I found a used-like new copy of Rule of Rose at Comic con this year. I nearly sh*t my pants. It was a family-owned booth of retro games and vintage toys. The owner was super nice and cut me a steal of a deal. I started crying immediately. He gave me a hug and said that my reaction was exactly why he still ran the business, despite being in retirement. I don't think I'll ever be able to top that moment.
There's often jokes about how a game is bad if you can't pet the dog/animals, so a game whose ending is determined by how well you treated your dogo? I have no words for how fucking awesome that is
When Daniella serves you the soup, you notice the hair & it makes Fiona recoil. This implies that the soup, and the meat Debitalas was chopping at beginning of game, were the dead bodies of Fiona's parents.
@@videogameman110 Ricardo and her father, Ugo, were both homunculi created by Lorenzo, as such, both are clones of Lorenzo and look identical. So, at most, I guess you could call Ricardo her "uncle."
I cried watching this video. Thank you for putting Fiona's experience so clearly from a man's point of view. As a woman, I am Fiona. You talked about empathy, certainly every woman has gone through all these sensations in her life; especially in adolescence, especially if you were a teenager with a developed body. The feeling of lack of control, of always being watched, of being seen just as a piece of meat, like a doll that serves only for pleasure and the pressure to play your "role as a woman". I was SA and I felt firsthand what it's like to be in "panic mode". We women and girls often don't fight, we just remain unresponsive and try to escape or even pretend that it didn't happen. It is a pure feeling of incapacity and defenselessness. There is no one to help or protect you. It's a true horror experience It's a true horror experience. We women (or people who have been SA) are Fiona. And sorry for any typos (I used the translator)
Actually, Daniella is human (as mentioned by the game's director IIRC), but she had been abused by the ruler of Belli Castle. The years of torment she endured broke her, and she believed that she was not "complete", and not a real "woman".
She wasn’t human. She’s alluded to be a homonculous, similar to Ugo or Ricardo or the other humanoid figures hanging about the castle. Since she wasn’t truly human, she lacked certain human traits like emotion or the ability to bear children. That’s why she was after Fiona. She wanted to rip out her womb to take it for herself. It made the death “scene” at her hands extremely disturbing
@@NewJerseyRaver It still makes a lot of sense, and it is not confirmed that she's either a human or not. But, if Daniella is actually a human, then the fact that she developed traits such as lack of emotions, the erratic movement and the self-provoked thought of being unable to bear children can make sense if she was constantly abused in the past, and if she was, then probably the main reason why is because she was uncapable of bearing a child; her search for a womb might not only be because she wants the bowel to feel complete as a woman, but to have the ability to have a child of her own and, maybe, to stop the abuse she was receiving.
@@innstafr3547 She mentions in the dinner scene that her master created her to be the perfect woman but she lacks certain human traits, which can be interpreted in lots of different ways, but given all the clues we get about her like her erratic personality, indifference to pain and emotion, her movement etc., I think we’re supposed to deduce she wasn’t really a person. Granted, it’s all speculation and interpretation, but that’s what I got out of it
I have seen this passed around for years with no source. It's a rumour. She's not human. One of the biggest themes in HG is the creation of false life and rebirth. Not only does it not make any sense for a castle full of creations to have one single real person, but it undermines the point of her character.
I played this when I was in my early teens and couldn't get through it. As a girl it really resonates with how scary the world can be for us, and it stuck with me for a long time.
@Acolyte of Dagon not the safest according to sexual crime statistics, and that’s why this particular game hit close to home for her. Edit: also “by a large margin” is false. Men are slightly more likely to be victims of assault perpetrated by strangers, but women are drastically more likely to be domestic abuse victims. Either way, this isn’t the oppression olympics. If a girl says that a mostly gendered crime has an impact on her life, there’s no reason to flip it around on men.
@Acolyte of Dagon A massive point of the game itself was the ability to empathize. Glad you took nothing from this and failed to apply it to the real world…
@Acolyte of Dagon I’m not complaining about women being more oppressed than men, I’m simply stating that sexual violence is gendered and you can’t refute that. Physical assault is hardly addressed in the video essay at all, and you went the extra mile of bringing it up although it’s irrelevant. You are quite literally begging for sympathy and in turn invalidating a perspective that you’ve never even tried to empathize with. Also I’d love to see these statistics that imply physical violence is as gendered as sexual assault.
God this game is fantastic. This is my actual worst nightmare, being chased with no way to defend myself. The misogyny from Daniella, the objectification from Debilitas, and the sexualization from Lorenzo and Riccardo, it makes the horror so much more than just scary, it's real.
It's like Fiona was MADE to be sexually objectified. If I were one of the game villains, I'd hunt her down and do the most sexually debauched things to her, then I'd toss her aside once I've had my fun - only to repeat the cycle all over again and again, and again and again and again and again and again and again and again. The player would NEVER win, because she'd get caught the moment the game starts. Oh Fiona, why are you trying to escape?! You should find eternal happiness as my little sex toy😋
@@Vulgarth1 I would say her hatred of Fiona for her basic abilities of being female would constitute misogyny, but I guess part of it is interpretation so if it's just envy then I would say no. Her reactions just seem more than just envy though
This feels horrific because it can easily become(and for many is) a reality for women.In fact I find these real horrors way worse than supernatural ones, exactly because they can and do happen in the real world, unfortunately more frequently than we think.
This game was my coping mechanism as a young teenager. And I feel like many girls played this to cope. I wanted to help Fiona so bad... I wanted her to get out of this nightmare. I still replay this game every few years. I truly love this game. Thank you for talking about it.
This is actually a very beautiful told story. I was so invested in learning about it, and it is true. I have been treated before like i was nothing but a piece of meat and assaulted in my own workplace long ago. It was always this weird feeling of terror. I remember my manager at the time who was a really fun guy, but my coworker was some 20 year old pervert who literally threatened to rape me and kill me when i was 16. He would play it off as joking and my manager just didnt know how to deal with it, he never saw it happen or heard it happen. But it happened over and over. He would untie my apron, he would throw whip cream in my face and say it was a "facial" and he would CHASE me around the fucking store. The little tiny Arbys store on Yellowstone. I reported him because he terrorized me. Nothing came from it. He was eventually fired but still messaged me and harassed me through there. He was only fired after he called a gay coworker a f*ggot. I dont know why that was the line and not him chasing me with a broom telling me he was going to shove it so far up my ass i would bleed from my eyes, but now, as an adult woman, knowing all of the shit he put me through was incredibly wrong and i should have turned to the police when my job did nothing to protect me. I never told my parents. Sometimes i thought he was just flirting with me... I dont know. I had never acknowledged the fear he brought me until i grew up and i realized more and more what abuse was. I was afraid but i never admitted it. But i remember attempting to never be alone with him, trying to busy myself, shrugging his comments off and trying to remark back that he didnt phase me. Its just insane. Even now, at my current workplace at walmart, sexual abuse in the store is not taken seriously. My coworker made a mistake of inviting these two boys from work to her home for dinner after they asked and asked, and to be blunt, i dont know the details, police were involved, and she stopped being herself. She withdrew and became quiet and eventually moved to another department. But you fucking guessed it, they didnt get in any trouble at work. They stayed there until they were fired for a completely different reason that directly affected the company, not the employees. Why do we disregard so many sexual abuse allegations in the workplace even if prove is present like in her case? Ive never seen anyone know how to or take it seriously. They might say "oh we will talk to him. We will talk to her. We will make sure they dont do it again and youll be fine." What they actually mean is "its not my problem, he/she makes the workplace work, and if you have PRIVATE problems with him/her, then deal with it PRIVATELY for it has nothing to do with me." Its bullshit. I know people can lie but there are cameras. They could have seen him chasing me around the store. Throwing food in my face. I dont doubt if he ever spit in my food or drink when i wasnt looking. Idk. No one did anything for me.
You never needed anyone to help you, knowing now what you potentially avoided will resonate with others thru your story alone. Your legacy will sooth/teach others, never forget that
@@hylianflower9681 I don't know how people lives are, and mostly a loner, and I would like to think I act cordial IRL without excessively offending anyone. I would like to know how interactions go when one party is excessively aggressive.
One of my favorite memories when it comes to unboxing games was having my parents buy me the game and I'd read the manual back to front the whole way home. They really helped get me excited for the game by building up the characters and lore.
I still remember the God of War 1 manual. HEAVENS, how much more *immersed* that thing made me feel in the game! It wasn't just a gory hack 'n slash game to me, *it was a world of true Greek Mythology. Of legend. Of epic.* _(yeah, I later learned of the innaccuracies that GoW has to actual mythology, but that's beyond the point)_ I really wish well crafted manuals were still being made for modern games. An extra spendure it may be, but they enganced the experience so much...!
I haven't played Haunting Ground, but I am absolutely obsessed with it. The aesthetic, the story, the characters... everything is so carefuly crafted in a truly horryfing nightmare. You have very eloquently expressed a lot of my thoughts about it. Fiona has to be one of my favorite characters ever. She's just a girl having to navigate a threatening, exploitative world that she has no control of. It's very interesting how this game, just like Silent Hill 3, manages to capture the complicated mechanics of violence. Do we as victims play into it like Daniella or Debilitas, or as Fiona, do we choose to stay empathetic? The most shocking part is that Fiona's story is not a complete fantasy. Yes, the setting, the alchemy, are. But the other things? Those core threats? They are real. That's the most horryfing part.
Haunting Ground and Silent Hill 3 are both games that tread similar thematic ground and were both similarly underappreciated upon their release. And they are both undergoing a bit for a renaissance right now, in large part because of how far ahead of their time they were. To put it bluntly, game's criticism is only just now reaching a point where it is able to take stories about women, and more pointedly stories about being women, seriously. To borrow from a comment I saw on the internet a while ago: "...for most women, for most teen girls, the world is a violent and frightening place. That is, their greatest fears and their lived realities can be indistinguishable. James [Silent Hill 2] is afraid of himself, his internal world. Heather is afraid of the subway and the mall." It truly is horrific, as you said, that these games have only become MORE relevant as time has gone on, and not less.
i just wrote a similar comment and just saw yours here! i agree a lot. silent hill 3 really is part of the same discussion, im glad more people see the depth in these games and how well they play with real world fears that women have.
It sucks cuz stories like these are berated as misogynistic. Meanwhile they're the most understanding of the "divine feminine"! People just aren't intelligent enough to grasp the concepts.
wtf are you rambling about. I swear, sh*t happens to men *not important keep on moving* things happen to women *oh my lord the world is going up in flames we must protect the ladies* Seriously what is the obsession with putting men on the back burner and pretending like they don't also suffer and have their own violent issues to face. Also you going to downplay Jame's experience to make it seem as if Heather has it worse lmao. and please explain what you mean it has become more relevant ? Lets not sit here and act like in the west most women don't have more rights / power than men while we are treated like 2nd class citizens.
@@CoreisusIt also might be a case of confusing the addition of a bad thing with condoning the bad thing. Ex. I’ve seen people claim that Fiona’s “official” outfit is just the devs being horny. And while I’m not going to say that it wasn’t a thought during development (since I wasn’t there), the argument completely misses that Fiona was given those clothes, with her only other alternatives being a bed sheet or nudity. It mistakes an in-universe character objectifying her (something that the game pushes against by virtue of your goal being “survive and get out of this creepy place”) into the creators objectifying her.
I immediately turned it off upon encountering Debilitas. I entered panic mode before Fiona did. There was something about that doll-obssessed dimwitted giant that chilled me to the bones, and I couldn't bear to play further. Now I know why, thanks man!
My sister played this game a lot, she was a speedrunner. She nicknamed him 'Debby', it actually wasn't until recently I learned thats not actually his name lmao
I know it was intended to be frightening, but Ricardo shouting "Let Me Into Your Womb" has got to be one of the most unintentionally funny lines in gaming. 😅
I loved this game. The deaths I endured had horrifying sounds. She was a weak girl, she only had one ally against hard bad guys no real weapons, kind of like Fatal Frame little women with a camera against freaky ghosts, and that's what made them my favorite survival horrors!
I’m not a gamer (fighting games are literally the only games I don’t completely suck at 😂) but as a horror-fan I know what you mean. While being chased by zombies, vampires, killer-ghosts etc aren’t exactly realistic every-day scenarios there are elements that makes them feel more or less “real” and/or relatable to us. To me being some kind of super-soldier who runs around with super-weapons and at times even defeats monster with their bare hands is just as far from my world as I could possibly imagine. However, facing unknown threats that you’re completely unprepared for I believe is a fear every single person can relate to (though in real life those threats aren’t supernatural beings). Fiona, and I’m assuming the women in Fatal Frame are in very real danger with very little resources at hand and that is no short of terrifying.
Haunting Ground was the first horror game to genuinely horrify me. That cutscene with Debilitas looking at Fiona, then the doll in his hand, then back at Fiona, and throwing the doll away told me everything I needed to know about his intentions. Running helpless and learning about the panic mechanic the hard way were already scarier than the standard threat of death video games throw at the player, but the part* that made me not touch the game again for about two weeks was hearing the sounds of Debilitas raping Fiona's corpse. The Game Over screens in Resident Evil games where zombies chew your character's lifeless body didn't come anywhere _near_ the sense of violation and disgust that dying in Haunting Ground gave me, and when I finally continued, the fear of that happening again gave me an idea of the fear some women may be dealing with on a daily basis. Being caught by the rest of the stalkers isn't much better. *Granted, it also had to do with an overlap between my only wanting to play horror games at night for maximum effect and it actually being dark out when the urge to play came. But still!
Wait what? Debilitas doesn't do that when he catches her, it's much more likely that he's tearing her body apart. Since he believes Fiona is a doll to play with and has the brain of a small child, I find it very unlikely that he's raping her.
@@jester2077 Sorry, this turned out to be a text wall, skip to the last paragraph if you just want the short version. You could be right, but in addition to his animal grunting, the sounds I heard when dying to Debilitas are, in order, the shuffling of cloth (same sounds as articles of clothing being put on or taken off, but not ripped away), rapid breathing, and what is likely tearing flesh, which I interpreted being him, the size of a gorilla, helping himself to Fiona's less-than-sturdy frame. It's possible that he pulled her clothes off and immediately started pulling her bones out or something, maybe tearing off her skin and preparing her body to be properly butchered in the basement, but a few other details stick out to me. When chasing Fiona, Debilitas sometimes rubs his crotch, calls her "my dolly," (his old doll being noted to be filthy when picked up and examined, but not missing pieces if I remember right), comments that she "smells nice" (which admittedly could be in a "dinner smells great" kind of way), and the way he excitedly giggles and dances in place if given the chance to reach out and touch her are all consistent with the general theme of the game, the stalkers all seeing her as a piece of desirable meat. Still, maybe Debilitas sees her as meat in the edible sense? He has a child's brain, yes, but from what I gather, little boys are every bit as capable of harassing girls as the older ones are, and if he's spent any time with Riccardo or Lorenzo, it wouldn't surprise me where he got his ideas about women. Debilitas's child-brain doesn't mean he's innocent and doesn't get sexual urges, it means he deals with the chemistry of his adult body in a childish way. Again, you could be right, he could just be ripping her to pieces, and I heard that the "official" explanation is that he's just "playing" with her body, beating her to death because he doesn't know his own strength, apparently not realizing that anything is amiss when she stops moving and starts bleeding. I conclude that he's raping her corpse because when putting all the pieces together, it seems to be the most likely explanation.
My heart sank the first time i heard the Debilitas death scene thinking he raped her, however the wiki says he's actually using her body as a ragdoll and ends up tearing her apart because of his brute force, and it kinda made me fell better about it. Still, im guessing the devs knew the sounds could be perceived that way, since Debilitas has that hump attack and he touches his crotch sometimes when chasing Fiona Ricardo actually rapes her, so yeah that sucks, but at least it made me feel like Debilitas is actually not that bad, he even becomes aware he shouldn't do what he was doing when Fiona spares him.
