Games That Save the Best for Last

[@JacobGeller]

For your ticket into the Geller discord, behind-the-scenes stuff, and a full Director's Commentary on this video, join the patreon: www.patreon.com/JacobGeller

[@nickb1241]

Mind Control Delete was so good

[@rubyblooddemonking]

About super hot, theres actually a story in it, but one you only get putting pieces together between the two versions, you can find any myriad of "superhot explained" videos im sure that could explain it better than i can

[@MarikuJunrei]

Srop making me emotional with your narration damnit

[@wombat7961]

Can you do a video on Enter The Gungeon? aside from the amount of pop-culture influence it has.. . it constantly rewards the player, game modes, characters, skins, secret levels, secret npcs and secret bosses

[@bradsanders6733]

Jacob Geller can we be online friends ?

[@BaconNuke]

Okay that Wonderful 101 ending is totally sounds like 3 different guys came up to their boss like "hey I have a great idea for the final boss" and boss just went "put them ALL in"

[@RenaDeles]

Yes but thats the boss for like, *every* operation. He didn't for example mention that time you are suddenly playing Punch Out for the boss of a level, and really while I certainly have favorites pretty much any of the bosses would be amazing as final bosses in other games, and even some of the mini bosses.

[@rootbourne4454]

Truly the Gurren Lagann of video games

[@alilweeb7684]

@@rootbourne4454 i could only think that watching the video

[@SolarShado]

@@rootbourne4454 I literally said, when he finished describing it, "what if gurren lagann, but video game?". I'd sort-of heard of it before (as in "oh, yeah, Platinum made this other game, and it was also pretty wacky"), but I guess I'd never heard any details before.

[@ovensmuggler5207]

Platinum games is like that

[@CarelessFoolFallsFlat]

*Jacob* *discussing* *Thumper,* *Pistol Whip,* *and* *Superhot:* *MCD:* "The final level of this game introduces a significant change to the gameplay that retains continuity with what it has already taught the player while ratcheting up the tension in an impressive way." *Jacob* *discussing* *The* *Wonderful* *101:* The phrase "Holy shit" repeated ad nauseam.

[@Ramsey276one]

101 reactions like my Bayonetta reaction then! XD

[@anxietyprimev6983]

To be fair, I _was_ mouthing "holy shit" throughout the entirety of that W101 part. And to think I saw that game in an issue of Gameinformer about a decade ago when it came out, was like "huh", and promptly forgot about it.

[@Ramsey276one]

@@anxietyprimev6983 would be the same for me if I didn’t read ild issues somewhat frequently XD

[@plugshirt1762]

Basically the epitome of what platinum games go for with every release lol

[@autoscorer]

i love how Transistor waits until the very last fight of the game to have someone use the same time freeze/action planning powers that you've been relying on, it really makes you feel uniquely helpless when the boss pauses the game and just stands there carefully deciding how best to attack you.

[@pedroscoponi4905]

The soundtrack of that fight is also noticeably different from basically anything else in the game, though I can't really explain how or why.

[@jbrooks4865]

On a similar note (although this isn't the end of the game, it's the end of the second act), there's the fight against Ninetails in Okami, because Ninetails is also able to use its own brush when you pause the game to use your own brush powers. It's an intensely disempowering thing which makes you feel very vulnerable.

[@evanmalcolm4724]

this is the sickest shit, it's like... damn so this is how it feels

[@src248]

He also locks your abilities (or they can get locked?) similar to Super Hot, that fight is insane and I love it.

[@kairo3201]

@@src248 Not exactly. If I remember correctly, in each death in the fight, one of your abilities gets fried and you wouldn't be able to use them during the duration of the boss fight.

[@Dmobley9901]

"You make the first level perfect because it makes sense, it's the first thing people play, it's what you show off for demos, it's the sensible, marketable, profitable decision. You make the last level perfect- Because you love the god damn thing." ~Jacob Geller, 2021.

[@randomrey6568]

facts

[@surelyijest]

The X-COM games do a fascinating version of this, especially X-COM 2. Throughout the game, losing even a single squad member can be a crippling disadvantage, so you try very hard not to - you learn to play cautiously, conservatively, carefully managing every risk you take. But the last level changes all of that, simply because it *is* the last level. With no more levels, there's no need for everyone to survive anymore. Which is important, because the enemy force is much, much larger than any previous level. It's a last-ditch suicide mission to save humanity, and everything you've learned about how to play effectively no longer applies. Caution becomes suicide, and so you're frantically learning how to play aggressively and take entirely new types of risks. The strategic landscape opens up tremendously for that last, final mission, and it's deeply satisfying.

[@stickpeoplegamedudes]

I was literally one turn away from losing when I beat XCOM 2 for the first time. I still remember how anxious that made me.

[@chase4671]

Something similar to this video also happens in X-COM with the base defense missions in both games. Now, instead of being in a random town/farmstead, you are in your own base, in the HOME TURF that you have either been flying around on up to this point in the game, or have been building up! It makes the stakes of the fight that much more in this context. The second thing I love from this mission is how it breaks it's own rules for this fight, allowing significantly more soldiers than the normal cap to enter the fight to feel like an "all hands on deck" defense, to fight the swarming enemies in and around your base. It is so satisfying to see everyone that you had built up come together to repel the enemy at your darkest hour. But the final genius of the mission comes from that aforementioned player cap increase. Because while going on a normal mission, the worst-case scenario is that you squad wipe your squad of 4 or 6 soldiers, leaving the reserves to take a more prominent role if they have to. In the base defense, every new ally that shows up ratchets the tension of an already high-tension mission, as every new body out there is also one that you need to protect, you are no longer responsible for 4 people, you are responsible for 10! This leaves this mission with a "leave it all on the line" with your best vs. their best in the best battlefield of the game.

[@plasmaburn8003]

I've quit and restarted on xcom so many times

[@Nai_101]

@@plasmaburn8003 try to play your campaigns to the end. If you lose, you learned something

[@alley4978]

Lol, just use saves.

