Did Ironhide SAVE Kingdom Rush?

Music credit below:
Track: Evence - Lost
Music provided by Ninety9Lives
Stream / Free Download: 99l.tv/lostYU
Track: Kedam - Plume
Music provided by Ninety9Lives
Stream / Free Download: 99l.tv/plumeYU
Preparation Theme and Battle Theme from the Kingdom Rush Vengeance: Pirate Kings Original Soundtrack
All remaining music is from the wonderful Liborio Conti: www.no-copyrig...
Thank you so much for watching.

[@Mmlh1]

Great review! A few things I wanted to mention: - Spectro specifically gets invulnerable on the fog, not on a timer. This isn't explained anywhere. I was very disappointed the rest of the undead pirate faction did not benefit from the fog myself and definitely asked for that to be changed when beta testing. - Blackthorne has four abilities: gold steal, flight, cluster bomb, and kraken. Kraken targets three towers, destroying one and stunning the other two. It seems weird you never encountered the Kraken, which is a nice callback to KRF as well. - I'm not sure what you mean exactly about the sound design. Like, I do agree the sounds aren't perfect, but they don't feel awful to me either, at the very least not all of them. Can you explain in a bit more detail what makes them bad? Are there any that are just too loud or quiet (I make a mod for Vengeance and I can easily adjust volume)? But tbf I do usually play with sound off, so I don't hear them too often. - Hammerhold's Grand Arena also has those foreground things, on PC at least. Unsure about mobile, but I think you play on Apple Arcade which mimics PC. Edit: you apparently do play on pc, my bad. Edit 2: at 17:16, you have a Lucerna teleport animation render incorrectly. But most of the other times, it renders normally. It's very weird, I've reported it as a bug.

[@Thee_Holland]

Hi Mmlh (love the name), I think I have to pin this comment, because it's pure gold. You raise some great and really important points, and I would love to respond to them. - Spectro becoming invulnerable while in the fog makes so much sense! I would say that could've maybe been explained better by the game, but I guess I don't really know how... and for the rest of the pirates not benefitting from the fog, that's a great point too! I was actually unsure if any of them did besides the one I mentioned in the video. A lot does happen in that level already, but it seems like it would make sense for more of the undead pirates to be effected by the fog. - Wow that surprises me a lot, I had no idea Blackthorne could summon a kraken! Maybe I didn't see it, because I played on Casual? (Which I probably shouldn't have done, but I wanted to get the review out quickly and didn't want to struggle too much on each level). If by cluster bomb you mean the attack he uses twice to clear debris, I guess that's kind of an ability? And with him having both flight and kraken (which I missed when writing the script), he's definitely more interesting than I first realised. - The sound design seems to be a thing multiple people disagree with me on, and I do get it. I realised too late into making the video that I was probably being a bit too harsh in that regard. I also communicated my issues with the audio design quite poorly. It was just so clear to me when playing that something felt off with the sounds, and I think it was three things: 1. Repetition: A lot of commonly heard sounds, such as units attacking or the Deep King teleporting, only had a single variation, meaning it started to sound tiring almost immediately. 2. Volume: I think this only happened a couple of times, but I believe that Vengeance has a general problem with sounds overlaying making them LOUDER for some reason, rather than just overlapping. It can also happen (I believe) when purchasing tower upgrades too fast. This one isn't especially related to Pirate Kings though. 3. Poor Sound Choices: I dunno, I just personally really don't like some of the sounds, like the "Summon Fog"-sound from the Hanged Captain, or the attack sound from the big pirate with the anchor on the first level. They don't sound "crisp" like other sounds, and paired with the amount of times they're repeated, I just got tired of them reaaaally quickly. BUT I was definitely too harsh on the sound design, and I shouldn't have called it "awful". - About the Grand Arena, you're right - I see it! And I completely forgot they'd made it like that. It still feels kind of different to me, but I don't really know why; I guess it wasn't a brand new feature in Pirate Kings, then. Still, it was explored more in Pirate Kings, and I appreciate that a lot. But 100% correctly pointed out, that it wasn't the first implementation of the "foreground concept" in the series. - I see what you mean about the Lucerna teleport; or at least I think I do? But nonetheless, the teleporting still doesn't sit completely right with me, even when rendered properly. I'm sorry for the lengthy answer, but really, thank you for the comments Mmlh! So many important things I missed!!

