Was it Good? - Deathtrap Dungeon

[@jakubmakalowski6428]

Who could have expected so many death traps in this dungeon.

[@maddiepaige715]

Completely unforeseeable. They should put a warning sign up or something. Someone could get hurt.

[@maskednil]

Yeah, naming it Deathtrap Dungeon just ain't enough!

[@N0d4chi]

Think of the poor imp workers. They have no safety regulations!

[@nsnick199]

DON'T DEATHTRAPS DELVE INSIDE

[@Snyperwolf91]

You are right . Should be named "Dangerous Place" .

[@339blaster]

35:20 There was an interview with Miyazaki and he said Fighting Fantasy and Deathtrap Dungeon was a massive inspiration for Dark Souls' gameplay. He'd played the books a lot when he was young.

[@EmergencyChannel]

King's Field is basically a deathtrap dungeon game.

[@mjay6245]

"Played the books" sounds wrong lol.

[@marystone860]

I just knew it had to be that! Either Miyazaki was inspired by it, or the guys who made Deathtrap Dungeon now work for FromSoftware, or something! When I was watching this, one of my thoughts was:' How did these guys NOT get sued by FromSoftware, LOL!" Now, Dark Souls and Elden RIng fans REALLY know who to "thank" for giving Miyazaki the idea for poison swamps in the first place! 🙃

[@ExarchGaming]

@@marystone860 it would be another way around, they'd have sued fromsoft, this game far predates dark souls

[@BloodyArchangelus]

Really? So dark souls is warhammer too? Everything is warhammer. Emperor protects.

[@Urza26]

The initial guy from the intro cutscene was actually pretty tough to have survived all those things and still have the strength to return to the town's tavern.

[@edwinvanderhaeghen2221]

yeah what a lad.

[@SuperSky9]

Its meant to be a joke like he didn't knew the pain in back was from the weapons and not his hopelessness.

[@HeroC14]

​@@SuperSky9My daughter watched that scene today and asked me what happened to him. I had to tell her that he died. 😂

[@Legocatshouse]

I actually thought the first guy would go on to become the last boss. 😂

[@voltcorp]

@@SuperSky9 wow it's meant to be a joke? what an amazing observation

[@ikammit]

Not sure if it was mentioned already but Lucasarts were one of the only adventure game devs who DIDN'T have softlock moments. Like one of their core tenants was "never get the player stuck/kill the player unless it's a joke" for their adventure games. Sierra, on the other hand, considered it part of the gameplay.

[@EmergencyChannel]

Sierra literally would have you missing a item in the first 10 minutes ruin your game after playing for hours and having to restart.

[@erikhogberg6635]

This is true in general, but there were exceptions. In the original version of Maniac Mansion there were loads of ways to screw up progression (not exactly soft-locking, but making the game impossible to finish).

[@geofff.3343]

Roberta Williams's philosophy was you were to figure out the solution and it didn't matter how unfair it was. She wanted you to scrawl and scribble in notebooks. LucasArts wanted you to enjoy the whole experience of it.

[@Nitidus]

The last Sierra game I remember playing was Edgar Torrontera's Extreme Bikers - spelling of that name comes without guarantee

[@Brian-qn7fn]

@@viewer6152 Your take is just as biased and filled with inaccuracies.

[@TheZackofSpades]

The fact that the game even fought Josh on recording was a tasty prelude to its viciousness

[@Daniel__Nobre]

😂

[@RedstoNeman0]

30:50: miyazaki himself mentioned that trying to beat fighting fantasy books while not knowing much english was one of his main inspirations for the serie as a whole. but instead of mentioning that serie of books in particular he names Sorcery! as the main culprit for weird obtuse things in his games haha

[@NateTheGnat]

I'm glad this video exists, I would never have seen the later levels without it.

[@pinkluver7715]

Likewise. I even used both "Xploder"/"Gameshark" on it and still couldn't get very far...

[@Godvivec]

Yep. Game was hard af as a kid.

[@KasumiRINA]

It's one of those games you finish by watching let's plays 20 years later lmao.

[@Alianger]

Yeah there are no playthrough videos for this game and thousands of others

[@appletreeblunt]

me 2 :(@@Godvivec

[@Xograch]

`Letting viewers vote on choice, so far we have not finished a book, because they are so hard.` Flashback to the 20 to 30 minutes of chat choosing the secret door and Josh explaining that they have gone through the same door multiple times while slowly losing his mind

[@Original-Yellow]

Democracy!

[@rebeccaconlon9743]

Lol, twitch plays pokemon comes to mind

[@phoenixvance6642]

Lmao, reminds me of a comic i read where in it, a group is playing a tabletop game and 1 guy keeps picking up a cursed amulet causing the whole party to die, and everytime they restart and get back to that point, he does it again

[@beast667]

That was great, just going circles 😅

[@iflorish]

Mate, you're profile pic is nostalgia galore. I wish they remasters DK1 and 2 properly, rather than the garbage "Dungeons" games these days.

[@jcxcollection13]

The young knight in the intro is quite a durable badass despite returning back defeated. He fell down what seems like at least a 50 meters drop, survived a bomb blast to the face, an attack from a whole undead army, and still managed to walk back into town, with an axe sticking into his already severely damaged spine. If only he had trained longer.

[@kenobiwanobi889]

Don't forget to mention he did all of that after getting both of his asscheeks stabbed by a Gremlin

[@canicheenrage]

And losing his sword halfway in.

