As a Tamilian (that is the language and cultural setting this game is based in -Tamil Nadu, India), I’m so surprised to see this game and proud of the developers for coming up with this incredible idea based on Indian cuisine!
I love when stories likes these comes out. It is awesome to see a different perspektive then my own and discover food that I might like but never know exsisted :)
my favorite bit was how when Venba was reading the recipe book, we see it as the player's native language cause Tamil is her native language, but when Kavin tries to read it, it's all in Tamil cause he almost completely forgot how to read in Tamil from him prioritizing canadian culture and language over his own.
@@samihazaman3736when kavin was on the phone asking about his dad to the worker, the text was muddy as well so it's probably him speaking english but venba not understanding it very well
I noticed they sometimes made Kavins Speechbubbles a bit blotchy, probably to show that the mother has a more difficult time understanding him when he is speaking english. You also saw how Pavalaans ID had his name misspelled. I thought that small detail was really cool and it really sums the experience up a lot...
I haven't even finished watching but I had to pause the video and call my mom. My god, this hit so much closer to home than I expected it to. I'm an immigrant child myself - and even though my mom tried very hard to make me "not stand out" too much, the "I don't want to have the smelly food with me" part twisted my stomach with how real it was. I related to that so so much when I was younger, I was so embarrassed. When I started uni, my mom cooked up so so much food whenever I visited, but I was so embarrassed about having the containers with me on the train, because even in the bag I feel like I could smell it all the time. It was a couple of years into adulthood when I realized that cooking is how my mom expresses her love - and me saying no, not wanting to try something, not wanting to take food home, it must've hurt her so much. And all these conflicts, about language, about personal expression, they are so.. familiar. And I'm finally old enough to understand both sides. What a game, man, what a game.
it's so odd! when one grows up in another country as someone from another culture, they would want to fit in and want nothing to do with their heritage. then, as they grow up, they recognize more and more that being unique is important. ain't that something?
@@thejaded no it's fine, really, it's adorable 🥰 Don't stress yourself over it. "Ayo" is fine. we (as in humans) lose the ability to hear certain sounds spoken in combination with others in foreign languages as we grow beyond a certain one digit age which I don't remember (backed by...yeahhh...science! 😂 breaking bad tv show reference). may be that's what's happening here? who knows
@@SuperCOCOPANDAit's still common here in canada for indians to be assaulted. canada's a very racist country and it surprises many who stay here long enough to see it
I really love how they showed how shallow diversity is in media with those text messages, and how it suggests Kavin was probably a type hire. I may not be a child of immigrant parents but I've been isolated and ashamed of my culture as a kid because of how different it was compared to the people I was surrounded by. Even though I had more opportunities in my schools and the like I was still alienated as a token type since I was different in every way from the way I looked to the way that I smelled. Some of the best friends I've made had the same experiences and their families were always the kindest and most open to mine. It was truly touching how they were always so willing to share with us. It's nice to see the perspective this game has in such a genuine way, it's a very bittersweet reality but I'm glad to learn about it with you, Evelien.
Yes! As soon as I saw those initial messages from that director guy I just knew he was "one of those". Man nonbody even wanted to TOUCH my Chinese food during the school culture days. And like I deliberately tried to bring the "tamest" foods as is. It makes me hate the whole happy go lucky gloss over it approach. We need more awareness
@@mellym3ow Yeah tbh I had a bunch of friends who felt the same way, they'd only eat around other token types or just people from their culture. It was such a shame, too, whenever they offered to share some with me that food was way more delicious than the shitty school lunches they were serving in our cafeteria. And healthier too. It's just a shame that people were picked on for having actual good food on them instead of a shitty lunchables.
As a daughter of immigrants (Syrian in Argentina!) I can also relate! My mum passed years ago and I keep chasing the flavours of my childhood without really finding them. 😢
Finished watching about midnight and had to go give my dad a massive cuddle and thank him for all his sacrifices and unconditional love he has given over the years. I’m 25 and lost my mother 7 years ago, I’ve never seen him falter or ask for anything. He’s a superstar. What a powerful game.
I am 26 and I wish I could show my appreciation to my parents this way. It would be super duper awkward. I am sure my father will say "what is wrong with you?" if I went and hugged him😂. May be I can try something similar.
Every state in India has its own kind of regional food, even in between states and districts food chnges quite a bit. People outside of India would be very surprise to try all the different food , because the variety is impeccable. I myself am from the North Eastern region of India, and i have never seen anyone even mention the types of regional dishes i have had or seen, probably because i am not searching them up, but still it's very very rooted and diverse. Games like this actually makes me really happy that i am living in a place where every single dish has a story, a story of a household or even a community .
This is such a mood game. I'm also a child of immigrants, Trinidadian actually so a lot of the foods I recognize, cause we had them! But it's so funny, I got soooo "tired" of curry and roti. I picked at my rice and peas. All I wanted was pizza or lasagna that I saw others have lol. So my mother would trick me and my siblings the same way. She would get me to help her make aloo pies (I wish I remembered how to make them now, it had such a special taste. A spice she added that I can't replicate) because dough was fun to play with. Now, all I want is to go back and enjoy the curry and aloo pies I can't replicate properly.
Recreating spies are so hard! We had a very mild but round tasting curry when I was a kid, but the company changed the recipy. I have not been able to find the tast again.
Hi, as a Trinidadian living in Trinidad, tons of YTers are replicating recipes they grew up with with their available ingredients. I would really recommend Trini Cooking with Natasha and Cooking with Ria. It's never going to be the same as your mum's, but it's as close to home as you can get
This is so sweet! So I’m a child of a immigrant mother who is Filipino, and my dad is African American but I was born in Texas. Gab was right when your a kid you don’t really care about your heritage until your an adult. Because growing up as a half Asian and half black kid in a mostly Hispanic state was rough for me. I didn’t know how my Hispanic friends would care that I was part Asian because there’s barely any Asians when I was growing up. But when I was a teenager that’s when I was at my worst, I didn’t like saying I was part Asian because everyone would literally make fun of me. And because of that I didn’t hate my culture, I was more guarded of it So this game reminded me of the life of being a kid of an immigrant and having an immigrant family.
Me too! Except I'm a mix of a lot.. I was mostly known as "the Asian kid' and was bullied for it. So I rejected any Japanese and Fili culture. Now as a adult I am so proud of it and trying my best to learn about it and embrace it!
As a person from south india this hits home! If you do wanna try out idlis they taste amazing with onion chutney and for extra flavour you can add ghee (clarrified butter) on the idlis after cooking.
Update:- i finished watching the entire video, I learnt how to make Uthapam and Kari dosa 🥲 Also for those who don’t know, Kari dosa is a speciality in Madhurai which is a small town in Tamil Nadu in South India. Another really famous dish is Bun parotta. Its like normal parotta but bigger and softer
As an Indian who speaks Tamil, I was super super excited to see you play this game!! I just saw someone else playing this on Tiktok so seeing this youtube notification was super exciting for me.
This game had me crying like a baby. My experience is different, being Mexican and living in California with many people from my culture I never really felt out of place. My mother and father also always made me proud of my cultire by showing mexican media, music, and partaking in our cultural holidays and would make us speak spanish in our house to not loose our touch of language. My littlest siblings have unfortunately lost the touch of our language but they still have the same love for our food which I am happy about. I have to make an effort to talk to them in spanish so they at least understand it, as the eldest I think my parents would appreciate it.
When your favourite content creator starts playing something that's so closely based off of your homeland, it's just awesome. Thanks a lot for playing it. You did great on pronunciations. What you said about dosa being something like crepes is kinda true...just that it tastes more like soft rice crackers.And they're not sweet or spicy. Just tastes like rice but a bit of a salty or sour taste(?) Don't exactly know how to describe it but hopefully you'll get the chance to have it someday. I'm glad the developers made a game out of the cultural differences and stigma faced by brown people in the Western world. You acknowledging the parents' and the kid's perspectives when it comes to embracing one's culture and adapting to a new one really made me feel warm. Thanks a lot again.
