Heretic Retrospective - Part of a Forgotten Genre

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  • Опубликовано: 7 янв 2025

Комментарии • 93

  • @washynator
    @washynator 13 дней назад +7

    Another hidden gem of RUclips! Now you have to do Hexen! And all the old 90's FPS games, you have a great style to these videos! Keep it up my man!

    • @SeanzenGaming
      @SeanzenGaming  12 дней назад +1

      Thank you for saying that! Hexen is another game I would enjoy going through along with some others. Appreciate your comment and feedback!

  • @RyanONeal-zd6zu
    @RyanONeal-zd6zu 15 дней назад +7

    not sure what i clicked on that got yt to recommend your video, because im not a huge gamer, but i listened to the whole thing in the a
    background and enjoyed listening to you talk about something you clearly have passion for

    • @SeanzenGaming
      @SeanzenGaming  14 дней назад +1

      This made me laugh as I read it lol. For not being a huge gamer, I appreciate you coming here and saying all of that! I definitely feel a passion for it and I’m glad it can be seen/heard through the video and you enjoyed it.

  • @bmendes84
    @bmendes84 17 дней назад +5

    I'm so glad I found this channel. Your videos rock!
    I replayed Heretic somewhat recently, and it stood out to me how much the level design improved from the original to the expansions. There were some truly beautiful maps. I specially loved one that to me looked a bit like a treasure vault (E4M5 Great Stair)

    • @SeanzenGaming
      @SeanzenGaming  16 дней назад +1

      Thank you so much for commenting on that, I really appreciate it!
      100% agree, I could really tell how they improved on the level design from the original to the expansion! The Great Stair was such a well designed level too. I was having a difficult time deciding which ones to include because there were so many options in the later episodes!

  • @wurm4676
    @wurm4676 16 дней назад +18

    I was sad when they quit making booklets to accompany games. PC games used to go balls out on extra goodies. A Rainbow Six box set had a separate CD with just videos showing guns in the game being used on a range, tactics, and interviews with Spec Ops guys. Baldur's Gate 2 had a massive 200 page instruction booklet with more info than a wikipedia page. Stuff like Mega Man would have some artwork in there, good stuff. Physical media isn't dead they just don't know how to package things for us geeks n gamers.

    • @SeanzenGaming
      @SeanzenGaming  16 дней назад +1

      Lol, great comment and points you make. There used to be quite a bit of attention put into what was part of the entire package for the physical media. Every example you gave is exactly along those lines. I know it takes away from the overall profit because of the added expenses, but I truly appreciate how much the physical presentation can add to the overall package.

    • @ScotRotum
      @ScotRotum 15 дней назад +2

      Warcraft 2 came with a booklet explaining the history and factions of the setting plus some awesome and brutal concept art. 8 year old me would take that to school to read and get hyped to play the game when I got home. Probably explains my love of lore channels to this day.

    • @Juwce_86
      @Juwce_86 15 дней назад +1

      Did anyone here ever buy Starsiege or Starsiege Tribes? They came with absolutely massive books full of art and lore.

    • @SeanzenGaming
      @SeanzenGaming  14 дней назад

      @@ScotRotumThat’s an amazing memory you have. Warcraft 2 has so much concept art and drawings put into it. I did the exact same thing where I would take a booklet to school to read them. Always enjoyed seeing the artwork in there.

    • @SeanzenGaming
      @SeanzenGaming  14 дней назад

      @@Juwce_86i only heard about the game, but never had a chance to try it. It adds so much to the experience when there are those extra booklets and the art that is included

  • @lancebaylis3169
    @lancebaylis3169 14 дней назад +12

    While it could be easy to dismiss Heretic as being literally Doom with a fantasy medieval makeover, the reality is far less simplistic. Heretic takes everything Doom did, and evolves and refines it. Where Hexen was largely a different game experience, Heretic is happy being Doom but with quality of life improvements: the inventory system and the ability to look up and down were only a few of these. While source ports like GZDoom have added many of these features to Doom itself, I certainly remember playing Heretic in 1994 and thinking, man, this is a monumental step up from Doom in almost every single way. It really was.

