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The gameplay seems frustrating as hell, but at least the Rio VA did a great job. I imagine if they hired someone with an annoying voice, it would be an all around miserable experience.
@@planescaped The character actually looks like the VA in real life (she was in She Spies TV Show). She was getting some good mainstream roles back then so probably no need to dabble in video game VA. That and I imagine they must have had a mountain of dialogue for this game which would put a lot of people off.
God, the PS2 era was genuinely the peak of videogame aesthetics. So many PS2 games upscale to HD flawlessly and look better than modern games due to their focus on art direction and design.
yeah, honestly i think the games industry would've been better off if it focused on innovating gameplay over graphics once it got to the point of being able to render PS2 games in HD.
Yeah tha kfully we have many geeat i die gsmes modders making games complete.conversion mods. :) we have daggerfall unity. Morrowind thing that adds multiplayer amonf various things.
You have to give it to these early '00s games, big companies were willing to give developers A LOT of money for weird concepts like these...I never played this game, but it reminds me of Seaman.
I wish they made a modern take on Lifeline, with the new A.I. technology that we have, I can imagine a virtually pseudo-self-aware A.I. controlled by the player's voice input in a sci-fi survival horror setting could be a revolutionary stage in gaming.
I think there was one where you had to communicate with an AI over text terminals relatively recently. Can't remember the title, but it was also set on a spacestation.
Not just controller by voice. Imagine not just voice communication and conversation, but in rooms, the AI would start roaming around and searching for things automatically ... So it wouldn't just be voice command, but more like helping someone on a asymmetric game. Also if the game becomes less "voice command", it could try and add more empathise on conversation like "why do you think this is happening?" And you could get more that way, or enter emotion into it such as trying to talk to her to calm her down if scared, etc. That being said, I don't think we are their quite yet.
@@FrancisYorkMorganFBI Yes. Currently rewatching the video Game Maker's Toolkit made about it and it's crazy how far AI has come in the 6 years since then.
This game has probably one of the best examples of Ludonarrative Harmony where the player's gameplay perfectly matches their position to the story. It's interesting to look at especially from a game pre-2010s when realism was all the rage.
@@enoyna1001 Ludonarrative Harmony is when the actions of the player in-game match that of the story, as opposed to Ludonarrative Dissonance which is a common game criticism. That's when the players actions don't match what's being said in the story, i.e. Nathan Drake killing a ton of people despite the game being about adventure with there being a lighter tone. It became a big criticism when games started really focusing on "realism" and how the realistic story doesn't match the more gamelike feel of the gameplay. It's kind of a dumb debate because if games were to have "realistic" gameplay it would probably be unfun and frustrating. This game kinda exemplifies that where it is really frustrating when Rio doesn't listen to you or loses a command within your speech. It's realistic and falls in line with the game's narrative of you being a control operator trying to help her survive, despite the annoyance it causes the player. That's why it's a good example of Ludonarrative Harmony, gameplay actions = story actions. While I don't think it really says anything about the quality of the game, I just think it's something interesting to think about and bring up whenever people talk about Ludonarrative criticisms.
I like what you said about sincerity in this game, and older media in general as opposed to newer games. I agree and can definitely sense that sincerity in Lifeline - it's very charming. From Rio's voice-acting to the music itself, there's a great earnest and innocent quality to it all that I find really appealing. I think that may be a characteristic of Japanese media in general as well.
I really feel this type of game could be done much better now. Voice recognition has a come a long, long way since 2003. Well, if the game really even needs to be made anyway. But I do miss when devs would experiment.
fun fact, when playing toung twisters. if you complete 3 in a row Rio heals a bit. its an absolute life saver that i used a ton when i played it. overall an amazing video, Lifeline holds a special place in my heart. i played it while streaming it to a friend over the course of a few weeks (every friday night baby!) it was frustrating, but it was so much fun at the same time. unlike some other frustrating games, this one kept me going and it's one that i will never forget. as of writing this comment i have also found and bought a review prototype build of the game, so i'm excited for that! i hope lifeline gets more attention over the upcoming months, and will hopefully get a pc and/or console rerelease/remake.
What? You used it a ton of them?! Isn't it kinda frustrating because of the bad voice recognition? I can't even pass the 2nd round of the tongue twisters, and yet you passed it over and over?
@definitelynotcharaznable7749 why yes it is kinda annoying. But at the same time there are alot of things that can make it lesd so. Mic quality and accent. These things can either make it alot worse or better. I have beaten multiple rounds but it took a long time. I believe i beat like 3/4 normally within 1 and a half hour. At the same time, because i was playing with my friend and we dont got infinite amounts of friday nights and we do wanna play other things. I after that we both agreed to safe scum the rest. But one day i will play it on actual hardware so then i'll probably have to spen hours doing tough twisters. Also hot tip, listen carefilly first and write them down. It does make it easyer to say 'em out loud that way.
