Let's Drown Out... The Path

[@lich109]

The characters in Space Marine weren't surprised that a woman was in charge, they were surprised that somebody with such a low rank was the commander.

[@gavynduthie2548]

+lich109 Largely because that meant that things have gone CONSIDERABLY more pear-shaped than they originally thought.

[@eggdrasilwarthog6507]

Exactly!

[@christophersmith8848]

+lich109 The thing is that Yahtzee will, quite often, have no fucking clue what he's talking about, but keep talking regardless.

[@TheCorrodedMan]

Christopher Smith And that’s why we love him

[@JiggyWilson]

13:48 - "I'm PUSHING the BUTTON and NOTHING'S OCCURRING!" I actually laughed out loud. Impressive. Quite good, quite good.

[@DILFDylF]

27:53 Just as I was thinking, "Why does that scarecrow look so annoyingly smug?" Yahtzee chimes in, "Well, he certainly seems pleased with himself."

[@KaiPonVisp]

I don't really have an issue with people telling me to cheer up when I'm having one of my depressed episode (I have a chronic depression that I've struggled with for 10-12 years now, so it happens occationally. I might have a chemically unbalanced brain that is the cause of it), but what I do have a big fucking issue with is when they say 'Cheer up, it's not that bad' or 'Cheer up, other people have it worse' or some such thing. Telling me to cheer up tells me that you have no fucking idea how to deal with it, and that's fine to me, a lot of people don't, but adding that it's "not that bad" or "other people have it worse" just pisses me off to no extent for the simple reason that no one else other than me knows what is going on in my brain. I've heard "You can't be depressed, there's kids starving in Africa!" By JEEBUS did that piss me off. Oh, so just because someone else somewhere in the world has it worse, I can't be depressed? I'm sorry, what? That is like saying "Hey, stop being so happy, because somewhere in the world there's someone that's happier than you", and that just makes no sense, right? So why is that logic used so much when it comes to depression? Seriously, I've heard that I should cheer up because other has it worse more times than I can count throughout the years. But I have to agree, suicide is a permanent sollution to a problem that is not permanent, and this is comming from someone who has thought about ending it several times. I'm just happy I didn't, because now I have medication that works, I have an internship at a place I love, I am trying to get through school to get proper grades so I can get a job and just loving life in general. I work on myself every day, celebrating every move forward. To you talking to random people on the phone is no big deal, while I just made it through my first phonecall with someone I didn't know without feeling like I was about to have an anxiety attack last weekend, and I'm 22. We are all different, meaning that we can't say how someone else should react or feel about anything. I guess that's why saying "it's not that bad" or "someone has it worse" pisses me off so much...

[@moff181]

So in this game, you fail if you're not raped? The creator of this scares me.

[@kazy8029]

I think it's trying to say that life is full of misery and that you may as well try silly, sexual, and dumb things and deal with the problems of them than stay a boring person doing what everyone tells you to. Though that makes the game just odd and stupid. Or maybe your suppose to get away from the wolf and go back to grandmothers house? Fuck it.

[@billlupin8345]

Do you notice how vivid the colors get as you get to your "encounter" scene? Loss of innocence (these scenes aren't actually rape metaphors) may come with pain, but it's an inevitable part of living life. If you stick to the beaten path, you'll never find anything interesting, and your tale won't be worth telling. "Little Red Riding Hood went into the forest, to bring her sick grandmother some food. She stuck to the path, and got there safely. The end." Not very entertaining, is it? Drama is life.

[@kazy8029]

In other words, the game's shit

[@billlupin8345]

Charles Noland Yeah, you may as well be out living life instead.

[@TacComControl]

I think it's that the game devs are trying to force you, quite ironically against your will, to understand the misery of a rape situation. Which annoys the piss out of me, I don't play games to get forced into social issues.

[@Gunman610]

The Onion continues to have the most brilliant and biting satire. My favorite is "'No Way to See This Coming" Says Only Country Where This Regularly Happens" after a mass shooting. Of course, truth is stranger than fiction, when Marco Rubio said, after the Pulse nightclub shooting, "It was just our turn"

[@realKenM]

We've seem to have slipped into a timeline where Onion articles are more believable and sensible than the shit that's actually happening. *WHICH IS NOT FUN*

[@MrClickity]

This game brings to mind the Nostalgia Critic's comment about The Cell: any time you run into weird shit, you can practically see the creator jumping up and down and yelling, "Ask me what it means! Ask me what it means!"

[@Apaness]

Be disturbed....

[@OptimusSledge]

Apa Fox I'm disturbed by the idea anyone watches the Nostalgia Critic. Does that help?

[@MrClickity]

Apa Fox (aaaaaah!)

[@adrianshephard6321]

Aahhh, this is way too edgey for me!!!!

