Fun fact there is a game out there where you have to unlock your music settings. In the first big city in Pokemon Sword and Shield, you can find an NPC that will give you a pair of earbuds. Getting this key item unlocks the sound settings, so yes for first 3 or so hours you just don't have access to them AND the earbuds are missable! What a peak of game design
@@scaper12123 don't forget this is the same company that locked easy mode as a post game reward. And you couldn't even use it on your own copy of the game!
You know your reputation is bad when game critics find it hard to believe that your staff of hundreds of talented creatives are actually allowed to be creative
@@hoodiesticks I can think of many games that do the in game camera thing but I can't think of any that post them up on a map so good luck in your search.
@@diegomorales7290 Pokemon Sword and Shield. You have to talk to an optional NPC in one of the earlier towns to get the Hi-Tech Earbuds, which allow you to adjust background music.
@@SimuLordalmost all companies only know how to do one type of game with slight variations. From Software, Platinum games only makes hack and slash, team ninja only makes whatever ninja gaiden souls like they make, etc
i do wonder how accurate it is, you know, like when Americans try to do a historical accent but it doesn't quite meld either from voice acting or anachronistic writing, but who cares? They give you the option and that rules. Sure you *can* play recent Yakuza games with the English dub, but I mean.... come on. Props to Yong Yea for being English Kiryu, but can you *really* substitute the OG?
The "Immortals" were a real group in the Achaemenid Persian Empire--nothing so dramatic as the ones in the game, just a unit of elite soldiers who also acted as bodyguards, like the Roman Praetorian Guard. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immortals_(Achaemenid_Empire)
Yeah and this game has what exactly to do with any of that???? They are some band of merry diverse cast not an elite bodyguards they can't even work together and why they aren't there were the leader is....
@@maszkalman3676 I think they're letting Ben know bc he was making fun of the name when the Immortals were a real group. The commenter isn't saying the game was accurate
@@ShakespearsCyst Ah okay.... Bit his name as sargon doesn't make sense argon wa a king not an immortal and he wasn't black...at all He was from UMMA from Iraq.
Eh, I'd argue. Like, it's a decent game, but not really an entry into Prince of Persia franchise, more like a themed tie-in game you'd see on DS in the past.
I mean between this, Baldur’s Gate 3, and the current state of Resident Evil I’d say that’s more a regular occurrence with reviving dead franchises than “beating the odds”. Seems it’s either that or development hell (KOTOR, Beyond Good & Evil).
On the subject of having to unlock a volume slider, remember when Pokemon Sword and Shield did *exactly* that? You had to speak to a specific guy off to the side in the second town to unlock the audio settings.
@@allenqueen "Talk to the gentleman in the pink sweater who stands in front of the record store. He'll give you Hi-tech Earbuds. The Hi-tech Earbuds aren't an item you can actually use. They just give you three additional sliders in the options menu." I'm amazed at the audacity.
Hollow Knight added map pins in an update. I used each color for a type of obstacle I lacked an ability for, but then it became obvious that screenshots (which I think Obduction has) would have been better than memorizing which color correspond to which obstacle.
A midbudget game from one of the AAA-iest studios is refreshing to see. I’m 100% in agreement that spreading the money amongst a number of modestly sized games, rather than pouring it into one enormous, too big to fail tentpole title, can only be a good thing for the industry
Fun fact; there is a game that lets you take pictures of locations to make traveling back to the locations easier! It's called The Longing, and it's a very different style of game, but anywhere you are you can set as a remembered spot which turns into a photo. You can save up to 8, and you can set yourself to slowly walk back to those spots.
@@bulletslime5704 Only if you didn't decorate your study. You could collect certain items that would allow time to speed up when you parked yourself there.
@@bulletslime5704 There's a little more to it, and it can be faster. You got the right game though. You're a Shade, told to reawaken the king after he sleeps for 400 real time days. After some time, things change in the caves around the king and you can explore more and more. As you explore, you run into stuff, some things you can talk with, and get decorations for your room. If you fill your room with decorations, it increases the rate that time passes by while you're in your room. You can "beat" the game by just waiting 400 days and doing nothing, or you can take the chance to explore more and more as the caves become accessible. In either case, the game's more about how actively engaging in the world around you can make it more and more enjoyable, and thus making time seem to pass by faster and faster. Or at least that's my take on it. People have done video essays on it, and it's a very unique experience that you can't do all in one shot.
Remember that bit in Pokemon Sword and Shield that basically did make you do a bit of gameplay grind before you unlocked the volume slider? From an otherwise unused NPC. Now that's game design.
Surprisingly, the Immortals was the name of the soldiers closest to the king in old Persia (because I know the game definitely cares about historical accuracy lol).
I did think it was funny when he said “I wonder what plot contrivance they’ll come up with to force me to fight the other Immortals” because that was my exact thought from the beginning as well
@@Wii-R-online Yeah, You don't want to see him when he doesn't like a game, which is quite often, a somewhat positive remark from him is a huge praise.
Yea, he was actually rather lenient on this game. Note that being able to predict what'l happen to the characters doesn't mean a strike of a negative. Thats kinda a skill you pick up after playing thousands of these types of games~ and he develops his own games not to forget. He gave it shit for the 'triple A to the double A trappings' such as the graphics' style being 'generic' for its type and that sorta thing, but he didn't have anything harsh to say except that combat was seemingly easy and the rewards were underwhelming due to the rpg nature.
I am so glad taking pictures with your phone is what's normal now... my mom is currently on vacation and she sent me 12 pictures.. just today... At least I don't have to sit and watch a 2 hour presentation once she is back home.
