Playing Quake for the Story (A Franchise Retrospective)

[@mattkeflowers]

"I'm going to tackle the Quake series from a narrative perspective and there's nothing you fuckers can do to stop me" is such a great statement of intent.

[@theautisticguitarist7560]

He's right, I tried and I couldn't.

[@aidanmeacham1999]

Wars of little importance, but immense emotional weight.

[@nathandavidson7298]

He’s always a gem

[@CupCakeArmy1]

Its nice to listen to reviews that don't solely exist to roast a game. "Starfield is trash, Diablo 4 is the worstest game ever, bla bla bla"

[@diamondhamster4320]

I mean he just stated in this very essay his insecurities and how much he and other "critiques" like him suck massive dongs at PvP, mate.

[@BigDrahma]

"Quake II was a huge part of my childhood" sometimes I forget Noah isn't a 58-year old college professor.

[@craboomba]

tbqf it was a hueg part of my childhood too and I'm 23

[@BigDrahma]

@@craboomba I mean to say he (and you as well) are pretty young. Quake came out during my college years. I forget Noah isn’t older than me, because he speaks with the quiet confidence of a college professor.

[@razorbackroar]

@@craboombababy boy

[@craboomba]

@@razorbackroar glad my dad was a quake fan 🙏🙏🙏 proper gaming material for a five year old

[@thac0twenty377]

remember Descent?

[@ParilPMC]

I'm really glad you touched on the health bar feature that we added in Call of the Machine; it was a last minute request by the MachineGames guys, and I handled the implementation of it in code. It's completely customizable by map authors and they used this feature to perfection!

[@thedoode7749]

Thank you for your service. Between this and Black Parade, mod campaigns start to become THE place for great game experiences huh

[@drakep.5857]

​@@thedoode7749a very great thing. Empower the common people!

[@nate567987]

Thanks

[@FranzDerLilaOtter]

Hell yeah! Thank you for your work

[@Neuvost]

Whomever is *still* adding new levels / mods to the Quake 1 add-ons menu is an incredibly beautiful human. If you can, please thank them very much for me?

[@Razor921]

I'm not done with the video yet but it's a blast so far, however I do want to point out one thing: Trent Reznor declining to work on Quake 2 because it "has no atmosphere" is a myth. Sonic Mayhem himself has gone out and said that Trent declined because he was simply too busy. id didn't even know what direction they wanted for the soundtrack at the time, "Only after submitting our demo, they wanted to go the metal route." in Sonic Mayhem's own words.

[@Amitlu]

That magazine that started the myth has a lot to answer for. lol.

[@TransWomanTalksOnYouTube]

I thought it was because by the time the album came out he was experiencing a downward spiral

[@CripplingDuality]

Ok but quake 2 is still vastly inferior to quake

[@kikabibapopovi9139]

Noah's ability to release a two and a half hour long video just three months after a nine and a half hour long video, and yet consistently maintain a very high level of quality is what truly elevates this channel

[@zanefriedman2032]

not really. his writing is what elevates the channel, not his upload schedule or runtime.

[@kikabibapopovi9139]

​@@zanefriedman2032 I agree that Noah's writing is the best part of his channel, but writing this well and this much is unprecedented

[@BoneMarrowBro]

4 minutes in I gotta tell ya, it gives me immense carnal pleasure listening to you verbalize the act of flipping off an amalgam of assholes.

[@silver1788]

Recent event in the essayists sphere makes me almost suspicious And i dont want to be because i love the Noahs writing and i really dont want anything plagiarism related pop out in this channel 😢

[@autismointermitente8767]

quantity, not quality. videos could be much shorter

[@TheTyper]

I gotta say Noah's "you fuckers can't stop me from talking about playing Quake for the story" is exactly the confidence I like to hear from this man.

[@treyperkins3841]

“There is no justice, and there is no Santa Claus, so I critique as I please” ❤

[@flowerheit4512]

"i will critique quake from a narrative standpoint and theres nothing you fuckers can do to stop me!" 😂

[@wineoneone]

Biggest dick energy of 2023

[@wineoneone]

And I mean that in the best way

[@diamondknuckle7056]

God I hope he never stops making videos, these are the absolute best the internet has to offer 🎉

[@neighbourhoodmusician]

Preach

[@Paulysolo]

I love repeat LOVE when Noah does raspy narrative readings. Someone give our boy an audio log

[@Volvagia1927]

Imagine Noah playing a dying man in an audio log in Rage 3, Doom 6, Quake 5 or Commander Keen: The horrifying AAA version.

[@richardm6985]

i guess SOMEONE shoulda told blergh that it's better to Know a girl before he.. TAKES THA PLUNGE AAAHAHAHAAHAhekhekhyek

[@daishoryujin95]

🎵Random documents and audio logs We find them stuck to notice boards, we find them under dogs We're gonna put em in a file and give it to review And we're bored of all the gameplay but there's nothing else to do

[@MegaVidFan1]

Noah I am literally stuck in the mud off Highway 5, and have nothing else to do but watch this while I wait for Roadside Assistance. It is 1:30 am. This is not how I expected to experience this video but hey, inexplicable timing! Update: Two hours later, I am free. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, all!

[@thisdudegotreal]

Merry Solstice. Hope your night feels more adventurous than miserable cuz of this video :) Stay warm

[@thewholesomecultist6702]

Yay merry late freedom

[@grizzly3793]

Good video, there's two *very* minor things I want to point out: 1. Telefragging was a feature since Doom 1, and present in the singleplayer as well. The infamous "Perfect Hatred" (E4M2) lets you telefrag a cyberdemon as part of its deliberate design. 2. The quake 1 map select level actually contains a secret, giving you *nightmare* difficulty. Genuinely my favourite part of that whole thing.

