I love how they give out the bare minimum of information, imply something horrible and unknowable is beginning to attack your house, and then tell you not to panic.
If u remember right, the broadcast told u to not agree with any humanoid voices, so the person who left the voicemail was probably one of Them lying to you.
Something I noticed early on: the broadcast tells everyone to not answer their doors, no matter how human whatever is on the other side may sound. Apartment doors are supposed to have peepholes, though, so if something inhuman was at your door, you could peep and see, but if it was a human, you’d be able to see that, too. Also. What was the first thing Manly did when he left the apartment? He went and he knocked on every door. We saw no “monsters.” If something *is* knocking on your door, it’s most likely a human seeking help, but the authority has created this system so that those who do not listen do not survive, no matter what.
Anything can hurt you. If they followed the directions from their own phones and televisions, then they would know not to answer or be in contact with anyone. What if the “human” was trying to hurt you anyways? It doesn’t have to be human for it to be not dangerous. Anything could happen.
As if humans are not willing to hurt other humans even under normal circumstances. And also, what if it's a shapeshift that will imitate someone you know in hopes of getting in? From the broadcast, It seems to be very urgent so I would assume that some people in the government had already succumbed to whoever is imitating them.
Or it could just be someone who isn't following protocol, and their actions result in the endangerment of others. It's like if you see one person out in the water at the beach and they insist that there "isn't a shark", simply because they haven't seen it with their own eyes, but then a poor fool who took their word for it ends up getting attacked by the shark.
you trust automatically trust humans just because they're humans? let me give you a simple request, list me 3 of the most stupid species you can think of. If you do not include Humans then you are the equivalent of covering your ears and screaming la la la la la la
12:52 "If I keep going right I'll eventually get out." That's an actual thing, for anyone who doesn't know. If you're ever lost in a cave or a maze or something, this is a rule you should always follow. Put your right hand on the wall and just always go right at every opportunity. Mathematically speaking, it's impossible to miss the exit that way. It may not be the most efficient or fast way to navigate a cave or maze, but it ensures a few things. A- you'll find an exit or entrance, and B- you'll easily be able to backtrack if you have to, by turning around and putting your left hand on the wall and only taking left turns. It's a good rule to know. Keep it in mind!
@@carlnicholson I'm fairly certain it does. Imagine a square inside a larger square, place yourself inside the inner square a cut in a small opening. You can follow along the walls of the inner square forever and never get out of the outer square. The same concept applies with more complex shapes.
@@lucasbrant9856 oh your right yea. That was a good visual. I guess you would have to realize to get away from the inner square, and then do the right wall technique once you find a boarder wall.
Right hand and Left hand searches are things they teach firefighters to navigate buildings when they cannot see clearly and do not know the layout of the building. Fun fact for people.
“Do not attempt to investigate any light or noise outside of your home…” alright yeah that sounds like an interesting premise, this is like the lockdown in our world but with monsters maybe? But in a totalitarian state that can lock the doors and windows on their own? That’s really creative and I can already see the potential- “… or inside your home.” *WHAT* That’s terrifying.
@@jth_printed_designs is an interesting theory, then the goverment is killing you not bc you are infected or something, they know you went outside and came back without any problem therefore you know that theres nothing to worry about all this time
"but with monsters" Dude, have you been conscious for the last 2 years? Governments don't need monsters as an excuse to lock us up in our own homes. And the totalitarian state forcibly locking (welding, even) peoples' doors happened as well.
The trick is that its always scarier when you dont reeeeally know whats after you. Your imagination becomes a weapon against you. Its like alien isolation, once you see the alien its so much less scary, and once there's more than 1 its even LESS scary somehow.
Once you see a thing, you now can rationalize it, plan for it, think about it capabilities, how to run and where to hide.... before? Well, anything ou do can fail because you don't know what it is.
@@YaToGamiKuro Are you really phobic of gae? I'm not scary. I'm like 4 foot 8, slim, and pretty. Not exactly spoopy :p Unless your username is ironic or something. Or you're phobic of public displays of affection. Those make me a bit uncomfortable.
Having worked for a hospital group with multiple locations that use a Pevco tube system: everyone is already dead. It failed on Day 2 when someone got a container stuck in their tube station and the system can't maintain pressure.
10:20 Huge props to the game dev for not making a stupid puzzle that involves bumbling around for 20 minutes before finding a key. This puzzle is close by, doesn't waste your time, and it's pretty satisfying to solve. Seriously, good puzzle design is so rare in these kinds of games.
@@Zarnirox Well said! Frustration. Frustration because the game is tedious, without interesting characters, world building, or gameplay to keep us engaged. Oh and, while I'm here, may as well complain about it. I'm also getting tired of horror games who's story is, "I am a dude in a house/dungeon and I find notes that say I'm sad cuz my wife died or whatever." Wow, haven't heard that one 1000 times. Ok I'll stop complaining now, thx for the comment man.
@@basimaziz Yeah, man. Here's my own rant if you're interested. I remember playing a horror game a few years ago. I don't remember the name, but it was honestly very well-made. The theme, the tone and the aesthetics were all done very competently. The problem I had was I came to a part where the objective for one stage started feeling very directionless. Plus, there was no map. There was also a combat mechanic for defending yourself against monsters, but the controls for it felt very stiff and unintuitive. Maybe it was done that way on purpose to make the character feel more vulnerable, but it became way too frustrating added with the fact that you start back at the beginning of the stage whenever you die. Like I said, the rest of the game was very well-made. I was excited to try it, but I had to stop because I was tired of bumbling through the same area over and over again.
What interests me most is, how quickly did the government set up the key card, pneumonic systems and gas pipes in everyone's apartment? With how large the city looked, and assuming this is a national issue rather than only a state, let alone one city, along with the fact it'd be easy for people to escape as they were setting up everything, it leads me to theorize these systems were already put into place due to a similar yet just as unknown incident years ago... (or I'm thinking about it too hard, lol)
the buildings look like eastern european post-communist living blocks, which already had communication systems in place except for the "nomad pipelines"
It sounds like how grocery stores started doing home deliveries, along with door dash, ubereats, etc. type food delivery services all started showing up just before the coof hit. And the enormous number of those hard plastic-y cashier shields that just so happened to be ready to go in every store shortly after the "outbreak."
@@GamePlayuh9510 not really, none of these services require installing anything in anyones home. and how complicated do you think it is to cut squares of plastic and put them on sticks somewhere?
So that may be, but prolonged isolation and confusion of the dangers of the outside world to where you don't have a choice BUT to be in a cage will drive anyone insane. To be a captive of your own desire, and locked in a cage are two different things.
Maybe the neighbor with blood oozing under the door went through the same thing as the player. Came in contact with whatever the threats are and so were killed inside their home. Or not. Lol
ANALYSIS: (tldr is I think every communication/instruction you received beyond the initial daily broadcast was by whatever entity the lock-down was trying to contain.) They said human contact was forbidden, and not to trust anyone no matter how human they appear. I think the problem starts when you continue taking orders, doing business with "humans". Then you are sent to fix something by someone who just so happens to have all the info you need to find a package that didn't meet it's destination. When you get into the sorting room, there is only the one package, and a bunch of steam being blown in. The door gets locked behind you. And then you fall into a psychedelic maze? I think they were already gassing you by the time you got to the package room. Turning a valve to open a big tube that takes you home... And then you just wake up in your apartment. Also all the doors in your apartment including the front door seem to have locked on their own, however the knife from the table is missing, so someone was there before you. I would have said the authorities investigated while you were gone, and removed it. However the emergency line "person" directs you back to the tv for instructions, and the TV says they just sent you a blade by tube. I think this line shows that the TV + Phone instructions have been issued by someone who assumes you do not have a blade. Now, if whoever moved/got rid of the first blade were affiliated with the ones issuing these instructions, what reason would they have for taking it, when they were just going to send you another? Plus the broadcast at the end is in a different color and with a different voice than the first! Also I noticed that the tube that gasses you at the end in your room, magically appears on the wall AFTER you wake up with no idea how you got back. There is no tube for gassing you with before you left. I think the sequence beyond getting locked in the sorting room may be the entity feeding you a hallucination. It may be trying to make the enforcers of the lockdown seem like the bad guys who would cruelly gas you, or give you a knife instead of sending help. It might also be that the entity is trying to .... idk, make you really distrust tubes? I mean, they send you down a big scary tube. Then they start gassing you with a whole other tube you didnt even know you had in your house. Next, the tubes that have been your lifeline become your demise by sending you a knife! I'm really just trying to come up with impetus for removing the knife and then giving you another knife by mail. But yeah it could very well be an "Anti-Tube Entity". I will note that It's weird they gas you AND tell you to cut your throat. Seems kind of redundant. Only answer to this is tube-hating-demon
Whole year later, but I think the bad guys took your knife so you wouldn't be able to kill yourself, thus letting you stay alive to become one of them via whatever method they use.
"Do not respond to knocks on your windows. . ." ** The only window in the living room shows that the room is a few stories up ** Me: I sure fucking hope I wouldn't have to
Fun fact.. A lot of apartment complexes that consist of one building, are actually worse for spreading disease in terms of having people stay home than letting them be outside. This is due to the fact that everyone shares the same ventilation system. Making anything air-born spread easily among the tenants of the building. So being in places like skyscrapers, hotels, large apartment complexes, ect.. puts you at higher risk than being outside.. More so if said disease is the kind that can not stand/dies off to UV light. Something that is in abundance if its day time and there are clear skies. Hope you enjoyed this fun fact and have a wonderful day/night. Oh and... Good luck.
