I was one of the kickstarter backers, and yeah, it definitely got frustrating seeing repeated updates about how they restarted in a whole new engine, and then went radio silent about the project for months because Nightdive allocated some of the kickstarter to other projects. [EDIT: they did not appear to have been reallocating funds to other projects, after all - this may have been idle speculation on the Discord. Sorry for my misremembering]. There was a collective sigh of relief, along with some indignation, once they announced that they were sorry for the delay, but were finally bringing back the project and updates. I like Nightdive quite a bit, and they've resurrected all sorts of games that would have otherwise faded into obscurity, but this was their first experience, as far as I know, with making a whole game themselves, so I guess at first they bit off more than they could chew. It's great that the game has finally been completed and also turned out to be good.
@@lotus-princeWe never allocated Kickstarter funds to anywhere other than System Shock and I personally did not pay myself with any of the funds. Every cent went towards the team. Just wanted to clear that up, thank you for your patience and I hope it was worth the wait.
I sincerely hope Night Dive isn’t discouraged from developing further titles outside of remasters; if they can learn from their mistakes over the course of SSR’s development, they can probably make something special on their own
As a backer, man it took a looot of time but they were super open about everything the entire time. Never understood the angry saber rattles. Not like they were hiding anything.
Any time I'd mention the remake there always seemed to be one or three guys coming out of the woodwork to call the developers frauds and me an idiot for thinking it'd ever come out. Some people really have no patience..
I mean, if the game had ended up sucking, I could understand a crowdfunding backer being upset, no matter how honest they were. Not an excuse for, say, death threats (which aren't just disgusting, but also illegal), but couldn't blame them for being a bit rude and salty.
@@tremorstudio9766But none as bad or hard or whatever, as much as gamers. Gamers used to be known for being dorks. I'd rather that, still. Now they're known to be the most impatient, childish, impossible to please, complete meltdown to the point of criminality, alcohol fetal syndrome crybabies of all consumers. From throwing fits because a game cane out too early and not ready, delayed for necessary work, or (good grief) having a meltdown and DEMAND the ending of a game (a game they've already beaten, mind you) be changed because their ego is so low they can not differentiate themselves from a piece of media. Pathetic.
People just get real mad when an "estimated date" doesn't equal the exact date something's getting delivered/released/etc. A little silly when you consider the scale of big things like this from rookie devs, but that's just the way some people are. To an extent, I can't blame them especially given how often a lot of crowdfunded projects just totally fail to materialize, but in this case yeah, the anger doesn't seem nearly as justified as they clearly thought it was.
Hey, I worked QA on this game! It was certainly a labor or love, but everybody on the team is really happy with the public’s reaction! It makes me happy to see so many people enjoying the game!
Are you guys still taking input? Two common complaints The first is melee lacks any 'meat' to it. Smacking/hitting enemies has no weight to it. Please fix. A.I. needs work. The peek around the corner and shoot strategy needs to be dealt with. Please fix. I will be buying this for my nephew for Xmas.
Convey this to the team - THANK YOU! The game is phenomenal. Agreed I was lost on the Medical sector for a while, and other immediate sectors too, but once I got my bearings, I didn't want a level to be complete. A little guidance in the beginning should be good or people with lesser patience will drop from exploring and experiencing this masterpiece.
As a backer of this project I have to say that I wasn’t as worried as some people were. To Nightdive’s credit, they were very good with communication. There were consistently regular updates and they always had images to share of their development. From my perspective it never looked like the project was ever at risk. I was not surprised to see the project complete and have a fairly good reception. At the end of the day I felt the kickstarter campaign here was a net positive and am happy that I was able to contribute to it.
It's refreshing to see a game that, while going through a lengthy and troubled development, goes on to be praised by many, because we've often see the same instances missing the mark. Remakes are also a good way to generate interest in an old IP, as well as displaying dedication to the classics, regardless of development conditions.
I'll never understand why people send death threats to people trying to make a game. "Yeah, I'll get on that game and make it really nice now that you threatened me. I was just going to spend all that time and money on something half ass till you made me see I should give it my all."
@@fortidogi8620 can't be too hard to go through the kickstarter page, do a little google sleuthing and retaliate on those miserable sacks hell i'm sure some of them are in this comment section
@@fortidogi8620 I mean you're not wrong but death threats are always a step over the line. I cannot imagine getting to that level of anger over a game unless I'd given like over 10k and in that case what the hell are you doing guys, be smarter with your money.
Nightdive Studios did some incredible work here that's for sure, it's fantastic that they are going back and preserving these games so they can be enjoyed by new players who never got to experience them back in the day :)
Not to mention idea of bringing back into circulation games thought doomed to be lost, because their respective console went out of production. Like Doom 64 or Turok 1 for Nintendo 64, or PS1 and Saturn version of Powerslave that have been combined into one game.
As unreal as the fan reaction to the remake is to Steven, it's about as unreal to me that this thing was born from a guy in a jungle who was mad GoG didn't have System Shock available. It grew out from that, but still just kind of cool what lead up to it. I did really love the visual look of that original demo though. Just felt really appropriate and somewhat unique for a classic game remake to still in some ways, look thematically like a classic with the pixel art-ish texture work. Making it so that you could read the text on the monitors would be like explaining where the Millennium Falcon dice came from, after explaining that they existed in the first place.
