so much time I spent with him and how much fun we had . I felt like I lost someone very close to me when I lost him, it hurt so much and it's strange because he is a video game character.

[@livysimkowiak9342]

To make, "this game is alive" means that the worls feels like it goes on when the player isn't there.

[@josefiinasippola1676]

Exactly. I think this would be the perfect description for artificial loneliness. Meaning the game's universe feels like it isn't dependent on the player.

[@josefiinasippola1676]

Oops,no I meant it to be the perfect description for an alive world,my bad

[@theginjaninja132]

GTA5's map is a great example of that.

[@shadesoul4247]

I realize this is a bit debatable, but Fumito Ueda's games fit this description perfectly. Jacob himself echoes this in "The Architecture of Fumito Ueda".

[@leeworley6727]

Kenshi is built exactly like this your main character is weak and if he dies wars still go on towns still sell goods and your companions still have to live without him. My mc died after having his leg cut off in the middle of the desert the bandits left him alone after looting him. But he had no bandages I sent one of my characters to go get him but by the time he got there my MC already bled out. Alone robbed and beat up my MC died with nothing to show for it. Kenshi perfectly creates a world that doesnt give a fuck about you

[@GameDesignFoundry]

I still remember emerging through that tunnel and finding myself in that desert.. was waiting for objectives or missions.. next thing I know I’m wandering the dying town for hours.. anyways excellent video essay, was a great to watch as a level designer because sometimes we overlook the power of these things.

[@PoppaDame]

CantResistTriss nigga he just said that

[@01_SPACE_C0WB0Y]

See I never went through the tunnel, it hit me like a bombshell when you do the bounty hunting mission with Sadie and your on that big overlook and you can see all of new Austin. Immediately after finishing the epilogue I returned and made my way down a pass on the cliff, rode into armadillo and slowly realised what I just got myself into by entering New Austin.

[@aperstles9689]

we move too fast and overlook the simple things

[@Evija3000]

@@01_SPACE_C0WB0Y I marked the furthest point the unseen map would let me mark and rode there. Didn't go through the tunnel, but was dumbstruck anyway, kept wondering how far is this going to go.

[@peterpiper4592]

this video sent me into a spiral realizing how much my world isn't "alive" how it's empty, this video should've been titled The Red Dead Existential Dread

[@ShozubonGG_2426]

im in the middle of spiralling into the deep and this made me snort LOL

[@joshuascotti1088]

Red Dread Exestentianalism

[@reda4782]

Red dead depression

[@sneakysnake7695]

I got a crisis over the magazine in the corner of Derail

[@IvanTheBikerFromSpace]

That really reminds me of exploring the world of shadow of the colossus. Never had any hidden quest, item or secret to be found and I never expected to, it was just a paceful walk across these landscapes

[@samurai-butterfly7393]

such a great example, but iirc, the game had a few secrets to be found

[@rook69420]

I wanted to comment the same thing, you can't explain to someone that hasn't played sotc because there is nothing. But that's exactly why the world feels real. Like a real place that noone has been to for centuries.

[@connorbranscombe6819]

I really wish I had played that game, I owned it for Ps2 and I remember trying it out once or twice and just never thinking it was very interesting.

[@MrFlyingLamma]

"What, am I going to be alone with my thoughts?" Me, listening to all of Jacob Geller's videos at work while trying not to be alone with my thoughts: "Yep."

[@isabellevasquez7433]

Me doing that with a handful of creators quite literally in every waking moment like yes hi this is so I don’t explode and implode at the same time 🤠

[@atashgallagher5139]

@@isabellevasquez7433 if you play long documentary videos at 2X speed you can learn a ton of stuff and it drowns out the sound of internally screaming.

[@koekiejam18]

keep in mind that the more you push down on your own thoughts the harder they will want to come out.

[@noizetank6122]

@7:57 ah yes, hitting my 30s

[@takenname8053]

@@atashgallagher5139 I do this, yet I have never came to that conclusion, but reading this comment feels like I've been called out

[@addisondebter9468]

This guy just described why Minecraft is such a good game.

[@vermin5367]

Bingo

[@Enigmalake]

I could never get into it 🧐

[@thiccdaddyraccoon]

Enigmalake same

[@Enigmalake]

Thicc Daddy Raccoon I figured it was for kids to build like legos

[@thiccdaddyraccoon]

Enigmalake I just thought it was boring. Same thing to do over and over again. Destroy, craft, build, repeat. Repetitive and monotonous~ just isn’t for me.

[@veitnams]

I feel like the ending of this video hits pretty hard considering the current pandemic. "Things don't have to be constantly happening to remind you of being alive." That line is something a lot more people need to be hearing right now.

[@morganorion3829]

The aliveness isn’t in the change. It’s in the stillness behind the change

[@ricotschudi]

@Roseanne Phillips same

[@terminator572]

Honestly I don't get the whole craze over this. Is it awful? Fuck yeah, but being this down over something that is ultimately going to end in a while? I am much more worried about the jobs I could have applied to, or the ones my parents lost. People are blowing this way out of proportion, and honestly, you guys are being way too melodramatic.

[@veitnams]

@@terminator572 man all i said was that it relates to the current pandemic haha. you don't have to put yourself above everyone else, you don't know what people's lives are like.

[@terminator572]

@@veitnams I ain't, I'm just giving my opinion, and my opinion is that it's blown WAAAAAY out of proportion.

[@staticradio724]

A few hours into my first playthrough, my horse was shot to death and I was stranded when I respawned. I didn't realize yet that i could whistle for a generic replacement, so I went back to the stable in Valentine on foot. I think I learned more about the game and its functionality and the environment during that one walk than I did during the whole rest of the game put together. Since I had all the time in the world to amble around and explore, and i couldn't just rush off to the next side quest. Really gave me an appreciation of all the hard work that must have gone into making this game. Kind of makes me wish video games would go back to the old days when there were no objective markers and they just made you figure everything out for yourself lol

[@brettstalling2269]

Fire comment

[@sspandchange]

good on you. i know someone to whom the same thing happened and they dropped the game calling it boring cause the walking was so slow. i realized that day they have the attention span of a fish.

[@JITCompilation]

I was gonna ask why you didn’t just steal a horse, but then I remembered that the only time I stole a horse in the entire game was when Arthur returned from Guarma. It just feels wrong to make Arthur steal things when he’s trying to be a better man

[@LowKeyDokiDoki]

Best way to experience that is turn off the minimap, having to open the map manually to see which way you need to turn, not seeing the hostile wolves stalking you as red dots, but HEARING them approach made the game a WHOLE different experience

[@staticradio724]

@@LowKeyDokiDoki I agree. I also wonder how much more immersive games could be if you took away quest markers and the player had to actually *look* for stuff

[@blzahz7633]

The big city thing is something I've always wondered about: I remember being on vacation, taking a bus to the airport which went through a city with multistory buildings and I remember thinking that each of those apartments I see has person in it, living a life that is the most important thing to the person him-/herself. But for me it was just part of the passing scenery, never to be seen again. That person living there I'll never get to meet. I sometimes catch myself wondering this even in the town I currently reside in. It brings this weird sense of loneliness and unimportance of self, to everyone else, my apartment is the same, I am the same - just not that important to anyone else but myself. Life is a solo-trip. Funniest thing is that I don't know what to think about this, since it really can't be any other way. I dunno just wanted to comment this. Carry on

[@wittk]

The word for this is sonder.

