I love the idea that in ending E Homunculus makes up a story, so that he doesn't have to admit that he got punked out by someone that would eventually become as stupid as Eike.
That makes me wonder, what exactly counts as a person touching their temporal alternate self? If you took hair or nail clippings from someone in another time period, does that count? How about if I go into the past and grab a piece of food a person would have eaten and some of the organic molecules from that food have been used to build up tissue in their body?
@@Crowley9 Questions like that can only be reasonably answered in a MUCH more well-written game than Shadow of Destiny/Memories. With this games writing, throwing a Bacon, YOU, and Tomato sandwich (Hereafter referred to as a BYT) at Homunculus would've, I dunno', somehow turned him into Hugo's mother. And anyone watching would be left mystified as to the how's and why's of it.
Finally figured out why I like this game so much. It's like someone poured Monkey Island, Altered Destinies and Deadly Premonition in an alchemy pot, took a good stir and spilled most of it on the carpet.
Altered Destinies deserves more attention. It's the only game about time travel I know of which takes it to the logical conclusions of you can always go back and try again. Well, at least ones that aren't about an ever-repeating time loop.
As much fun as it is to see Eike bumbling through much of the game like a hapless subject to the whims of others, watching him become hyper-competent and take control of the whole situation felt like a good payoff. Also, way better conclusion to the arc of a time-bending protagonist than The Forgotten City's "debate" against Pluto.
The characters at the end of the EX endings aren't Eike and Hugo, but descendants of Dr. Wagner and Hugo, hence the baby's cry at the beginning of the last scene. This game likes to reuse models in different clothing to denote members of a certain family line in different timelines
I was going to say, how is Eike even in the future if Wagner doesn't become immortal, but this makes sense. Too bad the game doesn't even bother to really explain it at all.
Idk if anyone noticed, but Margarete's 'controversial' fashion choices probably correlate with her being from different timeline. It's not super important detail, but a nice one!
Margaret just bosses him right out of his murderous plan. So the only things that can stop him are ghosts, being dragged to hell, and slapped around by his sister.
The only change I'd really make to EX2 would be for Margarete to be replaced by Dana as soon as Helena finishes drinking the Elixir of Life. That would, after all, be the actual result.
If it changed the past's past like that, then the elixir of life would also disappear, since Eike couldn't have brought it. I think what's done is done, and only the future changes. Although that does mean that does mean the real Dana doesn't get kidnapped as a baby, so she gets two lives… Meanwhile the replacement Dana, having already been swapped, just disappeared into time… Weird game.
I had to look at Ending A again because I was confused about how Homunculus died. When Eike dropped the Digipad a piece of the digipad broke, and the piece lodged itself into Homunculus head. That is why Homunculus started to bleed at the end. Kinda hard to tell what happened because how fast it was.
I played this game when it was new and was blown away by how weird it was. I definitely didn't manage to get all the endings, so seeing you get them was a real treat. Eike is the dumbest protagonist (until he's not) and it's kind of endearing.
Dana's gonna go back to work to find her late birthday present only to find out it's a gift card for the cafe chain she works for that can only be used in another location. She'd wished she was back using chamber pots and doing laundry by hand. Alright the extra mode is kinda funny, Eike is just kinda like "yeah okay let's speed this up."
Shadow of Destiny is even more mind-blowing when you realize it was developed by KCE Tokyo, the same Konami subsidiary that made the first four Silent Hill games.
Makes sense- some of the stepping- soundeffects on certain surfaces or when stair climbing are the same as in Silent Hill 2, which came out in kinda close proximity to this.
1:09:01 Strange... That sound / sample (choir voice)... I've already heard it in a different video game... I wonder if it was in one of the Silent Hill games... Edit: Got it ! It was in Silent Hill 3, in the 7th track called "Clockwork Little Happiness". I guess Akira Yamaoka picked up some samples from an available sound effects library owned by Konami to make some parts of his pieces (since Shadow of Destiny is also a Konami's game).
Rewatching the first cutscene with Margarete, it feels like she's introduced as being kind of sarcastic and sassy, but then in the next scene she immediately drops it and becomes guilelessly sweet and innocent. Am I the only one who got that read? Certainly wouldn't be the first weirdly inconsistent VA performance in the game.