I think the only threat from the vents here is that you hear a knocking come from them. Edit/ Spoiler: I am also pretty sure the air ventillation system is closed off for each individual apartment. Given the apparent prep work for that ending, it would have to be closed it it didn't cause collateral damage.
Reason a lot of newer apartment systems have vents for air exchange in each apartment that lead outside. Besides allowing people to control their heating and cooling systems themselves, they allow for each unit to be isolated from others. Older buildings are awful however.
I visited an older Soviet panel building once, they solved that by having only exit vents for the air, the replacement air came from outside. Same where I live now, not in an ex-USSR country, built in the late 90s. I don't see how the germs would spread via the vents.
Damn, the part where they start playing "Lacrimosa" by Mozart. I wasn't expecting that but it's very fitting considering it's one of the movements from Mozart's Requiem (626), and by definition a requiem is "a mass for the repose of the souls of the dead." So, basically, the government in this was like "hey, we're either gonna off you or you can off yourself, but here's this song to try and put your soul at peace." sgjsgshsgs (It is one of my favorite classical songs, I would really suggest to anyone to listen to the full Requiem even though it is over an hour long.)
@@Annonn He did! I know I've read somewhere that it's thought his apprentice at the time ended up finishing the rest of the Requiem, since Mozart did have most of it done before he died. There's also a quote about how it felt like "Mozart was writing his /own/ Requiem," though I think it's speculated that his wife(?) is the one who said that, if it's true.
I had several mini-strokes reading the title of this video. Also nothing says 'I've been locked inside for 178 days' like a whole, uneaten, and non-rotten delivery pizza.
There’s nothing scarier, than the Emergency Alert System… Edit: I… liked this game, it gave me Silent Hill and Cry of Fear vibes, the text to speech voices added a lot to the creepy factor, we even get to jump down a hole like in Silent Hill 2…
Silent Hill 2. You see a dark hole. Do you go down? Lol. And again and again. I remember that part. I was thinking, this leads to an area of hell 🤣. And lastly, there was a hole here.
One of my favorite creepy videos is a simulation of the emergency broadcast that would happen if Earth were being imminently sucked into a black hole. Absolutely bone-chillingly terrifying!
I feel like from the warning not to answer your phone because they can emulate human voices, that is a hint that the person who called (I believe your last client you sent drugs to, but also possibly your supplier) was not actually them, but one of the entities. Obviously the drugs really were stuck in the tube, but the fact that no one was there to actually catch it when you went to retrieve it makes me think that this was all done as a set-up to get you out of your apartment and into their hands for whatever reason. You may have survived/escaped whatever they had planned for you, but your contact with the outside world meant you had to be killed to be on the safe side. Although the fact that the government seemed to know what you did even with no one around also suggests they could have known about the drugs being stuck in the tube and the call was genuine (although how would the caller know?). I also think the whole drug dealing angle is a commentary on how during the pandemic, a lot of people have lost their jobs and wages because of the lockdowns and there's been little to nothing in place from the government to assist them. It seems like the only reason the main character turned to selling drugs, according to the intro, was because he had a job outside of his home he could no longer do so he had no choice.
I talked to a friend of mine from China and he said it's the same there. They can detect when the door is open and immediately send people to arrest you if you leave quarantine.
Any idea what happens if you just call the emergency number instead after getting that message? Like, this puts a certain message out based on having done exactly what instructions said not to do, and the objective said “too late” when trying to use it after being returned, is it possible this ends a completely different way?
@@alecLogan I'm not sure, as I didn't play the game myself. Since Manly usually goes for all endings and possibilities, it's likely you aren't able to do it.
Manly, I think you’re living in a world where simulations don’t go as planned and end up as horror sequences. However, you don’t sound too nervous at all.
To make you feel worse about calling that play station “old school”, you could say the same about the Wii now since it’s counted as a retro console since it’s 15.
178 days of being locked in your own house? That's rookie numbers with a PS1. There are endless classics you could play on that machine that can last you years.
Oof, being an anime dealer is rough. Not as bad as being a manga dealer, because then your clientele can be more dangerous if they get angry, since they're so strong from carrying those huge bags of books.
It seems this game was effective in establishing the lingering threat of some unknown, pernicious force that necessitated the government to undertake stifling, if not oppressive, methods to prevent this threat. Due to the vagueness of the writing, I can’t tell if this was the intent, but I’m sensing something remotely conspiratorial involved here, like others have said, similar to 1984 where the government used the constant state of war as an excuse to lower the standard of living and keep the proles under-educated, under-resourced, repressed, and controlled. Given the environmental storytelling here, it appears that the city and its inhabitants have crumbled beneath the heavy-handed management of the regime, which perhaps was the intention, knowing nothing could be done to oppose. When our protagonist goes outside and is confronted by what might be a resistance group, he is told that he is learning the truth, and that this truth will make it impossible for him to return to the mundanity of his everyday life. Soon after this encounter, he is eradicated by the government, and professes he now knows the “truth”. Perhaps he is referring to the orchestration of this oppression by the government and how the true threat is knowledge? I can’t say for certain. I think I would have appreciated this game a bit more if the vagueness was a little less pronounced and we could better ascertain what the writer was attempting to reference and achieve. I like that the threat was unknown, as this lends itself to being falsified by the government, but I would have liked some other evidence to maybe suggest some malice and manipulation on the part of the government over its populace. Still, interesting concept, though a bit too open-ended to have significant weight as a narrative.
I think "the truth" is that there's nothing. There is no otherworldly threat or anything. It's just purely nothing, but for one reason or another those in charge keep everyone locked down oppressively despite there being no actual threat. It's just at this point anyone who leaves to find out dies, and no one will ever know because most will just listen to the broadcasts and not respond to your calls for help.
A fascist and/or authoritarian government would not set up a realistic looking mannequin or kill one dude and hang him up just so that that one dude could then go back to his apartment so that the government could then kill him with poison gas. All ethics and morals aside that's a ridiculous waste of time, manpower and resources. If that was a scam then any semi-competent and/or fasict state with a secret police service would have allowed the guy to call his friends and loved ones over the phone and tell them he ventured outside his apartment (in order to spread the message and/or figure out who this guy was in closest contact with) before killing him.
I'm leaning more towards the 1984 angle. There is no threat, the government is just exerting total control over the people, and are using the excuse of an invasion to justify ending the lives of anyone they catch disobeying.
The fact that the threat was so largely left to imagination is what makes it scary. That's the whole point. They tell you to have all the precautions possible, everybody, and you have absolutely no idea what the threat is.
This game was fascinating. It makes me wonder, though, about the phone call you got from the dealer. How did they have the keycard that opened YOUR apartment? How did he know the code to the sorting center that's changed daily but clearly hasn't been used in a long time? Considering the instructions to avoid any contact with anything "appearing human" from outside or INSIDE your home I wonder if that wasn't whatever entity ended up abducting you and "waking you up" trying to lure you out. And considering you say you know the truth and are free with "them" after killing yourself it reminds me of the Matrix and maybe the method to wake up from the simulation (which has perhaps been hacked and thus the lockdown and strange locks, tubes, and gassing system just magically in place) is to die inside it after being "awakened" by the hacker? Interesting food for thought.
Me: _has years of experience ignoring my doorbell and any human sounds outside my door and lots of practice pretending I'm not there when someone knocks_ Me: "Finally, my time to shine."
This is actually a good horror game that I haven’t come across in many days…builds up the suspense instead of throwing jump scares. It builds up the tension really nicely!!
It makes me giggle a bit every time Manly says "good luck" because he says it exactly like the voice from the stage selection screen in both Star Fox for SNES and Star Fox 64.
Fun fact, the emergency broadcast message they had was actually partially real! The staying in your home part and the don't answer to knocks on your windows or doors part is from a real emergency message the US government would play in the event of an alien arrival. Kinda cool!
So you’re telling me… that the U.S. government has a prepared EAS in case of an alien invasion, telling you to not respond to knocks. That’s actually crazy.
@@Burnt_Perceptionthey also have an emergency plan in case of a zombie apocalypse, taking into consideration that the zombies might be a virus, bioweapon, or straight up magic
@@Burnt_Perception I believe they also have plans in place for if a zombie apocalypse occurs. Iirc, the rationale is not because they expect this will ever happen, but because it's a novel threat without established guidelines on how to deal with it, so it's used as low stakes practice making plans for other, more realistic scenarios. Plus, in the event something similar ever does somehow happen... well there's a plan for that now.
Kinda reminds me of "Presentable Liberty" in a way. You're locked away, for reasons unknown, your only communication being written letters with people you've never seen, your only companion a mouse, and an outbreak of organ failing sickness wiping or the population outside. Good stuff. Add. Also, padlock at 10:35 says "padlcok"
"No matter how human or familiar it looks" "Do not make contact with anyone outside your home" "Do not respond to knocks on your windows or doors" "Do not attempt to investigate any light or noise outside" I have the strangest sense of analog vu...
You know, I think I'll take the drug charge. What are they going to do? Lock me up? I can't even open the door to be arrested! When did all this get set up? Pneumatic tubes, electronic card locks, and a gassing tube?
I think the goodluck is intentionally put there to make you realize that all the people you talk too are effectively working together/the same entity - it feels like the Government decided that our character was bad news for some reason or another and set em up to be eliminated
@@Seth9809 "regime"? Tell me you're a crazy libertarian without telling me you're a crazy libertarian. You don't even know the circumstances of this world. I'd say if it was overrun by mimics or similar entities like the EAS suggests, then isolation is the most logical thing the government could've done, and the least drastic. One thing they bungled up is upholding capitalism and making people pay for anything - that's idiotic, but believable unfortunately.