One island you had to map out by hand just to find the treasure. It was pretty simple once the map was filled out, so the cartography *was* the challange.
I’m kinda surprised Yahtzee didn’t bring up Metroid dread comparisons because boy does it feel like the devs saw that games’ boss fights and said “ but what if more and more anime?!”
I do wish you could hold a button to aim your bow more accurately like how Samus can aim her beam shots in Dread. This game lifted a lot from Dread but not in a bad way - sliding, the jump-dash, and obviously the parry system all felt quite good
What if the STDJ never happens, a metroidvania without a double jump? Rusted Moss has no double jump and is almost entirely grappling hook based movement with some recoil physics. It's a fantastic and creative game in both gameplay and worldbuilding.
I've suddenly been inspired to create a 2D metroidvania wherein all the overly drawn out optional side activities each unlock something new in the options menu. I don't mean like cheat mode, extra difficulties, or visual filters, I mean you get to do a 30 minute quest to unlock the anti-aliasing toggle and another for the brightness slider, with a super late-game reward being the option to turn on subtitles so you can understand what the quiet muttering I call dialogue is
Make it so the subtitle options are separate language pickups. Congrats on beating that boss! What do you mean you can't read the clicking parts of Khoisan? Too bad, go search for GLOSS (American Sign Language written. Which just means all-caps and no transition words like "the, to, a, etc).
Not quite the same but about a decade ago a game called DLC Quest did something similar by forcing the player to use the in-game currency to buy basic functions like going to the left or jumping. The whole game is a parody tho.
Maybe I got here too late to see it. But why? so it shows up in the chronological order if you comment first? then what? you edit it with an actual comment after watching the video?
I've always had a soft spot for Prince of Persia games, largely because of how stunning the original was back in the day. None of the later games have quite captured the magic and it doesn't sound like this does either, but that doesn't mean I'm not wishlisting it.
It’s pretty good. I was pretty jaded about this one but I like it a lot. Also, you can sign up for U+ or whatever their bootleg version of Gamepass is for $17 and play it that way.
@@CGDW2 The very first one, Prince of Persia (1989). I actually played it on the Commodore Amiga rather than on PC. Let me tell you, in 1990 that game was fantastic. The rotoscoped character animation alone made it stand out, but it also had tight controls, good level design, some innovative features and a lovely aesthetic.
@@PreceptorGrant I definitely was enticed by it's mystery, but back then I was too young/noob, so I never made it very far in. It's nice to get a perspective on how it compared to its peers.
@@CGDW2 I went through my noob gamer days somewhat earlier, on the Sinclair ZX81 and ZX Spectrum. By the time the 90s came around I was in high school, hence my clarity of memory on this one.
The screenshot on the map thing is a feature of the open world AC games but changed from showing off pretty screenshots to actually having a use for the player
Damn that ending gag was the funniest i’ve seen in a while! Now my mind is reeling with ways i can make that actually happen for myself. The answer lies in either Street Fighter or Dark Souls.
Downloaded the demo and was immediately pestered to create a Ubisoft account, then Ubisoft went on record saying we should get comfortable about "not owning the games we pay for". Thus, I opted to avoid The Lost Crown.
I've never like or played many Metroidvania's. I played the demo, bought the game and have spend the last week none stop playing and beaten the game. For $50 its a solid game. Also without day one patch on 90% games do you really own games? Will you be able to play them in 15/20 years time?
@@VillageFlowerno1 I will so long as Steam doesn't die. But I also almost exclusively play weird single player indies. If you play nothing but AAA games with day 1 patches I can see why you would be concerned.
To this game's credit: "The Immortals" were kind of like the Persian equivalent of Roman Centurions: an ultra-elite guard for the royalty. So technically it's a historical reference and NOT Ubisoft just being lazy and shite. I mean MORE lazy and shite.
Suggestion for how to lose a crown (in response to dental joke): - Go to an annual leather street fair - Take substances that make touch more exciting then usual but also make teeth jitter - have a lot of fun and be too ..distracted to find some gum/something to chew on - Have crown fall off during lunch next day - Have a needle shoved in gums 11 times cause apparently said substances prevent the numming agent from working correctly even a day later
Yeah, an military organisation that existed more than a thousand years before the events in the game. Like having Pretorians fighting in Renaissance Italy
@@1xeshm The game is clearly not set during any specific historical period. It's a mishmash of different elements of Persian culture, history and mythology with absolutely no organization whatsoever.
Yeh but these are aren't any elite or working together guards they are diverse cast that's all shit mechanics bloated ass game with nothing to give.... boring bland shłt...
I'm glad they made this game. I'm really liking it. Theres plenty of great "metroidvanias" but I'm happy a bigger studio is dipping their toes with a smaller budget into a genre they aren't really accustomed with and did a great job. While there's nothing really uniquely special that sets this one apart, it's easily one of the best I've played. I'll gladly take more like it.
At least this amulet makes your toenails grow 30% faster and not "It makes your toenails grow 1.5% faster if it's full moon and you are wearing special blue trousers and aren't wearing socks". :_jack:
That screenshot feature is actually brilliant and I wish every metroidvania had this instead of stupid pins or actually nothing to mark something I want to come back to...
Seriously. I was actually going to play The Crew again this year only to learn they were literally stealing it from the library. Listen Ubisoft, if you were going to take ONE game from my library can it be the one I actually hate in Assassins Creed Valhalla? Thanks, you pricks
@@Jesse__HA thief also tries to throw out any excuse to dismiss their behavior. Fine, Ubisoft, if we can't own our games prepare to just have it taken right back and not be given a single cent.
