The Existential Fear of The Stanley Parable

[@BestBoi8]

Narrator: I erased them, I erased all your coworkers. Also Narrator: It’s bucket time!

[@njackson6807]

I love how The Narrator is at times the mastermind behind everything (ie. the whole "I erased everyone") or at other times is completely at the mercy of either your decisions, or things seemingly beyond his control like the Confusion Ending Schedule. But you don't really notice it in the moment, only in hindsight really

[@GlitchyHalo]

The narrator is really an interesting character in reality he just wants someone to talk to and not be alone hence not letting Stanley leave even when it feels like he does he just resets the game. The countdown ending is really the only ending where he is “evil” and the rest it’s either funny interesting or depressing. The narrator just helplessly watching Stanley climbing those stairs and not being able to do anything to stop him but other times opening doors, forcing Stanley to choose a certain direction like the red/blue door and making new rooms The bucket ending where the narrator slowly becomes jealous of the bucket to the point of “falling in love with it” (it’s funny how he says this as we see the bucket on a candlelit bed implying a weird image of Stanley/Narrator and the bucket but I love how it touches on that humor sometime) reminds me of the one episode of SpongeBob where Squidward sees SpongeBob play with a piece of paper and doing cool things with it ans squidward wonders how he is doing it and is slowly going mad and eventually selling everything he owns for the paper and finds out it’s just a piece of paper and SpongeBob was just using his imagination something squidward doesn’t have

[@ARCHIVED9610]

@@GlitchyHalo LMAO i swear everyone has “Those” thoughts when they see the Bucket just sitting at that final spot

[@GlitchyHalo]

@@ARCHIVED9610 I mean this man also narrates erotic novels and has sus tweets about Stanley on twitter so it’s probably normal for the guy😭

[@MeltyCircus]

@@GlitchyHalo May I please have the like to find these erotic tweets I would love to see them.

[@haticehhhh]

The skip button scares me so much. The thought of being alone with my thoughts for years and years without anyone to be there is so terrifying. It's so hard to describe

[@SpringDavid]

how long its gonna be before you start turning on yourself?

[@minasthirith6314]

The End is never the End is never the End is never the End is never the End is never the End is never the End is never the End is never the End...

[@JamienautMark2]

Have you watched Click. I know it’s sort of a cheesy Adam Sandler movie, but it’s literally about skipping all the worst times of your life only to realize that you’re also skipping the good parts as well.

[@haticehhhh]

@@JamienautMark2 thanks for the recommendation! I'll gladly check it out

[@zejumper541]

Oh man you should read Stephen's King 'The Jaunt', that shit still hunts me, it's a short story but really good

[@tannerdodge6029]

The Narrator definitely projects his own insecurities and flaws onto Stanley. The ending where the apartment turns into the office, and he says Stanley just keeps pushing buttons all day, can be applied to the years the Narrator spent writing then making the game. He sat in a room alone, pushing buttons on his computer then spent who knows how long actively narrating it. He accuses Stanley of being small-minded, stubborn and cruel. He also sometimes praises him for his creativity and ingenuity. All traits he sees in himself, for better or for worse.

[@thorgidogofthunder]

also, these lines from the insanity and skip button endings: "stanley began screaming. please someone wake me up! my name is stanley! I have a boss! I have an office! I am real! please just someone tell me I'm real! I must be real! I must be! can anyone hear my voice?! who am I? who am I?!" "these words that I'm saying, I need to know you can hear me! because maybe, stanley, maybe - if you can hear me, then maybe it means I'm real. I can feel the edges of my reality curdling inward and decaying. I can tell that I am becoming less and less real. yet to speak to you now I am alive! I am someone, I am something!"

[@rxndomfxndom7405]

@@thorgidogofthunder Okay so It's not just me that made this connection.

[@brandon1537]

You are the narrator and Stanley just like I pretended to be jim

[@Soup-Boot]

@@brandon1537 Deep.

[@sck8000]

Another interesting layer to the "freedom ending" at 13:10 is the fact that you the player lose control of Stanley the moment he is freed from the mind control facility's grasp and steps outside. In that sense, he's free from your ability to control his every action, and no longer a stand-in for the player, but a character acting independently of you. This game has so many layers of philosophy and meta-commentary, and I love it!

[@grace-4072]

My partner said this while they showed it to me and I literally had to stop playing the game and do a lap around the room because EXCUSE ME that is some incredible storytelling

[@zeallust8542]

That, or perhaps the fact you have no control during the "freedom" ending can imply you still dont have freedom. Depending on whether youre Stanley or the Player in the moment.

[@Rachel-og8jy]

I see it more as betraying the reality that by doing everything the narrator says, you’re still being controlled. It’s “ludonarrative dissonance,” aka a conflict between the narrative of the story and the narrative of the mechanical gameplay, as I’ve learned.

[@mescellaneous]

why do i feel like people get this wrong? to me, the freedom ending is exactly the same as the apartment ending. the "outside world" is literally being revealed like a theatre screen adjusting its shape. it's as real as the monitor you are watching to play the game. it's the same as what the narrator explains in the apartment ending, it's all in your imagination to truly believe stanley escapes, when all you did was press some buttons. the freedom ending is like every other ending told in other games. the apartment ending is the revelation by the narration that it's just that. in my opinion, the concepts in the apartment ending (and the museum ending) is the canonical thesis of the original game. the "go outside" steam achievement is an indicator that the freedom ending is moreso a reflection of the player to do the same, once they are done with the fantasy of playing the game. the museum ending is another point about art imitating life and life imitating art. the female narrator says "Oh, look at these two. How they wish to destroy one another, how they wish to control one another, how they wish to be free." ultimately, the narrator as art is not living, it's dead. likewise, as the player, you are living but not art. you immerse yourself in art, because art can be much more lifelike than life is. because is life really life without art? this is the supervenience of life and art.

[@saraleonorgomezcasicote5086]

​@@mescellaneous👍

[@cauliflowering]

For me The Stanley Parable reminds me of how often I daydream, as I often ‘resett’ the daydream whenever it becomes ‘wrong’ or when I want something else. I skip when I don’t want to continue the part I’m on. This entire game feels like it, honestly. Each part of the hame can match somehow. The reviews being myself even. It’s an amazing game, honestly.

[@leolen8029]

You do this too?!?

[@narrator5953]

Personally speaking, this video has made me realize something about my daydreams. I have come to rely on them too much, as I shut myself in my room and avoid social interaction and schooling. It feels like the new content, where I constantly collect new content from my experiences only to merge it to the horde that is my daydreams. Some stuff stays, but most of it gets bled out by memory. Then, it resets again, with an entirely new idea with the only things staying being the idea of me and some cool designs I would've thought up, which will eventually fade into nothing. All of these daydreams are meaningless, and further degrade my idea of the past where I'm left concerned about the future and my mental state. btw my ign has no relevance its just something I thought of 3 years ago that I haven't bothered to change.

[@jocelynsums1786]

That reminds me of the game Omori! It’s awesome and has the same idea of daydreaming

[@Itsfine416]

@@jocelynsums1786 Do u ever played What remains me of Edith Finch?

[@darby.lestrange]

@@narrator5953 Believe it or not there actually is a name for that kind of thing (I have it too lol) it's called maladaptive daydreaming. It's a behavior where a person spends an excessive amount of time daydreaming, very often becoming immersed in their imagination. This behavior is "usually" a coping mechanism in people who have mental health conditions like anxiety.

[@dopaminecloud]

It's rather ironic that some of the best dialogue in the game is in the part where you're enticed into skipping over all of it.

[@Garry_Combine]

So you can listen to it, nice

[@wulf2121]

Yep, I gunuinely listened to all the dialog until it started repeating on my playthrough.

[@3bodYking99]

Yup, like the one at the beginning, right after going to the righe door, and going to the waiting room, you can keep walking, most people do, and you would just hear the narrator saying wow, or something. But if you stay, he talks, and talks, and says SO MUCH, and i really enjoyed everytime i saw it.

