A Critique of SOMA

The script for this video has been posted if you'd like to read along, or want to review what I say afterwards:

And thanks to my friend Bill for reading the script for me. He won't care about credit but I appreciate it.

[matheustran]

"Simon is not the smartest person on earth even though there's like 5 people left." Ouch

[richt]

What makes SOMA so incredibly brilliant and fucked up is the juxtaposition of the Simons' fate at the end. The copied consciousness of Simon 4 and Cath 2 are enjoying a virtual Eden while Simon 3 finally understands the gravity of the situation, gets into an argument with Catherine causing her circuits to fry (deactivating herself). This ultimately leaves Simon 3 stranded in the station, alone in the abyss. The best part is that Simon 4 believes he was the one who went through the whole ordeal from start to finish and won the 'coin toss.' He's ignorant of both the sacrifices of his predecessors and Catherine's manipulation of him throughout the story. What better an embodiment of the notion that, "ignorance is bliss?"

[DanielQuan]

Man, that robot girl asking "Is this the ARK? I was so worried something had gone wrong" devastated me

[MrPooleish]

In regards to the Doctor repeating information Simon should already know, Informed Consent is one of the most important concepts in modern medicine. That means you are required to inform the patient of the procedure and all possible side effects and risks. If your patient has suffered a brain injury and has lingering side effects, you are need to make sure "short term memory loss" and "impaired cognition" aren't part of their problems.

[marsjake]

“The guys a little bit slow” I mean yeah he had a brain injury

[PaMS]

"SOMA wasn't scary" Haha yeah I totally wasn't scared either haha




haha

[KeremyJing]

"You treated Catherine like a person before you saw her, just like you think I'm human, even though I'm only a voice coming through YouTube right now."

Don't do that.

[DoctorZombo]

The reason why the WAU is one of my favourite "rogue evil sci-fi AIs" is because it's portrayed in such a way that makes it realistic in addition to scary. It really bugs me when AI "characters" are written to hold some sort of grudge or hatred towards humans, even if it's the old excuse of "humans are harmful to themselves and/or anything else". The WAU is simply doing what it's told, it doesn't have its own goals or its own agency, and I think that's great. It is closer to what computers are than most other rogue AIs which are protrayed to have some sort of character or personality.

[cruros]

SOMA was always scarier than most other games to me. The existential dread lingers with you far beyond a simple jump scare or feeling of unease in a typical horror game.

[kristjanwashere]

I'm sad that you missed/skipped over the survey section. There are two in the game, both in difference sections, and the knowledge you have from the first survey to the second survey is different. There is something really important in that, in short, how your feelings changes about being in a simulation as you progress throughout the game. You also don't have to kill the WAU, you can run away, another choice in the game.

[TheBoundFenrir]

I'd like to point somethign out: you say SOMA isn't a horror game because it's not scary, but I think you're misunderstanding how Horror works. In it's simplist form, Horror focuses on three kinds of fear: Panic, Revulsion, and Dread.
Panic is fear through surprise. It's what a "scary" game thrives on: the adreneline pumping through your veins as things jump out at you and you enter fight-or-flight.
Revulsion is fear through association. Zombies are repulsive as symbols of a human without humanity. While panic is felt in the heart and lungs, revulsion hits you in the stomach.
Dread is fear of the unknown. This is the stuff Lovecraft wrote about; The idea itself is unpleasant to think about. It's the slowest but also most lasting kind of fear: once the idea is in your head, it will take some time before it leaves your thoughts.


SOMA doesn't rely on Panic, but it is heavily built on Dread, on unpleasant questions about "what part of me is me?" and "How do you define a person?" with some limited Revulsion as well. It's not a scary game, but it's absolutely a horror game.

[skulldozer]

Soma has writing that reminds me of those old sci fi short stories like “There will be soft rains” or “I have no mouth and I must scream” that leave you with this sense of utter dread and terror

[guedeto]

i liked the two reviews I've seen but i have to disagree with you on one thing. being the copy left behind has to be the most powerful moment.

[TheEdgeoholic]

I love having an existential crisis at 3 a.m. wondering about the meaning of consciousness, and the future horrors of transhumanism.

[robertcornhole]

Another twisted thing that dawned on me:

Even if the original flesh-and-blood Simon agreed to basically donate himself for AI research...the guy who sat down in the chair sure didn't.

[nemopotato]

In my opinion, the endings should've been swapped. I rather watch the happy ending first then get hit by the reality of the Copy-paste again.

[AliceTa]

'ain't as scary as you might think'

Soma was fucking terrifying! I had existential dread for weeks after!

[merchantarthurn]

Tbf to Simon, this version of his has terminal brain damage, so struggle to get up to speed with new, alien concepts is pretty understandable

[erickschusterdeoliveira]

Funny seeing Joseph saying "people way smarter than you and me" while putting up an image of Elon Musk. This video is truly a product of its time.

[PurpleFreezerPage]

"Catherine, are we alive?"
"THE FIVE DOLLAR TACO BOX IS AVAILABLE AT TACO BELL NOW"