Psychological horror done right. For once. [Mouthwashing]

[@EPEquinox]

The moment Anya asked why the medbay had a lock but the bedrooms didn't, I was concerned. Then it clicked with the pregnancy reveal... That hit hard. Fuck you, Jimmy.

[@hello3-e6j]

For real

[@MadaraUchiha-wu9ze]

didn't Jimmy do that in an unconsentual way aswell? that's what Anya told Swansea I believe

[@fockingreat1125]

@@MadaraUchiha-wu9ze He raped her, yes

[@arospec2712]

@@MadaraUchiha-wu9ze Yeah, she was SAed. Like everyone has said many times, fuck jimmy

[@flutterg1035]

​​@@MadaraUchiha-wu9zeif she's worried about locks on doors. That means he didn't have to force his way in. She literally says she doesn't want him on the crew anyone. You're missing a lot of cues before that moment lol

[@Tayturs]

Anya's question about "why arent there locks for the sleeping quarters?" just before locking herself in medbay, one of the few places she can lock herself away from the others safely, is so much more impactful when you know what happened to her. Really great storytelling.

[@Unpopularvibesss]

SPOILER ALERT: Not only that, Curley laughing after Jimmy gets the gun is pretty powerful as well. Curley got horribly mangled because of Jimmy, later ran out of pain killers, was fed his own flesh againsthis will, anya is pregnant because Jimmy SA'd her, Anya kills herself in front of Curley, and now Jimmy has a gun. The only thing Curley could possibly do is laugh at the gravity of this situation.

[@moonsigil]

That didn't happen "just before". There's 5 entire months that passes between those two scenes.

[@Tayturs]

@@moonsigil Yes... obviously. I meant those scenes happened back to back with the way the game is presented. That is on purpose because they are related moments.

[@ak_nora]

​@@Unpopularvibessssmall correction, he wasn't fed his own flesh until everyone else was dead.

[@xXxJason_ToddxXx]

@@UnpopularvibesssCurly is laughing at the irony. The gun was for if a Captain was ever faced with mutiny and needed to kill his crew. Jimmy mutinied against Curly, yet he has the gun. In reality, Curly should’ve used it on Jimmy. That’s why he’s laughing. It’s a bitter laugh by a man physically mangled and traumatized. He can’t talk. All he can do is laugh.

[@zetrosky2951]

Really interesting to me, in the beginning Swansea is really hostile to Anya and tolerates Jimmy. After their talks in the cockpit, Swansea is more dismissive towards Jimmy. I also find it interesting how he doesn't tell Jimmy about the locked medbay, probably wanting her to be able to be locked away from Jimmy. Theres also Curly laughing when Jimmy takes the gun. Issued to the captain for self defense, taken by the predator among the crew of the ship

[@JBBRDNKS]

It’s also implied that curly knew that he assaulted Anya cuz she said “I told you”. Despite curly being generally a good captain, it seems he didn’t listen or take responsibility for the monster her brought on board

[@bluewolf6323]

​@@JBBRDNKS I think that was his detriment...he didn't want to believe Jimmy did that because Curly truly does care for Anya, but his optimism has very much prolonged the danger even more. I think what also makes this more tragic is that Jimmy is the co pilot...and they're very much stranded or at least when it happened, they are in the middle of space...they are trapped and even if they tied him up or anything, that conscious decision to do that, even to a horrible man of a human being Jimmy is, would weigh heavy, even for Swansea I think...but if not, they have a body that will stink up the ship and Jimmy won't go down without a fight...

[@greywalker505]

@@JBBRDNKS I think Jimmy was the one who assaulted her.

[@fussyharp9834]

There is something so disturbing about curly being completely powerless and forced to witness Jimmy shift all the blame upon him, and then get all of the crew killed.

[@orwellmushaikwa2591]

Not to mention being forcefed his own flesh and then left alive to live with all the physical and mental pain and trauma of what happened to his crew while Jimmy swiftly took the easy way out.

[@biyukun]

Possibly a just punishment for not helping Anya when he quite clearly knew she had been raped by Jimmy. (He didn't ask her what she meant when she said she needed the gun to protect herself.) Men who don't call other men out for how they treat women are guilty, too.

[@orwellmushaikwa2591]

@@biyukun You must be mad if you truly think that. Curly deserves even half the shit that happened to him. The fact that that's what he had to endure truly shows the extent of Jimmy's malice.

[@fockingreat1125]

​@@orwellmushaikwa2591 Not really about what's 'deserved' when it's someone seeing someone getting hurt in a horrific and traumatic way and waves it off. He could have stopped everything in the game from happening if he'd taken Anya's report that Jimmy raped her and got her pregnant seriously. I mean I wouldn't say he 'deserved' it but he didn't nip it in the bud when presented with clear proof Jimmy was dangerous. It was a piece of shit thing to do and brought about everyone's demise and his own torture.

[@orwellmushaikwa2591]

​@@fockingreat1125 The only reason I mentioned what's deserved is because I was replying to the previous post which said that he deserved what happened to him because of how he handled Anya's situation. I don't think he handled it well, I think maybe he could have done more, could have done better. Though the given circumstances were also really limiting on what he could do. But to say he deserved everything because of that is insanity. His real faults imo were relying on an unstable crew member (though that's not really on him since Jimmy was the vice captain), and breaking protocol. Had he not broken protocol and disclosed their termination, maybe they would have had a better chance of arriving to their destination safely with no incident. Though with someone as crazy as Jimmy in the crew, who knows what else could set him off. So I cannot entirely blame him for not knowing how his crew would react. He was just naive. As shitty as the company was, they at least knew disclosing such to the crew during such a long trip would be devastating. Probably they were more concerned about losing their shipment than anything else.

[@sakuradaidouji6526]

Aha, I just thought of a bad joke with the boardgame... so everyones text is a specific color in the game, Swansea is Yellow, Anya is Blue, Jimmy is Green, and Daisuke is the magenta. Curly is White, as in, Curly is the Board. Everyone else is moving around while Curly just lays there.

[@pheenixgryphon7857]

I was thinking the same thing with the colors minus the Curly part. I didn't catch onto that, now that's messed up.

[@talia7883]

Damn

[@LudicrousPie]

dude..

[@maddiehalloway]

Jc… that’s great attention to detail

[@scribeofstories]

FYI: if it wasn't obvious, Jimmy SA'd Anya and got her pregnant. Anya asking Curly why there aren't locks in the crew quarters, her comment about what Jimmy told her during evals "sexually attracted to horses", Curly realizing that Anya never got a psych eval, the ultrasound bit at the end and Anya clarifying 8 months when Curly gave the estimated time left are the clues that Jimmy was absolutely awful to Anya and why she seppuku'd herself As to why Jimmy picked her, the game made it p obvious but he's just an entitled asshole. Taking down the entire ship and crew bc he was jealous of Curly. Swansea was saving the cryo pod for Daisuke since he's innocent in all this. Just a kid with bad luck

[@VorpalSnickerSnack]

Well said. Jimmy is worse than entitled- he's delusional, refusing to hold himself accountable, responsible or in consequences. Edit: Wasn't the empty pod for "the captain who goes down with the ship?" Either way it's harrowing.

