YIIK - The Hero You're Supposed to Hate

[@EmperorSigismund]

Is this the guy who shat in Oney's toilet so hard that he burned down the house then made a video essay about how it was Oney's fault for being rude to him?

[@blue30827]

what

[@________9658]

Yea this is the dude

[@Duenschissdoktor]

@@________9658 ⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻ ________ ⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻ ________

[@squidwardshouse5431]

​@@Duenschissdoktor Go to bed.

[@moniquesantrifcer1447]

@@blue30827 This is a true story, he actually burned down his house.

[@helpimlostinwalmart7367]

As soon as he said,”My mistake was thinking games were art.” I audibly said,”uh oh”

[@Aether_Star]

I laughed when I read that line at that point in the video. I knew he buried his own grave as a game dev.

[@amfram]

Aether Star Of course he buried his own career, they trashed the industry they failed to get into because they’re too stupid to make anything good.

[@mariokarter13]

The moment you think to yourself "I'm making art" is the moment you start making shit.

[@StoneHavel]

Tfw a self-proclaimed artist (art student) fails making "art"

[@durfdurffigan8680]

mariokarter13 I feel that’s a flawed sentiment. I’d argue all creation is art.

[@GoblinHero]

This is like Scott Pilgrim but instead of learning to be better to those he relies on. The man character learns that all of his friends and family are disposable and he is the most special boy in the universe

[@RangerRobin0404]

I feel that

[@JohnWilliams-wl9px]

Goblin Hero yep

[@setsers1]

😟I fucking miss Scott Pilgrim.😠

[@Garl_Vinland]

Scott only learned the power of True love, and got a shitty job. He didn’t really change

[@mokaza40]

Its funny cuz Scott is supposed to be an emotionally detached dick. But he does grow. But don't compare my boy Scott to this mixture of hipster and edge. Scott is a lovable dweeb

[@ew275x]

What's funny is that the LISA guy hates JRPGs and yet it's still a more respectful take on the genre.

[@jack-exzolt9858]

You could hate on something by making something better or you could hate something because of your own convenience. He chose the former, and I could respect that.

[@asperRader]

@boulderguy888 why? And that's fine, it's definitely not a game for everyone. However, at least it has merits in characters, in story, in motifs, and it handles each of these with some level of respect. YIIK, uh, doesn't.

[@jvukovic4]

@boulderguy888 why? thats a totally fine opinion. Not everything is made for everyone, and the fact that you can recognize its strength separate to your personal taste is admirable

[@danialyousaf6456]

I dunno why I really dislike these types of bleak stories (like Lisa). Can anyone explain to me why they like Lisa ?

[@asperRader]

@@danialyousaf6456 Because not only does it speak about a powerful subject - the cycle of abuse, hurt and grief that can extend through generations - in an honest fashion, which is refreshing to see, it also does it in an interesting world, with funny characters, events, and a genuinely engaging combat system where every skill, item and party member counts, instead of the typical "do big damage, heal sometimes if you need", and has choices that genuinely impact gameplay, like a choice between losing an arm (which comes with stat downs and blocked moves), and a party member that permanently leaves. Overall, that's why I personally like the game.

[@alcerdemon9768]

Remember when Toby Fox was cheering for this game but deleted his tweet when the actual game came out? I don’t blame him

[@SirBlackReeds]

I do. He should have just admitted he had no idea what lousy jerk Andrew is instead of pulling a bitch move. That just makes him look bad.

[@tykamen5588]

Yeah if I composed music for pretentious game developer I would want nothing to do with it

[@tykamen5588]

@@SirBlackReeds how exactly does that make Toby look bad? it's clear that he realize how much the game sucked and the developer was a jerk

[@AverageUsernames]

A dickish kind of move for toby.

[@alcerdemon9768]

@@AverageUsernames Well, to be more precisely, he said to give the game a chance, because he thought it look good. But when the game came out and the creator was like “oh video games aren’t art” Then he headed tf out

[@IPODsify]

The main character could've worked if he was ever punished for his behavior, but he isn't. He literally becomes god for it

[@alranican]

Naruhito Da Grandaddy of Japan yeah the biggest problem is that Alex is an egocentric jackass who is actually proven to be right for thinking that way. He is literally the center of every universe, which greatly conflicts with the game's messaging.

[@Stan_Crimes]

@Tum Tum No one wants to see him.

[@ohmygahdbilly]

The bachelor from pathologic is probably the best example of an unlikable playable character, literally every choice of speech check he has is just him being an asshole and the stuff you do as him ends up actively fucking you over when you play as the other characters, granted being an asshole is basically unavoidable as the bachelor but the game actually keeps the same tone the entire time, aka everything sucks, fuck you, this will be so painful that it will become pleasurable, oh you want to have loads of money? That's fine we'll just increase the price of everything so much that all your money is now worthless, deal with it pussy.

[@claytongriffith8323]

There's a video asserting that he's the creators self insert and the game is just a way from him to ship himself with a girl from a real life murder case

[@sushishush]

Clayton Griffith I need to see this vid do you have the link?

[@giancarloduncan2104]

"Nobody cares about your dead sister! Now put your life in danger to save this cute girl I met a few days ago!"

[@reaperz5677]

This cute *dead* girl

[@ImmaLittlePip]

@@reaperz5677 who is based off a real dead girl

[@joeyburkhart6602]

@@ImmaLittlePip But they don’t want you to know that.

[@ravaniphoenix5431]

To be fair, that's the only time Alex is absolutely on the right. Rory himself called Alex under the pretense that he knew shit, talking a bunch of nonsense and then dragged Alex into that mess in the sewers for no reason. It was a waste of time. So Alex flipping out on him is reasonable, imo. Like, sure, maybe he could've been a little nicer, but the fact that he got scammed remains.

[@Bruhx10]

A game about becoming self aware written by someone with no self awareness

[@bacht4799]

breh Just like really life.. no one wants to see theirs real monster but would rather believe they do ..

