Want to hear about my favorite movies, TV shows, books and more? Watch the Nebula-exclusive companion video right here: nebula.tv/videos/jacob-geller-everything-that-didnt-fit-into-jacobs-top-ten-of-2022
As much as elden ring us elevated by modern online discourse I would have loved to play it as a kid before the age of TH-cam guides and fextralife wiki. An undocumented world for me and me alone to uncover, secrets still hiding over the course of years.
How long after the video does the special offer last? Because I would gladly buy it, but I don't trust myself with that amount of content a week before my exams
That's actually seen as academic misbehaviour and is highly discouraged. Edit: I actually fucked up, it's not using your work as a source, but publishing the same work twice, oops, sorry guys
2:40 Norco 4:29 Signalis 6:20 The Last Clockwinder 9:24 Neon White 11:22 The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe 14:08 Vampire Survivors 16:17 Immortality 18:28 God of War Ragnarök 20:58 Citizen Sleeper 23:21 Elden Ring
I believe the Signalis devs (all two of them) have cited Shaft's adaptation of the Monogatari series as the inspiration behind the "This space intentionally left blank" cutaways. It pops up in some of the seasons, and may be tied to a stylistic choice by one of the directors who did a lot of work across the seasons.
I saw that shot and it immediately made me think of Monogatari. I am so glad to hear that inspiration was indeed taken from there, because Monogatari has some of the best cinematography and character writing that I've seen.
Hi Jacob, I wanted to talk about THIS SPACE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK. Its taken stylistically from anime: SHAFTS anime adaptation of the monogatari novel series. In the show its used stylistically as "covering", e.g. the covering of eyes behind hair to obscure and imply emotion, the covering of a gory scene to let your mind wander, the covering of the fact that the slide saves on the time, budget and skill needed to actually paint the scene. Historically it was born of a combination of a clever art director(Akiyuki Shinbo), tight production schedules, and a desire to communicate through text in a visual medium similar to the silly floating text in Sherlock. In the context of SIGNALIS where memory is a key theme you can eke out some interpretation but... Imo its to be understood as a stylistic technique first and foremost.
The red is absolutely a monogatari reference (judging by the unmistakable red slide and Japanese kanji) however it is worthwhile noting "this page is intentionally left blank" in monogatari itself is a reference once more to legal documents and such when a page is left blank as for the person to not think its a printing error. The reason for a blank page however, is when you are printing things its cheaper to print pages on big sheets double sided as opposed to using multiple pieces of paper as thats less steps when mass producing, so you'll notice books typically start at an odd-numbered page for this reason. For a slide to be "intentionally left blank" implies theres some kind of mass production element (and being a novelist, NISIOISIN would definitely be aware of this)
@@MasDouc He does... his whole shtick is going through 100s of sometimes near-unknown games from Steam. He's joking. I'd give his channel a look, it's quite good :)
Wow, these are all single-player games! I think a lot of people, myself included, have gotten pessimistic about the state of live service battle pass driven games. But while those trends exist, it's important to remember that there are still creatives out there who want to compelling narratives and/or interesting mechanics. Market research and predatory practices might be rampant, but there will always be great games. Thanks for helping us know where to look.
Honestly I started finding myself enjoying these types of games better, the only problem is that they eventually have to end (although that's probably a good thing) and I have to find something new to do or go back to those live service games
It’s so funny to see Jacob talk about Norco cause I used to live a few miles away from Norco Louisiana. It’s a weird sad little place in the middle of the swamp with an absurd amount of smog plaguing the skies, so much so there are some who simply refer to it as “cancer alley.” Hyped to try out the game.
Played it through to the end and I can't say I came away with the same impression as Noah. It seemed like it could be great, but stopped just short for me.
@@Tofu_va_Bien Sorta my experience with Citizen Sleeper too. I have actually really stopped to trust Jacob on his game choices, I clearly have a fundamentally different interest and taste in games lol (From this video I have tried Signalis and Neon White and I have finished Citizen Sleeper and Immortality and I will probably play Norco (also Ive watched some of The Stanley Parable DLC) but most of them have been quite "mid" for me to keep it short, not bad but time couldve honestly been spent better. The only really good "recommendation" that I've ever got from this channel was Outer Wilds. And over time I've realized Jacob actually only talk about games I either find to be "mid" or straight up dislike, all the while he has never talked about a big collection of games I love (even when it thematically fit), and that I'd talk about constantly if I was him.
Just astounding how he can give such beautifully assembled speeches on every one of these game somehow WITHOUT spoiling any of them! Still comPLETELY capable of playing many of these and getting a nice experience. I might just try out that Citizen Sleeper game.
Disco Elysium: The Final Cut was to me what Immortality was for you to an extent. As a kid I would have bounced right off it, hated how every bit of interaction is through dialogue or looking at things, but as an adult I was able to dive into the story. Satisfying skill checks, stellar voice acting and beautifully done characters
Same. I bought it on release, still in the middle of high-school, and man did I bounce off of it. But now I'm finally playing it for real this time, and god it's such a feeling of a game
I can’t express how much I love citizen sleeper, I literally named myself after it. It feels so intimate, truly conveying that feeling of finding moments of happiness, good communities, and great friendships and family within a very difficult world
Stanley Parable was one of my personality defining game that popped up early in my teenage years, and Stanley Parable Ultra Deluxe most CERTAINLY delivered on my expectations (which were completely blown out of the water). I'm glad you enjoyed it as much as I did and somehow put my exact thoughts into words so succinctly.
I think it’s a very silly game that has some incredible endings but most are just silly fun. I liked it a lot to be honest but the original is still better imo
Yeah I was pretty much the only kid I knew that played it. Wonder if experiencing the game at an early age factored into how I developed into an authority and society questioning anarchic individual.
@@Glennjamyyyn hey, I've just bought the game without realizing there is an ultra deluxe edition. I'm going completely blind. Should I play the OG or UD edition or both?
@@AhmetKartal start with the OG, I think UD is far more enjoyable after having seen all that the OG has to offer. Take your time with the Stanley Parable and soak it all in, explore to your heart's content, THEN try out UD. The entirety of UD content is built upon having previously seen the OG. If you want, you can try refunding the OG and buying the UD, because the UD is the exact same as the OG until you enter a literal "new content" door, so you could just refrain from going in there until you're ready.
jacob. you were perhaps one of the only constants in my past year and it was a year without many constants. i constantly thought about your videos, whenever i would open youtube and see you had uploaded i dropped everything to put on my noise canceling headphones and listen to you, and just in general i loved your work. i've rewatched your videos more than any other creator on here and i genuinely appreciate everything you've done this year. i don't even play video games that often! i mostly replay skyrim and stardew valley! you always have me absolutely entranced watching videos about games that i might never play and i am so so glad that you get to do this youtube thing as your job when it seems clear, to me, that this is what you're built for. thanks for an intellectually incredible 2022, jacob, and here's to a thrilling 2023!
There were so many moments in Elden Ring that blew me away but my absolute favorite was after days of struggling against Commander Niall thinking, like i do with most souls games, "this is where i give up" i ended up summoning someone to help me. Dude walked in, blasted him with a beam, killing him in about 5 seconds. He then turned to me, did the fist to chest bump emote and disconnected. Willed me on to continue the game and get better.
I was very much playing my own life experience in Citizen Sleeper. I turned down every ending when presented, because at the end of the day, I am the one remaining person here, in the place I eventually made home, after everyone I knew has moved on, because there's always more people coming here, passing through or staying, and this is what I stay for. There's always a new experience here, because it's always evolving with the people who come here like I and everyone else did.
I remember reaching Anor Londo in Dark Souls 1 and being impressed with the scale of the city. Playing elden ring, the capital by the Erdtree was a similar experience, but what is so incredible is that almost the entire city is able to be explored. Leyendell is anor londo fully realized, and is something I always wanted. It felt like the apocalypse hadn’t yet happened there. Returning to it later in the game after the mountaintop of the giants, seeing it in ruins, I knew the end was near.
On a lazy afternoon I stumbled on this video that was already more than a year old. I listened to your description of Citizen Sleeper and I thought, “yeah, he’s insanely romantic about this game.” And because I like dystopian, cyberpunk games, I decided this is the game I’d like to try from the list. And I finished it in one sitting. Then I came back and listened to how you described the game again. You didn’t exaggerate one bit. I love this game, and I love how you talk about it. I keep coming back to this video just to listen to the game’s bit of the video. Thanks, Jacob.