I remember seeing the review of this on Xplay way back in the day and being amazed at the idea of controlling a game with only your voice. By the time the Kinect rolled around, the idea of screaming commands into a mic while playing a game seemed like the stupidest fucking thing on earth. Great Review!
Heck, I just made a comment on this without scrolling (which in hindsight, probably should've) remembering this same episode but not the name of the game. It's nice to know that I wasn't the only one who watched XPlay.
Voice control also appears in another Japanese game - Binary Domain, although, commands are simple, like: "Yes", "No", "Fire", "Take cover", etc. But it adds some immersion anyway
Ye I completed that one not long ago. The voice commands were more of a gimmick, since most times you won't have to issue any orders to teammates, and in dialog choices it's just picking the right answer to boost morale. Still a fun game despite that ✌️
Oh that's what the tutorial and booklet meant!! Thank you, I was trying to figure that out when I was playing it a while ago XD Also I would say that this sort of thing counts for Phoenix Wright games?
Honestly an survival horror fixed camera angle game like this were the angles are actually from in world cameras like this today could work so well, specially with the advances in technology And of course, having the option of having text commands would help a lot if the voice commands are faulty
Lifeline is honestly a wonderful experience once you get passed the frustration. Like you said in the video it has a charm that isn't found anymore. There was another game by the name of "Eyedentify" that was scheduled for the PS3 but it was cancelled. It wasn't exactly the same as Lifeline but it had a lot of the same aspects by the look of the trailer along with using the PS3's camera as well. It's a shame it never made it to market since it could have been a fun experience in the same way Lifeline was.
The funny thing is, this same concept of "controlling a video game with your voice" was one of the main selling points behind "Tom Clancy's: Endwar" which came out in 2008. Unfortunately, it seems like the idea was just too ahead of the tech. Interestingly, I think one of the first to try this idea was "Seaman" for the Sega Dreamcast.
Before the restructuring, Konami was known for its experimental approach to videogames even dating back to Contra, or, how do we combine Mario with Aliens and Predator?
This is amazing for a PS2 survival horror game in which they create a feature where you control the character with voice command. I don’t know why they didn’t add in later games. Can you imagine if they put a voice command on resident evil or even silent hill. That’ll be awesome if they did that on VR games.
So you are a character in 1st person perspective(the operator) but you're indirectly controlling another character in 3th person(Rio). This means that this game is in second person, right? If it is, it's the first time I've seen a game in this perspective.
There is also an old adventure game called 'The Experiment' or 'eXperience112' (depending on region) that did the same thing - you were giving a woman directions through a CCTV network by switching lights on/off on a map.
I've been waiting for a remake of Lifeline for awhile now. I also was a watcher of Spedwerd on twitch and his speedruns of the game a long time ago. Now days, technology has improved a ton, especially with AI chat GPT and AI voice mimicking. Maybe a few years into the future, you could recreate this game with a never ending stream of potential replies and conversations that could be had with Rio. I highly doubt the voice actress would be willing to reprise her role, and as far as I know, hardly no one ever brings it up to her during interviews. It's a forgotten piece of her life at this point I'd imagine. Also, interestingly, the director and designer, Manabu Nishizawa, was never credited by name in any video game ever again, this was also his first project. Also the writer kind of disappeared and hadn't done anything since. There's no behind the scenes information or documentation on the project at all. It's almost like a phantom project. The whole thing is intriguing to me, and always has been. A game that obviously was considered impossible to make at the time was made about as well if not better than anyone involved could have predicted, no one knew it existed, everyone vanished.
My cutest game of all time, so original, true to its theme. You feel the pain of the operator which l know can be fixed. l would surely add the concept in my games, if ever. The soundtrack, the theme of the story, just beautiful! 10/10 game, l had handicaps due to my mic but l went through and beyond. l just love this game, PS2 era, Rio and her optional interactions if you wish to learn more about her. Being a voice actor for a game(you, the player) has never been felt better! This game taught me the meaning of pronunciation, using the right words, combination of them and knowing which words to use. Not my mother language but it is fun and educational. It just needs refinement and variety.
l hope you review Binary Domain, another rare game with voice action adventure, very unlike Lifeline but really, this game is something else. It is a third person shooter that seems generic but it isn't because it has depth and interesting characters. They made a third person shooter actually good and unique since you can respond with your voice and you don't die instantly, instead you have medkits when downed so no more unfair deaths. It is like l found the dream 3rd person shooter/
I remember this game being reviewed on some show on g4 and it seeming interesting but I completely forgot what the game was! thank you for letting me find it again!
Man, I got this game back in the day at Gamestop for $3 thanks to the 4PlayerPodcast. Miss those guys, introduced me to so many great games like Valkyria Chronicles and Sakura Wars.
Even considering the upscale patch, I’m amazed at how adorable Rio looks when it’s an old PS2 game. If they remade/remastered this game with more accurate voice-recognition, it could be an awesome time.
Pretty sure the L-R thing is a baseless rumor on incomplete linguistic knowledge.I don't think it would help and even Japanese people playing this game found it difficult.
