Funny thing that happened recently: So, the creator recently celebrated the anniversary of this game by releasing the script for this game. I talked to them live and told them my sisters and I grew up playing this game (our parents were horror fanatics, so they were always with us, educating us wrong from right and so we knew that it was just fun and games so we were ok with gore and violence and stuff) and the creator just absolutely flipped their sh*t and was like "OMG I had no clue children were playing my game. Definitely was not my target audience. WTF is wrong with your parents?!" and I explained we wound up great citizens, just we loved horror and this game honestly is a beloved part of our life and they just laughed out loud.
I got my wisdom teeth removed like 6(?) Or so years ago and i decided a good use of my time would be walking a walkthrough of harvester while recovering. On Vicodin. It was a time.
The really funny part about Loomis getting beaten with a newspaper is that it's the one scene that tries to censor the violence with a cutaway even though there's basically nothing. EDIT: One of the most frustrating parts of Harvester is that you can't kill Hank.
1:32:00 *Shows where the key was, uncensored* "Yeah I had to censor that for youtube, was too detailed" Overall, hella good time I had, exploring that wild game with you!
Not sure if it was mentioned in the video (its possible i missed it) but WASP was a buzz word in the 80s and 90s culture war, and is an acronym for "White Anglo Saxon Protestant". The wasp lady was a personification of the 90s version of the old, white Christian nationalist section of society during that time, and not just a weird surrealist image.
THANK YOU. I had a feeling she was supposed to be very representative of something specific besides the wasp acronym being personified and parodied in her, I didn’t realize it was a culture war thing too.
@@alfredandersson875 I think the W is alternately represented by Wealthy when specifically referring to upper class, since Anglo Saxon already implies Caucasian descent
Putting tape on a glass window was something people used to do to try and prevent a window from shattering. Usually before severe weather, but I suppose hitting it with an axe would have a similar effect. The reason you don't see it anymore is that laminated glass is now required on most commercial buildings. Laminated glass is basically two panes of glass glued to a sheet of plastic. It can still break but the resulting pieces remain in place instead of flying into nearly eye balls.
Bought this game from the dollar store when I was in junior high in the 90s. It’s was the strangest game I’ve ever played. It was buggy as hell though and would crash constantly.
I remember seeing this game be mentioned in a WatchMojo Top 10 List and immediately being drawn by that one scene where a bug crawls out of a baby's eye.
Thank you for the wonderful article and walkthrough of Harvester. I think I can speak for all of us who designed and worked on this game that we never expected that this game would be admired or played as much as it has been. :)
I clicked on this expecting a 20 min video on a game I haven’t heard discussed in years, and instead I get a 2 hour masterpiece. fucking fantastic work!
Kane Pixels fans are gonna love this little factoid. The Seargeant-At-Arms is played by none other than artist Kevin Obregon. The man who sculpted The Rolling Giant.
You’re right. And it’s seemingly his only somewhat high profile acting gig which is crazy to me. Imagine being an artist and your only visual role is being the cult member from Harvester.
Only 50 of The Tucker 48 (also known as the Tucker Torpedo) were fully produced in 1948 with 46 still existent as well as 1 prototype. An additional 8 including a 49 prototype were either finished out of factory or parted out. Most of the remaining original 51 are owned by museums or noted personal collections. Parts from the 4 destroyed original cars are either owned by museums or have been used to restore others.
Just for additional notes, Mary Allen who voices the mother was one of the girls in Castle Anthrax in Monty Python's Holy Grail and the fireman is Nick Shaffer the lead programmer on the game.
Harvester is a game I always love watching play throughs of but know id be miserable playing. Thanks for the video! My yearly Harvester content consumption completed thanks to you! And it was well made!
im so happy someone made a video like this. harvester has been one of my favorite games for ages now, and im ecstatic that its beginning to get more attention. awesome video peter :)
In all honesty that opening of yours for the game coupled with the music really does give you a feel of what the game feels like from just watching it without any context, just absurd, strange & brutal horror
Oh I ate this video like a juicy cat steak! I discovered Harvester thanks to Game Grumps, and I fell in love with its insane, over-the-top, yet weirdly nostalgic whole vibe. There are so many layers to it, from its messed up humour to the witty and complex social commentary, and I'm mildly obsessed with any content on it I can find, so thank you so much for this, a truly well-spoken immersion in the game and all that surrounds it. Also, great background music. Love from Italy xx
"You always were a kidder, Jim Metokur." Way Back Then, my friend group played the Lodge section in shifts. It felt like a shared fever dream, when being updated on what little progress was made by the previous shift. I'm not sure why, but I was bracing to get a blast of "DO YOU HEAR ME NOW, BRITTANY VENTI?!?!" for the peephole scene. Thought for sure that a good old "that's not truuuu" was going to be included for when the PotsdaMale is accused of kidnapping.
