7 Weirdest Ways You Levelled Up in Games

We all know how levelling usually works in a game: you earn XP and then you level up, usually in a boring submenu. Some games, however, like to mix up the process with weird, gross, or downright bizarre systems that you’re going to have to navigate if you want to improve your skills. Here are our seven weirdest favourites. Subscribe for more videos like this from Outside Xbox!
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[@Paldasan]

Levelling up in most RPGs is strange by nature. "Congratulations, you have killed 50 enemies and as a consequence you can now pick locks."

[@HeinerGunnar]

Or the opposite, depending on what gives XP. Like in Fallout 4: "you just spend the last in-game days building your house, congrats you can now snipe more accurate"

[@ghostderazgriz]

@@HeinerGunnar Don't see what's weird about that. It's like a wax on wax off deal. I'm sure carpenters are accidentally trained assassins.

[@BogeyTheBear]

Remember Marston Mondays? " _Kill five wolves with your knife_ ? Are you just setting these challenges in your head, John?"

[@nong333]

Yeah that's the weird thing about the modern skill point system most games like to use. because there are so many ways to gain skill points and just as many ways to distribute them you can level-up one skill quickly by doing something completely unrelated to that skill. Still, some games do get it right like Skyrim's class-based skill system where you can only distribute skill points in a certain class while doing action that are actually relevant to that class. More games should do that as it makes them more immersive.

[@leeman27534]

tbh i sort of get it with the 'basic' upgrades like all stats get a small bonus - your character has gone out in the world and done stuff and has 'experienced' things and now is better than they were before - hence EXP points - it's a reflection of you growing as a person (though i do agree - killing X foes translates to perk points for learning noncombat stuff is a little weird but presumably everything can't be sort of the flash game 'level up!' - at least some like skyrim have skill levels that limit perk allocation till you're competent enough to have gotten there or fallout where you need bodily strength of X to get like strong back to carry more and enough worldly experience to upgrade it past 1 Final Fantasy 2 did their stat improvement in a 'realistic' and also broken way - you gained stats for doing stuff like right then - use a melee attack get strength - take a hit get max hp and defense - use magic get mp and magic bonuses - take magic hits get max hp and mdef - get turns at all get speed - dodge gets more speed - right after the fight you'd instead of just exp you'd get made sense - do X action get Y stat related to that stat - but it also didn't have any sort of scaling applied and was a kinda low stat cap ish game compared to some anyway - a game like disgaea can have stat caps in the millions and this idea would've worked better that way if say you got stats relevant to the foes you fought - getting +1 stats in an early area where like 5 hours into the game +1 is pathetic and you're getting like +10 a pop and another 5 hours in you might be getting like +50 or whatever would scale pretty good - at any time you can get a decent jump compared to current foes but not get broken good for the rest of the game except the stats didn't scale that great really - so spending a few hours early on getting like +100 in offensive and speed ish stats then letting your allies get smacked around let you get hella powerful hella early and relatively hella quick - not a lot of games let you fight low level monsters for a few hours and get you endgame stats (some might let you cheese high level monsters early on but kinda a different story) in a sort of similar ish steady progression sense this web based text game called 'kingdom of loathing' (it's pretty funny but also complicated as shit with some of it's stuff) there is no 'general' exp - instead you get 'substats' for winning fights or noncombat bonuses or eating or drinking - once it reaches a varying threshold you get a stat point in that area - early on get 50 'muscle' substats and your muscle goes up - with higher muscle that might be like 150 substats there's three major stats - muscle mysticality and moxie - which are often used as barriers for equipment as well as scaling for attacks - you've got an attack that might do X% of your muscle to foes - kinda doesn't matter if you're a level 10 muscle class or a level 14 non-muscle class you'll do roughly the same damage with it even level is scaled based on this rather than an abstract exp - muscle classes are leveled based on their current muscle statistic (buffs don't count) which means you can even lower your level by 'deleveling' your muscle (kinda hard to do - you can be buffed down to single digit muscle which would affect basic attacks as well as 'muscle' based skills but not your level - but there are a few things in the game that can take substats and thus your stats and also levels) substats are usually weighted based on class - they typically have a most standard and least favored ish stat i think it's roughly divided up like 2:1:1 RNG in effect but with six base classes there's a 'mystical' and 'moxious' muscle class a 'muscle' and 'moxie' mysticality class (magic basically if it needed explained) and a 'muscle' and 'mysticality' moxie class (evasive ish classes - being a 'funny' game one's called a disco bandit which has evasive and plink ish attacks that weaken foes and 'accordion thief' which is basically THE major buff class with like 4\5ths of it's skills basically being temporary buffs) and then skills are typically class + level based and bought from your 'guild' (skills being permable but not necessarily useful outside of that class) as well as skills learned via quests or whatnot from trainers outside of your guild or even from books or odd items from superbosses (one superboss might give you a skill book that's a permanent 10% boost to your hp or so - another drops a slimy item that increases max mp)

[@johnnychopsocky]

I'm surprised the Yakuza portion wasn't about Yakuza Zero's 'EAT THE MONEY' system. I mean, they CALL it 'Investing in Yourself', but seriously all I can imagine is Kiryu just gobbling down fistfuls of yen and learning moves by doing so.

[@300IQPrower]

....New headcanon

[@CleaverMama]

What, is that...not how you're supposed to learn skills?

