An in-depth look at the games of Supergiant Games

[@johnfanboy7176]

Honestly, zagreus discovering about his mother because of the narrator was the funniest shit ever

[@natanoj16]

It is just amazing in-world meta commentary

[@doctorlaughtor9884]

Or when if you skip the narrator’s commentary in cutscenes, he scoffs at you. Or zagreus shuts him up lol

[@instinctfan23]

Legit the best moment of the Narrator being like "Fuck, I forgot Zag can hear me" 🤣 No way Zag wouldn't just grab the guy by the collar if he would've been in the same room with him

[@saibgassanov3378]

I remember being so impressed by bastion like 10 years ago as a teen, that I wrote an email to sgg thanking them for it and got a response from Greg Kasavin. Was crazy

[@colbybradbury870]

Greg Kasavin is honestly one of the best guys in the industry and so many dont even know who he is.

[@franciscor390]

@@colbybradbury870 I was genuinely upset when he left GameSpot, i found him the absolute most charismatic reviewer and at the same time a down to earth guy. But well guess he really left and made his dream come true.

[@Dyskresiac]

I met the guys at PAX East when they were all but begging people to play their game pre-release buzz. I've met them multiple times since and I can safely say their down to earth, approachable, and loving nature hasn't changed. They'd reply to every fan individually if they had the time. But now there's too many of us that'd be over a full time job. Such a happy success story

[@SpotCam]

aha thats so fucking sick

[@aurelianus1308]

Holy shit I think I did the same thing. Wonder if they still reply to emails these days.

[@melancholyman369]

They popularized "the narrator talks about your every move" niche that i absolutely adore

[@geoffdb8118]

I played bastion once and enjoyed the narration.. doesn't it get annoying if you truly master the games .. like several playthroughs ?

[@thechief1997]

If I'm fully honest, no not really at most on my 6th or so playthrough of Bastion on I may have zoned him out more or less unless he said something funny or new.

[@natanoj16]

@@geoffdb8118 not really in my experience

[@wigglebot765]

@@geoffdb8118 bastion you tend to ignore the narrator on multiple playthroughs, but doesn’t get annoying, transistor and such the narration was still enjoyable on multiple playthroughs for me

[@ArariaKAgelessTraveller]

Darkest Dungeon also done it right *Receive critical hit* "Ears' ringing, Blurred vision, the end approaches"

[@sallysaysyes]

The familiarity in their music by using the same artists is such a positive to me. I know I'm playing a Supergiant game when the gorgeous talent of Darren Korb comes out. Some of the best music I've ever heard in any video game, let alone across four.

[@RisenSlash]

Pretty stellar VA work too!

[@fella11814]

I couldn't agree more. I listen to the SGG OST's all the time at work.

[@FinnishArsonist]

Can be said about Chris Christodoulou in both risk of rains and deadbolt.

[@felixloewenich2202]

Don't forget about Ashley Barrett

[@Nebelworfer]

Pyre is criminally underrated. Perhaps it was too atypical to be popular, but the story alone makes it my favourite visual novel. And the music, the music. When I realized the lyrics of each liberation rite hymn are unique and pertain to the story and lore, it blew my mind. Them also being sung in english while the rest of the game's dialogue is a made up language too bears significance. And then there's the interactively constructed ending song. Absolutely one of those times when I'd want to get amnesia and replay it all anew for the first time.

[@DarkErrant]

Completely agree. Pyre is my favourite Supergiant game. I haven't played Hades yet though, so that might change my perspective a bit.

[@thomasray]

My favorite to this day.

[@AftermathRV]

Pyre is the only game in which i ever genuinely felt like that was my adventure, those were my friends, no character has ever done that before, no story has ever done that since, i doubt there will be another one. Sure undertale made me feel about their characters too, but differently

[@customersupportdeer6150]

Pyre is the best. And has the best music!

[@quint3ssent1a]

Most interesting theme out of all their games: corruption of ideals and how they need to be restored again.

[@DampeS8N]

If I might offer an alternative impression about the difficulty of Hades. Most players are going to be less than great. If you design your game for the high level players, you lock out the low level players. Without mechanics like death defiance, I could not reach Hades at all. I laughed out loud when you said "Once you unlock death defiance, you are pretty much guaranteed to reach Hades every run." Let me tell you. I am about 20 hours in and when I unlocked this (a few hours in) it enabled me to _beat Meg for the first time_ and without all 3 unlocked, I still stand no chance of beating Theseus. I have reached Hades twice. The first time I got extraordinarily lucky with boons and was able to cheese the hell out of every room leading up to Theseus and I had all 3 death defiances left to face Hades. I got to his second phase. Hades is a great game. It is fun all the way through for both good and bad players. There is essentially no one I wouldn't recommend the game to. Even my parents that don't play games, given enough time with it, should be able to beat it. When I finally beat Hades, I will feel like I earned it. When you beat him, you felt like you earned it. I will be THANKFUL for the difficulty gradations with Pact of Punishment.

[@zga042]

are you aware of god mode in the settings?

[@Jack_Sparrow_85]

@@zga042 came here to comment this lol

[@bjorn-falkoandreas9472]

I usually play games which are a bit hard on easy mode. After a long day of work, I need to kick back. I haven't and will not activate God Mode in Hades. They managed to make failure a feature in that game. Failing is an option. And I am getting better. Last night I finished at heat 5 and that felt great. Also, the game manages to stay fresh for longer than it should. Well done. Supergiant has been a "very buy" for me for years. Even if the game were bad I would have bought it for the Darren Korb music alone.

[@Sirrunalot24]

@@Largentina. It was in the video lol

[@SerPinkKnight]

@@Largentina. It's been out for two years Also in a game where the premise is "You are the son of Hades trying to escape your fathers realm" who did you think would be the last boss? Bowser? And if you were so concerned about spoilers why read the damn comments.

[@kiledamgaardasmussen5222]

I'd like to dispute your analysis of Transistor's combat system for a moment: Transistor is a turn-based tactics game, which appears superficially to be an action-oriented isometric RPG. The real hint to this is that the enemy AI is insanely aggressive; it is simply not feasible to fight without using Turn(). You are not punished for using it either, the 'recovery period' is simply the enemy turn, and you need to use your turn wisely to not end up in a disadvantageous position. This system serves the story as well: in Bastion you are a hardened soldier, who kicks ass against wildlife and enemy combatants with a huge arsenal; the empowerment is clear. Contrasting, in Transistor you are a desperate disabled woman without any combat experience, fighting a swarm of world-devouring self-replicating robots; the disempowerment is core to the narrative!is The key to success in Transistor's combat system is to explore the weapon/power system to find synergistic combos that can be quickly executed for massive damage, and then using the remainder of your turn to reposition; while keeping a single instance of the ability that can be used on the enemy turn available in your kit. Doing this is virtually necessary to complete the latter parts of the game where the difficulty ramps up massively, and the player is actively encouraged through the game's failure system that forces you to change loadout. Transistor unlike Bastion had a significant and deep synergy system in combat, and you should probably have done some more research into strategy guides for the game before making this video, because there are some loadouts that are borderline gamebreaking and makes you feel like you're cheating the system: which is exactly the core narrative of the entire game.