    • @SeanzenGaming
      @SeanzenGaming  14 дней назад +4

      When I was researching for this video, I saw comments along those lines of dismissing it as fantasy Doom. After going through the full experience, they improved on so much exactly as you stated. So many improvements in the game compared to Doom as you mentioned. It doesn’t take away of course from how technologically advanced Doom was, but Heretic took that formula and added even more.

    • @misharatkevich9808
      @misharatkevich9808 13 дней назад +1

      I still feel like it's fantasy Doom + inventory... but it's _good_ fantasy Doom. Raven understood the assignment and I honestly feel Heretic has a more cohesive style to it. (The drawback is that a lot of the time it feels like it's one big setting instead of Doom trying to have one setting per episode, but eh, I can take that, it's a good and varied enough setting.)
      The items have a lot of variety as well, though the non-mouselook up/down was... impressive for its time, but kinda ass to actually use lmao. Personally, I'd never list the looking up/down as a standout Heretic feature (even if at the time it was), the inventory is the real big deal. Chicken morphers and power tomes, hell yeah!

    • @darkprinc979
      @darkprinc979 12 дней назад

      It *is* just fantasy Doom, but there isn't anything inherently wrong with that. Yes, they did add some qol improvements, but ultimately it's the same style of combat with some more verticality added to it by use of the wings of wrath. It even runs on the same engine, although an older version (version 1.2 if I remember correctly, where Ultimate Doom ran on 1.9).

  • @Juwce_86
    @Juwce_86 15 дней назад +6

    Lad im here for this nostalgia. Being a late 30 something i vibe with these kind of videos. I never had a pc quite powerful enough to run doom and heretic at a decent clip back in the day. 286 was really only good enough for Commander Keen or old bitmap brothers games.
    Thanks for putting your time into this, you speak very well and your script writing is paced super good.
    The video and footage editing is excellent and relevant.
    Subbed and commented to feed the algorithm.

    • @SeanzenGaming
      @SeanzenGaming  14 дней назад

      Thank you so much for this thoughtful comment. I really appreciate what you said and that means a lot.
      All of your feedback is truly helpful as I’m always open to hearing how to improve while I go through this video creation process.

    • @AngryToasterOven
      @AngryToasterOven 13 дней назад +1

      I was born in August of '85. I remember playing the shareware of this as a kid on my dad's computer. Overwhelming nostalgia!
      Heretic/Hexen is such a forgotten series now, understandably eclipsed by its older brother DooM. Part of me is saddened by that, but another part of me is kind of glad today's studios aren't sinking their claws into it. God knows I've seen so many games and movies from my youth violated with remakes or unnecessary sequels.
      Strangely enough, I think what makes Heretic and Hexen hit so hard for us gamers who are nearing 40 is how uhhh.. "zeitgeist" the games were. I can't quite put it into words, but these games had that unmistakable 90s feel to them. The pixelated graphics, the music, the art style, and that 80s and early 90s dark, cloudy, gothic-fantasy setting. It's like 80s metal album art, it was unique to its time, just like Heretic's cover art. It's an atmosphere I'm not sure would sit well with today's mainstream younger gamers.

  • @CarrowMind
    @CarrowMind 14 дней назад +3

    I also remember my dad playing this game a lot back in the day, I can still hear the game sounds coming faintly from the closed door to his office one balmy summer afternoon, a core memory for me!
    Great video, brought back a lot of notstalgic feelings for a time gone by!

    • @SeanzenGaming
      @SeanzenGaming  14 дней назад +1

      That’s a really nice and pleasant memory, thank you for sharing this. It’s amazing how vivid it can be. It’s also great to hear this video brought this back for you in a positive way. Thank you!

  • @Hanki03
    @Hanki03 17 дней назад +2

    OMG THAT DAMN CLAW WEAPON AT 3:55!! I remember that one soooooo much lol, it's all coming back to me

    • @SeanzenGaming
      @SeanzenGaming  16 дней назад

      the second I saw it, it all came back to me too lol

    • @AngryToasterOven
      @AngryToasterOven 13 дней назад +1

      With its deafening sound effect lol.