Right? Because if they had to change the entire system to understand English, then the data set would most likely be designed to understand a clear (probably American) English speaking accent.
This is the sort of game you only make with a dream and a ton of thinking cocaine. I kind of miss that we don't get games this insane that often anymore.
Man, the game looks so immersive. It looks like you can emotionally engage deeply with Rio. I'd love to play it as frustrating as it can be. It reminded me of Parasite Eve. PS1 and PS2 was best gaming era innovation wise
I remember seeing BigBangBlitz streaming this on Justin, something like a solid 15 years ago. I'm glad that newer streamers and content creators are discovering it too.
Great video, Boulder puncher. I was completely ignorant to this title, however, it reminded me the time I played Tom Clancy's End War, voice command was very basic, but it added a different feeling of immersion. Looking forward to any indie dev that takes the glove on voice command 👍🏼
i remember adam from x play playing this and it was so funny. a few things i think could make this better are if 1 it was a co op game where 1 person tell you where the best place to shoot is and the other person has control of the character. also make it sorta like a way out with the camera tricks and stuff. but most of all think of livestreaming the dual video where i person can only hear you in the microphone and the muffled sound of the other players audio like mic distortion. an audience for something like that would be cool like detroit :become human mixed with it takes 2
I absolutely loved this game and Rio has a special place in my gaming memories. I was home sick with the flu and my wife had rented this game from Block Buster so I'd have something new to play. By day 2, my wife kept asking me how my new girlfriend was doing, lmao. The developers did a great job making Rio relatable and likable. I didn't have an issue with combat in the late game since commands like, "Run Away", would get Rio to run to the other side of room. Multiple enemies were also manageable since you could specifically tell her to, "Target 1" etc to get her to target specific enemies. I would love to see a more modern version of the game that uses the same or similar voice command mechanics, or perhaps a VR version.
The game reminds me of Event[0] in the way it allows you to give free-form input. It might be worth checking it out if you want a less frustrating version of this.
Holy shit, man. I gotta say, I'm hooked lol I really enjoyed what you showed about the game so far and now I really wanna try it 👏🏻. I like the premise. Gotta love the PS2 era for gems like this. It might have some flaws, but this got me more hyped than pretty much 90% of current games releasing right now.
There's something so soothing about the music and it feels familiar, but I don't know what it reminds me of. Resident Evil Remake maybe? That is another early 2000's title. Although Lifeline seems more relaxed in its downtime.
32:36 "would there be an audience for such games?" of course it will, imagine an npc that use chat gp´t for example, or like in this story you speak with the protagonist via voice chat and she responds more naturaly?
One day I'll get to play it, I remember reading about it in a magazine when it was new. Probably means taking the physical cartridge we got off Ebay (because it never got released here in the UK but I didn't know that at 12, I thought I just missed it because I never had an N64 until then) to a friend's house in America. Only because I can't emulate it XD Which is a good reason for emulation to be allowed, for region-locked games. I'd like to ask Nintendo why it was Region-locked and why they haven't re-released it for consoles with built-in mics, I'm sure the DS could have played it easily. And why they didn't release it here when the English version already existed.
I loved the voice commands for Rainbow Six 3 on the OG Xbox. Felt good to tell a team to hold then breach when you got to the other door and busted in to get a hostage. Great stuff. I was sad they got rid of the planning stages in the first RS and Rogue Spear, but anyways. It would be great to see voice tech implemented in more games.
I remember reading about this game in Playstation magazine probably back in 2003 or 04. The character model and setting were etched in my memory but totally forgot this game's whole gimmick was it using voice commands.
You say you don't know if there would be an audience for this type of game, and I am here to tell you I want this and quite a few other game remade honestly so there is at least one person hoping for more
I remember seeing this on a really old game review show on TechTV (before it was G4, anyone remember Anime Unleashed at the wee hours of the morning?) that previewed upcoming games and such, but I could never remember the name. I thought it sounded really neat as a concept, but since I'd forgotten the name, I could never figure out how to find it, though I remembered snips of the episode that featured it. Now that I have a name to go with the game, maybe I'll see if I can't dig a copy up somewhere to add to my collection of weird and forgotten games. Thanks for putting a name to it after all these years!
I vividly remember the episode of X Play this was on and Adam Sessler doing the bark like a dog thing-- I always thought that was them doing a bit lol, never expected it to be real.
This was fascinating, I didn’t know this game existed! The voice performance is honestly pretty well done. It sounds live in a way that is pretty convincing at times.
I remember being so fascinated about this game when I read articles about it in magazines, but I think the best way to enjoy the gameplay today is via videos on youtube.
I remember watching a playthrough a few years ago of a VR game called The Last Labyrinth which had somewhat similar gameplay to this, but instead of voice commands it used eye tracking and yes/no head gestures to direct the girl (either because the girl was non-verbal or the player character was injured and could only move his eyes and head lol).
