Combo Weapons RUINED Dead Rising…

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📸 Instagram: arktic_us?igshi...
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Dead Rising is one of my all time favorite games. It was the game that got me to part with my dear PS2, as I frantically eBay'd everything I owned in order to convince my parents to help me foot the bill on a new console and video game. While I realize Dead Rising 2 is most people's introduction to the series, I fear some aspirations the dev's had for the franchise led to short term gains in identity, but long term issues in evolution. Making this video was super interesting from an editing stand point. I got to revisit some techniques and ideas I came up with from the previous video, and really figure out what "jokes" and "memes" made sense with my style of commentary.
I hope you enjoy the video. It genuinely was a labor of love, and I sincerely hope that comes through, cringe and all :)
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Dad and Son Watching TV with Family and Talking is courtesy of Videvo
#gaming #videoessay #zombiesurvival #deadrising4

[@justhuman963]

I read the title of this video and was hesitant to watch it. Then I went in and I must say that I fully agree. I love combo weapons as a whole as I’ve only played Dead Rising 1, Dead Rising 2, and Dead Rising 2: Off The Record. I think that the combo weapons really made their place in Off The Record’s sandbox mode. Using the large assortment of weapons to grind PP and money while also not having to worry about time nor Zombrex was great. Not to mention OTR really brought back and understood who Frank West was. I haven’t played 3 and probably won’t touch 4, but the first 3 games DR1, DR2, and OTR will be some of the best games I’ve ever played. If we do get a 5th game or a reboot, I sure hope it goes back to its roots.

[@arkyUS_YT]

Thanks for giving it a chance buddy! Glad you enjoyed and heard me out :)

[@supersnow17]

As much as I loved DR2, specially off the record, I knew it was going to be the death of the franchise if it kept going that way. They wanted to be all wacky and silly like saints row but it just ruined the overall mood the OG game set. Yes, DR1 could be wacky but it knew how to separate the silly stuff from the serious stuff, and did it well.

[@TJLounge]

I've always felt that Dead Rising 1 is an excellent case study in game design, while Dead Rising 2 is just a great game that is a bit easier to jump into as a casual player. I love both games to death and they're both brilliant in different ways, but I'd recommend DR1 to someone who truly loves in depth game design and unique experiences. And DR2 I'd recommend to someone just looking for a great time. DR1 is for the game dev students, DR2 is for the gamers in a way. (Never touched DR3 or DR4, I always felt both didn't have what I loved about the series, which you articulated perfectly in the video!) DR1 is a parody of American Culture from a Japanese perspective. DR2 is a parody of American culture from a Canadian / American perspective. And DR3 and DR4 became what both games were parodying in a way. Self conceited focus on one mechanic and overall gameplay bloat. More combo weapons, bigger map, more carnage, more, more more. A capitalistic philosophy, the previous games poked fun at, now at the forefront of the series' design. Like you said, they made just another open world zombie game, rather than a mechanically holistic and thematically goofy survival horror experience. The Cliffy B quote is a great way to sum up the attitude of that era of the games industry and for what happened to the franchise unfortunately. Love the first two games so so so much, it's a shame what happened to the series. Very well made video man! Editing was clean, jokes were on point, topic was interesting and insightful to a series of games that we game creators can really learn from. Excellent work! Excited to see your other videos and what you plan on making in the future!!

[@arkyUS_YT]

Adore this comment dude! Thanks so much for it, and I’m genuinely so glad you enjoyed the video :) Working on the next one as we speak, and thanks again for your comment ^^

[@DJVideso]

Honestly loved D1 and D2 and D2: Off The Record. Currently going into playing Dead Rising 4 as I do kinda like the idea of the time limit being removed, not like it mattered to me since I had always died in some way before I could do any missions

[@apteropith]

fascinating; i imagine dev-crunch made this all much worse, but chasing an ever-flashier spectacle feels like a frequent cause of sequel/series decay

[@arkyUS_YT]

This exactly! Especially in regard to the 4th game. Rumor has it, the crunch was brutal, and it was done in a little over a year. Thanks for the comment!

