What Happens in Wooden Ocean? 

step one of watching a worm girl video on a game I don't know about is to pause the video and go buy the game

"But black dynamite, I sell drug to the community." Goated line

I'm loving that Violet's radiation attack is basically "Cancer Beam" "Me? A sorcerer? Wrong!" _ *CANCER BEAM* _

Any game that allows giving my enemies cancer is an instant buy for me

Anonymous fan writer writes an OC for their favorite fantasy novel, all hell breaks loose when the wider community finds it. Violet is our very own Ebony Dark'ness Dementia Raven Way, and we are her author

Wooden Ocean is a weird palimpsest of a game, marinated (lovingly) in enough RPGMaker aesthetic that it feels like a time capsule until the time capsule suddenly grows seven limbs and starts calling you uneducated

I have a peculiar feeling that Violet is in some way expression of fanfiction- made by an outside artist, causing her to be "imaculately birthed" into the world of another, lacking memories of her own and being "overpowered" in the world she's dropped into, probably one character of said fan artist since noone knows of them, but a significant addition showing that people like the artwork of the original artist enough to write fanfics and make up new characters for that world (even if they don't know how to organically introduce them yet)

I once had an idea for a story that took place in a kind of MMORPG server that was still running after an apocalyptic war wiped out all of humanity, where every NPC and monster had gained sapience and were trying to get by in a world that was supposed to have a large number of god-like beings killing monsters and fueling the economy. There was a "War In Heaven" that was basically moderator bots fighting over whether they should stay the course or change the rules since all the players were gone. The world had, in the aftermath of that "War In Heaven", devolved to a Conan The Barbarian-esque bronze age, because the moderator bots were all gone and there was now nothing to keep the plugging the gaps in the system, with the few NPCs who had figured out how some of the systems worked now ruling over kingdoms as unstoppable god-kings, because what is a level one NPC armed with bronze and wood going to do about someone who is level 99 and has end-game gear? The Big Bad of the story was meant to be a glitch that had gained self-awareness that, to the NPCs in the game, looked like a genuine cosmic horror beyond comprehension because it was literally a sapient flaw in reality. I feel like, after watching this video, maybe I should do something with that story now.

Wooden Ocean is the sixth entry in the relatively unknown game series GoGo's Strange Misadventures. The other entries in this series in order are Ghost Plasma (1998), Combat Desire (2002), Moonrock Knights (2006), Coal is Indestructible (2009), and Platinum Breeze (2015).

I dont even know what to call this type of content, but I love it. Its like a combination of a video essay explaining the game, leading into a long play talking me through the narrative, but edited down to movie length. There are so many games I'd like to see covered just like this. Great work.

I get the feeling that the idea/concept of creativity is very important to this story, and not in the ways it might first seem. "The Wooden Ocean" was the last fantasy novel ever written by a human, and that happened around 38 BILLION years ago, seeming to suggest that humanity hasn't just stagnated, but did so so long ago that it's now all anyone can imagine. The Infinite Hotel is a truly amazing work of art, but it's also(from the very, very little we've seen of it) seemingly a purely derivative one, only allowing people to experience already-existing stories and scenarios. And between that and the Jealous Artist seeking only to destroy that which is better than what they can make, if you leave out the real-world art pieces then there's only one wholly original creative work in this world that was created after humanity transcended reality: Violet. Violet is a new character, who didn't exist in the original "Wooden Ocean", who has a backstory and memories that don't line up with it at all. I think Violet's Artist is/is going to be a very important force in the narrative, even if only in the background most of the time like the Old Gods in Fear & Hunger, because her Artist is seemingly the only person in the realm of transcended humanity who's both willing and able to make new art and tell a new story.

Man this hour long video essays in youtube is the best trend that ever happen in this site imo

When she said "bows reduce your threat rating" I somehow decided for a moment she meant WEARING a hair bow, not weilding a bow and arrow, makes you seem less threatening and less likely to be attacked. That'd be a very charming mechanic for an RPG imo 😂

In the meta-narrative about art and artists it's pretty clear that the player / Violet takes the role of the audience / fancdom. Violet herself has quite a few aspects of a fanfic character / mary sue in the original sense (related to the main character of the story, somehow becomes the protagonist despite not existing in the original narrative). As such the Player is the opposite of the Jealous Artist (who would be the hater / anti-fan), instead of reacting to the work with destruction, they actively engage with it and it inspires them to be creative.

