[INSERT DUMB META JOKE HERE THAT'S A REFERENCE TO A DUMB META JOKE I MADE PREVIOUSLY]: twitter.com/Thefearalcarrot [WOW THAT META JOKE SURE IS WEIRD - THIS ISN'T A JOKE BUT I'M GOING TO TRICK YOU INTO THINKING I MADE ONE BY POINTING OUT THE METANESS OF THAT PREVIOUS JOKE]: www.patreon.com/ArchitectofGames
I keep trying to get my friends to play Frog Fractions, but for some reason they aren't interested when I tell them about how many fractions they'll get to frog! I just don't get it!
Not gonna lie, I was kind of disappointed when that the game isn't actually about fractions. I was getting excited that someone finally managed to properly gamify math...
There was a maths website I used to play in primary school where they made really engaging math-based flash games, one of which was an on-rails FPS where you had to type the correct answer to the equation above their heads to deal damage. Unfortunately, it was a subscription service so we only got to use it for a term before going back to more bland math games.
My experience with The Stanley Parable was totally different to what you described, as I *always* try to do the opposite of what a game tells me just to see what happens. So I got the "following the directions" ending last.
That's because no message generates an universal response. In media, a text has to be decoded by each member of the audience according to their preexisting life experience (this is called "reception theory" in communications) and you probably decoded the narrator as an untrustworthy figure trying to trick you or sabotage your progress.
I was the opposite. It took me two full run throughs before I disobeyed the narrator. My roommate who introduce me to The Stanley Parable was so shocked that I could just so easily do what I was told.
@@michaelyoung7261 You got the same ending twice?! Haha. My first two ending were "jumping off the moving platform" (obviously) and "unplugging the ringing phone" (kinda proud of that one, as that was my first "real" ending, and my friend had to look this one up after getting all the others).
I just Meta-ed myself! When the Bioshock snippet was playing explaining how it manipulated us I got a pause for buffering on the video. I convinced myself that I wasn't going to fall for an obvious attempt at manipulation from the video creator to make me check the status of the video/internet. I let it play without checking, feeling like I had outsmarted the video creator, then doubt set in.. and I checked to find it was all my own doing.... Ps: I need better internet.
@@ArchitectofGames I'm a Jakob from Germany and my sister is called Emily, so I'm a tiny bit scared that you stalk me and slightly obfuscate your findings to make them less suspicious.
"Not even mentioning the fact that video games literally don't function without a player to drive the story forward." The secret Far Cry 4 ending would like to have a word with you.
thanks i was wondering. forgot about that one. "14:35 A player... is required... to push the story forward. hm. wonder if theres a game where all the interesting plot stuff doesnt actually happen to the person we play as. just someone we know or know of. "
Interestingly, the one game I've seen where the devs hold themselves as the ones "to blame" for the stuff that happens to the characters is The Simpsons Game. I think more games should be willing to explore this idea as the "you played a game, you monster!" bit is starting to get a bit old. Other game that got close was the follow-up to the Stanley Parable, The beginner's guide. I'll let you find out that one yourselves
Metagames, while they show up just often enough now that meta themes are beginning to grate on me a bit, when done well they do make for very, very memorable games. Undertale, Oneshot and both of Daniel Mullins's most well known games, Pony Island and The Hex, all remain in my mind to this day cos of how unusual and interesting their worlds were, and how it reflected directly in the gameplay. This was a cool video, especially interesting when you went into why games in particular are so prone to metafictional tropes due to that inherent instability interaction adds to any narrative a game might have. After all, even a game that takes itself seriously might have to eventually admit that it's world isn't entirely real if the player pushes the limits hard enough.
I apologise if you actually meant to, but did you forget doki doki? I feel like it belongs on that list. It was a lot of people's first forray into dating sims, and hit even harder to people who had played dating sim games before. It had a lot of great moments, such as the realization that you can alter ALL of the files, not just monika, and how that ending immediately inverts the horror into sadness. The games you described all have a level of, wait a minute what happens if I kill people. The game characters becoming sentient, only to see what actions you took, and being completely disgusted is my absolute favorite trope.
My favorite thing people have done with meta-narratives was having the actual game not start until the second "playthrough." I'm talking Doki Doki Liturature Club and Duck Season. I just wish more people would do that.
