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@@RP-mp4ow ok...maybe it is a bit confused but the game doesn't even stack up costumes that end up being required for a 100% completion reward, and the plot is borderline nonsense! Heck, the novelization isn't even mention in game!
@@xcellentcreations3312 I think it gets a lot of flack because Dunkey made fun of it but all I thought while watching his vid was: "this looks like a kid's first platformer" kind of a thing.
If you watch a lot of these reviews and play a bunch of the games, there are quite a few that have seemingly off-the-cuff crazy comments that are actually exact (or near exact) descriptions of gameplay/scenes.
And not only that but you can rewatch old episodes you’ve seen before and still find new things to laugh at each time. Couldn’t imagine rewatching an episode of roper at the movies.
For me, the weirdest part of the writing will be how everything during the game points at becoming parents ruined their lives, fun, passions, and relationship. It's always, "Why didn't you do this anymore? Why didn't you pursue that? Why did you stop following that dream/hobby? Why have we never done all those things we loved to do together and that enriched our lives so much anymore?" and the answer is always - "Well, then we had our daughter." The whole game, every section, is basically proof that these two people would have been better off being childfree. Not because they hate kids or don't love theirs, but because parenthood and the sacrifices didn't enrich their lives, but made it worse. And then it ends with them finding back to each other through reliving their happy times and experiencing fun and passion from their pre-parents lives and the message that immediately follows is - the daughter is the best thing that ever happened to them and they aaall want to be a happy family together. After rediscovering their love for each other but not as the parents, stay at home dad, and career mom they are, but the people they were previously. It just doesn't fit together. Even the voice acting doesn't fit. It's all YAY happy happy when they remember how much they loved doing shit, and then the voices are all bummed out when they remind each other of their child. I mean, even when they explore toy land and the father brags about the things he created, it's all about the creations, and not doing it for or with his kid. Very weird. I'd have found it funny and more coherent if they got divorced anyway, stay good friends, and happily went after their passions during the weeks kiddo is with the other parent. That would have fitted to the rest of the tone. Otherwise, I find the game enjoyable but I enjoy timewasters that have a lot to explore, even if it doesn't push the plot forward.
"I'd have found it funny and more coherent if they got divorced anyway, stay good friends, and happily went after their passions during the weeks kiddo is with the other parent. " thats excatly how I interpreted the ending. They discovered to apprciate the other person again and not be just annoyed and toxic to each other, but they don't passionatly love each other again. The give each other one single kiss so the book is happy, then go off to save their run-away child and thats where it ends. They don't tell the child they will stay together or anything of the sorts. Just that they both love her and they will figure stuff out.
This is exactly why Chris Columbus and company fought so hard for Robin Williams and Sally Field to stay divorced in Mrs. Doubtfire. It was a comforting message to kids that sometimes divorce happens and the people you love will remain in their lives, and getting back together solves nothing for the emotionally stunted runts. Also, Cutie the elephant, good grief. I've seen new French extremity films less traumatizing than that scene.
I noticed that with the writing too, it's like a weird roller coaster of "hey you're pretty good at this!" Then the next segment for almost no reason they're back to "I can't WAIT to get rid of you!"
THANK YOU, after playing the game I couldn't quite put my finger on why I loved the gameplay but the story left me very confused and you NAILED it. They would have been so much better off being childfree.
I’m glad Yahtzee called out the other side of the argument. As a child of divorced parents I can say with certainty it was tough at the time, but it would’ve been soooooo much worse if my parents stayed together
I think the only thing Yahtzee got wrong was why the two decided to stay together. It wasn't for the kid, not really, but that they "rediscovered" their love for each other. The reason why that is in quotes is because 90% of the game has them snipping at each other with the last two or so levels with them reconciling. It somehow feels rushed despite it being such a long game.
yeah I don't see it like sending the wrong message, because I don't think the audience is actually kids, I think its supposed to be just a light hearted story for adults, since people like to watch couples finding love and being happy.
@@patchmoulton5438 The kid crying is what turns them into dolls which forces them to learn to co-operate again. It is because of/for the child that they even try, and eventually find their way. Yahtzee was right on the money; the message seems to be, like he said, that if you get divorced, you're just not trying hard enough. Think of your kid(s) crying and then go on a quest to reinvigorate your marriage, you selfish bastards.
Would have been great if they came out the other end with, say, more respect for each other as people, but still got a divorce because it was the correct thing for their own mental wellbeing. :P
Better than leaving it for another eight years. If we just let language collapse into maximum laziness, the kids will be bumbling about mumbling "R u k?" - "Meh" - "W/e" - "Y" and the concept of understanding one another will gradually fade into obscurity. Except when they've got a job interview and get upstaged by ME! Finally, my time will come! =D
I suppose "Divorce in the eyes of a religious fanatic that thinks divorce is always immoral and unnecessary due to his ridiculous religious beliefs" is too long.
@@J05TI even the inherently anti-family extreme far left is now concerned about the divorce at the drop of a hat cultural norm we're experiencing because it's worsening the housing crisis and affects POC the most.
Stroggoii - it’s called “not getting married in the first place”, and if we as a society stopped pushing this asinine notion that marriage is the end-all-be-all, or that you need to be married to live with someone you like, then we wouldn’t have such a high divorce rate. Also, “anti-family”, lol, no one is “anti-family”. It’s just that families can come in many styles and makeups that don’t always require precisely one father and one mother. It’s called a “chosen family”, and when the family you’re given at birth hates your very existence, it’s very nice to be able to choose a replacement family who actually wants to support you.
@@Stroggoii It's not anti-family to get divorced when you're in a bad marriage. If one or both partners are being abusive or both have changed to the point that they're no longer compatible, then it may be best for both to go their separate ways.
@@Stroggoii I am an adult and my parents are divorcing now after almost 3 decades. They have hated each other's guts since, presumably, day two, but stayed together because yada yada religion yada yada tradition yada kids. Do you have ANY FUCKING IDEA how much better my family would have been if my parents had divorced a long time ago? "anti-family"... Read a book!
Can't deny he definitely earned my respect with rhr breadth of his references across disciplines over the years. Don't know where he stores all the esoteric trivia in his magnificent brain.
