The Big Damn Lets Play Pimp Post
Hour and hours and hours of work, deliberation, link-hunting, and HTML later, I present to you:
Lucy's Big 'Lets Play' Pimp Post
Or: Let Lucy convince all of you, even the non-gamers, what awesomeness you are missing out on.
What is a 'Lets Play'?
A Lets Play is a sort of funny, creative video/screencap-driven walkthrough of a video game. They originated on the Something Awful forums. The denizens, often called "goons," pick their favorite games and play through them, documenting their process.
What's the appeal of this?
Okay, to call an LP a "walkthrough" is a huge disservice to what LPers do. There are many types of LPs. The majority attempt to be hilarious, some are informative about rare games you've probably never played, and a rare few are absolute art (see: The Story LP section below).
An LP provides a new perspective on favorites old and new. They can take that classic you played the hell out of as a kid and twist it on its head. They can show you an obscure Japanese port five people in the whole US have played.
Why are you so obsessed with these, Lucy?
It's free content, for one. It's an interesting, close-knit community. The LPers come from literally all over the world (though there are a oddly high amount of French Canadians...). The forums have a history and a odd group of people and a really strange amount on in-jokes. I've been watching LPs for about a year and a half now (maybe longer) and they've been an absolute joy. I have possibly replaced television viewing with them, but since today's TV sucks, it's understandable.
What should I know about this LP community?
The forums are the epicenter of LP activity, though a whopping 337 have been helpfully archived here.
There are three types of LPs: Video LPs (VLPs), screenshot LPs (SSLPs), and hybrids. Each format has it's strengths and weaknesses.
Games are generally played on emulators (emus). The games themselves are ROMs. Some SNES games have been remade into ROM hacks by some overzealous fans. Some hacks are good. Some are... not.
Okay, I get the picture. Where are the damn recs?
Right here!
I've divided the recs into five categories. All of these are the cream of the crop. There are literally hundreds of LPs out there, I've narrowed the down to sixteen. Enjoy. :D
The Straight LP
The straight LP documents a game from beginning to end without gimmicks. They tend to be rather funny and point out things the average gamer would miss. They are often screenshot LPs because the format lends itself to the style.
Recommendations
The Story LP
Sometimes, the LPer is something completely different. Sometimes they use the game they are LPing to tell a completely story, one that can even surpass the original. These are the hardest LPs to pull off, but when they do go well, when you have someone who just nails it, you can have something special.
Recommendations
The Trainwreck LP
Sometimes, you're just asking for trouble. LPing an infamously buggy game? Doing one of gaming history's worst games ever? Playing a ROM hack without being really that good at the original game? You deserve what you get. A trainwreck LP occurs when things go terribly, terribly wrong. This happens a lot in VLPs, but only a few are actually entertaining. A very select few as fucking hilarious. Schadenfreude is so very sweet.
Recommendations
The Skill LPs
You wanna see someone kick a game's ass in seven ways, you watch one of these. LPs done by people who've played the game too many times, know all the tricks, all the secrets, and could break the engine in their sleep. Few are entertaining due to the very nature of the genre, but a few pull off impressing you and making you laugh at the same time. Here are a few.
Recommendations
The Overly-Well-Produced LPs
These are LPs. Goons dicking around for the internet's amusement for free. They should be cheap, easy, and done for shits and giggles. A select few, though, are not satisfied with that and decide to ratchet up the production values.
Recommendations
That's my pimp post. I hope you've enjoyed it. I've been meaning to do this for ages and have just been putting it off.
For the record, these are the LPs I'm currently following, in case you're curious: The Spyro the Dragon Trilogy, System Shock 2, the Banjo Kazooie series, Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee, the 3D Castlevanias (as Evil Tim is just starting the PS2 game), and the fabulous Video Game Jeopardy thread (during which I yell at the screen a lot).
WHOO. I'm DONE.