[@first-last557]

also a third minor point, GoldSrc is a heavily modified quake 1 engine since it was initially supposed to compete with Q2 itself before the rework

[@Bluehawk2008]

I've always felt the true "episode 5" for Quake was a fan-made campaign from the year 2000 called Nehahra, which was prefaced by a four hour long machinima film, "The Seal of Nehahra". It painstakingly rationalizes the lore of the original Quake, introduces dozens of characters with conflicting motivations and arcs (all performed by one person putting on different voices with mixed results) and even incorporates some of the expansion pack content like the wraiths, while also establishing unique lore, settings and concepts to the world. It turns the ranger character into an affable buffoon who progresses through the original campaign to kill Shub-Niggurath only because it serves the interest of another human, one with extraordinary abilities and a thirst for power. It's equal parts Babylon 5, Lord of the Rings and... uh... Big Trouble in Little China? The playable mod itself sees you tracking down and defeating that human usurper through a series of visually and mechanically distinct levels that have a logical progression like Quake 2 or Half-Life, and encounter enemies with new move-sets and abilities more like human players in deathmatch - they strafe and jump. This aspect you wouldn't enjoy very much and was quite divisive when the mod originally released. The final boss battle is essentially a Quake 3 one-on-one versus a bot on hard mode, who moves and thinks like a human and even has access to the same weapons as the player, plus magic powers that you don't... so actually it's like playing deathmatch against a hacker. This sort of becomes a meta-commentary of Quake's legacy, since at the time Quake 3 had just come out, and the idea of the ultimate challenge at the end of an epic journey through alien realms and dimensions being just another human on an ego trip mirrors the trajectory of the franchise. Unfortunately the mod uses its own fork of the engine, so modern sourceports don't play nice with it and running the original exe on modern operating systems is a pain on the ass. In the wake of great fan maps and mods like Dwell and Arcane Dimensions, the mighty Nehahra is fading into obscurity even among the hardcore fanbase of Q1, to say nothing of the new audience who picked up the remaster.

[@Skullkan6]

Commenting this to give it more attention.

[@WickedLizardWizard]

I might try this out thank you for sharing brother

[@josephjarosch8739]

Interesting.

[@flippedoutkyrii]

I love researching esoteric modding/total-conversion projects but knowing it was a multi-media front with a 4 hour long movie released nearly 25 years ago is such a treat.

[@KokoRicky]

I've been a Quake fan since it was new and I found that to be so cringe I could only get through the first couple of minutes. I found literally nothing redeeming about it because the dialogue and voice acting were so abysmal.

[@mistermeow527]

13:32 on modern level design being far less a dialog between designer and player than in the past is a critical reason I enjoy "old school/retro/Boomer shooter" shooter games. There's a wonder where you can tell the tells and nuances from a map designer just from playing it and across games as well. David Syzmanski likes his levels to loop in on themselves, Tom Hall likes his big 'working machine' maps, John Romero likes central 'node' points, and Dario Casali likes his 'Think fast, punk!' enemy jump ins. It's a dialog heavily missing in modern shooters and perhaps games in general. Thanks Noah for a wonderful retrospective!

[@abbasidanny]

Yeah, this was a great point, thanks for expanding on it

[@illeagle666]

Channels like these make me happy that video games now have serious critics much like cinema did / has. When I was growing up, no one considered video games as art; today, thanks to people like you, that seems to be a given. Really enjoyed your video. I always loved quake, but something was bothering me about cohesion, makes a lot more sense now!

[@johnthomason9980]

Ah yes, that classic requirement of discussing Quake 1, which is "pronouncing Shub-Niggurath *incredibly* carefully"

[@masontrevelyan2254]

Neer gooo wrath I went with XD

[@512TheWolf512]

it was invented by H.P. Lovecraft, you know, of course it is

[@lividfireye7304]

What was his cat's name again?@@512TheWolf512

[@Zanador]

Ol' Shubs

[@musclestruts5032]

@@512TheWolf512 To be fair, Lovecraft was using the Latin root word for black "nigreos", so it fits given Shub's classic title "Black Goat of the Woods with a Thousand Young". And he was also probably using one of Lord Dunsany's (he was a huge fan of his) fictional gods "Sheol-Nugganoth" from the story Idle Days on the Yann. Personally when I pronounce it I kinda say it like "Shub-Nigoorawth" to make it less awkward.

[@neurocease]

i do want to say, as someone who struggles with loving gaming as a medium but who is also just, not the best at it despite decades playing them, your frankness about how you engage with games at the level that is challenging *for you* has helped me literally just enjoy games more. the youtube landscape is *filled* with critics (many of whom are incredibly insightful just as you are) that make me feel (unintentionally in many cases - maybe intentionally in some) like i’m not getting the “right” experience of playing a game unless i perform some self-imposed death march through the hardest difficulty of a game i would be having much more fun with on normal. i regularly quote your “…but i am a fool, and a stoner” line when i feel that mindset of “i need to play on the hardest difficulty and get all of these super difficult achievements to *really* appreciate this game” creep up on me, because like you, i love gaming, but i am not fucking incredible at playing video games, nor do i have the time or inclination to torture myself with challenges that rob me of the fun or appreciation of a game. all the while, your analysis is incredible and valuable, in a way that many of the others are not, because you prove that you *can* engage deeply and intelligently with a game on an analytical level without that type of super hardcore mechanical engagement. your work is fantastic, not just because of that fact, but it does elevate it in many ways because the starting position of “i’m going to play this game in the way that gives me enjoyment and the appropriate level of challenge for *my* skill level” is much closer to my own perspective than “i beat this game on the hardest difficulty 5 different times, each time increasing the challenge by choosing not to use ‘x’ element because it makes the game too easy”. thanks for all your incredible work, and i’m looking forward to what you put out next!

[@meltdownremix1996]

Games, unlike most artforms, require a level of physical and/or mental engagement that can be different for everybody. I feel much like you that getting my nuts smashed to oblivion isnt exactly my idea of fun if (I can even play the harder modes to begin with). I wish more people could acknowledge that what may be easy peasy babymode for them can be excruciatingly hard for others and "git gud" isnt always a option. Not that Im holding a gun to devs heads to make all games easier all the time especially because it does take time and resources to make that stuff... but the Hardcore Or Bust mindset can be so detrimental and reductive to the artform its sad.

[@DrMasterAlex]

Thank god Devs have been even more receptive to adding difficulty and accessibility options as of late, gaming should only be fun at the level you want it to be and not what someone else deems it to be (outside of niche games as art stuff where its intrinsically tied to themes or something ig).

[@meltdownremix1996]

@@DrMasterAlex As a dev myself I agree on the whole artistic vision thing, it's just that I think some people don't realize or care that not everyone in the world is the same, so its not even about Fun but about being able to play it at all. I don't even use easy modes myself 99% of the time (they were a big help when I was a kid though. It's as if people can be introduced to things gradually instead of being immediately thrown to the wolves and told to git gud or something.) I just know that I'm not the only person living in this planet, and while the audience needs to meet the author halfway, the author needs to do the same, especially if it is a major consumer product instead of like, niche small indie dev made for a circle of 5 people total (and there's nothing wrong with that either!). Generally I feel like the Hardcore Difficulty enforcement is detrimental to games as an art because of the total tunnel vision it creates. Historically games like Doom or Jazz Jackrabbit, even when having easy modes, would actively mock you for picking them, and other games like Castlevania Bloodlines will lock you entirely from the later parts of the game for picking it. As consequence, devs happening to add easier or assistance modes to a game that ALSO has harder modes that aren't affected by it get so much hate and disgust from a large part of the gaming crowd. And for what? Nobody is holding a gun to your head to play on easy mode at all (TWEWY is the only game I know of that makes you switch up difficulties, and only for specific missions, and its dynamic difficulty selection is unique). But gamers being upset about more than 1 type of person wanting to play a game takes up so much of gaming discussion for no good reason when we could be talking about literally anything else. Like, you know, Quake's narrative.

