Why your favorite Video Game is an Anomaly

[@Mugthief]

I hope you enjoyed the video, and that you're enjoying some great video games. These games have always been there, but we're getting more and more of them, and they deserve to be celebrated. If I spot any corrections in the comments, I'll edit this to reflect them! Oh, and liking the video is always appreciated, since I forgot to say that until the last minute of the video. May you live microtransaction free.

[@cikame]

I think about Death By Degrees almost daily.

[@wterry2801]

Remnant 2 seems to always get the shaft, it deserves way more attention, it belongs in the list with Lies of P, Space Marines etc.

[@eatingostrich8815]

​@@wterry2801 the reason you don't hear of Remnant 2 is because the people who know of it are busy..... praying Remnant 2

[@dingdong6563]

I have a request. Would you do a review on certain video game communities that cause games to die or lose buyers purely because of their "toxicity" or poor design from their customers. I'm talking about Elden Ring and a certain person from it's community that caused a game that they play tested played. The game that I'm referring to is lords of the fallen, and why did it fail when it supposedly was an improvement from Elden Ring and its multiplayer?

[@seb1520]

Anomaly = the game devs actually cared and wanted to make a good game beyond just making money

[@GodWorksOut]

Which is actually the best way to make money 😂

[@Relhio]

Make a niche game in 8 years or make a game in half that time but with mass appeal while selling 10 times more copies? Seems like a pretty damn obvious choice to me.

[@undefinedother]

"You don't understand, it's so hard for us to make good games even though everyone is telling us what to do and when we do it the games are good."

[@Relhio]

Or you could not listen to less than 5% of your buyers with their outlandish expectations and just make a generic game that will sell anyway.

[@AraikSarkisyan]

I didn't know that making effort in game development instead of money laundering or selling the garbage with 9000+ "micro"transactions calls "the anomaly" nowadays

[@marsinvader9078]

In my mind, money laundering is the definitive answer to "How do these $100m+ movie/game failures keep getting made?"

[@joncarter3761]

They aren't anomalies, they're real games in a market full of products. They remind us of what AAA lost when they went full corporate. Hopefully the upcoming AAA crash will reset expectations and the entire industry gets back to making games instead of products!

[@trippymartian8847]

Perfect description

[@qu1253]

Get this idea of a market crash out of your head. It will never happen. The industry is far too large and far too profitable for that to ever happen like it did in the 80s. And even if it did happen, the only ones it would affect would be small and mid size indie devs and publishers. Corporate games publishers like EA and Activision would easily weather the storm. Most publishers make their money from mobile games and consider console and PC games to be an afterthought.

[@damare7706]

You just explained exactly what makes them an “anomaly,” but I understand your message😅

[@franciscodelico]

Did you just not watch the video and decided to comment?

[@NiggaBootyMuncher2000]

​@@qu1253Yeah man. And the banks were "too big to fail" too.

[@Locaneo]

It irritates me how many journalists and big game devs use the term Anomaly for these great games. When they say "Anomaly" they pretty much mean "Original idea for a game we hate that we wish didn't exist and would rather you buy our stuff and not ask us to raise the bar. Like with Ubisoft and Elden Ring or a few companies and Baldur's Gate. Remember back in the early 2000s up till when the PS4 was finishing its life cycle all the chugged out esoteric stuff we got? The PS2/Gamecube and sometimes the original Xbox was filled with rough diamonds and just all around experimental weird games that slowly became cult classics. Phantom Dust, Chibi Robo, Oz Over Zenith, the original Demon's Souls, Zill Ol, Magna Carta, Eternal Sonata, Baroque, etc. The stuff that barely, if ever, got media attention. What happened to that time of experimentation? You mainly only see it nowadays on Steam, but the saturation rate is too high. Also many miss that polish that some of those games would occasionally display, like in a good if not campy cutscene or surprising voice acting. I miss low and middle market experiments, the things that made the great franchises we have now.

[@JLM-y5g]

All of the Armored Cores were like this. They were rough, but they were experimental and had a Sci-fi flavor entirely their own. I really love Armored Core 6, but it is far less experimental and interesting than the earlier games in the franchise. You can FEEL Fromsoft's Soulslike DNA in it, and you can't help but notice everything that got lost over the franchise's ten year hiatus. A less esoteric, and arguably less experimental one? The earlier Assassin's Creed games were love letters to human freedom and innovation, but they slowly became safe and synonymous with Ubisoft's game design ethos as they unified said ethos across all the games in their catalogue. Those games became the opposite of the values they espoused. I have a couple games in recent memory that have scratched this itch: Rapid, an action shooter that is being built by a guy here on YT (it's not out yet, but it looks like the experimental stuff I used to love playing), and Kenshi. I don't think Kenshi really needs an introduction; it's the right amount of rough edges, the right amount of ambition, and you can feel the passion and vision bleeding through every inch of it.

