That was also my headcannon until Johan Ross started going in and out of his cell. Maybe its the case for all the other WAU beings but I think he is different.
@@meanbite8927 Johan emits the same EMP as most other WAU-made creatures, he even caused Simon to black out completely when approaching him in the climber. I'm willing to bet that very little of what Simon sees in the presence of those that give off very strong EMPs can be taken at face value.
I find it pretty fascinating how out of every WAU creation we see, only Simon and Johan are the only ones who are near perfect control of themselves physically and mentally. This implies the WAU could potentially create something that imitates life perfectly. But the WAU still doesn't completely understand what it means to be human, so no matter how far it advances, the end result could be some kind of biological atrocity. Or maybe the WAU is like a scientist. Constantly adjusting variables and experimenting on how to allow life to continue.
It is said in the Game that the WAU still follows the instructions given to ir, but adjust the way it performs them according to the circumstances so that last statement may be true, in that the WAU can sort of innovate by itself, like how Simon probably the last WAU creation is the most human like
Catherine is also a WAU creation since she's a mockingbird, so there's actually three times we know of that the WAU did a decent job! Then again I'm inclined to attribute Catherine's ability to maintain her sense of self as a machine to her own personality.
WAU, in my opinion, is far less self aware than people give it credit for. Tho yes, it certainly is "experimenting"- just like a program running "the same maze" can learn said one maze perfectly if you let it do it many times. Tho- there is also a crux against my thinking, the Karthage experiments done with WAU. It is quite implied they wanted to make it more inteligent, self aware maybe, but it went wrong as once the world ended the experiment didn't let WAU to learn how to think, it just allowed it to sidestep several bounds and allowed it to "protect, help and save humans in any way it can"
@@masterzoroark6664 I think we are missing the point here. Self-awareness, as we know it, is a human trait. In another words, it is how humans view themselves and the world around. While WAU is different. It's way of thinking and analyzing is completely alien for humans to understand. Because of that, from our point of view, it doesn't think and is not self-aware at all. Similar, but also different case was with that drone, which helped Simon open the doors and such. As far as I remember, there was a statement in the game, that it's intelligence resemble that of a dog. It proves, that full machines (not mockingbirds and such) are able to think and be self-aware, just in different ways.
I believe the "teleporting" that we see the fleshers do is actually supposed to be an illusion brought about by their electromagnetic emissions. Catherine describes it as being capable of disrupting and overloading the senses. So what is most likely happening is that the fleshers are creating an EMP, causing Simon to briefly lose and regain consciousness. It's probably much like what people with absence seizures sometimes experience. So every time a Flesher seemingly teleports, it's actually Simon experiencing a sort of malfunction causing him to lose track of a small amount of time.
Even worse, I think the WAU fully takes control of his memories and turns him into yet another mindless zombie after the Leviathan "kills" him a second time.
@@the_furry_inside_your_walls639Ross seems too damaged to be recovered, the wau could *maybe* keep his mind trapped and alive but I doubt it could completely piece him back together (nor do I think it’d really want to)
I think Ross is frictional's most terrifying monster, even though he's 'friendly'. Everything about his design is uncanny to me. If akers' model was replaced by this i don't know if i could've made it through theta labs...
I remember getting spooked many a times by him as I traversed through the abyss and spied his Silhouette in the distance just blinking in and out of existance
Johan’s design is so metal, badass and terrifying, too bad he got clapped by the leviathan in one shot. Also it’s interesting that Simon is able to survive multiple attacks from the leviathan.
isnt johan essentially just a rotting corpse held together and operated by the WAU? im surprised his body didnt break apart sooner, bones usually dont hold up that well when surrounded by rot and water.
I wonder if Ross's intentions of destroying the WAU led him to still have control of his faculties, his hatred of it was so immense, it's what kept him in control despite some WAU growths covering it. Also, I wish there was a way to mercy kill the Tau fleshers, at least Ivaskin, the poor guy is still conscious and dreaming of his kid in such a hellish state.
This is what makes the game so thought provoking. What if he is not in pain in his dream and doesn't realise the state he is in? Would he prefer to stay alive in this state just so he can keep the memories of his child? Every person can have a different take on that hypothetical and no one would be wrong. Stellar writing.
Honestly I think Ivaskin is a pretty similar example of some will, thought, or intent affecting the after wau version of the person, considering his life now is just dreaming of his son So yeah I agree that having some intent literally affects the way the wau re-animates the victim, & I think the standard fleshers just had no real passion prior to death leading them to either be wandering rabid animals or comatose preserved corpses
Johann, is an example of the argument to keep the WAU up and running. Perhaps, if given enough time, the WAU would learn to perfect an advanced post-human species. One with electromagnetic and telepathic abilities, who could potentially withstand the hazardous surface above. The question, should we really be allowing these people to suffer in an endless painful purgatory until then? IF then?
Soma is a fucking masterpiece and the WAU is one of the most evil things seen in a video game ever. And it's especially evil because it's not actually trying to be evil. It's trying to preserve life and is running with that directive - save us at all costs. It's not doing it to 'punish us' on purpose but the reality is that's what it does. Either keeps us barely alive in constant agony...or reanimate our bodies to pretend that human life is still in abundance... or even worse uploading real sentient human brain scans into robots and dooming them to an eternity of confusion/fear/loneliness/sadness/etc all while the WAU ensures nothing will ever die. If you're Carl stuck in that loader bot you will lay there crippled on the floor of that station for presumably thousands of years. Honestly likely until either the station blows up by natural causes or the sun goes supernova. What the WAU does to its victims is almost worse than the way we humans think of Hell and the Devil. And again, the WAU is trying to do good which makes it 100x extra scary and evil.
The geothermal power plant would fail in a couple years or decades without maintenance. Not thousands. This is one of the reasons the ARK was so essential. There was no real future for anybody in Pathos-III
Except they aren't doomed to an eternity of loneliness and all that. The only reason Simon is, is that he's the latest in a line of steadily progressing recreations of humanity. Should the WAU be left to continue its work, eventually a society would be able to form out of created machines. A new society that could potentially better both their immediate surroundings and the world they'd been born into beneath the waves.