When Kavin mentioned Appas stories at the end I started crying. The last conversation we see with Appa is where he mentions that he isnt sure if Kavin remembers any of them. And its so heart touching that he does, even if it is too late to show him
I connected so much with this story. I had an interesting version of this situation though. My parents and grandma immigrated from the Philippines to America and I was born and raised in the US. I was raised by my parents and grandma in the traditional sense but once I started school, the way I was being raised changed. They started speaking to me in English, my mom wouldn’t send me to school with homemade lunches and my younger siblings weren’t taught Tagalog or the same way I was initially. I always wondered what happened. My grandma was the one that didn’t change. She was the constant source of culture in my life. Without her, I don’t know if I would be interested in being Filipino. She taught me to always stay true to myself and to remember where we came from. I’ve never felt embarrassed that I was culturally different but my parents were afraid that I would be bullied for it cuz of stories they’ve heard or even they way they were treated at work after moving to the US. My mom now sends me off to work with homemade meals and is constantly worried if I’m okay with fish or if the dish will be too smelly. It’s only then when everything clicked for me about my upbringing. I was deprived of being closer attuned to my culture because of my parents’ trauma in trying survive in a foreign country. In an effort to protect me from it, the Americanized themselves and their children to fit in. I think that’s just sad. It’s true one needs to adapt to their new environment but I don’t think it should be at the sacrifice of who you and your family are.
For me the nice thing about Dutch people not having many truly Dutch dishes were the Christmas dinners at my schools. Everyone would bring some food from home (and their home counties) and we kids were taught about all cultures before we would eat the foods. This really got me into cooking at a young age!
I came here for some chill cooking vibes but man, as an only child of immigrants this gave me all the feels. I cried twice. Growing up I was constantly bullied for my culture, and even though I was never really one to conform, I did long to fit in a bit. I didn't feel ashamed of my culture but I became a double agent like living two different lives and identities. I admit it became hard to juggle and it got to the point where my Chinese identity took a back seat. But you're right, as an adult now I've come to embrace my culture unapologetically. I'm not playing double agent anymore. I wish I paid more attention to my Chinese lessons than my English homework. I still feel a bit lonely because my broken mandarin makes it hard for me to connect with like minded people. Most English speakers, Chinese or not, don't share the same values. I feel like a Frankenstein, a weird mix of cultures because of that haha. Sometimes I feel like I'm not Chinese enough while also not being western enough (south Africa is very westernized in the cities). But luckily I do speak Cantonese, a lesser spoken dialect and my partner speaks it too. And I'm trying to watch more mandarin shows to brush up on it. I agree with what the dad said and it is exactly what I've been saying to my community. It's OK to deviate from your culture, but don't do it just because others are not accepting of it. Out of all the difficulties that came with NGO work, helping more of the youth reconnect with their culture was the most heartbreaking for me... Its so tough. I kinda see why my parents were so anxious sometimes. The youth only really care about fitting in, and sure you can't always blame them. It's tough having been on both sides 🙈 The sacrafices and the sheer loneliness that immigrants have to go through is also really heart wrenching. I feel so guilty sometimes trying to walk my own path because I feel like I'm abondoning my parents because I'm all they've ever known... But I just feel like I can't honor their sacrafices if I don't forge my own path. It does feel smothering sometimes sadly. But I'll never turn my back on my culture again and I'll always fight to keep it alive even if I get knocked down for it. Sorry this is like an essay but thank you for being so open to all sorts of cultures Gab! ❤ This was a very beautiful game and made me want to learn more about Indian culture!
Wow. I feel you so much. Thank you so much for writing this! As an Indian studying in the USA, I do feel some of these things and I feel quite lonely as well. Managing everyone's expectations is also very taxing. There are positives as well obviously, but yeah, there are negatives as well. Let's hope things become better for all of us! One way to start is to be more honest about our feelings and issues.
@@HarshKapadia I'm so glad what I wrote resonates with you! I was going to cut down on it haha but then I thought maybe someone will relate. I'm sorry you feel lonely too and it definitely is soo taxing. But I do also hope things will get better for us 🤗 It might take some time but keep searching for like minded people who'll accept you for who you are. It took some time but I feel like I'm finally getting there. Good luck! ✨
My dad passed away eleven years ago and I still have his details saved in my phone's Contacts. I recently found out that my brother also has them in his phone, too. Some things just aren't meant to ever be deleted 🙂
It was so nice hearing you talk about your Afghan friend and her mum. I'm a New Zealander but I grew up in Afghanistan and the food is so amazing and it was nice to hear you got to experience that and Afghan hospitality!
as a tamil second gen living in America, this really hit home - these dishes and this language were things my parents carried with them to a new life and raised us on, and it’s only recently as I’ve gone off to college and started to live and cook for myself that I’ve really started to appreciate them. this game was amazing gab, and it made me so nostalgic for my parents, my food, and my home; thank you so much for playing it!
Oo. I heard Tamils specifically were getting targetted in US. That they would see which Indians frequented the South Indian restaurants and would attack them. Is that over yet? I hope you are safe.
Such a cute way to let people learn anout different cultures! It reminded me of growing up with my mums friends from Bangladesh and learning about their culture through food and music! My favourite memories will always be going to their houses after school and eating homemade curry! Also going past all the stores in the market that sold sari and being mesmerised at how beautiful their dresses are! Ahh such a lovely game this was ❤
This was so emotional and also educational. And what a lovely hopeful ending. This game is more like an interactive graphic novel. That makes me a bit sad that there isn't a separate genre for digital storytelling like this. Art like this deserves one. ❤Also, I definitely crave Indian food now (like most viewers I think, haha).
i remember being little and being embarrassed of my culture. i’m so glad i’ve learned to appreciate and embrace it now. this game really hit home despite it being of a vastly different culture. your walkthroughs are always so genuine, observant, and appreciative. super comforting, lots of love
ngl, i cried my eyes out during a couple of the scenes. maybe it’s just the 5am wishy washies, but kavin learning the recipes from the book and cooking w his amma was so happy cry inducing
Such a beautiful game! It was endearing to watch you pronounce all the Tamil words and tell us your stories as well. As a South Indian (Telugu girl), this video made content beyond belief and yes, Tamil is a beautiful language, I wish to learn it someday. Thank you for playing this game, Evelin. Lots of love to you ❤
I felt the same about Finnish/Swedish food until I actually got a cookbook with a long legacy and started trying out what people ate back in the day. I googled a little and the Dutch version of that seems to be the Kookboek van de Amsterdamse huishoudschool. That's a thick-ass book so gotta be some really Dutch stuff in there, can't be just all stroopwafel.
@@Summer_and_Rain Honestly, meatball variants are a thing all over Europe, us Swedes have our own version is all. Something that's a lot more Swedish is things like beef in horseradish sauce, or Scanian mustard (hot as hell if made properly), or things like spettekaga (basically a kind of grilled meringue cake thing) or pitepojkar ("Boys from Pite", translated literally. Deep-fried pastries dipped in ground cardamom and sugar).
Dutch cuisine used to be more varied, with more local vegetables and herbs (you'd be surprised how many "weeds" are edible and even tasty!). AFAIK, the stereotypical dutch cuisine we know now (potatoes, meat and vegetables for dinner), was a product of the formalisation of what made a "healthy" meal that was being taught in schools. Many vegetables and herbs dissappeared from the dinner table in that period.
@@ananasnapero5291 I am the proud owner of a 1940's printing of "Kotiruoka - Keittokirja kotia ja koulua varten". But I for sure have more feels regarding the old "Vår kokbok" that I inherited from my grandma. The key is to get the old ones, because all cookbooks are being subverted by people who think eating meat and potatoes will bring you ill health and destroy the planet.
I immediately downloaded this after just 10 minutes of watching. I can’t wait to start playing it. I’ve never seen a game like this that explores south indian cooking as well as immigration. It seems like such a lovely story and I can’t wait to play and finish watching your playthrough!
I wholeheartedly sympathised with the pronunciation topic depending on which language(s) your interlocutors speak. My name is Julia and for most non-Francophones the "J" and "U" sounds aren't the same as in their native tongue (English, German and Spanish speakers all have a totally different way of saying my name) I always adapt the pronunciation because it genuinely doesn't bother me at all and it just seem normal for me to be the one adapting to the country you're in instead of numerous people having to make a collective effort
This had me sobbing by the end. The art style was gorgeous and a beautiful story. It really touched me, I felt it so deeply with my mum emigrating to the UK. The sacrifices she made for us and the strength she had is astonishing. To feel pulled in both directions is so painful and it hurts the most now as I feel guilty not being able to care for my frail grandparents back in Ireland. Also the food looked delicious, I definitely want to try them! The struggle and conflict to have the two cultures is so difficult, I'm glad they were able to reconnect in the end.
