I feel like you should instead be having an aneurysm about the fact that this same old man is psychically controlling a hoard of rats to form waves and pillars
@@louiesalmon3932 Nope, the game establishes the idea he can control rats within this story, it's internally consistent. Killing soldiers in one shot but taking three for the old man is internally inconsistent unless he also has special rat powers that make him extra durable somehow.
@@sampappas6934 i hope he does more vids.....apparently hes been writing about game of thrones the tv series on a site that i already forgot the name of
I thought you'd know by now dude, it's the rats. The frigging RATS! Clean them, skin them and grill them. Prima Macula Magic(TM) solves the problem of the plauge virus. With the abundance of rats the just pick some whenever, like an apple from an apple tree!
@@maskedvalerian1095 Yeah, to be fair, I think all stealth games aren't realistic though this game kind of on a whole different level. And to be fair again, this game's focus is the story so I forgive the stealth mechanics :)
About Hugo not reaching the first threshold of the Prima Macula when he is forced to massacre the guards and why he blindly attacks Amicia - it is actually explained, and it's two different things, but maybe too sublte and easy to forget if you don't play the game in a single run. 1. When Beatrice says that Hugo doesn't progress because of Amicia, she instinctively knows that her daughter cared enough to go back to the chateau and somehow finished her work, maybe with the help of the healer / alchemist she sent her kids to. She doesn't know how she did it, but she's certain her daughter was able to help. The potion Lucas comes up with actually serves to halt the progress before the first threshold, that was the whole point of making it. It might not be easy to realize this from a single "Amicia!" and her expression, but consider this: Beatrice's whole life revolved around making that potion. She spent five years with minimal help to be able to slow down the sickness before the first threshold just to gain enough time to educate her son about the Prima Macula and the voices in his head. She fails to do so, and knows she will be captured, but sends her daughter to the ONLY living alchemist, who knows about the details of her work and how to finish it. Hugo simply being alive is a sign that Amicia did just that. 2. When you play as Hugo and crawl through the alchemists laboratory, at the highest point of the library, there are two alchemists talking about the progress of the Prima Macula. According to the old tomes, the carrier is said to go mad or be at ease "next to the one who tamed it". Hugo needs Amicia, because Amicia is the one that tamed him and the taint he carries in his blood. He is visually shown to be actually half conscious throughout most of the scene. It is easy to mistake as a solemn look, but you can see that he only visually reacts to Amicia and no one else. He doesn't speak with or listens to the knight with him, doesn't show his anger until the final conversation, doesn't try to defend himself for his decisions or to brag about how he found her mother without Amicia. In short he doesn't show his usual behavior patterns or behaviors that would be plausible from a kid. He is on the verge of transcending his current self, and when Amicia takes the leap of faith to him, risking the attack of the rats, he is shown to wake up and completely change his behaviour.
Well said. Here's randomly something I loved about the game's story (which is definitely not "a weaker version of The Last of Us"): all the people who rally around Amicia are the sons and daughters of a generation orphaned by the war. They all lost a parental figure and picked up their trade to desperately carry on towards an uncertain future.
I'm really glad you explained this. Even after three playthroughs of this game, I was still so confused about how Amicia was connected to Hugo's first threshold and how killing her would help him reach it, but your explanation makes a lot of sense.
Thanks for that breakdown, well said, this game had never so emotional by the end, was sobbing, it was an amazing platinum experience, looking forward to playing the sequel,heard it's better, and the story is also even more emotional.🙏💯
I absolutely loved the shit out of this game, I kinda get some of your gripes like not handing torches around, and while that makes sense, I felt the game got me immersed enough that I just rolled with it
exacty i too rolled with it. and mayble i played exactly as intended by the devs and literally there has not been even one time when AI fucks up. its been perfect for me
Agreed with everything you said, but honestly, all those little things didn't dampen my gameplay experience at all (the only one that bothered me a bit and stood out was leaving the torches and other fire sources behind while the game tries so hard to sell you on the importance of fire and light as a strategy against rats). I mean come on, it was a team of like 40 people that put together what feels and plays like a AAA experience, and they did an incredible job. The game was narratively focused, well paced, emotionally impactful, had excellent gameplay mechanics, and had an extremely satisfying ending. I would much much rather prefer those 40 people spend the precious little energy and time they have on things like performance, optimization, proper save systems, great environments, intuitive UI, character development, localization, accessibility, etc. Which they did! At the end of the day, despite all its little flaws, we got something amazing and I really think the studio did a stellar job at focusing on what matters to players and delivering that. I'm also looking forward to the sequel because I didn't expect this one to be this good! Seriously, it's one the sleeper hits of 2019 for me.
Agree 100%. Nothing wrong with some constructive criticism and I enjoyed the video and agree on many points. But all in all this game was way better than it probably had any right to be. It was highly enjoyable And assuming there's a sequel I would expect them to improve upon it greatly in the 2nd one.
@gamewizard I thief as a series is known as an immersive sim, a genre focused on open ended problem solving. For a new IP inspired by more linear games, I think it's fine to have a linear approach. And it's also OK that it's not your type of experience. i have my issues with it and the compromises were very apparent to me, but I'm overall very happy with my experience with this game.
I see this excuse all the time. Just because it isn't a AAA title doesn't mean constructive criticism or standards for the experience should be handicapped. I get you're a hardcore fan, but you can't just throw "it's not AAA" to shut up or censor other people. He still praised the game and it is really well done, but I'd personally rather the budget to have gone to fix even a fraction of those problems instead of trying to look like Horizon Zero Dawn. No matter how good any type of art form is, it can always be improved upon. It shows great immaturity and lack of comprehension to not take pointers that could help in the future. Not everyone has to praise you all the time, and that's the reality of life. Deal with it.
Very true and I can’t wait to see what the studio can do with more resources as this game while not perfect was well written and shows a lot of potential.
Also a prime example: Dark Souls 2; Shrine of Winter. The Chosen Undead has to go and collect four legendary souls to access what lays past the Shrine of Winter BECAUSE he can't climb over knee high rubble.
Dark Souls doesn't really try to hide it's gaminess that much though. It certainly takes itself seriously, but not enough that you can really get too mad over that. Its "story" is a way to add a bit of weight, and incentive to gameplay which is by far the main focus while in Plague Tale, and (the much better) Last of Us; gameplay is a way to get story across.
@@TempestRequiem0 : Go collect 4 souls of legend to open a door to get to a field OR step over knee high rubble to get to said field. Regardless if DS2 is all about narrative or what have you that is terrible, terrible, design.
@@Rrrrry123 : Either one is capable of climbing a rubbled down wall which is my point. Sure I was wrong in my terminology but do you see the actual point?
@@rockapartie Yeah, I just finished it and really liked it too. Maybe because it's a setting that is so unexplored in games, and there was so much unique about it, I didn't mind all the trite stuff. It did feel like a YA novel at times, dystopian world, magic powers, chosen one, main characters basically all teenagers. But I still liked it, can't think of any other game where you play as a girl slinging rocks at rats.
Some gameplay? All game is gameplay! Walking is gameplay, solving puzzles is gameplay, hiding is gameplay, using a torch to scare rats is gameplay, killing people is gameplay, running around is gameplay, searching stuff and people is gameplay. It's a narrative-driven game, but it's no less game than, say, Resident Evil. It even has much more gameplay variety than Resident Evil!
Jeez I love this game so much. Never thought I'd say that about a strictly linear game but damn it is that 'good' kind of linear. Edit: Also Hugo is written incredibly well. Kids in Media are usually over the top smart or just annoying. I really cared for him
Ikr, I actually enjoyed Hugo more than AJ from TellTale's The Walking Dead. AJ is supposed to be 5 too, but he acts more like a teenager than a 5 year old. Hugo was a more believable child character really.
Speaking of introduced dead ends, I remember them pointing out the mosaics in the courtyard of the castle. I didn't think anything of it at the time but when Rodric was with you exploring the castle I noticed that the pillars all converged into the center with different colors. I thought that at some point you'd have to have everyone do a thing that unlocks a hidden feature in the castle. Even later Lucas says something like "this place was made for these kinds of attacks" when they're escaping Nicholas. Maybe it actually is nothing but I thought it was strange that Hugo would point out the design as though it had some kind of special meaning and then not follow up on it later.
One thing that stuck with me, I think it was from the game's promotional material, was a description of the game as "Not true history, but a tale about the events". Like a fairy tale. It Helped frame the game wonderfully for me, as not quite real but not quite true.
“huGONE” hahaha I really like all the small jokes you sprinkle throughout the video, they always take me by (pleasant) suprise! p.s. looking forward to the Obra Dinn video!
I don't think you do requests, but Pathologic 2 ticks a lot of what i think are your boxes for a potential target for an analysis and the journalism it received was laughable, so i'm interested on your take of an extremely punishing narrative driven game that you're not supposed to win.
@@lordneojacks true pov. I played splinter cell blacklist before this game. Amazing gameplay but a dull story. This game? Amazing atmosphere with simple gameplay kept me engaged. It's liner yet this guys flaws with this game are about it being liner. Lol
Would be an interesting gameplay technique to randomize such accidents throughout the game so they are unpredictable and occasionally result in certain death, like in real life edit: not sure what you were referring to now, but I was thinking of the dropped torch scene
The biggest problem with this game I have is that it trades extremely well done first half's atmosphere and oppressiveness for a hollywood villain (and a hollywood conflict) without any redeeming qualities. Imagine this story having a twist of Hugo's life being the sole reason for the plague and inquisition being not some brainwashed goons serving chancellor Palpatine, but people willing to go beyond moral boundaries (i.e. killing or researching a child) in order to stop it, with the whole concept being de Runes looking for a cure or a way for Hugo to control the rats and the plague and inquisition hunting them in order to save not one power hungry gramps, but regular people, who suffer and die because of the plague, how cool would that be?
