I like to think it really happened. It says the sister woke from a nightmare "of her memories" and at the beginning of the game Olle is 8 according to the height chart on the wall and at the end of the game the wall says he's 9 and is taller. So presumably there's a year between the start and end of the game. Either way, it's a very cool story with awesome designs. Loved it and loved your video!
I agree. I think the ending showing the sister waking and Olle being the one who has sneaked out is to reflect how he has grown from his adventures. He's not having nightmares about folklore and monsters anymore, he's now braver, enough to go out exploring on his own on a night.
What's super creepy is you can see Pesta watching you in the town in the background if you look around carefully. The game was showing you that prior to the boat, she was already watching you
I’m pretty sure it all happened. Folklore is generally very simplistic and literal - there is a magical realm that exists, and sometimes humans enter it and have adventures. That’s literally it. No metaphors, no dreams, just two children accidentally entering a fantasy world, having an adventure and then going home again.
the subtle changes to olle could even just be symbolic of his journey from the magic realm. i agree with you that for this story there is'nt really anything to theorize besides what the symbolism could mean
I'm Swedish and couldn't find anything on Kärrhäxan herself, but it sounds inspired by the folklore of mylingar: nameless children murdered by their mothers whose bodies were often said to be thrown in marshlands or swamps. One of the ways to put the childrens' souls to rest is to bury the body underneath blessed soil. Mylingar are more associated with being birthed out of wedlock or through infidelity though
Fellow Swede here! I think the name "Kärrhäxan" isn't the name of a certain "real-life" creature from folklore, but rather just a name to describe her, the name would literally translate as "FenWitch". She is a witch who lives in/we encounter in a fen. I do agree that her actions remind me of mylingar, so I'm guess they drew inspiration from that and then decided to give the mother a "scary" name (something a young child might call her?) to go along with it! Always a treat when games take inspiration from our folklore!
Did you miss the height references at the start? Olle's height marks are way higher when his sister wakes up than at the start of the game. So either time passed or he dreamed himself smaller, I guess.
Edited: I think Tuva/the witch in the book wanted to correct what happened to her dimension and needed someone to end the curse. She left her light/life on the statue where Olle and Lillemor found it while playing outside and were transported to her dimension where all the fairytales they read were true. She imbues her magic further into the light and sends Olle on his quest to save Lillemor and end the curse. "Follow the light." The Lyktgubbe carried a lantern and helped Olle understand what was happening by pulling out the books for him to read, also leading him to the forest outside of Nilshult, where the shapeshifter and lighthouse happened to be. Olle unfortunately has to face the shapeshifter and kills her in the same manner that Nils killed the witches while trying to find the flower to save Ulrik, which was why Tuva was upset with Olle and he regrets killing the shapeshifter. While travelling through Nilshult, there are drawings everywhere showing the lighthouse needs to be lit up, so Olle ends up lighting the tower during the eclipse/consuming darkness before fighting Pesta/death/woman with the rake, to help weaken the darkness consuming King Nils, the dimension, Tuva's powers I am assuming. I also think maybe Pesta's/death's darkness may have kept Tuva/the witch in the book away from the mountain so she couldn't fix it herself which may be why she needed someone else's help, but that is entirely speculative on my end. Tuva's "last gift" to Olle was giving him life further solidifies my theory that she was the witch with the maypole house. Not to mention he wanders by the maypole house shortly before meeting Tuva while the song 'Blomstertid' plays which is a song about blooming life and moving onto the next stage in life.
I believe the midwife story was reflective of the true story of the angel maker, a woman who was supposed to rehome babies for pay but she killed them instead. Also a sprinkle of the Brook Horse in there too.
@@leen8430 Women/mothers who killed children before baptism or naming are called angel makers in Scandinavian countries. Its believed such babies souls become creatures called Mylings. Which I believe Ollie was preventing. The report I'm referring to was a woman who was supposed to be rehoming babies (during the war/s I think) but was killing them instead.
@alexpapworth9395 i think i heard about this. Wasn't it just one person, back when you got played to adopt a child? She adopted them and then killed them. I believe she got caught when one pair wanted their child back.
I’m kind of over stories that were “all a dream” and I’m firmly in the mindset that everything happened. The story also pushes me to believe that Olle may be the child of the witch who helped King Nils. The children live in a cabin far from the general population, more or less know how to navigate interacting with fae creatures, and Olle being able to use his glowing orb at all may be indicative of an ability to use magic. I would also encourage anyone who loves this game to look into the games Yearwalk and Unforgiving: A Northern Hymn. A lot of the creatures shown in Bramble also appear in these games, with more context and lore attached.
