Hellnight was a lot of fun to cover, I actually thought about doing it years ago but never got around to it. The final act of this game honestly blew my mind and is one of the most imaginative experiences I've had in a game. I think Megaten fans in particular (I would assume most of you) will find a lot of common ground with this one. Be sure to check the description for timestamps, music used, and links to some relevant resources. Also, sorry for the resolution changing for a couple minutes at around the 50 minute mark, I accidentally recorded a few clips differently and didn't notice until it was way too late.
I’ll say the late sci-fi twist is very Japanese. If you enjoyed this more focused horror game with no combat, I think you should touch the clock tower games. The first fear just has an English port,( we only had fan translations before), by the makers of Shantae of all people. The struggle within, has a decent main character gimmick idea, but horrible execution, the sequel to the first fear is decent, and 3 is,( yes the fourth game is 3), a magical girl game. They’re a bit more well known, but it seems perfect for this niche horror craze your on.
The reason the specific date for Amaterasu is so important is because it means the Japanese military had a fully functioning nuclear fusion reactor more than a year before the Allies tested a nuclear bomb. Power like that could have won them the war. Instead, they thought that using it to contain whatever they discovered in the Mesh was significantly more important than weaponinzing it. And whatever that thing is must be terrifying.
Not to mention fusion =/= fission, and fusion reactors have only recently achieved net positive reactions, far from anything approaching the scale of the reactor depicted in-game.
Fission reactors have absolutely nothing to do with atomic bombs Stop equating them Also the bombs dropped on japan had nothing to do with them losing the war either
Someone sends him a haunted copy of an obscure RPG where all the characters are killed off by a Minotaur with hyper-realistic bloody red eyes, who turns towards the screen and says “I AM YHVH”. Then Marsh turns around and there’s an Akemi Nakajima sitting plushie on his bed.
Marshall You absolute madman, You drop a 2 hours video while My country is in an energetic crisis that lets me with only like 5 hours of electricity per day. I Will download it to keep me company in the dark nights.
Confession time: I've watched Marsh's videos on repeat, hundreds of times, and I couldn't begin to tell you one thing about any game he's covered off the top of my head. I fall asleep to these videos almost every night and I have retained zero information about the SMT series.
I think the protagonist is some sort of thought-form construct of the Old Ones. That's why only Naomi acknowledges you in her ending. I think that also explains why you can see the emotional state of the npcs in quotations, you are "scanning" their minds as you perceive them. The train crash marked the true crossing over point. I think the Mesh exists sort of "in between" our universe of matter and energy, and the Hive's universe of thought and emotion. That's why the others can see and interract with you below, but once on the surface, only Naomi remembers and can still sense you. Cerebral stuff, with cool bio-mechanical monster designs, thanks for presenting this gem!
I had a much worse theory that I didn't include in the video where the protagonist was literally the player. It doesn't really work but it was kinda funny to think about. The "Old Ones" are meant to represent players, the "other galaxies conquered" were other games you had played. You don't appear in the ending because the game is over and there's nothing left to do, the Hive had trouble figuring out your character because they were being controlled by you. A few other comments have mentioned similar ideas that your character doesn't physically exist and it's pretty interesting
@@juncohill I think people are really overthinking this. Clear context in the game that the protagonist is a separate, physical person. And people interacted with and acknowledged the protag above ground. Plus why would Naomi want to date a tulpa? 😅
8:10 oof man, sorry to hear about that. Hopefully you've been able to get back on your feet. You're honestly my favorite youtuber so i hope real life hasn't been too tough on ya.
I appreciate you covering this game my dude. I probably would have gone my whole life without knowing this gane existed. You can feel the existensial dread the developers were experiencing while working in Tokyo. I'm looking forward to your coverage of the next game. Now time to write That Which Wanders fanfiction where he lives and experiences the outside world with the protagonist.
Honestly, kind of Rad. I can imagine the surreal and existential tone, as a being whose body is in the process of decay, last of its kind, watches and thinks.
@@BrienBoru I wonder if they’d feel the same way in a smaller city. I think they might enjoy somewhere like Charleston - that place is like a small town scaled up to a city, it’s quite lovely. They might enjoy it here in Brisbane, it’s a bigger city but not quite the urban jungle that is Tokyo or LA.
What blew my mind from Hellnight is if you try to backtrack to some of NPC rooms such as Pheromone Mayumi or Military Japanese Old Man , you find them butchered. Makes your journey become more isolated even more if you try to complete without partner.
Not sacrificing Kamiya frame 1 on the monster encounter is crazy. Mans really did get Stockholm in like 30 seconds. Always appreciate weird ass niche games with cool content that you don't see in games now. Keep it up
It’s so nice of Marsh to help indie content creators like Atlus get some recognition I was genuinely wondering if you would ever cover the non-Megaten games published by Atlus and this title is a really interesting choice
I hope TH-cam becomes your full-time job soon so you don't have to worry about your employment status. You totally got what it takes and I'm addicted to your content. Best of luck out there man.
Honestly stuff like Hellnight is what inspires me as an aspiring artist. I absolutely adore strange, bizarre, evocative ideas like this that explore topics like war and how society treats those who are less fortunate, and then just nosediving into nightmare existential shit like free will and the fate of humanity. The art design for The Hive is truely awe-inspiring work, and it's a shame that we never saw a ton from these guys because this is a truly memorable experience.
i really like the "history section" at the start of these kinds of videos where you cover the reviews and interviews. very intriguing stuff and it's like i'm being immersed into the zeitgeist of where and when the game was released
4:50 Even from an assumed distance, SMT hangs over you, like a specter over a man near death. *You're in Micon City, on the 8th floor of the Tower of Daedalus, and your task is to slay the Minotaur.*
Fun fact! When receiving the blue card (1:17:00), the marking on the card can be read as either 天, meaning sky/heaven, but it also resembles the character 夭, meaning calamity/premature death. The "heaven" character is also used occasionally in the Street Fighter series for Akuma, representing his shedding of humanity.
@@bingbong5076 Kamiya is Halligan if he wasn’t restrained by the UK’s gun laws. He’s such a massive liability that him becoming the Dark Messiah ends up somehow getting all the aliens killed because he thinks it’ll solve a puzzle.
Around the 1 and half hour mark, the mention of these creatures being born with free will only to lose it after a short time... that's the most horrifying thing I think I have heard in a long time. They are a source of horror in this story, but the way they exist is horrifically tragic.
I think that the protagonist wasn't an actual person, just a psychic hitch-hiker tagging along with whoever your companion was and being mentally projected into the minds of people you interacted with. See the "hallucination" where the first companion was seemingly having a conversation with herself: that was literally the protagonist talking through her. No clue what this means for the times that the protagonist is alone - like between when a companion dies and you meet a new one, or when the journalist ditches you to do her own thing.
As you said that wouldn't make sense because: a) Other people in the mesh acknowledge you AND your partner as separate people, b) The monster can kill you AND your partner, etc.