[@johnnychopsocky]

@@War_Magus It's Kiryu's "mmm, yeah. You want this" face that truly makes that cutscene special

[@shawnfields2369]

@@CleaverMama No, not unless you're Kiryu, who ate billions upon billions of yen, to acquire skills worthy of a true Dragon Of Dojima. But, Majima however, didn't eat too much money to get those skills, so, he's only The Mad Dog Of Shimano. But, and this important too, he DID gain some awesome dance moves, (which even Kiryu hasn't learned) and his singing skill is on par with Kiryu's, if not a bit better. I mean, look at the song they played during his segment! Tell me he doesn't look hilarious and awesome doing that! By the way, the song's called "24-Hour Cinderella". I'm not making that up, fyi. And the outfit Majima's wearing is called "Everyone's Favorite/Everyone's Idol Majima". Which makes it even MORE hilarious, but in ALL the best ways possible.

[@CleaverMama]

@@shawnfields2369...well that explains the persistent stomach ache.

[@yerocha7992]

While the way Kiryu regains his strength is indeed strange, lets not forget how he got that strength in the first place: by punching billions of dollars directly out of people in Yakuza 0 and then injecting himself with it.

[@DanielLCarrier]

That is strange. I'd expect him to punch billions of yen directly out of people.

[@user-dy9ts5ei6j]

@@DanielLCarrier what about billions of dollars worth of yen

[@fearthebeard-vt7xs]

Nɪᴄᴋ 100 yen is 1 dollar so take away 2 0s for it

[@thundercunt8533]

Now that's a cash injection

[@devinco1]

Anyone else feeling inspired by Majima's dedication to outlandish disguises?

[@WynFyre]

Oh thank goodness, I thought I was the only one.

[@ritenac6770]

I feel inspired by his dedication to getting the crap beaten out of him. And his outfits

[@suprememeatbun]

THAT'S RAD!

[@Bluebedo]

Team Rocket would be proud.

[@bett431]

@@suprememeatbun Nani?

[@heleneandersson7649]

One of my sister's partners was trying to sell her on the yakuza games so she was trying to sell me on them. She should have just showed me a clip of this Majima fellow. I instantly love him. I think.

[@hallludba]

Majima is easily one of the most entertaining video game characters ever

[@madalice5134]

Majima is the best. He out extras all others.

[@cylnder]

A gamer cool boomer? *Impossible*

[@allengilbert7463]

I literally just bought Yakuza Zero after seeing his karaoke performance.

[@GinnyNReviews]

Who doesn’t?

[@ChristyTina22]

Prince of Persia: Sands of Time had you drinking from water fountains that gave you psychedelic visions of the future to increase your health.

[@KornHub1994]

Also as you got stronger you removed more and more of your shirt lol

[@sheisjen74]

I can't believe I forgot about that!

[@Coorniable]

Loved that game so much!

[@Malidictus]

Pretty sure that's just the Prince imagining things. The doors aren't actually there when you come to, and Farah doesn't seem to notice the one time she actually witnesses it. But fair point nonethelss :)

[@nicocrestmere9688]

Ah yes just like ayahuasca

[@stephlrideout]

Pop star Majima = Galaxy brain Corozon cosplay

[@danmenard6917]

Technically that costume's called "Everyone's Favorite/Everyone's Idol Majima"

[@stephlrideout]

@@danmenard6917 then I'm definitely correct

[@Silver_wind_1987_]

Or i did alot of shrooms.... : /

[@Ceece20]

It might not be “weird” but I did like how Nier Automata did the level up system. You were playing as an android and you could level up by inserting special chips, each with their own storage amount. The chips included strength, passive healing, mobility, and so on and each effect had certain levels but that also increased to storage size, so you had to plan accordingly. But what was even more interesting was you’re own HUD display items like a minimap or lock on display were also considered “chips” meaning you could take them out to make it more difficult, but would give you extra space for things like the chips I mentioned. Just don’t take out the OS chip, or do! Your call.

[@chrisc1140]

Well it does have a more standard leveling system too, the chips are _fantastic_ from a customization standpoint!

[@Ninjamanhammer]

They already mentioned that in previous videos.

[@SharmClucas]

Sounds similar to the level up system in Mega Man Legends

[@narcspector]

@@Ninjamanhammer like 3 previous videos lol. Between here and OXTRA. Not that I have an issue, NieR Automata RULES

[@Ceece20]

Personal Persona might be because I also love Nier Automata, so I tend to comment on it a lot in these kinds of videos where it’s relevant.

[@hansolochewbacca4260]

Andy: How do I get Majima into a list video? Also Andy: I really want to complain about Koroks and Padawans in the same video, but how? Corazon Andy: I've had an idea and it's foolproof!

[@StraightOuttaJarhois]

Getting Majima in a video is an agenda all can agree with.

[@mimicmey]

I love how his Fallout character is also just Corazon. Edit: that leads me to believe that Andy doesn't roleplay at all. He's just Andy in every game he plays.

[@Crisjola]

HanSolo Chewbacca, where is the lie tho

[@Commanderd2007]

@@mimicmey Corazón is real, he role plays as Andy - a video game reviewer.

[@AthenisKS81]

You forgot zombie Majima. That's easily my favorite of his surprise appearances.

