How Video Games Helped Me Confront Death

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Night in the Woods helped me confront death. Death is a big topic, especially in video games, but after playing Night in the Woods, I knew I had to make a video essay about it. Video games have made death into a pretty universal fail state. From Elden Ring to Signalis to Death's Door, to Sifu death is a little slap on the wrist and barely means anything in the context of a game's narrative. So when games like Night in the Woods and Spiritfarer really tackle the topic of loss and grief, it's pretty impactful. Infinite Fall did a great job making Night in the Woods feel grounded and real. Unlike a lot of popular indie gaming tropes like roguelikes or soulslikes, death and emotional storytelling take the reigns. If you haven't played Night in the Woods, it's a really personal and expertly-told story. I hope you enjoy this video essay about… well… death, eldritch horror, and nihilistic optimism?
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👽Credits Are Below:
Links may be affiliate links which help out the channel at no extra cost to you!
⚔ Media Featured ⚔
A Ghost Story
Night in the Woods
www.humblebundle.com/store/ni...
Shadow of the Colossus
Resident Evil 4 Remake
www.humblebundle.com/store/re...
Rise of the Tomb Raider
www.humblebundle.com/store/ri...
Sekiro
Don’t Starve Together
www.humblebundle.com/store/do...
Anger Foot
www.humblebundle.com/store/an...
Have a Nice Death
www.humblebundle.com/store/ha...
Spelunky
Sifu
www.humblebundle.com/store/si...
Sifu: Arenas
www.humblebundle.com/store/si...
Hades
Ori and the Blind Forest
www.humblebundle.com/store/or...
Absolver
www.humblebundle.com/store/ab...
Elden Ring
www.humblebundle.com/store/el...
Darkest Dungeon
www.humblebundle.com/store/da...
Journey
www.humblebundle.com/store/jo...
Final Fantasy VII Remake
Outer Wilds
www.humblebundle.com/store/ou...
Olli Olli World
www.humblebundle.com/store/ol...
Backbone
www.humblebundle.com/store/ba...
Blacksad: Under the Skin
Chicken Police
www.humblebundle.com/store/ch...
Resident Evil 2 Remake
www.humblebundle.com/store/re...
Season: A Letter to the Future
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
Abzu
www.humblebundle.com/store/ab...
Gris
Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice
Lovecraft’s Untold Stories
www.humblebundle.com/store/lo...
Stirring Abyss
Signalis
www.humblebundle.com/store/si...
🎶 Music Featured 🎶
Carrion OST: Fathomless
Elden Ring OST: Limgrave
Night in the Woods OST: Menu Theme
Night in the Woods OST: Bridge Theme
Night in the Woods OST: Cat God
Signalis OST: Die Toteninsel
Night in the Woods OST: Town Rain
Signalis OST: Ritual
Signalis OST: Double Back
Season A Letter to the Future OST
Hope you enjoyed this video essay!
#VideoEssay #NightInTheWoods #VideoGames

Опубликовано:

3 фев 2023

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Комментарии : 46

@filmotter Год назад

If you'd like to support the content, hop over to ko-fi.com/filmotter 💕

@noobalott_vods Год назад

The focus of this video is... oddly timely considering certain events in my life at the moment, and resonates fairly deeply with me. Thanks for all the work you do, Otter.

@filmotter Год назад

I send you all the hugs if you need them, Noob. It was more timely than I realized for myself as well. So I feel ya.

@bisgaard575 Год назад

This channel is CRIMINALLY underrated. I was absolutely shocked at your subcount with this level of quality and care put into your work. Incredible stuff, i'll be waiting for your next essays from now on! :)

@filmotter Год назад

I'm glad you're digging the content! 😅

@PMVault Год назад

Agreed AF

@veldtwalkerMedia Год назад

I am reminded of a Quote about death. “There are three deaths. The first is when the body ceases to function. The second is when the body is consigned to the grave. The third is that moment, sometime in the future, when your name is spoken for the last time.” ― David M. Eagleman, Sum: Forty Tales from the Afterlives

@filmotter Год назад

That's quite the apropos quote

@Deadforge Год назад

A genuinely terrifying topic bur beautifully broke down congrats. This is a game I've been meaning to play for a while. The most important thing is to live your life your way and have a good life. Fail and make mistakes to get better at what you love. Just live the life you love.

@filmotter Год назад

Glad it spoke to you! I had a surprisingly good time making this video

@Deadforge Год назад

@@filmotter That's awesome! man. You're passion comes through in this video as well as your others. You make such amazing stuff. Keep it up and make what you love.

@StefanSte Год назад

Cold and unnerving? My body decaying is such a relexing thought. Giving all the atoms and the energy saved in my flesh back to the dirt. Melting into the surface around me and providing for so much life. The dream

@filmotter Год назад

Oh GAWD. Melting. What an unnerving word to use. I love it, honestly.

