As angry as Cuphead can make me, I feel like it’s unfair for me to be angry at the game because it’s both firm and fair. Yes the bosses are very tricky to beat, but they almost always follow the same patterns, so I often just get angry at my inability to see through what the boss throws at me.
Unlike other games, like I Wanna Be the Guy, Cuphead never feels unfair. Every attack is telegraphed, and each telegraph only means one thing. It never tries to trick you.
@@11clockyDracula is a HUGE exception. While most bosses in the game tend to take me around 20 minutes, Dracula took me almost a WHOLE WEEK. Actually one of the most bullshit parts of the whole game (although I do admit it still was kinda fun when it wasn’t pissing me off). Because like, with the traps in the levels, at least you know to avoid and easily predict them after the first time encountering them. With Dracula? Due to his completely randomized teleportation and attacks, he just keeps throwing you off guard, continuously pulling out new devious combinations out of his ass, and you will almost NEVER predict what attack he’s gonna use, since aside from the spiral fruit attack, he does ABSOLUTELY ZERO TELEGRAPHING. And a few more things too: - If you get really unlucky, he will corner you against the side of the area, _and use an attack that is impossible to dodge when you are cornered against a wall._ - The attack where he fires two white orbs that travel in a DNA spiral-like pattern (I play the remastered version FYI) is arguably his most frustrating attack in my opinion, as it moves far quicker compared to the other attacks and has really erratic movement. - In order to hurt Dracula, you have to get to the top of the stairs that are in the middle of the arena (really just a set of semisolids designed to look like stairs). Then, point towards Dracula, double jump, and mash that z button at the peak of your jump’s height to blast that fucker’s face. Not only does repeatedly double jumping and a button mashing kinda get tiring, but Dracula more than often teleports to a location that makes it _impossible to access the top of the stairs._ - Dracula’s voice lines, while amusing, can become REALLY irritating after dying to him enough times. - Just to makes everything 20% worse, When he loses enough HP, Dracula summons 2 floating balls of ectoplasm that _never_ stop homing in on and moving towards you, and make dodging all of his attacks even harder because you have to contend with them constantly. With how you need to shoot them to push them back, the chances of you damaging Dracula can decrease a LOT if you’re not careful. And they GET FASTER AS DRACULA FURTHER LOSES HP-
Cuphead has got to have one of the most beautifully unique aesthetics I've ever seen in a game. They absolutely nailed the look and feel of the reference material! And Mark, your thoughts, editing, and flair are top notch as always!
Ok man, I've been following you for quite a long time now, and you should know that my company is working on Cuphead (iLLOGIKA), helping them finishing the game and now fixing bugs. This is one of the best video you made, I love how you analyzed these boss fights and the conclusion is.... Perfect. Thanks for making us proud of creating games.
Alright, if you'll allow me to be an absolutely obnoxious person for a second: 2:41 They're just smaller cats, modeled after scarabs. 4:39 They're not sea urchins, they're pufferfish. 4:52 It's a barrel, not a treasure chest. 6:28 okay you noticed that one yourself, good on ya I apologize in advance for how annoying these kinda corrections are, your main point is still well-presented and nicely worded.
I really loved the visual design you did on this video, with all the pattern lines and the like, and *especially* the editing done to isolate the bosses from the level background.
Agreed with everything in this comment! The visual presentation of this series is fantastic as always. I'm looking forward to future boss fight videos as boss fights are far and away my favorite parts of video games. P.S: Furi is one of my favorite games of all time. Liked it so much I bought it on Steam even though I'd already gotten it for free on PS+
I agree that this video was well done but he didn't actually isolate the bosses themselves or do any of that graphic design. He just pulled clips from the developer's behind the scenes videos.
In animation, this is called antecipation :) and this is actually what I like the most about any boss fight in any game. It feels fair when you get a glimpse of what's coming towards you.
"predict and outsmart the boss" ah, that reminds me of when I was camping without internet and I memorized hoy quarlow's boss pattern in super punch out
Now this is why I love this game, the bosses test you on your memory, reactions, and skills in order to overcome them, they last long enough to leave an impact on you, they keep you on your toes in different ways, and the game gives you infinite chances to come back to what to do better when restarting the level.
I've been enjoying the deep looks in Zelda games, but after seeing this I'd love to see a deep look into various game bosses to see what works and what doesn't and why.
just bought cuphead today and played it with my roommate for 4 hours straight. we noticed the same things as mark in this video (just not as elaborate of course ;) the fights are hard, but it always feels like you made the mistake and not the game screw you over. afterwards you think to yourself: that was wrong but next time i'm gonna do it better. and once you beat the level, it feels earned and deserved
That last point you made was very interesting. I've been trying to categorize boss fights so far. I had "puzzle-oriented" and "combat-oriented" down pat, but "endurance-oriented" seems to be a category of it's own that I've failed to identify. And indeed Cuphead's bosses all lean heavily into the "endurance-oriented" style of bosses intrinsically, where it's more about surviving long enough than it is seizing the offensive windows. Another thing I want to sort of raise up is the metric "relative hitbox occupancy": what % of the screen is your hurtbox, and what % of the screen is Enemy hitboxes. In an easy game, you would have minimal hurtbox occupancy and minimal Enemy hitbox occu. Cuphead must have a high hitbox occupancy as far as this metric goes.
youreallinsane The fact that this is all presented like a really well done infographic is probably why. It's very clean and well designed. All the information is presented in an extremely readable and appealing way. But I'm pretty sure Mark was a games journalist before this, I could be wrong though. I'm guessing graphic design was a hobby of his.
Another fantastic video that reminds me how much ingenuity, complexity and creatively is used when making (good) games. It also fuels my rage with these ‘copy and paste’ games out there, that have barely any coding experience, and rely solely on the game engine they’re using to make their game, while rarely going beyond the limits of the engines front facing utilities.
I actually much prefer games that are built around a consistent design space with a set of gameplay elements and rules rather than games like _Cuphead_ which are pretty much 'whatever' moment-to-moment. It's why the _Halo_ games are such good FPSs. You've got your your weapons and grenades, your Elites and Grunts, your vehicles, and all these cool dynamics and interplay between them (e.g. hijacking), and then you build interesting set-pieces just by mixing and matching these things in various ways. _Cuphead_ doesn't really have any depth like that. The bosses do their own thing, unique as they may look and act from each other, and the player just avoids their attacks. No dynamics. No interplay. No reactivity. Just hold the fire button and avoid. The bosses look great, but man, if only the actual challange on display was as expressive as their animations.
i love when there are small elements of randomness in otherwise very linear games. pools of alternate mini-bosses to draw from, random orders of scripted attack patterns, and stuff like weather affecting stage hazards etc. can make a game last for countless hours for me.
The most poorly designed boss in this game has to go to the bee queen. This fight has the opposite problem compared to the meatboy fight. Multiple elements in this fight are random and unreactable, making for a frustrating and luck based fight. The worst of these is the randomly missing platforms. These platforms are often missing in large chunks, meaning the area you're supposed to use to dodge a screen sized attack could be gone, putting you in a terrible position. The worker bees that come out of the sides have no warning, so they can kill you before you can react if a massive attack lines up with a lack of platforms. In the queen's second phase, she can either pop out of one side with a finger as a tell, or pop down to the middle with no warning. If you jump near the top of the screen (very necessary in some sections) you could land on an offscreen platform, or try to land on a platform that should appear, only for it to be a missing one. All of these elements overlap and make for an unenjoyable, random, and generally bad boss fight. I think if they got rid of the random platforms being gone it would make the fight ten times better.
