Hello ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Mondaymatosis. I've been working on some smaller videos like this one and I'll be uploading them at the same time each week for the next few weeks. These were planned before the pandemic took off so I had hoped they would be a comforting start to the working week but I suppose now you can use them to mark time instead. Anyway I hope you'll join me each week and maybe find a few interesting games to help keep you occupied. See you again soon.
I hope this pandemic is over by Mondaymatosis 23. Great video, I remember this game fondly although I was never able to finish it as a kid. Perfect time to go back to it!
That comment about the novelty of playing computer games as a child really got to me because it could be applied to such a wide period and range of experiences.
This will be the most quoted thing in the video, but the whole “the only thing it needed to do to captivate a child was be a computer game” sentiment is something that absolutely defined my childhood. More specifically I remember a time when sitting down to play a game didn’t always necessarily mean making progress. Nowadays if I haven’t made headway in an adventure game in one sitting it’s all too easy to become frustrated and look up a guide, but back when I was younger and without access to those things, I could spend weeks exploring a single area or leave to go and make my own fun while I chewed on the problem. Maybe it’s more a problem with personal impatience, because there are many adults now who can push themselves through an experience unguided, but I think the main thing is that back then not being able to move forward wasn’t _frustrating_ to me. It was just part of the game.
i share that sentiment. When i was little i was just happy to play a game. and i would sometimes start a campaign over again just to get to a blockage again and hope my experience would this time show me the right way. my first own videogame was Rayman 3, and there was a point very early on where you have to retrieve your hands to progress further. but i just couldnt figure it out, i timed a certain part in the level wrong and after weeks of trial and error i finally figured it out and the feeling of accomplishment was immense. Nowadays i probably wouldn't get stuck on such a little obstacle but i wouldn't want to either. so i would just pick up a guide instead of trying everything. I've become a ''better'' gamer, but at the same time also not.
The animations in this game are so nice to look at, they have a weight to them that I really enjoy seeing. I'm really looking forward to more "mondaymatosis" videos
I remember being a teenager when this came out and playing it through to completion, all the while being totally mesmerized by the beautiful hand drawn graphics and animation. It's still one of my all time favorites and holds a special place in my heart.
It's not really a game that jumps to my mind often (I remember it being extremely punishing and I've never finished it as a kid)... but goddamn these 2D pixel art animations are gorgeous! Even by today standards!
"It came in a time where for a computer game to captivate a child, it only had to be a computer game" And that's why I only played crap when I was a kid, like Pink Panther Adventures and Ratchet and Clank Size Matters
@@cbfdxbxsb I mostly played licensed games when I was a kid. The game you mentioned, the Pink Panther game I mentioned, LEGO games (which, admittedly, were really good), every conceivable Ben 10 game, etc. The only non-licensed games I played were the Ratched and Clank series and the original Crash Bandicoot trilogy. I only started playing decent stuff when I reached, like, 13 years and joined gaming communities around the internet.
same here, its always rough hearing people talk about how they played all these amazing classics that shaped their childhood while most of my time was spent with shit licensed games i got from relatives who didn't know any better lol. spider-man 2 is probably the only one i can look back fondly on
This game absolutely traumatized me as a child. I think I was about 10 and when the two shadow giants ate the protagonist and you could hear his bones crunching it definitely broke something in my brain.
It's interesting you brought up artists needing therapy if the deaths were done with modern graphics; NetherRealm Studios has actually seen a number of cases of artists getting diagnosed with PTSD after spending days upon days pouring over reference images for Mortal Kombat's fatalities.
@@rogerlost5851 Different people are scared by different aspects of death, some are traumatized by the exceeding gore of it, some are scared about what the loss of your existence can entail, some are just scared of the pain, just because you are not traumatized by the gore, doesn't mean you wouldn't be traumatized in another way...
RealTerminal Yeah that’s why people are talking about it again. It’s been quite a nice surprise as I’d completely forgotten about this game. I remember it now, though I’ve never played it. It was in development forever, and 2D games were still hot when they started making it. But by 1998 when it came out, 2D games were at probably their least popular point ever, this was the year of Half Life, Ocarina of Time, and Metal Gear Solid. So their timing couldn’t have been worse.
Modern Vintage Gamer : I ported Heart of Darkness to the Original Xbox | MVG (1 Hour Ago) Matthewmatosis : Thoughts on Heart of Darkness (5 Min Ago) How is this even possible ?.....
The bigger gaming youtubers like to synchronize their upload schedules for whatever reason. Joseph Anderson just put out his first video in like a year and I wouldn't be surprised if there were more uploads from similar youtubers I don't follow.
That shit is fetishistic violence. You could probably find more gore and other dumb shit on the web. Heart of Darkness was a published product from a developer, not some wackjob pixel artist on Pixiv.
drawing fetish art does not make someone a wack job. it is fantasy; it harms no one. That's like saying someone who has rape fantasies ( but does not act on them) is a wackjob.
@@KanonHara I mean sure, but I wouldn't exactly call someone who draws loli rape porn not a wackjob either. I don't like being the thought police, but there's a reason they are drawing those things. I'm cautious of such people.
