yeah darkwood scary and cool darkwood: store.steampowered.com/app/27... music from darkwood and half life 2, half life 2 ep 1, half life 2 ep 2. long video
darkwood feels like original newgrounds flash game but with a big budget honestly eastern europe game development is depressingly rare cause eastern europe is hostile towards new talent and acid wizard studio is really lucky to even release darkwood in early access and even more lucky to finish it their next project looks like a strategy soccer game which dont make sense since the next logical move would be making a big DLC content expansion for darkwood or a sequel with more skill and resources but its their choice
@@Nogardtistsoccer kids alpha has been out for ages, it seems decently fun and different. Acid Wizard will be on hiatus for the foreseeable future (5-10 years) as they are having difficulties with creating a positive work life balance in their company. I am disappointed to some extent, but also very glad to see that they had such a breakout success with their first game and can chill for a while. I hope their next project is just as ambitious and interesting as Darkwood.
I love that, at least on the resource management side, Darkwood is really good at making you feel like you need more, and that it's difficult, even though it's actually supremely generous with the supplies you get.
Imo it does a poor job in exact this aspect. Since i got to silent Woods base i always had too much of everything. Workbench full since the beginning. Now im at old forest base, have no urge to Explore anything and got frustrated of dying to All the monsters in the big dog house
I found that concerning too especially since the trader always shows up and gives 150 rep when you survive the night. Resources such as fuel, tape, nails, planks, scrap, rags, strange mushroom, and etc are relatively cheap. The game claims to not hold your hand but there is no real consequence for mistakes. Hell when you die you can get your stuff back. I’m only 16 days in though not sure if there is some invisible timer counting down your demise.
The calming morning music still brings tears to my eyes, especially after a tough night. It manages to feel calming, without ever getting rid of the tension.
You know what scares me more about the "being", is that potentialy it's just a baby. The biggest hint being the baby we see amoungt the sleepers within the first dream sequence. It makes me wonder how diffrently this would have played out if an adult landed instead.
It definitely leaves open a lot of cool speculation. Obviously this type of being can create life or rather replicate it. All of the twisted defects that we see could definitely be the result of a disturbed infant. Maybe it's scared and wasn't supposed to end up here. This could explain why it created a fortress for itself in the Dark wood, for protection. Are there other mature versions of its kind multiplying bountiful and beautiful life elsewhere in the cosmos perhaps? Or do they all create something similar to this horror scenario? Maybe it's all a reflection of the individual being?
@@MrtototI wouldn’t dwell too deep on the lore, the fact that the being was represented as young could mean that even the creature causing everything is unaware and or just trying to survive. Implying the lovecraftian horror of not only what the creature is/going through to everything around you giving you no room to spiritually or mentally breath.
It all ties nicely around, like every living being, it makes other around it suffer unimaginable pain, just to survive, mostly unaware of it, maybe it was aware at some point and saw the disturbance it created against feeling beings(humans) so it made them happy, quite literally, knowing only enough about us to think that is the right thing to do, was it wrong tho? Life is at the end of the day us just knowingly or not, wanting or not, falling into illusions of happiness because real life, nature is pure survival he'll, where everything eats everything, we build around ourselves the illusion of happiness and call it civilisation, desperately trying to get out of the forest of pain that is the reality of being a biological being. Its a genius game when you think more about it, everything represents everything, nothing works on a rules that are non existent or alien to us, yet it's all too bizarre alien and is scaring us, it's a pure hell, yet it uses just things that surround us everywhere, but by amping it up to 11 it makes us dissolutioned by our little sweet dream we created for ourselves, showing true colours of what biological reality and nature is. I suffer from chronic pain hypersensitivity andy flesh hurts always despite me being on daily morphine, there's no cure, and it's literally a choice ive been given the entire life despite trying to avoid it, choose the comfort of opioids that make of your self an empty shell, slowly loosing the grip on reality and yourself, while being defended for life, or suffer unimaginable pain and discomfort, fortunately or not i chose the painkillers, because the pain wasnt an option for me, i redused to stay in the horror of forest, of true reality amd chose the bliss, because for me it was a choice of sleeping or tsking my own