I once wrote a high school, 5-paragraph-essay on why I hate 5-paragraph-essays for a teacher who literally said that as long as we write something down, we wouldn't get a 0. I got a 0.
Once I had no idea for a Powerpoint Presentation in Uni and I thought to myself, I will do one about "nothing". As in literally about nothing. What nothing means, interpretations, what are the implications of the concept of nothing and so on. I've got the equivalent grade of a "B" for it.
Oh man, I remember telling my adult cousin about this game when I was a teenager and explaining the story and the meaning of the title and he paused after I was finished with a blank look on his face and asked me "...and this is a game? That you play?"
I literally ONLY played ICO because a GameStop employee I was on good terms with told me it was MUST PLAY. Even then, I didn't believe him, but I bought it because it was cheap used, as nobody wanted it, and they also had a 7 day return policy. Needless to say, he was right and I'm grateful I experienced it at a time when it was more or less state of the art.
Slight correction with regard to ICO: The original North American version of ICO was rushed to market before even the Japanese version released. The reason they changed the cover art was because the art used by the Japanese and European versions hadn't actually been given to them as it wasn't finished yet. It wasn't because they thought the more iconic, minimalist one wouldn't appeal to gamers; they never saw it in the first place, so they worked with what they had. (I recently started playing ICO and became obsessed with it, so I did a bunch of research to fuel my obsession and that was what I found)
@@ZX-Gear I never beat the game, so I don't know. Metatron is considered to be the highest of angels because his name is the same value as El Shaddai in Hebrew gematria.
I played this game as a child. I didn't have much money, one day I went to a game store and gave them one of my games, paid a little and they gave me this game, they chose it for me, like a game no one was buying so they just gave it to the first person they could trick to make him leave with it. I really don't remember much of it, I didn't understand it; but I liked it enough to remember it for years and search for it online, but not many people have analyzed it, so I'm happy someone is talking about this deeply. Describing this game as a ''dream'' is very fitting, that's how I remember it, as a dream that I had years ago and still remember years later.
This exact same thing happened to me when I was 11, but it was Brave Fencer Mushashi haha It's was Sony's PS1 version of LoZ: Ocarina Of Time, and it was actually very, very good.
I think a key part of why KH got away with that monstrosity of a title was that Kingdom Hearts was already well established by the time they released that game. People already knew what Kingdom Hearts was and that they wanted it. If that had been the title for the first game, it probably would have killed the series.
At least it's not "kingdom hearts: 358/2 days" or "Kingdom hearts: dream drop distance" or "kingdom hearts: re:coded" That colon between re and coded was ABSOLUTELY neccessary, don't you know? Nomura is such a fucking hack.
@@RedFloyd469 I mean, in the case of Re:Coded, the "Re:" part is meant to be a reference to emails, of the "Re: [topic of previous emails that need to be referenced by reader for full context]".
i used to work at a gamestop with a guy who recommended this. i tried it. it was ok. i later found a restaurant named el shaddai in a strip mall and took a picture of the marquis, “manderson insurance” written underneath, and sent it to him. he sent back a picture of the ps3 case with masking tape over the title that said “manderson insurance.” i’d post it if i could. good times.
@@BosticSnipes He seems to have mistakenly used the word "marquis" when he meant something else, cause it clearly doesn't mean whatever he thinks it does, which makes what he's saying very confusing. Don't know what term he was going for, but seems like the restaurant's name or perhaps its logo included that insurance company name underneath it and he thought it was amusing so he sent a picture of it to the guy who recommended the game to him.
The name of the this game has been mentioned during a scientific lecture at the Collège de France to show that yes the niche interest of the biblical scholars in the room does influence media at times.
It’s not a niche interest of some fm scholars though, it’s god’s revelation of the best stories which is the base of most media because that’s what resonates more with ppl, because they are either a copy or a spinoff of true stories.
@@Omarew Look I am not sure that there are many missionaries approaching people by saying: hello I would like to talk to you about your Lord El-Shaddai.
I still remember how a "friend" that I had invited to my birthday party back when I was in elementary school gave me this game cause he found it somewhere cheap, as an attempt to get a low effort gift and when he gave it to me he said "I got you this. It includes swords and fights or something". I had never seen this game before in my life, but I still played it and loved it. Never seen it being mentioned even once since then, and I also haven't revisited it. Maybe I should
I got so excited when you revealed the game was El Shaddai Ascension of the Metatron. Literally said aloud " yes finally someone else played the game too".
I played this game when it released, it was actually one of my favorite games at the time. I wasn't aware that it didn't seel very well as I simply saw it as a great game and never looked further into it.
“Just a few years after the garden of Eden”. Even the minimal Biblical time period puts it at a good thousand years I think. Many believe it was much longer. This time period always fascinated me because we know so little about it. Were there ancient high-tech civilizations? Did beings like Zeus and other myths actually happen during this time? How radical was the sorcery and other things the Watchers taught humanity? It just sounds like the most fantasy time of humanity and I want to know.
″‘Oh dear,’ said Aziraphale. ‘It’s him.’ ‘Him who?’ said Crowley. ‘The Voice of God,’ said the angel. ‘The Metatron.’ The Them stared. Then Pepper said, ‘No, it isn’t. The Metatron’s made of plastic and it’s got a laser cannon and it can turn into a helicopter.‘” - _Good Omens_
@@Sorain1There's two, Animated and Earthspark, but Good Omens was written in 1990, and Animated Megatron was released in 2007. We didn't even have the G2 Megatron that turns into an enormous bogie coloured tank when Good Omens was first on shelves. In fact, there were maybe five helicopter transformers total - I can name four and a half, depending how you count it. (Those helicopter TFs are Vortex, who also turns into an arm or a leg; Springer, who also turns into a car; Sandstorm, who also turns into a dune buggy; Battletrap, whose chest turns into a helicopter but whose legs turn into a tank; and Spinister, whose main job is holding two tiny men who approximate the shape of guns.)
1:44 to be more precise, Okami did not sell well when it launched. Since Capcom remastered it in 2017 for all consoles and PC, that version has sold 2.4 million as of their most recent quarterly report, and is the 46th best selling Capcom game in its history.
Sorry, but the "worst title ever" prize for a video game has to go to that Kingdom Hearts game with the division problem in the title that you're just supposed to know (because English doesn't have furigana) is to be read as a fraction with "over" (even though they couldn't be bothered to design a logo with the number over the other and had them side by side).
As a Christian I would describe the 3 books of Enoch as a really weird set of fanfiction stories based on a side character who got 5 minutes of screen time. Some fans will argue till their red in the face that it has to be canon because it doesn't necessarily contradict the canon story even though the publisher has said it's not. For anyone interested in a scholarly explanation without a bias of debating if something is scriptural canon or not, the channel Religion for Breakfast has episodes on all 3 books of Enoch. He provides good historical context for all 3 books because they were written at different times in history.
The christian bible contains direct references to the book of enoch as supporting material for the foundation of Christ as Messiah, along with the Melchizedek texts. It's widely accepted that the first two books were part of the scriptural canon of the hebrews, particularly the Essenes.
@@CantusTropusthe church can and very often has committed mistakes throughout history. I’ll trust the Hebrews of Jesus’ day over the Roman Catholic Church.
If the title was simply "The Ascension of Metatron" it would be fine. But they decided to put "the" in a weird place that makes Metatron sound like less of a name and more of a thing; and made El-Shadai the main title, so it's way longer than it needs to be.
