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Sir Daniel Fortesque, who fell at the first charge!
Everyone remember playing the demo of Medievil, but it didn't actually sell all that well, so nostalgia aside, is it any good?
Join me as we go back to 1998 and save Gallowmere from the evil Zarok, i'll be finding the hidden chalice weapons, analysing the mechanics and then asking the simple question...
Medievil, was it good?
Thanks to the Patreon supporters and Twitch subs who keep the channel going.
Sir Daniels janky control and combat is actually thematically on point with his character whether by design or accidental i cant say. He was never a knight or a warrior. He gained his position by just telling tall tales and lies and somehow managed to convince the king he was some great warrior which explains why his combat is mostly spamming swings and even his lock-on isnt a guaranteed hit
This info came from a comic you could unlock in the recent remake, right? So it's a pretty new thing to add to the lore, but it's quite divisive amongst MediEvil fans if this is how Sir Dan ought to be presented. That, along with how Canny Tim was apparently a woman disguised as a man according to that comic as well, if i remember correctly. Ruffled some feathers amongst fans as well, because there was no reason to make Canny Tim a woman. The Heroes of the Hall might not be super deep, but they are still memorable. That said, another way the janky control and combat could be explained... is that he's a skeleton. Rigid, weird movements of something that has been in the same position for *years* on end would make sense for his state of being. And a lack of sinews can't do muscle memory any good, either.
@@jurtheorc8117 I think information about Sir Dan being a storyteller was in the PS1 Manual
@@michaelfortesque1331 i'd have to look into that. Thanks for telling me!
@@michaelfortesque1331 Yup, all in the manual, and many heroes in the hall make fun of his shortcomings as a warrior and hero either overtly or by accident (like Canny Tim commenting about how it isn't terribly clever to shoot someone in the eye...).
@@jurtheorc8117 the Hall of Heroes references this a little by mocking him and telling him he spent to much time playing croquet with the king. On a side note, i miss actual instruction booklets. One of the best parts of old school games. Always got some really cool lore in those
Always thought it was grossly unfair of everyone to mock Dan about his death. It's not like he chose to be shot with an arrow.
At least not all the Heroes mock him for it. Stanyer Ironhewer seems to be among the nicest of them all on that front.
@@Dragon50275-og2gn Well it was his organizational skills that brought the charge together. So credit to where it's due.
@@Dragon50275-og2gn Yes his death was a joke. But he wasn't completely useless in life.
Also, the battle took place with Zarok's army covering the high ground atop a cliff; SOMEone was getting hit in that volley of arrows, (although, yeah SHIELDS) and Dan was at the front, sooooo..... Wrong place, wrong time, I guess. Bad positioning all around, but gravity is still a bitch.
@@Dragon50275-og2gn Idkn. It seems kinda easy to play a hero when you’re already dead. Not like he’s risking his life or anything
The fact that Dan's VA wore a bucket on his head when recording all of Dan's lines was so darn good. :D
Raziel from Soul Reaver didn't have a jaw either, while the voice actor was excellent he should be speaking like old Fortesque here.
@@LegendaryDarkKnight602i imagine he can telepathically speak
@@realamericannegro977 Didn't think about that.
@@LegendaryDarkKnight602ironically both characters were tragically killed in the intro who eventually redeemed themselves after death
@@constipatedparker5879 Also true but Raziel's ending was sad and depressing. It's like he really wasn't given a choice, just my opinion.
I remember as a 6 year old dropping whatever I was doing to watch my mom play this, and my mom is not someone who has ever cared about video games but for some reason she would play this one randomly. Needless to say the game holds a special place in my heart
I have a similar memory with m mom but it were og LucasArts (Lucasfilm Games) point and click games.............. and Wolfenstein 3D for some reason
Gaming memory with my mom was with the pikmin games lol not a gamer but she’d play that
My siblings and I watching my mom play TombRaider II and Starfox 64 haha
Awwhhh! That's adorable and wholesome.
Your mum had good taste back then this game actually had atmosphere an some humorous an slightly disturbed enemy designs
Some notes for things you missed. You chocked Zarok not being able to relsease the shadow demons as video game logic. He needed the shadow artifact to release them but couldn't find it. Once you found it he then sent soldiers out to take it from you which you then kill. You referenced the dragon having a bad voice. It was a parody of Sean Conery as a reference to the movie Dragon Heart.
Lol i though It sounded like a bad Sean Connery!!
So many 1990s Sean Connery movies with him trying to do something different with his thick Scottish accent and sounding ridiculous.
I'd never played this game but I had as a child watched Dragon Heart like 50 times so as soon as I heard the voice I knew it was a parody of Sean Connery.
If I'm not mistaken the point of the shadow demon thing is why does Daniel proceed to release the shadow demons if he really didn't have to. He had the artifact and killed Zaroks minions when they tried to take it. So if he just kept the artifact on since he was inevitably gonna hunt down Zarok there was no real reason to release them
@@gstellar96 afaik he doesn't really mean to let them out, he needs the shadow talisman from their prison and accidentally releases them in the process of getting it
This was one of my favourite games ever. Whilst I don't really disagree with any of your criticisms; it is UNFORGIVABLE that you did not mention the absolutely amazing soundtrack. This game has some of the best music of any game.
Scarecrow fiellldssssss!!!! Love the remake so much
Absolutely true! I listened to the soundtrack like hundreds of times.
Agreed. The soundtrack and sound design is flawless.
I'm really curious to know if the composer of this game ever worked on anything more than Medievil.
Yes! So good!
It's so interesting how the perspectives can differ so wildly. I personally loved the overall lack of repetition in the puzzles, everything was uniquely thought of for better or worse which kept me interested. It was just another layer of not taking itself seriously, just showing us a good time!
Exactly! I loved it because in that way, every puzzle was different and original
I personally don't think mechanics being a one-and-done thing is bad game design, it's inefficient game design yes, but a lack of repeated mechanics doesn't equal a bad game.
I half love the fact everything's new. Half hate it. It took me ages to figure some if this shit out cos it'd never happened before
I guess it really depends on your preference for mini game compilations
My parents had no interest in modern games but Medieval really stood out to them as a something that makes you realize "oh games can actually be pretty good art". The stained glass demon level was a highlight to them, especially how it fell to the floor and shattered when it died. The game had amazing atmosphere.
This was Banjo Kazooie for me, my mom still talks about the eaglet you save in the seasonal tree level lol
Mario 64 I remember I woke up to by dad cussing cause he couldn't get passed the first bowser
I like this more than the ps4 verison of that boss
Honestly a big part of the suspense in this game is the fact that every level is it’s on unique level filled with one off mechanics. You never know what’s going to come next until it happens and it’s up to you to figure out how to overcome and move on through the game. I loved that feeling as a child of never knowing what was going to happen and my imagination ran wild every time I was in a new level
This, this right here is what Josh got wrong, and I just made the exact same comment just worded differently.... then scrolled down to find this =D .
@@CoalCoalJames 😁 great minds think alike bub. Really though that sort of one off mechanic carried on into the second game as well and the best part about it was that it all came in the form of puzzle solving!