[@SirBlackReeds]

He took a sledgehammer to the wall and ended up making a castle.

[@patrickstjohn185]

Pottery.

[@pacificcoastbreeze]

And it clearly shows

[@nautilume7114]

Lmao

[@MrXXVII]

Putting "A post modern rpg" on the subtitle says a lot about it's pretentiousness

[@darrelsam419]

I don't think the dev even knows what "post-modernism" means. There's nothing post-modern about this game, it's just a quirky RPG with blocky graphics.

[@thekeyandthegate4093]

@@darrelsam419 A real post-modern RPG would introduce a whole lot of unique and interesting mechanics, and then about a quarter of the way through the game, you never use them again. And the cycle would repeat. It probably wouldn't be a very fun game.

[@StoneHavel]

Lol kinda ironic

[@darrelsam419]

@@thekeyandthegate4093 Yeah, it would probably be something like that. The game could look great and be fun to watch someone play, but not be fun to play it yourself. I know this isn't an RPG, but would The Neverhood be considered a post-modern game? It looks great and has a weird, artistic feel to it, but it was a lot of frustrating segments that are annoying and dumb on purpose, like the long hallway and some of the more absurd puzzles. It's more fun to watch than to play.

[@yareyarejose5080]

@@darrelsam419 mgs2 was fun to play and that's definitely a postmodernist game if i ever played one.

[@Kain128]

"My mistake was thinking video games were art." No, your mistake was thinking _your_ video game was art.

[@lebensmann6528]

ooo that's a burn

[@matguimond92]

video games are their own art is for pretentious bozos like this developer. Art and video games are two different things in my opinion. You pretend video games are art and you get this hot piece of garbage.

[@verbatos9498]

@@matguimond92 ever played Gris? I would call that art, good art. This is just bad/pretentious art. People like this, who make things like this, exist in every art community.

[@ddjsoyenby]

ikr.

[@matguimond92]

@@verbatos9498 Video games are not art period. Otherwise we end up with garbage like this. Another anime game = art lmfao. Anime is highly over rated and the fans are pretentious and pompous idiots.

[@KugelBlitz0]

3:43 That response is even more pretentious than the game itself.

[@galacticpopcorn9981]

Ikr? That mindset of "People didn't like the thing I made so they're in the wrong because I'm always right" drives me nuts. I think that these people need to realize that they can get things wrong sometimes. We're humans and we make mistakes. Instead of blaming his failures on others and plugging his ears and running away, he needs to face his criticism head on and make a better product next time. HOO sorry about this long response. Just had to rant about this.

[@koolkool3856]

Not to mention condescending. I will never understand the mentality of "I made a game that got heavily criticized and made fun of. Therefor all gamers are children." I swear man, those kinds of people have problems. Even *if* gamers were all mouth breathers (which obv the majority aren't), why would you be in an industry that caters to that audience if you hate them so much? Why even bother? If that's your audience, you serve them. They don't serve you. Period. Shitting on your audience and any potential fans you may have had will not reassure people to keep coming back.

[@achunkofbutter]

He made the game with the intention of being art. Because he didn’t realise he failed that, I can see where he got that conclusion. It’s just so fundamentally wrong that it hurts

[@Sir_Saki]

You know, this game could have been something good. If he took the criticisms and made a new game with the faults of the old in mind, there really could have been a gem there. But pride blinds. And him saying games are just toys, I guess he never really loved games to begin with if that's all he he's them as.

[@auralunaprettycure]

It was an unrehearsed on the spot speech given in a podcast with his friend. I just figured it was worth defending since I actually like the developer and his games

[@chicagobigchungusbobungus8842]

This video has more style and charm than the actual game.

[@GayBrain]

based

[@zad_rasera]

the art's pretty good

[@carrotcommunist9216]

I mean, yeah. It doesn't take much to do better than YIIK

[@papasscooperiaworker3649]

@@GayBrain what does based mean

[@GayBrain]

@@papasscooperiaworker3649 It's slang and kind of a meme. It's when you agree with someone's opinion and voice your assertation. It's sometimes used ironically.

[@Anonymous-73]

Travis Touchdown from NMH is very similar to the “protagonist” from YIIK They’re both huge nerds,get involved in a huge conflict out of their control, and are both rude and mean The difference is that Travis understands the repercussions of his actions and gets punished for them. Alex doesn’t.

[@romanov3937]

At least Scott Pilgrim became a better person by the end of his series.

[@thefinalday5858]

Did he?

[@jadesgonzales7636]

@@thefinalday5858 well not entirely. He did learn some lessons and grew up a bit. So for me, thats a plus.

[@UmTois]

@@thefinalday5858 he did (for the comics at least, I don't remember much of the movie).

[@krodmandoon3479]

@@thefinalday5858 *Yes*

[@yaboigabe7254]

Yeah that's the entire arc

[@GreenVikeenArt]

WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT!? WHAT IS THIS VIDEO ABOUT!? CAN SOMEBODY EXPLAINS WHAT IS GOING ON!?

[@supershadow2021]

*18 paragraphs of dialouge of explaining the format of video never even touching on the contents of the video itself*

[@_-Lx-_]

@@supershadow2021 WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!!? *SOMEBODY PLEASE EXPLAIN THIS TO ME ALREADY!!!*

[@mayamelodyegg1607]

@@_-Lx-_ *IM SHAKING REAL BAD, VIBRATING WITH MOTION!!!*

[@juanpablorobayo9891]

See Alex, what you see here is a 'video game review'. It's a way for sentient existences to provide their thoughts, feelings, and grander social commentary on.... **I drone on but Alex isn't listening to me anymore**

[@librasuperstar3779]

WHY ARENT YOU EXPLAINING THINGS TO ME?!

[@angelomarcus3783]

"gamers dislike my game because they can't relate to the protagonist" Ah yes, i relate to kirby, eating random people when i go for walks is my favourite hobby. Not all characters need to be "relatable", they just need to be interesting and/or fun.