I think that, using this concept, you could make a subversive meta battle Royale horror game. I would think that it would need to explore a new territory, so not self harm, not nothing matters because reset, maybe something to deal with familial relationships? First game is normal, but things get progressively more... Wrong. Guns are replaced with divorce papers, the house you land at gets more and more decriped and it ends you getting shot, you hear a realistic gunshot and you start bleeding and The playable character limping away to die in peace.
Hatoful Boyfriend has a twist like this once you unlock the true ending (which is almost half the game's content!), and the true ending is one of very few times a videogame has made me cry. It's vaguely similar to DDLC in that it's a cute game on the surface and then there's some really dark stuff underneath, but I'm not going to spoil it.
Little shop of horrors had a thing like that. It was a really simple point and click that you learn more about on each playthrough. Eventually you have to go oneshot mode on the code to save someones life.
Meta games are literally my favorite game genre ever. Undertale and OneShot are two of my favorites of all time, Dr Langeskov was a riot, and Pony Island, The Hex, and Frog Fractions are beloved games for me too. Definitely gonna check some of these games out, I love them so much
Dude, I loved that video, especially all the little edits! I'm sure I didn't catch them all, but I appreciate each I've seen. Your content has evolved quite a lot, lately, and I can't get enough! Thanks for the essay on Frog fractions and nothing else!
14:05 - metafictiom is used in all media to some extent and enhances the experience 15:21 - metafiction is high minded artsy junk with almost no practical application
As always, I love your content. Please allow me a minor peeve. "Meta" can mean "transcendent", but it's mostly indirectly. More accurately, it's "beyond", "external", "after". We have a tendency to overvalue the "transcendent" aspect of it, which is why a lot of people equate "metaphysics" with woo, spirituality, magic, etc. It's a much more prosaic concept, though. As Nichomachus (Aristotle's heir) was compiling Aristotle's lecture notes, he compiled a bunch of material into a book called "Physics". There was some material left over which didn't quite fit, as it had more to do with the esoterica of how existence functions. He compiled that into a second book, which he worked on after he finished physics. "After Physics". . . "Metaphysics". It's been described as "the fundamental question of the nature of existence", and at the time it was a completely new subject and stands with Ontology ("the fundamental question of the nature of being") and Epistemology (the study of the nature of knowledge) as one of the fundamental subjects of classical philosophy. You didn't misuse the term as such, but emphasized "transcendent" as part of the meaning of "metagaming" -- which can be described prosaically ("the game beyond the game"). I'll shut up now.
Very glad The Longing video was blessed by the algorithm. You put a lot of work and time into making every video andd it shows! I enjoy the content very much and I'm happy to finally be on this journey!
I know this game apparently doesn't fit the genre (as you point out after the spoiler warning), but I've always believed that edutainment games can be fun for everyone when done right. I still come back to Math Munchers Deluxe every once in a while (with Troggles on, of course). It's one of the reasons I keep my Windows XP computer around, since 16Bit games don't work on modern computers.
you know what edutainment game rocks? bookworm adventures deluxe. awesome tool for me when i was young to expand my understanding of the spelling of english words (i only spoke spanish at the time)
@@yaphetgreen0222 I'd argue word games like the Bookworm series and Text Twist are a genre of their own - but I agree; Bookworm, Bookworm Adventures, and Bookworm Adventures: Vol. 2 are all really good. I've got all three. It's a shame what Pop-Cap became post-EA buyout. They used to be the kings of casual games. Bookworm, Zuma, Big Money, Bejeweled, AstroPop... Now? Their games are nothing more than greedfests.
The second you said there were spoilers to some of the solutions I got excited that there were cool math puzzles so I played the whole game and came out satisfied in a different way than I was expecting. Finally get to watch the rest of the video now :)
I love games like this that challenge your preconceptions. It's why undertale stuck out so much. It can discomfort players, but also sometimes just be fun. One of my favorite scenes in the anime Joshiraku is when a character starts panicking because the animators are putting way to much effort into animating her and they are gonna piss their whole budget away.
The fake Discord notifications and the first swears here really activated my flight or fight instincts in a way I really didn't expect. The meta-humor in this video is amazing, keep it up.
