| 1 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fully_ramblomatic_3.png]] |
| 2 | [[caption-width-right:350:''Yahtzee Croshaw's thing that is a review show, named after [[http://fullyramblomatic-yahtzee.blogspot.com/ Yahtzee Croshaw's thing that is a website]].'']] |
| 3 | |
| 4 | ->''"But, you know, talking about prostate cancer makes me think about how ephemeral life is, and how transitory the things we take for granted can be. Look at me. Two weeks ago I was making a series called Zero Punctuation for a site called The Escapist, and that's all changed now. We've moved on to Second Wind, where we can be 100% creator-owned and independently funded. There's all kinds of cuntery we can get away with now."'' |
| 5 | -->-- '''Yahtzee''' [[https://youtu.be/iyGhI_JVOZI?&t=322 discusses his move to Second Wind]] |
| 6 | |
| 7 | After 16 years of ''WebAnimation/ZeroPunctuation'' at ''Website/TheEscapist'', [[Creator/BenCroshaw Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw]] left the site out of solidarity along with most of the rest of the staff when editor-in-chief Nick Calandra was fired, marking the end of the series. However, Yahtzee soon confirmed that this was not the end of his reviewing career, as he would continue his work on Creator/SecondWind, a new gaming channel founded by the former Escapist staff, with a CreatorDrivenSuccessor called ''Fully Ramblomatic'',[[note]]which just so happens to be the the original, pre-Escapist name for the series and the name of his original website,[[/note]] continuing to bring viewers the insightful, snarky, and curse-filled style they have enjoyed for years. Also like ''Zero Punctuation'', it has a companion series called ''Semi-Ramblomatic'', in which Yahtzee discusses game-associated concepts like he did in ''Extra Punctuation''. |
| 8 | |
| 9 | The series premiered on November 15th, 2023, with ''VideoGame/AlanWakeII'' being the first game reviewed. |
| 10 | |
| 11 | You can find the playlist of every ''Fully Ramblomatic'' episode on Platform/YouTube at [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6aFpHHxJXJ0&list=PLUBKwq0XD0ueR3CXGUhGpsD1puLcYJPUp&pp=iAQB this link,]] and ''Semi Ramblomatic''[='s=] playlist is found [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAfe_u9ADAU&list=PLUBKwq0XD0uejtHnqX-LK14lEMAwWQk7s&pp=iAQB here.]] |
| 12 | |
| 13 | !!Games covered on the show (in upload order): |
| 14 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 15 | |
| 16 | [[folder: 2023]] |
| 17 | * ''VideoGame/AlanWakeII'' (November 15, 2023) |
| 18 | * ''VideoGame/RoboCopRogueCity'' (November 29, 2023) |
| 19 | * ''VideoGame/TheTalosPrinciple2'' (December 6, 2023) |
| 20 | * ''VideoGame/Persona5Tactica'' & ''VideoGame/AmericanArcadia'' (December 13, 2023) |
| 21 | * ''VideoGame/AvatarFrontiersOfPandora'' (December 20, 2023) |
| 22 | * ''The Best, Worst, and Blandest of 2023'' (January 3, 2024) |
| 23 | ** Best of 2023: |
| 24 | *** 5) ''VideoGame/{{Dredge}}'' |
| 25 | *** 4) ''VideoGame/AmnesiaTheBunker'' |
| 26 | *** 3) ''VideoGame/ShadowsOfDoubt'' |
| 27 | *** 2) ''VideoGame/TheTalosPrinciple2'' |
| 28 | *** 1) ''VideoGame/HiFiRush'' |
| 29 | ** Blandest of 2023: |
| 30 | *** 5) ''VideoGame/StarWarsJediSurvivor'' |
| 31 | *** 4) ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXVI'' |
| 32 | *** 3) ''VideoGame/HogwartsLegacy'' |
| 33 | *** 2) ''VideoGame/AvatarFrontiersOfPandora'' |
| 34 | *** 1) ''VideoGame/{{Starfield}}'' |
| 35 | ** Worst of 2023: |
| 36 | *** 5) ''VideoGame/{{Redfall}}'' |
| 37 | *** 4) ''VideoGame/MortalKombat1'' |
| 38 | *** 3) ''VideoGame/HellboyWebOfWyrd'' |
| 39 | *** 2) ''VideoGame/{{Forspoken}}'' |
| 40 | *** 1) ''VideoGame/TheLordOfTheRingsGollum'' |
| 41 | * ''The Games of 2023 I Didn't Review'' (January 10, 2024) |
| 42 | ** ''VideoGame/PizzaTower'' |
| 43 | ** ''VideoGame/{{Cocoon|2023}}'' |
| 44 | ** ''VideoGame/{{SANABI}}'' |
| 45 | ** ''VideoGame/{{Jusant}}'' |
| 46 | ** ''VideoGame/ImmortalsOfAveum'' |
| 47 | ** ''VideoGame/{{Humanity}}'' |
| 48 | ** ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyModernWarfareIII'' |
| 49 | [[/folder]] |
| 50 | [[folder:2024]] |
| 51 | * ''VideoGame/BeyondGoodAndEvil'' (January 17, 2024) |
| 52 | * ''VideoGame/PrinceOfPersiaTheLostCrown'' (January 24, 2024) |
| 53 | * ''VideoGame/LikeADragonInfiniteWealth'' (January 31, 2024) |
| 54 | * ''VideoGame/{{Graven}}'' (February 7th, 2024) |
| 55 | * ''VideoGame/Persona3Reload'' (February 14th, 2024) |
| 56 | * ''VideoGame/SuicideSquadKillTheJusticeLeague'' (February 21st, 2024) |
| 57 | * ''VideoGame/BanishersGhostsOfNewEden'' (February 28th, 2024) |
| 58 | * ''VideoGame/SkullAndBones'' (March 6th, 2024) |
| 59 | * ''VideoGame/PacificDrive'' (March 13th, 2024) |
| 60 | * ''VideoGame/AloneInTheDark2024'' (April 3rd, 2024) |
| 61 | * ''VideoGame/DragonsDogmaII'' (April 10th, 2024) |
| 62 | * ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIIRebirth'' (April 17th, 2024) |
| 63 | * ''VideoGame/SouthParkSnowDay'' (April 24th, 2024) |
| 64 | * ''VideoGame/YellowTaxiGoesVroom'' & ''VideoGame/PhantomFury'' (May 1st, 2024) |
| 65 | * ''VideoGame/HelldiversII'' (May 8th, 2024) |
| 66 | * ''VideoGame/StellarBlade'' (May 15th, 2024) |
| 67 | * ''VideoGame/AnotherCrabsTreasure'' (May 22nd, 2024) |
| 68 | [[/folder]] |
| 69 | ---- |
| 70 | !!''Fully Ramblomatic'' provides and discusses examples of the following tropes: |
| 71 | |
| 72 | * AbstractScale: |
| 73 | ** His review of ''Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown'' has him invent the STDJ scale to rank the quality of {{Metroidvania}}s, short for "start to {{double jump}}". The double jump is singled out because he sees it as the point where the developers gave up on inventing new ideas. |
| 74 | ** In "The Importance of a Good Monster Introduction", Yahtzee brings up the "Start to Crate" metric coined by ''Website/OldManMurray'' to describe how long it takes for a game to introduce [[CrateExpectations crates, which appear to be omnipresent in every game]]. Yahtzee uses this as a launch point to discuss the similarly omnipresent aspect of how games introduce the first enemy monster and how it sets the tone of the combat, and in turn [[EstablishingSeriesMoment setting the precedent for the rest of the gameplay]]. |
| 75 | * AccentuateTheNegative: While Yahtzee is famous for being an unabashed CausticCritic, and usually picks the game he reviews based on how much he's able to riff on them, this show surprisingly [[DownplayedTrope downplays]] this aspect, similar to the later years of ''Zero Punctuation''. He's still an acerbic critic who calls out important flaws in games as he sees them for both critical and comedic value, but he's become more open to addressing things he enjoys without [[BackhandedCompliment attaching a lateral swipe]], with his complaints themselves tending to be less comedically nitpicky in nature. |
| 76 | * AdaptationSpeciesChange: The ''Final Fantasy VII Rebirth'' review depicts Cloud Strife (a human in his source game) as a cockatiel {{Bird Pe|ople}}rson. The species change seems to be that Cloud Strife has one of the most infamous cases of AnimeHair in gaming, which is getting compared to a cockatiel's spiky head feathers. |
| 77 | * AntiClimax: |
| 78 | ** {{Discussed|Trope}} in the ''Semi-Ramblomatic'' video "The Difficulty Paradox", highlighting a conundrum of certain games (especially those with RPGElements) having to balance between rewarding players with a sense of progression and presenting ever-increasing challenges in the form of a difficulty curve. Yahtzee posits that while the two do cancel each other out in theory ([[UnstoppableForceMeetsImmovableObject making a game easier vs. making a game harder]]), it ''is'' possible to reach an equilibrium by way of a game rewarding players with new options and forms of expression vs. new challenges that force them to think their way around new scenarios. Yahtzee finds that many modern AAA games have an issue with both, where challenges neither adequately ramp up and options/"innovations" are really just ways to ''skip'' the gameplay loop entirely (citing with ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedMirage'' and its [[GameBreaker game-breaking]][[invoked]] ability to automatically stab four enemies at once with impunity as an example), leaving games feeling bland and unrewarding by the end. Yahtzee semi-jokingly blames this kind of direction as being the result of higher-ups who think players get enjoyment from simply wanting to reach the end of the game faster instead of actually ''playing'' it. |
| 79 | ** Also discussed in the video "The Importance of an Ending", with Yahtzee lamenting how many modern AAA games tend to lack satisfactory endings, whether because the fundamental design of certain games leave it impossible for them to decisively "end" (such as WideOpenSandbox and live-service games), or because they're so big and unnecessarily drawn-out that [[EndingFatigue by the time they do end, you've become too exhausted and unengaged to care]][[invoked]]. |
| 80 | ** Yahtzee came down hard on ''VideoGame/SuicideSquadKillTheJusticeLeague'' for plenty of reasons, one of which being its incredibly abrupt ending where you're given the end goal of killing [[BigBad Brainiac]] ''and'' his multiple clones to ensure that he's KilledOffForReal... except when the game launched, such an end state did not exist. Instead, killing Brainiac the first time, the game stops without resolution and invites you to come back for the next season when new live-service content is added -- which, given the terrible and unsatisfying gameplay in general, Yahtzee finds as just the game practically asking for you to drop it. |
| 81 | * AppealToObscurity: The review of ''Phantom Fury'' has a weirdly layered example: Yahtzee's opinion of the game is pretty unfavorable, and he describes it as trying to be like ''VideoGame/HalfLife1'' but in practice ending up more like a forgettable shooter released around the same era as ''Half-Life'' such as ''VideoGame/SoldierOfFortune'' or ''VideoGame/{{SiN|1998}}''. [[LampshadedTheObscureReference He's aware that those comparisons might be obscure to viewers]], and further mentions that ''Phantom Fury'' actually features [[TheCameo a cameo appearance]] by the main character from ''[=SiN=]'', which Yahtzee finds will only confuse all but the dozen or so people who remember the game. |
| 82 | * ArtEvolution: |
| 83 | ** In contrast to the simple white-hatted avatar from ''Zero Punctuation'', Yahtzee's avatar here ends up getting a more detailed hat, glasses, and a slightly unbuttoned shirt. Characters in general also have circles around their usual [[BlackBeadEyes dot eyes]] with a bridge between them, making it look like they're all wearing glasses. |
| 84 | ** Backgrounds from ''Zero Punctuation'' tended to be primarily just plain yellow or blue, whereas here, not only do the backgrounds come in red, green, and others, they also feature various background textures with technological motifs like gears, pipes, and circuitry. |
| 85 | * TheArtifact: |
| 86 | ** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oynuVwE9EJM As Yahtzee has discussed on his previous game review show,]] he doesn't wear a fedora anymore, even though his AuthorAvatar does. With the rebrand into ''Fully Ramblomatic'', a perfect opportunity to shift his avatar's appearance came and the fedora was removed... to be replaced with a slightly-more-detailed black fedora. |
