Prey, People, and Perspective (UNLISTED)

[@jjjooppp]

PREY MY BELOVED!!!! Genuinely one of the most underrated video games in recent years, you captured the essence of the whole experience beautifully. I’m gonna use the spider metaphor next time I talk about this game

[@ArchivistShepard]

Truly picked up Prey around its initial launch because I was riding the post-Dishonored Arkane high, but damn if it hasn't stuck with me ever since. I'm so glad you enjoyed it, and happy to make a metaphor worth stealing! 💚

[@johnlombardo7816]

id say one of the most underrated games ever based on some peoples reviews.. those who wont give it a chance, are really missing out.

[@charlesshamseldin9555]

Just wait until Mooncrash grips you.......

[@ArchivistShepard]

@@charlesshamseldin9555Mooncrash my beloved? The roguelite that made me enjoy roguelite? MOONCRASH? Mooncrash. 🖤

[@charlesshamseldin9555]

@@ArchivistShepard I.can't.stop.playing.it

[@gammaf8896]

Very high quality video, especially for such a small channel - sheer luck that I found this

[@ArchivistShepard]

I appreciate it! Glad your luck dropped you here, and happy to have you onboard for what's next!

[@aray4031]

I have watched many videos on Prey and its consequences. This is by far the best and high in the running for the best there ever will be. Well done. Keep going.

[@ArchivistShepard]

I genuinely appreciate your words, and thank you for saying so. 💙

[@arowley97]

I've watched about 8 different 30-minute videos on Prey, but this one takes the top spot now. I was surprised to see you have a follower count in the hundreds with the quality of this content.

[@ArchivistShepard]

Though selfish, I hope it stays in that top spot for some time! 💛 And I appreciate you saying so; the quality is more for myself, with the hope that folk are drawn to it over time! Glad to have you onboard at this point in the journey!

[@johnlombardo7816]

you're a brilliant fella, just thought you should hear it. 👍👍👏👏👊👊

[@inpacifica2573]

Wonderful analysis! I loved your framing about the spiders, and how it slowly dawned on me that, oh no, the humans aren't humans in this scenario--we're the spiders. Very much looking forward to more!

[@ArchivistShepard]

I'm glad the creeping sensation paid off and came to fruition! 🕷 Happy to have you onboard, and hope you enjoy what's already out and what is yet to come! 💜

[@zlodrim9284]

A really interesting perspective on this great game!

[@ddd4040]

This is really good!

[@MidnightMedium]

Hey man, this is really good stuff. Your narration style is very easy to listen to and I love the subtitling of everything. I think you've got a strong future in this work. Keep it up!

[@ArchivistShepard]

Thanks, my dude! Nice to know (after listening to my own voice three hundred times in editing) that the end result is pleasant for people, sometimes in spite of the topic. 💙 Hope you like some of the other videos, too!

[@calzone7961]

One of the best games ever made

[@jvne_]

loved the ending a lot! have you considered covering other immsims in the future?

[@ArchivistShepard]

Huzzah! The endings in my videos are usually my favorite parts, too. 🥰 And I haven't thought about covering other immsims (yet), partly because it took until Prey for me to really fall in love with the genre! But I think I have all the heavy hitters in one library or another, so if there are any you're interested in, just name drop them! This video actually came about because another viewer commented on a totally different video about Prey, so miracles happen and all that. 😁 Happy to have you onboard for what's next!

[@NemiBoros]

Beautiful video.

[@onemanarmyb]

Next time I will spare a spider. That's all I can say for this great video. Thanks

[@ArchivistShepard]

And that is all I (and they) can hope for. 🕷 Glad you enjoyed it!

[@mitchellgoedken4509]

Great video of a great game.

[@JarethS]

Your editing skills have come a long way, this was fantastic to watch! I've always loved Prey since I first played it, it captures the magic of the System Shock games in a way you very rarely see. The Typhon are fascinating creatures too, and Eldritch Horror vibes the game gives them are amazing. The questions of "Would it see us, understand us? Would it even care?" are more chilling than anything we usually get from modern interpretations of Lovecraft-esque horror nowadays.

[@ArchivistShepard]

Yaaaay! I'm glad the improvement is noticeable! Now I just have to stop myself from wanting to redo allllll the videos so far. Once a thing becomes capable of making a choice, its trajectory truly does become infinitely more terrifying than if it was just "its nature." I'm glad you enjoyed the video!