[@Mmlh1]

@@Thee_Holland Don't be sorry for the lengthy answer, that's great! More detail is fun to read. - I'm also not sure how Spectro could be made more clear, but none of the beta testers (yes I was a beta tester too) knew about it, and needed to be told 😅. As a matter of fact, the fog also resurrects your dead units as Risen Cutthroats, and all beta testers thought it was Hanged Captains raising units they killed as Risen Cutthroats instead. Neither of those things were explained very well. I think the best way to go about it is to have a tooltip for the fog, like how the Glare in KRA has a tooltip, that explains both the Cutthroat speed and how the fog has necromancy, and then foreshadow that 'some more dangerous enemy may benefit as well' or similar. - No, I mean a genuine cluster bomb attack that he uses while you fight him as a boss. It references Rum & Bang from KRF I think. What may also have happened is that these abilities delay each other and you just killed him very quickly. Not sure why they delay each other though, I assume so he doesn't use them all immediately after each other. - I don't disagree on the sound design, I am just not experienced enough in that field to notice and immediately have an educated opinion on the sound effects. 1. I think almost all sounds, except for the standard melee attack, have only one variation. Not saying this justifies all the issues ofc, maybe the issue is just more widespread! 2. Buccaneer explosion is the main offender for volume I think so I was curious you did not mention that one. If you have any specific examples, please let me know as then I can edit the volume in Revengeance (a mod for the game) 3. I agree the fog summon sounds a bit weird. And the Boatswain attack sound - I personally would say it doesn't feel like the sound has the necessary weight to it, so I would agree with you there. It sounds like a clang rather than the thud I would expect. If the sound design is such a turn-off for you when playing, I don't see a problem with calling it awful. I just didn't really know in what way you found it awful when watching the video, so my recommendation would be to elaborate on such a thing a bit more for the next time you make this style of video. - Yeah I also don't think Grand Arena is the greatest implementation ever of the foreground, so I do think this DLC made progress by having it be much more common and nuanced! - Lucerna teleport animation is a shark eating the ship and chomping down, and then the shark spitting out the ship in the new place. At 17:16, the shark renders behind the ship (until the ship disappears), so you do not really see the jaws chomping down before the mouth closes. The shark just kind of appears. This usually renders correctly though. What I think is an issue regardless (maybe the same one you noticed), is that the jaws slamming shut happens in a single frame. One frame the jaws are fully open, the next frame they are fully shut. This feels very snappy and I think one frame in between with half closed jaws would have been better. Additionally, the 'spitting out' animation is just the 'eating' animation, in reverse. Where the snappy chomp was excusable when the jaws were closing, it's not really as excusable when the jaws are opening imo, and it looks strange.

[@Thee_Holland]

​@@Mmlh1 Wow, a real big red flag there if every play tester was confused on how the fog worked exactly! Ironhide should've definitely listened to you guys :') And the thing about the fog resurrecting cutthroats? I had no idea of that as well! Wild. Yeah, a tooltip would've done wonders! Oh wow, crazy that I missed two whole attacks in that fight! I think I have be more careful to play on Casual next time so I don't kill the bosses so quickly... ':D Wait, Revengeance... I think I've heard of that mod before. Are you the creator of that? If so, that's really cool! You're being so kind and open when considering my criticisms, and I do have to preface that I tend to be the kind of person who makes up his mind a bit too quickly; I'll just say that you're totally right about there only being one attack sound for most attacks, and I don't think that in itself is a problem. It just means that every attack-sound has to be very, very good for it not to sound "off". I'll definitely elaborate more next time, and even refrain from calling such things awful. To be honest, I'm just a very critically-minded person, and since there weren't really any other things to criticize, I went extra hard on the one thing that sounded wrong to me. But I was no doubt too harsh. Really, really spot on with the whole animation thing. The one thing I'll add is that - I don't know about you - but I think it would've looked better if the shark had been facing the same way as the hero when it bit down on her; to me, it seems more like the hero is flipping back and forth because she's being eaten from the other side.

