Line #22 WebVideo/Sequelitis


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Sequelitis_4335.png]]
2
3	''Sequelitis'' was a short-lived Website/YouTube video game review series that ran from 2011 to 2014, created by Arin "Creator/{{Egoraptor}}" Hanson, who acts serves as the [[AnimatedActor animated show host]]. The series sees Egoraptor analyze the game design of various video games, comparing and contrasting them with their sequels (hence the name), and working out what went well and what went wrong. The series itself can be viewed [[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLu5a9-aw8CA_xRgSUtUjcEem6d_cJk9Mx here]].
4
5	Due to the combination of the long production times required for each episode and believing that other personalities are better equipped to make video essays of this nature, Egoraptor would reveal in 2016 that [[https://www.reddit.com/r/gamegrumps/comments/4gvk9j/im_arin_im_on_a_plane_my_back_hurts_and_here_i_am/d2l3lqk there are currently no plans to continue the series]].
6
7	!!!List of episodes:
8	# ''VideoGame/{{Castlevania\|I}}'' vs ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaIISimonsQuest''
9	# ''VideoGame/MegaMan Classic'' vs ''VideoGame/MegaManX''
10	# ''VideoGame/{{Castlevania\|I}}'' vs ''VideoGame/SuperCastlevaniaIV''
11	# ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast'' vs ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime''
12
13	''For the trope of the same name, click [[{{Sequelitis}} here]].''
14	----
15	!! LET'S TAKE A LOOK AT SOME EXAMPLES!:
16
17	* {{Angrish}}: Egoraptor loves to chain {{smash cut}}s one after another, usually when his speech gets incoherent. Interestingly enough, he seems to {{invert\|edTrope}} this trope more often then he plays it straight; his NNNYYYYAAAARRRRGHHH[=s=] occur most frequently when he is [[SugarWiki/GushingAboutShowsYouLike explaining what a game did right]].
18	* AnnoyingVideoGameHelper: [[invoked]]Parodied in the Mega Man X episode, with Roll. Throughout Arin's explanation, she keeps popping up to tell Mega Man things that are blatantly obvious, which Arin interrupting her each time to scream at her.
19	* {{Antepiece}}: Discussed. Arin says that the reason the ''Mega Man'' games work so well is because they introduce an element in an environment where the challenge is minimal, then ramp up the difficulty. For instance, he cites how Hammer Joes are placed in such a way that you can always see them throw their hammer before you can get hit by it, and Gyro Man's stage in ''Mega Man 5'' introduces multiple elements before throwing all of them together.
20	* ArtEvolution: Between the Mega Man X video and the Legend of Zelda video, he got more people to help with animation, and as such appears a bit different, sporting a new outfit.
21	* BrokenAesop: As discussed by LetsPlay/RoahmMythril [[https://youtu.be/XqyAO-T33pM?t=12m20s here]], Arin's argument in the ''Mega Man'' episode that the HopelessBossFight against Vile in the intro stage is supposed to motivate the player to get stronger and defeat Vile falls apart considering what ''actually'' happens when facing Vile again -- even with all weapons and upgrades, the player is ''still'' forced to lose until Zero [[HeroicSacrifice blows up his Ride Armor]] and the player fights him on foot, giving off the impression that the player beats Vile not because they got stronger, but because ''he'' got ''weaker'', making one wonder if X would've been able to beat Vile initially if he didn't have his Ride Armor. What's more, both times Vile's attacks can be dodged indefinitely, and Vile can be hit so many times that he ''should'' lose, but doesn't because [[PlotArmor the plot demands it]].
22	* BrokenTears: After Arin [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech lays into]] both of them, Roll and ''Skyward Sword'' are both reduced to sobbing wrecks just for trying to offer assistance. [[TheUnapologetic Not that Arin is sorry for it.]]
