Great video!! I really like the examination of the outlast series through a psychological and historical lens, its very interesting and well donr! You got the terms around reinforcement a bit off though; electrifying the floor of a skinner box would be positive punishment, not negative reinforcement! Negative reinforcement is the removal of an unpleasant stimulus as reinforcement (for example, a child stopping crying after you give them a cookie is negative reinforcement for the behavior of giving kids cookies when they cry). Electrifying the floor would be positive punishment (the addition of an unpleasant stimulus to dissuade behavior)! In general, if it encourages behavior it's reinforcement and if it dissuades behavior its punishment (which both can be additive/positive OR subtractive/negative). Just had to put that out there since I'm a psychology nerd. Really enjoying the video though!!
Thanks for the kind words and the correction! Not sure how I messed that up after reading so much on the subject lol. As always on this channel, I’m pinning you as a form of showing the mistake until such a time as I need to issue a longer list of corrections. It wouldn’t be a Ratat video without at least one random bit of misinformation.
@@tomtaylor1460 giving a child a cookie after they stop crying is positive reinforcement, because you're rewarding behavior with something pleasant. Negative reinforcement is the removal of something unpleasant, the child is negatively enforcing the parents behavior by stopping their crying
@@jadegreenleaf781 They mean for YOU it is negative reinforcement as they said " is negative reinforcement for the behavior of giving kids cookies when they cry" and thus talking about the person giving the cookie, not the child receiving it.
ah good, someone beat me to the punch on this! one other issue i noticed - and this is really due to an ongoing problem in the sciences (maybe especially psych), where we have a different definition than the general public for certain words and phrases: standford's prison study is commonly referred to as the "stanford prison experiment", but it literally isn't an experiment (and that's outside of whether or not one considers it to be a legitimate study). an "experiment" in science is something that controls for variables (in almost all cases through the use of a control condition), which stanford did not do - there was only ever one "prison" condition. (this one is totally understandable on your part, since "stanford prison experiment" is what it's popularly known as, but i figured i'd drop this one in while we were gently correcting vocab!)
I always thought the main message for this game was the concept of truth and insanity, and where the line that separates the two is located. I always looked at the quote that came out of this game, "If you show a cave man science, he'll think its magic. If you show a scientist magic, he'll think its science."
well put. when i played the first game that quote specifically stood out to me as well and i couldn’t really understand why at the time. i was probably 14-15 when i first played it. im now 22 and i still think about that specific quote more than i care to admit. to me these games are more about the dangers of ambitiousness combined with a lack of ethics. it becomes so much more real when you compare it to similar historical events. the obvious examples being mkultra, project artichoke, bluebird, etc. these games pose a very conflicting philosophical question, which is.. what actions are people willing to take in order to gain important information for their benefit ? or even worse, what will people do out of of sheer morbid curiosity if the question presents itself properly ? if any of these ideas interest you i highly recommend reading a book called chaos by tom o’neill.
@@littlescarfo I definitely think you are right on there being two main themes here. I think that's the beauty of Outlast though. Two themes to question two opposing sides different perspectives. There is the outside perspective, where we get to question the overall meaning of all the events that took place, and then there is the inside perspective where we get to question the meaning within all of the events.
I have many memories of Outlast and one of them is having my whole class during High School having a group reaction when one of us brought the game to school when our teacher didn't arrived around for the class period.
Excellent. It genuinely warms my heart to hear this. In my school days it was horror / banned movies or books at staunch Catholic School. You can't squash the human spirit of curiosity.
I'm honestly really suprised that Outlast not only HAS a message, but tells it pretty well! While I'll never really like the series as "games" (Run and hide style horror is just frustrating to me, not scary), you've really turned me around on it when it comes to seeing the series as "art".
Run and hide style games can be quite hit and miss, I remember post outlast (and tbh post amnesia the dark descent) when every single indie horror title was like this and it got really grating, especially games where you see the same jumpscare over and over. Outlast has never really seemed that frustrating to me though, and with the added co-op angle of Trials it still feels fresh imo. Thanks for the comment!
Run and hide has been hit or miss for me too (mostly just miss). I find it more frustrating when you are in some place where there is a loaded gun or knife/sword and you are not allowed to use it. I don't personally like Amnesia because it started what I like to call "breadcrumb note storytelling" that very impression breaking because my thoughts immediately wonder to why everyone meticulously writes everything down in a journal/diary like a chronic blog/social-media poster. However, at least you can stun certain things by hurling stuff at them or throwing objects in their way in that game. In Outlast, self-defense is like an alien concept to the protagonists, which is amusing in a dark comedic way.
In Trials they’ve slightly remedied this by letting you throw bottles and bricks you find at the enemies, but also don’t include more practical weapons because it’s a controlled environment in universe. But yeah across the genre it’s annoying.
@@ajflinkI don't think it's very fair to blame Amnesia for that tbh, it's a pretty classic storytelling trope that videogames use because it works well from a gameplay perspective. I'd probably blame System Shock and its sequel, but there's probably earlier examples I'm not aware of. I'll agree that it can get pretty silly sometimes if you decide to sit back and actually ask "why the hell are you writing this down?" lol
For some reason Outlast started the trend for me to mistake headless body of human beings especially upside down in horror games to look like roasted turkeys to me.
Skibidi joilet easterman is crazy work 😭😭 Edit: I would actually argue that Chris Walker is pretty sympathetic because he acts out of an extremely misguided desire to protect, and to contain the security breach. One of my favourite quotes from the first game is when he’s chasing Miles through the prison and says “I’m coming. You won’t have to kill yourself. I’ll make the pain stop” - it pretty much flipped my perspective on him as soon as I heard it. Fantastic video!!
I think that’s a fair comment on Walker, but it’s worth noting that he was a killer even prior to the morphogenic engine scrambling his brain, the comics expand on this.
@@RatatTalks Came to say he became a killer because of murkoff and the therapy sessions in the clinic he had to monitor, causing to trigger his PTSD and kill people he probably saw as threats to the humanity itself
@@RatatTalks yeah, for sure. Tbh I even find him sympathetic in the comics because of the abusive conditioning he received during his first time in Murkoff “care”. It literally all comes down to the way the corporation dealt with his initial trauma.
Speaking of Gluskin and Park and how these two characters reflect each other. While Gluskin strives to become a good husband and father, Park is already a good husband and father, while Gluskin tries to recreate the birth scene over and over again. Park attended the birth of his sons. Waylon himself embodies what Eddie wants to be, but will never be because of the environment he grew up in and the choices he made as a result of it.
Trials is the first Outlast game that I actually played, but I fucking LOVE it. I genuinely learned so much thanks to it, the narrative team is doing incredible work, the developers make me feel like I’m actually respected as a player rather than being a giant wallet on legs. Easterman is such an interesting character, and Carlo Mestroni is incredible. I could yap about the game for hours. Edit: one relatively small detail in the story was the poisoning of Easterman after the New Year’s party, where someone secretly slipped thallium in his work coat pocket. I recently learned (pretty much an hour ago) that the CIA actually planned to poison Castro with thallium to make his hair and beard fall out, basically the same thing that happened to Easterman. It’s a very small detail, but the fact that the narrative team went out of their way to pick thallium specifically to make it even more realistic is just… chef’s kiss
@@RatatTalks I decided to grind the event in the first couple days, and I had more than enough stamps to buy out the season 2 deluxe catalog on day 1. I now have everything from that catalog, as well as having completed the winter kills catalog and all of its event tasks. I disgusted myself, but I got it done
What’s funny about gottileb and his idiosyncrasies is that they’re referenced in the outlast trials via easterman’s journal, he notes that he doesn’t trust the drinks he makes and that he found thallium in his coat pocket, and was upset his hair fell out
oh hell yes cant wait to watch. there was a period of time, like a straight year, i listened to the ps4 trophies speedrun of outlast every night to fall asleep. kind of a crazy choice but its now super nostalgic
Man I know that feeling. I used to work at Subway as a teen, and for a few months straight when I’d get home from my draining closing shifts, I’d plop down with my footlong sub and watch let’s plays of Outlast on YT before I fell asleep. Can’t believe it was over 10 years ago at this point, damn.