I loved this game as a kid, the story telling, the world, it was like a fully animated film in a games format. We played it with my brother, taking turns after each death.
I still remember buying this game at a store for 1.99 and the reason i bought it was because it was 1.99! I never saw a ps1 game so cheap :o I knew nothing about the game and was not expecting much, but hey 1.99! I still remember beating it at the very late hours of the night. I swear, almost every game that had an impact on me as a kid was beaten at the very late hours of the night. It amazes me how i still remember all of this
I've played this game countless times and it's one of those titles that permanently marked my life, in a positive way. The wonderful worlds, wacky dialogues, scary yet goofy monsters, and those beautiful deaths captivated me like few other artworks ever did. I still go back to it from time to time. Still enjoy it. What a masterpiece.
Went on my yearly binge of your videos this week and today you post a new video! It's like eating a whole gourmet meal and have someone bring you cake at the end!
@@duncanmacleod7287 It did!! I recall the same thing. Being 6 years old, getting a cool new computer game in a cereal box and it being absolutely horrifying. Traumatized me in a way so I remember it quite vividly lol
Hey Matthew, love the format and can't wait to see what's next! HOD is one of my absolute favorite games from when I was a kid, although I don't remember being put off by the deaths as a kid, it was really something I only noticed growing up, just how brutal some of them are. I think you put it very elegantly, it works because the details are fuzzy and it still looks cartoony enough. HOD to me was all about the thrill of the adventure as a kid, the beautiful visuals and orchestral soundtrack also really pulled me in back then. Also, I know you wanted to avoid spoilers and I think I know what you're referring towards the end, it really is special and totally subverted my expectations way back then. I think it'd still have the same effect nowadays.
I feel the same way, the deaths hit me harder these days because now I see a kid being killed whereas back then it was just me, if that makes sense. I don't feel like this game did me any harm although some of the testimonials in these comments seem to indicate a different experience.
@@Matthewmatosis Yes, same here! Your video prompted me to take another look at some scenes online and quite a few of the comments on most videos stated that the game was too much for them as a kid, so I guess it depends.
@@Matthewmatosis heh, guess they're saying their parents were vigilant enough to not allow them to play games like Doom, Duke Nukem or Blood so they weren't already desensitised to video game gore? For me the threshold was Postal and Carmageddon, which I didn't play out of principle, cause I wouldn't kill innocents, but my friends were constantly going on about them, sickos! I do remember how my friend got scared of a picture of a guy with two jaws that appeared while we were installing Sanitarium demo, he was one of those who avoided such things. Me, I was scared... but fascinated at the same time. Which I guess is how horror should work, right? maybe US parents are more controlling on average though
One of the games from my childhood, probably one of my favorite cinematic platformers out there. I'm actually really surprised you decided to cover it, since it's relatively obscure compared to the likes of Oddworld or the early Prince of Persia games. For the longest time I had forgotten it and dismissed it as something like a fever dream, but just a few years ago I found the disc in my basement and the memories came flooding back, along with the gruesome animations it had. One of the few games that perfectly captured the imagination of a child in the environments and situations presented to you, and to me it still holds up like the day I first played it. Thanks for covering it, Matth.
When I was a child in rural not-USA, it was so hard to get computer games, all I had was this gaming magazine which gave out something like 5-6 demos each month. And despite 20+ years, I remember playing this for the 10 minute, or whatever it was, over and over and over. It looked and felt like nothing else at the time.
Oh, I love the idea of "Monday Matosis" videos. This is a good pilot, too! As a writer myself, I'm always impressed by how much density of observation and analysis you can pack into the time you're given. Keep up the good work, you're an inspiration for a lot of critics out there.
i recently played rain world and it reminded me a lot of this game's atmosphere, i can't recommend it enough to anyone who liked heart of darkness when they were younger. also, i hope everyone is staying safe!
Its crazy how well the graphics hold up. Grated, I still have memories of my mind being blown when I first saw this in a 3D magazine, but the art direction and fluid animations still stomp a large portion of current 2d games today. Cheers for the vid Matt :=)
That's what I loved about Another World/Heart of Darkness: they're brutal as hell but in death you can always visualize the right steps to take, making you feel like the author of these heavily scripted games
No wonder many in our generation embraced Soulsborne/Sekiro games later on: demanding games with very strong and solid artistic direction. Hopefully gen Z will have had that kind of stuff too (maybe Dark Souls actually).
I played this so much as a kid with my best pal, we never had a memory card haha, we just kept on and on, and to be honest we still play it now with some beers and a joint or 2. Big fan of the channel man, great video as always!
Oh my god I played this game so much as a kid and couldn't remember what it's called at all. I didnt have the second disc so I never got past the mid point cut scene, thanks for reminding me of this so I can try and play it again matt!
It's such a pleasant surprise seeing someone discuss this game in 2020, it was such an iconic part of my childhood! I tracked down an original PS1 copy with the 3D glasses to make sure I had the game before it eventually disappeared into obscurity, I think it's among the best of its genre and I wish more games like it would come out, been a while since I played a good cinematic platformer like this
Your videos are always a delight, Matthew, this one is no exception. Loved the new format. Maybe it is finally time to play Another World and Heart of Darkness. Maybe even add Flashback to the mix.