[@wigglebot765]

Honestly transistor was probably the funnest game to 100% of theirs imo because I missed so many fantastic synergies and clever gameplay “puzzles” due to using all the limiters. In bastion with all idols, it felt like I was completely underpowered. In transistor with all limiters, it felt like I had to truly figure out the most effective route of damage dealing with plenty of time to think through it.

[@FirebladeXXL]

i kinda cringed when he criticized the system for having the break between turns and then be like: this makes it not worth it. and im sitting here being like what the fuck? turn is so incredibly op when you combo actions right and go for synergies, the 2 second break is needed to not make it completely trivial. like this is probably the highest discrepancy ive ever had in terms of an opinion about a system in a game. its like he and i are on a completely opposite side of interpretation. but this kinda proves that the games system is very deep and well thought out, if 2 people can play and interpret it the completely oposite way.

[@CatFish107]

agreed. I've only listened to the bastion part of the video, and find he's not really understanding quite a few aspects of the game. Decided to have a look in the comments to see if anyone's ripped him apart for it, and find your comment. Ha. Seems neverknowsbest really likes SG games, but doesn't fully grasp certain significant aspects of the games.

[@muhwyndham]

YES! out of all supergiants game, Transistor is up there with how fun and eventimes busted the ability match up can be. it feels like just how Modern Final Fantasy games should look like.

[@spero360]

Have to agree. I think he missed the point, i used turn all the time, if used properly it gives you a massive edge.

[@sonsai10]

Every single person on the planet get this Pyre mechanic wrong. Your character only gets banished for the next round if he THROWS HIMSELF WITH THE BALL TO SCORE. Every character can throw only the ball to score, in this case, it doesn't get banished. Let everyone know they have been playing Pyre wrong

[@whyareyoubothering]

I especially love one of the upgrades that improves your throw speed on the moon touched girl! The final quarter of the game felt so much easier playing high defense but taking here to the free throw range for the smaller point reward but safer gameplan

[@hanspennyloaf335]

I just beat the game on the 2nd hardest difficulty and almost never threw the orb into the pyre.

[@introvertplays6162]

No...I knew that. I just hated the game mechanics so much that I just turned the difficulty to Easy and only played fast/flying characters to dunk it. Throwing it would have unnecassarily drawn out the gameplay. I just wanted to get to the story. I utterly hated the gameplay.

[@viniciuslibanori9274]

There is one feature in Transistor that really improved my experience, and that was the use of the controller's speaker, I get that this not really known because it's a PS4 feature, but it was awesome get this level of immersion. The game sound get from tv normally, but when Red takes the transistor, the sword's voice get out from the controller, it makes perfect sense, this little detail make the game more immersive and was such a cool feature!

[@meikahidenori]

I swear they got that off no more hereos. In that every phone call comes through the wii remote and its so immersing having a character directly engage with you via the fourth wall.

[@grexpex1807]

i think this feature is also in pc if you just select a different audio output for the sword

[@sverker7826]

Every Supergiant Games has optional difficulty settings: Gods in Bastion, Limiters in Transistor, Titan Stars in Pyre and finally Heat in Hades. As you said, using them would enhance the gameplay, force players to use all available options and sometimes even enrich the story, like with Pyre, where losing is not the end. However, I think all of these elements are optional, because Supergiant primarly wants all people to experience the story, reach the end. It's very hard to convince people to play a hard game. Not everyone enjoys high difficulty, even if it enhances the game. Players can feel frustration and leave the game. The main appeal of Supergiant's productions comes from the presentation, music, characters or plot, so it would be unwise to restrict access to them, by requiring higher skill from players. Fo players playing for the story, it's a good thing that it's easy (comparing to other roguelikes) to reach the final boss in Hades. I usually don't enjoy most roguelikes or roguelites, because sometimes I feel frustration upon realising, that I need to go thru the entire game to have a chance at the final boss fight. I do love games like Dark Souls, where my progress is always going forward, and I can quickly return to a troublesome boss fight. For me, Hades strikes a good balance, I'm getting better and better with each run, and death is not frustrating, because it advances the plot. Still, I do try to increase the Heat, for more rewards and to challenge myself. In previous Supergiant's games, increasing the difficulty wasn't that interesting, that rewarding. And so, I agree: Hades would be a better game (at least mechanically), a better roguelike, it it was harder, more fine-tuned. However, it's good that Supergiant made it as it is, for the sake of broader audience, who primarly enjoy the plot.

[@franciscor390]

Hades really stand apart, supergiant games are esthetically gorgeous, but gameplay tend feel just okay (in my opinion at least). With Hades i really think everything came together and gameplay, is truly excellent.

[@B-019]

Agreed. I also found his comments about these optional difficulty modifiers to be confusing -- I vastly prefer making those decisions about how the game gets harder over a generic "Easy/Medium/Hard" toggle with nothing to really describe those differences. But I'm also the kind of person who's gotten 10+ Heat with each weapon in Hades, so maybe that's just my jam.

[@daniellec6337]

No one's asking for it to be harder at the low end. Just that the player isn't punished, which they currently are, for actually using those heat toggles

[@raychangalarza179]

@@daniellec6337 In what way does the heat toggles punish the player for using the heat toggles?

[@alexperring6051]

@@daniellec6337 There is no punishment, the issue seems to be simply that the game itself warns you that you don't need to push the game so high for the rewards, but regardless of level you still get the rewards right. And there are so many heat levels that its unlikely you will ever want to reach those rewards. Similarly the rewards are not necessary to receive those items. You can buy them randomised from the shop or play runs for coin and buy them in the shop on the last level.

[@DyZioMan123]

One very important thing about the Heat levels in Hades you didn't mention - you don't need to play at Heat 1 to get Heat 1 rewards. You can immediately jump to higher heat and get all the reward tiers before it one at a time, so there is no need to grind difficulty if the game isn't challenging enough.

[@goodtaste2185]

Pyre is so slept on and I think it is some of their best work.

[@Sofia-ge6wm]

I absolutely agree!!!

[@Biouke]

It's interesting, I quite disagree with your take on Transistor's combat. I love the positioning -> nuke -> retreat gameplay, that's something I actively search for in most hack n' slash, moba, etc. I'm also a big fan of turn-based combat. Useless to say I immensely enjoyed Transistor's gameplay, and my only wish would have been to have more options sooner to play with and try different builds.

[@elvenatheart982]

Agreed

[@42Caio]

Yeah this guy totally doesn't understand how to properly use turns and combo functions together. Honestly Transistor has the second most fun gameplay loop in Supergiant's catalogue to me, right after Hades.

[@teivafourny]

Completely agreed with you. It reminds me the Vagrant Story gameplay system which I love so much, and no other games than Transistor gave me the same feeling as I had when I played Vagrant Story. The tactical pause to think about your strategy is so satisfying.