I'll help signaling this up! Creativity is key in this old games. People could really create very unique parts for specific places and as a kid everything feels new and exiting, you did not need to master mechanics as a kid, you only needed to try it once and go "ooooh" or "cool" and move on
Each level felt so distinct, I love them all
@@luciacriscuolo9379 they just don’t make games like this anymore. Everything is pretty much handed to the player and there’s no freedom or thought process to any of it
Personally I have no issue with the one-and-done mechanics or puzzles, which seems to account for most of our difference of opinion here. I do appreciate the discussion of layering and developing mechanics, but I like the variety Medievil offers, and I didn't ever really find myself wishing that certain specific puzzles or mechanics were re-used. I enjoyed them as they came up, and then moved on to the next one.
I imagine they had a lot of fun at the studio, just coming up with any crazy random idea they could think of and jam it into the game somehow, it felt like such a rich little game at the time. He fixates on this too much but its a matter of taste I guess.
the "one-and-done mechanics" thing is a bit repetitive on his part. id say the rat, the chicken and the chess were all the same mechanics presented in a slightly different way as to not feel too much repetitive. i don't get why he would want mechanics repeated over and over. he should try assassin's creed. it had 2 mechanics repeated ad nauseum.. i still loved that game at the time thou lol
I'm inclined to agree. Honestly, I was confused why some areas they had issues I couldn't recall them being as bad, despite doing a run not that long ago. However, some areas they breezed through gave me absolute trouble. One example was the Return to the Graveyard bit: oddly... I never had this issue. In fact, I had no idea you COULD backtrack to the ORIGINAL location and that the RETURN one was its own map. Granted, I would have liked it to be where you DID have to backtrack and make use of the lore reading you did to figure it all out. But, I will say this: if Josh did have issues with THIS one, the sequel would be almost a repeat. In fact, much of the second game did fix some mechanics, but it has the one-off situation occurring too often (the boxing level, anyone?).
@@Laguccia He would despise AC
@@Laguccia It's because of his love of MMO's I presume, where doing the same thing over and over throughout is the main emphasis of the gameplay loops.
Losing your sword to imps is the true experience. Seeing my dude run around with basic daggers and the severed arm halfway into game is peak keks.
Did you not know you could buy it back from the gargoyle? 😅
I got to admit, the voice actors meshing a bunch of different accents with a French one is pretty damn funny
This game was LITERALLY one of my first memories as a human being.
"Lah luh-luh-luh-LAAAAAH!"
Same here.
Same
Same. The intro is like a core memory for me
Same
I personally like how most of the mechanics stayed in individual levels instead of being repeated and expanded upon. It allows for the levels containing them to feel fresh, but also keeps them short, so that when you replay them later they don't overstay their welcomes.
Agreed. I do kind of wish they'd done some more with the dragon armor, just so I had more incentive to use it after going through the boss fight to earn it, you know? But I personally liked how each level came with new mechanics. For me, it broke up the usual hack-and-slash and encouraged me to try stuff out in a new level to see what did and didn't work.
The issue is, besides the unique mechanics, there is nothing else to each level. Once you overcome a level-specific puzzle, that's it; the entire 90% rest of the level is either horrendous platforming or mind-numbing combat. And this is 1998, there were games before this that nailed either of those. A core principle of game design is to have mechanics that become expanded & iterated upon. Take DOOM (1993) for example; you shoot an imp in the first level. In episode 2, you shoot more imps, but now with cacodemons. But now you have more weapons that help you deal with dangerous situations. In DOOM 2, all of this gets cranked up to eleven, but the main mechanic stays the same; shoot, circle-strafe, study the merits of each weapon, save good weapons for when you really need them. MediEvil never does this; the crossbow is nearly identical to the longbow, the fiery longbow, the axe, the magic longbow, the only thing that's different is damage (the ricochet effect barely matters). Its only ace in the hole *ARE* the unique mechanics, which are one-offs. You never become better at MediEvil by solving puzzles which you never encounter again later. This applies to any game really. That's why the Asylum Grounds and the Sleeping Village are some of the best levels. You don't wrestle with the camera, you don't fight, you don't platform; you avoid enemies and figure a way out by thinking outside the box.
Main complaint is that designers didnt reuse assets
@@noxanneballadynasowacka6125 Terrific means to take all intrigue or creativity out of game design, getting caught up with supposed "core principles" will result in producing by the numbers corporate trash. Doom didn't start slow and escalate tension because that's a "core principle" of game design. It did it because id wanted to give the players a set of training wheels with which to leap off into the rest of the game from. Come Doom 2 they escalated further because they had a firm grasp on what the players wanted and more importantly the technology allowed for it. Ascribing surface level game design theory to the process just seems deeply masturbatory. Unique mechanical puzzles are not an inherently bad thing and in a 3D platforming adventure like Medievil I'd argue the exact opposite to be true. When you're playing through Medievil every level feels like a unique place, for the most part the individual mechanics just feel like something you'd encounter naturally in the setting of the world, that level of mechanical freshness and immersion in the world is far more valuable than gradually filling up a bowl of relentlessly choreographed mechanical soup because that's apparently just what you're meant to do.
A few strong core mechanics that are later combined in novel ways is better than a disjointed collection of novelty gimmicks.
Feels wrong to hear the complaints about life when he only have 5 life bottles. There should be 9 in total. Ten if you count the full healtbar. That's 3000 life points + 3 shields
Yeah, this guy sucks at it and tries to blame the game. Except for the ghost ship m1 is pretty easy
This and the difficulty of fights when he is using the arm half the time, after not priortising getting it back when stolen
@@Kukakkau When facing imps, he should use the club. You get a new one every time it is needed, and kills way faster.
It's funny how Dan becomes so much stronger in Death than in Life.
And you ALWAYS topped off your HP in a previous level before starting a new one, just on general principle. Same as how he mentions going back to the tomb level to freshen up on gold and daggers, but doesn't apply the same logic to health?
Man this game looks charming as hell. We need more goofy Halloween type games
It is very charming and has a great (for lack of a better word) 'gothic' soundtrack too. Same with its sequel.
I have never heard someone talk so much about MediEvil for so long and not even hardly mention the *incredible* sound design and music.
Because he’d be lying about the music.
He was too busy spending an hour complaining that a game isn't repetitive enough
@@RedDragon1444 I don't think he wants it to be more repetitive, he just wants to see all these fun one-off mechanics used to their full potential instead of being a throw away idea never to be utilized again.
That being said, he does kinda harp about his complaint a little too much. It starts to get old.
@@rowdyrobgaming8726 he did.
Probably the reason this game didn't sell well because it had legendary competition. MediEvil came out in 1998, but do you know what ELSE released that year? Ocarina of Time, Banjo Kazooie, Crash Bandicoot 3, Half Life, etc etc. The game might have been decent, but it was never going to realistically compete against titles like that.
it also had the heaviest competition shared within the same console: MGS1 & RE2.
@tiggy wiggo I’d argue it’s likely that it was so novel (and heavily marketed) as to be remembered this long, and that’s why it received a remake.
Nah. It didn't sell well because it got so many releases on demo disc, and that way most players had their fill of the game without buying it official.
