Story Beats: Limbo

[@casersatz]

The idea of that limbless spider lying there impotently hating you is so unnerving.

[@MrLaeddis1]

i thought it was dead at that point

[@UMPiCK1]

fyi spiders dont need their legs to live. Assuming that spider stays alive made it so much worse.

[@ALNYTheGreatScientist]

And you have to roll it into a pit... it is the most unnerving thing I felt in a game.

[@GyrosGeier]

It's still growling, until you push it onto the spikes.

[@2Fireypersonality2]

How does it end??

[@whosiewhatsie]

My mother, who is a traditional artist with oil on canvas, once told me many years ago that the function of art is "to make you feel something, no matter what the feeling is" and that stays with me to this day

[@christianhansen2569]

I think Shadow of the Colossus does a lot of similarly interesting things with its game feel; the experience of running, climbing, and stabbing creates sensations that I don't really get in other games. I would love an analysis of that.

[@BlueVince]

+Christian Hansen i believe mathewmatosis already covered that,and a bunch of other people,but i always accept more shadow of the colossus. =D

[@hammer326]

LOL WAS THINKING THE EXACT SAME the second I saw the ending of this game.

[@ZedAmadeus]

Same can be said for The Last Guardian by the same team, or Rain World, one of my personal favourites.

[@Gnomelord0]

I think the "Something" is a sort of survival anxiety, a fear that if you let your guard down for a second, you will die.

[@0Fyrebrand0]

0:36 "It's your basic Orpheus and Eurydice set-up." Wait, wait! I'm attaching my monocle. Adjusting bow-tie. Readying my opera glasses. Okay, I think I'm ready for KZbin Fancy Time! (seriously though, I love your videos)

[@NathanSmith-lc6pp]

LIMBO was an incredible game

[@Toledotourbillion]

That being said, I never want to play it again.

[@sl0pe363]

This might be my new favorite KZbin channel. Every video is awesome.

[@haryman222]

I'm a bit late to the party. But what you said is spot on. And it extends to INSIDE. Except there, instead of the world being hostile, its... whoever is in control. The world is indifferent, but whoever is in control is the hostile one. What makes INSIDE so interesting, though, is that the player becomes the one in control. And they are just as ruthlessly hostile as the forces that plagued them in the beginning. The first third of the game has you watching armed guards force large groups of people into doing specific actions, indifferent to the people they control and hostile to any who oppose their control. By the end, you are the one controlling large masses of people with no thought of their well being (sending them down an elevator shaft), and when you become the blob, you become the hostile force who ultimately eradicates itself. I love Playdead.

[@LiquidBlaze-]

the way you explain things is so...*AMAZING*.

[@Lowkey-NoPressure]

his delivery is overdramatic imo

[@hamishdouglas8780]

I haven't seen the aspects of Limbo that I think are the true reason it's amazing articulated so well anywhere else

[@insederec]

Tool at the end, sweet.

[@JDcooper37]

Very appropriate use of a Tool song lol

[@U1TR4F0RCE]

One thing you forgot to mention is the fly the singular exception to the everything just is kill or be killed type of world, if you approach the fly it runs away no matter what you do it won't attack you, it just wants to be left alone, this shows you that you like this world will harm others and are not going to stop to be nice, you heart the fly because you can and that is how the world works.

[@awallz4]

U1TR4F0RCE I don’t like flies...it was satisfying

[@discordant8543]

Sardonicus You don't have to move forward.

