How much less funny is Yahtzee than he was 13 years ago?

[Drathnoxis]

We haven't had a Zero Punctuation thread in ages, it's about time that changed. Recently I've been watching some of the older Zero Punctuation videos again and Yahtzee's S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 review offers a good point for comparison:


I'm actually really surprised at the difference. Like, I can watch his old stuff and still laugh, but it's pretty rare his new material gets me to chuckle. In current Yahtzee, the visuals are merely support for his commentary, but in classic ZP they were fully jokes of their own tangential, but also illustrative of whatever he's talking about. Like when he's talking about how real life makes bad game mechanics and he shows himself get crapped on by a bird, then has the press X joke, and then snaps back to "Being shat on from a great height -- THE GAME" It's just hilarious, and masterfully timed. I understand that he's been doing this for 17 years at this point, and it's his job, and it's tough to be masterfully creative and comedic for that long, but it's still unfortunate. I still do like watching his reviews, even so.

So what are some of your favorite episodes of Zero Punctuation? I think mine will always be Red Steel 2, which, incidentally, was the first episode I ever saw. "It's like being the best at jerking off to your sister in the shower." Amazing.

 

[Gordon_4]

I still find him funny, but it’s in the way an old jumper is comfortable. It’s worn, a few threads have pulled and there’s a hole or two. But it’s still warm and sits just right.

Yes I’m old and set in my ways.

 

[Elvis Starburst]

I stopped watching the new stuff around the issues that came about with Second Wind, but I do remember finding them to be lacking a certain something. There was still some good witty comments and remarks, but they didn't quite have the spice

 

[BrawlMan]

Some stuff makes me laugh depending on what is, but Yahtzee has gotten too far up into his own smug asshole. Similar to what @Elvis Starburst said, I don't bother with most of Second Wind's content due to the controversy with Frost (I am not exactly trusting of Frost either and want nothing to do with him. He's fighting war he thinks is important) and a few others leaving, the lack of much polish nor energy from most videos, and me being tired of their shit. Not helping extra matters, is that a lot of Yahtzee's "reviews" come off as glorified old man yells at clouds energy. I don't keep with most of his reviews for a good reason, and already doing that back in 2017.

 

[Worgen]

Hes as funny as ever. The problem is that we have heard the joke before.

 

[Drathnoxis]

Hes as funny as ever. The problem is that we have heard the joke before.

Then how come I still laugh at the old videos that I've seen 5 times before?

 

[Worgen]

Then how come I still laugh at the old videos that I've seen 5 times before?

That is one of those weird quarks of psychology. If we found something funny before, we can laugh at it, but if we find something telling a similar joke then it tends to land flat.

 

[Casual Shinji]

I'm just gonna attribute it to 'once it was new, now it's old'.

 

[Chimpzy]

A lot less, but I fell off that kind of humor about ten years ago, so it might be more a me thing than anything to do with Yathzee himself.

 

[Xprimentyl]

I still find him funny, but it’s in the way an old jumper is comfortable. It’s worn, a few threads have pulled and there’s a hole or two. But it’s still warm and sits just right.

Hes as funny as ever. The problem is that we have heard the joke before.

I'm just gonna attribute it to 'once it was new, now it's old'.

The thing about Yahtzee is his brand of humor has been so copy/pasted by others, it's become diluted, i.e.: it was probably hard to be the first guy to tell a knock-knock joke 50 years later when he had a banger of a new one to tell. Not sure it's been done better, but I've certainly seen it don't worse by orders of magnitude to the point I'm still able to appreciate him for the OG he is.

As for my favorite Zero Punctuation, I'd have to go with Burnout: Paradise. Probably not his best, but certainly my first, and the one that caught my attention as he so perfectly captured my sentiments regarding that game. "Burnout is a game that hates players with a passion" is a line that resonated with me deeply at a time when I was still naïve and excitable enough to experience genuine disappointment when games I wanted to love shit the bed, and Yahtzee won a fan when he managed to voice my disappointment with the world AND make me laugh.

 

[Kyrian007]

I still find Yahtzee funny, but it isn't why I've kept watching the videos. Or why I really started watching them in the first place. I found out early on that he and I have very similar taste in games. I just treated his videos as reviews of games. Still do. When he praises a game, I'll keep an eye on it. If it is meh or lower from him... If I was thinking about trying it, maybe when it hits 50% off or more... maybe. Usually though, negative or indifferent reviews from him will put a game on "don't bother" for me. Saved me thousands over the years probably. Even the slightest praise from him is an indication something about a game is probably worth checking out. A favorite... difficult. Tabula Rasa was the first I saw, a good one. Eve Online was memorable, I loved it because how badly he trashed it given that at the time it was every banner ad I saw on The Escapist. Some of my favorites are when he heaps scorn on a game's whole fanbase. Even in a game he enjoys, like Portal. As illustrated in his Portal 2 review.

