Small factoid about Germs - Its subtitle, "Nerawareta Machi" or 'The Marked Town', also happens to be the title of a very famous and highly-regarded episode of the 1967 television series 'Ultra Seven' (a part of the larger Ultraman franchise). Ultraman is incredibly popular in Japan and references to it abound in media, so I think there's a very good chance this is a deliberate homage on the part of Germs' developers. The fact the episode in question is about a small town beset by strange occurrences caused by an alien presence adds more fuel to that theory. And having explained all this, I find I now want to watch an Ultraman series directed by David Lynch.
Germs reminds me a lot of a King's Field type game. I love games where they strive to make characters feel more alive than your typical NPC by giving them relatable factoids. A much more modern example would be Sniper Elite 4 where, using the binoculars to 'mark' enemies, you will get some stats about them and some pointless information like "Deathly afraid of chickens." It goes a long way to making me forget it's simply a video game.
The staff behind GERMS, later worked on early 00s metaverse community thing named Splume. Apparently similar engine and technique was used for it. I guess they were ahead of time TWICE.
Ask Google「KAJ Splume」to get several results involving Japanese News articles written back in 2007. For your reference, KAJ is the maker of "GERMS 狙われた街"
@@Blankult Go search *KAJ Splume* to get several articles involving the project. They are mostly Japanese though For your reference, KAJ is the maker of 'Germs 狙われた街'
In Germs you can run, it’s either L2 or R2. It’s been years since I played it, but you can just ignore the story and unlock a whole different quest. Game just doesn’t give a crap
Many people said that Mizzurna Falls was the predecessor of Deadly Premonition, I say Germs is the rightful spiritual prequel, as its bizarre theme, control and its open world features fits more to that of Twin Peaks and DP than Mizzurna Falls was. Fantastic compilation.
I DEMAND you make a longer video about Germs! It sounds so interesting, like can you beat the game as an mutant creature thing? Can you swap between a creature and human to handle different parts of your cases? Or is it a purely human-centric game! What is even going on plotwise? So many questions and I sure as shit don't have the expertise to answer them
just when i thought i had heard about most-every obscure piece of retro junk... this is definitely a fascinating video. i'm glad to know that there's still i lot i don't know in the realm of 5th generation games
This video is awesome! If you're into checking out ps1 horror games, I'd lvoe to see you do a deep dive on the game "Yaku - Yuujou Dangi ". It's a japanese horror game that's famous for its pre-rendered clips, but there's almost no information of it anywhere.
I don't actually have anything to say, so I'm just going to comment for engagement purposes. 10/10 video, very informative, holy shit that last game looks awkward.
For the last game...the story seems really good. Man i wanted to hear more. But i will have to put the frame skip high when i play it 😅 And have Google translate ready on my phone. It got a ton better when it comes to translations
I feel like Screaming Mad George's Paranoiascape would be a really good candidate for a spiritual successor. Keep the presentation style and bouncing ball gameplay and see where you can go with it. I feel like you could do something legitimately cool with the addition of some abilities that let you recall the ball and the ability to direct your shots more accurately. Maybe something more akin to a third person action game where where it's a hybrid of a shooter, a tennis game and a character action game based around using a single projectile and maintaining its momentum whilst fighting off enemies at various ranges in a surreal nightmare dimension. Imagine if Dante got a new weapon that was a ball and racquet and had to fight his way out of the pinball dimension by smashing up bosses and beating the high score before he loses all his balls.
you can find full streams of every game in this video on the archive channel (link can be found on the channel page) albeit I didn't finish GERMS when streaming it
Punchy, play Signalis. It's a masterpiece of a game and is right up your alley. Anime-ish, faux-ps1 survival horror with capital "A" Amazing atmosphere.
so I didn't include this in the video because it got p long as is, but at least two japanese blogposts I read on the game claimed it lack an ending sequence entirely so I'm not even sure where a speedrun would consider "time" to be
@@PunchyYT I'm sure we could have categories like "Alien Head %" where you let the dog kill you as fast as as you can. Oh wait no, it has to be as long and tedious as possible so maybe "All Bosses" if there's a finite number to them!
I feel like it's every day now I see cool games for the PS1 and 2 that were japan only and it makes me angrier they never got translated every time I do.
I was wondering if you would have covered that one spike chunsoft game that was Japan only but referenced in Danganronpa 2. I guess it wasn't expensive enough to make this list?
nah I bought a copy of that for like $50 it's not especially rare at all. Twilight Syndrome is super good though it's actually one of my favourite PS1 games in general.