This game is incredibly touching. My family and I moved to Canada back in the early 90s and it was the same struggle with language, lack of "Canadian" work experience, as well as the difficulty of adapting to a new culture and country. I recall sharing one bed to sleep in with the entire family because we could not afford more than that. I am glad a game like this was made because it's a story that I'm sure is emulated by many who decide to leave their homes to start somewhere new as part of the Canadian Immigrant experience. 💚
Man, I cried a lot towards the end. It hit home for me, but not like the immigrated life like the others in the comments are telling. As I grew up, I sometimes wondered what life would be like if my grandpa hadn’t died of a heart attack - when my papí was 15. I have tried over the years to learn more Italian dishes, but my family is so used to the Americanized versions. (And since this comment, I found out we are actually Sicilians. Wow.) After I got to finally see a full play of Venba, I suddenly have this urge to travel to Sicily, where my grandpa emigrated from, and find what is left of his family. My family. Learn what it’d be like, so I can embrace the 1/4 of my heritage. (I’m Sicilian, French, English, and Austrian.) I’d love to learn something Austrian, but I worry it will put stress on my mom. She doesn’t like reminders of her dad. (Bad experiences.)
53:17 She's going old school and making her own coconut shavings! And my experience isn't entirely like Kavins, but I am a military brat that's moved all over the country and moved from Christian private elementary schools to public middle and high schools. The feeling that the cultures that bring you up can be a barrier between you and other children is an unfortunate reality. People don't really realize how important culture is until they're adults. It's very brave for his parents to let him grow up how he wants, and very kind for his mom to keep her heart open to him. Food is such an important part of the human soul and this game perfectly captures how important it is.
This game had me in tears! I'm so glad they made up in the end! It was nice to see him lay his head on his appa's lap to show he still needed her, even after all these years. I loved it!
i adore how in the part where Venba cooks the feast, you dont get any actual cooking instructions in written form, but the song being played in the background is someone singing how the food is cooked in tamil! i want to write a translation for it soon, its so cool.
If anyone is interested there is a movie called The Namesake based on a book by the same name. Fantastic story about an Indian family living in America. It touches on the same issues in this amazing game.
Ahh this game is so beautiful!! I'm from Indonesia and we're a multi-cultural country, I was shocked when I saw Puttu because we had the similar one and it called Putu. In my country, we ate it with melted brown sugar and cooked in a bamboo stick. My parents came from Sumatera island and it was the point for the trading route back then, a lot of people from India, Arab, China, and etc stayed and decided to lives here so we received and created such a mixed food that are inspired from those countries. I learned so much from this game, the food and the ingredients are so similar yet so different (especially for North and West Sumatera food). This game touches on a sensitive topics and honestly I'm all for it!! Can't imagine how it feels to be the 2nd generation from an immigrant parents, it must be hard for them to keep the culture close yet need to adapt on a completely new culture without losing yourself in the process. What a heartwarming game, it's a bittersweet story just like life is.
I still have my mother’s entry in my contacts on my phone, even though she passed away last year. I guess it’s a little sad, but I do like seeing the lily she used as her contact photo on everything. When it pops up, I can hear her saying, “Hey, cute kid!” I’ll take the smile that gives me, even if there’s that twinge of pain. ❤
This game moved me. I did not expect to cry as much as I did. It was really refreshing to see this perspective. And the food looked so good, I swear I could smell it through the screen.
I was already excited to watch Gab’s upload as usual.. but seeing my mother tongue (Tamil/Thamizh) got me grinning from end to end! Can’t wait to watch the whole video! ❤
The quotes u have read from the calendar is one 2000 year old tamil literature " Thirukural " written by the poet Thiruvalluvar ( picture of him is on the calendar ) it has about 1330 poems its so special to Tamils that every bus in Tamilnadu has a verse pasted on it.
So I watched the whole vid and I'm sobbing😭...The cuisine making is quite accurately portrayed...50:00 is called Murukku, usually made as snacks or for celebrations...The achievement at 55:05 translates "Shall we start?"... I could almost smell the fried spices through the screen, they look so good and delicious...It's so amazing that you played this game Gab, and it's okay, don't worry too much about the pronunciation 😄
I’m half Filipino and I relate to being too embarrassed as a kid to eat my home cooked lunches… luckily my mom didn’t like cooking anyway so when I told her she was like “oh thank god so you won’t think I’m a bad mom if I just give you lunch money??” 😂😂 but my mom doesn’t consider me Filipino, even though I am at least half and her daughter?? But she sees me as an American and it’s hard for her to see me as a Filipina like her even when I’m at the family reunions doing karaoke with my titas!!!
As someone whose tamil myself , it's really really fascinating to see such games in mainstream. They also don't shy away with the representation part , and as usual amazing gameplay eve !! Also , you're pronounciation was not bad lol . Also, "kanna" is supposed to be an endearing term for son.
This game just brought me to tears multiple times. So much tragedy happened to them and I'm happy the mother and son reconnected at the end there. The struggles they went through as immigrants was so hard to see, it's the kind of thing most people won't think about if you don't live through that. I've definitely learned a lot and I'm happy the game exists to tell a story like this.
Idk if it's been added but when I played this I really wished they'd added the recipe guidelines in a side thing in the game because this taught me how to make Biryani and honestly it's so good.
As a first generation mexican, this still hit home so hard. The little struggles with identity are really overlooked. The yearning for wanting to fit in, but the guilt of rejecting the "unusual" side of you, feels like a betrayal to not only your family and their sacrifices, but to you as well.
Love that Indian culture finally getting some recognition! India is so diverse that languages,traditions,food change every 100kms! 🇮🇳...I suggest you play Raji : An Ancient Epic on steam
That was an amazing story and so true! I am so interested in my history and heritage now as an adult and I wish I would have asked more questions when my grandparents were still alive.. but when I was young I didn't really care. This story is so relatable!! Thanks for sharing it with me Gab!!❤❤
As a South Indian ( From Kerala) , the game really hit hard. I have been away from the south for sometime coz of college and seeing this actually makes me wanna call Amma ( mom ) and tell her how much I miss home. I guess we sometimes forget how much our roots mean to us.
Just wanted to say, I never expected you to play this game, much less enjoy it. As a tamil person myself, I can't believe how accurate the recipies (and the immigrant experience) were. Glad you enjoyed it!
As soon as I saw the pot and a bunch of ingredients all around it I knew it was gonna be Briyani😂❤ As an Indian person this really hit all the feels in very different way for me. I'm born and raised in a different country with my family thanks a little thing called colonisation~ but we never experienced the hardships of being outsiders or immigrants or the likes, we are very fortunate to live in an area where our Indian culture mixes in with other cultures and is respected so I never experienced being made fun of because of the food I eat or the many festivals and prayers we celebrate or see the exoticification of my traditional outfits. But my heart hurts to see stories like this where parents sacrifice so much for the betterment of their children's futures only to be put into a dilemma of honouring your culture or hiding it because it doesn't fit the social norms of a foreign land. Especially when that land isn't foreign to your child it's literally all they know , like myself ,I have never been to India, all I know is western influences mixed with my culture. But I'm glad to still have no shame in my culture. That's why it really hurt when I saw Kavin act the way he did I understand why now of course but just to see him not want to even take food to university or share with his friends my god that was crazy to me. I remember vividly in highschool during lunch how everyone used to share their different foods like it wasn't an issue, because really it should not be, so maybe it was culture shock from a video game lol. But it really made me sad and empathise with him not wanting to be made fun of. The funniest thing is today is mum's birthday and we just had a huge lunch with all her favorite curries and side dishes and that is just making me bawl right now. I love my parents so much. Its not a picture perfect world I live in but I'm happy that I can exist in a somewhat harmonious way with my culture and my modern life. Thanks for playing this Gab you're a true gem❤
This game had me bawling so hard by the end. I moved six hours away from my single parent mom when I was 18 because it felt suffocating at home and my depression was bad. Now that I'm healthy-ish and older I've begun to understand how much she struggled and how much blame I put on her. We're not immigrants but this game still touched me immensely and reminded me how much I treasure my mom.
Hearing Evelien talk about the half Japanese half Dutch kid- and also watching this story unfold- reminds me of an incredibly heartbreaking short story called _The Paper Menagerie,_ by Ken Liu. The amazing LeVar Burton read it on his Podcast. The story is about an American man who marries a Chinese woman and they have a son. I highly recommend giving it a listen. Just… don’t forget the tissues! 😭😭😭😭
Just cried through all the video, such a beautiful game. So interesting to see this story as someone that didn't have another culture than the one where I lived. Would love the see or even play even more games to see those types of stories (PS: I had a friend that was from the Netherland and we always did the mini pancakes at her house and I just loved it !)
