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Forgotten Gem - Analysing House of Ashes

Ratat

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Back to the Supermassive Games analysis series with the oft-overlooked gem that is House of Ashes, it really pained me to not use the cliche term 'masterpiece' in this video.

Much like my original videos on Until Dawn and The Quarry, this video ends with a tier list of all the characters. Maybe when I've covered all of the Dark Pictures Anthology I'll make a tier list of all the characters, now wouldn't that be fun?

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@ratattalks
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Chapters
00:00:00 Introduction
00:03:51 Review (No Spoilers)
00:08:32 Development (Spoilers Start)
00:12:53 Plot Recap A. Aliens
00:18:00 Plot Recap B. Akkad
00:30:48 Plot Recap C. The Expedition
00:37:44 Plot Recap D. House of Ashes
00:45:49 Character Analysis A. The Love Triangle & The Lighter
00:54:29 Character Analysis B. The Nick Section
01:00:52 Character Analysis C. Enemies to Lovers
01:16:33 Outro
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Music Used
O Death - Albert Gyorfi (Oh Death - Until Dawn - Main Theme - Guita...)
Exploration - Coraline OST (Cover by Hannah Slater) Exploration (Coraline) (Instrumental)
Blackwell Academy - Life is Strange OST
Whirling in Rags, 8AM - Disco Elysium OST
Silent Turmoil - Myuu (Silent Turmoil - Myuu)
I am the One - Dragon Age: Inqusition OST (Instrumental)
We Three (My Echo, My Shadow, and Me) - Cover by Merlin Smith ('We Three' Fingerstyle Guitar Cover // The...)
Boulevard of Broken Dreams - Cover by Francesco Parrino (Boulevard Of Broken Dreams - Green Day | P...)
What I've Been Looking For - Piano Cover by Andrei Borg (HSM - What I've Been Looking For (Reprise)...)
Rooster - Piano Cover by Adam Messina (Alice in Chains - "Rooster" piano solo)
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Generic Tags: Supermassive Games, House of Ashes, Horror Game, Horror Video Essay, Indie Horror Game, Salim House of Ashes, Jason House of Ashes, Character Analysis, Villain Analysis, Cosmic Horror, Body Horror, Dark Pictures Anthology, Casting of Frank Stone, Until Dawn, Until Dawn Remake

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20 Comments

@camillaquelladegliaggettiv4303 1 year ago (edited)

I found House of ashes to the first (and only?) time that Supermassive didn't try to recapture Until Dawn. Its aesthetic palette is completely different and it drops the player in an environment that's VERY different from anything Supermassive had done before

I liked it a lot

@CJ_1406 1 year ago

Reasons why it's my favorite horror game:

- unique, rarely used setting (Arabian desert + wartime)
- a twist on the vampires being aliens
- likeable characters with believable motivations, past, and future
- moral of the story is easily recognizable yet impactful (enemy of my enemy = friend)
- protagonists actually fight back instead of running all the time
- Salim

@paaailla9472 1 year ago

Being from the Middle East, I went into House of Ashes almost certain that I'd dislike it and the first half an hour after we meet our actual cast made me think I was right on assuming that. I'm so glad that I stuck around, not only is it the supermassive installment that uses the different plotlines from history the best but it's just so well realized. It's like it knows exactly what it wants to be and never strays too far from it. Some of your comments on Eric are exactly why I like him so much, his observant nature erases the posssiblity of a dragged-out, miscommunication filled "will he find out about the affair?" scenario. Salim and Jason deserve all the praise they get and I really like that you pointed out how Salim had his own predijuces as well. The fandom does have a habit of portraying Salim as squeaky clean but what makes me appreciate his character writing is the fact that he isn't tokenized (not sure if that makes sense but I mean that his writing doesn't play into the passive aggressive "oh don't worry, he's one of the good ones" trope). This game also manages to have a twist regarding the supernatural monsters without actually undermining the core themes of the narrative which seems to be consistent struggle for SMG. My only criticism for the game would be the use of Egyptian Arabic instead of Iraqi Arabic though I assume that decision was made because of the former having more speakers.

On an unserious note, the single funniest moment in the game is when Rachel reunites with the group and hugs Eric, causing Nick to LITERALLY GROWL.

The Life is Strange Soundtrack truly is the gift that keeps on giving.