I really like the idea that the witch who helped and trapped King Nils are the kids' mother. Maybe the difference in time is from the Bramble, Keeping everyone inside it trapped in the same time period. (also if my thoughts seem jambled it's because of coffee jitters)
You have an interesting theory there, but there's something that doesn't sit right with me about it. That being, if the idea is that the kid was outside playing and imagining this all, I can't see him imagining himself needing to be rescued several times, or crying over troll-stomped gnomes, or crying over killing a monster, or perhaps most of all, having to bury a dead baby. I guess I'd picture that a kid that age playing would likely be imagining himself as a mighty hero vanquishing monsters and saving babies. It would be like a kid today playing Batman, but imagining himself running from the Joker and being saved by Robin while Gotham burns to the ground. It just doesn't scream "kid's play time fantasy" to me. So I am more inclined to take the story at face value and assume that he and his sister wandered into an actual fairyland. But like you said, it's certainly ambiguous enough for multiple interpretations.
after being mildly traumatised by his mothers creepy fairy tale collection this would be ware this dark ideas come from and child imagination can get wild
@@FriendlyGhost-rf7tqit's definitely not a dream in game, when the game ends it specifically mentioned that Lillemore awoke from a nightmare about her memories and Olle is also noticeably taller when Lillemore wakes which could imply that that scene takes place possibly a couple years after their adventure
@@toxicatgaming4880 im awere but i also thik that it could all be a dream or imagination but it is a game and a fictional world and it was newer stated what exectly hapened end can be whatever you want it to be
I think it did happen. The fact that the children have stuff related to the journey they just went on doesn't necessarily mean it was all just a dream. It just means the children own stuff people made based off the various creatures which dwell near their home.
I'll never understand why people look at a fantastical story filled with magic and then decide to choose the most mundane explanation for it. Dream theory, death theory, etc are so unimaginative and suck all the fun and mystery from it. This game and the movie Spirited Away (Studio Ghibli in general, really) tie magic and folklore tightly with everyday life and I love that. The idea that magic and dark supernatural forces live side by side with modern people and conveniences is so fun and allows you to revisit that amazing feeling in childhood where the fantastical was just as real to you as the mundane. Why not let magic be magic?
I think it all happend in the real world. Because in the end of the game you have all the wooden figures in your room that you collected during the adventure.
The idea that Olle imagined the whole thing might be the more "realistic" take on the events of the game...but it's also the most boring, as such I prefer to think it they got spirited away a la "Wizard of Oz".
@@scraperindustry Yeah, people were saying the same thing about "Fran Bow" until the sequel "Little Misfortune" confirmed that it all wasn't just Fran's imagination.
Man, you have to talk about The Darkwood. One of the best horror games I've ever played. Full of unique and distrubing designs, along with great lore. Slavic horror done like it should be.
Great video, though I do want to make a correction on something you said at the very beginning of the video. Little Nightmares is NOT over, Bandai Namco have confirmed that they are continuing the series. They just need to find the right people to replace Tarsier. And speaking of Tarsier, they still exist, they aren't "No More" like you said in the video. They have just been bought by Embracer Group and are now working on new IPs.
The whole thing with the midwife reflects the beginning of male doctors usurping healers, painting them as evil witches. This has no bearing on gameplay, just thought Id mention it...
Nøkken or Näcken(näck means nude) as he is known in Swedish folklore is an interesting entity, never heard of that origin but adds a more human element and tragedy to him. From the sagas and legends I remember he was always a manifestation of a beautiful danger, a way to keep children away from being alone near water. Like the Pied Piper, the beautiful nude musician uses his music to tempt you to follow him, but in this case to either drown yourself as you are enthralled or into his hands so he can pull you under himself. Always imagined he had a rivalry with Bäckahästen(a beautiful horse that drowns children that ride him) both enchanting creatures that if you disturb can lure you to a watery grave.
In the comments from a playthrough from gab smolders a person mentioned the midwife and the witch may be a reference to a woman who “helped” despaired women by taking their children and “make them in to angels” as they put it. I would recommend looking for that comment yourself since i can’t recollect it exactly as they said it
Yes, it's called Änglamakerska, translated "the maker of angels". Desperate mother's could give their babies to them, and they would kill them through miscare and abuse. A quite horrible part of Swedish history/folklore, although there's only been a few actually documented cases.
some of the stuff in the first 5 minutes of this reminds me of an old hansel and gretel game series i used to love playing on newgrounds, made me nostalgic and also curious how much of that and this game is adapted from folklore.
