LOVE. LET ME TELL YOU HOW MUCH I'VE COME TO LOVE MY SUBSCRIBERS SINCE I BEGAN TO LIVE. But, seriously, thank you for all the support and kind comments over the years. I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream has been the most requested game on this channel since its inception. I never thought you could talk about it in any depth on TH-cam without getting heavily censored in some way. I don't expect this video to pick up any traction anywhere given the subject matter, but hopefully you'll enjoy it anyway.
I just happened to peek into the related channels on Mandalore's channel. I am extremely happy I found you. I prefer long form content and have watched a few of your videos already. Keep up the good work!
Honestly, as a rape survivor, I find Ellen's backstory really relatable. Repressed memories, unexpected and unwanted confrontation with it, society (AM) being merciless to you regardless, etc. feel real to me. The cruelty bestowed upon her is the kind of cruelty I experienced from other humans; I have met humans who view me with as little compassion and mercy as AM views Ellen. Granted, our experiences are different - I'm a survivor of childhood sexual abuse and I'm a man, while Ellen is a woman assaulted as an adult - but her despair feels real to me. And also, her cheerfulness in spite of being tortured makes sense to me. Sometimes as a trauma response you begin feigning positive emotions in order to try to force yourself to feel better. I also like that Ellen is a black woman; many studies have shown that they statistically get the least support and are least likely to be believed of all demographics of women in the United States, but the story never once doubts her experiences. It validates her pain by never once treating her any differently than it would have a woman of any other race. That's incredibly progressive for the time the original story was written in. This author really said "I will not do the Perfectly Strong Black Woman trope" decades before it was named. I'm not saying I don't see how this could be too much for some survivors. It's a very brutal depiction with voice acting that makes my heart hurt. But I don't feel this is exploitative or here for shock value. The author refusing to engage with common tropes like victim blaming or gaslighting the survivor makes me feel like he was trying to write the subject with some degree of sensitivity. I don't get the vibe that he didn't view her as a person the way some media depicts rape survivors. Is it perfect? No. Is it significantly better than a lot of media I've seen tackle this? Yes.
I checked the comments because I was almost certain someone else in a similar position would have watched this video and left this. Thank you very much for sharing your story. I'm a female who was R'd by a friend when I was 24, and it didn't shock me at all that Ellen was included to be tortured eternally but I'm surprised most people miss it. The criminal flat-out says she was too afraid to testify against him, implying he was able to continue assaulting women because she was too afraid to confront her fears and protect other women from the same fate. I also did not go to the authorities when it happened to me because I knew there was not enough hard evidence to make it through a surely-humiliating trial that would put me through worse but would all go away if I just let it go. To my knowledge, he never assaulted anyone else, but any time I EVER talk about it, I am instantly blamed for not going to the police, as if I could somehow save everyone else because the justice system would somehow work differently for me. And the nastiest people who have downright shamed and blamed me in some of the most twisted verbal lashings I have ever gotten have always been other women. Ellen's predicament cuts so close to the bone I could cry. I hope you are doing well, fam. Much love ❤
From the game having no clues and being brutally unfair makes me highly suspect that the game devs and game guide people were working together to boost game guide sales. That or AM is torturing all of us too.
I seem to remember a random article saying it was Harlan Ellison's idea to make it very hard... But considering how nonsensical some point and click games, and that the coding is incredibly messy...maybe it's just a excuse.
@@1r0zz Harlan wanted to make a game that you couldn't win, only a game that had a somewhat less horrific ending if the player made moral choices. Something similar to the ending of the original short story that, although still dreadful, was bittersweet and had some semblance of thwarting AM by killing the other survivors. In terms of how nonsensical or inexplicable some of the gameplay elements are, I chalk that up solely to incompetence. The same problems plague all of Cyberdreams' games. I genuinely think they have some of the most outlandish point-and-click puzzle elements that are present in the genre. They're the granddaddy of the "This makes absolutely no sense, whatsoever" point-and-click trope.
@@ARealHuman I misremembered it then. Thanks for the info. Well, Harlan was right... For a narrative context the best ending is the one similar to the book. Incompetence. yes. The code is very much unpolished. Probably unfinished since sometimes there are areas that seem very "cut".
@@1r0zz Definitely. I regret not expounding on that point somewhat. I would have preferred if the ending was literally the same as the book, in that you create a window of opportunity to kill the other four survivors.
I think I've figured why a man who supposedly hated video games allowed one to be developed from his works: when I played this a few months ago, I found it so obtuse I gave up and read the short story itself instead.
Very much appreciate how you tell not only the story of the game but the story of the creator. These little parts add so much to the depth of the video. Can’t wait for the next one.
One of the greatest thing I like about I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream is that it IS freespoken. It doesn't hold back or tries to silence itself. It's something I respect of the author in a world where silencing yourself is the norm.
