Welcome back, viewers.
With this month’s video haul I aimed to put together a much smaller list for y’all, in part because last month’s roundup was so beefy and many of the selections were quite long, but also because watching tens of consecutive hours of YouTube videos in a single cram session (or even two sessions) is, to put it bluntly, a lot of work! But as I started to watch, I found myself engrossed in many of the videos on this month’s long list — to the extent that, even though I knew I couldn’t round every video up, I couldn’t deprive y’all of the excellent work that came out in April. That said, I’m going to go with a post that is less structured according to theme or topic and more chronological this time, just to see how that plays out.
This Month in Videogame Vlogging highlights the most compelling critical videos about videogames from the preceding month. As always, it is supported by our readers (and viewers) over on Patreon! Consider signing up for one of our paid tiers to get access to monthly article roundups and other fun stuff.
- The Wild World of Silent Hill The Arcade | eurothug4000 (26:29)
Maria explores a very strange Silent Hill spinoff made for arcade cabinets in 2007 that follows not one but two protagonists and their group of friends as they try to escape the spooky town. Hi-jinks ensue. - How Does Rogue Warrior Fare as an Adaptation of Richard Marcinko? | Illustrious Magic (37:20)
Steven unpacks a severe mess of a Bethesda-published military-themed game while also saying a fond farewell to a long-gone era of games media. - Why This ICONIC Mario Music Just SOUNDS Like Water | Charles Cornell (17:12)
Charles dives deep into music theory to explain how Koji Kondo and other early games composers were able to nail the v i b e of being underwater with their soundtracks. - The Bizarre World of Fake Video Games | Super Eyepatch Wolf (1:54:58)
John Walsh examines the phenomenon of fake game paratexts and tries to tease out why they end up becoming so popular. (This video is an excellent complement to Liz Ryerson’s Let’s Play Life piece.) - Planetfall (But Bioshock Infinite, Really) | Talen Lee (32:25)
We keep coming back to Bioshock Infinite. There’s always a lighthouse, etc. - Austin recommends: Tales of Kenzera: ZAU (Review) | SkillUp (12:28)
Austin played Tales of Kenzera: ZAU and discovered a great Metroidvania with an affecting (and effective) story about managing and growing with grief over the loss of a loved one. - How Peyton Manning’s excellence ruined Madden, while also getting it right | Secret Base (21:25)
Kofie Yeboah spends some of Vox Media’s money to explain why Peyton Manning was such a formidable CPU opponent and a challenging player to control in games like Madden ’08, and how the player ended up being an important guidepost to his love for and understanding of football. - Stellar Blade is a Wonderful Mess (Review/Analysis) | Writing on Games (15:10)
Hamish Black touches on the contrived controversy surrounding Stellar Blade, but more so finds a game that takes big swings (literally and metaphorically) in spite of very present jank. - You DON’T Need a Backlog | Transparency Boo (41:40)
Alicia Andersson makes the case against the backlog. Basically, it’s causing us a bunch of stress and we should really love ourselves more than submit to an idea more suited for the workplace than a leisure activity like playing games. - My Life, Alone in the Dark | A Self-Indulgent Retrospective | Pim’s Crypt (1:25:11)
A new Alone in the Dark game – the first one in something like 16 years – affords Pim the occasion to tell the story of how formative this series was for them. - Games that Won’t Leave the Dark | Jacob Geller (34:00)
Jacob highlights several exceptional indie horror games he’s played recently while also touching on a common question he gets: “how do you find all these games?” and the related exclamation: “Nobody’s talking about these games!” (Spoiler warning: Critical Distance makes a micro-cameo in the video.) - The Strange PS VITA Exclusive Muppet Game | YungJunko (7:44)
Imagine if you could make a Muppet movie of your own, on the go? This dream was a reality for 2014 gamers with PlayStation Vitas, who could snag a copy of The Muppets Movie Adventures to sate their need for puppet-based shenanigans anytime. YungJunko does the assessment on this deeply weird title. - The Wii Balance Board horror game | Minimme (19:37)
The Wii was, as it turns out, an incredibly experimental game console. With peripheries like the Wii Balance Board, game studios could explore new frontiers of interactivity. How would it fare with a horror game? Peter investigates Ikenie no Yoru, a game by Harvest Moon developer Marvelous Entertainment. - Does Leisure Suit Larry have game? | Renegade Cut (17:23)
Leon Thomas continues his new streak of talking about games with a video that asks the vital question: Is Larry Laffer “a disco loser or a disco stud?”
Critical Chaser
This month we’ve got two chasers for you. Enjoy!
- Bug Testing Systems [Team Management] | Masahiro Samurai on Creating Games (4:20)
The King of Smash makes a neat little video about the dire importance of bug testing and QA support. - Why You Can’t Remember the Story of any Videogame | videogamedunkey (11:36)
… I forgot what this one was about.