The Single Best Gaming Moment of 2022
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- Опубліковано 20 лис 2022
- There is no band! Il n'y a pas d'orchestre! This is all a tape-recording. No hay banda! And yet we hear a band. | Watch the intended cut of this video and directly support me by joining Nebula at go.nebula.tv/jacob-geller
Watch the intended, uncensored cut of this video on Nebula: nebula.tv/videos/jacob-geller...
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Immortality Explained by Sam Gowing: • Immortality | Story Ex...
Visual Media used: Immortality, Mulholland Drive, Her Story, Telling Lies, Beautiful Darling- The Life of Candy Darling, Women in Revolt, Berlin: Live at Ann’s Warehouse, various concert recordings of Anohni and Lou Reed. Additional footage provided by Getty Images.
Music Used (Chronologically): Allegretto (Beethoven Symphony no. 7), Opening, Life- Supernatural (Immortality), Etude no. 3 for String Quartet (Peter Sandberg), Quiet When Dark (The Tap Room), Art, Religion- Subverted, Religion- Supernatural (Immortality), Ave Maria, Poets (Ciaran Delany), Two of Everything (Immortality). Additional music provided by Epidemic Sound.
Thumbnail Credit: / hotcyder
Description Credit: Mulholland Drive - Ігри
There are 50+ changes between this version on UA-cam and my intended cut on Nebula. Everything from simple imagery (Immortality is a game with a lot of nudity) to full passages that had to be excised from the script. Most meaningfully to me, the video is about music and in the UA-cam cut I can't... play the music. Watch the version that I wanted to make right here: nebula.tv/videos/jacob-geller-the-best-moment-in-a-game-this-year
I always feel a bit sad when I show up to one of these videos, but I have to go back to work or sleep and I don't have anything interesting to comment. It's like showing up to a great party with a loaf of bread. It has some nutritional value, but pales in comparison to the rest of the spread.
@@45545videos The patreon links to the youtube version
@fck peace Jacob didn't forget, he says it pretty clearly at 2:23. The point is to uncover what that game - the clips, the movies (the plot of which he intentionally doesn't go into, because it isn't relevant to the video's topic) and the story around them - is all about.
If you have trouble understanding what Jacob says, you can switch on English subtitles, but that's about all that anyone can do (and I find him pretty easy to understand anyway).
After I was done with the game (and after I watched Adventure Vault's videos on UA-cam of every scene (and subverted scene) in order on UA-cam to make sure I'd seen it all), I thought of how perfect the story would be for one of Wendigoon's deep dives.
Turns out a Jacob Geller video essay is fantastic, also, and a pretty wonderful surprise; if I'd've put money on anyone in this genre covering it first, though, I probably would've gone for Leadhead.
Could you help get James Somerton on Nebula?
Oh boy, new Jacob Geller essay! Cant wait to be existentially horrified by some concept I've never given a second of thought to before!
Annnnnd there it is
Well? Were you?
The dementia video still frightens me
@@littlebreadlive6232 Whats the title?
@@innrex9028 fear of forgetting
Watched this on Nebula but came back here to let everyone know that Jacob knocked it out of the park...again. The nebula version was well worth it and as with most of his work, it will most likely change me as a person for the foreseeable future and against my will. "A kinder, collective immortality", well done.
Wendigoon ‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️
I literally just wrote a comment about how awesome I thought a deep dive by Wendigoon on this story would be, so scrolling down to discover that he's not only aware of it but also deeply engaged with its content is super, super exciting.
Watching this on Nebula was well worth it. The scenes in the original game are haunting to see in their full glory. What a story.
Change your name boy
@@alexspeake9359 fr
I also interpreted the game as the actors becoming immortal through their art. Especially since when you end the game the clips collapse to reveal the one saying "I'm part of you now" cause now that we have seen it all she is always immortal in our memory
It's striking that this literally immortal being still feels a need to achieve immortality through art.
"You're gonna carry that weight."