life, that is the third option nobody speaks about, simply refusing the horror to continue, but there's where the perfect analogy stops for me because my meds aren't an alien beinf and I'm not stuck in the horrifying forest physically, I'm living in a world that i chose to be able to experience and meds make it accessible for me, bwdore that i.felt like i was constantly in a silent hills other world, everything unbearable suffering, constant torture, I'd rather be free from it and live only 10 years , deciding to.off myself when the supply ends, and spend mlst on my life of maintain the supply, as hard as it is for disabled person that's scared to leave home, i went trough over a year of homelesness, and this game really feels way too real, thsts whyni hate/love it so much ans was on the edge whole time, it disgusts me becsuse i can see it being just like my life, constantly on the run, fighting monsters of every day, and chasing comfort which will and did ultimately bring my demise (what's funny dying in a fire is something im afraid of the most since i was a kid due to how badly painful for me is even a hot water, to the point its hard for me to bathe, but the game is a lerfec analogy of choices i have, the forest being inescapable hell of disease i have, and the ultimate choices well you saw for yourself ) Also stellar delivery of the video, i watched depsite seeing the walkthrough again just because how well it was explaining stuff and despise i hate this game for the reasons i mentioned, hate in the sense it lingers in my head and the way it describes my situation, but this gave me slrt of closure, now understanding the ending perfectly, no matter how dire it is and how much it matches my reality,i can rest i Hope a little better)
@@Mrtotot It could be a reflection of how the being feels. if its a baby, then it likely feels scared being alone, as any child would. That fear can be reflected literally in how the forest manifests itself. If the baby felt comfort, or some other happy emotion, then its likely the forest could change it’s shape to something less horrific and y’know, life threatening.
@@bastard-took-the-name-I-hadnot a real horror fan. :/ you should have bought and played the game yourself while also slowly dripping hot wax down the back of your shirt and sitting on a pile of thumbtacks
I never play horror games, and I have played one total, Darkwood. 9.5/10, genuinely one of my favorite games of all time. Although it does deserve that 0.5 off for a petty, albeit valid reason. SPOILER WALL I find it really fucking stupid that nothing you do in the real game affects your ending, and only the epilogue does. Although it is a different scene when you leave the woods, you are never actually leaving the woods when you do this. For example, my friend and I played through this game at around the same time, he got an ending where he walked on the road with a bunch of characters that he met along the way because he burned the tree, whereas I walked alone because I accidentally took a different path. Originally, I was kind of sad about this until realizing that it doesn’t fucking matter, in fact, lore wise, his ending is actually worse. That really left a sour taste in my mouth. Also, I may have gotten burn them all on my first play through, but my friend told me there was nothing worth looking for in the epilogue. Awesome game.
I think it's interesting how for the most part trusting the wolf seems like the far easier path. It makes me think they were trying to get across the feeling that “the devil you know is often better than the one you don't” I mean he's literally a wolf so you know immediately that he's not a great guy but at least you're aware of that from the beginning. Also wanted to mention that I laughed out loud when you found that gasoline after being swarmed lol “Holy gasoline!” so great This video was great and I genuinely enjoyed it. I hope you continue making videos!
The Wolf is an interesting one. He's very straightforward with you, he pushes you, challenges you. Others want you to stay put, to be careful and not stray. But he sets his terms, he sets his challenge, and he holds up his bargain if you do your part. An honest beast.
Nah, it's just the honest option if you're even vaguely familiar with how modern systems work. The evil path is always the easiest and most rewarding. No one ever became a billionaire being a good person.
Being good takes real work and is the hardest path in life. It's NOTHING like video games paint it - as though it is simply the 'default' path. Completely untrue. Being a good person requires suffering and sacrifice. Being evil requires others to suffer and sacrifice for you. Of course it is the easier option.
@@joshuagraham1800 What on earth are you talking about? He's simply acknowledging reality. He isn't even saying you should or should not be a good person. It is A FACT that being a good person IRL is 1000 times harder than in games. Do you dispute that? Furthermore it is quite difficult to keep your goodness while ascending the pyramid.
My favorite description of jump scares in most horror media, is "Saying your horror movie full of jump scares is scary, is like saying my comedy sketch where I keep tickling you is hilarious."
