Well, it's a year and a month later than I originally wanted, but I finally got to cover this game. The nostalgia was real for this game, and I'm glad to see its still mostly enjoyable. But the technical problems: literally I was getting screenshots for the thumbnail a couple hours ago and the audio just broke. Music volume controls decided not to respond anymore and distance falloff for sound effects stopped working. The footsteps of 20 NPCs walking at once was like gunfire. Seriously, R* needs to fix this game.
Thanks for your hard work. I'd say it's easier to get this game running on a PS2 emulator than the actual PC version. But then Midnight Club 2 runs without a hitch on modern machines. I don't understand it.
College Bully has always seemed like the perfect way to continue Jimmy's story. Everything that made that game good could be done bigger and better in that setting.
I think it'd be better off as a soft reboot with a different charachter and a bigger world. With Jimmy as a cameo or story centric character. At this point it'd make sense and it wouldn't be a completely different game just more fleshed out and polished.
@@keyboardstalker4784 exactly lol. the whole point of the teen rating was that it was set as a teen in the schoolyard which differentiated it from other games like gta
Not surprising. It feels like there's been a huge drop off in memorable single-player titles after the release of Skyrim & GTA V, save for From Software titles
@@midnight_purple5461 On top of still having an active multiplayer, it's a game that's designed to be replayed and grinded endlessly. Bully has a clear ending with not much incentive to keep playing or replay, since it mostly plays out exactly the same each time, so it's more impressive to still have an active community surrounding it.
“Sold by the school and bare the name and the logo yet enough your still told you violate dress code “ oh you sweet summer child, that IS how uniform schools are like
33:50 You can get scooter and go cart near your garrage permanently by buying the scooter in the carnival and winning all go cart races. Go carts are extremely fast, once you get them, you won't use any other vehicle. After you win all the races, they'll be available near the broken bus at school.
Hey PS. I listen to your videos to fall asleep. Often can't get to sleep though because they're too informative and entertaining. Wondering if you might do one for Fable and/or Fable 2
Absolutely. Planning Fable 1 sometime next spring assuming all goes well. Fable 2 I'm still hoping for a PC port but failing that I need a capture card, but I really want to replay Fable 2 it's been years and I remember actually enjoying it quite a bit.
I think the college idea is the way forward, it makes sense story wise and adds a completely new map. Also you could use different courses at college for a mini RPG system; business courses makes you more money, arts and drama adds conversation trees. Its also adds a lot more to the outside world as you're an older character but keeps the school gameplay mechanic. Great video mate 👍
the whole point of bully are teenagers living the school life the college bs you describe will just turn it into another gta game with the sole difference of starting at a college dorm instead of some backstreet house
I always imagined in bully 2 jimmy would have to be their first repeat protagonist. Or atleast if it was a different school and setting Jimmy is a merchant, someone you do missions for, or your version of the hobo. Starts with a kid getting bullied you run because you don't know what to do and you trip and fall at the feet of older Jimmy who scares the kids off, and becomes your hobo. Teaching you how to fight. Etc.
This is such a BAD idea. No wonder rockstar doesn't listen to suggestions or what the audiences want - it's because you guys keep making really disconnected suggestions that revolve around fan service ideas. Please stop bro 😂
@@IMightBeError It operates off fan service and the already present praise for the main character Jimmy. The suggestion basically exploits that Jimmy is a liked character. This is called "fan service feedback". The fan don't really have a useful or original suggestion, they just wanna see something they like. They have zero good ideas to contribute. It is exactly why Rockstar and other game companies DO NOT listen to player suggestions because 90% of the time they are just fan service feedback tier ideas.
Another PS2 Rockstar Classic that deserves a deep dive is The Warriors. You do GREAT work. I also appreciate the distinct lack of constant "opinion disclaimers."
I was bullied at school, but was an adult already when Bully came out. I did enjoy the game a lot and yeah, it felt good to be able to do something about the bullying as Jimmy.
Excellent analysis. Your criticisms of the game's flaws were spot on and I firmly understood what you appreciated about the game. Having recently completed my first playthrough, your thoughts echoed many of my own while giving me others to ponder from a different perspective. Also, your pacing, script writing and narration are great and if this video is indicative of the quality of your other output, you deserve a much larger audience for your work.
Fun fact: Trent the bully isn’t the only gay student. There’s actually a boy you can kiss in each clique in school, as well as one of the guy townies. You can gift them flowers and make out for a health boost just like you can with the girl characters. Bully was honestly way ahead of its time lol
gonna be very honest here. The best thing about Canis Canem Edit was, you could not only relive those iconic childhood moments, but you could actually live all those childhood moment you've missed oun, such as dating girls. Also, I was JUST thinking about stardew valley when you actually mentioned the same connection i was thinking about with the daily routine, so that really helped with subscribing
A Bully 2 wouldn't even have to include Jimmy or any of the characters from the original. Think about what GTA does-each title is unique with its own location and story and characters, but they sometimes refer to events from the previous games or characters from the previous games might show up in later titles (think Johnny Klebitz from GTA IV showing up in GTA V). I think it would be best to let Bully 2 take place a reasonable distance (time and location) away from Bully 1 and introduce a new cast of characters with a few well-placed cameos or references.