@@fuckitweball77Actually, Debilitas stops chasing Fiona because, during the cutscene where he survives the chandelier falling on him, he mistankenkly sees Fiona as some kind of saintly figure, like Virgin Mary or something. The position he is at, lying down on the ground while Fiona is standing tall. The angle from below when he watches her. The first thing he sees when he comes to, a statue of Virgin Mary or at least a similar looking statue, *right before he sees Fiona.* And then Fiona herself, who is grasping her hands as if in prayer. She is only concerned and nervous as usual, but from Debilitas' perspective at that moment, she looks like she's praying. That's why he behaves the way he does after getting out of the chandelier. Bowing on all fours as if begging forgiveness. Falling on his knees with praying hands, as if begging forgiveness once again. And finally, a respectful bow as Fiona is leaving the castle, as if he was adressing a lord or a lady. Debilitas' mind just switched perceiving Fiona as "his dolly" to perceiving her as a holy saint. One he clearly respects and fears. _(good to know he's a good Christian! ... _*_kinda...)_* 😅
@@Twitchy_McExorcism there are regional differences to playing the game from what i heard. If im not mistaken the eu/jp versions have everything onscreen unlike the us version where they blacked out some stuff. Pretty common for us releases apparently when it comes to anything besides violence. The us version of resident evil 4 removed all the jiggle physics present in the jp release. The original game is called demento in japan.
31:50 Personally, while I feel the NG+ outfits are mainly there for fun extras, they still fit into the themes of sexualization that are present throughout the game, focusing on the interplay of sexuality and power. Fiona's standard and Under the Scapel outfits are delicate and calculated in their sexuality, matching Fiona's vulnerability in the main game. In contrast, the dominatrix and Texas Cowgirl outfits are overt and bold in their sexualization. However, the concepts of these outfits are ones of power and control, the dominatrix obviously being sexually controlling and forceful, while the cowgirl is wild and free. These concepts are a far cry from the fragile princess and patient concepts of the primary two outfits and reflect Fiona's greater control over the situation in NG+, being able to throw her sexuality back at her stalkers. Fiona took control back from them in endings A and B, gaining outfits to display this freedom. This power is also reflected in their gameplay benefits, both offering an additional means to attack the stalkers, giving Fiona a better chance at directly fending off her pursuers. This use of sexualization can also be applied to the joke costume of the game, with the Fiona the Frog costume completely covering her and being based on an animal often associated with ugliness (think "The Princess and the Frog" fairytale). As this is the least sexualized outfit, Fiona gains evasive powers in-game, being able to infinitely backstep without losing stamina, directly contrasting the offensive-based benefits of the more sexualized costumes. This even matches with the ending to unlock it. Ending C has Fiona escape early and doesn't confront the stalkers behind her capture, running away instead of asserting her will and triumphing over them. While these were most likely done for some light-hearted fun with the sexual themes the game plays around with (I think the dominatrix outfit is rather funny when imagining demure and meek Fiona trying to act the part), I still think they had some thought put behind their inclusion. They reflect the ending the player got, gaining costumes that show how Fiona has obtained control over her sexuality and how she displays it, either flaunting or restricting it depending on how she deals with the stalkers. They're extras meant to de-escalate the sexual horror present in the main game, gaining over-the-top costumes that make Fiona less vulnerable conceptually and practically while still fitting into the sexual nature of the game's themes and design.
Imagine seeing a character in a horror game naked,injured,scared,at their absolute weakest, and focusing on the nudity in a sexual context rather than the obviously intended context;i.e. powerlessness as a core concept of horror,especially survival horror. Like I understand violence and nudity are in a special category wrt women and that is definitely something that shouldn't be overlooked but it's pretty obvious what the point of that is here. Also interesting that the implication is that she's next to be butchered but as western culture often does the violence takes a back seat to sex because the culture is far more approving of violence than sex. Like she's been stripped naked and she's due to be cut into pieces and people are like HOLD ON SHE NEKKID??!?
you forget the sexualization of violence against women is s thing so i can totally see how someone well-meaning may interpret it differently. or how even if they understand the intent did not think it was done well
@@tensugarcubes >like I understand that violence and nudity are in a special category wrt women and that is definitely something that shouldn't be overlooked And the thing is,it is overlooked. As I said, our culture is so much more horrified by nudity and anything even tangential to sex than it is by violence that the violence of the situation is glossed over and sexualized violence is seen as just sexualization as a result of this. People are literally looking at a scene involving a naked woman who the scene is suggesting is going to be chopped up shortly and at the violence being implied they're like eh,violence 🤷♂️ but did she REALLY have to be naked tho My brother in christ it's a story,she didn't have to be literally any of this. This is an entirely arbitrary fiction in which both the violence and the nudity are being used mostly to tell a story,if not exactly entirely. The boob physics are really completely unnecessary tbh. And personally if someone had me naked in a cage and I thought for a second they were planning to kill me,which I well might think in such a situation, I could give half a shit about nudity at that point unlike the detached audience. My thinking is that people are so accepting of violence that nudity is all they really care about and that's something that really ought to be addressed too. But also because they're so preoccupied with the nudity and sexualization they're seeing (doing,actually. The scene isn't sexualizing any of this at all,the audience is) that they fail to do the thing that they're supposed to be doing as the audience of the story,and that is empathizing with the characters. If you were her and not a detached member of the audience,would you be so focused on nudity? Is it maybe because I'm a man that the threat of being violenced into pieces would seem the more immediate concern, certainly. And is it because we're so desensitized to violence that we're focusing on nudity in a largely sexual decontextualization of the scene rather than contextualizing the nudity within an ultimately very violent situation?
@@tgcid2018 I agree for the nudity. That didn't bother me because of context. But the boob physics seem to much. To me it isn't just satirical, it seems to play into the very exploitation they decry. Being depowered into wearing overly sexualized outfits is one thing. To me, over sexualizing the character for the player's gaze, is another. Not sure if I make any sense at all. Sorry.
@@seatrisa2977 no I totally agree. I think you could make an argument for the outfit itself being part of the narrative but even that's a bit of a stretch in my opinion. But the jiggle physics are really indefensible in my opinion. I really cannot see any reason for it;if the overall story were less aware you could say they were being myopic here but while we all have our blind spots the work overall doesn't tend towards narrative myopia. They were pretty keen eyed through all this other stuff but now their vision is blurry and the result just happens to be gainax boob? Riiiiight 🙄
That last scene where Fiona is pregnant and with a smiling expression on her face looks just like the ending scene of "Rosemary`s Baby". Pretty sure it served as inspiration not only because both scenes are so similar (practically identical) but because of the thematical correlations between both mediums.
Wow. I really dug your gender-informed analysis of the game. Its ironic that critics all dismissed it as sexually-gratuitous trash when there are so many worse offenders that get a pass
Yeah, it's ironic and infuriating to see things like David Cage projects get passes again and again despite how he continues making some of the worst female characters, and exposing how out of touch he is with women on the whole.
@@drricemice2046 That's right. Also Detroit: Become Human and Indigo Prophecy among others. As someone who's followed his work for a long time, his writing habits really haven't changed much in certain aspects, especially where his female characters are concerned...as well as his inability to make a good twist
@@blueray222 damn yeah I own all these games and never really pay attention guess I gotta take a trip down memory lane. I played IP and heavy rain when I was young so it's gonna be interesting to see what's up because i did recently play Detroit and nothing crazy stood out but now that you mention I do get a vibe
@@blueray222 if i may chime with an appeal to empathy as per the topic at hand. Writing is art form much like painting no? suffice to say to that end that I agree with fact that a writer can be out of touch. Art on the other hand benefits from being judged separately from the artist as you hinted at in your following of Mr. cages work. I wonder why we give male artist such hard time with renditions of likely foreign concepts within there own gender rather than celebrate the things they achieved in the artform within their given lens/ scope. I only pose this question cause I like intellectual charged conversation with people familiar with work I'm less familiar with. if you get some time just shoot me your thoughts on artist accomplishment within the male gaze vs the: artist integrity, artistic vision, general disdain for using something in art you or I would say the artist does not or could not understand or fully grasp (i.e gendered subjects pertaining to women in the case of Mr. cage for example) its a fun thing to explore in this varied of a comment section on video about haunting ground.
This is a very basic take on the aspect of player connection to Fiona, but even just the camera plays a part. For much of the game, you're put in fixed camera angles that can often greatly distance itself from Fiona, mainly in large rooms or outside. This adds to that theme of voyeurism in that the player is a distant observer rather than being closely connected to Fiona. And yet, the main times in which the camera not only closes into Fiona, but outright gives you a first-person perspective from her view, is when she's hiding. In the most tense moments of the game, that is when the game directly puts you in Fiona's place to feel what she is feeling. When you're most empathetic to her. Again, not exactly some revolutionary analysis but just something that I thought of while watching this video.
this isnt basic at all! I took a couple art and symbol courses in university and while covering video games theres a huge link between camera views and sexualisation in gaming, especiallyearly games. Think of tomb raider, since its the most popular example, and how we always watch the sexy girl in booty shorts run around doing stunts or dieing, versus DOOM where youre in DOOM guys POV. The placing of teh camera when youre hiding in this game is such a cool catch and so true!
Honestly I think it’s just a coincidence and not actually that deep, fixed camera angles were the norm for old ps1-ps2 games and became a staple for survival horror as it could be used to hide environmental surprises and scares, and there is also the fact that a fixed camera angle during hiding reduces tensions significantly as the player is given too much information that way. But yeah you could attribute that to it but I highly doubt it was some artistic intention deliberately done. You would be surprised how often mistakes or arbitrary decisions result in stuff like this in Game development.
@@VainSick damn bro better tell my fucking professor and literally every researcher who's tudied into this that they're reading way too into it because Vain Sick says it's not that deep bro
Aged well? this has been a problem since the dawn of man, and likely always will be unless biological females get replaced by technology. Of course having such an important role in humanity comes with its unfortunate vulnerabilities.
so this might seem a bit silly? but the boobs aren't that unrealistic in the end. Mine are around about the same size and if you have a non supportive bra or wear a tight shirt and no bra that's pretty much what happens. The stopping from moving fast is overdone but the running really isn't ha.
Honestly it just makes me wince every time I see her run, I know it's a video game character but imagining running that much with them that loose sounds so painful 😢
Back high school, my best friend and I played and finished this game over a weekend. We alternated playing across sessions. When it was my turn to play she was at the computer, cross-checking the GameFAQs guide whenever I got stuck, and the reverse for when it was her turn. This was in the very early days of YT, so we were years away from no-commentary let’s plays, GameFAQs was all we had. It’s always been a really special memory of mine. In our thirties, we’re still friends to this day. It wasn’t our only sleepover adventure, but it’s the one I remember fondly. Though we were both into games already, the idea of a horror game starring a young woman as a player character about a was too novel for us to pass up. My friend still had things to say about Fiona’s timidness and helplessness though, lol. Her absolute adoration of dogs and Hewie really pulled her through. We were such NLOGs back then hahaha. She ended up selling most of her games off just before university, not knowing the value she was sitting on until years and years later. Ironically enough, the same thing happened to me with Rule of Rose, The first 4 Silent Hill games and Clock Tower 3 (though I didn’t sell them myself, my mom did after I left for the military). I’m still super salty about that… Anyway, fantastic video. I’ll never get enough of hearing about this game (or my other favorite, Eternal Darkness). It really was a fantastic little era in video game horror.
Dude I feel ya with your mom and your games... My 1st addition Pokemon cards all 150 gen 1, not just one set but 15. All sold for $5 at a garage sale.. just one set is worth $150k.
This and Rule of Rose are my all-time horror favorites. Masterpieces of the horror that lingers well after you finish the game. Absolute gems. Thanks for giving them some of the attention and love they have sorely needed for years!
Rule of Rose easily has one of the best story and storytelling for me. The gameplay is, of course, not good. But dang I was blown away by the story. It's so beautifully told and way darker than it seemed. It is poetically deep and dark 😭😳🔥
I find it interesting that you, as a male player, felt condemned as a player voyeur right out the gate. But I, as a female player, felt the way in which we were viewing Fiona was making me feel uncomfortably 'with' her. I wasn't a voyeur of her, I was her. And it was that binding of myself with her that made the themes so extra horrifying for me instead of titillating. The all too familiar sensations of helplessness and awareness of my own bodies uncontrollable movements and the way men view it like I'm doing it on purpose to entice them. That so many people view that as fanservice, something happening on purpose (in a game it is on purpose because someone programmed that, but if we pretend she's a real person, she'd have jiggling and swaying going on too) instead of something a woman in a horror situation would be fearful of and find distressing to have out of her control since it's that outfit or the sheet. I think a part of Daniella that is often missed is that she is a critique on patriarchy. Her desire to take what Fiona has is not because she personally hates Fiona or desires to hurt Fiona. It's because she has been told she is less than and that if she were only more like Fiona she wouldn't be so less than. She was trained to feel inferior and that made her want to pass on the cycle, and better herself in the process, in the eyes of the man who was putting her down. I really don't think it's a cycle flipped on its head as much as you think because the viciousness of women against other women is common and I think all of us women have experienced it to some degree in our lives (often especially from older women who are just sort of passing on the misery that men have heaped on them for the 'sin' of getting older). And in the bad end, where Hewie doesn't protect you, I think it's very intentional that Fiona's mad laughter sounds the same as Daniella's mad laughter. Because Fiona has now served her purpose for the only man whose judgement matters in this world and will soon be of no use to him anymore, just like Daniella. Fiona is going to evolve to be another Daniella. Maddeningly wandering the halls looking for another young girl to take her anger out on. It was super interesting to hear a male player's thoughts on the themes in this game.
Petition for Ragnar to pin this comment because is essentially all the game wanted to say :'D I'm convinced Fiona was manipulated like Daniella in the bad ending, and the laugh is proof of that. She's now like her, obedient and unable to even grasp her situation. Now I wonder if the game had some women in the development process, putting their own experiences and thoughts on the matter. If that wasn't the case, then the men behind it had really great levels of empathy, to make this game hit so close to home in how is women have to deal with this in our lives.
Man I was with you until the old lady hating young girls because man was mean to her bit. Even in a video game, women just can’t be accountable for their own shitty behavior. When you say stuff like that, you are implying that women are sacred beings that would do no harm unless a man in involved. Take women seriously. Take women as the danger they can be. They are not angels. They are just as human as men are.
@@co7769 100% on this thread, I was like, what you want to excuse all the bad guys because they were treated like shit by women? It's probably true to an extent, but passing the buck just condones people who decide on acting shitty. But also, I don't think the OG take is out of line with the original intent, so it's whatever.
@Co While I see your point, the fact that this kind of hate between women happens exactly because of men is painfully true, and is not something we can erase just to make one gender feel better. Is not that women are innocent victims all the time, but older women were raised in a patriarchal system, they learned and acted the way society forced on them, therefore now that things have changed, they can't process it, and blame the newer generations based on their standards. Is not a surprise that many older women are not feminists. At this point is their own choice and not some manipulation tactic in a sweet innocent being. Ask any grandma how she feels about younger girls not getting married at their same age, or about divorce, for example. They didn't get the chance to choose their own lives, so is obvious they can get bitter and jealous of the young people and the freedom they never had. Source btw: My own grandma, she does all the above and more, with everyone who chose a different route than her in life. She very openly criticize one of my cousins for being a single mom, always has preferred male grandkids, while ignored the girls. Her husband was a monster, and she still can't decide to hate him or miss him everyday, since he was her only partner in life. She could try to learn and understand now things are better and be happy for her family, but she decided to keep being mad and bitter instead. She's not a victim anymore.
Also I will never NEVER get over people saying that jiggle physics are unrealistic like?? Is everybody who makes these reviews flat as a board? I have a relatively endowed chest and even with a sports bra and a tight tanktop, they are going to jiggle. Its literal balls of fat, of course they are. Better yet, Fiona is clearly wearing nothing underneath the blouse as you can see from the low cut back so yeah the jiggle physics are actually pretty tame compared to what they realistically should be.