[@alixx_legenddark_xx2819]

My favorite quote from the game is :”Don’t let time choose for you! Don’t let time-“

[@mystik3797]

@@3bodYking99 trover saves the universe was like this too. I know so many people who played that game and missed countless hours worth of content and commentary just by speeding through the story. I took way longer to complete the game than them and enjoyed it so much more than they did

[@Collisto2435]

While not a particularly artistic point, it is worth noting that the Ultra Deluxe version was made in Unity whereas the first one was in Source, and yet it's really hard to tell the difference. That's because the developers painstakingly remade the entire game and its lighting in Unity. It looks exactly the same, because they took the time and effort to make sure it did, and suddenly the 9 year gap starts to make a lot more sense.

[@Mentelgen-1337]

What the fuck. Eh whatevs. Its like… I may be looking like I missed the hole point. But I sure as shit will miss Stanley and the narrator. The hole thing since the mod seemed so surreal to me. Like it shouldn’t have happened but did and now we feel the aftermath. The few new endings in the vent one with the recorder expended the story to new depts. the bucket version got us hocked… but then what? Is it it? No more story? You just threw in a few plots and then say its just an artistic vision? Wtf is wrong with you. Yes it made me feel emotions which I still cant explain. And I need a shoulder to cry on.

[@misirtere9836]

Never forget that a good year or so of the development time was spent on turning "the joke is that it's exactly the same game except every "Stanley" has "and the Bucket" tacked on to the end" into "the joke is that the presence of the bucket inexplicably changes the outcome of every single ending, somehow"

[@chrisisoffline]

@@Mentelgen-1337 What are you even talking about lol. Did you reply to the wrong comment? Your reply is completely nonsensical in relation to the comment.

[@Mentelgen-1337]

@@chrisisoffline read my comment in the patrick bateman voice. to answer your question tho.... mate it was just thoughts. it wasnt a reply. there was no @ and a name on it. if you look closer in details you can see that in the beginning it was in relation with the og comment. but then shifted to something random.

[@lampostsamurai2518]

It does add some humor to the point the lackeys makes about sneaking the new features into Stanley parable 2 though

[@lloydmartel]

I like stanley parable cuz you can look at it as a philosophical experience or a big joke. Most of the endings aren't connected, even the serious ones, so I believe none of them are what you could call "canon". Like each ending is trying to say something, but the Stanley Parable doesn't have a definitive story. It's a bunch of brilliant ideas expertly welded together.

[@kyraandreatta4522]

Or even better you can look at is as both: a philosophical experience that is a joke and a joke that is a philosophical experience. And this isn’t to knock this game or philosophy as a whole, but philosophy at its core can be so absurd. Life is absurd. Especially the modern life of an office worker. If only Socrates could see us now.

[@stonks3507]

It’s probably the reason why it’s called “The Stanley Parable” right?

[@lloydmartel]

@@stonks3507 wdym

[@JaxontheOkay]

@@lloydmartel a parable from what i can tell is a sort of short confined metaphorical story designed to provoke ones thoughts into learning a lesson. which i'd say is a quite accurate description of each ending. they stand on their own and provide a different experience each time

[@lloydmartel]

@@JaxontheOkay I suppose if you look at each ending as their own "parable", then yeah. Only problem is that Stanley isn't the focus of like half of them

[@KeinNiemand]

Did you get the brrom closet ending? The broom closet ending was my favorite

[@seineevee]

I am deeply disturbed by this

[@pooter7263]

Aren’t we all?

[@postbunnie]

OMG I REMEMBER THE BROOM CLOSET ENDING!!! I also commented on videos that it was my favorite. I swear I remember watching a KZbin video showing it. But I went to look for it again and o couldn’t find it.

[@dablika2524]

I find that concerning

[@Hyena...]

i hope your friends find that concerning

[@chesterstevens8870]

"The Stanley Parable" feels like a game that Douglas Adams might write, if he were still alive and had an upbringing as a gamer.

[@Ceruleanst]

Two relevant things to say about this. Kevan Brighting, having recognized this quality in the writing, says he based his delivery of the character on Peter Jones as The Book in the radio series. Secondly, Douglas Adams DID write games. And yes, they were kind of like this in spots. The Infocom HHGttG actually has a bit where you can't go down a particular passage because the game just feels like being stubborn and telling you it isn't there, until you try enough times and it relents.

[@leo_carlini]

@@Ceruleanst ohh pretty interesting

[@nonsensicalabyss]

Or Franz Kafka tbh. The experience of Stanley Parable feels Kafkaesque at times lol.

[@mosquitopyjamas9048]

Hey yo, this is Kafka-esque mr white

[@eirwintyrantoftheinternet7381]

Exactly! I described the game as "if a Douglas Adams book was a game."

[@TheLadysAtelier]

It might not be its main idea, but the thing I really liked about the skip button ending is the narrators' monologue about how there's value in just knowing that someone's listening. Like it's not that Stanley (or the player) ever responds to the Narrator, this would never have been an active conversation anyway and in theory there should be no pragmatic difference between the narrator talking with us listening or without, but he realizes that even though it might not be tangible, there is a great meaning to just knowing that someone is aware of you, that communication relies on two parties. When you skip parts of the game, you refuse to engage and listen, whatever is said and shown becomes meaningless, because you weren't there to hear and experience it.

[@aurorechaton7604]

I think it's also telling that even though you know just where you'll be after each skip, you'll still be standing in the same empty room, you're clearly missing big things with every skip. You might know that your character isn't going to die in a cut-scene, but you're missing the point of the cut-scene to skip it entirely, and it can have devastating story impacts. You miss the narrator, sure, but you also miss the entire story. You miss what makes it bad, what makes it good, what the point of it is. You don't know if things are going to get better or worse, for you or the narrator. Even if you want to stick around, if you want to stay, by this point it's too late. You can't go back on your decision to ignore something, and now the only way out is forward, missing who knows what else because you weren't paying attention the first time. On a simple level, there are people who miss some dialogue and complain about how the story offers no explanation for something they skipped, and on a philosophical level, it's about how trying to split your attention away from your own life, by escaping into video games perhaps, might make you miss something truly beautiful. If you were to come out of your "skip" right now, would you be in a wasteland or a beautiful jungle? Does it matter? If all of it is important to the narrative; to understanding yourself and your story?

[@klbzplb]

The narrator is the best part of the skip ending, its such a shame how little he was mentioned in this video. His dialogue starts out meaningful and deep, but after enough skips he (likely) goes insane from the isolation. I really dont think he died or was purposefully ignoring stanley, given he likely spent millennia completely alone. The part where he repeats "the end is never the end" over and over is the most memorable part of the game for me. I genuinely thought the sun had burnt out during some of the dark parts lol

[@squirlmy]

basically a dramatic enactment of "if a tree falls in a forest with no one to hear it, does it really make a sound?"

[@gabrote42]

I felt it hard after I read Byung-Chul Han for some reason

[@lizzyrank5405]

​@aurorechaton7604 I like when people complain that there is no explanation of what happens when you skip. Like that's the whole point you missed the important parts because you didn't want to pay attention or just wait when things were being explained.

[@Crystal_959]

I love that the epilogue also achieves what the Narrator thought he couldn't. All of the elements of The Stanley Parable 2 come together to create a new, cohesive experience. The skip button brought us here, we go through the memory zone, find the bucket, past the name buttons and figlurines and down the bottomless hole, and we come back to the settings. Everything the Ultra Deluxe added was there and it kinda subtly serves to make you say in the back of your head "yeah, this WAS a worthwhile experience, all of these dumb little gags DID add up to something meaningful."

[@GlitchyHalo]

What I like is how one of the name buttons actually said “stanley” so that and then the broken achievement did get added so everything the narrator wanted to add did get added

[@gabrote42]

​@@GlitchyHalo I cried hsrd at that button

[@ariamentio]

It even has the “Thank you for enjoying the new content” sign, which is a lot more somber than its initial inclusion

[@verynsawyer1413]

If you take the bucket to the original New Content, the Narrator will start celebrating that he made a successful sequel lol. Some of my favorite lines from the Narrator, but easy to miss if you don't keep playing after the Epilogue

[@connorwellercheese]

The Zending and the Skip Button ending made me cry when I first played the game. I didn't like the narrator, but seeing his fear and desperation got to me in a way no other game really has.