I'm probably going to disagree with removing the randomly missing platforms. I just think that it adds that extra bit of depth that makes the boss fight better. Being able to jump to and from platforms without thinking removes a whole lot of difficulty especially since the honey at the bottom is supposed to be a part of the boss fight. Besides, cuphead's movement options are so varied that it isn't hard to platform (one jump can get you to jump 3 platforms and you have the dash for horizontal movement). As for the queen's second phase, her dropping down straight down the middle should give enough time to react to and dash out of the way if you are in the middle. It doesn't work for if you're at the very top of the screen, but there really aren't many chances you would jump to *and predict* a platform at the very top (being at the top where you can barely even see cuphead is obviously not a good idea). Besides, she always goes from her spell phase to her bullet phase interchangeably in a consistent fashion. Worker bees are pretty easy to dodge especially since you would be in the middle for most of phase 1 since being on the edges would mean you'll get cornered and have no movement options if the platforms would disappear or if the police bee travels right towards you. Neither of these is unfair because the game gives incentives to *not* be exactly where they spawn. You're pretty much complaining that you're bad at platforming. Luck has nothing to do with the ultimate difficulty of Rumor Honeybottom's fight.
Maybe you meant Rumor Honeybottoms. Okay, this might be frustrating. Freaking platform boss fight as you said, plus her unpredictable behavior that makes battle unfunny become the factor. Since the dangers appear from any side of the screen, my suggestion is to remain on the middle of the battlefield. Keep your eyes on the upcoming dangers, and you're good to go.
All the points you stated here explain why I hated Rumor the most out of every boss in the game. She was one of the only ones that I didn't feel victorious after defeating, just very relieved it was over.
I'd like to say that the worst bosses are Cala Maria (so dependent on RNG mechanics that sometimes you might not even have enough space to move (or stay); and King Dice since... if you can't master the timing of parry, you're doomed in that fight. Also, it since they are RNG heavy, it's possible that your friend may have beaten these bosses faster simply because they were lucky.
Everyone is saying how hard Rumor Honeybottoms was, but I actually had a easier time with her than literally any boss in world 2. She wasn't easy per say, I just somehow spend a lot less time defeating her in comparison. In my opinion, almost all her attacks are super predictable, with exception of that pink ball thing that always got me cause of its weird pattern. The platforms could cause problems, but I never had too much trouble with them, and had much more trouble with that darn Dragon's platforms. Everyone has something different to say on what they found to be hard in this game, I wouldn't just write off one boss as poorly designed just cause you had more trouble on certain aspects than others (especially since that IS a late game boss). I find Grim and Cala Maria to be some of the hardest, other have found them super easy but hated many of the ones I found super easy. I think its more of a matter of who can adapt to what better.... Granted, maybe I just got super lucky.....¯\_(ツ)_/¯
1:55 Those yellow circles that surround the boss' attacks are a brilliant way of understanding the game's attack systems. I wish that was included as a training feature or something. For a lot of us with only a low amount of skill in these kinds of games understanding even just understanding a few of the boss' attacks would be an immense help.
This game was hella fun. Not just for its awesome art style and colorful, creative enemies either. It knows exactly what it is. No frustrating "game over" like in the 90's. You are _expected_ to get your ass handed to you a dozen times before you even start to compete with a new boss. You will not defeat foes the first time you first time you face them. You have to learn all the patterns for each phase of the boss, which takes time. You really get to _know_ these enemies, and all that work makes it so damn satisfying when you finally beat a stage. Fantastic game. Fantastic video.
after your xcom discussion, I'd advise looking at Atlas Reactor's game mechanics. It's multiplayer turn-based, but all moves resolve at the same time, in stages.
I love cup head. The best part is though you can get good at beating a new boss. Example is I played a ton, getting through a large portion of the game (I believe I had about 4bosses to beat on regular mode left before I could fight dice) and I left for a bit. It took me about 7 try’s to beat the mermaid (forget her name) on regular mode when I returned, but I could tell what I needed to do each time and learned. I could feel my training coming back and it was really fun. Queen bee on regular is still stumping me though. A great part of this game is you relearn the attacks each time there’s a new boss, but the skills you learn about how to beat certain types of attack transfers over. Love cup head.
Brilliant video. I think it's also worth mentioning how the bosses offer pink assets for you to parry in order to charge your special. Those who can pull off such parry's in the heat of the action are rewarded with a shorter battle (so long as they effectively use specials). Especially useful if you've learnt an early phase, but find a later phase particularly difficult.
"the boss won't die unless you get in there and kill it" Instantly brought me a memory of me looking down at the electric eel boss from the top of the tower. I felt shivers down my spine as the next frame was SoTC...
One thing you didnt mention is how the bosses take into account the rock-paper-scissors idea with the differnt weopons and charms you get 2 weopon slots meaning you can choose to prepare for the different phases.
I think that Little Horn in Super Meat Boy was designed intentionally to be the same every time because it fits the rest of Super Meat Boy. Every level in the game plays out exactly the same way every time, to the point where you could probably beat the whole game blindfolded. It's purely an exercise in execution, as opposed to this which requires reacting to telegraphs and randomness.
Great video! It actually made me realise how much I enjoyed the fight with von Bonbon (which to my shame took me a lot longer than it should have)! Thanks for the sensible ideas =)
If you haven't already checked it out, a good source for the influence of music in games is Game Score Fanfare. The videos are very high quality, and I actually cried watching the one about Bravely Default's music (for the final boss) despite never having played the game.
My big question concerning boss fights is, what are some design principles to put into a boss fight in an FPS? There have been many attempts, but they don't usually feel as good. Hitscan weapons hurt gameplay flow against a super tough enemy. When tough enemies occur in other points of FPS games that is an enemy which generally demands the player use special weapons or valuable resources to kill the tough enemy as fast as possible. This is because with hitscan weapons you make your character vulnerable for as short at time to deal as much damage to the enemy. Commonly this involves getting a good spray of damage to kill a smaller enemy, thus weakening the enemy in a significant way. So it is important to weaken the enemy using as little time in the line of enemies. So when a heavy armored enemy in Wolfenstien comes out you pull out the dual grenade launchers to unload on them, but that isn't always rewarding. Now how can boss fights in FPS games feel fun? Personally I love agility that allows me to feel as aggressive as possible as long as I can avoid attacks. The new DOOM boss fights were all about evasion and I felt that the they were more fun than the tentacles in Half-Life's blast pit, which applied the idea of pulling the focus away from the boss and on to smaller tasks. This was rather mindless of a post but I felt inspired by the video to ask this question. I love your channel! Your analysis videos are very well informed and thought out with a constant stream of interesting and applicable ideas. You deserve more publicity for the AMAZINGLY high quality you consistently put into your videos. I watched an episode of the H3H3 podcast and on it videogamedunkey made the point that people who like a video will not often do more than like the video, but people who hate the video can easily write a quick hurtful comment with no effort. Because of this I want to put in some work to consistently show how much I love your channel to give you a better understanding of your videos from the majority of people who watch the video, and move on. Your videos are great! Love Ya!