I only know of this game existence because of Jerma playing, and he too was frustrated by the voice commands and dealing with her navigating everywhere
This so creative, wow👌 damn this is something else. Using command via voice command and then going that extra step to immerse the player by making them mission control during a crisis is mint.
AHHHHHHHHIhave this game. I always swore I would beat it, but then it got really, really hard, and I stopped. That was about 14 years ago. I don't think it's ever happening. I did however, discover a line that was not pointed out in any guide for it I ever read. Accidentally, through poor voice recognition, of course. If you tell her to "Clean this room" She'll tell you to come down and clean it yourself. On with the actual vidya. Oh god. The flaming bottle bit. Not gonna write what it actually is, probably get me flagged. That took so long, and only solved via bad voice recognition.
It's absolutely hilarious to me that the advice I heard on Trash Taste podcast; if you don't know good Japanese and need to ask for some basic directions that you use the r's as l's and they'll unironically understand you better, is also present in this game.
15:43 that felt like a resident evil 2 call back. when either claire or leon first meet kendo in his gunshop. even the name honda sounds a bit like kendo
Those things work if hey have a reasonable purpose and not just replacing things you could do easier with buttons. If it was used for conversation, or like giving complex sqad comands use breach and flash etc. or like equiping items in a game without looking for it in the menus. Or like switching gear on the fly in rpg game. Use the X sword when you have 100 items in the inventory. that would be great and would impact gameplay dynamic.
Great work really enjoyed it. I imagine the relationship you could build with AI partners would be quite meaningful, excluding the misunderstandings...
I am obsessed! this looks so good! It's like she is alive! I hope they keep making this games, we now have crazy AI potential! Imagine a game where you play as a virtual asistance and you gotta look trough some metaphor of the internet!!
Yooo I died laughing when you’re like “it’s not like all her pictures are missing” 😂 the contrast is very stark between someone being dead and her personal property having some slime on it.
You should check out eXperience 112. A game where you're an operator I guess guiding a woman through an abandoned facility by watching her on CCTV cameras and enabling electrical devices in the area.
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A guide to getting Lifeline to work with the PCSX2 emulator:
• www.reddit.com/r/PCSX2/comments/gpfvce/comment/fv7wxrz/
half Japnaese and half german like Asuka from Evangelion
@@tiagopereirasantossilva556 hilarious because both of these girls look 100%German 😋😋
"My sign is no parking let's get a move on" is a great line to shut down people
Truly but… it’s kinda of a risk to shutdown and annoy the person that you need to survive 😊
The gameplay seems frustrating as hell, but at least the Rio VA did a great job. I imagine if they hired someone with an annoying voice, it would be an all around miserable experience.
For real, her voice acting in this is superb. I'm surprised this is the only game she ever did VA for.
Well all they needed to do was adjust and translate the original Japanese version.
Give some props to her too!!
Like Michigan Report from Hell!
@@planescaped The character actually looks like the VA in real life (she was in She Spies TV Show). She was getting some good mainstream roles back then so probably no need to dabble in video game VA. That and I imagine they must have had a mountain of dialogue for this game which would put a lot of people off.
Rio's voice actress is amazing. I really felt for her when she was distressed over her destroyed belongings
She’s also hot.
wow your standards are shockingly low
@@TerryFGM
Your standarts are retarded.
@@TerryFGMmaybe yours are too high?...
@@TerryFGMwow, ur standards are predictably, annoyingly, unnecessarily high
God, the PS2 era was genuinely the peak of videogame aesthetics. So many PS2 games upscale to HD flawlessly and look better than modern games due to their focus on art direction and design.
yeah, honestly i think the games industry would've been better off if it focused on innovating gameplay over graphics once it got to the point of being able to render PS2 games in HD.
Yeah tha kfully we have many geeat i die gsmes modders making games complete.conversion mods. :) we have daggerfall unity. Morrowind thing that adds multiplayer amonf various things.
Totally agree.
This is why the art (and other things) of shadow of the colossus was completely shat on in the remake.
@@milkman1649 let's just hope it never happens to ICO too.
You have to give it to these early '00s games, big companies were willing to give developers A LOT of money for weird concepts like these...I never played this game, but it reminds me of Seaman.
I wish they made a modern take on Lifeline, with the new A.I. technology that we have, I can imagine a virtually pseudo-self-aware A.I. controlled by the player's voice input in a sci-fi survival horror setting could be a revolutionary stage in gaming.
I think there was one where you had to communicate with an AI over text terminals relatively recently. Can't remember the title, but it was also set on a spacestation.
2kliksphilip recently showcased a techdemo with ai npcs you can talk to in his 'AI Actors for Game Worlds' video, worth a watch
Not just controller by voice. Imagine not just voice communication and conversation, but in rooms, the AI would start roaming around and searching for things automatically ... So it wouldn't just be voice command, but more like helping someone on a asymmetric game. Also if the game becomes less "voice command", it could try and add more empathise on conversation like "why do you think this is happening?" And you could get more that way, or enter emotion into it such as trying to talk to her to calm her down if scared, etc. That being said, I don't think we are their quite yet.