[@HolyDiscordcat]

Man, great video, but I really think you exaggerated the difficulty problem in Hades. Bouncing off your death defiance complaint - you can turn it off if you really think that it lessens the difficulty. Or use stubborn defiance instead. And that also applies to the every other mirror bonus. I think that the true difficulty of this game lies in managing to balance mirror bonuses with contract punishments to create the optimal difficulty level for yourself. Regarding the whole heat thing, I think that per-weapon heat is a better choice as you can still progress in heat with the weapon you are proficient while allowing to master other weapons on lower heat at a slower rate. I love bow and sword and I have high heat level on them, but I’m rotten with spear and separate level of heat with spear allows me to progress at a slower rate, but still progress. Were heat levels to be global, I would just not use spear at all as I would be wasting runs on not progressing.

[@SinWeissfell]

I actually greatly appreciate Hades' approach to difficulty. Pretty much everything is a choice. Want an easier experience? Turn on God mode. Feel like that trait in the mirror makes things too easy? Try another one of turn it off. Feel like things are too easy? Turn up the heat. I'm fairly adept at the genre having played a few titles but I appreciated how.. gentle the game is. Talking to Hypnos after a run always takes the edge off the loss, making my rounds to talk to everyone else puts me back into a mindset of focus rather than frustration and by the time I'm back in the courtyard I see a different weapon with the gem and darkness buff that I haven't played in a while or that I'm not too good with and say "Sure, let's try again, I haven't played this aspect with this god yet". By the time I reachh the pact I have an idea of how hard I want to make things for myself and get to choose how to do so and don't get punished if I want to turn the heat up higher than the bounties are since I will just up the heat level by one. Hades gives the player an active role in it's difficulty and I feel like it's a thing a lot of games can take a slice out of since it allows more people to experience the game. Want to kill Hades for the first time? Want to work out a strat to speedrun 32 heat? Want to see if you can beat the highest heat run to date? Have a go at it, we'll be here when you come back

[@phant0mdummy]

You can't just say "don't use it" because the entire issue is that it exists in the first place. If you set out to make a difficult roguelike title, then you don't include 4 extra lives because it's going to be used. He can shut it off, but how many people actually will? It's going to get used and that is because it's there.

[@Spellweaver5]

It's game designer's job to make it so that players don't have to make a conscious effort to restrict themselves in order to have fun.

[@SuperEggsNBacon]

Highly agree on the global heat comment, if they were global I would not experiment nearly as much as I did with other weapons I was less skilled at

[@SuperEggsNBacon]

@@phant0mdummy by that logic every player would always use the most broken weapon boon set up and never experiment. People like change and experimentation. While I agree death defiance is much better than stubborn defiance, I’m glad it’s in the game. Just like the god mode addition, I’m glad players with less time / skill can still experience the game to the end

[@johnchao2422]

I was really impressed by the way they handled the source mythology in Hades too. As a mythology nerd, it was awesome to see someone not miss a single beat or cut a single corner. They really did their homework and it shows

[@loveless8241]

In an age of imitations and iterations, a KZbinr like NeverKnowsBest shouldn't be taken for granted.

[@axelhakansson3899]

That's beautiful

[@emersedmilkk4163]

Joshua ever heard of grimbeard?

[@Largentina.]

@@emersedmilkk4163 Yes, there's more than one good KZbin channel.

[@teratoma.]

@@Largentina. exactly grimbeard's great, but there's also matthewmatosis, joseph anderson, thegamingbritshow, thorhighheels, super bunnyhop, mark brown.... many amazing channels

[@Largentina.]

@@teratoma. Is Mark Brown the guy from Game Maker Tool Kit?

[@harkingmadwing5112]

I would become a full time pro Pyre player, were it possible.

[@TheJols]

Holy crap! I thought the same thing when I started playing that game. Understandable but such a shame they couldn't get online matches going.

[@TheJols]

@Zatchooze Naut thank you. I'll look into it. I sure would love a online Pyre scene.

[@Largentina.]

@Zatchooze Naut There isn't actually.

[@andleepfarooqui7874]

Parsec

[@andleepfarooqui7874]

Harking Madwing i’ve like never played pyre but maybe there’s a discord and y’all could play on parsec?

[@e.b.459]

Transistor also encourages experimentation in it's mechanics by hiding parts of it's story until you use each function to it's fullest potential. Since each function comes from a citizen in Cloudbank, their incomplete character bio can only expand until you place their function in each type of slot it can fit in. I also think the game very much requires/wants you to replay it immediately after finishing, firstly because of it's short length, secondly for another chance to understand it's vague story, and lastly to finish uncompleted tasks. It's highly unlikely (maybe even impossible) that you'll not only level up high enough to unlock each and every function, but also unlock every part of every bio in your first playthrough. This is an excellent design decision in my opinion, because when you have a narrative that's this complicated the gameplay can be used to enhance both your understanding of the story, and of your own abilities. Also a note about Pyre, in the video he talkes about the negative story consequences of using the titan stars, though I'd argue there's pleanty reward in using them as well. Just like with Transistor, parts of the story are hidden from the player until completing certain tasks. In Pyre that takes the form of the Book of Rites, with lots of different requirements to unlock each passage from each chapter. Competing in rites with each titan star is one of these requirements, so I always did so ineach playthrough, because each time I did I was rewarded with another dive into the rich world building of this setting, and it was always a joy to find out that this world the developers crafted was even more strange and wonderful than I had previously thought.

[@Immortal-ironic-fist]

That was one of the absolute best design choices in Transistor, I mixed up my load out so frequently and it made the game combat much more varied

[@cristiadu]

I loved the way the story was presented in transistor. Wouldn't change a thing to be honest. I do agree that turn based could be better with less cooldown after using it, but the idea of having it is to not make the game too easy when using it, so...

[@matthewknudson8610]

I put Hades on the level of Watchmen: the Graphic Novel when it comes to medium setting works. A perfect blend of elements with quality that shows what games should be, look up to or try to emulate.

[@denzelromero4796]

If Hades is Watchmen , Transistor is Miracle Man

[@chrisk3824]

Personally Transistor is my favourite SG game, still haven't played Hades tho. But all of them are somewhat special to me.

[@theSato]

Why haven't you gotten to Hades yet?!

[@chrisk3824]

@@theSato mainly limited time and not lack of interest. I'm trying to finish underraol while not failing uni and if I add a rougelike that looks this good I might fail. Trying to be responsible can be really not fun

[@vool2683]

@@chrisk3824 ayy underrail

[@SinWeissfell]

@@chrisk3824Definitely come back to Hades once you can then, it has started to feel like home to me

[@Kennitto]

Hades plays similarly to Transistor i feel, but i had an easier time picking up the combat quirks in hades bc of them being varied and randomized w/ boons and weapon choices, but i think thats just me being an odd person. Once you have a chance id say give it a shot, a full iteration takes on average for me 25 min and thats going all the way to the final boss and clearing, which if you just limit yourself to one run for your break is still plenty fun

[@ZeroCoolIsGod]

I don’t agree with your difficulty complaints, particularly with the “heat levels.” I understand that asking people to play through each heat level multiple times for all the weapons seems ridiculous, because it is. But that critique seems to only apply to people who need to squeeze every last drop of marrow from the bones of this game. It’s there if you want to do it and easy to ignore if you don’t. One of the things I like about your videos though, is I can like games for different reasons than you and disagree with your positions but still find the video informative and entertaining. Great job.