She didn't make an appearance in this game in particular, but I grew up with a book of Eastern European folk lore and fairytales, which is where I first met Baba Yaga. Literally no one else I grew up with or met had ever heard of her, until my first semester of college when my randomly assigned roommate was a girl whose family had come to Chicago fleeing the Bosnian war. She knew all about that creepy bitch with the chicken leg house! 😂
This made me more fascinated by folklore, just the things people create and even used to protect their kids (best example veing creatures such as Kelpies, a horse creature that when ridden drowns the rider and its usually kids. There was one story where a kid cut his finger that attatched him to the Kelpie while the rest of his friends werent so lucky)
Love when games like this are released and do well. It is so awesome to learn about fables and folklore from other cultures that we don't hear about often like Sweden! Especially for those of us in America who have ancestors who are from Sweden yet much of the culture and lore we were not raised with and we were cut off from.
I've been bingeing all your content and I wanted to recommend maybe explaining the Ace Attorney games! I'm not sure if it's your cup of tea and I feel like your channel focuses on more of a horror theme, but regardless, I feel like the stories and twists in the Ace Attorney games can be quite convoluted and satisfying to piece together and you would be a great narrator for it.
Dude you had me freaking out for like 30 minuets about Tarsier Studios closing but I can't find a single thing about them closing down. I DID however find that they are still making games they just don't own the IP to Little Nightmares anymore because Bandai Namco owns it now. So Tarsier Studios is just moving on to different projects. (side note: I also found out that Bandai Namco is currently developing the next installment of Little Nightmares due to someone at Banco posting a job ad for the Little Nightmares-IP team on Linked-in!)
Aww, that's pretty sad. But didn't they say that LM won't have another installment? I remember reading/hearing something like that. If Bandai Namco is indeed making a third LM, I honestly don't know how to feel. Would it be as good as the first two? Or something entirely different?
I absolutely love this game as a huge fan of Nordic mythology and folk lore it’s just like little nightmares in all the best ways and the music is beautiful also during the fight with the king it’s amazing how they have in the hall of the mountain king play as you fight the king it fits it soo well
This game definitely needs explaining, even if you did find the backstories for each monster/wicked "fairy" encounter. The narrative flow and model proportions of the game definitely reminded me of Little Nightmares, and also of the Dark Parables series (hidden-object adventure games series), American McGee's Alice (especially the Näcken and King Nils sections), and just a little of the God of War Nordic games (same group of countries for inspiration, different focuses for lore). I made many connections to Norway, Iceland, European, and even Celtic folklore with the different opponents you had to face. Great looking game with lovely music, and a great conversation starter for global folklore discussions, especially concerning the demonization of elderly, betrothed, recently birthed, or unmarried women... and their light counterparts with the childlikePrincess Tuva and the regal, pure healer the White Witch. Midwives also have a history of blame for stillbirths, deformities on children (especially boys), fussy babies, and even being thought to cause certain women to miscarry with an ill look; this is seen in folklore/old customs for multiple cultures across the world, although I've mainly heard it through European and pre-19th century lore about witches. Just some things for Harry and the commenters to ponder. If you are reading this, be Wicked Blessed.
I understand why you come to that conclusion, because you didn't grow up with these sort of folktales. So to you, it's just a tale. Children playing, going on their imaginary adventures. But to those of us who grew up with these tales, especially those of us living out on the countryside and near forests and great lakes and rivers, these stories are incredibly real and very literal. If you hear a violin while you're out in the woods, you plug your ears and speed your ass back home. If you hear a woman's voice call and whoop at dusk, you speed your ass the opposite direction. Two kids accidentally stumbling into the world of Others? That happens. Sometimes you never see them again. You can find the occasional adult over here who will swear up, down, and sideways that they've either _met_ something or _been_ somewhere when they were younger. This? Might as well be based on a true story lol
Two things. Why is Olle supposed to feel guilty? The shapeshiftrr was evil, dead set on killing Olle too. Did the king's son commit suicide? One page shows him healed and happy, next page he's dead with a knife in him. He did this himself?
Olle felt guilty because he had just read the book that showed King Nils killing out of anger, and he ended up killing the shapeshifter out of anger because she teased him about Lillemor. She had begged for her life and he killed her anyway. She was evil, yes, but he's just a child that has probably never killed anything before. Tuva also expressed disappointment in him killing out of anger which may have also upset him. The king's son did not kill himself. If you look on the left side of the page before his death, you can see two monks whispering to one another with a knife in one of their hands. The narrator also says that the kingdom was unhappy with Nils due to his behavior and that's why they killed his son.
If this whole game is based on folklore I feel like we need to take changelings into consideration too. The ruins they fall through are a free standing door. "A door that used to lead somewhere, but now leads somewhere else" Call it the halfway, purgatory, the fae. Whatever you call it its a realm between life and death. Like you said, nothing and everything makes sense. I think the children fell into the realm and were replaced by changelings. Or atleast Olle was replaced. The clothes being clean. His sister still being in the bed. Something just isnt right at the end.
