Great video! I found your channel through the Umineko video and have been watching the majority of your videos. Thanks for making them! I'm looking forward to the FFXIV video (if you decide to make it).
That was a really interesting video. I also found you from that Umineko video having recently completed reading it myself (with having finished Higurashi last year), but it's really interesting to see how you approach these analysis with deconstruction of the philosophical, historical, or biblical contexts that these tales draw themes and topics from before presenting their own derivative approach to a tale. The discussion of Kierkegaard was particularly interesting; I like how you highlighted the methods that the game conveys the ideas he described while also having their variation of him be deceased so quickly. It was a fun listen. NieR Replicant is my personal favorite game of all time with Rain World and Umineko shortly after, so this has been a nice start to checking out your channel before I head to other book titles to see your thoughts on them. In case it's of interest to know, there actually was a NieR 3, being NieR Re[in]carnation. It was a gacha game and the gameplay was fairly poor and it was a mobile title only and also just had its end of service, but it is officially considered "NieR 3" despite that and tackled a lot of similar topics and themes to the other titles. It's the weakest of the three in my opinion but the story and tale was tackled in a beautiful way and I feel like it could easily be the bookend to the series. There is a Google Doc on r/drakengard on Reddit if you want to see how you can best experience the game content nowadays since it shut down (mostly consists of watching UA-cam videos), but I figured I'd mention it since it's the most unheard of entry in the series and yet a very wonderful one, albeit extremely flawed and now dead in the water. I'll have to listen to more of your videos, looking forwards to listening to them and I'm having a good time so far. Cheers!
Thank you so much for your comment! Yeah I also played NieR ReI and was pretty underwhelmed, I definitely played up to the point they make you pay so I never saw how it ended because I only kinda cared so I might as well watch it sometime. To me its more of a spin off but Yoko Taro has a funny habit of saying every single spinoff and 2B crossover is 'canon' lol.
@@leafread2429 Interestingly, it's much less "spinoff" and more... I don't want to spoil anything, but I can't imagine playing it without Automata knowledge and it had to have been made with Replicant 1.22 in mind because it really could be a finale to the series... if it was actually remotely fun on gameplay! Such a shame it fails as a game given how much work went into everything else. Unrelated though, I watched a bit more of your videos and they've been consistently really interesting hearing more insight on the themes and approaches; Macbeth is a good example because the thoughts on how it's not recommended to read because of how much more meant for a performance. I think it highlights how important the medium is to telling a story the best way they can, especially in case like NieR and Umineko, given how much they can utilize and take advantage of it for narrative purposes. Bernkastel's game, Ange's choice, Ending E, the novel scenes in NieR and the sidequests and perspectives, it's all just really cool. These videos make me kind of want to read a lot more as well. I haven't read nearly as much in past years with other responsibilities in the way, but there are some classics I never got a chance to check out and this feels like a good excuse to. I've found myself reading more lately in general thanks to trying visual novels like The House in Fata Morgana and When They Cry, so that combined with your videos is a nice push to try reading a bit more! That's pretty much all I wanted to say, a shame these videos don't have too many views (though it makes sense since I imagine analysis of classic book titles by some random guy on UA-cam aren't something everyone's going to click on), but I appreciate the quality and am looking forwards to more (including that FFXIV one; I did not expect "literary classics channel" to be where I'll end up seeing an analysis on an MMO, but I'm not complaining). That's all, thank you!
Thank you for another wonderful analysis. I also really love this game, but have had a hard time recommending it to people for the exact reason you mention at the end of the video. I think that many people disregard it as a "sexy anime girl" game because of the popularity of the characters in cosplay and fan-art. It can be difficult to overcome that first impression.
Personally I don't care for (most) stories about humanizing robots, but I still found this vid interesting. There's great value in fiction that can boil down philosophical concepts from an entirely abstract context to one anchored in good characterization. Also, do you like the philosophical aspects of technology? If so you should review Fanged Noumena.
