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The high school movie trope isn't as prevalent in pop culture anymore because big budget comedies don't get made anymore. Studios stay away from them, as they aren't reliable at returning their budgets. So we get big budget releases of superhero stuff and already known intellectual properties.
Mmm I don’t see any real causation here. That implies big budget comedies are literally the only reason high school is represented in film. Maybe they kept it going along, but if we get big budget comedies again I don’t foresee us suddenly having high schools in pop culture.
@@Artersa Not just comedies, that was just the one that popped up in my mind to get my point across. I suppose horror would be up there. Though in making a horror film it would be in one's best interest to make the characters adult; so that it's easier to kill them off in awful ways. Thus not set around a high school.
I was in elementary school when the faculty came out and i freaking loved it. It was basically a dramatization of a day at my brothers high-school plus some aliens.
From the UK but this setting seemed so familiar through movies. I got the Faculty on VHS only a little before getting the game. Both stick in my head because of their similarities.
At 4:35, the cutscene also changes depending on if you make it to the ladder or not. If you do, Kenny will climb up the ladder, but the manhole will be block just when he's about to reach it and you'll see his "last" scream. If not, you'd just see empty ladder and hear his scream in the distant. It's a minor change but it's still cool to learn about it since people can easily miss. I had quite a fun time with my friend playing the first one through steam's remote play, but I couldn't stomach the second one's camera at all.
Even though I already saw TotallyPointlessTV's video on the game, you still managed to make this one extremely entertaining as well! Time to rewatch this for 3 hours!
I graduated in 2005. I got to watch and witness everything you are talking about in this video. Also I have a particular nostalgia feeling in my head anytime I look back at say mid 90’s to 2000’s
In Obscure 1 There are some specific moments where characters react to a moment in the game and say different things depending on which one you play. In the bedroom is where the two characters in the team have a little dialogue which can vary
My brother and I binge played Obscure the Aftermath in a day, and it was extremely fun. Nowadays, I play it with a friend about once a year, cause we both love it so much.
omg I didn't think anybody else knew about this game! I was first introduced to the second game and fell in love with the The Auditions song "warm me up" because the music video was promo for the game 😅
I was in high school from 1998-2002, so the first game is pretty accurate in its aesthetic. I only played the sequel on the Wii. I got so angry when I couldn't save a character. But finding out that you can't save the character, I felt a smidgen better lol.
I LOVE obscure, played it as a kid and played it again as an adult! its so cheesy but i love it. happy to see you finally review it! also this game is great in co-op.
Thank you for covering this game. I've said some of this already in various replies in the comments. I love this game and although I played through this separately with my best friend and nephew, I did a lot of solo plays too. It does have great atmosphere but playing in co-op was muich more immersive. I'm from the UK but the high school setting felt so familiar because of movies and other pop culture. I got the Faculty on VHS well after it came out so it was very fresh when I played this. I love the Span song available after competing the game and even got their album. Obscure 2 was such a let-down but you are right about the thought that was put into the minigames. While the band Sub 42 was a definite nod to Sum 41, Sven being Norwegian is most likely a nod to Span... or a massive coincidence. Again... thank you for this.
As a big fan of Boulder Punch and someone who watches all of his vids this is one of the best, really shows why BoulderPunch stands out amongst other RUclips rs in this genre, so much interesting info on Obscure i never knew
The amount of games I've never even heard of from the early 00s blows my mind. Nowadays a game (non AAA) drops every day. Back then, there weren't as many tools for game dev so the barrier to entry was higher.
I still have it in my collection it was a favourite in my house , I can clearly remember my dad playin’ it alone mumblin and grumbling because I was a bit too scared to be player 2 😂😂😂 It gives me such a rush of nostalgia 😊
I didnt like how Obscure II just killed off main Characters... So this game never really existed or was not considered canon to me XD. Everything ended after the first Obsucre and everyone is happy ^^
13:04 Olivier Deriviere is so good, this was his first gig in the ost video game realm and would later on do the ost for Dying Light 2, A Plague Tale series, Vampyr and the underrated Get Even.
