The summer before freshman year of high school–filled
with excitement and anticipation of what could be New friendships, new relationships, new experiences,
a whole world of unknown. I remember these feelings well, and I remember
lots of things that happened that summer, one such event that I don’t think I’ll
ever forget. The summer was coming to a close, and band
camp was on the horizon. Yes, I was a band nerd and a proud one at
that, this camp was something I actually looked forward to all summer. Being on the drumline was a goal that I had
been striving for for years at this point. The camp started off normally, we were learning
marching techniques and how to maintain control of our drums when we would do things like
turns or about-faces. We were about three days into camp when something…
abnormal happened. An old, beat up brownish van pulled into the
school parking lot where the camp was being put on. I had seen cars coming in and out during camp
before, so this was nothing out of the ordinary. But this van got closer and closer to where
the drumline was practicing. The van parked and the door opened. A thin guy with shoulder length, shaggy brown
hair stepped out and started to make his way over to us. Some of the older members on the line recognized
him and greeted him with the standard high-five and bro hug, asking him how his summer had
been and all of that. Come to find out, this was a student that
had graduated a few years back, but was still sticking around our hometown and would come
by the school every now and again just to say hi. You can probably think of one of these people
from your own hometown now, someone who either just had old friends still there, or passed
by on their way to work and stopped in, or maybe just… couldn’t let go of the “good old days”
of high school (something I don’t think I will ever relate to, high school was the
worst and thank the Lord it’s over with). For whatever reason, this guy was back on
campus talking to us, and the bright-eyed freshmen we were were astonished to just be
“seen” from an older, cooler kid. Then he pulled us all in close. Like in a tight circle where no one could
see in, and he pulled out an altoid case, the kind guitarists use to keep picks in,
or you know… i guess mints also…come in them. He opened the case and inside were several…interesting
looking cigarettes. He flashed us all a wide smile and said “I’ve
got a good week in store, catch y’all later!” Then he drove off and I never saw this guy
again. Why do I share this story? Isn’t this a video about Kenshi? Well, two reasons. Firstly, Chris Hunt, the creator of Kenshi,
WAS that guy that came up to us in the parking lo–No that’s…that’s not true. But he does have a striking resemblance to
that kid. Speaking of, Chris, if you ever see this…
were you ever on the drumline? Second, this guy that I told you about, the
high-school straggler? He’s like Kenshi. Let me explain. So you own a computer, and not just any computer,
but a computer that can run video games. You’re excited to play games and you like
RPGs, or Role-Playing Games. Games like Skyrim, Cyberpunk, The Witcher,
and maybe even some less popular ones, like Kingdom Come Deliverance or Jade Empire. Or maybe you like the more strategic RPGs
like Rimworld, Divinity, or Battle Brothers (Battle Brothers…wow). You’ve spent hours on these games, or games
like it, and you’re looking for something new to play. So you decide to peruse the Steam Store page,
just to see if anything catches your eye and what’s that? Kenshi? Eh, the images don’t really grab my attention. So, like the high-school straggler, you let
it pass by and try to forget about the whole experience. You think “I’ll never see this game again
and whoever plays it is probably an addict anyway”... But then a few days later, Kenshi is showing
up again. “Okay,” You think, “I’ll click on
the store page.” “A free-roaming squad based RPG. Focusing on an open-ended sandbox gameplay
features rather than a linear story. Be a trader, thief, a rebel, a warlord, an
adventurer, a farmer, a [redacted], or just food for the cannibals. Train your men up from puny victims to master
warriors.” Well that reads really well… but the images
just don’t grab your attention. So, you dismiss it. Keep scrolling, it’s not for you. But little did you know, Kenshi will be back. As you go throughout the week, your mind wanders
back to what you saw, and the summary really was an interesting concept for a game. Just like I can’t forget about that weird
guy walking up to me at band camp, Kenshi has a place in your mind, rent-free. And sure enough, later on you’re scrolling
again, and you see it–Kenshi. This time you notice the reviews–Overwhelmingly
