Yahtzee Croshaw (Zero Punctuation, Fully Ramblomatic)

Today, on the Zero Punctuation, My Friend Pedro and A Sea of Solitude:

Some of his best jokes, this one.

Yahtzee has certainly had his fill of "arty indie platformers" exploring themes of sadness, grief, and/or depression in an attempt to win critical acclaim.

EA try to make people like them again by backing a "arty indie game" that meaningful depict mental health issue. Too bad that game just so shallow and think it smarter than it actually is.

im so glad he brought back the animated end cards. they were always one of my favorite bits of the show and ive missed them a lot.

And, for those who don't like peeking ahead on the Escapist's website, next week you'll be laughing at an industry that never learns anything, tee-hee-hee.

Turns out the goat story is, indeed, real.

I wonder what the marketing meeting for that goat be like?

"Core gameplay loop" seems to be Yahtzee's favorite term this year, but it's understandable.

It's a valid criticism about a game that it focuses too much on the world and story and sacrifices core gameplay. Or when AAA publishers sacrifice world-building, story, and gameplay atop the altar of microtransactions and loot boxes, but I digress.

At least indie and AAA developers can offer the distinction of having their heads stuck up their asses in different ways.

Edited by Fighteer on Aug 1st 2019 at 10:58:29 AM

I do find it interesting that he reviewed one game with great gameplay but nothing else to speak of, and another with no meaningful gameplay. Maybe they should have smashed thing together.

At any rate, a pretentious game about depression might be more interesting if the gameplay involves shooting people in comically over the top action sequences.

As happens in the credits gag, which I personally feel is the entire reason Yahtzee decided to review those games together.

x2 The developer's might/should to add a story in the sequel.

I'm no developer, but in my mind, making sure the core gameplay is solid is imperative, the story can just be added later.

Make a fun game first, then add a story. This should be the mantra of every developer.

For sure. But at the end of the day, the tightest, most expertly designed platformer or shooter or fighting game or whatever still would get zero traction if it consisted of grey blobs in a grey room. Presentation is important, and a game is more than just the gameplay — there are many games that are fondly regarded, even held up as masterpieces, despite the gameplay not being exemplary for the genre. A video I saw a while back of the infamous Dm C Devil May Cry versus Metal Gear Rising comes to mind — the former is, by most criteria (and taking the much-upgraded Definitive Edition into account) better as an action game, mechanically, but the latter is far more loved for its characters, soundtrack, and bombastic sequences while the former is... divisive.

Let me be clear: a game can use story as its draw, but unless it is fun to play, it won't matter much except for a very niche audience. Consider Yahtzee's ongoing love affair with the Yakuza series, whose plot he frankly admits is ludicrous but whose gameplay he really, really likes.

Edited by Fighteer on Aug 2nd 2019 at 9:16:33 AM

I mean, part of Yakuza's appeal specifically is the ludicrous plot. It's wonderful.

x3 Granted, but the thing is both games have solid gameplay and are fun to play, so while one might be more balanced than the other the fact remains the developers made sure to polish everyrhinf up first.

There's also a few "skip the game, see the story" games like (arguably) the original Nie R and Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, but that's more arguable.

There's also style. Some games don't have a great story, but ooze style.

I'd consider, say, Killer7 a game with a bad story and bad gameplay but it's still one of my all time favorite gaming experiences because while the story is bad, it's so stylish and over-the-top that it's fun.

the original Baldur's Gate might also qualify. early D&D was fairly player-hostile and BGI doesn't have the quality of life improvements So A made. gameplay wise it's not very much fun, but the story is phenomenal.

Yeah,you start as level 1 and everything kills you leading to a lot of reloading

Early Game Hell indeed

I give some of those earlier games a pass because everyone was still experimenting. Heck, D&D itself used to be pretty hostile to level 1 players, since everything could kill you in 1 or 2 hits.

I think story vs gameplay is more of a spectrum.

There absolutely are games that sell themselves on the story with virtually no gameplay to speak of. That's the entire Visual Novel and Walking Simulator genre.

Ehh, I wouldn't really consider Visual Novels as "games", but that hole has no bottom.

But where do you draw the line then? There's a whole spectrum of interactivity.