[@zacharybryant3865]

Honestly if he had just taken a nap and tried in the morning... imagine a well rested knight like him going in there!

[@Tenchigumi]

For some reason, most KZbinrs never look like what I imagine when they finally do their face reveals, but Josh looks exactly like a Josh.

[@jonbourgoin182]

He looks like Hugh Jackman

[@Mokujin]

Nah, he looks like Topher Grace. But with facial hair.

[@altpanic6794]

more like Handsome Jackman@@jonbourgoin182

[@Aztiren]

I agree!

[@williamgeorge2580]

He's a sentient vest. The human is just the mobility device.

[@mario.alarcon]

I can hardly put into words what I felt during the opening of this video. I played this game when I was about 7 years old on our neighbor's computer. I remember playing the first level of the game, jumping down the bridge, and seeing the character shatter into pieces. 7 year old me was scared as shit. I might have tried to play a little bit more, but this image would haunt me for years. That fright turned then into curiosity and I have tried to find out what the name of the game was for SO MANY years. So much so, in fact, that I considered that I might just have imagined this and I was only mixing up two or more different games into something that didn't exist at all. I am 29 now and yesterday I saw the thumbnail of this video and thought "Could it be?" and the start of the game and you actually jumping down the bridge looks just EXACTLY how I remembered it. Trivial as it is, this video is like removing an itch that's been bothering me for basically all my life. This is so awesome! and it's so cool to see what the rest of the game is like. Thanks, Josh! This is so cool!

[@DJ_Mooster]

This comment is one of the best feelings a person can have

[@christiansamuelstadeus]

i get You so much.

[@catcrapinahat]

This comment is a solid 10/10, thank you for sharing.

[@Cetchupboys]

I have the exact same story except I was 5 and am now 27. A family friend gave us a stack of burned video game CDs for me to play and my parents didn't screen them before letting me play this nightmare of a first level. The traumatizing moment for me was when you behead a blue goblin in the very first hallway.

[@Gwyn1stborn]

I thought this was Nightmare Creatures

[@DoctorInk20]

_Deathtrap Dungeon_ feels like a TV executive's idea of a video game, if that makes sense. I mean the kind of thing you'd have in the background of a kid's TV show, circa 1998, where a character is playing this by frantically mashing buttons on a controller. All while 8-bit bleeps and bloops inexplicably emerge from the television speakers.

[@khankhomrad8855]

It looks like Knightmare on steroids

[@DoctorInk20]

@khankhomrad8855 That's a eerily fitting description. 😆 Albeit, minus the vision-impairing helmet.

[@daminox]

Josh has played the worst of the worst RPG games for his "worst mmo" series. To him, playing Deathtrap Dungeon a second time was nothing 😂

[@DoctorInk20]

@@daminox Precisely. Experience has forged him into a worthy warrior to fight such enemies. 😆

[@slavaukraini1991]

Just looked up the prices of the fighting fantasy novels today...I wish i hadnt 😮😮😮

[@Feasco]

9:28 y'know even if he didn't succeed this guy deserves props for actually escaping the dungeon before dying

[@FFKonoko]

One of the skeletons got inside, piloted it out. Tidier. 😂

[@adamswing6115]

For realsies, that dudes a fucking trooper

[@tobyty123]

Please never stop Josh! As a trucker and someone with insomnia and an insatiable desire for video games and their history, you truly provide me the best content on this platform. For long form, knowledgeable deep-dives that is. Keep doing it man, we love you for it!

[@Raumes513]

I can definitely see these being a godsend driving podcast style

[@reggaetonjones1988]

Truckers rock.

[@tobyty123]

@@Raumes513 yep. Throw it on, and listen. His voice is perfect for it.

[@bruceluiz]

Insomnia is not (normally) a life sentence. It may not always feel that way, but trust me, it will corrode you away like a quick-ageing spell. It is treatable and it is worth it, friend.

[@tobyty123]

@@bruceluiz yep! it comes and goes, depending on my life at the time. insomnia is definitely a reflection of my mental state. i dont think i have clinical insomnia, but i still experience it nonetheless. thanks for the positive words.

[@sirlancelonkel2472]

Not only is this man insultingly handsome, he also uncovered the mysteries of the legendary mug-rophone to provide content to us and refreshing caffeine to his own at the very same time. I am nothing short of impressed, sir!

[@Ravenpaw1313]

Insultingly handsome is a wonderful descriptor XD

[@TheCheeseMovesSideways]

​@@Ravenpaw1313He's like the Henry Cavill version of Hugh Jackman

[@AlexanderWilithinIII]

You can always count on Josh to, near the end of the video, hit you with a revelation like "Actually I DID complete both versions of the game" and then prove it with footage. Never disappoints.

[@du0lol]

.../10

[@MediocreSix]

"...sadly, you can only access this content if you fight the lead game designers father. Tragically, that lead developers father passed away in 2007, in a freak gasoline fight accident. But I *did* manage to ressurect him with the use of black magic and the necronomicon"

[@realperson2836]

this guy beat adventure quest in 2023 I'm not about to doubt him ever again

[@BladeSkate]

I was mocked by my friends for comparing Dark Souls to this upon it's release. I knew I wasn't the only one who saw these glaring comparisons. I just couldn't prove it as I thought this was only on ps1, and didn't own it anymore. Thanks so much for this nostalgic playthrough. This game and the book were poignant moments in my childhood, and taught me both restraint and how to effectively utilise a bookmark as a cheese mechanic. 😂

[@heszedjim9699]

Yeah but like, Miyazaki himself SAID it was an inspiration

[@BladeSkate]

@heszedjim9699 never knew that, interesting to know. At the time this discussion took place, The Souls series was little known to my circle of friends. Not one of them also endured Deathtrap Dungeon 🤣

[@kudosbudo]

I reckon This, Die by the Sword and Monster Hunter were inspirations. PLus all those first person dugeon crawlers.