Right? Like, I only have B cups, but they still jiggle without a bra and it HURTS. The jiggle physics in the game didn't feel that excessive to me, tbh. I thought it looked pretty tame and it was clear she wasn't wearin a bra. Must've been painful. I just felt bad for Fiona the entire time.
It's why this game always hit hard for me. I found it one of the few games I always found terrifying, while i feel immune to most horror. I had blocked out my memories of sexual abuse, and I felt like this game truly triggered part of it, and just the parts that are scary of being a woman. I truly considered it a masterpiece, the first time I experienced it till now. It feels like a bad nightmare but in the most best way. It felt like a great simulation of my fears and experiences as being a woman.
I know how hard it is for most people to talk about their experiences with sexual violence and abuse of any kind, so I really wanna praise you and thank you for even only mentioning it here without any added details 👍 And yeah, even I considered this game a masterpiece from the first time I played it, when I was not even 10 and long before I was ever aware that I'm a trans girl or that every single women experience some kind of violence, even moral, at the hands of men throughout their lives. Even then, this game's themes and plot resonated with me, when I didn't understand that I had also already been a victim of the toxic patriarchal system we're forced to live in. So even without going into a deep analysis of it, I think it's easy for us and for anyone who related to Fiona to say that this game did in fact have something to say about stuff Cx
I always thought it was really interesting how the villains reflected Fiona's femininity and womanhood, and Daniella's bitter jealousy over Fiona's ability to feel and reproduce stuck with me to this day. I forgot much about the gameplay though. This video reminded me how much the devs injected storytelling + realism even when you're playing as Fiona. The fact that Fiona gets tired or panicked when running, hiding in the same spot will eventually get her caught, and how she interacts with Huey actually makes a significant impact to the game, really keeps the player on their toes as everything they do matter. I always chuckled at how video game characters can run forever and never get tired or how predictable villains can be if you were to just hide in a closet... so Haunting Ground was such a refreshing change. Fiona's jiggle physics always cracked me up and I still think it was overdone but I do appreciate your analysis of it. This was an excellent video and I thoroughly enjoyed it!
This game has always made me feel so sick. I used to see it around at one point in garage sales and later tried to watch others playing it.. but I just couldn't handle it for myself. Just watching anyone play it or reading about it still freaks me out. .. but it's been a strange coincidence in my family where some of us were in some way seen as 'just a slab of meat' in different ways and it's just feels far too personal to give a chance to play for myself. What they did with this game is nothing short of amazing in how they got these feelings across and it be in some way feeling something similar in life.
2 weeks ago I was having a conversación with my mom about how sometimes women objectify men. She asked if I've ever been, I said "yeah, remember that neighbor so and so?" She answered that couldn't be since I was like 11. That night I started to remember a lot of things that happened to me, done by older women. I haven't mention this new memories to my mom cause she is going to think I am gay because of my initial sexual interaction with females, which is not the case. What is true is that it's always hard for me to get close to someone cause I fear ulterior motives. On the other hard, I'm so comfortable in video arcades and saunas/dark rooms because I know what we are all looking for in there. At my age though, 40, I feel like I should start looking for a partner, but this anxiety and fear to closeness is messing me up. Idk if I actually have some kind of trauma, but for those who are already getting help congratulations and my best wishes.
I'm so sorry what you went through man. As a woman myself, I think male SA victims need to be just as acknowledged and be empathize just as female SA victims. Sexual assaults and abuse isn't a gendered thing. I hope you get the help you need and thay you are healing right now. I hope you have friends and family who can understand amd help you
That's a prerendered cinematic little bro. Shout out to your 45 genius upvoters who just click thumbs up on any positive comment like it's reddit. Let's all spread the gleeful stupidity.
36:47 Daniella is actually human. The creators reveal that she was tortured by Ricardo and Lorenzo until she started to believe she was actually a homonculus
The reason why you can upscale the resolution of a PS2 game and it still looks good has to do with the fact that the graphical technology used by the developers was on a much higher scale than what was available in the actual console itself so the images are actually down scaled for performance reasons in resolution which is why you can upscale their resolution later
That's gibberish and doesn't mean anything. The games look good when upscaled because their art direction is sound and their art was made by expert corporate Japanese game industry employees.
Rule of Rose has that section in the background for notes as well and honestly I miss having manuals because you get little bits of art and lore like that it's so great.
I remember getting my mom to buy this for me when I was like 12, it took a lot of convincing, she forced me to let her watch a bit of gameplay, and after the opening she was like "you're not playing this"... she hid the game away, I would steal the game on weekends and play late at night, It scared me to death but I loved it so much
I have severe anxiety, and playing horror games is impossible for me. However, this channel fell into my lap in 2020, and I found myself falling in love with the genre. And while I cannot play these games myself, I deeply respect everything that goes into creating true magic. TLDR; thanks for showing me the beauty to be found within the world of horror
@1lapmagic As if I haven't had several serious and terrible things happen in my own life... I choose not to put myself into situations that cause anxiety -the way a good horror game should. I prefer to play games that are calm and fun, to escape. Nothing wrong with that. There are different kinds of games made because there are different kinds of gamers. But just because I don't like putting myself through the adrenaline of a good horror game doesn't mean I can't appreciate the artistry. I love a good story, and I don't think there's anything wrong with that. But it's ok to have different opinions. :)
Thrilled that you include guides on emulating these games. Really hoping to find some time to practice modding these games (probably just remastering style stuff) but idk, it's great to see such a large community is out there who really cares about keeping these old gems alive. Feeling a bit sentimental, but keep it up Ragnar and all my fellow archivists and fans out there. Especially around the holidays it warms my heart to see you all here.
This game makes me think about the everything-nothing discussions that i think are so important now. You don’t have to look far in the comments to find women who find the story of HG cathartic and empowering in its direct facing of sexual horror. But you also don’t have to go far to find people for whom it hits too, too close to home or just too real, creating discomfort or even harmful triggers rather than catharsis. Both of these reactions can be entirely valid. Few stories, particularly ones this grim and violent, are for everyone, and neither reaction should invalidate the other. I’m glad people who have meaningful experiences with this game despite its initial poor reviews are now helping it have a second life by re-analyzing it and giving new players context for what they will encounter and if it is an experience they want. That being said, this video has really solidified my wish to play, or at least watch, this game. I’m usually pretty skittish around horror, but i really want to give HG a try. Another great video, Ragnar! Thank you!
I finally got a copy of this game. I was fortunate to find a cheap copy. By cheap, I mean it cost me $300 and not $700. 😂 Anyway, I absolutely love this game. It's such an underrated survivor horror. The villains are interesting, especially Daniella. Then the whole Fiona/Hewie gameplay is unique and fun (plus who doesn't love an animal companion). I also feel that some fail to understand the reason behind Fiona's sexualization. She is sexualized because this is all the villains see her as. Debilitas views her as a doll, Daniella wants her womanhood, and Riccardo wants her to give birth to another him.
Are you guys in PAL or ntsc regions? Bought mine for 20 euros few years ago which was the standard at the time. Gone up a bit since then, but used copies with box booklet etc are still less than 100 for a UK copy where I live. Ntsc on the other hand was already insanely expensive and I really don’t get why. Got kuon for 17 bucks and fatal frame 3 for 30, which again was pretty common a few years ago on the PAL used game market. Rule of Rose is the only game I have never seen under 250 minimum. I wish there was a way to get official physical copies pressed on demand as is done for many tv shows these days. You probably wouldn’t get the booklet but still
Remember those old days, when you drove home with your newly bought game, sitting in the bus or car next to your parent driving, opening the case, reading the manual and getting in the mood, hyped to play your new escape from reality. Slowly absorbing the lines printed in this piece of art, learning first things about the world and maybe some lore or backstory actually never mentioned in the game itself. So amazing I was there to consume games like this, not getting spoiled by too many trailers since there were mostly none available or your internet connection was too slow to handle it anyway. The only thing getting you hyped for a new release were magazines, their preview, review and recommendations by friends. What a time to be alive, gaming felt really better back then. Maybe because it was more art than business?
Man, do I miss gaming manuals. I'm glad you opened this one - games are meant to be played, and they have to be opened to be preserved fully - otherwise, we might not get to see manuals like this anymore!
Great video. Quick note: I feel like HG touches on the horror of family. The same way SH4 The Room turns your room, which should be a calming refuge, into the source of horrible fear, HG turns family, also supposedly a warm place and a foyer, into something uncaring and exploitative. What if instead of veing raised with love and protection your elders were raising you like a pig for slaughter? For breeding? That to me was the worst part of HG, the fact that the perpetrators share the same blood as the protagonist, which makes the incestuous not even under-tones that much mire efficient and terrifying. It also helps that, everyone having a family, you can project that aspect more easily and therefore empathize with the character. The psycho sexual horror becomes more potent and you’re in there with her, instead of gazing at jiggle physics
Glad you're feeling better. When the game was unwrapped, I could smell the plastic and the nostalgia of opening up a fresh new PS2 game. So satisfying.
I'm so glad that more and more people are coming around to reassess Haunting Ground and acknowledge its merits. As you said, it was so misunderstood and mistreated upon its initial release, as well as being greatly overshadowed by Resident Evil 4. It warms my heart so much to see people finally realizing how unique and thought-provoking it actually is, and how it does _such_ a great job of dealing with the horrors that many women experience or fear experiencing throughout their life. It legitimately kills me when people say it's "sexualization for sexualization's sake", "Male Gaze: the video game", or anything along those lines, because it simply isn't true. Being a woman myself, it struck a chord with me when I first played it and everything in the game has stuck with me for a very long time. I'm a _very_ proud owner of the game. Normally, I would never consider spending $400 bucks for any game (because NO game should cost that much), but I was willing to make an exception for Haunting Ground and it was absolutely worth it. No regrets. There are still several people who don't understand what the game was trying to achieve, and some of those people never will. And that's fine, I suppose, even if does hurt a lot when you're someone who loves the game so much. No one _has_ to like the game or agree that it's a "psycho-sexual horror masterpiece", or even a good game. But it still makes me smile knowing that one of my favorite games of all time is finally getting the love and attention it always deserved. Great video, thank you for making it and sharing it.
The hilarious part is imagine the women in Africa or Myanmar or something you could've helped with $400, who genuinely live horrific lives compared to the people whining in RUclips comments
I may not be a women but that ending gave me so much chills the bastard even refers to the child shes pregnant with as a another version of himself reborn as if hes the one in power that created that same life he forced onto her to birth disgutingly horrifying. something very true that can happen to women in societes pressures and awful environment for women to just survive in. 😢
I scored a physical copy of both Haunting Ground and Rule of Rose from an ex's old PS2 collection. They had no idea about the value of both titles and simply gave me a box full of old games that happened to have two of the rarest and most valuable horror titles in existence. I still have both copies and i never intend to sell them.
Thank you for covering one of my all time favourite games with the finesse and love that it deserves. For better or worse, I remember playing this game at the age of 11. My best friend managed to get it a few months after release for her birthday, and we couldn't ever bring ourselves to progress much out of paralyzing fear. Debilitas haunted our waking nightmares and our young minds were far too inexperienced to fully understand what was happening. Then in my first years of college, my local GameStop was closing and I saw a copy of Haunting Grounds. It cost me like $12 and I felt like I was reunited with an old friend. I sat down during summer vacation and absolutely glued myself to the TV, playing non-stop to achieve all the endings and immerse myself in the game's lore. Having been through some less than savory experiences in my years since first playing really made the game so much more horrifying and I fully empathized with Fiona and the absolute terror of her circumstances and surroundings. All these years later, I keep picking it up and doing a hard mode run because it's just such a masterfully done game that I've yet to find another one that makes me feel the way Haunting Grounds does. It's such a shame that this game couldn't be appreciated outside of it's niche audience, would have loved to see what else they did with the series. Truly a game ahead of it's time and an absolute masterpiece.
As a clock tower fan I love Haunting ground as a spiritual successor. So jealous of you for having an original sealed copy! Good job on this video, I’m happy that you’re feeling better now.
Congrats on the 50th Monster of the week video! I missed many of these great horror games as a teen since I never heard about them back then, but it's always great to watch your videos and passion about them and the horror genre!
I loved this game so much. It supposed to be unsettling, objectifying, it makes you feel small and it's only really games like this that can scare me. Most horror games/ movies aren't scary to me at all, but this was. Definitely one of the top 5 horror games I've played.
I believe the creators were heavily inspired by the Italian horror genre called "giallo" (so named after the yellow pages of the pulp novels that would influence the coming decades of slasher horror films in Italy and subsequently in the USA). These were well known for being exploitative and graphic, pushing forward what would be considered "grind house" cinema/stories and are cousin to the more pulpy "spaghetti western" genre. For the most part they were dime novels and not considered "high art" but were more stylized and boundary pushing in certain areas (i.e. sex and violence) than their contemporaries. That's not to say that more modern day forays into the genre haven't been deeper or more thought provoking or tried to elaborate on concepts derived from early iterations of it. The alchemical elements add something fresh here, but I fail to see much in the way of a more intellectual endeavor. I however, still own and have played through this horror masterpiece many a time and can attest it's brilliance and beauty, much like another of my favorite yet unfortunately super rare games, "Kuon".
It's giallo with 2 ls and it's weird that you consider it a horror subgenere because in italy we don't, "giallo" is it's own genere, it is defined by mistery and investigation, for example sherloc holmes noveles are gialli
It's an interesting game as it showcased a woman being toyed with like a doll, her body nothing more that sexual relief for others, or no other purpose than giving birth. The very definition of shit things for being a woman. Also it's important in the game to show kindness regardless of the situation as kindness will be met with kindness of your friend
I remember I got this game for Christmas in 2005. Had no clue what kind of game it was, and my parents just picked it out randomly while it was still on store shelves. I hate that I lost my copy 13 years ago. Ugh.
The older I get, the deeper my appreciation for this game and the story it was trying to tell gets. It's for that reason I think it will always be my favorite game.
I honestly haven't played the game, but I hear your point. Sex as a theme doesn't always have to be just a shallow object designed to satisfy fantasies. When entwined as part of the core message and story, it can be just as good as any traditional themes such as good vs evil. I understand it is difficult to swallow especially when the theme revolves around the dark side of sex such as rape and exploitation, but it'll be wrong to judge a story too quickly just because it has sex in it.
After exhausting Jacob Geller's horror videos for the 6th time I decided it was a good time to find a new survival horror essayist and I don't think I could have found anyone better. I'm loving your content so far. Looking forward to delving through your catalogue.
I first played this game back in my teenage years and the fear it wrenches from me has never diminished over the years. Even in my 30's this still reigns true. Haunting Grounds is hands down one of my absolute favorite video games for everything you mentioned in this video. It's a game I'm always passionate about. Thank you so much for covering this masterpiece of a game!
I'm glad to see you doing ok. The other day I remembered really liking your videos and checked for anything new and only then I elarned about you feeling poorly. But I am glad you are well enough to be back for these amazing analytical essays on horror games.
Man, I've never seen a video with such level of detail put to both the script, the narrative and the editing. It's like a documentary but made with love and genuine interest. You got a new sub man. This is awesome!
I've had my copy of the game since around 2005 or 2006 when I was around 12 years old and I've loved the game ever since I first played it. I remember being proud that I got the in-game achievement for having the best relationship with Hewie while playing on hard-mode and having the black and tan/brown German Shepherd skin on Hewie that makes him more aggressive but less likely to listen/more likely to attack you. Haunting Ground inspired my love of horror games.
Like that the cutscenses tend to show the perspective of the stalker. The game is like hinting at something, maybe that the player is the ultimate stalker?
it's so cool to read some of the comments and see similar experiences! I got this game when it first released at 13 years old and is such a perfect example of female horror. As a young girl at the time I didn't fully understand WHY it scared me then as well as I do now, but i knew it left me terrified- especially the forced pregnancy bit and end screens. The dog mechanic, the panic meter, the killer AI- this game is such a treasure and a shame it wasn't given its credit when it first released but glad youtubers like you and other content creators are giving it the visibility it's due!
I always look forward to your videos- there’s so much time and effort put into them both visually and in terms of discussion, and I get to learn about horror content I’ve never heard of before! Keep up the great work!