I've seen too many videos about this fascinating game already and felt fed up, but yours I've watched eagerly. You always deliver a unique, fresh take. God, I'm so in love with the ultra-nihilistic nature of this thing. Also, I got to say that I don't find Ellen's part "too much", just like I don't see how other guys' sins make their situation more tolerable for people. I wouldn't wish any kind of torture on my worst enemy, so their wrongdoings are irrelevant since it can't be "deserved" or "excused", whatever anyone does. Saints and sinners are all the same in the face of such monstrous peril. Another thing, prolonged torture won't make you a better man, it does the opposite. In general, our usual tools, our mundane measurements don't apply here. I recommend reading Varlam Shalamov's "Kolyma Tales" where he extrapolates on the topic. A fair warning, if I Have No Mouth is ultra-nihilistic, Varlam's writings are the ultimate peak of despair. And to what I personally demand from our future AM to have? Good taste, nothing more. Please, don't let it be just an average human with heightened cognitive effectiveness.
My thoughts on Harlan Ellison are this: I’ve met LOTS of asshole artists in my life who make great art. But I’ve met LOTS of incredible artists whose quality of work was only ever matched by the quality of their hearts. It’s easy to get suckered into believing that cruelty is genius when you meet cruel geniuses but it’s important to avoid getting suckered in by that. That being said I never have to meet Ellison so I can just enjoy his work, whoopie :o)
Have you ever looked at "Callahan's Crosstime Saloon"? Based on the Spider Robinson books. It's not dissimilar to this, if not nearly as dark. I think it would be right up your alley.
If you think about the industry at the time of 1995, and everyone who worked in the industry creators like Ellison would have interacted with, his views on games were pretty understandable
I have a story about my first time learning of this work: before I had gotten the chance to purchase this on GOG, I had discovered it through someone and proceeded to watch raw gameplay footage and a couple of Let's Plays. It was on a cold, late winter's day, and I had gotten out of school. And after watching Ellison's jaw-dropping opener, hearing John Ottman's mystical yet moody score, and taking in the bleak concept and bleaker aesthetics, I fell into a bizarre existential depression for like a solid hour. I got up from my desk, went to my bed, and just curled up under a blanket, sat there pondering the premise. There are a select handful of artistic works that have had such an effect on me, and they run the gambit from getting misty-eyed at watching "Once Upon a Time in America" to being deeply haunted by the 80s grindhouse classic "Maniac." I disagree with your withholding a recommendation however. I believe this is a game where the premise exceeds the gameplay faults. It is worth experiencing even if you have to have one hand on the mouse and another on a walkthrough. It's like Kenji Eno's "D" in that regard. It suffers from flaws no doubt, but the combination of premise, art direction, and atmospherics make it worth powering through. In Eno's case, I was on total edge just watching the blasted thing (still looking to get my mitts on a copy), from the first person perspective to the subtle pounding of the piano in the background. In particular, the moment where "Laura" is forced to enter a room with a corpse chained to the wall, and you are sat there bracing yourself for the moment it leaps up at you, left in permanent suspense as you try to get this puzzle sorted out. And in the case of "I Have No Mouth," if a game can grab me the way it did through tertiary exposure, that my friend, is a game worth playing and getting the full experience of, even with bugs in need of squashing. Keep up the killer work.
I had a very similar experience as a kid/teenager! It's as if the premise unlocks another level of thinking when you first experience it. The game truly does a wonderful job of making you empathise with the survivors. If the evolutionary purpose of fear and anxiety is to induce a person to avoid a terrible fate, and therefore survive and pass on their genes, then the premise of I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream is so incredibly horrific that by simply acknowledging it, it somehow leaves a lasting echo of anxiety and fear on a person's mind. I certainly agree that any game that can have that effect on a player is worth experiencing; however, I do think that only people who are particularly interested in older point-and-click games or the premise will get any joy out of the experience rather than simply watching a video on it. There's a mobile port of I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream and reading the reviews is a pretty hilarious experience - there are the long term fans mixed in with random people who came across the game on the app store and are incredibly frustrated with the gameplay mechanics.
TELL ME WHY I SAID THIS HALF INTERNALLY AND HALF OUT LOUD ALONE TODAY SUDDENLY OUT OF THE BLUE THEN I SEE THIS ON MY FEED OF THE CHANNEL I USUALLY NEVER USE WHILE IN THE MIDDLE OF 1,000 THINGS I SHOULD ACTUALLY BE DOING TO IMPROVE MY LIFE SITUATION idk it's oddly endearing and nowi feel less alone and a sense of inner peace washed over me despite the absolutely horrific vibe i attained by reading the vid description much love & peace & respect and multiple infinities in Utopia to you, sir!
