Should We Stop Comparing Games To Each Other?

Get Exclusive NordVPN deal here ➼nordvpn.com/razbutenvpn It's risk-free with Nord's 30-day money-back guarantee!
One of the primary ways we talk about games is by comparing them to other titles--sometimes ones that are similar and sometimes ones that aren't. Unsurprisingly this leads to a fair amount of misunderstandings about games, and I think it's worth looking at the major ways comparison influences gaming discourse and discuss whether or not it is net positive or negative. So, consider this video the Dark Souls of video essays, and let's jump into it.
Patreon: / razbuten
Nebula: nebula.app/razbuten
Discord: / discord
Twitter: / therazbuten
Edit by Isaac Holland: / drazgames
Thumbnail by HotCyder: / hotcyder
Audio edit by Trey Mitchell: / craytreyvids
Special thanks to honorary bagbutens Kay Kay and WilliamGlenn8.
An additional thanks to HeavyEyed for looking over the script and Daryl Talks Games for discussing some concepts with me.
Additional Music and Sound Effects by Epidemic Sound: epidemicsound.com/creator
0:00 How Comparison Influences Genres
6:24 The Limitations of Using a Game as a Genre
10:56 The Role of Heuristics in Gaming Discourse
16:42 Using Comparison to Determine Superiority
20:09 Conclusion

[@razbuten]

Yo! You can get 4 extra months of NordVPN for free if you use this link: nordvpn.com/razbutenvpn It's got a 30-day money-back guarantee so it's risk-free. Aside from that, here are the time stamps of all the games in this video (shout out to Amaryllis for compiling it): 0:04 Celeste 0:10 Control 0:15 Bugsnax 0:18 Tunic 0:23 Link's Awakening (Remake) 0:26 Dark Souls 3 0:33 Elden Ring 0:37 TLoZ: Breath of the Wild 0:41 Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair 0:47 Hollow Knight 0:50 Super Metroid 0:54 Opus Magnum 1:00 Orwell 1:06 Gone Home 1:20 Death Stranding 1:25 Uncharted 1:28 Hades 1:40 Red Dead Redemption 2 1:46 Ape Out 1:47 Portal 1:49 The Witcher 3 1:50 The Stanley Parable Deluxe 1:53 The Pathless 2:06 Ori and the Will of the Wisps 2:10 DRL (Doom the Roguelike) 2:11 Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order 2:12 CrossCode 2:13 Saints Row IV 2:14 Duke Nukem 3D 2:21 Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight 2:41 Colossal Cave Adventure 2:47 Zork 2:50 Grim Fandango 2:54 Monkey Island 3:20 Life is Strange 3:25 The Walking Dead 3:27 Horizon: Zero Dawn 3:43 Dark Souls 3:50 Metroid: Dread 3:52 Shovel Knight: Dig 3:56 Rogue 4:09 Nethack Falcon’s Eye 4:29 Spelunky 4:30 The Binding of Isaac 4:31 Rogue Legacy 4:53 Sifu 5:05 Enter the Gungeon 5:28 FTL: Faster Than Light 5:35 Slay the Spire 6:42 Shadow of the Colossus 6:46 Praey For The Gods 6:55 Titan Souls 7:01 The Last of Us 7:09 A Plague Tale: Innocence 7:15 God of War (2018) 7:21 Minecraft 7:30 Journey 8:00 Grand Theft Auto 5 8:47 Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury 9:00 Before Your Eyes 9:07 Outer Wilds 9:52 Nioh 2 10:02 Ghost of Tsushima 10:23 A Short Hike 11:09 Monster Hunter Rise 11:17 Twitter dot com 11:43 Neon White 12:42 Exa-Punks 12:56 TLoZ: The Wind Waker 13:04 League of Legends 14:19 Super Mario 64 16:17 Castlevania: Symphony of the Night 16:44 Ruined King: A League of Legends Story 17:08 Donut County 17:38 Disco Elysium 17:48 Doom Eternal 17:53 Inscryption 17:57 Xenoblade Chronicles 2 17:59 Persona 5 18:00 Sonic Mania 18:17 Nier Automata 18:20 A Hat in Time 18:41 Mainlining 20:02 Spider-Man (2018) 20:10 Last Call BBS 20:23 Animal Crossing: New Horizons 21:03 Kirby and the Forgotten Land

[@watchrandomuser395onyoutube]

Advert?

[@Atellas]

Razbuten greeting me with “Yo!” makes me feel safe.

[@thechugg4372]

Yes, if we don't do comparison then every game would be the best game of all time, I don't even know why this video exists and it scares me to think some people can't grasp this simple concept.

[@andreylucass]

Read Dead Redemption 2 deserved GOTY so much more than God of War. That's why people compare them.

[@ceno10101]

(hopefully you actually see this Razbuten)Idea for a video: myself, being a gamer since I got a new NES when I was about 6. I have grown up playing through all the various generations of games. I can appreciate living through the evolution. Now my kids are old enough to start playing on the Nintendo Switch, when I show them older game bundles we should play together (NES, SNES), they don't want to. Since you will be in the same boat with your kid, is there merit to showing the next generation older games too, or just jump in at the current stage of gaming?

[@tobiasbehnke5515]

Changing the way we talk about video games is the Dark Souls of talking about video games.

[@Ruchunteur]

Yeah exactly, it's all about sitting around a bonfire ! ;)

[@purevessle2641]

So your saying, all of us that haven't considered it are terrified of the idea, got it

[@gigiratliff5801]

Maybe even Demon's Souls. Not only is it hard as shit, but you can hardly articulate what you're actually trying to say

[@TheCheeselordForever]

Then that means it will be amazing once we beat this monster!

[@Humorless_Wokescold]

Pointless and kinda shallow but a great time sink?

[@GMTK]

This was a nice new entry in the GMTK-like genre (spin off of the Every-Frame-A-Painting Clone and Sequelitisvania genres)

[@clair-yvesgiovannetti4474]

🤣

[@kaingagame4351]

That's some high quality shade being thrown! ;) What I find interesting is it can be harder to explain a game that has NO similarities, as it leaves the listener misunderstanding the game's concept. When Crypt of the Necrodancer, Inscription, or other genre bending games came out, the way people talked about them was confusing. If I said I'm making a roguelite city-builder, I guarantee what you're imagining isn't at all what it's like to play.

[@Broelbrak]

I miss Every-Frame-A-Painting

[@aryantzh2028]

i'd prefer evolution comparison for seeing how graphic and gameplay evolved rather than which one is better. because u can love all of them at the same time. its not like comparing phone, laptop, pc, tv, house, etc. when u only need 1 or 2 in ur life. but every games, movies, music, foods, etc. can be enjoyed at the same time.

[@benzymatic]

It's more of a GMTK-lite imo. The British accent is a pretty core component of the GMTK-like genre.

[@99loolill]

I played BOTW and Blood Borne around the same time. The amount of times I felt the urge to jump off a castle in Yharnam and glide down to the skybox city below is... alarming

[@zzuxon]

I revisited BotW after playing Death Stranding and I constantly wanted to scan the surrounding regions of hyrule with my odradek.