[@Jack_Sparrow_85]

I completely agree with what he said about heat, the game even tells you multiple times when you have "too much" heat on, it actively discourages you in multiple ways from making the game hard, and yeah basically every run sees you get to hades after you get your death defiances, which makes it feel like a bore after the 50th time, i experienced exactly what he describes in the video and eventually got bored with the game before it got hard again. Guess i thought i was going to stay interested for longer and eventually get to higher heat levels, highest i did was 11, and ive done about 8-9 heat levels with all other weapons. I honestly feel like my time with the game would have been far more engaging had those heat levels been building upon each other with every run rather than just doing the same heat with different weapons untill i got sick of the gameplay.

[@Badbentham]

@coffee: the account It is a pretty tough challenge for a developer: On one hand, they really want that everybody can enjoy the narrative, to the ending. For some, this might indeed mean very low Heat levels. On the other hand, alot of players actively try to destroy their own experience: While the game philosophy (also, but even more so, like Pyre) makes it pretty clear that the joy comes from experimentation, playing, and, especially; failing and dying, many are conditioned to see winning, with all avalable means ( often with deliberate use of cheese, as replacement for skill, to avoid any challenge) , as the only goal. As I see it, you can only actively recommend a higher difficulty setting to more skillful players, to get the most out of the game, without actively punishing the more casual audience.

[@Jack_Sparrow_85]

@@Badbentham the game literally has an easy mode called god mode for players having trouble which you an enable at any time in game.

[@jessicahiga9870]

I think... it is not really intended for the player to grind all the heat levels with all the weapons, at this point most people has chosen one or two favourite weapons and might level heat with those. At the other hand the ability to grind heat with all the weapons helps lower skilled players to grind low heat for resources and so get enhacements still to help them progress. You have to keep in mind that, while is very likely that Supergiant are aware of the problem with the difficulty curve, they actually have access to ALL the data and will likely balance for the AVERAGE. I think they talk about this a bit in the No Clip documentary.

[@procrastinating384]

@@Jack_Sparrow_85 the thing is god mode feels non-diagetic to the gameplay, a lot of players who do struggle a lot probably wont click it because it feels like cheating. Grinding is essentially a diagetic easy mode where it doesn't feel like the player's immersion is being broken, they're being rewarded long term by playing it safe but spending more time and it still feels like it's intertwined into the narrative.

[@galbrightperry4506]

You said in the pyre section that the non-liberation rites don’t really matter. I don’t think that is entirely true because during the non-liberation rites you can influence who you will face in the liberation rite. Granted it’s not a ton of influence but it is there and I think it’s a really interesting mechanic

[@potatocouch3709]

Not to mention that the characters from the different teams will interact with your crew. Entire character arcs can happen in the non-liberarion rites! They also serve as an opportunity to experiment with the difficulty modifiers without the stress of your decision to up the difficulty mattering all that much. A very weird criticism imo.

[@knightshade2654]

Whenever someone asks for game recommendations, I always tell them to check out Supergiant games. Bastion and Transistor are two of my favorite games, and I hope to get Hades and Pyre soon.

[@DREADDWELLER]

Hades is sooo good man

[@VegaNurse.]

Hades is easily their best, it's very moreish.

[@Vulpes89]

Hades does not dissapoint

[@pullum2034]

Pyre is so underrated

[@packers12to80]

@@pullum2034 is it on switch????

[@mindshuffler3332]

To me, what truly makes Supergiant Games spectacular is the music. All four games play different to each other, some more than others. This results in people usually holding preference for one or two games compared to the others. And I feel like this variety can be seen as a double edged sword. But the one thing that all of these games have in common is their music. It's kind of hard to explain, but I feel like that there's a lot of true love put forth in the compositions. The music in a SG game isn't just a backdrop to add atmosphere, it is an integral component that is seamlessly weaved into the narrative and gameplay. There's just...something about the music that Darren Korb creates for these games that make it special and unique. You hear the music and you instantly recognize that it's from Supergiant Games. Also, the way Zagreus stares out to the rising sun as the acoustic version of Never to Return from Pyre was an awesome way to end the video.

[@williamw8590]

Actually insane that every supergiant game has felt like a 10/10 at the time, but then their next game always improves on the last SO much that the old ones almost feel bad in comparison, but then also all 4 games are completely different... Crazy...

[@petarozretic1038]

I couldn't agree less about the Transistor combat system - I used the turn all the time + if you enhance the functions you can use them while turn-recovering

[@wormerine8029]

I believe Bastion to be absolutely brilliant. I think one can’t quite decouple older games from the environment they were created in - seemless story telling, use of music and infusion of narrative into every aspect of the game (even the wave challenges - I see them as traditional game feature getting a narrative, rather then narrative with with weak gameplay). I personally thought the whole ending sequence was great and they expressed things like passage of time, distance and separation really well. There is certain disconnect about the final stage which you didn’t touch on - entirety of the game until the final mission is happening when Kid is on he final journey to recover the last shard - it is Rucks telling this story to Zia while they wait for the Kid to return. There are multiple bits when one can gather that Rucks addresses Zia rather then the player. The final stage is somewhat disconnected because Rucks doesn’t describe what is happening - he is unaware of what Kid is going through. I personally found it effective, rather then an issue. It is also why we can hear Zia talk at the very end - things are happening for real, rather then being retroactively described but Rucks - also the end is the only bit where we get to make real decisions (saving Zulf, how to use Bastion).

[@kabalan20]

A better sport analogy for Pyre would be Wrestling. Wrestling is a sport that focuses on story and characters, and uses it's fantasy setting to create higher stakes and better drama than an actual sport could ever hope to naturally achieve.

[@packers12to80]

Is it on switch??

[@meikahidenori]

@@packers12to80 sadly no. The game came out before it was a thing and they've said there's no plans to put it on the system... Yet.

[@codyvandal2860]

@@megamike15 its performance art really

[@PKMono]

Love the video, I just gotta give some feedback on your difficulty-critique for Hades. It has been brought up a few times during Early Access that the Heat Levels are a bit of a show-stopper when it comes to playing at your own pace, but that came from them forcing you to go Level by Level at first. Only later during Early Access did they allow to skip heat levels while still getting rewards for the respective level. The one thing I don't quite understand about your criticism here, is that now, with this change in place, whats stopping you from playing at a harder difficulty? If you feel like there's too little challange then raise the level higher. You will still get your rewards if you beat it. And with multiple aspects most likely being at multiple different power levels and you having it harder with some and easier with others you can still adjust the level on a aspect-by-aspect basis. You're free to mix and match however you want, and the same is the case with difficulty. As you gradually get better at the game you will also gradually be able to beat harder difficulties, even without more upgrades. I think the design philosophy here is fine, and so did most of their other early access players, hence why this "obvious flaw" was never fixed, as noone asked for a fix.

[@Spellweaver5]

But why would people play on higher difficulty if the reward is the same?

