As promised I came back to watch this after I played the game! It was one of the best gaming experiences I have ever had and the characters, dialogue, artstyle and music were all 10/10! I really wish I could play all Melos and Marina's games for the first time again! Your video was beyond beautiful, it kept me company for days as I watched it bit by bit. It really made me think even more about the game's themes! Your channel is truly a gem!
I'd love to watch this since I loved your videos about the other analgesic production games but I still have not played it since it's not out on playstation yet. I will definitely come back and watch this in the future though :D
Yes!! Can't wait to watch through this. The game is great and it's obvious that you put alot of work into this. Thank you for all the effort. Keep it up!!
Now that it is officially out I can leave a comment to say that THIS VIDEO KICKS ALL OF THE BUTT! Seriously, this is exactly what I wanted out of a Sephonie deep-dive video. I’m really glad you shared this in the Analgesic discord, now I got to check out the rest of your work
I am so glad you made a video about sephonie, I've been really anticipating it since it's my favorite game from Analgesic Productions and I really like your analysis of their previous games... However I'll have to schedule to watch it in one go later 😂 Nice title though 👀
@@yoppimedia Imma be honest I couldn't wait for a perfect time and started watching in multiple parts 😅 But your chapters & the way you handle the rythm in your video made that really easy and intuitive to do ! So congrats and thank you ❤
I kept procrastinating beating this game, guess this essay will be my kick in the ass to finally do so, lol. Until then, have this little comment for the algorithm!
amazing analysis and fantastic video as usual!! ❤ you really went all out on this one and your talent, passion, and dedication are clear. thank you for creating such terrific videos about these beautiful, fascinating games! i'm going to be reflecting on this for weeks to come! i especially loved your interpretation of the very cryptic ending of the game. keep up the awesome work!! 😊
I'm so glad you poured so much love into this video. I have hardly seen any talk about this game online, and I just finished it and had so many thoughts. I really love your work but this is definitely one of your best videos. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts about Angeline Era when that comes out!
I really liked what you've done here! Explaining the themes, gameplay and story beats so seamlessly -- it didn't feel like I watched a whole 3 hour video. This video did a good job laying out some of the nuances of the topics covered here. From viewing the interpretations from the video, these are the things that stood out to me (maybe some themes from the game I don't entirely agree with): CONNECTION & CREATION: It's easy to say that we "all need connection". But it's harder to practically implement in real life (individually and collectively). Without a magical technology (like Onyx) that connects peoples minds "directly", this wish for connection sounds a lot more like misdirected wishful thinking. We can never truly understand each other, because we can never truly understand ourselves. We can only act on who we are in the present. Everything is constantly (but usually subtly and slowly) changing because of the interaction between different things. This applies to embodied conscious beings such as us-- we are always in the process of becoming. "Direct connection" is a myth. The only way something can connect to another without compromising their unique differences is through a created medium. By choosing to participate in this created medium, whatever intended message is sent from one to another is transformed and re-contextualized. There is no such thing as one-to-one communication, once something enters a different medium it is transformed and changed. A part of the "original" intent can be there, but it is ultimately its own apart from it. So maybe instead of fixating on "connection" or lack thereof, maybe what we should be focusing on is creation. After all, all of nature is just processes of creation -- remaking and changing one another. We should create spaces wherein difference can be expressed, recognized and genuinely appreciated. Without falling into any illusions about "truly understanding". Giving people the means to create openly and intimately (subverting the privileged and exploitative systems of capitalism). Also acknowledging that the world or nature isn't just passive or inert matter that we can act on. But the world itself and non-human life acts on us, moves us, inspires us with creativity-- life is a two-way street. SELF & BODY: I really do think the game seems to convey that the basis of our sense of Self comes from our kinesthesia (bodily-movement sense). Not as separate bodily sensations-- but as one whole being. A bounded-boundlessly systemic process -- a body. I think that's why sephonie is both the disparate island and the bodily manifestation from the intertwined memories of amy, ing-wen and riyou. It wasn't until encountering something Other than you that actually form your Self. As important as our various languages are in creating our Self, our most basic and universal language has been the movement of our bodies (walking, posture, dance etc.). NATION & DISTINCTION: Although the background of the characters are Taiwanese, I feel like I can relate to their country's history since I'm a Filipino🇵🇭. The Philippines was just an archipelago of separate islands and tribes trading with others. Until it was colonized by Spain, then America, then Japan in WW2, then America again to prepare us for "independence". Many of the older generation of Filipino and even some today have a "colonial mindset"-- they view foreign products and culture as superior to our own. We also have China breathing down our necks due to the dispute over the West Philippine sea -- a long ass topic I don't have time or energy to get into in detail. I can also relate to how the characters sometimes feel alienated from their own country's culture due to separation from it at an early age. My family and I went to live abroad in New Zealand when I was fairly young. When we forced to come back to the Philippines I really did have a sense of culture shock. I guess maybe the difference between Taiwan and us is that there is no (unified) "Philippine culture" as such. Much of Philippine culture has been influenced by our past colonial masters. There's no escaping that fact. Some say (like I used to) that we need to look back to the pre-colonial era of the Philippines to find our "true heritage", finding it within our indigenous tribes all around our islands. As much as I value the culture that was preserved thanks to our indigenous communities--we won't find the solution to our current national identity crisis by recovering our past. We can take some inspiration from it but we would need to accept moving forward and perhaps creating our own Philippine culture here-and-now that synthesizes past and present. spent way too much time writing this comment lol... good vid overall. gonna watch your other stuff, take care & keep it up yoppi
for me sephonie was about connections, and the contrast between in the moment feelings, when memories are forged and the connections are the most important thing, versus long term thought, in which memories are reviewed, and bonds break if not maintained. And I am someone who enjoyed the game without as much research or appreciation as you. But now that you mention the cyan flowers are like the energy flowers from ETO, I think Sephonie is like a great Biome, rebuilt after the world was flooded, maybe? But also has the puzzles in core that are like the power plant, so they took parts from those to build their core, remnants of the most dangerous organisms of the past world in the most dangerous place. And also also, ETO has ruins of what look like our world so I shouldn't take things so literally. But it is fun. I suppose the connections between the themes of the two games is a reason to use similar asthetics.
Awesome video dude! Helped me connect even more to this game I like. Do you have a favorite character? I really like Ing-wen and Riyou! I think all are very likeable though. One thing I wanted to say is that the core striked me more as a benign tumor then a brain, I can get both though. Thanks for all your hard work you poured into this video!
thnx 4 da kind wordz! id say a combo of ing wen and riyou is what i related to most, and if i had to pick, id say riyou cuz i want to wear that jacket irl so bad lol
It's been long since i played and it feels like the experience was fleeting yet changed me permanently in a way i can't really explain for sure. It made me feel connected, understood, like my thoughts were actually valid despite criticism, made me aware of the diversity and similarities between people all around the world. Overall it was an unique experience that truly touched me to my core
I was looking forward to this game coming to PS5 for more than a year, and once it finally did I was excited to go in as blind as possible. Immediately I found the worldbuilding odd, and not in any similar way to the rest of Analgesic's works: though it was clearly set in the real world, the characters spoke about "Atlantis" with the same mundanity as Bloomington, Illinois. Clearly something's going on here, and the other shoe will drop soon, right? It took until well past the game's halfway point, during a flashback scene in which Ing-wen gets angry at an American for confusing her country with Thailand, for the world's dumbest asshole (i.e. me) to realize the console ports of the game were censored. Every mention of Taiwan was scrubbed in favor of "Atlantis"; Taiwanese became "Atlantean"; even China was replaced with "Greece" (I'm not sure what Kaohsiung and Taipei became, since I didn't know to look for them when they were mentioned). There are a lot of stories in which those kinds of changes would just be politically disagreeable, but in a game as deeply and intimately personal as Sephonie they're less "censorship" and more "castration." I'm not sure whether that decision came from the console publisher Ratalaika or from one of the platform holders, but in either case, selling the game in this state is a travesty. I really appreciate all the time and effort you put into making this video; on one hand, it felt like reopening an old wound, but on the other hand it gave me some much-needed closure for a truly special experience that was ruined for me. Your videos on the other Analgesic games were wonderful as well, and I'm looking forward to your ICO video once I finally get around to playing that!