[@gavynduthie2548]

I've heard another interesting interpretation of this game; no rape, at all . It *really* does seem to be a "tough lesson about adulthood" story. Carmen's wolf is the most sexual; she seduces her wolf, basically all but forcing herself on him while he's drunk, and the next day, she's not hurt, but hungover; she just threw away her first sexual experience on a fling with a guy she didn't really care for and got more than she bargained for. She's the sort of girl who flirts for attention and popularity, but doesn't actually realize a real relationship needs work and respect from both parties; maybe she'll have learned that now, and realize in ten years that she was throwing away something special as a fling, or maybe she won't. Robin; well no sex at all really. She's a little girl who thinks all animals are safe and friendly, like doggies; her wolf is.... a literal wolf. And it gives her a scare; she's likely not dead, since all the girls come back alive at the end, but in her case she's been introduced to the CONCEPT of death. A harsh thing for a little girl to deal with. Ginger: welp... menstruation. Not much more to say here really, Ginger is growing up and it literally hurts; she'll probably be fine though. Scarlet: She's giving up the last of her free time, her childhood is coming to an end and she's the sort who is always busy and always doing the work; to her, life is a joyless grind. The world is turning grey; there's no more time for "art" in her life, so for her, the Earth just becomes "Eh". Maybe things will improve as she gets older and doesn't need to take care of the younger girls as much, but for now, her twenties turn dark, Ruby, well she's getting into a bad relationship with a platinum haired boy who's trouble, got her on cigarettes, and is clearly not good for her. Maybe not reaped nor killed, but certainly not a good place to be. Rose: Well, Rose is a young girl, who's learned something the entire western world knows. The bathroom is a good place for certain things, and those certain things happen to feel good. She'll turn out likely, no worse than the rest of us. I got all this from a blog named Twenty Sided, and honestly I rather liked it. Seems alot less lazy than "rape and death!"to me, truth be told.

[@AudieHolland]

Sorry for the late reply. I must have watched this a few years ago but didn't go into the comments section then. The dude who gives the girl a cigarette: why was he dragging away a body right before she encountered him?

[@ariandynas]

@@AudieHolland Really it's a way of communicating that 'this guy is bad news' in pretty clear fashion.

[@Fixer40000]

Just watched through the Space Marine footage. Captain Titus greets Lt. Mira with due respect, Sgt. Sidonis (an aged and gruff veteran) responds afterwards with suprise that's she's the commander. She retorts that everyone above her has been killed. She's a lowly 2nd Lt. If someone that low on the chain is the only commanding officer available the Imperial Guard must have been absolutely butchered. You could have replaced Mira with a young male officer and Sidonis's suprise would have been just as valid a response with the exact same lines spoken.

[@EpicFailGirl]

Don't You (Forget About Me) gets stuck in my head constantly.

[@krmbaz69]

If I remember, Daniel is right, Titus was more surprised that a lieutenant was in command rather then a woman, the Imperial Guard does not discriminate when it comes to dieing for The Emperor! Also, I think you can stretch the word "audibly" far enough to get to one of the "Thief" games!

[@christophersmith8848]

Holy shit this is downright prophetic

[@snailboy]

"That's not a wood-nymph, that's just someone who's escaped from prison."

[@nickelakon5369]

It seems more like the game is symbolic of the loss of innocence, rather than rape.

[@MrRichardBoner]

+Nick Oak (Green) Yeah, something like that. I got the impression it was about different age issues breaking the illusions of the world, like smallest girl with the wolf and cemetery is probably about losing people for the first time, the edgy teenager is about falling into bad relationships, eldest with piano is disillusion of ambitions and talent. Not sure what flapper girl's was about, either they were right and it's sexual experimentation or something about breaking of friendship.

[@Anticitizen546]

I know this is a bit late, but I think it has to do with coming of age as a woman. She's apparently thirteen, about the age where menstruation kicks in, and she's very tomboyish. In her wolf house there's a lot of blood imagery and sharp things as well, further supporting that. The hardest one for me is Rose, the second youngest next to Robin. She's a very serene character: kind, thoughtful, gentle-tempered, and she goes out to the middle of the lake to be lifted into the air by a Cloudman (not Andre Ulmeyda, a literal man made of clouds). Perhaps it's her realizing that nature is not entirely calm and peaceful, that is can be destructive and ugly as well as bounteous and beautiful? Not sure. I think this game is quite interesting, but from a literary critic's perspective the symbology is pretty clear.

[@cr0w-qz277]

Imo I feel like "artsy" games need a strong, clear story. Take the wolf among us, great game, immersive, in your control and meaningful. Also, games like spec ops the line, not intended as art, but it really turned out as it.

[@gittonsxv126]

i agree, too many "artsy" things and games are just vague, weird, random and creepy and that does not equal art.

[@ThePoloJuice]

They either need a strong direction or good gameplay (Artsy games can actually have good gameplay too amazingly). Spec Ops had both, Telltale usually hits the mark with the direction at least, games like this and Proteus are just sandboxes waiting for someone to tell it what to do. It's like if you bought Skyrim and they just gave you the developers kit and asked you to make the game for them.

[@cataholic8040]

"Take the wolf among us, great game" Wouldn't exactly call it a game...