[@RoninXDarknight]

@@wittk You beat me by a day! :D

[@leomadero562]

Just remember that everyone else can't meet you either

[@callmeluna8903]

That's why I try to talk to as many people as I can and at least try to make there day

[@Boiea]

One of the biggest examples of artificial intelligence is being in a crowded room, but knowing absolutely nobody there. You aren't lonely, you're with a lot of people right? Wrong: you're in a vast tapestry of an imperfect weave, realizing how little of a thread you are in the grander picture. To break the illusion of loneliness would be to approach a girl/boy you picked out of the crowd, or start a random conversation with someone. But honestly, even though you can't meet everyone, and everyone can't meet you-you should enjoy time with yourself. If you don't like who you are alone, then are you really yourself when with people? Idk, my two cents.

[@brendancramer4134]

my girlfriend bought me this game when it first released, she’s passed away now and it’s been 2 years without her but woah what a gift. just a simple video game i spend hours playing, and this artificial loneliness sums up exactly why i feel a connection for it. i don’t even touch it’s online aspect, i literally free roam story mode just to interact with the world as if it is alive. i wish she knew how this game is a dose of my everyday life. like just a way to lose track of time and sense of reality because it’s been 3 years and i can’t believe i haven’t left this game behind. i don’t know what it is but she handed me something beautiful lol.

[@thegreatdream8427]

I'm sorry for your loss... I'm glad you have something to remind you of her.

[@exclamationmark2159]

sorry for your loss man.

[@He11boylalo]

Sorry for your loss bro

[@jtdilauro]

Sorry man for your loss

[@krypthic3301]

Rip sorry for your loss man

[@vel5094]

"When a game feels too real, sometimes real life feels too much of a game" -My existential crisis

[@alenparker3056]

Life itself is a fucking joke, we’re merely just chemical reactions on a constant, the moment they stop, you’re dead, it’s lights off for ever. The sole purpose of existence is for 1 evolving kind to rule the rest until it dies with the rest, for no reason. This is humans and animals, yet we are skin and bones just like them, just that we posses more chemical reactions in our skull. Nothing special, life can exist, but it is entirely useless. I reinforced my emotional and logical intelligence, I don’t care about people anymore. I don’t get myself bothered by things or other beings, I’m just going trough my mental plans, until I die. Rdr2 gives me the ability to teleport to a snowy mountain and stay there for as long as I can, while I’m living under this shit society that has been constructed to keep humans from living like they actually should, free and wild.

[@leaks2055]

@@alenparker3056 read kaczynski, it may give you hope

[@leaks2055]

@Guishe it could be far worse

[@randomuser9506]

@@alenparker3056 you're dead wrong though :x first of all, dissociating humans and animals is a common mistake, but i can however assure you that humans are not vegetables. ( guess it all comes from the need to feel unique: think of how all those people behaving in a very similar manner, believing in more or less the same thing, clothing more or less identically all feel like they're unique, well I feel like humanity is doing more or less the same thing as a species. ) 2nd point being that the history of evolution doesn't care about "who rulez", it definitely isn't "the sole purpose of existence" from a scientific perspective. the only thing we can observe with logic and science is that the purpose of living beings / species is to survive + reproduce ---> perpetuate their genes. through whatever possible means, be it domination, hiding, high reproductivity ect.. take one or two hours to look into the history of evolution and you'll see plenty of examples of dominant species on earth going exctinct. to sum it up : humans are animals whether you like it or not preservation of a species' genetic heritage IS the only perceivable purpose of living beings domination, or "rule the rest" as you so mildly put it, isn't the purpose of life but merely one of the possible means to achieve the afore mentioned goal, and it doesn't seem to be neither more nor less efficient than any other. So i guess what i'm trying to say is "get your head out of your ass" before asserting unchallenged theories of your own making.

[@AC-zp6vw]

@@randomuser9506 it's still pointless

[@csmith7404]

I know this is old and you may never see this but it impacted my day. I'll think of it at least through the weekend. Thank you for sharing your humanity with us. This video is art. It makes a connection, no matter that it is a game commentary. Experiences like this connect us as gamers, though we may never talk about it. I feel a slight sadness for the developers that they may not get to see how profoundly their work influenced us. Much like some animes, I'll never be quite the same person as before playing some games. This is why I play RPGs. For the soul augmenting experience I could not have in real life. I wish you joy in your life.

[@garrettnelson4683]

My man woke up and chose to make a masterpiece

[@zoebrandon-smith8184]

This may be the most “video essay” video essay I’ve literally ever seen.

[@joaoluizsn]

This video was sponsored by www.endlessprose.com

[@holo1560]

Try Matthew Matosis then

[@terminator572]

This might be the single most zoomer comment ever made.

[@bishhsasspusi2904]

There are tons of "video essays" on youtube that you didnt even knew it was a video essay because youre so into it, or... youre just new to these kind of videos.

[@mogul188]

i honestly find some video essays cringe. Here he is trying to explain how lonely and immersed he feels when really r* prob ran out of time to work on the map

[@hiphyro]

I thought he was going to talk about Minecraft, because in Minecraft I feel so alone that it really kinda scares me sometimes. There’s just.... nothing. No sign of life, except for mobs. But those aren’t enough. Single player unsettles me deeply, at least when I’m exploring the world in survival, or even just sitting in my house. It doesn’t feel right. That’s why I’ve never beaten the dragon, even though I’ve played for 7 years. When I let my mind wander, I have to stop playing, because imagination takes the reigns. It doesn’t feel right, at all. I know this isn’t very on topic to the video but... I felt like I needed to get this out somewhere.

[@umadigotit8035]

Yeah you're right. I too feel that way sometimes.

[@axie545]

You're right, something about Minecraft loneliness is just different. I basically got to a point with it where I didn't feel safe unless I was inside a structure I had built, ideally well above ground. There's just this feeling like anything could happen to you and no one would ever know. It's not logical. I think the lizard brain sees the wide open spaces and realizes there's nowhere to hide.

[@James-mo7ko]

Especially when you've already played with friends and then you go on singleplayer and everything you accomplished is so meaningless...

[@frysco5927]

@@James-mo7ko this. singleplayer minecraft makes me depressed because as a kid I used to constantly play it on Xbox 360 with atleast 4 people on my world, or I'd either constantly be on someone else's world and nowadays I don't even have that many online freinds anymore and it just depresses me because it reminds me of those good times.

[@James-mo7ko]

@@frysco5927 Bro I feel ya, I remember hoping on a server with maybe 10-20ppl but we all know each other and we just talk for ages and now its down, probably down for good. Its also a shame coz all their skype accounts are completely inactive and now all their usernames are a jumble of letters and numbers in my memory. When you grow up and 'adult' priorities fill your head. You just wished your 15 again without a care in the world but building sick forts and slaying the ender dragon with the crew

[@classicwinger6]

Wow. It’s like you reached into my brain during this video. I can’t describe the feelings you made me feel, but thank you.