[@discordant8543]

Sardonicus But, you don't have to progress, that's a choice that you make; I think there's an inherent flaw in assuming that you need to do every last thing in a video game just because it's there and can be done, in order to "get your money's worth". Why you're so vehemently against the mere suggestion that you don't *have to* do something in a game simply because it requires you do it to experience content, is beyond me, I'm not calling you a morally inferior person because you've rationalized the choice to hurt it for your benefit , that'd be stupid, it's just a game. I'm merely saying that there are other ways to play games and that games can make statements about completionism like that, in that the actions you do within the game to progress, can be actions you might rather not, and in fact don't have to. Again where you inferred that I was suggesting that you *should* stop progressing, is beyond me, let alone that you should not doing anything at all ever even in real life. Although I completely agree that you shouldn't so something you find morally objectionable in the real world without extensive exploration of alternatives. I think perhaps that you reacted to that statement in such a manner perhaps bellies that the choice affected you more than your words would suggest, i.e perhaps you're just voicing your own rationalization of the choice so as to reaffirm it. But I'm not here to be a pseudo psychoanalyist. I could also bring up that it's a game and the fact that you can turn it off if you don't wanna keep doing it or do that it requires is something that can and should be exploited by games, which would kinda make invalid your comparison to real life.

[@discordant8543]

Sardonicus Your point is relatively sound, but you're predicating it on the assumption that *choosing* not to do something is inaction, and also extrapolating that assumption again, to real life; very obviously doing the thing you admonished me for just before doing it, as you did before, only before you did it in response to a single sentence comment before. But choosing not to do something isn't inaction, it's an action like any other. I disagree that you need to complete games with that meta message to get the full force of the message, for undertale, the example you used, running around in circles to kill everything in the ruins should be more than enough to give you the message. It's arguable that the game wants you to complete it in this manner, but it's just as if not more arguable that it doesn't, it actively makes amends for those who don't, there's more content that doesn't require you to do that than content that does. Notice how the idea that you don't have to do this affects how you feel when doing it, even in say limbo? That's its real power, that you don't have to but do. If anything with limbo the theme it wants you to pick up is that you *do* have to do this , which is why it forces you to do so to progress the game itself. But, you still don't have to do it, you don't have to let the world remould you in its image. That's a powerful statement and choice, and there's nothing wrong with taking it.

[@MsScarletwings]

@@discordant8543 it’s funny because Undertale and The Stanley Parable are two of the only games I’m aware of that take the plunge to viciously tackle and start to chew over this whole philosophy about progression in a way that both immerse you in their worlds, and then makes you question the in-world ethics of participating in that world as *all* games encourage simply people to do and are designed to be consumed.

every video on this channel is so consistently excellent

[@jefrouner]

+Asta Nyyssönen They really are. He hasn't had a miss yet

[@honeyapple4511]

i'm sure it's been mentioned already but breath of the wild seems to have really great game feel too. there are so many ways to move through the world; flying, running, swimming, shield surfing, horse-riding, sailing, climbing, and the world is so sparsely populated that you really focus in on what you're doing in that moment. i love your videos so thanks for making them! :)

[@FeamT]

Very on point analysis of an exceptional game. I like how you went really in-depth while still avoiding truly major spoilers and / or the most advanced game moments, simply using the iconic and necessary ones. Limbo is certainly a different kind of experience...

[@phil1530]

your content is legitimately so interesting and well done - please keep making it - i'm like 4 videos in and already a huge fan

[@theastamana]

Glad you are uploading again! Thank you

[@shanonshipley6901]

I love this game in its entirety. And the end song, "A groan of tedium escapes me starving fearful is this a test it has to be otherwise I can't go on". Perfect match for the tone of the game.

[@owennewo14]

I've watched a few of your videos from each available topic and I'm thrilled to see such a channel. "Informative" is the first word that comes to mind and though your approach is not one I'm yet used to, it is one I'm definitely hooked on!

[@casey2979]

Please do a video about Inside! It took everything great about Limbo and amplified it into a masterpiece.

[@unknownceilings1]

Ever superb, you're fast becoming my new favourite KZbinr.

[@GabrielLima-ro7ze]

How tf doesn't this channel have more subs? U are awesome

[@perplexingpantheon]

I cannot wait for the next part!

[@Zejoant]

This game is really nostalgic for me and i was so happy when inside came out!