[@Sanquinity]

It's incredible how the narrator guy could put so much emotion and feeling into just his words. Voice actors deserve more recognition in general.

[@anonymousyoutuber1405]

The confusion ending also got to me the same way.

[@GlitchyHalo]

I feel like he isn’t a bad guy (like he is pictured in such endings like the countdown ending) he is just lonely and wants to talk to you he doesn’t want you to leave

[@Th30nly0n]

I don't think I've ever gotten the zending ending, I'll have to look into it

[@psgamer-il2pt]

​@@Th30nly0nred

[@sfglim5341]

The original is extremely dense and tackles so many ideas however the most interesting to me is how Stanley is stuck in the game with no way to truly be free. Ironically the freedom ending is the path where Stanley follows the narrator blindly. No matter where Stanley goes he is trapped in a constant battle against the narrator. There is no ending where both Stanley and the narrator get what they want and in that way, The Stanley Parable is more of a tragedy than anything else.

[@sfglim5341]

I once thought the escape pod was the only way to truly be free, however I read the text on the wall and it was very sad. The escape pod only works with the narrator and Stanley left him behind in the office.

[@rue483]

yes!!!! "it's not a challenge; it's a tragedy"!!!!

[@oqo3310]

Oh, look at these two. How they wish to destroy one another. How they wish to control one another. How they both wish to be free. Can you see? Can you see how much they need one another? No, perhaps not. Sometimes these things cannot be seen.

[@A-Clear_View]

i ddon't know @@oqo3310

[@Techhunter_Talon]

Random fact: Kevan Brighting, the Narrator, also voiced a scientist in Black Mesa during the beginning segment of the game. I affectionately call this scientist 'Dr. Brighting' after the name of his voice actor. He's one of the two scientists that lets you into the chamber with the mass spectrometer in it.

[@dyciefisk2535]

I played Black Mesa after The Stanley Parable, his voice was so distinct and unexpected that it gave me whiplash

[@spooki3382]

Wait a damn minute

[@LiminalSpacedOut]

The Stanley Parable is currently a huge hyperfixation for me im so glad to get content like this about it in my recommended

[@isaacs1659]

I'm going to just say this the meaning of the video is different from what I thought and its like what he said at 34:52

[@leo_carlini]

same for me !

[@brickbuilt8312]

Same

[@SpearedMint]

Same!

[@amagicalbeing7427]

I wanted to ask if you have seen a video about a person who was a huge fan of the original but feels conflicted about the remake because I cant find it anymore

[@cactusguy4363]

My favorite detail of the freedom ending is the Narrator saying Stanley wouldn't be under anyone's control, that no one could tell him what to do, think, or feel. This being contradicted by the final line "and Stanley was happy" the Narrator literally telling you how to feel.

[@chrismanuel9768]

But you aren't Stanley. He's telling you, the Player, that Stanley was happy once he was free. In that ending, once Stanley is free, the game takes control away from you. Stanley moves in the cutscene on his own. The narrator is talking to you directly.

[@cactusguy4363]

@@chrismanuel9768 fair point

[@A-Clear_View]

hm maybe i hope@@chrismanuel9768

[@Timmytimmy123123]

17:44 It's also really interesting that the part where you deviate from the Line ™ is arguably one of the most boring environments. All you have are just the same monotone wallpapers with no decoration at all, while the other endings all featured different environments. Edit: Apparently I accidentally recreated the 'one of the most' memes.

[@VINHVCRDCYFGFD]

I knew it was the most environment!

[@Whatamidoinghereaa]

Like, why wouldn’t it be the most environments?

[@shoebillfan1963]

one of the most environment of all time

[@DogsRNice]

It's also funny how there's Skyrim music at that part

[@9another632]

Ofc it was the most enviroment

[@Watcher-pt6uq]

The epilogue I feel has an important message on the nature of games that reminded me of Undertale. That sometimes you need to put the game down, so that the story can have its happy ending. The player can choose to play the 'True Ending' or reach the Space Room and put the game down, so that the narrator and Stanley can remain happy. The Go Outside achievement may also connect with this.

[@corndogbark5915]

I think the Undertale connection is a great point, it’s what I thought of with that ending, as well. :)

[@Kazkokia]

I’m currently obsessed with undertale and Stanley parable, and I’ve recently come to a conclusion that frisk and Stanley are very similar. Both are vessels that have 0 control nor freedom. Both have to face consequences of the players actions

[@gabrote42]

​@@Kazkokia I wonder how many Guts points Kris will gather to throw US of a cliff...

[@bumbabees]

in that aspect, the stanley parable reminded me of undertale too. theyre both absolute masters of meta-commentary in video games.

[@NoteBard]

This made me rethink a bit about the game. The skip button ending I always interpreted as a representation of the meaninglessness of forever, while also commenting on the torture of solitary confinement and how The Narrator loses his sanity when he has nobody to talk to. In that regard, it can also be taken as the fact that when you have no gamers, you have no games. But the part that really stands out to me is the actual development of the game. I was always so disappointed when I heard that TSP:UD would be delayed until next year, and then this summer, and then this winter, and then next year again. I always brush things like that off, knowing that I'm willing to wait for something if it means reaching its fullest potential. A lot of games these days don't do that. After watching this video, though, I started to wonder if the choice to continue delaying Ultra Deluxe was intentional, as another meta commentary on games. The truth is though, that in being meta, it's hard to know what's real and what's a commentary. They very well could have been delaying the game as a representation for corporations delaying games to put out a final product that is incredibly lackluster (i.e. Cyberpunk), but it's just as likely that the delays were real, and they originally did mean to release the game in 2019. At this point, it's a meta commentary on meta commentary, and I'm confused, but intrigued.

[@The_OwO_Shogun]

Now you got me scared that silksong is gonna suck garbage juice when it comes out.

[@bumbabees]

yeah, that's kind of the trouble with games like this. they get so confusing you don't know what's commentary and what they're being genuine about. it's awesome though. the stanley parable is an old ass game now, but the experience has stayed the same. it's still as awesome as it was back then and Ultra Deluxe shows that.

[@dopaminecloud]

Think about what you're actually skipping with the button. You skip part of the game. That's the idea. A skip button denies the game itself and that's why it erases the game when you do it. Nothing is left. Why play games when you desire nothing but to be free of their content? You are at that point chasing the same fruitless highs as the narrator, who is equally inflexible and contradictory.

[@postbunnie]

Wait what? The ultra delux already came out. Right?

[@idkwhatslife]

Pretty sure it got delayed partly beacause of the bucket endings. they remade every single ending but with the bucket which delayed it a extra year i think

[@hacksmerian2879]

On the blue door ending, the message of veering off and doing your own thing hit much better when Minecraft and Portal were used by the Narrator

[@mystr0696]

Car ball game funny

[@Fizzymilkshakee]

Car ball game funny

[@EndlessBread70]

Car ball game funny

[@MaxEverywhereSystem]

Car ball game funny

[@SIC-zh3bl]

Portal made me happy to seee in stanley

[@braydoboss9505]

The Name Buttons at the end really got to me. The one saying "Stanley", it just made me start tearing up

[@redd__747]

The second i heard the "stanley" i broke. Genuinley broke. I didn't even know why I had gotten so emotional from a simple button which shows how powerful and well-written this story is!

[@shyguy1597]

@@redd__747 such a late reply, but the "stanley" button always messed me up too. i think it's just because in the moment with the "jim" button, the narrator goes on and on about putting yourself into the shoes of "jim." to become him, to experience life through his eyes. and the moment you as the player press that "stanley" button, it hits you HARD because you have been doing EXACTLY THAT with stanley the entire time.