[@BeaTheBastard]

I prefer goromi honestly

[@llawliet3733]

Majima is the Best. Was really proud when I got the last Dragon skill

[@gregorymunoz8089]

@@BeaTheBastard goromi is the best

[@Fanimati0n]

Majima is a treat

[@joelsasmad]

I love that time he gave Kiryu a private pole dance show.

[@Thrythlind]

Majima everywhere sounds like someone watched a lot of Pink Panther movies.

[@marhawkman303]

Kiryu-chan!

[@rhombanoid3873]

@rwsthedemonking All but the first game, (released way back on the PS2) have Japanese audio only. You can absolutely play them anywhere though, you just need to read the subtitles.

[@h027s]

@rwsthedemonking The audio is in Japanese but everything else is in English for the versions on Steam (I'm assuming it's the same for any official English version of the game).

[@123hopsy]

@rwsthedemonking you can buy it in english for ps4 or on steam

[@snugglebuns6193]

@@123hopsy there's not an English dub for any Yakuza games except for the very first one that came out on PS2. I think he was looking to play a game with English voice acting, not English text.

[@Shuru10]

I love how Majima calls a yakuza member *"Kiryu-chan"*

[@delilahchevalier2553]

It’s even better when you realize ‘chan’ is a term for girls.

[@talltroll7092]

@@delilahchevalier2553 Not exclusively, but trying to unpick Japanese honorifics is a broad and terrifying subject for a non-native speaker Eg : Oniiiii-CHAAAAAAAN

[@THENAMEISQUICKMAN]

It's not even explain how it ever came to be a nickname for him. Majima just used it the first time they ever met, and Kiryu didn't seem to mind.

[@Rocky123698745]

@@delilahchevalier2553 -Chan is just used for cute things, as far as I understand it. Like, couples might use it with each other and parents will use it with their children. It’s often applied to girls, but can also be applied to young boys and anyone else considered cute. So I think Majima is flirting with Kiryu?

[@ToastAndJellyfish]

​@@Rocky123698745 I can believe it, I have never seen a character who exudes a more potent chaotic bisexual energy than Majima. It's how the universe remains in balance; we're all a little bit horny for Majima and so Majima has to be a little bit (and occasionally a lot) horny for everyone in order to keep the fabric of reality from tearing itself apart. Being everywhere, killing zombies, building shit, and still he finds the time to hold existence as we know it together. What a goddamn legend.

[@kainewolfe9855]

Harvesting red goo (adam) from corpses with your creepy but cute daughter with a needle. Bioshock

[@civicrider5556]

Yes!!

[@De-Nigma]

@@civicrider5556 And being given prize teddy bears every few times you did it of course.

[@noticeme6412]

the corpses part is only for Bioshock 2

[@MsKornkitty]

I had a lot of fun with Maneater. Be a shark, eat everything, then somehow metabolize minerals and mutagens you find in albino fish and random boxes to evolve yourself bone armour, shadow forms and bio-electric abilities. When you equip them in your cove the VO talks about your shark having time to meditate and reflect on what it has become. It was silly, and I loved it.

[@3possumsinatrenchcoat]

don't forget the venom! that game was a blessing i s2g

[@collinsims2413]

It is made that much better by the fact that the VO dude is Jerry from Rick'n'Morty.

[@hansok77]

Andy’s been playing a lot of Yakuza lately. Lots of Yakuza references in recent list videos. 😂

[@groovatron3k454]

I love it. I feel like I'm playing along with him. Lol.

[@philvanderlaan5942]

Ok Andy show us your hands, still have all your fingers? Please stop playing Yakuza

[@AshenVictor]

If your video title has "weirdest" in it, you're not getting away without including Yakuza.

[@jellysharkbat]

@@philvanderlaan5942 Do NOT stop playing Yakuza; Majima demands you continue!

[@TBDF12]

Why is the audio for the first yakuza clip crap though

[@CaptainKidd-ec2cc]

What about South park: The stick of truth? You leveled up by making friends on Facebook

[@billybutcher4811]

Or the sequel where you had to get Instagram followers

[@keeganlafferty1395]

@@billybutcher4811 actually that one I believe used a more typical EXP system

[@billybutcher4811]

@@keeganlafferty1395 you're right! But you still had to collect followers on Instagram but I don't remember what for

[@LordPyro25]

bill becchio In Stick of Truth you would get points to buy special perks when you got certain amounts of facebook friends, then in Fractured but Whole you got exp for getting instagram followers. So both of them did help you level up

[@idioticpanther8068]

Turns out Majima's shenanigans are actually Agent 47's first go at how to properly disuise yourself in a stealth mission. I wonder what he is up to these days...

[@razvandragomir7403]

Sorry to say it but how i realised that majima is better at disquising himself than agent 47😲😯

[@GODOFAWSOMENESS1]

Razvan Dragomir maybe if 47 showed emotions other then boredom he might be able to hide better.

[@timhutchinson8485]

Did anyone else notice how Andy sounded like he almost burst out laughing when he was reading the part about the Korok seeds?