I came here prepared for spoilers for Frog Fractions (and the recent DLC) since I'd played it. I was not expecting spoilers for the recent "There is no Game". :(
Worth noting that the Breath of the Wild shield bounce doesn't actually cut out "95% of the game". At the moment you finish the Great Plateau, there is just nothing left that is mandatory before going to Hyrule Castle. The shield bounce merely speeds up the journey that would otherwise be on foot. More accurately, of all mandatory content in BotW before fighting Ganon, 95% of it is just the Great Plateau tutorial section which must be done so you can get the parachute and climb down. Even without glitches and tricks, you're perfectly free to boot it up, do the shrines on the great Plateau, climb down, and run to challenge Ganon in the buff. The BotW speedrun is about doing all that quickly, and not doing anything optional, not about cutting out any mandatory content. Sure, that means they don't play 95% of what is in the game, but if avoiding optional content is considered "cutting out" then everyone other than completionists are cutting out gameplay in some cheeky exploit. The same would be true of someone who "only" got 119 stars in SM64. But that's not the case; you'd only be "cutting out" gameplay if you challenge Bowser with less than 70 stars.
13:55 Minor correct: that's not stasis, it's just the bullet time effect from using your bow in the air hence why it's called a Bullet Time Bounce (BTB) Watch there be some joke I'm too tired to catch and this not actually be a correction at all.. Christ I'm paranoid
stasis launches were the previous meta speedrunning strat before BTBs and BILs; i'm not sure if he meant using both in conjunction simultaneously but I understand the point being made.
@@TehNightfallen God I completely forgot stasis launches even existed so thanks for that reminder. I didn't think they were very forgettable either but somehow I still managed
At heart what metafiction does is create personal interaction between the player and the game. The player has to interact with the imaginary rules and UI to affect the flow of the game, and when the game is self aware of this and "talks back", the emotional connection the player has with it is deepened.
Have you considered doing a video on the way games like apex and fortnite keep player retention by having a story and game develop and change over longer periods of time, and how the community aspects of being able to talk with the developers while things are being made and change things at a faster rate is changing a lot of people's standards on more classical pay-to-play games. Also nice vid :)
I'm glad you got an injection of new subscribers, you make good content. Innuendo Studios has a video on the Beginners Guide and meta fiction through games, I think it's an expansion of the topics you brought up here, I think it's worth a watch
I saw this video in my notifications. I thought 'what channel is this????' I went into the vids section and saw 'The Longing' and I immediately remembered why/what I was thinking. Good channel, good content. I like the obscure, essay style. I did indeed sub in on that vid and so far, I'm hooked. Only a matter of time before binge-watching ensues. Keep up the good work AG.
Fwiw, the other Metagame that is mentioned at around the 2:50 mark actually is an acronym. Meta - Most effective tactic available It's mostly used in the context of competitive multiplayer games, referring to the practice of players trying to find and exploit the "meta".
Meta games are probably my favorite genre of games, the Stanley Parable being my favorite game ever. I love their subversive and often charming nature.
Once I learn how to make a game, I’m gonna make a roguelike where going through the secret path gives the mc a tome that gives him the awareness that he’s in a roguelike. It will start as just deja vu, the mc will in between levels remark about how it looks familiar but different, but the deja vu will subtly become stronger and stronger until the mc realizes that they’re in a game that will reset every time they die. From here, the mc will make the conclusion that since nothing they do will be concrete there is no point in doing anything, modeling the real life scenario of developing nihilism after learning of the heat death of the universe. But hell if I’m gonna give my mc a bad ending, I’m gonna make a secret path in the secret path (a secret secret path) where the mc somehow learns positive nihilism. An building off of nihilism by saying that since there really is no point to anything, we may as well live life to the fullest. I don’t know the specifics of how I’ll write that theme without being too sappy to be genuine, but I will include it.
So that's how I was supposed to discover there is no game was turned from a game jam game into a fully fledged one? Through a video about metanarration in video games on youtube? Next you'll tell me I'm mistaken in there being a game at all anyways!
I know. I loved There is No Game, and had no idea it got turned into a full game. Right after I finished the video, I immediately got it on steam. The (not a) game was a little glitchy, but the goats made up for it
"...and that's not even mentioning the fact that video games literally don't function without a player to drive the story forwards." *Laughs in Cookie Clicker*
But how can that be the case? How can making dumb jokes about princesses in castles and gamers always doing what they're told push the medium forwards?
