Surviving Lucem went WAY beyond our expectations

[@24spencerify]

It is literally unimaginable funny to me that Shrek, a normal ass dude, falls off a fucking train in motion and then EXPLODES and is just absolutely fine, meanwhile every other human is like "oh no my ankle broke and the shelter is out of paracetamol, well i will die now"

[@GrayRavenRadio]

It's like that doge meme but Shrek is the muscular doge and every other human is the pathetic looking doge.

[@24spencerify]

@@GrayRavenRadio LITERALLY THAT YEAH LMAO

[@CosmicX1]

It all kinda makes sense once you get Noan’s backstory, where his entire life has been one long train wreck of everyone dying around him, yet he’s always the last man standing.

[@takebacktheholyland9306]

@@CosmicX1 so just vera then, without all the mind break

[@familialdysautosis2717]

I'm so glad channels are starting to be made talking about this awesome game

[@admius6397]

Man, the writing for this chapter was just on another level. The way Liv's character was portrayed through her actions and not just random characters saying how good and kind she is through exposition, was so refreshing. This was by far the most fun I had ever had playing Punishing Gray Raven. And even though I know characters like hyperreal Lee and the new Alpha are coming (probably end of this year) I have no idea how they are even going to come close to this chapter in terms of the writing level.

[@jeremiahtorrevillas4396]

Never i suppose when writers get to much atention then their assea get kicked

[@seancatacombs]

The ironic thing about Liv is that she used to be portrayed as the softest babby of the Gray Raven team when in reality she technically had the most experience having had a whole military career as a medic before even becoming a construct. She won the PGR equivalent to the Medal of Honor and is implied to be a role model Babylonia uses for military recruiting. Empyrea feels like a more accurate representation of where she is mentally and emotionally versus the old frames which were locked at the point she got construct-ized (they even retained her old medic uniform)

[@lunaefall]

I don't see many content creators discussing PGR on its storytelling, which sucks because it's got an amazing story and quality writing. I really appreciate these new video essays you're doing and would love to see more of them. I wouldn't mind older story content either. Really good video essay with a lot of details, including pointing out things I missed. I loved it!

[@hitsunakousaka9497]

i love the part of the underground shelter where Liv was writing the part of the medical records to keep herself distracted. That scene is something right out of a WW1 scene and that portrays how desperate things are really well. At war, low everything and the enemy is winning. And the rest of the chapter just broke my heart. Never screamed at my screen b4 until Liv was holding the comatose commandant's hand in the hospital. "WAKE UP ME! PLEEEEEEAAASE"

[@LatifaFleuranza]

About the twins, we didn't teach them to be hostile. Voneggut and his group did as shown in Evernight beat hidden chapter. They stranded some scavengers in CPF and made them betray and kill each other. The red tide absorbed their bodies and conscious and thus provided animosity which was fed to the twins using the heteromother. Voneggut wanted to show the newborn twins the hatred and dark side of humanity and he accomplished just that. And it also didn't help that we were attacking their mother for the sample. So humanity was doomed even if gray raven and others didn't attacked first when they were born. Furthermore, it was told in story a number of time and even by Voneggut in this chapter that the reason for punishing virus existence is to replace humanity and hence it's evolving to replace them. One other that this chapter showed greatly was that what Voneggut wanted from the twin by sparing someone. Cause that would mean that this step in their evolution was successful. They are no longer machines who copies human behaviours but have actual capability to think.

[@lichmourne00]

Some stories don't need a moral. Some stories are just a tragic and constant struggle to make it to the end without losing yourself. This entire chapter felt like a "horrors of war" type of story and what people are willing to give up to preserve hope for others. Liv's Empyrea frame reminds me of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ especially the scenes you see in her M.I.N.D and the way the Acenet tries to corrupt her and manipulate her like the devil. This chapter was so beautifully done. Liv didn't want to lose anyone else that she couldn't save so she sacrificed herself to save everyone she holds dear and give humanity a chance to win.