Watching this 10 months later but amazing video dude. You bring up amazing points. Especially making an analogy about how game development is pretty much art and subjective
Even though san andreas is a close second, bully is my favorite rockstar game and i played it alot growing up, your videos are great to listen to, similar to an audiobook keep up the good work
Just a point about the romancing in the game, it's not just the one gay bully kid, there is one gay kid in every clique in fact, and all are options as a boyfriend in the game. Listen, I made Jimmy the biggest fcking manwhre in whole school, there were are far more romanceable options than you first realise and some of them are available before you even fully get their cliques respect, you just have to keep pressing a friendly interact with them That's also how you find many of the same-sex romance options because they don't show up straight away, you have to raise your affinity with them first I only even discovered that Jimmy could have a boyfriend by complete accident by spamming the friendly interaction on some prep boy outside of a shop, and I remember it so well because it was when I was playing this game on my brother's save file and when he went to make out with Lola a bit later on, the prep guy saw him cheating on him and started beating his ass and my brother was so damn confused If you think the cat-fights jimmy's girlfriends can have with each other is entertaining, wait til a bully and a jock are literally brawling over you whilst that one hot ginger nerd girl runs over and slaps you in the face Oh my God, the memories.
Great vid, I've got some nostalgia for Bully as well, crazy to think how old the game actually is lol I remember somewhat enjoying the minigames, yet I forgot about most of them, 'cept for "consumo" which I hated so damn much that I ended up letting a buddy of mine nab a high score for the nerds... game had its flaws for sure, but there's something magical about just skateboarding around town with the walking theme playing.
I always wanted to play this game when I was younger and saw the trailers for it on TV, but couldn't because it was ~violent~. Your retrospective was insightful and interesting. And now I have to play it C: Thanks!!
LOVED this game man. You keep picking all of my all time favorites to do retrospectives on. Do you have any plans for red dead redemption or some of the older gta games like vice city?
I did get bullied a lot. But I was, I guess, the rare fighter type of victim. I fought a lot and never took my abuse at all. If not right in the moment I'd give it back weeks or months later. And I did my best to defend others from experiencing the same pains as me. Being the person that I wish existed when I was getting beat down in the beginning. So as a teen when I actually played the game I didn't actually think too much about it. I guess I realized Jimmy's methods were like a more fantasized version of what I was doing. Not to say I was some hero bringing peace to my school but I mean Jimmy said a line that was almost exactly like what I told a kid after helping him out and defending him. Jimmy said something like "I only bully people that deserve it." The line I told the kid was "I bully bullies." And yea the opening chapter where you are literally fighting the bully faction just made me think of that. Anyway, I don't think the game really makes a stand on bullying. I mean there's not much of a stand to make to be honest. It's like if someone decided to make a stand against indiscriminate murder. Yea. Everyone knows it's bad. But Bully presents it as it is. Maybe a little bit of fantasy but honestly the feeling that the adults around you don't have a grip on the students and that some are even just flat out hostile towards you for no reason is just how it is. As a victim you're on you're on your own. Jimmy has the gumption to just deal with his problems head on. Petey, in contrast, is exactly the realistic portrayal of the type of kid that environment would target in our world. It's sad but just how it is. If there was a thing to take away it's that the game supports defending yourself and defending others.
26:58 Boxing with the preppies does increase your melee damage, at least that's what it says it does. So I would assume it also adds to melee weapon damage?
I introduced my little cousin to bully. He loves it! it is very much playable on the iPad! and on the PlayStation 4. The original Bully though, bully scholarship isn’t available on the PlayStation 4
This was the only Rockstar game I 100%ed apart from San Andreas. I'd love a sequel, too, but doubt it. Dan Houser was a champion of this game, and he doesn't even work at Rockstar anymore. Sadly, it seems that the company that made this game doesn't really exist anymore, at least not as it was back then. This game was a bizarre risk taken by a company flush with money and confidence. I'm glad it was made, but honestly don't really feel it needs a sequel. We always want more of what we like, but I think a lot of times when we do get sequels or remakes or whatever, they almost never live up to our expectations. But who knows, maybe if this GTA Trilogy Remaster is successful, Bully might get the same treatment. I'd be all for that.
1:02:17 In that mission, instead of having to race around the nerd to beat him putting a new poster up. You could have just beat-up the nerd in order to incapacitate him. Therefor in my opinion it not a "lame" mission. 😉
Hopefully after GTA The Trilogy: The Definitive Edition (wow shitty name) R* will be more open to remasters/remakes. This should be 1st on the list after the GTA trilogy.
Allegedly they still got 2 more remasters in the works. What bugs me though is that what I played for the video was called a remaster. I'd like them to fix that version first before they ask me to shell over another ~$60 for the same game just because it's completely broken.
@@PrivateSessions That really is something that they need to do. I had no idea that the PC version was broken like that and I completely agree that they need to go back and fix the old versions of their games, especially if you can’t even play them without an unofficial patch. Bethesda seems to have gotten the message as I’m sure you heard about them finally fixing Fallout 3 on steam, so maybe there’s hope for R*. But then again knowing that they opted to completely remove the old versions of 3, VC, SA, I doubt they’d have a change of heart for Bully.
I think ludonarrative dissonance only matters in linear story-driven games, rather than sandboxes where the point is that the player can do whatever they want.
I remember seeing Gary in Chapter 3 too. Maybe it was a side mission though. Just checked, it's in the mission Wrong Part of Town. So Gary isn't absent from Chapter 3. He shows up in that mission. And no, they don't unlock in Chapter 6, the latest any missions unlock is Chapter 5, even in Scholarship Edition. Well, the game does have the player bully people. But, only if you do most of the errands. So it's by choice.
I love this game so much, back in the day I played a bunch of it on PS2 and then we they released it on Xbox 360 I jumped back in and got 100%. You unlocked a rubber band ball that worked as a surprisingly sweet weapon lol
16:28 “… for kissing girls, or the one gay bully…” I DON’T WANNA BE *THAT* GUY BC YOUR VIDEO IS REALLY GOOD, but there are actually six guys that Jimmy is able to kiss for the health bonus! Really, I’m surprised this option got into the game… at all. It was 1) 2006 and 2) absolutely not trying to be super progressive. This game has a looooooot of… questionable content in it. And it indulged in period-appropriate homophobia from time to time, as did most media from the mid to late 2000’s. But the fact that you are able to kiss five different male students, as a male student yourself, and it gives you the exact same health benefits as it does kissing the girls and NOT any punishment? I dunno, it’s pretty damn cool that this was in a game that’s over 15 years old and absolutely not targeting a queer audience. One day I’ll have more developed thoughts about it.