The first time I heard about this game, was on a PushingUpRoses video ages ago, I found it so... Weirdly interesting, it was such a bizarre yet engaging video that I had to look up a full playthrough video from World of Longplays and I got to say, not disappointed. The violence is so over the top that borders in cartoonish, the unique humor of the game just... It just fits somehow weirdly, great video, subscribing now!
I was 29 when this game came out. I want to thank you because I've officially watched you play this game longer than I played it Myself. It's not that I didn't like it, the play style they want is incompatible with Me. It's too slow, too clunky, too easy to die from a random action. Re-loading in DOSBox is way better than the re-load on a P1 166mhz with 16MB (Not GB) from a CD-ROM, I'm not even sure of the speed of those things anymore, but this was early in the Windows 95 days, it wasn't fast. I loved the marketing, it reminded me of the radio commercials for "Re-animator". It was weird, cute and deeply creepy, like an Anime-Lovecraft in a light and crazy way.
Harvester is one of my favorite games of all time. Not because of its gameplay, but almost everything else about it is such an uncanny masterpiece. From the characters, VO, setting, soundtrack, etc. Everything just sticks with you, it's an unforgettable game.
Harvester might be the only game where I truly can't decide if it's one of the smartest and most clever games I've ever played, if it's one of the worst and most self-indulgent, or both. But either way, it's lived in my head for decades and will stay there for decades to come.
I would love to see a modern re-creation of it, but I don’t know if that’s possible. It’s emblematic of such a specific era of gaming history when the violence in media debate was raging in way that it isn’t now, but I feel like so many of the ideas and concepts it brought up are still alive and debated today that a very smart team of writers and artists could pull it off.
I don't write comments often, but this retrospective was well-written and such a joy to listen to, this content is so underrated imo. Love your work man, keep it up! Oh, and happy holidays. ❤
This was such a nice wholesome comment to come across, especially on a video about Harvester, and I just wanted to say thank you. So many people are quick to say the mean thoughts they have out loud but very few will speak their kind thoughts so candidly. I thought you should know, from randie on the internet, that you are appreciated, and I hope you and yours have a fantastic 2024! Much love! 🙏❤
Greetings, much respect to be the “tour guide” to this world of harvester game, i felt like we are right there with you demo . For that your narrative brings colors to the such game.
90s games with the real and fake graphics together always creeped me out. It was old fashioned even back then imo lmao? Idk if I’ve ever played this but it looks and feels super familiar. May have to ask one of my cousins if they had it.
The fact that Kurt Kistler's booking photo has him in the same plaid shirt is honestly kind of creepy. Also the address listed is an extended stay hotel on the I-35E...
1:33:43 I found it incredibly interesting and A AMAZING DETAIL when you pointed out "There are many ways to progress without killing people, but killing them is usually the quicker more convinent option." Seeing how the game ends really shows what the game was trying to capture. IDK ITS A MORE OBVIOUS DETAIL IN THE GAME BUT I LOVE IT. The amount of thought that went into this game is amazing. Even if it was rushed and some of it very "poorly" made I think it adds to Harvester's charm and what makes Harvester, Harvester. I genuinely love how much of a headache this game is.
I have super vague memories of watching a lets play channel play this sometime in my teens, right around the time my passion for horror was just beginning to take root. I got hooked enough to buy it on GoG...and then promptly forgot about it's existence until your video popped up. Thank you for rekindling a forgotten spark, looking forward to delving into more of your videos!
I won't lie, when i first stumbled upon the "bad ending", i thought the scene of Steve playing the game was its own scenario rather than a follow-up to the Car Murder scene. No kidding, i thought that was just an entirely different Steve playing the game about a Steve who becomes a serial killer. Like this last scene was from a Steve that hasn't killed anyone IRL. I thought it was the game going meta one last time with its "just because you play violent games doesn't mean you're a violent person", but with the twist that Steve was indeed mentally broken.
Always thought it would be cool to see this game remade in something like the source engine. Would allow the combat sections be fleshed out more but we'd lose the goofy fmv charm.
I feel like it might be possible to do something using the same tech from that VR remake of The Seventh Guest. They'd have to completely recast the whole game to get footage that would work in that way, so it would be a very different experience
@@R33fth3b33fA lolcow that used to be a livestream host that was notorious for literally having anyone (and I mean anyone, no matter how problematic they might be) on to debate one another.
You're good at this. Music was perfectly atmospheric, pacing was good, talking about what's optional and mentioning it as such, calling attention to individual moments dissonance and depravity, all was very well done.
You were always such a kidder, Peter! This feels like a video that deserves 3.2M views! One of your best, great work! Now do a video about the Phantasmagoria games
Clicked because I saw Ralphs goofy lolcow face in the thumbnail. I really enjoyed your choice of music throughout this video, really served as a good backdrop to the eerie atmosphere of the game.
