Game Grumps are usually funny, but I do tend to just leave them on a nearby window while I do something else, since I know I'll get frustrated at them missing obvious things. At least these days they actually pause and check the solution when they get stuck, and avoid blaming the game when the answer isn't immediately obvious.
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Let me guess, Wind Waker during the Earth Temple?
In their recent Link to the Past walkthrough, they forgot to check one of the doors in a labyrinth (the door that led to the exit) and declared the whole cave a dead end. At least it was optional.
It was Sonic Boom Rise of Lyric, actually.
But that one sounds equally worthy of ????
I do like some of their other stuff, though. Like Steam Train and Table Flip.
edited 24th Jun '15 5:00:26 PM by Enlong
I have a message from another time...I've been watching Chugga's Let's Play of Gale of Darkness. I'd already seen his regular Colosseum and Xenoblade Chronicles Let's Play.
In terms of the pokemon lets plays, I find that Chugga......blathers a lot. I mean, sometimes it's blah blah blah blah blah.... OH COME ON!!!!!...... blah. He tends to not use items or do certain things that make sense (to me, but maybe I'm overly cautious. But he also said something I really agree with about how they should have kept exploring the concept of Orre (something that's simply not going to happen now that the series has gone full 3d).
Love his Let's Play videos, but I guess my natural annoyance at the talking in them makes me harsher on him.
edited 24th Jun '15 5:45:51 PM by HandsomeRob
One Strip! One Strip!I like Emile's almost stream-of-consciousness style commentary. I also appreciate that we will shut up during voiced cut scenes or if a character speaks up during gameplay and he thinks that his audience should hear it (his LP of Kid Icarus: Uprising is a good example of that).
I like video walkthroughs for high skill games like Bayonetta or Devil May Cry. It's usually awesome to watch and gives me ideas on how to do better in the game.
edited 24th Jun '15 6:09:48 PM by Zelenal
Let the joy of love give you an answer! Check out my book!I think Chip and Ironicus and their guests like Voidburger and Snarkcookie and KC Green are pretty funny, and pretty good at the games they play, and know a lot about the games.
Especially with the Metal Gear series and Uncharted, and Voidburger's let's plays of Silent Hill.
Chip loves to do goofy things with the editing that I think are fun.
edited 24th Jun '15 6:34:51 PM by unnoun
I don't watch Let's Plays, outside of very rarely those done by people I know for something else, when I'm just watching it to hear the comedy (and even then, that's basically just Xenoverse here, and not much else). I rarely watch longplays, and only really do when I'm trying to find a specific cutscene I couldn't easily get to on my own, or just don't feel like pulling up.
The South Park episodes about let's plays were when the (formerly very good) season of the show and the idea of let's plays became dead to me.
I really don't see the point or entertainment value of Let's Plays, personally. They're seldom funny, the player usually has a very grating voice and dull sense of humor, and they usually suck at the game and not in an entertaining-to-watch way. In a "Oh my god you idiot JUST DO [INSERT OBVIOUS ACTION HERE] ALREADY!" way. Not to mention I'd rather just play the game myself rather than care about some random guy's opinion on it.
And then they spawn a legion of annoying fans who often have no idea what they're talking about and take their word as gospel rather than actually bothering to do any further research, or go around bothering actual fans of the game in question.
But that's just me.
As far as the TFS in-character Let's Plays go, I gave them a try since the idea of the characters playing games sounded funny, but... it's really not very different. They just speak in a voice the whole time and make a vague attempt at being in-character. The short ones like I Am Bread were entertaining, but I could never sit down and watch them play a whole game.
edited 24th Jun '15 7:17:12 PM by Anomalocaris20
You cannot firmly grasp the true form of Squidward's technique!Because I have never seen a good example.
Also, because unless the person playing the game is an absolute genius who makes every moment witty and worthwhile, I just don't see the appeal of watching someone else play a game.
Like I said, that's my personal opinion. I don't find LP's entertaining but I'm not going to begrudge someone who does (unless they're doing the aforementioned things).
You cannot firmly grasp the true form of Squidward's technique!I don't watch Let's Plays for entertainment. I generally watch them so I can see games that I'm not going to play, or that I haven't played for a while. The commentary isn't too important to me, unless it's offensive or something.
That's why I don't like Game Grumps and Let's Plays based on personality.
For TFS plays, Xenoverse has been fun because it's just them rambling on about Dragon Ball while playing video games. That, and making jokes about Dumplin.