  • @exterminans
    @exterminans 15 дней назад +4

    Games from my childhood. Hexen, Heretic, Heretic 2 will always hold a special place in my heart and memories.

    • @SeanzenGaming
      @SeanzenGaming  14 дней назад +1

      I’m right there with you, they hold a special place in me as well.

  • @deceiver444
    @deceiver444 11 дней назад +2

    The good ole days

  • @RyonMugen
    @RyonMugen 9 дней назад +1

    Subscribed. I love retrospectives. It makes me feel like Im not crazy for how I felt once upon a time. Keep it up Sean!

    • @SeanzenGaming
      @SeanzenGaming  8 дней назад

      Thank you so much, I appreciate it! One of the primary reasons I'm doing these videos is to bring back positive memories for people and hopefully they can feel good while watching too!

  • @Coloradical_
    @Coloradical_ 15 дней назад +2

    Great video. This was so good when it was released and really made moves for the doom/wolfenstein genre and fps games as a whole

    • @SeanzenGaming
      @SeanzenGaming  14 дней назад

      I appreciate you saying that. And also you’re spot on, it definitely added to the genre! It wasn’t only a copy/paste of similar features before, but actively improved upon them.

  • @HamidKarzai
    @HamidKarzai 15 дней назад +3

    I remember getting dizzy circlestrafing in this game too!

  • @wingn3849
    @wingn3849 14 дней назад +6

    We played this, Doom, Wolf3D and Duke3D during computer class at our catholic school. The sisters would have had an attack if they found out 😂.

    • @SeanzenGaming
      @SeanzenGaming  14 дней назад +1

      Lol, I appreciate you sharing this because that situation is hilarious. In one on my computer classes as a child the entire class would play Alien versus Predator.

  • @WolfyRagnarok
    @WolfyRagnarok 14 дней назад +1

    Loved this game in my youth. Thank you for this fun retrospective!

    • @SeanzenGaming
      @SeanzenGaming  12 дней назад +1

      Same here, I did as well! Appreciate you saying that and I'm glad you had a nice time here!

  • @jasonberezowski2869
    @jasonberezowski2869 12 дней назад +1

    Great quality content! Not enough attention on classic gems like this. Subbed~

    • @SeanzenGaming
      @SeanzenGaming  10 дней назад +1

      Thank you! And yes, completely agree. There are countless classic games out there that are still high quality and deserve to be shared with others so they can know about it!

  • @GDPanda69
    @GDPanda69 11 дней назад +1

    Yo, fantastic work on this! Looking forward to more!!!

    • @SeanzenGaming
      @SeanzenGaming  10 дней назад

      Thank you so much! Appreciate you saying that

  • @BobDole1216
    @BobDole1216 15 дней назад +1

    Glad I got recommended this video!

    • @SeanzenGaming
      @SeanzenGaming  14 дней назад

      I had no idea Hexen was on the N64, and I can completely understand what you mean about the puzzles and story lol. I always had to use cheat codes as a kid so I could get to later levels.
      There is definitely something special about the booklets and guides. They can add to the overall experience in a wonderful way. Exactly as you said, it makes sense why they don’t create them anymore, but at least there are a small handful! I saw recently that an official BloodBorne strategy guide was released. There was also an announcement for one with Metaphor: Refantazio. At least there are a couple out there still!

  • @sevenfacedsin
    @sevenfacedsin 4 дня назад +1

    This game was so good. I played this and HeXen so much as a kid.

  • @chaospoet
    @chaospoet 8 дней назад +1

    I only played this back when there were only 3 episodes. I loved this game more than I did Doom. The cheat codes were so much fun. Also helpful. In levels where I couldn't figure out where to go, or there were too many monsters killing me as I attempted to explore, I used the cheat code MASSACRE to kill every enemy in the level so I could learn the level and know where not to go. Then I'd restart and play normally. Huge help whenever I got stuck. Plus watches all the enemies explode all at once is so satisfying.