@teheyepatch 1 year ago

Two words: Jason and Salim. These guys are two of my favorite characters of all time. I love them so much I can overlook the shitty love triangle, which I really despise in media. Jason confessing to Salim about the checkpoint and almost breaking down was one of the most fantastic scenes I've ever watched. Really got me in the feels.

@StegoAqua 1 year ago

Salim is the GOAT MVP!

@Ephenger 1 year ago

This house does not look like it’s made of ashes

@LadyHelenBioRodriguez 1 year ago

A good friend whose a historian played it for the first time in July. He was impressed that it juggles an ancient poem, an allusion to the Howard Carter expedition, and the early days of the Iraq War so well. Also its a great slow escalation in information on what you are even fighting.

Also Salim is literally the best.

Definitely the best Dark Pictures game.

@pollyanna0014 5 months ago

One thing I noticed about Jason's character design was his two tattoos related to his patriotism and dedication to the Marines. It might be a little bit of a stretch, but I like to connect this to Jason's lying tell. He says something twice - once to see how it floats, again to make sure it sticks. I like to interpret this in his two tattoos - he hides behind this veneer of gung-ho jingoism, this duty to his country. And while he certainly holds some of those beliefs, part of why he holds them is because if he doesn't have this, who is he? He's just that directionless burnout again. Just another one of those kids killing each other in the streets. He tells himself again and again that this is right, that he's serving his country, that this is what he was meant for because he doesn't want to face who he'd be otherwise.

And so he gets the tattoos. The first to see how it floats. The second to make sure it sticks.

@clayhair 1 year ago

I LOVE this game. Still think about it semi-regularly 3 years later. Jason & Salim’s characters are so damn good, and the scene with the warrior who’d been preserved in the goo was genuinely horrifying.
It took a super ballsy turn with the alien stuff, but it WORKED. Wish it’d gotten more praise and recognition!

@midgey0tt0 1 year ago

House of Ashes is genuinely such a good banger that took me by total surprise from the Supermassive Anthology. The series really went: Mid disappointment (MoM), Irritating disaster (LH), GOATED (HoA), then mid again (DiM). Supermassive seriously needs to rehire Khurram for future projects because that man knew what he was doing with House of Ashes

@Ivyzord 1 year ago (edited)

My first playthrough was with a group of friends and we assigned characters at random. I got Jason and my bf got Salim. The bromance was real. Especially by the end of the game when i missed a prompt, screamed for him to save me and he picked up the slack and did save my butt! Unrepeatable experience.

@milkduds1001 5 months ago

Jason being promoted under 2 years is not unheard of. Officers have different pipelines than enlisted. Many come in as 2nd lieutenants. He either dropped an OCS packet (basically after completing basic training as an E4 specialist he’s taken right to BOLC, which is the basic officers leaders course) or he dropped a Green to Gold packet allowing him to jump to lieutenant.

That would make him a mustang lol. Which is an Officer who was enlisted first, something relatively rare but not uncommon.

@idaowens6237 1 year ago

There's a lot I love about House of Ashes, the characters and atmosphere right at the top, but I just /love/ the final battle. A group of people, back-to-back in a circle, holding fire, fending off monsters in the dark. It's such a strong scene to me. It's primal, and it hits my drama bone /just/ right.

@smallkidneyjoe4046 1 year ago

"His hat is more a reminder to himself than anyone else." you're really good at writing i love it

@catsaturday9900 1 year ago

Holy shit. Put this on for some ambient background noise while working, I did not expect such an honest, uncompromising criticism of American hypermasculinity from a video that's largely focused on the technical aspects of this piece of consumer media. This is a compliment, by the way.

@adreamofspring_wastaken 1 year ago

it really baffles me that this game is so good. like... why is it so much better than the others? not that i dislike or even hate the other SMG games, but they have a LOT of problems (with the exception of Man of Medan. i REALLY don't like that game). but this game is pretty solid. why? is it lightning in a bottle like Until Dawn? regardless, i'm pretty happy with this game. it's got everything you'd want in a blockbuster. charismatic characters, a tight plot, a good central theme, and a kick-ass finale.

@p4dm3s 1 year ago

i loved how quick it went from military sim to “ WTF IS GOING ON “ so quick, just finished this game and no comments, insane 10/10 game.

@TheCuteChikorita 1 year ago

Thank you Khurrum Rahman, and thank YOU Ratat for giving me an even deeper appreciation of my favorite DPA game, I hadn't even considered how deeply Perception is part of Eric's characterization nor did I know just how well done and fitting the historical references of this game were, amazing video as always!