[@noahmcalister]

Yo great video dude! I've started this one up a couple times, but for whatever reason, I never got more than a few hours into it (I think just life got in the way). But this essay was very thoughtful, and I love that question you focus on: do you stick with something you know, or do you try something new? Connecting that to the idea of "who do you want to be?" is so insightful; I love it. I think that as a child, I tended to stick to the familiar, but once I hit 15 or so, I began to venture into the unfamiliar pretty much every chance I get. And I think that venturing into the unfamiliar, as seems to be depicted in this ending, is the only way to empathize and understand another Really great video, man. I really enjoyed this one

[@ArchivistShepard]

Real talk, sometimes that shift into new frontiers is a dial, gradual and steady; and other times, it's a switch, and you're ready to go, no questions asked, onward and upward. But it has to happen for us to grow and be ready for what's next, from the small scale in our day-to-day lives to the big-picture items that can impact so many more people than ourselves. Just hope the great cosmic horrors can come to see it that way down the line, too.

[@resplendentreveries]

A series of thoughts as I watched this video: When there's a spider in my apartment, it becomes /our/ apartment now. Unless I'm at work, then I kindly escort them outside so my colleagues don't kill them instead. My initial response is that I really really hate the trolley problem, simply because I'd rather perish, myself, than make a decision of that magnitude. I suppose that's an answer within itself... But also At 16:14 you asked "Will you personally do harm? Or simply allow harm to happen?" Is there a difference in this case? I mean I don't belive there is one singular "morally pure" way to live life, and trying to find or create one will just drive you insane (and turn you into a less-buff Chidi from The Good Place) but there comes a point in important decision making where there doesn't seem like a lot of distinction between the choice to allow harm and the choice to do harm, if you have the opportunity to prevent both/either. Also I think I've said this on other videos, but bless you for having accurate close captions in place, both for the aid in spelling video game names/species I don't know and because I've got rampant ADHD. This game helps answer the question I frequently ask which is "have you considered giving the unknowable horrors a hug?" and I appreciate that, and your perspective on it!

[@ArchivistShepard]

Arguably, spiders are some of the best tenants we could ask for. They deal with pests, they keep to themselves, they don't make noise, and they don't go into the fridge to take our food! But yes, the leading cause of spider deaths do seem to be coworkers, no matter where I go. Thank you for doing your part to keep our eight-legged roommates safe! A seven-legged salute to you and your dynasty! And yes, I fully recognize how reductive the trolley problem is, both as an exercise in morality (?) or what is right (?) and how it is inherently cruel to put that onus onto any individual. And throwing yourself onto the track ("I'd rather perish") to stop the train is absolutely an option, both in some of the iterations of the problem AND within Prey's endgame choices. At the 16:14 timestamp you mentioned, you raise a very valid point that I didn't touch on as much as I should have in that moment. The intention was to draw the line between doing harm (actively harming or killing the crew as you encounter them, knowing the station will be destroyed) or allowing harm to happen (saving them and prolonging their inevitable death via destruction of the station). It makes more sense a few seconds later with the trolley diagram, but I absolutely did not elaborate as much as that point warrants. I hope this clears that up though! Yay! I'm glad they work, and I do try to lift the script word-for-word and plunk it into YT's CC system. It's very fun seeing where it puts the timestamps based on its algorithms and machine learning, but I try to make it as fluid as possible. At day's end, I guess it just boils down to "as long as both you and the unknowable horrors are down with the hugs." They may be vast and unyielding to such fickle mortal concerns, but everything's gotta be able to give consent. Glad you enjoyed the video! 💜

[@sam11182]

I really wish they could make a PREY 2 but it would be extremely difficult to. 99.9% of earth has been consumed by the end entity and Alex wants to bring the Typhon to the same playing field with neuro mods. It is exactly why the author of "Enders Game" did not give the rights to Hollywood to make the rest of his amazing series. They are more than action. They are things you need to think about. Hollywood can only do action. It would be like cramming food through your eyes. You can't experience the food the way it is supposed to be. (I can imagine ways of doing that but those ways are understanding the brain and exactly what feelings would be necessary to activate the exact part of the brain that the food would invoke. The human body is hyper sensitive to smells and tastes but those senses are tricked constantly by the easy to control sense of fear and hunger. Sounds stupid, but remember exactly when and why you get hungry and afraid of not getting the delicious food you see the image of with your eyes. Fear is complex)

[@ArchivistShepard]

Direct sequel might be dicey, like you mentioned (and I think doing so would neuter the meaningfulness of the endgame choice for any number of players), but Mooncrash definitely demonstrated the potential of the universe and the Looking Glass hardware as a way to experience more of it. I think that's a lot of why I'm wary of video game adaptations to other media (movies and TV, especially), because it takes away that interactive element of video game narratives.