I figure you know other youtubers also covered it, but have you tried Fear and Hunger as well as it's sequel? That game is pretty damn dark and gritty and also extremely challenging.
Lmfao Fear and Hunger is baby shit if we're being honest. Dark themes and violent for sure, but in the world of RPGs Lisa The Painful makes F&H look like Undertale
@@that_deadeyegamer7920 Fear and Hunger does have dark themes though, which you said. It's kind of pointless and bizarre to arbitrarily put Lisa as the benchmark. Thats like me mocking Hereditary because Martyrs is more violent
@@that_deadeyegamer7920 It's not a competition my guy, it's about enjoying a good game experience - not weighing up which game is more graphic. Absolute weirdo
@@AdamOwenBrowning calm down, no one was weighing the graphic violence of anything. I *was* comparing the intensity of the dark themes though, that's why I brought up Lisa The Painful, take some reading comp classes please.
@@that_deadeyegamer7920 This isn't anything to do with reading comprehension; it's that you immediately said one title was "baby shit" for not being as graphic as other titles. "i was comparing the intensity of the dark themes" "no one was weighing the graphic violence of anything." contradict yourself my d00d Judging games based on how good the experience is, that's what people do. Judging games only on how graphic they are is insane. Please yourself. You can reword "graphic" to "intensely dark" if you like, it's still an utterly bizarre statement to have made
At some earlier stage of development, the voice acting and presentation of Harvester were different. Whether it was a previous design goal or simply something they iterated on, early footage had drawn characters as opposed to digitised sprites. You can see a short section of it in the Gamesmaster Gore Special from 1995.
58:13 Oh my god Ralph even says the line "It's not truuuuuuue!" Great video btw, I appreciate how in-depth you go into details and mechanics about the game.
This was so well done! I played Harvester a few years back, and loved how weird it was. Have you heard of I Have No Mouth But I Must Scream? Seems like that might be right up your alley! Plus, you have a new subscriber!
That quick little Tucker car rant struck a chord with me. I dont understand why cars need a 200 pound wire jacket so I can have a touch screen radio that hardly works and bluetooth that's laggy and choppy.
Also, the school is Gein Memorial… Ed Gein the serial killer? There’s probably more references but I remember that name from a thing about the inspirations of Psycho.
I’m like 80% sure that Hank’s emotional torturing of Edna over Karin’s disappearance may be a nod to Mary Bell: a little girl who murdered an even younger child, then tormented the grieving mother by asking if her victim could play. She even wanted to see the dead body. en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Bell
Great video, love the attention to detail. Also, kudos on you powering through those cryptic, insanity inducing puzzles, I could never get past those in point and click games. I wasn't expecting the pot shots at Super Eyepatch Wolf at the end; I find it interesting when I can enjoy two creators and one or both of them don't like the other's video style lol
Scrolled by this video in my recommended tab a couple times. I think the fourth time I saw it I noticed Ethan Ralph was in the thumbnail for some reason. I don't know that a thumbnail has ever worked on me like this. Well done.
I had no idea that Kurt Kistler, the actor who visually portrayed Steve (not the guy who voiced him) turned out to be a creep in real life until I watched your video and heard you vaguely allude to it. Yeah, turns out that he was arrested in 2010 for the possession of CSEM/CSAM. Just another layer to this absolute demented fever dream of a game. Edit: I continued watching and realized you ended up discussing it in more detail.
The use of X6 music during Day 3's convulted puzzle for the cloth did more than enough to explain the frustration it made you feel than your voice alone.
I remember my cousin and I secretly playing this as children. Always reminded me of 'Black Hole Sun' by Soundgarden for some reason. Moat likely the cut scenes. 😂
"You're probably asleep, you probably put me on as background noise" meanwhile i've been so intrigued by the video that my game has been paused since i clicked on it because i cant look away 😅 great video!
I might be getting a physical copy of this game soon. I don’t know if you still are reading comments from this video, but, I was thinking of running a Virtual Machine to play this game and I could get some footage if you want it.
This is such an underrated game. Mechanics are a bit wonky, but the detailed world with its wild characters and disturbing dialogue are unlike any game out there. It's like you're playing a game of David Lynch's adaptation of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre with assistance from Lars Von Trier.
Postal 2 onwards is rather goofy but I remember watching reviews of the first one being completely the opposite. Especially the ending with the children at school despite being unable to actually harm them. If I remember correctly they chose that because it was so unbelievably horrible and unthinkable at the time. I think it was later removed or changed in someway because unfortunately it became a reality in an HD remake? It’s a vague memory so I could be wrong.
It was unthinkable back then. Running With Scissors claimed that harming children was "a line they would never cross" and that now this has culturally lost its shock value, the scene doesn't serve the same purpose it did at release, so shouldn't be in the game. The Redux version replaces it with Postal Dude witnessing his own funeral instead.