Honestly, the game I'm most glad to see on here is Signalis. It's a game that didn't seem like it got a lot of reach; I was basically the only person I knew in all of my various internet circles who played it and talked about it. But it immediately cemented itself as...probably my favorite horror game of all time? Definitely my favorite new game I played this year (that qualifier is exclusively because FF14 Endwalker hit me like a freight train). I adore games that are as dense, confident, stylish, and resonant as Signalis wound up being. It's earned a spot in that rare category of games that I don't know if I want to replay, even if a replay or two is needed to tug at all of the threads, just because the ending I got felt so right and redoing it all feels wrong, somehow. Like you said, Signalis is a game that absolutely begs to be untangled, and I really desperately hope it gets enough exposure that I'll be seeing people pulling at the threads on TH-cam for months.
the absolute unmatched energy of citing "A line you really like" from a review, only to reveal that it's your own review, is incredible. I'm not even finished watching the video I just had to draw a line under that
it's insane how right you are about everything. Painting Elden Ring's accomplishes as "effortless" summed up a thousand thoughts i had about the game into a sentence.
SIGNALIS was definitely one of, if not my favorite game of 2022, ever since finishing it I've been evangelizing it in almost every video game video essay I've seen.
Citizen Sleeper was truly a spellbinding and beautiful experience. I didn't start my journey through it's sprawling space station at 3am but it kept me going until 3am and finding the multitude of endings that just made me feel... so, so much. So glad to hear that others have played it and loved it and it's characters and stories just as much as I did. A fantastic list and another fantastic video, it always lights up my day whenever I see the notification of a new video from you!
my buddy sent me screenshots of him playing Signalis because of the recurring feature of Böcklin's Isle of the Dead, and hearing you speak about it really makes me want to spend time with the game.
Everyone I know who has had a spiritual relationship with Citizen Sleeper started it at 3 am and finished it in almost one sitting, it’s just so damn good.
I think what attracts me most to your channel is that your passion for videogames is just palpable, I can feel it radiating off the screen in every second of every one of your videos. Sincerely awesome
Jacob, you do such a good job in your writing and speaking of 1) balancing feeling like a friend recommending something cool you like and talking about how something made you feel and 2) delving deep into the meaning of something, asking yourself and us why these pieces of media stick with us.
Man I wish I could write as good as Jacob Geller, I keep thinking that every time I watch one of these videos. Even something as simple as a top ten list is so beautifully orchestrated to put some novels to shame
He got this good by doing it a lot for years, probably with the help of a lot of feedback and time spent reading other good reviewers. If it's something you really want to learn to do well, you can.
Hey, all it takes is trying. Most of the best in the industry started out sucking, so, if it is really something you wanted to do, just start writing and keep trying! I am sure that you can get there, eventually.
I swear everytime I hear the music from NieR:Automata in your videos, I am brought back to that world. Whether it'd be through tears, tension, or calm relaxation, NeiR:Automata is the game that is still stuck with me. I'd love to hear your thought of it, its music, and endings.
It's actually insane now that I think about it, that he hasn't talked about Nier. I feel like he's the perfect fit to make a video on that kind of story.
man I might this year try to power though NeiR:Automata and witchers 3, I litterally have both of them just sitting there cus its not really my type of game but they are both sooo cool
@@smallguy2 i've been wishing he'd talk about the series since at least the replicant remaster came out, but nah he definitely hasn't made a video about it that i know of
I cannot explain how much I loved citizen sleeper, although I couldn't bring myself to have another play through. I had my experience and grew close to the characters and I wouldn't change that for the world. I can't even remember which ending I chose, nor when I finished it but I remember crying. I remember feeling, that playing the game again will never replicate the experience I had and loved. I would love to watch a full fledged video on in!!
this might be silly, but Elden Ring makes me incredibly happy. I've never played a single fromsoft game, I'm terrible at games in general lol, but I saw how excited everyone was for it. I saw people waiting for it every day and hoping it would be good and being so, so eager to play it and love it. and I was so happy when it came out and everyone adored it. even as a non-gamer, as someone on the outside looking in, seeing so many people satisfied and excited and unified and joyful about Elden Ring was a really special thing to see and experience. If you're reading this and you liked Elden Ring, I'm really glad you had fun :)
when he said Citizen Sleeper was his #2, I just screamed "YES" because I watched holly hollowtones play all of it (her vods are on youtube too :o) she reads & does voices incredibly well) and it was incredible. I've listened to the songs from it almost every single night since, and I'm not exaggerating. More people ABSOLUTELY need to play it, it hasn't gotten enough attention and I love it so so much.
Signalis is easily my personal GOTY for 2022. It's such a love letter to both classic survival horror and the works of art that influenced it but it's also mind blowing in its own right. I've been aching for that classic survival horror experience for a long time, and Signalis delivered tenfold. It's up there with some of the best survival horror games of all time for me, easily.
@@fy8798 lets be honest, not really...far from it actually. Stray is the Definition of basic or Style over substance. Its not bad but boy does it not deserve this "hype"
Jacob, you and I had the exact same experience with Citizen Sleeper. Well, at least in regards to the act of playing it, who knows if our lives played out the same way. Playing it in one sitting, listening to the OST all day while I work (and tearing up when certain songs play), and telling everyone within arms reach to play it. Thank you for doing it justice!
I've come back here to say: Thank you Jacob for the Citizen Sleeper recommendation. A wonderful, human piece of art about hope, entropy, and our little place in this uncaring cosmos. The ending I got was bittersweet, and I adored it.
Signalis is my 2nd favorite game of all time. Love hearing props for it. Its impossibly beautiful, and stories like this are my absolute favorite. Ive never seen one same interpretation between fans and i love that about it. Its such a beautiful mirror into yourself. What a masterpiece
Elden ring has not wavered from my mind, no game has held my thoughts and focus this well since goddamn super Mario Galaxy when I was a little kid. The magic of its world, the familiarity of its controls, the art direction, all come together as a testament to everything FromSoft has learned over the past 13 years.
I'm here to fight for Cult of the Lamb. I loved every second I spent with this game, everything from the combat to the art style to the village building to the minigames, it was perfect for me.
signalis is absolutely my game of the year. i put 200 hours into elden ring, i platinumed the new god of war, i spent days upon days of my life putting time into every single masterwork of gaming that came out this year. none of them have stuck with me the way signalis has. it tickles my brain in such a perfect way that i genuinely cant dislodge it from my mind. happy to see it make your list, jacob. it truly deserves all of the praise its gotten and more.
Now I really wanna see speedrunners tackle the last clockwinder and figure out optimal movements while being able to reproduce them perfectly on the fly to be as fast as possible.
It makes me incredibly happy to see Citizen Sleeper get the love it so truly deserves. I had a very similar experience, completing the game in two sittings and in the days in between I had trouble falling asleep because I couldn't stop thinking about it. The thought put in to its world and its characters and its systems is breathtaking, I'm glad you felt the same way.
I marathoned In Other Waters, the other game from the same developer, and ended it with just a little shiver of that "broken and magical" feeling, so Citizen Sleeper is right at the top of my list of games to play when I have free time again in January.
Thank you Jacob. I discovered your work about a year and a half ago and I haven't been able to stop recommending your videos to everyone willing to listen to me rambling about them. They are continuously fun, interesting, original and truly inspiring. I love how well you choose which words to use to describe your feelings about any piece of culture, your passion bleeds through the screen and it's frankly admirable. Here's to another year of great videos!
Your point about how when something is good, you search for the negatives made me realize how much I actually love Elden Ring. Being a long time Fromsoft fan, I found myself comparing it constantly to aspects of From's previous titles, and usually complaining about the differences. While it may not be my favorite game by From, it's still certainly a masterpiece
Hey, thankyou for all the work you put into every video. You really have incredibly interesting thoughts, concepts, and take-aways in every video you release. It was this year that I began to explore your channel, and become more of a consistent viewer. And with how varied and change-filled this year was for me, it honestly took me aback when you mentioned the different videos you had worked on this year. In my mind, it's felt like a much longer journey. And well, it was nice having your videos be a part of this year for me. Have a happy rest of your year, oh, and happy hannukah if you celebrate it! Take care, and may you enjoy whatever you get up to!
I absolutely love your videos, Jacob. I cannot stress enough that the quality of your videos and the topics you discuss scratch this nerdy and intellectual itch in the back of my mind that I never knew how much I needed scratching. Thank you for all of your videos and please keep being awesome!!
Omg. I don’t know too many people that also played “Milk inside a bag of milk inside a bag of milk”. That was a really good sequel and a crazy game where you play the good voice inside of someone’s head who is trying to get better and through their trauma. Damn. I felt like everyone avoided such a good game.
Anyone knows whether he talks about it in any of all those videos? I scrolled through all of them briefly but coundnt find. Interested what he has to say, given that the sequel is not mentioned i imagine he didnt like it all that much.
Hey Jacob! Just wanted to say that we are all really proud of you and your creations this year. Hearing you've been able to make this your full-time career really put a smile on my face, because if there was anybody who deserves to make a living from the sheer thoughtfulness and quality of their work, it's you. Your analysis never fails to draw me in, and you weave essays into stories that have hook after hook, it's honestly a joy to see how any one video will inevitably grip me by the throat with a particularly witty or vulnerable moment. Thank you for being awesome!