Love me some germs. I'd highly encourage you or anyone else reading to get through the game, it's really wonderful and strange and endearing. For that, I've got some control-related tips just so playing the game isn't as cumbersome. The game never tells you this (it's only in the manual) but you can use L2 to run in the overworld, jus sayin this cuz i noticed u werent running at all in the overworld which... yeah is unbearably slow. This is made more confusing by the fact you can't run indoors HOWEVER if you strafe and walk forward at the same time you'll go about twice as fast as you otherwise would. Results in a lot of zig-zagging but it's not inconvenient. The BIGGEST thing to help out with the control feel is something that ik some people might scoff at (idk if you would or not) is using keyboard controls instead of an actual controller. The way I've got it set up is WASD(looking)/IJKL(triangle, square, x, and circle respectively), Q and E for strafe, shift for L2, space for R1, and U and O for select and start. Not only do i find this makes controlling the car much easier (since you're using one hand to turn and the other to go forward/back instead of having to have one hand ONLY for turning left and the other hand for turning right AND going forward/back) but also it makes the combat much less disorienting when trying to move and attack at the same time (again, so the left hand is taking care of where you're looking and the act of attacking, and the right hand can focus on moving forward/back). It's jus a game I really love & I jus want more people to play it & not be frustrated by the jank !!
What's weird is now that we have way more advanced technology than in the 90s, weird experimental games like Germs are hardly seen anymore these days. Triple A companies go for the safest ideas, and indies mostly "pay tribute" to other games (basically ripping off gameplay using different colors).
it would be a literal waste to spend over 2 grand of patreon money on this stuff when you can just emulate it. Also you could've emulated with the translated version of germs, at least for the video.
I implore you people to look at the post date of videos before commenting. I'll help you out on this one, the translation patch did not exist when this video was produced.
Small factoid about Germs - Its subtitle, "Nerawareta Machi" or 'The Marked Town', also happens to be the title of a very famous and highly-regarded episode of the 1967 television series 'Ultra Seven' (a part of the larger Ultraman franchise). Ultraman is incredibly popular in Japan and references to it abound in media, so I think there's a very good chance this is a deliberate homage on the part of Germs' developers. The fact the episode in question is about a small town beset by strange occurrences caused by an alien presence adds more fuel to that theory.
And having explained all this, I find I now want to watch an Ultraman series directed by David Lynch.
That's very interesting!
All of these could have been attractions in illbleed in a parallel universe
Germs reminds me a lot of a King's Field type game. I love games where they strive to make characters feel more alive than your typical NPC by giving them relatable factoids. A much more modern example would be Sniper Elite 4 where, using the binoculars to 'mark' enemies, you will get some stats about them and some pointless information like "Deathly afraid of chickens." It goes a long way to making me forget it's simply a video game.
That germs game is so crazy ahead of its time
The staff behind GERMS, later worked on early 00s metaverse community thing named Splume.
Apparently similar engine and technique was used for it. I guess they were ahead of time TWICE.
@@CB-LCan you give me some sauce on that?
Ask Google「KAJ Splume」to get several results involving Japanese News articles written back in 2007. For your reference, KAJ is the maker of "GERMS 狙われた街"
@@Blankult Go search *KAJ Splume* to get several articles involving the project. They are mostly Japanese though
For your reference, KAJ is the maker of 'Germs 狙われた街'
@@Blankult "KAJ Splume" will get you needed results. Mostly in Japanese though
Screaming Mad George also made a bunch of Slipknot's masks which is pretty cool.
In Germs you can run, it’s either L2 or R2. It’s been years since I played it, but you can just ignore the story and unlock a whole different quest. Game just doesn’t give a crap
LMAO
Many people said that Mizzurna Falls was the predecessor of Deadly Premonition, I say Germs is the rightful spiritual prequel, as its bizarre theme, control and its open world features fits more to that of Twin Peaks and DP than Mizzurna Falls was.
Fantastic compilation.
The Deadly Premonition music in Germs was hilarious
i didn't clarify why but this was mainly done because like 90% of Germs takes place in total silence otherwise lol
@@PunchyYT I thought Life is Beautiful is obligatory in indie game review videos. :)
@@PunchyYTwhat 🤔 I wished they would've added music. But you did a fine great job
@@PunchyYTare the "aliens" just humans that got mutated by germs 😲 just guessing
Germs is a pretty interesting looking game, kinda hope that translation patch people are talking about goes somewhere.
Just released!! English
Ok, but now im wondering if there's a whole different plot line where you play fully as the weird germ mutant instead??
