Prey and the Immersive Sim

[@NAJALU]

Prey followed by Outer Wilds is ironically the one-two punch that got me back into gaming a few years ago. Also the two-one punch that got me subscribed to your channel! Keep em comin'!

[@zaki7910]

Outer Wilds is such a good game. My only gripe is that I'll never get to experience the same magic as when playing it the first time.

[@kennethc2466]

@@zaki7910 Outer Wilds is a VERY generic, walking 'sim' game. The orbital 'mechanics' are less effort than Solar Jetman did. Further, it doesn't respect the player's time, nor life. It demands far too much, 'skip time at fire, or wait for sand to fall/etc, before you can have fun'. Consistent resets of progress is not a feature, it's a tedious bug. The story is juvenile, to where a 90's Captain Planet episode would look alike art. Prey, on the other hand, is the immersive sim that System Shlock 2 wished it was. Emergent gameplay, diverse styles, replayability, and so many more. Outer Wilds is an old DOS point and click game, where Prey is an immersive sim, with choices beyond, 'please these few people at the campfire, while the solar system dies'. Also, any game you can replay in about 20 minutes, to finish (conservatively), is no value beyond the popcorn you bought or the movie, and 'dropped' into the pot, that you'll never reach for again.

[@funkentechno]

I feel like I’m the only one who loved the rug pull ending.

[@superdude10000]

You're valid, though. Lots of people love it. What is it that you enjoyed about it?

[@jai3476]

I played it as overly helpful and preserving as much crew life as possible, so I found the ending quite touching. Seeing the new typhon making a conscious effort to save life and help, gave a sense of hope and pride.

[@caster-]

i loved it too!

[@brojackedh.1512]

Pride... And accomplishment?@@jai3476

[@SwedetasticGames]

I enjoyed it aswell, due to how my stomach sank realizing what had happened. I liked the layers upon layers upon layers the game threw at you, making it feel logical if unexpected that this happened.

[@Raulikien]

I wish there was a sequel to Prey because of the great ending, but at the same time it doesn't need it cause it's so good by itself. We need more modern immersive sims and knowledge based upgrade games.

[@Skienzyy]

Mooncrash

[@ceasarsalazar5940]

You're definitely going places. Video was awesome

[@johnacker4959]

Man what an UNDERRATED GEM. Im so happy to see prey content. This is grand, thank you!

[@DerAykac]

It´s simple: Arkane is the king of player agency, their worldbuilding and the characters are second to none. There is no other developer which manages to make quality games for such a long uninterupted period of time. I still remember playing Dark Messiah for the first time when it was released (when i was 14). Every new game feels like a culmination of everything they have learned. They were talking invasions 5 years before Demon Souls arrive on the PS3, so imagine my hype when they announced Deathloop. If anyone needs to read this: GO PLAY PREY (and kill that damn cook, i don´t care if it´s a simulation inside a video game. He ruined something beautiful) End of story.

[@mysterynga445]

it makes me so sad that most of the people that made arkane’s best games are gone now

[@ComfortChef]

Love it when I find a new video essay channel I vibe with. Your pacing and editing are superb, this channel is gonna blow up.

[@acetrigger1337]

That one shot of the Beta Version of a "Human Mimic" legit made me hate this game for not having the balls to do it.

[@CeceliPS3]

As soon as you said the words Arkane Studios, I new this was gonna be one more video that its maker didn't know about Dark Messiah of Might and Magic. You have so many ways to go about it in that game and they are all fun as hell. That game had so many cool features, specially for when it came out. That's like the predecessor of Dishonored, but having all that creativity focused on combat, although you still have stealth and magic.

[@drd2093]

They didn’t quite achieve that though. Mostly you need to kick people into spikes for half the game😂

[@CeceliPS3]

@@drd2093 you can also kick then off the ledge, which is hella fun haha

[@morkgin2459]

That is true until the tomb esque levels with other worldly creatures and goblins arrive.