Yeah, I think a lot of series make it a bit too gratuitos and spectacle driven, it’s nice to see a bit of restraint when covering such a tricky subject. Originally I believe Miles was meant to be SA’d in Outlast 1 but the content was cut, which I feel was a good choice.
Thanks! A stated aim of this channel is to look to more critically analyse narratives beyond just recapping plots because that’s a minor pet peeve of mine with a lot of ‘video essays’
Just an add on to the Stanford Prison experiment - it was later re-done by a British University with the same structure that Stanford was done, and the outcomes were complete opposite making the original appear as a fluke
Tbh I kinda love the subtlety of Outlast's underlying themes and story, it allows people who just want a spooky jumpscare game to get that while rewarding the lore enthusiasts who decide to look deeper into the games
I really appreciate the ideological/real life historical deep dive into the Outlast lore, as the only thing with the series that stood out for me was the ultraviolence and how Red Barrels just has somehow kept on going with this franchise. Good job, I always enjoy your work!
had a rough as evening and getting to listen to you talk about the depths of this game with a joke here or there, really helped calm things down. I'm really grateful you make these videos, and i hope life is treating you well
I must say I am a bit embarrassed. When you said "If you are a good test subject you'd press the subscribe button." I leaned up from my chair, said "Okay." aloud, and went to sub. Turns out, I was already subbed.
I've always been fascinated by outlast's storytelling since I first played it, watched some of the Lore videos you put on screen too. Their blend of real life/historical fiction makes it far more engaging and worthwhile in my eyes, like the entire series is a big deep dive into the core of the sadism humans can inflict on others for personal gain. You accomplished something other Outlast videos hadn't though. The root meaning of it all, what the different protags give and reveal about the overall themes and message of the series. Very cool, you get a like AND a subscribe.
I, too, have watched far too many outlast lore videos. I love its commitment to historical accuracy whilst also being a whacky supernatural game, it really helps to ground the setting.
never played outlast myself or watched any gameplay whatsoever (i'm not much of a horror fan so i don't know why i'm even here lol) but this was a genuinely insightful watch and i definitely enjoyed my time with it. i appreciate your rather calm style of speaking, it really adds to the video and is very pleasant to listen to (sorry if that sounds weird, i work a lot with children who are anything but calm). looking forward to more videos from this channel :)
Nitpick, Chris walker did not help create the wallrider like wernicke, he was just a surveillance officer at a clinic, he didn't know anything about wallrider project, after becoming a variant he swore to destroy it so it doesn't get out
Thanks for the correction but my point was moreso the abstract concept of Chris being a representation of Murkoff, who themselves created the walrider. That said, I worded it super clumsily and made it seem very literal.
Glad to see a video actually going into Outlast beyond the surface. There is clearly a lot more to it than just scares but it's rarely ever discussed beyond the surface. Outlast does seem to struggle to tell it's deeper meaning sometimes due to it's presentation though. One topic on Whistleblower specifically I rarely see discussed is a potential gender related message that I only really started picking up on later. Did see like one or two articles but not much. Good video anyway. Horror is often so much deeper than just scares.
Obviously there’s supernatural elements with both the Walrider and The Skinner Man, but I can’t tell if the series is trying to ground itself more with updates to Trials.
@@RatatTalksWernicke’s supernatural jargon just seems like a poetic way of describing the game’s science: nano-machines-plus a mind rotted and mouldy with trauma.
Is it possible you have the games confused? By the conclusion of Outlast 1, it was clear that this was a 'science gone too far' sort of deal, like The Evil Within. By the end of Outlast 2, we never get as clear an interpretation of.... "wtf just happened?" Speaks to the quality of the series though, the room for so much interpretation.
? It’s just the RE approach of opening with a bizarre/supernatural premise and then revealing the science in the final act. It’s science in all the games. Human nature and brutal reality is always more scary than ghosts
I’ve never watched ur channel before this just came up in my recommended, but you’ve definitely got a new subscriber :) great analysis I wanna replay outlast and actually turn my brain on this time hahaha
If the devs had balls, they would have made it explicit that the main people that would be picked up for the trials would be those *deemed* outcasts of society. People of color but specifically black people, queer people, poor/unhoused people, and mentally ill people. Especially considering the time they're supposed to take place during, we KNOW the US government has done horrible experiments on these groups in real life. But of course, gamers don't like those people either so lol Loved the video! Hadn't really thought of this franchise in a long time so I didn't remember much of the backstory. Very interesting point especially on self-selection imo. Strangely, I had never considered that the students during the Standford Prison Experiment had chosen to participate in that experiment specifically, therefore self-selecting as much as an actual guard would.
To an extent they do do this, the player character is pretty clearly unhoused in the opening cutscene, most of the characters are mentally ill to a fairly realistic extent, and Leland Coyle is canonically a KKK member who does a pretty good job of showing just how cruel the 1950s were. That said, of course it doesn’t fully embrace that for the reasons you stated, adding an openly queer or non-white prime asset would invariably open the floodgates to ‘Woke Outlast!!’ With regards to Stanford I recommend reading the sources I provided, as they explain why the students might self select and why that has an impact.
That *is* what they're doing. Have you paid attention? Reagents are exactly that, people who would be considered outcasts in the era the game is set in (1960s). Thing is though, Murkoff doesn't care about race, gender, or sexual orientation. They only want people who can disappear easily.
To add on that, a lot of the expop (not the prime assets, the general pops) are stated in game documents to be sourced from people that are unhoused/artists/struggling with addiction/etc And they are failed subjects from the first LATHE project due to too much trauma so...
Something that’s also interesting, Sullivan Noth is a reagent from the outlast trials, so there could be something with passing down trauma and encouraging others to do the same
I got to see the original outlast being filmed live when they shot the chase scenes for the game. They filmed at the former Buffalo state hospital in the fall of 2012, which has since been converted into an expensive hotel.
Free my boys Easterman and Noakes, they did nothing wrong. Easterman was just a psychologist with mommy issues and Noakes was just an innocent repairman before Murkoff forced them to work for the corp.
@@RatatTalks Same, Noakes is cool. The only characters I feel bad for in Trials are him, Easterman, and the Reagents. All three are victims of varying degrees.
Want to add here my favourite line of dialogue in trials is when he says ‘I understand they can’t let me out, but at least they could slip me a damn sports page’. It’s a weird pick but it conveys so much in such a short way, it explains how all-encompassing Murkoff are, how isolated the facility is, and Noakes situation whilst also humanising him, giving him interests, and also just being funny.
@@Ellienation-qr4wh Not really. Murkoff and the CIA forced him to work for the corporation under the threat of him and his wife being unalived. His superior, A. Bradley Avellanos, is far worse than him and is the one in charge of the entire program. His situation is actually pretty similar to Noakes'.
True, Hendrick and Noakes are both similar in some ways. Neither of them want any part in what Murkoff is doing, they were both "recruited" against their wills, and they are completely isolated from their loved ones because of Murkoff.
An excellent retrospective. I only had a passing familiarity with the series from the bits and pieces I saw from various youtubers, I had no idea the game had such clever writing and such thoughtful plots.
Just realized I already watched one of your videos before (the fear and hunger video). Happy to say this is quickly becoming one of my favorite video essay channels. Never played the outlast games myself but saw all the playthroughs as a broke teenager in 2013. Interesting to see the game I’ve seen for years has so much going on. Might have to finally play through it at some point.
