Hotel California meets The Matrix | -256 Review
Вставка
- Опубліковано 29 чер 2024
- Welcome to Steam Sequence, a series where I attempt to play and review as many Steam games in alphabetical order as possible to sort the Trash from the Treasure.
This means that I'm playing through all the terrible games so that you don't have to. Please enjoy my suffering.
This episode features:
-256
Store Page: store.steampowered.com/app/23...
In case you're wondering, Steam organizes games starting with punctuation first, then numbers, and then the actual alphabet. It may be some time before I reach the letter "A" on my journey!
00:00 Intro
00:42 The Review
16:55 The Verdict
20:16 Outro
Ratings for every game can be found here: docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Outro Music by Approaching Nirvana
/ approachingnirvana
Song: Steampowered
Listen to the song on Spotify: open.spotify.com/track/4OsSqY... - Ігри
Any game that has a rat mode is automatically a masterpiece in my book
rat mode makes it 20/10. easily
If you refuse to go back immediately after talking to the glowing white lady you can talk to the other soul there, who confirms they're the other bot in the basement and explains things more then the glowing white lady does.
Basically: the manager is some sort of afterlife criminal, taking souls he's not authorized to take, locking their memories away in the robot bodies(/suits? idk), and forcing them to work for him. The memory lock is unstable however, and naturally degrades over time, giving the souls their memories back. To slow (or maybe stop) this process, the bots are reset every night and wake up in the staff room the next day. Other bot(tm) explains that they somehow evaded this process one night and regained their memories and immediately started plotting their escape. You, however, since you just followed them out, left your memories back in the bot/suit you were possessing, and the glowing white lady cannot recover them from where she is. Other bot explains they had been a staff bot for so long their original body had been declared braindead and (I believe) their organs were donated for science, meaning they cannot return, they say the glowing white lady says they will slowly fade away in that area, but they're resolved to not die without fighting back against the manager and the hotel. You are able to return to your original body, but only by leaving your memories behind in the bot/suit in the hotel, explaining the fuzzy face in the mirror.
100% correct. You can see a slice of this conversation during the verdict section. Definitely an interesting story.
@@Graeldon Ye I noticed this after writing the comment but figured some people still might wanna know, so i left it.
Just wanted to note that while checking the manager's computer you can see that he's the one that sent you the game and the one that asks you why you ran away at the end
@@pihabi6430 oh wait is it!? they come from different email addresses so I was almost sure they were different people, but I didn't check the computer before I left ;-;
@JuniperHatesTwitterlikeHandles Yeah I think they had the same username, also the bot on the basement tells you that it wasn't the manager's corpse you saw, just his avatar so he would just log in with another one
-256 refers to hexadecimal. 256 is the maximum number of characters in a line of code. -256 would be an underflow glitch hence the deletion of your self identity
What are you talking about when you say 'maximum number of characters in a line of code'? As far as I know there is no programming language which has a hard limit of the number of characters on a line.
When i was a kid i had apendicitis. The stay was a little long after the surgery and the hospital had a... weird programa (?) Where kids who had long stais could get a laptop with ONLY ONE GAME. It was an educativa Game, a weird walking simulator with minigames that You could play on multiplayer with other kids un other hospitals. The opening 3D bar of this Game is EXACTLY how i remember that game and i'm really wondering what's the link here
What if higher tiers ler us pick larry's last name? I cant have larry disapear
This channel is actually the greatest hidden gem on all of UA-cam. I truly believe you’ll hit a million subscribers within the next 2-3 years. Maybe sooner if the algorithm graces you!
That's incredibly kind of you! I'm honestly just happy to have people enjoying my content
Hang on a tid... the "rat mode" causes the text to deform, looking strikingly similar to the unreadable terms of service. I wonder, if you compared the text while in normal mode and rat mode to identify the characters, then used that same key to recode the terms of service, would it be legible?