[@GirlsChase]

A few years back I had a revelation like this. So i decided to slowly move through games and even sometimes RP in my head. It's like when you decide to obey traffic laws in GTA. Or love the view of Anor Londo. Do the same in real life too - enjoy the light of the sun coming through your window. The depression of this realization hits hard too but if you practice being non attached to the positive and negative then something interesting begins to happen in your heart

[@toucan6109]

Pain

[@WhiskyGravy]

💖

[@YeOldeMachina]

I always immerse like this. Its just what comes naturally to me, being in my head and daydreaming most of the day anyway. The reason I love video games so much, is its the only medium that makes me feel as if I can exist in another world. Most times a world much more interesting than the real one. Allows me to be somewhere and something else entirely

[@WhiskyGravy]

@@YeOldeMachina ❤💕

[@rezayamahananda562]

Glad to know that i am not the only one trying to obey the traffic laws in GTA.

[@bigdeano4459]

I clicked for the Red Dead. I stayed for the deep introspection. Thanks for quantifying something we've all felt but at times couldn't describe. I subscribed man. Thank you for your awesome content.

[@maxdrags3115]

Nope, pretty easy to describe if you use your brain.

[@bigdeano4459]

@@maxdrags3115 I said at times couldn't describe. I'm a guy, give me a break, feelings isn't my strong suit.

[@maxdrags3115]

@@bigdeano4459 I'm a guy too and feelings aren't my strong suit either, and I deal with actual bad loneliness, but I can still do it.

[@bigdeano4459]

@@maxdrags3115 I feel you man. As guys we try to pretend we don't need friends. It's all a lie so we don't have to appear weak. We don't accept that needing others isn't weak, its human. I hope you find a good friend who can help you. My best bud died last year. Don't have any other friends. No common interests or ways to build a long term friendship. I'm nearly 40. It feels to late to make those real connections.

[@we-must-live]

@@maxdrags3115 i hope you keep your childlike innocence and never feel the drowning isolation that is knowing you will never be able to feel... whole, without the people you have lost.

[@eidorianeagle5806]

It's what Arthur loves and wants the whole time. Real open country.

[@danielfailed3692]

It's what he wanted the whole time, thats fucking deep

[@JozeManuLOL]

He tells John that he will go west to try cure that cough, if he would've survived he would've went to this places.

[@matejprochazka7011]

Im bout to go there and act like thats the real story

[@sand5464]

I cant express in words the love I have for this video. Everything about it is so perfect. I have watched it like 5 times and I never get tired of it. Thanks for this masterpiece of a video

[@calebheney302]

One of my favorite things to do in Red Dead was sit on top of this one hill in the heartlands, and just look out at night over all the lights in Saint Denis and see a tiny glow which was Rhodes. then if you turned a little right, you could see the faint glow of Blackwater. It makes me feel in a way searching for something that I cant even grasp the thought of.

[@boykidmanboykidman5420]

Yo i wanna find this hill

[@calebheney302]

@@boykidmanboykidman5420 I got you my guy lemme load up red dead real quick

[@boykidmanboykidman5420]

Caleb Heney aayyy big thanks

[@calebheney302]

@@boykidmanboykidman5420 aight, so at the boarder line of lemoyne, right where it hits the river, travel slightly north, and you should see a hill, with one standing tree on it, this tree with be surrounded and have booze bottles hanging off of it, come here during night, and you can see all 3 towns.

[@boykidmanboykidman5420]

Caleb Heney amazing, ill go check it out right now

[@quietsamurai1998]

The artwork by Roufanis almost feels more Lovecraftian than Lovecraft's actual works... I _knew_ his works were supposed to convey the horror of being small and insignificant, but I never really _understood_ that horror until now. Seeing that vast, empty cityscape as a whole is one thing, but then zooming in on a single point of light from a window to see a solitary person... It's haunting.

[@JacobGeller]

oh man, I love this

[@AcolytesOfHorror]

yeah my thoughts went straight to Lovecraft too

[@100kevinrules]

Look up artist Zdzisław Beksiński, many of his works give a similar feel but with a more surrealist touch. Gerard Trignac has great works as well if your more into the enormous and empty cityscapes.

[@AcolytesOfHorror]

@@100kevinrules yeah I think JG referenced Trignac in an earlier video actually! And dude.... thank you so much for that Beksiński recommendation, holy shit

[@nameloss]

Spike Spiegel would also like to recommend tsutomu nihei’s landscape work in all his manga (especially blame!). just in case you guys aren’t familiar, that is

[@stevenvalle3013]

Playing red dead with the compass off is an incredible experience. It's suspension of disbelief

[@Overqualification]

But you miss the random events sometimes because they aren’t on the path

[@bruhdude6712]

@@Overqualification thats the point, no missions will control what you do

[@Overqualification]

@@bruhdude6712 But then that leads to eventual staleness and boredom.

[@Smorgasvord]

@@Overqualification no because when you actually do come across someone it'll feel natural and special.

[@thealgerian3285]

@@Overqualification You really don't unless you're half deaf, or constantly galoping full speed, in which case no compass isn't for you because you're clearly not that big on immersion to begin with. I played without the compass from the get go and I missed a grand total of 0 events.

[@peika8324]

This is how I feel after beating an open world game or reaching the “no/limited progress” I reflected on the world and see the small little details. It struck and comfort me at the same time

[@samdougherty3876]

Probably my favorite moment playing this game was taking an edible, turning the HUD off and going into first person, and just wandering. Found myself a nice little hill, got off my horse, and spent ten minutes watching storm clouds roll across the prairie

[@swine13]

Yeah this game has become like a "serenity simulator" for me. Sometimes i mean to do a thing in game and load it up only to find myself in the middle of nowhere 5min later, on a cliff somewhere just staring at the sunset and thinking about... stuff And then, yeah, the worlds most balls-to-the-wall ram will fling itself across the prairie right into Arthur's nut sack and send him rolling down a hill in the foetal position.

[@Matt345-1]

sam dougherty How strong was the edible?

[@iguana51]

When I get so bad I don't want to leave the house or see any people I go between re-binging Twin Peaks, and wandering peacefully around in RDR2 with the HUD off or play The Forest in peaceful mode where I simply become a man living in a forest for a few days, only worrying about the task I'm doing, and how much food I have. It's so calming and the routine of it once I sink into those bad thoughts helps to ground me and give me a foundation to improve my mental state

[@babybirdhome]

Ig Uana oh crap, there's a peaceful mode in The Forest now? I'm gonna have to reinstall that!

[@iguana51]

@@babybirdhome yeah, it just turns off the cannibals, it's really nice

[@theDoomeer]

Me before seeing this "aye big yee haw simulator" After: "life is meaningless

[@RudyJayTravels]

Imagine living in the early to mid 1800’s. Lol

[@KatonVsTwoooo]

well I’m pretty sure the point of the video is that life does have meaning, even if there isn’t much going on in it

[@nihiladest3492]

Unga Bunga

[@maven1513]

If everything is meaningless, then does that really matter?

[@jasonbond5213]

Actually this certain sense of loneliness gives me the feeling that life has more purpose than when I am in the middle of the crowd, being reminded I am one of billions. I feel like if you are alone and feel like this you are the only thing that really counts, you, your thoughts and the nature around you. It is a feeling of total freedom and at the same time total restriction, for you don't need to be in touch with people, or care for a job or care for others, but at the same time you are at the mercy of nature and have to follow it's rules. So somehow, loneliness can give you both meaning and weirdly the sense of not being all that alone because you think a lot more and thus have more contact with yourself.

