Get 40% off a Nebula subscription and a truly unreasonable amount of additional talk about Resident Evil by following this link: nebula.tv/videos/jacob-geller-the-worlds-biggest-fans-of-resident-evil-4-break-down-the-remake

backtracks from nebula specifically to say that "a return to a nostalgic fright, only to find that the terror itself has been growing and twisting for all the years you've been absent" is a line that hits like a truck

Nothing Jacob has ever said has hit me as hard as “It was 2013 I was a teenager” Jesus help me

Identifying that choice in the Dead Space remake of “choosing your own personal taste of horror” is so good. When I played that part, I immediately knew what they were doing and I said “ah fuck you guys” lmao. I’m deathly afraid of the dark and jump scares so I chose the option without air. Little did I realize blindness is not the only aspect of a jumpscare - *deafness* is also a perfect medium to produce jumpscares. Ultimately, Dead Space gave you a choice that was never really a choice at all. Either way, you’re going to shit your pants. And I absolutely love the remake for making design choices like that.

"When an enemy chucks an axe at him, or charges him with a pitchfork, or even swings at him with a chainsaw (RULES OF NATURE)" I love how.. discrete that gag was. Came and went at the same speed in like, barely a second's worth of time, and didn't get acknowledged afterwards.

"Its significance is so widespread that its innovations feel rote in retrospect." Absolutely nailed the feeling I get when experiencing a lot of the "classics" in any medium. You need sooo much extratextual knowledge to truly understand or appreciate something that was unprecedented and influential, because those qualities mean you have probably experienced many of its derivatives by now and it just seems ordinary.

"Strategic Dismemberment" will always be a raw phrase.

What I feel is often the least appreciated monster in Dead Space is the ship itself. Resident Evil 4 can changes as many boss fights, revamp all of its enemies moves, but where Dead Space Remake succeeds is revamping the biggest oppressive force at its disposal. They didn't just give you more to do in the maps, they fought hard to make the environment itself feel like a real entity, an entity that is acting completely independent of you. Video Games often feel like nothing exist outside of the players range of influence, those loop de loops in the highway are made just fur the blue blur himself, but this ship is an external force, one that existed without you, one that cares not for your safety, and filled with creatures that are also outside of your sphere of influence.

While I was playing these two games, a thought kept popping into my head: the most powerful horror aspect of these remakes is the way that they gaslight you. "Was that there before? Wait, wasn't there something here?" Stuff of nightmares.

I'm just glad we live in a world where we get lots of horror games.

wtf, the idea that the Dead Space Remake uses its nostalgia as ruse, a subtle smoke-screen to twist the players memory ever so slightly of the original or to surprise them, is fucking wild and an AMAZING route the developers went with. Now, even if its not on the same basis of Isaac situation, we can feel on the same way Isaac feels, where something is wrong, or something feels out of place in ones memory. GG on the observation and dialogue/writing my guy, I got CHILLS with that last sentence you had for the Dead Space Remake.

I'm glad that the Genre is making a comeback, so that we can finally tell the difference bettwen "Horror" and "Jumpscare Simulators".

oh i’m so glad jacob is back to talk horror. just finished binging several of his videos, the existential dread is welcome.

I enjoy that these remakes can stand on their own and aren't necessarily just high quality re-skins of the original products. This is how remakes should be.

The one thing that changes RE4 a lot is something that you won't be able to notice unless you speak spanish. The ganado in the original are clearly voiced by mexican actors and there is a comedy there that is missing from the remake

i'm horrified that Jacob was a teenager in 2013. Truly, the real survival horror is getting old

I’m glad for the Last of Us show because it can act like a gateway between non gamers and gamers. My girlfriend watched the show with me and instantly wanted to pick up the game, and it made my heart really warm to see something like that happen.

I think the game signalis is an even stronger warping of previous horror games despite being a separate IP, in that it feels like the entire genre of survival horror has been warping and shifting while you were away

the cut at 7:45 where classic re4 leon turns away and you cut it to re4 remake footage of the same scene is great!

