You’ve perfectly captured why I love this game SO much. Especially as a lesbian player lol. The vibe is immaculate without ever jump scaring me. That’s really all I ever want in a ‘horror’ game
As I was watching the video, I felt as if it reminded me of something, and by the end of it, I remembered. One of my favorite videogames, Firewatch, employs a very similar technique, setting the atmosphere in a peaceful natural park, where strange, frightful and inexplicable events happen to you. The ending of the game left me with a feeling of sadness that no other story ever gave me, and I was reminded of it listening to this reading of Gone Home; as you're about to discover the secrets of the park, who's behind the plot against you, and why, you unknowingly solve a years-old tragedy, and realize, with a deep, confusing feeling of regret, what the "plot" against you really was, and how much of it you'd made up in your mind. I take the opportunity to suggest the game, for its ambiance, story, and unique gameplay :) And thanks for the video, it was a fascinating journey!
Thanks so much for this 😊 I love Firewatch, I'm actually midway through playing it for a second time, and I wondered if I wouldn't enjoy it because I knew what the mystery was, but it's still such a beautiful game to play! - Rosie
You're so good at this. You explained why so many of us enjoyed this game! Never before or since has a video-game experience made me feel quite like this one did. I hope the characters are doing well, whereever they are...
i would highly recommend anyone who liked gone home to play 'what remains of edith finch'. it's a similarly-styled walking simulator that also takes about two hours to play through. just like gone home, you play as a character returning to their family home, and exploring the house to uncover truths about their family. the difference between the two is that wroef leaves a lot less unexplained to the player when they begin playing, and also (in my opinion) has a much sadder atmosphere. still, it does manage to scare the player the way gone home does.
Going Home had me so stressed out for Sam that I had flash backs to the some of the darker scenes in Life is Strange. Wonderful game that deserves more love.
A video all about how Gone Home is an example of Gothic fiction!? This could not be more relevant to my interests! Loved it! (But let's not forget that Uncle Oscar _does_ psychologically haunt the house for Terry. We find out that he was sexually abused as a child in that house.)
In my experience, and of some of my kinsfolk, for whatever faith one may burden us with: ghosts are infinitely less dangerous & more reasonable than the living
Oh there’s such a good chance you won’t see this but I would love to see you do an analysis of a piece that does this trope poorly if that piques your interest at all (in the realm of video games, Little Hope absolutely frustrated me to no end) Love your work regardless:)
Gone Home is one of my comfort games. It combines so many aspects of genres/tropes that I adore: Gothic horror, queer love stories, mystery...I could seriously talk about it all day. You've honestly summed up why I love this game so much and disagree with its detractors. And on top of that you've introduced me to Ann Radcliffe who I must instantly check out!
Great video! I have a video game recommandation, Night in the Woods, on which I wrote my thesis about. I think it'd be interesting to have an in depth analysis between it and Shirley Jackson's the lottery, something I briefly touched in my thesis. Anyways, great video
Ah I LOVE Night in the Woods!! Favourite game of all time. Rosie is also a big fan of it. Would be very interested to see your thesis - there’s so many ideas and themes that can be explored in the Possum Springs. Thanks for the comment 😄 - Matty
i love the idea of tracing the literary origins and connections in video games! so much of the work on video games focuses on the mechanics, graphics etc, meanwhile good storytelling is so integral to enjoying video games for me that it is a true shame that so little attention is paid to it in the critical / review / etc sphere
I was actually really disappointed with Gone Home specifically because of this. I really wanted something spooky and spine chilling and only found that I'd lost the opportunity to see my little sister and meet her girlfriend because our parents were assholes. Maybe its a symptom of over-delighting in spooky vibes, but the "there was never anything to really be afraid of" was more of a letdown than a plus for me. I felt robbed of the thing that I had picked up the game for, almost to the point that I couldn't be happy for Sam and Loni. Note: I'm that person who giggles with glee at the monsters in a haunted house, I'm still not sure if the actors find me annoying or not. That said, it was really nice to listen to an analysis of why someone would enjoy the game and to learn about the history of the storytelling technique. Thanks for this video. It was very well done.
Slowly working my way through your backlog. Another great video! If you ever have time, I'd love to hear you talk about explained horror and "The Turn of the Screw" by Henry James.
Excellent. A very thoughtful, powerful and interesting video. A great exploration of our susceptibility, and the ease with which we make assumptions, thank you.
I'm so happy that this video has gotten into my recommended. I love the editing, the talking style, and the general vibe of this video so so much. Please keep up the good work, because this is phenomenal :)
You’ve perfectly captured why I love this game SO much. Especially as a lesbian player lol. The vibe is immaculate without ever jump scaring me. That’s really all I ever want in a ‘horror’ game
Thank you! Yeah, completely immaculate vibe, a great game ✨
As I was watching the video, I felt as if it reminded me of something, and by the end of it, I remembered. One of my favorite videogames, Firewatch, employs a very similar technique, setting the atmosphere in a peaceful natural park, where strange, frightful and inexplicable events happen to you. The ending of the game left me with a feeling of sadness that no other story ever gave me, and I was reminded of it listening to this reading of Gone Home; as you're about to discover the secrets of the park, who's behind the plot against you, and why, you unknowingly solve a years-old tragedy, and realize, with a deep, confusing feeling of regret, what the "plot" against you really was, and how much of it you'd made up in your mind.
I take the opportunity to suggest the game, for its ambiance, story, and unique gameplay :)
And thanks for the video, it was a fascinating journey!
