Line #83 LetsPlay/PrepareToTry


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/screen_shot_2017_12_10_at_25519_pm.png]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:"Praise the Sun!"[[labelnote:Pictured]]From left to right: [[TheGadfly Gavin Murphy]], [[IdiotHero Rory Powers]], [[TheSmartGuy Dan Krupa]][[/labelnote]]]]
3	-> ''"This is'' Prepare To Try, ''in which we challenge one man who's never played'' {{VideoGame/Dark Souls}} ''before to finish the game before'' {{VideoGame/Dark Souls III}} ''comes out. [[BlatantLies Easy]]!"''
4	--> '''--Season One introduction'''
5
6	'''Prepare To Try''' is a LetsPlay series under IGN, hosted by Dan Krupa, Rory Powers, and Gavin Murphy. Initially released as a simple LetsPlay of ''{{VideoGame/Dark Souls}}'', where Rory was challenged to complete the game before the release of ''{{VideoGame/Dark Souls III}}'', it eventually evolved into a full-on LetsPlay series where the three would play NintendoHard games together and, in their own words, [[SanitySlippage slowly lose their minds]].
7
8	On December 22, 2018, the boys revealed that they were leaving IGN to pursue a new venture, releasing a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKb2E3IcxNA 30 minute]] GrandFinale to commemorate the years they'd spent doing the series. On January 7, they revealed just what that new venture is: ''[[https://www.youtube.com/rkg/ RKG]]'', a crowd-funded channel featuring the three of them branching out and expanding their craft.
9
10	The games they've played include:
11	* ''{{VideoGame/Dark Souls}}''
12	* ''{{VideoGame/Dark Souls III}}''
13	* ''{{VideoGame/Bloodborne}}''
14	* ''{{VideoGame/ResidentEvil}}''
15	* ''{{VideoGame/Cuphead}}''
16	* ''{{VideoGame/Shadow of the Colossus}}''
17
18	----
19
20	!!Prepare to Tropes
21	* AcquiredSituationalNarcissism: In Rory's second bout against [[ThatOneBoss Ornstein and Smough]], Rory manages to defeat Ornstein and get Smough's health down to the point where all he needs is ''one more hit'' to end the whole fight. At this point, Rory decides the best course of action is to [[TooDumbToLive taunt Smough]], prompting Gav and Dan to call him out for his reckless behavior. [[spoiler:Rory dies moments after performing the taunt, thanks to Smough performing a OneHitKill move soon after]].
22	* AttackAttackRetreatRetreat: Rory frequently finds himself charging into battles fearlessly, only to want to leave as soon as he steps in the room.
23	* AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther: Dan and Gav get on Rory's case a lot, [[JustifiedTrope since Rory's prone to messing up throughout their various playthroughs]], but at the end of the day, they're friends through thick and thin.
24	* AndThisIsFor: Rory, when faced with the FinalBoss of ''Dark Souls'', proclaimed that the killing blow "was for [[spoiler:Solaire]]." When he played ''Dark Souls III'', he admitted that, at the end of it all, the only one he really wanted to avenge was [[spoiler:Anri]].
25	* {{Bathos}}: The games they play tend to be particularly dark in themes or in story, but the commentary and the many failures of the three hosts tend to devalue the horror aspects of the games and just make everything out to be a hilarious romp. This is best exemplified in the constant presence of [[PlayerCharacter Finchy]], who fights gods and destroys EldritchAbomination after EldritchAbomination time and again...despite looking like the most UnlikelyHero you could imagine.
26	--> '''Rory:''' He is not the savior we need!
27	* BeardOfEvil: Gav sports a massive beard, and while he's not evil he's the one most prone to egging Rory into doing stupid and dangerous things for entertainment's sake.
28	* BeyondTheImpossible: ''Dark Souls III'' was released on April 12, 2016. Rory was around 75% through the first ''Dark Souls'' on April 5, 2016, meaning he had to do the remaining 25% and beat some of the most difficult bosses in the game in pretty much a week, if they were gonna meet the deadline. After a week of a horrible TroubledProduction plagued with SanitySlippage, ''they managed to pull it off'' a day before ''III'' released.