[@ZettXXII]

I love Supergiant, they impressed me with Bastion within the first seconds of playing it and continued to do so. The art style, music and gameplay of their games fits so well and everythings feels smooth and polished. It feels like the devs really care about the game. Hearing you talk about them for 1h+ is heaven.

[@ConnnieHere]

So far enjoying the video, but would like to point one thing out! There is actually a scene of sorts for Online Pyre with usage of Steam's feature to play local games over the Internet. Each time there are matches, it's broadcasted live on Twitch, which has its own small community, that been going on for over half a year. Although I seen bits of it, I did see that between matches people change up the stuff and try out new stuff. It's honestly quite interesting.

[@garr_inc]

Yeah. My Internet is lacking to join the Rite Club, but I love the community doing this.

[@LidsVidsTV]

@@garr_inc That's right! Here are the links if you want to check it out Playlist (recordings of past events): kzbin.info/www/bejne/oWm1dK2Hg9KgrNE Twitch (future streams, Saturdays 3:30 pm US Eastern Daylight time): www.twitch.tv/lidsvids Discord (to participate): discord.gg/XHTtNGe

[@garr_inc]

@@LidsVidsTV Thanks!

[@LidsVidsTV]

@@garr_inc No problem, glad to hear that more people are interested!

[@pallingtontheshrike6374]

oml is this still a thing? i wanna watch!

[@nuparuchi]

Pyre is definitely my favorite of the first three supergiant games, but I think that you're giving the non-liberation rites less credit than you should be. They definitely don't make for the high-risk games that the liberation rites do, but since teams lose favor for losing, I felt I was strategizing to choose which teams I could make lose against me, and thus not qualify for the liberation rites. By doing that I was making these rites more exciting, especially since if I lost I would make my opponents more likely to qualify.

[@wah-gb5xe]

"transistor has a problem where it ends too quickly before you can explore all its gameplay" me, starting my fifth play through of the game: I'm about to do what's called a pro gamer move okay, but i played transistor recently and it just. blew me away. I fell in love. something about the relationship between red and Mr sword bf just clicked with me and I became absolutely enamored with it. I def agree that its storytelling is a lot more. hit or miss I suppose? aesthetic appeal, yeah. it def should have gotten a longer run time, tho I understand why it was so short from noclip's behind the scenes. SG tho. Transistor introduced me to them, and they are just. incredible. in like, every way? it makes me so happy that a studio, and an indie one, could have so much heart while bringing games with so much polish (though maybe only an indie studio could achieve this). I def want to check out their other games (GOD hades!!!!!) edit: pyre looked so interesting to me and this video sold it. I'm absolutely going to check it out, god.

[@andrewglick6279]

One thing I really liked about Pyre was that you play as a "Reader" both in game, and as the player. In game your role is to read the Lore to better understand the Rites, but as a player, you are literally reading the dialogue of the game. While it's a cool thematic choice, I found the "reading" aspect of the game to feel more like a chore / fantasy homework than actual gameplay. I'm so glad Supergiant got voice actors for Hades.

[@sombrego2260]

Your videos are always such a treat to watch! And one it's about my favorite studio it's even better. Transistor is a hidden gem which actually made me cry during the ending. Pyre was a crazy experience that would have benefited from multi-player but very original at least and Hades is redefining the rogue like genre in major ways and sets the bar for new standards moving forward.

[@CyanDreams1312]

Pyre was such a delight to experience, and Im glad to see SuperGiant putting all the love and focus they have into everything they do

[@Мракочёрт-и8й]

Pyre for me is not just the greatest indie game and it even not just the greatest game ever. It is for me the greatest story I read in an entire lifetime.

[@denzelromero4796]

I agree , the personalized endings really made me happy with what I got at the end .

[@yidhra4421]

I just played it for the first time because I wanted to check out the other Supergiant titles before Hades II comes. And I finished it with the very same feeling, it was INCREDIBLE And so very, very underrated

[@ddd-op5wy]

I actually hated Pyre and it didn't work for me at all. The story sections are not good, at all. Each character has too little screen time to be interesting or for me to care. Never talks about the gameplay and narrative complementing each other, but for me it was the opposite. The gameplay was the best part, and was not given enough time to shine due to 50% of the game being story. At the same time, the story was not given enough time to become interesting because the game is 50% gameplay. It just suffers due to being too short, but at the same time, making it longer would make it boring because the gameplay is not varied enough either. And, as someone who reads visual novels, it is insulting to keep hearing it compared to them. It's not, it does not put as much effort into its story at all and it suffers immensely for it. I cannot read the sentence "the greatest story I read in an entire lifetime" and not cringe. Not trying to be smug or pretentious, but it's not even average.

[@darko1295]

I get your complaint with the Heat system in Hades, but at the same time I think that the option of making it that much harder simply being there is enough. A lot of the game's audience seem to be people who aren't really into (or good at) rogue-likes (plus Supergiant have garnered a fanbase that are primarily in it for the narrative components of their games) and it's inevitable that a lot, maybe most, players will just naturally hit the limits of their skill extent around those earlier heat levels.

[@gantzplayer.n.m4410]

i agree, i hit my own limit at the extraordinary heat level...0 still love the game

[@jazmindodds]

Exactly lol, not every person playing games is like, an elite experienced gamer. This game is crazy accessible for most players, just maybe not the ones who NEED THE CHALLENGE TO BE ASTRONOMICAL AT ALL TIMES.

[@RealM722]

Supergiant Games are my favorite developers in the video game industry. My rankings are: 1) Pyre, 2) Transistor, 3) Bastion without Hades TBA. Super glad you finally did an in-depth review on them!

[@ninjakiwi2476]

God mode is a blessing at the higher heat levels. Unless you're an absolute pro at the game the higher heats are impossible without it. And it makes sense to have it on since zagreus is a god himself.

[@Undone007]

Hades is tremendous as a game in general, let alone an indie. Pretty much a 10/10 for me.

[@fire99xyz]

I don’t know when exactly I discovered you but I enjoyed your videos since then a lot! They are something I love putting on when I have a lot of free time and then just watch, no distractions or something like that just pure enjoyment. Thank you for many hours of joy!

[@fireflyggamber7637]

Imagine if they make crpg, baldurs gate style, with their engine and talent.

[@bronzeager1298]

Oh dear God yes

[@solanumtuberosa]

They are called Larian studios.

[@fireflyggamber7637]

@@solanumtuberosa meh..

[@jackmehoffer4976]

@@solanumtuberosa Neon Larian

[@ducky36F]

Solanum Tuberosa didn’t you hear? It’s trendy to slag on larian now because they got popular. I’ll forward the KZbin comments guide.

[@ChillyUK77]

The intro and the games you showed I either haven't played or didn't resonate with me (Edith Finch/Dear Esther), I did enjoy Journey however. Still if you are looking for engagement as opposed to largely passive indie experiences I can't recommend Outer Wilds, Rain World and Return of the Obra Dinn enough. These indie games totally had me hooked and are some of the best games I've ever played.