I've seen a lot of people either hate Yahtzee right away, or at some point rather vehemently turn on him. I've seen a lot of speculation about whether or not he "is funny anymore." But generally... all I see behind that is butthurt fanboys of something he unloaded his usual scorn upon. I've never really understood that take. "Someone dares to dislike something I like, I hate that guy now." There's several games Yahtzee has disliked, even skewered with a review, that I enjoyed. It is really easy to do, the game just has to do something well enough to make it worth it despite the flaws he finds. Most of his Zelda reviews fall into this category for me.

I can already hear, "well I don't like Yahtzee because yadda yadda (something other than being a butthurt fanboy.) But that's what they all say, trying to justify it as something other than "crybaby because someone doesn't like what I do." I'm sure there ARE people who don't like Yahtzee for "more legitimate" reasons. But it is hard to pick them out from the crowd when they are outnumbered by folks just whining because he roasted something they like, but trying to pretend it is something other than hurt feelings.

 

[BrawlMan]

Someone dares to dislike something I like, I hate that guy now." There's several games Yahtzee has disliked, even skewered with a review, that I enjoyed. It is really easy to do, the game just has to do something well enough to make it worth it despite the flaws he finds. Most of his Zelda reviews fall into this category for me.

That's a problem with his echo chamber, They'll go along with him so long it things they care about. As soon as he dislikes, whatever they like or apathetic at best, they throw a biatch fit. My main problem with Yahtzee was not if he disliked a game but when he started attacking the audience or fans of certain games, genres, franchises (he attacked Star Wars fans unprovoked in one of his first reviews for the games), or a game specifically. That's where I draw the line, and the fact that he acts unapologetic about some of these, and act like he did nothing, made me lose respect for him. It's especially annoying when other people try to give an out or make excuses for his more nasty behavior in the past. Don't even get me started when he started attacking Star Wars fans out of the blue. His Mad World review wasn't a review of the game in a 6 minute biatch fit about motion controls (they do work fine in that game, he just was not paying attention). Or going on about how why the world "doesn't need" superhero films. He comes off as a try hard that claims to know what's best for everyone when it comes to shit like that. Fuck him on that.

A lot less, but I fell off that kind of humor about ten years ago, so it might be more a me thing than anything to do with Yathzee himself.

It's mainly him. People change and you just found something different or better.

 

[Kyrian007]

That's a problem with his echo chamber, They'll go along with him so long it things they care about. As soon as he dislikes, whatever they like or apathetic at best, they throw a biatch fit. My main problem with Yahtzee was not if he disliked a game but when he started attacking the audience or fans of certain games, genres, franchises (he attacked Star Wars unprovoked in one of his first reviews for the games), or a game specifically. That's where I draw the line, and the fact that he acts unapologetic about some of these, and act like he did nothing, made me lose respect for him. It's especially annoying when other people try to give an out or make excuses for his more nasty behavior in the past. Don't even get me started when he started attacking Star Wars fans out of the blue. His Mad World review wasn't a review of the game in a 6 minute biatch fit about motion controls (they do work fine in that game, he just was not paying attention). Or going on about how why the world "doesn't need" superhero films. He comes off as a try hard that claims to know what's best for everyone when it comes to shit like that. Fuck him on that.

See, I love it when he hates on a fanbase. In my view, the fanbases have always deserved it when it happened. And I liked Mad World, and the Wii in general. And I found his Mad World review pretty funny and bought the game based on his thumbs up to the commentary pair.

 

[BrawlMan]

my view, the fanbases have always deserved it when it happened

Not all the time. Especially when they done nothing to provoke him at all. Star War fans weren't exactly gunning after him, until he kicked the hornet's nest. I know they have jack ass fans, but most fans at that time were keeping to themselves. That's the making excuses shit I'm talking about.

found his Mad World review pretty funny and bought the game based on his thumbs up to the commentary pair.

Glad you had fun with the game and enjoyed it, though you clearly have a better opinion about it than he ever did. I would have found it funny had he actually focused on the game for more than two minutes. Once again, it's not a review. It's a biatch fit about motion controls. If he had that big a problem with the Wii that badly, he could have just made a separate video and saved the game for next time or vice versa.

Edit: MOHWF/Doom 3 review I consider his best video.

 

[Kyrian007]

Not all the time. Especially when they done nothing to provoke him at all. Star War fans weren't exactly gunning after him, until he kicked the hornet's nest. I know they have jack ass fans, but most fans at that time were keeping to themselves. That's the making excuses shit I'm talking about.

And that's part of it. I love Star Wars, but because of the jackasses I hesitate to consider myself part of the fanbase. Because the most vocal of them that I know now are screaming hate about Kathleen Kennedy, dumb garbage about wokeness, and that's why I don't mind someone taking shots at them. And frankly it wasn't much different back then. And yes, his shots weren't targeted at a part of the fanbase and hit a larger group of fans keeping to themselves. But it was easy for me to see those fans, being like me. And his comments didn't anger me, quite the opposite actually. So I find it odd when people like that take offense, and if I'm being honest I really don't think I can be convinced they did. I'm way more likely to just assume they're in the "don't like what I like, cry" category.

