Spiritfaring My Disco Elysium | Emotional Manipulation

Рет қаралды 3,697

2 ай бұрын

Hello Everynyan, this video is about emotional manipulation and it contains spoilers for Spiritfarer (an indie video game released in 2020), Disco Elysium, The Last of Us 2, and Silent Hill which are the video games I used to paint a picture. While the overall message of the vid is hopefully something positive, since these games discuss some heavy emotions and topics, such as grief and loss, be advised if you are in a bad place.
What does it mean and how often are we the victims of exploitation of the most basic human emotions like fear, empathy, and relatability just so some creator can attract an audience?
Can video games be art? Should video games discuss heavy themes of depression and passing away? If so, how should it be done? How do we distinguish games that evoke genuine emotions with their depth from misery simulators?
In a way, this vid is a comparison and analysis of Spiritfarer and Disco Elysium and how they handle heavy topics like loss, grief and saying goodbye.
My videos share some continuity and running jokes so if you need context behind some seemingly random stuff... I guess check them out. Please leave a like or even a dislike, seriously, let me know if I'm wasting your time and comment something, even if it's mean. Send this video to your friends or even better, enemies. Tell them it cured your soul and made your hair grow back. We need to get the gringos to actually watch my weedios.
For Disco Elisum I had to borrow some footage and artwork so credits to the following
@grllvnlne art of Dora and Harry near the end (the thumbnail as well)
‪@TheGlowingKebab‬
@harrysboy
‪@JacobGeller‬
@ pieling for that pixelated Harry
‪@jonjo3d‬ for UE5 Animated Disco Elysium cutscene.
@ArtooDrawing a girl drawing the lonely man.
‪@JamrockHobo‬
also credits to the reddit user u/hfzelman for a theory
The song used during the ending credits is La Revacholiere by Sea Power
#discoelysium #spiritfarer

Пікірлер: 44

@ElVnugo 2 ай бұрын

"Perhaps it's all her fault" Thank you for watching.

@giuseppefazio9313 2 ай бұрын

Your final monologue on emotional maturity in the closing minutes really hit the nail, and I agree wholeheartedly too on how a media should portray these arguments. I've had my own Harrier Du Bois experience around the time the game came out, though it will be another few before I would play it. I was madly in love with the most beautiful woman in the world and she seemed to love me back, but things weren't so simple and I ended up hurting her and myself. Though she was not without sin as well. In a way, Disco Elysium for me is a time machine back to those days. Minus the disco.

@ilovenuddlesandballs Ай бұрын

I'm a bit drunk and bored so I rewatched the last few minutes because of your comment and yeah... he nailed it. I also miss my Dora. I actually have a theory where Dora was a bad person and I think he hinted at that with "perhaps its all her fault". But regardless, the fact that I lost a person I love makes me feel like I failed at life.

@trolololoolable 2 ай бұрын

Disco Elysium made me realize its not that I dont like too much reading in my games, its that it actually has to contribute in some meaningful way. If spamming A on a character doesnt leave you wondering what you should do next, the. The dialog wasnt necessary

@Ikanamable 2 ай бұрын

I've had a similar experience with Persona 5 when I first played it (granted I also really disliked most of the writing and plot, only liking the "Royal" additions). It's mainly about one of the characters having their entire arc revolve around the suicide of their mother and as someone who's had to deal with multiple suicides among his loved ones, I felt intrigued. But then it turned out that character's mother didn't actually kill herself, it was the evil badguys who made her by magically controlling her thoughts! That shit made me feel incredibly angry. One of the hardest parts that I had to deal with in my own experience with suicide is that there is no perpetrator. There's no single person that made them do it or a simple cause that could have been solved and everything would have been avoided. It's something that stayed in my mind for more than a decade now, you try to find a cause and to find a method to it so that it won't happen again but it never comes. They succumbed to what I call "no balls syndrome". They wanted to dip in a serious and dark subject matter but then chickened out when it got too uncomfortable, when the game would have to linger on it because there's no easy solution. So they just made an easy solution: "It was all this one group of assholes!". And like spiritfarer in your exemple, many people were really touched by Persona 5 and say it helped them through some tough times but I personally openly despised it after that arc. Anyway thank you for coming to my tedtalk, sorry for the overlong, oversharing comment.

@ElVnugo 2 ай бұрын

It's not a TED talk, and it's nothing you should say you are sorry for. Thank you for the comment. I understand what you're referring to, and it's the exact moment where P5 lost me. Right at that point, I knew that they were going to pull the same thing with every character and villain right until the end. And yes, it is offensive. The worst part is that I don't think they wanted to really delve into serious, dark stuff. They just wanted to be edgy and dark because that's how Persona used to be. Which is ok for themes like Identiy and self discovery but obviously not for the stuff you brought up. In the case of SF, it's not that they were insensitive or lacked balls, it's that it just didn't fit into their vision. My huge grievance with the game (among everything I mentioned in the vid), is that it offers no HOPE. It can't just be patting on the shoulder, hugs, and 'it's gonna be okay, bro.' There has to be a spark, an idea, a purpose, HOPE. I would add more, but I don't wanna spoil my own vid or influence someone's opinion before they have seen it. So, I'll just say that I hope you consider this vid a good one. Cheers.

@Ikanamable 2 ай бұрын

@@ElVnugo It was a good one! I really enjoyed your analysis of Disco Elysium's themes and how it tackles loss especially (I feel like the entire game Is about loss in a personal, social and political sense) since it's one of my favorite games of these last few years and it resonated deeply with me and my own life. Thank you very much for responding, I'm glad I'm not the only one who felt this way about P5.