[@raveelemental4928]

I feel like the way Vanessa was effectively projecting on Commandant by constantly insulting them while they were in that coma was kinda funny, yet also sad. She's a good commandant but a terrible person thus far, and can't come to terms with the fact that the Commandant is actually the war hero, the face of Earth reclamation efforts. So she tries to do things not her way, and that's pretty cool. If only she wasn't as one dimensional at the beginning.

[@ryanpan5787]

It's really fun to hear others thought on the story cause no friend of mine play the game...... And I can feel the passion of you two for PGR just from you talking about the story and the design. It's really good to see people enjoy and making content on the game you love! The edit is really smooth. Making it a very enjoyable experience. Thanks for the video! Hope to see more in the future!

[@ShinigamiSamaH]

From what I interpreted, the Commandant must have suffered the head injury when Babylonia start the orbital strike on the Purification Tower. At that point, we were already unconscious due to the tentacle stab wound, and the blast from the orbital strike blew everyone away from the exploding tower. We must have smashed our skull on a rock during that. And the Twins already left the battle to rush back to the Hive Mother, so technically we were evacuating by then.

[@macvszoe]

The whole first part of surviving lucem almost made me cry, specifically the elderly couple

[@smithyweberjaegermanjensen3764]

Nah bro, the boy with the dog & cosette the baby hits harder

[@intanannis7971]

I literally bawl my eyes out when Lucia wanted Liv to sing that childhood song when she's doing her last stance

[@jin_raven192]

At first, my thoughts on Liv was that she's the generic sweet kind healer unit in a gacha game. After continuing the story and lore of Liv I slowly appreciated her more since she was struggling with her childhood and general position in this world. She decided to join as a medic to help others which I felt like she needed to have a purpose in her life. The way she climbed the ranks to become one of the best medics and lowkey flexing her success to her family was satisfying yet sad, sad because her family didn't love/acknowledged her. She found her family in the Gray Raven and I genuinely enjoy the dynamics between each members. Up to this point I liked her. She isn't a fully selfless person who wants to sacrifice her own life, but she felt to take responsibility to make sure people can hope. But the responsibility wasn't meant to carry it alone and Liv felt useless that Lee and Lucia are doing mostly the actions. Me as the commadant wanted to give Liv a big hug since she doesn't value herself as much as a person and wants to take more risks that she could handle. Surviving Lucem perfectly conveys the value of a single person. The old couple who spent their last moment together, Stanley who's dog is irreplaceable as a family and Fantine who wants her daughter to live in this world. It was a gut punch for me, that they struggled for hope. Self sacrifice and the responsibility is a huge topic in this chapter and I'm glad that Liv realized her own value as a person, that she doesn't have to work alone but to work together to achieve victory for mankind. By far this story even with the tragic and misery is a must read. Live deserves a good hug, she needs the support of Commandant and the Gray Raven. Also my favorite version of Liv is Liv Lux, whenever I see her, I can see Liv more confident and strong.

[@ravenfeathers9546]

Keep making video please, lot of PGR cc stop making content long ago and it is sad actually. Your videos are entertaining to watch and would love to watch more of it.

[@struggler3696]

Couldnt agree more. Yes, make more.

[@98nchen]

I love lore videos

[@cjbladesworth8049]

Fyi, the head injury may have knocked Commadant out but Ishmael is to blame for the coma. I’m guessing she was seeing if Liv could pass the filtering but we now know Nanami intervened. Edit: Also the blood issue stems from everyone in the shelter living on scraps.

[@airbournestrike]

I thought Nanami's deal with the Merciful One was to wake the Commandant up. I didn't read anywhere that the Merciful One was the reason we wouldn't wake up

[@cjbladesworth8049]

@@airbournestrike remember, while we’re out cold we note that we can wake up and have tried several times to but something kept interfering.

[@muhammadfrezaarazak1768]

My friend who play this game didn't even bother to read the story, so it's very fun to hear you guys share your thoughts and experiences on the story.