[@murph64]

@@VorpalSnickerSnack Yeah even his final act (“saving” Curly and choosing to shoot himself) wasn’t him taking responsibility. A coward to the very end Edit: I’m pretty sure Swansea intended the empty pod for Daisuke, he only says the captain ship thing after Daisuke is dead :( in his monologue he says if he could’ve done one thing right it would’ve been giving the kid a “small chance” to get off that rock, ie giving him 20 frozen years to wait for rescue

[@thesecretshade]

@@scribeofstories I wondered about what Swansea said about Daisuke and getting him away from everything and the pod in the same sentence. I thought he planned to send him away in the pod (sleeping) and that's why he didn't let anyone into the room. Of course Jimmy made it look like Swansea planned to take the pod for himself which no.

[@princessfairytroll]

Oop. I shouldn't have opened the comments before I finished the playthrough...

[@zzeroara9511]

how hard is it for people to stop including SA in media, it never benefits anybody except for creepy, awful men who are okay with it. i just want to go one month without consuming media with sexual Assault randomly thrown in it, it's not fun....

[@DoodleMonsterRocks]

So happy John is mouthwashing. The whole time, Curly witnesses all his crewmates’ deaths caused by Jimmy (Anya OD’ed beside his cot, Daisuke injured in the vent and killed near the lounge doorway, Swansea shot at the hallway) while immobilized in the medbay, not able to say or do anything. Just blinking, moaning, crying. Not sure if there was even a deductible for using the gun to kill a dangerous crewmate too. That bastard Jimmy gets to die offscreen by his own hands with that damn gun and force Curly to live after all that. John’s “well… damn” sums it up.

[@Tetchystar]

Damn, good point, did not even realize Curly witnessed all of their demises. Technically he was aware of Jimmy's too since the sound was really obvious right before he got frozen

[@GolemCC]

Well, maybe not blinking, since his eyelids are burnt off.

[@Bjango]

I finally put together the last bit with Polle and talking about Jimmy "being so concerned with *him*" Jimmy was so concerned with Curly's opinion with him, that he's not thinking about raping Anya at all. Thus, never actually taking responsibilty. Damn

[@AlexandraLegrand]

woah! thank you so much for pointing it out! now it finally makes sense to me

[@halomasterr117]

Yeah it's really fucked that through out the Game, the guilt sequences are all just for swansea or Daisuke, and even then it's just Jimmy trying to delude himself into thinking none of this was his fault. There was never a sequence for Anya. He never felt guilty raping her. The only "guilt" he felt was towards the baby. But not even her.

[@ProfligateEater21753]

He could never acknowledge what he did to Anya because all the lies and all the justifications he made up would fall apart. Nothing could have justified what he did to her, especially if he'd been harming her before he was fired.

[@BluePandaLps]

Apparently there should be an achievement called "Good ending" that you can get by dying to Swansea at the end like 10 times.

[@MadaraUchiha-wu9ze]

it's just the achievement tho, not an actual good ending since two crewmembers are already dead at that point

[@Maxwellish]

I love how Curly laughs when Jimmy gets the gun. To me he’s laughing at the irony of it. Anya wanted the gun to protect herself from Jimmy, and now he needed it to protect himself from Swansea.

[@AliCat_OwO]

I'm super late to this comment, but I really don't think he was protecting himself from Swansea. We see Swansea tied to a chair and executed, I think he was rationalizing it bc Swansea was the only one he had to shoot in cold blood. So he had to create a scene in his head to "protect himself" so that he wouldn't feel the guilt.

[@Tabako-san]

​@@AliCat_OwOI think it did happen, Jimmy locks himself in Medical when Swansea first comes at him for what he did to Daisuke. The only way out of medical is through the vents which explains the long vent sequence, which leads to him entering utility and going to the cockpot to get the bar and rope- where Swansea axes through the door window and presumably is knocked out and tied up. The vents is where Daisuke got mangled which also explains the cemetary part which only has Daisuke's altar in the middle, and his stuff being found in the vents. Swansea chasing him through the ship as he hides like a rat in the vent's (Daisuke's grave basically). Its the only reason the vent part makes sense experiencing it through Jimmy's POV anyway to me.

[@flutterg1035]

The message on the gun says it's meant for captains self-defense against bad violent crew members. Curly is forced to watch that violent crew member use the gun against the rest of his crew. It is irony in its most authentic form

[@LilienNacht]

@@AliCat_OwOI also think so! The guilt sequence with swansea was a whole lot of delusions to justify him killing swansea, dude literally had to inagine himself being hunted by swansea with an axe to feel better

[@halomasterr117]

​@@Tabako-sanI think the implications of it swansea actually attacking Jimmy is even more sinister if you think about it. Swansea was spiked with the alcohol that Jimmy knew how to make. Daisuke went into the vent, was severely injured & left a broken bloody mess. Swansea woke up, but must have been groggy from the spiked drink. Dude was literally roofied. There's no way he would have any strength to run after a healthy (albeit mentally deranged) Jimmy. What I think happened, after swansea told Jimmy he could do whatever he wanted & take the cryo pod. It looked to me swansea left to go rot & die somewhere. He didn't care if he lived or died, but he saved the cryo pod for Daisuke. Now, with Daisuke dead, he has nothing else left to live for. Immediately after swansea leaves, the next objective, is jarringly " GET THE GUN" why is the agency to get the gun so severe now more than ever, even though swansea didn't look to harbor murderous intent toward the end? I think Jimmy rationalized that he needed the gun to kill execute swansea, so he could justify a sort of "defense". I think the moment Jimmy grabbed the gun, everything after that was a delusion, including swansea, somehow full of energy, axe in hand, barreling towards Jimmy. Nah, Jimmy, found a passed out Swansea, tied him up, and executed him.

[@konstance13]

I'm amazed at how three-dimensional they managed to make the whole crew for such a short game.

[@burningskylark149]

That part in the vents, where there's the note that just says "responsibility" and you just keep backing away further and further... Jimmy will go as far as he possibly can to avoid taking responsibility. He tried to take the easy way out by crashing the ship and taking everyone with him, and in the end he succeeded. Everyone died because of him. In the end he shot himself, and couldn't be bothered to take responsibility for the one person he still had complete control over. Leaving Curly in cryostasis was not heroic or responsible. There's no way a company that has disbanded is going after a freighter that's hauling only mouthwash. They'd make the excuse of having no way to find them since their ship was flung off-course after the collision. Is there an incredibly slim chance he could be found in 20 years? Sure, but to what end? That's no way to live. Most likely, if the ship itself remains intact, Curly wakes up and either suffocates or starves to death. Jimmy didn't even give Curly a chance to choose for himself if he wanted to go in the pod, or even stay alive at all. He didn't ever really think about Curly, or what he wanted, not to mention any of the others, only about himself.

[@glassdragonmedia]

I kept optimistically imagining him returning to become a cyborg or something.

[@Bane_Amesta]

All those "I hope it hurts" is probably Jimmy wishing that Curly is suffering (and probably being too harsh while giving him the medication) because even then he was jealous of him.

[@strawb_short_cake]

Yes!! I thought so too! Especially after Swansea decided to end Daisuke's suffering, I really thought that in the end it would come down to Jimmy having to make the choice whether to 'take responsiblility' and end Curly's suffering, or take the easy way of making it someone else's problem. He was the one responsible for getting Curly hurt. I think the way he got angry at Anya for asking him to handle Curly's meds was kind of ironic. He basically berated her for not taking her responsibility as a nurse seriously, even though it was a mess he created. I don't think the game ended with Jimmy truly understanding.

[@unovale4207]

"Jimmy didn't even give Curly a chance to choose" - that'd be his second time not caring about the consent of his crewmate!