I haven't played the game so I don't know the context of what "being connected to the network" means, but it seems like it's an obvious parallel to being in a perfectly Edenic state that you have to leave in order to gain an individual identity. I've often thought that there's a clear thematic parallel between digital space and spiritual space insofar as they're an idealistic, immaterial realm that exists "above" normal reality.
@@christopherh760 it is very much a disconnection like pulling out the LAN cable rather than disconnecting from a collective consciousness I haven't read Fanged Noumena myself because to my knowledge Land went off the deep end, but if I'm understanding correctly then you're right in the disconnection being similar to stepping out of the Garden of Eden; while you don't have to leave to gain an individual identity, to leave is to wipe the slate clean in regards to all expectations and preconceived notions and to simply begin anew again Also, I feel like a good work that approaches the subject of the parallels between digital and spiritual space and where humanity begins/ends with the merging of the physical and digital is Ciconia no naku koro ni. Both in its writing and in its aesthetics it very much encourages the reader to think about the connections between the physical, spiritual, and digital self
I really do like the idea of a digital Eden, something that was done pretty well at the end of SOMA. But in NieR its not quite the same, its more like a collective consciousness run by unseen hands, true if they leave they can then die but I never got the vibe the network was some kind of paradise (although it should be), until the end of the game when they are aboard the ark. I just realized that the end of NieR and SOMA are VERY similar lol. But I will have to give Fanged Noumena and eventually Ciconia a try.
@@lowkeyalextho Land is probably less off the deep end now then when he was doing his thing with the CCRU, I always considered him more a fun to experience thinker than a serious one. I was planning on reading Ciconia when it got finished but at this rate that might be never so I may have to change that, especially if it can scratch that itch for some Lain-esqe cybernetic stuff.
Great video! I found your channel through the Umineko video and have been watching the majority of your videos. Thanks for making them! I'm looking forward to the FFXIV video (if you decide to make it).
Its definitely something I have in my plans!
That was a really interesting video. I also found you from that Umineko video having recently completed reading it myself (with having finished Higurashi last year), but it's really interesting to see how you approach these analysis with deconstruction of the philosophical, historical, or biblical contexts that these tales draw themes and topics from before presenting their own derivative approach to a tale. The discussion of Kierkegaard was particularly interesting; I like how you highlighted the methods that the game conveys the ideas he described while also having their variation of him be deceased so quickly. It was a fun listen. NieR Replicant is my personal favorite game of all time with Rain World and Umineko shortly after, so this has been a nice start to checking out your channel before I head to other book titles to see your thoughts on them.
In case it's of interest to know, there actually was a NieR 3, being NieR Re[in]carnation. It was a gacha game and the gameplay was fairly poor and it was a mobile title only and also just had its end of service, but it is officially considered "NieR 3" despite that and tackled a lot of similar topics and themes to the other titles. It's the weakest of the three in my opinion but the story and tale was tackled in a beautiful way and I feel like it could easily be the bookend to the series. There is a Google Doc on r/drakengard on Reddit if you want to see how you can best experience the game content nowadays since it shut down (mostly consists of watching UA-cam videos), but I figured I'd mention it since it's the most unheard of entry in the series and yet a very wonderful one, albeit extremely flawed and now dead in the water.
I'll have to listen to more of your videos, looking forwards to listening to them and I'm having a good time so far. Cheers!
Thank you so much for your comment! Yeah I also played NieR ReI and was pretty underwhelmed, I definitely played up to the point they make you pay so I never saw how it ended because I only kinda cared so I might as well watch it sometime. To me its more of a spin off but Yoko Taro has a funny habit of saying every single spinoff and 2B crossover is 'canon' lol.
@@leafread2429 Interestingly, it's much less "spinoff" and more... I don't want to spoil anything, but I can't imagine playing it without Automata knowledge and it had to have been made with Replicant 1.22 in mind because it really could be a finale to the series... if it was actually remotely fun on gameplay! Such a shame it fails as a game given how much work went into everything else.
