the red coins-in-the-grass mission absolutely feels like a tech demo that eventually got put in the final game. there really isn’t any challenge to it, the red coins are just put in random spots and wading through grass feels like something they would have bragged about back then as to how much the gamecube could render at once. if there’s any unremarkable and odd place in sunshine, it’s that.
And if you knock the enemy off the ledge, you lose the coin, rendering the level unwinnable. Definitely adds to that strange almost foreboding atmosphere
It's all beaches, it would have been cool if they had made a forest level further in the island, like past Bianco Hills, that area with the platforms high up that you can't get to even though it seems like you can.
@@albinospock94 Normally it stops you from just spraying them off, but yeah you can do that by luring them onto the ledges or down that one hole. It's just one of those things that shows it didn't quite have the level of polish the main levels got. Similarily the Japanese version of Sunshine would crash if you got 100 coins in here due to lacking a spawn for the shine sprite. (Normally there's no coins in this level, but you can get them if you spray the enemy into a wall.)
I played Sunshine to death as a kid, and thought I had explored every stage thoroughly. And yet, I never found that secret area (it's surprisingly well hidden). It's only when I played the game again about ten years later that I stumbled upon it, which made it feel even more surreal. The image of the game that I'd built in my head for over a decade was suddenly ripped to shreds. I just couldn't believe it was an actual place.
On the subject of weird places and Mario Sunshine, when I was a kid I once went to a water park where I stumbled upon an unused pool. It was a bit out of the way, almost hidden kinda, and was partially filled with dirty water. There wasn't anything particularly unusable about that pool, it just clearly went neglected by patrons and management alike, and it stuck in my mind like I had found a secret area of the park that nobody else went to. There is a spot in Pinna Park that gives me a very similar feeling to that one, which is that pool behind the ferris wheel where you have to climb up grates for a Shine. Even though that area is not hidden *from the player,* and instead is indeed intended to be visited, it *looks* like something that was supposed to be an attraction but instead was forgotten because nobody ever went back there.
There is a hidden 1Up in the elevator, which is often considered the most obscure 1Up in Sunshine. And the fact, that you explored this small place and didn't even find or at least mention it, just plays very nice into this.
And it's only available in one of the chapters! I don't remember off the top of my head if it's King boo or the secret level, but that further confused the issue.
I just now realized. World designers often might not specifically make little areas for secrets/collectibles, they find them as they pop up naturally in the design process
There's one more, my favorite odd and unremarkable place in Sunshine. In the Blooper surfing course in Ricco harbor, you can totally disregard the race and hover to the top of the walls where you have infinite time to run around on a perfectly flat, black and brick-textured playground. It's the coziest place in Sunshine for me, and it never even would have been accessible in any other game.
I was obsessed with this area when I first discovered it on my last playthrough. My dad was watching me play and we both thought it was fascinating how such an area was even in-bounds for the player.
I’m the opposite, I always found the area pretty eerie, because of those brick textures being everywhere and having a lack of colour, and the way that if you look up, there’s no ceiling, just a black void. (I also had a false memory for a long time where you lost a life for failing the race, which didn’t help)
In today's episode of 'Unremarkable and odd places', we discuss various topics such as: •Spending decades of our lives not taking leaps of faith •Performing brain surgery with ice picks •Our brains filling our dreams with inaccurate decor •And an accumulation of big, beautiful, sunny, puffy clouds meaning that someone is being killed
Another thing that makes the floating grass box weird to me is that the pianta that was searching for the red bird has a unique sound effect that no other pianta in the game has
@@any_austin Except, isn't he also the same Pianta that was keeping an eye on the Sand Bird? That's also weird. Like, yeah maybe they just recycled a pianta model, except the fact that both are searching for and obsessed with birds is too weirdly consistent to be a coincidence.
While the Wind Waker got most of the hate for being "Different" during the Gamecube hayday, Sunshine also got a fair bit of hate for being different. I always loved how this game felt. It was such a vibrant, colorful world that honestly felt so full of life no matter what part of it you were in. It felt like a real, cohesive, living and breathing world.
I didn't have a GameCube so I missed this one one and when galaxy came out I wished I could punch and jump kick like in 64 instead of waggleing the controller around to spin Going back to sunshine the flood is still better then spinwaggle altho the long jump is sorely missing and that hurts
Dunno if you've ever played it but Resident Evil 4 has a VERY surreal atmosphere after you clear it out. I recently went through it and never really realized until now but it's almost sorta open world. When you get rid of all the enemies, it's just.. Vast hostile yet desolate ambience. There's this uncanny feeling of a looming threat but you know it isn't coming anymore so it's just strange and uncomfortable.
My favorite thing to do in RE4 is backtrack as far as possible whenever possible. Run all the way from the lake to the shack Leon and Louis were kept in, for instance. What’s weird is that there’s a couple times enemies appear as a result. There’s an area in the swamp that completely refreshes and a few ganados that spawn where Leon and Ashley run into Louis in the castle. In VR it’s downright haunting. Edit: not my favorite thing lol just interesting
Yeah, that feeling of "No one has ever been there" but it's on Earth is a strange feeling. I get the same feeling when driving at night, looking out into the woods or across a lake at an island, imagining myself just bobbing up and down in the water, in the dark, or up in a tree, far from the roads I'm diligently following.
I once had a dream as a kid that the Sandbird visited Delfino Plaza and was just sorta closely looming above all the buildings. I can't recall what more it was doing but I just remember being distressed about it thinking it was possible. The fact that one of the Piantas in Gelato Beach says that the Sandbird "flew away" implies that it was a real entity in Isle Delfino that physically travelled to the surreal sky space with the (seemingly) infinitely tall pillars. Does that mean the base of those pillars actually exist somewhere near Delfino? Do they come out from the seabed? Or instead from some mystical grounds comparable to the likes of Easter Island or even something like the Mirage Island of Hoenn? Who built them for what reason, and why so high? Why is the Sandbird so drawn to them? Why does entering it's egg instantly teleport you there? Who or what did the egg come from in the first place?? THE LORE
dreams about video games that kind of trick you into thinking there’s something that doesn’t actually exist are crazy like one time when i was a lad i had a dream that i unlocked a 4th chao garden in sonic adventure 2, and spent idk how long trying to replicate it thinking i just lost my progress from not saving somehow. drove me crazy
I remember when i was a kid i played a lot of crash bandicot and had this recurring dream how i was trapped in the bottom of a well with a small tunel stretching forward, i always heard drums from the tunnel and someone wearing aku aku on his face coming towards me while the drum beat got louder and faster. Always freaked me out
For some reason, I dream a lot about Vah Naboris from Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. So many dreams of an endless desert, with a giant camel mecha appearing on the horizon...
I honestly love these little spots and how deeply in thought you get about them. This channel is like my little late-night comfort corner on youtube. Please keep making this series, it's my favorite one on the site rn.
being able to see all the other levels in the distance blew my mind so much as a kid, it always gave me a feeling of "i want to make mario just break out of bounds and go to the other level from here"
This video series gives me weird feelings I can’t quite express in words. But it’s definitely nostalgic and gives a sense of peace and comfort I didn’t know I needed to reconnect with. I remember having a strange obsession with the area behind the windmill in Zelda OoT, so this is a vibe I’m always here for. Consider this my contribution to the algorithm in the hopes that you continue this adventure.