hiya, yoppi! i have an Analgesic question: i made a new friend the other day, and i was looking for ur Anodyne2 video. the plan was to say “check out this video to get an idea of what Anodyne2 is like, but only stop watching once you’re sufficiently convinced to try out the game for yourself. do you have plans to redo them or republish them? either way, i’m wishing you the best
ive been protecting myself in different ways due to some personal stuff. i privated some vids. forgot i privated that one, im more comftorable unprivating vids now so ill do that. thnx for reminding c:
@@yoppimedia 💞🩹❤️🩹🙏🏾 i too have felt the need to engage in a similar form of online self-care. like cultivating bonsai trees, “we cut & we grow” -lyrics from a Kelela song
As promised I came back to watch this after I played the game! It was one of the best gaming experiences I have ever had and the characters, dialogue, artstyle and music were all 10/10! I really wish I could play all Melos and Marina's games for the first time again!
Your video was beyond beautiful, it kept me company for days as I watched it bit by bit. It really made me think even more about the game's themes! Your channel is truly a gem!
yes! I was hoping you'd do a video on this!
i hadda do it for the gary tuttle's of the world, you know me
I'd love to watch this since I loved your videos about the other analgesic production games but I still have not played it since it's not out on playstation yet. I will definitely come back and watch this in the future though :D
Yes!! Can't wait to watch through this. The game is great and it's obvious that you put alot of work into this. Thank you for all the effort. Keep it up!!
Now that it is officially out I can leave a comment to say that THIS VIDEO KICKS ALL OF THE BUTT! Seriously, this is exactly what I wanted out of a Sephonie deep-dive video. I’m really glad you shared this in the Analgesic discord, now I got to check out the rest of your work
truly every single butt
I am so glad you made a video about sephonie, I've been really anticipating it since it's my favorite game from Analgesic Productions and I really like your analysis of their previous games... However I'll have to schedule to watch it in one go later 😂 Nice title though 👀
i commend the watching in one go, that's some dedication lol
@@yoppimedia Imma be honest I couldn't wait for a perfect time and started watching in multiple parts 😅 But your chapters & the way you handle the rythm in your video made that really easy and intuitive to do ! So congrats and thank you ❤
@@JalikMetagram yayay! so glad u had a good time watching c:
I kept procrastinating beating this game, guess this essay will be my kick in the ass to finally do so, lol. Until then, have this little comment for the algorithm!
rolli, u will love sephonie as much as i love ur thoughtful comments on my analgesic vids lol thnx 4 always supportin!!
Analgesic Productions does it again, making me feel things-
The context and deep dive are super enjoyed and super interesting!
This has been in my backlog since summer and I still haven't found the right time to play it :/
Stoked that this video is almost 3 hours though :3
amazing analysis and fantastic video as usual!! ❤ you really went all out on this one and your talent, passion, and dedication are clear. thank you for creating such terrific videos about these beautiful, fascinating games! i'm going to be reflecting on this for weeks to come!
i especially loved your interpretation of the very cryptic ending of the game. keep up the awesome work!! 😊
I'm so glad you poured so much love into this video. I have hardly seen any talk about this game online, and I just finished it and had so many thoughts. I really love your work but this is definitely one of your best videos. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts about Angeline Era when that comes out!