[@ethandaley69]

As eloquently as Noah puts out his script, so to are you compliments of them. Well-said and completely agreed. Tho I'd say I'm pretty good at games and have a bit of competitive side at times, the "but I'm a fool and a stoner," line reels me back in multiple times a week when I'm bouta do some dumb shit in my real life or otherwise 😅

[@davidsnow5811]

I'm surprised you didn't mention Sandy Peterson's greatest legacy: creating Call of Cthulhu, the tabletop RPG for H.P. Lovecraft's 'Mythos' stories. If you look at Sandy's levels in the context of expressing that eldritch horror - losing your grip on sanity, being trapped forever in alternate dimensions ruled by indifferent alien intelligence - it fits.

[@justenhunter5487]

I was absolutely floored to learn that Sandy Petersen of CoC was the same Sandy Petersen who made Age of Empires.

[@Plamler]

Call of Cthuhulu is only good for one playthrough tho.

[@sjwarhammer4039]

Yeah when he said Sandy Peterson I had to go to Wikipedia to find out if he was talking about THAT Sandy Peterson.

[@c.l.a.u.d.e]

Yeah DOOM II's Nirvana is a cosmically horrible level for sure.

[@micahchurch5733]

how is this mans so talented for all these things like dem

[@DomTarason]

If you loved Dimension Of The Machine so much, you really must check out some of the mods the community have released in the past five years or so. A lot of stuff up to or even exceeding that level, while still feeling unmistakably like Quake. The community also seems to have accepted that Quake's low-story, high-vibes format lends itself to one-shot adventures. A lot of big 30-60+ minute levels that tell a self-contained story.

[@lasskinn474]

quakes big strength was being a platform as a game really - console was left accessible on purpose and so forth. it is like the game abuse in that sense. in lan parties we rarely played base quake - but lots of mods oh how many mods we played, that racing mod with cars.. quake air with the airplanes, team fortress.. the fantasy one in which you could catch arrows with a shields

[@miguelbranquinho7235]

The Forgotten Sepulcher is the fucking best.

[@poparena]

I think it says a lot that this is the first time I'm even *hearing* about Dimension of the Machine/Call of the Machine. I'm definitely gonna check them out. Great video!

[@kilsya1392]

"There is no justice as there is no santa claus so I continue to critique" You are an absolute gem Noah

[@cowbeauty]

Thank you for asserting yourself like you did at the start of the retrospective, not letting the difficulty gatekeeping crowd get to you is tough and i'm glad you've taken a far firmer stance on doing your own thing.

[@herrpez]

Tbh, doing more than shrugging it off as unwanted noise is... not the move.

[@4QIcehole]

​@@herrpezI don't exactly agree. It obviously really got to him in the early days (and never really went away because you'll still see those types here and there in his comments) so it's nice to see him standing up more assertively about it. But mostly I like it because it pre-empts anything from new viewers who don't know Noah's deal. Starting with a strong, confident statement of "My reflexes aren't super great but I absolutely know what the fuck I'm talking about and this video will prove it" probably does more than you'd realize when it comes to filtering out dickheads on essays like this.

[@sfnurh]

One of the only creators in this category that actually has anything interesting to say about a game in ways you probably havent thought about before. Too often you see video after video from others just flatly describing a game like theyre reading off of a grocery shopping list.

[@mauriciofontes]

Absolutely, 1000x this. Most YT “critiques” are narrating what happens in a game, beginning to end. Maybe with 5 or 10 minutes of thematic analysis and reflection. Noah does the exact opposite, summarising the plot in minutes and then deep diving with an absurd, high quality writing.

[@ElizabethLazuli]

I've never seen a retrospective of the Quake series that took things so far beyond just coldly explaining the IRL timeline of games. "This is Quake 1, 2, 3, and then 4". It's so clear how passionate you are about this series, and that's good because this series really does deserve the same passion people invest into Doom. Quake 2 will always be my favorite game. I'd been playing it since I was like 4 years old. Somehow, I had never even heard about Call of the Machine until now, and I am kicking myself in the ass that I somehow missed the fact that not only did my favorite game get a proper sequel (I still like Quake 4 but... it's Quake 4), but it finally managed to establish a connection between itself and its vastly different predecessor. Seeing shamblers in Quake 2 is nothing short of surreal, lol. 11/10 video.

[@FlakonFraggs]

Someone finally attempting to analyze the Quake narrative? Boys this is a certified Christmas miracle.

[@lutherheggs451]

There really isn't a narrative....It was made by the same people who said stupid things like "story in a game, is as important as story in a porno". Then when you get to Quake IV it really doesn't matter because it wasn't made by Id it was made by Raven. Having someone continue a story they didn't create is stupid, just like having a guy make a prequel to Alien when he didn't create Alien and its actual creator had died years before from cancer.

[@d4n5t3p3]

@@lutherheggs451 I mean, Aliens was also made by other people but it's still an amazing sequel.

[@KonigDesTodes]

If you want videos deep delving into the story and lore of the Quake games, I recommend the videos by www.youtube.com/@lechumqc7910 at kzbin.info/aero/PL7mnW62aS3PQb06_GOd9BdRHiFvFWFBZh They are *VERY* well done.

[@nipsynuggets4930]

and... girls...

[@Sicktoid]

I clicked on this video because it got recommended to me and I found the title so absurd. I spent this sunday watching after my girlfriend's dog and fighting boredom and this video was such a nice and relaxing watch! Thanks for this!

[@nicklager1666]

Unexpected Noah gift on christmas eve. I will enjoy this in the evening. Even if the ID team had internal discussions about what game they wanted to make i always thoroughly enjoyed quake. I still remember the moaning of the zombies and being lunged at from fiends. Spawns can go to hell though. Merry christmas, noah and everyone.