I found it under seal last year and regretted not keep it closed but as a woman, this felt way too real to escape Debilita for the first time Missing the Clock Tower franchise anyways, horror games weren't just horrific in the moment but hauntingly terrifying
Yes so exciting!! I was hoping you would analyze this game. I love Haunting Ground so much, one of my faves. As a woman this game always spoke to me, it's like it has my worst fears in one game but amplified. I think the way she manages to escape, by outsmarting her stalkers and having a companion, and without any weapons, is kind of empowering in a way.
I can't believe you've never made a video on this game! It's so up your alley and totally in the realm of "horror game with a female protagonist from the 90s-2000" which I personally adore. All of these games are just making me wish my mum had kept the PS2 xD
I was lucky enough to walk into a store in 2012 and pick this one up for $35, a pittance compared to how much it goes for now I suppose. Personally, I feel like the game aspect of HG, the exploration and stalkers, fall apart in the back half but up through Daniella's boss encounter it's survival horror perfection. But I'd still absolutely recommend it for the thematic explorations and connections with vulnerability and empathy that it creates throughout. Put simply, no other horror game has made me NEVER want to be in the same room as your adversary like this one does. It does a masterful job of not only putting Fiona in these horrible situations but immersing the player in her plight to a near inseperable degree. I've beaten it twice and even now, the very thought of characters like Debilitas or Ricardo being within arms' reach of me makes my skin crawl. The game's just that good at drawing you into what it's doing. If you've got the means of playing it in 2022, go for it.
So glad you're finally covering this game. I've never personally played Haunting Ground, but I've watched several playthroughs/walkthroughs of it at this point, and it's by far one if my favorite survival horror games. I love that it's been getting so much more attention as of late.
This game was made during a time when game developers were truly the goat and the companies give them enough time to do their job instead of hurry up everything to a point where playable is debatible. I kinda want to download some old games just to enjoy this kind of master piece.
19:18 yeah you are definitely right. i watched black lagoon once, and the sound of the sword piercing thru that one unlucky girl trying to end her life accompanied by her gurgling almost made me puke on the spot
I LOVE this game. Every year I revisit and every year I still feel anxiety while playing. I wish Capcom would give it the attention that the fans so desperately want. We were lucky enough to buy the physical copy when it was $15.
Never have I been a fool. (Notwithstanding that special fundamental foolery of course) This review was both thoughtful, well paced, and beautiful. Masterfully edited and done with that secret ingredient that only true fandom can add to a dish. Love. Well to do. You've done, and the people in your life have made, a wonderful thing.
The monsters of the week intro is such a tease... I see footage from Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth in it... But as of yet, there hasn't been a video essay for it. 😪
Greatly enjoyed this analysis, thank you! I remember picking this up as a fairly cheap second hand purchase back in the day, and absolutely loving it. I remember being disappointed that it and Clock Tower 3 occupied something of a genre of their own (and in the UK, we couldn't even play Rule of Rose). The sexualisation aspect of her character is interesting because it's all largely imposed on her. She doesn't choose her clothing and has no interest in being a plaything or a mother. Her body is attractively designed but is also just the body she happens to have. This doesn't make her passive, since she's active clearly in both escaping and bonding with Hewie. For the player (especially guys like me), it does unsubtly ram home just how society imposes roles and expectations on women that they may or not go along with but are subjected to nonetheless.
Comment section made me realize how much Rule of Rose is appreciated now! I always loved the psychological horror genre because of trying to tackle really hard themes which helped me process a lot of my own situations. Back then when it came out in 2006-2007, I was saying this story is so good! but many would disagree. I am glad games such as these are given their due. And while the topics of the games are heavy for some, I'm thankful we are allowed to explore that space because to me psychological horror in it's core root is about understanding/developing empathy and sympathy to what makes us human. Our desires, fears, loves, hates, what gives us passion, and what makes us freeze
The most satisfying and nostalgic smell to me is a freshly opened game case, especially the manual inside lol. Is that weird? Please tell me Im not the only one lol. I specifically remember opening the ps2 games of Gta in the car ride home as a kid and not only loving the contents in the manual but that damn smell aswell. Great video sir.
@@LordRezo it’s okay bestie it’s not your fault you have no taste 🥺💕 (I kid I kid you’re probably chill as hell and you have the undeniable right to your opinion
You were playing Silent Hill 3 before you put Haunting Ground's disk in? Good man! I'll admit: I was one of those that thought 'oh look, another game with jiggle physics and the character is sexualised.' I was wrong, wholly, and fully admit it. This game deals with incredibly sensitive subjects very well, and Hewie's bond being crucial is a great addition, as Fiona is just a normal human being. She isn't strong, but she learns quickly, and grows with each encounter. Hewie is proof that even in the darkest of times, there is a light, there is hope, but only if you are able to grasp onto them, which, of course cannot be easy, especially with these themes.
In regards to Daniella's backstory and motivation: I prefer to think that she's one of the experiments like Debilitas, created by Riccardo. I can't say for certain what he was thinking when making Debilitas, but he might've been intended to be a clone that just didn't work for one reason or another. It's clear that clones need to be birthed, and not all babies are made equally, even without the introduction of Alchemy/supernatural elements, so... that's that. But Riccardo didn't use a woman for the experiments, he used machinery -- hence all the Homunculi strewn about the relevant part of the castle that houses the machines. It's easy to imagine Debilitas was in one of them but unlike all the other Homunculi, turned out sentient. It was a failure, but still progression of Riccardo's work. So then, he decided to use women, and in his ambition, decided he wouldn't simply use a woman, he'd create one (more on this in a bit). That's Daniella, but because she's a Homunculus -- an artificial human -- she's infertile and incapable of giving birth. Further than that, I always assumed she wasn't simply infertile, she was born without a womb altogether; in the one cutscene Fiona is asleep, she pats on Fiona's abdomen, presumably where the womb is. It makes sense to me that Daniella is fixated on the womb just like all the male characters are. They want to impregnate Fiona, and Daniella wants to be "complete." After all, how else is she going to be complete as a woman without being able to give birth? This is why I believe Riccardo created her and abuses her so violently, because he resents the fact she can't give birth, so he can't successfully clone himself, so he beats her up, and because she's been traumatized and because she has no emotions -- likely hinting at the fact that, not only does she not have a womb, she doesn't even have Azoth to begin with, which is essentially the soul -- she can only accept the fact that she is useless. So useless, in fact, that Debilitas doesn't even acknowledge her existence, not even as a doll. That does raise the question: why not use some other random woman? Why not experiment with women? Why resort to machinery and cloning until it all magically works? Why waste so much time and energy and resources with animals and botched Homunculi for who knows how long? Azoth is present in all living things, after all... so, in theory, it should've worked, but it didn't. And you don't just resort to machines when, by all logic, you should've just used a woman in the first place. Well, logically, Riccardo MUST HAVE used women at first, and that also didn't work. It's not just the Azoth at play, it's also genetics. Fiona is directly blood-related to Riccardo. Taking the clones thing out of this for a second, Riccardo and Ugo are effectively twin brothers. So Riccardo can't just impregnate anyone to clone himself, they HAVE to be blood-related, so he HAS to use Fiona. The fact that she has a "high concentration of Azoth" matters little. That does make her a great test subject for any ruthless Alchemist's goals, but the fact that she is Ugo's daughter is what makes her ideal. Simply cloning and creating a woman doesn't work, because Daniella was incomplete, because she's artificial, because she's infertile or has no womb. So that's why I don't believe Daniella was just some random woman that was kidnapped and brainwashed into servitude (as some people might think). It just doesn't line up with Riccardo's goals, the mechanics of Alchemy, and the themes of pregnancy, birth, rebirth, and immortality (the so-called "knowledge," which is the ultimate goal of Alchemy, which is to become a perfect all-knowing being). In addition to all this, consider all the other Homunculi that just either stand around muttering to themselves and don't do anything. Azoth is essentially the soul, and it's clear to me that they don't have it. They range from stationary, catatonic, or insane, or mentally-handicapped. Daniella may be sentient, but she's just as insane and unstable, but not so much that she can't act as a good servant. Debilitas works as a grounds keeper, too, so it's clear they can be competent. Just not, you know... good enough for Riccardo's goals.
Wonderful video! Thank you so much for making this video on Haunting Ground! I've always loved Haunting Ground and thought it was criminally underrated and few seemed to understand it nor wanted to. I'm glad you covered it even if it took you time to appreciate it - that just makes your video all the sweeter. You covered Haunting Ground very fairly and gave it credit where it's due while also addressing the sexual discomfort and sexism. Sexuality, sexism and sexual violence are very frightening, complex and confusing things for most people so it's easy for many to not like this game - but those themes work best in horror games and movies because they're uncomfortable and even when you think of sex without violence the connection between sex and pain, blood and death is easy to make in several ways. Psychologically, sexual violence and crimes has been studied to be an act of control as much as desire or arousal to the person it's being forced upon. And the stalkers in the game seem to enjoy controlling Fiona to some degree as well. Not saying that it's only about control and lack of freedom but it feels like it's part of what Fiona is being subjected to and the biggest indicator of that is how she can't leave the castle and she wakes up in a literal cage either like a wild animal or like a doll in a case when not in use or for mere display both valued but treated as nothing at the same time. Haunting Ground is one of my favorite games and I love it as much if not more than more recent popular games.
I remember the reviews about this game, focusing more on the sexual angle than the game’s technical or story elements, and unfairly providing poor scores. Even X-Play, who usually gave fair reviews were dismissive of the game if memory serves, which is a shame. By the way Ragnar, when are we gonna see that Arx Fatalis review, hmm? 😂
Great Video , and I particularly liked how you connected the themes of voyeurism and empathy to the disconnect between player and avatar. On the subject of whether the critical space has examined this game in light of its gothic and sexual themes, it actually has been in the academic space. For anyone interested, there is a book by Ewan Kirkland called, ""Videogames and the Gothic"" that examines this aspect of Haunting ground in relation to gothic literature, amongst other games. Its nice to see this reappraisal come to the youtube realm as well.
This was a great video! I do have one small point of critique, but it's nothing super major. It was just the point on Debilitas learning empathy towards Fiona. It doesn't really feel that way, just that his perception of her changed from her being a doll to play with to a holy being of worship. When he's defeated, he sees her with a halo of light, with her hands in almost a prayer position, and if I remember correctly he can later be found praying and will bow to Fiona then. On an unrelated note, I had the thought that while Fiona is sexualized and targeted for being a woman, Ricardo and Lorenzo want her for what she carries. Lorenzo specifically is spiteful towards her mother for stealing Ugo away, so it feels like she would have never been a point of interest if not for inheriting his Azoth. On the flip side, it also feels just as likely that Daniella and Debilitas would have had no interest if Fiona was a dude who carried Azoth. It was just an interesting thought. A final thought though: What does that say about Hewey? Some of you know what I'm talking about. P.S. No matter what, Hewey walked so Trico could soar.
Thank you for you doing that game unboxing section. I was flooded with memories of first opening MGS2: Substance for the PS2. It was 2012 or 2013 and it still puzzles me how I managed to find a single sealed copy in a local hypermarket. The console was almost dead, the game was more than a decade old, yet it was still quite pricey, around $60. It's still one of my favorite games ever. I would really like "what's in the box" to become a regular bit on your channel, if you can do it.
Playing this game as a woman is truly a unique and haunting experience; the constant feeling of being observed and scrutinized and objectified is so familiar and omnipresent that it makes Fiona's triumph a very personal and empathetic pursuit. It always draws to mind this quote from Margaret Atwood's The Robber Bride: “Male fantasies, male fantasies, is everything run by male fantasies? Up on a pedestal or down on your knees, it's all a male fantasy: that you're strong enough to take what they dish out, or else too weak to do anything about it. Even pretending you aren't catering to male fantasies is a male fantasy: pretending you're unseen, pretending you have a life of your own, that you can wash your feet and comb your hair unconscious of the ever-present watcher peering through the keyhole, peering through the keyhole in your own head, if nowhere else. You are a woman with a man inside watching a woman. You are your own voyeur.”
I do not understand why reviews did not see that the over-sexual nature was apart of the theme I feel like most people can sense that there is something more to it than sex for sex. My wife played this game for like an hour and when I brought it up she said that it is sexual but it is not to serve horney fans. I feel like many of those old reviewers would be the ones that say a game like dead space is to scary and that is bad or that dark soul is to hard and that is bad.
I found a used-like new copy of Rule of Rose at Comic con this year. I nearly sh*t my pants. It was a family-owned booth of retro games and vintage toys. The owner was super nice and cut me a steal of a deal. I started crying immediately. He gave me a hug and said that my reaction was exactly why he still ran the business, despite being in retirement. I don't think I'll ever be able to top that moment.
Wow, that's so amazing!! Such a sweet guy, damn.
So happy to hear these stories. A collector's dream.
CONGRATULATIONS! Dude I'm so happy for you! Make sure u enjoy it Oki! 😆😆😆😆😁😁😁😁😉😉😉😉🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🎊🎊🎊🎊🎉🎉🎉🎉
How much did you get it for if I may ask?
@@nordinreecendo512 He was initially asking 620$, but I paid 540$.
There's often jokes about how a game is bad if you can't pet the dog/animals, so a game whose ending is determined by how well you treated your dogo? I have no words for how fucking awesome that is
Reddit
blair witch had something like that also i think
So, no love for RE 4's dog? What's good bro?
@@HellRazor228 You only see the dog twice bruv
@@HellRazor228 that dog is reference of this game's dog
When Daniella serves you the soup, you notice the hair & it makes Fiona recoil. This implies that the soup, and the meat Debitalas was chopping at beginning of game, were the dead bodies of Fiona's parents.
dark
Thats a big reach but a cool theory
I thought it was confirmed that Ricardo is her dad? Or at least a relative
@@videogameman110 Ricardo and her father, Ugo, were both homunculi created by Lorenzo, as such, both are clones of Lorenzo and look identical. So, at most, I guess you could call Ricardo her "uncle."
I cried watching this video. Thank you for putting Fiona's experience so clearly from a man's point of view. As a woman, I am Fiona. You talked about empathy, certainly every woman has gone through all these sensations in her life; especially in adolescence, especially if you were a teenager with a developed body. The feeling of lack of control, of always being watched, of being seen just as a piece of meat, like a doll that serves only for pleasure and the pressure to play your "role as a woman".
I was SA and I felt firsthand what it's like to be in "panic mode". We women and girls often don't fight, we just remain unresponsive and try to escape or even pretend that it didn't happen. It is a pure feeling of incapacity and defenselessness.
There is no one to help or protect you.
It's a true horror experience It's a true horror experience.
We women (or people who have been SA) are Fiona.
And sorry for any typos (I used the translator)
Actually, Daniella is human (as mentioned by the game's director IIRC), but she had been abused by the ruler of Belli Castle. The years of torment she endured broke her, and she believed that she was not "complete", and not a real "woman".
She wasn’t human. She’s alluded to be a homonculous, similar to Ugo or Ricardo or the other humanoid figures hanging about the castle. Since she wasn’t truly human, she lacked certain human traits like emotion or the ability to bear children. That’s why she was after Fiona. She wanted to rip out her womb to take it for herself. It made the death “scene” at her hands extremely disturbing
@@NewJerseyRaver It still makes a lot of sense, and it is not confirmed that she's either a human or not. But, if Daniella is actually a human, then the fact that she developed traits such as lack of emotions, the erratic movement and the self-provoked thought of being unable to bear children can make sense if she was constantly abused in the past, and if she was, then probably the main reason why is because she was uncapable of bearing a child; her search for a womb might not only be because she wants the bowel to feel complete as a woman, but to have the ability to have a child of her own and, maybe, to stop the abuse she was receiving.
@@innstafr3547 She mentions in the dinner scene that her master created her to be the perfect woman but she lacks certain human traits, which can be interpreted in lots of different ways, but given all the clues we get about her like her erratic personality, indifference to pain and emotion, her movement etc., I think we’re supposed to deduce she wasn’t really a person. Granted, it’s all speculation and interpretation, but that’s what I got out of it
I have seen this passed around for years with no source. It's a rumour.