[@fairawenplays727]

Oh wow. I found your video on The Beginner's Guide, subscribed, and have just been gulped down your content since. If you found it in your heart to make a video about Inside, I'd be forever grateful. I've heard all kinds of theories, but my favorite is that it's a game about birth... but the biggest question for me is, literally or figuratively? Or both? In any case, this video (and all your videos, really) are amazing. You've got a new fan. :D

[@Shadowreaper5]

Holy cow. I was so absorbed in the eipsode that I didn't realize it was over til I was the end card.

[@MugsyBrews]

Bro I wish you still did game videos. These are great

[@vagabundorkchaosmagick-use2898]

My feeling when I played this game a couple months ago: I felt it was too short, like 60 minutes short. I played a little one night, a little the next night, and a little more the third night, then I finished it. But each time I must have played about an hour or two, so the game must be between 3 and 6 hours long, 4 and a half on average. But I feels short! It's so engaging and gratifying, I can't really explain it.

[@7hird3ye]

Great video, as always. Also love the use of Tool at the end there. It fit so perfectly.

[@InShane162]

There's a quote about the Mother Series and Undertale i like about game feel: The Game goes out of its way to make you feel things other than 'fun'.

[@Speedball57]

An excellent video. You're right up there with Errant Signal and Super Bunnyhop, I LOVE this.

[@wavegunner2323]

maybe do a story beats on undertale its pretty interesting how it manages to break the fourth wall without breaking immersion

[@dannyherbert8011]

Limbo coined the concept of "trial by death" (I think even the developers agreed on this when it was suggested) - in order to progress, you HAVE to see the grisly outcome of failure. The game tricks you into avoiding failure at any cost, yet without it, you can't learn how to progress... Similar to Unfinished Swan (which I highly recommend) , the video game ideal is flipped from "the norm" which makes for bizarrely compelling gameplay. I remember going for the

[@fileboy2002]

Wow. I don't even video games, and I found this fascinating. Thank you!

[@KTSamurai1]

Personally, it felt to me like this was a game about a kid dying from his wounds from a car crash, going delirious and thinking about his sister before succumbing to his wounds. There's hints of his fears, like spiders and other kids trying to do him harm, and memories like an old hotel he may have stayed at recently. And the sequence where you smash him through the glass immediately made me think of someone being flung violently from a car. When he finally reaches his sister he peacefully dies, and the game is over.

[@njuta]

I don't think I've ever paid any attention to 'game feel', but I do love it when developers pay close and caring attention to their games in terms of atmosphere, storytelling, mechanics and visuals...I never finished Limbo after getting it in the humble bundle I got stuck and quit. :(

[@HeuristicsEnjoyer]

FYI: Mortifying means embarrassing, not horrifying

[@feldspar1000]

Interesting. Did not know that!

[@LimeyLassen]

+Lauren Berns III Interesting that the root of the words means "death"

[@LimeyLassen]

+Lauren Berns III Interesting that the root of the word means "death"

[@fictionfan0]

+Lauren Berns III Huh. When I think of the word "mortifying," I think of "a feeling brought about by unpleasant circumstances." Embarrassment is included in that, sure, but Ian's use--to describe the feeling of having to kill just to move forward--isn't that far off the mark, either.

[@RMarsupial]

+Lauren Berns III Well, there is this obsolete usage: To reduce the potency of; to nullify; to deaden, neutralize. That works pretty well here. Yeah, it's obsolete, but WE'RE BRINGING IT BACK, BABY.

[@jefrouner]

I really love this series!

[@teddobrotin2855]

Bro, I applaud you. I am looking forward to watch all your vids :D

[@PlumWizard]

Ahh nice use of music at the end there :)

[@MrTwenty6point2]

you feel something...................TOOL outro. Bravo sir, bravo. Wrapped up the idea of the game and review nicely.

[@MopedOfJustice]

Could it be a reference to Stinkfist [". . . until I feel something"], or is that too much of a reach?

[@ThaDoctor17]

This video is fantastic. I would love to see more Story Beats. They are important to talk about

[@theogreiner9604]

Loving these beats! :D

[@cutletofcthulhu8185]

THIS. This is what you're going to come up on in real time. I wish you well in dealing with it. That is in no way a veiled threat or damn anything. This is what it is, and this is where you will find clarity.

