Philosophical Analysis of Demon's Souls
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 9 มิ.ย. 2024
- A thorough philosophical analysis of FromSoft's Demon's Souls, drawing on the field of epistemology.
00:00:00 Introduction
00:04:37 Soul Form, Body Form, and Mind-Body Dualism
00:14:04 Myths, Mysticism, and Demons
00:26:40 World and Character Tendency at a Glance
00:34:25 The Soul Arts and the Nature of Experience
00:49:40 The Colorless Fog and the Limits of Knowledge
01:01:11 Knowing the True God(s) of Boletaria
01:15:07 Priests, Saints, and a Golden Elder
01:30:38 Pragmatism, Action, and Power
01:39:13 King Allant XII and the End of the World
01:49:18 Conclusion
The Gemsbok site: thegemsbok.com/
The article that became this video: thegemsbok.com/demons-souls
Twitter: / the_gemsbok
Facebook: / thegemsbok
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The media clips used in this video are expressly for review commentary, academic criticism, and comparison; their inclusion falls under the purview of Fair Use and does not violate copyright. - เกม
It's curious that at first glance Dark and Demon Souls seem similar, but deep down they are completely different, and I didn't realise it much.
But on the other hand! Bloodborne filled the role of successor to Demon’s Souls quite nicely. In my opinion.
@@yurinoworryhonestly I still feel like bb and demon souls are connected
You are by far my favorite and the most underrated video essayist on youtube
Ok, now this is right up my alley, Demon's Souls is my favorite game of all time. This will be lovely. Hell yes
Been waiting for this since your Dark Souls one. Which still stands tall as the best philosophical reading of a game on this platform.
This one hits the mark too
Seriously. Is there any other this well detailed philosophical analysis of a game on the platoform?
I've learned more philosophy from these Souls essays than I ever did in college. Your videos are horribly underrated, man
This is gonna be a good one
meh
I'm surprised that some of these ideas are really cool in a creative way.
This man achieves things with the hud turned off that I couldn't do if the game ran in slo-mo and told me whats gonna happen next
Hud? Have you played a Souls game before?
@@pyatig en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HUD_(video_gaming)
I feel like demons souls is already wayyy too slow. Trips me up.
@@pyatighealth and stamina bar. Items, spells, right hand, left hand. Souls. Those are hud elements. Why be so condescending?
@@pyatig Have you played a videogame before?
This video is ridiculously insightful, in-depth, well written and well produced. 9k views in 6 days is a criminal level of underexposure for content of this quality. Leaving a like and a comment to appease the algorithm. Keep making more!
Thank you very much for the kind remarks, and for the algorithmically pleasing comment.
But regarding the views . . . everything is relative! This video reached 10,000 views faster than any previous video on this channel. I'm very happy about that.
@@TheGemsbokglad to see the video is doing well, it’s a great one
He's simply the best to ever do it
Consider me absolutely pogged up in viewing anticipation
Wow. The assessment of the World Tendency mechanic was mind blowing! I need to play again just to experience the mechanic through this lens!
YES! Another fromsoft analysis! Absolutely loved your video about Dark Souls and I can't wait to finish this one.
This has become my favorite video on the platform. I come back to watch this all the time😊
Fucking thank u this explains so much demon souls dosnt get enough lore explanations and is largely overlooked lore wise.
The Algorithm has blessed both of us this day. Umbasa.
God. Damn. Pretty sure I learned something new bout the game or the phil every 5 minutes through the whole fkn thing. Amazing work!
Why and the hell did TH-cam just now recommend me this channel? I am an avid soulsborne sekiro fan and this is the long form content I crave. Take my sub, my likes, and my time. Great work!
(I also like the other games you've done like this but souls games are my favorite)
Babe wake up! A new Gemsbok video!
So glad to see you made another philosophical analysis on these games. I don't see many people put in as much research and work into this type of content as you do. Thank you for your work.
WOW Gemsbok back to Soulsborne And it's a big one, Thanks for the hard work Mate I'm sure this is gonna be Good, Cheers! ❣️
What an excellent video essay. I felt like I was auditing a college class while sitting through this. 😅
2 hour analysis on the original Demon's Souls. Literally the best thing that could show up in my recommended.
Definitley gonna check this out when I have time😊
Hey, just wanted to write to let you know that I (and im sure a lot of people too) really appreciate the closed caption in this video!
Thank you for saying so! It's nice to hear, as the preparation and editing of the caption track can be a large amount of work at what would otherwise be the end of a project---especially for a video of this length.