[@godzillapark9075]

I completely view the epilogue ending in a more positive way were it's basically saying "who cares if people hate something the only thing that should truly matter is that YOU like" this message is also kinda stated In the skip button ending when the narrator asks why did he get so hang up on what other people said about his game

[@onedumbgamer9672]

one of my favorite bits with the memory zone ending is how once you start looking at the steam reviews, all the positive reviews are blurry and unreadable, tossed to the side or covered up by negative reviews, which is a really great commentary of negativity bias and how someone will deliberately get stuck in all the things they did "wrong" while ignoring or being unable to accept any compliments

[@Chronically_Bored]

For some reason im afraid of infinity. The idea of being in somewhere or something that i can never leave and don't know how to even begin to leave scare me. Backrooms are my personal hell. Immortality as an idea is a nightmare. Stanley parable (or at least parts of it) is a horror game to me. No way to leave, everytime you think its ended, it just loops back and you've never left. I cant describe why its scary, but its scary in the same way subliminal is to me. No escape, no matter how far you run, no matter how hard you try, you're trapped. I know its not meant to be but i find it really interesting how thie game can, all at once, be a horror game to some people, an entertaining comedy to others, and genuinely thought provoking to the rest. I think that's cool.

[@nights.omitted]

Same, random internet stranger, same.

[@bap3227]

i think infinity (or immortality) is scary too!! doing the same thing over and over again with no end eventually sucking the life out of that infinite or immortal something because theyve already done everything is absolutely terrifying, in the case of the stanley parable, its just infinity with almost no repercussions, and the fact that it has _almost_ no repercussions instead of having no repercussions at all is waay scarier in hindsight

[@seoh1501]

if you think being stuck in loop or eternity is terrifying, you should play higurashi when they cry.. its a Japanese horror/ish game that discuss those themes. It's pretty good.

[@PeterKudelin]

i agree... i can't be the only one getting chills for the skip button ending. especially that the "wind sounds" after you skip the greenery section definitely sounds like a horror creature in the distance to me.

[@keyboardstudios6960]

Close your eyes for a second and then open them again. That is what infinity feels like. If you feel nothing, that one second is infinity

[@emblemblade9245]

I dunno if you’ll see this comment but I wanted to give my thoughts on the skip button ending. Since the skip button is the culmination of the memory zone, which is the narrator’s room of nostalgia (and that ending is essentially a critique of being trapped by nostalgia), I wonder if the skip button was trying to convey that same trapped feeling. With no one to talk to, no experiences to convey with anyone but himself, the narrator starts obsessively and insanely thinking about the past, first by trying to protect the legacy of the Stanley Parable with his “from the ashes of depravity rises the phoenix of quality” review he makes up. When that fails to keep him happy he thinks about the person he used to talk with, obsessing over the need to talk with Stanley about the things he cares about again, to the point where he finally resents Stanley for not engaging with him anymore. Finally, having officially been cut off of any connection to people or new ideas, he’s left endlessly ranting about the imperfections he’s perceived in everything and everyone except for that which he still clings to. How everyone is irresponsible with their thoughts and words, are just consuming content without looking inside themselves, and are jealous of the narrator’s contentment despite the obvious fact that he is not content. It’s the dark side of nostalgia where we do anything to hold onto the memories that comfort us and prevent us from either moving forward or looking inside ourselves for change, while we lash out at those who would invalidate the worth of our precious memories, claiming they just “don’t get it” or other hurtful things. And with nobody to challenge the narrator’s erroneous way of thinking, he’s symbolically left endlessly skipping over all the other moments and objects of meaning that he could be seizing from life if he hadn’t just trapped himself in his zone seeking that moment where familiarity returns to comfort him, to validate his certainty that everyone’s missing out on something great. Which brings us to the antithesis of the skip button ending, the Figleys ending. In this ending, he returns to the memory zone in order to revisit the moments of Stanley collecting the beloved figurines, starting from the most recent and going back to the beginning. And then going back further still, revisiting all the memories he can recall to extract that good feeling from them, but unlike in the skip button ending he is able to look inside of himself by going further back in his mind, perhaps because he could talk to Stanley in a more controlled environment where he knew he’d be heard and in a sense knew his ideas mattered. So he looks inside himself and realizes the choice he made so long ago, to keep distracting himself with the same familiar experiences, only to return to that same unfulfilled need. And this time, he’s able to admit his own weakness, not lash out at the rest of the world or at Stanley for not giving him the self-fulfillment he needs to find on his own-and he is finally able to let go and start his own story, after playing with Stanley one final time. This comment is unpolished and lengthy but I just love the chance to point out how I feel these endings complement each other in theme and oppose each other in resolution, with both coming from a very silly and unassuming beginning point. From both of these endings, I feel that the epilogue logically follows. The Settings Guy comments on the narrator’s desire to preserve the original game’s legacy-did he do it by endlessly trying to protect it against all critique, or by letting it live on as one happy memory in a life that he would finally begin pursuing more memories in? Perhaps that ultimate resolution is a narrative one for the narrator, such a prominent figure in The Stanley Parable, but I’m sure the themes of these two endings can resonate with the player as well, whatever interpretation they choose.

[@nynvib276]

This took too long to read so I pressed the skip button

[@samsung4360]

* Brain cracks *

[@michaelcheng9987]

What's more to say than "I find this is a compelling argument worth considering."

[@ThisIsNotADrell]

Thank you, from the bottom of my heart. Thank You.

[@pixl2286]

Well I saw your comment and I'm very thankful for it.

[@EpicGamer-mi5ws]

Getting the confusion ending as my first ending was an experience I won’t forget. Genuine mind break.

[@insertwittyusernamehere3082]

it’s my favorite by FAR. getting to the confusion schedule and registering what you’re seeing is such an unreal experience. it was what made me realize i was in for a ride with this game 😭

[@louiekroberts]

I know we’re talking about existential fear, but something about doing one of those weird or creepy endings immediately followed by “Stanley had the feeling he was being watched” on reset genuinely used to scare me when I first played this

[@TheRandom_Boy22]

This game has been my love and joy since 2018 when I discovered it And then it came back to me in the best time of my life, when I needed it the most The whole dialogue in the skip button ending was a thing i it felt reeeally deeply with my own life I love hearing people talking about this wonderful game

[@abadgurl2010]

Did you ever play the demo? I highly recommend it! 8/8 stars!!!!!!!!!!

[@leo_carlini]

​@@abadgurl2010 is the demo different from TSP:UD ? i mean is it a + to the game experience

[@anto_point]

@@leo_carlini Yes ! The demo for the original TSP is a standalone title, with it's own secrets and Easter eggs, that you can consider like a little extra if you're craving for more ! I definitely recommend playing it !

[@TheRandom_Boy22]

@@abadgurl2010 oh yeah!!! I've loved it, the ending of that one made me cry and thearize a lot about this game and how it works, it's amazing, it has nothing to do with the game and everything to do with it!

[@aino-kaisav5504]

When I saw the game for the first time (I was like 11 or 12 probably) I was really creeped out by it. The fear of suddenly being completely alone was one of my biggest fears for a long time.

[@Tp_hedgelinghog]

This game got so wild after experiencing all the outcomes, it was dreadful, but also so amazing.