    • @SeanzenGaming
      @SeanzenGaming  8 дней назад +1

      That's a great idea to do that in order to explore the level and then go back normally. I have no doubt that helped you have a better time with the game. I remember one of my favorite used to be giving myself countless morph ovums to turn enemies into chickens. Always made me chuckle to hear all the chicken sounds and it does to this day lol.

  • @teamoversquatch3785
    @teamoversquatch3785 13 дней назад +1

    Well done video!!! Subscribed, can’t wait for more! Happy holidays! 😎😎😎

    • @SeanzenGaming
      @SeanzenGaming  12 дней назад

      Thank you for saying that! Happy holidays over there to you as well :)

  • @MrDanieloneill
    @MrDanieloneill 16 дней назад +2

    A lot of the sound in the game is library sound from Sound Ideas who have been around for a long time. Doom used Sound Ideas libraries as well.

  • @FeelingShred
    @FeelingShred 14 дней назад +3

    Another great thing about Heretic is that you can enjoy the game in small bite sized sessions, it's a game with clear definite end to it. Games from a time before companies started designing games that would get you "hooked" like a drug (Blizzard the most vile at this that's why I avoid their games)

    • @SeanzenGaming
      @SeanzenGaming  12 дней назад

      Great point and funny you mention that about the bite sized portions. That's how I went about the game and it made it great. It's definitely from a time when games on average didn't have that design to get you "hooked" like you mentioned.

  • @FeelingShred
    @FeelingShred 14 дней назад +1

    It would be an awesome Christmas treat 🌲 if Voxel Heretic would be finally finished for release, only the enemy models are missing. The enemies are already drawn in voxels but they are behind a paywall... So hopefully some generous incentive on his Patreon can convince him to release it 🙏🤘

  • @wymanrtaylor
    @wymanrtaylor 15 дней назад +1

    Man, I played this around 7 or 8 years old as well; it scared the crap out of me back then lol

    • @SeanzenGaming
      @SeanzenGaming  14 дней назад

      Lol, that is 100% relatable and understandable haha

  • @mrchow5047
    @mrchow5047 13 дней назад +1

    The Cover Artis is Gerald Brom, Amazing artist, he did Domm 2 and Diablo 2 cover art among others

    • @SeanzenGaming
      @SeanzenGaming  12 дней назад

      Appreciate you telling me the name of the artist. I can see that style in those covers as well! Truly amazing artwork.

  • @Deqnkata
    @Deqnkata 16 дней назад +2

    I got into gaming a bit later over here and the second game was one of the first i played. Really miss these kind of cool dark stories about demonic worlds.

    • @SeanzenGaming
      @SeanzenGaming  16 дней назад

      That's a good point, there don't seem to be as many stories like this lately

  • @francescoaloe9391
    @francescoaloe9391 10 дней назад +1

    Best Doom clone period. Expand the original mechanics in a fantasy world.

  • @me-kl9tg
    @me-kl9tg 15 дней назад +2

    Great video! There aren't that many long-form videos on this game (at least compared to the popular 90's FPS'). Looking at your previous uploads, this seems to be a the first non-Starcraft video you're created. Are you planning on covering more games like this in the future? If you've not heard of Amid Evil then that might be a game worth looking into. It's a throwback retro shooter that plays a lot like Heretic. It came out several years ago and uses Unreal Engine 4.

    • @SeanzenGaming
      @SeanzenGaming  14 дней назад +1

      Thank you so much!
      I do plan on covering games like this! Same with other RTS, RPG, and potentially other genres. The main focus will be older games, but I would really enjoy covering some more modern ones as well. I haven’t heard of Amid Evil until now! I just pulled it up and it looks and sounds intriguing, I added it to my list!
      I really appreciate your comment as it also contains some great feedback about the channel! I’m looking at making a short video to explain the vision I see for the channel regarding games, genres, etc. that I will focus on. Thanks again!