@@saintfayde4438 'Metratron' is a title, as it is "the voice of Jehova" (thus "The Metatron".) It is definitely an overstuffed title, despite how awesome it sounds. Also, FYI, that's not how you use a semicolon; this is how you use a semicolon-to connect two related complete thoughts that could otherwise be separated by periods. Yours should just be a comma.
@@Painocus Because the title isn't just "El Shaddai" It's "El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron" which is longer than "The Ascension of Metatron" 4 words is less than 6
I call the period around when this game came out "the weird era of gaming" - around the late PS2/XBox era and early PS3/Wii/XBox 360 era. I think video games were opening up as a creative medium as directors had finally fully gotten the hang of realizing their vision in full 3D and it seemed like "anything went". It was also the time period when some games like SotC and Journey came out and people started looking at what kind of artistic visions could be realized within games. A lot of very weird, sometimes bad, but always very creative and just plain *different* games like God Hand, No More Heroes, Asura's Wrath, the original NieR, and so on came out around this time and I love whenever anyone goes in-depth about them. Great video, thanks for this!
At a certain point, a bad title can actually become good not because it accurately tells you what you’re in for, but because it’s so batshit insane that you just have to find out what this game could possibly be.
When it comes to band names there's a thing where the band makes the name sound good, not the other way around. When you think about it a bunch of popular band names are completely nonsensical, starting with Anal Cunt and Dying Fetus all the way to Korn and Arctic Monkeys.
@@MATCHLESS789 one of my favorite nonsensical band names is Ozric Tentacles (which the story of how they made the name being they were making up fictional cereals probably stoned outta their mind and Ozric Tentacles was one such fake cereal they made up)
@@MATCHLESS789 It still makes me chuckle that Dave Grohl said that if he knew Foo Fighters was gonna be a big thing he wouldn't have named it that because he thinks it's the worst band name ever made
Almost as bad as "Mon-Yu: Defeat Monsters And Gain Strong Weapons And Armor. You May Be Defeated, But Don’t Give Up. Become Stronger. I Believe There Will Be A Day When The Heroes Defeat The Devil King."
@@StonedHunter Allow me to explain. 1.The words originate from the 15th century alchemical texts of the Ripley Scrolls, which has instructions on creating the Philosopher's Stone. 2. For Alucard to be immortal, from the death of his mortal form to his rebirth as a vampire, he must embrace his three aspects within himself [which is symbolized by having many eyes to look within. his own being]: -Nigredo, the stage of decomposition and demise (Having died a mortal man, this form is his Dracula form, which is him wearing black armor) -Albedo, the stage of purification (his rebirth into a little white-clothed girl and the start of his Vampire form, having consumed blood to evolve into the being known as Rebis) -Rubedo, the stage of self-awareness and reentry into the mortal world (as Alucard grew in life, his self-awareness through the consumption of blood as power and knowledge fueled his strength and immortality, thus his red robes, coat, and hat. This is repeated at the end of the show, but that's explained later) 3. Using his own body as a vessel to form the bodily representation of the Philosopher Stone shows the stage of his rebirth and evolution. Guess the stigma of vampires desiring virgin blood makes sense from an alchemical standpoint through the use of using both the blood of man and women in order to consume and fuel the metaphorical stone within them by absorbing the anima and animus in both. 4. The seals on his hands and the act of destroying the souls within his being is the act of 'eating his own wings'. But after the final battle and lost his sense of self-awareness, his eyes closed and left the current reality in order to return to his original being. 5. Duality exists in the Philosopher Stone, and the show constantly express how the servant (monster) is stronger than the master (human) but the monster chooses to 'eat his own wings' to serve the human and his line, eventually leading to Integra. Here is the full video: th-cam.com/video/1dH2jUChmwM/w-d-xo.html
I saw the title and the thumbnail and was thinking for the first 2 minutes, 30 seconds: "Please be El Shaddai - Ascension of the Metatron. Please be El Shaddai - Ascension of the Metatron. Please be El Shaddai - Ascension of the Metatron."
Why didn't I play this game when it came out? I've really missed out this gorgeous looking game. The trippy aesthetics are so incredible to look at. It's like being in a surreal dream created by Salvador Dahli.
Wait people had a problem with the name? I was always onlooking at the miriad if unsold copies at my local GameStop but NEVER it came to my mind that people might have not been interested in the title because of the name. ... because i'm in italy and to non-english speakers el shaddai doesn't sound any weirder than half the english game titles. What i can say though, is that the game genre didn't fit the market of the time and that no amount of publicity would have saved it from being a flop here, it would have been like trying to sell houseki no kuni(land of the lustrous) to a tv channel that only airs cartoons at lunch hour: it just wouldn't have worked.
P.s.: also for reference, what publicity the title got in Italy back then was full of praise, i.e. big press sites acclaiming it eith the lowest score being iirc a 7 but plenty of 9s
is because they metion that michael and satan fight for the body of moses in one of the new testament letters but this was a jewish tradition centuries before the book of enoch mention it
is because they mention that Michael and satan fight for the body of moses in one of the new testament letters but this was a jewish tradition centuries before the book of enoch mention it
@@elderleon1844As far as I can remember the book of Enoch doesn't mention Moses at all. Especially being that Moses wouldn't have been born yet. There are many different times the book of Enoch is quoted in the New testament though. One being when Jesus explains that we do not marry in heaven but are like that of the angels. Jesus specifically points out that they should know that if they know their scripture. But they didn't know it because they didn't read the book of Enoch. I forget who he was talking to when he said it though.
I remember seeing this game on Steam and thinking "oh this looks like if Atlus had an acid trip like a that weird game " the weird game in question is another very abstract game called "Where they Cremate the Roadkill".
Listening to ASMR Satan yap in my ear for 6+ hours while my eyes slowly glazed over from the visual assault did the same to me. I had to google "Enoch Game" a few years later to prove to myself that it was real. "Yes I told him already. Don't worry, he'll be fine. I know. I said I know. Sheesh. Yeah yeah, I'll tell him again." :click:
the problem with marketing issue is the internet. in what time the game came out, what year of the internet is it, and when gaming/anime/manga started to become main stream. some games just didnt have the marketing because unless you bought a gaming magazine you relied on word of mouth or went to the store and picked a game at random because you liked the title or like the art. also there is the phenomenon of "it was before its time" that is a contributing issue. its a part of life and always happens. the generation that the game was made for just didnt get it at the time. then time passes, people change, new people start gaming, and then people act surprised and be like "why did i never play this?" like it was some sort of mystery.
Born in '89 and I am EXACTLY the target market for ICO. Remember reading magazine articles about it but I didn't buy it because I just had no idea wtf it was
@@jeffreypeters5578None of the books purportedly written by Moses ever mention a "Book of Enoch." Nor do they reference it. None of the other Old Testament books mention it either. The only place there's a firm reference to the book of Enoch in the Christian Bible is in the Epistle of Jude.
@@onetruesavior69 oh, sorry SMT puts all mythological beings from around the world together, which I find kind of cool. Then again, SMT YHVH is something I am glad it's not in *our world*
i am an occultist and religious history amateur who grew up in a theological seminary setting while my father failed to compleye his PhD in Christian Eschatology and Theology. The Book of Enoch is a lost book, found in neither the Jewish nor Christian pantheons but instead is a direct link to Gnosticism. Metatron as well finds its origins in Gnostic beliefs, which are considered historically as heretical to both traditions.
we do not have any original or complete copies of the book of enoch, as well as having found a great number of conflicting accounts of the book of Enoch from the relative same period of time and history
I love that you're inserting more humor into your videos! Your sense of humor is fantastic. Oh and Smoughtown mentioned you in another Elden Ring video, there was a whole comment thread was calling for a collab. I must admit it warms my heart when two of my favourite youtubers come across each other.