[@andybrown4284]

I'd love to see the self proclaimed souls like gods to take a trip into deathtrap dungeon

[@cericat]

@@kudosbudothankfully they were never really inspired by DbtS's weapon mechanic not sure I'd want to play a Souls game trying to manage by swing entirely by motion. Ah when Treyarch still got to make interesting games.

[@truexreclaimer]

57:18 There definitely was a puzzle to unlock the Venom Sword and use for the fight that you missed 💀

[@codyfranczak4493]

I love the dedication to show off both versions even if its a miserable experience.

[@Captain1nsaneo]

There's an interview with Miyazaki (Dark Soul's director) where he talks about his inspiration coming from English fantasy books he couldn't completely read and had to fill in the edges of due to the language barrier. Very possible that he read the choose your own adventure books that this game is based on.

[@jayleaf201]

He's explicitly mentioned this game as inspiration for Dark Souls as well

[@ElysetheEevee]

​@@OrbStealer It sounds like they were adding the fact that he used the game as a basis into the rest of what was being said, not saying that it was the game and not the book.

[@DivineBanana]

That's not quite true... "Hidetake Miyazaki, the designer of Dark Souls, told me he was a big fan of Fighting Fantasy books in his youth. They were extremely popular in Japan." That is that exact quote from Ian livingstone, the author of Deathtrap Dungeon. So he never mentions this book or game explicitly by name, but he does mention the series... just clarifying the facts. I would say it does seem likely based on the inspiration that he did in fact play this game, but he NEVER explicitly said so, so please get your facts straight before spreading rumors

[@KaMui_AllYourBaseAreBelongToUs]

Oh my... holy moly macaroni! Seeing the opening of this game after 25 years is almost like a fever dream! Here in germany it had a 18+ rating. So, I was 11 years old. Me and my friend played it while always being nervous because my parents could enter the room anytime. Those were the days!

[@BullserkerYT]

I was 8 and did play it with my dad :D later solo :)

[@MrMrtvozornik]

They should've doubled down on that and just give her that chain only across the chest xD

[@tonysqualo8063]

Asylum Studios was an in-house developer under the publisher Eidos Interactive. Ian Livingstone was executive chairman of Eidos at the time, and was personally involved with the creative direction of this game. Some of the programmers involved also worked on other Eidos published titles, like Tomb Raider and Legacy of Kain.

[@troguehyrl7792]

I couldn't help but notice immediately that the Bug Queen fight on the PC version looks exactly like the Zephon fight segment in Soul Reaver. Boss is located in the same place, (and is the same shape and form as Zephon,) and the "room" is about the same small size.

[@Ocarina654]

Crazy that they didn't use either of those engines for this then? Unless they did use Legacy of Kain but ended up making it jankier anyway.

[@tonysqualo8063]

@@troguehyrl7792 I wouldn't be surprised if they reused assets from other projects. Tomb Raider 1-3 were basically the same base game with new content. I'm sure they used what they could from their other projects to speed up the development cycle, just add a new texture over it or change the model a bit and it's good as new.

[@poika22]

@@Ocarina654 Deathtrap Dungeon started development before Tomb Raider was released. They probably did share some technical knowledge even if they didn't repurpose the engine. Game engines back then were not nearly as complex, and not branded the way they now are. It was not uncommon for companies to make a proprietary engine for each game with some knowledge from past projects carrying over.

[@ObscuraDeCapra]

@@poika22 Seriously, it was WAY less common for games to share engines back then and then they were it was usually something really odd like using a golf game as the basis for an open world RPG (Virtual Hydlide) or a fighting game engine for a side scrolling beat 'em up. So much of the game logic was necessarily integrated with the engine that a lot of times starting from scratch would have been easier than modifying something that was already around.

[@estusf1ask]

one of your strongest videos on this channel imo. The mic-in-cup bit was great, the out of ten bit was unexpected, pacing, narrative, all excellent. All around, damn fine content

[@TheGuySilver]

This feels like Dragon’s Lair But You’re in Actual Control of Durk the Daring instead of Pressing a Direction and praying to god it’s correct. Fantastic Video btw! Wasn’t aware you did a Series. It took your most recent clip for me to look this up! Fantastic stuff! I know what I’m Binging Through January after Christmas as I am working all weekend and through the week after! 🎉

[@Datightguy]

The Fighting Fantasy books were indeed a huge inspiration for the Souls series. English fantasy books also inspired the "fill in the gaps" style lore of the Souls games. Miyazaki didn't completely understand English so he had to come up with his own headcanon while reading fantasy books so that he could form a complete story. Now we have to do the same with Miyazaki's games 😂

[@CDoric]

I knew Ian Livingstone as a kid, went to school with his son. He was an Interesting guy. He would come in and read Fighting Fantasy books sometimes at school.