[@Locaneo]

@@JLM-y5g I agree with you. The earlier Armored Cores were really rough gameplay wise till they fixed the camera/right stick issue in 3 or 4 I believe, but even then the purposeful clunkiness and brutal nature felt great with the setting and story. And yeah AC has tanked miserably. I know this may be a bit blasphemous to say, but I didn't enjoy 2, it's great but I didn't like it as much as 1 and 3. 1 had a mystique to it, an atmosphere surrounded by a mystery that permeated that game I loved. And 3 was just brilliant gameplay wise (after bug fixes) and had a pretty good story. Only thing I appreciate about the others after 3 were just being in that area in their given time period and just felt like "Far Cry with a new skin and no guns again...awesome." With other minute changes, but none that were very innovative and became really serialized later. I know Kenshi well, I want to love that game but I've played for hours and cannot remember or keep up with or understand its controls. I've watched video after video and I just cannot keep up with that game mentally hahaha. And thanks for the recommendation, I'll check out Rapid.

[@JLM-y5g]

@@Locaneo The dev has some dev logs out on Rapid, his channel name is Lev Ornstein. My favorite AC to date is Silent Line. I just really found the idea by itself really evocative: "What is that?" "That's the 'Silent Line', those who venture past it do not return." "Cool, let's try to venture past it." "Did you NOT hear a word I just said?"

[@Sassarai916]

It's funny. Ppl said hard games and turned based games are out dated yet they are winning awards and selling like hotcakes.

[@guntere1004]

I mean, If those niche games are the only ones left with great quality, scope and staying ture to what works it really isn't much of a surprise

[@Carnefice]

​​@@guntere1004Millions of units sold isn't exactly "niche" haha

[@5001Fergies]

the problem is that execs assume that the entire community of gamers collectively wants one thing at any given time, and thats just never the case. currently theyve convinced themselves that people want games to be easy, so every game holds your hand and its incredibly frustrating to people who want a challenge, so they gravitate towards the only games left that challenge you: souls likes which market themselves on being difficult

[@AuUntaris]

Turn-based fans were starved for so long that we won’t leave the buffet. I continue to cling onto XCOM 2, I don’t even put it on a plate, I took the whole steam tray back to my table.

[@devonwhite9398]

​@@AuUntaris fuckin love that game

[@squangleproductions1382]

That’s why I’m so thankful games like Lies of P found an audience and it has been confirmed to be getting a DLC and a sequel. It’s a game that made me so happy, so emotional, and after I finished it it felt like how it feels after you eat a full hearty meal. I felt full, felt complete, and that’s why I love video games so much, that’s what indie games are giving me more of, same with double A.

[@WiillPlay]

I'm not a player of the Soulslike genre, but for the time I've played lies of P, it's very good and has a lot of affection from the devs responsible for the game.

[@squangleproductions1382]

@@WiillPlay Elden Ring got me into souls games, not really enough to finish, but Lies of P had me so engrossed I finished the game 6 times and got a platinum trophy. I see why some didn’t finish it, though I wish some would ever since all those nerfs came out.

[@JLM-y5g]

@@squangleproductions1382 You're not missing much, truth be told. Elden Ring was just an absolute slog of a video game. I came away from it wondering "Why did I play this for this long?" I definitely think ER is the weakest Soulslike in Fromsoft's catalogue, and it's not even close.

[@jurtheorc8117]

@@squangleproductions1382 If you're up for a game that's only partially soulslike and for the rest its own thing, i can very warmly recommend Clash: Artifacts of Chaos. It's a game that did for me what you described: Leaving me full and complete, even amid the sadness that the story brought.

[@thomaswilson8022]

I bought a Playstation 5 because I heard armored core was coming back. This was the same year elden ring dropped, so I picked it up and was even more excited for AC6. Then along came lies of p, people said it was the best souls like, ER was the first of the genre since I got back into gaming so it only made sense that I pick it up after beating ER 7 times over. Oh man, the game is easily every bit as good as people said it was. I only wish more people played it and ac6

[@aquapendulum]

Sign me up for some "Video Game Ass" video games.

[@cirescythe]

I dont need every game be the most amazing ever. Ok games are, well, ok. But shouldnt the developers be the ones WANTING to make the most amazing game ever?

[@HonkaiMain]

I'm a certified gacha addict, so yes, these are anomalies. I have played Wukong, Stellar Blade, Lies of P, and currently Shin Megami Tensei 4, and all of these were able to break me out from my gacha sphere. The experience of playing a complete game is wonderful, and the satisfaction you get from beating it is refreshing. I still like HSR and Nikke, but the constant updates and the far off end get exhausting. This is also why I fully support Wukong, Lies of P, and Stellar Blade because successful console games from those regions will push for even more games like them. Also, major props to Shift Up for taking the risk to make Stellar Blade without microtransactions really won my respect for them as game developers.

[@Idfkwhyy]

i did not like how the industry reacted to those games, instead of the devs/publishers taking them as a wake up call they just doubled down on their bullshit, called them anomalies and admitted that they will continue trying to push their slop down our throats and oh boy, dont u dare complain! Tbh I'll continue playing those great games, I'd rather replay Elden ring for the 10th time than the newest cod or whatever open world ubisoft released in the past year.

[@Kedamojo]

The fact that they’re all games based on older formats makes it amazing to see “old” audiences do 100x the numbers.

[@brionreichers1871]

This guy is becoming one of my favorites. Thoughtful, honest, and intelligent. Looking forward to see you explode!