[@boinkboinky2074]

the epilogue reminds me of the ending of superliminal where everything gets explained to you as you walk through the levels, its a very moving experience for something that seems so simple as a change in perspective

[@GlitchyHalo]

Also reminded me of Max’s nightmare from Life is Strange where you live through past events and memories in the same “void” like atmosphere

[@delta_cant_sleep2762]

I think I saw someone else mention something like this but I figured I'd share my thoughts anyway. The ending that affected me the most was probably the skip button ending (like, I cried my eyes out listening to the narrator pleading for us not to push the button anymore). Even though it was such a harrowing experience for me, I found myself thinking about it for hours afterwards and eventually going back and replaying that specific ending over and over again. Eventually, I began to realize that it wasn't just the actual content of the ending that was affecting me so much, but rather what I perceived to be the underlying message. That is, the pointlessness of it all. Sure, the easy thing to realize about that is that the game didn't need the skip button and skipping over large sections searching for something new removes the game entirely and blah blah blah. But around my 6th or 7th time replaying that ending, I realized that it wasn't just the skip button that was unnecessary, but the whole concept of it. After pressing the button a couple times, the Narrator expresses joy at seeing Stanley come back, remarking that he finally has someone to talk to again. This line flew over my head initially, but I came to realize that maybe it got at something more. See, the thing is, it doesn't matter that Stanley returned, or even that he left in the first place. It doesn't matter that the Narrator has someone to talk to again because *Stanley doesn't talk*. This detail is even specifically brought up in a different ending where the Narrator gets upset that Stanley won't speak a code into a receiver in an alternate version of the boss's office. In the skip button ending, when the Narrator is talking about Stanley coming back, he specifically uses the words "I have someone to talk to again." But he doesn't. He never did. He had someone to talk *at*, not someone to talk *to*. He could talk all he wanted but Stanley would never verbally reply, he would just listen. I think the reason this hit me so hard is because I'm a pretty lonely person by nature. I hate interacting with other people and actively avoid it as much as I can. I have very few friends and even fewer I actually trust to a reasonable degree. Most of the games I own are single-player games because I don't really have anyone to play with me and even if I did, I would probably still prefer to play alone. Because of this, I find myself commentating things I do or media I consume. I'm the kind of person who pauses movies to point out plot holes or make quick comments about a character's dialogue. I commentate video games I play out loud to myself. But I do these things more often when I'm around other people (if they're ok with it, at least) because on some level, I don't care if they aren't paying attention to me, I care that they're there to listen to what I have to say. When I realized that Stanley pressing or not pressing the skip button ultimately didn't matter, I had gone through the entire run without saying a word out loud. No comment, no quip to myself, nothing. I realized it didn't matter because nobody was there to listen. I had said everything I had to say and my audience was just me, my stuffed animals, and the walls of my room. Stanley being present with the Narrator or not didn't matter because he could never talk back to the Narrator. The Narrator was essentially always talking to himself. We have the option to follow his instructions or not if we want to, but he'll always just end up talking *to* himself and *at* Stanley/the player (eg. the "wife" ending or the Mariella ending). And yet, Stanley's absence still affects the Narrator to the point of driving him insane. The game didn't need the skip button much like the Narrator didn't need Stanley to talk, it was the experience that mattered. The experience and intention of the Narrator's dialogue (no matter how repetitive) was what was important, much like the experience and intention of knowing that someone is at least listening to what you have to say. The Narrator didn't go insane because he lost Stanley, he went insane because he ran out of things to say that nobody would listen to. *He* knew all of his thoughts, but he needed *someone else* to *listen* to those thoughts. One of my college professors (for context, I'm a creative writing student) posited the idea that poetry/writing in general has no meaning if someone isn't there to read it. Even if they don't understand it, stories don't exist without their readers. I'm not sure if he heard this somewhere else and was just passing it onto us or what, but that idea really resonated with me while playing The Stanley Parable. (Idk if any of this made any sense but if you made it all the way to the end, I want you to know you're an incredible human and you deserve lots and lots of good things and also go drink some water and/or eat something.)

[@golden_fogfury]

Your comment really hit hard for me and made me understand and appreciate the game even more. Thank you. It really hits deep

[@Soup-Boot]

Very interesting! It's clear that you are a creative writing student due to the sheer amount of insight you've put into this subject. Overall an amazing read, so applause from me! 👏👏👏

[@Samantha-vlly]

I imagined myself being in narrator’s place in probably worst scenarios of my life.

[@cking4869]

My theory for the Stanley Parable is that the Narrator is almost always in control, that creating these scenarios for "Stanley" to go through is how he copes with the eternal boredom of essentially being an omnipotent being, a concept toyed with during the skip button segment. But I think one of the only times he's not directly in control and the illusion breaks down is when looking at the Steam reviews, and he actually makes up the skip button and the whole desert thing to distract himself

[@GlitchyHalo]

Also the stairs ending he just helplessly watch Stanley climb up the stairs and fall to his death Also expanding on the pressing buttons message one of the less common endings is the heaven ending where every time you restart the game somewhere there is a computer that says “Input” and you click it you need to do this 5 times and then you enter “heaven” where it’s just an endless circle of buttons to press it just shows that even in heaven you never end the cycle of just pressing buttons

[@armandbier2502]

19:10 the harsh beeping as it cuts of the narrator is the most thing of all time and i love it.

[@waffler-yz3gw]

"the most thing of all time" huh??

[@bevq2246]

@@waffler-yz3gw you heard em

[@njackson6807]

I played it with my friend, and the best part was that he couldn't tell if the cycle had truly broken or not. Because the schedule says that next The Narrator forgets about the previous restarts. So he's playing, not sure if he actually has any control in what's going on still Of course he does eventually realize that he has broken the cycle, but I found it fascinating to watch

[@senorsnout4417]

"iTs tHe mOsT tHiNg oF aLl tImE 🤓"

[@viebs_chiev]

yeah that's managed to scare me every time i've played or watch someone play reminds me of the wii death sound

[@PotatoPatatoVonSpudsworth]

The dialogue from The Broom Closet Ending (my favourite!) makes it clear that death is a foreign concept to The Narrator, so it can be assumed he's still "there" in the Skip Button Ending, but it's been so long he likely isn't cognizant anymore.

[@buddyzilla4557]

The narrator is the developer. He is the guy living day in and day out pushing buttons for work but dreaming of living grand adventures through a mental avatar of himself. These adventures culminate in a game called the Stanley Parable and thus we are getting a view of him creating the game. The Stanley avatar is a mix of the developer and a player. We are our own player but we also are connected to the developer as he is sharing the game vision and all aspects of the development process with us in metaphoric game play. When we use the skip button, not only are we just going though the most basic game play motions but we are losing our connection to the narrator. We are not only ignoring the narrative story but all the work and meaning of the developers vision in doing so. We are detaching to just the most rudimentary part of the game isolated from its quirks or deeper processes and thus from the humans behind it. Games are made by people. They have inherent unique erosnality traits and flaws which become reflected in the end product..unless the player has the option to cut out whatever they want and leave just the experience they most like. The developers ultimatyl just become commission tools to the players without their own part in it. The role of the developer is minimized and the connection between developer and player how it used to be is removed. The player experiences a game tailored to their interests and that's all. The game becomes purely product and the development process is lost to the player since they no longer need to be concerned about it. The narrator who is also the developer is silenced for his part in the game at a push of a button and becomes all the more depressed for it. Considering the making of the game was initially his, (the narrator, developer and real Stanley)'s escape this is extra sad. I think most careers goes through a similar path of lost expectations and compromise. It was this shiney new direction away from the mundane job he previously held pushing buttons (perhaps working on more technical aspects or games or in an unrelated industry) and now is in the driver's seat. The difficulties that come with developnent rear their head however and in time, even the role shifts with outside influence to put the narrator right back where he was at square one..just filling a droning role with no control, no interaction; just going through the motions and doing what was ordered.

[@Oirezthefirst]

That is deep

[@ItstoadXD]

He also literally states he hadn’t finished a room, and saying developer textures too

[@DylanPackard]

I do love that ending where you're dumped into what from my memory is the original Half Life 2 mod. The moment I dropped in I was sent back quite a ways to the old days of moddb and the like. Ahhhh humble beginnings

[@klbzplb]

The narrator is the best part of the skip ending, its such a shame how little he was mentioned in this video. His dialogue starts out meaningful and deep, but after enough skips he (likely) goes insane from the isolation. I really dont think he died (i doubt he even can) or was purposefully ignoring stanley, given he likely spent millennia completely alone. The part where he repeats "the end is never the end" over and over is the most memorable part of the game for me. I genuinely thought the sun had burnt out during some of the dark parts lol ive always been into stories about long-term isolation's effect on people, and the few glimpsed we get in the game are really amazing

[@sidneyrobinson18]

Eventually, Kars stopped thinking

[@Lumberjack_king]

3:32 honestly that car park is the scariest ending 20:27 in the old version its minecraft and portal

[@PotatoPatatoVonSpudsworth]

19:43 The Mariela Ending is also an ending I've seen a few folks put trigger warnings on, because it captures the feeling of a dissociative/anxiety-induced breakdown with FRIGHTENING accuracy. Specifically the one-two punch at the end of "I am ok" followed by "Stanley started screaming" with the rising music in the background. I'm 100% convinced it was written from a place of personal experience, and it did a better job than any horror game of activating my fight-or-flight.