She's not human. One of the biggest themes in HG is the creation of false life and rebirth. Not only does it not make any sense for a castle full of creations to have one single real person, but it undermines the point of her character.
you can see the wood texture on her back. That's where I am confused now.
"A psycho-sexual horror masterpiece" I don't think I've ever heard such words put together before but I like it.
im sure someone has said that about blue velvet
That's technically also the theme of parasite eve
You haven't read many reviews of Cronenberg films =P
its a freud psychoanalysis term
@@penzorphallos3199bro there is no way that metaphor is in parasite eve
I played this when I was in my early teens and couldn't get through it. As a girl it really resonates with how scary the world can be for us, and it stuck with me for a long time.
Yes, I absolutely get this and you're definitely not alone in this.
@Acolyte of Dagon not the safest according to sexual crime statistics, and that’s why this particular game hit close to home for her.
Edit: also “by a large margin” is false. Men are slightly more likely to be victims of assault perpetrated by strangers, but women are drastically more likely to be domestic abuse victims. Either way, this isn’t the oppression olympics. If a girl says that a mostly gendered crime has an impact on her life, there’s no reason to flip it around on men.
@Acolyte of Dagon A massive point of the game itself was the ability to empathize. Glad you took nothing from this and failed to apply it to the real world…
@Acolyte of Dagon I’m not complaining about women being more oppressed than men, I’m simply stating that sexual violence is gendered and you can’t refute that. Physical assault is hardly addressed in the video essay at all, and you went the extra mile of bringing it up although it’s irrelevant. You are quite literally begging for sympathy and in turn invalidating a perspective that you’ve never even tried to empathize with. Also I’d love to see these statistics that imply physical violence is as gendered as sexual assault.
women are the most protected and privileged class in society, especially white women tf?
God this game is fantastic. This is my actual worst nightmare, being chased with no way to defend myself. The misogyny from Daniella, the objectification from Debilitas, and the sexualization from Lorenzo and Riccardo, it makes the horror so much more than just scary, it's real.
It's like Fiona was MADE to be sexually objectified. If I were one of the game villains, I'd hunt her down and do the most sexually debauched things to her, then I'd toss her aside once I've had my fun - only to repeat the cycle all over again and again, and again and again and again and again and again and again and again. The player would NEVER win, because she'd get caught the moment the game starts. Oh Fiona, why are you trying to escape?! You should find eternal happiness as my little sex toy😋
Exactly. I've only seen this via let's plays and always have nightmares afterwards. The horror is real.
Is envy born from being an incomplete copy of female biology, coveting a womb and reproductive system, misogyny? I don't know if I'd call it that.
@@Vulgarth1 I would say her hatred of Fiona for her basic abilities of being female would constitute misogyny, but I guess part of it is interpretation so if it's just envy then I would say no. Her reactions just seem more than just envy though
This feels horrific because it can easily become(and for many is) a reality for women.In fact I find these real horrors way worse than supernatural ones, exactly because they can and do happen in the real world, unfortunately more frequently than we think.
This game was my coping mechanism as a young teenager. And I feel like many girls played this to cope. I wanted to help Fiona so bad... I wanted her to get out of this nightmare. I still replay this game every few years. I truly love this game. Thank you for talking about it.
cringe
@@imsnowman3701 true
@@imsnowman3701why?
Nightmare? Free food, free house to live in, sex all the time? Seems like the life.
What? I though these antagonists not only "had sex" but killed the girl at every game over @@30ajgo
This is actually a very beautiful told story. I was so invested in learning about it, and it is true. I have been treated before like i was nothing but a piece of meat and assaulted in my own workplace long ago. It was always this weird feeling of terror. I remember my manager at the time who was a really fun guy, but my coworker was some 20 year old pervert who literally threatened to rape me and kill me when i was 16. He would play it off as joking and my manager just didnt know how to deal with it, he never saw it happen or heard it happen.
But it happened over and over. He would untie my apron, he would throw whip cream in my face and say it was a "facial" and he would CHASE me around the fucking store. The little tiny Arbys store on Yellowstone.
I reported him because he terrorized me. Nothing came from it. He was eventually fired but still messaged me and harassed me through there. He was only fired after he called a gay coworker a f*ggot.
I dont know why that was the line and not him chasing me with a broom telling me he was going to shove it so far up my ass i would bleed from my eyes, but now, as an adult woman, knowing all of the shit he put me through was incredibly wrong and i should have turned to the police when my job did nothing to protect me.
I never told my parents.
Sometimes i thought he was just flirting with me...
I dont know.
I had never acknowledged the fear he brought me until i grew up and i realized more and more what abuse was.
I was afraid but i never admitted it.
But i remember attempting to never be alone with him, trying to busy myself, shrugging his comments off and trying to remark back that he didnt phase me.
Its just insane. Even now, at my current workplace at walmart, sexual abuse in the store is not taken seriously. My coworker made a mistake of inviting these two boys from work to her home for dinner after they asked and asked, and to be blunt, i dont know the details, police were involved, and she stopped being herself. She withdrew and became quiet and eventually moved to another department.
But you fucking guessed it, they didnt get in any trouble at work. They stayed there until they were fired for a completely different reason that directly affected the company, not the employees.
Why do we disregard so many sexual abuse allegations in the workplace even if prove is present like in her case?
Ive never seen anyone know how to or take it seriously.
They might say "oh we will talk to him. We will talk to her. We will make sure they dont do it again and youll be fine."
What they actually mean is "its not my problem, he/she makes the workplace work, and if you have PRIVATE problems with him/her, then deal with it PRIVATELY for it has nothing to do with me."
Its bullshit. I know people can lie but there are cameras.
They could have seen him chasing me around the store. Throwing food in my face. I dont doubt if he ever spit in my food or drink when i wasnt looking.
Idk. No one did anything for me.
Jesus, your situation sounds awful. I hope you managed to land a job on somewhere safe that actually treats sexual abuse seriously.
You never needed anyone to help you, knowing now what you potentially avoided will resonate with others thru your story alone. Your legacy will sooth/teach others, never forget that
There really are men like that? Assuming its truthful.
@@jamalisujang2712 you got some fucking nerve. What possible benefit would it be if it were fabricated. Thanks. People like you are why we dont talk
@@hylianflower9681 I don't know how people lives are, and mostly a loner, and I would like to think I act cordial IRL without excessively offending anyone. I would like to know how interactions go when one party is excessively aggressive.
One of my favorite memories when it comes to unboxing games was having my parents buy me the game and I'd read the manual back to front the whole way home. They really helped get me excited for the game by building up the characters and lore.
Lol I still do that.
@@gsesquire3441 I don't really buy new games, some but imo this is an extremely poor time to be a gamer.
I'm more talking about ps2 era stuff..
I still remember the God of War 1 manual. HEAVENS, how much more *immersed* that thing made me feel in the game!
It wasn't just a gory hack 'n slash game to me, *it was a world of true Greek Mythology. Of legend. Of epic.* _(yeah, I later learned of the innaccuracies that GoW has to actual mythology, but that's beyond the point)_
I really wish well crafted manuals were still being made for modern games.
An extra spendure it may be, but they enganced the experience so much...!
I haven't played Haunting Ground, but I am absolutely obsessed with it. The aesthetic, the story, the characters... everything is so carefuly crafted in a truly horryfing nightmare. You have very eloquently expressed a lot of my thoughts about it.
Fiona has to be one of my favorite characters ever. She's just a girl having to navigate a threatening, exploitative world that she has no control of. It's very interesting how this game, just like Silent Hill 3, manages to capture the complicated mechanics of violence. Do we as victims play into it like Daniella or Debilitas, or as Fiona, do we choose to stay empathetic?
The most shocking part is that Fiona's story is not a complete fantasy. Yes, the setting, the alchemy, are. But the other things? Those core threats?
They are real. That's the most horryfing part.
I've seen a playthrough not something I'd personally . The stopping the puzzles just to run away could get annoying for me
A shame Fiona doesn't say much regarding that fantasy aspect one throwaway line I was expecting was like Alchemy man someone ripped these guys off
@@dakotamabry1645 yeah, that would be annoying
@@Doralga yes, definitely a wasted opportunity.
@@gsesquire3441 I sure do. But games can still be appreciated as narratives, so that's as far as I get now.
Haunting Ground and Silent Hill 3 are both games that tread similar thematic ground and were both similarly underappreciated upon their release. And they are both undergoing a bit for a renaissance right now, in large part because of how far ahead of their time they were. To put it bluntly, game's criticism is only just now reaching a point where it is able to take stories about women, and more pointedly stories about being women, seriously.
To borrow from a comment I saw on the internet a while ago: "...for most women, for most teen girls, the world is a violent and frightening place. That is, their greatest fears and their lived realities can be indistinguishable. James [Silent Hill 2] is afraid of himself, his internal world. Heather is afraid of the subway and the mall."
It truly is horrific, as you said, that these games have only become MORE relevant as time has gone on, and not less.
i just wrote a similar comment and just saw yours here! i agree a lot. silent hill 3 really is part of the same discussion, im glad more people see the depth in these games and how well they play with real world fears that women have.
It sucks cuz stories like these are berated as misogynistic. Meanwhile they're the most understanding of the "divine feminine"!
People just aren't intelligent enough to grasp the concepts.
wtf are you rambling about. I swear, sh*t happens to men *not important keep on moving* things happen to women *oh my lord the world is going up in flames we must protect the ladies*
Seriously what is the obsession with putting men on the back burner and pretending like they don't also suffer and have their own violent issues to face. Also you going to downplay Jame's experience to make it seem as if Heather has it worse lmao.
and please explain what you mean it has become more relevant ? Lets not sit here and act like in the west most women don't have more rights / power than men while we are treated like 2nd class citizens.
@@CoreisusIt also might be a case of confusing the addition of a bad thing with condoning the bad thing.
Ex. I’ve seen people claim that Fiona’s “official” outfit is just the devs being horny. And while I’m not going to say that it wasn’t a thought during development (since I wasn’t there), the argument completely misses that Fiona was given those clothes, with her only other alternatives being a bed sheet or nudity. It mistakes an in-universe character objectifying her (something that the game pushes against by virtue of your goal being “survive and get out of this creepy place”) into the creators objectifying her.
I immediately turned it off upon encountering Debilitas. I entered panic mode before Fiona did. There was something about that doll-obssessed dimwitted giant that chilled me to the bones, and I couldn't bear to play further. Now I know why, thanks man!
He reminds me of that mentally disabled guy in an indian horror film, bulbbul who uh...assaults the protagonist. He was also obsessed with dolls.
My sister played this game a lot, she was a speedrunner. She nicknamed him 'Debby', it actually wasn't until recently I learned thats not actually his name lmao
It’s not even a scary game.
I know it was intended to be frightening, but Ricardo shouting "Let Me Into Your Womb" has got to be one of the most unintentionally funny lines in gaming. 😅
I loved this game. The deaths I endured had horrifying sounds. She was a weak girl, she only had one ally against hard bad guys no real weapons, kind of like Fatal Frame little women with a camera against freaky ghosts, and that's what made them my favorite survival horrors!
I’m not a gamer (fighting games are literally the only games I don’t completely suck at 😂) but as a horror-fan I know what you mean. While being chased by zombies, vampires, killer-ghosts etc aren’t exactly realistic every-day scenarios there are elements that makes them feel more or less “real” and/or relatable to us. To me being some kind of super-soldier who runs around with super-weapons and at times even defeats monster with their bare hands is just as far from my world as I could possibly imagine. However, facing unknown threats that you’re completely unprepared for I believe is a fear every single person can relate to (though in real life those threats aren’t supernatural beings). Fiona, and I’m assuming the women in Fatal Frame are in very real danger with very little resources at hand and that is no short of terrifying.
Yeah those guys sure were "hard"
Haunting Ground was the first horror game to genuinely horrify me. That cutscene with Debilitas looking at Fiona, then the doll in his hand, then back at Fiona, and throwing the doll away told me everything I needed to know about his intentions. Running helpless and learning about the panic mechanic the hard way were already scarier than the standard threat of death video games throw at the player, but the part* that made me not touch the game again for about two weeks was hearing the sounds of Debilitas raping Fiona's corpse.
The Game Over screens in Resident Evil games where zombies chew your character's lifeless body didn't come anywhere _near_ the sense of violation and disgust that dying in Haunting Ground gave me, and when I finally continued, the fear of that happening again gave me an idea of the fear some women may be dealing with on a daily basis.
Being caught by the rest of the stalkers isn't much better.
*Granted, it also had to do with an overlap between my only wanting to play horror games at night for maximum effect and it actually being dark out when the urge to play came. But still!
Wait what? Debilitas doesn't do that when he catches her, it's much more likely that he's tearing her body apart. Since he believes Fiona is a doll to play with and has the brain of a small child, I find it very unlikely that he's raping her.
@@jester2077 Sorry, this turned out to be a text wall, skip to the last paragraph if you just want the short version.
You could be right, but in addition to his animal grunting, the sounds I heard when dying to Debilitas are, in order, the shuffling of cloth (same sounds as articles of clothing being put on or taken off, but not ripped away), rapid breathing, and what is likely tearing flesh, which I interpreted being him, the size of a gorilla, helping himself to Fiona's less-than-sturdy frame.
It's possible that he pulled her clothes off and immediately started pulling her bones out or something, maybe tearing off her skin and preparing her body to be properly butchered in the basement, but a few other details stick out to me.
When chasing Fiona, Debilitas sometimes rubs his crotch, calls her "my dolly," (his old doll being noted to be filthy when picked up and examined, but not missing pieces if I remember right), comments that she "smells nice" (which admittedly could be in a "dinner smells great" kind of way), and the way he excitedly giggles and dances in place if given the chance to reach out and touch her are all consistent with the general theme of the game, the stalkers all seeing her as a piece of desirable meat.
Still, maybe Debilitas sees her as meat in the edible sense?
He has a child's brain, yes, but from what I gather, little boys are every bit as capable of harassing girls as the older ones are, and if he's spent any time with Riccardo or Lorenzo, it wouldn't surprise me where he got his ideas about women. Debilitas's child-brain doesn't mean he's innocent and doesn't get sexual urges, it means he deals with the chemistry of his adult body in a childish way.
Again, you could be right, he could just be ripping her to pieces, and I heard that the "official" explanation is that he's just "playing" with her body, beating her to death because he doesn't know his own strength, apparently not realizing that anything is amiss when she stops moving and starts bleeding. I conclude that he's raping her corpse because when putting all the pieces together, it seems to be the most likely explanation.
My heart sank the first time i heard the Debilitas death scene thinking he raped her, however the wiki says he's actually using her body as a ragdoll and ends up tearing her apart because of his brute force, and it kinda made me fell better about it.
Still, im guessing the devs knew the sounds could be perceived that way, since Debilitas has that hump attack and he touches his crotch sometimes when chasing Fiona
Ricardo actually rapes her, so yeah that sucks, but at least it made me feel like Debilitas is actually not that bad, he even becomes aware he shouldn't do what he was doing when Fiona spares him.
@@fuckitweball77Actually, Debilitas stops chasing Fiona because, during the cutscene where he survives the chandelier falling on him, he mistankenkly sees Fiona as some kind of saintly figure, like Virgin Mary or something.
The position he is at, lying down on the ground while Fiona is standing tall.
The angle from below when he watches her.
The first thing he sees when he comes to, a statue of Virgin Mary or at least a similar looking statue, *right before he sees Fiona.*
And then Fiona herself, who is grasping her hands as if in prayer. She is only concerned and nervous as usual, but from Debilitas' perspective at that moment, she looks like she's praying.
That's why he behaves the way he does after getting out of the chandelier.
Bowing on all fours as if begging forgiveness.
Falling on his knees with praying hands, as if begging forgiveness once again.
And finally, a respectful bow as Fiona is leaving the castle, as if he was adressing a lord or a lady.