It's incredibly rare & refreshing to see developers and artists question themselves to the point where they recognize a path they don't want to go down, and ACTUALLY see that as a sign to restart and learn from their mistakes. I bow to their insight, and the remake is astounding in my book, kudos!
Same here, had to watch the video when I saw the title. As far as reception goes and my own personal playthrough, the System Shock Remake is technically one of the best games this year.
I was just watching a retrospective on System Shock 2 and remembered they were making a remake so I was like whatever happened to it? Glad we got you Matt
I remember hearing about the initial backlash that the game received back in its Kickstarter campaign, and word of it quickly died out so I assumed it was yet another abandoned project that would never see the light of day (still upset about Kologeon). It came as quite the surprise when a couple months ago I saw that the remake not only came out, but that it was very good and faithful to the original. It's pretty funny that the remake itself, as well as the era of classic FPS remasters that we're currently living in, was all a result of a couple on a trip in Mexico having a moment wondering why System Shock wasn't available on GoG. Pretty wholesome, really.
I've put in 40+ hours into the remake. More than I had in the original game. The effort Stephen and Co. put into the game shows. Taking the hiatus they did to reset was the right call ultimately. I just hope the experience didn't sour them on any potential future remakes (System Shock 2, hint, hint). But seriously though, take a few years off, guys. You earned a vacation.
2:50 Just to clarify Guatemala is another different country from México, the way the video goes implies otherwise, is like saying Canada is part of the US.
Nah. Canada is America without the cope for military industrial complex, monthly bloodbaths and crippling healthcare costs. And I can't even lol because the truth is tragic.
I followed this remake's entire dev saga throughout the years despite never becoming a backer. I did however pre-order the game after playing the final demo and just being absolutely blown away by how good it was. SSr is a triumph and everyone at Night Dive should be immensely proud of it. I can't wait to see what the studio decides to tackle next.
10:12 So a stubborn Art Director cost the project X many years and an entire build, because they didn't like the original faithful style? That's insane. What's the Art Director version of Paul from Marketing?
I am happy to learn that, despite an eight-year development cycle where so many troubles befell the project-from being rebooted twice, to the pandemic further screwing things over for a time, and even Nightdive Studios being subjected to harsh comments and much worse from various Kickstarter backers-Nightdive stuck to their guns, determined to ensure that the System Shock Remake would one day become a reality, which it finally did this year. Given the praise that the remake has received, the effort and years of hardship have paid off, and Nightdive has thus pleased people with another of their many top-notch projects. What Happened episodes like this one where a game turns out to be generally solid even after going through a troubled production are the most heartwarming...that's what I think! 😁
I've been following the project since 2015. While I've never played a System Shock game or anything Night Dive have worked on, I was happy to see a small video game company dedicated to making classic games few people care about available on modern consoles. Hearing they were also remaking the first SS and an outside studio making SS3 with veteran staff, seemed like a gamer's dream project come true! And while the constant delays and restarts from scratch were VERY concerning, it was nice to finally see them achieve great success. Hope they can make SS3 worth it!
Worth the wait, Lord Kickington's Systemic Spirit Quest ended up being one of the best remakes I've ever played, no regrets on backing it at the second to top tier on Kick Starter. Shocking.
Thanks for making this video, Matt. As one of the backers who experienced this rollercoaster of a project, I'm really happy to see the extra bits of behind-the-scenes info you get from Kick. In the end, we got what he originally set out to make, and what we originally asked for - warts and all. What's more, I'm amazed at how so many modern gamers have embraced the remake, what with it being 180-degrees away from modern game design. I'm really hoping Night Dive ride the success of this one to even better things - they've earned it. Also, thanks for pointing out the situation with the license. A lot of people seem to think Tencent owns the System Shock IP - no, they own the right to make a game titled "System Shock 3" and nothing else. ND can still make a sequel to System Shock 2, but they can't use that title, and likely can't draw directly from the ending of the game's sequel hook. For now, we're just waiting on the System Shock 2 remake. I have complete confidence in ND's ability to deliver when the time comes.
Can't help but love the Stephen and Alix art here :3 Looking forward to seeing this included in the two-hour-plus compilation of good games covered on this show that may or may not happen
I was so engrossed with Tears of the Kingdom that the fact this game came out flew right over my head. Now that I'm finished with Zelda I'm gonna play this!
I’ve never really played or was exposed to any of the System Shock games, but man that really engaged my brain…that 19 minutes blew by. Really enjoyed this episode.
6:23 the crazy thing about this is that it was made possible by someone finding an abandoned Dreamcast SS2 and/or Thief port (including source code) that came with a used DC devkit they bought years previously
As a fan of this game's sequel's spiritual successor (wow that's a sentence isn't it kids?) I'm looking forward to seeing this game on the PS5 when it's good and ready.
