"Zero Punctuation" and "Dev Diary" by Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw - The only thing worth watching on The Escapist

[wtfNeedSignUp]

Don't agree with this. Spectacle fighter is one of the good things to come out of him.

Claiming both DMC and Tekken fall into the same category is beyond retarded.

Stuff like bayoneta and DMC are obviously different from tekken and street fighter.

No one is saying Tekken and DMC are the same, just that the term is meaningless. Tekken is player vs. Player fighting game, DMC is linear fast paced hack and slash game with light RPG mechanics and little story focus. You don't need to invent more generic terms that will be abused like Immersive Sim and Souls Like.

To give a quick example, Nier Automata has the same standard combat system that Platinum has, but the least interesting thing about it is the fighting spectacle.

 

[skykiii]

No one is saying Tekken and DMC are the same, just that the term is meaningless.

I mean, aren't most video game genre terms meaningless these days?

I agree with Yahtzee on one thing: "Spectacle Fighter" is a way better term than "Character Action Game,' which is just a way more generic term that fails to convey shit (though I would've called the genre Spectacle Brawler rather than Spectacle Fighter).

But honestly these days I almost hate genre labels, most especially because of how they get oversaturated--either because the term itself becomes meaningless, or because people start milking it to the point where there's just too many. I remember when a game like Metroid was genuinely rare and thus special when one appeared.... now its literally every other game on any storefront you want to name.

It happens in anime too. I'm sick of hearing the word "isekai." Isekai isn't even a new idea--its literally any story where a character from Earth gets transported to a fantasy world, an idea that goes as far back as Edgar Rice Burroughs John Carter of Mars books, in fact probably farther. And yet people act like its some wonderful thing nobody has ever done before and its lately a huge fucking fad.

Ugh.

Sorry for the spergout. I has a mood today.

 

[Oilspill Battery]

No one is saying Tekken and DMC are the same, just that the term is meaningless. Tekken is player vs. Player fighting game, DMC is linear fast paced hack and slash game with light RPG mechanics and little story focus.

You don't need to invent more generic terms that will be abused like Immersive Sim and Souls Like.

To give a quick example, Nier Automata has the same standard combat system that Platinum has, but the least interesting thing about it is the fighting spectacle.

Except its not generic or meaningless. Its extremely hyper focused and describes a very specific brand of gameplay. It is a distinction worth making because those games are obviously unique enough to merit their own identifier.

I was literally only intrested in Nier because people told me it was a spectacle fighter and I was looking for spectacle fighters.

Also, what RPG mechanics does dmc have?

 

[Radion_Godiva]

New ZP review, from this point on all videos on Youtube will be censored due to Youtube demonetization, and you have to buy the Escapist membership for the uncensored versions. Also, the second game in this review had its embargo date changed suddenly a day before the review's release, so Yahtzee makes due by censoring any identifying features.

El Paso Elsewhere and ？ (Zero Punctuation) [saq9VyaCN8w].mp4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=saq9VyaCN8w

Is this a grift? I am seeing a lot of content creators doing this shit.

 

[skykiii]

Also, what RPG mechanics does dmc have?

Its been awhile since I played it but didn't Devil May Cry have a money system and some means of increasing your life meter, devil meter, and permanently upgrading your weapon skill/quality?

 

[wtfNeedSignUp]

Except its not generic or meaningless. Its extremely hyper focused and describes a very specific brand of gameplay. It is a distinction worth making because those games are obviously unique enough to merit their own identifier.

I was literally only intrested in Nier because people told me it was a spectacle fighter and I was looking for spectacle fighters.

Also, what RPG mechanics does dmc have?

DMC has been out since PS2 and just about every hack and slash since then ripped it off with long combos and grading your ability. Would nu God of War be considered as a spectacle fighter?

And RPG mechanics in form of stat and weapon upgrades.

But honestly these days I almost hate genre labels, most especially because of how they get oversaturated--either because the term itself becomes meaningless, or because people start milking it to the point where there's just too many. I remember when a game like Metroid was genuinely rare and thus special when one appeared.... now its literally every other game on any storefront you want to name.

You'd think a medium for autists would be better in labeling itself.

 

[Oilspill Battery]

DMC has been out since PS2 and just about every hack and slash since then ripped it off with long combos and grading your ability. Would nu God of War be considered as a spectacle fighter?

I haven't played the newer god of war, but isn't combat in it rather slow paced with next to no aeriality?