I know it’s not the most satisfactory answer, but I really think what the Last of Us show adds is accessibility. While it may present the story in a lesser form, it’s presenting the story to a much wider audience than it could as just a video game. Anecdotally, my father was really into video games in the 80s and 90s. He’s tried to play some more recent games (mainly uncharted) and has struggled greatly. Because these games do require a certain skill and knowledge. If you haven’t played games in the 2000s, than jumping in to the Last of Us is an incredibly daunting task. I do think you’re absolutely right that the mechanics of the game aid in the storytelling.

You know it’s going to be a killer horror game essay when Serenade for Strings in C Major, Op.48 from The Evil Within 2 kicks in

great write-up as always! but Jacob... which part of these games do you "think about a lot" ?! are you ok? blink twice if you need help!!!

As someone who doesn't particularly enjoy playing horror games -- my anxiety is just not okay with most of them. I really appreciated the Last of Us providing me an opportunity to experience the story that I've heard about for so many years.

As someone who is bad at playing video games through, the Last of Us show catered to someone like me. Someone who highly respects video games as a storytelling medium, but just can’t really enjoy the experience for themselves. I’ve watched people play the game multiple times through and I really don’t get tired of watching the story over and over again. I had the same enjoyment watching the show and while lines and scenes were pulled directly from the game, the performances belonged to those actors. I can totally understand why it wouldn’t do much for someone who played the game through especially if most of the enjoyment was through the direct participation of the game. I’m kind of the opposite. I love the storytelling ability, the ability to change the story as you’re playing it without knowing until the end, etc. I just *hate* grinding. If I keep dying again and again, at some point I will put it down because I’m not getting what I want from it-which is mainly the story. I think the main reason why this started another phenomena is because there’s obvious care and heart going into adapting a well loved story into a new medium. This brings in people who would’ve never experienced the story because of the reasons above. Even better, it may bring people to realize what an incredible medium video games can be.

I know the topic of “the best” gets thrown out to the point of being devoid of meaning but I can honestly say that these videos are the most masterfully crafted video essays I have ever seen, and every single time I watch a new one I feel a wave of inspiration to work towards my own writing. Keep up the fantastic work and thank you for the endless streams of content recommendations. I wouldn’t have made it through the pandemic without Disco Elysium, the original re4, House of Leaves, etc

I think the key to enjoying The Last of Us tv show is sharing the experience with a non-gamer. I'm watching it with my partner who doesn't play video games at all and I get to enjoy the nostalgia and easter eggs in the show where my partner gets to be amazed by that fact that this story came from a game and is now more open to exploring the medium as a whole.

we're not baking chocolate chip cookies we're chasing snack time

Having now watched The Last of Us TV show in its entirety, I think what the show really adds to the conversation is the same distance that can be viewed as a drawback. Much of the problem with the climax of The Last of Us as a game is that Joel is doing an abhorrent and selfish thing, but since we are playing as Joel we are primed to rationalize and excuse it the same way he does. In playing through the lie Joel tells himself, that he is a fundamentally good person doing what he must to survive, we can excuse the brutality of his violence as simple instinct where the TV show can pull back and emphasize the cruelty and pointlessness of much of what he does. Similarly, in jumping around in time and space and showing us other characters' stories, the TV show can invite the viewer to more directly compare and contrast Joel against other characters facing similar problems. Kathleen, Henry and David are all alike in that they are able to justify great evil in the service of those they love, and by spending time with them separate from the context of Joel we are able to appreciate how similar their positions are to his final-episode dilemma. It also emphasizes that there is a world outside of Joel and Ellie, one that can be saved by her sacrifice, whereas in the game we have only experienced their deeply personal perspectives. In the inherently solipsistic medium of the video game, where we recognize that only the player is real and everything else is false, the choice of one person over the world goes down smoother because we only care about our own character's happiness. But when all characters are equally fictional, we can better appreciate their selfishness and recognize the evil of their choices. If The Last of Us TV show got a second season, the fandom would probably have much less of a problem with Joel dying because the show made far less excuses for him.

ive binged every jacob video in the last 4 years, and ive had had many moments of realization thanks to almost all of them, and he continues to make amazing video after amazing video

Man, you always make me emotional. The way you write and speak is pure storytelling, but that kind of narrative you got from someone who is really passionate about what is talking about. I've been really passionate as well about video games as a kid/teenager and it certainly faded a lot over the years, for obvious grown up reasons... But what i want to say is: The way you create your content not only makes me shiver the hell out, but reconnects me with some really precious part of me, that is some of the most component of my adult being. Jacob, you make really great work! I almost cried watching this one... not because of fear and horror, but because of love, thank you.

