Great videos =), I just found it randomly and even though I haven't played the first Z.O.E, because I never had a ps2 or ps3, I have been interested in the game since I saw it in a friend house when I was a kid. About the logo. Could it be that the circles in the eye is jupiter and the 4 galilean moons (I.O, europa, ganymede and calisto) instead of the sun and the inner planets? I dont know if the creators have talked about it on interviews but it will seem more relevant to the game. Great work!
@@GizouGitai I guess being the Jovian system works in several ways. One that is The zone of the enders. The other is more related to the Egyptian mythology, I'm no egyptologist and i could be talking out of my behind but I think as you mention the ambiguity of the eye could be the eye of Horus or the eye of Ra, the former representing protection, well-being and healing and the later representing violence and destruction, since metatron was found in jupiter and the themes of the game of how it can be use for destruction or pretaction by our protagonist and antagonist respectively, is a shame that the games weren't that successful because we could have more info about this details =)
@@LeStawolf There was an addendum to this theme at the start of ZOE2 where Jupiter's eye stares on at Jehuty/Dingo as he leaves, before he encounters Anubis. It'd be nice if it were elaborated upon further, but with a lack of much else to go on, I think both have to be assumed true. Which is both interesting and boring, it's self-contradictory, so every event or character can be attributed to it, mythologically. It at least maintains some things I said in ZOE2 though, about a greater power in the universe.
Not gonna fluff it dude, this is fantastic. It was just randomly suggest video, and I am over the moon that I clicked on it. Not only is it an awesome game, but your analysis is so great. I'm excited to see more of your content!
24:59 An Autopsy Report: It felt like everything I've tried to tell others about this game. Writen and present like it was a A+ project. You really share the same vision I had of this game growing up. I originally played the Demo version on those old ps2 demo disc bundle releases. It only played up to the first boss. Young when I had actually gotten around to play it. 2007 to 2008 is my earliest memories seeing the game. Later on intrest and feeling grew about the same as you have. Can't deny, it's stunning how comparative I've found this. Excellent job with making a video essay for this. Eventually I hope to do the same and make a video covering the game. Covering the moments that make this special is genuinely nice. Cause this feeling that was captured with the world. Music with narrative in the moments where it counted. "vibe" isn't really a good description for me. "Tone" and "Vibe" both have just not been matched before as a crafted thing. What the game is and what they made has so much weight. It's their, I see it. I wanted so much more of what it had offered and showed. The grandness of how it felt being presented in such a cool way sometimes. Glad I got to feel like I shared a feeling growing up today. Eh, 21 isn't old but I feel it. Looking at what could've been for this game makes me so happy. Genuinely brought a tear typing that. In a way, this introduced mecha to me. It truly made me interested and ask the question as a young lad. Who makes these and how could I? A simple demo on a disc made me appreciate something all these years later. :)
Holy cow, I didn't realize how great ZOE was till this video. I had gotten it years ago as a young lad knowing some about it and playing it some but I got stuck at the point where you had to backtrack and such. The game breaks down just as you describe it but perhaps If I had a more nuanced view of it as I do now, maybe I can push through to the end. I always did appreciate how the game makes a point to the amount of destruction is caused although I never knew about the Bad end. I used to play Gundam Crossfire and I always loved destroying buildings as a kid but there was no real second thought about that, not like in ZOE.
Hey man, big fan of your style of careful analysis and linking themes to their origin, really enjoying the videos. One note I wanted to give is that the title of the series 'An Autopsy and Eulogy' feels a bit negative, even if it's not meant that way. Colours the analysis a different light whenever I read the title, instead of just watching the video itself.
Thanks so much. I added "Eulogy" to the end because of exactly that. It was originally just "Autopsy," for the themes around Death and Killing. That and likening myself to Anubis or Thoth (i.e. Divine Judgement) reaked of hubris. ...And I couldn't find a good way to fit Mummification in there. Unfortunately, we are dealing with a failure. A game most will tell you to skip when you're getting into the franchise. Even though it's 4 hours long, and the franchise hasn't had a new entry in 17 years. It was passed over for a performance/quality patch on PS3, even. ZOE1 is definitively unvalued and unappreciated. The autopsy is the admission, justification and deconstruction of the fatal flaws that made ZOE1 die in the eyes of popular opinion. The eulogy is honouring and remembering ZOE1's brilliant and daring qualities, some of which remain unmatched today. I still think it fits. Maybe I didn't make these thoughts clear enough since I'm desperately afraid of wasting viewer time.
@@GizouGitai With the added context this makes a lot of sense, and admittedly I hadn't finished part 2 when I made the comment. Your explanation of your overall feelings about the game towards the latter half of the video definitely makes the title more fitting.
I really disagree with your hate of revisiting sections. It gives a lot of sense of place, that access and progress are based on what you seek. I think it added more than gameplay but gave the land of enders more meaning since you are fighting to protect these sections often as well, and the relief for the sections that can't be damaged. I still think this game is interesting. It's bolder and delivers on so much that so many games couldn't even fathom, it's failures do bring it down, but usually add texture and set it apart. Long live Z.O.E.
I think what makes back tracking in this game a bit bad is the fact that it's a pace breaker they could still have backtracking but at least have more locations and different challenges I have completed the game more than 10 times and I still have doubts in which place I have to go next when backtracking since there's there's almost no logical reason to go to said places, if there were better hints or if you had a new place to explore to find the item you needed it would help the game feel more concise, I still love the game but I can see why it's a issue for some
This is so good and so fair to a game I love but know it's because I'm willing to forgive it's many missteps for a core that is so strong. Well done though, you should make more content dude!
Yeah imagine being 8 years old trying to do all this. It was... an interesting time. I can see why it was left out of the 4k remastering of the 2nd game and not just make another "Zone of the enders collection" rerelease but in 4k this time.
The primary reason seems to have been that many who were in Hexadrive, including key engineers and programmers, moved to Cygames, and they had experience working on the ZOE2 patch. Cheap and cheerful, expanding already compelted work. But they didn't have any experience working on ZOE1, naturally.