I was just about to say, the only other kid I know of getting maimed in elaborate ways is Limbo. However with Limbo, doesn't the physics engine take care of the death animations? Here, they all had to be painstakingly drawn by pixel artists.
If the focus of the discussion is the death animations then I would say that Limbo isn't as bad. To keep a long explanation short, the kid from HOD looks more relatable though a bit cartoony. The Limbo kid however is this oddly proportioned shadow creature that only really shows he's dead is by closing his eyes. A very muted way of explaining the horrible actions that are happening right in front of you.
I discovered your channel because somebody linked your Abe's Oddysey video. I've gone through the entire archive. This is my first time being there for a new video by you.
Thank you. Watching all your videos that wouldn't spoil me something was getting stale. I almost started to learn word by word. I forgot to mention, I was doing this all week
As gruesome as the deaths are, nothing will ever hit me as hard as the beast at the start of Another World. That and OG X-com scared the absolute living shit out of me when I was younger in ways no game had before or since.
I dunno about globally, but at least in our region they put out a demo of this game with cereal. Which I think did mean more people know about it, but it's also forever linked to that Donkey Kong Country-esque knockoff game with the Kellogg's tiger in my mind lol
I loved this game. As you said this game was brutal enought to feel dangerous and exciting but at the same time like a magical adventure. I just beat this game once but I remember it getting my attention easily and having a really great time with it, and also having a lot of memories about getting the green power, running from the shadows, the intro animation, etc.
I remember being over at my friend's place for a sleepover and him having rented this game. We had hooked up the PlayStation in the livingroom where his mom made us a makeshift bed and let us sit up and play as late as we wanted. The game was fucked up and gave us both horrible nightmares. For the longest time I could only vaguely remember it as that scary game with the boy and the shadow monsters, but after rediscovering it a few years back it was honestly no wonder it frightened us as much as it did. Those death animations really are brutal and the sounds of the kid's spine snapping or skull being crushed is even more shocking now than it was as a kid.
I remember this game. I remember i went to a friend's house, and he had a playstation with it. He was too afraid to play it, but I was excited to try it. The cutscene was so cool to me, and the shooting monsters with a lightning gun was awesome. I got farther than my friend ever did, but never completed the game. Nearly 15 years passed and I would have flashes of the game never quite remembering what it was. Then one day I saw it again on UA-cam. I immediately bought a copy and beat it. My childhood was closed. Finally I beat that merciless game.
This was one of the most interesting games from my childhood. It was the first time I saw something both quirky and creepy at the same time, and deaths were horrifying. IN AN E-RATED GAME! Nowadays it feels like a retread of Another World with higher budget (heck I could even theorize that Andy is Lester's son and he did get transported to the same world.. if we ignore the ending, so tsssss) but nonetheless still intriguing to replay.
I played this back in '15. Started collecting games and took my PS1 to college. I had no internet and limited phone signal for my first week there, so as was unable to contact my folks I was getting desperately lonely. I dunno if I'd have had the patience to go through this games' trial and error design otherwise, but its' alien atmosphere was solid company in that lonely college flat.
I played this when I was about 8-10, loving it! I played it through several times, and was really sad when the CD eventually got scratches and couldn’t proceed passed a certain cinematic anymore. A disturbingly fascinating game, I really enjoyed it! Growing up with games like this and the first Tomb Raider games, Spyro and many others was a blast!
One of my favorites growing up. I played it a few years ago and it's still good. I was surprised to discover that contemporary reviewers are not as fond of it as I am.
Nice to see this, Another World was what really made me want to make games when I played it as a child and I managed to track HoD down as it was also by Eric Chai and man the animations and designs are so good, would deffo recommend it to anyone that's not played it that enjoyed brutal stuff like Another World and the original Oddworlds 👍
I want an Uncharted style cinematic game that actually makes you feel that sense of ruthlessness through its gameplay and not just have that sense be artificially forced through automatic scripting while the gameplay is dumbed down in order to appeal to everyone. The crowd for "I want games that can kick my ass without mercy" is a lot bigger than a couple of years ago.
I-I I was looking for this game for YEARS. Some scenes and characters kept reoccuring in my nightmares, i only played it once as a kid and always wanted to come back. Noone ever had a clue what this game was, so I just thought i made it all up xD Christ, I don't think I've felt so nostalgic in my entire life.
Great vid, im glad on this aproach of making smaller videos while waiting for the more elaborated ones. Mat if you read this i just want to say that i whish i can play a game of yours in a future, im reciently following dev diaris, i think you could do something similar so you can make videos while developing. Anyway if you keep your current work with the analis videos i will still be happy. Sorry for the bad english =)
I remember the first time I saw this game and never knew the name. Was trying to find it for years. The opening cutscene was seared into my brain because of how bizarre it was. My grandmother (yes) played a lot of games back in the 90s and this was one of them.
I remember playing this game as a kid, probably on one of the many demo discs I had. And seeing the shadow monsters stalk the kid and eat him whole terrified me to the point of turning the PS1 off. This game and Oddworld for the PS1 definitely fueled my nightmares.