Amazing video. Really got me thinking about what other media went over my head when I was younger that possibly holds a lot of cool themes like this one. See u next year !
Outlast is one of my favourite horror game series ever. I love how you can just play it casually and only focus on the jumpscares & gore or really get into the lore and read all the files and piece the backstory together (I for one find the lore super interesting but if you just want to play a brutal, gorey, scary game you can do that too)
For sure I love how it’s entirely optional how deep you want to dive into the series. For me being easy to access but complex to analyse is a mark of a great piece of work.
At 4:26 you state that 2.8 million dollars is the price of a New York apartment when that is clearly false in reality that can probably afford you a rat sandwich and a cardboard box in NYC
This video got recommended to me and I absolutely love your research abilities and the way you flow through your ideas! Such great work and the nuance of seeing how the outlast environment is a place of control in and outside the experiments is such a smart remark! Really enjoyed your video! 👍
I never said the N-word my entire life but suddenly when I stepped through those disney gates I immediately began screaming the word over and over, as did everyone around me. That word showed up in everyone's conversations more than "the"
Murkoff actually has a large play in Outlast 2. The blinding lights you see throughout the game are Murkoff towers of sorts, all surrounding the area the game takes place in. Its a test zone. Trials also reinstates this when we hear the same sound effect the towers used in the sleeper agent-esc cutscene.
Yeah I knew this, but they aren’t a major thematic focus of that game, most of their involvement was added retroactively through the comics. The comics are cool though, and obviously from a narrative standpoint Murkoff are the big bad of the series
I remember when Outlast Trials was revealed and everyone was pissed it was multiplayer and not Outlast 3 lol. I love Outlast lore and all but I got 10-15 hours out of 1 and 2. I already have 100+ hours on Trials, that replay value and story we get fed in tiny bits is so nice imo.
Outlast is probably the videogame series I’m more attached to, and knowing you from your F&H videos I knew it would be good but this was even better than expected!
Hahah same but I was I think a bit older, I remember watching playthroughs when I was about 11/12 though and being scared shitless. What a golden era of UA-cam that was.
15:18 Sorry to be a pedant (especially since you're probably aware of this, and just omitted it for simplicity), but punishments are NOT a type of reinforcement. Reinforcement always aims to encourage a behaviour, while punishments aim to de-incentivise and weaken a behaviour. That's where a common misnomer with the term "negative reinforcement" comes in - people think the "negative" part of the name refers to an unpleasant stimulus being introduced, a.k.a. punishment. But in reality, "negative" refers to something being taken away ("negated", if you will). So negative reinforcement involves having an already-present irritant (e.g. a continuous, annoying sound) be REMOVED when the desired behavior is performed, thus reinforcing it. In essence, it's un-punishment.
That’s ok! More comments is more engagement, as well as incentive to be more thorough with my research. That said, I think every single one of my videos has pinned corrections, it wouldn’t be one of my videos without a really annoying mistake
Fun fact: Skinner boxes were installed in cones of rockets in WWII, used to guide the missiles to their target by having pigeons peck buttons. I think they were literally conceptualized for this reason. Do with that what you will.
@@RatatTalks Look for Project Orcon, or Project Pigeon. I can't confirm this was literally the reason for their creation, but they definitely tried this.
The themes and plot of Outlast are pretty clear to anyone who knows the basic history of things like MKUltra, Operation Paperclip and the history of US intelligence agencies/anti-communism in general, but this is all stuff that is very deliberately brushed off in US schools. Outlast focuses on the abuse of authority figures, how capitalism incentivizes and rewards that abuse, and the dehumanization of disposable people. Murkoff is basically the Umbrella Corporation but more rooted in reality and historical fact; focused on brainwashing and mind control instead of bioweapons, and funded by government intelligence agencies. As someone with left-wing political beliefs, IMO Outlast is one of the most based video game franchises running. See also: the Hitman games and Cyberpunk 2077.
As horrible as it is, I can't imagine being someone's crash out breaking point being that they can't finger paint anymore. Bro started seeking god immediately
So glad you covered this! Until Dawn got me interested in horror games, but after seeing my friends obsessed with Outlast Whistleblower, I found Gaming Harry's Outlast lore video shortly after it released and became hooked on the horror game genre (though just watching -- jump scares get me way too much to play lol) Loved your analysis of the central theme and looking forward to that The Devil in Me video!!
Somehow I missed all of UA-cam talking about this game, because I knew nothing about it! But your thoughts on it were really interesting, and I learned a lot. I thought it was really cool how it was based on real horror and real psychological experiments.
Thank you someone actually brings up the fact of what the hell is the point and what is the story leading to. If there is no ending or proper plot why watch.
This is a well made video in a lot of ways, but I want to specifically point out how responsible all the analysis is. Taking the time to explain the real history and failures of the people and ideas the game is based around and pointing out the fallacy of the victim-victimizer abuse cycle is a really intelligent and responsible way to approach this topic and it made this whole video about a horror game even more interesting
Been looking forward to this video, and I'm quite surprised Outlast actually has more of a story than just shock horror lol. I think I was pretty dismissive of Outlast's story, as you mentioned yourself when talking about it at the end of the video. When I was first played it I was also like 13 or 14, and I was just scared of the big naked men chasing me (which I think is fair, but it didn't feel like there was more to it LOL) I would also be curious to know if you have any thoughts on why the series is called Outlast? I think it's pretty interesting that everyone pronounces it more like "out last" as in you're the last person out vs. the actual meaning of "outlast" which is to survive the longest? I guess in the broader sense of the story, it makes sense that outlasting other ppl in the asylum is kind of what this story is about, but I was just wondering if you think that there is any other meaning to it! :) also, I LOVE how u incorporate silly little jokes without losing the overall tone of the video!! I was HOWLING at the mpreg joke LMAOO
I try to keep things light. I'm actually not sure why it's called that, I guess it's like you say. The game is fond of puns though, Miles Upshur is literally a joke name referencing being 'Miles Up Shore without a paddle'.
I'm a bit older than most of the commenters (based off everyone saying they were children when outlast came out) and as an older horror girlie it was SUCH a huge hit amongst my friends. Whistleblower in particular made a big wave amongst my friends + other online girls because it was SO funny to see gamer dudes freak out over Eddie. He felt so transgressive and fun because Waylon goes through a horror girl arc. A lot of the tropes he faces are shit final girls go through-- threats of SA, loss of body autonomy, marriage/birthing horror etc etc it was very thrilling and novel. I was honestly sad they pivoted back to putting it on a female character in Outlast2-- which was fine, but didn't hook me to the same extent as 1 did. I had written off Trials all together and just held Outlast 1 + Whistleblower close to my heart, but after watching this I think I should give it and 2 another chance. I loved the essay and Outlast is one of my favorite games. Listening to other people talk about it is always a joy!
It’s one of my faves too, and yeah that subversive gender role reversal is interesting, another commenter mentioned reading some articles on Outlast and gender, but I couldn’t find them :(
7:40 This sounds an awful like a certain orange man who has grabbed the attention of many idiots with questionable ideologies. Maybe that's why pootin chose him.
Haven’t seen the video yet, but outlast, thematically, is about the government and the rich exploiting vulnerable groups like the poor, mentally unwell, and disabled for their own gain at whatever physical, or emotional cost necessary.