[@gruggerduggerhoose]

Well you try saying “giant quivering turnip man” with a straight face lol

[@timhutchinson8485]

@@gruggerduggerhoose lol

[@tracymann2512]

I was crying it was so funny to say

[@GODOFAWSOMENESS1]

Sure “seeds”

[@andymcp4752]

My preferred levelling up method is the one where I forget the game has a levelling system until the end of the game, realising I have 1000 skill points to spend and immediately going from scrub loser to god in front of the final boss

[@WynFyre]

Geez, I can only imagine how hard you thought the game was. Edit: I imagined what a game like Dark Souls or Code Vein would be like with this approach and just thinking about it fills me with dread.

[@meg654]

@@WynFyre _oof size : _*_Extra large_*

[@acewmd.]

What game did you do that in

[@delicateghoul]

I didn't level up in oblivion for months because I thought there was no reason to sleep in game so I never did. Then I accidentally slept once, gained twenty levels, but also turned into a vampire

[@AthAthanasius]

Either you are half blind or never play those games that will nag you every few minutes if you have any unspent skill points!

[@johnsharplin]

Wow, looks like I really have to get into the Yakuza series, that Majima gameplay looks stellar!

[@Chernobog2]

It's such a great series

[@HovektheArtist]

I'm finally playing yakuza, starting with 0 and majima is fun and amazing, but I personally found myself really wanting to get back to kiryu after a bit, of course I'm spending wayyy too much time per chapter cuz it's just so fun doing random everythings

[@cs82271]

It absolutely is. 0 and kiwami (Yakuza 1) are on gamepass rn. I highly recommend playing them. Serious story with great humor, dozens of minigames like shogi and blackjack, and tons of side stories to keep you entertained for 250 hours in Yakuza 0, and 150 hours in Kiwami.

[@scheisse2574]

Yakuza is an amazing series. I recently got into it this year. I started with Kiwami, and most people would recommend you start with 0, but personally I’m glad I did the opposite. I’m not a fan of beat em up style games at all, but this series is the exception.

[@ArielTwain]

Look for baka mitai, you'll not be disappointed 🤣

[@joshuahunt3032]

Also in Breath of the Wild, you can upgrade equipment by paying off a giant fairy, providing the requisite upgrade materials, and then watching in horror as the fairies become increasingly weirdly “affectionate” in a cutscene as you upgrade stuff further and further.

[@israelborrerojr9772]

Watching that Majima Everywhere made me think of the Pink Panther & Clouseau saying "No Kato you fool! Not now!"

[@johnoneil9188]

Why does Majima sound in that clip like he is coming in through an old timey radio? Also it is not weirder than in Yakuza 0 where you level up by literally investing your money into yourself.

[@cumpster]

i like to imagine you are literally eating the money. unexpected fight with mr. shakedown? hold on one second. let me just shove all this money you were about to take from me into my mouth.

[@Firethorne]

Final Fantasy 2 (Japanese) definitely came to my mind. It was an early attempt at gaining stats by using them. So, you gained more HP when you took damage in combat. And the best way to do this was to just have your own party members attack each other.

[@noerartnoe]

Also, that game had NO chill in regards to enemy difficulty: turn left on the overworld map when exiting the first city and you're mostly fine. Turn right, however, and after a few steps the enemies will stomp you so hard your next-door neighbours grandchildren felt it.

[@rpgaholic8202]

It wasn't the best way, it was just the fastest way. However it slows down the gameplay because you'll get that growth on your own against enemies which is why every speedrunner I've seen doesn't do that.

[@ianlever7292]

You know Andy, based on your perspective a vanilla soy latte is a type of 3-bean soup.

[@cp90tx]

That makes me uncomfortable to think about

[@kraziiXIII]

This is something I would love to see the mythical kitchen podcast talk about lmao

[@xstarsystemsx]

lmao thanks, i hate this.

[@stephlrideout]

I used to work at Starbucks and I'd come up with various names like that to disgust one of my coworkers. Super fun

[@wafflehammer4725]

"Its stimulating flavour will put a spicy tingling in your cheeks...Yes, quite a tingling, indeed." That doesn't sound like coffee.....

[@conrailowder5226]

Coffee is a duiretic.. So to much and you'll break a toilet.

[@OtakuUnitedStudio]

@@conrailowder5226 caffeine is also a laxative.

[@DirgeTV]

Thats...definately not what my morning coffee does..

[@TheGuardDuck]

I've played the Sims... Woohoo is sex for a Sim. So, you just made sex coffee.

[@MerkhVision]

OtakuUnitedStudio guess what? That’s kinda what diuretic means! Nice going sherlock lol

[@nickleevee]

Weird leveling systems always make me think of the leveling system from Final Fantasy VII Crisis Core, which decided a slot machine hitting triple-7s mid-combat made more sense than experience points in an RPG.

[@zoegartham312]

God I miss that game so much... lol

[@CPURain]

Ah yes the classic slot machine come on I need cloud now aaaaand nope got healed instead

[@Alsebra]

Didn't play FF6, huh? Setzer relies on randomness (his specific skill is "Slot") to assist him in battles...a small heal (for a losing combination), elemental or non-elemental damage, and wiping out the enemies are all possible...as is wiping out your party (barring Setzer, that is...and he's not exactly the most damaging character in the game (average Speed, Attack, Stamina, Magic Defence; high Defence; low Magic)).

[@Emil_Stoltz]

Jaro: "You can do it!" Cal: *falls* Jaro: "Hm. Perhaps I chose the wrong padawan." Cal: *sad force noises*

[@LogicProphet]

Majima is a damn gem and I'm so glad the series is getting the attention and remasters it deserves . Love the Yakuza series and I adore Majima

[@GenLiu]

I've never managed to find the right description for Koroks in the Zelda series but "a bunch of weirdo forest creatures" is incredibly accurate.