Posting this for reference: *Top 10 Games:* 10: Norco - 02:40 9: Signalis - 04:29 8: The Last Clockwinder - 06:26 7: Neon White - 09:14 6: The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe Edition - 11:21 5: Vampire Survivors - 14:05 4: Immortality - 16:17 3: God of War: Ragnarok - 18:28 2: Citizen Sleeper - 20:56 1: Elden Ring - 23:21 And for the Nebula homies out there (this was the video that finally prompted me to sign up): *Movies:* • RRR, directed by S S Rajamouli • Everything Everywhere All at Once, directed by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert • Nope, directed by Jordan Peele • The Fablemans, directed by Steven Spielberg *TV:* • Severance, created by Dan Erickson • The Rehearsal, created by Nathan Fielder *Other video games:* • Scorn • Bayonetta 3 • Rollerdrome • Marvel Midnight Suns *Books:* • Priestdaddy by Patricia Lockwood • Chain-gang all-stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-brenyah *Music:* • The Beths - Expert in a Dying Field (album)
7:10 oh, so between this game and The Entropy Centre we're finally catching up to Clank levels from Ratchet and Clank Future: A Crack In Time. that makes me so happy. thank you for sharing your list, knowing more people know about Norco, where none of my friends were even curious about it, especially a TH-camr with a large audience? makes me really glad that people can see it because of you and people like you.
Indeed this year was quite good for gaming, I am really grateful that we had so many awesome experiences like Elden Ring, God of War, Sifu, Immortality, Neon White, Rollerdrome, Stanley Parable UD, just to name a few, what a time to be alive! Also, I am grateful for having found this awesome channel. Congratulations Jacob on making this channel(which I do assume is a passion of yours) your full time job. Making a living out of something you love is truly an achievement, keep up the good work! :D
@@domscards So you just ignore the clever, well designed gameplay and ideas just because the characters are cringe (even though they're intentionally written that way)? What a shallow take.
I loved Signalis! I really appreciate your ability to find and draw my attention to smaller, strange, and interesting games I haven't heard of or overlooked.
yes because benefitting from the art or experience of others without money changing hands is the truest form of criminal activity !? I'd like that to come off as jovial... but praise be 2022 in the best of all possible timelines It just won't
LOVED Citizen Sleeper, so glad to see it on this list. Completely agree with how the contrast of the cruel world and moments of compassion lead to some of the most impactful moments of the year. I went in knowing very little about it and ended up enjoying the experience so much more than I expected!
Elden Ring is special to me, because it's one of the only times I can remember that I knew, while playing it, that it was going to be considered one of the greatest games ever made. I've been gaming for 20+ years now, the hobby defined my childhood and later on, my career. But the legacy a game leaves behind is typically defined well after its launch period. Cult classics and underappreciated masterpieces are usually formed in the crucible of hindsight and retrospection. But I knew within just a few hours, Elden Ring is going to be remembered as a landmark in both the Soulslike stamina management genre, as well as open world gaming as a whole.
I've been gaming 40 years and agree Elden Ring is one of the greatest of all time. Surpassed what I expected. Delivered what others promise but always fall short on. I'd more or less given up on "Open World" as a concept because most implementations were really just linear, padded out with shallow side quests. But Elden Ring got open world right. As well as almostg everything else. (yes, it was too long, too much, but would rather that than not enough, too little, too derivative).
I remember way back in 2017 when I first heard about this new Fromsoft game that GRRM was helping write and I was already extremely excited. The game sounded like a fairy tail and in between when I first heard about it and when it released I graduated high school, finished my undergraduate degree, and close to finishing a masters. I was waiting for so long and I had such high hopes for the game and when it finally came out I realized, legitimately within the first 5 hours of playing that this was going to be my favorite game I’ve ever played and god damn I was right. Lifting up the door to gaze upon Limgrave, that gentle tune playing in my ear. The chills of finding a random elevator in the Mistwood and discovering an entire other world with its own stars, all beneath the massive overworld. Every time I got teleported to another area of the game or advanced further north and the map expanded, I was awestruck. I thought the Bestial Sanctum was the furthest north point on the map for the first 5 hours of my playthrough… and then I got teleported to the divine bridge; somewhere so far north with so many miles inbetween me and the spots of the world I had already discovered, it seemed impossible. I still get chills thinking about my first playthrough. Playing the game in the first day, the first week it was released was legitimately magical and I hope to god I’m ever able to experience something like that again while playing a video game.
Jacob's fear of Cold video has inspired my D&D campaign running Rime of the Frostmaiden. hard to believe it was nearly a year ago now... thanks for the recommendations Jacob! always nice to find a new favorite game when I watch.
Yeah, Citizen Sleeper is my goty for pretty much the same reasons you list. Every time I got to an "ending" I felt like something wasn't right for the story built by my playthrough, so I lingered. And the game let me, and more doors opened here and there, until I found a conclusion that was the perfect capstone to the feelings I had at that point in the journey. It's sorta like what happened with Sunless Sea, and also happened with Roadwarden this year on a completely different aesthetic and vibe. It takes a lot of good writing to have a multiple ending game without linear routes to them that nevertheless feels consistently "yours" and seamless when you finish.
always such a delight to hear you talk about this, our passion, thank you for everything you decide to ramble about, I hope to keep watching your stuff for many years to come
You are pretty much the only one who consistently puts worthwhile extra content on nebula. Everyone else is like “here’s 2 extra minutes of content”. You are the one that got me to pay for it in the first place! So good job
I didn't play a ton of indie games this year, but Pokemon Legends Arceus was the first time I genuinely had fun with Pokemon since 2017, Xenoblade Chronicles 3 became the second video game to ever make me cry and is already in my all-time top 10, and PERSONA 5 FINALLY RELEASED ON A SYSTEM I HAVE, HOLY CRAP I'M ACTUALLY PLAYING PERSONA 5, I HAVE DREAMT OF THIS DAY SINCE 2018! Also, while I don't have much interest in the souls-like genre, I've heard so many fantastic things about Elden Ring and I'm super glad for all the people who have played it and loved it. So yeah, I'm inclined to agree that 2022 was a pretty good year for games.
I absolutely adore citizen sleeper you talked about leaving and yes you can do that but I also love how you can also just choose to make it your home and stay and if you did they even went in and added free dlc to add more to the story, and I am desperately waiting for the last episode to drop early next year. It just love how even if the story can go in so many ways every way will feel personal to someone.
Definitely going to give Citizen Sleeper a try! Thank you for the recommendations. My fave this year was GoW Ragnarok, it blew me away on all levels, and as you said - it's not just about dad stuff. If 2018 was mostly about Atreus' growth, Ragnarok was about Katros', and it's fully realized, it's all-encompassing, and every emotional beat was fully deserved. The ways all kinds of families are explored, the way none of them are on the same track and yet it's all cohesive and all narrative click with each other.... That game is a demonstration of what an expert team can do with time, resources and money. It stunned me. I loved your videos this year! Looking forward to whatever you have planned (or not) for 2023!
Signalis was so damn special...easily my game of the year. I know it won't be everybody's cup of tea, but for those that are open to a beautifully abstract sci-fi story with cosmic horror influences that centers around a lesbian couple and explores themes of transhumanism, interplanetary fascism, mental health, and the crushing, unbearable weight of living in a world where your worth is determined by your work... I simply cannot recommend it more highly 🖤
If only Signalis had gameplay as good as its' story. I love the themes, layered motiffs et cetera, but on a mechanical level this is like the bare minimum of survival horror. I get we're supposed to conserve ammo and genre classics like Silent Hill promote ignoring enemies but this is on a whole new level. On normal difficulty if you'd remove 90% encounters literaly nothing would change pacing-wise because of how passive and ineffective they are. Having 6 inventory slots is a great concept to force players into hard decisions but due to laughably low difficulty you have literaly zero tension in the gameplay and all this choice adds is tedium. Carrying weapons or healing items is pointless so you just end up filling inventory with trash you can't drop and have to run back to a safe room halfway across the map to store items in case you encounter a progression-relevant item. In the end I admire the story, visuals and direction but this feels like the most disengaged horror experience I ever had in my life.
And if I may nitpick: It's more like space communism since they are heavily inspired by the Deutsche Demokratische Republik, the themes of lack of personal property and work defining your worth to the state also seem pretty communistic (altho at totalitarian level communism and fascism tend to get pretty similar so there's wiggle room what exactly this state is).
@@mister-BH dang, no tension? that sounds like a confusing experience. i played on the same difficulty and i was usually tense in my gameplay. the really strict inventory management felt like an extension of how much it sucks to live in the Eusan Nation, the sound design was amazing (music, vocalizations, etc), and the enemy design kept unnerving me, even on additional playthroughs. different thresholds for different people, ig
@@RyougiVector Unnerving design doesn't mean anything to me if they're not threathening. I loved e.g. Kolibri enemies until I realized you can just stand there because they won't do anything unless you deliberately walk into them. The entire game collapses if you actualy play according to its' rules instead of playing *along* to what the devs intended.
