SLENDER GAMES | A Retrospective

[@SaganHawkes]

I feel like I should put a clarification here: There are examples of let’s plays and fangames far before Slender. What these games did was popularize and shape the modern formats and conventions, not necessarily create them.

[@anonymousyoutuber1405]

Yeah, Retsupurae was FAR before Slender.

[@spinydoodles7898]

How did you play slender riding I can't find it anywhere

[@everythingcasual7377]

So, my guy. I have a question... how does it feel that you’re voice is in the “Sleep aid” arsenal for many folks including myself?

[@RennyNanaya]

while I appreciate the clarity, I'd argue that it's "de-evolved" the scene. Let's plays at one point were very similar, but major players tried moving closer to a curated content with appropriate set dressing, maybe some scripting, and even full on skits and scenes. There was an attempt to "move away" from unscripted reactionary let's plays at the time, and then Slender man came around and saw a resurgence in the reactionary let's play format and even more fully popularized it thanks to scary games providing more entertaining reactions as well as proxies to watch games that people wouldn't play normally.

[@dankshatter4906]

you played the 8 pages weird

[@forgetmenot7846]

Fun fact Slender: the 8 Pages’ map contains locations from Marble Hornets, like the red tower thing, the tunnel where Alex killed that random dude in the series and the pages that you collect are Alex’s drawings.

[@yourfatboy5359]

Another fun fact : the slenderman model from that game looks exactly like the operator from marble hornets

[@Mike14264]

...there's a red tower in the game? Are you talking about the silo?

[@forgetmenot7846]

@@Mike14264 I’m not exactly sure what it is but I remember it appearing in Marble Hornets when Alex was scouting the locations for his student movie and when Jay and Tim found a tape or something left there by Brian or totheark. I think. I also remember stumbling upon it in the game. That’s what I was referring to.

[@ark_awaits3367]

YES

[@xenogokublack3443]

@Mr. Blackwhite Fun fact 8 pages game is base off of the secret level in slender the arrival called Genesis

[@kaijuslayer3334]

Slenderman is interesting to me since it’s the perfect example of a legend or myth, created in the Digital Era. A piece of folklore that would spread not only via the old methods of way of mouth, but also through the digital realm. Ensuring the young of the internet could never look into the forest at night without feeling a chill going down their spine.

[@Mike14264]

Yeah... On the other way, it did backfire in a way that no one could've expected and, honestly speaking, everyone should've expected.

[@kaijuslayer3334]

@@Mike14264 *proceeds to not elaborate how it backfired*

[@Mike14264]

@@kaijuslayer3334 fair enough. Two teenage girls got obsessed with the mythos, to the point of losing themselves in their own delusional reality where Slenderman not only exists, but also tells them that he will kill them unless they sacrifice a friend of theirs, after which they would become his proxies. Suffice to say, what actually happened was a brutal, but thankfully non-successful, murder attempt in the middle of the woods that tarnished the urban myth's reputation for a few years, and also reinforced the idea that some people shouldn't be allowed near the Internet.

[@kaijuslayer3334]

@@Mike14264 Oh yeah true. See compared to something like FNAF or the Halloween franchise or just any media franchise. The fact Slenderman is a legend rather then a media license means there’s a bit of uncertainty. With the possibility of people believing it to be real being quite high in comparison. Now this is helpful for the fear factor of it being a good story, but this also means it can affect or compel people in a negative way.

[@Mike14264]

@@kaijuslayer3334 yeah, that is true... It feels more real, but it can feel too real for the more mentally... unstable. Or gullible.

[@Lh0000]

Thing is…. Now that slender is old and not mainstream anymore, we could probably get a sort of revival with like actual quality games again. Because slender isnt a bad idea, and the idea still hasn’t been “perfected” yet. I would love to see some more games try there hand at it.

[@UnfunnyFigs]

I would love to make a slender game but I have no experience in coding or game making of any kind

[@cheetobambito9724]

@@UnfunnyFigs If you like math or are atleast good at it go on youtube and spam youtubers until you find one that has a skillshare discount code. use it and take a course in coding basics and see if you like it. if you do then you should think about going into a IT school or taking online coding and programming classes.

[@faruki6956]

I would definitely like a new slenderman game to release, and I agree with you completely the idea still hasn't been perfected yet.

[@phoebeaurum7113]

I think the work that would need to be done to make Slenderman work any better than its initial success would be misguided.

[@saltystick_99]

I think Haunt is as close as we'll get to a perfect Slender game in my opinion. But as you said, it's not perfected yet. I think Slender Man could benefit from an adaptive/quick A.I. And maybe, if someone manages to make a perfect Slender Man game, they could include the forest that started it all from The Eight Pages as a map.