This game is one of the few that I had no idea was even coming out until maybe 2 weeks beforehand when review started coming out. I played the demo and fell in love with the atmosphere and it's one of those rare day one purchases that I do not regret in any way. I love that one of the biggest complaints is the lack of objectives but playing the game for the first time without even knowing the history it's pretty clear where to go, as long as you're paying attention. The audio logs as well as some of the announcements as well as the few times people are actually talking to you or always telling you what to do or where to go.
I knew this game had to go through a lot, and kept hearing about its development for the past 8 years, but i'm glad it came out eventually. I also love the little art flashback (with a Optimus Prime cameo)
Honestly, as a future game designer, it's really encouraging to see it work out for once. The only time you really see behind the scenes is when everything's falling apart, but this time around the struggle was worth it.
Bah, Kickstarter lightweights. I invested in Project Phoenix a decade ago. Their last update four years ago was "Gearing up to finish!". If it ever does actually come out they're going to have to try the project lead for homicide because I will have died from the shock.
This has really been an insane year for releases. I never thought this, Dead Island 2, Trepang2, and Six days in Fallujah among a few others were ever coming out. And so far most not only came out but we’re actually good.
This was truly fascinating and I had always wondered what the hold up was for this game back in 2019. I thought for sure it was canned but super happy to see it hit the shelves (so to speak). I really hope you do a video on Gollum, what the hell was that all about??
Lately I feel like remakes and reboots are the most fraught of all ventures because no matter WHAT, someone is gonna be pissed off that you changed something. Or didn't change something. Or just failed to make them feel like they're 14 years old again and discovering things for the first time, you monster.
I am deeply in love with the system shock series and couldn’t believe that even for the time it was a huge game. A lot of people complaining about obtuseness don’t understand that you must listen and read all the logs you find in the game. System Shock was such a narrative heavy game and offered us insects many different play styles, which got 10x more so in System Shock 2….So of course adding all of the features they originally had and adapting that to modern day consoles is a legendary feat. The remake is a masterpiece and how I think remasters can bring old ideas and tweak them to our modern day sensibilities.
Imagine if that lawsuit went forward, and it had bankrupted NightDive. Only for a docuvideo to come out a year later showing how nightdive wasn't a scam and they had been plugging away at the game, but the game ultimately died because of angry fans jumping the gun
Look at you, programmer. Panting and sweating while you work to remake my corridors. I'm very glad this game actually managed to come out and also actually is faithful and good.
All the hard work on this remake paid off is spades. SSR is an old-modern masterpiece, encapsulating everything great about the original with a fresh coat of paint and some great quality of life features that makes the game much more accessible.
Would Matt ever cover Ultima? Or Ultima 8 specifically? That game was in such unplayable condition ehen it hit stores, it actually had to be patched, waaay before people were doing that sort of thing regularly. And it's a super early example of EA ruining things, perfect for the channel.
While Nightdive definitively did some mismanagement on the project, didn't communicate properly in some instances, I give them kudos them kudos for owning up. The other shit that was out of their control sucked hard though, especially the System Shock 3 part and getting death threats. I am happy with the game that we got out of it though. I hope they can now remake System Shock 2.
Loving it. I am on the Security level, and despite playing through the other levels, I am scared to move around. This game is probably the best sci fi game I have played in my15+ years of gaming.
Damn, had never heard the remake had such a rocky development. I had only vaguely heard of the problems wit System Shock 3 and thought the remake just suddenly came out. Well, good thing they got it done in the end though.
I stand by my recommendation of the PSO2 western release and its New Genesis update. The story of Sega's 8 year long middle finger to fans outside Japan needs an in depth telling
It’s amazing how ONE PERSON who isn’t a team player can fuck up LAYERS upon layers of planning and work just because they think their “””Vision””” is more important than actually getting a finished product out. Am I talking about the art director or Mighty Number 9? You decide!
Update to support consoles and better PC gamepad experience released today! They also say they've updated the ending, one of the more controversial pieces, to be better. Here's hoping!
A good Wha Happun? Episode could actually be about another NightDive remake, Blood: fresh Supply. It had a ton of issues upon release and if I remeber correctly had some behind the scenes drama with Atari which is why the game was like that.
Commenting before watching through the whole vid: I was never aware we were supposed to even get a remake at all. The closest to that would’ve been BioShock, but I’m under the impression that it was a sequel of sorts.
What's wild to me is that something these publishers don't understand is that small studios garnish good will when they release quality products and while I haven't been following this reboot, the moment Matt said this was done by the Nightdive Studios team, I was immediately interested. Yeah let me just ignore the people behind bringing back all the games from my childhood that run flawlessly on modern systems. Don't mind me, just plopping this game down on an ever growing wishlist.
Holy hell! I remember following the development of this game for a while back around 2016, but forgot about it after a while and kind of just assumed it had been cancelled at some point. I had no idea development had even continued, let alone it already being out!
More developers need to take more time to release their games when needed, this release now, patch later mentality is killing the industry faster than taking a little extra time to get it right would.
@@MattMcMuscles They waited to release, it might not have been what they wanted, but they still waited. Maybe they shouldn't have released it at all, but they didn't just push it out the door at the first opportunity.