[@velvetsky3451]

3:44 i love how once majima spots him, kiryu tries to run away from him

[@krillin2699]

In fallen order, Cal didn’t forget how to use his abilities. He cut himself off from the force so he has to regain that connection to use those abilities again. The memories help him

[@spiker.ortmann]

Even forgetting because of trauma induced amnesia the memory system seems pretty believable and almost acurate to me. Makes way more sense than the standard xp system in my opinion.

[@carlosnieve1225]

You guys chose Majima Everywhere from Yakuza 1 instead of Investing in Yourself from Yakuza 0? Kiryu absorbing an amount of money equivalent to Japan's GDP to learn a new move is far stranger.

[@StraightOuttaJarhois]

That was actually commonplace in Japan during the Bubble Economy. Money also literally shot out of people whenever they stubbed their toe or something.

[@carlosnieve1225]

StraightOuttaJarhois Of course it was. You wouldn’t get 4 guys like Mr. Shakedown if it weren’t commonplace.

[@floofyfoxxo744]

@@carlosnieve1225 4? i thought there were 2.

[@seand7042]

@@floofyfoxxo744 Kiryu has 2 and Goro has 2 they alternate between each other they all have different back Stories

[@Dirick70]

Crushing a soul in your hand then giving it to a fire keeper seems a bit extreme.

[@dustinsims7027]

Draw out your true strength. Leveling you for dying.

[@reishiki]

Heh, I'm so happy that Andy seems to really enjoy Yakuza series.

[@llawliet3733]

Its the best. Already at part 5

[@kitana_kennedy]

Fallout 4 logic... I'm gonna kill 400 enemies and then I'll get an extra point in strengt- ...in charisma...ill put my xp into charisma

[@AlmightyPolarBear]

How about in "Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch" where you feed the familiars sweets to increase their various stats. Alongside traditional RPG levelling up. Why can't *chocolate* make me stronger?!

[@carsont9725]

What about Prey? To gain skill points you have use neural mods meaning injecting them through your eye!

[@callumdonington2227]

I thought I had repressed that.

[@dudeatadesk5599]

@@dastvan8002 that one was dishonored, same studio but different game

[@arthurbeckernascimento6249]

I like how in dishonored you have to sneak into creepy places, or do creepy side quests to get creepy pieces of whale bone that gives you weird magic powers

[@epicishiku13]

One of the weirdest ones I've encountered was the level up system in Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII. In the game, there's what is essentially a slot machine always running in the top-left corner. If it happens to land on 777, you level up. That is the only way to gain levels in this game

[@dominateeye]

Things we learned from this video: - Andy played Yakuza Kiwami using speakers made entirely out of cotton balls

[@300IQPrower]

I got 2 examples! 1. Its not so much weird as it is a good example of ludonarrative synchronicity: in Okami you never get exp from explicitly fighting, you only get money. Instead you get exp by acquiring praise/faith from people by helping them out or performing miracles for them, feeding animals and restoring nature, all things that restore faith in the gods. You being the mother of gods Amaterasu, this restores your power. 2. In dead by daylight you level up with bloodpoints in a sort of mini strategy game where you outmaneuver the Entity to get the items/perks you want while cornering the Entity so that it steals away what you dont want. Not exactly sure why playing Dots and Boxes with an eldritch horror levels you up but hey it works well enough i suppose.

[@mrm.acampbell2722]

The first Infamous game, you obtain new powers by literally bringing power to the various parts of the city

[@kiwiorishi]

I was waiting for the video to end so that I could leave a comment but then a wild Majima appeared! I've been playing Yakuza 1 the last few days and I was not expecting to see a video with him in it today wearing that. Thank you.

[@NAcHO-wx5vg]

Oblivion: you go to sleep to level up. So if you decide never to sleep in the game you’ll never level up.

[@rpgaholic8202]

That's a reference to a lot of old-school video games. Several NES RPGs had you rest at the inn to level up. Not all, but several I've played did.

[@KnakuanaRka]

@_@ And the enemies don’t level up either, which can make it advantageous to not do so, with amusing results.

[@MichaelOfCainhurst]

Hey, do you guys remember when Majima pretended that him and his men were turned into zombies just to fight Kiryu?

[@llawliet3733]

Best mission of the entire mode

[@Xindiel]

Genuinely surprised jabbing yourself in the eye with alien goop wasn't on here...

[@rheykynen]

That Thumbnail makes me happy :D just finished Yakuza 0 and loved every second.

[@AE-jo2fy]

I remember loving how The Elder Scrolls IV Oblivion handled it. You would actually go to bed and your characters leveling up was the result of reflecting on the events of your journey up to that point! Not to mention often you leveling up would have a message describing the specific thoughts of your character during the leveling up!

[@ducksruleflorida4882]

Prey... sticking needles in my eye. I always wince when you get that first neuromod installed.

[@Cutalizator]

Let me expand this list with Code Vein, where you'll get new abilities by reliving other people's sad memories.

[@civicrider5556]

Nani kore?

[@coaltowking]

I've been trying to remember the name of Killer 7 for so long. That game was weird as hell, but really fun.