Hey! Commenting just because I was recently looking into deindividuation. Not in a "you got it wrong" way (because you didn't, necessarily) but "you might be interested to know" way. The theory of deindividuation has transformed over the years, initially about why people exhibit violent behaviour in crowds. Zimbaro related his Prison experiment to deindividation in the exact way that you described it. However, there was a lot of criticism about that theoretical basis of deindividation (specifically if it is the crowd/anonymity itself that causes violence, and if it has to be violence that is caused, and also how the theory ignores sociopolitical context). Ultimately, the most recent theory of deindividation is actually how in groups, with an increase in factors like anonymity and group salience, people act less as their "individual identity" and more as "their group identity", exhibiting behaviour that they believe the group they're in endorses. e.g. If a person is in a friend group that smokes, they will smoke regardless of personal values (due to various factors, not necessarily peer pressure). To use the theory of deindividuation with Murkoff, it's accurate to say that while experiencing group salience (hightened identification with group) and anonymity (specifically from punishment from outside the group) employees in Murkoff align to what they see as the norms/ideals of Murkoff over their own norms/ideals and performing related beahviour. In this case, backstabbing and violence. Deindividation is not the only explination for aligning to group ideas, and is different from obedience in that no one has to put pressure on a person to exhibit group behaviours. Also different from behaviourism (operant conditioning) as there doesn't have to be punishment/reinforcement. Functionally the same as what you were describing, but a significant difference in the theoretical description of deindividuation, and also has different and more well-explained reasoning/causes behind it. If you're interested, lmk. Also, MertKayKay just did a video about The Outlast Trials and how they are a satire of facism. A different lens to yours but also a great video about what Outlast (the trials specifically) are about.
I swear red barrels did some research on some brainwashing tactics or something because one time I was playing I swear I saw an actual colored and detailed human face in the Rorschach loading screen. Maybe the trials are just getting to me.
Thank you for this video. When I first encountered this game many years ago, I did not think that I would occasionally return to the story of everything offered. At first I was convinced that it was some kind of criticism of religion and the harmful influence of the church hierarchy because I myself was quite angry about that harmful influence. When I delved into Outlast 2, it somehow seemed to me that the theme of corporations that have incredible power and that do not have to pay attention to the rule of law was also passed through the original. I just wanted to say that Red Barrel deserves a little more attention from people and thank you for taking the time to do this. :)
I was always wanting someone to explain the story to me despite seeing so much of the game already but never playing it for myself, specifically Outlast 2.
It seems obvious to me that Project Lathe is a reference to The Lathe of Heaven, a book by Ursula Le Guin about a psychologist manipulating a man who can alter reality with his dreams.
I had a hyperfixation period on Outlast 1 and Whistleblower a couple years back, for some reason (they became comfort games too lol), so yay! Very much looking forward to watching this! Also I’m looking forward to hearing about Trials, I kind of lost interest in it because it’s multiplayer so I’m not likely to ever play it myself.
You for sure should! There’s loads more you could discuss that I left out for the sake of brevity, the prime assets and their respective storylines went largely ignored and I ignored a lot of the more paranormal stuff. Let me know if you do make one!
@@RatatTalksI want to make something with a focus on the paranormal stuff so that’s great! I wanted to focus on the paranormal aspects in combination with the corporate exploitation stuff. I think there’s something there.
Wheyyyyy! B F Skinner references!!! I based an entire psychological experiment on his theory of Operant Conditioning! Pretty cool hearing other people mention him.
@ to test the effects of positive reinforcement on sporting performance. I did want to add an extinction condition (whereby the positive reinforcement stimulus was removed) and then a negative reinforcement condition (where a negative stimulus was applied), however it went against the ethical guidelines of the exam board. It was pretty fun :)
Gaming Harry made a 2 hour video regarding the Outlast Trials lore and holy moly was it ever good and kudos to the devs for mashing the story with real world events like CIA mindcontrol, MKUltra, Unit 731. Crazy how I learned more about history and the messed up things humans did from video games than I did from school 🤣
Yeah, honestly researching for this video was just about the only time I’ve ever used my academic background in history for anything, and I took that shit to degree level. Gaming Harry’s outlast videos are goated, but most of his content is. Got to respect a fellow British dude who rambles about video games online.
@RatatTalks yeah I just finished the video last night and was just awestruck as a result like I knew there was gonna be a ton of lore but didn't realize that there was gonna be that fricking much. The main thing that surprised was how people listened to the Morse code for the radio in the countdown event and figured out what it transmitted. Truly amazing and I gotta give Red Barrels a pat on the back for making good content and lore.
what if there was a freaky version of the entire outlast series but instead of outlast it would be called freaklast and that in the games you have to get freaky to survive.
![One Step Forward, Two Steps Back - Analysing The Quarry [SPOILERS]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/1BTvGRBnT8E/mqdefault.jpg)
Great video!! I really like the examination of the outlast series through a psychological and historical lens, its very interesting and well donr! You got the terms around reinforcement a bit off though; electrifying the floor of a skinner box would be positive punishment, not negative reinforcement! Negative reinforcement is the removal of an unpleasant stimulus as reinforcement (for example, a child stopping crying after you give them a cookie is negative reinforcement for the behavior of giving kids cookies when they cry). Electrifying the floor would be positive punishment (the addition of an unpleasant stimulus to dissuade behavior)! In general, if it encourages behavior it's reinforcement and if it dissuades behavior its punishment (which both can be additive/positive OR subtractive/negative). Just had to put that out there since I'm a psychology nerd. Really enjoying the video though!!
Thanks for the kind words and the correction! Not sure how I messed that up after reading so much on the subject lol.
As always on this channel, I’m pinning you as a form of showing the mistake until such a time as I need to issue a longer list of corrections. It wouldn’t be a Ratat video without at least one random bit of misinformation.
@@tomtaylor1460 giving a child a cookie after they stop crying is positive reinforcement, because you're rewarding behavior with something pleasant. Negative reinforcement is the removal of something unpleasant, the child is negatively enforcing the parents behavior by stopping their crying
@@jadegreenleaf781 They mean for YOU it is negative reinforcement as they said " is negative reinforcement for the behavior of giving kids cookies when they cry" and thus talking about the person giving the cookie, not the child receiving it.
@WWFanatic0 OOOH I see my bad
ah good, someone beat me to the punch on this! one other issue i noticed - and this is really due to an ongoing problem in the sciences (maybe especially psych), where we have a different definition than the general public for certain words and phrases: standford's prison study is commonly referred to as the "stanford prison experiment", but it literally isn't an experiment (and that's outside of whether or not one considers it to be a legitimate study). an "experiment" in science is something that controls for variables (in almost all cases through the use of a control condition), which stanford did not do - there was only ever one "prison" condition.
(this one is totally understandable on your part, since "stanford prison experiment" is what it's popularly known as, but i figured i'd drop this one in while we were gently correcting vocab!)
I think most of these characters problems would have been solved if they were all nice to each other
The more simple the joke the funnier it is, I swear
That’s what I’m saying
Imagine game of thrones if they just had a pint together
When you think about it, most of the world's problems would be solved if we were all nice to each other.
the message could be "the real lesson was the friends we made along the way" or whatever
I always thought the main message for this game was the concept of truth and insanity, and where the line that separates the two is located. I always looked at the quote that came out of this game, "If you show a cave man science, he'll think its magic. If you show a scientist magic, he'll think its science."
well put.
when i played the first game that quote specifically stood out to me as well and i couldn’t really understand why at the time.
i was probably 14-15 when i first played it.
im now 22 and i still think about that specific quote more than i care to admit.
to me these games are more about the dangers of ambitiousness combined with a lack of ethics. it becomes so much more real when you compare it to similar historical events. the obvious examples being mkultra, project artichoke, bluebird, etc.
these games pose a very conflicting philosophical question, which is..
what actions are people willing to take in order to gain important information for their benefit ?
or even worse, what will people do out of of sheer morbid curiosity if the question presents itself properly ?
if any of these ideas interest you i highly recommend reading a book called chaos by tom o’neill.
@@littlescarfo I definitely think you are right on there being two main themes here. I think that's the beauty of Outlast though. Two themes to question two opposing sides different perspectives. There is the outside perspective, where we get to question the overall meaning of all the events that took place, and then there is the inside perspective where we get to question the meaning within all of the events.