[@EmeralBookwise]

It can be even worse when going back an older game in a franchise after playing its sequel. After having played Forbidden West, I expect if I ever play Zero Dawn again, I will suffer harshly at the whims of mistress gravity for forgetting Aloy didn't have a glider yet.

[@Anni_ka]

I played Tales of Arise after BOTW, and I had to remind myself very often that no, I cannot climb freely, I have to look for a specific place that lets me climb up that ledge 😅

[@TonyDemetriou]

The day after playing Starsiege: Tribes way too late into the night, my friend and I were walking through a fair, straight towards a chain link fence. We stopped, looked at each other and asked "... were you planning to jetpack over that, and just realized you can't?" Yeah, we both simultaneously had the same brain glitch.

[@ledemduso5827]

The amount of times I wanted to do that in real life when I was playing BOTW for the first time was much more alarming...

[@parchmentengineer8169]

I love all the subtle puns you always put in your videos. Stuff like talking about toxicity while in a Dark Souls poison swamp, or talking about people trying to get a rise out of others while playing Monster Hunter: Rise.

[@Biouke]

I also greatly appreciated that humorous harmony between script and editing :)

[@AnotherDuck]

Or talking about looking through a lens while showing a character looking through a spyglass.

[@alexo_pog]

or showing someone recalling in league and after saying "which pretty much is when we use easy to **recall** information to inform our thought process"

[@RebornHumanoidTV]

I just noticed that the Monster Hunter could be a double pun, since the player is literally "ruffling feathers." XD

[@krdjmtc]

When I first played Breath of the Wild, my brain unconsciously compared the combat to Jedi Fallen Order. After every fight in that game I would press down to turn off my lightsaber, so my brain automatically did that after every combat encounter in BoTW. Link's whistling was my battle cry.

[@zaidlacksalastname4905]

lmao that sounds awesome

[@aryantzh2028]

i'd prefer evolution comparison for seeing how graphic and gameplay evolved rather than which one is better. because u can love all of them at the same time. its not like comparing phone, laptop, pc, tv, house, etc. when u only need 1 or 2 in ur life. but every games, movies, music, foods, etc. can be enjoyed at the same time.

[@l4ckless]

@@aryantzh2028 Yeah you mentioned that.

[@eneco3965]

You don't rebind the controls?

[@eduardo_o_observador]

In my opinion, there is no problem in comparing games or any piece of art to each other, but its necessary to understand that each of them have different objectives and things that works on one game wont work on another. Like auto-healing, maybe it will work in a frenetic action game where you can't stop running, but doesn't make sense in a survival horror.

[@yehuda8589]

It's funny you mention that, since Forbidden Siren is survival horror game with auto-healing and it actually still works really well for the most part since the enemies themselves are immortal and revive after a minute or 2 after you take them out which prevents you from just casually waiting for your health to regenerate to max after taking damage since you want to make the most out of the time you have until the enemies come back to life.

[@SL4PSH0CK]

in concurrent times when "Ghost of Tsushima-like" was an overused term just cause a game set in feudal japan setting w/ interactive dynamic environment even tho Ghost was a game of its own due to visual style/direction other than its an amalgamation of arpg titles like earlier AC Origins/Odyssey.

[@eduardo_o_observador]

@@yehuda8589 it was just the firt example i could think. But yeah, its not a rule.

[@yehuda8589]

@@eduardo_o_observador Yeah, I understand what you're saying how some ideas don't really work in certain genres. I just like gushing about Siren and saw this as a good opportunity.

[@aryantzh2028]

i'd prefer evolution comparison for seeing how graphic and gameplay evolved rather than which one is better. because u can love all of them at the same time. its not like comparing phone, laptop, pc, tv, house, etc. when u only need 1 or 2 in ur life. but every games, movies, music, foods, etc. can be enjoyed at the same time.

[@prairiepanda]

This is why I try to be as specific as possible when comparing games. I wouldn't just say that game A is like game B, but rather that it has gameplay mechanics X, Y, and Z in common with game B. It gives people a sense of what to expect, without giving them false expectations.

[@notproductiveproductions3504]

Don’t be surprised when even that’s not getting the point across. Someone tried to recommend me Ghost of Tsushima when I asked if the game lets you do combo mad shit by completely misunderstanding the assignment and making up his own definition of my choice of fun. The more I elaborated the more he tried to recontextualize my own words back at me

[@anthonyaddo]

As I listen to your video essay, I can't help but look at the games featured and think how interesting they all seem. Is it possible you could annotate or otherwise share the games you feature in these videos? Thank you, Razbuten. I always enjoy mulling over your considerations of gaming as it stands today.

[@leftovernoise]

I agree that would be handy in videos where many games are shown. Was there any specifically you were curious about but didn't know what they are? I can do my best to assist you, I'm halfway through and have recognized everything so far. Happy to help!

[@nottasker]

I could help name a few since I recognise all of them, just give me a timestamp and I'll help you out!

[@jorava8768]

@@nottasker What's the game in 20:12?

[@anthonyaddo]

I'm sorry, I have so many games I am interested in 😅! I'll just give ten timestamps. Thanks so much @Leftover Noise and @NotTasker! 0:56 1:01 1:10 2:05 9:09 11:36 11:45 12:37 12:43 13:19

[@Swagbastian]

In order: Celeste Control Uncharted 4 Bugsnax Tunic Link's Awakening Remake Dark Souls 3 Elden Ring Breath of the Wild Yooka-Laylee Hollow Knight Super Metroid Opus Magnum Orwell (Don't know) Death Stranding (One of the Uncharted games) Hades Red Dead Redemption 2 (Don't Know) Portal 2 The Witcher 3 The Stanley Parable The Pathless Ori and the Will of the Wisps (Don't know) Jedi: Fallen Order That's just up to 2:10. I don't know a lot after that and I didn't think he would go so fast with them lol

[@Amins88]

I remember my friend telling me in high school that the RPG genre doesn't make sense because you're playing a role in every game you play. I remember thinking, yes that's technically correct, and wondering how the term eventually came to define the genre we know today, and even further began to wonder how the definition of that genre expanded and blurred the lines of what actually makes an RPG. I think this was the first time that I realized that definitions didn't need to be so strict and that a game can take inspiration and build upon a variety of elements.

[@TonyDemetriou]

Yeah, it's interesting how you need to know what came before to understand both the names but also the innovation from a genre. Especially when the innovation is so common we don't even notice it any more. "You're playing a role in every game" Yes, but you weren't when playing tabletop recreations of historical battles. You were moving troops, but not "playing a role" as one of them. It's a big jump from controlling "a unit of archers" to controlling "Robin Hood" And an even bigger one from "win the battle" to "undermine King John's rule"

[@coyraig8332]

It's very useful distinguishing between Japan style RPGs (JRPGs) and western style RPGs (WRPGs). The basic distinction is that: in JRPGs there's emphasis on the role (you are the leader of the Phantom Thieves, you are a hero who helps people, etc) while in WRPGs the emphasis is on role-playing (which faction do you side with? Will you be a hero or villain? etc)

[@BonaparteBardithion]

What's most interesting is that the genre takes its name from the element of its predecessor least involved in roleplaying: stat sheets and randomized dice/number rolling. Despite the genre being narratively heavy, the better defined the story is the less roleplaying freedom the player actually has and they will never have the full directional freedom of tabletop games. They're more akin to a choose-you-own-adventure book with tabletop combat systems.