Rene and Ivanoff's endings always came off to me like they were simply narrating sometime after the actual escape - the implication not being that the player character actually just fucked off right after they got off the elevator, but that the visuals of the ending aren't concurrent with Rene and Ivanoff reflecting on what happened. Naomi's ending clearly fully taking place as they get off the elevator confuses this, but I *think* that's the idea with the Rene and Ivanoff endings. (After all, why would Ivanoff be giving the after-action report the moment he's getting off the elevator? Would Rene actually be able to immediately check her photos, given that they would presumably need to be developed if they're on film?) Either way, happy to see you cover this; have yet to play this myself, but a few other TH-camrs I enjoy have covered or played it, and it's just such a fascinating obscurity that always shocks me with how obscure it continues to be.
The game beginning with the train that killed people and the cult is obviously a reference to the attacks you mentioned. this is an interesting game and ive seen a few games with similar vibes such as the point and click game "drowned god - conspiracy of the ages" made by a guy from the UK who ended up killing his wife in a murder suicide, gruesome irl stuff but thats what i was reminded of with the whole aliens and sci-fi horror conspiracy and dark god angle, as well as the dingey atmosphere. theres a good video by ARealHuman on it on youtube for those who are interested. I've come to appreciate your deep dives a lot, your voice is nice and sense of humor adds to the sense of going on a journey through the tale with a buddy or something. 10/10 video
Wasn't expecting to see Linda Cube/Linda 3 in the copy of Famitsu at 8:31. That game is so bizarre, I figured it was a Marsh video already, but I'm now realizing I must have watched someone else play it. How soon until Marsh covers Linda Cube?!
Someone else covered a few months (or a year?) ago near another release from Marsh, so probably that why? I would need to check if I can find it, but it was a similarly type of video to what Marsh does.
Are you talking about the Spotify Playlist, the spooky Halloween noises and farts? I thought it would feel good to meet a fellow degen, but this feels awful.
Just finished the video, amazing work, loved getting more insight on the developers (still can't believe they made the game on a garage) and I'm sad about your job, I hope you're doing allright. Gonna mention some stuff I've noticed on my playthrough of the game (did the Naomi route): >The way I think The Hybrid works with its evolutions: >>First phase in the sewer is slow moving and easy to evade. >>Second phase through the 2 floors becomes faster and has a smarter AI, for the factory and the research area the hybrid will always spawn behind you. >>3rd phase has the same speed but a bigger reach to kill you. >>4th and final phase doesn't dissappear when you enter a room, back at the hatchery he didn't spawn in front of the room but rather he remained where he was chasing you. >In the first secret passage in the first floor the hybrid doesn't appear, he just does noises. This is to give you false security once you reach the second one, where he will actually chase you. >In the livestock area, I think the hybrid only appears in the residence in the middle, he can't actually chase you on the outer ring, at least he didn't on my playthrough. >If Naomi's on your party, you'll have multiple encounter with Kamiya where he flirts with her and mentions how "they're the same". >At the hatchery, if you decide to go back after stealing the orb, some of the hive members will comment on how you doomed their race and That Which Quivers will thank you for your actions. >Glad you made the Yume Nikki comparison (also Kenshi, thought the same about the NPCs), I legit think this game inspired a bit of Yume Nikki. Most tracks are 3 second ambient loops too and a lot of the abstract figures from in that game reminds me of the Data Conversion Room. Also wished I had known the last maps were identical, I didn't know on my playthrough and got totally lost and it ended up being the most tedious section for me in the game. Thank you so much for the video, good luck on your next one and best of luck at life.
Thanks for watching - appreciate the extra tips, I didn't think about the possibility of the hybrid's location staying fixed even if you're inside a room later on in the game
I feel your story about not buying a scanner b/c you got laid off. I have a bunch of old documents with sensitive information to dispose of, and I can’t decide whether to buy a shredder b/c I’m being laid off at the end of our project. I’ve done previous batches by hand, and it takes forever. Good luck on your search!
I (used to, my last one died today) have chickens and their coop was a great way to get rid of old papers. They need replacing once every few days and their habit of crapping inside the coop naturally makes those papers unusable lol
This man saved my workday rn dropping this at the end of the workday right when i finished all assignments and have nothing to do. Always dropping good shit.
Granted, I'm just going off what I took from this video, but on Naomi's ending, I can see two things pointing towards explanations for why the main character is there when he isn't in other endings. The first is that person in the Hive who assimilated into him. If that's possible, it could point towards the protagonist doing the same with Naomi. It wouldn't be too out of left field for her or this game, considering her psychic abilities and his overall questionable state of being. The second is Naomi's split personality. And the fact there's nothing in her ending's dialogue that proves it's the _protagonist_ she's talking to, rather than...
People making videos about stuff they genuinely like/are passionate about is something I've sorely missed for a while now. And these vids are so long too, it's great. I love learning about obscure games I've never heard of.
Not once have i regretted finding your channel. obscure, SMT, touhou, ect, you are always putting out the good shit, and this video continues that trend.
I'm only about 8 minutes into the video. The thing I've been thinking this entire time is "Man, it's so rare to run into hidden gems like this nowadays. They've all blown up in popularity at this point." Then I saw your channel, and realized it was a two for one. Keep up the good work. The quality of this video astonishing.
Thanks so much for playing Hellnight and doing a video on it! This is such an obscure PS1 Atlus game that is super underrated more people need to play it! Its actually surprisingly unique and interesting
You're an absolute legend for bringing this game to our attention. I've known of your channel for less than a year, but your content is some of my favorite on the site. There's so much insane creativity packed into this game that would have been forgotten, and now it has the chance to inspire future developers and creators/artists in general. I hope your job situation sorts itself out. If you had a patreon or anything like that I would have no problem contributing.
Marsh now has to play deSPIRIA. This game for the Sega Dreamcast is really strange and surprising, with an interesting story and a wild world. It was made by the creators of Hellnight. In Japan, the game was published by Atlus, but in the west, deSPIRIA was not released due to the failure of Hellnight in Europe. Moreover, I think that even if they wanted to do it, it would not have worked. And all because of the extremely controversial content of the game, which is basically impossible to censor. Judge for yourself: the game has dismemberment, shocking child abuse, cannibalism, drug use, sexual content and demonization of the Catholic Church. It is unlikely that in the West at the beginning of the two thousandth this would have been appreciated. deSPIRIA takes place in 2092 after a terrible war, as a result of which the Church seized power on earth. The main character is a member of the church's anti-heresy unit "Armed Handmaidens". The main task of the maids is to kill heretics and conduct secret investigations. The game begins with the heroine riding a train in search of her next target, but an explosion occurs as a result of which the train derails.
Its been so awesome seeing you branch out from playing classic SMT titles that deserve more love to obscure and hidden gems. Absolutely GOATed content!