@tiggy wiggo it actually got two remakes, there's one on PS4 and one on the PSP
Being someone who had a ps1 and had every game you mentioned, I never heard of Medevil until I watched Caddicarus's remake video on it. But it does look like a great game, child me would have loved it.
So, medievil is my favorite game ever, it was the first video game I've ever played, and every year at least 3/4 times I play it, it never gets boring. This year I have arrived at 66 times. I agree with some points such as the camera that is not always good, the controls that are a bit difficult but you can get used to it, but I disagree with the fact of the “wasted mechanics”. In my opinion there is no lost potential, having unique mechanics for each level is something I really appreciate. The fact that something happens maybe only once makes that level stuck with you more, and when you think about it you say (example): “wow how nice, do you remember that in the gardens there was the chess puzzle?”. That’s what I mean, these unique little mechanics don’t seem like wasted occasions, but things that make the level even more unique and memorable. I'm sorry for the long comment, but I still really appreciate the video, your opinions and the fact that it has so many views, I'm glad that people can remember or know this game, which in my opinion, no matter how many flaws it may have, remains perfect (along with 2). I must also say that I am pleasantly surprised by the comments, I did not expect so many points of view so disparate, but above all polite. That’s it for now, keep playing, and if so, thank you for “wasting time” reading my comment. Cheers from Italy :) 🇮🇹
I think the looks of the game made it 90% nicer for me, i just love this goreish halloween horror looks. I also love that the game has a simple story and its not a very long game, my favorite game.
The charm of the characters and levels carries this game for me.
Man I'm just sitting here thinking," this dude really went almost half the entire game with just an arm, a club and some daggers." Then you even found a way to get more gold and still refused to buy your sword back lol. Pretty bold move, I like it.
No lie, I'd probably do the same thing if it meant not spending a single penny.
@@JeremyFinch42 ... Curly would say..."oh, a cheapie ayy?"
I did ITS is actually possible the win with only your arm . EXPECT the Piraten ship Level, and for zarok you need to have at least 3 health bottles.
Fr it just angers me. He complains about stuff bc he was playing it wrong.
I get your point about combining puzzles/ideas for a new encounter BUT i don’t think lots of unique puzzles is necessary a bad thing.
It's a theme through all of Josh's videos, that he really dislikes when games don't develop or combine it's mechanics. Personally I think there's a balance, as repeating the same mechanics would also eventually become tiresome regardless on how you used them.
@@SiggsGBR my thoughts exactly 👍
@@SiggsGBR I kind of get what hes saying but the complaints felt kind of contrived.
Seeing Josh go into the Scarecrow Fields level with only his basic arm equipped made me shed a tear for the poor man. He set himself up for a tremendously difficult time lol, that level is hard even with all the chalices up to that point
may be one of the most hated for me! xD Although I remember the water with lizardmen jumping out level being very hard too
I'm a bit surprised that you didn't get all the chalices, or at least that you didn't mention that it unlocked a slightly different ending where Dan joins the Hall of Heroes, it's not much but I like that Was it good is usually a really thorough format. Still a great video, looking forward to the next one!
so instead of going to sleep in his crypt he winds up in this games version of Valhalla?
@@DaWombatGaming togueter with the weird flirty lady
@@DaWombatGaming he ends up in his crypt just as shown here, but then there's a supplementary scene where what I suppose to be his soul (still in skeleton form, so idk) arrives in this world's version of Valhalla yes. This is really more a bonus ending than a "true" ending though, as it's not aknowledged in the sequel (the sequel acknowledge very little of the first game tbh, even some good ideas like how Dan talks aren't respected, still a good game to waste a weekend on though)
Doesn't he mention at the start that he's going to be getting all chalices too? Seems a bit weird to cheap out
Came here to mention he says in the intro he was gonna get chalices. Can't remember how it works, but maybe he missed one late on and didn't want to play again. I can relate.
Medievil was one of my favorite game growing up, and while I respect your opinions on the games you cover, I think you were being a little harsh on Medievil. Yes, it's entirely true that the game often only uses it's set-pieces/mechanics once, but I do not see that as a bad thing. If anything, I see it as not making the game stale or repetitive by using the same thing/gimmick over and over again. As for Zarok being a mad scientist, yes he is, but he is also a sorcerer, so you are wrong when you say that he isn't. I think that the only reason that the gargoyle head calls "science" a form of sorcery is because it does not understand what science is, and therefore assumes that it has to be some form of magic. I also do not find it strange that Zarok is using science alongside magic. If you read Zarok's diary in his library (the same room where you find the book with the "Card Tricks" joke), you'll learn that he was doing scientific experiments already 100 years earlier (as he mentions that Dan was a snooping busybody), so Zarok using science doesn't come out of nowhere, and this whole time machine that he has made is as far as I can tell not completed yet (and that's why we don't see any time traveling shenanigans). While I would agree that the camera is a bit of a pain in the ass, please keep in mind that Medievil was the team in questions first 3D title, so they didn't quite know how to get the camera right (a problem that was quite common back in the day). I must also point out that you missed out on the "Good" ending of the game, since you didn't collect all 20 of the chalices. I'm not saying that you HAD to do that for this video if you didn't have the time/energy for it, but just throwing in a line about how there is a "Good" ending if you collect all 20 would have been quite nice.
Based
Couldn't agree more, he was far to harsh on it. But he reviews games for a living I don't... I stand by what you say though.
Didnt know Josh made a video on my favorite game, I goto watch it and he gave it a lukewarm review. My heart was crushed. He needs to re-do this one
is there a way to play this on PC? this was also one of my favourite games growing up
@@krellin I don't think that Medievil ever got an official PC port. So, outside of emulators, I'd say that the answer is no.
The Italian voices are worth the whole game by itself 🤩 The heroes in the hall are connected also to each other, the Magic sword one diss the golden shield guy. For example.
Ti serve per caso na spada maggica? 😂
You skipped over a LOT in the ant caves. Aside from it being an endless maze that nobody liked, those fairies were EXTREMELY important. Freeing each fairy will give you a small amount towards your chalice, freeing all of them will give you the full 100%. And each fairy freed gives you one extra ambient light, each a different color. I should also mention, this is the only chalice you get without killing anything. Ants don't give you chalice progression, and it is very important to have this chalice, as it is needed for the full 9 life bottles and making the final fight easier.
its strange that your negative was using alot of one use puzzles to figure out, which is literally one reason why I at least loved Medievil, it doesn't get boring or repeative when there's new stuff around every corner to figure out.
i dont disagree with you, but i think his point was how they added stuff that was one off. they didnt reuse it for things later that would add to the experience.
@@marcosdheleno Yes it's a misunderstanding in design philosophy, it's not that they "just didnt" it's that they made the choice not to ...giving it much thought.
I kinda agree with this, as I was watching the video I was thinking - ok devs decided that instead of 1-3 mechanics that will you repeatedly do throughout the game which may get boring and well “repetitive” you are constantly being introduced with new mechanics that keep you entertained
Yeah I can't believe he's complaining the game is not repetitive enough...what It's clearly a design choice requiring higher effort and time from the Devs, it should've been praised not the opposite..