    • @me-kl9tg
      @me-kl9tg 14 дней назад

      @@SeanzenGaming Thanks for the reply, and best of luck with the channel!

  • @darkprinc979
    @darkprinc979 12 дней назад +1

    There are a variety of programs out there like GZDoom, called source ports. Different source ports have different goals in mind, so depending on what you want out of the game, GZDoom may not be the best choice for you. GZDoom brings the most bells and whistles with it, and allows for the widest variety of features for mappers to use, but it comes at the cost of accuracy to the original game.
    If you're looking for something more like the original game, but without having to use Dosbox, then Chocolate Heretic is what you want. It is the original game with all of its bugs and limitations, and no visual enhancements. This port can play any maps made for Heretic that could be played on the original game, but nothing beyond those limitations.
    Crispy Heretic is like Chocolate Heretic, but includes bug fixes for the original game, as well as extended limitations for mapping, meaning it allows for bigger maps and higher enemy counts than the original game could handle. It also allows for various visual enhancements, including higher resolutions. The limited nature of the enhancements here mean that Crispy Heretic maintains demo-compatibility with the original game, as nothing about the underlying gameplay has changed.
    DSDA-Doom is where things really start to get interesting. DSDA-Doom works with Heretic, and on top of the higher resolutions you can get out of Crispy, it also features enhanced mapping features that have been added to Doom over the years, meaning that mappers can pull off feats that would have been impossible in the original game, such as insta-killing floors. It also features both software rendering (your cpu does all the work for rendering the graphics, which gives it the look of the original) and hardware rendering (your graphics card does the work, and gives you looks like what you see in the video). DSDA is targeted mostly at speed runners, so it maintains demo compatibility with the original game.
    GZDoom, as stated above, adds the most features of all for modding, including enhanced scripting support. GZDoom also has both software and hardware rendering, but under the hood changes to the game's engine mean that it does not have demo compatibility with the original game, or in many cases even across different versions of GZDoom itself.
    There are also plenty of other source ports out there that have varying degrees of the features of the other ones mentioned here, but they all tend to have their own different features. Some of them support Heretic, but not all of them do.
    The waterfall wasn't a mistake, that was the intended flow of the map. The map maker expected you to run off of that cliff when you got there, so they put the trigger for the next area of the map at the edge of the waterfall. Whether or not that was the best decision is another matter, but that isn't an uncommon way of opening up new areas of maps.

    • @SeanzenGaming
      @SeanzenGaming  10 дней назад

      This is some amazing information. Thank you for taking the time to explain it all. I found out about GZDoom when I went back to replay this game so outside of the initial research I did, I'm not highly familiar with it. I didn't realize there were so many versions of the source ports and everything you said can help me when I look at doing a Hexen video.
      That also makes sense about the waterfall. I can see how it was intended. Appreciate the information again and how much you shared regarding all of this.

    • @darkprinc979
      @darkprinc979 10 дней назад

      @@SeanzenGaming No problem. If you go to the source port section of the doom worlds forum there's a number of them you can try out, with the most active being on the front page. Not all of them are there, but there's a decent variety.

    • @darkprinc979
      @darkprinc979 10 дней назад +1

      @@SeanzenGaming Yeah, if you choose to play with community made maps, it is important that you check what source port it expects. If you intend to stick with just GZDoom then just about anything will work for you since it can play anything below its own feature set, i.e maps that are vanilla compatible or only require a limit removing port like Crispy. If you want to try out multiple source ports then it's best to keep track of what features are required by the maps you're playing vs. what features are offered by the source ports you're using.
      There are also launchers out there that can help you manage your maps, mods and source ports through a single program in order to simplify things. I personally use ZDL (short for ZDoom Launcher, but it can work with any source port) since it's pretty simplistic in its design, but it hasn't had an update in a number of years. There are also some out there that allow you to track certain stats, but that area isn't something I'm too well versed in since I've been using ZDL for a long time.

  • @nar2130
    @nar2130 17 дней назад +4

    Did you ever play Hexen as well?