@@rina5221 yeah, my exact same thoughts about the first half, I loved it. The last two hours of the game felt like an eternity to me, I was so bored of the cliched story.
At the beginning when I heard Joseph talk about the annoyances he had with the game, my thought was "If I wanted a plague game to annoy me, I'd just play Pathologic 1-2" but once I reached the end, I realized that Plague Tale: Innocence is actually a diamond in the rough, with amazing visuals and a story, just with some flawed mechanics.
the phrase "flawed mechanics" is incredibly forgiving. i don't know if you played it by now but if you got to the bit with the wagon and the archers, i think you'll see why the mechanics are more than flawed!
@@skipskylark9525 What's so wrong about that part? I literally passed it on my first attempt, you literally just lock on to a few enemies and one shot them with rocks and most the enemies there aren't wearing armor.
@@naytny5819 I did it my first try too but a lot of people, specifically on console seemed to have had it bugged or aiming didn't work making kt near impossible leading to hours of frustration. There's a lot of threads about people saying they gave up on the game because of it.
@@erroldtumaque3430 Ok that sounds understandable I had a similar issue where I couldn't pass a part since my fps was too high and the engine couldn't handle it.
Room cleaned, washing up done, went for a ~job~ jog* - sat down to start writing with nothing around that could possibly cause me to procrastinate.. Aaaaaaaaand there's a notification for a new Joseph Anderson video. Great.
It really bothers me when video essays like this emphasize immersion-breaking elements in narrative games that are just about having to accept a set of rules as the gameplay surrounding the story, but then I never see the same done for common elements of photorealistic open world RPG games like ammo and health packs lying around everywhere, or being able to heal oneself in an instant by collecting an item like it's Super Mario. If those things don't break your immersion but A Plague Tale's one-use torches do, then you're just intellectually dishonest.
I totally dont mind scriptedness of this type of games, I mean its not an rpg or anything, you are along for the ride seeing Amicia's story, I dont see it as being limited, I see it as doing it the way she did it. In any case, this game is incredible imo. Scary and creepy to the max for sure, but great.
You're probably one of the first people I've seen online that stated their opinion in such a nice way. You may not agree with him but you disagreed in a respectful way. :]
I totally agree I felt like the whole point was being along for the ride for her story I also really liked her character development Going from feeling guilty at killing a man in self defence To being given the option to kill people she does t even have to and not regret it because she feels they deserve it I thought stuff like that was really cool You could choose if you wanted her to go down the cold blooded path or only kill when she had to But even if she only killed when she had to she didn’t feel guilty like I said before
I'm a bit disappointed you didn't mention the somewhat lacklustre ending. In a trope-like fashion: hit the boss 3 times, quick death scene, credits roll. This is NOT how a story-focused game should resolve! Yes, there's an epilogue at the end, but that's barely connected. Where are all the other characters? What happened after that 3rd hit? Where's the closure!?
I thought it ended pretty well But I do understand what you’re saying There’s supposed to be a sequel but I don’t know if it’s going to be connected to the first game If it is I hope it gives a bit more closure
I didn't expect to end there, so I enjoyed because of that, then after the credits roll the epilogue felt better. It leaves loose ends I guess, but that's the beauty of it. and c'mon the alternative, would've been a destruction/escape sequence with all the characters looking at a crumbling cathedral in awe by the end.
To be fair with a wife a kid and another almost here (not to mention the other videos he's done since then) I can see why it's taken so long. Especially when it comes to his process; He's mentioned that when it comes to completing his thoughts on a game he usually needs to play it twice. That's a lot of hours for the whole witcher series not even counting getting specific footage for the review.
Play darkwood, its a great horror game. It has a permadeath mode and it resolves every issue you had with the games of this type. Its really underrated you should try it
I personally think... the scene when Nicholas gets “killed” and Amicia is facing Hugo, who’s most likely manipulated by Vitalis, when she runs to him and hugs him, what broke the Hugo’s anger, was LOVE... just a simple love between siblings, that is stronger than any plague or evil such as Vitalis. But maybe im just a snowflake 😂
I would say that the relationship between a viewer and a critic is fairly important when judging the work of said critic. When I know what games you've enjoyed, what aspects you've liked and disliked, I can compare those preferences to my own. Wherein I have a problem with your work Joseph, is at your lack of your suspension of disbelief. Some works like your Breath of the Wild and Prey videos have lost a lot of value to me from that flaw, however I don't think that's a bad thing. That differing opinion has lead me to understand those works in a new light, instead of simplying admiring the things I already enjoy. When I see you playing Hollow Knight and beat every boss sequentially without checkpoints and with all 4 gameplay restrictions on and still not call it the hardest thing in gaming, I come to respect that. When you do a simple review of a game without any difficulty like What's Left of Edith Finch, I can come to greatly respect your work in it's entirety. Keep up the good work! I love your reviews and critiques and you're always the first video I click when I see you pop up in my subscriber feed :)
Look; I think it has to do with the demystification of games. Since I study game design, many games have lost their charm; and my brain perceives them totally different. Additionally to that; I realize that merely *understanding* even just a tiny bit what the game is doing behind the scenes; can ruin the fun. Can. Now; theres mechanics I couldnt ever reproduce myself; but by being able to visualize more or less where the problem/annoyance/imbalance lies inside of a mechanic; what once was mystery and an incentive to find an ingame workaround becomes frustration & annoyance; bc you know EXACTLY they couldve done it this or that way; but they chose not to. Now; all this behaviour of mine is quite judgemental and even stupid to a certain degree; but I want to share what may be the reason for Joes neverending cynicism; and his lack of ability to suspend disbelief. Demystification changes not only your perception towards something; but also how you behave towards the demystified product/idea etc
Felsbrocken Demystification sucks. Especially when you don’t study game design, over the years you’ve just played one too many games and have watched one too many critique/technical breakdown videos. I still absolutely love games, but figuring out how they tick feels like I’m breaking my suspension of disbelief before I even get to the starting screen. It takes a special time and mood, playing with certain friends, or a specific/new experience, to ever really take me out of that mind set.
@@Drako1777 Voila. Very true. You dont even have to *exactly* know whats happening; a mere idea of how the system works and a bit of experience seems to be enough to destroy the feeling... Hmm. Maybe future games should try to hide their systems/mechanics more? Excluding MTX; that could sound like a general goal to work towards when developing...make the game strange and impenetrable to exactly figure out at first...some kind of Kojima/Miyazaki lovechild of philosophy hahahaha
Overall, I really liked the game? I mean, definitely not perfect, I think most of your criticisms are pretty solid. The gameplay itself was very ok, it was much more about the "experience" for me than any challenge (the last boss was pretty epic though), and I was pretty ok with its more abstract/gamey aspects. Basically, I looked at it as WalkingSim++, a heavily-scripted experience with light gameplay elements. I thought the puzzles were the best part, direct confrontation with the guards was ok at best. The story had its ups and downs. I agree that some of the character conflicts were overly contrived just to move the plot. Wish the writers had come up with something better, but it wasn't a dealbreaker. I was really happy that they did a good job with child/younger teen characters, seems like a lot of games either pretend that no one under 18 or so exists at all, or makes them really annoying and weird-looking. These kids were actually likable and resourceful, though Lucas did suicide-by-rat a few times for me. And I really didn't mind that it was pretty shameless about going for all the feels and twee that it could. I don't mind that, and it was certainly upfront about it going in.
Agree for 💯% I have even just watched the 7 hours playthrough of it as a cinema and I was more than satisfied and enjoyed it a lot. It is a wonderful game, which first of all just tells a wonderful story. Still I don't agree with necessity of killing Rodric. I am still very angry about this >:[
Hello, i know i'm late to the party, but i'm having a problem with the statement you make at the end. You say this game would maybe be nice for new players, but in my experience player agency is far more important for new players, as they think they can do anything and don't grip on the boundaries so fast. So they are often disappointed in the lack of options. The youtuber Razbuten has done some experiments with his wife who is new to gaming and has the same expiriences i have. I would suggest to anyone reading this to check his series about his wife out!
True, Most people who have been playing games since the NES. Don't have problems with limitations being put on a game. Fuck were probably used to it. I like Open world games. But not every game needs to be that.
This is so true non gamers don't understand basic gameplay mechanics, things that we don't even think about. Like shining objects can be picked, an area with a lot of bushes means it's the end of the map, and you have to act as the characters say. It's not you who are living the game but you play as a characters living the game. Games when they tell a story have their own ways of doing so. Non-gamers just often forget that playing a video game is not always just about "having fun", it can be like a book, you see the journey with the character's eyes and the game tells you a story.
'Plague Tale' was a beautifully rendered, beautifully acted, game with an okay story. It took me 12 hours to beat the game and for the first 11 it was this deeply engaging, occasionally challenging, stealth-puzzle game, where the rare moments of combat were parts of the puzzle, rather than combat in a classical sense. Then the last hour came and clearly the team either ran out of time, money, or both, because the game suddenly becomes a tedious rush between no fewer than 6 combats strung together: Kill your way to a Door; Fight off hoard while opening door; Fight to get to next area; Fight to get to the next door; Fight the guardians of the next door; Fight a mass of rats before the boss; Fight the boss. I didn't mind the linear nature of the story. In fact, in a scripted game like this, I expected it. The question is, was the script interesting and fun? I felt that it often was. Remember, the scene with Hugo showing up controlling the rats to kill Amecia happens after he's been in the Pope's clutches for a month. There's a lot of brainwashing you can do to an adult in a month, much less a 5 year old child. Nonetheless, he proves able to overcome it in the dramatic scene where he realizes his sister does love him after all. Unfortunately, it's right after this moment that the game starts going downhill. From your commentary, it's clear you value a narrower range of gameplay than I do. While I love open world rpgs, action rpgs, crpgs, etc. I also enjoy heavily narrative games like this and 'Senua's Sacrifice'. Each type of game brings something different to the table and I appreciate those differences. The game was a solid 9/10 for me until the end knocked a point off; 8/10, get it when it's about 20 bucks.