[@cr0w-qz277]

what would you call it?

[@sttate]

Hardly immersive when every game on the TellTale Tool is clearly falling apart at the seems due to it being a horrible engine. The transformation scene in the last episode is awful, when you see the shadow of Bigby reverting it's incredibly apparent that they just had two separate models for the wolf and Bigby and scaled down the wolf one to show the shadow shrinking. Stuff like that is the exact opposite of immersive. Also, none of the new TTG's are "in your control and meaningful". Your 'choices' don't change anything other than superficial lines of dialogue. You could've picked way better examples than that game. Bioshock (the original, forget Infinite) is still the game that stands out as the paragon of AAA single-player 'art' games IMO.

[@timothyshoup5044]

"I'm the best at art!"

[@TabuPulalae]

BOO YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

[@fromthedumpstertothegrave3689]

Take a shot every time gabe says 'again'. Get diagnosed with liver damage.

[@darcyhaze_r913]

By liver damage I assume you mean death

[@THB192]

Being a fan of the work of Doug Walker, I look at the symbolism of this game and hear a voice in my head - "Ask me what it means, ask me what it means!"

[@redbasher636]

"I'm so deep! I'm so deeeeep!"

[@TheD736]

I'll indulge. What does it mean?

[@lorddashdonalddappington2653]

he means the creator is screaming to ask them what it means

[@TheD736]

Lord Dash Donald Dappington Well I'm interested anyway. Wots it mean then m8

[@lorddashdonalddappington2653]

TheD736 the joke is that the themes aren't as deep as they're supposed to be.

[@FratFerno]

3:14 I also had that instinct when playing The Stanley Parable. I knew that there were different paths, but I chose to follow the narrator all the way through on my first playthrough. It was a nice story, like water flowing down a river into an ocean, but it wasn't surprising, like water feeding algae that gets eaten by a fish that gets eaten by a bear that deposits the water as part of its feces.

[@ToastyPlays]

I think following the story the first time makes all the different paths much more interesting

[@macnsqueeze2737]

The word was "Woman". I expected him to pick Leisure Suit Larry.

[@BFedie518]

"I'm running out of girls" almost choked on my yogurt when he said that

[@TheChaosDragoness]

A common interpretation of this game is "growing up sucks". The original story of Little Red Riding Hood has been interpreted by some to be about puberty. In the case of each girl in The Path, they more or less are taught a "life lesson" by their wolf before they reach Grandma's house at the end of their "path". So hence, in each case, the girl is more or less losing their childhood innocence; Carmen loses it in the most obvious way, but Robin learns about death (she meets her wolf in a cemetery and has thoughts that are very much not at ease with the nature of death). It also seems to be the general view that Ginger has, believing Scarlet to be proof that growing up makes you boring and uptight.

[@theoneandonlymichaelmccormick]

This reminds me of a fairly creepy comic book I read that had a Little Red Riding Hood story in it. The Little Red story was about the titular character walking through beautiful scenic woods in the evening to get to her mother's house, it's made clear that this trip is shall be the first of many, as she explains that she'll need to do this every night. She also makes it clear that she needs to be careful to avoid being caught by The Wolf, something that never happens. Little Red is overjoyed by this, congratulating herself on how lucky she was to not encounter The Wolf. Then, she hears a voice outside her window say; "Yes, but you need to be lucky enough to evade The Wolf every single night. The Wolf only needs to be lucky enough to catch you once." And then it ended.

[@JasonLuthor]

Yahtzee just said "don't look for reasons to be negative". .....

[@TheSugarRay]

Writing is an way to communicate experiences between people. It is extremely hard to get other people to feel what we are feeling. It isn't that any meaning can be taken from a book or story. It isn't criticism to find a meaning in a work. Reading is finding meaning in words. What literature classes are trying to teach you is reading is an interactive process and you get out what you put in. That is why good writing has so much depth and life in conversation.

[@onlynormalperson]

This game impressed the hell out of me when I was like 15. I still think that it's an interesting experiment, but it's definitely a little embarrassing how I thought it was some kind of great artistic statement.

[@MCHellshit]

You're probably gay

[@RawbeardX]

great, now I have to play THIS again. I will cry myself to sleep for days to come...

[@davidcolby167]

I always thought that the reason why Sidonus was surprised that Lt. Mira was in charge...was that she was a Lieutenant. I mean, she was running an ENTIRE FREAKING ARMY. Yes, I'm a nerd...

[@CplYakob]

I figured that the Ultramarines were astounded that the chain of command still existed given that the Cadians had practically been annihilated by the Orks.

[@davidcolby167]

That too!

[@Gunganlover]

I remember his review of Space Marine in Extra Punctuation, I think that's the first time i noticed how he can sometime completely misunderstand context, or in this case, the whole setting of Warhammer. Or maybe i do. that's a possibility :D Yeah, I always thought the same, or rather I atributed the surprise to her leading the army, was her very young age. They had been speaking to her throughout the previous mission, so the female and rank thing couldn't have come as a surprise.