Well in germs when you die you actually do become one
It does remind me of the Bethesda Terminator game a bit…
I really love how over half of this video is just you talking about Germs
The Deadly Premonition music is perfect for the Germs section. Instant fan of your content for that.
I DEMAND you make a longer video about Germs! It sounds so interesting, like can you beat the game as an mutant creature thing? Can you swap between a creature and human to handle different parts of your cases? Or is it a purely human-centric game! What is even going on plotwise? So many questions and I sure as shit don't have the expertise to answer them
just when i thought i had heard about most-every obscure piece of retro junk... this is definitely a fascinating video. i'm glad to know that there's still i lot i don't know in the realm of 5th generation games
I need to use the term "bone flippers" in something now oh no
This video is awesome! If you're into checking out ps1 horror games, I'd lvoe to see you do a deep dive on the game "Yaku - Yuujou Dangi ". It's a japanese horror game that's famous for its pre-rendered clips, but there's almost no information of it anywhere.
Thought this was a thorhighheels video. Not disappointed though
it did kinda turn out like that huh
If we're talking about horror ps1 games, I'd love to hear you talk about 'Kowai Shashin', just the name cracks me up.
Good video and an insightful complement to your usual gameplay ones!
I don't actually have anything to say, so I'm just going to comment for engagement purposes. 10/10 video, very informative, holy shit that last game looks awkward.
For the last game...the story seems really good. Man i wanted to hear more. But i will have to put the frame skip high when i play it 😅 And have Google translate ready on my phone. It got a ton better when it comes to translations
I feel like Screaming Mad George's Paranoiascape would be a really good candidate for a spiritual successor.
Keep the presentation style and bouncing ball gameplay and see where you can go with it.
I feel like you could do something legitimately cool with the addition of some abilities that let you recall the ball and the ability to direct your shots more accurately.
Maybe something more akin to a third person action game where where it's a hybrid of a shooter, a tennis game and a character action game based around using a single projectile and maintaining its momentum whilst fighting off enemies at various ranges in a surreal nightmare dimension.
Imagine if Dante got a new weapon that was a ball and racquet and had to fight his way out of the pinball dimension by smashing up bosses and beating the high score before he loses all his balls.
Wasn't there some talk about Germs getting an English patch? Or did I imaginate that
oh yeah I think someone announced they were working on that? Nothing more concrete at the moment though.
Thanks for the video! I've never heard of Germs but it seems extremely interesting concept-wise.
You've popped up on my for you page and I love these rpg and game vids you're hilarious!
nothing but respect for the have a nice day dogs
This was a very fun video! Thank you, Punchy :)
please do more of these punchy! or post full play throughs of each game? long time lurker first time commenting bye
you can find full streams of every game in this video on the archive channel (link can be found on the channel page) albeit I didn't finish GERMS when streaming it
@@PunchyYT ill check it out!
don't touch that game it has Germs.
Punchy, play Signalis. It's a masterpiece of a game and is right up your alley. Anime-ish, faux-ps1 survival horror with capital "A" Amazing atmosphere.
i thought it was ok.
@@PunchyYT Cool. Glad you played it.
That last game is wild.
I really enjoyed this video, thanks for uploading it. I got here by a youtube recommendation.
GeRmS-100% SpEeDrUn On ThE lEaDeRbOaRd WhEn???
Fun video! I remember the Paranoiascape race, what a trip that game is!
so I didn't include this in the video because it got p long as is, but at least two japanese blogposts I read on the game claimed it lack an ending sequence entirely so I'm not even sure where a speedrun would consider "time" to be
@@PunchyYT I'm sure we could have categories like "Alien Head %" where you let the dog kill you as fast as as you can. Oh wait no, it has to be as long and tedious as possible so maybe "All Bosses" if there's a finite number to them!
Paranoiascape surpasses Scorn by decades by trying something different.
Germs Nerewareta Machi tries to cram Deus Ex in a PS1...
Cool, never knew Screaming Mad George (his actual legal name btw) had his own game!
Interesting video, thanks!
15:00 is literally the plot to the parasyte anime
I really enjoy these type of videos
5:15 he also worked on the movie society, the shunting is some of his best work
For the longest time, I've been curious about what the Germs PSX game was like. After so many years I finally understood.
So thank you for that.
Great video. Subbed! 🤛🤛
germs just got an english patch !!
10:22 That *confused screaming* meme fr
Punchy saving the Day with another Video :)! Greetings from Germany
So glad the last one has been translated to Spanish
I now really hope that Germs translation patch goes somewhere. I want to properly experience it.