[@TheRetroPerspective]

Factorio has almost single-handedly changed my opinion on indie games, after feeling for years that most people bigged the scene up way beyond what it deserved....but right now I think indies are light years ahead of most AAA games.

[@Trollensky]

Seconding Outer Wilds and Obra Dinn

[@packers12to80]

Bastion hades and transistor r top tier games. U can't go wrong with them esp seeing as u can get both transistor and bastion for a total 5 bucks . U won't find a better deal on the eshop . Getting both of these games and only spending 5 bucks. It's a insane deal on the eshop. They r always on sale also. Hades is 24 I believe. But I love outer wilds also....I also like obra dinn as well

[@customersupportdeer6150]

@@packers12to80 m8 true enough but you forgot pyre. Also a top tier game. Just overlooked.

[@Spamhard]

I'm surprised he had INSIDE footage there, honestly. Most the others he showed were 'walking sim' type games (not belittling them, I just mean from a gameplay perspective they're more hands off), but INSIDE is a pretty involved puzzle platformer with quite a lot of gameplay imo. I can get why games like Edith Finch, Abzul, Firewatch etc might not grab someone who prefers more involvement in their games, but INSIDE is something I'd call an actual 'game' way beyond an interactive experience.

[@Emelenyt]

Supergiant is such a great developer! Tight gameplay in all of their games

[@boboneal3498]

This is an excellent video. I love the way you illustrated Supergiants progression from Bastion to Hades. They always maintained their own distinctive feel without making overly repetitive games, in fact, quite the opposite, with each game they found new ways to create games that feel innovative and unique. Like great storytellers in other mediums, they maintained a consistent identity and voice throughout their works while always boldly pushing forwards to new and interesting places. Their record is so unlike other studios; I think Supergiant should be looked to as a prime example for how new projects should be undertaken in game development.

[@boboneal3498]

...especially with regards to their approach to gameplay. You rightly pointed out that in contrast to alot of titles in the artsy indie gaming scene, Supergiant did not neglect gameplay. It's frustrating, that games so often emulate cinema when trying to create serious art.

[@Eerie0Innocence]

I remember seeing the Hades animated trailer, and when I saw that the studio had made other games beforehand, I recognized one. It was Transistor, and it had been on my radar with it’s lady protagonist, but the isometric view scared me off. I decided to play it though while it was on sale, before Hades came out. I went in completely blind. BOY HOWDY. I loved the game. The style Supergiant has that painterly style that reminded me very much of a Westernized version of Vanillaware games (their reboot of Odin’s Sphere being my fave). However Supergiant really nails the marriage of gameplay with story in their games, and I got that a lot in Transistor. I didn’t really read the in-depth bios a lot, but it was the bits of visual story telling that communicated the type of world it was, and how I could get a lot of Red’s character, even though she never speaks. So when I completed the game, I was shedding a tear or two. I love it’s cyberpunk story with Gustav Klimt art style. Now I’m currently enjoying Hades, which I’m not as good at (I’m new to rogue-likes and lights, so I’ve been dying a lot in Tartarus).

[@DwAboutItManFr]

WAIT A SECOND, THE APHRODITE EFFECT DOESN'T WORK ON HADES BECAUSE HE IS ALREADY IN LOVE!

[@RisenSlash]

He's also your dad.

[@nargaman261]

@@RisenSlash didn‘t stop zeus. Just saying

[@octo448]

I like to think her boons don't make people fall in love with Zag, they make them fall in love with like... a wall. Or a Brute, or something. Something comical, because she's always in it for a laugh.

[@matthewl8647]

Just started playing hades, perfect timing dude

[@synth_pulse3098]

I hope you are prepared to drop a ridiculous amount of hours into it lol

[@Largentina.]

Lots of people just started playing Hades, which is why he made this video. It's not perfect timing, it was done on purpose because of how popular the game is right now.

[@danny_dinthead8858]

I now concider this ESSENTIAL watching for anyone interested in Hades II! This essay solidifies why I have Supergiant as one of my favourite companies and will be my reference point for any of my mates.

[@michimatsch5862]

Thanatos is the best dating choice. Change my mind. Also his butterfly is so good.

[@AverageWagie]

Hardly a controversial opinion when Meg is a bitch and Dusa is just a platonic romance

[@JackEdgren]

Just discovered your channel and im so thrilled to watch all of your in-depth analysis of the, in my opinion, greatest entertainment and artform of our time. You deserve alot more subscribers, unfourtunatly the focus and time one needs to invest in your deep dives into gaming is to demanding for a big chunk of the populations attention span. But with that said i dont think i've come across another channel that can offer me what you provide. Stellar job, killer analysis, fair judgements and a good eye for selecting content. Big cheers from Sweden and i hope you can continue to do this for a long time!

[@Anna-md5nc]

Transistors gameplay was amazing tbh. And the cd period on turn made me appreciate the environment and how to move within it a lot more than I usually do. I really loved that feature.

[@RazielWraith]

I agree with your analysis of all the games almost entirely. I 100% disagree with you on the matter of difficulty and think the current system in Hades as it stands is absolutely perfect. As new weapons require their own rewards to be able to level them up and at the same time learn how to properly use + what builds are efficient it stands to reason that each of them should have their separate pacts of punishment. Not to diss on anyone who isn't good at these types of games, but I've had several friends who thoroughly enjoy it, but can't seem to get the hang of it except with weapons such as the Shield or Sword... the railgun and bow being their worst ones and can barely finish without any heat. Having you be able to customize and earn rewards however u see fit, and use them to upgrade whatever weapon you want is the best thing they could have done.

[@bronzeager1298]

Dude this channel is just 100% on my wavelength. Been playing a ton if Pyre and Hades lately. The last CRPG video just absolutely hit the spot too

[@karlklein2263]

As for hades, fortunately there's enough narrative push and the gameplay is fun enough that low heat isn't grinding on me. I do get wanting to let the reigns go though and see how hard I can push it

[@customersupportdeer6150]

Pyre has the best music of all of these, change my mind.

[@denzelromero4796]

Pyre had dynamic music where each character had a instrumental tied to them whenever they spoke , it really made listening to this tracks constantly refreshing

[@cristiadu]

I think Transistor soundtrack was better.

[@wigglebot765]

It’s the one I find the hardest to listen to on its own, but in-game, I’d probably agree

[@customersupportdeer6150]

@@cristiadu Dread Design begs to disagree.

[@CalamitasCalliope]

With their consistent improvement game after game, just imagine what they are going to do next 😳

[@Largentina.]

Their next game is going to be a live service battle royale that requires a constant internet connection and is filled with microtransactions. Can't wait!

[@Largentina.]

@Leo Milazzo It's a joke. I trust this company won't do that. Why are you being so serious?

[@kevinstaedler]

Well Hades is gonna be hard to top, gonna support them tho no matter what. We need companys like that

[@Strix_r]

@@kevinstaedler HADES II

[@NeverduskX]

While I enjoy most of the games you mention in the intro - I think you mention an important (and personally enlightening) point about how many genuinely great indie games hold their overall experience over raw gameplay. Most of them are great as "the sum of their parts", but their moment-to-moment gameplay is not always as involved or innovative as their narratives, aesthetics, or emotional strengths. While I don't think this approach is inherently flawed, it's still very eye-opening to realize. Plus, it makes me more strongly appreciate great indie games that focus on providing engaging and innovative gameplay to match the same quality as the rest of their parts.