It encourages us to adopt a mindset that allows the examination of those tropes more directly and purposefully than "not at all," letting us judge what their purpose is and whether or not something else would fulfill that purpose better, or if the purpose needed fulfilling in the first place. It operates as a line of defense against doing things just because "that's how it's always done".
@@fishworshipper Those are all basics things you learn and examine when picking up any craft. Deconstructionism is mostly a way for people who are consumers of a medium to feel superior to other consumers because they're "in" on the methods on creation.
As a trained gamer, when stanley parabole narrator told me to go one way, I've first check the other side to check for an hidden item or an other kind of secret!
[INSERT DUMB META JOKE HERE THAT'S A REFERENCE TO A DUMB META JOKE I MADE PREVIOUSLY]: twitter.com/Thefearalcarrot
[WOW THAT META JOKE SURE IS WEIRD - THIS ISN'T A JOKE BUT I'M GOING TO TRICK YOU INTO THINKING I MADE ONE BY POINTING OUT THE METANESS OF THAT PREVIOUS JOKE]: www.patreon.com/ArchitectofGames
By pressing read more you can also accidentally open the page, it was intentional or, you know what, forget the question
So, its you playing apex? please turn off no recoil and play like a normal person...
Silviu Jaglau happened to me as well
Will you do Moon?
What the hell is this meta-meta-meta-joke?
The Frog Fractions community is about to get a massive boost, all 3 of us
Can't wait
Finally
We are actually WAY more than 4!!
We are a legion.. (>7 by a lot!)
I keep trying to get my friends to play Frog Fractions, but for some reason they aren't interested when I tell them about how many fractions they'll get to frog! I just don't get it!
I’m here from Game Theory (without watching the livestream)
The way you delivered the spoiler warning was hillarious, already loving the video 30 seconds in
the little frog hat you put on your avatar is adorable
Frogs can't wear hats it's unrealistic! Did you glue it on?
0:15
I totally thought the eyes were teeth
Looks like the frog hat in Animal Crossing. Adorable
@@awesomemantroll1088 idk why I thought that dancing teeth made more sense than eyes either
I read that as "Frog Factions" and got excited for a frog-themed WoW-type MMO...
Same
I imagined Rust with frogs
I imagined something like gta but with frogs
I imagined Dark Souls with frogs
*Peter Molyneux wants to know your location*
Not gonna lie, I was kind of disappointed when that the game isn't actually about fractions. I was getting excited that someone finally managed to properly gamify math...
Math Blaster was pretty sweet. That series started like 35 years ago now.
Pokemon
Nobody else remembers Number Munchers?
Edutainment games were hot stuff back in the 90s and early 2000s. I’m sure there’s some of that on mobile games now, too.
There was a maths website I used to play in primary school where they made really engaging math-based flash games, one of which was an on-rails FPS where you had to type the correct answer to the equation above their heads to deal damage. Unfortunately, it was a subscription service so we only got to use it for a term before going back to more bland math games.
My experience with The Stanley Parable was totally different to what you described, as I *always* try to do the opposite of what a game tells me just to see what happens. So I got the "following the directions" ending last.
That's because no message generates an universal response. In media, a text has to be decoded by each member of the audience according to their preexisting life experience (this is called "reception theory" in communications) and you probably decoded the narrator as an untrustworthy figure trying to trick you or sabotage your progress.
I was the opposite. It took me two full run throughs before I disobeyed the narrator. My roommate who introduce me to The Stanley Parable was so shocked that I could just so easily do what I was told.
@@michaelyoung7261 You got the same ending twice?! Haha. My first two ending were "jumping off the moving platform" (obviously) and "unplugging the ringing phone" (kinda proud of that one, as that was my first "real" ending, and my friend had to look this one up after getting all the others).
My first ending was the insanity ending, because my instinct was to disobey the narrator, but I wanted to go left for some reason.
@@michaelyoung7261 good soldiers follow orders
For some reason I subscribed with even thinking,,,
As if, some one told me too
Very odd
it was the frog.
you genuinely shocked me when you said "frog fractions is, in fact, not just a game about fractions" what a spoiler
Don't listen to him. Frog Fractions is only about fractions and nothing else.
@@genericname2747 And frogs
@@mdwellington Yes, frogs are a very important part of the game
I just Meta-ed myself!
When the Bioshock snippet was playing explaining how it manipulated us I got a pause for buffering on the video. I convinced myself that I wasn't going to fall for an obvious attempt at manipulation from the video creator to make me check the status of the video/internet.