[@larantuka8189]

This chapter truly roller-coaster emotions. Stories from construct and npc point of view is superb... Also after an hour woke up from coma, commandant begging for joining battle in frontline...!? My God... Commandant just a badass madman

[@yuuuakane]

Surviving Lucem was the story I can never forget in PGR, playing it while feeling everything that every character feeling at that time was so intense!! I love how Kuro made us experience those moments while playing the game. But the trauma will be forever in my brain AHAHAHHA It made me think the next stories will be like that especiallly just hearing the music of Surviving Lucem gets me chills . 🤣 Thank you for discussing this chapter and it was funny that I would agree on most thoughts you both have , I was like " Oh so I am not the only who thought of that" or "Oh yeah, I didn't realized that"

[@ZwalistyDrwal]

just discovered your channel, and its EXACTLY what I needed, since I haven't seen ANYONE talking about this game story/lore/characters, all the yt videos/content from this game were always about gameplay/gacha/guide etc. So in other words, this channel is exactly what I needed, and I really enjoy listening to your conversation. Looking forward to any new lore/discussion videos on this channel

[@GrayRavenRadio]

Thanks so much! We were always talking to each other about the story, so we figured, why not share it with everyone else?

[@neroatomos4875]

We need more of this kind of videos, just talking stuff about the game, story, music, etc. like a podcast or something. I appreciated chapter 17 as its one of the best story telling Kuro done so far.

[@jo3y960]

So you're telling me I got nuked by the Twins, and instead I go into coma by a head injury Also didn't Vanessa get in Commandants personal space and threaten to kill them?

[@macvszoe]

Head injury due to being grabbed by hetero mother tentacle

[@barbatosistheone4581]

It might be too late but you two are very funny and engaging to watch, I hope you make more videos like these if you have the time to

[@SouBU95]

Fantastic story impressions, I enjoyed hearing your guys' takes on it. Honestly, seeing the writing team learning as they write these chapters has been a joy itself and I'm glad that they've seem to have found their stride. A lot of the tension building and scene-swapping to build suspense and dread is a technique I think they imitated from the visual novel Muv-Luv Alternative. I'm not sure if they've played it, but there is definitely someone at Kuro who has experienced a lot of different literature if they're able to use Shakespeare's Tempest as a thematic center for a character's interlude. The pre-mission descriptions also helped sell the hopelessness, before you even start a section you already have casualties and losses. This is driven home with the second section with the train, where you keep losing train cars. Survivng Lucem was a great experience, but I'm still upset with how the game seemingly gives no time to a resolution arc to tie up plot points or set up the second. A lot of the really important post-mortem details are always just brushed over in the subsequent chapter so I feel cheated a bit. My 2 cents on the Commandant's role in Lucem is that them being in a coma is already them shouldering the responsibility for Liv's fate. Asimov and Hippocrates state frequently that this plan would have a lot higher chance of succeeding with Liv surviving with a good quality of life if the Commandant was awake and able to stabilize her M.I.N.D during the absorption and purification process. But we're in a coma, and unable to wake up in time. While Liv may have been the last hope of humanity, we were the last hope of Liv and we let her down when she needed us the most. In a way, you could say that our inability to act (granted, outside of our control) forced her to grow up.

[@no-name1025]

i'm currently playing this chapter, oh god so depressing😭 i have to take a break right now

[@drifter7002]

Bit late to the party, but I'm surprised I haven't seen anyone mentioning that they wished we could have gotten Liv's OG Medic outfit from when she was a human as a costume for Eclipse. I think that was legitimately one of her best canon outfits and those segments of getting to play as her when she was younger were some of my favorite moments in Surviving Lucem because it showed how formative answering the draft and joining the military was for her development into the kindhearted heroic woman she is today. Honestly, those flashback sequences did a lot for showing her development and I was really glad we were able to revisit the story of her heroic deeds and how she became a construct that had been referenced in her Eclipse Interludes.