Not a huge thing but at 1:25:00 the scene refrenced here is that of the The Last Supper by Da Vinci which depicts the last supper Jesus Christ held with his disciples before his crucifixion. I figured this has narrative significance besides just being a room with the dog lol. actually makes me wonder if theres other rooms towards the end inspired by iconic art im also not familiar with
Funny thing that happened recently: So, the creator recently celebrated the anniversary of this game by releasing the script for this game. I talked to them live and told them my sisters and I grew up playing this game (our parents were horror fanatics, so they were always with us, educating us wrong from right and so we knew that it was just fun and games so we were ok with gore and violence and stuff) and the creator just absolutely flipped their sh*t and was like "OMG I had no clue children were playing my game. Definitely was not my target audience. WTF is wrong with your parents?!" and I explained we wound up great citizens, just we loved horror and this game honestly is a beloved part of our life and they just laughed out loud.
Did you ask him how many drugs he was on when he created this heathen idolatry? 🤨
@@scottl.1568shut up
No really thats actually borderline
Yeah your parents are fucked 😂
You know you got arrested for child porn recently in the mugshot he's wearing almost the exact same plaid shirt I could not believe it 😂
I got my wisdom teeth removed like 6(?) Or so years ago and i decided a good use of my time would be walking a walkthrough of harvester while recovering. On Vicodin. It was a time.
That is horrifying
Sounds great
I did this but ACL surgery back to back wisdom teeth and played Fallout 3 very sauced
Sounds like a trip.
I have all my wisdom teeth. But used that ingredient to play spiderman 2 on o.g. xbox after a tonsillectomy.
"Based in the scariest place in all of Texas, Dallas." Damn, I was hoping for it to be Waco, Texas.
Damn, that is a tough competition.
Dallas isn't as scary as any border town where the cartels operate with impunity.
Ahh...oof
Yall MF'ers never visited El Paso...
How did my dumbass swap the placement of "Texas" and "Dallas"
My friend Steve W. Is the Native/ Indian Character. And his brother Chad helped create the game/ lead programmer. 🤟🏻
my uncle works at nintendo
@@jocqueskailhokke6682 my dad works at Ubisoft.
My Aunt works for Magnavox.
@@Pocketrocket-pj1usmy dad owns Xbox
@@R33fth3b33f my grandma works at Atari.
The really funny part about Loomis getting beaten with a newspaper is that it's the one scene that tries to censor the violence with a cutaway even though there's basically nothing.
EDIT: One of the most frustrating parts of Harvester is that you can't kill Hank.
1:32:00 *Shows where the key was, uncensored*
"Yeah I had to censor that for youtube, was too detailed"
Overall, hella good time I had, exploring that wild game with you!
BAHAHAHA I was going to comment on that too!!
I was expecting youtube to get up in arms with that part but they didn't and I forgor to edit that out lol
Not sure if it was mentioned in the video (its possible i missed it) but WASP was a buzz word in the 80s and 90s culture war, and is an acronym for "White Anglo Saxon Protestant". The wasp lady was a personification of the 90s version of the old, white Christian nationalist section of society during that time, and not just a weird surrealist image.
THANK YOU. I had a feeling she was supposed to be very representative of something specific besides the wasp acronym being personified and parodied in her, I didn’t realize it was a culture war thing too.
WASP is still sometimes used today with mostly the same purpose.
I never thought about that before. This game has been out so long and I’m still finding new ways to look at it
@@alfredandersson875 I think the W is alternately represented by Wealthy when specifically referring to upper class, since Anglo Saxon already implies Caucasian descent
@@leitmotif7268no, the people who came up with the term just have a collective IQ approaching room temperature.
"I had to censor this for youtube"
*doesn't sensor it for youtube lmao*
"You always were a kidder, Pete."
He was gaslighting youtube's voice detection system and it worked
@@walkermott1750 fuскing genuis!
The "Gein Memorial" bake sale banner literally has a face mask drawn on it whimsically....hilarious!
Putting tape on a glass window was something people used to do to try and prevent a window from shattering. Usually before severe weather, but I suppose hitting it with an axe would have a similar effect. The reason you don't see it anymore is that laminated glass is now required on most commercial buildings. Laminated glass is basically two panes of glass glued to a sheet of plastic. It can still break but the resulting pieces remain in place instead of flying into nearly eye balls.
"You can't live without a spinal cord, son. Nothing unnatural about that."
You were always a kidder steve
He also was always a diddler too.
Bruh noooo 😳
More like a fiddler.
You were always a kidder steve
*"You always were a kidder, Steve."