If any game is worthy of a sequel or full on remake, it's this game. Everything in this game is fantastic from the story to the music to the characters
I am glad that you mentioned ludonarrative dissonance. It's something that, whenever I hear it being brought up, I can't help but just roll my eyes and stop watching or reading any review or comment. It's something that can't really be addressed in any meaningful way. I'll take Bully as an example. I assure you, if the game didn't feature those bully mechanics, there would be people who would argue that the game has ludonarrative dissonance, because during story Jimmy beats up people and all that kind of stuff, but during normal gameplay, you are forced to behave like an angel. There are others that argue that there's ludonarrative dissonance because during story Jimmy behaves like a defender, but you can do whatever you want outside of those story missions. There... Really is no answer to that problem. Do you make a game that adheres to your narrative, but ends up creating a game that is less fun because of that, or do give players freedom to do what they want to do during normal gameplay, therefore making it more fun? And, sure, one might argue that there are games like Fallout New Vegas where you can interpret your character whichever way you want, but I feel that it only works there because your character is a completely blank slate and you have no relationships or a story that ties you into any faction, unlike Bully where Jimmy behaves one way during the story, but can behave differently during normal gameplay. But, there's also the argument that blank slate characters are boring and don't allow the players the immerse into the world... There's no easy way out of this.
When the bully becomes the therapist to every school problem simply because of honesty and being outright blunt about it. I believe that's the social commentary Rockstar wanted to get away with.
Fun fact there’s more than one kissable male student. You can kiss 1 boy from each clique: Trent (bullies), Gord (preppies), Cornelius (nerds), Vance (greasers), Kirby (jocks), and Duncan (townies). You have to have 50% social standing with the clique before you can kiss them and you gotta give up some flowers regardless of what you unlock in English class.
Actually small detail that I notice a lot miss but Gary actually makes an appearance in chapter 3 when Johnny and the greasers are hassling one of the nerds about algie. There's even a line of dialogue where Johnny tells Gary to shut up
17:11 Everyone who has played B:SE on the PC will know whatever code handled analog input on the shop class got no playtesting whatsoever. It's busted, and it's obviously busted. Whenever I see any footage of that bike getting the pedals turned and any desire to replay bully vanishes.
I’ll say this. The game itself was a great for what it was when it came out. You can find quirks and bugs in every game that came out around this time. If they were to release a sequel for the game, they would have more technology to play around with.
Just replayed it and haven't played it since 7th grade now. I wish they didn't squeeze the story missions so much. The plotholes as an adult made it hard to finish. But still an amazing story and game play. Top 5 forsure.
If we don’t get a sequel I might be a little sad but all I really want is for people to keep talking about bully I want to know one of my favorite games won’t be forgotten for a very long time. I would love a remake with better graphics and mechanics.
I would like Bully 2 to: Take place over the sophomore, junior, and senior year, and includes summer vacation segments. A summer camp where you can work a summer job. Maybe have fun parodying some of those old slasher flicks. You can also take Drivers Ed at the end of your first summer and buy your first car. Now, you get _A_ car. This isn't GTA where you just get into any old car and drive. You get a beat up used midsize sedan like I remember everyone's first car being like in high school. But it's YOURS. I want to emulate the real feeling of having your first car. I want players to bond with their car like they do their horse in RDR2. And something highly customizable, like able to put on a bunch of the stupid stuff we put on our cars as young people. The map should have the school, Bullworth town, then a small rural farm area, a heavily forested area, and a medium-sized city. Maybe like the size of Saint Denis, but some east coast city. The map would be significantly bigger than the first game, but it doesn't need to be nearly as big as GTAV or RDR2's maps.
I only just played it it was last rockstar game i needed to try, the rest i played to death on there original releases, im waiting for midnight club V, manhunt 3 and bully 2 while everyone waits for gta 6.....dont worry il wait
30:41 😂😂 I used to taunt the prefects into running after me so I could get them close to the lockers and the toilets and well you know what would happen then! Messing with the prefects is one of my favorite things to do in Bully! I love making them mad and have them chase after me! I’ve gotten so good I barely get caught anymore! It’s like my own little challenge I invented! Get in the red meter and run away from all the prefects without hiding to add more challenge. Though I can hide if I want to.
Something i was delighted to discover when i switched from windows to linux was that on linix, both bully and gta 4 work flawlessly and i dont have any if the same problems, even steam input doesnt give me any issues. I know linux isnt for everyone but so many bad pc ports and old games work so much better. The audio issues are jarring though lol
after watching the video and having extensively played the original PS2 version i think the best term to sum the game up in the eyes oc Rockstar is: "forgotten middle child". loved by some, overlooked by others and fully ignored by the rest. the way to make the sequel would be to make it an online style game with player made mods similar to GT5; keep a basic story but allow those that enjoy it to expand on things they want while keeping the tone of the original
I think throughout this video there are a couple of points you make where it seems like you don't take the fact into full account that Bully was a product of its time. The game running at 30 fps for example. It's 16 years old... Also you said classes are to trivial to be enjoyable but you liked detention for actually feeling like a chore. I'd argue both those mechanics serve the same purpose. They make the game all the more enjoyable when you don't have to do them. There are also a few minor mistakes which lead me to believe you haven't explored the game to the fullest (which is obviously fair but maybe not the best starting point for an attempt at a whole retrospective). For example there are six kissable boys in the game, not just one. And after completing the kart races you do get one next to your garrage at the school so it's not just tied to missions. So all in all I know these retrospectives can never be totally objective and that's not what they're there for. I just feel like some points here weren't 100% fair.