I seem to recall in his Hades ZP, he jokingly mentions wanting to see a game that explores Zoroastrianism instead of Greek or Norse mythology, and this game is actually sort of that.
Several years ago I made the decision to NOT give any money to Ubisoft. This proved mostly easy because so many of their games looked boring as all get out. I'll admit though this is one I've been really tempted by. Thank goodness, Mr. Ubisoft came out and told us that gamers need to get used to not owning their games to help remind me why I don't wanna support them in the first place.
There was a feature in castlevania lords of shadows mirror of fate on the 3ds that allowed you to place markers in places you couldn’t reach at the time so you remember to go back there when you’d unlocked new abilities
That "new trousers" joke hits so hard. One of the grindiest "memorize this or die," avoid the saws section gave a cosmetic reward and was the hardest side quest I did in the game.
There's also after the double jump, the CAN_FLY. Castlevania tends to give you the double jump relatively early on, but holds out on the super jump which is usually gated behind the painfully slow flying transformation.
No flight / multi-jump here. The double-jump is specifically mentioned for it being in practically all metroidvanias, though to castlevania's credit, MOST of the platforming sections are designed with double-jump in mind. But yes, double-jump both reduces the difficulty of platforming sections in general, and does mean the developer ran out of ideas for basic jumping challenges.
I'm honestly just glad we've moved on from Sands of Time. It was a very good trilogy but it's story is done and I'd prefer they not milk any more games out of it, do new things with the idea of swashbuckling Persian swordsman. the 2008 game wasn't even that bad if you ask me. Too bad noone else seems to agree, to the point where pc players like me can't even experience the epilogue. Also: obligatory Eye of Argon reference
Hollow Knight also has a non-conforming STDJ. The double jump is completely optional for the normal ending, but if you go for the true ending it's less than halfway through the game. And they absolutely didn't run out of ideas after that, the several areas after the DJ are the best ones.
I honestly didn't mind the limited amount of those screenshot map markers, you start off with enough and by the end you have so many that you indeed could plaster most of the map with it.
Be honest: when you heard him say that upgrades to the map annotation feature were locked behind something, you assumed he was going to say "paywall", and you were surprised when it wasn't so.
I was at Target today and saw this on the video game shelves. I wasn't aware of it and thought it looked pretty good, so I was pleasantly surprised to see this pop up on my UA-cam homepage. Even more surprising, Yahtzee thinks its good too! I'll definitely check this one out now.
to be fair, The Immortals as a warrior group literally historically existed in Ancient Persia now whether they had hunky boys who could parkour...time travelers will tell
Im really liking the beige background. Its nostalgic, and alsi very easy to make out what's happening. Incidentally, i know Yahtzee has slapped glasses on all the humanoid characters to avoid copyright issues... but Oversimplified also uses characters which just have white circle heads with black dots for eyes. I think it would be perfectly safe for Yahtzee to return to the old aesthetic if he wants to.
Afterimage is the indie game they took the map screenshot feature from. That was the first game I'd ever seen that lets you mark your map with icons for each ability needed at that spot. It was incredibly handy, and this is just a spin on that.
huh, that was basically a glowing review compared to what I was expecting when I heard another prince of persia game was coming out. I'll have to check this one out, thanks
Thanks for this review Yhatzee, it reminded me I bought a copy of Prince of Persia Sands of Time I bought for PS2 years ago and never played and saved me the money on buying this game.
There is a Japanese game series about an Indie Anna Jones knock off who explores ruins to unlock pretty much everything. In these games, a key piece of equipment is your tablet, which has limited memory. That tablet can copy important information from glyphs, ruins, or the like, and store it for you, but it is limited by the memory of that piece of software with it topping off at 10. I would say this is the inspiration for taking screenshots and posting them to the map.
@@estefencosta1835 They're talking about La Mulana. The main character does look like Indiana Jones and yeah, you get the ability to save things written down on glyphs but have limited space for it.
Having played the whole game, this is a very fair assessment of it. I did really enjoy it, to my own surprise given the company. My only note with this review is that (SPOILERS) Did you miss the part where Sargon is ALSO another Prince of Persia? It never actually gets brought up as part of the main quest, but a few side quests scattered throughout the game hint at it with increasing obviousness up until a late game side quest all but spells it out. Unfortunately, this revelation doesn't change the ending or anything, but it does give it new context when you realize that Sargon also has a claim to the throne.
If any group of people are going to be called the immortals then it would be the immortals of ancient Persia. They were the first to call them self that. Which is impressive since they did it before there even was an English language.
"...whatever plot contrivance will make you have to fight them, betrayal or mind control. Spoiler alert: it's one of those" I laughed so hard, Yahtzee is a master of his craft, amazingly well done!
Calling the elite soldiers Immortals isn't a lack of imagination, it's a reference to history. There really was a group of elite persian soldiers called the Immortals.
Hollow Knight has a thing where you can mark points of interest on your map, which is where I think they stole the take a pic for later thing from. As for making drastic changes to the metroidvania formula, I'd recommend either improving on the "connect parts of the map together" thing Islets did or do a level-based with overworld thing like Wario Land 3 did.
Being able to place general unspecific point-of-interest markers has been a common thing in videogames since long before Hollow Knight. Attaching screenshots to them is much more specific.
@@Cyfrik I'd note that this game has BOTH types of markers; the generic PoI markers (of different icon varieties) can be placed with no limitations, it's the photographs that are restricted.
