A Second Look at Mechs vs. Minions - with Bryan Drake

[@DicetowerBryan]

Hey all, thanks for all the constructive critique. I shot this very late after flying home one night so after watching back it's definitely rambly. Don't let this shut you off from upcoming videos though. Thanks again to a great community. After all it's got to count for something to be the most hated video on the Dice tower today ;)

[@spankyavalon]

My attempt at mission 1, we lost the first game, so we reset and started again. came down to me pulling the bomb but couldn't get to the goal. so I used a card to scrap to readjust the order of 2 cards, got the bomb back to where I wanted to go, then next turn got another card to slot in to take over the threshold. there was a lot of running in circles, but there are opportunities for problem solving and course correction.

[@jensriisomschultz3809]

The basic problem with MvM is this: It is meant to be fun and crazy and surprising. But if you play a mission for 60 minutes and then something "fun and crazy" happens which makes you lose the mission. And then you gotta restart... And you will not feel like doing that. The missions are sometimes way too tight to fit "fun and crazy" in.

[@DicetowerBryan]

Jens Riisom Schultz that's an excellent point. And said it way faster than me lol!!!!

[@davidwayneflowers]

We have had the opposite experience in one of our games. We were getting down because we didn't see any way to win. The game was grinding us to our first lost mission. Then we got a random damage card that made one of our mechs do crazy things that we were then able to utilize into winning the mission unexpectedly. That mech hadn't helped at all during the mission, but with that damage card and a bit of finesse moving the other command cards around it using the scrap option, we were able to pull off the most "fun and crazy" and completely unexpected win out of thin air. It probably mostly goes the other way where things fall apart, but from time to time, things just might fall together.

[@gamera2351]

Wow. Other than the odd music that made me feel like I was on line to ride Space Mountain I really liked this video. I don't know what it is but I like your style. Bryan, are you new to the Dice Tower or are there some older videos you have done that I should check out?

[@DicetowerBryan]

Gamera 23 hey thanks for watching! Yes and no lol. New to the Dice tower but some of my older videos are on my channel at The Latest Retro. That being said, I took some of my favorites off of there to move over to here.

[@robwintermans4778]

I saw your contribution to Throat Punch Lunch (ep 17) today where you referred back to this video as the most downvoted. I came back here to tell you that I was one of the downvoters. This was the first video I saw of you and I remember thinking about the same as some of the other comments here. However, you've become one of the DT reviewers I like the most, since then :) Really like how you take the theme of a game and try to do something funny with that in or around your house. Keep up the good work :)

[@DicetowerBryan]

Rob Wintermans thanks for saying that lol! I come back here often just to remind myself, "Never Again!"

[@SteamSteamers]

Not a very tight video. Jumping from history of the game to unboxing the game to subjectivity in gaming. It's not clear how many sessions you played or the scenarios in the game you encountered you didn't like. It's not even clear if you like the game. You say you're not sure whether you want to dive in and see those deeper scenarios or not. Why don't you decide that before you make the video.

[@DicetowerBryan]

David Winters hey David, thanks for watching and for the feedback. My goal was to use the game as a springboard into the topic. That being said. I'm still just lukewarm on the warmer side. There are enough videos out there with a total overview though. I just wanted to use the unboxing part as a show of the major positives though. Thanks again though. Make sure to catch my next one. It's a little tighter.

[@Syncopator]

I think I see what you're getting at-- but in the end, I'm not sure I learned much of anything new about the game or about subjectivity...

[@hannesvoites4443]

You're not exactly BoardGameBollocks here. Does saying "it's dogs*it" have to be wrapped in "everyone has the right to an opinion" and "it is just my opinion"? What I find curious is that Sam wasn't more direct about his dislike in the first place, seeing as he hates RoboRally-type chaos to an extreme (his most hated game iirc). Also kind of sad that even though they consulted many experts it still managed to come out so crooked. If component quality was most important then Terraforming Mars and such wouldn't be so universally liked. So it really is just quite a sad affair this..

[@petermobius]

I liked the different perspective, and also using the fact that there are a ton of videos on the web already showing the game, so you didn't have to. It's kind of like 'legacy' reviewing. ;) Dig.

[@DicetowerBryan]

Peter Mobius "Legacy Reviewing" is my new favorite term.

[@donadavs]

Except for mission 8? (bomb with fuse mission), we loved it in my group. One thing that was starting to bug me was the lack of new programming options. We loved the chaos at first, but the game actually becomes quite predictable as you learn it with a few die rolls thrown in for variety. Also when playing with fewer than 4 mechs, your boards fill up too quick, so that you are just throwing away cards every turn. In the end, though, I'd say this game was tied for the most fun per minute my group has had.

[@davidsmith5069]

Hey man, I thought this was awesome. I have Mechs vs Minions being shipped to me currently and I it was good to see a look at it after all the hype had died down. Made me want to play the game more because everything you described sounds awesome to me but I completely get why people wouldn't like it.

[@corey13]

This is one of the only videos I've found giving a negative view, thanks for sharing.

[@ToadInTheWoods]

You watch this and realize yet again that Shut Up & Sit Down are really good at that whole "humorous" game review thing. And of course Elaine, and sometimes--but not always--Efka, of No Pun Included. Other than that, I don't know of anybody who can do it. Sorry this didn't work out for you. Seems like you can take it; that's a good quality to have. Everybody who's ever tried to perform for people has bombed sometimes. Make no mistake, this is terrible. But humor is TOUGH. Besides, this was great fun, in its way. Airball, but nice shot anyway.