[@---ro1fc]

There’s also the fact that he doesn’t think about Anya practically at all nearing the end of the game. Just the pregnancy. He doesn’t feel any guilt for assaulting her, he’s just pissed off that it spiraled into something larger that none of them could hide

[@thesuperginge1348]

Swansea coming clean that he never felt happier than when he was blotto drunk for days on end is pure tragedy. I felt so miserable when that speech happened. What a horrible existence to have experienced. I really hope I never fall into that pit. For as miserable as I've always been, I don't think I've ever been so bad that I've considered the best time of my life to be when I'm neglectful, isolated and at the whims of my own addiction.

[@thesuperginge1348]

Fuck, man, I need some fresh air...

[@PacoMartos]

Despite the more viscerally horrible things that happen throughout the game, that scene was the most devastating imo. The idea that someone can attempt to better themselves for fifteen years, build a new life, create a family, and then arrive at the conclusion that it wasn’t worth the effort is both despairingly sad and existentially terrifying to me.

[@thegrumptastic]

As a former alcoholic, I know what he means, the real world is hard freaking work man.

[@Mx.Chowder]

That scene made me sob like a baby. This is the second playthrough of this game I've watched, and I STILL cried and cried watching it happen. I'm not an addict, but my mother is, and I can only imagine what it'd be like to be in her shoes and feel this way. I hope she views her recovery as worth it. I hope she doesn't let depression trick her.

[@blacknyellow962]

22:47 “Jimmy Sucks” is such an understatement

[@orwellmushaikwa2591]

@@blacknyellow962 Jimmy is trash 😔, whatever life you lead, don't be a Jimmy.

[@hwlo7891]

my motto has basically become "however bad i get, at least i'm not jimmy!"

[@juunanasai]

It’s giving a little bit of Berserk

[@restinte]

might be dramatic but wow, swansea had me pretty emotional with that sendoff. "All nausea and wreckage and vomit and ugly cruelty, the only problem in the world an empty bottle.. Those were the best days of my life." :(

[@onkelfurunkel4065]

Yeah that was a great sequence

[@CiCodiCadno]

Just finished the video, and I agree with you opinions on the game, but strongly disagree that Jimmy took responsibility. Not for anyone or anything. Anya - not once in his 'apology' to Curly does he mention his SA of Anya, despite clearly being aware of it (pregnancy theme with the Polle 'embryos'). He never apologises to her, to Curly, or even acknowledges what he's done. He spent the entire game belittling her, much like Swansea. Daisuke - like with Curly, Jimmy's hero complex to 'fix things' keeps him suffering when he's wounded. Despite the group mantra that "our worst moments don't make us monsters", Jimmy calls Swansea a monster for ending that suffering. To Jimmy, Swansea taking away Jimmy's chance to be a hero is the monstrous act. Swansea - he literally blames Swansea for his having to use the last of the isopropyl alcohol on the stupid cocktail idea. At the end of course he shoots Swansea and still believes he's fixing things somehow... Fixing them without the interference of someone like Swansea who could take his chance at heroism away like he did with Daisuke. Curly - his apology is all about acknowledging Curly as captain. The overarching motif is that the captain is the person who takes responsibility. By giving the title back to Curly, he's giving the responsibility he's unwilling to claim to Curly. In the vents, he's literally walking backward _away_ from the sign that says 'responsibility'. He never takes accountability. Even at the end, what is he doing? Psychologically and physically torturing Curly, and then puts him in the cryo pod to soar through space for 20 years, wildly off course from the space freighter's initial impact, with little to no chance of recovery. And then when the 20 years ends, he either wakes up a bit, suffering with no painkillers until he dehydrates or suffocates... Or he passes away in the depths of space as the cryostasis ends. Jimmy doesn't even do him the courtesy of watching over him as he's frozen. He walks away, leaving him alone. He ends things on his own terms for himself, but doesn't do the same courtesy for Curly. He goes pleased with himself for his noble sacrifice, his heroism.

[@JohnTwolfe]

well just to clarify, I was being sarcastic when I said he "took responsibility". I was talking about the story as it was presented from Jimmy's POV - he thought he was taking responsibility, but even in the end he took the coward's way out. So we actually agree

[@CiCodiCadno]

@@JohnTwolfe ah, my bad then!

[@LilienNacht]

this is a really really great summary on how Jimmy is a shit who doesnt tale responsibility and dies thinking he’s§s a hero.

[@bluewolf7111]

SPOILERS This must be the only game in ages that has done the "you were the bad guy all along" without fucking sucking ass. So good.

[@orwellmushaikwa2591]

@@bluewolf7111 True, and doing it without the overused "bad father" cliche 😑

[@willag42]

@@orwellmushaikwa2591 I mean... Jimmy was a "bad father". He found out Anya was pregnant and immediately went for the nuclear option of killing the entire crew, including his kid and her mother. But I agree that this game handled it amazingly.

[@orwellmushaikwa2591]

​@@willag42 Lol, when you put it that way I guess you are right. But you know what I mean... with the typical bad father scenario in psychological horror games.

[@konstance13]

I think it's also partly because they're not trying overly hard to hide it, like some games that are obsessed with having "a big twist." You can infer pretty early that Jimmy isn't a great guy just by his dialogue and actions. It's just slowly revealing how bad he really is.

[@gestaposantaclaus]

@@willag42 Jimmy wasn't a father, he was a fucking rapist.

[@Eukalyptos18]

Love that when you notice John is dropping his usually sarcastic persona you just know a game is actually good. When the ad for the Mouthwash starts and he realises the cargo really is just full of that stuff, nothing else, he is genuinely stunned, and I felt that! This is the third time I am watching someone play this game, it stuck with me for quite some time. Truly a gem in the indie horror genre. Kudos for the voice work, thanks for playing!!

[@galavandermeer9408]

30:00 I just realized that the Sorry game is a representation of the ship's crew! The colors all match the text colors of the characters: blue is Anya, yellow is Swansea, pink is Daisuke, green is Jimmy and white is Curly! Also kind of fits that their score on the board represents their rank. Jimmy has one token on the scoreboard, signifying he's in the lead. Anya has the most players on the board but no score yet so she's behind Jimmy. Swansea is below Anya in responsibilities and access so has two tokens on the board but is ahead of the new guy Daisuke who only has one token on the board, aka just started. And the entire playing field that they're working on is Curly's color, the captain who guides them.

[@deezmusic2062]

Good theory but doesn’t make sense. The game tells you Daisuke is unnaturally lucky at the game and always wins which annoys Anya. He can’t be Pink. So it can’t have anything to do with rank when Daisuke is the one leading the board.

[@nyarijuana]

@@deezmusic2062i think the pieces are just symbolic of the situation and daisuke being lucky at the game has nothing to do with anything besides being a fun tidbit that adds to the characters. In the scene where Jimmy goes into the vent (where he sent daisuke) you can see a small side table with the green and pink sorry pieces with the green standing over the pink just like jimmy watching daisuke die its absolutely symbolic

[@AlienZizi]

@@deezmusic2062 its literally using their speech colors, and it was designed and placed there for a reason.

[@azzazelynn988]

​@@nyarijuana Also, Jimmy's green piece is standing right behind behind Anya's blue piece, breathing down its neck. With how the game works, if a piece lands on the same spot as another player's piece then that piece has to go home and start over. Blue having 3 peices out makes her more vulnerable to attacks. Because they're using 2 dice, that means that green could reasonably take any of her pieces. John said that the dice equaled 11. Assuming that it's green's turn, blue's about to have a piece taken from her! This game actually has me excited about boardgame symbolism lol..

