By the way, as a viewer pointed out below, February 30th doesn't exist as a day on the calendar--it's another issue with the game's mistakes. I caught it early on in my study, but was so focused on the other problems while scripting that I forgot to include that bit for the narration recording.
hi ya #NightMind. really hoping you can look into some of my video suggestions soon. i'd be super greatful. W/ me having to be a Patreon subber. Lolz :)
I'd go with option B. Just going off the examples from dialogue between characters, you can see the game was poorly written. The writing is incredibly melodramatic, with one dimensional characters. I agree with your assessment, its a cool idea that was just abused and turned into a gimmick. I also very much object to the compiling of scary youtube videos and putting them into the game. It shows such a lack of creativity and borders on plagiarism. I give you major props for trying to pull together a cohesive story out of this mess of a game. Your ability to pull logical conclusions from chaotic nonsense is inspiring. 10/10
Buddy's message WAS an error, as you suspected. In the most current version of the game, the error is correct. Sara answers with the proper messages (instead of Buddy), then Buddy asks her "btw butt stuff?". So the message is fixed now, no longer misleading, however... the date is still Feb 30th. 2016 WAS a leap year, but leap day is Feb 29.... maybe the devs just didnt realize that?
slendy9600 That's not always what Jim Sterling does. he does tear some games apart when it's some flimsy asset flip video game with bearly any efforts put into them, but if it's a flawed game that has an interesting concept, he will usually point it out.
Are you supposed to have crappy videos, when you don't have many subs? Of course not man, he's probably gonna get the subs he deserves sooner or later.
To me, it comes across that Sara isn't honest, but not for malicious reasons. She didn't "need" to lie to her mom and friend about her relationship, but it was valentines day, and I would smudge the truth to avoid pity on a holiday like that. Her bday is valentines, so she's probably gotten passive aggressive comments about whether or not she has a date her whole life. Her texts during the faith incident are probably in the same wavelength too. She doesn't want people to worry about her, OR she doesn't want people to be like "wtf why would you do that that's stupid" when she's already scared. Lying is a defense mechanism as much as it is a malicious action, and that could be the whole point, that being honest about your mess ups can save your life.
But how does telling a friend that it was the partner that broke up with YOU avoid pity? She broke up with him and then told her friends and family that they both decided to end it or that he ended it, both would grant more sympathy than telling your friends and family that you ended things. If anything, it might be lying to garner more sympathy.
If she told the whole truth, the nude photography, the withholding information, the arguing, everyone would smother her with pity. When I'm upset I want to be left alone to cool down, so I can see myself doing that if I was in a similar situation.
Eri Ok but you could just easily say, "things weren't working out so I broke up with him." I've seen people say that a million times and nobody bats an eye. Why would you turn this around like the Sara in this game did? Maybe she actually wanted sympathy?
It could be a theme of "nothing is as it seems" re: how technology gives us the ability to lie/stretch the truth when we would be more candid in-person. Either way I don't have the answers, I just thought that it could go either way & that the reality vs Sara's texts don't explicitly mean she's a manipulative liar. I'm not saying that's an invalid interpretation by any means though.
Definitely agreed. My original comment here was before I saw a full playthrough and after watching it I definitely see an "I told you so/that he was no good/etc" coming, had Sara told the truth. I'm sure Sara's mother was coming from a good place, but she said and did a lot of hurtful things to her, just from what we saw. When you're hurt over something, the last thing you want is a lecture from your parents or for them to hold your mistakes over your head, even if you really could have avoided the situation.
This reminds me a lot of "Unfriended". A piece of horror based media with a technologically based gimmick which had tons of potential, but bad execution.
This sums up my annoyances with the game pretty much to a T. When I picked this game up I was expecting to go through someone's phone bit by bit and discover dark secrets about them. Maybe watch a slow decent into some sort of madness that ultimately ended in their death. Tons of slowly creepy images and videos, conversations that didn't make sense, etc. (Like that story with the guy who is tormented by his dead girlfriend's facebook.) Stuff that creates a slow creeping sense of dread. Brought to a new level by letting the user have their actual phone be used to progress the events. Maybe even in a manner that completing the game takes months of simulated "messages" being sent to you or something like that. There's so much genuine horror you can create this way, making someone feel like they're part of the story in a very real way, far more real than just sitting down to play a game that you can easily pull yourself out of by looking beyond the limits of the screen. What I didn't expect was a poorly done "you have to choose who lives and who dies! OOOHH!" story. With internet images I've seen hundreds of thousands of times and stolen video footage from very, very popular sources. (I mean, it's not even hard to just look up videos with less popularity or make something very basic scary with the proper use of editing.) Even with the gimmick I expected a bit more. Something that would have me download this on my phone and keep coming back to it. The cult, the serial killer, and the "now you must JOIN US!" stuff just yanks you clear out of the immersion and into another creepypasta that ends with a horrible attempt at threatening you directly. All the mistakes within it only make it seem more like a half-baked idea for youtubers to pick up, playthrough in a single 15 minute video, and then move on, praising it for just a good base idea and bad execution.
And just an addon to this rant: the AI is... completely useless. un-needed. The hook is already there. This is a phone that you found who's owner is missing/dead/something like that. The player doesn't need more incentive. They don't need things unlocked slowly for them, they don't need a guide. Natural curiosity and the need to know more takes over. It makes it so everyone will explore the phone differently. They'll slowly form their own conclusions. That's far more fun than IRIS slowly unlocking things after I do EXACTLY what she wants me to.
I disagree that the AI is completely useless, though I do think it needs a rework. IRIS works well in elevating the feeling of distrust that permeates the game, and it provides a really clever conflict of interest when it demonstrates its commitment to Sara's survival and the power it has over you and the phone. The issue arises, as you said, when it funnels the player by way of developer intention. This serves the purpose of creating a false sense of security in the first act, but should definitely be removed completely after IRIS becomes corrupted.
The monthly messages idea is super cool! like some kind of arg. Or it could also work like this game called mystic messenger, where instead of your own phone you enter this platform/app that simulates another phone/ message service.
By Candlelight if you want a video game so dramatic, you make it. I agree this game isn't what it should've been, but you seem to lack knowledge of how hard it can be to come up with a whole story, perhaps by yourself. Maybe whoever made this worked really hard on it, and just because it didn't meet your unusually high standards you write it off.
This game may be poorly acted, hamfisted, way too short, and overall poorly executed. But it's a very cool idea, and it's free! Plus, playing this game on an actual phone really amps up the immersion factor.
the most paranormal thing in this game is the battery life forever stuck at 23% (update) hot damn, this is one of the highest like counts i've had in a comment, my one other being in a Gordon Ramsay video, I've been laughing at some of the replies too, thanks guys lmfao!
Man i have the same thought too. They made the word siri backwards which turned into 'iris'. Then they got an idea for the killer's name by the word iris to irizu. Lol jk idk
Exactly the same reaction from me, too. If you're going to use other people's videos in your work, maybe don't use literally the most popular creepy videos on the Internet.
