Kenshi was developed by Lo-Fi Games. A game where you will set out to be the hero, without ever knowing every step you take is one step further down the path of villainy.
00:00 - Opening
02:41 - Chapter 1: You Are Nothing
05:55 - Chapter 2: Earning Survival
09:06 - Chapter 3: Life in Kenshi
12:06 - Chapter 4: Faction Breakdown
24:40 - Chapter 5: Doing What is Right Even When it Feels Wrong
40:42 - Final Chapter: The True Enemy
Follow me on Twitter - / angelofthepast_
Support me on Patreon - / angelofthepast
#Kenshi #KenshiGame #KenshiReview
If you liked this video please like it and subscribe. I want to do some other types of videos besides just video essays, but in order to do that I'll need to appear more favorable than I do now to the algorithm. So I really appreciate any kind of interaction with my videos. Also feel free to follow me on my twitter. Thanks! Twitter - twitter.com/AngelOfThePast_
0:48 - 1:24 Your Amazing Description of the most Diabolical Hellspawn Fuck-necks known in the face of a shithole world of Kenshi Compels Me to like and Subscribe to your channel my guy
You're completely evil you'd kill a good guy and allow pain and suffering so long as the some species survive? How is it you talk about morality and trying to avoid them while commiting the worst ones in the game universe? I'm not hating incase you get that I'm just curious. I don't think you mentioned or realised somehow that you are like a noble keeping people alive and evil alive and some happy people alive while allowing evil and suffering to remain so you would be a nothing more than an good person to none and doubtly to yourself. As a good person with real morality you would perhaps side more with the tin fist and the robots as theres chance they allowed humans to live or took all tech to keep humans from killing each other as clearly they are the problem kinda like you allowing evil to remain only prolongs the inevitable war and more catastrophes. Better to leave the good people and destroy the most evil or tyrannical people theore good and free people the less suffering and wars that will exist
@@merlinmage6012 Evil is arbitrary. Jupiter is a planet with no evil because it has no life on it. If you want to strive for eradicating evil you just end up commiting evil acts. You say you'd kill only the evil people, well congratulations you are cat-lon. There is a huge problem with only killing evil people. That is that you have to be evil yourself to do it, and by the time you've killed more people than ANY of the "Evil" people, you either kill yourself, or start killing people you previously thought were good. At some point those good people will start so see YOU as evil. Tinfist is literally a byproduct of this. Cat-Lon was mercilessly eradicating evil, only for everyone to turn on him. The good (tinfist) banded together with people he deem as evil because at the end of the day, survival and freedom was more important than making sure everyone pays for their sins. I say we need to kill tinfist not because of his morals, not because he's committed evil acts, and most importantly not because I am trying to do the good thing. I'm doing it because when you completely remove morals from his actions, instead of working to rebuild, he went on a crusade to destroy. In the end you stated that there will be less wars if you just kill all the bad people. I think you have a warped understanding of people. Good people raise bad children, and bad people raise good children. Most bad people are bad due to circumstance. That doesn't mean they aren't bad people, but you'll do much better at getting rid of bad people by changing the circumstances that created them rather than killing the ones who were affected by it. But hey, that's just my interpertation.
@@AngelOfThePast that's where you're wrong if you kill only evil you aren't commiting evil acts you're doing good. All life ends and ending all life doesn't mean it was done in an evil way it's just a reality one must face. You sound like evil must exist so somebody has a less miserable life existing an evil world. Your reply make it's sound like youre evil you agree? Or you will claim to be good while justifying killing a good fictional character like tin fist is good? Makes no sense you're only prolonging inevitable by allowing evil calamtys will happen over and over it's wouldn't only be good but logical to stop the problem in this case evil otherwise it's just insane not to.
Amazing work dude, liked and subbed. Have you ever played the Marathon series? I'd love to hear the things you would say about those games!
The real enemies were the friends we made along the way
XD
literally😢
Literally Tinfist is the one i looked up to but hes also the one who will end the balance anr doom us all
Beep.....the true enemy
I'll never ever forget my first playthrough of Kenshi. I started out as a Nameless Hiver prince. Which I dubbed the Lost One because it's what the other Hivers call you if you interact with them. I wandered East out of Vain and approached my first human city called Stack...which went exactly how you expect. I was beaten up and forced into slavery by the Holy Nation. Long story short over the course of my long long playthrough I ended up being enslaved by every slaving faction at least once during my travels and eventually something snapped within me. The Lost one changed his name to Jib and began recruiting and training for war. I built an army and went to war with the Holy Nation. I killed the two Inquisitors and kidnapped the Phoenix, keeping him alive as my prisoner so a new Phoenix will NEVER be born. I put him through a peeler machine to cut off his limbs so he could never escape or fight back. Upon the fall of the Holy Nation a bounty of 100,000 was put on Jib's head and he earned the title of Jib the Black. Eventually Jib met Tinfist and joined the Antislavers. Then I used my armies to raid each and every city in the UC and the traders guild. I burned each Nobel alive in acid and fed a few to the mega raptor. Afterward the Great Desert was left almost entirely in ruin as Anarchy overwhelmed those cities and made them inhospitable. The fertile Valley became a battleground of the HN remnants, the Shek, and the Southern Hive. By the end of it Jib had over a 250,000 cat bounty. My own city prospered but the rest of Kenshi ultimately suffered because of the actions Jib chose to take. It was an eye opening experience and one unlike any other. The truth is I chose to walk the path of destruction, I saw an injustice and I acted accordingly never once considering the consequences of those actions. Now half of the cities in Kenshi are nothing but war zones and anarchy, and Jib can't even leave his own city for fear of it being sacked while he's away which it usually is. To be honest it was whenever I started crucifing, melting, and starving the paladins who sought to free the Pheonix that I realized wait.....am I the one with the problem? Am I worse than the Holy Nation at this point?
yunno what the funny thing is rebel farmers would have taken shop in alot of the cities in UC if you had asked them to join it you if you had talked abit more or wandered some you prolly woulda got there on your own (source my first playthorugh I did have reactive world on though but the shek want holy nation territory anyway and I think they occupy them nomatter what)
"You either die a hero, or live long enough to become the villian."
Bro…I found this game less than 24 hours ago, haven’t even played it, but found everyone who has played it has unknowingly written an incredible story. Movie writers (especially madd maxx writers) should just be watching kenshi play throughs all day everyday and maybe their movies might actually have a little depth. Even just the stories from the KZhead comments like this one☝🏽 are buukku bruh
Hanz... are we the baddies?
"Are we the baddies?"
46:40 The armour king definely knows somethings up, if you ask him how the first empire fell he goes uncharacteristically quiet
That's fucking aweome
not just him either, iyo in the mechanics faction as well, you only get specific lines of text from him if you talk to him as a skeleton...
@@GandalftheWise Yea pretty much he's extremely talkative, talking about how his shop has been around since the first empire, how he makes the best armour etc etc etc. Any question he always responds with a couple sentences. However, if you ask him how the first Emprie fell his exact response is "..."
@@GandalftheWise king:nono i dont know how we massacred and killed you organics i make armor so that dosnt happen again...i mean... stabs bad?
@@crustybomb115 but what does he talks about!
The most terrifying mod for Kenshi I ever used was one that gave anime eyes to Beak things and caused them to shout UwU and other phrases while chasing me to death
Magnificent
Damn baka-things.
Sounds like a damn fun time.
Baka things will never leave my load order
I almost spit out my tea
As a wise Beak Thing once said..... "Relax, Enjoy Death." Also I agree with you, they cause irrational fear far beyond words. To where I avoided VAIN for extreme periods, because they were faster, stronger, at the time, unblockable, AND THEY COULD GO INSIDE BUILDINGS when you ran for shelter. Also, they used to talk. I wish they'd bring that back. Once during the beta, I was practicing medical skill, and healed a downed Beak Thing. When it arose, it was "PROTECTING CLOSE ALLIES" and then it gloriously charged and took out 40 Cannibals by itself.
Beautiful
remember the giga beak thing? when the scale for the size accidentally had a few extra zeros? Man, the early beta days were wild. I remember back when ragdolling didn't obey the idea of having a skeleton and at one point I had my character's face clipping through the body and poking out where their nethers would be.
At world's end univercity you can find a book named "Tech hunter's notes: pool of obedience" and it says that someone spilled ink on it making it unreadable. Almost like someone doesn't want people to know ^^
ever considered trying to talk to iyo(the skeleton thats 2nd in command there) as a skeleton? internal sabotage at its finest my friend...
@@crustybomb115 I got so angry when I got that interaction that I decided becoming enemy of the Machinists & Tech Hunters was a good price to pay in exchange of getting rid of such scum as Iyo, I put him in a peeler machine and that was his end; hopefully without him humanity and humanoids may find the answers to their apocalyptic existence
i bet a similar note will be in Kenshi 2
Fun thought: It may not be possible to save organic life on Kenshi. Its hinted through skely dialog, holy nation texts and just environmental storytelling and its my belief that Kenshi was teraformed to be habitable. But since the fall of the 1st empire and loss of tech, the planet(moon) has slowly been reverting back to its original barren form. A couple of millennia or even a century or two and it may be Mars. Another Fun thought: If Kenshi was terraformed, then what happened to the civilization that did it. Could the fall of the 1st empire also be the fall of a multi-system space empire? Its been a long time why hasn't someone come and checked on their lost colony?