Debilitas' mind just switched perceiving Fiona as "his dolly" to perceiving her as a holy saint. One he clearly respects and fears. _(good to know he's a good Christian! ... _*_kinda...)_* 😅
@@Twitchy_McExorcism there are regional differences to playing the game from what i heard. If im not mistaken the eu/jp versions have everything onscreen unlike the us version where they blacked out some stuff. Pretty common for us releases apparently when it comes to anything besides violence. The us version of resident evil 4 removed all the jiggle physics present in the jp release.
The original game is called demento in japan.
31:50 Personally, while I feel the NG+ outfits are mainly there for fun extras, they still fit into the themes of sexualization that are present throughout the game, focusing on the interplay of sexuality and power.
Fiona's standard and Under the Scapel outfits are delicate and calculated in their sexuality, matching Fiona's vulnerability in the main game. In contrast, the dominatrix and Texas Cowgirl outfits are overt and bold in their sexualization. However, the concepts of these outfits are ones of power and control, the dominatrix obviously being sexually controlling and forceful, while the cowgirl is wild and free. These concepts are a far cry from the fragile princess and patient concepts of the primary two outfits and reflect Fiona's greater control over the situation in NG+, being able to throw her sexuality back at her stalkers. Fiona took control back from them in endings A and B, gaining outfits to display this freedom. This power is also reflected in their gameplay benefits, both offering an additional means to attack the stalkers, giving Fiona a better chance at directly fending off her pursuers.
This use of sexualization can also be applied to the joke costume of the game, with the Fiona the Frog costume completely covering her and being based on an animal often associated with ugliness (think "The Princess and the Frog" fairytale). As this is the least sexualized outfit, Fiona gains evasive powers in-game, being able to infinitely backstep without losing stamina, directly contrasting the offensive-based benefits of the more sexualized costumes. This even matches with the ending to unlock it. Ending C has Fiona escape early and doesn't confront the stalkers behind her capture, running away instead of asserting her will and triumphing over them.
While these were most likely done for some light-hearted fun with the sexual themes the game plays around with (I think the dominatrix outfit is rather funny when imagining demure and meek Fiona trying to act the part), I still think they had some thought put behind their inclusion. They reflect the ending the player got, gaining costumes that show how Fiona has obtained control over her sexuality and how she displays it, either flaunting or restricting it depending on how she deals with the stalkers. They're extras meant to de-escalate the sexual horror present in the main game, gaining over-the-top costumes that make Fiona less vulnerable conceptually and practically while still fitting into the sexual nature of the game's themes and design.
No, made by pervs it's a game
“They’re extras meant to de-escalate the sexual horror present in the game…”
I really like that, it makes sense. Thank you for putting it into words.
dude you get it! Actual genius over here
ANNNND then there is the frog outfit that throws that all out of the window xDDD
Excuse you, frogs are associated with coolness as they are really cool. Idk why, but they are. Thank you and good night!
Imagine seeing a character in a horror game naked,injured,scared,at their absolute weakest, and focusing on the nudity in a sexual context rather than the obviously intended context;i.e. powerlessness as a core concept of horror,especially survival horror. Like I understand violence and nudity are in a special category wrt women and that is definitely something that shouldn't be overlooked but it's pretty obvious what the point of that is here. Also interesting that the implication is that she's next to be butchered but as western culture often does the violence takes a back seat to sex because the culture is far more approving of violence than sex. Like she's been stripped naked and she's due to be cut into pieces and people are like HOLD ON SHE NEKKID??!?
you forget the sexualization of violence against women is s thing so i can totally see how someone well-meaning may interpret it differently. or how even if they understand the intent did not think it was done well
@@tensugarcubes >like I understand that violence and nudity are in a special category wrt women and that is definitely something that shouldn't be overlooked
And the thing is,it is overlooked. As I said, our culture is so much more horrified by nudity and anything even tangential to sex than it is by violence that the violence of the situation is glossed over and sexualized violence is seen as just sexualization as a result of this. People are literally looking at a scene involving a naked woman who the scene is suggesting is going to be chopped up shortly and at the violence being implied they're like eh,violence 🤷♂️ but did she REALLY have to be naked tho
My brother in christ it's a story,she didn't have to be literally any of this. This is an entirely arbitrary fiction in which both the violence and the nudity are being used mostly to tell a story,if not exactly entirely. The boob physics are really completely unnecessary tbh. And personally if someone had me naked in a cage and I thought for a second they were planning to kill me,which I well might think in such a situation, I could give half a shit about nudity at that point unlike the detached audience. My thinking is that people are so accepting of violence that nudity is all they really care about and that's something that really ought to be addressed too. But also because they're so preoccupied with the nudity and sexualization they're seeing (doing,actually. The scene isn't sexualizing any of this at all,the audience is) that they fail to do the thing that they're supposed to be doing as the audience of the story,and that is empathizing with the characters. If you were her and not a detached member of the audience,would you be so focused on nudity?
Is it maybe because I'm a man that the threat of being violenced into pieces would seem the more immediate concern, certainly. And is it because we're so desensitized to violence that we're focusing on nudity in a largely sexual decontextualization of the scene rather than contextualizing the nudity within an ultimately very violent situation?
@@tgcid2018 You're absolutely right, fantastic points.
@@tgcid2018 I agree for the nudity. That didn't bother me because of context. But the boob physics seem to much. To me it isn't just satirical, it seems to play into the very exploitation they decry.
Being depowered into wearing overly sexualized outfits is one thing. To me, over sexualizing the character for the player's gaze, is another.
Not sure if I make any sense at all. Sorry.
@@seatrisa2977 no I totally agree. I think you could make an argument for the outfit itself being part of the narrative but even that's a bit of a stretch in my opinion. But the jiggle physics are really indefensible in my opinion. I really cannot see any reason for it;if the overall story were less aware you could say they were being myopic here but while we all have our blind spots the work overall doesn't tend towards narrative myopia. They were pretty keen eyed through all this other stuff but now their vision is blurry and the result just happens to be gainax boob? Riiiiight 🙄
That last scene where Fiona is pregnant and with a smiling expression on her face looks just like the ending scene of "Rosemary`s Baby". Pretty sure it served as inspiration not only because both scenes are so similar (practically identical) but because of the thematical correlations between both mediums.
Wow. I really dug your gender-informed analysis of the game. Its ironic that critics all dismissed it as sexually-gratuitous trash when there are so many worse offenders that get a pass
Yeah, it's ironic and infuriating to see things like David Cage projects get passes again and again despite how he continues making some of the worst female characters, and exposing how out of touch he is with women on the whole.
@@blueray222 like? i do not know much him tbh didnt he work on like heavy rain?
@@drricemice2046 That's right. Also Detroit: Become Human and Indigo Prophecy among others. As someone who's followed his work for a long time, his writing habits really haven't changed much in certain aspects, especially where his female characters are concerned...as well as his inability to make a good twist
@@blueray222 damn yeah I own all these games and never really pay attention guess I gotta take a trip down memory lane. I played IP and heavy rain when I was young so it's gonna be interesting to see what's up because i did recently play Detroit and nothing crazy stood out but now that you mention I do get a vibe
@@blueray222 if i may chime with an appeal to empathy as per the topic at hand. Writing is art form much like painting no? suffice to say to that end that I agree with fact that a writer can be out of touch. Art on the other hand benefits from being judged separately from the artist as you hinted at in your following of Mr. cages work. I wonder why we give male artist such hard time with renditions of likely foreign concepts within there own gender rather than celebrate the things they achieved in the artform within their given lens/ scope. I only pose this question cause I like intellectual charged conversation with people familiar with work I'm less familiar with. if you get some time just shoot me your thoughts on artist accomplishment within the male gaze vs the: artist integrity, artistic vision, general disdain for using something in art you or I would say the artist does not or could not understand or fully grasp (i.e gendered subjects pertaining to women in the case of Mr. cage for example) its a fun thing to explore in this varied of a comment section on video about haunting ground.
This is a very basic take on the aspect of player connection to Fiona, but even just the camera plays a part.
For much of the game, you're put in fixed camera angles that can often greatly distance itself from Fiona, mainly in large rooms or outside. This adds to that theme of voyeurism in that the player is a distant observer rather than being closely connected to Fiona.
And yet, the main times in which the camera not only closes into Fiona, but outright gives you a first-person perspective from her view, is when she's hiding. In the most tense moments of the game, that is when the game directly puts you in Fiona's place to feel what she is feeling. When you're most empathetic to her.
Again, not exactly some revolutionary analysis but just something that I thought of while watching this video.
I thought your analysis was great!
this isnt basic at all! I took a couple art and symbol courses in university and while covering video games theres a huge link between camera views and sexualisation in gaming, especiallyearly games. Think of tomb raider, since its the most popular example, and how we always watch the sexy girl in booty shorts run around doing stunts or dieing, versus DOOM where youre in DOOM guys POV. The placing of teh camera when youre hiding in this game is such a cool catch and so true!
Honestly I think it’s just a coincidence and not actually that deep, fixed camera angles were the norm for old ps1-ps2 games and became a staple for survival horror as it could be used to hide environmental surprises and scares, and there is also the fact that a fixed camera angle during hiding reduces tensions significantly as the player is given too much information that way. But yeah you could attribute that to it but I highly doubt it was some artistic intention deliberately done. You would be surprised how often mistakes or arbitrary decisions result in stuff like this in Game development.
@@AmeliaMastervally honestly you are reading way into this, it’s not that deep chief.
@@VainSick damn bro better tell my fucking professor and literally every researcher who's tudied into this that they're reading way too into it because Vain Sick says it's not that deep bro
The worst outcome is unwanted pregnacy... this game aged incredibly well. Scary.
A girl stuck with a bunch of old men who want to use her for her womb, imagine.
You forgot +incest on that!
Right?!?! All the themes unfortunately aged well
Ah yes, incest, unwanted pregnancy, rape, and being imprisoned for the rest of your life, clearly not that bad an outcome!
Aged well? this has been a problem since the dawn of man, and likely always will be unless biological females get replaced by technology. Of course having such an important role in humanity comes with its unfortunate vulnerabilities.
Imagine how all these spawned from the RE IP as scrapped ideas? That was CAPCOM creativity at it's peak.
so this might seem a bit silly? but the boobs aren't that unrealistic in the end. Mine are around about the same size and if you have a non supportive bra or wear a tight shirt and no bra that's pretty much what happens. The stopping from moving fast is overdone but the running really isn't ha.
Exactly!! Thank you finally someone with reason
give us some proof then, liar. preferably in a video, i might add.
boobology
Yeah I agree
Honestly it just makes me wince every time I see her run, I know it's a video game character but imagining running that much with them that loose sounds so painful 😢
Back high school, my best friend and I played and finished this game over a weekend. We alternated playing across sessions. When it was my turn to play she was at the computer, cross-checking the GameFAQs guide whenever I got stuck, and the reverse for when it was her turn. This was in the very early days of YT, so we were years away from no-commentary let’s plays, GameFAQs was all we had. It’s always been a really special memory of mine. In our thirties, we’re still friends to this day. It wasn’t our only sleepover adventure, but it’s the one I remember fondly. Though we were both into games already, the idea of a horror game starring a young woman as a player character about a was too novel for us to pass up. My friend still had things to say about Fiona’s timidness and helplessness though, lol. Her absolute adoration of dogs and Hewie really pulled her through. We were such NLOGs back then hahaha.
She ended up selling most of her games off just before university, not knowing the value she was sitting on until years and years later. Ironically enough, the same thing happened to me with Rule of Rose, The first 4 Silent Hill games and Clock Tower 3 (though I didn’t sell them myself, my mom did after I left for the military). I’m still super salty about that…
Anyway, fantastic video. I’ll never get enough of hearing about this game (or my other favorite, Eternal Darkness). It really was a fantastic little era in video game horror.
Such a cute memory from years ago. It warms my heart hearing how video games can leave lasting memories in people.
Dude I feel ya with your mom and your games...
My 1st addition Pokemon cards all 150 gen 1, not just one set but 15. All sold for $5 at a garage sale.. just one set is worth $150k.
This and Rule of Rose are my all-time horror favorites. Masterpieces of the horror that lingers well after you finish the game. Absolute gems. Thanks for giving them some of the attention and love they have sorely needed for years!
Second this^^^ May I suggest fatal frame to the list . :))))))))!!
Rule of Rose easily has one of the best story and storytelling for me. The gameplay is, of course, not good. But dang I was blown away by the story. It's so beautifully told and way darker than it seemed. It is poetically deep and dark 😭😳🔥
I find it interesting that you, as a male player, felt condemned as a player voyeur right out the gate. But I, as a female player, felt the way in which we were viewing Fiona was making me feel uncomfortably 'with' her. I wasn't a voyeur of her, I was her. And it was that binding of myself with her that made the themes so extra horrifying for me instead of titillating. The all too familiar sensations of helplessness and awareness of my own bodies uncontrollable movements and the way men view it like I'm doing it on purpose to entice them. That so many people view that as fanservice, something happening on purpose (in a game it is on purpose because someone programmed that, but if we pretend she's a real person, she'd have jiggling and swaying going on too) instead of something a woman in a horror situation would be fearful of and find distressing to have out of her control since it's that outfit or the sheet.
I think a part of Daniella that is often missed is that she is a critique on patriarchy. Her desire to take what Fiona has is not because she personally hates Fiona or desires to hurt Fiona. It's because she has been told she is less than and that if she were only more like Fiona she wouldn't be so less than. She was trained to feel inferior and that made her want to pass on the cycle, and better herself in the process, in the eyes of the man who was putting her down. I really don't think it's a cycle flipped on its head as much as you think because the viciousness of women against other women is common and I think all of us women have experienced it to some degree in our lives (often especially from older women who are just sort of passing on the misery that men have heaped on them for the 'sin' of getting older). And in the bad end, where Hewie doesn't protect you, I think it's very intentional that Fiona's mad laughter sounds the same as Daniella's mad laughter. Because Fiona has now served her purpose for the only man whose judgement matters in this world and will soon be of no use to him anymore, just like Daniella. Fiona is going to evolve to be another Daniella. Maddeningly wandering the halls looking for another young girl to take her anger out on.
It was super interesting to hear a male player's thoughts on the themes in this game.
Petition for Ragnar to pin this comment because is essentially all the game wanted to say :'D
I'm convinced Fiona was manipulated like Daniella in the bad ending, and the laugh is proof of that. She's now like her, obedient and unable to even grasp her situation.
Now I wonder if the game had some women in the development process, putting their own experiences and thoughts on the matter. If that wasn't the case, then the men behind it had really great levels of empathy, to make this game hit so close to home in how is women have to deal with this in our lives.
Man I was with you until the old lady hating young girls because man was mean to her bit.
Even in a video game, women just can’t be accountable for their own shitty behavior. When you say stuff like that, you are implying that women are sacred beings that would do no harm unless a man in involved. Take women seriously. Take women as the danger they can be. They are not angels. They are just as human as men are.
@@co7769 100% on this thread, I was like, what you want to excuse all the bad guys because they were treated like shit by women? It's probably true to an extent, but passing the buck just condones people who decide on acting shitty.
But also, I don't think the OG take is out of line with the original intent, so it's whatever.
@Co While I see your point, the fact that this kind of hate between women happens exactly because of men is painfully true, and is not something we can erase just to make one gender feel better.
Is not that women are innocent victims all the time, but older women were raised in a patriarchal system, they learned and acted the way society forced on them, therefore now that things have changed, they can't process it, and blame the newer generations based on their standards. Is not a surprise that many older women are not feminists. At this point is their own choice and not some manipulation tactic in a sweet innocent being.
Ask any grandma how she feels about younger girls not getting married at their same age, or about divorce, for example. They didn't get the chance to choose their own lives, so is obvious they can get bitter and jealous of the young people and the freedom they never had.
Source btw: My own grandma, she does all the above and more, with everyone who chose a different route than her in life. She very openly criticize one of my cousins for being a single mom, always has preferred male grandkids, while ignored the girls. Her husband was a monster, and she still can't decide to hate him or miss him everyday, since he was her only partner in life.