@@vmonk722 you probably mean Event[0] , right?
@@FrancisYorkMorganFBI Yes. Currently rewatching the video Game Maker's Toolkit made about it and it's crazy how far AI has come in the 6 years since then.
"Save it for someone who cares, BiMbO!"
I will never not laugh at the delivery.
This game has probably one of the best examples of Ludonarrative Harmony where the player's gameplay perfectly matches their position to the story. It's interesting to look at especially from a game pre-2010s when realism was all the rage.
Could you elaborate?
@@enoyna1001 Ludonarrative Harmony is when the actions of the player in-game match that of the story, as opposed to Ludonarrative Dissonance which is a common game criticism. That's when the players actions don't match what's being said in the story, i.e. Nathan Drake killing a ton of people despite the game being about adventure with there being a lighter tone. It became a big criticism when games started really focusing on "realism" and how the realistic story doesn't match the more gamelike feel of the gameplay. It's kind of a dumb debate because if games were to have "realistic" gameplay it would probably be unfun and frustrating. This game kinda exemplifies that where it is really frustrating when Rio doesn't listen to you or loses a command within your speech. It's realistic and falls in line with the game's narrative of you being a control operator trying to help her survive, despite the annoyance it causes the player. That's why it's a good example of Ludonarrative Harmony, gameplay actions = story actions. While I don't think it really says anything about the quality of the game, I just think it's something interesting to think about and bring up whenever people talk about Ludonarrative criticisms.
@@radicalsandwich9274 thanks a lot!
@@radicalsandwich9274perfectly summed up
I like what you said about sincerity in this game, and older media in general as opposed to newer games. I agree and can definitely sense that sincerity in Lifeline - it's very charming. From Rio's voice-acting to the music itself, there's a great earnest and innocent quality to it all that I find really appealing. I think that may be a characteristic of Japanese media in general as well.
That’s actually an interesting concept for a game
The *concept* is amazing.
And the execution is shitty.
I really feel this type of game could be done much better now. Voice recognition has a come a long, long way since 2003.
Well, if the game really even needs to be made anyway. But I do miss when devs would experiment.
fun fact, when playing toung twisters. if you complete 3 in a row Rio heals a bit.
its an absolute life saver that i used a ton when i played it.
overall an amazing video, Lifeline holds a special place in my heart. i played it while streaming it to a friend over the course of a few weeks (every friday night baby!) it was frustrating, but it was so much fun at the same time. unlike some other frustrating games, this one kept me going and it's one that i will never forget.
as of writing this comment i have also found and bought a review prototype build of the game, so i'm excited for that!
i hope lifeline gets more attention over the upcoming months, and will hopefully get a pc and/or console rerelease/remake.
@@fatih7961 what does this mean lmfao
What? You used it a ton of them?! Isn't it kinda frustrating because of the bad voice recognition? I can't even pass the 2nd round of the tongue twisters, and yet you passed it over and over?
@definitelynotcharaznable7749 why yes it is kinda annoying. But at the same time there are alot of things that can make it lesd so. Mic quality and accent. These things can either make it alot worse or better. I have beaten multiple rounds but it took a long time. I believe i beat like 3/4 normally within 1 and a half hour.
At the same time, because i was playing with my friend and we dont got infinite amounts of friday nights and we do wanna play other things. I after that we both agreed to safe scum the rest. But one day i will play it on actual hardware so then i'll probably have to spen hours doing tough twisters.
Also hot tip, listen carefilly first and write them down. It does make it easyer to say 'em out loud that way.
I remember seeing the review of this on Xplay way back in the day and being amazed at the idea of controlling a game with only your voice. By the time the Kinect rolled around, the idea of screaming commands into a mic while playing a game seemed like the stupidest fucking thing on earth. Great Review!
god the x-play review
All they need is a text command fallback, just like the Mobile Assistants.
Heck, I just made a comment on this without scrolling (which in hindsight, probably should've) remembering this same episode but not the name of the game. It's nice to know that I wasn't the only one who watched XPlay.
Voice control also appears in another Japanese game - Binary Domain, although, commands are simple, like: "Yes", "No", "Fire", "Take cover", etc. But it adds some immersion anyway
Ye I completed that one not long ago. The voice commands were more of a gimmick, since most times you won't have to issue any orders to teammates, and in dialog choices it's just picking the right answer to boost morale. Still a fun game despite that ✌️
Oh that's what the tutorial and booklet meant!! Thank you, I was trying to figure that out when I was playing it a while ago XD
Also I would say that this sort of thing counts for Phoenix Wright games?
Honestly an survival horror fixed camera angle game like this were the angles are actually from in world cameras like this today could work so well, specially with the advances in technology
And of course, having the option of having text commands would help a lot if the voice commands are faulty
I hate to bring it up but FNAF has camera systems, just add voice controls and a bunch of tasks you need a character to do, and you got a cool game.