I find this such a frustrating game. There's large sections of the game where I'm loving it, the atmosphere, the characters, the story, the simple gameplay which doesn't get in the way. Then suddenly there's some shitty stealth section or a boss battle which just utterly ruins it.
oh my god yeah, the worst parts of the game is where it forgets that its mechanics are built for stealth, and it forces you to use them in distinctly non-stealth scripted set pieces. the big of pushing the wagon while archers fire at you is the most annoyed i've ever been at a game, because it requires speed in killing enemies when before the whole rest of the game was about stealth. so fucking stupid.
Man I am so happy that I found your channel. The passion you put into your videos and effort to critique fairly is just refreshing. I love your channel and hope that you continue to come out with more content!
I played this game without gettin any reviews or information before and I really loved it. The lack of choice never bothered me because I never ran into those issues where I tried something the game wasn’t letting me do. And I think that’s mostly because the steps you should take are clearly shown but never so much that the game is telling you “you’re dumb”. Honestly most games (in my opinion) try to make some mechanics outstanding or kinda deep so you have to “learn” them. This however is quite a “simple” game that’s not trying to set a milestone in mechanics but just wants to tell a story in a way many can enjoy. If there will be a second game (which I really wish for) I hope the mechanics will be different but still “simple”. Games are different from movies because you interact with them however this for me doesn’t mean there have to be deep structured mechanics to “feel” like a game. It’s like the developer or author wanted to tell you a story about the characters but the game is just a platform for that. The goal wasn’t to tell a story and then creating a gameplay that keep you engaged (eg. AC or Witcher) but telling a story that is supported by the gameplay. (Kinda hard to explain)
12:08 This is actually incorrect in 1 mission where I used all my Ignifer's (when you first get them) to see what they do, and I had to restart the mission entirely because the game didn't spawn anymore for the parts where they were essential to the mission.
17:00 You can actually save the gaurd there! Put the torch in the holder on your left just when you step through the door. Then just trow an fireball to ignite the gaurds torch. Edit: ooh, I should have seen that coming. I Got bamboozled!
When we consider that amnicia struggled so hard with "kill for the first time" and a little bit later doing the Lara croft in killing a whole bounce of guys without twitching a brow. Maybe they could have worked in a sanitymeter or something that it effects her mind and not just kill that easily your way through the game
I don't like the idea of a sanity meter; it'd be more impactful if it affected the player rather than just the character. They should've just made the transition more natural and more heartfelt.
I feel like the game did acknowledge that to some extent. I remember in one level where I just said "screw it" and decided to kill everyone who opposed us. Some character, (Mélie I think), reacted with surprise to my killing spree. Amicia's transition from innocent teenager to killer felt natural, largely because she had to do it to protect her, her brother and their friends.
Hannes Jacobsson I avoided killing enemies whenever possible until we freed ourselves and Hugo from being captives of the English. Then I went on a genocide run.
surprised he didnt mention the pasrt in Dark Souls 2 where there is an incredibly difficult to open door that requires 4 major souls or hundreds of thousands of souls to open when right around the corner there is a pile of rubble blocking the path around the door that could be hopped over on a bad leg
I loved both of the Plague Tale. Please do a video on the sequel soon. I thought it was even better than the first one, especially towards the end. Also, "Emperor Pope Palpatine Vitalis" had me laughing my ass off! haha
I really could not get into 2 for some reason. I loved 1 and had grabbed both on sale but I bounced off the sequel. I think it was my story investment just not carrying over. I felt it ended well enough and just... kinda lost me, which is a killer for a narrative game. The gameplay of 2 seemed great but I think this really highlights how narratively focused the series is. Would be really curious about an analysis of the sequel as I doubt I'll ever be able to play it.
That blood on the nose thing could've been fixed by simply making it a scar after a time skip, so the events at the beginning would always have a visual presence without looking somewhat silly. Great video as usual, man. Keep up the good work!
it definitely is a scar...scars dont fade that fast, they stay bright red for a while so I disgree with that criticism as well as many other on this whole vid.
No way to save the soldier begging you to help him? Actually, there is. I can't even remember what I did, but I did manage to save him rather than push the rats into him. Admittedly, it was not an obvious way as I recall and one of those moments where I literally just guessed it and, to my surprise, it worked. Have to say it was one of the better moments in the game because for once I got a chance for Amicia to actually pretend she wasn't some stone-cold rock-throwing killer and just a 15-year-old caught in a really shitty environment having to kill or be killed. I thought it was way too weird how the second soldier you kill was some grandiose moment meant to insinuate how terrible killing was in the eyes of a teenager forced to defend herself at the cost of her assailant's life instead, then carry on the rest of the game with contrasting and less genuine reactions to wiping out whole swaths of soldiers in your wake. It was abrupt and oddly quick how killing became a seemingly acceptable routine for the character after that, rare giving so much as a shallow comment a few times about her own actions. So when that scene began to unfold my literal reaction was, "Ah, shit! Wait, please tell me there's some way to not have to kill the poor fella!" It just felt too much like a scene meant for you to show mercy rather than merely ruthless survival instincts. As I crept closer and he turned to see the encroaching horde of vermin being forced to retreat towards him and began to panic and pleaing Amicia to be spared I kept thinking to myself, "Surely Amicia wouldn't do this...she'd look for some other way, right?" Again, cannot remember any details with what I did, but I remember feeling relieved at the chance to see it unfold like it did...like it was some assurance Amicia was still Amicia and not some half-done robotic character. Edit: Okay, so here's the part where I should point out that when I wrote the above, I watched up until you actually killed the guy initially, paused, then wrote all that. Fancy that! Then I unpaused and immediately wrote the "edit" part. Now I feel like a dummy, but not really. Also, agreed that the hog should have been spared it's miserable fate. And Hugo was right to be pissed like he was!
With invisible walls, I think a good way of putting it is that they're a "necessary evil". A video game is an illusion, and illusions always break down under the right conditions. Ergo, a game almost always have invisible walls somewhere, but it is for the best that it minimizes them. A step above invisible walls, though, is the "waist-high impenetrable fence". The issue with these is that it's actually a bit hard to draw the line between invisible walls, waist-high fences, and plausible barriers. For example, a completely normal locked wooden door is often treated as a plausible barrier, when in actuality it would be more of a "Waist-High Fence" realistically. Let's look at one game in particular: Luigi's Mansion. The primary thing preventing progress in this game is apparently normal locked doors (the most important doors do appear magically shielded in some way, to be fair). This...wouldn't be a particularly effective barrier if you think about it. Luigi is within walking distance of E. Gad, a helpful individual who almost certainly has tools that can easily destroy a door. For that matter, Luigi is deceptively rather badass and could easily kick down a normal door if he really had to. Simply put, the locked doors in that game would not be plausible barriers to Luigi.
Gotta say Joseph that your reviews and voice is perfect for this and I always get happy when I see you upload, I know this is three weeks old but hey you deserve some good old thank you for continuing this. Also for the record my favourite video by you so far is Soma which I’ve seen no joke three times for enjoyment and another three in the background to help me sleep
At the start i felt like you were largely nitpicking (and to some extend u prob are), but you made a number of good points. If they intent to make a sequel lets hope they watch this.
I love these reviews and walkthroughs more than actually playing the game. He distills 50+ hrs of playtime down into 1-3hrs of video and explanation. Thanks Joseph
It feels more like a horror movie than a game in that you are constantly questioning the character's choices being something you wouldn't do if you were trying to survive the situation and you are powerless, unlike most games, to make those opposing choices yourself.
I enjoy these videos so much, honestly each piece is like watching a documentary in which a historian breaks down the flaws of an empire. Its just so engrossing, thank you if you see this.
I remember starting this game and not expecting too much of it and be instantly hooked by the main menu and Olivier Deriviere's music. I can't stress enough how excellent this game original score is.
I'm really loving games like this and Hellblade. Gorgeous games that actually have HEART put into them and aren't quite the usual AAA soulless shells with pretty graphics and empty everything else these days.
xry How It has pretty good world building and a really great story imo The set pieces are really cool and really set up how the world has been affected by the plague and the Inquisition
@@geekwithglasses2897 The story presentation is awful. The game throws a bunch of terms at you and you dont even know what it means. Lucas talks about Macula and Amicia is sitting there hearing the word for the first time and is like.. "okay." Lucas doesnt even explain properly what it is. Its handled awkwardly. Theres also to many questions left unanswered that should be important. Why are the rats appearing? Why can Hugo control the rats (Beatrice is like "Ill explain later" but she fucking never does), how did Vitalis made the white version of rats? Why the rats didnt eat the corpses at De Rune's house?
I went to the game completely blind. Played the intro at a con about a year before getting it and completely forgot about it. Then I decided to grab it on sale and had absolutely no expectations. It honestly blew my mind and has become one of my favorite gothic horror works. Considering the budged they did incredible job with visuals and some of the imagery is burnt into my mind. The finale of the Penance chapter has become one of my favorite gaming moments, and big reason why is the amazing haunting soundtrack.
I absolutely love this game and have been obsessed with so I'm super happy that you're making a video about this game. After watching the video: Really enjoyed the video. I think all these gameplay problems were due to budget limitations as well as mechanic limitations. I wish there is some follow-up material of some sort to flesh out some of the lore and character motivations and backstories.
You cheeky bastard, where is my Witcher video? Jokes aside, thanks Joe. Maybe give "Outer Wilds" a go? It's about a dying tiny solar system stuck in a timeloop, good stuff.
