Okay so obviously no one wanted this, but I want this channel to cover more than just the big AAA classics, especially because some of the best stories come from smaller titles/studios. Not in this instance, obviously, but I was just curious about Gollum and didn’t think anyone else was going to make a long-form on it. Assassin’s Creed II is up next, then another smaller title (a good one this time, I promise), then probably the Dragonborn DLC. People keep asking about Morrowind, I am planning to make a critique but I’m trying to get a full playthrough or two in first, so that’s happening in the background. Thank you everyone for watching!

You truly made the game feel like the Gollum of videogames. Something with potential and had some hope at one point, only to fail at every opportunity and become gross, pitiable, and dies a death few will ever mourn or notice as time marches on.

In the spirit of being fair to this terrible game: The line about being chained to the orc's neck is there because "a millstone around my neck" is an expression. The old man was correcting him about the expression, not saying they were literally chained together

Playing Gollum while watching the 2 hour Gollum essay while wearing my Gollum pyjamas, in my Gollum bed with the Gollum lamp and the Gollum carpet

I think the worst thing about this game is that by design you have to look at gollum the whole time.

Honestly I genuinely look serious thoughtful analysis of Bad Media. Trying to actually figure out what a work did and was trying to do, the places it might have succeeded and the ways it definitely failed, especially in something extremely messy like this, is one of the best ways to learn how to tell better stories. Bad art is still art and as such it still deserves to be examined in good faith. Also, if I'm being honest, I get so tired of just dunking on bad media just for being bad that seeing a video trying to give the game any sort of actual look is very refreshing.

“first of all, this is not a joke” unironically answered my primary question immediately

The Ancient Romans had sponges. Infamously, sponges on long sticks, _xylospongium._ So I think more advanced and sea-bordering kingdoms of Middle-earth would have sponges. Gondorians, Mordorians. Or at least the blasphemous high technology of Sauron may have included the sponge among its contraptions and war machines.

They harvested and traded sea sponges in medieval europe all the way back to ancient greece and rome, so they make sense in middle earth.

really fond of how you use clips for the lego lotr games to illustrate moments that gollum doesnt have footage of

i think "this work is very underwhelming, and not good, but lets analyze it anyway and see whats there to see" is legitimately one of the most exciting pitches for a video

Idk why but the quote " why are you asking questions, sauron hates questions, F@@k you! Now let me ask you some questions!" Just sounds like a stereotypical Marine Drill Sargent in my head

I feel recognized by the "people who have started their sleep routines" comment. I am currently in the bathroom, about to wash my hands and remove my contact lenses, then I'm going to clean up in the kitchen, make some supper and go to bed, all the while keeping the video in the background. KZfaq videos help me sleep. Thank you.

This game did to me what Hunt Down the Freeman did: started off as this bile fascination, a game so utterly broken and bizarre and half-playable that I couldnt help but fall in love with it, become obsessed with it as it was on release, and then made me curious about the source material on which it was built (Lord of the Rings and Half-Life respectively), so much so that I ended up joining the fandom to this incredibly popular thing 20 years late and in the midst of a relative lull in popularity.

Not too difficult to read the exchange at 23:07 as a metaphor. The discussion about where the orc’s invisible milestone and chain is attached is telling us how the man and the orc differently view their relationship with one other. The orc sees the man as a plain liability to him, hence ‘ankle’. The man interjects with ‘neck’ because he perceives having control over the orc.

On the bird "betraying Gollum" I dunno how intelligent it is, nor am I sure if it's stated but like... Couldn't it just be acting similarly to a homing pigeon who's also imprinted on Gollum? Gollum sends it out, so it returns to the Candle Master, who then follows it back to Gollum?, where it inadvertently alerts the Candle Master as it tries to get Gollum's attention, as it sees Gollum as its parent, and then defends him when threatened. I know giving animals human-like agency happens often in LOTR, but it is an alternate reading to "bird likes gollum, then betrays gollum, then betrays gollum again, then betrays the Candle Master" it would also explain why the bird doesn't just watch and spy from a distance. It's just coming to the person it views as a parent, and to a familiar place where it lived for years, ultimately being an innocent animal.