Sarah is missing reminds me of Mystic Messenger but perhaps with a lot more flawed writing (and obviously ones a psychological....thriller? idk and the other is a dating sim). Can this be a trend? The whole 'your using your phone to unlock mysteries and it feels more like a reality game' thing? Because i really like the idea! ^o^
There's a game called 'Replica' if I remember correctly where you have a mobile phone from someone and you're being instructed to find incriminating evidence on the phone to save your own skin, it's pretty cool if you like things that are thrillers but also make you think
23:00 Um Nick? You missed an opportunity to say: "And like the completely phony AI controlling your phone's camera, I'll be seeing you again real soon! Sleep tight!" that one was just WAITING for you to use it! All in all, great analysis tho, very impressed, big fan!
Dr. FrankenMax I just finished the video, and having read your comment, my brain expected it to end with that statement. When it didn't, my brain lurched and then I remembered it was this comment. Kudos lol
I seriously hope the developers will watch this review and redo the game. They need to take your constructive criticism and use it while keeping the creep factor it's already displayed. This video is a testament to why I like YOUR reviews. You can take a critical look on what needs changing w/o insulting the creator's work. I didn't notice where the images were being pulled from, but felt as though they phoned it in. During let's play vids, I noticed strong inconsistencies in logic and in the dialogues of the characters. I really do hope they watch this. Thanks, Nick!
TheChibiFangirl In fairness, unless you've read a review or such and go into that blind, you can't say that it wouldn't atleast startle you. Offended was the wrong word perhaps, but you know know what I meant lol
Out of the two outcomes in regards to this demo (1 being that the inconsistencies are intentional and serve as evidence of what really happened, 2 being its just a lot of huge mistakes because the gimmick format was prioritized), I think I might actually lean toward believing the first option a great deal. The biggest piece of evidence for me is Irizu and Iris being so similarly named. I won't disagree that there are issues with this game, of course. If they wanted to have the *spooky videos* be obviously hackjob compilations of already existing horror media, they could've put in some clues in the form of google search history for "scary images and videos". The interactions the player has with Irizu are limited, which leads to the potentially false impression that Iris is intended to be a super advanced AI that you just idly go along with. More options in all conversations would alleviate this issue, I think. Nice video, and I hope that the team working on the game can work past these issues to make an excellent full game in the future.
The moment I saw that the Haunted videos were just made up of stolen pictures and video clips, I was basically done with Sara Is Missing. No offense, but I just think it was really lazy of them.
Kiara229 A little late, but that text originates from a Japanese urban legend. The image appears originally from a pop up on your computer. If you continue to x out of it, it'll just keep popping up. The text says "Do you like red?" Then turns into "Do you like the red room?" You'll find a list if you scroll down of names. These names are of people who died of the red room. Apparently at the last name, it's yours.
From what you've shown here, I'd have to go with the latter option saying that the game is just lazy: The inconsistencies highlighted in the video, the lifted videos from marble hornets and the like, and the illusion of choice presented hurts the experience. If anyone is interested in a game of this style, i'd recommend playing Her Story. It's a tighter narrative, and pretty well written to boot.
***** That's perfectly understandable. It's not for everyone, and the structure can lead to some strange, if not outright poor, pacing. For my money, it was unique and compelling enough, and Sam Barlow is a favorite video game creator of mine.
My theory is that IRIS is actually a ghost connected to the phone, and Irizu was actually testing Iris's capabilities throughout the game, and that's why the premise of the game is that the phone is randomly left on your (someone's) doorstep--possibly left by Irizu to see if IRIS can find Sarah just through the clues on her phone. It's possible Irizu was a fake name utilized to, basically, worship Iris. It's possible that the spirit connected to Iris was someone close to Sarah.
By the way, Nick. What did you think when you saw that Marble Hornet's clip spliced into the Red Room video? :3 I couldn't stop laughing at how half-assed it was when I first saw it.
Anger. Disappointment. And yet, I did not feel surprised. Off-putting that they'd have such audacity to take something from Marble Hornets, which is still huge, but not surprising.
Nick, you said in this video that you having a negative opinion in a vid was a first for you, but what about that time with that shitty marble hornets fan film?
Yeah, I know right? Up until that point, I honestly thought the game was gonna have a bit more tact and self-respect than just blatantly taking an insanely popular video off youtube like that. Well, if anything you brought up in this video was correct, then hopefully, it was intentional :/
The difference there is that it was a professional film, made by people in the industry, and not an indie product. When it comes to indie work and self-produced/supported creators, I just have a sense of guilt and being disappointed when it turns out badly. I want to see success and praise good work from those who go out and fight to make things in the world. Sara Is Missing is the first game from an indie developer. ... But Always Watching: A Marble Hornets story was made by people who should've known better. If you're professional industry grade and have mainstream work or employees attached to a product, and it turns out like garbage, I will have no mercy. And that movie was so bad that I really didn't feel guilty about skewering it.
Love this take on SIM, Nick! I played through it twice to see if I was missing something, but there just appears to be so many glaring issues with it. I think it's a very rad game with a lot of promise. Definitely a unique way to present a story.
Honestly, seeing the videos in-game just be mashups of other creepy shit was a huge turn off. I had a raging hard on for the concept, and i slowly deflated with every moment spent in game
You're right in that we can't trust everything we see, there are discrepancies, and the similarity between IRIS and Irizu cannot be ignored, particularly if you pronounce IRIS like SIRI backwards, but one thing goes against IRIS being Irizu, and that's the reaction if you chose Sara. Irizu congratulates you and sends pictures regardless of which person you choose, Sara or Faith, while if you choose Sara to die, IRIS makes it clear that you will pay. Irizu seems pretty indifferent to Sara's ultimate fate, while IRIS shows a very clear loyalty to Sara. As for some of the questions raised, like the strangely human and intelligent AI and certain inconsistencies or out if place things, this might be explained by later portions of the game, as this is not the full version.
I was waiting for your opinion on this game. I thought the idea was interesting, but the execution was so lazy and hackneyed and the information was so muddled - especially the Walpurgisnacht / "Satanic calendar" nonsense mixed in with the Red Room myth. It was like the creators didn't bother to even research what they were trying to write about and they just jumbled together a bunch of scary ideas that had almost no relation to each other. It was really disappointing.
I played through Sarah is Missing just so I could watch this video. It was interesting, but I found the most scary bit to be when I was left to my own devices searching through the photos and videos wondering when i'll see something freaky. I think it would have been better to be a more mundane sort of horror, where the player uncovers the phone owner's life, and then the secret life, of an individual through their phone.
Yeah it seems like it was made by people who didn't know which kind of horror they wanted to go with so they decided to pick all of them. Analogue, Digital and such do alot more in making you feel like a detective thumbing through archives of a dead generational ship with ai that might not be as trustworthy as you think. Then again who in the world would believe that an AI that is modeled from the memories of a dying girl who had her tongue burned and her life abused as a result in living in a Confucian Korean Society, and then killed everyone via asphyxiation as revenge would try anything to convince you to take her out of this prison?
