Zeekerss has a very unique style to their stuff. A kind of capricious sense of horror where all the usual trappings of a horror game are used to accentuate what are ostensibly slapstick routines and pranks meant to fuck with you. Like, most of the threats in The Upturned are pretty transparently extradimensional monsters... but you are playing as the exact kind of screwball who will tear doors off their hinges without a second thought and throw them at anything mildly inconvenient, so while the threats need to be taken seriously, the actual creatures do not since you can and often need to speak their language; Wanton violence sparked by the slightest provocation. It Steals is kind of like that too, where the entire thing is that the monsters are hiding from YOU, and while they do pose the most threat, it still feels like the monsters there playing a cosmic joke on you rather than just despising you. Entire games built around the two questions of "Wouldn't it be fucked up if..." and "Wouldn't it be fucking hilarious if..."
Comedy and Horror are both really similar if you think about it. A good joke and a good scare both require proper build up, both rely on subverting expectations and proper pacing, and both usually end in you making a loud noise out of surprise. All the punchlines in this game are also its scares. Mr. Ballin in the perfect example of this. You see all the plastic fish in the aquarium as Ik insists that they're all real fish, and then you see the giant whale on display, which he also claims is alive. You ignore his warnings because it's obviously fake, you even jump on him to get the chocolate bar on his head, but after running through half of the level full of actual threats, you come back and find he's gone. Perfect setup and punchline, you got me good, but also oh jesus oh god where the hell did he go?! There needs to be more games that lean this hard into comedy as much as it does on horror. There are plenty of horror games that have comic relief, but I can't think of any other horror game which is just flat out funny through the whole runtime.
There's also a few moments of comedy brought on by the classic "I don't know what I expected." line. Where you're the punchline, And the build up is your own lack of self preservation. Ik's Bass boost during the Water Slug's a good example, But the better one is the photo-booth at 7:44. The only reason it's here is to be the set-up to something. It's obvious, But you go along with it anyway. The second photo has *RUN* on the back wall, But you stick around. And *SURE ENOUGH,* You're attacked just in time for the last picture. It's *OBVIOUSLY* a trap, But you go along with it because curiosity out-weighs your self-preservation.
10:30 It would have been funny if you encountered the dog again and fed him the head. I can't tell if that would either be wholesome or dark, maybe both. ._.
I'm really glad to see you playing this game. I personally hold this game near and dear to my heart ever since i played it about half a year ago. It quickly rose to be one of my favorite games due to it's writing, gameplay, style and story that are all fantastic and work perfectly with what the game is going for. I'm really glad Zeekerss has recently been gaining immense popularity thanks to Lethal Company, he's a really great developer.
It seriously angers me to see content creators that could be considered some of the best get ignored, and only get around 2k views on gems of videos. Seriously man, your style is one of the best out there. Perfect amounts of editing, great humor, etc. Lets hope this channel grows and gets the recognition it needs.
God, I love Zeekers' older work getting more attention with Lethal Company's success. But also this is _fantastic_ editing with _wonderful_ use of sound effects, both well known and obscure. Love me some Yume Nikki soundbites, and who can't ignore Funny Source Game? Not to mention all the choices of music... So yeah, nice work. Appreciate it, mate.
I find it absolutely hilarious that those statues are completely invincible, there are not a single moment where the player is able to damage them, YET when offered a gun when chased by one of them, everyone's first reflex is to try and shoot it despite being obviously useless XD This game is genius.
If we don't get a sequel, I'd settle for easter eggs or cameos in Lethal Company. It'd be pretty neat if Mr. Ballin or Shrimp were monsters you'd have to deal with while scavenging for scrap.
@@Str8jacket192 Shrimp was spray painted on the wall in the update trailer too. Now if only we could get Ik's suit or a plushie of him, then the game will be perfect.
I believe this specific scream comes from "Dunksouls" Dunky's old Dark Souls video, specifically when he finds his first mimic and is being eaten alive.