[@CplYakob]

Yeah, he doesn't "get" 40K but I imagine we can forgive him this grievous flaw. As for the situation with Lt. Mira (I think her name was), its pretty much what everyone has already said: the Cadians had suffered horrific losses and all the other officers were dead, yet the lieutenant was holding the survivors together quite efficiently. That's what the Ultramarines were surprised about, with Captain Titus expressing his personal respect for the Guard troops given that they were still fighting in the face of impossible odds.

[@davidcolby167]

Space Marine really is one of the best 40k games, mostly due to the characters. The plot is fairly standard, but the characterizations of Titus, Sidonus, Fuckface, Mira, and the guardsmen was all really really good.

[@fsffda]

This game stimulated way too much conversation to be a lets drown out game

[@MrZombiPineapple]

It's a good thing humanity has Gabe to advise us on suicide prevention.

[@TeeDubable]

ROBIN WILLIAMS USED TO PLAY ON MY WOW REALM. I am honored.

[@OmniZeroFive]

"24 mind-blowing facts about suicide!" I can't stop laughing...thanks for making me feel like a prick.

[@ritchiekeightley]

Too many existential thoughts, but thankfully depreciated with crass humour. Well done Yahtzee and Gabe.

[@stanal-adam4914]

Y'see, I still see the point behind this game: "If you don't take risks in life then your life may seem short and uneventful". Which is true, I guess, but really it's kinda way too overt with its message, hence all the "ITS ART" thing. To be honest, I do find it kinda of stereotipically artsy and kind of a boring looking game.

[@chainsawvsgod384]

I really like it when Gabe talks about depression as I'm going through that sort of thing myself. It might be sad but these videos are the thing I look forward to most every week.

[@rlrsk8r1]

Who came up with the whole "Let's zoom out into the trees while sprinting, so that you can't see in a game entirely devoted to seeing things scattered around a forest" concept? Because we need to pay this person to not do things anymore.

[@rlrsk8r1]

Also, at 42:00: Jarate!

[@halfastudio]

@@rlrsk8r1 eyyyy, six years later and my thought was that exactly!

[@danlyday7248]

Not so sure it's about rape, but defenately creepy child adult relationships. That part where the kid says "I want to play with something big and cuddly" and "buy me now at discount prices". FUCKING CREEPY.

[@Deadlynightshade9]

I don't think the girl who was sat on the bench was supposed to be raped, it was supposed to represent her being attractive to dangerous guys I think... Then the girl who played the piano was supposed to represent that her career as an musician failing,hence why all art and statues were covered when she got to grandmothers house... While the little girl who finds the graveyard is supposed to express that she doesn't understand death or that people can cause her harm which is why she jumps on the wolf rather than running away.

[@billlupin8345]

I think they're all about loss of innocence. The house shows how she and her family reacts. In the case of a classy "pianist" type, she and her family simply covers it up. "It never happened," so she can continue with her career with a good reputation. The girl on the bench, she was enticed into a relationship with a sleazebag, who used her and dumped her. Her family was cold and impersonal, hence the industrial equipment. "It's you're own fault, you should've known better." The girl who went experimenting, on the other hand... her house is ominous. Spiderwebs everywhere. What happens when they find out? Homosexuality is taboo. When the end comes, it's very sudden, and she's beaten with what she did. If I had to guess, I'd say she came from a religious household. Little red abstracts all of them; she jumps on the wolf, she was willing, not knowing the consequences of her actions. She could've turned and run at any time.

[@gluestickgenius2644]

Currently watching '13 Reasons why' and they violated all of the guidelines Yahtzee mentioned ...

[@Gossenphilosoph666]

"I don't want to go to the playground! John Constantine will rape me!" ...Never thought I'd hear this sentence in a Let's Drown Out.

[@VaughnTheDruid]

Wolf-senpai noticed the little girl.

[@RhiHD]

Question for Yahtzee: Is the character of Frank in your novel Jam based on Gabe? From where do you primarily draw inspiration for your characters? - Simon, Caerphilly, Wales

[@Leonis1989]

I thought Frank was based on Gabe as well, but Frank is a fan of Halo due to the figurine on the television. If it had been a fighting game character it would have been very funny.

[@RhiHD]

Leonis1989 Indeed. I'm thinking it primarily because (if I remember correctly) Frank goes to the gym all the time and tries to get Travis to go too, plus I think he's described as being enthusiastic about cooking. Also in the audiobook I got the impression that Yahtzee was subtly impersonating Gabe during his reading as Frank.

[@Leonis1989]

Siphida - I don't remember those aspects about Frank so you are probably right. If you are right then it's quite amusing to me. When I got the audiobook, I immediately commented on asking whether Gabe was a character and how long it would be before he died.

[@asendimchev1996]

Siphida I'm from the future and Yahtzee said the character wasn't based on Gabe but another guy they both know.

[@OperatorError0919]

This whole game is vaguely terrifying...