Remember when Yahtzee talked about how he just stopped sympathizing with the protagonists of The Last of Us after watching them do unambiguously awful things repeatedly throughout the entire game with zero repercussions? That's how I feel while playing this game. Cody and May are terrible people.
>"who is this game for?" Work with me a bit here, but I think this game is primarily for young couples to play together. Namely in a "take a look at what challenges your relationship might encounter one day" sort of way. Of course, it sneaks said message in with all the subtlety of a wrecking ball, but if it gets young, inexperienced couples to become more self-aware and avoid relationship-ending problems in the first place by getting a deep-dive into what said problems *are*, then I think it's doing its job.
That might be a compelling argument if the two main characters actually dug deep into why their fractured relationship became as such, which they never really do, and the two only see their daughter as a tool from beginning to end. There is no good message here really because of how terrible the writing is, so I would never call this game as something worthy of looking at for any type of couple other than to laugh at the game, or at the very least simply not take seriously.
Any two people are the target audience. There doesn’t have to be a message. And even if there is you don’t have to give a shit about it. Couples are a perfect fit because they can laugh at how awful the writing is together as a family while still enjoying the frankly insane amount of setpieces and gameplay varieties.
All it takes to lead to a positive review is for the people that made the game to make a quality game. If all you set out to do is to to copy what someone successful already did while resorting to cliches and genre tropes to fill in the stuff that normally takes a lot of hard work, then of course you will get shit on.
I won't deny finding certain word uses annoying myself, but languages evolve. There probably more than a few words you use in ways that your parents or grandparents would find equally annoying.
@@EmeralBookwise Yeah, I surprised myself with how unbothered I was by the slang use of the word. It's just new slang, like "cool" was all those years ago. I'm more annoyed by its grating overuse than anything.
@@isabellamorris7902 Yeah was about to bring the "cool" example, too. There are tons of words that were newly created over the years. EVERY word was created at some point.
@@SangerZonvolt would also argue "cringe" definitely has different shades of meaning to "cringeworthy". They are used in different enough contexts to warrant being separate words.
Honestly, I like how Yahtzee has gradually evolved as a reviewer- He's coloring his reviews with more empathy, or a richer understanding of what being a creative requires within the context of the games industry.
Oh wow, this could definitely make it into the top 5 list! Wait. Hold on. Said that wrong. Oh. This'll probably make it to the top 5 list, because nothing else has really done anything impressive
There's a see-saw between "It failed because you didn't try hard enough" and "More are failing because people got the last message and won't try at all." I think there are definitely two valid messages here that get misrepresented. Don't give up too easily. Don't allow everyone to struggle with blaming themselves when they tried and it didn't work.
Reminds me of a common movie subplot where two characters are on the verge of falling out but get roped into an adventure and appreciate each other again by the end of it. All you need is a few hours of near-death experiences to get that spark back.
My fiancé and I played this together and came to the realization that this game is ironically best played with a partner that you love and cherish, because it helps you not only make bullet points about how to strengthen your relationship, but also gives you plenty of ways to laugh at the inept protagonists for being such a shitty couple. One thing that Yahtzee kinda overlooked is that the game doesn't send the message of "Stay together for the kid" so much as "You had a kid with this person for a reason. Don't give up because things got hard. Work it out, and you'll remember why you fell in love in the first place." I'm pretty happy that Yahtzee liked it (I think) because although he wasn't really the target audience, it's still a super fun and creative game.
Both of these messages are equally problematic. The first one implies, that you are a bad parent, if you are getting a divorce, because it hurts your children. The second one implies that every relationship can by saved by hard work and that getting a divorce is always the wrong choice. Ideas like "don't give up" and "work it out" just cement the idea that ending a relationship with a divorce is a personal confession of your faliure. Don't get me wrong, I can get behind the Idea of at least trying to fix an damaged relationship. I just think it's equally important to acknowledge, that sometimes, a divorce is actually the appropriate solution and in no way something to be ashamed of.
@@florinbronnimann7964 Oh, no. You misunderstand. The message isn't that every relationship is salvageable. It's made clear from the start of the game that the parents still care about each other, but are too stubborn to admit their faults or make up. As the game goes on, they're given ample opportunity to tear into each other, but also to be honest with each other and themselves. They realize that their relationship fell apart because neither of them was putting in any effort to care. They didn't hate each other, they had merely forgotten why they loved each other. Trust me, I'm a couple's therapist. Not every relationship is meant to work out. But for two people to get a divorce just because they don't want to talk it out is a disservice to themselves and their family.
@@florinbronnimann7964 This video game is a story about one marriage, not a statistical analysis on all marriages. You can make a story about two flawed people realizing they can both do better in the name of their child, that's a good message. Lambasting it because it "sends the wrong message" implies that you hold the opposite extreme view that even this one fictional divorce should be a story about how healthy and productive it is to split a nuclear family, despite the self-evident damage it so often does to the children involved, whether they admit it later in life or not.
@@Sinestra666 100% agree with you, a divorce is nothing you should go throug on a whim. I just thinkt that this game puts to much emphasis on the message "work to save your relationship" and to little on "it's ok to end your relationship if it's no longer good for you". Especially with caracters like this, where I really can't see how the got married and even had a kid together.
@@wolfedya1 I can't fully agree on your opinion, that a story about two flawed people realizing they can both do better in the name of ther child has a good message. And this is not because I hold the completely opposite view. I'd say the truth lies somewhere in between, some relations are worth to keep up and some are not. But in general, i feel like divorce is too often just beeing portrayed as something bad and harmfull, allthogh holding on to a toxic relationship can be just as damaging (for both the parents and the kids).
@@shiva0 What's wrong with multiverse? It tells you everything you need to know. You say you're a linguistic pedant and yet you use "It's" and "Don'ts" which the pedants of yesteryear were moaning about.
@@Edit-nk6nb Universe means all of space and time and it's contents. Therefore there is only one universe and any dimensions or planes are a part of it.
I was not expecting the actual gameplay part where you brutally pull apart your child's favorite toy while it begs you not to kill it to be as actually disturbing as it was what the hell lol
My biggest problem with the game is finding someone to spend 10-12 hours and schedules that align to even play it. It looks fairly fun and engaging and the stream of you and Nick looked like quite the enjoyable experience.