[@Samantha-vlly]

Even though I watched this video, I’m not ready to play this game.

[@illuhst]

Hey man I just found your channel recently because of the GTA retrospective and I just want to say the effort you put in is seriously impressive. I've heard of the Stanley Parable before but never seen/played it and this video was so entertaining and held my attention the entire time. Keep up the great work!

[@abadgurl2010]

If you ever do play either version of the full game then please at least play the demo beforehand! I highly recommend the demo since it is it's own unique experience that manages to convey the essence of how the game will be without having to actually show too much of the game's content. The demo has a single ending that is probably the only place you'll see a glimpse of content from the full game without spoiling any of the endings from the full game. The demo also sort of shares secrets with the 2013 version of the game but some are Sligh different than how they play out in the game despite having the same commands or the same name. Also despite the single ending there's 3 different dialog paths for 2 parts of the demo but those two parts don't effect each other so it's like 6 different outcomes that can just be found through 3 playthroughs of the demo if you're clever or Googled it. Tldr: play the freaking demo bruh, it's worth it!

[@nyperold]

I don't know if anyone has pointed this out, but a great aspect of the Confusion Ending is that he spends several seconds trying to figure out which door to take... but if you look, both led to that same room all along.

[@userin26496]

i havent noticed omg, ig they gave us the illusion of choice

[@betillathefairy5771]

Man first the cod zombies retrospective, then the Grand Theft Auto vid, now this! Thank you for all this quality content.

[@amsgamingandmusic]

My thoughts exactly :)

[@yuarentlucky]

"But in his mind, ah! In his mind, he can go on fantastic adventures. From behind his desk, Stanley dreamed of wild expeditions into the unknown. Fantastic discoveries of new lands. It was wonderful. And each day that he returned to work was a reminder that none of it would ever happen to him. And so he began to fantasize about his own job. First, he imagined that one day while at work, he stepped up from his desk to realize that all of his co-workers, his boss, everyone in the building had suddenly vanished off the face of the Earth. The thought excited him terribly. So, he went further. He imagined he came to two open doors and that he could go through either. At last, choice! It never even mattered what lay behind each door. The mere thought that his decisions would mean something was almost too wonderful to behold. As he wandered through this fantasy world, he began to fill it with many possible paths and destinations. Down one pathway laid an enormous round room with monitors and mind controls, and down another was a yellow line that weaved in many directions, and down another was a game with a baby. And he called it: The Stanley Parable. It was such a wonderful fantasy. And so in his head he relived it again, and then again, and again, over and over, wishing beyond hope that it would never end. That he might always feel this free. Surely there's an answer down some new path, mustn't there be? Perhaps if he played just one more time. But there is no answer. How could there possibly be? In reality, all he's doing is pushing the same buttons he always has. Nothing has changed. The longer he spends here, the more invested he gets, the more he forgets which life is the real one. And I'm trying to tell him this. That in this world he can never be anything but an observer. That as long as he remains here, he's slowly killing himself. But he won't listen to me. He won't stop. Here, watch this. Stanley, the next time the screen asks you to push a button, do not do it." Fucking kills me everytime, it's so relatable.

[@ElliotShulman]

The amount of work that goes into these videos is insane! Need to play this game now. Great analysis and video as always, Munt!

[@anonmk2546]

I feel like this game is really underappreciated. I'm glad at least someone is talking about it like you are. Great video, keep it up.

[@13Percent52PercentYikes]

I mean, how many people need to talk about it?

[@sonic-bb]

the main thing that i liked about the game was the humor, the narrator, and how the visuals remind me of like an old school 60s style pixar film (like imagine if pixar was created in the 60s). like that old school scifi, office worker, jetsons type atmosphere lol

[@gabrote42]

14:10 Using Blackspace songs here is a curious touch. Good video 42:30 I cried at the button that says "Stanley"

[@_fudgepop01]

The skip button ending is, to me, conveying the idea that we need one another - not just as humans, not just as formless narrator to player, but as beings with unique experiences. It is the juxtaposition and fear, and the many parameters within our lives that gives it in it of itself: purpose In some ways we might think we know what we want. Many games seem to explore this in-depth in a variety of ways, with a variety of presentations. As is described in another ending, the narrator (developer) almost needs Stanley just as much as Stanley (the player) needs a story to perceive. When we get that sense of adventure - in the case of this skip button, that sense of awe with the birds and light chirping - it is quickly replaced with hollow darkness, emptiness. It presents to me a philosophical sense that extends far beyond the game itself - *what if* we all had a skip button? Who would *truly* listen to one another. It is within the seemingly-mundane that we find our purpose; our stories to follow. An endless-yet-beautiful quest for the highest highs must be juxtaposed with some of the lowest lows to have any true sense of what that even means. The bucket, serves almost as an absurdist counterbalance to this. It seems to let the player’s mind run wild and fill in the gaps. There is all sorts of lore and hidden material this way and that… its kind of fun and exciting to see what the game does as it dreams. It’s almost, in an odd sense, relatable. Somehow, for all of its loneliest moments, the Stanley parable ultra deluxe highlights to me the hidden beauty of the mundane, and the joys of sharing - and receiving - what one has created. If we truly had a skip button that worked just as described, I would be on the side that wishes to destroy it before any users succumb to the temptation to just… skip to the end.

[@_fudgepop01]

(I hope this doesn’t come across as pretentious ahahah- it’s about 4am and this video about thoughts about a game about thoughts made me think about my thoughts playing said game about thoughts that thinks the end is never the end is never the end is never the end is

[@Aaa-vp6ug]

@@_fudgepop01no, it didn’t come off as pretentious. Also, how would we go about destroying it without triggering it?

[@_fudgepop01]

@@Aaa-vp6ug NO CLUE - fortunately it doesn’t exist at this point in time ahahah~ Glad it didn’t come off as pretentious :3

[@AshJolt]

Ok real talk here The broom closet ending was peak gaming

[@SpiffeeMan]

When you get the confusion ending and in the next loop you see the adventure line through the window. Truly a horrifying experience.

[@nerdporkspass1m1st78]

I hope this video eventually reaches people who have never seen The Stanley Parable before. I couldn’t think of a more exciting introduction to the story.

[@thedoczekpl]

I hope not, this video is basically a spoiler of the whole game and is meant to be viewed by people who already played it - he's basically reflecting on what happened there

[@Icantchangemyhandlehelp]

That'd be me lol

[@Icantchangemyhandlehelp]

​@@thedoczekplI probably wouldn't play it anyway, not because it's bad but because I don't tend to play games like these, I prefer just hearing about them and watching videos of it. Just my preference tho

[@atlasdwyer8220]

Watching this video, I’m realizing how incredibly dense I am. When I played The Stanley Parable, I took everything at face value and didn’t even consider that some of the endings were critiques or allegories, I was just rolling with whatever came at me

[@UnicornStorm]

funny you mention the RPG Maker in how the indie scene began to grow in 2013. I remember the early 2000s, when there was a huge community formed around the RPG Maker 2000 (ironic, I know). Some really awesome games were shared among the community back then

[@ashkesslet1149]

Like yume nikki and off

[@UnicornStorm]

@@ashkesslet1149 well, mostly games people outside the community never heard of because they never made their way to any storefront. A few of them got noticed by PC magazines and were included in one of the issues, which came with its own problems, since most creators re-used sprites and music from other, officially released games.