@@nothingelse1520y'know, I was thinking, maybe a brain scan of someone that knew how to program the WAU could change it's directive a bit, maybe to make it better
I've had literal nightmares about Fleshers. Hell, _everything_ about _SOMA_ lives rent-free in my brain. The only other horror game to have such an impact on me is _Silent Hill._
this game caused me immense anxiety and for quite a long time. The hopelessness... the suffering... how they tried to save the last people and fought for their lives in vain. How each sacrificed for the other and it was all in vain....how the game gave you the choice to kill or not kill probably the last human being....I don't know if any other game has had such a powerful effect on me, but at the end of that game I felt really badly crushed.....extremely sad story
Ditto. Every playthrough the game leaves me very sad and somehow anxious. Though it has some creepy passages, it's overall sad and depressing. Same applies to "The Bunker". I was (genuinely) creeped out, but in the end i was actually sad. Especially wenn i read the last journal of some (special!) person. I don't want to spoil. (And it's the 6th time already i am playing SOMA)
Just a little note, Abbo Sendeyo is confirmed to have died in the evacuation, and as such, can't be any of the flashers at Tau. Also, though it's said that the "Besheet Flahser" is Vic Auclair (which I do believe, don't get me wrong), the flesher is seen wearing blue uniform (Tau has orange uniform). Though the "Cocoon" is seen wearing the orange uniform, even though it's hard to notice.
can I just ask were that data comes from for curiosity, I went through the list of employees and assumed them to be the likeliest suspects through process of elimination
@@umukzusgelos4834 You did right. I see that the count just doesn't add up. But, Abbo is: 1) not mentioned in the names of survivors of the evacuation. 2) in the event log on his desk, we can see that the last entry, day after the evacuation, is written in a different handwriting, implying that Abbo was dead at that point. I've looked for a long time to find some answer, but it just doesn't make sense. Espinosa died in the evacuation, along with Abbo. Since Jin is also not mentioned as one of the survivors, it would make sense to say that he died in the evacuation too. But we see him access the dive suit later on. We also see him in the access logs after the evacuation, such as dive suit 3 access (18/11/2103), and Tau Power Control Room access (02/12/2103, 13/12/2103, 23/12/2103 and 26/12/2103), directly showing that he was alive inside Tau. He also later on becomes the "Deep Sea Diver" monster. Antjie is clearly said to have left for Omega. Steve and Ross both left Tau. Neil died when the tunnel colapsed on him halfway to Omega Space Gun, where his body can be found. So, that means: Auclair - probably one of the two fleshers Glasser - dead (corpse) Abbo - dead (not inside Tau) Espinosa - dead (not inside Tau) Ross - monster Yoshida - monster Neil - dead (corpse) Antjie - dead (not inside Tau) This leaves us with no one else to be the second flesher. Though I firmly believe that Vic is the "Bedsheet" flesher, the file name clearly names the "Besheet" flesher as being "Ark Crew". My theory is that it was meant to be a member of the Ark crew at one point, but it was scrapped. Similiar thing happens at Omicron, where the ammount of bodies doesn't match the ammount of Crew stationed there. Also, the time for the part of the uniform on the "Cocoon" is 4:26.
I always like to think that the reason Johan Ross became the most sentient and stable Flesher was because the WAU and him in a way "bonded", due to him working so close to the WAU on more than just a code aspect. And in a way the WAU remade him exactly how it pictured him, gave him a proper body and a scan of him. Ironically his hatred for what the WAU has become would lead to the WAU's downfall.
I like to think the surface world survived and has long since recovered, and a few miles away there is a beach covered in tourists totally oblivious to the events out at sea.
They do not teleport, electromagnetism affects Simon's perception of reality. So from his perspective, it seems like person teleports, while his disrupted electric brain can't process what really happend.
It’s probably just a vain hope of mine but I chose to believe the WAU is on its way to truly saving humanity. I believe everything up until Simons creation has been prototypes developing new bodies and designs to facilitate human conscious. It started by preserving as much of the human body as it could such as with the fleshers and crew that only had there heads changed or parts of there insides. But eventually it realized how inferior organic constructions were they would be unsustainable in this new world due to there needs. So it decided on fully inorganic with structure gel layered along to facilitate the consciousness like an octopus’s nervous system through its tendrils. I don’t think it’s a coincidence both versions of Simon were sentient and fully functional no insanity. I believe Johan was the last prototype before Simon he was able to hold on to his goals from before he perished but in its own way it drove him completely mad.
I like that Theory, though a more proper "evolutionary line" could be the following. Mockingbirds < Fleshers/Proxies < Robot Heads < Johan < Simon This is mostly sound, cause each it takes a while for the WAU to realize that the creation of a human through structure gel needs balance. Something that Simon has. No overtly insane mutations, but still running on mechanical bits. A more so a marriage than a shotgun wedding like the other WAU creations.
It adds a layer of hope. That while earth's old inhabitants are gone. In there heaven in deep-space. That the pieces can be picked up and earth renewed thanks to the WAU
why was the wau so concerned into keeping this guy alive ? I assume the creatures don't know any better when they killed him, but the wau went out of its way to resurrect him, it exploded everyone's else heads ( maybe accidentally ) just to get him back. And kill him again... I do believe the leviathan attack was premeditated, not just the creature being dumb
From what I understand, before Ross was brought back from the climber, no one was making any poisoned structure gel that could kill the WAU. So it had no reason to go after Ross or anyone at that base yet, because none of them were trying to kill it yet. Then Ross convinced that one lady to make the poisoned batch of structure gel and it started messing with their black boxes giving them the nose bleeds and headaches mentioned in the audio logs in this vid, as a way of telling them to back of and halting the poisoned gel production. When the WAU let out its EMP pulse or "Screech" as Ross calls it, the pulse make everyone's heads explode expect for Ross. Because at that point he was already fused with structure gel and heavily mutated. The WAU had no way of knowing that his mutations would save him from the EMP pulse it shot off. And for a long time I guess Ross just avoided the mutated sea life under the WAU's control until he was was distracted for long enough by Simon, so that its big eel minion could kill and eat Ross. This is what I understand anyway. Soma is a really complicated game, so my entire way of understanding this might be backwards and wrong.