Some npcs calling violet mezra and nosredna being anderson backwards (and also someone's face) are things I can't believe I never noticed while playing, but it makes me want to replay it someday. Also, props for getting through the final area's insane difficulty spike without resorting to bombs.

the TV Lawyer being the lawyer from TV was a running gag that never got old, A+ and thank you for keeping alive the enduring promise that good games and compelling art are always out there, waiting to be discovered.

I love that the name of the piece is literally a stage, when art pieces reveal the reason for their name towards the end it always feels cathartic to me.

Your analysis and commentary consistently amazes me away no matter the game. From the research, to the script, to the gameplay, the amount of work you put into making these videos is stellar. I'll have to pick up this game. Cheers!

Worm Girl strikes again. Time for another masterpiece about a game I'm never gonna play!

Really great video as usual! Glad to be a supporter! Also thank you for resisting the urge to title this “the best RPG maker game YOUVE NEVER PLAYED” or something like that lol

I think worm girls main fan base has all agreed, start worm girl video about a game weve never heard of, pause video, buy the game, play the video while it downloads. Never have I consistently loved every single video someone makes, let alone evrry game they reccomend till she came along with absolute banger after banger. Keep it up dude!

I love that you dedicate the time and energy to highlighting these lost games. It gives me so much existential dread to think about how many people pour their souls into their art only for it to go unseen and quickly forgotten.

It seems to be a very postmodern game in it's themes.

As much as I want to finish watching this video, half an hour in, and I need to play this for myself. God damn, you sold me.

Violet, casually giving people cancer: "My disease?"

This video hits me for 2x damage, the first hit is because I'm in the middle of going "how does any videogame ever get made???" as you describe at the beginning, and the second is because I've tried walking the tightrope of brilliant/nonsense through a metanarrative very similar to this one before and it's really goddamned hard. Props to Anderson for riding it out and publishing his thing. Oh and to you for finishing the vid, I've been curious since you first mentioned in that stream a while ago.

I bought this after I read a forum post and got stuck because an unmarked door was a point of no return. I think that was a glitch, though. "Game made by one guy who had absolutely no oversight or sanity checks" is one of my favorite genres of fiction so I could forgive it. shoutout to worm girl for repeatedly releasing videos when something bad happens in my life though lol.

God I'm really glad you made this video because of how much I love this game but even by now there's more ppl who watched the video than ever played it and it feels like some sort of secret laid bare

This is probably the first game Ive ever heard off that allows you to give cancer to enemies

I was waiting for this video for weeks now! I bought the game after you mentioned it briefly on your Termina speedrun stream with Frapollo and instantly fell in love. Thanks for sharing this Gem of a game with us!

Wow, this game is something else.. In my game Violet suddenly had 30 spirit at level 8 and started nuking everything. But since the game is so weird I wasn't really sure if it was a bug or some meta humor thing. Anyway, I proceeded to some of the deepest late game areas, found UR, nuked all the endgame bossed I could find, 2 shot the "final boss" with 0 planning, roll credits. Never even boarded a boat. Turns out there's a huge chunk of story I missed because my Violet turned into One Punch Man. What..

1:29:49 its even more complicated than that. There's a book (forget where) that states the Infinite Hotel wins awards for Best Afterlife, one is mentioned by name but others are implied. I'd guess thanks to arbitrary physics there are multiple competing cosmologies. And it's not like outer space is gone either. There's a convo from a ghost close to the water temples ghost road entrance that says rich people could use space travel rather than the Hotel to get around (and Alex's comments on Earth).

Quick note about Psuedo vs psuedo: Psuedo = RUR, Pseudo = UR, IIRC there is some dialogue explaining this in Psuedo Hell. Pretty interesting to see the little differences in how our playthroughs went, lots of easy to miss dialogue.

Your reading of this was actually how I imagine it would sound if I were trying to suss out a story from a bunch of people with different interests were all talking at once. It was nice to listen to! Though it's funny that mankind tried to make its perfect world, and it's just purgatory. Every time!