The *Legendary* Super Saiyan is motivated by a crying infant! He is a literal giant f***ing baby!There are plenty of Let's Plays where the person is exceptionally good at the game. Though, people seem to be really hung up on the "watch a person play a video game" aspect. For the more comedy focused people, it's like a combination of MST 3 K and a sports announcer. For the informative players, it's like a casual lecture or seminar. Then there are the ones that have scripts and roleplay, where it's like a machinima. Then there's the ones that are loud, high energy yelling jokes, and ones that are straight forward video walkthroughs and reviews. And then they can mix. TFS's Let's Plays seem to mostly be the playthrough, review, MST 3 K, and roleplay (when using the characters) stuff.
I mean, some let's plays actually serve to encourage people to get the game in question.
Or show off a game that's hard to find. Or show off unintuitive or less obvious aspects of a certain game.
There's actually a lot of different formats too.
Like, there's screenshot L Ps, which I think is neat for some games because it can have a more subdued pace, useful for things like, I dunno, games with a lot of references to things, so you can look up whether or not those references are good or not; and subtitled L Ps where the commentary is in text form, which works for games like Silent Hill where the audio and sound design is so important.
I think that seeing how other people experience and react to things is interesting. When I experience something for the first time, I can only experience it for the first time, with fresh eyes, once. But seeing other people's experiences can be helpful. Give me a new perspective.
In addition to the criticism and analysis I normally encourage and practice with media.
I mean.
Let's plays of truly awful games like Sonic 06 can be reliably entertaining, depending on the let's player. There is always a new glitch or something else to screw people over. And reactions to that can be fun.
Watching it is a lot more cathartic than playing it. Schadenfreude.
And, again, I sorta love the idea of a cut-up text. The way that it's possible to make new art out of repurposed old art. And I think some bits of editing accomplish that.
Like P.A.L.S.
And its sequel.
edited 24th Jun '15 7:32:44 PM by unnoun
See, getting someone else's impression and experience of a game I can get. But A) I'd rather hear from somebody I actually know and care about rather than some stranger on the internet and B) I'd rather just read a few lines about it than sit around watching for hours. Screenshot LP's are much better in that regard. Oh, and C), I'd rather be able to directly interact with them rather than just quietly listen.
But again, I should clarify that that's just my stance on the matter. If you find entertainment value in it I have no reason to begrudge that.
edited 24th Jun '15 7:25:54 PM by Anomalocaris20
You cannot firmly grasp the true form of Squidward's technique!Silent playthroughs are boring for me. I mean, I don't mind if people shut up during the cutscenes (in fact, I prefer that), but during normal gameplay, where no one's talking...it can be very boring just watching them play without commentary. And people like Chuggaaconroy use that to talk about parts of the game that you might not have realised. Or to reflect on personal experiences.
And then I'm also subscribed to HC Bailly, who mostly plays JRP Gs and knows how to break them, pretty much. Also, he's the biggest Troper, so it's fun to watch him play really Troperrific JRP Gs.
The *Legendary* Super Saiyan is motivated by a crying infant! He is a literal giant f***ing baby!Silent playthroughs aren't Let's Plays, just normal walkthroughs of videogames.
I'm subscribed to Rurikhan, Epic Name Bro, and Far From Subtle right now for Let's Plays.
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I'll have to check out HC Baily's videos now.
See, that's why I prefer either 100% Let's Plays (since the LPer has to know what they're doing) or ones where I find the commentator(s) to be funny (like TFS's stuff). It's why I don't like watching Markiplier do LPs of horror games since he often isn't that funny during them and he isn't going for 100% and my OCD kicks in if I notice a secret but the player doesn't go for it.
I also really like Extra Credit's Side Quest. Even if Dan isn't great at Dark Souls, I've never seen it before and listen to Dan and James talk about the game design in dept is fascinating.
edited 24th Jun '15 7:37:47 PM by Zelenal
Let the joy of love give you an answer! Check out my book!

Their highlights are usually hilarious. Like that infamous moment during their Sonic 06 playthrough where one of them was playing as Knuckles and got stuck on a pillar. They they spent about ten minutes trying to get off the damn pillar and it wasn't their fault.
The start of their Sonic Boom LP is also great because one of their members snaps their neck at the beginning of it. And then ruins it when he releases the water bottle causing it to make more noise. Oh, and the two episodes where their editor points out all of the graphical stupidity in the first cut scene and one not too long after that.
And that's basically all I've seen of the Game Grumps.
Let the joy of love give you an answer! Check out my book!