Fun fact - since ship crews operate 24/7 in three shifts, a ship the size of Obra Dinn should have twice the crew. There should be hammocks everywhere.
Me: I'm a very respectful and open minded individual Me 8 hours into the game: WHAT DO YOU MEAN THAT'S THE BOSUN'S MATE? I THOUGHT HE WAS A SEAMAN FOR FRICKS SAKE!!!
This is PHENOMENAL, I'm so glad I came across it! My favorite details, in no particular order: - Your narration is perfectly in keeping with the tone, almost a classic noir feeling in how the narrator gets to have opinions and make observations outside of the story. - The interpretation that Charlie was actually just seasick when the cow was slaughtered! That got a good laugh out of me 🤣 - "It is experience that ages us, and Nathan Peters had experienced quite enough" Yeah, me too, buddy. - Each chapter being recorded in a different color setting - that is such a smart way to show off the different visual options in a way that enhances the narrative. - Relatedly, the editing at 11:03. So good. "To-ing and fro-ing with time" indeed. I'll stop here before I write a whole 5-paragraph essay but suffice to say I would have watched another several hours of this. I love speculating on the internal lives of the Obra Dinn crew, and I love it even more with some fantastic voiceover and editing skills behind it!
This is the most underrated video i've ever watched. People like Return of the Obra Dinn more for the gameplay than the story, but a lot of people overlook how the tale is masterfully executed; the script itself isn't anything too crazy; a ship gets attacked by sea devils for having a shiny shell, the crew struggles to survive and end up having to give up the shell in exchange of sending the Obra Dinn back home; it's a very straight forward simple story with very little character development, but it manages to be so much more intriguing than so many other games because it is told through the gameplay. It wasn't just shown to you; YOU figured out how this poor guy was crushed to death by a Kraken while shitting, and that makes it way more personal. This type of expansion upon the narrative that still respects the timeline the game gives us and imagines what each character felt moments before their death in such a beautiful poetic way was just amazing to watch, even though i've beat 2 or 3 times throughout the years, there wasn't a single moment i was bored while watching this video.
I just finished this beautiful game today and was pleased to see someone just made a retelling of the entire story with such high attention to detail and immersion. Hoping this video gets the recognition it deserves!
I was like "wait, I'm pretty sure I remember the inspector being a dude." I looked it up and apparently they have two voice actors (Debbie McCreadie and Adam Beauchesnesp) that the game choses between at random, weird.
And the detail of changing the colour palette for each chapter was so smart???? I LOVE THIS????? The narration is amazing?????? words fail to explain how much I love this????
"The Stowaway sacrificed a lot for free passage to the Orient". Actually I think he was super lucky. I mean imagine he got in another barrel (a different cargo section or something), nothing would've changed right? Except that he had stayed inside that barrel all the way until the Captain's death, until he would eventually die starved to death trapped in a barrel swarmed with his own shit
Surely their original intent was to break out of the barrel once they were too far from shore to go back and hand a stowaway over to the authorities, then persuade somebody on the crew to hide and help them.
What a masterpiece. I just finished my first playthrough and this is such a nice way to tie to together, I wish it was at the end of the game! Your storytelling is top tier, some of the lines you wrote gave me such chills down my spine. Thank you for telling this tale so wonderfully.
I finished the game maybe an hour ago and this is officially my favourite and MOST UNDERRATED piece of obra dinn content I've ever seen !! The script was beautiful, and the editing style of using the game's different visual effects was genius.
I followed Obra Dinn during its development and downloaded the little WiP that Pope uploaded, but I never completed the full game. I was absolutely fascinated by every aspect of it but it just felt as though there was something unintuitive about how you have memories nested inside memories and very easy to lose your bearings in the story.
This video is so underrated- it's literally one of a kind in terms of how the story is told. I would probably say this is one of the best UA-cam videos I've ever watched just based on the creativity alone
Well done! The writing and sound design are on point. I'd hate to think how long this took to edit. The passion you have for it shows though. It's a complicated story and you made it make sense. Makes me want to pick up the game again. Props for keeping the tone consistent with the game. Pope would be proud.
Your storytelling is a great addition to the bits of memories we receive in the game. I especially love how you added your perspective to what the inspector is thinking when she sees all these events unfold before her eyes. I recently discovered your channel through your Outer Wilds videos and I'm happy I found you! Your videos are so well put together and you deserve so many more views and subscribers. Keep up the amazing work 💚
This was absolutely fantastic! Great writing, complementing the original dialogue and excellent reading. Thank you for taking the time to make this video, I greatly enjoyed it!
