Squaresoft games from the intro (in order of appearance): Final Fantasy VII Final Fantasy VIII Threads of Fate Chocobo Fushigi na Dungeon Another Mind Tobal No. 1 Bushido Blade Einhander Chocobo Racing SaGa Frontier 2 Parasite Eve Xenogears Soukaigi Vagrant Story Front Mission 2 iS - internal section Legend of Mana Tobal No. 2
I wish Cyber-Org would have come to the west. It was published by Square, was inspired by American comic books, had an English only dub, and would have been a huge hit. Instead, it became one of my favorite games and I have absolutely no one to talk about it with.😕 Give it a look sometime.
This feels like “The next big step” in a way for your channel. I’ve loved all your content, but this really feels so much grander. I have legit NEVER heard of this game but you have not only made me aware of it, you made me care about it and provided a way to consume this media without having to hunt it down and play through it. Thank you. I really hope you keep having more and more success, because it is so richly deserved.
I agree. I poured a lot into this one, and regardless of view counts or whatever, I feel this is the best video I’ve made so far. I’m just continually pushing myself to make things better and better, so we’ll see what happens!
Sho: A concrete FANTASY. A man-made mirage rising from the heart of the city. Also Sho: Just throw a rock into the water. Reflections aren't real, lol.
“That there’s something more than the daily routine.. Something frustratingly indefinable and out of reach for most of us. “ That line hits HARD. You’ve touched on a feeling i’ve been trying to describe for years.
The visual customization is HUGE in this. Most cars seem to have different models based on chassis installed. For example, if you get an AE86 Trueno body and combine it with mid-engine chassis you'll get a Toyota MR2. When I realized that, I literally screamed. There's also a few bodykits (even an authentic bosozoku kit), that can be installed on every car (including the city bus). Different spoilers, paintjobs etc. Honestly, I'm just amazed by how large this game is, it's insane I've never heard of it for 25 years.
to add to your point around the 1 hour mark: the 90s were a far more difficult time than commonly remembered, not just for the US or japan. that's just the perception because it was the decade sandwiched between "cold war nearly turned hot" and "war on terror". the rest of southeast asia suffered its own financial crisis in 1997, russia and the former SSRs entered a chaotic transition period (including wars), and the west in general was terrified of anti-government paramilitary groups or millenarian cults committing terror attacks (i remember watching a tv movie about the latter back then). all in all, 90s media painting a bleak picture of the present or future were a reflection of the uncertain times. the "age of melancholia" in japan was one aspect of this.
Not dread of the end of the millennia but similar: the whole popularity of the movie "American Beauty" was the ennui of a life and culture without meaning. No Cold War, good economy (for the USA), and a glut of entertainment via cable and the incipient PC revolution. I suspect anyone who would watch it today would find it extremely naive.
They hadn't experienced clown yet world to know that they really were living at a golden age and the 21st century was when the real existential horror began
It is funny how the 90's are seen so fondly in retrospect, but at the time they were seen as pretty bleak themselves. Just look at Office Space. But I'd say the "good times" were the 30ish year period between the early-mid 80's through 2015 personally, with 2012 being the beginning of the dip. Ever since 2012 things have been on a slow decline that crescendoed with 2020, and is only going to get worse before anything gets better... if anything gets better. As a complete system/societal collapse seems about as likely at this point. Be glad you were born in the before times of said collapse. Maybe the Mayan's were right about 2012 being the end of the world, it just wasn't instant, lol. 2012 was when internet usage became ubiquitous thanks to social media, which is a funny coincidence...
I played this game years before the translation came out and I could tell without even being able to understand the game or progress through the second night that this game was a hidden masterpiece. A week after the translation came out I completed the game and can confirm, this is a hidden masterpiece. The way the story contorts itself into a level of sadness and depth that you'd never expect from the fun lighthearted beginning of the game is so impactful. It's such a shame it was never localized because so many people missed out on this gem of a game.
The overdramatization of "speed", sleek music, And subtle shift into a mythical horror drug trip is fascinating . Great job on the video and keep it up 👍
If only all niche subcultures had a love letter like Racing Lagoon. I never had a taste for racing games, but the story and style here is something else
“I have absolutely no interest in this” is what I said before I hit play, because I’ve loved your past content. But your delivery and your ability to hook someone in with your sense of humor, just can’t beat that. 12/10. Would probably listen to you reading a phone book.
I thought exactly the same thing. Even if I know I'll never play or think about this game ever again after watching this video, I know I will enjoy watching the next two and a half hours
I agree, it’s well put together. These vids are my “end of the day, chill vibe”. Eat & watch these until I fall asleep. No obnoxious yelling or music just good theme songs from the games & while being explained perfectly. It’s a great “Time Machine” for me because man I miss the 90’s-00’s😔 10:15 something about that music just feels good😂
I find a lot of interesting parallels here to Cloud's identity issues in Soldier and being simultaneously identified as a failed/lower than average project while simultaneously being the only individual to defeat THE BEST (diablo drivers / sephiroth) while being, quite literally, just a regular dude who was particularly pissed off at a key moment in time.
Square had a lot going on with identity at this point, with this, FF7 & FF8. Did they know about the Enix merger? And were these games the people inside Square expressing the fear of what was to come?
@@endymallorn Now that you say that... I'm thinking of Aya Brea from Parasite Eve. Don't want to spoil that game. But I can see some parallels to Sho here.
About the Y2K problem, what is interesting is that it was very much real and could've been a significant disaster if not for the hard work put in by programmers all over the world. Still, there were some cases of minor glitches that slipped through that could've had potentially catastrophic outcomes. Like the monitoring equipment failing briefly in a nuclear power plant in Japan. Truly scary stuff to think about.