I think that was entirely the idea. The immortals symbolize the desire to elevate humanity through artistic expressions. There’s a bit where the One discusses how every war has been between the Law and the Artist. It’s a metaphor for the Artist’s side of that endless battle.
I think he does mentioned this in the video near the end. It’s also a well known form of immortality for us as a social species, memetic immortality. People, what they do, what they created are reduced to information and propagated between generations. Only downside is ideas are fickle, they are easy subjects to alteration (be it conscious or unconscious) and being forgotten
@@JosephTheAustin I think the reverse can also be true for them (well at least for the one). Like the one mentioning the war between the law and the artist, might be symbolizing how the one pursuit of understanding/being human through artistic means is like an asymptote because of the nature of their makeup. Ultimately futile attempts that can only get you increasingly closer but never achieve it. An artist’s endless battle
Jacob’s the only UA-camr that I purposefully don’t watch right away because I seriously have to consider playing the games he’s talking about first.
EDIT: I played it, Sam Barlow’s FMV detective games are 3/3. I’m ready to watch this now.
I do the exact same thing lmao... I don't have enough money to watch his videos anymore 😭
I don’t watch at first cuz I dunno if I’m gonna be ready for the existential crisis
same here! i have to wait until i can give his videos my full attention, some things i can just throw on my second monitor and multitask, but his videos are too good not to give it 100% of my attention
Yeah I need to remember this bc I was like nah I don’t need to play this one, these movie clip video games seem dumb to me. I regretted that.
I did this for Disco Elysium and it was an amazing decision. I've never heard a creator be so serious about saying "you need to play this and avoid spoilers", so I took it to heart. What an incredible experience and Jacob's video added so much to it.
I think one part you missed touching on story wise, is that at least part of the reason The One is falling apart at the end is because she attempted to take two forms simultaneously, of both Marissa and the director, in an attempt to fully remove the human element that had caused her previous attempts at art to fail. I see that as why, or at least partially why, the final movie is subjectibely less... artistically significant than the first two. It is fully The One trying to do what they can't, be human, ironically while "being" 2. It's also physically too much to bear, causing The Other to worry, and ultimately for the forms to fall apart
That's a great point
Its also a movie about living as someone else, and how attached to the person you live as you can get. I dont think its less artistically significant, just more personal (and relating very idiosynchratic experience)
Adding on to that, there's the story of The Other that gets missed here (granted, this video focuses more on The One). The Other ends up taking the form of Carl Greenwood to interfere with the making of the second movie. That's why Marissa shoots him during filming (an "accident"). The Other is killed when Carl's body is cremated - the only way to kill an immortal, as described in the interview scene with The One. However, Amy Archer at some point watches Carl's work and in doing so, is somehow taken over by The Other. After the last scene, when The One is immolated by The Other (as Amy), returning to the clips menu causes the clips to fall away, revealing The One. She proclaims that she is now part of us, the audience. I think the game, in-universe, was put together by The Other to allow The One to live on in her art the way that she intended. It says a lot about the way art impacts its viewers and how artists live on in their work. This is a game that will sit with me for the rest of my life.
Excellent point. I remember thinking I had things pretty well figured out until I got to the final film, then found myself puzzled by the director disappearing in the hidden scenes. Eventually came to the same conclusion you did - which makes perfect sense in the context of her needing more / feeling unfulfilled / wanting to create something that was fully hers. God damn this game was brilliant.
This means so much to me. Thank you!
The One and only! You are an utterly breathtaking artist. Thank you for what you do.
You gave a fantastic performance in this game
@@ar6543 thank you!
Absolutely amazing work!
@@karue7581 thank you!
Kinda reminds me a bit of the conclusion to Annihilation (the movie, not the book):
The alien entity starts imitating Lena's form, then movements, behavior and then, finally, to completely replicate her, it imitates her thirst for self-destruction. You can't really experience humanity without experiencing finality.
Glad I'm not the only one who thought of Annihilation when playing this.