[@GrayRavenRadio]

They actually added that outfit for her into the flashback after we played it, and we agree -- we want that outfit in Global too! CN has it. Maybe one day 🙏

[@zerogravity2174]

About the AB blood group thing, it's true that AB blood group is called the universal recipient in that it can receive transfusion from all other blood groups but still we avoid giving them any other group during transfusion since there is still a tiny bit of chance that it might lead to adverse mis match transfusion reactions. It's a lot safer to give a person their corresponding group as transfusion because transfusion reactions are highly fatal and are regarded as medical negligence. Although I can't remember the exact conditions during this scene but I think liv did the right thing in waiting for a matching donor.

[@GrayRavenRadio]

This is good info, I didn't know there was still a chance of adverse reaction even for the universal recipients. It definitely sounds safer to give an exact match when you have the means (such as at a hospital). However....... Lindsey was dying of blood loss and I still think Liv should have taken the chance to save her, even if there was a risk. 😢 RIP Lindsey. Gone but not forgotten.

[@zerogravity2174]

@@GrayRavenRadiosorry for this late reply. LoL. ok if the situation was as bad as you state then some possible solutions could be, 1. The relatively healthy individuals in facility could offer to give a blood donation to the patient on the chance that someone was having a matching blood group. 2. Temporary management of blood loss with fluids and volume expanders if available and wait for a matching donor if no donor is available at the facility atm.This is doable because the person can survive, if the initial dangers of hypovolemic shock, etc are managed properly. 3. As a last resort using O negative blood group for transfusion, but still being hugely wary of a possible transfusion reaction and be ready to take actions on suspecting the occurrence of the latter. This is what I concluded from the above context. I have never faced such a situation in my life so I might not be able to give a very satisfactory solution here but these are some things that could be tried when it comes to 'choosing the lesser of the two evils'. After all saving their life and making sure they survive comes first and foremost in all situations.

[@pablotomasllodra4423]

That, and some illnesses permanently taint the blood like AIDS, making it unworthy of being used for transfusions.

[@Roniiberry]

At 4:31, I just want to note that her chart says AB blood, which is to say, AB negative. I assume that nobody else could donate to her because everyone else had positive blood or vital fluid. If Jen has A+ blood she can't donate to Lindsey because Lindsey doesn't have the Rh factor, so her body would reject the blood.

[@qaywong4354]

can you please make chapter recap pleaseeee, I have doodoo brain so i tend to skip or space out during the story ;-;

[@SilentViolette]

same

[@crimsonspring]

this content is amazing. i left the video playing in the bg while i was cooking and all the topics you guys covered flowed so nicely it was genuinely fun listening to you talk, even though i have already read the story. hope to see more people do content like this in the future

[@Aregulargameplayer]

I just discovered this channel and I’m so happy since so few people really discuss the story of this amazing game.

[@Reysetsu]

My fav part was Ivy's reaction to her AB blood being potentially ruined by punishing virus IRL 😂

[@ych1748]

I think at the last when we are trying to save Liv we are not telling her "don't sacrifice yourself" we are all sacrificing ourselves that's what a soldier do but that is not all a soldier do so we save Liv, simple we are just trying to save our family and in Liv's case,we have to tell her, you really need to be better to yourself

[@joaquinnevarez2509]

It was because is the end and the final event of the new original era but the gateway to the new era

[@megurinemiku8201]

New subscriber here, are you two sisters? Cus you both sounds similar to each other, at least in my ears. Edit: Spelling correction

[@GrayRavenRadio]

Not sisters, but best friends!

[@magallanthepenguin9132]

carrying the doctor...looks familiar

[@DMsCloud7]

Can you do the story overview from the beginning, because i dont have much time to play the game, but i really want to learn about the world of PGR.

[@pablogarciaseminara6560]

Since you both know a lot about PGR. Regarding the writing, does Kuro get better at handling the commandant? Bc I dont think its a coincidence the writing was so good when the MC was out of the picture. His absence gave the world and side characters a lot of room to develop more. Can one day the commandant have a flaw that isnt "being to heroic/idealistic"? I love this podcast. Thanks for existing!

[@bukkakeftw6205]

Wait for cradle parade, technically a Lamia chapter but it's more like skk's interlude.