I’ve gotten into a lot of Eastern European games recently. STALKER Shadow of Chernobyl, Pathologic and METRO series, but the one that started it all for me was Darkwood. It’s such a brilliant game. Phenomenal atmosphere, creepily curious characters, player consequence, level design, art style, etc. all culminates into one of the best horror games I have ever experienced.
@@naxergss2625 Poland is actually eastern Europe! It’s a bit of a more complex term than a first glance would show, but generally Germany, Austria and Italy are considered the border.
@@naxergss2625 Poland is geographically a Central European country but shares much of its culture, language, history, etc with Eastern Europe, as Poles are slavic, which are an Eastern European ethnic group. So while yes you're correct, the average Pole wouldn't consider themselves culturally more aligned with Germany, Austria, etc but rather with Ukraine, Lithuania, etc
For a Topdown 2D game, Darkwood managed to build up a lot more tension than most 3D horror i played, when I was sitting in a hut at night and something was trying to get into the barricaded door.
I think the perspective is in it's favor In a weird way as with 3d first person games you can say we're more used to that since we see in 'first person' irl. But maybe I'm talking out of my ass.
@joshuagraham1800 Because its budget was low, it would probably look pretty terrible if it was in first person, like most indie horrors. With the top down perspective they're able to escape the difficulties of creating a good looking art style for a 3d environment. Basically, since it's in 2d, they're able to combine smooth animations, camera shake, sound design and art style to make the game look and feel very professional. You almost forget it's an indie game at all while playing, imo. To make something look good in a 3d game, you either need to commit to a certain indie aesthetic, or you need Capcom's budget. There's always exceptions and inbetweens, but that's my assessment. The bird's-eye view elevates the game.
The Three killed the Trader and wrote liar on his helmet. because the whole time you been trying to find the key to the bunker's door he had the key or rather its copy. But instead of giving it to you he kept it a secret and tried to persuade you to stop going deeper into the woods attempting to save you.
I am a huge fan of long-form content, especially video essays. This was an immensely enjoyable listen, and you accompanied me through cooking dinner today. I really enjoyed this, and if you plan on making more content like this, I will be here to watch your future videos. Your channel is an absolute gem, and I wish you the best as you continue to grow.
I played this game back when mandalore released his video. Its the only time where I paused the video when someone recommended something. I pirated the game. Got hooked really quick, felt guilty towards the dev so i bought it for me and a few friends. Never played it again, but i still remember almost everything about it. And i am planning to play it on switch soon
@@Medicalguy yeah. And that's actually what made me feel more guilty, those Devs seemed like really cool dudes. Btw, did you know that the game they made after dark wood is a complete mood switch, as it's a turn based tactical soccer game. Haven't played it yet but the reviews seem to be positive
RU-vid recommended this video for me and i love watching long game analyses. Halfway through the video i was shocked that a video of this quality was made by a chanel with only about 900 subs! You my guy are gonna go places mark my words 👏🏼
900 sub well thats very normal youtube is at a new golden dark age of content creators where new talent and skill appears randomly basically but the odds of them becoming big channels is slim to none so just like the game stalker just another creator lost in the zone
It’s honestly one of the scariest games I’ve ever played. People can’t fathom the idea when I tell them it’s top down. The sound design is immaculate. That first night is heart stopping.
At 2:06:22 this seems to be the ONLY footage online of the Doctor at the Banshee camp as far as I know, thank you for this never before recorded footage. I had no idea he had a unique attack pattern and made savage noises. Well Done for archiving this rare event
This video is just insanely good. I haven't seen a video go over all the different choices and game play like this. Seriously man just a fantastic job! I'm super excited to see more! Also those vine booms when talking shit about the stranger were great lol.
what about subnautica where a game is a disguised horror or the player scare themselves but yeah jumpscares are always cheap and lazy design i prefer having a smart enemy AI where it toys with you instead of going for jumpscare like five nights at feddy
This is the most in depth video I’ve seen on Darkwood. You’ve literally covered everything this game had to offer and it leaves me wishing more people would make extremely long form content like this, sparing no detail. I loved every minute of this. At risk of sounding like a pansy, sometimes I just want to watch an explanation of a game I don’t want to play myself.