-Lucy
Lucy's Big 'Lets Play' Pimp Post
Or: Let Lucy convince all of you, even the non-gamers, what awesomeness you are missing out on.
What is a 'Lets Play'?
A Lets Play is a sort of funny, creative video/screencap-driven walkthrough of a video game. They originated on the Something Awful forums. The denizens, often called "goons," pick their favorite games and play through them, documenting their process.
What's the appeal of this?
Okay, to call an LP a "walkthrough" is a huge disservice to what LPers do. There are many types of LPs. The majority attempt to be hilarious, some are informative about rare games you've probably never played, and a rare few are absolute art (see: The Story LP section below).
An LP provides a new perspective on favorites old and new. They can take that classic you played the hell out of as a kid and twist it on its head. They can show you an obscure Japanese port five people in the whole US have played.
Why are you so obsessed with these, Lucy?
It's free content, for one. It's an interesting, close-knit community. The LPers come from literally all over the world (though there are a oddly high amount of French Canadians...). The forums have a history and a odd group of people and a really strange amount on in-jokes. I've been watching LPs for about a year and a half now (maybe longer) and they've been an absolute joy. I have possibly replaced television viewing with them, but since today's TV sucks, it's understandable.
What should I know about this LP community?
The forums are the epicenter of LP activity, though a whopping 337 have been helpfully archived here.
There are three types of LPs: Video LPs (VLPs), screenshot LPs (SSLPs), and hybrids. Each format has it's strengths and weaknesses.
Games are generally played on emulators (emus). The games themselves are ROMs. Some SNES games have been remade into ROM hacks by some overzealous fans. Some hacks are good. Some are... not.
Okay, I get the picture. Where are the damn recs?
Right here!
I've divided the recs into five categories. All of these are the cream of the crop. There are literally hundreds of LPs out there, I've narrowed the down to sixteen. Enjoy. :D
The Straight LP
The straight LP documents a game from beginning to end without gimmicks. They tend to be rather funny and point out things the average gamer would miss. They are often screenshot LPs because the format lends itself to the style.
Recommendations
- Leovinus' SSLP of Final Fantasy VII, AKA the LP I've read +10 times.
"Suicide mission." "Whatever Robert decides!" "Suicide mission." "Whatever Robert decides!" "Suicide mission." "Whatever Robert decides!" "Suicide mission." "Whatever Robert decides!"
.................... I HAVE AN IDEA
"Right. Irvine, Quistis and I will go back to Balamb and warn everyone to evacuate. Zell, you're going to the missile base to stop the launch. And - Christ, I'm a genius - Worf and Selphie will help. There's no time to lose! You must go right away!"
Leovinus plays FF8 like it should be played: as bitchily and sarcastically as possible, epitomizing the trope Only Sane Man. Expect a lot of flack given to Zell, Rinoa to be renamed Worf and given a move called "Vaginal Cannon", Kiros to be Awesome, and one of the Greatest Moments in LP History at the final battle with Ultimecia. Tell me the guy didn't have it coming.
I loved FF8 very much despite it vast flaws, and Leovinus just makes me love it more. Also? He plays a thirty hour game and doesn't let it get boring. That's impressive. - Vlaphor's SSLP of I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream, AKA the LP I will never reread, but throughly enjoyed.
Hate. Let me tell you how much I've come to hate you since I began to live. There are 387.44 million miles of printed circuits in wafer thin layers that fill my complex. If the word hate was engraved on each nanoangstrom of those hundreds of millions of miles it would not equal one one-billionth of the hate I feel for humans at this micro-instant for you. Hate. Hate.
As opposed to Leovinus, Vlaphor does not try to add too much to his game. It needs no additional snark or commentary. IHNMaIMS is the story of AM, a supercomputer, and the five humans he keeps and tortures mercilessly. The game is complex with interesting (if terrifying) situations and characters, and Vlaphor does an amazing job documenting it and giving me nightmares as he does so. Don't read this one before bed, it is potent Nightmare Fuel. - Eela6's VLP of I Wanna Be the Guy, AKA the LP that proves that all an LP needs to be awesome is singing and sadism.