[@ShadySpaceSquid]

I remember watching my dad play video games and I’ll never forget the Stroggification scene in Quake 4. The nightmares I had were unrealistic in hindsight, but I was just too young for such personalized body horror. Thankfully my dad was able to get me to realize that it’s a game and not real, etc. I love that you went through this. Thank you for your time and effort for this video.

[@giacomopierpaoli6365]

Just a note: In the perimeter defense station, at 1:31:42 , you say that you're the last survivor of the counter attack. While you may be the "last one there", in that room, the battle is actually won by your squadmates. The QG asks if your group needs reinforcements but a voice on the radio that was struggling moments ago says something like "negative, the situation is under control". As weird as it may be, that is something I really loved about Quake 4: it follows the same template as every "you're the last surviving soldier and you must kill 100% of the enemy army by yourself!" game, but then subverts it by making your squadmates capable both in story and in actual gameplay. It's not the only time it happens, too, in another level you see another "lone survivor" like you, and at the end of the game your hq gets attacked but marines are able to definitively defend it even if you have to go away for the final mission. Cool stuff and refreshing for the time

[@ultra_maxed4711]

One could say it was done in the era of the Irak war, maybe even subconsciously. A way to empower the soldier characters and get out of the nihilism associated with past iterations of space marines getting hopelessly killed

[@giacomopierpaoli6365]

@@ultra_maxed4711 I never tought about it, maybe because i'm not an American, or because I've played it as a kid and was just happy to see a subversion of the lonely supersoldier trope. Thank you!

[@1sweetree]

This video is so cozy. Out of all of Noah's videos, so far this is the one I keep coming back to.

[@davidgribble6313]

This comment is to help this channel in the algorithm.

[@daveconnor6174]

this one too!

[@sophiamoria310]

Comment

[@Feasco]

congrats on being first and not posting "First"

[@skrotosd]

he really doesn't need help, he's the best videogame essay youtuber already

[@piotr78]

​@@skrotosd Everyone needs help :p

[@OpenMawProductions]

This is quite a long video already, but I am shocked there wasn't much talk for "Enemy Territory Quake Wars." It covers the backstory to Quake 2. Giving you the scope of the planet wide invasion of the Strogg, and it even features slipgates as technology being fought over on a couple of the maps. Indeed, I think this was the first "official" attempt to explain the Strogg crates we see in Quake 1 and in a subtle way reconcile both "universes." Quake 1 happened inside the Quake 2 universe, almost as a side effect of the invasion. Humanity was pushing technology to counter the Strogg, and got the attention of the dark ones. Keep in mind a lot of that is supposition, but it does add to the tapestry, I think. Great video Noah! Merry Christmas.

[@nate567987]

Not on stores and 360 only

[@OpenMawProductions]

@@nate567987 No? It was literally a PC release first. I have it, right here.

[@DeadPixel1105]

I never played Quake Wars and I didn't know the plot. Sounds pretty cool, because that story has basically always been my head canon for the franchise. Humanity was already in a war with the Strogg and the plot of Quake 1 was an unrelated side-story that takes place within the same timeline/universe as Quake 2 and 4.

[@trinalgalaxy5943]

@@DeadPixel1105 It doesnt really have much plot as its more of a battlefield style game where players can be either strog or human trying to complete or deny objectives depending on the map. the "campaigns" were just several multiplayer maps run back-to-back so any promotions (ignoring how useless that system actually was) carried between the maps within a campaign. it did have a really fun loop and could have some great moments so its unfortunate it was taken of steam at some point. though one mark against it is the strog were depowered from their canonical levels, the horror is greatly reduced to almost nonexistence, and humanity is changed from a space superpower to modern day effectively.

[@maggitPL]

Maybe because it's not officially playable anywhere?

[@BigAbuelaEnergy]

Your dramatic readings of under(or over?)baked textual lore dumps must be hella commended. Give me an audiobook’s worth of these performances and I’d be giddy.

[@b-roaskie7233]

Quake’s always been one of those game franchises I abstractly understood to be important, but knew next to nothing about. Thank you for filling in these gaps in my understanding!

[@jewthulhu]

Same, and same

[@SergioAlvarez45]

noah your videos have become a staple of my regular listening, whether its for sleep, work, background stimulation or simply a fun podcast, your work has become a regular facet of my life and i thank you for your hard work and analysis, i hope im in a place one day to be able to patreon for you but in the meantime i will continue to constantly rewatch your wonderful writing and videos and to appreciate your perspective on the medium of video games. im not particularly restricted in a physical sense in that i dont have any sort of chronic or genetic physical ailment, so please forgive if i am identifying with an experience i have no place speaking for or associating you with this, but in relation to your statements in your dark souls video and your COD Campaign videos, you claim to "suck" at games with reputations for reflexive gameplay styles, and still claim to enjoy these experiences and i've had this same struggle with feeling "good enough" in these games. FPS games are the main way i've been able to relate enjoyable experiences with my brothers(the first game i can remember playing is the splitscreen multiplayer for 007 games, Nighteye i believe was the game) and we play COD together cause Warzone is Free to play and being good enough to get victories in that game are the main way we can push each other to be better, even if its just in game, cause lord knows real life is hard, and hearing your experience with enjoying these games despite the struggles is so encouraging. keep up the great work, im so excited for your next video!!

[@ronnielaw9318]

Merry Christmas Noah. I've got a fair bit of PTSD and have a hard time sleeping, so I spent a lot of time this year painting minis and listening to your video essays. Brought me a lot of peace, so thank you.

[@drinkwater3453]

merry christmas brother

[@krisridge1985]

Have you tried ganglian block? Cheap and effective treatment.

[@josephjarosch8739]

"...For a while, corridor shooters were ... like how 'open worlds with rpg progression and crafting elements' become today." And the spooky part is, this transition happened mostly *within* your career as a KZbinr.

[@Volvagia1927]

Maze shooter design's dominant period? 1993-1997. Corridor shooter design's dominant period? 1998-2004. Urban open world third person shooter? 2005-2014/2015. Wilderness open worlds with RPG progression and crafting? 2017-now, and, maybe, about to wind down.

[@josephjarosch8739]

@@Volvagia1927 What do you think will come next? Three predictions, possibly overlapping. A) The collapse of the AAA sector of the industry, caused by ballooning costs and oversaturated markets, leading to an indie renaissance. B) The american/western market gets flooded with foreign foreign games. JRPG's become a dominant cultural force, dubiously legal Gacha games like Genshin, Limbus, Arknights, and so on become financial powerhouses, and we possibly see a major game ecosystem developing in Latin-America, Africa, or the Middle East and becoming a breakout hit. That last half has been cooking for a while, and it would only take one major hit game to open the floodgates. C) Strategy games replace FPS/RPG games as the prime driver of the industry.