Love the content. Thank God I got into these long video game essays/reviews or whatever you call it. It helps me from not getting too distracted while I do a bunch of random important stuff. I’m glad to add you to one of the people that I watch who makes content like this. Keep it up!
I often fall asleep to longform reviews like this. Waking up groggy to the game sounds with the only source of light in my room being the video and not remembering why I was, was quite the experience lol
Darkwood is one of my favorite horror games. You covered the game incredibly well, with a very chill voiceover that made me stick through the whole ass three hours the day before a final lol. Congrats my guy the vid was fantastic.
i love this game so much. bought it blindly back when it came into early access on steam in 2014 and played through it many times since, so when your video was recommended, i instantly clicked. great video! you got my sub
really great video, i love these long-form playthrough analyses of games and darkwood was a fantastic pick. i'm glad youtube recommended this to me, will be keeping on eye out for more of this from you
I thoroughly enjoyed your analysis especially because you incorporated the game-play sequentially. I played this years ago and because of life happenings alongside the appropriate time needed to enjoy a game like this, it ended up just sitting in my library, but always in the back of my mind. Thanks for going into each decision and outcome. Not many 'analyzers' do this, but it's clear you were invested in this game as I was when i played the beta. You kept the games atmospheric tone in this video which was great. Awesome job!
This was excellent dude, thank you so much for the efforts, research, footage collection and putting the pieces together. I appreciated the story summary at the end, and thanks for overcoming the anxiety so I don't have to haha.
Absolute premium content. Keep at it, you have a good voice, good understanding of pacing, good writing and the tenacity to make a 3+ hour video that actually keeps my attention.
Really thorough! I played and beat the game back in 2019, but always felt like I didn’t see everything. This really opened my eyes! One thing you did great was letting the game speak for itself. Enjoyed the video, thank you.
I always end up quitting around the swamp area because I get tired of needing to track down my backpack. Big difficulty spike for my playstyle I guess.
I swear watching RagnarRox’ video on darkwood to set the mood and then directly binging into this is such a blast. You just have to skip the spoilers at the end of rox’ video and it’s really almost perfection! Thanks for the contend man. Liked and subscribed ❤
Man you're such a good creator. Your reporting on subjects is very easy to follow and I like how you stop talking to demonstrate what you're trying to show. Very well done mate. Subbed
Holy shit utter top tier analysis my guy, subbed and thank you for posting a video so interesting I initially put it on as background to fall asleep to, only to wake up and continue off where I remembered last.
I fucking love Darkwood. I haven't finished it yet, I picked it up in the past week after having it installed for at least 2 years, and it may be the scariest game I've played
horror without jumpscares is one of the best type of horror since it doesnt have to rely in something cheap and lazy like a jumpscare, i havent finished the video but i can tell that you put a lot of effort into it, you have won a sub.
As someone who generally dislikes jumpscares, I think they can be pretty important for setting the tone of a game. If your game has no jumpscares at all, the player will figure it out and realize that the experience is all tension and no release. But if you occasionally sprinkle in a few jumpscares throughout your game, players know that something could actually jump out at you at any moment, which is the feeling horror games want to evoke. On the other hand, too many jumpscares will get the player used to them and ruin the tension.
This was an immensely enjoyable watch- I’ve beaten Darkwood once before when it first hit the Switch, but I had missed a lot of content in that playthrough that I didn’t even realize was there. Truly a great vid Deffy.
Bro fantastic video narration was on point I was disappointed to look at your channel and not see any other deep dives like then because I wanted more! But I see now that you’re just getting started in your career and seeing how well this video did I’m very excited to see what else you have in store in the future, keep up the legendary work bro thanks for the free content
1:36:56 let's not forget that siding with the wolfman most likely leads to the death of the village by famine and death to that woman. Granted those both could be seen as merciful given the circumstances.
I played through this game a few years ago and loved it. It's one of those games that wormed it's way deep into my mind, and I keep thinking about it, the world, the characters, the atmosphere. Thanks for a spectacular and thorough video!