I’m a very firm believer in the idea that a games sales hardly reflect the quality of the game. I’ve played games that sold well and they actually are unplayable
This game did something I haven't seen in any other game. If you're beaten when fighting the Watchers and their agents, you typically just get to continue from a checkpoint. However, there are a few sections in the game where you have to do some platforming while outrunning a rising tide of darkness that threatens to swallow you. If the darkness catches you, it's game over. Basically, you get a bad ending, and a sequence plays (which I won't spoil) while the credits roll. You have to reload your save to keep going. HOWEVER, you have control over your character while this sequence is playing. If you do a certain action, you get a special scene. Again, no spoilers, but it BLEW MY MIND that this was in the game. Such a cool game. One of my all time favorites for weird shit alone.
I need to find out what this certain action is for this special scene! I’ve allowed the darkness to get me plenty of times over the years with this game but can’t ever remember getting a special scene. Can you give me a hint at all? 😂
@@GenkiStarLeaf Yeah... I'll be honest with you. It's been about 8 years or so, so I don't remember EXACTLY what I did... All I can tell you is... It might depend on the direction you start running. Whatever you do, DON'T stop moving until you get kicked out to the title screen. Good luck! Also this was the PS3 version. Not sure if the PC version has this or not.
I’d argue that’s a better name, but only because it’s ridiculous in a way that could intrigue people. Like you do not know what you’re getting into with Unicorn Overlord. Whereas El Shaddai Ascension of the Metatron doesn’t give you anything. Other than sounding like a pretentious 90s anime you’d find in a bargain bin at a closing Best Buy.
@@nicodemusedwards6931 do a google search on what el shaddai translates to, and you will 180 that opinion. the title is good when translated to english,
El Shaddai: Metatron Comes Home Chronicles of Metatron: Escape From El Shaddai Metatron Alone: Lost In El Shaddai Beyond Metatron & El Shaddai El Shaddai Ate My Metatron
I picked this up since my guardian said I couldn't get GOW yet. I quickly fell in love with the game. Where I'm from, people aren't really aware this game even exists. So I'm really happy to see a video being done it by you. TYSM!
_looks it up_ Ooo! Warhammer Online, Epic Mickey, F3&New Vegas, Oblivion, Catherine, Splatterhouse, and Civ4 were made on that, with Maplestory 2 being the last
El Shaddai, because of its title, was one of the easiest games for me to convince my parents to buy me. I got it for Christmas in 2011, and it inspired me to look deeper into my own religion. I can't say with any certainty that I would be less of a Christian if I hadn't played the game, but it has been inspirational to me in many ways. I've spoken to my father, my old youth pastor, and several members of my current church about its contents. That said, after just beating the PC version for the first time literally right before watching this, I have to say the game leaves a lot more on the table than I would like. When you beat the game, it unlocks a PDF that you can download from the launcher, which is honestly one of the slickest things I've ever seen since I became a gamer. But the PDF just straight up tells you that the game is incomplete. There's an entire 2 more arcs of the plot they intended for the game that the PDF covers. As cool of an unlockable as that is, that's really disappointing. When I recommend this to people, I ask a few questions. Do you have an interest in expanded, extracanonical Judeo-Christian lore? Are you comfortable knowing the lore you get from the game will have multiple gaping inaccuracies to the source material? Can you tolerate what is basically "I can't believe it's not DMC" and just bad 3D platforming long enough to enjoy one of the few legal examples of an acid trip? If the answer to all of those questions is yes, then it gets my seal of approval. But that's a lot of caveats that must be met to experience one of the most important games to my history as a gamer. Also, if it matters, Lucious Malfoy voices Lucifel. I'm glad you made this video. I know this isn't exactly the most popular title out there, but I'd love to hear your spoiler filled thoughts on the whole experience. I'm always interested in hearing somebody else's perspective on the Book of Enoch.
Oh hey, El Shaddai. I haven't thought about that game since I beat and reviewed it way back when it first came out. I gave it a 5/10. Here's how I ended it: "El Shaddai has a lot of interesting ideas, but it fails to fully implement them. The biblical source material is wasted on utterly boring and one-dimensional characters. The combat mechanics are fine - the three-weapon system keeps you constantly in motion and changing strategies - but it’s limited by the repetitive combos, the inability to wield more than one weapon at once, and no opportunities to modify or strengthen your move set. The platforming is occasionally well-crafted, but there’s nothing particularly mind-blowing or challenging. The horrendous camera and inconsistent controls don’t help, either. There were a lot of missed opportunities with regards to the online features; what could of have been a great multiplayer title is limited to brief and unsatisfying single-player experience. At least it looks awesome; few PS3 games can boast the kind of visual splendor and fascinating design that went into some of these stages. But as El Shaddai illustrates, style is nothing without substance."
Basically this, it's got a bunch of flair and style but none of that matters when the gameplay puts me to bed. While those things are still important they come after you make a good combat system (at the very least) they should never be priority 1 when making a game.
I just remember seeing this at a Gamestop once and being truly bewildered that someone would name their game that. Since then I've been looking forward to the inevitable day I walk into a store and see "Jesus Chris: Disciple Dash" for sale
But yet it's an awesome game!? Do you agree and what do you think about Judaism taking on aliens, wormholes, time continuities and weird alien monsters, or glitches!? I thought kabbalah was a much more advanced form of alchemical science inspired by alien tech going back to ancient sur or Enech empires of Mesopotamian lore.
Currently working on a video that used this game as an inspiration, I haven't had the heart to play it, but I'm thankful that you covered it today. Thank you, Max!
Speaking of this being a spin-off of a spin-off, 'The Lost Child', a very old-school SMT inspired dungeon crawler released a while back, is itself a spin-off of this game. Hell, you even get Enoch as a party member!
You can paint the internet just paint a bunch of people arguing surrounded by banner ads, R34, references, conspiracy theories with sponsored by Google and Disney in the corner
This game is sitting in my Steam Wishlist for years, might be time to finally pick it up. Remember seeing ads about the original release of it around 2010 I guess. Looked bizarrely interesting.
I remember seeing this game in a tv channel that did AMV-style clips, and I was amazed at how strange and beautiful it looked, as you said, it appears like a dream
It's not a matter of taste. It's a matter of even knowing what the fuck the game is about. It's a matter of even knowing the game exists in the first place. Nobody bought this game other than a handful of people. And it's probably not because of the gameplay. Marketing is 90% of why anything gets sold. Period.
@@RedFloyd469most mangas(and by proxy anime) are full of hypersexualised objectified women the reason being the ones that werent got axed for not selling enough many of the masterpiece movies i have watched ended up flopping when it comes to webtoons some of my favorite ones are in obscurity whit less than a fraction of followers than the absolute trash full of flashy explosions and girls so sexualised and depersonified they might as well be mindless toys, and yet they somehow have millions of followers
@@RedFloyd469your comment is amusing to me on two levels. You really think the average fifa or madden fan would pick up a game like this or Ico if it were just advertised more? The other point is this game did spend a lot on marketing. It was something they put a decent amount of money into. But i guess you wouldnt know that when you just regurgitate hack TH-cam videos.
I like the little tidbit with the mural where Michael says "so this is how they see us." The implication that angels don't actually look like humans is a neat little idea.