| 87 | ** {{Discussed|Trope}} in his review of ''VideoGame/Persona3Reload'' -- a remake of ''VideoGame/Persona3'' that inserts several design aspects from ''VideoGame/Persona5'' -- where Yahtz finds that there are some anachronisms going both ways: ''Persona 3'' has a generally more darker and morbid tone that ends up at odds with the flashy spectacle informed by ''Persona 5's'' aesthetic, while adopting ''Persona 5's'' flashier combat style and streamlined gameplay ends up making the game more manageable and far easier come the endgame. |
| 88 | * [[invoked]]AssPull: In his review of ''SANABI'' he mentions that late-story twists predicate themselves on the narrator's memory being false, a plot thread that he resents, since it means that any established rule of the setting could be overridden with the reason of "that memory was false", suggesting that the whole game is the hallucinating mind of a seagull. |
| 89 | * AwardCategoryFraud[[invoked]]: In his ''Semi-Ramblomatic'' on "How to Predict The Game Awards", among the more prominent elements of The Game Awards that annoys Yahtzee is how it splits award categories, finding awards being based on genre to be arbitrary at best (trying to define the difference between "Best Action" and "Best Action-Adventure" leaving him stumped), downright regressive at worst (as it goes counter to boundary-pushing games that are strong because [[GenreBusting they subvert or blend genres]]). He's also quite miffed by how it treats categories for indie games, [[ConsolationAward relegating them to a ghetto to be viewed as inferior to "the big kids" of triple-A gaming]], as well as not respecting the spirit of its own "Best ''Debut'' Indie Game", passing it to [[VideoGame/Cocoon2023 a game directed by a creator with over a decade of acclaimed indie prestige]] rather than [[VideoGame/PizzaTower one by an actual nascent group of up-and-comers]]. Yahtzee claims that if he were given control of how to fix The Game Awards, he would replace "Best Debut Indie Game" with a "Best Newcomer" award specifically for creators, and revamp genre awards to be instead based on what primary emotional experience they sought to induce in the player, e.g. "Best Game that Made Me Feel Powerful", "Best Game That Made Me Feel Clever", "Best Game That Made Me Scared", "Best Game That Made Me Cry", etc. |
| 90 | * AwesomeButImpractical: In his review of ''VideoGame/PrinceOfPersiaTheLostCrown'', Yahtzee notes that the game's combat system allows for some insane acrobatic combos... which Yahtzee knows because he saw it on a [=TikTok=], not because he wanted to or ''needed'' to do it, [[BoringButPractical as simple, well-timed button-mashing is just as effective]]. Yahtzee finds this emblematic of an issue with the game's overall design philosophy: perfectly decent and enjoyable on a base level, but bloated with excess elements it doesn't need just for the sake of seeming "big". |
| 91 | * AwesomenessWithdrawal[[invoked]]: In his retro review of ''VideoGame/BeyondGoodAndEvil'', Yahtzee determines the hype surrounding [[VideoGame/BeyondGoodAndEvil2 the game's long-awaited sequel]] to be based from this dynamic. While he overall views the game positively, he notes based on its conspicuous gaps in [[PlotHole story]] and [[UnderusedGameMechanic gameplay]] that it was likely subject to a lot of corner-cutting, and that we were only seeing a mere ''glimpse'' of potential for what was already an admirable mix of ambitious gameplay, unique setting, great music, and lovable characters. Yahtzee does feel that the expectations for the [[DevelopmentHell long-struggling]] sequel can only get more astronomical and risky the more nostalgia-blind audiences get and we should probably move on, but sympathizes with the excitement that sprouts up with every vague new announcement due to it being obvious why people simply want ''more''. |
| 92 | * AuthorAppeal: |
| 93 | ** Yahtzee's personal enjoyment of {{Grappling Hook Pistol}}s in video games shows up again in his review of ''SANABI'', where his enjoyment of that mechanic excuses the tropey "hairy dad story" in the game. |
| 94 | ** "Post-punk" is a stylistic descriptor he almost exclusively refers to with fondness, describing games (and media in general) that observe deconstructive approaches to genre and medium and build off of them to launch said mediums into new, [[GenreBusting often hard to categorize]], but inventive directions. He frequently celebrates Creator/Suda51 as his favorite of Japanese post-punk game developers, with ''VideoGame/Killer7'' being his opus. |
| 95 | * BaitAndSwitch: In his ''Semi-Ramblomatic'' on "The Rules of a Good Plot Twist", Yahtzee briefly discusses {{Jump Scare}}s and how they can go wrong by making players overly anxious, which is why he never got into ''Franchise/FiveNightsAtFreddys''. He suspects that it might personally be because of lingering trauma dating back to childhood -- ''not'' regarding [[WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes his fear of theme park mascots]] as previously documented in ''Zero Punctuation'', but an incident regarding "a beloved helium balloon and an unexpected stucco ceiling." |
| 96 | * BaitAndSwitchComment: In his review of ''Alone in the Dark'', Yahtz (rhetorically, pretending to be the game in question) asks himself if he likes jigsaw puzzles with a maximum of 9 pieces. Yahtz says he does... because they keep his four-year-old occupied while he does tasks that require actual brainpower, like crosswords and rewiring electronics. |
| 97 | * BestKnownForTheFanservice[[invoked]]: {{Discussed|Trope}} regarding ''VideoGame/StellarBlade'', where whenever a protagonist in a modern video game happens to be a highly sexualized MsFanservice, the central conversations are boiled down to mudslinging over whether it's objectifying and wrong vs. people yelling at people calling it objectification that accomplishes nothing and kills the fun. Yahtz admits to not minding the protagonist's sexiness, but he ''does'' mind that the actual game is boring and derivative, where the only major creative effort was placed into [[VirtualPaperDoll the ridiculous amounts of customization options]]. |
| 98 | * BitingTheHandHumor: |
| 99 | ** Yahtzee ended his first video saying that he can now do anything he wants, while smoking a severed arm. This was originally supposed to be a bong, but he was told that Youtube would react badly to it and had to change it, and so settled for a LiteralMetaphor irony. |
| 100 | ** Second Wind editor-in-chief Nick Calandra -- ie., the guy who is in charge of Yahtzee -- tends to be a ButtMonkey whenever he shows up in the videos. While discussing ''Dragon's Dogma 2'' he deletes Nick's singular save file, he mentions [[TeamKiller shooting Nick in the face]] whenever he wants in ''Helldivers 2'', and cracks a joke in the ''Final Fantasy VII Rebirth'' review that he once tried to get a whole vat of ice cream filed as a business expense under Second Wind. |
| 101 | * BreadEggsMilkSquick: In Yahtz' review of ''Pacific Drive'', he lists off the reasons why he likes driving: he gets to control a big machine that obeys his every command, he gets to drive fast, the kids are literally strapped down and unable to complain... and he gets to drive into the ocean. Later in the review, he also lists off three of the game's elements that pertain to the core pillars of a dad game: driving around, engine maintenance, grocery shopping... and nuclear disasters. |
| 102 | * BrickJoke: |
| 103 | ** About halfway through the ''VideoGame/LikeADragonInfiniteWealth'' review, Yahtzee jokes about getting teased more badly than trying to use a glory hole at the retirement home. At the very end of the review, Yahtzee also jokes that the latest game evokes the same feeling as watching an elder family member wander around and get distracted -- with the aforementioned glory hole being one of those distractions. |
| 104 | ** At the start of the ''Helldivers 2'' review, Yahtzee acknowledges the then-recent plan to force players to have a Playstation account in order to play this game, promising an addendum addressing it at the end. At the end of the review, he simply tacks on: |
| 105 | --->[[SuddenlyShouting "SHAME THEY FUCKED IT UP!"]] |
| 106 | * BringMyBrownPants: |
| 107 | ** When Yahtzee discusses jumpscares in "The Rules of a Good Plot Twist", his avatar gets jumpscared by a monster jumping out of his television. He proceeds to pull out a box of adult diapers while saying "good thing I brought these", strongly implying he shat himself out of fright. |
| 108 | ** He considers ''Amnesia: The Bunker'' to be his top 4 best game of 2023 because it "actually scared the piss out of my jaded arse." Complete with an image of Yahtzee pissing out of his ass while playing the game. |
| 109 | --->[[MixedMetaphor Please don't ask what piss was doing in my arse.]] |
| 110 | * BritishStuffiness: {{Discussed}} in "An Explanation of "Post-Punk" Games". Yahtzee, being British, recognizes that the British have a tendency to be quite uptight and authoritarian -- which has resulted in a significant British counterculture that despises conventions and norms. It's what produced the significant British UsefulNotes/{{Punk}} music scene, the alternative comedy movement in the 80's, and the British bedroom game programmer boom. |
| 111 | * CallBack: During his summary in "How to Predict The Game Awards" on suggestions for how to ''fix'' the Game Awards, Yahtzee lists the potential for award categories not based on genre, but of certain emotional experiences, with a game for each, such as ''VideoGame/Doom2016'' for "Best Game That Made Me Feel Powerful" and ''VideoGame/TheMortuaryAssistant'' for "Best Game That Made Me Feel Scared". For "Best Game That Made Me Cry", Yahtzee lists ''VideoGame/{{Spiritfarer}}'' -- a game that he confessed back in ''Zero Punctuation'' had genuinely brought him to tears -- and briefly digresses to exclaim "Oh God, I just want to know you're in a happier place now, Alice the Hedgehog!" |
| 112 | * CanineCompanion: Yahtzee's avatar is joined by an avatar of his dog Toffee, as a replacement for the imps. |
| 113 | * CaptainObviousReveal: [[invoked]]{{Discussed|Trope}} in "The Rules of a Good Plot Twist" -- while one of Yahtzee's rules is that a plot twist shouldn't be too obvious, he also argues that there's nothing fundamentally wrong with a twist being "obvious" if the audience puts the legwork in to decipher the narrative puzzle before the game itself does. He chastises game developers ([[TakeThat most prominently David Cage]]) who attempt to screw the audience out of an honest narrative by [[AssPull giving them an impossible-to-predict twist]] just for the sake of feeling like they're "outsmarting" them, and encourages writers to allow the audience to guess as speculation is half of the fun, and that they're entitled to their moment of glory [[IKnewIt when they realize they're right]]. |
| 114 | * CerebusSyndrome: {{Discussed|Trope}} as something attempted by ''Phantom Fury'', which features more serious storytelling than its predecessor ''VideoGame/IonFury''. Yahtzee highlights that ''Ion Fury'' established its protagonist to be a wise-cracking VideoGame/DukeNukem {{expy}}, so trying to add in pathos -- namely [[DarkAndTroubledPast a tragic backstory of her losing her unit, spouse, and arm before becoming a tool of the military industrial complex]] -- [[MoodDissonance is jarring and atonal]], with the fact she continues cracking wise making her come off as less "quirky" and more like "[[AxCrazy a severely damaged person showing a therapist on the doll where she shot her dad]]." |
| 115 | -->'''Yahtzee:''' The plot moves from cackling mad scientists to corruption within Shelly's organization, which means she spends the whole game gunning down fellow soldiers in a way that [[DeadpanSnarker will no doubt come back to haunt her if she ever plans to run for office.]]\ |