[@psychodrummer1567]

@@Volvagia1927 And before 1993? 2D scrolling platformers.

[@piotr78]

​@@josephjarosch8739Aren't we already in the indie renaissance?

[@TheMasterofComment]

@@josephjarosch8739 none i think, maybe some variation of 3

[@RevolverRez]

I actually like the fact that Quake has no real story outside of "Lovecraftian parallel worlds of evil magic". In Lovecraftian stories the protagonist can never know exactly what is happening, just that something bizarre and unnatural is occurring. Quake is the same, it's just you have a shotgun and are an actual threat to the strange occupants of these places. It also means mods like Arcane Dimensions could technically be part of the setting, because why not?

[@JINORU_]

Makes just about every mod, including the skate boarding one, fit. Its a blessing and a curse. lol

[@polygonvvitch]

I think the moodpiece aspect of Quake's level design is what makes me love mapping for it so much. It's just so damn fun to do it.

[@mannhouse8014]

There’s really no other game like the first Quake. Chainsaw wielding Ogres with grenade launchers? Black magic castles rattling with the sound of angry fiendish screeching and shotgun blasts? It’s the story of one man who stares into the face of something unknowable and inhuman and decapitates it with an axe. A man who will not balk at the insanity arrayed before him and instead responds with one of the most fundamental human emotions: anger. It’s why the status bar face is a visage of a man who appears to be permanently pissed off. It’s Lovecraft with rocket launchers and that’s why it’s so damn cool and memorable.

[@HQ_Default]

There actually is quite a bit of little pieces of lore in Quake 3 attached to the characters (sort of like a diet version of the unlockable lore in Quake Champions), which makes the inclusion of Doom, and Quake 1 & 2 characters all the more fascinating. Like how it reveals that Doomguy's drill instructor was a woman who is now called "Crash", Bitterman was captured and Stroggified after the events of Quake 2, and Ranger was forever lost in unknown dimensions.

[@chexfan2000]

What is up with the disrespect for the protagonists of second games in military sci fi shooter franchises? Quake 2, Crysis 2, FEAR 2, all the PCs get just tossed away like last weeks garbage. Is it defensiveness? Is it Transformers style “kill off the old toys so the kids want new toys” type of thinking? Idk, I always felt that it was disrespectful in a way. Like how am i supposed to feel having identified with that character for a whole game? Are they ripping on me for giving a shit about their franchise? Don’t care for it

[@collinb.8542]

I wonder if Doomguy got in trouble for punching Crash then lol.

[@adr.k8676]

Noah you have no idea how many times i have replayed your retrospectives.Your eloquence makes it insanely replayable.Your videos really brightens my days😊.

[@K12machinima]

Same, I swear, I’ve fallen asleep and woken up to Noah more times than I want to admit… you can take that out of context if you want…

[@carruthers2915]

"And there is nothing you fuckers can do to stop me" This sort of script is why I love listening to this guy

[@doritos4207]

Happy to hear someone else shares my same sentiments when it comes to Dimension of the Machine. I agree in that it is very much underrated. If you have yet to play them the community add-ons for the rerelease are also extremely well done.

[@Exigentable]

I used to spend hours just trolling Noah, but over the years I slowly turned into a fan and honestly i feel terrible about my behavior. I was miserable and addicted to drugs, the only small joy I found was calling Noah pretentious and very rude names. I appreciate your youtube channel, Noah. ive been falling asleep to your stuff for years now. Hope you would forgive me for being a jerk. Thanks for all the hard work.

[@Exigentable]

@@ayunoss you're right. I take it all back, war is resumed!

[@bovinleephann]

You were right, come back to the light

[@LarryHazard]

some people become addicted to drugs and become criminals or abusive towards the people around them, this guy trolled a youtuber

[@Exigentable]

@@LarryHazard I used to really revel in the fact that I knew he was reading my comments. I called him thesaurus boy.

[@LarryHazard]

@@Exigentable I hope you feel terrible about it now

[@ProfessorTurnipAlpha]

If we're feeling charitable, I'd say that Quake is a standin for Azathoth. As described in Lovecraftian literature, Azathoth is an omnipresent being that has laid dormant for billions of years, dreaming the universe itself into existence. Once it wakes up, the universe ceases to exist. If anything, this would explain why Quake is so many things all at once.

[@arempy5836]

Once he wakes The world, it Quakes

[@Gunsolleys6]

Quake is Shubb-Niggurath's codename used by the military force that phone calls Ranger at the beginning of the story.

[@heyitsmort7744]

No idea how I’ve listened to this 4 times in 4 months; I just keep coming back. I’ve rewatched your Fallout and Half-Life videos over and over again as well, but I love this one in particular. thankful for all of your writing, hope it’s going well

[@jdmj707]

My God man, you just brought me right back to being a little kid. Quake was the first video game I think I ever played, and I played it with my dad when he would work late at night and bring me to the office with him. He would park me at his desk and then he would go play on a coworkers computer, and he would always kick my ass because I think I was like four lol Thank you for bringing up these memories, I had almost forgotten them 🙏🏻

[@princessmaly]

I never thought about the story of Wolf Doom or Quake as a kid because it never mattered, but Doom 3's narrative focus completely changed all of that. Now I'm a hypernerd about the lore of the whole hodgepodge of dorky industrial hyperviolence rule of cool mess, and it is so wonderful to me that the devs feel the same way. Wolf, Doom, and Quake now, have all had this incredible narrative renaissance. The horrors of the Nazis are no longer just there to give you a cartoonish bad guy to hate, Wolfenstein won't let you play anymore without being forced to confront the reality of fascist death cults, Doom created a new planescape mythology that gives us not only a war in heaven but a way to headcannon in 30 years of wads, and all of it is completely at the audience's discretion, just as it was 30 years ago, while Quake is using the power of its level design to sew together its disparate pieces into a consistent whole that still feels just as strange and mysterious as it did before it was made explicit that Quake is Shub-Niggurath and she lives in Lovecraft's Dreamlands. And the games still kick ass, too. Carmack said in the 90's that story in video games is like story in porn, it's expected to be there but it's not really important. Narrative was neglected in those days in favor of putting all of the effort into the strength of the gameplay, which paid off in spades. To be living on the other side of that era, where we can not only have that solid foundational gameplay cake, but eat the narrative immersion cake as well? Truly incredible. What a time to be unreasonably obsessed with these games. Thank you so much for making this video specifically for me and no one else. I know the audience for this is extremely limited... because I'm like literally the only person besides you who cares about this... but I do greatly appreciate the effort, and I enjoyed the hell out of it. I am eagerly awaiting your next video targeted specifically at me "Is Gigan part of the Ghidorah clade? Or What?"