Possibly! I can confirm that rat mode does not make the terms of service readible, but if you were to use known text to decode the alphabet you could be onto something
I have mixed feelings about this game. Yes, its free and the vaporwave-style is awesome. But the buttonmashing-bug (one of the blood-pools took me minutes to beat, i almost dropped the game at this point) and the crappy labyrinth at the end REALLY hurt the game. Such a short game which made me almost quit two times, isn't a good one in my book. On top of that the game is overshadowed by gems like Paradise Killer and Broken Reality. These two Vaporwave-Adventures completely roflstomp -256. Paradise Killer is actually one of my favourite games in recent years. But anyway, nice video like always Graeldon. Love your series and it was cool to finally see a game i actually played.^^
I agree, the unnecessary amount of clicking for that one pool, and the obtuse maze nearly ruined the game for me. But I think as a free experience this is still a nice experience, even if just to explore and see the care that went into the setting
The ending you made up is so cool and well thought that I now accept it as canon.
Btw I think the memberships idea is nice! I like the option of having a high tier patron name an unknown character (tho I will miss Larry, even if just a little bit).
Amazing job as always!! ❤
At the character name level, you can either use your name, or use Larry if you prefer =)
@@Graeldon I didnt even think of that xd
The dot-matrix style is called dithering, a technique used to make limited colors look better.
I think the best part of the live stream was when the voodoo doll showed up and everyone just started calling him carl
This is quickly becoming my favourite channel to keep up with
Including a rat wizard inevitably feels a ref to Disney, however obscure. Sorcerer's Apprentice and all that.
As you mentioned to go play the game since it's free, I decided to try it myself, and I must say, the last labyrinth was such a drag that I ended up continuing the video up to that point to see what was wrong. Turns out that, even though I DID get the scanner, the NPC decided to not appear. I imagine he's on room 1 and I went elsewhere while meandering the first time around, because going to a single ++ the second time got me straight to him. Nevertheless, I had no clue to solve the maze, and I thought you just needed to get to -256 on the scanner to complete the maze, even though I thought it was a ridiculous ask for a game, but maybe they reeeeally wanted to make you feel the dread of a nearly inescapable corridor or something. So I went ahead and did that, and then, obviously, nothing. I checked the video and when you mentioned the heartbeat, I came back in to check, and none of the tiles gave me heartbeats. Either you need to be close for them to work and I was way too far off or they won't trigger if you never met with the staff member. Thankfully, knowing this, the puzzle wasn't too hard when I quit the game and logged back in, but it was still a frustrating experience, especially since there's no "reset" path, only a +/- path for both integers and decimals.
Aside from that, just wanted to say I really liked your channel. Your idea is pretty novel and fun, and you have a great voice to listen to, with clear pronunciation and a somewhat calming effect. It feels really good to listen to to wind down and laugh, and it's very informative on the games you play with a good sense of dedication and consideration to detail. It's a real delight, even though you must suffer for parts of it considering the task you've set yourself up to. Thank you for your efforts!
I also tried to get the scanner to 256. Still think it's a better solution than the intended one
I’m so happy I found this channel. I got the ‘Member the Alamo video recommended to me and have been watching since. Keep it up!!
I'm glad you're enjoying the content!
That cryptic note from a locker looked a lot like a map for the lower floor tbh, so yeah ^.^'
Btw, I love that 'now that we're horrendously late for our first shift', immediately followed by the NPC's 'You came early today?' XD
It looks like it would be, but it's actually just the code for the pinpad that leads into the storage area =(
I'm glad you enjoyed the video though!
Maybe the NPC was being sarcastic. :P
absolutely loving the series, mate. keep up the great work!
edit: I need that rat wizard background.
I'm glad to hear you're enjoying the series! Welcome to the channel!
Thank you for letting us know there's no jumpscares, you read my mind :D I hate them, they're so cheap
one amazing thing about this game that INSTANTLY blew me away is that it actually takes your real world wallpaper as one of the random wallpapers near the beginning omg.
now this is my type of game:
humorous, bizarre, detailed, smart and unapologetic
This next game seems very, very interesting.