I'd like to point out at: 1:24:10 there is a book in Lampless that hints to the nature of Time. It's the one about the last element discovered and Arbitrary Physics I believe. Eternal Recurrence, Big Crunch into the Omega Point.

The patreon names are awsome. Best part of every essay is: read the video comments while the patreon names go on and i hear wg read names like "TimeTravel DrugsCartel" or "Here kitty pspspsps meow moew"

This is the kind of game the internet was made for. Weird, bizarre, incredibly idiosyncratic but charming and fascinating. Not the type of game I'd play necessarily but I'm gonna buy it anyway when I can, just cause I adore this kind of thing, I guess the word would be auteur stuff like this and want to support it.

Murda Urda finally bought the game and now have spent 1 hour into it running a gravity and darkness class this is the coolest rpg maker game I have ever played thank you worm woman!

I got about 20 minutes into this video before going to the Steam page and getting it for myself. I’m only about 10 hours in but I’m absolutely rabid for more of this game, it’s truly incredible and one-of-a-kind. Excited to finish the vid once I’m done! thanks for all your hard work on this channel.

These videos are doing God's work exploring underappreciated indie games. Looks like I have another game to play

The more blatant humor is a very welcome addition in this video! Your videos are amazing and the commentary helps me get sleep when im having difficulties. Thank you for the great video!

This game felt like an acid trip. I wasn't much interested in it at the beginning but I couldn't avert my gaze. Though, now that I have experienced it, I don't regret it one bit. Great video Worm Girl

I'm only 10 mins in and this looks so unbelievably cool. I must also say your long-form video quality has drastically improved. I feel very compelled to not spoil further and play the game myself. Thank you for this recommendation.

I used to love playing through RPGMaker games, like To The Moon and Corpse Party and Omori, but don't really have the time to explore new games anymore... Thanks for diving deep for us Worm Girl, hopefully I can sneak in a watch with my morning tea 💕

watched long enough to know i should wishlist. i'll come back to this video some day, after I play it.

Okay, a bit of build theory-crafting: Violet: Daggers, Thread, Dark. Alex: Sword and Shield, Earth/Metal. Amelia: Bow, Radiation. Violet is your primary damage dealer, using Darkness to inflict Curse on enemies to halve their luck and follows up with Threads for high damage, with Daggers to deal high-damage crits for undead and curse immune. Alex tanks, and since Violet and Amelia have low Taunt weapons, they'll be largely ignored outside AOEs. Amelia is your Debuff queen, dropping Poison, Toxic, Cancer, etc. Again, this is all theory-crafting, but I think it should make a pretty potent build. Each party member has a role and the skills needed to fulfill that role. With both Violet and Amelia sporting weapons that reduce Taunt and Alex sporting gear that increases it, you only have to worry about keeping one character healed up while the rest of the party does the work. Violet on her own should be a very strong damage dealer while Amelia uses debuffs that will reduce enemy stats and defenses, making Violet's attacks even more damaging. If the enemy is an undead, Alex's Earth skills will be more damaging to them, so that covers that one weakness. This is all based on info I found on the guide and will need testing, but I think there's a good chance of this being a solid build.

Paused this video after the prologue/chapter 1 section to go play Wooden Ocean for myself. I've gotten pretty far with a wind/thread start using daggers, even managing to kill some things well above my level, but came back to see your thoughts on the things I have played. This turned out to be a great idea, because I could not find Demon Door II. Found I and III on my own but couldn't find II. Lo and behold, 33:00 had my answers. Thank you Worm Girl. I'll now re-pause this video since I haven't actually searched the mines for Marcus yet and only dipped in to deal with the orcs and get the cash reward (and some other minor exploration, I left as soon as Alex said we were on the right track since I wanted to do other things first). I will be back once I have made more main story progress, which will likely take me a long, long time. There's just so much to explore.

"You know, like in real life!" Spat out my water 😂

Wake up babe, a new Worm Girl video dropped

Got this game because of you. Developer is a literal crazy person who responds to every message board post within minutes regardless of time of day, often incoherently. This is a good thing.

