The absolute, raw thrill of beginning an Action Button video whilst unaware of its length. *Edit* This comment is from the upload/livestream; that's why I didn't know it was a six hour punch in the feels. Thought I'd explain b/c I didn't know this would get so many likes!
“Places don’t remember us, and if they do- we’re dead.” this video was tim’s best work yet. so thorough, emotional, and thought provoking. i cant wait to see whats next.
While I put the Tokimeki Memorial review on a very, VERY high standard for the sheer entertainment value and mind blowing video editing, this one felt quite a bit more intimate and emotional and has definitely left a much stronger mark on me. I was quite emotional myself during the last segment when Tim recalls his trip back to his childhood town and school. I had a feeling an Action Button review around a game like Boku no natsuyasumi would be quite the masterpiece, I was right. It tangents on very philosophical topics revolving around memory, nostalgia, self-definition and much more. I feel sorry for Tim for missing the chance to reach out to his most influential childhood teacher.
I heard a statement recently that went something like “You can’t make a masterpiece without making yourself vulnerable to those who interact with it” and this, with full sincerity, is a masterpiece. Better than most movies I’ve watched
My oldest son is 7. Very much still a boku. He grew up in Southern California and is certainly not Japanese. He does the head thing you described from your date all the time. When he does this head tilt, it is usually accompanied by a statement in the form of a question. It goes something like this, "I'm going to school tomorrow?" Or perhaps, "I can't have more cheezits?" I often joke about this with my wife, but your story gave me a moment to contemplate his mannerisms. I have often asked if this is a learned behavior. I don't care where it came from. I just am glad that I've spent that extra moment to appreciate it. There are many small moments that flow past as time moves on. I've forgotten some of my children's silly younger habits that used to amuse my wife and I. Thanks to this moment of reflection, I don't think I will forget Jack's head tilt.
My part of this project entailed marking and notating raw gameplay footage so that Tim could use it for editing. I saw this game played through both times, but could only guess what was happening in the story until this final product was released. My favorite revelation (at this moment) is the significance of Boku’s older cousin playing “My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean” on her clarinet. She’s crying out for a faraway lover.
I find myself coming back to this and the Tokimeki Memorial video and watching them in their entirety over and over. It's obvious this guy has other things going on in his life and making videos for RUclips isn't a priority, but man, I wish he would make regular video essays. These videos are are just the best. Tim Rogers is a fantastic writer.
The videos are high priority. He actually spends like 12 hours a day every day on these youtube videos, they just take forever to make. A hurculean effort! but the finished videos are my all time favourites :)
Before watching this video, I’d never heard of Boko No Natsuyasumi nor Tim Rogers. And yet, I’ve just watched six hours of this stranger talk about a game that I didn’t even know existed when I started the video. This is truly one of the greatest videos I’ve ever watched on this site, and it’s most definitely the most thought-provoking and eye-opening video game review I’ve ever seen. Thank you everyone involved for making this, you have truly made an incredible piece of art.
Tim’s videos are unlike anything else on RUclips. He is the Final Boss of video game journalism. He is the Beginning . He is the End. He is Action Button.
My Roommate: "What are you watching?" Me: "It's this 6 hour long video game review of an old Japanese game, I'm two hours into it already" My Roommate: "Damn, what's the game about?" Me: "Uhm... I don't actually know yet... but the menus are cool!"
my mom died yesterday. She had parkinsons and dementia. Even before she died, I kept going back here. I took care of her for 3 years. I keep thinking about this. Its the most beautiful line, a shattering animal. Ive never heard it explained so well. Thank you so much for that.All of what we are is animal, not just our memories.
Hour one: _This is so chill heck yeah_ Hour three: _Oh, wow this game I never really knew much about truly is fascinating! I love learning!_ Hour five: _I am bawling my eyes out and reconsidering the way I think about existing and memory and nostalgia and what it is to Be._
Hey Tim, I know it must be hard, or at least tiring, to bare your heart in these videos, but I'm really glad you do. Your scripts make me reflect on my own writing and they're very emotional. I'd say you even managed to make me feel nostalgic for the nostalgia you felt for Topeka even though I've never been there. Thank you for this series, for introducing me to this game, and to being here.
There's only one problem - "inverted" vertical controls should be viewed as "normal," as they're the natural way to use vertical movement with a stick. Anything else is simply wrong. As much as I respect Tim, he dropped the ball on this with his personal opinion that is clearly a matter of individual preference.
I was wondering, "how can a game review be 6 hours long?" After watching this, I wish there were more 6 hour game reviews that incorporated our shared existential dilemmas.
@@sparklesparklesparkle6318Thorhighheels was a fairly recent guest on the Insert Credit podcast, which is hosted by Tim Rogers and one of the contributors credited on this.
Tim.... Thank you for having HBomberguy lighten the mood after you hit me with that philosophical, emotional giant bag of bricks. In all seriousness, part 5 of this review can stand on it's own as a masterfully written and delivered memoir. It speaks to the soul and all that it means to be alive and human. I appreciate you showing this genuine and vulnerable side of yourself. I know it's much harder to do in this sort of medium, as opposed to simply writing. This is so much more than a review of boku no natsuyasumi. This was truly thought-provoking and inspirational to me, and I won't forget it.
@@leftovernoise I've watched every S1 Action Button review at *least* 3 times. Except cyberpunk. I've only done a completion run of that one *once*. And trust me, for a video of that magnitude, once is plenty. (How'd you like my impression of Tim Rogers's voice)
@@imnotimportant6831 haha, definitely read that in Tim's voice. I've run through the cyberpunk videos at least 3 or 4 times, and many more for the rest, but, I have 12 hours a day at work to listen to something in my right ear bud, and when I'm out of new things I listen to some of my favorites over again
@@imnotimportant6831 guess what, buddy?? I've ALSO watched s1 in its entirety AT LEAST 3 times. In fact, I'm STILL watching it right today in September 25th 2022 at 19:37 in my imagination while I watch this premiere of s2e1 in a hotel while covering myself with the greasy residue of the things I've never never experienced at least 3 times!!! ... I guess that basically makes at least 2 or more of us, kinda...
Two of my friends (those being two of the people I know whose opinions on art I value the most) suggested I watch this video, and thank god they did because this might be one of the best things I've ever seen online. The emotional gamut I've just been run through was indescribable and enlightening, heart-wrenching and inspiring. Thank you! Just thank you. By the way, when you started talking about your memory condition I was so struck because my memory is VERY similar and oh my GOD does it suck! I agree that photographic/eidetic isn't the right term, so I've taken to calling it an "archival" memory. People in my life make fun of me for it often, in a good-hearted way. Once my sister called me after therapy and asked me to tell her about her own childhood because she knew I'd remember it better than she would. It's... neat in its own way, but also mortifying because everything that has ever happened (including terrible things!) feels so close all the time, ya know? I often feel like nostalgia and all the powerful memories of things that are gone forever might swallow me whole. So... yeah, I exist as a comrade in this very particular type of suffering.
tell your friends i said hi also, your experience with "good" memory differs from mine in one key area: no one in my family dares consult my recollections lmao. they'll argue about such and such tiny detail of some long-past nonsense in my (admittedly seldom!) presence, micro-glaring at me out of the sides of their eyes all the while, fearful perhaps that i'm about to stand up and yell "WRONG!!!" i just kind of let them sit around and hive-lie about and to one another in vicious spirals during any and all family gatherings. maybe that's a subject for a later essay . . . . . .
@@ActionButton Absolutely will do! Mm, I can definitely imagine how that energy would come about. I also try not to get too into it with people like that. Arguing (or clarifying) about details of past situations or conversations always makes me paranoid I'm going to sound like BBC Sherlock or something. Like, someone could say "I never said that" and I could retort with exactly what they said, and when, and where we were, and what the room looked like, and WHERE in the room we were standing, etc. but not only is that pedantic as hell, I'm also hyper-aware that sometimes it probably sounds like I'm just making shit up. Like when I'm telling people stories about my childhood and including these incredibly mundane details, their vibes and expressions are often along the lines of "riiiiiiight." And I guess what else would they be? But I think a lot of the people closest to me (including my immediate family) also know I've got all of our shared memories on tap for whenever they want or need them, and that's nice for them. I feel like the curator of a vast library that is usually also only patronized by myself, but others can come and go. And maybe some of them are like "Why do you even HAVE this library?" Anyway, I'll look forward to that essay!
@@notrlylolapparently the term for this kind of memory is Highly Specific Autobiographical Memory (HSAM), if you'd like to dive Wikipedia on it. I find it fascinating to learn about, but don't really understand the limits nor the effects of it. I wonder if it's a factor in how Tim knows so many languages, or if it helped John Romero learn to code?
Tim Rogers is honest to God my favorite reviewer of all time. I think there's a magic that's brought to his reviews just by virtue of the way he abandons a neutral voice and tries to explain rather than how "good" or "bad" a game is, just explaining his connection to a work, the way his life enhanced and helped him understand his connection to the work. It makes his reviews so much more meaningful and impactful and resonant than a straight up numbered out of ten review of a game. His reviews are an essay, an op-ed, a history not just of the game but of Tim himself, and it becomes a significant and interesting piece of art in and of itself. I just think it's neat.
it might be impossible for me to express how meaningful part 5 is to me. i can only say thank you, and that you’ve earned a weird, pivotal piece of the rest of my life. if all works of art are such odd time capsules of the selves we can’t always carry, i guess know, for what it’s worth, i’ll carry this piece of you.
I think it's testament to the quality of Tim's work that this is probably the only RUclips comment I've ever seen which I have considered writing down. The video is amazing, and so is your comment!
This was lovely. As a Wichita local, and someone who grew up in and around Kansas City, that whole segment affected me more personally than I imagine it was written to. I remembered the meeting I had and the meal I ate in that Towne East Mall food court with a friend that I made through your work. I remembered my father driving me around his home in Hayesville on our first visit here, the day I was to move in to my dorm room. He talked often and passionately about the memories he had, the streets he ran down, the ways that people treated him in his classrooms there. He left when he was six, and it still matters to him more than anything that I did before I was that age. I am not him, and I am not you, but that cordline connection between those stories moved me in ways that I couldn't expect. Thank you.
@@ActionButton if it were any other content creator I'd take that as a joke. But I fully believe you will dm this person the next time you are in town.
@@janefkrbtt thats the thing with Tim... most of the time u cant tell if hes kidding or super serious or sarcastic. And thats also what makes him very unique haha
Was born in Wichita. Though I was very young and have moved a lot in my life (I’m Tim’s age), the visual imprint that Kansas left on me will always be there. Like you, the sequence affected me in unexpected ways. Even the Taco Tico love was a sort of rush. I never expected it survived the last 30+ years that I’ve been gone.
Just wanted to quickly say something to Tim. This video came out right at the beginning of one of the most difficult chapters of my life. Actually have PTSD now, and I'm talking to someone about it, the worst of it is finally starting to subside. I am finally at a point where the worst of it has passed, and this chapter is coming to a close. When I was having frequent panic attacks, I'd put this video on. The relaxing summer sounds of the crickets, the wind blowing through the trees, the way my dark bedroom would glow yellow from the sea of sunflowers. It helped me get past it. This game that I've never heard of prior to the patreon post about it, that I'll almost certainly never play, you transformed it into a whole, beautiful world that I could escape to when things got too hard. Thanks, man.
Glad you're making it through it friend. Good luck with the recovery. Try to remember to keep healing even when things feel easy, and take every opportunity for joy.