She could try to learn and understand now things are better and be happy for her family, but she decided to keep being mad and bitter instead. She's not a victim anymore.
@@IrvineTheHunter it is whatever huh? I could be right or wrong. OP could be right or wrong. Who cares really? It is fun to discuss it though.
Also I will never NEVER get over people saying that jiggle physics are unrealistic like?? Is everybody who makes these reviews flat as a board?
I have a relatively endowed chest and even with a sports bra and a tight tanktop, they are going to jiggle. Its literal balls of fat, of course they are. Better yet, Fiona is clearly wearing nothing underneath the blouse as you can see from the low cut back so yeah the jiggle physics are actually pretty tame compared to what they realistically should be.
Right? Like, I only have B cups, but they still jiggle without a bra and it HURTS. The jiggle physics in the game didn't feel that excessive to me, tbh. I thought it looked pretty tame and it was clear she wasn't wearin a bra. Must've been painful. I just felt bad for Fiona the entire time.
It's why this game always hit hard for me. I found it one of the few games I always found terrifying, while i feel immune to most horror. I had blocked out my memories of sexual abuse, and I felt like this game truly triggered part of it, and just the parts that are scary of being a woman. I truly considered it a masterpiece, the first time I experienced it till now. It feels like a bad nightmare but in the most best way. It felt like a great simulation of my fears and experiences as being a woman.
Parts that are scary for anyone because it can happen to anyone
You're a woman? I couldn't tell by the way you made the whole game about you...
@@illseeyaonthedarksideofthemoon How about you shut up maybe
I'm sorry that happened to you. And I'm sorry that men hate us so much they rape us and freak the fuck out when we try to talk about it.
I know how hard it is for most people to talk about their experiences with sexual violence and abuse of any kind, so I really wanna praise you and thank you for even only mentioning it here without any added details 👍
And yeah, even I considered this game a masterpiece from the first time I played it, when I was not even 10 and long before I was ever aware that I'm a trans girl or that every single women experience some kind of violence, even moral, at the hands of men throughout their lives. Even then, this game's themes and plot resonated with me, when I didn't understand that I had also already been a victim of the toxic patriarchal system we're forced to live in. So even without going into a deep analysis of it, I think it's easy for us and for anyone who related to Fiona to say that this game did in fact have something to say about stuff Cx
I always thought it was really interesting how the villains reflected Fiona's femininity and womanhood, and Daniella's bitter jealousy over Fiona's ability to feel and reproduce stuck with me to this day. I forgot much about the gameplay though. This video reminded me how much the devs injected storytelling + realism even when you're playing as Fiona. The fact that Fiona gets tired or panicked when running, hiding in the same spot will eventually get her caught, and how she interacts with Huey actually makes a significant impact to the game, really keeps the player on their toes as everything they do matter. I always chuckled at how video game characters can run forever and never get tired or how predictable villains can be if you were to just hide in a closet... so Haunting Ground was such a refreshing change. Fiona's jiggle physics always cracked me up and I still think it was overdone but I do appreciate your analysis of it.
This was an excellent video and I thoroughly enjoyed it!
This game has always made me feel so sick. I used to see it around at one point in garage sales and later tried to watch others playing it.. but I just couldn't handle it for myself. Just watching anyone play it or reading about it still freaks me out. .. but it's been a strange coincidence in my family where some of us were in some way seen as 'just a slab of meat' in different ways and it's just feels far too personal to give a chance to play for myself. What they did with this game is nothing short of amazing in how they got these feelings across and it be in some way feeling something similar in life.
2 weeks ago I was having a conversación with my mom about how sometimes women objectify men. She asked if I've ever been, I said "yeah, remember that neighbor so and so?" She answered that couldn't be since I was like 11. That night I started to remember a lot of things that happened to me, done by older women. I haven't mention this new memories to my mom cause she is going to think I am gay because of my initial sexual interaction with females, which is not the case.
What is true is that it's always hard for me to get close to someone cause I fear ulterior motives. On the other hard, I'm so comfortable in video arcades and saunas/dark rooms because I know what we are all looking for in there. At my age though, 40, I feel like I should start looking for a partner, but this anxiety and fear to closeness is messing me up.
Idk if I actually have some kind of trauma, but for those who are already getting help congratulations and my best wishes.
Jesus, I'm so sorry you had to go through that. People have to understand that female predators are a thing
@@MrB10N1CLE love that y'all only ever bring this shit up when we're talking about women's issues
I'm so sorry what you went through man. As a woman myself, I think male SA victims need to be just as acknowledged and be empathize just as female SA victims. Sexual assaults and abuse isn't a gendered thing. I hope you get the help you need and thay you are healing right now. I hope you have friends and family who can understand amd help you
27:02 That silk fabric texture and phsyics was AMAZING for the time
That's a prerendered cinematic little bro. Shout out to your 45 genius upvoters who just click thumbs up on any positive comment like it's reddit. Let's all spread the gleeful stupidity.
36:47 Daniella is actually human. The creators reveal that she was tortured by Ricardo and Lorenzo until she started to believe she was actually a homonculus
YO RAGNAROX POPPING OUT THE HOOD CLASSIC!? What next, Illbleed? You spoil me.
NitroRad just dropped a great Illbleed video! He's great too!
I would love an Illbleed video 😍
OMG ILLBLEED WAS SUCH A GREAT GAME!! ❤❤
Please not illbleed. 😂
@@VCV95 might have to watch that.
The reason why you can upscale the resolution of a PS2 game and it still looks good has to do with the fact that the graphical technology used by the developers was on a much higher scale than what was available in the actual console itself so the images are actually down scaled for performance reasons in resolution which is why you can upscale their resolution later
That's gibberish and doesn't mean anything. The games look good when upscaled because their art direction is sound and their art was made by expert corporate Japanese game industry employees.
Rule of Rose has that section in the background for notes as well and honestly I miss having manuals because you get little bits of art and lore like that it's so great.
I remember getting my mom to buy this for me when I was like 12, it took a lot of convincing, she forced me to let her watch a bit of gameplay, and after the opening she was like "you're not playing this"... she hid the game away, I would steal the game on weekends and play late at night, It scared me to death but I loved it so much
Drakengard 3 is the best game ever made.
I have severe anxiety, and playing horror games is impossible for me. However, this channel fell into my lap in 2020, and I found myself falling in love with the genre. And while I cannot play these games myself, I deeply respect everything that goes into creating true magic.
TLDR; thanks for showing me the beauty to be found within the world of horror
What are you going to do when something actually serious happens? You tell yourself you can't do things. It's video games
@1lapmagic As if I haven't had several serious and terrible things happen in my own life... I choose not to put myself into situations that cause anxiety -the way a good horror game should. I prefer to play games that are calm and fun, to escape. Nothing wrong with that. There are different kinds of games made because there are different kinds of gamers. But just because I don't like putting myself through the adrenaline of a good horror game doesn't mean I can't appreciate the artistry. I love a good story, and I don't think there's anything wrong with that. But it's ok to have different opinions. :)
Thrilled that you include guides on emulating these games. Really hoping to find some time to practice modding these games (probably just remastering style stuff) but idk, it's great to see such a large community is out there who really cares about keeping these old gems alive.
Feeling a bit sentimental, but keep it up Ragnar and all my fellow archivists and fans out there. Especially around the holidays it warms my heart to see you all here.
This game makes me think about the everything-nothing discussions that i think are so important now. You don’t have to look far in the comments to find women who find the story of HG cathartic and empowering in its direct facing of sexual horror. But you also don’t have to go far to find people for whom it hits too, too close to home or just too real, creating discomfort or even harmful triggers rather than catharsis. Both of these reactions can be entirely valid. Few stories, particularly ones this grim and violent, are for everyone, and neither reaction should invalidate the other. I’m glad people who have meaningful experiences with this game despite its initial poor reviews are now helping it have a second life by re-analyzing it and giving new players context for what they will encounter and if it is an experience they want.
That being said, this video has really solidified my wish to play, or at least watch, this game. I’m usually pretty skittish around horror, but i really want to give HG a try. Another great video, Ragnar! Thank you!
I finally got a copy of this game. I was fortunate to find a cheap copy. By cheap, I mean it cost me $300 and not $700. 😂 Anyway, I absolutely love this game. It's such an underrated survivor horror. The villains are interesting, especially Daniella. Then the whole Fiona/Hewie gameplay is unique and fun (plus who doesn't love an animal companion). I also feel that some fail to understand the reason behind Fiona's sexualization. She is sexualized because this is all the villains see her as. Debilitas views her as a doll, Daniella wants her womanhood, and Riccardo wants her to give birth to another him.
I found a mint condition of rule of rose for 500 I almost cried when I couldn't afford it
@@dakotamabry1645 I bought one for $90 a few years ago at a used game store. I don't think they understood what they had.
I bought a copy for 20 Australian dollars still sealed on eBay a few years back. Still don’t know how that happened, it’s a legit copy and everything.
Dude, I'm sorry but doll =|= sexualization
Are you guys in PAL or ntsc regions? Bought mine for 20 euros few years ago which was the standard at the time. Gone up a bit since then, but used copies with box booklet etc are still less than 100 for a UK copy where I live. Ntsc on the other hand was already insanely expensive and I really don’t get why.
Got kuon for 17 bucks and fatal frame 3 for 30, which again was pretty common a few years ago on the PAL used game market. Rule of Rose is the only game I have never seen under 250 minimum.
I wish there was a way to get official physical copies pressed on demand as is done for many tv shows these days. You probably wouldn’t get the booklet but still
Remember those old days, when you drove home with your newly bought game, sitting in the bus or car next to your parent driving, opening the case, reading the manual and getting in the mood, hyped to play your new escape from reality. Slowly absorbing the lines printed in this piece of art, learning first things about the world and maybe some lore or backstory actually never mentioned in the game itself. So amazing I was there to consume games like this, not getting spoiled by too many trailers since there were mostly none available or your internet connection was too slow to handle it anyway. The only thing getting you hyped for a new release were magazines, their preview, review and recommendations by friends. What a time to be alive, gaming felt really better back then. Maybe because it was more art than business?
Man, do I miss gaming manuals. I'm glad you opened this one - games are meant to be played, and they have to be opened to be preserved fully - otherwise, we might not get to see manuals like this anymore!
Great video. Quick note: I feel like HG touches on the horror of family. The same way SH4 The Room turns your room, which should be a calming refuge, into the source of horrible fear, HG turns family, also supposedly a warm place and a foyer, into something uncaring and exploitative. What if instead of veing raised with love and protection your elders were raising you like a pig for slaughter? For breeding? That to me was the worst part of HG, the fact that the perpetrators share the same blood as the protagonist, which makes the incestuous not even under-tones that much mire efficient and terrifying. It also helps that, everyone having a family, you can project that aspect more easily and therefore empathize with the character. The psycho sexual horror becomes more potent and you’re in there with her, instead of gazing at jiggle physics
Glad you're feeling better. When the game was unwrapped, I could smell the plastic and the nostalgia of opening up a fresh new PS2 game. So satisfying.
I'm so glad that more and more people are coming around to reassess Haunting Ground and acknowledge its merits. As you said, it was so misunderstood and mistreated upon its initial release, as well as being greatly overshadowed by Resident Evil 4. It warms my heart so much to see people finally realizing how unique and thought-provoking it actually is, and how it does _such_ a great job of dealing with the horrors that many women experience or fear experiencing throughout their life. It legitimately kills me when people say it's "sexualization for sexualization's sake", "Male Gaze: the video game", or anything along those lines, because it simply isn't true. Being a woman myself, it struck a chord with me when I first played it and everything in the game has stuck with me for a very long time. I'm a _very_ proud owner of the game. Normally, I would never consider spending $400 bucks for any game (because NO game should cost that much), but I was willing to make an exception for Haunting Ground and it was absolutely worth it. No regrets.
There are still several people who don't understand what the game was trying to achieve, and some of those people never will. And that's fine, I suppose, even if does hurt a lot when you're someone who loves the game so much. No one _has_ to like the game or agree that it's a "psycho-sexual horror masterpiece", or even a good game. But it still makes me smile knowing that one of my favorite games of all time is finally getting the love and attention it always deserved.
Great video, thank you for making it and sharing it.
The hilarious part is imagine the women in Africa or Myanmar or something you could've helped with $400, who genuinely live horrific lives compared to the people whining in RUclips comments
I may not be a women but that ending gave me so much chills the bastard even refers to the child shes pregnant with as a another version of himself reborn as if hes the one in power that created that same life he forced onto her to birth disgutingly horrifying. something very true that can happen to women in societes pressures and awful environment for women to just survive in. 😢
I scored a physical copy of both Haunting Ground and Rule of Rose from an ex's old PS2 collection. They had no idea about the value of both titles and simply gave me a box full of old games that happened to have two of the rarest and most valuable horror titles in existence.
I still have both copies and i never intend to sell them.
You'll sell them. It's just plastic, a car or something will be more important than plastic to you one day, trust me
Thank you for covering one of my all time favourite games with the finesse and love that it deserves. For better or worse, I remember playing this game at the age of 11. My best friend managed to get it a few months after release for her birthday, and we couldn't ever bring ourselves to progress much out of paralyzing fear. Debilitas haunted our waking nightmares and our young minds were far too inexperienced to fully understand what was happening.
Then in my first years of college, my local GameStop was closing and I saw a copy of Haunting Grounds. It cost me like $12 and I felt like I was reunited with an old friend. I sat down during summer vacation and absolutely glued myself to the TV, playing non-stop to achieve all the endings and immerse myself in the game's lore. Having been through some less than savory experiences in my years since first playing really made the game so much more horrifying and I fully empathized with Fiona and the absolute terror of her circumstances and surroundings. All these years later, I keep picking it up and doing a hard mode run because it's just such a masterfully done game that I've yet to find another one that makes me feel the way Haunting Grounds does.
It's such a shame that this game couldn't be appreciated outside of it's niche audience, would have loved to see what else they did with the series. Truly a game ahead of it's time and an absolute masterpiece.
As a clock tower fan I love Haunting ground as a spiritual successor. So jealous of you for having an original sealed copy! Good job on this video, I’m happy that you’re feeling better now.
Congrats on the 50th Monster of the week video! I missed many of these great horror games as a teen since I never heard about them back then, but it's always great to watch your videos and passion about them and the horror genre!
I loved this game so much. It supposed to be unsettling, objectifying, it makes you feel small and it's only really games like this that can scare me. Most horror games/ movies aren't scary to me at all, but this was. Definitely one of the top 5 horror games I've played.
I believe the creators were heavily inspired by the Italian horror genre called "giallo" (so named after the yellow pages of the pulp novels that would influence the coming decades of slasher horror films in Italy and subsequently in the USA). These were well known for being exploitative and graphic, pushing forward what would be considered "grind house" cinema/stories and are cousin to the more pulpy "spaghetti western" genre. For the most part they were dime novels and not considered "high art" but were more stylized and boundary pushing in certain areas (i.e. sex and violence) than their contemporaries. That's not to say that more modern day forays into the genre haven't been deeper or more thought provoking or tried to elaborate on concepts derived from early iterations of it. The alchemical elements add something fresh here, but I fail to see much in the way of a more intellectual endeavor. I however, still own and have played through this horror masterpiece many a time and can attest it's brilliance and beauty, much like another of my favorite yet unfortunately super rare games, "Kuon".
It's giallo with 2 ls and it's weird that you consider it a horror subgenere because in italy we don't, "giallo" is it's own genere, it is defined by mistery and investigation, for example sherloc holmes noveles are gialli
A new Giallo horror game is coming out: House of Velez Remake!
It's an interesting game as it showcased a woman being toyed with like a doll, her body nothing more that sexual relief for others, or no other purpose than giving birth. The very definition of shit things for being a woman. Also it's important in the game to show kindness regardless of the situation as kindness will be met with kindness of your friend
I remember I got this game for Christmas in 2005. Had no clue what kind of game it was, and my parents just picked it out randomly while it was still on store shelves. I hate that I lost my copy 13 years ago. Ugh.
The older I get, the deeper my appreciation for this game and the story it was trying to tell gets. It's for that reason I think it will always be my favorite game.