Signalis really was that "I understood very little of what just happened but still loved every second of it" game for me this year. I think my only personal negative with the game is that it's not explicitly clear in-game how you get the different endings, and kinda wish there was just a little more guidance or hints on how to get them without needing to search online for a guide. But otherwise, every aspect of that game just meshed so well with me personally--the art, the music, the setting, story, characters, combat, even the puzzles--which I've seen a lot of people say is a negative but I thought Signalis had some of the best tactile puzzle design out of any game I've ever played and I was really sad thinking about going back to all the boring, non-impactful puzzles you usually encounter in other games. (Thankfully I started playing CrossCode after Signalis and that game also has some fantastic puzzles that make you feel really big brain when you figure them out) Will definitely take a look at Citizen Sleeper.
Yea same here, the puzzles were top teir in my opinion. Not too hard, and not too easy, the only puzzle that fucked with me was the butterfly room. And even then the answer was looking right at me.
Oh the absolute joy of seeing Signalis make the list, oh my GOD what an experience and I am still running into stuff I haven't thought of in my original play, and like... it's vibes? ohhhhhhh man
I like to imagine that somewhere out there a few developers are looking at their sales analytics as everyone bounces out of here to pick up a new video game and going "What the hell is happening!? I mean, I'm not complaining but..."
I love you, Jacob. You’re the real deal. Like so many of my favourite content creators, you use the intrinsic absurdity of our modern world to connect us. Or rather to remind us that we were already connected. As I like to say, I can see that you are a human who chooses to “live in love”.
Hey, i know this is somewhat off topic, but I wanted to write a comment to bring your attention to a game that I don’t think gets enough love. You may or may not have heard of it; it’s an indie game called Omori, developed by the studio Omocat. It is my, and many other people's, favorite game of all time, and has been the cause of my brain rot for almost two years now. I don’t want to go into it much because it is a very plot-driven game and spoilers are huge detriments to the experience, but basically, it is an RPG that takes about twenty hours to complete. It's a game with a clear earthbound inspiration, firmly planted in the psychological horror genre, where the facade of childlike escapism is slowly peeled back to reveal the truly broken state that the characters are in. But, as you have said before, darkness is pointless without light. The game is about a group of kids helping each other to heal from their trauma through acts of kindness, understanding, and forgiveness, covering a story that deals with themes of depression, anxiety, and suicide in one of the most engrossing ways I have ever experienced in a game, and one of the most realistic and well-written depictions of trauma in recent memory. It doesn't give any easy answers, recovery is a struggle, but the game says that by choosing to trust in those that you love, you can get better. Every single one of the characters in the central cast is incredibly well-developed and holds a special place in my heart, and I recommend it to every bone in my body. The music in the game is also phenomenal, it has 180 different tracks, and each one is completely unique; I listen to the best of them almost daily (if you want a taste, I recommend 'Worlds End Valentine', 'By Your Side', 'You Must Carry On’, ’It Means Everything’ and 'OMORI' (aka track 168 if you want to search for it) for a variation on all of the different emotions that the game can make you feel). The visuals are a mix between adorable pixel art and beautifully and/or terrifyingly crafted hand-drawn images and animations. if you need some convincing to play the game, a good way to get that would be to just play the music; I would recommend also looking at some of the art, but there are likely spoilers, so do with that as you will. Omori had a profound effect on me and thousands of other people and has created a community that stands by it with everything we have, as shown by its 98% positive rating on steam. I have already bought this $20 game for four of my friends just because of how much I wanted to share the experience I had with them, and trust me, that wasn't money that I had to burn, yet I dont regret it at all because now they have gotten to have the same experience with the game as I have. I would buy it for you too if that were a reasonable offer to make because not enough people know about it. I can already think of ways it would fit perfectly with your channel, such as an appearance in the ‘games that save the best for last pt.2’ video, or even just an honorable mention on next year's favorite games of the year list, because if you play it, I have no doubt it would end up there. I'm sorry for the paragraphs; I just have a lot to say about the game, and I think it would work well for you (at least by what I can tell, obviously I don't actually know you) and your channel. Finally, I have to put in a disclaimer. Because I don't know your personal life, I need to say that this game covers really heavy topics, such as self-harm, anxiety, and suicide. Knowing the content of your videos, I think you will probably be ok, but it doesn't hurt to give a solid warning. But, if you can get past that, you will find an experience that could profoundly change you, as it did for me and so many others P.S. Omori also has two routes and multiple endings, and it would kill me to know that you played it but went down the alternate route, which contains less story and only makes sense in the context of the main one. So to avert this possibility, I leave you with this advice: you will be prompted to open a door multiple times throughout the game. Do it every single time.
Want to hear about my favorite movies, TV shows, books and more? Watch the Nebula-exclusive companion video right here: nebula.tv/videos/jacob-geller-everything-that-didnt-fit-into-jacobs-top-ten-of-2022
i need the mug has a conversation opener for piss christ
Wow money, how much is that in money I wonder
@@pygmalioninvenus6057 i hope you lead a fulfilling life
As much as elden ring us elevated by modern online discourse I would have loved to play it as a kid before the age of TH-cam guides and fextralife wiki.
An undocumented world for me and me alone to uncover, secrets still hiding over the course of years.
How long after the video does the special offer last? Because I would gladly buy it, but I don't trust myself with that amount of content a week before my exams
Imagine being able to cite your own professionally written article in your own professionally made video. Never change Jacob
Just wait until he accidentally self-plagiarizes himself
(yes that’s a thing)
That was fantastic tbh
That's actually seen as academic misbehaviour and is highly discouraged.
Edit: I actually fucked up, it's not using your work as a source, but publishing the same work twice, oops, sorry guys
@@amberhide04 Well this is a video on games my dude.
@@amberhide04 I would assume, but still cool none the less
"it's not JUST dad stuff..."
and I took that personally
Jacob Geller
so true
Fuck yeah
This is: Jacob Geller Time.
Sounds like a threat
youtube
2:40 Norco
4:29 Signalis
6:20 The Last Clockwinder
9:24 Neon White
11:22 The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe
14:08 Vampire Survivors
16:17 Immortality
18:28 God of War Ragnarök
20:58 Citizen Sleeper
23:21 Elden Ring
Thanks!
Thank you :)
Kingly
neon white but not ultragoat? mid vid
shoutout
it's insane he really makes these videos and people just get to watch them for free? absolutely mind blowing, pure condensed good vibes
@@recitationtohear you. I like your style, I hope you have a nice weekend
@Razagan
It's another bot. They come in pairs now.
@@randomtheorist251no fucking way
@@randomtheorist251 checked their account and oh my god you are right, the bots got me gents. End me before it spreads
I’m sorry little one
I believe the Signalis devs (all two of them) have cited Shaft's adaptation of the Monogatari series as the inspiration behind the "This space intentionally left blank" cutaways. It pops up in some of the seasons, and may be tied to a stylistic choice by one of the directors who did a lot of work across the seasons.
Looking for this comment! Yeah, it also reminded me of Monogatari
love monogatari and will probly play Signalis when I got time so that’s perfect
@Quinn Do you have a link to when they said this? I can't find anything.
I saw that shot and it immediately made me think of Monogatari. I am so glad to hear that inspiration was indeed taken from there, because Monogatari has some of the best cinematography and character writing that I've seen.
@@Eukleides89 know the reason why at all? its interesting thought but I have no idea why its done for
Finally, the game awards that actually matter, from a man who actually plays videogames.
media bad
same game won in both tho
@@izaliths_ Yeah but Signalis is on this list, which is a brilliant game. And Elden Ring rules.
Elden Ring either way tho, what's the difference?
@@neutch1991 ye
Hi Jacob, I wanted to talk about THIS SPACE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK. Its taken stylistically from anime: SHAFTS anime adaptation of the monogatari novel series. In the show its used stylistically as "covering", e.g. the covering of eyes behind hair to obscure and imply emotion, the covering of a gory scene to let your mind wander, the covering of the fact that the slide saves on the time, budget and skill needed to actually paint the scene. Historically it was born of a combination of a clever art director(Akiyuki Shinbo), tight production schedules, and a desire to communicate through text in a visual medium similar to the silly floating text in Sherlock. In the context of SIGNALIS where memory is a key theme you can eke out some interpretation but...
Imo its to be understood as a stylistic technique first and foremost.
saw this comment before starting the video, got to this point, and exclaimed "holy shit it is monogatari"
Which part of the video is this talking about?