@@Yixdy my friend, there are _also_ a significant number of instances in which crickets can be heard in this video. Sure, the cicadas are more prevalent. But there isn't anything necessarily wrong with their comment.
I love whenever Tim talks about a conversation held in Japan, and sometimes, usually for a negative response, says it entirely in Japanese, untranslated in any form, and I then have to either understand some of the words or intuit what was said from what Tim says later in the review. These little things are actually fun to notice.
I'm not exaggerating, or being hyperbolic here; I've been watching RUclips since 2007 and I actually think this is the most genuine, thought provoking, and simply best thing I've seen on it. Thank you for sharing, Tim.
On the contrary I have no fucking clue what he’s talking about. Something about games. Maybe it’s the cadence that throws me off putting words in one ear and out the other
A friend recommended this video to me, Ive spent the last few nights viewing as I prepared dinner for my family. I'm not confident I've ever witnessed a more masterful piece of cinema. This video had me staring into the distance like a jerk in headlights, unlocking memories i havent opened up in a decade. Thank you
Sometimes you're like "Tim Rogers can find the depth and love in anything, he hates nothing", and then other times he'll wrathfully smite a fool with a perfect 16-word burn.
I'm in absolute stitches listening to the story about Tim's cool older co-workers arguing over whether or not he should play boku no yasuasemi. He sounds so worshiping of how cool they are, it's great.
Does anyone have a translation for that anecdote? I know Tim summed it up later that the crew chief was expressing that he felt it was creepy when foreigners engage in Japanese culture, but there seemed to be some crucial nuances in the delivery. Really wish Tim had at least subtitled that part.
Thought I'd translate the little bit at 50:28 because it's utterly hilarious and charming: "The idea of a foreigner playin' Boku-Natsu--it's just creepy!" "'Creepy'...?" "...It's like you're reading every page of my diary... ...Just, no."
Thank you, through being a weeb I had half understood what was being said but I needed the confirmation that I had understood well. The delivery of that "Kimochi warui tte...!?" was sending me regardless
I was so surprised and delighted to see a foreign RUclipsr review this game in such detail. This game is truly my all-time favorite. I've lost count of how many times I've cried while playing and watching it. While more recent games may have better graphics, nothing is more nostalgic for me than this game. The adventure, scenery, sounds, and overall experience always remind me of my childhood memories of summer vacation in elementary school. As a Japanese fan, I sincerely hope that more people around the world get to know and play this game because the content is truly touching and interesting. If you understand the conversations in this game, I guarantee that you will fall in love with it immediately. Even after more than 20 years since its release, many Japanese game streamers still play this game.
The fact that a fan translator announced that he was working on a translation of BokuNatsu 2 actually made the news a couple months ago. I'm pretty excited to get the chance to play it for myself.
I started playing it to learn Japanese and now I really want to go to the Japanese inaka and get the full bokunatsu experience. I wonder if they'll find it weird to see a grown-ass man with a bug net and a kite
POV: it's 1995 and you went to an Oasis concert. By some struck of luck you managed to get a backstage pass and a chance to meet the band. When Liam and Noel start arguing you meet a third Gallagher brother (Normal Gallagher is his name) who pulls you aside and starts talking with you about an obscure japanese videogame for over 6 hours
After this sat in my "watch later" list for 3 months, I clicked on it thinking "I'll just watch a few minutes to confirm that I don't want to watch a 6 hour review of a game I never heard of". Instead, like I had crossed the event horizon of a black hole, I couldn't stop watching, and every second, I was getting sucked in faster and faster. This is one of the most amazing videos I've ever seen. Like an amazing book, I'm tempted to start it again right away, to experience it again and see what I missed. If 3 times is too many times to play "boku no natsuyasumi", how many times can I watch this "review" before it's too many?
Lol just thinking same shit I’ve been watching on my phone for the past 4 days lol. FYI I first found him last week from a dragon quest 11 review… I hated him so much I researched him…. Now I can’t get enough..
@@PixelGod240 I originally saw some random video of his on Kotaku. Hated it. At a later point saw he had his own channel. Attempted the final fantasy video. Wasn't my vibe. About a year later I ran out of stuff on RUclips and his pacman video got recommended. It bore a hole into my brain and I have since listened to all of his videos many many times over. Love his writing so much
Suggesting, then, that some of the greatest video games can inspire in us various permutations of existential musing. I would tend to agree with him, if that is indeed how he thinks.
I think I'm going to remember "I am all of the places I have ever been, all of the time" and "places don't remember us" for the rest of my life. Thank you for making this. And thank you for part 5.
I know he will never see this comment but this dude has really changed the way I think about life. In one of his reviews, he talks about maybe inspiring someone who inspires someone who does something great. I believe these silly game reviews are actually historically consequential in this way. Modern age does not create much of a forum for philosophy or actual free exchange of ideas. He has taken an unguarded corner of the modern media landscape and planted a theoretically permanent flag for simply slowing down and thinking. Much appreciated
I think Boku's day beginning at 9, and being called in by his uncle at 5 was intentional to mirror a typical 9-5 work day. Each day begins with calisthenics, an old Japanese workplace tradition. After his morning exercises are complete, Boku is sent off to his summer day job of exploring, catching fish and bugs, or not doing nothin' until called in by his uncle as if to inform him his shift is over. In adulthood we often see our 9-5 jobs as a time of stress and look forward to evenings and weekends to relax and unwind. In contrast Boku's only job was to relax.
I cannot imagine how profound and intense creating and uploading this was, nor the pressure one might feel afterward regarding any possible future releases, but... ...please make more. These are true works of art. You have no idea what these videos do for me and countless others. I think I speak for many when I say we miss you.
As someone for whom memories are extremely vague, more like themes and general periods but lacking in much definition, specifics, or detail, nostalgia has always seemed to me to lack much appeal. I have not often felt it, because my brain forces me to live in the now while reflecting on the past feels like grasping at air that slips through my fingers. But with Tim's raw emotion, I've been able to understand so much better and even dredge up a few things I thought had been lost in the dark corridors of memory. Thank you, Tim. In many ways I feel like my life has been the opposite of yours, but rhymes in interesting ways that I can't help but notice. Thank you for letting us in, and inviting us to reflect on ourselves.
I'm kinda shocked at how much I cried during this video. I'm also someone in Wichita (right now actually) with childhood memories that constantly replay, and other memories for that matter. I have PTSD, and had always thought myself a person with a terrible memory, much like the rest of my family. I now know that my family never really forgets anything, and that trauma locks away entire passages of our lives because we can't simply forget the Bad Times like our minds ought to. I went through a lot of therapy and learned, rather out of the blue, after accessing some of the other awful moments of my memory: there it was, everything else, too. I watched this video, I heard about Rohit and Rahej; I remembered Nazim and Deepak, whose father owned an Indian restaurant where I have formative memories. I remember the restaurant, and also whenever I remembered the restaurant, I remembered that too. I looked him up; maybe it's time to go home again, now that I remember why I felt like I missed it, but couldn't place why. Thank you, Tim.
And that's the beauty of this video. The game review is just a jumping off point for so much more. Boku no natsuyasumi forced Tim to go home and revisit his memories directly. And provided catharsis for so many people along the way for so many reasons. Amazing. Thanks for sharing.
He streams every friday on Twitch, just in case you weren't aware. And there are archives of at least a lot of those streams. They're not the same as his videos but they're definitely on par with anything I'd want to watch/listen to him talk about or play games about. I'd personally refer to them streams as bangers, as well as his top tier videos.
For anyone who clicked on this video, got intimidated by the length, and stopped to read the comments…I implore you to watch this in chunks over time. These reviews are more akin to enjoying a good book. So take your time and enjoy. It’ll be worth it. I watched this entire video over the course of a week and I’m glad I did.
Only watched it mostly listen to bcs I was midely sick, stuck in bed for 12 hours and couldnt get up to turn it off... Otherwise no thanks. Most of it, it's rambling and repeating things, feels like he had a stroke or something... this video shouldn't be 6 hours long. One hour maximum if even that much. It's ok to review something and throw in your life experiences but when you drag it out to 6 hours with repeating and rambling nonsense then my dude you need to get a life instead of putting together such videos ... But I guess this is typical content for him since this is the type of community he created here (subs) The overall message about the game is ok at best. He didn't invented hot water after all, nothing groundbreaking at all... Another thing that stood out and I remember him wishing that more games be like this when most indie games are pretty much just like this and even free or dirt cheap ... So not sure wtf is this dude rambling over that much ... If you want to play some normal games dig for them, if you cannot be bothered then just stop playing games billions of people including myself stopped gaming, you can do it too. Plenty of places and activities in life to replace it with. Besides he said his favorite game is a Mario game, that is something a washed up hipster would say so with that said cannot take him seriously even slightest for the other things too. Of all the games out there and alegedly you playing them when you say you like Zelda or Mario games you lost all credit. It's been a hipster fad for some time now and it's really sickening. So not sure if he throws in these as hipster credits or wtf is his agenda but seems like the dude have issues trying hard to fit in the ''cool'' zone but still mixes it with some sob stories like it means a damn thing.
Final Fantasy X-2 has the main character move past an old romance that's ended if you get the 70-99% ending but becomes permanently obsessed with rekindling it despite it being impossible in the 100% ending
@@vfxninja5503 my favorite part is that the 100% ending is fucking insane and requires you to mash the fuck out of x during two specific parts of the game, get specific cutscenes to randomly trigger, has no way to know if you fucked it up, and even with a walk-through it sometimes just doesn't work. it's a really cool way of making its point clear imo
"Jet Moto does NOT predate Waveracer but you gotta admit. It LOOKS like it does." This will be the thing I point out in the comments here. This was a joy to watch and listen to, thank you once again.
That final monologue concerning the dead friend really got me. Such a beautifully written meditation on death and reality. Thank you for being so vulnerable on camera Tim.
Seriously, same here. To quote the late, great Terry Pratchett, “No one is finally dead until the ripples they cause in the world die away, until the clock wound up winds down, until the wine she made has finished its ferment, until the crop they planted is harvested. The span of someone’s life is only the core of their actual existence.” Tim Rogers brought Jerrlea "Dunn" Johnson Puntch back to life, in a way, by sharing her with us through this video.
@@TheUtterChrisp This all inspired me to contact an art teacher I had 20 years ago. One of the most passionate teachers I ever had. He just LOVED this. I'm about to enter into a new career, as an artist, and I am totally going to connect with that person that may totally not remember me, just to thank him. I remember his classes a lot and it may very well have led me, 20 years later, to actually act on this and stop my boring job. We are the sum of all the experiences we lived, and even if it seems small compared to all of them, it still counts! It must be amazing to know that you had such an effect on someone else in their formative years. I wish Tim had closure with Jerrlea, but this video really honored her memory, it's amazing.
Another absolute masterpiece. Tim’s stuff is always moving but this was on another level. Profound and poetic in ways I struggle to express. The “meanwhile our shattering animals” section made me cry several times throughout, its ending in particular had me weeping so much I had to stop the video (first to compose myself then to rewatch three more times). I feel like I understand myself and my own feelings better having seen it. Thank you, Tim, for sharing so much of yourself with us.
“Nostalgia resounds loudest when we feel a feeling that forces from us a declaration of ‘I didn’t keep this’”- Tim Rogers 2022. I Will remember this quote forever
Feel like this game fit your review style even better than even Tokimeki Memorial, which was my previous favorite episode. As always, I love the obsession with always putting relevant footage in the background, even going so far as grabbing footage from other games. That Metal Wolf Chaos shot over your "I did hate my home country and I think everyone should give it a shot" was perfect.