[@joshuarose1381]

finding the unique lizards and fruit trees in Shadow of the Colossus to extend your health and strength. Because there is like 75 or so lizards but only some of them give you strength when you cut off and presumably eat their tails

[@Faapu]

Majima Everywhere is simultaneously the best and worst thing about Yakuza Kiwami

[@TheKoyn]

Didn't we have to collect specific types of souls depending on which side you wanted to take in Dante's Inferno. You could punish people with your scythe which just took brute force to kill them, but if you wanted to absolve them you had to play this weird rhythm mini game with no music, and you got more points the better you did. Which I guess isn't really weird considering that you're in hell for most of the game, but it definitely stood out to me when I was younger. Especially the mini game

[@delilahchevalier2553]

Yes. Yes we did.

[@colewest7096]

This is an extremely late reply, but I just wanted to thank you. I had no idea there was a secondary set of souls to use to level up. I always just killed everything.

[@lunaeclipse7717]

honestly i need a friend like Majima in my life, very supportive

[@keyblademasterkatsu7839]

Even weirder the grids from Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days in which you pretty much to were playing tetris with level up pieces and power ups... So so so weird

[@taeraresh2115]

And yet somehow less weird than the rest of the game.

[@justinbuergi9867]

I repeatedly ran into a wall in Skyrim to level up my sneak skill.

[@SilasHumphreys]

If we're talking weird exploits you used to level up, I always used to just jump into the river at Balmora and keep swimming into the wall to get my Athletics up in Morrowind so I could actually walk somewhere faster than an arthritic snail!

[@gamesandglory1648]

@@SilasHumphreys what about on pc selling merchants own stuff to them for speech xp or telekinesis after using black book power for no mana cost for 30 seconds than fast traveling across map for 100 alteration

[@DrZaius3141]

Funny how the kinda more logical progression (you get better at the stuff you actually do instead of getting better at sneaking by fireballing enemies) makes it a much worse system. You're encouraged to exploit it and if things go south (looking at Oblivion) you can make the game impossibly hard when you don't exploit it.

[@michaelsanders6461]

My first thought is Odin Sphere, where you level up by eating large and elaborate meals (steak tartar, gnocchi, etc.) cooked either by a secret village of rabbits, or a traveling cow person you find in some of the rest areas of each level. You can even drink some yogurt to boost the XP gain from each meal (because it's good for the digestion)

[@steelfist3956]

I remember before the patch, you could crouch behind a stationary enemy, leave the game on and then come back and get 100 sneak in Skyrim.

[@Ninacska93]

You could level up you destruction spells in skyrim by using them on a naked dead body. And I remember hitting a cow with illusion spells to level that skill up.

[@gamesandglory1648]

@@Ninacska93 Or using a power from a black book to make spells cost nothing for 30 seconds picking up an item with telekinesis than fast traveling across the map to get 100 alteration

[@wavion2]

In the older Elder Scrolls games you had an Acrobatics stat. I went through a big chunk of the games jumping up and down like an idiot from one location to another so this would level.

[@sonniepronounceds-au-ni9287]

@@wavion2 I have never needed a legitimate reason to jump everywhere in a game.

[@yashkeshavpatnam1852]

The Yakuza games make no sense, and I more I learn about them, the less I can understand

[@user-hg3yp5er2i]

you can just complete story missions and get criminal based drama being serious as f. but the whole concept of the game is mixing those serious moments with whacky mini games and absurd additional missions, making a pretty unique experience

[@Kiytan]

The Yakuza games are a gritty crime noir series, where they left all the side-quest design to a bunch of 10 year olds on a sugar high. The main quest is all about the inner workings of the Yakuza and it's constantly shifting allegiances and power struggles. The side quest is stuff like a man has a jacket that is just so cool he can't cross a bridge without people beating him up, or having to beat up all the zombies in the Michael Jackson thriller video and then you dance with Michael Jackson, who thought you were the best. What really makes the series, is that the main character treats all of these as equally serious *insert dramatic phone pickup gif here*

[@hallludba]

Super serious (albeit outlandish) story and main missions Goofy everything else, especially the side quests

[@yashkeshavpatnam1852]

the more I read the replies, the more I want it

[@hallludba]

Yash Keshavpatnam Y E S

[@SuperDarklord101]

Prey: You develop new skills and abilities by stabbing yourself in the eye and injecting alien DNA into your system, eventually to the point where the security systems recognize you as an alien threat.

[@mattmorehouse9685]

But you can turn into a coffee cup!

[@KnakuanaRka]

How about Fable III’s Road to Rule? It’s basically a typical skill tree leveling system, implemented by making you walk around the Road and open chests. Design Doc talked about it in one of his Good Design Bad Design episodes as an example of how not to do a diegetic interface.

[@victorianme3668]

The two yakuza guys are my favorite friendship now

[@xtiandg0914]

How about the Ar Tonelico series, where the only way to level up you magic capabilities is through the process called Diving... aka conducting therapy in a subconscious world that could end up getting you killed?

[@nickdejager8873]

Don't forget inserting 'crystals' into a reyvateil's 'port', usually in the bath. Seems totally innocent.

[@JarosawPays]

Not sure if it fits the same weird category, but Transistor had a system where the upgrades were actually tech-ghosts of murdered people.And then you could stack those trapped souls to merge their powers.