You know what trully made Obscure stand out on it owns? => The characters actins theirs age, and being NOT stupid, at least when it comes down to survival. Don't get me wrong, both game do have theirs flaws, and yes there is some cheesy moments. But there was something.. "new" on the way the character acted and weren't all defendless. Obscure 2 was probably the one, with the most "shocking" way to showcase how every stories does not have a happy ending. June, Mei's sister, is a good example.. That phase/part when you play her is terrifying, and honestly.. upsetting. Overall, and despire the monsters elements, it was credible. And that was refreshing.
SICK, how have i never known about this game?? It's on steam, so I'm going to buy it. I'll have to come watch the video another time, but i'll put it under "watch later" haha thankyou!
Me and my friends loved this game in high school, especially since we wouldnt have found out about it if it werent for his hacked xbox. We spent sleepless nights playing the co-op like crazy. Good times~
I clicked on the video expecting this to be a 2000s TV show that uses video game graphics. Not just CGI but actual PS2 graphics. Similar to Red VS Blue
I played Aftermath but not the first Obscure. I came across Aftermath by chance at GameStop and had no idea what it was. While it wasn't the best game I played at the time, I enjoyed it all the same. Flaws aside, it has its upsides and a strange charm that hooked me.
My favorite channel. Thanks for covering an all time favorite for me. 1 may have a better story but something about 2 just makes it one of my favorite games ever. Love them both and always love your takes.
I was about to comment on that myself... but then I figured, kids these days and their silly gender games aside, maybe this is just a really, REALLY nontraditional couple... well, thruple, if you include the tree-thing brother. I Imagine their bedroom antics are either amazing, or horrifying... possibly both. "Such big, strong, naughty branches you have.... brother..." [ Shudder ]
Man the first Obscure blew my mind at the time for how unique it was I absolutely loved it. I have both, tried playing the second one but got a lot of random crashes so I gave up. Maybe I'll give it another try.... after I play the first one again.
I found a copy of “The Faculty” on VHS in a box on the side of the road when I was a kid and then a few months later randomly picked these up from the bargain bin at GameStop. I had already decided that was my favorite movie of all time (still is) and these immediately became my favorite horror games. Here on RUclips there was only one let’s play of the games for the longest time from a RUclipsr called “Dithoricki” and it’s been amusing to see my favorite obscure game gain attention in the past decade.
Obscure 2 was such a let-down. The characters of the first were archetypal but saying that I didn't find them dull either. I mostly took Ashley and Josh for the first game.
Oooo did not expect to encounter this series again haha. I remember trying to look for the name of it a few years back because I had suddenly remember a game with dead flowers that used to scared the shit out of me as a young kid which was Obscure 2. I saw my sis played a bit of it but I don't think they ever finish it.
That must be third or fourth time i watch a long review of this series, im still missing someone talking about the enemy design choice or logic behind the mutations. Like why the second game go heavy on big bloated monsters random flying enemies, while first one had a lot enemies showing bones and muscles.
man; another aspect of the 90s/00s is the use of conspiracies as plot devices, i mean what could go wrong, its not like a worrying amount of people will come to believe the most insane sorts of these ideas as truth. man i remember when these sorts of ideas were seen for what they were, nutso, anti-semitic, fash-coded nonsense created by bad people for bad reasons. ugh, anyway; all i can do is stay sane and try to talk the crazies down from the ledge.
Holy crap I forgot about this game! I picked it up from Hollywood Video (Midwest Blockbuster). Didn't get real into it but I still had a lot of fun playing it.
2:40 There's even more going on with the music of the original PS2 release. If you had the EU version,depending on your language, it would play a different licensed song from punk/rockbands popular at that time in the region. (iirc it was Sportfreunde Stiller in 🇩🇪).
I would love Supermassive Games to take a crack at this type of game. i know they mainly do narrative story games that are more movie like, but this could benefit them so much. They are a European studio and primarily focus on American characters. But given Casting of Frank Stone is turning out to be a massive let down I'm not too sure how much quality we'd get from them. It goes up and down at that studio.