[@fyto2418]

My mind is blown, just before watching this video, for no reason at all, like I haven't watched Futurama in years, I just thought of "single female lawyer, having lots of sex", literally minutes before I decided to find a drown out video to watch. I pick this one and yahtzee paraphrases it within 2 minutes. Its not like its a line that's referenced very often either, its just such a weird coincidence. wtf

[@ChrissyCourtney]

not even started the video and the description is worthy of a like already

[@vmgx]

I think I'd love to have a friend like Gabriel. Real stand up guy

[@joshrh7088]

Gabe finds everything either fascinating or interesting

[@shad0wmantis894]

I don't think this game is actually about rape. I think the "Wolves" aren't real and are just kind of representations for...stuff. Like maybe the goth girl's one is supposed to represent drug addiction or something. I don't know how do you explain the wolf for the little girl.

[@OptimusSledge]

That one actually is a wolf. Because.

[@SonikaCain]

The little girl is the closest to the usual representation of little red riding hood, so I think maybe what they were going for is that she's the youngest and mentally in some sort of fantasy world. Her wolf would represent the good ol "blah blah loss of innocence blah". But considering some other games, at least they have a degree of subtlety, riiiiiight?

[@warden929]

I think the werewolf is actually supposed to represent a wolf/feral dog for the youngest girl, she just fucked around in a cemetery and jumped on the back of a wild animal, and it hurt her.

[@adrianshephard6321]

See I don't know, I thought it was a metaphor for a child abducted that leads to her eventual murder and death, as she was just playing in the park, when she came upon a "werewolf" in the park, and had murdered her, hence the cemeteries' ending...

[@ariandynas]

I liked one interpretation that Robin's was a nasty encounter with an actual wolf, losing her innocence about "wolves just being big doggies" Whereas Ruby I think was more about learning that there are some people out there who are just going to use you, and Carmen's being that sex does not necessarily mean "maturity"

[@CurryFeatures]

"Like Chris Redfield from Resident Evil 4." I cried for hours over this.

[@MrKurome]

Another question: If we just learned that Hideo Kojima, Guillermo del torro and that walking dead dude would make a horror game (not a silent hill) would yahtzee's opinion change?

[@kaosu9763]

I believe he might've even given less shits if that was the case. Since he already gave his distaste to Kojima and he stated that he wasn't impressed by Del Torro's work so far.

[@MrKurome]

probably, it must be tiring to drum the same drums over and over again. Kojima sucks, endless renditions of the same games suck. director xyz never impressed me....time for a game he likes again LOL

[@kaosu9763]

Well he had like the Dark Souls games (Not 'Souls' since he disliked Demon's Souls) quite a bit, and that was a rather current event, and didn't he like Transistor as well?

[@MrKurome]

I dont think *not hating* is the same as liking....he even gave some coD postive notes in the past....he liked papers please too if I remember but it's been a while since he was positively impressed by a AAA game

[@kaosu9763]

MrKurome If you watch his Dark Souls 2 review, you will see that he in fact liked Dark Souls quite a bit, and though he stated that he preferred Ds1 over Ds2, he still found it enjoyable.

[@XenonFae]

I will say that I completely got giddy when I saw that they had chosen The Path as their "women" game. Mainly because at the end of the previous let's drown out and the word was chosen, The Path was one of the two games that came to mind, the other game being Gone Home. These two games have some of the best stories that feature female experiences. I absolutely adore this game because of how it portrays common fears, concerns, and emotional experiences that women endure. And having each girl be a different age, explaining how one's persona and fears change and develop as we age, was fantastic. But, I also had a fear that the guys, mainly Yahz, wouldn't be able to connect to the game on the account of their gender. I have not yet finished the video, but it seems I might be right. It's nice to have Gabriel analyzing the game and getting a perspective, but I'm slightly disappointed that Yahtzee went right to joking about the artiness of the game and not processing the game in a serious manner. But, there's nothing wrong with Yahtzee wanting to joke about something. He has every right to play and comment on the game as he likes. I'm just disappointed that he proved my concerns true. But, I haven't finished the video. Maybe it will change. But for right now, the guys are proving why I could only watch a female LP-er play through this and gone home.

[@samstromsw]

We actually do know that Humans and Neanderthals interbred. If I remember correctly Human mitochondrial DNA has been found that matches Neanderthal DNA.

[@stanal-adam4914]

+Sam Stromswold So... We did fuck them then. Specifically, a male Sapiens with a female Neaderthalensis.

[@samstromsw]

Unless I'm mistaken, yes.

[@stanal-adam4914]

You are not. Congrats. Here's some cake.

[@beeraydeem.107]

Yahtzee getting mad at Gabe nudging the mic is more annoying than the inaudible sound of said nudging

[@williamw2529]

4:52 "You forgot your basket of goodies you dumb bitch!" I laughed so hard I cried. I think its because I can actually see someone's grandmother saying that to them as they walk in the front door.

[@EmillyOrr]

This was an unexpected joy to watch, and I thoroughly enjoyed the discussion. Thank you for this one.

