"It's less about quality and more about specific goals." That's a good way to put it. More often than not I play the small and weird games that could be dismissed as mediocre, because they satisfy a "need" in the way only they (not even the 10/10, all-time classic) can. 11:06 this Log Off segment reminded me of Retro Game Challenge. It was a DS game with many pseudo retro games within it, but on the bottom screen you can see your character in the room playing. Whenever you want, you can pause the game to check notes, talk with the other kid in the room (who keeps commenting while you play), read the game manuals, and read fake game magazines, complete with previews, reviews, and tips about the current (and upcoming) games. There's even also a mail section and sale charts. I love it, it succeeds in showing how much of gaming is outside of the games themselves.
I'm still of the opinion that Asura's Wrath is the best 6/10 game ever made. 70% of the game is just cutscenes and QTEs, and the literal true ending is locked behind a paywall; but, there's so much charm, hype, and passion behind the game that I can't help but consider it a masterpiece.
people always talk about games that "Need a remake" and its often personal favorites that they think deserves a second chance. The logistics is that most games that "need" a remake are unlikely to be worth remaking, which is why already good games get retold and remastered often. But games like Asura's Wrath, games that are obviously mediocre yet cult classics or just a hype as fuck in the moment... I think theres potential. That 30% of actual GoW combat deserves to be rounded out a little. I want the Yasha fights to feel like MGRR and the turtles to not feel like pulling teeth.
Really interesting. I'm was surprised that someone who has a gaming channel on TH-cam hasn't played the highly-ranked games you mentioned. Truth is, I haven't played critically-acclaimed examples you gave either... and just like you, all of them are in my Steam Library. On the other hand I've been meaning to dive into Immortals: Fenyx Rising lately myself (once I clear some hard drive space). It just looks like a good time. Like a nice bowl of homemade soup. Those other games just feel a much bigger undertaking to get into. Like instead of just sitting down for that nice soup, I have to get dressed up to go to a Michelin star restaurant, and everyone will be asking me about my experience afterwards, and now I'm part of some cultured group of sophisticates. Sometimes you just don't want to worry about all that. You just want something easy that tastes good.
Neat video, too many sad people on their high horse acting like only 10/10 masterpieces are worth anything and anything less is 'settling for mediocrity' or a waste of time. One 7/10 I've played recently is Tokyo Beatdown. The only beat-em-up I've ever played or beat (any%), so I don't have much to compare to, but the movement and combat was a little clunky. More than that, I would sometimes get stunlocked by too many enemies coordinating on screen to alternate shooting and sliding into me, even getting me stuck on a huge difficulty spiked boss near the end of the game until I did the same to them. The game doesn't tell you that a bunch of content is locked behind replaying other missions over and over and tracking down certain old men in each stage. However, looking at the very straightfoward sometimes oafish and very tropey 80s cop drama theming this game oozed in every scene, character, mechanic and stage gave me a pretty decent laugh. I've been so doused in irony online for years that just seeing this stuff happen completely normally, with no self-awareness or insincerity, rolls back to being funny lol. Wouldn't redo or recommend for most but still a decent hoot, especially so if you're actually into those kinds of movies and shows.
I know one weird quirk about my brain is I will put off playing, watching, or reading things I know are either really good, or really in my wheelhouse, because I want to be in the right headspace and energy level to appreciate them... which is like weird because good media supposedly GIVES you those things but like, I don't want to taint the experience, and I don't want a break in between. So like... MAN, I put off Alan Wake 2 until mid November. I had Yakuza Zero installed for like 3 years before I binged the first three games. I've had Doom Eternal installed for just as long and STILL haven't played it. But Night in the Woods especially. It was on my radar since it launched, I knew it was kino, and poignant, and funny sad, and awesome... didn't play it till last year. At least that one actually got played near Halloween. When I'm telling myself not to start the Witcher 3, I'm probably just gonna default to completing my 20th Picross game.