@@Flanteus It's not about reusing the same mechanic in the same exact way. I think he's referring to layering what you learn and combining those mechanics to keep them interesting. Outside of that, keeping levels different is great.
I completely disagree on the arm as a weapon bit. Not being able to use a shield makes complete sense. Not only can you not physically hold one, but it's punishment (or perhaps 'encouragement' is a better term) for not having another weapon. Sure you still have a way to attack, but if you want to defend, stop using your arm and get a real weapon
Would be nice if we can combine the arm and the shield, a more deadly boomerang
The arm weapon isn't even bad, especially the throwing. It's a decent weapon and saves you ammo etc.
You are indeed correct, it's both a failsafe and a punishment. The problem with it, though, is how early the game introduces the thieving imps. The best you can have at that time is the sword, club, daggers, and crossbow-and there are two thieves in that level, with the second placed right next to you after a room transition. It's honestly a really evil trick against new players because they are almost guaranteed to lose the sword. And with so few weapon options, the only way they're going to get a real weapon is to restart the level or spend time grinding gold. I'm sure that alone has soured a lot of people's first impression of the game.
@@ShimiDia I just threw the arm against the imps anyway.
Just like... Don't let your sword get stolen. It's not that hard.
Medievil is a gem. Beautiful game. I've spent so much time on it, replaying it over and over.
I love the game but hated the difficulty lol
@@theory816 It wasn't difficult, really. Except for some parts. Sadly the game is too short.
@@Omnimon152 I was a kid when I played it and needed a manual to beat the puzzles lol. But I remember it being very difficult.
@@theory816 Same. At the time, I didn't have access to internet and I asked my mom to bring me tips she find at her work. I was like 8 or 9 years old. I enjoyed this game so much that when the remake was out, I finished it completely in one day and half.
@@Omnimon152 Yea its a goat game. Wished that the present had more games made with the same passion. It sucks because games nowadays suck. Cars also suck as they arn't made like they were used to. Marketing is killing society.
Even if it was the same voice actor for every thing, he did SO WELL
Every level having different mechanics that are suitable for it is one of the best things about this game in my opinion. Feels so fresh and unique. I cannot express the love I have for this game and the only minor issue in my eyes is the camera in some places.
yeah medievil was a great game,i played when i was 5-6 years old back them,and i didnt knew english and didnt have internet back them,so i just played the game and passed a lot of times,the harder moments for me where the puzzles and the garden puzzles, but i never found it booring or unapealing to me.and that was when i didnt understood anything of the story,only that i was a cool skeleton knight killing zombies and bad guys.
pretty much the same here haha@@andermedievil
I dont understand the issues with one and done mechanics. It means the devs legitimately had enough ideas to make every level distinct from another. And the whole backtrack system really is only present in two levels. I adore this game, this was my legend of Zelda. The music, the theme. Games a classic that just got overshadowed by other games. Besides bad camera and controls were basically staples for games back in those days. I mean look at super Mario 64.
@@Anedime you do understand how small this dev team was for medievil right? It was considered indie before indie was coined and small even by that times standard. Couldn't get bored with this short gem if I tried.
@@naiveveg8447 Combining different mechanic could have benefited a small team. Instead of 20 unique mechanics, you create 10 and mix them up. Either way, not reusing ideas at all is a strange design choice.
Not even start to mentuon the technical limitations of the time. People forget that a lot of things in really old games were almost invented for that game before becoming staples for the industry in the future. Not really the case here, but there were a few interesting ideas that weren't implemented well enough (camera and aiming).
The whole comment section idiotically misunderstood the very basic thing he says. He says you do a bunch of combat and then a random one off event. Then a bunch more combat. Then another one off event. He is saying these two things should have been incorporated into each other. 200 stupid comments from stupid people who barely understand context
@@PotatoSofi 4real. 3D just got started
This game is really interesting and I’ve never played it. The level design and some of the mechanics that are only used once, make it so unique. I think I want to play it now
What a fabulous game! Given the amount of real-life inspiration I had to chuckle at Josh’s comment at 24:08 that it was a “bit random” to “encounter the snake spirit on a farm”... while it is indeed random to find a _large chest_ in the middle of a harvested field, encountering a snake most certainly is not! (Edit:) Some feedback… the context of this game being a 1998 release seems to have gotten a bit lost here, and some of the criticism seems a bit unfair. For example, at 44:05 you talk about how the game has no stealth mechanics such as noise meters, radar, etc.... then _“but seeing as this game came out in 1998 - the same year as Metal Gear Solid - a shoe-horned-in suggestion of stealth with no mechanics attached to it probably wasn’t the wisest of choices”_ and link it to the single use of mechanics throughout the game. Games released in the same year were obviously worked on simultaneously, and new mechanics aren't generally shared between dev teams since they are going to be a game's big selling point. These are also games in different genres, with different budgets, dev sizes, etc… I doubt the Medievil devs even knew about Metal Gear Solid's stealth mechanics with the time to be able to build it in as a joke. Having grown up on Space Quest, Super Mario, LucasArts, etc, this struck me as another classic 90's fun, puzzle-filled game with witty & sarcastic lines throughout for the benefit of more mature players. In-game references to stealth feel more like stand-alone sarcasm _a la_ Monkey Island. Similarly, I’d guess that mechanics were only used once because they were fresh to gamers in ’98 & puzzles didn’t need to be as intricate as today. It's like criticising Mario Kart for not using the driving physics of Gran Turismo... the context is really important. I enjoyed this video, but several comments just really stood out to me because your commentary is usually a lot more contextual than this particular case. Cheers!
Not even mentioning the fantastic soundtrack, this game had oddly good voice acting for it's time. The voices of Zarok, the gargoyles, and Tim have stuck with me through the years since I played as a young kid. Voice acting wasn't really a big deal in video games until Metal Gear Solid, which coincidentally also came out the same year
I remember the voice acting to be terrible compared to other top games of just the same year as you mention RE2 and MGS are examples of good voice acting. Music isn't bad but compared to games coming out at the time like Metal Gear Solid, RE2, Banjo-Kazooie, Ocarina of Time and Baldurs Gate to name a few that have sound and music that has influenced generations of games.
It's not just the voice acting itself either. The audio sounds way less compressed than most games of it's era.
@@Jrock420blam You are just posting this everywhere, if you are going to troll you have to be smarter and more subtle.
@Haze ohh yes, anyone who doesn't blindly agree with you is a troll master edgelord, of course your name is Haze
@@Jrock420blam RE2?.. Good voice acting??? LOL.
That part about the Graveyard having 2 levels.. one before and one after the stained glass demon. That is so you can see the diferences from how the world changes from what you did. Like the water going down, and other enemies coming in. Also it makes it easier to make the stages use less resources. Since you then have half the level be removed. SO you can another half of the level added. As well as make it so you can go back to the old level and get the challice. Since the second time you go back. You have another one.
This is so obvious i can't believe the author didn't realise it.
It's amateurish programming. You can accomplish all of that without needing 2 copies of the same level that must be manually chosen between.
@@tj12711 You say that. But did you take into consideration the hardware limitation of the ps1 from that time? It was a first for many game devs at that time. To make 3d games. Especialy for the ps1.