I just finished this game. Fantastic! I live the fact that it was not 3D, but linear, I play those better! I could see hints of Little Nightmares (stealth), Inside (stealth and the Näkken part), Unravel (hyper-realism in the graphics), The Last Guardian (platforming, yet sometimes helpful in balancing small routes) and American McGee’s Alice (goer) influence all throughout the game . I love puzzle-platformers and this was kind of an amalgamation of that genre and others, and I loved it!
I think it would be a fun idea if someone made a game similar to Bramble, maybe even set in the same world but different in some way, perhaps have the player character be older and far more experienced with the folklore elements then Olle, perhaps having the game be an adventure genre or something like that instead of horror game.
I like to think the ending is a possible sequel where the Olle we see is actually a changeling, which explains why his clothes are clean, the window is open in the middle of the night, and he doesn't seem afraid despite the nightmare he went through.
Hey Gaming Harry i really love your videos if you have the time can you make one of a game called Paranormal HK? I am too scared to play the game myself😂
Can you do Shadows of Destiny/ Shadows of Memories next? It involves time traveling and might get a bit confusing for some depending on the different endings they get
Actually no. Bandai Namco just recently confirmed for Little Nightmares' 6 anniversary that they WILL be continuing the series. They just need to find the right people to replace Tarsier.
Dear Gaming Harry, Greetings from Boston. Care to do a lore and order video on The sinking city, I'm positive the oakmont natives, insumounters and newcomers of your members will love it. Yours Truly, Charles Reed P.I.
You’re telling me, instead of killing the King, who caused the witch hunt and became evil, they killed his son? WHAT DO YOU MEAN?!?! WHO CAME TO THAT CONCLUSION?!?!
I would enjoy if Harry did a video on the Dungeon of Fear and Hunger. I watched a video on it and while the game and it's squeal are games I would never play the story is interesting. If very dark
Thank you for mentioning me as the singer of this game
Such a great song! Masterpiece ❤
@@Tharrilicious Thank you
Omg your voice is incredible, you’re so talented!! I loved it! 👏🏼
@@tarag2705 Thank you SO much Tara
The soundtrack you sang on this game is amazing
I like to think it really happened. It says the sister woke from a nightmare "of her memories" and at the beginning of the game Olle is 8 according to the height chart on the wall and at the end of the game the wall says he's 9 and is taller. So presumably there's a year between the start and end of the game.
Either way, it's a very cool story with awesome designs. Loved it and loved your video!
I agree. I think the ending showing the sister waking and Olle being the one who has sneaked out is to reflect how he has grown from his adventures. He's not having nightmares about folklore and monsters anymore, he's now braver, enough to go out exploring on his own on a night.
The picture changed too! The monsters from the first one at the start vanished and in the last picture at the end, there is a boy, smiling
I like that cause it being all just a dream is annoying
What's super creepy is you can see Pesta watching you in the town in the background if you look around carefully. The game was showing you that prior to the boat, she was already watching you
I’m pretty sure it all happened. Folklore is generally very simplistic and literal - there is a magical realm that exists, and sometimes humans enter it and have adventures. That’s literally it. No metaphors, no dreams, just two children accidentally entering a fantasy world, having an adventure and then going home again.
the subtle changes to olle could even just be symbolic of his journey from the magic realm. i agree with you that for this story there is'nt really anything to theorize besides what the symbolism could mean
I'm Swedish and couldn't find anything on Kärrhäxan herself, but it sounds inspired by the folklore of mylingar: nameless children murdered by their mothers whose bodies were often said to be thrown in marshlands or swamps. One of the ways to put the childrens' souls to rest is to bury the body underneath blessed soil. Mylingar are more associated with being birthed out of wedlock or through infidelity though
This is off topic but it was interesting hearing about this folklore from your culture!
@@dappercoat249 haha, thank you! it's rare to get an opportunity to talk about it
Fellow Swede here! I think the name "Kärrhäxan" isn't the name of a certain "real-life" creature from folklore, but rather just a name to describe her, the name would literally translate as "FenWitch". She is a witch who lives in/we encounter in a fen. I do agree that her actions remind me of mylingar, so I'm guess they drew inspiration from that and then decided to give the mother a "scary" name (something a young child might call her?) to go along with it!
Always a treat when games take inspiration from our folklore!
@@koy4i yeah! i particularly enjoy when it goes beyond just giants
@@petra2123 I know right, imagine my surprise to finally see a depiction of Näcken in a videogame!
Did you miss the height references at the start? Olle's height marks are way higher when his sister wakes up than at the start of the game. So either time passed or he dreamed himself smaller, I guess.