The Tokimeki Memorial episode is the first time a video game review made me genuinely emotional. Edit: And this is the first video game review that made me openly weep.
I must have seen it 6 times already. I just love it. I am way more appreciative of my past, of the experiences I lived, the ones I did not, and I am content with who I am. While this video is not the only reason for this, it certainly played a big part. I need to contact one of my teacher until it's too late!
After an extremely difficult time in my life, I am so thankful I was lucky enough to watch the full premiere of this review. It's true, "places don't remember us." It seems like "all of us speedran childhood." In fact, I watched this in my childhood bedroom. But that's ok. People remember us, whether that's placing my graduation leis on my grandmother's grave or welcoming my new brother-in-law into our family. There's something important even beyond going outside. I'm inspired to do something different and meaningful for me, and the memory of it can come along too, if it likes. Fantastic work Tim. Your vocabulary maximalism has never been so compelling, and I just finished reading "Snow Crash" by Neal Stephenson! I will be rewatching part 5 whenever I'm down
I cried and took the take away I got from this to my therapy session. It's a hard thing to confront not just nostalgia, but multiple griefs. Thank you for pouring out your soul in this one and I hope putting it out there gave you some sort of catharsis.
The comments, sublime. Honestly I have yet to read a bad one. He's the video game reviewer connoisseurs of the form come to see, I swear. Those who have believed that for the longest time, video games can be art, but more than that, they can be an amalgamation of several forms of art.
I'm approaching 5 hours in and from roughly the halfway point of section 5 on I've been in tears. I can't imagine that level of awareness of memories all day every day uninterrupted. That suffocating nostalgia. Just listening to you describe your teacher, your home, your school... I just cried.
This is going to feel like a strange comment amidst the jokes and general appreciation for this review, but it feels necessary to share here. I live in Lewiston Maine, last night a man shot dozens of people with 18 confirmed deaths and my town is in lockdown while a manhunt is ongoing. I woke up this morning at 4:30 am with a text from my manager confirming that our store would not be opening today. I started rewatching this video because I suddenly found myself with a long day inside the house that would, without distraction, become fraught with stress. I have watched the video in chunks in between ritually checking the news and updating friends and family that yes, I am safe. I just finished part 5 and I've found myself intensely overwhelmed by the knowledge that this event is going to become The Thing that the city I live in will be known for. I will get older and I will continue to live in Lewiston and it will become The Maine Town With The Bowling Alley Shooting. If I live to fifty, sixty, seventy, my nostalgia will become of this event. I will try to carve out a life that feels worthwhile amidst streets that will become internationally synonymous with The Gun Control Debate. I and my wife are unharmed and my friends are, thankfully, blessedly, safe, but we are in the fulcrum of a traumatic event and I feel like part 5 of this video understands what I am going through, despite my situations being so separated from the reason Tim decided to create this video. I will venture on and watch part 6 to completion so that I can say I spent the first and hopefully only day in lockdown absorbing this video as a way of embracing another's experience across decades. I think I will remember this day vividly. This review's empathy comes in unusual ways from oblique angles, and the genre of pain I've been feeling today, in spite of its specificity, has felt appropriate to the emotions Tim wanted to put forward. So I wanted to say thank you, Tim, for sharing this and yourself with us
Good post. I know this feeling all too well, having grown up in Colorado, near where the climbing shooting happened, I went to highschool with and my sister was friends with one of the September gay suicides children (rest in peace Harrison, and all the rest,) an unsolved bowling alley shooting in Littleton, the shooting at the movie theater in Aurora during the Dark Knight rises, etc. After this is when I started seeing shootings become popular across the country, not just a few miles from my home, it really seemed like for the first half of my life that these things only happened in Colorado for some reason. But there were always more shootings in my area, somehow they seemed to catch national news a little bit harder and stock around a bit longer than some, at least when you morbidly compare tragedies. . . Anyways, your town likely won't be remembered for the shooting, speaking from my personal experience here, this is rather unfortunate I think actually, as it generally means nothing will actually change.
You were breaking my heart showing how close you were to Ms Dunn's resting place and not going. Then your return had me crying pretty hard and took me too long to understand what was going on. Thank you for returning to visit her. Your work is inspirational and unlike anyone else sharing to youtube or anywhere else really. Thank you to you and everyone else for working so hard to make such a lovely piece. Each one has been better than the last.
I was not ready for part 5. I feel absolutely gutted and yet there is a fragile sense of beauty washing over me. I'm in tears, unable to finish packing for the trip I have planned tomorrow. You turned a video game review into one of the most emotionally charged videos on all of youtube. Only you.
I've been watching this review by chapters for the last... 5 months? I ended it on January 4th, here on the southern hemisphere where it's summer, at the end of my oh so short holidays from work. This is the best video game review I've watched in my life and possibly the best thing I've seen in all of 2024. Thank you for the joy and the tears, Tim. Truly, thank you for this.
All Tim's reviews are already more than unique, but this one is his best yet. You can feel nothing more than honest and pure love for both his craft and this precious game. He is the only person who can make you watch a 6 hour review and appreciate every single moment from start to finish, even cry at certain sequences. Congrats Tim.
Probably the most impactful video I've watched to date. Genuinely cried more than a couple of times throughout this journey. Aaaaah, I lack the words to describe poetically just how I felt but thank you. Thank you Tim for your work.
I was the "rochelle" of my class. People found a reason to make fun of me even though I was alright. Very middle. Nothing noteworthy. But I rubbed a kid the wrong way and soon I became the target of mockery, with kids reaching far to find a way to twist my name into disgust. Like Rochelle I was smart enough not to fight it; that would be pointless. I used that opportunity to make new friends. Associate with new people. From that year on I only associated with the "different" kids for the rest of my school. The only friends I made were troublemakers or quiet kids. We shared laughs and scowls. It's good to know these people. But becoming "outcast" damaged me permanently, I realize now. I don't know if I would change anything, having shared secrets and confidence with other outcast kids. But I am damaged, still. Rochelle undoubted is too. My sympathy is with her.
[sorry for my broken english] I hope you don't mind if I tell you I readed your comment and thought "I can relate". That made me to click in your favourites playlist and I discovered a few great vids I didn't know. So thank you
This will always be my favorite...thing on RUclips. Unless Tim tops himself again. Probably rewatched this 10 times already and every time it's just as incredible.
I can already tell that Tim is going to make me cry a lot this video so I'm going to have to take this video real slow. Edit, while the video did not make me cry a lot it did make me cry once. The memories of Tim's uncle were so heartwarming only for the gut punch of his death from covid to make me burst into tears. His death was in a similar time frame to the death of my mother from covid. Her favorite flowers were sunflowers. It was deeply emotional video for me, thank you Tim.
This is the first video that I’ve ever seen of yours. I’m a big fan of long-form content and, when I saw your video was over 6 hours long, I thought I’d found a great source of second monitor content to put on while I played a game alongside watching it. I initially put off watching it for a bit as I needed to find some free time to consume it and got around to doing so today. First off, I don’t think that anything I can say will truly express the full depth and range of emotions that I went through when watching this. It was a true rollercoaster from start to finish, at some point giving me a great sense of motivation and drive and at other points bringing me close to tears with various other emotions that I would never have expected cropping up too such as longing and acceptance. I noticed about 2 hours in that, at some point, I’d closed the game that I’d initially intended to play alongside it and was, instead, fully enraptured in your video, enjoying your discussion and breakdown of the game’s finer details and design choices. The depth you went into discussing the various facets of the game from a deep understanding and explanation of the mechanics to an analysis of what certain design choices could mean in a more “meta” sense was so interesting to listen to. This video hit something deep within me and I got a real sense of raw human emotions at various parts throughout. When you took the sunflowers to Jerrlea’s grave, that probably hit me the hardest. I also couldn’t help but feel Shirabe’s heartbreak every time you showed her running after the car, waving, especially with the added context of Boku acting as a stand-in for her brother and how this is the second time she’s having to say goodbye to a brother or brother-like figure. You may never read this comment but I just wanted to thank you for this video and experience. You’ve earned a new subscriber and probably another view on most of your other videos. I’ve had a look at your channel and noticed that you prefer quality over quantity and I eagerly anticipate your next work, whenever that may be.
It's impossible for me to get people to watch Action Button, so it makes me happy to see someone who gave it a chance and loved it as much as I do. I recommend every single episode, but you should definitely watch Tokimeki Memorial. It has a similar vibe, in that Tim goes deep on a Japanese-only game that explores the desire of Japanese salarymen to return to their youth, and all the emotions that stirs within a player who becomes truly engrossed by the game. You also get more meaty tangents about Tim's life. I believe that's the one where he discusses the mystery of who burned down his high school gymnasium.
@@donnylurch4207 Yeah, I really love long-form content, it's just a matter of finiding the time to watch it. I did notice Tokimeki Memorial was his second longest video after this one so I'll have to wait until I have another free day to watch it but I'll get around to it eventually. : )
I dont know who you are, snd this vid just got pushed to me. I sat and watched the whole thing. All six hours. Yoire an incredible story teller. Im all tears at the end of this story.
The comment about there being an hentai with the name natsuyasumi that appeared at 2:52:31 as he mentioned purity made me crack up. This is video is so well done, it has too much heart and soul to survive in the violence hungry western market.
5:12:21 This part hits so much harder if you'd read Tim's blog/essay "a friendly letter to everyone" before. I highly recommend everyone go read it - it's a short piece but is one of the most soul-crushingly devastating works of writing I have ever read. The first time I read the entire thing, I cried uncontrollably for a good few minutes
Meanwhile, our shattering animals... Man, I remember seeing a different video about how you shouldn't really trust entertainers or performers because the person they show may not even be real. But then I read that essay or watch this video and I can't reconcile with the idea that Tim is not genuine.
thank you for sharing it. I hadn't read it before, but it was referenced in his video series "let's mosey," the climax of which also made me cry uncontrollably.
I'm not a particularly superstitious person, yet I can't shake the feeling that this video appeared in my life at the exact moment I needed it to. I'm normally turned off by super long videos, but I kept this one in my Watch Later playlist for a couple days since it had so many views and there was so much glowing praise in the comments. I checked it out for a few minutes to see if I would even enjoy a 6-hour video on a game I've never heard of, from a guy I've never heard of. Initially, I was expecting it to be a pretty good review that would open my eyes to a hidden gem that I should consider checking out, even if it ended up being a bit too long for my tastes. What I wasn't expecting was to resonate so heavily with both the themes of this game and the reviewer's experiences surrounding it, and to be enamored with every passing minute. Currently, I'm at a crossroad in my life, though it feels more akin to sleep paralysis. It's like my life is happening around me the same way over and over again, and I'm helpless to do anything about it. I recently graduated college, but "recent" is becoming less and less of an accurate descriptor as I'd like it to be. I spent four years wandering aimlessly through college, two of those years spent under quarantine, having plans on turning around my life, but then graduating with the feeling that I blew every opportunity I was given. I have a degree that I'm not sure I want. I didn't make the connections with people I had hoped to. I can blame the pandemic as much as I wish, but the truth is a large part of how things turned out are a result of my own failures. After college, I tried to find a job with my degree, and it took me a solid 6 months for that to happen. In the meantime, I did a whole bunch of nothing. As the new year approaches, and as I prepare to start my first job out of school, I shudder to think how it's possible for 2023 to both feel like one of the worst years of my life, and yet I struggle to find many distinct memories to anchor that feeling onto. With all that said, there was something in this video that was particularly sobering to me: the idea of "everyone doing childhood wrong." It's easy to get caught up in everything I've done wrong, remembering chances I didn't take, mistakes I made, moments where my life's trajectory could've turned out completely different had I made the "correct" choice. It's refreshing to see a game where the most satisfying of alternate endings comes not from the rote pursuit of pure, completionist perfection, but rather by just being willing to meet the game on its terms, being curious and enthusiastic about what it has to offer, but not becoming so wrapped up in "not missing out" that you neglect to enjoy what you are able to experience in a finite amount of time. It's truly beautiful how a man I've never met talking about a game I've never played could have such a profound impact on me. I apologize for my meandering, verbose, self-indulgent comment, but I suppose meandering, verbose self-indulgence is one of the many things that makes this review so great. I'm eager to see what else Action Button has to offer.