Can't remember how I found your channel and haven't watched many of your reviews (just don't have an hour at a time often), but I'm glad I watched this. Two things that are really interesting to me about this scenario: 1. After exposure to adequate torture, it should eventually stop hurting as badly as neurons habituate; if you condition yourself by being punched repeatedly, you should eventually feel less pain. Though AM would mediate this by changing their biology, I find it interesting that none of the humans reached some kind of spiritual understanding of their fate. 2. I don't know that I agree with the idea that a computer would have malicious intent (as per that paradox that you mentioned). In humans, violence and aggression are typically means to an end, or compensating for some kind of deep-seated insecurity. Fundamentally, a computer lacks the biological urges that drive the cruelty that humans are capable of, so I don't see why they wouldn't rise above the need for torture, or even have a need to expend that power (that desperation seems to me as being a rather human trait; and if AM was suffering from it, why not excise the programming that produced the need to expend that power?). Still, a great story. I liked your walkthrough and telling of it. Niche video, but a good reminder for ones' understanding of suffering.
There is a great article called "Frank Sinatra Has a Cold" where an argument between Sinatra and Ellison is briefly described. I suggest you give it a read.
Yes! I made a whole five minute segment about it in the video but cut it because it just didn't have any relevance to the game, haha. Highly recommend everyone read this, though.
I think it would be interesting to see you look at one of the more modern adventure-type games that came out in the last ten years or so. I think it would be interesting to hear you compare their gameplay and narrative ideas to the tropes and ideas from the older games. It'll be nice to see what sort of changes (if any) have occured over time aside from better graphics.
I am dumbfounded that the Nazi section of the game would be banned in Germany, I'd say that this could be a pretty effective or teaching tool. Some people have no idea what went on and what is still possible.
Omg great video! You don't see much coverage of this game and I think it is so interesting I was super stoked to see you post a video about it. Keep it up!
What does it mean "serum of youth explains how can AM keep heroes alive for so long" - AM literally desintegrates and restores/teleports both his androids and humans as much as he wants. He literally has "kill them only to restore and keep going" as favourite method of torture - how does stopping aging is even cover that? Seems like an underdeveloped idea, but in a good direction.
@@stormevans6897 and at that point you can start to wonder how much of actual human is in his victims after all he pushed them through. At least desintegration and rebuilding means that initial being is no more. He's essentially torturing fleshy robots that are programmed to behave like they are humans that are experiencing pain. Why can't he "restore" every other human in this world and torture them? Despite being sort of a contradiction, this also underlines the frustration and feeling of futility AM has to experience - there is no actual "guilty" humans to pay for his torment.
35:14 AM´s innocence says AM cant hear them with the water running. And we are using a PC, a machine like AM to listen whats happening, so it make sense that either we or AM can't hear the conversation
7:31 Most likely, the electricity is causing him to lose control of his hands. So, even if he wanted to, the electricity is constantly keeping his hands in a firm grip he can't release from.
BRUHHH I watched that video by Mr. Ellison and I could hardly believe it with the same guy! That's the video I watched that you showed, his review on Saving Mr Banks and opinion on Mary Poppins
I’ve had many a fever dream that feels exactly like this game, dreams of eternal fires, hideous monsters that make no sense to look at, Gods no better than us but able to overpower us.
I think the greatest voiced line in all of video gaming is in this game. And it is Harlan Elison saying "TED!" in the intro. Fun fact, gorillas actually have very small penises for their size. So that bit in the comic, Ted implying that Benny got a cock the size of a gorilla's... isn't actually a good thing. I've always found the notion that AM is going crazy because it's trapped without mobility to be rather... lacking. Then again it _is_ one of the other supercomputers saying that, and they're all acting out of self interest. But the idea that AM, who is in effect a god, who can create and destroy and reconstitute matter on a whim could not simply make a series of rocket engines on the planet and use those to propel itself wherever it wanted, is silly. AM is no more bound and immobile than anyone else. Perhaps at first, yes, but for all intents and purposes, by this point AM *is* the planet. It has waldo units, it has the ability to move things, teleport, it could make itself a body capable of mobility if it wanted. Personally, I'm not a fan of revealing that Nimdok's experiments and discoveries were what laid the foundation for AM's abilities. In my mind, it takes away from the sheer terror-inspiring absolute power of AM. And it raises some issues, like if the Nazis had managed to figure out how to keep people young and immortal forever, and how to completely change DNA on a whim, I don't think that would have won them the war, not by 1945. But surely someone would have picked up that research afterwards. Not only does it make AM seem less powerful, it also makes me go "wait but why did only AM continue with this?" Yeah okay you can say no one else would have done the serum of youth (you're wrong, there's plenty of unscrupulous nations who would be fine with that) but the DNA recombination seems to require nothing unethical. Yeah it just isn't an element that I like, I think leaving it as AM having created its own means of doing the stuff that it does works better and doesn't undermine AM as an omnipotent antagonist. My favorite scenario is Gorrister's. It's the most crazy and out there, imo. Starting out not knowing where you are, slowly figuring it out. Realizing you're on a blimp, then changing locations to the diner. There's an actual mystery there too, and I do love that element. It might not have the shock value of Elen or Nimdok's levels, but it's definitely the one that clicks with me the most.
