Horror Games About Waking Up
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- Опубліковано 26 тра 2024
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I’m going to be honest. This was one of the most difficult videos I’ve ever written or edited because I’m trying to describe a particular sensation that I get when I wake up some mornings. This is a video about that sensation, how the game Soma started it, and how a few other pieces of media made it worse and then… somehow helped me come to peace with it. It’s taken me about a year to finally write this and that’s because it is deeply personal and esoteric. I hope you enjoy it.
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The Automation of the Film Buff (0:00)
Remembering You Exist (2:12)
Soma is Built on A Lie (4:17)
Signalis, A Dream about Dreaming (7:17)
Serendipitously, Manta Sleep (10:20)
Advantageous (11:51)
"We're Here" (14:53)
Which was the dream? (18:57)
Revisiting Signalis (21:43)
Missing the other side (24:14)
Goodbye, Eri (24:56)
"They're out there, among the stars" (33:56)
"Fin" (35:40)
▶Games Shown
Soma (2015)
Signalis (2022)
Citizen Sleeper (2022)
▶Movies/TV/Anime Shown
Advantageous (2015)
Usuzumi No Hate (2022)
Goodbye Eri (2022)
▶Media/Clips/Considerations:
• Mind Uploading
▶Music Sources (in Order):
NieR Automata OST - Fortress of Lies
Soma OST - Soma Theme
Portal OST - No Cake For You
Soma OST - Tau Arrive
Soma OST - Ark Reveal
Signalis OST - 3000 Cycles I Missed you
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky OST - Goodnight
Silent Hill 3 OST - Never Forgive Me, Never Forget Me
Celeste OST - Quiet and Falling
Little Busters! OST - A world where nothing happened
Soma OST - Alone, end credits
Little Busters! OST - A world where nothing happened
Little Nightmares 2 OST - Main Theme
Paranormasight: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo OST - Seven Mysteries
Signalis OST - Die Toteninsel Emptiness
Resident Evil 7 OST - Saferoom Theme
Iron Lung OST - Ghostlight
- Kinissue - Sacrifice
- Provided by Lofi Girl
- Watch: • Sacrifice
- Listen: open.spotify.com/artist/4CSOd...
Silent Hill 2 OST - The Day Of Night
Halo Reach OST - Ashes
- Tenno - Bittersweet Sorrow
- Watch: • Bittersweet Sorrow
- Listen: open.spotify.com/album/1kAPNI... - Ігри
Hey there, don't miss out on 10% off your Manta Sleep Mask by using the code "DTG" here: bit.ly/44BAeXH
Oh and thank you so much for being patient on this video's release. ICYMI, I was on hiatus for over a month and it was much *much* needed. I hope you enjoy this one, it's pretty special to me. Thank you for being here
No, Thank YOU Daryl, for always providing us thought-provoking, funny, and high-quality content about the mediums we all love. Very cool, homie.
Wow i thought that tate manga was obscure
19:57 this is why people think theres dmt in the brain, but its likely intracellular serotonin.
When I had psychosis, I was hallucinating in alternation, in both brain hemispheres at once independently, or with some circadian cycle. One part of it, there was a near-black outline of a person at some place I had been to, devoid of any other people, stationary. All saturated in one color. That outline I moved through. I was in a new liminal location, saturated in one color, a person whom is not there. And more times. Eventually all these 'photos' went to the place of my other hallucination. Which was me rising through a dome topped tower, the background pitch black slowly brightening with the presumed sunlight outside I was unaware of. Gaping uneven mouths, individual eyes appearing and disappearing like the fail screen in Post-Void. My vision slowly rotated up, all the photos aligning like a keyhole to a vault, and I floated through them all at once.
Theres more I will spare the details on. Memory is a lil hazy of it for obvious reasons (considering this is basically the opposite of the panorama memory effect of ibogaine). And some not so obvious reasons make it silly to try explaining more. Hm then again I think I saw a partial panorama as well, including fractured elements of myself, at a different juncture.
this can be Metal gear solid 5
I think my favorite thing about Soma's ending is that it's not even really a grand twist, but rather the uncomfortable logical conclusion to what the game has already shown you. In fact, you SEE and even COMMENT ON exactly what happens earlier in the game
There's absolutely no reason to think it's going to work any differently with the Ark outside of the sense of hope literally blinding you, and I love that
That's also my fave part of the story. I knew Simon in the suit would stay in the suit, after all, robot Simon stayed in the robot, the camera just followed suit Simon till the end of the game. So hearing Simon sound so sure and hopeful was gut wrenching because I KNEW he would get upset, just like Catherine's co-workers.
Reminds me of a short cartoon I’ve seen about ‘teleportation’
@@kristoferprovencal3608 that one where anime girl gets zapped and turn to ashes while her friend watches in horror and the worker says that it's not a wormhole, but making a copy elsewhere and destroying original, then friend gets a call from the teleported one ?
@@gistasbanaitis473 that sounds like the right one, I don’t remember who made it though.
@@kristoferprovencal3608 might have been Merryweather media, but I don't know, couldn't find it in history by that name. Could have been other similar publisher
Then again, some videos I've seen aren't marked as watched idk
Goodbye, Eri - Did you know that all the fuzzy panel pages can be put together to make a whole other story! All those scenes can become another movie within that manga
No way! Is there something on UA-cam reviewing this?
@@mr_flor no but somebody talked about it on Reddit and when I ready my copy I was mind blown lol. I might cop another copy and remove the extra pages. Probably won't do it because that feels like.foul and vile behavior
What manga
@@NewLifeLives it's called Goodbye Eri
you are telling me those were not printing errors and they were intencional thats an extra hour of mind break
I always kinda felt like the ending of Soma was less saving yourself, and more like you were saving your "children". Giving future "you's" a chance a life, similar to a parent's sacrifice for their offspring. That's how I rationalized and made peace with it anyway. I should go back and replay it again.
this is a very interesting perspective. I always found it. I don’t want to say interesting, but I always wanted to know what it was like to transfer my consciousness, but I always knew it would never be me not really thinking about it. This way makes a lot of sense. I never would’ve had this thought if it weren’t for this comment so for that I thank you.
when i thought about it, if i had to die anyway but had a chance to give someone else a great life through doing it, i would
Until you realise that just like anything in space, the ARK is destined to crash down somewhere and go offline.