[@light819]

its such a shame prey got overlooked, even people I know who enjoy immersive sims were turned away from poor console performance but at least for me on pc It was one of my favorite games of the year I know they needed a hit after prey but it still sucks that arkane watered down their formula for deathloop

[@EphemeraEssays]

The issue I see most people have with Immersive Sims is that they don't realise they're meant to be resourceful and creative, and it's such a common problem that I think it may have contributed to the genre dying. It rarely feels like it encourages you to try to play smart. People tend to just walk around, blast enemies, run out of ammo, and find the games tedious. Prey managed to somehow fix this, and I'm not sure how, but everyone I saw play Prey approached every single encounter as "how can I outsmart this?". It seems that even people who never played an Immersive Sim immediately got it

[@kasserole738]

It may have been the horror setting it starts with and how hard the typon hit compared to you just having a wrench and a little pistol (or a shotgun if you book it to the first security office like i do)

[@steve7745]

I think all the best im-sims force you into that mindset mechanically. In Bioshock the environment makes you feel fragile and alone from the get go, Dishonored puts you in the shoes of an assasin where failure to think gets you spotted and killed easily, and Prey pits you against unknown powerful alien life with just your wits, a wrench, and a handful of bullets at first. I think that aspect of desperation is really integral to instilling the mindset of "this isn't a shooter, it's a puzzle"

[@nemtudom5074]

Confirmation bias, you're reading the reviews of the people who did figure it out. The rest left exactly as you said, and the game almost lost money because of it. The only reason its even mentioned so much is because of us.

[@andrewmichaelscomedy]

I played the game two years ago but I think my favorite part is when a giant enemy (I think the nightmare but I may be wrong) attacks you before you take an elevator and you realize you can use the gloo gun and hide above it until it times out. Very emblematic of the game's approach.

[@quin7et494]

Immersive sim video just when I need it, I literally subbed yesterday. You are reading minds

[@Tectonix26]

I'm so glad I got in early, can't wait to see where the channel goes

[@chilimonday_2.071]

Amazing content! Keep up the great work! I'm sure this channel will have a ton of subscribers by the end of the year.

[@Genoprototype]

Just stumbled into this channel after seeing your KBU games vid since I was looking for Outer Wilds content only to discover a lot of this stuff is relatively new. I'm loving your vids so far! I'm excited to see what comes next.

[@MightyFahl]

Fantastic video. I’m really enjoying your content. Writing and delivery is so spot on. Great work!

[@ciaranmoore9739]

How have you come out of nowhere with less than 10k subscribers and you're making top tier video essays? It's like an established youtuber is smurfing or something.

[@jumonjichoo7070]

Subbed and immediately hit the notification bell. Phenomenal set of videos!

[@spartanghost6722]

Great video... I love Prey so much and in my opinion it's the best immersive sim game. It's sad that the game didn't sell well and it's even sadder that it's the last AAA game to have immersive sim at it's core.

[@louisc6743]

Nice song while talking about rogue likes

[@artemis2227]

You're my new favorite youtube channel, love the vids

[@Jediahgames]

I love how the DLC solves the "too many skills" issue perfectly, beyound making many other improvements to the formula I wish so so so bad more people played it, it's definitely my favorite part of the whole game

[@golanperry5885]

Good vid, i love that you always talk about games i have never heard of🤣 keep the good job👍

[@nemtudom5074]

Arkane's original name for the game 'Neuroshock' would have been so much cooler. But alas.

[@Neverwas]

Bro I fucking love the format, the wrap-up ending is sooo useful when someone doesn't have time to check every video. It would be perfect if you divided the video into chapters as well. Props to you buddy

[@premingergang1099]

great video as always!

[@krappid6565]

This is such a great and fun video! great work man, subscribed.

[@whatstdiggn]

Your video has litterally debugged a glitch in the matrix. For the past two-ish years ive been trying to provethat prey existed as a game with american indians in it. I remember the bar on the reservation in the demo. Every time i tried to look it up i got information on an entirely different game. I thoght i was crazy. Like deja vu but what i had experienced disnt exist. Like going to "liberty land" as a child at disneyland in CA. It was to the right of the beginningof mainstreet. It never existed ywt i have vivid memories of going there. Of attractions that there is prooof were at some point planned but scrapped and have never ever physically existed but i have memories of 3 year old me being there and experiencing them. So to have it happen again with something when i was around 19 years old totally up and vanish again was reality warping. Thank you for this. You have no idea how much it has improved my mental health.

[@kemalsenel4820]

Another banger video. Great content! I love immersive sims and prey is one of my favorites of the genre

[@OB.x]

Prey was so immersive, that when I played it. I had 2 people crashing at my place while they were evicted... basically forced to watch me play it from start to finish (they are not gamers). They were amazed with the plot and everything in it, they were immersed not even playing it.