As a kid, the monsters and the deaths scared the shit out of me. Back then, to me, it was as immersive and real as, well, life. So seeing this poor kid get ripped apart, chewed and spit out etc was true horror. Me and my friends tried to keep the violence of the game a secret from our parents lol. It was the classic situation where somehow they've gotten us the game without checking how violent it might be, despite not being fans of video game violence. They weren't zealous "video games are violent and evil" or anything, far from it, just sure to keep the most violent shit away from young children. On another note, I love how the developers went complete apeshit right from the beginning, just one or two control tutorials and then a thousand monsters rushing you from both sides of the screen. Good luck kiddo.
I loved the gruesome death animations as a child. grueling and frustrating as they were, they also were immersive back then like nothing else I had ever played, to say nothing of the satisfaction of finally getting past them. This game was an experience alright, and one I cherish still. Good pick Matthew.
I played this game when I was little and then I could never find it again and I had no idea what it was called Thank you for showing me it wasn't all a dream
The format is perfect and the video is great but i feel like there is still so much to talk about this game. Its developmental process was quite a story. I hope you would make an extended version for this particular piece sometime in the future.
I remember playing this as kid with my cuzens not having a memory card to save our game and having to leave the ps1 on when told to get off. Ah the struggles
I'd never really seen much gameplay of Heart of Darkness and never bothered to check it out for myself, so I was genuinely surprised and delighted at the quality of the animation. It's got a smoothness that's superbly impressive for any game using 2D animation, but it's also got a snappiness that gives those brutal death and last minute saves a real punch. I legitimately gasped at the sequence at 3:35 when the kid just barely manages to grab the stick and stop the giant fish thing from eating him; that's so tightly timed and animated so well. I don't know if I'd ever want to play this game, considering I found Another World to be a bit too irritating for me and I've heard this game's genuinely hard as hell, but I'd gladly watch a playthrough just for the stellar animation. (As an aside, it kinda amuses me that the game uses CGI cutscenes at certain moments. There's nothing wrong with that, and I feel the cutscenes are decently animated, but the art shift is so noticeable that it's kinda funny.)
![[TAS] PSX Heart of Darkness by lapogne36 in 25:30.41](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/eOwtUGOHkVs/mqdefault.jpg)
Hello ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Mondaymatosis. I've been working on some smaller videos like this one and I'll be uploading them at the same time each week for the next few weeks. These were planned before the pandemic took off so I had hoped they would be a comforting start to the working week but I suppose now you can use them to mark time instead. Anyway I hope you'll join me each week and maybe find a few interesting games to help keep you occupied. See you again soon.
good idea, I am looking forward to those :)
Ebic
I hope this pandemic is over by Mondaymatosis 23. Great video, I remember this game fondly although I was never able to finish it as a kid. Perfect time to go back to it!
Congrats on 200k subscribers!
This is such a treat, I'll lookg forward to mondays.
That comment about the novelty of playing computer games as a child really got to me because it could be applied to such a wide period and range of experiences.
This will be the most quoted thing in the video, but the whole “the only thing it needed to do to captivate a child was be a computer game” sentiment is something that absolutely defined my childhood.
More specifically I remember a time when sitting down to play a game didn’t always necessarily mean making progress. Nowadays if I haven’t made headway in an adventure game in one sitting it’s all too easy to become frustrated and look up a guide, but back when I was younger and without access to those things, I could spend weeks exploring a single area or leave to go and make my own fun while I chewed on the problem.
Maybe it’s more a problem with personal impatience, because there are many adults now who can push themselves through an experience unguided, but I think the main thing is that back then not being able to move forward wasn’t _frustrating_ to me. It was just part of the game.
i share that sentiment. When i was little i was just happy to play a game. and i would sometimes start a campaign over again just to get to a blockage again and hope my experience would this time show me the right way. my first own videogame was Rayman 3, and there was a point very early on where you have to retrieve your hands to progress further. but i just couldnt figure it out, i timed a certain part in the level wrong and after weeks of trial and error i finally figured it out and the feeling of accomplishment was immense. Nowadays i probably wouldn't get stuck on such a little obstacle but i wouldn't want to either. so i would just pick up a guide instead of trying everything. I've become a ''better'' gamer, but at the same time also not.
The animations in this game are so nice to look at, they have a weight to them that I really enjoy seeing. I'm really looking forward to more "mondaymatosis" videos
I remember being a teenager when this came out and playing it through to completion, all the while being totally mesmerized by the beautiful hand drawn graphics and animation. It's still one of my all time favorites and holds a special place in my heart.
It's not really a game that jumps to my mind often (I remember it being extremely punishing and I've never finished it as a kid)... but goddamn these 2D pixel art animations are gorgeous! Even by today standards!
Holy crap those animations are incredible. I've never seen anything that fluid...
Indeed they are! And the soundtrack is probably the best soundtrack of anything anywhere. Bruce Broughton really just outdid himself!