to be fair, I don’t think “kill the bird” necessarily implies that gollum views what he’s about to do as a punishment - I think it’s moreso a self-serving act at the expense of the bird’s life. as long as the bird is alive, there is always the chance that it will try to help him but end up turning him back in. despite being bonded with gollum, it is at the end of the day just an animal, and it it doesn’t understand the nuances of political allegiance - to the bird, mordor isn’t a place of betrayal, it’s its home where it was hatched. of *course* the bird is going to keep reporting back to mordor. the choice to kill it is a bit cruel, yes, but it’s practical, and *that’s* what makes it gollum’s choice, moreso than any possible implication of “revenge”. sméagol lets the bird go knowing full well that it could “betray” his location again, and gollum does what he has to to avoid being caught. I don’t think he takes any pleasure in it either, honestly. the cutscene is distinctly sad. of course whether or not that sadness is successfully conveyed is debatable but that’s sort of besides the point. I wish everything surrounding this scene wasn’t so muddled because I think it’s one of the few in the game that had the definite potential to be actually very good - it just. didn’t end up that way unfortunately

23:34 Loving this video so far, just thought I'd point out that this exchange between the orc and the frail man isn't literal; the orc says the frail man is "a useless millstone chained to [his] foot," and the frail man corrects him: "neck." This is because "a millstone about one's neck" is a common idiom referring to something that drags one down. The orc, being an orc, doesn't understand the saying and so says it incorrectly. The man, being more cultured, corrects him, which the orc takes poorly. It's a brief exchange that is more culture and characterization than a literal question of literal chains tied to literal feet or necks. For as janky as this game is, this moment makes sense. EDIT: 1:09:57 You've brought up the idea the game has assigned some strange motive to the elves a couple times, but is this really so weird? Of all the things you would easily expect from a Gollum game, or a game that features servants of Sauron, negative opinions of the elves, their culture, their objects of worship, etc. would probably be a given. From what we know from dialogue from Gollum and orcs in The Lord of the Rings, the elves are viewed as strange, fierce and weirdly associated with light in a negative contexts. Creatures of darkness probably *would* find that idea intimidating. But even Faramir in the books and Gimli in the films have, at first blush, a misconception about Galadriel, one of the most important elves. Treebeard himself describes the land of Lothlorien as if it were dangerous, and he likely knows everything there is to know about this woods. Alternative perspectives on the elves aren't hard to come by, and the idea that servants of Sauron would view starlight with suspicion makes sense in the canon given that Sauron was a servant of Melkor, enemy of the Valar (including Elbereth, who wove the stars into the sky, which is why stars are one of the symbols of the Valar and of everything good in Middle-Earth) makes quite a bit of sense. It's actually pretty funny to think of Sauron's followers having weird conspiracy theories about why the elves are secretly the real bad guys. EDIT 2: 1:35:57 Actually, and this might genuinely interest you, as I believe in the Appendices of The Lord of the Rings and in writings published elsewhere such as The Silmarillion, the Free Peoples in the North have a real struggle on their hands defending the Lonely Mountain in particular from the forces of Sauron. Legolas actually references this fact when he and Gimli make small talk in Helm's Deep about how they wished they had some elves or dwarves to help with the defense. However, if you *really* want a Lord of the Rings related video game rabbit hole to go down with respect to this idea, you should check out an older title called "The Lord of the Rings: The War in the North." It adapts a few gaps in the story of The Lord of the Rings, just like "The Lord of the Rings: Gollum" does, and came similarly from a small studio that suffered afterwards. But that's another story, for the interested.

A mild defense for something you seemed to have misread - Gollum says he *told* him he'd find the precious, but literally no indication that Sauron assented or actually wanted Gollum on the hunt for it - not such a wretched creature. I'd imagine he'd sent Smeagol to the slave camp for losing it/having it for so long without bringing it to him, or some other wicked reason. Smeagol is talking and feeling pitiful for himself, it's not supposed to be informative about Sauron's motives or chosen methods.

I am now picturing Gollum in a hallmark movie. Incredible work.