[@NetherStray]

I really doubt that first one was sexual assault. I think it was just a person who thought they were in love, then realized that it wasn't as deep as they thought and was just about having someone to get high with, hence Grandma's house apparently turned into an alley/boiler room and hence the cigarettes filled with whatever. People screaming "rape" with everything involving women really don't understand women... Yahtzee included. Also, Robin Williams wasn't forcibly commemorated in WoW. There was a petition, people signed it, it was brought to Blizzard, and Blizzard went "Yeah sounds great." They probably already had something planned and the petitioners are way too smug about their involvement.

[@PresentTheTree]

Hey Yahtzee, I just finished Mogworld and loved it! moving on to JAM now.

[@SubVisser24]

Sometimes I wonder with stuff like this, does the artist actually have a specified meaning for everything or are they purposely just creating symbolic looking stuff so people can interpret it differently?

[@SubVisser24]

Top3ThingsToSay Well, obviously it's different from person to person. We aren't all some one big collective. I was just wondering how many people do it. For example, I wrote a short story where I intentionally left the ending vague in that you couldn't tell who the real antagonist was. I never actually decided on an answer myself, I just wanted to leave it to readers to decide.

[@soundcipher4533]

This game is so creepy, especially the grandma.

[@Plasmaggie]

"Pacific Rim endfight was boring as shit" How to be Wrong, by Gabriel

[@Jagdpilot]

When I first saw his Let's Drown Outs I was like 'He's doing let's plays, nothing to see here'. Oh, how wrong have I been. All that drama behind The Escapist's last cow! Watching ZP will never be the same again.

[@Roronoa2zoro]

+Swen Ciupke To be perfectly honest i enjoy the Drown Outs a hell of a lot more than Zero Punctuation these days

[@gittonsxv126]

so apparently a ton of artsy fartsy people think this game is more mature and grown up compared to other games and you would never see a AAA studio make anything this unsafe and risky. i like the atmosphere but in the end this game is more a piece of art than a game and that could be a good or bad thing.

[@cataholic8040]

Tell that to Sony. They have been making movies for quite a while and people praise them for it.

[@cataholic8040]

***** I think he's just saying that games should focus on being games, like let's say Metal Gear, not art like Proteus.

[@gittonsxv126]

***** can a game be art if it only has the most basic bare bones of gaming? or would that count as art with interaction and not a game? to me a game that is art has to be a game, not a string of cut scenes and edgy bullshit connected together with running about and a few menus.

[@ThePoloJuice]

Cataholic You mean the interactive film series Metal Gear as opposed to the interactive painting Proteus? Neither are better as far as being a game is concerned. Rogue Legacy, for example, would be a better counter.

[@cataholic8040]

***** Well Metal Gear Solid 4 was a movie, the others had some cutscenes, but they still had loads of gameplay.

[@MechaEmperor7000]

I now need someone to make an RPG where you're in an Alice in Wonderland situation except the female lead has Yahtzee's voice and thinks everyone is some kind of escaped lunatic and lampshades the fuck out of everything. like when he sees the Cheshire Cat he should be screaming "STRANGER DANGER!"

[@MissingMandible]

Well, in Space Marine, I figured they were surprised that it was a 2nd Lieutenant that was left to lead a Regiment, not that she was a woman. Literally the lowest ranking officer that in normal circumstances only leads platoons. For a 2nd Lieutenant to be all that's left of the command structure would be a surprise for anyone, honestly.

[@mogman1]

"Oh, I'm running out of girls." Well, that was an unintentionally creepy, yet darkly humorous, remark, given the game.

[@David_Axelord]

This seems more like a representation of the girls having their hearts broken, not necessarily being raped.

[@Wafflepudding]

1:07:30 - It was surprise to a LIEUTENANT being the senior commanding officer remaining. Lieutenant in (most western) armies is the lowest commissioned officer rank there is. A lieutenant acting as the CO of an Imperial Guard regiment (which is about 10,000 strong) is like the pimply teenage assistant manager at McDonalds acting like the regional chief of operations.

[@timothyshoup5044]

Gabe will make a good teacher.

[@adampoole948]

25:41 where exactly did the girl store the flowers and boot? her snatch pack?

[@HammerspaceCreature]

I quite like this game. It's a perfect example of 'not necessarily good, but at least interesting'.

[@yarloo]

Yeah my grandparents are like that. Brain is failing. Fucking horrible way to go, to me.

[@Corpsolian]

"How does a first person shooter have a good female protagonist" Make the big meaty hand holding the shootgun more slender. That's fucking it, she would have all the character of most FPS PCs but also be a girl.

[@Mooseplatoon]

+TheMythof Feminism Yeah, because the likes of Master Chief, Marcus Fenix, and Nathan Drake are paragons of character. xD There may even be a larger percentage of shitty female protagonists, however up for debate that may be, but that imaginary statistic is meaningless when male protagonists are the norm, and thus get far more opportunities to not suck complete ass. There's no inherent reason why a female would make a worse protagonist unless the story was designed for a male character, but we will never find out for sure until people stop defaulting to dudes. Until then, all talk is speculative to the point of absurdity.