Ideally, a boss fight is a test of all the skills you've been learning. Since Cuphead is about dodging attacks while pouring fire into the enemy in order to outlast them, the challenge of the boss fights is reflected by throwing large amounts of attacks that you need to avoid simultaneously. So making an FPS boss fight good would depend on the core skills being trained. DOOM 2016 is also a game about running around dodging attacks, so boss fights like the Cyberdemon and Hell Guards are set in large open arenas and primarily make use of big area attacks with obvious telegraphs and attack zones so you know how to move out of the way. So in a FPS centered around a different kind of gameplay, you'd tweak the attacks and abilities to challenge those specific skills, in a way that the player has to constantly analyse and adapt to an ever changing situation. In an FPS with hitscan enemies and reliance on cover, you'd probably want something where you're continuously keeping track of the enemy position and firing lines as well as a shifting level layout to ensure you can always find cover from the boss' attacks while still being able to deal damage to them.
Barones von Bon Bon is the most elaborate boss. All other bosses have their patterns but they are more expected. But this one, throws those enemies which as said in the video are randomized every time. So, you learn the patterns of the chocolate or that pacman for example, but every time you play you might get a different one, and sometimes I am like "Please be the pacman, be the pacman" and "Oh no, not this one again!". Meanwhile, there is this annoying tiny being running under your feet for distraction. And later Barones comes out shooting at you while you are still going around those floating mini bosses. It's a tough one (and I admit I have finished only the easy mode and I still found it tough, but haven't played the whole game more than 4 hours yet the first two days it was released, cause I was busy with other games). But really really good boss.
The environment boss rush they create is really creative, you past the time repeating same action (defeat bosses) and you never get tired. Incredible game that other games should learn, from indie to most complicated sandbox. Thanks markbrow so detailed with not spoiled information. Regards
I'd argue that “Memory, reaction and skill“ is a bit misleading, wording wise. Memory and reaction are also skills (if they weren't, there wouldn't be a challenge to master these aspects of the game) I guess what would describe the last point better is “control“ or “dexterity“.
Man just one video and you convince me to subscribe. This analysis is so well done as maybe future game-designer I have the feeling you have a lot to teach me
What makes it really difficult is that many of the attacks are coming simultaneously. It’s like you have to have 3-4 eyes to track everything on the screen.
Grim Matchstick doesn't have psychic abilities, just mythologicaly accurate magic eyes. (Read up on the Dragon Glaurung the Deceiver you'll get it (and you'll want to get hit by the eye magic even less).)
You know you are a successful youtuber just by seeing how friendly and nice the people in the comments section are i feel so lucky for watching the dan reccommends video by extra credits and getting introduced to your channel keep up the good work :D
He mentioned Contra hard corps, the batman & robin game and gunstar heroes *-* every time i see people talk about 16 bit run and guns they mention Contra alien wars and thats it.
I was thinking the SAME THING! The main attack or phase of each boss really isn't that hard until you add some TINY detail that alone would be nothing. together though, you have a problem. This was an interesting detail I noticed and I'm happy to see that others did too!
In terms of interesting combat, I'd love to see an analysis of The world ends with you! It has one of the most engaging combat systems that still has me coming back to it 10 years later
I still haven't finished the game. Very creative and challenging. I keep dying in every short portions of the level but it gave me new knowledge or patterns to anticipate next time around. So yeah as long as you'll get use to the patterns and anticipate those random encounters the game gives, you'll eventually get to the finish line.
Holy shit, you blew up... I remember when you had just a couple of thousand subscribers. Much deserved, though and the quality of the content hasn't fallen as it usually does, so congrats and keep it up! Thank you for all the priceless information you share with us.
Talking about Cuphead and how to beat bosses, a thing I don't like is the fact that there is upgrades. I think it's breaking the "Empowering the player" design by "Empowering the character" one. Well, upgrade are not like in a RPG or else that get you a billion times stronger, but still, making the player acquiring new skills that were usable from the beginning of the game would have been great. Like the parry slap could have been taught by a boss during the game instead of being in the tutorial. Like, in Furi, they never tells you that you can send back some ennemy bullets by parrying them. But it's kind of taught to you during the game, but not in a tutorial (If I recall correctly, I may be mistaken and Excluding those silly tips during loadings, I hate those.) Anyway. It's a cool video as always Mark. Keep up the good work !
I actually really like the “upgrades” in Cuphead. I thinks it adds a layer of strategy, and I always loved trying out different weapons to find the most effective way to kill the boss. I would agree with you if the weapons were just better versions of the standard shot, but every weapon has you sacrificing some aspect of your attack (like range, power, speed, etc.), so I wouldn’t call them upgrades per se. I will admit that the charge shot is OP tho, it just kills bosses way too fast, so I rarely ended up using it. Either way, they are completely optional, so if you want to beat the game with just the standard then that’s fine.
Not sure what you mean about the upgrades being bad. For one, all upgrades are technically optional, as you can beat every single boss with even the most basic gun, no super, and no charm. Having the different items you can buy allows the player to diversify gameplay and gives them one more thing to figure out, so that the game is extended by not just being a game of memorizing bosses but also optimizing your combination of items for maximum effectiveness. As for the parry slap, it's such an integral mechanic to the game that it would be weird to not have it introduced from the beginning tutorial. And even then, one thing is telling the player they can parry and another is letting them figure out when and where to do it. It's not a mindless thing to figure out in each boss what can be parried and what shouldn't be parried. In fact, it adds to the layers of learning a boss, particularly since it's one of the ratings you need for S rank.
Well... Can you imagine playing Contra without any winged icons? Going through the entire game with only a standard peashooter and never see even a glimpse of a spread gun, or rapid fire? I mean, those were a vital part of the experience, and added a level of strategy.
the spread gun causes a problem in contra, the same problem that certain cuphead power-ups (charge shot especially) cause there's very clearly a best answer, so rather than letting the player choose weapons they find interesting, they're just making the game harder by not picking the best one. ultimately it has negligible impact on strategy and minimizes the player skill component compare that with something like devil may cry 3. each weapon has a specific purpose, but it's not like one weapon will absolutely destroy a certain enemy type. you can give yourself any load-out without feeling like you're nerfing your character. that encourages players to go back and try new load-outs rather than determining the best one and using it all the time
Great job with this video! I felt the final phase of Dr Kahl's robot was a huge letdown because of how tediously long they made a single phase. I don't recall any other boss segment like this one, I liked the pacing for this fight until the last part. Fighting the robot you had so many things to think about, fighting Kahl is just dodging his single (although difficult) attack and shooting for over half the fight. I just feel there should have been 1 more phase there.
Mark Brown, you explain why games are important on a scale that is beyond my current understanding. My goal is to be a game dev one day and these videos are amazing for that. Thank you😅
This is so cool! I can't wait to hear you talk about this topic some more--like you said, how the player kills the bosses rather than how the bosses kill you! Buildup and payoff! Can't wait!!!
i love how everything i feel when i played the first world with my older brother you could describe it with words. that's something to be praise and be jealous about.
It's the first time I hear about this game, and the bosses immediately reminded me of the first Rayman's (the one on PS1) bosses . I loved that game and I would maybe love this one as well
Cuphead also has a lot of influence from Megaman and it has a lot of references to older fighting games (the frogs represent Ryu and Ken, and the charge attack for the peashooter is a hadoken reference for example)
Have you tried "STEPHEN'S SAUSAGE ROLL "? That game might just blow your mind with the amount of depth it offers in it's gameplay mechanics which are rather very simplistic.