This was uploaded a couple minutes ago and I am here & ready to listen! I heard of this, but I never really looked into this. Thank you Night Mind for this being uploaded!
Buddy texts about the thesis were in fact a formatting which has been fixed now. A lot of your points were very good though I completely missed them during my first play of the game. I also thought that Irizu was probably controlling IRIS because it was just too intelligent and human to be a phone AI and also because "Irizu" sounds like "IRIS" with an Asian accent, if that makes sense. About IRIS, I do think she needs to be toned way down. There are several explanations I would accept for IRIS remaining ultra-intelligent but I think her influence needs to be lighter. It feels more like IRIS is DRAGGING you down a specific path instead of GUIDING you toward one.
13:48 why do I always end up turning my head or stopping the video when those creepy photos with big wide eyes appears?!😭😭😭 They seriously freaks me out!
Honestly even under a quick look this game is garbage. The phone interaction is not really immersive due to its very linear rail-roaded story line. None of the player's choices matter as the endings are all the same save for a few lines iris says near the end. Dialog options yield the exact same responses from both characters and iris 90% of the time. Searching the phone's documents is met with tons of hand holding and forced direction that kills the sense of mystery or tension. Also the whole spooky infected computing device trope has been done to death lately so I don't see how this game brings anything new to the table.
I believe the origin of the cat thing was that someone asked him on Tumblr what his spirit animal is or something and he said a black cat. Then people started making fanart of him as a cat and it became his symbol (that was why he used a cat puppet in the DHMIS video). I believe he talked about it in the Q&A he did a while back.
Night Mind, you amaze me at your ability to perform mental gymnastics and manage to draw these lines of the timing of Sara's messages making no sense, and originally I was going to make some hard opinions about your stretching with Sara's boyfriend (anybody can lie to parents about relationships details my man). BUT: You totally stayed within a logical mindset and proved me wrong, which I appreciate. The creation isn't faultless, and mysteries can only hold water if they're airtight in logic. It's without a doubt that Sara is Missing needs time to redraw itself, and I think you hit every nail on the head with this one. I really hope they've seen your critique man, it'll go a long way. And stellar work as always.
Another red flag that popped up for me while watching a playthrough of this was that IRIS pronounced in japanese is IRIZU and I immediately knew they were not good news
I just downloaded it and played it, and the biggest thing that pissed me off was that Irizu said “you choose who lived to see the sunrise,” and I wanted to save Sara so I answered Sara. Apparently that was the answer to fucking kill her. Cherry on top of a poorly executed game.
Thank you!! I was getting really frustrated with how all of the people playing it on youtube seemed to be totally missing the glaring plot holes and false-choices. I totally agree that the gimmick this game is working with is strong, but it definitely needs a good amount of refining before it goes to the full release. Thanks, Nightmind, I thought I was going crazy or something haha
Only watched 2 of your videos..... Inside and this video and i must say I'm really impressed with your attention to detail so far. A lot of time and effort clearly goes into your videos and you deserve a lot more credit and subscribers for your efforts. Well done mate and keep up the good work!! I shall be subscribing 👍
I LOVE the concept behind this game. I was really happy when I saw your video about it in my feed because I was super interested in your opinion on it, and I had no idea that what I played was a demo, and now Im pretty excited to check it out.
Really? Sara Is Missing? Gotta admit, I'm pretty surprised, I didn't expect you to suddenly cover THIS game of all games. Still, the demo was pretty fun, so I won't start complaining, especially since it's a new video from you, Nick. Also, forgive me for asking a stupid question, but did the full game already come out? Last time I checked, only the demo was out.
Billy bob jackson Now do you remember? Who you are, what you were meant to do? I cheated death thanks to you. And thanks to you I've left my mark. You have too. You've written your own history. You're your own man. I'm Loaf Bloke, and you are too. No, he's the two of us together. Where we are today, we built it. This story, this 'legend', it's ours. We can change the world, and with it, the future. I am you and you are me. Carry that with you wherever you go. Thank you, my friend. From here on out, you're Loaf Bloke.
I thought the same like, really? The game is entertaining to a degree but mainly lazy which since it's a demo is not too bad...I guess. I think Nick gives it way too much credit
You know, it's amazing to think that you've only been doing this for a little over a year, and your content has been spectacular from day one. The amount of effort and thought that you put into these is admirable, I hope you continue to grow in the coming year. Thank you for being as awesome as you are, you obvious robot. (just kidding about the robot thing)
I hate how little of these observations you've made in this video were noticed by me in my SIX different playthroughs. How long did it take you to conclude this information?
Night Mind, I have major respect for you for both being polite and honest. It seemed like nobody else was pointing these flaws out, but you were still kind enough to point out that it was a demo and that the full version might wind up being better.
I always tell myself to not be a big baby while I watch these but lmao I'm the biggest baby and I scare myself watching these videos alone , they're so good, great work NM💕
So excited to see your opinion on this. I personally thought it was mediocre and had some continuity errors, but you may confirm my opinion or change my mind.
Me too. I'm extremely curious about Night Mind's identity beyond his work and what he actually looks like! He has such a soothing yet distinctive voice that it is difficult for me to envision what he could possibly look like haha. A self explanation video ... i would take that over anything!
fuducker2 I would enjoy that, but I also like the mystery behind his stuff at the same time. It helps gives character to his work and I don't want him to expose too much?
Oh gosh, I've finally gotten to comment on a Night Mind video freshly enough to have my comment have any sort of possibility of being relevant to the dialogue created by the content the video creates itself! Also I remember Nick mentioning Sara Is Missing from a previous video from my binge viewing. Neat!
I believe IRIS can be one of her contacts or a hacker. Same thing with Iziru. But I lean on IRIS being a hacker who maybe in a really close relationship with Sara. And those two people who I think is IRIS are either "buddy" or "Derek". Why? Well, think about it. They both really care about Sara, even when she rejects their love. Yes, Buddy is pervy and she has a right to reject to him, so he might've hacked into her phone and used her AI as a disguise just to stalk her for whatever reason. But Derek I believe would hack her to use her information against her. That or he's Iziru.....idk this is just my theory
"Iris know you're not Sarah because it can see you through the camera" This gets creepier because I always play this at night, on my phone, where it all seems too realistic
From now on, I'm going to leave very explicit notes and text conversations on my phone. There's no way I'll inflict this on anyone. Great explanation Night Mind, keep it up! (I am now going to watch more UA-cam in my dining room at 9:23 PM PST.)
Okay but February 30th is not a real day. There are never, ever more than 29 days in February. I wouldn't mind so much if it felt like it was at least intentional but then there's that bit where Sarah sends messages to some guy while being stalked by a serial killer. It's poorly written.
NightMind. I recently played this and you pretty much hit the nail on the head. I kept getting these speech options that were just one phrase reworded so they would only need to write one response. Iris is obviously a person from the beginning, all the contacts sound like jerks etc. Irizu was hands down my favorite character.