Positive… but it just doesn’t seem like the kind of game you want to play. The graphics are lo-fi, the system looks different
from something you’ve played before… but look at these reviews. Maybe there’s something to this game after
all? Okay I’ll give it a shot. *gasp*... Okay… *Gasp*... Kenshi is amazing To try and boil all that Kenshi is into one
video is just not possible, if you don’t think so, just do a quick YouTube search for
Kenshi. You’ll find hundreds of lore videos, unique
playthroughs, mini documentaries, and so much other content. There is so much to do in Kenshi that it would
take you hundreds if not thousands of hours to fully see everything, and then even still
someone will show you a different way to play, or… MODS. And, yes, it can be a bit overwhelming and
hard to understand when you first start. I mean look at some of these steam reviews: “I don’t get it (yet?) so far, pretty
boring” “..... Eh. I don't get it. I spent a lot of time just trying to get my
character spun up, found myself in a few sequential impossible situations just from doing a bit
of exploring, and found myself just staring at the screen with the game in fast forward
mode hoping for circumstances to change. Abandoned in low simmering frustration. And this one, which is particularly poignant
- “Somewhere in here there’s a game I really want to play but try as I might, I
can’t find it.” There is no hand-holding in Kenshi. But that’s a design choice. In fact, in an interview with Chris Hunt by
Silicon Era, he says: “I’ve never liked the hand-holding that
most of the big RPGs give the player where you’ll start off a hero, strong from the
very beginning, nothing to fear. In Kenshi you start out as a normal runt with
no special powers, no higher stats. You are not special, you are nothing, and
even survival itself is a struggle. You’ll be bullied, harassed, caught up in
the war of another faction… maybe you’ll even get caught up in a bandit raid while
resting in the ‘safety’ of a town.” Kenshi is unforgiving, difficult, and at times
incredibly frustrating. But the truly remarkable things in life are
usually surrounded by a lot of difficult circumstances or situations. I applaud Chris in his efforts to create a
game that starts you out with no help. This leads you to a discovery phase, where
you have to try things out to see what works and what doesn’t. You have to be beaten up, to taste death before
you can become stronger. There’s a Biblical weight to this as well,
the idea of the “Refiner’s Fire”, meaning that the fire refines a person, burning away,
sometimes painfully, the impurities. Just like I know many, if not all of you have
as well, I’ve gone through my share of difficult times and hardships–both superficial and
ones that shook me to my core. There’s a mental fortitude you can develop
as you go through these events, but you can also choose to give up. I’ve known both sides. Where you give up and choose to let life beat
you up again, and again. Or, you choose to let those rough edges spurn
you on to come out the other side with a new perspective, a deeper understanding of the
world, and having learned that you are tougher than you think. Something you thought you would never make
it through, you are now looking at in the rearview mirror–and you’re okay. And now you may be thinking this is all too
heavy for a video game, but I think it’s good to let art speak to us in different ways. And Kenshi, even though some may not agree,
is an artistic work. Just like movies or paintings, video games
are creative works as well, and can convey a multitude of emotions. If you’re here, you’re probably very familiar
with this concept. You likely have a video game in mind right
now that made you cry, or filled you with joy, or maybe rage. If we allow them to, video games can also
speak to us. And I think Kenshi is one of these works that
can speak to us in a variety of ways. Frustration, elation, confusion, wonder–I’ve
experienced a lot while playing this game. And the majority came through the discovery
phase. Finding new things to do that I didn’t know
were possible before. And this discovery phase is incredibly rewarding. The first time you manage to beat up a lone
traveler and take his gear, is almost monumental. The gear you get is a staff slightly better
than yours and maybe some sandals for your feet (unless you’re a hiver or skeleton,
in which case it’s just more stuff to sell). Then you discover that you can steal from
a shop, and that’s an easy way to get money. Or you can mine a copper vein and slowly work
your way up that way. You make these discoveries little by little