23	* CallBack: In the ''VideoGame/MegaMan'' episode of ''Lemon 'n Bill'', Lemon seems to think that Mega Man's shots are actually lemons. Flash forward two years to the ''Mega Man X'' episode, when Egoraptor is pretending to hold the IdiotBall and is trying to figure out the controls. He finally finds the fire button and proclaims ''"YEAH! LEMONS!"''
24	* ClusterFBomb: The man drops 176 F-bombs by the end of his fourth episode. Some of them are [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qciOI4tkCxU here]] for your viewing pleasure.
25	--> ''"I know you're not a stupid kid, '[[LampshadeHanging cause I say "FUCK" a lot and you're okay with that]]."''
26	* Administrivia/ComplainingAboutShowsYouDontLike: Discussed in-universe in the ''Zelda'' video. An in-universe fanboy tries to write a "preemptive counterargument"; Egoraptor throws him out the window when it's clear that he's just being angrily defensive and isn't willing to watch the video. Turns into a BrickJoke during the credits, the fanboy returning to write a ''post''emptive counterargument and Egoraptor saying "you watched the video, that's only fair".
27	* CurseCutShort: His {{Smash Cut}}s sometimes do this, but they also cut lots of ''other'' sentences short, too.
28	* DerangedAnimation: This series isn't a stranger to overly exaggerated facial expressions. Arin's eyes sometimes nearly pop out of his head, and someone's mouth will often stretch to take up the majority of their face when they're yelling.
29	* DestinationDefenestration: Arin does this to the ''Zelda'' ultra-fan who starts getting on his ass about his beliefs that ''Ocarina of Time'' isn't the greatest game of all time.
30	* DevelopersForesight: This is what Egoraptor gushes about the most in the ''Mega Man X'' review. Everything is expressed via gameplay, and the tutorial, despite being present, has a [[ShowDontTell very subtle]] approach when it comes to teaching the basics to newbie players, without relying on prompts, [[ExpositionFairy Exposition Fairies]], or anything of the sort.
31	* EvenBetterSequel: ''VideoGame/MegaManX'', [[SugarWiki/GushingAboutShowsYouLike according to him.]] Arin says that while ''Mega Man'' was good, ''X'' was even better, and that it's his favorite game of all time. Arin then spends a good few minutes just gushing about how much he likes the game.[[invoked]]
32	* ExpositionFairy:
33	** Spoofed with Roll. "Mega Man! Mega Man! There's a hole in the zip-line that you" [[TalkToTheFist punch]] "No, SHUT UP; I don't ''need'' you!"
34	** Oddly, his Zelda video barely mentions the trope, despite it being one of the most common criticisms of modern Zelda games.
35	* FakeDifficulty: Criticizes ''Ocarina of Time'' for being a test of patience rather than a test of skill.
36	* ForcedLevelGrinding: One of his gripes with ''Castlevania II'' is the need to farm hearts to buy upgrades.
37	-->''"So instantly, this becomes farming, and instantly, this becomes pointless and dumb![[note]] These kind of things are meant to elongate a game. They are made to manipulate you into thinking you are achieving something more than you are actually achieving"[[/note]]''
38	* GoddamnedBats: One of his complaints about Zelda's transition to 3D is that it gives rise to this trope more readily. Minor enemies now have to be targeted individually for you to be able to hit them, instead of the "selective z-axis" making it a simple task. This is illustrated with footage of Keese, the Zelda series' bat-like enemies. [[invoked]]
39	* GuideDangIt: His biggest complaint about ''Castlevania II: Simon's Quest'' is that there's a ton of elements that the player is expected to know, and yet can't figure out without trial-and-error. He even cites a fanmade mod of the game that makes the NPC chatter much less obtuse as to where to go and what to do, but says that it's still a pain even in spite of that.
40	--> '''''NUMBER 8: WHERE DO I FUCKING GO?!'''''
41	* SugarWiki/GushingAboutShowsYouLike: Invoked. When talking about ''Megaman X'' he can't think of a number three on the "what they did right" list, so he spent two minutes gushing.