The scariest thing in the video was hearing Ethan Ralph's voice lmao
the instant I saw the Gunt in the thumbnail I had to click
Only reason I clicked was for the gunt
Bro same lmfao
It's the main reason I clicked the video lol
GAAAAAYYYYYTTTTTOOOOOOOOORRRRRRR
This is what Night Trap looked like to suburban moms
I feel like the creators of this game based it off that controversy
lol
Night trap is nothing but suburban mom's
@@tomcruiiseship9461They did, considering the endings.
V@@BerserkerKong02
Bought this game from the dollar store when I was in junior high in the 90s. It’s was the strangest game I’ve ever played. It was buggy as hell though and would crash constantly.
I remember seeing this game be mentioned in a WatchMojo Top 10 List and immediately being drawn by that one scene where a bug crawls out of a baby's eye.
The name Watch Mojo disgust me in a primitive, fundamental level.
@@feliperisseto9113OOO OOO HAA HAA
OO OO AA AA
@@Literally_Gutshot wheels gorilla thing
watchmojo sucks
What? No!
They were so good
10 or 11 years ago.
Joel (Vargskelethor/Vinesauce) playing this will always be one of my favorite streams EVER
Joel's streams of this game are solid gold lmao
I watch them at least twice a year because I keep coming back to his reactions to the absolute fucked up world
God I love that stream, not as much as I love MEAT though
Loved those streams haha
Him and Alchestbreach are my favorite playthroughs of this game.
Thank you for the wonderful article and walkthrough of Harvester. I think I can speak for all of us who designed and worked on this game that we never expected that this game would be admired or played as much as it has been. :)
So true… we had some good times together 👍
I clicked on this expecting a 20 min video on a game I haven’t heard discussed in years, and instead I get a 2 hour masterpiece.
fucking fantastic work!
On par with Crowmudgeon’s myhouse doom mod video
Lol u can't see the video length in the bottom right corner?
@@ThatOneGuyWhatsHisNamehe's a goof
Kane Pixels fans are gonna love this little factoid. The Seargeant-At-Arms is played by none other than artist Kevin Obregon. The man who sculpted The Rolling Giant.
yoooo
No way!! Thats so awesome.
You’re right. And it’s seemingly his only somewhat high profile acting gig which is crazy to me. Imagine being an artist and your only visual role is being the cult member from Harvester.
@@alfredandersson875 With an ADR voice that sounds like The Shockmaster.
THAT IS AMAZING wow, small world.
Only 50 of The Tucker 48 (also known as the Tucker Torpedo) were fully produced in 1948 with 46 still existent as well as 1 prototype. An additional 8 including a 49 prototype were either finished out of factory or parted out. Most of the remaining original 51 are owned by museums or noted personal collections. Parts from the 4 destroyed original cars are either owned by museums or have been used to restore others.
Just for additional notes, Mary Allen who voices the mother was one of the girls in Castle Anthrax in Monty Python's Holy Grail and the fireman is Nick Shaffer the lead programmer on the game.
"...Natural causes... You can't live without a spinal cord, son."
Then explain every politician ever!
@@funkyweapon1981wait, politicians don't have spinal cords?
@@funkyweapon1981they've got corporate arms shoved elbow deep in them, so a spine isn't really necessary for those puppets...
57:20 I just CANT believe ralph would ABANDON his child! im truly shocked.
The ralpha male would never, christ is kang!
IT'S NAWT TRUUUUUUE!
That's not his child
IT'S NAWT TRRRRUUUUUUUUU!!!!
I said "It's not even hot outside"!
Harvester is a game I always love watching play throughs of but know id be miserable playing. Thanks for the video! My yearly Harvester content consumption completed thanks to you! And it was well made!
glad to know I'm not the only one 🤣
I think Harvester's trigger warning should be "If you need a trigger warning, do not play Harvester."
NWA, No Wussies Allowed!
"how can steve and stephanie live happily in harvest?"
They reset the simulation to make it happy... how else?
im so happy someone made a video like this. harvester has been one of my favorite games for ages now, and im ecstatic that its beginning to get more attention. awesome video peter :)
I'm dumbstruck at how deep that game actually is. This... might well be the beginning of a little journey of mine.
Absolutely excellent video, Peter!
In all honesty that opening of yours for the game coupled with the music really does give you a feel of what the game feels like from just watching it without any context, just absurd, strange & brutal horror
It gives it more credit than what is due honestly
Oh I ate this video like a juicy cat steak! I discovered Harvester thanks to Game Grumps, and I fell in love with its insane, over-the-top, yet weirdly nostalgic whole vibe. There are so many layers to it, from its messed up humour to the witty and complex social commentary, and I'm mildly obsessed with any content on it I can find, so thank you so much for this, a truly well-spoken immersion in the game and all that surrounds it. Also, great background music. Love from Italy xx
"You always were a kidder, Jim Metokur."