I constantly thought about this game and couldnt find the title. Finally did. It is a fever dream that you think of in a way that you think your fever is bring you to death and allowing you to see something you should not be able to see. Crazy memory.
If NA really wanted to make a more appealing cover art, they could have designed one of Ico holding off a group of the shadow creatures with a sword(pointed at them) while he holds Yorda behind him with the "stay back" gesture. The background could have been the castle with the silhouette of the queen engulfing everyone. This tells you it's a fantasy setting, with some form of combat, and there's a shadowy leader that needs to be defeated. Could have drawn some Final Fantasy fans since this was during the JRPG boom and a lot of gamers were looking for more fantasy themed games. The Japanese box art was a death sentence to this game in a world before Social Media.
Another masterpiece of a game with a terrible title I want to point out is House of Fata Morgana, perhaps the greatest story told in video games and yet only some obscure youtubers have ever played it
Ico has one the most beautiful covers to ever grace a video game box. The fact that it did not attract more attention in its time is a testament to how deeply boring, unimaginative and impatient we've become.
I think another Masterpiece of a game with a terrible title is 'The House of Fata Morgana' One of the greatest stories ever written in ANY medium but somehow sold poorly, Perhaps more to do with its gameplay and cover than its title
This was such a cool game. I had to play it when my wife wasn't around because the visuals reminded her of the time she tried acid and it was making her uncomfortable, haha.
this game feels like that one time when i dreamt of a fat waluigi (not wario, the purple waluigi but fat) as a mentor figure for me to survive a post-apocalyptic world filled with zombies.
I was part of a panel in early 2020 (right before lockdown) for the best games of the 2010's, with each person needing to submit a top 10 list to argue. I had El Shaddai on my list. Only 1 other person in the room had played it.
I once wrote a high school, 5-paragraph-essay on why I hate 5-paragraph-essays for a teacher who literally said that as long as we write something down, we wouldn't get a 0.
I got a 0.
Were they a humorless, old hag?
You should sue the school and the teacher for false advertisement.
So, your teacher altered the deal. Anarchy ensues.
Public schools are a waste of life and time.
Once I had no idea for a Powerpoint Presentation in Uni and I thought to myself, I will do one about "nothing". As in literally about nothing. What nothing means, interpretations, what are the implications of the concept of nothing and so on.
I've got the equivalent grade of a "B" for it.
You either el shaddai a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become the metatron.
fine. you win
It's Shaddai-ing time!
Or maybe the Lucifel
I'm 666th like of this comment! Wooooo I'm the anti-shaddai of the revelation!
"Ride or El-Shadai"
No no that's good, go with that.
All credit goes to my buddy, Arcane. He came up with that one. I came up with the other two.
"Someone El-Shadai Tonight" 💀
BRO, LMAO@@igodreamer7096
"A Job to El-Shaddai For"
El-Shaddai Another Day
Oh man, I remember telling my adult cousin about this game when I was a teenager and explaining the story and the meaning of the title and he paused after I was finished with a blank look on his face and asked me "...and this is a game? That you play?"
Show him this video
If he told that story online people would say "And then everybody clapped" I'm sure!
I literally ONLY played ICO because a GameStop employee I was on good terms with told me it was MUST PLAY. Even then, I didn't believe him, but I bought it because it was cheap used, as nobody wanted it, and they also had a 7 day return policy.
Needless to say, he was right and I'm grateful I experienced it at a time when it was more or less state of the art.
I only played ICO because it was in a bundle with shadow of the colossus for the ps3
@@brotbrotsen1100 Hope you played ICO first?
Can't imagine going backwards from SotC to ICO.
@@Nevir202 Yeah played it first, honestly don't have a problem with going back to it though.
So is ICO like a prequal to Shadow of Colossus or what?
@@Ari-ek1dx Yes, no, probably, maybe
Slight correction with regard to ICO: The original North American version of ICO was rushed to market before even the Japanese version released. The reason they changed the cover art was because the art used by the Japanese and European versions hadn't actually been given to them as it wasn't finished yet. It wasn't because they thought the more iconic, minimalist one wouldn't appeal to gamers; they never saw it in the first place, so they worked with what they had.
(I recently started playing ICO and became obsessed with it, so I did a bunch of research to fuel my obsession and that was what I found)
Frankly, I think putting the girl prominently on the cover would have sold more.
Eek barberdurkule someone's gonna get laid in college
That’s such a critical detail, dang. Thanks for sharing!
Lmao, so much for "50% of the work I do comprises of hours of research"
Believe it or not, when this game came out in Japan, you could buy the jeans Enoch is wearing in the game. What an obscure piece of merch...👖
That's a real thing? Lmao
Does Enoch in the game literally becomes Metatron later in the game?
@@ZX-Gear I never beat the game, so I don't know. Metatron is considered to be the highest of angels because his name is the same value as El Shaddai in Hebrew gematria.
@@100Servings Yep. He is the literal mouthpiece of God. Whatever he orders came from the Big Man Himself.
@@ZX-Gearif youre thinking he gets some kinda angelic form not....really.
I played this game as a child. I didn't have much money, one day I went to a game store and gave them one of my games, paid a little and they gave me this game, they chose it for me, like a game no one was buying so they just gave it to the first person they could trick to make him leave with it. I really don't remember much of it, I didn't understand it; but I liked it enough to remember it for years and search for it online, but not many people have analyzed it, so I'm happy someone is talking about this deeply. Describing this game as a ''dream'' is very fitting, that's how I remember it, as a dream that I had years ago and still remember years later.
This exact same thing happened to me when I was 11, but it was Brave Fencer Mushashi haha
It's was Sony's PS1 version of LoZ: Ocarina Of Time, and it was actually very, very good.
Okay, while "El-Shadai: Ascension of the Metatron" is a mouthful, at least it isn't "Kingdom Hearts 0.2: Birth By Sleep: A Fragmentary Passage".
I think a key part of why KH got away with that monstrosity of a title was that Kingdom Hearts was already well established by the time they released that game. People already knew what Kingdom Hearts was and that they wanted it. If that had been the title for the first game, it probably would have killed the series.
At least it's not "kingdom hearts: 358/2 days" or "Kingdom hearts: dream drop distance" or "kingdom hearts: re:coded" That colon between re and coded was ABSOLUTELY neccessary, don't you know?
Nomura is such a fucking hack.
@@RedFloyd469 I mean, in the case of Re:Coded, the "Re:" part is meant to be a reference to emails, of the "Re: [topic of previous emails that need to be referenced by reader for full context]".
@@LuminousXMIalso its fairly easy to shorten - if you just say 'birth by sleep 2' most people will know what your talking about
the thing is, kingdom hearts can get away with weird titles because the franchise is way too popular
i used to work at a gamestop with a guy who recommended this. i tried it. it was ok. i later found a restaurant named el shaddai in a strip mall and took a picture of the marquis, “manderson insurance” written underneath, and sent it to him. he sent back a picture of the ps3 case with masking tape over the title that said “manderson insurance.” i’d post it if i could. good times.
I don’t understand
@@BosticSnipes i don’t care
@@ray12a okay thanks
@@BosticSnipes He seems to have mistakenly used the word "marquis" when he meant something else, cause it clearly doesn't mean whatever he thinks it does, which makes what he's saying very confusing. Don't know what term he was going for, but seems like the restaurant's name or perhaps its logo included that insurance company name underneath it and he thought it was amusing so he sent a picture of it to the guy who recommended the game to him.