[@whinebite]

21:00 "Let me tell you the times i thought i reached the end" Ah yes, classic platinum games you defeat the boss that's about to destroy the city and doing that ressurrects the boss that wants to destroy the sun as a starting phase of their 40 phase final boss, love those guys

[@blastfurnace8644]

And all I can picture is an impatient Bayonetta because she's almost late for some sort of meeting.

[@pavarottiaardvark3431]

I enjoy how Supergiant Games have twice made their final bosses shocking by just giving them the same abilities the player has been using all along - stopping time, summoning a companion. It massively unsettles the gameplay, but with mechanics you are familiar with, and in a way that can't feel anything but fair.

[@BioCraftHero]

ASLO WITH HADES he literally uses a cast, which are the skulls he shoots out. They get *stuck in you if you’re hit like how your cast sticks in enemies if they’re hit* and when I realized that I never forgot about it cause holy SHIT

[@FinetalPies]

He even has the same ability that when his cast is on you you take extra damage

[@BioCraftHero]

@@FinetalPies yeah! It’s the boiling blood effect, and at this point in the game you’re probably familiar with it cause it’s something you can upgrade with the mirror

[@morgansearle3912]

cough cough, defiance drives this home the best

[@matthewbarwood863]

He uses a Death Defiance too, first time that hit me like a truck

[@artic78]

One of the few occasions I've full on belly laughed at a game, probably because I was already grinning like an idiot, was when it cuts to the characters inside the robot at the end of W101 and they are all button mashing just as frantically as you, it really is amazing.

[@ralexcraft990]

101 knew it was absurd, but it didn’t care. It was a little kid playing make believe and it knew it.

[@rocklobster64]

“My omniscience has limits” is my new favorite qualifier

[@jonathanharrison4585]

My favorite recent example of this is when Devil May Cry 5 made you play throught the whole game without Nero's Devil Bringer, then they give it back to you for the final boss fight AND give you a Devil Trigger on top of that, then let you play through the whole game again with both unlocked.

[@JacobGeller]

Ooooh yes that's a great example, that was awesome

[@hopebringer2348]

@@vilegrog could you be more specific?

[@loganscott5420]

I think that they're referring to the fact that every DMC game is designed to be eventually played at the highest difficulty and that everything before that is basically a tutorial.

[@lumina3257]

Another phenomenal example is playing through DMC5 as Vergil. For context for the people who haven't played, Devil May Cry 5 follows 3 characters as the player swaps back and forth between their different perspectives. In a normal playthrough, mission 19 is the penultimate mission, where you fight Vergil as Dante, and then mission 20 is the follow up to that, and the mission where Nero unlocks his Devil Bringer and his Devil Trigger. A while ago, they released a DLC for Devil May Cry 5 which added Vergil as a playable character and let you go back through all the 20 missions again, playing him for each of them. It's almost the exact same as the base game, almost. Mission 19 for Vergil is a fight against Dante. This is somewhat cool because in DMC 3, when you select Vergil as a playable character, when you fight Vergil in the story, he's still Vergil, just with another color scheme. Anyways, this Dante has access to a few of his tools and his own Devil Trigger for an enrage phase. But then, mission 20 comes around. I expected a fight against Nero, mostly because that would make sense, but then... The loading screen for the next mission comes in before a level select screen, and the music swells: kzbin.info/www/bejne/fXOom6ZmetKHpLs It changes from the standard Bury the Light to a special version with a unique intro and it immediately shreds as... you fight Dante again. This time, he has access to more tools, including his Sin Devil Trigger, and the fight is even harder than the last one. It's a great, small way to subvert the expectations of both long running Devil May Cry fans and newer fans who played Vergil mode after the main campaign.

[@Bane_Amesta]

​@@lumina3257 Great example, but I'm still pissed of taking Nero's boss fight, that was just more recycling to me... I loved the version of Bury the Light, but come on, Nero deserved to be a boss too :'(

[@TalkingVidya]

Wait... Wonderful 101 it's just the ending of Gurren Lagann This 100% confirms that a colaboration between platinum and TRIGGER would be a banger

[@TimLaSalle]

BRO! I just came down here to recommend Gurren Lagann! Who the hell do you think I am?! Your drill is the drill that will pierce the Heavens!

[@MarquisdeL3]

Platinum and TRIGGER basically have the same energy.

[@dominokos]

First thing I thought of when he described it was Gurren Lagann.

[@blarg2429]

@@MarquisdeL3 Spiral energy.

[@YayapLives]

Platinum Robo literally does the gunbuster stance. :P

[@ajavisk]

NieR: Automata's titlecard only shows up when you play the game for about 40 hours. You have to play the game, replay the game in its entirety from another perspective, and then you play the game a third time, with a continuation of the story you played the first two times. The game is phenomenal and brilliant before the third part. But everything changes completely when you reach it. The game leaves the best part for after 40 hours of game.

[@blackosprey2219]

It's a game with the veneer of a normal AAA, but it's truly a game made specifically for Yoko Taro fans.

[@agentc7020]

My god, the story just gets better too, Nier really does save the best for people who most likely will never see it.