[@Amins88]

Of course, now I realize that the RPG genre was derived from Dungeons & Dragons. But as time has gone on and games have expanded their scope and influences, the term "RPG" has become less of a genre and more off an element or ingredient to the final product. A game like Borderlands isn't necessarily an RPG in the classic sense, but it has the elements of choosing a character with a specific specialization and building them up over the course of the game.

[@SL4PSH0CK]

dynamic writing is a key featured that makes an rpg

[@AeonAir]

This video came in at a perfect time, as a big discussion sparked up within my circle not many days ago about our favorite Mario titles, because I opened with the remark that "It's crazy that Super Mario Galaxy is my 2nd favorite platformer of all time, but it doesn't even make my top 5 favorite mario games", and it started a massive discussion about what mario games are the best, and we couldn't seem to come to any conclusive end to our discussion. Thinking back at it; it seems silly to not conclude with the fact that I just don't value platforming the same way as I would value the gameplay prospects of the Mario RPG titles, as those fill up more or less all 5 spots for me. Instead we ended up talking back and forth about other qualities of the games, that weren't really relevant to the gameplay, but other factors that could be compared to eachother, and nobody could seem to agree. Fun video, and in a way very eye opening. I've always known I'm more of an RPG guy, but trying to quantify that in a discussion hasn't always been easy. Should probably just point people to this video in the future.

[@aryantzh2028]

i'd prefer evolution comparison for seeing how graphic and gameplay evolved rather than which one is better. because u can love all of them at the same time. its not like comparing phone, laptop, pc, tv, house, etc. when u only need 1 or 2 in ur life. but every games, movies, music, foods, etc. can be enjoyed at the same time.

[@calebwillingham6481]

It'd be interesting to apply this to your "Non-Gamer" series. You could see how playing games in a certain order affects how someone new to games perceives certain elements like difficulty, pacing, and complexity

[@samayaelitzur7772]

I was thinking of this. I wonder if how he presented the order of the games also affected the outcome.

[@numbertj4730]

I can't believe Razbuten actually went and found Colossal Cave Adventure. My father and I are both programmers, and we played it when I was like 10. I've never actually seen anyone mention it despite how historically significant a game it is. It's kind of like how no one seems to talk about Myst anymore either, despite it having been so popular when it came out. I wish people would talk about them more.

[@razbuten]

I had to download a dos emulator to play it so I am glad you appreciate it lol

[@zncon]

I've always seen that direct game comparisons are mostly be centered around the mechanics. Story and world are nebulous and personal, but how it feels to actually interact with the game can be easy to compare across titles. From the examples you gave, I find that Elden Ring only compares to other Fromsoft titles, as they feel similar in how the player character moves and interacts with the world. Minecraft for example has no real story, but mechanically it's still easy to identify it with other games.

[@aryantzh2028]

i'd prefer evolution comparison for seeing how graphic and gameplay evolved rather than which one is better. because u can love all of them at the same time. its not like comparing phone, laptop, pc, tv, house, etc. when u only need 1 or 2 in ur life. but every games, movies, music, foods, etc. can be enjoyed at the same time.

[@lordpillows762]

@@aryantzh2028 dude why tf you replied everybody with that instead of just doing your own comment

[@lukasprazak7362]

@@lordpillows762 That's easy: he probably wanted it to be more visible. And judging from your comment (and my comment, in a certain sense), he succeeded.

[@MarieAvora]

But the issue with that is that even when mechanics between two games are similar, the thing that makes them enjoyable can be very dissimilar Dark Souls 3 and Elden Ring are mechanically nearly identical, but the things I experienced while playing them were very different. The same mechanics in a new narrative and structural context make it feel like a whole other thing. And conversely, if you tried to compare the mechanics of Fallout 4 to Skyrim you'd have fairly little overlap, but I personally find them to be very similar games that offer very much the same emotional appeal Hell, I'd almost say Skyrim feels more like a sequel to Fallout 3 than New Vegas does, and New Vegas shares a huge amount of mechanics with 3

[@xshme]

As a mainly handheld gamer, breath of the wild was my first open world game, and I absolutely loved it. I could not stay on a straight path to my objective because I kept getting distracted by shrines, koroks and other small things to do. I associated this freedom and distraction with open world games in my mind. Now im playing through Witcher 3 on my steamdeck. I had heared its a good game and that its open world, but not a lot more. I expected roughly the same experience of getting distracted by small objectives and things like that. While I absolutely love what I have played so far (about 20 hours in), its nothing like that feeling I had with breath of the wild. In my mind I compared the two because of the "open world" label.

[@platycorn5301]

unfortunately many AAA open world titles fail to capture what makes open-world games great, aka the joy of exploration. I'd highly recommend elden ring, a lot of people have written/talked about loving it because it captures a similar feeling of discovery to botw despite the huge gameplay differences because both games do such a good job rewarding exploration and discovery. I'd also recommend looking into various metroidvania games, obviously you don't have as much freedom in where to go but a lot of good metroidvanias make sure to tuck lots of goodies and places to explore into their worlds, hollow knight is one of the best in this regard

[@Hoolahups]

I had the exact opposite experience. I am an avid genshin impact player and have had my game compared to breath of the wild so much that when I finally played it it was a real letdown in terms of the open world only because genshin impacts world is so much more dense and full of chests and stuff. I really wish I could go to breath of the wild with a cleaner perspective

[@xshme]

@@platycorn5301 Yeah elden ring is on my list, but im just waiting for a good sale. I really like metroidvania's. Hollow knight was great (though only had time to play trough the main story because once I beat that my steamdeck arrived, and I wanted to play that). Ori and the blind forest is one of my favorite games, and im waiting for a sale on its sequal.

[@metroidcypher]

i had a complete opposite experience, i couldn't stop comparing BOTW to other Zelda games and RPGs which the game fell real short of. BOTW didnt have any of the items and dungeon designs from past games and it had little to no content in the open world compared to rpgs. all BOTW is to me is a sandbox physics simulator

[@Road_to_Dawn]

I don’t generally play a lot of open world games because I feel that they often take away from the main story and I tend to get bored running around from point to point in (what seems like to me) a largely empty landscape. That said, I just started playing Xenoblade 3 a few days ago and I’ve been doing almost nothing but run around exploring everything I can find. The landscapes are great, there’s always something fairly rewarding to find, and surprisingly, so many of the sidequests that you randomly find around the world tie back into the main story in some way I like and/or have some really high production value put into them.

[@JBob08]

I think, to your point, it comes down to the purpose of the comparison. I love the idea of coming up with new thoughts and ideas for games based on a mash up of a few different game mechanics. This sounds like a great way to keep coming up with better and better games.

[@aryantzh2028]

i'd prefer evolution comparison for seeing how graphic and gameplay evolved rather than which one is better. because u can love all of them at the same time. its not like comparing phone, laptop, pc, tv, house, etc. when u only need 1 or 2 in ur life. but every games, movies, music, foods, etc. can be enjoyed at the same time.