And RPG mechanics in form of stat and weapon upgrades.

By this logic every single game with any sort of upgrades has RPG mechanics. Hell by this logic bulletstorm has "lite rpg elements" because you can upgrade the guns.

Its been awhile since I played it but didn't Devil May Cry have a money system and some means of increasing your life meter, devil meter, and permanently upgrading your weapon skill/quality?

By this logic, bulletstorm is an RPG game because you can buy ammo upgrades for the guns.

 

[There Is Light At The End]

I haven't played the newer god of war, but isn't combat in it rather slow paced with next to no aeriality?

Nu gow is fast only in combat. Most of the time

 

[30+GameOvers]

New ZP review, from this point on all videos on Youtube will be censored due to Youtube demonetization, and you have to buy the Escapist membership for the uncensored versions. Also, the second game in this review had its embargo date changed suddenly a day before the review's release, so Yahtzee makes due by censoring any identifying features.

El Paso Elsewhere and ？ (Zero Punctuation) [saq9VyaCN8w].mp4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=saq9VyaCN8w

Youtube is all but fucking unusable these days. At least Yathzee if being a good sport about it, rather than actually bleeping everything out or worse, just skipping the naughty no-no words entirely and leaving in complete silence.
Still, I don't actually watch his reviews because he's no better than any other journo these days and his Hogwarts review sucked any goodwill left out of me, so have fun trying to scam even more Escapist Pass bucks out of gullible idiots!

 

[VeteranOfTheRetardWars]

The way I see it, sometimes you just have to accept that the old guard is out. Yahtzee was so fucking OG that he posted his first ZP in 2007. It has been sixteen years. And through all of that, he never really fucked up like MovieBob, Jim, and pretty much most of his contemporaries from that time. He just petered out and worked on his books, games, and family, and as far as he's concerned that's probably a great way for things to go.
The censoring is gay, and this isn't the 2010's anymore nobody pays for exclusive content anymore. We all know YouTube is shit but it's really the only game in town for the Escapist, I can't imagine that many of their remaining fans would go to alt-tech for example.

 

[grump]

ZP had some good stuff back in the day. But he's definitely phoning it in now and he admits as much with every other review stating how he doesn't finish games or just sets them on easy mode and looks through guides. Points for honesty and really its understandable after all these years being burnt out. Other guys *cough* Rolfe could learn from this honesty though maybe not as much how he chose to deal with it.

 

[The tired cat]

ZP had some good stuff back in the day. But he's definitely phoning it in now and he admits as much with every other review stating how he doesn't finish games or just sets them on easy mode and looks through guides. Points for honesty and really its understandable after all these years being burnt out. Other guys *cough* Rolfe could learn from this honesty though maybe not as much how he chose to deal with it.

Now? Mofo phonned it in when he admitted putting MGS4 on easy mode so he has infinite tranq rounds and then bitched how the game wasnt challenging, heck he did the same with Wildlands and many other games before.

 

[BetterFuckChuck]

ZP had some good stuff back in the day. But he's definitely phoning it in now and he admits as much with every other review stating how he doesn't finish games or just sets them on easy mode and looks through guides. Points for honesty and really its understandable after all these years being burnt out. Other guys *cough* Rolfe could learn from this honesty though maybe not as much how he chose to deal with it.

lmao getting paid to play with toys

 

[Whiskey]

Is this a grift? I am seeing a lot of content creators doing this shit.

If it is it's a believable one. There is a long form video reviewer that keeps censored videos then uncensored ones unlisted. I can believe the advertisement is getting more attention with YouTube begging for you to watch their shit ads.

 

[Kheapathic]

It happens in anime too. I'm sick of hearing the word "isekai." Isekai isn't even a new idea--its literally any story where a character from Earth gets transported to a fantasy world, an idea that goes as far back as Edgar Rice Burroughs John Carter of Mars books, in fact probably farther. And yet people act like its some wonderful thing nobody has ever done before and its lately a huge fucking fad.

As much as I hate saying this, I think the difference between the Isekai of today when compared to yesterday is who it's aimed at. Fushigi Yugi was more for a female audience; where the newer Isekai are... and I hate fucking saying this but I find it apt... they're more male power fantasy, with unstoppable main character and a harem of women to choose from. And because I am an old fag, you had Vision of Escaflowne which was good for males and females, and Inuyasha fits this as well. But we're not gonna get another Escaflowne; just more series's about a loser who logs into a game or suicides and becomes a sex God.

