Jonathan Blow tries Elden Ring

[@JrIcify]

5:14 You have to admit it takes skill to complain this much. He was just finished complaining about the death battle, his character isn't even back to life yet, and he's already complaining about the "generic cave droplet sound effect." Most complainers would still be sitting there waiting for something new to complain about. But Jonathan blow is tuned to all frequencies. He sees things most people don't, and then he complains about them.

[@Shasaur]

I love Jonathan Blow but he is like the most disagreeable person I've ever listened to

[@ninomojo]

I've been working in game audio for 24 years, and before he said it in my head I went "cave_drop_01.wav". People who make games tend to notice a million small things that you wouldn't think matter. I don't think he was complaining about the drop sound, just making a comment.

[@JrIcify]

@@ninomojo He's totally right but the timing killed me. I could listen to someone complain for hours about how one frame of a movie is everything wrong with society on every level. There's no sarcasm, I die at videos like this and he's at the top of an art form here. It does take skill to both notice all this stuff and articulate it fast/clear enough to never let the game get away with ANYTHING, not even an ambient water dripping sound effect.

[@JrIcify]

also no offense to elden ring fans. It could be my favorite game and I'd still like this. In fact I do this myself to things I love and sometimes people think my favorite games are games I hate lol.

[@bobsaget9182]

Actually it's more like he's massively insecure that his own crappy games are already virtually forgotten and he'll never have anywhere near the success these guys are having and so he had to try to cut it down. He's an idiot.

[@ArthurSchoppenweghauer]

I will never forget Soulja Boy laughing at Braid while Blow sits in a darkened room.

[@Raxfyr]

absolutely one of the funniest scenes ive ever seen

[@spectr__]

It is funny because in both cases they are missing the point, but Soulja Boy was having fun with it while Blow feels like a ressented person.

[@kirbles2035]

It's a funny clip don't get me wrong, but I still feel the need to bring up that he wasn't actually mad that Soulja Boy didn't understand Braid. It was a more general statement and the people making the film just decided to use the Soulja Boy video. Still funny though.

[@Nigel222]

edge, lord ahead

[@BubblegumCrash332]

I would never sit next to Jonathan during a film.

[@rasputozen]

what if you were both standing

[@BubblegumCrash332]

@@rasputozen I would sit then tell Jonathan who watches a movie standing up

[@rasputozen]

@@BubblegumCrash332 mid-lunge?

[@BubblegumCrash332]

@@rasputozen that's a grey area opinions differ

[@rasputozen]

​@@BubblegumCrash332 ok just kicking the tires, as you were

[@dave_di]

Blow reminds me of when you turn in a project and the professor rips it apart.

[@slothguy_]

and you piss yourself and he laughs at you while taking pictures

[@miscany]

School

[@BlueEagle403]

@@mostaposta It's an easy comparison to make. Something in your life, or media that is easy to relate to Blow's attitude. I watched sections of only two of his videos that were recommended to me and his attitude is very opinionated and unforgiving. That is not necessarily a BAD thing, especially since determination and having low persuasiveness are good indicators for being successful in life. An unintended side affect however is that he will rub many people the wrong way. Many of his criticisms come off as uncalled for, or needlessly critical. Then there is the tone he uses to convey his criticisms, which shifts the color from friendly to discrediting.

[@BlueEagle403]

@@mostaposta I re-read it. Still makes sense to me, lol.

[@xellestar]

except in this case he is a student compared to Miyazaki (the professor)

[@tonythesuperperson]

Jonathan Blow is one of those people who is very smart in a narrow way who assumes that makes them smart about everything

[@ripplecutter233]

Blow reminds me of Yuji Naka. Both are geniuses (no one on sonic team has been able to get physics right since the genesis games), but pretty developed a banger one time, thought they were the ****** and then a lot of meh games as the years went on.

[@nintendude794]

@@ripplecutter233 Blow hasn’t made a meh game yet

[@whatshendrix]

You're like one of those dumb people who think they're smart

[@spencerwilson-softwaredeve6384]

This is the best example of the disconnect between game dev types and actual users

[@nonefvnfvnjnjnjevjenjvonej3384]

type a vs type b body type made me lol

[@mosh1987]

all of his points were valid tbh

[@Dr.UldenWascht]

I'm late to the party, but man, you are 100% correct. The disparity was astonishing.

[@mosh1987]

@@Dr.UldenWascht I mean elden ring is a good game, really fun. But if they correct some of the isssues Jonathan pointed out it wouldve been improved by a lot.

[@Dr.UldenWascht]

@@mosh1987 Oh, I fully agree that Elden Ring has flaws, some more serious than others. And unfortunately the universal praise it got will more likely cause them to stay. And I say this as someone who's sunk more hours into the game than he's willing to admit. But I'd also argue, almost none of the issues Blow brought up are fair or valid. From the character selection screen to navigating the open world; I mean you can't both ignore clear instructions the game gives you and go about doing your own thing, and also complain that the game didn't show you anything in 30 minutes. And these are coming from a guy who made The Witness. A game famous for its obscurity. We can go into what he said point by point, even though life is short. And more importantly, his attitude toward the game (and it seems like a pattern) is like a teacher who is correcting the paper of a lazy student that he's already decided is going to fail the exam. Everything is a flaw and cause for eyerolls. But then again, I'm not a Blow fan, admittedly. And this is just a snippet of his stream. Maybe this makes more sense in the context of his other streams and his overall online presence.

