SOMA Critique - Anatomy of the Soul

SOMA splits the atom of the soul, dissects it, and scatters its questions into the ocean for us to gobble up like guppies. But that scattering isn’t aimless. It’s targeted, specific, and conditions the player to internalise its horror and carry it with them after the credits roll.

*LORE DUMP*

Thumbnail by Zoltiboi

*MERCH*

*TWITTER*

*PATREON*

*TIMESTAMPS*

00:00:00 - Introduction
00:03:46 - Part 1: Conditioning Fear
00:20:10 - Interlude: Carl Semken
00:28:42 - Part 2: Feast Your Eyes
00:45:15 - Interlude: Robin Bass
00:53:47 - Part 3: Taking the World Seriously
01:06:28 - Interlude: Brandon Wan
01:15:39 - Part 4: What If
01:28:30 - Interlude: Simon-2
01:37:00 - Part 5: The Abyss
01:48:42 - Interlude: The WAU
01:56:45 - Part 6: Eternity Among the Stars

*ALAN WAKE CRITIQUE - BEYOND INSPIRATION*

*BATMAN: ARKHAM KNIGHT CRITIQUE - LEGACY OF THE BAT*

*FOOTAGE/READING LIST*
1 - Leonardo Da Vinci - Drawings & Anatomical Studies
2 - Joseph Anderson - A Critique of SOMA
3 - 80lvl - Frictional Games on Its History & Developing Horror Games
4 - Engadget - SOMA nearly wasn't a horror game and other secrets from Ian Thomas
5 - CG Magazine - Why SOMA could have been better without its enemies
6 - Smithsonian Magazine - Dogs may be more self-aware than experts thought
7 - Thomas Grip - The Five Foundational Pillar's of SOMA's Design Philosophy
8 - MrBtongue - The Shandification of Fallout
9 - Warner Wirth et al - A Process Model of the Formation of Spatial Presence Experiences
10 - John Green - What does it mean to be Human?
11 - Bill Gates - What does it mean to be Human?
12 - SOMA - Recording Water Sounds
13 - Anil Seth - Being You: A New Science of Consciousness
14 - John Locke - An Essay Concerning Human Understanding
15 - GameReactor - SOMA: Aaron Clifford Interview
16 - Jason's Video Game Source - SOMA - Upsilon Shuttle Station: Amy "It Won't Let Me Die" Dialogue Power On Shuttle Station Gameplay
17 - NI Science Festival - Anil Seth presents Being You
18 - Brainspotting (2000) - Derek Parfit on Personal Identity
19 - Samuel Justice - SOMA: Behind the Sound
20 - The Escapist - SOMA (Zero Punctuation)
21 - Visa Kurki - A Theory of Legal Personhood
22 - Dr Sam Parnia - Does consciousness continue after our brain dies?
23 - Adrien Owen - Search for Consciousness
24 - New Zealand's Human River - Whanganui has been granted Legal Status
25 - The Boxer and the Goalkeeper - Andy Martin
26 - Straw Animals - John Gray
27 - A Brief History of the Soul - Stewart Goetz & Charles Taliaferro
28 - I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream - Harlan Ellison
29 - Treatise on Human Nature - David Hume
30 - Soul Machine - George Makari
31 - Carl Jung - Aion

*MUSIC (in order of use)*
-Licenced by Artlist-
1 - Yehezkel Raz - Shallow Water
2 - SOMA Soundtrack - End Credits
3 - Yehezkel Raz - After You Came
4 - Yehezkel Raz - Tiding
5 - Adi Goldstein - Shifting Memories
6 - Yehezkel Raz - Finding My Memories (Instrumental)
7 - Stanley Gurvich - Neural Purge
8 - Raz Burg - Star Surfing
9 - Muted - Staring
10 - Eleven Tales - Slow Tides
11 - DJ Taz Rashid - Twilight
12 - Ty Simon - Deep Dive
13 - Jameson Nathan Jones - Time Will Wait for Me
14 - Adi Goldstein - Ocean Voyage
15 - MARLOE. - Recognise

[MontyZander]

Thanks for being here! Nothing to ask but a cheeky like (and maybe a subscribe if you’re new?) I’m in touching distance of reaching 100K subscribers before the end of the year and I want that shiny silver plaque thing

[Tamisday]

I never played Soma but having accidentally spoiled it for myself I am addicted to listening to essays about Soma.

[Nanabananb]

I remember when I finished SOMA. It was almost two years ago but I remember that it put me in such a state that I didn't sleep that night. I just stared at my ceiling and thought. This game shook me to the core and made me seriously think about what it means to be human. This game is amazing.

[saltycomet]

The end where Simon 3 is saying "dont leave me alone" and the music starts really got me. Beautifully done. I love this

[WHOWHENWHYY]

That ending, as Simon 3. That shit is the scariest thing. Being alone, forever. Without hope. Fantastic game good job Frictional

[ennayanne]

Like the Flesher, Ross isn't actually teleporting, just messing with Simon's perception of time thanks to its electromagnetic pulses 🤓☝️

[AmicusVA]

I played SOMA when it came out, I was 16. At the time I was already going through some strange existential dread and I played this game thinking "Oh another Amnesia game!" and oh was I so wrong. This game's concepts and philosophy took my already struggling-with-reality mind and dropped a horrific but deeply moving nihilism bomb onto it. SOMA was the final straw that sent me into a state of derealisation that lasted up until I turned 19, about 2 and a half years.