[@likira111]

Tell that to all my old school teachers who told me my ideas were shit

[@thedarklrd6714]

Kirby lore and Kirb being a part of Void Termina is more interesting and cohesive than YIIK.

[@weneedaladder8384]

@@thedarklrd6714 I wish more games had you play as an adorable, unfeeling elder god. It's a good concept.

[@paigecrouch3106]

Hollow knight

[@matguimond92]

when I play Diablo 2 I can't relate to my fkn Sorceress character. I'm not a woman nor can I shot fkn ice orbs out of my t!ts. I do enjoy the game though without having to self insert myself or have some form of empathy for whatever character I'm playing. I'm not into rp.

[@RipDippler]

"Games arent art. You cant talk about anything meaningful or thought provoking" Oh cool so he has *no idea what hes talking about*

[@Tamaki742]

Well, I guess we should ignore NieR : Automata then. That's totally not meaningful at all.

[@damir_van_kalaz]

Oh, but he's right, you can't *talk* about anything meaningful or thought provoking in a video game. The player is supposed to *experience* something meaningful and thought provoking. Perhaps if he'd realized that his goal as a game developer is to make the player *experience* things instead of trying to outright *tell* them things, his game would have been better.

[@theflamelord]

@@Tamaki742 *Makes a game based on the mother series, a series with themes of family bonding being stronger than inate instinct and how the love and connections between people can be more powerful than any other emotion even enough that hearing the song his mother sang to him as a child causes the big bad to be so overcome with feelings that he can no longer exist as physical being, and follows that up with a game that follows a broken family as it's characters deal with the idea of loved ones dying for no reason other than to fuel to cogs of a society that forced itself upon them for the benefit not of the common people but of one powerful person who uses people like playthings and pits brother against brother in a vain pursuit of something that no longer exists, and ends with the world being ended and reborn for a second time based on the sheer human desire to keep existing not for ourselves, but the people around us." YIIK Dev: "Yeah i made a game inspired by the mother series but I don't think video games can say anything meaningful or thought provoking"

[@sinko3811]

@@theflamelord Wow...I never played or watched anything from the Mother Series...but that sounds amazing.

[@QMyers]

I guess we should ignore Hollow Knight then :/

[@zombyjano]

This guy is basically a failed version of Travis Touchdown. Two geeks that are objectively bad people that go on an adventure for some girl.

[@Mariodash23]

At least Travis had a beam katana and was voiced by Kazuhira Miller. Alex uses a flimsy vinyl record and is voiced by a VA with a long history of sexual harassment accusations.

[@WillieManga]

Travis was pretty cool. The game is aware he don't solve any problems, and one of the antagonists even sang about how stupid he is. Philistine was awesome, by the way.

[@ImmaLittlePip]

@@WillieManga Plus we saw how Travis grew up and learned about where that path led him and how empty it was in Travis strikes again

[@AzumarillConGafasBv]

Travis is a chad, that's a thing

[@tykamen5588]

Except Travis was likable he grew as the games went on even in Travis strikes again he get some character development

[@jakefaulkner8381]

- "No no no, you're SUPPOSED to hate the main character!" - "I do! I don't wanna play anymore" - "Wait, no"

[@randomperson5289]

-"wait a minute, you hate a purposefully hateable character then you must be a baby and all videogames arent art".

[@liquidladdy]

Tales of the Abyss, handles the whole "asshole becomes a great guy" main character, MUCH better. The biggest factor is by leaving small bread crumbs of empathy, not just other characters saying "Oh wow you are so nice" but actually having him preform good deeds and actively trying to improve himself after some game changing events (and having a full arc unlike half the cast in yiik).

[@329link]

Well shit that's another tales game I need to check out. I only just got symphonia.

[@liquidladdy]

@@329link vesperia is also REALLY good

[@gigawarman12]

Liquid Lad This!! So much this!! TotA is still the best Tales game to me to this day and it could be almost because of either Luke or Asch alone but it does so much more right that YIIK could only dream of...

[@chrisossu2070]

It does also help that Luke's dickishness is contextualized pretty early on as him basically being a five year-old in a teenager's body due to him having lost a good portion of his memories and having been locked inside the castle for most of his life.

[@MarxasThomas]

True, and i really wanted to jump into my tv and strangle Luke lol

[@chariot_requiem]

"Am I so out of touch? No. It's the games industry who're wrong."

[@grundierungtaglich6241]

Literally every game journalist

[@Coldkill2001]

“My mistake was thinking video games are art.” Kind of sounds like something the protagonist would say lmao

[@lforever_048]

Guys took Persona, Saturday Morning RPG, Scott Pilgrim, sprinkled some shit specks on them, shoved it in a blender, blended it, put it in a bowl with ceramic wrap, buried it for a decade, then took it out and force fed it to you with a rusty spoon

[@crowiltiziodeltreno4177]

Y2K is slowly becoming the Morbius of games, i remember when Alex Yiik said "its yiikin time" and yiiked all over the bad guys, truly one of the games of all time indeed, with a plot, written characters and worldbuilding, indeed a game.

[@bloopahVIII]

i'm yiiking out rn because the characters were some of the characters of all time, much more than omori's characters

[@ImmaLittlePip]

So if Deadly premonitions is the room of gaming does that make Yiik the Morbius of gaming

[@monster-monitor3898]

"My mistake was thinking that videogames are art." no, your mistake was convincing yourself that you created a masterpiece and then getting super bitter when people said "no, u didn't."

[@XerKoro_neo]

This developer has always blamed the audience for not appreciating his work when he himself can't accept his own flaws and issues. Yet he expects us to eventually appreciate and identify with a man who can BARELY accept his own problems 20 hours in and can't even make the final decision for himself. (Plus there are only two bosses that aren't scripted) Forget the tonal issues

[@gulfcoastgaming6034]

“My mistake was thinking that video games are art.” And it all goes down from here

[@Shooter_Degenerate]

The main character's VA is trying really hard to do an impression of Randy Stair. I can't unhear it. Every time he speaks I expect him to start ranting about Ember's Ghost Squad.