[@Mmlh1]

@@Thee_Holland Yeah, AerisDraco started with Revengeance during the Steam beta of Vengeance. Then I joined right after release (because I wanted to properly beta test the actual game), and since Aeris has gotten busier, I have basically almost fully taken over development now. Jamsu has also joined recently and has designed some very nice wave compositions. As for the animation, I assume it was tested both waves since there is a 'reverse_flipped' key in the files. Are you on Discord or Reddit by any chance? I can showcase both versions in a video and send it to you there, since youtube does not take kindly to posting video links.

[@Thee_Holland]

@@Mmlh1 Really cool with Revengeance, I love when people take the design of their favourite games into their own hands! Whaat no way, that's really cool they tried it reversed! I would love to see that - try adding me on Discord then, it should be the_holland

[@anteaterhi]

Hi, beta tester here! I beta tested the KRV DLC, and it was an amazing time, so I’m glad so many people are enjoying it. I am also a beta tester for KRA, so with the quality of the upcoming KRA October update I can assure you that KRA’s future is bright.

[@Thee_Holland]

Hi there Anteater, wow what a pleasure that a beta tester would comment on my video :D Did you personally like Pirate Kings or the new Alliance update better?

[@anteaterhi]

@@Thee_Holland personally I enjoy the pirate kings much more, but the KRA update is still pretty good.

[@Thee_Holland]

@@anteaterhi Oh that's super interesting, I really appreciate the honesty. Still excited to see what the new update has in store!

[@Mmlh1]

@@Thee_Holland You'd be surprised how many people are beta testers 😅

[@Thee_Holland]

@@Mmlh1 That's fair, it's probably a lot - but still cool nonetheless to hear from one!

[@alexplayzKR]

The biggest flaw I find with Ironhide is that they aren't open minded towards implementing changes such as changing wave compositions, balance changes or creating enemies that compliment each other. The Pirate Kings DLC on the other hand, showed that they are still capable to create challenging and unique levels, so I am hoping that they take the same approach and try to improve Alliance in the upcoming updates. Imo it was a rushed game and still has a lot of flaws, but to list all of them I would need to write an essay. I will just keep a positive mentality and hope that the updates for Alliance deliver the same way that this DLC delivered.

[@rafaelsilaen9057]

Oh come on Alex they added Stregi the cute little witch,surely her introduction to alliance negates ALLLL the flaws of alliance🧙‍♀️

[@alexplayzKR]

​@@rafaelsilaen9057 Honestly... You are right, I take all my criticism back just this time, because of Stregi.

[@Thee_Holland]

Spot on. I have nothing to add, I agree fully.

[@Shyguymask]

Alliance also does have some challenging and unique levels in its main campaign.

[@thunderxp4456]

I really enjoy your videos after that alliance video, its pretty unique to talk about all of these things and factors in more greater detail. The pirate kings DLC i had high hopes for, after Ironhide made the hammerhold DLC i already thought it was one of the best things to happen in the series and Ironhide could never top it.. boy was i so wrong with that belief, pirate kings completely shattered that and made it the new standard for kingdom rush content. The future for kingdom rush and Ironhide is looking insanely great

[@Thee_Holland]

Hi Thunderxp, You know, the funny thing is, I think Hammerhold got a lot of criticism when it first came out! But I totally agree with you; Hammerhold was really cool! And I hope you're right about the future looking great, because Pirate Kings has definitely been a step in the right direction

[@AffectionateArcticFox-yl8gs]

Love ur videos so much. Can u make a review for og kingdom rush, frontiers and origins? Cause why not, i want to see your thoughs and comparisions.