First let me say, favorite video so far. Watching this video was LITERAL therapy. This is one of my top fav games from childhood. When I play it or see it now as an adult i get that feel of being on vacation already existing in the game PLUS that warm,fuzzy nostalgic feeling on top of that and seeing you go into some of my favorite places to be in the game was like a shot of peace and love straight to my heart that I can't even properly describe. That one spot in Bianco Hils that you were describing how badly how wanted to go in that spot and how you would just imagine it like what it would be like if you could physically stand in that spot UNGGGHH i did that CONSTANTLY as a child with a lot of games and especially this one i thought I was so fuckin weird for it its nice knowing someone else feels that way I guess just wow sorry just love your videos, they are therapy to me, thank you, please keep making more : )
Getting to see other levels off in the distance blew my freaking mind when I was playing this as a kid. I still get really nostalgic looking at it now.
I love that you have made a whole series about these weird places that give that special feeling... I never could quite verbalize it but I've always felt these things about places like this too. One of my favorite places that evokes this feeling is in Ocarina of time, in kakariko village at night as an adult, the town is quiet with an ominous red glow from death mountain. It's calm but feels like something is about to happen...
Seeing all the different areas in the distance of Bianco Hills reminded me that someone really needs to make an open world mod where everything is actually interconnected, would definitely make one of my childhood dreams come true
From getting somewhere you’re not supposed to be, to admiring the place you’re not supposed to be from a distance, knowing that the true beauty lies in its unattainable nature. The perfect microcosm of the evolution of you and your videos over the years.
I get sad sometimes because I never feel that weird feeling other people do. Like in liminal spaces, everyone talks about how uncomfortable it is, but to me it's just a regular, non-threatening hallway. On one hand, this makes me the perfect target for monsters and serial killers because the mere presence of the space doesn't bother me so I'm totally willing to be there alone, but on the other, I don't ever get lonely or uncomfortable and so I can do things that other people say "no way" to. I work late nights in a hotel, and I've never once gotten creeped out by the long, very empty hallways I wander around in. Or the weird basement that's probably haunted. Or the odd service areas that I need to go in sometimes.
I live in a city but my house is located up north near a nice mountain trail, and I used to go up the trail where you get to see the whole city, and one of my favourite things to do was mentally locating all the places of interest in the city, like where all my friends live, my workplace, the shops, the restaurants... Mario Sunshine's locations being visible in the distance makes me feel the same way. Great videos as always, please keep doing them! I've been playing Banjo Kazooie and I've been actively searching for odd and unremarkable places. Happy to say it has plenty of them!
As a kid I was terrified of going too far into the water from delfino plaza as I felt something unsettling in the possibility of reaching a level i wasnmmt supposed to
sameee i was always scared of deep water in video games as a kid, but the lack of visible borders in the sunshine ocean made it so much worse, like i was at risk of getting swept away. at least now i can appreciate it in an unremarkable way
I don't have a favourite era of video games. I loved wii games, ds and 3ds games, switch games. But i have a peculiar affection for videogames from the ps2, game cube and early wii era and this video perfectly showcases the reason. The style of modeling the landscapes, trying to make them as round and verisimilar as possible without actually succeeding because of the limitations, leaving them in this weird valley between visibly fake/cartoony and realistic. But also this trend of trying to make the actual levels and places of interest as detailed as possible, but then doing just the necessary modeling work on the outside of the level to give the idea of a landscape, leaving it empty and making you feel like you are always on some type of metaphorical island, in your small detailed world inside a much bigger empty universe. Amazing.
"Sometimes when you overthink things when you're designing something, those are the things you miss. Those little beautiful areas that somebody who maybe had a little more budget or a little more time would have softened, scrubbed or blocked." Thank you for making these videos!
One of my favorite spots in Sunshine is in the waterfall in Noki Bay. With one of the boats, navigate it to in the middle. And just look up. It's a nice mesmerizing view to see.
14:17 I have never really looked at this skybox outside Pina Park before but played enough Sunshine to immediately recognize those are the same clouds on the title screen during the startup cutscene.
I don't know how well known this is, but Pinna Park was actually originally planned to be an extension of the hub world with warps to other levels rather than being a level itself. I think that explains why some areas of that level feel a bit odd. If I had to guess, the warps to Noki Bay, Pianta village, and Sirrena Beach were probably here. Maybe the Canon would take you to Sirena Beach and there would be a portal on that weird Pianta tree? Noki Bay could be reached from a warp on the Ferris Wheel or something.
There's a distant, unexplorable area in Noki Bay I've always loved too. If you face the waterfall and follow the wall to the left, you eventually reach the edge of the level. You can swim past it until you hit an invisible wall, but beyond it is an unreachable area in the distance of water enclosed by another tall plateau. I've always had the same infatuation with unreachable areas in games, but what you said about the unnattainable further fanning the flames of imagination is SO true. Awesome video :)
Sunshine reminds me of an old internet story where you can prove we live in a simulation by clearing your mind of a destination and driving in one direction. The low-quality look of the distant areas is exactly how the story describes what you will see before your path is blocked by odd looking police officers.
How very handy to enact that useful tip-- I literally just got done watching the census video right before this and checked your page to see this posted only a few minutes ago! What good timing, and a good sign to subscribe. I love the tone and thoroughness of all of your videos, but your census vids are so niche and professional that they scratch that itch in my brain just right. So so very satisfying. You are living the dream, my guy.
I think one of my favorite weird feelings in a game is in Crow’s nest mission on Halo 3. With sirens going off and the base being invaded there is no penalty to just go hang out in one of the side rooms for awhile. Distant rumblings and weird ambient echoes in hallways only meant for 10-15 seconds of player interaction as they run through.
Oddly calming to watch, after a long day of university classes. It's as if my stress vanished from how I feel ASMR emitting from these. I'm loving this series more and more. Thanks Austin! That slower transition at 10:30 was when I realized I was in a trance.
Mario sunshine even with the title alone, it gives this chill vibe. This game has every right to being a comfort zone for many, me included. Not many that i can just vibe with and take it all in, that's what this video in particular brings out in me: inner peace.
i'm surprised you didn't show the underwater city from noki bay, actually. It's gotta be one of my favorite liminal spots in a video game. I wish they had made more missions for that location cause its so mysterious.
on second thought i get it, bc he likes showing off areas that are more of an after thought, and the city is kind of the opposite in that someone went HELLA on designing that level. but i hope he still shows it off sometime cuz the vibes are immaculate
@@yourehereforthatarentyou trueeee, the entirety of noki bay is just so intriguing :3 partly bc of all the secret areas, but also the fact its sorta hidden away on the back of the island, so you cant see any of the other levels, only the endless open ocean. it always felt like its own little world
@@pokequeenrrpg you know what that is pretty fair to say, it isn't very out of bounds by design. I still think it's lack of use and it's closed off environment still makes it a worthy enough spot to deem it odd and strange though.
i remember as a kid, i actually didn't beat the game for a while because the eel in that mission and the underwater city scared me lol. but somehow the king boo and all the other weird stuff never bothered me
Yes! Oh my gosh I was wondering if you’d do one of these videos on Sunshine. It’s my favourite 3D Mario game :D I always felt that tall grass secret was vey strange and interesting but I always loved the vibe of it. Honestly this game has a bunch of areas that are cool to hangout in, it’s just a vibe. I knew! I knew you’d look at the elevator in the casino. I bet you that most people who played Sunshine don’t even know it’s there. Great way of explaining that whole lucid dream thing, it kinda makes sense to me. Oh my gosh! I love that area in Pinna park! Great video Austin, I love it keep up the great work :) can’t wait for the next one 💕
I've considered supporting many different creators on Patreon before, but you're the first one that actually made me go and do it just now. These odd and unremarkable videos chill me the fuck out and I really hope that you will keep making them. My sincere thanks for the vibes!
funny story about that last one. After I watched some of your older videos in this series, I started inadvertently looking for similar places myself, and one of the games i played around the time was Sunshine. I discovered that same spot in Pinna Park and fell in love with it. Really glad its in the video!