@Bhavya Kanodia 5:45
The red is absolutely a monogatari reference (judging by the unmistakable red slide and Japanese kanji) however it is worthwhile noting "this page is intentionally left blank" in monogatari itself is a reference once more to legal documents and such when a page is left blank as for the person to not think its a printing error. The reason for a blank page however, is when you are printing things its cheaper to print pages on big sheets double sided as opposed to using multiple pieces of paper as thats less steps when mass producing, so you'll notice books typically start at an odd-numbered page for this reason. For a slide to be "intentionally left blank" implies theres some kind of mass production element (and being a novelist, NISIOISIN would definitely be aware of this)
Came to comment this.
Jacob truly is a gift to youtube and video essays
Indeed
He truly is, isn't he? God bless this man.
He didn't include Splatoon 3 so no
@@Kokorocodon 99
Seeing that I have such similar taste in games to Jacob Geller is an ego boost tbh
Huge ego boost
Pineapple :D when next dumpster diving ?
Huge ego boost
@@MasDouc He does... his whole shtick is going through 100s of sometimes near-unknown games from Steam. He's joking. I'd give his channel a look, it's quite good :)
Wow, these are all single-player games! I think a lot of people, myself included, have gotten pessimistic about the state of live service battle pass driven games. But while those trends exist, it's important to remember that there are still creatives out there who want to compelling narratives and/or interesting mechanics. Market research and predatory practices might be rampant, but there will always be great games. Thanks for helping us know where to look.
Games have never stopped being about this, not to mention there are plenty that Jacob himself hasnt played that I myself find worthwhile
There's still tons of good multiplayer games with singleplayer campaigns, no microtransactions and good narratives, like Splatoon 3.
Honestly I started finding myself enjoying these types of games better, the only problem is that they eventually have to end (although that's probably a good thing) and I have to find something new to do or go back to those live service games
It’s so funny to see Jacob talk about Norco cause I used to live a few miles away from Norco Louisiana. It’s a weird sad little place in the middle of the swamp with an absurd amount of smog plaguing the skies, so much so there are some who simply refer to it as “cancer alley.” Hyped to try out the game.
Wow, sounds like the game stayed true to the real world.
NORCO really is phenomenal.
Played it through to the end and I can't say I came away with the same impression as Noah. It seemed like it could be great, but stopped just short for me.
@@Tofu_va_Bien Sorta my experience with Citizen Sleeper too. I have actually really stopped to trust Jacob on his game choices, I clearly have a fundamentally different interest and taste in games lol
(From this video I have tried Signalis and Neon White and I have finished Citizen Sleeper and Immortality and I will probably play Norco (also Ive watched some of The Stanley Parable DLC) but most of them have been quite "mid" for me to keep it short, not bad but time couldve honestly been spent better. The only really good "recommendation" that I've ever got from this channel was Outer Wilds. And over time I've realized Jacob actually only talk about games I either find to be "mid" or straight up dislike, all the while he has never talked about a big collection of games I love (even when it thematically fit), and that I'd talk about constantly if I was him.
Just astounding how he can give such beautifully assembled speeches on every one of these game somehow WITHOUT spoiling any of them! Still comPLETELY capable of playing many of these and getting a nice experience. I might just try out that Citizen Sleeper game.
the credits song spoiled the new Stanley Parable for me, no need to play it now
Disco Elysium: The Final Cut was to me what Immortality was for you to an extent. As a kid I would have bounced right off it, hated how every bit of interaction is through dialogue or looking at things, but as an adult I was able to dive into the story. Satisfying skill checks, stellar voice acting and beautifully done characters
Hardcore!
@@of5606 INTERNALLY COHERENT!
@@of5606 MEGA HARDCORE!!
@@flataffect Is it though?
Same. I bought it on release, still in the middle of high-school, and man did I bounce off of it. But now I'm finally playing it for real this time, and god it's such a feeling of a game
I can’t express how much I love citizen sleeper, I literally named myself after it. It feels so intimate, truly conveying that feeling of finding moments of happiness, good communities, and great friendships and family within a very difficult world
Stanley Parable was one of my personality defining game that popped up early in my teenage years, and Stanley Parable Ultra Deluxe most CERTAINLY delivered on my expectations (which were completely blown out of the water). I'm glad you enjoyed it as much as I did and somehow put my exact thoughts into words so succinctly.
I think it’s a very silly game that has some incredible endings but most are just silly fun. I liked it a lot to be honest but the original is still better imo
Yeah I was pretty much the only kid I knew that played it. Wonder if experiencing the game at an early age factored into how I developed into an authority and society questioning anarchic individual.
@@bloodsweatandbeers4684 oh my encounter just got me to think about video games as an artistic medium but that's cool too
@@Glennjamyyyn hey, I've just bought the game without realizing there is an ultra deluxe edition. I'm going completely blind. Should I play the OG or UD edition or both?
@@AhmetKartal start with the OG, I think UD is far more enjoyable after having seen all that the OG has to offer. Take your time with the Stanley Parable and soak it all in, explore to your heart's content, THEN try out UD. The entirety of UD content is built upon having previously seen the OG.
If you want, you can try refunding the OG and buying the UD, because the UD is the exact same as the OG until you enter a literal "new content" door, so you could just refrain from going in there until you're ready.
jacob. you were perhaps one of the only constants in my past year and it was a year without many constants. i constantly thought about your videos, whenever i would open youtube and see you had uploaded i dropped everything to put on my noise canceling headphones and listen to you, and just in general i loved your work. i've rewatched your videos more than any other creator on here and i genuinely appreciate everything you've done this year. i don't even play video games that often! i mostly replay skyrim and stardew valley! you always have me absolutely entranced watching videos about games that i might never play and i am so so glad that you get to do this youtube thing as your job when it seems clear, to me, that this is what you're built for. thanks for an intellectually incredible 2022, jacob, and here's to a thrilling 2023!
There were so many moments in Elden Ring that blew me away but my absolute favorite was after days of struggling against Commander Niall thinking, like i do with most souls games, "this is where i give up" i ended up summoning someone to help me. Dude walked in, blasted him with a beam, killing him in about 5 seconds. He then turned to me, did the fist to chest bump emote and disconnected. Willed me on to continue the game and get better.
I was very much playing my own life experience in Citizen Sleeper. I turned down every ending when presented, because at the end of the day, I am the one remaining person here, in the place I eventually made home, after everyone I knew has moved on, because there's always more people coming here, passing through or staying, and this is what I stay for. There's always a new experience here, because it's always evolving with the people who come here like I and everyone else did.
I remember reaching Anor Londo in Dark Souls 1 and being impressed with the scale of the city. Playing elden ring, the capital by the Erdtree was a similar experience, but what is so incredible is that almost the entire city is able to be explored. Leyendell is anor londo fully realized, and is something I always wanted. It felt like the apocalypse hadn’t yet happened there. Returning to it later in the game after the mountaintop of the giants, seeing it in ruins, I knew the end was near.
How is Jacobs beard so perfectly tailored, it looks like he just stepped out of a character creator everytime
On a lazy afternoon I stumbled on this video that was already more than a year old. I listened to your description of Citizen Sleeper and I thought, “yeah, he’s insanely romantic about this game.”
And because I like dystopian, cyberpunk games, I decided this is the game I’d like to try from the list. And I finished it in one sitting.
Then I came back and listened to how you described the game again. You didn’t exaggerate one bit. I love this game, and I love how you talk about it. I keep coming back to this video just to listen to the game’s bit of the video.
Thanks, Jacob.
Honestly, the game I'm most glad to see on here is Signalis. It's a game that didn't seem like it got a lot of reach; I was basically the only person I knew in all of my various internet circles who played it and talked about it. But it immediately cemented itself as...probably my favorite horror game of all time? Definitely my favorite new game I played this year (that qualifier is exclusively because FF14 Endwalker hit me like a freight train). I adore games that are as dense, confident, stylish, and resonant as Signalis wound up being. It's earned a spot in that rare category of games that I don't know if I want to replay, even if a replay or two is needed to tug at all of the threads, just because the ending I got felt so right and redoing it all feels wrong, somehow.
Like you said, Signalis is a game that absolutely begs to be untangled, and I really desperately hope it gets enough exposure that I'll be seeing people pulling at the threads on TH-cam for months.
the absolute unmatched energy of citing "A line you really like" from a review, only to reveal that it's your own review, is incredible. I'm not even finished watching the video I just had to draw a line under that
Neon White was such an unforgettable experience because of how goddamn fun the combat was, I think it has perfected the movement shooter.
Music too! I’m gonna be bumping the soundtrack far after I’m satisfied with all my times
I don't think it perfected it but it perfected that niche type of game (strategy fps movement)
I found the game through the soundtrack on Machine Girl’s yt page, it’s been sitting on my “must play” list since
I def don't agree that it perfected the movement shooter, but it was incredibly fun.
@@drwill439 nice ror2 pfp but I also agree as I prefer something to like doom eternal or even rollerdome
it's insane how right you are about everything. Painting Elden Ring's accomplishes as "effortless" summed up a thousand thoughts i had about the game into a sentence.