For a multiplayer-only game? Yeah even back then that was long unless it had some form of endless mode, and the endless modes back then weren't as good at hitting those addiction receptors as the multiplayer modes they have now. If he said that 10-12 hours was long for a single player game though I'd have agreed.
Zero Punctuation emo rock track of the week: *The Emotional Ghoul That You Are* by the *Backyard Book Burners* Zero Punctuation hi-larious ironic indie rock album of the week: *The Fuckabout Room* by *Captain Scowlybuff And His Identical Friends* (tracks include *Kung Fu Fighting Squirrel* and *Vacuum Cleaner Boss Fight* )
My brother and I played this game together and had tons of fun! I honestly feel like the game is just for any two people who like each other to have a good time. Definitely wouldn’t suggest it to my divorced parents. Also, I liked how the main characters weren’t exactly likable, though I wish they would’ve had a bit more punishment for some of the shit they did. Literally BATHING IN THEIR DAUGHTER’S TEARS?! Their could have at least been a moment of them saying “oh no, we’re horrible! We’ve made our little girl cry and haven’t even considered how we’re hurting her!”
As someone who has a 12-year-old brother who plays online regularly, can I just note how VINDICATING it is to see Yahtzee devote a solid ten seconds of a review to harping on the use of “cringe” as an adjective?
Or maybe you could just accept that language is a living, evolving phenomenon, and that complaining about the evolution of a word says less about the word itself and more about your own inflexibility?
@@Los499 What you see as a word’s evolution, I can’t help but see as one’s devolution. I only meant so say that I sympathize and agree with his irritation on the subject, as comedically embellished as it is. That said, everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and I’ll not disrespect yours. I can agree to disagree.
Very astute points about the overall story's message. I love the gameplay and think it's designed very well, but I think the story is a bit tone deaf, speaking as someone with divorced parents.
I really don't get the impression that the ending was "stay together for the sake of the kid". While the ending made it pretty likely they would end up together (though it TRIED to be ambiguous)... It was more a lesson on how their fighting affected their daughter... The ENTIRE game was about seeing things from another person's point of view and ends with them seeing that their daughter blames herself all because they couldn't stop fighting long enough or cooperate on even the basics (Even the daughter's wish wasn't "Love eachother" but "Be friends again")... Which is a lesson a LOT of divorcing couples should learn. . I also see what they saw in each other quite easily... a lot of the problems stem from the changes brought on by a new child. Because she had to support a child the Mother had to throw herself into her work AND the Father became much more needy because he overly relies on emotional support and needs the mother to chip in with the child. Before that the Mother wasn't stuck up and the Father at least outwardly wasn't impetulent.
The irony here is that I’m playing this game with my wife while not giving attention to my kid. So the game about parents not paying attention to their kid because of their own stuff is making us not pay attention to our kid because of playing it.
This game is one helluva fun trip. The characters are delightfully unlikeable and the mechanics are often absolutely brilliant. Also it is gorgeous, from beginning to end.
Yahtzee: "Look at that schnauze on that middle eastern feller, I can climb to the moon on that thing!" also Yahtzee: "Idk man, that book's accent is a bit sus"
Little clarification: You've slightly missed the point of the game. The point is decidedly NOT "get back together for the sake of the kids". The little girl asks at the end if they're going to stay together, _and her parents do not say yes_ . This after a game so filled with self-serving deceptions that it makes it plain these two have completely stopped caring about anyone but themselves. This is why, for instance, the murder of the toy elephant is NOT funny. "We're going to get what we want, even if it means horribly traumatizing our own child" is not the viewpoint of a responsible adult. It is the viewpoint of an irresponsible, overgrown child. Remember: These two have been paying so little attention to their daughter that they didn't even notice when she brought home a sex-ed book she found in the trash at school. Her father bought her action figures based on an M-rated game, complete with swearing. So the actual lesson of the game, its entire point, is that _actually paying attention to other people is a good idea_ . That acknowledging and dealing with other people and their problems may not solve everything, but ignoring them to focus entirely on yourself just makes things worse.
I’m always put off with this forced 2+ player idea as I’m in the same boat as Yahtz, I’d rather rely on my own ability at my own pace. However this looks genuinely engaging and has so many different sections. Might have to give it a go after this review!
Played this with my wife and we had a blast, I think the game is literally made for couples, who then later play with friends in a sort of weird pseudo PG13 'couples swap'
Coming to watch this after it received Game of the Year wondering how the Game Awards is gonna push something down our throats again. Am not entirely disappointed i guess.
Good ol' Yahtzee, almost the only person on TH-cam I watch at normal speed. Seriously, do most people intentionally talk slowly to draw out their run times? Because it sure seems they do that, among drawing things out in other ways. But not Yahtzee, he's always as fast and snappy as his content should be, and I'm for that I'm glad. Plus, he shares my dislike for multiplayer games as well.
Haha, I'll tell you who this game is for. My buddy and I, working through why he shouldn't keep a dysfunctional relationship, on constant life support, work. Incredibly it took us like 6 nights (2 years of real time) to complete it and for said relationship to end.
One thing yahtzee didn't talk about are the depressing reviews on steam. Positive or negative, many of the reviews will start or end with, "still getting a divorce."
The gameplay is fine, and my gf liked it but it severely breaks a core gameplay rule for me. It is constantly taking control from the player and for waaay too long to force in a story that isn't all that interesting honestly. On top of that, there's no skipping which in this decade is unacceptable.
I played this game until they murdered the elephant and it turned from 'ok they're flawed and don't really know what they're doing' to 'ah so they're terrible people that I shouldn't be invested in because they're willing to murder the more loving and innocent creature second only to kirby which doing so also hurts the feelings of the kid they supposedly love'
This is a nice and fun co op game of which there are too few of. As for people hating on the message, yes there are relationships that should be ended for both peoples sake. There are also relationships that can be salvaged with communication and effort from both people. My parents at one point were considering divorce, but they managed to work it out and are now pretty happy. Both can be true and there is no harm in having a story which presents either.
my biggest disappointment with the game was for sure that dr. hakim didnt turn out to be the villain/final boss. he was an antagonist, sure, but not quite a villain, and i call that a missed opportunity. especially given a decent amount of foreshadowing that hes got darker motives than just fixing your relationship (a lot of grandiose self-importance [like i feel like this comment is starting to take on itself] and a proclivity for encouraging giant terrifying boss monsters to murder the protagonists) as well as the overall horrific vibes constantly leaking from the games dark orifices. too late for the developers to patch in a spectacular final boss battle with an over-the-edge dr hakim?