1:47 Austin says he’s not the metaphor guy 6:13 Austin makes the most beautiful metaphor for a corner Love ya man, you always keep us wholesome and laughing
@3:50 Okay this is random, but what you were saying there really resonated with me... @4:00 I've just started confronting my mother recently about things of the past she did, I've always felt stuck in one place because of her control over me, felt like I was stuck in this little world of her construction where all my instincts told me that was it and there's nothing I could do about it... But I've finally made the jump into what appeared like oblivion, but it ended up opening my world, oblivion was just an illusion she created for me to stay docile. I'm finally moving on to a new place, one where I feel like myself and free to be so, I'm finally moving forward and it feels so good.
I love your videos! Please keep making them! I will watch anything you make, and I feel that I play games in a way that is similar to the way you do. When I was growing up, my friends would always ask why I took so long to finish games, and it's because I would take so long looking around like this. I feel that these videos are the purest form of appreciating the medium of video games as a whole, and as a future game designer, I believe we need more people who take in games this way.
Wow, I feel seen. The first two areas live rent free in my mind. Also love the area of Bianca Hills where Petey Piranha sleeps in his second battle, on that stone pillar over the deep river. You can’t really access that area at all and it’s not clear where the water is supposed to flow to, there’s a bend in the valley that suggests an entirely other section of the level that just doesn’t exist. Fascinating.
I'm glad a video like this was made for this game. Since I was a kid until now, certain spots Mario Sunshine have always given me this indescribable feeling, I guess it's like liminal spaces? For my whole life I will occasionally have dreams of Mario Sunshine locations that aren't in the game (like my brain just makes up levels) but they evoke the same feeling
Dude! Ive finally found a channel that speaks to me. The way you’re analyzing all these minimal environments is something I’ve always done my whole life and particularly with this game. There’s just something very comforting about these areas and the sensation one gets from being in them... that feeling feeling of being alone... white noise... sound effects in the background... maybe some creepy music or NPC chatter... it’s really cool to know I’m not alone. And since we’re already being weird lemme let you all In on an unhealthy secret, if you purposely hold in a poo then this sensation gets more intense and I don’t know exactly why. Anyways, I’ve got a lot of great recommendations for you if you’re ever in need. My most memorable probably being the cave skybox/background in Yoshis Island. Combine that with the music that plays? Total euphoria.
I love being underwater for a little when it's just calm and quiet. It feels very surreal, to be almost weightless like that, and Sunshine captured that pretty well.
There’s also a cool place in Pina park behind a lot of stuff. It’s real out of the way. It’s a bunch of gate things you can flip with fludd. I think they powered a flume ride. It’s near the roller coaster. This place is so cozy and liminal as well. One of my favorite spots. Man, I really wish I was good enough to beat Mario Sunshine. That is a hard game. Never got that far.
I could NEVER fall asleep to your videos because i am too focused on everything you say. You say the most intriguing things and your voice commands me to listen!!! TELL ME MORE ABOUT WEIRD DREAM CASINOS and how video games are just art pieces that you walk around. Please talk forever lolol im literally obsessed with your videos Y___Y
I don't think I've ever related so much to a RUclips video about Mario. It's like you took all the feelings I've had about the level layout and backgrounds of Sunshine, and articulated in a way I never could. Especially as a kid, I remember looking into the backgrounds, seeing the other levels, trying to imagine what the levels I haven't reached are gonna be like, Wishing I could roam around past all the invisible barriers, ext. Never felt more compelled to Subscribe, keep it up 👌
This video perfectly depicts the reason I love Sunshine so much. As a kid, I used to swim around the waters of Delfino Plaza and try to reach those tiny versions of other areas. I knew it was impossible, but it was nice to pretend. My favorite area is Sirena Beach. Not inside the hotel, just the beach around it. I like swimming out to the farthest reaches of the area, and the last time I played I tried climbing the outside of the hotel as high as I could go, thinking it was interesting how far up the game would let me go. I used to stand on the beach and think to myself "What if this was the only area in the game? What if the entirety of Sunshine took place here? What if I trapped Mario here and he's stuck on this beach for the rest of the game?" Bizarre thoughts, but as a 6-8 year old I liked to take Mario (or any character from a 3D game, really) to a place I thought was cool and then pretend he was taking a break from saving the princess. I'd slowly walk around the environment or just drop the controller and wait for Mario to fall asleep. I used to do this with Cosmic Cove Galaxy. You're right, the Galaxy games do have similar areas to Sunshine's abstract floating levels, but it makes sense in Galaxy's environment. I guess that's why I like Sunshine's odd places best. I don't think Sirena Beach would be the same if the empty waters or tall hotel had a bit more polish.
i love the unremarkable place videos because its mostly just fascinating nothing-places and then every so often you drop something deeply philosophical and poignant on us. keeps me on my toes
1. I liked this video, please make more of it 2. You referencing what the vierwer is doing, just did, or is about to do (going to bed soon, eating pizza, just got back from a date, anything like that) is supremely cozy. The feeling of the person making the video thinking about what the viewers might be doing. I don't know quite what to call it other than cozy but it's just good 3. I promise there was a third thing. I'm typing this out in hopes that it will help me remember. If I post this comment as-is, RIP whatever that 3rd thought was
Oh man... I WAS literally asleep when I first "watched" this. Then I woke up and was like "huh, I should prolly see what I missed at the end of the video I missed bc I fell asleep." Apparently it was you correctly speculating that I was sleeping. That definitely earns a sub in my book.
These video series make me really happy seeing someone else find pleasure in the same little benign video game places, finding comforting or intriguing spots to just hang around in that stick with you in a palpable way long after the console is shut off .. that's art !!! It really is!!!
Thanks for continuing this series, I do this all the time in games too, but you seem to be the only one who makes content about it, eventho it's such a fun idea
one of my favorite areas ingame is the little theatre in the hills of Gelato Beach. You can get a nice view of the beach, you’re so high up you can feel the breeze, it’s all very relaxing! I wish i could go there and take a nap
This video really speaks to me because as someone who grew up playing Super Mario Galaxy, sometimes I would go first-person camera and stare at the home planet where mario came from. It really puts into perspective the vastness of empty space the game holds. Even within a singular planet, the only known civilization to exist has stayed on a small, somewhat insignificant spot of the planet outlined by the night lights of (presumably) the only city. It's an astonishingly large, desolate, lonely planet. I can only imagine Mario falling back to his home planet to somehow find himself stranded with no hope of finding his way back to civilization.
There's a psychological effect of going through a doorway that I think could explain the reason for that casino elevator. It's that moment of passing through a threshold into a different world.