| 116 | '''MadScientist:''' [[GigglingVillain Wee hee hee hee]]\ |
| 117 | '''Soldier at a desk:''' [[MoodWhiplash The focus group responded very positively to the "wee hee hee" concept.]] |
| 118 | * ClicheStorm[[invoked]]: Yahtzee comes down hard on ''VideoGame/StellarBlade'' for being extremely generic, sampling "Standard Anime Sci-Fi Template Plot #3" of "AfterTheEnd war between humanity's remnants vs. monsters of mysterious origin that in some way tie back to [[TomatoSurprise it being humanity's own fault]], featuring [[SchizoTech astonishingly advanced technology]] that, [[{{Fanservice}} for unclear reasons]], is exclusively wielded by questionably of-age people in disquietingly sexy outfits." Combined with the general lack of imagination, Yahtzee claims to have been able to predict every PlotTwist. |
| 119 | -->'''Yahtzee:''' Oh, and incidentally, yeah, [the protagonist's] name is "Eve"; she's the last survivor of her people stuck on ravaged post-apocalyptic Earth, and she's called [[MeaningfulName "Eve"]]. If you think ''Stellar Blade'' isn't going to bring in [[AdamAndOrEve themes of rebirthing humanity, possibly with the aid of a male character named "Adam"]], then you're clearly giving ''Stellar Blade'' way too much fucking credit. |
| 120 | * ClusterFBomb: This ''is'' Yahtzee, after all, once again freed from the constraints of [=YouTube's=] demonetisation tyranny that forced ''Zero Punctuation'' to begin censoring all the swearing near the end of its run. |
| 121 | * ColonCancer: Just like in ''Zero Punctuation'', Yahtzee dry-heaves [[RunningGag whenever reading the title of a game with an unnecessary colon]], especially for the first entry of a yet-to-be-established series like ''VideoGame/BanishersGhostsOfNewEden''. |
| 122 | * ColorCodedForYourConvenience: The color of the background changes from the default red depending on which aspect of the game Yahtzee is currently discussing, with beige for plot/setting, blue for gameplay, etc. |
| 123 | * ColorMotif: The subject of "The Language of Color in Games", with Yahtzee observing how gaming culture formed an unspoken, yet understood agreement of what certain colors mean for certain gameplay elements, ranging from red meaning "health", blue meaning "magic" or "shields", [[RealIsBrown brown meaning "realism"]], to magenta meaning "mainstream interpretation of 'punk' aesthetics". |
| 124 | * ContentWarnings: {{Discussed|Trope}} in his ''VideoGame/YellowTaxiGoesVroom'' mini-review, where he gives the game a solid endorsement but warns against playing it if you suffer from epilepsy due to [[EpilepticFlashingLights the sheer amount of color and energy it contains]]. |
| 125 | -->'''Yahtzee:''' I know standard epilepsy warnings have kinda fallen into the background of our perceptions like "no smoking" signs and [[BreadEggsMilkSquick ongoing societal collapse]], [[SincerityMode but maybe take this one seriously, yeah]]? Maybe skip this game if you ''are'' sensitive to flashing colours in the way that those sensitive to internal hemorrhaging should skip getting buggered by a horse. |
| 126 | * ContinuityLockout[[invoked]]: Discussed in his ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIIRebirth'' review as one of the reasons he isn't keen on it or its predecessor, ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIIRemake''. As a non-fan of [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII the original]], Yahtzee describes the feeling of playing these remakes like "being a new boyfriend in a well-established friend group," where the games seemed to intrinsically assume he will enjoy being around "familiar" elements rather than finding them alienating and annoying, finding Yuffie (a character who the game had hyped up with many false intros before officially joining the party) to be just ''another'' ManicPixieDreamGirl alongside the other girls in the party. |
| 127 | * CreditsGag: Like in ''Zero Punctuation'', there are small slideshow gags related to the game at hand as the Patreon credits roll. In the one from the ''Yellow Taxi Goes Vroom'' review for example, Toffee tries to pee on the titular taxi. The taxi's roof opens up to reveal a [[HandCannon comically sized revolver]] aimed right at him. |
| 128 | * DamnedByFaintPraise: His review of ''VideoGame/HelldiversII'' has him point out that a game being touted as "fun with friends" isn't the praise it seems, as that reflects more on the quality of one's friend circle than the quality of the game itself. After all, many terrible things can be enjoyed with friends, [[BreadEggsMilkSquick from watching a bad B-movie to pissing on a dead cat.]] |
| 129 | * DatedHistory: The review of ''VideoGame/HelldiversII'' managed to have this ''twice over'' in the narrow time period between it was recorded and published. The review opens with Yahtzee acknowledging at the last minute the controversy the game was embroiled in regarding Creator/{{Sony}}'s [[ScrewedByTheNetwork treatment of the game]][[invoked]][[note]](It had been announced that the game would henceforth require a [=PlayStation=] Network account, which was met with widespread backlash due to how PSN isn't even available to a massive swathe of the world and the game's playerbase, which would effectively [[NoExportForYou nuke the game's availability]] even to those who already paid for the game)[[/note]], and that while most of the review was already completed, this controversy would be discussed at the very end as an addendum... which simply consists of Yahtzee clumsily attaching to an otherwise positive review "Shame they ''[[AtomicFBomb fucked it up!]]''" However, an additional, even-more-last-minute addendum plays during the credits, where Yahtzee discusses how Sony [[AuthorsSavingThrow had since backed off from their plans]], thus rendering the earlier addendum moot -- the only reason he decided to keep it in at all is because [[RuleOfFunny it's funny]]. |
| 130 | * [[invoked]]DelusionConclusion: Yahtz sarcastically suggests that all of ''SANABI'' is a false memory, occurring in the DyingDream of a seagull. |
| 131 | * DoubleEntendre: {{Inverted}} in the ''Dragon's Dogma'' review. Yahtzee mentions at one point that the "climb on monsters" mechanic led to him smothering his face into a minotaur's pubic hair; from that point onwards, the mildly sexual phrase "pubic hair" becomes shorthand for the more innocent "fighting monsters". |
| 132 | * DumpMonths: Yahtzee addresses mid-December as being this for video games, "too late to receive any game awards or to go on anyone's Christmas lists," noting that if a big game studio releases a title during that window of time (examples including ''VideoGame/TheCallistoProtocol'' and ''VideoGame/AvatarFrontiersOfPandora''), chances are that they have little to no faith in it. |
| 133 | * EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: {{Discussed|Trope}} in his review of ''VideoGame/Persona3Reload'' -- having gotten hooked onto the series from ''VideoGame/Persona5'', Yahtzee notices a lot of odd issues with tone and underdeveloped identity from (the remake of) its predecessor, though he ultimately enjoys the ''Persona'' gameplay enough to excuse most of its flaws. In fact, Yahtzee admits that part of him likes that it's a bit all-over-the-place, and feels that ''Persona 3'' being [[VideoGameRemake remade]] in the way it was is in some ways a disservice as it buries those idiosyncrasies to history. |
| 134 | -->'''Yahtzee:''' There's a unique value to watching the process by which a concept finds its groove. It's like the beauty of seeing a tree grow from a seed, or a blooming flower of girlhood expand to fill out her training bra, [[SidetrackedByTheAnalogy or a vibrant purple bruise slowly spreading out from your eye socket after the blooming flower of girlhood's dad shows up]]. |
| 135 | * EscapeSequence: One critique Yahtz had of ''VideoGame/PizzaTower'' was the presence of this trope. Each level has a TimedMission in which the player has to race to the start of the level while also having to locate hidden items, which Yahtzee found too stressful. As such, while he enjoyed the game, the experience ended up being too much to play more than a few levels at a time. |
| 136 | * EverybodyHatesMathematics: Joked about in the ''Semi-Ramblomatic'' of "Why Truly Original Games Are So Rare": while brainstorming a hypothetically "original" concept to illustrate the pitfalls that can come from the process, he proposes a melee combat system where rather than basing it on fast reflexes and strategic planning, it's based around typing coherent various themed words... which would be a nightmare to prototype as it involves programming ''every word in the English language'' and flagging them for context. Yahtzee attempts a compromise by instead focusing on less cumbersome math equations... which would in turn be less flexible in ability to allow players to express their creativity, in addition to the fact that "Nobody thinks maths is fun. Nobody you'd want to be trapped in conversation with at a party, anyway." |
| 137 | * ExactWords: As Yahtzee admits midway through his "Best, Worst, and Blandest of 2023" video, he's talking about ''all'' the games he reviewed in 2023, "regardless of [[WebAnimation/ZeroPunctuation what label]] they were reviewed under". |
| 138 | * ExcusePlot: {{Discussed|Trope}} and almost namedropped in the review of ''VideoGame/PacificDrive''. Yahtzee finds the story of the game to be somewhat underbaked, with the game's most substantial plot element being the personalities and interplay of the MissionControl who are giving you assignments, with Yahtzee still describing them "[[DamnedByFaintPraise as about as interesting and well-characterized as a bodiless voice with the physical presence of a fart can be]]." However, Yahtzee is ultimately okay with it as they're decent enough at doing their job of informing the gameplay, [[PlayTheGameSkipTheStory which is the real meat of the game's appeal]][[invoked]]. |
| 139 | -->'''Yahtzee''': ...but you know what? I'll take it. It'll do, because all I want from the story is an excuse. It could just tell me that driving my car keeps the baby owls nesting in the carburetor warm, and that'd do, because driving the car is fun! |
| 140 | * ExtremeDoormat: |
| 141 | ** In a throwaway joke from "The Moral Dilemmas that Weren't", Yahtzee admits that -- when presented with moral dilemmas -- he'll just do whatever would please the person in his immediate vicinity because he doesn't want confrontation. This is accompanied with a graphic of Yahtz considering a [[HumanSacrifice baby sacrifice]] because the person in front of him wants it. |
| 142 | ** Part of the reason why he ended up playing the card-game minigame from ''Final Fantasy VII Rebirth'' so long, despite hating it, is because he didn't want to get puppy-dog-eyes-ed at by the announcer NPC running the thing. |
| 143 | * FanonDiscontinuity[[invoked]]: In his review of ''VideoGame/SouthParkSnowDay'', Yahtzee would like to insist that ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' only received its first video game with ''[[VideoGame/SouthParkTheStickOfTruth The Stick of Truth]]'' in 2014, and that if anyone tries to argue that there are [[VideoGame/SouthPark earlier games]], they're lying and must be chased back into their homes with guns and attack dogs. |
| 144 | -->'''Yahtzee:''' So even sight unseen, I had my misgivings about a full 3D real-time combat-based ''South Park'' game; remember the terrible N64 ga-- [[VerbalBackspace I mean, don't remember it]], [[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial 'cos it didn't exist.]] |