[@cenanthation7803]

Deadrising 2 was my first game of the franchise I played my cousin introduced me to the franchise & we had a blast customising weapons & slicing up zombies it certainly sucks this feature slowly died. It definitely sucks games like this & many others lack that originality of titles from previous generations as a lot of games feel the same nowadays I miss the 2nd & 3rd gen of console gaming it was definitely the golden generation for me & haven't felt the same about games since. Great topic to cover loved the video you're doing a great job with the new yt channel think you'll be huge on this platform if you keep cranking out bangers like this keep it up dude here for it

[@nicolbolas3655]

This is a fantastic video for me to watch while being crushed by me inherent need to consume background media and play video games over and over again. Wasting away my life in a basement I will never leave and wonder "what is the meaning of life?".... what was that about the resident evil merchant? Yet another banger of a video. The little touches are perfect. the fact you're still looking at this is a surprise but a welcome one. Here's your reward: 👌 Gotcha

[@myoldvan119]

Completely agree man! Hopefully a remake or reboot will happen that goes back to the original formula of everything and anything in the mall can be used as a weapon.

[@arkyUS_YT]

Dude, a remake could possibly stop my heart bahaha! Thanks for the comment dude, and happy new year! :)

[@SwiftNarrativesPodcast]

your comedic timing, editing, and thorough analysis is really underrated, so glad to have found this channel

[@Patrocker05]

I was busy watching someone’s return stream so I wasn’t able to be one of the first here, but DAMN MAN you are built different with how good you are at all this stuff

[@TheOneTrueGoose]

I will still defend Dead Rising 3 as it is unironically my favorite of the series. But yeah, you hit the nail on the head how the cluttered yet super simplistic weapon making things. Also the amount of times I WHEEZED at the jokes made in this video is unreal.

[@arkyUS_YT]

Dead Rising 3 is soooo good! It’s just an escalated, slightly desaturated DR2, and that really works for me somehow 😅 Thanks for the comment buddy, and I appreciate you for the love ^^

[@incronium4456]

Just got here, another gem

[@MystikIees]

I could see Capcom making a next gen remake of the original Dead Rising game, and possibly building on the franchise from there. While the game would have a single player/co-op story line, they could do a multi player online, were you not only can work together to destroy the zombie hord, but work against each other as well. As I'm new to the Xbox world, I never played the Dead Rising series, but if I ever get tired of playing Fallout 4, I'll give the game a try. The video was great. Good narration, and the jokes kept me laughing. I look forward to your next video.

[@arkyUS_YT]

You should! They’re a little tough, namely the first two, but they’re incredibly fun and unique games! I’d love a next gen remake, with more weapons, more mechanics, and coop SO much! Especially if we’re operating with a Mall or Americas type scale :D I’m glad you enjoyed! Thanks for being the first comment buddy 😊

[@lilymnavona]

Deadrising 2 stole my Deadrising sequel from me and I hate it for doing that 😭😭

[@larry-xs6uh]

Personally I wanted a prequel set in Santa cabeza

[@masterdog4137]

i trust this won't be taken the wrong way butt i feel it necesarry to say i really do enjoy that you cranked this vids intensity up from the last one (might have just been the topic and game) i do worry that it might mean you try to go to big and to bold much like Capcom Vancouver so please do be careful Arkums to not bite of more than you can chew butt also note that i fully believe in you and trust ur judgement so the whole statement is irrelevant i am just weird (lol) luv u homie

[@JoshAvocado]

3.5 minutes in and you’ve already made me want more videos from you. I love the snappy humor!

[@arkyUS_YT]

Thanks so much for saying so Josh! I’m working on getting my feet wet with more regular, less high effort uploads, so I can get a safer running start into the big videos that are passion projects, like this one! Hope you’re well, thanks for the comment, and happy near year dude!

[@aplenope]

I wouldn't say Combo Weapons ruined Dead Rising. Combo Weapons in Dead Rising 2 were usually logical / made sense. Nails + Propane Tank = Propane Tank with Nails that sticks onto zombies. Rather I'd say it's more of the absurdity of certain Combo Weapons in Dead Rising 3 and 4 that played a massive part in ruining the series, turning the serious tone of unearthing a government cover-up in the first game and in Dead Rising 2, it's clearing your name from someone framing you for starting a zombie outbreak and turning it into "I wanna play mini-golf instead of doing this." Pinning the blame on this idea isn't exactly fair, it's a great idea it's just how it was executed in the later games. Hell, Dead Rising 2 carried out this system well in my opinion. A lot of the weapons that are usable to make Combo Weapons are good on their own, the LMG, Shotgun, Fire Axe, and the Machete are great examples of this. Along with this a lot of non-combo weapons are also great, the Longsword, Battleaxe, Sniper Rifle, and something even like a Bass Guitar is a good weapon to use even if not the best choice. You may be thinking that my choices for non-combo weapons are picked out and unfair, but think about Dead Rising 1. When you found out that the Mini Chainsaw could last for 2,160 hits, you may of never used anything again. Along with this, the non-combo weapons I listed were all weapons that were also in Dead Rising 1. When you had a viable weapon in Dead Rising 1, you wouldn't resort to using a potted plant. Even without a super viable weapon, Katanas were abundant and the Fire Axe had a guaranteed infinite spawn. In my opinion, Combo Weapons aren't even a problem in the series. 3 and 4, got pretty wacky and absurd but that's to be expected you can only have so many logical Combo Weapons, eventually you're gonna make something kinda stupid. But it's more of a balancing problem and nerfing everything else in 3 and 4, along with them missing the original vision / purpose of a Dead Rising game.