Despite the rough journey, I am glad the game was released and despite not being as odd as the OG, playing more like an actual modern game, its very fun, I am excited for System shock 2 and in term I just wish somethings are improved upon such as skill system because I can understand a wrong character build but I never played a game with a case of 'so many wrongs'.
Apparently Nightdive doesn't even have the trademark for System Shock 3 anymore. After Nightdive loaned it out to Otherside, they turned around and sold it off to some Chinese holdings company. So, who knows if we'll ever get to see a System Shock 3 anytime soon.
The man literally went from "man I wish this game I wanna play was available on pc" to "fine, I'll do it myself" all while in a central american jungle.
I still remember playing the first system shock when I got mono and I as in bed for like a week. I got strangely obsessed with the fact you could go to a dining hall that had nothing to do with the game. I was like they actually created a whole space station.
For me the issue was they announced it far too long before it’s release. I got psyched, disappointed with the repeated delays and just didn’t end up buying it. I’ve waits so long at this point I may as well wait for a deep deep sale or bundle.
"In my talons, I shape clay, crafting life forms as I please. If I wish, I can smash it all. Around me is a burgeoning empire of steel. From my throne room, lines of power careen into the skies of Earth. My whims will become lightning bolts that raze the mounds of humanity. Out of the chaos, they will run and whimper, praying for me to end their tedious anarchy. I am drunk with this vision. God: the title suits me well." - SHODAN
Now that they have successfully released System Shock with flying colors, I can't wait to see what the Enhanced Edition of System Shock 2 is going to be like! Yes, I know it's not going to be a full remake, but it doesn't need to be. More importantly, I can't wait for the inevitable announcement for the Turok 3 Remaster; Stephen has already said he wants to finish off the trilogy, and now that their most arduous project is complete (outside of periodic updates of course), I feel like an announcement for Turok 3 is just around the corner!
Use my code MCMUSCLES to get $5 off your delicious, high protein Magic Spoon cereal by clicking this link: sponsr.is/magicspoon_mcmuscles_0723
I wish I could get it in New Zealand.😢
Was curious about Magic Spoon and found sadly they don't send their stuff to Mexico.
I would love to try it but they don't ship to europe :(
@@azurathi4101why you poor anything can be. Shipped if you know the drill
tastes gross btw
Guy is ultra chad:
"hmmmm i cant find this old game i like"
"okay im gonna buy its rights and make it playable myself"
The dude is Chad of all chads made a banger of a remake
Wow. I actually had no idea this game's development was so long and arduous. Mad kudos to Stephen for never giving up.
I was one of the kickstarter backers, and yeah, it definitely got frustrating seeing repeated updates about how they restarted in a whole new engine, and then went radio silent about the project for months because Nightdive allocated some of the kickstarter to other projects.
[EDIT: they did not appear to have been reallocating funds to other projects, after all - this may have been idle speculation on the Discord. Sorry for my misremembering].
There was a collective sigh of relief, along with some indignation, once they announced that they were sorry for the delay, but were finally bringing back the project and updates.
I like Nightdive quite a bit, and they've resurrected all sorts of games that would have otherwise faded into obscurity, but this was their first experience, as far as I know, with making a whole game themselves, so I guess at first they bit off more than they could chew. It's great that the game has finally been completed and also turned out to be good.
You didn’t? You gotta look more mate
@@sonyslyer9946 Why would they have? If they weren't a backer, then there's little reason to randomly decide to look up a game's development history.
@@lotus-prince K
@@lotus-princeWe never allocated Kickstarter funds to anywhere other than System Shock and I personally did not pay myself with any of the funds. Every cent went towards the team. Just wanted to clear that up, thank you for your patience and I hope it was worth the wait.
I sincerely hope Night Dive isn’t discouraged from developing further titles outside of remasters; if they can learn from their mistakes over the course of SSR’s development, they can probably make something special on their own
Night Dive’s talent is not creativity. They need tracing paper to stay marketable.
The most they'll do is remakes because the entire goal of that studio is to remaster/remake games to begin with.
@@spidremi875 It's not the most glorious job, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't appreciate them for it.
@@enoknabThat's not how skillsets work. You're talking about NightDive like they're a fictional character and not a business that can hire talent.
The studio was created with the propose of do remakes, but yeah would be great if they do a new IP
As a backer, man it took a looot of time but they were super open about everything the entire time. Never understood the angry saber rattles. Not like they were hiding anything.
Haters gonna hate, always. Night Studio was very honest from the beginning
Any time I'd mention the remake there always seemed to be one or three guys coming out of the woodwork to call the developers frauds and me an idiot for thinking it'd ever come out. Some people really have no patience..
I mean, if the game had ended up sucking, I could understand a crowdfunding backer being upset, no matter how honest they were. Not an excuse for, say, death threats (which aren't just disgusting, but also illegal), but couldn't blame them for being a bit rude and salty.
@@tremorstudio9766But none as bad or hard or whatever, as much as gamers. Gamers used to be known for being dorks. I'd rather that, still. Now they're known to be the most impatient, childish, impossible to please, complete meltdown to the point of criminality, alcohol fetal syndrome crybabies of all consumers.