[@mandielingerfeldt6651]

Rdr2 really made me wanna start my life over and just live off the grid.

[@robbiegarlick6691]

I just bought a book on foraging medicinal herbs lol

[@omarguzman4053]

I rode a horse for the 1st time of my life because of him..

[@annextheupforwisconsin7088]

Agony hell yeah man go for it. You’ll be doing something every man deep down dreams of.

[@accailaandressis8990]

I've always loved horseback riding but I stopped during my high school years. Rdr2 came out in my 1st year of college and because of it I started my lessons again (when I'm not busy with schoolwork).

[@danielparker8189]

First step: leave KZbin. Lol Just make sure you get solar power so you can still play RDR2

[@_albatrocities]

Your videos have helped me to better organize my thoughts when I'm alone. Or, more accurately, you've helped me give words to the feelings I have been seeking the ability to describe.

[@ohSlapper]

Same, exactly how I felt after watching this and it's a video I like to come back to never lose this feeling. It's confusing when we can't portray how we are feeling inside, or frustrating even. also yeah can relate to the being able to organise my thoughts much better when alone!

[@ephemeral_wish]

"Things don't have to be constantly happening to remind you of being alive" That adds another layer of meaning when you have depression, seeing everyone living normally, progressing through life, being happy with friends you can't have, doing things you lack motivation of doing, being bombarded constantly with the guilty feeling of being useless, of being stuck, and for me specially, not knowing what is the right path. I always overthink and end up more depressed by realizing we can't know what is the best course of action, and I really feel lost and alone because of that This video couldn't have showed up at my recommendations a better time, you are really inspiring and I can't thank you enough for letting me breathe for a moment

[@rachelkal7543]

Divayth Fyr I don’t have depression (at least I don’t think haha) and I feel all the stuff you just described on a daily basis

[@ephemeral_wish]

@@rachelkal7543 depression is just one way to make a person feel like this, and no matter the reason, the feeling is still awful, be it social status, financial condition, anti-socialism, I too have other reasons to feel this way, depression is just the sum-up of all that. I hope you can see better days and the source of the problems that makes you feel this way vanish with time... be strong, hope of seeing better days is all we have, try to focus only on the things that makes you feel good, whatever they may be, you can be selfish too on some cases if needed, anything to make you get past all that makes you feel that way. If you ever need someone to talk, I know many people would like to help, or listen to you, myself included

[@siebs.]

I have never related to a comment more... thank you for sharing this.

[@ephemeral_wish]

@@siebs. It is I who thank you, better days will come and one day all of the present will just seem like a long past nightmare

[@FacuSabo22]

this whole covid crisis got my anxiety and depression higher than ever before, i need this game just for the sensation of "liberty"

[@asteioooo]

I remember when I was doing my first playthrough of rdr2, I was lucky enough to have hunted 2 perfect elks consecutively. But I only had one horse and thought it’d be a waste to take one elk back only so I left one elk on the horse, carried one myself and walked a full mile to the nearest trapper. On the way I was ambushed by a band of bounty hunters and was really worried about keeping the elks safe. That exchange with the bounty hunters felt more engaging and exciting than any encounter I’ve ever had so far. It was honestly something so small and irrelevant, but was so relatable and intimate. Red dead 2 is such an amazing game it can draw out these feelings inside of you, I’ve never felt the need to protect an animal carcass as I did that time, I think this contributes to the reason why rdr2 is considered to be ‘alive’.

[@Learner945]

I usually take second horse with me so I can carry more pelts. If you die, the temporary horse will be gone. Otherwise, it will be there with you even in fast travel.

[@pearlchains]

I did the same exact thing with a perfect bear skin and elk skin today. But I was up in the mountains so my challenge were the wolves and the snow so I was slower

[@davetroll5027]

@@Learner945 me too, until you want a third elk...

[@miserableunoriginal]

If you don’t skin a larger animal carcass you can lasso it behind you while riding your horse

[@MerelvandenHurk]

@@miserableunoriginal Yes but doesn't that severely damage the quality of the pelt? Just accidentally running over an unskinned carcass with my horse already bumps it down to 1*.

[@drwd4941]

Sometimes when i need an escape, i put my headphones on open gta v and go to cliff and just listen to the sound of crashing ocean waves.

[@Lexcelds]

I always go on cruises in my cars on GTA V Online (in empty lobbies of course) I ride the coast line, wind through the hairpin turns through the mountains and cruise through the city feeling like a sort of unknown celebrity

[@GrexTheCrabasitor]

pause screen of tbogt

[@ajaxnation9504]

I do that too in Assassin's Creed Syndicate and Rdr 2, I don't do any missions or anything I just walk around imagining that I was the character, and it gives me a weird feeling, like a mixed feeling of numbness, depression, relief and fear. I have social anxiety and every person I tried to be friends with turned to be bad, so I preferred to remain alone. Today is the 12th day of not leaving my apartment, I lost sense of time and human interaction began to feel odd and unnatural, and I myself began to feel empty and I wanna fix it but at the same time I adore it. Games that feel "Alive" like this one are really a bliss for people like me.

[@dannymiller3315]

I dont go to the ocean i go to the desert empty but clear

[@NoobZxReviewZ]

I did this alot in the early days of Covid. Since I couldn't go outside, or witness the summer I wanted to experience, I made my own fun in game. I did this with Fallout as well. Although way different scenarios, the balance, and immersivness of the games helped me cope with being home, alone, 24/7

[@Riverside_23]

I've had this dream of traveling the country in a van alone and this video has just pushed me more towards doing that isolation in short bursts can be thrilling.

[@undeadpeak]

If you want to have an existential crisis, go to a shopping center, sit down, don't eat, drink or do anything other then observe and after awhile you'll notice the loneliness while surrounded by dozens, the lack of uniqueness that exists, you sit there long enough you start seeing the patterns of people behavior arise

[@thelastabduction6765]

So it starts to feel... like an open world video game? Funny, we try to replicate real life in open world games and the closer we get, the more programmed real life seems. That's why I like his point about the feelings... I know I am alive through the feeling of being lonely, whether it's in that shopping mall or the game. But after a while it's hard not to wonder... is anyone else? Maybe I'm not either?

[@4SeasonProducer]

i always felt that i am the player while the people around me is just an npc

[@undeadpeak]

@@4SeasonProducer the point in which it hits you hard is a week later when you're out shopping and you recongnise one of the patterns you fit into and you feel as if you are a NPC

[@undeadpeak]

@@thelastabduction6765 It's one of those things... we're so active and busy all the time that we don't notice it but when you sit down and just observe, you have time to process it all and you feel small, really small, the mall has become an ants nest and everyone has become ants. I find it an amazing phenomena

[@chronicallytired02]

and i thought im the only 1 that see it

[@fancycat5669]

Anyone else sometimes walk around at night and just take in the emptiness. Just an empty town you walk through and think about life, how much we miss because we’re so distracted on school, work, family; but when things are quiet and peaceful you really take that in. You remember the moment so perfectly, and it’s relaxing. Just peaceful emptiness and no limit on time. It’s nice.

[@craigdurso3005]

I like to do that at night when it snows , very few people out , can walk down the middle of the main street ... gives a different perspective of what you look at all the time but rarely care to notice

[@richardnixonsnewaccount9976]

This is beautiful, but your fucking pfp

[@fouilt]

Yeah it’s really nice to do that sometimes. Just taking it in and putting aside those distractions for a bit, is just so nice.