[@a123darkangellll8]

Automata was fantastic, it will always have a place in my heart

[@Lifeinerinn]

And the continuation of*that* doesn't show up until after somewhere in the ballpark of 300 hours into another, COMPLETELY UNRELATED game

[@sikandarali6843]

@@Lifeinerinn wait what

[@eikosi-ena]

(Spoilers for Portal 1 & 2 below!) I think that there is also something to be said for games that throw in the big game-altering twist smack in the middle of it. From my gameplay experiences, normally I learn to anticipate these huge shifts towards the earlier stages of the game or the later chapters. You covered a lot of good examples of these in your video. An example of a game that completely swept the rug under my feet, however, was Portal. I played it a few months ago for the first time because I recently got my first computer that could support Windows games. Portal seemingly follows a very consistent and predictable pattern - it's a puzzle solving game where you are given established mechanics (being able to open two portals around a room on certain tiles) and progression rates (when you solve a series of three puzzles, you are taken to the next level). The plot is also incredibly simple: you are a test subject being observed by a faceless AI that you only hear through the speakers. I was more than happy with the game as it was. The quality of the puzzles was superb, and the mechanics were just simple enough that you still had to rely heavily on your intuition to pass from puzzle to puzzle. You also could see how much of the game you had left, and it was satisfying to see your level go up as you moved throughout the game. As the final level drew closer and closer, I remember being saddened by the thought of the game ending, but also appreciative of my progress. Nothing gold can stay and whatnot. This inclusion fit the rest of the gameplay style - predictable, structured, and orderly. When you reached the end, it was revealed that the AI had planned to kill you the entire time once it finished using you for testing. You were taken down a conveyor into a fiery pit, where you were promptly dumped... and burned to death. Then - to my surprise - the level restarted, like if you had failed normally. It took me a few cycles of being taken down the conveyor belt, listening to her evil monologue, and dying before I spotted it - a portal-able tile, located on a small patch of wall outside of the room. I managed to portal another tile near me, jump through, and escape. And then, the ENTIRE game shifted. It turned into this incredible experience of running through this strange, colossal underground laboratory that was literally crumbling to the touch. It ripped you out of that neat, orderly set of puzzles in pristine white rooms and guided dialogue from the AI and instead you found yourself scanning the wreckage of machinery for surfaces you could plant a portal on and listening to either the pump of pistons and conveyor belts, the irregular bouts of shrieking from the AI that was searching for you, or... silence, save for the soundtrack. It was a few "levels" later that I realized that the game was nowhere near ending, like it had established from the very beginning. We were only halfway through. The landscape was completely different, and it was absolutely thrilling. Plus, there was that AI that was breathing down the backs of our necks. It completely opened up the lore behind the game, too - we started getting clues and puzzle pieces as to who we were, who this AI was, and where the hell this laboratory even was. Eventually, we even learned enough about it to place a name and pronouns to it - GLaDOS. And boy, was she mad. She would pop in from time to time, unsure of where you were and demanding you go back to the fire room and die like a good test subject would. It felt so thrilling to be defiant of the seemingly immovable force that was established at the beginning of the game. The boss fight event went as far as you seeing her tangible robotic body and literally ripping her apart, incinerating her cores and dismantling her piece by piece. Yet, throughout all of this, you still had the EXACT same puzzle mechanics as you ALWAYS had. The only thing that changed was your perspective of the levels. Absolutely and utterly brilliant, and it is why the portal series is to this day my favorite set of puzzle games I have ever played. Which brings us to the next Portal game. Obviously it couldn't quite have the same effect as the first one did, but the developers knew this and didn't try to replicate it. Instead, it was bizarre and uncertain from the beginning. You were in a strange environment, unsure of exactly where you were going or what you were doing. It then later snapped back into place into a similarly structured format as the first, when GLaDOS reawakens and "kills" your new companion before dragging you back to perform more tests. You feel restless, though, waiting for something to happen. Waiting for that same change you experienced with the first one. And boy, does it deliver. You don't even get to reach the ending of the levels she has displayed for you. A little more than halfway in, your seemingly dead companion makes a reappearance unbeknownst to her and promises to help you escape. Then, out of the blue a few levels later, the whole WALL gets town down and you run out of the stifling white rooms and back into the massive disintegrating laboratory. It was brilliantly executed, and genuinely caught me off guard - even though we were all anticipating another shift in environment and gameplay. THEN, to top things off AGAIN, it has another huge shift mid-game - your companion betrays you, switches places with GLaDOS, and throws you BACK INTO THE SAME FORMAT OF TESTING!! To which you break free, AGAIN, and NONE of it ever got old!!! This is long enough, but the Portal series really highlights how amazing games can be that aren't afraid to take these huge leaps mid-game. The key here is keeping a balance between not changing the core game mechanics too much, but still pushing the player out of their comfort zone and shaking it up a little.

[@alberthwang2900]

My favorite bit of Portal 2 was getting stuck on one part, looking up a walkthrough, and accidentally looking at the walkthrough for the very end of the game. The walkthrough creator had been conscientious enough to say, "You'll know what to shoot your last portal at when you see it," instead of giving away the last twist.

[@switchprocontrollersplatoo7240]

I played both of them when I was a bit younger and man, the twists and turns are engraved into my memory. I love many games, sure. But I can’t truly adore a game if it doesn’t have massive, sometimes unexpected, but always cool and very smart moments. Like doom eternal’s firing of the BFG into mars. Of course, my favorite game is BOTW, which doesn’t really do much of that, but I still hold to my point. The portal games taught me to expect a quality to games that I rarely find

[@ryanlawson3930]

I ain't reading allat

[@anonymeese]

​@@ryanlawson3930😐

[@ponivi]

Man portal 2, I really liked the part where he kills you

[@zaidlacksalastname4905]

Getting the double dash towards the end of Celeste was amazing

[@emblemblade9245]

Oh my god the end of Celeste was so beautiful and hype. Just one giant “I CAN do this!” moment

[@Genesis-fc8we]

YEEEEEEEEEEEES

[@dumbsterdives]

the zing of that unlock immediately followed by the marathon run straight to the peak after how long you spent getting up the first time was so good.

[@iwhu707]

That has to be one of my favorite endings

[@iknaifnawif]

Someone's gonna mention NieR Automata, might as well be me. It might not have been included because it's so intertwined with story but it's an incredible moment in terms of playing it too.

[@skabbonica]

I'm glad you mentioned it, because I was going to. I'm playing through Replicant (like everyone else is) right now, but I don't know if I've ever felt the sheer intensity of emotion I felt at the end of Automata. It's an all-time great for sure (on the topic of successes by Platinum Games, no less).