From throwing fits because a game cane out too early and not ready, delayed for necessary work, or (good grief) having a meltdown and DEMAND the ending of a game (a game they've already beaten, mind you) be changed because their ego is so low they can not differentiate themselves from a piece of media.
Pathetic.
People just get real mad when an "estimated date" doesn't equal the exact date something's getting delivered/released/etc. A little silly when you consider the scale of big things like this from rookie devs, but that's just the way some people are. To an extent, I can't blame them especially given how often a lot of crowdfunded projects just totally fail to materialize, but in this case yeah, the anger doesn't seem nearly as justified as they clearly thought it was.
Hey, I worked QA on this game! It was certainly a labor or love, but everybody on the team is really happy with the public’s reaction! It makes me happy to see so many people enjoying the game!
Are you guys still taking input? Two common complaints
The first is melee lacks any 'meat' to it. Smacking/hitting enemies has no weight to it. Please fix.
A.I. needs work. The peek around the corner and shoot strategy needs to be dealt with. Please fix.
I will be buying this for my nephew for Xmas.
Convey this to the team - THANK YOU! The game is phenomenal. Agreed I was lost on the Medical sector for a while, and other immediate sectors too, but once I got my bearings, I didn't want a level to be complete. A little guidance in the beginning should be good or people with lesser patience will drop from exploring and experiencing this masterpiece.
This will be a Xmas gift for my nephew, and one for myself...
As a backer of this project I have to say that I wasn’t as worried as some people were. To Nightdive’s credit, they were very good with communication. There were consistently regular updates and they always had images to share of their development. From my perspective it never looked like the project was ever at risk.
I was not surprised to see the project complete and have a fairly good reception.
At the end of the day I felt the kickstarter campaign here was a net positive and am happy that I was able to contribute to it.
Wow happy to see a happy ending here! BTW amazing work as always Matt!
It's refreshing to see a game that, while going through a lengthy and troubled development, goes on to be praised by many, because we've often see the same instances missing the mark. Remakes are also a good way to generate interest in an old IP, as well as displaying dedication to the classics, regardless of development conditions.
I'll never understand why people send death threats to people trying to make a game. "Yeah, I'll get on that game and make it really nice now that you threatened me. I was just going to spend all that time and money on something half ass till you made me see I should give it my all."
I don’t really know either
People are cowards
Probably, they thought theyd just been scammed. That does genuinely happen.
Wonder where those people are now.
@@fortidogi8620 can't be too hard to go through the kickstarter page, do a little google sleuthing and retaliate on those miserable sacks
hell i'm sure some of them are in this comment section
@@fortidogi8620 I mean you're not wrong but death threats are always a step over the line. I cannot imagine getting to that level of anger over a game unless I'd given like over 10k and in that case what the hell are you doing guys, be smarter with your money.
For those of you who haven't played it, it's a FANTASTIC game. Highly recommended! Definitely a top 10 game of the year
I need to dive back into it, it's so good.
It is a great game, really hardcore. Its only weakness is the enemy AI, which is kinda dumb sometimes.
@@leandroingrassia Have you played the final fight with SHODAN yet? It's also the other weakness. It's AWFUL
Is it gonna get a console port?
@@thegamingprozone1941supposedly yes
Nightdive Studios did some incredible work here that's for sure, it's fantastic that they are going back and preserving these games so they can be enjoyed by new players who never got to experience them back in the day :)
They're also scalpers 🤩🥴
@@pilsnerd420 what do you mean?
Not to mention idea of bringing back into circulation games thought doomed to be lost, because their respective console went out of production. Like Doom 64 or Turok 1 for Nintendo 64, or PS1 and Saturn version of Powerslave that have been combined into one game.
@@kireta21 Playing Doom 64 with a mouse and keyboard is fantastic
As unreal as the fan reaction to the remake is to Steven, it's about as unreal to me that this thing was born from a guy in a jungle who was mad GoG didn't have System Shock available. It grew out from that, but still just kind of cool what lead up to it.
I did really love the visual look of that original demo though. Just felt really appropriate and somewhat unique for a classic game remake to still in some ways, look thematically like a classic with the pixel art-ish texture work. Making it so that you could read the text on the monitors would be like explaining where the Millennium Falcon dice came from, after explaining that they existed in the first place.
The final game has the pixels too
It's incredibly rare & refreshing to see developers and artists question themselves to the point where they recognize a path they don't want to go down, and ACTUALLY see that as a sign to restart and learn from their mistakes. I bow to their insight, and the remake is astounding in my book, kudos!
As a backer from the very beginning, this game was well worth the wait. So much fun!
I always forget that this show isn’t just for games that ended up bombing
Same here, had to watch the video when I saw the title. As far as reception goes and my own personal playthrough, the System Shock Remake is technically one of the best games this year.
I was just watching a retrospective on System Shock 2 and remembered they were making a remake so I was like whatever happened to it?
Glad we got you Matt
Dude, SAME thing here
Yeah, I'm waiting for that, too. Since preordering the SS1 remake was supposed net you the SS2 remaster for free. Once it's out, that is.