[@ShadesApeDJansu]

【Shades Finnish Pirates】I remember testing Heart Of Darkness on a demo, or it was that someone owned the game or the demo. Hazy mermories, i still remember going as far as to get the gun changed to the energy blasts from your hand so i think that's too far for a demo so i must have had some friend who had Heart Of Darkness, i have fond memories of that brief time i played that game as it had such a haunting & surreal atomosphere and memorable characters & enemies even to this day. You could say that your mind has been trapped for 25 year, or more precisely "death trap dungeoned" for the quarter of a centrty and now your going to break free from your entrapment. I applaud you my good sir

[@sawyermifsud852]

The male lead dressing like a leather daddy and the female lead dressing like a dominatrix is just such a hilarious little microcosm of this era of gaming and nerd culture.

[@helmaschine1885]

His ass isn't even hanging out. Assless chaps of eff off.😂

[@ylaijgideonsantos1414]

I was 4 years old and we had a Windows 98. I don't remember when / how my dad got a hand on this game, but he did and I watched my sisters play the hell out of it. I still have vivid memories of my sister finally realizing that the normal sword does zilch to the snakewomen, and that she needs to get the venow sword first. We eventually stopped since none of us could make it past the quarry though - with those boulder like enemies. But it was so fun (and scary) to watch as a 4 year old kid!

[@DrowSkinned]

If your sisters are still around you should send them a link to the video.

[@ylaijgideonsantos1414]

​@@DrowSkinned Thanks for reminding me! Meant to do this last night but I forgot after I finished the video!

[@OuhPii]

​@@ylaijgideonsantos1414 lol how did they react?

[@ThePopo543]

If you ever plan on playing it again, the enchanted hammer is the only weapon that can k* ll golems.

[@matyasregenyi4214]

To be honest, you CAN kill snakewomen with the normal sword, it just takes a looong time.

[@710blazeit]

"smaller hit box"

[@thefinegameofnil7158]

He is a man of culture

[@x_data_x]

SM7B inside the coffee cup might be the most innovative move in KZbin history. You sir, are a gift to progress.

[@Yuzuki1337]

It came out of the left field so hard and yet makes perfect sense. Truly a moment in history that will not be forgotten.

[@Ayoshen]

That was the most aggressive "OUT OF TEN" to date. Absolutely iconic stuff.

[@sdswood3457]

Triumphant!

[@theAirborne17th]

Keep up this great content! I learn so much about older games and it's great to listen to while working.

[@dorn0531]

I played the book & the game. I failed horribly at both. I can now live vicariously through you Josh, thank you.

[@matthewbennett1972]

I used an analog cheat code. A bookmark

[@Gatorade69]

​@@matthewbennett1972Hacker ! It doesn't count !

[@OldBoydudeman]

You know when you are suddenly reminded of something from your childhood that you had completely forgotten about? The Warlock of fire top mountain is one of them for me. Thank you Josh. I loved that book, and it set me on the road of loving fiction and high fantasy. ❤

[@cyber-shinobi3238]

House of hell was mine.........

[@KaMui_AllYourBaseAreBelongToUs]

Yep, same here!

[@elliottvantonder5477]

I can just imagine Miyazaki playing this at a young age and all the formative memories it may have formed 😮 We'll probably never know if he played this or only the books, but it's wild how many similarities there are from DS1 in particular. The spider queens really remind me of aspects of Seathe and Bed of Chaos. The flying dragons behave similarly to Helkite and Khalameet. The poison, the poison swamp, the constant dying, the traps, the darkened area, the weird vaulting jump, the snake ladies, the ghost sword, the petrified statues of other adventurers, etc. I wonder how faithful these games are to the book.

[@NotABot55]

Aside from the constant dying, not much. There were no swamps, ghost swords, or snake ladies in the original book, let alone its combat-hungry sequel Trial of Champions.

[@TheGrackler]

I'm not sure on direct inspiration, particularly from this game, but Miyazaki was apparently a fan of Ian Livingstone and Fighting Fantasy books, and told Ian Livingstone so. He (Sir Ian) posted about it on Twitter in June 2020. So the dark fantasy style of his games was definitely related to this!

[@CJW0056]

Miyazaki was not allowed to play video games as a kid but he did bury himself in the fantasy adventure books like ones this game is based on. That's probably why there are so many similarities to DS.

[@Kron27j]

This was a gem from my childhood as well, I think the dynamic gore was the part that fascinated me the most, especially since you could even dismember the already downed corpses, certainly a TECHNOLOGY moment for young me. Also there was a very specific way to cheese the final stage by dropping from the top floor at a certain spot near the beginning, allowing you to survive the fall, land on the bottom floor, grab the ankh etc. then go straight to fight the dragon. A flawed gem, but damn if it doesn't have some top grade eerie ambience.

[@BlackRoseCloud]

Yeah I also played this a lot as a kid with my dad, I think it has a good aesthetic, level design, and even some bits of technology. It had so much potential it just needed more polish and perhaps a little more time and money. If the combat could be re worked, adjust the controls and change some of the traps I think it could have been a great game.

[@cathalthornton7136]

I was just thinking about giving this game a whirl for the first time this weekend. I don't remember signing a consent form for Josh to read my mind.

[@fizalex6612]

I love your videos so much I find them so entertaining that I barely noticed an hour has gone by

[@bimbendorf5166]

Seeing Josh standing like that at the beginning is unexplainably cursed

[@ipat202]

I NEED MORE

[@ulture]

no it isn't

[@KR-wd9gj]

Until I saw him stood up just now i thought he might be in a wheelchair.... At least that answers that intrusive thought

[@makeshift_battlefield_music]

​@@KR-wd9gjI wasn't even convinced till now he had legs. I thought he was like the last living dwarf in morrowind, a torso spliced onto a clockwork spider

[@bimbendorf5166]

@@ulture Yes it is.

