Post-Soviet Sadness | NEYASNOE

[@katyak5664]

This casual game review has unexpectedly grabbed me by the soul.

[@iTsoiCat]

Honestly, dystopian games with a Soviet-like aesthetic always makes me feel nostalgic despite me not being a soviet, amazing video like always keep up the good work

[@nbdjz1058]

seeing you appreciate the atmosphere of this game so much makes me really want to see you experience disco elysium

[@krumkller224]

as a polish person whos also an artist using art and creativity as a way to cope with the bleak reality this game hits really close to home + the death grips reference made me giggle

[@Whirlwind990]

yeah great, this game has really stuck with me over the months, hoping more people will talk about it

[@robertvalgard]

The guys looking for the light made me think of Cormac McCarthy. In his novel The Road the protagonist talks about himself and his son carrying "the fire". At the end of the novel the little kid also asks the people he meets on the beach if they carry "the fire". This is probably a metaphor for hope, and maybe even much more than that. It could be love, general goodness, or to some even God itself. Whatever this "fire" may be, it is set to contrast the bleak world of The Road. A light to dispel the darkness, if you will. McCarthy also uses the same metaphor in No Country for Old Men, where the Sheriff dreams of his father carrying a fire through the darkness of a snowstorm. This novel is also set in a somewhat bleak world, at least from the point of view of the Sheriff. It's a rapidly changing world which the older generations no longer know how to navigate, and the younger generation barely try to wade through, but with the constant risk of being dragged by the current. There's a recurring theme of him thinking his father was more in control of his own existence, and perhaps had more hope for the future than he does. Hence why he dreamt of his father carrying the fire. At the end of No Country for Old Men there doesn't seem to be much hope left, just an unforgiving world where no one is safe, not even the protagonist. Most of these themes seem to be true for this game as well, even if with different intensity and cultural reality. Most likely not an intended connection or reference, but more coincidentally a testament to the deeper elements of human nature, ever present in all of us, no matter who or where we are. This concept of carrying the fire/light always brings me back to Diogenes too. It is said he'd walk around with a lantern in search of "a honest man". This could tie the whole concept of carrying the fire together with the search for human connection, something the game points out quite clearly. We are seemingly lonelier than ever, constantly looking for hope, love, the light. Looking for someone who could help us light the way, and if we are already carrying the fire ourselves, someone to pass the torch too, if you will. The poet in the game seems to be doing just that. He gives the protagonist inspiration, lights the way for him to walk towards the light (floodlights). The reference to motherhood is on point, as mothers are likely the first torchbearers we meet in our life. There could also be some more overarching themes of death and rebirth. After all, the protagonist falls asleep after (perhaps) finding the light. And last but not least, these themes all connect back to the metaphor of the cave, the original search for the light. A way out of the abyss. One that can be painful and discomforting to navigate. An adventure that could seem insane to many who'd rather sit comfortably in the dark.

[@hollerbachemil7349]

I have to say, you did such a good job introducing the game that I won't watch the full vid now, but after I find and play the game. I'll check out your channel though, now I feel I owe it to you.

[@orshu45]

1:20 As a GenZ born at the turn of a millenum in Poland I've got this to say: Man, I wish I was born earlier. I would've built my own mansion from things stolen from my work under communist regime.

[@CeraRalaz]

brother, you are the first person I hear who names Comedy properly without renaissance fluff

[@diip-ali1228]

I live in a country whose culture is centered around being happy, to the point that there was a video circling around of people singing while the street they were on was literally flooded to their waists. I think you can imagine how that kind of culture messes you up when you're suffering from chronic depression. So there is something freeing about just letting yourself feel melancholic. It's just like you said, it's not a typically pleasant feeling, but it's deep and it's real. It's a reminder that you're still alive, if nothing else. I've never even heard of the Soviet aesthetic until coming across this video, but I can understand why its become popular especially for people like me who don't really get the chance to simply *let* themselves be sad

[@Muldered]

I think it's important to allow sadness to "wash over you" sometimes, because, as I mention in another video, we need to be in touch with all of our emotions instead of repressing them. At the same time, it's also important not to fall for the whole "the grass is greener on the other side" bias, as I say in this vid. I definitely agree that it can be kind of exhausting being different from what is "normal" in your country when it comes to temperament, but it's always important not to shut yourself in. Maybe in time you'll find something you appreciate about the way that most people around you are, and more importantly about how your "being different" could actually be what makes you unique. Gloomy and introverted people can be cool when they embrace it. I hope this doesn't sound too much like fortune cookie bs lol