[@joenathan8059]

I was truly scared of slenderman when I was younger. I was constantly looking out of my window at night thinking I was gonna go missing one day

[@DS-dj2od]

Same, I had trouble going to sleep when I was in elementary school bc I thought marble hornets was real lol

[@ViktorEnjoyer]

Same my guy. I had nightmares galore because of good ‘ole slendy.

[@cosmicdahlia]

I had to shut my eyes and avoid looking out the window riding the bus to school because there was a section where we rode through the woods lol

[@joenathan8059]

@@cosmicdahlia bro same shit!

[@joenathan8059]

@@ViktorEnjoyer I never had nightmares but I was afraid that if I did I was gonna be a sign that he was after me

[@OnemarioOLDCHANNEL]

The flashlight in The Eight Pages has battery life. Keeping it off for extended periods early on will make it not as dim for later segments.

[@angelschair9388]

I remember some nights long ago where me and my cousins would walk around my house (kinda rural) at night and pretend we were in Slender.

[@thehamburgergod5543]

Me and my cosin did that alot too, good old times

[@gama103]

Dude are you my cousin by any chance? Lol We used to do the same with a video camera

[@kittykittybangbang9367]

It sounds like what my mom and her siblings used to do, they used to pretend to be Jason Voorhees or Freddy Krueger in their backyard.

[@KlutzyNinjaKitty]

Omg, that actually sounds awesome. I didn’t know a lot of people my age back when I was younger (no nearby kids or relatives, and didn’t get along well with kids from school) so the best I had was playing late night hide and seek with my dog, lol

[@sarabreitfelder5211]

One of the first videos I watched of Markiplier's is when he fell through the map during the generator room in Slender: Arrival

[@-megawolf-805]

I revisit that clip all the time. His surprise mixed with rage is hilarious.

[@monkeynt5780]

My first video from him was him playing the secret level

[@Fuzxguys]

I remember encountering that glitch I was so mad because it was on highest difficulty at the time

[@voidify3]

In my edgy 12yo creepypasta phase I came up with the idea that slenderman came from a different dimension where all the people were faceless and had tentacles coming from their backs, and the one we know was a random murderer who found a portal. I drew members of his species just walking around in regular clothes, with their kids, face polish commercials, etc. I think I even came up with explanations for how they see and eat without visible eyes and mouth

[@thebroman500]

that actually dosent sound too bad

[@sixbases6793]

Holy cow and I used to think my edgy era was bad

[@CreamCakes420]

Okay but I'm still finding the idea of a bunch of normal looking slender doing stuff a funny concept

[@voidify3]

@@CreamCakes420 yeah it was pretty funny

[@musicmaddnes4044]

Bruh i had the same thing but it was about jeff and slenderman

[@poweroffriendship2.0]

Ah yes! _Slender: Eight Pages/Arrives_ is the bread-and-butter to creepypasta enthusiasts and Let's Play content back in the 2010s. It's all fun and games until that tall, faceless creature with tentacles is lurking behind your back and the statics came loose to your doom. Also, there's another underrated jem of a game called _Hotel 626._

[@OleksiyAntonkin]

You've meant Arrival?

[@poweroffriendship2.0]

@@OleksiyAntonkin Arrivals yes. It's just that my spelling errors that bothered me.

[@tareasderick6488]

WHY DO I KEEP FINDING YOU

[@OleksiyAntonkin]

Looks like Mr.Friendship is popular

[@alenmack3471]

You can’t play Hotel 626 anymore. I actually thought it was on the 360 at first because there were a bunch of other games like it, just not horror games.

[@gomotion]

super stylized and comprehensive stuff as always! your retrospectives rock dude

[@JohnMBlue1992]

is nice indeed, was hopping somebody would do a vid on some of the Slen’s games through out the mid to late 2010s! also nice too see you Gomotion!!! is nice :]

[@mittens5789]

Inb4 "omg gomotion"

[@dalewattson]

could you and sagan collab? you guys are both so good at this shit

[@gomotion]

@@dalewattson i mean if hes down im down lmao. i love his stuff

[@skewerzz]

omg gomotion saganhawkes crossover?? what a day 🤩

[@beef9785]

I would love to see a modern AA slender game, it has so much potencial to bring the popularity back

[@OleksiyAntonkin]

You mean AAA?

[@beef9785]

@@OleksiyAntonkin Nop, AA really, i don't trust big studios with huge budget doing a slender man game

[@OleksiyAntonkin]

Alright then

[@S1lliest_Beanz]

but why, just let slender rest in peace

[@ronnieradon]

We’re seriously adopting the term “AA”… god it’s like insulting to medium size devs…let’s not.