@@jamesabernethy7896 Yeah,the writing and gameplay took a hit. The first one played its tropes pretty well while the second just felt raunchy for the sake of shock. Kinda like watching Buffy and then a cheap late-night knock-off.
@@strugglesnuggledslime7040 the story is so bad for how it treated it's characters. Also making Kenny into a rapist is awful man. All of these characters suck, they also sobered up Stan 😂 The game also looks worse than the original outside of character models, looks muddy and was definitely made for PSP in mind then ported to PC later. The lock on is horrendous especially against those flying moaning creatures where it just spins and gives your camera seizures. Getting hit by bigger creatures also gives you this blurry shaky cam effect that covers up the screen honestly makes me wanna hurl.
She is Leonard's husband, alright Leonard, you do you. I've never heard of this game, survival horror was never my thing and most games I knew about were JRPGs, names Tales series and Final Fantasy
First game had a story that was awesome B movie goofy horror fun. Second one story is unhinged messy garbage with no idea what on Gods green earth it is even supposed to be.
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The high school movie trope isn't as prevalent in pop culture anymore because big budget comedies don't get made anymore. Studios stay away from them, as they aren't reliable at returning their budgets. So we get big budget releases of superhero stuff and already known intellectual properties.
well the majority of people watching movies are in their 40s
Mmm I don’t see any real causation here. That implies big budget comedies are literally the only reason high school is represented in film. Maybe they kept it going along, but if we get big budget comedies again I don’t foresee us suddenly having high schools in pop culture.
I wonder if another reason we don't see high school movies is the recent push to reclassify teenagers as children
@@Artersa Not just comedies, that was just the one that popped up in my mind to get my point across. I suppose horror would be up there. Though in making a horror film it would be in one's best interest to make the characters adult; so that it's easier to kill them off in awful ways. Thus not set around a high school.
You couldn't make a typical high school movie that was made pre-2016 today, it wouldn't be PC enough.
You really got the 2000s vibe from this, complete with the teen characters not looking like teens at all, just like in the Sam Raimi Spider-Man movie.
I was in elementary school when the faculty came out and i freaking loved it. It was basically a dramatization of a day at my brothers high-school plus some aliens.
From the UK but this setting seemed so familiar through movies. I got the Faculty on VHS only a little before getting the game. Both stick in my head because of their similarities.
Glad to see the Obscure series get reviewed and recognised 😊
This and The Thing are some of my favourite Xbox titles. The Thing is getting a remaster and I hope this gets one too.
@@jamesabernethy7896it won’t. This is by no means a popular game. The thing is a clut classic
At 4:35, the cutscene also changes depending on if you make it to the ladder or not.
If you do, Kenny will climb up the ladder, but the manhole will be block just when he's about to reach it and you'll see his "last" scream. If not, you'd just see empty ladder and hear his scream in the distant.
It's a minor change but it's still cool to learn about it since people can easily miss.
I had quite a fun time with my friend playing the first one through steam's remote play, but I couldn't stomach the second one's camera at all.
soundtrack for the first obscure is phenomenal
I really liked the soundtrack, the Span video on the Xbox Disc was great. I ended up getting the Album.
My wife and I still listen to Still Waiting and get reminded of when we played this together. So awesome
Goddamit, I was looking for that song for so long after hearing it in the game trailer and years later accidentally bumped into the band... 😂
4:22
"You fell for it too? The are no single MILFs in your area, its a scam."
A Video Obscurus about an obscure video game series, Obscure! Both games deserve the Remaster treatment.
ground up remake 4 player online coop. this and outbreak need their redemption.
Even though I already saw TotallyPointlessTV's video on the game, you still managed to make this one extremely entertaining as well!
Time to rewatch this for 3 hours!
Bruh when he mentioned you can give the ai buddy your x ray gun to make the game trivial I felt so dumb to never think of that.
Lmao I love hearing people throw shade at e-rags like Kotaku.
I graduated in 2005. I got to watch and witness everything you are talking about in this video. Also I have a particular nostalgia feeling in my head anytime I look back at say mid 90’s to 2000’s
In Obscure 1 There are some specific moments where characters react to a moment in the game and say different things depending on which one you play.