[@tylercafe1260]

He's a newgrounds animator and that's actually just how he sounds. Maybe downed a bottle NyQuil but that's just Kirbophers voice

[@noriyakigumble3011]

Never thought I’d hear a randy stair reference on a video like this, Kinda thought he was an “internet Underground” kinda topic

[@AL2009man]

Which, doesn't help that the protagonist's VA happens to get metoo'd, which makes some of Alex's line unsettling if you know the context of the story.

[@BlackMango532]

@LAW yep

[@diamondmetal3062]

Apparently he also voiced Karna in Fate/Apocrypha in the English dub.

[@Lailainai]

The main character being unlikable is a kneejerk reaction from the devs, I think. I’m sure the dev wanted to have people actually like him, like he wanted people to like the writing. It’s only when people told him that Alex and the gang are shit that he said ‘nuh uh youre just too smooth brain’

[@noodlepoodle3582]

“Games aren’t art because players didn’t see my V I S I O N and not because my execution sucks”

[@TuskaiTheKid]

I played YIIK and theorized WAY too much on the game and its story, so I've always come to the conclusion that the problem with Alex isn't that he's an unlikable character, its actually that he's SO UNLIKABLE as a character, it eclipses every other character's unlikable traits. Vella knew from the start that she was an Alternate Reality Semi, and knew that there was 0% chance of Alex rescuing her and bringing her back to this reality, because as we know from Rory's story early on "When two souls of the same person are in the same reality, shit gets BAD.", and Vella, who is INCREDIBLY selfish, has no intention of leaving this reality. Why Vella seems chill about The Essentia being in their universe, despite believing them to be of the same soul... is just really bad writing I think, The weird phone calls Alex gets throughout the game, are in reality, Micheal, who is an incredible asshole, Even his theme song is about how much of an asshole he is, how he intends to "Take a picture of (Alex) and then tear it in two." and how he is already intending to stab Alex in the back and leave him, from their very first meeting. This is highlighted when you go find Micheal later in the game, and find out the house he said he moved into, ISN'T his house, he actually moved into a different house, which parallels what happened between Alex and Micheal in the past. The Essentia is NOT actually a Soul of Vella/Semi, but actually a part of Alex's soul, and to elaborate on this, you need to understand how Proto-MIcheal operates. Proto-Micheal mentions that becoming a proto being means you become so aware of your flaws from seeing them repeat through numerous lifetimes, specifically in EVERY reality, there is a Micheal who will eventually betray their Alex, and becoming a Proto-being means moving past those flaws... The writing doesn't really work with Proto-Micheal because his only real characterization is that he's an asshole instigator who riles Alex up to make him look worse, and everything else is just narration of "Oh well THIS happened in our past. Back on The Essentia and Proto-Alex though, just like the four Sub-Alexes before the final confrontation exemplify negative aspects of Alex's personality (Skeeviness, Laziness, Pretentiousness and blind consumerism), Proto-Alex doesn't really act like any of that, he's hooked up next to, what is presumebly HIS ideal woman, and he never even looks at her, he is direct and straightforward with the Player, he doesn't seem to care about... anything honestly, he just kind of wants to sit there and be "Perfect." and only fights back after the player attacks him. But there is one aspect our Alex has that he doesn't, and that's his self-centered nature... which is represented by the Essentia. Proto-Alex got the way he is, by cutting out negative aspects of his personality, but the very nature of throwing away instead of improving is an ultimately self-centered action, so the Essentia got botched, leaving them in their twisted state as connected, but deeply hating each other. A throwaway line is that it's NOT Proto-Alex that is controlling the meteors that destroy realities, its the Essentia, who is doing all of this because, at the end of the day, she doesn't have absolute control, Proto-Alex is just letting her act as she pleases because he just doesn't care enough to take the control away from her, but the Essentia STILL desires to be more important, to be the one in control of EVERYTHING, even Proto-Alex. You're absolutely spot on about Rory/Chondra/Claudio though, they're fine as characters, and Rory even gets his quarter circle arc of "Lying about dead sister" to "Alex is right, I did endanger everyone's lives with my lies" and then translates into "NOTHING" or "SUICIDE". In particular, I would have liked if Rory had literally stated at some point "Look, Alex, Micheal and Vella might be nice to me, but you're real to me, and that's what i need.", that would have really highlighted what Rory was actually looking for, not platitudes, but someone to treat him as a person, not a pity case, and would have given him a reason to actually care about Alex. Chondra and Claudio seem to exist only because "In another reality, Chondra and Claudio are Alex's siblings!" Which is almost never touched on except outside of a trippy dream sequence, and one of the Alex's on Alex Refugee Island being young and black. In a way, it ALSO makes Claudio a Tragic parallel to Alex, because HIS Alex will never be seen again, because this reality already has an Alex that replaced him, ala Semi and Vella. If you decide to torture yourself with a repeat playthrough, a LOT of what I pointed out becomes super clear. It's kinda obvious the story was written in a way that it was supposed to be played through twice... but honestly the game and the story are NOT good enough to warrant a second play through. There were a few moments I noticed that the Onism 1999 Website was CLEARLY a dimensional hub between realities BEFORE it was announced in story, because a poster gets banned in a thread, but they continue posting later on in the story... and fun fact, that same poster is implied to be of the Soul of Semi/Vella. Foreshadowing is actually the story's strongest aspect... but it's hard to notice it without a second playthrough, and... yeah, the game's REALLY glaring flaws make it hard to notice when the writing is actually good.

[@jeangreffsbp]

You didnt play,you suffered it

[@cat_Connoisseur]

too long, didnt read

[@valentinecure329]

Very long, worth the read

[@sefsprite]

that scene where alex attempts to kiss rory makes me want to curl up into a ball and cry

[@ryanclemons1]

"My mistake was thinking games were art.”......oh my god i can see why he made alex the way he is.