[@--baphomet]

Not once during any portions of the ‘flash’ aspect of the game show Anya. The males were shown, but not Anya. Not only did he rxpe, assault and get her pregnant, but he doesn’t even think of her as a human. During the gun portion he never mentions Anya, only vaguely to Daisuke. “We’ve got to get Curly out of there,” while not giving a shxt about her. Even the shooting part! Hell, he gets mad at Anya so much throughout the game than anyone else. Curly needs medicine? Sure, she can do it. Second time he does it off the bat…but the third time he gets pissed at her for even asking him too. She didn’t want too do his psych eval, because she was scared of him and even considers drinking the mouthwash but then says, “It wouldn’t fix anything..much as I’d like too..” Even questioning why the sleep quarters didn’t have a lock but the cockpit did. Poor Anya…and she reminds me of a young Shelley Duvall. This game left a really bad taste in my mouth, time for some mouthwash! Definitely my indie game of the year.

[@weirdyoutubef4189]

no way that jimmy actually rxpe to anya and that monster thing was a baby from him tho ?

[@AhegaooPrincess]

She reminded me of Shelly too I thought I was the only one 😂❤

[@BiblicallyAccurateSeraph]

@@weirdyoutubef4189 it's probably monster-ised because he's going coocoo for coco puffs up in there, and that's the representation his subconcious gives him? Who knows. Jimmy's an ass

[@sovl2178]

Who cares...

[@LawPope]

Geyyyyy

[@lalolanda8458]

If you think about it, in the simbology of the vents when it says "there's no turning back now", and "Responsibility", Jimmy doesn't turn back... the traditional way. He goes backwards. This is a simbology for Jimmy not taking responsibility for all his actions throughout the story. He found a way to lie to himself, to delude himself into thinking he was doing everything correct and helping everybody get safe back home, while that actually being the opposite.

[@Necro_fury]

Aye you got a point, and as an aside maybe u were looking for symbolism?

[@MsScarletwings]

I found that segment so genius because Jimmy never does turn away from responsibility. He’s completely *fixated* on it, unable to avert his gaze to see anything else, not even the hands and daisuke’s memorabilia he’s stepping on in the process. He’s dead focused on responsibility, AND he’s backing away from it.

[@csongorkakuk5871]

I suppose the mouthwash is also symbolism, because it's like Jimmy's mouthwashing away the bad taste of consequences/ responsibility.

[@halomasterr117]

​@@csongorkakuk5871I also like to think of Jimmy as the Mouthwash himself. Sweet taste to trick you into thinking he helps, but ultimately has no value to you whatsoever and ends up doing more harm than good (spiking swansea, using the mouthwash to "disenfect" daisuke)

[@whoIsV]

I think Swansea was saving that cryopod for Daisuke.

[@ravenofroses]

right. when jimmy walked in on swansea and anya talking, anya went "if that's the way it has to be..." i think he was telling her that he wanted to put daisuke in the cryopod when the food ran out because he was the youngest of the crew and had a life to go back to.

[@diamonddisarray6479]

i also think after he talked with anya that he was partly guarding it because he knew jimmy would try and take it for himself and he wanted to make sure he couldn't get away with what he'd done

[@Tetchystar]

You know I just realized, couldn't Anya getting nauseous because of Curly, also be because of pregnancy symptoms? She was probably already feeling ill, right? Would make it even worse how Jimmy treated her, if that were possible...

[@artisticfellow4463]

She also was one of the last to drink the mouthwash due to the alcohol in it I believe, since she was pregnant.

[@maokay]

only a few mins into the video, but i feel like John calling a psychological horror game "Done Right", is probably one of the best compliments coming from someone like him who plays this genre day in day out....im excited!

[@petn8211]

entirely nailed video.

[@madeofmeats]

23:41 the book’s title is a reference to How Fish is Made, in that game you play as a fish going around the inside of a machine and telling other fish if you plan on going “up” or “down”. Going “up” gives you an ending where you’re turned into food (I forget if it’s canned fish or just whole cooked fish) and “down” gives you an ending where you’re discarded and added to a giant pile of congealed fish parts. The illusion of choice in that game is that either option leads to your ultimate death, but you still get to choose how you go out at least. I gasped when it was revealed this was the same dev as How Fish is Made since it’s one of my favorite little weirdo indie titles, I love this dev’s style and vision a lot.

[@nobodynoone4161]

How Fish Is Made is one of my favorite indie games too, however I interpret it as an anti-capitalist critique. The fish are being destroyed by the “machine”, which is also a word commonly used for the system, and if the fish choose to go down and reject the “purpose” that the machine teaches them, then they are discarded, just like people who reject this system are abandoned and forced to live and die in the fringes, seen by both the ruling class and society as “rotten”, as useless. If you believe in the machine and do everything you can to go up, you’re consumed by the overlords, since at the end “meritocracy” is a lie and you’re a fish stuck in the machine, a member of the working class lacking in class solidarity because you’re too manipulated by the idea of “going up” that was sold to you. People have different interpretations for art, of course, but some scenes in the game strike me as so blatantly anti-capitalist that I couldn’t help but smile while playing that game. It’s a wonderful and terrifying allegory, I truly appreciate it.

[@madeofmeats]

@@nobodynoone4161 I knew there was deeper meaning to the choices but didn’t think to dive too much deeper into it in my comment. Your analysis is really good though, I appreciate the break down :D

[@noragami97]

Is your name a reference to the "They're made of meat" scifi short story? I'm blanking on the author now

[@madeofmeats]

@@noragami97 it’s a reference to something Nyx Fears said in a NSFL content iceberg that stuck with me, people being made out of the same stuff (meat) and such. She elaborates more on it in her video and it was very poignant to me, so I adopted it.

[@HalfLight333]

@@nobodynoone4161 I actually wouldn't be surprised by this at all. Mouthwashing is such a blatant, satirical lampooning of capitalism that it would make sense for that theme to carry over from How Fish Is Made.

[@dimdharma]

As soon as I saw "I hope this hurts" in the opening I knew we were in for a ride. Fun fact: The name of the space freighter Tulpar also means a winged horse.

[@dascannavore7707]

I haven't seen John this speechless at the end of an indie horror game in a LONG time, if ever. The game was well written and masterfully presented, and I'm super glad John got to play it!

[@professorbonca6991]

The 'tough guy' voice John gave Jimmy is how I imagine Jimmy himself thinks he sounds in his own head.

[@Yvesenjoyer666]

the way jimmy kept going "i did it we saved us" even till the very end... crazy POS... damn what a game, i really enjoyed it. Thank you for sharing and playing, also your voice acting was sooo good it made it even more engaging

[@serena_v01]

one thing I'm not so sure about but we know Jim's to blame for Daisuke's death bc he basically forced him into the vent even tho both Daisuke and Swansea where VERY clear about how dangerous it was, but if that wasn't enough, when he got hurt and Swansea told Jim to look for some disinfectant, I don't think he meant the mouthwash Because then he wouldn't word it like they need to look for it when there's plenty of it in the cargo, he also wouldn't go look for it in the enfermary, right? So Jim purposefully bathed Daisuke in mouthwash when in the beginning Anya said that it's sugar contents make it useless for desinfecting... So he DID kill him.