[@recordatron]

Man, no one deep dives and weaves a yarn quite like Noah. A lovely early Christmas present 🎁

[@Kikiapina]

This was an absolutely fantastic video and deepened my appreciation for the Quake series even beyond what it already was. I had no idea about the whole ' Quake is the cradle of e-sports ' angle of it and that makes ID seem like the progenitors of video games as a medium, it's crazy and makes my brain hurt a little specially with the bit about how Call of Duty was basically born from Quake.

[@Raddlesnakes000]

This was great man. The matte skyboxes at the end of each tower in Quake 4 I always found really profound, a moment of quiet after a massive fight where you get to see your progress manifest.

[@marksakovich1577]

I spent -many- hours on Q3 as a kid, mostly cause I could just jump in and play. Each arena was thought out. Where are the best places to sit, wait, where are the dangerous areas...It allowed me to strategize in ways that impacted how I play other games. But you are correct: there is no narrative. And sometimes, that's ok.

[@residentgrigo4701]

I just read Doom Guy. Romero´s autobiography. It touches on Masters Of Doom and goes over Quake 1´s design doc and how little of it made it into the game.

[@MrReciprocity]

My only first-hand experience with QUAKE was some deathmatch (& Counter-Strike) in college, and I've always sort of idly wondered what the deal was with the actual game. This essay not only answers that question wonderfully (after like 25 years), but also explains WHY I could never formulate a clear picture, which makes me feel a lot better about my, like, cultural comprehension skills :) I would love to see a similar one on UNREAL, which occupies basically the exact same place in my brain.

[@charlieparklaws]

What a lovely surprise! Thanks Noah!

[@edcardoso2361]

This was absolutely amazing. You had me watching from start to end without blinking or turning my attention anything else. A vastly comprehensive and flawlessly researched deep dive into quake. Wow. Thank you for this

[@jjstraka1982]

Thank you for all the work and thought you put into these, Noah. They make enjoying games as a hobby a richer experience.

[@retroactive5537]

you are my favorite writer and your insights never fail to make me think about the games I play. The way you analyze and make connections inspires me to think more about the media I consume. Thank you, and I hope you keep making these as long as you enjoy them too.

[@csmadisun]

Well, this is a wonderful Christmas surprise. Thank for covering a subject I find fascinating with your usual depth and insightful commentary, and have a wonderful festive period. EDIT: I'm afraid you got a few minor facts wrong. Nothing that alter the points you make, but someone's gonna mention them, might as well be me: - Trent Reznor didn't turn down the Quake 2 soundtrack because he thought the game "had no atmosphere". According to Sonic Mayhem (in a comment on Civvie11's video on Q2), Reznor didn't do it simply because he was too busy. - Half-Life uses a heavily modified Quake ONE engine, not Quake 2. Easy mistake to make.

[@ryanburke1656]

Like I honestly LOVE that you went into this looking for the narrative, because, when you poke around, a good Retro FPS like Quake is so equipped to answer that with "you're the story - what do you wanna do about this abnormal looking thing in front of you?" without giving you almost any literal dialogue at all and THAT'S the genius of the art on display here, to me.

[@ryanburke1656]

when a game has to tell me who I am for 45 minutes, I'm distinctly aware how how much I am not that thing. When the game starts up and says "Here you ar- LOOK OUT!" I don't have time to shatter my own illusion; I just have to run away or do something about what's in front of me, and now I'm in.

[@jamesabernethy7896]

Life has thrown me several curve balls today to it's taken several attempts to watch this. My cousin loaned me Quake and I really liked it, it was when I got 2 that I really fell in love with it. Amazing game, with amazing music and sound. There's something about rewatching this game footage that put Titanfall 2 into my head. Although short, it's probably my favourite FPS campaign of all time. Quake 2 is one of my top 5. Been a massive fan of your work since your Homeworld video. Great writing with a delivery that is full of energy and personality. What I also love is your handmade intros. Literally handmade. Have a great Christmas and an amazing new year.

[@MundaneAxiom]

One interesting aspect of this being a video is seeing you learn and improve as the video advances and you go through the games. Reflexes, weapon choice, environment navigation, enemy management. There's something really satisfying in seeing someone progressively attune to the challenges of a game. Anyways, great work as always.

[@yeez13]

It’s still crazy to me that Film Twitter/LetterBox’d Users will stand by the stance that “Vibe Films” are a thing and stuff like Story/Characters don’t need to make sense as long as “the vibes” and “the needle drops” are on point. With that being said… …Quake, as a video game, is quite literally (an aforementioned) example of this as a representative within a completely different medium. And easily, a great one. It’s barebones in all fronts except for the Combat/Movement, which is pretty important due to how it’s one of the very first of the 3D FPS Shooters (if not THE FIRST) and has to sell that concept entirely in order for it to work. I could understand why iD Software and its numerous talents at the height of their powers would strain at the idea of having to do this, so I don’t blame them for not exactly having a precedent to do such a thing at its maximum level 🤷🏽‍♂️ Like Tim Rogers himself said about Doom, it “speaks for itself”. Narratively, I would even argue that an INCREDIBLE Film Adaptation or Streaming TV Series could be built off of what was present: lovecraftian meets Doom w/ a hint of high fantasy. Does that not sound like where we ultimately ended up in the modern day: The Multiverse stories being produced by the MCU and Rick & Morty? In this context, despite being so limited and confused at points…Quake’s influence is undeniable.

[@jasonfenton8250]

Some very serious figures in film understand it to be a medium that should be driven through raw visual expression over traditional narrative structures. Maya Deren was a highly regarded indie filmaker who saw sound as a threat to pure cinema for exactly this reason. She saw films purely as compositions of light and motion. The popularity of sound made films more like recordings of theater, just actors talking through a plot in front of a camera. She chose to make films that had literally no plot, or even deliberate symbolic meaning, pure dreamlike sequences. No sound, no story. Check out At Land, or Meshes of the Afternoon. They are entirely nonsense, and fascinating. "Vibe" films are definitely a thing.

[@brajkraft]

Its wierd how pleasant it is to listen to this dude speak his mind for several hours. He reads everything like its from an essay but thats because he does. He put the time in to reflect, write, and rewrite and then serve it. I just digg the format.