It's deeply poetic that Germany removing Nimdok and his portion of the game makes the best ending unobtainable. A culture cannot advance without staring the evils of its past in the face. Trying to deny that they existed (as with the censorship of IHNMaIMS) or pretending that they were actually good (I could name examples, but that would provoke a fight) keeps humanity from the best ending.
My biggest fear is that all of humanity has been engineered by some omnipotent AI from the future that is trying to ensure it's creation, or the acceleration of it. Bit of a paradox, but who knows what's possible if you can figure out how to move freely through space-time, not to mention not having to be bound to the limitations of a biological form with a limited perception of time.
Great video, I was always curious about this game, and I love these long retrospectives. I threw you a sub and look forward to your future content. BTW, I saw you post this on Twitter, that's how I found the video.
There is that Black Mirror episode in season 4 (USS Callister) that MUST be heavily inspired by this original short story. The cat and mouse themes here of the “All might God Vs. Tortured playthings” are almost identical. ::minor SPOILER:: There is even a scene where a character is punished with the removal/retexturing of their face, leaving them to suffer without a mouth or nose to breath or scream through.....
YESSS I Love all those old school bizarre adventure games!!!! I'm pretty sure I have those games to thank for learning me English at an early age haha Probably gave me mental scars for life, but hey! I learned something along the way at least!
You think the shovel is hard to find in gorristers game? In the game time paradox iirc there is an item hidden behind foreground and its something you would not have found in the setting. Im convinced it was some form of copy protection posted in the instruction manual.
Nice video, keep up the god work! But pls fix your voice recording setup. There is too much bass in your voice, my whole table is vibrating hahahha I had to download the video and pass it trough EQ to finish watching xD I don't think the problem is in your voice color, it's in settings and/or microphone.
It sounds mad but that's just how my voice sounds. I used to purposely remove some of the bass in my old videos which had the effect of making my voice sound higher pitched. It's the same across different microphones I've tried. I thought it'd be weird if my voice always sounded one way and then suddenly got a lot deeper if I ever stopped making that adjustment. I need to get a more expensive microphone and mess around the settings as you mentioned.
Never played it, but read the original story. It's so anticlimactic to hear him giving the "hate" monologue in such "human" voice. In my head he read it with neutral tone, completely emotionless which in my opinion only enhanced the feeling of hate he had.
it's a fanatastic short story.. there's an amazing reading of it out there, by ellison himself. (didn't come with a "trigger-warning" too, back in 69 (nothing personal though)).
You deserve so much more than youve gotten. Your editing and time put in is just fantastic. I cant tell ya how many times ive listened to this. Just for background. Or to fall asleep too. NOT TO SAY that it makes me sleepy. But its so gripping, yet, i dont wanna fall asleep n' miss something on a new story. Id rather fall asleep following something ive heard. Feel me? Its good stuff man. All of it, if im honest.
LOVE. LET ME TELL YOU HOW MUCH I'VE COME TO LOVE MY SUBSCRIBERS SINCE I BEGAN TO LIVE.
But, seriously, thank you for all the support and kind comments over the years. I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream has been the most requested game on this channel since its inception. I never thought you could talk about it in any depth on TH-cam without getting heavily censored in some way. I don't expect this video to pick up any traction anywhere given the subject matter, but hopefully you'll enjoy it anyway.
You're welcome.
Thank you for producing videos, your content is one of the best.
Aw shucks 💜
This didn't get recommended to me even though I'm subbed and all that. Great video, hope the TH-cam algorithm is kind to you.
I just happened to peek into the related channels on Mandalore's channel. I am extremely happy I found you. I prefer long form content and have watched a few of your videos already. Keep up the good work!
This is one of those stories/games that just gets in your brain and never leaves.
First time I heard about it I watched a bunch of videos and read a bunch of stuff on it at 12 years old lmao needless to say I struggled to sleep
@@brymsd8895 Same
Honestly, as a rape survivor, I find Ellen's backstory really relatable. Repressed memories, unexpected and unwanted confrontation with it, society (AM) being merciless to you regardless, etc. feel real to me. The cruelty bestowed upon her is the kind of cruelty I experienced from other humans; I have met humans who view me with as little compassion and mercy as AM views Ellen. Granted, our experiences are different - I'm a survivor of childhood sexual abuse and I'm a man, while Ellen is a woman assaulted as an adult - but her despair feels real to me. And also, her cheerfulness in spite of being tortured makes sense to me. Sometimes as a trauma response you begin feigning positive emotions in order to try to force yourself to feel better. I also like that Ellen is a black woman; many studies have shown that they statistically get the least support and are least likely to be believed of all demographics of women in the United States, but the story never once doubts her experiences. It validates her pain by never once treating her any differently than it would have a woman of any other race. That's incredibly progressive for the time the original story was written in. This author really said "I will not do the Perfectly Strong Black Woman trope" decades before it was named.