[@AHAY203]

I love that SlenderMan has had a tiny bit of relevance for the first time in years. There's even a small group of ARG creators (slenderverse gen 3) that created even more webseries recently.

[@TheFos88]

Really? Good stuff? Or just more of the same that we've seen so perfectly from the older creators?

[@CitrusRev]

@@TheFos88 no need to be an ass

[@habitsrabbit]

@@CitrusRev he's right though. I love the Slenderverse but it's all basically a copy paste of better content.

[@1FenFen1]

@@TheFos88 The more recent series do have some original concepts, like some protagonists having some supernatural abilities. I'm in contact with some of the "big" gen 3 series(I Could Make You Care, REMSleep, 2FreeEnigma, etc), and they just describe gen3 as "fuck the Marble Hornets rip-offs. do whatever the fuck you want!!". Pushing the artistic freedom the Slenderverse allows to the extreme, I guess.

[@TheFos88]

@@CitrusRev I asked a genuine question as I was interested and curious. Don't know why you read that attitude into my comment. All cool here (and two weeks ago lol)

[@pogo5909]

do a The Joy Of Creation retrospective, I'm really interested to see your views on that game

[@theghosttm8245]

That is my fave FNaF fan game. Idk if I like the story mode or the reborn better. Cannot wait to see the Ignited Collection for the FNaF initiative

[@pogo5909]

@@theghosttm8245 Ik apart from fnac tjoc is deffo my favourite too, I had so much fun playing it, even on the attic level. The fazbear initiative will not be complete for me without TJoC

[@jhuh24]

Slender definitely had a big impact. Like even in the recent Little Nightmare 2 you see some possible Slender inspiration. I also feel that Sender's concept has 95% of untapped potential. I hope to see more Slenderman games return someday.

[@tdgarts]

Even 6-8 years later my favorite Slender let's play to watch is 11 Drunk Guys. Still cracks me up

[@maisj26]

11 Drunk Guys are absolute legends, I love their Slender and FNaF videos

[@josetomascamposrobledano4618]

Greatest topic! Slender truly is internet history! You could say that Slender made Pewdiepie, his first video was recommended for the longest time and every fangame/sequel afterwards followed with a high increase in view count (it was during the Slender age that he surpassed Smosh). Not to mention that Markiplier went from a 1K channel to 40-100k doing Slender (attributed to his constant collaborations with Yamimash, another Slender content creator with a slightly bigger audience back then). The games themselves were interesting and varied. The original games (made by Parsec) forced you to look back just before getting caught in order to gain a Sprint Burst and create distance! On the other hand there was the “Slender man’s Shadow” collection. They were kinda messy when creating meta strategies, some were easy, like Slender Mansion, just explore and get the items avoiding looking back. On the other hand others like Elementary forced you to memorize layout because they had a time-limit (Slender’s aggression becomes to high to overrun) and finally there were the unfair like Prison, the original release was only beaten with an infinite sprint glitch. By searching the internet for hours I only found 1 real victory run, no doubt the game was an RNG fest without any QA testing. In short, this games could have a meta. Obviously the main strategy was learning Layout, but when they added extra mechanics the formula was somewhat addicting. No wonder DBD and other Asymmetrical games are so popular, being the underdog getting chase by a dangerous individual with extra tools of protection for depth equals countless hours of play!

[@SealShpeeDaSweggy]

I'll have to correct you on a few things. Although the Slenderman's Shadow maps on FPSC were quite easy, Elementary was not on a timer. The one you were thinking of is Prison, and that's the reason why people sprint at all times to try and beat the game since it's the most effective strategy to date. There's about 12 videos on KZbin of Prison victories (including a video of me beating it which you can check out.) Also, the infinite sprint isn't a glitch. It was a game mechanic where the more you sprint, the slower your maximum speed goes overtime. Marc Steene, the creator of SMS, said that the map before Prison (7th Street) was WAY too easy so he made the Prison map extremely difficult to give everyone a challenge. This was just all in FPSC. The unity game for Slenderman's Shadow improved the maps a lot and they were not always easy. However, the Unity version of Prison is easier than the FPSC one.

[@josetomascamposrobledano4618]

@@SealShpeeDaSweggy Just looked at the video. Congratulations! Thank you for uploading so many gameplays of the old Slender games. I’ll be sure to check the others later to celebrate Halloween! This games are the childhood of many, so finding new gameplay videos in 2021 makes me very happy!

[@SealShpeeDaSweggy]

@@josetomascamposrobledano4618 Thank you so much! That means a lot.