I let it play without checking, feeling like I had outsmarted the video creator, then doubt set in.. and I checked to find it was all my own doing....
Ps: I need better internet.
I think you just made about 6 jacobs from New York incredibly scared.
Statistically speaking there's 2 subscribed to me - here's hoping they watch this.
@@ArchitectofGames I'm a Jakob from Germany and my sister is called Emily, so I'm a tiny bit scared that you stalk me and slightly obfuscate your findings to make them less suspicious.
"Not even mentioning the fact that video games literally don't function without a player to drive the story forward."
The secret Far Cry 4 ending would like to have a word with you.
But what about zero player games, or simulator toys? Can they have a meta?
tbf you have to navigate through the main menu first
Yess that ending was just..
It makes you realize that you just might be a troublemaker in a foreign land in these later Far Cry Games.
thanks i was wondering. forgot about that one.
"14:35
A player... is required... to push the story forward.
hm.
wonder if theres a game where all the interesting plot stuff doesnt actually happen to the person we play as. just someone we know or know of.
"
Interestingly, the one game I've seen where the devs hold themselves as the ones "to blame" for the stuff that happens to the characters is The Simpsons Game.
I think more games should be willing to explore this idea as the "you played a game, you monster!" bit is starting to get a bit old.
Other game that got close was the follow-up to the Stanley Parable, The beginner's guide. I'll let you find out that one yourselves
When it started raining in the batman game, it actually suddenly started raining for me too
That was so scary lmao
and boxing used to be a gentleman's game
Press F for the true Gentleman's Sport, ruined by the barbaric Punching Strategy.
F
F
F
F
Metagames, while they show up just often enough now that meta themes are beginning to grate on me a bit, when done well they do make for very, very memorable games. Undertale, Oneshot and both of Daniel Mullins's most well known games, Pony Island and The Hex, all remain in my mind to this day cos of how unusual and interesting their worlds were, and how it reflected directly in the gameplay.
This was a cool video, especially interesting when you went into why games in particular are so prone to metafictional tropes due to that inherent instability interaction adds to any narrative a game might have. After all, even a game that takes itself seriously might have to eventually admit that it's world isn't entirely real if the player pushes the limits hard enough.
I apologise if you actually meant to, but did you forget doki doki? I feel like it belongs on that list. It was a lot of people's first forray into dating sims, and hit even harder to people who had played dating sim games before. It had a lot of great moments, such as the realization that you can alter ALL of the files, not just monika, and how that ending immediately inverts the horror into sadness. The games you described all have a level of, wait a minute what happens if I kill people. The game characters becoming sentient, only to see what actions you took, and being completely disgusted is my absolute favorite trope.
My favorite thing people have done with meta-narratives was having the actual game not start until the second "playthrough." I'm talking Doki Doki Liturature Club and Duck Season. I just wish more people would do that.
I think that, using this concept, you could make a subversive meta battle Royale horror game. I would think that it would need to explore a new territory, so not self harm, not nothing matters because reset, maybe something to deal with familial relationships? First game is normal, but things get progressively more... Wrong. Guns are replaced with divorce papers, the house you land at gets more and more decriped and it ends you getting shot, you hear a realistic gunshot and you start bleeding and The playable character limping away to die in peace.
Hatoful Boyfriend has a twist like this once you unlock the true ending (which is almost half the game's content!), and the true ending is one of very few times a videogame has made me cry. It's vaguely similar to DDLC in that it's a cute game on the surface and then there's some really dark stuff underneath, but I'm not going to spoil it.
Little shop of horrors had a thing like that. It was a really simple point and click that you learn more about on each playthrough. Eventually you have to go oneshot mode on the code to save someones life.
God the part at 10:44 is great
Never in my life I thought I'd watch a game design video about FROG FRACTIONS
I love how Adam’s avatar keeps changing for the videos! It’s nice to see something new each video.
Meta games are literally my favorite game genre ever. Undertale and OneShot are two of my favorites of all time, Dr Langeskov was a riot, and Pony Island, The Hex, and Frog Fractions are beloved games for me too. Definitely gonna check some of these games out, I love them so much
!!! he said the fuck word!!