I just started a game that seems like it would be right up your alley. It's called The Spirit and The Mouse. You get to go around helping humans in a French village. AS A MOUSE!
I'm so glad that even when I left Poland I could get so many different people hooked on polish cuisine, it made me so proud to share my culture with the world. This game made me cry so hard haha, thank you for an amazing gameplay Gab!
In denmark we have a dish that uses a similar device to the one at 51:00 called æble skiver, apple slices in direct translation. It's cool to see similar cooking devices be used for completely different recipes.
This game was really lovely. The storytelling and the art 👌✨. Can relate a lot to the game, especially when it comes to the unfamiliarity of one's language and trying to fit in with your peers. And hearing Evelyn's experience and her experience with other people she knows was neat to listen to as well xD
What a beautiful game! Didn't expect to bawl my eyes out when I clicked on Gab's notification though. It's been nearly a year since I crossed thousands of miles away from home. I wish I could see my mother right now :(
as someone that went through a very similar story of moving to a new country with parents that wanted us to have better opportunities, being Indian and taking the food to school.....my lunch boxes went from Chapati + Sabji (what you dip chapati in) to Spaghetti's and other western meals to fit in, I would eat Chapati as is or Sabji and eat the rest in the bus coming home - which sounds really funny to me why would I put myself through so much trouble, but as a kid you want to keep up with your friends and what they are doing....and now as an adult I feel very connected to my roots, I love the food that comes with my culture, and I honestly won't have it any other way.... This game made me tear up, you also did a fabulous job at the pronunciations !! :)
Seeing his dad's contact still in his phone after he'd passed made me ugly cry for a bit. I still have my mom's cell and work contacts even though both stopped being hers years ago. Thinking about deleting those brought on even more tears. That's one of those references that if you know, *you know*.
The way I thought I could immediately try cooking Tamil cuisine after playing this game..... It's a cute little short game and I very much enjoyed the story behind it as well! Thanks for playing it gab
As a currently overseas uni student, this game hits so hard in my chest, I to feel like not appreciating my home country really much, and didn't think that I need any help from my family or anything, I tried to make a living of my own, but lately I've been missing home, so last year I went back to my country and meeting my family and had a blast, it's awesome! and experiencing all of the culture again before I went back to my uni, I missed this kind of things and made me realize to spend my time really well because maybe, just maybe I cannot experience it again, especially with my family
Gab going Canadian while playing a game about an Tamil family who immigrated to India getting trying to keep in touch with their culture. “Third times the try eh.’” This game was wonderful and I hope they make more. I wish the game was longer, it really touched my heart and allowed me to connect with my friend who is Tamil. It allowed me to learn more about the food from her home.
This game tugs at my heart strings so much! I am a child of a Greek father and Italian mother who both strangely immigrated to America 3 years before meeting each other and then 10 years having me. My mother and father were always worried that i was going to become "Americanized" and as a teenager i did quite a bit and i will admit that, but now being a young adult i am so proud of my Italian and Greek culture!! It is always funny though as my parents and i would have one week of Greek food, i adored (and still do) stuffed grape leaves with a side of hummus and some gyro, one week of italian homemade pasta id make with my mom, (i loved to make spaghetti when i was little and now pesto and putanesca are my favorites!), and one week of American, (which honestly was some times Americanized Greek, Italian, Japanese, or sometimes just classic American food aka waffles, pancakes, hot dogs, hamburgers, or ooh PEANUT BUTTER SANDWHICHES or chicken nuggets!) My autistic mind was so happy with the last two when it came to American food! Unfortunately though, my extended family through my fathers side doesnt speak much Greek (my cousins) i feel like im the only one who still keeps those language and food cultures in my level of family generation...although Im stoked that my cousins and i on both sides are Hellenists/Religio Romanas! (I do more Hellenic style as for some reason thats easier for my brain and it includes Roman bits in antiquity!) Sorry for the ramble! Id never thought a game would pull so hard at my heart 🥲🥹😅
My birth name is Ioannes so for easier sense of things, I was called Ian growing up at primary and high school and now as a genderflux person I go by Ioannes and Ianthe! 😊
The ending made me choke up with tears. I haven’t gone through any of the things shown in the game but it made me tear up to see how much they all struggled. I can’t imagine how tough and conflicting it must be to juggle the feeling of disconnect from your parents culture, the culture that you grow up around and the feelings of embarrassment because of other peoples ignorance and disrespect towards your family’s culture. This game is so beautiful, it’s such amazing story telling and such a important story to tell
My God that was an amazing experience with you trying to pronounce the words & looking eager to try the food. I am an Indian & just today i had Idli as breakfast & now i want to eat South indian food again. The story was deep & great with a good ending of them meeting again & the son sharing his feelings rather than running away from them. The cuisines, whether Idli, Dosa, biryani , appam, uttapam/oothapam & etc. was looking delicious & is delicious irl too, ofc deliciousness increases with variations as per a person's preferences. After seeing the part where you made chakli (where u made batter go round & round & then deep fried it), i called my mom & told her to make some for me but with extra crispiness, extra flavor & extra garlic. I've made many of those dishes, well except the non-veg ones. I would like to one day come to UK or Japan & just give some Indian snacks like chakli, shakarpare & all. Damn that was good. Thank you so much.
I appreciate gabs so much for playing games like this ❤ the art style, the story, and the music are so beautiful. I wish more and more people would play these types of games
the storytelling is so fascinating with how grounded and realistic it is. i had a life that could be considered the other side to the coin of this family's here. i was born and raised in the philippines, and THEN we moved to canada, so the process of shifting cultures while still keeping our pinoy heritage wasn't as difficult as portrayed here. english was already my first language, which my family was fine with, but i was able to pick up our own language and learn it as i grew up. the contrast is really cool to say the least, and i appreciate this game for making such a beautiful story, and one with cooking! i absolutely adoooore cooking.
As a Tamilian (that is the language and cultural setting this game is based in -Tamil Nadu, India), I’m so surprised to see this game and proud of the developers for coming up with this incredible idea based on Indian cuisine!
I love when stories likes these comes out. It is awesome to see a different perspektive then my own and discover food that I might like but never know exsisted :)
Absolutely. This is a rare gem of a story. I would be extremely proud
Sorry but I think ‘As a Tamil’ should be the right word. Putting the suffix ian at the end of Tamil is not correct.
Watching this while hungry was def a mistake lol
I'm a Tamilian too! This game is incredible!
The subtle storytelling is amazing. Like how the text is muddy when Kavin is speaking English. Amazing!
all yellow text is spoken in english. i think the muddy text boxes are maybe emotional moments?
@@kat_the_mouseI saw it as the parents were struggling to understand what he was saying
@@father_mae_i I saw it as him not speaking his native language Tamil very well.
my favorite bit was how when Venba was reading the recipe book, we see it as the player's native language cause Tamil is her native language, but when Kavin tries to read it, it's all in Tamil cause he almost completely forgot how to read in Tamil from him prioritizing canadian culture and language over his own.
@@samihazaman3736when kavin was on the phone asking about his dad to the worker, the text was muddy as well so it's probably him speaking english but venba not understanding it very well
I noticed they sometimes made Kavins Speechbubbles a bit blotchy, probably to show that the mother has a more difficult time understanding him when he is speaking english. You also saw how Pavalaans ID had his name misspelled. I thought that small detail was really cool and it really sums the experience up a lot...
as an Indian, this made me really happy!! and don't worry about the pronunciations. you got most of it right ❤
I haven't even finished watching but I had to pause the video and call my mom. My god, this hit so much closer to home than I expected it to. I'm an immigrant child myself - and even though my mom tried very hard to make me "not stand out" too much, the "I don't want to have the smelly food with me" part twisted my stomach with how real it was. I related to that so so much when I was younger, I was so embarrassed. When I started uni, my mom cooked up so so much food whenever I visited, but I was so embarrassed about having the containers with me on the train, because even in the bag I feel like I could smell it all the time. It was a couple of years into adulthood when I realized that cooking is how my mom expresses her love - and me saying no, not wanting to try something, not wanting to take food home, it must've hurt her so much. And all these conflicts, about language, about personal expression, they are so.. familiar. And I'm finally old enough to understand both sides. What a game, man, what a game.
it's so odd! when one grows up in another country as someone from another culture, they would want to fit in and want nothing to do with their heritage. then, as they grow up, they recognize more and more that being unique is important. ain't that something?