[@tonys6620]

@@SealShpeeDaSweggy I'd argue that FNAF did to Mark what Slender did to Pewds for their popularity

[@kremstoin]

I could never stomach playing the original eight pages, it was too scary xD

[@TheFos88]

The music, atmosphere, and ambience and the constant increasing in intensity and dread was always too much for me too.i think I only ever managed 7 pages.

[@valletas]

lol i remenber being too scared to play when i was a kid im now a veteran of horror in general its my favorite genre out there so slender man doesnt do much for me anymore

[@barebevil.]

Slenderman games have nothing on outlast. If you though slender was scary. Never play outlast. You well... Wont last

[@TheFos88]

@@barebevil. oh yeah without a doubt you gloomy lil butter stick

[@martmine4618]

Linear horror is boring to some people, walk for 15 minutes and get hit with a scripted jumpscare isn't as scary as trying to fight off an A.I that has the upper hand.

[@scaredycat7118]

Despite all of Slender: The Arrival's issues, it was the game that made me obsessed with Slenderman and the creepypasta characters when I was 13. Even though I've moved on from creepypasta, I still visit the fandom time to time and also pay my respects to Slender: The Arrival for getting me into the fandom

[@NToniiiii]

It's kind of sad to see how nobody talks about Slender: The Arrival's "Homestead" level. Simply one of the greatest horror levels in gaming.

[@dogeshark204]

The abandoned mine level was great too.

[@xirochamber5863]

Especially when you go into the cellar. The silence of the ambiance and the flickering lights only to see a weird woman in the back staring at you on the other end that you need to get to. Chilling

[@oculism5158]

Homestead breaks all the issues that the other levels of Arrival had while also building enormous amounts of tension *IN DAYTIME.* broad daylight usually makes for bad horror ambience hence why most horror games work in the dark and yet they somehow made it work.

[@monokuma9937]

Loved the oneyplays reference I honestly wasn't expecting it hahaha

[@deeznutes1662]

slenderman slenderman takes a dump in a coffee can

[@purple5823]

I love Slender and his games and honestly I think the arrival is really underrated. The atmosphere and ost of this game is amazing and always manages to still make me scared everytime I play it, (although the fear starts to go away when I focus more on beating the game) Although I remember watching videos of the original slender and I never understood what was up with the let's players. The game gives you a path to follow that leads you straight to the pages yet everyone just walks right into the woods.

[@eldricshadowchaser5454]

I wonder if Slenderman's relevance/popularity will ever have a nostalgia driven revival at some point like what happens with other memes from time to time.

[@Slipperyslab]

I really hope so

[@coolzen3337]

Fnaf had one so this should too

[@XxFlamexX14]

Honestly, I think the game "Slender Man: The arrival" should've been the 2018 movie's plot instead of "Lolol dumb teenage girls summon slender man and get killed"

[@projectkepleren]

slender started as a Photoshop but now it's a pretty good shit

[@poweroffriendship2.0]

Same goes for Jeff the Killer.

[@projectkepleren]

@@poweroffriendship2.0 I don't remember jeff the killer having a game let alone being something I remember at all lmao

[@poweroffriendship2.0]

@@projectkepleren Well, I'm talking about Jeff the Killer started off as a Photoshop.

[@poweroffriendship2.0]

@@dioxoi8369 I think what ruined Slenderman is that one incident where the girl got stabbed. Creepypasta is not about being edgy and bloody, it's supposed to be somewhat ambiguous and mysterious to the point where you can't tell if it's real or not, which it causes a great impact on the readers. Slenderman is a mysterious creature that comes from the fear of unknown.

[@yourfatboy5359]

Just look at tribe twelve and marble hornets!

[@cannibalisticrequiem]

I need to point out that in terms of Monster Movies that influenced Slender Man, I recall Eric mentioning that the character of The Tall Man portrayed by Angus Scrimm in the 1979 horror cult classic Phantasm was a major influence on Slender.

[@EdgeMuffin]

Slender along with amnesia were the first two games that really got me interested in the horror genre of gaming in terms of both playing it myself and watching lets plays. No other games have quite given me the same sense of fear or nostalgia that those two have.

[@gggles472]

Haven't watched it yet, thank you for this upload ahead of time. I love your retrospectives.

[@5uperM]

Ah Slender. Back when I actually was scared by creepypastas. Now everything is just so well explained. There's nothing to be scared of.

[@yourfatboy5359]

Then go watch marble hornets and tribe twelve as well as everymanhybrid these are great slenderman web series and you don't get to know anything about slenderman (or should i say the operator and the administrator)

[@5uperM]

@@yourfatboy5359 you do realise that all of these are old series. I mean sure Everyman Hybrid ended like a year or two ago, but by that point it had very little to do with Slenderman and was more focused on Habit.