When I read Goodbye Eri I legit thought that my brain broke for a solid hour. It was a bit comforting tho to learn that one of my friends who also read it felt the same way. Definitely a hard to forget story
Me and my friend were talking about how our brains must be full of glitches brought up by scenarios no person would encounter in their live. That might just be one of them such crafted scenes
Yeah this video was the reason I read Goodbye Eri, genuinely made me cry
Broke my brain too, I read it because of this video, cried, and then couldn’t get that final scene out of my head all day, still can’t decide what was real
This is what I feel like would happen if teleportation exists irl. What if instead of transferring us to another places, it disintegrates us into nothing, then recreates us in another places. When "you" come out of the teleportation, are "you" still you? Does your original consciousness still exist? What's the most terrifying thing about this to me, is that only the original you will experience being disintegrated, and nobody will notice anything being different about "you", so nothing is changed, but "something" has changed, which is you no longer exist now.
Even worst, how do you know that something like this hasn’t already happened? Are you still the same ‘you’ you were yesterday or did you just wake up to a fresh existence with all your memories stolen from another who’s long dead?
"When "you" come out of the teleportation, are "you" still you?" unless souls exist (anything which would be impossible to copy), Yes.
"Does your original consciousness still exist?" what *is* original consciousness? Is you 10s ago the same you? If so, how do you decide this continuity holds, and how does it differ in teleportation?
"only the original you will experience being disintegrated" this does not really make sense to me, the original you *already* does not exist by the time of disintegration.
In the model of teleporter, there exist one past self (before the teleportation), and two future selves (after the teleportation).
In the time of cloning (instanteneous for the simplicity of argument) all three of these selves are identical.
In any meaningful interpretation, both future selves are thus direct continuation of the past self (but not continuation of each other).
One of the future selves will be disintegrated, which might raise ethical concerns, but from the point of view of the past self, who makes the decision to be teleported, this does not really matter.
There will be one continuation of the past self, not different from normal passage of time.
What even is _"you"?_ The matter? What about AI? The mind? Sum ergo cogito. A version of both? At which slice of the infinite time? And of which slice of the infinite space?
@@kaleenar963 I think about this constantly. Are you the same person you were yesterday? What about a week ago? A month ago? A year ago? A decade ago? etc.
@@Zeldon567Isn't that the whole point of the soul? We change, we grow, we die, but the essence stays the same and we start over?
The whole “separating a shadow from its caster” reminded me of how we see space. Since it takes time for light to travel, we literally are seeing that “shadow” which was cast millions of years ago which I find incredibly fascinating
I find it poetic that the shadows of the stars are the light itself, and not the absence of light. You can even say that the space plays the video of eons past... with no ads.
Yeah, we living in the dream from 8 minute ago
Heck, you can say we living in a word lightyear ago
More like a mirage than a shadow. You walk to it but you will not reach it with the closer you get the more you realize it past and gone from you.
@@heraadrian7764 I like your interpretation
this isn't just a video essay, it's a full-on masterpiece
Fr this has me crying it’s so beautiful 😭
I agree, the ending for soma was a rolercoaster of emotions.
Signalis is really special to me, it has that same resident evil feel but still keeping its own atmosphere & completely unique story, it’s honestly so deep & impactful it’s crazy, if anyone is worried about twenty dollars after seeing a trailer don’t be scared, it’s WORTH IT.
Its the closest thing we'll ever get to Silent Hill 5, particularly a sequel to Silent Hill 2.
Recently played signalis. And oh god that was awesome. That atmosphere, that setting, artstyle. One of my friends blaacklisted me for a 3 days because only thing i was talking about is signalis. This is my second favourite game next to NieR:Automata now
@kowkodevka579 Your experience eerily resembles mine lol. NieR:Automata was the first game to make me cry and SIGNALIS was thr first game to make me uncontrollably sob.
It's so special and I'm still talking to my friends about it months later and trying to get them to understand and feel it.
Thank you for giving me my daily dose of existential dread, Daryl! :D
I have too much! It’s meant to be shared lmao
@@DarylTalksGames thanks^^
@@DarylTalksGames We making it out to the therapist with this one!
the voices wont stop sharing their thoughts
the therapist is gonna need therapy after they spend an hour talking to me @@ultimaxkom8728
Man the ending of SOMA really stuck with me like no other video game ending has. I still think about it regularly.
It would have been better if they didn't tell you that was going to happen.
@@dave_the_slick8584they didnt though, it was told time and time again but you never really though about if your simon wasn’t chosen
@@callmeidk1682 They explicitly did when you had to make a copy in order to, its been a while, I think use an elevator. Catherine EXPLICITLY tells Simon that there was no transferring. Simon simply wasn't paying attention.
@@dave_the_slick8584that’s what makes it so good tho. you know what’s gonna happen but you still have that glimmer of hope that it won’t especially at the end when your download slows down. and then it still happens.
@@CosmicAlien. true, but people are acting like it was a clever twist when it isn't even a twist.
The second you said "one of the few games to really hit me with existential dread" I instantly thought of SOMA and how I still wake up in the middle of the night unable to sleep because I'm just stuck thinking about how terrifying SOMA's ideas are.
I remember when playing Soma for the first time I knew how the ending would go when it came to the Ark. I always felt upset at Simon because he just couldn’t accept that there was a copy, not a transfer.
Well, I mean, Simon’s diving suit is a copy of a regular human being thrown into a reality where everything they know has changed, and for the absolute worst. He literally shoulders the burden of “saving humanity” for a large portion of the game, and he does all of this whilst feeling as though just mere hours/days ago he was a regular person doing a brain scan at some doctors office.
I can’t really blame him for being in denial of the Catherine’s explanation. Who would wake up in the situation and find it easy to accept that they’re damned to a lonely, prolonged death on a dead world, even if they pass the torch? Also, let’s not forget Catherine did sort of lead Issac on about the “coin flip”. Telling him he has a 50/50 chance of either making it to the Ark or being left behind.