I loved this game, and I loved your analysis of it too especially your closing comments. I played this game, one of the first I played after about a ten year break from gaming because of school and work. I've since gotten back into them frequently but this one still stands out as a game I really enjoyed. Having taken such a long break from games and coming back to them and experiencing a game like this it was absolutely mindblowing. I did notice some of the issues that you brought up, but I felt that the story was so well done, the voice acting and the bonds between the children, most of the problems were easily overlooked for me. The atmosphere was just epic. I loved all the different locations and the general feeling of dread while the children still hung to a thread of hope it was just awesome to me. Still, I agree with your critiques the game was chock full of "this is dumb as hell" moments when it came to torches, etc, but I didn't mind the games hand-holding to get me through the story it wanted to tell just because I thought it was executed so well.
Oh God, I lost my mind with this game. The torch mishandling, everything involving Rodric...You can't close the trick door behind you, even though ONLY HE KNOWS HOW TO OPEN IT. And I had the same experience with him and the wagon. I spent at least an hour spawn-killing archers before looking it up and discovering it was scripted.
It's a nice enough experience. There's much I can appreciate about it, from visual splendor to the unusual choice of time and setting. The gameplay is a little lackluster though and I feel I would've had less issue with that if I had been given dialogue options. However, doing so would have had an obvious effect on the game's scope and would have probably made it impossible for a small studio to realize. I just wish I'd been given a little more control about how I interacted with the other characters. That said, the quality of the dialogue has to be commended. It's not easy to write believable dialogue for these types of characters or without doing exposition dumps.
@@___.51wonder if it’s mo-cap related. Luke Stephens point out even on release this game’s characters can look pretty wooden outside of scripted scenes.
I mean, it's a small team so I can forgive some of it, but gameplaywise, honestly? Kinda think that removing the option to headshot kill people would make it better? Just either puzzling your way to removing guards or just distracting them with rocks would sorta remove a lot of these contrivances a bit, it's like Watch Dogs 2 where the guns don't fit in for what the story is about. Now, most of these are issues present in Hellblade too, i feel like its just, a small dev thing, and I liked it well enough but, I can't call it game of the year, just an interesting romp like Hellblade, a bit less up on its own buttocks than it even. Not that Hellblade didnt deserve to be up on said buttocks, its pretty good, but made it very boring to replay and its a one trip experience, which is the same here.
Nah. Amicia killing people suits well the dark story about desperate survival agains't these cruel and disgusting cutthroats from the inquisition and super natural rats spreading lethal deceases and devouring everything. It's not a light hearted story like WD2.
@@mpsuorsa Well, in most most games the reason is not the characters complete inability to solve a basic problem, like help the kid up the ledge, hand him the torch, climb up yourself. Heck you could even lay the torch on the ground on top of the ledge and it would burn long enough for you to get up there.
you're never forced to leave "crucial" items behind. every 'room' you enter has all the tools you need to progress to the next one. so every room is basically a puzzle, and sometimes a torch is the key. if they allowed you to carry the torches through multiple rooms that would break the puzzles because the rats would no longer be a threat. the criticism is valid, but such a small thing shouldn't keep you from giving this game a shot, especially if what you've seen of it interests you.
@@debaronAZK Yea it isnt exactly the gameplay that irks me. But if you try to imagine yourself in the situation of the character you're controlling, and they are doing absolutely stupid decisions that could get them killed for no reason and you as player have no control over it...thats a bit annoying. I understand why the devs did it like that, but makes you wonder if there wasn't a more elegant solution to take those items from you. Like in some games they make you walk through some small waterfall that extinguishes the torch. (wouldnt fit here, but just as an example).
I've watched all your videos since the witness one, and tbh this IS the best written video I've seen from you so far. Your script flows, everything is precise, makes sense, and is well structured. Really an enjoyable vid. Been missing this kind of "over analysis" long videos about one game.. So yeah, just wanted to say, this video is great.. See you in 3 months.
I'm watching this after two of your The Witcher videos (the third hasn't come out as of right now) and I almost screamed after the first thing you said in this video is "In The Witcher 1,"
Игры
![Rich Dunk (Ft. DaBaby) - BIG DAWG [Official Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Pz2ewsSKAEM/mqdefault.jpg)
“And he’s Hu-gone from the castle”
just gonna slide that in and pretend we won’t notice, eh?
I chuckled at that one
Oh you.
I don't get it.
I knew this would be the top comment before I even looked.
i know I am pretty randomly asking but does anybody know a good place to stream newly released tv shows online?
>Can kill healthy big soldiers with one rock
>Can't kill old man with one rock, needs three
I feel like you should instead be having an aneurysm about the fact that this same old man is psychically controlling a hoard of rats to form waves and pillars
@@louiesalmon3932 Nope, the game establishes the idea he can control rats within this story, it's internally consistent. Killing soldiers in one shot but taking three for the old man is internally inconsistent unless he also has special rat powers that make him extra durable somehow.
@@MoffatLee Yeah, sure. It makes him extra durable somehow. Who cares.
Maybe because he was more powerful, mentally and physically since he controlled thousands of rats and made tornadoes with them lmao
worst thing is a noble's daughter wearing hosen instead of a dress in the 14th century
about the rocks spawning like theyre mysteriously everywhere: rocks are actually everywhere, its just she thinks of picking them up when shes out
;) thank you!
lol
Right? Rock is earth and they're in wilderness 😂
The fact that someone had to explain that rocks are everywhere is just sad
@@callmepsycho3132 For real
Its weird, when I saw a 40 minute video I was thought to myself: "That's a rather short one."
You spoil me Joseph.
Cutscene incompetency is a common symptom in most video game protagonists
Link: slays monsters left and right
In cutscene: dies to angry robot
Doesn't mean it shouldn't be mentioned or improved on.
Normally it's the opposite that annoys me more.
Kiryu tanks bullets and knives but becomes incapacitated by a gunshot wound when he first meets lao gui
@@ADADEL1 isn't that a Skill issue? 😂
I feel like you were 1 step away from asking ''BUT WHAT DO THEY EAT'' the whole video
God I love MrBtounge
@@sampappas6934 i hope he does more vids.....apparently hes been writing about game of thrones the tv series on a site that i already forgot the name of
I thought you'd know by now dude, it's the rats. The frigging RATS! Clean them, skin them and grill them. Prima Macula Magic(TM) solves the problem of the plauge virus. With the abundance of rats the just pick some whenever, like an apple from an apple tree!
@@CssHDmonster twentysidedtale by shamusyoung
they eat rats and ppl :)
*rock flies out from behind wall in plain view*
Guard: "Huh?"
*goes to where the rock landed*
Hes a guard because he was not smart enough to be anything else
This is lot of stealth games, lol.
@@maskedvalerian1095 Yeah, to be fair, I think all stealth games aren't realistic though this game kind of on a whole different level. And to be fair again, this game's focus is the story so I forgive the stealth mechanics :)
"At the beginning of....The Witcher"
I'm in for a ride aren't I?
o h n o. . . . .t h e t o r c h
just wait for 9h video coming soon-ish
Wanda 9 hours is 3/8 of my day and 3 times as long as my sleep during that day, seems worth it.
@@thisrecordingsessiontm3633 i mean, 9h is 1/3 of everyone s day
@@wanda7353 9 x 3 = 27h?
“At the beginning of........
The Witcher”
1k likes and no comments, weird
@@whereamihelpme6937 not much to be said I suppose
@@arekusu. I'm a witcher.
Me: I’m so bored
Joseph: What did you say? YOU WANT ANOTHER 40 MINUTE VIDEO??
@TheLitch we are all that someone
Not complaining of course, but for a married guy with two kids he has a lot of time to play exhaustively and make these super deep and long vídeos.
About Hugo not reaching the first threshold of the Prima Macula when he is forced to massacre the guards and why he blindly attacks Amicia - it is actually explained, and it's two different things, but maybe too sublte and easy to forget if you don't play the game in a single run.
1. When Beatrice says that Hugo doesn't progress because of Amicia, she instinctively knows that her daughter cared enough to go back to the chateau and somehow finished her work, maybe with the help of the healer / alchemist she sent her kids to. She doesn't know how she did it, but she's certain her daughter was able to help. The potion Lucas comes up with actually serves to halt the progress before the first threshold, that was the whole point of making it. It might not be easy to realize this from a single "Amicia!" and her expression, but consider this: Beatrice's whole life revolved around making that potion. She spent five years with minimal help to be able to slow down the sickness before the first threshold just to gain enough time to educate her son about the Prima Macula and the voices in his head. She fails to do so, and knows she will be captured, but sends her daughter to the ONLY living alchemist, who knows about the details of her work and how to finish it. Hugo simply being alive is a sign that Amicia did just that.
2. When you play as Hugo and crawl through the alchemists laboratory, at the highest point of the library, there are two alchemists talking about the progress of the Prima Macula. According to the old tomes, the carrier is said to go mad or be at ease "next to the one who tamed it". Hugo needs Amicia, because Amicia is the one that tamed him and the taint he carries in his blood. He is visually shown to be actually half conscious throughout most of the scene. It is easy to mistake as a solemn look, but you can see that he only visually reacts to Amicia and no one else. He doesn't speak with or listens to the knight with him, doesn't show his anger until the final conversation, doesn't try to defend himself for his decisions or to brag about how he found her mother without Amicia. In short he doesn't show his usual behavior patterns or behaviors that would be plausible from a kid. He is on the verge of transcending his current self, and when Amicia takes the leap of faith to him, risking the attack of the rats, he is shown to wake up and completely change his behaviour.
Great observations. Just finished this amazing game.