| 145 | * FormulaBreakingEpisode: "Yahtzee Showcased Starstruck Vagabond at GDC 2024" follows Yahtzee not only covering a live event and in front of the camera, but also as a presenter, with the video detailing the experience of showcasing his own upcoming video game, ''VideoGame/StarstruckVagabond''. |
| 146 | * GameplayAndStoryIntegration: Comes up during the ''Helldivers II'' review as part of why it's one of the rare multiplayer-focused experiences that Yahtzee enjoys: while he hates most multiplayer games because they're designed around eternal conflict which prevents any story from having a satisfying ending, ''Helldivers II'' got in his good graces because [[ForeverWar eternal conflict is a part of the gameplay as well as the story]]. |
| 147 | * GenreThrowback: {{Discussed|Trope}} as the central theme of his dual-review of ''VideoGame/YellowTaxiGoesVroom'' and ''Phantom Fury'': ''VideoGame/YellowTaxiGoesVroom'' is a Nintendo 64-style CollectAThonPlatformer which does what Yahtzee argues is the correct thing to do while designing a retro-style game: assess the foundation, then pump it up with all the madcap energy that modern technology can provide. ''Phantom Fury'', meanwhile, is what Yahtzee found to be a passable, but shallow attempt to recreate the spirit of late 90's/early 2000's 3D shooters like ''VideoGame/HalfLife1'', finding in practice that it more resembles [[ShoddyKnockoffProduct the low-quality knockoffs]] of ''Half-Life'' in the era such as ''VideoGame/SoldierOfFortune'' and ''VideoGame/SiN1998''. Yahtzee notes that if you want something that evokes the spirit of a beloved game, ''just play the actual game'' -- in contrast to praising ''Yellow Taxi Goes Vroom'' for having a solid identity that warrants attention even without its nostalgic appeal, he finds that all that ''Phantom Fury'' really excels at is reminding the audience that every era looked on with fondness [[SturgeonsLaw was littered with mediocrity]]. |
| 148 | * HanlonsRazor: Yahtzee's review of ''VideoGame/SuicideSquadKillTheJusticeLeague'' is nothing short of a thorough knifing over all of its awful game design decisions, and his most charitable explanation for why the game turned out the way it did was that Rocksteady was using "[[ObfuscatingStupidity weaponized incompetence]]" -- [[FailureGambit willfully making a terrible live-service game to prove to Warner Bros. that such games are a waste of time so they can return to making the world-class, groundbreaking single-player games they were famous for]]. Unfortunately, Yahtzee still notes [[DidntThinkThisThrough the key pitfall]] that ''Suicide Squad'' was actively defiling such work, with its plot being based around overriding the ''Franchise/BatmanArkhamSeries'' in a disrespectful and unsatisfactory way, meaning it's instead killed all interest in the franchise. |
| 149 | * HappyEndingOverride: |
| 150 | ** He criticizes ''VideoGame/AlanWakeII'' for treating ''[[VideoGame/AlanWake Alan Wake's American Nightmare]]'' as [[CanonDiscontinuity non-canon]][[note]]''American Nightmare'' is technically "canon" in that the events do have an effect on ''Alan Wake II'', but as a result of the game's heavily postmodern narrative, [[SchrodingersCanon the actual events that took place aren't in the game's proper continuity]][[/note]], partly because he felt ''American Nightmare'' had a satisfying ending that tied up all the loose ends that seemingly prevented any obvious [[SequelHook sequel-baiting]] (something that ''Alan Wake II'' itself would do). |
| 151 | ** He also came down hard on ''VideoGame/SuicideSquadKillTheJusticeLeague'' for being a poorly-handled followup to the ''Franchise/BatmanArkhamSeries'', culminating with Batman receiving an ignoble and anticlimactic end following [[AntiClimaxBoss an unsatisfying boss fight]][[invoked]]. Yahtzee doesn't take so much offense at the idea of the game disrespecting the legacies of Batman or the Justice League in general ("You want me to give Superman an atomic wedgie, just show me the coat hook and the industrial welding gloves!") -- rather, he's frustrated by the game disrespecting ''him'' as a player for "the many, many hours I spent keeping the bastard alive in the ''Arkham'' games," [[DroppedABridgeOnHim sweeping all that effort under the rug]] in service for an unlikeable looter-shooter. |
| 152 | * HiddenDepths: During his mini-review of ''Jusant'' in "The Games of 2023 I Didn't Review", Yahtzee revealed a fun personal fact previously unmentioned in his long career: before having kids he was an avid indoor rock climber, which he brings up to highlight his insight towards the unique physicality of the sport that ''Jusant'' does an admirable job of replicating. |
| 153 | * HypeBacklash[[invoked]]: PlayedForLaughs during "The Best, Worst and Blandest of 2023", where he didn't include ''VideoGame/BaldursGateIII'' in the "Best" section -- despite having enjoyed it and finding it a welcome bastion of artfully-designed single-player design amidst a year of increasingly-repugnant live-service games -- solely on the grounds that it already won Game of the Year at The Game Awards and doesn't want it to get too smug. |
| 154 | * {{Infodump}}: {{Discussed|Trope}} in his review of ''VideoGame/TheTalosPrinciple2'' as one of its few prominent flaws, in that while it's a beautiful, well-designed, and genuinely fascinating game, it (as well as [[VideoGame/TheTalosPrinciple its predecessor]]) goes about its philosophical topics in a very dry, robotic way that can come off as unnecessarily excessive. Yahtzee believes that the reason the game went under most peoples' radar was that "it's not the least bit sexy," comparing it to how ''VideoGame/DiscoElysium'' was also very smart ''and'' funny ''and'' "full of sexy drama," and that there's very much enough room for good science fiction to tackle big questions ''and'' "have a few exciting laser gun fights as well." |
| 155 | * ItsTheSameNowItSucks[[invoked]]: |
| 156 | ** His complaints about ''Persona 5: Tacticia'' is that it's essentially just more of the same stuff he expected of a ''Persona'' game, and that reusing the same characters and general plot made it feel worse when ''Tacticia'' lacked stuff he liked in original ''Persona 5'', such as the DualWorldGameplay. |
| 157 | ** "Sucks" may be a strong word, but in "Best, Worst, and Blandest of 2023", he can only list ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTearsOfTheKingdom'' and ''VideoGame/MarvelsSpiderMan2'' as honorable mentions, commenting that they're good games, but "[[MissionPackSequel Not having to design a new world map is cheating]]." |
| 158 | ** He describes ''VideoGame/LikeADragonInfiniteWealth'' less favorably to [[VideoGame/YakuzaLikeADragon its immediate predecessor]] (which made his top 5 favorite games of 2020 on ''Zero Punctuation''), finding that after the DenserAndWackier approach of ''Like a Dragon 7'' proved a satisfying breath of fresh air, ''Infinite Wealth'' didn't have as much novelty going for it, allowing the flaws from the previous game to settle in. Yahtzee ultimately summarizes it as "Like all ''[[VideoGame/LikeADragon Yakuza]]'' games, [[QuirkyWork it will blow your mind]] if it's the first one you've ever played[[invoked]], [[OnceOriginalNowCommon but it's a bit too same-y for veterans]]. |
| 159 | * JokeAndReceive: Yahtzee did this to himself at one point: in "The Games of 2023 I Didn't Review", [[TakeThat he mocks The Game Awards]] for basing its award categories on genre, which he feels is a flawed practice for a variety of reasons, remarking that they should instead categorize awards based on what feelings they bring out in you, such as [[VideoGame/ReturnOfTheObraDinn "Best Game That Made Us Excited"]], [[VideoGame/SilentHill2 "Best Game That Made Us Scared"]], and [[VideoGame/Doom2016 "Best Game That Made Us Haunted By Our Own Capacity for Violence in a Zero-Consequence Environment"]]. During his later ''Semi-Ramblomatic'' on "How to Predict The Game Awards", Yahtzee admitted that he was just joking at the time, but the more he thought about it, the more it made sense, and that if he did have the ability to fix The Game Awards, he would implement this change. |
| 160 | * KarmaMeter: {{Discussed|Trope}} in the ''Semi-Ramblomatic'' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAfe_u9ADAU "The Moral Dilemmas that weren't"]], where he notes that most implementations of a KarmaMeter fail, either because [[StupidEvil the evil option is downright nonsensical, just for the sake of being evil]], very obviously go against the moral the game preaches (as in ''VideoGame/BanishersGhostsOfNewEden'', where the entire game insists on the importance of exorcising ghosts, even if they are your loved ones, but still gives the player the choice of bringing Antea back to life in a ritual that screams "[[ObviouslyEvil this is the wrong choice]]"), or the so-touted "downsides" for making the harder choice really aren't that impactful (such as making combat in ''VideoGame/Vampyr2018'' harder, but in a way that keeps it fun and engaging rather than making it tedious or annoying, further encouraging players to stick to the good path). |
| 161 | * LamePunReaction: In the ''Graven'' episode, Yahtzee says that the game's title is what a car crash victim would say to describe the vehicle that hit him.[[note]]"Graven" > grey van[[/note]] His avatar is then shown wincing at his laptop's screen, as he apologizes for how bad the pun is. |
| 162 | * LampshadedTheObscureReference: |
| 163 | ** Yahtz represents the protagonist of a reviewed game as having the head of some other fictional character. For the ''Graven'' review, Treguard from ''{{Series/Knightmare}}'' fills the role alongside the phrase "Christ no one's gonna get *this* reference". |
| 164 | ** In the ''VideoGame/SkullAndBones'' review, Yahtzee makes note of characters commenting on "the look on [your player character's] eyes", then comments "[[WhatIsThisX Who are we]], Literature/TheDemonHeadmaster?! Yes, I do get off on making references most people won't get." |
| 165 | ** Yahtz compares ''Phantom Fury'' to other late-retro shooters such as ''VideoGame/SoldierOfFortune'' and ''VideoGame/{{Sin}}'', then follows up with "And just in case that reference slips you by" as an admission that ''Sin'' is an obscure topic. |
| 166 | * LimitedAnimation: {{Discussed|Trope}} during the ''VideoGame/SouthParkSnowDay'' review, mentioning how the game attempts to recreate the style of ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'', which heavily features this (albeit less so than ''[[VideoGame/SouthParkTheStickOfTruth The Stick of Truth]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/SouthParkTheFracturedButWhole The Fractured But Whole]]'', where ''Snow Day!'' inexplicably opted to [[VideoGame3DLeap shift to 3D]]). Yahtzee notes that such stylism ends up becoming a liability in a real-time combat system as it simply becomes harder to read, using ''[[SelfDeprecation his own]]'' [[SelfDeprecation animation style]] to illustrate the problem. |
| 167 | -->'''Yahtzee''': ''My'' visual style works well enough to deliver gags, and is easy to knock out during my brief windows of consciousness, but I wouldn't use it for a combat engine, 'cos there's no visual difference between a character winding up a punch and saluting a Nazi. |