[@jai3476]

I wish Prey was called Neuroshock

[@nurbsivonsirup1416]

Dark Messiah of Guns and Psyonics

[@jai3476]

@@nurbsivonsirup1416 game just needed a mighty kick and then your title would be perfect

[@GURken]

I do not get it when players starts to call fun as unbalanced. Recently I watched Atomic Heart review and a guy said that he immediately broke the game. Then he showed his proof: all he did was spraying polimer ability then freezing ability then hitting enemies with heavy attack with LMB. Every one of this step includes delay because you can't just spam abilities and also heavy attack requires you to hold a button so it also is slow. So basically he just deliberately choose to play the most boring way possible by killing robots five times slower than with a conventional weapon and but he just blamed a game for it. Same with neuromods in Prey. It isn't unbalanced that you can make them as many as you want because it is you who decide how to play. Developers just gave you tools and it is up to you to decide how to use them. And I can only thank them for it. Because of that I can make my own story. On my first playthrough I didn't use any of typhon powers because I choose that if I'm a man then I choose to stick to my human identity. So imagine my reaction when I saw an ending. And this is great. Games that can let me choose how to kill, how to sneak, how to interact are the best one. And all I want is to give me all the systems game has to offer so I can simply have a fun.

[@nemtudom5074]

19:00 Honestly, since Prey 2017 became kinda well known, this affects the original a lot more than 2017's Prey.

[@makky-kat3719]

I just found this video while Prey is currently $3 on Steam. That's fine, I don't have real life responsibilities or anything.

[@ThaVezz]

Prey (2017) is THE masterpiece ❤

[@lrn5152]

All they had to do was change the damn name, CJ!

[@xendlevel]

we LOVE prey

[@ca6koto0]

3:38 "I want to talk about the current day torchbearer of the immersive sim genre - Arkane Studios" That didn't age well

[@VernaldoNiisama]

At this point I've only watched two of your videos. I like them. Also, yes vanguard is a totally different beast.

[@joestack1921]

The nueromod injection animation has always bugged me. Morgan presses the button a few times, extending and retracting the two eye syringes. Then he LEAVES THEM EXTENDED and STABS HIMSELF. You’re obviously supposed to put your eye up to the device and THEN press the button. It makes sense too because we have uncontrollable reflexes that would make it really hard to just stab your own eye. It just undermines a great design and I don’t know how that animation got approved. Great video though, I’m really enjoying your channel

[@Gsdavis.00]

DADDY POSTING

[@bakedbeanz7622]

Love it. Keep it up, proud of you!

[@ThatReplyGuy]

Immersive Sims are a type of game I love in theory but have failed to get into in practice. I own Prey, Dishonored, the old school Deus Ex, and a few other games, but always quit after a few hours. Then there's games like Monster Hunter, Subnautica, Outer Wilds, Power Wash Simulator, etc that aren't technically immersive sims, but I still end up quitting them after a few hours for vague reasons even I'm not sure of. I just can't find the fun through the tedium, and after I put it down, I don't have the desire to pick it up again.

[@jayPreak]

fun watch

[@BobOrKlaus]

Im walking home from achool rn and ur cats had me almost walk into a wall :)

[@OutsiderXE]

I didn't realize it was an immersive sim after around 1/2 of the game. Much better on the second playthrough. Suddenly the creativity kicked in: Instead of fighting the aliens head on, just pick up the turret next door and let it do the job. Unfortunately it has quite possibly the worst hacking minigame I have ever played.

[@runstadme]

Just found your channel man. You are hilarious!😂

[@jucom756]

Is rain world not like the best of all immersive sims or smthn?

[@acheeblessyou]

Prey was such a masterpiece that was horribly marketed. Hope there's a Prey 2 at some point.

[@BenHussGaming]

This game and studio in general indeed deserve much more success. The interviews of Arcane's director Raphaël Colantonio are so touching because you can sense how much he loves the games he makes and IT SHOWS so much, they're exceptional! And yet these interviews are mostly post-failure reviews... These games seem so hard to advertise, players seem to not understand them... I don't get it it's just great gaming

[@devilish2345]

You're not alone this game is too good every time I play again the obsession kicks in and I'm hooked and don't care much about any other game, limited in game events oh well, prey is better, limited items which can only be obtained for a short period oh well prey is better lol, it's such gem and shouldve sold far better even the dlc could've been a stand alone game in it's self and almost could've gotten away with a 40 dollar price tag nevertheless this is a masterpiece through and through some miner gripes yet almost non existent to what it got right

[@seamusobrian9050]

Id love for arkane to make another sci fi immersive sim with an interconnected map but given the xbox leaks looks like ill have to keep waiting

[@golanperry5885]

Nice

[@Miester7]

I remember the original prey from 2006 with the portals. Never played this one

[@AndrossUT]

they should make a third prey that brings the previous two together. Still only call it prey

[@luke4010]

God this is such a good video lol

[@niklas4940]

At 4:05, 4:40 and 17:25 there seems to be some kind of rendering-error. A kind of green flickering.