and Kenshi begins to show you the many possibilities there are. That doesn’t mean that everything gets easier
as soon as you have this knowledge. Your companions can still die if just one
fight goes wrong. The dog you’ve cared for and tried to nurture,
can, despite your best efforts, still not make it. (Then you’ve just unlocked the John Wick
playthrough and vow to kill all Skimmers). Kenshi is about discovery, adventure, freedom,
retribution, trading, and so much more. It’s an RPG that tries it’s best to be
completely hands-off and let you be who you want to be, and do what you want to do. Of course there may be consequences, but you
can still try. And that’s why I measure it up to the RPG
giants like the Bethesda games, or CD Projekt Red’s games. I Can already hear some of you saying, how
can you measure Kenshi to the likes of Cyberpunk, Fallout, Skyrim, The Witcher, Etc., and call
it a masterpiece? Look at the graphics alone, there’s no skill
tree, and what. About. PERKS? Listen–I Hear you, and in some ways, I agree. Some of the things I love about these and
other RPGs is the progression systems. I love in Fallout when I get to that next
level-marker that allows me to choose a new perk. It changes the game and makes you think critically
about the decision, because it will greatly affect the rest of your gameplay. Well, most of them (Looking at you, lead-belly). This makes you think about builds, or, different
ways to play the game. It also leans in to the replayability of the
game. “Well yes, I’ve done the rifleman playthrough,
but now I need to do the beat-thugs-senseless with a lead pipe playthrough!” There are tons of combinations and so many
different ways to play. This is the same for Skyrim and for Cyberpunk,
and, even though I think I know how we all feel about it… Starfield as well. There is a reason that game developers have
tried various ways of re-making the same system again and again - it’s… fun? Why do I question that? Well… It is fun to make your stealth-archer. But then what happens when you want to switch
over to two-handed? The enemies have scaled with you and your
two-handed swings don’t do near enough damage to be sufficient. Or, You’ve hit level 30 in Fallout and now
you’ve decided you’d like to change a perk… But you can’t. You’ve locked yourself into a certain playstyle
and when you want to change it up, in many games your options are limited. You may even need to start an entirely new
playthrough to get the skills and perks you need. Now, I’ve already said that I love these
games, and I genuinely enjoy playing through them, sometimes multiple times, but there
is truth to the point that they can be limiting to the ways you can play and develop your
character. If I’m playing Skyrim, it’s not realistic
for me to be excellent at stealth, archery, two-handed weapons, speech, and Heavy armor. I say realistically, because while you could
technically grind out the skills for these, as said by this guy, it takes approximately
149 hours of play to get to level 60 Now, of course, you could Cheese those levels,
but then the world (which must entirely revolve around your character) starts to take steroids
because they see your little level number go up. Sneak level 100 doesn’t mean much when your
bow skill is 1 and a spider hits as hard as a giant. I think you can see what I’m getting at
with all of this, but to put it in a sentence: modern RPGs box you in with skill or perk
choices. It’s just a fact that if I’m playing Starfield
and I don’t choose to level my speech skill, I will not be able to access certain dialogue
options. And sometimes, it can take an hour or more
to level up the skill just to come back and use that dialogue option. Kenshi does not have this same limitation
on the player. While it’s true that there may be some features
missing in Kenshi versus these other RPGs, I feel like I truly can be anything in Kenshi,
and if I want to change character archetypes, I can do that too. Of course I have to level that skill up, but
I don’t have any perks that lower my stealth in favor of armor, or make it to where I’m
only effective at ranged combat. Instead, I just trade my gear for the new
gear that I want, and head to an area where I can effectively train up that skill. One of the most beautiful things about Kenshi
is right in the summary of the game, “Be a trader, thief, a rebel, a warlord, an adventurer,
a farmer…” There are so many options to be what you want
to be in Kenshi, and if you want to change your goal, nothing is holding you back from
doing it. You can go in to the game with an end goal
in mind of creating a great trading caravan that rivals the Western Hive’s, and when
you eventually realize you don’t have the reach or capacity of the Western Hive, you