[@lasercraft32]

The fact that SO MANY people made negative reviews and missed the whole _entire point_ of the game is both hilarious and deeply depressing.

[@chrispeacock915]

Like who

[@StrawberryShorty]

​@@chrispeacock915Raphael.

[@arthurpietrogarcia1057]

@@chrispeacock915 Cookie9

[@boredterran]

i've never played stanley parable and only have watched a few youtubers played it, but you hooked me form the very beginning until the end!

[@vaehtay]

The comment about how this game seems like a horror game, at the beginning, is really funny to me-specifically because I TOTALLY consider some aspects of this horror, at least to me, personally. I find a lot of the endings genuinely unsettling (The Zending, the escape pod ending, the bucket bottom of the mind control facility ending, the confusion ending…), and every time that the office changes slightly, or the narrator strays from his beginning dialogue, it is so, so unnerving to me. Sometimes I replay the Stanley Parable just to fill time or sit and think, and you have no clue how offput I was for the rest pf my playthroughs the first time the narrator said “does the office feel a little brighter today?”, or the turn leaving the very first office section switched directions, or the narrator prompted me to go check the computer in Stanley’s office again as soon as I left and left the door open for me (which let me bring the bucket to the close-yourself-in-your-office ending)

[@ashura9706]

I love the idea that this is all just Stan’s imagination running wild and he’s just at another boring work day

[@Wezryx]

Once you complete. Confusion, you never truly left confusion.

[@kiicatastrophic7213]

THE BUCKET ENDING omg I'm not sure why I was so hooked on every bucket ending but it was so good with it. Except the sad ones..

[@ARCHIVED9610]

bucket ❤❤❤❤

[@midwaygamer-ou3my]

I love how much lore was given to a bucket. Also i love how the narrator uses windows movie maker to make a 2006 classic youtube inspired video to explain how you got the collectables.

[@Cinemace81]

I love people using the Plok soundtrack as their background music!

[@Lily-ge4tm]

GIVE ME THE BUCKET STANLEY. GIVE IT TO ME. GIVE ME THE BUCKET- w h e e z e

[@Kpracn0va]

The Stanley Parable is aptly named. A “parable” is defined as “a simple story used to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson”.

[@arthurpietrogarcia1057]

Well, the simple part is a lie lol

[@jzwizzles8795]

Another absolutely wonderful review! Still amazes me how quickly you got this out after the GTA video while still having such an incredibly written script. Keep up the amazing work because I know i will continue to enjoy watching it.

[@lilithhorrell]

i can't express how worth watching this is. this has to be one of my favourite videos ever and I'm not even exaggerating

[@SISIOTW]

goddamn, this really made me realize how much I underappreciated the Stanley parable when I played it. I never finished it and initially didn't think much of it, but this video kinda made me open my eyes to it and realize what an experience it is. just experiencing the game through your lens provoked some thought from me. BTW if you wanna try out a game I'd reccomend a game called oneshot, its truly a one of a kind experience in my opinion.

[@Nuclearburrit0]

Oneshot is currently my second favorite game narrative after nier. I find it's the game that makes the best use of the 4th wall out of any piece of fiction, since it pushes it much further than most meta game, but not to the point where it stops being a coherent story. The Stanly parable has a lot to say, but in terms of just being a story it's mearly meh, which makes sense considering that that's not the point. The ways in which oneshot does NOT acknowledge it's status as fiction are equally if not more important than the ways it does. So yeah I second that recommendation.

[@SISIOTW]

@@Nuclearburrit0 you explained it better then even i could and also gave me a game to look out for(nier). you sir have left a based comment but yeah for me, oneshot is the best story ive seen in a game of my experience, its just such a special experience

[@abadgurl2010]

I definitely need to try out Oneshot and Nier, but I need to recommend the demo for The Stanley Parable if you haven't played the demo yet. It's worth a playthrough!

[@Nuclearburrit0]

@@abadgurl2010 it sure is great.

[@SISIOTW]

@@abadgurl2010 yes to both of those Also i do own stanley and have played it, just not as much as i should have

[@konthex]

an insight i found in this game that can be applied to real life is: you're also the narrator of your life, don't be afraid to contradict your initial response and do it the other way around, axplore different options and don't just go with your first impressions be critical of your on toughts and explore new ideas it might surprise you, also "the mind control machine" isn't so far from reallity, social media, gaming, TV series and shows, while entertaining have no real meaning outcome or development on one's life (for the mayority of people), and we tend to ignore real experiences more and more as years go on, the real happy ending of "stanley's parable" is for the player to turn of the game and really get rid of the mind control machine

[@YetAnotherKris]

a big thing i love about the walking in circles part is that everyone i've seen play the game immediately starts walking in circles. they look down at the red arrows, go 'right, yes, this makes sense' and they walk-

[@paulhudalla9527]

I was lucky enough to play Ultra Deluxe basically blind and it was great. I played through most of it myself but watched some of the later stuff from RTgame's playthrough. I loved the commentary on games as a medium, it's something that I knew kinda, but never noticed until this game. It messes with you in just the right way, and I love it for that.

[@KyleYu-f6z]

This video feels genuinely like an academic essay, it's like you wrote this for a game analysis assignment.

[@ControversialOpinionGuy]

The fact that this didn't win the "unique plot" category pisses me off lol

[@jhomathon]

It’s not really a “plot” if that makes sense

[@pyrite4765]

Watching someone play the Stanley parable when I was 12 was the first domino to fall that got me into existentialism

[@inner4653]

if you enjoyed the more profound aspect of the game then I would recommend checking out the beginner's guide its a game also made by davey wreden and its similar to the stanley parable but it removes the comedy and goes deeper on the profound part

[@Cherry-qh9hi]

43:24 fun fact, the bucket is straight up just a quirky addition with no real meaning, according to davey they asked the question "what can we do with unity, we couldnt with source" and decided to have the player carry an object and it being a bucket was a random decision (look up dougdoug playing stanley parable with its creator, somewhere when he gets the bucket in the expo hall i think)

[@bennie1079]

I’m sure the narrator would’ve gotten teary eyed from your kind words

[@ThatBoyAqua]

Bro, I'm not even finished with the GTA video yet lol how are you making these so fast!? Excellent work, man!

[@13Percent52PercentYikes]

Lotta time in a day

[@wasimk9131]

Wow. Just wow. Every single time you deliver. ON TIME. WITH STRAIGHT MASTERPIECES.

[@Samantha-vlly]

I watched this out of curiosity but after reading some insightful comments, I just thought of this now that I constantly talk to myself and my inner dialogue never shut up, which is almost the same as the narrator. He never run out of next thing to say and also “lead” Stanley throughout the gameplay but all of his thoughts for me feels like what my anxiety is doing to me. It leads me to question things and nitpick it to the point that my mind don’t shut up and continuously sequence random events out of nowhere(I reached a point where the moment my eye opened, a thought instantly entered, which is concerning and I never experienced it until now, it’s draining me).

[@Ixarus6713]

I think The Stanley Parable is supposed to be viewed as a metanarrative. The Narrator is it's creator and has all of the endings mapped out through notes, even creating a museum to collate and trial stories within the game. Then the protagonist enters, and so The Narrator requires someone to fulfill that role, hence, the player. The endings are all written by him. Or at least... most of them... except the confusion ending perhaps. So him saying "you're not Stanley" isn't just a 4th wall break from the developers but is also literally a 4th wall break from The Narrator. This explains why whilst The Narrator seems to insist the "true ending" the left door, mind control off ending is the canon one yet is willing to explore different endings. Because he knows the ending isn't _really_ canon. And The Narrator having fun with Stanley, like what happens a lot in Ultra Deluxe is presented more as a dungeon master essential saying "what the hell!" To their players and going along with it, hence why the humour is so much funnier when you play into it. You commit to the jokes and play it straight when it wants you to, and the game is elevated SO much. E.g: The Button That Says The Name Of The Person Playing The Game. (Spoilers!) If you commit to being Jim, you really do feel a sense of fulfillment after pressing the button, making it altogether more humorous.