[@yourfatboy5359]

@@5uperM except that in every good slenderman story he is barely seen he's the back drop and it's more focused on the main protagonist's progression because of slenderman plus there was going to be a ending to tribe twelve where firebrand stabs the administrator with a nazi blade covered in Kevin's blood and habit was going to train noah (which i find funny because emh was originally a training channel)

[@meghanstewart7630]

Throwback to when I was in seventh grade and I told a girl in youth theatre that slenderman wasn’t real and she cried

[@typicalfella]

The first thing i think of when remembering Slenderman is: "Hahaha little Herobrine i am cooming in your mom" So it's basically impossible to make someone scary when you think that whenever you see them

[@rafaelalodio5116]

I remember the original game, playing it with lights out and getting spooked with friends, it was a legit creepy experience.

[@billygoodmeme7635]

Anyone remember the OG game based off of MarbleHornets that predates Hadley's game by a year? While not part of the trend I still think it deserves a mention

[@thewitheredstriker]

I don't, can you elaborate?

[@MrSlendyMannn]

I remember staying up till early hours of the morning with my friends back then, sat on my crummy i3 win 7 laptop, waiting for the next Slender Man’s shadow map to release while looking on Tumblr and ordering domino’s at 3AM. Damn I miss those days.

[@samuelbillman8663]

The part with the girls and stabbing in the Slender movie was based off of an ACTUAL attempted murder where two girls lured a friend into the forest and attempted to stab her to death as a way to keep the Slender Man from getting them.

[@maddoxio]

5:39 The natives reacting to Christopher Columbus

[@strawby]

I remember being so into slenderman years back! Kinda weird to think about, honestly.

[@misteryA555]

My experience with Slenderman was playing the original free to play game because it was free and all the youtubers were doing it. I managed to get lost every. time. and ran into the fence marking the edge of the map 50 times more than I ever encountered Slender man. And when he finally would show up, I'd gladly walk to my death knowing that at least then I wouldn't have to navigate the forest anymore. I never, not once, collected more than two pages before dying Ten or so years later I get lost on numbered streets I walk every day. The cycle continues

[@livecoilarchive1458]

You make an interesting point about going viral on the internet at 6:24. Would love an expanded video essay about this topic, maybe organized as a brief history of the biggest viral sensations in each year from 2000 onward?

[@yourfatboy5359]

Here is a summary After marble hornets a lot of other people made there own web series then turned into a connected universe then in 2012 the game was made and slenderman got popular and killed the character

[@Naharu.]

@@yourfatboy5359 I think they meant a deep-dive about the concept of anything going viral online and how thats almost impossible in todays internet space

[@livecoilarchive1458]

@@Naharu. Ding ding ding ding

[@bigblue207]

@@Naharu. that made no sense to me. Stuff goes viral all the time. Tiktok is pretty much predicated on the idea that anyone can go viral at any time, same with Twitter. I mean yeah it's derivative from musical.ly and Vine but anyway. Maybe he meant something with staying power but you can't say amongus and fall guys didn't burn bright much like the eight pages did. I really can't understand what he meant by that regardless of what definition he was using of "going viral". Random mundane things still get millions of views out of nowhere, random mundane games and music and movies still go big from time to time. If anything I'd say there are just so many more viral things now that it's hard for anything to really stick around for long and you have a lot of things competing for your attention, but that's not the same as saying things don't go viral anymore. It's just too many things are going viral too close together and even if something gets the most attention something else will probably come replace it soon, but they both still went viral. To me "viral" means it didn't necessarily have much effort or really come from a place that had a large audience but then by some stroke of luck or algorithm or something it's exposed to a much larger audience that's receptive to it, and I'd say depending on what specifically it is getting anywhere from a few thousand up to like a million views or interactions or whatever could be said to have gone viral

[@linzerlinzer2264]

@@bigblue207 What he meants is that nowdays stuff can reach like 100 m view and not become viral since internet has become so big and topics,fandoms,interests are pretty much separated.Back in the day around 2012 if you posted something and it became popular it affected almost everyone.That's what i remember too

[@somekindaperson6751]

Favorite line in this video: "Just scream when the white man pops on screen."

[@zoppletee5400]

I will admit to chuckling to this line. Very good.

[@Grayest_Fox]

Being a native in the 1800's be like

[@BLANKONTOP]

I trend to do that alot🙏🏾

[@scottybeard5205]

Slender: The arrival holds a special place in my heart!