[@friedbacon6236]

Imagining the thousands of creative and talented indie game devs who never made it due to lack of budget, this really infuriates me

[@leonelegender]

To be honest, the part of the dude screaming ITS DIGITAL BABYYYYY was one of the few times dialogue if this game brought me any joy

[@ztoogemcducc6360]

Anytime someone responds to criticism with the word "triggered" almost immidieatly discredits any artistic credibility they had

[@wrongtime9097]

Players: don’t feel like dealing with a shit-stick for untold hours This tool: “TrIgGeReD”

[@solitonmedic]

The game would had been more interesting if they killed the protag early

[@meloneatingwolf1882]

4:05 exactly, people hate having characters who do bad things in video games, that’s why my brother played the dark side route of KOTOR and was laughing maniacally throughout it.

[@TheUSgoverment]

Yep. Into the watchlist he goes

[@TheMovieGuyTMG]

Urick turns into Chris Chan whenever he's concerned

[@cannonfodder4000]

Same for me tbh

[@thereseemstobeenanerror1219]

@@cannonfodder4000 (☞ ಠ_ಠ)☞ you should get that looked at.

[@cannonfodder4000]

@@thereseemstobeenanerror1219 can't, anyone who looks at me gets pepper sprayed

[@slugofborg6532]

Between the game's theme and the author's reactions to criticism, it feels like it was written by someone who hears “Embrace your failures” less as “Own your shortcomings so you can learn from them” and more “Im fallible, there’s not changing that, so why should I feel ashamed to?” Which excuses them to eschew perceived flaws into distinguishments and flip doing better or different as illusory or an unfair standard to themselves. If true, then its no wonder why Alex reflects this as such as a stagnant character. His "arc" isn't about confronting his insecurities in the sense of learning to work with a part of himself he'd rather not acknowledge. Rather, the narrative seems to say his mistake was questioning his faith in himself and decisions at all, that in time his way would arbitrate all doubts and everyone will see too that he was right all along. It''s a character that has no need to learn, grow or even act outside of reactively, basically spitting on the notion of requiring an arc if all Alex has to do to conquer all (literally) is to simply continue to be himself...

[@JoeContext]

Is anybody going to talk about how the creator's entire response to criticism of the main character is completely nullified by Wario? He's like the most fuck awful human being concieved by a human mind and yet he's one of the most iconic characters in arguably THE most iconic gaming franchise and I don't think I have ever so much as heard of anyone who hates him

[@klc9807]

One of this games biggest problems in my eyes is the long diatribes of purple prose characters would go on for ages, the dev's writing feels more like a bad novel than a game's dialogue. Also that response at 3:43, I feel like saying just because you do something on purpose doesn't make it better it wasn't a case of stupid gamers not understanding, I could make an ear piercing discordant chip tune and say "this was meant to represent my characters anguish and conflicting feelings" but just because I made that bad song on purpose doesn't make it any better.

[@sarafontanini7051]

especially since those dialogues don;'t ADD anything to the narrative. Hell, some of them striaght up just talk about stuff we JUST HEARD ALREADY

[@Chunkyloops]

When you make something/art out of malice/spite instead of passion, theres alot higher chance people will not like it. When something is made with hate, you can feel it.

[@pantslesswrock]

This is why Post-Modern art is vital to art as a whole but rarely financially successful.

[@kontrabanned]

Millennial Losers: The Game

[@funghiciabatta551]

Hahah good one!

[@noahgreer1497]

Makes sense when you look at who made it.

[@Stan_Crimes]

Ouch but so true

[@Oecobius33]

13:29 Would you seriously want these out-of-touch developers to add more heavy-handed race themes? That's the one place where they seemed to realize they were too clueless to write about it, so they showed enough self-awareness to keep it brief. Some writers try using social topics as a crutch to appear more "adult," but that's the LAST thing this game needs.

[@KopperNeoman]

Developers should leave that entirely alone. They have two choices if they don't - lie, or make the industry blacklist them.

[@sordidsentinel]

Hearing that sudden clip of Chris-Chan made me break out in a cold sweat.

[@wonder693]

If and when you have time in the future, you may want to check out the GIGANTIC overhaul they’re going to be making of this game, YIIK iv. Honestly it looks promising so far and aims to address major story and gameplay issues you and the others have brought up. It’s impressive they’ve stuck with it so long despite all the hate, as admittedly deserved as some of it was…

[@vivvygipe9605]

5:29 I think that's a seemingly small but significant detail. A large part of why the ending doesn't work is because his friends and the original reality Alex inhabits are gone, so there's no point in seeing how much he's changed as a character if he can't then act different towards his friends in his reality and show that he's changed. I'm rambling, but thanks for this video!

[@mrflipperinvader7922]

I love how you fully draw these characters from the media you're talking about

[@zenithstudio6819]

"gAmEs ArNt ArT" but to explain why, let's talk about *parallel universes*

[@speedslider3913]

It sucks this game screwed up so badly. The ideas sound so good, the art is beautiful, the voice acting holds true, and it could've work so well, it all had so much effort and ambition, but it doesn't matter when the 2 most important elements, gameplay and story, screw up so badly. It doesn't matter how many characters you have when the characters don't matter. An unlikable character has to be getting better slowly, but at least give a good reason for characters to stick around. And most importantly, don't introduce themes you're gonna be pretentious about or leave hanging until the end of the gang. Don't. If there's a silver lining, if the studio takes good criticism, they could remake the game one day and make it a true Earthbound 1999, but for now, the game is YIIKES:A Potential RPG.

[@onewingedangel2479]

If you want a perfect example of an evil character being interesting, extremely likable, thought-provoking, and who has a fantastic arc. I would say look at Big Boss from Metal Gear Solid.

[@DrGandW]

At least it failed in a way that’s hilarious at points Also good ost

[@xandrite_]

"'Be like water' she was my water" is such an unintentionally funny line though.

[@michaelhegwood9977]

This game seems like something Doug Walker would write

[@jamesvanitas]

Really?