Wow, was not expecting you to make a video on this! Never really went with this game, so it will be good to be introduced to this ;) Unrelated, did you guys watch "Channel 0" Season 1? ;D so good!
Another great analysis! I watched a playthrough only a couple days ago, and while I loved the original concept, I was disappointed by the half-assed spoopy videos and overbearing AI. What I didn't notice was the crazy time line and impossible investigation threads.
That's a seriously good analysis Nick. I'm so glad you aren't afraid to question things as errors and oversights rather than the game trying to be _3deep5you_. Great premise and style, but I hope they not only get someone to correct the demo, but someone to edit and review the rest of the story. Great vid as always, can't wait for you to scour the full release!
I feel as though Salad Fingers has already been examined and analyzed too far for NM to introduce anything seriously groundbreaking, but a take on it in this style would still be something I would watch.
Completely agree. The thing that made sara is missing so exciting was its hook of playing while investigating through someone's phone, but they didn't seem to live up to that hook, since the game essentially played itself with iris doing all the investigating for you.
![[F4A] A Crew of Two - Full Series [Audio Roleplay][Sci-Fi RP]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/aj7WEyxp60E/mqdefault.jpg)
NM sounds a bit like a disappointed parent in this video, at times.
How did no one comment
@@primitivepainting
Good question
@@kikuoisthebestandnoonecant1915 very good question
By the way, as a viewer pointed out below, February 30th doesn't exist as a day on the calendar--it's another issue with the game's mistakes. I caught it early on in my study, but was so focused on the other problems while scripting that I forgot to include that bit for the narration recording.
When you gonna make another video with the cat?
It was adorable
vocaroo.com/i/s0NAjAh1QskT
... Oh, you troll.
Seriously, though, that puppet was amazing. I want a plushie version of that.
hi ya #NightMind. really hoping you can look into some of my video suggestions soon. i'd be super greatful. W/ me having to be a Patreon subber. Lolz :)
I'd go with option B.
Just going off the examples from dialogue between characters, you can see the game was poorly written. The writing is incredibly melodramatic, with one dimensional characters. I agree with your assessment, its a cool idea that was just abused and turned into a gimmick. I also very much object to the compiling of scary youtube videos and putting them into the game. It shows such a lack of creativity and borders on plagiarism.
I give you major props for trying to pull together a cohesive story out of this mess of a game. Your ability to pull logical conclusions from chaotic nonsense is inspiring. 10/10
Buddy's message WAS an error, as you suspected. In the most current version of the game, the error is correct. Sara answers with the proper messages (instead of Buddy), then Buddy asks her "btw butt stuff?".
So the message is fixed now, no longer misleading, however... the date is still Feb 30th. 2016 WAS a leap year, but leap day is Feb 29.... maybe the devs just didnt realize that?
Derriere the moment when a fuckup makes the story more believeable
Derriere yeah the devs are soooo fucking dumb xD
Thanks for letting us know, I was wondering if it was corrected. Thank you for updating us.
Yeah both them and you are stupid
@@mrmactonight1723 h
"...and it happened on Valentine's day, which was also her birthday."
That's really professional quality fiction writing right there.
I have a few friends whose birthdays are on Valentine's day so it's not wildly uncommon.
How many of them had a messy breakup on that exact day?
WilliamGarland topkek
@@WilliamGarland Ya my birthday is Valentine's Day and I can't imagine anyone being that purposefully cruel, but I don't date guys so idk.
As someone who was born on that day I’m deeply offended
Adore the blunt honesty. Not as harshly ripped into as Always Watching, but still pretty brutal. Let's hope there's more to this thing than expected.
Didn’t realise you was a fan of these sort of projects but in retrospect makes sense with the level depth that’s in your work
Fancy running into you here. Thanks for making my favorite hobby funny. We'll miss you.
Funny to see you here dude. I hope things are going well for you these days.
Interesting to find you here, hope youre doing well!
Ran into this right after watching the Ian Watson sewer goblin review lol
damn, Night Mind went full savage in this game
NessicaryVidz i dunno man, jim sterling woulda torn it apart. Nick tried to give it the benefit of the doubt as much as possible
slendy9600 that's because Jim sterling has nothing better to do than to shit on indy developers ever since drinking that sjw Kool aid
+drsatanrx damn, roasted
slendy9600 That's not always what Jim Sterling does. he does tear some games apart when it's some flimsy asset flip video game with bearly any efforts put into them, but if it's a flawed game that has an interesting concept, he will usually point it out.
drsatanrx spare me Mr. Romine
dude you put way too much effort in your videos to not have more subscribers
Random Modnar And that type of effort is the reason why I love Night
Are you supposed to have crappy videos, when you don't have many subs?
Of course not man, he's probably gonna get the subs he deserves sooner or later.
Well, he's almost at 100K, so keep spreading the word.
I subbed when he was around 20k at the beginning of the year. He's definitely gaining steam. Hopefully next year he gets really big
Random Modnar I put way too much effort into killing myself
To me, it comes across that Sara isn't honest, but not for malicious reasons. She didn't "need" to lie to her mom and friend about her relationship, but it was valentines day, and I would smudge the truth to avoid pity on a holiday like that. Her bday is valentines, so she's probably gotten passive aggressive comments about whether or not she has a date her whole life.
Her texts during the faith incident are probably in the same wavelength too. She doesn't want people to worry about her, OR she doesn't want people to be like "wtf why would you do that that's stupid" when she's already scared.
Lying is a defense mechanism as much as it is a malicious action, and that could be the whole point, that being honest about your mess ups can save your life.
But how does telling a friend that it was the partner that broke up with YOU avoid pity? She broke up with him and then told her friends and family that they both decided to end it or that he ended it, both would grant more sympathy than telling your friends and family that you ended things.
If anything, it might be lying to garner more sympathy.
If she told the whole truth, the nude photography, the withholding information, the arguing, everyone would smother her with pity. When I'm upset I want to be left alone to cool down, so I can see myself doing that if I was in a similar situation.
Eri Ok but you could just easily say, "things weren't working out so I broke up with him." I've seen people say that a million times and nobody bats an eye. Why would you turn this around like the Sara in this game did? Maybe she actually wanted sympathy?
It could be a theme of "nothing is as it seems" re: how technology gives us the ability to lie/stretch the truth when we would be more candid in-person. Either way I don't have the answers, I just thought that it could go either way & that the reality vs Sara's texts don't explicitly mean she's a manipulative liar. I'm not saying that's an invalid interpretation by any means though.
Definitely agreed. My original comment here was before I saw a full playthrough and after watching it I definitely see an "I told you so/that he was no good/etc" coming, had Sara told the truth. I'm sure Sara's mother was coming from a good place, but she said and did a lot of hurtful things to her, just from what we saw.
When you're hurt over something, the last thing you want is a lecture from your parents or for them to hold your mistakes over your head, even if you really could have avoided the situation.