@@Mia199603I’m pretty sure the government was already compromised at this point. The truth is achieved through death because the process of learning it doesn’t change the outcome. Joining them is free in the sense that you don’t have to live in the circumstances perpetuated by the government. The government sending you off is no different from opening their arms to you
"Oh, a PlayStation, how old school! ...Man, I hate calling that old school." LOL, same. I think the use text-to-speech (I think?) voice-overs for the dialogue really added to the creepiness of the game.
I think the vagueness of a situation can greatly increase the horror factor, but it only works effectively if the player/viewer/reader has something easily understandable or relatable to compare to. Without it, the story will simply end up being confusing, which is kinda what happened here. Most analog horror (which was clearly used as a source of inspiration here) takes place in some kind of alternate world where mostly everything is as it is in ours, but something is wrong. Meanwhile here we have a vague situation with vague threat. Also why make such a big deal out of the vague threat monsters impersonating people if you're never going to use it? Like imagine if the phone call that got the protagonist to leave their apartment was one such case, only discovered when the protagonist finds out that the "anime" was delivered as was supposed to. It's not a bad game, it has genuinely creepy atmosphere. So I hope that if the dev sees this by any chance, they take it as a piece of constructive criticism that I at least intended it to be rather than the pointless ramble that it probably comes across as.
Agreed. I suppose it's implied that the person on the other line is supposed to be an impersonator, perhaps one that rigged, locked and shut-down the delivery system to begin with, but there's a lot of "generic creepy" thrown at you that has no payoff. "Do not investigate sounds or lights outside or inside your home" None are present. Home is a pointless setpiece. "I have to be careful not to be seen." No chance of being seen. "You're learning the truth." Garbage maze. "Go back to your meaningless life" Life ends immediately afterwards due to Deadly Neurotoxin[tm] or sudoku. "I know the truth. I'm free." Wat. It's just a bunch of generic horror hooplah that takes "show, don't tell" to its worst extreme. The unknown can be horrifying, but the vague is just dull.
@@ZackofSpades Definitely feels like a cut together version of a full game that sets up a bunch of stuff and has amazing atmosphere but zero delivery and rushes to finish for seemingly no reason.
@@uppishcub1617 See, that's bullshit too! Who locked the door behind the protagonist? The fuckin state? Who made the creepy dream maze? Not the state! It doesn't work on that level given that there are genuinely supernatural things happening, just no supernatural things that do anything to build a sense of anything but a vaguely creepy environment.
@@overtoast1105 I believe that it was meant to be the state was the bad guy but you bring up a good point, unless it was some stupid drug bullshit sequence. Also how did that guy get the keycard? Set up by a demon (or whatever entity) or setup by the state and then did a bunch of shenanigans to make you trip balls in the maze section? Too open ended for any real thing.
it's sunrise in my home (5:43 AM Brazil) my mom just kicked me out, and i dont have a job neither where to go but at least, i can enjoy your videos manly, thanks for giving me such good fun in my darkest hour. edit: its strange to feel cared by people i don't know, but at least im not abandoned anymore, thanks guys valeu pelo apoio de todo mundo que deixou uma mensagem, significa muito pra mim
This reminds me of the horror movie "AWAIT FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS". It's quite similar to this in the sense that you are stuck in your house and recieving a government broadcast with instructions you are supposed to follow, though it was freakier... until they ruined it by showing what the "monster" was and giving an ending that was kind of dumb.
I think the whole point of that movie was to show that blindly following anything, whether the threat is real or not, isn't a good idea. There's subtext likening government, religion, culture, and family command, and that each can be highly negative. I mean, the consequences for not following instructions was real in the movie, but that doesn't mean following instructions was right.
@@shawnsheppard9614 Though I get what you're saying, they still could have gotten the message across perfectly fine without that dumb ending and cringey writing.
@@samuraitadpole5459 They changed the mood of the movie by showing what monster looks like and giving it a "face", eliminating the effect of the fear of the unknown. It would have been more powerful if they had kept the monster a mystery. But that's just my take on it.
@@soundtheartist9212 only reason I disagree is because after the movie was over I realized the monster was cables spread across the country or world and the idea that the characters wouldn't have survived is always scary to me, nevermind it kept the baby to get a follower. I see your point to a degree tho
This game reminded me of a creepypasta i read a while ago It had a setting like this one, kind of apocalyptic where there was a lockdown and people were advised to not trust anyone. Basically the protag could hear his friends outside the door begging him to get out of his house, claiming that the lockdown was over and his paranoia was getting out of hand, saying that they just wanted to help him. We as the readers had no way to know if the friends were actual humans or the monsters, so that's the interesting part, how you can put yourself in the protag's position while going "but what if it's not them? What if it's just another trick to try and convince him to go out?". In the end, the protag *did* listen to them and ended up in the "hospital" to deal with the paranoia, but it was still unclear wether if the protag was just having a manic episode, or if the voices of his friends were just another illusion from the monster plus that the protag was blind, so he had no way to see them and actually check if it was them or something else
It would be psychotic episode, not manic. Manic is having an abundance of energy, not being able to sleep etc. The opposite of depression. You can get psychosis in mania but it's not exclusive
The most unnerving part about the final scene is that when they tell you to say your final goodbyes even though they cut off the phonelines (atleast assuming so since its the only thing you couldn't interreact with, might be a stretch on my part though) and lock all the doors... So it kind of implies you'd have to say goodbye to the people you live with, in other words, others also in the process of getting gassed.
_"It's my own place. I'm allowed to be here"_ The game brought that trapped claustrophobic feeling home - pun intended. You weren't allowed any "normal" freedoms. It was more than a little nerve-racking. It didn't matter if it was post-apocalyptic, mid-pandemic, or ultimate totalitarian control. I thought the game looked bleak and depressing and fit the subject matter well.
I do love the grungy 90s aesthetic here. It feels so isolated and gross and slightly nostalgic. All anyone can do to pass the time is watch TV and play their games. It's like if the pandemic happened in a version of 1998 where there was 200x as many people and everyone ended up living in city apartments due to the sheer number of people.
I think the text to voice was sampled from Anthony Held. He did the audiobook reading for “Ubik” by Philip K Dick. It’s one of the only stories that hasn’t been adapted to the screen because the visuals needed to portray it accurately would cost “Inception” level or greater. In other words, if you like the announcer voice and the unsettling creepy feeling of a hostile reality, listen to the “Ubik” audiobook.
There was a fairly poor movie called "Await Further Instructions" that is extremely similar to this. This game does the idea much better though and does touch on analog horror more.
This is a situation where I really want to see a full version of this game. I loved the atmosphere, and I never quite knew what to expect. I think the dev has something good here if they decide to expand it, I'd ideally like more worldbuilding, maybe a few more endings, and a chance to delve a bit more into the horror of the situation and find out just what the things they keep talking about are.
I really didn't like this one. It wasn't scary at all. A little unnerving at first, but as it started building up potential threats like the "mysterious sounds and lights", the puddle of blood under the door and "trying not to be seen outside", without paying off ANY of them, the unnerving nature quickly bled out of it for me, as it became clear they were taking random analogue horror tropes and mushing them together. There is a big difference between "unknown" and "vague." The unknown can be terrifying, as the mind tries to fill in whatever it can to be the scariest thing you can imagine. But the vague? Being vague gives you too many loose pieces that don't fit together, and end up ruining the immersion. Some of Lovecraft's worst moments were when he tried to describe something as "indescribable." That's like trying to imagine a new color. I think that was even the concept of one of his books! It had me up until you tripped, fell and landed in a red-washed Microsoft screensaver from the 90's. Then I got major eye-roll-itis once it started going off about "learning the truth" and having you wake up mysteriously back in your bed before dying to either Deadly Neurotoxin[tm] or sudoku with a knife that they could have just left on your kitchen table instead of having it magically vanish and then have to be delivered to you. Manly was the best part of it, as always. I don't think I could have finished this one.
I hate how lovecraft does that. One monster was “unfathomable” so he didn’t even try to describe it. Anythings scarier than the unknown, wolves, losing track of a roach, cheap vape batteries, a line of people waiting for you to finish pooping, people who bite, stretching a rubber-band.
I keep seeing that Lovecraft criticism but I never actually saw it in one of his stories. He'd call something indescribable or unimaginable and then give like a paragraph or two describing it. Also, the point of The Colour Out of Space is that there's stuff humans can't even begin to conceive of. That's the point of a lot of his stories actually, and there's always something concrete going on in them so I don't really know how he applies to this game that literally has nothing going on in it.
@@uriel7395 I don’t remember the title, but it was about a man alone in a forest. It was short but the story was good. I’ll admit I read another one, longer story, which he did describe the multiple monsters well, but the story wasn’t very good. Gotta give credit to the man. Also shout out to his cat
@@horse433 Yeah some of Lovecraft's stories are bad. The Dunwich Horror is prob the worst i've read from him. And yeah, shout out to the adorable little N. M. Don't worry tho, he didn't just hate black people, Pickman's Gallery is a good read if you're in the mood for some casual italian hate
"We want to put pneumatic tubes in your home so you can receive deliveries even more quickly and conveniently!" (truck drivers get laid off in mass and it's no longer necessary to leave your house, so convenient!) "We're going to subsidize heating, cooling, and air filtration and install plumbing and HVAC in your house for all of it! It's free! Enjoy!" (what are they pumping into my home) "Guns have been banned and we have new security systems to keep criminals from breaking into your home! They'll be installed free of charge and will be set so you can push a panic button and the doors will lock until police can access it and unlock it themselves!" (who else can lock and unlock my door, and will they have more control over it than me?) "Mass surveillance keeps you safe, especially with all the new improvements we made to your life for convenience out of the goodness of our hearts!" (They have complete control over my life) I just summed up the story for you.