[@Phirestar]

I can relate to that topic of subconscious comparisons between games you’ve played recently. When I played CrossCode at the end of 2019, it was a game that I came to off the back of playing the Souls series for the first time, which ended up being some of my favorite experiences with gaming. And for about the first half of my time with it, I was constantly disappointed by the gear options in CrossCode. I was so accustomed to the idea of picking up a new weapon and it having a unique moveset from what I’d been using, and I wished that gear in CrossCode would do the same. I’d also played Salt & Sanctuary around that time, and I think I may have been subconsciously comparing that game’s skill tree to the ones in CC as well, because I also didn’t like how so many options on the trees were passives that felt like they didn’t have much of an impact (+4% elemental res.). And there was no feeling of meaningful choice because you’d get enough points by the end of the game to unlock everything, so what difference does it make what I choose to invest into? It was only when I took a break half-way through, and came back like a year later, that I went into CrossCode with a fresh mindset where I stopped comparing it to other stuff. And funnily enough, that’s the part where I enjoyed the game the most, and where it became one of my favorite games of all time - even surpassing Dark Souls and S&S on my personal ranking list.

[@sablen1319]

I loved my time with CrossCode, but as the game went on the dungeons became longer and the tediousness of the puzzles started to grow. I would solve a puzzle in my head, but then it would take me about 20 minutes of sustained effort to solve it just for my reward to be an even harder and longer puzzle in the next room. I still think the game’s a 9/10 from its story, music, and combat, but I’ve yet to beat the game due to my struggle with its unrelenting puzzles. Any advice on how to get through? I’d love to see the end. I’m currently stuck on the dungeon near the rainy forest city.

[@ED-gw9rg]

@@sablen1319 My advice is to figure out where the puzzle should END and what solving it does, then work through the puzzle with that result in mind. On some puzzles, you'll need to solve it step by step from the start while keeping the end in mind. As for the Wave Enemies...Cod help you if your aim and timing isn't on-point. For the Thunder Element, equip the scatter-into-dozens-of-pellets Tier 2 Ranged Skill. You'll thank me later.

[@aryantzh2028]

i'd prefer evolution comparison for seeing how graphic and gameplay evolved rather than which one is better. because u can love all of them at the same time. its not like comparing phone, laptop, pc, tv, house, etc. when u only need 1 or 2 in ur life. but every games, movies, music, foods, etc. can be enjoyed at the same time.

[@jasonreed7522]

On comparison i couldn't help but make is when i played darksouls 3 (tried to play). I have basically always played something like COD from medal of honor on the gamecube to blackops 3 and they all have basically the same control scheme and so whenever I'm in a combat orientation game i have muscle memory for what all the buttons do, Darksouls control scheme is completely different and i have yet to get very far because my brain thinks attack and pulls right trigger and i die because that isn't the basic attack button. (I know i litterally just need to spend time getting used to the controls but i think similarly or dissimilarity of controls between games should be considered more when making all the other comparisons as i find it just as important when trying to learn a new game for the first time)

[@darkdealproductions]

What an excellent KZbin essay- truly masterful in its takedown of this very vague and hard to pin down concept. It’s truly a joy to watch this and hear Raz give voice to ideas I’ve “felt” but not thought at all as concisely and clearly as here.

[@saulitix]

This is one of the main issues I struggle with and I try to use less comparisons when I talk about games. However, is hard for me to recommend A Plague Tale without saying something like "it's kinda like Tlou but with rats...".

[@danieladamczyk4024]

Interactive film with rats, lots of rats. Horror/ adventure about young sibling living in Frenchs infested Rat. But seriously what is Tlou?

[@lucascaetano7920]

@@danieladamczyk4024 the last of us

[@horationulbuilt4173]

you're not wrong cause the dev themselves have said their big inspo is tlou

[@auqifx]

Both are character driven narratives based in a bleak world where you fight against impossible odds with stealth and third person shooting. That's a perfect comparison in my opinion.

[@danieladamczyk4024]

@@lucascaetano7920 Pardon me, i have to use a Reddit joke. Woooosh

[@wellurban]

This highlights for me how important it is for comparison to be multidimensional. Mood, subject matter and art style can be enough to attract some people, but it’s probably gameplay style that can be a make or break a recommendation. For instance, a lot of people demand capital-G Gameplay mechanics and deride “walking simulators”, whereas I tend to be the opposite and avoid games with too much combat or punishing difficulty. So your comparison of Elden Ring to Outer Wilds and A Short Hike could make sense on some dimensions, but from what I’ve seen I’d hate it due to all the boss battles. Comparisons are useful, but have to be tailored to the recipient.

[@BlueSR]

Amazing video, raz! I’m ever blown away by your ability to formulatw your thoughts and offer such insight. This all really makes me think back on the biases and comparisons that affected my experience with the Ori games after having played Hollow Knight. (I’m an avid HK player). All in all, It’s super easy to fall into comparing things and experiencing one piece of art (or game, in this case) through the lens of another. Sometimes we gotta take a step back and try to appreciate each individual piece of art for itself! It’s hard, but worthwhile, and has helped me enjoy games in a completely new way since i actively tried to stop comparing things as much.

[@thealmightyduck5743]

This is the dark souls of gaming takes

[@nickchimera1747]

Raz, I’m the type of guy who hardly comments, but I gotta say your videos always scratch my brain the right way. From your multiplex use of commentary to your seemingly effortless ties between sharing the perfect game at the perfect moment to match what you’re talking about… every video bursts at the seams with sophistication. It’s a magnificent feeling knowing there is someone out there who not only appreciates the depths of video games, but can concisely and accurately display the intended “vibes” for analysis or whatever intended purpose to prove their point. Keep doing you man, you are an artist.

[@Kangaroodoo]

Time to rewatch the video again because I got distracted by the combinations of words and footage again (like "recall" with LoL, "wired" with that phone operation game, etc.) Luckily Raz only makes absolute gems of video essays, so watching them multiple times is a joy.

[@untuxable5076]

There's so much to unpack and chew on with this topic. I really enjoyed your take on it and how you presented the complexity of it all: Ambiguous terms, communicating what you think/feel with words is inherently hard and even harder on the internet, terminology surrounding games is new, defining art with genres are both necessary and limiting, feelings in a moment are shaped by your own context, etc. I've recently found that I really enjoy trying to recommend games to people, especially on reddit, and it's really difficult to sell a game in a paragraph or less without relying on the "X game is like Y game" shorthand. So whenever I do compare games, I try to follow it up by defining what exactly I love about X game and how Y game reflects and expands on that thing. Saying that "Tunic is inspired by Zelda" doesn't say much by itself, but specifically praising Tunic's sense of wonder and discovery by comparing it to the process of learning the unwritten rules of the original Zelda gets the point across.