[@jordancambridge4106]

Hey Josh I recommend playing Drakan and The Order of The Flame. Its my secret game I loved. I beat it 25 years ago. It came out the same time this game was released. It has the scariest thing ever. A child's laughter. The developer put his daughters voice as some of the monsters voices so when you look deep into the abyss of a cavern in a cave you see thousands of demonic purple side ways rain drops and you hear hundreds of 3 year old girls giggles.

[@SpecShadow]

I've played both Drakans - great game made on the wave of Tomb Raider clones. For some reasons 2nd game was Playstation exclusive, same situation with Summoner RPG. Why they did that?

[@VeggeMight]

I remember thinking deathtrap dungeon was going to be like Drakan when I bought it.

[@ilfardrachadi2318]

From memory it's also the only game I've played where your flying mount's wing flaps were cued to vertical speed. If your altitude was decreasing as you flew, you'd stay in glide and the wings wouldn't flap till you started gaining altitude. It sounds like such a small thing, but it REALLY made the flying sections for me.

[@fonesrphunny7242]

I'm currently replaying Drakan for the first time in 20 years and it's rough. Overall pretty impressive for the time, but hasn't aged that well.

[@Parscuit]

I've never played this and I'd never be able to. Im astounded by your tenacity!

[@hitempguy]

I saw this all the time at various video rental stores. There are so many PS1 games that were poorly advertised, nowadays I want to go play them

[@laladieladada]

good we have emulators and usb ps1 controllers now. ^^

[@hitempguy]

@@laladieladada Yep, playing Armored Core 1 right now, its awesome

[@CRAETION_]

​@@hitempguysounds dope

[@SpecShadow]

King's Field trilogy (and other older FROM Soft games) and many old, yet refreshing games to jump from stale AAA&indie market.

[@Magaskus]

@@SpecShadow You said the same what i thought . Many Retro-games got sooo much right . Even with the flaws of many retro-games like tank-controls or fixed camera angles ( which isnt a bad design overall if those are placed very well and are dynamic ) ,these games had awesome ideas and concepts that underrated and are still great to this day . Maybe the scope is much smaller but still more impressive and impactfull than nowadays indie- and Tripple A - games .

[@richarddixon1450]

Fun fact Josh. I actually found your channel via my curiosity over this game (having basically been the same position with it all those years ago) So I searched for Deathtrap dungeon on KZbin looking for reviews or retrospectives. Came across an awesome small channel called 'Mr Edders' watched his awesome retrospective on deathtrap dungeon. And all his other videos on say Baldurs gate 1&2. This lead the algorithm to suggest your channel to me. As they are very similar. Keep up the good work 😁

[@SpecShadow]

Mr Edder is certified banger for reviews... but they're quite long, like the one for Baldur's Gate 2. Never watched it full since its release.

[@richarddixon1450]

​@@SpecShadowI sometimes use them as ASMR 😅 but you can't knock the man's research. He covers everything! Lol

[@nicsmith6597]

This is one of two games I've been trying to find for decades!¡!!!!!!. You have relieved my daily discomfort by 50%. Hopefully one day you review the other one so I can finally put my mind to rest.

[@dragondude9637]

There is a patch to fix the music so it doesn't just play one track over and over. Just look it up.

[@SirSicCrusader]

I always wanted to play this one, but it never turned up on shop shelves until I was too old to be able to overlook the jank with nostalgia, so thanks for letting me "ENJOY" the game vicariously through you.

[@TwoSpark55]

The extra "flourish" that lotus does when climbing up ledges is another inspiration from Lara. in the early tomb raider games if you held the walk button while climbing did a longer (and smoother) fancy ledge climb animation.

[@johannesjung1903]

Haha, childhood memories … I bought the PC version back in 1998 and holy crap was it hard; especially in the beginning 😆 … but I liked it somehow, although the control was clunky as hell. By the way: The two characters - at least in the PC version - have some differences. Chain Dog is a bit tougher and so can survive some falls, that Red Lotus can not. Found that out in the circus level unintentionally. Red Lotus on the other hand is a bit faster and can jump longer distances when running. Being able to jump further was more valuable for me than having a slightly more tanky character, so in the end I preferred Red Lotus.

[@PlayfulFruitLPer]

Thank you. I thought this game was a fever dream from over 20 years ago and FINALLY, this video found it for me.

[@TM-pi2rn]

hah really? thats awesome. i never forgot what this was called. i did find a movie title that i had been looking for twenty years for recently though

[@thelastmotel]

I was 10 in 1982, and had just started playing RPGs that year (I started with Traveller and not D&D as most people did. I didn't play D&D for the first time until 1989, and it was around the 20th system I had tried by that point, and didn't understand why so many people liked it as there were... and still are ... many, many systems that are far better. Nostalgia goes a long way, doesn't it?), a few months before Warlock dropped, and I was obsessed with FF books, and still kinda am, really.

[@UlshaRS]

Seriously think that 2 page splash ad fed into my love of dominatrix/cheesecake art more than Boris' work ever did😅

[@lucasreiYT]

He's trained for this moment and now that the vest is max leveled.. OP one would say.

[@TexasHollowEarth]

Great review and detailed walkthrough of both versions! The CGI intro for the game is pretty good. Quick addition... Red Lotus = Red Sonja. That early in-game asset of her in the silver 2-piece outfit seals it 😎👍

[@Snyperwolf91]

I agree . We need some more good Sexappeal here and there again.

[@ryangray2779]

It's cool seeing how the list of supporters is growing over the course of time. Keep up the good work!