More than anything right now, I want a video on Pizza Tower. I don't care how silly, obscure, and random a game it is, I simply want Jacob's thoughts on it. Let it be a half hour video, or a 5 minute one. Anything talking about Pizza Tower would be a gift for me.

I'm honestly shocked they haven't made a VR deadspace yet. Seems like the perfect horror game for VR to me

As someone who can't play video games for the absurd and insurmountable reason that I just can't make the controls work, I appreciate that your videos give me access to some of the stories and experiences of this medium. I've often speculated that the fabled "Next Great Novel" is more likely to be a film or an HBO series than a book; your work makes me wonder if it might just as likely be a game instead.

Jacob's writing and delivery is straight up orgasmic at times, even when he's talking about the most viscerally gruesome stuff. And yeah, we all enjoy watching Leon roundhouse kick ganados in RE4 no matter in which of its many versions.

holy shit, this is probably one of your most well written scripts. just fucking gorgeous, both in a beat for beat way but also as a whole.

**GIF of man writing and the writing is on fire**

I think horror games follow the standard aging of games even closer. The idea that gaming isn't getting worse, better, or whatever, but your perspective and outlook are making you see it that way. The psychological aspect allows the game to play off your experience and current point of view in a stronger way then just a narrative or RPG could. The Ishimura explored when you were a kid was exciting, scary, yet exhilarating. While the same Ishimura you explored as an adult is beautiful, the despair is understandable, the loss of the characters is relatable. To touch on Remake's themselves. They allow the game to look and feel how you remember it, rather than how it actually was. They play on nostalgia, as you mentioned, to manipulate their new telling of the old story. Yet it is US who are truly changing the way we feel about the game, as much as the game itself is changing. Lastly, when you touched on the "dreamlike" quality of Re4 (2005). I would argue that this is the line that most horror, that plays its cards right, will somewhat feel like. When I view Beksinski's artwork I don't feel disgusted, I feel retrospective, calm, and thoughtful. (Maybe this says more about my psyche than anything.) But this is the same reason I love Re4 and Dead Space; relatable enough experience, pain, and sense of loss, but shown in a way that uniquely relates to our post-modern and ephemeral outlook on the modern world.

I’m really hoping that the successes of these prompt developers to make more original horror games! The scene recently has been… interesting…

Leave it to Jacob Geller to soundly deconstruct why “old good, new bad” is reductive criticism while also reconstructing why the original material holds more weight inherently than any remakes/recreations can achieve

I legit have a dust covered nebula account that gets brought down off the shelf and detailed like new every time Geller blessed us with new content

I am so glad that you put that needle drop at 5:28 The first parry I did in the game was Dr. Salvador and I did let out a little whispered shout of those lyrics when I parried.

i only stumbled across you a few days ago and i've watched nearly 20 of your videos in 48 hours. this one is one i didn't even realize was uploaded and RE4, being a game very close to my heart, was enough to bring me in. i can't access the RE4make and i cope with it poorly; this video reminded me of every single reason i liked RE4, of everything that's burned into my memory; your emotions about "serenity" in particular echo mine scarily closely. the eerie, yet subtly comforting atmosphere of the track emphasized a surreal "other"ness that went hitherto unnoticed among the campy voice acting and murdering of zombies. every time i entered a save room from that moment on, i was compelled to sit for a few minutes just to give leon *and* myself a chance to rest. it's both immersive and dissociating, drawing you further into the game while at the same time distancing you from the insanity.

Loved the gore system in the new dead island, it being first person and mostly melee based let it showcase itself really well. Probably the best out of all gore stuff i've seen in games so far.