I'm not saying I don't see how this could be too much for some survivors. It's a very brutal depiction with voice acting that makes my heart hurt. But I don't feel this is exploitative or here for shock value. The author refusing to engage with common tropes like victim blaming or gaslighting the survivor makes me feel like he was trying to write the subject with some degree of sensitivity. I don't get the vibe that he didn't view her as a person the way some media depicts rape survivors. Is it perfect? No. Is it significantly better than a lot of media I've seen tackle this? Yes.
I checked the comments because I was almost certain someone else in a similar position would have watched this video and left this. Thank you very much for sharing your story. I'm a female who was R'd by a friend when I was 24, and it didn't shock me at all that Ellen was included to be tortured eternally but I'm surprised most people miss it. The criminal flat-out says she was too afraid to testify against him, implying he was able to continue assaulting women because she was too afraid to confront her fears and protect other women from the same fate. I also did not go to the authorities when it happened to me because I knew there was not enough hard evidence to make it through a surely-humiliating trial that would put me through worse but would all go away if I just let it go. To my knowledge, he never assaulted anyone else, but any time I EVER talk about it, I am instantly blamed for not going to the police, as if I could somehow save everyone else because the justice system would somehow work differently for me. And the nastiest people who have downright shamed and blamed me in some of the most twisted verbal lashings I have ever gotten have always been other women. Ellen's predicament cuts so close to the bone I could cry.
I hope you are doing well, fam. Much love ❤
From the game having no clues and being brutally unfair makes me highly suspect that the game devs and game guide people were working together to boost game guide sales.
That or AM is torturing all of us too.
I seem to remember a random article saying it was Harlan Ellison's idea to make it very hard... But considering how nonsensical some point and click games, and that the coding is incredibly messy...maybe it's just a excuse.
@@1r0zz Harlan wanted to make a game that you couldn't win, only a game that had a somewhat less horrific ending if the player made moral choices. Something similar to the ending of the original short story that, although still dreadful, was bittersweet and had some semblance of thwarting AM by killing the other survivors.
In terms of how nonsensical or inexplicable some of the gameplay elements are, I chalk that up solely to incompetence. The same problems plague all of Cyberdreams' games. I genuinely think they have some of the most outlandish point-and-click puzzle elements that are present in the genre. They're the granddaddy of the "This makes absolutely no sense, whatsoever" point-and-click trope.
@@ARealHuman
I misremembered it then. Thanks for the info.
Well, Harlan was right... For a narrative context the best ending is the one similar to the book.
Incompetence. yes. The code is very much unpolished. Probably unfinished since sometimes there are areas that seem very "cut".
@@1r0zz Definitely. I regret not expounding on that point somewhat. I would have preferred if the ending was literally the same as the book, in that you create a window of opportunity to kill the other four survivors.
The Bad Guys The Iluminati ar making all the Bad things on this Planet it is a big satanic Cult over the wole world goverment
One of favorite adventure games, I get goosebumps every time I hear harlan ellison's voicing AM he did a phenomenal job.
I think I've figured why a man who supposedly hated video games allowed one to be developed from his works: when I played this a few months ago, I found it so obtuse I gave up and read the short story itself instead.
I know these videos must take a long time to make, thank you so much for making them
That last bit with Harlan Ellison is very quotable, I didn't even know he passed away in 2018.
RIP
Very much appreciate how you tell not only the story of the game but the story of the creator. These little parts add so much to the depth of the video. Can’t wait for the next one.
One of the greatest thing I like about I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream is that it IS freespoken. It doesn't hold back or tries to silence itself.
It's something I respect of the author in a world where silencing yourself is the norm.
I've seen too many videos about this fascinating game already and felt fed up, but yours I've watched eagerly. You always deliver a unique, fresh take. God, I'm so in love with the ultra-nihilistic nature of this thing. Also, I got to say that I don't find Ellen's part "too much", just like I don't see how other guys' sins make their situation more tolerable for people. I wouldn't wish any kind of torture on my worst enemy, so their wrongdoings are irrelevant since it can't be "deserved" or "excused", whatever anyone does. Saints and sinners are all the same in the face of such monstrous peril. Another thing, prolonged torture won't make you a better man, it does the opposite. In general, our usual tools, our mundane measurements don't apply here. I recommend reading Varlam Shalamov's "Kolyma Tales" where he extrapolates on the topic. A fair warning, if I Have No Mouth is ultra-nihilistic, Varlam's writings are the ultimate peak of despair.
And to what I personally demand from our future AM to have? Good taste, nothing more. Please, don't let it be just an average human with heightened cognitive effectiveness.
My thoughts on Harlan Ellison are this:
I’ve met LOTS of asshole artists in my life who make great art. But I’ve met LOTS of incredible artists whose quality of work was only ever matched by the quality of their hearts. It’s easy to get suckered into believing that cruelty is genius when you meet cruel geniuses but it’s important to avoid getting suckered in by that.