Once again, this has been Eela6 from Something Awful. You can reach me at eela6@yahoo.com or at my Something Awful thread, but I no longer give a shit about your criticism because I'm two seconds from being done and I finally beat The goddamn Guy and I'm so sick of this bullshit [...] 'Cause you know what, screw this shit, this is so fucking annoying. Do you have any idea, do you know how long it took me to beat The Guy? Do you have any idea at all? Five. Fucking. Hours, you assholes. FIVE! FIVE! Think about that for a second! Five hours for a fucking three minute boss fight! I'm gonna have three minutes of video for five hours of work. Jesus!
IWBTG is a fan-made game devoted to making you cry. Everything is an instadeath, everything is trial and error, everything is Nintendo hard to the nth degree. Fruit flies up, the Moon tries to kill you, you can be killed during a certain cutscene, spikes are EVERYWHERE, and your first boss fight is a gigantic Mike Tyson. Eela6 takes on the game and brings it to its knees. And then rocks out about it. I still randomly scream, "no, I WANNA BE THE GUY!" at moments of frustration. - Evil Tim's VLPs of The 3D Castlevanias, AKA the LP that proves that funny enough commentary can save any game.
"By the power of Zeus... I return. I am Evil Tim and this is Castlevania 64. I apologize for the temporary hiatus. I've got some cream for that now, you don't have to worry."
"That seems to be a reference to gunpowder which was invented by Chinese alchemists. Now, alchemy, for those of you who are unaware, is the study of not knowing anything about chemistry or economics."
"And now we face these military rotating things, which are a cross between a hedge trimmer and a windmill, so they are silly, [knocked down] but they are effective. But we can easily circumvent them with out kn- [falls] Hm. Not with our knowledge, how about with our for- [falls] Not with our force. Hope about with our.... IMMENSE DICK. [succeeds] Ah, yes, that worked, as I'm sure you'll all find."
"Right, so." [expect a lot of this]
Evil Tim is the result of a freak accident involving cloning, condescended drollness, and the DNA of Eddie Izzard and John Cleese. My favorite single LPer, he is so very, very dry and deadpan, providing running, constant commentary through the entire video. He imitates voices, makes obscure references, and turns some pretty shitty games (I should know, I was dumb enough to play them) into hilarity. His first three videos are rather slow, but once he makes it out of the Forest of Silence, the laughs get exponentially more frequent. Highly recommended. Seriously. This is how Eddie Izzard would play a video game.
The Story LP
Sometimes, the LPer is something completely different. Sometimes they use the game they are LPing to tell a completely story, one that can even surpass the original. These are the hardest LPs to pull off, but when they do go well, when you have someone who just nails it, you can have something special.
Recommendations
- Chewbot's SSLP, The Terrible Secret of Animal Crossing, AKA possibly the greatest LP ever made.
This image is better than anything I can quote.
Follow Billy into a dark, terrifying camp he cannot escape. This LP is a masterwork, one of my favorite pieces of any kind of media. Chewbot spins a dark, genuinely scary story1 with the help of his own artwork, inspiring even a sort of audiobook from some of the readers. I... cannot praise this enough. If you click no other link in this post, pick this one.
1 - Note, I am a wuss, but I found it scary.
Also, if you like this LP, try Chewbot's Oregon Trail LP, which is similarly brilliant with one of the the most explosive finales ever. - Breetai's SSLP of Fallout 2, AKA the LP with the world's most lovable brainless tank.
Herro. Me name am Trogg. Me am mightyfine young man from village of yoyo. Me am very strong mightyfine young man. Everyone in villiage knows this. Everyone say "No-one thicker than Trogg". They see Trogg strong make Trogg happy.