@@harkenrebirth 3d has nothing to do with it. And nope, it isn't a hardware limitation. Any hardware that can handle world map stage selection already handles logic to determine which stage to load rather than having a preset ordering. Even NES games like Mario Bros 3 could handle it. The logic is very simple: just a Boolean or two to store some necessary info on what has been accomplished in-game so far, and upon selecting the stage it checks those Booleans to decide which version to load. The most likely explanation is one of the devs was inexperienced, and nobody corrected their mistake because they had a weak conception of UX and intuitive design (as most studios did in the 90s and 2000s) and so didn't think much of it.
I know it isn't a perfect game, but the charm it holds and the meaning this game has for me will always make it my favorite game ever.
i love how well the side missions are integrated to the main story
What a masterpiece. Talking about redemption, I see that you didnt get the "good ending", when you get all the calixes Daniel finally is welcom into the galey of heroes and obtains his own statue, becoming a true hero of gallowmere.
“Zarok being a mad scientist never comes up in his boss battle”, ten minutes later, “Zarok turns into a robot dragon”
The part where he says that Zarok using science doesn't really make sense, and outs him as just a scientist rather than a sorcerer, Im pretty sure that wasnt supposed to be taken seriously, but as a joke. Like, "what is this black magic?! oh it's just math."
@@SalemKFox It was also somewhat hinted at, due to the fact his gun using soldiers showed up earlier on before the reveal. The comparison between the early modern theme undead and Dir Daniel's knigh theme should have been the hint.
would make more sense if he piloted a robot dragon he built rather than using magic to turn himself.
I played medievil resurrection on the PSP as a kid and loved it. I fell in love with Dan as a character, selling himself as a hero and actually being a buffoon, the aesthetic, the weapons. After that I played the original on ps1 and my love for the series grew exponentially. It makes me sad to know how this series will never see a Medievil 3, Medievil 2 is fantastic and the PS4 remake made me feel like a kid again! Medievil might not be perfect, but I think that just makes me love these games even more
Playing the original, I always had the impression that Dan was always a hero, but that people had confused him for a buffoon because he died in the first volley. That he was leading. From the front. Ahead of his men. There's a reason Canny Tim respects him, Tim was his squire. He knew him.
This game has been in forgotten hidden pocket of my brain and I would have probably never remembered it ever existed or all the the great time I had playing this game if it wasn't for this video to pop up on my list. Thank you sir.
I feel like Josh missed the mark a lot in this video, the most egregious being "Zarok being a mad scientist is never brought up again" followed within a minute or 2 with the line "Zarok uses magic to turn himself into a MECHA." It's a goofy game that doesn't take itself seriously so who cares that you go to a ghost ship? Each chalice gives a weapon that enemies are weak to in the very next level. Daniel is redeemed by going to the hall of heroes if you collect all the chalices. Josh never enchanted his broadsword. There's just such a lack of effort shown its off putting
He misses the mark a lot with a lot of games. But you can't say that to him. He's not receptive. Any time I've seen someone say something critical of anything he says or does, he deflects with a snide, passive-aggressive comment... instead of maybe stopping and considering the feedback. Josh is basically one of those folks whom, in their own mind, are always correct, and can never be wrong. I've seen it a number of times in the way he responds in his comments. I've heard it a number of times in how he replies to people on his streams.
I've never seen it him even reply to comments on here. I've watched all his stuff a couple time cous some are so long you need to, to take everything in. If it's not to much trouble could you possibly copy a few for me or point me to the right place so I can see exactly what you mean. Cous I do get the same feeling you talk about but I wanna be spot on and know if I'm going to say something like that in comments. ???
He does mention the magic sword, whether he felt the need to get it or not could be seen as abit lazy for sure but at least he does mention it...I just felt the need to mention this.
An absolute classic. Fun gameplay, fantastic music, interesting artstyle and a hilarious story. What else could you ask from a video game.
microtransactions and a battle royale mode lmao imagine
@@bryanhaha1234 I easily can, todays comapnies love raping old classics for everything they can get away with. And they can get away with a whole lot.
I never played the first game and instead was introduced to the sequel. I was 6 years old and was scared shitless of that game but now it's one of the most nostalgic things in my memory. Every time I hear the museum music it takes me back to my childhood.
Same! I started with the second one as a kid, and I remember thinking it was some kind of nightmare before christmas game. I was scared too, and some time later, when I got older, I finished it and is one of my favourites now. The museum is also one of my favourite tracks
I remembering loving this game as a kid, great review, made me nostalgic
Great review but I would disagree on the one-off mechanics necessarily being a bad design. If you have enough of these mechanics to fill the whole game so each level has something new and unique, I see this as a positive
Yes, and you could then take those unique ideas and combine them in a future level, to make even more experiences.
@@JoshStrifePlays yeah, you're kinda getting some flak for that, but I get what you mean. Why not take all the neat and unique ideas and then build on them to make something better than the sum of its parts?
@@claven1231 is this objectively better than creating separate new mechanics? I lean towards yes, but I don't think I feel as strongly as Josh does about this. The impression I got from Medievil was that this was intentionally done, for better or worse.
@@JoshStrifePlays hard disagree. In this era of gaming, assets were limited and so finding ways to make each level feel unique was crucial. One of the ways to do this was to have completely unique design of puzzles, mechanics etc. This game was a masterpiece at the time.
@@JoshStrifePlays so its not bad design, just wasted potential
So I think the "not reusing mechanics" thing is more the developers trying to keep you thinking, to keep puzzles fresh and not feel like you're just doing the same thing over and over. I actually really appreciate that because sometimes you have to stop and think "okay, how do I approach this" instead of "oh, I've seen this before, I'll do the same thing and blaze through this". For them to come up with so many per-level gimmicks really highlights the effort that was put into this game, to make every area look and feel unique.
it was really because they had never made a 3D game before and didn't really know how to expand upon the mechanics to make them part of the game past a one off, so it was easier to make very simple gimmicks rather than developed game mechanics. The game was very janky even for it's time. Also had fun with it but it had it's flaws for sure.
Yeah that was a weird "critique" he kept repeating over and over in the video. I don't see a problem with that, if the game had the same puzzle mechanics each time it would get repetitive.
But, as you said, they are just gimmicks. Less is more.
@@itsnoteasybeinggreen7076 It's his standard or measure of game's quality. The better or best games using fewer mechanics in new and challenging ways so it is satisfying as you beat a puzzle, parts of which you saw before, but with a new factor in it, or with the parts being put together in such a way for the first time. It logically follows that, if you have several interesting puzzles, you would get even more interesting puzzles by combining, with some skill to do that correctly of course, these previous puzzles in different ways. It is a hallmark of a great game as opposed to a 'just good' game.
Alot of love was put into this game. When I played it as a kid I couldn't beat it without a manual lol.