In the bedroom is where the two characters in the team have a little dialogue which can vary
My brother and I binge played Obscure the Aftermath in a day, and it was extremely fun. Nowadays, I play it with a friend about once a year, cause we both love it so much.
omg I didn't think anybody else knew about this game! I was first introduced to the second game and fell in love with the The Auditions song "warm me up" because the music video was promo for the game 😅
I played the second one on the ps2 back in the day, i was so happy when i found out both games were on steam.
I remember playing Obscure 2 when I was a kid and it was really scary but over all fun. One of my first experiences with a coop game too!
I was in high school from 1998-2002, so the first game is pretty accurate in its aesthetic. I only played the sequel on the Wii. I got so angry when I couldn't save a character. But finding out that you can't save the character, I felt a smidgen better lol.
I LOVE obscure, played it as a kid and played it again as an adult! its so cheesy but i love it. happy to see you finally review it!
also this game is great in co-op.
Co-op was awesome. I played this with both my best friend and my nephew, it felt so immersive when you were relying on each other.
Thank you for covering this game. I've said some of this already in various replies in the comments. I love this game and although I played through this separately with my best friend and nephew, I did a lot of solo plays too. It does have great atmosphere but playing in co-op was muich more immersive. I'm from the UK but the high school setting felt so familiar because of movies and other pop culture. I got the Faculty on VHS well after it came out so it was very fresh when I played this. I love the Span song available after competing the game and even got their album.
Obscure 2 was such a let-down but you are right about the thought that was put into the minigames. While the band Sub 42 was a definite nod to Sum 41, Sven being Norwegian is most likely a nod to Span... or a massive coincidence.
Again... thank you for this.
As a big fan of Boulder Punch and someone who watches all of his vids this is one of the best, really shows why BoulderPunch stands out amongst other RUclips rs in this genre, so much interesting info on Obscure i never knew
YESSS!!! I commented asking if you would ever do a vid on Obscure and you delivered!! Can't wait to watch this Thank youuuu
Now I want these two survival horror games to get remastered in the near future. These two should never be obscure from everyone.
The amount of games I've never even heard of from the early 00s blows my mind. Nowadays a game (non AAA) drops every day. Back then, there weren't as many tools for game dev so the barrier to entry was higher.
I still have it in my collection it was a favourite in my house , I can clearly remember my dad playin’ it alone mumblin and grumbling because I was a bit too scared to be player 2 😂😂😂 It gives me such a rush of nostalgia 😊
My nephew was clearing out some stuff and he gave me his Original Xbox and and I dug out my old games. Massive nostalgia trip.
I didnt like how Obscure II just killed off main Characters... So this game never really existed or was not considered canon to me XD. Everything ended after the first Obsucre and everyone is happy ^^
13:04 Olivier Deriviere is so good, this was his first gig in the ost video game realm and would later on do the ost for Dying Light 2, A Plague Tale series, Vampyr and the underrated Get Even.
He did remember me too! The music flows depending on how good you are in combat it's amazing
Looks adorable and cheesy but I appreciate your open mind on nostalgic content.
You know what trully made Obscure stand out on it owns? => The characters actins theirs age, and being NOT stupid, at least when it comes down to survival.
Don't get me wrong, both game do have theirs flaws, and yes there is some cheesy moments. But there was something.. "new" on the way the character acted and weren't all defendless.
Obscure 2 was probably the one, with the most "shocking" way to showcase how every stories does not have a happy ending. June, Mei's sister, is a good example.. That phase/part when you play her is terrifying, and honestly.. upsetting.
Overall, and despire the monsters elements, it was credible. And that was refreshing.
SICK, how have i never known about this game??
It's on steam, so I'm going to buy it. I'll have to come watch the video another time, but i'll put it under "watch later" haha thankyou!