Lifeline is honestly a wonderful experience once you get passed the frustration. Like you said in the video it has a charm that isn't found anymore. There was another game by the name of "Eyedentify" that was scheduled for the PS3 but it was cancelled. It wasn't exactly the same as Lifeline but it had a lot of the same aspects by the look of the trailer along with using the PS3's camera as well. It's a shame it never made it to market since it could have been a fun experience in the same way Lifeline was.
Definitely seems like an interesting concept that could be used for training simulations for 911 operators on how to give commands over bad connection
And how to deal with people who can't hear/understand them and not just going "Ugh fine whatever perish then you jerk your fault for not listening".
Me: "shoot the left eye"
Rio: "Use a healing item?"
Me: "NOOOOOOOOOOO"
I remember watching speedwerd's speedruns of this game. It's nice to see more people talking about it.
The funny thing is, this same concept of "controlling a video game with your voice" was one of the main selling points behind "Tom Clancy's: Endwar" which came out in 2008. Unfortunately, it seems like the idea was just too ahead of the tech.
Interestingly, I think one of the first to try this idea was "Seaman" for the Sega Dreamcast.
I love watching Jerma's stream on this game again and again because it just feels like a downward spiral down to madness.
What a unique game. The PS2 has so many creative games.
Before the restructuring, Konami was known for its experimental approach to videogames even dating back to Contra, or, how do we combine Mario with Aliens and Predator?
I have neurological dysarthria and I rented this at blockbuster. It was a frustrating weekend.
This is amazing for a PS2 survival horror game in which they create a feature where you control the character with voice command. I don’t know why they didn’t add in later games.
Can you imagine if they put a voice command on resident evil or even silent hill. That’ll be awesome if they did that on VR games.
When the waitress shot the camera and the ad started, it played the song "She's a maniac" . well timed
So you are a character in 1st person perspective(the operator) but you're indirectly controlling another character in 3th person(Rio).
This means that this game is in second person, right? If it is, it's the first time I've seen a game in this perspective.
Other games to check out that do the same: Moss Chapter 1 & 2, Cruelty Squad and Jak 2 during brief segments
Driver PL does that too.
There is also an old adventure game called 'The Experiment' or 'eXperience112' (depending on region) that did the same thing - you were giving a woman directions through a CCTV network by switching lights on/off on a map.
Also, Republique has similiar concept. I think, Her Story firs into this category as well.
What about that goatman forest game IIRC called Do You Copy? that isnt purely 2nd person but feels very much like so
What an expert move at 18:09, closing the eye that's on the barrel of the gun so your aim is biased on the hypotenuse of the gun & your unopened eye.
She should have responded to "shoot the meal" with, "You can't piss on hospitality! I won't allow it!"
4:00 absolutely unforgivable that blue stinger isn’t listed within the christmas games wikipedia category. brb, gonna go correct that
half Japnaese and half german like Asuka from Evangelion
Your streams of the game where wild, you should definitly stream more often. Great video as always!
Great video 🎉
Holy shirt I did not expect the classic "Engrish with Brad" video to come up. That got a good laugh out of me. Thanks Boulder
I've been waiting for a remake of Lifeline for awhile now. I also was a watcher of Spedwerd on twitch and his speedruns of the game a long time ago. Now days, technology has improved a ton, especially with AI chat GPT and AI voice mimicking. Maybe a few years into the future, you could recreate this game with a never ending stream of potential replies and conversations that could be had with Rio.
I highly doubt the voice actress would be willing to reprise her role, and as far as I know, hardly no one ever brings it up to her during interviews. It's a forgotten piece of her life at this point I'd imagine. Also, interestingly, the director and designer, Manabu Nishizawa, was never credited by name in any video game ever again, this was also his first project. Also the writer kind of disappeared and hadn't done anything since. There's no behind the scenes information or documentation on the project at all. It's almost like a phantom project.
The whole thing is intriguing to me, and always has been. A game that obviously was considered impossible to make at the time was made about as well if not better than anyone involved could have predicted, no one knew it existed, everyone vanished.
"Bark like a dog" - Sessler
Little dog? Arff arff
Big dog? Woof woof
I thought this game was part of my delirious dream as a teenager, yet you proven that it is not.
My cutest game of all time, so original, true to its theme. You feel the pain of the operator which l know can be fixed. l would surely add the concept in my games, if ever. The soundtrack, the theme of the story, just beautiful! 10/10 game, l had handicaps due to my mic but l went through and beyond. l just love this game, PS2 era, Rio and her optional interactions if you wish to learn more about her. Being a voice actor for a game(you, the player) has never been felt better! This game taught me the meaning of pronunciation, using the right words, combination of them and knowing which words to use. Not my mother language but it is fun and educational. It just needs refinement and variety.
l hope you review Binary Domain, another rare game with voice action adventure, very unlike Lifeline but really, this game is something else.