@@Jackson-o7f agreed. damn it’s fun to nerd out on this stuff. do you play outlast trials ?
@@littlescarfo Yeah true. I play Outlast Trials every time I hop on Playstation or my PC
You?
I have many memories of Outlast and one of them is having my whole class during High School having a group reaction when one of us brought the game to school when our teacher didn't arrived around for the class period.
Haha hell yeah
Sounds like an awesome memory
Excellent. It genuinely warms my heart to hear this. In my school days it was horror / banned movies or books at staunch Catholic School. You can't squash the human spirit of curiosity.
I'm honestly really suprised that Outlast not only HAS a message, but tells it pretty well! While I'll never really like the series as "games" (Run and hide style horror is just frustrating to me, not scary), you've really turned me around on it when it comes to seeing the series as "art".
Run and hide style games can be quite hit and miss, I remember post outlast (and tbh post amnesia the dark descent) when every single indie horror title was like this and it got really grating, especially games where you see the same jumpscare over and over.
Outlast has never really seemed that frustrating to me though, and with the added co-op angle of Trials it still feels fresh imo.
Thanks for the comment!
Run and hide has been hit or miss for me too (mostly just miss). I find it more frustrating when you are in some place where there is a loaded gun or knife/sword and you are not allowed to use it.
I don't personally like Amnesia because it started what I like to call "breadcrumb note storytelling" that very impression breaking because my thoughts immediately wonder to why everyone meticulously writes everything down in a journal/diary like a chronic blog/social-media poster. However, at least you can stun certain things by hurling stuff at them or throwing objects in their way in that game.
In Outlast, self-defense is like an alien concept to the protagonists, which is amusing in a dark comedic way.
In Trials they’ve slightly remedied this by letting you throw bottles and bricks you find at the enemies, but also don’t include more practical weapons because it’s a controlled environment in universe.
But yeah across the genre it’s annoying.
@@ajflinkI don't think it's very fair to blame Amnesia for that tbh, it's a pretty classic storytelling trope that videogames use because it works well from a gameplay perspective. I'd probably blame System Shock and its sequel, but there's probably earlier examples I'm not aware of. I'll agree that it can get pretty silly sometimes if you decide to sit back and actually ask "why the hell are you writing this down?" lol
For some reason Outlast started the trend for me to mistake headless body of human beings especially upside down in horror games to look like roasted turkeys to me.
"I PAUSED MY LEFTIST VIDEO ESSAY TO BE HERE" I'm dead 😂
6:42 Bro thought he could get away with sneaking that in lol
Henry skibidi toilet
@@Stealthyninjaof2025 but thats what he said in the video 💀
Jumpscared by the “let daddy fill you up” 16:28. Um… excuse me sir, at least buy me dinner first.
Dr. Freakerman
Was half asleep and heard that lmao I went “HUH?!”
Skibidi joilet easterman is crazy work 😭😭
Edit: I would actually argue that Chris Walker is pretty sympathetic because he acts out of an extremely misguided desire to protect, and to contain the security breach. One of my favourite quotes from the first game is when he’s chasing Miles through the prison and says “I’m coming. You won’t have to kill yourself. I’ll make the pain stop” - it pretty much flipped my perspective on him as soon as I heard it. Fantastic video!!
I think that’s a fair comment on Walker, but it’s worth noting that he was a killer even prior to the morphogenic engine scrambling his brain, the comics expand on this.
@@RatatTalks Came to say he became a killer because of murkoff and the therapy sessions in the clinic he had to monitor, causing to trigger his PTSD and kill people he probably saw as threats to the humanity itself
He’s just a goofy guy
@@RatatTalks yeah, for sure. Tbh I even find him sympathetic in the comics because of the abusive conditioning he received during his first time in Murkoff “care”. It literally all comes down to the way the corporation dealt with his initial trauma.
@@cam5816 he’s just a silly sausage!
Speaking of Gluskin and Park and how these two characters reflect each other. While Gluskin strives to become a good husband and father, Park is already a good husband and father, while Gluskin tries to recreate the birth scene over and over again. Park attended the birth of his sons. Waylon himself embodies what Eddie wants to be, but will never be because of the environment he grew up in and the choices he made as a result of it.
Great analysis
Trueeee what a great parallel I totally missed
Trials is the first Outlast game that I actually played, but I fucking LOVE it. I genuinely learned so much thanks to it, the narrative team is doing incredible work, the developers make me feel like I’m actually respected as a player rather than being a giant wallet on legs. Easterman is such an interesting character, and Carlo Mestroni is incredible.
I could yap about the game for hours.
Edit: one relatively small detail in the story was the poisoning of Easterman after the New Year’s party, where someone secretly slipped thallium in his work coat pocket. I recently learned (pretty much an hour ago) that the CIA actually planned to poison Castro with thallium to make his hair and beard fall out, basically the same thing that happened to Easterman. It’s a very small detail, but the fact that the narrative team went out of their way to pick thallium specifically to make it even more realistic is just… chef’s kiss
Trials is awesome, I’m sweating out the winter kills stuff as we speak
@@RatatTalks I decided to grind the event in the first couple days, and I had more than enough stamps to buy out the season 2 deluxe catalog on day 1. I now have everything from that catalog, as well as having completed the winter kills catalog and all of its event tasks. I disgusted myself, but I got it done
What’s funny about gottileb and his idiosyncrasies is that they’re referenced in the outlast trials via easterman’s journal, he notes that he doesn’t trust the drinks he makes and that he found thallium in his coat pocket, and was upset his hair fell out
Yeah I spotted that it made me giggle
oh hell yes cant wait to watch. there was a period of time, like a straight year, i listened to the ps4 trophies speedrun of outlast every night to fall asleep. kind of a crazy choice but its now super nostalgic
Man I know that feeling. I used to work at Subway as a teen, and for a few months straight when I’d get home from my draining closing shifts, I’d plop down with my footlong sub and watch let’s plays of Outlast on YT before I fell asleep. Can’t believe it was over 10 years ago at this point, damn.
I cant believe outlast has the best take on sexual abuse and violence amoung video games (domination and violence and NOT sexual attraction)
Yeah, I think a lot of series make it a bit too gratuitos and spectacle driven, it’s nice to see a bit of restraint when covering such a tricky subject. Originally I believe Miles was meant to be SA’d in Outlast 1 but the content was cut, which I feel was a good choice.
great video i liked how it wasn't just a retelling of the facts and instead explained the games inspirations and the physiology presented within them
Thanks! A stated aim of this channel is to look to more critically analyse narratives beyond just recapping plots because that’s a minor pet peeve of mine with a lot of ‘video essays’
Just an add on to the Stanford Prison experiment - it was later re-done by a British University with the same structure that Stanford was done, and the outcomes were complete opposite making the original appear as a fluke
Yeah I read that, it’s crazy they basically just said ‘but who knows though lol’ after meeting with Zimbardo.
Tbh I kinda love the subtlety of Outlast's underlying themes and story, it allows people who just want a spooky jumpscare game to get that while rewarding the lore enthusiasts who decide to look deeper into the games
I agree! I mentioned it in my Until Dawn video when I discussed Hannah, but I love when something has optional layers of complexity.
I really appreciate the ideological/real life historical deep dive into the Outlast lore, as the only thing with the series that stood out for me was the ultraviolence and how Red Barrels just has somehow kept on going with this franchise. Good job, I always enjoy your work!
had a rough as evening and getting to listen to you talk about the depths of this game with a joke here or there, really helped calm things down. I'm really grateful you make these videos, and i hope life is treating you well
Hope things improve tomorrow, thanks for the kind words
I must say I am a bit embarrassed. When you said "If you are a good test subject you'd press the subscribe button." I leaned up from my chair, said "Okay." aloud, and went to sub. Turns out, I was already subbed.