There are lots of spots in Sunshine, and all other games, that feel genuinely unnerving and unsettling. Especially when you get Mario so far away that the music quiets down. I love when games like Sunshine that are unapologetically feel-good have an unexplainable underlined thread of unsettling ambiguity
I really like this video! I’ve never played sunshine but I get everything you tried to evoke; here’s my take on this subject. These strangely empty and tranquil, sometimes out-of-bound, places in video games makes you want to explore and stay there for a very long time-because they appear in your dreams. I notice that in every area you mentioned, there is a lack of interaction that makes you free to observe around without worrying about enemies or fulfilling objectives. You’re sort of defying the purpose of the game which is to do action-packed things and save whoever’s being kidnapped or kill whoever stole your strawberry cake. Instead, you take a step aside and just vibe with these liminal-spacey areas. It’s just mysteriously relaxing. Music plays a huge role with creating this floaty atmosphere. In real life, you don’t really hear music coming from heaven and slowing sown your brain activity to a trance, but in dreams you might. The entirety of Jolly Roger Bay from Super Mario 64 is my favorite example. You begin the level on a serene coast with no sound except for the famous soundtrack. Besides the vast expanse of nothing, you see ocean waves drift in uniform, goombas walking passively in a circle, and fish swim back and forth in the distance. A couple of odd things seem to be that the bounds of the level look gloomy and untraversible, and there is no way to go back where you entered. But worry not: the music reassures you that this is a place to swim and relax; there is no need to go anywhere. Once, I left my DS and came back to see Mario sleeping and facing the sea, and this was just the most peaceful feeling I’ve felt in a video game. From time to time, I’ve especially had dreams about myself being in this level and never wanting to wake up again. For your second example in the video, I imagine sitting in that low grassy area with the soundtrack “Shopping at Wakeport” from M&L: Dream Team and vibing to the beach forever. I’m also fond of the idea of this kind of unremarkable areas being infinite. When I played Pokémon Super Mystery Dungeon, a dungeon called “Cape of Wonders” really caught my attention. Small patches of shallow beaches enclosed by barren stony cliffs and sporadic palm trees scatter throughout in a randomized pattern. I don’t know why, but this kind of level generation really encapsulated me. I just felt like swimming in these shallow waters forever (of course, minus the enemies and any weather conditions). To best experience the feeling, I suggest playing the level and listening to “Infinite Dungeon 1” from the game’s predecessor, Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity. The infinite expansion gives that adventurous feeling that would keep you from ever feeling bored. One more thing I want to point out, which might seem obvious, is that this feeling varies from person to person. Personally, my best childhood memories are from beachy places, and so I’m more likely to be “evaluative” of these areas and evoke these feelings more easily. You might find forest areas more reminiscing, or snowy meadows, etc. You might even disagree with me! This is why when you (the video creator) were explaining the elevator part, I couldn’t relate at all, and I thought it was a little stupid… Alas, unremarkable and odd places in video games might create some of the best mysterious, tranquil feelings you can ever perceive outside of dreams.
ive probably had unfettered access to youtube and the internet since 2008 when I was 5 years old, i kid you not when i say this is the best youtube video ive ever seen i mean it wholeheartedly. you get this game the way i get it, it was my first video game (at age 3). i appreciate how you think about the little things the way i have, its muchly appreciated
I love these videos. One weird thing in games I like is looking far into the distance at a place you can visit, and then going to that place and looking back. It’s like an out of body experience
_a sterile, last-ditch attempt at maintaining the integrity of the internal narrative_ Caught me off guard how naturally that concise sentence came out. You're good at describing odd and ethereal ideas!
0:44 "however, you're in and out of them so quickly, that I don't think that people really take the time to absorb just how strange it really is" Me: *Laughs in pachinko and poison river levels*
I loved that last spot in Pinna Park as a kid because you would get a glimpse of six other levels from the game. Really gave Sunshine the sense of taking place in a REAL island with real people living real lives. Sunshine is epic for that reason
5:45 I know this exact feeling and it's why I played TERA for so long (before it got shut down) because almost every questing area in the world you could get out of bounds and there'd be TONS of weird giant landscape hills and valleys and spaces to walk thru with just endless grass
You ever notice in super Mario sunshine, like in the sky, sometimes you'll see an airplane streaking that white exhaust like across the sky. It appears over delfino plaza, but like not all the time. I'm not sure I'd it's truly random, or if it only occurs after a specific level, but it's there.
the spot in the village portion of bianco hills where the river is barricaded off (where the blue coin is) has always been so interesting to me, like i used to fall asleep and DREAM of exploring beyond that gate as a kid
These videos feel serene, like floating through a void, taking in the nothingness which lets you reflect on everything. That's what these places represent, everything and nothing at the same time. Without them, games would feel empty, but through their existence of having nothing going on in them they add more than they take away.
Sometimes during these episodes I remember "my" old house in World of Warcraft. Somewhere in the Dwarven District in Stormwind, there's a shop with vendors in it, but if you go out through the back door in that shop you actually enter an almost shady-looking alley-like area, and there's a full-blown two-story house in there. There's a table and chairs that you actually can sit on and a bed upstairs, it's level of detail is odd and it's significance is unremarkable, but it's my special place. I used to go there a lot and just hang out with my cousin and goof around.
I love super Mario sunshine, I played the original on the GameCube when I was 10 and I’ve replayed it tons of times on an emulator on my PC. Now I’m playing it on my switch. I’m even planning a SMS half sleeve because the game was so formative to my childhood and has stayed with me all these years lmao. I was so excited to find these videos, I love exploring SMS and I love all these weird little spots and seeing the whole world of SMS from the other worlds. My favorite spot is the top of the tall palm tree in Pianta village, especially at night. I remember being a kid and being so awestruck by it lmao. Anyway, great video. Keep up the good work
okay wait wait wait, maybe i’m just a dolt but in my 18 years of playing this game i’ve literally never found that first area?? never even knew it existed! like, when you showed it i got the feeling you describe, not just because of the vibes of the area but because it’s literally like something old and familiar made new and unknown. i love these videos so much, it’s wonderful to look back at games we thought we knew like the backs of our hands and realize that there’s still a bit here and there that we haven’t seen or thought much about
It’s the middle of the night!
www.patreon.com/any_austin
I can stay up another 15
it is
Any austin at 1 in the morning? Uhhh HELL YEAH
I have a cold and just took NyQuil this is great ASMR as I fall asleep.
Yep
the red coins-in-the-grass mission absolutely feels like a tech demo that eventually got put in the final game. there really isn’t any challenge to it, the red coins are just put in random spots and wading through grass feels like something they would have bragged about back then as to how much the gamecube could render at once. if there’s any unremarkable and odd place in sunshine, it’s that.
And if you knock the enemy off the ledge, you lose the coin, rendering the level unwinnable. Definitely adds to that strange almost foreboding atmosphere
@@albinospock94 never even considered that
It's all beaches, it would have been cool if they had made a forest level further in the island, like past Bianco Hills, that area with the platforms high up that you can't get to even though it seems like you can.
@@albinospock94 Normally it stops you from just spraying them off, but yeah you can do that by luring them onto the ledges or down that one hole.
It's just one of those things that shows it didn't quite have the level of polish the main levels got. Similarily the Japanese version of Sunshine would crash if you got 100 coins in here due to lacking a spawn for the shine sprite. (Normally there's no coins in this level, but you can get them if you spray the enemy into a wall.)
I played Sunshine to death as a kid, and thought I had explored every stage thoroughly. And yet, I never found that secret area (it's surprisingly well hidden). It's only when I played the game again about ten years later that I stumbled upon it, which made it feel even more surreal. The image of the game that I'd built in my head for over a decade was suddenly ripped to shreds. I just couldn't believe it was an actual place.
On the subject of weird places and Mario Sunshine, when I was a kid I once went to a water park where I stumbled upon an unused pool. It was a bit out of the way, almost hidden kinda, and was partially filled with dirty water. There wasn't anything particularly unusable about that pool, it just clearly went neglected by patrons and management alike, and it stuck in my mind like I had found a secret area of the park that nobody else went to. There is a spot in Pinna Park that gives me a very similar feeling to that one, which is that pool behind the ferris wheel where you have to climb up grates for a Shine. Even though that area is not hidden *from the player,* and instead is indeed intended to be visited, it *looks* like something that was supposed to be an attraction but instead was forgotten because nobody ever went back there.
“The imagination is set further aflame by the unattainable. That’s why we fall in love with people we’ve never met” made me dissociate
he has such a way with words for real
The green light from Great Gatsby is the same concept.
There is a hidden 1Up in the elevator, which is often considered the most obscure 1Up in Sunshine. And the fact, that you explored this small place and didn't even find or at least mention it, just plays very nice into this.
proof?
And it's only available in one of the chapters! I don't remember off the top of my head if it's King boo or the secret level, but that further confused the issue.