This reminds me a lot of "Unfriended". A piece of horror based media with a technologically based gimmick which had tons of potential, but bad execution.
There's also a sequel to that movie. Kinda even more confusing than the first, if that is even possible... :P
Tbh, Simulacra executed it AMAZINGLY.
This sums up my annoyances with the game pretty much to a T. When I picked this game up I was expecting to go through someone's phone bit by bit and discover dark secrets about them. Maybe watch a slow decent into some sort of madness that ultimately ended in their death. Tons of slowly creepy images and videos, conversations that didn't make sense, etc. (Like that story with the guy who is tormented by his dead girlfriend's facebook.) Stuff that creates a slow creeping sense of dread. Brought to a new level by letting the user have their actual phone be used to progress the events. Maybe even in a manner that completing the game takes months of simulated "messages" being sent to you or something like that. There's so much genuine horror you can create this way, making someone feel like they're part of the story in a very real way, far more real than just sitting down to play a game that you can easily pull yourself out of by looking beyond the limits of the screen.
What I didn't expect was a poorly done "you have to choose who lives and who dies! OOOHH!" story. With internet images I've seen hundreds of thousands of times and stolen video footage from very, very popular sources. (I mean, it's not even hard to just look up videos with less popularity or make something very basic scary with the proper use of editing.) Even with the gimmick I expected a bit more. Something that would have me download this on my phone and keep coming back to it. The cult, the serial killer, and the "now you must JOIN US!" stuff just yanks you clear out of the immersion and into another creepypasta that ends with a horrible attempt at threatening you directly. All the mistakes within it only make it seem more like a half-baked idea for youtubers to pick up, playthrough in a single 15 minute video, and then move on, praising it for just a good base idea and bad execution.
And just an addon to this rant: the AI is... completely useless. un-needed. The hook is already there. This is a phone that you found who's owner is missing/dead/something like that. The player doesn't need more incentive. They don't need things unlocked slowly for them, they don't need a guide. Natural curiosity and the need to know more takes over. It makes it so everyone will explore the phone differently. They'll slowly form their own conclusions. That's far more fun than IRIS slowly unlocking things after I do EXACTLY what she wants me to.
I disagree that the AI is completely useless, though I do think it needs a rework. IRIS works well in elevating the feeling of distrust that permeates the game, and it provides a really clever conflict of interest when it demonstrates its commitment to Sara's survival and the power it has over you and the phone. The issue arises, as you said, when it funnels the player by way of developer intention. This serves the purpose of creating a false sense of security in the first act, but should definitely be removed completely after IRIS becomes corrupted.
The monthly messages idea is super cool! like some kind of arg. Or it could also work like this game called mystic messenger, where instead of your own phone you enter this platform/app that simulates another phone/ message service.
By Candlelight I honestly hope the creators of S.I.M. read your post!! VERY good ideas - makes me wish you'd created a game!! :)
By Candlelight if you want a video game so dramatic, you make it. I agree this game isn't what it should've been, but you seem to lack knowledge of how hard it can be to come up with a whole story, perhaps by yourself. Maybe whoever made this worked really hard on it, and just because it didn't meet your unusually high standards you write it off.
The real mystery about this game is how in the hell is the battery not going down in the game though.
Firite the Pirate Its haunted, that explains the battery.
But it's not...
DonoftheShade I looked at that battery, and it was never running down. It could be cursed within Sara's phone.
Sorcery. Thats the answer.
It would be an interesting concept if the battery life worked like a timer and if the battery died, you'd have to start over
This game may be poorly acted, hamfisted, way too short, and overall poorly executed. But it's a very cool idea, and it's free! Plus, playing this game on an actual phone really amps up the immersion factor.
the most paranormal thing in this game is the battery life forever stuck at 23%
(update) hot damn, this is one of the highest like counts i've had in a comment, my one other being in a Gordon Ramsay video, I've been laughing at some of the replies too, thanks guys lmfao!
Edcognito dun dun dunnnn
Edcognito The killer is really Michael Jordan
Mellohi Stop it, get some help
Mellohi me too 😂
Edcognito true dat
Iris = Irizu. Doesn't that spell it out?
iris spelled backwards is siri
or you can just short it I.os = ios.
Maybe it's iris in Japanese? (Half joking but who knows?)
Man i have the same thought too. They made the word siri backwards which turned into 'iris'. Then they got an idea for the killer's name by the word iris to irizu. Lol jk idk
Zoey 9169 Irisu in Japanese apparently is Iris, yet Irizu is without entering or something. Still, i don’t know
Sara is Missing lost me when I saw the video with the marble hornets clip. That just made me laugh.
Like NM said, it was supposed to look fake.
Exactly the same reaction from me, too. If you're going to use other people's videos in your work, maybe don't use literally the most popular creepy videos on the Internet.
Sarah is missing reminds me of Mystic Messenger but perhaps with a lot more flawed writing (and obviously ones a psychological....thriller? idk and the other is a dating sim). Can this be a trend? The whole 'your using your phone to unlock mysteries and it feels more like a reality game' thing? Because i really like the idea! ^o^
Lu K same omg.
There's a game called 'Replica' if I remember correctly where you have a mobile phone from someone and you're being instructed to find incriminating evidence on the phone to save your own skin, it's pretty cool if you like things that are thrillers but also make you think
Mystic Messenger is pretty trash though.
Salt Sama not really. Its a very polished game and has very high quality writing. All the characters are interesting and indepth.
*Gone Phone*
that was such a bad pun, I'm so sorry
23:00 Um Nick? You missed an opportunity to say: "And like the completely phony AI controlling your phone's camera, I'll be seeing you again real soon! Sleep tight!" that one was just WAITING for you to use it! All in all, great analysis tho, very impressed, big fan!
Ahhhhhh! You know, I probably should've caught that, yeah. Thank you, Dr. FrankenMax!
Dr. FrankenMax I just finished the video, and having read your comment, my brain expected it to end with that statement. When it didn't, my brain lurched and then I remembered it was this comment. Kudos lol
The CunningHam I
I like having a video about bad horror for a change. Criticism becomes hollow when it's only used to praise.
I'm quoting you on that!
I seriously hope the developers will watch this review and redo the game. They need to take your constructive criticism and use it while keeping the creep factor it's already displayed.
This video is a testament to why I like YOUR reviews. You can take a critical look on what needs changing w/o insulting the creator's work. I didn't notice where the images were being pulled from, but felt as though they phoned it in. During let's play vids, I noticed strong inconsistencies in logic and in the dialogues of the characters. I really do hope they watch this. Thanks, Nick!
they did...watch the video about simulacra!
Nick, I need to hear you say the phrase "butt stuff."
Does Sara know a Megan? She's missing too.
Too soon :P
TheChibiFangirl im so confused
Papyrus Senpai
There's a 'found footage' horror film called, "Megan is Missing". I don't recommend viewing it if offended or worried easily.
Actually if anyone is offended by that movie, stay off the internet. Trolls are weird mofos.