I've never played this game, nor am I a LOTR scholar, but here's my speculation after listening to this video: The 'promise' Gollum made to Sauron wasn't that he would recover the ring. Or Gollum might have said that, but Sauron either didn't believe he was capable of doing so, or thought he couldn't be trusted with it. Rather, Sauron only wanted him as bait for the 'trap' that is alluded to later. Sauron knew that others (Gandalf, Aragorn, etc.) were looking for Gollum and wanted to question him. By holding Gollum in the slave pens, it would appear to such an outsider that Gollum was... unguarded. That Gollum wasn't someone Sauron was keeping an eye on- just a mere slave. Sauron was hoping that someone looking for Gollum would come to Moria to get him, and fall into the waiting trap. The 'big twist' of act 2 is that this long-planned trap fails because Gollum unexpectedly escapes on his own, instead of being rescued by someone.

I remember applying for a job for this game when I got out of college lol, years before it even released. Hearing how terrible the working conditions were makes me glad they didnt pick me. What sucks is how this was one of germanies bigger studios, with a history in point and click games, a pretty niche genre. They were even making a new entry for the deponia series but I doubt that will ever come out cause this tanked so bad they closed their entire development branch. This was such an investor project I don't think they have ever made a single 3D game and the first one they are gonna take on is a license game for a massive IP where people have set expectations for trying to make some sort of uncharted stealth game out of Golumn of all characters on a shoestring budget. This feels like the most produced shovelware game out there.

This is so nice. I knew Gollum would never receive the degree of care or consideration that would be necessary to produce a quality title. I'm just glad to see someone familiar enough with the character and franchise to perform a proper, respectful post-mortem.

I honestly think they could have done something interesting with Gollum as top dog in prison. The ring *is* power, control, and the ability to avoid consequences. Being just under the leader who isn't even allowed to truly punish him, it could satisfy Gollum in a way that nothing before did.

The discussions about this game kinda mimic the in-universe discussions about Gollum - treated as the worst thing imaginable by most people, with very, very few voices noticing that while it’s not the best, it does have some interesting depth. It’s fitting, really : D

It's too bad, I really wanted to like this game. Gollum is a genuinely interesting protagonist and it's an incredible opportunity to have an unreliable narrator (since, presumably, the games are showing what Gandalf gets from his interrogation of Gollum). I honestly almost feel like creating a video game out of spite to tell a much better story than what was told.

The arc with Mell made me imagine something. What if Gollum befriended someone in an even more similar state to him, someone also obsessed with some kind of artifact or dark magic or what have you? Someone he could find common ground with, and a mirror for his darkness, and an ally of convenience that becomes a friend. What if he managed to flirt with redemption and so did they? What if we made parallels to addiction? What if in the end, his friend relapsed before he did? What if he lost his friend to their curse, their addiction, potentially in a way that saved gollum’s life for maximum parallels?

The bird could have been loyal to both Gollum and the Candle Man, and wanted both to live. It would warn the Candle Man because it assumed he just wanted to capture Gollum, but when it saw that the Candle Man intended to kill Gollum its loyalty to Gollum was stronger. Up until that point the bird thought it was possible for both to live.

The millstone line is about how the idiomatic millstone is chained around someone's neck, not their foot. I will never play this game, but I assume the Cruel Orc is in some way responsible for the Frail Man and resents him.

The fact that this isn't a bit makes you a GOAT.

I never thought I would have anything to say about the story of Gollum, but I believe the king in the candleman's painting was the frail old man in gollums cell no? Hes the only other king in the story of the game, he has similar features, I don't really know why it would connect like this, but it feels like the only solution with what we have, and it ties up why they bother mentioning him as a king at all, what they're trying to build and set up there?

Well Gollum wants to hinder Sauron as much as possible so he would never tell them since the second Sauron has the Ring Gollum can never have it back. The true weak point of the one Ring is that it nobody can ever let it go for real. Bilbo wants it even years later. It is the reason it gets destroyed. Evil will always kill itself in the end is one core lesson in lotr.