Actually, the 1up by talking to the three duck riders in Rico Harbor is more obscure.
The developers must have also recognized the oddness of that elevator because if you spray that ceiling light, a 1-up pops out!
LOL
I just now realized. World designers often might not specifically make little areas for secrets/collectibles, they find them as they pop up naturally in the design process
There's one more, my favorite odd and unremarkable place in Sunshine. In the Blooper surfing course in Ricco harbor, you can totally disregard the race and hover to the top of the walls where you have infinite time to run around on a perfectly flat, black and brick-textured playground. It's the coziest place in Sunshine for me, and it never even would have been accessible in any other game.
I remember fooling around in there a few times. Trying to remember which song is playing, before you touch a squid and start the insanity
I was obsessed with this area when I first discovered it on my last playthrough. My dad was watching me play and we both thought it was fascinating how such an area was even in-bounds for the player.
I’m the opposite, I always found the area pretty eerie, because of those brick textures being everywhere and having a lack of colour, and the way that if you look up, there’s no ceiling, just a black void. (I also had a false memory for a long time where you lost a life for failing the race, which didn’t help)
There are 2 surfing levels. Which one.
@@ruthmcnally310 but you DO lose a life
In today's episode of 'Unremarkable and odd places', we discuss various topics such as:
•Spending decades of our lives not taking leaps of faith
•Performing brain surgery with ice picks
•Our brains filling our dreams with inaccurate decor
•And an accumulation of big, beautiful, sunny, puffy clouds meaning that someone is being killed
Your pfp is perfect
@@IceGoddessRukia Thank you haha
Another thing that makes the floating grass box weird to me is that the pianta that was searching for the red bird has a unique sound effect that no other pianta in the game has
He also says he’s been there for 38 years
@@any_austin Except, isn't he also the same Pianta that was keeping an eye on the Sand Bird? That's also weird. Like, yeah maybe they just recycled a pianta model, except the fact that both are searching for and obsessed with birds is too weirdly consistent to be a coincidence.
@@legoboy7107 Maybe they're twin brothers.
While the Wind Waker got most of the hate for being "Different" during the Gamecube hayday, Sunshine also got a fair bit of hate for being different.
I always loved how this game felt. It was such a vibrant, colorful world that honestly felt so full of life no matter what part of it you were in. It felt like a real, cohesive, living and breathing world.
I didn't have a GameCube so I missed this one one and when galaxy came out I wished I could punch and jump kick like in 64 instead of waggleing the controller around to spin
Going back to sunshine the flood is still better then spinwaggle altho the long jump is sorely missing and that hurts
true, except sunshine gets hate for presenting incredible ideas and then doing nothing engaging or interesting with them.
@@lejuanca because it had to be rushed. No their fault
@@RustyNips sunshine as a kid was insane. its obviously not open world but it really felt massive & bustling with life
@@user-qv5sm5dw1v Mario Sunshine feels like any other 3D Mario to me, it doesn't feel very different or not enough to that degree though.
Dunno if you've ever played it but Resident Evil 4 has a VERY surreal atmosphere after you clear it out. I recently went through it and never really realized until now but it's almost sorta open world. When you get rid of all the enemies, it's just.. Vast hostile yet desolate ambience. There's this uncanny feeling of a looming threat but you know it isn't coming anymore so it's just strange and uncomfortable.
My favorite thing to do in RE4 is backtrack as far as possible whenever possible. Run all the way from the lake to the shack Leon and Louis were kept in, for instance. What’s weird is that there’s a couple times enemies appear as a result. There’s an area in the swamp that completely refreshes and a few ganados that spawn where Leon and Ashley run into Louis in the castle. In VR it’s downright haunting.
Edit: not my favorite thing lol just interesting
I think he’s working on an employment survey for RE4 right now
@@Tudmoke WHAAAAAAAT
@@false_idol__ ya he pade a post about the upcoming schedule and it was on there
you just explained something i’ve never been able to put in words
Yeah, that feeling of "No one has ever been there" but it's on Earth is a strange feeling. I get the same feeling when driving at night, looking out into the woods or across a lake at an island, imagining myself just bobbing up and down in the water, in the dark, or up in a tree, far from the roads I'm diligently following.
I once had a dream as a kid that the Sandbird visited Delfino Plaza and was just sorta closely looming above all the buildings. I can't recall what more it was doing but I just remember being distressed about it thinking it was possible. The fact that one of the Piantas in Gelato Beach says that the Sandbird "flew away" implies that it was a real entity in Isle Delfino that physically travelled to the surreal sky space with the (seemingly) infinitely tall pillars. Does that mean the base of those pillars actually exist somewhere near Delfino? Do they come out from the seabed? Or instead from some mystical grounds comparable to the likes of Easter Island or even something like the Mirage Island of Hoenn? Who built them for what reason, and why so high? Why is the Sandbird so drawn to them? Why does entering it's egg instantly teleport you there? Who or what did the egg come from in the first place?? THE LORE
dreams about video games that kind of trick you into thinking there’s something that doesn’t actually exist are crazy
like one time when i was a lad i had a dream that i unlocked a 4th chao garden in sonic adventure 2, and spent idk how long trying to replicate it thinking i just lost my progress from not saving somehow. drove me crazy
I remember when i was a kid i played a lot of crash bandicot and had this recurring dream how i was trapped in the bottom of a well with a small tunel stretching forward, i always heard drums from the tunnel and someone wearing aku aku on his face coming towards me while the drum beat got louder and faster. Always freaked me out
I once had a dream that the rusty bucket bay (from Banjo Kazooie) had that big gate opened and the ship sailed in the sea. I was impressed with that
For some reason, I dream a lot about Vah Naboris from Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. So many dreams of an endless desert, with a giant camel mecha appearing on the horizon...
I somehow initially read Sandbird as Squidward in your comment and it that made it super ominous.
I honestly love these little spots and how deeply in thought you get about them. This channel is like my little late-night comfort corner on youtube. Please keep making this series, it's my favorite one on the site rn.
I always loved the contrast of the bonus levels being these abstract places meanwhile the main levels are more grounded and logical.
being able to see all the other levels in the distance blew my mind so much as a kid, it always gave me a feeling of "i want to make mario just break out of bounds and go to the other level from here"
NOW YOU CAN!!! Go play eclipse!!!!
Wow it’s crazy reading this comment after eclipse’s release
This video series gives me weird feelings I can’t quite express in words. But it’s definitely nostalgic and gives a sense of peace and comfort I didn’t know I needed to reconnect with.
I remember having a strange obsession with the area behind the windmill in Zelda OoT, so this is a vibe I’m always here for. Consider this my contribution to the algorithm in the hopes that you continue this adventure.
First let me say, favorite video so far. Watching this video was LITERAL therapy. This is one of my top fav games from childhood. When I play it or see it now as an adult i get that feel of being on vacation already existing in the game PLUS that warm,fuzzy nostalgic feeling on top of that and seeing you go into some of my favorite places to be in the game was like a shot of peace and love straight to my heart that I can't even properly describe. That one spot in Bianco Hils that you were describing how badly how wanted to go in that spot and how you would just imagine it like what it would be like if you could physically stand in that spot UNGGGHH i did that CONSTANTLY as a child with a lot of games and especially this one i thought I was so fuckin weird for it its nice knowing someone else feels that way I guess just wow sorry just love your videos, they are therapy to me, thank you, please keep making more : )
Getting to see other levels off in the distance blew my freaking mind when I was playing this as a kid. I still get really nostalgic looking at it now.
I love that you have made a whole series about these weird places that give that special feeling... I never could quite verbalize it but I've always felt these things about places like this too. One of my favorite places that evokes this feeling is in Ocarina of time, in kakariko village at night as an adult, the town is quiet with an ominous red glow from death mountain. It's calm but feels like something is about to happen...