TheChibiFangirl
In fairness, unless you've read a review or such and go into that blind, you can't say that it wouldn't atleast startle you. Offended was the wrong word perhaps, but you know know what I meant lol
Out of the two outcomes in regards to this demo (1 being that the inconsistencies are intentional and serve as evidence of what really happened, 2 being its just a lot of huge mistakes because the gimmick format was prioritized), I think I might actually lean toward believing the first option a great deal. The biggest piece of evidence for me is Irizu and Iris being so similarly named. I won't disagree that there are issues with this game, of course. If they wanted to have the *spooky videos* be obviously hackjob compilations of already existing horror media, they could've put in some clues in the form of google search history for "scary images and videos". The interactions the player has with Irizu are limited, which leads to the potentially false impression that Iris is intended to be a super advanced AI that you just idly go along with. More options in all conversations would alleviate this issue, I think.
Nice video, and I hope that the team working on the game can work past these issues to make an excellent full game in the future.
HyperThermal i think the "full" game is supposed to come out in 2017 so i guess the issues are solved there,if not the this game is just bad.
HyperThermal WRITE ONE MORE FUCKING WORD ONE MORE LETTER BE MISSING TOO
The moment I saw that the Haunted videos were just made up of stolen pictures and video clips, I was basically done with Sara Is Missing. No offense, but I just think it was really lazy of them.
Also the massive amounts of illusion of choice. Literally none of your choices seemed to matter and were just pointless variations of the same thing.
The app itself seemed well done, but those "spooky" moments never had any effect.
Rose Shrimp me too totally ruined it for me
Troquantary And the AI thing was just immediate immersion break
Dont worry, they're giving credits to them. And it's still in demo.
I think Irizu is the one controlling Iris,
cause The name!
Iris-Irizu
Inky Coder i have now killed irizu
lol
Kiara229 yeah
Kiara229 A little late, but that text originates from a Japanese urban legend. The image appears originally from a pop up on your computer. If you continue to x out of it, it'll just keep popping up. The text says "Do you like red?" Then turns into "Do you like the red room?" You'll find a list if you scroll down of names. These names are of people who died of the red room. Apparently at the last name, it's yours.
Iris--Siri
From what you've shown here, I'd have to go with the latter option saying that the game is just lazy: The inconsistencies highlighted in the video, the lifted videos from marble hornets and the like, and the illusion of choice presented hurts the experience.
If anyone is interested in a game of this style, i'd recommend playing Her Story. It's a tighter narrative, and pretty well written to boot.
Thanks, I'll check it out later.
Loaf Of Deceit I loved Her Story, I'd recommend that too. I wish I could play it again without knowing about the story.
Alexander Randle Go in blind, it'll be for the best.
***** That's perfectly understandable. It's not for everyone, and the structure can lead to some strange, if not outright poor, pacing. For my money, it was unique and compelling enough, and Sam Barlow is a favorite video game creator of mine.
her story is AWESOME.
My theory is that IRIS is actually a ghost connected to the phone, and Irizu was actually testing Iris's capabilities throughout the game, and that's why the premise of the game is that the phone is randomly left on your (someone's) doorstep--possibly left by Irizu to see if IRIS can find Sarah just through the clues on her phone. It's possible Irizu was a fake name utilized to, basically, worship Iris. It's possible that the spirit connected to Iris was someone close to Sarah.
By the way, Nick. What did you think when you saw that Marble Hornet's clip spliced into the Red Room video? :3 I couldn't stop laughing at how half-assed it was when I first saw it.
Anger. Disappointment. And yet, I did not feel surprised. Off-putting that they'd have such audacity to take something from Marble Hornets, which is still huge, but not surprising.
Nick, you said in this video that you having a negative opinion in a vid was a first for you, but what about that time with that shitty marble hornets fan film?
Yeah, I know right? Up until that point, I honestly thought the game was gonna have a bit more tact and self-respect than just blatantly taking an insanely popular video off youtube like that. Well, if anything you brought up in this video was correct, then hopefully, it was intentional :/
The difference there is that it was a professional film, made by people in the industry, and not an indie product. When it comes to indie work and self-produced/supported creators, I just have a sense of guilt and being disappointed when it turns out badly. I want to see success and praise good work from those who go out and fight to make things in the world. Sara Is Missing is the first game from an indie developer.
... But Always Watching: A Marble Hornets story was made by people who should've known better. If you're professional industry grade and have mainstream work or employees attached to a product, and it turns out like garbage, I will have no mercy. And that movie was so bad that I really didn't feel guilty about skewering it.
okay, just wondering, thanks!
Can we point out that Irizu is like a poor japanese accent version of IRIS?
Love this take on SIM, Nick! I played through it twice to see if I was missing something, but there just appears to be so many glaring issues with it. I think it's a very rad game with a lot of promise. Definitely a unique way to present a story.
6:00 Most recent build fixes the typo. It is supposed to be from Sara.
Honestly, seeing the videos in-game just be mashups of other creepy shit was a huge turn off. I had a raging hard on for the concept, and i slowly deflated with every moment spent in game
Pretty much my entire course of emotion towards the game, said in different words.
You're right in that we can't trust everything we see, there are discrepancies, and the similarity between IRIS and Irizu cannot be ignored, particularly if you pronounce IRIS like SIRI backwards, but one thing goes against IRIS being Irizu, and that's the reaction if you chose Sara. Irizu congratulates you and sends pictures regardless of which person you choose, Sara or Faith, while if you choose Sara to die, IRIS makes it clear that you will pay. Irizu seems pretty indifferent to Sara's ultimate fate, while IRIS shows a very clear loyalty to Sara. As for some of the questions raised, like the strangely human and intelligent AI and certain inconsistencies or out if place things, this might be explained by later portions of the game, as this is not the full version.
I was waiting for your opinion on this game. I thought the idea was interesting, but the execution was so lazy and hackneyed and the information was so muddled - especially the Walpurgisnacht / "Satanic calendar" nonsense mixed in with the Red Room myth. It was like the creators didn't bother to even research what they were trying to write about and they just jumbled together a bunch of scary ideas that had almost no relation to each other. It was really disappointing.
Nick, I think this is maybe your best video to date. Stellar criticism.
Please do a Dark Arkade on IMSCARED: A Pixelated Nightmare.
I think it makes more sense if he covered Bury Her.
One of my favorite horror games of all time. The 2016 remake is amazing. Even the PLOT is meta (at least during the parts after the credits roll).
That's why i'm saying Imscared Bury Her is a much better idea for Night Mind to look at.
koolsteins Yes PLEASE!
Hell yeah
16:04 IRIS said "Would you kindly..." Should've never trusted him/her after he/she said that.
I am so glad that you noticed that they used a clip from Marble Hornets, I screeched when I first saw it....
I played through Sarah is Missing just so I could watch this video. It was interesting, but I found the most scary bit to be when I was left to my own devices searching through the photos and videos wondering when i'll see something freaky. I think it would have been better to be a more mundane sort of horror, where the player uncovers the phone owner's life, and then the secret life, of an individual through their phone.