Way Back Then, my friend group played the Lodge section in shifts. It felt like a shared fever dream, when being updated on what little progress was made by the previous shift. I'm not sure why, but I was bracing to get a blast of "DO YOU HEAR ME NOW, BRITTANY VENTI?!?!" for the peephole scene. Thought for sure that a good old "that's not truuuu" was going to be included for when the PotsdaMale is accused of kidnapping.
Glad he's on his way to a wooden box. Monster.
"I'M GONNA BUILD A CHURCH ON THAT LAND"
@@TheJudge1933 "YOU'RE SO BRAVE, STEVE! WHAT A STANCE YOU TOOOK! GIVE HER A SLAP ON THE ASS! YOUR TORCH LIGHTS THE WAY!"
The first time I heard about this game, was on a PushingUpRoses video ages ago, I found it so... Weirdly interesting, it was such a bizarre yet engaging video that I had to look up a full playthrough video from World of Longplays and I got to say, not disappointed. The violence is so over the top that borders in cartoonish, the unique humor of the game just... It just fits somehow weirdly, great video, subscribing now!
I was 29 when this game came out. I want to thank you because I've officially watched you play this game longer than I played it Myself. It's not that I didn't like it, the play style they want is incompatible with Me. It's too slow, too clunky, too easy to die from a random action. Re-loading in DOSBox is way better than the re-load on a P1 166mhz with 16MB (Not GB) from a CD-ROM, I'm not even sure of the speed of those things anymore, but this was early in the Windows 95 days, it wasn't fast.
I loved the marketing, it reminded me of the radio commercials for "Re-animator". It was weird, cute and deeply creepy, like an Anime-Lovecraft in a light and crazy way.
Harvester is one of my favorite games of all time. Not because of its gameplay, but almost everything else about it is such an uncanny masterpiece. From the characters, VO, setting, soundtrack, etc. Everything just sticks with you, it's an unforgettable game.
Ethan oliver ralph in the thumbnail how why the gunt is an enigma
Great video, but honestly terrifying... I mean, how am I supposed to sleep seeing Azrael combos!? Truly the scariest experience here.
Real Ralphamales reporting in
is that...
... is that The Gunt in thumbnail?
That's exactly what I was going to say
Bruhhh no way the actor of steve got into Cod Points... thats both funny, sad and ironic.
Epic Havester moments.
Harvester might be the only game where I truly can't decide if it's one of the smartest and most clever games I've ever played, if it's one of the worst and most self-indulgent, or both. But either way, it's lived in my head for decades and will stay there for decades to come.
I would love to see a modern re-creation of it, but I don’t know if that’s possible. It’s emblematic of such a specific era of gaming history when the violence in media debate was raging in way that it isn’t now, but I feel like so many of the ideas and concepts it brought up are still alive and debated today that a very smart team of writers and artists could pull it off.
Personally, I think it’s a smart game under disguise as a sleazy brainless violent b-movie type game.
I played about 3 hours into the gog version. Ending the game by accidentally causing a nuclear war was odd.
I don't write comments often, but this retrospective was well-written and such a joy to listen to, this content is so underrated imo. Love your work man, keep it up! Oh, and happy holidays. ❤
This was such a nice wholesome comment to come across, especially on a video about Harvester, and I just wanted to say thank you. So many people are quick to say the mean thoughts they have out loud but very few will speak their kind thoughts so candidly. I thought you should know, from randie on the internet, that you are appreciated, and I hope you and yours have a fantastic 2024! Much love! 🙏❤
Greetings, much respect to be the “tour guide” to this world of harvester game, i felt like we are right there with you demo . For that your narrative brings colors to the such game.
90s games with the real and fake graphics together always creeped me out. It was old fashioned even back then imo lmao? Idk if I’ve ever played this but it looks and feels super familiar. May have to ask one of my cousins if they had it.
The fact that Kurt Kistler's booking photo has him in the same plaid shirt is honestly kind of creepy. Also the address listed is an extended stay hotel on the I-35E...
Maybe this game is more of a documentary than just entertainment.
Loved that jab at SuperEyepatchWolf
When? I didn't catch that
@@SpongeBobaFett Towards the end. Starts at about 02:02:55.
This is the first video of yours I’ve watched and I love all the SMT sound effects you use
1:33:43 I found it incredibly interesting and A AMAZING DETAIL when you pointed out "There are many ways to progress without killing people, but killing them is usually the quicker more convinent option."
Seeing how the game ends really shows what the game was trying to capture. IDK ITS A MORE OBVIOUS DETAIL IN THE GAME BUT I LOVE IT. The amount of thought that went into this game is amazing. Even if it was rushed and some of it very "poorly" made I think it adds to Harvester's charm and what makes Harvester, Harvester. I genuinely love how much of a headache this game is.
I have super vague memories of watching a lets play channel play this sometime in my teens, right around the time my passion for horror was just beginning to take root. I got hooked enough to buy it on GoG...and then promptly forgot about it's existence until your video popped up. Thank you for rekindling a forgotten spark, looking forward to delving into more of your videos!