Seeing all the different areas in the distance of Bianco Hills reminded me that someone really needs to make an open world mod where everything is actually interconnected, would definitely make one of my childhood dreams come true
They did.
They're working on mod
they did but its galaxy gameplay on Sunshine maps. all connected tho
@@RoachCatJr I'm pretty sure there's one for actual Sunshine though. I think it's called sunburn but I could be mixing it up with another mod.
Thanks, that sounds awesome
The editing on this video is sooooo good, I especially love the silence just before scene transitions, it feels so 2010s internet and I love that
From getting somewhere you’re not supposed to be, to admiring the place you’re not supposed to be from a distance, knowing that the true beauty lies in its unattainable nature. The perfect microcosm of the evolution of you and your videos over the years.
these videos really make me feel an emotion that doesn't exist and i'm living for it
Gives me a feeling similar to the uncanny valley effect, I'm sure there is some term for it
@@brotbrotsen1100 yea its def like a "cousin" to that feeling
I get sad sometimes because I never feel that weird feeling other people do. Like in liminal spaces, everyone talks about how uncomfortable it is, but to me it's just a regular, non-threatening hallway. On one hand, this makes me the perfect target for monsters and serial killers because the mere presence of the space doesn't bother me so I'm totally willing to be there alone, but on the other, I don't ever get lonely or uncomfortable and so I can do things that other people say "no way" to. I work late nights in a hotel, and I've never once gotten creeped out by the long, very empty hallways I wander around in. Or the weird basement that's probably haunted. Or the odd service areas that I need to go in sometimes.
@@wareforcoin5780 don't worry, as long as you feel a disgusted when someone puts their milk in the bowl before the cornflakes you are perfectly normal
emotion't
I live in a city but my house is located up north near a nice mountain trail, and I used to go up the trail where you get to see the whole city, and one of my favourite things to do was mentally locating all the places of interest in the city, like where all my friends live, my workplace, the shops, the restaurants... Mario Sunshine's locations being visible in the distance makes me feel the same way.
Great videos as always, please keep doing them! I've been playing Banjo Kazooie and I've been actively searching for odd and unremarkable places. Happy to say it has plenty of them!
As a kid I was terrified of going too far into the water from delfino plaza as I felt something unsettling in the possibility of reaching a level i wasnmmt supposed to
sameee i was always scared of deep water in video games as a kid, but the lack of visible borders in the sunshine ocean made it so much worse, like i was at risk of getting swept away. at least now i can appreciate it in an unremarkable way
I don't have a favourite era of video games. I loved wii games, ds and 3ds games, switch games. But i have a peculiar affection for videogames from the ps2, game cube and early wii era and this video perfectly showcases the reason. The style of modeling the landscapes, trying to make them as round and verisimilar as possible without actually succeeding because of the limitations, leaving them in this weird valley between visibly fake/cartoony and realistic. But also this trend of trying to make the actual levels and places of interest as detailed as possible, but then doing just the necessary modeling work on the outside of the level to give the idea of a landscape, leaving it empty and making you feel like you are always on some type of metaphorical island, in your small detailed world inside a much bigger empty universe. Amazing.
It is true that the enemy of art is the absence of limitations
"Sometimes when you overthink things when you're designing something, those are the things you miss. Those little beautiful areas that somebody who maybe had a little more budget or a little more time would have softened, scrubbed or blocked." Thank you for making these videos!
"I know you do... you're still finishing your pizza."
*puts down slice*
He knows his audience too well
One of my favorite spots in Sunshine is in the waterfall in Noki Bay. With one of the boats, navigate it to in the middle. And just look up. It's a nice mesmerizing view to see.
14:17 I have never really looked at this skybox outside Pina Park before but played enough Sunshine to immediately recognize those are the same clouds on the title screen during the startup cutscene.
I don't know how well known this is, but Pinna Park was actually originally planned to be an extension of the hub world with warps to other levels rather than being a level itself. I think that explains why some areas of that level feel a bit odd.
If I had to guess, the warps to Noki Bay, Pianta village, and Sirrena Beach were probably here. Maybe the Canon would take you to Sirena Beach and there would be a portal on that weird Pianta tree? Noki Bay could be reached from a warp on the Ferris Wheel or something.
There's a distant, unexplorable area in Noki Bay I've always loved too. If you face the waterfall and follow the wall to the left, you eventually reach the edge of the level. You can swim past it until you hit an invisible wall, but beyond it is an unreachable area in the distance of water enclosed by another tall plateau.
I've always had the same infatuation with unreachable areas in games, but what you said about the unnattainable further fanning the flames of imagination is SO true. Awesome video :)
Sunshine reminds me of an old internet story where you can prove we live in a simulation by clearing your mind of a destination and driving in one direction. The low-quality look of the distant areas is exactly how the story describes what you will see before your path is blocked by odd looking police officers.
How very handy to enact that useful tip-- I literally just got done watching the census video right before this and checked your page to see this posted only a few minutes ago! What good timing, and a good sign to subscribe. I love the tone and thoroughness of all of your videos, but your census vids are so niche and professional that they scratch that itch in my brain just right. So so very satisfying. You are living the dream, my guy.
That was awesome, I'm so glad you did Sunshine! I'd love to see a part 2 sometime in the future, there's so many weird places to explore :)
A part 2 for Sunshine would be awesome
I think one of my favorite weird feelings in a game is in Crow’s nest mission on Halo 3. With sirens going off and the base being invaded there is no penalty to just go hang out in one of the side rooms for awhile. Distant rumblings and weird ambient echoes in hallways only meant for 10-15 seconds of player interaction as they run through.
Oddly calming to watch, after a long day of university classes. It's as if my stress vanished from how I feel ASMR emitting from these. I'm loving this series more and more. Thanks Austin!
That slower transition at 10:30 was when I realized I was in a trance.
One of my favorite games. Really explains how I felt playing it casually as a kid just exploring with no goal.
Mario sunshine even with the title alone, it gives this chill vibe. This game has every right to being a comfort zone for many, me included. Not many that i can just vibe with and take it all in, that's what this video in particular brings out in me: inner peace.
i'm surprised you didn't show the underwater city from noki bay, actually. It's gotta be one of my favorite liminal spots in a video game. I wish they had made more missions for that location cause its so mysterious.
noki bay as a whole feels like that. especially the room where the shine is at in boss of tricky ruins
on second thought i get it, bc he likes showing off areas that are more of an after thought, and the city is kind of the opposite in that someone went HELLA on designing that level. but i hope he still shows it off sometime cuz the vibes are immaculate
@@yourehereforthatarentyou trueeee, the entirety of noki bay is just so intriguing :3 partly bc of all the secret areas, but also the fact its sorta hidden away on the back of the island, so you cant see any of the other levels, only the endless open ocean. it always felt like its own little world
@@pokequeenrrpg you know what that is pretty fair to say, it isn't very out of bounds by design. I still think it's lack of use and it's closed off environment still makes it a worthy enough spot to deem it odd and strange though.
i remember as a kid, i actually didn't beat the game for a while because the eel in that mission and the underwater city scared me lol. but somehow the king boo and all the other weird stuff never bothered me
Your Super Mario Sunshine content brings me life
Yes! Oh my gosh I was wondering if you’d do one of these videos on Sunshine. It’s my favourite 3D Mario game :D
I always felt that tall grass secret was vey strange and interesting but I always loved the vibe of it. Honestly this game has a bunch of areas that are cool to hangout in, it’s just a vibe.
I knew! I knew you’d look at the elevator in the casino. I bet you that most people who played Sunshine don’t even know it’s there. Great way of explaining that whole lucid dream thing, it kinda makes sense to me.