Bully scholarship edition plays ok on the iPad . Also, the AI climbed for me once, but it wasn’t a ladder or anything. He just climbed on top of a dumpster.
Private! Can you please tell me what song this is?!? I tried digging through your music doc but can't seem to figure out which one it is! Ahh it haunts me!
I loved how easy Bully was. Makes the game accessible to somebody like me who can't play for shit. I'd dare to say its the only game I've ever finished and i loved it :)
About the Ludo narrative dissonance, I think this argument really only applies when the LND is built into the game, and it's not optional. Sure, it's good when the game sees all you do and reacts to it, but it's also fun to sometimes just get a sandbox to play in free of consequences. The problem, to me, only arises when the game's story and obligatory segments have a particular message while also making me either betray that message so they can shove it down my throat or have the character betray their presentation. For example, the game that sparked a lot of discussion about it, Last of Us Part 2, suffers a lot being a story about revenge where you kill everyone in sight, with no alternative options, only to spare the one person you actually wanted to kill. Another example, from a really good game, in Baldur's Gate 3 the game makes it very clear that there is a cost to using tadpole powers, and evolving those abilities literally shows the tadpole eating out your brain and burying itself into it. But in gameplay there are no actual drawbacks to using or upgrading those powers aside from 2 choices, one in part 3 and one at the very end, with a negligible drawback and one with big implications, respectively (not that it ruins the game, it was probably cut content, but it's very much there). There is also another type of dissonance, which is mostly due to urgency, which basically every RPG has it, where you have this devastating, life-threatening/world ending issue, that must be solved ASAP, but they player will also travel the world doing sidequests. This is a minor issue and depends a lot on the plot, God of War 2018 and Morrowind manage to avoid this issue by not having time sensitive plot-lines, but when it does arise I don't think it's an immersion breaking experience.
Good video however there is 1 thing I don't agree with but everyone has their own opinion personally the one I disagree with is Rockstars mission design now I'm a bit rusty I haven't played bully quite literally in years maybe even a decade but I have played GTA V recently so I'm gonna base my point off of GTA V see I think Rockstars mission design gets pretty diverse like in GTA V you can go from a mission where your racing 3 fast cars down the LS freeway to the exact next mission following a guy in a helicopter to steal an extremely rare car for the same mission giver both of which having u start as Franklin then switching to either Trevor or Michael then switching back to Franklin to complete the task at hand as well as having 5 different heists with all but 1 having 2 extremely different ways to complete the heists you have 1 heist where you escape using military hardware and a minigun then robbing the biggest gold reserve in the world and escaping using highly souped up muscle cars and disappearing in 2 semi trucks in a tunnel sure the older rockstar games have missions that are go here.kill guy done but They still had plenty variations in mission design
I agree i find it odd when people say mission design is repepetive when the likes of Bully have much more mission vaierty then Many games same with RDR2 and GTA5.
Well, it's a year and a month later than I originally wanted, but I finally got to cover this game. The nostalgia was real for this game, and I'm glad to see its still mostly enjoyable. But the technical problems: literally I was getting screenshots for the thumbnail a couple hours ago and the audio just broke. Music volume controls decided not to respond anymore and distance falloff for sound effects stopped working. The footsteps of 20 NPCs walking at once was like gunfire. Seriously, R* needs to fix this game.
Thanks for your hard work. I'd say it's easier to get this game running on a PS2 emulator than the actual PC version. But then Midnight Club 2 runs without a hitch on modern machines. I don't understand it.
I’ve not even started watching it and I already offer my sincere thanks. This will be an easy 1.5 hours of life.
I really wanna like this comment but bumping it from 69 likes would just be against the juvenile spirit of this game.
College Bully has always seemed like the perfect way to continue Jimmy's story. Everything that made that game good could be done bigger and better in that setting.
@no info tru
I think it'd be better off as a soft reboot with a different charachter and a bigger world. With Jimmy as a cameo or story centric character. At this point it'd make sense and it wouldn't be a completely different game just more fleshed out and polished.
@@yeshuamcfly1154 I disagree idk it would feel weird to have bully without Jimmy he’s just a perfect main character idk maybe I’ll be surprised
Except in college if you get caught beating people up, they don’t make you mow lawns, you just get an assault charge.
@@keyboardstalker4784 exactly lol. the whole point of the teen rating was that it was set as a teen in the schoolyard which differentiated it from other games like gta
This 15 year old single player game with no sequel still has an active subreddit btw
Diablo 2 thinks that's cute 😉
Jk. It's impressive still. Bully is an awesome game.
Not surprising. It feels like there's been a huge drop off in memorable single-player titles after the release of Skyrim & GTA V, save for From Software titles
@@Logan_93 diablo 2 is multiplayer lol
@@midnight_purple5461 On top of still having an active multiplayer, it's a game that's designed to be replayed and grinded endlessly. Bully has a clear ending with not much incentive to keep playing or replay, since it mostly plays out exactly the same each time, so it's more impressive to still have an active community surrounding it.
“Sold by the school and bare the name and the logo yet enough your still told you violate dress code “ oh you sweet summer child, that IS how uniform schools are like
33:50 You can get scooter and go cart near your garrage permanently by buying the scooter in the carnival and winning all go cart races. Go carts are extremely fast, once you get them, you won't use any other vehicle. After you win all the races, they'll be available near the broken bus at school.
I never really use the go cart lmao im not in a hurry
Hey PS. I listen to your videos to fall asleep. Often can't get to sleep though because they're too informative and entertaining. Wondering if you might do one for Fable and/or Fable 2
Absolutely. Planning Fable 1 sometime next spring assuming all goes well. Fable 2 I'm still hoping for a PC port but failing that I need a capture card, but I really want to replay Fable 2 it's been years and I remember actually enjoying it quite a bit.