@@Cainus44 For the curious, the old videos on this user's account shows they are a straight up Neo Nazi. Facism is their jam! It's the prospect of people who aren't conservative white guys having some level of control over the government that scares them.
Manly about the, hug one wall, method of solving mazes, that ONLY works if there are no free standing walls in the maze, walls that are not connected to the edge walls by other walls
this could probably have done with a second pass on the proofreading, because "we just sent you a blade on your pneumatic tube system" just sounds like... impossibly stupid.
This reminds me of 1984. I have had the exact same feelings reading the book and watching this. You know that something is definitely wrong but it's not full explained and you are just supposed to accept that's just how it is, and the world is also starting to look like this.
1984 is full of interactions with other people though, it's not like that's the only work of fiction with an oppressive government. I think people are just saying this because of the pneumatic tubes lol
In many ways, the world has been this way for a long time. It just takes an extreme case for most people to see it. And some die without ever noticing, or whilst denying it ever happened.
I actually think that with more informations and context it could be a really, really good story, like it could be a dystopian like universe were basically everything's gone to shit and all, all these broadcast alert, no human contact, etc etc. One well prepared writer could really make something out of it
i like how its vague enough that it's unclear if theres a real threat or its a setup of circumstances. i think itd work better with a little more imformation or gameplay but its a good experience nonetheless. i really was expecting to see something
Is that really the ending? what if you don't pick up the blade? is there anyway to stop gas ? or did the main character really need to go down the tube?
I really liked this game and the analog feel to it + what are believed to be monsters being freed (souls?) idk i just really liked how they had us come up with what happened Good Luck.
I applaud this game on its represtantion of ps1 retro graphics, it strives what the tech could be at the time instead of making it look entirely crappy, also adds atmosphere
Welcome to the Open Your Door For Me Club, how Open Your Door For Me are ya? ( also note anyone waiting Lila is coming today also)
Anime
Epic
Hi
got it cheif
Open, I fear nothing and stare death in the eyes
"Hey where'd the knife go" is easily one of the creepiest things to hear in a horror game like this
where did it go
Remind me of that horror duck hunt vr game
"i gave it to my london buddy"
stab
@@barkyonyx424b oi you got a shanking license luv?
@@idk-dw8dm Duck Season?
Nothing boosts morale like an emergency broadcast signing off with just: "Good luck".
Good luck.
Good luck...
Good luck
Like at least put an anime waifu on it!
Your profile pic dude
I love how they give out the bare minimum of information, imply something horrible and unknowable is beginning to attack your house, and then tell you not to panic.
They truly did a great job setting the tone and atmosphere. Turning your creativity against you, giving you 2 questions for every answer.
Which makes complete sense honestly
I still love the answering machine with good luck and the broadcast signal ending it too. Like you already know you’re doomed.
“Hey some fucky shits goin on and if anything happens inside or outside your house… good luck?”
Kind of Ike the last 2 years . . .
If u remember right, the broadcast told u to not agree with any humanoid voices, so the person who left the voicemail was probably one of Them lying to you.
SHT thats actually makes sense
holy shit
@@youregay2947oh well
THIS
That's what happens when you try to sell anime in the pandemic.
>It has been 178 days
>I am beginning to lose track of time
idk but that made me chuckle
He made it 178 days before losing track of time!? :D
Food is transported by pneumatic tube. Pizza in huge box on table.
I'm a survivor, we're a dying breed.
said it on the TV so i’m guessing it was a constant thing til they lost track of time
@@IceManHG117 Inhuman delivery guy
anybody else wondering how the hell they got a pizza through a pneumatic tube??? Or is it just me
It's a collectors item
Had to be assembled piece by piece
@Ik how do you punch milk?
@@0Blueaura you need to wear boxing gloves.
roll it up and send it on through
Something I noticed early on: the broadcast tells everyone to not answer their doors, no matter how human whatever is on the other side may sound. Apartment doors are supposed to have peepholes, though, so if something inhuman was at your door, you could peep and see, but if it was a human, you’d be able to see that, too. Also. What was the first thing Manly did when he left the apartment? He went and he knocked on every door. We saw no “monsters.” If something *is* knocking on your door, it’s most likely a human seeking help, but the authority has created this system so that those who do not listen do not survive, no matter what.
Anything can hurt you. If they followed the directions from their own phones and televisions, then they would know not to answer or be in contact with anyone. What if the “human” was trying to hurt you anyways? It doesn’t have to be human for it to be not dangerous. Anything could happen.
As if humans are not willing to hurt other humans even under normal circumstances.
And also, what if it's a shapeshift that will imitate someone you know in hopes of getting in? From the broadcast, It seems to be very urgent so I would assume that some people in the government had already succumbed to whoever is imitating them.
Or it could just be someone who isn't following protocol, and their actions result in the endangerment of others. It's like if you see one person out in the water at the beach and they insist that there "isn't a shark", simply because they haven't seen it with their own eyes, but then a poor fool who took their word for it ends up getting attacked by the shark.
There is bloody dragging mark by a door, so it'd been better not to answer to a knock or open the door to anyone.
you trust automatically trust humans just because they're humans? let me give you a simple request, list me 3 of the most stupid species you can think of. If you do not include Humans then you are the equivalent of covering your ears and screaming la la la la la la
It's 4:05 AM and things may be hazy but Manly fuckin immediately opening a door and going "Oh wait" was amazing
timezones are crazy, since you posted this an hour ago but i read your comment at 4:06am for me... tired brain is impressed at the universe
Nice rhymes
@@chennymeloney thanks g
@@AsTheCrowFlies42 np lol
love u all, if u read this i loev u
12:52 "If I keep going right I'll eventually get out."
That's an actual thing, for anyone who doesn't know. If you're ever lost in a cave or a maze or something, this is a rule you should always follow. Put your right hand on the wall and just always go right at every opportunity. Mathematically speaking, it's impossible to miss the exit that way.
It may not be the most efficient or fast way to navigate a cave or maze, but it ensures a few things. A- you'll find an exit or entrance, and B- you'll easily be able to backtrack if you have to, by turning around and putting your left hand on the wall and only taking left turns.
It's a good rule to know. Keep it in mind!
This assumes there are no gaps between the wall you're following and the exit
@@lucasbrant9856 i dont think that matters
@@carlnicholson I'm fairly certain it does. Imagine a square inside a larger square, place yourself inside the inner square a cut in a small opening. You can follow along the walls of the inner square forever and never get out of the outer square.
The same concept applies with more complex shapes.
@@lucasbrant9856 oh your right yea. That was a good visual. I guess you would have to realize to get away from the inner square, and then do the right wall technique once you find a boarder wall.
Right hand and Left hand searches are things they teach firefighters to navigate buildings when they cannot see clearly and do not know the layout of the building. Fun fact for people.
As someone genuinely scared of emergency broadcasts, this whole thing *really* unnerved me, especially "you are advised to say your final goodbyes".
Local58-Contingency would be pretty unnerving for you then.
and then they cut off your phone line before the emergency broadcast ended, so you don't even get a chance to
How can you be scared of emergency broadcasts lol
@@xeagaortbecause they're really loud and go on in the middle of the night
@@xeagaortbecause generally it means something is an emergency
“Do not attempt to investigate any light or noise outside of your home…” alright yeah that sounds like an interesting premise, this is like the lockdown in our world but with monsters maybe? But in a totalitarian state that can lock the doors and windows on their own? That’s really creative and I can already see the potential-
“… or inside your home.” *WHAT*
That’s terrifying.
"I'm inside your walls"
Yeah that bit got me
@@jth_printed_designs is an interesting theory, then the goverment is killing you not bc you are infected or something, they know you went outside and came back without any problem therefore you know that theres nothing to worry about all this time
"but with monsters"
Dude, have you been conscious for the last 2 years? Governments don't need monsters as an excuse to lock us up in our own homes. And the totalitarian state forcibly locking (welding, even) peoples' doors happened as well.
martincitopants
The trick is that its always scarier when you dont reeeeally know whats after you. Your imagination becomes a weapon against you. Its like alien isolation, once you see the alien its so much less scary, and once there's more than 1 its even LESS scary somehow.
Lack of knowledge is a flaw, but when we know what is chasing us, it auto.atically becomes resodent evil
Once you see a thing, you now can rationalize it, plan for it, think about it capabilities, how to run and where to hide.... before? Well, anything ou do can fail because you don't know what it is.
@@YaToGamiKuro Are you really phobic of gae? I'm not scary. I'm like 4 foot 8, slim, and pretty. Not exactly spoopy :p
Unless your username is ironic or something. Or you're phobic of public displays of affection. Those make me a bit uncomfortable.
@@sleepykitty8918 I'm totally phobic! Do you think you can help me with some exposure therapy? ;)
@@Silvercanth XD
My wife might have something less than nice to say about that :p
But I can be nice to you and hope that your week is wonderful :)
It was really nice of Samuel L. Jackson to lend his voice to this game. What a professional.
I was thinking the same thing.