[@arkyUS_YT]

Firstly, thanks for your comment! I’d say, we actually agree more than we disagree based on how I’m understanding your comment. Without paragraphing ya to death, I’ll say this. Combo Weapons, and its implementation as an isolated thing, isn’t the problem. I enjoy the combo weapons, and found them super cool! But they are ultimately ideal substitutions for common odd weapons, which was a major founding pillar of the marketing and vision of DR1. In implementing them, there was a degree of absurdity that, while evolutionary of the absurdity of the first game, served to be the corner stone pillar of future games. Each entry built upon this singular feature as a selling point and marker identity, led to more and more absurd stretches to justify and expound on that mechanic. Your last statement actually is what I agree with the most, though maybe not the first sentence of it haha The increase in wacky and absurd themes via the combo weapons is the exact thing that hampered the games direction and led us to Dynasty Warrior Z in DR4. They’d gone so incredibly far from the root tenants of Dead Rising, and the combo weapons were the mechanical catalyst of which they built off of to create future titles. Wackyness doesn’t have a strong shelf life, it’s why games like Saints Row couldn’t figure out what to do after super powered president. While we can agree to disagree, I want to make clear I appreciate your write up and want to make clear that I did see it! I’m working my way through the comments of my older uploads, to catch back up with everyone since my absence. I hope you have an amazing new year, and if you’d still like to go point for point back and forth, have no hesitation in responding to this!

[@ellistercool777]

I literally spit my soda all over my monitor at that intro😂😂 would love a video abt the downfall of call of duty lmao

[@arkyUS_YT]

:3

[@nickolasmidgley7313]

ima start my new tradition... Ahem... Nerd

[@arkyUS_YT]

nou :3

[@thescorpion2758]

Did you say "nerd"?

[@albertssoup]

I was skeptical at first because i honestly liked the combo weapons in two to be specific but after watching i now 100% agree. It definitely felt like that real "use everything and anything as a weapon" started to fade which sucks because that was a cool and memorable part about dr1.

[@arkyUS_YT]

I definitely liked them too! In fact, I was looking forward to experiencing that most of all! But ultimately, when it became clear that was the sole mechanic they sought to refine and define the series by…it just lost sight of the fact that the spectacle of DR1 was scope, and depth. We had so many weapons to choose from, and so many zombies! Once it became about “How crazy can we get with combo-ing stuff” I think is at the root of how things continued to get out of hand, until we got mech suits and slushy machine mods lol Thanks for giving the video a chance though, Albert I super appreciate that! I’m a pretty small creator, so any and all comments mean a ton to me, especially when they’re elaborate and in good faith :) Hope the new year is treating you well, and thanks again for your comment!

[@rorymurphy9625]

This was a great watch. No idea how this has such little amount of views. Commentary and jokes were brilliant

[@arkyUS_YT]

Appreciate the watch buddy! Definitely working on getting channel momentum, so your comment super helps! Glad you enjoyed ^^

[@dudestep]

I love using my limited inventory space to carry a bunch of shit I don’t really want!

[@arkyUS_YT]

Why ya holding them then, King? 🐸

[@dudestep]

@@arkyUS_YT I was doing an impersonation of a Dead Rising 2 fan

[@loganpaschedag8829]

Well, to be fair, if they kept making sequels to for Dead Rising without anything new apart from locations and graphics, than people on the internet would complain about the new game not having anything new to it’s new title.

[@arkyUS_YT]

Absolutely true! I’m not necessarily suggesting full stagnation, as that wouldn’t be good for any franchise. But I think understanding the foundational mechanics and building blocks of the games design, and riffing off of those expectations and design considerations, does work! If I can give Blue Point credit for anything, it’s how they continued the narrative between titles, and did a solid job of expounding on the events of the original game! They never lost the tonal edge, and I can appreciate that! Imagining what DR could have been without Blue Point, and formulating different ideas on the spot might be tricky for a single YT comment, but I do hear you. It’s possibly combo weapons were going to be a natural evolution, and unavoidable ultimately. I think it was even said in the original design document that combo weapons were being considered, so it was bound to happen. I suppose I just wonder how the original creators would have struck their balance, had they kept control of their baby as a Triple A title. Thanks for the comment though dude! Happy New Year btw!