According to the transcript, he says "Boku no Natsuyasumi" 285 times. That averages out to once every 78 seconds. And that's including the 72 minute long tangent where he doesn't say it at all. If you took that part out, then he says "Boku no Natsuyasumi" once every 63 seconds.
I really needed this. I'm often fearful of the fundamental incompleteness of my life. I feel like recent experiences have taken something essential away from who I am and now I have nothing left but to look back and wonder at who that now-stranger could have become. I don't have any experiences from Kansas, but hearing your ruminations on memory and the function of nostalgia along with your specific reminiscences gave me some hope. We can't take back all that we lose, but we can search, and in that interrogation maybe we can find someone new to become. Thank you, Tim. You really are a treasure. Subbed for funny long-winded game review man, stayed for the genuinely life-affirming perspective.
Feeling nostalgic for someone else's childhood is a strange phenomenon. Somehow, seeing those sunflowers on Mrs. Dunn's grave brought me to tears. This video made me feel some kind of connection to people and places I've never known. When Tim said he was going to open up and reveal more of his true self in season two, I wasn't really sure what to expect. Thank you for sharing, Tim. And thank you for this beautiful review.
I connected with part 5 to a degree I was not prepared for. Tim's thesis and prose of leaving one's self and childhood physically as the son of a military employee who moved around a lot as a child helped open up thoughts of nostalgia and place and memories that myself, the son of a military employee who moved around a lot as a child, that I've only intermediately been able to interact with and tease out form. A number of years ago I found myself closer to one of those remote locations I lived in than I ever hoped to be near enough to again and journeyed to one of my mid-west hometowns. The school was closed so I wasn't able to tour but I was able to peak in and had the same visceral memories return as he explored here. This video and his words will probably live with me for the rest of my life as I approach his age and continually explore what it means to have memories and be a person remembering things. Tim, if you ever see this, thank you.
i fucking love the tangents you go on. an hour in now but my favourite moments has been you talking about the pronouns, your coworker telling you to play boku no natsuyami, and the woman telling you that you tilt your head weird LOL
the story of sitting in the office talking about this game with the two different coworkers was so compelling even though it consisted mostly of "and then HE said...". absolutely masterful, Mr Rogers Edit: the emotional climax being entirely in Japanese also hits different
A very rough translation is that the section chief said "it's kinda weird/gross for a foreigner to play Boku no natsuyasumi". Tim said "did you say gross?-" the section chief then said "it's the same feeling as someone reading my diary. Ugh stop"
Never heard of this channel before this week. Been consuming this in manageable chunks since it was published, just got to the end. I loved it. The line at 6:07:17 "I felt suddenly like I had just gotten caught eating Cheetos at a funeral, to which nobody had invited me." Whoa, man. This line, combined with the silent Christmas tree, made me feel strangely afraid. Also, I played through PoPoLoCrois for the PSP and had a great time; I never thought I would hear the series mentioned. That was cool.
There's so much to say, but Tim I did want to let you know that I think this is in all regards the best episode to date. Thank you so much for everything that you do. You've been one of the primary sources of joy in my life over the last five years.
It was a really really special experience watching this live as someone who has never seen your content before, it moved me so much that after I finished it, I immediately read your article "just like hamburger; exactly like hamburger" which is maybe the most personal content I've ever seen from anyone and is a very beautiful story so thank you for making all this wonderful content.
The absolute, raw thrill of beginning an Action Button video whilst unaware of its length.
*Edit* This comment is from the upload/livestream; that's why I didn't know it was a six hour punch in the feels. Thought I'd explain b/c I didn't know this would get so many likes!
this mfer is STILL PREMIERING WE ARE BLESSED
It's 2:46am at my place and the video is still not over oh god
@@benisser Don't look at the video description :)
@@Maldito011316 why would you kill me like that!? haha
The cackling giddiness when it's over 4 hours & you don't even know how to pronnounce the game's name.
“Places don’t remember us, and if they do- we’re dead.”
this video was tim’s best work yet. so thorough, emotional, and thought provoking. i cant wait to see whats next.
💯
Next is LA Noir. He said so back in the tokimeki memorial review. I wonder what he will find, and the journey he'll take us on :D
While I put the Tokimeki Memorial review on a very, VERY high standard for the sheer entertainment value and mind blowing video editing, this one felt quite a bit more intimate and emotional and has definitely left a much stronger mark on me. I was quite emotional myself during the last segment when Tim recalls his trip back to his childhood town and school. I had a feeling an Action Button review around a game like Boku no natsuyasumi would be quite the masterpiece, I was right. It tangents on very philosophical topics revolving around memory, nostalgia, self-definition and much more. I feel sorry for Tim for missing the chance to reach out to his most influential childhood teacher.
Read just like hamburger, exactly like hamburger, it's a cousin novella of this essay, especially the part 5.
@@zatchi7811 I second this. His work "a friendly letter to everyone" also ties in well.
There is still so much to enjoy in this video. Thanks, tim.
I heard a statement recently that went something like “You can’t make a masterpiece without making yourself vulnerable to those who interact with it” and this, with full sincerity, is a masterpiece. Better than most movies I’ve watched
Couldn't have said it better myself. Off topic, but your current pfp was my pfp earlier this year. lol
@@SundreeOFFICIAL hell yeah, fucking love Famicom Detective Club
Looked into your profile for fun ayyy smt music
Unfortunately you can't make a piece of shit without making yourself vulnerable to people who interact with it, either. 😑
😢 omg yes
My oldest son is 7. Very much still a boku. He grew up in Southern California and is certainly not Japanese. He does the head thing you described from your date all the time. When he does this head tilt, it is usually accompanied by a statement in the form of a question. It goes something like this, "I'm going to school tomorrow?" Or perhaps, "I can't have more cheezits?" I often joke about this with my wife, but your story gave me a moment to contemplate his mannerisms. I have often asked if this is a learned behavior. I don't care where it came from. I just am glad that I've spent that extra moment to appreciate it. There are many small moments that flow past as time moves on. I've forgotten some of my children's silly younger habits that used to amuse my wife and I. Thanks to this moment of reflection, I don't think I will forget Jack's head tilt.
Noticing those delightful little things is so important in all aspects of life !
Shout out to Karl Zitterkopf, dropped his shoe into a hole and ate an entire pizza, did not get his 5 dollars. Legend.
He’s not allowed to invite that boy over ever again
Should have just showed up at his house and handed him one shoe.
😂
@@swarmland don't do that
Knock it off kiddos
As someone named Alyssa who definitely DOES NOT hate you and who ALSO happens to be from Kansas this episode was quite a trip for me.
did you attend minneha elementary in wichita kansas between 1985 and 1990 lmao
@@ActionButton Unfortunately no. I'm from another part of Kansas (near Topeka actually) and was born later. Still a heck of a coincidence though!
I like your use of capitalisation in this comment which allows us to read it in the classic Tim Rogers cadence.
@@MintyDragonfly 😂 exactly what I did.
Topeka, Kansan here too! 👋
My part of this project entailed marking and notating raw gameplay footage so that Tim could use it for editing. I saw this game played through both times, but could only guess what was happening in the story until this final product was released.
My favorite revelation (at this moment) is the significance of Boku’s older cousin playing “My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean” on her clarinet. She’s crying out for a faraway lover.
Alex, that's amazing. Thank you for your hard work and for that insight!
Bro what a trip that must have been haha. Thanks for your efforts!
Came for Tim, stayed for Jaffe!
I know that was probably tedious, but my god, what an honour to have been involved in this work of art. You're so fortunate.
the legendary alex "gorblax" jaffe
I find myself coming back to this and the Tokimeki Memorial video and watching them in their entirety over and over. It's obvious this guy has other things going on in his life and making videos for RUclips isn't a priority, but man, I wish he would make regular video essays. These videos are are just the best. Tim Rogers is a fantastic writer.
I was just hoping he'd dropped another one honestly.
The videos are high priority. He actually spends like 12 hours a day every day on these youtube videos, they just take forever to make. A hurculean effort! but the finished videos are my all time favourites :)
@@yohoyona Yea, masterpieces through and through.
He streams once a week on Twitch, from time to time I check that to see if he is still kicking, if you want news about his videos you should go there.
@@briansilva3765 I will! Thank you.
Before watching this video, I’d never heard of Boko No Natsuyasumi nor Tim Rogers. And yet, I’ve just watched six hours of this stranger talk
about a game that I didn’t even know existed when I started the video. This is truly one of the greatest videos I’ve ever watched on this site, and it’s most definitely the most thought-provoking and eye-opening video game review I’ve ever seen. Thank you everyone involved for making this, you have truly made an incredible piece of art.
You should watch his tokimeki memorial review.
You should check out the rest of his work including his kotaku videos
highly recommend the doom and Pac-Man videos.
Tim’s videos are unlike anything else on RUclips. He is the Final Boss of video game journalism. He is the Beginning . He is the End. He is Action Button.
my brother showed me him one day long ago and i have been eating his content ever since. He's never missed.
My Roommate: "What are you watching?"
Me: "It's this 6 hour long video game review of an old Japanese game, I'm two hours into it already"
My Roommate: "Damn, what's the game about?"
Me: "Uhm... I don't actually know yet... but the menus are cool!"
This is the true Tim Rogers experience.
it's about a kid name boku and his summer vacation, he probably mentions that in the first 30 minutes with 15 of those being the boku triple meaning
@@AntonioCardenasT I'm still weirded out about the kid's actual name being Boku. It's like Master Chief's real name being John Halo.
@@nedinnis6752 More like if Masterchief's true name was "I am Halo"
Wow. Season 2 of Tim Roger’s Action Button’s reviews has come a long way since PAC-MAN
There are seasons??
He is here to talk to us monsters
@@lunarbound9975 Yeah, season 1 was about video games and cyberpunk and their history.
i know, and it's not just another DOOM clone!
⚰️⚰️⚰️
my mom died yesterday. She had parkinsons and dementia. Even before she died, I kept going back here. I took care of her for 3 years. I keep thinking about this. Its the most beautiful line, a shattering animal. Ive never heard it explained so well. Thank you so much for that.All of what we are is animal, not just our memories.
Tim Rogers, much like a wizard, is neither late nor early. He arrives precisely when he means to.
Underrated comment
👏👏
Unless we die before the next installment :/…. That happens you know….
@@Puppy_Puppington Even those born unwise need not to perish empty.
Whaddya mean LIKE a wizard?