I remember hearing about the initial backlash that the game received back in its Kickstarter campaign, and word of it quickly died out so I assumed it was yet another abandoned project that would never see the light of day (still upset about Kologeon). It came as quite the surprise when a couple months ago I saw that the remake not only came out, but that it was very good and faithful to the original.
It's pretty funny that the remake itself, as well as the era of classic FPS remasters that we're currently living in, was all a result of a couple on a trip in Mexico having a moment wondering why System Shock wasn't available on GoG. Pretty wholesome, really.
I've put in 40+ hours into the remake. More than I had in the original game. The effort Stephen and Co. put into the game shows. Taking the hiatus they did to reset was the right call ultimately. I just hope the experience didn't sour them on any potential future remakes (System Shock 2, hint, hint). But seriously though, take a few years off, guys. You earned a vacation.
2:50 Just to clarify Guatemala is another different country from México, the way the video goes implies otherwise, is like saying Canada is part of the US.
Psh we all know Canada is just north USA lol
Nah. Canada is America without the cope for military industrial complex, monthly bloodbaths and crippling healthcare costs. And I can't even lol because the truth is tragic.
Perseverance in the face of uncertainty is highly respectable. Glad the game came out as well as it did!
Star Citizen just asked: *what's "feature creep?"* 😂
Congrats, dev team. It's a wonderful product.
I followed this remake's entire dev saga throughout the years despite never becoming a backer. I did however pre-order the game after playing the final demo and just being absolutely blown away by how good it was. SSr is a triumph and everyone at Night Dive should be immensely proud of it. I can't wait to see what the studio decides to tackle next.
I like how the blue skeleton appears distant contemplating “what happened” and so is slightly startled by the intro kicking in.
10:12 So a stubborn Art Director cost the project X many years and an entire build, because they didn't like the original faithful style? That's insane. What's the Art Director version of Paul from Marketing?
paul from art-keting?
I am happy to learn that, despite an eight-year development cycle where so many troubles befell the project-from being rebooted twice, to the pandemic further screwing things over for a time, and even Nightdive Studios being subjected to harsh comments and much worse from various Kickstarter backers-Nightdive stuck to their guns, determined to ensure that the System Shock Remake would one day become a reality, which it finally did this year. Given the praise that the remake has received, the effort and years of hardship have paid off, and Nightdive has thus pleased people with another of their many top-notch projects.
What Happened episodes like this one where a game turns out to be generally solid even after going through a troubled production are the most heartwarming...that's what I think! 😁
I've been following the project since 2015. While I've never played a System Shock game or anything Night Dive have worked on, I was happy to see a small video game company dedicated to making classic games few people care about available on modern consoles. Hearing they were also remaking the first SS and an outside studio making SS3 with veteran staff, seemed like a gamer's dream project come true! And while the constant delays and restarts from scratch were VERY concerning, it was nice to finally see them achieve great success. Hope they can make SS3 worth it!
Unfortunately, I've my doubts SS3 is gonna be good - it's got Tencent money in it.
Worth the wait, Lord Kickington's Systemic Spirit Quest ended up being one of the best remakes I've ever played, no regrets on backing it at the second to top tier on Kick Starter. Shocking.
Nothing like getting ready to rewatch some what happened and finding out there’s a new Ep
Half Life 3: What Happened
Nothing happened, that’s the issue
Gaben cant count to three
Third comment? Half Life 3 Confirmed?
Half life 3 comments: episode one
Half Life 3: What’s Happening
Thanks for making this video, Matt. As one of the backers who experienced this rollercoaster of a project, I'm really happy to see the extra bits of behind-the-scenes info you get from Kick. In the end, we got what he originally set out to make, and what we originally asked for - warts and all. What's more, I'm amazed at how so many modern gamers have embraced the remake, what with it being 180-degrees away from modern game design. I'm really hoping Night Dive ride the success of this one to even better things - they've earned it.
Also, thanks for pointing out the situation with the license. A lot of people seem to think Tencent owns the System Shock IP - no, they own the right to make a game titled "System Shock 3" and nothing else. ND can still make a sequel to System Shock 2, but they can't use that title, and likely can't draw directly from the ending of the game's sequel hook. For now, we're just waiting on the System Shock 2 remake. I have complete confidence in ND's ability to deliver when the time comes.
It was a long journey but it finally came out and it's FANTASTIC
The work that went into getting this game made is incredible.
Can't help but love the Stephen and Alix art here :3
Looking forward to seeing this included in the two-hour-plus compilation of good games covered on this show that may or may not happen
I was so engrossed with Tears of the Kingdom that the fact this game came out flew right over my head. Now that I'm finished with Zelda I'm gonna play this!
I’ve never really played or was exposed to any of the System Shock games, but man that really engaged my brain…that 19 minutes blew by. Really enjoyed this episode.
After hearing it so many times, I have to ask: how absolutely pathetic do you have to be to send DEATH THREATS to someone over a VIDEO GAME??
I guess Shodan was GLADOS before GLADOS was even an idea!
6:23 the crazy thing about this is that it was made possible by someone finding an abandoned Dreamcast SS2 and/or Thief port (including source code) that came with a used DC devkit they bought years previously
As a fan of this game's sequel's spiritual successor (wow that's a sentence isn't it kids?) I'm looking forward to seeing this game on the PS5 when it's good and ready.