[@Grandmaster_Dragonborn]

I would love to see a sequel to Slender: The Arrival.

[@MissYamIherexxx]

The ending is left open for a sequel, so who knows

[@TheStrongSkye]

Not gonna happen due to the copyright sadly, Mark Hadley even confirmed he's not going through that again

[@carnifex423]

jesus. seeing slender rising again actually gave me whiplash, i played that game all the time as a younger me. i completely forgot about it until i watched this video

[@quinn9022]

slender has had such a huge impact on so much within the media. i mean, look at stranger things, even! the season 1 antagonist, the demogorgon, is a tall, faceless creature that takes people to another dimension. the parallels can’t be ignored here

[@scoreplank]

and there's also a scene in the first season where joyce describes the demogorgon in a way quite similar to how slenderman is described in the slenderman audio "it took my jessica and now it's coming for me"

[@kammc-]

I feel like I'm the only one who's played Slender Elementary. The atmosphere was super scary and still gives me chills, all the echoes and voices from hell after collecting the 7th teddy bear. Only problem was it was very difficult and too easy to get unfairly cornered with no way out.

[@u_mirin_brah6674]

such a professionally made video, good job man keep it up

[@bubblegum1366]

My favorite bit of trivia about these games is that the creator got his start writing Powerpuff Girls fanfiction lol. I was a huge fan of his stories as a kid, and I recognized his name immediately when the game came out.

[@memerman1236]

I remember playing this as a kid and when ever he appeared I was to scared to continue so I kamikaze towards him.

[@lpfan4491]

I remember having a particular concptual fondness for Haunt: The Real Slendergame in my Kid and Teen-years. It's one of these "Too spooky/hard for me" games that I still wouldn't play today because the lighting makes it hard to see and one always has to be on the move, but that atmosphere was what made it so interessting. Was a real treat to see it on youtube.

[@whoa4440]

Slender rising escape gimmick was the best in my opinion,it would be hard to look away from such a creature,but looking away is the only way to save yourself so feels really realistic

[@gavinspace]

i ended up playing slender and screen sharing it to my friends but we couldn’t find all the pages and died, you’d think id have something more interesting to say, but nah, just felt like sharing

[@saltystick_99]

One of the creepiest things I remember from Slenderman's Shadow (specifically the Unity port of Elementary) was I went to the dead end to get a teddy bear early on to get it out of the way. And I looked out the window and just saw Slender Man in the fog. I feel like _that's_ the foundation of horror and what makes Slender Man so scary.

[@morganhay3968]

Never really thought about the similarities between Slenderman and 'the shape' from Halloween, but yeah, that makes sense actually.

[@sturnella6882]

My interest in Slenderman, as someone who likes horror as a concept but is freaked out by horror movies and games without some level of separation (why I like watching analysis videos), is partially due to my fascination with internet horror and urban legends. But I cannot escape the fact that it is also a result of reading a crossover fanfic between Slenderman and fucking My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic as a teenager and having my brain rewritten. I should try to find it sometime, I remember it fondly as being good, or at least good enough to permanently lodge itself in my psyche.

[@chris_t2020]

I think you missed an important game that was relevant before Slender jumped into the Unreal Engine, its name is Slender's Woods. If I recall correctly it was the first slender game to introduce a storyline into a Slender game.

[@andreasottohansen7338]

11:00 i will never get those FOV purists. I have yet to meet a game where i have had a problem with the FOV.

[@b.3277]

Its just Jerma, hes probably joking

[@ronnieradon]

I know right? It’s so weird to me. And I use a monitor with my xbox, I play up close.

[@-K_J-]

I admit i kind of hope for a slenderman revival. Maybe not yet, but someday. A lot of the initial appeal did get sucked out once he got into the mainstream but i also feel like there's more spooky possibilities to him that haven't been explored.

[@deidarafangirl911]

Once, I played 'Slender Tag' in a real forest on my birthday. My cousin and my friends went ahead of me and set up some pages along this nature trail by our houses and someone was 'IT' while I tried to find all the pages. It got pretty cold though, so I ended up getting caught while trying to warm up. I remember walking back to my cousin's house, wondering if we'd grabbed all the pages, and hearing someone scream behind us lol. I think we might have given a dogwalker some nightmares.