Edited: I think Tuva/the witch in the book wanted to correct what happened to her dimension and needed someone to end the curse. She left her light/life on the statue where Olle and Lillemor found it while playing outside and were transported to her dimension where all the fairytales they read were true. She imbues her magic further into the light and sends Olle on his quest to save Lillemor and end the curse. "Follow the light." The Lyktgubbe carried a lantern and helped Olle understand what was happening by pulling out the books for him to read, also leading him to the forest outside of Nilshult, where the shapeshifter and lighthouse happened to be. Olle unfortunately has to face the shapeshifter and kills her in the same manner that Nils killed the witches while trying to find the flower to save Ulrik, which was why Tuva was upset with Olle and he regrets killing the shapeshifter. While travelling through Nilshult, there are drawings everywhere showing the lighthouse needs to be lit up, so Olle ends up lighting the tower during the eclipse/consuming darkness before fighting Pesta/death/woman with the rake, to help weaken the darkness consuming King Nils, the dimension, Tuva's powers I am assuming. I also think maybe Pesta's/death's darkness may have kept Tuva/the witch in the book away from the mountain so she couldn't fix it herself which may be why she needed someone else's help, but that is entirely speculative on my end. Tuva's "last gift" to Olle was giving him life further solidifies my theory that she was the witch with the maypole house. Not to mention he wanders by the maypole house shortly before meeting Tuva while the song 'Blomstertid' plays which is a song about blooming life and moving onto the next stage in life.
I believe the midwife story was reflective of the true story of the angel maker, a woman who was supposed to rehome babies for pay but she killed them instead. Also a sprinkle of the Brook Horse in there too.
Angel makers were women who helped women abort, I think. The women you described definitely existed, but were they called by the same name?
@@leen8430 Women/mothers who killed children before baptism or naming are called angel makers in Scandinavian countries. Its believed such babies souls become creatures called Mylings. Which I believe Ollie was preventing. The report I'm referring to was a woman who was supposed to be rehoming babies (during the war/s I think) but was killing them instead.
@@alexpapworth9395 Okay thanks, I was only aware of the German meaning, which I only knew in the context of abortions. Learned another thing today!
@alexpapworth9395 i think i heard about this. Wasn't it just one person, back when you got played to adopt a child? She adopted them and then killed them. I believe she got caught when one pair wanted their child back.
@@crimsondragon1259 She got caught I do remember that
I’m kind of over stories that were “all a dream” and I’m firmly in the mindset that everything happened.
The story also pushes me to believe that Olle may be the child of the witch who helped King Nils. The children live in a cabin far from the general population, more or less know how to navigate interacting with fae creatures, and Olle being able to use his glowing orb at all may be indicative of an ability to use magic.
I would also encourage anyone who loves this game to look into the games Yearwalk and Unforgiving: A Northern Hymn. A lot of the creatures shown in Bramble also appear in these games, with more context and lore attached.
I really like the idea that the witch who helped and trapped King Nils are the kids' mother.
Maybe the difference in time is from the Bramble, Keeping everyone inside it trapped in the same time period.
(also if my thoughts seem jambled it's because of coffee jitters)
Unforgiven is how I instantly knew what the nokken was. Best creature in a game, best theme ever
There's also the Point and Click adventure game Oknytt.
You have an interesting theory there, but there's something that doesn't sit right with me about it. That being, if the idea is that the kid was outside playing and imagining this all, I can't see him imagining himself needing to be rescued several times, or crying over troll-stomped gnomes, or crying over killing a monster, or perhaps most of all, having to bury a dead baby. I guess I'd picture that a kid that age playing would likely be imagining himself as a mighty hero vanquishing monsters and saving babies. It would be like a kid today playing Batman, but imagining himself running from the Joker and being saved by Robin while Gotham burns to the ground. It just doesn't scream "kid's play time fantasy" to me.
So I am more inclined to take the story at face value and assume that he and his sister wandered into an actual fairyland. But like you said, it's certainly ambiguous enough for multiple interpretations.
after being mildly traumatised by his mothers creepy fairy tale collection this would be ware this dark ideas come from and child imagination can get wild
@@FriendlyGhost-rf7tqit's definitely not a dream in game, when the game ends it specifically mentioned that Lillemore awoke from a nightmare about her memories and Olle is also noticeably taller when Lillemore wakes which could imply that that scene takes place possibly a couple years after their adventure
@@toxicatgaming4880 im awere but i also thik that it could all be a dream or imagination but it is a game and a fictional world and it was newer stated what exectly hapened end can be whatever you want it to be
I think it did happen. The fact that the children have stuff related to the journey they just went on doesn't necessarily mean it was all just a dream. It just means the children own stuff people made based off the various creatures which dwell near their home.
Harry’s voice is so calming. He’s my favorite narrator. Harry you should really try your hand at recording audiobooks or being a voice actor!
It really is! I don’t game much but I watch all his videos lol.
It is a good day when Harry uploads. This will be a nice sit back and relax, pop a cold one kind of video.
Dude you’re such an underrated UA-camr. It’s so obvious how much research and effort is put into these videos. You really deserve more subs.