Mark, I highly recommend you try out the Monster Hunter series. It uses similar mechanics for its boss fights (creatures provide tells for their attacks). It can be confusing at first, but it is so satisfying to fully comprehend a monster's move-set.
Great videos, though one I ultimately disagree with. Cuphead bosses' unpredictability really pushes them towards being rote memorization of patterns, which just isn't fun. Die against a boss a few times to see what they do, then you beat them. It feels like a cheap way to make the game feel more difficult
You can easy beat all bosses in a single go if you are good enough. All of the attacks are clearly telegraphed in a way that shows exactly what they are doing, and where it will fire. Sure some may be more tricky, but it isn't random at all. Which attacks are picked may be, but with such an extremely small list, you can lear them all within one game, and beat the boss within that same game.
Combustible Lemons This isn't a position supported by the video, and it's one I find fairly ridiculous. No, there is no way you would know that, say, the frogs turn into a cash register without seeing it first. The entire game revolves around learning telegraphed attacks, and that's ok, I just don't find it particularly clever or praiseworthy
I have to say that I agree if we are talking about that laser you are unable to dodge the first time, but Cuphead has a dash and a parry to help movement, so it isn't completely unfair.
The register attack doesn't do anything, it is afterward that things happen. Plus nothing does happen that is that hard if you don't mantually hit the level, allowing you to adjust. The Tiger attack is likely the hardest, but the pattern is simple, jump under the orbs. The Ox attack is clearly showing what will happen. A flamethrower that fires, and you can see the flame so you know which way it will go, and the snakes are just jumping from platform to platform. You may be seeing the ability for the first time, but the attacks themselves are very clearly telegraphed.
You litterally are saying nothing that we dont already know... "how does this one game's bosses try to kill you? Well just like every other bosses in games...." its embarrassing how much this is Non-Content.... what lunacy
naryrokobs 1, glad you were well aware of this information. It’s more helpful to those who don’t know it, and want to learn how to make a great boss battle.
@@bounty8438, also, does no one realize that this is an analysis, not a guide. GMTK is analyzing how variance and telegraphing help make Cuphead bosses fun and challenging
@@Doublemonk0506 Telegraphing and variance are the literal basics of enemy and bosses design For being an analysis, it does a pretty awful job at analyzing the game beyond basic level
@@Mattroid99, it's an analysis of game design, not the game. If you're looking for a guide, the only other advice available is don't take your finger off the trigger unless you're fighting certain bosses
@@Doublemonk0506 True, it's an analysis of game design, nothing of this video resembles a guide in any sort of way. Too bad it tells literally the most bread and butter stuff in existence, (Bosses should be telegraphed and have different patterns to test the player skill in various way? Who would have guessed!) sowhen it comes to creating an analysis that should be insightful it does a piss poor job at that.
I also love the voice acting in Cuphead. It's sparse, but stuff like the "Knockout!" when you defeat a boss is so satisfying.
This match will get red hot!
A brawl is surely brewing!
You're up!
A good day for a swell battle! Now go!
Nathan Scott
And when you clear a level the satisfying voice clip that sounds like it says cuphead and mugman at the same time
The weird gibberish the bosses say sometimes is also really fun for some reason but I don't know why
a great slam and then some! it's on!
"Just giving the boss a million health points is rarely that fun" I want this in my gravestone
I expect this would cover most of the examples on the "Marathon Boss" page at TV Tropes.
square enix
exactly, destiny and the division instantly came to my mind
CoughMidirCough
Gravestone? You mean like for when you die?
Git gud.
As angry as Cuphead can make me, I feel like it’s unfair for me to be angry at the game because it’s both firm and fair. Yes the bosses are very tricky to beat, but they almost always follow the same patterns, so I often just get angry at my inability to see through what the boss throws at me.
Unlike other games, like I Wanna Be the Guy, Cuphead never feels unfair. Every attack is telegraphed, and each telegraph only means one thing. It never tries to trick you.
The only boss that is not fair and firm is that bitch the green dragon
@@Stinkoman87 Actually I Wanna Be the Guy’s bosses are quite fair in design. It’s the level design itself that’s… well the opposite of that.
@@11clockyDracula is a HUGE exception. While most bosses in the game tend to take me around 20 minutes, Dracula took me almost a WHOLE WEEK. Actually one of the most bullshit parts of the whole game (although I do admit it still was kinda fun when it wasn’t pissing me off). Because like, with the traps in the levels, at least you know to avoid and easily predict them after the first time encountering them. With Dracula? Due to his completely randomized teleportation and attacks, he just keeps throwing you off guard, continuously pulling out new devious combinations out of his ass, and you will almost NEVER predict what attack he’s gonna use, since aside from the spiral fruit attack, he does ABSOLUTELY ZERO TELEGRAPHING.
And a few more things too:
- If you get really unlucky, he will corner you against the side of the area, _and use an attack that is impossible to dodge when you are cornered against a wall._
- The attack where he fires two white orbs that travel in a DNA spiral-like pattern (I play the remastered version FYI) is arguably his most frustrating attack in my opinion, as it moves far quicker compared to the other attacks and has really erratic movement.
- In order to hurt Dracula, you have to get to the top of the stairs that are in the middle of the arena (really just a set of semisolids designed to look like stairs). Then, point towards Dracula, double jump, and mash that z button at the peak of your jump’s height to blast that fucker’s face. Not only does repeatedly double jumping and a button mashing kinda get tiring, but Dracula more than often teleports to a location that makes it _impossible to access the top of the stairs._
- Dracula’s voice lines, while amusing, can become REALLY irritating after dying to him enough times.
- Just to makes everything 20% worse, When he loses enough HP, Dracula summons 2 floating balls of ectoplasm that _never_ stop homing in on and moving towards you, and make dodging all of his attacks even harder because you have to contend with them constantly. With how you need to shoot them to push them back, the chances of you damaging Dracula can decrease a LOT if you’re not careful. And they GET FASTER AS DRACULA FURTHER LOSES HP-
rumor honeybottoms.
Cuphead has got to have one of the most beautifully unique aesthetics I've ever seen in a game. They absolutely nailed the look and feel of the reference material! And Mark, your thoughts, editing, and flair are top notch as always!
I've heard they nailed it by using the exact same materials and techniques as period artists. There really is no way to fake it.
"You don't have to parry to win"
Mr. King Dice would like a word with you.
You don't have to. You can just hide behind his hand and not getting hitted.
*H I T T E D*
Parrying, along with that Coffee perk, makes bosses much easier, though.
CPTHAP You don't have to parry king dice to win though
@@AlexRiversMusic The dice.
Ok man, I've been following you for quite a long time now, and you should know that my company is working on Cuphead (iLLOGIKA), helping them finishing the game and now fixing bugs. This is one of the best video you made, I love how you analyzed these boss fights and the conclusion is.... Perfect. Thanks for making us proud of creating games.
Congrats on the launch!
Super cool guy over here!
Awesome! Can I ask what causes the freezing? Is it an elusive memory spike?
Explain to me what is so special about this video. He just brings up things you should know if you have played any videogame.