29	* BigYES: Whenever Rory defeats a particularly difficult boss, he and Gav and Dan are prone to busting out in unison a huge ''"YES!"'' This is best exemplified when [[spoiler:Rory defeats Gwyn. It's hard to tell whether or not they're glad Rory beat the game or they're glad they can sleep.]]
30	* ButtMonkey: Rory's subject to a bunch of [[EpicFail Epic Fails]] (largely due to his own screw-ups), and as such gets frequently chewed out by Dan and Gav--and [[SelfDeprecation even himself]], if he messes up hard enough.
31	* BookEnds: The last episode of the first ''Prepare To Try'' series contains Rory, Gav, and Dan half-jokingly freaking out about possibly losing their jobs at [=IGN=] (thanks to the troubled production of the series), and advising viewers to support them and their endeavors with the hashtag #givetheboysjobs. The final episode of the series as a whole features them actually leaving [=IGN=], [[{{WebVideo/RKG}} having gotten jobs]].
32	* CrazyEnoughToWork: The battle against Princes Lothric and Lorian in ''Dark Souls III'' drove the boys mad enough to try something utterly ridiculous: [[spoiler:tape up napkins over the bosses' healthbars, so that they wouldn't have to worry about gauging how much health the bosses have left--and in turn have them focus on the bosses' movesets and how much Estus they've got left.]] ''They pull it off'' after a few more tries, and they can't even believe it themselves when it's all over.
33	* CripplingOverspecialization: What is the one thing Rory is consistently good at in each ''Souls'' game? ''[[DeathOrGloryAttack Parrying]]''. The few times he manages to apply parrying work especially well in his favor (such as the infamous segment involving the Anor Londo archers), but otherwise it doesn't come into real play until Rory [[WeaksauceWeakness parries]] [[FinalBoss Gwyn]].
34	* {{Determinator}}: All three of them, but props go especially to Rory, who's actually the one playing the games; the other two provide the commentary which keeps him going.
35	* EarnYourHappyEnding: The whole point of the show is to demonstrate that even the most difficult games can be beaten with effort, patience, guidance, and ThePowerOfFriendship. [[spoiler:Though months where the gang suffers constant death after constant death, SanitySlippage and multiple moments where they nearly give up out of frustration or fear of what lies ahead, Rory manages to beat ''Dark Souls'' and release the final episode of the first season literally ''a day'' before ''Dark Souls III'' comes out, to the point of everyone shouting out a BigYES in absolute joy.]]
36	** The GrandFinale features the three Finchys each defeating a single boss before jumping off a nearby cliff, in honor of the many successes and failures the boys made throughout their journeys.
37	* EveryoneHasStandards: Gav doesn't like the idea of any harm coming to the Onion Knights, to the point where even the ''idea'' that one of them dying is enough for him to declare that he'll end the series. [[spoiler:When Rory accidentally socks Siegward in the face during their ''Dark Souls III'' playthrough, Gav's just put in StunnedSilence.]]
38	* EpicFail: Rory is subject to these ''a lot'' throughout the series. So much so that to list them would be a challenge in and of itself. But this is one of the reasons why the series ended up so successful, anyway. One particular moment of shame for all three of them is during the last stretches of their boss fight with [[spoiler:The Old Demon King, where Rory manages to whittle its health down to the point where ''one single hit'' would end the whole affair. The boss is special in that shortly after its health lowers down to 10%, it will release one final AOE attack before getting stuck in an animation wherein it can do little else but flail its arms weakly against the player--as such, the trio believe him to be not much of a threat. This gets Rory ''killed'' when the boss whacks him ''accidentally'' using the backswing of his weapon, taking out the few bits of health Finchy had, and completely undoing everyone's progress. Rory, Dan, and Gav all just devolve into laughter over their own stupidity.]]
39	* FailureMontage: Essentially most of the episodes where they fight a boss.
40	* {{Foreshadowing}}: You can ''see'' the surprise and amazement in Dan's face when Rory manages to predict a particular plot point in ''Dark Souls III''.
41	--> '''Rory:''' [about Anri, after discovering she has an affinity for prism stones] [[spoiler:I'm gonna marry this girl!]]