I suspect that when the skeletons revolted, and started winning, the First Empire basically abandoned the moon, wrote it off as a loss, and moved on. The reason nobody has checked on it may be that they assume there’s now a skeleton civilization on Kenshi, and they don’t want to deal with that unless they have to, or it may simply be that the First Empire has actually just fallen over the course of the past several thousand years.
@@mr.cup6yearsago211 maybe the skeleton revolt was not just on this moon but in all the empire leading this said empire to his fall
The first empire probably saw the revolt and decided that the bomb would suffice, with the intent to not waste any more resources. Kinda like a warhammer situation Start colony > begin labour >find big bad > shoot big bad > Big bad gets too big > bomb big bad > wait... > big bad gone > restart
@@Covid--xs3yk wouldnt it be more likely that they sent the Behemoths to take care of the issue, then marched them into Obedience to make sure they dont revolt, too.
My headcanon is that it takes place in the 40k universe. The paranoia about the behemoths and the skeletons was part of the Machine Rebellion, and when the Empire fell into a dark age, nobody has ever cared about getting back to Kenshi. One day the Guard or the Tyranids might show up, slaughter the entire native population in an afternoon and build their own colonies, with the entire lore, races and factions of Kenshi being forgotten forever
Most people start Kenshi thinking they are fighting for human rights and saving the world. In reality, you're fighting for the right to exist and maybe if you're lucky, establish something that's worth having for the ones that come after you.
I feel like I was cursed with sudden knowledge. It's genuinely depressing to realise that Kenshi will never get better and that no one stuck on this acid scorching lump of ash and sand of a moon will ever escape it. I have freed thousands of slaves, wiped out some of the worst scums on the face of this excuse for a land. But I realise now I have never made a single change, or if I did, it was for the worst. I feel like the butt of a tragic joke.
on the other hand, if you look back on our own history, sometime we see that the roots of our highest morals started with mere practicality, or even selfish, motives, rather then some great moral man stepping forward and declaring a noble goal of making the world a better place. Equal rights and the law applying to everyone? got it's start when some aristocrats got sick of the King being a petty tyrant, so they put a sword to his throat and told him to stop.(though even this likely had earlier roots, but you get what I'm saying right?) So, the peoples of Kenshi eventually pulling themselves towards a better way of life isn't as impossible as you might think... but that better world isn't exactly the kind of place that gives us the kind of gameplay we love the game for does it?
Oedipus. But it is not a joke when people say that "The path to Hell is paved in good intentions". When people rely on others to make the world better, it only gets better for a little while before everyone acts irresponsibly again, causing another tragedy, because they still behave like wretched scum despite being "freed". Being in a better environment does not make people automatically better, but bad people will definitely create hard times
yes!
You have. Don´t listen to this okranite
Kenshi is what you would call grimdark. Same genre as WH40K. Everything is violent, dystopian, amoral. Nobody is the good guy, everybody is the bad guy, it's just that some are worse than others.
Big correction about Skeleton memory wipes They aren't actually wiping their memories, they are wiping their CPUs Since they were programmed to be both logical and have emotions it over time drives them insane, their CPU allows them to not go insane But over time their CPUs become bloated and require wiping, but when they do this they lose their emotional attachments and skill sets Imagine loving someone with every fiber of your being one day and the next not having any emotional connection to them, that is what happens to skeletons when they wipe their CPUs They don't wipe their memories, so they are technically lying but it is only a half truth because they do lose a lot in the process
The one and only downfall/drawback to Kenshi, is the inability to build a proper City. If there was a way to build up your outpost and put buildings "up for sale" to have NPC Citizen's the entire method could be changed. There are places I have set up outpost where the available materials could be used to rival multiple cities. If city building was developed, at least in my mind, you could achieve your goals with far less bloodshed, by simply offering a better choice...and I'd hardly call the people I've made work at my outposts "slaves" they spend most of their time in the fucking bars I build....
There are Kenshi mods for Rimworld... Why not a Rimworld mod for Kenshi? Whereby instead of going to build mode, you go into Rimode, where you have a better ui for building/planning. Tabs for research, messages, priorities, bills and loadouts... Basically to have a button to switch between playing Kenshi or playing Rimworld... In all honesty though, I'd get so lost in colony management that I'd forget I'm playing Kenshi and somehow manage to end up with 1000 Orbital Beam Targeters and legendary quality power armour with jump packs and charge rifles, human leather cowboy hats and a green UFO loaded with 72 Boomalopes.
Agreed with this. Sadly you cannot make your own city with npc-s added to use your banner and act under your faction. Normally that could turn the global economy of the game into something which is prosperous. Only thing can be done to make new cities if you are using the forgotten construct and build everything in game then add into the tool. This way you can add more factions and make unique empires bad saldy there is no a map editor tool.
@@Muis33 Unfortunately with how much the game has to already Load a bunch, I don't think it is optimized enough to actually do that. Would be cool tho
@@jaketheriault8268 Meh, not every game has to be Rimworld. Kenshi is amazing on it's own. It could be better, definitely, but that's why we need to keep our hopes up for Kenshi 2!
@@Muis33 Idk why you tagged me though, it wasn't my suggestion. I just added that it probably wouldn't be possible due too optimization of the game, it loads alot and has to load a bunch of stuff already especially with Mods. There's nothing wrong with Kenshi, nor do i believe Kenshi and rimworld have to be similar, I dont think they do or are nor do i even think the games are similar genre besides maybe 'Survival' the only thing i would like to see in Kenshi is more of a reason to do certain things.
I think they make it pretty clear the Stone golem isn't all in on war. a bunch of older shek are pissed off that she doesn't do a bunch of viking raids.
Yeah it is even given in the Wiki that Esata stood against war and defeated the previous leader who was a warmonger and she along with Bayan is trying to establish trade with various parts of the United Cities and so on IDK why there need to be a change in leaders
The problem is very few people among her people feel that about being anti war. It’s shown NPCs young and old groan about wanting to fight and if the stone Golim dies the other factions Karla chosen, bezerkers take land. And even then the practice of exiling people is still going on under the stone Golem leading to the band of bones going around fighting people. Sadly once she passes away or someone else challenges them to a fight the sheiks will go right back to their war hungry ways
@@Gdsryrox Shek is a prime example of new upstart civilization that still delves into their primal urges and their violent religion. Esata and couple of other Sheks are new, more enlightened generation that sees that the old way will only lead to their annihilation as a species. While old generation of Shek represents barbarity and unrestrained warmongering, she on other hand comes more as a Militaristic Tyrant who wants establish an actual Militaristic Society with strict rules and laws. I do believe that Shek have a good chance at a bright future if we, as a player, help Esata to hold control and make necessary changes to take first steps to a more orderly society. Problem is, for that to happen The Holy Nation needs to be conquered. If it gets conquered under Esata's rule she will get all the support from young generation of Sheks she needs to make a change. This war is also gives her a great chance to get rid of old Shek warriors and local war band leaders by throwing them first into battle. Second most important thing Shek will take a hold of primary land for the food production. While yes Shek hate being farmers, they will use humans for that. Which will lead, to a society where Shek will act as a cast of warriors and military leaders and humans will be responsible for everything related to food, material and goods production. So as you see it is very complicated matter. If we want to keep Holy Nation alive and prosper. We need to exterminate an entire specie, or at least biggest part of it. If we want to for Shek to evolve as a society, and in the future to live together with humans. You need to destroy Holy Nation. Biggest problem here is that there risk of loosing even more knowledge during the war with Holy Nation. And there is risk that Shek will not stop at HN and with time United Cities will be at war with the Shek. But avoiding that war depends entirely on getting rid off all old Shek warband leaders and rising new generation properly, with newly placed education and laws.
Probably doesn't need to be said, but Both the Hive Queens need to be kept alive to prevent more fogmen from popping up. Speaking of the Fogmen, Maybe having a Shek Kingdom around could be useful in detering the fogmen until a proper counter measure could be found. Speaking of counter measure, I would like to add that Bugmaster needs to be captured alive as he may of been the one to create the Hivers under the orders of Cat-Lon so he might have knowledge on how to better deal with the Hivers.
The Southern Hive are more organized Fog Men already, as they are super aggressive even to Western Hive. They are also cannibals, as it is implied they eat Western Hive along with everyone else. Killing the Southern Queen to make them Fog Men level threats would honestly be an improvement, just make sure to take out the Southern King. If the Southern Hive weren't immediate aggressors, I might agree with you, but as it stands, screw them.
Kenshi really is the perfect embodiment of "What does not kill me makes me stronger". Heck, depending on the situation getting stabbed and losing all of your limbs is a boon!
I have about 300 hours in this game and I still haven’t experienced everything this masterpiece of a game offers
I'm 750 hours in, and I think I have a rough idea what's going on, making what to do about it impossible to decide.
@@Davesoft over 1300 hours in thats thats the beauty of kenshi do whatever you want no wrong way to play
@@judethenekogamer3651 nearing 5000 hours, just kidding
Congratulations on finishing the tutorial. :) 2600 hrs.