Funny thing about the german version: For some reason, Sony seemed to have only this one team of german voice actors to do the voices for pretty much every major PS1 release, that was completely localized, including this one. It made things really funny, because you were hearing all of the same voices throughout completely different themed games. When I played Metal Gear Solid for the first time, I couldn't stop laughing at Liquid Snake, because he was voiced by the same guy who did Dr Cortex in the Crash Bandicoot games (and Ocelot had the same voice as Uka Uka) and he had a really goofy sounding voice, wich made it pretty hard to take him seriously. You basically had the same people voicing MGS, Crash Bandicoot, Spyro and Medievil among others. When I replayed Medievil after a decade or so, I totally forgot, that it also had these voice actors and when I entered the Hall of Heroes for the first time, just to hear the german voice of Otacon from MGS at the first statue, I couldn't help but smile. These voice actors weren't exactly great, their performances ranged from okay to shitty, but they were also really charming and I feel extremely nostalgic when I hear them
I have the exact same experience every time the TV plays cartoons/anime that were dubbed by the exact same 8-10 greek voice actors, 5 of which also played in famous TV series so it is always so bizzare. Voice acting in general must be really niche in countries that don’t typically produce original digital content.
Just discovered this channel, and the in-depth PS1 analysis is just top notch. Loving it dude!
This goofy-ass game is my favorite of all time. The music is top notch, the janky art style is great, and the subtle humor throughout is swag as shit. I've got Sir Dan tattooed on my shoulder, and go back at least once a year to give it another play through. I've been waiting and hoping for you to cover Medievil, and you, Mr. Hayes, are a pimp for doing it. You're the man, thanks for giving some attention to these old classics.
Oh man, the MUSIC!
Mate, I've got a Sir Dan tattoo as well! 🤝
I see we are all tattooed people of culture~
You were happy with this review as a fan of the game?
I find it hard to see a game always doing something different as a bad thing. SO many games just pound the same mechanics down your throat ad nauseum and I remember loving that this game didn't do that.
I agree. And it's funny how, had this been how the game was created, it rightly might have been panned for being too video-gamey and repetitive. "Oh, right, reuse the same mechanics over and over, just with extra mechanics thrown in." I think it's a common trap reviewers fall into, latching on to some potential gripe, so it becomes such a focus they lose sight of the bigger picture.
Spot on. I have no idea why Josh is complaining about it.
@@LithiumLogica Yeah his Croc review felt more like Was It Any Innovative instead of Was It Any Good?
its not like only two extremes exist. He was ofcourse asking for a middle point because some ideas did not feel complete enough. He did not say use all of them 1000 times. (sorry for copy pasting my own comment from another response )
While it's good that it has several different puzzles (unlike something like Skyrim that has basically the same puzzle in every dungeon), I think he just meant there should have been a middle ground. There's nothing wrong with bosses having their own gimmick imo but I agree with him that some of the platforming puzzles could have been explored more since they're pretty basic
18:00 Uh... You just need to kill the goblin, you can follow it. We figured this out as kids when we were 12.
So glad you made this video. Medievil I&II where my favorite games as a kid. Was absolutely obsessed with playing both on my busted PlayStation 1 that had to have a matchbook under one side and a book on top to even get it to read a game
This game holds up to me. Personally I don't mind the variations in mechanics you highlight as gimmicky, I found it fun and it contributed to each level having its own character.
This is my take on it too, there's always something new and charming and it always makes sense and the fact that it doesn't need to rely on repeating the same puzzles and mechanics is what made it so fun.
Yeah, constantly ragging on the game for doing something once and only once feels weird to me. Would it be fun to do the corkscrew platform raising more times? I don't really think so, no.
@@MateriaGirl What do you expect? he's an MMO Whale in denial that wants repetitive bullshit.
Just for reference, the dragon chase FMV was actually part of a cut 'chase sequence' level that would'e bridged the gap between the Ruins and Ghost Ship perhaps a little more logically.
Medievil was one of my all time favorite during the ps1 time. and i was very sad, that the sequel never came to germany (i think) but i heard it was not as good as the first one. and after hearing, there will be a remaster, i was so happy.
Huh? It came to Germany; I had it as a kid. It was a different setting, sure; but I enjoyed it immensely, still. Honestly, I think part 2 had it’s own very lovely charm to it. Hol’ dir nen Emulator und Spiel Teil 2! :)
Here's a tip for you. In the areas where you have the thieveing imps, equip the arm before you take them on. The arm is the only weapon the imps cannot steal from you. Yes lower defence but if you want to not have to splurge on getting your sword back in the early game, this is a nessecary tip. I know this as this happened to me and I experimented when playing this game many moons ago.
Watching the opening here. The PS4 version is not the first time it got a remake, the PSP had it's own remake of the game too when it launched.
I played the PSP version by far the most, very much an important game to me.
@@notnoodle2196 Dude, I feel that; I got my first job as a teen JUST to buy a PSP and MediEvil: Resurrection. They went all out with the soundtrack for the PSP remake, too, like, City of Prague Philharmonic? Hello?? A lot of love and care was put into it, and it really shows.
@@SkippyDaemon oh totally, it is a remake with serious love poured in to every part of it.
One of the best games ever
such a cool game with a unique style. the odd angled environments were a great way to work with the warping on PS1. Not recycling mechanics keeps the gameplay fresh. funny writing, too.
Man, the memories... The PS1 era will always hold a special place in my heart. Especially now that modern emulation has made it so damn easy to check out all those titles you either missed back then or that were never released in your region. There simply are some aspects to that era's approach to game design that have been lost to the ages and that are not only flavourful, but in some regards even superior to their modern equivalents. As for Medievil - something about the clash between the happy-go-lucky atmosphere and the horror aesthetics really freaked me out and almost made me feel queasy after playing this game back when I was a kid. This, alongside the cutscene accompanying the first zombie encounter in Resident Evil and Treasures of the Deep (that goddamn giant eel...) dominated my nightmares for a while.
I played this game again after so many years on a ps2, it was still really good and snappy. The dark and gritty atmosphere (like a lot of ps1 games) is unmatchable
The once-used mechanics are often better left used once. They make those moment more memorable within the level they are in, even if they may get forgotten about. But to combine them in different ways for new challenges? Some of them would become very annoying and a pain to complete.
I don't think one-off mechanics are a bad thing inherently. I haven't played the game but it seems like they are there simply to change things up and introduce fun ideas. Where it would become a problem is if the player is given a unique way to interact with those mechanics but they are never repeated. For example, if you needed a lantern to light the way in a cave, but after the cave there are no other dark areas in the game. Now the lantern is useless aside from any secondary of combat effects it has. Zelda games do this a lot. I don't think that is the case here because most of the unique mechanics are tied to platforming and puzzles and don't have any interaction with the player's items. It's certainly a shame that they were not fleshed out as much as they could have been, but personally I don't hold it against the game.
I've been obsessed with watching through all of these. So addictive
I'd love to see a run of Medievil 2. It's the one I find more memorable for some reason and it'd be interesting to see how the series progressed between the two.
The arrow scream is also in dungeon keeper. Torturing heroes in the torture chamber.
