THE MAGIC CIRCLE - Now This? THIS Is How You Satire
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 9 ก.พ. 2025
- Here's a legitimately interesting game that takes some of what Double Fine did with that thing they did, and adds some wry observational humor. I dig it!
store.steampowe...
Oh my god. So many familiar voices.
Old Hand: He was one of the main voice actors for Skyrim's numerous NPCs.
Ish Gilder: Dr. Venture, Dr. Zero
Coda Soliz: Dagna from Dragon Age
Logan Snider Coda (EDIT) voice actor is also the voice actor of Chole from life is strange.
Of course, it's Dagna!.. Thanks, I couldn't remember where I heard that voice.
***** "You and me, we're the only ones around here who aren't COMPLETE FOOLS."
Logan Snider The only thing that could have made it better is David Hayter. Hahaha
Dagna from Dragon Age? You guys never watched Hey Ash Whatcha Playing or Borderlands 2?
Oh god, that's the voice of Dr. 0 from New Vegas! I'd know that actor anywhere! He did a really good job.
***** You mean the one from the OWB DLC?
***** This whole game kind of reminds me of OWB.
*****
You're right! James Christian Urbaniak It is. That explains why the game started giving me "clever vibes" right off the bat.
***** There's so many familiar voices in this, but this is the only one I can pinpoint...
***** AKA Dr. Venture from The Venture Brothers.
well, this game definitely captures the state of being involved in development, down to the lead designer completely breaking the game and demanding it to be completely different on a whim. >.>
This game is how you indie. Interesting world, deconstruction of video game it's influenced. The art style fits the game so well but is beautiful in it's own way. I look forward to playing this and your future work developers. You get a tip of the ol' hat and a right click to give you life.
Maximus2007 Thanks maximus! Appreciate the compliment on the art, that was my part of this weird animal.
Stephen Alexander I am impressed and slightly disturbed by how meta you guys got at the end.
Hah :)
Stephen Alexander I think I might have to buy this game, you magnificent Sky Bastards.
If you do, thank you!
Just some of the voice actors I've noticed in this:
Old Pro: Stephen Russel - Roles: Mercer Frey/ Barbas the talking dog/ various others (Skyrim), Mr. Handy/Mr. Gutsy (Fallout 3) and many others.
Ish Gilder: James Urbaniak - Best known for playing Dr. Venture/Jonas Venture Jr. (Venture Bros.)
Coda Soliz : Ashley Burch - Best known as Tiny Tina (Borderlands 2)
The narrator also sounded like crowfather from darksiders
+axis1247 fucking Ken Levine voiced somebody apparently.
"All around the sta-actus plant the stalker chased the bandit. The stalker thought 'twas all in fun, POP *boom* goes the bandit."
Omg that is Stephen Russell. I knew I heard his voice from somewhere but couldn't place it. Loved him as Garrett in Thief
And Nick Valentine is played by Stephen Russell too!
Bravo developers. This game has the kind of Inventiveness that screams why Indie development lives to push the envelope. It's not about using every graphical bell and whistle, it's about ideas above all else, and execution of them. This game gives me that Alice and Wonderland feel. It takes you to a new surreal environment down the rabbit hole, and you can't wait to see where it takes you because you never quite seen something like this before.
The Narrator voice also sounds like the voice at the end of P.T. "Dad was such a drag" "I'm bringing my new toys with me". That guy.
Is that Dr. Venture?
Is that fucking Rusty Venture?
In this game he seems to be playing... A TALKING EYE!
Rusty: NOOoo! IT'S a WALKING EYE!! everybody LOVES a WALKING EYE!
For...
Brock: Reconnaisance?
Hank: Lasers!!
Rusty: Of course!! Everybody knows what a 'walking eye' is!
Huh. After playing a brain in a jar, you'd think he'd consider a talking eye blase.
I think the voice actor from Skyrim was the one for Belethor the shopkeep
kendokaaa Some may call this junk.
Thew Adams Me, I call them treasures...
Mr. Rawke Everything's for sale, my friend. Everything. If I had a sister, I'd sell her in a second.
The way he said "boss". Did this guy also do the devil guy from black & white 2?
kendokaaa the voice actor is James Urbaniak he also plays dr venture
The "narrator" sounds awfully like James Urbaniak (Dr. Venture)
edit: It's him. IMDb and Wikipedia has to catch up, but The Magic Circle's Wiki page states so. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Magic_Circle_(video_game)
lyravega It is him
David Pérez Sánchez
I don't see any info on IMDb etc... tho
lyravega That's because it's him (according to Wikipedia at least)
He has a podcast too, it's pretty great.
lyravega He tweeted about it, it's definitely him
The Jim Sterling method: "Stick yer hand in it... YES."
