วีดีโอ

This is the biscuits of DLC VIDEOS

I personally enjoy DLC that you can access right away: Resident Evil 4, 7, 8, Final Fantasy 15, Risk of Rain 2, etc. I don't have the time or patience to follow a checklist in order to access something I just paid money for. Also, just get better at Elden Ring dummy

Hey Rusty, solid video dude, I wanted to toss my lot in and say that you do make a very good point about DLC access, especially in Elden Ring, and if we're honest, most "Souls Games" being unreasonable in their approach be able to experience them, *cough cough* hydra, pendant, and Dusk from Dark Souls 1 *cough cough*, and it's a formula, that though leading to a great experience, is soured by first and further attempts with or without the prior knowledge, it's such an odd checklist for it all with you most likely needing to be about end-game in level to have a relatively good time without being one-shot by a mini-boss let alone the actual one. Standalone certainly doesn't need to be the case but for one going through the game a 4th time with the DLC, a bit of a hand to cut out the precious hours spent walking from place to place would be highly appreciated if nothing else. Can't say there were too many DLCs that left an impression beyond just being more of what I've enjoyed up until that point, GU, Iceborne, Ashes of Ariandel, Ringed City, and Shadows of The Erdtree were some of the more memorable ones with their many pros and cons. TL;DR Great video man, you've made fair points on DLC access and New Game+ iterations for DLCs as well as point out the positives and negatives of Standalone for video games and their DLCs.

8:56 I would've also mentioned Minecraft (and effectively also Terraria) if I were you, I'm surprised how it always gets left out of the conversation.

This is the biscuits of Sailor Moon magic videos.

This is the biscuits of gas station convenience store videos.

Why would BG3 companions being stuck in their classes be a bad thing? In BG1&2, you couldn't change your party members classes and that was perfectly fine. Need a druid who can fight, use Jaheira, need a cleric, go find Viconia, Branwen, or Yeslick. I guess for human party members like Imoen you could duel class but they will always at least keep their base class.

Matpat is that you

You should play Kingdom Come Deliverance if you haven't yet. Seems like it'll be right up your alley, and is one of the most unique and immersive RPG's ever made. The game really forces you to engage with it on its terms, and while there's a smattering of QoL/handholding features, it mostly tries to leave things up to the player. There's also Hardcore mode which takes away even more of the few QoL features it has(like telling you where you are on a map so you have to figure it out yourself). The game also doesn't care much about balance, kinda letting you take more control over your character's capabilities or actions in any given moment. And this isn't all some gimmick, it's all wrapped up in a genuine good RPG with great writing and everything.

Do you really want a challenge if you lack the willpower to resist convenience? It's like saying you don't want to support evil corporations but want amazon to personally deny you anytime you feel inclined to purchase from them because it's easier to use amazon.

Im sorry but it really is as simple as just don't use the feature if you don't like it. You don't have to use it because its there, and if you don't have the self control to not use it that's on you. You can tell me to shutup all you want but you know I am right. Not wanting an option to exist in a game because you end up using it too much is a you problem. In your baldurs gate example, if class changing options weren't there, someone who made a bad class choice and is not enjoying the class would either A) Start a new game and just play the same way but with a different class or B) Just drop the game because they are not having fun

Wait until this guy finds out about save scumming 😱

Re: Strategy game rewinds-- Fire Emblem Three Houses kinda threads the needle for me on that front, since it allows only a couple of rewinds per mission. They feel like a last resort option, only there for your biggest blunders, so you let some of your mistakes slide, figuring that you want to save it in case you really fuck up. That said, I think they probably give you too many rewinds, and I think you can rewind more moves back than you probably ought to be able to... But the way they frame it as a big, red, emergency exit button is admirable. Plus there's a narrative reason for the rewinds,

I feel like there is definitely a gauge of convenience and inconvenience that needs to be monitored. For example I just played through celeste the first time and beat the dlc level and the game on paper sounds like it BABIES the player. Its a platformer with infinite lives, infinite continues, checkpoints after everyscreen and if you get tired of playing a level, you can turn off the whole game and come back tomorrow to the same screen you turned the game off on. It is BEYOND generous. However it offsets that generosity by giving you insane challenges that makes it feel like you EARN every new screen. There were times would I would spend a day trying to get past one screen to make one section worth of progress to make a dent in the level. In that regard geometry dash is also simple its a game that works on a level to level basis where you have to beat the entire level in one run without dying and master each mechanic it throws at you with increasing difficulty. Meanwhile again you have infinite tries and the gameplay is literally one button yet the difficulty can get so intense. Its important to emphasize CHALLENGE over CHORES Imo. Travelling in a world sounds good on paper but if there is nothing in that world it becomes a chore. Gta V had missions where you would drive to a to go to b to get the mission to go back to a to drive to c to go back to a. Meanwhile in a game like Hollow knight the flower mission is interesting because it requires your knowledge of the map to succeed, requiring you to plot a route and revisit and clear areas to make it as safe as possible for you to deliver the flower without taking any damage. These inconveniences CAN be rewarding but its important that they enhance the gameplay instead of being a chore for a player.