I played this game so many times I knew the best path to take to always have the best weapon for each stage. BTW: -in return to the graveyard, in the bridge, you can fall on the top of a coffin to reach a secret area -You can reach the castle stage with the lightning. Use it to easily kill the demons and save the farmers. Now run after them to receive items from them -The final boss can be easily deleted with the Dragon Breath. It's so overpowered you can one-shot him if you get a good hit -If you get all chalices, during your final visit to the Hall of Heroes, you can see a statue for you there. And you'll unlock the extended ending
I think I used the Chicken Drumstick to "kill" the demons and save the farmers. IIRC you can get the drumstick prior to getting Lightning.
@@vahloksekun646 If I am remembering correctly, you get the Chicken Drumstick from the witch in Enchanted Earth after getting the amber from the ants. Though I always use the Magic Longbow to kill the demons.
One of my all time personal favorites. Awesome vid as usual dude🤘
I remember playing Medievil as a little child on my psp, I always referred to the game as ‘Szkieletorek’ (I am polish; it’s basically skelly) and I was obsessed with it, it brang me so much joy.
Now, if the same mechanics were re-used on multiple levels, it might be criticized for being too copy paste, clearly a lot of thought went into creating 8 hours worth of unique mechanics. I played the full version of this game on PS1, and it was one of my favorites. The clown puzzle in which you had to get all 5 faces to look at the clown shrub was the bane of my existence.
...The tilting platform fight, was my soul crusher.
Clown is easy enough. Each face stays facing forward for a different but fixed length of time. The player needs to start from slowest/longest facing and work back to the fastest one last. Not an uncommon mechanic in games of that time.
I'd love to see you play Spyro 1 or Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage. Ripto's Rage has more mechanics and unique interactions, but Spyro 1 is viewed as a classic.
Can't agree more.
I always prefered Spyro 1, as the 2 adds some mechanics that are not refined. While playing Spyro 1, I find everything is very consistent. But, still, Spyro 2 is an enjoyable game ;)
Plus then he can get Dayoman to make a cameo in the video. Best Spyro 1 speedrunner. Shit at every other game. Great guy.
Yeah, but YotD is still the absolute best Spyro game. Fight me.
God I remember this on psp and it was absolutely incredible. It made me pick up the original on PS1 and it instantly became a love of mine. It's so nice to see and hear this game (not the 2019 remake) being spoken about more,
One of my all time favourites! Really fond memories playing this with my brother and friend.
I'm surprised you didn't mention the secret good ending for getting all the chalices. Adore the Crystal Caves music I still listen to it, to this day. Love the series Josh I think we had similar gaming experiences growing up so keep on keeping on, much appreciated.
If the last thing he got was the Lightning then it means he missed 5 chalices. Doesn't suprise me considering how long he went in the beginning with no sword and not getting any of the initial chalices right away. It is strange that he didn't 100% the game though. He usually does do that for these reviews.
@@AndresLionheart Honestly, this was a pretty bad and unfair review. I haven't watched a review from him where I got mad before now.
@@felixader look for my independent comment, I have included some of my grievances there.
@@felixader This was maybe the worst and most unfair review I've seen from you Josh. This was the first time I became angry as I watched it, because it doesn't even look like you tried. You didn't collect all the chalices, you moseyed around with just your arm, you misconstrued the fact that Zarok is both a sorceror *and* a scientist and you refused to acknowledge that all the puzzles and mechanics were organically set into all the stages, because modern games have somehow taught you that games should always recycle mechanics and puzzles regardless of how well they'd fit into the stage. This game was a wonderful gem from the 90's and should be considered as one of the holy grails on how to make an adventure game.
It is worth remembering that while Josh may love this game it doesn't mean he has mastered it. He may well not have achieved the good ending and it does seem he missed some story beats along the path but no one can 100% every game. The cornfields level has a hint about the rise of tech with is harvester which is both hilarious and terrifying. I do disagree with his views on the mechanics, I feel the themes are consistent even if the form of the mechanics change. I wouldn't mind seeing his views of Medievil 2.
I actually like when mechanics are used only once, DKC2 has every level be a gimmick and if you happen to not like the levels gimmick you can be relieved that in future it won't be reused. (unless you're going for 102%)
Sure, but the mechanics do last an entire level and get explored for a while.
@@AlbertBalbastreMorte Yes. But I don't think a level in medievil that was an escape sequence where you need to rotate dozens of platforms up to get out of a hole would've enhanced the game THAT much.
In a game completely full of unique and cool mechanics, you're mad that they didn't use them over and over. It's not repetitive, they are not bad mechanics, and you always have something new to look for.
I second this motion. He harps on it so much he seems to forget that some games get praised for their variety of different puzzles. Would they have been stronger if combined with other challenges, maybe, that just isn’t the way the devs went.
If they would use mechanics over and over again he would probably say the game is boring and repetitive. I don’t understand him constantly harping on this.
Yall weird asses, he didn't say make it repetitive. Way to strawman.
I was born in 2005, so I had not enjoyed the game at its first release, but all of a sudden my uncle talked me about this game and brought the PS1 he had from the 90s with the game in and I started playing. I almost immediately fell in love with the game. I remember also that he did not have a memory card with it, so I had to restart the game each day and replay the same starting levels, almost always ending on the Stained Glass Demon, but then my uncle bought one so we together could progress thtrough the game normally. I really love the game to this day and I'm still playing it, having a PS4 on my own now and having 100%ed the normal PS4 version.
I don’t get how the variety of mechanics that you said were great is a bad thing that you keep coming back to just because they aren’t repetitive. It’s much cooler that they keep coming up with new ideas imo. But I haven’t played the game yet so maybe you have to before understanding
Was thinking the same, so many games today just lazily use the same mechanics over and over again. just to stretch the game without adding any value.
Get used to that criticism. It often reappears in his videos.
The point he is making imo is not that they are only used once,its that they are not reaching their potential. If some of them were used just once but in a satisfactory way that made you go "ok they did all they could with that and im satisfied" it would be no problem but it seems like ideas were abondoned too early. To give an extreme example to make a point: imagine if mario games only had one level with a moving platform or something. or only one room of portal had portals. or doom used the imp enemies only once. there is merit in variety but they already designed and made the stuff. just more of it please.were not saying remove everything else and only repeat stuff.But sometimes i rather have 10 ideas that are ocean deep than have 9999 ideas of a puddle depth this is not me criticizing the game btw just my thought on reusing and expanding on ideas vs one-time only design choice.I have not played the game yet.
This dude has some of the worst opinions on games I've ever heard man, just get used to it lol. Still entertaining enough.