[@beagle626]

and vagabond just means wanderer not homeless lol

[@lastburning]

He hates the homeless so it was a funny right-wing joke for him.

[@paulonormie977]

wrong vagabond noun [ C ] old use or literary uk /ˈvæɡ.ə.bɒnd/ us /ˈvæɡ.ə.bɑːnd/ a person who has no home and usually no job, and who travels from place to place: "They live a vagabond life/existence, travelling around in a caravan."

[@SiisKolkytEuroo]

I'm just like Jonathan Blow when it comes to his opinion and attitude on the in-game subtitles, except that my opinion is the complete opposite. So every game makes either me or Jonathan Blow mad in this regard. It's hard to please everyone I guess

[@makeyroll7136]

Love how he says they keep the messages in because they're afraid to change anything but nobody actually likes them. When on literally their last game, sekiro, there were no messages, they changed a ton from their usual formula, it's considered one of their best games to date, and they patched the messages back in after a year because the community kept demanding it.

[@BlowFan]

Nobody likes them but the community still wants them?

[@pavcho2211]

@@BlowFan The community likes them, you are wrong

[@BlowFan]

​@@pavcho2211 I didn't say that nobody likes them. That was the OP. I just asked a question.

[@pavcho2211]

@@BlowFan Op didn't say that nobody likes them, he was quoting the guy in the video

[@jesusmgw]

"The community" = a minority of like 5 dev harassers on Twitter usually.

[@meanmole3212]

Are there any modern games Jonathan mostly praises for being excellent other than his own games? I am not being snarky here, just curious to hear some of that from him.

[@deliro8758]

No, lol. That's actually a pretty asinine question, of course right wing conspiracy nuts are full of nothing but themselves and maybe other trumpets

[@karthikvelu5033]

inside game

[@karthikvelu5033]

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inside_(video_game) really good

[@meanmole3212]

@@karthikvelu5033 Thanks!

[@LittleWeevil]

look up "storytime with Jonathan Blow Pax". It's a video of him just talking about modern games that he really likes.

[@fernandofaria2872]

As someone who loves both Elden Ring and Jonathan Blow, this is hilarious to watch 😂

[@zip2kx]

"how am i supposed to know that" oh i dunno ,read the shiny white messages maybe?

[@Machine_God]

Committing to being this level of contrarian is honestly pretty impressive. After seeing this I for sure am not planning to put any money on stuff this dev makes where it would just inflate his ego even more. Like literally, "Subtitles in games is bad" ??? No amount of mental gymnastics that would make that a good take.

[@shadoom]

*old man yells at cloud* kinda deal

[@franciscofarias6385]

The problem with Jon Blow isn't his criticisms, it's that he refuses to really engage with the game enough to appreciate what it does right. He made many complaints that were result of him skipping stuff or not trying to understand why things are the way they are.

[@franciscofarias6385]

He more than anyone should appreciate that you can't write off something you don't get as a flaw with just a few minutes of gameplay.

[@i-am-the-slime]

It's just lazy game design. The game pops up a box with text in it (wow how immersive!) to teach you a mechanic. However, there's actually no requirement to perform that particular move because they just place generic enemies. Also they "teach" you all the shit in a row so by the time you're in an actual fight you'll have forgotten most of it. No way to return to the tutorial either. Then everything is just full of weird ass option menus. Like at the bonfire. Why have lots of options there for things that you can't even do because you lack the resources? It's just overwhelming. And then there are things you somehow cannot do at the beginning like level up. What's the point?

[@primeHeretic]

@@i-am-the-slime What do you mean no way to return to the tutorial, you can do it over and over, just head back to the cave of knowledge and enter it. Also on the "there's actually no requirement to perform that particular move because they just place generic enemies". On your claim they've been "lazy", the enemies behave differently and have different health levels relevant to the move you're asked to perform. But why have a *requirement* anyway, the player's been told what to do and provided a suitable enemy, if they don't want to do it then they don't have to, why force them? It would make redoing the tutorial a huge PITA for one thing. Treating the player like a moron (imho) isn't good game design and is in fact what differentiated Demon's Souls from all the other mediocre crap out there when it released.

[@sumez4369]

@@franciscofarias6385 lol yeah, imagine if he'd played The Witness blind with the same mindset

[@franciscofarias6385]

@@sumez4369 exactly

[@Pavel-wj7gy]

Jon: they don't know what pillage means Also Jon: touch grass

[@Alic4444]

lmao

[@LyoshaTheZebra]

Subtitles are great for non-native speakers. Getting mad at these is strange.

[@thatoneuser8600]

Why does he dislike this game; isn't Elden Ring designed fairly similar to The Witness and Braid in the realm of exploration and not giving the player obvious hints?

[@MrSTVR]

The difference is this is more popular and he didn't make it

[@spectr__]

Was going to say the same...

[@xellestar]

remember all the game devs tweeting hate about elden ring lol

[@SweetInsanity]

I completely disagree on the messages. I love the sense of community it creates, even when they are trolling or just memey. It's fun, deal with it.

[@aeriagloris4211]

This guy seems like the type of dude who only has sex in missionary, once a week, on a timed schedule.