Technically, you can do the photo thing with Assassin's Creed Origins. I just spent far, far too long playing that game to get all the trophies and, while it's not advertised in a manner that suggests that, if you take a picture in Photo Mode (Which I think I found accidentally, don't recall the game teaching me it), it will leave the photos visible on your map. Same with your friends' photos. No film, no other contrivance.
The last - and still own to this day - game from this franchise that I played was: Prince of Persia (2008) - with already that shell shaded/cartoon vibe/look
Fun fact there is a game out there where you have to unlock your music settings. In the first big city in Pokemon Sword and Shield, you can find an NPC that will give you a pair of earbuds. Getting this key item unlocks the sound settings, so yes for first 3 or so hours you just don't have access to them AND the earbuds are missable! What a peak of game design
I was coming down here to mention that. Why lock a fundamental tenant of accessibility behind gameplay, unless you ran out of ideas for prizes.
I'm sorry wuuuut? That's... disgusting.
I'm pretty sure I missed it until the postgame. It's so terrible it loops around to being kinda funny. Like what the hell were they smoking
@@scaper12123 don't forget this is the same company that locked easy mode as a post game reward. And you couldn't even use it on your own copy of the game!
@@Nuggette I assume you're referring to the key system in Black 2 and White 2? Yeah that was pretty dumb
You know your reputation is bad when game critics find it hard to believe that your staff of hundreds of talented creatives are actually allowed to be creative
Don't mind me, just scrolling through the comments trying to see if anyone has found a game that did the "map pics" thing first...
@@hoodiesticks I can think of many games that do the in game camera thing but I can't think of any that post them up on a map so good luck in your search.
They may have invented something!
@@twistedtomatoful /me *gasps*
@@hoodiesticks one of the cthulhu detective games if i recall. Terrible game but it had that mechanic
>It's like forcing us to go through gameplay to unlock a volume slider
One pokémon game did this. Completely unironically. Fucking wild
No surprise that it's Pokemon, it looks like the name (and probably nostalgia attached) erases all critical thoughts for a lot of gamers
which one?
@@diegomorales7290 Pokemon Sword and Shield. You have to talk to an optional NPC in one of the earlier towns to get the Hi-Tech Earbuds, which allow you to adjust background music.
@@diegomorales7290 pokemon sword and shield
@@armelior4610 I don't think it was the gamers who put the volume slider behind a gate?
A new game from Ubisoft that doesn't sound like its a bland 5 candidate? That's an improvement.
Ubisoft has reached the point where releasing a decent game is treated like an anomaly. It happened last year with Mario+Rabbids 2
@@espio87 and before that with Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle, a.k.a babies first X-Com.
oh, yeah, you're right! at face value it almost felt like another fail by Ubi, but I think this one crawled out of the mediocrity contest, at least.
@@espio87 Most of their games are decent, perfectly functional, time killers. The issue is that they never seem to go beyond that,
@@SimuLordalmost all companies only know how to do one type of game with slight variations. From Software, Platinum games only makes hack and slash, team ninja only makes whatever ninja gaiden souls like they make, etc
I liked the option that changed the spoken language to Persian. That was a cool nice detail.
That actually is a cool detail
i do wonder how accurate it is, you know, like when Americans try to do a historical accent but it doesn't quite meld either from voice acting or anachronistic writing, but who cares? They give you the option and that rules.
Sure you *can* play recent Yakuza games with the English dub, but I mean.... come on. Props to Yong Yea for being English Kiryu, but can you *really* substitute the OG?
@@RehtealI've seen a fair amount of praise from people claiming to be Iraqi online for it, so I would suspect it's good?
@@godminnette2Iraqi’s typically speak Arabic not Farsi (Persian), Iranians speak Persian
@@godminnette2 I really hope they were not claiming to be Persians, since Iran is the land of ancient Persia and not Iraq.
The best backhanded compliment to Ubisoft: "That's a great idea, who did you steal it from?"
Here I am 6 months later still wondering who they stole it from
The "Immortals" were a real group in the Achaemenid Persian Empire--nothing so dramatic as the ones in the game, just a unit of elite soldiers who also acted as bodyguards, like the Roman Praetorian Guard.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immortals_(Achaemenid_Empire)
Yeah and this game has what exactly to do with any of that???? They are some band of merry diverse cast not an elite bodyguards they can't even work together and why they aren't there were the leader is....
@@maszkalman3676 I think they're letting Ben know bc he was making fun of the name when the Immortals were a real group. The commenter isn't saying the game was accurate
@@ShakespearsCyst Ah okay.... Bit his name as sargon doesn't make sense argon wa a king not an immortal and he wasn't black...at all He was from UMMA from Iraq.
Weird your comment wasn't immediately deleted since UA-cam usually deletes all comments with links in them automatically
Oh, that's right, they even got a name drop in the movie '300'.
In the current media climate it's always nice when a new entry in a long-dormant series beats the odds and turns out to be pretty good.
*/me crosses his fingers for Outcast 2*
Isn't this what Prince of Persia always does?
Eh, I'd argue. Like, it's a decent game, but not really an entry into Prince of Persia franchise, more like a themed tie-in game you'd see on DS in the past.
[joke about Escapist goes here]
I mean between this, Baldur’s Gate 3, and the current state of Resident Evil I’d say that’s more a regular occurrence with reviving dead franchises than “beating the odds”. Seems it’s either that or development hell (KOTOR, Beyond Good & Evil).
On the subject of having to unlock a volume slider, remember when Pokemon Sword and Shield did *exactly* that? You had to speak to a specific guy off to the side in the second town to unlock the audio settings.
mate! wAHT!