[@dappitydingdong1219]

you’re one of the few youtubers that’s makes me excited whenever there’s a new upload. great stuff

[@Phirestar]

“It can be hard for a lot of games to live up to the titles they get compared to.” Funny that you happen to have Ori and the Blind Forest as the footages for that bit. I remember Hollow Knight for the first time, back in 2017-2018, and it was one of the greatest games that I’ve ever played (shocking opinion, I know). And I both saw and continue to see people compare Hollow Knight and Ori, which I played in November of that year, around a year after experiencing HK. I did not like Ori and the Blind Forest, because it was _nothing_ like what I’d played before. What I loved about Hollow Knight was the sensation of discovering the world, and figuring things out myself. And Ori... is basically the polar opposite of that: it’s both linear and guides the player through the journey. And that’s where making comparisons between games fails: the reasons for why you think they’re similar may not be the reason that a person liked that game in the first place.

[@Ruchunteur]

yeah. Peoples compare the two mostly because they are both 2d metroidvania with beautiful non pixel art graphic and some similar-ish abilities (not entirely the same but eh. It felt similar enough). To be honest I think the comparison sort of make sense on a superficial level. Where the comparison fail to me, is that Ori have way less enemies, way less stuff to explore. It's a much much shorter game (Like, I finished hollow knight in 40h or so. And ori in 11h or so.) And the story structure is really different. So it start filling more different as you advance into the game because the differences get more obvious but the similarities never disappear. So I understand why you would compare the two when recommending the game to someone. It is similar in a lot of aspect. But alone, this comparison isn't enough. It would be better to further explain what the differences are to not misslead someone into thinking it's exactly the same but in another universe

[@thijsvos1852]

I agree. People are constantly comparing the combat system of the second ori with hollow knight, while in reality they have nothing in common aside from both having a healing move and a sword. When i got arond to playing the second ori i had heard this so many times that i was basically expecting an exact clone of hollow knight in it. Turns out ori also has a ninja star, exploding spear, mega hammer thing and an explosion that covers the entire screen. That was nowhere near hollow knight’s combat. I still love the game and its combat due to it all being thought out and well designed, but the comparisons were misleading for me.

[@legrandliseurtri7495]

They're being compared constantly because those are two(three if you include will of wisps, soon to be four with silksong) metroidvanias that aren't Metroid but that everyone still knows about because they're ten times more popular than their competition.

[@shadow_of_the_spirit]

this just reminds me of what's a "real" game talks, the important thing is to take your time to understand who the person your talking to uses these terms so that you can communicate properly.

[@BingoRL]

I really like the phrasing of your essays. Most sentences are simple and straightforward, sprinkled with some extraordinary but very fitting words. Well done!

[@jumpingsquare1155]

The editing in this video is under rated. I can't list every brilliant one, but when talking about a tool which can be extremely useful, but also can harm communication - all the while showing Ellie upgrading a gun.

[@storyspren]

"People mostly operate on vibes." Honestly, having read some genre theory (both specific and general) that's absolutely true. And it's applicable in all media, not just video games. You start with "genres are easy" and then you find some blurry borders between your favorite genres. You start dissecting these borders and trying to figure out a name or several names for one or more different ways of mixing them (example: there's a difference between how Shadowrun mixes fantasy and scifi, and how Mass Effect or 40k do it). You might encounter the concept of "megatext" which can be very useful for describing genres, but its contribution for defining the concept itself is less direct. Then you read some genre theorists, you read how there's all these arguments for this or that definition and all of them have some flaws (some of which are glaring as hell). And people rarely try to differentiate between the levels of "genre" and when they do, they come up with terminology that never sticks. (By levels I mean how most online discussion takes place on the "fantasy and drama and horror" level or more granular, whereas a lot of the academia also operates on the "poems and literature and film and newspaper" level.) It ends up kinda looking like historical precedent is the only true definer of a genre, and when you don't have that historical precedent (like when scifi was first becoming a genre) or when you stray away from it, you're stuck operating on vibes. In the case of no historical precedent, everything new that has the right vibe and shares important details (the decision of what details are important being largely vibes-based) gets lumped into the new thing, and this vibes-based definition forms the basis for the future historical precedent. In the case of straying from precedent, we compare the vibes to other genres: "science fantasy", "action-comedy", "scifi western", "FPS adventure game", and so on. Why do we see it so much in video game discourse? It's a new medium. There are genre terms that simply aren't applicable to other media. Not all the terms, obviously: gaming has stuff like visual novels, which can be compared to or even made in other media that aren't video games (not everything this genre does can, but still), and setting- or story-based genres are applicable across media (like, crime fiction is always crime fiction no matter what medium it's in). But first-person shooters? Roguelikes? Side-scrollers? Open-world games? These distinctions require interactivity, and not the interactivity of "if this, go to page x, if that, go to page y", but constant or near-constant input from the person engaging with it. You don't choose every step the protagonist of a choose-your-own-adventure book takes, and they're not gonna get killed by bears while you're away if you leave the book open. And since the medium is so new, in a lot of cases we're right now setting the precedent, and in the other cases the time when the precedent was set is so recent that the people involved in doing that still remember it.

[@ssjgokuhan]

I think a major factor is that, much like other forms of modern entertainment, video games have become a very crowded space where many developers are trying to get a market share. The problem is that making games is hard and making something unique and good is incredibly difficult and many ideas have already been used. In the same way that Hollywood is relying more on reboots and spinoffs, many game developers are just putting their own spin on an already established idea or concept, sometimes being so close they are more clones than homages. When this happens more and more, using the "base game" as a naming convention makes sense because these games feel more like spinoffs or evolved sequels themselves more than they do their own unique game or even the genre it sprouted from.

[@davelzdr]

Excellent video and very thoughtful point about our own comparisons and states of minds when playing games. I guess that can make sense how replaying a game long after can often be a very different experience

[@jacobalo4532]

By far one of my favorite topics you have discussed. I think comparing games for the most part is good. Comparing certain aspects specifically I think has more value. I kind of hate the idea of genres in general. To say a game is a specific genre feels unfair. Like the game somehow needs to fit a mold, and can’t be it’s own thing. Developers may have a certain vision for their game, that has certain aspects of other games and what not, but may be called a specific genre that it isn’t really. Makes me think how there are a million music genres, and how two songs in the same genre may sound nothing alike. Cause, they aren’t, but got labeled that way.

[@Schoritzobandit]

I think this video did a pretty neat job grappling with the issue of heuristics. As you summarize, making models reduces complexity so that information can be understood and more readily applied and compared, but reducing that complexity also loses nuance and much of the essence of something. Models are inevitable and useful, but it's good to try to break them down every once in a while to make sure you know how to do it, and so that the nuances you think through during that breakdown can surface in thoughts when applying the model later. I particularly like the contextual point you made about playing games after each other. Bit of a lost opportunity to compare that to pairing wine with food or eating lime after a shot of tequila, but you still got it across nicely! Ultimately, most things can be broken down further. Why does each word in this sentence mean what you interpret it to mean? Why does it correspond to certain sounds? Why do we use words like "biology" and "physics" and "politics" and "family" and know what they mean, even though most of these terms fall apart as solid categories when you scrutinize them? I think the failures of models and heuristics become more apparent the more you think about and know about a subject, so it makes sense this video would be about video games :)

[@jackawaka]

I like the cut to "before your eyes" when you start talking about looking at the game, very nice.