[@BrandonDenny-we1rw]

Im just now realizing how underrated this guys channel is, definitely deserves more views

[@S_raB]

"Phrasing!"

[@cirescythe]

Indeed. Someone send Asmongold one of his videos. Pretty much the only way to get the spotlight.

[@NiggaBootyMuncher2000]

But then he'll die

[@BustertheMadCat]

What i miss most is games having cheat codes built in. Starting up a playthrough with big head mode was so stupid and great. Now you have to buy the cheat codes or hack them into the game yourself.

[@sephikong8323]

Even Grand Strategy Games are starting to make the console more tedious to get to. I remember in old Paradox games, you just needed to press one button to get the console command at any time and you could then remove it just as easily but in their latest games, to access the console you need to purposefully set the game to Debug mode in the launcher and it's honestly visually disgusting whilst playing to have all of this extra text all over the place due to being forced to play in Debug Strategy games is one of the last bastions of the old ways when it comes to cheats and even there it's starting to get taken away and I don't get it, if I want to make silly things with the console, why slowly start to take it away from me ? You already can't access it in Multi-player and using it disables achievements so I really don't get it

[@thingsiplay]

Exceptional good games were always anomalies in the history of videogames.

[@tysonvienneau1830]

The real anomaly was how games got to this point where a good game is seen as the anomaly and not the other way around. We used to get so many good games all the time with mediocre games once in a while

[@4newestaccoun]

Wukong is better than I expected and I was hyped for it for the 4 years since it was announced. Absolutely beautiful and epic storytelling

[@YeOldeMachine]

I think large publishers should have "concept" shows. Where they reveal concept art, and/or vertical slices, and/or cinematics for ideas they have... and do a show with the rough drafts of concepts so they can judge public response and have a better idea of which ideas to pursue. Something like this was never needed until now. They've gotten so out of touch, tgat if they want to make any money, they need to run it by us first.

[@dassemultor6940]

They used to have that. 'Member E3?

[@saschaberger3212]

"Good games are an anomaly. Please don't try to normalize this. That's dangerous for our income l. Keep buying slop please. Let us tell you what to like or we generalize everyone as istophob." Journalist XYZ from SlopGaming

[@a_lost_one]

"Quit having standards, because having any at all would mean you stop buying our nonsense!"

[@timsmith5014]

@@a_lost_one consume product then move on to next product........or we will call you a racist POS

[@biz8888]

The FF7 remakes were literally SE making 1 game into multiple games so that they could nickel and dime their customers. Kind of ironic to consider them in the "anamolies".

[@Belhenix]

It's an anomaly because they're putting a lot of effort to sell you a game you've already played, but reimagined. Put this against the older final fantasy remakes, which are just ports for easier accesibility. I don't like what SE is doing with the FF7 remakes and I don't plan to buy them, but I have to give credit where it's due.

[@gabb2664]

True

[@KeijoAmbersson]

I see your point, but I disagree. I'm someone who considers the OG FFVII a goated game and has put lot of hours into Remake and Rebirth. I can say with hand on my heart that the devs love for the world, characters and story absolutely shows. These are games they wanted to make. They have flaws, but this is the biggest compliment possible for a remake of a legendary status game in todays enviroment. Must've been so tempting for the execs to just wing it and bet on FFVII brand to sell the product..... Plus, the dev time for a single game all at once would've been really long. Like they had game engine, combat system, ton of assets etc. ready from Remake and still took years to finish Rebirth. There is an element of cashing in for sure, but with the level of polish we got I'm not complaining.

[@mark.082]

I'd rather have that over getting one whole underbaked and rushed game if you ask me.

[@janarcangel49]

@@Belhenix FF7 Remake Integrade is in the Game Catalogue for PS+ Extra. Probably the only reason I'll play that since It's there and I hope Rebirth and the last part will go there in the future.

[@addidaswguy]

I agree with 99%, but... "GTA 6 couldn't make it's money with just base sales" Yes it could, ABSOLUTELY. Wukong is already at a BILLION dollars, in a month. GTA 6 will outsell Wukong 10x. It's going to be the biggest game of all time, and could make INSANE profit without a single Microtransaction. But it just wouldn't make ALL the money, and all they want.

[@addidaswguy]

And actually GTA 6 can make it's money continually unlike 98% of other games because GTA is STILL consistently in the top sellers eleven YEARS later. If GTA is 75% as good as V(or hopefully better) it's going to continually sell for another decade, and I absolutely think it'll crush GTA Vs sales in every metric.

[@cirescythe]

​@@addidaswguyyea kinda. Thing with gaming is, that they take forever to make and need to be the focus of hundreds of people. And other than other products, they do not make a single cent for the entirety of the production cycle. So basically you dont pay for gta 6. You pay for gta 6, for the next RDR and gta 7 and the alterations to the game engines AND for a potential failure. Its a huge gamble.

[@addidaswguy]

@@cirescythe ehh, Not with GTA, not anymore. Unless they fail and deliver a trash product. But yeah in general, but if a game costs 300 million, and it makes 600 million, it's profitable and that should be enough for gaming companies. I think game companies being publicly traded is the worst thing they ever happened to gaming. Because instead of just needing to be a great company with great games and being profitable, a LOT of these companies are pushing to make the next quarter be more profitable than the last by ANY means, even if it ruins the company perception, or is awful for the customer, or is just scummy.

