Another HUGE theme I think is in there is also...the value of life. I feel it most in the push and pull between Garry and Mary. Their respective endings are both "good endings". However, you've probably noticed... only two people can get out. And there's three people. Now, you might say that Mary should be left behind or killed because she's not "real", or because of her wrongdoings against Garry during the game; but... She's just a little girl. She might not be "real," but her heart feels as real as Ib and Garry's. She's a little girl, who has lived in that horrifying, empty, fake world her entire life. She desperately wants to get out, to experience life, to eat real food and have a real friend and have a real family. It's...tragic. She did horrible stuff to Ib and especially Garry... but she's been a prisoner her entire life, and now she has a chance to escape and by God she's gonna take it.
However, as previously established, only two people can leave the painting. There's no truly happy ending where the three of them can escape. So, you're doomed to either kill Mary or to let Garry die. They're both absolutely awful choices. To kill a little girl your age who, even if her methods were bad and hurt people, only wanted to be free. Or to let the man who has helped you through your entire journey basically sacrifice himself for you.
I think the game heavily makes you question who deserves to escape. Who deserves to live and who deserves to die, and why. The last section making you keep switching between playing as Mary and Ib, and playing as Garry...both good endings having either one escaping...being the only endings that get a CG....
Now, I recognize that the game also heavily makes Mary play the villain. After all she IS the one who drives Garry and Ib apart and manipulates Ib to a certain extent. I won't deny that lol. But still...I keep thinking. Every ending is bittersweet. I played this game around the same age as you did. And I always wished you could also save Mary, to help everyone, to not let anyone behind. But alas, it cannot be done.

The fan ending where Ib sacrifices herself, letting Mary and Garry live out their real lives as brother and sister, but with Mary remembering all and Garry not...and Mary weeping for Ib upon seeing her sacrifice painting replace one of Guartena's hits harder than any of the canon endings.

I think there’s more to dead space than gross out horror. Especially the first game. Has some pretty cool religious commentary mixed in with lovecraftian unknown space stuff.

A rose tattoo seems nebulous enough to be just a rose or a reminder of this game.

1:03:03 Once you've beaten the game once (any ending), if you play New Game+ by starting a new game (can't load a save file of your first run, have to start from the beginning), in the Black Gallery at the end of the game there will be a new staircase leading to a "Secret Area", the Cyan and Orange Areas which have a bunch of new puzzles harder than anything in the main game. It does include new story about the artist, and if you go in with Garry it has more story moments and Garry revealing a bit more about his past. If you go alone, towards the end there's a bed that Ib can sleep in that will make her slumber forever and lead to the third, "Ib Alone" Ending. If you come with Garry, he will wake Ib up and they'll have a little scene together before leaving the Gallery together.

I think you and I had a very similar experience as teenagers. When I was 13, 14, I was incredibly suicidal - and watching Let’s Plays was one of the few ways where I felt like I was able to connect to the outside world. Ib wasn’t really ever dreadful to me, though. It felt.. peaceful. The horror was there, sure, but it was superseded by how calm everything felt. I loved it.

It’s crazy to see the new graphics. They look so much nicer but seeing how clean the sprites look is almost uncanny to me - the jank was part of the charm!

Literally, Ib was the first horror game i ever played and made me fall in love into story telling horror 😩

currently going through my own bout of isolation, anxiety and watching youtube all the time. thanks for the upload today

Something beautiful I’ve noticed in the best ending:

Following the theme of Art having the ability to transcend the mind and memory, in the best ending, you create a piece of artwork.

Through your emotional bond with Gary and your journey together, you build a narrative.

A young girl finds a lost man, and through their journey together they both find their way home.

Like a fairytale, they lose the memories of their journey… but the sight alone, of that same man clutching a young girl’s handkerchief, while looking at a stature of a rose representing strength of will… it’s enough to convey the entire story to him and Ib once more.

The ending itself, is you creating a thing a story, a thing of art that transcends the limits of the human mind and memory.

Maybe that’s why many of us remember this game so fondly…

15:10 I was not expecting a death grips jumpscare today 😂😂

This, this was THE GAME to get me into horror all those years ago

To me the worst part of the together forever ending, is that in the original version, after Ib's nightmare Garry will give her a piece of lemon candy. Cut to the ending, Mary will snoop in Ib's pocket and just eat the candy instead 😭😭

33:38 I always figured he had more health because he's a grown adult vs a prepubescent child.

As I am a HUGE nerd for this game, the extra area was in the original game as well. The new version of the extra area is slightly expanded. The "Ib All Alone" ending on the bed for me is way more tragic and I love it in a dark way.

I went to MomoCon this past weekend and I found an artist that was selling an IB print they did
I was SO HAPPY to find IB anything!! Now my man Pugsr dropped an IB vid?? Best day ever

i really appreciate your openness about your anxiety disorders and phobias. as an anxious person myself it can be hard to explain or express the extent of it, and no one ever talks about phobias that arent spiders holes or clowns.

i also really love that your content covers some of the only stuff that has made me feel COMPLETELY panicky and unnerved. genuinely on some of your book reviews [woom] ive had to quit because it was freaking me out. but i love your dedication to the content and your willingness to explore further than most people can into splatterpunk and psych horror.

do you see some of your media intake as a sort of exposure therapy?

my phobia is needles [even tho i need a shot once a week lol] and even engaging with it in media is really hard, but if it helps i might force myself to not cover my eyes next time i see an iv on a tv show

i literally cannot explain the silent excitement i just did. double praise in the air mid-work. i am so so excited to listen to this i can live another day

Also the Forgotten Portrait was the first ending i ever got and it broke my damn heart 😭

i had a huge crush on garry when i was 13 lol

Dude, Ib was the first game to ever make me cry.