15:08 the recent game Slay the Princess handles this sort of thing a lot better. [spoiler warning] It's a visual novel so choicemaking is the sole form of gameplay, and you have various voices in your head embodying various personality traits (e.g. Smitten, Cheated, Opportunist) plus a Stanley Parable esque Narrator, and at various points in the game you can get in arguments with these voices and very occasionally get overruled (e.g. you decide to let the princess go and the Narrator decides no, you are going to stab her in the back). The structure of those arguments is probably better set up for success than your description of Gollum, it would be like if you were playing only as Smeagol and Gollum was pre-scripted.

Hey man, I'm leaving this comment because I wanna say that I really enjoy your content. I'm only partway through this video but I just want to say all this. I discovered your channel about a month ago and I was drawn in immediately. I think you analyze games in a way that is both though provoking and eloquent. I honestly enjoy all the insight that you've given. I know that you're still starting out but I think that someday you're gonna be really big. I always share your videos with friends because I believe that you deserve a wider audience. I'm excited to hear what you have to say about Gollum and to see what you make next.

It’s bizarre that this video exists but I am very much here for it

Extreme kudos to you for giving this story a fair shake. I have no stake in this story, so can generally look at it unbiased, and it's interesting hearing a more in depth opinion surrounding this!

Bravo. This was a shockingly compelling narrative analysis for a game that I wouldn't say deserved it. That said, this kind of generous take is incredibly refreshing in the conversation surrounding Gollum, and I wouldn't mind seeing more for other properties or media.

NeverKnowsBest's Obsession with Bad games video actually looks at Gollum and some of the story elements, so I'm somewhat intrigued by it. I know at least that the final cutscene he showed and the context he gave it was pretty impactful so I hope there's other redeemable qualities to be found.

These videos are strangely hilarious. Your writing is honestly super sharp compared to most of your competition, I have absolutely zero doubt that if you keep this up you'll be one of the biggest video essayers out there, these are a joy to listen to AND to watch

FYI, Sponges are a pretty old invention. Just check the wikipedia if you want for more info.

1:12:37 When you go there the trees shout at you, "HAAAAAAYYYY" that's why it's called the Ring of Heys.

I check every day for a new upload, guess I showed up at the right time 😅 I absolutely _adore_ everything you put out. You are incredibly talented. Thank you so much for all the hard work you put in for us!

I genuinely cannot stop replaying 31:11 I don't know why but just the way he says "why?" is so fucking funny to me.

Never expected an analysis of this but im all for it anything lord of the rings related is a treat to me

1:00:18 you read 'ceased' (as in stopped) as 'seized' (took) which matter a bit because it's saying he never looked up at trees anymore, only downward, which does imply something about him. not that he's unliked maybe, but that he was attracted to darkness and lowness even before the ring.

That thing about the unreachable vitas or whatever is actually something I liked a lot about old games in the ps1 and ps2 era. You would see a lot of land and whatnot out of bounds in the distance. Nowadays most big games just let you explore all the map so you see everything up close. It kinda makes things less magically or whatever.

Tolkien was talking about romantic mystery. Romantic mystery (as in the romantic literary style not the modern love story usage) is an element of setting, showing the setting contains more depth makes the world feel real, old and lived in. A great example of this in your example of The Count of Monty Cristo is the scenes set in the Roman Colosium. The scenes were placed to evoke how men have lived, loved and hated since the age of rome and make the story seem eternal. Tolken was not talking abot narative mystery, not telling us what is happening and why. That just bad storytelling. Narrative mystery ether needs to be resolved is the story is a mytery at core, or it needs to pertain to things outside the major plot. This story is concealing the motivation of characters we need to know to understand current events from the perspective of characters we share a point of view with. That is almost always just bad writing.

Great video. But I feel like you're being a bit unfair to the sponge comment - sponges (as in natural sponges) were used as tools at least since Ancient Greece, so it wouldn't be too far-fetched for them to be known in Middle-earth. There is a sea, so there might be some sponges in there.

this is really interesting, like all your videos!! thank you. i too really enjoy looking at "bad" media in a serious, critical way. like analyzing weird fanfiction, it's lots of fun! keep it up duke!!

wow. Definitely not what I expected after the TES videos but considering I’m never going to play this game I’m definitely into this

I appreciate that this video was even attempted. Everyone and everything deserves a shot at redemption, even if it is squandered at any opportunity.