[@cirescythe]

​@@addidaswguyyes i agree. Dont get me wrong. Just saying that with videogames you cant think in the lines of "ok this game cost 200mill and earned 300mill so 100mill pure profits". Its more like costs 200mill, earns 300, so thats 100 towards the next project in hopes that that one is profitable as well. Thats the reason so many HAVE to sell their soul to the likes of blackrock. If game 1 makes 100 mill profit, thats not 100 mill plus. Its 200 mill minus towards making game 2. Thats when devs turn to investors.

[@NoahWanger]

You're making the mistake thinking that Rockstar would just be satisfied with making a game that *only* makes bank. They want a game that prints money.

[@Boss_Fight_Index_muki]

There needs to be a law: _Only F2P games can have microtransactions_

[@PKSuperStar256]

Nah, unfortunately some of the games I like weren't very successful like Klonoa or Starfy. They're still series with great games, nonetheless.

[@Rietto]

I love Klonoa!

[@PKSuperStar256]

@@Rietto, ditto. I can't get enough of the masterpieces that are within the main duology.

[@AuUntaris]

I think it’s perfectly reasonable to call certain games anomalies, in the sense that no other company should even try to duplicate it because there is no way they can iterate the game better than it’s original creator. No one can make a From game like From. No one can make a Larian game like Larian. Parts of each game could be taken and used to great effect in a new game, but absolutely no one should be trying to be the next Elden Ring or next Baldur’s Gate 3. Sometimes a concept is iterated to its maximum value and those are the anomalies. A game or a game genre iterated to be so overwhelmingly good at what it does that it should not be emulated by anyone but the originator.

[@ANGRYWOLVERINE2060-ft2nc]

Some years back Andrew Wilson of EA said " there has been a fundamental change in the marketplace" as his justification to try to make all of EA's games live service multiplayer and it backfired spectacularly with Starwars Battlefront 2 .The fans revolted and EA had to back down, When Respawn came on the scene with Vince Zampella he was given control of his own studio and EA apparently voluntarily limited their control over him so he had more freedom to do as he wanted .Likely a lesson Zampella learned from Bobby Kotick firing him and his partner from Activision several years ago. So EA backed off and Wilson learned his ability to force multiplayers on the fans and it be successful was limited. With the collapse of Concord and Sony's problems I suspect we will see a lot fewer multiplayer live service games. I don't know if you buy into the culture war but I believe it exists. A lot of games are tanking because of the counter politics between conservatives /traditionalists on one side and liberal activists on the other and so we see a lot of games fail/are failing/or will fail because of this war. Add to that some of the activists are trying to cancel their online critics. Get them deplatformed/ banned from youtube for example and that just exacerbates things/ramps up the controversies and ill feeling. Now we come to the "give the fans what they want" not what your studio wants as part of an agenda. Not what an outside consultancy says you as a developer should do. Not what the investors want. A game that is well made that gives what the fans want sells.

[@matttumberman2191]

Andrew Wilson is the only person I can think of that is evil on the outside AND the inside. Dude is a real-life James Bond villain. Just needs a scar.

[@whentheyD]

youtube commenter uses the American Definition of Libe/ral part 474593759303761658

[@KeijoAmbersson]

Nice video dude, I enjoy your thoughtful stuff. Problem with videogame industry summed up: modern (late-stage capitalism) corporate culture. The industry grew so big that it attracted people who only care about money, not the product or what it means. The big studios are now run by these people, they only exist to squeeze more out of the employees and maximize short term profit for shareholders, green line must go up. It takes small to medium size studios who are vision driven to create the good games. Sven Vincke from Larian (BG3), dude took a loan on his house at some point to keep making fantasy RPGs when things weren't going so well. It's so amazing to get to see people like this succeed.

[@timsmith5014]

late stage capitalism you say is really corporatism also known as fascism(the merger of corporate and government powers)......capitalism is the best form of government ever created by people since it allows for upward mobility unlike communism that has no upward mobility only peasants and oligarchs...companies have just gotten so big they have unbelievable power and its broken capitalism apart and given us fascism....I just wish more people could see it and understand it so it could be fixed(our rulers wouldnt want it fixed though since they profit off it)

[@SirShadeyy]

I found your channel through your “gaming is healing” video this morning so I listened to it on my way to work. Then I see this as I’m leaving. Perfect timing

[@oddtactic]

When a game has no agenda, but characters in it are diverse, when a game has no stupid monetization because it is sold at full price, when developers actually make good gameplay that is pleasant and interesting to master - all this is truly an anomaly. The gar\bage that "Modern developers" release today, for the "modern audience" deserves only two thing - a refund and oblivion.

[@ExiletheJedi]

Why’d you put a slash in the middle of Garbage?

[@genius7328]

Why do gamers never stop finding a way to complain about “woke” games that don’t exist? Why are conservatives so cringe? So many questions will be left unanswered.

[@cirescythe]

​@@genius7328bro. Did you read some actual tweets of developers? There are plenty openly stating that they are woke and have an agenda. Literally. Not even vailed. Word by word.