| 168 | * LoveToHate[[invoked]]: {{Discussed|Trope}} in "Screw Nuance, Give Me A Memorable Villain", with Yahtzee's opening thesis being "Is it possible for storytelling to get ''too'' nuanced?" Specifically with regards to characterization, Yahtzee remarks how [[ClassicVillain straightforwardly evil, love-to-hate villains]] are a shockingly endangered species in modern gaming, and how nowadays, villains have to be some degree of sympathetic and "complex", [[NoAntagonist if they even exist at all as a character]]. While he isn't against writing nuance and moral complexity as a principle, Yahtzee finds that "realistic characterization" doesn't inherently make a villain memorable and interesting, and misses villains along the likes of [[{{VideoGame/Portal}} GLaDOS]], [[VideoGame/EternalDarkness Pious Augustus]], [[VideoGame/MetalGearRisingRevengeance Senator Armstrong]], or even [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Bowser]] that are memorable because of how uncomplicated and ''fun'' they are. Furthermore, he speculates that the "need" to be realistic and morally grey at all times may be reflective of more cynical trains of thought about the current state of the world -- in lieu of an actual mustache-twirling BigBad responsible for all the [[InherentInTheSystem systemic failings in modern life]], abandoning straightforward villainy reads like accepting that nothing will change, so might as well share the blame and stop pointing fingers... [[GreyAndGrayInsanity despite there being plenty of very real entities out there actively causing real-world problems]], such as [[CorruptCorporateExecutive corporate suits shutting down perfectly healthy studios for the sake of a bottom line]]. |
| 169 | -->'''Yahtzee:''' Sorry, I didn't mean to end up sounding like a paranoid weirdo one bad weekend away from beating my CEO to death in a car park, let me get back on topic: I want more games to have [[HateSink characters I actually hate]] so I can enjoy beating them to death! ''[[IResembleThatRemark Oh, wait, shit...]]'' |
| 170 | * MakesAsMuchSenseInContext: The opening to the ''Dragon's Dogma 2'' episode: "sometimes I lick the underbellies of sugar gliders for an [[BestialityIsDepraved illicit sexual thrill]]." Yahtzee then immediately admits that he was only saying that for shock value. |
| 171 | * MaliciousMisnaming: As part of his vendetta against sequels that don't involve a number in their title, Yahtzee refers to ''Final Fantasy VII Remake'' and ''Rebirth'' with random subtitles like ''Final Fantasy VII Porridge'' or ''Final Fantasy VII Part Knickerbocker''. |
| 172 | * ManicPixieDreamGirl: A trope [[DiscussedTrope brought up frequently]] in his review of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIIRebirth'', noting that part of the reason he isn't exactly impressed by its story (or of the original ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'') is that ''all three'' female party members seem to be this single archetype, and are either interchangeable or cringe-inducing in their attempts to be endearing. |
| 173 | -->'''Yahtzee:''' Blimey, how much can one man be Manic Pixie Dream Girl'd without going into diabetic shock? |
| 174 | * [[invoked]]MisaimedFandom: A joke in the ''Helldivers 2'' review references this trope regarding ''Film/StarshipTroopers'', where the hyper-nationalistic patriotism in that work was understood poorly by crazy people as genuine when it was intended as satire. |
| 175 | * MidBattleTeaBreak: In the ''Graven'' episode, Yahtzee describes how the game suffers from a weird InventoryManagementPuzzle where weapons take multiple slots on the hotbar, but you still can carry extra weapons in your inventory, so if you need to switch it can be incredibly awkward. This is visually represented by the protagonist telling a zombie and a [[VideoGame/QuakeI Scrag]] that it's "time out lads" mid-fight, after his crossbow runs dry. The zombie and Scrag oblige, sipping at drinks as they wait for the protagonist to finish fumbling around with his weapons. |
| 176 | * MsFanservice: {{Discussed|Trope}} in ''VideoGame/StellarBlade'', as the protagonist's scantily-clad design was the big source of hullaballoo surrounding the game before its release, with Yahtzee finding that such shouting-contests over whether such a design should be acceptable enough tiring in general, and a feature of the game he ultimately doesn't mind. However, he argues out that in addition to the gameplay and plot being very bland and generic, so is Eve's personality. Yahtzee makes a direct comparison to {{VideoGame/Bayonetta}}, who is a ''proudly'' expressive and flamboyant MsFanservice, whereas Eve just behaves like "a fucking [=RealDoll=] programmed with the personality of another, more down-market [=RealDoll=]," and isn't nearly as fun or interesting as a result. |
| 177 | * MythologyGag: |
| 178 | ** ''Fully Ramblomatic'' is the title of Yahtzee's blog and was the title of the pre-Escapist reviews that later became ''Zero Punctuation''. |
| 179 | ** At the end of the ''VideoGame/AloneInTheDark2024'' review, Yahtzee proclaims he can't relate to the protagonist, "and not just because I've never worn a trilby [...]". Toffee then brings over the white hat Yahtzee's ''Zero Punctuation'' avatar was wearing, to which Yahtzee replies that it's a fedora. |
| 180 | * SugarWiki/NoProblemWithLicensedGames[[invoked]]: {{Discussed|Trope}} in his review of ''VideoGame/RobocopRogueCity'': Yahtzee notes that its developer, Teyon, have started to find their niche of adapting classic 80's action properties for modern generations, something that Yahtzee is surprisingly okay with as the games themselves are perfectly competent and fun and have an obvious nostalgic appeal to them. He does highlight, however, that they do receive a somewhat disproportionate amount of praise simply for not being [[TheProblemWithLicensedGames what people normally expect of "licensed games"]] and reiterates that ''[=RoboCop=]'' ''does'' still have problems -- it's faithful in a way that allows nostalgia do the heavy lifting, while the gameplay itself [[SoOkayItsAverage is "exactly as good as it needs to be and no better"]]. |
| 181 | * NonconformistDyedHair: {{Discussed|Trope}} during "The Language of Color in Games", where Yahtzee makes note of how magenta is the go-to primary color for [[RuleAbidingRebel highly corporate-driven and sanitized mainstream fare when it's trying to appear free-spirited, punky, and bohemian]], almost always featuring at least one character with magenta hair as a cheap ploy to appear "rebellious". Yahtzee also makes note of how a weird number of indie games also feature player characters with cyan hair, which might be a response to the overuse of magenta. |
| 182 | -->'''Yahtzee:''' [[DeadpanSnarker So now all we need is a trend for yellow and we've got everything we need to refill a color printer]]. |
| 183 | * NonIndicativeName: Joked about in his ''VideoGame/RobocopRogueCity'' review, highlighting that gaming culture has a pretty bad track record with naming certain genres of video games, specifically highlighting how "AdventureGame" has been used to describe "games where you rub random inventory items on everything like a blind raccoon in a recycling facility." |
| 184 | * NostalgiaFilter: He discusses this in his ''Phantom Fury'' review: he cites ''Half Life'' as "a game that embodies the purity and greatness of late 90s early 2000s shooters", and ''Phantom Fury'' as "a harsh wake up call" and that it will "effectively remind you that every era also has piles of mediocre dross". As he puts it, there's a lot of nostalgia for this era of shooter games, but in a way the era is WrittenByTheWinners and the less-stellar stuff fell to the wayside in everyone's cultural memory. |
| 185 | * NotMakingThisUpDisclaimer: |
| 186 | ** In the ''VideoGame/RobocopRogueCity'' review, Yahtzee describes a "suffocatingly pointless side-quest where [=RoboCop=] goes around, getting everyone to sign a 'Get Well Soon' card, and that's not the facetious exaggerated example it sounds like." |
| 187 | ** In his ''Jusant'' mini-review, he finds that the game tapers off when it stops being about slowly exploring through the remnants of a lost civilization and just goes "Oh fuck it, I'm bored, [[GoingCosmic space whales out of nowhere!]]" Yahtzee pauses to reiterate that the game indeed features ''literal space whales''. |
| 188 | * NoticeThis: |
| 189 | ** {{Discussed|Trope}} throughout the review of ''VideoGame/AvatarFrontiersOfPandora'', with Yahtzee criticizing the game for botching this. On one hand, Yahtzee is already annoyed by the game's unfocused "Jiminy Cockthroat" approach to WideOpenSandbox design in plastering notifiers over everything, undermining the exploration aspect since the game just tells you were to go. On the other hand, he found that with the game's option to turn those notifiers off (replacing the objective markers with vague location clues that require more problem-solving), [[FakeDifficulty the game became unfairly difficult]] as [[PixelHunt the objectives become easily obscured by the cluttered environment]]. Yahtzee finds this especially damning since the whole appeal of the game lies in [[SceneryPorn exploring beautiful and lush alien landscapes]], but because this aspect was so mishandled, it's either ignorable or actively impedes the player. |
| 190 | ** "Oh, That Darn Yellow Paint" discusses a gaming trend (which he previously made brief note of in his ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIIRebirth'' review) of climbable ledges marked with glaringly obvious patterns, with the most common token of criticism being "walls marked with yellow paint". Yahtzee narrows down his primary criticism with this trend by describing it as "Corridor Climbing", where the problem is less about how ham-fisted and obvious it is, but rather the fact that such climbing [[NoSidepathsNoExplorationNoFreedom is completely linear, provides no challenge or exploration]], and is ultimately just a bit of boring padding. |
| 191 | * ObscurePopularity[[invoked]]: {{Discussed|Trope}} in the review of ''Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora'', with Yahtzee questioning how ''{{Franchise/Avatar}}'' is apparently a massively successful global juggernaut despite nobody ever expressing much interest in it. He jokingly speculates that there's either "an unknown subsection of humanity living among us, presumably dwelling underground and subsisting on rats and stray dogs, who emerge from the sewer drains at night to watch ''Avatar'' movies and [[TakeThat send votes into]] ''Series/AmericasNextTopModel''", or that Creator/JamesCameron is [[AstroTurfing buying up empty theatre seats]] "when he's not buggering off to the bottom of the ocean [[BlackComedy to scrape bits of dead billionaire off the Titanic]]." |
| 192 | * ObservationOnOriginality: {{Discussed|Trope}} in "Why Truly Original Games Are So Rare", where Yahtzee admits that even as a critic who can be snobby about games not being able to come up with new gameplay ideas, actually doing that is ''really freaking hard'', and ironically by trying to pursue an original idea, the closer you end up replicating something that already exists. Yahtzee posits that the most original ideas only really come from a spontaneous spark of taking a game mechanic and reframing it through a unique perspective rather than strictly iterating or building upon it, citing ''{{VideoGame/Balatro}}'' (a {{Roguelike}} DeckbuildingGame based on {{TabletopGame/poker}}) as one of these high concepts that's so effective and obvious in retrospect that it leaves everyone wondering how no one came up with it earlier. Yahtzee further makes a point that this sort of innovation almost never happens in big-budget triple-A development because the risks are so high that very few suits are willing to bank on pursuing such novel ideas without overthinking it, and it instead comes from [[IndieGame indie game development]], full of "mad people having mad ideas" who can go about uninhibited. |