[@rosaliegrace905]

I have been just desperate for another video Raz, thank you!!!!!

[@TZerot0]

Roguelike: "dead and obscure" My hair: bristles

[@razbuten]

lol yeah that is fair. I don't wanna act like traditional roguelikes don't still exist, but they certainly have been overshadowed in a big way by the new understanding of the genre

[@TZerot0]

@@razbuten very true! I think the funniest thing is that traditional roguelikes are significantly more popular now than they've ever been.

[@ryanb5127]

I love pitching games as it's like A but X and Y. Take a well know game then highlight a core difference between it and the pitched game then highlight a unique aspect. Deathloop is like hitman but you have superpowers and refine your assassinations over a time loop. (I know it's more like dishonored than hitman but more people are familiar with the game style of hitman.)

[@imadziani6983]

This youtube channel is most definitely the actual best one i've stumbled upon concerning video games, literally. I've been binge watching ALL the videos these past days staying up until 4 am lol. I hope and wish you never stop :) I find myself quickly annoyed when i try to watch videos from other people doing the same thing. For me at least, you're the best, really.

[@oh016gamevideos]

Great you picked up this topic! There would be another big game-category worthy of discussion - survival games. For many players survival means combat and the need to constantly withstand hostile fractions (any kind of NPC and/or MP-PVP). Preferable with fire-arms and additionally some stealth and sneak tactics. If a game is tagged survival and does not offer these elements (sufficiently) it is often downvoted (one reason: many players shun the "grinding-only" in games). But I personally consider the combative elements to be more charcteristic of action and shooter-like games. Survival in general means the charcter has needs that will decline and have to be filled up constantly by finding the necessary means to do so. Which leads to a progression via uplevelling of character stats and tec-trees to get better items or buildings. So a game can be a survival game without combat and with PVE only, especially if environmental conditions are changing dynamically and/or the need for advanced ressources forces the player to enter other biomes with higher environmental risks and less basic resources. Combat and enemies are an ADDITIVE, originating from another genre, and will of course expand and enhance the survival experience - but for the majoritiy of players they have become the MAIN characteristic of the survival genre ("the forest-like"). Also survial can be 2D or 3D (third and/or first person) which also changes the kind of players it will appeal to. Additional distinctions are: Is there a build (and construction) mode and if which kind: blueprints (everything 3D with blueprints now is "subnautica-like" - really?!) or free build? Procedural map generation? Some story? Quests/Tasks? Puzzle-like elements? Platforming sections? MP-Coop? ..... The summing up of all variants under the simple header "survival" makes it very difficul to find the game that appeals to you as player and also difficult to recommend a certain "survival" game to others.

[@jacobhebert667]

Video essays are such a great format

[@RosheenQuynh]

Indeed! I love them so much!

[@SpeedrunningSimplified]

Your videos always hit the perfect spot, I love your writing!

[@Laughingwithtravii]

i just have to say, this is an incredible video and im so excited to have my husband watch it when he gets home. i have more or less introduced him to gaming over the past few years, and its been incredible seeing his journey and what all he's enjoyed, but one of the things ive found is that its hard to recommend things bc he simply doesnt have the same reference points i do, as he's not been a life long gamer lmao. i have however found a lot more success with him using trailers and gameplay! he first started with minecraft, then animal crossing: NH, then moved onto borderlands after loving the trailers (tps, bl2, then bl3), and elder scrolls (morrowind, oblivion, and then skyrim.) he saw me playing dark souls 2 which is what led him into wanting to try more sword n board/magic type games, but i figured the souls series miiiiight be a lil too much at times which is why i thought elder scrolls would fit better, as well as giving him a good point of reference. now he knows he enjoys to some degree: open world, sandboxy, building, looter shooters, rpgs, replayability, etc. wondering what he's gonna dive into next, its always interesting haha. a wonderful example (pun not intended) is wonderlands and the borderlands series as well! which i honestly think is a series/franchise in general that is hurt A LOT by comparison. anywho, thanks for the vid as always

[@KanashimiMusic]

I rarely watch videos of this length nowadays, but I still always watch your videos because I just KNOW it'll be interesting.

[@jonathonwirth7107]

So glad to hear Grim Fandango and Monkey Island referenced. Lucasarts adventure games were unrivalled.

[@joezcool]

Man I didn't even realize how so many subgenres of videogames are kind of just a comparison to genre defining titles, like roguelike, medroidvania, and all the clones. Blew my mind a little, although I always knew game genres were a sticky mess. Also, I love it when content creators say "current year," making the hard read that whatever they're about to mention is not only timely but will probably remain that way, in a slightly silly attempt to make their content more evergreen, appreciate that joke. very nice.

[@marten837]

Good video. Not really trying to pose a definitive conclusion, but made me look at the language we use trying to convey unique art (regardless of quality). In the video you tend to focus on the one-on-one comparison and only in passing give an example of how a certain game can have a bit of this and a bit of that. I think a way to be more honest about games, without having to write a 10-page essay, is to use multiple partial comparisons. All games are in a sense a combination of what came before (The uniqueness is mostly in how old elements are combined in a new way, at most with one or two new ideas thrown in the mix). Even in fairly surface-level debates it's easy to say something like: "This game combines the open-world atmosphere of game A with the storytelling of game B and uses mechanic X to give it it's unique flavour". In the world of film, this is already pretty common. A film or director is often debated in terms of inspiration (because film constantly uses the audience's knowledge of previous films as a short-hand to convey new information). Example could be how Tarantino used camera techniques from Japanese filmmaker Kurasowa in his film Django Unchained to evoke a certain atmosphere.

[@pexilated1638]

Hell yeah new Razbuten video! Hope you’re having a great spooky month Raz 🎃

[@chillmadude]

when i compare games, especially when trying to sell the game to a friend or whatever, i usually try to describe it as a blend of mechanics (or other aspects where it makes sense) from other games. so a game might be "a dugeon crawler where you darksouls dogde roll away from your problems as your try to collect houses to play sim city with" or something like that. it's a bit meme-y and entertaining, but also informative and helpful.

[@lordpillows762]

I'm personally just glad we actually stuck with genre names like "Metroidvania" and "Souls-like" because they simply sound cool and flow well on the tongue.

[@funkuro]

Metroidvania is both my favourite genre and my favourite name.

[@Ianthe1]

Never realized how little I compared one game to another until watching this. I love taking each game I play as a new experience and possibly finding similarities while playing through them.

[@slimepixel]

Watching video essays IMO are one of the best way to get to know a title and get into it

[@wizakke5399]

I hate title based genres because they make getting into new games difficult by expecting me to know a different game. A lot of things seem to center around the idea that all players have experienced the games of the past and it really drives me nuts.

[@juliann267]

I really enjoyed your description of comparing games to each other just because you've been playing them back to back. I remember vividly how slow the gameplay of TES Oblivion felt after I've sunk so many hours into FarCry3 with it's incredible fast pace movement. I just couldn't get into oblivion because of that

[@i_am_bort]

A little late to getting around to this one but another amazing video Raz! Super interesting topic and I think you really nailed a lot of the challenges that gamers have when recommending games to others based off of their own previous experience. Happy Halloween!