[@loganpaschedag8829]

@@arkyUS_YT Thank you!

[@PK_a]

Officially clicking that bell because I'm a month late to this video, and that's no bueno for quality of content. Congrats - you're the only KZbinr I have the bell clicked for!

[@arkyUS_YT]

I am extremely honored! Both by your comment, and for being your first and only bell icon! I have a new video schedule very very soon, it just took forever to get figured out, so hopefully you enjoy that one as well :)

[@Lolotrixx]

It all comes down to limitation. Dead Rising 2 added combo weapons as an additional ressource. You needed the items, a workbench and had to consider its durability. Durability was escpecialy important because they upt the zombie count, so there was also a possibilty to consider of crafting 5 awseome combo weapons and then arriving at your Mission/Psychopath or whatever with only 1 or 2 weapons left. So you consider your Route and priorities some weapons over others. Space for Health items was also a factor. Do I want to carrie 5 Laserswords with me or only 2 so I can take more food ? Sure, eventually you figure out what the best combo weapon is but lets not kid ourselfs here: Once you know how to get the best weapons in DR1 you always went straight for them.

[@arkyUS_YT]

I think the issue of “best weapons” in DR1 heavily became a thing with the advancement of platforms such as KZbin, because growing up and playing this game when it first launched, I had ZERO idea about half the tricks I use now! Finding something felt organic and interesting! That said, I’d say DR2 also has plenty of go-to weapons you can lean on, and habitualize in future playthroughs. Your point to inventory management is valid, but this was a MAJOR core tenant in the original game just as much as DR2! While you weren’t an OP God, it does ultimately bum me out that the focus on ideal crazy combo weapons (like the split shot) usurped the place of every items. I get that they’d be more practical, and we can go all day about whether what would be realistic or not, but seeing things continually evolve in the “every single thing in this mall, you can interact with” respect, feels like it would have been more fascinating over a smaller and smaller selection of weapons. I still hear what you’re saying though, and thank you for your comment! Happy new year dude!

[@jacewarbeck9684]

@@arkyUS_YT To be fair I learned about small chainsaws really quickly and still enjoyed the game. I disagree about combo weapons ruining the series - the lack of direction I agree with, the reduction of interactivity, but also narratively the games became more bankrupt. The games went from serious narrative and semi serious gameplay to shitposting over a period of time. Particularly psychopaths

[@Blue-bf8lv]

what a hot take, i truly think combo weapons were a great addition to the series, i think DR3 took it too far. a tennis racket and motor oil makes flaming tennis balls is simple and achievable in DR2, putting 2 knives together should not create a multi bladed long ass scythe like DR3

[@arkyUS_YT]

It is definitely a hot take, believe you me, I know! But, while I enjoy combo weapons as they existed in DR2 (to a limited extent) I can’t deny that it became the siren song indicator that evolving THAT SINGLE SYSTEM proved to be the only thing BluePoint could meaningfully change to delineate and justify future titles. DR2 = Story continues, and combo weapons. DR3 = Story continues, and we added crazier combo weapon and vehicles too! DR4 = “Story continues” and combo weapons are CRAZIER AND THERES A MECH SUIT AND FKSOWNDKDN You know? Anyway, thanks a bunch for your comment there blue! Means a ton :) Have a happy new year!

[@coreymathes5937]

I've always believed the same thing!!! This game has so many awesome gimmicks that help it stand out, but yeah that little counter in the bottom right corner of the screen is absolutely what helped caused the developers to stray more towards weapon combinations and extreme levels of absurdity; how many can you kill and in what ways??? I Love 1, 2, OTR, and 3 is meh to me, but 1 will always be my favorite because of its pure simplicity: see something, pick it up, bash, repeat. No worries of having to find the second half of a combo, and no worries having to trudge to the nearest maintenance room! Long live OG DR!! 🤡🤘

[@arkyUS_YT]

Totally agree dude! I think keeping things simple, but with good variety really made the first game iconic. Fall too deep into the “Look at how wacky our game is” rabbit hole, and it’s a slippery slope into “We don’t know where to go from here”

[@coreymathes5937]

@@arkyUS_YT agreed!🐰keep up the great work man, best of luck going forward!! 🤘

[@jacewarbeck9684]

"Combo Weapons Ruined Dead Rising - You Just Use The Same Combo Weapons Over And Over" *Hides small chainsaws and three books behind his back* O-Oh yeah, that'd be awful!

