Ecstatica | Forgotten Gems 

If somebody else wants to try Ecstatica, I recommend the rare Windows version (apparently a very limited CD release at the time Ecstatica 2 came out). Runs more smoothly, looks way sharper, and most importantly you can actually turn while running!

If I'm not mistaken, this game pushed the idea of using spheres instead of poligons, when the standard wasn't decided yet. Imagine the history of videogames if spheres had been chosen as the correct shape for 3D graphics!

Omg the animations aged like wine

bubble butt, bubble bubble bubble butt

Nice nod to Goethe there at the beginning.

The quality of animations in this game is incredible

We need an Ecstatica reboot!

Someone should remaster these games and re-launch them on GOG.com

man I've seen lots of old games and stuff. But this is true gem and pretty interesting, I just can't imagine the tension this game brought to people back then. Forgotten gems definitely needs to be a series

Your voice has cleared out a lot over time.

Once again, Ragnar knows how to pull the viewer in and teach them something they had no idea they needed to know. This game looks amazing!

I first stumbled upon your channel about a year ago, but I forgot your channel name for a while. After coming across your channel again, I binge-watched every single one of your videos. I've been interested in game design and horror since a very early stage in my life, and your videos have inspired me greatly. I'm definitely looking forward to future content! Keep up the good work.

Oh dear! I know this video is old but I was so happy to see this I couldn't help but write a comment! I LOVED this game when I was a child! It was one of the first games I've ever encountered. Though, I remember it being quite funny for some reason, more than horror. It sure was scary but, weirdly funny at the same time. I gave it another go a few years back and I could see why I thought it was comical. It had some sense of medieval humor in it. No one around me seems to remember this game, now I know here's a video to show whenever I mention it :D Also, I didn't even know Ecstatica had a sequel, I've got to give it a go!

Awesome to see a vid on Ecstatica, a very rare sight. I never played the original, but the sequel is fantastic.

Man, I didn't expect to see someone mention this game ever again. Great video!

Some additional forgotten games that I rarely see make many online lists (and gems can be a subjective term 😉) - The Wheel of Time - 1st generation unreal engine FPS - Azrael's Tear - good luck finding this anywhere but it had a helluva premise - technology of the day held it back - I can only imagine what it would have resulted in modern day - Terra Nova: Strike Force Centauri (ok it's a Looking Glass game so maybe not that forgotten) - Lands of Lore / Legend of Kyrandia series (both from Westwood) - Fade to Black - the lesser known sequel to Flashback - Realms of the Haunting - ahead of its time action / RPG / horror / FPS - Battle Realms - little known RTS that made some awesome tweaks to the standard formula - Robinson's Requiem or its sequel Deus: the first pure survival rpg - Rex Nebular and the Cosmic Gender Bender - The Bermuda Syndrome: Flashback with dinosaurs?? Where do I sign up?

More Forgotten Gems. I had never heard of this game, I am very interested in trying it out now. Thank You!

Wasteland. A great grand daddy of all post apocalyptic rpgs. It has great depth for event in its time.

Seeing a new RagnarRox upload left me feeling ECSTATIC! I'll show myself out.

Oh my, I hadn't expected to ever see anyone cover it! Now that's a trip down the nostalgia lane! I hope that you'll cover Nocturne or The Dark Eye at some point as well.

Amazing! I really love "hidden gems" kind of videos, and hope you make more of that. BTW, if you interested, i'll can try make a list of some forgotten gems that i remember, maybe you like something. Cheers from Belarus

Please make more Forgotten Gems! In an era when 80% of the games are filled with nice graphics, with nothing in between, one needs to return to classics and create gaming diversity - mix good modern games and true retro experience.

I've still got my Ecstatica 1 and 2 in their original Big Box with every goodies ! One of my hidden gems ! (with some Ultima boxes). you should do a collaboration with Ross, from Accursed Farm. His format Game Dungeon is also a wonderful place to (re)discover some old gems !

What about "Silver" an old rpg from 1999)It was good and immersive as hell)

LOVE IT!! You should do Ecstatica 2 as well! And btw Ecstatica 1 and should be remade! Make it with Skyrimish graphics. edit: I played 2 back in 97. It even has a beautiful map and it was big, I love it.

Table is the funniest enemy in this game! because of this funny voice! Like: "HEY! That's mine, get off!"

I really would have said "Yeah no the game looks to chibi to be creepy." Then you show the second game and I say "I was wrong". The second game looks absolutely like a crazy horror game. Also the animations are crazy. Love it! :D

I always had a soft spot for those armies of classic monsters (ALA Werewolves, Vampires, Mummies, Skeletons, goblins, ect. ect.), and to put them in a video game and make it a horror adventure game is a real treat. I'd love for another one to be made, just to bring back the old Dracula/Wolfman style feel of it.

Thank for showing this to people! I wish Andrew Spancer would go indie and made a new game)

Bubble Butts The Game

Giant Citizen Kabuto its a hidden gem (in my eyes). Also Stubbs, the zombie without a pulse

I hope you played the sequel. It was fun but tough. Those oblong spheroids allow for a juxtaposition among the physical makeup of the human and indeed his former castle, and the sharp geometric graphics of many of his foes.