[@CaptainFram]

The best late title card of all time

[@butterstries585]

Beat me to it

[@xubikiltro5263]

The sad part is that most people barely even made it to ending A, wich is barely scratching the surface of the whole thing, the second half of the (complete) game is by far the best, route C is gut wrenching and the final ending makes you feel a very special mix of joy and sadness, it's a shame that so few people get to experience it

[@Bluecho4]

Yoko Taro kind of made a habit of this, with the Drakengard/NieR series. They weren't always _good_ endings - at least when it comes to Drakengard 1 (I don't count Drakengard 2, because it wasn't Yoko Taro's game) - but they were always interesting and out of left field.

[@LukeBeeman]

I don't know if it quite fits because I wouldn't necessarily call it saving "the best" even though it's extremely funny, but I love the way Rhythm Heaven Fever trolls the player by breaking its own rules at the literal last second. In the final level of that game, Remix 10, the last section involves alternately catching candies and swatting away spiders (pretty normal as far as this series goes), and at the very end of it, you catch what seems to be the final candy as the song finishes on a sustained note that fades to silence. It's not over yet though: after another second or so, the music kicks back up again with that same final 2 measures as you go through your actual final set of candy catching and spider swatting, and you can tell it's actually the last one this time because as that last note fades out, your character's disembodied hands withdraw and the screen fades to black. Except just after the screen goes completely dark, the music kicks in again, the visuals come back, the hands re-emerge, and you have to react to that same final set of cues for the actual for real definitely last time (this time the final candy is replaced with a bouquet of flowers), scrambling to pick up the controller in time if you're like me and had just finished setting it down in relief. This entire sequence of events lasts less than 20 seconds and doesn't really represent any big expenditure of effort on the developers' part, but I still really fondly remember it for how thoroughly it pulled the rug out from under me right at the very end.

[@princelumpy4045]

Sick, TLDR but yea I love games like that, games that break the dynamic. Like the flowie fight in undertale

[@krysto2012]

This is actually a cute little troll you can see coming if you're familiar with that particular minigame, since it always ends with a piece of candy that's different from the rest, as does Remix 10 when it's actually over.

[@bugdracula1662]

I just realized that It’s actually a great troll because, given how hard remix 10 is, you probably didn’t beat it first try, even if you did get the last part, so it doesn’t really hurt you.

[@benepic3101]

The ending of transistor has you facing off against another guy that is taking advantage of the exact same extensive customization system that you’ve been using the whole game, using his own set of your abilities, and it’s really cool

[@henryfleischer404]

The end of the story completely eclipsed that in my mind. I played through almost the entire game again after that, and stopped right before the end.

[@arforafro5523]

I wish Cyberpunk did this with cyberpsychos, many would dash and move in hyperspeed just like the player could; but it didnt really have much effect on the combat considering you could do your super speed and they would still slow to a crawl. Yea I know; Blunderjunk 2077, doesn't make me wish it had better combat among cyborgs nonetheless.

[@carlospitol4693]

Playing the entirety of undertale, finding it a cool, wholesome jrpg parody, only then understanding what the game was actually about and, just a few days later, finishing it on my third playthrough was one of the best moments I've ever had in gaming and still makes me emotional.

[@jackpollard550]

Unironically choked up at THAT hug.

[@pedroscoponi4905]

Oh yeah, for sure. "Haha, she's called Toriel because it's a tutorial, isn't this game clever" ~5 hours later: _uncontrollable sobbing_

[@raph2550]

Same: I heard a lot a praise of it back then, so I gave it a shot and thought it was okay and funny. Of course, I only did the neutral ending but felt a bit lazy to play it again after it. But a few weeks later, after browsing through the wiki, I realized I really had to see the real ending and went through it again. I did not expect to have missed so much and I only then I realized what the game was about. Now 5 years later, it is still one of my favourite games ever.

[@AraujoDaisuki]

"A L T H O U G H T T H E Y W I L L F A C E J U D G M E N T"

[@kyloctopus]

Last week, I read someone’s theory on Thumper and how they think the reason you are on a narrow path that occasionally twists, is because you happen to be the beetle, running on a vinyl record and the ending is supposed to signify that the record has been scratched, making that pyramid-like object the needle. Made alot of sense to me. Anyways, everyone should play Thumper. Now that it’s free. Hopefully Drool can throw a PS5 port to the game, so that it can work with PSVR2, while also making use of haptic feedback, because playing with HD Rumble on the Switch, is still one of the best uses of haptics that I’ve felt.

[@aarcade6676]

I think that record idea significantly detracts from all the cosmic horror of the game

[@superspider64]

The way you just slowly devolve into a frantic, breathless frenzy describing the ending(s) of Wonderful 101 is hilarious

[@Super121830]

I will dare to say Earthbound did something like this too, the final boss breaks the rules by requiring the player to use a skill of a particular character that is mostly unviable, 8 times in a row, while the rest of the team's work is to keep standing

[@sephticus6847]

I was hoping to see Earthbound mentioned in the comments Possibly my favorite example of last-minute gameplay subversion is when you are forced to take a ridiculous long shot as a final resort after trying literally everything first

[@JaquesBobe]

Jacob saving the best ending for the last spot on the list is a delicious piece of meta goodness.

[@melancholyentertainment]

Not to mention that like the endings he mentioned before, he had one thing going the whole video, and had the last part be completely different.

[@zacky7572]

Your profile pic reminds me of another game that saved the best level for last...

[@OmiP42]

Thumper is a goddamn masterpiece and more people need to play and talk about it. It's the one game that feels the most like playing an instrument, the sheer physicality of it is breathtaking!

[@heartache5742]

the sound design is a technical marvel

[@joelman1989]

It now being free on PlayStation will hopefully get more people playing it. That’s how I discovered it anyway.

[@gemorris2000]

I tried the VR demo and it made me really uncomfortable after a while. I can see how it's good but something that makes me feel physically wrong is not something I want to play.