This video was a masterpiece. From the structure to your storytelling to that simultaneously gutwrenching and heartwarming ending that brought tears to my eyes. This video and this channel is your version of Yuta's movie and the legacy you will leave behind. Great job Daryl. Welcome back.
To Daryl's own future splitting shadow reading this comment. Hello. I was one of your subscribers. I hope your journey down the dream lane comforting to you, and I hope mine will also be your subscriber still.
You just summed up one of my deepest fears that I've never been able to properly articulate.....
The bigger question is, if i copy the game save data from my friend,
if i finish the game 100%,
is it still me, my progression, is it my friend progression.
Does the video have any major spoilers?
@helloguy8934 I'm not the best person to ask that as I don't really care about spoilers, and because of that, I don't particularly pay attention to what is and isn't a spoiler. There are some spoilers on the video for the late game sections, but to me they aren't anything that would ruin my experience of playing the games/ watching the movie/ reading the book (that I bought after watching this video).
@@helloguy8934 I'd say yes. As for what and how to avoid them you can just read every spoiler warning texts provided in the video, then pause and skip ahead.
@ultimaxkom8728 welp looks like I've gotta play some games before watching this
So happy you included soma. I saw a let's play of it, and it was so good I actually feel sad I can't play it with a fresh mind. I now guide others to a treasure I can't possibly posses
Let me be your guide then;
Go play "Outer Wilds".
I refuse to say more.
Its been 3 months u better have flipping played outer wilds menyf7s
@@almightyminataur4000 Still waiting for him to thank me. -.-
Play outer wilds, you will cry. Take my treasure I can never posess
I'd say it's still worth playing through, even if you know what's going to happen. There's the few moments you get to make decisions that add replay value, there's the terror that comes from some of the horror sections which is amplified by having to survive it yourself, and there's the simple fun of messing around with the ingame physics (nearly every item can be picked up and tossed around with a really convincing weight and heft to each of them, which makes for a fun distraction in some parts of the game)
Man, what you said at 35:00 - 35:20 really hit me hard and made me actually cry. As someone with Major Depressive Disorder, it hit me like a freight train (in a good way). This was expertly designed, and even if you won't see this, I want say that your progression of ideals told in this video was masterclass. I hope to see your channel prosper so that others can be just as amazed and touched by you work as I was.
Me too, i was thinking about how to put what i've had just felt, but you said it.
So true. I never knew in a past two years what was lacking but this simple confirmation in a video just put something back in place in me. Actually crying and sobbing because those were the words I needed
This reminds me of that one episode of Black Mirror where I think they created copies of a felon or something in an exhibition (it's been years, the details escape me) so they can torture him essentially forever. If I remember right, they would even sell key chaines (?) with a copy of him that keeps being tortured by electric shock or something. And even back then I couldn't shake the feeling of.... that's not him. Irrespective of whether torture is an acceptable punishment, these copies are _not_ him.
And ever since then this idea has been haunting me: imagine your fate is being born into the consciousness of the aftermath of someone elses actions. Imagine you wake up and your entire existence consists of torture.
I might be inventing this but I think there might have even been the decision to end the exhibition of this piece for ethical reasons in the episode but even then, you'll never be able to collect and destroy all the copies sold to people out there in the wild.
It is such a strange hypothetical rabbit hole to dive down because the implications and ethical questions behind it just pile up so fast.
wanted to add in case you or anyone reading this is wondering, but the episode is “Black Museum”
@@chrisisaghost I had a Uni class where we watched several episodes (over the course of the semester) and reports and discussions on them (free-est fucking credits EVER).
We watched like 10 or 12 episodes and black museum was among them.
If memeory serves (this was in 2019) the episodes were:
National Anthem
Hated in the Nation (my fav)
1,000,000 Merritts (or however many)
Shut Up and Dance
Black Museum
(The robot dog one inforgoet the name of)
Guardian Angel
And I forget what else.
@@AtomBaconThat's awesome.
Metalhead is the "robot dog" episode by the way!
@@DarylTalksGames This is a very good video. I love it... Now make a new video about Black Mirror rabbit hole so I can love it too. /j
almost started crying because i just lost my grandma yesterday, and these are the questions i have. about life. about consciousness. about living and death. about reality and the perspectives we have. there might be another me, but i will never have their POV and i will never be them. this is really a masterpiece, your best video.
I just lost my older brother. Its not the first loss I experienced tho.
Hope everyone doing good and staying safe. If you need to talk to someone or need help, there are people who care. Sending support and hearts. ❤️❤️❤️❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
There's nothing to worry about.
i know this comment is like, two months old now but i hope you're doing okay. losing family is a horrible feeling, and it's especially hard to take if you were really close to them. take care of yourself man and remember that you can grieve at your own pace, so don't let anyone make you feel bad by saying you should/shouldn't be over it already, depending on how you're feeling
i know it's an older video so i might be speaking to the void, but the "which was the dream" segment really got to me. i don't know how common it is, but i often have dreams where i feel as though i live years, often with a significant other that i don't know in the real world. establishing relationships, forming careers, falling in love.
and then i wake up, alone and isolated in my bed, remembering this dream life. this happens often, and every time i find it harder and harder to go on after waking. every time i feel like i have to mourn the loss of loved ones and the dream life that i had. i talk about this to my friends, my family, my therapist, and while they're sympathetic, i don't think any of them can really comprehend just how much it affects me. i both dread and adore dreaming, because i love those fictitious lives i live. how could i not, you know? but waking up tears me apart. i miss them, even now. i hold onto the hope sometimes that somehow, they're real in some universe, but in my heart i know they aren't, and i think that fact will always destroy me.
SOMA is a game I really consider a must-play, the atmosphere and mix of body horror and existential horror is great.