Yeah it's crazy people think it was just a "scare" and nothing ever happened, not knowing the crazy amount of work that went into ensuring that bad shit didn't happen
This game has sneakily become my favorite video game, period. Sometimes you feel like a game was made just for you. And this is mine. Every time I play it, it takes me right back to street racing as a kid, all the moments I had chilling with my small group of wannabe race drivers late at night, the excitement of going out for runs, and the satisfaction of pulling into the garage at like 4 am having "gotten away with it". Mix in that 90s PSX aesthetic and the Japanese Jazz fusion, and this is literally a perfect experience for the right person. I really feel so lucky to have been able to play this.
You know there is one thing I don't get about street racers...just one thing...how the heck do you guys have less accidents than soccer moms? You literally race on the streets where anything could happen, granted it's usually well into the night, but still man. You guys have earned my respect for somehow being better drivers than normies who literally have all the help you can be given while driving from signs to lights.
@richardtorruellas2370 I think most people don't realise how much they rely on traction control and ABS, when they hit the limits of what those systems can do it's a rare and sudden loss of control that they can't recover from. I've taught a few people to drive and I've always taken them to a remote road where they can safely push the car to lose traction on a corner. There are also driving courses that will put water on a closed track so you can get the same experience, highly recommended.
@@richardtorruellas2370 Honestly man, that's a good question. I had a few close calls back during my "career", but I never wrecked even once. Neither did any of my close friends. That said, when street racers near me have wrecked, it's almost always deadly. Where I grew up, we have a couple of roads called "parkways", and they're two lane highways through the woods with these bridges that go over the road. At least once per year there would be a fatal street racing accident on one of them. But when it came to our normal outings, we were pretty slick about it. It was common for people to scout out the route prior to actually doing any runs to check for cops and stuff. We were actually pretty safe about things all things considered.
I never played this but his breakdown is stellar. One game from Square that I would love to see him review is The Bounce. The OTS, the setting & story is one I think most of us would love. Even him, I also believe if that got rebooted then it would be a great & refreshing game. The great thing about this channel is he has tons of back catalogue. But if you ever need an ideas for a video, The Bounce on Ps2 would be great. Highly underrated in my eyes. Great work though!
Played through this a couple of years back. I don't think a single game has ever captured such an atmosphere before or since. Even though I'd never played it at the time it instantly gave me this massive nostalgia rush for the late 90s. Made it all the way to the end of the video as well. Massive thanks to you for putting this one together, Chill!
This has quickly become one of my favorite youtube channels, that feeling you get when you see an incredible content creator puts out a 2+ hr video on some obscure video game, I'm consistently enraptured. Keep up the great work!
GlennHaven here. Tuned into every video so far. Its always interesting to hear such detailed yet casual breakdowns of games. Especially older ones that I've never heard of and probably would have never played. Great video, DC. Looking forward to the next one.
Not sure if it was mentioned, but you actually can beat Kyoji in that last race. You need to drive in front of him so he can't overtake you. It's pretty difficult and I only managed with save states. Nothing changes about the cutscene, though, it's still as if he got away. I completed the game yesterday and loved it to death, just wish it had new game plus btw, this trick also works in drag races if you have enough torque, AI slows down so they don't bump into you.
We'll never see an era like this again, not because companies don't have spare cash for experiments, but because that extra cash is automatically going into the pocket of some investor who did no work
NO WAY i followed to fan translation progress for a while before playing and absolutely falling in love with Racing Lagoon. Always lovely to see others give it the attention it deserves
This game is so incredibly bonkers that I immediately sent it to my friends - and even some pals who do game design - with the fevered joy of someone discovering a real gem. What a wild ride. Thanks for bringing it to a wider audience! I'd never heard of it before.
Thank you Mr. Dungeon Chill. Your videos are so well researched, professionally edited and narrated - and at such a fast pace for such large projects. Don't work too hard! I will always be a big fan. Fantastic work.
Square was just a behemoth in the 90s. Chocobo racing is one of fave racing games back then and thanks for covering this racing RPG. I kinda want to see this in a modern era racing game. Imagine losing parts when playing against players online. Would totally make a racing game competitive.
I have never heard of your channel before running into this video, but this is exactly the type of UA-cam content I love. So many older games, for PC or console, are so full of Jank that they wouldn’t be a ton of fun for me to play, but I love to watch someone explain the story and the gameplay from start to finish. This is much more digestible than a full let’s play, and you explain things extremely well. You are awesome dude please keep it up!
10:53 The Matrix only exists because The Wachowski Sisters wanted to create a live action adaptation of the 1995 Ghost In The Shell movie. This part of the game was probably also inspired by GitS.
I just love how this game has almost every glimpse of every Japanese street racing subculture, from: the usual street racing style discipline, the breath-holding reaction time of drag & chicken races, the wild and crazy modifications of the Bosozoku/Kaido, the sharp downhill corners of Touge Battles, the heart-stopping speed of the Shutokou Highway, It's an absolute must have for people who just love Japan's street racing culture.
Zero 4 Champ, Zero 4 Champ II, Zero 4 Champ RR, Zero 4 Champ RRZ, Zero 4 Champ Doozy J, and Zero 4 Champ Drift. All except Drift came out before this game.
Hey, no clue if you'll see this but I just wanted to say that having seen all of your videos, having know prior knowledge of this game, and really not even being into Square Enix games--this is by far my favorite video of yours and you did an incredible job. Extremely memorable experience through and through. PLEASE don't shy away from more outside of the box content like this in the future 『R』
Was listening to the bulk of this whilst experiencing my own hot summer night, speeding across the winding hills and empty dual carriageways down, and through, the heart of England to meet with my beloved in the South. Thanks for making my journey so cosy.
Honestly watched on for the vibes and great soundtrack, got fascinated by your little tidbit about the 90s to give it more context, then bamboozled by the story progression. It definitely felt like a long yet a pleasant surprise type of drive at night where I just spontaneously craved the chill air. Great video and good job!