I thought the writing was weird too. In some of the chapters they are quite agreeable and seam to act nice in the middle of it, but at the beginning and end they just straight up hate each other again. It kinda gives me mood whiplash.
I really liked it takes two, my fiance who is new to games played alongside me and we enjoyed it, the 'fuckabout rooms' are great too and the fact there's no DLC microtransactions or ways to nickel and dime the player is great.
I’m glad someone finally had the guts to critique the anti-divorce message. Does divorce really have to be depicted as the root of all evil? My parents got divorced and it was the best thing ever for them. It didn’t traumatize me or any shit like that. If anything, the constant arguing from when they were still together is what had a more negative impact on me. Alright, I’m done with my anecdotal rant.
Totally feel you. Seeing how this game got such high praise, I'm now actually more worried than before that a lot of people still see the divorce of a couple with kids as something categorically bad something that sould be avioded at all costs, when in reality, it might be the best solution for everyone.
I loved the game, played it before yahtzee did- the ending was underwhelming and yeah the writing wasn't always great, but it does manage to have bits playing off the parent's flaws that were fun, the enviroments were gorgeous and fun to play through
Watch this week's Zero Punctuation episode on Balan Wonderworld early at the link - www.escapistmagazine.com/v2/balan-wonderworld-zero-punctuation/ - OR watch it early on TH-cam and support our content via TH-cam Memberships for just $2 / month.
can't wait for him to tear it up.
I SO want him to give the game a new butthole!
*FINALLY!!*
@@RP-mp4ow ok...maybe it is a bit confused but the game doesn't even stack up costumes that end up being required for a 100% completion reward, and the plot is borderline nonsense! Heck, the novelization isn't even mention in game!
@@xcellentcreations3312 I think it gets a lot of flack because Dunkey made fun of it but all I thought while watching his vid was: "this looks like a kid's first platformer" kind of a thing.
I like how the "on an aeroplane kung fu fighting a Squirrel" sounds like hyperbole, but is just what actually happens in the game.
Maybe I'm overthinking it, but I'm not sure if the lady doing the pycho crusher is pointing the wrong way is purpose as a joke.
WOW
XD
4:11 “that’s Spiral Arrow, honey!”
XD
If you watch a lot of these reviews and play a bunch of the games, there are quite a few that have seemingly off-the-cuff crazy comments that are actually exact (or near exact) descriptions of gameplay/scenes.
What about the use of Psycho Crusher?
I think the most impressive thing is that even after all these years he manages to make each of these reviews interesting and keeps the writing fresh.
Dude is a legend at this point.
True, I can always come to his videos expecting to be fully entertained / surprised and I’m always satisfied
And not only that but you can rewatch old episodes you’ve seen before and still find new things to laugh at each time. Couldn’t imagine rewatching an episode of roper at the movies.
Kafkaesque- please ma’am no meat touching
At this point I don't even care which game he reviews or how old it is. I''ll happily watch it anyways :D
What if the secret to yahtzee liking a multi-player game is children suffering?
I mean, kids suffering isn't the point of L4D and he acknowledged in video as the type of multiplayer game he liked...
He likes tf2, and that had no children, the secret is making a multiplayer game where the other player is actually useful
Would explain his adoration for Persona 5, first hour is your highschool student protagonist getting the shit kicked out of him by police
"I just wrote a compliment that included the words arse, shit and bottom and that's why I am a professional kids"- Ben 'Yahtzee' Crawshaw
I think you mean Benjamin Yahtzee Sebastian Godzilla Croshaw
This man is my hero.
Now that was a mic drop!
For me, the weirdest part of the writing will be how everything during the game points at becoming parents ruined their lives, fun, passions, and relationship. It's always, "Why didn't you do this anymore? Why didn't you pursue that? Why did you stop following that dream/hobby? Why have we never done all those things we loved to do together and that enriched our lives so much anymore?" and the answer is always - "Well, then we had our daughter."
The whole game, every section, is basically proof that these two people would have been better off being childfree. Not because they hate kids or don't love theirs, but because parenthood and the sacrifices didn't enrich their lives, but made it worse.
And then it ends with them finding back to each other through reliving their happy times and experiencing fun and passion from their pre-parents lives and the message that immediately follows is - the daughter is the best thing that ever happened to them and they aaall want to be a happy family together. After rediscovering their love for each other but not as the parents, stay at home dad, and career mom they are, but the people they were previously.
It just doesn't fit together. Even the voice acting doesn't fit. It's all YAY happy happy when they remember how much they loved doing shit, and then the voices are all bummed out when they remind each other of their child. I mean, even when they explore toy land and the father brags about the things he created, it's all about the creations, and not doing it for or with his kid.
Very weird.
I'd have found it funny and more coherent if they got divorced anyway, stay good friends, and happily went after their passions during the weeks kiddo is with the other parent. That would have fitted to the rest of the tone.
Otherwise, I find the game enjoyable but I enjoy timewasters that have a lot to explore, even if it doesn't push the plot forward.
"I'd have found it funny and more coherent if they got divorced anyway, stay good friends, and happily went after their passions during the weeks kiddo is with the other parent. " thats excatly how I interpreted the ending. They discovered to apprciate the other person again and not be just annoyed and toxic to each other, but they don't passionatly love each other again. The give each other one single kiss so the book is happy, then go off to save their run-away child and thats where it ends. They don't tell the child they will stay together or anything of the sorts. Just that they both love her and they will figure stuff out.
This is exactly why Chris Columbus and company fought so hard for Robin Williams and Sally Field to stay divorced in Mrs. Doubtfire. It was a comforting message to kids that sometimes divorce happens and the people you love will remain in their lives, and getting back together solves nothing for the emotionally stunted runts.
Also, Cutie the elephant, good grief. I've seen new French extremity films less traumatizing than that scene.
I noticed that with the writing too, it's like a weird roller coaster of "hey you're pretty good at this!" Then the next segment for almost no reason they're back to "I can't WAIT to get rid of you!"