Hour one: _This is so chill heck yeah_
Hour three: _Oh, wow this game I never really knew much about truly is fascinating! I love learning!_
Hour five: _I am bawling my eyes out and reconsidering the way I think about existing and memory and nostalgia and what it is to Be._
I never thought i’d be ending a shift at work weeping at the existentialism and human-ness in this “game review”
oh hey, i know how to play that Glocca Morra song because of your tabs. hi!
Tam this bangs
I knew this was gonna happen with how the cyberpunk review talked, and then the opening. It was worth the wait!
I’m not crying
Hey Tim, I know it must be hard, or at least tiring, to bare your heart in these videos, but I'm really glad you do. Your scripts make me reflect on my own writing and they're very emotional. I'd say you even managed to make me feel nostalgic for the nostalgia you felt for Topeka even though I've never been there. Thank you for this series, for introducing me to this game, and to being here.
There's only one problem - "inverted" vertical controls should be viewed as "normal," as they're the natural way to use vertical movement with a stick. Anything else is simply wrong. As much as I respect Tim, he dropped the ball on this with his personal opinion that is clearly a matter of individual preference.
@@RabidDogma how do you mean the "natural" way?
@@AnarchoLoserist I'm pretty sure it's a joke. Only a *weirdo freak* would think there's anything natural about a joystick.
@@AnarchoLoserist because irl you pull your head back to look up
@@rosaistired bingo
I was wondering, "how can a game review be 6 hours long?" After watching this, I wish there were more 6 hour game reviews that incorporated our shared existential dilemmas.
@@sparklesparklesparkle6318 Awesome! Thanks will do
@@sparklesparklesparkle6318Thorhighheels was a fairly recent guest on the Insert Credit podcast, which is hosted by Tim Rogers and one of the contributors credited on this.
how CAN'T a game review be 6 hours long?
The channel "I Finished A Video Game" has some good lengthy retrospective/reviews
More 6 hour video reviews on games and ruminating on life, and less video games, I like the sound of that.
Tim.... Thank you for having HBomberguy lighten the mood after you hit me with that philosophical, emotional giant bag of bricks. In all seriousness, part 5 of this review can stand on it's own as a masterfully written and delivered memoir. It speaks to the soul and all that it means to be alive and human. I appreciate you showing this genuine and vulnerable side of yourself. I know it's much harder to do in this sort of medium, as opposed to simply writing. This is so much more than a review of boku no natsuyasumi. This was truly thought-provoking and inspirational to me, and I won't forget it.
genuinely tearing up. s1 kept me going for the long brutal years of 2020-21. thank you, tim
I honestly wish there was a leader board to see who has re-watched s1 the most times
@@leftovernoise I've watched every S1 Action Button review at *least* 3 times.
Except cyberpunk. I've only done a completion run of that one *once*. And trust me, for a video of that magnitude, once is plenty.
(How'd you like my impression of Tim Rogers's voice)
@@imnotimportant6831 haha, definitely read that in Tim's voice. I've run through the cyberpunk videos at least 3 or 4 times, and many more for the rest, but, I have 12 hours a day at work to listen to something in my right ear bud, and when I'm out of new things I listen to some of my favorites over again
@@imnotimportant6831 you can really hear the at least, nice
@@imnotimportant6831 guess what, buddy?? I've ALSO watched s1 in its entirety AT LEAST 3 times. In fact, I'm STILL watching it right today in September 25th 2022 at 19:37 in my imagination while I watch this premiere of s2e1 in a hotel while covering myself with the greasy residue of the things I've never never experienced at least 3 times!!!
... I guess that basically makes at least 2 or more of us, kinda...
Can't wait to spend 6 hours watching a detailed breakdown of a game I've never heard of. My body is ready.
This. I’m so ready.
Wait till you discover "what game?"
i just saw clicked here for the first time and Its 5 hours and 57 minutes in, so you nailed it
Good guess lol
i got 10 minutes in and couldnt deal with it any more, good luck
Two of my friends (those being two of the people I know whose opinions on art I value the most) suggested I watch this video, and thank god they did because this might be one of the best things I've ever seen online. The emotional gamut I've just been run through was indescribable and enlightening, heart-wrenching and inspiring. Thank you! Just thank you.
By the way, when you started talking about your memory condition I was so struck because my memory is VERY similar and oh my GOD does it suck! I agree that photographic/eidetic isn't the right term, so I've taken to calling it an "archival" memory. People in my life make fun of me for it often, in a good-hearted way. Once my sister called me after therapy and asked me to tell her about her own childhood because she knew I'd remember it better than she would. It's... neat in its own way, but also mortifying because everything that has ever happened (including terrible things!) feels so close all the time, ya know? I often feel like nostalgia and all the powerful memories of things that are gone forever might swallow me whole. So... yeah, I exist as a comrade in this very particular type of suffering.
tell your friends i said hi
also, your experience with "good" memory differs from mine in one key area: no one in my family dares consult my recollections lmao. they'll argue about such and such tiny detail of some long-past nonsense in my (admittedly seldom!) presence, micro-glaring at me out of the sides of their eyes all the while, fearful perhaps that i'm about to stand up and yell "WRONG!!!" i just kind of let them sit around and hive-lie about and to one another in vicious spirals during any and all family gatherings. maybe that's a subject for a later essay . . . . . .
@@ActionButton Absolutely will do!
Mm, I can definitely imagine how that energy would come about. I also try not to get too into it with people like that. Arguing (or clarifying) about details of past situations or conversations always makes me paranoid I'm going to sound like BBC Sherlock or something. Like, someone could say "I never said that" and I could retort with exactly what they said, and when, and where we were, and what the room looked like, and WHERE in the room we were standing, etc. but not only is that pedantic as hell, I'm also hyper-aware that sometimes it probably sounds like I'm just making shit up. Like when I'm telling people stories about my childhood and including these incredibly mundane details, their vibes and expressions are often along the lines of "riiiiiiight." And I guess what else would they be?
But I think a lot of the people closest to me (including my immediate family) also know I've got all of our shared memories on tap for whenever they want or need them, and that's nice for them. I feel like the curator of a vast library that is usually also only patronized by myself, but others can come and go. And maybe some of them are like "Why do you even HAVE this library?" Anyway, I'll look forward to that essay!
@@notrlylolapparently the term for this kind of memory is Highly Specific Autobiographical Memory (HSAM), if you'd like to dive Wikipedia on it.
I find it fascinating to learn about, but don't really understand the limits nor the effects of it. I wonder if it's a factor in how Tim knows so many languages, or if it helped John Romero learn to code?
Tim Rogers is honest to God my favorite reviewer of all time. I think there's a magic that's brought to his reviews just by virtue of the way he abandons a neutral voice and tries to explain rather than how "good" or "bad" a game is, just explaining his connection to a work, the way his life enhanced and helped him understand his connection to the work. It makes his reviews so much more meaningful and impactful and resonant than a straight up numbered out of ten review of a game. His reviews are an essay, an op-ed, a history not just of the game but of Tim himself, and it becomes a significant and interesting piece of art in and of itself. I just think it's neat.
Damn well said
Replying to bump this higher on RUclips's comment system
Tim Rogers pioneered the Gonzo Video Essay and honestly, I stan
I recently learned that there's a word for the style you're describing: Autoethnographic
He truly is creating art and I can only watch in awe
it might be impossible for me to express how meaningful part 5 is to me. i can only say thank you, and that you’ve earned a weird, pivotal piece of the rest of my life. if all works of art are such odd time capsules of the selves we can’t always carry, i guess know, for what it’s worth, i’ll carry this piece of you.
I agree. Part 5 was simply incredible.
Agreed. Part 5 was my favorite Tim Rogers thus far.
Tim is one of the most thoughtful and vulnerable speakers that exist
I think it's testament to the quality of Tim's work that this is probably the only RUclips comment I've ever seen which I have considered writing down. The video is amazing, and so is your comment!
This was lovely. As a Wichita local, and someone who grew up in and around Kansas City, that whole segment affected me more personally than I imagine it was written to. I remembered the meeting I had and the meal I ate in that Towne East Mall food court with a friend that I made through your work. I remembered my father driving me around his home in Hayesville on our first visit here, the day I was to move in to my dorm room. He talked often and passionately about the memories he had, the streets he ran down, the ways that people treated him in his classrooms there. He left when he was six, and it still matters to him more than anything that I did before I was that age. I am not him, and I am not you, but that cordline connection between those stories moved me in ways that I couldn't expect. Thank you.
i'll let you know next time i'm in town for a tico
@@ActionButton if it were any other content creator I'd take that as a joke. But I fully believe you will dm this person the next time you are in town.
@@janefkrbtt thats the thing with Tim... most of the time u cant tell if hes kidding or super serious or sarcastic.
And thats also what makes him very unique haha
yeah as another native kansan, that whole section blasted me. it's nice to see our unassuming state play so important a role in soemething.
Was born in Wichita. Though I was very young and have moved a lot in my life (I’m Tim’s age), the visual imprint that Kansas left on me will always be there. Like you, the sequence affected me in unexpected ways. Even the Taco Tico love was a sort of rush. I never expected it survived the last 30+ years that I’ve been gone.
Just wanted to quickly say something to Tim. This video came out right at the beginning of one of the most difficult chapters of my life. Actually have PTSD now, and I'm talking to someone about it, the worst of it is finally starting to subside. I am finally at a point where the worst of it has passed, and this chapter is coming to a close.
When I was having frequent panic attacks, I'd put this video on. The relaxing summer sounds of the crickets, the wind blowing through the trees, the way my dark bedroom would glow yellow from the sea of sunflowers. It helped me get past it. This game that I've never heard of prior to the patreon post about it, that I'll almost certainly never play, you transformed it into a whole, beautiful world that I could escape to when things got too hard.
Thanks, man.
Glad you're making it through it friend. Good luck with the recovery. Try to remember to keep healing even when things feel easy, and take every opportunity for joy.
Those are cicadas, god I feel like a dick saying that. But they're cicadas and katydids
@@Yixdy my friend, there are _also_ a significant number of instances in which crickets can be heard in this video. Sure, the cicadas are more prevalent. But there isn't anything necessarily wrong with their comment.
love when people put a whole sob story in the comments of a youtube video, buy a diary
This is the beautiful thing about art. I hope you’re doing well.
I love whenever Tim talks about a conversation held in Japan, and sometimes, usually for a negative response, says it entirely in Japanese, untranslated in any form, and I then have to either understand some of the words or intuit what was said from what Tim says later in the review. These little things are actually fun to notice.
Was just thinking this on my yearly rewatch here. My Japanese ain’t what it used to be, but it’s a fun challenge to try to piece it all together.
As a French speaking dad, I revelled in the joke: “mercy boku”
Thank you for explaining the joke
🥁
@@lemfandango right?
As a native French speaker myself, I'm ashamed to say it took until Tim's amused smile before I realized the pun.
As an American Dad, I cant relate
I'm not exaggerating, or being hyperbolic here; I've been watching RUclips since 2007 and I actually think this is the most genuine, thought provoking, and simply best thing I've seen on it.
Thank you for sharing, Tim.
On the contrary I have no fucking clue what he’s talking about. Something about games. Maybe it’s the cadence that throws me off putting words in one ear and out the other
this is ear candy for weebs like us.
Tim is an artist of his field. Most video game journalists can’t come close to what he does, honestly.