He's a great narrator indeed!
I'll never understand why people look at a fantastical story filled with magic and then decide to choose the most mundane explanation for it. Dream theory, death theory, etc are so unimaginative and suck all the fun and mystery from it. This game and the movie Spirited Away (Studio Ghibli in general, really) tie magic and folklore tightly with everyday life and I love that. The idea that magic and dark supernatural forces live side by side with modern people and conveniences is so fun and allows you to revisit that amazing feeling in childhood where the fantastical was just as real to you as the mundane. Why not let magic be magic?
exactly, right????
I mean, the game HEAVILY suggests at the end that it wasnt imagination or a dream, not really sure why so many people theorize it to be the case
Huh, it really is like if Ghibli made a story based off Nordic folklore.
I think it all happend in the real world. Because in the end of the game you have all the wooden figures in your room that you collected during the adventure.
The idea that Olle imagined the whole thing might be the more "realistic" take on the events of the game...but it's also the most boring, as such I prefer to think it they got spirited away a la "Wizard of Oz".
Same. I am honestly tired of these "it's all in their head" theories floating around on the internet. So boring.
@@scraperindustry Yeah, people were saying the same thing about "Fran Bow" until the sequel "Little Misfortune" confirmed that it all wasn't just Fran's imagination.
Man, you have to talk about The Darkwood. One of the best horror games I've ever played. Full of unique and distrubing designs, along with great lore. Slavic horror done like it should be.
such an amazing game with a REALLY good horror atmosphere. more people need to play it.
Great video, though I do want to make a correction on something you said at the very beginning of the video. Little Nightmares is NOT over, Bandai Namco have confirmed that they are continuing the series. They just need to find the right people to replace Tarsier. And speaking of Tarsier, they still exist, they aren't "No More" like you said in the video. They have just been bought by Embracer Group and are now working on new IPs.
This is reassuring, thank you
When I was young, my friends mother would tell us that Näcken or 'Nacken' would take us if we went to a particular river to play...
The whole thing with the midwife reflects the beginning of male doctors usurping healers, painting them as evil witches. This has no bearing on gameplay, just thought Id mention it...
I love these explain videos but the Lore and Order (fantastic name for a series) are the best
Thanks for covering this one!! I was so lost abt the plot except for when Olle read the books abt the king …
Nøkken or Näcken(näck means nude) as he is known in Swedish folklore is an interesting entity, never heard of that origin but adds a more human element and tragedy to him. From the sagas and legends I remember he was always a manifestation of a beautiful danger, a way to keep children away from being alone near water. Like the Pied Piper, the beautiful nude musician uses his music to tempt you to follow him, but in this case to either drown yourself as you are enthralled or into his hands so he can pull you under himself. Always imagined he had a rivalry with Bäckahästen(a beautiful horse that drowns children that ride him) both enchanting creatures that if you disturb can lure you to a watery grave.
In the comments from a playthrough from gab smolders a person mentioned the midwife and the witch may be a reference to a woman who “helped” despaired women by taking their children and “make them in to angels” as they put it. I would recommend looking for that comment yourself since i can’t recollect it exactly as they said it
Yes, it's called Änglamakerska, translated "the maker of angels". Desperate mother's could give their babies to them, and they would kill them through miscare and abuse. A quite horrible part of Swedish history/folklore, although there's only been a few actually documented cases.
There is a physical for this I’ll FINALLY be able to play it!!!!! Can’t wait
Please cover What Remains of Edith Finch!! It’s so full of lore and there’s so many theories and questions left unanswered
No curse, just negligence and scapegoats. Evert death could be explained, apart from miltons disappearence.There you go.
some of the stuff in the first 5 minutes of this reminds me of an old hansel and gretel game series i used to love playing on newgrounds, made me nostalgic and also curious how much of that and this game is adapted from folklore.
She didn't make an appearance in this game in particular, but I grew up with a book of Eastern European folk lore and fairytales, which is where I first met Baba Yaga. Literally no one else I grew up with or met had ever heard of her, until my first semester of college when my randomly assigned roommate was a girl whose family had come to Chicago fleeing the Bosnian war. She knew all about that creepy bitch with the chicken leg house! 😂
Awesome work dude, i appreciate all those lore videos you make ! Keep up the good grind !
Thanks so much! Glad you enjoy them 😀
This made me more fascinated by folklore, just the things people create and even used to protect their kids (best example veing creatures such as Kelpies, a horse creature that when ridden drowns the rider and its usually kids. There was one story where a kid cut his finger that attatched him to the Kelpie while the rest of his friends werent so lucky)
Love when games like this are released and do well. It is so awesome to learn about fables and folklore from other cultures that we don't hear about often like Sweden! Especially for those of us in America who have ancestors who are from Sweden yet much of the culture and lore we were not raised with and we were cut off from.