[@MrGamernova]

No, even he's more self aware then this, imagine if this guy got beat & killed as much as the Nostalgia Critic does.

[@BritishTeaFGC]

@@MrGamernova I think you forgot that the Nostalgia Critic literally became GOD by flying into the plot hole in To Boldly Flee. It was also a three hour long movie that focused on the critic and it was even mentioned that if the critic dies the "age of reviewers" would come to an end essentially retiring every other content creator on Channel Awesome at the time.

[@MrGamernova]

@@BritishTeaFGC At least it's just reviewers & not the literal universe, plus are you sure it was less tongue & cheek then this? I haven't watched any of the movies besides the Linkara one & that audio one after they left. Regardless I know enough that NC can still take a hit way better, especially considering how Doug is hated on by more people for much longer, regardless of how justified it is.

[@BritishTeaFGC]

@@MrGamernova You could say that the movie was kinda tongue in cheek and it was in character for the NC but everyone on set, according to the Change the Channel document, said that Doug was very serious about it and that he truly believed that when he retired the Nostalgia Critic character everyone else would retire too.

[@QueenAleenaFan]

So I finally noticed your doc of how Michael could be a better protag, and honestly I'll take it at this point because even Yiik's team did a better job of writing their own game (judging by that cut ending) than they ended up doing.

[@Pootis-Spencer]

My only take for YIIK is one where Claudio is the MC that moves from the low-class-yet-friendly neighborhood he grew after saving enough money with his sister because he doesn't want anything happening to Chondra like it happend to his brother, after his boss leaves him in charge of the store for some vacations he gets a weird encounter with entities, so he takes iniciative and goes on an adventure with Chondra to resolve the mystery of their little brother's dissaperence, Claudio is overprotective over a lot of things over Chondra and Chondra doesn't care so much and is bother for the amount of restrictions he has over her since she lives in his house while she keeps studing in the university to get into a good career, because Claudio decided to sacrifice his own if that meant his sister can be the one that gets a well-paid job to not be like in their childhoods in her adulthood. Just a journey of self discovery and family scars being healed. Maybe a big moment where Claudio and Chondra get to see their brother and hug him before let him go. Alex is just a background character or doesn't exist.

[@kabalan20]

Dude whoever did the original art for this video deserves all the credit. Elevated the review to a higher level of entertainment.

[@hacim42]

I would like to see your thoughts on LISA: The Joyful. You praise Painful through the art, which is one of the best damn games I've ever played, but the fanbase remains ever divided on the quality of Buddy's adventure.

[@sarafontanini7051]

the Joyful is good, offers some explanations for remaining mysteries and buddy's story is interesting as it shows the OTHER side of Brad's story, which we didn't get to see because Brad, much like the player, only saw the good parts and not the parts where he traumatised Buddy and lead her to follow his footsteps in taking up Joy.

[@moogobIin]

joyful is bad because it was forced to exist, and was made even worse when it had to be more than it shouldve. looking back on the original kickstarter for painful, the stretch goal for joyful said something along the lines of "play as buddy, and uncover the secrets of the world." playing as buddy had some potential, we can see it ingame with her motivations and interactions with Rando, but having to uncover the secrets made the ending awful. Austin has said that he wouldve rather just released painful alone, and honestly while joyful was nice i agree.

[@plutonix5792]

"If they play a game where the main character is unlikable or has to do some bad stuff, they immediately get triggered by it." Off the top of my head, I can think of some well-beloved games that contradict that statement: - Lisa: The Painful - OFF - NieR: Replicant/Gestalt - The Last of Us - Catherine

[@dydy-166]

If you want to play a charming and colorful indie-RPG with Paper-Mario inspired combat while having an engaging plot, go for Underhero. You'll have a better experience.

[@JadeAnnabelArt]

As much as I hated the game, I love the music, one of the tracks was stuck in my head for days.

[@averagejoe5145]

I found out something about this game that surprised me: The developer is actually trying to overhaul it! Alex is being turned into a silent protagonist, they're fixing bugs, revamping the combat system, & they're also trying to flesh out the story! I was a bit surprised after hearing about their reactions in the past, but I'm willing to give them another shot at it.

[@trashman11]

A great example for this is in M.A.S.H At the binging they had a character named Frank Burns. He was an ass. And that was it. He was an over-the-top jerk that normally starts the episodes problems. They ended up getting ride of this character because he had nowhere to go development wise. They replaced him with a another character Major Charlies who was also an ass but had a lot more to him. He loved music, was very proud and would give to those that truly needed help (ex Christmas episode he gave the gifts he was to receive to a family, and played music for a man that had lost his ability to play the piano or villain i haven't watched that episode in a while) Case in point you can make good character that are jerks but you cant just expect people to love them without giving them some humanity

[@musardus8395]

OH MY GOD! ALEX YIIK ESSAY FROM ONEY ANIMATION GUY!

[@MrAuthor3DS]

Sheesh, even giving Alex more talking portraits with more evident emotions (you know, besides blankness or disinterest) would be an improvement. Even as just a FIRST step.

[@craquerock]

yiik is the best video game ever made

[@valentinecure329]

I'm surprising my girlfriend of 2 years with a copy of YIIK for Christmas, might get cuddles. Wish me luck.

[@TinyBlurryMan]

If the writing was only all waxing for Alex and everyone else was normal, that would have made it a bit more bearable as long as Alex also had an arc. But since everyone waxes, they all come across as little Reddit idiots.

[@KillThad]

At least when BioShock Infinite attempted the constants and variables angle and "arguably" failed (I understood what they were trying to do, but I know it's kind of a mess), it helped that it was written by professionals who knew that at the very least, you actually had to care for the characters and have them change as people when reality (and the plot) starts to fall apart. Alex is just a scumbag who becomes the most important being in the multiverse and never changes as a person.