@@toinedonders3203 Evidently not otherwise every game would have perfect design
Alright, if you'll allow me to be an absolutely obnoxious person for a second:
2:41 They're just smaller cats, modeled after scarabs.
4:39 They're not sea urchins, they're pufferfish.
4:52 It's a barrel, not a treasure chest.
6:28 okay you noticed that one yourself, good on ya
I apologize in advance for how annoying these kinda corrections are, your main point is still well-presented and nicely worded.
Thanks. Pinning this so there’s only one comment with all the mistakes :P
I mean “hearting” this. Add that to the list of mistakes
And isn't the chocolate in Baroness' fight a waffle?
No worries man, we're all just human ain't we
... a-ain't we
Robert, if you click read more on my comment you might see something you haven't noticed before
I really loved the visual design you did on this video, with all the pattern lines and the like, and *especially* the editing done to isolate the bosses from the level background.
Agreed with everything in this comment! The visual presentation of this series is fantastic as always. I'm looking forward to future boss fight videos as boss fights are far and away my favorite parts of video games.
P.S: Furi is one of my favorite games of all time. Liked it so much I bought it on Steam even though I'd already gotten it for free on PS+
I agree that this video was well done but he didn't actually isolate the bosses themselves or do any of that graphic design. He just pulled clips from the developer's behind the scenes videos.
Ah I was wondering where it came from! Still, it really made the video look nice. :D
Thank goodness. I was having a mild panic attack thinking about rotoscoping all those characters.
Hahaha same, PS+ then Steam and then I got the Limited Run version. Incredible game!
In animation, this is called antecipation :) and this is actually what I like the most about any boss fight in any game. It feels fair when you get a glimpse of what's coming towards you.
No need for “try to” they were pretty successful
Yep I've died like over 600 times(i checked by interacting with the well person (or whatever they are)
9:38 "Don't be suprised if you die a few times when your'e looking at them"
yeah...a few, totally
Great breakdown of the baroness von bon bon fight.
**inhale**
*OH MY GOD THE FUC- THE FUCKING JELLYBEAN!!!*
zSTALKn Gaming wasn't that a streamer xD
"predict and outsmart the boss" ah, that reminds me of when I was camping without internet and I memorized hoy quarlow's boss pattern in super punch out
Now this is why I love this game, the bosses test you on your memory, reactions, and skills in order to overcome them, they last long enough to leave an impact on you, they keep you on your toes in different ways, and the game gives you infinite chances to come back to what to do better when restarting the level.
I've been enjoying the deep looks in Zelda games, but after seeing this I'd love to see a deep look into various game bosses to see what works and what doesn't and why.
"actually that's probably a waffle" damn it mark of course it's a waffle. how did you get chocolate from that?
If you ignore the butter, it makes sense that it would be candy like everything else.
It kind of looks like a Hershey’s bar
Well since it has brown like shade on it it’s hard to tell if it’s a waffle without the butter
I think I have eaten waffles only once in my life. In my country they are not common. I thought it was chocolate, too, until now.
I thought it was a chocolate bar almost until now :p(I love chocolate btw)
I just discovered your channel yesterday, had to binge them all :D You're a great UA-camr Mark, keep up the quality, keep up the good work.
Knives&Snipes I've never seen a more respectful comment section 😂
Welcome to the group of followers!
D4wg? You're here? Hello!
Love ur channel!
just bought cuphead today and played it with my roommate for 4 hours straight. we noticed the same things as mark in this video (just not as elaborate of course ;) the fights are hard, but it always feels like you made the mistake and not the game screw you over. afterwards you think to yourself: that was wrong but next time i'm gonna do it better. and once you beat the level, it feels earned and deserved
“Your current position is about to become, deadly,” great line
Ik I’m late, but that sounds like something GLaDOS would say before dropping a ton of turrets on top of you.
Did you know that whenever the candy corn opens its mouth in the Baroness von Bon Bon boss battle, a mini candycorn pops out?
That last point you made was very interesting. I've been trying to categorize boss fights so far. I had "puzzle-oriented" and "combat-oriented" down pat, but "endurance-oriented" seems to be a category of it's own that I've failed to identify. And indeed Cuphead's bosses all lean heavily into the "endurance-oriented" style of bosses intrinsically, where it's more about surviving long enough than it is seizing the offensive windows.
Another thing I want to sort of raise up is the metric "relative hitbox occupancy": what % of the screen is your hurtbox, and what % of the screen is Enemy hitboxes. In an easy game, you would have minimal hurtbox occupancy and minimal Enemy hitbox occu. Cuphead must have a high hitbox occupancy as far as this metric goes.
Guessing Mark was a graphic designer before he started GMTK.
uh, what? What makes you guess that?
I've been waiting for you starfox
youreallinsane
The fact that this is all presented like a really well done infographic is probably why. It's very clean and well designed. All the information is presented in an extremely readable and appealing way.
But I'm pretty sure Mark was a games journalist before this, I could be wrong though. I'm guessing graphic design was a hobby of his.
+youreallinsane Probably the cool effects, like singling out the bosses on a white background, "drawing" on the screen, and so on.
I love how the other games at the beginning fit the music so well, especially that skeleton boss.
Another fantastic video that reminds me how much ingenuity, complexity and creatively is used when making (good) games.
It also fuels my rage with these ‘copy and paste’ games out there, that have barely any coding experience, and rely solely on the game engine they’re using to make their game, while rarely going beyond the limits of the engines front facing utilities.
I actually much prefer games that are built around a consistent design space with a set of gameplay elements and rules rather than games like _Cuphead_ which are pretty much 'whatever' moment-to-moment. It's why the _Halo_ games are such good FPSs. You've got your your weapons and grenades, your Elites and Grunts, your vehicles, and all these cool dynamics and interplay between them (e.g. hijacking), and then you build interesting set-pieces just by mixing and matching these things in various ways.
_Cuphead_ doesn't really have any depth like that. The bosses do their own thing, unique as they may look and act from each other, and the player just avoids their attacks. No dynamics. No interplay. No reactivity. Just hold the fire button and avoid. The bosses look great, but man, if only the actual challange on display was as expressive as their animations.
i love when there are small elements of randomness in otherwise very linear games. pools of alternate mini-bosses to draw from, random orders of scripted attack patterns, and stuff like weather affecting stage hazards etc. can make a game last for countless hours for me.
The most poorly designed boss in this game has to go to the bee queen. This fight has the opposite problem compared to the meatboy fight. Multiple elements in this fight are random and unreactable, making for a frustrating and luck based fight.
The worst of these is the randomly missing platforms. These platforms are often missing in large chunks, meaning the area you're supposed to use to dodge a screen sized attack could be gone, putting you in a terrible position.
The worker bees that come out of the sides have no warning, so they can kill you before you can react if a massive attack lines up with a lack of platforms.
In the queen's second phase, she can either pop out of one side with a finger as a tell, or pop down to the middle with no warning.
If you jump near the top of the screen (very necessary in some sections) you could land on an offscreen platform, or try to land on a platform that should appear, only for it to be a missing one.
All of these elements overlap and make for an unenjoyable, random, and generally bad boss fight. I think if they got rid of the random platforms being gone it would make the fight ten times better.
I'm probably going to disagree with removing the randomly missing platforms. I just think that it adds that extra bit of depth that makes the boss fight better. Being able to jump to and from platforms without thinking removes a whole lot of difficulty especially since the honey at the bottom is supposed to be a part of the boss fight. Besides, cuphead's movement options are so varied that it isn't hard to platform (one jump can get you to jump 3 platforms and you have the dash for horizontal movement).