Unrelated though, I watched a bit more of your videos and they've been consistently really interesting hearing more insight on the themes and approaches; Macbeth is a good example because the thoughts on how it's not recommended to read because of how much more meant for a performance. I think it highlights how important the medium is to telling a story the best way they can, especially in case like NieR and Umineko, given how much they can utilize and take advantage of it for narrative purposes. Bernkastel's game, Ange's choice, Ending E, the novel scenes in NieR and the sidequests and perspectives, it's all just really cool.
These videos make me kind of want to read a lot more as well. I haven't read nearly as much in past years with other responsibilities in the way, but there are some classics I never got a chance to check out and this feels like a good excuse to. I've found myself reading more lately in general thanks to trying visual novels like The House in Fata Morgana and When They Cry, so that combined with your videos is a nice push to try reading a bit more! That's pretty much all I wanted to say, a shame these videos don't have too many views (though it makes sense since I imagine analysis of classic book titles by some random guy on UA-cam aren't something everyone's going to click on), but I appreciate the quality and am looking forwards to more (including that FFXIV one; I did not expect "literary classics channel" to be where I'll end up seeing an analysis on an MMO, but I'm not complaining). That's all, thank you!
Fantastic analysis. That Bach part was really interesting.
Thank you for another wonderful analysis. I also really love this game, but have had a hard time recommending it to people for the exact reason you mention at the end of the video. I think that many people disregard it as a "sexy anime girl" game because of the popularity of the characters in cosplay and fan-art. It can be difficult to overcome that first impression.
Very good video! I played Nier Automata and loved it
just started watching it LETS GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Personally I don't care for (most) stories about humanizing robots, but I still found this vid interesting. There's great value in fiction that can boil down philosophical concepts from an entirely abstract context to one anchored in good characterization. Also, do you like the philosophical aspects of technology? If so you should review Fanged Noumena.
I haven't played the game so I don't know the context of what "being connected to the network" means, but it seems like it's an obvious parallel to being in a perfectly Edenic state that you have to leave in order to gain an individual identity. I've often thought that there's a clear thematic parallel between digital space and spiritual space insofar as they're an idealistic, immaterial realm that exists "above" normal reality.
@@christopherh760 it is very much a disconnection like pulling out the LAN cable rather than disconnecting from a collective consciousness
I haven't read Fanged Noumena myself because to my knowledge Land went off the deep end, but if I'm understanding correctly then you're right in the disconnection being similar to stepping out of the Garden of Eden; while you don't have to leave to gain an individual identity, to leave is to wipe the slate clean in regards to all expectations and preconceived notions and to simply begin anew again
Also, I feel like a good work that approaches the subject of the parallels between digital and spiritual space and where humanity begins/ends with the merging of the physical and digital is Ciconia no naku koro ni. Both in its writing and in its aesthetics it very much encourages the reader to think about the connections between the physical, spiritual, and digital self
I really do like the idea of a digital Eden, something that was done pretty well at the end of SOMA. But in NieR its not quite the same, its more like a collective consciousness run by unseen hands, true if they leave they can then die but I never got the vibe the network was some kind of paradise (although it should be), until the end of the game when they are aboard the ark. I just realized that the end of NieR and SOMA are VERY similar lol. But I will have to give Fanged Noumena and eventually Ciconia a try.
@@lowkeyalextho Land is probably less off the deep end now then when he was doing his thing with the CCRU, I always considered him more a fun to experience thinker than a serious one. I was planning on reading Ciconia when it got finished but at this rate that might be never so I may have to change that, especially if it can scratch that itch for some Lain-esqe cybernetic stuff.
@@leafread2429 Thanks, I will have to give both Nier and SOMA a shot for sure.
gonna go play nier now!!