Edit: And I just had to pop in here, because I can't remember the last time I watched a ZP; but his AC6 video popped up in the YT algorithm, so figured why the fuck not. Surprised he found it enjoyable, I was expecting him to go on about how all the other characters are just voices. That being said, I thought he long retired or went solo or something; I didn't know The Escapist is still somehow alive (no doubt because of ZP). He does seem to have lost the spark though; or maybe I like remembering his one PS3/360 Wolfenstein game where he says it's so bland and generic the only way to make it interesting is to review it as a lymeric; and then proceeds to rhyme for a couple of minutes.

 

[ATandTism]

Is this a grift? I am seeing a lot of content creators doing this shit.

Just trying to wring more money from diehards. I don't think any normal person cares enough to pay for swears- let alone visit their site over Jewtube. I know I stopped going there since they post their stuff on Jewtube.

 

[The Feline Solution]

"Spectacle Fighter" is a way better term than "Character Action Game,'

What? Character Action Game is the established term and describes what kind of game it is sufficiently enough. I admit Spectacle Fighter sounds kinda cool though.

But we're not gonna get another Escaflowne

 

[skykiii]

By this logic, bulletstorm is an RPG game because you can buy ammo upgrades for the guns.

Yeah I agree actually. I already had a big rant about genre labels, but one I forgot about is when they get deprecated by becoming meaningless.

That's what happened with "RPG." For a hot minute in the 1990s it became cool to say a game had "RPG elements." Thing is "RPG" itself was one of those terms that we kinda just accepted--it was a holdover from pen and paper and really made more sense there. In video games though, the elements that make something an "RPG" could easily be applied to literally anything else, to the point where I've seen nerds argue about what constitutes an RPG and consistently been unable to find an answer because for anything you'd think of as a traditional "RPG element," you can either A) think of hundreds of games that have it but aren't RPGs, or B) thing of games that should be RPGs but don't have those exact elements.

It really is a term that needs to be replaced entirely, and just keeps getting used out of a sort of inertia.

What? Character Action Game is the established term and describes what kind of game it is sufficiently enough. I admit Spectacle Fighter sounds kinda cool though.

Continuing my rant, one of the problems I recall people brought up about the term "RPG" is that it literally means "Role Playing Game," a game where you play a role. A troll on a forum I used to frequent even managed to make a perfectly cogent argument that Tetris is a "role playing game."

Similar issue with "Character Action Game." So its a game where a character takes action? Isn't that... every game ever?

Like I said I tend to prefer Spectacle Brawler since "Fighter" in my mind implies a game like Street Fighter II or Marvel vs Capcom, whereas "Brawler" makes me think of things like Final Fight, which is what games like DMC are in some ways the descendants of.

 

[30+GameOvers]

I think it was obvious his opinions were shit and he finished his games on easy mode for a long time now, assuming he even finished said games(doubtful, he admits to simply watching videos in some cases). I don't consider these reviews, I consider these videos more of a quick comedy skit, so personally what bothers me more is him being lazy with his jokes(nazis bad! drumpf bad! poopycock!!(he can't even say that anymore LOL)) or constantly hearing about that Nick guy more and more, which is likely directly connected to him getting tamer and more political as the time goes on. He was much more honest and crude, but also funnier in his earlier videos.
Oh, and him trying to shill his books or other series or his attempts at trying to be a game journo? Hilarious, he will have to cope with only being known for being that smug british cunt that swears at video games for 5 minutes a week, a more graceful AVGN that hasn't lost as much edge(but just as much hair)

 

[Radion_Godiva]

I think it was obvious his opinions were shit and he finished his games on easy mode for a long time now, assuming he even finished said games(doubtful, he admits to simply watching videos in some cases). I don't consider these reviews, I consider these videos more of a quick comedy skit, so personally what bothers me more is him being lazy with his jokes(nazis bad! drumpf bad! poopycock!!(he can't even say that anymore LOL)) or constantly hearing about that Nick guy more and more, which is likely directly connected to him getting tamer and more political as the time goes on. He was much more honest and crude, but also funnier in his earlier videos.
Oh, and him trying to shill his books or other series or his attempts at trying to be a game journo? Hilarious, he will have to cope with only being known for being that smug british cunt that swears at video games for 5 minutes a week, a more graceful AVGN that hasn't lost as much edge(but just as much hair)

His books have gotten progressively worse, and the saddest thing is, you can tell he is trying to do better.