I dont know if you'll see this Dungeon Chill, but i wanna say: Thank you dude. This game was an experience, I never heard of it but i legit applauded at the end. Thanks to the translation team and you for this awesome 2 hour haiku of badassery. Square-Enix lost some of its SOUL after the PS1-era. Hopefully this gets a remake. 10/10 video! [HOT DRIVING] 🏁🏁🏁🏁🏁🏁🏁🏁🏁🏁🏁🏁🏁🏁🏁🏁🏁🏁🏁🏁🏁🏁
Amazing video as always. Felt kinda like playing it myself before watching this video completely, but your detailed descriptions and the context you add to scenes, like talking about the lost decades, makes the story much more enjoyable and "real". I can only give you 『R』.
For the past month I have watched this every night. At first it was background noise for me to sleep to but he made the story sound interesting so & now I want to play it😂. & between the games soundtrack & his voice this is definitely soothing for me. I give him a lot of credit for putting this all together🫡
What a masterpiece of a video, loved the initial D mentions and also the fact you watched the show again just because haha. I love initial D with all my heart and have watched the show many times as well. After watching the entire video I might play this game. I've heard of it before, but I didn't know there was a translation. The aesthetic of this game is majestic and unique, I can't wait to try it out. Thank you for putting these videos together, great work, I really enjoy watching them! PS: Have you heard of Despiria for the Dreamcast? Might be an interesting idea for a video!
I originally had the idea to review all of Initial D alongside Racing Lagoon in this video, but decided that would be a bit too much. Racing Lagoon is very janky, but I loved it. I’ll probably replay it again someday, and yes, I’ve heard of Despiria. I plan on covering at some point.
I love this video with all my heart. I recently beat this game and had such a pure experience with it. I streamed it for a couple of friends in our group's discord server. By the end of the game we had 10 people watching the stream that were drawn in by this game's distinguishable charm. We all picked different characters and acted out the voice lines, it was the most fun I've had in gaming in a while. Also it was interesting watching your clips because I chose the same exact bodies and color schemes as I progressed through the game. You got good taste is all I can say. Lastly I was hyper-determined to beat [DIABLO-tuned] Kyoji and after about 100 attempts I beat him so it is possible... but nothing fuggin happens if you do. The game is scripted to assume you lost. Still, such an amazing game and I found myself smiling throughout the duration of your video because of how much I related to your comments and humor. Really well done, impeccable quality.
1:40:00 Kinda surprising you didn't know that was an allusion to The Devil Z in Wangan Midnight, the protagonist's Fairlady S30Z that was supposed to be "posessed by a demon" as it killed the owner. But the reality is it's homebrew modded to have such a low PWR , it's suicidal to race with without total knowledge of the car's handling. Much like Diablo tuning. Granted they had to make it literally drugs instead of addiction to a perfectly specced car they have no business disrespecting, but it's Square.
This has been by far my fave video youve done so far since it mixes my love of cars and your style of long form video essays of obscure games! definitely have to check this one out, I've never heard of it before this video!!
There's something so heartfelt about this game. While most of the script is corny fun (something along the lines of YuGiOh), some of the flowery monologues are genuinely beautiful. The whole bit about that high rise building where you relate it to Japan's economic collapse iss poetry. Leave it to 90's Square to make a damn racing game poignant. UPDATE: Watching this all the way through 4 weeks later. I just realized that the character models in this remind me of really wonky action figures, further adding to the "childhood fever dream" vibe of the game. 1:29:00 Bruh, that's just Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen in drip
I love the idea of a down on his luck, Yokohama bus-driver wanting to recapture his youth in a moment of midlife-crisis and then takes up some random punk on his racing challenge... and proceeds to lose a city municipal bus to him.
oh man I loved this video so much I was all in for Sho hahah it is absurd but the presentation/vibe of the art is so well done and it believes so much in itself you can't help but support it through a dreamy lens. Well done thanks for racing DC
My first video on this channel was the original “the most painful rpg” baroque. Still love this guys voice and how he dissects these old games. It feels like being guided to the past of old gold games I never heard of. Wonderful.
"a big heart, sometimes that counts for more" Thats how i feel about this video. This entire thing opened my eyes to a genre of life that was worth reading and listening about. It almost feels like an entire chapter being opened and closed. Well done dude, truly
Awesome video man, you made me really interested in a game i never knew existed, this game is very unique in a way, makes me wish there were more racing games like this, not just race after race after race, the story made it a whole lot better
Absolutely love your videos. As a fan of square games and Initial D, this looks like heaven. I’ll probably never bother playing it nowadays, but love that I can live through it through you. Keep up the awesome work my man!
Yeah I loved Chocobo Racing. I know a bunch of other kart games were more popular around the time of its release but Chocobo Racing was just my favorite.
this was so far my favourite video of you, and on an old obscure game. the ride this took me on (oh) is unmatched?! I absolutely adore the story of this, it seriously took me by surprise and i really love it for what it was and spoke on. thank you so much for putting in the work to cover this game!!
Great video. I believe what accentuates your work from other essayers is that you contextualize your feelings and turn them into narrative. This can even be the way you describe situations happening within the game. It becomes a story in itself, rather than just bullet points on a checklist to cross off.
I'm guessing Dungeon Chill never Read/Watched Midnight Wangan. He would of picked up on all the Devil Z references too. Very cool game, covers all the popular racing types in Japan. I got to give this a try later. Massive props to the folks to translated this long lost title. 『RESPECT』
I'm really not one to add YT comments, I generally watch pretty quietly and keep to myself, but DC said to leave a comment if you made it to the end, so here goes. Definitely felt like a special one, I was genuinely intrigued when a Square game I'd never heard of was dropped, and one so within my aesthetic appreciations. But wow, what a well-crafted and dedicated long form essay. The mixture of the socioeconomic history, the in-depth game review, and DC adding his own cultural understanding and experiences while segmenting everything with the natural poetry that flows from the game? Such an enjoyable experience. I started this on Sunday, and finished late last night, probably way too late. I could feel myself fighting for sleep just before the penultimate weirdness of the game's ending was being explained, and it definitely played into being such a surreal, dreamlike experience. So just wanted to end on saying I know every video won't be of this depth and length, but the additional work and craft was very much appreciated. Thanks DC!