[@saaid2001]

Nice phantom savage cosplay for dr1(atleast thats what I think it is i hope I'm not wrong)

[@realCATGODyt]

I see why dead rising had combo weapons Chuck had workbenches and nick was a mechanic but frank making combo weapons is off for me (Closest thing I could see frank actually making combo weapons was when you play off the record as that game is just a story frank is making up)

[@arkyUS_YT]

I think at a point, they knew they’d turned Combo Weapons into a staple thing, so when it came to make sequels or spin offs, not including them felt like regression. I suspect with how grounded (or at least trying to be grounded) the original game was, finding “logic” within their design pipeline started to feel like a lost cause…so boom…Frank is an electrical engineer now who can make a lightsaber. I suspect they just hoped nobody would care, and appreciate the weapons they made haha Thanks for the comment btw! :)

[@albertssoup]

Quick question though if they ever were to make a remake of dr1 do you think they should add combo weapons but them be very balanced and not as easy to get as dr2 and 3 made it or just don't have them in the remake at all? I could honestly understand both.

[@arkyUS_YT]

You know, I thought about that a TON. If we get a remake, should combo weapons return. The reality is, we got three games of them, and one without them…to an extent, a reboot could potentially need them as they became a series identity. However, I’d perhaps like to see the system revamped to be more freeform! Keep everything as a weapon, and prioritize that as a system, since it’s at the heart of OG DR, but make items freely combinable, making for tons of useless combinations, but tons of genuine and discoverable combinations. I hate to cite it, because the games awful, but I loved Alone in The Dark for Xbox 360 for that very system. You had tape, bottles, bombs, glow sticks, etc etc, and were able to combine them to solve puzzles, but more interestingly create your own dynamic solutions to situations you were in by thinking within the confines of what you have. Making the zombies WAY bigger of a threat, and scary, and needing to use your inventory both as an arsenal, but also as a combinable puzzle solving measure could both flex and return the series to the “next gen tech bending” roots, and also give players the freedom to come up with their own creations, and ideas on how to engage with the world. This is a half conceptualized idea, but imagining the DR mall in Mall of Americas (biggest American shopping mall) and having those wide valleys FILLED TO THE BRIM with zombies, and knowing going through could kill you, so taping an alarm clock to like a frisby or something, and distracting them enough that you can slip into a store for loot/items/story mission seems so cool in my head! Thanks also for this comment too :)

[@SnicketySlice]

What actually killed the franchise: Canada.

[@arkyUS_YT]

It’s those Canadians, at it again >:(

[@heroicgangster9981]

combo weapons at its most balanced should be another strategy of how much and when to use the resources in a playthrough. Yeah i get franchises needing to grow and go big, but Dead Rising honestly is not meant to be cinematic or BIGGG! Sometimes franchises are so big because of their mechanics that aren't so visually or peak cinematic, Dead Rising reminds me of Persona where the fun of the game is strategizing how to play the game alongside being able to have fun playing the game itself.

[@harryvass9018]

would love to hear your thoughts on current Resident Evil what do you think of the series going from 7 to RE4 Remake?

[@arkyUS_YT]

That’s an AMAZING video idea! I’m writing this down, because the remake culture at capcom as opposed to the mainline entires is an interesting topic to tackle. Especially when you consider that Village, for all the cash they must’ve made off of it, feels…weird. Strangely not as good as 7. If I get around to it, I’ll be sure to use your comment for reference! Thanks again for said comment, btw! Happy new year ^^

[@JakeJakers]

I appreciate this video, as much as I disagree with it at points. For example: you mention that you would just likely power through to get the best weapons... but why doesn't Dead Rising 1 get the same complaint with the Small Chainsaw? You can just stack 2 or 3 of them, and with the criminal Biology book (that's in the smae place), you'll almost never need to improvise a weapon again because they'll last long enough for new ones. I also hear the "base weapons are nerfed for combo weapons" argument, but how much of it could also just be that standard weapons were adjusted accordingly? Like the bat being made a shoving weapon to emphasis his heavy attack? Or the knives being overpowered in Dead Rising 1 so they go nerfed? Also, combo weapons were a late addition, with many being added later on in development according to the devs. Honestly, I'd say that going open world with no loading screens while at the same time going multi-platform killed the series. Dead Rising 3 needed saving from Microsoft because the 360 was struggling and the PS3 version was virtually unplayable. Dead Rising 4 was held together with chewing gum and tooth picks because none of the work on Project Climb could be carried over and they used a lot of their time and money on Climb. Dead Rising 5 REALLY showed how this approach to focusing no a bigger world was killing them: they were going to use Fortnite-style treasure chests because the memory issues were getting out of hand. Something that wouldn't BE an issue if loading screens were allowed to be a thing. Personally, I don't think Combo Weapons killed Dead Rising. a lack of self control did.

