Why Subnautica Below Zero Failed as a Sequel
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- Опубліковано 4 лип 2024
- A brief discussion and look at why I feel Subnautica Below Zero failed as a sequel.
If this game was to have come out before the first Subnautica I actually think it would have faired better since it does all of the great things Subnautica did in relation to putting a unique twist on the survival genre while having an immersive, complex alien planet full of fun and cool creatures and fauna. The soundtrack is just as good as the first game but as a sequel this game is horrible. The story is an absolute mess compared to both the original Subnautica and the early access version of this game. With a cramped map, two disjointed plot lines with no urgency to drive the story it's no surprise that this game sadly failed as a sequel.
Here are the playthroughs and videos I watched to help research lore on the story for this video. Tell them that Soul sent you over there!
Jacksepticeye early access • SUBNAUTICA IS BACK! |...
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The Terror of Subnautica • Capturing The Terror o...
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As always, leave your thoughts down below in the comments section
All clips and music used in this video are not mine and I do not claim them to be.
0:00 Intro
3:00 The Game
4:42 The Problems
5:46 The Lack of Scares
8:08 Poorly Written Story
15:10 Early Access Version
18:39 Outro - Розваги
One thing they cut out of the final version of the game that they should have left in was the Juvenile Sea Emperor. It made sense lore-wise for at least one of them to be there. Apparently in the early version of the story, you have to talk to one of the Sea Emperors to get the Enzyme 42 in order to cure the Frozen Leviathan. Instead we can make a pseudo Enzyme 42 by mixing peppers and a frost vase plant? That's a major plot hole lol
They also had plans to make the Frozen Leviathan break loose the moment you cured it, something I'm sure fans would have loved to see. Also cutting the Ice Dragon Leviathan was a mistake on their part. We needed something big and scary like that.
The first time I played the game I never even finished the story with Robin's sister and never found the frozen leviathan. I just never needed to.
Another thing that I think they did poorly in the story is the times where AL-AN does talk to Robin, it just ends up him asking some vague question about human society and behavior and Robin "explaining" it in really unnatural sounding ways that seem like they're trying to be flowery philosophical answers, but don't really meaningfully convey the information asked for in a way that should be easier to understand for an analytical logic based alien race who's views of philosophy are nebulous at best.
From what I remember first story actually had sense of urgency, which makes new story even worse.
You needed to send kharaa sample. Then Jeff would screw it up, so you would need to send Enzyme 42, but Jeff would activate planetary shield so rocket would explode.
I want to sing your PRAISES on this video!! One of the best video essays I’ve seen in forever particularly in video games, which is saying something because (as my poor boyfriend would say) I waste my life on video essays, haha! This one was seriously great though, and it’s a great shame that it’s going so under-appreciated. Your points are clear, concise, as well as both structured and fluid, which is a hard balance to strike. I can tell where one flows into another, but I don’t feel like the former was abruptly stopped in a choppy transition to the latter. Your tone is great, with wonderful emphasis on the key points and relaxed explanation of your supporting evidences. Your opinions aren’t only yours, either-you include the shouts of the community in your critiques, and they aren’t cruel or upsetting, just blunt. The only thing I would say to improve on is your wording-instead of repeating the same phrase twice, try to use synonyms or simply remove the dependent clauses sometimes and simplify the sentence. However, that’s nothing big!! You did an amazing job and this was an enjoyable watch.
I love the inclusion of the comments on the lack of initiative. I’m a psych major, and we talk about operant conditioning often (ever heard of Pavlov’s dogs?). The human mind can be easily influenced to react to certain stimuli by simple rewards and punishments. The lack thereof in this game is one thing that I think holds it back so much, especially when compared to its behemoth of a predecessor.
In the original game, rewards and punishments for completing tasks were everywhere. If you want to a waypoint, it would be a hell of a lot easier to acquire certain resources. If you scan something with your PDA, you get a cool picture. If you go to the island in time, you get to see the Sunbeam cutscene. On the other hand, if you go anywhere underequipped, you’re doomed. It just works.
Another thing that really hurts BZ in my opinion, is the story, like you said, but not exactly like you said it. The original game was first and foremost a survival game. Yes, there was a story, but the main focus was surviving. The story didn’t take over the whole thing. BZ focused too much on the story to be a survival game, and not enough on it to be a story game, so it leaves everyone unsatisfied and underwhelmed. If they wanted to focus on the story, they should have spent more time writing it. If they wanted to focus more on the world building and survival, they should have spent less time on the story and more time on the world building.