I've literally been rewatching the videos on this channel all day while doing boring work stuff and now there is a new one, yay!

The best way I can describe Dead Space vs its remake to someone is to say that in the original, the game makes you hate Kendra for stabbing you in the back and then she's tossed aside as you prepare to fight the Hive Mind. In the remake, despite everything, you want to save her, you hold out your hand to help her up, to get off this damn hell world... and then the game reduces her to a paste in front of you...

As always Jacob coming out from the top rope to hit ‘‘em with the chair. video very well put interpretation of these remakes. You are one of the first KZfaq video essay makers that have actually taken a something useful out of these remakes. Thanks for the new video glorious mustache man!

Something very interesting I think i felt in older horror games as opposed to current games. The dreamlike quality you mentioned when talking about the save room theme. Even the the newer psychological horrors like Layers of fear I dont get it. Or maybe i like silent hill too much.

Just finished binge watching all your vids over the last 3 days, delighted to see your just brought this out. Truly, thank you.

Almost the first thought I had when you started about Resi 4 remake was the save room music. That video of yours about Horror Games sounding beautiful was in fact the first vid I watched of you and which got me hooked. I love that video so much, it's in one of my own playlists and I listen to it from time to time. I should have commented there but oh well, doing it now. That vid and also of course *this* one are amazing. Thank you, hope you are well, and always looking forward to the next tone 😊

To individuals that have played both TLOU and watched it, i felt they were great companion pieces that each contribute to better understanding the other. Meant to be part of a whole, rather than one or the other...but thats just me.

Jacob, you have to be the best video-essayist on KZfaq. You were probably the first one I watched that got me into the genre, but my memory is not good enough for me to claim that with certainty. I love playing games you cover despite my aversion to spoilers because, like movies, I like being told ahead of time that content will be worth thinking about. Chewing. Ruminating.

Something that made my experience watching TLOU's adaptation special in a way that wouldn't have been possible if the series wasn't as faithful as it was to the source material was that i could watch it with my parents, who naturally aren't that invested in video games and that kind of media Watching the game's plot points being recreated in live action was cool but seeing reactions to these same events from someone that not only where completely ignorant to the story, but also where so alienated by video games as a medium made the experience really special to me, it gave something else to look for aside from the story itself, and weirdly enough, it made the act of waiting to see if certain plot points would change or not a more interesting task, because when stuff was added or change, the experience was essentially, new, but with the things that were kept the same i could have the pleasure of knowing exactly what would happen with the raw reactions from my parents making me company, and it was honestly, a really great feel and to me, it made the whole project completely worthy of its own existence

I always appreciate the added subtitles I can hear fine, it just helps digest all the game/literary wisdom

Baby wake up, Jacob Geller just uploaded

I'm always so excited to watch Jacob helmet videos but have put so many of them in my waitlist because they still games I wanna experience first hand :(

Thank you for posting the video's Nebula link. I don't visit the site often, so it's nice to get an easy redirect from here.

Man I’d love to talk about games with you, you read so well into creative writing it’s crazy. Always get happy when I see you uploaded something, makes me want to start producing essay content. Don’t take much longer next time!

your part on the last of us show was lovely and put into word the type of feeling i tend to have towards adaptions of things ive already experienced in their original form.

Every single moment in my life has led up to me watching Jacob talk about RE4R as if he was a food critic.

Thank you for this!! I’ve been hoping we would hear from you soon

How the actual hell do you get out such quality content so quickly? You're fantastic, man. Eagerly awaiting that bell a-ringin'.

Hey Jacob! Listening to you talk about The Last of Us, I had to pause the video and recommend to you the game/miniseries Detention. Both have flown under the radar here in the US, but I think they both make interesting case studies for games-as-art and live action adaptations. They're also both short--the video game can be played in one sitting, and the Netflix miniseries can be binged over a long weekend--so they're not major commitments. And, for the record, they're both horror stories in a way that I think you'll find interesting.

Having finished all the games/show mentioned over the last few months this is exactly the video I needed. Beautiful break down as always Jacob

Wow, using Tchaikovsky's concert for strings, from "Evil Within 2" is a powerful entry, damn!