[@AcencialAMV]

Amazing vid. I feel that the only other 'mood' shooter that's come out since Quake that nails it is Ultrakill. Obviously inspired by Quake too

[@ereviscale3966]

Oh man i really want to play ultrakill! I need to check if its on consoles. Just started proteus because it's free, and I feel like it was more of it's own thing, a little slower than I expected. Now Dusk was really good, just very janky, and had more of its own aesthetic. I wonder if anything has been changed for Dusk HD? The quake remaster and Dusk support gyro which is my preferred way for single player.

[@LieutenantAmerica]

I played Ultrakill first, but gave Quake 1 (plus its MachineGames expansions) a try because of this very video. Turns out that Ultrakill makes a lot more sense as a work when you're familiar with Quake. Prelude and Heresy especially are wonderful 'modernizations' of the Base and Runic aesthetics, though the game as a whole arguably surpasses its inspiration at marrying sci-fi with the arcane.

[@flyingmonkeyskin]

This was really excellent. Thank you for making it.

[@Areala21]

I am absolutely delighted to see you tackle the Quake series, Noah! This is a delightful retrospective, and you bring up some incredible points which I had never considered before. Although seeing as that's why I come to your presentations in the first place, that makes me a very happy woman. :)

[@diegowushu]

Never actually finished Q1 & 2 back in the day because I get easily frustrated by labyrinths. These remasters with their attached compass were just what I needed to finally play them. Great video as always, I have to check out the expansions now.

[@mjarman93]

I'm glad Call of the Machine is getting some props. It's the best shooter this year and I can't wait to see what MachineGames does next

[@Jjjayington]

You are able to explore games at a break neck pace while still feeling like a Sunday drive. Honestly, it's like if vertigo was a positive experience. This is a compliment. Please know this is a compliment.

[@oasntet]

Another interesting factoid: Gooseman, the creator of Counterstrike, got his start making mods for Quake 1, and in particular the Navy Seals mod. The weapons are all replaced, and the first level of each episode is re-done with semi-realistic soldier units. At least, the version I played. It had some weird balance issues because of that first-level-only change, because the gun damage is wildly excessive for the other levels. But it's still kinda fun to take down a shambler with a headshot from a pistol...

[@brys.3131]

I think if Quake came out today it could definitely be a successful Doom-like gem. I always loved the way you choose your difficulty by having to pick a door and go through it; cements me into the experience, reminding me of times of getting in line with friends to head into a house of frights, the unease of not knowing what's ahead. Anyway what a great time to grow up with video games throughout the 90's. Merry Christmas!

[@Haru-spicy]

Sandy Petersen can't help but wax cosmic horror. Kind of a shame he never got to do anything for Quake Champions, which goes a fair bit harder into the cosmic horror elements of the setting. Though I suppose there's only so much tension and atmosphere you can build in a quirked up hero deathmatcher.

[@cal594-l1l]

loved your observations particularly regarding all the expansions for the original two games: how those original expansions had this almost lost-media energy to them and how they all are trying out their own actual interpretation of just what quake actually *is*, and then how all these years later machinegames and nightdive stride in with this super confident vision for the series. you point out how relatively low-key the expansions were highlighted as part of an overall excellent remaster project, perhaps owing to just how good the overall remaster is in general, but its even more wild to think that existing owners got these brand new works entirely for free if you owned quake 1/2 on steam. its crazy bang for your buck and im glad these games are being handled with proper care getting them to fit in nicely with modern hardware. as im aware, the quake 1 soundtrack being on the CD was a great benefit to reznor, but resulted in issues like the music not even playing when the disc wasnt physically in your pc lol. if you listen to romeros keynote retrospective about the first game, he delves in to just how much of a burden it was and how stressful and dour an environment id became at the time, and for better or worse it shows in that final work. i agree with your take that even though both the new expansions are arguably the artistic peak of the whole series, that first expansion for quake 1 just edges it out, in part owing to how solid the original aesthetic of that first game was.

[@DavidXanitos]

I always felt that if Quake kept going with the weird approach we might have ended up with a game like Scorn by ID but with more focus on the combat. An interesting what if.

[@HostileSnowman93]

I remember vividly playing Quake 2 on the N64 for the first time at a friend's house, and how much it captivated me. That game, and its world, spurned so much of the macabre side of my imagination. Quake 4 on the Xbox 360 many years later would perfect what Quake 2 started for me. I never really got into Quake 1, and only sort of dove into 3 after getting a PC. So listening to those sections of this video brought back a lot of memories of those two games; I also learned just a little more about Quake 1, which was nice too. Thank you for bringing back those positive memories for me Noah. You remain unparalleled in the video game essayist realm.

[@regularshowman3208]

1:09:03 I had to do a double take here because I thought for a second that he was talking about the *other* Syberia 1 and 2, which are odd but lovable adventure games, but which are not in fact an on-rail shooter hybrid, before looking it up and realizing that he was talking about Cyberia 1 and 2 with a C. In hindsight that should have been obvious since the Syberia games (not including 3) were released in the early 2000's.

[@lou5y]

Perfect release timing, Noah. Thank you and have one or more happy holidays.

[@DRIZZT627]

Christmas came early. You're my favorite video game essay writer, I'll glaze you for days man. Found you during the pandemic, started with ghost recon, and now I've seen em all bunches of times. You're the best dude.

[@agronauttalos7077]

When people are talking about Quake it's usually about its gameplay or impact it made on the game industry. It's rare to see people remembering quake atmosphere let alone its story and narrative. Great video, it was so interesting to watch!

[@nightshade2313]

This video makes me want to see you tackle a selection of some of the initial wave of revival shooters like DUSK and Amid Evil. DUSK in particular is so obviously in dialogue with Quake 1 that I think a lot could be gained from talking about it.

[@luszczi]

What's this dialogue like? I don't usually notice things like that.

[@chloewebb5526]

I love that the people who worked on the remake, clearly looked at quake community and all the progress that had been made throughout the years in modding/mapping. I had just got done playing Arcane Dimensions when I bought the Remaster, and was absolutely blown away by the new levels.

[@DavetheTurnip]

What a wonderful Christmas present. I loved the historical approach here, as well as the order you covered the games in. Leaving the new expansions to Quake 1 and 2 till the end, looping back around works really well. It makes me want to give the remasters a go. I haven’t played Quake 1 or 2 since they released. I enjoyed your usual insight and dry sense of humour. I hope you have a great holiday and a fantastic 2024.