[@GypsumGeneration]

What's so funny about this is that he clearly expects a Ubisoft handholding experience, yet he dogs them constantly.

[@seracris8357]

The reason he didn't like it is mainly because he wasn't interested in the first place and he also wasn't interested in trying to enjoy it. This is a compilation of clips so I might be wrong but I noticed that he didn't try to go anywhere that seemed interesting. He just aimlessly wandered around. Even though he is a game designer he didn't follow the imo obvious hints to where to game is trying to lead you. Of cource you could say this shows that it wasn't obvious at all but I'd say he wasn't paying attention.

[@rayecast]

He gives it another try later that you can tell is quite a bit more earnest in trying to understand the game. There's a stream of him playing it for like 7 hours, and it looked like he was having fun.

[@artoriasoftheabyss1495]

It's because he can't play games

[@RealityStrikesBack-wk8uz]

He clearly states why he didn't like it and none of the reasons are what you said. Stop acting like people aren't allowed to dislike games you like. Besides, all you have to do is watch 5 minutes of gameplay to know its just a copy of the last games which were all copies of each other. Once you've played one you've played them all. Shit game.

[@wanshitong5101]

@@RealityStrikesBack-wk8uzI’ll agree with the first part, but c’mon, it’s really not 😂 Everyone who’s played ‘em know there’s already the more subtle differences stacked up, but the glaring ones in regards to the actual open world and effects on the design, c’mon. But it IS shit, that we can all agree on.

[@azx7023]

​@@RealityStrikesBack-wk8uzYes they all have the same mechanics because the unique part is the areas you go through. Like almost all game series. Majora's mask is just the same as OOT but like a different map with different stuff. Shit game.

[@mcbain3851]

Blow is such a troll lol. I love him criticizing the mise-en-scene of this game's cutscenes when he literally shits out random philosophy quotes at the player in his previous two games.

[@nosouponhead]

I couldn't tell if he was making a joke about The Witness with that one.

[@thelegendofthedogfacedwoma3708]

I don't think he's a troll. I think he's just a moron with no self-awareness, and no production credits since 2016.

[@razt3757]

I honestly don't think he's trolling, he's probably saying what he's thinking, gotta give him props for that at least. Him saying they should've learned from their previous titles is pretty fucking ironic, coming from a guy who made 2 video games: one a 2d platformer on the lower end of average the other a 3d sandbox.

[@KoopstaKlicca]

​@@razt3757braid was a great puzzle platformer that got fucked by the "Seinfeld isn't funny" trope. It was incredible when it came out

[@fernandofaria2872]

@@razt3757 im inclined to believe he is half-trolling, the guy just doesn't care, lol.

[@cmantic1402]

Possibly the most miserable 26 minutes I've spent watching a video on KZbin in 2022. The game is not without its flaws, but if you are this joyless and uninterested to play a game just turn it off, go watch Twin Peaks, and save us the trouble. Of course, "different strokes for different folks."

[@lastburning]

He ended up playing it some more later.

[@TheRedBombers]

completely agree, this is either someone acting pretentious on purpose to drum up what small audience he has, or his brain is so fried from trying to pretend he's right about everything even when its completely idiotic. I cannot imagine trying to play or watch anything with this guy next to me, id want to fucking die

[@TheRedBombers]

@@alexandrep4913 not even close to my favourite, but unless your blind you can see this guy is grasping at straws for attention, a bit like what your trying to do

[@proksenospapias9327]

@@TheRedBombers at the first 2 hours I was completely bored myself and that was my honest opinion, like I felt there's something wrong about me, why is everyone praising this bullshit, what am I missing. Later on it got much better but I think Jon's right on on this one. The beginning of Elden ring is very bad

[@rasputozen]

the joylessness is a feature, not a bug

[@KillahMate]

I appreciate how he mostly has no idea what's going on, but already has _strong opinions_ about basically everything. I'd assume it really helps to be like that when you're making a video game - a strong vision helps to save a ton on time and money compared to devs who need to try a bunch of things to find what they want. I'm not very impressed by the particular opinions he's having though, and I'm not quite sure an 'uncompromised vision' _necessarily_ results in a good game anyway - but it definitely results in an _uncompromising_ game, and hey that's a pretty worthy goal. I don't need him to understand Soulsborne games, it's not like Fromsoft's going to ask him to help them make one.

[@Jorbz150]

What does it mean to be impressed by an opinion? What makes an opinion impressive? I like root beer. Is that opinion impressive or unacceptable?

[@KillahMate]

@@Jorbz150 'I like root beer' is just a preference. On the other hand if you spoke more broadly and in more detail about root beer for 20-25 minutes (and people were inclined to listen), everyone _might_ be impressed by what you have to say - or they might _not_ be. That is how communication works.

[@spectr__]

That is the most insighful comment here. Being opinionated is indeed a really great skill when creating a project, and I think our current culture lost that, the most obvious tell for me is how bloated everything is. On the other hand, we should not forget how stupid a more opinionated culture is(remember the 00's game reviews?), when creators(even whole companies) were trashing each other for meaningless reasons.

[@ranga821]

He's such a joyless bastard

[@bobsaget9182]

More of a a moron than a bastard.

[@karmicbacklash]

Is this his first videogame experience outside of his own stuff?