[@ConcreteUnending]

Adding yourself to the video really is a great idea for evolving the content on this channel. Makes the personality of these videos even stronger. Keep at it! And yes the cup bit is great xD

[@MS-jp3op]

I love the bit about keeping your thumb on the last page. It would be kinda cool to see a remake of this where you could Prince of Persia style reverse time a few seconds, lol

[@azalea_k]

This is why humanity evolved 5 digits per hand. Save scumming in adventure gamebooks.

[@speedincooper]

This is such a great video. I get to sit through this fabulous, yet flawed and frustrating game without any of the stress

[@gravelordnito8384]

The memory of every playing this impossible game as a kid was so deeply repressed in my mind.... thank you for digging up my memories

[@petershea6666]

The "out of ten" at the end had me laughing uproariously. Excellent work, sir!

[@niksimeo04]

Excellent video, very informative, I just have a couple of things to correct as I can say I have mastered this game 1) The combat / fighting mechanics in the PC version are actually better and more.You get a couple of more combos for example a combo where you slash forward then backwards then he/ she whirls from the left side to attack back again. 2) (17:36) yes, you can pause in the PC version. Just hit the P button on your keyboard which will allow you to cycle through your inventory just like the PS version. 3) (41:34) A small tip for the future players, you can use a charm of icy cool (prevents you from getting burnt) and get all 4 chests. The elevator will go up, but when the fires stop, it will teleport you up and reward you 4) I BEG for someone who knows the secrets of Inversion 2 to spill them out, I never found them (PC version) (in the PS version its Inversion 9) 5) In PC version, in Inversion 1, you can jump down to the emptiness (in a specific, very specific place) and it will end the level instantly and proceed to the next level, FYI

[@daboss640]

It's always fun looking back at games that scared you as a kid. I was so terrified by the blood trail in the Shinra building that I had to mute the TV to get through it. That song still gives me chills.

[@MichaelOcherz]

Josh, I wanted to say that I admire your dedication to micro-optimisation in your character choice. Truly the hero we don't deserve.

[@LlamaDuck2211]

I loved this video. Josh helps show depth in games that I wouldn't normally notice and that makes me love video games as a medium more.

[@gehrmanfirsthunter8646]

I used to play this game like crazy on PS1 also. My friend owned it and we used to spend hours getting obliterated. I'm not sure if he ever beat it, but I remember how good it felt to complete a stage and how bad it felt to see how many secrets you missed.

[@surrealsun]

The timing of this video coming out is uncanny! I remember reading Warlock of the Firetop Mountain (in Finnish) in my childhood, but until a few days ago I couldn't for the life of me remember the name or the author of the book and it was driving me crazy; I really wanted to find those books again. Then a few days ago I finally figured it out and ordered a couple of the original editions on Ebay! This had bothered me for aaaages. And now this video comes out! 😂I'm convinced I'm living in a simulation...

[@rogerborg]

It's personal for me too, I worked on the intro cinematic, and got the late, great Paul Darrow to do the voiceover, back when actors didn't want to touch games. I take no credit or blame for the game itself.

[@ballanbjr]

Josh Strife Hays, unlocking core memories and making me feel less crazy about the weird and obscure games I played in my childhood.

[@mhiggs8001]

Oh yay I’m so happy when you release a new video. I’d never heard of this game and I’m assuming I’m roughly the same age as you, so idk why I missed it. I really like the concept, even if they had some issues executing it. It actually seems like the push the limits of the hardware. I think it would be cool to have a remake of this game, it seems fun. Thanks as always, I really do enjoy watching these, so thanks so much for making them. They’re really a bright spot in a dark day for me.

[@procow2274]

Have to give the guy from the intro credit to make it back to town after all that is impressive although I don't know why dog took that axe from his back if he wasn't going to use it

[@Painocus]

The blood beast cover is the original. The one you showed as the original is actually the US-localization cover. I like that while Steve Jackson was doing stuff like making a book where you start out having no control over your choices, results being the same regardless of what you choose you want to do or being determined at-random, to represent you playing an instinct-driven monster, and only gradually getting choices as you become more self-aware, leading ultimatly to stuff like puzzles that require you to question the stated mechanics of the book itself to progress, Livingstone was over in the other room going "more wrong turn instant death-traps! the children yearn for the death-traps!" (And he wasn't wrong. Those books were the most popular which is why we got the big Deathtrap Dungeon video-game and not an existential-monster-simulator Creature of Havoc video-game.)

[@Kholaslittlespot1]

Creature of Havoc! What a book. I'd play that game.

[@azalea_k]

I discovered the language secrets while doing my GCSEs. Ended up with a ton of crappy Cs but some fond memories of my fave FF book of all time.

[@Mangaka718]

wait, that sounds amazing! I've never heard of it, but maybe I should look it up. better late than never :P

[@Kholaslittlespot1]

@@Mangaka718 I remember it being super hard as a kid but it had such a unique vibe. Definitely give it a look!

[@vulpes133]

I remember playing this on my ps1 as a child. I still remember in the first room you can climb up into the ledge on the right side and if you maxed out your jump bar and did what felt like a pixel perfect jump you could leap all the way over the the left side ledge and collect some hidden items, such as an explosive pig.

[@Lagrangeify]

I think there might be a little of the spirit of John Peter Bain living on through you Josh. The vibe of this series takes me back to my whippersnapper days, and we're talking Jet Set Willy era! As comforting as a steaming mug of builders tea and a well fitted waistcoat on a rainy day. Long may they continue.