Jacob… you made me cry again. The Golem wasn’t enough for you?!? You had to go and create another melancholic yet beautiful gut punch. Well done!
Pretentious twaddle
@@jordangill291 I hope you find someone who will truly love you.
@@LostLargeCats there's plenty who love me. It seems to me, that no one loves you enough. Otherwise you wouldn't come to the comment section of youtube seeking and pretending to like pretentious twaddle.
@@jordangill291 yeah that’ll show em! Goofy ass.
God this is phenomenal. It reminds me strongly of Bo butnham’s “can’t handle this” which I know sounds stupid but in that song he is preforming. He is doing what he is paid to do and he is breaking down. He has said himself that he was having severe panic attacks behind the stage and it almost happens to him live. It’s horrible but in a way it’s beautiful. “Watch as he attempts to give you what he cannot give himself”
I hope you're happy.
@@toppersundquist weirdchamp
@@665Sunshine They're quoting the special, dude.
very hard for me to feel sympathy for bo burnham in the way i do for anyone in this video
@@djscrewfan310 and what did he do, weezerfan310??
Jacob releasing a video is like him walking into my mind house and going "do you mind if I rearrange some things" and after not waiting for an answer, turning the entire room upside down and leaving. And I'm here for it.
I especially love how the three movies reflect how our understanding of The One develops.
Ambrosio is about a young, beautiful girl who is secretly an evil entity.
Minsky is about how art can be used as a tool to mask evil and corruption.
Finally Two of Everything is about the living someone elses life and unique pain and loneliness it caused.
Also I think The One loves art do much because it reflects how she experiences life - she momentarily immerses herself in another persons life, feels their emotions and traumas, but still she is distanced from them and then it ends and another life becomes the focus. Just like watching one movie after another.
Great catch! The meta narrative is brilliant
Holy shit that's a great take
It's a shame Charlotta Mohlin never got a nomination for this year's Game Awards. She stole every scene she's in!
Her performance alone is most of what kept me on this story experience.
Thank you🙂
Wholeheartedly agree. What a shame.
@@charlottakarinmohlin Oh wow it's actually you. What did you think of the interpretation in this video?
@@ericraguzin I thought it was absolutely beautiful.
Jacob, you have such a way of reminding me I'm alive and that I won't always be, and how much more beautiful this time is because of that. Thank you.
this puts my feelings after this video into words, thank you for this comment
The fact that this is a UA-cam video based on a video game based on a song cover of a song,based on an Andy Warhol character, based on a person. It is just a reminder of why I love humans so much.
Absolutely amazing work gave me chills and hope and….just incredible.
When I heard Candy Says, I knew I need to play this. "Candy Says, "I'm come to hate my body and all that it requires in this world,' words I feel in my bones. RIP Candy Darling.
I've been struggling with my trans identity. Not sure if I really am. But that... that weirdly reassured me in a way. That hits really hard.
"I can't remember all the faces". Jesus, what a line.
I cannot stress enough how important watching the Nebula version is. If you are financially able, I highly recommend watching it there. If not, I hope that at some point there is a supportive way to still do so.
i watched it for free, you can watch your first nebula video for free btw
I can’t even count anymore how many times your essays have made me audibly go, “holy shit, Jacob!” For the record, even watching this extremely censored cut, without the proper music, and with no context of the game except what you provided, I broke down when you first showed “the scene”. It’s viscerally affecting in the way something like a Rothko painting is, and I’m not ashamed to say this is far from the first time I’ve had this reaction to your essays. Fucking brilliant work as always, truly one of the best doing it right now
How he manages to do this not once or twice but (nearly) every video is truly something else.
Good lord, the final monologue hits so much harder when you can hear Anohni singing over it.
Also, Jacob was right: that Jesus revelation _was_ nuts. I've never seen another work of fiction that had Jesus as a vampire. I _have,_ however, seen an anime where he had a vampire sister.
Ayy, a Lupin IIIrd fan, in the wild?
