I played 15 nonviolent narrative indie games because ew blood

what a criminally underrated video

This might be my favourite out of all videos of yours, absolutely phenomenal. I've heard about most of these games but never really got to playing them (except for a short hike), I prefer more instantly gratifying games for the most part but I have enjoyed a lot of slow-paced titles in the past. I loved hearing you break them down and analyse the benefits and faults of their game design. I am a fellow Australian and have similar views on what you touched on and I really appreciated feeling that australian identity being highlighted throughout the video. Having played A Short Hike a while ago I feel like I was in that target audience you mentioned. When I got to the peak it effected me emotionally in a way I wasn't prepared for, I don't think it succeeds quite as well as Celeste which is another non-violent indie game that blew me away and has a much more direct and creative approach to the "climbing the mountain" arc that deals with heavy topics like anxiety and depression. I would also like to recommend Umurangi Generation which deals with violence through the perspective of a photographer, it uses the first person format to deliver a visceral and confronting narrative without any dialogue or narration whatsoever. It's a very New Zealand game which isn't quite Australia but close enough, it's indigenous heritage is the foundation with which it delivers an enlightening perspective of colonialism and neo-liberalism. I probably shouldn't say anything else because that might tarnish the experience of playing the game itself but I would recommend those wholeheartedly if you want more fascinating voices in the medium and one example of the first person perspective working to enhance the ideas being conveyed.

An absolutely amazing video Micah! I loved it! I would love to see more videos like this!

Wonderful. I love how you have a strong grasp of what you like and don’t like about each of the games you covered. I also decided that there’s a couple of games on your list that I need to check out for myself. I’d love to see more videos like this. Keep up the great work!

Excellent video as always!

So glad I was recommended this video. It feels as much like a deeply insightful look into indie games as it does a journey of self-discovery. Phenomenal work.

Your content looks really promising. Can't wait to binge a ton of it!

hell yeah this is realy realy valueble work! super hype to hear through this

dude your content is breathtakingly incredible

Just found your acc😭😭 omg, I should be asleep rn but I'm Binge watching your videos😭😭😭

Really enjoying the video so far !! Only criticism i have is the sound mixing on the inbetween parts with just music and visuals. it was often way louder than the other segments enough to have to change the volume each time

Another great video, If you want more nonviolent narrative indie games I'm not sure if they fit perfectly or if you've mentioned them but I recommend cloudpunk, fran bow, tangle tower, firewatch, return of the obra dinn and disco elysium. I haven't played outer wilds or night in the woods yet but I have only heard good things from both :)

I came here from First Five's patreon reading list. I've had my eye on a few of these, and this video is pushing me to finally buy them. Will definitely check out your other videos. I hope you don't mind some recommendations for other non-violent narrative games, bc I have a few - Neo Cab, which is a visual novel about a cab driver who moves to a new city to live with a friend she's reconnected with, and the mystery of her friend's disappearance; The Red String Club, which is part-bartending, part hacker game with a lot of philosophical musings; A Normal Lost Phone, which is about piecing together a person's life after finding their phone; OneShot, which is an adventure game with some really awesome fourth-wall breaking puzzles; and Subsurface Circular and Quarantine Circular, two visual novels by the same creator.

Very enjoyable content.

Wasn't expecting a fantasy high callout but very welcomed

Fantastic video! I'm curious now if you've also checked out Spiritfarer?

Imagine someone who has grown up throughout this era of video games, playing only the biggest releases from the AAA scene for the most part. Far Cry, Call Of Duty, Tomb Raider/Uncharted, The Halos, etc. Any first or third person shooter released over the past 15 years from "Prestige Studios" has been thoroughly played by this person who would be around mid-20's in age. While aware of the online discourse surrounding the gaming industry, it finally, truly dawns on this person why so much criticism around it at the AAA level mentions "lack of innovation, repetitive game design...". All the discussion that typically gets ejected from mind moments later somehow rekindles in vague recollection as the realization takes form that illustrates a lifetime's worth of games numbering high at first glace until closer inspection of the design/gameplay elements overall allows further breakdown which ultimately comes out to about......5. So, no longer content with playing the same few games presented in slightly different packages over and over they set out to basically do this video for themselves by seeking out games in the indie scene. There are games that don't let you attack anything?? No combat of any kind? But...why? How? All the videos online go on and on about "narrative elements blah blah" this and that in praise of a particular game which turns out might have been more than a bunch of empty bullshit meant to prop up a cool game someone liked. There's SO many games that lie just below the surface where most of the indie scene dwells! Browsing the digital store felt like browsing the dark web. A game using no graphics all designed around sound! Another made by one guy where you farm & get married and shit! A game about doing taxes? Paper, Please? Countless games that all appear so different from one another and almost the polar opposite of the mainstream AAA. For a person in this situation I think it would feel a lot like discovering games for the first time all over again. Picking at unfamiliar controls in a game about delivering mail or some shit would feel almost alien to someone who had become used to starting out a game with the same thoughts of, "aim....shoot...reload.....jump....crouch.....okay, let's roll," to the point of being automatic. But, if the frustration of re-learning is overcome it would feel exhilarating in a way that gaming hasn't felt in awhile, if ever!

1:37:15 I'm playing Arkham Knight listening to this and that threw me off so bad

A few weeks ago, inspired by this video, I started a list in googledocs of non-violet indie games that focus on narrative. Would it be okay to drop a link here?

What’s the music at the end of the Necrobarista section?