42	** Whenever Gav or Rory manage to guess a plot point, the video will usually zoom in on Dan giving a [[Series/TheOfficeUS Jim Halpert]] face at the camera
43	* FreakOut: Rory easily gets flabbergasted in the face of particularly difficult boss fights or levels, especially in the face of [[WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes spiders]].
44	* FreudianTrio: Rory is [[TheMcCoy the Id]]; the games frequently catch him on a loop largely thanks to his own impatience, hubris, cowardice, or emotional state getting in the way of progress. Dan is [[TheSpock the Superego]], guiding Rory through the games as patiently as he can, providing advice and little bits of trivia to keep the journey interesting. Finally, Gav is [[TheKirk the Ego]], guiding Rory through the games along with Dan, but often providing humorous commentary for the sake of the video.
45	* TheGadfly: Gav frequently eggs Rory into fighting enemies that would most likely Curb-Stomp him, solely ForTheLulz.
46	* {{Gonk}}: If the game allows for CharacterCustomization, they opt to make their PlayerCharacter look as ''hideous'' as possible.
47	-->'''Dan:''' [While Rory creates Finchy I] Are we playing the missing link?
48	* GrandFinale: Released on December 22, 2018, the crew released a final video commemorating ''Prepare To Try'' before their departure from IGN, which features the three Finchys defeating a single boss before flinging themselves off cliff. After the boys reminisce on past victories and defeats, they turn out the lights and do a montage commemorating all the years they'd spent together doing the show.
49	* IdiotHero: Rory means well and often plays his characters to be as heroic as possible, even outright feeling bad whenever CrueltyIsTheOnlyOption. That being said, he often gets so flustered with the difficulty of the games he plays he ends up making rash decisions that end up killing him time and again.
50	** They characterize their personal PlayerCharacter, Finchy--all three of them--as this.
51	* {{Irony}}: Rory manages to make it through some of the most frustrating sections in ''Dark Souls'' rather easily, despite having a harder time with the rest of it. He escapes the Basilisks in the Depths without getting Cursed once, and beats the infamous Anor Londo archers by parrying the one blocking his way through. Notably, the latter is so infamously hard that it's unanimously declared by virtually all players to be one of the worst sections of the game.
52	* KatanasAreJustBetter: Rory's secondary weapon throughout the ''Dark Souls'' playthrough is an Uchigatana--it eventually becomes the weapon he beats the FinalBoss of ''Dark Souls III'' with.
53	* {{Keet}}: While Rory may not be the best ''Souls'' player in the world, his positive attitude, self-awareness, and eagerness to learn more about each game and their lore easily wins most people over to him.
54	* LegacyCharacter: Throughout all their playthroughs of the [=SoulsBorne=] games, they make their PlayerCharacter a hilariously grotesque MemeticLoser named Finchy.
55	* MagicFeather: The rationale behind Rory's boss clothing (either [[VideoGame/DarkSouls Solaire's armour]] in sweater form, or a Yarnham Hunter's cap as appropriate to the game).
56	* MemeticLoser: InUniverse, their PlayerCharacter Finchy is perpetually described as such. The trio constantly makes fun of him, his looks, and the tragic adventures he's had throughout his life--but they find his silly face and their headcanons for him so utterly hilarious they can't help but still be endeared to him.
57	* ThePowerOfFriendship: They all take potshots at each other and suffer greatly throughout each of their playthroughs, but it's largely thanks to their companionship and camaraderie that the gang is able to get through the games they play.
58	* PartingWordsRegret: In the ''{{VideoGame/Shadow of the Colossus}}'' playthrough, the trio constantly get aggravated at their AnimalCompanion, Agro, thanks to her pathfinding issues and generally unhelpful AI. [[spoiler:Cue Agro falling to her supposed death by way of a HeroicSacrifice DisneyDeath, at which point Rory and Gav cry out for her in absolute ''horror''. Even worse, a slow-motion replay of her death plays a minute later, with clips of the gang slagging Agro off placed over it. Luckily, this is eventually subverted by way of Agro actually surviving the fall.]]