[@Alic4444]

10 minutes of complaining and 5 minutes of exploring... he forgot how to play games.

[@TrevorGerzen]

For real. The algo brought me here and I was curious. I never in a million years would have guessed he was a game dev. He sounds so uninteresting that I have no interest in checking out anything he has made.

[@aeriagloris4211]

​@@TrevorGerzenagreed. Trans talk in the first 60 seconds also tells me he's probably a trash human

[@treasurewuji8740]

Unbearable

[@Jorbz150]

@@TrevorGerzen How on earth would you guess if someone was a game dev? Is there some quality you would look for?

[@digoburiemse]

"That bridge would not exist in the real world", playing a game about monsters, magic and other crazy shit XD

[@aeriagloris4211]

This dude is totally insufferable, I feel bad for any women who swipe on him on tinder

[@spectr__]

That was the tell he was being mean-spirited about it from the beggining.

[@youtubeviewerxx]

I think that was phrased weirdly, but it makes sense: the existence of monsters does not necessarily change the way bridges should be built. If a bridge would not work in the real world (because it's too big, or structured so that it would collapse, or because it's inconvenient to cross), that same bridge would not work in a fictional world. I don't really care about how bridges look, but I understand that his point is valid.

[@spectr__]

@@youtubeviewerxx Just say you dont understand art.

[@youtubeviewerxx]

@@spectr__ I don't know how you would come to that conclusion from what I wrote. All I'm saying is, one can understand the points of the other person and still disagree on the general opinion. It's sad that Jon was surrounded by a beautiful scenery and he picks on the one thing that he doesn't like, but his point still stands. I don't know how being able to accept that means one doesn't understand art.

[@TheMrlitemaster]

this is painful

[@supermegaguy666]

Is... is this an 'act'?

[@Mennenth]

The thing with NOT having an unskippable 20 minute linear section to teach you the game isnt "dont want to change"... These games have 2 things: A "new game plus" cycle where once you beat the game you start over with all your stuff and the enemies get harder A strong speed running community. Such a linear training segment would make those 2 things worse. Thats why the training area is optional. Thats the compromise. The training section itself could be better for sure though.

[@LeEnnyFace]

Imagine getting tilted by messages

[@core-nix1885]

Haven't played yet, but he's convinced me it's really, really good.

[@xsimetrical]

I wake up everyday thankful I'm not Jonathan Blow.

[@DETH_BY_NUTZ]

Dude he's like the most insufferable person on earth

[@La0bouchere]

"I'm sure there are button combo's that I don't know what they are" You can tell someone's new to souls games when they don't know you just R1 through the entire thing

[@kardrasa]

Daaamn Blow woke up on the wrong side of that bed that day

[@sweetshell2585]

he's such a bitter little husk of a man

[@nicekeyboardalan6972]

The balding really encompasses the whole thing.

[@lucaspayne2546]

I'm balding and I am epic too, like Jon. Many of my favorite artists are balding. It just happens to people. Please do not hate.

[@nicekeyboardalan6972]

@@lucaspayne2546 Poor Baldies, ill go bald when im his age im sure. Sucks being bald

[@publicalias8172]

You sound about 11

[@NucularDonkey12]

"Isn't learning the game part of the fun" "No Actually" Thats about all I needed to know regarding this dude, what a blow-hard.

[@rasputozen]

That's the right answer to that question though...

[@poppag8281]

@@rasputozen can you elaborate?

[@spectr__]

@@rasputozen Have you played Braid or The Witness? I bet you will hate them...

[@beagle626]

the character select screen literally has an option to explain the stats lol

[@elm3329]

As a type F bodied person, I find this game problematic.

[@Jorbz150]

The Games Industry, where companies and fans shame you for not being sufficiently pleased with their product. I really don't see this anywhere else. "Man this car is annoying, the wheel is..." "You think YOU could build a better car? It took so long for engineers to build that car. We get it, if you didn't build the car it sucks. It's obvious that this stems from your deeply held insecurity in not getting enough attention from your mother."

[@miles2142]

I have similar thoughts, Sekiro ended up being one of my favorite games when it released and I was looking forward to elden ring. The game was pretty fun for the first half but it really didn't have many new things to offer besides an open world compared to sekiro which had an entirely different combat system and way of doing things. I was also looking forward to the horse combat but it just turned out to be dogshit, spear type weapons should allow you to couch upon charge like in mount and blade. The open world was pretty fun to explore up until Leyndell but after that, and even before that in smaller amounts a lot of enemies ended up being reused so they could pad out the massive map. The bosses were also terrible compared to sekiro. Good luck actually relaying this to the braindead playerbase who just wants to play a different ice cream flavour of dark souls 3 without being called a casual or whatever

[@azx7023]

Because I've never seen a car rebiewer go what? You can press the wheel and it makes a loud noise? I don't like that. And the tires have little sticks on them? Weird, I don't even need to sit down, bad car.

[@kapparomeo]

3:00 - I was prepared to accept his complaint about the lack of clarity on what the classes do at character creation as a fair remark, but I checked out once he started whinging about subtitles. Subtitles are a detriment? Really? Reading is too much of a burden for him? A basic accessibility option intrudes on the game? This isn't a commentary, it's clickbait. Okay trolling Jon, 6/10, you got me to reply.