Super happy to see your channel growth! I'm always excited to see a new ep drop to see what's going on in those weird corners of Steam that we never visit :)
i feel like it would probably be a good idea to get some people to help you with this series, considering the insane scope of it.
edit because i just realized this: if you dont get to L and if its not too much to ask, i really hope it would be possible to make a seperate video on Lily's Well, because it is tragically underrated.
Just found your channel an hour ago through Anyway and thanks to UA-cam's algorithm
I am now subscribed and currently binge-watching your channel
Thanks for giving the channel a look, and welcome!
I checked it out and didn't realize the scanner was there. That was an annoying puzzle. But man I loved the hotel sections. I was really hoping for a second floor view of the lobby at some point, but I guess its was not to be.
Same - I saw the balcony in the lobby and was hoping we'd be able to get up there.
There are 4 hidden achievements, here's how to get each of them:
Deviation - Listen to all new staff dialogue options while holding the head (the blood dog vacuum item thingy)
Hidden Staff - Talk to the topiary staff member in the garden
Duck? - In the spawn room, click on the duck painting that's hidden behind the leaning painting
Please, move aside - stand in front of and walk into a guest
You should pin this comment so newcomers can use it
Well, this one's interesting! I believe the guests are people who actually died by common means and are staying at a hotel managed by this criminal and bots who either booted up this game or were in a coma.
Nice vid! Hope you keep finding those gems among the trash!
Certainly found more than I was expecting so far! Around 20% of games have been gems of varying degrees!
small eeny teeny lil ittsy bitsy suggestion, once you got to the floor -256 part, you shouldve turned off the background music of the video to match the tone shift
Man, i skipped straight to the verdict before going through the review. That seemed like such a scary concept. I wish you were on the tram, Graelden.
The most disappointing part of this game was not getting any sort of explanation for all the weird and intriguing things about the hotel.
While I was playing I was like: "A garden with plants grown from blood? Ducks everywhere? A giant eye in the sky that follows you around? What could this all mean?" Well it means nothing I guess, because the ending explains nothing about the hotel itself, only how you got there
J'accuse!
10:52 - 'Thanks to what is either an incredibly lax or incredibly authoritarian rule, all of the lockers are unlocked. Making them “ers”.'
Now, see, I _did_ go and play this game on your suggestion, and I got a bit stuck, and so I read one of the steam guides, one by Mozai that was uploaded, and last updated, back in April. I will now quote from that guide, ahem: 'These lockers don't have locks, making them mere "ers".'
Ah-hah! I am on to you Graeldon, copying jokes from poor defenseless guide writers!
...Either that or it's just a common joke about lockers without locks. Or an example of parallel invention. Defintely one of those 3.
Huh. That's actually a heck of a coincidence. I never checked the guides or discussions because we completed the game while live streaming.
I guess there are just plenty of people that enjoy good puns =)
this one looks lovely. i love the artstyle. Also neat that it's free
Graeldon doing a public service with this content.
Im really love the way u make thes videos❤
I'm happy I stumbled onto this series, but I'm curious, do you refund the crappier games which cost money after playing them? Doesn't Steam complain if you do that too often until they just flat out stop accepting your refunds even if you fall within the criteria? This one was surprisingly pleasant though, the artstyle is neat :D
Welcome to the channel! I do request refunds sometimes, especially for the more expensive games. However, it needs to have been purchased less than 2 weeks ago, and have less than 2 hours of play time.
This rules out a lot of games instantly, especially as I bought a bunch in the latest sale haha
If a game is actually good, I don't refund it
This is the best youtube series
I initially intended to just play this for myself, and I did up to the spoiler point, but as soon as I got in the elevator it lagged to the point of being unplayable (To the fault of my almost decade-old laptop, no doubt), so while I'd have loved to go through it naturally, I had to settle for watching you do it. A shame, cause I played for a good hour, but eh. Still a cool game tho.
(Also, I missed the achievement with the Head)
Once again THE GRAELDON has another wonderfully in-depth review.
This game gave me the same vibes as one game in the Dread X Collection where you play a game in a game (except its scary, you should cover this halloween 😏).
Throw vapour wave into a Liminal/trippy game? Love it 🤙
Glad you enjoyed this one, it was a lot of fun to make!