My conditioning is working then
I've always been fascinated by outlast's storytelling since I first played it, watched some of the Lore videos you put on screen too. Their blend of real life/historical fiction makes it far more engaging and worthwhile in my eyes, like the entire series is a big deep dive into the core of the sadism humans can inflict on others for personal gain. You accomplished something other Outlast videos hadn't though. The root meaning of it all, what the different protags give and reveal about the overall themes and message of the series. Very cool, you get a like AND a subscribe.
I, too, have watched far too many outlast lore videos. I love its commitment to historical accuracy whilst also being a whacky supernatural game, it really helps to ground the setting.
never played outlast myself or watched any gameplay whatsoever (i'm not much of a horror fan so i don't know why i'm even here lol) but this was a genuinely insightful watch and i definitely enjoyed my time with it. i appreciate your rather calm style of speaking, it really adds to the video and is very pleasant to listen to (sorry if that sounds weird, i work a lot with children who are anything but calm). looking forward to more videos from this channel :)
Thank you!
As another twenty-something-year-old, life long Outlast fan I can tell you, you did an amazing job with this video!
Thanks!
Nitpick, Chris walker did not help create the wallrider like wernicke, he was just a surveillance officer at a clinic, he didn't know anything about wallrider project, after becoming a variant he swore to destroy it so it doesn't get out
Thanks for the correction but my point was moreso the abstract concept of Chris being a representation of Murkoff, who themselves created the walrider. That said, I worded it super clumsily and made it seem very literal.
@RatatTalks ahh okayyy
Glad to see a video actually going into Outlast beyond the surface. There is clearly a lot more to it than just scares but it's rarely ever discussed beyond the surface. Outlast does seem to struggle to tell it's deeper meaning sometimes due to it's presentation though. One topic on Whistleblower specifically I rarely see discussed is a potential gender related message that I only really started picking up on later. Did see like one or two articles but not much. Good video anyway. Horror is often so much deeper than just scares.
I’d be interested in reading those articles tbh
How?
What articles?
Outlast 1 is about a man with negative muscle mass, Outlast 2 is about religion bad, Outlast Trials is about throwing bricks at the homeless
That’s why Trials is peak
I feel like there was still something Supernatural about the first game and the second game and tried to make it more scientific.
Obviously there’s supernatural elements with both the Walrider and The Skinner Man, but I can’t tell if the series is trying to ground itself more with updates to Trials.
@@RatatTalksWernicke’s supernatural jargon just seems like a poetic way of describing the game’s science: nano-machines-plus a mind rotted and mouldy with trauma.
Is it possible you have the games confused? By the conclusion of Outlast 1, it was clear that this was a 'science gone too far' sort of deal, like The Evil Within. By the end of Outlast 2, we never get as clear an interpretation of.... "wtf just happened?"
Speaks to the quality of the series though, the room for so much interpretation.
@@akapotatobradit’s all science in every game.
? It’s just the RE approach of opening with a bizarre/supernatural premise and then revealing the science in the final act. It’s science in all the games. Human nature and brutal reality is always more scary than ghosts
I’ve never watched ur channel before this just came up in my recommended, but you’ve definitely got a new subscriber :) great analysis I wanna replay outlast and actually turn my brain on this time hahaha
You said "Skibidi Joilet" like it was no big deal and I almost thought that was his actual name.
If the devs had balls, they would have made it explicit that the main people that would be picked up for the trials would be those *deemed* outcasts of society. People of color but specifically black people, queer people, poor/unhoused people, and mentally ill people.
Especially considering the time they're supposed to take place during, we KNOW the US government has done horrible experiments on these groups in real life.
But of course, gamers don't like those people either so lol
Loved the video! Hadn't really thought of this franchise in a long time so I didn't remember much of the backstory. Very interesting point especially on self-selection imo. Strangely, I had never considered that the students during the Standford Prison Experiment had chosen to participate in that experiment specifically, therefore self-selecting as much as an actual guard would.
To an extent they do do this, the player character is pretty clearly unhoused in the opening cutscene, most of the characters are mentally ill to a fairly realistic extent, and Leland Coyle is canonically a KKK member who does a pretty good job of showing just how cruel the 1950s were.
That said, of course it doesn’t fully embrace that for the reasons you stated, adding an openly queer or non-white prime asset would invariably open the floodgates to ‘Woke Outlast!!’
With regards to Stanford I recommend reading the sources I provided, as they explain why the students might self select and why that has an impact.
That *is* what they're doing. Have you paid attention? Reagents are exactly that, people who would be considered outcasts in the era the game is set in (1960s). Thing is though, Murkoff doesn't care about race, gender, or sexual orientation. They only want people who can disappear easily.
To add on that, a lot of the expop (not the prime assets, the general pops) are stated in game documents to be sourced from people that are unhoused/artists/struggling with addiction/etc
And they are failed subjects from the first LATHE project due to too much trauma so...
The problem with that, of course, is that dumb people would see it as evidence that the people in there are just Naturally Like That.
Something that’s also interesting, Sullivan Noth is a reagent from the outlast trials, so there could be something with passing down trauma and encouraging others to do the same
For sure! His reagent files (1616) are so dark, too, he’s easily one of the most disturbing characters
A new outlast lore video ❤ I’m here for it. PS nuanced take on the Stanford prison experiment. Refreshing. PPS I wasn’t expecting mention of mpreg 😂
Here early too
@@RatatTalksthe algorithm knows me well after watching your Dark Pictures video essays 🙏🏾
I got to see the original outlast being filmed live when they shot the chase scenes for the game. They filmed at the former Buffalo state hospital in the fall of 2012, which has since been converted into an expensive hotel.
Yeah I made a short on the actual location, looks crazy
A truly amazing video! You’ve no idea how happy I am to see someone on UA-cam discuss the philosophical aspect of this series I love oh so much!
Thanks! I’m happy to oblige, researching for this video was super fun!
6:34 skibidi toilet eastermen
I'm watching this in the background and I just hear skibidy joilet
Free my boys Easterman and Noakes, they did nothing wrong. Easterman was just a psychologist with mommy issues and Noakes was just an innocent repairman before Murkoff forced them to work for the corp.
Easterman a weirdo but free Noakes for real, easily the character I feel most bad for in Trials. I really want him to get out in a later update
@@RatatTalks Same, Noakes is cool. The only characters I feel bad for in Trials are him, Easterman, and the Reagents. All three are victims of varying degrees.
Want to add here my favourite line of dialogue in trials is when he says ‘I understand they can’t let me out, but at least they could slip me a damn sports page’.
It’s a weird pick but it conveys so much in such a short way, it explains how all-encompassing Murkoff are, how isolated the facility is, and Noakes situation whilst also humanising him, giving him interests, and also just being funny.
@@Ellienation-qr4wh Not really. Murkoff and the CIA forced him to work for the corporation under the threat of him and his wife being unalived. His superior, A. Bradley Avellanos, is far worse than him and is the one in charge of the entire program. His situation is actually pretty similar to Noakes'.
True, Hendrick and Noakes are both similar in some ways. Neither of them want any part in what Murkoff is doing, they were both "recruited" against their wills, and they are completely isolated from their loved ones because of Murkoff.
An excellent retrospective. I only had a passing familiarity with the series from the bits and pieces I saw from various youtubers, I had no idea the game had such clever writing and such thoughtful plots.
The fact that they have the budget for a lot of crazy bs, but a finger painting workshop is too much for them is insane
Somebody help me budget this
really love these longform deepdives. keep it up!
Just realized I already watched one of your videos before (the fear and hunger video). Happy to say this is quickly becoming one of my favorite video essay channels.
Never played the outlast games myself but saw all the playthroughs as a broke teenager in 2013. Interesting to see the game I’ve seen for years has so much going on. Might have to finally play through it at some point.