THANK YOU, after playing the game I couldn't quite put my finger on why I loved the gameplay but the story left me very confused and you NAILED it. They would have been so much better off being childfree.
Perfect. Let's give the child up for adoption.
I’m glad Yahtzee called out the other side of the argument. As a child of divorced parents I can say with certainty it was tough at the time, but it would’ve been soooooo much worse if my parents stayed together
I think the only thing Yahtzee got wrong was why the two decided to stay together. It wasn't for the kid, not really, but that they "rediscovered" their love for each other. The reason why that is in quotes is because 90% of the game has them snipping at each other with the last two or so levels with them reconciling. It somehow feels rushed despite it being such a long game.
yeah I don't see it like sending the wrong message, because I don't think the audience is actually kids, I think its supposed to be just a light hearted story for adults, since people like to watch couples finding love and being happy.
@@patchmoulton5438 The kid crying is what turns them into dolls which forces them to learn to co-operate again. It is because of/for the child that they even try, and eventually find their way. Yahtzee was right on the money; the message seems to be, like he said, that if you get divorced, you're just not trying hard enough. Think of your kid(s) crying and then go on a quest to reinvigorate your marriage, you selfish bastards.
Would have been great if they came out the other end with, say, more respect for each other as people, but still got a divorce because it was the correct thing for their own mental wellbeing. :P
@@viljamtheninja i'd rather take a nap in an iron maiden, lmao
I like how Yahtzee brings up "cringe" vs. "cringeworthy" like that hasn't been going on for eight years now
And language never changes
Yeah, it's pretty cringe honestly.
At least someone finally said it. It's been annoying me for those 8 years lol
Better than leaving it for another eight years. If we just let language collapse into maximum laziness, the kids will be bumbling about mumbling "R u k?" - "Meh" - "W/e" - "Y" and the concept of understanding one another will gradually fade into obscurity. Except when they've got a job interview and get upstaged by ME! Finally, my time will come! =D
@@hazukichanx408 cringe.
"why are they making him bite the curb Daddy?”
"Because you touch yourself at night son. Loudly"
It takes two or as i like to call it Divorce Simulator 2021
I suppose "Divorce in the eyes of a religious fanatic that thinks divorce is always immoral and unnecessary due to his ridiculous religious beliefs" is too long.
@@J05TI even the inherently anti-family extreme far left is now concerned about the divorce at the drop of a hat cultural norm we're experiencing because it's worsening the housing crisis and affects POC the most.
Stroggoii - it’s called “not getting married in the first place”, and if we as a society stopped pushing this asinine notion that marriage is the end-all-be-all, or that you need to be married to live with someone you like, then we wouldn’t have such a high divorce rate.
Also, “anti-family”, lol, no one is “anti-family”. It’s just that families can come in many styles and makeups that don’t always require precisely one father and one mother. It’s called a “chosen family”, and when the family you’re given at birth hates your very existence, it’s very nice to be able to choose a replacement family who actually wants to support you.
@@Stroggoii It's not anti-family to get divorced when you're in a bad marriage. If one or both partners are being abusive or both have changed to the point that they're no longer compatible, then it may be best for both to go their separate ways.
@@Stroggoii I am an adult and my parents are divorcing now after almost 3 decades. They have hated each other's guts since, presumably, day two, but stayed together because yada yada religion yada yada tradition yada kids.
Do you have ANY FUCKING IDEA how much better my family would have been if my parents had divorced a long time ago?
"anti-family"... Read a book!
Yahtzee is the only one who can use Kafkaesque without making me roll my eyes.
Can't deny he definitely earned my respect with rhr breadth of his references across disciplines over the years. Don't know where he stores all the esoteric trivia in his magnificent brain.
Yuck, he is just a middling comic writer, not the second coming of a wishy-washy Douglas Adam.
No meat touching please.
@@polymathicheretic5068 aye, thats about right.
Most of the time people use Kafkaesque it just sounds cringe...
Alright, you have convinced me to give a watch to the recording of you and Nick playing it. I have to see this.
It was a good time, the elephant scene in particular had me dying of laughter.
@@theescapist Considering video described that scene as murdering the plushie... "You monster!"
Wait where can I watch this?
@@tadhgmcelligott3693 escapists live channel
Remember when Yahtzee talked about how he just stopped sympathizing with the protagonists of The Last of Us after watching them do unambiguously awful things repeatedly throughout the entire game with zero repercussions? That's how I feel while playing this game. Cody and May are terrible people.
>"who is this game for?"
Work with me a bit here, but I think this game is primarily for young couples to play together. Namely in a "take a look at what challenges your relationship might encounter one day" sort of way. Of course, it sneaks said message in with all the subtlety of a wrecking ball, but if it gets young, inexperienced couples to become more self-aware and avoid relationship-ending problems in the first place by getting a deep-dive into what said problems *are*, then I think it's doing its job.
That might be a compelling argument if the two main characters actually dug deep into why their fractured relationship became as such, which they never really do, and the two only see their daughter as a tool from beginning to end. There is no good message here really because of how terrible the writing is, so I would never call this game as something worthy of looking at for any type of couple other than to laugh at the game, or at the very least simply not take seriously.
@@arczeum7921 I never said it did a good job, just that that's what job it was trying to do.
I fucking loved this game. Played it with my wife over a weekend. We're definitely the target audience for it. Wish there were more games like this.
wait so is the target audience couples? or couples having a rough patch and/or going through a divorce?
@@Ruleradminius just couples. Like he said, the main characters are just awful. But the gameplay and settings are great.
Those parents are sociapaths
Seems more like you guys just like co-op games lol I don't see how couples are the target audience
Any two people are the target audience. There doesn’t have to be a message. And even if there is you don’t have to give a shit about it. Couples are a perfect fit because they can laugh at how awful the writing is together as a family while still enjoying the frankly insane amount of setpieces and gameplay varieties.
Always a surprise to see Yahtzee like a multiplayer game.
Rather a surprise to see a multiplayer game that are up to Yahtzees expectations instead of making him come up with new ways to say being bored
*Always a surprise to see yahtzee like a game.
Paying for a review will do that.