[@StarCat76]

Huh neat two in one day

[@IamaPERSON]

Ikr. Wait, do you think they've leveled up to have two vids in the same day?

[@HeinerGunnar]

ehm, the other vid is Outside Xtra, and they always release on the same day. The last video on this channel is Jan playing Two Point Hospital from yesterday

[@DramaGod88]

I'm having flashbacks to the irritating "Road to Rule" in Fable III... you get transported to a realm blocked off by a series of gates and chests. The gates automatically open as you progress through certain points in the story, but to upgrade your abilities you have to spend Guild Seals on the chests in each gated area. Meaning you get limited on how you can build your hero. All because the game developers didn't want a menu... Oh and also in Fable III you had to level-up your weapons as well, notably by doing tasks in the world while that weapon was on your person. Tasks included killing certain types of enemies, increase or decrease your moral standing, or hopping into bed with the locals...

[@KnakuanaRka]

Yeah, that Road to Rule could easily just be a skill tree. Design Doc did a Good Design Bad Design video about how the Road to Rule (as well as the Sanctuary basically being a pause menu) was a bad way of doing a diegetic interface, in comparison to Nier Automate.

[@TheRivieraKid]

Watching Majima silently call a group of people wankers at the end was fantastic!

[@jayrose4572]

In Journey to the Savage Planet you eat orange goo you find, and they tell you you're getting tougher because you're growing tumors

[@hackcubit9663]

Maybe not so much weird as unique, but Final Fantasy X's sphere system was equal parts aggravating and awesome. Aggravating for the fact that the most useful spheres were so rare, awesome because I had Lulu casting Holy for stupendous damage for only 2 MP (that last bit thanks to her doll).

[@raina8334]

"screaming, barbed-wire hate-zombie" and "flying bastard murder-wasps" are the greatest ways to descride enemies I have heard in recent memory.

[@SirRoderickThunderbottom]

Elder scrolls Oblivion. you could only level up from sleeping, a weird novel activity i'm sure every one of us wishes we could get more of.

[@Dark_Mishra]

That’s how it was for the series, up until Skyrim removed these feature(along with many other things).

[@TransGuyShane]

Man those korok seeds🙄 I spent way to long collecting them all just for a shiny gold poop 😒

[@alejandrogranadosgonzalez3182]

Lol

[@JachAnen]

Well, tough s***

[@stephlrideout]

Actually you collected a bunch of tiny poops just to get a big gold one, even better

[@maninthemists2299]

You couldn't even use it to stun the final boss with disgust.

[@mavis_draq]

Shadow warrior (the 2013 remake at least) does the tattoo level up thing too.

[@SilentPsychopath]

Rune Factory 4, the game in which your stats are boosted by doing over 30 different activities, including eating, sleeping, walking, and bathing...

[@cornflake9667]

The old God of war games. You know what I'm talking about

[@DirgeTV]

Yep. Was pretty much my first experience in "Interesting" ways to level up.

[@anarky1765]

You mean the blood orbs? If you’re talking about the sex minigames, that wasn’t leveling up, it was just a way to get more blood orbs.

[@cornflake9667]

@@anarky1765 I mean, technically it was a way to level up. Just in an *interesting* way, y'know?

[@EriesAston]

I love Majima, but damn did I get tired of him after fighting him 55 times. He got really difficult as well.

[@retanoab]

I really liked Far Cry 3's leveling. The more tribal tattoos you get in your sleeve, the douchier you become. The transformation from regular, scared, frat boy into slaughtering machine made a lot of sense to me that way.

[@Kagedtiger]

Have y'all ever done an episode on "games where when you beat them, you unlock an entire additional game"? I can think of 3 off the top of my head: Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, Pokemon Gold/Silver, and pretty much all the Danganronpa series.

[@kamikage9420]

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night sorta does this. The castle flips upside down and you go through a second adventure through it with all of the levels upside down.

[@rumotu]

Tbh Goro Majima is reason that sold me on the Yakuza series

[@thewolframhart6777]

When describing E Gadd's works, Andy seems to have forgotten the professor's work in creating F.L.U.D.D

[@theleanbusinessman5431]

What is FLUDD?

[@ghostderazgriz]

@@theleanbusinessman5431 It's a Motirized Electric Watering pump, but MEWP wasn't catchy enough.

[@KnakuanaRka]

@@theleanbusinessman5431 The water spraying device from Super Mario Sunshine.

[@1Thunderfire]

Any time Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga is mentioned, I always feel a burst of happiness. I spent a huge amount of time playing Super Stache Smash in Little Fungitown alone. Still my all-time favourite game. ❤

[@mattgardiner744]

I’ve never played yakuza but I already love majima

[@densenito5953]

You mentioned yakuza Kiwami with fighting Majima, but fighting is the staple of the series. What about Yakuza 0 where money, and lots of it, is needed to level up and the best ways to get money is either managing real estate, or managing a hostess club?