I won't lie, when i first stumbled upon the "bad ending", i thought the scene of Steve playing the game was its own scenario rather than a follow-up to the Car Murder scene.
No kidding, i thought that was just an entirely different Steve playing the game about a Steve who becomes a serial killer. Like this last scene was from a Steve that hasn't killed anyone IRL.
I thought it was the game going meta one last time with its "just because you play violent games doesn't mean you're a violent person", but with the twist that Steve was indeed mentally broken.
Always thought it would be cool to see this game remade in something like the source engine. Would allow the combat sections be fleshed out more but we'd lose the goofy fmv charm.
I feel like it might be possible to do something using the same tech from that VR remake of The Seventh Guest.
They'd have to completely recast the whole game to get footage that would work in that way, so it would be a very different experience
Don’t think you’re gonna make that Cumia reference and not immediately get my attention buster
I have no clue why Ralph is included in this but it made me laugh my ass off, also good vid, I haven't seen alot about Harvester this in depth.
Who is this Ralph guy lol
@@R33fth3b33f A minor E-Celeb who made himself horrifying and pathetic as he wastes into obscurity, save for the odd person who laughs at him.
@@R33fth3b33flolcow
@@R33fth3b33fA lolcow that used to be a livestream host that was notorious for literally having anyone (and I mean anyone, no matter how problematic they might be) on to debate one another.
You're good at this. Music was perfectly atmospheric, pacing was good, talking about what's optional and mentioning it as such, calling attention to individual moments dissonance and depravity, all was very well done.
That Ethan Ralph joke was gold, completely caught me off gaurd
Its nice that charlie played the guy that guards the entrance to you know where.
Lmao at the rage pig in the thumbnail
I appreciate the fact that you acknowledged Dallas for the dystopian hellscape that it is💙🩶
Great video, I enjoyed watching it very much. Thanks for the shout-out!
NGL, I clicked on this because Ralph was in the thumbnail.
tape is supposed to keep the glass from making as much noise, and also keeps shattered pieces together too
Go to 39:37 and hear the laugh
The fate of your dad was much more disturbing to me than even the baby cutscene
You were always such a kidder, Peter!
This feels like a video that deserves 3.2M views! One of your best, great work!
Now do a video about the Phantasmagoria games
Clicked because I saw Ralphs goofy lolcow face in the thumbnail. I really enjoyed your choice of music throughout this video, really served as a good backdrop to the eerie atmosphere of the game.
You showed postal footage sooner than expected!!!! Im already hooked >;)
Also does your username have any sort of relation to the Type-O Negative song? Lol
I figure you know other youtubers also covered it, but have you tried Fear and Hunger as well as it's sequel? That game is pretty damn dark and gritty and also extremely challenging.
Lmfao Fear and Hunger is baby shit if we're being honest. Dark themes and violent for sure, but in the world of RPGs Lisa The Painful makes F&H look like Undertale
@@that_deadeyegamer7920 Fear and Hunger does have dark themes though, which you said. It's kind of pointless and bizarre to arbitrarily put Lisa as the benchmark. Thats like me mocking Hereditary because Martyrs is more violent
@@that_deadeyegamer7920 It's not a competition my guy, it's about enjoying a good game experience - not weighing up which game is more graphic. Absolute weirdo
@@AdamOwenBrowning calm down, no one was weighing the graphic violence of anything. I *was* comparing the intensity of the dark themes though, that's why I brought up Lisa The Painful, take some reading comp classes please.
@@that_deadeyegamer7920 This isn't anything to do with reading comprehension; it's that you immediately said one title was "baby shit" for not being as graphic as other titles.
"i was comparing the intensity of the dark themes"
"no one was weighing the graphic violence of anything." contradict yourself my d00d
Judging games based on how good the experience is, that's what people do. Judging games only on how graphic they are is insane. Please yourself. You can reword "graphic" to "intensely dark" if you like, it's still an utterly bizarre statement to have made
At some earlier stage of development, the voice acting and presentation of Harvester were different. Whether it was a previous design goal or simply something they iterated on, early footage had drawn characters as opposed to digitised sprites. You can see a short section of it in the Gamesmaster Gore Special from 1995.
Okay, you got me with the thumbnail, whats up with Ethan rage pig Ralph?
58:13 Oh my god Ralph even says the line
"It's not truuuuuuue!"
Great video btw, I appreciate how in-depth you go into details and mechanics about the game.
This was so well done! I played Harvester a few years back, and loved how weird it was. Have you heard of I Have No Mouth But I Must Scream? Seems like that might be right up your alley! Plus, you have a new subscriber!
That quick little Tucker car rant struck a chord with me. I dont understand why cars need a 200 pound wire jacket so I can have a touch screen radio that hardly works and bluetooth that's laggy and choppy.