This whole video was first, very informative but also, quite entertaining. I learned some things I didn't actually know about and that's the part of Darkwood that always fascinates me. Thank you for taking the time to make this film of a video!
Great video. Darkwood is an absolute masterpiece and one of my favorite games of all time, glad to see it get some more coverage. Also regarding the trader's death, it most likely actually is the three that killed him. The word "liar" is scribbled all over their room, and presumably it's the only word they know. The word likely has no significance to the trader himself, it's just been written on the visor by compulsion by the Three.
Wow, there's so much content I missed out on in my first playthrough, thanks for this comprehensive breakdown, all the lore and different routes you can miss out on are really cool!
Just a quick thought, maybe I missed it but did you mention killing the bride at the wedding? I felt that was a pretty cool sequence and maybe adds a bit to tue fear. Having her die and come back at night for revenge was terrifying for me personally
Great production! You should definitely keep doing this, if you enjoy it. Good voice, good tempo, great for falling asleep too, which is best compliment :)
Very thorough and in-depth review. At times maybe even a bit too detailed, like when you discuss some minor game mechanics or unimportant loor you can find. Maybe that could've been omitted at some points. But overall really well done and narrated. Looking forward to see more of your work.
This video has been sitting in my "watch later" list for months. Today, I finally took the time to watch it. Both the game and your explanation of it are done amazingly.
I think endgame night survival had a bit of a drop in quality. Early nights were very creepy and well done, but later nights got a bit too hectic. And since dying at night had very little consequence, it took away a lot of the terror.
Except if you’re playing on hard you’ll lose a life. On normal there’s no consequences but the reputation from surviving the night is super valuable. I feel like at the endgame you’ve mastered being prepared to survive the night once you figure out the enemies in the swamp.
I remember playing Resident evil on PS and reading the notes on the the one guy who little by little turned into a zombie. Each note you found from him indicated his transformation. I thought Capcom did that well, it really creeped me out, especially the last note when all you read was grunts.
Deffy this is an awesome video that kept me entertained for quite a while. Of course the game, which I haven't played, being awesome also helps lol. I hope you do more videos like this.
You deserve many thousands more subs, my dude. Fantastic video and i really enjoyed how you let the mood of the game come through by showing uninterrupted gameplay. Good luck with the whole RU-vid thing- the algorithm is a bitch, but regardless of if decides to pick up your stuff and give it the attention it deserves, just know that you've made some truly quality stuff.
Want to take a moment and thank you for taking as much time and care as you have into this as you have. It is easy to take for granted the editing, playtime, and the consideration of different players and outcomes in such an expansive game. This had to be a considerable effort. I think you've done an inceredible job for an incredible game. If you enjoy doing this, keep it up. Your considerations of NPC's and the effects on the survivor are insightful and worth praise.
you have gained a new loyal follower, don’t give up on this. Your quite talented and had me hooked for the full 3 1/2 hours. Your going places!! Can’t wait to see your content and channel grow :)
I sat through the entire video like it was nothing. The amount of time you spent on this is insane, man. Truly amazing work! Can't wait for your next release!
I was waiting for this kind of video basically since the release. Comprehensive, interesting, amusing and incredibly well put together. I was shocked to notice you had only 2k or so subs. Thank you for this video. You now have "2k or so +1 subs.
You have no idea how happy I got to find this video! Darkwood is one of my favorite games of all time, and I could analyze and talk about it all day. I havent finished the video yet, but I'm already super excited to dive in. Thanks for sharing!
i have always been fascinated by those kind of dark, twisted games, who dares create those kind of stories. while i cant bring myself to play them myself, thank you for playing it for us! both the game and your presentation were amazing, thank you!
Fantastic work, dude. I wasn’t expecting you to do such a good job on this video essay considering it’s your first project! Respect. I’d love to see what you’re working on next.
Damn for such a small channel you really are out here with that good content. Keep it up man, loved the costume you used. It was a great and creative touch!
Great video, I'm roughly watching it as I progress. I've had the game for about 4 years with only like 90 minutes played and never picked it back up. Watching this got me to redownload and start playing again. I'm only on day 3 now but man what a crazy game and especially when playing at 3am haha. Great video friend!