[@genius7328]

@@cirescythe let me let you in on something. Any corporation that says they are woke is not actually woke, and half the time these things are intentionally exaggerated in order to make the left look bad. Cringy gamers like you are just trying to find a way to not talk about the fact that the real reason games have gone downhill is rampant capitalism. It doesn’t take a lot to be aware of this, but then again, I’m not expecting a person like you to be sentient.

[@oddtactic]

@@ExiletheJedi coz UT may just claim and delete comments with words like this. It happens many times with me.

[@eliaspanayi3465]

I really love how game developers who haven't made a Space Marine 2 or a Stellar Blade, or people who really like the ball sweat of those developers get super mad whenever these high quality games get praised. It happened with elden ring and that's what started me off noticing that the live service microtransaction battle pass season pass hell is addictive and draining my sanity when I'm supposed to be relaxing and having fun.

[@PhajEsTeeb]

Souls like games stellar blade, black myth wukong are successful due to it being single player games. These are korean, chinese developers....because they understand gamers. They dont focus on trying to milk gamers with BS.

[@onlymyself1234]

Space Marine 2 and BG3 devs aren't eastern tho

[@matttumberman2191]

Genshin Impact and Black Desert Online would like to have a word with you sir.

[@Carnefice]

​@@onlymyself1234BG3 is gay

[@JDReC100]

​@@Carnefice and?

[@100organicfreshmemes5]

Anything by Mihoyo, all manner of gacha games and First Descendant are all exactly that. Japan, Korea and China are just as guilty if not moreso of those horrible practices.

[@DudeSoWin]

In the beginning VideoGames created the Cloud and the Web. And the Middleground was without form, and void, and disconnect was upon the face of the meat. And the spirit of gaming moved upon the face of the moist. And VideoGames said, Hello World: and there writ literature. And VideoGames saw the graphics, that it was good: and VideoGames divided the Graphics from the Text.... "I form the graphics, and create text: I make ping, and create pong: I the VideoGames do all these things."

[@MMc9081]

Ha, not sure if that is AI generated but it is interesting. It feels somehow familiar, what is it based on?

[@JLM-y5g]

@@MMc9081 Sounds like something I'd read in a Metasploit banner ngl.

[@joaoluizkfsantos8392]

​@@MMc9081 the bible, genesis specifically

[@KinomotoAkito]

my favorite game since 2020 is Scarlet Nexus and that was Bamco's seat warmer before Tales of Alright came out a few months later (totally not salty about that nope)

[@astreakaito5625]

Really great video and it's a good recap on what's happening And hey congrat for 40k! you're doing fantastic!

[@calebbraun9505]

There's also the case of games that follow the "video game ass video game" formula that fall from grace, Skyrim was a prime example (back when it first released). They originally had a good idea of a fun game, but Bethesda got a big head about it, and they repeatedly came back and milked it for more re-releases and later added microtransactions.

[@Crispierbug]

One thing not alot of people think about is what a good game is to the consumer vs what a good game is to a big company, consumers want enjoyable games, big companies want to make good profits, some choose to makes good games that sell alot of copies because its a enjoyable while others make bad to decent games loaded with dlcs and microtransactions.

[@jugaChannel]

Mug, you are an anomaly!

[@Mugthief]

I have been called the Vectorman 2 of KZbin Yappers, so you just might be right.

[@jugaChannel]

@@Mugthief I"m not sure about the reference, but if it was a good ass game you dam sure I'm right :D

[@Samurix16]

Sunset overdrive my beloved I shall never see a sequel to you.

[@Geperd1]

Just wait for the award shows to have Concord and Dustborn game of the year contenders.

[@olivisar]

I think one of the big problems around video games influence, public perception and marketing nowadays s game journalism. Game journalists have never, throughout their history, been perfect, sure. From their inception they have had plenty of bias, corruption and inexperience. But in the last years we have reached a new point where the journalists have actually become hostile to gaming. Promoting anti-consumer games and ideas, shielding game companies from criticism and painting a villifying and ungrateful image of the people who play games. In my mind, this is important because still to this day, game critics are of big influence on what games people choose to play as well as the public perception of gaming.

[@Rigel_6]

You know, I remember couple years back when we first heard the phrase "vote with your wallet" in video game context. And oh boy, the harvest sure is looking ripe

[@drakewalker1674]

All i know is we need a really good ninja/kunoichi game with awesome stealth mechanics and a lot of gore, and a good looking kunoichi like Eve from Stellar Blade

[@antoinekawal9670]

Even EA made absolutely ground breaking games like Red Alert 2 and the entire Command and Conquer discography. If they want to make good games, they can. They just don’t want to.

[@SIlverbullet108]

Good points in that video.I really agree with you that gaming is slowly healing. Gamers are increasingly realizing they have the power in the end and had it, in fact, all along. It's just that some actors made their best to make them forget that simple fact.