[@YaroslaffFedin]

"Под пивко пойдет" or "с пивом потянет" is more like "it'll do with beer", not well or great, just "ok". A way to cope, to accept even if by lowering the bar (comment for the algorithm)

[@YaroslaffFedin]

I didnt expect to watch through the whole video but i did. loved it. Talking to people until you get +1 loneliness really hit home to me. The more I try to reach out to people, the more I realize we live in different realities. I've learned to communicate my feelings better to others, but it left even less space to feel understood.

[@Muldered]

@@YaroslaffFedin Thanks for the correction! About the loneliness thing, yeah it can be very depressing, honestly. But, at the same time, you get to a certain point where it's not that important in my opinion. You especially understand it after you meet a few people that are on your wavelenght, and it can be rare, but it happens and it matters the world. Though I'm not going to deny that it can be a bit of a rollercoaster.

[@LeeLee_555]

@@YaroslaffFedin hit home for me too. Although I did managed to find a couple of people who can make the counter go down. You can too, never give up! 🤗

[@nelsllendofan494]

Great video, very well done. Thank you for taking time to make this

[@aldrixlevy228]

As for that question at the beginning: Yes. I play S.T.A.L.K.E.R.

[@hasenbauer1]

Such a cool game and such a nice essay about it. Glad that this was ended up in my recommended, how has this only 280 views?

[@ivankotora3185]

another banger brother!

[@secretsecret6381]

(Another) Great video! I live in a relatively small russian town, but I think it's a nice one (or at least I have quite happy and comfy life, no such безнадёга here), but Neyasnoe looks like really small town or urban-type settlement even? I guess things are different in such places, even all poetic hyperbolas aside. Deep sadness, discontent and apathy, all that negatives sides of life indeed shouldn't be shunned, but I liked how you found hopeful message in the game. Тоска will eat you alive if you give up. About pink-purple lights in the windows, irl it's just some carrot seedlings, which babushkas are preparing for dacha's season or an additional care for house plants at winter, generally not 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 kind of herb •̀ ヮ •́ In Neyasnoe though...🗿

[@Muldered]

Thank you a lot! Yeah it probably varies a lot depending on the region and it even applies to other ex soviet countries (don't go to Transnistria). Also yeah I know that the herbs thing is actually pretty normal, but I couldn't pass on the easy joke

[@kitarital1604]

Tima looking for the light (Тима ищет свет) is a russian musician. Great video btw. Keep it up ❤

[@Muldered]

Thank you! Now I feel kinda goofy, didn't know about the band at all, lol

[@WuzzyfuzzumsWyrdWonders]

Whoah. I'm in my 40s and from the complete other end of the planet, but this is a feeling I am soooo familiar with, and have been searching to define for my entire existence. When I was a very small child, I went to the natural history museum, where they have a whole blue whale skeleton hanging from the ceiling in a giant atrium. They also had a small space you could enter to hear the sounds of whale song while looking up at the creatures above, looming over you. What you describe as "Tocka" (sorry, don't know how to make Cyrillic on my phone 😣), I have always thought of as "the whale feeling," as though if you contemplate the depth of the vast ocean inside you for too long, the void will open up under you, and the leviathans lurking beneath will devour you. I have always loved this line in the poem "Bonedog," which I found many many years later, that goes: "The sun goes up and down like a tired whore, the weather immobile like a broken limb while you just keep getting older. Nothing moves but the shifting tides of salt in your body. Your vision blears. You carry your weather with you, the big blue whale, a skeletal darkness."

[@Muldered]

Damn, thank you for the evocative comment and for the poem reccomendation! I really love the whole whale theme: maybe you already know this story, but if not, look up the "52-hertz whale", also known as the "the loneliest whale in the world"; the frequency of its song is higher than that of other whales, so it practically can't communicate with them and is destined to swim the vastness of the ocean in complete loneliness. It's one of the saddest stories ever for me, and it's also an inspiration for some of the music by canadian saxophonist Colin Stetson: kzbin.info/www/bejne/o6q0m2OJotGqgaM - this really drives home that feeling in my opinion (if it sounds weird it's because it's all played on a single saxophone in one take, the man is a powerhouse). Thank you again.