Fantastically narrated and you did a great job keeping the mood with the little insights into character motivations and thoughts. Did want to point out that there were eight people in the rowboats in Chapter Four, not seven; and it was Hamadou Diom that died with Chioh Tan, not Huang Li.
just finished obra dinn last night, and one of the first things i thought about was something like this, a timeline of the ship's many tragedies in chronological order. thank you
As someone who has completed the game 3 times and is now incapable of doing so due to knowing everything about thenmystery and story, I cant help bht want to revisit it and this video was perfect for that! Thank you :)
The voice fit so well that I initially thought I was just watching a playthrough of the game and had forgotten that there was a narrator Excellent video, would have liked to have a few more points where you stated how you could tell certain people were who they were (one man's hat, another's tattoos, etc) rather than making it seem like the inspector just knew who they were, but the narrative was deftly spun and I watched this whole video in one sitting before I knew it
ah, thanks so much! appreciate the kind words and the feedback. I think you're right, in going for a direct account of each chapter some focus is taken away from the player character. will bear that in mind for future vids of this type - it's the first of its kind so plenty of time to tweak things as they go. thanks for watching 😁
This video was masterfully crafted, and I applaud the hard work that went into creating it. Even if it doesn't perfectly line up with my interpretation of the events (I believe Henry Evans purposefully let some folks die and hid John Naples' leg to give himself breadcrumbs for further exploring how to use the watch), I've gotta respect the dedication. Thank you.
Found you after looking at your Immortality videos and thought this would be a great game for you to talk about. It's a hell of an experience and now I get to watch your take on it ;) I really wish there could be more 'episodes' of Obra Dinn!
I have never seen such a good composition and ideas! I was wondering how will you manage this story (as the game interpret everything - already as an outsider/3rd person) and you did it in a very creative and surprising way. Well done! I enjoyed very much! Just keep up the good work Sam :)
Fantastic video! One small mistake I noticed, you refer to Olus Wiater as the bosun’s mate when he is in fact the gunner’s mate, Charles Miner is the bosun’s mate. Other than that, I really enjoyed your video!
Absolutely excellent retelling of the story, you used the OST excellently to capture the vibe of the game and I love how you switched rendering styles! My only critique is the pacing, the fates that are more than a few seconds apart could have benefited heavily from a short pause
There may be two reasons why Charles charged forward 1 There was one spike in him - perhaps he was shot seconds earlier, and the adrenaline affected his judgmenet? 2 The monster was on fire and charging at his friend - he needed to stop it there and then and had no time to think of a better plan.
13:30 i never thought about it, but that pet monkey, sure it was used to let the inspector see the bargain, but why exactly was it with the doctor in general? could it be like the mining canary where it's first to develop symptoms of spreading disease and warn the onboard doctor in time?
God I love the inclusion of the inspector's character! I wish there's more at the end to comment on how in the eyes of East India Company all these lives and painful deaths are nothing more but insurance business, a little jab at her job, but she carries on nonetheless because that's the cold hard reality. In the overseeing eyes, these are nothing more but statistics, fines, and claims... but those are my ideas anyway, still love the video!!
The name of the artist/ person who sent the pocketwatch and the girl who wrote the last letter to the detective, on the ship? They were listed on the ships crew/passengers on board right?
I’m a couple of hours into this game and am so lost. Now worried I won’t complete it because I’m not having as much fun as I had hoped. Maybe not my kind of game. TMNT Shredders Revenge, on the other hand, is mindless fun. 🤣
stick with it, if you can! For a relatively short game, it's one I think you need to invest at least a couple hours in for any session. I made the most progress like, 3+ hours into my streams haha. So worth it though, it's a very unique game experience and one you can only truly experience once!
Keep going. You'll have 'aha!' moments where big chunks will fall into place. If in doubt go back to the beginning and play through each memory again. Look for things put of place. The ones I struggled on were the Asian crew, I think they were the top men. Some of bits people have come unstuck on are the voice parts, they give a lot of information on who is who by process of elimination when you have the others named :)
What? You are playing a woman in this game? Never noticed that. Though in first person games it doesn't really make a difference (except for Metroid Prime)
According to the game's creator, Lucas Pope, there are two sets of voice lines for the inspector (they only speak 3 times throughout the game), one male one female, and which one you get is chosen randomly when you begin the game. I was curious as I had only ever seen the male voice lines, so I googled and the aforementioned information was provided in a tweet by @dukope linked on the inspector page on the game's Wikia. Sorry to send you a notification so late, but I thought this was worth posting for anyone else who was curious.
Everybody gangsta until the terrible beasts start spiking.
moral of the story: don't fuck with the ocean
The best part is that some people stay gangsta while the terrible beasts are spiking. The terrible beasts separate the fools from the gangstas.