I should be at that game in around 50 years or so. Sounds doable
@@Graeldon that was my main concern 😂😂😂 i can only imagine how many games start with a number 🥴
I did the (rough) math. Assuming 1 game per week, it'll take about 14-15 years to complete all the numbered games.
@@Graeldon god speed brother, god speed 🥲
Ok I usually don't play games that I watch reviews on being that this is free I'll actually give it a shot thanks man
Just be mindful that the second half is rougher than the first! Check back here if you get stuck on anything =)
@@Graeldon thanks, I'll probably need the help for my gorilla brain
I remember playing this a few months ago but I got stuck at the clothes hanger. With the game being so niche means that I couldn’t find a video about the game. I only found 1 guy in the steam comments linking a UA-cam video but the guy cuts the videos right when you first enter the elevator and never made a follow up video. The gameplay is underwhelming but the visuals are good and have a charm to them. Going through my settings and seeing rat mode gave me a laugh.
Oh you reached -2 I wonder how long it will take to just reach -a let alone the next starting character, I think . should be next.
There seem to be a lot of games starting with a -
-a- is actually the name of the next game on the list, followed by -klaus-. We'll actually be done with the punctuation relatively soon!
Oh hey i played this one! I honestly didnt like it, it had good atmosphere but no direction at all, one thing that I find really cool is that one of the wallpaper settings in the beginning is the wallpaper of your own desktop.
Yoooooo another good one!
It's not perfect, but it's pretty enjoyable!
I think you should call your higher tier paid membership the "Larry tier"
Larrykins?
@Graeldon Sure thing, I enjoy the idea that joining your paid subscription allows people to be part of the Larry family
I couldn't get past the 5x5 puzzle! Thanks for the video tutorial
16:55 "I still don't know what -256 refers to, and at this point, I'm afraid to ask"
TL;DR of the below >> I think it was chosen to reflect the limit of computers storing numbers.
Long Version:
A bit is the smallest unit of data a computer uses. It can store either a 0 or a 1. We usually measure things in bytes, which is made up of 8 bits. A btye could store 256 different values. It could therefore be used to represent the numbers 0 through 255.
If you want to depict negative numbers, you'll need an extra bit to help determine whether what comes after should be positive or negative. So 9 bits would be the same as 8 bits (a byte), but with both positive and negative numbers. However, 0 and -0 are the same thing, and so both to use space more efficiently as well as a decision to treat 0 as positive rather than negative, when working with signed data types, the maximum negative number is 1 larger than the maximum positive number.
Therefore, if you were to use 9 bits to represent a number, and had that number be signed, the minimum it could be would be -256, and the maximum it could be would be +255.
Granted, most modern data types use multiples of 8 bits (shorts are 16, ints are 32, longs are 64, and then floats are 32 just like ints but doing their own thing).
The developer may not have known all of this information. It is possible they thought 9 bits was a perfectly reasonable size for a modern data type. It's also possible they didn't know how many bits they would be working with at all, but had simply heard/known a byte could represent 256 different values, and that bytes could also be used to represent negative numbers (though may not have realized that the addition of negative numbers effectively cuts what you have to work with in half, from -128 to +127).
It's also possible that they had accounted for 0 taking up one of those numbers, making the upper limit 255. If you take an unsigned byte with a value of 250, and you add 6, it will overflow and the final value will be 0. Therefore anything up to and including 255 would be within what a computer could represent, and 256 could represent stepping outside of that limitation or safety. It could also represent the loss of memory of what came before, wrapping back around to the start again. Though in that case they failed to account for the list of negative numbers being 1 larger than positive numbers, since there is no negative 0.
Regardless, given the themes of the game, I believe -256 was chosen intentionally to reflect the lower limit of a more basic data type that a computer can handle. They may have gotten one of more details wrong, resulting in a misunderstanding that for a modern data type, -256 would not be a breaking point, but I believe the spirit is there.
Dang, that's a great explanation! I knew about memory overflow to an extent. If I recall correctly it can happen in games like Pacman and Tetris when you reach the upper limits of levels.