Just finished the vid and the first thing I did was look into the staff for the game and too see if they were able to do work on other games in the future after the studio shut down. Very funny to see things like the assistant planner for their next game ending up being the director and producer more than half the animal crossing games and is pretty Hollywood now a days. When I had to do a deep dive for interviews and info for a game, a lot of it came from a musician on the staff. In the future you might get more if you look into interviews of the staff that was probably not as hands on as the programmers and directors but close enough to recall everything
Love how you cover these obscure Japanese retro horror games nobody has heard of. Another game I’d love you to cover is Juggernaut on PS1. I had a period in time where I just loved watching people on TH-cam play PS1 horror games since I love the aesthetic and tone they produce that no other generation provides and this and Hellnight were the 2 that stood out to me. I’m still surprised you covered this game.
Can't' believe you've been working on this, while other channels started talking about mid pigglet game like it was a hidden gem because of an decades old sample. You're a real one Marsh, what an absolutely sick piece of a game I had no idea about before. Definitely not something I think I'm down to play, but something that's still great to experience in your video format. I'm really hoping you'll be able to get some new work soon, I wish you all the best.
I played this game once ages ago while finding some ps1 games to emulate on my psp. Died once and never touched it again. Basically thought someone out there would play it for me, so thank you
You're quite the video game archeologist, Marsh! This game was a roller coaster ride, thanks for your work on putting this video together. Also, good luck on your job search. I got laid off last year, so I can relate. Things worked out for me, eventually, as they will for you too.
@ You know what… you’re right. It wasn’t GU-L, it was Peret em Heru that I fell asleep watching. Which isn’t so bad. The humor and setting makes more relaxing to watch GU-L is some crazy sh*t though
Real talk - I've always had sleeping problems so I've developed a habit of listening to podcasts or youtube videos as I go to bed, but they have to hit a sweet spot of not being boring that I want to shut it off but also being comfy enough that I can relax and drift in/out of paying attention. Needless to say, that is a rare species of audio. Currently, I have a bunch of Marsh videos saved to an MP3 player (I'm a luddite lol), and I usually go to sleep playing the audio to either one of his videos or a bunch of other creators/radio dramas, only for them to autoplay throughout the night. I can't describe the surreal feeling of waking up at like 4 in the morning to the Nakajima reveal in his Last Bible New Testament video, and it's happened like 5 times at this point. It's such a bizarrely ominous experience, especially when it's still dark out and the streets outside are dead. And it's so specific and niche that I can't even tell people about it lol.
@Colddirector exactly. It has to be a long form video that I have seen before, and it can’t have loud intros or sponsors in it. Marsh is perfect for this. I’ve been cycling the Last Bible and Digital Devil videos past few nights I’ll also queue up John Michel Gottier space videos (they are shorter) or other video gamers like Ghost Charm, Dungeon Chill, and Gaming Broductions. I usually queue up 5 hours worth, minimize the window on my monitor so any flashing graphics don’t affect me falling asleep, and put it at low enough volume to barely hear it. Sometimes I’ll wake up watching some channel I’ve never seen before as the algorithm sometimes rolls the dice on what to play after the queue Glad to hear there are lots of people like us
37:50 But have you tried taking the stairs with Kamiya as your partner? He has a gun as you later say and isn't one to loathe using it against his fellow men for any reason. Though there is his implication to think off, surely he wouldn't do something drastic towards you the very moment you finally get to see the surface once more hmmm...? Anyhoo I've properly watched your video now. You've done a great job conveying the journey of Hellnight, something I've seen you do with other SMT and non-SMT games as well. While your eagerness to fulfill the requests of certain people is a bit worrying, I'm sure that can be waved off as you just wanting to experience everything the game can give you. I also respect your commitment to continuing when you lose a partner, the temptation of reloading a save at the slightest setback is something that has become more tempting in modern times, if not outright using a rewind function that has always been on our PS1's if one knew the right cheat code. Finally, since you asked, my favorite partner would be Leroy or Rene since having an experienced dungeon crawler beside me feels way more reassuring than having to be the big boy for Naomi or "oh god what kind of thing do I have to say for him to suddenly murder me?" buddy of Kamiya. 10/10, would not be chased again. 1:29:01 So you're out of luck if you're with Naomi...except you're not. I'm not sure if you've mentioned it, but Naomi does gain the psychic ability to spout hurtful remarks at the monster ("I hate you!) eventually which I believe stuns him the longest and has no ammo other than you having to risk the chance that she'll say something else when you press her to talk. Who knew the ever-evolving monster that's hunting you down would be hurt the most, not by guns or rockets, but by the rejection of a high school girl? You do now.
I really appreciate the work you put into your channel. I learn so much about so many hidden gems; the inspiration never stops. The tempo of your cuts and your voice fits perfect. Keep it up!
Just got this in my recommended yesterday and I really enjoy how you break down each game you cover in your videos, especially the context and history to how you came across the game or some details on its development. Learning about these disparate and almost forgotten bits of history has become a favorite pastime of mine, especially now that I've found your content. Keep up the great work!
Found out about this video today, excellent review with a very interesting gameplay - story/development mix. Thank you for mentioning my Endings video, was a joy creating that one, Hellnight is my favourite Horror game! Merry Christmas!
Finished this, I think this game is so sick. There was NO telling the final act of the game would take place in Not-Quite-Dimension-X, but I am SO HERE FOR IT. I love it when games start out mysterious but relatively mundane, and end up taking you to crazy alien worlds by the end. Learning and experiencing weird alien cultures is so cool to me, I can never get enough of that stuff in games. I'm so in love with the consistent naming convention of the Hive, it's perfectly befitting an alien utilitarian society. Thank you for covering this game, That Which Exposits! Sidenote if you want more in the way of science fiction-y stuff involving human contact with a mysterious alien race, I highly recommend the web-based experience Corru Observer. Recommend going in spoiler-free for that one.
This was really great coverage of the game/developer. There are a lot of old Atlus published games that the developers are difficult to find information on and a lot of TH-cam videos on these games present incorrect information cited from other TH-camrs or bad secondary sources. As always, this was a great video and great work.
Brit here. For whatever it's worth, it wasn't uncommon for European games magazines - especially back in the 90s and 2000s - to be on the harsher end of the spectrum when it came to reviews. I remember my own favourite games mag as a kid, NGC, even awarded a score of "NO/100" to one particularly infamous game.
I love these Retrospectives / Reviews. The videos are always fun and it's great that they cover games that I know I'd like but will never have the time to actually play. Thanks for another great one.
I can't respect you enough for the amount of effort you put in your vids. These are the games I would probably never play myself but I would take any of your videos about them over any modern movie. Thank you for your work!