I like how in basically all the endings Eike goes all "you were just using me all along >:(" and then just gives Homunculus the Digipad back like nothing happened, I feel like Eike just likes the idea of being used at this point
What an absolutely lovely game. Completely odd, but enjoyable the whole way through! Some thoughts: - They mention that the people of the modern day look super alike to their ancestors. I think the "Eike" and "Hugo" at the end of the EXs are their descendants. - I wonder if the EX mode is a reconfiguration of the Time Loop idea that appears in the second trailer. - In a way, the EX endings make me a bit sad, solely because our modern Eike is such an endearing character that it's sad to see him disappear, even if for the greater outcome.
I do like how after you finish each ending, the story is actually kind of good. That everything seems to make sense except Hugo making his own time machine. And where did the stone even come from in the first place? Eike couldn't have given it to Wagner if Wagner didn't already have it since Wagner is Eike.
57:31 Wesker moment So many unanswered questions… I don't know what to make of the writing in this, whether it's intricately woven by a genius mastermind, or mythical and symbolic and not to be logically-analyzed, or just written by an ambitious nutjob. Regardless, I love it. The "old manuscript" filter in the attract mode is pretty cool, too. I'm unsurprised by this game's existence; what gets me is that it was _localized._ What's more, it had ports to other platforms that also got localized._ And it wasn't even on the Dreamcast. Thing about the endings is that you _don't_ have to poke around to get them, you only needed two saves right at the end. But they don't tell you that, so you'd probably sink a lot of time _into_ poking around.
The title screen and art makes him look so cool and Final fantasy tier jrpg cool dude, well, Squall Leonheart cool but he just bumbles...The ending is hmmh, Ending E with Dana having aged 4 years and then being with Eike in the modern day is neat, Hugo not getting vaporized out of existence and all is nice. A nice non violent conclusion to it all. The Ex ending though, I guess that's the whole Shadow of destiny bit coming to bite. I presume based on other comments, Ex1 is a descendant wanger Eike and not Eike eike. The end card art is really nice and I think... I think what the game wanted to be, depicted in the Art versus the rendered designs and how it comes through are totally different. Like if this was an anime, you'd probably have less of a bumble Eike. Okay when it ends on that Super serious Eike, it just, feels weird. I love his long leg design but I'd probably be a little bit pissed if I bought this game. The trailers allude to alot more, more, you know? I mean the whole lets play was awesome but I think the game itself could have been executed better. It is pretty neat what we got but it sure wants more.
Something people missed: in EX2, Eike doesn't destroy the Djinn (Homonculous), Dr. Wagner only uses a small bit of it. So the Djinn exists and may still swap Dana and Margarite. After all, he did it for no real reason in the first place, neither was Eike's ancestor so it did nothing in game either other than give Homonculous more smoke and mirrors. 'I did this and am lying about why so I can pretend I give a rat's hind leg about you, Eike'. Remember, the stone still exists, so he can still appear in some form. Or the programmers forgot that bit, I mean, that's MUCH more likely lol.
I played this game a lot when it first came out and I remember liking it a lot. Looking at it now, it is a bit rough. The voice work is especially bad. Then again, 20 years ago we didn't really have much choice in the matter, so I guess it never bothered me back then. I also really like whole 'prevent-your-own-death' thing, but it's not quite as cleaver as I would have liked it to be. I suppose I like the concept and would like to see it played with again.
I'm pretty sure the baby switch is just Humonculos trolling Eike and nothing more than a red herring since it makes no sense that he'd go through *that* much trouble. Enough to take a baby and leave it at a church? Yes. But to take two babys, switch them, then leave one... somewhere without a family? Come now, that's too hands on.
By giving it to him before Helena dies, he uses the stone to make the Elixir of Life, instead of using it to try and make a Homunculus, so Homunculus is never freed from the stone.
Dana is Eike's daughter. He's a youth-restored Dr. Wagner with memory loss. In ending E, Homonculous lies about what happened and nobody can call him on it. Basically he just does the baby swap because he's a dick and just wants something to do to pretend he did something so Eike never figures out he's actually Dr. Wagner. Just lucky Eike and the doctor don't shake hands...