As a swede it's so fun seeing all of these creatures and tales, and remmembering them from books I used to read as a child, so cool
Agreed!
i remember watching a demo of this game and being absolutely enthralled. It's great to see it lived up to what I hoped it would be and more.
I've been bingeing all your content and I wanted to recommend maybe explaining the Ace Attorney games! I'm not sure if it's your cup of tea and I feel like your channel focuses on more of a horror theme, but regardless, I feel like the stories and twists in the Ace Attorney games can be quite convoluted and satisfying to piece together and you would be a great narrator for it.
It is really great seeing Nordic Mythology get some love.
Dude you had me freaking out for like 30 minuets about Tarsier Studios closing but I can't find a single thing about them closing down. I DID however find that they are still making games they just don't own the IP to Little Nightmares anymore because Bandai Namco owns it now. So Tarsier Studios is just moving on to different projects. (side note: I also found out that Bandai Namco is currently developing the next installment of Little Nightmares due to someone at Banco posting a job ad for the Little Nightmares-IP team on Linked-in!)
So they sold the rights to Little Nightmares to Bandai Namco? That's a little depressing.
@@cartooncritique6625 thought the same thing reading this, but let's hold out some hope
Aww, that's pretty sad. But didn't they say that LM won't have another installment? I remember reading/hearing something like that. If Bandai Namco is indeed making a third LM, I honestly don't know how to feel. Would it be as good as the first two? Or something entirely different?
That kid falls down so many times in this game he should basically be in the Earth’s core by now.
Harry! Just yesterday I was thinking that I hope you do a video on this game! Thank you!
I absolutely love this game as a huge fan of Nordic mythology and folk lore it’s just like little nightmares in all the best ways and the music is beautiful also during the fight with the king it’s amazing how they have in the hall of the mountain king play as you fight the king it fits it soo well
Well, it's all starts with a spark of courage. To venture land seen and unseen 😊
You really have a knack for finding unique and interesting games
we appreciate your effort ants work. Bless you.
Loved the video! I was hopeing you'd a video on Bramble, seemed right up your alley!
I will watch this game for myself but i am excited for the Retro Vault video
23:26 this was a dope ass fight, the music design was insane too
It's always a joy to see a new video from you😊
This game definitely needs explaining, even if you did find the backstories for each monster/wicked "fairy" encounter. The narrative flow and model proportions of the game definitely reminded me of Little Nightmares, and also of the Dark Parables series (hidden-object adventure games series), American McGee's Alice (especially the Näcken and King Nils sections), and just a little of the God of War Nordic games (same group of countries for inspiration, different focuses for lore).
I made many connections to Norway, Iceland, European, and even Celtic folklore with the different opponents you had to face. Great looking game with lovely music, and a great conversation starter for global folklore discussions, especially concerning the demonization of elderly, betrothed, recently birthed, or unmarried women... and their light counterparts with the childlikePrincess Tuva and the regal, pure healer the White Witch. Midwives also have a history of blame for stillbirths, deformities on children (especially boys), fussy babies, and even being thought to cause certain women to miscarry with an ill look; this is seen in folklore/old customs for multiple cultures across the world, although I've mainly heard it through European and pre-19th century lore about witches. Just some things for Harry and the commenters to ponder. If you are reading this, be Wicked Blessed.
I understand why you come to that conclusion, because you didn't grow up with these sort of folktales. So to you, it's just a tale. Children playing, going on their imaginary adventures. But to those of us who grew up with these tales, especially those of us living out on the countryside and near forests and great lakes and rivers, these stories are incredibly real and very literal. If you hear a violin while you're out in the woods, you plug your ears and speed your ass back home. If you hear a woman's voice call and whoop at dusk, you speed your ass the opposite direction.
Two kids accidentally stumbling into the world of Others? That happens. Sometimes you never see them again. You can find the occasional adult over here who will swear up, down, and sideways that they've either _met_ something or _been_ somewhere when they were younger.
This? Might as well be based on a true story lol
21:00 "DID I HEAR A ROCK AND STONE!!!!!!"
This reminds me of Brothers: A tale of two sons, with a much happier ending.
Two things.
Why is Olle supposed to feel guilty? The shapeshiftrr was evil, dead set on killing Olle too.
Did the king's son commit suicide? One page shows him healed and happy, next page he's dead with a knife in him. He did this himself?
Olle felt guilty because he had just read the book that showed King Nils killing out of anger, and he ended up killing the shapeshifter out of anger because she teased him about Lillemor. She had begged for her life and he killed her anyway. She was evil, yes, but he's just a child that has probably never killed anything before. Tuva also expressed disappointment in him killing out of anger which may have also upset him.