As for the queen's second phase, her dropping down straight down the middle should give enough time to react to and dash out of the way if you are in the middle. It doesn't work for if you're at the very top of the screen, but there really aren't many chances you would jump to *and predict* a platform at the very top (being at the top where you can barely even see cuphead is obviously not a good idea). Besides, she always goes from her spell phase to her bullet phase interchangeably in a consistent fashion. Worker bees are pretty easy to dodge especially since you would be in the middle for most of phase 1 since being on the edges would mean you'll get cornered and have no movement options if the platforms would disappear or if the police bee travels right towards you. Neither of these is unfair because the game gives incentives to *not* be exactly where they spawn.
You're pretty much complaining that you're bad at platforming. Luck has nothing to do with the ultimate difficulty of Rumor Honeybottom's fight.
Maybe you meant Rumor Honeybottoms.
Okay, this might be frustrating. Freaking platform boss fight as you said, plus her unpredictable behavior that makes battle unfunny become the factor.
Since the dangers appear from any side of the screen, my suggestion is to remain on the middle of the battlefield. Keep your eyes on the upcoming dangers, and you're good to go.
All the points you stated here explain why I hated Rumor the most out of every boss in the game. She was one of the only ones that I didn't feel victorious after defeating, just very relieved it was over.
I'd like to say that the worst bosses are Cala Maria (so dependent on RNG mechanics that sometimes you might not even have enough space to move (or stay); and King Dice since... if you can't master the timing of parry, you're doomed in that fight.
Also, it since they are RNG heavy, it's possible that your friend may have beaten these bosses faster simply because they were lucky.
Everyone is saying how hard Rumor Honeybottoms was, but I actually had a easier time with her than literally any boss in world 2. She wasn't easy per say, I just somehow spend a lot less time defeating her in comparison. In my opinion, almost all her attacks are super predictable, with exception of that pink ball thing that always got me cause of its weird pattern. The platforms could cause problems, but I never had too much trouble with them, and had much more trouble with that darn Dragon's platforms. Everyone has something different to say on what they found to be hard in this game, I wouldn't just write off one boss as poorly designed just cause you had more trouble on certain aspects than others (especially since that IS a late game boss). I find Grim and Cala Maria to be some of the hardest, other have found them super easy but hated many of the ones I found super easy. I think its more of a matter of who can adapt to what better....
Granted, maybe I just got super lucky.....¯\_(ツ)_/¯
1:55 Those yellow circles that surround the boss' attacks are a brilliant way of understanding the game's attack systems. I wish that was included as a training feature or something. For a lot of us with only a low amount of skill in these kinds of games understanding even just understanding a few of the boss' attacks would be an immense help.
“Man this video makes me want to play again.”
*sees Matchstick*
“Never mind”
As a game design teacher, i find this video amazingly helpful! Thank you so much, and I can't wait for the next one!
This game was hella fun. Not just for its awesome art style and colorful, creative enemies either. It knows exactly what it is. No frustrating "game over" like in the 90's. You are _expected_ to get your ass handed to you a dozen times before you even start to compete with a new boss. You will not defeat foes the first time you first time you face them. You have to learn all the patterns for each phase of the boss, which takes time. You really get to _know_ these enemies, and all that work makes it so damn satisfying when you finally beat a stage. Fantastic game. Fantastic video.
The amount of high quality content you keep putting out is crazy! Keep it up Mark :)
This may be my favourite video of yours yet, honestly Mark you're a great creator.
after your xcom discussion, I'd advise looking at Atlas Reactor's game mechanics. It's multiplayer turn-based, but all moves resolve at the same time, in stages.
I love cup head. The best part is though you can get good at beating a new boss. Example is I played a ton, getting through a large portion of the game (I believe I had about 4bosses to beat on regular mode left before I could fight dice) and I left for a bit. It took me about 7 try’s to beat the mermaid (forget her name) on regular mode when I returned, but I could tell what I needed to do each time and learned. I could feel my training coming back and it was really fun. Queen bee on regular is still stumping me though. A great part of this game is you relearn the attacks each time there’s a new boss, but the skills you learn about how to beat certain types of attack transfers over. Love cup head.
"And can't recover any hitpoints during the fight."
Super II and King Dice: *That's where you're wrong, buddy.*
@@Heckkin it revives you
Brilliant video. I think it's also worth mentioning how the bosses offer pink assets for you to parry in order to charge your special. Those who can pull off such parry's in the heat of the action are rewarded with a shorter battle (so long as they effectively use specials). Especially useful if you've learnt an early phase, but find a later phase particularly difficult.
9:18 dang it you were so close to not bringing that up
"the boss won't die unless you get in there and kill it" Instantly brought me a memory of me looking down at the electric eel boss from the top of the tower. I felt shivers down my spine as the next frame was SoTC...
It's hard to put into words how much I love this game.
No mention of Alien Soldier? That was the game they were trying to beat in the number of boss battles in a run n gun :P
ArceusDX mentioning Gunstar is pretty much taking you there.
Genesis masterpiece, arguably best game in library and Top 3 16-bit title but no US physical release because Sega= incredibly stupid during 90s
VISUALSHOCK! SPEEDSHOCK! SOUNDSHOCK!
NOW IS TIME TO THE 68000 HEART ON FIRE!
AS has different gameplay because of ammo management.
Oh, man, the rest of these videos on boss fights can't come soon enough. This was so good.
Always have to have that obligatory Hollow Knight clip! ;) just a mastaapieceeee
Hollow Knight clips have to be in every video. Gosh I´m so excited for the Grim Troupe DLC next week. YES!
Me too, I can't wait!
One thing you didnt mention is how the bosses take into account the rock-paper-scissors idea with the differnt weopons and charms you get 2 weopon slots meaning you can choose to prepare for the different phases.
"There's this *hateful* pattern."
You said it, MB, you said it... That goddamn fishboat...
This is a brilliant dissection of another element -- besides the artwork, humor, and great music -- that makes Cuphead an awesome game. Thanks!
I think that Little Horn in Super Meat Boy was designed intentionally to be the same every time because it fits the rest of Super Meat Boy. Every level in the game plays out exactly the same way every time, to the point where you could probably beat the whole game blindfolded. It's purely an exercise in execution, as opposed to this which requires reacting to telegraphs and randomness.
Cuphead's boss fights reminded me of WoW's raid bosses a lot in the way you learn them, the phases and randomness.
I get ptsd every time you show that dragon on screen
I loved fighting that dragon. One of my favorite boss in the game
Great video! It actually made me realise how much I enjoyed the fight with von Bonbon (which to my shame took me a lot longer than it should have)! Thanks for the sensible ideas =)
"... Amazing knowledge of the game's mechanics."
*shows bell gargoyles*
Lol, every newbie died there quite a lot.
If you haven't already checked it out, a good source for the influence of music in games is Game Score Fanfare. The videos are very high quality, and I actually cried watching the one about Bravely Default's music (for the final boss) despite never having played the game.
My big question concerning boss fights is, what are some design principles to put into a boss fight in an FPS? There have been many attempts, but they don't usually feel as good. Hitscan weapons hurt gameplay flow against a super tough enemy. When tough enemies occur in other points of FPS games that is an enemy which generally demands the player use special weapons or valuable resources to kill the tough enemy as fast as possible.