Actually about the theory U made about “cause woke defeated homunculus then he never switched the babies” sadly that’s not the case cause it was already done and the homunculus has been around long enough that he went back in time and switched the babies and just waited to find the young Eike, left the stone behind for him and let things play from there. Cause Dana saw Eike as a dad I don’t think they would have gotten together. He definitely got together with Margaret from the present though
I love the idea that in ending E Homunculus makes up a story, so that he doesn't have to admit that he got punked out by someone that would eventually become as stupid as Eike.
And thus ends the epic saga of Eike Kush, a man who could not be better described than, in sgf’s own words, ‘thickest boy with the longest legs’.
He truly was dummy thick
Throwing the stone at him wipes him out of Existence because it's his past self touching his future self.
That makes me wonder, what exactly counts as a person touching their temporal alternate self? If you took hair or nail clippings from someone in another time period, does that count? How about if I go into the past and grab a piece of food a person would have eaten and some of the organic molecules from that food have been used to build up tissue in their body?
@@Crowley9 Questions like that can only be reasonably answered in a MUCH more well-written game than Shadow of Destiny/Memories. With this games writing, throwing a Bacon, YOU, and Tomato sandwich (Hereafter referred to as a BYT) at Homunculus would've, I dunno', somehow turned him into Hugo's mother. And anyone watching would be left mystified as to the how's and why's of it.
Finally figured out why I like this game so much. It's like someone poured Monkey Island, Altered Destinies and Deadly Premonition in an alchemy pot, took a good stir and spilled most of it on the carpet.
Hahahaha. Yeah
Altered Destinies deserves more attention. It's the only game about time travel I know of which takes it to the logical conclusions of you can always go back and try again. Well, at least ones that aren't about an ever-repeating time loop.
As much fun as it is to see Eike bumbling through much of the game like a hapless subject to the whims of others, watching him become hyper-competent and take control of the whole situation felt like a good payoff.
Also, way better conclusion to the arc of a time-bending protagonist than The Forgotten City's "debate" against Pluto.
The characters at the end of the EX endings aren't Eike and Hugo, but descendants of Dr. Wagner and Hugo, hence the baby's cry at the beginning of the last scene. This game likes to reuse models in different clothing to denote members of a certain family line in different timelines
I was going to say, how is Eike even in the future if Wagner doesn't become immortal, but this makes sense. Too bad the game doesn't even bother to really explain it at all.
Idk if anyone noticed, but Margarete's 'controversial' fashion choices probably correlate with her being from different timeline. It's not super important detail, but a nice one!
The tragic irony is that Ye Olde Bosse was also getting Dana a birthday present for her hard work.
Margaret just bosses him right out of his murderous plan. So the only things that can stop him are ghosts, being dragged to hell, and slapped around by his sister.
When someone with Margaret's disposition gets angry enough to slap you, you've done screwed up in immeasurable ways.
A good telling off by Mr Eckart works too.
Never fear, the Legman is here!
Any playthrough with Baby Man is alright with me.
Really bizarre game for its time. Gotta give credit to them for making something so unique and it does have a charm to it.
This game will live on in my memory as long as Eike's legs...forever.
The only change I'd really make to EX2 would be for Margarete to be replaced by Dana as soon as Helena finishes drinking the Elixir of Life. That would, after all, be the actual result.
If it changed the past's past like that, then the elixir of life would also disappear, since Eike couldn't have brought it. I think what's done is done, and only the future changes. Although that does mean that does mean the real Dana doesn't get kidnapped as a baby, so she gets two lives… Meanwhile the replacement Dana, having already been swapped, just disappeared into time…
Weird game.
I had to look at Ending A again because I was confused about how Homunculus died. When Eike dropped the Digipad a piece of the digipad broke, and the piece lodged itself into Homunculus head. That is why Homunculus started to bleed at the end. Kinda hard to tell what happened because how fast it was.
I played this game when it was new and was blown away by how weird it was. I definitely didn't manage to get all the endings, so seeing you get them was a real treat.
Eike is the dumbest protagonist (until he's not) and it's kind of endearing.
This thumbnail... is something else.
Spaghetti boy did have a major role though, he hit Eike with the car
that was a different boy, that was look at this cool burning house boy!