@@bdschannel4733 not really but ok
"It came in a time where for a computer game to captivate a child, it only had to be a computer game"
And that's why I only played crap when I was a kid, like Pink Panther Adventures and Ratchet and Clank Size Matters
When I was a child I one-hundred percented Monsters Inc. Scare Island on the PS1... Twice.
@@cbfdxbxsb I mostly played licensed games when I was a kid. The game you mentioned, the Pink Panther game I mentioned, LEGO games (which, admittedly, were really good), every conceivable Ben 10 game, etc.
The only non-licensed games I played were the Ratched and Clank series and the original Crash Bandicoot trilogy. I only started playing decent stuff when I reached, like, 13 years and joined gaming communities around the internet.
same here, its always rough hearing people talk about how they played all these amazing classics that shaped their childhood while most of my time was spent with shit licensed games i got from relatives who didn't know any better lol. spider-man 2 is probably the only one i can look back fondly on
I played Size Matters when I was 20 or something and enjoyed it.
When I was a child I played silent hill
This game absolutely traumatized me as a child. I think I was about 10 and when the two shadow giants ate the protagonist and you could hear his bones crunching it definitely broke something in my brain.
You're not alone.. * hug * I was probably between 5 and 7 years at most.
This was one of my favourite games ever, growing up
Same
I just got lost in world
Same here. One of the hardest games I've ever beaten.
It's interesting you brought up artists needing therapy if the deaths were done with modern graphics; NetherRealm Studios has actually seen a number of cases of artists getting diagnosed with PTSD after spending days upon days pouring over reference images for Mortal Kombat's fatalities.
NetherRealms is staffed by a bunch of soyboys.
@@rogerlost5851 Imagine writing this comment and thinking you have a personality.
@@rogerlost5851 Fuck off back to 4chan buddy.
@@WarMomPT Yeah, it's always surprising to see how pathetic people can be.
@@rogerlost5851 Different people are scared by different aspects of death, some are traumatized by the exceeding gore of it, some are scared about what the loss of your existence can entail, some are just scared of the pain, just because you are not traumatized by the gore, doesn't mean you wouldn't be traumatized in another way...
Joseph Conrads heart of darkness be lookin different
What, you don't remember when Kurtz put on his 3d glasses?
Kinda quirky doe 😳
Two Heart of Darkness videos in one day?
My subs are conspiring against me.
Out of curiosity, which is the other video?
@@SapphireBones Modern Vintage Gamer
@@SapphireBones Yea Modern Vintage Gamer, he ported it to Xbox for shits and giggles I guess.
RealTerminal Yeah that’s why people are talking about it again. It’s been quite a nice surprise as I’d completely forgotten about this game. I remember it now, though I’ve never played it. It was in development forever, and 2D games were still hot when they started making it. But by 1998 when it came out, 2D games were at probably their least popular point ever, this was the year of Half Life, Ocarina of Time, and Metal Gear Solid. So their timing couldn’t have been worse.
Modern Vintage Gamer : I ported Heart of Darkness to the Original Xbox | MVG (1 Hour Ago)
Matthewmatosis : Thoughts on Heart of Darkness (5 Min Ago)
How is this even possible ?.....
I wanted to ask the same question, lol.
yeah i know, this is crazy...
The bigger gaming youtubers like to synchronize their upload schedules for whatever reason. Joseph Anderson just put out his first video in like a year and I wouldn't be surprised if there were more uploads from similar youtubers I don't follow.
@@remembertotakeshowerspleas355
Joseph's video has been announced for some time now and it's been postponed a lot.
@@arenkai I know.
"never since has a child been so well animated being brutally killed"
vvindows
That shit is fetishistic violence. You could probably find more gore and other dumb shit on the web. Heart of Darkness was a published product from a developer, not some wackjob pixel artist on Pixiv.
drawing fetish art does not make someone a wack job. it is fantasy; it harms no one. That's like saying someone who has rape fantasies ( but does not act on them) is a wackjob.
@@KanonHara I mean sure, but I wouldn't exactly call someone who draws loli rape porn not a wackjob either. I don't like being the thought police, but there's a reason they are drawing those things. I'm cautious of such people.
@@KanonHara the difference there is that in your example that's my friend. But a random gay guy? Yes.
I loved this game as a kid, the story telling, the world, it was like a fully animated film in a games format. We played it with my brother, taking turns after each death.
I still remember buying this game at a store for 1.99 and the reason i bought it was because it was 1.99!
I never saw a ps1 game so cheap :o I knew nothing about the game and was not expecting much, but hey 1.99!
I still remember beating it at the very late hours of the night. I swear, almost every game that had an impact on me as a kid was beaten at the very late hours of the night.
It amazes me how i still remember all of this
I've played this game countless times and it's one of those titles that permanently marked my life, in a positive way. The wonderful worlds, wacky dialogues, scary yet goofy monsters, and those beautiful deaths captivated me like few other artworks ever did. I still go back to it from time to time. Still enjoy it. What a masterpiece.
One of my childhood favorites, thank you for covering it
Did Matthew and Modern Vintage Gamer collaborate on the day to push out Heart of Darkness content or something?
I know right. Threw me for a loop too.