[@ArkaSaurusRex218]

There's actually alot of new testment imagery there. With the whole "sacrifice" "Thorns", takeing on other people's suffering to save them, and hell even, crucifixation imagery, I'm pretty sure Liv is supposed to be an Jesus allegory here. She almost dies for your sins.

[@zahitmengi5631]

4:30 if ı know correctly even AB blood type can get blood from any other blood type still it is best that she should take AB blood type .İts like AB can take A or B type but still has low chance of coagulation but A cant take AB cus it has VEEERY HİGH risk of coagulation ... But yeah in a miserable time like this ı also think that liv need to use any other blood type :D

[@PandaStyle07]

Finally got to play the chapter, I was waiting until the PC client came out, and I have to say, I didn't cry, I teared up with Stanley and the mother, but I don't know, I cry easily but I feel like we just need a big animation to finish off the chapters like Honkai does, there was a single animation before the last fight but it was short and it ended abruptly and it was kinda weird overall even tho the quality was good. But the mood of the chapter was 10/10, some of the descriptions about Stanley when he jumped or them describing Liv's memories of dying are pretty brutal

[@DisappointedAether]

I'm the opposite of you Most of the time i rarely cry but i cried so hard for Stanley and sobbing in the entire chapter. I agree that animation would be better but the lack of animation doesn't make it any less sad imo. Then again, i'm used to reading so it's just a personal taste

[@the7observer]

me: *severe PTSD from Signalis* Me: I'll play PGR to get better *chapter 17* me: *hugging my legs rocking back and forth*

[@longphan7656]

really late reply but commandant got put out of commission is because he got stabbed by the Hetero Mother in chap 16. That thing is FILLED with Punishing virus; the thing pretty much straight up kill him cause if it wasnt for a certain someone, he wouldnt have survived

[@hexfizgamingch]

You guys forgot one fine detail there. Basically the Ascnet stuff and the future Gestlat predict. Aside from showing both side of future. They also massively foreshadow a future construct + The ultimate fate of the commandant in the Eternal Winter...... and all of the Gray Raven future

[@dazzle810]

I just started the chapter and I am crying, stanely, fatine, liv... my god i am so sad and I'm not even done with the first section

[@maxplaysgamez-sharesgaming1756]

Story discussion poggers🙌☕

[@destinationskyline07]

I'm one of those players that doesn't play the story because I don't have the patience or the time to read everything. I appreciate you guys talking about it so I can catch up.

[@HYPERR3AL]

I found this video when it just released but delayed it off until I got through the chapter and now that I did I can say I hate this game its sad and gay and it ruined my life. Great video though loved the vibes alot!

[@HYPERR3AL]

I've been deeply falling in love with this game more and more as time goes on and my only real problem with its writing is like, Lee. He's my second favorite character in the game because I relate to him alot, and because of that it HURTS to see him be literally a background character. Bro's been an NPC for multiple chapters so far. I literally just played through lucem and I struggle to recall more than a single meaningful thing he said in it. While he is a reserved and quiet person on top of closing himself even more because of all the shit that's been going down so far, I felt like it was a good moment for him to actually get a tiny bit of the spotlight because we see this guy be reckless and help people at his own expense since chapter 1. (him getting impaled instead of liv by the iron maiden, as the earliest example) I feel like theres so much he could have said or did for liv/in general but he ultimately just doesn't. He isn't even anywhere close during the final fight.

[@HYPERR3AL]

I'm aware that this is a Liv chapter and that its pretty unfair to complain about Lee while talking about it but it was honestly almost absurd how little he did while being both a main character and one of Liv's closest friends/teammates.