It would be an understatement to say I experienced a rollercoaster of emotions watching this. Made me think of all my feelings about preservation of art, the incredible work of fan translators, and the freedom of experimentation in a medium. I love games like this and the fact that you were so fastidious in your coverage and the depth you conveyed about every piece of this game, man it got me choked up! Really a video I know I'll return to again and again
I live very close to a high speed highway, this game really made me realize just how many stories end just like that with the amount of weekly accidents as people keep pushing their vehicles to their limits
I was attracted to this video essay due to the aesthetic of Racing Lagoon- stayed 2.5 hrs for wild ride (pun intended) im a sucker for the prose and style of this game-- thank you for sharing your review and analysis of this unique piece of RPG history !!
I gotta say. I really like that you can practice racing in this game. There are so many games with odd combat/gameplay that I think would be greatly assisted by being able to concentrate on the core game while not having to worry about losing resources and stuff as you work to learn the game better.
Oh man, this was one hell of a video. I've been so curious about this game since I first saw it mentioned somewhere, and it was great to have such a thorough overview of it--thank you!
I really enjoy your videos. Some of them I've heard of or even played, but most I've had no idea that they existed. You provide great commentary and structure to your reviews, it's always a pleasure to watch them.
Another masterpiece. I wish you had more of a backlog so I could binge them all. I guess I'll just have to watch everything again lol. I appreciate the context you give around certain themes such as explaining lost decade. Great stuff as always
Wow dude. Your videos just keep getting better and better. Your writing and summation of the story, the things it tries to convey, and your insights into Japanese culture at the time just... incredible stuff. I got a lot out of this, and went from semi-disinterested in "just some racing game", to super engaged. Thanks for taking us along for the ride, I look forward to the next adventure. Peace, and 'GetREWARDS'.
I watched this on and off over the course of the last couple weeks. It’s the first video I’ve ever put on to go to bed to, but become so enraptured by that, when I fell asleep partway through, went back to the spot I’d left off the next night. The cultural and historical context you provide for this is wonderful, and enhances the whole experience. Thank you.
Thank you for such an amazing time with this one! I love RPG games and I found myself getting so many of the games you've made videos on, this one is no exception! Thank you for what you do!
You are honestly my favorite creator on youtube right now. My partner and I watch your videos as soon as they come out-sometimes several times over! Your commentary is so thoughtful and insightful I just can't get enough. I am so happy to see the list of channel supporters get longer every video. Thanks for making these!
Thank you for this, it was amazing. The narration really made it. And the night driving in the cities of Japan was awesome. I love the moodiness of the narrative too. It's great.
It may have taken me 6 separate sessions to finish this video but wow, I loved this video so much! What a wild ride, the game has so much charm. Love your channel and this is one of your best! Thanks for your hard work
Squaresoft games from the intro (in order of appearance):
Final Fantasy VII
Final Fantasy VIII
Threads of Fate
Chocobo Fushigi na Dungeon
Another Mind
Tobal No. 1
Bushido Blade
Einhander
Chocobo Racing
SaGa Frontier 2
Parasite Eve
Xenogears
Soukaigi
Vagrant Story
Front Mission 2
iS - internal section
Legend of Mana
Tobal No. 2
I wish Cyber-Org would have come to the west. It was published by Square, was inspired by American comic books, had an English only dub, and would have been a huge hit. Instead, it became one of my favorite games and I have absolutely no one to talk about it with.😕
Give it a look sometime.
Thank You!
That case art was SaGa Frontier 1 not 2
Einhander is one of the rarer games in my collection. Good fun that one
@@julzsadventuresinmusic7492 I had a Japanese copy, and oddly, the two languages in the game are still English and German.
This feels like “The next big step” in a way for your channel. I’ve loved all your content, but this really feels so much grander. I have legit NEVER heard of this game but you have not only made me aware of it, you made me care about it and provided a way to consume this media without having to hunt it down and play through it. Thank you. I really hope you keep having more and more success, because it is so richly deserved.
I agree. I poured a lot into this one, and regardless of view counts or whatever, I feel this is the best video I’ve made so far. I’m just continually pushing myself to make things better and better, so we’ll see what happens!
@@dungeonchillthey weren't lying. I subbed because of this video it was so well made.
But he doesn't realize we do it out of『R』.
The highest honor we can bestow... 『RESPECT』!
Dungeon Chill has earned my『R』
Sorry, samurai! I hear the
AZN honeys Calling for me!
Eee-koo-zay!
...I just realized something. That stylized R for the logo, double meanings all the way. Good lord this game is great.
I hear the 『Voice』 in my head when I get cut off by a nissan altima with temp tags for the 2435th time on my way to work
Sho: A concrete FANTASY. A man-made mirage rising from the heart of the city.
Also Sho: Just throw a rock into the water. Reflections aren't real, lol.
My dinner will be 2.5 hrs long today
Fr lol
@@leafylotusFr br loc ggt wry lka
Fr fr xdxdxxd
Right?
stop lying, we know you will be dilating
Same
I finished mine before I found something to watch 😢
“That there’s something more than the daily routine.. Something frustratingly indefinable and out of reach for most of us. “
That line hits HARD.
You’ve touched on a feeling i’ve been trying to describe for years.
The visual customization is HUGE in this. Most cars seem to have different models based on chassis installed. For example, if you get an AE86 Trueno body and combine it with mid-engine chassis you'll get a Toyota MR2. When I realized that, I literally screamed. There's also a few bodykits (even an authentic bosozoku kit), that can be installed on every car (including the city bus). Different spoilers, paintjobs etc. Honestly, I'm just amazed by how large this game is, it's insane I've never heard of it for 25 years.
to add to your point around the 1 hour mark: the 90s were a far more difficult time than commonly remembered, not just for the US or japan. that's just the perception because it was the decade sandwiched between "cold war nearly turned hot" and "war on terror". the rest of southeast asia suffered its own financial crisis in 1997, russia and the former SSRs entered a chaotic transition period (including wars), and the west in general was terrified of anti-government paramilitary groups or millenarian cults committing terror attacks (i remember watching a tv movie about the latter back then).
all in all, 90s media painting a bleak picture of the present or future were a reflection of the uncertain times. the "age of melancholia" in japan was one aspect of this.