[@something215]

Subtitles I'm pretty sure is a joke. Like im pretty sure the witness has subtitles on by default, or at the very least I know there's an option for them

[@nicekeyboardalan6972]

This guy sure BLOWS HARD

[@nosouponhead]

I know that Blow is critical of literally every game he plays, but there are certain things he's not realizing are "charming" about From Software games that people like. The odd translations, characters speaking softly and strangely, being confused for a bit. That's all intentional to set a certain mood.

[@aeriagloris4211]

I'm going to be honest so I've never heard of this guy and I randomly got to this video and he doesn't seem super bright

[@AssailantLF]

@@aeriagloris4211 He is incredibly intelligent in general, and very prolific as a software engineer and game designer. But yeah he's also a bit of a whiny asshole.

[@jupiterapollo4985]

@@aeriagloris4211 Just one of the pioneers of the indie development world, and made two sucessful video games in a genre where noone really makes games for anymore. But yeah, not super bright right 😂

[@epicotakugamer4930]

@@jupiterapollo4985 where is Witness 2 then???

[@jupiterapollo4985]

@@epicotakugamer4930 He's making a new puzzle game if you haven't seen alias "sokoban". Jon seems like the kind of guy who always wants to try and make something different from the last time.

[@jim0_o]

Damn, it was like he was sitting on a tack he was trying to ignore while trying the game. - The audio mix with the music I agree with to some extent, in earlier games you can miss very interesting lore details because of the music... but if they lower it at important moments that might actually be immersion breaking as if some deus-ex-machina/annoying-guy-to-watch-a-movie-with was controlling the volume telling you to really pay attention at "this" point. (DS1 OnS fight, music off and you can hear the glee of Smough as he kills his "friend" that you then also notice was actually still alive.) - Presumably he didn't read about graces (so never sat down?) so never got the horse. - Didn't notice the rays of light coming from the graces that are there to guide new players(as the pop-up said) . - That one "hell" hole is where the character's body is dumped to wake up under ground after getting beaten by the scion. ie. if the hole wasn't there, there would be holes in the lore/story/logic. (kind of too bad you don't re-spawn in the puddle. - The messages are very limited so not to be about cell phones and politics. (so IMO not immersion breaking, people in the world just like to leave notes, and leave blood-ghost-echos when they die.) there is also the part where its a kind of meta-game to make the best messages in relation to the environment etc. Such a series of unfortunate events or he was distracted or he kind of didn't want to be another fan of the game everyone thinks they're cool for liking, or a mix. PS: yeah I know long comment == bad-person, I just didn't want to leave annoyed after watching the video (with pent-up answers and "answers").

[@coreyrachar9694]

I have never played braid but I love the witness. But making 2 games that were fairly well recieved doesn't give you the right to be this pretentious. I just came from an interview where he talks at length (20 mins +) about ubisoft and bad games design holding your hand. Then you plop the guy in elden ring and he's mad after 10 minutes of playing that they didn't hold his hand and take him to the "cool" things. It's really immature. It's like that time your mom told you to do the dishes so you went to the sink and slapped a plate around in the water and said 'I can't do the dishes, i don't know how, nobody taught me'. He can't even give the game any credit whatsoever. He gets hit with the first open world vista and all he can muster is 'that's weird'. Yes the scale is big, that's what people like about it. It's fantasy, who cares if the bridge is realistic, it's beautiful and has diagetic reasons for being that way, which you would know if you played more than 45 minutes.

[@stysner4580]

You can tell he never plays games like this. Then proceeds his usual snobby opinionated ways by telling his viewers exactly how everything works. He's never made a combat-centric game. By the looks of it, he doesn't play them either. Man this guy is overrated. I saw him implement VBOs for his game and he did per-mesh VBOs like it's 2000...

[@Arifmeticus]

He puts pretentious audio messages and half hour long videos in his own Witness game, and yet here complains how a cutscene is boring and how he is confused. Why even try a game if you are refusing to engage with it? Why is he cranky like a 70 year old?

[@Nesto_]

Man I thought this guy was insufferable after seeing him talk about his own game, he's even worse when it's about something he didn't make.

[@IamCombustible]

pick those nits Jonny boy

[@eishikibahamut]

watching him play made me realize the the game tried to set up weenies(land marks that should draw your interest) right when you step into limgrave, but I think the overwhelming openness and freedom the game gives you can make you quickly wander off in the wrong direction. Normally wandering off shouldnt be an issue, but since the game locks key mechanics behind specific graces you wont be making any real progress in the game until you go to them.

[@musthabe_]

This is why I struggle to buy and actually sit down and play big open world games like Skyrim, Elden Ring, Witcher 3 and the newest Legend of Zelda. Everything is just too overwhelming and there's too many places to explore, stuff to pick up, people to talk to... I really enjoyed the first 3 Dark Souls and Bloodborne because there were less paths to explore into and it felt like a much more cohesive and handmade experience.

[@azx7023]

​@@musthabe_Elden Ring really helps with this. The open wprld actually feels like a big handmade level. Are there some patches of wilderness sure but it's not like a ubi game.

[@MeemBeen]

His suggestion to make the game more interesting is to add a 20+ minute unskippable tutorial lmao.

[@latinoce]

well he clarifies it by saying it should be interesting. i like DS1 tutorial a lot and teaches the game very well.