10:43, you cheeky bastard, you actually got me, you got me to check my discord. well played
I like that the avatar gets to wear a frog suit for this episode. We need to talk about more frog-based games so we can see more frog suit.
Dude, I loved that video, especially all the little edits! I'm sure I didn't catch them all, but I appreciate each I've seen.
Your content has evolved quite a lot, lately, and I can't get enough!
Thanks for the essay on Frog fractions and nothing else!
now that you've covered frog fractions i'd love to see frog fractions 2 from you some day ngl
The joke about the gal in London can't works: she is away.
Adam can rest In peace that someone got the joke
14:05 - metafictiom is used in all media to some extent and enhances the experience
15:21 - metafiction is high minded artsy junk with almost no practical application
both statements are equally true!
@@ArchitectofGames beautiful
That cut to the script killed me
As always, I love your content. Please allow me a minor peeve. "Meta" can mean "transcendent", but it's mostly indirectly. More accurately, it's "beyond", "external", "after". We have a tendency to overvalue the "transcendent" aspect of it, which is why a lot of people equate "metaphysics" with woo, spirituality, magic, etc. It's a much more prosaic concept, though.
As Nichomachus (Aristotle's heir) was compiling Aristotle's lecture notes, he compiled a bunch of material into a book called "Physics". There was some material left over which didn't quite fit, as it had more to do with the esoterica of how existence functions. He compiled that into a second book, which he worked on after he finished physics. "After Physics". . . "Metaphysics". It's been described as "the fundamental question of the nature of existence", and at the time it was a completely new subject and stands with Ontology ("the fundamental question of the nature of being") and Epistemology (the study of the nature of knowledge) as one of the fundamental subjects of classical philosophy.
You didn't misuse the term as such, but emphasized "transcendent" as part of the meaning of "metagaming" -- which can be described prosaically ("the game beyond the game").
I'll shut up now.
Very glad The Longing video was blessed by the algorithm. You put a lot of work and time into making every video andd it shows! I enjoy the content very much and I'm happy to finally be on this journey!
I know this game apparently doesn't fit the genre (as you point out after the spoiler warning), but I've always believed that edutainment games can be fun for everyone when done right. I still come back to Math Munchers Deluxe every once in a while (with Troggles on, of course). It's one of the reasons I keep my Windows XP computer around, since 16Bit games don't work on modern computers.
you know what edutainment game rocks? bookworm adventures deluxe. awesome tool for me when i was young to expand my understanding of the spelling of english words (i only spoke spanish at the time)
@@yaphetgreen0222 I'd argue word games like the Bookworm series and Text Twist are a genre of their own - but I agree; Bookworm, Bookworm Adventures, and Bookworm Adventures: Vol. 2 are all really good. I've got all three.
It's a shame what Pop-Cap became post-EA buyout. They used to be the kings of casual games. Bookworm, Zuma, Big Money, Bejeweled, AstroPop... Now? Their games are nothing more than greedfests.
The second you said there were spoilers to some of the solutions I got excited that there were cool math puzzles so I played the whole game and came out satisfied in a different way than I was expecting. Finally get to watch the rest of the video now :)
Hands up: Who got fooled at 10:44 ?
Yep, turned out I actually got a notif 10 minutes before lol
I was chatting with someone on discord while watching this... imagine my confusion when there's actually no unread ping
me :(
definitely me.
well i have desktop notifications enabled so i could see if anyone actually dm'd me. and i rewind a bit just in case
"Foundational games" *shows Bubsy 3D on the screen for a solid minute*
I love games like this that challenge your preconceptions. It's why undertale stuck out so much. It can discomfort players, but also sometimes just be fun. One of my favorite scenes in the anime Joshiraku is when a character starts panicking because the animators are putting way to much effort into animating her and they are gonna piss their whole budget away.
I thought this was a late April’s fools joke but hell yeah now I can frog things
my name is Emily and I'm from London, and the nature of that meta comment really fucking threw me
The fake Discord notifications and the first swears here really activated my flight or fight instincts in a way I really didn't expect. The meta-humor in this video is amazing, keep it up.
Millard: "See you in the next video, promise this won't be a pretentious one."
Me: *Presses X to doubt*
me: reads title
me: has already played the game
me: your trickery wont work on me
The gold of this video is at 16:47 and you can't change my mind. Accent is just muah
The discord notification at 10:44 caught me off guard. I literally went to check my discord only to find nothing there. Darn you Metafictions.