[@BeAsTMoDE528]

This is explicitly what was happening and flat out stated, not an interpretation. This comment was pointless.

[@Eli-sg5to]

I'd completely forgotten that Anya said that! Glad you pointed it out :)

[@spiritofchaos58]

@@BeAsTMoDE528 Really pulling a Jimmy and being a prick for no good reason, huh

[@sousat.]

Yeah, bc when Swansea asks Jimmy to look for the disinfectant, Daisuke says "the cocktail", bc they used the fucking thing to get Swansea in alchoolic coma, so there's none to help Daisuke

[@fockingreat1125]

@@BeAsTMoDE528 God forbid someone comment on a game in the comment section for a game......

[@Stephunniee]

Dude, your voice acting in this was SO GOOD. It’s a great game on its own, but I would be hard pressed to believe there’s a better “viewer experience” out there. 10/10 game, 11/10 video.

[@thesuperginge1348]

Agree! Apart from the British accent attempts! John, stoooop

[@sunfishdreamworld]

you should check out his danganronpa let's plays with kimmy if you haven't already! i avoided the series for a long time but checked out the videos john uploaded, and they're both so good at voicing all of the characters!

[@jorngaming89]

Completely agree ❤

[@sakuradaidouji6526]

JackSepticEye voiced all his characters too in his playthrough, was a pretty fun watch as well

[@Paul20661]

are you today's date cuz you're a 10/10 😎

[@elin1681]

Jimmy going 0-100 REAL fast in reaming curly for the company closing down (tf jimmy) did make me a bit sus about Jimmy, and then it just went downhill from there .. Exceptional game. Also +1 for Johns drunk Swansea voice acting haha

[@baronvonrusty8713]

Definitely an awesome horror game. Loved the moment at the "party" around 1:59:40 when it finally cuts away from Jimmy's view and we get to see the corpses propped up in the chairs, instead of the way that Jimmy is seeing them. The devs did a great job with perspective jumping around between Jimmy and Curly, that's just one example. Very very cool game!

[@davidbellod4656]

People might have already commented this, but - 1:24:17, the headstone says "semper desiderari", which means "never forgotten" in Latin! To be fair I can't actually read the "desiradi" part except for the upper case D, but it putting it together with my (limited) Latin, it just makes sense.

[@SilverDragonJay]

One thing that I noticed: the twist is foreshadowed all the way in the very beginning. spoils When you're crashing the ship, which seat are you in? the left seat. When you go to the cockpit as Curly to do the eval with Jimmy, its Jimmy that sits in the left seat while Curly sits on the right. There's another thing that occurs to me: Curly got massively fucked up in the crash. I've heard people speculate that the reason he was...er, degloved, so to speak was because of the foam. So the damage to his skin, okay. Damage to his hands and feet? Perhaps the force of the crash did that, okay. But uh...why does it seem like he doesn't have a tongue? He can't speak and when you open his mouth to feed him pills, perhaps its a limitation of the model, but it really doesn't look like he has a tongue. Jimmy was very close to the cockpit when the crash happened, I just wonder if he cut Curly's tongue out so he couldn't tell the rest of the crew what really happened. That's just speculation on my part though.

[@thesuperginge1348]

Oh fuck, that's something I never considered. I figured it was burned off/out just like all his skin, but that's not impossible. Oof.

[@_raboot_]

its probably just a model thing since there are parts in the game where he cries and kind of screams along with laughing that one time, I guess they could all be because Jimmy is a maniac and is just imagining things but I kinda doubt it

[@BoneStack117]

The inside of his throat could be burnt which is why it's so painful for him to take pills, and thus leaving him unable to speak

[@gabrielrasilva]

Havin you tong cut does not make you completely mute

[@gemstonegynoid7475]

When daisuke got out of the foam during the pre- crash scene, there is a sticky noise and he had to exert to get out. So the foam must've been hot and sticky all over curly. So that it got all over his skin

[@merprincesspacifica]

I am very impressed by this game and by John’s voice acting- it really helped me to feel immersed. Also, the way my heart sank when Anya asked about the locks…

[@saucy2sunbae]

2:05:20 OH MY GOD, I NEVER THOUGHT I’D HEAR HIM REFERENCING MY BONES “I LOVE IT ALL SMOOTH” AGAIN - what a great time to be a og fan

[@SaviourSnow]

That was the best part of the whole video - had to pause just to take it all in. Can’t believe he still remembers it all these years later.

[@saucy2sunbae]

@@SaviourSnow no fr! i thought he forgot all about the GDnomad x crappy indie horror saga lmao.

[@SaviourSnow]

@@saucy2sunbae Those were the days… It’s insane how just referencing that refreshed and brought back so many memories. John is the best, no other words are enough.

[@saucy2sunbae]

@@SaviourSnow had to make a playlist w all of them to go & relive them from time to time, john really was / is the best content creator

[@intenebrisveritas]

I didn't realize how many of John's videos I've watched, and why the graveyard looks a little familiar, until he said that 😂

[@peach_gurl]

I think Curly knew what Jimmy did to Anya. I think Curly was trying to “manage” it all before it spun out of his control.

[@thesuperginge1348]

I agree, it seemed like a typical "hey it's not as bad as that, I'm sure it's all a big misunderstanding" situation. Yuck - on Curly's part. Obviously also on Jimmy's, but that goes without saying.

[@kolbayada4938]

Imo Curly is basically is one of those people who won't see the bad in person until a major fuck up happens even to the point of denying reality. That being said, him ignoring every red flag of his "friend" led him to basically experience what Anya did only much much worse.

[@adokat]

Agree - Curly strikes me as a piece of shit who is willing to help his friend out, even knowing his friend is a rapist. I might be misreading the situation but I don't think I am.

[@ajaxachilles3139]

It's important to note that these people are basically trapped together on the ship for months. As captain, Curly knows that he has to keep the crew functional for that time. If he locked jimmy up for the entire voyage, they would be down one experienced crew member. It sucks morally, but practicality demands that Curly try to mediate between the two of them so that they can both work on the ship during the voyage, then find greater resolution after. Not saying its right, or that Curly handled it the best way possible. Just saying that these are the type of choices a ship captain has to make

[@Lucas-st1xq]

Yeah he def knew about it. In the end, he ended up denying responsibility too because of the love for his friend. Also him doing the psych aval for his Jimmy means he probably just ignored or brushed off Jimmy's mental state. Curly seems to be a good person and I dont blame him for who Jimmy is, but he could've stopped and changed everything, it was right in his face for months

[@briannast.jacques3841]

**My headphones disconnecting at the laundromat while watching** John: “HE’S GONNA CLAP MY ASS CHEEKS TOGETHER!” 😅😬

[@AngeliqueStP]

Plot Twist: Someone pipes up... "You're watching John Wolfe too?" 😉😁

[@bastianventura]

@@AngeliqueStPthe good ending

[@AngeliqueStP]

@@bastianventura lol, yup!

[@Necro_fury]

😂😂

[@LooneyLolita]

Well… that was absolutely brilliant. Few horror games have left me in such a numb and speechless state, other than Silent Hill 2 and Soma. Couldn’t agree more, this is how you do Psychological horror.