[@sam11182]

@@ArchivistShepard anything with time travel and branching canons like the latest Bioshock is very sketchy. They needed to have all the contents of the room of weapons and ammo delivered to the resistance but when they chose to hop to that universe, they had no way to get back. In that universe, they were unknown. I don't know how they could do that in PREY. There are not many humans left. Alex was very prepared to mate with his relative but of course she was killed by the spy who wrote the virus with the instruction to kill the host. That bot was corrupt and was why it got more corrupt in Mooncrash. Mooncrash was terrifying. I had to use the "CheatEngine" to hold corruption on the first or second level. I didn't finish the DLC XD. I just watched a let's-play.

[@johnlombardo7816]

crazy how different my experience with this game was now that i beat it, vs yours, I now cannot wait to go through it again! I am currently playing mooncrash which is fun for sure... but the game itself is unmatched imo, only one ive played thats close to the story line is metro exodus, can you do a video on that? .. anyway, 15:31 I assume this is when you have both arming keys? I never got alex's idk where it is! haha.. i hope to figure that out next time.. but even the choices i had to make at the end had profound effects no doubt, and were life altering so to speak.

[@ArchivistShepard]

Exodus has been on my shelves for a while now! I don't know why I haven't completed it, but I'll try to dig it out sometime! And the timestamp is just a terminal near the captain's bridge; super easy to blow right past if you don't go off the beaten path, no arming keys required!

[@johnlombardo7816]

@ArchivistShepard awesome thanks! And yeah metro is well worth the go back and play.. my guess, and of course could be wrong, you got stuck on one of the spots where the flying fkers or the water fkers kept killing you and decided f this .. I did that a couple times, but then I pursued and I am so glad I did.. story is intense, somewhat realistic, and just incredibly well played out. Either way, appreciate the vid, reply and best of luck in all you do 👊

[@Jack_Pliskin]

uuuuhhhh a fresh prey video . i just sank my teeth in it if thats ok :)

[@ArchivistShepard]

There are perks to perpetually being a few years behind the curve!

[@johnlombardo7816]

Oh, to anyone who has not played, or even has played.. I have to say, I only used help with walkthroughs maybe 2 or 3 times on my first go through, only to find how to get to certain places, otherwise, I thought the best part of the game was figuring it all out!

[@Poszlakowaneopinie]

nice videoessay; btw I opened the Igwe's container because it was such a stupid decision that I found it amusing :P and I keep thinking what it says about me

[@garethbeaton8414]

This video is why i got this game and omg was i missing out if you love hafe life 2 this is your next fix

[@ArchivistShepard]

Wonderful! I hope you still enjoyed the ride after I went and spoiled uhhhhhh everything! 🖤🖤🖤

[@johnlombardo7816]

Did you really go through this game just beating them with wrenches? haha if so, youre a G!! hahahah, albeit you made an amazing video! hope your channel gets more views and subs in the future! you outdid most of the so called big channels!

[@ArchivistShepard]

Look, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Concussive maintenance solved a lot of my ammo-hoarding problems! 🔧 I appreciate your kind words and am glad to have you aboard! 🖤

[@jz4087]

Interesting. Good opening. A little rambley. But it was a good video. Could have been shorter.

[@johnlombardo7816]

without a doubt one of the most well thought out games ive ever played! sure there are some details that could be more refined, but then again, look at all the other "great games" people play these days, with their glitches and load issues etc. all things considered, this game didnt miss a step! that said, the only part of this I dont believe has some truth in it(forgive me all who believe) is the space element. otherwise I think most of this is based on a true story here on earth. black goo is real, it has been known to react to electricity, and indeed can morph to some degree just from videos I have seen. I am sure with the right elements, a phantom could certainly be created. I think this was an experiment gone bad, far underneath our earth in DUMBS the military runs on black budget, and they decided this would make for a great game. It has! anyone who doesnt agree, tell me why you think so!