A fan of Bioshock, basically?
This game is one of the few that I had no idea was even coming out until maybe 2 weeks beforehand when review started coming out. I played the demo and fell in love with the atmosphere and it's one of those rare day one purchases that I do not regret in any way. I love that one of the biggest complaints is the lack of objectives but playing the game for the first time without even knowing the history it's pretty clear where to go, as long as you're paying attention. The audio logs as well as some of the announcements as well as the few times people are actually talking to you or always telling you what to do or where to go.
Wow, I had already watched a few essays about this troubled development, but was amazed how much more there was! Thank you for the video
I knew this game had to go through a lot, and kept hearing about its development for the past 8 years, but i'm glad it came out eventually. I also love the little art flashback (with a Optimus Prime cameo)
Honestly, as a future game designer, it's really encouraging to see it work out for once. The only time you really see behind the scenes is when everything's falling apart, but this time around the struggle was worth it.
Bah, Kickstarter lightweights. I invested in Project Phoenix a decade ago. Their last update four years ago was "Gearing up to finish!". If it ever does actually come out they're going to have to try the project lead for homicide because I will have died from the shock.
This has really been an insane year for releases. I never thought this, Dead Island 2, Trepang2, and Six days in Fallujah among a few others were ever coming out. And so far most not only came out but we’re actually good.
I remember checking the news of system shock 2023 almost every day for 3 years until it finally came out
This was truly fascinating and I had always wondered what the hold up was for this game back in 2019. I thought for sure it was canned but super happy to see it hit the shelves (so to speak).
I really hope you do a video on Gollum, what the hell was that all about??
It was a shameless milking of a cashcow, slopped together on a shoestring budget and diversity team.
Lately I feel like remakes and reboots are the most fraught of all ventures because no matter WHAT, someone is gonna be pissed off that you changed something. Or didn't change something. Or just failed to make them feel like they're 14 years old again and discovering things for the first time, you monster.
I am deeply in love with the system shock series and couldn’t believe that even for the time it was a huge game. A lot of people complaining about obtuseness don’t understand that you must listen and read all the logs you find in the game. System Shock was such a narrative heavy game and offered us insects many different play styles, which got 10x more so in System Shock 2….So of course adding all of the features they originally had and adapting that to modern day consoles is a legendary feat. The remake is a masterpiece and how I think remasters can bring old ideas and tweak them to our modern day sensibilities.
thank you for doing this! Ive been following this for year, and this really helped shed light on some areas I missed
Matt, I know how meticulously you research things for your show so I was wondering…
How about a What Happened on G4 TV?
Always nice to see a happy ending on this series. Great episode as always!
Star Citizen - What Happened 🤷🤦
Considering Star Citizen still isn’t finished, it may need its own series lol
What Is _Continuing_ to Happun to Star Citizen
@@VideoAcid 👍🙄😆
Imagine if that lawsuit went forward, and it had bankrupted NightDive. Only for a docuvideo to come out a year later showing how nightdive wasn't a scam and they had been plugging away at the game, but the game ultimately died because of angry fans jumping the gun
Man, I hope that Mr. and Mrs. Kick have even a clue how much their efforts are appreciated.
Awesome video. I was one of the original kickstarter's and I'm happy to see the final product even if it was a bumpy ride
When more information is available, I'd love to see one of these episodes on what happened behind the scenes on why System Shock 3 was canceled.
Why is our first reaction, as humans, when someone does something we don't like, to say "Do what I want or I'll kill you!"? 😞
Look at you, programmer. Panting and sweating while you work to remake my corridors.
I'm very glad this game actually managed to come out and also actually is faithful and good.
This is something I look forward to weekly.
Btw would love an episode on Batman Arkham Origins.
All the hard work on this remake paid off is spades. SSR is an old-modern masterpiece, encapsulating everything great about the original with a fresh coat of paint and some great quality of life features that makes the game much more accessible.
Honestly, hearing this story gives me even more appreciation for the hard work and dedication they had to making this remake. Absolutely incredible!
Would Matt ever cover Ultima? Or Ultima 8 specifically? That game was in such unplayable condition ehen it hit stores, it actually had to be patched, waaay before people were doing that sort of thing regularly. And it's a super early example of EA ruining things, perfect for the channel.
While Nightdive definitively did some mismanagement on the project, didn't communicate properly in some instances, I give them kudos them kudos for owning up. The other shit that was out of their control sucked hard though, especially the System Shock 3 part and getting death threats. I am happy with the game that we got out of it though. I hope they can now remake System Shock 2.
Loving it. I am on the Security level, and despite playing through the other levels, I am scared to move around. This game is probably the best sci fi game I have played in my15+ years of gaming.
Damn, had never heard the remake had such a rocky development. I had only vaguely heard of the problems wit System Shock 3 and thought the remake just suddenly came out. Well, good thing they got it done in the end though.