@@floofyhoots8129 thanks lol I was lost and he chose to be unhelpful
The name of the this game has been mentioned during a scientific lecture at the Collège de France to show that yes the niche interest of the biblical scholars in the room does influence media at times.
LOL What?
It’s not a niche interest of some fm scholars though, it’s god’s revelation of the best stories which is the base of most media because that’s what resonates more with ppl, because they are either a copy or a spinoff of true stories.
@@Omarew Look I am not sure that there are many missionaries approaching people by saying: hello I would like to talk to you about your Lord El-Shaddai.
@@Omarew damn, you got ratio'd on TH-cam
@@scoopwoop8196 hold my beer
The Talos Principle: let's have a picture of a kitten on the cover. That will tell people what our game is about.
Yeah but the kitten is being held by a robot, or at least someone with artificial hands, so it tells you SOMETHING is up
it actually tells you exactly what the game is about
They could’ve just called it Ascension of the Metatron.
Still maybe not the best title, but definitely a _huge_ upgrade from what they actually went with.
Or, you know, just El Shaddai.
this take away the religious nature of the game
@@elderleon1844 It does not. Metatron is the name of an angel, so it's still there even if you remove El Shaddai
Rise of Metatron?
I still remember how a "friend" that I had invited to my birthday party back when I was in elementary school gave me this game cause he found it somewhere cheap, as an attempt to get a low effort gift and when he gave it to me he said "I got you this. It includes swords and fights or something". I had never seen this game before in my life, but I still played it and loved it. Never seen it being mentioned even once since then, and I also haven't revisited it. Maybe I should
"Shaddai harder" IM DYING LMAO
Shaddying
@@heethanthengod damn it
I’m Shaddead
Electric Shaddailoo
Same!!!
i genuinely love how he refuses to shorten the name to just el shaddai or smth
I got so excited when you revealed the game was El Shaddai Ascension of the Metatron. Literally said aloud " yes finally someone else played the game too".
Wishlisted in Switch
Still haven't finished The Lost Child, and Enoch and Lucee are in it!
XD
It’s a good game. Bought it for the pc release ❤
It was so amazing...
Wooh! Same Here!
I played this game when it released, it was actually one of my favorite games at the time. I wasn't aware that it didn't seel very well as I simply saw it as a great game and never looked further into it.
Enoch...are you sure that's enough armor?
It's fine, no problem at all
Even guys can enjoy a little bit of Bikini armor
大丈夫だ、問題ない
Based @@Garupan
No problem, everything's fine
Heroes Get Remembered, Legends Never El Shaddai.
"Legends El Shaddai, I'm alive."
-Agent 47 (real and not clickbait)
“Just a few years after the garden of Eden”. Even the minimal Biblical time period puts it at a good thousand years I think. Many believe it was much longer.
This time period always fascinated me because we know so little about it. Were there ancient high-tech civilizations? Did beings like Zeus and other myths actually happen during this time? How radical was the sorcery and other things the Watchers taught humanity?
It just sounds like the most fantasy time of humanity and I want to know.
″‘Oh dear,’ said Aziraphale. ‘It’s him.’
‘Him who?’ said Crowley.
‘The Voice of God,’ said the angel. ‘The Metatron.’
The Them stared. Then Pepper said, ‘No, it isn’t. The Metatron’s made of plastic and it’s got a laser cannon and it can turn into a helicopter.‘”
- _Good Omens_
I kind of love how specific that joke is. As far as I'm aware, there's only one Megatron toy that turned into a helicopter.
Top ten must reads.
@@Sorain1There's two, Animated and Earthspark, but Good Omens was written in 1990, and Animated Megatron was released in 2007. We didn't even have the G2 Megatron that turns into an enormous bogie coloured tank when Good Omens was first on shelves. In fact, there were maybe five helicopter transformers total - I can name four and a half, depending how you count it.
(Those helicopter TFs are Vortex, who also turns into an arm or a leg; Springer, who also turns into a car; Sandstorm, who also turns into a dune buggy; Battletrap, whose chest turns into a helicopter but whose legs turn into a tank; and Spinister, whose main job is holding two tiny men who approximate the shape of guns.)
1:44 to be more precise, Okami did not sell well when it launched. Since Capcom remastered it in 2017 for all consoles and PC, that version has sold 2.4 million as of their most recent quarterly report, and is the 46th best selling Capcom game in its history.
El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron is spin off of The Book of Enoch which is basically an ancient fanfic.
Basically, yeah. :P
Kinda like the Dante inferno game was to the Divine Comedy. Fanfic of a fanfic.
I hope there is a chapter of Hee-hee 🕴 somewhere in there.
It literally predates the "source material"
Predates the "source material" while still being created to expand said source material.
Sorry, but the "worst title ever" prize for a video game has to go to that Kingdom Hearts game with the division problem in the title that you're just supposed to know (because English doesn't have furigana) is to be read as a fraction with "over" (even though they couldn't be bothered to design a logo with the number over the other and had them side by side).
Austin Powers and the El Shadai Who ascended me
As a Christian I would describe the 3 books of Enoch as a really weird set of fanfiction stories based on a side character who got 5 minutes of screen time. Some fans will argue till their red in the face that it has to be canon because it doesn't necessarily contradict the canon story even though the publisher has said it's not. For anyone interested in a scholarly explanation without a bias of debating if something is scriptural canon or not, the channel Religion for Breakfast has episodes on all 3 books of Enoch. He provides good historical context for all 3 books because they were written at different times in history.
The christian bible contains direct references to the book of enoch as supporting material for the foundation of Christ as Messiah, along with the Melchizedek texts.
It's widely accepted that the first two books were part of the scriptural canon of the hebrews, particularly the Essenes.
As a Christian, do you love the blasphemy in the comments, too?
@@Vanity0666 The Church ultimately rejected them, though. The Ethiopians notwithstanding.
@@CantusTropusthe church can and very often has committed mistakes throughout history. I’ll trust the Hebrews of Jesus’ day over the Roman Catholic Church.
@@Vanity0666 but no, it doesn't
This man has no taste. "Ascension of the Metatron" goes hard.
If the title was simply "The Ascension of Metatron" it would be fine. But they decided to put "the" in a weird place that makes Metatron sound like less of a name and more of a thing; and made El-Shadai the main title, so it's way longer than it needs to be.
@@saintfayde4438
'Metratron' is a title, as it is "the voice of Jehova" (thus "The Metatron".) It is definitely an overstuffed title, despite how awesome it sounds.
Also, FYI, that's not how you use a semicolon; this is how you use a semicolon-to connect two related complete thoughts that could otherwise be separated by periods. Yours should just be a comma.
Bro just needed a provocative title for his video
@@saintfayde4438 How is "El Shaddai" longer than "The Ascension of Metatron"?
@@Painocus Because the title isn't just "El Shaddai"
It's "El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron"
which is longer than
"The Ascension of Metatron"
4 words is less than 6
I call the period around when this game came out "the weird era of gaming" - around the late PS2/XBox era and early PS3/Wii/XBox 360 era. I think video games were opening up as a creative medium as directors had finally fully gotten the hang of realizing their vision in full 3D and it seemed like "anything went". It was also the time period when some games like SotC and Journey came out and people started looking at what kind of artistic visions could be realized within games. A lot of very weird, sometimes bad, but always very creative and just plain *different* games like God Hand, No More Heroes, Asura's Wrath, the original NieR, and so on came out around this time and I love whenever anyone goes in-depth about them. Great video, thanks for this!
I just Shadai'd my pants.