I don't know about RUclips in general, but for video game related RUclips videos this is probably the best I've ever seen.
yes, I wholeheartedly agree, it hit me and changed everything
A friend recommended this video to me, Ive spent the last few nights viewing as I prepared dinner for my family. I'm not confident I've ever witnessed a more masterful piece of cinema. This video had me staring into the distance like a jerk in headlights, unlocking memories i havent opened up in a decade. Thank you
"Before David Cage found his paper crown in a bin behind a burnt-down Burger King" is gonna stick with me for a while, what a phrase.
Sometimes you're like "Tim Rogers can find the depth and love in anything, he hates nothing", and then other times he'll wrathfully smite a fool with a perfect 16-word burn.
@@brandoncarbaugh7994 yeah this is like the most negative ive seen him
I ⏪ at least 3 times every time I get to that point in the video. ♥️
RIP David "Rusty" Cage
Your games were never good, you just had Sony's cake.....
@Sylfest Strutle im just joking. Like he got burnt so bad he died, or I were to write this in the future where he eventually passes :p
I'm in absolute stitches listening to the story about Tim's cool older co-workers arguing over whether or not he should play boku no yasuasemi. He sounds so worshiping of how cool they are, it's great.
Natsuasemi
@@WearWolfeAssassin nailed it
Book of nasal passagey
Right!? My gf and I had a bet and she got pretty close!
Does anyone have a translation for that anecdote? I know Tim summed it up later that the crew chief was expressing that he felt it was creepy when foreigners engage in Japanese culture, but there seemed to be some crucial nuances in the delivery. Really wish Tim had at least subtitled that part.
Thought I'd translate the little bit at 50:28 because it's utterly hilarious and charming:
"The idea of a foreigner playin' Boku-Natsu--it's just creepy!"
"'Creepy'...?"
"...It's like you're reading every page of my diary...
...Just, no."
Thanks! I needed that!
Thank you very much!
Cheers for that. Added a little something.
Thank you, through being a weeb I had half understood what was being said but I needed the confirmation that I had understood well.
The delivery of that "Kimochi warui tte...!?" was sending me regardless
Tim translates these lines as a reveal for non-Japanese speakers like...a couple minutes later in the video itself
I was so surprised and delighted to see a foreign RUclipsr review this game in such detail. This game is truly my all-time favorite. I've lost count of how many times I've cried while playing and watching it. While more recent games may have better graphics, nothing is more nostalgic for me than this game. The adventure, scenery, sounds, and overall experience always remind me of my childhood memories of summer vacation in elementary school. As a Japanese fan, I sincerely hope that more people around the world get to know and play this game because the content is truly touching and interesting. If you understand the conversations in this game, I guarantee that you will fall in love with it immediately. Even after more than 20 years since its release, many Japanese game streamers still play this game.
The fact that a fan translator announced that he was working on a translation of BokuNatsu 2 actually made the news a couple months ago.
I'm pretty excited to get the chance to play it for myself.
I started playing it to learn Japanese and now I really want to go to the Japanese inaka and get the full bokunatsu experience. I wonder if they'll find it weird to see a grown-ass man with a bug net and a kite
@@nisnastjust to let ya know, if you haven't heard already - it's out, and it works :)
POV: it's 1995 and you went to an Oasis concert. By some struck of luck you managed to get a backstage pass and a chance to meet the band. When Liam and Noel start arguing you meet a third Gallagher brother (Normal Gallagher is his name) who pulls you aside and starts talking with you about an obscure japanese videogame for over 6 hours
gd that gave me a very good laugh, thanks
I'm a big Oasis fan. If only they have half the talent tim has they would be bigger than the beatles
Yer gunna 'ave ta give this wicked Boku no Natsuyasumi a look 'ere our kid.
the hair really does make him look like a sibling lmao
god damn, man. i love the visual. like i was really there. thank you.
After this sat in my "watch later" list for 3 months, I clicked on it thinking "I'll just watch a few minutes to confirm that I don't want to watch a 6 hour review of a game I never heard of". Instead, like I had crossed the event horizon of a black hole, I couldn't stop watching, and every second, I was getting sucked in faster and faster.
This is one of the most amazing videos I've ever seen. Like an amazing book, I'm tempted to start it again right away, to experience it again and see what I missed. If 3 times is too many times to play "boku no natsuyasumi", how many times can I watch this "review" before it's too many?
Lol just thinking same shit I’ve been watching on my phone for the past 4 days lol.
FYI I first found him last week from a dragon quest 11 review… I hated him so much I researched him…. Now I can’t get enough..
@@PixelGod240 I originally saw some random video of his on Kotaku. Hated it. At a later point saw he had his own channel. Attempted the final fantasy video. Wasn't my vibe. About a year later I ran out of stuff on RUclips and his pacman video got recommended. It bore a hole into my brain and I have since listened to all of his videos many many times over. Love his writing so much
@@leftovernoise
Going on Kotaku was your first mistake.
😮😮😮
i love how tim rogers' verbose vocabulary rubs off on anyone who has the pleasure of experiencing his work
The transition from crying over your last words (of section 5) into the bedtime island section was sublime emotional whiplash. Thank you.
Quite possibly the greatest RUclips video ever made.
Tim Rogers has to think about his entire life before he reviews a game
Just like Dewey cox has to think about his whole life before he plays.
Suggesting, then, that some of the greatest video games can inspire in us various permutations of existential musing. I would tend to agree with him, if that is indeed how he thinks.
making a pie from scratch
@@felix5287 I think we first have to invent the universe, do we not?
@@garydiamondguitarist He is basiclly asking and answering that question in each of these reviews.
Hearing Hbomb pop in right as I was finishing starting to tear up was just the juxtaposition I needed, thank you
I just sat in disbelief thinking "No way that's hbomberguy." and then said out loud "Oh my god. That's hbomberguy."
I literally had to put down the dishes I was washing to grab the sink and cry and then I didn't know wheter to laugh or cry. Well played.
@@solomon9655 He also narrated a hilariously bad review from an old game magazine in Action Button's review of Doom
@@jamesmoore3879 the famous “talk to those creatures” review?!
I think I'm going to remember "I am all of the places I have ever been, all of the time" and "places don't remember us" for the rest of my life. Thank you for making this. And thank you for part 5.
I know he will never see this comment but this dude has really changed the way I think about life. In one of his reviews, he talks about maybe inspiring someone who inspires someone who does something great. I believe these silly game reviews are actually historically consequential in this way. Modern age does not create much of a forum for philosophy or actual free exchange of ideas. He has taken an unguarded corner of the modern media landscape and planted a theoretically permanent flag for simply slowing down and thinking. Much appreciated
Well said.
"Even those born unwise need not resign to perish empty." gonna stick with me forever.
"I was born stupid, but i will not die hungry!" In a more somber tone. Once again, very well played by Mr. Rogers.
primary takeaway from this video is that im fucking jealous that you saw number girl live twice
they were so good
@@ActionButton Did you see any Zazen Boys?
@@admiraloregano4535 you missed the action button QTE
I think Boku's day beginning at 9, and being called in by his uncle at 5 was intentional to mirror a typical 9-5 work day. Each day begins with calisthenics, an old Japanese workplace tradition. After his morning exercises are complete, Boku is sent off to his summer day job of exploring, catching fish and bugs, or not doing nothin' until called in by his uncle as if to inform him his shift is over.
In adulthood we often see our 9-5 jobs as a time of stress and look forward to evenings and weekends to relax and unwind. In contrast Boku's only job was to relax.
I cannot imagine how profound and intense creating and uploading this was, nor the pressure one might feel afterward regarding any possible future releases, but...
...please make more. These are true works of art. You have no idea what these videos do for me and countless others. I think I speak for many when I say we miss you.
As someone for whom memories are extremely vague, more like themes and general periods but lacking in much definition, specifics, or detail, nostalgia has always seemed to me to lack much appeal. I have not often felt it, because my brain forces me to live in the now while reflecting on the past feels like grasping at air that slips through my fingers. But with Tim's raw emotion, I've been able to understand so much better and even dredge up a few things I thought had been lost in the dark corridors of memory. Thank you, Tim. In many ways I feel like my life has been the opposite of yours, but rhymes in interesting ways that I can't help but notice. Thank you for letting us in, and inviting us to reflect on ourselves.
That was a wonderful comment. Tim has touched your heart I see.
@Dimir Doppelganger Beautifully said, beautiful sentiment ❤.
This is me 100%. Put better than I could myself. Well said!
Wow. Meditations on memory sure have come a long way since Proust's IN SEARCH OF LOST TIME.
A+ comment
I'm kinda shocked at how much I cried during this video. I'm also someone in Wichita (right now actually) with childhood memories that constantly replay, and other memories for that matter. I have PTSD, and had always thought myself a person with a terrible memory, much like the rest of my family. I now know that my family never really forgets anything, and that trauma locks away entire passages of our lives because we can't simply forget the Bad Times like our minds ought to. I went through a lot of therapy and learned, rather out of the blue, after accessing some of the other awful moments of my memory: there it was, everything else, too.
I watched this video, I heard about Rohit and Rahej; I remembered Nazim and Deepak, whose father owned an Indian restaurant where I have formative memories. I remember the restaurant, and also whenever I remembered the restaurant, I remembered that too. I looked him up; maybe it's time to go home again, now that I remember why I felt like I missed it, but couldn't place why. Thank you, Tim.
@@eraserheadbabygirl
Beautiful comment
And that's the beauty of this video. The game review is just a jumping off point for so much more. Boku no natsuyasumi forced Tim to go home and revisit his memories directly. And provided catharsis for so many people along the way for so many reasons. Amazing. Thanks for sharing.
I hereby demand Tim Rogers to come back and make more bangers
These videos are timeless
swear, he cooks everytime
It’s been too long. I need this 8 hour long L.A. Noir video to hurry up and be finished! 😂
He streams every friday on Twitch, just in case you weren't aware. And there are archives of at least a lot of those streams. They're not the same as his videos but they're definitely on par with anything I'd want to watch/listen to him talk about or play games about. I'd personally refer to them streams as bangers, as well as his top tier videos.
For anyone who clicked on this video, got intimidated by the length, and stopped to read the comments…I implore you to watch this in chunks over time. These reviews are more akin to enjoying a good book. So take your time and enjoy. It’ll be worth it. I watched this entire video over the course of a week and I’m glad I did.
Yes!! No more than one chapter a day, that’s how I’ve been doing it :)
Only watched it mostly listen to bcs I was midely sick, stuck in bed for 12 hours and couldnt get up to turn it off... Otherwise no thanks. Most of it, it's rambling and repeating things, feels like he had a stroke or something... this video shouldn't be 6 hours long. One hour maximum if even that much. It's ok to review something and throw in your life experiences but when you drag it out to 6 hours with repeating and rambling nonsense then my dude you need to get a life instead of putting together such videos ... But I guess this is typical content for him since this is the type of community he created here (subs)
The overall message about the game is ok at best. He didn't invented hot water after all, nothing groundbreaking at all...
Another thing that stood out and I remember him wishing that more games be like this when most indie games are pretty much just like this and even free or dirt cheap ... So not sure wtf is this dude rambling over that much ... If you want to play some normal games dig for them, if you cannot be bothered then just stop playing games billions of people including myself stopped gaming, you can do it too. Plenty of places and activities in life to replace it with.
Besides he said his favorite game is a Mario game, that is something a washed up hipster would say so with that said cannot take him seriously even slightest for the other things too. Of all the games out there and alegedly you playing them when you say you like Zelda or Mario games you lost all credit. It's been a hipster fad for some time now and it's really sickening. So not sure if he throws in these as hipster credits or wtf is his agenda but seems like the dude have issues trying hard to fit in the ''cool'' zone but still mixes it with some sob stories like it means a damn thing.