"Smegma pancakes"?!
Oh, come on, Jim!
***** I want a compilation video that just consists of every single thing Jim has called us over the course of all his squirty plays
TheMultiEnabled give me a link to that please.
TheMultiEnabled This exists already.
***** We could probably use an updated version regardless.
You want to provide a link for us inquisitive souls or do we have to get our hands dirty?
TheMultiEnabled I definitely agree an updated version would be nicer.
And I'd be more than happy to! If it weren't Sunday, my lazy day. If you can't find it on youtube, it may be on his soundcloud.
"They're like Dr. Jeckel and Mr. Genocide!"
Oh my god, I wasn't expecting that. I was crying from laughing.
*village on fire* "wow, that's pretty"
damn jim, that's harsh.
16:57 - Look at the name next to "User Name"
Holy shit man you have a fast eye!
I runno how it did that... Maybe it reads his steam or windows username or something?
Generic Internetter games have access to your steam username. There are a bunch of games who uses it for your default profile name and stuff like that.
Drunken Soviet It also knew his PC specs
marzcorp Both DirectX and OpenGL expose that information, so it's not difficult to get at. Still, it's a nice touch to use your actual specs rather than some random crap.
That voice.. Garret? Is that you?
It is! That's Garret! Oh Stephen Russel, you're the best.
14:09 (voice actor from Skyrim?)
Yes! That was the first thing that came to my mind when I heard that voice. You confirmed my suspicions seconds later. I almost expected him to tell us a story about being an adventurer like me until taking an arrow in the knee and so forth... (sorry, I could not resist :3 )
Come on, the first minute of this already looks better than *any* of the shit its parodying.
This would also probably be the shit in VR, 12:40, especially this part.
After watching the rest of this video: This game *SCREAMS* for Oculus Rift support.
Smokey Nope One of the devs here. This is absolutely something we want to add if we make enough money to keep working on it.
Stephen Alexander
It would probably make you more money than youd have to spend (Im no expert, so dont take my word for it), the Oculus Rift community is *desperate* for REAL games, so far we mostly have to "make do" with demos and experiences.
Regardless this is a must buy already imo, and thats coming from a notorious pirate.
glad to hear it, and I did have the game working on the rift early in development. It was awesome, but beyond our ability to support for the initial release. Still on my wishlist though.
Stephen Alexander this is an awesome looking game i hope to buy in the near future. congrats.
Thanks!
I especially like how the whole look of the game is designed to kinda look like a storyboard or a thumbnail sketch. Very clever!
you win this time youtube processing but ILL BE BACK
Son Goku ill watch it and then ill come back again.
I won't let it win god damn it.
Legion The Comrade There's a fine line between tenacity and stubbornness. I like to think we walk that line every day
Son Goku I read that in Terminator voice. I love those movie.
Bear
Thanks for reminding me to watch this :d
Had to stop 3 minutes in to leave for a movie lol.
Saw it, was intrigued. Played it, was absorbed. Made a rock fly and shoot fire, was very amused. Made all other rocks "inherit" the properties of my rock (renamed it, to "kidney stone"), swapped the flamethrower with a railgun and jumped ON the rock as I was pointing in which way it should fly, I now love this game.
It's a lil' short but it's pure genius. Has a TON of replay value as every time you can do things differently. Next stop! I will lead a horde of zombies with railguns and make the hiver queen an enemy. Should be interesting.
Is the narrator James Urbaniak? Cause I can really dig that.
James Sternemann Yeah, that is absolutely James Urbaniak.
Lightbunny I didn't notice it at first, then he got annoyed & sarcastic and I was like "Dr. Venture!"
The magic circle both lives and dies by its real message, and by its tragedy that ironically doesn't do much to solve the problem it presents other than call it out, but this "game" is actual parody of what games have become in this day and age. It actually says something, both scornful and possibly forgiving. However, like an old spouse, it knows every dirty little piece of laundry its "gods" have produced and is eager to show it to any player that can find it. It isn't just naked malice and laziness that smashes together some real programer's work and tries to sell that off to anyone dumb enough to click it, its lack of colors and shifting animation styles have purpose and reason to the shape and features you'll discover throughout the experience.
It's just unfortunate that you hurt any potential player the more you show or talk about this game, as it's best to experience it as fresh and blind as you can.
Wow, this is really interesting. I actually bought this game after about 10 min of watching you play it. The pet mechanics look a little like Hack'n'Slash, but that is far from a bad thing. The material shift around you from black and white to color when you have life is well done.
These are devs who know what they're doing.