Me and my friends loved this game in high school, especially since we wouldnt have found out about it if it werent for his hacked xbox. We spent sleepless nights playing the co-op like crazy. Good times~
I clicked on the video expecting this to be a 2000s TV show that uses video game graphics. Not just CGI but actual PS2 graphics. Similar to Red VS Blue
I played Aftermath but not the first Obscure. I came across Aftermath by chance at GameStop and had no idea what it was. While it wasn't the best game I played at the time, I enjoyed it all the same. Flaws aside, it has its upsides and a strange charm that hooked me.
Im so happy more people are talking about this series. I have the game but could never get it to work on my computer.
man this game really imprinted some memories on me, what a great time
So happy to see you do a video on this gem of horror game.
My favorite channel. Thanks for covering an all time favorite for me. 1 may have a better story but something about 2 just makes it one of my favorite games ever. Love them both and always love your takes.
Always loved this series
I love seeing this series get a spotlight on it.
ohhhhh dude i loved playing this series back in teh day
lol, at 16:10 you say "she is Leonards husband"
He makes weird errors like that in all his videos. It's like he's reading his script and can't realize editing mistakes
I was about to comment on that myself... but then I figured, kids these days and their silly gender games aside, maybe this is just a really, REALLY nontraditional couple... well, thruple, if you include the tree-thing brother.
I Imagine their bedroom antics are either amazing, or horrifying... possibly both. "Such big, strong, naughty branches you have.... brother..."
[ Shudder ]
Man the first Obscure blew my mind at the time for how unique it was I absolutely loved it. I have both, tried playing the second one but got a lot of random crashes so I gave up. Maybe I'll give it another try.... after I play the first one again.
I found a copy of “The Faculty” on VHS in a box on the side of the road when I was a kid and then a few months later randomly picked these up from the bargain bin at GameStop. I had already decided that was my favorite movie of all time (still is) and these immediately became my favorite horror games. Here on RUclips there was only one let’s play of the games for the longest time from a RUclipsr called “Dithoricki” and it’s been amusing to see my favorite obscure game gain attention in the past decade.
Been thinking about playing through both PS2 games on my Steam Deck.. maybe this video is a sign?? Lol
Wish they didn’t killed Ashely and josh off after the first game.
Obscure 2 was such a let-down. The characters of the first were archetypal but saying that I didn't find them dull either. I mostly took Ashley and Josh for the first game.
Ashley was such a queen I'm mad she got the whole killed-offscreen (sorta) treatment
Oooo did not expect to encounter this series again haha. I remember trying to look for the name of it a few years back because I had suddenly remember a game with dead flowers that used to scared the shit out of me as a young kid which was Obscure 2. I saw my sis played a bit of it but I don't think they ever finish it.
39:42 the subtitles make it seem like 9mm bullets for the pistol is a good contraceptive :^)
36:01 They really didnt hide the fact Stan was modeled after Johs Hartnett. lol
I still own my Xbox copy. It's value keeps rising. I never got too far into the game; some day I'll play through it in full
An og Xbox game keeps rising in value? Is such a thing possible?
@@steelbear2063 maybe games are. COVID drove prices up like crazy.
16:10 "She is Leonard's Husband" I had to go back and check after hearing that
Love obscure played it when it first came out! Never forgot it because it gave me nightmares as a kid. Now it’s kinda goofy.
I LOVED the Obscure games 😍👍 I really wish they'd remake or remaster them.. If only
Everytime Oliver works on a new game I'm instantly interested because I know the OST is gonna be good
That must be third or fourth time i watch a long review of this series, im still missing someone talking about the enemy design choice or logic behind the mutations. Like why the second game go heavy on big bloated monsters random flying enemies, while first one had a lot enemies showing bones and muscles.
Omg!this is my fav game!!!
man; another aspect of the 90s/00s is the use of conspiracies as plot devices, i mean what could go wrong, its not like a worrying amount of people will come to believe the most insane sorts of these ideas as truth.
man i remember when these sorts of ideas were seen for what they were, nutso, anti-semitic, fash-coded nonsense created by bad people for bad reasons.
ugh, anyway; all i can do is stay sane and try to talk the crazies down from the ledge.