Will never forget my first experience with TLOU. I was 18. I got it at a midnight launch, spent the day turning my bedroom into a cozy shrine, blacked out the windows with cardboard, had a little table with snacks and drinks and a jar full of weed. Set the difficulty to hard. Besides bathroom breaks I didn't leave that room til the credits rolled.

Damn, we're going rapid-fire with these videos🙏

Fr, it makes me so happy when I see a Jacob Gellar video😌 Nebula is SO MUCH BETTER for seeing things from creators. Idk about how it works (like who CAN post there or how money flows there vs KZfaq) but watching people's original ideas without having to fight against the KZfaq Borg is soothing

My growing urge to see signalis talked about and how its commentary on what something loses when it’s new again in relation to also it being the best original horror game release in a sea of remakes grows ever further

I enjoyed this video, Jacob, and your analysis of RE4 brought back so much nostalgia. RE4 was the first horror game my grandpa and I played together. He passed away ten months ago. For as long as I live, I'll get teary-eyed remembering this game and its countless memories. In time, I hope to smile, too, thinking back on the infinite joy RE4 brought a very dear, very missed grandfather. ❤

This feels like a quintessential Jacob Geller video, amazing as always!

Jacob, I've been a big fan of your videos for a while, and this video's commentary about RE4 nails on the head a point that I, as a nearly-lifelony Blade Runner fan, have been trying to make about the (frankly excellent) Blade Runner 2049 ever since it came out - that the space in which Blade Runner was released is impossible to replicate. Thank you for all you do.

Just watched on Nebula, great points and well done as always. I hope some of the people that worked on these projects take the time to watch this essay.

cant wait to dive into the video. when is the essay disecting Signalis coming? feels right up your alley

4:35 Few things made me as happy in 2023 as this piece of music.

Man this sums up my feelings on RE4 and especially The Last of Us perfectly. I really appreciate how Jacob communicates the feeling of actually playing The Last of Us as a game, and how that desperation plays into the story, rather than painting it as meaningless time between cutscenes as many seem to. Great video.

This was super interesting, I never thought about how many possible approaches there is to remaking something, and how dramatically they can change the end result, so many things to think about, what to change what to keep the same, Jacob your video essays are the best on youtube, they I always wake up my brain and make me think.

Was in the middle of rewatching an old vid of yours when I saw this in the sidebar. Hooray for horror!

That rules of nature edit 👌👌👌👌

the tv show medium makes actions taken by a character that you would not have taken less jarring- cant have ludonarrative dissonance if you're just watching to begin with

Honestly, the decoupling of the tram from the chapter breaks, the side passages you'd often have to go through first in order to unlock new tram stations, and the security level system that encourages you to revisit areas each time you get a new level of clearance to open new doors and chests really made me appreciate the Ishimura as a whole environment in a way the original game couldn't. It used to be just a series of corridor-filled levels, and sometimes you'd revisit old levels to see they've changed. But now, its one ship, one environment, and the ways everything is connected are so much more obvious. Honestly, with how interconnected the ship became in the remake, I found myself a little disappointed that the developers didn't decide to change things a little bit further by allowing the Hunter necromorph to stalk you and appear in more places, sort of Mr. X- like. Though I suppose this may interfere with the narrative of the game, and the intended order in which you went through areas. Some areas, for example, require time and patience to get through, and that's not realy possible when an unstoppable necromorph comes barrelling in.

Never realised how nasty the things in dead space look. Would you recommend?

Oh man your "why do horror games sound so beautiful?" video is my favorite of yours and I'm so glad part of this is like a spiritual sequel to it and references it 😄

Thank you for using clips form the remastered version where the characters and fungus actually look like they should look 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼

I genuinely don’t know how I haven’t seen any of your videos until very recently your content is so damn good

Hello cool beard man

Hoping the new Amnesia game gives enough to think about to justify a video at least in part on the newer games. The Bunker looks great and Rebirth was super underrated. I know you covered Amnesia A Machine for Pigs already but Rebirth has a lot thematically going on by itself to riff off of and I’m sure the Bunker will do the same.