[@pinkguy8205]

When did he say unskippable?

[@La0bouchere]

He didn't ever say to add a tutorial that long. He said to have a linear beginning that shows off what's actually good about the game.

[@m1bl4n]

I hate Elden Ring but man this guy is anti-fun. "The messages are the worst part of Dark Souls" my guy WHAT?!

[@zhulikkulik]

I played DS1 without them (from "green μ" place. It's definitely just some extra crap that doesn't add any value. Like skins and gamemodes in Resident Evil. Not that the game itself is very fun. Challenging, but not in a fun way at all.

[@KoopstaKlicca]

​@@zhulikkulikskill issue

[@puncherinokripperino2500]

but you have subtitles in The Witness... or maybe it's because I played localized version

[@htf5555]

The Witless

[@CrAzYpotpie]

Bro he talk bout how they on by default on God fr u blind n def breh, one love peace

[@JBlizzyFan]

he talked a lot but he barely said anything

[@bobsaget9182]

That's his entire life. The ego of Genghis Khan tied to some nobody who made two mediocre games that are almost forgotten already.

[@wul3391]

Giving his "final thoughts" after playing for 10 minutes...

[@Bigdaddymittens]

I love how he acts like hes the authority on game development, when he's only shipped two games and they werent even that good.

[@pontus1420]

They were lol

[@AnimeGIFfy]

i completed The Witness without having to learn anything.

[@lastburning]

Not possible.

[@AnimeGIFfy]

@@lastburning proof?

[@spnked9516]

Salient points are made here - case and point being how Elden Ring suffers from being too married to traditional Souls mechanics - but they're totally undermined by the attitude on display. Blow has clearly gone into this expecting to hate it and with the intent to nitpick any and everything for the most asinine reasons. A painfully clear example of this is when he first exits the tomb and sees Limgrave for the first time. Instead of considering what's being presented to him, how it's presented, and why, he immediately makes a halfwit comment about a bridge not being "realistic".

[@Klonkus]

Don't forget he immediately was bitching about subtitles too, this clown was looking for excuses to complain the whole time.

[@shallowgod5539]

I think it's a mootpoint since Elden Ring attempts nothing but trying to be a more expansive fromsouls game, being "married" to the machanics and designs aren't incidental; Fromsoft we're looking to do something new, they wanted to make more Dark Souls with a twist (in this case open world) because that's what people wanted; removing long loved aspects like the messages and multiplayer would be greatly disliked. The problem is Blow is that is halfwit: While there are criticisms to be made about ER he blames the game for his own shortcomings-such as walking past the NPC that tells you of the tutorial cave. His point about subtitles being a indicator of poor confidence is complete idiocy

[@DAS_k1ishEe]

Maybe the Souls games make Jonathan realize what Brian Moriarty went through playing his "twitch" games and he can't handle the guilt :)

[@DawnEnergy]

3:28 " ¿is that the elden ring? " 😆

[@ZarkAttack]

Wow. I love Blow but I'm kinda surprised and embarrassed for him here. He clearly primed himself to dislike it before starting and isn't giving it a fair shot or even trying to engage with the systems, and then he smugly tries to judge the game. I wouldn't expect this to be a game for him, but, considering the types of games he makes, I'm surprised to see him put in such low effort before forming an opinion. When you start complaining about the dripping sound effects, you must know you are just hating at that point. C'mon John, I really thought you were more mature than this video illustrates.

[@BlowFan]

He has his flaws and blind spots. I never got into Souls games personally though. Not for me.

[@ZarkAttack]

@@BlowFan absolutely fair, they aren't for everyone. But I was a bit saddened to see Blow "trying" a game in the manner he did, as he clearly has already preformed an opinion and is not giving it a fair chance from the beginning. He's just grasping at whatever he can to complain about, and outright refusing to engage with the systems so that he can smugly affirm his preconceptions. Why bother? I'm sure he'd be frustrated to see someone do the same with his game. This reminded me of Soulja Boy playing Braid.

[@darkbugo7212]

DS1 tutorial was great, it's subtle and teaches you to avoid the boss if you are too weak, then it teaches you the plunging attack. The messages for various things like parry-reposte, good to know but you will forget them in your first play through. These games need time to get used to. ER tutorial was lame, also it's a hole in the ground, there are players that missed it. Because you think "I am not dropping in that hole yet, maybe later,. let's move on outside". There are some players who don't explore everything (they wouldn't even read all the messages and try to learn the moves even if they dropped there) and if you want to teach them, they will skip things. But there are players who missed there in the darkness that hole for a tutorial. It's not as obvious. And it's ok, in Demon Souls I see you can chose to not go through the tutorial. It's good to be able to skip it or go through it. I also wouldn't mind it if there wasn't a tutorial. Old games didn't have something. We think it's unacceptable because it's there. But the magic was to learn old games by experimenting, reading the manual or now reading some wikis or watch other people play. That's not bad,. it's a positive surprise when I don't know something, and then I realize one day "Wow, I didn't know you could do this"

[@tobe259]

I love this guy.

[@miserablepile]

I was terrified that I'd run out of CinemaSins videos! Thank god Jon Blow can fulfill my need for fart sniffing and whining.

[@ZackofSpades]

What a miserable human being.