[@THEenragedCORE]

I'm glad you mentioned The Beginner's Guide. I really feel like a lot of what that game said was expanded on in a really brilliant way in Ultra Deluxe, especially with the epilogue.

[@theZXDgames]

I haven't ever been happier that KZbin is recommending videos of such high-quality from smaller channels.

[@theaviator1152]

“Much like there’s no story without Stanley, there’s no Stanley without the story.” Now THAT is why that ending feels so gut-wrenching.

[@Spartacus005]

Someday I really have to write an essay about Narrative. The Stanley Parable is one of the first pieces of media that really called it to my attention, so it's DEFINITELY getting a huge chunk of time dedicated to it, along with similar pieces like Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead. Fascinating concept, great game!

[@ytuser4562]

The Stanley Parable always did freak me out, with all of its endings, for some primal, existential reason. I thought I was just weird. Glad I’m not the only one.

[@crowofcainhurst]

Every games made using source engine always give me existential dread

[@xenom2.0]

"the last few moments from the stanley parable" hit hard

[@arthurblue2216]

hearing even the beginning of the zending music gave me such a visceral reaction, ten years later

[@andreworders7305]

10:02 now that it’s on console, you can play it by literally pressing buttons

[@peazeralus]

The nostalgia part has always, ALWAYS been there and in equal measure between all generations It just really becomes more noticeable and heavy when it's your peer group that hits that stage in life

[@LordQuadros]

I only experienced the original Stanley Parable through KZbin playthroughs, but I loved it enough that I was resolved to buy Ultra Deluxe when it came out. I'm so glad I did. It's amazing how Ultra Deluxe simultaneously adds so little and so much, feeling like a wholly new experience while largely recycling what was there before. My mindset going in was that even if the new content wasn't worth the price, I already knew the old content was. Thankfully, I got more than I ever bargained for.

[@Hollower_]

I honestly think that he would really like the game Outer Wilds, because I’ve had the same gripes about modern games from big publishers and how they aren’t original anymore, and or have a story that you don’t have to put any outside thought into. The game has honestly changed my outlook on life, and meddles with deep existential themes to an extent where it’s made me appreciate all the little things. The reason why I haven’t explained what the game is; is because it’s progression is knowledge based and it’s extremely spoiler sensitive and is best experienced as blind as possible. The score is incredible too, and like how the sound design is used in the epilogue of TSP is how the entire game is with the atmosphere it builds. Please go play Outer Wilds if you haven’t yet

[@ImJerri]

Not often do I find vidoes that I find myself returning to, but this video has done it for me. There aren't many video essays about TSPUD so I'm glad that you've made this video as it touches on the themes of the game extensively. Good job on the video

[@icantthinkofagoodname.3983]

I couldn't really find the better way to put this so I'm just going to spew my unfiltered word thoughts about my favorite ending in the game. Which is the one that you get for collecting all the Stanley Figurines. While doing so at first you think "well this is clearly going to do something" so you keep getting them, and the game even encourages you to do so by changing the meeting room into a little guide area for giving hints to where they are. But notably finding the one in the shipping area leads you to a vent, and you decide to check it out cause it's either that or just do the ending where Stanley falls to his death. going through there it's revealed either one of two endings depending whether you had the bucket or not, for the sake of my playthrough I had the bucket because I thought I needed to have it to even collect the Stanley Figures, which caused me to wonder if I even could get to that area without it and I could. Upon reaching that area we learn that the narrator seems to have been a tape recorder the whole time, before he eventually fakes us out and admitting that he's just inside Stanley's head the whole time before going off about how intelligent of a twist this truly is most likely mocking the sort of "it was all just a dream/inside their head the whole time" subtly, and as a player I was also annoyed by the fact that seemingly the "cannon" explanation of the narrator was just a simple unimaginative answer. But going back to collecting Stanley Figurines upon collecting all of them in fact nothing does happen, which is a pretty funny joke at your expense, but upon the next restart the narrator invites you back to the Memory Zone to relive the memories of you collecting the figurines, but eventually the narrator wants to keep reliving the memories, and to go back and relive more ones. And then he reaches a realization where he created Stanley, which caused me to think about the previous ending where he said he was inside Stanley's head and that to me caused a connection where the narrator is Stanley. And from just that simple connection causes a recontextualization of all the previous endings in the game, the harshness of the phone ending becomes a metaphor about himself and his disappointment with his life. Anyways thanks for coming to my ted talk i hope you hated it.

[@koothic_j]

for me, one of the most profound moments is when the jim buttons appear in the memory zone and pressing one of them says "stanley". it's not even the player's own name and yet just by hearing that we can feel emotional.

[@SpammingY]

One of the main ideas (which you briefly touched upon) is the irony of it all. As you said, the ending where Stanley escapes a life of blindly following orders to the letter (literally, letters) is achieved by... blindly following orders to the letter. The "Not Stanley" ending is widely considered the actual, or "definitive" ending, since the highest level of freedom is attained. You're not Stanley anymore, even. You're just watching, much the same way as the narrator himself. The narrator is oblivious to this irony. He tries everything in his path to get you to the best, "happiest" ending, where Stanley is finally free to leave forever, and if you go that way... you end up back in the office where he'll do the same thing again. Follow his story again? Reset. Again? Reset. Again, again, again. There is no freedom in his "freedom" ending. When you try your best to achieve the max amount of freedom, by disobeying not who the narrator views to be the oppressor but in fact the narrator himself, he first discovers that you aren't the blindly obedient sheep that is Stanley, you are a player. He tries to fix you, to convince you to make Stanley do the correct things, and when that doesn't work, he ejects you from Stanley so he's not under your bad influence. But your influence, good or bad, was the only one he actually had. You were his every choice, literally down to physical motor control. And the narrator FINALLY realizes that without you, the element of choice, it all amounts to nothing. You're free. You're finally free, and you've reached the true endi- THE END IS NEVER THE END IS NEVER THE END IS NEVER THE END... It still puts you back at the beginning. And even if it hadn't, you weren't truly free. There's no way to be truly free in a video game without glitches, really- and they even made the glitches into preset, planned endings of themselves! That's where the Confusion ending comes into play. After that entire spout of nonsense you go through, you see it laid out in front of you- no, silly, it's not random. It's not special, it's not unique to you. And while you did achieve it by the choices you made, you could watch a KZbin tutorial for the ending and get exactly the same result. It's. A. Video. Game. There is no... escape. You're stuck here. Don't you see? There was never any freedom to be found, every detail was put there. Sure, you can get to open spaces like the desert or freedom ending, or even leave your (Stanley's) body, but that was all put there. You're merely at a different dead-end in the maze which was all put there meticulously, and from which there is no exit. The narrator also points that out, how he makes the story so there's not much point, but the Confusion ending takes it and just shows it to you. And when the narrator tries to "break the cycle", the game's like "nope, you can't. RESET." That's the beauty of the Stanley Parable, it's self-aware because on a certain level, that's the whole point. Did I just write an entire essay in a KZbin comment? Yes, yes I did.

[@YouTubeUser_912]

Just want to quote a line from this game that seems like it would fit with this comment. "Push 'escape', and press 'quit'. There's no other way to beat this game. As long as you move forward, you'll be walking someone else's path. Stop now, and it will be your only true choice. Whatever you do, choose it! Don't let time choose for you! Don't let time-"

[@unepintade]

My guy, breathe

[@wrathofainz]

I have the same take. It's like a barrage of words that doesn't end.

[@josephkeen7224]

When it comes to remakes/remasters, I do think on some level they are necessary. Not due to graphics, but due to incompatible tech. For example (since the Dead Space remake recently came out), from my understanding on newer machines the original game can be broken due to the game running too fast, and a much less major conclusion is how older Monolith games like F.E.A.R don’t work well with Logitech hardware.

[@oatmealraizin]

The sliders at the start of each game are creeping me out honestly. When it said “help.” i got chills up my spine.