[@joejoemyo]

Titanfall 2 also does this, I would say. It saves the explosive titan battles until last, saves the nation-destroying smart pistol until last, and saves most of the emotional moments until the later levels

[@achillesa5894]

The Smart Pistol moment is incredible in my opinion because of what a menace it was in the first game. If you watch a playthrough of TF2, in that moment you will know if the player has played the first game from their facial expression. It's amazing how this little unassuming pistol causes every veteran to lose their mind.

[@pyrotechnic96]

I feel like the time travel mechanic was pretty late too. The smart pistol was awesome but my favorite bit was the "the only way out is up" part. Such a cool way to engage players with the wallrunning and jumping.

[@joejoemyo]

@achillesa5894 this was me lol I played a ton of Titanfall 1 and actually got pretty good at playing as and against the smart pistol and cloak meta. I have never felt more power than being given that tiny pistol, and that's in a game where you literally pilot giant mech suits with missile launchers

[@TophTheArdecheWalker]

@@joejoemyo Were you playing on PC? I don't recall anybody using smart pistol but I used to play on console at that time

[@Errant2]

I was looking for this comment.

[@GemA2Gen]

I feel the same watching your essays. Every time i finish one i think "wow, isn't this the greatest video i could ever watch, roll the credits, youtube is over", and then you put out another one

[@Alex-wv7wf]

I feel like Mario Odyssey’s final capture was a really cool cathartic moment. Not necessarily an entirely new mechanic but I think worth mentioning.

[@JacobGeller]

yep yep yep, a great twist.

[@nicksurename5392]

Just wanted to say thanks for adding closed captions! I know I'm not the only person who really likes having them on videos. Thanks!

[@critaper328]

The escalation in wonderful 101 sounds as insane as the power escalation towards the end of gurren laagan

[@matthew5255]

the messenger is a perfect representation of this not only does it turn from a linear platformer to a metroidvania halfway through, but the final boss TURNS INTO A PUNCH OUT BOSS WHAT

[@thejohnkaufman]

Me: [sees The Wonderful 101 for the first time in my human life] lmao what the whole entire heck. This is absolutely absurd and easily one of the greatest things I've ever seen

[@Infinity868]

OneShot let you play through the entire game again with a new storyline and new dialogue to get a new ending, but this only happens if you checked the game's files to find a note explaining how. Pretty cool, also it completely breaks the forth wall and it has a very good, heartfelt story.

[@PhantomGato-v-]

Fourth wall? What fourth wall?

[@ultimatemacchia]

"So that must have been the end of Wonderful 1-" *Sorairo Days stars playing*

[@joecassidy2887]

JUST WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK I AM

[@GameOSaurusChaosC]

no matter how many times i watch that show, i always get chills when the guitar comes in right near the end of the final episode.

[@flashtirade]

HASHIRIDASHITA

[@TimBagels]

I can hear this in my head

[@GameOSaurusChaosC]

@@flashtirade OMOI GA IMA DEMO

[@lilwage6910]

Baba is You has perhaps my favorite "best for last" moment for me. I think it would be right up your alley.

[@goodzillo]

Baba is you isn't a game with recognizable magic but in my opinion it's 100% a game about being a mad wizard tampering with the laws of the universe. The ending is only the capstone.

[@sphete6341]

after playing over 100 hours of spelunky 2 and finally getting to the secret ending, i find out the secret ending is actually the beginning of the next 99 extremely hard levels

[@gnomehead2073]

Lobotomy Corporation is a game that just gets better and better and better the further you play into the game. Specifically Midnight Ordeals are absolutely crazy stuff.

[@jayritter2901]

How do I get through lob corp? It feels like a chore

[@clairvogaze]

@@jayritter2901i promise you, the story picks up once you get to rhe middle layer. take notes, find a routine, make some ways to suppress abnos, and itll all fall into place and youll be managing your facility like its an extension of your body.

[@clairvogaze]

its a knowledge heavy game, each restart is a successful one if you learned something new

[@gnomehead2073]

​@@jayritter2901 Real talk that isn't just "git gud" or "try harder"... Use cheat mods if you really have to. the parts of lobcorp that actually make it good aren't the gameplay or balance. cheats mean that you can explore the games incredible story and visual spectacle without slogging through a game with an unintendedly long and grindy gameplay. I personally didn't use any cheat mods but that's only because I am a masochist and a half lol.

[@lucyarisato6850]

God magically summoning 110,920 unamed projact moon fans to reply "PROJECT MOON MENTIONED" on every comment in any KZbin video ever

[@Hyraethian]

I often listen to your essays while working, crying tears of joy while washing dishes is a common result. you are incredibly passionate in your speaking.

[@realkingofantarctica]

"A great beginning can stay with you for one hour, but a great ending can stay with you for one lifetime."

[@twodumbcats390]

That's what OP mom's said last night

[@Tinyvalkyrie410]

Nier Automata and Lair of the Clockwork God both blew my mind with late game twists. It was amazing in two completely differently ways Edit: so lots of people are talking about Nier, but no one is talking about Clockwork God. It is a really neat indie game where you play two characters. When you play as one, the game is a platformer, when you play as the other it’s a point and click. This game is one of the funniest things I have ever played. It definitely falls into the trolling the player game, but for me it somehow managed to do it without pissing me off

[@TheRechargeables]

I can't begin to tell you Jacob how unbelievably happy I am with you talking about the very essence of what makes The Wonderful 101 the absolute peak of interactive hype entertainment.

[@JonoSSD]

Every year Jacob puts out a video close to my birthday and I can't help but feel it's a gift for me, a video that I can watch many times in many different ways and later spend many hours thinking about many different things based on my experience with them. Thank you, Jacob. If there ever was a channel that can get your creative juices flowing anytime you watch any video, it's this one.