| 193 | * OddlyNamedSequel2ElectricBoogaloo: Yahtzee ''[[PetPeeveTrope really hates]]'' [[PetPeeveTrope this trope]], alongside adjacent tropes like [[RecycledTitle reusing the exact same title between sequels]] and [[ColonCancer pointless colons and subtitles on games purporting to be the first installment of a yet-to-be-developed series]]. He was very quick to praise ''VideoGame/TheTalosPrinciple2'' right off the bat for having a simple numeric sequel title, which he found refreshingly "old-school". |
| 194 | * OhCrap: During his review of ''VideoGame/DragonsDogmaII'', Yahtzee establishes early on that the game one has ''one'' save slot, and tells his audience that this will be relevant later. A bit into the review, he then describes the moment he finally gave up on the game: after a particularly harsh difficulty spike against a boss and realizing that every time he loaded a save to retry it, [[UnstableEquilibrium a chunk of his maximum health was being sliced off]], he decided to accept the "last inn" save and tank the walk back. However, to his unpleasant surprise, he didn't actually spawn at his last inn, but somewhere four or five hours ago, and since the game only supported one save slot... |
| 195 | -->'''Yahtzee''': Oh no. ''Oh no no no no no no'', don't you fucking {{autosave}}, ''you single save-slotted slattern''-- ''([[ShaggyDogStory game throws out his progress]])'' -- '''''FUCK!''''' |
| 196 | * OnceOriginalNowCommon[[invoked]]: {{Discussed|Trope}} in the review of ''VideoGame/AloneInTheDark2024''. Yahtzee expresses mild confusion over how ''VideoGame/AloneInTheDark'' keeps popping up with misguided remakes/reboots every few generations despite none of the games being better than "halfway decent", noting that the first game, while a pioneer to 3D SurvivalHorror, has aged pretty embarrassingly. Yahtzee does give the 2024 title some credit where after several failed attempts to reinvent the franchise -- 2001's ''The New Nightmare'' being a shameless ripoff of ''Franchise/ResidentEvil'', 2008's remake being "[[SoBadItsGood creatively-spirited but unwittingly camp]]", and 2015's ''Illumination'' just being flat-out terrible -- it wisely decides to [[RevisitingTheRoots revisit the roots]] by evoking the 1920's Lovecraftian horror setting of the first, most well-regarded title, before going in its own new directions (even if it is still extremely derivative of ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil4''). |
| 197 | * OscarBait: {{Discussed|Trope}} in the ''Semi-Ramblomatic'' on "How to Predict The Game Awards", with Yahtzee identifying the hallmarks for what easily wins at TGA (effectively becoming what the Oscars are for video games in terms of prestige and publicity), having used them to correctly predict about 90% of all the awards for its 2023 show: |
| 198 | ** In terms of "Game of the Year" in specific, actual quality of the games themselves is irrelevant -- it's more about pushing a narrative for the gaming industry as a whole, with ''VideoGame/BaldursGateIII'' being an obvious shoo-in not just because it's a good game, but because most of the competition in the category were either remakes or sequels, which can be seen as regressive rather than forward-pushing. This left ''VideoGame/AlanWakeII'' the only viable competitor, but Yahtzee didn't see it winning either because, by his observations, the triple-A games industry gets cold feet at the idea of video games actually being an artistically provocative medium rather than a place for [[LowestCommonDenominator reliable committee design]][[invoked]], with a game as experimental, postmodern, and auteurist as ''Alan Wake II'' only being enough to claim a ConsolationAward in the form of "Best Game Direction". |
| 199 | ** Regarding "Best Indie Game", what the TGA eyes more than quality is ''aspiration'', specifically when it comes to its reverence for "the establishment". This is primarily due to the preference [[CondescendingCompassion to see indie games as plucky underdogs or "sidekicks" to triple-A gaming rather than a respectable source of creative ingenuity and innovation in the medium]], which usually means the award will usually be given to [[FollowTheLeader something blatantly derivative on virtue of it trying to "be like the big kids."]][[invoked]] On that same token, TGA resists any form of subversive and rebellious elements, resulting in the highly quirky, but critical indie darling ''VideoGame/PizzaTower'' getting [[AwardSnub snubbed]] from "Best Debut Indie Game" in favor of the traditionally "artsy" indie fare of ''VideoGame/Cocoon2023'' ([[AwardCategoryFraud despite the latter being directed by an established indie veteran]]). |
| 200 | ** He sees audio and music awards as a {{Consolation Award}}s[[invoked]] for games that are popular enough to mention and pay respect to, but not good enough to qualify for other, bigger awards, citing the likes of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXVI'' as an easy winner for "Best Score and Music" by sole virtue of being a legacy entry from a big franchise in spite of otherwise being too lackluster for anything else (Yahtzee did note that ''VideoGame/HiFiRush'' was an exception due to being [[MickeyMousing so centrally and effectively built around its audio design]] that it backed TGA into a corner, realistically leaving it the only possible victor of "Best Audio Design"). |
| 201 | ** While Yahtzee doesn't have guaranteed guidelines for niche genre awards (primarily due to finding such separations of genres for awarding arbitrary at the best of times), he does find that first party Creator/{{Nintendo}} titles are most likely to win by virtue of the company being so well-regarded and integral to the "establishment" of gaming that TGA seeks to pander to. |
| 202 | * OurProductSucks: Lightly {{discussed|Trope}} during the review of ''VideoGame/SuicideSquadKillTheJusticeLeague'', where Yahtzee makes a point that the game defines itself with the narrative motif of ''"we suck"'': [[VillainProtagonist the titular squad of baddies]] suck, [[TheChessmaster the person they work]] for sucks, the city of Metropolis sucks after it was turned into a warzone by the Justice League, who now suck because they're being [[BrainwashedAndCrazy brainwashed]] by "the suckiest dude of them all", [[BigBad Brainiac]], etc. Yahtzee understands the gag the game is trying to pull off, and he doesn't bag on it for "not giving a shit" about itself in [[SelfDeprecation an irreverent, tongue-in-cheek way]] -- rather, he's annoyed that the game ''actually'' doesn't give a shit, with gameplay so perfunctory and repetitive that there's no sense of escalation or satisfaction, making its self-debasement ultimately feeling disrespectful and tone-deaf. |
| 203 | -->'''Game:''' When you feel confident, you go to the next story mission to fight the next Justice League member, not that you should feel confident, [[ThisLoserIsYou 'cos you suck so much, you bunch of huge sucky suck suckaroo]]--\ |
| 204 | '''Yahtzee:''' Yes, yes, sorry to interrupt, [[SincerityMode but I genuinely can't tell]]: are you continuing the broadly insincere "we suck" motif of the story, or are you telling me I'm still too underleveled for the next story mission? |
| 205 | * PaperThinDisguise: From the ''Dragon's Dogma 2'' review, Yahtzee portrays the impostor of the Arisen king as a giant potato with his hat and a smiley face scribbled onto it. [[FailedASpotCheck It was apparently enough to fool at least one royal court assistant.]] |
| 206 | * [[invoked]]PetPeeveTrope: |
| 207 | ** Yahtzee highlights one particular grievance of his with modern triple-A games: bad titles. Titles that [[SimilarlyNamedWorks are named identically to another game]], unnecessary subtitles for new [=IPs=], generic titles, and generic titles with a made-up proper noun in them are all highlighted as sounding uncreative or generic. |
| 208 | ** "Jiminy Cockthroats"[[labelnote:ie.]] games that combine a number of common tropes seen most often in Triple-A releases, like crafting mechanics, open worlds, stealth, and tower-climbing,[[/labelnote]] are a recurring annoyance of Yahtzee's from ''Zero Punctuation''. When he describes a segment of ''Final Fantasy VII Rebirth'' that has an open world, towers, crafting, and ledge climbing, he tells the viewer to imagine his face deteriorating as if via meth usage while he lists each element. |
| 209 | * PleaseSubscribeToOurChannel: |
| 210 | ** The end of the ''VideoGame/AlanWakeII'' review debuting the series sees Yahtzee -- in an uncharacteristically sincere outro -- asking viewers to subscribe to the Creator/SecondWind Patreon page. |
| 211 | ** Requested again at the end of "The Best, Worst and Blandest of 2023", the first video of 2024 and the official marking of Second Wind's first year. |
| 212 | --->'''Yahtzee:''' Yeah, I know donation drives are a bore, but all the good wishes in the world won't get us past the budget section of [[YourMom your mum's blowjob catalogue]]. |
| 213 | * PlotTwist: {{Discussed|Trope}} in the ''Semi-Ramblomatic'' of "The Rules of a Good Plot Twist", with the three cardinal rules Yahtzee lays out being: it can't [[CaptainObviousReveal be seen coming]][[invoked]] (otherwise there's no suspense or surprise), it can't [[AssPull come out of nowhere]] (because it feels cheap and denies a sense of satisfactory resolution), and it can't be based on the work outright lying to the audience (otherwise it makes the story less interesting on repeat observations rather than [[RewatchBonus enhances it]]). Yahtzee describes a the concept of "the really good plot twist" existing on the same trifecta as "the really good joke" and "the really good {{Jump Scare}}", all being powerful shocks of emotion for the audience if handled well, but can really die if handled poorly. |
| 214 | * PostSomethingism: |
| 215 | ** One ''Semi-Ramblomatic'' episode discusses how he uses the term "PostPunk" in relation to games. To Yahtz, something that is "punk" would be something produced to defy major artforms or trends, while something that is "post-punk" is an evolved form of punk that explores the subversion of the trend rather than merely existing to be an opposite. He considers punk music to be a rejection of classical music theory, while post-punk music continues to be that while being more than "making a bunch of noise in your dad's garage". For a video-game example, he cites the joke {{Game Mod}} ''VideoGame/CrackLife'' as a punk artform,[[note]]''Crack Life'' is largely just ''VideoGame/HalfLife1'' -- a representation of "old money establishment game creation at the time" -- but chock full of irreverent changes like sex toys and [[invoked]][[MemeticMutation memes]],[[/note]] while something like ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'' is post-punk.[[note]] ''Undertale'' is a {{Deconstruction}} of the entire {{RPG}} genre, yet has its own wholly original elements and things that it does well enough that it can stand even outside that context.[[/note]] |
| 216 | ** He also applies this concept to what he calls "dad games" (games where you play as a father or engage in jobs/hobbies associated with older men) and "post-dad games" (where the same concepts are put in weirder and more fantastic contexts). |
| 217 | * PrecisionFStrike: {{Discussed|Trope}} regarding ''VideoGame/AmericanArcadia'', a game which he was unsure if he enjoyed it or not up until the end, which he found to be [[CatharsisFactor "the most satisfying ending of any game I've played in a while"]][[invoked]], which he attributes to the fact it has an extremely well-executed example. |