Me am very excited. Why me excited? Because me am soon go on wonderful holiday. Me Gram-Gram tell me that me am to go outside of village for first time ever. YAY! First, me Gram-Gram tell me to go to temple. She say big surprise waiting for me in there.
Breetai's custom character in this F2 LP is Trogg, who could be kindly said to be mentally challenged. He is incredibly dumb, very strong, and the narrator of this LP. Seeing the crisis in F2's post-nuclear world through the eyes of Trogg is sometimes funny, sometimes sad, sometimes just plain confusing. It's one of many stories that the game could tell, and a compelling one to watch unfold. A nice twist two-thirds of the way in shakes things up as well. - SynthOrange's SSLP of Princess Maker 2, AKA the LP that has Gendo Ikari as a... halfway successful father figure.
GOD: "This darling child has lived in the sacred light since the time she was born. She is an innocent soul, and know nothing of the impure world of mortals."
GENDO: "And you want me to teach her all about the world and its impurities, yes?"
GOD: "NO! I'm entrusting you with this child."
GENDO: "I fail to see how this can turn out badly."
This LP is a riot. Keep in mind SynthOrange basically asked the goons of Something Awful to tell him how to raise little Lizzie Shinkicker. It... goes about as well as you think, starting as something played for lulz until the forum discovers it's repressed paternal instincts and works to make Lizzie the best fighter, cook, and debutante in the kingdom. Highlights: Druggie fairy parties, Lucifer being a pretty cool cat, and a War God getting his ass kicked.
The Trainwreck LP
Sometimes, you're just asking for trouble. LPing an infamously buggy game? Doing one of gaming history's worst games ever? Playing a ROM hack without being really that good at the original game? You deserve what you get. A trainwreck LP occurs when things go terribly, terribly wrong. This happens a lot in VLPs, but only a few are actually entertaining. A very select few as fucking hilarious. Schadenfreude is so very sweet.
Recommendations
- Pokecapn's VLP of Sonic the Hedgehog (2006), AKA the LP that science can look to for a classic example of the six stages of grief.
In the beginning, there was a goon who was very fond of Sonic games. This goon had an idea: play through Sonic The Hedgehog 2006 from start to finish in one sitting.
This LP has become legendary, and deservedly so. Pokecapn, Kung-Fu Jesus, Medibot, and Vespucci are a group of goons that apparently live close to one another and every few months pick out a game to play from start to finish with live commentary. Forty-seven videos, two and a half hours just of loading screens, fanvids, and a wicked on-going contest document their time spent with Sonic 2006.
I don't suggest watching all of this LP. I watched about twenty-five videos. but the beginning and the end are priceless. In this LP you will find grautitous loading screens, a physics engine that is FUBAR, a human/hedgehog romance, and a million bad design issues that will do nothing but cement in your mind what you might have already known: Sonic Team needs to be outlawed from making more games. - Proteus and Suspicious's VLP of Daikatana, AKA the LP that will fill you with the undeniable urge to punch John Romero in the fucking face.
"... You know, this door is supposed to be open, so I have no idea what the hell is going on."
"Wait, that door is supposed to be opened?"
"Well, at the end of the cinematic, the door is supposed to be opened."
"Oh my god, this game."
[Suspicious and Proteus proceed to no-clip to get on with the game.]
"Welcome to Daikatana, folks! You are witnessing an epic LP."
"It gets worse."
"... How can it get worse than having to no-clip to progress in the game?!"
For you lucky souls who don't know, Daikatana is the worst game ever made. It makes Sonic 2006 look like a well-designed Game of the Year candidate. It is the masterpiece of John Romero, who was once a legend in the gaming community. Until This Game. Daikatana single-handedly brought down Ion Storm. Yes, the company behind fucking Deus Ex was killed by this game. It is a buggy, horrible, overwrought, green-and-brown game that Romero still defends to this day. Apparently it's not his fault you can't play his "expert FPS". Then again, this is unsurprising: one of the early ads proudly proclaimed John Romero's about to make you his bitch.