I came here prepared for spoilers for Frog Fractions (and the recent DLC) since I'd played it. I was not expecting spoilers for the recent "There is no Game". :(
Really good video as always. I love metafictional games and I'm excited to see the genre developing and changing so quickly.
Worth noting that the Breath of the Wild shield bounce doesn't actually cut out "95% of the game". At the moment you finish the Great Plateau, there is just nothing left that is mandatory before going to Hyrule Castle. The shield bounce merely speeds up the journey that would otherwise be on foot. More accurately, of all mandatory content in BotW before fighting Ganon, 95% of it is just the Great Plateau tutorial section which must be done so you can get the parachute and climb down.
Even without glitches and tricks, you're perfectly free to boot it up, do the shrines on the great Plateau, climb down, and run to challenge Ganon in the buff. The BotW speedrun is about doing all that quickly, and not doing anything optional, not about cutting out any mandatory content. Sure, that means they don't play 95% of what is in the game, but if avoiding optional content is considered "cutting out" then everyone other than completionists are cutting out gameplay in some cheeky exploit. The same would be true of someone who "only" got 119 stars in SM64. But that's not the case; you'd only be "cutting out" gameplay if you challenge Bowser with less than 70 stars.
i imagine a parent bought their child this game, and then they think math is actually DDR
it's a free browser game.
13:55 Minor correct: that's not stasis, it's just the bullet time effect from using your bow in the air hence why it's called a Bullet Time Bounce (BTB)
Watch there be some joke I'm too tired to catch and this not actually be a correction at all.. Christ I'm paranoid
stasis launches were the previous meta speedrunning strat before BTBs and BILs; i'm not sure if he meant using both in conjunction simultaneously but I understand the point being made.
@@TehNightfallen God I completely forgot stasis launches even existed so thanks for that reminder. I didn't think they were very forgettable either but somehow I still managed
That Greek “word” would be transliterated “MSTL.”
I was hoping I would find this comment
Fantastic vid man! Keep up the good work
At heart what metafiction does is create personal interaction between the player and the game. The player has to interact with the imaginary rules and UI to affect the flow of the game, and when the game is self aware of this and "talks back", the emotional connection the player has with it is deepened.
I appreciate the nod to Kid Icarus Uprising. That game was filled to the gills with meta jokes.
Alex Deloach, I don't know who this guy is but it's pretty nice he has remained a consistent supporter as a patreon of Architecht of games.
Have you considered doing a video on the way games like apex and fortnite keep player retention by having a story and game develop and change over longer periods of time, and how the community aspects of being able to talk with the developers while things are being made and change things at a faster rate is changing a lot of people's standards on more classical pay-to-play games. Also nice vid :)
3 years late to this
M.E.T.A. in terms of "this character and weapon are the meta" stands for Most Effective Tactic Available
I'm glad you got an injection of new subscribers, you make good content. Innuendo Studios has a video on the Beginners Guide and meta fiction through games, I think it's an expansion of the topics you brought up here, I think it's worth a watch
I saw this video in my notifications. I thought 'what channel is this????' I went into the vids section and saw 'The Longing' and I immediately remembered why/what I was thinking. Good channel, good content. I like the obscure, essay style. I did indeed sub in on that vid and so far, I'm hooked. Only a matter of time before binge-watching ensues. Keep up the good work AG.
There Is No Games was a flash game that took like 10 minutes. The new one is bigger and on Steam, I think.
I’m glad people finally caught on to this game
I appreciate the little nod to Kid Icarus: Uprising there!
That was a great scene!
Spot on narrator! I was transported back in the parable
Fwiw, the other Metagame that is mentioned at around the 2:50 mark actually is an acronym.
Meta - Most effective tactic available
It's mostly used in the context of competitive multiplayer games, referring to the practice of players trying to find and exploit the "meta".
That frog hat is perfect and adorable 10000/10
10:44 you got me with this one.
Don't know if a lot of people actually caught the subtle change in your voice, but nice impression of the SP Narrator.
Just played it before watching. Quite the EXPERIENCE. Worth it.
I LEGIT CHECKED DISCORD WHEN THAT NOTIFICATION SOUND PLAYED OMG XD
man I remember seeing this game in the JSmithOTI 52 hour livestream, it's so nostalgic!!!