[@TheGodAnubis]

I fell asleep and then woke up and started watching from where the video was left and the convo i join in at was about bistiality and people shiting on people, what a great time to start watching without context XD

[@SarahWeisters]

I love the Futurama/Ally McBeal reference from Yahtzee.

[@bafbegagglestick6241]

"I'm the best at art" - Gabriel That right there is a fantastic quote.

[@Luckinji]

Uh, good horror IP that is not Silent Hill and its own thing? I recommend you try Pathologic (Thank you prahanormal for correcting me), yahtzee, despite its abysmal translation and outdated graphics. It's essentially a survival horror video game with the kind of bleakness that Russian artists seem to love to go for.

[@Anaverageguy41]

I think SH2's story sets it apart from the others, not it's gameplay or atmosphere I think

[@prahanormal]

Do you mean Pathologic?

[@kazy8029]

I've been waiting to see this game in action for a while now. Looks like a game to drink a beer while playing.

[@AcetheGolden]

From my understanding, each "wolf" is the event that causes the girl to lose her naievity and grow up, learning a lesson. It's not meant to be rape analogies, it varies per girl.

[@Jrez]

I don't see how rape is so prevalent in this game. The impression I got was that the "wolf" is just a type of person to avoid. The kind who will use you up and spit you out like a narcissistic sociopath. I really felt like there was a lot of time between the girl sitting next to the dude on the bench and her walking up disheveled on the ground. There could be six months in between there, it's left up to interpretation because 1) this game was made by a person rather than a massive studio so there are more limitations, and 2) most of us can relate and can easily fill in what that time would be like from our own experiences with one or more "wolves." Sure, rape can be included there, but I wouldn't have thought it was _necessary_ to the narrative.

[@jamiekamihachi3135]

I like open exploration, but I think this game could be seriously improved if it gave more direction or a little more boundaries on where you could go.

[@jasonfenton8250]

Well when all of the game's real content exists in very small pieces, it would help to keep the player on a loose leash, to keep up the pacing. I mean, this isn't Skyrim where wandering will take you to tons of dungeons, or small towns, or random encounters. Here wandering is just a gap between hotspots of content.

[@Potato-qv6hq]

i just like imagining that the people you meet in the woods are perfectly innocent, and it's just that grandma had some taser-armed security system that zaps everyone unconscious for a few hours..... that's the only explanation i have for why it cuts to you in front of the house and not the scene of the crime.

[@Chud_Bud_Supreme]

Context? Pfft. Who needs context or any kind of writing! When you're artsy you can just put in all manner of arbitrary imagery and no one can argue it's not deep.

[@Mokujo]

Seriously, thank you guys for going back to topics. I really enjoyed LDO, but you lost me with the QA. I just clicked this out of boredom, and this is a very pleasant surprise.

[@Jrez]

I genuinely doubt that "rape" was at the center of the wolf experience/analogy of the girls in this game. I think it is more representative of an overarching tone of poor life choices leading to things like drug abuse or a relationship that ended badly. Even if we are to take away that anyone was raped, I don't see why it should be such a big deal.

[@Sekei..]

I just wanted to say, that I really like the direction you guys are taking this series, I literally never do this and I feel really akward now, which isn't by the fact that I keep on blabbering about it.... Cheers from Germany anyway, I guess...... Oh yeah and: ELLIPSIS...................................................................................................................

[@Thylonicus]

I find the "Death of the Author" stance to be an untenable position. It ignores the only real opinion that matters--the opinion of the person who created the work. They know what was intended, not some Lit-Crit student. They know what they intended to "say". Whether they succeeded or not is another story, but pretending the creator and their intentions don't matter when discussing a work seems inherently disingenuous.

[@gre8]

I actually enjoyed the premise of the gem. I do see it as a non-linear narrative of subjective depictions of coming of age. Through that perspective I can see this as a good exercise on storytelling and food for thought material. The abandoned girl at the end of each wolf to me represent the shock from which you can't go back after some experience. Perhaps the girl in the park did experience rape, or it was an attempt to depict how even consented sex kills something inside of you; but the rest kind depict something different for each girl altogether, such as the youngest girl coming to grips with death and whatnot... Anyway, I felt all the art. Where is mah cookie?

[@blackromeoKOK]

I find it funny that people who haven't played the game, who haven't seen everything that happens in this game, can swear they know EVERYTHING about it. Yahtzee and Gabe are playing the game, they have a view point on it, however misguided that may be. However people who haven't played it don't have a view at all, they spout out what is told to them as personal views and opinions. This is a game about the lose of innocence, and the lose of one's self. One girl is attacked by an actual wolf, is that rape? One girl gets her period and has to forego her desire to remain a tomboy and become a young woman, is that rape? Having a 2% view into the game's message does not make you an expert. You don't understand a game? Research it. You don't want to research it because it doesn't interest you? Fine then don't, just don't lie saying the game is all about rape when you won't even bother to see if that's true.