[@superdude10000]

You're exactly right. I have resolved the error on my end, but I can't just replace the video, cause KZbin doesnt like that. Just trust in that from the Fire Emblem video forward, that is no longer an issue.

[@spacecat7827]

7:10 health and what?? Health and what?? Stanima?

[@superdude10000]

Haha I do that all I time. Stamina is a hard word for me

[@hamster2u396]

Dude we literally have the same taste in video games

[@sanderdavid8626]

Some weird cuts. But I could listening to imsims for hours.

[@rehfeuge]

No mention of EYE? You disappoint me.

[@superdude10000]

What is EYE?

[@LBWWCCC]

@@superdude10000 E.Y.E.: Divine Cybermancy is a very interesting im-sim "like" game based on the source engine. I played it back in 2011 and it comes around in a lot of long-format im-sim discussions due to its mechanics being similiar and different to the genre's conventions due to it's clunky, but compelling ideas. However, it isn't widely known sometimes even within its own genre due to the lower budget and relatively small studio/ marketing. If you already know about it, sorry! Great video, I'd love to see longer format videos that expand your obvious love for these types of games in a more detailed format where the systems and how they carrey themselves throughout the whole experience can be critically picked apart and contrasted with how they bounce off each other in detail. Anyways, great content, feels passionate!

[@blackrat1228]

I wish I was into rogue-style games more, Mooncrash was a lot of fun in the first few run throughs but the anxiety of failing when you're a few characters in and the corruption level cranks up again as you're trying to get another character to safety is just too much for me. Total catnip for fans of the genre though I suspect

[@jayPreak]

omg cats

[@Tyveris]

It’s nice to see more people praising this game, but I gotta ask what made you feel like making a video about it? Your video feels more like a description of the game than anything beyond that. It’s clear you enjoyed it (I did too) but it isn’t clear why anyone would want your particular take on the game. I guess what I’m saying is, I’m happy to see more people making content about good games, but you need to bring your own spin to your videos otherwise you’re just doing the same thing as every other channel (but more watered down). Game maker’s toolkit has an excellent video specifically about Mooncrash that ultimately inspired me to play the game when I definitely would not have otherwise. What do you think you could say that would bring new players to this game? I don’t want to come off as overly critical because I’m happy to see more content alone my favorite games on KZbin. With that being said, I want to encourage you to make that content as good as it can be so that it will reach the wider audience.

[@freshboy3968]

You might've forgotten to put timestamps on this, John.

[@malazan6004]

Nothing has come close to Prey for me..

[@beverleyeliane]

One of my all time fav games, especially considering how unsuspecting I was going in.

[@malazan6004]

@@beverleyeliane same! I did hear it had metroidvania aspects which I love but wow it simply captivated me and I've looked for something similar since.

[@MrXtr1]

​@@malazan6004Did you play the Dishonored games? Prey is far superior in some aspects (interconnected world for example) but Dishonored still does some things better, especially the powers! I wholeheartedly recommend

[@EternalKing06]

"A GAME THEO..." Lol!!!

[@andreymagnuss]

Just a few quick notes. Arkane is two studios that are working kind of independently from each other since Dishonored 1 which they co-developed. Arkane Lyon (Arx Fatalis, Dark Messiah, bunch of cancelled projects, Dishonored 1&2&DOTO, Deathloop). Arkane Austin (Dishonored 1&DLCs, Prey, Prey Mooncrash, Redfall). Dishonored is not steampunk. It has a very distinct look and feel, so calling it something like whalepunk would be more appropriate, because when you say steampunk, people imagine something like Bioshock Infinite or Arcanum.

[@superdude10000]

Whalepunk, in my view, is so specific as to not do a good job describing it to any passerby. It is steampunk. It's the correct historical setting and it's got the overly wrought mechanics not unlike steampunk should have. Corvo's mask, the clockwork soldiers, the long legged enemies from Dishonored 1. All steampunk. The presence of magic and whalebone charms? Not so much. But whalepunk isnt something the normal person not interested in punk genres is going to pick up so easily, so describing it as such, while perhaps more accurate, isnt going to convey anything meaningful to the layperson, and is useless for most discussions. Where's the line between steampunk and any other genre? That is subjective. I personally perceive whalepunk to be within Steampunk's umbrella, but I understand if you dont. It is an opinion; all of this is.