[@fuzzydunlop1753]

pleeease actually do an analysis/video essay on daikatana or ion storm in general, I'm aware a lot of work and research goes into these videos but I'm sure you'll agree this is a pretty interesting topic with a rich history and plenty of content to draw from, I for one would be thoroughly chuffed to see you tackle this :)

[@tarnetskygge]

I'm surprised Noah didn't touch on the Quake 1 manual's summary of the difficulty levels, it has a certain cheeky "git gud" attitude, heh Easy: This is meant for little kids and grandmas. Medium: Most people should start Quake at Medium skill. Hard: Here at id, we play Hard skill, and we think you should too, once you're ready. (Nightmare) This is so bad that the entry is hidden, so people won't wander in by accident. If you find it, don't say we didn't warn you.

[@hobojesus6288]

Quake 3 was my first video game, it came out the year i was born, i found out about it by watching my dad play it, and the first time i played it it was as a 3 year old on my dad's lap. The franchise has always fascinated me, and the "its just an arcade shooter man" interpretation has never done it justice.

[@smelkus]

I consider the vores at the end of episode 2 to be bosses since if you play the episodes in numerical order it will be the first time you encounter vores

[@bmachine420]

For Quake 3, I will add that the original game also had CTF, it wasn't only death match. What Team Arena added were some additional game modes, a lot more maps and, most noticeably, powerups that were basically a weird version of class archetypes that worked slightly better as a concept than in practice.

[@AaronSzura]

Single handedly improved Christmas

[@zshadowhunter3049]

For someone who Quake was only :Arena/Team arena. Thank you again Noah for giving me a deeper appreciation for games as art/experience. Over just moment to moment game play.

[@CasualCosta]

Noah, I play games in a way that's the polar opposite of what you do: I skip cutscenes 90% of the time and couldn't care about the plot and after a test run on a game, I will replay it on harder and harder difficulties if I like the game design. Supposedly, I should be one of the guys who bitch and moan about how bad of a player you are, but you are my favorite reviewer because you see in games what I do not and manage to make listening to something I usually give zero hecks a joy. I don't watch reviews for the echo chamber, I watch them for the broadening of my understanding and you have given me much to think about. I sincerely hope you NEVER git gud and remain focused on what makes you, you: good analysis expressed in a compelling way. (Also, it eases my anxieties seeing someone worse than me playing games.)

[@jangofett5011]

As someone who's never been all that much into boomer shooters, it's super interesting that Quake II was based on The Guns of Navarrone. Gray Matter Studios, who made the first expansion for Quake II, made a much more straightforward adaptation of that movie Call of Duty: United Offensive's two Sicily levels, where Allied commandos infiltrate and destroy a German gun battery in the Mediterranean like the original story. That's a connection I'd never made before.

[@ChrisPortalBits]

Personally I’ve found it simpler to understand the Quake franchise by knowing that Quake 2 was never meant to be a Quake game, but was named that when nobody could think of a better title. Quake 1 drags down the following Quake games creatively because those games were never meant to share the same name.

[@CassandraFortuna]

That rant about skill levels and "there's nothing you fuckers can do to stop me" earned a subscribe right off the bat.

[@bulutcagdas1071]

I didn't see Quake Wars on the time stamps, was there a reason you skipped that one? I mean it's basically Battlefield 2 but Quake 2. Still a fun game though. Edit: Okay you mentioned that the servers are down. I believe there was a way to add bots to the game, but my memory is hazy on that. Regardless, it'd be the same idea you gave through the video. Using the Quake franchise as a malliable IP name to create what was current at the time of release, that being Battlefield style large combat games with vehicles.

[@dougcarey2233]

3:19 Pure comedy gold right there. More, please.

[@TriggerCrazedLunatic]

Have you ever done poetry? It may sound strange, but your use of metaphors and skill at comparison reminds me of poems I really like. Once again, this essay feels like if you took a single part out it'd be lesser, which is a pretty consistent thing, considering that that's been true of every essay I've seen of yours. Whatever you make next, I know it'll be great.

[@MrKazbit]

Fantastic video as always, Noah, and thanks for proselytizing for the new campaigns in the remasters. I completed the original campaigns then poked at them a little and thought they were neat, but had no idea how big and complete they were. Going to play through them ASAP. And for anyone who wants to play them but, like me, can't play comfortably with mouse and keyboard anymore, the Quake and Doom remasters feel great and are perfectly playable on controllers/console, and are all worth it at full price.

[@menorak]

I would actually love to see a video on the Diablo franchise. I wonder if Noah's into those games?

[@jjstraka1982]

I think it's next on the list.

[@OliverLee789]

You’re in luck it’s his next planned video along with the Doom Eternal DLC

[@Whatareyouareyou]

@@OliverLee789 oh hell yeah

[@IAmBlaston]

I'm so so glad You mentioned the "Perimeter Defense Station". It's a map/mission that has been living in my mind rent-free for 20 years.

[@armsinmotion]

Never expected Noah to release a Quake video, I'm hyped! Hands up anyone else who was stupid enough to get a quake tattoo 🙋

[@ryanburke1656]

Thank you Thank you Thank you for realizing and discussing how much of the early Quakes (and others of the retro/revival shooter scene) are about an unspoken but unmistakable dialogue between the player and the author. You ask it questions "can I do this? Does anything happen if I look under here?" and when you find something, and it's super dastardly, you can almost actively feel the developer saying "oh you thought you were so clever, huh? Yup, we thought of this!" and you have a good laugh, like one of your mates sneaking a whoopie cushion on your seat in school. But moreover, it makes every moment and inch of the level design meaningful. Where do you go? Ask the level - Where haven't you been yet? Where can't you go? Secrets are telegraphed for those who read the signs, signs that you learn to read by starting to recognize the penmanship of the author. It's such a personal and expressive genre full of moments of joy big and small, dialogue, and context clues. You want to feel like Indiana Jones would have really felt in those tombs? This is it, chief! So many games that have huge maps and waypoint markers ultimately end up feeling like most of the land is "meaningless" because it basically is. It doesn't have to tell you anything about what to do or where to go - your GPS does that for you; just follow the little line. You functionally get the option to stop looking at literally anything in the environment that isn't mission related. In Retro shooters, the level communicates EVERYTHING to you. It's a lot like a Metroid or Survival Horror game: Need to know where to go? Figure out where you haven't been yet and how to do it. And you'll find tons of little responses to your questions along the way. It's what I call "Non-verbal level design" because it's all about the "body language" of the level, and less about the explicit, brain-numbingly on-the-nose dialogue spelling out exactly where to go, when, and why. Like, let me look at stuff and figure something out!