But I had also read that assigning negative values would halve the amount of value available, making the maximum -128 rather than -256. It could be an oversight, as you said.
Either way, I agree that it's likely meant to represent memory overflow
@@Graeldon It is true that signing an integer (i.e. allowing negatives) halves the available space for it to take up, because the bit that would be used to store the other half of the numbers is instead being used to store the sign. In order for -256 to be the breaking point, it would have to be stored in exactly 9 bits, which is highly unusual, as that would take up 2 bytes without even using all the space.
Although on the other hand, 128 just doesn't *feel* enough like a computer number for -128 to stand out, does it? And the larger computer number, 65536, two full bytes, is less instantly recognizable, especially since that's *unsigned* so the actual important number would be -32768 and that's just even worse on the standing-out front.
looking up "-256" returns zero results on steam. and just "256" doesn't bring it up, either, from what I can tell.
I'm glad you had the page link in your description because this game is getting absolutely cucked by the way the search engine works.
It's giving Jazzpunk vibes and I LOVE
Four layers deep!
Nice review 😂
Idky, I am having the hardest time in the maze. The same two floor tiles give me a heartbeat, and I move to a new section. Rinse and repeat ad infinitum
I watched the stream for this one and I still gotta say, this game was so cool but definitely kind of dropped the ball with the last maze bit. The world is super unique and I really love the game's art style so much. Like mentioned before something as simple as moving the scanner table to be in front of you when entering the room would have really helped.
100% agree! When I watched the VOD though, I definitely looked at the table with the scanner, I just didn't pick it up.
Even though it was a weak point, I think the game has enough positives to still warrant being recommended
Thanks for the video :)
I’m not good at storytelling but good at worldbuilding, I ever wonder if some of these dev are the same way or the opposite.
The video hasn’t started yet and I can already tell from the title and thumbnail it’s going to be *interesting*.
it is. it is VERY interesting.
i have a recommendation btw :D! when you mention other games in your series, maybe bring up the thumbnail of the game when mentioning it? it could help boost some other videos!
Thanks, that's a great idea!
I'll do it for everything except 'Member the Alamo though haha
@@Graeldon completely fair lmao
Babe wake up new Graeldon video...!!
Got part way through the video and then realized. I didn't want it spoiled for myself so I will be back after playing the game.
Definitely agree that Larry can’t disappear, at least one character per game that has unnamed characters should be Larry, the last name option is good, but also maybe just every one after the first could be named?
Also, for the patreon patrons, maybe name the ones at the credits the “Larrys” and the ones who paid extra “Named Characters” or “Dramatis Personnae” or some such. Up to you obviously, it’s your increasingly successful channel :)
I Fucking finally found out what the "follow the heart beat" means
its just up down and right, the middle one is up, if the left one pulses you go left, and if its the right one go right. god why couldnt anyone say that
also it took like a minute to lick up that one huge puddles. it hurt
Dang, it was only fifteen seconds when I timed it. Either I got lucky or I'm a fast clicker.
It's certainly not a perfect game, but I hope you enjoyed your time with it regardless
Wait what i still don't understand your explanation
@brunoberti8790 there are 3 marked tiles, stand on them one by one until you find the one that makes a heartbeat sound, and then move in that direction: left, forwards, or right.
The heartbeat only plays if you picked up the scanner, got teleported and then spoke to the staff in that room.
just FYI, the "dot-matrix style" you mentioned at the top is called dithering, I think
Pretty good streak as of lately
It never lasts though
The description interpreted the - as a strike-through
Thanks for catching that, it should be correct now!
Great look for a free indie game.
4:10 Is it really proper isekai without Truck-kun?
I wonder if the duck locker is a James Veich reference.
Besides this, not much to add to the review. Would've loved to have more of the first half of the game, but I suppose you can't expect too much from a free game.
And that day he won the world record for most yeses in 1 minute
That link start at the well start, it’s so familiar but I can’t place
Sword Art Online =)
@@Graeldonah ty!
Yooooooo, that sao reference!!! I'm subbing. Oh wait, I'm already subbed.