[@sceligator]

May he rest in peace.

[@Funsox]

The amount of concentrated nostalgia in this video is insane. This is what started it all for me. I had the Deathtrap Dungeon book and I can't even tell you how many times I read through it. I had this insane self motivation where each time I died, I would never just go back to the previous choice (Often deaths were 3 or 4 choices deep anyway). I would always start again. I had a notebook of all the different things I had chosen. I recreated the blood beast art many times throughout my lifetime and it was the primary inspiration for most of my artistic influence, from my drawn art through to the music I listen to, Heavy Metal. I still vividly remember pawing over the book. I recall one of it's eyeballs, bursting like some kind of gross pimple. Every detail. The videogame however I rented from the videostore maybe once. It beat the shit out of me. I couldn't overcome it by trial and error. And like many others, I never finished it. Maybe I'll get around to it. Thanks Josh. I appreciate it. Even though you shit on one of my other childhood favorites Azure Dreams, which got me into jRPGs and Anime. (IT'S NOT THAT BAD OKAY ITS LIKE BUDGET POKEMON MEETS PERSONA :P)

[@Yuzuki1337]

Oh my god, someone else who remembers Azure Dreams! Funnily enough that game was my "I couldn't beat this as a child but came back as an adult to do so" game. :) Still holds up pretty well today and I play it every now and then. Edit: Also, when did Josh shit on that game? :o

[@Funsox]

​@@Yuzuki1337 Azure Dreams was a game I could beat by trial and error with a +99 diamond shield. Yes, I played it, was so bad and lost so many times that my shield was eventually +99. But Kewne and I had fun dangit. I still remember most of the game, from the not chocobo racing, to my first set of living armour, or Unicorn, enemies that used to terrify me. I want to say that Josh may have posted a 2 second clip of Azure Dreams when he was on a diatribe and he might have used it as an example at some point, but the memory is so vague that it could have just been someone else admittedly. The only video I can think it might have been on was the Second World game or Another World (I never played it).

[@Yuzuki1337]

@@Funsox Hehe, I got really damn close one time as a kid, I vividly remember getting to 39F and ending the run early because my monsters were in bad shape and I was expecting the tower to have 50 floors and a tough boss fight at the end. 😅 As an adult I mostly grinded for upgrades as well as being more mindful of monster fusions, which helped me finally beat the game on tower run 24. :) Got my Trained Wand way too late so I upped a Gold Sword, but I managed to nab a Mirror Shield in one of my first runs which was really really helpful. I think I ended up with the shield at +30ish and the sword at +24. Now I wanna replay the game, damn. 😅 Also the town building and the minigames were a blast! I spent sooo many hours as a kid in the bowling hall, trying to get a perfect game, lol.

[@Funsox]

@@Yuzuki1337 I'm just gonna be honest and say I spent most of my time at the Casino and at the Horse track. The bowling was neat but I only played it from time to time. Watching the town grow has informed a lot of my gaming decisions, even today. It's kind of quaint and harvest moon adjacent these days, but I remember at the time just being astounded that the things I was doing in the game were making a difference to the people around me. It was a great feeling. Having a rival to push you along in the form of Ghosh and eventually marrying his sister because LMAO GHOSH YOU FUCK was just the icing on the cake. I've genuinely seriously considered studying game design just so I can make a spiritual successor to Azure Dreams. I have so many great memories.

[@theod9548]

I read almost all the books of the collections... we were a group of a dozen to buy and passa round the books, whether they were one offs or part of collection. this was our d&d when we were alone. (and yes we played d&d too)

[@Lux_Ferox]

If I had this game as a kid, I would have been absolutely obsessed with it.

[@ReikaLady]

This is one of the few times Josh sounded genuinely angry at a game. Usually it's just exasperated annoyance. :)

[@residentgrigo4701]

The first game I ever hated and refused to finish.

[@jonbourgoin182]

I rented this game from Blockbuster and brought it back saying it didn't work. Lmao

[@turbo8628]

​@@jonbourgoin182 people say blockbuster didn't move with the times, when their downfall was games like this and games that could be completed in a weekend 😅

[@michaelcalvin42]

@@turbo8628 I wouldn't exactly say that was their downfall. They were first and foremost a video rental store, after all. Remember what we didn't have streaming services back then; the Internet barely even existed.

[@turbo8628]

@@michaelcalvin42 was a joke dude. Implied that their rentals got returned with people making excuses up to get a refund.

[@michaelcalvin42]

@@turbo8628 I figured you weren't serious, but you can never tell with people these days...

[@stevenbrice5554]

Just noticed at the end. The narrator must have been Paul Darrow. Familiar to those that have seen "Blakes 7" as Avon. Yep, it's him... Didn't realise how many games he had worked on!

[@bniy]

Back in the mid 2000s I played a game on a relatives computer which had a bridge and checkered floors at the very start of the game, I jumped off the side of the bridge and quit the game because the game was horrifying to me at the time. I can't believe that THIS is that game! I've always wondered what it was. Great video, Josh, thanks for the memory jog as well 😊

[@kalilak9701]

This feels like the sort of game that could/should be remade (in this graphical style). Like you said, the ideas and layouts and enemies are so clever, if someone dumped better control, camera, and save systems into it, maybe spruced up the graphics and sounds a bit, I feel like it could become a really fun game to... watch other people die in. >.