For everyone who says Jim just picks low hanging fruit to have a laugh, this is the third game I've bought because I saw it on his channel and it looked fun.
12:30 oh shit is that the guy that voiced like half the characters in Skyrim?
I know I'm using an earphone instead of my hearing-aid 'cause it's broken, but that Pro guy sounds like the guy on the radio in PT that says 'Don't touch that dial!'.
Or is my hearing just getting worse? XD
Aside from that, this is really good. Glad it has subs. X3
Before today, I did not know this game existed. Now, I need it in my life and want it in my soul.
I AM Chungus
I move by Nothing
I attack with Nothing
My special abilities are Nothing
My enemies are Nothing
My allies are Nothing
Really glad you covered this game, Jim.
"They killed my Chungus!" I was crying and choking with laughter. x)
I thought it said 4 hours ago, and the notification didnt work again
it's from the folks who did Dishonored... that'd explain a lot of things
Stephen Russell will forever be the one true Garrett (of the Thief-series) too me. I'm also filled with a strange urge to buy his treasures and the junk he calls his sister whenever I hear his voice. Wait... that doesn't make any sense?
Damn. This is why I subscribe to this channel. Yeah, we get the funny videos with Jim destroying pathetically inept game designers that don't know what they're doing... but this is how I can discover interesting new games to play! Thank you Jim, and thank GOD for you!
This is one of the most original ideas for a game I've seen.
This is delightful, what a brilliant idea. The gameplay instantly reminded me of Hack'n'Slash, but it feels like an improved version.
So the stanley parable of kickstarter/early access. cool.
Oh my god, I kept thinking "I know that god damn voice" and lo and behold, it's Dr. Venture! XD
Ok, I was NOT expecting this XD This was fun, thanks Jim!
This game talks about a lot of stuff I tend to think about. (I always felt that writers and developers were akin to gods, and with that came responsibility.) It's one of those satires that makes you feel both smart and dumb, kind of like the Stanley Parable. It's also got a beautiful art style, and the mechanics are fairly unique as well.
Yeah...yeah, I like this game. I think I'll get it.
2:53 The art style...
I just came...
Dear god this game is funny on so many levels. Abusive practices within the development hell played for satire? Check. 90's style hacking turned into a puzzle mechanic? Check. Ancient pixelated art showing up as lost content? Check. This is pushing all the right buttons and I simply cannot wait to get myself a copy.
For Everyone referring to the voice actor for the Old Hand as "That guy from Skyrim".... his name is Stephen Russell! Give the guy some credit and a second of google research!
I just want to say, that thanks to you, I actually purchased this game, because it looks amazing, thanks! =D
Exact same. I've never gone from knowing nothing to a full purchase before from a single video, but this did the trick for me.
12:30 I believe that's the voice of Garrett from Thief, and Mecer Frey from Skyrim. Absolutely correct about that, Jim.
Watched this. Tried demo. Bought game. Much happy! Seriously, thanks for looking at this game as I doubt I'd have come across it otherwise. I'm really enjoying it!
12:38 Wait isn't that that guy in skyrim the one that did a lot of the voice acting for Skyrim
SpatsirkSpart 14:07 and I think Jim Fucking Sterling Son noticed that too
So many established voice actors. I was not expecting this.
Weird to have a Jim Sterling video where he not only ends happy, but signs off politely too!
Jim steps out, looks around, sees the village on fire, and says "Wow. That's pretty."
Nice. I like the concept mentioned at the end... "change the rules if you can't fight on their level" (my paraphrase).
Jim! Stop this! What are you doing? Two good games in a week?! What eldrich horror did you appeal to in order to achieve this madness?!
This is not breaking the 4th wall, this is smashing it to bits, then stepping on it and spitting on it while burning it down.
That's Dr. Venture himself, James Urbaniak. Well done, Double Fine.
Oh, that's right! I remember the gents on the Crate and Crowbar podcast talking about this game and it sounded phenomenal. Thanks for the reminder of the name n_n
Looks like Stanley parable mixed with antichamber
the font of the title screen looks like it's the same one used in the title screen of the old game Magic Carpet, so at first i thought this was going to be a new Magic Carpet game and almost shat my pantaloons. this still looks rather interesting.
I love how it read your specs and your name...nice touch
Damned good voice cast. Played through the demo this morning. Feels like it might get repetitive quick, but I enjoyed what was there.
I don't know how you could resist making a walking melee mushroom as soon as you saw it in the cave, they also seem to be used for those puzzles. The game looks very interesting though and looking forward to your review.
I love this forth wall breaking narrative. its so self aware of the tropes and issues, both creator and producer side, that plague so many games ^^
Got me so intrigued I went and bought the game on the spot.