can end up just raiding every caravan you see and become a rogue lord. Then when that becomes boring, you can train
up your swordsman skills and start to adventure, delving into the lost ruins that are scattered
around the world of Kenshi. Looking for ancient books of forgotten technology
alongside the enigmatic tech hunters. Or become a bounty hunter, chasing down both
bandits and political enemies for cats. (Cats the Kenshi currency, not the mammal). See, Kenshi doesn’t force you to choose
one path and stick to it, it allows you to freely move from playstyle to playstyle. And this isn’t even taking into account
the city-building aspect of Kenshi. I’ve played a lot of Kenshi, and I still
haven’t done everything there is to do in the game. I have yet to get a character so overpowered
that they can solo the bosses in the game. I’ve never built a successful city, never
tried being a trader, never tried siding with the Anti-slavers and freeing the captives
in the United Cities, and I could go on. There is so much to do in Kenshi, and if you’re
like me when I first saw the game, you would never get to experience the beautiful thing
it is if you just take it at face-value. I could say the same about sushi. So many people that I know, my wife included,
knew that sushi was raw fish and that was that. Never would they try it because that just
seemed too disgusting, not refined enough, why wouldn’t you cook it? Then they try it and *WOW* a new world of
food opened up because they were willing to make that first step. My wife now Craves sushi, something she never
thought would happen. So maybe Kenshi is your sushi, you look at
the graphics or the somewhat clunky looking systems, and think to yourself, “it’s
just not refined enough for my tastes.” And you know, that’s a valid opinion for
you to have, but if I can challenge you just like I challenged my wife to eat that first
sushi roll, you may not know what you're missing out on… When Chris Hunt set out to make Kenshi, he
spent a long time working on it. And when I mean a long time, I mean 6 years
solo, and another 6 years with a small team he would create and name Lo-Fi games. Those first 6 years can’t have been easy
for Chris, he worked another job while trying to get his passion project off the ground. Never knowing if it would even sell, he just
wanted to make what he wanted to make. But because of the love that Chris poured
into Kenshi, it became what it is today. And it’s not hard to see the success that
it’s had. The website “Steam-revenue-Calculator.com”
reports that Kenshi made over $109 million in gross revenue, with an estimated net revenue
of over $32 million. Other websites estimate as much as $37 million. I don’t think that anyone would debate that
this is a success by any standard. For all of the hard work and sacrifice he
made, Chris earned his victory. 12 years of development, and I know that there
must have been moments of despair, thoughts of “is this even worth it? Will anyone like the game?” And…it just makes me really happy to know
that now Chris sees the fruit of his labor, and there is a thriving and active community
that loves his creation. Sure, not everyone loves Kenshi, and it’s
something that may not be for everyone, but that’s okay. Kenshi is not the game that holds your hand
or gives you a waypoint to your next objective. I’ve already talked about some of the RPGs
that I love, and there are absolutely times after a long day, or a long week, when I just
don't have the mental capacity to “create my own story” like you have to do in Kenshi. Sometimes I just need to boot up Skyrim and
do some side quests that spell out exactly what I need to do. And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with
that. But I hope to challenge you with this video,
and give you a different perspective if you haven’t yet tried Kenshi. If it’s not your thing, that’s alright. I have a very strange and specific disdain
for the soft drink Big Red, but obviously a lot of people like it or it wouldn’t be
around. I could debate you all day on why the flavor
profiles of Big Red go against nature itself, but then you could just say “Well, I like
it.” And that may just be the best response to
anyone who says you shouldn’t like what you like. So, there you are. Kenshi: I like it. Thank you so much for watching, it really
does mean so much to me. If you like this sort of thing, I would really
appreciate it if you would leave a like and subscribe to the channel. I would like to do more videos like this,
and if that’s something you’re into, I’d love to know. I hope you have a wonderful day, week, and
year. Be kind to others, and live differently.