1350hrs and havent even touched most of the lore. The creator's sister wanted to write more but he said full send. There's so much potential
While I like your perspective I kinda have another theory: the 3 big factions (HN, UC and Shek) are all corrupt in their own ways, but when you visit the criminals in the swamp, the tech hunters in their outposts of even the chill guys in Flats Lagoon, they seem to be thriving and respectful of each others business for the most part, save some swamp gangs. I set up a nice hemp farm right at the frontier between the Swamp and Shem and while I resorted to Hash trading at first, eventually my armor and weapons are so well crafted they can compete with Catun and Armor King, plus I can reach most major zones from that location, make peace with the secouded skeletons in the deadlands and siege Catlon with enough prep. A nation rhat resorts to slavery is never to be allowed being the leader of progress and growth because they will always hoard any growth for themselves. A warmonger society is also a threat to all including itself. I say we end both the 3 big factions aswell as Catlon, and the fishking to boot. Build a few outposts to protect the freed slaves, help out the flotsam rebuild their religion as a new form of Phoenix, rebuild the Hub as a central and truly free state and give the tech hunters the reigns, while also forgiving the skeletons if they promise to cooperate. Real world already has enough nuance, lemme save kenshi by peeling slavers and nazis please.
While the Shek Kingdom’s war culture has been a huge issue it should be noted they are trying to slowly reform under Esata. The same cannot be said of the Holy Nation who have only gotten more irrational, violent, and oppressive under their child grooming Inquisitors
This is a amazing video, very well written, one of the best I've seen. The only critique I have is I'm pretty sure the Mechanics are called the Machinists.
Thank you that's a really dumb blunder on my part, but it's a super important correction. That's embarrassing, but I'm really glad you liked it.
@@AngelOfThePast No worries it was a lot of information. Must of took a hell of a long time to write the script I'd probably make one or two mistakes as well. I wrote one of my theories about this in the comments if u wanna check it out.
In a game with no dialogue audio, this is not a big issue. Thanks for being cool with the correction. Very refreshing seeing honest interaction from creators. I hope you make more videos soon and continue in kenshi 2.
About the holy phoenix, given the limited medical knowledge the entire nation has, it is possible that many if not the majority of phoenix's simply died during childbirth or during their early childhood, thus dragging the average age way down
I would assume those wouldn't be declared as the next holy phoenix as to preserve the image.
It really just mirrors the selection of the Dalai Lama. Herbal medicine is actually surprisingly effective, which is why the population of ancient China was so high, and adult males always had the longest life expectancy. Several children may also be selected, but only one will actually be crowned when he reaches adulthood. There are 2 ways to become top dog, the difficult long-term path to success is to be the first among peers, and the other one is to elliminate the competition. There are probably unspoken laws to prevent the latter, but rebels exist in even the most secular religious orders, and that would be the current phoenix
I think you missed a few things that will cause the Third Calamity. And would be guaranteed by wiping out the Shek Kingdom. There are two 'factions' that will end all life in Kenshi, arguably along a long enough timeline without intervention. The first is the Bugmaster, If it were not for the Shek throwing themselves into the meatgrinder, the Skin and Blood Spiders would consume everything. Best case scenario they will only live the the swamp/moist zones. Which would most likely spiral out into the swamps and make their way up Okran's Pride and the floodlands. The Shek are already in a dicey position, without player assistance they most likely would collapse due to their already dwindling kingdom. Without the players aid the Bugmaster will never be killed or captured. The second are the Fogmen, unlike other Hivers these appear to be a queen-less hive. I am pretty sure Mongrel is singlehandedly culling the Fogmen's population levels to a status quo at best of times. But they do seem to be expanding as their patrols can end up in the Vain as well. Mongrel may collapse all together being so heavily isolated and surrounded on all sides. The open farms of the Holy Nation would be overrun in days, only cities with heavy walls with Mongrel would in theory be able to withstand the swarm. The worst part is that there is no in-game way of defeating the Fogmen. They are an endless spawn. The Third Calamity is already approaching.
1- Bugmaster only interest is to destroy the second empire's remnants thought questionable means. You can kill or capture him though and destroy the second empire yourself. 2- Holy Nation is exactly the thing that is pushing the fogman away. If you destroy HN the fogmen advance futher. Nice try skeleton, but I'm here to save humanity.
Imagine if Kensha have "world Crisis" like battle brothers with the bugmaster or the fogman, it will be epic.
That's why I HAVE to assume and add player input into the lore/progression of the world, at least in my head. Realistically, I'm going to fortify the smarter/less bigoted options, I.e the flotsam ninjas, while slowly tampering down the holy nation's more pigheaded and stagnating side. Same goes for those developing regions, Bugmaster I'd have to assume we can count as in or out depending on if we kill him, with the spiders being included, as there is dialogue about him being the source of their intense population boon. We can't really pick and choose which of the leaders count, since by that same logic, Cat-lon doesn't matter, and there will be Second Empire/"Evil Skeletons" remnants. But regardless we kill both, so technically both get stamped out. But yeah, I think the video is overall pretty close, but he's definitely heavy on the skeleton hate IMO, if you talk to a lot of them they had genuinely good intentions, and removing any player input/agency via our own settlements, is inane. We are living proof that people can settle, build self-sustaining bases that even swarms of beak things can't touch. I see it like the Independant/Yes man ending in Fallout New Vegas. It's not explicit what happens, it's more what you know you would influence/lead the world to be, supported/supplanted by the choices you have made within the game prior.
I would argue that it is important to stop Bugmaster, but, he needs to be captured alive as it is implied that he created the Hivers under orders of Cat-Lon as a means to enthrall humanity. He created three queens, but one of them died, and it's implied that those hivers with the dead queen ended up becoming the fogmen. As fernando pointed out, Bugmaster is only interested in destroying what's left of the Second Empire. Presuming he can be reasoned with, if we can capture him alive, we could get him to focus his attention back on the hivers in developing a counter measure against them and the fogmen. The queens and by extension the hivers are a ticking, time bomb; if either of them die, hiver settlements become overrunned with fogmen which implies this is what happened to Hivers without their queen and perhaps what hiveless ones eventually become.
You didn't mention the difference between the Kral Shek people and the Esata Shek people. According to the lore on the wiki and in game Esata kind of put aside the Shek ideals at one point and traditions to make sure her people survived. The previous leader wanted them to all die in war and she and Bayan refused. The player can't influence the world in such a way but I think if given the choice between death or forgoing their imperialist tradition they would choose to forgo their tradition. The Kral Shek though are the ones who don't agree with her and want battle through death at all costs.
Second calamity was caused by multiple reasons. Cat-lon tried to restore ruins, but his methods were violent, he tried to hold second empire alive, but he failed. At his time, he was unable to fully understand the anger and pure hatred humans can generate, when someone tries to keep them alive through violent way, but he does now. He tried to fix his mistakes, while humans have long forgotten what he did. That have completely broke him, to the point where he is today. Besides, humans themselves have demolished second empire, mainly because of hunger from agriculture malfunction, and because of what cat-lon and i said before. There's no good, or bad in kenshi, only what someone wants to do. If you are fighting monsters, watch out to not become one...
Cat-Lon didn't start off as violent only after the formation of the cult of Okran or at that time the cult of Chitraan did he become violent and Create Thralls, kill civillians and lock up children before that he stood for humans against his kind during the First extinction along with Tinfist and General Jang and the Head of Agriculture and I think before him Stobe also stood and saved the humans resisting his own kind's hatred
"CPU of General Hat-12 CPU of General Hat-12, who was chief of the empire police. He launched a crackdown on the new cultists but his heavy handed approach only fueled their blame and confusion further. Things escalated faster." at 28:34 you say the holy nation was born at the end of the first empire but that doesn't make sense if they were still a cult by the second empire.
The cult could be as old as the first Empire, but they became much more powerful and widespread after the fall of the second Empire.
Hard to believe this game is only made by one person with how complex and rich of lore it is
Writer got that "I don't need drugs" imagination
I really really enjoyed you deep dive on social morality vs individual morality. It was very thought provoking thank you
His morality is a trash one he'd be like Biden the Taliban and China or hitler enslaving people on a supposed greater good no matter who suffers or dies that sounds like somebody on an unknown mission to destroy and only see some unknown vision come true.
Man, I just tend to co-exist with all the other major factions, because they can't pay for my goods and services if they're dead, which in turn pays for the quality of life of my people. So, you're making me feel like an NPC in this world, because things just happen around me. I've never felt like I've had any impact in this game, beside the small tribe I take care of.
I found the unofficial Tech Hunter.
It's kind of chilling to think of the mechanics skeleton doing this huge ruse in front of the whole world, and that multiple skeletons could be lying about their memory wipes.
They are probably all lying, at least the most important memories are intact. 5MB could hold a 500-page book, 128MB could hold several sets of Encyclopaedia Britannicae, there is no way they just lost it all.
Hmm, I honestly do agree with you on the Shek for the most part. Though honestly, if you left the Holy Nation Farms alone they still remain. The Shek will take over everything else, but they leave the petty farmers alone when you destroy the Holy Nation, being the Shek patrol all the Holy Nation's territory post conquest, why would the Shek just... leave these Farmers alone? The current leader of the Shek isn't as Loony as the Shek that came before. The more war obsessive hardliners even split from the Shek kingdom. So there is some wiggle room that the Shek would possibly reform. Who knows though if the next Shek leader will be so kind of petty farmers though.
and let's be honest here those humans are alot less oppressed by shek regiments they'll only beat your ass if you outright pick a fight
@@marley7868 thats pretty much the point of their existance, they are the ultimate societal police force, if you dont want to fight or do anything dishonest within their presence, they would literally leave you alone, maybe make an off the cuff comment about weakness or something, but hey, literally everyone else does worse things all things considered...