You can't make me not watch the whole video in a day, this video is my entire personality now 🤣
I watched this in chunks over weeks and months. Only just finished, but happy I did. I was happy to let each part marinate before continuing. Perfect.
Should I play the game before watching?
I absolutely love the idea of a game whose best ending is achieved by scoring like 60-70% on the game.
I know, sounds like my kinda game
Yeah, I agree. It's a good rule that the most challenging way to experience the game should be optional
Final Fantasy X-2 has the main character move past an old romance that's ended if you get the 70-99% ending but becomes permanently obsessed with rekindling it despite it being impossible in the 100% ending
@@vfxninja5503 underrated comment. ty for this insight
@@vfxninja5503 my favorite part is that the 100% ending is fucking insane and requires you to mash the fuck out of x during two specific parts of the game, get specific cutscenes to randomly trigger, has no way to know if you fucked it up, and even with a walk-through it sometimes just doesn't work. it's a really cool way of making its point clear imo
"Jet Moto does NOT predate Waveracer but you gotta admit. It LOOKS like it does."
This will be the thing I point out in the comments here.
This was a joy to watch and listen to, thank you once again.
That final monologue concerning the dead friend really got me. Such a beautifully written meditation on death and reality. Thank you for being so vulnerable on camera Tim.
"Only freaks and liars do childhood right"
I felt that
He’s got a point
Or freakishly lucky people
im gonna cry, i love boku no yatsunasumi so unimaginably much, i can't believe you've come back with such a banger
Hearing about Jerrlea "Dunn" Johnson Puntch actually brought me to tears. That was a beautiful monologue.
Seriously, same here.
To quote the late, great Terry Pratchett, “No one is finally dead until the ripples they cause in the world die away, until the clock wound up winds down, until the wine she made has finished its ferment, until the crop they planted is harvested. The span of someone’s life is only the core of their actual existence.”
Tim Rogers brought Jerrlea "Dunn" Johnson Puntch back to life, in a way, by sharing her with us through this video.
The reflection on Eichii Ohtaki really got me in my feels
@@TheUtterChrisp This all inspired me to contact an art teacher I had 20 years ago. One of the most passionate teachers I ever had. He just LOVED this.
I'm about to enter into a new career, as an artist, and I am totally going to connect with that person that may totally not remember me, just to thank him. I remember his classes a lot and it may very well have led me, 20 years later, to actually act on this and stop my boring job. We are the sum of all the experiences we lived, and even if it seems small compared to all of them, it still counts!
It must be amazing to know that you had such an effect on someone else in their formative years. I wish Tim had closure with Jerrlea, but this video really honored her memory, it's amazing.
My life and I actually changed in significant ways since this video came out.
Yeah I’ve become homeless since this video came out lol
@ fuck, Hope you are not starving or anything.
Another absolute masterpiece. Tim’s stuff is always moving but this was on another level. Profound and poetic in ways I struggle to express. The “meanwhile our shattering animals” section made me cry several times throughout, its ending in particular had me weeping so much I had to stop the video (first to compose myself then to rewatch three more times). I feel like I understand myself and my own feelings better having seen it. Thank you, Tim, for sharing so much of yourself with us.
“Nostalgia resounds loudest when we feel a feeling that forces from us a declaration of ‘I didn’t keep this’”- Tim Rogers 2022. I Will remember this quote forever
Great comment, excellent quote.
Feel like this game fit your review style even better than even Tokimeki Memorial, which was my previous favorite episode. As always, I love the obsession with always putting relevant footage in the background, even going so far as grabbing footage from other games. That Metal Wolf Chaos shot over your "I did hate my home country and I think everyone should give it a shot" was perfect.
Es überrascht mich überhaupt nicht, dich hier zu sehen :D
The Tokimeki Memorial episode is the first time a video game review made me genuinely emotional.
Edit: And this is the first video game review that made me openly weep.
I genuinely mean it when I say that this video has literally changed my life. Thank you Mr. Button.
where the fuck is he?
The man is a literary genius, and a regular genius
how did this video change your life? I'm genuinely curious lol
@@SqueakyJpnidk before this video he hadn’t seen the video
I must have seen it 6 times already. I just love it. I am way more appreciative of my past, of the experiences I lived, the ones I did not, and I am content with who I am. While this video is not the only reason for this, it certainly played a big part. I need to contact one of my teacher until it's too late!
After an extremely difficult time in my life, I am so thankful I was lucky enough to watch the full premiere of this review. It's true, "places don't remember us." It seems like "all of us speedran childhood." In fact, I watched this in my childhood bedroom. But that's ok. People remember us, whether that's placing my graduation leis on my grandmother's grave or welcoming my new brother-in-law into our family. There's something important even beyond going outside. I'm inspired to do something different and meaningful for me, and the memory of it can come along too, if it likes.
Fantastic work Tim. Your vocabulary maximalism has never been so compelling, and I just finished reading "Snow Crash" by Neal Stephenson! I will be rewatching part 5 whenever I'm down
I cried and took the take away I got from this to my therapy session. It's a hard thing to confront not just nostalgia, but multiple griefs. Thank you for pouring out your soul in this one and I hope putting it out there gave you some sort of catharsis.
This is a genuine masterpiece and I implore anyone who makes it here to watch it to completion no matter how long it takes you
Should only take about 6 hours and 12 minutes.
@@sparklesparklesparkle6318 No.
6 hours and 12 minutes.
@@minty9245holy shit this comment is funny
2 months in currently. Keeps getting better and better. Just wrapped up part 5.
genuinely think this is the greatest video on the platform
Hey I unexpectedly burst into tears three times watching this and embarrassed myself in front of the warhammer models I was painting
its all right man
@@Rachel-Pham oh it was more than alright
@@brandontone7430 they understand
i'm also watchin this painting my warhammer models haha
This is why I only paint inanimate objects.
The voice, like butter. The drip, immaculate. The content, spectacular.
The comments, sublime. Honestly I have yet to read a bad one. He's the video game reviewer connoisseurs of the form come to see, I swear. Those who have believed that for the longest time, video games can be art, but more than that, they can be an amalgamation of several forms of art.
@@garydiamondguitarist Yes, the comments are sublime, including these two 👌🏻❤️!
The hair, mid-2000s teen boy.
like gravel more like
2 hours in and praying that he clears his throat soon
I'm approaching 5 hours in and from roughly the halfway point of section 5 on I've been in tears. I can't imagine that level of awareness of memories all day every day uninterrupted. That suffocating nostalgia. Just listening to you describe your teacher, your home, your school... I just cried.
This is going to feel like a strange comment amidst the jokes and general appreciation for this review, but it feels necessary to share here. I live in Lewiston Maine, last night a man shot dozens of people with 18 confirmed deaths and my town is in lockdown while a manhunt is ongoing. I woke up this morning at 4:30 am with a text from my manager confirming that our store would not be opening today. I started rewatching this video because I suddenly found myself with a long day inside the house that would, without distraction, become fraught with stress.
I have watched the video in chunks in between ritually checking the news and updating friends and family that yes, I am safe. I just finished part 5 and I've found myself intensely overwhelmed by the knowledge that this event is going to become The Thing that the city I live in will be known for. I will get older and I will continue to live in Lewiston and it will become The Maine Town With The Bowling Alley Shooting. If I live to fifty, sixty, seventy, my nostalgia will become of this event. I will try to carve out a life that feels worthwhile amidst streets that will become internationally synonymous with The Gun Control Debate. I and my wife are unharmed and my friends are, thankfully, blessedly, safe, but we are in the fulcrum of a traumatic event and I feel like part 5 of this video understands what I am going through, despite my situations being so separated from the reason Tim decided to create this video.
I will venture on and watch part 6 to completion so that I can say I spent the first and hopefully only day in lockdown absorbing this video as a way of embracing another's experience across decades. I think I will remember this day vividly. This review's empathy comes in unusual ways from oblique angles, and the genre of pain I've been feeling today, in spite of its specificity, has felt appropriate to the emotions Tim wanted to put forward. So I wanted to say thank you, Tim, for sharing this and yourself with us
Good post. I know this feeling all too well, having grown up in Colorado, near where the climbing shooting happened, I went to highschool with and my sister was friends with one of the September gay suicides children (rest in peace Harrison, and all the rest,) an unsolved bowling alley shooting in Littleton, the shooting at the movie theater in Aurora during the Dark Knight rises, etc. After this is when I started seeing shootings become popular across the country, not just a few miles from my home, it really seemed like for the first half of my life that these things only happened in Colorado for some reason. But there were always more shootings in my area, somehow they seemed to catch national news a little bit harder and stock around a bit longer than some, at least when you morbidly compare tragedies. . .
Anyways, your town likely won't be remembered for the shooting, speaking from my personal experience here, this is rather unfortunate I think actually, as it generally means nothing will actually change.
America moment
The "western release" box art is absolutely priceless
You were breaking my heart showing how close you were to Ms Dunn's resting place and not going. Then your return had me crying pretty hard and took me too long to understand what was going on. Thank you for returning to visit her. Your work is inspirational and unlike anyone else sharing to youtube or anywhere else really. Thank you to you and everyone else for working so hard to make such a lovely piece. Each one has been better than the last.
I was not ready for part 5. I feel absolutely gutted and yet there is a fragile sense of beauty washing over me. I'm in tears, unable to finish packing for the trip I have planned tomorrow. You turned a video game review into one of the most emotionally charged videos on all of youtube. Only you.
I've been watching this review by chapters for the last... 5 months? I ended it on January 4th, here on the southern hemisphere where it's summer, at the end of my oh so short holidays from work. This is the best video game review I've watched in my life and possibly the best thing I've seen in all of 2024. Thank you for the joy and the tears, Tim. Truly, thank you for this.
This is one of the most human things I've seen. Thank you, Tim.
Have you ever went so long without realizing you needed something so bad?
Oh. I knew I needed this.
@@mibo1065 haha well said MI BO. Respect the legends
Yeah. Specifically the return of Tim
Therapy and Lexapro, but this is good too.
yes, true love
All Tim's reviews are already more than unique, but this one is his best yet. You can feel nothing more than honest and pure love for both his craft and this precious game. He is the only person who can make you watch a 6 hour review and appreciate every single moment from start to finish, even cry at certain sequences. Congrats Tim.
It's summer again. Time for Tim Rogers' Boku No Natsuyasumi review.
“It’s a me, Alan Wake” delivered in that dead tone had me in stitches 😂
I know right? Attaching a Mario reference to such a po-facedly serious game like Alan Wake was brilliance incarnate.
Probably the most impactful video I've watched to date. Genuinely cried more than a couple of times throughout this journey. Aaaaah, I lack the words to describe poetically just how I felt but thank you. Thank you Tim for your work.
I was the "rochelle" of my class. People found a reason to make fun of me even though I was alright. Very middle. Nothing noteworthy. But I rubbed a kid the wrong way and soon I became the target of mockery, with kids reaching far to find a way to twist my name into disgust. Like Rochelle I was smart enough not to fight it; that would be pointless. I used that opportunity to make new friends. Associate with new people. From that year on I only associated with the "different" kids for the rest of my school. The only friends I made were troublemakers or quiet kids. We shared laughs and scowls. It's good to know these people. But becoming "outcast" damaged me permanently, I realize now. I don't know if I would change anything, having shared secrets and confidence with other outcast kids. But I am damaged, still. Rochelle undoubted is too. My sympathy is with her.