Do you mind me asking that from what country are you originally from, and where did your family move to? This is so interesting, yet sad story.
hearing gab say aiyo as "ayoooo" is the funniest thing I've heard all week
omg yeah i was laughing for like 10 mins straight
I literally did the same thing lol. I didn't want to be disrespectful but I swear Venba just went "Ayo?" 🤨🤨
@@thejaded no it's fine, really, it's adorable 🥰 Don't stress yourself over it. "Ayo" is fine.
we (as in humans) lose the ability to hear certain sounds spoken in combination with others in foreign languages as we grow beyond a certain one digit age which I don't remember (backed by...yeahhh...science! 😂 breaking bad tv show reference). may be that's what's happening here? who knows
@@thejaded okay wait! I just heard her say it. It's close to the accurate pronunciation🤔weird
The trauma of the fathers “night in the park” and how he still talks about it probably a decade later 😞
What happened to him?
it went better than i thought, i was expecting cheating
@@SuperCOCOPANDA He got beat up I think. Mugged or a maybe a racist assault.
@@SuperCOCOPANDA mostly got attacked because he is Indian, hence son is worried that he stands out different as well
@@SuperCOCOPANDAit's still common here in canada for indians to be assaulted. canada's a very racist country and it surprises many who stay here long enough to see it
Honestly, this story applies to most immigrant families raising next generations in foreign countries. What a wonderful story.
I really love how they showed how shallow diversity is in media with those text messages, and how it suggests Kavin was probably a type hire. I may not be a child of immigrant parents but I've been isolated and ashamed of my culture as a kid because of how different it was compared to the people I was surrounded by. Even though I had more opportunities in my schools and the like I was still alienated as a token type since I was different in every way from the way I looked to the way that I smelled. Some of the best friends I've made had the same experiences and their families were always the kindest and most open to mine. It was truly touching how they were always so willing to share with us.
It's nice to see the perspective this game has in such a genuine way, it's a very bittersweet reality but I'm glad to learn about it with you, Evelien.
Yes! As soon as I saw those initial messages from that director guy I just knew he was "one of those". Man nonbody even wanted to TOUCH my Chinese food during the school culture days. And like I deliberately tried to bring the "tamest" foods as is. It makes me hate the whole happy go lucky gloss over it approach. We need more awareness
@@mellym3ow Yeah tbh I had a bunch of friends who felt the same way, they'd only eat around other token types or just people from their culture. It was such a shame, too, whenever they offered to share some with me that food was way more delicious than the shitty school lunches they were serving in our cafeteria. And healthier too. It's just a shame that people were picked on for having actual good food on them instead of a shitty lunchables.
As a daughter of immigrants (Syrian in Argentina!) I can also relate! My mum passed years ago and I keep chasing the flavours of my childhood without really finding them. 😢
Finished watching about midnight and had to go give my dad a massive cuddle and thank him for all his sacrifices and unconditional love he has given over the years. I’m 25 and lost my mother 7 years ago, I’ve never seen him falter or ask for anything. He’s a superstar. What a powerful game.
I am 26 and I wish I could show my appreciation to my parents this way. It would be super duper awkward. I am sure my father will say "what is wrong with you?" if I went and hugged him😂. May be I can try something similar.
Every state in India has its own kind of regional food, even in between states and districts food chnges quite a bit. People outside of India would be very surprise to try all the different food , because the variety is impeccable. I myself am from the North Eastern region of India, and i have never seen anyone even mention the types of regional dishes i have had or seen, probably because i am not searching them up, but still it's very very rooted and diverse.
Games like this actually makes me really happy that i am living in a place where every single dish has a story, a story of a household or even a community .
I feel India is like a mini Europe, each new Indian state equivalent to a new country with its own language, food, cultural identity and people.
@@kaverianuranjana9787with the size of India and diversity, Europe is like mini-India haha
This is such a mood game. I'm also a child of immigrants, Trinidadian actually so a lot of the foods I recognize, cause we had them! But it's so funny, I got soooo "tired" of curry and roti. I picked at my rice and peas. All I wanted was pizza or lasagna that I saw others have lol. So my mother would trick me and my siblings the same way. She would get me to help her make aloo pies (I wish I remembered how to make them now, it had such a special taste. A spice she added that I can't replicate) because dough was fun to play with.
Now, all I want is to go back and enjoy the curry and aloo pies I can't replicate properly.
Recreating spies are so hard! We had a very mild but round tasting curry when I was a kid, but the company changed the recipy. I have not been able to find the tast again.
Hi, as a Trinidadian living in Trinidad, tons of YTers are replicating recipes they grew up with with their available ingredients. I would really recommend Trini Cooking with Natasha and Cooking with Ria. It's never going to be the same as your mum's, but it's as close to home as you can get
@@sharnet008 Oh! Thanks so much! I've looked around on TH-cam for good recipes but it always helps to get a recommendation!
When he didn't show up for the Dinner she made it broke my heart
Ugh. That scene made me shout “don’t you fucking dare cancel” when she was sitting outside ;-;
This is so sweet!
So I’m a child of a immigrant mother who is Filipino, and my dad is African American but I was born in Texas. Gab was right when your a kid you don’t really care about your heritage until your an adult.
Because growing up as a half Asian and half black kid in a mostly Hispanic state was rough for me. I didn’t know how my Hispanic friends would care that I was part Asian because there’s barely any Asians when I was growing up.
But when I was a teenager that’s when I was at my worst, I didn’t like saying I was part Asian because everyone would literally make fun of me. And because of that I didn’t hate my culture, I was more guarded of it
So this game reminded me of the life of being a kid of an immigrant and having an immigrant family.
Me too! Except I'm a mix of a lot.. I was mostly known as "the Asian kid' and was bullied for it. So I rejected any Japanese and Fili culture. Now as a adult I am so proud of it and trying my best to learn about it and embrace it!
This was healing… I’m not even Indian or have family, but it made my heart feel warm. Salute to the developers.
As a person from south india this hits home! If you do wanna try out idlis they taste amazing with onion chutney and for extra flavour you can add ghee (clarrified butter) on the idlis after cooking.
It looked so good. I had never seen anything like it before. It is fun how food can be so personalized from region to country :)
You just made me so hungry at 2 am😭
I'm curious. How's clarified butter different from regular butter? Or is it not?
@@spheres0082 main difference is the taste
Update:- i finished watching the entire video, I learnt how to make Uthapam and Kari dosa 🥲
Also for those who don’t know, Kari dosa is a speciality in Madhurai which is a small town in Tamil Nadu in South India. Another really famous dish is Bun parotta. Its like normal parotta but bigger and softer
As an Indian who speaks Tamil, I was super super excited to see you play this game!! I just saw someone else playing this on Tiktok so seeing this youtube notification was super exciting for me.
This game had me crying like a baby. My experience is different, being Mexican and living in California with many people from my culture I never really felt out of place. My mother and father also always made me proud of my cultire by showing mexican media, music, and partaking in our cultural holidays and would make us speak spanish in our house to not loose our touch of language. My littlest siblings have unfortunately lost the touch of our language but they still have the same love for our food which I am happy about. I have to make an effort to talk to them in spanish so they at least understand it, as the eldest I think my parents would appreciate it.
When your favourite content creator starts playing something that's so closely based off of your homeland, it's just awesome. Thanks a lot for playing it. You did great on pronunciations. What you said about dosa being something like crepes is kinda true...just that it tastes more like soft rice crackers.And they're not sweet or spicy. Just tastes like rice but a bit of a salty or sour taste(?) Don't exactly know how to describe it but hopefully you'll get the chance to have it someday.
I'm glad the developers made a game out of the cultural differences and stigma faced by brown people in the Western world. You acknowledging the parents' and the kid's perspectives when it comes to embracing one's culture and adapting to a new one really made me feel warm. Thanks a lot again.