Shek leave farmers alone for same reason they leave your outpost alone, free source of food...
@@Rokykun Yes, but the hardliners attack almost on sight. If Kroll's Chosen for example won their little feud, I doubt there would be much hope for Holy Nation Farmers and peasants.
That is doubtful. Shek and hivers represent different extremes in humanity's failings, and they are not as plastic and capable of change as the real homo sapien, because genetic engineering exists to lock down certain traits at the expense of others. Shek represent the honour and constancy in humanity's warrior spirit, but also intolerance and tendency to resort to the short-term solution aka VIOLENCE, instead of production and innovation. There is no way they could tolerate any doubt, dishonesty and backstabbing behaviour that hivers always possess, and all people sometimes do, nor will they tolerate the challenge that technology will bring, such as harpoon turrets that would make them obsolete. They trust in strength and nothing else, and they are just as brutal as any human faction in dealing with out-of-line behaviour.
*Looks closely at the squad.* *Sees Beep in the cew.* "Hmph. Acceptable."
over 1k hours and have watched over 100 hours of people playing kenshi, and i did not know most of the history you mentioned... Well done, and way to be the best kenshi historian i have found
I love how the big thing just takes flight at 13:20 before it cuts off
The way I play on stream, I establish a mega-city where all are free and welcome, but everyone has a job to do. Skeletons serve as my guards and turret personnel, hivers tend to the fields, humans handle all manner of tasks in between, and shek are often my warriors. Obviously there is overlap between jobs, but any and all challengers to my nation are mercilessly put down. With food, medical care, and technology in abundance, my citizens live good, peaceful lives, until the next group of fools shows up at my gates. All are welcome in the nation of Sanctuary, but if they fuck around, they find out. Of course I play with the 256 squad limit mod. :P Kenshi really is an amazing game and being able to forge your own goals and shape the narrative the way you want is truly unique. I've been playing Kenshi for years, and still do to this day! Great video, by the way. The Beak Things hate portion of this video made me giggle.
A theory I heard said that the skeletons not wanting to be humanities slave workers and soldiers revolted and destroyed the first empire and in guilt built the second one which through the tyrannical regime of cat leon, who brainwashed the skeletons who didn’t listened to him, was driven into self destruction. There is somewhere in the world a giant robot skeleton (remains) who has sacrificed himself to save innocent humans and changed the revolt from humans total annihilation into just destroying their means of oppression and therefore their technology. Letting humans live but without any control over skeletons which led to mass starvation and suffering for humans and made the skeleton built the second empire in the hope of retribution and proven they could create an empire without suffering and slavery, which they failed in. They created the hive to be mindless workers and the shek as a police force to control the humans but both didn’t fullfill their job the way it was meant to as the shek oppressed humans and were too agressive and the hive weren’t mindless after all and escaped. While the skeletons story is tragic and ironic in itself, in the end they are responsible for humanities downfall in kenshi. They are responsible for a massacre as the lack of technology led to lack of food and millions of deaths. The skeletons want to forget because of guilt.
I'm almost sure the hivers where the originals habitants of the planet. It make sense because they don't care about acid.
@@zodaxa8881 @@zodaxa8881 The acid and contaminated water are all the result of previous wars. There are robots who remember a time before the world was contaminated to this point. The death laser in the desert for example is a rogue war satellite with a corrupted software. Therefore that desert is artificial. If the acid was actually natural than most other animals in the world should have evolved with a natural resistance against acid/acid rain considering how prevelant it is. The same should be true for flora and fauna. Another aspect is that there are abandoned human outposts and surely they wouldn't have settled with acid around.
Stobe. His husk is actually on the map. And I agree, intentions can only be inferred from the empirical outcome. Dolphy the painter was an empathetic lover of animals, Jewish girls and good things too, with an abusive father and dead brother, but we don't consider any of the good when schools speak of his legacy and deeds. It is also a recurring theme that the doers of good tried to change the environment and the genetics of people, but not people themselves. From people, they created Shek, with an insatiable and single-minded appetite for violence, conflict and a lack of trade skills and knowledge, dumbness and laziness; And hivers, with an insatiable appetite for money, things, illegal activity and dishonesty. Still, the people they served are just as disappointing and hopeless, they turned hope and opportunity into death and destruction again and again. They did not actually HAVE to kill off the skeletons, but when they did, they did a half-measure and allowed many survivors to kill off the human population
Ok I get it Step 1: Become a weapon of mass destruction Step 2: Make every Shek who thinks that fighting is everything that matters try and beat the crap out of you Step 3: Beat the crap out of them Step 4: Rise a Shek kingdom that isn't only motivated by blood and war alone Step 5: Enjoy your thicc muscle mommy squeezing your head between her thighs
You get it
I see you are a man of culture
By god that’s the dream
Thats the spirit Make them understand that the ending of life for honor is monstrous and honor wont bring nothing more than death and desolation, smack the shit out of anyone who dosnt get it Become a ruler Rule with iron fist and conquer the world get a few thralls body guards so you cant get back stabbed, murder anyone bold enoght to reject your ideals of peace and then get a bunch of dawgs to pet=win kenshi
You would have to apply that artificial selection for a long time
As someone that literally just picked up Kenshi, just 3 minutes in I sense this is a video I should come back to once I've played through the game a lot more.
I hope I didn't watched a entire video to avoid spoiler
Love this video, because I did my own deep dive research into Kenshi's lore and this was just about the same conclusion that I came to have. The knee-jerk reaction most players have is that the Holy Nation are jerks and baddies and must die and the Shek are "honorable warriors", so we should ally ourselves with them. As this video points out, that's the wrong conclusion. What's interesting is that as twisted as their belief system has become, the Holy Nation is the only one of the major factions whose dogma and history are based on what ACTUALLY HAPPENED. Their hatred of skeletons isn't unwarranted, as you point out.
I think the one flaw about the holy nation continuing is how little that they are open to change. Without the player to do things like prevent war between with Flotsam Ninjas and to be better than the skeletons were (not committing genocide against all mechanical lifeforms) then the player needs to do something that is outside the limits of the game (killing certain people most likely will not work) as they are going to happen pretty much no matter. I think the UC is very similar to the Holy Nation and i see them as two sides to the same coin really. Both are extremely horrible from a modern humans perspective but they are really just doing what they need to survive and adapt to such harsh conditions as the world of Kenshi. The Holy Nation maintains its longevity by having a strong military, controlling the core fertile regions, and destroying all technology. They have no reason to expand there territory because of there abundance and the lackluster surrounding regions and for that reason they are able to treat there citizens with some degree of peace and support (besides tons of racism and homophobia) But the idea of them progressing and evolving technologically or progressively slowly is doubtful in my mind. They aren't really pushed or pulled by anything to do the things that they do. They do them because its what they think the Holy Flame and Okran tells them to do, and I could easily see them existing in there current technological state for a very long time (also consider the fact that they destroy all technology they come in contact with, combine that with there views about new technology and you could see extreme technological regression) The United Cities on the other hand has been pushed towards many of the evils they partake in (not to say they are justified) but its more likely that they would change given a better geographic position and a different political world state. After the fall of Bast and the subsequent Red Rebellion, the United Cities were put into a position where they had very little food to give (that's why u see so many Empire Peasants as they are most likely refugees from Bast) and because of this they restricted the freedoms of there work force to increase efficiency of the few remaining food productions sites or to get money for food from available resources in there territory like stone camps (slavery.) Without attacks by Bandits and the Holy Nation, the United Cities would be in a much better state and slavery would most likely decrease over time as food production increased and calls from civilians about its abolition increased. I'm not saying it would be a utopia by any means, but compared to the Holy Nation it has a lot higher chance for eventual progressive change (similarly to how the medieval kingdoms of Europe modernized as they discovered new technologies and ancient Roman philosophy) and technological aptitude at the cost of continuation of slavery for many centuries (perhaps faster than the HN though given there traditional roots and slowness to change) The United Cities society while horrible, is a pretty free and equal place (ironic to say I know) they allow freedom of the races and the only thing that divides people isn't ideology but money. With a abundance of money I could definitely see them progressing technologically and progressively faster than the Holy Nation as increasing there authoritarian measures against the poor (including slavery) would only lead to more rebellion and social chaos. Now rounding off all of that, like you said both are awful morally and this is just my theory about how you could change the world of Kenshi for the better. Both the Holy Nation and the United Cities would have heavily costs on organic life for centuries and its all depends on which things you'd be willing to sacrifice. Also great video man! it opened my mind about so many more things in Kenshi and it was really interesting to hear about different theories about the meaning of the game and the player themselves.
I like this theory, and in my mind I think the UC can make it but I still think you need to kill several nobles. For my theory though, I agree the Holy Nations aversion to tech is an issue for the future. However, in my mind, the Flotsam Ninja Revolution (remember this is a rebellion that is new with the inception of the most recent Phoenix), and the newly formed Empire Peasants Nation will be that push for the holy nation. I want them to survive to keep food coming through the world, but not necessarily be the super power for the next 1000 years. The Empire peasants still have the greatest technology in the world, the library of the tech hunters on their side of continent, and less of an oppressive government structure. I think this sets up the empire peasants to become a greater military power than the Holy Nation, and the holy nation to have to face a potentially growing rebellion to the north, and continued attacks from cannibals as well. In the future the holy nation will either evolve or perish.