It reminded me of the SpongeBob text to speech thing lol. It's not perfect, but close enough to recognize what it's imitating lol
I’m pretty sure it’s an AI synthesized voice- the devs must be a fan of Tarantino bc I think the emergency number voice was Christoph Waltz lol
He was the voice of the pizza on the table right?
@@rockyxbautista what do you mean?!?! its not him!?! i thought he was in everything lol 😏🤣
Having worked for a hospital group with multiple locations that use a Pevco tube system: everyone is already dead. It failed on Day 2 when someone got a container stuck in their tube station and the system can't maintain pressure.
13:00 Thank you for actually knowing how to get out of a maze. Just keep turning right. It's painful watching some streamers try to get through one.
Tremeaux's Algorithm indeed, though only works if there are no gaps, like isolated walls
10:20 Huge props to the game dev for not making a stupid puzzle that involves bumbling around for 20 minutes before finding a key. This puzzle is close by, doesn't waste your time, and it's pretty satisfying to solve. Seriously, good puzzle design is so rare in these kinds of games.
Yeah, more designers need to understand that frustration is what kills horror.
@@Zarnirox Well said! Frustration.
Frustration because the game is tedious, without interesting characters, world building, or gameplay to keep us engaged.
Oh and, while I'm here, may as well complain about it.
I'm also getting tired of horror games who's story is, "I am a dude in a house/dungeon and I find notes that say I'm sad cuz my wife died or whatever."
Wow, haven't heard that one 1000 times.
Ok I'll stop complaining now, thx for the comment man.
@@basimaziz Yeah, man. Here's my own rant if you're interested. I remember playing a horror game a few years ago. I don't remember the name, but it was honestly very well-made. The theme, the tone and the aesthetics were all done very competently.
The problem I had was I came to a part where the objective for one stage started feeling very directionless. Plus, there was no map. There was also a combat mechanic for defending yourself against monsters, but the controls for it felt very stiff and unintuitive. Maybe it was done that way on purpose to make the character feel more vulnerable, but it became way too frustrating added with the fact that you start back at the beginning of the stage whenever you die.
Like I said, the rest of the game was very well-made. I was excited to try it, but I had to stop because I was tired of bumbling through the same area over and over again.
you should try ghost trick I love the puzzles in it (tho chapter 9 has a kind of annoying one)
I wouldn't call that a puzzle. I could've solved that when I was fresh out the womb.
What interests me most is, how quickly did the government set up the key card, pneumonic systems and gas pipes in everyone's apartment? With how large the city looked, and assuming this is a national issue rather than only a state, let alone one city, along with the fact it'd be easy for people to escape as they were setting up everything, it leads me to theorize these systems were already put into place due to a similar yet just as unknown incident years ago... (or I'm thinking about it too hard, lol)
the buildings look like eastern european post-communist living blocks, which already had communication systems in place except for the "nomad pipelines"
@@Damian-ew1vl i think its just in his head at the end there, he is already dead.
Who's sending the stuff? Why are they not on groups in this situation rather than alone?
It sounds like how grocery stores started doing home deliveries, along with door dash, ubereats, etc. type food delivery services all started showing up just before the coof hit. And the enormous number of those hard plastic-y cashier shields that just so happened to be ready to go in every store shortly after the "outbreak."
@@GamePlayuh9510 not really, none of these services require installing anything in anyones home. and how complicated do you think it is to cut squares of plastic and put them on sticks somewhere?
A true gamer doesn't go outside and don't socialize.
I take it you live at home?
@@fukyoutube- where else would he live in a tree?
@@nalnalvic9912 😂
So that may be, but prolonged isolation and confusion of the dangers of the outside world to where you don't have a choice BUT to be in a cage will drive anyone insane. To be a captive of your own desire, and locked in a cage are two different things.
@@j7soulless375 I think he's just joking around mate
Maybe the neighbor with blood oozing under the door went through the same thing as the player. Came in contact with whatever the threats are and so were killed inside their home. Or not. Lol
ANALYSIS:
(tldr is I think every communication/instruction you received beyond the initial daily broadcast was by whatever entity the lock-down was trying to contain.)
They said human contact was forbidden, and not to trust anyone no matter how human they appear. I think the problem starts when you continue taking orders, doing business with "humans". Then you are sent to fix something by someone who just so happens to have all the info you need to find a package that didn't meet it's destination. When you get into the sorting room, there is only the one package, and a bunch of steam being blown in. The door gets locked behind you. And then you fall into a psychedelic maze? I think they were already gassing you by the time you got to the package room.
Turning a valve to open a big tube that takes you home... And then you just wake up in your apartment. Also all the doors in your apartment including the front door seem to have locked on their own, however the knife from the table is missing, so someone was there before you. I would have said the authorities investigated while you were gone, and removed it. However the emergency line "person" directs you back to the tv for instructions, and the TV says they just sent you a blade by tube. I think this line shows that the TV + Phone instructions have been issued by someone who assumes you do not have a blade.
Now, if whoever moved/got rid of the first blade were affiliated with the ones issuing these instructions, what reason would they have for taking it, when they were just going to send you another?
Plus the broadcast at the end is in a different color and with a different voice than the first! Also I noticed that the tube that gasses you at the end in your room, magically appears on the wall AFTER you wake up with no idea how you got back. There is no tube for gassing you with before you left.
I think the sequence beyond getting locked in the sorting room may be the entity feeding you a hallucination. It may be trying to make the enforcers of the lockdown seem like the bad guys who would cruelly gas you, or give you a knife instead of sending help. It might also be that the entity is trying to .... idk, make you really distrust tubes? I mean, they send you down a big scary tube. Then they start gassing you with a whole other tube you didnt even know you had in your house. Next, the tubes that have been your lifeline become your demise by sending you a knife!
I'm really just trying to come up with impetus for removing the knife and then giving you another knife by mail. But yeah it could very well be an "Anti-Tube Entity".
I will note that It's weird they gas you AND tell you to cut your throat. Seems kind of redundant. Only answer to this is tube-hating-demon
Whole year later, but I think the bad guys took your knife so you wouldn't be able to kill yourself, thus letting you stay alive to become one of them via whatever method they use.
"Do not respond to knocks on your windows. . ."
** The only window in the living room shows that the room is a few stories up **
Me: I sure fucking hope I wouldn't have to
Spiderman??
Person on stilts?
@Jamal Robertson 😳
Looks like Jesus got tired of walking on water.
master chief
Fun fact.. A lot of apartment complexes that consist of one building, are actually worse for spreading disease in terms of having people stay home than letting them be outside. This is due to the fact that everyone shares the same ventilation system. Making anything air-born spread easily among the tenants of the building. So being in places like skyscrapers, hotels, large apartment complexes, ect.. puts you at higher risk than being outside.. More so if said disease is the kind that can not stand/dies off to UV light. Something that is in abundance if its day time and there are clear skies.
Hope you enjoyed this fun fact and have a wonderful day/night. Oh and... Good luck.
I think the only threat from the vents here is that you hear a knocking come from them.
Edit/ Spoiler: I am also pretty sure the air ventillation system is closed off for each individual apartment. Given the apparent prep work for that ending, it would have to be closed it it didn't cause collateral damage.
Lucky me that I live in a flat complex with no vents and big windows to let air circulate naturally.
Reason a lot of newer apartment systems have vents for air exchange in each apartment that lead outside. Besides allowing people to control their heating and cooling systems themselves, they allow for each unit to be isolated from others. Older buildings are awful however.
Easy to work around, give every tenant a humidifier.
I visited an older Soviet panel building once, they solved that by having only exit vents for the air, the replacement air came from outside. Same where I live now, not in an ex-USSR country, built in the late 90s. I don't see how the germs would spread via the vents.
Damn, the part where they start playing "Lacrimosa" by Mozart. I wasn't expecting that but it's very fitting considering it's one of the movements from Mozart's Requiem (626), and by definition a requiem is "a mass for the repose of the souls of the dead." So, basically, the government in this was like "hey, we're either gonna off you or you can off yourself, but here's this song to try and put your soul at peace." sgjsgshsgs (It is one of my favorite classical songs, I would really suggest to anyone to listen to the full Requiem even though it is over an hour long.)
"lacrimosa" means Crying (weeping, tearful, etc), so it gives an extra layer on the automated system trying to give a semblence of dignity
Thanks for sharing this info :)
Don't remember if it's true or not, but didn't Mozart die before finishing the piece as well?
What a fun little game.
@@Annonn He did! I know I've read somewhere that it's thought his apprentice at the time ended up finishing the rest of the Requiem, since Mozart did have most of it done before he died. There's also a quote about how it felt like "Mozart was writing his /own/ Requiem," though I think it's speculated that his wife(?) is the one who said that, if it's true.
You sound like a child
6:50 anyone else notice how pointless it was for them to board up the door it doesn’t even open this way 🤦♂️😂
I saw that
I guess it's to prevent people from the inside going outside (well clearly didn't work very well)
I had several mini-strokes reading the title of this video.
Also nothing says 'I've been locked inside for 178 days' like a whole, uneaten, and non-rotten delivery pizza.
that pizza is made out of the same stuff twinkies and mcdonalds happymeals are made out of. It simply never expires.
There’s nothing scarier, than the Emergency Alert System…
Edit: I… liked this game, it gave me Silent Hill and Cry of Fear vibes, the text to speech voices added a lot to the creepy factor, we even get to jump down a hole like in Silent Hill 2…
I can think of something scarier.
Rabies becoming airborn.
there is, an air raid siren that's not a drill for the first time in your life. fifth day in a row though? used to it by now.