I was wondering this
Yeah like 40 minutes apart, what a coincidence!
Hella weird
senkus as if another sign was needed that we live in weird, fucked up times 🙂
Went on my yearly binge of your videos this week and today you post a new video! It's like eating a whole gourmet meal and have someone bring you cake at the end!
This was my very first videogame I ever played. I was around 5 at the time and got it as a cereal box goodie
Wat? I don't think this game ever came in cereal boxes lol
@@duncanmacleod7287 It did!! I recall the same thing. Being 6 years old, getting a cool new computer game in a cereal box and it being absolutely horrifying. Traumatized me in a way so I remember it quite vividly lol
Hey Matthew, love the format and can't wait to see what's next! HOD is one of my absolute favorite games from when I was a kid, although I don't remember being put off by the deaths as a kid, it was really something I only noticed growing up, just how brutal some of them are. I think you put it very elegantly, it works because the details are fuzzy and it still looks cartoony enough.
HOD to me was all about the thrill of the adventure as a kid, the beautiful visuals and orchestral soundtrack also really pulled me in back then.
Also, I know you wanted to avoid spoilers and I think I know what you're referring towards the end, it really is special and totally subverted my expectations way back then. I think it'd still have the same effect nowadays.
I feel the same way, the deaths hit me harder these days because now I see a kid being killed whereas back then it was just me, if that makes sense. I don't feel like this game did me any harm although some of the testimonials in these comments seem to indicate a different experience.
@@Matthewmatosis Yes, same here! Your video prompted me to take another look at some scenes online and quite a few of the comments on most videos stated that the game was too much for them as a kid, so I guess it depends.
@@Matthewmatosis heh, guess they're saying their parents were vigilant enough to not allow them to play games like Doom, Duke Nukem or Blood so they weren't already desensitised to video game gore? For me the threshold was Postal and Carmageddon, which I didn't play out of principle, cause I wouldn't kill innocents, but my friends were constantly going on about them, sickos! I do remember how my friend got scared of a picture of a guy with two jaws that appeared while we were installing Sanitarium demo, he was one of those who avoided such things. Me, I was scared... but fascinated at the same time. Which I guess is how horror should work, right?
maybe US parents are more controlling on average though
can you spoil it for me, I am kinda curious as to what happens and I am not going to play it anyway
One of the games from my childhood, probably one of my favorite cinematic platformers out there. I'm actually really surprised you decided to cover it, since it's relatively obscure compared to the likes of Oddworld or the early Prince of Persia games.
For the longest time I had forgotten it and dismissed it as something like a fever dream, but just a few years ago I found the disc in my basement and the memories came flooding back, along with the gruesome animations it had.
One of the few games that perfectly captured the imagination of a child in the environments and situations presented to you, and to me it still holds up like the day I first played it.
Thanks for covering it, Matth.
When I was a child in rural not-USA, it was so hard to get computer games, all I had was this gaming magazine which gave out something like 5-6 demos each month. And despite 20+ years, I remember playing this for the 10 minute, or whatever it was, over and over and over. It looked and felt like nothing else at the time.
Suddenly HoD is getting a lot of love on my subscriptions list...
Oh, I love the idea of "Monday Matosis" videos. This is a good pilot, too! As a writer myself, I'm always impressed by how much density of observation and analysis you can pack into the time you're given. Keep up the good work, you're an inspiration for a lot of critics out there.
i recently played rain world and it reminded me a lot of this game's atmosphere, i can't recommend it enough to anyone who liked heart of darkness when they were younger.
also, i hope everyone is staying safe!
World has become too sensitive to murder kids in games? Murder cute slug cats instead!
Its crazy how well the graphics hold up. Grated, I still have memories of my mind being blown when I first saw this in a 3D magazine, but the art direction and fluid animations still stomp a large portion of current 2d games today.
Cheers for the vid Matt :=)
Quality pixelart is timeless.
That's what I loved about Another World/Heart of Darkness: they're brutal as hell but in death you can always visualize the right steps to take, making you feel like the author of these heavily scripted games
No wonder many in our generation embraced Soulsborne/Sekiro games later on: demanding games with very strong and solid artistic direction. Hopefully gen Z will have had that kind of stuff too (maybe Dark Souls actually).
Been waiting for these smaller videos for so long now... Glad to see they coming afterall!
Never finished the game but will always remember it.
I played this so much as a kid with my best pal, we never had a memory card haha, we just kept on and on, and to be honest we still play it now with some beers and a joint or 2. Big fan of the channel man, great video as always!
I remember playing this game as a kid, thanks for the reminder!!
congrats on 200k matt, its been a long time coming
Oh my god I played this game so much as a kid and couldn't remember what it's called at all. I didnt have the second disc so I never got past the mid point cut scene, thanks for reminding me of this so I can try and play it again matt!
A spark of life! He's back! All hail, Matthewmatosis!
I love the idea of these concise videos
It's such a pleasant surprise seeing someone discuss this game in 2020, it was such an iconic part of my childhood! I tracked down an original PS1 copy with the 3D glasses to make sure I had the game before it eventually disappeared into obscurity, I think it's among the best of its genre and I wish more games like it would come out, been a while since I played a good cinematic platformer like this
Your videos are always a delight, Matthew, this one is no exception. Loved the new format. Maybe it is finally time to play Another World and Heart of Darkness. Maybe even add Flashback to the mix.