Lol
I do the same and end up staying awake listening, lol.
i was sleep too. in fact, after i woke up, I restarted the video just to listen to it in my sleep. I dreamed about watching Spider-Man PC review.
I think the college idea is the way forward, it makes sense story wise and adds a completely new map. Also you could use different courses at college for a mini RPG system; business courses makes you more money, arts and drama adds conversation trees. Its also adds a lot more to the outside world as you're an older character but keeps the school gameplay mechanic. Great video mate 👍
the whole point of bully are teenagers living the school life
the college bs you describe will just turn it into another gta game with the sole difference of starting at a college dorm instead of some backstreet house
I wouldn’t mind a senior year game as well
Also you can make safe zones be actual houses that you can own instead of just entire buildings being gifted to you by a clique
@@davidkonevky7372 That's just another GTA game. Please, shut the hell up. Your suggestions are SO BAD bro. 😂
You GOTTA shut up bro.
I always imagined in bully 2 jimmy would have to be their first repeat protagonist. Or atleast if it was a different school and setting Jimmy is a merchant, someone you do missions for, or your version of the hobo. Starts with a kid getting bullied you run because you don't know what to do and you trip and fall at the feet of older Jimmy who scares the kids off, and becomes your hobo. Teaching you how to fight. Etc.
So much of bully revolves around jimmy that it's almost hard to imagine him OUT of the franchise
This is such a BAD idea. No wonder rockstar doesn't listen to suggestions or what the audiences want - it's because you guys keep making really disconnected suggestions that revolve around fan service ideas. Please stop bro 😂
@@josephsalah647Somebody didn’t like people today
@@josephsalah647How is it a bad idea in the slightest?
@@IMightBeError It operates off fan service and the already present praise for the main character Jimmy. The suggestion basically exploits that Jimmy is a liked character.
This is called "fan service feedback". The fan don't really have a useful or original suggestion, they just wanna see something they like. They have zero good ideas to contribute. It is exactly why Rockstar and other game companies DO NOT listen to player suggestions because 90% of the time they are just fan service feedback tier ideas.
Good retrospective. Didn't agree with everything but i'm always happy to see more people talk about Bully.
Love long form videos like these, always good to see people talking about my childhood favourites. Cant wait to see what you do next
Your channel is so underrated, oh my god
Another PS2 Rockstar Classic that deserves a deep dive is The Warriors. You do GREAT work. I also appreciate the distinct lack of constant "opinion disclaimers."
I wanted to buy this for PS2 it's pricey af now
I was bullied at school, but was an adult already when Bully came out. I did enjoy the game a lot and yeah, it felt good to be able to do something about the bullying as Jimmy.
Excellent analysis. Your criticisms of the game's flaws were spot on and I firmly understood what you appreciated about the game. Having recently completed my first playthrough, your thoughts echoed many of my own while giving me others to ponder from a different perspective. Also, your pacing, script writing and narration are great and if this video is indicative of the quality of your other output, you deserve a much larger audience for your work.
Fun fact: Trent the bully isn’t the only gay student. There’s actually a boy you can kiss in each clique in school, as well as one of the guy townies.
You can gift them flowers and make out for a health boost just like you can with the girl characters.
Bully was honestly way ahead of its time lol
Kirby and Vance were bisexual because they talk about getting girls and they will kiss jimmy if you offer them
What made me try the game was the classes. I just love this game, it's one of the few I've actually finished and finished 100%
bro was struggling with that spelling minigame
I don’t even watch reviews/retrospectives which are less than 1 hour. You never disappoint, keep ‘em coming
32:34 you can Ollie up the stairs if timed right.
While I'm still hesitant if I want to get this game, I really liked this video. Subscribed.
gonna be very honest here.
The best thing about Canis Canem Edit was, you could not only relive those iconic childhood moments, but you could actually live all those childhood moment you've missed oun, such as dating girls.
Also, I was JUST thinking about stardew valley when you actually mentioned the same connection i was thinking about with the daily routine, so that really helped with subscribing
Great job again man, keep up the good work. I usually never watch retrospectives for games I haven't played but you are the exception.
A Bully 2 wouldn't even have to include Jimmy or any of the characters from the original. Think about what GTA does-each title is unique with its own location and story and characters, but they sometimes refer to events from the previous games or characters from the previous games might show up in later titles (think Johnny Klebitz from GTA IV showing up in GTA V). I think it would be best to let Bully 2 take place a reasonable distance (time and location) away from Bully 1 and introduce a new cast of characters with a few well-placed cameos or references.
the best original soundtrack in a R* game no contest
and one of my favourite games
Watching this 10 months later but amazing video dude. You bring up amazing points. Especially making an analogy about how game development is pretty much art and subjective
I really love your videos man keep em coming
Do you know who Yahweh is?
@@venge777 lmao what
@@TheDevilsSecond Do you even know your own name?
Even though san andreas is a close second, bully is my favorite rockstar game and i played it alot growing up, your videos are great to listen to, similar to an audiobook keep up the good work
Just a point about the romancing in the game, it's not just the one gay bully kid, there is one gay kid in every clique in fact, and all are options as a boyfriend in the game. Listen, I made Jimmy the biggest fcking manwhre in whole school, there were are far more romanceable options than you first realise and some of them are available before you even fully get their cliques respect, you just have to keep pressing a friendly interact with them
That's also how you find many of the same-sex romance options because they don't show up straight away, you have to raise your affinity with them first
I only even discovered that Jimmy could have a boyfriend by complete accident by spamming the friendly interaction on some prep boy outside of a shop, and I remember it so well because it was when I was playing this game on my brother's save file and when he went to make out with Lola a bit later on, the prep guy saw him cheating on him and started beating his ass and my brother was so damn confused
If you think the cat-fights jimmy's girlfriends can have with each other is entertaining, wait til a bully and a jock are literally brawling over you whilst that one hot ginger nerd girl runs over and slaps you in the face
Oh my God, the memories.
yeah i never thought when i bought this game on sale for 5 bucks how much it wld stick w me 4 th rest of my life
geeeeeeeeeeez over an hour about one of my favourite games, lets gooo!