[@fouilt]

@@craigdurso3005 yea even with the small things such as any random thing, i sometimes just like to focus on some stuff that are infront of me everyday and think about how they’re made, their raw materials and how like i’m basically touching something that’s been made from different things on Earth that has been here from hundreds or even millions of years ago.

[@juliagoetia]

I used to do that until I got mugged a few times and almost got killed by a pack of wild dogs another time. Now I stay inside unless forced to go out.

[@jaihayes9647]

"Go to a concert by myself" This ^ I did this myself a few years ago. Saw 2 tickets up for sale for concerts starring multiple bands I loved, but not ones I knew anyone else who cared to see them. I thought, fuck it the opportunity is too good, I'll go. This meant a 3 day trip to London alone, as the gigs were on Wed and Fri. I spoke to people I didn't know in queues, and some inside the events, but mostly the events were surreal and enveloping. When the gigs were over or on the night between I would wander the still populated but quiet streets to look for somewhere to eat, and the atmosphere was alive. The occasional interactions with other human beings equally surreal. Cities at night to people who don't live in cities are the most exhilarating experience.

[@toucan6109]

O nice

[@Shockwave99999]

@@toucan6109 you’ve been saying this to like almost every comment

[@toucan6109]

@@Shockwave99999 like 2 What's your point?

[@beaucaspar3990]

I live in a market town called Faversham in Kent, about 54 miles from London. On the contrary when I walk in the marshes during the evening when the sun is going down, I really get the feeling of existentialism, like I feel so aware if that makes any sense.

[@solitary2]

I remember when concerts were a thing

[@nataliechilcott9566]

this is fr one of my favourite yt videos, i come back to it every so often and just makes my feelings of the game feel so real

[@redacted7793]

When a game is more peaceful than real life I'm glad i bought RDR2

[@SharttyWaffle]

If you get out and travel life is very peaceful. Maybe not in the city but in the wild

[@bubbleboi28]

@@SharttyWaffle Problem is is it's becoming increasingly hard to find. Especially with other people, what with the ever increasingly amount of hate towards one another.

[@ZzZ-qo5wc]

@@bubbleboi28 I disagree. I just think that an excuse introverts use

[@khinlop]

I constantly have a 500$ bounty in almost every part of the map so not so peaceful for me lol

[@DanteG1234]

@Let me offer you this what? They’re a snowflake for thinking that people hate too much? That one of the dumbest things I’ve ever heard.

[@RougeEric]

Oh, that Firewatch music at the start just plunged me head-first into lonely walks through smoke-filled mountain forests with a rich red sunset on the horizon... Thanks for that!

[@RougeEric]

Wait... Dear Esther now?! You, sir, are killing me! :)

[@10hourversion17]

Instantly recognised and hit like

[@Ryocniel]

he ended the video with firewatch too

[@PhoenixStriker1]

Something about Firewatch’s quiet melodies really punctuates the feeling of being alone. In the good way, though.

[@noamias4897]

I can’t believe I haven’t even seen anything about that game for years yet I still recognized the music and remembered where it came from

[@sander7295]

Lets be honest - When you finished the game you started again just to explore and do more with Arthur

[@nicksporre7981]

yep

[@gamingandrewbro8815]

Nope I prefer john so I was happy to explore with him.

[@1Gidget]

Yep, my 4th run through the story, I did pretty much all stranger missions with Arthur

[@sirwaylonthe1st239]

Imagine just playing the entire thing in first person on vr. That would make it so much better

[@g4g3_k9]

yeah i’m on my 7th play through and my 4th was 100 hours long

[@alchetect9995]

I think that quality of Artificial Loneliness is what really cemented Minecraft as something special for me. Just loading into my first world, and then... Nothing. No to-do list. Not even a "go punch a tree and make a crafting table!" (I'd started playing before that feature was introduced). I just kinda stood for a moment, dumbstruck. No game had ever just _abandoned me_ quite like that before. It took a Google search just to figure out I had to HOLD left-click to break things. It was the most incredible feeling I'd ever experienced- a world that would keep giving back however much effort and love I put in. A world where I- for better or worse- was totally on my own. Alone.

[@YokieWartooth]

I've wondered why I've spent so many nights playing Read Dead, whether it be the story mode or online, and this helps me rationalize it and explain it to people. Rockstar made a game so detailed that you can simply walk in a direction and find something interesting, even if it has nothing to do with the story or gives nothing to you as a player strategically. Even if it really isn't interesting, it can be for you.

[@HawkFan30]

I do this.

[@joeschmoe7866]

My friends dislike this game, I don’t think everyone is this type of person like us. A different sort of person, we are.

[@ConWolfDoubleO7]

Finally someone articulated what I've been feeling. Lately I keep going back to Rdr2 just to do nothing but wander around. It's been my de-stress time in between the barrage of essays and tests. Going outside and hiking for real feels great, but I still get that tangible feeling of wasted time because of all the effort involved in going somewhere. I also used to sink hundreds of hours into the first game as a kid, doing excatly this, so it feels surreally nostalgic and for me harkens back to being a relaxed kid again.

[@chrishartford7493]

So many times I take off on my horse with something in mind to do, a starting point for what I intend on becoming a list of productive accomplishments, yet so often (before I know it) end up just roaming the land with no particular goals or destinations in mind... literally just roaming randomly with not even so much as my next step planned and get lost in the moment.

[@clearly9321]

this probably is one of the best uses of Dear Esther's soundtrack ever.

[@ketrub]

probably better than Dear Esther

[@Brother-Martell]

Joaquín Cuesta Fuentes What’s your pfp from?

[@clearly9321]

Techpriest Martell An anime called Darker than Black that I watched a LONG time ago.

[@void-master9077]

Ya that was an absolutely awesome Anime, now I have to watch it again.

[@loganusher591]

Red Dead 2 was a very similar experience for me! I'm a twin and so loneliness hasn't been a big part of my life until my brother and I no longer lived together, no longer were constantly accompanied. I sought out red dead 2 and now am playing through death stranding because they allow you to experience loneliness in the same way a horror movie allows you to experience fear. In a catered, nuanced way that lets you grapple with the thought without ever truly being in the situation that causes those feelings. Great video and great games

[@tjzambonischwartz]

This. This right here is something I discovered the first time I went camping alone. It was like a revelation and is now something I have to do a couple of times a year for a recharge. To crib a turn of phrase from Buzz Aldrin, "magnificent desolation" is something everybody needs to experience from time to time.

[@eshafto]

When I was young I hitchhiked some 15,000 miles. One of my first long trips, after a week or so on the road, I felt lonely. It was such a clean feeling, as opposed to feeling lonely in a room full of people. I think that moment grounded me in a way that has stayed with me through the... is it 40? Yeah, almost 40 years.

[@airprimus]

I think something similar, this craving for loneliness amidst human made world is why I always wanted to visit Pripyat, abandoned city in vicinity of Chernobyl power plant. This was long before this awful TV series came on.

[@mynamo12]

Primož Božič Uh, radiation? Also it’s really not that pretty, mostly creepy, there are so many gorgeous places out there that can serve the same purpose.

[@Grzesuav94]

I know it's gonna sound cheesy, but this feeling is exactly why I love my job as a trucker.

