Best video game analysis videos you’ve seen

[StaceyPowers]

I wanted to start a thread for sharing excellent video game analysis videos.

To kick things off, I will share this amazing mathematical analysis of the ending of Stray (SPOILERS, obviously):

 

 

 

Edited September 6, 2022 by StaceyPowers

[Withywarlock]

I've always liked Chris Davis' videos. His Isometric RPG retrospectives are incredible, delving deep into the history of the development, the problems occurring and the quirky solutions required to overcome them. Noah Caldwell-Gervaise is another great YouTuber who is rivalled by Davis', who also does RPG retrospectives. Lorerunner is also a good pick for someone who does nice videos that appear rambly but are full of sage wisdom when it comes to literature critique and game design. Ben 'Yahtzee' Croshaw does Extra Punctuation in both written and video format, where he takes a particular topic of interest and breaks it down from his perspective of a reviewer and games designer. He's also willing to critique his own games.

However, my absolute favourite video series and the one that got me through Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin was... "In Defence of Dark Souls 2 - A Measured Response," wherein MauLer tears down another YouTube's defense of a hideously broken game. For about 9 hours. There's merit to the idea that if you require that long to discuss something you're not good at discussion or debate, but there wasn't a word wasted in those 9 hours from the host. It's my favourite piece of media to direct someone to when they want to know about good games critique and discourse.

EDIT: How could I forget Karl Jobst? You know a YouTuber's good when you have no interest in the subject matter unless it's solely this person talking about it. Great analysis and reporting upon speedrunning history and news.

Edited September 6, 2022 by Withywarlock

[Kane99]

I don't watch much as of late when it comes to video game analysis. Though I would like to know more channels that feature documentary style gaming videos. Kinda like the Gaming Historian. 

Others I like that I would recommend are (All of which I'm subscribed to): 

Did you Know gaming - Does a lot of documentary style content about games, some you may not even know about.

Larry Bundy Jr - I think talks more about bad kickstarters, bad games, and other such things. 

LGR - Retro PC tech and retro gaming. Most focus is on the retro games, old PC devices/peripherals and old PC builds. 

Matt McMuscles - Discusses bad production of video games in his What Happun videos, where he goes in depth why a certain video game (or other media like movies, tv shows, etc) fail to live up to the hype or fail completely. 

Metal Jesus Rocks - Does content on retro game collecting/game collecting in general. May not be really about analysis. But I believe he worked for Sierra in the past and has discussed some gaming history on his channel. 

Modern Vintage Gamer - Does more content about retro hacking and retro games. 

My Life in Gaming - Like if PBS made their own YouTube on video game history. 

Rerez - Reviews of usually awful games and devices, really fun channel. 

Slopes Game Room - Kinda like a semi-documentary/mixed with top tens

The 8-Bit Guy - Does content about retro PC tech, and has some game content here and there. 

The Act Man - Does mostly reviews and content on gaming topics. 

The Game Chasers - They have a documentary series where they go hunting for retro video games and action figures. I highly recommend checking it out. It's like American Pickers, but for video games. 

The Game Theorists - Discussion about gaming theories. 

Sorry, this kinda went down to a rabbit hole of suggesting too many, and probably some of these don't really fit the whole video game analysis. But I think most of them do, as they do kinda show game history in the process. 

 

[Empire]

It's the exact opposite for me, to be honest. Looking at games through a more critical eye has only led to me appreciating the sheer amount of work that goes into their design more. There's stuff in games I would have never known about if it weren't for critics.

[Heatman]

I have seen so many good video games analysis but the one done on Ghost of Tsushima by LazerzZ is quite impressive and I enjoyed watching it. 

 

 

[killamch89]

Fudgemuppet - They cover a lot of content about the Elder Scrolls Lore in Skyrim and they did in-depth reviews of Skyrim and the DLCs and also pointed out many things we'd have missed.

[NightmareFarm]

 

Very comfy watch 

[Ajibusu]

1 hour ago, killamch89 said:

Fudgemuppet - They cover a lot of content about the Elder Scrolls Lore in Skyrim and they did in-depth reviews of Skyrim and the DLCs and also pointed out many things we'd have missed.

I learnt a lot about how to play Skyrim better from watching their game analysis. I would say that they always do better with explaining little details that can make the game fun for anyone. 

[Justin11]

This IGN review on Dying light 2 is superb and most certainly exposes every single glitch ,bug or undeniable awesomeness of the game.

 

[killamch89]

On 9/29/2022 at 10:20 PM, Ajibusu said:

I learnt a lot about how to play Skyrim better from watching their game analysis. I would say that they always do better with explaining little details that can make the game fun for anyone. 

Yeah and they also cover things that we might have overlooked in the lore as well.

[Scorpion]

That sounds intriguing! I recommend "GVMERS" for deep dives into game histories. Their analysis of RPG mechanics is particularly insightful!

Edited November 5 by Scorpion