Great vid, I've got some nostalgia for Bully as well, crazy to think how old the game actually is lol
I remember somewhat enjoying the minigames, yet I forgot about most of them, 'cept for "consumo" which I hated so damn much that I ended up letting a buddy of mine nab a high score for the nerds... game had its flaws for sure, but there's something magical about just skateboarding around town with the walking theme playing.
Been enjoying your Skyrim analysis, stoked to see this pop up in my feed. One of my favourite games ever, so many good memories from Bullworth.
dude, it's been great seeing your channel grow over the last 6 months or so. wild considering you said that your channel was at 15 subs in march.
I've never had a crash in Bully: Scholarship edition. Interesting..
Played the first time vanilla, then did a 99.71% with the stability mods, 60fps and graphics upgrade
Cheers mate, never played this game but I loved your vid.
Unusual choice! Not played this in years. I’ll save this for my flight tomorrow.
I always wanted to play this game when I was younger and saw the trailers for it on TV, but couldn't because it was ~violent~. Your retrospective was insightful and interesting. And now I have to play it C: Thanks!!
LOVED this game man. You keep picking all of my all time favorites to do retrospectives on. Do you have any plans for red dead redemption or some of the older gta games like vice city?
Wow!! You just earned a new Sub. I can tell you put a ton of work into your videos. Thank you for this Video.
Once you go to classes enough you don't have to go back. God I wish I could do that in highschool.
Ha! This is crazy, I've wanted to make a video pretty damn similar to this. You're amazing, dude!! Underrated.
REMEMBER P-SESSIONS IS A LEGEND IN THE MAKING!
I did get bullied a lot. But I was, I guess, the rare fighter type of victim. I fought a lot and never took my abuse at all. If not right in the moment I'd give it back weeks or months later. And I did my best to defend others from experiencing the same pains as me. Being the person that I wish existed when I was getting beat down in the beginning. So as a teen when I actually played the game I didn't actually think too much about it. I guess I realized Jimmy's methods were like a more fantasized version of what I was doing. Not to say I was some hero bringing peace to my school but I mean Jimmy said a line that was almost exactly like what I told a kid after helping him out and defending him. Jimmy said something like "I only bully people that deserve it." The line I told the kid was "I bully bullies." And yea the opening chapter where you are literally fighting the bully faction just made me think of that.
Anyway, I don't think the game really makes a stand on bullying. I mean there's not much of a stand to make to be honest. It's like if someone decided to make a stand against indiscriminate murder. Yea. Everyone knows it's bad. But Bully presents it as it is. Maybe a little bit of fantasy but honestly the feeling that the adults around you don't have a grip on the students and that some are even just flat out hostile towards you for no reason is just how it is. As a victim you're on you're on your own. Jimmy has the gumption to just deal with his problems head on. Petey, in contrast, is exactly the realistic portrayal of the type of kid that environment would target in our world. It's sad but just how it is. If there was a thing to take away it's that the game supports defending yourself and defending others.
Now patrician needs to come along and do an 8 hour video on bully 😂
Missed this game so much and didn't realise it... Time to find the ps2 again I think😁👍👍
26:58 Boxing with the preppies does increase your melee damage, at least that's what it says it does. So I would assume it also adds to melee weapon damage?
Oh you bet it does, that make lethal with a bat
I introduced my little cousin to bully. He loves it! it is very much playable on the iPad!
and on the PlayStation 4. The original Bully though, bully scholarship isn’t available on the PlayStation 4
Hes like salt factory but his taste in games is better, youre gonne get big in the retrospective game your videos are so good
This was such an amazing, high quality video and analysis. You've outdone yourself Private Sessions :)
This was the only Rockstar game I 100%ed apart from San Andreas. I'd love a sequel, too, but doubt it. Dan Houser was a champion of this game, and he doesn't even work at Rockstar anymore. Sadly, it seems that the company that made this game doesn't really exist anymore, at least not as it was back then. This game was a bizarre risk taken by a company flush with money and confidence. I'm glad it was made, but honestly don't really feel it needs a sequel. We always want more of what we like, but I think a lot of times when we do get sequels or remakes or whatever, they almost never live up to our expectations. But who knows, maybe if this GTA Trilogy Remaster is successful, Bully might get the same treatment. I'd be all for that.
1:02:17 In that mission, instead of having to race around the nerd to beat him putting a new poster up.
You could have just beat-up the nerd in order to incapacitate him. Therefor in my opinion it not a "lame" mission. 😉
Hopefully after GTA The Trilogy: The Definitive Edition (wow shitty name) R* will be more open to remasters/remakes. This should be 1st on the list after the GTA trilogy.
Allegedly they still got 2 more remasters in the works. What bugs me though is that what I played for the video was called a remaster. I'd like them to fix that version first before they ask me to shell over another ~$60 for the same game just because it's completely broken.
@@PrivateSessions That really is something that they need to do. I had no idea that the PC version was broken like that and I completely agree that they need to go back and fix the old versions of their games, especially if you can’t even play them without an unofficial patch. Bethesda seems to have gotten the message as I’m sure you heard about them finally fixing Fallout 3 on steam, so maybe there’s hope for R*. But then again knowing that they opted to completely remove the old versions of 3, VC, SA, I doubt they’d have a change of heart for Bully.
I think ludonarrative dissonance only matters in linear story-driven games, rather than sandboxes where the point is that the player can do whatever they want.