Glad you had fun with the game and enjoyed it, though you clearly have a better opinion about it than he ever did. I would have found it funny had he actually focused on the game for more than two minutes. Once again, it's not a review. It's a biatch fit about motion controls. If he had that big a problem with the Wii that badly, he could have just made a separate video and saved the game for next time or vice versa.

I just didn't see the video that way. I had no intention to even buy Mad World, until I saw that review. I saw that as a "here's an interesting game... and here's every single thing that's wrong with it" kind of review. And that was enough to get me to go out and pay full price for it. And to me complaining about wii waggle was already water off a duck's back. Everyone was doing that back then, I don't even remember that review having any mention of the controls. That was such a common complaint that I never paid much attention when anyone brought it up.

 

[Bob_McMillan]

Yahtzee has slowed down considerably, as in literally, in his videos. The whole zero punctuation setup let him pack a lot into his videos, puns and actual criticism both. I think it's great for him to slow down in his old age, but I also feel like a lot of his new videos have puns that don't really add to the actual review. Like the STALKER 2 episode, the end bit about Bear Grylls felt way too long and was just a bit for the bit's sake. Wasn't particularly funny either.

 

[BrawlMan]

And that's part of it. I love Star Wars, but because of the jackasses I hesitate to consider myself part of the fanbase. Because the most vocal of them that I know now are screaming hate about Kathleen Kennedy, dumb garbage about wokeness, and that's why I don't mind someone taking shots at them. And frankly it wasn't much different back then. And yes, his shots weren't targeted at a part of the fanbase and hit a larger group of fans keeping to themselves. But it was easy for me to see those fans, being like me. And his comments didn't anger me, quite the opposite actually. So I find it odd when people like that take offense, and if I'm being honest I really don't think I can be convinced they did. I'm way more likely to just assume they're in the "don't like what I like, cry" category.

I don't call myself a Star Wars fan much nowadays (not because of the assholes), but even back then, I always consider myself a casual SW fan. Yahtzee wasn't the only one doing this, but it gets annoying when a lot of the people out in the sea start doing the same thing and copying each other. You're not creative nor unique, you're just doesn't shallow jackass thinking they're being clever or smart by ragging on groups for being a fan of something. It's fine if you're weren't upset but I don't blame people who were upset who aren't fans or feel the jab is unnecessary or not warranted. I feel that there is some projection going on in the case you described and some self hatred for being a fan. I get it when there's annoying or bad fans to things you like, but just remember to separate yourselves from them and remember that you're not trying to hurt anybody nor be a conceited asshole.

just didn't see the video that way. I had no intention to even buy Mad World, until I saw that review. I saw that as a "here's an interesting game... and here's every single thing that's wrong with it" kind of review. And that was enough to get me to go out and pay full price for it. And to me complaining about wii waggle was already water off a duck's back. Everyone was doing that back then, I don't even remember that review having any mention of the controls. That was such a common complaint that I never paid much attention when anyone brought it up.

There are some problems with the game, but it doesn't do "everything wrong". MW is still one of the best and unique games on the console ever made and actually has the best motion controls. I put it above even No More Heroes controls. My problem is the intellectual dishonesty on his part for that review. Also, just because "everybody else" was ragging on motion controls doesn't make it better, nor excuse the non review biatch fit. What you're saying is the effect of "These people jumped off the bridge. It would make sense for him to do the same".

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

I like him and I watch his videos for the same reason he makes them (habit) but I couldn't care less for Second Wind or the entourage he's... allowed around himself, as lone wolf YouTubers are prone to do with age.

He's mellowed out a whole bunch. I get it, he married old money and is set for life. Quit his job as a matter of principle, fathered a couple of kids. He's aged, he's balded, he's matured. Power to him, I hope I get there one day. But all this bourgeois complacency has kinda dulled his sense of humor, which always hinged on feeling angry and embittered and misanthropic.

 

[BrawlMan]

But all this bourgeois complacency has kinda dulled his sense of humor, which always hinged on feeling angry and embittered and misanthropic.

Angry reviewing died a long time ago by 2014. Yahtzee was just a late coming exception. You can only angry and misanthropic so many times before it gets tiring and boring. It's why I dropped most of his videos early on by 2017. That type of mind set I despise and get bored of real quickly. Especially when it's coming from people with heads up their asses.

 

[Bedinsis]

I used to take his words as gospel, since then I've grown to appreciate that it is just his opinion, not meant to be taken literally (kinda like gospel).

I do appreciate his takes but even though I recognize that his vids are full of jokes I never laugh at them since it's his take I'm there for.

My favorite video? Eh, I think it is clear he is doing it to make a paycheck nowadays so the videos kinda blur together, but one of my favorites of the later ones were his review of Kingdom Hearts III. His reenactment of how a scene plays out when juxtaposed to a more mundane situation was funny in itself, and it had at least two really funny jokes after that. His review of Dark was also a real winner.