Lmaooo
Moral of the story: in the 18th and 19th centuries, greedy upper-class English bastards fucked things up for everyone.
Just remember they are not foreign enemies. Repeat they are not foreign enemies.
Lesson: never pick up strange, unconscious fish-women from the sea, or else you'll get crabs.
also, for the love of Yog-Sothoth, Leave the glowing shells alone!
Fun fact - since ship crews operate 24/7 in three shifts, a ship the size of Obra Dinn should have twice the crew.
There should be hammocks everywhere.
"The sea chooses to rock him asleep or shake him awake"
You're a heck of a poet, man.
Me: I am a very grounded individual and not small minded.
Me, later in this game: WHO AND WHERE IS THE FUCKIN' IRISH PISSANT?!?
Me: I'd consider myself a fairly progressive person
Me six hours later: why cant I tell any of these fucking Chinese guys apart?!?!
Me: I'm a very respectful and open minded individual
Me 8 hours into the game: WHAT DO YOU MEAN THAT'S THE BOSUN'S MATE? I THOUGHT HE WAS A SEAMAN FOR FRICKS SAKE!!!
This is PHENOMENAL, I'm so glad I came across it! My favorite details, in no particular order:
- Your narration is perfectly in keeping with the tone, almost a classic noir feeling in how the narrator gets to have opinions and make observations outside of the story.
- The interpretation that Charlie was actually just seasick when the cow was slaughtered! That got a good laugh out of me 🤣
- "It is experience that ages us, and Nathan Peters had experienced quite enough" Yeah, me too, buddy.
- Each chapter being recorded in a different color setting - that is such a smart way to show off the different visual options in a way that enhances the narrative.
- Relatedly, the editing at 11:03. So good. "To-ing and fro-ing with time" indeed.
I'll stop here before I write a whole 5-paragraph essay but suffice to say I would have watched another several hours of this. I love speculating on the internal lives of the Obra Dinn crew, and I love it even more with some fantastic voiceover and editing skills behind it!
This is the most underrated video i've ever watched.
People like Return of the Obra Dinn more for the gameplay than the story, but a lot of people overlook how the tale is masterfully executed; the script itself isn't anything too crazy; a ship gets attacked by sea devils for having a shiny shell, the crew struggles to survive and end up having to give up the shell in exchange of sending the Obra Dinn back home; it's a very straight forward simple story with very little character development, but it manages to be so much more intriguing than so many other games because it is told through the gameplay.
It wasn't just shown to you; YOU figured out how this poor guy was crushed to death by a Kraken while shitting, and that makes it way more personal.
This type of expansion upon the narrative that still respects the timeline the game gives us and imagines what each character felt moments before their death in such a beautiful poetic way was just amazing to watch, even though i've beat 2 or 3 times throughout the years, there wasn't a single moment i was bored while watching this video.
thanks so much! glad you enjoyed 😁
"Obra Done" I appreciate the pun there!
I cannot claim full credit: it's the name of one of the achievements :p
I just finished this beautiful game today and was pleased to see someone just made a retelling of the entire story with such high attention to detail and immersion. Hoping this video gets the recognition it deserves!
Gotta say, the mermaid design is amazing here and the crab warrior things are nightmare fuel
I was like "wait, I'm pretty sure I remember the inspector being a dude."
I looked it up and apparently they have two voice actors (Debbie McCreadie and Adam Beauchesnesp) that the game choses between at random, weird.
They also apply a bit of filtering to randomize the voice each time.
It only affects 3 voice lines in the opening cutscene
@@Zeragamba Interesting, thanks!
Apparently, the Inspector was originally imagined as male, but the daughter of the game's creator told him she'd like the chance to play as a female.
Sam Sam Sam Sam this is so good! this is a beautifully poetic retelling that a game this beautiful deserves. I can’t wait for the explainer.
thanks so much Shelby! 💚
now i'm gonna have to play this entire game cause you made a video about it and i can't watch it until i play it
you won't regret it -- like any murder mystery, you can only experience it once! (but, please come and watch the video, once you're done)
@@samg0 Already on my watch later list!
Despite me knowing that entire plot of the game. This video changed the course of my life permanently from how GOOD THIS IS.
And the detail of changing the colour palette for each chapter was so smart???? I LOVE THIS????? The narration is amazing?????? words fail to explain how much I love this????
"The Stowaway sacrificed a lot for free passage to the Orient". Actually I think he was super lucky. I mean imagine he got in another barrel (a different cargo section or something), nothing would've changed right? Except that he had stayed inside that barrel all the way until the Captain's death, until he would eventually die starved to death trapped in a barrel swarmed with his own shit
Surely their original intent was to break out of the barrel once they were too far from shore to go back and hand a stowaway over to the authorities, then persuade somebody on the crew to hide and help them.