[@arkyUS_YT]

Hey there! Sorry for the late reply, been juggling a ton of stuff! I would say the Small Chainsaws, while extremely OP, was unlikely to be everyone’s go-to weapon during the first playthrough. I could be wrong, but unless you looked it up, and knew how durable it was with books + the double chainsaw pickup, you’d likely pick it up and use it, until it broke, you know? Also, as I said in the video, I find Dead Rising 2 to not be the game that killed the franchise. My observation was that Dead Rising 2 implemented a mechanic that unknowingly set into a motion a thematic undertone, that led us to the irreverent and goofy tone/power fantasy game we got in Dead Rising 4. Dead Rising 1 was goofy, of course, but the narrative and world was pretty danger serious, and I’d argue even the psychopaths, the silliest part of the game, were depicted as unhinged, tormented maniacs more aligned with…well psychopathy, than character goofs. Combo weapons, by their very nature, are goofy. And this led to a major shift in structure and design when it came to Dead Rising 3 and onward, that started in DR2. I don’t find the switch to open world to have been much more than a change in technological capabilities, so for me personally, it was a net positive, so long as they were able to fill said open worlds with compelling and interesting world building and set dressing narratives (they kinda did in 3, but it’s still so-so) I can’t even imagine what Fortnite treasure chests would be like in conjunction with health items turning into UI crosses, and half the weapons being pre-combo’d in high rarity chests. Like dear god lmao But it’s as I said, the focus turned away from simulation-esque themeing, so power fantasy and comedy imbedded into character, rather than situation and context. Dead Rising 1 isn’t even remotely funny, it just that you’re dressed in children’s attire and a teddy bear head, you know? And when it was funny in the main context of the game, it was likely highly unintended. “I’ve covered wars you know” feels more like a “All your base are belong to us” type situation, vs being cheeky and corny on purpose. Anyway, I appreciate your comment and you, for watching the video! Even if we disagree, I just want to say thanks for that foremost :)

[@JakeJakers]

@@arkyUS_YT No problem, although I would say the small chainsaw is still comparable. People wouldn't triple-book it first playthrough beyond looking it up, but just using criminal biology is fairly likely. It's in the bookstore the japanese tourists are in, and that mission exists to teach you how the book system works. And since you get a short cut to the small chainsaw's location and you need to go through it a LOT in the first half of the game, I think stock piling it is fairly easy. Similarly, most people won't know what makes what combo weapon without some guess work, and they have the downside of magazines not working on them. For example, you aren't told that knife gloves can be made until level 35(ish), and by then you've probably gotten enough attack upgrades for the basic bat to one-shot zombies. But either way, I do agree the series has a combo weapon problem, but also in the sense the combo weapons really showed the behind the scenes issues. in DR2, they were the new mechanic and had a lot of effort put into them (the team actually went to hardware stores and built these things in their office to get an idea of how realistic they would look and should feel). In DR3, they were the main mechanic, but were expanded upon enough to justify that promotion; most of their issues came from a lack of balancing (which is do a degree a franchise-wide problem). In DR4, they're the only mechanic because the game was made in a weekend on a $120 loan from their neighbor.

[@colosine]

I couldn't get into the second game, it made me do things and the funnest thing of the first game was that you could do whatever you want, you can even beat the game by not moving for 6ish hours

[@arkyUS_YT]

Same here dude! Also sorry for pinging, I’m just responding to all the comments I didnt get to so I could personally say thanks for interacting on the video :) It helped the video do as well as it’s done so far! Hope the new year treats you well buddy!

[@frankkennedy6388]

I liked the combo weapons but the franchise really did lose its identity. I hope for Capcom to make it in-house again. Outsourcing DEADRISING was their biggest mistake. Since when were there zombies in Fortnite? 🥁

[@arkyUS_YT]

I like em too! Ask me when I was younger, and I’d tell you it was the single greatest thing ever, even if “the game looked worse than DR1” I was a weird kid, dude lol I second an in-house Dead Rising reboot myself! Here’s hoping 2024 gives us a hint at one, aye? Thanks for your comment, and I hope the near year is treating you well thus far! :)

[@glitzy5214]

I have not played a Dead Rising game and just stumbled upon your video. I gotta say it was very well edited and an entertaining video. You deserve a lot more subs! Keep up the good work!