| 218 | -->'''Yahtzee:''' Obviously, I won't spoil, but you know how films with PG ratings, you're only allowed to say "fuck" precisely once? If that's also the case with video games, and if there were some kind of annual prize for "Best Strategic Use of Your One Permitted 'Fuck'", then ''American [[{{Malaproper}} Auntie Nora]]'' would be my hot pick. |
| 219 | * ProlongedPrologue[[invoked]]: {{Discussed|Trope}} regarding ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIIRebirth'' as something that frustrated Yahtzee alongside [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIIRemake its predecessor]], where both are meant to be remakes of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'', yet they take their sweet time actually getting the plot going. Yahtzee admits that this is more applicable to ''Remake'' (which to him only progress through "a hearty .5% of the original game's plot"), but ''Rebirth'' suffers a different problem where it's covering the second third of the game, where not much actually happens and largely consists of meandering about. |
| 220 | -->'''Yahtzee:''' There's a scene early on where "ManicPixieDreamGirl B" [...] gleefully does a little skip and goes, "That's the first step on our new journey!", and I very clearly remember yelling at the screen, "Journey to where?! To do what?!" |
| 221 | * TheQuietOne: In reference to its HeroicMime protagonist, the AnthropomorphicPersonification of ''VideoGame/HalfLife1'' is depicted as never saying anything during the ''Phantom Fury'' review. |
| 222 | * RagingStiffie: Yahtz says ''The Talos Principle'' gives him a "brain boner". Cue image of Yahtzee's avatar with a boner... coming out from his head, tenting the shape of his hat. |
| 223 | * RecycledTitle[[invoked]]: Just like in ''Zero Punctuation'', Yahtzee [[PetPeeveTrope really hates these]], finding it unnecessarily confusing, even for remakes. While he doesn't dwell on it for his review of ''VideoGame/AloneInTheDark2024'', he briefly makes it clear how annoyed he is for it being the ''third'' entry in [[VideoGame/AloneInTheDark the series]] to use the exact same title. |
| 224 | -->'''Yahtzee:''' There's also contextual throwable items which are occasionally [[MolotovCocktail Molotovs]] and ostensibly light enemies on fire, [[SpecialEffectsFailure although it looks more like they've just put on delightful little orange ballet tutus]] and are really efficient for making you nostalgic for the really ''good'' fire physics ''in the identically-titled game from fifteen fucking years ago''. |
| 225 | * TheReveal: Although many viewers [[TheUnreveal were able to figure it out on their own beforehand]], ''The Best, Worst and Blandest of 2023'' allows Yahtzee to finally admit that the one game he couldn't [[WebAnimation/ZeroPunctuation previously]] mention by name due to the embargo date being moved was ''VideoGame/HellboyWebOfWyrd''. |
| 226 | * RuderAndCruder: A somewhat roundabout case: Yahtzee has always been a very blue-humored writer, but in the final years of ''Zero Punctuation'', concerns over demonetization and excessive swearing forced him to tone down his profanity. With ''Fully Ramblomatic'' and the shift towards other forms of income as per Second Wind's creator-owned model (primarily operating through audience support and outside sponsorships), demonetization by [=YouTube=] has become much less of a concern, with Yahtzee happily announcing at the series' debut that he's able to return to using the swear words he wants. Somewhat humorously, this means the censoring was in effect for only about five videos of ''Zero Punctuation'' before Yahtzee came back with a vengeance. |
| 227 | * RummageSaleReject: While discussing the character customization in ''Stellar Blade'', Yahtz shows a graphic of the protagonist at a fashion show dressed in [[MakingASpectacleOfYourself star-shaped glasses]], a blender hat, stapler shoes, and a loincloth. |
| 228 | * RunningGag: |
| 229 | ** He compares the "long chillout periods broken up by sudden apocalyptic violence" in ''Pacific Drive'' to the intensity of having sex with every animal in a zoo. From that point onwards, having sex with zoo animals becomes a reoccurring joke within the review. |
| 230 | ** Early in the ''Dragon's Dogma 2'' video, Yahtzee mentions that the game has a "climb all over giant monsters" mechanic, which he communicates with the visual of him smothering himself into the pubic hair of a minotaur. An association with pubic hair and/or spitting out loose hairs of such is used as a shorthand for fighting monsters for the rest of the review. |
| 231 | * SadisticChoice: {{Discussed|Trope}} as one of the unique, but failed core elements of ''VideoGame/BanishersGhostsOfNewEden'': the protagonists are an established couple by the start of the game, but one of them ends up killed and becoming a ghost, with the main narrative through-line being the decision of whether she must be exorcised and sent to heaven as per their responsibility as Banishers, or if we should try to bring her back to life with a forbidden ritual that entails sacrificial murder. Yahtzee finds that this falls flat due to it being incredibly obvious which is the narratively "correct" option (aside from one path necessitating ''[[VideoGameCrueltyPotential murdering several innocents]]'', the prologue hammers home that ghosts are unnatural and must be dealt with), and that presumably the stakes were meant to be covered by the audience being investing in the characters -- thus wanting to see them survive -- but in this case, [[UnintentionallyUnsympathetic they're not very interesting nor likeable]][[invoked]]. In the follow-up ''Semi-Ramblomatic'', "The Moral Dilemmas that Weren't", Yahtzee comments that the decision might have been harder if the still-living protagonist was not just emotionally, but ''physically'' dependent on Antea -- that instead of Red, a hardened BraveScot who could almost certainly get by on his own against the murder ghosts and for the rest of his life, you replace him with a vulnerable six-year-old girl who will almost certainly die without her (posthumous) guardian, upping the stakes of the decision. |
| 232 | * SelfDeprecation: At the end of the ''Alan Wake II'' review, Yahtzee acknowledges that the end-credits rock song is "overly loud", just like it was on ''Zero Punctuation''. |
| 233 | * ShapedLikeItself: Yahtzee describes the bosses in ''Stellar Blade'' fighting like they're "spazz[ing] out like an arachnophobic drummer practicing in a poorly maintained garden shed". Then he invokes this trope by saying he could parry those attacks consistently by mashing the block button, "like an arachnophobic. Me. Noticing a spider. On the block button." |
| 234 | * ShoutOut: |
| 235 | ** Creator/EricAndre stands in to represent Ichiban in the ''VideoGame/LikeADragonInfiniteWealth'' review, owing to their similar haircuts and skintones. |
| 236 | ** In "An Explanation of "Post-Punk" Games", Yahtzee references ''WebAnimation/HeavyIsDead'' and ''WebAnimation/EmesisBlue'' as examples of punk and post-punk artforms, admitting that the latter's PsychologicalHorror elements ended up enthralling him out of work for a morning. |
| 237 | * SidetrackedByTheGoldSaucer[[invoked]]: |
| 238 | ** During his review of ''VideoGame/LikeADragonInfiniteWealth'', Yahtzee discusses that the main meat of ''Like A Dragon'''s fun factor lies less in its dramatic stories and more in its quirky sidequests and minigames, and that he would bee-line straight to them at the earliest available opportunity. However, he ended up finding ''Infinite Wealth'' throwing him for a loop as the "''optional'' optional sidequests" were largely same-y and boring "help random person in way that involves beating people up" stories, whereas the actually fun sidequests were the "''non''-optional optional ones", including its weirdly compelling ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' and ''Franchise/AnimalCrossing'' parodies. |
| 239 | ** Also brought up in his review of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIIRebirth'', which is stuffed to the brim with mini-games (naturally; it is a partial remake of the TropeNamer, after all). Yahtzee notes that he isn't particularly interested in the mini-games, which made him realize more to his annoyance that [[{{Railroading}} the game seemed to be constantly pressuring him to play them]] rather than letting himself get "sidetracked". |
| 240 | --->'''Yahtzee:''' [...]inevitably, they'll explain the rules, and inevitably, I'll listen with my mouth hanging open and the ''WesternAnimation/InspectorGadget'' theme tune running through my head, and then after the tutorial, never play it or think about it again. But then there's a whole chapter devoted to a tournament of this fucking game that I had to opt out of, and when I heard the incredulous voice of the tournament manager asking if I was really quitting, my stubborn pride forced me to back down and learn this stupid card game I didn't find fun [[GuiltBasedGaming just so an NPC wouldn't make a disappointed face.]] |
| 241 | * SlummingIt: Yahtzee directly describes Creator/{{Ubisoft}}'s development philosophies in making ''VideoGame/PrinceOfPersiaTheLostCrown'' as "a AAA publisher slumming it in AA land." While Yahtzee is happy that Ubisoft is more open to splitting their resources between several smaller-scale, but more focused projects instead of "one billion-dollar ''Franchise/AssassinsCreed'' game every six years that nobody fucking wants," he finds that Ubisoft still can't help it with some of their AAA desires to bloat their games with far more content than necessary, dragging down a relatively lower-scope {{Metroidvania}} -- [[SoOkayItsAverage which is functionally solid on its own]][[invoked]] -- with elements that [[{{Padding}} just make everything more tiring and excessive]]. Yahtzee also remarks regarding one of its better twists to the formula -- the ability to snapshot locations and post them to your world map for future reference -- that it was such a good idea that his first reaction was to guess which obscure indie Metroidvania Ubisoft stole it from. |
| 242 | * TakeThat: |
| 243 | ** Throughout the ''Alan Wake II'' review (the debut for this show), Yahtzee makes several digs at Website/TheEscapist and the events that resulted in the retool of ''Zero Punctuation'' into ''FR'': as Yahtzee quips about the game world having a sense of reality "as reliable and permanent as a career in corporate tech journalism", along with a hand appearing from the sky to proclaim "we expect you to meet certain targets" (referencing how Nick Calandra, the then-editor-in-chief of The Escapist, was fired for, [[https://twitter.com/nickjcal/status/1721641044398219579 in his own words]], "'not achieving goals' that were never properly set out for us"). |
| 244 | ** Another jab at the Escapist from the ''Semi-Ramblomatic'' video "The Importance of an Ending": while going into detail of why he enjoyed the ending to ''VideoGame/AmericanArcadia'', Yahtzee notes that "there's something about [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything a bespectacled dude breaking free of an emotionless corporate machine]] that particularly resonates with me personally... in the last month or so." |
| 245 | ** Yahtzee introduces his "Best, Worst, and Blandest of 2023" as comparable to The Game Awards, except for two details: actually prioritizing awarding things instead of "sucking off corporate industry so hard that its legs recede into its stomach cavity," and having award categories that make sense. |
| 246 | --->'''Yahtzee:''' I mean, come on, "Best ActionAdventure"? Might as well have an award for "Best Game With A Title Screen". |
