He’s wrong about one thing. There is mention of cake in Portal 2. Once, in small print, but it’s there. Also, the new memetic cake-equivalent is “space.” It’s nowhere near as strong as “cake,” but there are a few YouTube videos around celebrating it.
(Very minor spoilers for Portal 2…)
There are actually two references to cake in Portal 2. One in the graffiti that you encounter during your trek through the Portal 1 test chambers at the beginning of the game, and the second on the fake door that GlaDOS uses to trap you the first time (“If I’d known it would be that easy, I’d have just dangled a turkey leg over a pit.”)
But to be fair to Yahtzee, I think his was a qualified statement. Something like “There’s barely a reference to cake.”
That’s the one I was thinking of.
The “puzzle game with a really good framework” and “a sightseeing tour that begrudgingly has a puzzle game in it” comparison is pretty much perfect. Portal 2’s only major flaw is not being Portal 1.
“Space” is different because it requires you to finish the game and it’s a very small part of the game, while the original wouldn’t go more than 2-3 minutes without reference to cake.
Completely agreed about him nailing it though, the above comparison being the perfect summation of it.
Wolff
4427
Using adblock and noscript they run fine and I don’t see the advertisement frame.
Interesting that he describes SoTN as not very difficult for an old school game, I always thought of it as the beginning of modern, less difficult platformers. It’s definitely a turning point in the series. I played the early Castlevania games fanatically, but I’m not sure I beat any of them.
“Piss off, I’m re-coloring the skeletons again!”
Wade42
4430
Ah, an old favorite. Too bad the XBLA version didn’t have the added extras that were in the Sega Saturn version… missed opportunity there. Still, a game worth revisiting.
Super Metroid wasn’t that difficult, really. Less difficult than Metroid, which was much less difficult than the Castlevania’s IMO. I seem to recall Strider being easy up until late in the game.
Wade42
4433
Yahtzee’s take on Brink; drinking game included.
I thought that the novelty of Yahtzee’s approach would wear off and probably become grating with time, but even after a few years, it hasn’t. And I’ve come to think of ZeroPunctuation as the best source of reviews on the planet, as beneath all the sheep buggering jokes is the most insightful, useful critique of games around.
For example, a recent Qt3 thread compelled me to pick up Nier despite its subpar reputation, as there were plenty of assurances that it was actually a great game. After about 10 hours of tedious, uninspired game play, I figured I’d check out Yahtzee’s take. Sure enough, he absolutely nailed every aspect - even the minute details like the crappy soundtrack composed of looping 10-second clips - of what made the game so lackluster and such a boring slog. When I subsequently read other reviews, I got the cursory plot/mechanics/graphics/audio overview and a score, which is nowhere near as useful as ZP’s densely detailed but qualitative approach.
I only hope that Ben Croshaw doesn’t tire of his own shtick, and that he continues to provide such valuable contribution to gaming.
Everybody takes the make-up off at some point in their career, only to come back and do reunion throwback tours in their 50s.
Otagan
4436
I have a few, very specific gripes about certain reviews he has done that I would strongly disagree with (Valkyria Chronicles comes readily to mind), but other than those I generally find myself in line with a lot of Yahtzee’s criticism and opinions and continue to enjoy his reviews each week.
That’s really the great thing about ZP: even when I disagree with the reviews for certain games, I can acknowledge the validity of the individual points of critique. My own assessment of whether to grab the game centers on whether his complaints are focused on areas that matter to me or not, and he provides enough information for me to make this assessment.
Were I a game developer, I would hire Ben out as a private contractor to come in and play my pre-alpha build and point out the small parts of the game which he knows he would end up excoriating in a review. Having such an ombudsman-like participant in the design/development process could only make for a better game.
Were I a game developer, I would hire Ben out as a private contractor to come in and play my pre-alpha build and point out the small parts of the game which he knows he would end up excoriating in a review. Having such an ombudsman-like participant in the design/development process could only make for a better game.
Isn’t that precisely why Valve hired Erik and Chet?
Zylon
4439
I thought they hired them because they’re funny.
Yeah, those were the Old Man Murray guys, right? Forgot about that. Anyway, I’m not saying that companies need to keep guys like that on the payroll, but there’s certainly a good place for some form of contribution to the development process.