My fav inconvenience (that i think we already talked about on stream like 1000 times) is still that you dont have a Teleport in DS1 for the first half. Its the reason why the first half is so well connected with so many shortcuts, and i find myself being a lot better at remembering the map of the 1st halt than the 2nd, bc you just have to to get around the world. Another great one that was in a game i recently played was in Tunic, in that game the guides telling you where to go for progression and quests are all in the game manual pages you pick up throuout the game. The thing with the Manual is tho, nost of it is written in a made up language that you cant read, that way you have to figure it all out by lookin the the art and the few hints that are in a english. Tunics World is also great, of all games I played, Tunic's World is the one that has come the closest to feeling like DS1's first half with all the shortcuts and secrets, and that while not being a souls like.

For me magic is all about the vibes. I wanna feel like a wizard, not like some blue baseball machine or a glorified tazer. I know this is about video games, but for a ttrpg Ars magica is the closest to what i want to feel in a video game. Also dont ever consider getting immortals of aveum. The story is generic, which can be fine, but unfortunately its afraid of being camp, so its firmly rooted in the valley of mediocrity. The magic is basically srtipped of any feeling of being a wizard. Its basically a shooter masquerading as a magic game instead of how it's marketed as being a wizard shooter game. Sorry if that doesn't make sense

I can't say I'm a fan of spell components, nor spell failure chance. Likewise, systems with the necessity of a Grimoire to do _anything at all_ makes me leary. If I'm playing a mage of any stripe, I want to feel like the character himself is moulding the world to his whim, and it should feel potent. If any plain human fighterman is more effective with pointy stick, what's the point?

Wizard games…. I’m not finished with the video yet, but I’m interested to see if you’ve got any opinions on Noita, my favorite unhinged wizard game! If not, you’ve GOTTA check it out.

8:05 the game in recent memory that falls flat on this point is Final Fantasy 16. Magic users are the outcasts of the game, and the entire plot of the game is trying to rid the world of magic. Yet, there are no elemental weaknesses in the game, no mana system, and other than keeping your chain alive, no real reason to spam your base magic. It solely relies on big flashy moves with cooldowns to be it's only real "magic" mechanic in the game. I wish they had gone at least the extra step and allowed elements to be mixed when you combined skills from one Eikon of power to another instead of it just being an easier way to quickly combo

Great video Rusty! Can I just say that the outro music is really cool. One of my favorite magic systems is in Bioshock Infinite. The vigors add an interesting depth to the gameplay. They also feel real and a part of the world through environmental storytelling. The carnival at the beginning of the game is a great example of its world taking advantage of Vigors.

I love PoE, im playing it rn!

This is the biscuits of Karma Shorts.

This is the biscuits of Locked Region Videos.

This is the biscuits of Astrologer Videos.

This is the biscuits of Giving up Videos.

This is the biscuits of Bubble Videos.

This is the biscuits of Castle Videos.

This is the biscuits of Bonfire Videos.

This is the biscuits of Sleeping Videos.

This is the biscuits of Roguelike Videos.

This is the biscuits of Silk Song Videos.

The only thing abnormal about status is.

Its okay to use examples, but this became a MGS and Darksouls video.

I get what you're saying, status effects are either hit or miss. Though it rarely feels like abnormal statuses can get overpowered. Though i do like when in some games' status effects can boost the overall damage in some way, like dealing bonus damage to toppled enemies in Xenoblade or that one armor skill in MHRise (forgot the name) that boosts attack when monsters are afflicted with status. Regarding MH elements I wished they would have enhanced the elements by adding the blight effects that those beetles from rise can do as some sort of secondary effect for elements on weapons. Another change should be that the power of elements should scale with the power of the weapon, like GS dealing more element / status per hit so that it actually does change something on the long run.