[@commanderfoxtrot]

You actually didn't configure the chapters right so we _have_ to go to the description to access them. Not the most accessible on every single device. And yeah, fine, it's 5 months later, but I said "fuck it" and decided to write the comment anyway.

[@superdude10000]

Fixed. Thanks for pointing that out.

[@spidercat2841]

Meow

[@andyxbox123]

BioShock is not an immersive sim. Neither is alien isolation. Also, arcane has half their studio in Austin. But other than that great video.

[@lakajd]

good video but I think you're downplaying the way in which the ending actually parallels and supports the themes of the game just because the trope is misused and turned into a cliche in other media.

[@devonelias6363]

ah early !

[@FiliusFidelis]

Love Prey, and only problem I have with the ending is... no continuation. Immersive sims is one of the few genres I truly love.

[@TaylorWilmes]

Alien isolation is not an immersive sim.

[@hard_ice]

Hello,may I translate this video into Chinese and transport it to bilibili (a Chinese video website)? I will sign your name and the youtube address in the video introduction and I won't earn any income from this. Prey is a good game and I think the Chinese Prey fans will be happy to see this video (you know, Chinese people commonly can't use youtube).

[@superdude10000]

Sure, I'm completely fine with that. Thanks for asking first!

[@burakeren]

Prey is a game i bought thinking i would enjoy, then lost in the backlog. And from time to time i reinstall but do not start. This is going on since right after release of Deathloop. Curnetly Metro series is come forward as obstacle.

[@magunsbovin5158]

Dude, you gotta choose a name! You cant have three names, hella confusing and overly long

[@triplechocolate887]

7:13 stanima

[@superdude10000]

That word's never been easy for me

[@triplechocolate887]

@@superdude10000 haha all good g, good video fr

[@craminal]

Prey is the greatest immersive sim until you play the first Deus ex

[@pigeondude2468]

Yeah Deus Ex makes other Immersive Sims look like a joke but they are still good.

[@morkgin2459]

​@@pigeondude2468not dishonored though. It is probably in it's level.

[@HareyMon]

deathloop is trash compared to Prey

[@notapplicable7292]

This isn't a school essay, you don't have to add a conclusion and you certainly don't need to start the paragraph with "in conclusion". Good video tho

[@nothingisawesome]

I don’t get what’s wrong with a conclusion..that’s a very odd hard rule to have

[@NAJALU]

That is precisely why they made the conclusion into a joke

[@superdude10000]

I actually hate conclusions. (This sentence is going to be weird) I am not joking when I'm joking. Conclusions ARE dumb and are repeats of what was previously said. BUT they're structurally important to essays, so I include them. You'll actually notice if you listen to video essays that there's always this "wrap up" moment, which is the conclusion. They just don't mark it so aggressively, but I KNOW what they're doing, and I still find it dumb. Hence my joke.

[@Mostbee]

Well, even thought it was a joke, he indeed made an conclusion at 22:05, conclusions are final statements, who watched obviously knew his thoughts and points, but he still repeated the opinion and recomendation to play the game in a succint way. It's funny that in school essays we find ourselves forced to do it as an elaborated paragraph, so we just repeat ourwelves

[@chaosordeal294]

Those "immersive sims" that you're playing are actually role-playing games and shooters.

[@i_love_musique333]

Except that imsims are True Role Playing Games, unlike your average, very limited RPG

[@CrashSable]

I find Prey to be a perfect example of how unprofessional and childish modern game developers are. Completely irrespective of how good you consider the finished product to be, there is no other field where it would be considered acceptable to almost completely ignore the spec you're given because you REALLY wanted to make the thing you had in mind. Imagine employing a baker to make your wedding cake and they delivered the best loaf of fruit bread you've ever eaten and decorated it with the most intricate icing design you've ever seen that says "Totally a Wedding Cake" - it wouldn't matter that it's the best product that baker ever made, it's NOT WHAT YOU ASKED AND PAID THEM FOR. That's what Prey is and Arkane deserved to have it fail - they're lucky Bethesda didn't trash the studio!

[@zoom0451]

What are you on about?

[@i_love_musique333]

You're a strange little fella😂 Arkane didn't choose the name prey by themselves, it was forced on them you ignorant fuck

[@supradoom]

Prey is AMAZING.