Have to say I had no idea what this game was, only stuck around because your coverage is always enjoyable, and damn was it excellent. Reminds me of a combination of multiple high concept games while still being it's own thing. Really was surprised at how much this captivated me. Thanks for providing a view into something I didn't know I wanted!
oh my god this game THIS GAME I FINALLY FOUND IT THANK YOU, going over i used to play this game it's one of the games that genuinely scared me as a kid, don't have the disk anymore nor the ps1 but i'm planning on other means
You have the uncanny ability to release these on days I have a lot of cooking/baking ahead of me, and I love you for it. I’m going to assume that’s intentional, and expect you to keep it up.
Woah, this was amazing. I would've never imagined the final act's turn into full on lovecraftian sci fi horror, and I find both brilliant and hilarious that most of the context in the game is told by basically wikipedia entries. Also, it fits that a obscure, forgotten by most expect a selected few organization developed such a lovecraftian tale, almost like they were destined to release their forbidden knowledge to the world to then be buried into the collective. Thanks for the video Marsh, hope their other horror game goes as hard as this one
I’ve loved this game for years, have tried to get friends into it for the last 3. super glad you’ve been able to uncover so much info about this one, wishing you the best!
Have you heard / seen anything about Barroque and Shadow Tower? They are also First Person Dungeon Crawlers with free movements, but more leaning on the RPG side. They have a similarly dingy atmosphere, but feel like a middle child between this game and SMT-style DRPGs.
Another banger video from my favorite content creator I had a dream you covered this game I can't wait to see what you do next, Christmas always comes early when you drop a new video thanks for all your work Marsh and congrats on 100k
Another certified Marsh banger! This game is something else, will definitely check it out on my own sometime. The atmosphere seems right up my alley. Funny thing too, I was thinking recently that it would be cool to see a first person dungeon crawler which leaned more into horror, and wouldn't you know it, it does exist. I really appreciate the introduction to the developers in the beginning, it really did help to frame more of what the game explores in its themes. I can't help but draw a connection between the bit about the loss of individuality that comes from living in a big city, and the Hive in the later parts of the game. Probably something about the impact of the internet on society too now that I think about it, what with the whole data matrix stuff. PS: sorry about your layoff man, stuff blows. Hope things go your way soon, keep at it!
Hearing about you being laid off broke my heart, thank you so much for making such great content! Hopefully this is just a little setback and you'll get better soon!
A feature length piece on an avant-guard japanese game I've never heard of by an equally obscure company that didn't manage to outlive the average guinea pig in captivity? Unironically, sign me up.
Marsh is easily a top 3 youtuber for me, the guy puts out these tirelessy long videos on random ass japanese games no one has ever heard of and makes it interesting as hell everytime. That bit where you went through the old Japanese gaming magazines was genius. 10/10.
The level of research into a forgotten dev team you've done, it might have been less work to try and get an interview with one of them. kudos to the effort, that level of dedicated madness is where some of the best essays come from, and speaks to a powerful work ethic
Hellnight was a lot of fun to cover, I actually thought about doing it years ago but never got around to it. The final act of this game honestly blew my mind and is one of the most imaginative experiences I've had in a game. I think Megaten fans in particular (I would assume most of you) will find a lot of common ground with this one. Be sure to check the description for timestamps, music used, and links to some relevant resources. Also, sorry for the resolution changing for a couple minutes at around the 50 minute mark, I accidentally recorded a few clips differently and didn't notice until it was way too late.
So excited to watch this
Dark Messiah mentioned, peak niche achieved.
Be my Hell Knight pretty please 🙏
Thank you so much for the extra work you've put into releasing as many videos as you have, it's always a treat with a Marsh upload.
I’ll say the late sci-fi twist is very Japanese.
If you enjoyed this more focused horror game with no combat, I think you should touch the clock tower games.
The first fear just has an English port,( we only had fan translations before), by the makers of Shantae of all people. The struggle within, has a decent main character gimmick idea, but horrible execution, the sequel to the first fear is decent, and 3 is,( yes the fourth game is 3), a magical girl game.
They’re a bit more well known, but it seems perfect for this niche horror craze your on.
The reason the specific date for Amaterasu is so important is because it means the Japanese military had a fully functioning nuclear fusion reactor more than a year before the Allies tested a nuclear bomb. Power like that could have won them the war. Instead, they thought that using it to contain whatever they discovered in the Mesh was significantly more important than weaponinzing it. And whatever that thing is must be terrifying.
It is funny... it is called Amaterasu, the goddess of the sun. And Fusion Reactions is basically a star, like the sun.
Not to mention fusion =/= fission, and fusion reactors have only recently achieved net positive reactions, far from anything approaching the scale of the reactor depicted in-game.
@@aaronbyers2458 tbf that could be a typo, considering they messed up even simpler words like "grate" with "great"
Amatersau is also used very heavily in propaganda made by the Empire of Japan. Especially when Japan annexed Korea.
Fission reactors have absolutely nothing to do with atomic bombs
Stop equating them
Also the bombs dropped on japan had nothing to do with them losing the war either
"Dont worry...ive played several SMT games."
Words that instill both confidence and fear in the listener.
Really glad to see Marsh branching out to cover increasingly obscure topics in his journey to escape from Akemi Nakajima.
Gotta get off the 5th floor of Daedalus at some point.
And yet he failed
Someone sends him a haunted copy of an obscure RPG where all the characters are killed off by a Minotaur with hyper-realistic bloody red eyes, who turns towards the screen and says “I AM YHVH”. Then Marsh turns around and there’s an Akemi Nakajima sitting plushie on his bed.
@@ColddirectorBest Sonic.exe take yet
@@MrRatchet12661 "I'm a total Majin Tensei fan, much like everybody else."
As somebody who knows what happens in Kamiyas route, i was straight up relieved when the monster iced him.
hello gillian seed from snatcher
Marshall You absolute madman, You drop a 2 hours video while My country is in an energetic crisis that lets me with only like 5 hours of electricity per day. I Will download it to keep me company in the dark nights.
That sounds pretty tough stay safe
ukraine?
@@bodhidaruma2824 Gaza probably?
Hang in there friend
Can totally relate bud. Waited a few hours for the elec generator to turn on so I watch this yesterday
Shout-out to Marsh for spending 80$ on old magazines for a section of the video he knew most people would skip.
Not me, I will listen to ever millisecond of this video every day until another one drops.
Real fans like us would never skip ❤️ we're here for it all! 🎉
I didn't Skip,
That's 80 Dollars worth of Content!
True dedication!
That was legit my favourite section of the video lol
Confession time: I've watched Marsh's videos on repeat, hundreds of times, and I couldn't begin to tell you one thing about any game he's covered off the top of my head. I fall asleep to these videos almost every night and I have retained zero information about the SMT series.
Oh, that's just Marsh knocking you out cold!
So I'm not the only one
Same frfr it’s so cozy
His voice just works
@@thelittlestkovoTrue, Marsh becoming an Audiobook narrator WHEN?