[@WuzzyfuzzumsWyrdWonders]

@@Muldered I knew about the whale, but not about this amazing piece of music 😯 Thank you SO much; I will check out more of his work! I don't often find other people who share my taste in weird and sometimes atonal music. If you like this sort of thing, I would definitely recommend the album "Escalator over the hill" by Carla Bley and Paul Haines, from back in the 70s. In the overture, there is a saxophone that screams like a human soul in torment. Also an album called "The dreams and prayers of Isaac the blind" by Kronos Quartet. I'd also love to hear any other recommendations you have! Just found your channel via this video, so have subscribed and very eager to see more 😁 Stopped the video half way through to go buy the game and play it, but will be back to watch the rest when I'm done.

[@Muldered]

@@WuzzyfuzzumsWyrdWonders I will surely listent! At this point I would tell you to check out my video about Luciano Cilio, one of the most unique composers ever in my eyes. You don't actually need to watch it because the audio of my voiceover sucks major ass, unfortunately, but definitely look up Cilio's music!

[@shinzo3131]

Awesome video

[@michaelboyd395]

I played a bit of this game! I think I got distracted then because I just bought Infra, but your video definitely makes me want to return, and try playing it again.

[@Meleor3d]

Luv u!

[@seraphemme]

the reason I like this ''aesthetic'' is because I feel like I would fit right into such a society. I live in a country whose people are known for being happy, cheerful and extroverted but I'm the exact opposite. the climate is considered one of the best in world but I hate it cause I don't like hot weather (it's hot most of the year). imagine being depressed asf and opening the blinds of your room window just to see the sun blazing its ass off every day + being outside most of the day is torture because it's so hot. you'd just feel worse, trust me

[@Muldered]

As I replied in another comment, I think we should always be careful about that "grass is greener" bias. At the same time I would lose my mind if I lived in a very warm climate, so I definitely get it. I would probably feel just as bad living in a very cold one though, I'm a room temperature type of person.

[@seraphemme]

@@Muldered tbh I don't think the grass is greener I just think I'd fit in more cause I feel like an alien here sometimes lol

[@Helena-Blair]

This is irrelevant to the video, but damn it does the voice and accent do things to my brain...

[@freemancrowbar]

@26:19 because exUSSR is one hell of a cyberpunk dystopia.

[@EugenijusKrenis]

Honestly it just feels like big city 20-th something sadness about own directionless-ness all while playing full ignorance of what their country is doing that has led to them having less choices in life, a wholesale self-absorbed piece of whiny nihilism. It's long overdue for this "Russian Soul" phenomena to get deconstructed as what it really is, wallowing in own sadness and obsessing over it as means of coping with both own and previous generations learned helplessness. It's not deep. It's not emotional. It's just a self-sabotaging resignation.

[@Muldered]

I can definitely agree with you on some level, and I discuss the whole "self-sabotaging" thing towards the end of the video, because it's an aspect that the game covers too, it's obviously a real problem especially for younger generations. That said, calling it a "wholesale self-absorbed piece of whiny nihilism" is incredibly cynical and outright disrespectful. It's an art project made by young people in an attempt to express themselves, a project to which you obviously didn't even give enough of a chance to have an informed opinion about. It's hard not to agree with the more depressing side of their message when you see dull takes such as this one, especially when it's worded as if it was objective in any way, instead of being just your opinion. I'd call it deceptive if it wan't so clearly cynical.

[@mikadopen4809]

What a phenomenal video

[@itz_jur0330]

SUBURB?!

[@flintwined]

What is the backround song you used in “what does it all mean?”

[@CeraRalaz]

well, if it is meta then its okay, but game is not became more depressing by going from "people withering on the street" to "st.ptb hipsters are whining in hipster bar"

[@Muldered]

I don't think that the point is about trying to be "depressing", and the cab driver at the end really emphasizes this. It's just that the whole experience is lived through the eyes of the protagonist and through his activities. It's about showing that any way you turn, wether it be the people on the streets or the hipsters, there's always something missing, indipendently of which one is "objectively" more terrible.

[@johnnyklaustwo6502]

there is no post soviet, either you live in western country OR in soviet regime, there is NO middle