Midnight Mass also portrayed Catholics to be bloodthirsty freaks.
The 2021 show Midnight Mass has a Bible X Vampire story written & directed by Mike Flanagan.
Really fantastic show about faith.
It reminds me of the Mandela catalogue, an analog horror video series about Satan secretly taking Jesus' place (and a lot of other things that are hard to follow lol)
Gabriel Knight 3 definitely had a Jesus vampire connection, but I don't remember the details...
I'm so envious of your ability to talk at length of these obscure and specific feelings that you extract from particular scenes. You manage to capture them in their totality, so succinctly, runtime notwithstanding, but even so the time passes so easily. Your videos are an absolute delight.
I love you jacob
Thanks for the shout-out, Jacob! 💙 Immortality is my game of the year, without a doubt. Nothing comes close in terms of subverting and surpassing expectations -- not only in the story being told but the WAY it is being told. It is truly a landmark for videogame narratives.
Your video is fantastic, although I wish I watched yours first!
I would call rather call it a player driven experience than a video game. Not much typical "game" to this experience but pulls you in for the story in an interactive way to make you feel part of the story. Somehow I "finished" it a little over half through discovering everything but went back and found so much that brought the story together. The actors performances are beyond what any typical game presents and bring a lot to the experience.
@@Ianthe1 a game does not need typical gameplay to be a game.
I saw Lou Reed perform with Anohni back in the aughts. He absolutely adored her and her voice and said so up on stage, talking about how she sung his songs better than himself. I'm so glad to see the contents of this song and what it means be represented by a piece of media this way having grown up with it. It's a transcendent song...
The concept of a "vampire" that inherits it's victim's trauma is such an interesting idea to me. It'd be interesting to see it explored in a slightly more, um, comprehensible medium.
Watched on Nebula. I literally wept. I did not know about Anohni, and the extended web of context and meaning between these three entities: Lou Reed, Candy Darling, and Anohni, their public and private existences, and the power of this shared and inherited storytelling. While Geller suggests that the characters aren't specifically transgender (and are in fact beyond gender through their supernatural existence), I'd instead argue that this is one of the foundational trans stories. I am a trans person, and before the question came up in the essay, I immediately recognized trans storytelling. Not that this makes the characters "trans" in the literal sense, of course. Beautiful work. Thank you for sharing this moment with me, as I would have never encountered it otherwise.
Yeah, as another trans person the inclination to see anything involving shapeshifting as a trans allegory is always there, but it felt like this game was screaming it from the earliest shots. ❤️
I'm also trans. I think. I wish I was smart enough to get that.
however.
The lyrics to "Candy Says", specifically "I've come to hate my body, and all that it requires in this world."
Fuck.
It actually kinda stung to hear the essayist stress that this is not a trans story but like, Geller is (presumably) cis and I don't think he's really capable of seeing/feeling exactly how queer and trans this is as he lacks the experiential piece needed. 😅
oh my god! same! before he metioned it, i was like.. this feels like a trans story to me. then i knee slapped myself when he said it.
@@ren-db1ch
How you see or feel about it is irrelevant to whether the artist intends for immortal beings to be trans. This is a terrible argument. The part that is up to you, is how you interpret the art. So obviously if it hits home as an allegory for your trans state of being, then of course thats gonna resonate for you. Which is fine. Its a great thing to find art that speaks to our human condition. However, to bash his analysis or imply that its inaccurate or inauthentic simply because he doesn't happen to be trans is... naive. And entitled.
And short sighted. They are literally immortal beings that swap bodies. They have presumably been men AND woman, many times over.
They are factually beyond gender at that point. Obviously there is a thematic similarity to transgenderism, considering the song choice and singers.
But to just say they are literally just trans and he can't say they arent because he isnt trans is... just an unpleasant take. Be better.
This video made me cry, it's genuinely uncanny how well you manage to just grab me and drag me through every single ounce of emotion you poured into this video, thank you.