[@iAjayIND]

Not the story I came here for, but I am glad I did.

[@fffianist]

I was really hoping you'd talk about how the ending plays into the game beats, but also I can understand why you didn't want to spoil it

[@varicksantana711]

Thank you

[@rozarsoahc5592]

great work as usual. love the insight!

[@erispe]

Keep it up, these are great!

[@XLRAshon]

So I played it for the first time last night. It took me 6 hours so I was tired. So many didn't appreciate it as much. But you really only talk about the beginning with the characters. Cause after the children and spider dies you never see any other except the fly. Its just a city and a factory. I liked the beginning and end. The middle not so much. I felt bad when the children died and hurting the fly and having to jump on dead bodies but didn't feel anything for the spider. Lastly I think it was all a dream.

[@BadMouse101]

Are you interested in doing any current issues stuff again? :)

[@killeroblivin]

I had this video come up in autoplay and didn't realize it was 7 years old until i looked down during that Minecraft clip and went why did they use such old footage

[@Zenju__]

Awesome! Loving this series so far. :) Thanks for explaining "game feel" to me in simple terms. I'm curious as to why the series is named "Story Beats", though, since it doesn't seem that the story is your primary focus.

[@DM_Dad]

Good video. I just finally finished Limbo and I loved it's creepy tone and disturbing beats like killing the Spider and using the dead body to trip the trap. Some of the puzzles became frustrating, breaking my ability to get into the tone and mood, which was the problem with the game.

[@No-hf1xq]

Yeah, that's why I prefer Inside mechanically, they got rid of the precision platforming and puzzles, and went for ones you could reasonably do really fast.

[@LogicGated]

The spider was pretty terrifying.

[@devincory9695]

God I love this game.

[@veganbatman]

Hey there, it would be great if you added captioning to make your videos more accessible. Love you like a cousin

[@rafaelm4862]

This could have been titled Study in Game Feel. Thumbs up!

[@manhathaway]

If you liked this I highly recommend Gretel and Hansel on NG, if not just to give it a spin and see the gorgeous watercolor animation.

[@Kram1032]

that moment in Limbo. You conveyed it perfectly. Just watching it makes me cringe.

[@user-hf9vl2vb9g]

how was the game in 4:35 called? the doom looking one before nuclear throne.

[@InnuendoStudios]

Gun Godz

[@user-hf9vl2vb9g]

Innuendo Studios thanks

[@ScottJohnHarrison]

didn't realise until this video that this was a limited series...interested in whatever part 4s conclusion will be...

[@matthewconnolly3896]

This was a super dope video

[@SoulGameStudio]

Hey, what's the game at 4:25 please?

[@oscarrodrigo1846]

So for example, when I shot with a gun in Battlefield 3 the whole screen moves, the sound is extremly high and sometimes a white screen appears for less than a second. Is this game making me feel powerfull when I shoot? And for others as Journey (for the snow and mountain part) or Darks Souls, the game makes me feel powerles. Until I bet the boss or I'm given power by the elders to get to the mountain, where I start to feel powerfull. Is this correct?

[@ScottJohnHarrison]

+Óscar Protovich on this - i am just thinking about the division...it has a surprising lack of game feel in its shooting mechanics.

[@oscarrodrigo1846]

+Scott John Harrison Oh, yeah I think I get it. Wanting to create a "realistic" game where the mecanics create a huge disonance.

[@XanderLand_Studios]

Can you maybe do a Story Beats video on INSIDE?

[@jordankloosterman2966]

Dang dude, thanks.

[@illustrious-jaco]

I'm assuming you have your story beats planned out, but man i just finished The Beginner's Guide for the first time, I would love to hear you talk about that (and Stanley Parable?).

[@tylerhellner1435]

Please do a video on Kentucky Route Zero. You are the chosen one for this.