This game is a masterpiece of PS1, so underrated.
PC masterpiece for the PC master race... you peasant.
It's Limbo, before Limbo.
I was just about to say, the only other kid I know of getting maimed in elaborate ways is Limbo. However with Limbo, doesn't the physics engine take care of the death animations? Here, they all had to be painstakingly drawn by pixel artists.
If the focus of the discussion is the death animations then I would say that Limbo isn't as bad. To keep a long explanation short, the kid from HOD looks more relatable though a bit cartoony. The Limbo kid however is this oddly proportioned shadow creature that only really shows he's dead is by closing his eyes. A very muted way of explaining the horrible actions that are happening right in front of you.
Limbo is the Limbo of Limbo Souls.
And then there was Blade Warrior. ua-cam.com/video/lgIKO8uG6lo/v-deo.html
Limbo and inside are all about trial and error like little nightmares. Can’t say I’m a huge fan. I preferred Abe’s Odyssey and Another World
What a breath of fresh air this video is. You actually understand the mechanics and enemy ai
OH MY GOD.... THE NOSTALGIA
I discovered your channel because somebody linked your Abe's Oddysey video. I've gone through the entire archive. This is my first time being there for a new video by you.
Great video! Crisp & short but all that needs to be said. Thank you!
Thank you.
Watching all your videos that wouldn't spoil me something was getting stale. I almost started to learn word by word.
I forgot to mention, I was doing this all week
This is a nice surprise, though I wish you'd go a bit more in depth. Feels quite short
As gruesome as the deaths are, nothing will ever hit me as hard as the beast at the start of Another World. That and OG X-com scared the absolute living shit out of me when I was younger in ways no game had before or since.
I dunno about globally, but at least in our region they put out a demo of this game with cereal. Which I think did mean more people know about it, but it's also forever linked to that Donkey Kong Country-esque knockoff game with the Kellogg's tiger in my mind lol
I loved this game. As you said this game was brutal enought to feel dangerous and exciting but at the same time like a magical adventure. I just beat this game once but I remember it getting my attention easily and having a really great time with it, and also having a lot of memories about getting the green power, running from the shadows, the intro animation, etc.
I'm so glad that you covered this. I was starting to think I just dreamed this game as a kid
God I remember this game traumatising me as a child 😂So many of those set pieces are so memorable
I never got to play this as a kid 😢 thank you for doing such an in-depth video on it.
I remember being over at my friend's place for a sleepover and him having rented this game. We had hooked up the PlayStation in the livingroom where his mom made us a makeshift bed and let us sit up and play as late as we wanted. The game was fucked up and gave us both horrible nightmares.
For the longest time I could only vaguely remember it as that scary game with the boy and the shadow monsters, but after rediscovering it a few years back it was honestly no wonder it frightened us as much as it did. Those death animations really are brutal and the sounds of the kid's spine snapping or skull being crushed is even more shocking now than it was as a kid.
Holy shit, I didn't think anyone else played this. Fantastic video on this find Matthew.
This looks beautiful.
I been waiting for this guy to upload. Matt does some of the most thorough gameplay analysis.
This game will always have a special place i my heart. I wish this video was way longer but I'll take it.
I remember this game. I remember i went to a friend's house, and he had a playstation with it. He was too afraid to play it, but I was excited to try it. The cutscene was so cool to me, and the shooting monsters with a lightning gun was awesome. I got farther than my friend ever did, but never completed the game. Nearly 15 years passed and I would have flashes of the game never quite remembering what it was. Then one day I saw it again on UA-cam. I immediately bought a copy and beat it. My childhood was closed. Finally I beat that merciless game.
Love this format actually!
Wow! I've never seen that game before! Looks so cool.
It made me wanting a proper Commander Keen reboot for some reason.
I like this format! I'll treat it like a reading list.
Used to play this game as a kid loved it!
I remember this so well!Fantastic game,too.
I played this in one go when it came out on PS1. Goin to work next day with almost no sleep.
Cheers for the video!
I was thinking about this game a lot recently!! Looking forward to watching this and hearing your thoughts
As a young red haired man in the late 90s this game was important to me.
the art in this game is STILL so impressive
The closing joke is a nice touch.
This game is definitely under appreciated. Such an amazing experience!
This was one of the most interesting games from my childhood. It was the first time I saw something both quirky and creepy at the same time, and deaths were horrifying. IN AN E-RATED GAME!
Nowadays it feels like a retread of Another World with higher budget (heck I could even theorize that Andy is Lester's son and he did get transported to the same world.. if we ignore the ending, so tsssss) but nonetheless still intriguing to replay.
I played this back in '15.
Started collecting games and took my PS1 to college. I had no internet and limited phone signal for my first week there, so as was unable to contact my folks I was getting desperately lonely.
I dunno if I'd have had the patience to go through this games' trial and error design otherwise, but its' alien atmosphere was solid company in that lonely college flat.