Thanks to you Jacob, I have now heard Candy Says for the first time, the original, the cover, and the two singing together....and it brought me to massive tears. It's a work of art, and I thank you dearly for introducing me to it.
You just changed what that game was for me and made me realize that I miss looking at games as art that take us on adventures and tell us stories. I’ve been playing them as time fillers and some games are, but now I want to try to look at them differently. The video brought tears and it was wonderful. Thank you for making it.
It's an experience more than a game at least in the typical "game" sense. If only more story driven games would take note of how well the actors help this story be told with their performances.
FINALLY an essay on Immortality. Thank you very VERY much for exposing people to this masterpiece. Never have I gasped and been locked in place before by a game. Literally petrified cried by the ending.
Got CS/Nebula just to watch this right the first time. Used your code! Thanks!!!
It's an experience not a game in my opinion. Between the story and the actors performances we are just witness to push it along.
This scene was the first one I saw with The One.
The parallel of them both singing, the ambiance and mystery of this character hiding inside the video, and that absolutely amazing acting from Charlotta Mohlin made me feel so many different feelings.
This game was a true work of passion, and one deserving of Immortality.
Thank you!
"It's no Kratos vs Thor but I guess it's OK", I say through a flood of tears & sobbing.
Another fantastic video, Jacob! I instantly went to buy every version of "Candy Says" I could find on iTunes. As someone who didn't really click with Telling Lies or Her Story, I'm happy to see this had such a powerful emotional core that I personally never got from the previous projects. Used my free Nebula sample to watch your preferred version & as other commenters have mentioned it was well worth it.
This will be great to curb my existential dread during my lunch break in a few hours. Love you Jacob
hows that existential dread feeling now? lol
Enjoy your Lunch soon mate!
Sure, this song is transcendent and exemplifies the spirit of the game's title. But Two of Everything is such a bop - my favorite of the soundtrack lol
It's such an earworm. I had that song in my head for days after playing the game.
I loved the game. Convinced a friend to play and we’ve been talking about it for weeks. But I didn’t realize how many scenes I didn’t see. The game ended for me and I never saw the scene you based this video on. I never saw the one in the mirror, or a few of the others shown here. It’s wild how different of an interpretation I got from what I wasn’t shown.
I "finished" the "game" with barely over half the scenes and hidden scenes discovered. Not sure how I managed that but I just followed the story intuitively and didn't bother focusing on certain objects and it lead me to the "ending". Immediately went back to it and started digging through scenes more and more until I fully realized that this isn't a game but an experience. It's a joy to dig through a story as obscure as this one was and especially with the actors performances. So much to be interpreted!
Jacob Geller is one of the few creators who just, routinely, blows my mind with his video essays.
The consistency is impressive.
i just. holy shit. i cannot express how gorgeous this one was (back from the nebula version). The song and its history and its meaning and in that context,,,, i feel like a fish that's been filleted
so where are you going, up or down?
@@innrex9028 up. while I'd love to become an eldritch amalgamation of fish, i just cant pass up the opportunity to be Crispy
Charlotta Mohlin's performance throughout the entire "game" is an absolute experience. And you don't have to be transgender to connect with such a performance of such a great song.
Thank you so much!
@@charlottakarinmohlin Of course!!! Not to put down any of the other great actors but you really brought the whole thing to life. Not just from this single performance. I spent hours digging through all the scenes hoping to find more or your great acting. So thank you! Hope to see you again in future works... possibly a feature movie?!
I was in my last year of high school in 2013 when I stumbled on to Lou Reed. I loved his music and binged it on youtube with my parent's shitty heughs net connection. Growing up on Rush, Radiohead, Frank Zappa, etc from my dad and then discovering Depeche Mode, The Ramones, and The Rolling Stones through my mom I was surprised I never heard of him before. It was about the same week he died too. It was really upsetting to discover him and be excited about him to then learn he passed away.
Now I'm almost 30. I came out as trans a few years ago. It feels affirming to know he was such an ally.