Amazing video. Really got me thinking about what other media went over my head when I was younger that possibly holds a lot of cool themes like this one. See u next year !
See you next year!
Outlast is one of my favourite horror game series ever. I love how you can just play it casually and only focus on the jumpscares & gore or really get into the lore and read all the files and piece the backstory together (I for one find the lore super interesting but if you just want to play a brutal, gorey, scary game you can do that too)
For sure I love how it’s entirely optional how deep you want to dive into the series. For me being easy to access but complex to analyse is a mark of a great piece of work.
At 4:26 you state that 2.8 million dollars is the price of a New York apartment when that is clearly false in reality that can probably afford you a rat sandwich and a cardboard box in NYC
Rat sandwich sounds pretty good
This video got recommended to me and I absolutely love your research abilities and the way you flow through your ideas! Such great work and the nuance of seeing how the outlast environment is a place of control in and outside the experiments is such a smart remark! Really enjoyed your video! 👍
Thanks! Glad the algo is picking me up a bit
I never said the N-word my entire life but suddenly when I stepped through those disney gates I immediately began screaming the word over and over, as did everyone around me. That word showed up in everyone's conversations more than "the"
Disneyism at its finest
I hope there will be context to this comment in the video
Murkoff actually has a large play in Outlast 2. The blinding lights you see throughout the game are Murkoff towers of sorts, all surrounding the area the game takes place in. Its a test zone. Trials also reinstates this when we hear the same sound effect the towers used in the sleeper agent-esc cutscene.
Yeah I knew this, but they aren’t a major thematic focus of that game, most of their involvement was added retroactively through the comics. The comics are cool though, and obviously from a narrative standpoint Murkoff are the big bad of the series
40:30 I can't help but notice such a familiar tune.
It’s from coraline
The hallucinations in outlast 2 were caused by the radio towers that were near the religious town
Yeah I mentioned they were Murkoff property and part of an experiment but only in passing
this game unironically made me buy a camcorder
I remember when Outlast Trials was revealed and everyone was pissed it was multiplayer and not Outlast 3 lol. I love Outlast lore and all but I got 10-15 hours out of 1 and 2. I already have 100+ hours on Trials, that replay value and story we get fed in tiny bits is so nice imo.
Yeah I love Trials lol
Outlast is probably the videogame series I’m more attached to, and knowing you from your F&H videos I knew it would be good but this was even better than expected!
Thank you!
This game series was my childhood, remember playing it when i was 12 when it first came out and couldn't sleep for 3 days
Hahah same but I was I think a bit older, I remember watching playthroughs when I was about 11/12 though and being scared shitless. What a golden era of UA-cam that was.
15:18 Sorry to be a pedant (especially since you're probably aware of this, and just omitted it for simplicity), but punishments are NOT a type of reinforcement. Reinforcement always aims to encourage a behaviour, while punishments aim to de-incentivise and weaken a behaviour. That's where a common misnomer with the term "negative reinforcement" comes in - people think the "negative" part of the name refers to an unpleasant stimulus being introduced, a.k.a. punishment. But in reality, "negative" refers to something being taken away ("negated", if you will). So negative reinforcement involves having an already-present irritant (e.g. a continuous, annoying sound) be REMOVED when the desired behavior is performed, thus reinforcing it. In essence, it's un-punishment.
Thanks for the correction, I pinned another comment that corrected me. The term I was looking for was Positive Punishment, not Negative Reinforcement.
@@RatatTalks Oh, sorry. I just noticed the pinned comment. Thanks for noting it, and apologies for the redundancy.
That’s ok! More comments is more engagement, as well as incentive to be more thorough with my research. That said, I think every single one of my videos has pinned corrections, it wouldn’t be one of my videos without a really annoying mistake
Gotta love the use of “Riders on the storm”
Love the doors
Fun fact: Skinner boxes were installed in cones of rockets in WWII, used to guide the missiles to their target by having pigeons peck buttons. I think they were literally conceptualized for this reason. Do with that what you will.
That’s rad if true
@@RatatTalks Look for Project Orcon, or Project Pigeon. I can't confirm this was literally the reason for their creation, but they definitely tried this.
6:42 hendrick WHAT!!!???
I hear they’re adding him to Fortnite
Great video bro
The themes and plot of Outlast are pretty clear to anyone who knows the basic history of things like MKUltra, Operation Paperclip and the history of US intelligence agencies/anti-communism in general, but this is all stuff that is very deliberately brushed off in US schools. Outlast focuses on the abuse of authority figures, how capitalism incentivizes and rewards that abuse, and the dehumanization of disposable people. Murkoff is basically the Umbrella Corporation but more rooted in reality and historical fact; focused on brainwashing and mind control instead of bioweapons, and funded by government intelligence agencies. As someone with left-wing political beliefs, IMO Outlast is one of the most based video game franchises running. See also: the Hitman games and Cyberpunk 2077.
I agree with all of this
"outlast's biggest mpreg enjoyer"
Until they add me to the game fr
As horrible as it is, I can't imagine being someone's crash out breaking point being that they can't finger paint anymore. Bro started seeking god immediately
I’d do the same. Beat for beat, the exact same. He’s literally me.
So glad you covered this! Until Dawn got me interested in horror games, but after seeing my friends obsessed with Outlast Whistleblower, I found Gaming Harry's Outlast lore video shortly after it released and became hooked on the horror game genre (though just watching -- jump scares get me way too much to play lol)
Loved your analysis of the central theme and looking forward to that The Devil in Me video!!
Somehow I missed all of UA-cam talking about this game, because I knew nothing about it! But your thoughts on it were really interesting, and I learned a lot. I thought it was really cool how it was based on real horror and real psychological experiments.
Yeah I love how viscerally real a lot of it feels
Don't think I didn't notice the No, I'm not a human ost in the background hehe
It’s such a good soundtrack, I’m so excited for the full release
Thank you someone actually brings up the fact of what the hell is the point and what is the story leading to. If there is no ending or proper plot why watch.
This is a well made video in a lot of ways, but I want to specifically point out how responsible all the analysis is. Taking the time to explain the real history and failures of the people and ideas the game is based around and pointing out the fallacy of the victim-victimizer abuse cycle is a really intelligent and responsible way to approach this topic and it made this whole video about a horror game even more interesting
Thanks!
I was interested how you were going to cover Outlast in a new way, and I'm very pleased!
Haha always trying to break new ground
Been looking forward to this video, and I'm quite surprised Outlast actually has more of a story than just shock horror lol. I think I was pretty dismissive of Outlast's story, as you mentioned yourself when talking about it at the end of the video. When I was first played it I was also like 13 or 14, and I was just scared of the big naked men chasing me (which I think is fair, but it didn't feel like there was more to it LOL)
I would also be curious to know if you have any thoughts on why the series is called Outlast? I think it's pretty interesting that everyone pronounces it more like "out last" as in you're the last person out vs. the actual meaning of "outlast" which is to survive the longest? I guess in the broader sense of the story, it makes sense that outlasting other ppl in the asylum is kind of what this story is about, but I was just wondering if you think that there is any other meaning to it! :)
also, I LOVE how u incorporate silly little jokes without losing the overall tone of the video!! I was HOWLING at the mpreg joke LMAOO
I try to keep things light.
I'm actually not sure why it's called that, I guess it's like you say. The game is fond of puns though, Miles Upshur is literally a joke name referencing being 'Miles Up Shore without a paddle'.
I'm a bit older than most of the commenters (based off everyone saying they were children when outlast came out) and as an older horror girlie it was SUCH a huge hit amongst my friends. Whistleblower in particular made a big wave amongst my friends + other online girls because it was SO funny to see gamer dudes freak out over Eddie. He felt so transgressive and fun because Waylon goes through a horror girl arc. A lot of the tropes he faces are shit final girls go through-- threats of SA, loss of body autonomy, marriage/birthing horror etc etc it was very thrilling and novel. I was honestly sad they pivoted back to putting it on a female character in Outlast2-- which was fine, but didn't hook me to the same extent as 1 did. I had written off Trials all together and just held Outlast 1 + Whistleblower close to my heart, but after watching this I think I should give it and 2 another chance. I loved the essay and Outlast is one of my favorite games. Listening to other people talk about it is always a joy!