Exactly this. I want to put it off until the perfect moment when I can fully dedicate 100% of my attention to it. Not even just for games, but for movies, books, music. What's funny is when I was a kid getting a new game, I'd bring home the disc and be like "alright I'll just play for 5 minutes to see what it looks like, I won't even save the game" and then I'd end up saving anyway and that would become my main playthrough.
There are a lot of mediocre games that I like. There not the best, but that makes it a lil more fun. Sometimes having to find ways around the little frustrations can be more fun then there being no frustrations. It may sound a bit backwards but it’s something fun. So go play a mediocre game, it’ll make the perfect games seem even better.
Regarding "mediocre" survivor-type games, the one that I consistently come back to the most is Magic Survival - the literal inspiration for Vampire Survivors. It's very simple looking but there's something about the whole aesthetic that just hits different, plus it keeps getting updates and hasn't hit 1.0 yet which is just surreal, considering the fad it helped launch. "Mediocre" just means "Interesting, but not for everyone".
If you think the dothack game is cool you really should check out the sign's anime, a big point in dothack is these games arent just the games, but talks about the player behind the charcter. The show doesnt just talk about ingame problems but problems the charcters face in real life too.
Great video! To me when thinking of a mediocre game, is Vampire: The Masquerade - Redemption, Everybody knows and loves Bloodlines, but not many have focused on the game before that, Where you play as a knight who turns to the dark side, its a great rpg game, but it comes in two halves, where the first half of the game, you are in 12th century in Prague, Cheesy but lovely dialogue and story too, but the second half takes place in modern times in new york, And i just always felt it was such a weird jump from cool medieval, vampires, demons and a battle of faith, swords and sorcery! then a few hours later, you're in new york with a machine gun, It always let me down abit!
I played Assassin's Creed: Odyssey after finishing my Greek history class. It was like being in a Greek play and I loved exploring the world of Greece around the Peloponnesian War. Say what you want about Ubislop, they don't skim on the environments that's for sure.
My game of choice for this is Prey 2017 Admittedly, it’s a bit better than mediocre, 7-8/10ish for most people, but it is my all-time favorite game simply because of the storytelling the writers (and the world!) tells Angry emails, make-up post-its, cooking recipes & instructions: it sells the world of “a normal life that’s been suddenly ruined” so incredibly well that you end up crying when you hear about someone dying, or get nervous trying to pull off a very dangerous mission That, mixed with the sheer AMOUNT of innovation possible for any situation you encounter, makes the sometimes wonky (yet still creative) combat & stealth another part of the experience, instead of massive friction points
I'm in that same mental set of mind (around 0:12 mark) for the game Ride To Hell retribution I have devoted most of my living life playing, reverse engineering and decoding the mysteries of that crap game to where I can't play most other shooter games and not think... Is there a way that I can put that mechanic to use with RTH? And yes, I do read your description box
If you want a Ubisoft game to play that went under the radar, check out Steep. Really nice, mellow snowboarding game that can be slow or fast. Some really cozy spots in that map too
I played some of that back in the day. Though I've played a bit more Riders Republic just because I appreciate the variety. It is a chill game, but the controls just don't vibe with me sadly 😢
Just Cause. Every game in the series is a 7/10. Maybe 8/10 for the second one. But despite having thousands of better games to play, just like you, I get lost in these every time one comes out. The freedom of movement, and stupidity of the plot hook me every time, and there ya go. 60-80 hours wasted. There's something comforting in ordinary and mundane. Not everything has to be the best something.
I just realized that I need something like Vampire Hunters in my life...I mean, I definitely don't, but I want it! That or some other VS-like FPS game. I've only recently gotten into roguelites ever since I played hades, but I've been getting burnt out on the top down or side scroller perspective.
Been having the time of my life playing Far Cry 5, despite my friends telling me to play something like Witcher 3. I gave it a go, said it's not my thing, went back to Montana.
when indie games and A or AA games provide more content and re-play ability than AAA games. Majority of gamer are tired of the repeated Call of Duty, new game over hype and problems after problems.
I personally found Rune Factory 4 mediocre but still put 100h into it. 6/10 and 7/10 games are perfectly good in their own right. Not everything is or needs to be a masterpiece.