Not dread of the end of the millennia but similar: the whole popularity of the movie "American Beauty" was the ennui of a life and culture without meaning. No Cold War, good economy (for the USA), and a glut of entertainment via cable and the incipient PC revolution. I suspect anyone who would watch it today would find it extremely naive.
They hadn't experienced clown yet world to know that they really were living at a golden age and the 21st century was when the real existential horror began
@@j.251290s were far from being a "golden" age, certainly better than the 2020s though
90s were great, everyone was partying 😊
It is funny how the 90's are seen so fondly in retrospect, but at the time they were seen as pretty bleak themselves. Just look at Office Space.
But I'd say the "good times" were the 30ish year period between the early-mid 80's through 2015 personally, with 2012 being the beginning of the dip. Ever since 2012 things have been on a slow decline that crescendoed with 2020, and is only going to get worse before anything gets better... if anything gets better. As a complete system/societal collapse seems about as likely at this point.
Be glad you were born in the before times of said collapse. Maybe the Mayan's were right about 2012 being the end of the world, it just wasn't instant, lol.
2012 was when internet usage became ubiquitous thanks to social media, which is a funny coincidence...
I played this game years before the translation came out and I could tell without even being able to understand the game or progress through the second night that this game was a hidden masterpiece. A week after the translation came out I completed the game and can confirm, this is a hidden masterpiece. The way the story contorts itself into a level of sadness and depth that you'd never expect from the fun lighthearted beginning of the game is so impactful. It's such a shame it was never localized because so many people missed out on this gem of a game.
>JRPG
>Auto racing
>PlayStation 1
>Akitoshi Kawazu involved
It's like they made a game just for me and had the GALL to not release it stateside.
You just like bad games?
based japan strikes again
@@ianswift3521 Japan? Hide your kids
The overdramatization of "speed", sleek music,
And subtle shift into a mythical horror drug trip is fascinating .
Great job on the video and keep it up 👍
Glad you enjoyed it!
If only all niche subcultures had a love letter like Racing Lagoon. I never had a taste for racing games, but the story and style here is something else
This game has『VISION』- I love it. Great video, thank you.
I really love how grand and yet grounded the English translation is. It has no right to be this good.
“I have absolutely no interest in this” is what I said before I hit play, because I’ve loved your past content. But your delivery and your ability to hook someone in with your sense of humor, just can’t beat that. 12/10. Would probably listen to you reading a phone book.
I thought exactly the same thing. Even if I know I'll never play or think about this game ever again after watching this video, I know I will enjoy watching the next two and a half hours
That's it, really reach in there! And don't stop until you can taste that turd on your tongue!
I agree, it’s well put together. These vids are my “end of the day, chill vibe”. Eat & watch these until I fall asleep. No obnoxious yelling or music just good theme songs from the games & while being explained perfectly.
It’s a great “Time Machine” for me because man I miss the 90’s-00’s😔
10:15 something about that music just feels good😂
A majuular video AND a dungeon chill video in one day?? My day is so fucked
you are not alone
Right
this also me
Now we need civvie, sseth, and mandalore. That's an entire fukkin day
This shit gonna keep me sleeping for weeks dawg
I find a lot of interesting parallels here to Cloud's identity issues in Soldier and being simultaneously identified as a failed/lower than average project while simultaneously being the only individual to defeat THE BEST (diablo drivers / sephiroth) while being, quite literally, just a regular dude who was particularly pissed off at a key moment in time.
Square had a lot going on with identity at this point, with this, FF7 & FF8. Did they know about the Enix merger? And were these games the people inside Square expressing the fear of what was to come?
Game theory video worthy @@endymallorn
@@endymallorn Now that you say that... I'm thinking of Aya Brea from Parasite Eve. Don't want to spoil that game. But I can see some parallels to Sho here.
Wow 2.5 hours of this yes please. Also I think I am the only person who commented in the last vid that this would be the next title.
Just checked. Yes, you were!
And thank you so much for covering this. Everything in this presentation was so perfect and precise and in tune with what I appreciate.
About the Y2K problem, what is interesting is that it was very much real and could've been a significant disaster if not for the hard work put in by programmers all over the world. Still, there were some cases of minor glitches that slipped through that could've had potentially catastrophic outcomes. Like the monitoring equipment failing briefly in a nuclear power plant in Japan. Truly scary stuff to think about.
Yeah it's crazy people think it was just a "scare" and nothing ever happened, not knowing the crazy amount of work that went into ensuring that bad shit didn't happen
Shit, that's the first I had heard of it, surprised it isn't more well known
This game has sneakily become my favorite video game, period. Sometimes you feel like a game was made just for you. And this is mine. Every time I play it, it takes me right back to street racing as a kid, all the moments I had chilling with my small group of wannabe race drivers late at night, the excitement of going out for runs, and the satisfaction of pulling into the garage at like 4 am having "gotten away with it". Mix in that 90s PSX aesthetic and the Japanese Jazz fusion, and this is literally a perfect experience for the right person. I really feel so lucky to have been able to play this.
You know there is one thing I don't get about street racers...just one thing...how the heck do you guys have less accidents than soccer moms? You literally race on the streets where anything could happen, granted it's usually well into the night, but still man. You guys have earned my respect for somehow being better drivers than normies who literally have all the help you can be given while driving from signs to lights.
@richardtorruellas2370 I think most people don't realise how much they rely on traction control and ABS, when they hit the limits of what those systems can do it's a rare and sudden loss of control that they can't recover from.
I've taught a few people to drive and I've always taken them to a remote road where they can safely push the car to lose traction on a corner.
There are also driving courses that will put water on a closed track so you can get the same experience, highly recommended.