[@shinyagumon7015]

No, that's just how you level up in Real Life

[@lemiru]

You are wrong, best way to gain money is to get beaten by mr. Shakedown and then reclaiming all your money back with a bonus

[@densenito5953]

@@lemiru granted but if you are not buffed up or wanna go through all that the hostess minigame is like 3 mins long and I can just be on auto pilot and gain money extremely easily

[@gamesandglory1648]

@@densenito5953 You can easily beat shakedown with slime guns which for some reason do a ton of damage to him like a 12h of his health per shot and the gun has 12 shots (when they are meant to not work at all on tough enemies)

[@mandauironside1913]

More of a how to get xp weirdly but what about jumping around lvling acrobatics in oblivion

[@scottgarner3281]

In Tony Hawk 2, there was money hidden in bullpoop. You had to skate around in the entire ring finding which piles contained money to buy stat points

[@Bihaidi]

7 months ago I watched this video and the concept of the wacky majima everywhere system amused me enought that I gave kiwami a try here I am in December having played the entire series and enjoyed every moment of it thank you outside Xbox

[@scorpix96]

Oh, a new video about weird things in games, wonder what will be in there. ... Yakuza. Of course it had to be Yakuza.

[@thenyansquidman]

Persona 5 an electric chair killing one persona to help another

[@faranior]

You mean the Gallows. The Electric Chair turns the persona into an item.

[@sagacious03]

Great list! Thanks for uploading!

[@GenAqua]

I love the Majima Everywhere System. And the Yakuza series in general.

[@Willis2992]

I'm a simple man, I see Majima, I click

[@aguy6966]

In dark souls you are literally using souls of dead people Who thinks that’s weird? Just me? Ok

[@dustinsims7027]

Draw out true strength. You are being leveled up for dying

[@noerartnoe]

I mean, what did you think XP was?

[@aguy6966]

noerartnoe in other games they call it exp so... better?

[@Fufuneraire]

Underrail in "oddity mode" : ransacking trashes :D

[@cooltrainervaultboy-39]

Now I know you can level up the traditional way in Darksiders 2 (happy noises), I know that you can level up specific stats by feeding a golem a combination of rocks.

[@ma_mo_leone]

Majima dancing next to video suggestions must be one of the best outros ever!

[@AllStreamNoDick]

I played through BotW without ever upgrading my inventory system, I had a feeling it was a thing but I never found the guy

[@wariodude128]

Very fitting that Killer 7 was number seven on a list like this. As for weird leveling up systems, in the Batman Arkham games you beat up fools and pick up trophies to gain xp. Then, when you get enough xp and level up, you get to pick which part of yourself you want to upgrade. Better combat, more useful gadgets, etc.

[@leeman27534]

one i sort of like is games with craftable magic and 'runes' or whatever - getting something that can basically evolve what you're capable of (though maybe less 'leveling up' and more just story progression, some) one example is the gamecube game eternal darkness - getting new rune ingredient parts lets you change what kind of spells you can create and what you can do (given iirc it doesn't have like health or sanity upgrades, this essentially 'is' the upgrades in the game) also after three runs you can get all the rune colors - including the fourth which is like the OP version of the magic essentially depending on choices made, you'll unlock on 'type' of spell modes per playthrough - pick the red god, get red style magic which can have different effect with the spells, and is strong against one other color, and weak to another - get 3 playthroughs, and thus access to all 3 spell variant types and whatnot, and you're pretty good - but you can now also unlock the '4th' type which doesn't have a RPS ish relation ship with the others - it always wins - and has 'superior' or all inclusive powers for spells - the 'recover' variant of spells with one god's influence heals hp, another god's restores sanity the third god recovers magic - the resource used for spellcrafting so basically does nothing - but the fourth one is all three combined - essentially 'free' health and sanity recovery, other spells tend to have RPS effectiveness - enchant a weapon with magic dmg it will hurt the foes aligned to the weakness of that type - with the 4th god's power it affects ALL foes just as bad, as well as has a DOT poison effect in a more 'diablo' ish sense is lithdom battlemage - little 'leveling' except unlocking elemental types as you go, but you also find part ingredients and can raise elemental effectiveness in a way - spells can be crafted with three main ideas which can do different things depending on the effect - one the 'control' type of spell like fire is panicky DOT cold is 'freeze' and shock is a multitarget stun but you can unlock runes that can change how the spell works and whatnot too - spells are basically 'element' which can vary 'type of spell' which can vary (projectile stream traps shield etc) and how it's done (fireball with longer distance or a grenade ish thing with an arc and AOE etc) and then buffs for the stats seems odd to compare it to a leveling system but it's about as close as you get here as it doesn't have traditional levels - but you get a nice item and you might start making new spells that can change your playstyle another in this 'not quite levels' vein is mages of mystralia - also spellcrafting but with a more 'programmer' sense in mind - create a spell with direction of movement before the movement the spell will spawn in your hand and say move left - movement then direction it'll spawn in your hand (ish) then move left in an arc there also depends what kind of spell it is and what element - a wind 'self' spell might create a shield - an earth 'self' spell might instead create a copy of you in stone there's all sorts of modifiers that can be used to solve puzzles or just create awesome spells - an early basic combo is a projectile spell that has duplicate (to create extra copies of the spell) homing (to create projectiles that 'home' on foes - only the base projectile seems to home and the copies just stay linked to it) and then recast spells at point of impact (lets you basically cast a projectile spell that can then cast a melee range spell when it hits - but calling back to THIS spell basically summons 3 tracking balls that on impact will copy this spell right in front of the foe 4X rapidly) there's actual upgrades in this one to expand max hp or magic pools - later you can be casting massive AOE spells that will drain all your magic in a single use but can fuck up a small army