[@arkyUS_YT]

Thanks so much for your kind words! Next one is right around the corner, so I’m definitely doing my best to keep things going :) Comments like this help, so I appreciate ya :D

[@ClaytonOHara]

make more Dead Rising videos pls! best game ever

[@arkyUS_YT]

LOVE LOVE LOVE Dead Rising! If I come up with a new angle for a video, I’ll gladly do so :) Thanks for the comment friend! Happy new year!!!

[@PaulDozierZZoMBiE13]

I've noticed recently that the hot takes on Dead Rising 4 seem to be defending it on one or more levels.Opinions will always vary of course, but I notice two camps with uniquely different takes. The measured take is that it's a good zombie game, just a bad Dead Rising game. Fair, reasonable, and a considered approach to a divisive topic. The second, and coincidentally my take, is that it is concentrated ass cancer printed onto a disc and that it fails on every level, even as a passable zombie game. Seriously, I've seen phone games with more complex minute-to-minute game design. I can go on for days about how much I hate Dead Rising 4 and this revisionist take that "oh it's not that bad" just baffles me. Admittedly, I'm a huge fan of earlier titles. I cite the original Dead Rising as my favorite game to ever be released and I've been a gamer since the 70's when gaming began. So my bias cannot be ignored nor should it be. However, am I taking crazy pills here? The game looked awful. I know 3 was divisive, but I've never heard anyone complain that it was an ugly game. I've heard people say they didn't like the darker tone or that the art direction felt off from the previous ones and that's fair. But no one says the look is bad, just not to their tastes. 4 though, the graphics looked worse than games on previous console cycles. And I don't care how many times they say it, I just was not impressed with either the number of zombies on screen nor their designs. They looked so homogenous and uninteresting. Mostly because cutting a swath through them was the only string in this games bow so why bother making any of them distinct or memorable? I dunno, I'm still angry about Dead Rising 4 all these years later. Life it tough, joy is hard to come by, and Dead Rising was my respite in a tumultuous world. And 4 killed it. Even if you give it a pass on whatever grounds, it's failure cannot be argued. Between low sales, the shuddering of Capcom Vancouver, and the fact that the real ending was cut off and sold back to you after the fact, I just cannot accept any defense of that concentrated pile of ass cancer printed to onto a disc.

[@arkyUS_YT]

GOD DO I LOVE THIS COMMENT LMAO! I made this video almost a year ago, and believe you me when I tell you, I opened up DR4 to capture gameplay for maybe a total of 5 hours, and wanted to die the entire time. The sense of “humor”, the stiff combat, the disgusting untextured zombies, the menus, the music…just, absolute Kinect game levels of trash. It’s not a good zombie game, it invokes nothing of a zombie game besides having “Dead” in the title, and implying they are somehow “Rising” for a fourth time. Believe you me, I actually remember working on the video, rolling my eyes, and just wanting to get passed the stupid DR4 section as quickly as I possibly could. DR1 was recently cited on a stream of mine as my all time favorite game. I can’t play it how I did when I was younger, but good god did the tone, ambition, design decisions, and spirit grace with age. Thanks for this comment though, I actually had my jaw on the floor laughing it was so well written!

[@bigstevedzn2353]

Great video. I think what’s happened to dead rising, simply put, is just unfortunate but it almost HAD to be this way. Dead rising 2 was a fantastic game and the idea of combo weapons was a genius way to differentiate it from its predecessor without straying too far from the framework that makes dead rising, well… Dead rising. That’s partly why the second dead rising is widely regarded as the best dead rising. Although dead rising 3 was actually an entertaining game, combo weapons, and combo shit In general was inescapable. Which was only a natural progression. But dead rising 4’s flaws really showed when combo weapons became a given and were focused on much less. But to sum it up, I think dead rising’s demise was because of the focus shifting from story and quality, to more surface level gimmicks like the combo system and map size. It’s unfortunate.

[@Polychi1998]

I honestly worried that if they remake the DR games, I worried they’ll have to “modernize” it and remove “controversial” aspects like the erotica genre, and toning down the psychopaths.

[@arkyUS_YT]

I do worry about that to an extent as well, since I feel like a lot of the games charm was how insanely 2000s Japan the game was in its design, despite being an “American” based game. While I hope we get a remake, I’m aware it’s likely not everything will make the cut :/ I just hope they make smart choices while not ruining the parts that were nostalgic.

