Earth Defense Force 4.1 Critique & Commentary

[@Dorkaxe]

Wow this quality is actually kinda blurry and blotchy. I got the right codec and the compressed video I have pre-upload looks fine. Gee thanks youtube for making this look like poop, awesome. Not a huge deal I guess, but just know that this game looks way better than this video demonstrates.

[@squeedlyspooge5648]

My favourite thing about 4.1 is how grim the radio chatter is, between mission 50 - 80 you find out that the artillery of the edf was wiped out to a single man who now does all the artillery stuff himself

[@MightyMemeKing]

I love singleplayer mission 86 so much for this reason. Central Command talks about how another sector was completely decimated by Earth Eaters, leaving no survivors, and then mission control has an actual panic attack over the radio, live, for all her already demoralized troops to hear, in which she says between gasps, "...everyone is dying!!! I don't... I don't wanna die! I really don't wanna dieee..." Like man, it was a total Oscar-winning performance from whoever voiced that character. If 25 years from now I only remember one voice line from this B-movie cult-classic of a game, it will be that one... well, that and, "Progress faster than science is impossible..."

[@pampasgrass5176]

I'm at work, and hearing the EDF troopers banter and sing is making me tear up. Need to get back to the boys

[@ethans2647]

I can't wait for EDF 6. This is probably the best arcade game to play with friends to me

[@icantaim4sht836]

I wish this series was more popular. I love it to pieces. I think most people look at the graphics and don't give it a chance.

[@Ironed-Silver]

I used to wish this series was more popular as well. But then I saw what happened to Helldivers after that franchise became popular. I loved Helldivers. But now I'm more than happy to keep EDF nice and niche

[@TheFloodFourm]

Same here but I don’t think it’s the graphics. I think it’s the very light storytelling, the simple and repetitive gameplay, and the scifi b movie atmosphere which has traditionally been a niche market.

[@justinfleck6329]

It is so cool to see a franchise continue to iterate and improve on themselves over time. That (as you said) is really what players want and what very few seem to be able to deliver on! The group chats is easily what i would spend waaaay too much time doing xD Ha ha loved the wrong trousers reference!! As always a very in depth and well done review great job!!

[@charleyp100]

I've only just recently stumbled across your channel from your Star Wars Battlefront content, but I absolutely love seeing some EDF goodness! Excellent videos, and I'm looking forward to seeing the rest of the EDF franchise alongside whatever else you make. I think they are top games that deserve more love and recognition for just being good dumb fun, but with a surprising amount of depth.

[@jessehenderson2967]

Listening to a review of EDF that I don't play whilst playing EDF 5. Nioce

[@TheTopgeartony]

Can't wait to watch this while I work tomorrow, these long form videos are an honest life saver during work and I appreciate everyone who puts the time in to make them

[@GeorgePerakis]

Glad someone finally started making videos about this series.

[@weirdox5007]

Entertaining and informative, thanks another great review! Even though I'm not that interested in EDF, your reviews almost makes me want to reconsider.

[@maxhalo369gaming4]

Do it! I recommend 5 or World Brothers as they are the most accessible titles. EDF 5 is so additive, I've put over 100 hours into on PlayStation and I recently brought it on Steam and played through the entire thing on Steam Deck.

[@anunthinkablemess1240]

Man, this review was so good I think I might buy this one!

[@Dorkaxe]

heck yea! EDF! EDF!

[@jessehenderson2967]

Ive got about 200 hours into EDF5 and while the game may seems kinda simple at first, shooting bugs, its such a fun game. Co-op is absolutely the way to go.

[@anunthinkablemess1240]

@@jessehenderson2967 I was gonna try and convince my friend to give it a try, it looks really fun!

[@josieppe]

I bought both EDF 4.1 and 5 on Winter Sale 23 on Steam and I can’t wait to play them when I build a PC, I sneakily watched your videos beforehand as a prepper and they are very, very good! You’ve made me more eager to play, and I can’t wait for the EDF 6 video.

[@goldengoldy0197]

Oh great, I just watched your reviews on 2017 and IA, I was waiting for this one!

[@ninjapants7688]

I always like to think of EDF as a modern 3D version of Space Invaders.

[@cyberded8418]

This vid truly is a godsend for me rn. Thank you for talking about this series and general appeal of it, I, like many others presumed it's just a funny trashy japanese game that is a good laugh for an hour a two. Now I played freaking 17 hours in two days and crave for more.