@@AngelOfThePast While the Empire Peasants do have a lot of technology and so fourth I feel like the new found Empire Peasants government would be decentralized and inefficient and most likely that would be taken advantage of and be plundered by Ninjas, Reavers, and Cannibals if those weren't already wiped out. One of the main strengths of the United Cities is there Samurai guard and without them, the Nobles (who are utterly horrible but are useful administrators and bureaucrats) and the Samurai Police I feel like it would take a while for them to get on there feet. Its also more costly to run mining camps (Main source of UC revenue) without slaves as its hard grueling labor and I'd guess many Empire Peasants would be unwilling to work at such places. However given enough time your theory would most likely come true as the Holy Nation would most likely not expand much given there abundance in the lands they already control and the land the Empire Peasants control is very wealthy in stone and mining deposits.
I just read a whole video about different interpretations of kenshi lore and politics.
*their
Did they actually mention homophobia? (Obviously this is easy to imagine based on fundamentalist views they’d likely have) Just curious if it is actually mentioned in the game.
this is so well made, ive watched it dozens of times. thank you for a rigourous and honest journey through the world of kenshi
"...there is no time for games." I feel that a Blackshiffter Cassino Dealer had a heart attack somewhere.😂😂😂
You have come to the same conclusion as other videos but while many of the others were half-assed and confusing at best you have presented your reasoning well and even managed to script out the video with setups and payoffs. You sir have talent, well done. Edit: I forgot to add this in but I actually had a thought while watching your video. You are absolutely right about how the player's might and influence does not matter in the grand scheme of things as it would only set them up to be the 3rd empire followed by the 3rd calamity but actually I will do you one better, if you follow the strictly moral path and side with the Shek and the anti-slavers and followed that to its inevitable conclusion of whipping out the HN and the UC leaders then you are literally the 3rd calamity itself. Should you succeed you would turn over the moon of Kenshi to the barbaric Shek who, at absolute best, only have a sliver of hope to ascending their blood thirsty ways and the shattered remnants of a (somewhat) surviving society cutting them off from each other and forcing any who remain to fend for themselves many of which would be farmers and craftsmen as many of the fighters would have died in your crusade who's only neighbors are cannibals, beakthings, and Shek. Suddenly the Holy Nation and the United Cities don't look so bad anymore.
I love just how well thought out this video is. It has a healthy dose of moral ambiguity, choosing between lesser evils on a global scale, and even a bit of reading potential evils of the near future. This video is superb and reminds me of why I love Kenshi lore and its complexities. Damn good work dude.
I don't see how people couldn't understand the holy Nations feelings towards skeletons when things like the skin bandits and elder are out there
I think it's a lack of understanding of what a world like Kenshi is actually like. They are by no means perfect, but applying what you think living on earth would be like vs what living on Kenshi would be like is going to lead to a lot of misconceptions about the different factions.
when you travel near skin bandit territory your characters talk about rumours of mutilated bodies, etc. Superstitions they hold about the area, so it is safe to assume that very very few know about the skin bandits aside from the remains someone else finds. The skin bandits themselves have fried CPUs that allowed someone to convince them to "become human".
@@PerfectDeath4 but what about elder the leader of the skeleton bandits
@@sirtarquin6306 I havn't interacted much with the skeleton bandits so i'm not sure. xD I've seen a squad of them wander by once, they seem kinda meme.
@@PerfectDeath4 spoiler warning The skeleton bandits are humans that elder a skeleton brainwashed into thinking they were skeletons so that he could watch them kill other people.
I'm now convinced that the devs intended for you to play as a skeleton and bring about the Third Calamity by killing all organic life on Kenshi.
Great analysis of an amazing game world. Kenshi is so well written, either intentional or not, the fact that there is no cliche Evil vs. Good makes the world feel that much more real. Great video keep it up.
Evil vs Good isn't a cliche, it's reality. Wake up.
@@Akutikun real world isn't as simple as good vs evil. It's filled with various shades of gray, the majority of us have no interest in being the good guys, only in our personal gain. No country organization in the world can be labeled a true the good guys, since everyone are corrupt in some way.
Maybe their is isn't the start a bad start? So the evil is those that are against you in this Kenshin seems it's alot of people.
@@merlinmage6012 Against you =/=Bad. That is the ultimate logical fallacy
SPOILERS I don’t think the lie is that skeletons need to reset, they talk about needing resets even when no organic life is present. I think the lie is that they need to reset often and that resetting lost ALL of their knowledge. Cat-Lon is implied to have never reset out of fear of losing his talents and personality, but so is Tinfist, who despite his eccentric personality is still mostly sane. Plus even if they do need a reset every 500 years or so they could easily just leave themselves notes or teach each other to maintain their knowledge.
Two important things: 1. Obedience 2. "I am not the monster" It's a well known theory, that the first calamity was a revenge by skeletons for killing giant robots by organic humans. So are humans trully better if they don't kill every single skeleton? Second Empire's remnants? Kill them all. Other skeletons? Leave them alive, except the mad ones, see what happens.
well there were plenty of skeletons who rebelled and discoursed with both empires, see the thralls of Cat-Lon who Cat says were siding with the Humans, and the collapse of the 1st
Revenge? You meant skeleton AI go rouge?
@@emilturangi7145 kind of. So basically the first empire was humans + skeletons together, then one of the lore books in the great library talks about a near-apocalyptic war between the first empire and some unknown other power (according to some theories, potentially an alien power that built the giant death laser satellite above Venge and the crashed one in the grey desert), the first empire built giant behemoth skeletons to eventually win the war, but then were afraid of how powerful this let the skeletons become. So the empire digs a big massive hole in what is now the Fog Islands, orders all the behemoths into the hole, then seals it shut with liquid metal. This was called the Obedience, and you can visit it in game and see the giant robot limbs sticking out of the perfectly smooth metallic ground. That event seems to be the moment the skeletons fully rebelled against the humans and hunted them to near extinction as revenge.
I think you put together an extremely well thought out and objective plan for helping the world move forward. You seem to really understand the lore and how real life works. Real life, in an environment and civilization that doesn't have excess, doesn't care for right or wrong. You have to build the house before you can fret over how it is used.
I don't think let the Shek Kingdom live is a bad thing. If they had no more wars, the world if full of monsters they could devote their warrior lives fighting against. But since dialogue is not an option, you have a point. Great video, now I need to play as a skeleton and engage in dialogue with all skeletons possible to see what hidden dialogue they have.
I've said this a couple times before, but I mostly agree. My only issue with them is that they are the only real faction that is openly aggressive to people outside it's border besides cat-lon. That doesn't mean they need to be wiped out, war on the scale that they can wage (in terms of civilization ending events) isn't that bad. I just saw it as the fastest way to growth, but that doesn't mean I'm right.
Best outcome is to make your own independent city state without touching the politics of the other nations. Let them play their games while you rebuild society and just rebuff any of their attempts to attack you. Since non of them are able to wipe each other out without your help, in my opinion this is the beat outcome for the world. And now i have a new game idea… there goes another 100 or so ours
"You either die a hero, or love long enough to see yourself become the villain." Guess I'll just kill every faction leader, then rule as the Emperor of the Third Empire. Third time's the charm after all. 😝
Lore wise the United Cities is the third empire it even is called that by others, and they also refer to them self's as the empire, technically you would be the forth empire.
@@moreoffactus363 History is written by the winners*
This is a phenomenal video, you did a great job articulating some of the aspects that make Kenshi a true masterpiece and work of art. I've watched it twice so far.
As a longtime Kenshi fan, this was a very well put together and enlightening video. I knew some of this, but not all. Thanks a lot :)
"Humanity must ascend above the skeletons." - Dude minutes after saying the shek are too dangerous. I joke. Good video man. Not gonna kill Tinfist unless I'm playing a pure villain though
Lets be honest most people aren't killing Tinfist even if they want to. I took out Cat-Lon without losing even a single limb, and for this video I needed to kill Tinfist for footage, it took 7 attempts. He would just wipe out my entire party with a couple punches. To be fair I was very out of practice when I did it, but still.
@@AngelOfThePast I have pretty similar world state to yours except i kill all bandit and ninja fractions first then Blood River fraction Gurgle Fraction, South Hive, then i capture all cannibal leaders and draw cannibals to me so that my ninja teams could rid the Tech Hunters and Machinists from ALL skeletons by kidnapping them puting Slave Trader shackles to them and leaving them for Manhunters or Slave Traders to find sometimes i just go to Stone Camps and deliver them myself i do so because i don't want to anger Tech Hunters and i want to rid them of skeletons but also so that i can cause all out war between Tech Hunters and UC, Traders Guild, and Slavers, after which i proceed to murder all Nobles except ones in Tech Hunter cities, wipe out Traders Guild and proceed to Shek, then i allied myself with HN by giving them both Tengu and Stone Golem effectively ending both fractions, then i end tinfist by kidnaping him and leaving him to fight Catlon and Skelton Legions where he dies, and i start advancing on Snorus Dark and Skeletons which i purge from the world every single Skeleton dies all the way to Catlon, what happens when i end my crusades is i usually have 4 cities all in key areas Tech Hunters expand and are rid of skeletons so are Machinists, Western Hive still trades with Tech Hunter cities i am fully technologically advanced, and because i am an allie of HN they don't care about my skelton parts which means i can have cyborg armies inside HN territory, all shek die too and i become a necessary monster, over time HN will be forced to advance if new Phoenix doesn't return their lax policy on tech because as you know HN tech hate started when this era Phoenix became leader of HN it wasn't like that before so i believe new Phoenix will be lax but in the event that he does not become lax he will be forced to as my fraction and Tech Hunter fraction are still pretty much alive and if either one discovers gunpowder it's basically over for HN in terms of tech illiteracy they will be forced to advance or go extinct and with no shek and skellies around they will no longer have to fear nothing which will in turn provide enough time to establish sustainable peace and for Tech Hunter to advance enough to revert some of the damage done by skeletons, and UC.