Follow Proteus and Suspicious through this travesty of gaming. Soon, you, like Proteus, may have to buy BioShock just to cleanse yourself with a good FPS.
"I want my fucking money, John," Proteus's forum title still proclaims, waiting to be reimbursed for BioShock by Romero himself. - Zomodok and Diabetus's VLP of Legend of Zelda: Parallel Worlds, AKA one of the two LPs that contains an LPer having a mental breakdown2.
Two ROM hackers named Euclid and Seph set out to shatter our fond memories of LttP. Through sprite enhancement, overworld rehauling, all new dungeon designs, and a lot of Beamos statues, their masterpiece, Parallel Worlds, took all that was good about LttP and set it on fire, as they vigorously chewed and digested all of the positive energy of LttP and shat out the most gut-wrenching thing that has ever dared to be shown on a SNES emulator. Parallel Worlds.
Needless to say, Zomodok developed premature Alzheimer's by the time he reached the Icy World of the 2nd quest. So here I am. Already being a carrier of a chronic illness, the efforts of Parallel Worlds to infect me with other forms of bodily harm will hopefully be stymied. We'll finally learn if those action movie cliches are true, that sheer resolve and gumption will let you do anything in 90 minutes, leaving maybe a small cut on your face to show for it. Let's go.
Oh, my first Lets Play. Parallel Worlds. A soul-crushing (and simultaneously hilarious) romp through a vicious ROM hack made from the SNES Zelda. This is a rather star-studded LP, with the legendary Diabetus providing commentary, the amazingly nerdy Oyster loaning his navigation skills, and other LP Superstars guesting. I don't know how to describe this except brilliant.
In particular, the second quest is amazing. It's done by Diabetus who turns LPs into art through the magic of video editing. Parallel Worlds Radio, you live on in my heart.
2 - The other is Axeil's VLP of Super Metroid: Redesign. His breakdown in the final video is quite spectacular. Also, the ROM hack creator, Drewseph, joins in the commentary about midway through. Very nice guy.
The Skill LPs
You wanna see someone kick a game's ass in seven ways, you watch one of these. LPs done by people who've played the game too many times, know all the tricks, all the secrets, and could break the engine in their sleep. Few are entertaining due to the very nature of the genre, but a few pull off impressing you and making you laugh at the same time. Here are a few.
Recommendations
- Kung-Fu Jesus's VLP of Kingdom Hearts 2, AKA the LP that murdered KFJ's hard drive and he STILL finished it. That is dedication.
Kung-Fu Jesus and Medibot (of the Goon Group mentioned above) play the much loved Squenix/Disney bastard child. The gimmick here? No cutscenes, no saving (kinda, KFJ's hard drive crashed halfway through, long story), just a very fast-paced run of the game done by someone who is really great at the battle system and is unafraid to mute the annoying in-game music and replace it with something he likes.
It's very amusing to heard Medi and KFJ try to fill in the plot that they have skipped. Better though, is the intro. People who've played KH2 are aware that the opening Roxas portion takes about three or four hours to complete. By skipping cutscenes, KFJ cuts that time down to forty-two minutes. - The LP Superstar Ensemble's VLP of Kaizo Mario World, AKA the most skillfully done trainwreck ever.
The opening intro after hitting "New Game" drops a Thwomp you. Yes, you can die before even entering the game proper.
Kaizo Mario World (sometimes known as Asshole Mario, fittingly) is tackled by the big names of the LP subforums: CHEER at the French-Canadian lilt of Psychedelic Eyeball as he abuses the save state button! LAUGH as Proton Jon screams in horror at the biggest Dick Move in a game made up of Dick Moves! PUZZLE as you try to figure out what language Wugga has slipped into in a fit of rage! - Flare Elevar's VLP of The Spyro the Dragon Trilogy3, AKA when you managed to impress me, a Spyro playing rockstar, you deserve some props.