@@allenqueen "Talk to the gentleman in the pink sweater who stands in front of the record store. He'll give you Hi-tech Earbuds. The Hi-tech Earbuds aren't an item you can actually use. They just give you three additional sliders in the options menu."
I'm amazed at the audacity.
That kind of thing belongs in a deconstruction like Undertale. Not a fucking mainline Pokemon game.
@@MagriorThat’s actually hilarious … not convenient at all, but hilarious.
I heard (haven't played) that it was missable too, but not sure if people meant permanently missable or just easy to miss through core gameplay.
Hollow Knight added map pins in an update. I used each color for a type of obstacle I lacked an ability for, but then it became obvious that screenshots (which I think Obduction has) would have been better than memorizing which color correspond to which obstacle.
Samus Returns and Metroid Dread used map pins as well.
A midbudget game from one of the AAA-iest studios is refreshing to see. I’m 100% in agreement that spreading the money amongst a number of modestly sized games, rather than pouring it into one enormous, too big to fail tentpole title, can only be a good thing for the industry
Fun fact; there is a game that lets you take pictures of locations to make traveling back to the locations easier! It's called The Longing, and it's a very different style of game, but anywhere you are you can set as a remembered spot which turns into a photo. You can save up to 8, and you can set yourself to slowly walk back to those spots.
thats the game where you wait for like a year and a half isnt it?
@@bulletslime5704 Only if you didn't decorate your study. You could collect certain items that would allow time to speed up when you parked yourself there.
@@bulletslime5704 There's a little more to it, and it can be faster. You got the right game though. You're a Shade, told to reawaken the king after he sleeps for 400 real time days. After some time, things change in the caves around the king and you can explore more and more. As you explore, you run into stuff, some things you can talk with, and get decorations for your room. If you fill your room with decorations, it increases the rate that time passes by while you're in your room. You can "beat" the game by just waiting 400 days and doing nothing, or you can take the chance to explore more and more as the caves become accessible. In either case, the game's more about how actively engaging in the world around you can make it more and more enjoyable, and thus making time seem to pass by faster and faster. Or at least that's my take on it. People have done video essays on it, and it's a very unique experience that you can't do all in one shot.
Always lovely to see Yahtzee review something with a connection to something he’s done “before”.
Isn't that what reviews are essentially. You go through something, then talk about it.
Remember that bit in Pokemon Sword and Shield that basically did make you do a bit of gameplay grind before you unlocked the volume slider? From an otherwise unused NPC. Now that's game design.
This is basicaly the same
Surprisingly, the Immortals was the name of the soldiers closest to the king in old Persia (because I know the game definitely cares about historical accuracy lol).
Always a risk watching Yahtzee review a game you’re currently playing and enjoying 🤣🤣
Nah he was incredibly positive about it.
I did think it was funny when he said “I wonder what plot contrivance they’ll come up with to force me to fight the other Immortals” because that was my exact thought from the beginning as well
@@etrusco2898 he was...???
it was not that clear to me?
@@Wii-R-online Yeah, You don't want to see him when he doesn't like a game, which is quite often, a somewhat positive remark from him is a huge praise.
Yea, he was actually rather lenient on this game. Note that being able to predict what'l happen to the characters doesn't mean a strike of a negative. Thats kinda a skill you pick up after playing thousands of these types of games~ and he develops his own games not to forget.
He gave it shit for the 'triple A to the double A trappings' such as the graphics' style being 'generic' for its type and that sorta thing, but he didn't have anything harsh to say except that combat was seemingly easy and the rewards were underwhelming due to the rpg nature.
I am so glad taking pictures with your phone is what's normal now... my mom is currently on vacation and she sent me 12 pictures.. just today...
At least I don't have to sit and watch a 2 hour presentation once she is back home.
I feel very special getting that "start to double jump" reference
I'd say the pictures-on-the-map follow pretty well from Phantom Hourglass's and Spirit Tracks' drawings-on-the-map.
One island you had to map out by hand just to find the treasure. It was pretty simple once the map was filled out, so the cartography *was* the challange.
I’m kinda surprised Yahtzee didn’t bring up Metroid dread comparisons because boy does it feel like the devs saw that games’ boss fights and said “ but what if more and more anime?!”
Except in metroid dread you actually do stuff inside the parry-based bossfight cutscenes.
I do wish you could hold a button to aim your bow more accurately like how Samus can aim her beam shots in Dread. This game lifted a lot from Dread but not in a bad way - sliding, the jump-dash, and obviously the parry system all felt quite good
What if the STDJ never happens, a metroidvania without a double jump? Rusted Moss has no double jump and is almost entirely grappling hook based movement with some recoil physics. It's a fantastic and creative game in both gameplay and worldbuilding.
It means the developers are actually creative lol
In Grime you get double jump just before the final boss, which you don't even have to fight
The phrase Holiday Snaps only ever makes me think of Monty Python. "Photography eh, he asked him knowingly."
Say no more!
“…and HERE’S Uncle Bill standing at the side of the house, but you cam still see the front.”
I've suddenly been inspired to create a 2D metroidvania wherein all the overly drawn out optional side activities each unlock something new in the options menu. I don't mean like cheat mode, extra difficulties, or visual filters, I mean you get to do a 30 minute quest to unlock the anti-aliasing toggle and another for the brightness slider, with a super late-game reward being the option to turn on subtitles so you can understand what the quiet muttering I call dialogue is
Make it so the subtitle options are separate language pickups.