59	* PatrioticFervor: Gav's Welsh, guys. You'll know it because he makes reference to how awesome Wales is every five seconds. Even when he meets an ostensibly Welsh character in a game, he gets all giddy. When Domnhall of Zena greets them with "Aye, siwmae," which is an informal greeting in Welsh, you can see Gav's eyes suddenly light up.
60	* RageBreakingPoint: There have been multiple occasions where the difficulty of each game aggravates Rory to the point where he just starts ranting like a stereotypical angry gamer. A notable occasion is before, during, and after his battle against Champion Gundyr; after dying constantly to both Gundyr and the multiple enemies before him, Rory manages to defeat him after apparently two and a half hours--only to get killed again by the Black Knights right outside the arena.
61	-->'''Rory:''' This game! This game, sometimes! Just doesn't know when to cut you a break! Because it ''never'' cuts you a break!
62	-->'''Gav:''' [[DeadpanSnarker So it knows, then]].
63	-->'''Rory:''' I'm gonna punch you in the teeth.
64	* RunningGag: If the game allows them to name their PlayerCharacter, they'll name him Finchy and make him super {{Gonk}}.
65	** Rory has a bad habit of striking [=NPCs=] accidentally. Once, this gets them in hot water with other [=NPCs=], forcing them to spend the souls from a boss to undo their sin.
66	* SanitySlippage: The trio often comment upon how their constant deaths wear and tear on their wills to press on, and while it's all PlayedForLaughs, one can't help but feel sorry for them at times. One of the worst instances of this was when they traversed The Catacombs in ''Dark Souls''.
67	* ScreamsLikeALittleGirl: Rory, in particularly frightening situations.
68	* SeinfeldianConversation: Several points throughout each of their playthroughs end up with them making pretty mundane yet humorous conversation. Gav calls this the "Banter Bus," wherein they literally just banter with one another as Rory focuses in on his latest challenge. While it actually works from time to time (Rory's concentration on the conversation actually helping him acclimate to the current challenge), sometimes it works too well (Rory ending up in a fit of laughter over something ridiculous Gav's said).
69	* SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong: The impetus of their ''Save Solaire'' playthrough of ''Dark Souls Remastered'' is making up for killing Solaire back in their first run.
70	* SidetrackedByTheGoldSaucer: InUniverse. Rory has an affinity towards Prism Stones in ''Dark Souls III'', which are essentially glowing marbles used to mark where you've been. But he likes them because they're shiny. This gets PlayedForLaughs when Dan ends up believing Rory popped the Soul of the Demon to buy Prism Stones--[[NotMeThisTime even when he didn't]].
71	* SirSwearsALot: They can't swear, since the episodes are hosted by IGN, but the gang can't help ''but'' swear since the various situations they get stuck in tend to tease out their dearest emotions. Rory even lampshades this at one point, stating that in real life he's not a swear-y person, but ''Dark Souls'' just brings it out of him.
72	* TheSmartGuy: Dan is Rory's guide and conscience throughout the playthroughs, advising him on where to go and what to do in sticky situations, even providing bits of lore now and again for the sake of making the journey more interesting.
73	* SoProudOfYou: The look in Dan's eyes whenever Rory beats a big boss says it well enough.
74	* SoundEffectBleep: Since this series is released under IGN, each episode has to have its curse words bleeped out. That being said, it's pretty inconsistent throughout the whole series, since the games tend [[SirSwearsALot to bring out the sailor in everybody]].
75	* SpotlightStealingSquad: The trio are so popular among IGN fans that whenever IGN releases a video featuring a Souls game ''without'' any of the three, downvotes on the video are all but assured. They were so popular that IGN eventually let them have their own channel, and they got thousands of subs in a single day.
76	* TheStoic: Downplayed in the case of Dan. He tends to not be very emotive throughout the playthroughs and doesn't try hiding how exasperated he can be, but he does allow for some genuine smiles here and there and is definitely proud of Rory whenever the guy overcomes a particularly difficult challenge.
77	* SurroundedByIdiots: There are moments where Dan's patience with both Rory and Gav wears pretty thin, and he often lets loose with a PrecisionFStrike, outright calling Rory an idiot, or just making exasperated expressions.