I really genuinely think that yall are mistaking 4/10 games for 7/10 "mediocrity", if a game fails at everything but one aspect, its not good in one aspect, it failed on every other one.
This trend has been going on for a long time for some reason. Good games are at least 9/10, medium (to finish and forget) are 7 and 8, and from 6 down it's not even worth playing.
"Shouldn't I play these instead?" No. Because you already pumped a hefty number of hours in them and seek something different for change, but not too different. That's where the "mid" games are coming by
"does anyone even read these" apparently i do
"It's less about quality and more about specific goals." That's a good way to put it. More often than not I play the small and weird games that could be dismissed as mediocre, because they satisfy a "need" in the way only they (not even the 10/10, all-time classic) can.
11:06 this Log Off segment reminded me of Retro Game Challenge. It was a DS game with many pseudo retro games within it, but on the bottom screen you can see your character in the room playing. Whenever you want, you can pause the game to check notes, talk with the other kid in the room (who keeps commenting while you play), read the game manuals, and read fake game magazines, complete with previews, reviews, and tips about the current (and upcoming) games. There's even also a mail section and sale charts. I love it, it succeeds in showing how much of gaming is outside of the games themselves.
I'm still of the opinion that Asura's Wrath is the best 6/10 game ever made. 70% of the game is just cutscenes and QTEs, and the literal true ending is locked behind a paywall; but, there's so much charm, hype, and passion behind the game that I can't help but consider it a masterpiece.
Asura's Wrath is PEAK!!!!! Genuinely might be one of my favorite games ever. It needs a modern port so bad.
people always talk about games that "Need a remake" and its often personal favorites that they think deserves a second chance. The logistics is that most games that "need" a remake are unlikely to be worth remaking, which is why already good games get retold and remastered often. But games like Asura's Wrath, games that are obviously mediocre yet cult classics or just a hype as fuck in the moment... I think theres potential. That 30% of actual GoW combat deserves to be rounded out a little. I want the Yasha fights to feel like MGRR and the turtles to not feel like pulling teeth.
I was surprised when my youtube recap told me that i was in 0.2% of your fans. Apparently i watch your stuff 43 times more than the average viewer 😄
I thought for a second your thumbnail says Half-Life 2 is mediocre. (EDIT: I originally wrote "you" instead of I.)
Yes, I did it 😭✊
How dae you
It is
@ Nou
Really interesting. I'm was surprised that someone who has a gaming channel on TH-cam hasn't played the highly-ranked games you mentioned. Truth is, I haven't played critically-acclaimed examples you gave either... and just like you, all of them are in my Steam Library. On the other hand I've been meaning to dive into Immortals: Fenyx Rising lately myself (once I clear some hard drive space). It just looks like a good time. Like a nice bowl of homemade soup. Those other games just feel a much bigger undertaking to get into. Like instead of just sitting down for that nice soup, I have to get dressed up to go to a Michelin star restaurant, and everyone will be asking me about my experience afterwards, and now I'm part of some cultured group of sophisticates. Sometimes you just don't want to worry about all that. You just want something easy that tastes good.
Neat video, too many sad people on their high horse acting like only 10/10 masterpieces are worth anything and anything less is 'settling for mediocrity' or a waste of time.
One 7/10 I've played recently is Tokyo Beatdown. The only beat-em-up I've ever played or beat (any%), so I don't have much to compare to, but the movement and combat was a little clunky. More than that, I would sometimes get stunlocked by too many enemies coordinating on screen to alternate shooting and sliding into me, even getting me stuck on a huge difficulty spiked boss near the end of the game until I did the same to them. The game doesn't tell you that a bunch of content is locked behind replaying other missions over and over and tracking down certain old men in each stage. However, looking at the very straightfoward sometimes oafish and very tropey 80s cop drama theming this game oozed in every scene, character, mechanic and stage gave me a pretty decent laugh. I've been so doused in irony online for years that just seeing this stuff happen completely normally, with no self-awareness or insincerity, rolls back to being funny lol. Wouldn't redo or recommend for most but still a decent hoot, especially so if you're actually into those kinds of movies and shows.
why; yes i read the descriptions!
ps: thank you for the captions! not a lot of people include them ^^
The worst is when people disable automatic captions. I genuinely don't get that.