Analogue: A Hate Story is a better version of a game like this. Super good writing and excellent story. This game just looks annoying
Yeah it seems like it was made by people who didn't know which kind of horror they wanted to go with so they decided to pick all of them. Analogue, Digital and such do alot more in making you feel like a detective thumbing through archives of a dead generational ship with ai that might not be as trustworthy as you think.
Then again who in the world would believe that an AI that is modeled from the memories of a dying girl who had her tongue burned and her life abused as a result in living in a Confucian Korean Society, and then killed everyone via asphyxiation as revenge would try anything to convince you to take her out of this prison?
Her tongue was removed not just burned. :p -> :[
Kehnin Dyer
Either way it's not like she's not going to give me lip :V.
That was in poor taste I'm sorry for insulting you're waifu.
Its still in demo, what do you expect.
I don't have expectations, i never heard of it before this video. I was just making a comment about how i feel about it.
surprised that they didnt take any Nana825763 footage
Noroi Chan Nana is senpai
Sakanaki / Coffee! nana is the best senpai
***** thats a lot of dead kittens
I love his channel, Nana is amazing.
This was uploaded a couple minutes ago and I am here & ready to listen! I heard of this, but I never really looked into this. Thank you Night Mind for this being uploaded!
Fucking Voltron Trash
Logan Burnette Yes?
Voltron Trash
Your name is great :D
Logan Burnette Thanks!
Buddy texts about the thesis were in fact a formatting which has been fixed now. A lot of your points were very good though I completely missed them during my first play of the game. I also thought that Irizu was probably controlling IRIS because it was just too intelligent and human to be a phone AI and also because "Irizu" sounds like "IRIS" with an Asian accent, if that makes sense. About IRIS, I do think she needs to be toned way down. There are several explanations I would accept for IRIS remaining ultra-intelligent but I think her influence needs to be lighter. It feels more like IRIS is DRAGGING you down a specific path instead of GUIDING you toward one.
You seriously need more subscribers.
Thank you! I'm just really grateful and amazed we're almost at 100k subscribers right now.
No problem!
13:48 why do I always end up turning my head or stopping the video when those creepy photos with big wide eyes appears?!😭😭😭
They seriously freaks me out!
I get too happy when I see a video from you because I know you put work into them.
I would never feel right with putting out a video I didn't put work into. Thank you, Lee!
Honestly even under a quick look this game is garbage. The phone interaction is not really immersive due to its very linear rail-roaded story line. None of the player's choices matter as the endings are all the same save for a few lines iris says near the end. Dialog options yield the exact same responses from both characters and iris 90% of the time. Searching the phone's documents is met with tons of hand holding and forced direction that kills the sense of mystery or tension.
Also the whole spooky infected computing device trope has been done to death lately so I don't see how this game brings anything new to the table.
You're videos are so fucking great, every time I press my subscription tab and I see me a spooky thumbnail my knees go limp.
another one of those "if it's intentional it's genius but if it isn't it's terrible" stories huh? I've been seeing those a lot lately
I don't know why, but this channel puts me more on edge than any other horror channel. It's kind of cool in an odd sense.
I remembered finding this game and I was so frustrated at the end. Totally agreed with your commentary on it, Nick.
The "ps" whips and chains line at 8:50 was pretty funny
Anyone else notice that cat in the beginning? Seems like it's becoming part of his channel.
Well, it was a puppet he used in the DHMIS special. I just didn't expect a one time puppet to become such a hit.
Exalted Wolf its his character on a podcast called midnight marinera to
I believe the origin of the cat thing was that someone asked him on Tumblr what his spirit animal is or something and he said a black cat. Then people started making fanart of him as a cat and it became his symbol (that was why he used a cat puppet in the DHMIS video). I believe he talked about it in the Q&A he did a while back.
Night Mind, you amaze me at your ability to perform mental gymnastics and manage to draw these lines of the timing of Sara's messages making no sense, and originally I was going to make some hard opinions about your stretching with Sara's boyfriend (anybody can lie to parents about relationships details my man).
BUT: You totally stayed within a logical mindset and proved me wrong, which I appreciate. The creation isn't faultless, and mysteries can only hold water if they're airtight in logic. It's without a doubt that Sara is Missing needs time to redraw itself, and I think you hit every nail on the head with this one.
I really hope they've seen your critique man, it'll go a long way. And stellar work as always.
Now do a video about welcome to the game.
aZombieDictator What's there to talk about?
YOU OPENED MY EYES!
LET ME BLINK!
Thank you, I was afraid I was missing something when none of it made sense
20:05
OH GOD!
HE'S BECOME CASUAL!
EVERYONE, GET TO THE BUNKERS!
HTFCuddles fine but flippy is there so hes going to kill you
I honestly thought of the same and I'm glad that I wasn't the only one to feel this way. I do hope the full version is more satisfying.
Another red flag that popped up for me while watching a playthrough of this was that IRIS pronounced in japanese is IRIZU and I immediately knew they were not good news
Even though it seemed like you were frustrated with the devs, this is one of my favorite videos you've done! We all appreciate you NightMind.
I just downloaded it and played it, and the biggest thing that pissed me off was that Irizu said “you choose who lived to see the sunrise,” and I wanted to save Sara so I answered Sara. Apparently that was the answer to fucking kill her. Cherry on top of a poorly executed game.
The second I finished the game afew days ago I checked NM to see if you talked about it. Thanks for covering!
*sees notification for a new nightmind video*
You owe me a new pair of underwear Mr.Nocturne.
*intense lenny*
Have you seen the new "Underscares" by Red Barrels, the developers of Outlast and the upcoming Outlast 2? There ya go, kiddo.
Imepicerthenyou *Throws you into a pool of Holy Water*
My Twitter account or email works well for this. Thank you!
Cyborg Zek Games "epicer" "then"
naaier That's the joke.
Thank you!! I was getting really frustrated with how all of the people playing it on youtube seemed to be totally missing the glaring plot holes and false-choices. I totally agree that the gimmick this game is working with is strong, but it definitely needs a good amount of refining before it goes to the full release. Thanks, Nightmind, I thought I was going crazy or something haha
Only watched 2 of your videos..... Inside and this video and i must say I'm really impressed with your attention to detail so far. A lot of time and effort clearly goes into your videos and you deserve a lot more credit and subscribers for your efforts. Well done mate and keep up the good work!! I shall be subscribing 👍
Also noticed that sara young is a contact in the games phonebook and it rings but there's no answer??? So is it even sara's phone we have found??
I LOVE the concept behind this game. I was really happy when I saw your video about it in my feed because I was super interested in your opinion on it, and I had no idea that what I played was a demo, and now Im pretty excited to check it out.
Really? Sara Is Missing? Gotta admit, I'm pretty surprised, I didn't expect you to suddenly cover THIS game of all games. Still, the demo was pretty fun, so I won't start complaining, especially since it's a new video from you, Nick. Also, forgive me for asking a stupid question, but did the full game already come out? Last time I checked, only the demo was out.