[@Dorkaxe]

Hell yea man, love to hear it! EDF! EDF!

[@theraredevil3316]

To add to getting stuck in a Retarius web even more annoying, you deal half damage to everything while you're caught, so it takes even longer to break it than normal. For some strange reason this also applies to the rangers healing guns too, so you heal for half the amount.

[@lordgrisaia]

Excellent as always dorkaxe!

[@BaritoneBeard]

1:09:57 This is often how I approach games with adjustable difficulty, ever since I heard Halo's "Heroic" difficulty was the canon difficulty, I assume most games hardest or second hardest difficulties are canon as well. Personally I think "Hardest" is the canon difficulty, as "Inferno" is simply unfair most of the time, even with like 9999 armor you'd still get obliterated in a few hits, so realistically the Ravagers would win the war by mission 3. Inferno usually demands the player know things like spawn triggers ahead of time and almost always requires fiddling with your loadout to have the perfect one, where I find that "Hardest" difficulty can still be tackled in a single attempt most of the time if you're skilled enough, even if you get surprised by spawns. Hardest seems doable for the in universe EDF, Inferno seems like the challenge mode.

[@carlisle6831]

Dorkaxe for president ❤️

[@DrewDoodle]

Dorkaxe for president ❤️

[@TheSilvermk6]

If dorkaxe releases a video, I'm a fan If a dorkaxe video only has one view, it's me If a dorkaxe video has no views, it means I'm dead

[@henplay7399]

I’m subbing goddamn I been lookin for someone who covered EDF 💪🏾🔥

[@PadChords]

Wingdiver lore describes how the women who undergo the process are robbed of all emotion. Since singing is typically tied to emotion (see every Macross series ever), not having them join in on the military songs could be a simple way of conveying that lore.

[@pinkeye6803]

Which game is this said in, I have played all EDF games and feel like this would be something I remembered or picked up on, but could have easily read over it, or missed it. But its not even mentioned on the EDF wiki, I would imagine someone would put this in the trivia section. And nobody on the EDF discord knows anything about it either. Its just women with jetpacks who use their mind to control their equipment basically. It just seems like weird fan fiction by coomers. No offense.

[@zin2828]

Where the hell do you even get this lore? Did you just made it up? Would love to know the source. Wing divers have no emotions? What about their war cries? Their yells and cries for help when they're caught in webs? This was just an audio issue. They either forgot to record the voice lines for wing divers when they recorded the English dub (like Dorkaxe said), or it's a bug no one fixed.

[@YoRHaUnit2Babe]

Emotions are prohibited ~ 2B

[@terry85mar]

You know all you'd have to do is lookup footage from the Japanese version or play it yourself and see if they actually do sing the lines.

[@zzodysseuszz]

@@zin2828 those aren’t emotion specific acts.

[@wrayday7149]

Can confirm on PS4/PS4P this game turned into a slideshow during the major events like the tiles filling the sky and then all shooting. It runs so much better on the PC. You do replay the same area... the 1st time you were there you retreated. The next time you go back you are testing a new weapon. Last time you are there you are crushing the enemy force. Or a major boss has entered the area and you return to deal with it. It was a hell of a way to recycle maps without making it feel repetitive.

[@Paccyd33]

completely fine on ps5 in terms of frame rate, and the ps5 runs the ps4 pro version so idk whats wrong with ur copy.

[@dubjubs]

It's perfect on PS4 pro, just enough lag to feel like a slow mo Michael Bay movie

[@TheFloodFourm]

@@Paccyd33ps5 can run even better than pro depending on how the ps4 stuff was implemented (sometimes even ps5 support is added too) In the case of EDF4 my guess is the PC port meant the game was designed to scale easily so it scales to the PS5 beyond the level of PS4P

[@runedeadthA]

Random FYI; the name "Retiarius" is a latin name for a type of gladiator that fought with a net; that's also why the name is pluralised like that. Makes sense though the game really is all over the place with it's naming conventions sometimes. The more you know! ~

[@bohungas69]

Amazing job on these retrospective videos you put up man!

[@agustin12689]

Man, you really dig deep in games very few people know. But what about the Mighty and perfect Dead Rising 3 DLC?

[@DavetheTurnip]

Coming back to this video after playing through 4.1 makes it a lot more engaging. I’m sorry you had to suffer through those DLC missions, but at least I know to steer clear. 😁 I was pretty late to the party in understanding how amazing the Rapier is too!