Oh my gosh! I love that area in Pinna park!
Great video Austin, I love it keep up the great work :) can’t wait for the next one 💕
I've considered supporting many different creators on Patreon before, but you're the first one that actually made me go and do it just now. These odd and unremarkable videos chill me the fuck out and I really hope that you will keep making them. My sincere thanks for the vibes!
I want to be friends with Austin and discuss the strangeness of the cheesecake factory and other locations
its funny how so many mario games have these pocket-dimension places that are just accessed through like random entrances
funny story about that last one. After I watched some of your older videos in this series, I started inadvertently looking for similar places myself, and one of the games i played around the time was Sunshine.
I discovered that same spot in Pinna Park and fell in love with it. Really glad its in the video!
1:47 Austin says he’s not the metaphor guy
6:13 Austin makes the most beautiful metaphor for a corner
Love ya man, you always keep us wholesome and laughing
@3:50 Okay this is random, but what you were saying there really resonated with me... @4:00
I've just started confronting my mother recently about things of the past she did, I've always felt stuck in one place because of her control over me, felt like I was stuck in this little world of her construction where all my instincts told me that was it and there's nothing I could do about it...
But I've finally made the jump into what appeared like oblivion, but it ended up opening my world, oblivion was just an illusion she created for me to stay docile.
I'm finally moving on to a new place, one where I feel like myself and free to be so, I'm finally moving forward and it feels so good.
9:34 It doesn't feel oddly empty as much it just feels like a more private hotel casino. Which it is
I love your videos! Please keep making them! I will watch anything you make, and I feel that I play games in a way that is similar to the way you do. When I was growing up, my friends would always ask why I took so long to finish games, and it's because I would take so long looking around like this. I feel that these videos are the purest form of appreciating the medium of video games as a whole, and as a future game designer, I believe we need more people who take in games this way.
Wow, I feel seen. The first two areas live rent free in my mind. Also love the area of Bianca Hills where Petey Piranha sleeps in his second battle, on that stone pillar over the deep river. You can’t really access that area at all and it’s not clear where the water is supposed to flow to, there’s a bend in the valley that suggests an entirely other section of the level that just doesn’t exist. Fascinating.
I love that spot too.
I'm glad a video like this was made for this game. Since I was a kid until now, certain spots Mario Sunshine have always given me this indescribable feeling, I guess it's like liminal spaces? For my whole life I will occasionally have dreams of Mario Sunshine locations that aren't in the game (like my brain just makes up levels) but they evoke the same feeling
As a kid I just loved to look the environments in this game, and how you can see them in other levels, shit blew my mind
Dude! Ive finally found a channel that speaks to me. The way you’re analyzing all these minimal environments is something I’ve always done my whole life and particularly with this game. There’s just something very comforting about these areas and the sensation one gets from being in them... that feeling feeling of being alone... white noise... sound effects in the background... maybe some creepy music or NPC chatter... it’s really cool to know I’m not alone. And since we’re already being weird lemme let you all In on an unhealthy secret, if you purposely hold in a poo then this sensation gets more intense and I don’t know exactly why. Anyways, I’ve got a lot of great recommendations for you if you’re ever in need. My most memorable probably being the cave skybox/background in Yoshis Island. Combine that with the music that plays? Total euphoria.
When Austin's videos line up with your horribly messed up sleep schedule, it feels like he's posting just for you
GO TO BED
@@pipebombmailer thanks pipebombmailer1978
@@xangorfbsides yo’re wel’come
I love being underwater for a little when it's just calm and quiet. It feels very surreal, to be almost weightless like that, and Sunshine captured that pretty well.
I love these videos pleeeease keep making more. What a fun exploration to go on ^^
There’s also a cool place in Pina park behind a lot of stuff. It’s real out of the way. It’s a bunch of gate things you can flip with fludd. I think they powered a flume ride. It’s near the roller coaster. This place is so cozy and liminal as well. One of my favorite spots.
Man, I really wish I was good enough to beat Mario Sunshine. That is a hard game. Never got that far.
This is legit the best video series right now. Always excited to what game you do next!
I could NEVER fall asleep to your videos because i am too focused on everything you say. You say the most intriguing things and your voice commands me to listen!!! TELL ME MORE ABOUT WEIRD DREAM CASINOS and how video games are just art pieces that you walk around. Please talk forever lolol im literally obsessed with your videos Y___Y
This game has so many of these types of places, you could probably do a couple more videos on it.
I don't think I've ever related so much to a RUclips video about Mario. It's like you took all the feelings I've had about the level layout and backgrounds of Sunshine, and articulated in a way I never could. Especially as a kid, I remember looking into the backgrounds, seeing the other levels, trying to imagine what the levels I haven't reached are gonna be like, Wishing I could roam around past all the invisible barriers, ext. Never felt more compelled to Subscribe, keep it up 👌
This video perfectly depicts the reason I love Sunshine so much. As a kid, I used to swim around the waters of Delfino Plaza and try to reach those tiny versions of other areas. I knew it was impossible, but it was nice to pretend. My favorite area is Sirena Beach. Not inside the hotel, just the beach around it. I like swimming out to the farthest reaches of the area, and the last time I played I tried climbing the outside of the hotel as high as I could go, thinking it was interesting how far up the game would let me go. I used to stand on the beach and think to myself "What if this was the only area in the game? What if the entirety of Sunshine took place here? What if I trapped Mario here and he's stuck on this beach for the rest of the game?" Bizarre thoughts, but as a 6-8 year old I liked to take Mario (or any character from a 3D game, really) to a place I thought was cool and then pretend he was taking a break from saving the princess. I'd slowly walk around the environment or just drop the controller and wait for Mario to fall asleep. I used to do this with Cosmic Cove Galaxy. You're right, the Galaxy games do have similar areas to Sunshine's abstract floating levels, but it makes sense in Galaxy's environment. I guess that's why I like Sunshine's odd places best. I don't think Sirena Beach would be the same if the empty waters or tall hotel had a bit more polish.
i love the unremarkable place videos because its mostly just fascinating nothing-places and then every so often you drop something deeply philosophical and poignant on us. keeps me on my toes
1. I liked this video, please make more of it
2. You referencing what the vierwer is doing, just did, or is about to do (going to bed soon, eating pizza, just got back from a date, anything like that) is supremely cozy. The feeling of the person making the video thinking about what the viewers might be doing. I don't know quite what to call it other than cozy but it's just good
3. I promise there was a third thing. I'm typing this out in hopes that it will help me remember. If I post this comment as-is, RIP whatever that 3rd thought was
Oh man... I WAS literally asleep when I first "watched" this. Then I woke up and was like "huh, I should prolly see what I missed at the end of the video I missed bc I fell asleep." Apparently it was you correctly speculating that I was sleeping. That definitely earns a sub in my book.
These video series make me really happy seeing someone else find pleasure in the same little benign video game places, finding comforting or intriguing spots to just hang around in that stick with you in a palpable way long after the console is shut off .. that's art !!! It really is!!!
1:03
*"When you're worried about dying, it's easy to forget to stop and pay attention."*
Life advice.
This is an extremely blessed video. Thank you, Austin.
Thanks for continuing this series, I do this all the time in games too, but you seem to be the only one who makes content about it, eventho it's such a fun idea
one of my favorite areas ingame is the little theatre in the hills of Gelato Beach. You can get a nice view of the beach, you’re so high up you can feel the breeze, it’s all very relaxing! I wish i could go there and take a nap
This video really speaks to me because as someone who grew up playing Super Mario Galaxy, sometimes I would go first-person camera and stare at the home planet where mario came from. It really puts into perspective the vastness of empty space the game holds. Even within a singular planet, the only known civilization to exist has stayed on a small, somewhat insignificant spot of the planet outlined by the night lights of (presumably) the only city. It's an astonishingly large, desolate, lonely planet. I can only imagine Mario falling back to his home planet to somehow find himself stranded with no hope of finding his way back to civilization.