Well said. Here's randomly something I loved about the game's story (which is definitely not "a weaker version of The Last of Us"): all the people who rally around Amicia are the sons and daughters of a generation orphaned by the war. They all lost a parental figure and picked up their trade to desperately carry on towards an uncertain future.
I'm really glad you explained this. Even after three playthroughs of this game, I was still so confused about how Amicia was connected to Hugo's first threshold and how killing her would help him reach it, but your explanation makes a lot of sense.
Thanks for that breakdown, well said, this game had never so emotional by the end, was sobbing, it was an amazing platinum experience, looking forward to playing the sequel,heard it's better, and the story is also even more emotional.🙏💯
@@NerdyGamerReacts You're in for a real treat!
I absolutely loved the shit out of this game, I kinda get some of your gripes like not handing torches around, and while that makes sense, I felt the game got me immersed enough that I just rolled with it
Corvo, two days early, as usual.
EsaiTheRevolution but am I full of surprises?
@@corvodraken3049 indeed. Sending the empresses bodyguard away for a couple of months, that's unusual
EsaiTheRevolution indeed it is Mr Burrows
exacty i too rolled with it. and mayble i played exactly as intended by the devs and literally there has not been even one time when AI fucks up. its been perfect for me
Did that count as your Witcher video? 🤣
I hope so tbh. I should love The Witcher but I just don’t and I’ll be bored while I watch his million year long video that I will refuse to skip.
I really hope not, I have been waiting for the Witcher video for 2 years now and sadly it seems it will not come to be in the near future.
At this point I feel like his the Witcher series will take about 10 hours.
superjosifus nice adhd
@@superjosifus The fuck do you mean "you should?" It's entertainment not a responsibility.
"Jean Wick" Very clever lol
John Wick but this time he gives the car to theon
How did you not remember Dark Souls 2 and the "I can't climb this meter high pile of rubble and will instead kill 4 great souls!"
Agreed with everything you said, but honestly, all those little things didn't dampen my gameplay experience at all (the only one that bothered me a bit and stood out was leaving the torches and other fire sources behind while the game tries so hard to sell you on the importance of fire and light as a strategy against rats). I mean come on, it was a team of like 40 people that put together what feels and plays like a AAA experience, and they did an incredible job. The game was narratively focused, well paced, emotionally impactful, had excellent gameplay mechanics, and had an extremely satisfying ending. I would much much rather prefer those 40 people spend the precious little energy and time they have on things like performance, optimization, proper save systems, great environments, intuitive UI, character development, localization, accessibility, etc. Which they did! At the end of the day, despite all its little flaws, we got something amazing and I really think the studio did a stellar job at focusing on what matters to players and delivering that. I'm also looking forward to the sequel because I didn't expect this one to be this good! Seriously, it's one the sleeper hits of 2019 for me.
should have made another boring open world I guess.
Have fun deluding yourself zoomer.
Agree 100%. Nothing wrong with some constructive criticism and I enjoyed the video and agree on many points. But all in all this game was way better than it probably had any right to be. It was highly enjoyable And assuming there's a sequel I would expect them to improve upon it greatly in the 2nd one.
@gamewizard I thief as a series is known as an immersive sim, a genre focused on open ended problem solving. For a new IP inspired by more linear games, I think it's fine to have a linear approach.
And it's also OK that it's not your type of experience. i have my issues with it and the compromises were very apparent to me, but I'm overall very happy with my experience with this game.
I see this excuse all the time. Just because it isn't a AAA title doesn't mean constructive criticism or standards for the experience should be handicapped. I get you're a hardcore fan, but you can't just throw "it's not AAA" to shut up or censor other people. He still praised the game and it is really well done, but I'd personally rather the budget to have gone to fix even a fraction of those problems instead of trying to look like Horizon Zero Dawn. No matter how good any type of art form is, it can always be improved upon. It shows great immaturity and lack of comprehension to not take pointers that could help in the future. Not everyone has to praise you all the time, and that's the reality of life. Deal with it.
You know why is this game sooo scripted? Because is the only way for a small dev team to make AAA looking game.
Very true and I can’t wait to see what the studio can do with more resources as this game while not perfect was well written and shows a lot of potential.
Pff what AAA?
Thats actually not a terrible point. I bet so much of this games time and production value was in presentation, for better and worse.
That is probably the reason for it, but it doesn't make it a non-issue.
I give this game a 2/10.
Also a prime example: Dark Souls 2; Shrine of Winter. The Chosen Undead has to go and collect four legendary souls to access what lays past the Shrine of Winter BECAUSE he can't climb over knee high rubble.
Dark Souls doesn't really try to hide it's gaminess that much though. It certainly takes itself seriously, but not enough that you can really get too mad over that. Its "story" is a way to add a bit of weight, and incentive to gameplay which is by far the main focus while in Plague Tale, and (the much better) Last of Us; gameplay is a way to get story across.
@@TempestRequiem0 : Go collect 4 souls of legend to open a door to get to a field OR step over knee high rubble to get to said field. Regardless if DS2 is all about narrative or what have you that is terrible, terrible, design.
Maybe he took an arrow to the knee.
@@LihimSidhe Invader detected.
@@Rrrrry123 : Either one is capable of climbing a rubbled down wall which is my point. Sure I was wrong in my terminology but do you see the actual point?
I enjoyed Plague Tale as more of a light novel with some gameplay.
@@rockapartie Yeah, I just finished it and really liked it too. Maybe because it's a setting that is so unexplored in games, and there was so much unique about it, I didn't mind all the trite stuff. It did feel like a YA novel at times, dystopian world, magic powers, chosen one, main characters basically all teenagers. But I still liked it, can't think of any other game where you play as a girl slinging rocks at rats.
As a huge Plague Tale fan I'd love for a light novel or novel adaptation or expansion. It would be so immersive and cool
Same for me. That's the best way to approach that kind of game i think.
Some gameplay? All game is gameplay! Walking is gameplay, solving puzzles is gameplay, hiding is gameplay, using a torch to scare rats is gameplay, killing people is gameplay, running around is gameplay, searching stuff and people is gameplay.
It's a narrative-driven game, but it's no less game than, say, Resident Evil. It even has much more gameplay variety than Resident Evil!
@Godrick the Grafted If that's what you need for your mind not to break, sure, whatever you say.
Jeez I love this game so much. Never thought I'd say that about a strictly linear game but damn it is that 'good' kind of linear.
Edit: Also Hugo is written incredibly well. Kids in Media are usually over the top smart or just annoying. I really cared for him
I thought he was unbearably annoying
@@cheyunderwood7941 he's like four bro and he wasn't that bad
Ikr, I actually enjoyed Hugo more than AJ from TellTale's The Walking Dead. AJ is supposed to be 5 too, but he acts more like a teenager than a 5 year old. Hugo was a more believable child character really.
NOBODY EXPECTS THE SPANISH INQUISITION!
@Führer des Benutzers Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries!
Our chief weapon is suprise ..
Hi
@My Sunglasses What does that mean ? ;)
Tis but a scratch.
"Witcher will be the next video."
BUT THAT'S JUST KAYAYDAY'S LIE, ISN'T IT!?!?
We know whenever it's a lie or not when we talk this through
I miss his stream days.
@@emperortgp2424 Does he not stream anymore?
@@genesyne5346 He's taking a break, before the third kid. He'll be back in a month or two, probably.
@@TheTsuyuki Is... is that a reference to Zelda 2?
Speaking of introduced dead ends, I remember them pointing out the mosaics in the courtyard of the castle. I didn't think anything of it at the time but when Rodric was with you exploring the castle I noticed that the pillars all converged into the center with different colors. I thought that at some point you'd have to have everyone do a thing that unlocks a hidden feature in the castle. Even later Lucas says something like "this place was made for these kinds of attacks" when they're escaping Nicholas. Maybe it actually is nothing but I thought it was strange that Hugo would point out the design as though it had some kind of special meaning and then not follow up on it later.
One thing that stuck with me, I think it was from the game's promotional material, was a description of the game as "Not true history, but a tale about the events". Like a fairy tale. It Helped frame the game wonderfully for me, as not quite real but not quite true.
“huGONE” hahaha
I really like all the small jokes you sprinkle throughout the video, they always take me by (pleasant) suprise!
p.s. looking forward to the Obra Dinn video!
"Emperor Pope Great Inquisitor Palpatine Vitalis"
Hello Future OP, how was the Obra Dinn video? Was a great one if you ask me.
『Castafiore』 Sadly, can‘t watch it because i want to play it myself at some point
I don't think you do requests, but Pathologic 2 ticks a lot of what i think are your boxes for a potential target for an analysis and the journalism it received was laughable, so i'm interested on your take of an extremely punishing narrative driven game that you're not supposed to win.
It's not the same, but I think Mandalore might be doing a video on it
Tbh this game connected with me emotionally so i let everything slide.
Same experience i had. Played many games technically better that simply forced myself to finish cuz no emotional engagement
@@lordneojacks true pov. I played splinter cell blacklist before this game. Amazing gameplay but a dull story. This game? Amazing atmosphere with simple gameplay kept me engaged. It's liner yet this guys flaws with this game are about it being liner. Lol
Same
Love the art style, and settings and the fashion, they’re so beautiful. Kudos to the devs and artists.
the clothes and armor: Beautiful but forgettable in my opinion.
Huge fan of the architecture of that period
The torch shit really bugged me everytime it happened
Would be an interesting gameplay technique to randomize such accidents throughout the game so they are unpredictable and occasionally result in certain death, like in real life
edit: not sure what you were referring to now, but I was thinking of the dropped torch scene
Yawn
The biggest problem with this game I have is that it trades extremely well done first half's atmosphere and oppressiveness for a hollywood villain (and a hollywood conflict) without any redeeming qualities. Imagine this story having a twist of Hugo's life being the sole reason for the plague and inquisition being not some brainwashed goons serving chancellor Palpatine, but people willing to go beyond moral boundaries (i.e. killing or researching a child) in order to stop it, with the whole concept being de Runes looking for a cure or a way for Hugo to control the rats and the plague and inquisition hunting them in order to save not one power hungry gramps, but regular people, who suffer and die because of the plague, how cool would that be?