I think the protagonist is some sort of thought-form construct of the Old Ones. That's why only Naomi acknowledges you in her ending. I think that also explains why you can see the emotional state of the npcs in quotations, you are "scanning" their minds as you perceive them. The train crash marked the true crossing over point. I think the Mesh exists sort of "in between" our universe of matter and energy, and the Hive's universe of thought and emotion. That's why the others can see and interract with you below, but once on the surface, only Naomi remembers and can still sense you. Cerebral stuff, with cool bio-mechanical monster designs, thanks for presenting this gem!
I just realized, by that logic the protagonist is basically an alien tulpa.
@@juncohilldidn’t expect to be reminded of the old 4chan tulpa posts but here I am
I had a much worse theory that I didn't include in the video where the protagonist was literally the player. It doesn't really work but it was kinda funny to think about. The "Old Ones" are meant to represent players, the "other galaxies conquered" were other games you had played. You don't appear in the ending because the game is over and there's nothing left to do, the Hive had trouble figuring out your character because they were being controlled by you. A few other comments have mentioned similar ideas that your character doesn't physically exist and it's pretty interesting
@@llab3903 4chan tulpa?
@@juncohill I think people are really overthinking this. Clear context in the game that the protagonist is a separate, physical person. And people interacted with and acknowledged the protag above ground. Plus why would Naomi want to date a tulpa? 😅
8:10 oof man, sorry to hear about that. Hopefully you've been able to get back on your feet. You're honestly my favorite youtuber so i hope real life hasn't been too tough on ya.
Time to start that patreon Marsh. You could even have it just give early release so the rest of us aren't actually missing any content.
@@timmcgough7714 Seconded
Yeah dude that is my actual nightmare. We've said it before, but if you really do start some sort of patreon, I'll be there for sure.
I appreciate you covering this game my dude. I probably would have gone my whole life without knowing this gane existed. You can feel the existensial dread the developers were experiencing while working in Tokyo. I'm looking forward to your coverage of the next game.
Now time to write That Which Wanders fanfiction where he lives and experiences the outside world with the protagonist.
I would love to read that honestly
Honestly, kind of Rad. I can imagine the surreal and existential tone, as a being whose body is in the process of decay, last of its kind, watches and thinks.
that sounds awesome
you better link it here my boy
@@BrienBoru I wonder if they’d feel the same way in a smaller city. I think they might enjoy somewhere like Charleston - that place is like a small town scaled up to a city, it’s quite lovely.
They might enjoy it here in Brisbane, it’s a bigger city but not quite the urban jungle that is Tokyo or LA.
What blew my mind from Hellnight is if you try to backtrack to some of NPC rooms such as Pheromone Mayumi or Military Japanese Old Man , you find them butchered.
Makes your journey become more isolated even more if you try to complete without partner.
Not sacrificing Kamiya frame 1 on the monster encounter is crazy. Mans really did get Stockholm in like 30 seconds. Always appreciate weird ass niche games with cool content that you don't see in games now. Keep it up
Dood, I would have reloaded for Naomi
naomi: i can tell you where the monster is and if you're gonna fall into a trap.
kamiya: so anyway i started blasting-
It’s so nice of Marsh to help indie content creators like Atlus get some recognition
I was genuinely wondering if you would ever cover the non-Megaten games published by Atlus and this title is a really interesting choice
Atlus being an indie developer? What are you smoking, man? If anything, the OG developer of the game may be the "indie" one, not Atlus the publisher.
That was literally the joke I was making
To be fair this game wasn't made by atlus
I know. It was published by them
I hope TH-cam becomes your full-time job soon so you don't have to worry about your employment status. You totally got what it takes and I'm addicted to your content. Best of luck out there man.
Honestly stuff like Hellnight is what inspires me as an aspiring artist. I absolutely adore strange, bizarre, evocative ideas like this that explore topics like war and how society treats those who are less fortunate, and then just nosediving into nightmare existential shit like free will and the fate of humanity. The art design for The Hive is truely awe-inspiring work, and it's a shame that we never saw a ton from these guys because this is a truly memorable experience.
That Which Freaks has to be one of your best quotes ever, loved the video
That which freaks the original Diddy
Marsh can never escape Atlus, SMT, and Nakajima's presence even when playing other games it seems lmao.
That's how it is with atlas/smt, once you play one game you put yourself on a MASSIVE RABBITHOLE.
i really like the "history section" at the start of these kinds of videos where you cover the reviews and interviews. very intriguing stuff and it's like i'm being immersed into the zeitgeist of where and when the game was released
agreed
4:50 Even from an assumed distance, SMT hangs over you, like a specter over a man near death. *You're in Micon City, on the 8th floor of the Tower of Daedalus, and your task is to slay the Minotaur.*
Fun fact! When receiving the blue card (1:17:00), the marking on the card can be read as either 天, meaning sky/heaven, but it also resembles the character 夭, meaning calamity/premature death. The "heaven" character is also used occasionally in the Street Fighter series for Akuma, representing his shedding of humanity.
the ending where the main character says “it’s been one HELL of a NIGHT” brought me to tears. cinema
i can't help but feel the mystery of the druids vibes from this
Kamiya is literally Halligan if he fails to get Lowry's scissors
I was wondering what this was reminding me of omg XD
Holy shit, you are so right, there is literally a part where you give a man booze and he fucking dies
@@bingbong5076 Kamiya is Halligan if he wasn’t restrained by the UK’s gun laws. He’s such a massive liability that him becoming the Dark Messiah ends up somehow getting all the aliens killed because he thinks it’ll solve a puzzle.
Around the 1 and half hour mark, the mention of these creatures being born with free will only to lose it after a short time... that's the most horrifying thing I think I have heard in a long time. They are a source of horror in this story, but the way they exist is horrifically tragic.
I think that the protagonist wasn't an actual person, just a psychic hitch-hiker tagging along with whoever your companion was and being mentally projected into the minds of people you interacted with. See the "hallucination" where the first companion was seemingly having a conversation with herself: that was literally the protagonist talking through her. No clue what this means for the times that the protagonist is alone - like between when a companion dies and you meet a new one, or when the journalist ditches you to do her own thing.
As you said that wouldn't make sense because: a) Other people in the mesh acknowledge you AND your partner as separate people, b) The monster can kill you AND your partner, etc.
The only youtuber I trust to whisper sweet nothings to me as I fall asleep.
Rene and Ivanoff's endings always came off to me like they were simply narrating sometime after the actual escape - the implication not being that the player character actually just fucked off right after they got off the elevator, but that the visuals of the ending aren't concurrent with Rene and Ivanoff reflecting on what happened. Naomi's ending clearly fully taking place as they get off the elevator confuses this, but I *think* that's the idea with the Rene and Ivanoff endings. (After all, why would Ivanoff be giving the after-action report the moment he's getting off the elevator? Would Rene actually be able to immediately check her photos, given that they would presumably need to be developed if they're on film?)
Either way, happy to see you cover this; have yet to play this myself, but a few other TH-camrs I enjoy have covered or played it, and it's just such a fascinating obscurity that always shocks me with how obscure it continues to be.
