Episode list

In this video we are going to do two things. On the one hand we are going to take a look back at Bloodborne. We will journey once again through Yharnam and beyond, slay all of Bloodborne's horrors that hop into our path and discuss interesting things along the way. We will chat about Bloodborne's healing system, discuss all bosses of Bloodborne and dive into Bloodborne's rich lore. That's one side of this video. On the other side however, we will try to figure out what "seeking pale blood" means and what Bloodborne is actually all about. We will travel to medieval beast hunts, watch french movies together and explore the philosophical concepts that I believe to be at the center of Bloodborne's world.

The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker is not only a colorful adventure that deals with surprisingly mature themes - it is also one of Nintendo's biggest failures. Wind Waker is a game that was quite ahead of its time when it released. As a matter of fact I'd argue that The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker was so far ahead of its time that it ended up being a catastrophe for Nintendo. The game not only ended up being a financial disappointment, it also changed the public's perception of Nintendo's brand. Up to this day. The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker marks a turning point in the history for Nintendo. And it wasn't a turn for the better. To understand why Wind Waker was such a catastrophe for Nintendo we have to understand not only the economic realities into which it was released but also have to have a chat about the maturing of the video gaming industry as a whole. In this video we will set out to dig up the tragic origin story of Wind Waker. One of Nintendo's best games. And one of Nintendo's worst games.

Elden Ring has been out for over two years, yet there are still countless Elden Ring retrospectives debating the meaning of Elden Ring's lore and trying to figure out Elden Ring's story and Elden Ring's ending. As I see it Elden Ring is a huge metaphor, using taoist symbolism to ask whether we as society want to return to a god-driven dogmatic essentialist world or want to live with the existential dread that is the logical result of Nietzsche's death of god. The dialectic monism of Radagon and Marika is symbolic of humanity's will to change and the different endings of Elden Ring show different paths for humanity to resolve the tension between nihilism and dogmatism. And if nothing I just said makes any sense to you, don't worry, that is why this Elden Ring retrospective is as long as it is.

The very first time I played Subnautica, I did not beat the game. But the reason I did not beat the game isn't because I did not enjoy Subnautica - on the contrary, I love Subnauticas gameplay loop. The reason I stopped my first playthrough is something completely different. Something unusual. Subnautica was so scary to play for me, that I just wasn't able to continue playing. Subnautica was just so tense and playing it so taxing that I couldn't take it anymore. Even stranger - the section that absolutely broke me wasn't about facing a terrible enemy nor was it an escape sequence or a psychedelic horror bit. It was something much more trivial. It was simply exploring past a dark cliff. I just wasn't able to dive into the darkness here. I was too scared. And that kind of raises a question doesn't it. Why? Why did I find Subnautica so terrifying that it completely overwhelmed me even though I usually don't care much about horror in games? What was different in Subnautica? What horror was I experiencing? This question is what this video is all about. Because I believe that the horror of Subnautica is Lovecraftian or cosmic horror. So in this video we are going to embark on a journey. We are going to dive deep into the depths below Subnauticas ocean. We are going to discuss the horror of the deep sea, we are going to waffle about all the mysteries of Subnauticas story, we are going to talk about what Lovecraftian horror even is in the first place and why Subnautica is in my opinion such a prime example of it.

The Legend Of Zelda - Twilight Princess is a very confused game. The story is all over the place and doesn't make much sense, Link's character arc collapses before we even enter the second Zelda dungeon and, at least in my opinion, it also features the worst ending of all the 3D Zelda games. Yet it also features some of the best boss fights in the entire Zelda franchise. Random side characters get more character development then Link does in Twilight Princess, yet no other Zelda game before or after it captures the feeling of adventure as well as Twilight Princess does. The game features many of the best dungeons Nintendo ever crafted but also has weird tonal problems. It has the worst art direction out of the 3D Zelda games yet features the best version of Hyrule fields, it has a terrible beginning but a wonderful second half, it has some of the coolest items in the series while also features some of the worst cutscenes. It's just a fantastic Zelda game on the one hand and a confusing mess on the other. And at least in my humble opinion, that is incredibly interesting. Why did Twilight Princess end up so confused? How does a game end up so good and so strangely bad at the same time? What happened? In this video we will try to solve this little mystery.

Paper Mario - The Thousand Year Door is an almost flawless game. It is a pure joy, from the very moment we arrive in rogueport, until we defeat the very final boss. Paper Mario - The Thousand Year Door is such a complete package, such a wonderful journey - an almost flawless game in which each part of it works together to create something greater than the sum of its parts. With The Paper Mario - The Thousand Year Door Nintendo simply struck gold. They came up with an almost perfect formula for a game. And then they never did it again. Every single Paper Mario game that came after, altered or removed parts of the formula that made Paper Mario - The Thousand Year Door And every single Paper Mario after ended up being worse in one way or another. And you know, that is really interesting. Why is Paper Mario - The Thousand Year Door door such a great game? Why did all the later Paper Mario's that changed this formula ended up being worse for it. What is it that makes The Thousand Year door such a great game and why did Nintendo have such a hard time to replicate this success? In this video we will try to solve this little mystery.

Celeste is a game that has been praised to the moon and back down to earth by pretty much anyone who ever played it. Anyone I ever talked to who played Celeste loved the game - and I wholeheartedly agree. Celeste is a wonderful game - an almost flawless masterpiece, from the very first jump until we grab the final crystal heart in the mountains center But there is one aspect of Celeste that is often overlooked, One aspect that, at least in my humble opinion, is the most interesting one about the game. The game's story and more importantly where it actually draws inspiration from. The game has far more to say about life than the usual just-believe-in-yourself-goop that most media tends to spill out if we shake it long enough. Celeste, if shaken thoroughly, begins to reveal really unusual ideas and a really interesting message. You see, while it is not unusual for games or media in general to tell the tale of a protagonist who has to overcome their inner struggles - Celeste is very unusual in how Madeline actually overcomes this very struggle. The school of thought or philosophy that is hidden below Celeste's tale is quite unusual and something seldomly talked about. So let's change this. In this video we will embark on a journey. We will follow Madeline on her journey to the top of Celeste mountain - we will take a look at a lot of interesting aspects of the game along the way, we will try to make sense of some of the more unusual aspects of the games story and in the end we will take a deep dive into - what I believe to be the psychology - behind how Madeline overcomes her inner struggle.

So I recently played through Astro Bot and I loved every second of it. But... playing Astro Bot was not only a ton of fun - it also reminded me of something. It reminded me of how much I love 3D platformers. From N64 games like Banjo Kazooie, to the Mario games, to great indie games, like a Hat In Time - you know - I just love it to jump around in colorful environments and to explore fun virtual spaces. 3D platformers used to be incredibly popular in the early 2000's but they then slowly fell out of favor. Astro Bot reminded me how much I used to love this genre - but it also got me wondering. Why are there almost no 3D platformers being made anymore? What happened to this genre? Why did the big publishers almost entirely abandon this genre? Why did indies not pick up the torch like they did with so many other genres? What is going on here? In this video we are going to investigate this question. We are going to investigate why 3D platformers are so rare nowadays even though they were one of the most popular genres not too long ago. We will try to figure out how and why this fall from grace happened. We will explore what possibly caused this shift in the gaming industry and what the future for the genre may look like.