Maybe this didn't need to be made but (from the point of view of a Tolkien nerd) the movies didn't need to be made. Its fantastic that everyone who will never read the books still gets to enjoy one of the greatest stories ever written, not that i'm biased of course. Gollum is obviously a barrel of shite and you have created a glorious piece of media highlighting that, essentially doing for this game what Mr Jackson did for the books. Most excellent.

Duke, I will literally listen to you talk about anything. Your analysis is so good on its own that the subject is elevated by it.

I’m a worldbuilder by trade and I have to say, I’m so pleased to have come across your channel! All these breakdowns are helping me further understand narrative a tonne. Keep it up dude, thank you!

This is genuinely such a good video. I was curious about what the actual plot of this game was since the reviews came out and I'm so grateful this video exists.

I don't usually watch videos of this length in one sitting, but I simply didn't want to pause this one at all. Really enjoyed your analysis of this game I haven't played, and your willingness to pull at every narrative thread you could find took me back to my time as a literature major scrambling to find new meaning in dusty classics. This is the kind of curiosity that is so often lacking in pop culture commentary. Subbed!

I came into this video a little late, but I'm glad I got a chance to see this video. This had some great literary criticism in it, as well as dedication to the setting. A+ material, honestly. I'm very curious to see more from you, now

1:16:14 This part took me out. Was not expecting it and choked laughing on my breakfast. I usually just let game video essays run while I do other things, I don't get me wrong I did that with your video too lol But you had me actively listening instead of just letting the words be background noise. I love Tolkien's works and all I've really seen of this game was memes. I appreciate how serious (with points of appreciated levity) of an analysis of the work this is on its own and its place in relation to Tolkien's works. As you said near the end of the video, coming right off playing the game it probably would've been so easy to just make a funny video shitting on the game. It's clearly not a good game, anyone could say that, but real people with real intentions went into its creation and I appreciate your dive into the possible whys. You have a wonderful writing style, it really takes me back to discussing books with friends in university lol! Can't wait to watch all your other videos.

This is a really amazing video and your discussion of what Gollum could have done to be more interesting put into words perfectly what I could not. I've insisted to my friends that it could have been somewhat interesting, but struggled to explain why or how. Also, your use of the Lego LOTR game for footage was consistently adorable and funny, great choice and it really improved the video a lot

I've listened to this like 20 Times while going to sleep. By far some of The best narrative critique / analysis I've seen.. Please do more deep dives like this ❤

I've been looking forward to a new upload from you and I have to say, it's not what I was expecting you to cover but I am absolutely okay with that

A note on sponges: they aren't really made or invented. They're sea creatures that we dry out and use as tools. Onviously, there are synthetic sponges, but even today, many are still natural.

Dude give yourself some credit, i love your videos, i just found you recently and have watched through everything. looking forward to more from you

i LOVED this video, thank you so much for taking the time and patience to really put together something very special, that is still in truth with how lacklustre and just broken gollum the game is, but also highlighting some of the stuff it did well that i wouldn't have otherwise focused on or noticed

Love this. Thank you for analyzing the story, which I too wanted to investigate, yet did not have the tenacity to actually play. You are appreciated.

dude you are on a hot streak of banger videos, keep it up

I'm fiening for an upload from you. I'll sleep to your vids and then watch when I'm awake. Rewatch & repeat.

Waited my whole life for this investigation on the pinnacle of gaming, was not disappointed. Thank you

found and binged your channel and im now yearning for more

Really love your videos.. great presentstion and length. I really hope you are working on more!

Your vocal style and performance increases significantly with every video. I get as excited for a video from you as I do a Prepare to Cry from VaatiVidya

This is a great topic of video. Excited to see this, cause from what I saw, it seemed like there were some actual cool ideas in there that I would be down to vibe with.