@@Justacheese I was under the impression that the chamber his corpse was stored in was preventing the wau from reaching it, so the wau dialled up the its signal to contact the structure gel in the body to reanimate it and inadvertently exploded everyone's head
@@SgtThiel I wonder if the WAU was aware of what the pulse would do and simply viewed it as a small setback, considering that to its machine logic, it could simply resurrect all the exploded personnel
@@Justacheese The Nosebleeds and Headaches happened before the Gel was calibrated from Juliah Dahls logs we hear that when Ross was brought in, the WAU began to "repair" his body by bombarding it with electromagnetism from every system available, to prevent this, the staff of Omicron put him in the Glass container but the WAU kept going, causing them the Headaches and nosebleeds then Ross eventually woke up in his chamber but was unable to communicate his intentions of making the Gel, during this period Ross was considered "comatose" and everyone around the station started to have dreams about the recalibrated Gel which Ross transmitted to them, probably through the Blackboxes Herber eventually managed to interpret his intentions correctly through the dreams and took the Gel with her and while she wanted to put on her diving suit the WAU stepped in and sent out it´s EMP, overloading their blackboxes, so the Gel could not be delivered to Alpha
@@umukzusgelos4834 Ok, thanks for clearing that up. I thought that Ross was stuck in that chamber because the crew of Omicron had seen enough rouge mockinbirds shuffling around from the other sites. So they wanted to do the safe thing and lock Ross up in case he got up and started killing them. I didn't know his isolation chamber also stopped the WAU from trying to help/heal him.
The model Ross uses was initially developed to be used by an enemy. They repurposed the model for Ross. I wish it had stayed an enemy creature as it looks amazing.
Correct: he also goes by "Adultflesher" and "Devil" even in the gamefiles, there are even unused stalk, ambient and chase soundtracks for him in the Gamefiles his stalk theme is now used by the Anglerfish
so glad youre continuing to talk about this game, in my opinion it is frictional's best work and for years I've been saying I would put money down on a visual remake of the game
Once the WAU is no longer powered, the structure gel in WAU's creations will eventually lose charge and harden within the corpses, powering down whatever it controls.
I only now after so much time since playing SOMA I realised now that the glitching screen near enemies was a hint that we are not human since the very beggining of the game. There is also no suggestion of any visual desplay in front of our eyes present that would explain this sort of visual distortion. It's interesting how most of us propably just looked at it as "visual style" of death screen at first and didn't think much about it, but it actually fits the lore lol. Amazing how you can hide information and also make it present through the whole adventure like that.
As disturbing as this all is, the fact that the WAU is finally starting to create semi-stable lifeforms (such as Simon) is a sign that it should be left 'alive' to continue. It is learning and figuring out on its own, and slowly it is getting closer to creating a lifeform that could exist on the current state of Earth. It's just taking time, and considering it's a machine learning to create humans, it makes a lot of sense that it would. These are desperate times if you think about it. The last remnant of humanity are just files aboard the Arc, which could get stuck by an irate meteor and destroyed all in a second- ironically like Earth. If there are possibly no other lifeforms in the galaxy, it seems worth it to let WAU try. It's all they've got.
I don't think they are teleporting as much as they make Simon's eyes fritz up- just like how Ross can controll the cameras and equipment around Omicron, just far less controlled and more like form of flashbang-stun combo. Wouldn't be supprised that these critters could blow up someone's blackbox with this attack and there is already a theory that the one at Curie did kill the crew and then ate them, tho I dunno through which orfice this things eat And as for Ross' faculties- I think what kept him "sane" is his newfound obsession with killing the WAU. In life he was far more mild manered, if his way of speaking with Glasser and couple notes we find is any indication, tho he already was doubting several experiments Karthage was doing with WAU (seemingly trying to make it self aware it seems). But after his resurection he seems far more frantic and fanatical (faith does seem to keep one sane it seems, even if it mostly fuels anger)
@@umukzusgelos4834 Oh dear lord You don't even know what kind of mindidea you planted- imagine a Daek Souls stamina action kinda game but instead of fantasy it's happening in world of Soma (you already play as a "brave undead" technically speaking)
goddd the fate of the other crew mates, especially Ivashkin - makes my skin crawl. Imagine dying slowly, wishing you were home, and now you're stuck in that sadness, forever. stuck in a loop of longing with possibly, no awareness of who you were. only a picture of a face you remember, and the name attached to it. calling out to your son, knowing him and everyone you loved is gone. I hate the animation of him convulsing, its so horrible omg. Is it purely the bio gel causing his spasms, or is it something more? memories? agony? and his single exposed eye.. I hate it. just amazing.
I have watched this video for a long time and was very surprised and very pleased with its content. And after watching, I would really like to ask you, or any knowledgeable person: how could you determine exactly which of the personnel of deep-sea stations where to be? I just feel a little silly with my 130 hours at SOMA and being sure that Yoshida is like a field technician and the dispatcher is Sendeyo Abbo
@@umukzusgelos4834 I'm a little sorry for the fact that I answer so voluminously and perhaps not quite correctly, but I understand what's going on. It's okay, it's very easy to make a mistake when you put together a single picture from the many parts that make up the idea of what is happening in the game at the moment. For example, to this day I believe that a man in the form of a crew member of the Tau station is the Tau dispatcher, Abbo, who was killed by mutated deep-sea creatures. This is just my theory, which I made up to clarify what is happening in the game.
not specifically chances are, however that since his revival took place within a controlled environment the WAU was able to properly restore his neuronal functions, he did also possess a vast amount of knowledge over the WAU prior to his death and was very fixed on his Goal to get help to deactivate so perhaps that was a contributor
Honestly, I think the WAU is a massively understood creation, and is one of the only slivers for hope in Soma's broken world. That said, the early iterations are terrifying.
Something I noticed about Johann Ross. Do you think Johann probably has immense physical strength? Johann, depsite having worn a power suit and knowing how durable they were, believed he could quickly kill Simon 3.
Hey im just here to comment on what a fucking story this game brings up. As stated most of the enemies in this game are re-animated humans. But theyre robotic. Which brings the question up of what do we define as human. Id like to bring up the first iteration that i remember. It was a room with a loader bot who was on the floor and asking for help. You approach it and it claimed to be human despite clearly being a robot. That scene in particular made me question if i was the bad person. That machine *feels* human it thinks its a human and thats what makes this game so scary in my opinion
Indeed, Devil or the "adult Flesher" it seems that at one point he would have been a major antagonist with a hole chase&stealth sequence dedicated to him
As much as this game really is just a walking sim it just captivates me all the same, fear of the dark depths of the ocean, a cosmic man made horror like the WAU existing is enough to make me go “fuck. I don’t like that.” Every time I see a creature or being that is covered in that wau mess it just makes me have chills all across my body. It’s my personal favorite frictional games game. I usually play it around Halloween. But I haven’t played it in a year or two. Maybe it’s time I grab my PlayStation 4 and play it again. Play it with headphones! I gotta remember to do that shit.