@@AngelOfThePast to be fair, martial arts in vanilla is friggin OP... like i dont care what weapon youre using, it aint even close to what one metal boi can do just by slapping you across the face... maybe thats the product of his masters teachings... the capacity to basicly bish-slap anyone into submission...
@@crustybomb115 When you are a robot, every part of you is a steel chair. Other bosses are nobody without their weapon, but this guy is unaffected, so even if you defeated him for a moment, you cannot actually capture him, he breaks shakles and shatters cages, and can break free even if you carried him on a shoulder. That is what makes him so dangerous
This is a really well made video! Thank you for your hard work making it. The music is on point, the footage, and it's very easy to tell that you have much love for the game like many others who come to watch!
Brilliant... in a game that just surviving feels like the only goal, you present an amazing perspective. I'm now addicted.
Great video very well done. Felt like I'd listened to a whole story by the end of it. I've always thought that the most dangerous group in Kenshi is the player's squad.
Never played but I have been learning and watching hundreds of hours of Kenshi and honestly the game and your analysis are really powerful tools to think about what feels morally correct and what's the best for the common good. I will never be able to use it as a teaching resource but this gave me a few ideas to work with.
This is so well conceived and compelling that it should be a set piece within the game itself: A narrative available to all players as they progress through the game, a reward for achievement and accomplishment. It is *that good* !!
Well made and written video man! I have played about 100 hours and I didn't know most of the lore you explained in the video!
Wow, what an incredible essay. I had no idea this game has so many layers and interconnected systems - with a profound lesson/exploration into the fundamentals of societal morality to cap it all off. Thanks for putting all of this detail into such an entertaining and accessible package, I'll never look at Kenshi in the same way again.
I recently got into Kenshi and have been obsessing over the world and lore. Loved this video, excellently conveyed the difficulties of the post-post-apocalypse!
Bravo! I've got some 800+ hours in Kenshi (I know, rookie numbers) but I know a lot of it's lore and the game itself. Your breakdown is nothing short of amazing! Earned a sub buddy!
I have over 500 hours in Kenshi and I must say this was a great break down of the world. Good work on the video man! Good Luck on the channel!
I'm 2 years late to the party but just wanted to stop in and say this was a great video. I don't think your theories are outlandish considering how well you incorporate hard facts into them. This game's lore is incredible to me. I bought kenshi when it was in pre-alpha and not even on the steam store yet. Seeing what it has become today is astonishing. I remember first seeing "Obedience" and being blown away when I learned of the background lore behind it. Also discovering that Cat-Lon still existed in the present day was such an incredible feeling. Few games if any have ever given me that feeling before.
This is one of the few videos I come back to again and again. The breakdown is superb.
Awesome video man. Kenshi's world is surprisingly deep and thoughtful, & one of the main reasons amongst many others, why I love this game so much.
just epic. i love your philosophical thoughts, and as a true kenshi lover i will do my next "playthru" whatever that means exactly that way. still i really would be curious about your thoughts on what to do with hivers etc. again, absolutely epic content. thank you. - the way to play games - immerse.
I love that I'm finding more Video Essays and Reviews of Kenshi.
i havent been able to sit through a hour long video like that in a while very nice video and high quality
Great video, minor detail: the Holy Nation was - for certain and without a doubt - created during the final years of the Second Empire, however long ago that was. It *absolutely could not* have been created before, during, or immediately after the First Empire because the Cult of Okran only began after Stobe (the last Behemoth and who is generally accepted as the inspiration for Okran) sacrificed himself to stop some unspecified weapon/calamity from wiping out humanity *during* the collapse of the First Empire. The Cult of Okran during the Second Empire then parallels Christianity in the Roman Empire: existing as a minority religion, slowly growing in numbers and influence, with sporadic rebellions as the state becomes more repressive of them. The Cult of Okran existed for most of the Second Empire as that, a cult. It wasn't until Cat-Lon began full-on repressing humans as a whole (not just the cultists) and the Second Empire began collapsing that the first Holy Phoenix waged the crusade that created the Holy Nation proper. This is all backed up by many pieces of lore in the world, both religious and academic, as well as comments that Skeleton characters make. tldr; the Cult of Okran was founded at the First Empire's demise but wouldn't become the Holy Nation until the demise of the Second Empire.
Masterpiece of a video honestly, love the lore breakdown
That was a great video, I'm glad the algorythm showed it to me, I will wait for another video with you theories about kenshi!
That video was awesome. I want to add that the way you approached the world of Kenshi is akin to the current conspiracy theory that a cabal of people that control vast amounts of wealth that don't sit in direct power, but steer those that do in order to "make a better world." I really enjoyed you're outlook on the world state and your solutions. It was very outside the box. While I don't necessarily agree with it all that's the fun of it, and most people prolly wouldn't agree with me on anything haha. All in all, I love Kenshi and I love this video.
Well, I just decided to watch this video and I'm glad I did. I was always on the side of the Anti-Slavers and the Shek-bois. I've already seen the devastation that happens when you wipe out the HN Military Bases situated between the Fertile Valley and the Fog Islands. I know of the devastation that can happen when wiping out the UC and the Nobles/Slavers completely. So, after knowing that and being devoutly against the HN and UC, I can actually see the case for them to not be completely wiped out. I love the fact that you have come along and exposed what many (not all) players, like myself, may have not already figured out. That fact being that going on a "Righteous Crusade" against a faction, just because they were "mean" to you and your people, isn't always a good thing. As you have so eloquently and pretty succinctly pointed out, sometimes morals have to be put aside for the greater good. At least in such a dire situation as most people in the world of Kenshi are in, due to the conditions they are facing. Sometimes you have to do things that aren't so "nice" in the moment, to preserve the world past that moment. Seems like a lesson a lot of people need to learn IRL, but I digress. Awesome video, I'm gonna' have to check out some more of yours, when I get the chance. Keep up the good work, mate!
Thank you very much! Awesome and well thought out comment, one of my favorites. Yeah, It's not something we have to deal with very often in our lives today, but it's always nice when games help us understand things we hopefully never have to!
Very interesting, and most of it I agree with, though there are a few things I'd argue. In my opinion, destroying the stone camps and/or the Holy Nation would only be a setback, not a permanent handicap. The game even alludes to that conclusion. I don't recall if it's a conversation with Tinfist or with Grey, but when talking about taking over, I believe it's 'Eyesocket,' there's a line of dialogue about how 'things will get darker before they get brighter' or something to that effect. If you ask me, there is no 'good option' when it comes to the Holy nation. It's like a landmine that you've already stepped on, but will only explode when you lift your foot off the trigger. If you destroy them completely, there'll be a famine. That famine will likely be temporary (which I'll talk about in the next paragraph), but still cause a *lot* of suffering. If you cut off the head of the snake but leave the rest intact, *maybe* the rest will learn from their mistakes... or maybe you just made a martyr of the Phoenix and they'll become even worse; not to mention the likely destruction of the Flotsam Ninjas. Finally, if you leave them alone, they're likely to continue down the path the current Phoenix put them on due to the nature of echo chambers. Opinions and beliefs can only get *more* extreme when no one is around to argue in the other direction. Furthermore, with Okran's pride being the most fertile region of the entire continent, *someone* will eventually come by to farm it. The same goes for the building materials manufactured by the United Cities. If there's a need for it, *someone* will eventually come around to meet that need. After all, there'll be money to be made! That said though, I would expect it would be Tinfist and the anti-slavers rising to meet that need more out of necessity than out of desire for wealth. The entire reason Tinfist is against slavery is to help people, and after slavery is eradicated, the next obvious path to helping people would be working on continuing the production of the vital supplies that previously were made by means of slavery, only now through other methods. I mostly agree with the Sheks though, especially in the circumstance where you destroy the Holy Nation and the Sheks take over their territory. I wouldn't expect them to use that land as anything other than leverage against other nations and races, assuming that they bother to farm it at all. Though Estada does seem to be steadily leading the Sheks from being solely focused on warfare, it's arguably not enough. Regarding Tinfist himself, he is in a unique position to have been witness to the mistakes Cat-lon made that lead to the collapse of the second empire, meaning he's learned from those mistakes and would very likely know better than to repeat them. If we can see that parallels between Tinfist and Cat-lon, no doubt he can too, and he'd have every reason not to let himself go down that same path. And finally, Lyo... I'm really not sure about him. Obviously him suppressing the truth is bad, but... by my understanding of the lore (Taken from here: kzhead.info/sun/ismfn6aQraVqpJs/bejne.html ), the entire reasons the Skeletons caused the first near-extinction was because of 'Obedience.' The humans feared what the giant machines of war could do, so they destroyed them. The skeletons saw this, feared what the humans could do, and nearly destroyed them. Cat-lon even began following down that same path. Wide knowledge that the skeletons were the cause of the previous calamities would only foster more fear and hatred of them, very likely leading to another war and perhaps another near-extinction or maybe a complete one. Or... it might not. Especially if the United Cities and/or Holy Nation are destroyed or crippled, most people might just be too busy trying to survive to seek to rekindle another war on that scale. Ultately Lyo *might* be keeping a secret buried that would blow up in the faces of all remaining life on Kenshi if it got out... or maybe because it was so long ago and people are too busy trying to just stay alive that that secret really isn't that volatile anymore. That's something I love about Kenshi lore. You can argue all day about what actions are actually the best ones to take, and almost every single take can have a good and sensible argument behind it.