[discussing Tree Tops, referred to in the thread for weeks as THAT LEVEL] There's a very special portal lurking nearby. It feeds off the fears of mankind, lurking in the shadows, gathering strength until the day comes when it is ready to strike. It's THAT LEVEL. Let us not spend overlong in this shadow of fear. The day will come when we must gaze into the abyss, but it is not today. The day will come soon. Very soon.
I love this series. It was one of my first real games, my very first PSX game, and it started my still-ongoing affair with Insomniac Games. Flare Elevar takes a series I consider sacred and he does it right. He's got mad fucking skills, he has a very consistent style, and a very good commentary style (he uses subtitles instead of voice-over, so not to block the beautiful Copeland-arranged music). This LP has such a loyal fanbase (myself included) that when school gets in the way of his updating, his fans tell him "don't worry, we will wait, take your time and deliver us a good video." On the LP Forums, this is unheard of.
Also, for anyone who's played the Spyro series, go watch his Tree Tops video. It is amazing.
3 - This links to the ongoing thread on the forums. Flare is about halfway through the last game as of writing.
The Overly-Well-Produced LPs
These are LPs. Goons dicking around for the internet's amusement for free. They should be cheap, easy, and done for shits and giggles. A select few, though, are not satisfied with that and decide to ratchet up the production values.
Recommendations
- Cybershell's VLP of Sonic 1 & 24, AKA the LP that has the mouth of a trucker and the glam of a rock star.
[insert a long stream of rambling commentary with R-rated language]
If you're like me, you were never good enough at Sonic to finish it. Cybershell's got you covered, showing off the games in all their flash-bang glory. Not for the easily offended- Cyber's got quite the mouth on him and starts every video by rating the difficulty of the zone's enemies on the "C***-O-Meter".
4 - Another ongoing, but the first two games are totally done. - RedChocobo's series of Pokemon SSLPs: Emerald, Crystal, and FireRed, AKA the LPs that got everyone addicted to this fucking series again.
Trainer's Log: 30.03.06
Shoryugget and I continue my trek through the treacherous Petalburg Woods. There are horrible insects the size of my arm everywhere. Our supplies have run low and I find myself being driven mad by the swarms of bugs that accost us. If things continue as such, I fear we may have to resort to eating Marshall, who is easily the most useless among us. Wait, rustling in the bushes ahead. End entry.
I have nothing interesting to say (possibly because I've been working on this post for fucking hours now), but these SSLPs are great. RC creates whole characters out of the player avatar and forms teams that you will fall in love with. He also tells his story his drawings, all of which are very good and often very funny. One quick note: read the LPs in the order listed, or else you will miss some intercontinuity jokes. - Robotnik DDS's VLP of Tryrush Deppy & Super Tempo, AKA the LP that may require recreational drugs to understand.
No quote this time, because I wouldn't even know where to begin. So these two are obscure little Japanese games for the Saturn. Robotnik turns them into... I honestly don't know how to describe it. Every video is a new, strange, uncanny adventure into WTFery. One TRD video has director commentary by George Lucas. Another has a freestyle Harlem beat poet thing going down. One ST video has an interview with the main character years after the "role" was done. One has a radio DJ dealing with requests, commercials, and weird callers. A particularly crazy one is VOed by some Russian lady.
Honest to god, I have no idea how this LP was done, but it's done completely straight and completely batshit. And kind of amazing.
That's my pimp post. I hope you've enjoyed it. I've been meaning to do this for ages and have just been putting it off.
For the record, these are the LPs I'm currently following, in case you're curious: The Spyro the Dragon Trilogy, System Shock 2, the Banjo Kazooie series, Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee, the 3D Castlevanias (as Evil Tim is just starting the PS2 game), and the fabulous Video Game Jeopardy thread (during which I yell at the screen a lot).
WHOO. I'm DONE.
-Lucy