Congrats on beating that boss! What do you mean you can't read the clicking parts of Khoisan? Too bad, go search for GLOSS (American Sign Language written. Which just means all-caps and no transition words like "the, to, a, etc).
I remember some years ago there was a Flash game on Newgrounds that did exactly that. Upgrade: The Game or something like. Surprisingly engaging
Not quite the same but about a decade ago a game called DLC Quest did something similar by forcing the player to use the in-game currency to buy basic functions like going to the left or jumping. The whole game is a parody tho.
@@axelprino I remember that game! Markiplier was too oblivious to find the ending!
@@thisiswhatilike54 Upgrade Complete! Exactly what i thought of too hah
People really reserving comment space on UA-cam now. What a time to be alive.
Why are they doing that?
@@one-eyedepi9338 maybe it’s like a version of saying FIRST?
How so?
Maybe I got here too late to see it. But why? so it shows up in the chronological order if you comment first? then what? you edit it with an actual comment after watching the video?
that sounds like a worthy cause, actually@@ProudlyIdiotic
The Google algorithm directed me to Yahtzee's new home. Awesome! I hope you and all the team are doing well Yahtzee. Liked and Subscribed.
I've always had a soft spot for Prince of Persia games, largely because of how stunning the original was back in the day. None of the later games have quite captured the magic and it doesn't sound like this does either, but that doesn't mean I'm not wishlisting it.
Just wondering, but when you say 'the original', are you talking about the 90s pc game, or Sands of Time?
It’s pretty good. I was pretty jaded about this one but I like it a lot.
Also, you can sign up for U+ or whatever their bootleg version of Gamepass is for $17 and play it that way.
@@CGDW2 The very first one, Prince of Persia (1989). I actually played it on the Commodore Amiga rather than on PC. Let me tell you, in 1990 that game was fantastic. The rotoscoped character animation alone made it stand out, but it also had tight controls, good level design, some innovative features and a lovely aesthetic.
@@PreceptorGrant I definitely was enticed by it's mystery, but back then I was too young/noob, so I never made it very far in. It's nice to get a perspective on how it compared to its peers.
@@CGDW2 I went through my noob gamer days somewhat earlier, on the Sinclair ZX81 and ZX Spectrum. By the time the 90s came around I was in high school, hence my clarity of memory on this one.
4:50 Signalis is your answer
The screenshot on the map thing is a feature of the open world AC games but changed from showing off pretty screenshots to actually having a use for the player
HELL YEAH MY FIRST YAHTZEE VIDEO SINCE ESCAPIST NUKED ITSELF
GLAD TO SEE YOU'RE BACK BBY
Damn that ending gag was the funniest i’ve seen in a while! Now my mind is reeling with ways i can make that actually happen for myself. The answer lies in either Street Fighter or Dark Souls.
Downloaded the demo and was immediately pestered to create a Ubisoft account, then Ubisoft went on record saying we should get comfortable about "not owning the games we pay for".
Thus, I opted to avoid The Lost Crown.
I've never like or played many Metroidvania's. I played the demo, bought the game and have spend the last week none stop playing and beaten the game. For $50 its a solid game.
Also without day one patch on 90% games do you really own games? Will you be able to play them in 15/20 years time?
Why sour yourself? Pirate it
@@VillageFlowerno1 I will so long as Steam doesn't die. But I also almost exclusively play weird single player indies.
If you play nothing but AAA games with day 1 patches I can see why you would be concerned.
@@VillageFlowerno1 If you haven't, try Hollow Knight, it's $20 (when it's not on sale)
One of the best in the genre, imo
get it from dodi or fitgirl switch emulator version
To this game's credit: "The Immortals" were kind of like the Persian equivalent of Roman Centurions: an ultra-elite guard for the royalty. So technically it's a historical reference and NOT Ubisoft just being lazy and shite. I mean MORE lazy and shite.
I mena it took this long for the franchise about Persia to have Immortals. Like jeez.
The Romans actually called the guys you describe "Praetorians". A centurion was the officer in charge of a "century", a formation of 100 soldiers.
Suggestion for how to lose a crown (in response to dental joke):
- Go to an annual leather street fair
- Take substances that make touch more exciting then usual but also make teeth jitter
- have a lot of fun and be too ..distracted to find some gum/something to chew on
- Have crown fall off during lunch next day
- Have a needle shoved in gums 11 times cause apparently said substances prevent the numming agent from working correctly even a day later
The Immortals were actually a historical organization of warriors in ancient Persia, in the Achaemenid empire
Yeah, an military organisation that existed more than a thousand years before the events in the game. Like having Pretorians fighting in Renaissance Italy
Not new for Ubisoft. The Assassins were the hashashin.@@1xeshm
@@1xeshm ok but like the game has time travel and magic so it’s does not need to be hugely historical.
@@1xeshm The game is clearly not set during any specific historical period. It's a mishmash of different elements of Persian culture, history and mythology with absolutely no organization whatsoever.
@@SimuLord Yeah they didn't seem that immortal when they ran into a few silly greek boys.
In fairness to the Immortals in this game...they were a real part of the Persian military 😊
Yeh but these are aren't any elite or working together guards they are diverse cast that's all shit mechanics bloated ass game with nothing to give.... boring bland shłt...
Just want to say, I love the FR theme over the old ZP one. And I'm even getting used to the paper dolls having irises.
just hope they use it when Yahtzee gets called up to NXT
Not even irises, they're all wearing spectacles
@@snackplaylove there's no way, they've gotta arbitrarily change SOMETHING and he doesn't have a last name to throw away
I still prefer the ZP intro and outro but the new one does a good job of conveying the same angry spirit Yahtzee embodies.
i agree , i like the new theme a lot better than ZP, like the red color pallet better too.