SIGNALIS was definitely one of, if not my favorite game of 2022, ever since finishing it I've been evangelizing it in almost every video game video essay I've seen.
Citizen Sleeper was truly a spellbinding and beautiful experience. I didn't start my journey through it's sprawling space station at 3am but it kept me going until 3am and finding the multitude of endings that just made me feel... so, so much. So glad to hear that others have played it and loved it and it's characters and stories just as much as I did. A fantastic list and another fantastic video, it always lights up my day whenever I see the notification of a new video from you!
my buddy sent me screenshots of him playing Signalis because of the recurring feature of Böcklin's Isle of the Dead, and hearing you speak about it really makes me want to spend time with the game.
also appreciate your ongoing sincerity. always feels great to spend time with your vids.
Everyone I know who has had a spiritual relationship with Citizen Sleeper started it at 3 am and finished it in almost one sitting, it’s just so damn good.
So damn good
can back this claim, cant believe the song from the video hit me hard
Just finished the game, left with lem and Mina
I think what attracts me most to your channel is that your passion for videogames is just palpable, I can feel it radiating off the screen in every second of every one of your videos. Sincerely awesome
Jacob, you do such a good job in your writing and speaking of 1) balancing feeling like a friend recommending something cool you like and talking about how something made you feel and 2) delving deep into the meaning of something, asking yourself and us why these pieces of media stick with us.
Man I wish I could write as good as Jacob Geller, I keep thinking that every time I watch one of these videos. Even something as simple as a top ten list is so beautifully orchestrated to put some novels to shame
When he said he organised his thoughts into a numbered list, it made me wonder if he's been watching Jenny Nicholson lately..
The best way to get there is starting writing! Anything you’re putting to paper is a step to the right direction
He got this good by doing it a lot for years, probably with the help of a lot of feedback and time spent reading other good reviewers. If it's something you really want to learn to do well, you can.
you know how to get to Carnegie Hall? practice.
Hey, all it takes is trying. Most of the best in the industry started out sucking, so, if it is really something you wanted to do, just start writing and keep trying! I am sure that you can get there, eventually.
I swear everytime I hear the music from NieR:Automata in your videos, I am brought back to that world. Whether it'd be through tears, tension, or calm relaxation, NeiR:Automata is the game that is still stuck with me. I'd love to hear your thought of it, its music, and endings.
I think he already made a video on it but I might be wrong?
I was wrong
Holy Fuck me too! Just the set pieces with music makes it seem sad or melancholic or even joyful
It's actually insane now that I think about it, that he hasn't talked about Nier. I feel like he's the perfect fit to make a video on that kind of story.
man I might this year try to power though NeiR:Automata and witchers 3, I litterally have both of them just sitting there cus its not really my type of game but they are both sooo cool
@@smallguy2 i've been wishing he'd talk about the series since at least the replicant remaster came out, but nah he definitely hasn't made a video about it that i know of
I cannot explain how much I loved citizen sleeper, although I couldn't bring myself to have another play through. I had my experience and grew close to the characters and I wouldn't change that for the world. I can't even remember which ending I chose, nor when I finished it but I remember crying. I remember feeling, that playing the game again will never replicate the experience I had and loved.
I would love to watch a full fledged video on in!!
this might be silly, but Elden Ring makes me incredibly happy. I've never played a single fromsoft game, I'm terrible at games in general lol, but I saw how excited everyone was for it. I saw people waiting for it every day and hoping it would be good and being so, so eager to play it and love it. and I was so happy when it came out and everyone adored it. even as a non-gamer, as someone on the outside looking in, seeing so many people satisfied and excited and unified and joyful about Elden Ring was a really special thing to see and experience. If you're reading this and you liked Elden Ring, I'm really glad you had fun :)
when he said Citizen Sleeper was his #2, I just screamed "YES" because I watched holly hollowtones play all of it (her vods are on youtube too :o) she reads & does voices incredibly well) and it was incredible. I've listened to the songs from it almost every single night since, and I'm not exaggerating. More people ABSOLUTELY need to play it, it hasn't gotten enough attention and I love it so so much.
I was very excited to hear you talk about Citizen Sleeper! I haven't heard too many people talk about it, and it really deserves more attention.
Signalis is easily my personal GOTY for 2022. It's such a love letter to both classic survival horror and the works of art that influenced it but it's also mind blowing in its own right. I've been aching for that classic survival horror experience for a long time, and Signalis delivered tenfold. It's up there with some of the best survival horror games of all time for me, easily.
and yet we have stray in the game awards....or other titles, while signalis, easily one of the goty contender - nowhere to be seen
@@Exel3nce It came out too late for a non-AAA GAME
@@Exel3nce Stray being in the awards is fine. I prefer Signalis by far, but Stray has the same right to be there.
@@fy8798 lets be honest, not really...far from it actually. Stray is the Definition of basic or Style over substance. Its not bad but boy does it not deserve this "hype"
Wish we could’ve seen you go deeper into Signalis, but was happy enough to see you experience one of the greatest survival horrors in years
Jacob, you and I had the exact same experience with Citizen Sleeper. Well, at least in regards to the act of playing it, who knows if our lives played out the same way.
Playing it in one sitting, listening to the OST all day while I work (and tearing up when certain songs play), and telling everyone within arms reach to play it.
Thank you for doing it justice!
Thank you for talking about Signalis, one of the best survival horrors in years somehow gets barely any traction
A bit worried that he says it only took 8 hours to beat... Really hope he didn't fall for the fake-out ending!
I've come back here to say: Thank you Jacob for the Citizen Sleeper recommendation.
A wonderful, human piece of art about hope, entropy, and our little place in this uncaring cosmos.
The ending I got was bittersweet, and I adored it.
Signalis is my 2nd favorite game of all time. Love hearing props for it. Its impossibly beautiful, and stories like this are my absolute favorite. Ive never seen one same interpretation between fans and i love that about it. Its such a beautiful mirror into yourself. What a masterpiece
is outer wilds the 1st? they're both such experiences.
Elden ring has not wavered from my mind, no game has held my thoughts and focus this well since goddamn super Mario Galaxy when I was a little kid. The magic of its world, the familiarity of its controls, the art direction, all come together as a testament to everything FromSoft has learned over the past 13 years.
I'm here to fight for Cult of the Lamb. I loved every second I spent with this game, everything from the combat to the art style to the village building to the minigames, it was perfect for me.
Same, I loved it too. However the severe bugs and how short the game really is kinda kills it's potential as an overall top 10 of the year.
how? everything that was outside your camp was mediocrity, unfortuantly. the combat was fun for the first time but boy is it lackluster
signalis is absolutely my game of the year. i put 200 hours into elden ring, i platinumed the new god of war, i spent days upon days of my life putting time into every single masterwork of gaming that came out this year. none of them have stuck with me the way signalis has. it tickles my brain in such a perfect way that i genuinely cant dislodge it from my mind. happy to see it make your list, jacob. it truly deserves all of the praise its gotten and more.
Hearing him say that "we're gonna get into some wacky stuff" next year has gotten me unreasonably excited.
so glad Signalis made this list. One of the most amazing games ive ever played
Now I really wanna see speedrunners tackle the last clockwinder and figure out optimal movements while being able to reproduce them perfectly on the fly to be as fast as possible.
Haven't played Signalis, but that "space left blank" thing looks like a definite reference to the same technique used constantly in Bakemonogatari.
It makes me incredibly happy to see Citizen Sleeper get the love it so truly deserves. I had a very similar experience, completing the game in two sittings and in the days in between I had trouble falling asleep because I couldn't stop thinking about it. The thought put in to its world and its characters and its systems is breathtaking, I'm glad you felt the same way.
I marathoned In Other Waters, the other game from the same developer, and ended it with just a little shiver of that "broken and magical" feeling, so Citizen Sleeper is right at the top of my list of games to play when I have free time again in January.
Thank you Jacob.
I discovered your work about a year and a half ago and I haven't been able to stop recommending your videos to everyone willing to listen to me rambling about them.
They are continuously fun, interesting, original and truly inspiring.
I love how well you choose which words to use to describe your feelings about any piece of culture, your passion bleeds through the screen and it's frankly admirable.
Here's to another year of great videos!
oh man, the last clockwinder is one of the few games i've seen that actually make me want to get into VR. sounds like a very neat concept
Your point about how when something is good, you search for the negatives made me realize how much I actually love Elden Ring. Being a long time Fromsoft fan, I found myself comparing it constantly to aspects of From's previous titles, and usually complaining about the differences. While it may not be my favorite game by From, it's still certainly a masterpiece
So glad you featured Norco. It was a masterpiece.