The fletchers gross, and terrify me… you can tell by their bloating body that gasses are (or where) starting to build. the black arms, and pale, and green skin that the flesh is rotting, and in some areas where blood has settled, that bruising has appeared, showing a lack of circulation, despite being reanimated. By this point, they’re literally zombies.
they are, because several other enemies are classed as Fleshers The Two of Lambda and the Curie, Ross, The Robot Head Woman and Yoshida are all referred to as Fleshers
Kinda wish the bedsheet guy was a monster. He could just crawl around slowly. N9t as much dangerous as unsettling (kinda like most monsters in Soma tbh)
That made think -- what if WAU IS the perfect trade to ARK? Think for yourself -- its able to self repair so it can live forever, terry akers also proved that you can kindof "sleep" And have dreams of perfect life inside WAU. And Most importantly, WAU is pretty intelligent, so even if it doesnt know what exactly a human is, or how to make intelegent and non-agressive cretures, it continues on life, more than the ARK project, which is just a trick to feel hope. I think the WAU was the thing last people should have get used to.
SOMA is a fine game but holy hell the gameplay and all those screen distortions never allow you to look at the models a lot, you have to use their editor for that. Shame, could have been a more entertaining game in my book
@@umukzusgelos4834 I know. But I just think it's not very right to create 2 modes, when 1 of them is immersive but makes your eyes commit end and the second one is just plain suffering from Frictional Games' engine. Maybe I am wrong here.
Something I find curious and I hate that I noticed this detail since it shows how much a degenerative person I am why do they still have there genitals? Cause if you look down there is some on there models.
I wanted to avoid a ban and thought putting a disclaimer might help, didn´t quite work, still got age restricted but oh well, at least it wasn´t taken down
@@umukzusgelos4834 Ah thx for the info! I appreciate this addition very much! It's very....puhh....intense seeing it. His fate is worse than death , if you ask me. This game hits me hard mentally every time i play it, despite my multiple playthroughs i still sweat when i reach the abyss or i talk to Sarah. 😶😶
They aren't teleporting, Simon is just freezing for an indeterminate amount of time due to the emp
Interesting.
@@a.k8185 indeed, i had literally 0 idea
That was also my headcannon until Johan Ross started going in and out of his cell. Maybe its the case for all the other WAU beings but I think he is different.
@@meanbite8927 Johan emits the same EMP as most other WAU-made creatures, he even caused Simon to black out completely when approaching him in the climber. I'm willing to bet that very little of what Simon sees in the presence of those that give off very strong EMPs can be taken at face value.
Could be yes or not for me
I find it pretty fascinating how out of every WAU creation we see, only Simon and Johan are the only ones who are near perfect control of themselves physically and mentally.
This implies the WAU could potentially create something that imitates life perfectly. But the WAU still doesn't completely understand what it means to be human, so no matter how far it advances, the end result could be some kind of biological atrocity.
Or maybe the WAU is like a scientist. Constantly adjusting variables and experimenting on how to allow life to continue.
It is said in the Game that the WAU still follows the instructions given to ir, but adjust the way it performs them according to the circumstances so that last statement may be true, in that the WAU can sort of innovate by itself, like how Simon probably the last WAU creation is the most human like
Catherine is also a WAU creation since she's a mockingbird, so there's actually three times we know of that the WAU did a decent job! Then again I'm inclined to attribute Catherine's ability to maintain her sense of self as a machine to her own personality.
@@ahcangela8549 the low resolution scan.
WAU, in my opinion, is far less self aware than people give it credit for. Tho yes, it certainly is "experimenting"- just like a program running "the same maze" can learn said one maze perfectly if you let it do it many times.
Tho- there is also a crux against my thinking, the Karthage experiments done with WAU. It is quite implied they wanted to make it more inteligent, self aware maybe, but it went wrong as once the world ended the experiment didn't let WAU to learn how to think, it just allowed it to sidestep several bounds and allowed it to "protect, help and save humans in any way it can"
@@masterzoroark6664 I think we are missing the point here. Self-awareness, as we know it, is a human trait. In another words, it is how humans view themselves and the world around. While WAU is different. It's way of thinking and analyzing is completely alien for humans to understand. Because of that, from our point of view, it doesn't think and is not self-aware at all. Similar, but also different case was with that drone, which helped Simon open the doors and such. As far as I remember, there was a statement in the game, that it's intelligence resemble that of a dog. It proves, that full machines (not mockingbirds and such) are able to think and be self-aware, just in different ways.
I believe the "teleporting" that we see the fleshers do is actually supposed to be an illusion brought about by their electromagnetic emissions. Catherine describes it as being capable of disrupting and overloading the senses. So what is most likely happening is that the fleshers are creating an EMP, causing Simon to briefly lose and regain consciousness. It's probably much like what people with absence seizures sometimes experience. So every time a Flesher seemingly teleports, it's actually Simon experiencing a sort of malfunction causing him to lose track of a small amount of time.
I feel bad for Johan Ross, he had to stop the Wau after dieing just to die a second time presumably
Even worse, I think the WAU fully takes control of his memories and turns him into yet another mindless zombie after the Leviathan "kills" him a second time.
@@the_furry_inside_your_walls639Ross seems too damaged to be recovered, the wau could *maybe* keep his mind trapped and alive but I doubt it could completely piece him back together (nor do I think it’d really want to)
I think Ross is frictional's most terrifying monster, even though he's 'friendly'. Everything about his design is uncanny to me. If akers' model was replaced by this i don't know if i could've made it through theta labs...
I remember getting spooked many a times by him as I traversed through the abyss and spied his Silhouette in the distance just blinking in and out of existance
Johan’s design is so metal, badass and terrifying, too bad he got clapped by the leviathan in one shot. Also it’s interesting that Simon is able to survive multiple attacks from the leviathan.