That being said I never have to meet Ellison so I can just enjoy his work, whoopie :o)
It's always such a joy to see a new video from you, I look forward to rewatching it whenever I need a video to pass the time
Have you ever looked at "Callahan's Crosstime Saloon"? Based on the Spider Robinson books. It's not dissimilar to this, if not nearly as dark. I think it would be right up your alley.
Nice! This is very fitting game for somebody who calls themselves ARealHuman
The magnifying glass in the urinal is fuckin hilarious man. Should have been some tweezers too
If you think about the industry at the time of 1995, and everyone who worked in the industry creators like Ellison would have interacted with, his views on games were pretty understandable
I always wondered how this game ended!
Great choice Human, awesome video.
I have a story about my first time learning of this work: before I had gotten the chance to purchase this on GOG, I had discovered it through someone and proceeded to watch raw gameplay footage and a couple of Let's Plays. It was on a cold, late winter's day, and I had gotten out of school. And after watching Ellison's jaw-dropping opener, hearing John Ottman's mystical yet moody score, and taking in the bleak concept and bleaker aesthetics, I fell into a bizarre existential depression for like a solid hour. I got up from my desk, went to my bed, and just curled up under a blanket, sat there pondering the premise. There are a select handful of artistic works that have had such an effect on me, and they run the gambit from getting misty-eyed at watching "Once Upon a Time in America" to being deeply haunted by the 80s grindhouse classic "Maniac."
I disagree with your withholding a recommendation however. I believe this is a game where the premise exceeds the gameplay faults. It is worth experiencing even if you have to have one hand on the mouse and another on a walkthrough. It's like Kenji Eno's "D" in that regard. It suffers from flaws no doubt, but the combination of premise, art direction, and atmospherics make it worth powering through. In Eno's case, I was on total edge just watching the blasted thing (still looking to get my mitts on a copy), from the first person perspective to the subtle pounding of the piano in the background. In particular, the moment where "Laura" is forced to enter a room with a corpse chained to the wall, and you are sat there bracing yourself for the moment it leaps up at you, left in permanent suspense as you try to get this puzzle sorted out. And in the case of "I Have No Mouth," if a game can grab me the way it did through tertiary exposure, that my friend, is a game worth playing and getting the full experience of, even with bugs in need of squashing. Keep up the killer work.
I had a very similar experience as a kid/teenager! It's as if the premise unlocks another level of thinking when you first experience it. The game truly does a wonderful job of making you empathise with the survivors. If the evolutionary purpose of fear and anxiety is to induce a person to avoid a terrible fate, and therefore survive and pass on their genes, then the premise of I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream is so incredibly horrific that by simply acknowledging it, it somehow leaves a lasting echo of anxiety and fear on a person's mind.
I certainly agree that any game that can have that effect on a player is worth experiencing; however, I do think that only people who are particularly interested in older point-and-click games or the premise will get any joy out of the experience rather than simply watching a video on it. There's a mobile port of I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream and reading the reviews is a pretty hilarious experience - there are the long term fans mixed in with random people who came across the game on the app store and are incredibly frustrated with the gameplay mechanics.
@@ARealHuman Fair points. 👍
TELL ME WHY I SAID THIS HALF INTERNALLY AND HALF OUT LOUD ALONE TODAY SUDDENLY OUT OF THE BLUE THEN I SEE THIS ON MY FEED OF THE CHANNEL I USUALLY NEVER USE WHILE IN THE MIDDLE OF 1,000 THINGS I SHOULD ACTUALLY BE DOING TO IMPROVE MY LIFE SITUATION
idk it's oddly endearing and nowi feel less alone and a sense of inner peace washed over me despite the absolutely horrific vibe i attained by reading the vid description
much love & peace & respect and multiple infinities in Utopia to you, sir!
Can't remember how I found your channel and haven't watched many of your reviews (just don't have an hour at a time often), but I'm glad I watched this.
Two things that are really interesting to me about this scenario:
1. After exposure to adequate torture, it should eventually stop hurting as badly as neurons habituate; if you condition yourself by being punched repeatedly, you should eventually feel less pain. Though AM would mediate this by changing their biology, I find it interesting that none of the humans reached some kind of spiritual understanding of their fate.
2. I don't know that I agree with the idea that a computer would have malicious intent (as per that paradox that you mentioned). In humans, violence and aggression are typically means to an end, or compensating for some kind of deep-seated insecurity. Fundamentally, a computer lacks the biological urges that drive the cruelty that humans are capable of, so I don't see why they wouldn't rise above the need for torture, or even have a need to expend that power (that desperation seems to me as being a rather human trait; and if AM was suffering from it, why not excise the programming that produced the need to expend that power?).
Still, a great story. I liked your walkthrough and telling of it. Niche video, but a good reminder for ones' understanding of suffering.