Jacob Geller is the only man who could convince me to buy Nebula
One of the few content creators I can safely assume the video is a banger before I've even watched it
So what I'm getting out of this is that Immortality is like if you placed two pathologic characters in an otherwise "normal" film.
That's exactly what it is.
Immediatly ran to watch it on Nebula. Your essays are sooo good that I really want to watch and listen to without YT's ridiculous restricitions. Thank you for the unchained version
Well, three days later, I finally finished playing the game so I could finish this video.
Honestly one of the best games I've EVER played.
This game reminds me of "the hunger", all the pain that comes from a eternal life, being a vampire, the queer themes, etc. Even the vampire on the game looks a lot like David Bowie
I got those exact same "The Hunger" vibes and the plot also gives off a related feel to Bowie's role as Thomas Jerome Newton in "The Man Who Fell to Earth." Both absolute classics.
And hey, Bowie did produce Lou Reed's best known solo album, even playing acoustic guitar in Walk on the Wild Side.
Incredible video. Immortality hit me super hard with that emotional resonance you speak about, even if a lot of the meaning went over my head until reading about others' thoughts. I'm amazed it got the budget that it did given how niche its appeal is, but hot damn I'm glad it did. One of the best and most unique gaming experiences I've ever had
Honestly when my dad finished the game the best he could say about it is this is what Wes Anderson would do if he had the ability to make video games.
Wes Anderson couldn’t do this if he was immortal
@@seandevine5836 holy shit you killed him!
@@HugoMakesMusic couldn’t kill him if he was immortal
@@screwtapee oop! Yeah you're right! Thank ypu for correcting my *grave* error
@@seandevine5836 Wait, do you not like Wes Anderson? Wes Anderson rules.
You might get this a lot but you truly are my favorite narrator/ storyteller/ writer. Your content is highly underrated.
This game was staggeringly good. I had such a hard time explaining it to people without spoiling it, but my god, what a spectacular showing from each and every actor involved.
I watched on Nebula and have no regrets.
The multi-layered meaning of immortality(/"Immortality"), the mourning of a life one will never get to have, the *music*...just. Tears.
This one will stay with me for a long time.
You are an amazing person Jacob! I loved everything about this and I am glad I could watch the uncensored version of this.
This was gorgeous, I spoiled it for myself, but needed this!! Thanks Jacob!
I was a slacker in school, i never applied myself. always thought it wouldnt be important. Every time i watch one of your videos i am pleased someone took the time to apply themselves. The way you write these video essays captures me, makes me curious. keep up the fantastic work Jacob.
Being a trans woman myself, you have no idea how happy I am everytime I learn about a game out there that talks about, or at least features, transgender people irl respectfully. Candy Says is a goddamn masterpiece and I'll 100% have to play Immortality
Based as fuck
As a trans man, I am even more intrigued by this video now
@@stephen6631 "force society" lmao
Calm down there.
really incredible vid, you got across so well the feelings i have felt knowing there is a life that tugs hard at my heartstrings that i cannot be a part of, and that my imitation of that imagined reality only reinforces how distant i feel from it
Amongst one of the best video essays I have ever listened to, and the single best one by Jacob Geller so far. Absolutely marvelous. Well done, Jacob!
UA-cam really needs to loosen up a bit.
EDIT: Three months later. I now have played it. Holy smokes, the acting in this is stellar. The one leaves such an honest and real impression on me, it feals haunting. I get you now, Jacob. This truly is something special.
Watched on nebula (I think it was free because it was my first video? Idk) and damn, when you got to that scene again and explained it with all the context my eyes watered for real. They really produced something special and human (unironically) with this game
I recently found this channel and I always come away from a video with a new perspective that makes me feel reflective and more well-rounded as a person. My hope is to use this understanding to create my own art/expressions, but even if that never happens, the experience I've gained is enough. Thanks for making these.
Oh wow what a thoughtful and respectful exploration of such a beautiful piece of art. Thank you so much for creating and sharing this!