Because Simon wears basically an armor that holds against the weight of water on this depth, yet at the same time Jonah is naked
@@shizik3909 guess the suit really is that durable
(Edit: Wait but Johan is able to survive that depth with no suit on)
isnt johan essentially just a rotting corpse held together and operated by the WAU?
im surprised his body didnt break apart sooner, bones usually dont hold up that well when surrounded by rot and water.
@@Stayed_G it needs to be. At the end of the game simon is 4km under water.
L + underwater + AI psychologist + ratio
I wonder if Ross's intentions of destroying the WAU led him to still have control of his faculties, his hatred of it was so immense, it's what kept him in control despite some WAU growths covering it.
Also, I wish there was a way to mercy kill the Tau fleshers, at least Ivaskin, the poor guy is still conscious and dreaming of his kid in such a hellish state.
I think killing the WAU would turn off their life support
This is what makes the game so thought provoking. What if he is not in pain in his dream and doesn't realise the state he is in? Would he prefer to stay alive in this state just so he can keep the memories of his child? Every person can have a different take on that hypothetical and no one would be wrong.
Stellar writing.
Honestly I think Ivaskin is a pretty similar example of some will, thought, or intent affecting the after wau version of the person, considering his life now is just dreaming of his son
So yeah I agree that having some intent literally affects the way the wau re-animates the victim, & I think the standard fleshers just had no real passion prior to death leading them to either be wandering rabid animals or comatose preserved corpses
Ross's model is fucking terrifying, even though he's friendly. The design is so uncanny in such a good way
John Ross and the Fleshers sounds like a underground death metal band
More like an underwater death metal band. Ayyyyy
Johann, is an example of the argument to keep the WAU up and running. Perhaps, if given enough time, the WAU would learn to perfect an advanced post-human species. One with electromagnetic and telepathic abilities, who could potentially withstand the hazardous surface above.
The question, should we really be allowing these people to suffer in an endless painful purgatory until then? IF then?
interesting observation
Why do you think that they suffer? They are all either dead or in eternal sleep, which is a personal paradise for them.
@@Garegin_Nzde Robot Head Woman
I've thought about that a lot. Many of the "survivors" don't even appear to be suffering, though most that Simon encounters clearly are.
@@umukzusgelos4834robot head woman is chilling bro
Soma is a fucking masterpiece and the WAU is one of the most evil things seen in a video game ever. And it's especially evil because it's not actually trying to be evil. It's trying to preserve life and is running with that directive - save us at all costs. It's not doing it to 'punish us' on purpose but the reality is that's what it does. Either keeps us barely alive in constant agony...or reanimate our bodies to pretend that human life is still in abundance... or even worse uploading real sentient human brain scans into robots and dooming them to an eternity of confusion/fear/loneliness/sadness/etc all while the WAU ensures nothing will ever die. If you're Carl stuck in that loader bot you will lay there crippled on the floor of that station for presumably thousands of years. Honestly likely until either the station blows up by natural causes or the sun goes supernova.
What the WAU does to its victims is almost worse than the way we humans think of Hell and the Devil. And again, the WAU is trying to do good which makes it 100x extra scary and evil.
I didn't think AM from I have no mouth could be even worse but Frictional did it somehow
The geothermal power plant would fail in a couple years or decades without maintenance. Not thousands. This is one of the reasons the ARK was so essential. There was no real future for anybody in Pathos-III
Except they aren't doomed to an eternity of loneliness and all that. The only reason Simon is, is that he's the latest in a line of steadily progressing recreations of humanity. Should the WAU be left to continue its work, eventually a society would be able to form out of created machines. A new society that could potentially better both their immediate surroundings and the world they'd been born into beneath the waves.
I left the WAU alive, so at least something of humanity was left...
@@nothingelse1520y'know, I was thinking, maybe a brain scan of someone that knew how to program the WAU could change it's directive a bit, maybe to make it better
I've had literal nightmares about Fleshers. Hell, _everything_ about _SOMA_ lives rent-free in my brain. The only other horror game to have such an impact on me is _Silent Hill._
this game caused me immense anxiety and for quite a long time. The hopelessness... the suffering... how they tried to save the last people and fought for their lives in vain. How each sacrificed for the other and it was all in vain....how the game gave you the choice to kill or not kill probably the last human being....I don't know if any other game has had such a powerful effect on me, but at the end of that game I felt really badly crushed.....extremely sad story
Ditto.
Every playthrough the game leaves me very sad and somehow anxious.
Though it has some creepy passages, it's overall sad and depressing. Same applies to "The Bunker". I was (genuinely) creeped out, but in the end i was actually sad. Especially wenn i read the last journal of some (special!) person. I don't want to spoil.
(And it's the 6th time already i am playing SOMA)
@@Killerkarotte1 Yes. It is remarkable how he can make a horror and at the same time very sad game/story.
Hey this game gave me my decennially existence dread crisis, last time it was The Matrix 3.... Im still waiting for the next one to show up...
Just a little note, Abbo Sendeyo is confirmed to have died in the evacuation, and as such, can't be any of the flashers at Tau. Also, though it's said that the "Besheet Flahser" is Vic Auclair (which I do believe, don't get me wrong), the flesher is seen wearing blue uniform (Tau has orange uniform). Though the "Cocoon" is seen wearing the orange uniform, even though it's hard to notice.
can I just ask were that data comes from for curiosity, I went through the list of employees and assumed them to be the likeliest suspects through process of elimination
@@umukzusgelos4834 You did right. I see that the count just doesn't add up. But, Abbo is: 1) not mentioned in the names of survivors of the evacuation. 2) in the event log on his desk, we can see that the last entry, day after the evacuation, is written in a different handwriting, implying that Abbo was dead at that point.
I've looked for a long time to find some answer, but it just doesn't make sense. Espinosa died in the evacuation, along with Abbo. Since Jin is also not mentioned as one of the survivors, it would make sense to say that he died in the evacuation too. But we see him access the dive suit later on. We also see him in the access logs after the evacuation, such as dive suit 3 access (18/11/2103), and Tau Power Control Room access (02/12/2103, 13/12/2103, 23/12/2103 and 26/12/2103), directly showing that he was alive inside Tau. He also later on becomes the "Deep Sea Diver" monster. Antjie is clearly said to have left for Omega. Steve and Ross both left Tau. Neil died when the tunnel colapsed on him halfway to Omega Space Gun, where his body can be found. So, that means:
Auclair - probably one of the two fleshers
Glasser - dead (corpse)
Abbo - dead (not inside Tau)
Espinosa - dead (not inside Tau)
Ross - monster
Yoshida - monster
Neil - dead (corpse)
Antjie - dead (not inside Tau)
This leaves us with no one else to be the second flesher.