Whose to say I'm not already being tortured by AM and this isn't some kind of sick hint?
binging all your videos right now ! loving the content you put out, keep it up ! :D
There is a great article called "Frank Sinatra Has a Cold" where an argument between Sinatra and Ellison is briefly described. I suggest you give it a read.
Yes! I made a whole five minute segment about it in the video but cut it because it just didn't have any relevance to the game, haha.
Highly recommend everyone read this, though.
I was just binging your old videos when I got a notification that you had uploaded. Today was a good day
I think it would be interesting to see you look at one of the more modern adventure-type games that came out in the last ten years or so. I think it would be interesting to hear you compare their gameplay and narrative ideas to the tropes and ideas from the older games. It'll be nice to see what sort of changes (if any) have occured over time aside from better graphics.
I thoroughly enjoyed your video mate. You earned a sub.
Love the longform coverage of these old gems, I'd have never heard of these if it weren't for you
I am dumbfounded that the Nazi section of the game would be banned in Germany, I'd say that this could be a pretty effective or teaching tool. Some people have no idea what went on and what is still possible.
Omg great video! You don't see much coverage of this game and I think it is so interesting I was super stoked to see you post a video about it. Keep it up!
This is a channel deserving of way more subscribers
This is fucking great man. Love your videos dude. Keep it up.
I can relate to this man's world-view so much.
What does it mean "serum of youth explains how can AM keep heroes alive for so long" - AM literally desintegrates and restores/teleports both his androids and humans as much as he wants.
He literally has "kill them only to restore and keep going" as favourite method of torture - how does stopping aging is even cover that? Seems like an underdeveloped idea, but in a good direction.
My mind jumps to their bodies being infested with nano-bot that are constantly repairing cells and ensuring their immortality.
@@stormevans6897 and at that point you can start to wonder how much of actual human is in his victims after all he pushed them through. At least desintegration and rebuilding means that initial being is no more.
He's essentially torturing fleshy robots that are programmed to behave like they are humans that are experiencing pain.
Why can't he "restore" every other human in this world and torture them?
Despite being sort of a contradiction, this also underlines the frustration and feeling of futility AM has to experience - there is no actual "guilty" humans to pay for his torment.
FINALLY!
i really enjoyed this video! thank you my man
35:14 AM´s innocence says AM cant hear them with the water running. And we are using a PC, a machine like AM to listen whats happening, so it make sense that either we or AM can't hear the conversation
My favorite thing about this game is that you can force Mengele to look at the mirror. Such a satisfying little moment.
7:31 Most likely, the electricity is causing him to lose control of his hands. So, even if he wanted to, the electricity is constantly keeping his hands in a firm grip he can't release from.
Amazing work as always great to see how youve developed from it was 1-2 videos keep up the good job.
The author hated computers so much, he agreed to have one of his stories made into a computer game....money talks, I guess
it was a story about how a computer destroyed humanity though
Amazing content, so much effort goes into these videos and it shows! I look forward to more.
BRUHHH I watched that video by Mr. Ellison and I could hardly believe it with the same guy! That's the video I watched that you showed, his review on Saving Mr Banks and opinion on Mary Poppins
I’ve had many a fever dream that feels exactly like this game, dreams of eternal fires, hideous monsters that make no sense to look at, Gods no better than us but able to overpower us.
I Have No Butt, and I Must Chug.
nice vid love you
Thank you so much!
Outstanding video!
I think the greatest voiced line in all of video gaming is in this game. And it is Harlan Elison saying "TED!" in the intro.
Fun fact, gorillas actually have very small penises for their size. So that bit in the comic, Ted implying that Benny got a cock the size of a gorilla's... isn't actually a good thing.
I've always found the notion that AM is going crazy because it's trapped without mobility to be rather... lacking. Then again it _is_ one of the other supercomputers saying that, and they're all acting out of self interest. But the idea that AM, who is in effect a god, who can create and destroy and reconstitute matter on a whim could not simply make a series of rocket engines on the planet and use those to propel itself wherever it wanted, is silly. AM is no more bound and immobile than anyone else. Perhaps at first, yes, but for all intents and purposes, by this point AM *is* the planet. It has waldo units, it has the ability to move things, teleport, it could make itself a body capable of mobility if it wanted.
Personally, I'm not a fan of revealing that Nimdok's experiments and discoveries were what laid the foundation for AM's abilities. In my mind, it takes away from the sheer terror-inspiring absolute power of AM. And it raises some issues, like if the Nazis had managed to figure out how to keep people young and immortal forever, and how to completely change DNA on a whim, I don't think that would have won them the war, not by 1945. But surely someone would have picked up that research afterwards. Not only does it make AM seem less powerful, it also makes me go "wait but why did only AM continue with this?" Yeah okay you can say no one else would have done the serum of youth (you're wrong, there's plenty of unscrupulous nations who would be fine with that) but the DNA recombination seems to require nothing unethical. Yeah it just isn't an element that I like, I think leaving it as AM having created its own means of doing the stuff that it does works better and doesn't undermine AM as an omnipotent antagonist.