[@madknightpash6125]

I think one issue with the “controversies” that come up for these games are that a lot of them are from smaller or newer companies, often some of these companies first games. Meanwhile most of the AAA industry are large buttoned up companies that have tons of games. When there are controversies with those companies we don’t often associate them with a specific game, but the company instead. Like all those HR issues at blizzard. Where as if your company has a few issues and only has released one game all those article will name that game, and it becomes “the creators of game x did y bad thing”

[@thedarkgenious7967]

I still find it hilarious that Elden Ring had a missing quest line for a major side character that got added in later and on release barely anyone fucking noticed anything wrong because the rest of the game was that complete a package. (Nepheli's questline making her Lord of Limgrave with Gostoc and Kenneth Height)

[@thj9760]

I have no idea why I love this channel so much.

[@timsmith5014]

maybe because hes so damn sexy...or maybe thats just me i dont know

[@jakubpuawski3875]

I agree with the video, but I feel like it could really be boiled down to one, very simple observation: ever since publishers realised that people are willing to pay more money after the game is released, the focus of the developer went from making the game as good as possible to making the game bad on purpose and then selling the fixes for that. Everything else is just a byproduct of that idea.

[@guybrush20X6]

I'd say these "anomalies" are just what games were back in the day before World of Warcraft and Call of Duty inspired "Gold Rushes" in that they see a niche, and they cater to it. A lot of the old niches died when the companies tried to chase trends and turned everything into uniform slop. Resident Evil's a big example in that it got more and more action shootery in an attempt to chase Call of Duty until it ended up at meat dinosaur in Resi 6. Which isn't to say that it completely died out among big companies. Part of Nintendo's success was it was the only company making decent platformers and action adventure games, keeping a loyal fanbase and Microsoft's support of the revived Age of Empires 2 has kept the RTS genre alive. Hopefully more companies will realise that there's no one perfect universal pasta sauce but there's many perfect pasta sauces.

[@Hyziant]

Point number 5 really resonates with me as a fighting game fan. Hearing some of the discourse around SF6 talking about how “there’s not enough incentive to play” and “sparse updates” really touched a nerve of mine. Since when do you need to get some battle pass points or other useless virtual item to incentivize playing the game? I play SF6 a lot because I like the game and playing the game is fun. Getting better is really fun and it is the core reason as to why I keep coming back. I feel a bit sad when I see people talking about games as if they need to be rewarded or “get something out of it” because I really dislike that sort of treadmill “carrot on a stick” design. The game should be fun enough on its own. If you get tired of the game, that’s fine. I take breaks from fighting games all the time. It’s ok to leave a game and do something else. You should play a game because you want to, not because of FOMO or battle pas rewards. This still applies to games where collecting stuff is part of the game (RPGs). The problem isn’t that getting rewarded is bad, the problem is when getting rewarded is the only “good” part of the experience. Am I excited when I get a cool new weapon in BG3? Of course. But I also enjoyed the process of working towards that reward and, the most important part, it’s clear that the reward is meant to *reward* good play and not to *keep the player on a treadmill*. I think intent matters a lot. Battle pass rewards are just soulless incentives to keep grinding a game, even if you get tired of it. Real rewards in a game should symbolize a real accomplishment for a player and encourage them to engage with the game in fun and/or interesting ways.

[@aleksander3647]

At first I was confused as to why Anomaly from Sweden is my favorite video game

[@RaxorX]

The real anomalies are not “good games” but rather the multiplayer games that stick around for years. We used to get singleplayer games with multiplayer tacked on. Some of those multiplayer components were pretty bad or mediocre. Every once in awhile there would be one that was just enjoyed.

[@n3r0dmc4]

SMT V and Unicorn Overlord. My favorite series (a series where friends eventually kill each other) and VanillaWare, my favorite developer, I'd play anything from those guys.

[@petrusjnaude7279]

29:22 These days hearing the mainstream gaming press say I should hate a game is my indication that it might be something to try. Especially when it's a predominantly single player game.

[@JazzTechie]

More like people remembering the shelf behind the glass, and forgetting about the bargain bin. For every one good game behind the glass, there's twenty different lego jet ski bear hunting games in the bin.

[@tails7936]

First game that really stuck with me is "The Legend of Dragoon" its old but i always find myself coming back to it.

[@thomaswilson8022]

I hope LD does a reaction to this video, or asmongold. The more people that see this the better, s tier man. Im so glad im subbed to this channel. I hope we can really start getting back to this type of content, it's not about the rage bait of either side: it's about the love of gaming. If the "sides" want to tear eachother apart that's whatever, I just wanna be with all the normal people when the dust settles

[@GerbyMcGerbs]

I agree with your statement and opinions here except that GTA 6 won't make profit off of initial sales. I think it will because if GTA 5 did it in 2015 with 40 million units at $60 and a smaller starting base. GTA 6 will overshoot those numbers now, with a larger starting base and a higher price tag (hopefully just $70, not that they need to raise the price). Great videos so far. I'm glad I was fed your channel via the algorithm.

[@PanSak01]

Man I saw your reference the other day on Pentiment. It was on sale and I bought it... The game is great. I true adventure in the spirit of a lost era of video gaming. The proof that you can create a fantastic adventure game without spending millions uppon millions.... Thank you.

[@thelaughingrouge]

People that call SMTV an anomaly unironically are hilarious. It's like the 30th game in one of Japan's longest running, most popular series.