[@tomdavies6481]

Watched a video about an Indie games developer and now, for the first time in my life, understand sports fans. 🤯

[@ShadowedAgony]

The level of consistency in your videos is actually so impressive. I’ve seen all of your videos and you and Matthewmatosis are the only channels of your kind in KZbin I’m so genuinely excited for with each upload. I hope you’re doing well

[@domscards]

I feel like you're very accurate on your criticisms, even if I disagree with you on the degree of their significance.

[@mikester7834]

In many of your reviews you manage to identify things which made me not click with some games, even though other reviewers praised the game and gave it a high score...most of the times I was not even aware of this disconnect before watching your review. Great analysis and entertaining to watch. Thanks!!

[@AxeNHammerPictures]

After years of acquiring their games from 'other sources', I literally bought their bundle on Steam just yesterday. These guys are pure heart. Every frame, every note of music, every choice they make you take. I absolutely love these guys and can only hope more studios like them crop up. Kudos on the video and getting the larger world to see their brilliance.

[@DREKflow]

I recently picked up Bastion, Transistor, and Hades on the eshop for around $25 collectively. I'm coming back to this video as I play through each. Just finished Bastion today and have to say I agree with everything you said. It feels like a dated gem, but the presentation and the ending alone have made it a memorable experience that I'll carry with me for a long time.

[@thomasray]

The fact that you don't mention Pyre here just proves how underrated and overlooked it is

[@DREKflow]

@@thomasray Agreed tha it is overlooked and underrated, but I mainly didn't mention it because it's not on Switch. If it was I would've copped it for sure lol

[@adamsabra2683]

1 year in the future, have you finished all 3?👀

[@DREKflow]

@@adamsabra2683 Not quite! I did finish Transistor and I absolutely loved it, the OST especially. Hades I've only ever put a few hours into, too many games to play and not enough time! The bit I did play was sublime though. Thinking about starting over on PC and really dedicating some time to it in the summer.

[@farhanasafran8124]

I love supergiant games due to the music and visual presentation, so much so that I'll try any kind of gameplay they toss at me as long as I get to enjoy the environmental stimuli (on my 50th escape attempt in Hades and I've yet to succeed but I'm having SO much fun trying)

[@estilara]

it warms my heart to know that these games were created and had such an amazing continuity with its features and yet each one is completely their own thing

[@nightcatssketchbook]

Love to hear both the good and bad aspects. It's nice to watch a video that remains respectful to the creators of the game, and appreciate the things they excelled at! Also, very nice pacing in your voiceover, if that makes sense.

[@MyWorldIsSquare]

Thanks for putting so much time and dedication into your content. I played through the games for the first time in chronological order while waiting for Hades to be released for PS5 and it's truly incredible seeing just how much they've progressed in every area from gameplay to progression systems to art and graphics... to music... Really, just everything. I still can't get over how incredible of an idea and execution Pyre was (especially as a huge fan of The Banner Saga).

[@exseries1033]

Solid video overall, though I have a few things I didn't like about your comments regarding transistor & hades. Transistor (2 & a half playthroughs): While I agree with you the turn mode does make game play boring due to having to wait after using it. It also feels largely rewarding when you are able to kill several opponents at once, or take down your biggest threat at the start of the fight. You mention that there isn't a point in activating it because using it makes it to where you instantly die, if you go beneath the health threshold. Though there's a really big caveat that using this will lower the threat of the entire encounter if you successfully kill something. It also is great to reposition if you get cornered. For your transistor section I don't think you mentioned the optional difficulty settings, but mention them in the pyre section. There's an option that makes it to where turn doesn't automatically activate if you go too low in hp which will force you to be able to use it re actively before dying, or proactively to lower the threat of an encounter. You compared Transistors story to Dark Souls in the fact that it's vague and the player has to excavate for clues to be able to interpret things while complimenting Dark Souls for leaving it to be optional for the player. A lot of the story in Transistor is also optional, through your exploration of finding survey machines and seeing how red interprets things. Another way that it's optional is additional clues and information about NPCs are found through multiple uses of different functions in the passive slot, active slot, and enhancement slot. You don't have to do these things. It was great you mentioned how the game encourages you to try the perks in different areas through perks being locked when dying, with it you should've mentioned this point too. That you're also inclined to experiment because story elements are locked if you do not experiment enough. I don't agree with the sentiment Transistor is too short to properly test out all the things you got. When I first beat the game I didn't really see a need to continue playing because I couldn't come up with a combination with the things I had that I had yet to try out. Hades (16 days & 10 hours): While I agree it's an issue that the encouraged grinding is an issue to players enjoyment there's an even easier fix than readjusting the amount of Titan's blood and increasing heat values. You let players complete multiple trials at once. Did you finish the game with sword at 3 heat? 0 heat, 1, 2 & 3 are now complete and you get the rewards. It allows less skilled players to still gradually gain rewards while rewarding higher skilled players with a time save, and quicker loot. It really annoyed me to hear you say Hades was in early access for a year and they didn't address the grinding heat problem. If you did further research you probably would have seen that with the first games aspect weapon was released on the same patch hades was released to steam. So it wasn't even a possible issue to be addressed on early access as it wasn't a part of it. If you were referring to it being early access on steam, you have a valid point . I personally don't think of it early access on steam to not be an official release though, as steam was their main audience they wanted the game to be good for.

[@chickennoodles5265]

Now that I think about it, I played all of super giant games from start to finish. They have a knack for creating worlds that I easily fall in love with.

[@Doominator10]

I've never liked sports games. I've played decent visual novels before, so I know what I like to see in good ones. This review convinced me to give Pyre, one more try, as my least favorite SG game, because I couldn't get into the story and I was probably playing on normal mode. Maybe after I'm done grinding Heat 6+ on all my weapons in Hades. I also vividly remember wanting to try out all the different difficulty modifiers and builds in Transistor, but never really getting around to it even though I liked it. Not a problem in Hades. Also, subscribed.

[@TheBellKeeper]

Maybe they're like the Pixar of gaming? Great stories, new worlds, which take advantage of the medium they're in. Though I don't think they're popular to the same level, nor have they churned out a sequel yet.

[@lunarrhythm7344]

On topic however. I regularly listen to Darren korb which is a composer for all super giant games. I actually found out about them through him even though i had already played bastion but then came across the transistor soundtrack. After that I was to reference music in which case I also discovered that he did the bastion soundtrack which is amazing as well

[@violetsweet1660]

i liked bastion a lot, thought transistor was okay, and bounced off pyre. but hades is such a staggering achievement. in the time since i got it, right after it came out of early access, it has become one of my very favorite games. it's so expansive, so refined, so original, so deep, and so thoughtful in every single aspect. hades is truly wondrous and i would recommend it to anyone who remotely likes...games.