[@EndlessNameless5]

I know it is not exactly at the ending, it's the final 1/4 of the game, but I remember Portal 1 blowing my mind when GLaDOS try to barbecue us, and we have to step out of the platform and the clear cut, pristine rooms, and delve into the behind the scenes. No more carefully arranged puzzles, we need to navigate in places that were not made for portals, and with this we learn some of the backstory, without reading anything at all! What a great game!

[@velocivoid7974]

So Thumper likes some weird time signatures, eh? I think they’d like a little someone named Chris Christoudoulou.

[@Salty_C.J.]

Unlocking every ability in control completely changes the game, they all just flow together so perfectly that the juxtaposition of having them all vs missing any single one of them is kind of mind blowing

[@TheBabaloga]

Kind of a nitpicky thing: the "first level last" mantra is (imo) more about knowing what the game you're introducing actually is. Sort of like writing the intro paragraph to an essay last, it's not because you're going to be better at writing by the end, it's because you know concretely what essay you're introducing.

[@johnarmstrong5533]

Absolutely. It's not just about wowing new players so they'll be compelled to keep going (although that certainly does matter); it's about teaching new players everything that they're going to need to know going forward.

[@googiegress]

Actually doing the work of building the last part first also forces you to take it into consideration during the rest of the development. But then of course you revise your last-part work completely to take into account lessons learned.

[@sanxia1408]

The Wonderful 101 is definitely an entire Gurren Lagann reference

[@Irisverse]

The robot even did a straight-up Gainax pose in one of the clips in the video.

[@thecatmom2861]

I think the end of the Celeste DLC is my favorite. It's not particularly hard after the C sides, but it's a minute and a half long where any mistake means starting all over. The game has trained you so well that you see it and know exactly what to do. It takes hours to complete if you're like me, and I think the story conclusion is also fantasic

[@Sableknight]

8:19 "It's hard to communicate just how destabalizing this is" No kidding. I'm so glad you talked abt Thumper though cause experiencing it for yourself w/out knowing what's going to happen is such a trip for all the reasons you mentioned. Love it 💜

[@MinorCirrus]

The end (well, one of the ends) of The Talos Principle is something special. Really special.

[@Darkel]

it really is

[@_fudgepop01]

Every single video of yours I watch and smile throughout and am repeatedly, without fail, shocked to see my name there forgetting that I started supporting this thing awhile back. It’s always a bit of a rush seeing it appear on such awesome video essays on one of my favorite KZbin channels of all time- Thanks for the utterly fantastic content dude!!

[@nofivefivesevenseven]

Portal 2 has a cool ending, though I don't think its good enough for this. But using everything you've learned to defeat Wheatley is so fun. You have to use bombs, gels, portals and previous story knowledge (conversion gel being made out of moon rock) to beat the game.

[@chigi9371]

Yes!!! I don’t know if I’ll ever forget the way I lost my mind at the boss fight in Pistol Whip. That crescendo at 12:13 matched perfectly with my SCREAMING as suddenly everything I knew about the gameplay felt turned on its head. What a great moment.

[@cloudy772]

The Messenger is great for this. Halfway through the game it pretty much changes genres and artstyle. It’s crazy cool

[@hxsort]

[Anyone who hasn't played it, spoilers for The Messenger down, you should play it] Man, the moment the shopkeeper makes you dress up and you go "OH MY GOD IT'S A LOOP", is unbeliavable. Also, the DLC ending with that boss fight. just. wow.

[@ONE-vt1fz]

noita: a roguelite game where once you beat it after many hours the game casually goes "oh yeah theres two parrallel worlds with crazy new stuff, good luck with that"

[@lucasrh6910]

And even before that, "oh yeah there's a huge world with crazy new stuff, good luck with that"

[@andrew_cunningham]

Bringing Noita into this conversation almost isn't fair. That game doesn't "save the best for last" so much as it disguises its tutorial as the entire game and literally never brings you up to speed unless you figure it out yourself, even as you willingly replay the same sliver of content for hundreds of hours.

[@yellowsaurus4895]

Noita literally has more "secret" content than the "actual" gameplay. Man i really need to play it again and actually beat it this time lol

[@midnightrylen2267]

The game that comes to mind for me is Cytus 2. A mobile rhythm game that is pretty standard all around except for a phenomenal story told through logs you unlock. A story of conspiracy and beautifully written characters that ends with you making choices by playing notes, a trolley problem and a custom composed 8-minute song that is 4x as long as a standard song in the game. It ends so incredibly that i honestly score it up there as one of my favourite endings in a game. Ever. I genuinely don't want to spoil it for you and genuinely recommend you play it because it sent several waves of chills down my spine. It pulls all the stops. I cannot beg you enough to try this experience. Although I'd recommend following a character playthrough chart to follow the story linearly instead of fragmented and time jumpy as that is somewhat left to the player. I cannot beg you enough to try this experience.

[@monkeyman8393]

It’s amazing hearing you so passionate about these. When you talk about these games in the tone of an exited kid with essay written evidence it makes me passionate too!

[@okdthefmv]

Again another amazing video. This makes me think of Katamari Damacy, as the game just let's you go buck wild as you get to see all of the town that you've been rolling around, then planet earth, and then finally the cosmos.

[@ZiggyPalffyLA]

“I feel it. I feel the cosmos.”

[@cyan.cephalopod]

Thumper was so brutal I physically couldn’t get past level 5, I’m so happy to see someone cover it! There’s no way I could get past that last level, that’s crazy

[@wulfleyn6498]

I think my favourite example of this is the armored core series. Almost all the games follow the idea of you just being a merc in a mech who does the jobs he is given until the stakes escalate. And then they keep escalating. And then again until you are fighting on flying colony ships in the atmosphere of a dead earth, either to protect them, destroy them or steal their technology. I love that series. The difficulty increases in some of these situations is brutal.

[@willhart2188]

Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, is the first that comes to mind.

[@katherinalastname7077]

Brings back such good memories

[@thismissivemisfit]

I only watched a let's play of it. I couldn't function for almost 2 days when I got to the ending. Damn, it was so emotional!