[@platycorn5301]

My take on this, which I think what you were largely saying in this video is that comparisons are at their strongest when the intentions behind the aspect being compared is similar. It's useful to explore how breath of the wild and outer wilds capture the excitement of exploration and discovery in different ways is more useful than comparing the movement styles in each game for example. Looking at why games that feel similar despite their obvious differences can lead to a better understanding of each game. I also think it can be valuable to look at using mechanics differently can be useful, especially when thinking of how to design your own game, like seeing how different games approach health/healing to understand the nuances in creating a health/healing system depending on your goal.

[@xaro9542]

Everything is relative to what is around it. Comparisons are important, just don't make stupid comparisons

[@NuiYabuko]

coughPokemonfanscough

[@asseenontv247]

I've experienced a lot of people (myself included) describing games as a combination of other games. For example, I recently was talking to a friend who was telling me about Cult of the Lamb and described it as a cross between The Binding of Isaac and Animal Crossing. It has been my experience that this kind of comparison is useful when building intrigue or trying to convey a rough explanation of a game without explicitly detailing the game itself.

[@S2Pot_Gaming]

This was such a good video! I have also come across some of the weirdness that comes from genres and comparisons. The one that always comes to mind for me is the idea of an “Role Playing Game”. For my wife and most of my friends, the idea of an RPG is one associated with playing a character, be it pre-made such as Kratos or completely fresh like in D&D. For me and a few I know, RPG has a completely different connotation: it is associated with playing mostly pre-made classes or creating builds out of a wide variety of unrestricted tools, like in D&D and Wizard of Legend respectively. Such a good video; I greatly enjoyed it.

[@brainrotofchoice6244]

You hear the term RPG and think about roleplaying as Gandalf. I hear the term RPG and think about how I can commit regicide in Dwarf Fortress as a horseshoe crab man by sumo wrestling the monarchy. We are not the same.

[@S2Pot_Gaming]

@@brainrotofchoice6244 Exactly.

[@thefaz3744]

Shotouts to Pokemon Mystery Dungeon which managed to shift from one of the biggest examples of a rogue-like to completely not being a rogue-like at all

[@vexero3038]

New raz upload, let’s goooo

[@jacobdobbins5443]

9:07 is definitely the most hype part of this video, the continuity in this saga of videos truly capture the adventure and sacrifice of a great story like no other... rest of the video was ok ig... 5 stars

[@zacharywong483]

Really nice video Raz! Really cool video topic and great examples to illustrate your points!

[@taekrevenge]

Glad I stumbled upon your channel, you indirectly give us scraps of wisdom in each video!

[@florianizer]

I love that you brought up the issue of the "adventure" genre. I love true adventure games, and it's always annoyed me trying to search for them on places like Steam where every game has that tag.

[@Ellaliluleloka]

I have the same issue :(. Have you found a workaround on finding more games since the "adventure" tag is unhelpful?

[@wolfsongaz]

The most popular game on the Playstation store tagged as adventure is... Fortnite. How? I have no idea, useless tag if a match based multiplayer shooter somehow gets to call itself an adventure.

[@lordpillows762]

@@wolfsongaz Fortnite do have a story mode tho, it's just that 90% of people doesn't seem know it exists, and it's also the paid version of the game anyway. But yeah, that's rought lol

[@kibble1105]

im happy you made this video :) one of my favorite games, Omori, is constantly related to Undertale. I feel as though these two games are compared solely for being pixel art styled and turn based, because they share almost nothing else in common. I actually found Omori through a comparison like this, so I do have mixed feelings about the entire concept, but I see many people turn away from Omori due to it not living up to Undertale's expectations. I personally love both games, and I wish people would be more conscientious about what they compare so as to allow more people to enjoy the beauty of both of these wonderfully told stories.

[@wolfsongaz]

"Compared to Undertale even though its not really alike and then it gets criticized for failing to be Undertale" is truly the greatest category of games. Sincerely: Oneshot fan, the game that is the poster child for being wrongly compared to Undertale. Now I love Undertale too, but they have basically nothing in common other than pixel art and "4th wall breaking", although they are totally different in how they do the meta stuff too and the feel of it. In fact they're even thematically opposed in some important ways, I've argued that on the broader metafictional message they are straight up saying the opposite thing. Omori and Undertale at least both have an earthbound inspiration so you can see some similarities from a common ancestor, Oneshot meanwhile isn't even an RPG. But same situation, lots of people found out about it because it was compared to Undertale even if thats not a great comparison, but are maybe glad that they got tipped off to its existence. But it might cause people who would otherwise have enjoyed it in a different state of mind to dislike it when they realize its not what they expected and they quit, which is a shame.

[@kibble1105]

@@wolfsongaz i have never played oneshot, but i am interested in doing so. this makes me more interested. well said :)

[@Aperson-62]

This comparison thing is very common in the indie scene which isn't surprising as I think it's a natural thing as a kid to want to make your own Zelda game or your own Mario game or your own Sonic game. But due to the nature of copyright and wanting to make money we get a scene of games which are very similar to their inspirations but with origin characters. Comparison is inevitable. I feel like the indie scene has definitely given new genre names to certain things like "search action" for games like Metroid and Castlevania, "High speed platformer" for games like Sonic the Hedgehog (surprisingly niche genre), "platform fighter" for games like Smash Bros. and the aforementioned rogue likes. There aren't really too many indies that have 100% original mechanics but you often see some stand out by taking ideas from different genres of video games and mixing them together, like Shovel Knight for instance.

[@sillynapalm]

I hope you take this as a compliment because that’s exactly how I mean it. I love that I can just listen to your videos and still enjoy it. I like to put it in the background and listen while I do housework. I really like how the audio can stand on its own and the visuals merely add to the video without being essential.

[@Talpfote]

Can I just say...your background music choices were GREAT, the first two I immediately recognised 🧡

[@HiVoltag3R]

What are they??

[@AndreJr9]

@@HiVoltag3R Greenpath from Hollow Knight and Final Expense from Hades

[@SL4PSH0CK]

i'd say an "amalgamation akin to the genre", a game could be both aspired from or inspired by other titles, there's a reason why other forms of arts/entertainment had "critics" compare to gaming that has "journos" that fill their articles w/ 5 word essay or "-like" as based comparisons as opinions. nowadays im happy when i can use the things i learn from other arts and implement it into gaming like Compose Movement for Ghost of Tsushima, since games had been has been a "collective evolution" a term i learned from Rodney Mullen.

[@mellovania]

I just finished SOTN for the first time as a hollow knight / super metroid lover too, and hillariously, even then I feel like all three have different aims in things like emotional tone. So, great video great topic!!

[@007MrYang]

In Japan, most non-erotic visual novels fall under the label of "Adventure game" so I guess they sort of maintained the original meaning of the term.

[@BrooklyKnight]

I think the main thing you pointed out in the beginning is just a common thing we all see in the linguistics community-words, if given enough time, will change meaning as society sees fit. Genres being confusing I think is just an example of that regardless of what media it takes. Given another 50 years, I'm sure the words "Metroidvania" and "Soulslike" will likely shift too. That's just how words work.