This must be the best balloon animal simulator there ever was.

Interesting to see the geometry is made out of bubbles instead of boxes. The animations do look very good, especially for its time!

Arx Fatalis next?

This game was an awesome surprise to me when I was a kid. It looks colorful and a little cartoonish but the amount of suspense it has is phenomenal. The game never ceases to amaze and surprise the player. The monsters were really scary too. Can't tell more without giving spoilers but if you like horror survival games this game is gold.

Just reminded me of Twinsen's Odyssey. Great video btw

This somewhat reminds me of the original Alone in the Dark trilogy and Little Big Adventure too. This looks like my jam!

More forgotten gems! Shadowgate 64?

Completed Ecstatica long ago. Scary moments in this game such as the priest, the naked women in the lake and ofcourse the ending. I remember at some point they were planning to develop a action hero-oriented type game using the same ellipsoid engine (i've seen a screenshot of a guy with leather jacket holding a gun standing on the rooftop of a building) but it got cancelled. Couple more gems/obscure games: quarantine, montezuma's return, inferno/tfx, seal team, commanche overkill, slipsteam 5000, tron 2.0, sherlock holmes: consulting detective, herc's adventure, hi-octane, fade 2 black, ace combat, lands of lore, gato, star blade, arcade: m.a.c.h. 3, senjyo, challenge, space zapp, astroblaster.

Dang all your content is great.

These games are my childhood. Ecstatica was one of the first games i ever played when I was way too young, and while I cannot take off the rose tinted glasses, in all my years NOTHING has even came close to the atmosphere in the first game (The second game had a different feel, but is still a favorite in it's own right :)), maybe with the exception of "Veil of Darkness", despite the gameplay differences. Actually maybe you could do a video on that game?

Wow those animations are quite impressive, especially considering the time this came out! The way the werewolf tackled the character was really well executed!

Man it was one of the first games that I owned and I agree with your statement that it is impossible to forget.

I remember playing Ecstatica II, what a weird game.

well one of my favorite games of all time is called "Sacrifice" and is too forgotten XP

This was one of my childhood games along with Dungeon Keeper, Bad Toys 3D, Abes Exodus, Novastorm, Heretic and Destruction Derby. I still have dreams that Ecstatica has hidden levels somewhere but I know I've searched everywhere in the game and their are non but idk their could be something in the coding we do not know about.

I am aware that you have already mentioned Rune, the game, in another video. But I think you should do a complete video on that masterpiece. It might be the nostalgia talking, but that addicting and smooth gameplay mechanics don't lie. Great multiplayer and great singleplayer campaing. One of my favorite game of all times.

oh, wow I just heard about this game, but it is very interesting to hear about...thank you for uploading...THE VOICES WITH NO ANCIENT SOUL Recording a real voice in a recording studio and pretending that comes out from a digitized character is very, very, very difficult and most of the time it does not work; do it wrong an the game loses its power. Nowadays especially in big budget games, professional voices are used multiple times in different games, the result is that all games sound the same and all sounds detached from what is happening in the game. I consider this as the big mistake in videogame industry. Same voices recorded in a perfect controlled enviroment studio: cold, uninspired, empty and with zero connection. How a 'professional' can deliver a true soulful voice if his\her life is a normal life. A mam\dad that goes to do a voiceover has the voice of a mum\dad, not certainly a fighter that have to survive against aliens, medieval soldiers, monsters. A medieval voice should sound ancient, primitive and nothing, nothing is more off putting than a voice that sounds like coming from our modern world and aim to portrait someone from a distant time and space, like in medieval setting. We are very sensitive to the nuances of voices than graphics: a medieval soldier that speaks with the voice of a middle-class man living in our modern word is utterly wrong, it shatters the suspention of disbelief. The voice of a fighting woman that is dubbed by a mum that enjoys her life in a the comfortable setting of her home, will not deliver the truth of a fighting scene. We need outstanding people, different, with a unique and distinct personality, people that struggle with their own life, not professionals that just before dubbing had a comfortable chat with colleagues in a warm and moder recording studio. We need to choose random people from the street and choose the right ones. We also need to go out from the recording studio and record the sound from real places; What truth can come up from a recording made in a studio of a professional that read from a script in front of a microphone? a poor, poor unrealistic performance. Where are the monsters that attack him\her?, probably they are in the caffeine-free coffee that the professional is drinking... Recording video game audio in a studio with professional it does not work. I hope my words will at least make you think.

This has to be the weirdest offkilter horror game I’ve ever seen. What does one to balloon people who’ve been hanged and crucified upside down? By the way, would you ever doing a Forgotten Gems episode on Blood?

You played little big adventure 1 and 2! Esctatica 2 and LBA2 are my favourite games of all time

Does all the descriptions/feature of the game remind you guys something? Bloodborne!

I though I was the only one on this planet who knew this game. got it at a fleemarket 13 years ago. It was pretty weird. Started it over and over again until I got stucked. never finished it.