It’s one of my faves too, and yeah that subversive gender role reversal is interesting, another commenter mentioned reading some articles on Outlast and gender, but I couldn’t find them :(
Skibidi Joilet actually killed me thankyou for your sacrifice its horrible
I can’t escape the brainrot
Never played the game myself but this was very interesting! I love this type of analysis and history behind games
7:40 This sounds an awful like a certain orange man who has grabbed the attention of many idiots with questionable ideologies. Maybe that's why pootin chose him.
Rent free.
@@jakedizzleEnjoy those tariffs.
Orange man Hitler.
That so fucking deeeep
Orange man Hitler
That so focken' deeeeep
Orange man Hitler
That so focken' deeeeep
Haven’t seen the video yet, but outlast, thematically, is about the government and the rich exploiting vulnerable groups like the poor, mentally unwell, and disabled for their own gain at whatever physical, or emotional cost necessary.
Im a big outlast fan and you did a great job with this video!
I dunno why but 'huh'? Is such a funny word to put when you're asking what even is this? 😂
It’s the first thought I have whenever starting a script lol
outlast is my special interest, and I loved this analysis of the games. Subbed instantly thank you!,!!!
You’re welcome!
Hey! Commenting just because I was recently looking into deindividuation. Not in a "you got it wrong" way (because you didn't, necessarily) but "you might be interested to know" way.
The theory of deindividuation has transformed over the years, initially about why people exhibit violent behaviour in crowds. Zimbaro related his Prison experiment to deindividation in the exact way that you described it. However, there was a lot of criticism about that theoretical basis of deindividation (specifically if it is the crowd/anonymity itself that causes violence, and if it has to be violence that is caused, and also how the theory ignores sociopolitical context).
Ultimately, the most recent theory of deindividation is actually how in groups, with an increase in factors like anonymity and group salience, people act less as their "individual identity" and more as "their group identity", exhibiting behaviour that they believe the group they're in endorses. e.g. If a person is in a friend group that smokes, they will smoke regardless of personal values (due to various factors, not necessarily peer pressure).
To use the theory of deindividuation with Murkoff, it's accurate to say that while experiencing group salience (hightened identification with group) and anonymity (specifically from punishment from outside the group) employees in Murkoff align to what they see as the norms/ideals of Murkoff over their own norms/ideals and performing related beahviour. In this case, backstabbing and violence. Deindividation is not the only explination for aligning to group ideas, and is different from obedience in that no one has to put pressure on a person to exhibit group behaviours. Also different from behaviourism (operant conditioning) as there doesn't have to be punishment/reinforcement.
Functionally the same as what you were describing, but a significant difference in the theoretical description of deindividuation, and also has different and more well-explained reasoning/causes behind it. If you're interested, lmk.
Also, MertKayKay just did a video about The Outlast Trials and how they are a satire of facism. A different lens to yours but also a great video about what Outlast (the trials specifically) are about.
Appreciate the context, and I just got done watching that Mertkaykay video it was awesome
Wow this is actually eye opening thanks for this
The concept of narrative Skinner box is very interesting.
Im sure someone smarter than me could do something very interesting with it for sure
6:43 I thought I was having a stroke for a second lmao
I swear red barrels did some research on some brainwashing tactics or something because one time I was playing I swear I saw an actual colored and detailed human face in the Rorschach loading screen. Maybe the trials are just getting to me.
You’re falling for the conditioning it would seem
Thank you for this video. When I first encountered this game many years ago, I did not think that I would occasionally return to the story of everything offered. At first I was convinced that it was some kind of criticism of religion and the harmful influence of the church hierarchy because I myself was quite angry about that harmful influence. When I delved into Outlast 2, it somehow seemed to me that the theme of corporations that have incredible power and that do not have to pay attention to the rule of law was also passed through the original. I just wanted to say that Red Barrel deserves a little more attention from people and thank you for taking the time to do this. :)
Thanks for the comment and high praise, as well as offering your own insights
I was always wanting someone to explain the story to me despite seeing so much of the game already but never playing it for myself, specifically Outlast 2.
If you just want a played straight recap of the story Gaming Harry has an awesome video
6:43 DR HENDRICK WHAT!?!
It’s canonically his name
Castro is the real OG in this story
This is often the case
that andrew ryan bit made me want a video on Bioshock
good video
Bioshock is so good
@@RatatTalks real
It seems obvious to me that Project Lathe is a reference to The Lathe of Heaven, a book by Ursula Le Guin about a psychologist manipulating a man who can alter reality with his dreams.
I had a hyperfixation period on Outlast 1 and Whistleblower a couple years back, for some reason (they became comfort games too lol), so yay! Very much looking forward to watching this!
Also I’m looking forward to hearing about Trials, I kind of lost interest in it because it’s multiplayer so I’m not likely to ever play it myself.
Hell yeah I’ve wanted to make a video about this. Nice work man!
You for sure should! There’s loads more you could discuss that I left out for the sake of brevity, the prime assets and their respective storylines went largely ignored and I ignored a lot of the more paranormal stuff.
Let me know if you do make one!
@@RatatTalksI want to make something with a focus on the paranormal stuff so that’s great!
I wanted to focus on the paranormal aspects in combination with the corporate exploitation stuff. I think there’s something there.
For sure, the more esoteric themes with the walrider and the skinnerman defo deserve a deep dive
They balled hard when they made the Outlast trials. "hey let's make a fantasy video game about MKUltra lmao"
Honestly what a choice
Wheyyyyy! B F Skinner references!!! I based an entire psychological experiment on his theory of Operant Conditioning! Pretty cool hearing other people mention him.
What was the experiment ?
@ to test the effects of positive reinforcement on sporting performance. I did want to add an extinction condition (whereby the positive reinforcement stimulus was removed) and then a negative reinforcement condition (where a negative stimulus was applied), however it went against the ethical guidelines of the exam board.
It was pretty fun :)
Having a proposed experiment go against the ethical standards of the exam board is an awesome story if nothing else lol
Gaming Harry made a 2 hour video regarding the Outlast Trials lore and holy moly was it ever good and kudos to the devs for mashing the story with real world events like CIA mindcontrol, MKUltra, Unit 731. Crazy how I learned more about history and the messed up things humans did from video games than I did from school 🤣
Yeah, honestly researching for this video was just about the only time I’ve ever used my academic background in history for anything, and I took that shit to degree level.
Gaming Harry’s outlast videos are goated, but most of his content is. Got to respect a fellow British dude who rambles about video games online.
@RatatTalks yeah I just finished the video last night and was just awestruck as a result like I knew there was gonna be a ton of lore but didn't realize that there was gonna be that fricking much. The main thing that surprised was how people listened to the Morse code for the radio in the countdown event and figured out what it transmitted. Truly amazing and I gotta give Red Barrels a pat on the back for making good content and lore.
0:54 is that Daan from fear and hunger?
Yeah I’ve used a Daan pfp for a while
Thank you for your hard work! 😊
Love the coraline music❤
Amazing movie!
It’s about my friends at mount massive (:
The lovely folks over at Murkoff too
Yo the Brian Jonestown Massacre playing in the background
Amazing band
based riders on the storm music in the background, guess i'm going to play underground 2 now
what if there was a freaky version of the entire outlast series but instead of outlast it would be called freaklast and that in the games you have to get freaky to survive.
That’s literally the game already
i expected kany things from this
skibidi jumpscare wasn't one of them