I know one weird quirk about my brain is I will put off playing, watching, or reading things I know are either really good, or really in my wheelhouse, because I want to be in the right headspace and energy level to appreciate them... which is like weird because good media supposedly GIVES you those things but like, I don't want to taint the experience, and I don't want a break in between. So like... MAN, I put off Alan Wake 2 until mid November. I had Yakuza Zero installed for like 3 years before I binged the first three games. I've had Doom Eternal installed for just as long and STILL haven't played it. But Night in the Woods especially. It was on my radar since it launched, I knew it was kino, and poignant, and funny sad, and awesome... didn't play it till last year. At least that one actually got played near Halloween.
When I'm telling myself not to start the Witcher 3, I'm probably just gonna default to completing my 20th Picross game.
Exactly this. I want to put it off until the perfect moment when I can fully dedicate 100% of my attention to it. Not even just for games, but for movies, books, music.
What's funny is when I was a kid getting a new game, I'd bring home the disc and be like "alright I'll just play for 5 minutes to see what it looks like, I won't even save the game" and then I'd end up saving anyway and that would become my main playthrough.
What that horse ever do to you
The border between what is or isn't good ultimately is decided by whats considered mediocre
Man that footage of Immortals Phoenix Rising made me want to play Kingdoms of Amalur again, thank you for the reminder
There are a lot of mediocre games that I like. There not the best, but that makes it a lil more fun. Sometimes having to find ways around the little frustrations can be more fun then there being no frustrations. It may sound a bit backwards but it’s something fun. So go play a mediocre game, it’ll make the perfect games seem even better.
Regarding "mediocre" survivor-type games, the one that I consistently come back to the most is Magic Survival - the literal inspiration for Vampire Survivors. It's very simple looking but there's something about the whole aesthetic that just hits different, plus it keeps getting updates and hasn't hit 1.0 yet which is just surreal, considering the fad it helped launch. "Mediocre" just means "Interesting, but not for everyone".
That was the fastest click i've ever did.
Kiss ass!
If you think the dothack game is cool you really should check out the sign's anime, a big point in dothack is these games arent just the games, but talks about the player behind the charcter. The show doesnt just talk about ingame problems but problems the charcters face in real life too.
damn you sold me on immortals fenyx rising that looked cool af and it's on gamepass
10:00 I've been lured into the wilderness in Runescape by a neighbor kid who merced me the instant we were deep enough. 😂
Great video! To me when thinking of a mediocre game, is Vampire: The Masquerade - Redemption, Everybody knows and loves Bloodlines, but not many have focused on the game before that, Where you play as a knight who turns to the dark side, its a great rpg game, but it comes in two halves, where the first half of the game, you are in 12th century in Prague, Cheesy but lovely dialogue and story too, but the second half takes place in modern times in new york, And i just always felt it was such a weird jump from cool medieval, vampires, demons and a battle of faith, swords and sorcery! then a few hours later, you're in new york with a machine gun, It always let me down abit!
I'm also a fan of Immortals: Fenyx Rising.
I think it's highly underrated, TBH.
I played Assassin's Creed: Odyssey after finishing my Greek history class. It was like being in a Greek play and I loved exploring the world of Greece around the Peloponnesian War. Say what you want about Ubislop, they don't skim on the environments that's for sure.
yup. assassins creed is always gonna be at least slightly entertaining for history nerds.
honestly watching ur b-roll of phoenix rising. the game looks kinda fun, i wanna take a look now :P
My game of choice for this is Prey 2017
Admittedly, it’s a bit better than mediocre, 7-8/10ish for most people, but it is my all-time favorite game simply because of the storytelling the writers (and the world!) tells
Angry emails, make-up post-its, cooking recipes & instructions: it sells the world of “a normal life that’s been suddenly ruined” so incredibly well that you end up crying when you hear about someone dying, or get nervous trying to pull off a very dangerous mission
That, mixed with the sheer AMOUNT of innovation possible for any situation you encounter, makes the sometimes wonky (yet still creative) combat & stealth another part of the experience, instead of massive friction points
OSRS players never quit, we just take breaks.