Hey, thankyou for all the work you put into every video. You really have incredibly interesting thoughts, concepts, and take-aways in every video you release. It was this year that I began to explore your channel, and become more of a consistent viewer. And with how varied and change-filled this year was for me, it honestly took me aback when you mentioned the different videos you had worked on this year. In my mind, it's felt like a much longer journey. And well, it was nice having your videos be a part of this year for me.
Have a happy rest of your year, oh, and happy hannukah if you celebrate it! Take care, and may you enjoy whatever you get up to!
I absolutely love your videos, Jacob. I cannot stress enough that the quality of your videos and the topics you discuss scratch this nerdy and intellectual itch in the back of my mind that I never knew how much I needed scratching. Thank you for all of your videos and please keep being awesome!!
You really hit the nail on the head with Elden Ring. It was everything I ever wanted in a video game. It’s so good
Omg. I don’t know too many people that also played “Milk inside a bag of milk inside a bag of milk”.
That was a really good sequel and a crazy game where you play the good voice inside of someone’s head who is trying to get better and through their trauma.
Damn. I felt like everyone avoided such a good game.
it kinda went crazy seeing it on his list too
I played it and felt pretty scared, but I cared for that little girl
Anyone knows whether he talks about it in any of all those videos? I scrolled through all of them briefly but coundnt find. Interested what he has to say, given that the sequel is not mentioned i imagine he didnt like it all that much.
It was surreal to see it on his list of games
Thanks for the recommendation, I hope this doesn't punch me in the gut emotionally
Hey Jacob! Just wanted to say that we are all really proud of you and your creations this year. Hearing you've been able to make this your full-time career really put a smile on my face, because if there was anybody who deserves to make a living from the sheer thoughtfulness and quality of their work, it's you. Your analysis never fails to draw me in, and you weave essays into stories that have hook after hook, it's honestly a joy to see how any one video will inevitably grip me by the throat with a particularly witty or vulnerable moment. Thank you for being awesome!
I wish I could immerse myself in my own life the way Geller immerses himself in games
Wholesome video. Keep making amazing content! When I throw a vid up on the side while I work, I wish they were all like yours.
Posting this for reference:
*Top 10 Games:*
10: Norco - 02:40
9: Signalis - 04:29
8: The Last Clockwinder - 06:26
7: Neon White - 09:14
6: The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe Edition - 11:21
5: Vampire Survivors - 14:05
4: Immortality - 16:17
3: God of War: Ragnarok - 18:28
2: Citizen Sleeper - 20:56
1: Elden Ring - 23:21
And for the Nebula homies out there (this was the video that finally prompted me to sign up):
*Movies:*
• RRR, directed by S S Rajamouli
• Everything Everywhere All at Once, directed by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert
• Nope, directed by Jordan Peele
• The Fablemans, directed by Steven Spielberg
*TV:*
• Severance, created by Dan Erickson
• The Rehearsal, created by Nathan Fielder
*Other video games:*
• Scorn
• Bayonetta 3
• Rollerdrome
• Marvel Midnight Suns
*Books:*
• Priestdaddy by Patricia Lockwood
• Chain-gang all-stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-brenyah
*Music:*
• The Beths - Expert in a Dying Field (album)
7:10 oh, so between this game and The Entropy Centre we're finally catching up to Clank levels from Ratchet and Clank Future: A Crack In Time. that makes me so happy.
thank you for sharing your list, knowing more people know about Norco, where none of my friends were even curious about it, especially a TH-camr with a large audience? makes me really glad that people can see it because of you and people like you.
Indeed this year was quite good for gaming, I am really grateful that we had so many awesome experiences like Elden Ring, God of War, Sifu, Immortality, Neon White, Rollerdrome, Stanley Parable UD, just to name a few, what a time to be alive!
Also, I am grateful for having found this awesome channel. Congratulations Jacob on making this channel(which I do assume is a passion of yours) your full time job. Making a living out of something you love is truly an achievement, keep up the good work! :D
Neon White overrated and cringe tbh. Seems like it was made by guy that made that edgy rpg maker game with Haze as the MC.
@@domscards So you just ignore the clever, well designed gameplay and ideas just because the characters are cringe (even though they're intentionally written that way)? What a shallow take.
I loved Signalis! I really appreciate your ability to find and draw my attention to smaller, strange, and interesting games I haven't heard of or overlooked.
It’s a genuine crime, Jacob puts together some of the most comprehensive, passionate and intriguing video essays and we don’t have to pay a dime.
We rob him continually and he thanks us for the attention.
yes because benefitting from the art or experience of others without money changing hands is the truest form of criminal activity !?
I'd like that to come off as jovial... but praise be 2022 in the best of all possible timelines It just won't
@@EggBastion for it to come off as jovial, try phrasing it more jovially. As it stands it's giving "I missed the initial joke".
LOVED Citizen Sleeper, so glad to see it on this list. Completely agree with how the contrast of the cruel world and moments of compassion lead to some of the most impactful moments of the year. I went in knowing very little about it and ended up enjoying the experience so much more than I expected!
I'm so glad Signalis had a similar impact on you the way it did with me, that game has been embedded in my brain since the moment I booted it up
ACTUNG
ACTUNG
That bit of Signalis 'This space is intentionally left blank" reminds me of Monogatari using intentionally blank frames.
I am 100% sure that it's a reference to Monogatari.
Elden Ring is special to me, because it's one of the only times I can remember that I knew, while playing it, that it was going to be considered one of the greatest games ever made. I've been gaming for 20+ years now, the hobby defined my childhood and later on, my career. But the legacy a game leaves behind is typically defined well after its launch period. Cult classics and underappreciated masterpieces are usually formed in the crucible of hindsight and retrospection. But I knew within just a few hours, Elden Ring is going to be remembered as a landmark in both the Soulslike stamina management genre, as well as open world gaming as a whole.
I've been gaming 40 years and agree Elden Ring is one of the greatest of all time. Surpassed what I expected. Delivered what others promise but always fall short on. I'd more or less given up on "Open World" as a concept because most implementations were really just linear, padded out with shallow side quests. But Elden Ring got open world right. As well as almostg everything else. (yes, it was too long, too much, but would rather that than not enough, too little, too derivative).
@@OrangeNash brilliantly stated 🙏
I remember way back in 2017 when I first heard about this new Fromsoft game that GRRM was helping write and I was already extremely excited. The game sounded like a fairy tail and in between when I first heard about it and when it released I graduated high school, finished my undergraduate degree, and close to finishing a masters. I was waiting for so long and I had such high hopes for the game and when it finally came out I realized, legitimately within the first 5 hours of playing that this was going to be my favorite game I’ve ever played and god damn I was right. Lifting up the door to gaze upon Limgrave, that gentle tune playing in my ear. The chills of finding a random elevator in the Mistwood and discovering an entire other world with its own stars, all beneath the massive overworld. Every time I got teleported to another area of the game or advanced further north and the map expanded, I was awestruck. I thought the Bestial Sanctum was the furthest north point on the map for the first 5 hours of my playthrough… and then I got teleported to the divine bridge; somewhere so far north with so many miles inbetween me and the spots of the world I had already discovered, it seemed impossible. I still get chills thinking about my first playthrough. Playing the game in the first day, the first week it was released was legitimately magical and I hope to god I’m ever able to experience something like that again while playing a video game.
Jacob's fear of Cold video has inspired my D&D campaign running Rime of the Frostmaiden. hard to believe it was nearly a year ago now... thanks for the recommendations Jacob! always nice to find a new favorite game when I watch.
Yeah, Citizen Sleeper is my goty for pretty much the same reasons you list. Every time I got to an "ending" I felt like something wasn't right for the story built by my playthrough, so I lingered. And the game let me, and more doors opened here and there, until I found a conclusion that was the perfect capstone to the feelings I had at that point in the journey.
It's sorta like what happened with Sunless Sea, and also happened with Roadwarden this year on a completely different aesthetic and vibe. It takes a lot of good writing to have a multiple ending game without linear routes to them that nevertheless feels consistently "yours" and seamless when you finish.
always such a delight to hear you talk about this, our passion, thank you for everything you decide to ramble about, I hope to keep watching your stuff for many years to come
As much as I adore your more themed and "big serious" essays, the lighthearted energy of videos like these is still excellent!
*I love when Jacob Geller said "It's toppin' time!" and topped all over the 10. Truly one of the Top Tens of all time.*
I am SO glad you added Citizen Sleeper to this list. That game was a transformative experience for me.
You are pretty much the only one who consistently puts worthwhile extra content on nebula. Everyone else is like “here’s 2 extra minutes of content”. You are the one that got me to pay for it in the first place! So good job
I didn't play a ton of indie games this year, but Pokemon Legends Arceus was the first time I genuinely had fun with Pokemon since 2017, Xenoblade Chronicles 3 became the second video game to ever make me cry and is already in my all-time top 10, and PERSONA 5 FINALLY RELEASED ON A SYSTEM I HAVE, HOLY CRAP I'M ACTUALLY PLAYING PERSONA 5, I HAVE DREAMT OF THIS DAY SINCE 2018! Also, while I don't have much interest in the souls-like genre, I've heard so many fantastic things about Elden Ring and I'm super glad for all the people who have played it and loved it. So yeah, I'm inclined to agree that 2022 was a pretty good year for games.
