Extra Punctuation: Let's Talk About Let's Play

[Nooners]

The only Let's Plays I've ever watched were Spoony's SWAT 4 Let's Plays. They were hilarious.

Yes, they were. Also, while his FFX wasn't exactly an LP, it was still very entertaining. And his recap of the Ultima series also really makes me want to play those games. Richard Garriott may be a nut these days, but I still hold respect for the guy having made such a long spanning world and series.

 

[Wolfram23]

Questiont to everyone who makes or watches or has heard about LPs... (Yes, everyone reading this)

Do you prefer a commentary made while playing the game or added in afterwards???

I think there's a crutial difference. While playing, the player is usually much more focused on gameplay so there's much less talking, but you can get some key insight that may be overlooked aftwards, about a particular frustration or whatever. But with the commentay added afterwards, obviously you get a lot more chatter. But does that detract from the gameplay? Does it add to the fun of watching? Is it necessary?

(My Two Worlds 2 LP can be found on my YouTube channel http://www.youtube.com/user/TheWolfram23?feature=mhum)
(I comment as I play but I'm thinking of trying to switch it up a bit)

 

[TwistedEllipses]

Let's plays on youtube are a very mixed bunch. Some games are suited to LPs (without heavy editing), especially open-ended games like the sims or DC universe online. The metal gear solid series and heavy rain style, heavy on the cinematic games are good to watch online, but there isn't much call for commentary.

The best LPs on the internet are usually humourous rinsings on a game or else 'reaction' videos where someone undertakes a horror game blind. Helloween4545 is probably the best example of both and plays a variety of not necessarily well-known horror titles: http://www.youtube.com/user/Helloween4545#p/p

EDIT: I also enjoyed Regal and Hot Tub's Gears of War 2 LP, because it really made fun of Gear of War's ultra-machoness. My favourite part is when:

Spoiler

one of them does a Dom voice during the scene where he has to shoot Maria and does a tearful version of one of the generic taunts Dom and Marcus were spewing a couple of seconds before the crowbarred emotional scene

The worst LP I've come across chose a game that had been done a dozen times and one which had very repetitive gameplay and no story. He had a grainy mic (like me with my pathetic attempt to lp the Hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy text adventure) talked over all the cutscenes, didn't comment live but in post-production and just moaned about how rubbish he was, the game was and his equipment was. Admittedly, he was right on the last three counts.

If you can't afford a game, don't have the right console or are unsure/not persuaded enough to buy a game, they're pretty useful.

 

[odolwa]

Viewing an LP is ostensibly for one of four reasons:

1. those undecided about paying money for a new release (handier than a demo too, imo),

2. you missed out on an old title and couldn't be ar**d to get the old equipment to run it and don't want to emulate,

3. tactics and

4. the personality; be they informed guru or bumbling idiot.

 

[Atmos Duality]

Heh. I have the Lets Play Archive to thank for bringing some closure.
Dirge of Cerberus (which I rag on like an OCD asshole) was probably one of those games that I wished I had never even looked at; let alone played.

It was the first serious wakeup call I heeded that Squaresoft was indeed gone forever; and what a rude awakening. The game fails on every conceivable level rising to bland mediocrity at its crux.
It's boring, the controls suck, the gameplay is slightly more deep than a God of War title, the graphics wibble wobble between utterly bland and that distinctive "We blew our entire budget on this, so you'd better fucking watch it"-excellent CGI that Squeenix is known for.
And of course, the story plays like something that came straight out of Fanfiction Hell (I am not exaggerating for comedic effect here either; the story really is that bad).

In short, it was an obvious cheap corporate cash-in meant to milk the numerous gullible fans of FF7; I only RENTED the fucking game and I still feel like it raped part of my childhood.

And so, I was abused, and left disappointed, angry, nay FURIOUS, until the Lets Play for Dirge of Cerberus came along...and it's pretty damn angry.
I love it. Every simpering stupid moment, every terrible gameplay gimmick, broken mechanic and fucking ludicrous character exposed. There is little to nothing redeeming about the game; Squeenix buttfucked FF7 and this LP is a bit of payback.