Thanks so much for this 😊 I love Firewatch, I'm actually midway through playing it for a second time, and I wondered if I wouldn't enjoy it because I knew what the mystery was, but it's still such a beautiful game to play! - Rosie
Had the same thought and even got the same sense of relief.
Another example of the “explained supernatural”: Scooby Doo! (Although some of the movies actually do have actual supernatural events too)
Zoinks!!
You're so good at this. You explained why so many of us enjoyed this game! Never before or since has a video-game experience made me feel quite like this one did.
I hope the characters are doing well, whereever they are...
Thanks so much 🥰 I hope they’re doing well, too… - Rosie
i would highly recommend anyone who liked gone home to play 'what remains of edith finch'. it's a similarly-styled walking simulator that also takes about two hours to play through. just like gone home, you play as a character returning to their family home, and exploring the house to uncover truths about their family. the difference between the two is that wroef leaves a lot less unexplained to the player when they begin playing, and also (in my opinion) has a much sadder atmosphere. still, it does manage to scare the player the way gone home does.
Going Home had me so stressed out for Sam that I had flash backs to the some of the darker scenes in Life is Strange. Wonderful game that deserves more love.
This was such an awesome video, i can't believe you're not more popular! I found a new person to binge watch 😁
Aww thank you, that's really kind 😊 glad you liked the video, and I hope you enjoy our other videos too - Matty
Rule of Rose is uncannily scary if you like psychological horror.
Was just about to comment this!! I have yet to find any other stories that encapsulate the gothic nature that Rule of Rose had.
Many years ago this game was free with PSplus and I ended up getting playing the whole game thinking it was a horror game!!
Yep I was completely fooled when I played it! - Rosie
A video all about how Gone Home is an example of Gothic fiction!? This could not be more relevant to my interests! Loved it! (But let's not forget that Uncle Oscar _does_ psychologically haunt the house for Terry. We find out that he was sexually abused as a child in that house.)
Two things. Yes, exactly, I love this game for this.
Two: you are a trooper for holding your click here pose.
In my experience, and of some
of my kinsfolk, for whatever faith one may burden us with: ghosts are infinitely less dangerous & more reasonable than the living
You and the stories you share have moved me.
Excellent video! The analysis is spot on and solid, the subject is fascinating and the cat is very cute.
Thank you! ☺️ - Rosie
I have to play it now and come back later but you intrigued me enough!
The scariest game I've ever played was entering the job market with my degree in English lit
Oh there’s such a good chance you won’t see this but I would love to see you do an analysis of a piece that does this trope poorly if that piques your interest at all (in the realm of video games, Little Hope absolutely frustrated me to no end)
Love your work regardless:)
Yes, I was so nervous playing... very high suspense until the end...
Gone Home is one of my comfort games. It combines so many aspects of genres/tropes that I adore: Gothic horror, queer love stories, mystery...I could seriously talk about it all day.
You've honestly summed up why I love this game so much and disagree with its detractors. And on top of that you've introduced me to Ann Radcliffe who I must instantly check out!
Ooooh, I'm intrigued. Gonna download The Mysteries of Udolpho from Project Guttenberg right now!
Great video! I have a video game recommandation, Night in the Woods, on which I wrote my thesis about. I think it'd be interesting to have an in depth analysis between it and Shirley Jackson's the lottery, something I briefly touched in my thesis. Anyways, great video
Ah I LOVE Night in the Woods!! Favourite game of all time. Rosie is also a big fan of it. Would be very interested to see your thesis - there’s so many ideas and themes that can be explored in the Possum Springs. Thanks for the comment 😄 - Matty
@@books_ncatsI would love to share it! I talked about affective materiality and inconsequential choices in NITW
I love your use of rain / environment background sounds
i love the idea of tracing the literary origins and connections in video games! so much of the work on video games focuses on the mechanics, graphics etc, meanwhile good storytelling is so integral to enjoying video games for me that it is a true shame that so little attention is paid to it in the critical / review / etc sphere
One of my favourite videos from you so far 👻 I need to replay Gone Home now...
I was actually really disappointed with Gone Home specifically because of this. I really wanted something spooky and spine chilling and only found that I'd lost the opportunity to see my little sister and meet her girlfriend because our parents were assholes. Maybe its a symptom of over-delighting in spooky vibes, but the "there was never anything to really be afraid of" was more of a letdown than a plus for me. I felt robbed of the thing that I had picked up the game for, almost to the point that I couldn't be happy for Sam and Loni. Note: I'm that person who giggles with glee at the monsters in a haunted house, I'm still not sure if the actors find me annoying or not.
That said, it was really nice to listen to an analysis of why someone would enjoy the game and to learn about the history of the storytelling technique. Thanks for this video. It was very well done.
Slowly working my way through your backlog. Another great video! If you ever have time, I'd love to hear you talk about explained horror and "The
Turn of the Screw" by Henry James.
when i watched this game get played for the first time i loved it so dam much. i need to play it for myself one day
I could listen to you talk about any literature/media forever!!
The Town Of Light
But but but what about the dad’s plot and his reason for fearing his uncle and JFK shooting??????????
Excellent. A very thoughtful, powerful and interesting video. A great exploration of our susceptibility, and the ease with which we make assumptions, thank you.
Interesting break down. But walking simulators are not my jam.
I'm so happy that this video has gotten into my recommended. I love the editing, the talking style, and the general vibe of this video so so much. Please keep up the good work, because this is phenomenal :)
Glad to have a new fan 😊 and really pleased you like our video style - Matty