[@DiaboTatuado]

The best way to define this game is artificial art, there are ideas that would be good if it was handled with more attention but it's made so artificially that it looks like it was interelly decided by executives in a office, which is weird, considering it is an indie game

[@DangStank]

Rip the game maker. Straight up going “It isn’t stupid! YOU’RE STUPID!” I bet his solemnants vibrate with motion into obscurity

[@pantslesswrock]

If you think that line isn’t supposed to make you roll your eyes, then you are proving him correct.

[@DangStank]

@@pantslesswrock which one? I referenced 3

[@pantslesswrock]

@@DangStank The one the video is about and the one you referenced in the first sentence of your post.

[@DangStank]

@@pantslesswrock “Rip the game maker.” Was the first sentence

[@pantslesswrock]

@@DangStank Precisely! The twist is right there in the title. You can figure it out, I’m sure. Maybe with a little extra research, which I can see people giving YiiK a ding for, definitely. But you’re getting close!

[@iron_Will]

I dunno man, I’m an asshole, and if I were the perfect version of myself, using a comet made of myselves to destroy other realities would be, like, somewhere near the top of my to-do list

[@baileyyyyyyyyyyyy]

This is honestly a great video, a lot of the issues are being addressed in YIIK: A Postmodern RPG, I.V.

[@shiboatisuto]

This game was a bummer because it had so much potential to be something amazing that could be remembered fondly

[@hnaw1360]

Surprised you didn't mention that the suicidal and abused Rory with the dead sister was the character they chose to have... His mum just... Be a leg?

[@onewingedangel2479]

Pretentious Hipster: The game. It's like the developer read the plot synopsis of Earthbound, watched 10 minutes of a let's play, and thought to himself "No sweat. Also how about I make myself Ness but smarter than everyone. Oh, and exploit a real life tragedy while I'm at it." Lastly, the amount of purple prose in the writing is enough to give me a headache. Thank you for reading my vent on this absolute specimen of a game.

[@TazmilyGum]

The cats head is H.P Lovecraft lol

[@spacebeagle3576]

Andrew: "Games aren't art" Yoko Taro: The fuck you say?

[@BQuanchi]

OneyPlays just got to the Golden Alpaca fight and they totally changed it. Not sure how much was changed, but to be honest, I kinda like the "lemonade" dialogue.

[@CullanSanders]

Saying the studio has potential to go up from here is wishful thinking, but based on the creators reaction to the criticism, I doubt he's going to take it in stride and learn anything from it. A persons ability to be critiqued says a lot about their creative potential

[@that_one_shark6887]

YIIK has the honor of being the first ever turn-cringe RPG

[@RoRo13890]

I’m yiiking out right now

[@lemontv7883]

This game feels like someone smoked an experimental substance and legit just felt like coding

[@whatteamwildcats4033]

I like how the one landing impression everyone has with this game is that Claudio and/or rory should have been the main characters

[@GreatJinjonator]

The execution of the unbeatable bosses is so unforgivable. Mother 3 does it perfectly in it’s unwinnable fight. It doesn’t have to out right tell you that it’s impossible and it doesn’t give you hope that maybe you can beat it. Within three turns you catch on that it’s useless trying to keep your party members alive. So easy to convey to the players, they dropped the ball so hard on that.

[@NintendoFreakazoid]

You are way too good at this editing thing.

[@tassiomiranda2985]

I think that the Scott Pilgrim comparison was spot on, because Scott grows so much as the comics advances, and the cast is just so funny. It's like it does the things that you've complained about YIIK - story wise, at least - right. This comparison is SO GOOD?

[@Whatevsman27]

0:04 that... that isn’t even what that quote means

[@RoninCatholic]

That Chris-Chan clip was golden, I was not expecting that!

[@there3900]

Honestly I would have liked an ending where the final boss gives you a choice that you die or your friends die and you forgot about them. If you were good to your friends then you both refuse and fight the boss and when beaten get a unique ending with a freeze frame photo of you and your friend's at the end credits. If you were neutral then you can pick either decision and then you fight the boss beat it normal ending and all. But if you were a bad and selfish friend then you don't and can't make a choice you just see your friends pointing at you when the option arises and then you get dragged off to a painful death and then your friends are seen in the city living their lives normally without you in the picture erased from history and forgotten by all. Of course if you pick your friends for good/netural then nothing changes aside from good having some dialogue and guilt from the main character followed by a hollow ending/victory

[@jacobharrison2425]

Oh damn from how the developer was talking it sounds like the protagonist is a self insert

[@sticklyboi]

>games are not art, theyre toys for children did he just call critics of his game "children"

[@Isaac-wv9go]

By doing that he also called the people who bought and supported his game children.

[@crimsondynamo615]

Modern day Phil Fish

[@apachetacticaltoasteroveno5157]

critics sure play like children (japan not included)

[@Uhhok3]

He is not a clown he is the entire circus

[@StoneHavel]

DmC all over again! At least DmC had a superb art-direction, unlike this generic indie hipster shit.

[@deltad3592]

The quote from the dev speaks volumes. He's so obsessed with making people think he's smart that he calls people stupid for not liking his "smart" game. He has no sense of self-awareness.

[@mariakutsu5946]

His explanation gets a big "YIKES" from me.

[@sokkvabekkr5973]

@@mariakutsu5946 a big YIIKES

[@nicolala7132]

@Shaman Xeed explain please.

[@sethoricalco1709]

@Shaman Xeed how is he right? lots of people have made artsy videogames and had a lot more success than this dude

[@booates]

​@Shaman Xeed even if we ignore all the great games that are meaningful and made an impact on peoples lives, he's still wrong because this game is pretentious shit and would have been shit in any medium.

[@sick_icarus]

someone: criticism oH MY mIsTaKe, i tHoUgHt I wAs mAkInG ART

[@Shift_Salt]

A Player: "Yo, Alex is kind of an unlikeable piece of shit and I hate listening to him breath." Dev: " Duh that's the fuckin point! You just don't understand what I was doing with the character!! Gamers are so uncultured ffs!!! "

[@natethebluekirby2089]

He sounds like Randy from South Park when he gets arrested

[@shadow-monger5189]

So true. What's sad is that is what had become of modern art, it can't be critisized or interpreted, and therefore it can not be improved nor can it change. This game is a great example of that.