[@pikamoustache1146]

i know you’ve been doing it for a while but i always love how you let us sit at the title screen for a few seconds really adds to the immersion

[@Evilfairy04]

Best version of the walkway scene. You were quick through it, just naturally following the right path, and you were rash enough that you saw the creature more than once. Too safe? No. Juuust right 👍

[@siobhan_is_on]

30:57 "You guys are probably screaming at your screens right now WHO CARES!....I do. (: And this is all about ME" This made me cackle, John talking about Sorry for a full minute and then saying this has such dad energy lmao

[@AshChiCupcak]

I like how this game managed to still use regular cliche horror tropes but actually did them well. The pacing, the characters , even the twist was well done even though I kind of saw it coming. All in all, it was a really refreshing experience (kind of like mouthwash lol)

[@Blubableful]

I never knew I could be this mad at a character that's part of a 2 1/2 hours long game.

[@fennel6921]

its great to see you enjoyed it, i was hoping youd play it...! as for a spoiler--- . . . . . 2:12:50 "curly's the only one that knows what jimmy did" -- the scene where jimmy confronts swansea and asks if hes been telling anya things, but swansea says something like "we've been talking, but it was all her telling me things about /you/"... i think swansea knows as well...

[@konstance13]

Yeah, I don't know how well I was tracking chronology, but I feel like after Jimmy caught Swansea and Anya speaking, Swansea was a lot more abrasive and noticeably trusted/respected Jimmy less. I think he knew at least some details.

[@Tetchystar]

Oh, I thought John meant Curly's the only one that knew Jimmy tried to crash the ship...

[@konstance13]

​@@Tetchystar Oh, you actually may be right tbh. Plus he's also the only one alive at that point. But I do think Anya told Swansea at least some part of what Jimmy did.

[@fennel6921]

@@Tetchystar oh gosh i didnt even think about it that way... i think youre right about that for sure

[@august-s1j]

The respect i have for John's voice acting is immeasurable

[@TheCornDavis]

As someone who just had throat surgery on October 1st... I feel Curly's pain when it comes to them shoving the meds down his throat.... it's been the bane of my existence lately lol

[@bellztheartist]

curly laughing when jimmy opens the gun case was so creepy lol

[@allie7726]

SPOILER! Dont read this until youve seen the game: If you go back to the beginning there are actually a lot of little signs that Jimmy caused the crash.. the person who caused the crash sits on the left side of the cockpit, which is where Jimmy sits when he talks to Curly, the horse mascots that appear after the crash & Jimmy being attracted to horses etc. John is totally right- this is one of the best horror games in a while!!

[@nickwolf6116]

He was joking when he said sexually attracted to horses, in his Eval. But it does make his jokes 1000% worse when you realise that Anya had he bed under the motion detected Polle statue, so that she knows when someone (Jimmy) is going near her when she sleeps.

[@Pandachu123]

​@@nickwolf6116 The Pollie statue has motion detection?! I thought it was interacted with like everything else... Man, I'm finding out new things about this game every time I watch it! Like the Pollie statue that Jimmy was talking to towards the end of the game has the same color text as Anya. But I heard a theory that Pollie might actually be a representation of the unborn child she had... (What with the "Pony Express is dead and so are you" thing.)

[@pixelsbykris5494]

Just started and LOVING Daisuke. Even without John's voice acting, the guy gives off massive stoner vibes and is just really amicable despite Swansea complaining about/at him. It's great.

[@Necro_fury]

aye, i saw alot of myself in him and teared up when he was bleeding out

[@pixelsbykris5494]

@Necro_fury Same. Daisuke was my favourite in the game, and it was so hard seeing him suffer like that. As morbid as it is, I'm glad it was Swansea that was able to help him go. Daisuke clearly liked and respected the guy a lot, so, if nothing else, at least it was Swansea and not Jimmy. "Useless ray of god damn sunshine" indeed...

[@allynmcdowell7582]

That's the thing that gets me and why I think the writing is so good, when Swansea is complaining about Daisuke being "useless", deep down what he's really upset about is that this innocent kid shouldn't be in this situation at all. Daisuke is "useless", i.e. he didn't need to be on the ship, and he didn't need to be with them when the crash happened. While he definitely doesn't express it in a straight forward or healthy way, Swansea is devastated that Daisuke, before he ever really got to live his life, is gonna die a horrible death like the rest of them.

[@pixelsbykris5494]

@allynmcdowell7582 That's definitely one of the things that makes the writing so good. it's also complimented by so many visual and sound cues that help add to everything. for example, one thing i somehow didn't notice until my 4th run-through of the game was that, when Anya tells Curly she's pregnant and starts talking about Jimmy, the camera switches to a bird's-eye view of the pilot chairs with, ofc, Jimmy's being off-center/turned towards Curly's. It's such a good and subtle hint even though by this point it's pretty obvious already who the predator is.

[@Taraeightthousand]

wowow another smashing lil horror game. Very pleased with the pony emphasising the *him* at the end, bc honestly poor Anya. She was a trooper.

[@naicitoahc]

This game was such a surprise. I was expecting something goofy and dumb, given the title, but everything was actually done really well. I especially liked the dialogue and sound design.

[@pinsandneedles3]

Oof. The lock placement conversation...

[@bykremi]

I loved the sound design on this one. It really fit the game and atmosphere.

[@scribeofstories]

Knowing what happens is making John's assumptions and commentary so much more entertaining

[@woah_now]

Anya looks soooo inspired by a younger Shelly Duvall

[@applebabbles]

omg I've been thinking this too

[@Whatlander]

She really does!

[@chrissikills]

She actually is based on her character in The Shining. All of the characters are supposed to reference horror movie characters.

[@bykremi]

She does!! She got the same air around her. What a nice way to pay tribute to such a great actress.

[@secretxxstars]

​@@chrissikills that's really cool! which ones? asking out of genuine curiosity, I haven't seen many horror movies so nothing sticks out to me looking at them but still wanna know lol

[@IamXhedo]

If anyone is wondering, that actually was the correct pronunciation of Marzipan :)

[@Steve-YT383]

This was not what I was expecting at all. Darkly brilliant.

[@Maarttii]

Okay well now having watched the whole thing WOW. I think it's fairly easy to plot out the "twist" in your head just in rough generalizations: given that our initial culprit was rendered basically unable to communicate and was, as we witness in the very beginning, the only person in the room where it all happened, it's pretty easy to infer that there's more to the accident than what we knew from the start. Given the demographic of the ship you could definitely narrow down the suspects and as John was quick to note, Jimmy's an asshole. I like that I think the writers knew this and embraced that we were always waiting to find out what happened. The non linear structure of the plot supported that experience: rather than waiting around for the bad dad twist, you're instead waiting to find out exactly what happened and trying to put it in chronological context, trying to narrow down WHY. It's not a very eloquent detail to end on, but boy would I be pissed to experience a space horror death because my creepy sex criminal coworker was feeling insecure about himself.

[@Riggwelter00]

what do doomed people do when they discover an ocean of the most revolting liquor you can imagine

[@Whatlander]

Dev: Here's a reference to my first game, haha John: >:C

[@glassdragonmedia]

I hate Jimmy. Couldn't keep it in his pants, blamed everyone else for his own mistakes, and right up to the end he still was all delusional and self-important. Tsk, ugh. Gross.

[@strawberryfrenchtoast2090]

I cares about the breakdown of the Sorry gameboard (: thanks for that John

[@Checkman282]

Polle says:

[@AlienZizi]

even though he got the colors all wrong 😅😅

[@bugdomrulez]

i love the transitions in this game

[@richwalk3954]

The title theme song is so good. Haunting and nostalgic to listen to, and it's enhanced by the sight of our dismembered captain's body wrapped in gauze and lying helpless on a bed. *SPOILERS* . . . . I really felt so terrible seeing Curly suffer in such a horrible state. Knowing why he looks the way he does makes it even worse, especially with the torture he's forced to endure while completely unable to defend himself from Jimmy.