@@richardtorruellas2370 Honestly man, that's a good question. I had a few close calls back during my "career", but I never wrecked even once. Neither did any of my close friends. That said, when street racers near me have wrecked, it's almost always deadly. Where I grew up, we have a couple of roads called "parkways", and they're two lane highways through the woods with these bridges that go over the road. At least once per year there would be a fatal street racing accident on one of them. But when it came to our normal outings, we were pretty slick about it. It was common for people to scout out the route prior to actually doing any runs to check for cops and stuff. We were actually pretty safe about things all things considered.
@@richardtorruellas2370 the answer is they don't, knew several guys who totalled their cars, one dead.
I never played this but his breakdown is stellar. One game from Square that I would love to see him review is The Bounce. The OTS, the setting & story is one I think most of us would love. Even him, I also believe if that got rebooted then it would be a great & refreshing game.
The great thing about this channel is he has tons of back catalogue. But if you ever need an ideas for a video, The Bounce on Ps2 would be great. Highly underrated in my eyes. Great work though!
It's weird seeing all these shonen anime and JRPG tropes in a game with a relatively grounded real-life setting about driving a car.
Played through this a couple of years back. I don't think a single game has ever captured such an atmosphere before or since. Even though I'd never played it at the time it instantly gave me this massive nostalgia rush for the late 90s.
Made it all the way to the end of the video as well. Massive thanks to you for putting this one together, Chill!
2.3 hrs of dungeon chill what else does a man need in life
money, food, water, pussy, drugs, beer. maybe something else.
Lmao you think you're a man
Close to 2.6 hours of Dungeon Chill.
@@nambepambe3221 haha precisely
Nice cup of hot chocolate to drink while watching.
This has quickly become one of my favorite youtube channels, that feeling you get when you see an incredible content creator puts out a 2+ hr video on some obscure video game, I'm consistently enraptured. Keep up the great work!
GlennHaven here. Tuned into every video so far. Its always interesting to hear such detailed yet casual breakdowns of games. Especially older ones that I've never heard of and probably would have never played. Great video, DC. Looking forward to the next one.
this is the first time I've ever had to stop a Dungeon Chill video to just go and play the game un-spoiled.
man, this looks incredible
Not sure if it was mentioned, but you actually can beat Kyoji in that last race. You need to drive in front of him so he can't overtake you. It's pretty difficult and I only managed with save states. Nothing changes about the cutscene, though, it's still as if he got away. I completed the game yesterday and loved it to death, just wish it had new game plus
btw, this trick also works in drag races if you have enough torque, AI slows down so they don't bump into you.
you're my favorite UA-camr!! i've watched all of your videos. you were born to talk about obscure old games, thank you for accepting your destiny
We'll never see an era like this again, not because companies don't have spare cash for experiments, but because that extra cash is automatically going into the pocket of some investor who did no work
NO WAY i followed to fan translation progress for a while before playing and absolutely falling in love with Racing Lagoon. Always lovely to see others give it the attention it deserves
This game is so incredibly bonkers that I immediately sent it to my friends - and even some pals who do game design - with the fevered joy of someone discovering a real gem. What a wild ride. Thanks for bringing it to a wider audience! I'd never heard of it before.
ngl i would love to see you covering Ridge Racer Type 4. A lot of people had talked about it's vibes and all that but nobody talks about the story!
Thank you Mr. Dungeon Chill. Your videos are so well researched, professionally edited and narrated - and at such a fast pace for such large projects. Don't work too hard! I will always be a big fan. Fantastic work.
Wow, thank you so much!
Square was just a behemoth in the 90s. Chocobo racing is one of fave racing games back then and thanks for covering this racing RPG. I kinda want to see this in a modern era racing game. Imagine losing parts when playing against players online. Would totally make a racing game competitive.
I have never heard of your channel before running into this video, but this is exactly the type of UA-cam content I love. So many older games, for PC or console, are so full of Jank that they wouldn’t be a ton of fun for me to play, but I love to watch someone explain the story and the gameplay from start to finish. This is much more digestible than a full let’s play, and you explain things extremely well. You are awesome dude please keep it up!
10:53 The Matrix only exists because The Wachowski Sisters wanted to create a live action adaptation of the 1995 Ghost In The Shell movie. This part of the game was probably also inspired by GitS.
I just love how this game has almost every glimpse of every Japanese street racing subculture, from:
the usual street racing style discipline,
the breath-holding reaction time of drag & chicken races,
the wild and crazy modifications of the Bosozoku/Kaido,
the sharp downhill corners of Touge Battles,
the heart-stopping speed of the Shutokou Highway,
It's an absolute must have for people who just love Japan's street racing culture.
Thats what ive been saying this game has everthing! Its truly an product of its time
Even the tragic aspects are of the culture. The deaths could've been straight from a newspaper from that time.
It's wild that the two examples of "racing RPG" are this bombastic soap opera and freaking Choro Q. I love it, wish we had more
Gran Turismo is close enough if you squint a just little.
Zero 4 Champ, Zero 4 Champ II, Zero 4 Champ RR, Zero 4 Champ RRZ, Zero 4 Champ Doozy J, and Zero 4 Champ Drift. All except Drift came out before this game.
Threads of Fate was one of my favorite games when I was a kid. Glad to see a small clip of it here haha.
Hey, no clue if you'll see this but I just wanted to say that having seen all of your videos, having know prior knowledge of this game, and really not even being into Square Enix games--this is by far my favorite video of yours and you did an incredible job. Extremely memorable experience through and through. PLEASE don't shy away from more outside of the box content like this in the future 『R』
i can comfortably say that after playing this game it takes you into a different era , an era where i want to live for the rest of my life
Was listening to the bulk of this whilst experiencing my own hot summer night, speeding across the winding hills and empty dual carriageways down, and through, the heart of England to meet with my beloved in the South. Thanks for making my journey so cosy.
dark figures with sharp knives speaking foreign tongues under by the pale moonlight of bongland, stay safe
Have you considered becoming a poet?