[@crocodileman94]

1:39:11 In hindsight, I think the purpose of this mission was to test the AI for the Colonists/Cosmonauts in EDF5.

[@Argroh]

another fact to point out about the DLC missions, is that only the HOST has to buy the DLC missions, once there, even if you don't have the DLC yourself, as long as the host has it, you can play them.

[@standaman4578]

i always appreciate when games do stuff like that so not everybody has to buy something to experience it together, like weapon sharing in killing floor 2

[@vinforfun9560]

I came to this video entirely for the thumbnail.

[@DianeCooperTW]

A lot of the fun of EDF is playing on inferno, i played 2025 on my xbox on normal with my brother and was incredibly boring and repetitive. Now on the PS4 i played on the harder difficulties and it was a lot of fun. The dlcs missions especially must be played on hardest or inferno to truly enjoy their contents

[@DavetheTurnip]

This video has made me excited to play through the game myself.

[@custardgannet4836]

Love this game ,I still play it the odd time on Xbox.

[@evanderbradley5900]

Yeah same. Wish we had gotten 4.1 at the very least.

[@ricardomagalhaes9967]

Luv your vids❤

[@thomasparsons9866]

So with the player character not being known as the hero of EDF 2017, Storm 1, is actually not completely true. One of the last few missions, a ranger, maybe of omega team, recognizes you.

[@terry85mar]

Finally

[@Mornings]

played through this game a few years ago pretty fun playing as the wing diver is the way to go imo adds a lot to the gameplay

[@maxhalo369gaming4]

I'm normally not one for long videos as my ADHD doesn't like them lol. But I love your coverage of the EDF franchise! Such a good video, I look forward to seeing you cover EDF 5 (the best game hands down), Iron Rain, World Brothers, and eventually EDF 6... if they ever release it in the UK/US lol!

[@DMRetroLP]

Ohara's lines make a lot more sense when you assume he's been hitting the bottle throughout the invasion and is just making things up as he goes along. "Sure, whatever, dragons are the giant insects' final form or some absolute bollocks like that. I don't give a crap. Now where did I put that last bottle of Suntory?" The giant insects are actually called "giant lifeforms" in the Japanese script, which also makes some of these lines a bit less silly, but I like my headcanon better.

[@Dorkaxe]

That's so fucking funny lol I love that.

[@soupcake3092]

Taking a melee weapon and a shield isn't really sacrificing much offense for mobility. The spears are mostly fantastic, my favourite is the blasthole spear as it does big damage and perices so it'd great for crowd control or big enemies like hectors. And the shield reflect pretty much makes basic enemies (and the spider kings) instantly kill themselves if timed right. Shield and spear has been the meta for over 5000 years, and it will continue to be the meta.

[@Paccyd33]

Great video

[@KlaasDeforche]

Thanks for the video. I think you should give Wing Diver The Shooter an other try. It gets better on harder difficulties when you are stronger and get better weapons. I felt the same way as you but when I tried to 100% it, it was much more fun.

[@athleticgravy1]

As an xbox player, where the sereis only goes up to 2025... Can confirm, the underground levels are awful as an air raider, no artillery/air raids and no vehicles. That's why i ended up maining the fencer, being the most agile class...

[@ryanindi96]

does it makes sense do you think if the Quality of life is hard or inferno armor crate is 2x or 3x ?

[@warlove5106]

Enemy damage doesn't scale exponantionaly, they just shoot more. Grey Ants on easy/normal shoot a few acid balls while on hardest/inferno they shoot over a dozen and they deal more damage per shoot

[@fhjunior6183]

Thanks for the vid

[@ZFOO]

1:28:34 IS THAT THE RED MIST?????

[@meh1977]

I am going to guess that the tanks and helicopters are preferred over the mechs because they have greater mobility, which is honestly the best defense in this game after stun locking enemies. I personally have found that vehicles will die very quickly, especially to the spiders, so being able to rapidly reposition if the enemies get to close is very useful. This is the main reason I never call in the large vehicles in either 4.1 or 5. It has been a while since I played 4.1 as the air raider so I could be wrong.

[@Dorkaxe]

Spiders are very scary, so I could understand that reasoning.

[@johnmc5035]

On missions with open field especially having an armored grape or Bike is huge. However mechs can offer great fire power as suport if you have some players covering them.

[@denofpigs2575]

​@@johnmc5035I love dropping a guard post on the foot of the mech so your 13k HP mech now suddenly has a damage reduction of like 65% lol. Now it's 35k effective HP pool. Not sure how well that works in higher difficulties but it's glorious on Hard.