Thank you so much for putting this together!!!
never heard of this game but this is interesting
I really liked what you've done here! Explaining the themes, gameplay and story beats so seamlessly -- it didn't feel like I watched a whole 3 hour video. This video did a good job laying out some of the nuances of the topics covered here.
From viewing the interpretations from the video, these are the things that stood out to me (maybe some themes from the game I don't entirely agree with):
CONNECTION & CREATION: It's easy to say that we "all need connection". But it's harder to practically implement in real life (individually and collectively). Without a magical technology (like Onyx) that connects peoples minds "directly", this wish for connection sounds a lot more like misdirected wishful thinking.
We can never truly understand each other, because we can never truly understand ourselves. We can only act on who we are in the present. Everything is constantly (but usually subtly and slowly) changing because of the interaction between different things. This applies to embodied conscious beings such as us-- we are always in the process of becoming.
"Direct connection" is a myth. The only way something can connect to another without compromising their unique differences is through a created medium. By choosing to participate in this created medium, whatever intended message is sent from one to another is transformed and re-contextualized. There is no such thing as one-to-one communication, once something enters a different medium it is transformed and changed. A part of the "original" intent can be there, but it is ultimately its own apart from it.
So maybe instead of fixating on "connection" or lack thereof, maybe what we should be focusing on is creation. After all, all of nature is just processes of creation -- remaking and changing one another. We should create spaces wherein difference can be expressed, recognized and genuinely appreciated. Without falling into any illusions about "truly understanding".
Giving people the means to create openly and intimately (subverting the privileged and exploitative systems of capitalism).
Also acknowledging that the world or nature isn't just passive or inert matter that we can act on. But the world itself and non-human life acts on us, moves us, inspires us with creativity-- life is a two-way street.
SELF & BODY: I really do think the game seems to convey that the basis of our sense of Self comes from our kinesthesia (bodily-movement sense). Not as separate bodily sensations-- but as one whole being. A bounded-boundlessly systemic process -- a body. I think that's why sephonie is both the disparate island and the bodily manifestation from the intertwined memories of amy, ing-wen and riyou. It wasn't until encountering something Other than you that actually form your Self.
As important as our various languages are in creating our Self, our most basic and universal language has been the movement of our bodies (walking, posture, dance etc.).
NATION & DISTINCTION: Although the background of the characters are Taiwanese, I feel like I can relate to their country's history since I'm a Filipino🇵🇭. The Philippines was just an archipelago of separate islands and tribes trading with others.
Until it was colonized by Spain, then America, then Japan in WW2, then America again to prepare us for "independence".
Many of the older generation of Filipino and even some today have a "colonial mindset"-- they view foreign products and culture as superior to our own.
We also have China breathing down our necks due to the dispute over the West Philippine sea -- a long ass topic I don't have time or energy to get into in detail.
I can also relate to how the characters sometimes feel alienated from their own country's culture due to separation from it at an early age. My family and I went to live abroad in New Zealand when I was fairly young. When we forced to come back to the Philippines I really did have a sense of culture shock.
I guess maybe the difference between Taiwan and us is that there is no (unified) "Philippine culture" as such. Much of Philippine culture has been influenced by our past colonial masters. There's no escaping that fact. Some say (like I used to) that we need to look back to the pre-colonial era of the Philippines to find our "true heritage", finding it within our indigenous tribes all around our islands.
As much as I value the culture that was preserved thanks to our indigenous communities--we won't find the solution to our current national identity crisis by recovering our past. We can take some inspiration from it but we would need to accept moving forward and perhaps creating our own Philippine culture here-and-now that synthesizes past and present.
spent way too much time writing this comment lol... good vid overall. gonna watch your other stuff, take care & keep it up yoppi
for me sephonie was about connections, and the contrast between in the moment feelings, when memories are forged and the connections are the most important thing, versus long term thought, in which memories are reviewed, and bonds break if not maintained.