She ascend on my metatron til I el shadai
@@CosmicWatermelnjo mama
At a certain point, a bad title can actually become good not because it accurately tells you what you’re in for, but because it’s so batshit insane that you just have to find out what this game could possibly be.
You could call a game assblaster and it will sell good. Artsy games just have it harder.
When it comes to band names there's a thing where the band makes the name sound good, not the other way around. When you think about it a bunch of popular band names are completely nonsensical, starting with Anal Cunt and Dying Fetus all the way to Korn and Arctic Monkeys.
@@MATCHLESS789 one of my favorite nonsensical band names is Ozric Tentacles (which the story of how they made the name being they were making up fictional cereals probably stoned outta their mind and Ozric Tentacles was one such fake cereal they made up)
I love when they add punctuation, like Godspeed You! Black Emperor and their albums such as F♯ A♯ ∞.
>ultrakill
@@MATCHLESS789 It still makes me chuckle that Dave Grohl said that if he knew Foo Fighters was gonna be a big thing he wouldn't have named it that because he thinks it's the worst band name ever made
“There’s no no way the title can be THAT bad”
“Damn”
2:29
This sounds like a 3 episode OVA from 1996 that you find buried at the bottom of a bargain bin in a closing Best Buy.
XD
👀😅
The kind of OVA that it turns out goes hella hard 😂
Just binged Record of Lodoss War and yes, I need more of that.
I got my bargain OVAs from Suncoast.
Almost as bad as "Mon-Yu: Defeat Monsters And Gain Strong Weapons And Armor. You May Be Defeated, But Don’t Give Up. Become Stronger. I Believe There Will Be A Day When The Heroes Defeat The Devil King."
That’s fuccing awesome
I can't believe that's an actual game title
“The Bird of Hermes is my name, eating my wings to make me tame.”
Alucard is the representation of the Philosopher Stone.
IS???
DUDE!
A video explaining the Bird of Hermes bit in Helsing just showed in my feed as I was watching this video.
What sorcery is this?
@andrefilipe9042 do you know who made the video? I'd love to watch it
@@StonedHunter Allow me to explain.
1.The words originate from the 15th century alchemical texts of the Ripley Scrolls, which has instructions on creating the Philosopher's Stone.
2. For Alucard to be immortal, from the death of his mortal form to his rebirth as a vampire, he must embrace his three aspects within himself [which is symbolized by having many eyes to look within. his own being]:
-Nigredo, the stage of decomposition and demise (Having died a mortal man, this form is his Dracula form, which is him wearing black armor)
-Albedo, the stage of purification (his rebirth into a little white-clothed girl and the start of his Vampire form, having consumed blood to evolve into the being known as Rebis)
-Rubedo, the stage of self-awareness and reentry into the mortal world (as Alucard grew in life, his self-awareness through the consumption of blood as power and knowledge fueled his strength and immortality, thus his red robes, coat, and hat. This is repeated at the end of the show, but that's explained later)
3. Using his own body as a vessel to form the bodily representation of the Philosopher Stone shows the stage of his rebirth and evolution. Guess the stigma of vampires desiring virgin blood makes sense from an alchemical standpoint through the use of using both the blood of man and women in order to consume and fuel the metaphorical stone within them by absorbing the anima and animus in both.
4. The seals on his hands and the act of destroying the souls within his being is the act of 'eating his own wings'. But after the final battle and lost his sense of self-awareness, his eyes closed and left the current reality in order to return to his original being.
5. Duality exists in the Philosopher Stone, and the show constantly express how the servant (monster) is stronger than the master (human) but the monster chooses to 'eat his own wings' to serve the human and his line, eventually leading to Integra.
Here is the full video: th-cam.com/video/1dH2jUChmwM/w-d-xo.html
And on top of that _SONIC'S THE NAME, SPEED'S MY GAME!_
I saw the title and the thumbnail and was thinking for the first 2 minutes, 30 seconds: "Please be El Shaddai - Ascension of the Metatron. Please be El Shaddai - Ascension of the Metatron. Please be El Shaddai - Ascension of the Metatron."
This feels like what you'd get if Xavier Renegade Angel ever learned "what doth life?" means
Why didn't I play this game when it came out? I've really missed out this gorgeous looking game. The trippy aesthetics are so incredible to look at. It's like being in a surreal dream created by Salvador Dahli.
Wait people had a problem with the name? I was always onlooking at the miriad if unsold copies at my local GameStop but NEVER it came to my mind that people might have not been interested in the title because of the name.
... because i'm in italy and to non-english speakers el shaddai doesn't sound any weirder than half the english game titles.
What i can say though, is that the game genre didn't fit the market of the time and that no amount of publicity would have saved it from being a flop here, it would have been like trying to sell houseki no kuni(land of the lustrous) to a tv channel that only airs cartoons at lunch hour: it just wouldn't have worked.
P.s.: also for reference, what publicity the title got in Italy back then was full of praise, i.e. big press sites acclaiming it eith the lowest score being iirc a 7 but plenty of 9s
It's less people having a problem and more the title not doing a good job generating interest in the game
to be fair, El Shaddai is a Christian sect in my country, so when I heard about this game I immediately thought of televangelists
No. This guy admits that half his job is clickbaiting with his thumbnail and title.
This game uses the same font for subtitles as Xenoblade DE’s cutscenes
Arcane sounding game names immediately draw me in so I don't think its a bad name. Just bad marketing like most games out there.
Yeah, me too hehehe. Thats why i like tittles like "shin megami tensei" hehe
"Spriggan: Lunar Verse" is peaky peak 😮
2:22 The Last Guardian had marketing, literally one of the big dev hell projects people know about alongside DNF.
Another great game with bad title: Immortal Fenyx Rising.
No matter how many times I read it, always feels weird.
It was going to be called "Gods and monsters". But the assholes of Monster drink got mad over the use of the word "monster".
@@SuperMaster000X Yep. Rugido de tripas termonuclear.
It feels like the kind of title that should have 'unleashed' in it somewhere.
Hey that's not bad !
I have it and cant play for how much giga bite size it has but it was fun
She Shedai on my Ascension until I Metatron
*[LOUD INCORRECT BUZZER]*
I always thought "Record of Lodoss War: Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth" was a terrible name.
Elon Musks son nome
Great game though
Record of Lodoss War is why Elf Love seen with Frieren even exists today.
lol
Record of Lodoss War basically set the bedrock for all fantasy anime today. It also still holds up and more mature then most newer fantasy anime.
That title sounds like an apocalyptic event some weird cult would anticipate.
Enoch is canon in the Ethiopian church. And I've heard the argument that the book is referenced in the new testament.
is because they metion that michael and satan fight for the body of moses in one of the new testament letters but this was a jewish tradition centuries before the book of enoch mention it
is because they mention that Michael and satan fight for the body of moses in one of the new testament letters but this was a jewish tradition centuries before the book of enoch mention it
@@elderleon1844As far as I can remember the book of Enoch doesn't mention Moses at all. Especially being that Moses wouldn't have been born yet. There are many different times the book of Enoch is quoted in the New testament though. One being when Jesus explains that we do not marry in heaven but are like that of the angels. Jesus specifically points out that they should know that if they know their scripture. But they didn't know it because they didn't read the book of Enoch. I forget who he was talking to when he said it though.
Jude mentioned Enoch too.
Whether the book is noncanon is up to the individual. I personally hold it as canon cus why th would I trust biblical scholars
I remember seeing this game on Steam and thinking "oh this looks like if Atlus had an acid trip like a that weird game " the weird game in question is another very abstract game called "Where they Cremate the Roadkill".