When Kavin mentioned Appas stories at the end I started crying. The last conversation we see with Appa is where he mentions that he isnt sure if Kavin remembers any of them. And its so heart touching that he does, even if it is too late to show him
I connected so much with this story. I had an interesting version of this situation though. My parents and grandma immigrated from the Philippines to America and I was born and raised in the US. I was raised by my parents and grandma in the traditional sense but once I started school, the way I was being raised changed. They started speaking to me in English, my mom wouldn’t send me to school with homemade lunches and my younger siblings weren’t taught Tagalog or the same way I was initially. I always wondered what happened. My grandma was the one that didn’t change. She was the constant source of culture in my life. Without her, I don’t know if I would be interested in being Filipino. She taught me to always stay true to myself and to remember where we came from. I’ve never felt embarrassed that I was culturally different but my parents were afraid that I would be bullied for it cuz of stories they’ve heard or even they way they were treated at work after moving to the US. My mom now sends me off to work with homemade meals and is constantly worried if I’m okay with fish or if the dish will be too smelly. It’s only then when everything clicked for me about my upbringing. I was deprived of being closer attuned to my culture because of my parents’ trauma in trying survive in a foreign country. In an effort to protect me from it, the Americanized themselves and their children to fit in. I think that’s just sad. It’s true one needs to adapt to their new environment but I don’t think it should be at the sacrifice of who you and your family are.
For me the nice thing about Dutch people not having many truly Dutch dishes were the Christmas dinners at my schools. Everyone would bring some food from home (and their home counties) and we kids were taught about all cultures before we would eat the foods. This really got me into cooking at a young age!
I came here for some chill cooking vibes but man, as an only child of immigrants this gave me all the feels. I cried twice. Growing up I was constantly bullied for my culture, and even though I was never really one to conform, I did long to fit in a bit. I didn't feel ashamed of my culture but I became a double agent like living two different lives and identities. I admit it became hard to juggle and it got to the point where my Chinese identity took a back seat. But you're right, as an adult now I've come to embrace my culture unapologetically. I'm not playing double agent anymore.
I wish I paid more attention to my Chinese lessons than my English homework. I still feel a bit lonely because my broken mandarin makes it hard for me to connect with like minded people. Most English speakers, Chinese or not, don't share the same values. I feel like a Frankenstein, a weird mix of cultures because of that haha. Sometimes I feel like I'm not Chinese enough while also not being western enough (south Africa is very westernized in the cities). But luckily I do speak Cantonese, a lesser spoken dialect and my partner speaks it too. And I'm trying to watch more mandarin shows to brush up on it.
I agree with what the dad said and it is exactly what I've been saying to my community. It's OK to deviate from your culture, but don't do it just because others are not accepting of it. Out of all the difficulties that came with NGO work, helping more of the youth reconnect with their culture was the most heartbreaking for me... Its so tough. I kinda see why my parents were so anxious sometimes. The youth only really care about fitting in, and sure you can't always blame them. It's tough having been on both sides 🙈
The sacrafices and the sheer loneliness that immigrants have to go through is also really heart wrenching. I feel so guilty sometimes trying to walk my own path because I feel like I'm abondoning my parents because I'm all they've ever known... But I just feel like I can't honor their sacrafices if I don't forge my own path. It does feel smothering sometimes sadly. But I'll never turn my back on my culture again and I'll always fight to keep it alive even if I get knocked down for it.
Sorry this is like an essay but thank you for being so open to all sorts of cultures Gab! ❤ This was a very beautiful game and made me want to learn more about Indian culture!
Wow. I feel you so much. Thank you so much for writing this! As an Indian studying in the USA, I do feel some of these things and I feel quite lonely as well. Managing everyone's expectations is also very taxing. There are positives as well obviously, but yeah, there are negatives as well.
Let's hope things become better for all of us! One way to start is to be more honest about our feelings and issues.
@@HarshKapadia I'm so glad what I wrote resonates with you! I was going to cut down on it haha but then I thought maybe someone will relate. I'm sorry you feel lonely too and it definitely is soo taxing. But I do also hope things will get better for us 🤗 It might take some time but keep searching for like minded people who'll accept you for who you are. It took some time but I feel like I'm finally getting there. Good luck! ✨
@@mellym3ow thank so much for not deleting it!
Thank you for your wishes and I'm hoping thing improve for all of us as well.
Take care!
My dad passed away eleven years ago and I still have his details saved in my phone's Contacts. I recently found out that my brother also has them in his phone, too. Some things just aren't meant to ever be deleted 🙂
💛
as someone who grew up with a dutch best friend, Bitterballen is incredible!
i cried for an hour and 20 minutes, but what an amazing story
you are so real for this
It was so nice hearing you talk about your Afghan friend and her mum. I'm a New Zealander but I grew up in Afghanistan and the food is so amazing and it was nice to hear you got to experience that and Afghan hospitality!
I love how you play every type of game, cute, aesthetic, adventure, mystery, horror and you are always 100% into them love love love it ❤.
as a tamil second gen living in America, this really hit home - these dishes and this language were things my parents carried with them to a new life and raised us on, and it’s only recently as I’ve gone off to college and started to live and cook for myself that I’ve really started to appreciate them. this game was amazing gab, and it made me so nostalgic for my parents, my food, and my home; thank you so much for playing it!
Oo. I heard Tamils specifically were getting targetted in US. That they would see which Indians frequented the South Indian restaurants and would attack them. Is that over yet? I hope you are safe.
also gab’s enthusiasm over the food is sooo infectious im getting giddy :) i love food in everything, particularly games
I'm a new viewer and I gotta say, I appreciate your calm and chill vibe. I did a lot of nice self care and pet care while watching. Thank you.
Such a cute way to let people learn anout different cultures! It reminded me of growing up with my mums friends from Bangladesh and learning about their culture through food and music! My favourite memories will always be going to their houses after school and eating homemade curry! Also going past all the stores in the market that sold sari and being mesmerised at how beautiful their dresses are! Ahh such a lovely game this was ❤
This is too relatable. Thank you for playing this wonderful game about our cuisine! Made me very happy as a Tamil immigrant 😋
This was so emotional and also educational. And what a lovely hopeful ending. This game is more like an interactive graphic novel. That makes me a bit sad that there isn't a separate genre for digital storytelling like this. Art like this deserves one. ❤Also, I definitely crave Indian food now (like most viewers I think, haha).
i remember being little and being embarrassed of my culture. i’m so glad i’ve learned to appreciate and embrace it now. this game really hit home despite it being of a vastly different culture. your walkthroughs are always so genuine, observant, and appreciative. super comforting, lots of love
ngl, i cried my eyes out during a couple of the scenes. maybe it’s just the 5am wishy washies, but kavin learning the recipes from the book and cooking w his amma was so happy cry inducing
Such a beautiful game! It was endearing to watch you pronounce all the Tamil words and tell us your stories as well. As a South Indian (Telugu girl), this video made content beyond belief and yes, Tamil is a beautiful language, I wish to learn it someday. Thank you for playing this game, Evelin. Lots of love to you ❤
I felt the same about Finnish/Swedish food until I actually got a cookbook with a long legacy and started trying out what people ate back in the day. I googled a little and the Dutch version of that seems to be the Kookboek van de Amsterdamse huishoudschool. That's a thick-ass book so gotta be some really Dutch stuff in there, can't be just all stroopwafel.
I knew Sweden and Denmark have meat balls recipies, it was fun to hear that Dutch also have one :)
@@Summer_and_Rain Honestly, meatball variants are a thing all over Europe, us Swedes have our own version is all. Something that's a lot more Swedish is things like beef in horseradish sauce, or Scanian mustard (hot as hell if made properly), or things like spettekaga (basically a kind of grilled meringue cake thing) or pitepojkar ("Boys from Pite", translated literally. Deep-fried pastries dipped in ground cardamom and sugar).
Dutch cuisine used to be more varied, with more local vegetables and herbs (you'd be surprised how many "weeds" are edible and even tasty!). AFAIK, the stereotypical dutch cuisine we know now (potatoes, meat and vegetables for dinner), was a product of the formalisation of what made a "healthy" meal that was being taught in schools. Many vegetables and herbs dissappeared from the dinner table in that period.
Could you tell me about the Finnish cookbook? I'm from Finland, but still feel that the dishes I know to be native to Finland are very limited.
@@ananasnapero5291 I am the proud owner of a 1940's printing of "Kotiruoka - Keittokirja kotia ja koulua varten". But I for sure have more feels regarding the old "Vår kokbok" that I inherited from my grandma. The key is to get the old ones, because all cookbooks are being subverted by people who think eating meat and potatoes will bring you ill health and destroy the planet.
It definitely did bring me to tears at the end. I’ve been watching the development of Venba since early on and whew they did such an amazing job
I immediately downloaded this after just 10 minutes of watching. I can’t wait to start playing it. I’ve never seen a game like this that explores south indian cooking as well as immigration. It seems like such a lovely story and I can’t wait to play and finish watching your playthrough!