Honestly the ending of soma feels like the ultimate act of selflessness. You are literally sacrificing yourself so that a new you can go on to live. You sacrifice your whole physical being to create a new person.
not really though? its literally you, just as much as the one left behind. as long as you dont add the (unnecessary, unfounded, and messy) assumption of a soul, there is no "real" one that's getting left behind and the copy isn't a "new" person. in a way it's kind of half selfless because one version will get left behind, but honestly simon could probably de-activate himself pretty easily, especially before any major divergence between the branches
De-activating yourself is the same as suicide in this context. The copy is not you, it's a new separate entity with the same memories.
You would be killing yourself to give a copy a chance at life.
@@jacobmagana4258 Divergence occurs the moment there are two copies. Any time for deactivation is too late. That is the beginning of a new stream of consciousness, completely divorced from the original.
@@jimijenkins2548 the idea of a stream of consciousness requires a soul or some other medium for consciousness to "stream through" and stick around
@@jacobmagana4258Lol what even are you saying? The dude sacrificed his self so his other self could live not much else to it
The line at 35:10 is genuinely the only piece of media I've consumed that made me cry, like actually crying and not just teary eyes. This whole topic strikes me very deeply and the way you worded it was amazing. Bravo
Hope you’re doing good and staying safe. If you need to talk to someone or need help, there are people who care. Sending support and hearts. ❤️❤️❤️❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
@@zacharynguyen7286This was such a kind response that warmed my heart. Thank you for that.
Soma's story was impressive and felt unique at the time of me experiencing it. Also, thanks for your consideration for and effort towards not spoiling things.
this subject fascinates me in an eerie way, i’m glad to see more content discussing it :) jacob geller made a video essay on the same topic called “head transplants and the nonexistence of the soul” that i also really enjoy, which i would highly recommend if you like me are also hungry for more of this uncomfortable but fascinating vibe
very interesting to philosophers too, ranging from zhuangzi's butterfly dream to the more recent sleeping beauty problem
I'm so sad that Inside Mari didn't come up for this topic too. It's such an incredibly good manga, and a bodyswap story where there's still another version of you in your original body is just _so_ relevant to this topic.
Thank you for reminding me of this manga. I've been trying to remember what it was called for so long now and have had no luck.
That was an insane plot twist shame i was spoiled on it
Oh, I haven't read this one yet
Thanks for the manga recommendation lol
This comment is both a lie and not a lie
To me it's the loss of control that is the most horrifying part. You have no control of where you are, when you are, what you are, and perhaps worse yet, if you are.
I remember my mom telling me I used to tell her she wasn’t my real mom when I was a very young child. I told her she was just some weird lady and that my real mom died on a sidewalk. I even told her where we used to live and that I had a little brother despite being the youngest. She said I made her second guess on reincarnation, but as I grew older I stopped talking about this "other life".
Okay, but that last page of Good Bye Eri made me laugh so hard. I personally think it was all a movie, but I can see how there are multiple interpretations and I think I prefer it that way.
I had a similar feeling watching the ending of the movie The Prestige.
It delves very briefly on the horror of creating a copy of yourself and not knowing which should be considered the real person.
24:30 I was under the impression that was the case when playing SOMA. I was as bewildered and annoyed at Simons outburst as Katherine was.
I have dissociative identity disorder (yes the moon knight thing lmfao) and I actually think that sense of reality possibly not being what you experience is super heightened in the condition. Dissociating makes it harder to tell if reality is, well, real and puts a lot of this same existential fear of waking up somewhere unfamiliar in a new context. It’s a daily occurrence for most people with a dissociative condition.
I will never cease to be amused how some people's existential horror is another's daily life. I don't have DID myself, but what I've learned from those that do has had a big effect on how I view this sort of thing.
I hope this isn’t rude to ask, but with DiD do you “blackout” when a different person/personality takes over or is that not how DiD works? Again sorry if this is rude to ask but I’ve always been curious about it but could never really find an answer
I'm very close with a system, where the host is my best friend and I'm dating another of the alters. The old host, the one I befriended long before I knew she was part of a system, split into two. Both of those alters think of me as their best friend, but one is a lot closer to the friend I used to have, while the other developed to be quite different. Yet I can see my old friend in both of them. It's strange. In a way, my old friend is gone, but I have "her" (the half that is more like the old version) still here and now also her "sister", so it's more of a happy thing than a sad thing since now I have two friends whom I love a lot. It's still strange to think about, though, that my old friend is technically gone, in a way
@@blakemcmillan5680I don't have DID, but I'm very close with a system and did a lot of online research to try to help them, so hopefully I can help explain this. Usually, just one alter will be "fronting" (aware and controlling the body) at a time, but the others can be conscious to some degree. Sometimes they have a limited awareness of what's happening in the real world and can send thoughts or messages to the one who is fronting. Sometimes, they interact with the other alters who also aren't fronting (the space they interact in is sometimes called an "inner world" and might look like a dream space for some systems, though for others it's more metaphorical). Sometimes they do just sleep until they come to the front again.
A common metaphor is to think of a car or a big van. There's one driver, but there can also be a front-seat passenger who's helping with navigation and commenting on the route, while the backseat passengers can talk to each other or take a nap if they want. It's a little different for every system, but for my friend(s), they can usually have 3 or 4 alters conscious and commenting on what the one who is fronting is doing at any one time. Does that make sense?
@@blakemcmillan5680 lmao its not rude, just a tad personal. Some people have blackouts and others don't. I actually do have blackouts myself, but we can oftentimes share certain pieces of information or fundamental knowledge. Fun fact, as a result of blackouts, we lose certain skills when the alter/personality who has them isn't present. its wild ngl
Bravo, bloody hell bravo. The way you structure your videos is so satisfying in the end and you pulled it off superbly.
And I love how you managed to circle a video about existential dread into an uplifting message, lol
Goodbye Eri is one of my favorite manga (not just one-shot manga) of all time due to the fact that I'm also a wannabe filmmaker just like the characters. The fact I can make something and be remembered pretty much forever for that creation struck a chord in me when I first read it and seeing this story in this video made me shed a tear.