I played and finished this when it first came out, and then subsequently lost my copy. For years I wondered if I dreamed it all up. 😂
Listening to ASMR Satan yap in my ear for 6+ hours while my eyes slowly glazed over from the visual assault did the same to me. I had to google "Enoch Game" a few years later to prove to myself that it was real.
"Yes I told him already. Don't worry, he'll be fine. I know. I said I know. Sheesh. Yeah yeah, I'll tell him again." :click:
I see your El Shaddai and I raise you: Ar Tornelico Quoga: Knell of Ar Ciel.
That title only contains two actual words.
the problem with marketing issue is the internet. in what time the game came out, what year of the internet is it, and when gaming/anime/manga started to become main stream. some games just didnt have the marketing because unless you bought a gaming magazine you relied on word of mouth or went to the store and picked a game at random because you liked the title or like the art. also there is the phenomenon of "it was before its time" that is a contributing issue. its a part of life and always happens. the generation that the game was made for just didnt get it at the time. then time passes, people change, new people start gaming, and then people act surprised and be like "why did i never play this?" like it was some sort of mystery.
Born in '89 and I am EXACTLY the target market for ICO. Remember reading magazine articles about it but I didn't buy it because I just had no idea wtf it was
"The Book of Enoch is a spinoff of The Old testament" why the hell that makes so much sense lol
Actually Moses himself mentions the book and so do several peope in the old testament and even the new testament.
It's the Tokyo Drift of Bible
@@jeffreypeters5578None of the books purportedly written by Moses ever mention a "Book of Enoch." Nor do they reference it. None of the other Old Testament books mention it either.
The only place there's a firm reference to the book of Enoch in the Christian Bible is in the Epistle of Jude.
@@SonofSethoitae No it does not bro mises quotes from it
@@SonofSethoitae If you read the book of Enoch then you know Moses read it he quoted from ig
El Shaddai exists in my mind as "that one game super butterbuns made a video about several years ago"
Leave it to the Japanese to make Bible games cool.
They do do that...
Shin Megami Tensei
Do you like like your Loki as a
Gigolo?
Overlord?
Intrusive thought?
XD
@@Ramsey276one> SMT
> Biblical
I doubt a game that usually paints God and religion as evil can be seen as Biblical.
@@onetruesavior69 oh, sorry
SMT puts all mythological beings from around the world together, which I find kind of cool.
Then again, SMT YHVH is something I am glad it's not in *our world*
The smt series literally takes the route of the anti christ@@onetruesavior69
i am an occultist and religious history amateur who grew up in a theological seminary setting while my father failed to compleye his PhD in Christian Eschatology and Theology. The Book of Enoch is a lost book, found in neither the Jewish nor Christian pantheons but instead is a direct link to Gnosticism. Metatron as well finds its origins in Gnostic beliefs, which are considered historically as heretical to both traditions.
we do not have any original or complete copies of the book of enoch, as well as having found a great number of conflicting accounts of the book of Enoch from the relative same period of time and history
I love that you're inserting more humor into your videos! Your sense of humor is fantastic.
Oh and Smoughtown mentioned you in another Elden Ring video, there was a whole comment thread was calling for a collab. I must admit it warms my heart when two of my favourite youtubers come across each other.
I’m a very firm believer in the idea that a games sales hardly reflect the quality of the game. I’ve played games that sold well and they actually are unplayable
This game did something I haven't seen in any other game.
If you're beaten when fighting the Watchers and their agents, you typically just get to continue from a checkpoint. However, there are a few sections in the game where you have to do some platforming while outrunning a rising tide of darkness that threatens to swallow you.
If the darkness catches you, it's game over. Basically, you get a bad ending, and a sequence plays (which I won't spoil) while the credits roll. You have to reload your save to keep going.
HOWEVER, you have control over your character while this sequence is playing. If you do a certain action, you get a special scene. Again, no spoilers, but it BLEW MY MIND that this was in the game.
Such a cool game. One of my all time favorites for weird shit alone.
I need to find out what this certain action is for this special scene! I’ve allowed the darkness to get me plenty of times over the years with this game but can’t ever remember getting a special scene. Can you give me a hint at all? 😂
@@GenkiStarLeaf Yeah... I'll be honest with you. It's been about 8 years or so, so I don't remember EXACTLY what I did...
All I can tell you is...
It might depend on the direction you start running. Whatever you do, DON'T stop moving until you get kicked out to the title screen. Good luck!
Also this was the PS3 version. Not sure if the PC version has this or not.
@@walterkruse348 I’ve still got my PS3 hooked up so I’m going to try this over the weekend. Thanks!
HOLY FUCKING SHIT i played this game and searched it for more than a decade and now i finally know the name THANK YOU VERY MUCH
Unicorn Overlord is a terrible name for a great game too. I think it's worse actually
I’d argue that’s a better name, but only because it’s ridiculous in a way that could intrigue people. Like you do not know what you’re getting into with Unicorn Overlord.
Whereas El Shaddai Ascension of the Metatron doesn’t give you anything. Other than sounding like a pretentious 90s anime you’d find in a bargain bin at a closing Best Buy.
Meanwhile there is Triangle Strategy who makes the game sound like a random mobile strategy game
@@renren47618IKR?!
XD
You start as The Unicorn Prince, though
@@nicodemusedwards6931 do a google search on what el shaddai translates to, and you will 180 that opinion. the title is good when translated to english,
I only played this game because I bought a used PS3 with a copy of El Shaddai coming with it. It was the best coincidence I have ever experienced.
El Shaddai: Metatron Comes Home
Chronicles of Metatron: Escape From El Shaddai
Metatron Alone: Lost In El Shaddai
Beyond Metatron & El Shaddai
El Shaddai Ate My Metatron
The Curious Case of Dr Metatron and Mr El Shaddai
Nah. I'm one of the few who actually did play this game and it's pretty but that's it. The gameplay is a giant chore and the story's not great either.
I picked this up since my guardian said I couldn't get GOW yet. I quickly fell in love with the game. Where I'm from, people aren't really aware this game even exists. So I'm really happy to see a video being done it by you. TYSM!
Guardian??
Fun fact: this game runs on the Gamebryo engine.
_looks it up_ Ooo!
Warhammer Online, Epic Mickey, F3&New Vegas, Oblivion, Catherine, Splatterhouse, and Civ4 were made on that, with Maplestory 2 being the last
"Will you be ok with all that yellowness?"
"It's fine, no problem."
El Shaddai, because of its title, was one of the easiest games for me to convince my parents to buy me. I got it for Christmas in 2011, and it inspired me to look deeper into my own religion. I can't say with any certainty that I would be less of a Christian if I hadn't played the game, but it has been inspirational to me in many ways. I've spoken to my father, my old youth pastor, and several members of my current church about its contents.
That said, after just beating the PC version for the first time literally right before watching this, I have to say the game leaves a lot more on the table than I would like. When you beat the game, it unlocks a PDF that you can download from the launcher, which is honestly one of the slickest things I've ever seen since I became a gamer. But the PDF just straight up tells you that the game is incomplete. There's an entire 2 more arcs of the plot they intended for the game that the PDF covers. As cool of an unlockable as that is, that's really disappointing.