I'm glad they made this game. I'm really liking it.
Theres plenty of great "metroidvanias" but I'm happy a bigger studio is dipping their toes with a smaller budget into a genre they aren't really accustomed with and did a great job.
While there's nothing really uniquely special that sets this one apart, it's easily one of the best I've played.
I'll gladly take more like it.
At least this amulet makes your toenails grow 30% faster and not "It makes your toenails grow 1.5% faster if it's full moon and you are wearing special blue trousers and aren't wearing socks". :_jack:
That screenshot feature is actually brilliant and I wish every metroidvania had this instead of stupid pins or actually nothing to mark something I want to come back to...
I didn't give this game the time it might've deserved cuz of execs words and the announcement of closing The Crew servers.
The Crew closing the way they are is nearly criminal. They are "almost nearly" literally reaching into your digital library to remove your game.
You and me both. ...Well, that, and I just couldn't be arsed.
Seriously. I was actually going to play The Crew again this year only to learn they were literally stealing it from the library.
Listen Ubisoft, if you were going to take ONE game from my library can it be the one I actually hate in Assassins Creed Valhalla? Thanks, you pricks
I too stand with Ross Scott ✊
I didn't rent The Crew, Ubi. I bought it. If you take it away from me, that's stealing. That is what a thief does.
@@Jesse__HA thief also tries to throw out any excuse to dismiss their behavior. Fine, Ubisoft, if we can't own our games prepare to just have it taken right back and not be given a single cent.
"An excess of unnecessary bloat" is such a delightfully ironic phrase.
I seem to recall in his Hades ZP, he jokingly mentions wanting to see a game that explores Zoroastrianism instead of Greek or Norse mythology, and this game is actually sort of that.
Several years ago I made the decision to NOT give any money to Ubisoft. This proved mostly easy because so many of their games looked boring as all get out. I'll admit though this is one I've been really tempted by. Thank goodness, Mr. Ubisoft came out and told us that gamers need to get used to not owning their games to help remind me why I don't wanna support them in the first place.
There was a feature in castlevania lords of shadows mirror of fate on the 3ds that allowed you to place markers in places you couldn’t reach at the time so you remember to go back there when you’d unlocked new abilities
That "new trousers" joke hits so hard. One of the grindiest "memorize this or die," avoid the saws section gave a cosmetic reward and was the hardest side quest I did in the game.
my therapist: O-mouth Yahtzee isn't real, he can't hurt you.
2:43:
Corrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
It's the "wife's boyfriends bought me a switch" face.
the world turly wasn't ready for Pogzee
There's also after the double jump, the CAN_FLY. Castlevania tends to give you the double jump relatively early on, but holds out on the super jump which is usually gated behind the painfully slow flying transformation.
No flight / multi-jump here. The double-jump is specifically mentioned for it being in practically all metroidvanias, though to castlevania's credit, MOST of the platforming sections are designed with double-jump in mind. But yes, double-jump both reduces the difficulty of platforming sections in general, and does mean the developer ran out of ideas for basic jumping challenges.
This is where Yahtzee went!! So happy!!
I gotta say, the snapshot for map markers sounds fantastic. Big points for that alone.
Since Ubisoft thinks I should be “comfortable” with not owning my games, I’m perfectly comfortable not owning this game.
I'm honestly just glad we've moved on from Sands of Time. It was a very good trilogy but it's story is done and I'd prefer they not milk any more games out of it, do new things with the idea of swashbuckling Persian swordsman. the 2008 game wasn't even that bad if you ask me. Too bad noone else seems to agree, to the point where pc players like me can't even experience the epilogue.
Also: obligatory Eye of Argon reference
Did you know that Pokémon Swo…. Oh hundreds of people have already mentioned that? Thank god I read the comments before posting.
Finally got curious why I wasn’t seeing your vids, and honestly am happy to find this new home for all of you! Really hoping it goes well!
thanks for the subtitles ! and great video
Credits: "Treat Him Like Royalty"
Me: Like I'd do anything but
Doesn't Ori give you double jump right at the beginning and then the more creative and interesting stuff later? I have my doubts about this metric.
Hollow Knight also has a non-conforming STDJ. The double jump is completely optional for the normal ending, but if you go for the true ending it's less than halfway through the game. And they absolutely didn't run out of ideas after that, the several areas after the DJ are the best ones.
I know it's not that important, but thank god for Fully Ramblomatics intro. So much more listenable than the Zero Punctuation one. :o
Welcome back! We needed your sarcasm!
I honestly didn't mind the limited amount of those screenshot map markers, you start off with enough and by the end you have so many that you indeed could plaster most of the map with it.
Be honest: when you heard him say that upgrades to the map annotation feature were locked behind something, you assumed he was going to say "paywall", and you were surprised when it wasn't so.
it is absolutely mental how much a game like immortals phenyx rising comes up in your videos.
Mental even with how much it comes up people still spell its name wrong (fenyx)
@@machina_spirit It would appear that people put precisely as much effort into remembering how to spell as they have respect for the game.
I was at Target today and saw this on the video game shelves. I wasn't aware of it and thought it looked pretty good, so I was pleasantly surprised to see this pop up on my UA-cam homepage. Even more surprising, Yahtzee thinks its good too! I'll definitely check this one out now.
to be fair, The Immortals as a warrior group literally historically existed in Ancient Persia
now whether they had hunky boys who could parkour...time travelers will tell
You just had to bring Bluey into this 😆
Always a good day when I can start it with a Ramblomatic vid.