The game beginning with the train that killed people and the cult is obviously a reference to the attacks you mentioned. this is an interesting game and ive seen a few games with similar vibes such as the point and click game "drowned god - conspiracy of the ages" made by a guy from the UK who ended up killing his wife in a murder suicide, gruesome irl stuff but thats what i was reminded of with the whole aliens and sci-fi horror conspiracy and dark god angle, as well as the dingey atmosphere. theres a good video by ARealHuman on it on youtube for those who are interested. I've come to appreciate your deep dives a lot, your voice is nice and sense of humor adds to the sense of going on a journey through the tale with a buddy or something. 10/10 video
Wasn't expecting to see Linda Cube/Linda 3 in the copy of Famitsu at 8:31. That game is so bizarre, I figured it was a Marsh video already, but I'm now realizing I must have watched someone else play it. How soon until Marsh covers Linda Cube?!
I thought the same exact thing! I came on here to post about the guy in the Santa suit and the messed up doctor story, thinking it was a Marsh vid.
Yeah Linda³ is right up his alley
Someone else covered a few months (or a year?) ago near another release from Marsh, so probably that why? I would need to check if I can find it, but it was a similarly type of video to what Marsh does.
0:18 THE ETRIAN ODYSSEY EXPERIENCE CONFIRMED!!1!!111!1
One of the best dungeon crawler series ngl 🗣️🗣️🗣️
Man, it would be awesome if he did a series on the NDS and 3DS series
ngl I wanna hear Marsh talk about the EO series.
Comment bump for the EO support
Etrian Odyssey❤❤❤❤
1:52:43
No... You've gotta be kidding me...
They put **the scream and fart compilation** in the climax of their horror game!?!?!
Are you talking about the Spotify Playlist, the spooky Halloween noises and farts? I thought it would feel good to meet a fellow degen, but this feels awful.
@@dilfiusmaximus6607I'm pretty sure he's referring to Jerma listening to a scream and fart compilation
@@johnlong8833 I'm starting to realize how relevant the screaming and farts comp is in my life.
Just finished the video, amazing work, loved getting more insight on the developers (still can't believe they made the game on a garage) and I'm sad about your job, I hope you're doing allright.
Gonna mention some stuff I've noticed on my playthrough of the game (did the Naomi route):
>The way I think The Hybrid works with its evolutions:
>>First phase in the sewer is slow moving and easy to evade.
>>Second phase through the 2 floors becomes faster and has a smarter AI, for the factory and the research area the hybrid will always spawn behind you.
>>3rd phase has the same speed but a bigger reach to kill you.
>>4th and final phase doesn't dissappear when you enter a room, back at the hatchery he didn't spawn in front of the room but rather he remained where he was chasing you.
>In the first secret passage in the first floor the hybrid doesn't appear, he just does noises. This is to give you false security once you reach the second one, where he will actually chase you.
>In the livestock area, I think the hybrid only appears in the residence in the middle, he can't actually chase you on the outer ring, at least he didn't on my playthrough.
>If Naomi's on your party, you'll have multiple encounter with Kamiya where he flirts with her and mentions how "they're the same".
>At the hatchery, if you decide to go back after stealing the orb, some of the hive members will comment on how you doomed their race and That Which Quivers will thank you for your actions.
>Glad you made the Yume Nikki comparison (also Kenshi, thought the same about the NPCs), I legit think this game inspired a bit of Yume Nikki. Most tracks are 3 second ambient loops too and a lot of the abstract figures from in that game reminds me of the Data Conversion Room.
Also wished I had known the last maps were identical, I didn't know on my playthrough and got totally lost and it ended up being the most tedious section for me in the game.
Thank you so much for the video, good luck on your next one and best of luck at life.
Thanks for watching - appreciate the extra tips, I didn't think about the possibility of the hybrid's location staying fixed even if you're inside a room later on in the game
I feel your story about not buying a scanner b/c you got laid off. I have a bunch of old documents with sensitive information to dispose of, and I can’t decide whether to buy a shredder b/c I’m being laid off at the end of our project. I’ve done previous batches by hand, and it takes forever. Good luck on your search!
I (used to, my last one died today) have chickens and their coop was a great way to get rid of old papers. They need replacing once every few days and their habit of crapping inside the coop naturally makes those papers unusable lol
@ sorry for your loss. I have no animals that poo on paper, but maybe I there’s another toilet paper shortage…
We are far beyond niche now. I can't wait until 2030 when Marsh is making 10 hour videos on bootleg haunted copies of Connect 4. Fantastic video.
was not expecting a game called "Hellnight" / "Dark Messiah" to be about aliens. i thought it was just gonna turn into some trip to the spirit world.
"Its a teleport maze, that's must be why ATULS published it" LMAO
This man saved my workday rn dropping this at the end of the workday right when i finished all assignments and have nothing to do. Always dropping good shit.
Granted, I'm just going off what I took from this video, but on Naomi's ending, I can see two things pointing towards explanations for why the main character is there when he isn't in other endings.
The first is that person in the Hive who assimilated into him. If that's possible, it could point towards the protagonist doing the same with Naomi. It wouldn't be too out of left field for her or this game, considering her psychic abilities and his overall questionable state of being.
The second is Naomi's split personality. And the fact there's nothing in her ending's dialogue that proves it's the _protagonist_ she's talking to, rather than...
People making videos about stuff they genuinely like/are passionate about is something I've sorely missed for a while now.
And these vids are so long too, it's great. I love learning about obscure games I've never heard of.
Really appreciate all the research you put in! Those old gaming magazines are like treasure troves...
Not once have i regretted finding your channel. obscure, SMT, touhou, ect, you are always putting out the good shit, and this video continues that trend.
I'm only about 8 minutes into the video. The thing I've been thinking this entire time is "Man, it's so rare to run into hidden gems like this nowadays. They've all blown up in popularity at this point." Then I saw your channel, and realized it was a two for one. Keep up the good work. The quality of this video astonishing.
Hey man excited to check out the video! Sorry for the lay off though that really blows. Hope you’re able to find something soon!
Thanks so much for playing Hellnight and doing a video on it! This is such an obscure PS1 Atlus game that is super underrated more people need to play it! Its actually surprisingly unique and interesting
Damn dude sorry about the layoff , hope you land on your feet . Good luck champ
Holy shit , this is a surprise , a very welcomed one at that , I’m gonna enjoy the next 2 hours
You're an absolute legend for bringing this game to our attention. I've known of your channel for less than a year, but your content is some of my favorite on the site. There's so much insane creativity packed into this game that would have been forgotten, and now it has the chance to inspire future developers and creators/artists in general.
I hope your job situation sorts itself out. If you had a patreon or anything like that I would have no problem contributing.
Marsh now has to play deSPIRIA. This game for the Sega Dreamcast is really strange and surprising, with an interesting story and a wild world. It was made by the creators of Hellnight.