Now this sounds traumatic and awful, and it was, but it also served as a slow-burn challenge to my beliefs and sense of self. This game is deeply meaningful to my outlook on the world and I am grateful that it came out in such a formative year of my life. I am 25, and have been in a significantly healthier state of mind for a long time now. It sounds very silly, because how can a game have such an effect on me? But it did. SOMA straight up changed my life, thrust me into a breaking point in my ego. It made me realise that if consciousness is such a vague concept and blurry picture, then I can refocus it into what I make out of it. My personality and way of thinking didn't need to be concrete, because just like a copy of yourself can go off to make different choices and fundamentally become a different person, you also have those paths ahead to choose from. Who you are 5 years from now can be vastly different depending on choices you make in the present.

This is why it is my favourite game of all time and will always be my favourite game. No game or story has ever changed my brain chemistry on such a deep level as this did.

[Tresadd]

Love that you made a video on this game. The concept about the “Copy & Paste” is one of the most horrifying things I've thought about before going to sleep.

[forpdrop]

Soma has one of the best story’s in games in my opinion. Very few games have made me feel the way this game did. It does a perfect job of exploring its theme within the games itself, which is a rare feat

[meganhammer]

Johan Ross met the ARK team at Tau, which means things were already looking pretty dire across the whole station before he decided that he needed to stop the WAU - also, the point where the WAU is said to have "shrieked" was after Ross, using his weird new powers, convinced Raleigh Herber to make the special structure gel and take it to site Alpha. The corpses in Omicron are missing their heads because their blackboxes exploded all at once, caused by the radiation the WAU was producing. We find Herber's body in the power suit that becomes Simon-3. That doesn't invalidate the idea that the WAU felt attached to Ross though, and is another strong case for it being self-aware.

Personally however... my choice relating to the WAU was less about whether or not it was "alive", and more thinking about the future of the planet. Humanity may be extinct, but the Earth is still there, just like it's still been there through many other mass extinction events. It's likely that life will continue to exist and evolve again. And if the WAU survives, it could evolve to become part of that new life, or it could overreach and force everything under its control, preventing nature from taking its course. Its original directive was to keep humanity alive, but maybe it's time to let go of that?

[jakeloh]

SOMA actually has a genius take away that I missed my first time around. If Simon hadn’t had his traumatic brain injury and hadn’t taken that day off work to get that brain scan, it is very likely the human race wouldn’t have survived in digital form. Before Simon’s digital ghost shows up on Pathos II, there is no chance of the Ark, humanity’s last legacy, launching into space. If he hadn’t been there, then the ark would have stayed on the bottom of the ocean forever.

[TheGCRust]

Fantastic essay on a fantastic game. One thing I appreciate is while the game reacts to your choices, you are never condemned for them. In keeping with its deep themes, it never "talks down" to the player on what they ultimately chose.

[lucariojet]

I know, as a creator, it can be impossible to know if all your work and effort was enough. I just want to say, for this stranger in the audience who gets to experience that year of dedication condensed into two hours, it was everything I needed.

[russelljackson]

I played Soma during the worst part of 2020, on the heels of both Amnesia games. While I remember being initially disappointed that it didn't have the same visceral terror as Amnesia, I quickly forgot all about Frictional's flagship game as Soma presented me with ethical quandaries, each more horrible than the last, set amidst this heartbreaking and endlessly fascinating world. The ending was a triumph of storytelling. I believe this game is an underappreciated masterpiece. I don't remember a thing about the story of Amnesia, but I have never been able to get Soma out of my head for very long.

[kandikidzora]

I never played soma, but a really good friend of mine was playing it while I lived with him for a month in between leases and it was our thing for many nights where he would play and I would just be with him watching. We would always talk about what we were thinking and feeling about where the game was going, and many deep philosophical discussions. I’ll never forget when we finished the game. We just sat there in silence for a good 10, 15 mins and after a bit he looked at me and said “fuck the ocean” which made me laugh for a good while. Sadly he passed away some months back and NGL when I saw the video pop up I told myself I was going to ignore it. Obviously that didn’t happen. Thank you so much for this video. I have been a fan of this channel for a few years now and I’m so happy your channel is finally getting the recognition you deserve.

[VaryaTheVillain]

damn. *damn* is this such a well researched and multilayered video essay. Monty, you just keep getting better with every single one of them.

[creecher]

This game is so good and I'm so bummed it didn't have more of an impact or more staying power. Happy you're covering it, Monty!

[broston_]

YESSS I can't believe i randomly asked this on twitter as a hypothetical and now it's happening

[WIMMine]

I've been a Frictional fan since the Penumbra days and I still think Soma is EASILY their best work so far. And the other games ain't bad either.
Also Soma still damn near makes me cry at a couple points even after several playthroughs later. The interactions between Simon and Cath are so damn human that when Simon stars shouting and cursing at Catherine, I *really* feel it.

[dq]

Honey wake up it's time for my bi-monthly SOMA long form content binge.

The whole concept SOMA, about what is the self, I really love it.