Its would be cool. But we already had the last of us.
@@NotSpecialDude fair enough, though my point is that the second half fell short, I got carried away
@@rina5221 yeah, my exact same thoughts about the first half, I loved it. The last two hours of the game felt like an eternity to me, I was so bored of the cliched story.
At the beginning when I heard Joseph talk about the annoyances he had with the game, my thought was "If I wanted a plague game to annoy me, I'd just play Pathologic 1-2" but once I reached the end, I realized that Plague Tale: Innocence is actually a diamond in the rough, with amazing visuals and a story, just with some flawed mechanics.
the phrase "flawed mechanics" is incredibly forgiving. i don't know if you played it by now but if you got to the bit with the wagon and the archers, i think you'll see why the mechanics are more than flawed!
@@skipskylark9525 What's so wrong about that part? I literally passed it on my first attempt, you literally just lock on to a few enemies and one shot them with rocks and most the enemies there aren't wearing armor.
@@naytny5819 I did it my first try too but a lot of people, specifically on console seemed to have had it bugged or aiming didn't work making kt near impossible leading to hours of frustration. There's a lot of threads about people saying they gave up on the game because of it.
@@erroldtumaque3430 Ok that sounds understandable I had a similar issue where I couldn't pass a part since my fps was too high and the engine couldn't handle it.
Witcher video is Half life 3 of Joseph Anderson's videos
Room cleaned, washing up done, went for a ~job~ jog* - sat down to start writing with nothing around that could possibly cause me to procrastinate..
Aaaaaaaaand there's a notification for a new Joseph Anderson video. Great.
@@fuzzydunlop7928 Foot
@@fuzzydunlop7928 Hair
@@whereammy I see you are a man of culture.
Don't blame anything for your procrastination man 😆
@@fuzzydunlop7928 Nose
It really bothers me when video essays like this emphasize immersion-breaking elements in narrative games that are just about having to accept a set of rules as the gameplay surrounding the story, but then I never see the same done for common elements of photorealistic open world RPG games like ammo and health packs lying around everywhere, or being able to heal oneself in an instant by collecting an item like it's Super Mario. If those things don't break your immersion but A Plague Tale's one-use torches do, then you're just intellectually dishonest.
I totally dont mind scriptedness of this type of games, I mean its not an rpg or anything, you are along for the ride seeing Amicia's story, I dont see it as being limited, I see it as doing it the way she did it. In any case, this game is incredible imo. Scary and creepy to the max for sure, but great.
You're probably one of the first people I've seen online that stated their opinion in such a nice way. You may not agree with him but you disagreed in a respectful way. :]
I totally agree
I felt like the whole point was being along for the ride for her story
I also really liked her character development
Going from feeling guilty at killing a man in self defence
To being given the option to kill people she does t even have to and not regret it because she feels they deserve it
I thought stuff like that was really cool
You could choose if you wanted her to go down the cold blooded path or only kill when she had to
But even if she only killed when she had to she didn’t feel guilty like I said before
I'm a bit disappointed you didn't mention the somewhat lacklustre ending. In a trope-like fashion: hit the boss 3 times, quick death scene, credits roll. This is NOT how a story-focused game should resolve! Yes, there's an epilogue at the end, but that's barely connected. Where are all the other characters? What happened after that 3rd hit? Where's the closure!?
I thought it ended pretty well
But I do understand what you’re saying
There’s supposed to be a sequel but I don’t know if it’s going to be connected to the first game
If it is I hope it gives a bit more closure
You got something against Super Mario Bros.
I didn't expect to end there, so I enjoyed because of that, then after the credits roll the epilogue felt better. It leaves loose ends I guess, but that's the beauty of it.
and c'mon the alternative, would've been a destruction/escape sequence with all the characters looking at a crumbling cathedral in awe by the end.
It ended with a stand battle with rat tornadoes and geysers. I enjoyed the hell out of it
@@NeoCreo1 You've missed the point. The end BOSS is great. It's what happens after you boop him in the head a 3rd time...
The skeletonized body of Amicia de Rune was found in a forest near Aquitaine only a few days after this critique.
_--'_/
and before that she used alchemy to drug a homeless guy for his cash.
She murdered Etika with alchemy
Wait, why?
First game I know that happened where I live, I live in a small town in Aquitaine in France ^^
Plot twist involving the Inquisition
Didn't expect that.
Telegraphed joke but I still liked before I clicked 'read more.'
"Unless you enjoy being frustrated." This feels like a personal attack
"The meat of what I have to say" as you use your sling to release meat from a hook. Clever.
its nearly been 2 years since your witcher patreon update video... crazy how time flies..
To be fair with a wife a kid and another almost here (not to mention the other videos he's done since then) I can see why it's taken so long. Especially when it comes to his process; He's mentioned that when it comes to completing his thoughts on a game he usually needs to play it twice. That's a lot of hours for the whole witcher series not even counting getting specific footage for the review.
At least hes given us good content in the meanwhile, unlike some other creators who ghosted after reaching monetary goals
Siliuse to be clear, im not complaining, just stating how insane it is that its been 2 years already.
@@qwerty_artist No. Other creators being worse does not excuse 2 years of waiting for funded videos.
I'm still waiting on Neir.
Play darkwood,
its a great horror game.
It has a permadeath mode and it resolves every issue you had with the games of this type. Its really underrated you should try it
i think he played it, but im not sure.. as i remember he spoke about it on alien isolation stream
yesss darkwood
just checked it and yes he did
He's played it!
Link?
I personally think... the scene when Nicholas gets “killed” and Amicia is facing Hugo, who’s most likely manipulated by Vitalis, when she runs to him and hugs him, what broke the Hugo’s anger, was LOVE... just a simple love between siblings, that is stronger than any plague or evil such as Vitalis.
But maybe im just a snowflake 😂
ah yes brother and sister LOVE
The music that plays right before Amicia kill her first "victim" is probably one of my favourite thing this year.
I would say that the relationship between a viewer and a critic is fairly important when judging the work of said critic. When I know what games you've enjoyed, what aspects you've liked and disliked, I can compare those preferences to my own. Wherein I have a problem with your work Joseph, is at your lack of your suspension of disbelief. Some works like your Breath of the Wild and Prey videos have lost a lot of value to me from that flaw, however I don't think that's a bad thing. That differing opinion has lead me to understand those works in a new light, instead of simplying admiring the things I already enjoy. When I see you playing Hollow Knight and beat every boss sequentially without checkpoints and with all 4 gameplay restrictions on and still not call it the hardest thing in gaming, I come to respect that. When you do a simple review of a game without any difficulty like What's Left of Edith Finch, I can come to greatly respect your work in it's entirety. Keep up the good work! I love your reviews and critiques and you're always the first video I click when I see you pop up in my subscriber feed :)
Look; I think it has to do with the demystification of games.
Since I study game design, many games have lost their charm; and my brain perceives them totally different. Additionally to that; I realize that merely *understanding* even just a tiny bit what the game is doing behind the scenes; can ruin the fun. Can.
Now; theres mechanics I couldnt ever reproduce myself; but by being able to visualize more or less where the problem/annoyance/imbalance lies inside of a mechanic; what once was mystery and an incentive to find an ingame workaround becomes frustration & annoyance; bc you know EXACTLY they couldve done it this or that way; but they chose not to.
Now; all this behaviour of mine is quite judgemental and even stupid to a certain degree; but I want to share what may be the reason for Joes neverending cynicism; and his lack of ability to suspend disbelief. Demystification changes not only your perception towards something; but also how you behave towards the demystified product/idea etc
Felsbrocken Demystification sucks. Especially when you don’t study game design, over the years you’ve just played one too many games and have watched one too many critique/technical breakdown videos. I still absolutely love games, but figuring out how they tick feels like I’m breaking my suspension of disbelief before I even get to the starting screen. It takes a special time and mood, playing with certain friends, or a specific/new experience, to ever really take me out of that mind set.
@@Drako1777 Voila. Very true. You dont even have to *exactly* know whats happening; a mere idea of how the system works and a bit of experience seems to be enough to destroy the feeling...
Hmm. Maybe future games should try to hide their systems/mechanics more? Excluding MTX; that could sound like a general goal to work towards when developing...make the game strange and impenetrable to exactly figure out at first...some kind of Kojima/Miyazaki lovechild of philosophy hahahaha
He did WHAT in Hollow Knight? Shit.
Overall, I really liked the game? I mean, definitely not perfect, I think most of your criticisms are pretty solid. The gameplay itself was very ok, it was much more about the "experience" for me than any challenge (the last boss was pretty epic though), and I was pretty ok with its more abstract/gamey aspects. Basically, I looked at it as WalkingSim++, a heavily-scripted experience with light gameplay elements. I thought the puzzles were the best part, direct confrontation with the guards was ok at best.
The story had its ups and downs. I agree that some of the character conflicts were overly contrived just to move the plot. Wish the writers had come up with something better, but it wasn't a dealbreaker. I was really happy that they did a good job with child/younger teen characters, seems like a lot of games either pretend that no one under 18 or so exists at all, or makes them really annoying and weird-looking. These kids were actually likable and resourceful, though Lucas did suicide-by-rat a few times for me. And I really didn't mind that it was pretty shameless about going for all the feels and twee that it could. I don't mind that, and it was certainly upfront about it going in.
Agree for 💯%
I have even just watched the 7 hours playthrough of it as a cinema and I was more than satisfied and enjoyed it a lot. It is a wonderful game, which first of all just tells a wonderful story.