Though I firmly believe that Vic is the "Bedsheet" flesher, the file name clearly names the "Besheet" flesher as being "Ark Crew". My theory is that it was meant to be a member of the Ark crew at one point, but it was scrapped. Similiar thing happens at Omicron, where the ammount of bodies doesn't match the ammount of Crew stationed there.
Also, the time for the part of the uniform on the "Cocoon" is 4:26.
Bedsheet flesher
Johan Ross and the Fleshers would be a sick heavy metal band name.
I always like to think that the reason Johan Ross became the most sentient and stable Flesher was because the WAU and him in a way "bonded", due to him working so close to the WAU on more than just a code aspect. And in a way the WAU remade him exactly how it pictured him, gave him a proper body and a scan of him. Ironically his hatred for what the WAU has become would lead to the WAU's downfall.
I like to think the surface world survived and has long since recovered, and a few miles away there is a beach covered in tourists totally oblivious to the events out at sea.
that would be a hilariously cruel twist
I dont think they literally teleport I am pretty sure its just the electromagnetism fucking up Simon making him blackout without him noticing
Of all the monsters in SOMA, Johan Ross was definitely the sexiest
Thank you, Billy Herrington.
errr... sure why not
🗿
Touch. Some. Grass.
TALK TO PEOPLE OUTSIDE!
I don’t know bro the healing pods Simon sticks his finger in. GOD DAMN
Should have gone all in and called them Flashers
Hehe
The fleshers at Tau were so freaky it feels like they're gonna just get up at any second
They do not teleport, electromagnetism affects Simon's perception of reality. So from his perspective, it seems like person teleports, while his disrupted electric brain can't process what really happend.
Soma really has the best disturbing character design of all videogames, it kinda reminds me of the conglomerated people from Darkwood
It’s probably just a vain hope of mine but I chose to believe the WAU is on its way to truly saving humanity. I believe everything up until Simons creation has been prototypes developing new bodies and designs to facilitate human conscious. It started by preserving as much of the human body as it could such as with the fleshers and crew that only had there heads changed or parts of there insides. But eventually it realized how inferior organic constructions were they would be unsustainable in this new world due to there needs. So it decided on fully inorganic with structure gel layered along to facilitate the consciousness like an octopus’s nervous system through its tendrils. I don’t think it’s a coincidence both versions of Simon were sentient and fully functional no insanity. I believe Johan was the last prototype before Simon he was able to hold on to his goals from before he perished but in its own way it drove him completely mad.
I like that Theory, though a more proper "evolutionary line" could be the following. Mockingbirds < Fleshers/Proxies < Robot Heads < Johan < Simon
This is mostly sound, cause each it takes a while for the WAU to realize that the creation of a human through structure gel needs balance. Something that Simon has. No overtly insane mutations, but still running on mechanical bits. A more so a marriage than a shotgun wedding like the other WAU creations.
It adds a layer of hope. That while earth's old inhabitants are gone. In there heaven in deep-space. That the pieces can be picked up and earth renewed thanks to the WAU
why was the wau so concerned into keeping this guy alive ? I assume the creatures don't know any better when they killed him, but the wau went out of its way to resurrect him, it exploded everyone's else heads ( maybe accidentally ) just to get him back. And kill him again... I do believe the leviathan attack was premeditated, not just the creature being dumb
From what I understand, before Ross was brought back from the climber, no one was making any poisoned structure gel that could kill the WAU.
So it had no reason to go after Ross or anyone at that base yet, because none of them were trying to kill it yet.
Then Ross convinced that one lady to make the poisoned batch of structure gel and it started messing with their black boxes giving them the nose bleeds and headaches mentioned in the audio logs in this vid, as a way of telling them to back of and halting the poisoned gel production. When the WAU let out its EMP pulse or "Screech" as Ross calls it, the pulse make everyone's heads explode expect for Ross.
Because at that point he was already fused with structure gel and heavily mutated. The WAU had no way of knowing that his mutations would save him from the EMP pulse it shot off.
And for a long time I guess Ross just avoided the mutated sea life under the WAU's control until he was was distracted for long enough by Simon, so that its big eel minion could kill and eat Ross.
This is what I understand anyway. Soma is a really complicated game, so my entire way of understanding this might be backwards and wrong.
@@Justacheese I was under the impression that the chamber his corpse was stored in was preventing the wau from reaching it, so the wau dialled up the its signal to contact the structure gel in the body to reanimate it and inadvertently exploded everyone's head
@@SgtThiel I wonder if the WAU was aware of what the pulse would do and simply viewed it as a small setback, considering that to its machine logic, it could simply resurrect
all the exploded personnel
@@Justacheese
The Nosebleeds and Headaches happened before the Gel was calibrated
from Juliah Dahls logs we hear that when Ross was brought in, the WAU began to "repair" his body by bombarding it with electromagnetism from every system available, to prevent this, the staff of Omicron put him in the Glass container but the WAU kept going, causing them the Headaches and nosebleeds
then Ross eventually woke up in his chamber but was unable to communicate his intentions of making the Gel, during this period Ross was considered "comatose" and everyone around the station started to have dreams about the recalibrated Gel which Ross transmitted to them, probably through the Blackboxes
Herber eventually managed to interpret his intentions correctly through the dreams and took the Gel with her and while she wanted to put on her diving suit the WAU stepped in and sent out it´s EMP, overloading their blackboxes, so the Gel could not be delivered to Alpha
@@umukzusgelos4834 Ok, thanks for clearing that up. I thought that Ross was stuck in that chamber because the crew of Omicron had seen enough rouge mockinbirds shuffling around from the other sites.
So they wanted to do the safe thing and lock Ross up in case he got up and started killing them. I didn't know his isolation chamber also stopped the WAU from trying to help/heal him.
i love these closer looks on these enemies and such, especially since its SOMA, by far one of my favorite horror games
man ross always gives me the chills, both the model and the voice lines, he is such an awesome design
oh hey perfect timing, just when I was looking into some SOMA lore videos and I couldn't find a clear video of Ross model, thank you
The model Ross uses was initially developed to be used by an enemy. They repurposed the model for Ross. I wish it had stayed an enemy creature as it looks amazing.