I trusted your recommendation of Goodbye Eri so much I actually watched the first 2/3rds of this the day it came out and then proceeded to only read Goodbye Eri yesterday and so I could finally come back around to watch the end of the video. Thanks for the recommendations:)
SOMA left me an unshaking feeling of existential dread and Goodbye Eri left me confused and amazed. I connected with the first at an emotional level, and I read the second with a more cynical, cold-hearted approach.
Both stories have remained in my mind ever since, and until this video, I hadn't been able to fully explain to myself my thoughts on them. It's been a fantastic video, really. The source materials are incredible, but it's the structure of the video that makes it great.
I don't think there is a happy ending to this line of thoughts. I don't know if I'm okay with that. But, at the very least, I can now express better my existential dread :)
Way to come back, Daryl!
I must be the only one who hated Soma. It tried too hard with the existential dread. When Simon we know should've stayed in the frozen body after the first copy attempt in the first place. The Simon that was human once died long ago with his species. The game was long over.
wdym by a happy ending? if you mean specifically soma, there absolutely is. the key thing is the inbuilt assumption that most of us don't even realize we have, that being of a string of consciousness. once you realize that there not only is no evidence for such a thing but evidence against it, these fears subside (at least they did for me). in the case of simon, both versions carry the exact same information and so are equally him. there is no "real" version, just two branches from the same stem. and just like a tree, pruning one branch doesn't get rid of everything below it. if one simon were to die, an entire person wouldnt be lost, only the experiences and changes that were localized to that branch. if i was in that situation i would try to end it immediately after the upload to minimize the divergence, but even if it took like half an hour i would honestly be glad that the other me wouldnt have to remember scrambling around at the bottom of the ocean trying to kill myself :/
There is one ending in Zero Time Dilemma that really hits on this a lot. ZTD has a lot of flaws but that ending had some really good moments. It's like what Soma did
In the ending, one of the main characters, Q, is given the choice to upload his consciousness into a simulation of his perfect life, because everyone else in the facility is dead and the only other survivor left without him. If you choose to say yes, the story branches. In one branch, we see this perfect life. In the other branch, Q remains in reality and is left to wonder why he is the one with the misfortune to be left behind, why he can't have the happy life.
There are some really interesting endings in those games.
reminds me of a story, where a person is offered a million dollars, but an exact copy of him will be trapped in a empty universe for millions of years. he accepts and goes on with his life, but the copy now realizing how true the statement is suffers for millennia. it is eventually given another choice, cease existing right now but then another copy of you will be made and now has to wait hundreds of billions of years instead of millions. the person who is fairly insane (but not allowed to lose their mind due to the rules of the universe they are trapped in) contemplates it for a while before pressing the button and their copy now is forced to suffer that worse fate, however to the copy its as if the button was a joke, the only difference is that now the timer has a much larger number on it. so long as there is a copy "you" will always lose the coin toss, regardless of which you is stuck in the original body. though if we are being real, the you that already exists WILL NEVER win the "coin toss" cause thats a false way of thinking, in the story I read being the clone was the loss condition, in the story of soma being the clone was the win condition.
though since we are at it, would you press the button, knowing an exact copy of you would suffer that fate?
@@speedy01247Wow.
Something that I kind of noticed that I don't see anyone else talking about, though this might just be me having a lack of knowledge since I never played the game.
Simon did live a full life, original Simon, The one who had the brain scan, The human one. Assuming the brain scan was just that a brain scan and that whatever was bothering him was fixed. He would have gone on to live life.
There are three different Simons in that game. The human, The survivor, and The one who won the coin toss.
THIS IS IT this is the video that puts into words why I'm so drawn to these games. SOMA has been my top #1 game of all time, Signalis is beautiful and I adore every ending and what they imply, and I don't think I need to comment on Goodbye Eri. These 3 have captivated me for the longest time and I couldn't put into words what the common theme between them was that enraptured me. Thank you for this video.
I love the video. You managed to take a black hole of despair that you initially feel after SOMA and then pulled a tear outta me with the "They're out there, we're here" and finding peace with that. Interestingly Destiny's lore had a similar 'fetish' and 'grounding' concept for their own brand of androids where if they realized they were circuits and metal and note flesh and blood they'd spiral out too. Really interesting and terrifying stuff, but so cool to consider. Like a ship of Theseus looked in the mirror and realized it used to be made of cedar and not pine.
Signalis and Soma were so powerful when I played them really late at night when I was tired. I think I realize after watching your video why that worked so well. I had chalked it up to me sort of not having anything else to be aware of and so I really got in the pilot seat and was totally immersed, but I think that layer of being stuck in that dream state was a potent parallel that was thematically resonant with the story and gave me another layer of connection with the characters.
I'm reminded of the emotional power of the San Junipero episode of Black Mirror, and it was something I remembered going back to watch after finishing Soma. I wonder if that was because I needed that comfort of not being confronted with the fact that you can't just file transfer your existence. It's strange because I tend to think of myself as being uncannily comfortable with my own mortality. Perhaps that was a visceral reeling of my own subconscious. I didn't do the same thing with Signalis. I think it was supremely powerful to experience the ending I got in that game. The game makes you do the hard thing. You do what was right. You made a promise after all. Standing by your word and being true to yourself even if you literally aren't yourself is such a powerful thing to contemplate. I think you nailed it on the head with your take about Elster being confronted with herself in the sea of red.
So I haven't finished signalis, but when I finish it I still won't know what the heck happened.