[@mattsell4568]

" durr I'm so quirky and unique for making a game with a game with a protagonist who does bad stuff and is unlikable unlike those other games where every main character is a model citizen " James earl cash - manhunt A death row inmate who kills without remorse

[@PriestessofGenbu]

Are games art? Yes, this is a bad art. -Jeff "Mr. CBS" Gerstmann

[@JacobHillSBD]

I know a guy who looks exactly like the main character of this game, down to the way he dresses. Acts like him too. That guy's the worst.

[@--i-am-root]

This character makes me want to shave my head, get contacts, and stop wearing plaid.

[@easypete7920]

Jacob Hill did he make the game

[@cannonfodder4000]

Buy him this game and let him play it

[@armaggedon390]

@@cannonfodder4000 I second that, buy him this game.

[@joshshrum2764]

Br'er Jethro Honestly Alex, kinda makes me despise that outfit and that’s a shame because it’s a pretty cool outfit but Alex ruins it because i will think of him everytime i see it.

[@MrTeucro99]

Its like the reverse undertale, no charm, boring combat, too long, too grindy, bad dialogue, tryes to be meta sucks at it, art style is neat tho, shame the rest of the game fall aparts around it.

[@Kiwiiizzz]

Why compare it to undertale? You're like the journalist who compare every game to dark souls

[@TheUndergroundView]

So in other words it's 'Undertale'.

[@sparxskywriter2589]

@@Kiwiiizzz He's pointing out it's the reverse, also they're both indie RPGs inspired by Mother so it is well worth the comparison.

[@supershadow2021]

@@TheUndergroundView The rest are subjective but calling a 2 hour max game too long is oof

[@MrTeucro99]

@@supershadow2021 Y2k is way longer than 2 hours. I seen playtrough of at least 8, feels way longer. That shity dialog + boring combat do wonders to you perception of time. Calling it too long is subjective tho, i did play dragon quest xi and clock at 130 hours with the true ending and that start feeling too long past the 80 hours mark wich is around were the first ending pups up. But y2k starts feeling two long past the first 3.

[@TheGoron3000]

Also the fact that the girl's death in an elevator is based off a real tragedy makes me want to seriously question the devs intentions there

[@comedicsociopathy]

@@ryanred1525 There is, it's called "Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel".

[@ryanred1525]

@@comedicsociopathy Yeah I saw my stepdad and mom watching it in the living room one night

[@skrrtskrrt2410]

I remember someone commenting that the dev actually had a fetish for Elisa Lam

[@buhgingo2933]

@@skrrtskrrt2410 dear fuck that’s messed up

[@user-jn1wm3tb8v]

@@skrrtskrrt2410 excuse me he what

[@TheDragonCat99]

That lemonade alpaca is screaming “LAUGH AT ME! MAKE MEMES OF ME!” but _no one came_

[@imaaronnotyou3887]

the lemonade alpaca looks like it was made by the people who say "HEY GUYS LOOK AT ME!!! POTATO!!! LUL XD IM SOOO RANDUM IM SORRY"

[@purpleemerald5299]

And the worst part is, it’s probably the best character in the game...

[@dogg6628]

The poor thing is like the crackhead cousin of the undertale minor characters.

[@bazzjedimaster]

And they later removed the original Alpaca and replaced it with one that takes itself too seriously and kills the joke.

[@glasshorse6893]

@@bazzjedimaster they dont get that doing that makes even more lousy feeling. cmon, you need an actual character with humorous tendencies that could be meme worthy. sure something made specifically for a meme works but that's pretty rare

[@punkitt]

It really feels like the worst of Persona, Scott Pilgrim, and Earthbound got mixed in a pretentious blender

[@beastwarsFTW]

You mean if someone ate them and this is the poop.

[@airget]

Problem with storytellers like these is they tend to tell the story from a single voice, so they are pretty much strawmanning everything as what they believe to be the right response without considering the variable of the personalities around said characters.

[@Grey-i2o]

I get what you mean with Scott pilgrim and earthbound but I’m not sure YIIK had a weird shoehorned system were you hang out with characters that never progress outside of their social link/ confidant. YIIK just doesn’t develop the characters. Also before someone tells me to play the first persona games I have and I really like them

[@punkitt]

@@Grey-i2o im really glad you like them! I personally meant the uh...weird theming of Persona 4 and 5. I dunno, it's been months since I made that comment.

[@POP-nm1ix]

@@punkitt No no no, you're right. In P4 they used this whole "dealing with your true self" from P4.

[@Night-Lord]

‘People don’t like my game therefore video games aren’t art and are for babies’ Spectacular mindset

[@AsecasJavi]

Typical Alex yeek mentality...

[@brian0057]

Videogames are not art. But not for the reasons this piece of shit "developer" thinks.

[@AndreLuis-gw5ox]

@@brian0057 why arent videogames art? Because you cant hang it on a museum and be pretentious about it?

[@brian0057]

Because regardless of how much artistic merit there is in the story, music, or visuals, they're all beholden to how good the gameplay is. You know, the thing that makes videogames... well, videogames. When I say games are the museum, I mean that almost literally. The building is the structure that contains its primary function. In the case of gaming, the gameplay is the fundamental aspect. You can go from Ace Combat to a pilot training simulatior where the only changes are the controls. Would you call those simulators pilots train in "art"? They're techincally videogames. Would you call a government building "art"? What if you repurpose that same building as a museum. Is it now considered "art"? That's why games are more like architecture than art. I mean, a building can be pretty, have some superb arches or sculptures that would make Michael Angelo blush, but if the structure topples and crumbles then what's the point of all those embellishments?

[@teslacoil5697]

@@brian0057 architecture can also be art, you dingus. Just because something has a practical purpose doesn’t mean it isn’t art... Also there are plenty of games without a focus on gameplay in the traditional sense: visual novels, walking simulators, interactive fiction, etc.