[@InnuendoStudios]

I might well do that after Act V comes out. We'll see how it ends.

[@joyfulleader5075]

Anyone ever think that when your character breaks through the window in the end it could be you breaking through a windshield

[@El_Pato]

The outro music remides me of the last of us

[@Drprophetius]

Yes, I am a huge fan of games that do not care what you feel.

[@BagOfKnives]

Great video

[@Ndo01]

there is a slight distinction between game feedback and game feel

[@leon9021]

Videos are coming quickly now.

[@davidnishball660]

Going to do "Inside" next?

[@ArturoStojanoff]

Are you gonna do Inside?

[@ThePolkadog]

I would love to hear what you have to say about INSIDE

[@bloodbornepvp1443]

What Doom clone game was that? So cool!!

[@InnuendoStudios]

Gun Godz

[@mocatdow]

I was more scared in limbo then any other horror game.

[@thedevilofmetal5335]

Nice choice of music. Tool’s Eon Blue Apocalypse

[@AmaranthOriginal]

Most of my engagement with Limbo was boredom. By the time I'd gotten to the point of "ew," I was pretty much just doing things by rote to progress the puzzle. I had no connection to the character, no feelings when I dealt with the spider, just an urge to get this over with. Not from anxiety or atmosphere, but because I had been needled by friends into totally trying this amazing game and after I had checked out emotionally and intellectually, all I wanted to do was finish the game so I could say I had. What's interesting is that I find your experiences with this game (and Bastion) far more engaging than the games themselves.

[@TactownGirl]

I just played limbo because of this. Damn

[@nomotion2005]

Anyone else notice the spider has a HUMAN FACE (Alfred Hitchcock) style 6:09 (top side of spider).

[@paulallen9079]

I was looking for beats to listen. But found this?

[@jamas7376]

When I played it I felt pity for the spider

[@Dzhalekk]

What was the scary game???

[@InnuendoStudios]

Soma

[@trevorwrldon7028]

pleas do more melee videos

[@mitsumikyoya8746]

Do ones for Inside. :D

[@JimmyDThing]

See, I think the ending makes this pretty clear. He is doomed to do this over and over again because he CAN'T stop. The need to move forward to the point where he makes constant terrible choice after constant terrible choice with increasingly worse justifications is why he repeats this hell.

[@dustinhiatt3835]

I remember playing that part. It fucked me up good

[@daishoryujin95]

This game is proof that something doesn’t have to be pretty to be beautiful.

[@brudivoller8944]

nice video!

[@KODtheawsome]

nah man i hated that fuckin spider, i was relishing in its destruction. i am a lost boy dude

[@kaoko111]

I played that game and was... Weird to say the least. Most the time you have a protagonist that maybe is not that a good of a person, take Kratos, maybe you don't care about anything besides slice and dice everything indide but for sure the game wants the Act of slice and dice feels good, you feel a sense of accomplishment even if you don't care if Kratos, as a character is doing something right or wrong. In limbo you have no name, or weapons, or even options besides the narrow and specific one the game you want to perform in order to advance, the other kids? Why they attack you? And why even if you don't do nothing sometimes why they die in front of your eyes by trying to get you? The desolation and sadness feel of the game comes in the form of you knowing that either you die in a gruesome horrible way or the other characters do the same by you being the killer. There's no other way... Thats pretty fucked up.

[@drakenpage777]

Do it on INSIDE

[@drakenpage777]

The ending to limbo was badass

[@GodOfGunz]

4:27 yes thats me, i am Young Venuz the god of gunz (Check out gun god and nuclear throne)

[@bymovingimages]

I heard The Patient in my head right after, fucked up

[@Lawsuit]

I think some games go too far with game feel/immersion. My favorite shooter is Battlefield 2, and I doubt it'll change based on industry trends. Modern shooters shake the screen when you run, shake/splatter blood on/blur it when you get hit, shake it when you shoot, and so on. And all this visual noise is designed to make you sit still and camp doorways instead of move forward, because whoever survives a fight is whoever gets the first shot off