Honestly watched on for the vibes and great soundtrack, got fascinated by your little tidbit about the 90s to give it more context, then bamboozled by the story progression. It definitely felt like a long yet a pleasant surprise type of drive at night where I just spontaneously craved the chill air.
Great video and good job!
Took me like, 4 weeks to watch this whole video. But now with it fully in check...
I love your videos, man. Keep up the good work!
I dont know if you'll see this Dungeon Chill, but i wanna say:
Thank you dude.
This game was an experience, I never heard of it but i legit applauded at the end.
Thanks to the translation team and you for this awesome 2 hour haiku of badassery.
Square-Enix lost some of its SOUL after the PS1-era.
Hopefully this gets a remake.
10/10 video!
[HOT DRIVING]
🏁🏁🏁🏁🏁🏁🏁🏁🏁🏁🏁🏁🏁🏁🏁🏁🏁🏁🏁🏁🏁🏁
Amazing video as always. Felt kinda like playing it myself before watching this video completely, but your detailed descriptions and the context you add to scenes, like talking about the lost decades, makes the story much more enjoyable and "real".
I can only give you 『R』.
Brother your voice reading these texts is awesome , it really sets me in ,
For the past month I have watched this every night. At first it was background noise for me to sleep to but he made the story sound interesting so & now I want to play it😂. & between the games soundtrack & his voice this is definitely soothing for me. I give him a lot of credit for putting this all together🫡
What a masterpiece of a video, loved the initial D mentions and also the fact you watched the show again just because haha. I love initial D with all my heart and have watched the show many times as well. After watching the entire video I might play this game. I've heard of it before, but I didn't know there was a translation. The aesthetic of this game is majestic and unique, I can't wait to try it out.
Thank you for putting these videos together, great work, I really enjoy watching them!
PS: Have you heard of Despiria for the Dreamcast? Might be an interesting idea for a video!
I've been watching the translated playthrough that is on youtube. I'm up to chapter III.
I originally had the idea to review all of Initial D alongside Racing Lagoon in this video, but decided that would be a bit too much.
Racing Lagoon is very janky, but I loved it. I’ll probably replay it again someday, and yes, I’ve heard of Despiria. I plan on covering at some point.
I have an initial D 2 player cabinet from the arcade at my house! 😆
I love this video with all my heart. I recently beat this game and had such a pure experience with it.
I streamed it for a couple of friends in our group's discord server. By the end of the game we had 10 people watching the stream that were drawn in by this game's distinguishable charm. We all picked different characters and acted out the voice lines, it was the most fun I've had in gaming in a while.
Also it was interesting watching your clips because I chose the same exact bodies and color schemes as I progressed through the game. You got good taste is all I can say.
Lastly I was hyper-determined to beat [DIABLO-tuned] Kyoji and after about 100 attempts I beat him so it is possible... but nothing fuggin happens if you do. The game is scripted to assume you lost.
Still, such an amazing game and I found myself smiling throughout the duration of your video because of how much I related to your comments and humor. Really well done, impeccable quality.
1:40:00 Kinda surprising you didn't know that was an allusion to The Devil Z in Wangan Midnight, the protagonist's Fairlady S30Z that was supposed to be "posessed by a demon" as it killed the owner. But the reality is it's homebrew modded to have such a low PWR , it's suicidal to race with without total knowledge of the car's handling.
Much like Diablo tuning. Granted they had to make it literally drugs instead of addiction to a perfectly specced car they have no business disrespecting, but it's Square.
This has been by far my fave video youve done so far since it mixes my love of cars and your style of long form video essays of obscure games! definitely have to check this one out, I've never heard of it before this video!!
This was way more philosophical and sad than i was expecting. Amazing video and what a little gem of a game.
There's something so heartfelt about this game. While most of the script is corny fun (something along the lines of YuGiOh), some of the flowery monologues are genuinely beautiful. The whole bit about that high rise building where you relate it to Japan's economic collapse iss poetry. Leave it to 90's Square to make a damn racing game poignant.
UPDATE: Watching this all the way through 4 weeks later. I just realized that the character models in this remind me of really wonky action figures, further adding to the "childhood fever dream" vibe of the game.
1:29:00 Bruh, that's just Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen in drip
I love the idea of a down on his luck, Yokohama bus-driver wanting to recapture his youth in a moment of midlife-crisis and then takes up some random punk on his racing challenge... and proceeds to lose a city municipal bus to him.
oh man I loved this video so much I was all in for Sho hahah it is absurd but the presentation/vibe of the art is so well done and it believes so much in itself you can't help but support it through a dreamy lens. Well done thanks for racing DC
Can't wait to watch. Thanks for putting so much time and effort into your videos.
Hope you like it 👍
This channel makes me so happy. I really appreciate how your writing has developed to capture the tone and style of the games you cover.
2.5 hours AND it’s about Racing Lagoon? I am excited to watch this when I get home!
My first video on this channel was the original “the most painful rpg” baroque. Still love this guys voice and how he dissects these old games. It feels like being guided to the past of old gold games I never heard of. Wonderful.
Great video. ThorHighHeels touched on the game but had no idea it went even further.
yeah!!!! I'm so glad another great channel is taking it further
I love discovering a new game I've never heard of, and then getting an exhaustive and funny analysis of it. Thank you for what you do!
Bro every weekend i wait to come home and see if your videos are out
easily my fav things to listen to on a week by week
"a big heart, sometimes that counts for more" Thats how i feel about this video. This entire thing opened my eyes to a genre of life that was worth reading and listening about. It almost feels like an entire chapter being opened and closed. Well done dude, truly
Just finished the game after discovering it with your video 4 months ago, I had tons of fun, thank you for sharing about it
I imagine Dungeon Chill driving around Japanese highways with Zoe the shih-tzu riding shotgun
Watching this during the long overnight shifts to pass the easy winter call volume... thank you for this :)
Time to add another game to my list. This looks amazing!!!