Correct:
he also goes by "Adultflesher" and "Devil" even in the gamefiles, there are even unused stalk, ambient and chase soundtracks for him in the Gamefiles
his stalk theme is now used by the Anglerfish
so glad youre continuing to talk about this game, in my opinion it is frictional's best work and for years I've been saying I would put money down on a visual remake of the game
Love the determination you have to keep the videos coming!
Will do, probably not at this pace but so far I have no plans on quitting
@@umukzusgelos4834 you're a king fr🙏🏻
The fact that I never noticed that there was a monster at the Curie-
I wonder if by infecting the WAU the fleshers can die in peace free of the mecanical infection ?
that’s the hope, anyway
Once the WAU is no longer powered, the structure gel in WAU's creations will eventually lose charge and harden within the corpses, powering down whatever it controls.
Wouldn't be a Frictional game without full frontal nudity in it
and yet still not as bad as Outlast I´d wager
@@umukzusgelos4834if talking about the first outlast, I think the only real nudity in the game is the twins and in the dlc
@@numbersbubble well on the plus side most of Frictionalgames Nudity is not sexual in nature, Outlast... eh...
I forgot just how disturbing the WAU was
I only now after so much time since playing SOMA I realised now that the glitching screen near enemies was a hint that we are not human since the very beggining of the game. There is also no suggestion of any visual desplay in front of our eyes present that would explain this sort of visual distortion.
It's interesting how most of us propably just looked at it as "visual style" of death screen at first and didn't think much about it, but it actually fits the lore lol. Amazing how you can hide information and also make it present through the whole adventure like that.
As disturbing as this all is, the fact that the WAU is finally starting to create semi-stable lifeforms (such as Simon) is a sign that it should be left 'alive' to continue. It is learning and figuring out on its own, and slowly it is getting closer to creating a lifeform that could exist on the current state of Earth. It's just taking time, and considering it's a machine learning to create humans, it makes a lot of sense that it would. These are desperate times if you think about it. The last remnant of humanity are just files aboard the Arc, which could get stuck by an irate meteor and destroyed all in a second- ironically like Earth. If there are possibly no other lifeforms in the galaxy, it seems worth it to let WAU try. It's all they've got.
To be honest I expected the Fleshers to be morbidly obese, that’s how I remember them. They’re still fat, but not obese.
Bloated from the exposure of the underwater
I don't think they are teleporting as much as they make Simon's eyes fritz up- just like how Ross can controll the cameras and equipment around Omicron, just far less controlled and more like form of flashbang-stun combo.
Wouldn't be supprised that these critters could blow up someone's blackbox with this attack and there is already a theory that the one at Curie did kill the crew and then ate them, tho I dunno through which orfice this things eat
And as for Ross' faculties- I think what kept him "sane" is his newfound obsession with killing the WAU. In life he was far more mild manered, if his way of speaking with Glasser and couple notes we find is any indication, tho he already was doubting several experiments Karthage was doing with WAU (seemingly trying to make it self aware it seems).
But after his resurection he seems far more frantic and fanatical (faith does seem to keep one sane it seems, even if it mostly fuels anger)
on a funny side note, he shares a voice actor with Margit the Fell Omen from Elden Ring, so the whole faith aspect made me chuckle a little
@@umukzusgelos4834
Oh dear lord
You don't even know what kind of mindidea you planted- imagine a Daek Souls stamina action kinda game but instead of fantasy it's happening in world of Soma (you already play as a "brave undead" technically speaking)
@@masterzoroark6664 spooky
Wow great video, looking forward to seeing the others :)
What I noticed about the flesher is: it breathes. Does that imply the bulbous sack on their head aids in breathing somehow?
goddd the fate of the other crew mates, especially Ivashkin - makes my skin crawl. Imagine dying slowly, wishing you were home, and now you're stuck in that sadness, forever. stuck in a loop of longing with possibly, no awareness of who you were. only a picture of a face you remember, and the name attached to it. calling out to your son, knowing him and everyone you loved is gone. I hate the animation of him convulsing, its so horrible omg. Is it purely the bio gel causing his spasms, or is it something more? memories? agony? and his single exposed eye.. I hate it. just amazing.
it reaches out it reaches out it reaches out
I have watched this video for a long time and was very surprised and very pleased with its content. And after watching, I would really like to ask you, or any knowledgeable person: how could you determine exactly which of the personnel of deep-sea stations where to be? I just feel a little silly with my 130 hours at SOMA and being sure that Yoshida is like a field technician and the dispatcher is Sendeyo Abbo
I think I called Abbo and Yoshida both dispatchers, which apparently is incorrect
@@umukzusgelos4834 I'm a little sorry for the fact that I answer so voluminously and perhaps not quite correctly, but I understand what's going on. It's okay, it's very easy to make a mistake when you put together a single picture from the many parts that make up the idea of what is happening in the game at the moment. For example, to this day I believe that a man in the form of a crew member of the Tau station is the Tau dispatcher, Abbo, who was killed by mutated deep-sea creatures. This is just my theory, which I made up to clarify what is happening in the game.
Soma.
BY FAR, the best video game I've ever played! I've played it 3 times since release; next run coming up soon!
Was it ever explained why Johann was able to retain his sanity unlike the other monsters?
not specifically
chances are, however that since his revival took place within a controlled environment the WAU was able to properly restore his neuronal functions, he did also possess a vast amount of knowledge over the WAU prior to his death and was very fixed on his Goal to get help to deactivate so perhaps that was a contributor
Thanks for this video! Have been wanting to get a better look at them since I played the game when it came out haha
This game has so much atmosphere. Is the monster in the full dive suit that chases you considered a flesher?
it has it´s own folder, yet the Beta Version of the Diver was considered a Flesher, so likely he is too
For me it's worse that Johan still has human eyes which makes it so uncanny
Honestly, I think the WAU is a massively understood creation, and is one of the only slivers for hope in Soma's broken world.
That said, the early iterations are terrifying.
There's probably nothing modeled under there but damn I wanted to see what was under the bedsheet thresher.
nothing unfortunately, the arms and feet end shortly below the sheet
@@umukzusgelos4834 Not surprising.