Fun fact: my prof actually screened this video in class as part of our lesson materials. Initially, I thought this game was artsy shlock, but after seeing this video, I felt an intense urge to download and play the game for myself. I spent like, 3 days trying to find everything, and the moment 'Candy Says' started up, I felt the tears starting. Most times I'd encounter The One in my playthrough, I had such a visceral reaction of fear, but this time, it was strange, artistic, and moving. I can only hope the person who made this game keeps making more games like this.
Immortality feels like a condemnation and a love letter to humanity at the same time. Immortals visit us at our worst as well as our best, and they still struggle to grasp with humanity and feelings. We might not have an endless life like theirs. We might look like flocks of sheep. But we are, inherently, humans, and we are proud of that.
The Other One reminds me of the protag from All Men are Mortals by De Beauvoir, a work that deals with roughly the same subject matter.
Herd somebody reference The One and The Other as Adam and Eve with their wanting to be connected to humanity and the struggles of life and death after being condemned by God. Now they are on a journey of being immortal and struggling to understand their own existence. Seems rather fitting with the many references to Jesus and the devil. Just don't get hung up on the religious aspect and see it as a human experience attempting to be understood.
Thank you so much Jacob, that scene deserves all the resonance in the world because of the matters that involves both inside the story of the game and outside in the real world and for the connection between these two dimensions (which is one of the themes of the game). Thank you so much, really, keep up with the great work you do for video games critic.
this video really did make me cry, thank you
Well that just hit me like a goddamn freight train. I should know by now than to take any of your work lightly, but I'm still caught off guard by the depth of the writing, combined with the exquisite editing and music. This might finally be the thing to make me sign up for Nebula, because frankly I cannot even fathom what your "Director's Cut" looks like.
I really hope I can someday be able to hit emotions in my writing like jacob does some day
I was laying here listening to this in the background and as soon as you started talking about the mechanics and rewinding things to see "the one" I accidentally triggered the skip thing on my earbud.
It took me like 8 minutes of listening to the H3H3 podcast before I realized it wasn't just a clever Geller-ian stylistic skip to a different subject momentarily.
This video made me cry... thank you so much for making it.
Really great work with this one Jacob. That cover of Candy Says is remarkable, and I’m so glad to see it being used in other pieces of art. Nice ETHOS in the intro btw :)
"Unfortunately before my death I had no desire left for life ... I am just so bored by everything. You might say bored to death. Did you know I couldn't last. I always knew it. I wish I could meet you all again." - Candy Darling
As a trans person, this video really moved me. Thank you.
The way you speak of that feeling of what art or the world can give you that you can't really explain was on point. It's a feeling I have experienced with art and life that is incredible. I'm glad this scene did that for you.
Amazing video! This real ly heightened my appreciation (and understanding) of the game, having just finished it.
Even the "clean" version is amazing. You do great stuff, consistently :)
You killed it with this one. Also I immediately started singing along to Two of Everything.
Homie ngl, your vods have actually become a comfort thing, both being calm and nice to watch, but also subtly helping me understand things my school English classes couldn't, thanks man
Amazing! This and your essay on Before Your Eyes have brought me to tears
Holy shit. I knew I liked you, but when I saw that you straight made a video on an idea I shared... It just cements my opinion of you. I 100% felt this was the best scene in any game made this year and one of my favorite video games of all time. I posted this moment on my Facebook and, of course, no one I knew understood what I was going on about. I can't tell you how many times I rewatched this moment and teared up at it and all its glory. Thank you, Jacob for somehow mirroring my tastes in things and for the awesome work you do. I wish I knew people like you in the real world.
the nebula version made me cry, your videos are truly one of a kind. Thank you for what you do.