Nevertheless, you can rest assured I'll always strive to provide high-quality captioning on all of my videos.
Another masterpiece
I’m so excited for this. I found out about you through the dark souls video, and I just finished demon souls not too long ago!
Thank you for all the hours you spent on this project, as someone who is dipping their toes into philosophy for writing and creating purposes your efforts will not be forgotten any time soon.
You have no idea how excited I was mate when I saw this on my page. Your Dark Souls vid was a masterpiece.
Thanks a lot for sharing this work with us. Absolutely one of the most consistently high quality and thoughtful essayists on this platform.
I especially appreciate the conclusion section's strong reaffirmation for the value and meaning of our lives as I felt was also done in your video on Dark Souls. And what a beautiful choice of quote! Looking forward to your future works and hope you have an excellent weekend.
I don't say this often. But this is my favourite video ever at the moment.
And yes, I only finished it now because I went very slowly on it, analysed every word since english is not my mother tongue.
I finally started playing Demon's Souls at the same time this video was uploaded funnily enough.
Just finished my first watch. Loved it, though I didn't understand totally everything... but that's what the second watch is for!!
Super interesting video, and very charming sketch of my boy Peirce!
Thanks. I will pass your compliment along to the artist.
Might be my favorite video on demons souls I’ve ever seen! Buying this game on a whim back in 2009 has forever changed how I view video games and their potential. Great work!
Oh boy! Love your take on things
I usually have questions or something to add, but after 3 watches I can only drive engagement by saying: great video as always!
Thank you for using og Demon's Souls
This game is a master piece
Another fantastic video!
Thank you for making this video. Nobody does it quite like Fromsoft, and nobody captures the wisdom and thought that goes into their games quite like you. Fucking great stuff.
WE ARE SO BACK
This dudes a book. I fucking love it and these videos.
incredible work, I am very grateful that you've spent the time and effort to produce such amazing content :)
I love your video on the philosophy of dark souls so much, insanely happy you made this
Fellas time to sit back and enjoy :)
Instant classic.
This is the type of video I gotta stop myself from watching at 3am, because I won't be able to appreaciate it in my slumbery state. Makes you do the big think and it's too big for me RN.
Perhaps today's work day will be good after all. Thanks for the content!
Thoughtful and provocative, I love bringing Kant into this as well, as he is quite appropriate here. I get a bit too narrowly focused when I play these games sometimes, as I try to get all of the achievements instead of sitting and meditating on the lore and world and the deeper meaning of it all. I appreciate this video, as it reminds me to go back to my philosophical studies and explorations, and to look at things more deeply. Thank you! Umbasa :P
Beautiful.
Made me gain more clarity about my thoughts and the way i think to formulate my actions.
Thank you so much for this, amazing reflections.
Incredible, simply incredible
Please let this game one day come to PC it does not deserve to be the forgotten origin of Dark Souls.
Wow i have never wanted to play demon's souls until now
Omg please do Bloodborne next. Lovecraft's influence on it would be interesting to explore.
I really appreciate your academic-like format, genuinely made me reflect on concepts in dark souls previously, I'll enjoy this :)
I love these vids!
Your videos are the only ones that can fill the void of Matthewmatosis not making content (often, and specifically not about FromSoftware games) anymore. I can see some spark of inspiration from his Souls commentary videos in your content so that makes sense. You are making great stuff. Demon's Souls is my absolute favourite game and you did it justice! Cheers.
Thanks very much for saying so! Coincidentally, in about a week and a half I'll be publishing an analysis video about another game highly praised by Matthew in the past---Journey.
Glad to hear you are working on new stuff. I also really liked your Dead Space 1 and Elden Ring videos, will keep an eye on anything new you upload, success is imminent for your channel with the quality and work you put into your content. Hope you stay inspired!@@TheGemsbok
Wow, just an incredibly interesting and insightful video. I would call this the top 0.001% of gaming content on this platform.
Out of the modern From phenomenon of games, I played DeS last (after ER), and have recently wondered what sort of impact it would have had in me in 2010, when I first noticed some 360p clip about this "brutal" medieval fantasy game recommended only to "hardcore" gamers. It looked obtrusively dark and cramped, and the fear with which game journalists spoke of it was rather odd. The fact I never forgot that clip, including the imagery of blueish light-haze about a quaintly armored neo-knight, speaks to the impression that remained.