78	* TacticalWithdrawal: Often attempted, especially when the gang first play ''Dark Souls''. Whenever Rory would find himself overwhelmed by a large number of enemies, he'd opt to run away--but the AI decides simply to follow Rory till he dies. This is especially the case in [[ThatOneLevel Blighttown]], where Rory opts to run his way through more than 60% of the level, evading enemies and obstacles all the while--and of course, [[TheManyDeathsOfYou dying an inordinate amount of times]].
79	* TokenEvilTeammate: Gav is the most devious of the three, with his propensity towards ToiletHumor and generally how he loves to just mess with Rory throughout the playthroughs.
80	* TooDumbToLive: '''Rory''', much to the aggravation of Gav and Dan--and the [[ComedicSociopathy laughter of the audience]].
81	* TookALevelInKindness: Gav started off the series as a pretty gruff guy, and was prone to displaying his annoyance in an especially antagonistic manner. People even called him "Grumpy Gav," as a result. In later episodes, he shows himself to be more laid-back and good-natured, with a bit of a rough edge to him.
82	* TraumaCongaLine: Basically, their entire first playthrough of ''Dark Souls''. A challenge made on a whim ended up driving them through a seventeen-episode road trip through some of the most difficult levels in gaming. This actually extended behind the scenes, as doing the let's play was apparently such a TroubledProduction that they were seriously at risk of getting fired. Hence the hashtag in the final episode: #givetheboysjobs.
83	* UnluckilyLucky: Rory tends to get himself in particularly terrifying situations, but has more often than not found a way to wiggle out of it. Such as [[spoiler:falling down a hole in The Depths in ''Dark Souls'' and getting swarmed by [[DemonicSpiders Basilisks]], only to ''somehow'' make it out relatively unscathed]]. Dan lampshades it as much when it's all over.
84	-->'''Dan:''' Can I just say, honestly, you've done this bit ''amazingly'' well. Do you wanna know what happens if you get covered in smoke by the frogs?
85	-->'''Rory:''' Yeah, I do.
86	-->'''Dan:''' You get Cursed, [[spoiler:which reduces your health by half.]]
87	-->'''Rory:''' I-indefinitely?
88	-->'''Dan:''' Until we do something ridiculously laborious to get it back!
89	* VideoGameCaringPotential: The trio grows affectionate towards BreakoutCharacter {{Cloudcuckoolander}} Solaire, to the point where Rory [[spoiler: can't bring himself to kill him when he goes Hollow in Lost Izalith]]. Throughout their ''Souls'' playthroughs, they make constant references to Solaire and frequently have their PlayerCharacter don at least one piece of Solaire's armor set. They even opted to have Rory wear an actual Solaire hoodie during boss fights; Dan and Krupa also join in the fun whenever they reach the final boss of a ''Souls'' game. In ''Dark Souls III'', Rory and the gang grow especially attached to [[ImpliedLoveInterest Anri]], [[spoiler:even opting to marry her--when they see her in the Usurpation of Fire ending, they're outright ecstatic]]. And we're not even getting into both Onion Knights, and Agro the horse.
90	* VitriolicBestBuds: The three of them started the series off on relatively aloof terms, with Gav and Dan accosting Rory for his mistakes at an extremely frequent rate. The three of them have largely mellowed out over the course of the series, both because they've become closer as friends and because Rory generally just gets better at playing.
91	* WeAREStrugglingTogether: In particularly bad situations, the three of them may end up raging at ''each other'', or at the very least ridiculing one another. Luckily, they all have thick enough skins to take the comments in stride.
92	* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: Rory ''really'' hates spiders of any kind. Whenever he is confronted by one during ''{{VideoGame/Resident Evil}}'', he goes on the offensive while freaking out all the while.
93	* WhyWontYouDie: One notable encounter Rory has with Artorias involves Rory hammering away at his health until he gets him down to less than a bar's worth of HP. When Rory hits Artorias with what's assumed to be the killing blow, the boss survives with literal ''pixels worth of health left''.
94	--> '''Gav:''' (horrified) ''[[BigWHAT What]]!?''\
95	'''Rory:''' How is he still alive!? [[TrollingCreator This is some bullshit, Miyazaki]]!\

Context LetsPlay / PrepareToTry