[@DicetowerBryan]

ToadInTheWoods hey Toad, humor is a huge part of what I get paid for in my real job, this just didn't bear it out. Check out my next video for a tighter feel. Thanks again for watching though.

[@Jan-oh4fj]

So much words to say absolutely NOTHING... Just a bunch of rethorical questions.

[@DicetowerBryan]

Riddle XY hey Riddle, thanks for the feedback. The next video is more direct. This was more of a rhetorical video anyway. Thanks again.

[@DreamInSongs]

Took a long time to say, "eh, not for me." 😁 Hope the next one goes better

[@DicetowerBryan]

DreamInSongs lol thanks for hanging with it a little bit though. Check out the latest one a Triple Threat review of Mansions of Madness AHLCG and Eldritch Horror. Much cleaner.

[@Atariese]

That video was rather strange. And this might sound really brutal, harsh and mean (in wich case just flame away at me... im not gonna fight back) ... but this is also an attempt for me to figure out what i just watched. Maybe i don't recognize you and your style. But its not what i expected from this side of youtube. Your point could have been illustrated with just your intro... but that was what you were talking about for the next 12 minutes. You attempt to show off the box, grossly underplaying the size, and don't even show half of what is in there. Not even showing anything in detail except for a minion. Whom, if you don't own the product looks like they were just pulled out of a random pile underneath the top inserts. Ok so presentation is a bit of a miss, but then you just start rambling nearly without direction. And your wandering about is just about as much wandering as my attention did. Twice during your speech i found myself down in the comments... even more wondering if i should just click away because i felt you really aren't saying anything... or im completely missing what your saying. I mean i clicked on it because i wanted to see someone else's opinion of the game who has gone thru about as much as i have. (I guess to explain where i am with this game: just last night i showed off my copy in hopes of getting a dedicated group so as to play thru the entire 10 missions the game has instead of the half of the missions in which i tried playing with 9 different people, most of which only played one mission.) Maybe having a topic or an outline in front of you will help you keep to what you want to say without deviation... or maybe you want that deviation and you should inform us of that, either in the title or description. Or a peer review, find a friend whom has no interest in board games watch the video and see if they can form a conclusion from what what they watched. From watching this video im not sure if you even regret buying the game. Or what even you mean by "a second look," because honestly it looks to me like this was first impressions. But you've got a great personality, and an amazing sense of humor. It may be pretty fun to play a game with you sometime.

[@DicetowerBryan]

Chrysie Beryl Hey Chrysie, thanks for watching and taking the time to respond. This one came from more of a place of frustration with the very idea that sweeps across the community of "having to or not having to" like a game. Sometimes if someone doesn't like a game that everyone does they feel a little bit out of sorts. Probably me reading too much into it, but again thanks for watching. My next video is a little bit more direct than this one.

[@petermobius]

Chrysie Beryl with all due respect I don't think you got his perspective (appreciated by me in it's strangeness and just sheer difference from most game reviews.). He calls it a 'second look' not based on his own experience but just a second look after the zillions of positive and thorough reviews of the game that are already out there. I like this kind of review that assumes you've already digested what the game is before seeing it, just to get another opinion and perspective. I really dug it. It's trippyness shone in comparison to most vanilla style 'reviews'. hehehe most disliked Dice Tower vid yet. Sweet accomplishment The Latest Retro Board Game Show.

[@DicetowerBryan]

I aim to please...although I suppose that would be displeasing. Thanks for the encouragement.

[@cloud3x3]

I see what you were going for, but this could be tightened up. First of all, fuck the haters who just spot negativity, I can see how you could clean this up. I think two things would help, pacing, and point. First, you pacing is a tad off, for instance, 1 minute for an intro is really long, especially when it's just you spinning. Like four or five seconds of that and we get it (you can break some of that up with jump cuts, cuz youtube loves jump cuts). Second, I feel like you softened your point by mitigating angry back lash. Like just say you don't like it cuz of programming. Talk about subjectivity for like 15 seconds, but this whole vid could have been half as long.... by ten minutes in, I was fast forwarding looking for new points. Anyway, my opinion is subjective as well, hope there's something helpful in here, because I like to see more people do the same old, show you how to play, then tell you what they think vids. I can get that from like, literally, everywhere.... literally. I personally would like to see more content and dissenting opinions. (I didn't like Time Stories.... yea I said it.) Good luck mate. Cheers.

[@DicetowerBryan]

Thanks Orion, for the feedback! The next few videos I have coming are much much more direct and hopefully tighter too.

[@Sl1vers]

"I just wanted to use the unboxing part as a show of the major positives though." "...it's definitely rambly" "This was more of a rhetorical video anyway" "This one came from more of a place of frustration" "...most hated video on the Dice tower today" ... I may not agree with all the Dice Tower videos (I'm looking at you Zee ;-), but I certainly respect their thoughts and opinions and viewpoint ... except this video. Your comments above are added proof to the quality of the video itself which fall far below Dice Tower standards, unfortunately. I send hope and wish you luck on your next video.

[@DicetowerBryan]

Thanks for watching and taking the time to reply (albeit the frustration quote is slightly out of context, but no big) The next video will be different. It's already shot and finalized. Look for it soon and give me another shot. Thanks!

[@Sl1vers]

NP. I will watch the next episode and hope for changes in the positive direction :-) Tried to PM you as I dislike thread-debates (what, this is the internet, how can I possibly say that?!?!) but didn't see the option in Google+ ... Blah!

[@DicetowerBryan]

lolol!!! That is too true. Thanks for reaching out. I'll figure out how to turn it on for private discussion. I forgot they do it through that Plus now.

[@Cheeesus]

wat