42	* HiddenDepths: Yes, these shows are mostly comedy. Yes, he says [[ClusterFBomb "fuck"]] a lot. But when it comes right down to it, Egoraptor really does know what he's talking about when he's reviewing these games. Sometimes crosses into SophisticatedAsHell (see his "Snack food vs. high class dessert" comparison at the end of his Simon's Quest video).
43	* HopelessBossFight: Egoraptor brings up that the Vile fight in ''Mega Man X'' was used well for the sake of theme, since the player felt Mega Man's helplessness in the situation.
44	* InstructiveLevelDesign: Egoraptor praises ''Mega Man'' and ''Mega Man X'' for their use of teaching the player how to play the game without [[ShowDontTell explicitly telling them anything]].
45	* MotorMouth: Egoraptor tends to talk insanely fast as well, mostly when he gets hyper-excited.
46	* MundaneMadeAwesome: Shows up a lot while he pretends to be a complete moron while playing ''Mega Man X''.
47	-->''"Holy shit YOU CAN JUMP AND SHOOT AT THE SAME TIME!"''
48	* {{Nerdgasm}}: One segment in the ''VideoGame/MegaManX'' video is "Why Mega Man X is so fucking good that it makes my dick rock-hard!"
49	* NoEnding: The first episode stops abruptly in the middle of a food metaphor.
50	* NoIndoorVoice: Egoraptor has a tendency to '''[[SuddenlyShouting START YELLING]]''' at random.
51	* {{Padding}}: Discussed in-universe. It's seen as a FranchiseOriginalSin to ''Legend of Zelda'', and how you're tricked into thinking you're making progress where you're really not.
52	* PowerupLetdown: The main focus of his ''Super Castlevania IV'' video is that, due to the greatly increased utility of the whip, [[OvershadowedByAwesome the sub-weapons become more or less useless]]. While saying that the game is far from bad, the fact that the whip is so overpowered means that whipping is all that you need to beat the game.[[invoked]]
53	* PreemptiveShutUp: The final two times [[ExpositionFairy Roll]] appears in the ''Mega Man X'' review, instead of verbally abusing her, Egoraptor just covers her mouth with his hand. All fine and dandy until you realize the second-to-last time she appears Ego is holding what appears to be a ''chloroform rag''.
54	* RealLifeWritesThePlot: Egoraptor was sick when working on the first episode leading to the creation of his animated avatar. He'd originally intended to just put himself in front of the camera. He has occasionally lamented the extra work this created for him in setting this as the show's format.
55	* RhetoricalQuestionBlunder: In ''Super Castlevania IV'', he asks, "How many times did you throw the knife? HOW MANY TIMES?" Many commenters pointed out that they never used the knife anyway, because it was consistently a PowerupLetdown throughout the series.
56	* RuleOfCool: Lampshaded in his ''Mega Man X'' review.
57	--> ''RIDIN' ON CARS!'' (cue electric guitar riff from ''Film/BillAndTedsExcellentAdventure'')
58	* SacredCow: [[invoked]]Parodied.
59	--> The fuck am I doin' with my life. I'm harshly criticizing ''Ocarina of Time'' on the internet. I'm gunna get ''[=CRUcified=]''!!
60	* {{Sequelitis}}: In-universe, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin duh.]] However, despite being addressed when present, it is not the core point of the series, as it rather relies on the stark contrast between a game and its sequel instead.
61	* ShoutOut: Egoraptor gives one to ''WebVideo/TheAngryVideoGameNerd'' in his ''Castlevania'' Vs. ''Simon's Quest'' video, acknowledging the game had already been reviewed by another popular [=YouTube=] persona.
62	* SmashCut: As noted above, as soon as the {{angrish}} kicks in, Egoraptor stops it with one of these. There are so many moments of this, though, that it can count as a RunningGag as well.
63	* SophisticatedAsHell: Very. As goofy and foul-mouthed as he is, the depth and complexity of some of his analyses show how much he really knows about the subjects.
64	* TakeThat: Roll constantly popping up and giving superfluous advice is a jab at Alia constantly popping up to halt the gameplay with advice in VideoGame/MegaManX5, as well as the (thankfully optional) hint system in Mega Man Anniversary Collection.