2017
Loaf Of Deceit Brother?
Billy bob jackson Now do you remember? Who you are, what you were meant to do? I cheated death thanks to you. And thanks to you I've left my mark. You have too. You've written your own history. You're your own man. I'm Loaf Bloke, and you are too.
No, he's the two of us together. Where we are today, we built it. This story, this 'legend', it's ours. We can change the world, and with it, the future. I am you and you are me. Carry that with you wherever you go. Thank you, my friend. From here on out, you're Loaf Bloke.
Loaf Of Deceit I shall gladly accept the title of, Loaf Bloke. Thanks my brother.
I thought the same like, really? The game is entertaining to a degree but mainly lazy which since it's a demo is not too bad...I guess. I think Nick gives it way too much credit
You know, it's amazing to think that you've only been doing this for a little over a year, and your content has been spectacular from day one. The amount of effort and thought that you put into these is admirable, I hope you continue to grow in the coming year. Thank you for being as awesome as you are, you obvious robot. (just kidding about the robot thing)
I hate how little of these observations you've made in this video were noticed by me in my SIX different playthroughs. How long did it take you to conclude this information?
Two runthroughs.
Night Mind that's beyond impressive.
also!!! big fan!!! I am!!! I love your content!!
I love it when you get sarcastic. Your voice and that tone makes it so hilarious.
You should've waited to do this video. They recently released an update that fixed a lot of the typos.
Are the central problems still there? i.e. notscary haunted videos, strange plot, etc.
Troquantary yup. just the typos are fixed.
Why fix the typos? It makes it more human in my opinion.
Rasallon Wouldn't that make it more robotic? Because a a.i. wouldn't make mistakes?
Night Mind, I have major respect for you for both being polite and honest. It seemed like nobody else was pointing these flaws out, but you were still kind enough to point out that it was a demo and that the full version might wind up being better.
9:37 "February 30th"? Do these game devs own a calendar?
I always tell myself to not be a big baby while I watch these but lmao I'm the biggest baby and I scare myself watching these videos alone , they're so good, great work NM💕
So excited to see your opinion on this. I personally thought it was mediocre and had some continuity errors, but you may confirm my opinion or change my mind.
Then you're going to like the video. :P
I really appreciate you covering this. I felt the game had a ton of inconsistencies seemingly no one was addressing
But there isn't a February 30th???
Caroline Otto holy shit
Maybe in Sara's universe they didn't screw up the gregorian calendar.
I would love more videos like this. You taking bad horror games or movies and trying to explain how the logic problems are actually part of the plot.
NICK YOU SAVED MY LIFE THANK FUCKING GOD I WAS GOING TO DIE OF BOREDOM LOVE YOU PAPA BLESS
How you can produce such great edited and lengthy videos yet not have 100k is beyond me, nice job Mr.Nocturne. Great content as usual.
NightMind Can you do a video explaning yourself......
Oooo that would be good
That would be too spooky
I'm down.
Me too. I'm extremely curious about Night Mind's identity beyond his work and what he actually looks like! He has such a soothing yet distinctive voice that it is difficult for me to envision what he could possibly look like haha. A self explanation video ... i would take that over anything!
fuducker2 I would enjoy that, but I also like the mystery behind his stuff at the same time. It helps gives character to his work and I don't want him to expose too much?
that silky smooth voice needs no explanation.
That first jumpscare is a jumbled version of a skeleton crusader that I used to have as my phone background.
he deserves more likes, more subs and more wiews
absolutely! one of the few truly talented people on the site
Oh gosh, I've finally gotten to comment on a Night Mind video freshly enough to have my comment have any sort of possibility of being relevant to the dialogue created by the content the video creates itself!
Also I remember Nick mentioning Sara Is Missing from a previous video from my binge viewing. Neat!
I believe IRIS can be one of her contacts or a hacker. Same thing with Iziru. But I lean on IRIS being a hacker who maybe in a really close relationship with Sara. And those two people who I think is IRIS are either "buddy" or "Derek". Why? Well, think about it. They both really care about Sara, even when she rejects their love. Yes, Buddy is pervy and she has a right to reject to him, so he might've hacked into her phone and used her AI as a disguise just to stalk her for whatever reason. But Derek I believe would hack her to use her information against her. That or he's Iziru.....idk this is just my theory
Emily Mistretta love your theory and profile pic!
"Iris know you're not Sarah because it can see you through the camera"
This gets creepier because I always play this at night, on my phone, where it all seems too realistic
I can explain this game in a single sentence:
"Mystic Messenger without the anime boys, romance options and not creepy stuff"
don't compare this to mystic messenger lmao
From now on, I'm going to leave very explicit notes and text conversations on my phone. There's no way I'll inflict this on anyone. Great explanation Night Mind, keep it up!
(I am now going to watch more UA-cam in my dining room at 9:23 PM PST.)
Okay but February 30th is not a real day. There are never, ever more than 29 days in February.
I wouldn't mind so much if it felt like it was at least intentional but then there's that bit where Sarah sends messages to some guy while being stalked by a serial killer. It's poorly written.
I headcanon that Irizu hexes Iris, then the resulting other Simulacrums spin off from Iris.
His laugh~
😊 It cured me
NightMind. I recently played this and you pretty much hit the nail on the head. I kept getting these speech options that were just one phrase reworded so they would only need to write one response. Iris is obviously a person from the beginning, all the contacts sound like jerks etc. Irizu was hands down my favorite character.
... concerning.
What about the ghost in the bed sheets?
it was her mother or friend playing a prank on her
she has a cat
“Only YOU can prevent the spread of malicious content on the web” -smoky the bear
Wow, was not expecting you to make a video on this!
Never really went with this game, so it will be good to be introduced to this ;)
Unrelated, did you guys watch "Channel 0" Season 1? ;D so good!
Another great analysis! I watched a playthrough only a couple days ago, and while I loved the original concept, I was disappointed by the half-assed spoopy videos and overbearing AI. What I didn't notice was the crazy time line and impossible investigation threads.
One thing you didn't note is that Irizu sounds like Iris.
That's a seriously good analysis Nick. I'm so glad you aren't afraid to question things as errors and oversights rather than the game trying to be _3deep5you_. Great premise and style, but I hope they not only get someone to correct the demo, but someone to edit and review the rest of the story. Great vid as always, can't wait for you to scour the full release!
Can you do SOMA? Salad Fingers?
Depends on what I see in the topics and the feelings of the community, but I'm always glad to hear what you'd like to see.
Salad Fingers would be awesome.
I love you
I feel as though Salad Fingers has already been examined and analyzed too far for NM to introduce anything seriously groundbreaking, but a take on it in this style would still be something I would watch.
Completely agree. The thing that made sara is missing so exciting was its hook of playing while investigating through someone's phone, but they didn't seem to live up to that hook, since the game essentially played itself with iris doing all the investigating for you.