[@NiakoChan]

One of the hardest games ever. My kid self was veeeery proud to have managed to make it to the end of the game. (after endless deaths)

[@Cyrillius1]

I had this when I was like 8 - looking at this now, there wasn't a chance in hell I was ever going to finish it back then lmao

[@HQ_Default]

This feels like one of those games that would become infinitely more enjoyable if you have access to emulation save states

[@cooltrainervaultboy-39]

Ironically, my brother burst in my room this morning to borrow my emulator console to see if Deathtrap Dungeon was preloaded on it. It has Save States available for it, and he plans on playing it to compilation 😂.

[@justicetaylor3050]

Like he said in the vid, “This game captures the brutal difficulty of adventure books, but lacks the I had my finger on the last page I’m going back instead of dying mechanic.”

[@poika22]

No, it wouldn't. The main problem this game has are the clunky controls, the camera and damage sponge enemies. Those things are terrible even on first attempt. The save system is actually pretty generous.

[@manueldelrosso4998]

My first ever videogame, i saw it played by my dad when i was 5. I play it every year close to my birthday, i would never expect you to do a video about it. A little side note, i always played the pc version in which u can pause when u go through the spell, word,etc by pressing P

[@TheStilf]

Massive props for the early warning against the giant spiders and the creepy clowns.

[@Brandontbarber]

Was secretly praying to see this game covered one day. Played it quite a bit as a kid, but never finished.

[@Heinrick192]

You are getting absolutely jacked, my friend! Great work as always.

[@notenoughmonkeys]

3:33 - Fun fact, the Fighting Fantasy books are the reason we have the Final Fantasy RPG Series, and not Fighting Fantasy RPG Series.

[@ArachCobra]

So fun story, I finished watching a longplay of this game just a couple of days ago alongside my boyfriend. He wanted me to see it as the game was a big part of his childhood. And he actually wondered if you'd cover this at some point. So seeing it pop up was really funny.

[@TheMightyKawama]

I loved the Fighting Fantasy books as a child to late teen, I also knew of this game and yet somehow never made the connection they were related - thanks for the unplanned nostalgia

[@karljohan2300]

god im so happy you see play this game cuz godamn this is a masterpiece. it wa spretty much the dark souls of that time lol. also thinking back its amazing how we went through whole game without saving since we didnt have a savecard at the time. also if i remember correctly you get flame lance in spire 2 and th epitfiend in th eclown level can get stuck in the door. also im pretty sure theres like 3-4 traps for the 2 t rexes in th epit level also the giant green hand is in the playstation version just randomly in one of th esunken castle levels. also jsut as a bonus there is some weird glitchy thing with th efirst flamethrower in the hive level, where if you pick up both at same time you only get a flamethrower at 50 ammo and it deletes any you had collected. from what i can remember re dlotus jumps and runs further but takes slightly more damage while chaindog is slower and shorter jumping but takes slightly less damage dont know if this really is true but it always felt like it so yeah we played it a few too many times last bonus thing at that elevator at spire 2 where you shoot rockets at theres one imp there that never attacks you also might add the aniamtions in this is pretty dman good for such a ugly old game a good thing about this game is enemies can hit each other in range so in circus run in circles and let them be chipped down god i miss this fucking game but with my my ps2 dead. the game with my brother i will never get to play this again properly

[@frankenbou]

But the most pressing question is still left unanswered: Did Josh use a mic mug or a mug mic?? We need to know!

[@WhenGoatsWentBaa]

Mic mug. If it was a mug mic it'd be a mic modelled after a mug, but as it's a mug that contains a mic it's a mic mug.

[@MrFredPlays]

mugrophone

[@whiterabbit4945]

its actually an automaton driven by an imp

[@vinceb8123]

..... both?

[@OuhPii]

mug mic obviously ➡ the main function is a mic, because you can't use it as a mug with the mic in it

[@MrSmokincodz]

I love your channel, man. Its a unique perspective and nostalgic for many of us. Cheers From Minnesota USA.

[@Zeburaman2005]

I remember being so fascinated as a kid in the 80s by the cover art work of Island of the Lizard King that I stole it from my school’s library.😅 It served as my introduction to RPG mechanics. Then I started reading and as soon as you and your friend Mungo get to the beach, a giant crab attacks you and kills him. I remember thinking “this game doesn’t screw around, let’s show it who’s boss” before being betrayed by the dice rolls and becoming lunch for cave trolls. Good times.😂

[@locuas5601]

29:45. actually a cool thing here. when I played this game on PC. you can actually drop onto one of these rooms on top of an object that is JUST high enough you can survive the fall. this lets you cheese the entire stage

[@sdswood3457]

Same narrator as Medieval! I remember renting this one on PS1 about a dozen times and my friend and I never able to get very far

[@ami6325]

Damn I actually remember this game for how very little I've played.

[@Silphiroth]

I SO SO SO SO appreciate the spider warning at the beginning! I dont need it in a game with graphics like this personally. But people like me, who cannot play most fantasy style games because of freaking spiders, I really really appreciate this warning. I wish developers would do that, so I dont need to literally google "Game name spiders" - every time before I buy it

[@RyllenKriel]

I came for some PS1 nostalgia and stayed for the flying turtles. Cheers!

[@Arrow333]

I am here send by Ian Livingstone to deliver the message he is now working on Deathtrap Dungeon 2, making it so hard that you will only beat it another 25 years later. Joke aside, that game did beat me back then as well. For some reason I liked some of the soundtrack and added it to my music library, and that few tracks are still sitting there somewhere. And I honestly think that is the only part of the game that will be on my PC.