I do think when the Candleman has the line about the elves filling middle-earth with starlight, it doesn't necessarily have to be truthful. I am normally very against "unreliable narrator" arguments in media, but in this case we already strongly suspect the Candleman has been manipulating Gollum. Saying "and these people we don't like? they're YOUR enemies as well!" seems like a no-brainer

This will have more quality put into it more than a single second of this game.

You sir are definitely the binge worthy content for my second monitor. So i need content to binge. I cant wait to see more! 🥰

This was such an interesting, nuanced, and insightful look at the actual story/narrative of this game; I applaud you! It makes me wish you’d break down the story of The Rings of Power too. But in any case, I’m off to watch every other video on your channel now 🫡

your videos are really interesting, keep the good job up!

I pulled up this video as background noise for dinner, got entertained by how bad the game seemed and kept listening, then found the video more and more interesting and actually watched the rest of it with my eyes and found the ending quite satisfying. Can't help but feel this fits the experience of playing the game. Nice video :)

I love coming back to listen to you. And re listening to firewatch!

I genuinely like this game, I know everyone hates it and is a trend to do videos trashing it, but I really liked it despite of experiencing a couple of bugs

when i saw the video come up in my feed i literally went "wtf it's already april?" good video

I was already thinking that I needed an upload from you.

Sponges come from the ocean, they aren't a modern invention. Sea sponges were used for bathing in ancient Greece, so its not really out of place in Middle-Earth

Oh whoa the algorithm picked you up in a big way congrats. You’re still *premium* second monitor content to me ❤

As a Xenoblade fan I kept thinking “huh, Gollum/smeagol kiiinda sounds like Riki from Xenoblade 1” It is. Same voice actor as Riki.

You're a good creator to listen to while doing the dishes too. You make chores more enjoyable

"If in the future there is such a thing as "video games." Don't let anyone make one about Gollum." -J.R.R. Tolken.

Sleep routine here! (also after hearing how bad it was, I'm never gna play it so it's great to hear a quality recap of the story)

I couldn't agree more, duke. Western gamedevs are always debeautifying sexy characters, like gollum.

Stumbled across this video by accident, really enjoyed it. Solid critique.

I always thought Gollum wanted the ring only for himself, not for returning it to Sauron. That's why I thought it made sense for Smeagol to break and give the identity of the new ring barer. It also would fit with Gollum being the one who wanted to kill any spies while hiding in the mountains.

👀👀 waiting on that assassins creed 2 narrative critique! the first one was really good bro you did a really good job breaking down the story

this channel is very underrated.

this channel is so incredibly underrated

Just a quick comment, which obviously doesn't detract from the rest of the video: the comment about the millstone around the 23 minute mark is slightly misinterpreted. The common saying is to have a millstone hung around your neck, the King is correcting the orc not because there are actual chains, but because the orc got the saying wrong.

Wow this was a great video. You deserve many many many more subscribers.

I didn't know that I need this. Seriously. Thank you❤

Thank you for playing this game - and offering a summary and analys- *investigation* of its plot/narrative - so the rest of us don't have to! On the Candle Man's witty murder one liner "Where does the Sun go up?", I don't know if the game elaborates, but I would guess that's intended to refer to the Halls of Mandos, which lie on the western shores of Valinor (the place the elves leave to go to, to the West of Middle Earth). The Sun in the world of the Lord of the Rings first rose in the West, from near the Halls of Mandos. However I believe that was quickly reversed, so the rising and setting of the Sun follows the Earth, with it rising in the East and setting in the West, so the Halls of Mandos are actually near where the Sun goes *down*, not *up*. Still a pretty bad kill-line either way.

Dude you got this much out of this? Fucken brilliant.

I've always dodged the TLotR franchise, just because everyone talks about it extensively and it ends up being very overwhelming. The whole Gollum debacle was/is very funny to watch even as a total outsider, however this video made me want to watch the movies (or, ideally, read the books). The way you engage with the failed narrative of the game, the frustration stemming from love for a story you are clearly very invested in and know a lot about, along with an overall good script and editing... Idk, it's the first time I've felt genuine curiosity for the franchise, and I just wanted to say thank you for that. :3