Man, Ex ng+ eike is kinda cool
I watched your whole playthrough of this game now, and I must say you had me cracking up with your sass! Also, gotta love your "nyeeh!" for Hugo!
Dana's gonna go back to work to find her late birthday present only to find out it's a gift card for the cafe chain she works for that can only be used in another location. She'd wished she was back using chamber pots and doing laundry by hand.
Alright the extra mode is kinda funny, Eike is just kinda like "yeah okay let's speed this up."
Still loving the "the sims on acid" bgm.
Shadow of Destiny is even more mind-blowing when you realize it was developed by KCE Tokyo, the same Konami subsidiary that made the first four Silent Hill games.
Makes sense- some of the stepping- soundeffects on certain surfaces or when stair climbing are the same as in Silent Hill 2, which came out in kinda close proximity to this.
Another Supergreatpodcast series listened to, Aike Kush is a transcendent, nirvana attaining intelligence to be sure
1:09:01 Strange... That sound / sample (choir voice)... I've already heard it in a different video game... I wonder if it was in one of the Silent Hill games...
Edit: Got it ! It was in Silent Hill 3, in the 7th track called "Clockwork Little Happiness".
I guess Akira Yamaoka picked up some samples from an available sound effects library owned by Konami to make some parts of his pieces (since Shadow of Destiny is also a Konami's game).
This game might be complete nonsense, but I really miss those times, when big publishers released experimental stuff like this from time to time.
I just finished binging your playthrough of The Witness, so glad you used jazz in paris again
Did anyone else catch that subtle moment where Margarette rolls her eyes when Eike tells her to give the stone to her father?
I did! I had to do a double take, and I think it's just the lighting, but it still gave me chuckle.
What a weird, funny game. Thanks for playing this one!
Rewatching the first cutscene with Margarete, it feels like she's introduced as being kind of sarcastic and sassy, but then in the next scene she immediately drops it and becomes guilelessly sweet and innocent. Am I the only one who got that read? Certainly wouldn't be the first weirdly inconsistent VA performance in the game.
Why would she be sassy towards her family or the guy who helped her?
@@d0nutwaffle if anyone in this game deserves sass, it's Hugo.
I feel that a bit, although I feel this is also because she never has to be confrontational again towards someone antagonistic to her
The thumbnails for this series are getting progressively more erotic with each subsequent post
I like how in basically all the endings Eike goes all "you were just using me all along >:(" and then just gives Homunculus the Digipad back like nothing happened, I feel like Eike just likes the idea of being used at this point
What an absolutely lovely game. Completely odd, but enjoyable the whole way through!
Some thoughts:
- They mention that the people of the modern day look super alike to their ancestors. I think the "Eike" and "Hugo" at the end of the EXs are their descendants.
- I wonder if the EX mode is a reconfiguration of the Time Loop idea that appears in the second trailer.
- In a way, the EX endings make me a bit sad, solely because our modern Eike is such an endearing character that it's sad to see him disappear, even if for the greater outcome.
HUGO NYEEH
I do like how after you finish each ending, the story is actually kind of good. That everything seems to make sense except Hugo making his own time machine. And where did the stone even come from in the first place? Eike couldn't have given it to Wagner if Wagner didn't already have it since Wagner is Eike.
Yay! Eike dabbed on Homunculus!
WHAT ABOUT THE REAL MYSTERY!?
What's the point of the church? And how did this time loop begin?
Wait wait wait... Charles Martinet is the VA for Homunculus..... mind blown!
Alternative title: Slenderman Origins
Eike is up there with the cronies of clueless Japanese games protagonists
What a man, very clueless man indeed
I would really like to see a fight between Hugo and Steve from Resident Evil Code Veronica.
good job finding all the endings. I appreciate the extra effort.
This game honestly has some screams that would give most horror games a run for their money.
57:31
Wesker moment
So many unanswered questions… I don't know what to make of the writing in this, whether it's intricately woven by a genius mastermind, or mythical and symbolic and not to be logically-analyzed, or just written by an ambitious nutjob. Regardless, I love it.
The "old manuscript" filter in the attract mode is pretty cool, too.
I'm unsurprised by this game's existence; what gets me is that it was _localized._ What's more, it had ports to other platforms that also got localized._ And it wasn't even on the Dreamcast.