Hell yeah I was *just* boredly refreshing everything for something good to watch, and something good was delivered-

Its been nice watching you grow from a few 100 to thousands of subscribers, you introduced me to alot of cool games i enjoy now

Just wanted to say that I took a quick look at your other vids and, frankly, you're my kind of content creator. You've earned my sub with great, quality content that scratches my increasingly weird tastes. I guarantee you were recommended to me because I'm also subscribed to Mara (formerly Maraganger) and Eurothug4000. Keep up the awesome work! Also I've already bought my copy of Wooden Ocean, and I'll be taking a look at your vids for Deadeye Deepfake and Lost Cartridge in the near future. Cheers!

I deeply appreciate you putting Nuclear Throne as the first example of a polished game. THE jury-rigged masterpiece

20 minutes in and this looks like a really solid passion project. It's charming and grim at the same time.

I'm not one to normally comment on a video, but I like your deep dives so much and respect how truly unknown this little gem is that for you and for the author of the game I will leave this message. Thank you for creating.

Commented about a year ago about your vids absolutely slapping, and you’ve done diddly did it again. Truly one of, if not the best creators on here. See you in another year when I once again inadvertedly will become absolutely floored by your growth, keep on keeping on, cant wait for the next vid!

As someone who's been following this game since its beginnings as a simple dungeon crawler, kudos to you for giving it the attention it so richly deserves! 👏 Fun fact: you can find me (or a version thereof) as an NPC in Winter Recluse. Goes back to a chat I had with the dev on Twitter a few years ago...😄

ahhh, Worm Girl coming through with a new audio-visual dopamine source for my brain to mine. Praise be.

Heya, thankyou for giving me a door to art i couldnt mentally complete on my own. I love art deeply and knowing im missing out on so many experiences is genuinely so saddening to me, that stories like the one you've written here fill me with delight. Thankyou

The only thing im sad about is this vid posted on my day off so I cant jam to it at work. Not like I wasnt going to end up rewatching this over and over anyway, lmao How you do your videos is just so good, the way you walk through the narratives is lovely, and you know how to enter memes *exactly* when theyd work the best without spamming them

Bumping for the algorithm. Small devs deserve the recognition, thank you for sharing!

Praise be to the blood altar, for Worm Girl has uploaded a most murda video today! I can't wait to watch this! Though it'll probably be a while since I still have so much of the game to experience myself (despite reaching NG+ and dumping over 40 hours already hehe =v=).

The protagtrio of this are mt favorite kind of characters. People who by all rights suck, they have done horrible things, but they make decisions to do better, to help. If not others then at least each other. Youre much less your past self than you are the person you are now. And thatll be the case every day.

I don't think they're especially similar but I am reminded of Neverending Story. I like stories that play with meta-narrative a lot. This game/video was a trip!

"The best thing to do is hire a bunch of cops and pay them to not do their jobs" - I'm laughing and wanting to cry thinking about how NYC libraries won't be open on the weekend Edit: also if you could share that Demiurge-npc I would be very grateful lol

I’ve never heard anyone other than NitroRad mention Space Funeral. His review is old but it’s still pretty good and “Spleen” is one of my favorite poems I’ve discovered through that video. You should cover it if you want to do a shorter review or play through it!

5 minutes into the video and I've decided to buy the game. I'll be back in a week or so to watch the rest of the video once I've finished my own playthrough. Thanks for the recommendation.

I literally reached the part where you warned about spoilers after the prologue, then paused and bought the game! It's been great so far. As for what you mentioned about knowledge, I think some things might have been added? On NG+, I walked to Winter Recluse and saw, in the space where there used to be a path to nothing, a blue chest. Opening it gave me six realism shards and the text "She saw the unseeable. This was knowledge." I notice on the eastern end of town there's another path towards nothing. I think another chest may be there. Has anyone else encountered this? EDIT: After taking a closer look around the map, I've noticed these chests everywhere. It seems like a NG+ method to help cope with losing all your stats. I can suddenly buy Poet of Metal gear for everyone.

50% of the way through and you've convinced me to give it a shot

I wasn't sure what I was expecting when I came into this vid, but one of the most profoundly heartfelt metanarratives on the creative process and just a straight up amazing story about not being tied down by what other people expect you to be or not be, I think I've ever seen wasn't it. If just hearing about it from ya made me a bit misty-eyed, then I'm looking forward to experiencing it firsthand.

