The Problem with Survival Games

11:05 "One day I'll be back at your side" written in French, for those who were wondering

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"Your father understood that we dance for our children's children's children. My dear, one day you will feel the voices rise in your heart. Enter a cave and stand until stars appear. Climb the highest peak. Sing when the brutality hits. I'm here with you. The winter winds can only get so cold."

Honestly, your videos always bring me to tears, bravo! A lot of content on Youtube is good, but you are genuinely producing wonderful stories every time you upload I video, can't wait for your channel to blow up!

Totally agree. Like you said about Fallout 4, most games just keep shoving quest after quest so you will never feel bored, like you need that rush of adrenaline and fast changing. Best moments of games come when you slow down. And you summed it up with perfection. Great video!

The Long Dark Music is sooooooooooooo good. Really fits the silent desolation feel. This is the end, but it's peaceful.

The long dark is one of my favorite games of all time due to its bleak atmosphere and mysterious narrative And the Netflix-like intro slaps. I honestly enjoy stressful games, they push me to the edge and allow me to find the beauty in hell.

I loved how you put it, that survival games are about living. It reminded me of Red Dead Redemption 2, where the most memorable moments to me were the ones that had little mechanical or narrative significance, like hearing an NPC telling a story by a bonfire because you chose to stick around, or simply enjoying the vistas while hunting.

This video is extremely relatable, you share a lot of thoughts that were in my mind when I was playing Fallout 4 Survival, I’ve never thought about it too deeply but leaving a mark on the world is super meaningful and entertaining to me, especially in F4, and I simply love existing in that particular world.

Jesus, that True Faith cover. Exquisite.

one of the most beautiful video essays ever.

This is incredible, thank you so much for creating it. I love the editing of your visuals, the implied space and isolation (physically and in time). Absolute gold. Keep creating.

Great video! I noticed the return of the obra dinn music around minute 3. Excellent choice :)

dude i think you found the answer i’ve been looking for in survival games, my friends are also constantly pushing me to play these games and i even tried the long dark on game pass but i just couldn’t feel invested. now i think i will try again, great video!!!!!

What an inventive ending! A truly excellent video. Many thanks!

I've just found this channel and watched all the videos on it, and i just want to say that this is genuinely phenomenal content, it has quickly shot up to being up there with some of my favourites like Jacob Geller. Keep up the great work, this is some great stuff.

That's why i like playing Project Zomboid on 24hrs per day setting. It's extremely immersive.

Gamer

Thanks for making videos

I guess the best sandbox survival games are the ones where the gameworld and your own curiousity writes a story together. Where you need to keep an eye out on supplies but also have time to do what you want. I personally found this in STALKER Anomaly / GAMMA. Sure, you cannot build bases or leave a mark too much but its an open, dynamic world of survival where I actually felt like my character is living. I am not just following quest markers or hunting for supplies but I also adventure and explore and every trip I take brings its own hurdles and calamities with it. I want to explore the Outskirts of Pripyat. But I can't cause I need more supplies of a specific sort. Getting those supplies becomes and adventure itself. Then I Finally set out to the trip. Only to be forced to retreat by a powerful mutant. Then a psy-storm ends my second attempt. A huge firefight has me limping back to my safe spot on the third try. I stock up but its almost night and I hate to adventure in the dark so I hunker down... and there we go. All I wanted is to check on a spot in the map. I got myself several in-game days worth of adventure. The fact alone that the game made me schedule my days because I want to avoid beeing out in the Zone in the pitch black of the night have me amused. The mounting tension when I feel like there wasn't an Emission for far too long and so I become skittish and try to stick close to cover. The panic when I do the exact opposite and go adventuring then I realize that I have to RUN. We need more games with a world that lives and makes you live in and with it.