"why don't more people use X status effect in Y game?" > bosses, who these effects WHOULD be useful, are immune to it. > trasm mobs are susceptible, but you can burst them 10 times faster with normal AoE damage. why indeed. . .

Status is fun

Statuses are cool imo. I'm a very passive player who likes to watch enemies burn themselves to death, or the type of person who would rather AoE bomb poison or confusion instead of spam the most effective damage ability like in Shin Megami Tensei V. If they were flashier I could see a lot more people using them, like how in Monster Hunter, blast IS flashy and satisfying to see when you proc it and see a big boom on the monster's face. Statuses in souls games are effective, especially in Elden Ring where bleed was the best choice for damage until they nerfed it. But it's hard to tell when they proc or if they even can proc on certain enemies. Just because they aren't direct, doesn't mean they are useless or ineffective.

Okay, I don't want to come off as an ass, but saying you spend 9 turns to see if a boss can be affected by a status in Persona 5 seems disingenuous. Now I haven't finished the video yet, so this might change. Most party members don't actually have access to those status affects, and if they did, you'd try them once against a boss before realizing that they're immune. The bosses in persona 5 take up very little time as well, and most people tend to ignore those types of status moves anyway. So while I understand the sentiment that status affects are useless, (minus the debufs) they're mostly there to challenge the player.

simply just do better or dont play games

more salt, you scrub.

git gud and utilize the respective boluses

I dont really mind that the Elements are better for some weapons in mh, i found it kinda interesting to make a build for each element for bows and dualblades, but if i had to do that for every weapon that would be just tedious. But I agree for Elden Ring, using the frenzy and deathblight status effects hadnt ever crossed my mind until now. Maybe the Dark souls approach of not giving the player access to it would work for Deathblight.

the items in lies of p aren't there to "get around" the bosses. just like the items in elden ring aren't there as some sneaky way to cheat the system. those things are just another tool to be used or snobbishly turn up your nose at if that suits your fancy

Awesome video! Ytube finally doing a stellar job of putting tzlented but smaller channels to the fore front. Excellent analysis! I always enjoy running through stormveil even on subsequent play throughs. My favourite part is that even though its a atarter dungeon of sorts, it still has a ton of secrets and interesting lore (eg the ledge that leads to the cliffside with the ceucible knight, the fact that castle seems to be diseased, etc.)

So true! I was new to souls games (somehow) when I started Elden Ring. I learned everything I needed to know in storm vail castle. It’s definitely neat to break down mechanics behind the pseudo tutorial that is the castle.

Elden Ring is a wonderful game. Its game design is truly spectacular. I don’t resonate with the whole combat system in Souls likes. I am not saying that it is objectively bad (it’s just not for me). I can appreciate its worldbuilding and environmental storytelling so much. It is probably one of the best games I have ever played. Like I said “it’s just not for me”. The difficulty was really refreshing due to the fact that I played it right after firewatch and unpacking. Something that I was not as fond of about Elden Ring was its way that it encouraged exploration. As you mentioned, it attempts to recommend exploration by making sure that you are not prepared for a challenge when you originally encounter it. This way you need to explore to level up your character. I find this tactic very clever (Margit for example). But for me, this just made me feel like what I was doing wasn’t productive. You know, sense the story was not being progressed as I explore. In conclusion Elden Ring is an absolute masterpiece. I just couldn’t say that it is my kind of game. Keep up the amazing videos Rusty! You are amazing!

Elden Rings open World is fun imo, but i much prefer the ds type of only legacy dungeons. Also what type of legacy dungeon would you like to see in the dlc?

so why didn't you just change your controller port on the Psycho Mantis fight?

Good video, this confirms dark souls trilogy with no bonfires is easier than psycho mantis. PS: A lot of games make you go through multiple areas with bosses at the end to reach a later area, my beloved Blighttown did no wrong (this time)

i think the change of gameplay on darkest dungeon 2 is for the better because a lot of the time there are games where a sequel will just simply wont be good having the same gameplay, also darkest dungeon is already a game with a finish being it defeating the worlds heart darkest dungeon 2 goes for a world expanding aspect who will be infantized more with the kingdoms dlc, also i think that the roguelike genre always fitted with darkest dungeon alot and i am a sucker for roguelikes. also i should mention than the principle thing that got dd2 a worse recievement than the first is because the players have as you said their own idea of what should a dd2 should be like, hell even people talk about black reliquary being the the real dd2 but that is because people are trapped in the past an they dont se all the things the game achieved did well and even got better than the first, and that dosent only aply to dd2