I can't be the only one that was singing "Wheelies on em, wheelies on em" lol
I remember seeing Gary in Chapter 3 too. Maybe it was a side mission though. Just checked, it's in the mission Wrong Part of Town. So Gary isn't absent from Chapter 3. He shows up in that mission. And no, they don't unlock in Chapter 6, the latest any missions unlock is Chapter 5, even in Scholarship Edition. Well, the game does have the player bully people. But, only if you do most of the errands. So it's by choice.
I love this game so much, back in the day I played a bunch of it on PS2 and then we they released it on Xbox 360 I jumped back in and got 100%. You unlocked a rubber band ball that worked as a surprisingly sweet weapon lol
16:28 “… for kissing girls, or the one gay bully…”
I DON’T WANNA BE *THAT* GUY BC YOUR VIDEO IS REALLY GOOD, but there are actually six guys that Jimmy is able to kiss for the health bonus!
Really, I’m surprised this option got into the game… at all. It was 1) 2006 and 2) absolutely not trying to be super progressive. This game has a looooooot of… questionable content in it. And it indulged in period-appropriate homophobia from time to time, as did most media from the mid to late 2000’s. But the fact that you are able to kiss five different male students, as a male student yourself, and it gives you the exact same health benefits as it does kissing the girls and NOT any punishment? I dunno, it’s pretty damn cool that this was in a game that’s over 15 years old and absolutely not targeting a queer audience. One day I’ll have more developed thoughts about it.
If any game is worthy of a sequel or full on remake, it's this game. Everything in this game is fantastic from the story to the music to the characters
I am glad that you mentioned ludonarrative dissonance. It's something that, whenever I hear it being brought up, I can't help but just roll my eyes and stop watching or reading any review or comment. It's something that can't really be addressed in any meaningful way. I'll take Bully as an example. I assure you, if the game didn't feature those bully mechanics, there would be people who would argue that the game has ludonarrative dissonance, because during story Jimmy beats up people and all that kind of stuff, but during normal gameplay, you are forced to behave like an angel. There are others that argue that there's ludonarrative dissonance because during story Jimmy behaves like a defender, but you can do whatever you want outside of those story missions. There... Really is no answer to that problem. Do you make a game that adheres to your narrative, but ends up creating a game that is less fun because of that, or do give players freedom to do what they want to do during normal gameplay, therefore making it more fun?
And, sure, one might argue that there are games like Fallout New Vegas where you can interpret your character whichever way you want, but I feel that it only works there because your character is a completely blank slate and you have no relationships or a story that ties you into any faction, unlike Bully where Jimmy behaves one way during the story, but can behave differently during normal gameplay. But, there's also the argument that blank slate characters are boring and don't allow the players the immerse into the world... There's no easy way out of this.
When the bully becomes the therapist to every school problem simply because of honesty and being outright blunt about it.
I believe that's the social commentary Rockstar wanted to get away with.
Fun fact there’s more than one kissable male student. You can kiss 1 boy from each clique: Trent (bullies), Gord (preppies), Cornelius (nerds), Vance (greasers), Kirby (jocks), and Duncan (townies). You have to have 50% social standing with the clique before you can kiss them and you gotta give up some flowers regardless of what you unlock in English class.
The shop mini game thumbstick was broken on ps2/4 as well
31:49 I sure did earn it! God I loooooove messing with the prefects it’s so much fun!
Really random but from 51:02 - 51:26 the music you used in the background, is this from another game? It sounds really familiar. Fantastic video btw!
It's the Halloween theme from Bully itself..
Hey I hope you’re working on your issues because I had the same ones I’m praying for you brother !! Your not alone
I rather prefer these minigames missions than those only collectables from most modern triple a
Actually small detail that I notice a lot miss but Gary actually makes an appearance in chapter 3 when Johnny and the greasers are hassling one of the nerds about algie. There's even a line of dialogue where Johnny tells Gary to shut up
17:11
Everyone who has played B:SE on the PC will know whatever code handled analog input on the shop class got no playtesting whatsoever. It's busted, and it's obviously busted. Whenever I see any footage of that bike getting the pedals turned and any desire to replay bully vanishes.
16:30 there is three kissable boys in the scholarship edition. The bully, a nerd, and a prep!
I’ll say this. The game itself was a great for what it was when it came out. You can find quirks and bugs in every game that came out around this time. If they were to release a sequel for the game, they would have more technology to play around with.
Just replayed it and haven't played it since 7th grade now. I wish they didn't squeeze the story missions so much. The plotholes as an adult made it hard to finish. But still an amazing story and game play. Top 5 forsure.
Great vid, great game!
If we don’t get a sequel I might be a little sad but all I really want is for people to keep talking about bully I want to know one of my favorite games won’t be forgotten for a very long time. I would love a remake with better graphics and mechanics.
I would like Bully 2 to:
Take place over the sophomore, junior, and senior year, and includes summer vacation segments.
A summer camp where you can work a summer job. Maybe have fun parodying some of those old slasher flicks. You can also take Drivers Ed at the end of your first summer and buy your first car.
Now, you get _A_ car. This isn't GTA where you just get into any old car and drive. You get a beat up used midsize sedan like I remember everyone's first car being like in high school.
But it's YOURS. I want to emulate the real feeling of having your first car. I want players to bond with their car like they do their horse in RDR2.
And something highly customizable, like able to put on a bunch of the stupid stuff we put on our cars as young people.
The map should have the school, Bullworth town, then a small rural farm area, a heavily forested area, and a medium-sized city. Maybe like the size of Saint Denis, but some east coast city.
The map would be significantly bigger than the first game, but it doesn't need to be nearly as big as GTAV or RDR2's maps.