@StefanSte Год назад

@filmotter its my biggest desire. Just relex so hard that the bonds between the molecules fall apart

@MaxWattage Год назад

"I believe in a universe that doesn't care, and in people who do.", is my philosophy too.💕

@filmotter Год назад

Very much in line with how I live my life honestly

@captaindanverz3520 Год назад

This was really beautifully done Otter, I've really enjoyed hearing about your reflections because of games. Honestly I've been playing a lot of Spiritfarer lately and thinking about final goodbyes, memories, regrets and hopes. I'm glad I know so many people that also get soooo much out of video games and life. 💜

@filmotter Год назад

I am regretting not having played Spiritfarer Before making this video to be completely honest. I hear it's amazing and very much in line with the theme of this video. :D

@captaindanverz3520 Год назад

@@filmotter I love it a lot, if you get time to play it I absolutely recommend

@filmotter Год назад

@@captaindanverz3520 It's definitely on my "Play very very soon" list, since I do own it

@DavisGSee Год назад

On the mechanics of death and permadeath: I recently played Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon (DS remake of the first game in the series), which I originally had written off for its off-putting art style and meagre story but ended up being fascinated by its design decisions. You can really see how permadeath became a core part of the series' identity, as everything is balanced around the assumption that you will lose units. This remake even includes a tutorial moment that forces you to let someone die in order to get you over the mental hurdle of permadeath. Around the GBA era, you would always hear people say that they reset whenever they lost someone, and the modern games let you undo fatal mistakes, rendering permadeath a gentle suggestion to play well. Simultaneously, the series has put an increased emphasis on character writing and relationships, furthering most folks' commitment not to lose beloved allies. Permadeath works in Shadow Dragon partially because the characters are so shallow; my only reset was late in the game when I'd built a consistent core team and could no longer afford to lose any part of it--for my strategy, not on account of my feelings. All this to say, it's really tough to make death matter in a way that's fun!

@filmotter Год назад

Yeah making death something that's part of a fun gameplay loop is really tough. Very few games pull it off satisfyingly.

@olimpianisioi8257 7 месяцев назад

A beautiful video, it resonated so much with me! nITW is so close to my heart and you articulated everything so beautifully!

@filmotter 7 месяцев назад

Thank you! I'm glad it spoke to you. 💕

@cat.hexxes Год назад

MAKING ME CRY AGAIN😭 Another great video! You've really been putting a lot of thought into these! All things I needed to hear. Thank you! 💞 You amaze!

@flatbunny Год назад

Another great video and nice use of the Signalis OST.

@kirbeeez6131 Год назад

Another great video as always. There’s no way you don’t blow up before the end of 2023, you’re up there with people like razbuten and Jacob geller for me. Keep on going my friend this is great ❤️

@Jckfrbn Год назад

Death is a celebrated filter for my family, they where always somewhat into the macabre. As they explained it death makes life worth it as it gives meaning to every action, it makes it so concepts need to be simplified to be explained faster and easier to the next generation. It clears the board of old thoughts and opinions and till the end of last year I didn't fully understand that. In December I found out my grandpa died.... and ya it still hurts to even say that and I cried, I realized how much of my own things I held back out of wanting his respect. My fears of disappointing him or him not agreeing with my actions had a strange guiding affect that now that he is gone..... I don't have those worries anymore. Im free from fears he told me I'd lose once he was gone, I'll still miss his wisdom, his sense of dark comedy, his love of explosive devices and his stories, he is my hero and Im glad I knew him. But I'm also glad he is finally in rest, no more suffering normal aging stuff, diabetes or old loss's still holding him down.

@mossgoodlass8439 Год назад

Incredible vid as always, would love to see you tackle Omori

@filmotter Год назад

Thank you! And Omori has been on my list for the longest. There's so many games out there. 😅

@apocriva Год назад

Night in the Woods was the last game I played before starting on antidepressants, when I was at some of my lowest lows. It really struck a chord with me at the time, and while memory (as usual) fails me with a lot of the specifics about what happened in the game, I remember being really messed up for a few days after finishing it. Watching this essay makes me wonder whether it was the whole "looking mortality in the eyes" thing. lol (As an aside... I'm doing *phenomenally* well these days, so no worries please 💜)

@filmotter Год назад

Yeah this game definitely snuck up on me and I didn't know it would be affecting me as much as it did.

@zhacat5055 Год назад

Я очень удивилась, заметив дату выхода видео. Эту игру я прошла только недавно и меня очень радует, что по ней ещё выпускаются свежие видео. Тема правда интересная, спасибо автору за разбор

@SocraTetris Год назад

Hey! I'm releasing a video on the same topic later this year (though not through Night in the Woods thank goodness). Pretty funny coincidence :)

@filmotter Год назад

Oooh I'm excited to see what your perspective will be. 🥰

@EriesAston Год назад

You should play Spiritfarer

@filmotter Год назад

It's definitely on my list. I've heard great things about it!

@MhmJayy Год назад

babe wake up filmotter posted

@filmotter Год назад

What? For real? *rolls out of bed*

@whomstedery 10 месяцев назад

Hopefully life extension technology will happen in the future would gladely take it

@NATE-op9tq Год назад

good vid

@filmotter Год назад

Thank you! Much appreciated.

@dianamensone8478 2 месяца назад

Have you played lies of p?

@filmotter 2 месяца назад

Not yet, but I'm planning on getting to it very very soon

@FauxRetro Год назад

I can't watch this video but I'm sure it's great wow woo woo woo woo wowie woow wow

@evgaming9390 8 месяцев назад

As I've gotten older I've gotten wiser understanding 2 things. 1. Everyone born will die so the sooner you accept it the better you are. 2. There is a God or there isn't. If there is the if you were good you will be fine. If there isn't then it won't matter because you will cease to exist. I believe in a God as it gives me hope