The Immortal for pc and the sega mega-drive (genesis for you yanks) #GemSuggestion

you should check out the game "exanima" its early access, but this one actually gets updates and the devs often ask for feedback on the forums

Who else came here because of Chris, Tomar and Cory?

I remember this game I played it when I was 11 or 12 it was so awesome. couldn't beat the first enemy

Wow, realy didn't ecspect to see a video about this game in my feed.. Forgotten gem indeed...

Please make one of these for 'The Swapper'. It is not that old a game, but it is an absolute masterwork of a game and it got none of the attention it deserved.

First thing I thought was alone in the dark lol

For as old as this game is I am really surprised how well the animations are.

This game scared the shit out of me when I was a kid! Good call!

Wow after 2 decades plus I learn the damn wear wolf isn’t invincible I’ll be damned

Well, you've convinced me to try Estatica 2. Metroidvania, with some early shades of Dark Souls. Yes please!

Am I the only one who thought Ragnar was quoting the Erlking for the entire beginning ?

Got this on the shelf next to me, i struggled so hard to get it to work but worth it, very creepy game.

Never heard of this before, but it looks like several nightmares I had as a child.

"don't make deals with the devil" before it was cool :3

This has earned you a subscription! :) I love Ecstatica! I still remember it because of a) its elliptoid design, b) the great atmosphere and b) it was one of the few games I actually bought on release (normally I wait until games are older and thus cheaper)! I even finished it, but somehow I must have missed Ecstatica II, because your vid is the first time I've heard of the sequel! I have to look if GOG has them... (fuck Steam, those assholes from Valve will only get my money when they release Half-Life 3 and Portal 3) And you are right, it is a forgotten gem, because even I, who once owned, played and liked it have forgotten its name over the years. I just remembered "The game with elliptoid graphics" and luckily there aren't that many so Google was very helpful! Great vid, great game, thanks for tingling my nostalgia senses! :-)

I remember seeing ads for this game eons ago in old PCGamer magazines. THANK YOU for helping me remember the name of this game after many long years!

These videos are amazing! I love forgotten games and hidden gems, but I find when I search for them so many people bring up the same “cult classics” that are great fun, but not necessarily hidden or secret. Some of these games like these one really excite me since I’ve really never seen them in any hidden gems lists or have only heard of in passing and even when you do present a hidden gem I’m familiar with you present it in such an engaging way that I can’t help but watch

one of the best channels on youtube and especially love your forgotten gems series, please keep them coming!

"Omikron: The Nomad Soul" is probably one of my favourite games of all time, but few people ever talk about it.

It looks amazing I don't remember this one Strange

So Soullikes games are in fact Ecstaticalike games?

6:04 "It's like Resident Evil meets Dark Souls"

I loved this game! Never played the sequel (in fact I forgot it existed) - I'm surprised how sharp it looks

maybe do one for "Shade wraith of angels"

As a kid I thought the werewolf was the devil lol

Looks pretty well animated...

I member

Absolutely would love more of these videos.

I remember buying this at the dollar store in 2000, but it wouldnt run on my computer, haha

As a 3D modeler... I very confused as to why EVERY things is made of spheres(Even "flat" walls). Reminds me when I was making "art" with adobe flash. I used spheres to outline my drawings. Looks to me that this guy wasnt much of a 3d artist and it was the easiest way for him to model objects. But I may be completely wrong, maybe there is a real reason for that choice. Still, this is very odd!

But, there's nothing here.... ;)

It's like a sloppy Dark Souls.

I enjoyed your video, keep up the good work

im genuinely suprised at how well this game is animated for its time, what a bizarre find, please do more of these! (maybe even one on "evolva"? ;P)

im defintely gonna give this a try!

"I only know how to make spheres"

Man, I Love your channel xD

Time for A REBOOOOOOT !! ❤❤❤

Awesome! Never heard of this one. I love these old graphics. They have a feel all their own and are creepy in their own way. Very cool.

Do you know of anyother high quality fixed camera survival horror games from this period? I feel an urge to play something.

Hell yeah more forgotten gems! This was great!

A video, praised be ____!

I agree with your comparison, the second game reminded me a lot of Demon's Souls - or more precisely, when I first saw Demon's Souls I was reminded not only of this game, but I had the same sense of the type of slow progression through a rich environment that the (admittedly flawed) Ecstatica contained.

Yes, the original is a perfect example of a forgotten gem. Even the simplicity of being able to carry two things at any one time and no explanation as to what to do. The mood was excellent - eerie but comical. The sequel was a disappointment - constantly re-spawning foes, no interesting characters like the little girl ('I want my teddy bear'), the priests or the wizard in the tower.

NICE I found this review again after only recalling the graphics, vibes, maybe that there was a werewolf and literally nothing else

Such a great game and what great era to be around when it came to PC video games. C&C, Duke Nukem 3D....The Settlers....and also gems like Ecstatica. I loved this game, I think I have the original CD too. I was very much terrified of the werewolf. Your description of him is exactly what he is. I did beat the game back then. But I never got fully into the sequel unfortunately. Man, wish I could go back in time....the 90ies were so great to us PC gamers. A lot of creative stuff was made back then.