I wholeheartedly sympathised with the pronunciation topic depending on which language(s) your interlocutors speak. My name is Julia and for most non-Francophones the "J" and "U" sounds aren't the same as in their native tongue (English, German and Spanish speakers all have a totally different way of saying my name)
I always adapt the pronunciation because it genuinely doesn't bother me at all and it just seem normal for me to be the one adapting to the country you're in instead of numerous people having to make a collective effort
I love how your channel has some of the scariest crazy horror games and some of the coziest cutest story games. Thank you for everything you do!
the radio music every time they cook make me so happy!!
This had me sobbing by the end. The art style was gorgeous and a beautiful story. It really touched me, I felt it so deeply with my mum emigrating to the UK. The sacrifices she made for us and the strength she had is astonishing. To feel pulled in both directions is so painful and it hurts the most now as I feel guilty not being able to care for my frail grandparents back in Ireland. Also the food looked delicious, I definitely want to try them! The struggle and conflict to have the two cultures is so difficult, I'm glad they were able to reconnect in the end.
This game is incredibly touching. My family and I moved to Canada back in the early 90s and it was the same struggle with language, lack of "Canadian" work experience, as well as the difficulty of adapting to a new culture and country. I recall sharing one bed to sleep in with the entire family because we could not afford more than that. I am glad a game like this was made because it's a story that I'm sure is emulated by many who decide to leave their homes to start somewhere new as part of the Canadian Immigrant experience. 💚
Man, I cried a lot towards the end. It hit home for me, but not like the immigrated life like the others in the comments are telling. As I grew up, I sometimes wondered what life would be like if my grandpa hadn’t died of a heart attack - when my papí was 15. I have tried over the years to learn more Italian dishes, but my family is so used to the Americanized versions. (And since this comment, I found out we are actually Sicilians. Wow.)
After I got to finally see a full play of Venba, I suddenly have this urge to travel to Sicily, where my grandpa emigrated from, and find what is left of his family. My family. Learn what it’d be like, so I can embrace the 1/4 of my heritage. (I’m Sicilian, French, English, and Austrian.) I’d love to learn something Austrian, but I worry it will put stress on my mom. She doesn’t like reminders of her dad. (Bad experiences.)
53:17 She's going old school and making her own coconut shavings! And my experience isn't entirely like Kavins, but I am a military brat that's moved all over the country and moved from Christian private elementary schools to public middle and high schools. The feeling that the cultures that bring you up can be a barrier between you and other children is an unfortunate reality. People don't really realize how important culture is until they're adults. It's very brave for his parents to let him grow up how he wants, and very kind for his mom to keep her heart open to him. Food is such an important part of the human soul and this game perfectly captures how important it is.
This game had me in tears! I'm so glad they made up in the end! It was nice to see him lay his head on his appa's lap to show he still needed her, even after all these years. I loved it!
A game about Indian lifestyle!! Wow, excited for it :)
Edit: Your pronunciation of the food items was great! Just had puttu now , rice rocket haha XD
i adore how in the part where Venba cooks the feast, you dont get any actual cooking instructions in written form, but the song being played in the background is someone singing how the food is cooked in tamil! i want to write a translation for it soon, its so cool.
Nearly sobbed when it showed the picture frame of Paavalan😭
If anyone is interested there is a movie called The Namesake based on a book by the same name. Fantastic story about an Indian family living in America. It touches on the same issues in this amazing game.
Ahh this game is so beautiful!! I'm from Indonesia and we're a multi-cultural country, I was shocked when I saw Puttu because we had the similar one and it called Putu. In my country, we ate it with melted brown sugar and cooked in a bamboo stick. My parents came from Sumatera island and it was the point for the trading route back then, a lot of people from India, Arab, China, and etc stayed and decided to lives here so we received and created such a mixed food that are inspired from those countries. I learned so much from this game, the food and the ingredients are so similar yet so different (especially for North and West Sumatera food).
This game touches on a sensitive topics and honestly I'm all for it!! Can't imagine how it feels to be the 2nd generation from an immigrant parents, it must be hard for them to keep the culture close yet need to adapt on a completely new culture without losing yourself in the process. What a heartwarming game, it's a bittersweet story just like life is.
I still have my mother’s entry in my contacts on my phone, even though she passed away last year. I guess it’s a little sad, but I do like seeing the lily she used as her contact photo on everything. When it pops up, I can hear her saying, “Hey, cute kid!” I’ll take the smile that gives me, even if there’s that twinge of pain. ❤
This game moved me. I did not expect to cry as much as I did. It was really refreshing to see this perspective. And the food looked so good, I swear I could smell it through the screen.
omg im squealing!!! this is the first indian cooking game ive ever seen, and it has SUCH beautiful art ❤❤❤ i love this so much
I was already excited to watch Gab’s upload as usual.. but seeing my mother tongue (Tamil/Thamizh) got me grinning from end to end! Can’t wait to watch the whole video! ❤
The quotes u have read from the calendar is one 2000 year old tamil literature " Thirukural " written by the poet Thiruvalluvar ( picture of him is on the calendar )
it has about 1330 poems its so special to Tamils that every bus in Tamilnadu has a verse pasted on it.
This game had be crying. The story was good and the soundtracks were absolutely amazing ❤
So I watched the whole vid and I'm sobbing😭...The cuisine making is quite accurately portrayed...50:00 is called Murukku, usually made as snacks or for celebrations...The achievement at 55:05 translates "Shall we start?"... I could almost smell the fried spices through the screen, they look so good and delicious...It's so amazing that you played this game Gab, and it's okay, don't worry too much about the pronunciation 😄
It's cute and quite sad at the same time
I’m half Filipino and I relate to being too embarrassed as a kid to eat my home cooked lunches… luckily my mom didn’t like cooking anyway so when I told her she was like “oh thank god so you won’t think I’m a bad mom if I just give you lunch money??” 😂😂 but my mom doesn’t consider me Filipino, even though I am at least half and her daughter?? But she sees me as an American and it’s hard for her to see me as a Filipina like her even when I’m at the family reunions doing karaoke with my titas!!!
As someone whose tamil myself , it's really really fascinating to see such games in mainstream. They also don't shy away with the representation part , and as usual amazing gameplay eve !! Also , you're pronounciation was not bad lol . Also, "kanna" is supposed to be an endearing term for son.
This game just brought me to tears multiple times. So much tragedy happened to them and I'm happy the mother and son reconnected at the end there.
The struggles they went through as immigrants was so hard to see, it's the kind of thing most people won't think about if you don't live through that. I've definitely learned a lot and I'm happy the game exists to tell a story like this.
I absolutely love the idea of this game, such a great way to show off culturr through food.
Idk if it's been added but when I played this I really wished they'd added the recipe guidelines in a side thing in the game because this taught me how to make Biryani and honestly it's so good.
As a first generation mexican, this still hit home so hard. The little struggles with identity are really overlooked. The yearning for wanting to fit in, but the guilt of rejecting the "unusual" side of you, feels like a betrayal to not only your family and their sacrifices, but to you as well.
"You won't get a rocket, but you'll get a nice cardboard box-"
Idk why, but I heard that in my head with maximum amounts of sass
"its just a chill cooking game" Me: *sobbing*
Love that Indian culture finally getting some recognition! India is so diverse that languages,traditions,food change every 100kms! 🇮🇳...I suggest you play Raji : An Ancient Epic on steam
That was an amazing story and so true! I am so interested in my history and heritage now as an adult and I wish I would have asked more questions when my grandparents were still alive.. but when I was young I didn't really care. This story is so relatable!! Thanks for sharing it with me Gab!!❤❤
omg loved everything about it its one of those things that i want to watch over and over and i want to support the creators with everything i can
As a South Indian ( From Kerala) , the game really hit hard. I have been away from the south for sometime coz of college and seeing this actually makes me wanna call Amma ( mom ) and tell her how much I miss home. I guess we sometimes forget how much our roots mean to us.
I was genuinely crying at the end. Such a sweet story driven game.
Why did this make me tear up. Such a moving story. My mum passed and I am thankful I have all her recipes to make. ❤
Just wanted to say, I never expected you to play this game, much less enjoy it. As a tamil person myself, I can't believe how accurate the recipies (and the immigrant experience) were. Glad you enjoyed it!