TLDR;
If you want to laugh your ass off at a truly terrible game, and see what a Lets Play can become, do check out the Dirge of Cerberus LP on the Something Awful LP Archive (Yahtzee already pimped the link to the archive; it's just a simple Ctrl+F search away after that).

 

[Bobic]

Yahtzee was right to recommend the daikatana let's play, it's awesome, I've watched it before.

I'm also surprised he didn't mention his own let's play, perhaps he is embarrassed.

 

[Cpt Corallis]

Love BoatMurdered and something i have gotten into recently is Chuggconroy and The Runaway Guys. I love the idea of Let's plays in general, i just seems like such an obvious thing to do. I'm sure i'm not the only person who commentates over the games they play, even without an audience.

 

[zjspeed]

It's not really a pure "Let's Play". But, Freeman's Mind [http://www.accursedfarms.com/movies/fm/] by Ross Scott is hilarious.

 

[Leviathan_]

I've watched quite a few Let's Play's from a Youtube user that goes by the name Jefmajor. He tends to play the lesser known and graphically advanced games (though not always).


One of my favorites is this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5qDNcvqFSU (The first LP I ever saw and introduced me to the world of LP's. In fact, it was thanks to an escapist user who posted a link of that very video in this thread (http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.244156-What-was-the-last-thing-you-laughed-at-on-the-internet?page=2) I got to see it in the first place.


I love LP's, they've introduced me to a lot of games I never knew existed.

 

[Sabrestar]

One of these days I'm going to convince my wife to do a Let's Play of one of her swear-filled runs at Twilight Princess. Man, she can swear a blue streak down the middle of the Nile when she's battling through the burning carriage.

More seriously, I like LPs that are heavy into masocore - the aforementioned ProtonJon's suffering in Kaizo Mario World is beautiful, and it was spending two days at work watching an LP of I Wanna Be the Guy that got me into LP in general. There's something cathartic about watching other people have game-induced breakdowns, and knowing that you've been there yourself, too.

 

[JourneyThroughHell]

Speaking of Something Awful, any LP by the duo of Slowbeef and Diabeetus comes highly recommended.

Especially Dead To Rights.

Oh, and, woo, Proteus and Suspicious. I spend too much time on the Internet.

Yes, Let's Plays are fun. However, in my eyes, it's more fun to see an LP of a game you're familiar with to see the reaction of the player to the best moments of the game rather than experiencing a game first-hand via LP.

Unless it's Daikatana, because... yeah.

 

[ZombieGenesis]

Just like Yahtzee, I keep Lets Plays rolling while I work/do anything else.

Actually the habit started with the D&D Podcasts by the Penny Arcade fellows. They're around four hours or so each, so I can start one up and have background noise for a while. Since then I've gotten into Lets Plays. Only time I won't have one on is when I'm playing a game! (And in some cases, like RTS games...even then!)

 

[lomylithruldor]

Questiont to everyone who makes or watches or has heard about LPs... (Yes, everyone reading this)

Do you prefer a commentary made while playing the game or added in afterwards???

I think there's a crutial difference. While playing, the player is usually much more focused on gameplay so there's much less talking, but you can get some key insight that may be overlooked aftwards, about a particular frustration or whatever. But with the commentay added afterwards, obviously you get a lot more chatter. But does that detract from the gameplay? Does it add to the fun of watching? Is it necessary?

(My Two Worlds 2 LP can be found on my YouTube channel http://www.youtube.com/user/TheWolfram23?feature=mhum)
(I comment as I play but I'm thinking of trying to switch it up a bit)

I prefer a lot while playing the game, even if the commentator can make mistake. Also, it's a lot better when it's a group than a single person.

I really like TotalBiscuit [http://www.youtube.com/user/TotalHalibut]'s WTF is ... serie.

Its recommended not to be eating or drinking while watching TB and the Yogscast playing Magicka. The game is hilarious by itself, and then you add TB and the yogscast to it.

I also really like Spoiler Warning [http://www.shamusyoung.com/spoilerwarning/]. Their way of doing it with 1 is playing, 3 others are talking (over each other) is really fun.