This one and Aesir's "luck" video are now my favorite examples on DeS and its capacity to inspire an unusual degree of lucidity when attempting to approach and then summarize what DeS "is about". Thank you.
studied a lot of this at philo uni; fun to go back to this material in a different frame
These videos are a treat. Great as always
I love these videos so much. Thank you!
So happy to see people give Demon's souls ps3 its deserved attention, I felt the remake, ehem, tarnished its image. 🤭
This was great. Thanks for the work you put into the video.
Do the philosophy of Bloodborne or Elden Ring next. These videos are seriously amazing and underrated with how many views you're getting.
I only recently got around to dusting off my ps3, buying a used copy & playing this game. Just finished it last week and it has become one of my favorite games ever. Thank you very much for taking the time to make this incredible video. I’m starved for more Demon’s Souls content but this vid is easily the best one I’ve watched yet!
Brilliant video, thank you for putting in the time and effort it no doubt took to produce.
This was absolutely stellar. I learned a few things listening to this video, about perhaps my favorite game. And hearing some echoes of things I have also contemplated. I was surprised to not hear a comment about the Talisman of Beasts. It adds context I think to THE god of Demon's Souls while of course not being conclusive, it would have been interesting to hear your thoughts on how it fits. The duology of being able to cast both Miracles and Spells while also supposed to depict an image of God, but instead is the image of the Old One.
In the Beast Soul we learn that the word 'Beast' at least refer to the Old One. But the Talisman has a dual nature, and is called 'Beasts' which begs the question who are the other Beast(s)? It's within reason I think that the beasts are aspects of the one God.
There's another interesting bit in how the loss of souls lead to madness, and the amassing of souls lead to becoming a demon. Sort of indicating that the 'gray' or middle area is frictionless (perhaps characterized by Soul Form?). One of those carry truth for the player experience where death can certainly feel maddening(Especially in body form). But finishing the game is exactly the choice of heralding the Scourge or disposing it. Something about that being in your power as you amass souls carry something profound for what it means to part of the world. Is giving up knowledge equivalent to giving up your amassed power? If so, how can you protect anything? What was even the meaning of it all?
And with the power. The world has told the story over and over, that the nature of knowledge is the nature of stepping into the unknown. While it may reveal great things, it just as likely, might consume you.
Thank you for the comment! I agree that it's interesting to contemplate the meaning of 'beasts' being plural there. But I'm not sure it provides a strong enough basis to say anything definitive about the gameworld's God.
In general, my personal take on the Talisman is simply that's it's one of the strongest pieces of evidence we have that the temples of Mird were worshipping the Old One rather than the Old One's Creator (the Creator that planted it on earth on 'the second day'), and that miracles and magic are both just soul arts (with no _real_ distinction). That's a big part of why I take the former for granted throughout this video, and that's also why the only specific mention of the Talisman here is in a quote from Lokey where he says the latter.
Im sorry that I missed this when it came out jefe gemsbok, but I’m 1000% excited for it
Thank you! Amazing work
I'm so glad this exists and I get to enjoy it
This is excellent, much like your Dark Souls one. Are you planning on tackling any of FromSoftware's other titles in the future?
Yes, I am definitely planning to make at least one more video in this style about a FromSoft game! But my very next long-form philosophical analysis of a game will be about a game by a different developer.
this is really a work of art, brilliant! it made me reflect deeply on various complex topics through the lens of a beautiful game and detailed explanation, well done!
Dude I would always come back and rewatch the dark souls video you made! Thank you so much for making another great video to watch over and over again! \[T]/
This is such a fantastic video
This is amazing. Thank you for your videos
I'm in love with this video!
I cant believe i have never given this game a chance
Excellent video.
2 hour analysis of From Software Philosophy? Yes
This is fantastic! I'll probably rewatch it like 6 times like I did your Dark video lol
Ultimate example of video essay
I'm so in
another great video! Wouldn't expect anything less. Just waiting to get a job to start supporting the channel.
I like the thesis. Guess we could hold that if Demon's Souls is kantian, Dark Souls is hegelian haha! The epistemological barrier of Kant being that that later becomes an ontological state of things in Hegel.
Thank you for the effort. It's a gem(sbok)!
Incredible video again. I fell like I learn so much and I get to appreciate the game in a new light. Thanks for this!
Quick question have you played the remake? If so what do you think of it since it removes some stuff like the weight limit?