[@zs4515]

I was looking for this game in the commentsxD That moment when you look at your hands funny with "Now what?" and then you check and the thing works and it breaks you again after breaking you a moment before. I love when mechanics is part of the story: D

[@ActuallyAnanya]

So what you're saying is The Wonderful 101's ending was like Gurren Lagaan's ending but in a video game

[@Spainkiller]

Yup.

[@papersonic9941]

And Kirby Planet Robobot's ending was Gurren Lagan mixed with Big Hero 6.

[@ZiggyPalffyLA]

@@papersonic9941 I’m glad someone mentioned Planet Robobot! Would have been another great candidate for this video. Also best Kirby game come at me

[@GreatFlamingEyebrows_]

by the sounds of that last game Jacob would absolutely love Gurren Lagann

[@itsoracle]

damn I kinda dropped gurren lagann half way through but I feel like I missed a huge twist at the end or something

[@rruhland]

I haven’t played Mind Control Delete, but I played the initial SUPERHOT and had that wonderful feeling of complete silence and awe after I finished it. The gameplay is super fun, but the story of SUPERHOT just kinda got me. And the way that it’s integrated into the gameplay and menu of the game just... I loved it. The craziness of that last level just blasting into people is wild. I need to recommend it to more people.

[@tezeta3725]

I did not expect Brian Gibson to be a game designer

[@someguy1865]

Nier Automata was and still is the greatest game I've ever played. One of the endings are insane with the way it's made and the feeling of accomplishment you get when you beat it...

[@-libertyprimev1-902]

Ending E gives me goosebumps through the entire thing every damn time, there's also the sudoending at Ending B which makes it feel like you're playing a sequel.

[@unustheuntouchable]

Jacob (that feels really overly familiar but here we are), I've re-watched your entire catalogue of videos multiple times. When I'm deep in the night and incapable of even considering going to sleep, I dip into your work. Thank you so much for sharing this with us. Your capacity for telling a compelling story that orbits some chosen subject is phenomenal. I really appreciate each piece you put into the world, and am truly thankful you've been here for this last year. That is all. A sincere thank you.

[@Aging_Casually_Late_Gamer]

And people say rhythm games are dead. I just wish I was back in my late teens and early 20's and the reaction speed to keep up with them again.

[@lukegirardplus]

I'm so glad you talked about The Wonderful 101 here, easily my favorite game of all time :)

[@WAFilms-gv2en]

Half Life Alyx is my favorite example of this, the final episode is probably one of the best video game experiences ive ever had

[@Frysbear]

Bravely Default has one of my favorite twists/endings in a game ever. It's more story specific, but it does tie in an interactive way. And it's so cool that the reveal of the changing point in the game, comes across differently for each player. I didn't realize I could progress the story forward for a long time so when I finally realized it it was like a smack in the face.

[@HorseheadNebula85]

The end of Thumper is like taking salvia while trying to sight-read an Aphex Twin song. That game was a revelation for someone who plays a rhythm instrument. As a drummer, I was enraptured by it.

[@littlethompsonjr5354]

That Wonderful 101 ending reminds me of Katamari Damacy's ending, especially as you kind of see it coming but it's incredibly surprising as things get bigger and bigger. Furi's 'real' final boss is an excellent example of putting stuff in a game that SO many people won't even see. Dragon Quest 11, along with many other JRPGs, is completely ok with hiding tons of content in the back half of the game. It goes as far as making you believe that the game is over, likely having many players just stop playing altogether

[@joeyfromschool]

the music also has katamari vibes

[@franciscofarias6385]

I guess no one mentioned yet, but there's Inside. What an ending!

[@marblemilk1065]

the weirdest video game ending I've probably ever seen lol

[@rezaka116]

Also a rule of the 90's: If the game has a shareware episode, the best levels are in it

[@siupanifan9316]

Everhood is definitely a game that belongs on this list too. The ending was so incredibly heartwarming and wholesome with all the characters coming together and thanking you for everything, which in a way felt as if the devs themselves were thanking you, the player. Really cute and special game. I played it a couple of years ago but the tune that plays in the ending sequence is still stuck in my head to this day.

[@theexchipmunk]

My personal Favorite has to be Ashuras Wrath in that regard. Very similar to 101 every boss fight could be the final one. And then you DO the final one, and there is more. Another fight. Because after everything, Getting punched by a Buddah larger than the planet, being impaled with the planet by a sword wielding maniac jumping from the moon, it gets more ridiculous and over the top. Because that last fight? You fight the litteral creator of anything in a galaxy throwing slugfest that puts most anime to shame. And its awesome.

[@wisteria45]

The one game that comes to mind, Rain World. It's a beautiful 2d platformer survival exploration game, having you play as a cute little slugcat thing, right near the bottom of the food chain. A huge number of design choices help make you feel like an almost helpless, weak animal, almost at the bottom of the food chain. The world lives on without your consent, and without your input. The AI that isn't even relevant to you immediately is still acting and moving around, it's not just based on you, which is incredible. The music is really good, and a lot of the melodies used in songs are present in other tracks as well. Each area gets its' own threat track, all with the same basis of a steady beat, all at the same speed, but each track quite different. I realize that I'm spacing out thinking about other things too much to actually make this make sense, so I'm gonna move on, but point being, I love this game. I have trouble trying to convey why the ending was so incredible to me when I saw it myself. Maybe the fact it was so late at night, and my expectations were absolutely not in the right place to keep me from being surprised. Maybe it's because it both satisfied and awakened my intense interest in exploring the general direction of down, and the idea of near infinite bodies of water underground. Maybe it's because deep, almost electrical, and loud humming or droning almost completely relaxes me, or perhaps it's just because it was straight up a good ending, I dunno. This was the only time I have been speechless, for a time, from the ending of any game I've played. I can't say more, and I hope you may get a glimpse of how it is. I can't recommend this enough. Have a good day :)

[@Perfect.unsymmetry]