It is a third person shooter that seems generic but it isn't because it has depth and interesting characters. They made a third person shooter actually good and unique since you can respond with your voice and you don't die instantly, instead you have medkits when downed so no more unfair deaths. It is like l found the dream 3rd person shooter/
I remember this game being reviewed on some show on g4 and it seeming interesting but I completely forgot what the game was! thank you for letting me find it again!
Man, I got this game back in the day at Gamestop for $3 thanks to the 4PlayerPodcast. Miss those guys, introduced me to so many great games like Valkyria Chronicles and Sakura Wars.
Even considering the upscale patch, I’m amazed at how adorable Rio looks when it’s an old PS2 game.
If they remade/remastered this game with more accurate voice-recognition, it could be an awesome time.
Pretty sure the L-R thing is a baseless rumor on incomplete linguistic knowledge.I don't think it would help and even Japanese people playing this game found it difficult.
Right? Because if they had to change the entire system to understand English, then the data set would most likely be designed to understand a clear (probably American) English speaking accent.
This is the sort of game you only make with a dream and a ton of thinking cocaine. I kind of miss that we don't get games this insane that often anymore.
Man, the game looks so immersive.
It looks like you can emotionally engage deeply with Rio.
I'd love to play it as frustrating as it can be.
It reminded me of Parasite Eve.
PS1 and PS2 was best gaming era innovation wise
I remember seeing BigBangBlitz streaming this on Justin, something like a solid 15 years ago. I'm glad that newer streamers and content creators are discovering it too.
It was so much fun watching you stream this!
Love her voice
Love that sneak in 4PP reference, im shocked people still remember Brad and Pals
Voice recognition has come really far so it'd be neat to have new a game like this. Especially with a sassy female protagonist :)
Great video, Boulder puncher. I was completely ignorant to this title, however, it reminded me the time I played Tom Clancy's End War, voice command was very basic, but it added a different feeling of immersion. Looking forward to any indie dev that takes the glove on voice command 👍🏼
Mentioning 4pp in this video brings back so much nostalgia.
i remember adam from x play playing this and it was so funny. a few things i think could make this better are if 1 it was a co op game where 1 person tell you where the best place to shoot is and the other person has control of the character. also make it sorta like a way out with the camera tricks and stuff. but most of all think of livestreaming the dual video where i person can only hear you in the microphone and the muffled sound of the other players audio like mic distortion. an audience for something like that would be cool like detroit :become human mixed with it takes 2
I was thinking about something like this too, like Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes
I remember.
I absolutely loved this game and Rio has a special place in my gaming memories. I was home sick with the flu and my wife had rented this game from Block Buster so I'd have something new to play. By day 2, my wife kept asking me how my new girlfriend was doing, lmao. The developers did a great job making Rio relatable and likable.
I didn't have an issue with combat in the late game since commands like, "Run Away", would get Rio to run to the other side of room. Multiple enemies were also manageable since you could specifically tell her to, "Target 1" etc to get her to target specific enemies. I would love to see a more modern version of the game that uses the same or similar voice command mechanics, or perhaps a VR version.
The game reminds me of Event[0] in the way it allows you to give free-form input. It might be worth checking it out if you want a less frustrating version of this.
Holy shit, man. I gotta say, I'm hooked lol I really enjoyed what you showed about the game so far and now I really wanna try it 👏🏻. I like the premise.
Gotta love the PS2 era for gems like this. It might have some flaws, but this got me more hyped than pretty much 90% of current games releasing right now.
There's something so soothing about the music and it feels familiar, but I don't know what it reminds me of. Resident Evil Remake maybe? That is another early 2000's title. Although Lifeline seems more relaxed in its downtime.
@@oriontrips Parasite Eve?
32:36 "would there be an audience for such games?" of course it will, imagine an npc that use chat gp´t for example, or like in this story you speak with the protagonist via voice chat and she responds more naturaly?
Also known as the game with the girl that made both Jerma and Joel even more insane.
So surreal to me seeing an old Brad4pp clip in your video. That laugh is iconic
PS2 was quite something...really the golden era of video games
Have you ever played Hey You Pikachu? When Lifeline released, my initial thought was Hey You Pikachu meets Resident Evil
One day I'll get to play it, I remember reading about it in a magazine when it was new.
Probably means taking the physical cartridge we got off Ebay (because it never got released here in the UK but I didn't know that at 12, I thought I just missed it because I never had an N64 until then) to a friend's house in America. Only because I can't emulate it XD
Which is a good reason for emulation to be allowed, for region-locked games.
I'd like to ask Nintendo why it was Region-locked and why they haven't re-released it for consoles with built-in mics, I'm sure the DS could have played it easily. And why they didn't release it here when the English version already existed.
I'm glad this game is getting some recognition.
fantastic videos. really concise, well edited, good choice of footage.
I loved the voice commands for Rainbow Six 3 on the OG Xbox. Felt good to tell a team to hold then breach when you got to the other door and busted in to get a hostage. Great stuff. I was sad they got rid of the planning stages in the first RS and Rogue Spear, but anyways. It would be great to see voice tech implemented in more games.