And I am someone who enjoyed the game without as much research or appreciation as you. But now that you mention the cyan flowers are like the energy flowers from ETO, I think Sephonie is like a great Biome, rebuilt after the world was flooded, maybe? But also has the puzzles in core that are like the power plant, so they took parts from those to build their core, remnants of the most dangerous organisms of the past world in the most dangerous place.
And also also, ETO has ruins of what look like our world so I shouldn't take things so literally. But it is fun. I suppose the connections between the themes of the two games is a reason to use similar asthetics.
I was playing around with debug mode and clipped through the wall in layer one. If you have not done this I highly recommend it.
Awesome video dude! Helped me connect even more to this game I like.
Do you have a favorite character? I really like Ing-wen and Riyou! I think all are very likeable though.
One thing I wanted to say is that the core striked me more as a benign tumor then a brain, I can get both though.
Thanks for all your hard work you poured into this video!
thnx 4 da kind wordz! id say a combo of ing wen and riyou is what i related to most, and if i had to pick, id say riyou cuz i want to wear that jacket irl so bad lol
It's been long since i played and it feels like the experience was fleeting yet changed me permanently in a way i can't really explain for sure. It made me feel connected, understood, like my thoughts were actually valid despite criticism, made me aware of the diversity and similarities between people all around the world.
Overall it was an unique experience that truly touched me to my core
Thaaaaaaanks Yoppi
An excellent video
real
yo(ppi)
I was looking forward to this game coming to PS5 for more than a year, and once it finally did I was excited to go in as blind as possible. Immediately I found the worldbuilding odd, and not in any similar way to the rest of Analgesic's works: though it was clearly set in the real world, the characters spoke about "Atlantis" with the same mundanity as Bloomington, Illinois. Clearly something's going on here, and the other shoe will drop soon, right?
It took until well past the game's halfway point, during a flashback scene in which Ing-wen gets angry at an American for confusing her country with Thailand, for the world's dumbest asshole (i.e. me) to realize the console ports of the game were censored. Every mention of Taiwan was scrubbed in favor of "Atlantis"; Taiwanese became "Atlantean"; even China was replaced with "Greece" (I'm not sure what Kaohsiung and Taipei became, since I didn't know to look for them when they were mentioned). There are a lot of stories in which those kinds of changes would just be politically disagreeable, but in a game as deeply and intimately personal as Sephonie they're less "censorship" and more "castration." I'm not sure whether that decision came from the console publisher Ratalaika or from one of the platform holders, but in either case, selling the game in this state is a travesty.
I really appreciate all the time and effort you put into making this video; on one hand, it felt like reopening an old wound, but on the other hand it gave me some much-needed closure for a truly special experience that was ruined for me. Your videos on the other Analgesic games were wonderful as well, and I'm looking forward to your ICO video once I finally get around to playing that!
hiya, yoppi!
i have an Analgesic question:
i made a new friend the other day, and i was looking for ur Anodyne2 video. the plan was to say “check out this video to get an idea of what Anodyne2 is like, but only stop watching once you’re sufficiently convinced to try out the game for yourself.
do you have plans to redo them or republish them? either way, i’m wishing you the best
ive been protecting myself in different ways due to some personal stuff. i privated some vids. forgot i privated that one, im more comftorable unprivating vids now so ill do that. thnx for reminding c:
public now! thnx for the reminder haha
@@yoppimedia 💞🩹❤️🩹🙏🏾 i too have felt the need to engage in a similar form of online self-care. like cultivating bonsai trees, “we cut & we grow” -lyrics from a Kelela song
@@oyoyoyo7624 you hit me with the kelala, i been bumpin pinkpantheress non stop lol love their feature. wat kelala songs wud u recomend?
I'm a big fan of their other games but i just can't get in to this. Have given it 3 attempts now and it's nust not clicking
Dude i'm sorry but i have limits it's just too long
...just watch it in multiple sittings? It has timestamps, mate.