[@JuanLeon-oe6xe]

If anybody needs hard proof, remember we used to call First Person Shooters "DOOM-clones".

[@RealityMasterRogue]

I think its interesting that, having played a short hike, you comparing it to elden ring got a "this comparison is worthless" from me. Because for me, the parts that make A Short Hike the game i enjoyed are the peace that comes along the freedom. I don't have to worry about much of anything and can take everything how I want. The fact that elden ring has combat and stats and items and the like makes it more of a complete opposite to ASH, in my experience.

[@TheManuelRP]

We could apply a "responsable" comparison between videogames, in wich we start with the comparison/s but build and extend our description around it, mainly with the differences between them and the uniqueness of the main subject. Also, i think we could seperate diferent kind of genres, like camera, (first person, "third person", sidescroller, etc), mechanical (shooter, platform, puzzle, etc), "progression type" or something (stage, linear, open world, etc), thematical (drama, adventure, comedy, romantic, horror, survival, etc) and other kind of categories; and that every game needs to be described with at least 2 or 3 genres of a diferent type.

[@Lunalestrix]

The choice of placing a scene from the last of us part 2 right when talking about gamers taking things too personally, loved it

[@jjproductions7236]

Had a similar experience with TLOU2 and Ghost of Tsushima. Despite both being hyper violent, Ghost felt less serious just because it wasn't as upclose and personal with its violence. And some big emotional scenes carried little weight because of that experience, however that isn't a fair issue (as you stated) I only felt that way because I played TLOU2 before it. I probably would've had an entirely different experience with Ghost if I hadn't played TLOU2 before it.

[@kashino55archive94]

In terms of recommendations, I find it really helpful to use other games' different traits to paint an amalgamated picture of what the game entails. Think of your Elden Ring example. It's an open-world game with Dark Souls-style mechanics, but has a more "Overarching mission" vibe akin to Breath of the Wild or even A Short Hike Definitely not the best example, but I find it to be an effective way of communicating how a game feels to someone unfamiliar with it. Of course, this comes with its own issues, but in my own personal experience it's a fairly unobtrusive way of comparing games to make recommendations more potent while mitigating potential misunderstandings of what I mean when I say one is like the other

[@gawain0]

I've played a fair number of the games that were featured in this video; celeste, momodora, hollow knight, dark souls, crosscode, opus magnum, FTL, Ori, Portal (might be missing some, only gave a brief glance over at the list to check what I was missing, anyway, it's not the point. Not trying to brag about how I've played a lot of games), but what hit me the most and really drove home your final point was when you flashed some Last Call BBS right at the end and I was like 'OK yeah, I totally get your point now'. Brought up some interesting food for thought. Thanks!

[@dermusikganon811]

Everyone who frequently talks (and argues) about games should watch this video. It is so much on point without having a (too) simple solution. It validates how I think about games and at the same time makes me look in the mirror and reflect on what I am doing in conversations that I think I should rather not. So... thanks!

[@BoomerSage]

Man I gotta say every video you make is top quality. Keep up the awesome work 😎

[@Accurate_Vision]

I can't help but wonder if "It's current year" was actually part of the script for the sponsorship or if it's intended to be replaced by the actual current year, haha Great video! It was enlightening and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I can even see myself coming back to rewatch it a couple times, which I rarely do with anybody because there's just so much out there to watch. Thank you for spending your time and energy creating this content and I hope all goes well for you!

[@theaveragetechgamer]

I thought that as well

[@JonathanTash]

I feel like saying something about "videos games" or about a "game genre" is like saying, "I worked this one job, so I now know what all jobs are like."

[@24601st]

that sponsored segment is so real. it is, indeed, current year

[@bepkororoti8019]

I had a similar but different experience with playing Ghost of Tsushima after The Last of Us Part II: it was so refreshing to wander a breathtaking world, playing the flute, following birds, foxes and the wind after the grueling, depressing experience of watching Ellie throw away her life. So I have very fond memories of Ghost because of TLoU2

[@skadi2911]

I like the conclusion quite a bit. I have this thing where i do a thread of the games i play throughout a year and sort of review them in multiple tweets to sort of dive in some specific aspects. And they get absolutely no interaction. Meanwhile, if i just look at the trends, seeing people yearning for a port of the Twilight Princess Wii U remaster on Switch, i can just say in a single tweet that i despise the game, and i'll get far more attention from the Twitter crowd. And if i start making comparisons or a tier list, oh boy, that gets even more lively. Thanks for this video, ultimately wanting to be a game journalist and reviewer, that's a healthy conversation to have.

[@DaxRaider]

personally i think comparing games in reviews is the best thing as its the easiest and best way to describe them, i also had never had the problem that one game made me feel another differently like you described so ... cant say much to that thats nothing i ever felt

[@efeakkayaa]

My favorite hollow knight youtuber uploaded once again

[@efeakkayaa]

Wait. The first music is from hollow knight I was actually right

[@razbuten]

mossbag uploaded?

[@efeakkayaa]

@@razbuten I love you

[@The1Overmind]

What a great video. I've had a comparison recently that works for me. When I explain Dying Light to a friend I tell them this; "it's like the parkour running of Mirror's Edge combined with the crafting and combat system of Dead Island." Neither are accurate to oversimplify the description but together they do provide a vague gauge of expectation so long as you know what those other games are. If you do then it does a fair job at the approximation. Maybe there's a more accurate combination but for me and those I've described it to, at the end of the day it gets the job done 😊

[@dixaba]

I remember how I was describing Darksiders 3 as a metroidvania (since it has few powers you have to get to progress, said powers unlock not only new areas but also shortcuts between already explored areas as well (one of my friends got lost multiple times in shortcut-hub areas during first playthrough), powers are used both for exploration and in combat, there is certain freedom in which you can get those powers and fight bosses), and I got a response that it can't be a metroidvania because games in this genre are only 2D (since Metroid and Castlevania are). I tried to argue that by the same logic platformers can also be only 2D (because 3D wasn't a thing when first Mario/Sonic came out) and there should be no such thing as third-person shooters (as first id Software games were *the* shooters), I failed. Oh well...

[@stephanvanderwoude1400]

Seeing the Animal Crossing bit at the end reminded me of your videos about new players (the lady you live with) getting into video games. It's interesting to realize that new players don't have these built in experiences so they have to build from a different set of experiences they gained from their daily life.

[@berganssekk]

Love the timing of "toxicity" at 17:44, very good editing ;)

[@JosiahTNT]

Great video! Really opened my eyes in how I even decide what new (or old) game to play based on what I liked about games I've payed in the past.

[@postman666andrei]

I love your commentary! If possible, could you talk about friendly fire in game? or the disappearance of split-screen gaming entirely? A small suggestion when editing if you could please put the game name when showing it

[@kenz6502]

Impressive video essay, well done, i was completely immersed in it.

[@pokecool2257]

Love these essays, keep it up!

[@Mahawww]

Love your most recent content man! Keep it up!

[@matalinoe4059]

18:53 Having played both as well, I definitely agree

[@jompa1554]

Gotta comment to tell you I’m always really excited when I see one of your videos in my subscription feed! No other creator gives me the same feeling.