I honestly haven't played the game, but I hear your point. Sex as a theme doesn't always have to be just a shallow object designed to satisfy fantasies. When entwined as part of the core message and story, it can be just as good as any traditional themes such as good vs evil. I understand it is difficult to swallow especially when the theme revolves around the dark side of sex such as rape and exploitation, but it'll be wrong to judge a story too quickly just because it has sex in it.
After exhausting Jacob Geller's horror videos for the 6th time I decided it was a good time to find a new survival horror essayist and I don't think I could have found anyone better.
I'm loving your content so far. Looking forward to delving through your catalogue.
I first played this game back in my teenage years and the fear it wrenches from me has never diminished over the years. Even in my 30's this still reigns true. Haunting Grounds is hands down one of my absolute favorite video games for everything you mentioned in this video. It's a game I'm always passionate about. Thank you so much for covering this masterpiece of a game!
"Are you the protagonist Fiona or the voyeuristic stalker?"
Uhh, I identify as Hewey.
I'm glad to see you doing ok. The other day I remembered really liking your videos and checked for anything new and only then I elarned about you feeling poorly. But I am glad you are well enough to be back for these amazing analytical essays on horror games.
Man, I've never seen a video with such level of detail put to both the script, the narrative and the editing. It's like a documentary but made with love and genuine interest. You got a new sub man. This is awesome!
“I strongly feel this is something that should be used enjoyed, not accumulate dust on a shelf in a plastic wrap”
I feel that so much.
I've had my copy of the game since around 2005 or 2006 when I was around 12 years old and I've loved the game ever since I first played it. I remember being proud that I got the in-game achievement for having the best relationship with Hewie while playing on hard-mode and having the black and tan/brown German Shepherd skin on Hewie that makes him more aggressive but less likely to listen/more likely to attack you. Haunting Ground inspired my love of horror games.
Like that the cutscenses tend to show the perspective of the stalker. The game is like hinting at something, maybe that the player is the ultimate stalker?
it's so cool to read some of the comments and see similar experiences! I got this game when it first released at 13 years old and is such a perfect example of female horror. As a young girl at the time I didn't fully understand WHY it scared me then as well as I do now, but i knew it left me terrified- especially the forced pregnancy bit and end screens. The dog mechanic, the panic meter, the killer AI- this game is such a treasure and a shame it wasn't given its credit when it first released but glad youtubers like you and other content creators are giving it the visibility it's due!
I never realized that the doggo you save in RE4 was Huey, I thought it was just a random wolf
I can never forget daniella's laugh, scream, and voices. she was too good
Congratulations on coming this far, and thank you for bringing us with you. Keep up the great work!
I always look forward to your videos- there’s so much time and effort put into them both visually and in terms of discussion, and I get to learn about horror content I’ve never heard of before! Keep up the great work!
I found it under seal last year and regretted not keep it closed but as a woman, this felt way too real to escape Debilita for the first time
Missing the Clock Tower franchise anyways, horror games weren't just horrific in the moment but hauntingly terrifying
I haven't been in contact with this game for close to 20 years now i think. But I can never forget that traumatising and hilarious "WHERE IS YOU??!!"
Yes so exciting!! I was hoping you would analyze this game. I love Haunting Ground so much, one of my faves. As a woman this game always spoke to me, it's like it has my worst fears in one game but amplified. I think the way she manages to escape, by outsmarting her stalkers and having a companion, and without any weapons, is kind of empowering in a way.
I can't believe you've never made a video on this game! It's so up your alley and totally in the realm of "horror game with a female protagonist from the 90s-2000" which I personally adore. All of these games are just making me wish my mum had kept the PS2 xD
I was lucky enough to walk into a store in 2012 and pick this one up for $35, a pittance compared to how much it goes for now I suppose. Personally, I feel like the game aspect of HG, the exploration and stalkers, fall apart in the back half but up through Daniella's boss encounter it's survival horror perfection. But I'd still absolutely recommend it for the thematic explorations and connections with vulnerability and empathy that it creates throughout. Put simply, no other horror game has made me NEVER want to be in the same room as your adversary like this one does. It does a masterful job of not only putting Fiona in these horrible situations but immersing the player in her plight to a near inseperable degree. I've beaten it twice and even now, the very thought of characters like Debilitas or Ricardo being within arms' reach of me makes my skin crawl. The game's just that good at drawing you into what it's doing. If you've got the means of playing it in 2022, go for it.
So glad you're finally covering this game. I've never personally played Haunting Ground, but I've watched several playthroughs/walkthroughs of it at this point, and it's by far one if my favorite survival horror games. I love that it's been getting so much more attention as of late.
This game was made during a time when game developers were truly the goat and the companies give them enough time to do their job instead of hurry up everything to a point where playable is debatible. I kinda want to download some old games just to enjoy this kind of master piece.
Yeah, now all that stuff has moved to then indie scene. More freedom, but less manpower.
19:18 yeah you are definitely right. i watched black lagoon once, and the sound of the sword piercing thru that one unlucky girl trying to end her life accompanied by her gurgling almost made me puke on the spot
I LOVE this game. Every year I revisit and every year I still feel anxiety while playing. I wish Capcom would give it the attention that the fans so desperately want. We were lucky enough to buy the physical copy when it was $15.
Never have I been a fool. (Notwithstanding that special fundamental foolery of course)
This review was both thoughtful, well paced, and beautiful. Masterfully edited and done with that secret ingredient that only true fandom can add to a dish. Love.
Well to do. You've done, and the people in your life have made, a wonderful thing.
The monsters of the week intro is such a tease... I see footage from Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth in it... But as of yet, there hasn't been a video essay for it. 😪
Greatly enjoyed this analysis, thank you! I remember picking this up as a fairly cheap second hand purchase back in the day, and absolutely loving it. I remember being disappointed that it and Clock Tower 3 occupied something of a genre of their own (and in the UK, we couldn't even play Rule of Rose).
The sexualisation aspect of her character is interesting because it's all largely imposed on her. She doesn't choose her clothing and has no interest in being a plaything or a mother. Her body is attractively designed but is also just the body she happens to have. This doesn't make her passive, since she's active clearly in both escaping and bonding with Hewie. For the player (especially guys like me), it does unsubtly ram home just how society imposes roles and expectations on women that they may or not go along with but are subjected to nonetheless.
Comment section made me realize how much Rule of Rose is appreciated now! I always loved the psychological horror genre because of trying to tackle really hard themes which helped me process a lot of my own situations. Back then when it came out in 2006-2007, I was saying this story is so good! but many would disagree. I am glad games such as these are given their due. And while the topics of the games are heavy for some, I'm thankful we are allowed to explore that space because to me psychological horror in it's core root is about understanding/developing empathy and sympathy to what makes us human. Our desires, fears, loves, hates, what gives us passion, and what makes us freeze
The most satisfying and nostalgic smell to me is a freshly opened game case, especially the manual inside lol. Is that weird? Please tell me Im not the only one lol. I specifically remember opening the ps2 games of Gta in the car ride home as a kid and not only loving the contents in the manual but that damn smell aswell. Great video sir.
Haunting Ground deserves the same zeitgeist renaissance that Jennifer's Body has been through in the past couple of years. Period.
Except this is ok, Jennifer's Body is still kinda trash.
@@LordRezo it’s okay bestie it’s not your fault you have no taste 🥺💕 (I kid I kid you’re probably chill as hell and you have the undeniable right to your opinion
@@H8NerosDad Meds.
@@LordRezo yes several
You were playing Silent Hill 3 before you put Haunting Ground's disk in? Good man!
I'll admit: I was one of those that thought 'oh look, another game with jiggle physics and the character is sexualised.' I was wrong, wholly, and fully admit it. This game deals with incredibly sensitive subjects very well, and Hewie's bond being crucial is a great addition, as Fiona is just a normal human being. She isn't strong, but she learns quickly, and grows with each encounter. Hewie is proof that even in the darkest of times, there is a light, there is hope, but only if you are able to grasp onto them, which, of course cannot be easy, especially with these themes.
In regards to Daniella's backstory and motivation: I prefer to think that she's one of the experiments like Debilitas, created by Riccardo.
I can't say for certain what he was thinking when making Debilitas, but he might've been intended to be a clone that just didn't work for one reason or another. It's clear that clones need to be birthed, and not all babies are made equally, even without the introduction of Alchemy/supernatural elements, so... that's that. But Riccardo didn't use a woman for the experiments, he used machinery -- hence all the Homunculi strewn about the relevant part of the castle that houses the machines. It's easy to imagine Debilitas was in one of them but unlike all the other Homunculi, turned out sentient. It was a failure, but still progression of Riccardo's work.
So then, he decided to use women, and in his ambition, decided he wouldn't simply use a woman, he'd create one (more on this in a bit). That's Daniella, but because she's a Homunculus -- an artificial human -- she's infertile and incapable of giving birth. Further than that, I always assumed she wasn't simply infertile, she was born without a womb altogether; in the one cutscene Fiona is asleep, she pats on Fiona's abdomen, presumably where the womb is. It makes sense to me that Daniella is fixated on the womb just like all the male characters are. They want to impregnate Fiona, and Daniella wants to be "complete." After all, how else is she going to be complete as a woman without being able to give birth? This is why I believe Riccardo created her and abuses her so violently, because he resents the fact she can't give birth, so he can't successfully clone himself, so he beats her up, and because she's been traumatized and because she has no emotions -- likely hinting at the fact that, not only does she not have a womb, she doesn't even have Azoth to begin with, which is essentially the soul -- she can only accept the fact that she is useless. So useless, in fact, that Debilitas doesn't even acknowledge her existence, not even as a doll.
That does raise the question: why not use some other random woman? Why not experiment with women? Why resort to machinery and cloning until it all magically works? Why waste so much time and energy and resources with animals and botched Homunculi for who knows how long? Azoth is present in all living things, after all... so, in theory, it should've worked, but it didn't. And you don't just resort to machines when, by all logic, you should've just used a woman in the first place. Well, logically, Riccardo MUST HAVE used women at first, and that also didn't work.
It's not just the Azoth at play, it's also genetics. Fiona is directly blood-related to Riccardo. Taking the clones thing out of this for a second, Riccardo and Ugo are effectively twin brothers. So Riccardo can't just impregnate anyone to clone himself, they HAVE to be blood-related, so he HAS to use Fiona. The fact that she has a "high concentration of Azoth" matters little. That does make her a great test subject for any ruthless Alchemist's goals, but the fact that she is Ugo's daughter is what makes her ideal. Simply cloning and creating a woman doesn't work, because Daniella was incomplete, because she's artificial, because she's infertile or has no womb.
So that's why I don't believe Daniella was just some random woman that was kidnapped and brainwashed into servitude (as some people might think). It just doesn't line up with Riccardo's goals, the mechanics of Alchemy, and the themes of pregnancy, birth, rebirth, and immortality (the so-called "knowledge," which is the ultimate goal of Alchemy, which is to become a perfect all-knowing being).
In addition to all this, consider all the other Homunculi that just either stand around muttering to themselves and don't do anything. Azoth is essentially the soul, and it's clear to me that they don't have it. They range from stationary, catatonic, or insane, or mentally-handicapped. Daniella may be sentient, but she's just as insane and unstable, but not so much that she can't act as a good servant. Debilitas works as a grounds keeper, too, so it's clear they can be competent. Just not, you know... good enough for Riccardo's goals.
_Congratulations on the 50th Monster of the Week video! Awesome to be seeing this game get more exposure, love your content_
I have been waiting for you to cover this game for so long, I always had a feeling you would have interesting thoughts about it.
Wonderful video! Thank you so much for making this video on Haunting Ground! I've always loved Haunting Ground and thought it was criminally underrated and few seemed to understand it nor wanted to. I'm glad you covered it even if it took you time to appreciate it - that just makes your video all the sweeter. You covered Haunting Ground very fairly and gave it credit where it's due while also addressing the sexual discomfort and sexism. Sexuality, sexism and sexual violence are very frightening, complex and confusing things for most people so it's easy for many to not like this game - but those themes work best in horror games and movies because they're uncomfortable and even when you think of sex without violence the connection between sex and pain, blood and death is easy to make in several ways. Psychologically, sexual violence and crimes has been studied to be an act of control as much as desire or arousal to the person it's being forced upon. And the stalkers in the game seem to enjoy controlling Fiona to some degree as well. Not saying that it's only about control and lack of freedom but it feels like it's part of what Fiona is being subjected to and the biggest indicator of that is how she can't leave the castle and she wakes up in a literal cage either like a wild animal or like a doll in a case when not in use or for mere display both valued but treated as nothing at the same time.
Haunting Ground is one of my favorite games and I love it as much if not more than more recent popular games.
Well said
I remember the reviews about this game, focusing more on the sexual angle than the game’s technical or story elements, and unfairly providing poor scores. Even X-Play, who usually gave fair reviews were dismissive of the game if memory serves, which is a shame.
By the way Ragnar, when are we gonna see that Arx Fatalis review, hmm? 😂
One day!
I remember buying my copy at GameStop two decades ago for like $15 and I still have it til this day.
Content Warnings: A J.K. Rowling tweet 😂😂😂 I mean yes that deserves a content Warning but I was not expecting that!
Great Video , and I particularly liked how you connected the themes of voyeurism and empathy to the disconnect between player and avatar. On the subject of whether the critical space has examined this game in light of its gothic and sexual themes, it actually has been in the academic space. For anyone interested, there is a book by Ewan Kirkland called, ""Videogames and the Gothic"" that examines this aspect of Haunting ground in relation to gothic literature, amongst other games. Its nice to see this reappraisal come to the youtube realm as well.
This was a great video! I do have one small point of critique, but it's nothing super major. It was just the point on Debilitas learning empathy towards Fiona. It doesn't really feel that way, just that his perception of her changed from her being a doll to play with to a holy being of worship. When he's defeated, he sees her with a halo of light, with her hands in almost a prayer position, and if I remember correctly he can later be found praying and will bow to Fiona then.
On an unrelated note, I had the thought that while Fiona is sexualized and targeted for being a woman, Ricardo and Lorenzo want her for what she carries. Lorenzo specifically is spiteful towards her mother for stealing Ugo away, so it feels like she would have never been a point of interest if not for inheriting his Azoth. On the flip side, it also feels just as likely that Daniella and Debilitas would have had no interest if Fiona was a dude who carried Azoth. It was just an interesting thought.
A final thought though: What does that say about Hewey? Some of you know what I'm talking about.
P.S. No matter what, Hewey walked so Trico could soar.
Thank you for you doing that game unboxing section. I was flooded with memories of first opening MGS2: Substance for the PS2. It was 2012 or 2013 and it still puzzles me how I managed to find a single sealed copy in a local hypermarket. The console was almost dead, the game was more than a decade old, yet it was still quite pricey, around $60. It's still one of my favorite games ever. I would really like "what's in the box" to become a regular bit on your channel, if you can do it.
Playing this game as a woman is truly a unique and haunting experience; the constant feeling of being observed and scrutinized and objectified is so familiar and omnipresent that it makes Fiona's triumph a very personal and empathetic pursuit. It always draws to mind this quote from Margaret Atwood's The Robber Bride:
“Male fantasies, male fantasies, is everything run by male fantasies? Up on a pedestal or down on your knees, it's all a male fantasy: that you're strong enough to take what they dish out, or else too weak to do anything about it. Even pretending you aren't catering to male fantasies is a male fantasy: pretending you're unseen, pretending you have a life of your own, that you can wash your feet and comb your hair unconscious of the ever-present watcher peering through the keyhole, peering through the keyhole in your own head, if nowhere else. You are a woman with a man inside watching a woman. You are your own voyeur.”
I do not understand why reviews did not see that the over-sexual nature was apart of the theme I feel like most people can sense that there is something more to it than sex for sex. My wife played this game for like an hour and when I brought it up she said that it is sexual but it is not to serve horney fans. I feel like many of those old reviewers would be the ones that say a game like dead space is to scary and that is bad or that dark soul is to hard and that is bad.