*soft applause*
Damn. Germs looks dope. Thanks for showing it to me tbh.
I feel like it's every day now I see cool games for the PS1 and 2 that were japan only and it makes me angrier they never got translated every time I do.
germs is like a weird source of inspiration for Cruelty Squad
Ive played Paranoiascape recently at a local arcade bar and goddamn watta treat of design
Great list
this is a gold mine!!!!
Good news! Someone is actually working on a fan translation of Germs! No idea when it'll be done, but it is happening!
Holy shit Germs is fascinating and I need to play it
Germs reminds me a bit of Pathologic. It could also just be that I love Pathologic too much.
9:43 y'know what, this game sounds somewhat like Pathologic
LSD: Dream Emulator looks like something worth trying with VR.
Very nice job, subbed. I'd like to see what you thought of Incredible Crisis, No One Can Stop Mr. Domino, Mister Mosquito and RC De Go!
I was wondering if you would have covered that one spike chunsoft game that was Japan only but referenced in Danganronpa 2. I guess it wasn't expensive enough to make this list?
nah I bought a copy of that for like $50 it's not especially rare at all. Twilight Syndrome is super good though it's actually one of my favourite PS1 games in general.
Why does Germs seem like the type of game Dowolf would pick up to run?
The pinball game seemed interesting. 😅
Paranoiascape Is only weird for the fact SMG created the studio to only make that game.
...do you know if there is a translation patch for GERMS?
Not at the moment although someone has gone on record to claim production of one, but nothing beyond that.
Please do a play through of germs
someday, perhaps. it seems like quite a long game.
so out of all of these GERM is the one that you would like to se capcom remaster next? regardless of what the original publisher was
Just imagine Silent Hill 4 with the Germs control scheme... You're welcome
I hope we get an eng translation for germs soon, i dont know enough spanish to play that version
Love me some germs. I'd highly encourage you or anyone else reading to get through the game, it's really wonderful and strange and endearing. For that, I've got some control-related tips just so playing the game isn't as cumbersome. The game never tells you this (it's only in the manual) but you can use L2 to run in the overworld, jus sayin this cuz i noticed u werent running at all in the overworld which... yeah is unbearably slow. This is made more confusing by the fact you can't run indoors HOWEVER if you strafe and walk forward at the same time you'll go about twice as fast as you otherwise would. Results in a lot of zig-zagging but it's not inconvenient.
The BIGGEST thing to help out with the control feel is something that ik some people might scoff at (idk if you would or not) is using keyboard controls instead of an actual controller. The way I've got it set up is WASD(looking)/IJKL(triangle, square, x, and circle respectively), Q and E for strafe, shift for L2, space for R1, and U and O for select and start. Not only do i find this makes controlling the car much easier (since you're using one hand to turn and the other to go forward/back instead of having to have one hand ONLY for turning left and the other hand for turning right AND going forward/back) but also it makes the combat much less disorienting when trying to move and attack at the same time (again, so the left hand is taking care of where you're looking and the act of attacking, and the right hand can focus on moving forward/back).
It's jus a game I really love & I jus want more people to play it & not be frustrated by the jank !!
I always like to discover new Japanese games since I speak and read Japanese fluently and no I am not Japanese myself :)
Totally not commenting for engagement increases
always appreciated lol
You were really stretching the definition of "horror game" in this one lol
More like horror themed game
Ice physics on a game already that fast? are they insane?
these games are less horror and more surreal. which can also trigger your anxiety i guess but still
good god, you could get a fursuit or 4 video games
When they say go to an interview in your most expensive suit....
Interesting off beat games
I would love to play Germs but I will need and English translation.
comment for the algorithm overlords
wheres tarcov.??
I watched Sean Seanson's last video as well
i have no idea who that is lol
@@PunchyYT You'll love him. He's a good lad :D. His latest video had the Rollercoaster and Pinball ones on it XD
@@massiveprogressive9488 love Sean ❤
another expensive horror game con PS1, hellnight..
Video games
Uhh... Horror games? Are you sure?
What's weird is now that we have way more advanced technology than in the 90s, weird experimental games like Germs are hardly seen anymore these days. Triple A companies go for the safest ideas, and indies mostly "pay tribute" to other games (basically ripping off gameplay using different colors).
it would be a literal waste to spend over 2 grand of patreon money on this stuff when you can just emulate it. Also you could've emulated with the translated version of germs, at least for the video.
I implore you people to look at the post date of videos before commenting. I'll help you out on this one, the translation patch did not exist when this video was produced.