[@Jorbz150]

Why do you say that?

[@muxford]

?​@@Jorbz150

[@lunarbreeze5019]

Hard times for failed indie game devs, no wonder he's trying to steal DPS's audience.

[@xX_dash_Xx]

holy fuck, I thought I was negative and complained about everything 😭

[@brandy1999]

Plays the game for exactly 13 mins before skipping to "final thoughts" and "being done" lmao, and that is after numerous remarks about how FS should "evolve" and how theyre "scared of changing their game", all in lecturing tone before even learning the basics of gameplay. How would you know anything about making a game of this caliber and quality, buddy? What gives you the right to lecture people that made DARK SOULS (of all things)? What did you make thats anywhere close to this? Do these devs and indie-devs dont realize how bad it makes them look when they try to criticize a product thats incomparably better than anything theyve ever worked on instead of learning from it? Seems like a trend for ELDEN RING. Is it really just jealousy speaking?

[@mastermusician]

He made the Witness which is at least as good as Demons Souls (the best souls game), but yeah he doesnt have any patience

[@BlowFan]

I edited out quite a lot and tried to leave only the most relevant and funny parts.

[@jonathanprivitera9394]

What is sad imo is that some of his insights would be interesting, if not even downright useful and valuable, if he hadn't this overall sentiment that "the game is generally bad, no doubts about it". Like there are many ways I didn't like ER, but there were many many good things, and being that prejudiced about anything isn't honest either.

[@randominternetuser2599]

they hated him because he spoke the truth

[@Jorbz150]

They hate him because he isn't a conformist who repeats what other people say. Conformists refuse to believe that anyone thinks individually, so they presuppose anyone with an unusual opinion must be up to something suspicious. The world is turning into one giant cult.

[@zip2kx]

i just remembered how obnoxious he is even back from the indie game documentary from 2005

[@fakename8543]

He has ALOT of preconceived notions from Japanese games and dark souls, not sure why he thought Elden Ring would remedy that.

[@internalreality]

literally who?

[@BlowFan]

The creator of Braid and The Witness.

[@quantum_dongle]

"Is this how they say man or woman without offending people" had me dying

[@nonefvnfvnjnjnjevjenjvonej3384]

11:15 the only positive statement in the video lmao

[@Vespene]

"I want to skip this cutscene, a filmmaker can make this interesting but games can't do this" "the tutorial is just corridors" "GIVE ME THE TREEEEEEEEEEEEE gimme gimme gimme"

[@smileychess]

To be fair, he didn’t mean to skip the cut scene. He pressed start, trying to disable the subtitles.

[@spectr__]

@@smileychess Start skips cutscenes in basically all games for the last 30 years or so.

[@_Adie]

I don't want to see him playing a fighting game ever

[@BlowFan]

"Different strokes for different folks, it's all good." - Jonathan Blow

[@Schizm1]

So I'm game developer here in Poland. I've been working in the industry for the past dacade. Elden Ring is THE FIRST TIME I've ever seen a fellow developers taking a "hot takes" (aka - A dump) on a successful game. It's sooo, soooooo sad to see. First Ubi devs, then Guirella Games devs now J. Blow - All complaining, saying ER is overrated, being almost disapoined how well it was recieved by people and their games were not etc. Every time a fellow dev releases a great game my reaction is always "Hell yeah! Great job! Awesome to see that all the work was worth it!". But with Elden Ring... It's almost like From Software offended some developers by being so freakin good. Sad. Really, really sad.

[@user-zp8kj2cl9g]

Mediocre people react with hostility when they see real talent and skill.

[@alivezt]

Yep, it's all jealousy.

[@Audiodump]

Its more than just jealousy, its fear, arrogance, and an utterly stunted worldview. They're coming at the game with an absurd chip on their shoulder, acting like they are hot shit. I mean fucking Blow made two mediocre pretentious games and he's acting like he's king of video gaming. How dare fromsoft just make a fun game people like?!

[@peezieforestem5078]

Please don't be alarmed, Jon Blow complains about everything. Don't take it close to heart and you'll be fine. Criticism can never hurt objectively. You can examine them and disagree if you like. The moment you start taking criticism to heart is the moment you close the road to achieving maximum improvement. If it really bothers you, just imagine it being a dispassionate text, and you being a machine that analyzes the text for useful info.

[@Lastninjaxoxoxoxox]

It happened again with Baldurs gate 3

[@BayardRandel]

Good criticism should also focus on what the game does right. These games are beloved for a reason.

[@professorplunge7705]

Talks over cutscenes - says the story makes no sense. Runs through the game with little regard to the environment and his surroundings - claims the game is not suitable for new players. Clearly just playing the game out of pressure and has 0 interest in it... This guy related to DSP? lol.

[@aleksandarstanisic1848]

Make better one 😅

[@thanksbetotap]

I remember when he crapped all over Zelda and refused to consider the possibility that Breath of the Wild could be a good game. He was so extremely close-minded on that one.

[@funnyvideohaha5337]

To be fair, in hindsight, breath of the wild was very overhyped and was a pretty bland Zelda game, and the biggest reason fans treated it like a god level game was because it decided to switch things up for a change with being open world, but also as there hadn't been a decent Zelda game for years.

[@thanksbetotap]

@@funnyvideohaha5337 Eh. Agree to disagree.