I stand by my recommendation of the PSO2 western release and its New Genesis update. The story of Sega's 8 year long middle finger to fans outside Japan needs an in depth telling
It’s amazing how ONE PERSON who isn’t a team player can fuck up LAYERS upon layers of planning and work just because they think their “””Vision””” is more important than actually getting a finished product out.
Am I talking about the art director or Mighty Number 9?
You decide!
Update to support consoles and better PC gamepad experience released today! They also say they've updated the ending, one of the more controversial pieces, to be better. Here's hoping!
Great video as always, I'd love to hear about what happened to Valve's Steam Machines and they failed to connect with players.
A good Wha Happun? Episode could actually be about another NightDive remake, Blood: fresh Supply. It had a ton of issues upon release and if I remeber correctly had some behind the scenes drama with Atari which is why the game was like that.
i've had this game on my steam wishlist since mid-2017 and it is wild knowing why it took so long
Commenting before watching through the whole vid: I was never aware we were supposed to even get a remake at all. The closest to that would’ve been BioShock, but I’m under the impression that it was a sequel of sorts.
Usually the term for Bioshock is a "spiritual successor" of System Shock
@@Damian_1989 Ohhhh, okay. Thanks man!
It's nice to see a What Happened? with a happy end.
What's wild to me is that something these publishers don't understand is that small studios garnish good will when they release quality products and while I haven't been following this reboot, the moment Matt said this was done by the Nightdive Studios team, I was immediately interested. Yeah let me just ignore the people behind bringing back all the games from my childhood that run flawlessly on modern systems.
Don't mind me, just plopping this game down on an ever growing wishlist.
Holy hell! I remember following the development of this game for a while back around 2016, but forgot about it after a while and kind of just assumed it had been cancelled at some point. I had no idea development had even continued, let alone it already being out!
Without this remake I never would have played system shock.
I hope there's an X-Men related "What Happened" sometime this year!
More developers need to take more time to release their games when needed, this release now, patch later mentality is killing the industry faster than taking a little extra time to get it right would.
Huh? What does that have to do with System Shock?
@@MattMcMuscles They waited to release, it might not have been what they wanted, but they still waited. Maybe they shouldn't have released it at all, but they didn't just push it out the door at the first opportunity.
Despite the rough journey, I am glad the game was released and despite not being as odd as the OG, playing more like an actual modern game, its very fun, I am excited for System shock 2 and in term I just wish somethings are improved upon such as skill system because I can understand a wrong character build but I never played a game with a case of 'so many wrongs'.
It was a long 8 years but it was worth the wait. Was an excellent game and really enjoyed it.
Apparently Nightdive doesn't even have the trademark for System Shock 3 anymore. After Nightdive loaned it out to Otherside, they turned around and sold it off to some Chinese holdings company. So, who knows if we'll ever get to see a System Shock 3 anytime soon.
I went so hard with this game. Absolutely loved it, and the on-paper journal I kept while playing.
They got cookies and cream?!?
Dibs.
Also, wow. What a mess. I'm just glad it's out now, at least. Their fortitude for this is to be admired.
I could tell the remake was faithful to the original when a walkthrough written for the original 20+ years ago still helped.
Finally playing this game on PS5! It's so good!
The man literally went from "man I wish this game I wanna play was available on pc" to "fine, I'll do it myself" all while in a central american jungle.
Gollum: what happened
They took a dump and tried to sell it
You’ll have a better time laughing at Gollum than watching the new clone high.
I still remember playing the first system shock when I got mono and I as in bed for like a week. I got strangely obsessed with the fact you could go to a dining hall that had nothing to do with the game. I was like they actually created a whole space station.
At least Stephen and his wife delivered System Shock instead of, whatever dead island 2 was suppose to be.
For me the issue was they announced it far too long before it’s release. I got psyched, disappointed with the repeated delays and just didn’t end up buying it. I’ve waits so long at this point I may as well wait for a deep deep sale or bundle.
The geezer at 07:05 is a friend of mine and total legend
"In my talons, I shape clay, crafting life forms as I please. If I wish, I can smash it all. Around me is a burgeoning empire of steel. From my throne room, lines of power careen into the skies of Earth. My whims will become lightning bolts that raze the mounds of humanity. Out of the chaos, they will run and whimper, praying for me to end their tedious anarchy.
I am drunk with this vision.
God: the title suits me well."
- SHODAN
To think grown adults would threaten the life of someone because of a video game is mind blowing. What a bunch of babies.
The fact that EA missed out on an easy opportunity to make 700,000 basically for free by not rereleasing the game themselves, feels very on brand.
EA would have demanded such unrealistic expectations that it wouldn't matter.
Now that they have successfully released System Shock with flying colors, I can't wait to see what the Enhanced Edition of System Shock 2 is going to be like! Yes, I know it's not going to be a full remake, but it doesn't need to be.
More importantly, I can't wait for the inevitable announcement for the Turok 3 Remaster; Stephen has already said he wants to finish off the trilogy, and now that their most arduous project is complete (outside of periodic updates of course), I feel like an announcement for Turok 3 is just around the corner!
SS2:EE will be the base game repackaged with mods the fan community has already created.
Im relieved this game got a happy birthday ending
Points for the One Must Fall reference.