7:18 The best part is how the same puzzle comes up again later in the game; forcing you to remember all the rules...
Did this actually win game of the decade? I’ve never heard of it
Meta games are probably my favorite genre of games, the Stanley Parable being my favorite game ever. I love their subversive and often charming nature.
I didn't take the spoiler warning seriously. Paused at 1:05, gonna go play it now.
Just finished. What the fuck.
2:23
What's that MSTL you are speaking about?
"There's like a 0.001% Chance of this joke working"
It worked on me!! I almost fell out of my chair lol~
I played this game because “ha ha funny math game”
I don’t know what the hell happened and I loved it
Once I learn how to make a game, I’m gonna make a roguelike where going through the secret path gives the mc a tome that gives him the awareness that he’s in a roguelike.
It will start as just deja vu, the mc will in between levels remark about how it looks familiar but different, but the deja vu will subtly become stronger and stronger until the mc realizes that they’re in a game that will reset every time they die.
From here, the mc will make the conclusion that since nothing they do will be concrete there is no point in doing anything, modeling the real life scenario of developing nihilism after learning of the heat death of the universe.
But hell if I’m gonna give my mc a bad ending, I’m gonna make a secret path in the secret path (a secret secret path) where the mc somehow learns positive nihilism. An building off of nihilism by saying that since there really is no point to anything, we may as well live life to the fullest. I don’t know the specifics of how I’ll write that theme without being too sappy to be genuine, but I will include it.
That sounds like a interesting idea
The mc could also start disobeying the player.
So that's how I was supposed to discover there is no game was turned from a game jam game into a fully fledged one? Through a video about metanarration in video games on youtube? Next you'll tell me I'm mistaken in there being a game at all anyways!
I know. I loved There is No Game, and had no idea it got turned into a full game. Right after I finished the video, I immediately got it on steam. The (not a) game was a little glitchy, but the goats made up for it
You really confused me at 10:44 I went to check Discord but found that I didn't have it open. It took me a while to catch on
Wait, "There Is No Game" got a full release?
Archie burying the real story over here.
It's a Sequel. I'm planning on getting it on a steam sale.
It looks awesome.
2:32 I couldn't be more proud
14:47 couldn't be more proud.
Literally played this game last week. Very well timed
"I'm not going away fuckers."
Well said, mad lad.
"...and that's not even mentioning the fact that video games literally don't function without a player to drive the story forwards."
*Laughs in Cookie Clicker*
"I'm not going anywhere fuckers."
Mr. Millard, have I informed you that you are my hero?
Ddlc is my favourite price of media ever. It explores really important issues and uses really out there techniques to do so.
The most meta video you have ever made - 10/10
“I’m not going anywhere *fuckers* ” You swearing caught me completely off guard.
frog fractions 3 is the friends we made along the way.
Glad to hear that Samuel VanDer Plaats is still backing you.
my video buffered just as you mentioned the fourth wall, thought it was part of the video lol
You're my favorite videogame essay youtube person. Daryl is cool but he got nothing on you. Keep the content coming, it's amazing
I came here solely from Secret Sleepover Society and am happy to see representation in the form of 2:59
Mel Brooks was always the master of the 4th wall break.
Thank you for telling me about There Is No Game, because I thought it was just the flash game.
But how can that be the case? How can making dumb jokes about princesses in castles and gamers always doing what they're told push the medium forwards?
It doesn't. It's just more deconstructionist non-sense.
He's huffing his own farts, it doesn't.
It encourages us to adopt a mindset that allows the examination of those tropes more directly and purposefully than "not at all," letting us judge what their purpose is and whether or not something else would fulfill that purpose better, or if the purpose needed fulfilling in the first place. It operates as a line of defense against doing things just because "that's how it's always done".
@@fishworshipper Those are all basics things you learn and examine when picking up any craft. Deconstructionism is mostly a way for people who are consumers of a medium to feel superior to other consumers because they're "in" on the methods on creation.
i see what you did here. went over some heads, I'm afraid lol
You need more subscribers period.
I watched the entire video before realizing it was you, Adam.
No, I wanna know more about Jakob and Emily and what emotions that game roused and how that made them become better humans and eventually meet.
As a trained gamer, when stanley parabole narrator told me to go one way, I've first check the other side to check for an hidden item or an other kind of secret!
This is brilliant.
Just subscribed.