Protip for anyone who tries this with the "R/L" thing, you pronounce this letter like the "tt" sound in "butter."
It's closer to a gentle "d" sound.
I remember reading about this game in Playstation magazine probably back in 2003 or 04. The character model and setting were etched in my memory but totally forgot this game's whole gimmick was it using voice commands.
lol that 4playerpodcast clip 1:40 had me XD I recognize Brads voice anywhere.
You say you don't know if there would be an audience for this type of game, and I am here to tell you I want this and quite a few other game remade honestly so there is at least one person hoping for more
Can you guys IMAGINE how much better games like these are going to be with the onset of AI?
I remember seeing this on a really old game review show on TechTV (before it was G4, anyone remember Anime Unleashed at the wee hours of the morning?) that previewed upcoming games and such, but I could never remember the name. I thought it sounded really neat as a concept, but since I'd forgotten the name, I could never figure out how to find it, though I remembered snips of the episode that featured it. Now that I have a name to go with the game, maybe I'll see if I can't dig a copy up somewhere to add to my collection of weird and forgotten games. Thanks for putting a name to it after all these years!
I vividly remember the episode of X Play this was on and Adam Sessler doing the bark like a dog thing-- I always thought that was them doing a bit lol, never expected it to be real.
This was fascinating, I didn’t know this game existed! The voice performance is honestly pretty well done. It sounds live in a way that is pretty convincing at times.
Tom Clancy's EndWar was a seventh generation console RTS with voice command. It also released on PC, so maybe the voice recognition was better
amazon games should do something likes this, they have the voice recognition for Alexa already and works fine
omg the fact you showed 4PP video is just great!
Man awesome to see some new video, doing my job helping with the algorithm hi from Chile latin america ☀️
I remember being so fascinated about this game when I read articles about it in magazines, but I think the best way to enjoy the gameplay today is via videos on youtube.
32:12 Finally someone who is aware of how common the shitty roguelikes and shitty minecraft clones are.
I remember watching a playthrough a few years ago of a VR game called The Last Labyrinth which had somewhat similar gameplay to this, but instead of voice commands it used eye tracking and yes/no head gestures to direct the girl (either because the girl was non-verbal or the player character was injured and could only move his eyes and head lol).
8:34 "But the value of these shells will fall."
I only know of this game existence because of Jerma playing, and he too was frustrated by the voice commands and dealing with her navigating everywhere
Rio's voice is good for ASMR.
"Oh I dont have a heal capsule" - Boulder Punch 2023
This so creative, wow👌 damn this is something else. Using command via voice command and then going that extra step to immerse the player by making them mission control during a crisis is mint.
Also check out SuperGreatFriend's channel, he did a full playthrough of this game and this kind of 'janky but charming' game is his usual style.
AHHHHHHHHIhave this game. I always swore I would beat it, but then it got really, really hard, and I stopped. That was about 14 years ago. I don't think it's ever happening.
I did however, discover a line that was not pointed out in any guide for it I ever read. Accidentally, through poor voice recognition, of course. If you tell her to "Clean this room" She'll tell you to come down and clean it yourself.
On with the actual vidya.
Oh god. The flaming bottle bit. Not gonna write what it actually is, probably get me flagged. That took so long, and only solved via bad voice recognition.
It's absolutely hilarious to me that the advice I heard on Trash Taste podcast; if you don't know good Japanese and need to ask for some basic directions that you use the r's as l's and they'll unironically understand you better, is also present in this game.
15:43
that felt like a resident evil 2 call back. when either claire or leon first meet kendo in his gunshop.
even the name honda sounds a bit like kendo
Those things work if hey have a reasonable purpose and not just replacing things you could do easier with buttons. If it was used for conversation, or like giving complex sqad comands use breach and flash etc. or like equiping items in a game without looking for it in the menus. Or like switching gear on the fly in rpg game. Use the X sword when you have 100 items in the inventory. that would be great and would impact gameplay dynamic.
Great work really enjoyed it. I imagine the relationship you could build with AI partners would be quite meaningful, excluding the misunderstandings...
I am obsessed! this looks so good! It's like she is alive! I hope they keep making this games, we now have crazy AI potential! Imagine a game where you play as a virtual asistance and you gotta look trough some metaphor of the internet!!
This concept is great. More games should be like this
Thank you I was trying find the name for this game for 15 years thank you again
"She could have also said 'Merry Christmas ' or 'you truly were my life line' had me dyin
I could see the disabled community benefitting from games like this.
So this is like Seaman meets Pac-Man 2 meets a survival horror game
Yooo I died laughing when you’re like “it’s not like all her pictures are missing” 😂 the contrast is very stark between someone being dead and her personal property having some slime on it.
You should check out eXperience 112. A game where you're an operator I guess guiding a woman through an abandoned facility by watching her on CCTV cameras and enabling electrical devices in the area.
Thank you for your service, Boulder.
While my PS2 is modded to play everything, I was frustrated to learn about this interesting game, only learn, once again, that Europe was cheated out.