The king's son did not kill himself. If you look on the left side of the page before his death, you can see two monks whispering to one another with a knife in one of their hands. The narrator also says that the kingdom was unhappy with Nils due to his behavior and that's why they killed his son.
@@loomsvr Thank you very much for this explanation.
21:02 Rock and Stone, brother!
"now that tarsier studios is no more"
....what? They're just part of embracer now, right? That's WHY LN2 happened.
Baby gnomes are the best things ever
Looking forward to seeing some more of your Let's Plays.
Also requesting your take on the plot of Returnal
If this whole game is based on folklore I feel like we need to take changelings into consideration too. The ruins they fall through are a free standing door. "A door that used to lead somewhere, but now leads somewhere else" Call it the halfway, purgatory, the fae. Whatever you call it its a realm between life and death. Like you said, nothing and everything makes sense. I think the children fell into the realm and were replaced by changelings. Or atleast Olle was replaced. The clothes being clean. His sister still being in the bed. Something just isnt right at the end.
I'm so glad you did this, the theory you came up with the ending makes so much sense now
I just finished this game. Fantastic! I live the fact that it was not 3D, but linear, I play those better! I could see hints of Little Nightmares (stealth), Inside (stealth and the Näkken part), Unravel (hyper-realism in the graphics), The Last Guardian (platforming, yet sometimes helpful in balancing small routes) and American McGee’s Alice (goer) influence all throughout the game . I love puzzle-platformers and this was kind of an amalgamation of that genre and others, and I loved it!
Yay Harry upload!
I think it would be a fun idea if someone made a game similar to Bramble, maybe even set in the same world but different in some way, perhaps have the player character be older and far more experienced with the folklore elements then Olle, perhaps having the game be an adventure genre or something like that instead of horror game.
I thought the main male protagonist when he first sees his sister, Lillymore; they would go back home. Their parents must be worried sick.
16:21 now that's a moonlight night if I've ever seen one
I love this game so much !
The baby gnomes are so cuteeee🥺
“With little nightmares being over, somewhat officially” oh how wrong you were
I’m glad I was wrong
@@GamingHarryYT hurray for supermassivegames
7:35 mom when she hears something break
21:00 Did I hear a Rock and Stone?
what a beautiful game
I *WISH* I Had Seen Adverts for This Game...When I Purchased DiablO IV!
New drinking game: Down a shot for each time "forest" is mentioned :D
16:22 those are some huge bramblea
I like to think the ending is a possible sequel where the Olle we see is actually a changeling, which explains why his clothes are clean, the window is open in the middle of the night, and he doesn't seem afraid despite the nightmare he went through.
But when did the changling swap places with Olle?
Hey Gaming Harry i really love your videos if you have the time can you make one of a game called Paranormal HK? I am too scared to play the game myself😂
16:09 That peach though.
Looks great👍
the ruins where the kids falls resembles the um ... library
Anyone else here after the announcement of a third little nightmares game
21:02 ROCK AND STONE!
I would like a breakdown of this one as well
Please talk about Clock Tower!
A great video woah 😮❤
Can you do Shadows of Destiny/ Shadows of Memories next? It involves time traveling and might get a bit confusing for some depending on the different endings they get
Rock and Stone!!!
little nightmare is over? damn i will miss that game
It's been ages since the last game. Looks to me that it is unless they surprise us down the road
@@BeyondDaX its really shame their monsters were great...
Actually no. Bandai Namco just recently confirmed for Little Nightmares' 6 anniversary that they WILL be continuing the series. They just need to find the right people to replace Tarsier.
Dear Gaming Harry,
Greetings from Boston. Care to do a lore and order video on The sinking city, I'm positive the oakmont natives, insumounters and newcomers of your members will love it.
Yours Truly,
Charles Reed
P.I.
Here's another good lord and Order video you can do do you want about white day a labyrinth named School
The amount of times this kid falls had me stressed ngl.
dodging in this game was a small nightmares for me...
This seems inspired by norse mythology a lot
After playing Witcher 3 recently this shit hit different
You’re telling me, instead of killing the King, who caused the witch hunt and became evil, they killed his son?
WHAT DO YOU MEAN?!?! WHO CAME TO THAT CONCLUSION?!?!
No more Little Nightmares?! 😔At least the two were really great…
Banco is working on the next installment of Little Nightmares rn
First horror game I played by myself
I would enjoy if Harry did a video on the Dungeon of Fear and Hunger. I watched a video on it and while the game and it's squeal are games I would never play the story is interesting. If very dark
Great review! I like your dream theory. Makes sense because the kid looks so happy at the end like he didn’t go trough 55 forms of trauma lmao.
I swear, the sister have no sense of responsibility or whatsoever.
Can you do Fear and Hunger
Im obsessed with the game rn
Any update on covering Clocktower?
Love the video! Would love to see a little nightmares explained!