@@vinceb.8363 took the words out of my mouth
All it takes to lead to a positive review is for the people that made the game to make a quality game. If all you set out to do is to to copy what someone successful already did while resorting to cliches and genre tropes to fill in the stuff that normally takes a lot of hard work, then of course you will get shit on.
FINALLY, someone else gets annoyed by the use of "cringe" as an adjective. We have the word "cringeworthy," people!
I won't deny finding certain word uses annoying myself, but languages evolve. There probably more than a few words you use in ways that your parents or grandparents would find equally annoying.
Kinda cringe ngl.
@@EmeralBookwise Yeah, I surprised myself with how unbothered I was by the slang use of the word. It's just new slang, like "cool" was all those years ago. I'm more annoyed by its grating overuse than anything.
@@isabellamorris7902
Yeah was about to bring the "cool" example, too. There are tons of words that were newly created over the years. EVERY word was created at some point.
@@SangerZonvolt would also argue "cringe" definitely has different shades of meaning to "cringeworthy". They are used in different enough contexts to warrant being separate words.
Honestly, I like how Yahtzee has gradually evolved as a reviewer- He's coloring his reviews with more empathy, or a richer understanding of what being a creative requires within the context of the games industry.
Oh wow, this could definitely make it into the top 5 list!
Wait. Hold on. Said that wrong.
Oh. This'll probably make it to the top 5 list, because nothing else has really done anything impressive
I mean it's a pretty great game
Getting a "Hey, it's pretty good" from Yahtzee must be the equivalent to getting a 10/10 from IGN for game designers.
IGN hands out 8-10/10 though, so it really isn't a compliment coming from them.
11/10, better comparison
Buzz buzz
ThErE's A lItTlE sOmEtHiNg FoR eVeRyOnE
TBH it won a ton of awards
There's a see-saw between "It failed because you didn't try hard enough" and "More are failing because people got the last message and won't try at all."
I think there are definitely two valid messages here that get misrepresented.
Don't give up too easily.
Don't allow everyone to struggle with blaming themselves when they tried and it didn't work.
Reminds me of a common movie subplot where two characters are on the verge of falling out but get roped into an adventure and appreciate each other again by the end of it.
All you need is a few hours of near-death experiences to get that spark back.
I mean, what is the initial romance but a near death experience?
I played this with my brother, and took us 20 hours with just a bit of faffing about with minigames. Afterwards, we decided to adopt a child together.
Are you genderbent Sailor Uranus?
My fiancé and I played this together and came to the realization that this game is ironically best played with a partner that you love and cherish, because it helps you not only make bullet points about how to strengthen your relationship, but also gives you plenty of ways to laugh at the inept protagonists for being such a shitty couple. One thing that Yahtzee kinda overlooked is that the game doesn't send the message of "Stay together for the kid" so much as "You had a kid with this person for a reason. Don't give up because things got hard. Work it out, and you'll remember why you fell in love in the first place." I'm pretty happy that Yahtzee liked it (I think) because although he wasn't really the target audience, it's still a super fun and creative game.
Both of these messages are equally problematic. The first one implies, that you are a bad parent, if you are getting a divorce, because it hurts your children. The second one implies that every relationship can by saved by hard work and that getting a divorce is always the wrong choice. Ideas like "don't give up" and "work it out" just cement the idea that ending a relationship with a divorce is a personal confession of your faliure.
Don't get me wrong, I can get behind the Idea of at least trying to fix an damaged relationship. I just think it's equally important to acknowledge, that sometimes, a divorce is actually the appropriate solution and in no way something to be ashamed of.
@@florinbronnimann7964 Oh, no. You misunderstand. The message isn't that every relationship is salvageable. It's made clear from the start of the game that the parents still care about each other, but are too stubborn to admit their faults or make up. As the game goes on, they're given ample opportunity to tear into each other, but also to be honest with each other and themselves. They realize that their relationship fell apart because neither of them was putting in any effort to care. They didn't hate each other, they had merely forgotten why they loved each other. Trust me, I'm a couple's therapist. Not every relationship is meant to work out. But for two people to get a divorce just because they don't want to talk it out is a disservice to themselves and their family.
@@florinbronnimann7964 This video game is a story about one marriage, not a statistical analysis on all marriages. You can make a story about two flawed people realizing they can both do better in the name of their child, that's a good message. Lambasting it because it "sends the wrong message" implies that you hold the opposite extreme view that even this one fictional divorce should be a story about how healthy and productive it is to split a nuclear family, despite the self-evident damage it so often does to the children involved, whether they admit it later in life or not.
@@Sinestra666 100% agree with you, a divorce is nothing you should go throug on a whim. I just thinkt that this game puts to much emphasis on the message "work to save your relationship" and to little on "it's ok to end your relationship if it's no longer good for you". Especially with caracters like this, where I really can't see how the got married and even had a kid together.
@@wolfedya1 I can't fully agree on your opinion, that a story about two flawed people realizing they can both do better in the name of ther child has a good message. And this is not because I hold the completely opposite view. I'd say the truth lies somewhere in between, some relations are worth to keep up and some are not. But in general, i feel like divorce is too often just beeing portrayed as something bad and harmfull, allthogh holding on to a toxic relationship can be just as damaging (for both the parents and the kids).
Yahtzee: Dumps on game for self congratulations
Also Yahtzee: Proceeds to self congratulate how good the end joke was.
It would probably be awkward if he had any shame. xD
It took sixth months of Yahtzee's emotional manipulation to break me so I don't have an anniversary emoji yet.
By pure coincidence I was wearing my "I WAS THERE. It Takes Two 2021 Livestream" shirt when this dropped.
The bit about cringeworthy and my maniacal laughter caused my son to call out from across the room, "He is your spirit animal."
Since you obviously had to murder your child ironically after that, I am sorry for your loss.
@@Lord_of_Dread I my case it's more from linguistic pedanticness. Don't get me started on the word multiverse.
@@shiva0 What's wrong with multiverse? It tells you everything you need to know.
You say you're a linguistic pedant and yet you use "It's" and "Don'ts" which the pedants of yesteryear were moaning about.
@@Edit-nk6nb Universe means all of space and time and it's contents. Therefore there is only one universe and any dimensions or planes are a part of it.
@@shiva0 There's only one universe IRL, but in fiction where there are other times and other space, then there are multiple. Multiple universes.