Thing about the endings is that you _don't_ have to poke around to get them, you only needed two saves right at the end. But they don't tell you that, so you'd probably sink a lot of time _into_ poking around.
The title screen and art makes him look so cool and Final fantasy tier jrpg cool dude, well, Squall Leonheart cool but he just bumbles...The ending is hmmh, Ending E with Dana having aged 4 years and then being with Eike in the modern day is neat, Hugo not getting vaporized out of existence and all is nice. A nice non violent conclusion to it all. The Ex ending though, I guess that's the whole Shadow of destiny bit coming to bite. I presume based on other comments, Ex1 is a descendant wanger Eike and not Eike eike. The end card art is really nice and I think...
I think what the game wanted to be, depicted in the Art versus the rendered designs and how it comes through are totally different. Like if this was an anime, you'd probably have less of a bumble Eike. Okay when it ends on that Super serious Eike, it just, feels weird. I love his long leg design but I'd probably be a little bit pissed if I bought this game. The trailers allude to alot more, more, you know? I mean the whole lets play was awesome but I think the game itself could have been executed better. It is pretty neat what we got but it sure wants more.
I mostly had this bumble on in the background so I'm sure I missed a lot of things, but did we ever find out why Eike's legs are so long?
So his feet can reach the ground.
SOMETIMES IT REALLY DO BE THAT WAY
Eike Kush, father of the millennium!
Something people missed: in EX2, Eike doesn't destroy the Djinn (Homonculous), Dr. Wagner only uses a small bit of it. So the Djinn exists and may still swap Dana and Margarite. After all, he did it for no real reason in the first place, neither was Eike's ancestor so it did nothing in game either other than give Homonculous more smoke and mirrors. 'I did this and am lying about why so I can pretend I give a rat's hind leg about you, Eike'. Remember, the stone still exists, so he can still appear in some form. Or the programmers forgot that bit, I mean, that's MUCH more likely lol.
I played this game a lot when it first came out and I remember liking it a lot. Looking at it now, it is a bit rough. The voice work is especially bad. Then again, 20 years ago we didn't really have much choice in the matter, so I guess it never bothered me back then. I also really like whole 'prevent-your-own-death' thing, but it's not quite as cleaver as I would have liked it to be. I suppose I like the concept and would like to see it played with again.
I'm pretty sure the baby switch is just Humonculos trolling Eike and nothing more than a red herring since it makes no sense that he'd go through *that* much trouble. Enough to take a baby and leave it at a church? Yes. But to take two babys, switch them, then leave one... somewhere without a family? Come now, that's too hands on.
Trailer 3 kinda feels like it's going for a David Lynch style of direction.
1:11:40 That's the Ryo Kush we know....wait...
Wait.... homonculus is voiced by CHARLES MARTINET?
A visual novel gameplay-ified, is what this game is. In my opinion.
The soccer thing was their descendants. Because Wager doesn't become immortal anymore
Ah the final ending. Blink and you'll miss it... XD
Okay, so in EX1... why is it that giving the stone to MArgerite creates the paradox? Like, didn't we give the stone to him a bunch of times before?
By giving it to him before Helena dies, he uses the stone to make the Elixir of Life, instead of using it to try and make a Homunculus, so Homunculus is never freed from the stone.
41:33 what a lier 😂
Ending E: So I guess Margeurette is now Eike's ancestor after all? Cos Dana staying in the future didn't annihilate anyone from the timeline....
Dana is Eike's daughter. He's a youth-restored Dr. Wagner with memory loss. In ending E, Homonculous lies about what happened and nobody can call him on it. Basically he just does the baby swap because he's a dick and just wants something to do to pretend he did something so Eike never figures out he's actually Dr. Wagner. Just lucky Eike and the doctor don't shake hands...
Actually about the theory U made about “cause woke defeated homunculus then he never switched the babies” sadly that’s not the case cause it was already done and the homunculus has been around long enough that he went back in time and switched the babies and just waited to find the young Eike, left the stone behind for him and let things play from there.
Cause Dana saw Eike as a dad I don’t think they would have gotten together. He definitely got together with Margaret from the present though
I think the real mystery is
Was the fortune lady actually Hugo in drag?
And what the hell does homunculus do with his immortality?