This is because with hitscan weapons you make your character vulnerable for as short at time to deal as much damage to the enemy. Commonly this involves getting a good spray of damage to kill a smaller enemy, thus weakening the enemy in a significant way.
So it is important to weaken the enemy using as little time in the line of enemies. So when a heavy armored enemy in Wolfenstien comes out you pull out the dual grenade launchers to unload on them, but that isn't always rewarding.
Now how can boss fights in FPS games feel fun? Personally I love agility that allows me to feel as aggressive as possible as long as I can avoid attacks. The new DOOM boss fights were all about evasion and I felt that the they were more fun than the tentacles in Half-Life's blast pit, which applied the idea of pulling the focus away from the boss and on to smaller tasks.
This was rather mindless of a post but I felt inspired by the video to ask this question. I love your channel! Your analysis videos are very well informed and thought out with a constant stream of interesting and applicable ideas. You deserve more publicity for the AMAZINGLY high quality you consistently put into your videos.
I watched an episode of the H3H3 podcast and on it videogamedunkey made the point that people who like a video will not often do more than like the video, but people who hate the video can easily write a quick hurtful comment with no effort. Because of this I want to put in some work to consistently show how much I love your channel to give you a better understanding of your videos from the majority of people who watch the video, and move on.
Your videos are great! Love Ya!
Ideally, a boss fight is a test of all the skills you've been learning. Since Cuphead is about dodging attacks while pouring fire into the enemy in order to outlast them, the challenge of the boss fights is reflected by throwing large amounts of attacks that you need to avoid simultaneously. So making an FPS boss fight good would depend on the core skills being trained.
DOOM 2016 is also a game about running around dodging attacks, so boss fights like the Cyberdemon and Hell Guards are set in large open arenas and primarily make use of big area attacks with obvious telegraphs and attack zones so you know how to move out of the way. So in a FPS centered around a different kind of gameplay, you'd tweak the attacks and abilities to challenge those specific skills, in a way that the player has to constantly analyse and adapt to an ever changing situation.
In an FPS with hitscan enemies and reliance on cover, you'd probably want something where you're continuously keeping track of the enemy position and firing lines as well as a shifting level layout to ensure you can always find cover from the boss' attacks while still being able to deal damage to them.
Lovely video, Mark! Super happy to have been newly able to support you on Patreon.
Thank you!
Barones von Bon Bon is the most elaborate boss. All other bosses have their patterns but they are more expected. But this one, throws those enemies which as said in the video are randomized every time. So, you learn the patterns of the chocolate or that pacman for example, but every time you play you might get a different one, and sometimes I am like "Please be the pacman, be the pacman" and "Oh no, not this one again!". Meanwhile, there is this annoying tiny being running under your feet for distraction. And later Barones comes out shooting at you while you are still going around those floating mini bosses. It's a tough one (and I admit I have finished only the easy mode and I still found it tough, but haven't played the whole game more than 4 hours yet the first two days it was released, cause I was busy with other games). But really really good boss.
THEY ARE PUFFERFISH, MARK.
great video, and I'm excited for more boss related content in the future
Awesome video, as always. Forgive my nitpick, but I can't help myself: pretty sure those are kittens and not mice.
Also: blowfish, not sea urchins.
I've gotta start checking my script against the footage and now just relying on my (terrible) memory :P
Also waffle not chocolate?
xefillion He corrected that already in the video though
Yeah, but I ignored chocolate/waffle because I made the same mistake. :)
I love the artwork that you can't even notice while you're playing (cause if you get distracted, you die).
I've wanted something like this for a long time! Videos like this are why I love this series.
The environment boss rush they create is really creative, you past the time repeating same action (defeat bosses) and you never get tired. Incredible game that other games should learn, from indie to most complicated sandbox. Thanks markbrow so detailed with not spoiled information.
Regards
I'd argue that “Memory, reaction and skill“ is a bit misleading, wording wise. Memory and reaction are also skills (if they weren't, there wouldn't be a challenge to master these aspects of the game)
I guess what would describe the last point better is “control“ or “dexterity“.
I didn't know the word dexterity (still learning english, I had to search for it hahaha). Thanks! =)
Man just one video and you convince me to subscribe. This analysis is so well done as maybe future game-designer I have the feeling you have a lot to teach me
What makes it really difficult is that many of the attacks are coming simultaneously. It’s like you have to have 3-4 eyes to track everything on the screen.
Grim Matchstick doesn't have psychic abilities, just mythologicaly accurate magic eyes. (Read up on the Dragon Glaurung the Deceiver you'll get it (and you'll want to get hit by the eye magic even less).)
You know you are a successful youtuber just by seeing how friendly and nice the people in the comments section are
i feel so lucky for watching the dan reccommends video by extra credits and getting introduced to your channel
keep up the good work :D
He mentioned Contra hard corps, the batman & robin game and gunstar heroes *-* every time
i see people talk about 16 bit run and guns they mention Contra alien wars and thats it.
This video is terrible.
Well done, you figured out the basics of side-scrolling shooters. How insightful.
I know, right? You just summarized my multi-paragraph rant in three sentences. I don't regret the rant, though. It was therapeutic.
Excellent video! Can't wait for other videos about boss fights
4:37 Pretty sure that's a dolphin
I was thinking the SAME THING! The main attack or phase of each boss really isn't that hard until you add some TINY detail that alone would be nothing. together though, you have a problem. This was an interesting detail I noticed and I'm happy to see that others did too!
How Cuphead's bosses -try to- do kill you
It's crazy how fast you can make amazingly high quality videos.
Mark brown, i will give you 30$ for your bro-fist t-shirt from your closet.
...and i betta get it too.
gottem
Hey man wheres my PIZZA
I'll really make a breakthrough with this new video on a guide to find girls in League of Giants
Dustyredman well, after a long day of fighting bosses, I like to go to UA-cam.com/videogamedunkey and-
KNACK 2 BABY ISSA MASTAPIECE
A nice throwback to some of my favorite childhood games - Adventures of Batman and Robin and Contra Hard Corps. I should buy Cuphead soon...
3 years later and the bosses are still a knockout
In terms of interesting combat, I'd love to see an analysis of The world ends with you! It has one of the most engaging combat systems that still has me coming back to it 10 years later
ITS A BARREL NOT A CHEST
Great Stuff! Nice use of pencil test animation - lots of great points made.
That's how I beat BTD Games. Learning the composition of a round.
Love the shoutout to Gunstar heroes. Definitely one of my favorite games for bosses and Seven force is probably the best boss fight I've ever had =D
Just wanna point it out, real nice editing Mark!
Thanks for mentioning the gunstar heroes influence. I was beginning to think I was the only one who saw it
Gunstar Heroes is the game this one is most like to me.
I really appreciate how every boss in Cuphead feels unique
cala maria is best waifu
Condescending online Man xD
I still haven't finished the game. Very creative and challenging. I keep dying in every short portions of the level but it gave me new knowledge or patterns to anticipate next time around. So yeah as long as you'll get use to the patterns and anticipate those random encounters the game gives, you'll eventually get to the finish line.
the bosses try to kill you with attack patterns that you have to learn by utilizing the mechanics withing the game. End of video.
Holy shit, you blew up... I remember when you had just a couple of thousand subscribers.