I played this when I was about 8-10, loving it! I played it through several times, and was really sad when the CD eventually got scratches and couldn’t proceed passed a certain cinematic anymore.
A disturbingly fascinating game, I really enjoyed it!
Growing up with games like this and the first Tomb Raider games, Spyro and many others was a blast!
One of my favorites growing up. I played it a few years ago and it's still good. I was surprised to discover that contemporary reviewers are not as fond of it as I am.
A neat precursor to Limbo and Inside.
I wasn't aware of this game, wow it's so beautifully animated!
Nice to see this, Another World was what really made me want to make games when I played it as a child and I managed to track HoD down as it was also by Eric Chai and man the animations and designs are so good, would deffo recommend it to anyone that's not played it that enjoyed brutal stuff like Another World and the original Oddworlds 👍
I want an Uncharted style cinematic game that actually makes you feel that sense of ruthlessness through its gameplay and not just have that sense be artificially forced through automatic scripting while the gameplay is dumbed down in order to appeal to everyone. The crowd for "I want games that can kick my ass without mercy" is a lot bigger than a couple of years ago.
Rain World.
Oooh this looks very good, thanks for the recommendation mr matosis. I wish there was a game like this in a 3D space.
I-I I was looking for this game for YEARS. Some scenes and characters kept reoccuring in my nightmares, i only played it once as a kid and always wanted to come back. Noone ever had a clue what this game was, so I just thought i made it all up xD
Christ, I don't think I've felt so nostalgic in my entire life.
Great vid, im glad on this aproach of making smaller videos while waiting for the more elaborated ones.
Mat if you read this i just want to say that i whish i can play a game of yours in a future, im reciently following dev diaris, i think you could do something similar so you can make videos while developing.
Anyway if you keep your current work with the analis videos i will still be happy.
Sorry for the bad english =)
that comment at the end was funny asf
It was a very ambitious art project. Lots of love was poured into this game.
Oh my god. I played this game's demo when I was a kid, it came out from a box of cereals. It struck in my head but I could never remember the name!
I remember the first time I saw this game and never knew the name. Was trying to find it for years. The opening cutscene was seared into my brain because of how bizarre it was. My grandmother (yes) played a lot of games back in the 90s and this was one of them.
Commander Keen: Extreme Pain Edition
Let us have a moment of silence for all of the fallen controllers of this world...
I remember playing this game as a kid, probably on one of the many demo discs I had. And seeing the shadow monsters stalk the kid and eat him whole terrified me to the point of turning the PS1 off. This game and Oddworld for the PS1 definitely fueled my nightmares.
As a kid, the monsters and the deaths scared the shit out of me. Back then, to me, it was as immersive and real as, well, life. So seeing this poor kid get ripped apart, chewed and spit out etc was true horror. Me and my friends tried to keep the violence of the game a secret from our parents lol. It was the classic situation where somehow they've gotten us the game without checking how violent it might be, despite not being fans of video game violence. They weren't zealous "video games are violent and evil" or anything, far from it, just sure to keep the most violent shit away from young children. On another note, I love how the developers went complete apeshit right from the beginning, just one or two control tutorials and then a thousand monsters rushing you from both sides of the screen. Good luck kiddo.
could of done with an hour long vid on this gem
Could *have done with a little more attention in your English lessons lol
I loved the gruesome death animations as a child. grueling and frustrating as they were, they also were immersive back then like nothing else I had ever played, to say nothing of the satisfaction of finally getting past them. This game was an experience alright, and one I cherish still. Good pick Matthew.
Great video. My version bugged at the lava world , so I never got to experience the later parts of the game :(
I played this game when I was little and then I could never find it again and I had no idea what it was called
Thank you for showing me it wasn't all a dream
Oh my goodness i love this game thanks for the upload
Those death animation sure freaked 6 year old me out.
Huh? One of my favourite youtube channels doing a video on one of my favourite games from childhood, todays a good day.
Dude your u always do videos of the best games
The format is perfect and the video is great but i feel like there is still so much to talk about this game. Its developmental process was quite a story. I hope you would make an extended version for this particular piece sometime in the future.
I remember playing this as kid with my cuzens not having a memory card to save our game and having to leave the ps1 on when told to get off. Ah the struggles
cheers for this ✌️
I'd never really seen much gameplay of Heart of Darkness and never bothered to check it out for myself, so I was genuinely surprised and delighted at the quality of the animation. It's got a smoothness that's superbly impressive for any game using 2D animation, but it's also got a snappiness that gives those brutal death and last minute saves a real punch. I legitimately gasped at the sequence at 3:35 when the kid just barely manages to grab the stick and stop the giant fish thing from eating him; that's so tightly timed and animated so well.
I don't know if I'd ever want to play this game, considering I found Another World to be a bit too irritating for me and I've heard this game's genuinely hard as hell, but I'd gladly watch a playthrough just for the stellar animation. (As an aside, it kinda amuses me that the game uses CGI cutscenes at certain moments. There's nothing wrong with that, and I feel the cutscenes are decently animated, but the art shift is so noticeable that it's kinda funny.)