Also, the school is Gein Memorial… Ed Gein the serial killer? There’s probably more references but I remember that name from a thing about the inspirations of Psycho.
I didn't even notice that. Good eye!
I’m like 80% sure that Hank’s emotional torturing of Edna over Karin’s disappearance may be a nod to Mary Bell: a little girl who murdered an even younger child, then tormented the grieving mother by asking if her victim could play. She even wanted to see the dead body.
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Bell
@@SadCelosiawell I regret reading that article
LMAO AT ETHAN RALPH IN THE THUMBNAIL🤣🤣
Great video, love the attention to detail. Also, kudos on you powering through those cryptic, insanity inducing puzzles, I could never get past those in point and click games.
I wasn't expecting the pot shots at Super Eyepatch Wolf at the end; I find it interesting when I can enjoy two creators and one or both of them don't like the other's video style lol
Urbanspook and SuperEyepatchWolf catchung strays? Hell yeah
One is MUCH more bad than the other
Scrolled by this video in my recommended tab a couple times. I think the fourth time I saw it I noticed Ethan Ralph was in the thumbnail for some reason. I don't know that a thumbnail has ever worked on me like this. Well done.
Just finished it again prior to watching this, I always thought a live action mini series could really work for this story.
"You just put me on for background noise..." I wish I did, bud.
I had no idea that Kurt Kistler, the actor who visually portrayed Steve (not the guy who voiced him) turned out to be a creep in real life until I watched your video and heard you vaguely allude to it. Yeah, turns out that he was arrested in 2010 for the possession of CSEM/CSAM. Just another layer to this absolute demented fever dream of a game.
Edit: I continued watching and realized you ended up discussing it in more detail.
You always were a diddler, Steve.
Didn’t know Steve has a different actor and voice actor
O&A and IBS References!? Insta subbed
I look into Harvester and I'm greeted with Ethan Ralph... what's going on?
The use of X6 music during Day 3's convulted puzzle for the cloth did more than enough to explain the frustration it made you feel than your voice alone.
I remember my cousin and I secretly playing this as children. Always reminded me of 'Black Hole Sun' by Soundgarden for some reason. Moat likely the cut scenes. 😂
I actually watched this entire video and I REALLY enjoyed it! Outstanding job!
Can’t believe this only has 3k views. Top tier long form content.
Ya can't ever keep the rage pig down. Yeehaw, No1 in the sector fixin to hollar!
"You're probably asleep, you probably put me on as background noise" meanwhile i've been so intrigued by the video that my game has been paused since i clicked on it because i cant look away 😅 great video!
I might be getting a physical copy of this game soon. I don’t know if you still are reading comments from this video, but, I was thinking of running a Virtual Machine to play this game and I could get some footage if you want it.
You're not just background noise, buddy. You got a like and sub for that one.
Him calling 96 the old ages makes me feel like a granny. Im 97 😂
Oh wow. this is the first time I've watched this channel and the f-bomb caught me off guard still, and swearing doesn't even bug me. Good work.
Pottsdam as ethan ralph is incredible. It fits so perfect! Hahahaha
ITS NAWT TRUUUUUUUU
This is such an underrated game. Mechanics are a bit wonky, but the detailed world with its wild characters and disturbing dialogue are unlike any game out there. It's like you're playing a game of David Lynch's adaptation of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre with assistance from Lars Von Trier.
Postal 2 onwards is rather goofy but I remember watching reviews of the first one being completely the opposite. Especially the ending with the children at school despite being unable to actually harm them. If I remember correctly they chose that because it was so unbelievably horrible and unthinkable at the time. I think it was later removed or changed in someway because unfortunately it became a reality in an HD remake? It’s a vague memory so I could be wrong.
You're mostly right. The original still has the school ending but Postal Redux replaced it since it actually became something that happens.
It was unthinkable back then. Running With Scissors claimed that harming children was "a line they would never cross" and that now this has culturally lost its shock value, the scene doesn't serve the same purpose it did at release, so shouldn't be in the game.
The Redux version replaces it with Postal Dude witnessing his own funeral instead.
Imma fixin to holler. SOOOOWEEEEEEE,
Not a huge thing but at 1:25:00
the scene refrenced here is that of the The Last Supper by Da Vinci which depicts the last supper Jesus Christ held with his disciples before his crucifixion. I figured this has narrative significance besides just being a room with the dog lol. actually makes me wonder if theres other rooms towards the end inspired by iconic art im also not familiar with
Big ups for that Dallas comment, pardner. And holy shit I had no idea I have been living next to Kurt Stephen Kistler my whole life.
I thought that was Ralph in the thumbnail and figured I was mistaken until halfway through haha
That's the first time i've heard that interpretation of cheese pizza. Oof.