Silent Hill 2. You see a dark hole. Do you go down? Lol. And again and again. I remember that part. I was thinking, this leads to an area of hell 🤣. And lastly, there was a hole here.
I’m glad I’m not the only who immediately thought of the Silent Hill Historical Society section of SH2 when that hole showed up in this game.
One of my favorite creepy videos is a simulation of the emergency broadcast that would happen if Earth were being imminently sucked into a black hole. Absolutely bone-chillingly terrifying!
I feel like from the warning not to answer your phone because they can emulate human voices, that is a hint that the person who called (I believe your last client you sent drugs to, but also possibly your supplier) was not actually them, but one of the entities. Obviously the drugs really were stuck in the tube, but the fact that no one was there to actually catch it when you went to retrieve it makes me think that this was all done as a set-up to get you out of your apartment and into their hands for whatever reason. You may have survived/escaped whatever they had planned for you, but your contact with the outside world meant you had to be killed to be on the safe side.
Although the fact that the government seemed to know what you did even with no one around also suggests they could have known about the drugs being stuck in the tube and the call was genuine (although how would the caller know?). I also think the whole drug dealing angle is a commentary on how during the pandemic, a lot of people have lost their jobs and wages because of the lockdowns and there's been little to nothing in place from the government to assist them. It seems like the only reason the main character turned to selling drugs, according to the intro, was because he had a job outside of his home he could no longer do so he had no choice.
I talked to a friend of mine from China and he said it's the same there. They can detect when the door is open and immediately send people to arrest you if you leave quarantine.
Any idea what happens if you just call the emergency number instead after getting that message? Like, this puts a certain message out based on having done exactly what instructions said not to do, and the objective said “too late” when trying to use it after being returned, is it possible this ends a completely different way?
@@alecLogan I'm not sure, as I didn't play the game myself. Since Manly usually goes for all endings and possibilities, it's likely you aren't able to do it.
maybe the game world had a pre-existing stigma for non-remote work, aka they're "unessential".
Yeah, that drug dealer had a really weird voice......
Manly, I think you’re living in a world where simulations don’t go as planned and end up as horror sequences. However, you don’t sound too nervous at all.
Well Manly doesn't exactly have a soul so I can't imagine him being too nervous as the only thing in him is a hollow void and anime
To make you feel worse about calling that play station “old school”, you could say the same about the Wii now since it’s counted as a retro console since it’s 15.
178 days of being locked in your own house? That's rookie numbers with a PS1. There are endless classics you could play on that machine that can last you years.
Give me a roommate, a Wii, Mario Kart and Wii Sports Resort and I'm a happy man
Oof, being an anime dealer is rough. Not as bad as being a manga dealer, because then your clientele can be more dangerous if they get angry, since they're so strong from carrying those huge bags of books.
If manga readers are known for one thing, it's being fucking ripped
@@yanentine Like Buffsuki
The end of your comment just reminded me of that post about how to kill geologists
I just imagine a guy dressed in a black hoodie in a dark alleyway with his face obscured saying “hey kid, want some *naruto*?”
@@yanentine and reading dick fight island
I’m convinced that it’s the aftermath of the mandela catalogue’s creatures spreading and multiplying too the max.
The tv made me think it was mandela alternates as well
The whole emergency broadcast gist reminded me of Local58's Contingency video instead
@@goolgepl2112 I remember that from a wendigoon video.
Victory Position, Face up, Feet up. Deal with Children and those who can't help themselves before yourself.
@@LaneCorbett infants and pets, the smallest patriots
It seems this game was effective in establishing the lingering threat of some unknown, pernicious force that necessitated the government to undertake stifling, if not oppressive, methods to prevent this threat. Due to the vagueness of the writing, I can’t tell if this was the intent, but I’m sensing something remotely conspiratorial involved here, like others have said, similar to 1984 where the government used the constant state of war as an excuse to lower the standard of living and keep the proles under-educated, under-resourced, repressed, and controlled. Given the environmental storytelling here, it appears that the city and its inhabitants have crumbled beneath the heavy-handed management of the regime, which perhaps was the intention, knowing nothing could be done to oppose. When our protagonist goes outside and is confronted by what might be a resistance group, he is told that he is learning the truth, and that this truth will make it impossible for him to return to the mundanity of his everyday life. Soon after this encounter, he is eradicated by the government, and professes he now knows the “truth”. Perhaps he is referring to the orchestration of this oppression by the government and how the true threat is knowledge? I can’t say for certain. I think I would have appreciated this game a bit more if the vagueness was a little less pronounced and we could better ascertain what the writer was attempting to reference and achieve. I like that the threat was unknown, as this lends itself to being falsified by the government, but I would have liked some other evidence to maybe suggest some malice and manipulation on the part of the government over its populace. Still, interesting concept, though a bit too open-ended to have significant weight as a narrative.
Here you are again. I guess I should be expecting you in every comment section :)
I think "the truth" is that there's nothing. There is no otherworldly threat or anything. It's just purely nothing, but for one reason or another those in charge keep everyone locked down oppressively despite there being no actual threat.
It's just at this point anyone who leaves to find out dies, and no one will ever know because most will just listen to the broadcasts and not respond to your calls for help.
A fascist and/or authoritarian government would not set up a realistic looking mannequin or kill one dude and hang him up just so that that one dude could then go back to his apartment so that the government could then kill him with poison gas.
All ethics and morals aside that's a ridiculous waste of time, manpower and resources.
If that was a scam then any semi-competent and/or fasict state with a secret police service would have allowed the guy to call his friends and loved ones over the phone and tell them he ventured outside his apartment (in order to spread the message and/or figure out who this guy was in closest contact with) before killing him.
I'm leaning more towards the 1984 angle. There is no threat, the government is just exerting total control over the people, and are using the excuse of an invasion to justify ending the lives of anyone they catch disobeying.
The fact that the threat was so largely left to imagination is what makes it scary. That's the whole point. They tell you to have all the precautions possible, everybody, and you have absolutely no idea what the threat is.
I’m a sucker for analog horror and emergency alert system horror. I would love to see more games like this one.
I would also like more games like this
Me too, analog horror is the creepiest shit to me 😅
This game was fascinating. It makes me wonder, though, about the phone call you got from the dealer. How did they have the keycard that opened YOUR apartment? How did he know the code to the sorting center that's changed daily but clearly hasn't been used in a long time? Considering the instructions to avoid any contact with anything "appearing human" from outside or INSIDE your home I wonder if that wasn't whatever entity ended up abducting you and "waking you up" trying to lure you out. And considering you say you know the truth and are free with "them" after killing yourself it reminds me of the Matrix and maybe the method to wake up from the simulation (which has perhaps been hacked and thus the lockdown and strange locks, tubes, and gassing system just magically in place) is to die inside it after being "awakened" by the hacker? Interesting food for thought.
Me: _has years of experience ignoring my doorbell and any human sounds outside my door and lots of practice pretending I'm not there when someone knocks_
Me: "Finally, my time to shine."
Underrated comment
"Do not investigate noises or lights outside your home."
*"or in your home"*
ZAMN finally being asocial helps
@@randomthings8732 oh
Imagine living a boring ass life
I would definitely like a fully fleshed out plot driven story for this. The premise looks too good to be restricted to such a short time.
You can live it if you go to Canada or Australia.
@@VirginiaRican As an Aussie, you couldn't be further from the truth lmao
@@gamblorrr Brother it sure seemed like you were heading that way about 6-10 months ago lol cheers
@@VirginiaRican Sounds more like your source of information on the topic was a bit biased and fearmogering then
@@gamblorrr all we had to do was watch your leadership's unedited declarations. They said everything lol
A bit of a plothole that you can't open (or smash) the window to stick your head out away from the gas
With all the work the government went into locking down and securing the city/homes, wouldn't surprise me if all the apartments had reinforced glass.
They're supposed to remain locked silly
This is actually a good horror game that I haven’t come across in many days…builds up the suspense instead of throwing jump scares. It builds up the tension really nicely!!
I love when a villainous group repeats a phrase over and over again, whatever the reason. This game, Bioshock, Metal Gear, Chik-fil-a
A woman? Second floor basement? Liquid Snake? Psycho Mantis? Big Boss? You're that ninja...
Chick fil a? Wah?
Would you kindly order some waffle fries?
@@noctis6508 You must be Ames.
My pleasure! My pleasure! My pleasure.... MyyYyy pleeEeEeAaSssSUuUurRrEeEeeE.....
It makes me giggle a bit every time Manly says "good luck" because he says it exactly like the voice from the stage selection screen in both Star Fox for SNES and Star Fox 64.
It's the canonically the only correct way to say "good luck!"
1:20 "man this place looks depressing" bruh that's just the typical view in eastern Europe
niko
Fr, the architecture and everything. Granted it's a little more green in most places
Lmao imagine not living in a 3-Bedroom 1-Bathroom suburban American home.
and cleveland
Fun fact, the emergency broadcast message they had was actually partially real! The staying in your home part and the don't answer to knocks on your windows or doors part is from a real emergency message the US government would play in the event of an alien arrival. Kinda cool!
So you’re telling me… that the U.S. government has a prepared EAS in case of an alien invasion, telling you to not respond to knocks. That’s actually crazy.
@@Burnt_Perceptionthey also have an emergency plan in case of a zombie apocalypse, taking into consideration that the zombies might be a virus, bioweapon, or straight up magic
@@Burnt_Perception I believe they also have plans in place for if a zombie apocalypse occurs. Iirc, the rationale is not because they expect this will ever happen, but because it's a novel threat without established guidelines on how to deal with it, so it's used as low stakes practice making plans for other, more realistic scenarios. Plus, in the event something similar ever does somehow happen... well there's a plan for that now.