@gendor5199 2 ай бұрын

Ouch, so many hard hits straight shaking up the heart. I don't think I can piece it all together, I rewinded several times during the video trying to "get it", somehow extract the things I might need to fix my life, and it always seemed just out of reach. Maybe tomorrow I can try again and succeed, or I will re-watch the video a dozen times only to go back to assuming there never was anything to extract, since if there was, I would've caught it by the 15th time. Oh well, see you tomorrow...

@TheZoneTourist 2 ай бұрын

I just found your channel, but i just want to say that you spoke to me in this video. Maybe not directly but you helped me think how i am handling my grief and loss and you made me feel normal. Thank you.

@ElVnugo 2 ай бұрын

Well, there is that sentence near the end...It goes without saying that it's the best compliment this video could've ever received. Thank you. I don't have a better reply. Stay strong.

@savbos 2 ай бұрын

I dont know what to comment but i wanted to comment something. Underrated

@user-su5bi3sh1f 2 ай бұрын

I feel the same.

@brokenhelmet9489 2 ай бұрын

Mr Evrart is helping me reconsider cheap emotion bait and embrace peak art Would love to hear your take on games like Library of Ruina or Nier Automata if you know and like them

@mutedups 2 ай бұрын

Perfect, just beautiful. Such a well constructed video and exploration of Disco and its themes, its message, what it tells you. I'll always remember "True love is possible. Only in the new world - for new people. It is tool late for us. Wreak havoc on the middle class." I don't think I've ever seen such love for something embodied as well as that final monologue, thank you and I pray for your growth.

@starmoonseek 2 ай бұрын

incredible video. you deserve more exposure imo

@JustANoseBleed 2 ай бұрын

Super interesting concepts, had fun watching

@spyrothe3rd 2 ай бұрын

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. This is a really well-made video for such a small channel. I wouldn't have found this if someone (maybe you?) Didn't share this video over onto the Disco Elysium subreddit. I agree with most you said, and I really think some games need to do more than just "tragic sad stuff" with no other substance or depth to it. Humans are suckers for feeling things, and emotional moments are known to stick in the brain more. Most game writers know that, so If they write something tragic, then more folk will think about it & discuss it. Also, how is the protagonist of Spiritfarer suppose to be a beacon of compassion if she manipulates her friend into slowly dying of terminal cancer instead of letting her die on her own accord!?? Or atleast expand on how that could cause a rift into the two's relationship? Spiritfarer does have a neat concept, but the game decides to simplify it down into another "cozy" indie game. If the devs were so adamant on making it cozy, then maybe they shouldn't have based it around a touchy subject. If it's left a good impact on someone, then thats all that matters really. Everything is not without criticism, but perfection doesn't exist. Great video, subbed.

@ElVnugo 2 ай бұрын

Actually, that wasn't me. I tried once, got downvoted, and received a bunch of empty clicks, so I refrain from that. Subreddits don't like self-promotions. The beacon of compassion and kindness, and the reason for it, was me just paraphrasing what they said in the game's artbook. Yes, It's 100% intentional, for the reasons discussed in this video. As for cozy...It's cozy because they wanted you to relax, have fun, enjoy the music, color, and cuteness (they called it cozy, not me). They always wanted a game discussing death; that was their original idea. Thanks again for the comment.

@spyrothe3rd 2 ай бұрын

@ElVnugo Yeah, KZbin videos don't do well over there. I don't usually comment, I just wanted to help the algorithm.

@battlefront1987 2 ай бұрын

like that in the editing room, you added the last few seconds as a "meta" meta commentary on the video about "emotional manipulation ". this was an interesting watch. not really about the games them selves but how you interpreted each of them one as good the other as bad. I hope publishing this video helped you express somethings that you had rattling round in your head. Now go listen to an episode of "lets drown out" while walking the streets of your town

@ElVnugo 2 ай бұрын

Still have to catch up with Yahtz's latest novel. Thanks for the comment.

@FazDux 2 ай бұрын

perfect timing for my meal

@FazDux 2 ай бұрын

post meal video analysis: man

@erteple2647 2 ай бұрын

excellent video

@erteple2647 2 ай бұрын

i liked when you talked about grief. all these negative emotions, suffering, agony etc etc, but then you ask yourself, would i rather feel this or feel nothing? if you can suffer that much for emotional reasons, it speaks to your ability to feel emotions/form emotional attachments. selfish or not, that ability should't be taken for granted. i don't want to underestimate the pain of grief, some people ended themselves because of it, but maybe it's a good kind of pain? sounds awful but imagine someone you thought you loved just died and you feel next to nothing and you just start thinking about lunch or something, not as a coping mechanism, not as a form of stoicism, but because you really don't care. even if you want to, the best you could do is fake it. wouldn't that make you question your emotional capacity, ability to love, or even your right to exist? if you wanted to feel the agony but couldn't. would you want your family/friends to be spared of intense grief and feel ok and indiferent instead? would you want it for yourself? if there was a grief-stopping pill, would you take it? wait, that's antidepressants. whatever, it's just something to think about... also i know one person who for philosophical reasons refuses to take painkillers, lol.

@ElVnugo 2 ай бұрын

Just because you "feel" a lot, that does not make you a better person or more deserving by default. It's what you do for yourself and others that matters. It does not have to be grief or nothing. I appreciate you coming back to this vid. I aim to make most of them in a way that rewards rewatching and I'm glad you are actually trying to look below the surface on the commentary of this vid. If I make another "great" video, it will be because of the comments like yours. Also shill my awesome channel whenever you can :)