[@ComplexAce]

@@HYPERR3AL he will have his chapter coming later with his own frame, in a year

[@HYPERR3AL]

@@ComplexAce i know, i've read it. i just don't think a character needs to have an entire arc dedicated completely to them to be plot relevant

[@eliasbertilsson2590]

Seeing this i will read The whole story as I have only skipped every dialouge because i am a coward and a lazy person

[@Muda9090]

I don’t think that Liv was sad because Cosette became a construct. Mainly because Cosette was talking about how she hasn’t accomplished anything and that her mother would probably be disappointed. Liv seemed sad because she knew that the mom just wanted Cosette to be happy, instead of worrying about accomplishments and feeling sad

[@hei4676]

I'll go back here once I'm done with surviving lucem story, wanna watch but don't want to get spoiled

[@GrayRavenRadio]

Good call. We'll be here when you are ready for us!

[@luizribeiro2716]

Man the boss was rough, holy

[@andriosgustav5578]

I love this channel because it actually talks about the story and your thoughts about it. Its very relaxing to listen to takes like this. Many thanks for the effort! Ps. I think that the ab blood thing with liv and lindsay, the ab type they are refering to is negative ab, because while they can give blood to all blood types, the -ab can only recieve from -ab blood types, which puts them in a worst spots considering how much rarer that blood type is compared to +O, which can recieve from both O blood types.

[@GrayRavenRadio]

I'm glad you liked it! PGR has such a good story, it's really fun to talk about. And as far as the AB- goes, it's true that AB- can only accept negative blood types, but that still leaves O-, A-, B-, and AB- as potential options. I'm sure someone there would have been a match!

[@yokai8124]

I just found you guys and I would listen to you guys talk about the entirety of the PGR story tbh. Been looking for a PGR story review channel

[@pepego2595]

Hope you do this kind of content more Talking about the story is always nice

[@RavFromYetti]

big brain

[@JustSomeWeirdo]

Hahaha, y’all said the liv line, boff.

[@IvagaanimaI]

17-4 ... 😢

[@liuyiwu1130]

18-16 ：（

[@ranger2325]

Great video

[@castronimussi6050]

This videos are so good, they make me comprehend the story better, my native languaje is not English so it's kinda difficult. I can see too that the writing is definitely not perfect, like when the commandant hits a coma for hitting his head? That's cheap.

[@tokugeek9]

why do y say commandant like that

[@GrayRavenRadio]

Sounds like you need to watch our first episode! kzbin.info/www/bejne/l2a5pJKfm6-JeNE

[@iwillzpwnu5686]

26:26 it dosen't really matter since where all the characters are robotics. Having an outfit like that most likely wont bother Liv's breathing or wont hurt her skin since the skin is not even actually skin to begin with as its not organic. Compare Liv Eclipse, to Lux, to Luminance, and to her Empryea frame and you can see the increase of her bust. Her Lux frame is the most fanservice frame afaik.

[@kazutrash6419]

I know this is late, but I only recently found out about your guys channel and I would love to watch future videos about the story. Hearing you guys discuss this chapter made me realize how much detail and care was put into the story to make us feel depressed as duck

[@Hades-cv1gt]

This channel is a blessing

[@novikovPrinciple]

I started playing PGR in the midst of Surviving Lucem (Global), so I missed some content while trying to figure out Dailies and Weeklies. But having the first set of Interludes I read be Empyrea's... I was tearing up for characters I have yet to know.

[@stigmatoxin1310]

In both instances of the song sequence, it sorta reminds me of this one moment in One Piece regarding the character Brook. For context: at some point in his first life, he and his crewmates got infected with a disease that slowly killed them. And their last moment was performing and singing their favorite song as the crewmates died one by one one their ship. In the second instance of Liv's song, the surviving constructs also loose themselves one by one.

[@lawfulgoodnun1646]

Great!

[@danvocals123]

such good content, love this channel

[@RudeApollo]

Is that dottovu? First time viewer and they sounds very similar

[@DasGefrorene]

Hank just passing by

[@HyunAe2121]

IMO the twins are not so super different form both pairs of Twins in the Nier series, Devola&Popola as well an Adam & Eve. Well. I gues thats just one more for the Nier similarities pile

[@GrayRavenRadio]

We originally discussed Adam and Eve when recording this chat, but had to cut it from the final video for time. Glad to see another person saw the parallels!

[@Lakrow]

[@dankultimate3929]

Awkwardlaughter.mp3