| 247 | ** The opening to the episode on ''Graven'' is Yahtz jabbing at [[AngryWhiteMan white people who complain about minorities having holidays that recognize them]], {{sarcas|mMode}}tically remarking that, [[SelfDeprecation as a northern European white guy]], he doesn't get his own holiday that celebrates the moment when he was liberated from people like him. |
| 248 | --->"[...] but I can always take solace in the fact that the entire world literally exists for my benefit. And if I'm bored I can go sail to some exotic land and take all their spice, and proceed to not use it because it smells weird." |
| 249 | * TemptingFate: In the ''Dragon's Dogma 2'' review, Yahtz mentions that the game had only one save slot. After fumbling around with his game data folder on his system, he found a way to bypass the restriction in a way that he found sufficient, narrating that he was sure that this would no longer be an issue... before [[LampshadedTrope turning to the camera and calling this]] "{{Foreshadowing}}". Whilst a save file bucket hangs over his head, hung up with string alongside a sword of Damocles. The single save slot in fact becomes an issue later during the review, when Yahtzee learns that the game managed to undo an afternoon's worth of game progress by autosaving over his singular save slot, prompting him to RageQuit the game. |
| 250 | * [[invoked]]TheyCopiedItSoItSucks: In the ''VideoGame/RobocopRogueCity'' review, he briefly talks about the movement shooter genre that ''VideoGame/Doom2016'' reawakened. ''Doom (2016)'' was a title he enjoyed when it was a standalone classic-style shooter in a slower-paced triple-A sphere, but now that there's a whole GenreRelaunch of classic-style shooters in the wake of ''Doom'', Yahtzee's opinion has changed to be "absolutely bloody sick of the fucking things". Case in point, ''Robocop: Rogue City'' was deemed to have passable gameplay, despite Yahtz also comparing it to ''VideoGame/GearsOfWar'', a game he once considered infamous for slowing the pace down too much, back during ''Zero Punctuation'' when all the other triple-A games were doing likewise. |
| 251 | * ToiletHumour: The review of ''Final Fantasy VII Rebirth'' ends with a joke that one of the characters' crouched-down animations looks a lot like her tooting out a fart. |
| 252 | * [[invoked]]UnderusedGameMechanic: |
| 253 | ** One of his criticisms of ''VideoGame/AmericanArcadia'' is that it doesn't mesh together the DualWorldGameplay of Trevor and Angela's gameplay very well. He cites an early game challenge in which Angela has to answer questions to a security officer while simultaneously keeping tabs on Trevor (who you need to sneak past guards, and can only see when Angela's looking at the right computer monitor), and wishes the game had more of those types of moments. |
| 254 | ** In his review of ''VideoGame/PrinceOfPersiaTheLostCrown'', Yahtzee noted that one of its better innovations to the {{Metroidvania}} formula was the ability to take screenshots and paste them to the map so you can remember what you need to come back to later. He does, however, find it odd that you're only allowed a limited amount of snapshots at a time and have to find collectibles to gain more when it should just be a general quality-of-life feature, comparing it to forcing the player into level grinding just to unlock a volume slider. |
| 255 | ** In "The Moral Dilemmas that Weren't", Yahtzee remarks that ''VideoGame/Vampyr2018'' came at the cusp of being brilliant with its central moral conflict: you play as a doctor who has an obligation to care for his patients, but is also a vampire who side-gigs as a monster hunter and must sustain himself with the blood of the living, with the game pressuring you into [[SadisticChoice choosing to sacrifice one or more of your named, well-rounded, often likeable patients]]. Yahtzee argues that this would have been a great test of the player's moral character... ''had the game fully committed to the concept.'' Instead, the game makes it so you don't actually ''have'' to kill anyone, and thus the whole basis for a moral dilemma is completely moot, and while going on a PacifistRun makes the game more challenging, this isn't an ideal tradeoff as being challenging can often be more ''fun'' (and given that this is the way to reach the GoldenEnding, this reads as the game actively rewarding players for not engaging with the moral choices to begin with). |
| 256 | ** Yahtzee declared this to be the big issue with ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIIRebirth'', and why despite [[SurprisinglyImprovedSequel overall enjoying it more]][[invoked]] than [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIIRemake its immediate predecessor]] and even the original ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'', he didn't really ''like'' it all that much. The cardinal flaw Yahtzee finds is just how many concepts it jumps between with little room to breathe, feeling that even the main combat (which he generally enjoyed more than in ''Remake'') is ultimately just a fall-back option for when it can't think of another minigame, of which there are dozens, describing the game as "a mile wide and an inch thick." |
| 257 | * UnreliableExpositor: [[DiscussedTrope Yahtzee described]] ''{{VideoGame/SANABI}}'' as having mildly frustrated him, as while it had some nice story twists, he found himself annoyed by how said twists were predicated on [[FakeMemories the main character's memory being false]], with the game outright lying to the audience about what they showed earlier rather than "a James Sunderland UnreliableNarrator" way where the differences are in the character's own personally-driven misinterpretations. In his ''Semi-Ramblomatic'' video "The Rules of a Good Plot Twist", he refers to ''SANABI'' as a case for one of his main rules on how to make a PlotTwist interesting rather than frustrating: it shouldn't ''lie'' to the audience. |
| 258 | * VideoGame3DLeap: Discussed in the ''Semi-Ramblomatic'' episode [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKxxHFoqqvE "Oh, That Darn Yellow Paint",]] where he argues that it ended the PlatformGame's dominance over console gaming and elevated the shooter in its place. In most 3D games, the camera's focus was no longer on where the {{Player Character}}s were located (as it was in 2D games) but rather on where they were looking, which was almost never at their feet but instead directly in front of them, making it a lot harder for players to precisely judge distances and jump between platforms or [[GoombaStomp onto enemies' heads]] but a lot ''easier'' for them to aim guns at enemies. 3D games eventually figured out how to make platforming work by embracing LeParkour and focusing less on precise landings than on lining up where players wanted their characters to go, essentially making the player characters themselves into the "bullets". |
| 259 | * VideoGameRemake: A concept briefly {{discussed|Trope}} during his review of ''VideoGame/Persona3Reload'', admitting that intellectually-speaking, he's against the idea of remaking games just for the sake of making them up-to-date with recent instalments, feeling that it erases history [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness and its earlier quirks formed by burgeoning development]] for the sake of homogeneity. |
| 260 | * VideoGameTutorial: |
| 261 | ** {{Discussed|Trope}} on the ''Semi-Ramblomatic'' video "The Lost Art of the Tutorial Level", discussing the evolution of how video games teach players their mechanics. While Yahtzee does concede that the modern trends of [[InstructiveLevelDesign integrated tutorials taking place during gameplay]] is a much more efficient and useful method, he can't help but express nostalgia for the dedicated tutorial levels of late 90's shooters like ''VideoGame/HalfLife1'', ''VideoGame/DeusEx'', and ''VideoGame/ThiefTheDarkProject'', feeling like their ability to provide a pressure-free environment to learn the gameplay while also setting up early worldbuilding before the "good stuff" of the main game was rather undervalued. |
| 262 | ** Part of "The Importance of a Good Monster Introduction" discusses how video games introduce the first enemy to the player, and thus their combat system, and how it can be done well or poorly in terms of immersing players and instructing them what to do. He prefers that games do both simultaneously, and looks down upon the fact most games feel the need to stop everything for a cutscene to zoom in on and introduce the first monster before the player gets to try and fight them. He especially mocks ''VideoGame/DoomEternal'' for this, as it not only stops the game with an informational popup before an enemy encounter, but provides literal instructions just telling you what their weaknesses are and how to fight them. |
| 263 | * VirtualPaperDoll: {{Discussed}} in the ''Stellar Blade'' review, where Yahtzee admits to being somewhat amused by the fact that amidst generic plot and gameplay, there was clearly a ton of creative effort placed into the various fanservice-y and futuristic outfits for its protagonist to wear. In general, Yahtzee also points out how in light of the controversy regarding Eve's MsFanservice design, in actually feels somewhat justifiable given the game's plot -- if you're in a post-humanist sci-fi setting where everyone's in [[{{Cyborg}} custom robot bodies]], you might as well be a hot chick. |
| 264 | -->'''Yahtzee:''' More bridges should be built between the people who want to dress up Barbies and the people who want to jerk off to big bums. Maybe ''Stellar Blade'' could bring all those people together.... hopefully in a room with adequate air conditioning. |
| 265 | * WhatDoYouMeanItsNotForKids: For an {{Invoked}} example, the sponsor promotion after the review of ''Skull and Bones'' has Yahtz find out about a movie called ''Literature/TheBoyInTheStripedPyjamas''. Believing it will be a good watch for the kids because they misbehave at bedtime, he finds out mid-watch that the film's actually about UsefulNotes/TheHolocaust. Yahtzee's kids are visibly crying thick streams of tears at the movie's scenes. |
| 266 | * WritingAroundTrademarks: Yahtzee put a lot of the video's design aesthetic and writing style into making it clear this is a continuation of his old show without actually ''mentioning'' his old show due to The Escapist keeping the rights to it. |
| 267 | ** Whereas he uses a variety of colors for the background, he notably avoids using yellow. |
| 268 | ** He uses round-bodied, pointy-limbed black creatures to represent nonhuman enemies, but they're based on his dog Toffee rather than being the imps. |
| 269 | ** Humans are represented with simple [[FloatingLimbs floaty-limb'd]] figures with boots, but they're all wearing round-toe boots instead of pointed ones as well as universally wearing glasses that make their eyes look bigger. Yahtzee himself is wearing mostly black, including his hat, and has a pair of squared off glasses. |
| 270 | * YouDontLookLikeYou: PlayedWith: in some reviews when he depicts a character from the game he's reviewing, sometimes he'll use a similar-looking character or person with some noticable differences, rather than using the actual character from the game. So [[VideoGame/HalfLifeAlyx Alyx Vance]] stands in for ''VideoGame/BeyondGoodAndEvil'''s similarly-headbanded, tan-skinned ActionGirl Jade, Creator/EricAndre replaces the curly-haired Ichiban Kasuga of ''VideoGame/LikeADragonInfiniteWealth'', and Creator/KeanuReeves portrays the likewise long-haired-and-bearded Alan Wake in [[VideoGame/AlanWake2 his eponymous sequel]]. |
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/context.php
FollowingContext WebAnimation / FullyRamblomatic
Go To
- Show Spoilers
- Night Vision
- Sticky Header
- Wide Load