Agreed, rain world is great. (I didn’t read what you said I just heard Rain World)

[@MCSolaireBro]

The ending puzzle of 999 (ds version) is also like this, its a mindblowing moment that ties together the DS as a medium and the story of the game. It's so interesting bc it essentially means both the puzzle and the story only work on the DS as a medium, which is why in the remakes on other consoles where the puzzle is changed the ending loses an insane amount of character

[@pudlordtynan919]

Man I wasn't expecting fecking Wonderful 101 to show up here... Dude this essay fucking rules

[@beanieweenie1349]

A great example of a game that saves one of it's most game changing and interesting mechanics until the end, is one of my all time favorite games, Anodyne. After completing the games main story you unlock the Swap Upgrade. The game is a top down grid based rpg, and this upgrade allows you to switch any two tiles in the games world. This allows you to completely break any level design and find the games deepest and most fascinating areas and secrets

[@ShadowLuigi147]

yes i'm three years late no i didn't even realize there was more than just superhot + superhot vr, but watching this reminds me of the buddhist philosophy towards attachment. its most memorable example if when poo's introduced in earthbound, and while meditating willingly gives up his sight, touch, hearing, all of his senses, the idea that attachment to ANYTHING brings suffering. mind control delete does a similar, possibly warped thing, by also making you suffer

[@shiranuithewolf8559]

The only game that comes to mind off the top of my head for this is Celeste’s chapter 9, the ultimate culmination of everything you’ve learned so far, along with teaching you one final mechanic

[@MrTheWiggz]

Excellent video! Your explanation of Wonderful 101 reminds me of Asura's Wrath. Just constantly one-upping itself to insane levels. Highly recommend.

[@-libertyprimev1-902]

"Ah, I see you're a man of culture as well..." Need we say more than, fighting your mentor on the moon with classical music playing it only around the half way point of the game...

[@nicklyskawa3504]

I’m so glad KZbin’s recommendation finally worked

[@huellenoperator]

"The Legend of Heroes - Trails in the Sky Second Chapter" has two of these moments. It's a tactical RPG where every battle takes place on the same square grid made up of square tiles. The player characters can attack enemies, they have a few special attacks, and their most useful ability comes in the form of magic that's cast using magical pocket watches called combat orbments. Until in chapter 8 (the ninth out of ten), suddenly all orbments in the country stop working: Combat orbments, street lights, stoves, heavy machinery, drawbridges, airships, telephones, everything. The player characters do have a few gadgets that allow their own orbments to work anyway, but they need to help reestablish long-range communication: They walk through the dangerous countryside to each major town and give up one of the gadgets to make the telephones there work again. Every time, there's one less character that can cast magic, and it's on to the next town, where more chaos caused by the disruption of orbments awaits. The whole situation is also done very well narratively, though I don't want to get into that here. In the very end, the primary antagonist acquires the Miracle of Space - a "gift from the goddess of this world" - allowing him to manipulate space itself. As a consequence, the final boss has the ability to destroy tiles in the combat grid! Once a tile is destroyed, you can't go there anymore. If one of the player characters is standing on the tile as it is destroyed, that character is gone: No way to guard against it, no way to revive them (both of which are usually easy), no way to replace them.

[@sagecolvard9644]

The phrase "Rythm Violence" made me think of Lightning Bolt immediately, and then you said Brian Gibson was involved, and I feel seen.

[@d4s0n282]

tbh I feel a good example of this is celeste, sure it pretty much builts on everything but in the finalish levels, they litterally took away what you though you needed, your dashes(only can get dashes basically from orbs or restarting level)

[@nobody2021]

I couldn't finish this video, because after a minute of hearing you talk about thumper, you sold me on buying and playing the game and I don't want to spoil it for myself

[@rxcort]

Wonderful 101 is like the 7th game I buy after watching Jacob talk about it on his channel

[@zp6182]

Oh boy, can't wait to see what game Jacob is gonna make me want to buy so much that I pause the vid and come back a week later after beating it!

[@SaimizZ]

Thumper is one of the best rhythm games I've ever played, It's criminally underrated

[@doreenlarson5849]

Every one of your videos is like a desert you only get at a certain restaurant you only visit once a year during special occasions, it gives you goosebumps and you savor it for much longer than necessary

[@distortoise]

I think Asura's Wrath follows this formula very well too. An underwhelming start and not necessarily the best stuff last but it just keeps turning up until you've fought the god of gods and goes way above and beyond what you could've dreamed of from a revenge story.

[@plugshirt1762]

Audra’s wrath is a very mixed bag quality wise for me but it’s so hype I completely forgive it lol

[@Minihood31770]

The Wonderful 101 is the most Gurren Lagann game I have ever seen.

[@weirdofromhalo]

Closer in scale to Gunbuster but as comedic as Gurren Lagann.

[@serpentblader0957]

the ending of wonder 101 is very anime and the biggest final move I ever seen ever

[@JustAPakistaniGamer]

3 minutes in, very powerfully reminded how Warframe literally makes you play a 50+ hours tutorial before opening up a whole new aspect of the game... for those of you who know... congrats tenno.. for those who don't Dream on :D

[@lilian1812]

My take might be weird but I immediately thought about the first skylanders. I remember playing it when I was 10 and the last boss was designed to be almost unfinishable if you only owned the 3 basic skylanders which was my case. And this is where the game took a turn I didn't expect at all, it became a strategy game where I'd carefully think about which order I'd play every character but it was also like playing jungle speed when you had to remove your skylanders from the portal right before it died to save it for the moment you get heal. Instead of just being a magic cool thingy the whole physical part of it was reunited with the game itself. I don't know if it was intentional but as my collection grew throughout the years I never experienced that again and all the bosses became easier.

[@KalleVilenius]

Wonderful 101 sounds like Gurren Lagann in video game form.

[@WeirdVoyager]

Life is just a dating Sim and I'm going for the Jacob Geller ending.