[@Varitus]

Watching this after finishing my first game - EDF 6 and omg... they all literally the freaking same O_O Damn... even monster hunter tries to be different in between releases. At least in recent decade...

[@Dorkaxe]

Get outta here with this EDF slander pfffff if you don't see any difference you just aren't watching or listening.

[@Varitus]

@@Dorkaxe Same levels, now in 6 it's rerunning them multiple times, same monsters, same everything. I'm probably not gonna buy next 2-4 games iterations... they are literally look the same... minor updates seriously can be done via some patch or a dlc.

[@dubjubs]

​@Varitus Not even the same mosters. You have Kruuls, Haze, Krakens, Siren, Fishmen , new Ants and Spiders, Red or Pink varieties of the Haze (Hardest and up) and even Giant "potato bugs" now. If anything there was more new types of creatures added into EDF 6 than there was EDF 5. The only thing that I can agree with is that the campaign I wish had more different missions either new or from EDF 5 for the time travel segments. The only thing that is the same is the menu, movement, and some of the missions otherwise they are definitely different. To add that 5 & 6 are supposed to tie together so of course you're going to get alot of the same stuff just like it was with 2017 and 2025/4.1

[@Asterra2]

Be glad you were able to at least partly enjoy the DLC. I was reliant on the multiplayer population, which, by several months after the game's launch, simply did not exist. The entire purchase was effectively a complete waste and I didn't even have the opportunity to discover how shallow it all was. By all accounts, at least one of the DLC packs for EDF6 is actually a continuation of the game's plot and progression... but it's not going to matter because the online PC population will once again be too sparse for me to be able to actually play the content.

[@Dorkaxe]

Join my discord! I wouldn't mind playing with people on there at some point!

[@willrobson7265]

I’m looking to get an edf game to play with my friends and mess around in, and while I appreciate the sentiment that 5 is better than 4.1, 5 is also 5x the price. Should I get 4.1 or is 5 worth the price? Or should I wait for 6 and get 5 then when the price drops?

[@crabgamingreal]

edf needs more players

[@Ya_Mosura]

I'm pretty sure you can dash cancel in EDF5.

[@VortexGaming1194]

Alright, your video about EDF 2017 and this one has convinced me to get one of these games. Going to wait until a sale though! Also two questions, 1. I’m going to post a comment on your last community about some game suggestions for either a critique or a live stream. Are there any consoles or handhelds you can’t get footage from? Just asking because I don’t want to recommend something you wouldn’t have access to lol. 2 would be any news on streaming again? Just thought of a question 3! What is your Steam account name and maybe you could make a Discord for the channel? Somewhere all the fans can talk and chill! 😊

[@Dorkaxe]

Go for EDF5! Yeah it's on sale a lot, so wait for that. Umm, in terms of consoles, ps1/2/3/4/5 are fair game, n64/GCN/Wii/WiiU/Switch are fair game, and I also have a 360 and PC, so anything with those should be fine for me to record and play, depending on if I can get my hands on it and have interest in said game. Streaming might happen as soon as tomorrow(saturday) but I'm not certain yet. steam account name is the same name as here. discord is a maybe, I'm not sure if there's enough interest. It was, or, still is I guess, a 25 patrons goal on my patreon, but idk if that's happening anytime soon.

[@VortexGaming1194]

Awesome! I’ll get to work on recommending some stuff in that community post. Also I can help out with emulation or the rom files if need be

[@donnaclifford3688]

I used both wing divers and rangers when i played this game

[@Don11037]

Have you ever though about making devil may cry videos

[@Dorkaxe]

I've played the first game, half of the 3rd and 4th, hoping to finally finish the 4th and get to 5 this year. That said, I'm not sure I have enough interest in the series to really give it the love it deserves. If you haven't watched it yet, I'd recommend Matthewmatosis's Devil May Cry Commentary. That's the only video I'm aware of out there that gives DMC a ton of focus.

[@CaptainFellowship]

They fly now?

[@derrickhaggard]

I love this game.