There's a psychological effect of going through a doorway that I think could explain the reason for that casino elevator. It's that moment of passing through a threshold into a different world.
1:03 “When you’re worried about dying, it’s easy to forget to stop and pay attention”
-Any Austin the Wise
There are lots of spots in Sunshine, and all other games, that feel genuinely unnerving and unsettling. Especially when you get Mario so far away that the music quiets down. I love when games like Sunshine that are unapologetically feel-good have an unexplainable underlined thread of unsettling ambiguity
This is awesome! Your videos are delightfully unique
I really like this video! I’ve never played sunshine but I get everything you tried to evoke; here’s my take on this subject. These strangely empty and tranquil, sometimes out-of-bound, places in video games makes you want to explore and stay there for a very long time-because they appear in your dreams. I notice that in every area you mentioned, there is a lack of interaction that makes you free to observe around without worrying about enemies or fulfilling objectives. You’re sort of defying the purpose of the game which is to do action-packed things and save whoever’s being kidnapped or kill whoever stole your strawberry cake. Instead, you take a step aside and just vibe with these liminal-spacey areas. It’s just mysteriously relaxing.
Music plays a huge role with creating this floaty atmosphere. In real life, you don’t really hear music coming from heaven and slowing sown your brain activity to a trance, but in dreams you might. The entirety of Jolly Roger Bay from Super Mario 64 is my favorite example. You begin the level on a serene coast with no sound except for the famous soundtrack. Besides the vast expanse of nothing, you see ocean waves drift in uniform, goombas walking passively in a circle, and fish swim back and forth in the distance. A couple of odd things seem to be that the bounds of the level look gloomy and untraversible, and there is no way to go back where you entered. But worry not: the music reassures you that this is a place to swim and relax; there is no need to go anywhere. Once, I left my DS and came back to see Mario sleeping and facing the sea, and this was just the most peaceful feeling I’ve felt in a video game. From time to time, I’ve especially had dreams about myself being in this level and never wanting to wake up again. For your second example in the video, I imagine sitting in that low grassy area with the soundtrack “Shopping at Wakeport” from M&L: Dream Team and vibing to the beach forever.
I’m also fond of the idea of this kind of unremarkable areas being infinite. When I played Pokémon Super Mystery Dungeon, a dungeon called “Cape of Wonders” really caught my attention. Small patches of shallow beaches enclosed by barren stony cliffs and sporadic palm trees scatter throughout in a randomized pattern. I don’t know why, but this kind of level generation really encapsulated me. I just felt like swimming in these shallow waters forever (of course, minus the enemies and any weather conditions). To best experience the feeling, I suggest playing the level and listening to “Infinite Dungeon 1” from the game’s predecessor, Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity. The infinite expansion gives that adventurous feeling that would keep you from ever feeling bored.
One more thing I want to point out, which might seem obvious, is that this feeling varies from person to person. Personally, my best childhood memories are from beachy places, and so I’m more likely to be “evaluative” of these areas and evoke these feelings more easily. You might find forest areas more reminiscing, or snowy meadows, etc. You might even disagree with me! This is why when you (the video creator) were explaining the elevator part, I couldn’t relate at all, and I thought it was a little stupid…
Alas, unremarkable and odd places in video games might create some of the best mysterious, tranquil feelings you can ever perceive outside of dreams.
3:41 presumably he goes home at night and searches again the next day
I like being able to stare off into the distance in a game and think, "Hey, I know the unemployment rate of that area."
"I know you do, you're still finishing your pizza" this is why you're great, Austin. Wonderful video! I'd always appreciate more video like it!
ive probably had unfettered access to youtube and the internet since 2008 when I was 5 years old, i kid you not when i say this is the best youtube video ive ever seen i mean it wholeheartedly. you get this game the way i get it, it was my first video game (at age 3). i appreciate how you think about the little things the way i have, its muchly appreciated
this is literally a video id show my future kids
I love these videos so much. They also really help ease my mind before sleep- it’s perfect
I love these videos. One weird thing in games I like is looking far into the distance at a place you can visit, and then going to that place and looking back. It’s like an out of body experience
_a sterile, last-ditch attempt at maintaining the integrity of the internal narrative_
Caught me off guard how naturally that concise sentence came out. You're good at describing odd and ethereal ideas!
great video, i like the little hints of philosophical analogies / deep thinking throughout the video. every word is intriguing, keep it up man!
0:44 "however, you're in and out of them so quickly, that I don't think that people really take the time to absorb just how strange it really is"
Me: *Laughs in pachinko and poison river levels*
I think there's a good bit more odd places to be covered in sunshine, this video didn't do it justice
Agreed
The feeling of being in liminal places in old 3D games is so weird, yet I can't describe it to anyone who doesn't feel it.
I loved that last spot in Pinna Park as a kid because you would get a glimpse of six other levels from the game. Really gave Sunshine the sense of taking place in a REAL island with real people living real lives. Sunshine is epic for that reason
7:30 i love this sentiment so much, your commitment to the vibes is impressive and inspiring. I hope my game gives you such vibes one day
5:45 I know this exact feeling and it's why I played TERA for so long (before it got shut down) because almost every questing area in the world you could get out of bounds and there'd be TONS of weird giant landscape hills and valleys and spaces to walk thru with just endless grass
You ever notice in super Mario sunshine, like in the sky, sometimes you'll see an airplane streaking that white exhaust like across the sky. It appears over delfino plaza, but like not all the time. I'm not sure I'd it's truly random, or if it only occurs after a specific level, but it's there.
the spot in the village portion of bianco hills where the river is barricaded off (where the blue coin is) has always been so interesting to me, like i used to fall asleep and DREAM of exploring beyond that gate as a kid
These videos feel serene, like floating through a void, taking in the nothingness which lets you reflect on everything.
That's what these places represent, everything and nothing at the same time. Without them, games would feel empty, but through their existence of having nothing going on in them they add more than they take away.
Sometimes during these episodes I remember "my" old house in World of Warcraft. Somewhere in the Dwarven District in Stormwind, there's a shop with vendors in it, but if you go out through the back door in that shop you actually enter an almost shady-looking alley-like area, and there's a full-blown two-story house in there. There's a table and chairs that you actually can sit on and a bed upstairs, it's level of detail is odd and it's significance is unremarkable, but it's my special place. I used to go there a lot and just hang out with my cousin and goof around.
I love super Mario sunshine, I played the original on the GameCube when I was 10 and I’ve replayed it tons of times on an emulator on my PC. Now I’m playing it on my switch. I’m even planning a SMS half sleeve because the game was so formative to my childhood and has stayed with me all these years lmao. I was so excited to find these videos, I love exploring SMS and I love all these weird little spots and seeing the whole world of SMS from the other worlds. My favorite spot is the top of the tall palm tree in Pianta village, especially at night. I remember being a kid and being so awestruck by it lmao. Anyway, great video. Keep up the good work
okay wait wait wait, maybe i’m just a dolt but in my 18 years of playing this game i’ve literally never found that first area?? never even knew it existed! like, when you showed it i got the feeling you describe, not just because of the vibes of the area but because it’s literally like something old and familiar made new and unknown. i love these videos so much, it’s wonderful to look back at games we thought we knew like the backs of our hands and realize that there’s still a bit here and there that we haven’t seen or thought much about
4:45 yes I love that spot so much, it always made me feel satisfied to look at so much of the world from that one spot
10:18 I literally finished my pizza as you said this- what an absolute call out lmao