Still I don't agree with necessity of killing Rodric. I am still very angry about this >:[
I liked NIcholas, good boss fight, with him losing more and more armour and setting himself on fire for fear of the rats around him. Badass lad.
Hello, i know i'm late to the party, but i'm having a problem with the statement you make at the end.
You say this game would maybe be nice for new players, but in my experience player agency is far more important for new players, as they think they can do anything and don't grip on the boundaries so fast. So they are often disappointed in the lack of options. The youtuber Razbuten has done some experiments with his wife who is new to gaming and has the same expiriences i have.
I would suggest to anyone reading this to check his series about his wife out!
True, Most people who have been playing games since the NES. Don't have problems with limitations being put on a game. Fuck were probably used to it. I like Open world games. But not every game needs to be that.
I agree! As an experienced gamer I just know I have to play a game on its own rules. I learn those rules usually within the first two hours.
This is so true non gamers don't understand basic gameplay mechanics, things that we don't even think about. Like shining objects can be picked, an area with a lot of bushes means it's the end of the map, and you have to act as the characters say.
It's not you who are living the game but you play as a characters living the game. Games when they tell a story have their own ways of doing so. Non-gamers just often forget that playing a video game is not always just about "having fun", it can be like a book, you see the journey with the character's eyes and the game tells you a story.
hell yeah i love it when RUclipsrs do some experiments with their wife. thats awesome!
@@Lone432345 The guy you're replying to is saying new players want more agency.
'Plague Tale' was a beautifully rendered, beautifully acted, game with an okay story. It took me 12 hours to beat the game and for the first 11 it was this deeply engaging, occasionally challenging, stealth-puzzle game, where the rare moments of combat were parts of the puzzle, rather than combat in a classical sense. Then the last hour came and clearly the team either ran out of time, money, or both, because the game suddenly becomes a tedious rush between no fewer than 6 combats strung together: Kill your way to a Door; Fight off hoard while opening door; Fight to get to next area; Fight to get to the next door; Fight the guardians of the next door; Fight a mass of rats before the boss; Fight the boss.
I didn't mind the linear nature of the story. In fact, in a scripted game like this, I expected it. The question is, was the script interesting and fun? I felt that it often was.
Remember, the scene with Hugo showing up controlling the rats to kill Amecia happens after he's been in the Pope's clutches for a month. There's a lot of brainwashing you can do to an adult in a month, much less a 5 year old child. Nonetheless, he proves able to overcome it in the dramatic scene where he realizes his sister does love him after all. Unfortunately, it's right after this moment that the game starts going downhill.
From your commentary, it's clear you value a narrower range of gameplay than I do. While I love open world rpgs, action rpgs, crpgs, etc. I also enjoy heavily narrative games like this and 'Senua's Sacrifice'. Each type of game brings something different to the table and I appreciate those differences.
The game was a solid 9/10 for me until the end knocked a point off; 8/10, get it when it's about 20 bucks.
This review is better and more accurate than Joseph Anderson's.
I agree 100%
“Things will not go well for Amicia, nor her dog”
So Dio cooks her dog and steals her first kiss?
NANI!
Is that......... A JoJo reference!
I find this such a frustrating game. There's large sections of the game where I'm loving it, the atmosphere, the characters, the story, the simple gameplay which doesn't get in the way. Then suddenly there's some shitty stealth section or a boss battle which just utterly ruins it.
oh my god yeah, the worst parts of the game is where it forgets that its mechanics are built for stealth, and it forces you to use them in distinctly non-stealth scripted set pieces. the big of pushing the wagon while archers fire at you is the most annoyed i've ever been at a game, because it requires speed in killing enemies when before the whole rest of the game was about stealth. so fucking stupid.
I didnt seem to have that problem so uh git gud i guess
Man I am so happy that I found your channel. The passion you put into your videos and effort to critique fairly is just refreshing. I love your channel and hope that you continue to come out with more content!
I played this game without gettin any reviews or information before and I really loved it.
The lack of choice never bothered me because I never ran into those issues where I tried something the game wasn’t letting me do. And I think that’s mostly because the steps you should take are clearly shown but never so much that the game is telling you “you’re dumb”.
Honestly most games (in my opinion) try to make some mechanics outstanding or kinda deep so you have to “learn” them. This however is quite a “simple” game that’s not trying to set a milestone in mechanics but just wants to tell a story in a way many can enjoy. If there will be a second game (which I really wish for) I hope the mechanics will be different but still “simple”.
Games are different from movies because you interact with them however this for me doesn’t mean there have to be deep structured mechanics to “feel” like a game.
It’s like the developer or author wanted to tell you a story about the characters but the game is just a platform for that. The goal wasn’t to tell a story and then creating a gameplay that keep you engaged (eg. AC or Witcher) but telling a story that is supported by the gameplay. (Kinda hard to explain)
They’re making a second game. Your wish been granted. Idk if you knew so uh. Hope you enjoy this one. Good day.
12:08 This is actually incorrect in 1 mission where I used all my Ignifer's (when you first get them) to see what they do, and I had to restart the mission entirely because the game didn't spawn anymore for the parts where they were essential to the mission.
17:00 You can actually save the gaurd there!
Put the torch in the holder on your left just when you step through the door. Then just trow an fireball to ignite the gaurds torch.
Edit: ooh, I should have seen that coming. I Got bamboozled!
When we consider that amnicia struggled so hard with "kill for the first time" and a little bit later doing the Lara croft in killing a whole bounce of guys without twitching a brow.
Maybe they could have worked in a sanitymeter or something that it effects her mind and not just kill that easily your way through the game
I don't like the idea of a sanity meter; it'd be more impactful if it affected the player rather than just the character. They should've just made the transition more natural and more heartfelt.
Or maybe just make enemies rarer and far more threatening so that the MC doesn't become a killbot.
I feel like the game did acknowledge that to some extent. I remember in one level where I just said "screw it" and decided to kill everyone who opposed us. Some character, (Mélie I think), reacted with surprise to my killing spree. Amicia's transition from innocent teenager to killer felt natural, largely because she had to do it to protect her, her brother and their friends.
Hannes Jacobsson I avoided killing enemies whenever possible until we freed ourselves and Hugo from being captives of the English. Then I went on a genocide run.
It's you who play her, most of the parts of the game can be done without killing, you would be angry if the game didn't let you kill everyone x)
"There's only 1 correct response" makes it sound like an old school point and click adventure
at around 18:30 it was instinctive for me to follow the guard, find someplace to kill that big guard and save rodric
surprised he didnt mention the pasrt in Dark Souls 2 where there is an incredibly difficult to open door that requires 4 major souls or hundreds of thousands of souls to open when right around the corner there is a pile of rubble blocking the path around the door that could be hopped over on a bad leg
Weren't you able to literally jump over it in past version? I think I remember that being a thing and it being patched sometime after launch.
I loved both of the Plague Tale. Please do a video on the sequel soon. I thought it was even better than the first one, especially towards the end.
Also, "Emperor Pope Palpatine Vitalis" had me laughing my ass off! haha
I really could not get into 2 for some reason. I loved 1 and had grabbed both on sale but I bounced off the sequel. I think it was my story investment just not carrying over. I felt it ended well enough and just... kinda lost me, which is a killer for a narrative game. The gameplay of 2 seemed great but I think this really highlights how narratively focused the series is. Would be really curious about an analysis of the sequel as I doubt I'll ever be able to play it.
That blood on the nose thing could've been fixed by simply making it a scar after a time skip, so the events at the beginning would always have a visual presence without looking somewhat silly.
Great video as usual, man. Keep up the good work!
it definitely is a scar...scars dont fade that fast, they stay bright red for a while so I disgree with that criticism as well as many other on this whole vid.
Huh, Geralt looks strange
No way to save the soldier begging you to help him?
Actually, there is. I can't even remember what I did, but I did manage to save him rather than push the rats into him. Admittedly, it was not an obvious way as I recall and one of those moments where I literally just guessed it and, to my surprise, it worked. Have to say it was one of the better moments in the game because for once I got a chance for Amicia to actually pretend she wasn't some stone-cold rock-throwing killer and just a 15-year-old caught in a really shitty environment having to kill or be killed. I thought it was way too weird how the second soldier you kill was some grandiose moment meant to insinuate how terrible killing was in the eyes of a teenager forced to defend herself at the cost of her assailant's life instead, then carry on the rest of the game with contrasting and less genuine reactions to wiping out whole swaths of soldiers in your wake. It was abrupt and oddly quick how killing became a seemingly acceptable routine for the character after that, rare giving so much as a shallow comment a few times about her own actions. So when that scene began to unfold my literal reaction was, "Ah, shit! Wait, please tell me there's some way to not have to kill the poor fella!" It just felt too much like a scene meant for you to show mercy rather than merely ruthless survival instincts. As I crept closer and he turned to see the encroaching horde of vermin being forced to retreat towards him and began to panic and pleaing Amicia to be spared I kept thinking to myself, "Surely Amicia wouldn't do this...she'd look for some other way, right?" Again, cannot remember any details with what I did, but I remember feeling relieved at the chance to see it unfold like it did...like it was some assurance Amicia was still Amicia and not some half-done robotic character.
Edit: Okay, so here's the part where I should point out that when I wrote the above, I watched up until you actually killed the guy initially, paused, then wrote all that. Fancy that! Then I unpaused and immediately wrote the "edit" part. Now I feel like a dummy, but not really. Also, agreed that the hog should have been spared it's miserable fate. And Hugo was right to be pissed like he was!
Crash Test Dummy I WAS JUST ABOUT RO SAY
@Mason Murchison It's all good, that's basically exactly what I did too.
35:38 "Emperor Pope Palpatine Vitalis" is probably my favorite joke here.