//SOMA and Goodbye, Eri spoilers
Started this video at about 7:30PM, got 25 minutes in give or take (with pauses to do nightly stuff) reached the Eri part, paused, read Goodbye, Eri, came back, and now it’s just before 8:30PM and I’m devastated, both as a film student and one who has been the Yuta, though I tended to avoid it with people. I just filmed my pets. As often as I could. So when they died, I held onto all my favorite memories of them, their whole lives after adopting them, and I get to have them here with me forever. No, I can’t hold them in my arms, but I can hear them, see them, laugh and cry with them. And that is a very special thing to me. So thank you, Daryl, for that recommendation. I was crying typing this, but I’m not sad, I’m grateful. As much as this video is about existential horror, it also brings to mind the thought of Días de los Muertos. The Days of the Dead. After all, do we truly exist in any way other than through the lens of perception? Is there an objective self? I mean, we’re biased, our whole lives are viewed through our own individual lenses. But our existence is mapped differently in the memories of those around us, and they have different biases about us. I’m usually not a philosophical type, but maybe ceasing our perception and only living on through the perception of others-and I do consider there to be multiple main characters in stories like these, because no matter how good a copy, it will never be exactly the same every time, so the one ‘waking up’ is separate from the one being copied, so ‘others’ still includes the ‘new self’-isn’t so bad. Maybe living on in the memory of another, even if it’s not the way you planned to continue, even if their perception isn’t how you see ‘you’, isn’t the worst thing. It’s a legacy of you, even if you aren’t there to see it. Maybe it can be something beautiful, too. Maybe it can help you appreciate the little things in life, more. Appreciate the people around you, more. I think that could be a very beautiful thing. So I don’t see it necessarily as a loss of self, a replacement. I see it as… A new perspective of the same life. In Simon’s case, he was in denial, so he never gave himself the chance to make peace with the reality that was staring him in the face all along: that there was no coin toss. The human Simon, Simon 1, if you will, didn’t know he’d be copied from in depth scans to make a simulated ‘him,’ Simon 1 likely went home and lived his life, carried on, never knowing that a copy of him would see the future. But being that our Simon, Simon 2, awoke not in a human body, he should have come to the realization that he was just a copy of another person, and unless he was physically on the Ark, he was never going to be up there, it would be Simon 3. Just moving data from here to there and it being the same, that's not how data works. His companion tried to acclimatize him to the reality, but he couldn't see the forest for the trees. He was so fixated on winning the figurative coin toss that what he was being told about it completely slid off his back. There's evidence throughout SOMA of exactly what happened being the case, and that she knew all along, and the coin toss metaphor was to soften the blow of the inevitable failure to be the version who 'won' the coin toss. If he had given himself time to accept reality, to grieve and mourn him, his concept of self, it would not have been so jarring. And he’s allowed to be bitter, but his denial didn’t save him either, at some point you have to dust yourself off and realize you control very little in your life, so cherishing every moment you do have has to be enough, making some impact, no matter how small, has to be enough. And you have to be okay with that eventually. Live life as it comes to you. Accept it for what it is, not what you thought it was. Existential horror isn’t so bad once you accept that.
ETA: I think the nested reality of the films is why the story of Goodbye, Eri is so impactful. At least for me. Because what are films but moments in time, nested in our reality. The fact that it’s a planned nesting doll of impactful stories about these characters is what makes it so riveting.
Jeez, this got long, and I didn’t intend for it to become an existentialist lecture or some shit, but I hope it makes some sense and doesn’t come across as too corny. Okay, bye! I loved the video!
20:55 this part is the part that really got to me, i often (now usually due to lack of sleep or high stress) get incredibly vivid dreams. I would call them lucid dreams since I have full autonomy but I never realise it's an actual dream until after i wake up. The events and actions feel so realistic that i wake up with false memories, having entire tasks to do and conversations i had suddenly dissappear. I once woke up thinking i had an entire plan with my dad i did not know was fake until i spoke to him about it. I won't lie it can be freaky and i've questioned my own sanity and memories many times
Don’t know if 13 sentinels is on your list, but definitely story wise in a similar vein as the other games you’ve shown. Hope you get to play it
It’s been on the list for so long, I might actually start it up this week haha
Great game, definitely best played as the only thing you do for a few days.
@@DarylTalksGames You should definitely give it a whirl! It's in my opinion the best game on PS5, and the way it writes a story with 13 protagonists who are occasionally antagonists to each other is wonderful.
It's a game that truly feels like it could only have been a game, and that it could not have been made for any other medium which is great.
Years after years my tiny brain still dont know wtf the story is.
It's rare to find a creator who can set an atmosphere as effectively as you can. I was fully entranced in the video and now return to reality like waking from a dream. It feels a bit dramatic to type but I know I've seen something that will stay with me when I have nothing to say after. I just need some time to absorb what I've seen and ponder the different ideas presented.
i also hate when i'm dreaming vividly and it feels real but i know it's a dream so i do everything no not think about it bc as soon as i think about it everything either stops and freezes in time or i wake up
This brought back flashbacks when I think about teleporters, if you teleport your body is destroyed and a copy of your mind goes to the new body where you teleport, so are you you or a copy of you
I played Signalis recently and it’s really hijacked my thoughts for the better part of the last month. I’m SO excited to see you covering it dude!
Edit: coming back to say I paused the video and read “Goodbye, Eri” before finishing it and I’m FLOORED. Absolutely incredible threads you’ve woven here between these different narratives about memory and identity and storytelling. Incredible video as always, man. Thanks for introducing me to a new favorite.
DARYL TALKS GAMES IS BACK! Idk if you’ll see this but I’ve recently got into your vids and I just play your stuff while doing basic tasks around the house and I love your take on everything. It makes me proud to be a gamer and simply to learn new stuff about why I feel a certain way about parts of media. Keep doing what you’re doing!
Title shifts always gives me a dream-like double-take. Good stuff
Damn the "you matter" part made me cry ngl, caught off guard
I love how you use examples from various different media that most people at first would not think about these media having any kind of connection with each other, but you manage to explain your interpretations of the story they tell and tie their themes together, using the plots of these wildly different stories and using them to *explain each other*. This is peak storytelling analysis. Your conclusion won’t always be something a lot of people will agree with, but you managed to articulate something similar in all of these stories and use it to deepen your understanding of each respective story. Absolutely fantastic. You might think of yourself as an ordinary guy, and you probably are in a lot of ways in your day to day life. But the stuff you make here on UA-cam shows that your mind is really brilliant. Or at least, you have the right amount of conviction to be able to display the ideas you have to the world. Video essays are a kind of art, and you are a master at the craft.
God I hate and love what this video did to me. Like the dread is there, oh lord is it there. But fuck if it didn't make me FEEL something in a time when it's so easy to fall into the fugue of life. Truly wonderful video Daryl.