[@fabikachu4836]

Not only that but he has been one of the nicest characters pre-crash and suffered by far the most from Jimmy's insecurities being projected onto him.

[@nunaalsoknownasohare6388]

Honestly the title song has a very strong hotline miami vibe Edit: it specifically reminds me of Disturbance from HM2

[@VorpalSnickerSnack]

Can't give Curly as much sympathy, I'd like to admit. He knew Jimmy graped her and was on the hunt for the gun. Curly was trying to be a supportive friend towards a parasite at the cost of Anya, and then eventually all of the crew. Curly didn't let Anya keep the gun for her protection as she got worse than assaulted before, so that's why she hid the case with the gun in it. Curly jeopardized safety and ended up in purgatory for being a coward. I use cowardly kinda light cause it feels like any sane person would try to deescalate, yet the results were lethal. Edit: pardon for repeating sentences, kinda buzzed.

[@faevolans]

Nah when he told Jimmy he "can fix this" to Jimmy about Anya, disregarding Anya like she has not just been graped, I lost all pity I had for him. Deserved. And Jimmy deserves worse.

[@murph64]

“graped” oh my god just say raped. Or say sexually assaulted. Use the real words for things, dancing around it like that feels SO gross

[@aurore-amour]

This game is brilliant. The storytelling and the horror elements were phenomenal. It kind of felt like an A24 horror movie but in video game format.

[@itsBASILLICUS]

this was seriously a great game, and i appreciate your voice acting! jimmy is legit the worst. awful bastard, and one of the only times where you play as the villian and the reveal isn't super contrived and eye-roll inducing. legit so well done. curly got such a raw deal. everyone suffered of course, but curly literally went through hell, and will wake up in 20 years to his crew's skeletons, with no hope of rescue, where he will starve to death because he is no longer able to fend for himself because of what jimmy did to them all. awful all around - perfect for psychological horror! couldn't have enjoyed it more.

[@thew0rm105]

how the heck do you read and switch up the characters so quickly dude haha thank you for the major effort of actually acting out the characters instead of just reading dialogue.

[@anonymnop]

Psychological horror with a mascot and SPOILERS technically a bad dad? It’s like this game is here to give John hope in indie horror again, all that’s missing is HQ residential house!

[@Michael-im1tr]

Sadly, that person is far worse than just a bad dad, I'm afraid.

[@Deviantel]

That was one of the best games I've seen, and I've immensely enjoyed your playthrough with your voice acting for the characters, it really gave it even more gravity than it already has. I'm in fact glad that I haven't played it myself but watched you do it. Thank you for the amazing video of this amazing game, John!

[@rachedenO]

Gotta say I'm loving these horror October uploads! I don't usually play horror games by myself, so it's fun to experience them with John

[@citanulthelunatic]

I love this fucking game, it's exactly like you said, finally a unique and creative psychological horror. Props to the developers for making John uncomfortable, don't see that too often. I do love how the story is told, a lot of metaphors and environmental story telling, and reading between the lines. Gonna be thinking about it for a good while. Expecting to see a Jacob Geller video about it at some point...

[@orreobb]

It was so refreshing to see John pull out the tropes to make fun of in the beginning but then the game was really good all the way through, his demeanor changed it was funny lol. I really can't remember a psych horror game that had me this captivated. I may not have seen or played one that has ever had me this captivated. Lastly, I really appreciate your voicing of characters. It was really nice when you faked the emotion's of Jimmy in that TV/space sequence.

[@INeedJesus4sure]

I am glad you made a reference to another great psych horror game, My Bones.

[@JohnTwolfe]

the most horrifying psych horror game of all, tbh...

[@elscorchio82]

@@JohnTwolfe ... I just went and watched your My Bones video for the first time. Can confirm, did not disappoint..

[@ItsAK9]

This genuinely captured me like no real indie horror game has in awhile. I've never been so deep in thought about everything and finally feeling justified but disgusted at the same time knowing what the horse mascot meant. Kudos to everyone working on it and thank you for playing it!

[@Daddeedudee]

This reminded me of one of those games like heildwald loophole. A game to get immersed in. That mixed with John's playthrough is like that nostalgic moment of the afternoon summer out of school, and you just made a hefty sandwich with your favorite beverage watching your favorite show. No care in the world, just living

[@positivitybot03]

The entire time Jimmy was going on about fixing it, all I could think of was "Jim'll fix it" and how well it went last time

[@nickwolf6116]

I thought of that too

[@MultiSuperMarion]

This game is so good and I really enjoy reading the comments about it, so I'm going to leave a comment of my own and yap away about one of the themes of the game: control (or power, in some cases). In my opinion, control is a very major theme in this game. For one, we have the setting with a capitalist overlord where this crew have very little control over their work situation in general. The setting already sets the tone for that, and all the characters are connected to the theme in one way or another. Swansea is maybe the one with the most control, in that he has controlled his sobriety. He says it himself, "discipline". He throws away that control when he realises all is lost and in the end he even admits that he was happier when he *wasn't* in control (also when he didn't have the same responsibilities, which ties into that aspect too). Daisuke on the other hand has practically no control over his life. He had no idea what he wanted to do with his life, and working on the ship was not his choice; it was his parents' choice. Not to mention that as an intern he is the one with the least say on the ship. He has no control of his demise either, because Jimmy is the one who orders him to go up in the vent and Swansea is the one to put him out of his misery. Jimmy is the most obsessed with control. He craves control but has no legitimate ways of gaining it. So many of his actions are about being in control. He assaults Anya, which is an act all about wanting power and control over the person. With the position of being the captain comes responsibility, but Jimmy does not care about the responsibility, he only wants control. He conflates being in control with being responsible. Anya is another character who has very little control. She is the victim of Jimmy, not only in the sense of him assaulting her, but also in the professional sense; he doesn't take her psych evaluations seriously, instead using it as an opportunity to belittle her and go on power trips ("sexually fantasising about cartoon horses" is the type of sexual comment that some people may actually say to professionals who happen to be women!). Anya can't even control the gun to protect herself, she can only try to make sure Jimmy can't get it. Her one act of control is her choosing to end her own life. Lastly we have Curly. In the professional sense he is the one with most control as the captain of the ship, but even then he still doesn't know if this is what he wants to do; his future is uncertain and he doesn't have full control of that. On the ship though, where he does have control, he does not use this control. He does not ensure Anya's safety, and he does not keep Jimmy in check. Sure, he might not have known what was going on, but with the control he has he should have been more concerned about Anya. That being said, we don't know what Curly might have done if the ship hadn't crashed, and that's part of Curly's tragedy; he might have done the right thing (though very late), had he been given the proper chance to do so. He certainly had the control for it. This takes a 180 turn after the crash; suddenly, Curly has no control at all. Regardless of if he wants to do something about Jimmy or not, there's nothing he can do. Curly is powerless to the whims of the rest of the crew, forced to watch Anya take her own life, unable to stop Jimmy from feeding him his own flesh, no control to stop Jimmy from putting him in that cryopod. Control (or power) is a very central theme to the game, which of course makes sense; it's the other side of the coin that is responsibility. Thanks for coming to my TED Talk, I'm done yapping now.