[@blackromeoKOK]

Saying this is a game about rape is exactly like Fox news saying Mass Effect was a sex simulator. It's a narrow minded view that didn't come from personal experience, just what somebody else told you about the game.

[@DataProwler]

I'm just wondering why the girls end up sprawled out on the ground after encountering someone else. I'm not reading that as rape, more like being knocked out and led out of the forest. Like "helpful-Canadian-ninja-border-guard" kind of way. Sure, the way out of the forest may be a secret, but must the character's unconscious body be left in such an uncomfortable resting position?

[@MisadventurerJamek13]

yahtzee should probably make this channel look all official like

[@Kooljex12]

If you're Yahtzee you don't need to

[@cataholic8040]

Nah, it looks fine as it is.

[@MisadventurerJamek13]

Kooljex12 yeah your probably right

[@sandwich2473]

He used to have a profile picture...

[@Willothemask]

Having just last week been at Discworld Con ( yes, we have our own cons) one of the questions asked of Bernard Pearson, close personal friend of Terry Pratchett, was "Have you ever had to say no to Terry?" Which he did, relatively recently, when Terry was having a particularly bad day, and asked to go on his last holiday to Swizerland, and Bernard had to just say "No, Terry. You're still yourself, you still have life to live, words to write and days to see" or words to that effect. And this is the guy who, when the time comes, WILL take Terry to Dignitas. So even in his case, things can be complicated. It was also the first Con that Terry wasn't able to attend due to the Embuggerance. I doubt he'll be making that many public appearances from now on.

[@brokenscart7989]

ASK ME WHAT IT MEANS ASK ME WHAT IT MEANS

[@novembrine29]

Well it's been 7 months and no reply so I'll bite. *sighs*... what does it mean, +brokenSCART?

[@brokenscart7989]

+novembrine29 ...beats me. It's a nostalgia critic quote, when he's taking the piss out of some pretentious artsy film

[@Eightface0j0m]

+brokenSCART It was him making fun of M. Night Shyamalan

[@Darkagedd]

Nope, it was The Cell, directed by Tarsem.

[@TVIRG]

I really liked Gabriel in this video. It was probably the first time the personality, that was required to do some of things he has done, came through.

[@mrcoolsnowman4033]

if you could torture someone with a video game which video game would be

[@a.dennis4835]

Action 52

[@VikingFyre]

As I watch this I realize that whoever thinks the whole game is about sexual assault is missing the obvious. Yes, on an interpretive level, this game can be interpreted as about sexual assault. However, it seems painfully obvious that there is more going on: violation of trust, pressure to succeed, rape, molestation, abuse and other dark situations that all result in some kind of acute psychological trauma on the characters, leading towards what can be assumed as suicide or death in some fashion. Also nice pick Gabe, you found a game that is a good representation of the word "Woman" without it being tasteless.

[@outofcontrolmotion]

The only reason the imperial guard exist is to prevent overpopulation. You could make a better army out of paraplegic, blind gretchins with sticks for arms.

[@RS250Squid]

I'M PUSHING THE BUTTON, AND NOTHING'S *OCCURING!* haha XD.

[@AcetheGolden]

Also Gabe, while preventing the circumstances of suicide is important, the way you report it DOES matter; statistics show the "clusters" of suicide depending on media attention and the way it was phrased and the like. Please don't speak if you've no knowledge on psychology.

[@AcetheGolden]

PJ Ladd's right arm In the case of suicide and a less-than-ideal mental state?Why yes, I think it's best not to further encourage their thoughts.

[@Usammityduzntafraidofanythin]

Yeah but if the media thinks they aren't supposed to say that someone was a 'victim of suicide', that comes across as fucking stupid to me. Of course they were a victim of suicide! They couldn't help it. What else could they do, tough it out? The media should also encourage the idea of getting help. If someone says they're going to commit sucide and refuses to get help, there's honestly nothing that can be done - they may do it, or they may not. It's impossible to predict with certainty and every personality is different in that regard. There's no clear evidence that any sort of action encourages suicide more than another - other than maybe something direct like saying 'he's free now... he made the choice to commit suicide' or even 'suicide is a solution'.

[@AcetheGolden]

The whole point is that phrasing is important; and yes, encouraging them to tough it out.

[@liamcronin2108]

Yes they should tough it out they are not victims of suicide but of themselves

[@AntshKhel]

Suicide is easy, like he said, but saying that anyone can do it if they choose is asinine. It doesn't hurt the person doing it and just ends up devastating the family.

[@Valkris84KT]

"Noting taste as good as skinny feels"....man that was brutal and funny

[@highwaydwell]

"Single Female Creator, Having lots of sex." Well, that was... appropriate, given recent events.

[@palker4]

Quinnspiracy ?

[@highwaydwell]

#fiveguysandayahtzee

[@BigRiku95]

Possibly the best intro to something ever