I only just played it it was last rockstar game i needed to try, the rest i played to death on there original releases, im waiting for midnight club V, manhunt 3 and bully 2 while everyone waits for gta 6.....dont worry il wait
33:50 if you beat all the go kart races you unlock one for free roam, it's fun as hell
@@kadupse did rockstar make it? Stinks of the sort of quality product as the San Andreas "deluxe" release
30:41 😂😂
I used to taunt the prefects into running after me so I could get them close to the lockers and the toilets and well you know what would happen then!
Messing with the prefects is one of my favorite things to do in Bully!
I love making them mad and have them chase after me! I’ve gotten so good I barely get caught anymore! It’s like my own little challenge I invented!
Get in the red meter and run away from all the prefects without hiding to add more challenge. Though I can hide if I want to.
55:16 gary is in the mission wrong side of town
Sounds more a pc problem than an actual game problem
Oh fuck yeah dude, time to listen to this and fold some laundry.
i had no clue jimmy was swinging both ways
Something i was delighted to discover when i switched from windows to linux was that on linix, both bully and gta 4 work flawlessly and i dont have any if the same problems, even steam input doesnt give me any issues. I know linux isnt for everyone but so many bad pc ports and old games work so much better. The audio issues are jarring though lol
Only thing that really bothers me is Gary and Pete literally dissapear for majority of the game!
after watching the video and having extensively played the original PS2 version i think the best term to sum the game up in the eyes oc Rockstar is: "forgotten middle child". loved by some, overlooked by others and fully ignored by the rest. the way to make the sequel would be to make it an online style game with player made mods similar to GT5; keep a basic story but allow those that enjoy it to expand on things they want while keeping the tone of the original
Please do more bully videos it’s so nostalgic for me 😢
The digital download version on PS4 works great. This is probably the best way to play it today.
I do hope if there’s a bully 2 we get a new protagonist in a new town and Jimmy is still in the story but as an adult in the story.
I think throughout this video there are a couple of points you make where it seems like you don't take the fact into full account that Bully was a product of its time. The game running at 30 fps for example. It's 16 years old... Also you said classes are to trivial to be enjoyable but you liked detention for actually feeling like a chore. I'd argue both those mechanics serve the same purpose. They make the game all the more enjoyable when you don't have to do them. There are also a few minor mistakes which lead me to believe you haven't explored the game to the fullest (which is obviously fair but maybe not the best starting point for an attempt at a whole retrospective). For example there are six kissable boys in the game, not just one. And after completing the kart races you do get one next to your garrage at the school so it's not just tied to missions. So all in all I know these retrospectives can never be totally objective and that's not what they're there for. I just feel like some points here weren't 100% fair.
Bully scholarship edition plays ok on the iPad .
Also, the AI climbed for me once, but it wasn’t a ladder or anything. He just climbed on top of a dumpster.
How does this only have 4 likes
Private! Can you please tell me what song this is?!? I tried digging through your music doc but can't seem to figure out which one it is! Ahh it haunts me!
At the 40 minute mark
40:20 actually, reminds me of a Harry Potter game or fable
I have the Billy game on my PS5, n it runs smoothly. It hardly bugs out sometimes. Which is good
50 dollars says hopkins is going to bite it
I loved how easy Bully was. Makes the game accessible to somebody like me who can't play for shit. I'd dare to say its the only game I've ever finished and i loved it :)
About the Ludo narrative dissonance, I think this argument really only applies when the LND is built into the game, and it's not optional. Sure, it's good when the game sees all you do and reacts to it, but it's also fun to sometimes just get a sandbox to play in free of consequences. The problem, to me, only arises when the game's story and obligatory segments have a particular message while also making me either betray that message so they can shove it down my throat or have the character betray their presentation.
For example, the game that sparked a lot of discussion about it, Last of Us Part 2, suffers a lot being a story about revenge where you kill everyone in sight, with no alternative options, only to spare the one person you actually wanted to kill. Another example, from a really good game, in Baldur's Gate 3 the game makes it very clear that there is a cost to using tadpole powers, and evolving those abilities literally shows the tadpole eating out your brain and burying itself into it. But in gameplay there are no actual drawbacks to using or upgrading those powers aside from 2 choices, one in part 3 and one at the very end, with a negligible drawback and one with big implications, respectively (not that it ruins the game, it was probably cut content, but it's very much there).
There is also another type of dissonance, which is mostly due to urgency, which basically every RPG has it, where you have this devastating, life-threatening/world ending issue, that must be solved ASAP, but they player will also travel the world doing sidequests. This is a minor issue and depends a lot on the plot, God of War 2018 and Morrowind manage to avoid this issue by not having time sensitive plot-lines, but when it does arise I don't think it's an immersion breaking experience.
Good video however there is 1 thing I don't agree with but everyone has their own opinion personally the one I disagree with is Rockstars mission design now I'm a bit rusty I haven't played bully quite literally in years maybe even a decade but I have played GTA V recently so I'm gonna base my point off of GTA V see I think Rockstars mission design gets pretty diverse like in GTA V you can go from a mission where your racing 3 fast cars down the LS freeway to the exact next mission following a guy in a helicopter to steal an extremely rare car for the same mission giver both of which having u start as Franklin then switching to either Trevor or Michael then switching back to Franklin to complete the task at hand as well as having 5 different heists with all but 1 having 2 extremely different ways to complete the heists you have 1 heist where you escape using military hardware and a minigun then robbing the biggest gold reserve in the world and escaping using highly souped up muscle cars and disappearing in 2 semi trucks in a tunnel sure the older rockstar games have missions that are go here.kill guy done but They still had plenty variations in mission design
I agree i find it odd when people say mission design is repepetive when the likes of Bully have much more mission vaierty then Many games same with RDR2 and GTA5.
I want to know all the songs the video has in the background.
Dr. Crabblesnitch was originally going to be the main antagonist at one point. But rockstar decided to make Gary Smith the villain instead.
Great choice in my opinion.
Did you use the capcom font for chapters?
Now I'll never unsee that.