Great video as always Jacob! Do you think you might consider doing a review or video on the Silent Hill 2 remake when it comes out?

he described the emotion of what i felt too, when we first encountered the merchant. the music made you feel like he was outwardly almost, just coming along to profit where ever he can like a spirit or demon

I always loved being scared. Ever since I was a little kid watching stupid ghost movies and videos. But nothing hits the same anymore… Even VR games don’t scare me…

I have become so desensitized to everything lately that I’ve been chasing the fear I used to experience.

"Leon stop that chainsaw!" I often hear people say they wish they could forget a game so they could play it for the first time again but as this video shows it's also the context and time period in which you played that game for the first time that makes it so special. When I played Minecraft for the first time in 2011 the only knowledge I had about the game beforehand was playing the Classic version demo on the Minecraft website back in late 2010, around December. Picking up the actual game around March of 2011 the game was in Beta 1.3 version. So much has been added to the game in the last 12 years that if I were to erase my memory of the game and play the current version for the first time I'd wager I wouldn't like the game near as much. It's only because I've seen how far the game has come that I enjoy it so dearly. Another example: Back in the fall of 2018 I played Super Metroid for the first time. I had played as Samus in the various Smash games for years but never got into the Metroid series until Samus Returns, the 3DS remake of the Gameboy game Metroid 2: Return of Samus, was announced. When I played Super Metroid for the first time I made sure the atmosphere was perfect. Not a single other sound in the house, all lights turned off and my Super Nintendo Classic system hooked up to my fairly big screen tv. Perfection. Super Metroid is easily one of my favorite games and I should play it again soon. However the game came out in 1994 and I played it for the first time in 2018, 24 years after it's initial release. I can't imagine how amazed I would've been by the game had I been able to play when it first released.

Resi and Dead Space are two games i'm so nostalgic for, yet i've never played either. instead, my fondness stems from watching other people play through the games, and it's a very unique feeling of joy i experienced in watching the remakes for both. it's not the same as the nostalgia of a player coming back to a beloved game, i don't claim it to be, but i believe it is just as powerful, in its own way. i loved your assessment of the dead space remake in particular. when i watched Sean's play through of the game, i found myself so enamored and engrossed (and grossed out!) in so many new ways, and it was just a delight from start to finish. watching someone entertaining and fairly well versed about the game certainly added to the experience, too. i felt much the same about the resi remake you discuss here too - i have such unusually vivid memories of watching a playthrough of the OG game, so seeing and recognizing those same environments in the remake made me joyful in a way that simply cannot be put to words. an excellent video, as always! will have to check out your nebula companion vid soon, too :)

I really hope this dude gets to 1 million subs soon, he deserves it.

not a huge horror guy but the idea that Dead Space is essentially a sequal disguised as a remake is incredible, especially for somewhat of a cult classic.

jacob, once again you blow me away. Your videos are always total rollercoasters of emotion. I can't believe how far we've come from the days of teens talking into a fuzzy mic, with a PowerPoint in crisp 240p. The fact that youtube exists and that it lead to your channel is truly a blessing.

Man, 21:48 .that transition from hollow knight to lacrimosa while the clip transitions from the old dead space gameplay to the new shiny remake. I’m telling you. Every time I watch a video I be looking at that song list you be going crazy og

great video! you managed to voice a lot of my feelings about the TLoU tv adaptation. among the many remakes we are getting, I feel that the HBO series is the only piece of media that actually lessens its predecessor in retrospect. one of the most impactful and unique part of the game, the “prestige drama” of it all, now feels diluted, which is such a particular tragic feeling.

i love your work, you're an amazing creator and writer, thank you for your time and effort. So happy to here your voice and your thoughts every time you post here, thanks again :) (i'll go to nebula too)

@19:12 This just reminds me of how much more effective Fury Road's "you have two shots left" in the Bullet Farmer scene is in communicating the tension of limited resources; everyone is relying on those few sniper bullets and every missed shot has a visible effect on their composure.

11:21 Jacob: "Leon's roundhouse still feels good" Remake Leon: *does a spinning heel kick instead 😎