As soon as I saw the pot and a bunch of ingredients all around it I knew it was gonna be Briyani😂❤
As an Indian person this really hit all the feels in very different way for me. I'm born and raised in a different country with my family thanks a little thing called colonisation~ but we never experienced the hardships of being outsiders or immigrants or the likes, we are very fortunate to live in an area where our Indian culture mixes in with other cultures and is respected so I never experienced being made fun of because of the food I eat or the many festivals and prayers we celebrate or see the exoticification of my traditional outfits. But my heart hurts to see stories like this where parents sacrifice so much for the betterment of their children's futures only to be put into a dilemma of honouring your culture or hiding it because it doesn't fit the social norms of a foreign land. Especially when that land isn't foreign to your child it's literally all they know , like myself ,I have never been to India, all I know is western influences mixed with my culture. But I'm glad to still have no shame in my culture.
That's why it really hurt when I saw Kavin act the way he did I understand why now of course but just to see him not want to even take food to university or share with his friends my god that was crazy to me. I remember vividly in highschool during lunch how everyone used to share their different foods like it wasn't an issue, because really it should not be, so maybe it was culture shock from a video game lol. But it really made me sad and empathise with him not wanting to be made fun of. The funniest thing is today is mum's birthday and we just had a huge lunch with all her favorite curries and side dishes and that is just making me bawl right now. I love my parents so much. Its not a picture perfect world I live in but I'm happy that I can exist in a somewhat harmonious way with my culture and my modern life. Thanks for playing this Gab you're a true gem❤
This game had me bawling so hard by the end. I moved six hours away from my single parent mom when I was 18 because it felt suffocating at home and my depression was bad. Now that I'm healthy-ish and older I've begun to understand how much she struggled and how much blame I put on her. We're not immigrants but this game still touched me immensely and reminded me how much I treasure my mom.
No way! A game about Indian cuisine! Count me in! So cool! 😻
Hearing Evelien talk about the half Japanese half Dutch kid- and also watching this story unfold- reminds me of an incredibly heartbreaking short story called _The Paper Menagerie,_ by Ken Liu.
The amazing LeVar Burton read it on his Podcast. The story is about an American man who marries a Chinese woman and they have a son.
I highly recommend giving it a listen. Just… don’t forget the tissues!
😭😭😭😭
Just cried through all the video, such a beautiful game. So interesting to see this story as someone that didn't have another culture than the one where I lived. Would love the see or even play even more games to see those types of stories (PS: I had a friend that was from the Netherland and we always did the mini pancakes at her house and I just loved it !)
I just started a game that seems like it would be right up your alley. It's called The Spirit and The Mouse. You get to go around helping humans in a French village. AS A MOUSE!
Your pronunciations of those dishes were right!!! Especially Idiyappam! ❤
I'm so glad that even when I left Poland I could get so many different people hooked on polish cuisine, it made me so proud to share my culture with the world. This game made me cry so hard haha, thank you for an amazing gameplay Gab!
In denmark we have a dish that uses a similar device to the one at 51:00 called æble skiver, apple slices in direct translation. It's cool to see similar cooking devices be used for completely different recipes.
This game was really lovely. The storytelling and the art 👌✨. Can relate a lot to the game, especially when it comes to the unfamiliarity of one's language and trying to fit in with your peers. And hearing Evelyn's experience and her experience with other people she knows was neat to listen to as well xD
What a beautiful game! Didn't expect to bawl my eyes out when I clicked on Gab's notification though. It's been nearly a year since I crossed thousands of miles away from home. I wish I could see my mother right now :(
as someone that went through a very similar story of moving to a new country with parents that wanted us to have better opportunities, being Indian and taking the food to school.....my lunch boxes went from Chapati + Sabji (what you dip chapati in) to Spaghetti's and other western meals to fit in, I would eat Chapati as is or Sabji and eat the rest in the bus coming home - which sounds really funny to me why would I put myself through so much trouble, but as a kid you want to keep up with your friends and what they are doing....and now as an adult I feel very connected to my roots, I love the food that comes with my culture, and I honestly won't have it any other way....
This game made me tear up, you also did a fabulous job at the pronunciations !! :)
Seeing his dad's contact still in his phone after he'd passed made me ugly cry for a bit. I still have my mom's cell and work contacts even though both stopped being hers years ago. Thinking about deleting those brought on even more tears. That's one of those references that if you know, *you know*.
The way I thought I could immediately try cooking Tamil cuisine after playing this game..... It's a cute little short game and I very much enjoyed the story behind it as well! Thanks for playing it gab
As a currently overseas uni student, this game hits so hard in my chest, I to feel like not appreciating my home country really much, and didn't think that I need any help from my family or anything, I tried to make a living of my own, but lately I've been missing home, so last year I went back to my country and meeting my family and had a blast, it's awesome! and experiencing all of the culture again before I went back to my uni, I missed this kind of things and made me realize to spend my time really well because maybe, just maybe I cannot experience it again, especially with my family
The art style is absolutely beautiful. 💙
Gab going Canadian while playing a game about an Tamil family who immigrated to India getting trying to keep in touch with their culture.
“Third times the try eh.’”
This game was wonderful and I hope they make more. I wish the game was longer, it really touched my heart and allowed me to connect with my friend who is Tamil. It allowed me to learn more about the food from her home.
This game tugs at my heart strings so much! I am a child of a Greek father and Italian mother who both strangely immigrated to America 3 years before meeting each other and then 10 years having me. My mother and father were always worried that i was going to become "Americanized" and as a teenager i did quite a bit and i will admit that, but now being a young adult i am so proud of my Italian and Greek culture!! It is always funny though as my parents and i would have one week of Greek food, i adored (and still do) stuffed grape leaves with a side of hummus and some gyro, one week of italian homemade pasta id make with my mom, (i loved to make spaghetti when i was little and now pesto and putanesca are my favorites!), and one week of American, (which honestly was some times Americanized Greek, Italian, Japanese, or sometimes just classic American food aka waffles, pancakes, hot dogs, hamburgers, or ooh PEANUT BUTTER SANDWHICHES or chicken nuggets!) My autistic mind was so happy with the last two when it came to American food! Unfortunately though, my extended family through my fathers side doesnt speak much Greek (my cousins) i feel like im the only one who still keeps those language and food cultures in my level of family generation...although Im stoked that my cousins and i on both sides are Hellenists/Religio Romanas! (I do more Hellenic style as for some reason thats easier for my brain and it includes Roman bits in antiquity!) Sorry for the ramble! Id never thought a game would pull so hard at my heart 🥲🥹😅
My birth name is Ioannes so for easier sense of things, I was called Ian growing up at primary and high school and now as a genderflux person I go by Ioannes and Ianthe! 😊
Damn this game made me cry. I'm Tamil too and this game portrayed everything so beautifully. So much heart was put into it. Thanks for making this!
That was amazing it made me cry and the ending was wholesome!
Its a must to at least try the food once if you can its so good.
The ending made me choke up with tears. I haven’t gone through any of the things shown in the game but it made me tear up to see how much they all struggled. I can’t imagine how tough and conflicting it must be to juggle the feeling of disconnect from your parents culture, the culture that you grow up around and the feelings of embarrassment because of other peoples ignorance and disrespect towards your family’s culture. This game is so beautiful, it’s such amazing story telling and such a important story to tell
My God that was an amazing experience with you trying to pronounce the words & looking eager to try the food. I am an Indian & just today i had Idli as breakfast & now i want to eat South indian food again.
The story was deep & great with a good ending of them meeting again & the son sharing his feelings rather than running away from them.
The cuisines, whether Idli, Dosa, biryani , appam, uttapam/oothapam & etc. was looking delicious & is delicious irl too, ofc deliciousness increases with variations as per a person's preferences.
After seeing the part where you made chakli (where u made batter go round & round & then deep fried it), i called my mom & told her to make some for me but with extra crispiness, extra flavor & extra garlic.
I've made many of those dishes, well except the non-veg ones.
I would like to one day come to UK or Japan & just give some Indian snacks like chakli, shakarpare & all.
Damn that was good. Thank you so much.
😭😭😭😭😭😭❤❤ oh my god this is exactly what my dad went through. I was born in 90 and we lived so much like this
I appreciate gabs so much for playing games like this ❤ the art style, the story, and the music are so beautiful. I wish more and more people would play these types of games
the storytelling is so fascinating with how grounded and realistic it is. i had a life that could be considered the other side to the coin of this family's here. i was born and raised in the philippines, and THEN we moved to canada, so the process of shifting cultures while still keeping our pinoy heritage wasn't as difficult as portrayed here. english was already my first language, which my family was fine with, but i was able to pick up our own language and learn it as i grew up.
the contrast is really cool to say the least, and i appreciate this game for making such a beautiful story, and one with cooking! i absolutely adoooore cooking.