I bought the game and it's a lot longer than what I expected. I thought I was going to breeze through the game and then watch your video, but it seems like I'll have to put in 100 hours first. Thanks for putting this game on my radar. It is a real treat to play this game.

The idea that worm girl has seen black dynamite makes me unreasonably happy.

51:30 when you said this I went “Heh, just like that black dynamite scene” imagine my surprise the very next clip

Shole my beloved-it's really his pseudo world and we're just living in it In all seriousness, thank you so much for the shout-out! It was a pleasure to help and the video came out genuinely so well! Here's to all the new players who get to experience this trip of a game! 🪵🌊🎉

Always love seeing these videos. These types of games are not my forte but I love learning about the story and seeing them played. As always you did an amazing job! 10/10

Holy crap, he finished it! I'm not sure when he finished it as I last talked to him years ago when he had to put it on hold, I think. Or did he finish it? I remember I played a demo? It's so weird (and cringey) seeing my old art lol! I kept seeing this on my feed and 'Wooden Ocean' looked familiar and I knew I knew it, but couldn't remember why.

it's goofy but i hope we get some resolution to whatever alex and rosemary have going on. I think it's so terribly sad he's truly in a doomed love relationship, just another thing he can't control :(. I hope he gets peace (as every story should at some point have an ending, no matter how sad)

I love that this game directly references fanfiction in a higher meta universe concept. It's often looked down upon as a lesser art form and associated with teen girls which is one of the most hated demographic on this planet. What I like most is the genuinity of this work. Violet is out of place and overpowered for her setting. But her interaction with the world is genuine and full of heart. Her will (the players') to explore, and her memory of her family is true at the moment until the reveal of the truth.

I have fallen asleep every time i have tried to watch this video because the narration is so calming and chilled out. 10/10 will watch again

This is awesome! I started watching your channel due to your cdda tutorials, and this kind of content is my favorite to watch

That made my daayyy! I write for fun (and for TTRPG games I run for my friends) and all those RPGmaker rare-gems are an absolute GOLD-mine of inspiration- and those videos essays/dissertations you make the perfect vehicle to learn about them. I enjoyed all those little moments that were included that make no sense to the main character as the curtains rises on the "reality" of the situation. Simple, but very entertaining. Your recap of the story was CLEAN. Also the *SPOILER ALERT* Self-insert at the very end of the game is hilarious. I hope you will revisit if the artist ever finishes his art. Thanks for grinding like hell for this channel, although I hope that won't be a recurring thing (for your sake). PATREONED!

oh this feels like itll fit right in with my favourite games of all time

Paused the video immediately to buy the game, well worth it. Honestly some of the most fun combat ive played in a rpg.

Worm girl educating the masses in more ways than one, thank you.

Another great video. ❤ I'm glad to see your channel growing, and I really love the games you've highlighted so far. I would ask if you could format the text overlays a bit differently if you could, the text is sometimes hard to read. Keep up the good work worm girl!

game characters being aware that they're game characters rarely is done right, i remember one of the star ocean had that ending but star ocean has never been good at story progression so it really sucks. i'll definitely check the game out, great video as usual

1min in and it's already peak

Really liked all the designs in this, everything was so unique and yet in a similar tone

Worm Girl is like Virgil to me, being the guide to show off hidden horrors and beautiful pain

I'm so glad this game is getting some love through this video. Love your analyses; you may enjoy checking out another strange little project called Soulestination!

You are one of only two people I have ever seen reference Charles Barkley's Shut Up And Jam Gaiden

Time for my bimonthly rewatch of all your content! Please keep it up i adore all your videos!!!

Back in the dirt with Worm Girl LET'S GOOOOOOOO

omg not even a hint of Undercity. if you, the viewer, watched the whole thing and are worried you wouldnt get anything from playing it yourself: dont be. there's HUGE swathes to explore and they're genuinely insane and rule. play wocean!

Awesome. Glad you made something for us! Was a great ride. Hope you have a wonderful weekend.

This sounds like one of the most insane games out there. Love it.

She's rollin deep with this one, good lord.

SHE CAN'T STOP COOKING GEMS!

Wonderful breakdown and spotlight as always. Wishlisted it a little while back then lo and behold it went on sale. As it stands now I'm over 10hrs in with no sign of stopping, and it's aaaaall your fault!