[@Acog474]

I love dr2 better then 1 we can debate that all day BUT we can all agree that dr4 SUCKS

[@arkyUS_YT]

Okay, truce! Haha Thanks for the comment dude, much love :)

[@jaden149]

i love dead rising its 1 of my favorite games and glad to see i am not the only one who thinks combo weapons ruined the series hope if DR gets brought back with a remake or something i hope they dont put combo weapons in it keep them out of the series there not needed

[@arkyUS_YT]

Thanks for your comment dude! I definitely agree, I feel like combo weapons are fun and all, but they’d need to be seriously reconsidered within the formula of Dead Rising. Everything as a weapon is the point of DR. Otherwise, it really is just mindless hack and slashing with Mad Max weapons. Which can be fun, but not really what DR1 fans signed up for, or hoped would happen to the series. At least I don’t think so :)

[@brittondaye2529]

Combo weapons made the game better and imagine 2 without combo weapon

[@arkyUS_YT]

In order for me to agree with this statement, I’d have to say Dead Rising 1 would have been better also with combo weapons, and I simply don’t. Agree to disagree! Thanks for the comment :)

[@Mugiwara2k]

Dead Rising was such a great franchise…. Until 4. Watching this video just reminded me how godawful that piece of trash was and how it basically killed the series.

[@arkyUS_YT]

I know what you mean! By the time I got to the fourth entry in the script, I dreaded having to capture gameplay lmao It’s just…idk not a Dead Rising game lol

[@anilaisor]

nah dog the weapon combos where not the problem, it expanded the game well on DR 1 you would NEVER use a toy as a weapon they just dont work too little damage and too little stagger would make stuff like toys as set dressing, the combo weapons at least can make the more usseless stuff at least more usable and you still have the desperate moments where you use anything in hand to fight, so no its not the combo weapons is the lost of vision (also lets face it DR 4 had a LOT more problems than just a falty weapon sistem)

[@arkyUS_YT]

Mind you, the Combo Weapons as a thematic device, were the crux within the vision of their utility. While the idea of combining items to create better items isn’t a bad one, it was doomed to have to one up itself with each subsequent entry. This need to iterate features, led to the series adopting combo weapons as it’s near sole identity marketplace wise, and meant that in order to make the next game more appealing, they would have to one up this design choice, with crazier and wackier ideas. Granted, DR as a series isn’t a simulator or anything, but it had some level of grounding in that, all the objects you used as weapons were real life items, and therefore flexed a rather technically impressive aspect of the “next gen” of consoles at the time, that being item quantity. Year over year, less and less items were introduced, since miscellaneous non combo weapons were useless by Part 3 (the sequel to the game that introduced combo weapons), meaning the game was lightly moving towards combo weapons as the exclusive viable form of combat selection, making the need for “everything as a weapon” (which was a core tenant of the series in part one) extinct. This is why we see complaints in part 4 about a focus away from interact ability in the environments, and less weapon selection. Yes, DR4 had more issues than the weapon system, but they all stemmed from adopting the wacky tone of combining gems and a flashlight to make a lightsaber, and a minigun and a teddy bear to make a guard bear. That overt silliness and absurdity, led to combo vehicles, which led to the combo locker, and then led to combo mechs, and anything other than combo weapons being useless trash. And when your core tenants get stripped away, by developers who didn’t create the series they were iterating on, it just makes sense we’d get DR4. We disagree, but I do appreciate your comment, and hope your days chill dude :)

[@vault1021]

Using non-DeadRising music while making montages of DeadRising gameplay is almost as disrespectful to the franchise as Dead Rising 4 was 😢😢😢

[@arkyUS_YT]

Okay…but to my credit, as good as DR music is, it’s really hard to make ultra punchy edits to :p I used Doom music because that’s how those games feel to me, world altering, ultra badass, and huge. I wouldn’t call the DR soundtracks huge, but I’d def call them badass :p

[@vault1021]

@@arkyUS_YT I feel you though, Doom’s music is kickass and just as fitting. But it would’ve been nice to hear the bands from the Dead Rising soundtracks since that’s more exposure for them.

[@arkyUS_YT]

@@vault1021 Fair! That ending theme for DR2 is so damn good, if it wasn’t so vocal driven, I would have used it in a heart beat :)

[@VanceHelw]

It's not the combo weapons that ruined DR, even in DR1 people would just go to the useful weapon spawn spot instead of using the bench. Now asking yourself this, how come in Fallout, people are using fist, pistol, knives, explosive instead of a rifle? It's because all of them has associate skill and perk that make them powerful and/or unique. Same thing for DR, if you want people to pick up the silly non-combo weapons then give people some reason to do so, it's a design problem not a combo weapon problem. Another example is that in Dead Island 1 they made throwing away your weapon at zombies a fun and viable build, even in paper that sounds like the dumbest thing to do ever.