11:17 - Very good locker, I mean, er.
I'm noticing a trend that games released for free seem to be higher quality than those released for 2 bucks. Games released for 2 bucks run the risk of being low effort shovelware someone is hoping to make some change off of. Games that are free only run the risk of being bizarre. Or microtransactions, I guess.
I think the free games are free because they tend to be more experimental, or made by passionate devs that just want to share their creation.
Ones below the $5 mark tend to be quick cadh grabs - but not always!
Welcome to hotel california
Spoilers for the endgame....
Only click "show more" if you're sure you don't want spoilers...
14:39 - 'Using the scanner will reveal what appear to be co-ordinates, but unfortunately, without any knowledge of what the target co-ordinate is, this is rendered useless. It's entirely possible I missed a clue that gives you this information, but thankfully this maze can be solved without it.'
I think you never found the intended purpose of the scanner, possibly because you misunderstood something else that was happening. You say earlier that when you go too far, it teleports you back, but that's not what's happening; you're actually jumping *forwards*. You're in a set of "rooms" in a grid, and the scanner shows where you are in the grid. You entered the room at 0.0, and every time you "jump", you've moved one space in whatever direction; right of the entrance is +1.0, left is -1.0, forwards is +0.1, and backwards is -0.1. If you lose your orientation, scan some clothing, walk until you jump, then scan again to see how the number changed. From that, you should be able to find out what direction you're going, and you can use that to get back to 000 and start again, if you need to. That's what the scanner is for; letting you get back to the start of the section if you get lost.
rat mode is legendary
This game is fucking difficult to google
Definitely not making themselves easy to market
I think "-256" video game might work
Looks very similar to Norwood Hotel
Might have enough gameplay to surpass being a walking sim
5:12 I mean, if the player didn't think to move the cursor, they couldn't get to that scene anyway, right?
That was my point. Those controls should have been visible while talking to Larry, that way they are immediately noticable
@@Graeldon No, I meant that you can't get to Larry without moving the cursor.
Yes, but up until that point the cursor has only been used to move an on-screen cursor, a concept the player will already be familiar with.
There's a chance, albeit small, that the player may not associate cursor movement with looking around a 3D space.
It sounds silly, but I've seen people take their hands off the mouse and place both hands on the keyboard, expecting to control it that way.
I wonder what the clips are from
where's the kid from the first part of the intro from?
for the algorithm
What’s the point of the scanner?
Hi man I'm sorry if it's a bother but could you check if there's a previous comment of mine in your "held for review" box? I swear something weirds going on, half the comments I make seem to disappear.
Heya! There doesn't appear to be anything currently held for review, so I'm not sure where your comments have gone =(
Sorry I forgot about this series
Welcome back =)
256 is russian anti-poacher law
Interesting game but definitely nothing for me because just watching the videos gives me a headache with those pixel flickering all the time :(
The artstyle definitely isn't for everyone's tastes and that's okay
I wonder how long till you get to the A.
Approximately 14 years. There's a loooot pf numbered games
@@Graeldon 14 years later: We finally reached the alphabet proper, guys!
Free? Good deal!
Subtitle typo at 2:40 says "expert" instead of "expect"
3:55 every instead of ever
Thanks for spotting those, they are fixed now!
Feel free to let me know if you spot others - it's entirely possible that some may have slipped through
13:55 some instead of same
16:35 missing when
@@Graeldonspotted some more and nice video.
0:52 "at least" missing
So who killed Larry?
vr slave labor
This thumbnail bro
You seem like a good game reviewer, maybe advertiser too (in some cases) be careful not to be sucked into being paid to recommend some shitty games
I don't plan on taking any sponsored game reviews, because the chances are high that it would either compromise the series, or compromise the review itself
@@Graeldon I see! I’m just hoping for you the best.
Have you played vidiot game?
What
Hello Graeldon my gf and i just develop a game and where able to post it on steam and i would really apreciate it if you give it a look!
Hi! I'm not taking requests at the moment (possibly in the future). Games are always reviewed in order, I hope you understand =)
@@Graeldon i do understand thanks for the response
4th