One of the best uses for an hour I've had in a long time!
This is some quality stuff. You deserve more subs.
Love Kenshi, almost on 2k hours played 🥰 Watching Aviticus, kokoplays, abyssle etc... NOW IM WATCHING YOU... keep up the good work.
Lol thanks, I love Kenshi and I wouldn't mind doing another video, but it would be a while. I don't know if you saw when this happened, but with 2,000 hours I would guess you'd be interested. The devs were selling some shirts a while ago so I don't know if they're still available. They posted about it on steam. I bought 3 of them, and it came with a thank you letter.
@@AngelOfThePast Kenshi is one of a kind, for better or worse. Always Come back to it no matter what games come out. Thanks, ill look into the merch 🙂
Well...that was much more thorough than I expected. Easily the best breakdown of the lore Ive seen, and the final chapter of the true enemies of Kenshi-whoa-changed my mindset for sure. Exceptionally well put together.
I'd like to add my viewpoint of slavery has been horribly shaken by the lore of EVE online. When you first start learning about the 4 empires of New Eden, it seems pretty easy to tell who the good guys are. Amarr-slave owning, supremacist assholes who think God has chosen them to be the superior people; mostly enslaving the Minmatar. Minmatar-a tribal people who will stop at nothing to free their brethren and take pride in their nomadic ways, never settling down for long. Gallente-"The only true democracy in New Eden" who believe the good of the people outweighs the needs or wants of the few. And contrast to Gallente, The Caldari-a corporation based society that believes the good of the corporation is above all else. At face value, many people choose to be Minmatar freedom fighters or Gallente democracy defenders; and many others try to become the richest caldari CEO or trader, or go on weird power trips to become the highest order of "imaginary" Amarrian scumbag to live out some sick fantasy. Personally, I went with the Minmatar due to their pride in "we can build anything, with anything, from anything" and the idea of fighting for freedom. It wasn't until 3 or so years later that I learned, and started to realize, that the Minmatar are nomadic due to their *barbaric* nature. They cannibalize each other. Exile each other. Destroy entire worlds of their OWN people because of an inability to let any one tribe be greater than the others. Meanwhile, to my horror, Amarrians believe their God didnt just deem them to be the best, but also judges them based on how well they treat their slaves. They clothe them in fine silks, feed them the best foods, and house them in the finest of abodes. Being that most slaves are Minmatar, they see themselves as savoirs because they believe they're literally saving the Minmatar from destroying themselves. All the while giving their slaves better lives and a purpose to live. Albeit, they get their slaves hooked on high quality lethal drugs worse than heroin to keep them in line...but holy shit. When you realize without the slavery, the entire group just turns into savage cannibalistic warfaring barabarians...it seems a little less noble to be a freedom fighter that wont stop until every last brethren is loose with no purpose, guidance, or safety from the others. Likewise, the "democracy" of the Gallente? It turns out they believe they have the best ideas, the best system, the only free system is to allow people to vote for the majority-but only the majority remains. Entire cultures and religions are erased by the Gallente because its not something the majority will adopt, and the Gallente will stop at nothing until ALL people are the same. Until the only culture left is Gallente culture. Planets, colonies, histories, religions, cultures-all have been erased by group think of Gallente culture. A "true" democracy. The Caldari seem like the equal to Minmatar in the badness department. They dont have tribal pride. Or religious zeal. Or any fucks to give about individual freedoms. They profit from war, and drugs, and slavery. Profit baby. Its all that matters. They build most of the weapons. Produce most of the drugs. And control most of the markets...and the moment you are no longer profitable, no longer an asset to the Corporation-youre fuckin toast. Hit the streets jack. No streets? Damn. Starve and die then bro. They. Do. Not. Care. Its fuckin wild. There are no good guys in EVE, but from that breakdown-the Amarrian slave trading dickheads seem like a pretty good option. They legitimately want their slaves to have good lives, and would rather kill them (kinda fucked ngl) than let them go free to suffer or cause suffering, because from the Amarr pov-their God will judge them for allowing that. I get that same feel in Kenshi. The slavers are being bad shepherds, but slavery is meant to make life better and safer for everyone....you just...goddaaaaamnit have to stop calling it slavery. I fuckin hate slavery...but, these games really make me question-am I wrong? Is slavery with proper leadership and benevolent goals actually...a fuckin good thing? Like holy shit. All day fuck asshole slavers, but like...fuedal Japan was sorta just good slavers right? If Tengu wasnt a fuckin man-baby, there are merits to the U.C. right? It makes me feel sick to even think about it...but like...*poof* whooooa. We're all just fuckin slaves in one way or another arent we? No matter the time or ration or wage...its all just control *meltdown*
@@Ruhrich92 In the Bible, the first thing that happened when the Hebrews fled the tyrants was that they ended up in the desert, lost and hopeless. There is a desert between tyranny and promised land, and if the people themselves do not make changes, they will always be in tyranny or the middle of nowhere, and therefore slavery is the better outcome of the two. If you cannot do anything properly, then slavery is a preferred sense of order
Saw this video on the community page on steam and watched the entire thing. Interesting and well communicated ideas really enjoyed watching and look forward to future content.
This could be the perfect backstory to the start of Necron civilization. A third great epoch where the skeletons start turning everyone into one of them so they can be controlled better and be at peace.
i have a simillar idea using the economy chad mod and a couple of other skeleton subrace mods, the premise is your entire squad can only be made up of skeletons... the idea is to help the shek beat up the holy nation so that you have a strong ally nation biologically prone to war-like tendancies(and considering you dont need food, their naturally occuring event would be entirely negated cuz no food)... and making sure you propagate the western hives existance so that they can drunkenly manufacture horribly made skeletons to bolster your steadily increasing society...
You're forgetting something important. The planet Kenshi takes place on isn't normal, it's been stripped of its resources. Space travel was and probably still is a factor in the world of Kenshi. This planet we're looking at is likely just a forgotten colony of some space faring race considering the absolutely insane tech the first empire had. With that knowledge, we can assume the skeletons and organic life both existed at the inception of the colony. The reason great calamities keep happening isn't because of the skeletons, but because of a lack of resources, resources that were stripped from the planet long ago. Letting the skeletons conquer the world one last time may just accelerate an already inevitable end of organic life.
When you try to make the world perfect. You're becoming the next Tinfist or Cat-Lon.
Amazing video. I didn't realize the HN had been around that long. Kenshi's lore is quite fascinating.