[@carteir6884]

Zamboni Josiah why does camping alone seem so scary to me lol

[@CainLatrani]

Just more or less finished my first ever play through of RDR2, and it's strange. When I first got to the Horseshoe Overlook part of the game, and was free to basically go do whatever I wanted, I did. I started riding around, just exploring. Going everywhere I could, except Blackwater of course. I took it that part of the map was "off limits". Later game content showed me that wasn't the case, but during the early part, I didn't know, so I stayed away. It was strange. Sure, there was stuff I was being told I could go and do, but instead, I just rode. I went up into the mountains, and down into the swamp. I poked around deserted homesteads, and greeted people in San Denis. I just rode, and explored.I took in the world. Camped under the stars, and stayed in finer rooms, hunted, and climbed. While I certainly didn't find every nook and cranny the world had to offer, I felt like the choice to do all this really was mine. That time, those days of exploring, they are all but over, really. We can still explore space, and the deep ocean, but that's not places I could go just by going to them. Not like that time in history was. It felt eye opening. As if I was experiencing something for the first time. Realizing in some tiny way just how vast and difficult our ancestors had it. What they really went through. What their lives were really like. Standing on some cliff, staring out over the world, not seeing anything but animals, it made me reflect on things, on life, on myself, our civilization and culture. I remember just standing there, scanning the horizon, and thinking, we've grown so much, yet we've lost more. Games, man. They really can make you think.

[@notawebii6985]

Important comment

[@flashpointgodlevelbatman0688]

Cynical Demon I did too reading that.

[@xx_gotadam_xx9457]

Ya’know if u like exploring subnautica is for you its a game where you crash landed on a planet mostly of water and you explore there is aliens and you explore you explore the planet you explore aliens history and first time you play it youre just catching fish but without you even realizing it you got submarines going deep to explore whats there its amazing i would recommend it

[@CainLatrani]

@@xx_gotadam_xx9457 I have been wanting to get that game, yes. It's pretty high on my list. Thank you, though. It is now higher due to your recommendation. :D

[@xx_gotadam_xx9457]

Cain Latrani :) its soo good i finished it 3 times and watched like 4 youtubers series its so good one of the best ever

[@JacobGeller]

I'll be releasing a *full-length video director's commentary* on this essay for Patreon! It'll have tons of thoughts on the writing process, things that didn't make it in, and the video's reception. Check it out!

[@tunggone9605]

No one told you to, but you went that exact mile. Thank you

[@RockTheJake]

Solitude is a wonderful thing, especially in video games. I made a video about it myself a few years ago and you did an excellent job speaking the goodness of space. Great work.

[@jameswalt1]

Thank you for this beautiful gift of a video. Truly superlative. You gained a Patron.

[@MinotaurForger]

Attaching this to your comment here as well, since I'm not sure how you read comments on your videos and I'm vane and want to believe that my comment is worth reading. Jacob, you have just encapsulated the feeling that many people get when trekking through the void in games such as Freelancer. The game is an open-world "space sim" from the early aughts. The campaign gives you explicit breaks from the story, allowing you to explore and wander around the vastness of the star systems. Every debris field or orbiting body has a story. Every space station has a history, and every bar is chock full with rumors and old-wives-tales about the goings-on in the universe. As you fly around, waiting for the campaign to start up again, you start to realize just how lost you could get in the stories around you, and how each system could change if only you took a side. But then, inevitably, the campaign continues and you leave this corner of the galaxy behind. This happens over and over, never letting you get completely comfortable in an area, until suddenly the campaign is done. You won. It's over. But... It isn't. All those worlds. All those stories. All those pieces of endlessness that you stumbled across saving the galaxy... Waiting. For you. The campaign is relatively short: doable in much less than 40 hours, if you tried hard at all. The game truly begins after. You can find a place in the world and call it your own. You can fight as a rebel against what you have identified as their oppressors, though many factions see you as a nut job. You can buy the biggest freighter available and trek across the stars with rare diamonds, or chance the consequences of smuggling contraband through secure space. You are truly a Freelancer. This game was incredible for its depth(and its shallowness, but I'll let you read other reviews for those reasons). To this day, even after fighting a Dota addiction, Freelancer continues to be the game that I poured the most hours of play into. So far I have only mentioned the single-player experience, but it is not hard, I think, to see what such a game gains from a multi-player world. All of that exploring, that soul-searching, that wanderlust, is just like before, but now when you fly through the outer border world, you don't just see NPC freighters. You see other travelers, piloting freight ships or policing the trading lanes. Aplayer whose transponder is hostile drop out of cruise, and suddenly you are engaged in a frantic showdown of skill and then it's over. Maybe you won. Maybe you were turned into an expanding cloud of plasma by an errant missile. But an experience was shared. An experience that will be remembered. This is where, even after all that was available in the campaign and afterwards, there is more to be found. More to be shared. A huge and diverse modding community kept the game alive well past the stated expiration date, though finally after nearly two decades, the once-buzzing servers are finally dying out. A shared experience is dying. But that's okay: the experiences were shared, and maybe that's what the game was telling us was important the whole time. Jacob, if you see this, I would highly recommend this game to you. Anyone else, the same. Thank you for reading.

[@manflabs5209]

Thats a really smart way to reward patrons

[@justanadventure7636]

so i just moved. i have no internet for the moment. whenever i go over to someone’s place and they do have connection. i make sure to download your videos. it boggles my mind how you don’t have more subscribers. i have to pause these videos and sit with myself in silence and think about what you’re saying and how it applies to my life. i love it keep it up

[@randomguy3ds]

Idk why I watched this , but I feel like you could write one hell of an essay

[@tinor9591]

he did, you just listened to it.....

[@Justin-gw8zw]

I thought that too😂

[@phoebesmith3935]

This is an essay, as are basically all of his videos.

[@IGTKYIYKSM]

"Being alone activates the true you" ~Wise old man

[@googiegress]

All other things obscure you from yourself.

[@IGTKYIYKSM]

@@googiegress For sure

[@kimmythehun]

the sense of peace I get from playing rdr2 is unreal. the rhythm of the hooves, the ambient bird/insects, the water flowing along the creeks and streams, the lazy music barely in the background- they all chill me out immensely. doing something, but doing really nothing at all. Ring Neck Creek is one of my favorite places on the map. I am on my second play through and love it for so many reasons, but what I wouldn't give to savor the pace and play this game again for the first time

[@Daysbb]

Little creek river is way bettet... I don't like ringneck because it's in Lemoyne... I hate Lemoyne... Mostly because of the people there and the swamp... And the city

[@skylernobles6967]

I want to be able to rest in VR in this game.

[@dannymiller3315]

I love walking slowly through the barren waste of ambarino its cold and unforgiving but there are no people quit except for a few wolves and a bear it makes you feel like you left the world you knew

[@Mad-rg9sz]

Ring Neck creek is such an underrated little spot. I remember during the mission where you flee into there after a gunfight i opened the map and marked it so i could come back.

[@hiimjordan7502]

@@Daysbb I love little creek river, that huge open plain filled with lush green grass and that huge lavender field, flowers and dragonflies everywhere, and crystal clear ankle deep water. Best spot in the game forsure

[@sugarnips1939]

Still 4 years later the best youtube video I have ever seen always coming back👍🥂

[@pioneerz450]

I came upon this phenomenon when i celebrated my 25th birthday alone on the other side of the country, it was the first time i really was alone and no one else was there to celebrate with me. I had a steak at a restaurant, an then walked home alone. After that day I keep reminding myself of my own mortality. And that makes me feel so alive. In a wierd way.