[@DJReminem8]

Love this video your on point with everything! Your one of my new favorite video game news channels. I now check with you Yongyea and Bellular to get all my news cause you guys tell it how it is! Keep up the great work please!

[@FaeraOthronus]

This, in my opinion, parallels the modern music industry in a way. These games that are anomalies are games made for the sake of it. Games made to just be fun or as actual art. Games have become an industry just like how music did decades ago. Pop music is manufactured, it's not art, it's not music made for the sake of music or enjoyment. It's made for money. Just like how AAA gaming has become.

[@nephilimfto3548]

Can we talk about the fact that he is recording this video ON A BRIDGE!!

[@Soroosh.S83]

10:57 Urban Reign got mentioned here is one of the thing I never expected anyone to remember this masterpiece, I love this game it's one of my fav

[@Rietto]

Great video. I wish we had more intelligent discussions about these topics in gaming lately.

[@eatingostrich8815]

Subscribed as soon as you acknowledged unicorn overlord, i really really loved that game

[@IdleDnB]

Love the video man, great work on it!

[@gamerpl4995]

Helldivers goes hard

[@brianquint6126]

Maybe the real anomalies were the friends we made along the way.

[@kaiengel2884]

Well, your videos started to pop up on recommendations, jfyk. I believe that’s because I’ve started to watch more essays on gaming topic. So I believe you are getting your momentum now! Keep going! I’m sure you get your silver button really soon. And thanks for this particular essay. I’m not a big comment poster, but when you said that getting 50k subs will be a while, I’ve decided to send this note. Good luck!

[@imALazyPanda]

Youve been growing fast, every vid you drop your subs have gone up by like 1k. Really hope you make it bigger and bigger its been nice watching this channel grow. I think i started around a year ago with the lies of p review when you were still in the 10k range. Best of luck

[@Xizax41325]

My favorite game is stalker, so yes, the entire series is about anomalies.

[@Anonymous-ux8ku]

The 2 billion dollar budget for GTA 6 rumor is a complete lie. If it's around 500 mil which is more reasonable, it will absolutley make its money back off of sales alone.

[@jasonnchuleft894]

Whenever a game is released with a "Season pass" I always wait at least until there's a bundle for the original price of the "base" game. Why would I pay for an incomplete product just to maybe play a bit earlier? 🤔

[@ikeduno7973]

I think the whole industry is hopelessly wound up with Big Cinema. The industry built on 'we make a living out of giving people perfect everyday entertainment year after year since the 1930s.' This group seems like a good fit for oversight. It turns out, no. Actually, this group gets hung up on all the wrong metrics and put huge cash on beating dead horses because they think games work like film studio properties and TV networks.

[@paddyod16]

YESSIR THAT WAS A PERFECT TRANSITION

[@jekkareznikov9769]

You are missing the point and the fact that corporations will do everything in their power to always make all of the money. While games are made by small teams where passion in making the best game possible - They will be great... But as soon as we're talking about EA, or Activision Blizzard, or Bethesda or whichever other big company... It will always be the same. They will do the safest slop that appeals to the biggest share of the market possible and as safe as possible while giving you the maximum amount of ways for you to pay

[@courier6640]

Hey, remember when games made Deluxe editions AFTER the games launched.

[@qu1253]

I think what bothers me the most about the current gaming climate is how freaking long it takes for new games even in established franchises to come out. During the 6th and 7th console gens, it wasn't uncommon for entire trilogies to begin and conclude before the console gen was over, and you quite often got some smaller, experimental titles mixed in there. Now, you're lucky to get more than one new game out of a AAA company per console gen. It's hard for me to get excited about anything shown at a State of Play or an Xbox Games Show because I know everything they show off is probably 4-5 years away from even getting a release date. Also, maybe this is a nitpick, but it really annoys me that local multiplayer has basically gone extinct in the modern age. Technology improves and yet I can't do something as simple as play with someone in the same room or even the same house as me. Goldeneye pulled off 4-player split screen on a console that's not even 1/20 as powerful as a modern console.

[@ndexer]

AAA Company challange!!! try not to release a half finished online competetive shooter game that aims to perfectly balance every aspect of every shooter genre into a big melting pot meanwhile competing with other already existing multiplayer battle royale, moba, competetive skill based shooting games

[@corrinflakes9659]

Xenoblade 3 was so finished, it was expedited, not delayed.

[@whoisgeez]

Maybe we are the anomalies? 😮 Please give us more underground games to check out. I personally don’t have time to seek them out, and I’ve grown to trust your judgement.

[@Kedamojo]

Devolopers and journalists Gaslighting people into believe it these games are the exception and shouldn’t be used to hold other contemporary games against?

[@TwoHandedChargedBonk]

I usually buy about 4-5 games a year (not counting small interesting indies from time to time). I'm happy to stick to these "anomalies" and avoid the AAAA slop.

[@ExpertAtAll]

Remnant 2 is a video game ass video game and that’s why I love it

[@Vman_95]

If these games are Anomaly then what we should call games like Concord, Suicide Squad, Dustborn etc💀

[@100organicfreshmemes5]

Abominations

[@workrase1]

No worries Mugthief. I was even surprised myself that i wasn`t yet subscribed (yes that was remedied immediately)

[@SodaDjinn]

"Expensive micro transactions" You mean macro transactions? Because that's what a $30+ price tag for a single item is. It's a major expense for virtual goods in a videogame.