When I recommend this to people, I ask a few questions. Do you have an interest in expanded, extracanonical Judeo-Christian lore? Are you comfortable knowing the lore you get from the game will have multiple gaping inaccuracies to the source material? Can you tolerate what is basically "I can't believe it's not DMC" and just bad 3D platforming long enough to enjoy one of the few legal examples of an acid trip? If the answer to all of those questions is yes, then it gets my seal of approval. But that's a lot of caveats that must be met to experience one of the most important games to my history as a gamer. Also, if it matters, Lucious Malfoy voices Lucifel.
I'm glad you made this video. I know this isn't exactly the most popular title out there, but I'd love to hear your spoiler filled thoughts on the whole experience. I'm always interested in hearing somebody else's perspective on the Book of Enoch.
Oh hey, El Shaddai. I haven't thought about that game since I beat and reviewed it way back when it first came out. I gave it a 5/10. Here's how I ended it:
"El Shaddai has a lot of interesting ideas, but it fails to fully implement them. The biblical source material is wasted on utterly boring and one-dimensional characters. The combat mechanics are fine - the three-weapon system keeps you constantly in motion and changing strategies - but it’s limited by the repetitive combos, the inability to wield more than one weapon at once, and no opportunities to modify or strengthen your move set. The platforming is occasionally well-crafted, but there’s nothing particularly mind-blowing or challenging. The horrendous camera and inconsistent controls don’t help, either. There were a lot of missed opportunities with regards to the online features; what could of have been a great multiplayer title is limited to brief and unsatisfying single-player experience. At least it looks awesome; few PS3 games can boast the kind of visual splendor and fascinating design that went into some of these stages. But as El Shaddai illustrates, style is nothing without substance."
Basically this, it's got a bunch of flair and style but none of that matters when the gameplay puts me to bed. While those things are still important they come after you make a good combat system (at the very least) they should never be priority 1 when making a game.
I just remember seeing this at a Gamestop once and being truly bewildered that someone would name their game that. Since then I've been looking forward to the inevitable day I walk into a store and see "Jesus Chris: Disciple Dash" for sale
I speak Hebrew and I 1000% agree with you that's a terrible title for a video game, much less anything else.
But yet it's an awesome game!? Do you agree and what do you think about Judaism taking on aliens, wormholes, time continuities and weird alien monsters, or glitches!? I thought kabbalah was a much more advanced form of alchemical science inspired by alien tech going back to ancient sur or Enech empires of Mesopotamian lore.
Just found your videos at 1:00 AM and ohh boyy, is it gonna mess up my circadian rhythm.
Currently working on a video that used this game as an inspiration, I haven't had the heart to play it, but I'm thankful that you covered it today. Thank you, Max!
the claymore intro went hard with jesus ngl🤣
Speaking of this being a spin-off of a spin-off, 'The Lost Child', a very old-school SMT inspired dungeon crawler released a while back, is itself a spin-off of this game.
Hell, you even get Enoch as a party member!
Sawaki Takeyasu, creator, director and lead artist of El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron, was also a producer on the project.
You can paint the internet just paint a bunch of people arguing surrounded by banner ads, R34, references, conspiracy theories with sponsored by Google and Disney in the corner
This game is sitting in my Steam Wishlist for years, might be time to finally pick it up. Remember seeing ads about the original release of it around 2010 I guess. Looked bizarrely interesting.
I remember seeing this game in a tv channel that did AMV-style clips, and I was amazed at how strange and beautiful it looked, as you said, it appears like a dream
The masses have horrible taste in games. These are the idiots that buy the new Madden and Call Of Duty game every year like it's the law.
It's not a matter of taste. It's a matter of even knowing what the fuck the game is about. It's a matter of even knowing the game exists in the first place.
Nobody bought this game other than a handful of people. And it's probably not because of the gameplay. Marketing is 90% of why anything gets sold. Period.
@@RedFloyd469most mangas(and by proxy anime) are full of hypersexualised objectified women the reason being the ones that werent got axed for not selling enough
many of the masterpiece movies i have watched ended up flopping
when it comes to webtoons some of my favorite ones are in obscurity whit less than a fraction of followers than the absolute trash full of flashy explosions and girls so sexualised and depersonified they might as well be mindless toys, and yet they somehow have millions of followers
Dude thinks he's special for playing games other people don't know exist 😂 What a twat
I consider both basic garbage. So I guess that means you have horrible taste in games too.
@@RedFloyd469your comment is amusing to me on two levels. You really think the average fifa or madden fan would pick up a game like this or Ico if it were just advertised more? The other point is this game did spend a lot on marketing. It was something they put a decent amount of money into. But i guess you wouldnt know that when you just regurgitate hack TH-cam videos.
I like the little tidbit with the mural where Michael says "so this is how they see us." The implication that angels don't actually look like humans is a neat little idea.
Had no clue there was an HD Remaster on Steam :O. Put it in the cart for when I get paid! Thanks Max!
I constantly thought about this game and couldnt find the title. Finally did. It is a fever dream that you think of in a way that you think your fever is bring you to death and allowing you to see something you should not be able to see. Crazy memory.
If NA really wanted to make a more appealing cover art, they could have designed one of Ico holding off a group of the shadow creatures with a sword(pointed at them) while he holds Yorda behind him with the "stay back" gesture. The background could have been the castle with the silhouette of the queen engulfing everyone. This tells you it's a fantasy setting, with some form of combat, and there's a shadowy leader that needs to be defeated. Could have drawn some Final Fantasy fans since this was during the JRPG boom and a lot of gamers were looking for more fantasy themed games. The Japanese box art was a death sentence to this game in a world before Social Media.
drinking game: take a shot every time Max says "El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron" and try not to die
And I the Disco Elysium was batshit crazy
Another masterpiece of a game with a terrible title I want to point out is House of Fata Morgana, perhaps the greatest story told in video games and yet only some obscure youtubers have ever played it
I've had that one recommended to me. I'm going to play it at some point.
Ico has one the most beautiful covers to ever grace a video game box. The fact that it did not attract more attention in its time is a testament to how deeply boring, unimaginative and impatient we've become.
*always been
So much time and effort go behind making a TH-cam video and it might not get noticed or blocked. I really hate that.
The should have named it
"Enoch's ascension".
Better?
I think another Masterpiece of a game with a terrible title is 'The House of Fata Morgana'
One of the greatest stories ever written in ANY medium but somehow sold poorly, Perhaps more to do with its gameplay and cover than its title
Damn, I still own my 360 copy, glad to know this wasnt some permanent fever dream
The Japanese memes for this game lasted years, the launch trailer spawned so many memes
This was such a cool game. I had to play it when my wife wasn't around because the visuals reminded her of the time she tried acid and it was making her uncomfortable, haha.
this game feels like that one time when i dreamt of a fat waluigi (not wario, the purple waluigi but fat) as a mentor figure for me to survive a post-apocalyptic world filled with zombies.
Hardcore Amy Grant and Michael W smith here. Us 80's kids do exist...
Lol me 2.Audio adrenaline,dc talk,rich Mullins,newsboys,O.C. supertones etc
Wasn’t kingsfield before Ico? I could be wrong but I’m pretty sure that was definitely fromsofts first step into “souls like”
13:45 Oh, you mentioned Xenosaga before I could type about it, got it
XD
I KEEP FINDING THIS GAME RANDOMLY THROUGH MY LIFE AND I KEEP FORGETING ITS DANG TITLE
I just remember it as the " 大丈夫だ、問題ない" game
"Are you sure that's enough Armor?"
@@Axel_Keigreat pfp
I was part of a panel in early 2020 (right before lockdown) for the best games of the 2010's, with each person needing to submit a top 10 list to argue.
I had El Shaddai on my list. Only 1 other person in the room had played it.