[@lecoureurdesbois86]

Reminding yourself that you shouldn't take everything for granted, that everything can stop at any moment

[@carlitosskater89]

@@lecoureurdesbois86 by some miracle being alive. Still breathing.

[@arknark]

Dig it. Also reminds me of when I had moved to southern California to this small town to live with this girl I met at a festival when I was 19. I didn't know anyone really, and every one knew eachother. Eventually I bought a dirtbike off a guy in the area and figured out a way to ride it up these several dirtroads/driveways until I hit the hill overlooking the park. Once I got off work, I'd wonder through the brush until I found my dirtbike, in which I had taped a small crank flashlight onto the handlebars. My rides through these trails, at some points overlooking the Brawly(?) desert were some of the most surreal/beautiful and lonely experiences I can remember. One time a shooting star blew the sky up. I'll never forgot those few months of riding that bike on those trails. I need to get me another dirtbike. /endrant

[@halcyon_echo42]

It's hard to fully realize how rare and unlikely it is to be alive. Time alone is usually when that becomes most apparent to me anyway. Gotta cherish the moments and memories and the people that we share them with

[@mallieange1]

im sort of what you’d call an immersionist. I hardly ever sprint, I walk slow because I don’t see the need to rush through a game like this. I sit at the saloon and chat up the townsfolk, occasionally ordering a shot of whiskey from the tender. I make sure to pat my horse before I saddle up, every single time. I don’t even sprint with my horse either. I take in everything, going as far as trying to identify what kind of trees I’m passing by on the road. And when I hunt, I always say thank you to the animal even though I didn’t hunt it myself irl. There’s just something to this game that makes me feel free. It’s literally impacted my life lol

[@scampi9588]

Dude you have such a gift to naturally take that approach. I always have to do things asap then often leave them/that/what ever it is behind without even appreciating it.

[@dodo19923]

HA, same. I played GTA5 religiously for ages then started on RDR2 (and now more online with my friends in discord ect). The change of pace is so refreshing... Spawn in in Saint denis, make sure the horse is fed, brushed and given a good pat. Trot off at a nice pleasant pace to check the post office for any incoming deliveries. Head past the stores for supplies/ammo ect then slowly make my way to a random point of the map. I like to head north towards the trading posts (not a fan of the swamps for some reason unknown to me lol) and loiter at the top of the map as there are rarely any players (online again) and i can spend my time hunting and fishing. Honestly, the single player is awesome but i've been through it at least 3 times now whereas online (as much as people shit on it) the fact a random player can pass me and i don't know whether they'll tip their hat or turn it into a shoot out is fairly exhilarating. I hope they (RockstaR) don't just abandon the game for the sake of it as there is sooo much can be done to the game... Sky is literally the limit at this point.

[@lecoureurdesbois86]

Freedom, yeah, this game also shows freedom

[@Krisztian08]

Same, although I'm not that extreme to identify trees and say thanks to dead animals, but yeah

[@meatypatte7125]

@@dodo19923 I initially played rdr online before the story , I was amazed at the lack of players I found it felt like I was in my own characters story. The longer I explored the more lost In the world I was .

[@Voltaic_Fire]

RDR2 is a prequel to RDR1 isn't it? Armadillo isn't dying, it's waiting.

[@kiss-shotacerola-orionhear1441]

oh boy , damn.... u said it

[@googiegress]

All things that are waiting are dying, and all things that are dying are waiting.

[@Cairo40000]

It felt so weird coming to Armadillo and thinking to myself "Oh hell yeah Armadillo! Can't wait to see this place again!" And then riding into it and seeing how everyone's dying or already dead. Like going to your favorite childhood place when you're all grown up just to find out it's rotted away.

[@ackreikthecouncils.6449]

@@Cairo40000 that sucks so bad

[@MyouKyuubi]

@@googiegress iam14andthisisdeep

[@Revidently1]

So glad I found your channel. Exactly what I want or going through being alone is so peaceful. And I never knew that. Peaceful bliss

[@lemongraabtheforsaken1225]

15:35 this is the only thing I miss about living out in the literal middle of nowhere. Wandering out into the vast emptiness of the plains, knowing I’m practically entirely alone. So alone that if a snake were to bite me or a fall and a broken leg would be a death sentence; and that my body probably wouldn’t be found for months maybe even years. It’s so quiet yet loud. It’s even amplified to extremes during winter, when not a bug or animal, or sound can be perceived. You feel both disconnected yet integral to existence. What you decide to do out there means nothing to the state of the world, but can completely change the state of existence for everything around you. You can pick up a stone and throw it and it won’t change a single thing, but that stone will be there for centuries or even millennia.

[@olfmombach260]

Those kinda topics scare the shit outta me, like actual panic attacks, I don't know why

[@themumblingdumpling2838]

I found it interesting that he used Firewatch soundtrack in this video, a game in which you are virtually lonely as well

[@tearex_8443]

Yea props to him on that. God damn it i wanted to meet delilah..

[@gordonohallmhurain]

Yes!

[@juanestebanmartinezdiaz9287]

Underrated comment

[@ArmundJay]

To this day firewatch is one of my favorite games of all time. It’s a masterpiece of emotion, loneliness, and self-reflection.

[@notawebii6985]

An all time fave used with another all time fave I love it

[@KyleKringle]

"This game really makes you FEEL like you're outside"

[@Quack_attack_]

Especially if your playing it outside 😂

[@Riserow]

(it also makes you feel like spiderman)

[@IsThisRain]

100%. I purchased the game on release last year and can recall myself playing it from the time I woke up until it was dinner time. For any other game, I would stop after a couple of hours as I tend to get dizzy and fatigued after a long bout of playing it. But for this game, it just felt like an entirely new world -- one that was an extension or replacement of my own. Hence, why I'm angry as to why it didn't get GOTY.

[@Quack_attack_]

@@IsThisRain It should have hands down no argument or discussion about it , gow was great an all but rdr2 was just stunning

[@Handmaderollies]

Arthur Morgan Exactly. It has been a year and i still play single player most days. In my opinion it is the best game ever made.

[@biggerfootprint8033]

Strange how certain messages find you at the right time. I've been living alone for the last three years and I couldn't be happier. Being at one with the inner monologue is pretty special.

[@ThisisRubbishlo]

Taking a ride across the map is so fulfilling. Loneliness is not an issue for me. Its worth the lonely wandering for the tranquility. And when I did enter Saint Denis its way to crowded with people. The suddeness that you are amongst the cities hustle and bustle, met with the industrial progress, that the wild west you have just come in from is so evidently going to fade away. I just wanted to leave. It's an amazing game. I love the tranquility within games as much as I do in life.

[@bree320]

ya, so many people I know including me felt the same way about Saint Denis. It really makes u feel like you and your horse dont belong there. A relic of the old times, looked upon in disgust by the people who live there.

[@zanniia7279]

As someone who loves Saint Denis, I can totally see why you would say that. I love going there, hearing all the sounds of the other people living their lives, it seems so alive, but I totally see how you dont seem like you dont belong. Saint Denis is a toxic place, not only because of the smog, but the people and I think they portray it perfectly in game.