I can only hear the biting sarcasm of Dr. Rusty Venture.
As soon as I heard the narrator say "You obviously never been in love" I was like OMFG Dr. Venture! Yay James Urbaniak.
i love how its almost like tiny tina's assault on dragon keep, but in pre alpha.
I heard the Magic Circle and immediately thought "we demand to be taken seriously."
2:57 *EVERYTHING IN FLAMES, EVERYONE DEAD, DISSONANT MUSIC*
"That's pretty!"
That players never look up thing is so true, I remember back when the first demos of Ocarina of time 3D were being shown some jackass on IGN or GameInformer spent 20 minutes of a live video running around Queen Gohma's room asking "what do I do" and it got worse when he actually said why is their stuff falling, and still didn't look up until (what I can only assume was a rep) said something to him
This is the concept mogworld experimented with :3
Glad to see more people play around with it.
There was a second audio log in that hole. Also, you wouldn't need to carry Chungus if rewrote things so that Chungus sees you as an ally.
"You made a self hating, demon, monkey-dog." I wonder if that line can be worked into a T-shirt? This game looks pretty fun.
Interesting, but I can't help but I would find it a lot funnier if I was a game developer. Humor is rare in games however and I applaud the effort. Also it's gorgeous, I really dig the art.
Wow, a steam game with some soul and creativity. This is unreal.
Deconstructions are always so nice to experience
I purchased this game after watching Jim play it. It is FANTASTIC. One of the best games I've played in a long time. The ending especially is nice.
I want to purchase this game. It looks awesome. The art is really cool and the satire is really good. The people that made this knew what they were doing here. They have crafted a fine work.
glad to see dr.venture is still getting work
Is it just me, or does the voice of the project lead sound like Doctor Zero from the Think Tank?
Marcus Dranz Yep, that's James Urbaniak.
I swear that one of these voice actors is the same voice as Nazeem from Skyrim, whilst the main menu voice is Stephen Russell - the voice of Garret and Mercer Frey.
Speaking of Skyrim, that joke about the player demanding a fleshed out world they can explore, immerse themselves in and then kill members of when their bored - every Skyrim player's time with the game in a nutshell...
Wow, they got some pretty decent voice actors for this. Ish is James Urbaniak (Dr. Venture from Venture Bros) and Old Pro is Stephen Russell (Mercer Frey from Skyrim) That's pretty cool.
This is the first one of your videos in a while I've been able to sit through, not your doing, most of the games are a slog, boring, even with your award winning commentary, this was fun, interesting and I'd definitely buy it myself. I really liked it. Clever idea, well put together, a rarity these days.
"Wow, that's pretty." This is the most shocking thing for me to hear from Jim Sterling's mouth.
Gosh, thought it was pretty lame until this imprisoned thing starts the real "pro" game which got me really hooked until the end! Will go out there and buy it ASAP, thx Mr. Sterling for discovering the magic circle.... maybe now I gotta love this game.. LOVE!! xD
That voice actor for the old man also voice acts in Skyrim. For example he voice acts Falion in Morthal, the redguard mage who is shunned by the town.
I like this a lot. Enough to actually want to play it myself, and that is very, very rare for me.
This... I like. Clever commentary, interesting mechanics, Solid voicework, decent script, nice aesthetics, looks to have a lot going for it,
I maaaay just have to play this one myself... maybe.
Oh hooo, we meet again Lucan from the riverwood trader. No, I'll never give you that golden claw back!
Effort! Honest to god effort! HOORAY!!!!
As someone who enjoyed The Stanley Parable, I am really digging this game!
Kinda reminds me of a Stanley parable type of thing, I could see myself really enjoying this, I'm loving the sort of comic style scenery.
The voice actor from Skyrim, he did "Belethor" the shopkeeper in Whiterun OR "Lucan" the shopkeeper in Riverwood.
i suddenly feel an incredible desire to rewatch the 4th and 5th seasons of 'Venture Brothers'...
...Now I want this game. Fiddling with the... -Howlers- Chunguses looks like a great gameplay mechanic.
This actually looks good and honestly creative ...
okay I want fan fiction for this game with those two eyes as the main characters
This looks very cool, and I'm definitely gonna check it out. I really like the idea of it and I'm getting some serious Mogworld vibes from it. VERY INTERESTING.
I can't believe I didn't catch this review until today when I found the game on Steam on accident. It had Mr. Sterling's review as one of it's positive ones on it's Steam page and I'm glad I found it. I actually want to try this now. :-)
_Button up your blouse - I don't need to see your soul, okay?_
Oh that fucking gold.