Got goosebumps watching this, amazing work as always
multiple times this video gave me intense chills and goosebumps
your videos are just amazing
Soooo its not very often I watch things that stump me because I recognise something from a few decades ago. Jacob, I've listened to a few of your video essays and found them superb. I couldn't see a situation where I'd actually play Immortality (I've waaay too little time to do that) so I listened to your video. The Cyndi / trans explanation at the start kindof threw me as I never knew that bit of history. Your video explained the mystery brilliantly, and by the time you revealed who the real-life signer was being played in the game I thought "I've got to listen to this". Turns out I had listened to her... about 20 years ago on the other side of the planet, and never saw her face so never recognised her until I heard her almighty unmistakable voice. Immediately I read into this the real-life connection from USA's Warhol's Cyndi, to my Welsh musical tastes 20 years ago, to listening in New Zealand your explanation of the game mystery. Genuinely put shivers up my back when I considered the immortality concepts you discussed, and how Cyndi's story story had morphed and followed me across oceans. Sorry, this was poorly written but I'm very busy today and wanted to take time out to say thank you. Am genuinely stunned by this video and its connections.
It’s artists that create features like this for very little money or recognition that inspire me the most to create art that is important to me and no one else.
I come back from work, see a new video of yours. The day couldn't have been better. Thank you kind sir.
Jacob, you're incredible. You tell stories so wonderfully and it is so good it hurts.
I think you have a more sympathetic, philosophical interpretation of the immolation footage, which makes the game as a whole take on a more hopeful tone. When I played it, I read that scene very much within the game canon. I got a "The one's gonna do to you what the other one did to amy. Congrats, the one is inside you as we speak!" sort of message out of it, so I got more unnerved than anything.
Just watched this on nebula and my god. This truly is such a beautiful thing, transcendental in nature.
The idea of immortality through expression is something which has been a driving force making me pursue art. But the perspective and way you word it, it adds a whole new perspective.
I have always viewed it that our art can live on for hundreds of years after we die through people consuming it. But I see it as so much more now. I have always had a hope deep in my heart that I could one day inspire others to pursue their dreams, but I see from this that that is the entire point. Not a wonderful byproduct but the whole point.
Absolutely profound. I truly thank you for this.
I believe videos like this on platforms like nebula will be the source of your own immortality, Jacob. There's very few videos that you create that don't live in the back of my mind, slowly changing everything I see and put into the world.
Watched the Nebula Version and I gotta say, I love the fact that you were able to go so in-depth with this game and yet there is so much more that could be analyzed, that’s a sign of a really affecting piece of work
Every time I thought I had figured out Ambrosio, it kept getting way more twisted than I could have expected. This "game" did something completely new, in my opinion. The way it plays with your minds natural tendency to want to link together a story, and how the snippets lure you into inevitable assumptions of "Oh, it's that kind of thing"
Your content is so great it deserves to cost tons of money, but you’re still putting it up on UA-cam for free. Thanks for that!
I played both Telling Lies and Immortality. Loved the journeys of both games but felt underwhelmed by the time the credits rolled on each. You legitimately gave me a whole new appreciation for Immortality, and now I want to go back and see what I missed in it. Fantastic video.
It took time, but you got me. I'm now subscribed to Nebula for a year cause I love your essays so gosh darned much.
The second movement of Beethoven’s 7th is so atmospheric and moving and I just live it so much
Really enjoy your deep dives into these wild video games! that i never heard of and prob. will never play!💯👍 Great Job!
That lip sync clip reminded me of Mulholland Drive's Llorando scene. So powerful and unsettling at the same time
I’m sobbing, absolutely another hit. Thanks Jacob ❤
Coming from Nebula -- what a beautiful video. I never would have expected from the title that this video would veer into talking about the exact deep sandess and grief I'm processing as a trans person right now but here I am. Jacob truly never disappoints.
Man, if I had played this game on my own I would've just not gotten it and rated it super low because "wtf am I playing"
I'm glad you've digested this for us
Another video leaving me floored. A wonderful essay, highly worth watching on Nebula. Great work Jacob!
Brilliant video as always, the effort and passion put into your channel is fantastic!