Thank you so much 🙏🏼
You have unlocked a memory of me watching Advantageous and now I’m on a mission to figure out when that was
This was a great comeback from your month break, glad you were able to enjoy it!!
The whole concept of 'you aren't dead if you are remembered' reminds me a lot of dia de muertos. Your family keeps you alive through their memory of you.
Wow, that plot from Soma is an actual mind f**k. Honestly, this video is. It actually made me cry >.
I'm surprised you haven't mentioned Pokemon Scarlet/Violet yet! The reveal at the end about Arven's parent, the ethical question of transferring your consciousness... it's such an interesting path for a Pokemon game to take!
Would have surely been more popularised if S/V didnt get overshadowed by their terrible performance problems, glitches and overall greed of the company publishing it
Man. For some reason that ending brought me to tears. I guess it is the realisation that I actually matter to others, even if don’t know it for sure. On top of that, those stories also really f’ed with my brain. To essentially give up your up your own life and thereby happiness, so another copy of you can live on your stead. It’s both beautiful and terrifying. A masterpiece of a video.
I remember having a dream that left me questioning myself like this and the strangest part was I could still remember details far better than other dreams I just forget about, this was quite the eye opener to watch.
I am excited for the backlog, which is paramount I get it, but I was also pondering the sneak peak of the quick mention for Oshi no ko. I assume this is tightly guarded information but I will have you know i'll be here for when it drops. PS. you are actually amazing and are part of the reason I read chainsaw man. Love your work :)
I’ll be honest, we’re probably still a good bit away from the Oshi No Ko video because 1- I want to see where story goes, and I think the manga might be close to the final arc? And 2- after making this vid, holy moly, editing manga panels is SO tedious lol. So I need to mentally prepare for doing that for a bit haha
That section about the next Eri becoming an ideal version of her previous self from the movie reminds me so much of Xion from Kingdom Hearts. Very different setup of course, but Xion is basically created from all of Sora's memories of Kairi. In other words, Xion is a girl created of the memories of a boy's first love, and I always thought that was really beautiful, his idea of her made human. Very separate from most of the themes of this video (which I loved btw) but something I havent thought about in a long time, so thank you for reminding me of it.
And this is exactly why I am never stepping into a teleporter - even if it works, the one coming out on the other end is another person with my memories, and for the real me the last thing I did is enter the teleport
Being human isn't what gives you humanity, its the feeling, the experience, the consciousness, etc. Even as a machine, an animal, a piece of code, I'd only stop being human when I stop picking myself up, or whatever remains, and continuing.
Fuck, man. You and Jacob Geller just can’t get enough of telling super good stories about other likewise super good stories. This channel is an all time great in my book. Thanks for putting your thoughts out there for us to enjoy, your brain is special🔥
Love the integration of Goodbye, Eri into this topic, I wasn't sure where you going with it at first and, to be honest, I never considered the interpretation that Eri was a vampire that learned to be a better human being from consuming an imperfect record of her life. Overall, I always agreed the Soma's ending is ultimately positive because the concept of split realities and copied consciousness can birth potential and fulfillment due the imperfection of the copy. A lot of trauma is stored in our collective consciousness and if copying it elsewhere had the possibility of losing that stored data, I'd be happy for the copy. In a lot of ways, a copy of our conscious minds has the potential to become the ideal version of ourselves that might appear in dreams and that is something beautiful.
“The moments I realize I’m alive” brother you said that sentence and i immediately knew the exact feeling
"You may never see how much you mattered to someone, but it doesn't mean you didn't.
What you did mattered.
You mattered."
Honestly made me tear up watching this. I guess i should have expected to get hit in the feels this much haha
I really love your videos; not only are they engaging to me as a video game lover, but always manage to present some sort of meaning that sticks with me a bit. Thank you for putting a piece of yourself out here on the internet, that will live on and continue to change lives for an eternity; you matter to us too :)
I've seen Soma from other UA-camrs, but I'd never heard of Goodbye Eri...
I had the exact same thought Catherine had at the end of Soma immediately though. They *are* out there. And that's all that matters. What a beautiful idea....
Thanks for another incredible video Daryl. This one gave me all kinds of frisson.
Another eerie yet calm vid of yours! You have made me want to read Goodbye, Eri, so I’ll stop this vid for now, and come back as soon as I find and purchase a copy.
And yes, I’m definitely awake.
Or are you?
**Vsauce theme plays**
Came for horror games about waking,
stayed and subscribed for the different medias (movies, games, manga) about a really interesting topic.
The second that the "Goodbye, Eri" ending hit, with the sound gone and the dread on older Yuta's face I started sobbing and it all hit even harder with the final words on this video so I wanted to say thank you. This is a great script, great video, great conversation about this existential trope and it was cathartic, thank u
Given the themes in signalis, advantageous, soma, and goodbye eri, I'm surprised world of tomorrow wasn't brought up.
The stories in this video very much remind me of Cross Code, Robot from Invincible, & Molly from Critical Role Campaign 2.
Definitely begs the question though: are our dreams just products of our imaginations or are they phantoms of a previous life?
Anyway, embrace the sonder.
Pessimist: _"Dreams are the byproduct of parasitic invasions"_
Optimist: _"Dreams are the inheritance of our previous lives"_
Realist: _"Get back to sleep, it's just a dream"_
@@ultimaxkom8728Fanatic: *I must restore the glory of Rome!*
Gets hanged for it
Nnnnot worth it
Crosscode hits these topics very well. Love that gane, cant wait for their next one, looks great
literally what reason would you have to believe that they are linked to other peoples lives somehow?
@@jacobmagana4258 What reason would you have to believe that they are not linked to other people's lives somehow?
In the absence of proof one way or another, all things are worth considering.
The way a single frame of signalis sent absolute chills and goosebumps all over my body tells me how badly I loved that game... God it feels so nice to be reminded of games you've played and loved, it's a feeling in itself
People have problem with existing when they wan to keep existing ,when you are ready to stop existing is when you are no longer afraid .