Awesome video man, you made me really interested in a game i never knew existed, this game is very unique in a way, makes me wish there were more racing games like this, not just race after race after race, the story made it a whole lot better
Just subbed to the Patreon after watching your vids for a month or 2. Quality stuff. Love hearing about old games with jank that I never heard of.
Welcome aboard!
Absolutely love your videos. As a fan of square games and Initial D, this looks like heaven. I’ll probably never bother playing it nowadays, but love that I can live through it through you. Keep up the awesome work my man!
Yeah I loved Chocobo Racing. I know a bunch of other kart games were more popular around the time of its release but Chocobo Racing was just my favorite.
this was so far my favourite video of you, and on an old obscure game. the ride this took me on (oh) is unmatched?! I absolutely adore the story of this, it seriously took me by surprise and i really love it for what it was and spoke on. thank you so much for putting in the work to cover this game!!
I'm so sad that you never mentionned Diablo Zeta being an obvious reference to the Devil Z from Wangan Midnight
Great video. I believe what accentuates your work from other essayers is that you contextualize your feelings and turn them into narrative. This can even be the way you describe situations happening within the game. It becomes a story in itself, rather than just bullet points on a checklist to cross off.
I'm guessing Dungeon Chill never Read/Watched Midnight Wangan. He would of picked up on all the Devil Z references too.
Very cool game, covers all the popular racing types in Japan. I got to give this a try later.
Massive props to the folks to translated this long lost title. 『RESPECT』
I never even knew it was a thing until people started talking about it in the comments. Now I’ve got a new show to watch.
my goodness those wide shots of the city are GOURGEOUS!
I'm really not one to add YT comments, I generally watch pretty quietly and keep to myself, but DC said to leave a comment if you made it to the end, so here goes.
Definitely felt like a special one, I was genuinely intrigued when a Square game I'd never heard of was dropped, and one so within my aesthetic appreciations. But wow, what a well-crafted and dedicated long form essay.
The mixture of the socioeconomic history, the in-depth game review, and DC adding his own cultural understanding and experiences while segmenting everything with the natural poetry that flows from the game? Such an enjoyable experience.
I started this on Sunday, and finished late last night, probably way too late. I could feel myself fighting for sleep just before the penultimate weirdness of the game's ending was being explained, and it definitely played into being such a surreal, dreamlike experience.
So just wanted to end on saying I know every video won't be of this depth and length, but the additional work and craft was very much appreciated. Thanks DC!
It would be an understatement to say I experienced a rollercoaster of emotions watching this.
Made me think of all my feelings about preservation of art, the incredible work of fan translators, and the freedom of experimentation in a medium.
I love games like this and the fact that you were so fastidious in your coverage and the depth you conveyed about every piece of this game, man it got me choked up!
Really a video I know I'll return to again and again
Nomura should have designed the cars.
Considering BMW's history of car door designs (especially Z1), we're missing out on a dream collab.
no
You are my newest random youtube discovery. Amazing content, quality analysis and reviews. Keep it up.
babe wake up new Dungeon Chill just dropped
What you produce is NOT content.
IT. IS. ART.
This comment will probably be drowned, but a talk about Einhänder would be great.
DC: "I won't make these massive videos all the time..."
Me: Bummer, I want more of them D:
(Already a patreon member
I live very close to a high speed highway, this game really made me realize just how many stories end just like that with the amount of weekly accidents as people keep pushing their vehicles to their limits
Keep up the great work! I love that you incorporated the historical and cultural context of the plot as well as the game's real life development!
I was attracted to this video essay due to the aesthetic of Racing Lagoon- stayed 2.5 hrs for wild ride (pun intended) im a sucker for the prose and style of this game-- thank you for sharing your review and analysis of this unique piece of RPG history !!
I gotta say. I really like that you can practice racing in this game. There are so many games with odd combat/gameplay that I think would be greatly assisted by being able to concentrate on the core game while not having to worry about losing resources and stuff as you work to learn the game better.
I love your passion. This was such a cool trip you just took me on 👍
Oh man, this was one hell of a video. I've been so curious about this game since I first saw it mentioned somewhere, and it was great to have such a thorough overview of it--thank you!
I really enjoy your videos. Some of them I've heard of or even played, but most I've had no idea that they existed. You provide great commentary and structure to your reviews, it's always a pleasure to watch them.
Another masterpiece. I wish you had more of a backlog so I could binge them all. I guess I'll just have to watch everything again lol. I appreciate the context you give around certain themes such as explaining lost decade. Great stuff as always
The saxophone in the intro made me gasp. I need a CD of the sound track.
Wow dude. Your videos just keep getting better and better. Your writing and summation of the story, the things it tries to convey, and your insights into Japanese culture at the time just... incredible stuff. I got a lot out of this, and went from semi-disinterested in "just some racing game", to super engaged. Thanks for taking us along for the ride, I look forward to the next adventure.
Peace, and 'GetREWARDS'.
I watched this on and off over the course of the last couple weeks. It’s the first video I’ve ever put on to go to bed to, but become so enraptured by that, when I fell asleep partway through, went back to the spot I’d left off the next night.
The cultural and historical context you provide for this is wonderful, and enhances the whole experience. Thank you.
Thank you for such an amazing time with this one!
I love RPG games and I found myself getting so many of the games you've made videos on, this one is no exception! Thank you for what you do!
You are honestly my favorite creator on youtube right now. My partner and I watch your videos as soon as they come out-sometimes several times over! Your commentary is so thoughtful and insightful I just can't get enough. I am so happy to see the list of channel supporters get longer every video. Thanks for making these!
Thank you for this, it was amazing. The narration really made it. And the night driving in the cities of Japan was awesome. I love the moodiness of the narrative too. It's great.
It may have taken me 6 separate sessions to finish this video but wow, I loved this video so much! What a wild ride, the game has so much charm. Love your channel and this is one of your best! Thanks for your hard work
As soon as I saw the character designs I immediately thought of Bouncer. Such an underrated gem from my childhood that I need to replay.