Reading this as I'm doing a black demon slayer task 🫡
I'm in that same mental set of mind (around 0:12 mark) for the game Ride To Hell retribution I have devoted most of my living life playing, reverse engineering and decoding the mysteries of that crap game to where I can't play most other shooter games and not think... Is there a way that I can put that mechanic to use with RTH?
And yes, I do read your description box
Legit sounds like autism
Played through Enter the Matrix and really enjoyed it. I think we all need some mediocre jank every now and again
If you want a Ubisoft game to play that went under the radar, check out Steep. Really nice, mellow snowboarding game that can be slow or fast. Some really cozy spots in that map too
I played some of that back in the day. Though I've played a bit more Riders Republic just because I appreciate the variety. It is a chill game, but the controls just don't vibe with me sadly 😢
Just Cause.
Every game in the series is a 7/10. Maybe 8/10 for the second one.
But despite having thousands of better games to play, just like you, I get lost in these every time one comes out. The freedom of movement, and stupidity of the plot hook me every time, and there ya go. 60-80 hours wasted.
There's something comforting in ordinary and mundane. Not everything has to be the best something.
I'll take a unique 6/10 made by people who like people who love games, over whatever AAA slop Ubisoft or Activision cranks out
Mediocre games aren't real. There only games with effort put into them and those without it.
That Dot Hack one sounds interesting.
4:12 rip horse
the tokyo extreme racer games have fake forums too
I just realized that I need something like Vampire Hunters in my life...I mean, I definitely don't, but I want it! That or some other VS-like FPS game. I've only recently gotten into roguelites ever since I played hades, but I've been getting burnt out on the top down or side scroller perspective.
Immortals is a really fun game, same vein as AC Odyssey (which I'm a huge fan) and I usually play these kind of games.
Been having the time of my life playing Far Cry 5, despite my friends telling me to play something like Witcher 3. I gave it a go, said it's not my thing, went back to Montana.
The world of Far Cry 5 is super unique. I'll have to make a video exploring it some day.
when indie games and A or AA games provide more content and re-play ability than AAA games. Majority of gamer are tired of the repeated Call of Duty, new game over hype and problems after problems.
Never heard of the game before, but it looks pretty cool.
i read them, yeah.
Then again, Metacritic's top 1 and 2 are Ocarina of Time and Soulcalibur so...
I personally found Rune Factory 4 mediocre but still put 100h into it.
6/10 and 7/10 games are perfectly good in their own right. Not everything is or needs to be a masterpiece.
77 i thought that's Russias life expectence or maybe that's 54 years.
Dragonfable enjoyers RISE
to answer your question: yes I do read the description
I really genuinely think that yall are mistaking 4/10 games for 7/10 "mediocrity", if a game fails at everything but one aspect, its not good in one aspect, it failed on every other one.
This trend has been going on for a long time for some reason. Good games are at least 9/10, medium (to finish and forget) are 7 and 8, and from 6 down it's not even worth playing.
Brave Fencer Musashi???
damn uploaded 16 seconds ago and still 0 views bro fell off
"Shouldn't I play these instead?"
No. Because you already pumped a hefty number of hours in them and seek something different for change, but not too different. That's where the "mid" games are coming by
this is the first time i fell for a clickbait thumbnail, gg
implying half life 2 to be mediocre is blasphemous
Super Mario 64 and Zelda OOT
hl2 its already mediocre
You shouldn't play those instead because those are the mediocre games in question.
But those games aren’t mediocre.
They’re masterpieces.
the thumbnail says "shouldn't I be playing these instead?". He's not saying they're mid, he's saying "why aren't I playing these instead of mid?"