I appreciate this game not making Spiders a generic enemy, like everyone else.
I was not expecting the actual gameplay part where you brutally pull apart your child's favorite toy while it begs you not to kill it to be as actually disturbing as it was what the hell lol
4:50 Divorce due to a an inability to get past a boss fight huh? That's a new one
The game was actually really fun. I think it was meant for friends who want to beat each other at mini games or couples.
Hey Yahtzee. Are you planning on doing Monster Hunter Rise?
Also, thank you for assaulting the evil that is "cringe" being used on its own.
Always nice for one of Yahtzee's reviews to be "surprisingly passable despite expectations"
My biggest problem with the game is finding someone to spend 10-12 hours and schedules that align to even play it.
It looks fairly fun and engaging and the stream of you and Nick looked like quite the enjoyable experience.
1:22 I love how Yahtzee only remembers the protagonist with the huge nose from a way out.
"Such a long game at around 10-12 hours."
Imagine saying that phrase to yourself fifteen years ago...
For a multiplayer-only game? Yeah even back then that was long unless it had some form of endless mode, and the endless modes back then weren't as good at hitting those addiction receptors as the multiplayer modes they have now.
If he said that 10-12 hours was long for a single player game though I'd have agreed.
FINALLY. Someone else comments on the absence of the word cringeworthy online.
Zero Punctuation emo rock track of the week:
*The Emotional Ghoul That You Are* by the *Backyard Book Burners*
Zero Punctuation hi-larious ironic indie rock album of the week:
*The Fuckabout Room* by *Captain Scowlybuff And His Identical Friends* (tracks include *Kung Fu Fighting Squirrel* and *Vacuum Cleaner Boss Fight* )
My brother and I played this game together and had tons of fun! I honestly feel like the game is just for any two people who like each other to have a good time. Definitely wouldn’t suggest it to my divorced parents. Also, I liked how the main characters weren’t exactly likable, though I wish they would’ve had a bit more punishment for some of the shit they did. Literally BATHING IN THEIR DAUGHTER’S TEARS?! Their could have at least been a moment of them saying “oh no, we’re horrible! We’ve made our little girl cry and haven’t even considered how we’re hurting her!”
finally someone calls out the proliferation of the cringe craze
Yeah the cringe craze is so cringey.
As someone who has a 12-year-old brother who plays online regularly, can I just note how VINDICATING it is to see Yahtzee devote a solid ten seconds of a review to harping on the use of “cringe” as an adjective?
swap the e for a y and you're good
Or maybe you could just accept that language is a living, evolving phenomenon, and that complaining about the evolution of a word says less about the word itself and more about your own inflexibility?
@@Los499 What you see as a word’s evolution, I can’t help but see as one’s devolution. I only meant so say that I sympathize and agree with his irritation on the subject, as comedically embellished as it is. That said, everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and I’ll not disrespect yours. I can agree to disagree.
Cringe take
@@grand_tourist46 What's the difference between cringe and cringeworthy that it is devolved? Both words are still used.
It's always lovely to see Yahtzee getting annoyed by the youth in new and interesting ways
Very astute points about the overall story's message. I love the gameplay and think it's designed very well, but I think the story is a bit tone deaf, speaking as someone with divorced parents.
It's always pleasant surprise when Yahtzee enjoys gameplay and somewhat enjoys the story
I really don't get the impression that the ending was "stay together for the sake of the kid". While the ending made it pretty likely they would end up together (though it TRIED to be ambiguous)... It was more a lesson on how their fighting affected their daughter... The ENTIRE game was about seeing things from another person's point of view and ends with them seeing that their daughter blames herself all because they couldn't stop fighting long enough or cooperate on even the basics (Even the daughter's wish wasn't "Love eachother" but "Be friends again")... Which is a lesson a LOT of divorcing couples should learn.
.
I also see what they saw in each other quite easily... a lot of the problems stem from the changes brought on by a new child. Because she had to support a child the Mother had to throw herself into her work AND the Father became much more needy because he overly relies on emotional support and needs the mother to chip in with the child. Before that the Mother wasn't stuck up and the Father at least outwardly wasn't impetulent.
"Who is this game for?"
Couples, Yahtz. It's like the opposite of Overcooked
I knew it was GOTY when Yahtzee begrudgingly praised it.
2:42 the time that Yathzee was briefly possessed by the spirit of Captain Raymond Holt
The irony here is that I’m playing this game with my wife while not giving attention to my kid.
So the game about parents not paying attention to their kid because of their own stuff is making us not pay attention to our kid because of playing it.
This game is one helluva fun trip. The characters are delightfully unlikeable and the mechanics are often absolutely brilliant. Also it is gorgeous, from beginning to end.
Yahtzee: "Look at that schnauze on that middle eastern feller, I can climb to the moon on that thing!"
also Yahtzee: "Idk man, that book's accent is a bit sus"
Middle eastern? Where did you get that idea, he seems much more Italian over middle eastern lol
This was legit a surprisingly good game.
Not at all the artsy bullshit I was expecting.
As a British man, I'm loving the Nuns on the Run poster making an appearance.
Am I the only one who got thraumatised by the Elephant?...
I get the feeling "can I go back to the grate now?" was an actual quote.
Little clarification: You've slightly missed the point of the game. The point is decidedly NOT "get back together for the sake of the kids". The little girl asks at the end if they're going to stay together, _and her parents do not say yes_ . This after a game so filled with self-serving deceptions that it makes it plain these two have completely stopped caring about anyone but themselves. This is why, for instance, the murder of the toy elephant is NOT funny. "We're going to get what we want, even if it means horribly traumatizing our own child" is not the viewpoint of a responsible adult. It is the viewpoint of an irresponsible, overgrown child.
Remember: These two have been paying so little attention to their daughter that they didn't even notice when she brought home a sex-ed book she found in the trash at school. Her father bought her action figures based on an M-rated game, complete with swearing. So the actual lesson of the game, its entire point, is that _actually paying attention to other people is a good idea_ . That acknowledging and dealing with other people and their problems may not solve everything, but ignoring them to focus entirely on yourself just makes things worse.
I’m always put off with this forced 2+ player idea as I’m in the same boat as Yahtz, I’d rather rely on my own ability at my own pace. However this looks genuinely engaging and has so many different sections. Might have to give it a go after this review!