[@JimRicken]

I'm only half way through but wow this game is really well done and you're killing it with the voices. Edit- loved the writing for this, like dystopian scyfi noir with some poe and lovecraft blended in

[@YAIAAC]

Daisuke looks very inspired by Haruhiko Kato’s character in Pulse (Kairo). Only realized that after someone else down here mentioned Anya looks like a young Shelly Duvall

[@xenosuki]

Thanks, the character seemed familiar to someone but I couldnt figure it out.

[@arrestedeffort]

That makes sense, I also thought his design looked familiar. I can definitely see the possibility of Daisuke's design being inspired by Ryosuke.

[@veinprotection]

this was probably one of the best indie horror games of the year. words cannot express how much I loved this and I could tell John was getting into it too with his voice acting. I will be thinking about this game and this playthrough for a LONG time

[@lindyloohoo]

One of the few games that has made me cry in horror recently. Absolutely loved the characters and grew close to them, even tho the game felt short. It was so perfect. Looking forward to more from these creators!

[@Fuzzysea693]

Fell short? I thought it was pretty great

[@lindyloohoo]

@@Fuzzysea693 no it felt short, i wanted more time in the game. Its amazing

[@dyinglight1377]

Just a thought, but I’d love to see an annual wrap up of the games you play and which ones you think are game of the year material! We all know that a game like this isn’t going to win any actually awards, but I’d love to see your opinions and rankings for the ones that you’ve played throughout the year. This was very compelling, and I enjoyed it much more than I thought I would!

[@Argacyan]

I think "Happy Birthday" is actually copyrighted, so it makes sense the corporation in the game only uses the first couple tones of it.

[@AngeliqueStP]

"Happy Birthday" *still* being blocked this far into the future because of our broken-ass copyright system... def. fits the dystopian aesthetic, lol.

[@thepenitence]

Actually not anymore! It became public domain in 2016. I think they just cut it short for tension, unless it's a commentary on when it was copyrighted? 🤔

[@nickwolf6116]

It's public domain, I think its just a reflection on corporate not even being bothered to play the full song, especially considering they only get one mandated birthday celebration per trip.

[@Emily-xk2du]

What a FANTASTIC game! At some point I caught myself thinking it could make a good A24 horror movie, it's artistic and strongly written enough with enough eerie surreal stuff that I think it'd work, but I love it coming in the form of an indie horror game (another example of how video games and horror video games in particular really can be compelling and quality ways of storytelling). Really well crafted, love the jumping around chronologically to tell the story in a cool way that fed us the pieces one by one and made the dread build up (which is not always well done by other media? but they did a great job in Mouthwashing), the music and the dialogue, like there were some really well written speeches that humanized the crew really well. The psychological horror was really well done too, like John said the starting out grounded and then sliding into the creepy unreality stuff helped there, as did the jumping around and how intensely bad you end up feeling for the characters for this awful situation. And can I just say?? JFC, poor Curly! How he handled the Anya and Jimmy situation didn't reflect well on him at all (there were so many clues/warning signs in hindsight that Anya was uncomfortable/afraid of Jimmy and how scared she is of making him angry, I think he came into her room and didn't take no for an answer/coerced her into it and then rationalized it after with something like she "eventually" "agreed", poor Anya), but good lord did the punishment for it not fit the crime (I'm salty Jimmy ended up dying relatively quick and painlessly and thinking he'd redeemed himself after all the crap he pulled). In every other scene he seemed like a nice dude who genuinely cared about his crew and felt bad about the firing thing (look at how guilty he felt with the birthday thing and how quickly he told them about losing their jobs, he wasn't supposed to tell them until later but he didn't want to lie to them), so I think he was in shock/denial and didn't want to believe Jimmy turned out to be such a monster (he's the one all optimistically saying "people's worst days don't make them a monster" or w/e, and from the way we see his optimistic shaking and almost breaking a few times pre-crash I think he couldn't handle thinking about it) because of their long friendship and blamed himself for the stress of the crew and what Jimmy did because of how he told them about losing their jobs (which Jimmy took advantage of and acted like Curly was culpable too to manipulate him into backing off and giving Jimmy time to sabotage the ship). Everyone (well, almost everyone) was very sympathetic and the horror was really carried by how bad you felt for them and the sound design for Curly and Daisuke's suffering. They suffered the most clearly upfront, and then Anya's was more psychological (imagine being locked on a ship with someone who did that to you, unable to get away from them or have them locked away from you because he's the co-pilot, for a year. especially after the ship crashes, she has no option but to repress it and cooperate with him because he's the captain now, and meanwhile he's treating her very pissy because he knows what he did to her would get him in trouble and he knows she told Curly).

[@tresharris4487]

Hey John. Random comment. Just. Life knocked me down a few pegs these last few months. Haven't watched in forever. But, decided to sit down for a breather. Searched you up right away. And feel a bit of comfort to start this video. And just. I appreciate you man. Vague comment. Unnecessary. But. Just. Felt compelled to say. Cheers man. Hope your life endeavors are treating you well

[@brattynoamchomsky]

Man this must've been one of the worst games that you could watch when you're feeling down cuz this game hit me pretty hard. anyways hope you're doing alright man

[@tresharris4487]

@606error5 ahaha, yeah, I understand the concern, but no, it was good! A well made hard hitting game hit the spot And yeah! I'm doing well, man. Thanks. Hope the same for you ❤️

[@brattynoamchomsky]

@@tresharris4487 good to hear that!

[@dawnguinnip7673]

Lol, I'm sorry when Anya said there was a dead pixel in the top right corner.....hmmmmm idk 😂 who do we know that sites in the right top corner. Lol

[@mistydayremainsofthejudgment]

this game had me sobbing. especially for anya.

[@alohamisery]

this is my new comfort video…your voice acting was so immersive!

[@hannahpenner-smith6897]

On one hand this is an insane choice for comfort video, but on the other hand, I kinda get it

[@flyingsnail_art9170]

So excited to see you play this - I heard about it from a comment on your latest shareholder meeting and was really intrigued so it’s supercool that you’re playing it!!!

[@Inumaru12]

Man, I gotta say, this is def one of my fave games I've seen you play as of late. This was soooo good. I just feel so bad for everyone in the group besides Jimmy. So, so good. A+++

[@itiseryn]

Completely unrelated to the content of the video, but I always think, “Hi John, it’s Guys!” every time you intro a video. Loved those skits back when you used to do them hahaha

[@JennDepsycho]

22:45 "Jimmy Sucks" - I just knew you'd catch to that on real quick.

[@murph64]

I’m SO happy you’re playin this 🥺 genuinely one of the coolest horror experiences I’ve ever had

[@amzie212]

Damn, that was a hell of a ride. Also, John's voice acting actually worked so well I was impressed! John Wolfe VA arc when?

[@FloraTrails]

This is the best play through of yours I’ve seen, the voice acting is perfect, I was so invested in the characters and dialogue, I think it’s also so great because we can tell you genuinely enjoyed this game

[@moosegurl12]

Wow! I thoroughly enjoyed this game! Also, loved your voices for all the characters. I feel like you reading them out with the expression you gave them made it really feel impactful. Also I was cringing, and sad, and all the feels through out the game. Poor Curly!

[@dingostr]

It's very obvious in your playthroughs when you really are enjoying the experience, and this was one of those times. Great narrative, dark subject matter. It hurt indeed. Cheers!

[@MamboChocobo]

The musical number in the creator's fish game still lives rent free in my head.