[@Nors2Ka]

Because the game treats you like a brainlet kid and expects you to do the same few things for hundreds of hours? Nintendorks live in a truly fantastical bubble.

[@jebbi2570]

@@funnyvideohaha5337 True. BOTW has some of the most forgetable bosses and dungeons that all looks same.

[@bobsaget9182]

He's a sociopath who can't handle seeing other people's success. Oh there's a hot popular game out there? I HAVE to show you how I'm so far above it and how my own games (which are terrible) are actually better. He's a loser.

[@Alic4444]

"I'm just not sure what the good level design would be, because you move really slow..." - expert game designer Jonathan Blow

[@BareBandSubscription]

No wonder Arin Hanson loves this guy. He acts just like him when playing games.

[@XTrumpet63X]

Jon makes correct observations. The problem is that they're not as significant to most Elden Ring fans as they are to him. To him they're major problems, to others they're minor problems or not even acknowledged. If you go watch a Dark Souls streamer play this, they're obviously already playing with subtitles on, because all streamers do that. They don't care about the story because people like to see competent gameplay over everything else. They love the random messages because they have no immersion to begin with because they have to check on a chatroom full of 1000 people every 5 seconds, and the messages add comedy and entertainment, or can just be ignored.

[@Optimus6128]

I don't get his beef with subtitles. It's a preference. For some reason I always look to enable subtitles, I do that even in movies, even if I can speak english and understand pretty well. I am not native english speaker, but sometimes I watch a movie and someone said something, maybe the pronouncation is different or it wasn't very audible, then I want the subititles to be sure. Not everyone is a native english speaker. And it's an option one can remove. Streamer who has played the games 1000 times sure, but first time? In fact, even if I have played Dark Souls many times, I still turn off online everytime I replay. I want to stare at some beautiful vista with nothingess, not endless sea of glowy messages. It really takes the immersion off. I might be missing fun stuff and online gameplay mechanics, but I don't care. There is a tendency for people to think multiplayer is better than singleplayer, since of course a multiplayer experience means playing with actual human which must be better than AI. But it has become a trend of "always better" so every game out there, even games made for single player need to include it. That's sad but that's how it is.

[@YASxYT]

@@Optimus6128 Same.

[@LeEnnyFace]

@@Optimus6128 Yeah, sometimes you can't even properly understand movies in your native language

[@ussassu]

this guy is completely clueless and must be really fun at the parties

[@Audiodump]

Local failed game designer decides to petulantly scream in impotent rage rather than admit his own faults.

[@something215]

He's objectively not a failed game designer though, he's released two games that were and still are universally acclaimed. I'm not saying he isn't being whiny and annoying here, but atleast use some accurate insults.

[@Jorbz150]

@@something215 Aren't you two being "whiny and annoying"?

[@Greenleaf_]

Peak "game design" mentality. All of my personal subjective opinions are fact. If I don't like subtitles then subtitles should be off by default.

[@jonathangrover3176]

This has to be satire. I cannot reconcile someone being so brilliant and both understanding and challenging the principles of game design like Blow did with The Witness, being this dense, oblivious and incurious. He has to be doing a bit, making fun of game critics who do this unironically. That's the only way I can make sense of this

[@007m10]

No one is a genius on everything. This guys is very confident on sharing his opinion. That doesn't means he is right.

[@azx7023]

RIGHT? I have had so much respect for him for so many years. I feel shattered. I would assume from this that he knew nothing about design. I thought he was a great designer.

[@m4hunt3r47]

i haven't played Elden rings but man the prisoner character looked like griffith in his edgy suit lol

[@AssailantLF]

unironically half of the Dark Souls/Elden Ring stuff is heavily inspired by Berserk

[@Imbure777]

I feel like he can't get good

[@SimGunther]

19:02 Back at it with the Monty Python reference XDDDD

9:30 I was literally telling myself seeing that bridge "Omg Jon would hate that bridge".

[@youtubesuresuckscock]

The bridge is awesome. Dragons don't exist in the real world either. He's a t a r d.

[@zygocact5947]

@@youtubesuresuckscock Dude, you've been commenting on every single video about jonathan blow for years now. You clearly dislike the guy, so maybe you should stop obsessing over people you hate and, uh, get a life?

[@youtubesuresuckscock]

@@zygocact5947 All Blow does is complain about games better than his and invented problems with programming that don't even matter in the real world. Maybe he should go find something else to do. The fact is that this Svengali charlatan has a lot of people hoodwinked and it's useful to put out a PSA on him.

@@youtubesuresuckscock Could you please use simpler english? I don't follow, but it sounds interesting.

[@rasputozen]

I don't get it, why couldn't that bridge exist?

[@danfg7215]

I get like this when playing some games, they just don't work for me and I leave them after a few minutes. Then I might give them another go later in a few weeks or... years, maybe not. I feel Elden Ring is lazy like Jon says, but sure, if you make an effort to explore it and jump through its hoops, you might end up liking it a lot.

[@1lapmagic]

Who?

[@Freenure]

It is baffling to me that the creator of The Witness feels entitled to criticize anything, especially something with a bigger budget.

[@joereno955]

The Witness was good though

[@jonathangrover3176]

The Witness is IMO one of the best games ever made. So is Elden Ring. I don't even understand what's happening in this video