Damn, that Goodbye-Eri section was a throwback. I remember watching you stream a read-through of it a while ago, and being blown away by how it kept going each time I thought it was going to end. How it just kept on adding a layer of existential dread each time.
Definitely a fun experience that stuck with me.
Anyways, it’s good to have you back. Awesome work, as always on this video!
I struggle sometimes to talk about death and my perspective of it with others. Its a hard topic to ever bring up and when it is brought up tragedy is often accompanied with it. But I'm glad that there are pieces of media out there that can challenge us and help us explore things that we may never know. Thank you for spending the time and energy to make something beautiful.
This is how I feel when I wake up, about who I was before I slept. Each time you lose consciousness, you forget a little. And the new "copy" has to carry on while missing something.
i had this talk with my dad when i was around 10. he was so fascinated with the idea of his daughters having a digital version of their father to talk to when he's long gone and he didn't understand why i was so repulsed by the idea. even being a kid i understood that it won't be my dad, just some copy, while he would still age and die. it wouldn't give him immortality, it would be a mimicry, a mockery of the man while both me and my sister would perfectly understand that it's not _him_.
he couldn't quite grasp the difference between him and his copy, and couldn't figure out why i was so terrified of the concept itself, and i couldn't properly articulate that idea, due to being, well, a child.
That was amazing. It was so easy to end the video with existential dread but you managed to make an optimistic take on it.
Man the timing on this is crazy. I literally just finished SOMA and cant stop thinking about it. What a game
I don't think I've ever recommended a video essay to people before, but this one hit me hard. Thank you.
this is actually insane, i've never thought of "cloning yourself" in this way, i felt genuine distress when seeing the ending from SOMA, excellent work
there's something just so very earnest in the way you make video essays, so hopeful and sincere whenever you write and talk about games and media that i... find rare to find anywhere else. this is why i always look forward to your uploads and why i'm deeply grateful that you make these meaningful videos that really resonate with me. thank you
Holy crap hearing you discuss goodbye eri made me so happy. It’s such an amazing manga that is overall just a huge mind fck in the best way possible
I think one of the best portrayals of this premise would be from the Anime film “Ghost in the shell” the scene with the trash man with his memories altered by “the puppet master”
Dude I cried. Such a positive framing to conclude on of something this existential. Great video.
Man, the way your videos are written and structured and are so dang engaging. Thanks for another treat.
Wow, rarely does a video essay make me tear up and yet Daryl never fails to bring us something so impactful. Lots of love
Friendly pronounciation correction:
Automation (au-to-may-shun) is the process by which something is done automatically.
Automaton (a-tom-a-ton) is an entity which can perform actions independently.
Thanks, love your stuff!
When I saw the title my first thought was darkwood. Now I'm thinking the show Pantheon relates to the video really well. its all centered around Uploaded intelligences and their implication and effect in the world.
You made something truly special here, Daryl. My new favorite piece from you.
Nothing quite like an existential crisis to get the weekend going, lol
But man this is a great video, especially loved your points about Signalis & Goodbye, Eri - admittedly they're both stories I'm still tryna wrap my head around, but it's crazy how well they fit this discussion
Your talk of a sweet dream, and waking to know it wasn't going to last despite everything you just felt, reminds me of the freshly concluded(?) Penacony arc of Honkai: Star Rail:
the major theme is the world is a hotel to sleep in, diving into a special dream world of 12 places, and how people spend tons to come enjoy it, and more to lose themselves because they hate reality or are soon to die. The existential conundrum of having to wake from the perfect sweet dream is all around, especially as you progress to the second and third acts (side stories in 2.1 / listed under the second act showcase it majorly in prelude to it being driven home for 2.2 / the third act within the main storyline). I won't spoil it, but it genuinely plays with these themes excellently, especially the entire mindfudge the huge ending twist turns out to be when you then look back at your ENTIRE journey in Penacony.
3:25 I’ve had those moments too. It’s like im becoming self-aware my bodily existence along with the bodily existence of my family and friends. Though I usually just have them at random times. I like to call it a moment of clarity.
Absolutely love goodbye eri. What an incredible story.
This was an incredible video!
Thank you so much, and I feel like I finally found closure to Goodbye Eri, which I've only read a few days ago and felt so dismayed and hollowed out by.
In the midst of a storm, of snow that tears at our skin like little knives, each raw moment of emotion calls back to life, to perception, to finding *something* in nothing. To making something *out* of what was nothing. The ability to *create*. I think it's incredible that we can make something beautiful, out of what is-when you zoom very close or very far-meaningless. It is only this perspective that we have, not one of gods or one of particles, that can see beauty in nothing, that can make beauty from static noise.
The overwhelming tears that spontaneously dropped at 35:12 when I thought of my fiancé... The same tears I cried when I finished SOMA.
I t just hit me so hard, I can't believe I'm crying
Just from the introduction alone I felt like SOMA was going to play a part in this video and im so glad it did. Hands down one of the best games storywise I've seen, so compelling and gripping, truly a masterpiece
What a masterpiece. My greatest fear has always been loosing myself or my memories, yet your interpretations have made that something so bittersweet I'm beginning to cry. I'm glad to see you back, and I hope you enjoyed your break. Definitely looking forward to November
As someone who suffers from extreme paranoia, this video took me so long to actually watch😅 great stuff nonetheless
I've always felt that the logical solution to the question of 'consciousness transfer' is that it's literally impossible. Memories and your entire personality are stored within and emergent from extremely specific parts of our brain, so if you were to hypothetically try to transfer them into another brain, that brain just doesn't have the layout to support those memories and therefore that personality. It's a very dry approach to these kinds of things, I know, but as a massive overthinker, it prevents me from feeling existential dread from such subjects.
True, consciousness transfer won’t be realized for living human brains, ever, that’s soft sci-fi. Though we’ll probably get prosthetics for simpler brain regions given time
Why would it need be transferred wholesale into another human brain? It could simply be transferred into some structure that can emulate the functioning of any possible human brain.
@@iosefka7774 who knows, in the future such a thing might exist. Until then I guess there's no way though