65	* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Gives a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOC3vixnj_0&t=25m2s scathing one]] to ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword Skyward Sword]]'' in his ''Link to the Past vs Ocarina of Time'' video.
66	--> '''Egoraptor:''' GOD, SHUT UP! Seriously! You want all this attention like you care, like you really gave it your all in a new innovative Zelda experience! But instead you led Zelda into a frustrating monotony. You know, what started the franchise was like this sense of wonder, and what has thus far concluded the franchise is a sense of formality; a predictable, time consuming mess that asks you not of your sense of adventure, or even your wits, but instead your ability to listen and follow directions. You ask of us our ability to point something at something else and then walk towards it. You ask of us our willingness to get another bow and arrow, fight another boss with another giant glowing eyeball. Gee, I wonder how to FUCKING beat it?! I FUCKING WONDER ''Skyward Sword''! You ask of us to get a cat from the top of a roof and carry it over to some guy who says "thank you." The Adventures of Link, Cat Delivery Man! IS THAT YOUR TITLE?! What's the tagline at the end?! “Cat’s out of the bag and onto the roof! 10/10!” No Wiimote motion issues here that could possibly cripple the entire experience! BEST IN THE SERIES! You’re like a spoiled rich kid who gets everything bought for you your entire life, and then when it comes to making it on your own, you can’t take it. You expect everyone to love you because you are who you are - part of the illustrious Zelda lineage. Nothing could possibly be wrong with you! You ‘’look’’ just like a Zelda! But you’re not one. You’re a pampered, doughy snob wearing nice clothes expecting to graduate scot-free because your daddy is an alum. Why would you need to improve? Why would you need to get any better? Everyone just agrees with your shitty ideas because you're a Zelda. FUCK YOU Skyward Sword. FUCK YOU!
67	* TheyChangedItNowItSucks: Played with in-universe. While this is a common complaint, it gets played with in that it's not the change that's the problem, it's failure to adapt to the change made.
68	* TheUnapologetic: Two well-meaning characters are deeply hurt by Arin's words, and he doesn't feel sorry when he sees them [[BrokenTears broken by him]].
69	** After one too many interruptions by [[VideoGame/MegaManClassic Roll]], Arin snaps at her.
70	--->'''Roll:''' [[StylisticSuck MEGA MAN!!!1]] THOSE PLATFORMS FALL WHEN YOU--\
71	'''Arin:''' HEY, NO FUCKING SHIT! THEY'RE FALLING! THEY'RE ''FUCKING'' FALLING! I can ''see'' that! How many fuck-- ''[[{{Angrish}} RRRRRGH!]]'' I'M GOIN' ''CRAZY'' HERE!\
72	'''Roll:''' ''(whimpers before sobbing)''\
73	'''Arin:''' ''(sighs)'' I'm sorry, just... [[BackhandedApology I don't feel sorry for you?]]
74	** The second time that ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword Skyward Sword]]'' enters the scene, Arin accuses it of taking fun and making it unfun.
75	--->'''''Skyward Sword'':''' Hey, man, that's low.\
76	'''Arin:''' ''So is my interest in playing you again.'' [[TakeThat Oh, shit!]] ''(clap)'' BURN! ''...BURN!'' I'm sorry, I'm just [[BackhandedApology really proud of what I've done today]]. Plus... I ''really'' hate you.
77	* ViewersAreMorons: Egoraptor explains how the modern game developers portray this with tutorials for obvious things in the ''Mega Man X'' episode.
78	** He pretends to be a complete moron ([[TakeThat like modern game developers assume]]).
79	** [[invoked]]He also points out the UnfortunateImplications that as games have become more and more 'adult' in tone (i.e. BloodierAndGorier) the tutorials have treated the gamers more and more like complete morons incapable of thinking for themselves.
80	----
81	''...Wait '''that was it!?'''''

Context WebVideo / Sequelitis