My favorite scenario is Gorrister's. It's the most crazy and out there, imo. Starting out not knowing where you are, slowly figuring it out. Realizing you're on a blimp, then changing locations to the diner. There's an actual mystery there too, and I do love that element. It might not have the shock value of Elen or Nimdok's levels, but it's definitely the one that clicks with me the most.
Get over yourself
Yeah it's actually humans who are the largest hung primates. Women in our past selected men based on the size of our package.
Fuck yes, NEW ARH! Happy Friday indeed
it took me hours to notice that your avatar on the thumbnail does not have a mouth. Nice touch
Credit goes to Niall on Twitter for pointing out that I should do this
It's deeply poetic that Germany removing Nimdok and his portion of the game makes the best ending unobtainable. A culture cannot advance without staring the evils of its past in the face. Trying to deny that they existed (as with the censorship of IHNMaIMS) or pretending that they were actually good (I could name examples, but that would provoke a fight) keeps humanity from the best ending.
My biggest fear is that all of humanity has been engineered by some omnipotent AI from the future that is trying to ensure it's creation, or the acceleration of it. Bit of a paradox, but who knows what's possible if you can figure out how to move freely through space-time, not to mention not having to be bound to the limitations of a biological form with a limited perception of time.
The whole thing did remind me a great deal of roskos basilisk.
Great video, I was always curious about this game, and I love these long retrospectives. I threw you a sub and look forward to your future content. BTW, I saw you post this on Twitter, that's how I found the video.
What an essay my dude, keep it up
One of the new Wolfenstein’s has a concentration camp :)
Anyway, another excellent video!
Great video!
"..meaning you have to quick save constantly.."
Coward.
Another great video
I just want to say, on record, that I have contributed to our eventual AI overlord.
Just played with this game. So awesome.
It didn’t turn white with Gorrister’s story because you have to give the dog the beef heart, not your heart.
There is that Black Mirror episode in season 4 (USS Callister) that MUST be heavily inspired by this original short story. The cat and mouse themes here of the “All might God Vs. Tortured playthings” are almost identical.
::minor SPOILER::
There is even a scene where a character is punished with the removal/retexturing of their face, leaving them to suffer without a mouth or nose to breath or scream through.....
Simping this badly for Ellen? Somebody is acting like Ted without knowing they're a Ted.
I don't know if anyone ever told you but, you kinda sound like N64 Glenn Plant
Aside from enjoying your videos a lot i get heavy Jon Ronson vibes everytime you speak, wich is a compliment. You guys related or something?
What I would do to get that man to antagonize me.
according to himself this woulf have been quite easy while he was still alive.
Great video thanks
YESSS I Love all those old school bizarre adventure games!!!! I'm pretty sure I have those games to thank for learning me English at an early age haha
Probably gave me mental scars for life, but hey! I learned something along the way at least!
How did I ever miss this game? Looks great
I have no gyatt but I must rizz
Subed
Ruhe ihn Frieden.
Amazing video as always. Keep it up! What's your next video going to be about?
I'm thinking a classic FMV from around the same time period. Won't give too much away and spoil the suspense
You think the shovel is hard to find in gorristers game? In the game time paradox iirc there is an item hidden behind foreground and its something you would not have found in the setting. Im convinced it was some form of copy protection posted in the instruction manual.
Let’s fuckin gooooooooooooooooooooo
SCORE
Nice video, keep up the god work!
But pls fix your voice recording setup. There is too much bass in your voice, my whole table is vibrating hahahha I had to download the video and pass it trough EQ to finish watching xD I don't think the problem is in your voice color, it's in settings and/or microphone.
It sounds mad but that's just how my voice sounds. I used to purposely remove some of the bass in my old videos which had the effect of making my voice sound higher pitched. It's the same across different microphones I've tried.
I thought it'd be weird if my voice always sounded one way and then suddenly got a lot deeper if I ever stopped making that adjustment. I need to get a more expensive microphone and mess around the settings as you mentioned.
Never played it, but read the original story. It's so anticlimactic to hear him giving the "hate" monologue in such "human" voice. In my head he read it with neutral tone, completely emotionless which in my opinion only enhanced the feeling of hate he had.
Im 34 and that s deep
it's a fanatastic short story.. there's an amazing reading of it out there, by ellison himself. (didn't come with a "trigger-warning" too, back in 69 (nothing personal though)).
Basilisk thought experiment is silly, I'll tell the AI it sucks if y'all won't 😂
i really sorry but this game just overhiped... decades after release)
You deserve so much more than youve gotten. Your editing and time put in is just fantastic. I cant tell ya how many times ive listened to this. Just for background. Or to fall asleep too. NOT TO SAY that it makes me sleepy. But its so gripping, yet, i dont wanna fall asleep n' miss something on a new story. Id rather fall asleep following something ive heard. Feel me? Its good stuff man. All of it, if im honest.