[@bryanv82]

Guessing you loved or are gonna love death stranding

[@bryanv82]

You can’t See me wasn’t talking about the majority was literally just saying this guy might like death stranding because it’s a really peaceful and beautiful but lonely game and the people who are actually liking this game are for those reasons not gameplay wise.

[@ladyrest8455]

Umm... thank you... really

[@ChristofferSkogsmo]

I was eating alone on my walk home from work and started watching youtube, and was recomended this. First 10 minutes was about this guy talking about video games in a soothin manner. After 13 minutes it hit me. He’s talking about more than that. Like life lessons and perspectives and shit. He drew me in with his narrative. Really beautiful storytelling and thought worthy stuff from such a mundane starting point as a video game. Really nice vibe. Would love to hang out with this guy

[@aggrogator4045]

Really couldn't wait until you got home huh

[@jonahpigeonboy]

​@@aggrogator4045really had to find the one negative thing to say about this beautiful revelation of a comment? grow up

[@lucalinadreemur9448]

That's actually something I love about Jacob. I started with a couple videos from him that were really niche topics I enjoy, and he just had so much to say, branching out in an almost impossible to notice way, expanding. I started watching videos from him that would normally never interest me, but still being fascinated by this man's presentation style. Regardless of how uninteresting I may consider a topic, it seems Jacob Geller always has something interesting to say about it.

[@turolretar]

Summing up, you have an eating disorder and KZbin addiction. Work on that, bucko.

[@imjustablur2239]

”things don’t have to be constantly happening to remind you of being alive” Accepting the reality in being alone, a finite man in an infinite.. something, shouldn’t be thought of with dread or futility, but bring meaning to what being alive feels like

[@michelium106]

Popped up into my recommended. This story inspires me so much for some reason, dont know why but thank you. And yes when you showed me the dark I was searching for what's up with these pictures and just didn't realise a city doesn't look like that.

[@emlorenz5211]

This video brought me to tears. I've been having a really hard time handling being alone so I pulled up youtube trying to keep me from my thoughts. Lately, I've been so depressed I havent even been able to make myself sit and play a video game or read a book or draw (all of which are big parts of who I am) and it just made matters worse, but this gave me a better perspective on how to look at my life. So, thank you for this video ❤ Thanks for making my day a hell of a lot better and please keep making videos because you're really really good at it.

[@Thalor]

Hope you're doing better now

[@ilikegamesbro5763]

Everything will be fine, trust me.

[@xJM1993]

Figured id leave my comment here too since it was yours that made me write it in the first place, hope your doing well 😁 You have no idea how much i relate to this... In 2017 the girl i had been with for 7 years and around who my whole world revolved around, left me. From that moment, i felt more alone than i ever did in my entire life. Playing games felt boring, seeing long time friends and family that i realised i wasen't really close to anymore felt weird... I really was left alone with myself... and that scared the shit out me... But after some time i met someone new. I started to do so many new thing that i had never did with that person: we went on car rides around the city for hours, started to listent to new type of music, discovered that spicy food and really strong coffe are awesome, learned to play guitar, we went out there and found me a new girlfriend, and so many other things! You probably guessed it but that person was me. I didnt saw it like that at the time but that breakup was the best thing that happened to because it allowed me to learn so much about myself! Being alone is often seen as something bad, but it's actually the best thing that can happen to because its in those moments that you are the most alive, since everything is about you and no one else!

[@Gunslade]

"your stronger than you realise and beautiful in your own fantastic way" A quote i read once. Believe in yourself and im sure things will get better Emily.

[@younghex9577]

@@xJM1993 It's funny I feel like I'm the opposite of you. I've felt alone my whole life. I have plenty of interest and hobbies and I know my self very well but I've never had a long term relationship. I've road tripped, hiked, and been offroading alone. I know the positives and negatives of being alone. You can play your favorite song over and over again with out anyone judging you and it's great. But you have no one to talk to. I've never had a relationship last over a year. I've never experienced the intimacy of a long term relationship. I've never truly had a relationship where my whole world revolved around her and her whole world revolved around me. Yeah I've gone through the honeymoon phase and been crazy about a girl but it's never lasted long enough to bring them around family events or where we grow together. Obviously long term relationships aren't always sunshine and rainbows but neither is being alone.

[@skruuul]

This maybe sounds weird ... but after playing RDR2 I really see things different in my life. This game made me thinking about myself and I am thankful for that.

[@david2legit2quit]

It’s so weird that it took a virtual game to make me appreciate my real life. For me, that game was Animal Crossing: New Leaf and Breath of the Wild

[@skruuul]

@@david2legit2quit yes I feel you!

[@JK-il5xq]

Same. Arthur Morgan is one of the best protagonists ever written.

[@WakeUpDonni333]

This game made me appreciate history. It mad me want to go outside and just watch and explore nature just like in rdr2.

[@aliasofanalias7448]

Not for everyone but life is strange did that for me

[@elfrogman1428]

You literally just gave me a therapy session

[@lawswon4857]

You probably don't get told this by your usual audience, but you're a great writer. And I don't just mean your wordsmithing. That's great, but it's your ability to recognise and then convey thematic and poetic insight that's the real talent. It's very clear why you have over 1 million subscribers. Kudos.

[@pedroheemstra9314]

Watched the whole thing, didn't expected this to be so interesting.

[@brandonclarke436]

Watch more of him

[@the_charliecp8859]

This is what I imagine my English teacher thinks when playing video games

[@AllOneVoice]

Thoughts ?

[@niveshnayan6648]

I'm sure when you completed RDR2 it left a hole in your heart, left you wanting for more

[@MissSchnickfitzel]

It did. God so badly. To the point im on my 5th playthrough...i played this game 4 times with ALL the side quests. And the 4th time i even tried to finish the whole camp with hunting for furs. Hours and hours. And i still secretely hope they make a third one. I even hope they would make one about micah? Or arthurs daughter that was seemingly mentioned but never had a name

[@tebow954]

for sure. i only played it once, i did pretty much everything the 1st time around, big mistake, ill admit i was really really immersed and that time fleeewww by, but not many open worlds ive finished like that let alone 1st PT, I hope they're saving content & not for bogus online. When the end came & the potential was sucked out the world, i was sad. Not touched since, yet still one of my favorite games. idk... Done right; I kinda prefer the limited-quality, vs the endless-bland world approach. but still,

[@KroniklyStoned]

@S U R V I V E I just started the game sheet playing it for a few days a year ago and got bored. I'm much more patient now and doing everything. Also exploring more. Wow, what an amazing game. So absolutely massive too.

[@stationaryparticles2492]

on my second save of rdr2, although now that i started Days Gone, it kinda gives me the same peace, i recommend it to ppl who loved the RDR2 story & feel, although its a ‘’ zombieworld’’ it still feels damn lonely & excluding. the story is amazing w alot of side quests, which i loved about RDR

[@atmywhitson]

My daughter is 11 & just completed RDR2 yesterday lol she got it January 1st! Mind you she had begged me for the game for a very long time. It's very bittersweet but I reassured her there is SO much more to be explored! ❤️🐎🤠

[@justlilly7653]

I appericate the music from firewatch in the beginning of the video. That game does an amazing job of giving the feeling of being alone. Your only company being the faceless voice of a women you fall in love with over a handheld radio.