Kinda reminds me of "Presentable Liberty" in a way. You're locked away, for reasons unknown, your only communication being written letters with people you've never seen, your only companion a mouse, and an outbreak of organ failing sickness wiping or the population outside.
Good stuff.
Add. Also, padlock at 10:35 says "padlcok"
That’s a good point, the person writing that totally misspelled the phrase “Cock Paddle”! :D
"Prepare for a dignified death." is a chilling message.
"No matter how human or familiar it looks" "Do not make contact with anyone outside your home" "Do not respond to knocks on your windows or doors" "Do not attempt to investigate any light or noise outside"
I have the strangest sense of analog vu...
Don't try to adjust the volume on your tv.
Do not look up
Do not look up at the night sky
Do not make a sandwich at 3 am.
when days break-scp-001
You know, I think I'll take the drug charge. What are they going to do? Lock me up? I can't even open the door to be arrested!
When did all this get set up? Pneumatic tubes, electronic card locks, and a gassing tube?
That’s what I thought. Rationally I rather get “arrested” than suffer this fate…
The consequence is probably getting gassed anyway. I doubt he had any choice.
I think the goodluck is intentionally put there to make you realize that all the people you talk too are effectively working together/the same entity - it feels like the Government decided that our character was bad news for some reason or another and set em up to be eliminated
Then why did the weird dream maze happen? This game is infuriating, cuz it doesn't even work as a "authoritarianism is bad guys" piece of media
There is no government anymore, it's only the entity.
Or it could be that the regime uses "Good luck" and then the entity uses "good luck" to attempt to fit in.
@@Seth9809 "regime"? Tell me you're a crazy libertarian without telling me you're a crazy libertarian. You don't even know the circumstances of this world. I'd say if it was overrun by mimics or similar entities like the EAS suggests, then isolation is the most logical thing the government could've done, and the least drastic. One thing they bungled up is upholding capitalism and making people pay for anything - that's idiotic, but believable unfortunately.
@@Mia199603I’m pretty sure the government was already compromised at this point. The truth is achieved through death because the process of learning it doesn’t change the outcome. Joining them is free in the sense that you don’t have to live in the circumstances perpetuated by the government. The government sending you off is no different from opening their arms to you
Everything before he fell through the floor was great. I'm not really sure what the rest was.
"Oh, a PlayStation, how old school! ...Man, I hate calling that old school."
LOL, same. I think the use text-to-speech (I think?) voice-overs for the dialogue really added to the creepiness of the game.
*sees PS5*
I think the vagueness of a situation can greatly increase the horror factor, but it only works effectively if the player/viewer/reader has something easily understandable or relatable to compare to. Without it, the story will simply end up being confusing, which is kinda what happened here. Most analog horror (which was clearly used as a source of inspiration here) takes place in some kind of alternate world where mostly everything is as it is in ours, but something is wrong. Meanwhile here we have a vague situation with vague threat.
Also why make such a big deal out of the vague threat monsters impersonating people if you're never going to use it? Like imagine if the phone call that got the protagonist to leave their apartment was one such case, only discovered when the protagonist finds out that the "anime" was delivered as was supposed to.
It's not a bad game, it has genuinely creepy atmosphere. So I hope that if the dev sees this by any chance, they take it as a piece of constructive criticism that I at least intended it to be rather than the pointless ramble that it probably comes across as.
Agreed. I suppose it's implied that the person on the other line is supposed to be an impersonator, perhaps one that rigged, locked and shut-down the delivery system to begin with, but there's a lot of "generic creepy" thrown at you that has no payoff.
"Do not investigate sounds or lights outside or inside your home"
None are present. Home is a pointless setpiece.
"I have to be careful not to be seen."
No chance of being seen.
"You're learning the truth."
Garbage maze.
"Go back to your meaningless life"
Life ends immediately afterwards due to Deadly Neurotoxin[tm] or sudoku.
"I know the truth. I'm free."
Wat.
It's just a bunch of generic horror hooplah that takes "show, don't tell" to its worst extreme. The unknown can be horrifying, but the vague is just dull.
Don't you see, the monster was a red herring. The real horror here is the state, and how much power it has over the protagonist.
@@ZackofSpades Definitely feels like a cut together version of a full game that sets up a bunch of stuff and has amazing atmosphere but zero delivery and rushes to finish for seemingly no reason.
@@uppishcub1617 See, that's bullshit too! Who locked the door behind the protagonist? The fuckin state? Who made the creepy dream maze? Not the state! It doesn't work on that level given that there are genuinely supernatural things happening, just no supernatural things that do anything to build a sense of anything but a vaguely creepy environment.
@@overtoast1105 I believe that it was meant to be the state was the bad guy but you bring up a good point, unless it was some stupid drug bullshit sequence. Also how did that guy get the keycard? Set up by a demon (or whatever entity) or setup by the state and then did a bunch of shenanigans to make you trip balls in the maze section? Too open ended for any real thing.
it's sunrise in my home (5:43 AM Brazil)
my mom just kicked me out, and i dont have a job neither where to go
but at least, i can enjoy your videos manly, thanks for giving me such good fun in my darkest hour.
edit: its strange to feel cared by people i don't know, but at least im not abandoned anymore, thanks guys
valeu pelo apoio de todo mundo que deixou uma mensagem, significa muito pra mim
Oh if this is true
I wish you the best💗
@@beyyonce1008 thanks bro, I really wish i was joking right now
but here we are, using mobile data to help cope with my situation
oh no man
OH NO MAN
*NOOOOO*
**GIVES YOU MANY VIRTUAL HUGS NOOOOOO**
@@huskobusko very thanks, I think i really need them
Boa sorte cara
I like how they gave you a set of rules about the world then immediately had you break them, just makes you feel uncomfortable the whole time.
This reminds me of the horror movie "AWAIT FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS". It's quite similar to this in the sense that you are stuck in your house and recieving a government broadcast with instructions you are supposed to follow, though it was freakier... until they ruined it by showing what the "monster" was and giving an ending that was kind of dumb.
I think the whole point of that movie was to show that blindly following anything, whether the threat is real or not, isn't a good idea. There's subtext likening government, religion, culture, and family command, and that each can be highly negative. I mean, the consequences for not following instructions was real in the movie, but that doesn't mean following instructions was right.
@@shawnsheppard9614 Though I get what you're saying, they still could have gotten the message across perfectly fine without that dumb ending and cringey writing.
@@soundtheartist9212 dumb ending? It's probably just me but the Lovecraftian horror was amazing
@@samuraitadpole5459 They changed the mood of the movie by showing what monster looks like and giving it a "face", eliminating the effect of the fear of the unknown. It would have been more powerful if they had kept the monster a mystery. But that's just my take on it.
@@soundtheartist9212 only reason I disagree is because after the movie was over I realized the monster was cables spread across the country or world and the idea that the characters wouldn't have survived is always scary to me, nevermind it kept the baby to get a follower. I see your point to a degree tho
This gives me heavy SCP-001 (When Day Breaks) vibes.
Wait, which scp was this again? Is it the doomsday one?
@@saenekokun2723 the one where the sun begins “killing” people who come into contact with any type of sunlight.
Come to the Sun. We are waiting for you.
_We die in the Light. So you can live in the Dark_
For me it gives Half Life 2 vibes, with the trash littered on the floor everywhere and the general lack of happiness there
It’s more of the Mandela catalog for me
15:32 "Wait what?!" I don't think I have heard such genuine suprise from Manly before, hot damn I'm sorry but that just made me laugh for a good while
i know i love it when there are moments like that lmfao
People: Hey, I know this one!
Game developers: Know it? It's brand new!
This game reminded me of a creepypasta i read a while ago
It had a setting like this one, kind of apocalyptic where there was a lockdown and people were advised to not trust anyone. Basically the protag could hear his friends outside the door begging him to get out of his house, claiming that the lockdown was over and his paranoia was getting out of hand, saying that they just wanted to help him. We as the readers had no way to know if the friends were actual humans or the monsters, so that's the interesting part, how you can put yourself in the protag's position while going "but what if it's not them? What if it's just another trick to try and convince him to go out?". In the end, the protag *did* listen to them and ended up in the "hospital" to deal with the paranoia, but it was still unclear wether if the protag was just having a manic episode, or if the voices of his friends were just another illusion from the monster
plus that the protag was blind, so he had no way to see them and actually check if it was them or something else
If you happen to know the name I would love to read or listen to it!
This sound very cool. Can you tell us please? if you find it of course!
It's called Psychosis! I thought of the same thing!
It would be psychotic episode, not manic. Manic is having an abundance of energy, not being able to sleep etc. The opposite of depression. You can get psychosis in mania but it's not exclusive
@@Maracifer I didn't know that, thanks for explaining!
The most unnerving part about the final scene is that when they tell you to say your final goodbyes even though they cut off the phonelines (atleast assuming so since its the only thing you couldn't interreact with, might be a stretch on my part though) and lock all the doors... So it kind of implies you'd have to say goodbye to the people you live with, in other words, others also in the process of getting gassed.
Well I mean, maybe they're saying "good luck" because they know it's 2022 and *anything* could happen, even to whatever those things are
_"It's my own place. I'm allowed to be here"_
The game brought that trapped claustrophobic feeling home - pun intended. You weren't allowed any "normal" freedoms. It was more than a little nerve-racking. It didn't matter if it was post-apocalyptic, mid-pandemic, or ultimate totalitarian control. I thought the game looked bleak and depressing and fit the subject matter well.