What a masterpiece. I just finished my first playthrough and this is such a nice way to tie to together, I wish it was at the end of the game! Your storytelling is top tier, some of the lines you wrote gave me such chills down my spine. Thank you for telling this tale so wonderfully.
I finished the game maybe an hour ago and this is officially my favourite and MOST UNDERRATED piece of obra dinn content I've ever seen !! The script was beautiful, and the editing style of using the game's different visual effects was genius.
This is video is so well made, it really feels like a an audiobook. And to a very deserving game. Well done.
The only bad thing i can say about the video is that i didn't find it sooner. thank you so much for making it!
I followed Obra Dinn during its development and downloaded the little WiP that Pope uploaded, but I never completed the full game. I was absolutely fascinated by every aspect of it but it just felt as though there was something unintuitive about how you have memories nested inside memories and very easy to lose your bearings in the story.
The game is intuitive, you just need the right intuition 😉
This deserves so, so many more views. The calm tone through the entire video, the wonderful prose. Excellent, excellent, excellent.
This video is so underrated- it's literally one of a kind in terms of how the story is told. I would probably say this is one of the best UA-cam videos I've ever watched just based on the creativity alone
wow, thanks so much! more videos of this style to come 😁
Well done! The writing and sound design are on point. I'd hate to think how long this took to edit. The passion you have for it shows though. It's a complicated story and you made it make sense. Makes me want to pick up the game again. Props for keeping the tone consistent with the game. Pope would be proud.
This is exactly what I was looking for, but even better! Brilliantly executed
Your storytelling is a great addition to the bits of memories we receive in the game. I especially love how you added your perspective to what the inspector is thinking when she sees all these events unfold before her eyes. I recently discovered your channel through your Outer Wilds videos and I'm happy I found you! Your videos are so well put together and you deserve so many more views and subscribers. Keep up the amazing work 💚
thanks so much, Spork! 😁
This was absolutely fantastic! Great writing, complementing the original dialogue and excellent reading. Thank you for taking the time to make this video, I greatly enjoyed it!
Fantastically narrated and you did a great job keeping the mood with the little insights into character motivations and thoughts. Did want to point out that there were eight people in the rowboats in Chapter Four, not seven; and it was Hamadou Diom that died with Chioh Tan, not Huang Li.
and that olus waiter was the gunner's mate, not bosun's mate.
just finished obra dinn last night, and one of the first things i thought about was something like this, a timeline of the ship's many tragedies in chronological order. thank you
As someone who has completed the game 3 times and is now incapable of doing so due to knowing everything about thenmystery and story, I cant help bht want to revisit it and this video was perfect for that! Thank you :)
The voice fit so well that I initially thought I was just watching a playthrough of the game and had forgotten that there was a narrator
Excellent video, would have liked to have a few more points where you stated how you could tell certain people were who they were (one man's hat, another's tattoos, etc) rather than making it seem like the inspector just knew who they were, but the narrative was deftly spun and I watched this whole video in one sitting before I knew it
ah, thanks so much! appreciate the kind words and the feedback. I think you're right, in going for a direct account of each chapter some focus is taken away from the player character. will bear that in mind for future vids of this type - it's the first of its kind so plenty of time to tweak things as they go. thanks for watching 😁
This video was masterfully crafted, and I applaud the hard work that went into creating it. Even if it doesn't perfectly line up with my interpretation of the events (I believe Henry Evans purposefully let some folks die and hid John Naples' leg to give himself breadcrumbs for further exploring how to use the watch), I've gotta respect the dedication. Thank you.
chapter six is probably the most terrifying thing ever, those crab things are something else
You got some amazing writing skills I love this video so much
what an evocative narrative you've given
Found you after looking at your Immortality videos and thought this would be a great game for you to talk about. It's a hell of an experience and now I get to watch your take on it ;) I really wish there could be more 'episodes' of Obra Dinn!
The story telling of this episode is phenomenal
thank you :)
As always, I think you for the time you put into this video. The work you do is always top-tier.
cheers James!
Incredible work, worthy of Audible.
thank you! 😁
This was so good! I loved the narration :)
I have never seen such a good composition and ideas! I was wondering how will you manage this story (as the game interpret everything - already as an outsider/3rd person) and you did it in a very creative and surprising way. Well done! I enjoyed very much! Just keep up the good work Sam :)
Insane work, I love how you've turned the retelling of this story.
It was great. Thank you.