Hope you like railroading
"IT TAKES TWO TO MAKE A THING GO RIGHT"!!!
Who this game is for? Struggling couples, of course. It's a weird take on couples therapy.
A couple more games like this and they may finally have a game that's just good with no qualifiers
TBH this is probably one of the best games to come out in the last few years.
I played brothers tale of two sons with a six yo child and we went trough the whole game and IT HAS A HORROR ENDING
Mommy, daddy, please don't fight! If you fight, I'll use my eldritch powers to turn you into inanimate objects again!
i saw the gameplay for this game, looks reaallly fun, but man did i want to kill that book
We actually heard Yahtzee compliment a game. More than once. A day for the record books.
"An omnipotent self help book with a slightly racist accent"
Don't do my man Dr. Hakim like that
Played this with my wife and we had a blast, I think the game is literally made for couples, who then later play with friends in a sort of weird pseudo PG13 'couples swap'
Just a great game all around. I wonder if there will eb a sequal with a coherant story, or if it will be like that other old squirrel game
I never noticed until Yahtzee pointed it out that the term was supposed to be ”cringe-worthy” and not just ”cringe” neat
Coming to watch this after it received Game of the Year wondering how the Game Awards is gonna push something down our throats again.
Am not entirely disappointed i guess.
Good ol' Yahtzee, almost the only person on TH-cam I watch at normal speed. Seriously, do most people intentionally talk slowly to draw out their run times? Because it sure seems they do that, among drawing things out in other ways. But not Yahtzee, he's always as fast and snappy as his content should be, and I'm for that I'm glad. Plus, he shares my dislike for multiplayer games as well.
To answer his question: It's made for vtuber couples
Haha, I'll tell you who this game is for. My buddy and I, working through why he shouldn't keep a dysfunctional relationship, on constant life support, work. Incredibly it took us like 6 nights (2 years of real time) to complete it and for said relationship to end.
3rd Best Game of the Year
One thing yahtzee didn't talk about are the depressing reviews on steam. Positive or negative, many of the reviews will start or end with, "still getting a divorce."
Thank you misters escapist and yahtzee, sirs. I've been waiting for this review for a long enough time. Was pretty worth it.
The gameplay is fine, and my gf liked it but it severely breaks a core gameplay rule for me. It is constantly taking control from the player and for waaay too long to force in a story that isn't all that interesting honestly. On top of that, there's no skipping which in this decade is unacceptable.
I played this game until they murdered the elephant and it turned from 'ok they're flawed and don't really know what they're doing' to 'ah so they're terrible people that I shouldn't be invested in because they're willing to murder the more loving and innocent creature second only to kirby which doing so also hurts the feelings of the kid they supposedly love'
So fun fact; the secondary protagonist with the big nose in "A Way Out" is modeled after the director's (Josef Fares) brother (Fares Fares).
This is a nice and fun co op game of which there are too few of. As for people hating on the message, yes there are relationships that should be ended for both peoples sake.
There are also relationships that can be salvaged with communication and effort from both people. My parents at one point were considering divorce, but they managed to work it out and are now pretty happy.
Both can be true and there is no harm in having a story which presents either.
I am yahtzee's side on the cringe thing like wtf
my biggest disappointment with the game was for sure that dr. hakim didnt turn out to be the villain/final boss. he was an antagonist, sure, but not quite a villain, and i call that a missed opportunity. especially given a decent amount of foreshadowing that hes got darker motives than just fixing your relationship (a lot of grandiose self-importance [like i feel like this comment is starting to take on itself] and a proclivity for encouraging giant terrifying boss monsters to murder the protagonists) as well as the overall horrific vibes constantly leaking from the games dark orifices. too late for the developers to patch in a spectacular final boss battle with an over-the-edge dr hakim?
As the credits rolled, I was stumped as to who this game was specifically for. Glad I wasn’t the only one.
Thanking you for correcting the weirdos using "cringe" as an adjective. It's like nails on a chalkboard.
I thought the writing was weird too. In some of the chapters they are quite agreeable and seam to act nice in the middle of it, but at the beginning and end they just straight up hate each other again. It kinda gives me mood whiplash.
I really liked it takes two, my fiance who is new to games played alongside me and we enjoyed it, the 'fuckabout rooms' are great too and the fact there's no DLC microtransactions or ways to nickel and dime the player is great.
Did both Yahtzee and Woolie make the same mental through-line for killing the daughter's toy and American History X?
Someone should keep a record of the games he Yahtzee actually likes. Is there a webpage somewhere like that?
Before making videogames, Josef Fares was a film maker. You should check out *Kopps,* in my opinion his best one
I’m glad someone finally had the guts to critique the anti-divorce message. Does divorce really have to be depicted as the root of all evil? My parents got divorced and it was the best thing ever for them. It didn’t traumatize me or any shit like that. If anything, the constant arguing from when they were still together is what had a more negative impact on me.
Alright, I’m done with my anecdotal rant.
Totally feel you. Seeing how this game got such high praise, I'm now actually more worried than before that a lot of people still see the divorce of a couple with kids as something categorically bad something that sould be avioded at all costs, when in reality, it might be the best solution for everyone.
this made me have to lok up what "kafkaesque" meant and now i have a broader knowledge of literture, thanks yazt
As a married person, the way the two main characters talk and interact is insufferable. They needed a divorce yesterday.
Just finished the game last night, and thought it would be really funny to see Yahtzee’s take on it, and here we are.
It's also got swears and to hip grinding book so not for kids.
Wasn't there also a reference to something else in this game?
In the later chapters related to passion, Dr. Hakim implies a lot of sexual stuff while gyrating his "hips."
Could that editor Yahtzee mentioned be Nick Calandra, the editor in chief for the escapist?
"boss fight with the vacuum clearner" lol
Cringe-WORTHY - thank you Yahtzee someone's finally fixing what the internet has done to language
This is a very fun game me and my wife played through it and she doesn't play video games really.
Now what he didn't mention is it was made by EA, which, when I saw that said fuck this shit hole game
I loved the game, played it before yahtzee did- the ending was underwhelming and yeah the writing wasn't always great, but it does manage to have bits playing off the parent's flaws that were fun, the enviroments were gorgeous and fun to play through