    • @SeanzenGaming
      @SeanzenGaming  16 дней назад +3

      Yes I did! But it's also been so many years, although I remember something about there being 3 classes I think. I'd like to do a video on it as well and the rest of this series!

  • @cosminmahalu9594
    @cosminmahalu9594 10 дней назад +1

    Great video, thanks! Please do Hexen as well! All the best to you!

    • @SeanzenGaming
      @SeanzenGaming  10 дней назад

      Appreciate you saying that! I'd love to do Hexen. It's been so many years since I've gone through that one. I don't know exactly when the video will be on it, but I will go through it at one point!

  • @misharatkevich9808
    @misharatkevich9808 13 дней назад +1

    There is NO way D'Sparil wasn't a pun on "despair", so I agree with your pronunciation.

    • @SeanzenGaming
      @SeanzenGaming  12 дней назад

      Oh wow, I didn't even consider that or catch it. Great point.

  • @Spezifischable
    @Spezifischable 14 дней назад +2

    Playing with a pixel filter turned on? What kind of monster are you?

    • @SeanzenGaming
      @SeanzenGaming  12 дней назад

      Is that one of the filters it automatically turns on when you run it on GZDoom? I didn't even realize that. I'll keep an eye out next time and see how it looks without it when I try other games in that style. Thanks for letting me know.

  • @joseart6959
    @joseart6959 6 дней назад +1

    Check Ziggurat and Ziggurat 2, roguelike with big Heretic influence in the gameplay.

    • @SeanzenGaming
      @SeanzenGaming  5 дней назад

      Appreciate the suggestion. I'll look them up for sure. It sounds interesting already with that Heretic influence.

  • @JuniperMe
    @JuniperMe 5 дней назад +1

    Game for 7 year olds, I mean thats how old I was when playing Doom, Heretic etc on my uncle's computer, so I guess that is the intended age?? I loved heretic, was too hard for me at the time lol, I just used cheats, I remember being very amused by the chicken cheat.

  • @Hexsyn
    @Hexsyn 8 дней назад +1

    Heh, yeah E4M1 is a real pain on black plague for sure

  • @BlusViews
    @BlusViews 13 дней назад +1

    Subscribed 🎉

    • @SeanzenGaming
      @SeanzenGaming  12 дней назад

      I really appreciate the support, thank you!

  • @necrosteel5013
    @necrosteel5013 13 дней назад +1

    I can't really see it as an upgrade.
    It's weapons don't feel as good, it's enemies feel less engaging to fight and the inventory, while an improvement as a concept but functionally is missed potential.

    • @SeanzenGaming
      @SeanzenGaming  12 дней назад +1

      That's a valid point and I can definitely understand how it looks that way.

  • @thewhyzer
    @thewhyzer 13 дней назад

    1:37 - "there are beautiful high resolution textures". With all do respect, sir, you need to see an optometrist. While I'm sure there are HD texture packs and whatnot you can use with source ports, the footage here is of the original super low res textures made super blurry via filtering. I don't think "the lighting has improved" either, at least not with whatever default settings you're using there.
    And since when are first person shooters a "forgotten genre"? Because that's what this is, a first person shooter. There's also no "role playing" elements in Heretic. Like, literally none at all.
    Anyway, Heretic is a good game for sure, but I personally preferred Hexen.

  • @D4n0w4r
    @D4n0w4r 14 дней назад +1

    FILTERS

  • @EVS2585
    @EVS2585 11 дней назад +1

    Check out Witchfire :)

    • @SeanzenGaming
      @SeanzenGaming  10 дней назад +1

      Appreciate the recommendation! I haven't heard it before and just looked it up. That has an incredibly high rating on Steam and sounds interesting!

  • @FKYT
    @FKYT 13 дней назад

    This video would be much better without all the unfunny forces jokes.

  • @Lord_Humungus
    @Lord_Humungus 16 дней назад

    this video really sucks man, yes 7 year old like games with cartoon graphics, that is not funny or edgy, just extremly lame