I have not played the remake, and have no current intentions of doing so. While I'm sure it's a nice experience, Bluepoint's Demon's Souls, like most remakes, is just not a game that I care about. For a longer discussion of this topic, see my article on Half-Life and Black Mesa: thegemsbok.com/art-reviews-and-articles/half-life-black-mesa-valve-original-comparison/
Over the years Demon's Souls has become my favorite Miyazaki project-- both as an interactive experience and as an artistic statement. One of my favorite aspects is its adherence to making game mechanics diegetic. Like you did in this video, the exact implementations can be interpreted as intended statements. How they're implemented and conveyed is as close a representation of its in-world existence as they could feasibly develop, and treated seriously. World tendency, souls, bodies, etc. While I love FF9, a comparison between its mist and Demon's Souls' colorless fog is exemplary of how Demon's Souls pushes the medium forward.
I would love for you to analyze Berserk in a similar manner, since you've made it apparent you're aware of its deeper layers. There's a great lack of understanding and appreciation for its philosophical and metaphysical elements and usage of influences. Would be nice to have something to point people to to prevent myself from going on overwrought tirades!
All we need now is an episode on bloodborne
I've always felt like the philosophies of Demon's Souls would only be tackled again in Bloodborne.
Bloodborne of course, has its own thing going on, but a lot of the themes of both games are closer than their respective links to any other games made by Fromsoftware, yet aesthetically, are both in stark contrast to one and other.
I've always preferred the story to Demon's Souls over pretty much every other From Software title, with Dark Souls III, specifically as a culmination of the trilogy and what it represents narratively, being a close second in that regard!
Glad to see a game I hold very dear get such a compelling and thorough analysis like this, in which I enjoyed watching greatly!
Brilliant work!
As far as youtube channels go, you are the quickest to rise amongst the highest highs of my own favoritism. I am humbly hoping for a video from you regarding Morrowind, especially considering concepts like CHIM and Dragon Breaks. I truly hope you find the success that my perception tells me you deserve.
Thank you very much for the kind words about my work. I have actually never played an Elder Scrolls game, although I do intend to play them in the future.
Now this is my kind of video, thank you.
This was a great video.
I'm amazed at how good this game looked for it's time
Models look very dated and some animations are somewhat stiff, but the art direction is still strong to this day.
It really didn't. Arkham Asylum came out the same year and looks 10 times better. Fromsoft games have always had cheap, outdated graphics. Compare Bloodborne to MGSV or Arkham Knight. But the art direction is always 10/10.
@Snowblind I didn't mean in terms of graphical fidelity. In the age of washed out browns and greys, it stands head and shoulders above everything else
really enjoyed this video, very interesting dissection of the themes of the game. Good work.
Thanks! I tend to ignore content mods, but will be making an exception and playing through your take on the Northern Limit when it's available.
No rush, though; take your time. Look after yourself. My videos on Dark Souls and Demon's Souls have found an audience 10 and 14 years after the release of their respective games. The community will welcome your work with open arms whenever it is ready.
@@TheGemsbok Thank you. Genuinely that made me feel a lot better about the project as a whole. Thank you again.
Letttts fucking go demons souls is the goat
okay I'm 11 minutes into the first video of yours I've watched, I gotta say, I like it, it's pretty good, and also, please do anything with kingdom hearts. I feel like you could not only have a field day with it philosophically but also have a weird time placing it in terms of theories of fiction and that sort of thing.
This video include the classiest sticky white stuff joke in the history of Demon Souls videos.
HOLY SHIT
when did you get this footage? people are still invading and helping in the original servers? that's awesome! this video is incredible and will definitely be checking out your dark souls one.
Thank you for the kind words about the video! All of the footage used here was captured within the past year and a half, but not on the original servers (which shut down in early 2018).
Rather, I was playing while connected to the private servers which were set up by community member Yuvi to restore online functionality to the game in 2019. Yuvi's servers, which work for both PS3 and RPCS3, have been in continuous operation since then---and a (small) number of players are active on them every day. Instructions to connect to them can be found here: thearchstones.com/serverinfo.html
Your analysis for Bloodborne would be a banger
Unfortunately, I have only ever been able to experience about 15 minutes of Bloodborne. I don't have a PS4, and am unwilling to play it without access to both the base game and DLC. And at this point, I'm also willing to be patient for a form of the game to become available that runs at 1080p and 60 FPS (by any means necessary . . . th-cam.com/video/lOn2ludP6gM/w-d-xo.html ).
But with all that being said, from what I've heard about the game, there is a reasonable chance that it will be the subject of a project like this one once I am able to play it.
Just beat the game today so this video is awesome
There's hope for a "Philosophical Analysis of Bloodborne" in the future???
This video is a fucking masterpiece