This game deserves a reboot
Holy crap I forgot about this game! I picked it up from Hollywood Video (Midwest Blockbuster). Didn't get real into it but I still had a lot of fun playing it.
I was just watching a lets play of this, the timing
Bed of Chaos was an Obscure easter egg all along
2:40 There's even more going on with the music of the original PS2 release. If you had the EU version,depending on your language, it would play a different licensed song from punk/rockbands popular at that time in the region. (iirc it was Sportfreunde Stiller in 🇩🇪).
3:04 thats why they call it the 401k tour
16:10 - Think you meant 'wife' there.
I have the psp version of Obscure 2 on my vita before it got delisted. Might have to check it out now.
I would love Supermassive Games to take a crack at this type of game. i know they mainly do narrative story games that are more movie like, but this could benefit them so much. They are a European studio and primarily focus on American characters.
But given Casting of Frank Stone is turning out to be a massive let down I'm not too sure how much quality we'd get from them. It goes up and down at that studio.
Man, i used to have the BIGGEST crush on Shannon Matthews
So much so, that sometimes when she died, i'd reload my last save lol
this game introduced me to sum 41. love the band and the game
I remember playing this games sequel on my PS4
Swamp rework infringing on being nearly an entire year late is insane to think about. That’s literally enough time to conceive a whole child. 💀
Phone batteries in 2003 could last about 2 weeks. It makes more sense today for a phone to run out of battery.
thought this game was a dream lol inplayed both 1 and 2 like a million times
i still own this game for the ps2 and i found out that its currently at 130 bucks market worth rn.
This game is amazing, beated Obscure 2 many times
Every time I hear Kenny voice all i hear is yasuo from league of legends and war from darksiders
Yo wtf? I didn't know final exam was a spin off of Obscure 😮
Japan owns the high school horror market in present year.
Dang..i remember that game on original xbox. Got a bit weird in the last thrid of the game but overall not a bad game. Didnt know there was a 2nd one
She is Leonard's husband"- me well damn I forgot obscure was apparently super progressive hahaha
i want a new obscure so bad
I played the 2 again last month.love the games
I'm playing this game right now😂😂😂😂😂
that sounds like an job for dante or chris redfield
LOL omg I remember this game when I was younger, I had a crush on kenny xD
I wish this game came out already on the ps4/ps5 store
OMG they killed Kenny!!!
I wish I knew about this game when it came out
Ive been playing this i wish i was able to check out the coop
"She is Leonard's husband"
This looks like the video game in the horror movie stay alive
Kotaku joke. LOL
Are you reading my mind? Parasite Eve and now ObsCure?
I awlays thought Stan is Josh Hartnett!! they share similar faces or it's coincidence??
16:11 "She is Leonard's husband" ?
I really like Obscure 1 but really hated Obscure 2 for its awful camera and combat but thats my opinion, often gave me nausea.
It felt like such a cheap sequel. Writing and gameplay. The first had heard.
@@jamesabernethy7896
Yeah,the writing and gameplay took a hit.
The first one played its tropes pretty well while the second just felt raunchy for the sake of shock.
Kinda like watching Buffy and then a cheap late-night knock-off.
@@strugglesnuggledslime7040 the story is so bad for how it treated it's characters. Also making Kenny into a rapist is awful man. All of these characters suck, they also sobered up Stan 😂
The game also looks worse than the original outside of character models, looks muddy and was definitely made for PSP in mind then ported to PC later.
The lock on is horrendous especially against those flying moaning creatures where it just spins and gives your camera seizures.
Getting hit by bigger creatures also gives you this blurry shaky cam effect that covers up the screen honestly makes me wanna hurl.
She is Leonard's husband, alright Leonard, you do you.
I've never heard of this game, survival horror was never my thing and most games I knew about were JRPGs, names Tales series and Final Fantasy
Please request Sony to remaster 1,2 Obscure games
First game had a story that was awesome B movie goofy horror fun.
Second one story is unhinged messy garbage with no idea what on Gods green earth it is even supposed to be.
The faculty: the game
18:21 heh nice
16:10 "She is Leonard's husband."
Really? Lol.