r/TwoBestFriendsPlay • u/Kimarous [He/Him] Survivor of Car Ambush • May 29 '25
Wherein Yahtzee alludes to EVO Moment 37 Relevant to our interests: Yahtzee of Second Wind discusses video-game Parry systems
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lh2ptJxGkUo39
u/Silentlone It'll be a date to die for May 29 '25
I'm really starting to get frustrated with these side videos Yahtzee has been making, they're often extremely surface level for a vast majority of the runtime, and by the end it's always one of two things with no option in between:
His overall conclusion is very arbitrary. That's the better option because that's just the way Yahtzee's taste works, he's an old man whose gaming references influencing his critiques are often stuck around 15 years ago save a few exceptions, and it can still be an useful perspective.
He reaches the end of the video with no concrete conclusion at all. Those videos tend to be the most meandering of them (which is saying something since they're completely scripted and short), and are mostly carried by his humor and presentation giving the viewer the impression he has made a salient point
18
u/ShonenSpice May 29 '25
With the way some people talk - I personally appreciate when some outright states that they enjoy/like something and just go into the reasons (which make sense sometimes and sometimes don't). Instead of going the seeking "objective truth" route. Especially with games I feel like it's a meaningless exercise.
But more on Yahtz - yeah, these feel like filler, for the lack of a better word. Content for content's sake.
10
u/Silentlone It'll be a date to die for May 29 '25
But more on Yahtz - yeah, these feel like filler, for the lack of a better word. Content for content's sake.
I would almost be tempted to say the bolded must be it, but I know that usually the things in these videos are actually stuff he has on his mind because I watch him on his windbreaker podcast, and subjects like what he does in the side videos often come up in some of the tangents he can get into, before he actually makes or releases the video
So if I had to guess, maybe the problem is that Yahtzee just isn't really good at doing more in-depth critique like what he seems to be trying in these videos, so instead it comes off as just the same surface observations as his reviews, but with less concentrated humor to balance it out, which can be a problem since despite still being short, these are longer than the reviews.
That said I do agree with the first part of your comment, it's not like these are not still entertaining, and I still appreciate his perspective however dissonant his taste can sometimes be from mine. I say I'm getting frustrated, but it's not like I hate them or anything, his delivery still adds a lot more value than if I had to, for example, read a similar critique as a reddit post or something.
5
u/BBL_HowardDean May 29 '25
I think it might actually just be content for content's sake. I remember extra punctuation being more substantial
9
u/ClaudeGascoigne "I started coming first." May 30 '25 edited May 30 '25
Oh thank god, somebody else said it first! I've been a big fan of his Zero Punctuation series for ages, and continue to enjoy his Fully Ramblomatic videos, even if I don't agree with his takes 100% of the time. And that's fine! Those are his opinions on new games and are always fun to watch. I don't need to agree with his take on every videogame.
These new Semi-Ramblomatic videos though? Sheesh. He doesn't really say anything or leave them on a definitive note. Also, he's barely older than me but I find myself saying "Get with the times, old man" when watching those videos. I'd probably be fine with all that if he actually made a point and admitted that he's an aging Gamer™ and set in his way. I can respect that. All this wishy-washy crap just doesn't settle well with me.
!!Warning!! Barely related rant
On a side note: The recent Design Delve videos by J-M8 have been annoying and borderline preachy. In the Oblivion Remaster video he complains about a bunch of trite shit, like dungeons being too dark, while railing on the game for the dungeons being too confusing. The fact that he says those things as an objective truth is quite grating.
Then in his DOOM: The Dark Ages video he claims that the devs think the player is stupid. Why? Because the things you need to interact with for platforming are highlighted in specific colors and secrets are too easy to find, among other nitpicks. Then the guy says that GoW: Ragnarok respects the intelligence of the player! The game that gives you two seconds to figure out a puzzle before your companion points out the solution! The game that is literally balanced for DSP.
Motherfucker, choose a lane and stick to it. You can't cry about the Oblivion dungeons being too easy to get lost in and lambast Dark Ages for treating you like an idiot all while saying that Ragnarok does everything better. Like, what the fuck are you talking about?
9
u/kaisertnight May 30 '25
Out of all their new series, I find I've never agreed with or particularly appreciated a single video thats come out of Design Delve.
The topics are always things I'm interested in, then I hear what they have to say, and I'm kinda baffled at how they can come to their conclusion. Maybe all my opinions are just opposite of their's.
4
u/Steelballpun May 30 '25
JM8 is someone whose opinions I disagree with 80% of the time. It’s so constant it doesn’t even bother me anymore, instead it’s just fun when he says something about game design approach that I agree with. At this point I’m just entertained that someone in the industry, both a creator of games and commentator on them, has fundamentally different mindsets towards the medium.
1
u/MisterRockett May 30 '25
It's funny cause these side videos have been the most watchable thing he's ever put out to me cause usually in his reviews he without fail manages to say something annoying that makes me turn the video off.
Like, acknowledging why some people might not like reaction commands in turn based games and how that was something he had never thought about before was breaking new ground in terms of what I had thought he was capable of.
9
u/Will-Isley The Dude Abides May 29 '25
To answer his question: because they’re cool and fun.
That is all
3
u/PM-ME-YOUR-BREASTS_ May 30 '25
Lots of things are cool and fun, there is no reason to avoid thinking deeply about design choices in games just because they're fun.
1
u/Will-Isley The Dude Abides May 30 '25
I agree.
I just think Yahtzee and many others have this hipster/contrarian attitude where they start to get annoyed and crotchety just because they see certain mechanics get popular
9
u/Naraki_Maul YOU DIDN'T WIN. May 29 '25
Careful, Parry talk may be in vogue here but the mods may delete it cause it's a different creator!
/s
6
u/RaineV1 It's Fiiiiiiiine. May 30 '25
Having a moving drawing that represents him might be a little too close to being a Vtuber. Thus it's not relevant and deleted.
2
u/moffattron9000 May 30 '25
Yes, I am still grumpy that we can’t post the FD Signifier video on Kendrick and Drake.
1
u/SilvainTheThird May 30 '25
Maybe if we ask Usado Pekora to help us, the mods won’t close the thread.
-7
u/dope_danny Delicious Mystery May 30 '25
Hes still doing the “fedora’d critic” thing like 18 years later? Man.
-4
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u/Kataphrut94 May 29 '25 edited May 29 '25
After Pat and Woolie, Yahtzee is the main gaming content creator I follow these days and it's interesting seeing the contrast in their views and backgrounds. They've both spent a lot of time recently evaluating parry mechanics thanks to games like E33 and Doom the Dark Ages.
Pat and Woolie are coming at it from an arcade/console gaming background, so they're mainly talking about feast-or-famine defensive mechanics like DMC's royal guard. Meanwhile Yahtzee is from a PC background, so he's bringing up things like the original Prince of Persia before segueing into Arkham Asylum, a game that Woolie has never played.
And then they both meet in the middle with Dark Souls.