In Japan, the game was published by Atlus, but in the west, deSPIRIA was not released due to the failure of Hellnight in Europe. Moreover, I think that even if they wanted to do it, it would not have worked. And all because of the extremely controversial content of the game, which is basically impossible to censor. Judge for yourself: the game has dismemberment, shocking child abuse, cannibalism, drug use, sexual content and demonization of the Catholic Church. It is unlikely that in the West at the beginning of the two thousandth this would have been appreciated.
deSPIRIA takes place in 2092 after a terrible war, as a result of which the Church seized power on earth. The main character is a member of the church's anti-heresy unit "Armed Handmaidens". The main task of the maids is to kill heretics and conduct secret investigations. The game begins with the heroine riding a train in search of her next target, but an explosion occurs as a result of which the train derails.
Wtf is this game😭💀 Now I HAVE to do some research on it
@@userLeon some topic might get very iffy but you know him, I don't think that gonna stop him making it
the video is on the pipeline if you have been following his community posts
@@theGiggleNiggle_1 it's worth a playthough! i've beaten this many years ago on my Dreamcast with a burned CD copy of this game.
@@MrDmoney156 I honestly would play it if it had a translation. It looks very interesting. I'll just wait for Marsh's video on it instead.
I really enjoyed this vid, definitely gonna play this and see my own experience.
maybe this is a sign that one day Marsh will cover Baroque
Its been so awesome seeing you branch out from playing classic SMT titles that deserve more love to obscure and hidden gems. Absolutely GOATed content!
The fun thing about Christmas being the same day as your birthday is you can pretend Santa came early to give his gift when you see a new Marsh video
Just finished the vid and the first thing I did was look into the staff for the game and too see if they were able to do work on other games in the future after the studio shut down. Very funny to see things like the assistant planner for their next game ending up being the director and producer more than half the animal crossing games and is pretty Hollywood now a days. When I had to do a deep dive for interviews and info for a game, a lot of it came from a musician on the staff. In the future you might get more if you look into interviews of the staff that was probably not as hands on as the programmers and directors but close enough to recall everything
It's so crazy I was looking for a retrospective on this game that goes in depth, I know Marsh has this covered
Love how you cover these obscure Japanese retro horror games nobody has heard of. Another game I’d love you to cover is Juggernaut on PS1.
I had a period in time where I just loved watching people on TH-cam play PS1 horror games since I love the aesthetic and tone they produce that no other generation provides and this and Hellnight were the 2 that stood out to me. I’m still surprised you covered this game.
A day when Marsh uploads is a great day indeed.
Can't' believe you've been working on this, while other channels started talking about mid pigglet game like it was a hidden gem because of an decades old sample. You're a real one Marsh, what an absolutely sick piece of a game I had no idea about before. Definitely not something I think I'm down to play, but something that's still great to experience in your video format.
I'm really hoping you'll be able to get some new work soon, I wish you all the best.
The piglet thing is kinda funny because I used some of the soundtrack for it in the last video, right before it became a trend. Too soon
Hazama in the beginning made me happy
Marsh you can't escape Atlus, you are the Shin Megami Tensei at this point.
For real
I have a feeling if he decided to cover Pokémon or something else, fucking Atlus will manifest itself within the credits Mandela Effect style
Hell yeah new Marsh video! Can’t wait to watch this now and then later over the course of several days via sleep aid
Looks like Christmas arrived early! Thanks again Marsh!
I played this game once ages ago while finding some ps1 games to emulate on my psp. Died once and never touched it again. Basically thought someone out there would play it for me, so thank you
0:10 Same dude, but also with some whips
can you guys stop sharing publicly when i invite you to stuff? gee louise
You're quite the video game archeologist, Marsh! This game was a roller coaster ride, thanks for your work on putting this video together.
Also, good luck on your job search. I got laid off last year, so I can relate. Things worked out for me, eventually, as they will for you too.
1:44 least upsetting GameStop rando interaction
I’ve been watching your old videos as I go to sleep the past 3 nights. Last Bible 3 was last night. GU-L before that.
Thanks for the content my guy
I can't even begin to imagine the kind of nightmares that would come from falling asleep to gu-l.
@ You know what… you’re right. It wasn’t GU-L, it was Peret em Heru that I fell asleep watching. Which isn’t so bad. The humor and setting makes more relaxing to watch
GU-L is some crazy sh*t though
Real talk - I've always had sleeping problems so I've developed a habit of listening to podcasts or youtube videos as I go to bed, but they have to hit a sweet spot of not being boring that I want to shut it off but also being comfy enough that I can relax and drift in/out of paying attention. Needless to say, that is a rare species of audio.
Currently, I have a bunch of Marsh videos saved to an MP3 player (I'm a luddite lol), and I usually go to sleep playing the audio to either one of his videos or a bunch of other creators/radio dramas, only for them to autoplay throughout the night. I can't describe the surreal feeling of waking up at like 4 in the morning to the Nakajima reveal in his Last Bible New Testament video, and it's happened like 5 times at this point. It's such a bizarrely ominous experience, especially when it's still dark out and the streets outside are dead. And it's so specific and niche that I can't even tell people about it lol.
@@Colddirectoray you might like alexandersauce just saying
@Colddirector exactly. It has to be a long form video that I have seen before, and it can’t have loud intros or sponsors in it. Marsh is perfect for this. I’ve been cycling the Last Bible and Digital Devil videos past few nights
I’ll also queue up John Michel Gottier space videos (they are shorter) or other video gamers like Ghost Charm, Dungeon Chill, and Gaming Broductions.
I usually queue up 5 hours worth, minimize the window on my monitor so any flashing graphics don’t affect me falling asleep, and put it at low enough volume to barely hear it. Sometimes I’ll wake up watching some channel I’ve never seen before as the algorithm sometimes rolls the dice on what to play after the queue
Glad to hear there are lots of people like us
37:50 But have you tried taking the stairs with Kamiya as your partner? He has a gun as you later say and isn't one to loathe using it against his fellow men for any reason. Though there is his implication to think off, surely he wouldn't do something drastic towards you the very moment you finally get to see the surface once more hmmm...? Anyhoo I've properly watched your video now.
You've done a great job conveying the journey of Hellnight, something I've seen you do with other SMT and non-SMT games as well. While your eagerness to fulfill the requests of certain people is a bit worrying, I'm sure that can be waved off as you just wanting to experience everything the game can give you. I also respect your commitment to continuing when you lose a partner, the temptation of reloading a save at the slightest setback is something that has become more tempting in modern times, if not outright using a rewind function that has always been on our PS1's if one knew the right cheat code. Finally, since you asked, my favorite partner would be Leroy or Rene since having an experienced dungeon crawler beside me feels way more reassuring than having to be the big boy for Naomi or "oh god what kind of thing do I have to say for him to suddenly murder me?" buddy of Kamiya. 10/10, would not be chased again.