[@rhay1255]

stop right now i’m obsessed bc ever since matpat revealed he was supposed to do a slender theory, i have been waiting for someone to drop a video like this on slender

[@cannibalisticrequiem]

Also I still remember several years ago when I attempted to play the free demo for Slender: The Arrival on my 360, this was well after the Slender craze was a thing (around 2017) and I just decided to give it a go because it was Halloween and I had nothing better to do (too old to Trick-or-Treat and I don't have kids of my own to take Trick-or-Treating and I've never been interested in partying and drinking so Halloween parties were out). I was pretty early into the game-- at least I assume it was still early on, and I was near this swamp or lake area and had to turn on four generators to light up some flood lamps out in the middle of nowhere, and I ended up getting stuck for 45 minutes wandering around trying to leave the area, and Slender never showed up! I was so disappointed I shut off the demo, deleted it, and went on to play the demo for the Goosebumps point-and-click adventure game, and had far more fun with that than I did trying to play Slender: The Arrival!

[@xirochamber5863]

Slender the arrival was a really scary game to me. I remember going into the cellar to collect stuff in it and the ambiance immediately going silent and down the hallway of the cellar stood a shadowy figure of a emaciated woman. I never wanted to delete a game as fast as that slender game. Legit terrified me. No jump scare or nothing just seeing that messed up girl down the hallway messed me up for days.

[@Elbeno6548]

This is my ranking of the games talked about in this video 1) Slender: The Arrival 2) Slender Rising 3) Slender: The Eight Pages 4) Haunted Memories (Slender: Haunt) 5) Slender Man's Shadow

[@Sad-Lesbian]

I don't care too much for Arrival, but that section in the underground storage thing where you're looking for a can or something? Fucking terrifying. There are moving shadows and it's real scary without really having anything chasing you.

[@slenderminion2229]

You can probably tell by my name that i was and still am a huge fan of Slender Man as a character. Videos on Slender: The Eight Pages were around the time when i first started to really learn the English language and it kicked off my fascination with horror, so the name means a lot to me. While i am sad that he no longer has the relevance that he used to have, not helped by the tragedy associated with him and the horrible Sony movie that was honestly just a cash grab from someone who never bothered to really learn what the character is about, i am happy that his influence still lingers. I see it less as Slender Man having packed his things and left completely and more as him having retired. He knows he had his glory days and now he's content with watching the younger indie horror games he inspired grow up to become greater than he ever was, happy to be referenced once in a while so he's never forgotten.

[@PhantomDogman]

I remember watching video of someone managed to get over fence but of course Slenderman catched that player and in a way it was said, "you thought you could escaple", or something like that.

[@Elbeno6548]

I've memorised the Eight Pages map and every time I play, I know where all 10 landmarks are

[@shardell]

I’m glad you shouted out slender rising. It’s a shockingly well done game, some of the best horror atmospheres I’ve ever seen, still the best on mobile to this day. There’s this sort of aura when playing a game, where you can tell whoever made it had a ton of talent and eye for atmosphere, and slender rising 1 and 2 are absolutely full of it. Well worth going back to.

[@DredgenFenrir]

*Mentions Markiplier before Pewdiepie* Mark - "No longer am I shackled to the laws of mortality, for I have transcended above god himself!"

[@gamechanger8908]

Jack: :(

[@theskullkid7443]

About time dude, it's been too long without one of your banger videos Nah but seriously, you're fuckin worth the wait my guy

[@luna_knight_6777]

I remember watching the first fnaf retrospective, 10 months ago, ot feels like 2 months ago, and yet so much has changed, your work is amazing and I always love seeing your next post.

[@koji6745]

What I got away from this was that the '20 Dollars Mode' in the original slender game existed and wasnt a hallucination. I am shooketh

[@bluewave1685]

Slender: The Arrival is absolutely the definitive Slenderman experience. Yes, it does have problems but it felt like there was a lot of effort out into the story and atmosphere. The environments were the strongest they’d ever been and felt genuinely unnerving

[@zoppletee5400]

Im sad about the boy, but he had a good time while he lasted

[@smokeydapear6893]

Damn this brought me back, slender the arrival was such an experience for me back when I was a kid. Seeing Slender watching you from the top of the hill during the first generator section made like, 12 year old me shit myself. Remember the secrete level from the beachball and how haunting it was

[@madvillain5732]

Amazing work as always, I can’t even tell you how much serotonin your retrospectives give me

[@xFluing]

You can also see slenderman's influence in the minecraft endermen. While slenderman himself is not around anymore, the concept mutated and became the still-lasting enderman.

[@pancakes8670]

We need a revamp to this series. It would be awesome if there was just one, really good Slender game in the modern day to send off the genre

[@chestercheese8605]

the fact that u didnt put that slender the arrival was written by the guys from marble hornets hurt me,,,,

[@yourfatboy5359]

Same, he also got a few things wrong lore wise when he was talking about sta, what a also hurt me was the fact that he didn't mention the slender verse

[@catbug8509]

The entire slender genre makes me so nostalgic. takes me back middle school where me and my other nerd best friend would watch you tubers play them at sleepovers. every fandom is coming back why don't we bring back creepy pasta

[@renanleandro5914]

I have a friend that went to watch the Slenderman movie on theather. There was practically no one else on the room and he said that when he was buying the ticket, the lady specifically said that they don't accept returns for tickets.