Nice timing. Was just in the middle of watching your persona 5 playthrough when I got the notification
With invisible walls, I think a good way of putting it is that they're a "necessary evil". A video game is an illusion, and illusions always break down under the right conditions. Ergo, a game almost always have invisible walls somewhere, but it is for the best that it minimizes them.
A step above invisible walls, though, is the "waist-high impenetrable fence". The issue with these is that it's actually a bit hard to draw the line between invisible walls, waist-high fences, and plausible barriers.
For example, a completely normal locked wooden door is often treated as a plausible barrier, when in actuality it would be more of a "Waist-High Fence" realistically. Let's look at one game in particular: Luigi's Mansion. The primary thing preventing progress in this game is apparently normal locked doors (the most important doors do appear magically shielded in some way, to be fair). This...wouldn't be a particularly effective barrier if you think about it. Luigi is within walking distance of E. Gad, a helpful individual who almost certainly has tools that can easily destroy a door. For that matter, Luigi is deceptively rather badass and could easily kick down a normal door if he really had to. Simply put, the locked doors in that game would not be plausible barriers to Luigi.
I wish game still use invisible walls instead of annoying an kill timer.
Almost every game "breaks" if you examine it really closely.
Across all your vids that I have seen, your selection of clips during editing is just amazing.
Gotta say Joseph that your reviews and voice is perfect for this and I always get happy when I see you upload, I know this is three weeks old but hey you deserve some good old thank you for continuing this. Also for the record my favourite video by you so far is Soma which I’ve seen no joke three times for enjoyment and another three in the background to help me sleep
At the start i felt like you were largely nitpicking (and to some extend u prob are), but you made a number of good points. If they intent to make a sequel lets hope they watch this.
Joe, I want to let you know we appreciate how much work goes in to these videos. We'll always be behind you
I love these reviews and walkthroughs more than actually playing the game.
He distills 50+ hrs of playtime down into 1-3hrs of video and explanation.
Thanks Joseph
It feels more like a horror movie than a game in that you are constantly questioning the character's choices being something you wouldn't do if you were trying to survive the situation and you are powerless, unlike most games, to make those opposing choices yourself.
I enjoy these videos so much, honestly each piece is like watching a documentary in which a historian breaks down the flaws of an empire. Its just so engrossing, thank you if you see this.
“& He’s Hu-GONE” thats part got me ahaha
I remember starting this game and not expecting too much of it and be instantly hooked by the main menu and Olivier Deriviere's music. I can't stress enough how excellent this game original score is.
I'm really loving games like this and Hellblade. Gorgeous games that actually have HEART put into them and aren't quite the usual AAA soulless shells with pretty graphics and empty everything else these days.
This game has pretty graphics but empty worldbuilding and storytelling.
xry
How
It has pretty good world building and a really great story imo
The set pieces are really cool and really set up how the world has been affected by the plague and the Inquisition
@@geekwithglasses2897 The story presentation is awful. The game throws a bunch of terms at you and you dont even know what it means. Lucas talks about Macula and Amicia is sitting there hearing the word for the first time and is like.. "okay." Lucas doesnt even explain properly what it is. Its handled awkwardly. Theres also to many questions left unanswered that should be important. Why are the rats appearing? Why can Hugo control the rats (Beatrice is like "Ill explain later" but she fucking never does), how did Vitalis made the white version of rats? Why the rats didnt eat the corpses at De Rune's house?
xry
A lot of that stuff is explained though
@@geekwithglasses2897 Macula is explained I guess but the rest stuff I mentioned is not. Such a shame
I went to the game completely blind. Played the intro at a con about a year before getting it and completely forgot about it. Then I decided to grab it on sale and had absolutely no expectations. It honestly blew my mind and has become one of my favorite gothic horror works. Considering the budged they did incredible job with visuals and some of the imagery is burnt into my mind. The finale of the Penance chapter has become one of my favorite gaming moments, and big reason why is the amazing haunting soundtrack.
Love your work Joe, keep it up! Hope your family is well!
I really appreciate you pointing out any relevant personal perspectives and preferences.
Also, you’re getting even better at those little jokes.
Goddamnit, that dog scene always hurts.. ruined my day lmao
I absolutely love this game and have been obsessed with so I'm super happy that you're making a video about this game.
After watching the video: Really enjoyed the video. I think all these gameplay problems were due to budget limitations as well as mechanic limitations.
I wish there is some follow-up material of some sort to flesh out some of the lore and character motivations and backstories.
You cheeky bastard, where is my Witcher video? Jokes aside, thanks Joe. Maybe give "Outer Wilds" a go? It's about a dying tiny solar system stuck in a timeloop, good stuff.
Epic Store = No :)
@@EinFelsbrocken The Outer Worlds and the Outer Wilds are two different games
Both are Epic store exclusives
You’re somehow getting better and better at making videos, like really, well done!
I loved this game, and I loved your analysis of it too especially your closing comments. I played this game, one of the first I played after about a ten year break from gaming because of school and work. I've since gotten back into them frequently but this one still stands out as a game I really enjoyed. Having taken such a long break from games and coming back to them and experiencing a game like this it was absolutely mindblowing. I did notice some of the issues that you brought up, but I felt that the story was so well done, the voice acting and the bonds between the children, most of the problems were easily overlooked for me.
The atmosphere was just epic. I loved all the different locations and the general feeling of dread while the children still hung to a thread of hope it was just awesome to me. Still, I agree with your critiques the game was chock full of "this is dumb as hell" moments when it came to torches, etc, but I didn't mind the games hand-holding to get me through the story it wanted to tell just because I thought it was executed so well.
Oh God, I lost my mind with this game. The torch mishandling, everything involving Rodric...You can't close the trick door behind you, even though ONLY HE KNOWS HOW TO OPEN IT. And I had the same experience with him and the wagon. I spent at least an hour spawn-killing archers before looking it up and discovering it was scripted.
Would really love to see a review from you about "Outer Wilds"
i came to your channel from your persona stream, and was surprised at how long and thoughtful your videos are
YAY! another video from mr. Joseph!
It's a nice enough experience. There's much I can appreciate about it, from visual splendor to the unusual choice of time and setting. The gameplay is a little lackluster though and I feel I would've had less issue with that if I had been given dialogue options. However, doing so would have had an obvious effect on the game's scope and would have probably made it impossible for a small studio to realize. I just wish I'd been given a little more control about how I interacted with the other characters.
That said, the quality of the dialogue has to be commended. It's not easy to write believable dialogue for these types of characters or without doing exposition dumps.
I enjoy it as a puzzle game with gorgeous set design and interesting story on top.
The battlefield scene below the aqueduct is simply mind blowing.
crazy how good the character models look still
And yet file sizes have ballooned to like triple the size for some reason
@@___.51wonder if it’s mo-cap related. Luke Stephens point out even on release this game’s characters can look pretty wooden outside of scripted scenes.
I mean, it's a small team so I can forgive some of it, but gameplaywise, honestly? Kinda think that removing the option to headshot kill people would make it better? Just either puzzling your way to removing guards or just distracting them with rocks would sorta remove a lot of these contrivances a bit, it's like Watch Dogs 2 where the guns don't fit in for what the story is about.
Now, most of these are issues present in Hellblade too, i feel like its just, a small dev thing, and I liked it well enough but, I can't call it game of the year, just an interesting romp like Hellblade, a bit less up on its own buttocks than it even. Not that Hellblade didnt deserve to be up on said buttocks, its pretty good, but made it very boring to replay and its a one trip experience, which is the same here.
Nah. Amicia killing people suits well the dark story about desperate survival agains't these cruel and disgusting cutthroats from the inquisition and super natural rats spreading lethal deceases and devouring everything.
It's not a light hearted story like WD2.
What a shame, that game looks absolutely gorgeous.
But being forced to leave crucial items behind without good reason would just infuriate me...
Well, it happens in many if not most games...
@@mpsuorsa Well, in most most games the reason is not the characters complete inability to solve a basic problem, like help the kid up the ledge, hand him the torch, climb up yourself.
Heck you could even lay the torch on the ground on top of the ledge and it would burn long enough for you to get up there.
you're never forced to leave "crucial" items behind. every 'room' you enter has all the tools you need to progress to the next one.
so every room is basically a puzzle, and sometimes a torch is the key. if they allowed you to carry the torches through multiple rooms that would break the puzzles because the rats would no longer be a threat.
the criticism is valid, but such a small thing shouldn't keep you from giving this game a shot, especially if what you've seen of it interests you.
@@debaronAZK Yea it isnt exactly the gameplay that irks me. But if you try to imagine yourself in the situation of the character you're controlling, and they are doing absolutely stupid decisions that could get them killed for no reason and you as player have no control over it...thats a bit annoying.
I understand why the devs did it like that, but makes you wonder if there wasn't a more elegant solution to take those items from you.
Like in some games they make you walk through some small waterfall that extinguishes the torch. (wouldnt fit here, but just as an example).
Went back through your old calogue and forgot which video I was watching for a second
i don't play most games you review but i love watching them you're lowkey hilarious
It's so great to see Joseph making bad dad jokes almost brings a tear to my eye
I've watched all your videos since the witness one, and tbh this IS the best written video I've seen from you so far.
Your script flows, everything is precise, makes sense, and is well structured.
Really an enjoyable vid. Been missing this kind of "over analysis" long videos about one game..
So yeah, just wanted to say, this video is great..
See you in 3 months.
its the worst of his videos. He doesnt understand the game and bashes it for no good reason.
@@robosergTV lol you can drop this statment about all of his videos.
Always love to hear your opinions on games. Looking forward to Sekiro (having actually played it)!
I'm watching this after two of your The Witcher videos (the third hasn't come out as of right now) and I almost screamed after the first thing you said in this video is "In The Witcher 1,"