Something I never noticed with the Gyu-Hyuk reveal in the first end is how... Completely calm his reveal is. No harsh, sudden noises or music, no jerky cuts, just. A slow pan upwards intercut with the cg.

this game broke me in my first playthough,  I love phater cause its the best way i've seen social media (mostly twitter) portrayed in these games

Twink = peak design

plughole? uh, yeah, don't mind if I do

As someone who usually plays Visual Novels with either Eng or JP dubs, I have to say the Korea VAs were top notch, especially in the more intense parts. You can see the dread and tension in their performance when shit gets real while also showing vulnerability in the more somber and quiet moments.  Hopefully we get to see more high quality writing and characters from the same studio that made this game, especially with how they remind me just how much untapped potential this genre has waiting to be fully explored. Great vid as always, Viv! :D

I really hope you come back to this for a deep deep dive. This is a game that should get more analysis

I've returned after finally playing Bstars and cannot thank you enough for your rec!! 🙏 The game's genre and setting is right up my alley, and appreciate your advice to go in blind. The first ending is a REAL gutpunch... Thought I did something wrong but now realize (esp after revisiting this vid) how 'by design' it is and was impressed! I've cleared a 2nd ending and the motivation to clear more stays strong, esp with such good artstyle and VA work...!

I beg you do more because there aren’t a lot of videos out there doing deep analysis on this game and I’ve been thinking about it for years now. I’d love to see more content of it if that’s a selfish wish haha

IVE BEEN CRAVING BURIED STARS CONTENT FOR A LONG TIME RAAAAAAAGHHHH

Juyoung's dress/skirt kind of reminds me of lolita fashion - I have one that produces a similar body shape. Those clothes are meant to somewhat hide the shape of your body rather than appeal to others and they often evoke youthfulness, so it's a very interesting contrast with the very mature-looking and relatively form-fitting look on top.

i love character design so this is going to be good. maybe I will hold off on this video until i can afford to buy this game.

Having unlocked the true ending (what do you mean this one is true, help T–T), i find myself constantly thinking about how well everything really falls into place. I love (and hate cause it's too painful) that you can easily trace how any small thing had lead to the overall outcome, and not just in terms of butterfly effect, it's more about individual decisions shaping their reality. What's cooler than seeing cause-and-effect relationships unfold? That you can at the same time envision the thought process of each character when they decided they'd do something, ahhh I can't stress enough how good it feels to go on this mental loop and realise that the story is believable and consistent!!

I just finished the first play through (bc of ur recommendation to do so) and all I can say is.... I watched the entire credits bc I was in shock, trying to wrap my head around what I just saw.

So this is probably an extremely dark comment, but
I want to talk about my experience with the first run of Buried Stars and why the absolute pain trying to get any sort of progression was such a devestation to me.

Juyoung when I initially picked up Buried Stars was concerningly relateable. I have just begun to struggle with anxiety and panic attacks. Her habit of hiding under things or in tight places almost for comfort was extremely relateable to me. Seeing a character who I saw something I was learning to navigate at the time was comforting, even if it was a game where characters were clearly not safe. I got mildly triggered by her cause of death being what she used to make herself feel safe given it was so similar to what I'd do, however, the struggle of making any sort of progression sent me a message at the time that my coping mechanism would get me hurt some day when no matter what I did it ended up in that outcome which I didn't need to hear at the time. At the time I couldn't really find a good walkthrough either so I legit just gave up on it.

That out of the way though, something I found interesting about Buried Stars was how it uses its first run to establish that this isn't going to be similar to your closest touchstone of DR, most people's closest analogue when they see the death reveal animations, they aren't gonna just be spaced out they can come think and fast.

Just wanted to say, seeing the intro of this video added so much suspense for me when I went to watch the first part of the game. I kept staring at Gyu-hyuk in particular and wondering "what am I missing???"

Also, since you pointed out how a lot of the character designs have something to draw attention to where/how they get killed, I noticed Do-yoon and Juyoung also technically fit this pattern. Do-yoon has headphones right around his neck. Juyoung's is a stretch, but I noticed her outfit is really modest, so pretty much everything minus her lower arms is covered... just like how she gets covered by rubble with only her lower arm sticking out-

This video definitely makes me want to at least watch your VODs. The games seems so genuinely interesting and unlike other games I’ve seen in the genre(as far as I’m aware). Hope this video gets more views, you deserve it man

As someone who went insane after playing this game to the point of writing a 160k fanfic about the normal/rash verdict ending back in 2020/2021 its so nice to see more buried stars content after all this time. 😭 Really hope you make more in the future!!

After watching your VODs, I have to say, Gyu-Hyuk Lee has been one of the most influential fictional characters in my life, not going to spoil but his story truly broke me and the way they handled him is so well done, I haven't stopped thinking about him for over 7 months now, his character, his backstory, the """"""""COMPLETLY PLATIONIC"""""""" relationship with Do-Yoon, everything about him makes me think of him daily, I am honestly considering making an 3 hour long essay of how much of a great character he is, so thank you for getting me into this game

Oh I am absolutely gonna play Buried Stars now

every time i have seen this video today, it has had a different thumbnail