Old style tape is good but it makes it tricky to even read the text, especially for someone hunting for lore like manly.
I do love the grungy 90s aesthetic here. It feels so isolated and gross and slightly nostalgic. All anyone can do to pass the time is watch TV and play their games. It's like if the pandemic happened in a version of 1998 where there was 200x as many people and everyone ended up living in city apartments due to the sheer number of people.
"you should prepare for a dignified death"
me loading my 12 gauge: 'oh bet'
"The door will open or I will remove it, your move Mr. Lawman. Good luck."
Yeah, shoot at the evil poisonous gas
'Merica
"Do I even have a phone? Oh yeah there's one over ther- bannana!"
Banana Phone
Ring ring ring ring ring ring ring 🍌
I think the text to voice was sampled from Anthony Held. He did the audiobook reading for “Ubik” by Philip K Dick. It’s one of the only stories that hasn’t been adapted to the screen because the visuals needed to portray it accurately would cost “Inception” level or greater. In other words, if you like the announcer voice and the unsettling creepy feeling of a hostile reality, listen to the “Ubik” audiobook.
It's also absolutely Samuel L Jackson being TTS'd as the phone guy. I was expecting him to end it with "Good luck, motherfucker."
There was a fairly poor movie called "Await Further Instructions" that is extremely similar to this. This game does the idea much better though and does touch on analog horror more.
I loved that movie, especially the ending with the uhhh “puppet”
I actually didn't hate that movie. It was ok imo
just watched it after reading this comment and I think it was watchable but awful. I'm pissed after having finished it.
EAS: "Do not respond to anyone or anything outside or inside your home! You might literally die!"
MBH: *B A N A N A*
the dude's got an aphex twin poster in his room i don't think he was spending time with people often in the first place
I love how he just pauses when looking around and says "Banana" with such passion LMAO
This is a situation where I really want to see a full version of this game. I loved the atmosphere, and I never quite knew what to expect. I think the dev has something good here if they decide to expand it, I'd ideally like more worldbuilding, maybe a few more endings, and a chance to delve a bit more into the horror of the situation and find out just what the things they keep talking about are.
Finally a game where introverts can shine from countless real life experiencrs xD
I feel represented by this game lol
And get kill as food and water slowly gone
The struggle is real
Kinda falls flat after the buildup of something supernatural supposedly ready to stalk you, but... never does.
I feel like the vagueness is done really well
I really didn't like this one. It wasn't scary at all. A little unnerving at first, but as it started building up potential threats like the "mysterious sounds and lights", the puddle of blood under the door and "trying not to be seen outside", without paying off ANY of them, the unnerving nature quickly bled out of it for me, as it became clear they were taking random analogue horror tropes and mushing them together.
There is a big difference between "unknown" and "vague." The unknown can be terrifying, as the mind tries to fill in whatever it can to be the scariest thing you can imagine. But the vague? Being vague gives you too many loose pieces that don't fit together, and end up ruining the immersion. Some of Lovecraft's worst moments were when he tried to describe something as "indescribable." That's like trying to imagine a new color. I think that was even the concept of one of his books!
It had me up until you tripped, fell and landed in a red-washed Microsoft screensaver from the 90's. Then I got major eye-roll-itis once it started going off about "learning the truth" and having you wake up mysteriously back in your bed before dying to either Deadly Neurotoxin[tm] or sudoku with a knife that they could have just left on your kitchen table instead of having it magically vanish and then have to be delivered to you.
Manly was the best part of it, as always. I don't think I could have finished this one.
I hate how lovecraft does that. One monster was “unfathomable” so he didn’t even try to describe it.
Anythings scarier than the unknown, wolves, losing track of a roach, cheap vape batteries, a line of people waiting for you to finish pooping, people who bite, stretching a rubber-band.
I keep seeing that Lovecraft criticism but I never actually saw it in one of his stories. He'd call something indescribable or unimaginable and then give like a paragraph or two describing it.
Also, the point of The Colour Out of Space is that there's stuff humans can't even begin to conceive of. That's the point of a lot of his stories actually, and there's always something concrete going on in them so I don't really know how he applies to this game that literally has nothing going on in it.
@@uriel7395 I don’t remember the title, but it was about a man alone in a forest. It was short but the story was good. I’ll admit I read another one, longer story, which he did describe the multiple monsters well, but the story wasn’t very good. Gotta give credit to the man. Also shout out to his cat
@@horse433 Yeah some of Lovecraft's stories are bad. The Dunwich Horror is prob the worst i've read from him.
And yeah, shout out to the adorable little N. M.
Don't worry tho, he didn't just hate black people, Pickman's Gallery is a good read if you're in the mood for some casual italian hate
I'm always waiting for something to happen in this game. It's so creepy. What's the story behind this game???
Good luck.
Pripyat
A normal day in Chernobyl
"We want to put pneumatic tubes in your home so you can receive deliveries even more quickly and conveniently!" (truck drivers get laid off in mass and it's no longer necessary to leave your house, so convenient!)
"We're going to subsidize heating, cooling, and air filtration and install plumbing and HVAC in your house for all of it! It's free! Enjoy!" (what are they pumping into my home)
"Guns have been banned and we have new security systems to keep criminals from breaking into your home! They'll be installed free of charge and will be set so you can push a panic button and the doors will lock until police can access it and unlock it themselves!" (who else can lock and unlock my door, and will they have more control over it than me?)
"Mass surveillance keeps you safe, especially with all the new improvements we made to your life for convenience out of the goodness of our hearts!" (They have complete control over my life)
I just summed up the story for you.
@@Cainus44 get out of the cities. the country is where it's at
@@Cainus44
For the curious, the old videos on this user's account shows they are a straight up Neo Nazi. Facism is their jam! It's the prospect of people who aren't conservative white guys having some level of control over the government that scares them.
these analog/mandela effect games just keep getting better and better
Manly about the, hug one wall, method of solving mazes, that ONLY works if there are no free standing walls in the maze, walls that are not connected to the edge walls by other walls
“You are… in the process of learning the truth”
Am I though?
this could probably have done with a second pass on the proofreading, because "we just sent you a blade on your pneumatic tube system" just sounds like... impossibly stupid.
This game has an amazing, terryfying atmosphere to it, been a while since i really got this intrigued into a small horror game, great work!
I was actually expecting it to be some kind of zombie apocalypse. I also loved your reaction to the gas.
This reminds me of 1984. I have had the exact same feelings reading the book and watching this. You know that something is definitely wrong but it's not full explained and you are just supposed to accept that's just how it is, and the world is also starting to look like this.
1984 is full of interactions with other people though, it's not like that's the only work of fiction with an oppressive government. I think people are just saying this because of the pneumatic tubes lol
In many ways, the world has been this way for a long time. It just takes an extreme case for most people to see it. And some die without ever noticing, or whilst denying it ever happened.
@@--.._ It makes me want to read it again
Well there's the view screen, and the vague but everpresent threat.
literally 1984
I'm glad this made me rediscover Static End from 2019, back when hiding in your apartment as the world ends wasn't so mainstream.
I actually think that with more informations and context it could be a really, really good story, like it could be a dystopian like universe were basically everything's gone to shit and all, all these broadcast alert, no human contact, etc etc. One well prepared writer could really make something out of it
i like how its vague enough that it's unclear if theres a real threat or its a setup of circumstances. i think itd work better with a little more imformation or gameplay but its a good experience nonetheless. i really was expecting to see something
You know you’ve been on lockdown for too long when SHODAN and XERXES are handling the emergency broadcasts. Good luck, insect!
Manly it’s 3 am when your posting this so make sure you get some rest and make sure you do some self loving and remember that we love you back
@@uglymelon6721 yeah especially at 3am! (PST).
@@uglymelon6721 while thinking of the comment section no less?
What are time zones and how do they work?
i dont need sleep i think
@@ManlyBadassHero my dream is complete my comment was replied by manly
Okay I need another Game based on this universe, because its eerie and immersive af
You are a menace for knocking on everyones door when they would be absolutely terrified for it
Is that really the ending? what if you don't pick up the blade? is there anyway to stop gas ? or did the main character really need to go down the tube?
Evening from the insomnia land, Manly!
If your body doesn’t want to sleep, I guess you don’t need it.
I really liked this game and the analog feel to it + what are believed to be monsters being freed (souls?) idk i just really liked how they had us come up with what happened
Good Luck.
This game’s atmosphere and graphics gave me some vague SH1 vibes. It looked and sounded great-super dingy and unsafe and unsettling
Mk 4:19 Love the Richard D. James-related poster on the wall! Freaking, awesome!!!!!
Thankfully it hasn't been 178 days since the last video, let's go!
I'll be honest, it's two am, and for the first time in a while, I'm slightly hiding in comments. You win for now, game. You win for now
I'm right there with you, this game really won here
It's 1am for me and typically these games don't spook me but I have my good audiophone earbuds in and the audio is freaky enough to make me hide
We're here, we gotchu
The atmosphere is really awesome. And by awesome I mean exquisitely bleak and oppressive
For some reason I read this at first as "this atmosphere is really wholesome" and now I can't stop laughing
After 178 Days, I wouldn't care anymore and rather would die outside then inside
I applaud this game on its represtantion of ps1 retro graphics, it strives what the tech could be at the time instead of making it look entirely crappy, also adds atmosphere