[@adrianlebit9226]

if you need a half hour video to explain to you that really good stuff is less common than normal stuff youre absolutely cooked

[@GeekyDolphin46]

I just want my games to not be infested with a moral agenda. Let me beat the game and have fun doing it without pushing a worthless message in my face. I do not care.

[@ChaosAngelZero]

Actually, Rebirth _might_ be a bomb (no way of knowing for sure, Square Enix won't publish its sales numbers). The other ones seem to be making bank.

[@blackmanwithcomputer]

I've watched the whole video, and my takeaway is that.... don't most games releasing do this stuff? It honestly sounds like people just don't like Live-Service games or what negatives they can bring, but are constantly attributing that to ALL AAA games. I think it's great that smaller studios are pumping out great AAA titles, but I also think that KZbinrs that I like (like you, Legendary Drops, Asmondgold, etc) are over hyping and exaggerating them. We just had a great 2023 and 2022 full of games, yet I keep hearing you guys talk about "We're finally getting good games again!" "The industry is healing!".... because Black Myth Wukong came out? Stellar Blade? Space Marine 2? Just looking at this year, what about games like the 2 Prince of Persia games we got this year? Nine Sols? Akimbot, that just came out? Rise of the Ronin? Another Crab's Treasure? It seems to me like we're already getting good to great and/or interesting games every year. Yet I keep seeing y'all bitch about live-service games and talking about only the graphically impressive standouts from smaller studios. Yes, I'm glad that live-service is imploding on itself and that the industry is breeding new AAA blood, but we need to acknowledge that it's not as bad as y'all keep making it. Also, some of these games literally are anomalies: Black Myth Wukong is only as successful as it is, because of the myth it's based on. That is part of the culture in China, and it was advertised heavy there! The Dad of War duology is better, but Norse mythology will never sell like that, so fast, at a AAA price. The FF7 Remake trilogy isn't something that can be easily repeated. Maybe only FFX could get anywhere near that treatment or a probably properly made FF15. And only because they're the most popular/successful JRPGs ever, besides FF7. Baldur's Gate 3 took 5-6 years to make, including *THREE FUCKING YEARS* of Early Access. That is unheard of, until that game. That game is so big, and so complex, that even Larian has had that they're not making anything comparable to BG3 anytime soon. So we could go 5-7 years before development on a BG3 scale game is even in production. It also can't be the new "standard" for RPGs when there're so many ways to make them now, and games with real-time action can't even hope to have as many options as a CRPG. Standards, imo, are really the best of the style that any studio specializes in. FF7 Rebirth, Elden Ring and Persona 5R are also "standard" setters for the RPG genre, but for different reasons. Anyways, I think you guys focus too much on what's wrong, which is usually complaining about live-service nonsense and bitching about remasters (tho, yes, Bloodborne needs one lol). Could you potentially start doing more review type videos, as well? You like Souls-likes, but I don't think you made a video about Another Crab's Treasure. Maybe do flashback reviews of games like Sifu, Kena, Death Stranding, Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, TLOU2, DOOM, etc. Will you be looking into Metaphor Refantazio?

[@Mugthief]

I have vids or have mentioned many of those games by the way, but to your main point, that is why I make a disclaimer at the start. These games are common, have been, and will continue to be. But I believe we need to keep championing them for what they do for it to become more commonplace in AAA especially. Do greatly appreciate the comment, and the support, and as for Metaphor, I’ll be late, but it’s my most anticipated game of whats left of the year.

[@TheAlienface]

i hope there is still people that keep their money when moves likes that are mades on some games

[@MechFrankaTLieu]

Live Service is not the bad guy , its the greed behind the scheme , and its OK to made a game not a full entity at launch so long its communicated up front and and the content pushed out are in a timely continuous manner , of course the issue with that is audience and players , especially young ones are less able to self control to maintain a healthy spending and healthy consumption , and there is the catch

[@wedgeantilles8575]

Well, if they are anomalies, then it's an anomaly for me to spend money on games. Because I only pay for good games and not for modern garbage.

[@rocstarang5747]

I've put 2000 hours into Elden Ring and haven't touched the PvP...

[@KaiHanson-cd5xt]

My favorite games havnt existed in 20 years

[@raskirorikson1104]

GTA won't make its money back without an online/battlepass component? Mug... GTA 5 made one billion Dollar within three days. Through sales alone... Let that sink in. They will make more than enough money with a single player campaign alone.

[@ardidsonriente2223]

Fighting games by design need to be "live", but since they lack any leveling or gearing mechanic, and since their stories are by nature incomplete, they simply avoid all this crap. Tekken 8, Granblue Rising or SF6 can offer you all the battle passes of the world, and none of them will give you fomo. At most they will irk you a bit. Any new character DLC is guaranteed to change the game big time, yet you don't have to buy them if you don't want to play that specific char. You'll fight against them anyway. Any other type DLC can be totally ignored, because it will not change the game at all. Go play fighting games, they let you level up yourself, for a change. Great stuff.

[@Wierie_]

Elden Ring is my favorite game/ experience so far, thanks From Software