 

[TwistedEllipses]

I forgot to include this recent LP of Tetris by a retired Lp-er( http://www.youtube.com/user/xthemusic2#p/c/E115BE5544416FE7/0/DvB3EkEJB-Y )with 8 parts of 30 seconds which parodies his old Lping style...(the payoff is in the last part)

 

[SatansBestBuddy]

I'll admit, I'm a LP addict as well, to the point where I've probably finished watching more LP's than I have actual games. (though I still play)

The Deadly Premonition [http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3368004] LP by supergreatfriend is excellent and I heartily recommend it to everyone, along with TyrantSabre'sStuntman LP [http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3359792], Didja Redo's Riviera [http://lparchive.org/Riviera-The-Promised-Land/] and Gazillionaire [http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3378866] LP's, Nidoking's Toonstuck [http://lparchive.org/Toonstruck/] and Rayman [http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3351475] LP's, and of course, the legendary pokecapn Sonic 2006 [http://lparchive.org/Sonic-The-Hedgehog-2006/] LP.

 

[Triforceformer]

Hellfirecomms is also a nice outlet for LPs (Though they prefer to call them Playthroughs). Their earlier stuff is kind of "Meh", like their Kingdom Hearts 1 playthrough, but they've improved alot. Special mention goes to their Kingdom Hearts 2, Brutal Legend, Sonic Unleashed, and (Still in progress) Half-Life 2 playthroughs. They also do commentary on a variety of t.v. episodes, have an annual "Chirstmas Special" spot, and used to do movie commentaries. They stopped with them due to not wanting the flaunt "Fair Use" like a couple of Youtube tards.

They ARE a bit fanboyish at times, but never to the point of being obnoxious. TheHellDragon's Transformer fetish is actually quite cute to listen to, really.

http://hellfirecomms.com/

They're currently in the middle of a Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep playthrough.

 

[Roadface]

If you want to laugh your ass off at a truly terrible game, and see what a Lets Play can become, do check out the Dirge of Cerberus LP on the Something Awful LP Archive (Yahtzee already pimped the link to the archive; it's just a simple Ctrl+F search away after that).

I went to the site and did an Ctrl+F and didn't find it. We are talking about the same link he "pimped"

http://lparchive.org/

I searched it there and didn't find it. Could you be more helpful?

Edit: lol never mind found it. It's from "The Dark ID" right? watching it now.

 

[Atmos Duality]

I went to the site and did an Ctrl+F and didn't find it. We are talking about the same link he "pimped"

http://lparchive.org/

I searched it there and didn't find it. Could you be more helpful?

Edit: lol never mind found it. It's from "The Dark ID" right? watching it now.

Odd. It came right up for me.

http://lparchive.org/Final-Fantasy-VII-Dirge-of-Cerberus/

 

[The Rogue Wolf]

Let's Plays can be both educational (especially when you're stuck in a game) and absolutely hilarious. It REALLY depends on who's doing it and how they react to the game. One of the worst LPs I've seen was a runthrough of Dead Space 1, by a guy who- you could tell by his voice- was not at all interested in the game. One of the best ones I've seen was by a Brit who was playing Nightmare House 2 (a Mod for Half-Life 2) blind, and who got so scared at one point that he had to have a friend on Ventrilo talk him through it- and still, he spent an entire video huddling in a corner, talking to his friend and holding a discarded computer monitor for comfort... until he started getting creeped out by the monitor.

I actually started an LP of FEAR 2 as a technical test. The primary reason I never put it up was because I absolutely loathe the sound of my own voice. Some of the LPs I've seen make me wish the authors had had the same consideration.

 

[AmzRigh]

Someone else mentioned it in passing, but linkage must be provided: you can hardly even discuss Something Awful and Let's Play without bringing up Boatmurdered [http://lparchive.org/Dwarf-Fortress-Boatmurdered/], a "succession game" LP of Dwarf Fortress.

Also, Psychedelic Eyeball's Prince of Persia [http://lparchive.org/Prince-of-Persia-1/] -- not just a quality LP, but made even more entertaining by his wonderful Quebecois accent.

In general, though...I'm not big on LPs. If I'm really interested in a game, I want it to be a fresh experience when I play it. If I'm not interested in a game, I'm probably not going to enjoy watching it being played. It has to fall in that narrow space of "kind of interesting, but not enough to actually want to play it."