Thank you
WAU gives them the ability to not implode like the Titan.
Every time this video gets recommended to me I always think it says Jonathan Ross and I do a double take.
I wonder if you could make a video about the WAU heart at site Alpha and how it grew out of its initial perfect sphere
I would like to, I won´t be able to show off a model per se, as it´s made up of many individual parts but I will think of something
Something I noticed about Johann Ross. Do you think Johann probably has immense physical strength? Johann, depsite having worn a power suit and knowing how durable they were, believed he could quickly kill Simon 3.
Hey im just here to comment on what a fucking story this game brings up. As stated most of the enemies in this game are re-animated humans. But theyre robotic. Which brings the question up of what do we define as human. Id like to bring up the first iteration that i remember. It was a room with a loader bot who was on the floor and asking for help. You approach it and it claimed to be human despite clearly being a robot. That scene in particular made me question if i was the bad person. That machine *feels* human it thinks its a human and thats what makes this game so scary in my opinion
It seems that before becoming Johan Ross, the model was an enemy known as « Devil ».
Indeed, Devil or the "adult Flesher"
it seems that at one point he would have been a major antagonist with a hole chase&stealth sequence dedicated to him
That’s SOMA odd creatures
Thanks alot mate. You Rock. I hope we can see a video about WAU next?
I will have to do a different approach on that since WAU does not really have a "Modell" per se but we´ll see what the future brings
@@umukzusgelos4834 Thanks mate:
Johan Ross & The Fleshers is a jazz group I would love to see.
yes i do believe this is the perfect video to watch before sleep, thank you algorithm.
As much as this game really is just a walking sim it just captivates me all the same, fear of the dark depths of the ocean, a cosmic man made horror like the WAU existing is enough to make me go “fuck. I don’t like that.” Every time I see a creature or being that is covered in that wau mess it just makes me have chills all across my body. It’s my personal favorite frictional games game. I usually play it around Halloween. But I haven’t played it in a year or two. Maybe it’s time I grab my PlayStation 4 and play it again. Play it with headphones! I gotta remember to do that shit.
ross the boss
Reminds me of the nanites from Generator Rex.
the fleshers seem to have been an inspiration to the mutants in GTFO minus the junk
Bro they added me into the game, I’m so proud😂😂😂🎉🎉
The fletchers gross, and terrify me… you can tell by their bloating body that gasses are (or where) starting to build. the black arms, and pale, and green skin that the flesh is rotting, and in some areas where blood has settled, that bruising has appeared, showing a lack of circulation, despite being reanimated.
By this point, they’re literally zombies.
Is there a way you could take a look at the old build of SOMA? There's not many videos about it and most of them are old
I plan to
Johan was the good guy
I believe in the Grand Scheme of things he was meant to be moraly ambiguous
Poor Ivashkin... his trashing about wasnt an animation that was in the game tho?
no, just in the files
I definitely didn't misread it as Joe Rogan and the flashers
How are they the most common enemy? You only encounter them once just like every other enemy in the game.
they are, because several other enemies are classed as Fleshers
The Two of Lambda and the Curie, Ross, The Robot Head Woman and Yoshida are all referred to as Fleshers
@@umukzusgelos4834 they’re not the same enemies. They might as well be classed differently because their whole mechanics are completely different.
@@beanie8465 yes, but the way they are created/made the way they are shows similarities
@@umukzusgelos4834 gameplay wise they are completely different, and show no similarities whilst playing the game.
@@beanie8465 as I have said: "the way they are created/made the way they are shows similarities" not the way they are in terms of gameplay
Kinda wish the bedsheet guy was a monster. He could just crawl around slowly. N9t as much dangerous as unsettling (kinda like most monsters in Soma tbh)
Juegazo
That made think -- what if WAU IS the perfect trade to ARK? Think for yourself -- its able to self repair so it can live forever, terry akers also proved that you can kindof "sleep" And have dreams of perfect life inside WAU. And Most importantly, WAU is pretty intelligent, so even if it doesnt know what exactly a human is, or how to make intelegent and non-agressive cretures, it continues on life, more than the ARK project, which is just a trick to feel hope. I think the WAU was the thing last people should have get used to.
SOMA is a fine game but holy hell the gameplay and all those screen distortions never allow you to look at the models a lot, you have to use their editor for that. Shame, could have been a more entertaining game in my book
the distortions can be turned off in the options
@@umukzusgelos4834 I know. But I just think it's not very right to create 2 modes, when 1 of them is immersive but makes your eyes commit end and the second one is just plain suffering from Frictional Games' engine. Maybe I am wrong here.
@@misterwolf3817That adds to the horror. Scary things are scary because you can't perceive them fully or properly.
@@haihuynh8772 yeah but puts all effort of design team into rubbish can
Perfect video for me to eat lmao 🤮, very informative tho, thanks for the upload
any excuse to model more naked things lol
and we haven´t even touched on the Suitors yet...
"WE REQUIRE MORE WEINERS! MODEL THE SCRRRRRRROTUM FOR THAT ZOMBIE!"
Something I find curious and I hate that I noticed this detail since it shows how much a degenerative person I am why do they still have there genitals? Cause if you look down there is some on there models.
well... honestly I would not see as to why they wouldn´t, I mean unless someone chopps it off why would it just randomly go away
Uploads a video filled with body horror. Warns for nudity. 🤣
I wanted to avoid a ban and thought putting a disclaimer might help, didn´t quite work, still got age restricted but oh well, at least it wasn´t taken down
Can't watch in Korea, have to prove my age through Korean I'd, so fking gay
Dam skooma addicts.
God that sounds like a band name from the 1950s. "Now presenting, Johan Ross and the fleshers!"
Oh Dear, I wonder what Genre that would have been...
Love the channel. Wow
Thank You
I never(?) noticed Ivashkin's shaking...when does he do that? He never did this in my playthroughs. oO
That's more than disturbing.....
It´s unused but I decided to include it anyways
@@umukzusgelos4834 Ah thx for the info! I appreciate this addition very much! It's very....puhh....intense seeing it. His fate is worse than death , if you ask me.
This game hits me hard mentally every time i play it, despite my multiple playthroughs i still sweat when i reach the abyss or i talk to Sarah. 😶😶
Johan ross gave me trauma but soma is still great game for me🥲