1:29:01 So you're out of luck if you're with Naomi...except you're not. I'm not sure if you've mentioned it, but Naomi does gain the psychic ability to spout hurtful remarks at the monster ("I hate you!) eventually which I believe stuns him the longest and has no ammo other than you having to risk the chance that she'll say something else when you press her to talk. Who knew the ever-evolving monster that's hunting you down would be hurt the most, not by guns or rockets, but by the rejection of a high school girl? You do now.
I really appreciate the work you put into your channel. I learn so much about so many hidden gems; the inspiration never stops. The tempo of your cuts and your voice fits perfect. Keep it up!
Thanks for going through the history of the company and chronicling your findings. It was super interesting.
Favorite TH-camr uploaded on the day I got sick, yippee!
Just got this in my recommended yesterday and I really enjoy how you break down each game you cover in your videos, especially the context and history to how you came across the game or some details on its development. Learning about these disparate and almost forgotten bits of history has become a favorite pastime of mine, especially now that I've found your content. Keep up the great work!
New microphone? Voice sounding slick as hell, right mix of gravel and softness!
Found out about this video today, excellent review with a very interesting gameplay - story/development mix.
Thank you for mentioning my Endings video, was a joy creating that one, Hellnight is my favourite Horror game! Merry Christmas!
@@PS1GamerCollector Hey glad to hear you liked it, your video was really useful. Merry christmas!
Finished this, I think this game is so sick. There was NO telling the final act of the game would take place in Not-Quite-Dimension-X, but I am SO HERE FOR IT. I love it when games start out mysterious but relatively mundane, and end up taking you to crazy alien worlds by the end. Learning and experiencing weird alien cultures is so cool to me, I can never get enough of that stuff in games. I'm so in love with the consistent naming convention of the Hive, it's perfectly befitting an alien utilitarian society. Thank you for covering this game, That Which Exposits!
Sidenote if you want more in the way of science fiction-y stuff involving human contact with a mysterious alien race, I highly recommend the web-based experience Corru Observer. Recommend going in spoiler-free for that one.
This was really great coverage of the game/developer. There are a lot of old Atlus published games that the developers are difficult to find information on and a lot of TH-cam videos on these games present incorrect information cited from other TH-camrs or bad secondary sources. As always, this was a great video and great work.
Cant wait to watch this film! Thanks marsh!
Brit here. For whatever it's worth, it wasn't uncommon for European games magazines - especially back in the 90s and 2000s - to be on the harsher end of the spectrum when it came to reviews. I remember my own favourite games mag as a kid, NGC, even awarded a score of "NO/100" to one particularly infamous game.
A new Marsh vid and a game I've never heard of? It's movie night, guys.
I love these Retrospectives / Reviews. The videos are always fun and it's great that they cover games that I know I'd like but will never have the time to actually play. Thanks for another great one.
I can't respect you enough for the amount of effort you put in your vids. These are the games I would probably never play myself but I would take any of your videos about them over any modern movie. Thank you for your work!
Have to say I had no idea what this game was, only stuck around because your coverage is always enjoyable, and damn was it excellent. Reminds me of a combination of multiple high concept games while still being it's own thing. Really was surprised at how much this captivated me. Thanks for providing a view into something I didn't know I wanted!
oh my god this game THIS GAME I FINALLY FOUND IT THANK YOU,
going over i used to play this game it's one of the games that genuinely scared me as a kid,
don't have the disk anymore nor the ps1 but i'm planning on other means
how tf is this not more popular? I'm genuinely in awe with how interesting this is, and your delivery is funny as all hell
Banger content inbound cant wait to enjoy this right now
and forever!
These obscure japanese horror games are my absolute favourite. Thanks Marsh, whenever you upload, it makes my day!
You have the uncanny ability to release these on days I have a lot of cooking/baking ahead of me, and I love you for it. I’m going to assume that’s intentional, and expect you to keep it up.
Woah, this was amazing. I would've never imagined the final act's turn into full on lovecraftian sci fi horror, and I find both brilliant and hilarious that most of the context in the game is told by basically wikipedia entries. Also, it fits that a obscure, forgotten by most expect a selected few organization developed such a lovecraftian tale, almost like they were destined to release their forbidden knowledge to the world to then be buried into the collective. Thanks for the video Marsh, hope their other horror game goes as hard as this one
one of the coolest, if not THE coolest, games you've reviewed. and instant one of your best videos
I’ve loved this game for years, have tried to get friends into it for the last 3. super glad you’ve been able to uncover so much info about this one, wishing you the best!
Have you heard / seen anything about Barroque and Shadow Tower? They are also First Person Dungeon Crawlers with free movements, but more leaning on the RPG side. They have a similarly dingy atmosphere, but feel like a middle child between this game and SMT-style DRPGs.
Yeah I haven't played either yet but they seem good. Probably something that will be on this channel one day
Dungeon Chill has a good video on Baroque, not too far off from Marsh's style imo, showing off the entire game
@catgode It is how I got to experience the story of the game, otherwise I doubt I would have made it the whole way through
You are legit one of my favorite youtubers, thanks for all these cool videos you've shared
Hell yeah!
New Marsh vid on a game I've never heard of!
Let's goooo!!
Another banger video from my favorite content creator
I had a dream you covered this game
I can't wait to see what you do next, Christmas always comes early when you drop a new video thanks for all your work Marsh and congrats on 100k
I'm so mad I didn't get a notification for this. God I'm so excited. Marsh videos always make my day. ❤
I love the way you do playthroughs of games detailed enough to give us what we want but don't waste time getting to into the weeds
Another certified Marsh banger! This game is something else, will definitely check it out on my own sometime. The atmosphere seems right up my alley. Funny thing too, I was thinking recently that it would be cool to see a first person dungeon crawler which leaned more into horror, and wouldn't you know it, it does exist.
I really appreciate the introduction to the developers in the beginning, it really did help to frame more of what the game explores in its themes. I can't help but draw a connection between the bit about the loss of individuality that comes from living in a big city, and the Hive in the later parts of the game. Probably something about the impact of the internet on society too now that I think about it, what with the whole data matrix stuff.
PS: sorry about your layoff man, stuff blows. Hope things go your way soon, keep at it!
Hearing about you being laid off broke my heart, thank you so much for making such great content! Hopefully this is just a little setback and you'll get better soon!
A feature length piece on an avant-guard japanese game I've never heard of by an equally obscure company that didn't manage to outlive the average guinea pig in captivity? Unironically, sign me up.
Marsh is easily a top 3 youtuber for me, the guy puts out these tirelessy long videos on random ass japanese games no one has ever heard of and makes it interesting as hell everytime. That bit where you went through the old Japanese gaming magazines was genius. 10/10.
The level of research into a forgotten dev team you've done, it might have been less work to try and get an interview with one of them.
kudos to the effort, that level of dedicated madness is where some of the best essays come from, and speaks to a powerful work ethic