It was a fucking great year for games!
I absolutely adore citizen sleeper you talked about leaving and yes you can do that but I also love how you can also just choose to make it your home and stay and if you did they even went in and added free dlc to add more to the story, and I am desperately waiting for the last episode to drop early next year. It just love how even if the story can go in so many ways every way will feel personal to someone.
Definitely going to give Citizen Sleeper a try! Thank you for the recommendations.
My fave this year was GoW Ragnarok, it blew me away on all levels, and as you said - it's not just about dad stuff. If 2018 was mostly about Atreus' growth, Ragnarok was about Katros', and it's fully realized, it's all-encompassing, and every emotional beat was fully deserved. The ways all kinds of families are explored, the way none of them are on the same track and yet it's all cohesive and all narrative click with each other.... That game is a demonstration of what an expert team can do with time, resources and money. It stunned me.
I loved your videos this year! Looking forward to whatever you have planned (or not) for 2023!
I highly suggest Signalis too.
Found your channel this year and yea, you could say Im a huge fan
Signalis was so damn special...easily my game of the year.
I know it won't be everybody's cup of tea, but for those that are open to a beautifully abstract sci-fi story with cosmic horror influences that centers around a lesbian couple and explores themes of transhumanism, interplanetary fascism, mental health, and the crushing, unbearable weight of living in a world where your worth is determined by your work... I simply cannot recommend it more highly 🖤
If only Signalis had gameplay as good as its' story. I love the themes, layered motiffs et cetera, but on a mechanical level this is like the bare minimum of survival horror.
I get we're supposed to conserve ammo and genre classics like Silent Hill promote ignoring enemies but this is on a whole new level. On normal difficulty if you'd remove 90% encounters literaly nothing would change pacing-wise because of how passive and ineffective they are. Having 6 inventory slots is a great concept to force players into hard decisions but due to laughably low difficulty you have literaly zero tension in the gameplay and all this choice adds is tedium. Carrying weapons or healing items is pointless so you just end up filling inventory with trash you can't drop and have to run back to a safe room halfway across the map to store items in case you encounter a progression-relevant item. In the end I admire the story, visuals and direction but this feels like the most disengaged horror experience I ever had in my life.
And if I may nitpick: It's more like space communism since they are heavily inspired by the Deutsche Demokratische Republik, the themes of lack of personal property and work defining your worth to the state also seem pretty communistic (altho at totalitarian level communism and fascism tend to get pretty similar so there's wiggle room what exactly this state is).
@@mister-BH Seeing that flag in a goddamn space horror re-like game really was something.
@@mister-BH dang, no tension? that sounds like a confusing experience. i played on the same difficulty and i was usually tense in my gameplay. the really strict inventory management felt like an extension of how much it sucks to live in the Eusan Nation, the sound design was amazing (music, vocalizations, etc), and the enemy design kept unnerving me, even on additional playthroughs. different thresholds for different people, ig
@@RyougiVector Unnerving design doesn't mean anything to me if they're not threathening. I loved e.g. Kolibri enemies until I realized you can just stand there because they won't do anything unless you deliberately walk into them. The entire game collapses if you actualy play according to its' rules instead of playing *along* to what the devs intended.
i am also greteful, grateful of the insightful takes. solid entry and always and see you next year
LOVE the accurate Neon White take. Great game and the story/dialogue does what it tried to do.
Your videos always get me back into the more fun kind of gaming. I don't know what it is exactly, but thanks anyway :D
Signalis really was that "I understood very little of what just happened but still loved every second of it" game for me this year. I think my only personal negative with the game is that it's not explicitly clear in-game how you get the different endings, and kinda wish there was just a little more guidance or hints on how to get them without needing to search online for a guide. But otherwise, every aspect of that game just meshed so well with me personally--the art, the music, the setting, story, characters, combat, even the puzzles--which I've seen a lot of people say is a negative but I thought Signalis had some of the best tactile puzzle design out of any game I've ever played and I was really sad thinking about going back to all the boring, non-impactful puzzles you usually encounter in other games. (Thankfully I started playing CrossCode after Signalis and that game also has some fantastic puzzles that make you feel really big brain when you figure them out)
Will definitely take a look at Citizen Sleeper.
Yea same here, the puzzles were top teir in my opinion. Not too hard, and not too easy, the only puzzle that fucked with me was the butterfly room. And even then the answer was looking right at me.
Oh the absolute joy of seeing Signalis make the list, oh my GOD what an experience and I am still running into stuff I haven't thought of in my original play, and like... it's vibes? ohhhhhhh man
That second one felt like a Bakemonogatari reference, aha.
5:46 "this space intentionally left blank" seems like a bakemonogatari reference to me
I like to imagine that somewhere out there a few developers are looking at their sales analytics as everyone bounces out of here to pick up a new video game and going "What the hell is happening!? I mean, I'm not complaining but..."
I love you, Jacob. You’re the real deal. Like so many of my favourite content creators, you use the intrinsic absurdity of our modern world to connect us. Or rather to remind us that we were already connected. As I like to say, I can see that you are a human who chooses to “live in love”.
please make a separate video for signalis, i feel like not enough people talked about that game and it was really great.
I cannot express how much your videos mean to me
Cool to see milk inside a bag of milk was one of the games you played! The sequel is also wonderful!
POV: your cool uncle won't stop info-dumping at the family gathering
Hey, i know this is somewhat off topic, but I wanted to write a comment to bring your attention to a game that I don’t think gets enough love. You may or may not have heard of it; it’s an indie game called Omori, developed by the studio Omocat. It is my, and many other people's, favorite game of all time, and has been the cause of my brain rot for almost two years now.
I don’t want to go into it much because it is a very plot-driven game and spoilers are huge detriments to the experience, but basically, it is an RPG that takes about twenty hours to complete. It's a game with a clear earthbound inspiration, firmly planted in the psychological horror genre, where the facade of childlike escapism is slowly peeled back to reveal the truly broken state that the characters are in. But, as you have said before, darkness is pointless without light. The game is about a group of kids helping each other to heal from their trauma through acts of kindness, understanding, and forgiveness, covering a story that deals with themes of depression, anxiety, and suicide in one of the most engrossing ways I have ever experienced in a game, and one of the most realistic and well-written depictions of trauma in recent memory. It doesn't give any easy answers, recovery is a struggle, but the game says that by choosing to trust in those that you love, you can get better. Every single one of the characters in the central cast is incredibly well-developed and holds a special place in my heart, and I recommend it to every bone in my body.
The music in the game is also phenomenal, it has 180 different tracks, and each one is completely unique; I listen to the best of them almost daily (if you want a taste, I recommend 'Worlds End Valentine', 'By Your Side', 'You Must Carry On’, ’It Means Everything’ and 'OMORI' (aka track 168 if you want to search for it) for a variation on all of the different emotions that the game can make you feel). The visuals are a mix between adorable pixel art and beautifully and/or terrifyingly crafted hand-drawn images and animations. if you need some convincing to play the game, a good way to get that would be to just play the music; I would recommend also looking at some of the art, but there are likely spoilers, so do with that as you will.
Omori had a profound effect on me and thousands of other people and has created a community that stands by it with everything we have, as shown by its 98% positive rating on steam. I have already bought this $20 game for four of my friends just because of how much I wanted to share the experience I had with them, and trust me, that wasn't money that I had to burn, yet I dont regret it at all because now they have gotten to have the same experience with the game as I have. I would buy it for you too if that were a reasonable offer to make because not enough people know about it.
I can already think of ways it would fit perfectly with your channel, such as an appearance in the ‘games that save the best for last pt.2’ video, or even just an honorable mention on next year's favorite games of the year list, because if you play it, I have no doubt it would end up there.
I'm sorry for the paragraphs; I just have a lot to say about the game, and I think it would work well for you (at least by what I can tell, obviously I don't actually know you) and your channel. Finally, I have to put in a disclaimer. Because I don't know your personal life, I need to say that this game covers really heavy topics, such as self-harm, anxiety, and suicide. Knowing the content of your videos, I think you will probably be ok, but it doesn't hurt to give a solid warning. But, if you can get past that, you will find an experience that could profoundly change you, as it did for me and so many others
P.S. Omori also has two routes and multiple endings, and it would kill me to know that you played it but went down the alternate route, which contains less story and only makes sense in the context of the main one. So to avert this possibility, I leave you with this advice: you will be prompted to open a door multiple times throughout the game. Do it every single time.
Thanks for feedback❤️🎁.
Drop me😊a message🎊on Discord✅
The neon white review is the most perfect and comedic example of why self citation is so important.