To wrap up, great job!! I really hope this is one of those videos that blows up three years after it’s released and everyone finds this absolute gem of a channel.
You’re so sweet thank you so much for your kind words! And thank you for the insight on the psych info that’s fascinating
I am happy that I got recommended this video. Atleast we have the same opinion! But all I have to add is that the game has potential, but the potential was not fully realized by UWE. All we have to do is... uh.... just to wait??? I remember resident evil got remake, and it is very good, maybe UWE devs will do the same in like 10-20 years??? And thank you for the video! Now I don't feel so alone with my opinion 😃
Here's an exercise I did myself. If Subnautica Below Zero was released first and then Subnautica was the sequel - would I accept it as a good sequel? Would I like it more than the original? Would it feel like a believable scenario? To me Subnautica Below Zero does nothing better than the original, save for maybe walking segments, but then if Below Zero was released first it's not a long shot to think that devs would focus more on the thing people loved more - the underwater part. Less goofy characters, more underwater biomes, more underwater content, more variety in creatures and their combat strategies, cyclops, focusing on survival rather than goofy story... not to mention some genuine horror.
I genuinely believe that Subnautica was just a happy accident and Below Zero is what devs really wanted the game to be, but failed upwards with the original. I'm worried for the next game.
I think the game should have been about your character trying to cure the kharaa virus in the ecosystems as it slowly kills the off wildlife since we dont see any Sea Emperors leviathan in game and it would help the player stay glued to the story with them seeing first hand the deterioration of the environment
Well, the major plot hole that was in the first version of story and still exists in the new one is that there's no way fauna would survive kharaa in sector Zero.
In first game explanation of why fauna in crater survived at all - filtration system that was connected to the sea emperor's chamber. Sector Zero, nor pretty much rest of the planet was connected to it, meaning no enzyme 42 and no possibility for life.
Beyond Two Souls can be an emotional rollercoaster and the same could be said for Heavy Rain, but I honestly feel more emotion out of that game then Heavy Rain. So you should definitely give it a try!
Very interesting! Thanks
great video, thanks
Nice video
I whould not say failed but it was disappointing after the frist game
Didnt fake, just wasn't as scary as the first specially of you did what I did 100% the first one then started the 2nd one right after it, those leviathans did scare me even the big nasty shadow I was more meh ill play with you later 😂
The annoying accent on the pda was a big turn off for many. Having to hear “Now passing 100 marters” got annoying. It’s AI, it shouldn’t have an accent
Well, I can see in lore reasons why.
It just makes voice more human.
Plus, have you tried to listen to somebody who speaks without accent? Even google translate narration has accent.
Please remove the bright greenscreen border on thumbnail for the love of god please
It’s just a white border, who cares?
I and many others genuinely enjoyed and continue to enjoy below zero. Saying that It's a 'failure" is just a bias and your opinion.
Story is bad. There is no bias in this statement.
Even in comparison to the first draft - at least that version had some tensions, risks, twists and reasons to move forward.
New story has... neither of those. It actually has more plot holes and illogical moments than the first one. Hell, even in story of Doom 1993 I can see how we got there, but here - nope. Like, explain to me, why a *regular human* found a cure to a disease by combining two absolutely random plants in like what, a day? A cure that hyperadvanced civilisation spend thousands of years and trillions of lives to find, and failed. It's like an ant founding a cure for a black plague by placing two bits of sand near each other.
@@user-oq7xc5qp3y of course he highlighted your reply🤣 she isn't a "regular human," she's a scientist with years of Alterra research to use. She uses this research and Alan's knowledge to find a way to cure the disease. You clearly haven't played the game or have only watched like 2 videos on it, but you just don't know the story.
@@funnyguyiswear6910 "of course he highlighted your reply" - what?
"she's a scientist with years of Alterra research to use. She uses this research and Alan's knowledge to find a way to cure the disease." - precursors spent more time on research of the cure than Alterra has *existed* and they had way better technology than anything that Alterra has and that still *wasn't enough* . Also, could you, please, give me a direct quote from Sam or Al-An stating that he helped her find the cure. Because I cannot seem to find it, not from memory of me watching every single news video that was created about this game, nor from the wiki.
Also, logical error №1: Even if Sam found the cure by sheer luck - precursors would also do it. They have tried everything, including combining different plants.
Also, logical error №2: Sam found the cure without access to kharaa.
@@funnyguyiswear6910 So, will you answer my questions?