I kidnapped the pheonix and stuck him into Tengu's Prison, then I let him leave as a distraction so I could get out. He got out but I have not seen him since and Flotsom took over his city
Alright hear me out on this one. This theory that I'm about to discuss is impossible within the game, but I see it as very much realistically possible. The player is the strongest faction in Kenshi by far, as you have the ability to change and adapt faster than any one person or civilization in the world, to the point where after researching all that you can, you far outclass the skeletons technology (at least in the modern age). Not to mention, having a head researcher (which we all do, as higher tier benches only need one worker) implies having a genius mind. And personally I always designate my starting character as the researcher, because having a dumb leader won't get you far. With a leader this intelligent, you could most likely easily coerce other faction leaders into partnership with the mutual agreement of open trade borders and sharing technology to better each other. The leader of the flotsam ninjas shares views on the original form of Okranism, which are far less oppressive than the modern version. I think that theoretically, you could kidnap and break the brainwashing cycle of the Holy Lord. Phoenix was born into a nation of zealots and indoctrinated since day one, but think about it, he has always had everything, and even then he is strong in both mind and body and surprisingly non-corrupt, so he does have integrity. With this in mind, you could partner with the flotsam ninjas, and explain to Phoenix the true nature of his religion. The very obvious counter-argument is that he won't listen, but think back to what I just said. The high inquisitors have higher stats than him, but he is still no pushover in terms of his physical power and combat strength. Not to mention, he is guarded by both inquisitors and high paladins, the strongest soldiers in his nation, and some of the strongest enemies in the game. If you manage to beat his city garrison, personal guard, AND him in fair combat, or ESPECIALLY if you have like an 8 man squad of really strong guys (which in his eyes is a numbers disadvantage), he would be mentally devastated. He is THE reincarnation of basically a God-like figure, yet these lowly heretics have won against not only his best men, but himself? And with fewer men than his own? Him, one of the strongest men in the world is now the prisoner of these faithless heathens? Just how far has he fallen? Is he truly the incarnation of the Holy Lord? Is he really supposed to lead his people? I think that he could be reasoned with to a degree, even if not at first, you could convince him over time with the help of the ninjas leader. Then you could return him to his people and let them reform at their own pace. The high inquisitors are intelligent men, as you said, and despite their positioning in the hierarchy being related to their faith, they do seem a bit less chaotically devout than others. I think they would probably listen to Phoenix at the very least, and in the end would be more open to change than most. As for the United cities, this is a bit more challenging. New, and responsible nobles need to be established. I would say that people of the players faction should be candidates, but that just creates problems. The player could send spies into the higher council of the UC, and learn the art of politics and bureaucracy. With these studies recorded on parchment, they could be taught with an instructor (maybe a more open-minded noble, or an ex-noble?) You could find appealing candidates in some existing nobles that are actually open to reason, or train some peasants. Of course, the peasants may turn into the people the present nobles are, but I think the nobles who are willing to change are intelligent enough to not mess with a group powerful enough to reform their empire single-handedly. As for the anti-slavers, Tinfist is a reasonable person. After all, when he did break his no killing rule he didn't really renounce fighting or anything drastic, he just went "Alright, guess I'll go from not killing to minimizing casualties." I think you could probably get the point across that some of the business that the slave trade conducts is necessary to the survival of organic life, at least for now. If the reforming of the UC goes correctly, the slaves in the nation can be released, then offered the jobs they did as slaves, with the benefit of being paid and sleeping in beds instead of cells and also getting full meals instead of being kept on the brink of starving. And if the now free people decide to move out of UC territory, there are still lots of people who would love free food and lodging even without being paid. And as for the whole sharing technology thing in the beginning, I think the player faction should hold off with certain information (like weapons manufacture) until the reformed societies prove that they can function responsibly and without resorting to violence. After that point, I would give the green light to sell edgewalker weapons to them. As for Cat-lon, pretty sure he can just die. You could reset him, but since he hasn't chosen to reset himself, that would be cruel. Maybe you could coax him out of his misery if you brought TinFist along, but then Cat-lon could turn him into a thrall if he ever turned. Better to be safe than sorry. I don't think the Shek existing actually hurts much while Esata is in power. She prioritizes the survival over her race over dying in battle as revealed in her backstory. There is the possibility that splinter groups like the Band of Bones and Berserkers could split off to go warmongering throughout the land, but one army patrol of Holy Nation or UC could wipe them out. In the long run, the Shek might be the biggest threat of all if left unchecked, but I refuse to wipe an entire race and culture out until I have no other options.
Your "Doing what's right section" is really unique and perceptive. I had to listen to it twice. Very creative.
This is the video that put Kenshi on the map for me. Bought it two weeks ago
I really! Really really like this, i mostly play kenshi amoraly because i find it more interesting that way, but there's something i must ask you Can you make a sequel to the video for innorganic Life? I mean the skeletons hae survived this long, maybe they deserve to become the number one
Honestly, I disagree with pretty much a lot of the points made in the video, but it was well made, and you've put some thought into it, so that's pretty nice. I believe the Holy Nation CAN be left alive, should you wish it. I don't care for the "rising" and "falling" of Empires, them surviving for so long is probably more because of the area where they are, with the most bountiful amount of farmland in the entire continent, rather than the Faith itself, and I'd argue that killing the Holy Phoenix would probably be a good thing, or if you were to kidnap him and put him in a cage somewhere, to let the next Phoenix deal with he consequences of what was a very tight-fisted, very brutal rule. The Shek should be left alive, no matter what, as they're the best of the factions. While they're bloodthirsty and honor-bound, they're great exactly for those reasons. They keep the Holy Nation in check, and the Stone Golem currently is a very good one who doesn't want war and is glad to allow diversity in their cities, and encourage the growth of their tech and intercultural exchange with the United Cities, and they take in Escaped Servants from the HN. They also don't take slaves, which is very, very important. If we were to, say, free all the slaves from the HN, they would fall to famine. Same with the UC, but the Shek are located in mountains where they can get plenty of food by just being there. Even if the Stone Golem were not good, the worst that would happen is a war, and we know how common those are, and how the HN would have to be trounced badly for a famine to happen in the world. I think they would at best win little concessions at a time, they're no strategists. They rush in head-first and win on battle alone, and are facing an emeny msot concerned with keeping skeletons at bay. The Shek can evolve into a multicultural society in a relatively speaking short timespan, the HN cannot. Their Faith is based on excluding others, excluding women, excluding skeletons, excluding Shek. This is... suffice to say, unlikely to change in the future, in a long time, and likely to cause a lot of internal problems as well as external ones. They're not particularly stable because they deal with problems, they're particularly stable because they justify their rule by pointing at one (rightful) outside enemy and many false ones. As for Tinfist, he should be left alive, because you're assuming your squad won't influence him at all. But joining him on his crusade, you can do exactly that. Not that gameplay lets us explore that too much, but it's still a solid possibility. Learning when to stop, when to keep going, what targets to even go after, sabotage, that's all important when considering a fight with a kigndom level entity, for example in Apartheid South Africa Nelson Mandela fought using sabotage rather than terrorism because he believed it would be more effective than outright killing people, and as it turned out, it was. It garners public sympathy for your movement. As for the Flotsam Ninjas, I don't really care about them? They can do their thing. Same with the Mechanics. Same with the Skeletons in the middle of the continent, a lot of them show signs of PTSD, overall apathy toward the world, nihilistic thinking and need psychological care desperately, which they're unlikely to get for the next few thousand years. It's sad, but they'll have to figure out what it means to live in a world where the Human First Empire betrayed them, and the Skeleton Second Empire also did. It'll take time. Maybe someday they'll share their knowledge with the world, same as you. It is vital that you share your findings with the world (Specifically Tech Hunters and Flotsam Ninjas) if you mean to change anything in the long and mid-term run. As for the UC, do whatever, building materials really aren't hard to mkae when you're the HN or the Shek, they only rely on the UC because they have to. But freeing the slaves will cause their immediate collapse anyway, A LOT of money is involved in the buying and maintenance of a slave, security for that slave, and keeping the camps that hold them up, the shelter for them, food, etc. All of those logistics break down once you freee them, and the UC is guaranteed to fall. I get that the making of this video only considers the first year or so after you wake up, and your training of a squad to take over the world to make it better, but over time there are LOADS of good way to go about it that wouldn't impact the world in a negative sense or leave that many moral stains on it, and still generally gudie people toward more helpful and constructive systems in their societies. Still, gotta kill the Skeleton second in command because he's a total piece of shit. Anyway, I only play with Skeletons and Beep in my squad, anytime I play Kenshi, because honestly I don't like keeping track of food, it's annoying. But with several years of fighting, careful planning and the Shek learning how to move on to an agrarian society, I believe we can make it. They're actually akin to the Aztecs, in that they live in mountainous areas and they're incredibly, incredibly warlike, and while their constant wars of aggression and conquest weren't good, they don't have slaves, and they do have potential to get invested in Tech, which is great. In a long enough timespan, these societies could really grow into something special. If you read this, thanks for considering my pitches.
The skeletons deserve to be exterminated. You can see in game they will eventually go into insanity and lack a moral compass, thry are just too dangerous to be alive
The video also calls the swamps a "wretched hive of scum and villainy" but it doesn't mention how (afaik) the vast majority of the rice in kenshi is grown in either the swamps or vain, since they're the only areas with both swamp fertility and actual living farmers. The wiki says vain only has like 20% swamp fertility too.
Awesome video man!! Just started a play through testing the theory of each faction that needs to be destroyed or left alone
This video is criminally under viewed I watched multiple videos on this game so far because I just started playing it and this is so well thought out and explains a lot thank you
That was a very great video about the of kenshi. Though I only want to mention one faction I hate to the core and I always face them with extreme prejudice in this game is the cannibals. Beak things and the cannibals, the menace I always tries to quell in every run, my relationship with them is like the holy nation with skeletons.
There is organic lige that remember cat-lon. The Bug Master have an map to the ashlands, that marks cat-lons location. And He was training to go there. Another big mistory is, hivers and shek seem to be "created" after the Fall. Because when you enter the Skeleton City with hivers oder shek, some Skeleton think that their a New Form of humans. Whats very strange, when some schould reconize than the Skeletons, but they wonder about the Horns (sheek) or the thin legs (hivers) and speculate that they are ne evolved forms of human.
agree on the shek being created(2nd empire caste system enforcers), there has however not been any mention of hive experiments anywhere in-game and they bear no resemblance to the human race other than them bearing 2 arms and 2 legs... not even taking into consideration the fact that they operate more as a hive of insects rather than something resembling mammals... as you mentioned, they do call all biological life human, but they always fall confused at what hivers are being that they seemingly have no issues with the local weather and an innate abillity to entirely ignore acid...
My first though watching this video was that it would be a low effort playthrough but instead I got this amazing view of the game, thank you
Wow that's an incredible quality video froma small channel. Commenting to improve engagement. Thanks for the vid!
How dare you kill armour King, he is just , "saving lives with armoring", jokes aside theory of tinfist helps catlon by injuring UC economy is also great(he still has a catlon base map on his loot)
And what about hives especially the hiver king
I said I didn't know enough about him to make a decision! He's still a great character >_>
@@mehmetayparyangozalumni2606 king isnt really a hiver tho... hes a crimper skeleton that works for the southern queen... and is one of the top 10 hardest things to kill in the game...
In Kenshi, you either Die a Hero, or LIVE to be a villian.
one of the best kenshi videos i've seen
Kenshi really is a remarkable game, and you did a great job of representing that!