Im really liking the beige background. Its nostalgic, and alsi very easy to make out what's happening.
Incidentally, i know Yahtzee has slapped glasses on all the humanoid characters to avoid copyright issues... but Oversimplified also uses characters which just have white circle heads with black dots for eyes. I think it would be perfectly safe for Yahtzee to return to the old aesthetic if he wants to.
I feel the color transitioning has improved from the last video.
Great work!
Afterimage is the indie game they took the map screenshot feature from. That was the first game I'd ever seen that lets you mark your map with icons for each ability needed at that spot. It was incredibly handy, and this is just a spin on that.
I like the little puppies and the animation with yahtzee playing with his leg while watching tiktoks very cute touches
As someone who has lost a filling to a Cadbury's Eclair, that lost crown joke hit too close to home.
Thank you for not interrupting the music with an ad.
huh, that was basically a glowing review compared to what I was expecting when I heard another prince of persia game was coming out. I'll have to check this one out, thanks
I like the new theme song.
I like changing the background colors through the video.
I like this.
I do miss the old theme song but it’s good to see that you’re still in business.
I have to say i love the updated graphics on your reviews now. 2024 yahtzee png lookin like a snack.
Thanks for this review Yhatzee, it reminded me I bought a copy of Prince of Persia Sands of Time I bought for PS2 years ago and never played and saved me the money on buying this game.
Funny, fast and accurate. This is what I like about Fully Ramblomatic.
The sub-subtitle “A Ubisoft Original” cracks me up. Does that entice or convince anyone?
There is a Japanese game series about an Indie Anna Jones knock off who explores ruins to unlock pretty much everything. In these games, a key piece of equipment is your tablet, which has limited memory. That tablet can copy important information from glyphs, ruins, or the like, and store it for you, but it is limited by the memory of that piece of software with it topping off at 10.
I would say this is the inspiration for taking screenshots and posting them to the map.
Indie Anna Jones? Is that an indie game about someone named Anna Jones or a game that is based on Indiana Jones.
@@estefencosta1835 They're talking about La Mulana. The main character does look like Indiana Jones and yeah, you get the ability to save things written down on glyphs but have limited space for it.
@@estefencosta1835 blame auto correct and my exhaustion for that misspelling
@@youngthinker1 I thought it was funny. Someone needs to make an Indie game called Anna Jones, would be a great name for a parody.
Having played the whole game, this is a very fair assessment of it. I did really enjoy it, to my own surprise given the company. My only note with this review is that (SPOILERS)
Did you miss the part where Sargon is ALSO another Prince of Persia? It never actually gets brought up as part of the main quest, but a few side quests scattered throughout the game hint at it with increasing obviousness up until a late game side quest all but spells it out. Unfortunately, this revelation doesn't change the ending or anything, but it does give it new context when you realize that Sargon also has a claim to the throne.
If any group of people are going to be called the immortals then it would be the immortals of ancient Persia.
They were the first to call them self that. Which is impressive since they did it before there even was an English language.
I love this guy. British wit at its finest.
Best time of the week.
Good lord! Prince of Persia - flashback to the 80/90's and playing that on a crappy computer. Ah, hours of joy.
I can't believe you remember the start to crate ratio. Nice modern version you have there.
"...whatever plot contrivance will make you have to fight them, betrayal or mind control. Spoiler alert: it's one of those" I laughed so hard, Yahtzee is a master of his craft, amazingly well done!
Nah, if Ubisoft wants me to get used to not owning my games, they'll have to get used to me not giving them money.
That interview quote was actually taken out of context.
@@R3GARnator it doesn't matter, because that's exactly what the execs think even if they won't openly admit it
Calling the elite soldiers Immortals isn't a lack of imagination, it's a reference to history. There really was a group of elite persian soldiers called the Immortals.
Hollow Knight has a thing where you can mark points of interest on your map, which is where I think they stole the take a pic for later thing from. As for making drastic changes to the metroidvania formula, I'd recommend either improving on the "connect parts of the map together" thing Islets did or do a level-based with overworld thing like Wario Land 3 did.
Being able to place general unspecific point-of-interest markers has been a common thing in videogames since long before Hollow Knight.
Attaching screenshots to them is much more specific.
@@Cyfrik I'd note that this game has BOTH types of markers; the generic PoI markers (of different icon varieties) can be placed with no limitations, it's the photographs that are restricted.
I agree. A Pepe Silvia board would be very innovative.
Technically, you can do the photo thing with Assassin's Creed Origins. I just spent far, far too long playing that game to get all the trophies and, while it's not advertised in a manner that suggests that, if you take a picture in Photo Mode (Which I think I found accidentally, don't recall the game teaching me it), it will leave the photos visible on your map. Same with your friends' photos. No film, no other contrivance.
I can't say I expected an Old Man Murray reference, but I probably should have.
That last joke was hilarious
Holy shit, it just hit me. Between Yahtzee's avatar, for want of a better word, in ZP and Fully Ramblomatic, he's gone full on Spy vs. Spy.
The last - and still own to this day - game from this franchise that I played was: Prince of Persia (2008) - with already that shell shaded/cartoon vibe/look
Nice to hear that Yahtzee enjoyed this.
Engagement and algorithms go nuts for this engaging video!
I love the fact that I got a UA-cam ad for Prince of Persia AS this video was loading.
I really like John Egbert's new youtube channel.
I might really pick this up. Everyone seems to be enjoying it.