[@Thee_Holland]

Hi ArcticFox, That's so kind (and affectionate) of you! Comments like these make me want to keep making reviews, truly such a nice thing of you to say. I'm actually playing through Frontiers on PC right now, trying to get all achievements, and I would definitely consider making a review of it at some points! (as well as the OG and Origins) Thanks again for the comment!

[@AffectionateArcticFox-yl8gs]

@@Thee_Holland np bro. Your video is very high quality. Scripting is great, humour and commentary is great, the editing is great and your videos are just fun.

[@Thee_Holland]

@@AffectionateArcticFox-yl8gs This means so much to me, really, that's... thank you. I'll have to get working on the next video!

[@AffectionateArcticFox-yl8gs]

@@Thee_Holland 🫡👌

[@oviaelectronica]

I agree it's a big step in the right direction and a great DLC overall. To be fair I don't think the sound design is "bad" it just lack some variety in places. Great review nonetheless, thx

[@Thee_Holland]

True, I was maybe a bit harsh on the audio design :') thx anyways!

[@SoloveyKR]

Great video 👍 You have said everything that needs to be said. Thanks for your efforts ;)

[@Thee_Holland]

Thank you so much, Solovey! I'm so glad you enjoyed it

[@rafaelsilaen9057]

Kingdom rush alliance has good potential for beautiful sceneries since it takes place in the origins map,the first area really shows how beautiful the map is with the trees and the arboreans doing their daily activities,the second area lacks that beauty which is understandable since you take place in a mine but they could’ve make it more visually appealing by adding more red crystals around to make it very eerie.I hope in future alliance updates they focus more on levels that takes place in the wild more or places that resembles a lot of nature like battling in the mountains or at the seas .The Pirate King dlc is great when designing the stages as you say in the video and i truly wish that alliance can focus on making more beautiful stage designs like the pirate kings for more memorable stages.Pirate king dlc is the best thing that ironhide Made this year and i hope they can take what made the dlc good and put it future alliance updates. Also they better bring back Spectro in Alliance as a playable hero,a great design cannot go to waste.

[@Thee_Holland]

Hi Rafael, Wow you make a lot of good points! I didn't even know Alliance was supposed to take place in the Origins map, that's super interesting if that's the case. And yes, more levels in areas like mountains or at sea would definitely be cool. Spectro as a hero in Alliance would be amazing! I really hope they do that, also because it would be a way for Ironhide to bring Alliance players over to Vengeance. Thank you so much for your comment, Rafael!

[@rafaelsilaen9057]

@@Thee_Hollandno problem man,just wanting to say my opinion on what would be the best thing for future alliance updates 🙏👍

[@Shyguymask]

3:05 I find this odd to say because Alliance went out of its way to lessen the saturation from KRV's art style among other things. 3:39 I really don't know what you're on about. This is a pretty good attacking sound. Same goes for all the other sound complaints. 14:44 Considering it happens when you're at like 380 gold or around that, it is borderline unfair and also mainly unpleasant to deal with, forcing you to basically mash tower upgrade buttons just so that you won't "overfill" and get your gold stolen nearly instantly. This is not a "positive" on the level, it's the one major problem with the level. 18:08 The battle theme loops after less than a minute. This is my other major gripe with the DLC, we are paying more for less when it comes to music. The standard until now is that environments would get two alternating battle themes that were often a little over a minute long, but now for five stage we only get one battle theme that loops after less than a minute, which gets grating to listen to after a while. This same problem applies to the Hammerhold DLC too and frankly, more people should criticize IronHide over this. 20:17 This is because Pirate Kings is quite literally the best piece of KR content we got since Frontiers. The way you phrase this comes off as if Alliance's game design and improvements among other things are not to be taken into significant consideration, just because it's gameplay and level design are worse than the Pirate Kings campaign. Which as I said, is so good that it makes even Origins seem lackluster in comparison.