Much deserved, though and the quality of the content hasn't fallen as it usually does, so congrats and keep it up!
Thank you for all the priceless information you share with us.
Talking about Cuphead and how to beat bosses, a thing I don't like is the fact that there is upgrades. I think it's breaking the "Empowering the player" design by "Empowering the character" one. Well, upgrade are not like in a RPG or else that get you a billion times stronger, but still, making the player acquiring new skills that were usable from the beginning of the game would have been great. Like the parry slap could have been taught by a boss during the game instead of being in the tutorial.
Like, in Furi, they never tells you that you can send back some ennemy bullets by parrying them. But it's kind of taught to you during the game, but not in a tutorial (If I recall correctly, I may be mistaken and Excluding those silly tips during loadings, I hate those.)
Anyway. It's a cool video as always Mark. Keep up the good work !
I actually really like the “upgrades” in Cuphead. I thinks it adds a layer of strategy, and I always loved trying out different weapons to find the most effective way to kill the boss. I would agree with you if the weapons were just better versions of the standard shot, but every weapon has you sacrificing some aspect of your attack (like range, power, speed, etc.), so I wouldn’t call them upgrades per se. I will admit that the charge shot is OP tho, it just kills bosses way too fast, so I rarely ended up using it. Either way, they are completely optional, so if you want to beat the game with just the standard then that’s fine.
It's more about fitting your playstyle to the weapon, risky like the shotgun, or safer like the homing missile
Not sure what you mean about the upgrades being bad. For one, all upgrades are technically optional, as you can beat every single boss with even the most basic gun, no super, and no charm. Having the different items you can buy allows the player to diversify gameplay and gives them one more thing to figure out, so that the game is extended by not just being a game of memorizing bosses but also optimizing your combination of items for maximum effectiveness.
As for the parry slap, it's such an integral mechanic to the game that it would be weird to not have it introduced from the beginning tutorial. And even then, one thing is telling the player they can parry and another is letting them figure out when and where to do it. It's not a mindless thing to figure out in each boss what can be parried and what shouldn't be parried. In fact, it adds to the layers of learning a boss, particularly since it's one of the ratings you need for S rank.
Well... Can you imagine playing Contra without any winged icons? Going through the entire game with only a standard peashooter and never see even a glimpse of a spread gun, or rapid fire? I mean, those were a vital part of the experience, and added a level of strategy.
the spread gun causes a problem in contra, the same problem that certain cuphead power-ups (charge shot especially) cause
there's very clearly a best answer, so rather than letting the player choose weapons they find interesting, they're just making the game harder by not picking the best one. ultimately it has negligible impact on strategy and minimizes the player skill component
compare that with something like devil may cry 3. each weapon has a specific purpose, but it's not like one weapon will absolutely destroy a certain enemy type. you can give yourself any load-out without feeling like you're nerfing your character. that encourages players to go back and try new load-outs rather than determining the best one and using it all the time
I like this channel, because of content and have subtitles in videos!
Great Job!! I'm from Brazil.
Great job with this video! I felt the final phase of Dr Kahl's robot was a huge letdown because of how tediously long they made a single phase. I don't recall any other boss segment like this one, I liked the pacing for this fight until the last part. Fighting the robot you had so many things to think about, fighting Kahl is just dodging his single (although difficult) attack and shooting for over half the fight. I just feel there should have been 1 more phase there.
Mark Brown, you explain why games are important on a scale that is beyond my current understanding. My goal is to be a game dev one day and these videos are amazing for that. Thank you😅
This is so cool! I can't wait to hear you talk about this topic some more--like you said, how the player kills the bosses rather than how the bosses kill you! Buildup and payoff! Can't wait!!!
"Things like parrying and EX attacks are optional"
I don't think he finished the game...
i love how everything i feel when i played the first world with my older brother you could describe it with words.
that's something to be praise and be jealous about.
It's the first time I hear about this game, and the bosses immediately reminded me of the first Rayman's (the one on PS1) bosses . I loved that game and I would maybe love this one as well
Cuphead also has a lot of influence from Megaman and it has a lot of references to older fighting games (the frogs represent Ryu and Ken, and the charge attack for the peashooter is a hadoken reference for example)
Have you tried "STEPHEN'S SAUSAGE ROLL "? That game might just blow your mind with the amount of depth it offers in it's gameplay mechanics which are rather very simplistic.
Mark, I highly recommend you try out the Monster Hunter series. It uses similar mechanics for its boss fights (creatures provide tells for their attacks). It can be confusing at first, but it is so satisfying to fully comprehend a monster's move-set.
Great videos, though one I ultimately disagree with.
Cuphead bosses' unpredictability really pushes them towards being rote memorization of patterns, which just isn't fun.
Die against a boss a few times to see what they do, then you beat them. It feels like a cheap way to make the game feel more difficult
You can easy beat all bosses in a single go if you are good enough. All of the attacks are clearly telegraphed in a way that shows exactly what they are doing, and where it will fire. Sure some may be more tricky, but it isn't random at all. Which attacks are picked may be, but with such an extremely small list, you can lear them all within one game, and beat the boss within that same game.
Combustible Lemons This isn't a position supported by the video, and it's one I find fairly ridiculous.
No, there is no way you would know that, say, the frogs turn into a cash register without seeing it first.
The entire game revolves around learning telegraphed attacks, and that's ok, I just don't find it particularly clever or praiseworthy
I have to say that I agree if we are talking about that laser you are unable to dodge the first time, but Cuphead has a dash and a parry to help movement, so it isn't completely unfair.
The register attack doesn't do anything, it is afterward that things happen. Plus nothing does happen that is that hard if you don't mantually hit the level, allowing you to adjust. The Tiger attack is likely the hardest, but the pattern is simple, jump under the orbs. The Ox attack is clearly showing what will happen. A flamethrower that fires, and you can see the flame so you know which way it will go, and the snakes are just jumping from platform to platform.
You may be seeing the ability for the first time, but the attacks themselves are very clearly telegraphed.
youtube needs to add a "Are you sure you want to delete your comment" check for fucks sake, I ain't typing that again.
Interesting to see how games like Cuphead and Freedom Planet took inspiration from Gunstar Heroes is radically different ways.
You litterally are saying nothing that we dont already know... "how does this one game's bosses try to kill you? Well just like every other bosses in games...." its embarrassing how much this is Non-Content.... what lunacy
naryrokobs 1, glad you were well aware of this information. It’s more helpful to those who don’t know it, and want to learn how to make a great boss battle.
@@bounty8438, also, does no one realize that this is an analysis, not a guide. GMTK is analyzing how variance and telegraphing help make Cuphead bosses fun and challenging
@@Doublemonk0506 Telegraphing and variance are the literal basics of enemy and bosses design
For being an analysis, it does a pretty awful job at analyzing the game beyond basic level
@@Mattroid99, it's an analysis of game design, not the game. If you're looking for a guide, the only other advice available is don't take your finger off the trigger unless you're fighting certain bosses
@@Doublemonk0506 True, it's an analysis of game design, nothing of this video resembles a guide in any sort of way.
Too bad it tells literally the most bread and butter stuff in existence, (Bosses should be telegraphed and have different patterns to test the player skill in various way? Who would have guessed!) sowhen it comes to creating an analysis that should be insightful it does a piss poor job at that.