[@therealzeldamasterofminecr2434]

Whos here after hearing about the Slender: The Arrival remake as well as the sequel S: The Lost Chapters

[@JurassicClark96]

"Just scream when the white man comes on the screen" You can never tell behind a closed door whether I'm playing Slender or looking at my crush's Instagram

[@deadlocks]

i love how just 2 days ago i was reading super in-depth into the slender wiki... and now this video exists

[@TheFos88]

Even all these years later I still regard Slenderman as my favorite horror legend next to Freddy Krueger. The entity always super intrigued me as there was and still is a lot of mystery and psychological depth to his existence. I've never cared for typical slashers (Halloween) or cheap cringey thrills (FNAF). Where I do admit I have a lot of nostalgia is definitely when this was so viral and spawned absolutely fantastic and terrifying creativity in the horror community. Marble Hornets, Everyman Hybrid, Tribe Twelve... Just fantastic and well executed psychological horror coming from regular everyday people for the most part. The games were always hit or miss but Arrival was like you said the better of them all for sure.

[@Guzg95]

The cut to Zach making a yo mama joke was a pleasant and unexpected surprise 🤣

[@SpectrumAnalysis]

For clarification: the whole storyline in Slender: The Arrival, with Kate's friend making a tape of his investigation of the farmhouse, the proxy that looks like a malnourished child in rags, the burnt out house you can visit on your way to the 8 pages section, all of that was NOT IN THE ORIGINAL ARRIVAL GAME. That came as a later patch or version of the game. So it had much less content when it first came out.

[@Eidings-Mc]

Thank you for making this great retrospective. It was an interesting journey through the era of the slenderman. I also always like it, how you incorporate the scheme and atmosphere of the games into your videos, it's a lovely touch which gives it a sorta defenitive feeling. So it was a lot of fun to watch ^^

[@ts45wF3]

Slender's Woods is my favorite.

[@TheVardener]

I think this is something that I haven't seen done properly with the popularization of the deep lore. The fear of the unknown origin. It's sadly something I think is very difficult to do both of, considering I love both concepts. Having no idea where Slenderman comes from is part of it to me. The fear of the unknown, because anything your mind makes up will be scarier than having it answered. It's one reason I respect the creators of Marble Hornets for keeping the origins of the Operator a secret, saying they have the answers, but if they gave it away no one would be scared of him anymore. Now I have no idea if thats because his origin is dumb or its just part of the horror, either way, the unknown is the best part in my eyes.

[@malum9478]

"just scream when the white man pops on screen" 5:42 AAAAAAAAA

[@nightdog4183]

Honestly my favorite game has to be The Arrival, god i loved playing it so much. Through i hated the generator level in that area ngl, i remembered how i called Proxy names because i honestly was really scared of her. Through the ending is kinda sad ngl, but it's understandable.

[@Max-hn5tc]

I also remember playing on my phone Slender: Origins, it's a mix between Eight pages and Amnesia, where the game takes place I think in 19th century. It also tried to add story and narration.

[@nocowser5694]

The Arrival is my favorite so many good memories from that time

[@marycanary86]

i remember playing 8 pageswith my ex. we got comfy in bed with the duvet pulled up to our chests and the laptop on top. and then we got caught by slendie ONCE, we both screamed and slammed the laptop shut and sat there like O_O "i dont wanna play again" "no i want my mama..." we were like, 20 years old. it was broad daylight. key memory X'D

[@a.kitcat.b]

Many people think he needs a revival and I wouldn't mind it, but he's just not scary anymore. Not because he's old news, but because his concept is overdone and its really hard to change that concept. But I think it can be done.

[@deletedaccount7875]

Slender man looks like a damn thumb thumb from spy kids if it was like 7'5

[@pliskin101]

OneyPlays AND Jerma? Glad I subscribed.

[@maxipad1584]

Watching this with my feet over the bed we’re not the same

[@Eric_Nomad_Hixtone]

The another fenomenal game was Slender's Woods. It was a fully storydriven game, where you had to do the tasks, and even had to kill Slender in the end aside from pages. In my opinion this formula was even better than The Arrival, and kept player on toes while having unique approach to Slender himself.

[@JefferyDaKilla]

Even though I was scared shitless of Slender He holds a place in my heart for all the memories i had of him, makes me feel old ngl