Excellent delivery - this really captures the feeling of the game perfectly
Fantastic video! One small mistake I noticed, you refer to Olus Wiater as the bosun’s mate when he is in fact the gunner’s mate, Charles Miner is the bosun’s mate. Other than that, I really enjoyed your video!
Enough! Sam Gowing can no longer be trusted.
Beautifully told, and with a real attentive eye to immersion and ear to the speech patterns likely for the time. Stellar work.
I'm glad you elected to keep the artist's death scene in private.
This is absolutely fantastic. Bravo. You're a masterful storyteller.
I love this, this is amazing. It so well told and your voice fits perfectly, 10/10!
Absolutely excellent retelling of the story, you used the OST excellently to capture the vibe of the game and I love how you switched rendering styles!
My only critique is the pacing, the fates that are more than a few seconds apart could have benefited heavily from a short pause
Fantastic story telling and writing! Loved your video!
There may be two reasons why Charles charged forward
1 There was one spike in him - perhaps he was shot seconds earlier, and the adrenaline affected his judgmenet?
2 The monster was on fire and charging at his friend - he needed to stop it there and then and had no time to think of a better plan.
Superb retelling of an outstanding game!
13:30 i never thought about it, but that pet monkey, sure it was used to let the inspector see the bargain, but why exactly was it with the doctor in general? could it be like the mining canary where it's first to develop symptoms of spreading disease and warn the onboard doctor in time?
God I love the inclusion of the inspector's character! I wish there's more at the end to comment on how in the eyes of East India Company all these lives and painful deaths are nothing more but insurance business, a little jab at her job, but she carries on nonetheless because that's the cold hard reality. In the overseeing eyes, these are nothing more but statistics, fines, and claims... but those are my ideas anyway, still love the video!!
This is such an amazing concept and execution. I enjoyed that a lot and I hardly just finished the game 😅
lovely narration, your voice is very soothing!! thank you for the video!!
this video is beautifully put together. it needs more views honestly. good job!
this narration is the type of stuff i would have to write for a grade 10 in eng lang
How did Nichols manage to steal both the Formosans and the chest without fighting the second bodyguard? Wouldn't he be guarding one or the other?
WOW that was great. Excellent job. Easy sub
Dude great video idea and really well read. thanks.
Could you do a narrative of the scripted events Papers, Please? 😍
While this is great one thing i noticed 31:45 pretty sure that Samuel Peters was dead and it was infact Nathan Peters who was escaping
Would the captain killing those three men be considered murder? They did threaten him, after all
The name of the artist/ person who sent the pocketwatch and the girl who wrote the last letter to the detective, on the ship? They were listed on the ships crew/passengers on board right?
Lovely video
chioh tan wasn't being held by a Chinese topman
it was nathan peters who decided to leave. samuel was already dead by then
I still don't understand the point of the monkey in the story.... what's up with that? Why is the doctor's monkey so important?
I’m a couple of hours into this game and am so lost. Now worried I won’t complete it because I’m not having as much fun as I had hoped. Maybe not my kind of game. TMNT Shredders Revenge, on the other hand, is mindless fun. 🤣
stick with it, if you can! For a relatively short game, it's one I think you need to invest at least a couple hours in for any session. I made the most progress like, 3+ hours into my streams haha. So worth it though, it's a very unique game experience and one you can only truly experience once!
@@samg0 thanks for the encouragement! I’ll stick with it. Banked your video for watching after I complete it.
It's completely worth hanging on, even if it's cryptic as hell.
Keep going. You'll have 'aha!' moments where big chunks will fall into place. If in doubt go back to the beginning and play through each memory again. Look for things put of place. The ones I struggled on were the Asian crew, I think they were the top men. Some of bits people have come unstuck on are the voice parts, they give a lot of information on who is who by process of elimination when you have the others named :)
I checked wiki there were no such mariner as Dinn Retold!
only thing wrong is you called Hamadou Diom "Wang" and called him Chinese when he is from Sierra Leonean
Why did you skip over most of The Doom chapter?
Wait when was the inspector a girl??
The inspector has 2 voices, male and female, that it randomly picks at the start.
What? You are playing a woman in this game? Never noticed that. Though in first person games it doesn't really make a difference (except for Metroid Prime)
According to the game's creator, Lucas Pope, there are two sets of voice lines for the inspector (they only speak 3 times throughout the game), one male one female, and which one you get is chosen randomly when you begin the game. I was curious as I had only ever seen the male voice lines, so I googled and the aforementioned information was provided in a tweet by @dukope linked on the inspector page on the game's Wikia. Sorry to send you a notification so late, but I thought this was worth posting for anyone else who was curious.