[@gerfesongersa]

JOGUEI O EDF 2025 NO PS3 ONDE CONHECI ESSA FRANQUIA DE JOGOS E GOSTEI BASTANTE JA ZEREI VARIAS VEZES TENHO UMS 160 HORAS DE JOGO NO PS3 ,AGORA COMPREI A VERSAO DE PC A 4.1 E JA ZEREI ALGUMAS VEZES TAMBEM JOGO ONLINE JA TENHO MAIS DE 80 HORAS DE JOGO NO PC

[@tommymaxey2665]

That Glory parody song was so funny and depressing to listen too

[@tactictoe]

I do appreciate when a computer game remembers to be just that and not some pseudo-realistic virtual reality simulator because we have way too many of them at present. I am not a fan of walking around a large city full of NPC's who serve no utility.

[@reimuhakurei2123]

Retiarius like the Rome Gladiator that uses a fishing net to fight also i bet realistically the webs are hard to see thats how the npc wing divers get caught in the webs Hardest is probably canon difficulty cause Inferno gives you goofy equipment and maybe stuff thatll only be usable after 90% of the game or after the game if you think about it, but Hardest is harder than Inferno to play because you are restricted in what to bring while the enemies gets new variants and are harder EDF protagonists are legendary because of their weaponry and infinite ammo lol

[@loganspurlin]

I want the edf dev's to make a actual starship troopers IP

[@Dorkaxe]

That would be a really cool licensed game, not gonna lie, wow! Obviously the satire on the military industrial complex would have to take a backseat to the fun of killing bugs...then again, maybe not? Maybe still have that, but subtler, in the background, and then have it take the spotlight close to the end? Eh either way, it sounds like a cool idea, better than an RTS with the license, which is what they just did (hey anything is better than nothing I guess)

[@vileone13]

I think the true tragedy for me is I love this and 5 but my IRL friends do not. I got them all to try it during a sale and after a few missions and learning that you have to grind to get more armor and weapons were instantly turned off by the game calling it a (no pun intended) "buggy mess". this of course comes from a few people who think "Remember Me" is a good game.

[@aIIstarballer]

Would love for you to review the Batman Arkham games

[@drunkpilotexplorer7061]

Do edf 5…!!!!!

[@HarryBalzak]

15:50 Has been a gripe of mine for close to 20 years. Players should start out on an even playing field. If anything they should remove better gear from players the higher they rank. I do not want that either, but it makes a lot more sense than making the players with the most experience have all the best gear, too.

[@Helljump]

REMEMBER. GIANT INSECTS CAN'T FLY.

[@sebastiansochanski]

👌

[@TehBacca]

It’s not pvp? Some Air Raiders would disagree

[@xBox360BENUTZER]

EDF 5 review when? 😘

[@Dorkaxe]

Hoping to get that out after the next video (not the one publishing tomorrow/Monday). So maybe August?

[@maxhalo369gaming4]

One thing I will say is that I disagree completely with the weapon and armour limits in multiplayer however. To me it just kills the enjoyment of online as I work so hard for good weapons only to not be able to use them online and it makes those missions really tedious. I think players should have the option to turn on weapon limits rather than it being forced on you and having to beat most the game online just to remove it.

[@Dorkaxe]

I feel the same, but the other way. When you're on anything higher than normal, certain weapons will be objectively shit, meaning you'll likely never use them. In EDF5, for example, when I finally switched over to my ranger, I had a hundred+ weapons I haven't used yet. If the weapon limits weren't in place, I would have no reason to try out the lesser variations on lower difficulties. Not that there's a big reason to do that in EDF5, however, since medals earned at higher difficulties grants the lesser difficulty medals, too.

[@vla1ne]

@@Dorkaxe i think personally, the weapon limits make sense, but the armor limits really could be removed with no real fuss.

[@zacharydobbins6267]

I would love to play the series more… buuut since Xbox I only get up to 2025

[@genericyoutubeusername6462]

Why does it feel less like a talk and more like a FOMO session to buy all the other games

[@yuki4days]

🐬🐬🐬🐬🐬🐬🐬🐬🐬🐬🐬🐬🐬🐬🐬

[@J3nnySmith]

literally military propaganda, and he looks at it and is like "well since this game doesn't have anything bad to say about capitalism, so there's no meaningin in it sadly" like wtf. Why do you think it's always aliens that you are fighting in those types of games, or movies too? So that you can see the "good" side of soldier's life, without all those stupid moral questions about why are you even doing it, and that you are given literal license to kill just because your goverment decided to profit from it happening in some way, that war suddenly flips certain specific crimes and not only makes them legal, but praises ppl for it, and then those ppl will return home and will expect others to respect them for being such a good murderers. But if it's aliens, well then, none of that aplies. just shoot robots and bugs and don't worry about it. Support your local military btw!