[@Thee_Holland]

No WAY is that the real Shyguymask! What an honour! 3:05 - Really? I would definitely not have guessed that was the goal! Personally, I would say the attempt wasn't that successful then. I really think both the art style and saturation make Alliance seem quite cartoonish, but oh well. I could be wrong. (I usually think about the goofy acolytes in their red robes, they seem so silly to me). 3:39 - I think my ears might be screwed on the wrong way, because people seem to agree with you that I'm overreacting. And to be fair, I probably was a bit in the video - but playing through a whole level with that sound effect, it doesn't feel nice to listen to - at least not to me. And ESPECIALLY the fog sound! That one's probably my least favourite. 14:44 - Is THAT how it works!? Then you're totally right, that's not a good way to design that ability! I thought he just stole from you periodically no matter what, but if what you're saying it true, I don't see how that's a fun ability to have in the game. 18:08 - Wow, is it really only about a minute? I thought the second iteration at least added some more instruments or something, but to be honest, I was more or less guessing its length in the video based on someone who had put the track up on KZbin. I agree then that it should definitely have been longer and/or had a secondary version. 20:17 - I think it IS very important to take most of the quality-of-life improvements from Alliance into consideration, which is what I tried to state at 20:00: "As I explained in my review of Alliance, I think it did improve a lot on the flaws that Vengeance introduced, namely the heavy reliance on RNG in its upgrade system. And since Pirate Kings is built on top of Vengeance, Alliance still has features that are lacking in Pirate Kings." But it's also fair if you think I glossed over the positives of Alliance too quickly! Thanks a lot for commenting, Shy, and for the harsh and honest critique. I really do appreciate it!

[@Shyguymask]

@@Thee_Holland If you plan on making more KR-related videos I'll be looking forward to them!

[@Thee_Holland]

@@Shyguymask Thank you so much!

[@carminebsc8102]

i disagree with the sound design, the ones they have are fine. But I do think a few more sounds would be a cherry on top.

[@Thee_Holland]

That's totally fair, Carmine! A lot of people seem to be disagreeing with my critique of the audio, and I admit I was being too harsh. Thanks for commenting!

[@rebienx3404]

I loved the audio

[@Thee_Holland]

real

[@someone...6961]

Great vid. Is Spectro Lucernas brother?

[@Thee_Holland]

Hi Someone, that's a great question. I have no idea! It would make sense for them to have some familial relation, as they both look so similar, die in the same way, summon the same type of units, etc., but I truly don't know!

[@someone...6961]

@@Thee_Holland yeah, I also speculated that, because in Lucernas bio it is said that she was killed by her brother and they look very similar also, both have spectral ships, both have same death animation where they turn into a bottle etc. Hope Ironhide will confirm that sometime

[@Thee_Holland]

@@someone...6961 Uhh good point with the bio, I do remember reading that too. Yeah, I hope it's confirmed at some points by the devs, maybe in a later expansion featuring Spectro or Lucerna!

[@regisndreko]

It seems like I'm only one who actually uses the encyclopedia for the little descpritions (or maybe people just play on mobile) since it states that Spectro is indeed Lucerna's twin brother

[@Thee_Holland]

@@regisndreko Well then, that settles it! What a cool little detail.

[@marsesayko7565]

I underestimated this dlc at first and went with my usual harassers and dark knights combo on first level. Oh boy that was such a mistake without knowing what are the enemy types. They were throwing molovs parrots be throwing bombs and killed all my barracks. I wanted reset but still stayed to see the boss fight and boy it was fully anti-barrack level that got me “winning” with only one life left. Such a good level, that slapped me in my overconfident face

[@Thee_Holland]

What a story!

[@towerdefencechill]

regarding spectro's shield,i swear to god i've beaten him and never even realize he had a shield 10:00

[@Thee_Holland]

LOL