[@fb1179]

36:26 "But I fear trying to make this analogy might just lead to greater confusion so let's just keep moving foward" he said, after making the analogy anyways and leaving us all confused. Huehuehuehue

[@hosephanerothe1440]

Pleasure to watch this channel grow, quality output !

[@yoissy]

I do want to say with Pyre, you can throw the orb into the enemy pyre and then you won't loose the teammate who scored last round. You only loose them if you jump in. Also, excellent analysis! I love supergiant and picked up hades yesterday and am loving it so far.

[@alexanderwizardjar9540]

absolutely fantastic video on my favorite game developers, glad I randomly came upon this great channel!

[@DiscussingGames]

I really enjoyed watching this. I havent got around to playing anything by Supergiant myself but comments from you and other people who's opinion I appreciate has definitely convinced me to give their games a try.

[@kenku6440]

I just finished Pyre the other day and I'd say the non-liberation rites matter quite a bit. They also influenced my decisions on who should go free. I allowed, on purpose, a few enemies to go free because of the contexts I received in the previous rites. They provide information on other characters. I would also disagree you're discouraged from using the titan stars because you simply don't want to lose. Like you mentioned, winning and losing gives you a similar amount of exp. Winning a rite with these modifiers gives you a bonus to exp. And you need your characters to have high exp in order to even be eligible for the liberation rite. The characters that come along in your party a bit later in the story, they might need that boost. And by that time you are much more used to the gameplay, so you can feel more confident in throwing a few curveballs to your team. I think what Pyre suffered from was what Hades remedied - it would make it so much easier to ingest all of the information if more of the lines were voiced. I appreciate the fictional language a lot. I started recognizing words, it's not just random gibberish - these are actual phrases with consistent meanings. Which is great, but these walls of text do wear on you with time. So I think Pyre would benefit from something to spice things up. Due to the rich lore of this world (and I love this lore), the dialogues also felt difficult to read pretty often. But I am about to start my 2nd playthrough, and that will make things much easier. And yes, I agree the ending can feel disappointing. Just because of how short it is, and how you, again, have to read a lot of text, a lot of new and foreign lore, on just one static background. I have to be honest, I skimmed through parts of it because it just became too much. But I would really love to see another installment of Pyre. This world feels like it has so much more to offer, it's great.

[@iwillcry]

you explained and analyzed the studio’s work brilliantly, truly a great video.

[@Nagram_]

Yooo this is fricking nostalgic, Transistor was one of the first games i bought by myself in steam when i got my first job and build a PC. Edit: Didn't know Hades was from SG, no wonder it's gameplay felt so familiar.

[@DogginsFroggins]

What an underrated channel, wishing you all the best in terms of success and subscribers. Seriously entertaining stuff. I'm waiting for my exams and uni year to be over before I dive into Hades, can't wait.

[@Kralchen]

Love Supergiant, so having a full analysis of their games and developing evolution is amazing. Also nice job with your criticism, since I personally ran into and noticed some of the problems you mentioned. Still, they are at the forefront of indie studios with an actual unique and interactive style to their games. I hope they are going to enjoy their deserved break after releasing Hades and will be happy with whatever new project they are going to work with in the future.

[@OrionJA]

Hades doesn't actually punish you for skipping ahead on Heat. The heat required to earn rewards only goes up by 1 every run regardless of what Heat level you run on. If you went immediately to Heat 5, you could earn the rewards 5 times before you had to move up to Heat 6.

[@tf7602]

@chobopanda yeah, I'm kinda at that stage, though there are so many weapons and for EACH you can play through low heat. It's actually a good incentive for me to learn how to play with weapons I'm usually not too good at.

[@Tieflingbardtrash]

I hadn’t really played video games since I was a child other than farming sims. But I’m a Greek myth nerd who loved the song of achilles, and I randomly saw fan art of Patroclus and achilles from hades one day. I started playing that same day and it introduced me to how video games can be beautiful, funny, heartbreaking, and incredibly fun. I’ve played many games since then, but nothing will replace the love I have for hades.

[@navyhusky2020]

21:09 Homie, it's called "Risk/Reward" ...

[@eran5005]

I don’t know what you are on about with the Turn system in Transistor, i found it much more efficient and convenient than RT and it seems SGG agreed with me because they added the refractory period to balance out how strong Turn is. I can understand you might have a different preference and style, which is fair, but you present it as if it’s fact, rather than just your own impression. Using Turn the base game was so easy i had to ramp up the custom limitation system to get some challenge from it. Also, you can start a newgame+ mode after you finish it, with all the abilities you unlocked and keep on playing experimenting as much as you like.

[@Rextle]

When transistor came out i tried it from a friend and was immidiatly taken, then proceeded to download it and look up the company, I had seen they had bastion and went on to get that, been a huge fan ever since, then they announced pyre and now here we are with HADES and am still in love. Man I love all there games so much and till now still fill transistor to be my most fav game, even more than Skyrim and I played that for over 6 months

[@DushanChaciej]

One of the best video games related analysis I've watched recently, really well done.

[@stevenmonte1496]

This is my favorite video, absolutely love this studio

[@indoril6923]

Ik that this is probably too much to ask for, but could perhaps consider doing retrospective on Elder Scrolls?

[@daunbozq7076]

Oh, what an original idea.

[@indoril6923]

@@daunbozq7076 Ik that it isn't that original but I'd still love to see it, I mean a fallout analysis wasn't really the most original idea either but he still made it sooooooo

[@NeverKnowsBest]

I'm planning to do something. It'll be some time next year.

[@NeverduskX]

@@NeverKnowsBest Awesome to hear! I look forward to hearing your thoughts on them.

[@indoril6923]

@@NeverKnowsBest Thanks for the response, I'll patiently wait for it, take as much time as you need.

[@Eltron92]

Glad to see you hit 100k subs, keep up the good work brother!

[@grisbertixner8809]

That prologue is on point. Thanks to the author for such good content overall. Genuine critic. Kudos

[@BreadKrumb]

Very well done. Bastion was one of my favorite games released by Supergiant, but then again, Hades is a close second. You really be needing more views for the amount of effort here, cheers

[@sliv5034]

The thing that really bugged me in Pyre was how we had no control over where to go, despite being able to fly everywhere in this gorgeous world. I think some occasions to wander, gather materials and whatnot would have gone a long way. That being said, great video, it's been years since most of those games came out, so it is nice seeing what they were like again, and why we loved them so much.

[@lasseschacht2087]

Wow, I did not expect such a deep Dive into this topic, but I am glad I stayed and watched it. Great, very thought out VIdeo. Especially the Point about difficulty in Hades made me think about it as well. In the beginning it felt like I would never make it to Hades or beat him, but at some point I found myself defeating him for the 17th time in a row, only upping the Heat to get more resources. I will try challenging myself again, thanks for the new perspective. :)

[@denzelromero4796]

Praying for them to try multiplayer for once for their next project . Transistor really deserves a revisit in terms of visuals , music , and gameplay .

[@olafromsack9273]

I think the backstory parts in Bastion were also meant as a way to grind currency before proceeding. I used it to max out all my skills