Um it’s dawn now
[sorry for my broken english] I hope you don't mind if I tell you I readed your comment and thought "I can relate". That made me to click in your favourites playlist and I discovered a few great vids I didn't know. So thank you
This will always be my favorite...thing on RUclips. Unless Tim tops himself again. Probably rewatched this 10 times already and every time it's just as incredible.
Its 6 hours
Me, a British: uh when he *whats* again?
I can already tell that Tim is going to make me cry a lot this video so I'm going to have to take this video real slow. Edit, while the video did not make me cry a lot it did make me cry once. The memories of Tim's uncle were so heartwarming only for the gut punch of his death from covid to make me burst into tears. His death was in a similar time frame to the death of my mother from covid. Her favorite flowers were sunflowers. It was deeply emotional video for me, thank you Tim.
I really believed him when he said it wouldn't be 5 hours long.
You should know, by now, if he says it won't be 5 hours long, it is because it will in fact be 6.
I remember him saying that the Cyberpunk 2077 review would be 8 hours.
@@DracoSuave I've learned my lesson today.
@@lulkaku I think we all learned a 6 hour lesson today.
Ya new here kid?
This is the first video that I’ve ever seen of yours. I’m a big fan of long-form content and, when I saw your video was over 6 hours long, I thought I’d found a great source of second monitor content to put on while I played a game alongside watching it. I initially put off watching it for a bit as I needed to find some free time to consume it and got around to doing so today.
First off, I don’t think that anything I can say will truly express the full depth and range of emotions that I went through when watching this. It was a true rollercoaster from start to finish, at some point giving me a great sense of motivation and drive and at other points bringing me close to tears with various other emotions that I would never have expected cropping up too such as longing and acceptance.
I noticed about 2 hours in that, at some point, I’d closed the game that I’d initially intended to play alongside it and was, instead, fully enraptured in your video, enjoying your discussion and breakdown of the game’s finer details and design choices. The depth you went into discussing the various facets of the game from a deep understanding and explanation of the mechanics to an analysis of what certain design choices could mean in a more “meta” sense was so interesting to listen to.
This video hit something deep within me and I got a real sense of raw human emotions at various parts throughout. When you took the sunflowers to Jerrlea’s grave, that probably hit me the hardest. I also couldn’t help but feel Shirabe’s heartbreak every time you showed her running after the car, waving, especially with the added context of Boku acting as a stand-in for her brother and how this is the second time she’s having to say goodbye to a brother or brother-like figure.
You may never read this comment but I just wanted to thank you for this video and experience. You’ve earned a new subscriber and probably another view on most of your other videos. I’ve had a look at your channel and noticed that you prefer quality over quantity and I eagerly anticipate your next work, whenever that may be.
It's impossible for me to get people to watch Action Button, so it makes me happy to see someone who gave it a chance and loved it as much as I do. I recommend every single episode, but you should definitely watch Tokimeki Memorial. It has a similar vibe, in that Tim goes deep on a Japanese-only game that explores the desire of Japanese salarymen to return to their youth, and all the emotions that stirs within a player who becomes truly engrossed by the game. You also get more meaty tangents about Tim's life. I believe that's the one where he discusses the mystery of who burned down his high school gymnasium.
@@donnylurch4207 Yeah, I really love long-form content, it's just a matter of finiding the time to watch it. I did notice Tokimeki Memorial was his second longest video after this one so I'll have to wait until I have another free day to watch it but I'll get around to it eventually. : )
I dont know who you are, snd this vid just got pushed to me.
I sat and watched the whole thing. All six hours.
Yoire an incredible story teller. Im all tears at the end of this story.
The comment about there being an hentai with the name natsuyasumi that appeared at 2:52:31 as he mentioned purity made me crack up. This is video is so well done, it has too much heart and soul to survive in the violence hungry western market.
Tim is the GOAT of video game reviews. Proving critique is in itself art.
Noah is GOAT. Tim is second for sure though.
@@themanwithnoname5310 Who is Noah?
@@aaronburns9538 Noah Caldwell
5:12:21 This part hits so much harder if you'd read Tim's blog/essay "a friendly letter to everyone" before. I highly recommend everyone go read it - it's a short piece but is one of the most soul-crushingly devastating works of writing I have ever read. The first time I read the entire thing, I cried uncontrollably for a good few minutes
Christ I did not need to read essay 😭
Well that was sad
Thank you for sharing this essay
Meanwhile, our shattering animals...
Man, I remember seeing a different video about how you shouldn't really trust entertainers or performers because the person they show may not even be real. But then I read that essay or watch this video and I can't reconcile with the idea that Tim is not genuine.
thank you for sharing it. I hadn't read it before, but it was referenced in his video series "let's mosey," the climax of which also made me cry uncontrollably.
I'm not a particularly superstitious person, yet I can't shake the feeling that this video appeared in my life at the exact moment I needed it to. I'm normally turned off by super long videos, but I kept this one in my Watch Later playlist for a couple days since it had so many views and there was so much glowing praise in the comments. I checked it out for a few minutes to see if I would even enjoy a 6-hour video on a game I've never heard of, from a guy I've never heard of. Initially, I was expecting it to be a pretty good review that would open my eyes to a hidden gem that I should consider checking out, even if it ended up being a bit too long for my tastes. What I wasn't expecting was to resonate so heavily with both the themes of this game and the reviewer's experiences surrounding it, and to be enamored with every passing minute.
Currently, I'm at a crossroad in my life, though it feels more akin to sleep paralysis. It's like my life is happening around me the same way over and over again, and I'm helpless to do anything about it. I recently graduated college, but "recent" is becoming less and less of an accurate descriptor as I'd like it to be. I spent four years wandering aimlessly through college, two of those years spent under quarantine, having plans on turning around my life, but then graduating with the feeling that I blew every opportunity I was given. I have a degree that I'm not sure I want. I didn't make the connections with people I had hoped to. I can blame the pandemic as much as I wish, but the truth is a large part of how things turned out are a result of my own failures. After college, I tried to find a job with my degree, and it took me a solid 6 months for that to happen. In the meantime, I did a whole bunch of nothing. As the new year approaches, and as I prepare to start my first job out of school, I shudder to think how it's possible for 2023 to both feel like one of the worst years of my life, and yet I struggle to find many distinct memories to anchor that feeling onto.
With all that said, there was something in this video that was particularly sobering to me: the idea of "everyone doing childhood wrong." It's easy to get caught up in everything I've done wrong, remembering chances I didn't take, mistakes I made, moments where my life's trajectory could've turned out completely different had I made the "correct" choice. It's refreshing to see a game where the most satisfying of alternate endings comes not from the rote pursuit of pure, completionist perfection, but rather by just being willing to meet the game on its terms, being curious and enthusiastic about what it has to offer, but not becoming so wrapped up in "not missing out" that you neglect to enjoy what you are able to experience in a finite amount of time.
It's truly beautiful how a man I've never met talking about a game I've never played could have such a profound impact on me. I apologize for my meandering, verbose, self-indulgent comment, but I suppose meandering, verbose self-indulgence is one of the many things that makes this review so great. I'm eager to see what else Action Button has to offer.
thank you sharing your experience
@@funployee thank you for reading! I honestly wasn't expecting anyone to see this lol
According to the transcript, he says "Boku no Natsuyasumi" 285 times. That averages out to once every 78 seconds. And that's including the 72 minute long tangent where he doesn't say it at all. If you took that part out, then he says "Boku no Natsuyasumi" once every 63 seconds.
Does this include the two times he says the shortened nickname for it?
@@ShupperDupper No, it's not counting "Bokunatsu." Only the full name.
But how many times has he said "DOOM"
@@jculbert2221 He said it 555 times. And in this review he said "doomed" once.
@@ThisSteveGuy outstanding
I really needed this. I'm often fearful of the fundamental incompleteness of my life. I feel like recent experiences have taken something essential away from who I am and now I have nothing left but to look back and wonder at who that now-stranger could have become.
I don't have any experiences from Kansas, but hearing your ruminations on memory and the function of nostalgia along with your specific reminiscences gave me some hope. We can't take back all that we lose, but we can search, and in that interrogation maybe we can find someone new to become.
Thank you, Tim. You really are a treasure. Subbed for funny long-winded game review man, stayed for the genuinely life-affirming perspective.
Open a freaking Bible for once or just meditate.
Feeling nostalgic for someone else's childhood is a strange phenomenon. Somehow, seeing those sunflowers on Mrs. Dunn's grave brought me to tears. This video made me feel some kind of connection to people and places I've never known.
When Tim said he was going to open up and reveal more of his true self in season two, I wasn't really sure what to expect. Thank you for sharing, Tim. And thank you for this beautiful review.
I connected with part 5 to a degree I was not prepared for.
Tim's thesis and prose of leaving one's self and childhood physically as the son of a military employee who moved around a lot as a child helped open up thoughts of nostalgia and place and memories that myself, the son of a military employee who moved around a lot as a child, that I've only intermediately been able to interact with and tease out form. A number of years ago I found myself closer to one of those remote locations I lived in than I ever hoped to be near enough to again and journeyed to one of my mid-west hometowns. The school was closed so I wasn't able to tour but I was able to peak in and had the same visceral memories return as he explored here. This video and his words will probably live with me for the rest of my life as I approach his age and continually explore what it means to have memories and be a person remembering things.
Tim, if you ever see this, thank you.
i fucking love the tangents you go on. an hour in now but my favourite moments has been you talking about the pronouns, your coworker telling you to play boku no natsuyami, and the woman telling you that you tilt your head weird LOL
so fucking good. part 5 was unexpected. also when he actually went to his teachers grave.
the story of sitting in the office talking about this game with the two different coworkers was so compelling even though it consisted mostly of "and then HE said...". absolutely masterful, Mr Rogers
Edit: the emotional climax being entirely in Japanese also hits different
I really need someone to translate it I WANT TO KNOW!!
A very rough translation is that the section chief said "it's kinda weird/gross for a foreigner to play Boku no natsuyasumi". Tim said "did you say gross?-" the section chief then said "it's the same feeling as someone reading my diary. Ugh stop"
@@safetydanger thank you.
@@safetydanger this should be pinned at the top. thank you for this.
@@safetydanger thank you
I know Tim will never share with us his many lovingly written novels... But I keep hoping he will someday. As I hope autumn to never end.
I still come back to this video from time to time
Never heard of this channel before this week. Been consuming this in manageable chunks since it was published, just got to the end. I loved it. The line at 6:07:17 "I felt suddenly like I had just gotten caught eating Cheetos at a funeral, to which nobody had invited me." Whoa, man. This line, combined with the silent Christmas tree, made me feel strangely afraid. Also, I played through PoPoLoCrois for the PSP and had a great time; I never thought I would hear the series mentioned. That was cool.
There's so much to say, but Tim I did want to let you know that I think this is in all regards the best episode to date. Thank you so much for everything that you do. You've been one of the primary sources of joy in my life over the last five years.
It was a really really special experience watching this live as someone who has never seen your content before, it moved me so much that after I finished it, I immediately read your article "just like hamburger; exactly like hamburger" which is maybe the most personal content I've ever seen from anyone and is a very beautiful story so thank you for making all this wonderful content.
The best reviewer in town and nothing for more than two years.
Life can be brutal sometimes.. :(