Having played all three versions of the game (the original on PSX, the first remake on PSP, and then the new remake on PS4) - it's just sort of a game from a different era. I'm new to the channel so I have no clue how old he is or what he grew up playing, but games from that time period tend to go completely against the sensibilities of modern gamers just because of all the innovations and QoL that games made in short order in the late 90's and early 00's. This was still the wild west of 3d game development, development teams didn't exactly have a blueprint of what worked and what didn't so they tried things they thought were cool and saw what stuck to the wall. If the goal of this video was to judge it on, to quote him, "how good it was for its time" then I think it failed to do so based on the contents of most of the critiques. MediEvil's competition when it came out were games like Croc, and the Jersey Devil, while its contemporaries that it was in the ballpark of but didn't quite meet head on at times was Crash Bandicoot, Spyro the Dragon, and Super Mario 64. Something this video also doesn't acknowledge is that a big reason that the PSX struggled with analogue control titles in its games, and why developers of games such as Rayman 2 had to fight so hard to get full analogue in, is because the Playstation 1 did not ship with analogue-compatible controllers, the standard controllers only had the D-PAD. If you wanted an analogue controller, you had to buy it separately, and many developers were tepid about the prospect of pushing a title that required peripheries (which is how analogue sticks were seen. Recall that at the time, for home consoles, the idea of using an analogue stick was fairly new. Pong was the only thing before then that really dabbled in it, and the N64 was the first home console to standardize the inclusion of a joystick.) It was seen with the same lens we viewed motion controls when that was new - a glorified gimmick. anyway my bottom line is that i think medievil is a perfectly fine game as long as you're comfortable with the more ergonomic games that play like they're from 1995-1999, as functionally, even the newest remake does.
I do not mind the "one off mechanics" as you call them, in fact I think I preferer them. I do not want to do same thing over and over again for 3 times at least just with a different twist. I would rather have a corkscrew rising platform once in a game, than say have a corkscrew platform, than few levels after a corkscrew platform that can only be raised by a follower NPC, than a few levels later a corkscrew platform that raises on its own but you actually need to lower it so you have to run counter to its rotation. It might seem interesting first time you do playthrough, but on every following re-play of the game your brain would just go "I'm doing same thing I did couple of levels back but with a new twist just to pad out the length of a game". Its pretty much on the same level as having a gauntlet of previous bosses before the final boss.
Yeah I prefer something once than obviously just as padding or its like game design 101, platform, platform with NPC, and down platform, seem like really bland and shallow design. It's almost cliche. I know exactly what you mean but can't remember any games. But games where you walk in and go 'oh another blank puzzle, where's the puzzle fixer this time'
Yeah, I really don't understand this complaint either. The mechanics are straightforward enough that it's obvious what you need to do. The fact that there are so many mechanics that are only used once really indicates that the team were willing to go that extra mile but didn't want to succumb to the trope of - 'do this same thing 3 times in a row, each with a slightly different twist'. I definitely don't think it's bad design choice to do this, so I'm not sure what he's talking about. It's probably because they intended you to play the same levels over and over so they didn't want to bombard you with the same mechanic.
There's definitely a fine line of too much and not enough.
Yeah i think people have been so conditioned to doing repetitive grindy content that they are upset when it's not there, would the game be good if they made it last another 20 hours? nah
@@LordSathar its not like only two extremes exist. He was ofcourse asking for a middle point because some ideas did not feel complete enough. He did not say use all of them 1000 times.
The Pizza hut demo was top tier. Played the hell out of that cd.
As a kid I only played the german action special demo. I finally played it when the remake came out a couple of years ago. I had fun!
I'm not sure I follow on how using lots of fun mechanics only once is so bad. That's just good variety without getting repetitive.
I think he's more concerned with the lack of compatibility between mechanics and the potential for other interesting puzzles. It's not meeting the potential that it could have if the mechanics were combined a bit more. But yeah you got a good point about repetition.
It's more so that if you only use a mechanic or feature once, unless you pull it off really well you miss out on chances to actually refine it. It also creates an issues such as making the player learn a skill for a segment that is then never repeated, or bringing up a fun mechanic that, again, only appear for a single level. Knowing where to have variety and where to rely on your strengths is a fine balancing act.
I'm sorry but how is using cool unique mechanics only once bad, when they keep on putting out one cool mechanic after another? Doesn't that make it less repetitive and engaging since you keep waiting to see what they can pull off next? It sounds like a reverse Batman Arkham Knight Batmobile case..Or even TLoU ladders. While I do think building upon certain mechanics / adding stuff to it to spice things up is valid, so is adding new, one use mechanics.
I thought it was weird that he slammed it for one-off mechanics, then asset reuse not long after.
@@GhaleonStrife Yeah, same here. Like, did it really matter? As a kid I never noticed the time crystal things in The Lake were reused pumpkins? Still didn't until he pointed it out, honestly. (And also, the game came out in '98, so asset reuse was just a smart thing to do when done well.)
@@SkippyDaemon also weird that he pointed out the pumpkin asset reuse, then pointed out the elephants underwater without mentioning that it was the same model as the elephant in the hedge maze puzzle with the mouse.
@@claven1231 Yet another thing I never noticed! :D Now that you mention it, though, yeah, he just kinda... didn't go anywhere with that, huh?
So fun to watch these videos. Thanks so much. Can you do a video on Nightmare Creatures please. Great work of these!
i've gotten stuck at these "Was it Good?" you review all my child and all time favorites and gives me nostalgia. Soul Reaver, Castlevania:sotn, Silent hill, Rayman, Medievil, Croc.. These are games i still play to this day. You have good taste my friend. Abe games might be a next one!
This is hands down my favorite PS1 game. It had so much charm: The design, the soundtrack (sound effects included), the simple yet effective plot, the sheer amount of items you can unlock (which double as incentive to collect the chalices) The game is also incredibly jank, and somewhat mindless. I've sunk so many hours into this game, and I've lost count of how many times I beat it.
21:00 It took me 4 minutes to realize Josh didn't get his sword back from the thieving goblin. Edit : I don't think the one-off mechanics are a bad thing. The third time you go through the same one from two previous levels you'd go "Ugh, ok this again."
Lol played this game multiple times as a kid, one of the first ones i got for the ps and absolutely never got my weapons robbed. This guy pretty much criticized the game based on his unfortunate loss
@@MrMapacheumr Not to mention a lack of platforming skill and what appears to be a few minor misunderstandings about gameplay mechanics. Still surprised he found the tilting platform boss so hard when if you jump in the air you are not affected by the platform tilt and can control your direction of movement.
@@MrMapacheumr He got to the end of the game with only 5 life bottles, never seemed to go back to replenish his health, and then had the nerve to complain about getting rekt in the final battle
51:45 this transition to the ghost ship actually would have made more sense with the cut level The Silver Wood, wherein you are chased by the Jabberwocky (what you called a dinosaur there). the giant bird is also the Dragon Bird whose nest you rummage around in within The Enchanted Wood!
This is kind of an insane discovery I just made watching this. The kingdom of Gallowmere. There is a band named Sinergy with a song named Gallowmere. The lyrics are 100% based around this game. It is actually a very awesome song with a phenomenal guitar solo. Really one of my favorite songs from them and I had no idea they were connected for over 15 years haha For any metal heads the guitarists for this band are Alexi Laiho from Children of Bodom, and Roppe Latvala from Stone and also Chjildren of Bodom. Really brilliant song writing.
You made my day, thanks!
Introducing new mechanics consistently in an 8 hour long game seems like a good way to keep it interesting rather than a negative.
Not really, because instead of having a few well developed, deep set of mechanics, you have a collection of half baked, shallow novelties.
@@aliasmcgames imo my biggest gripe with the game was how janky he controlled and how easy it is to get stuck or not get to the platforms both in the original and remake. Platforming heavy parts of the game were the worst parts of it, cuz this stupid skelly cant jump for shit and gets caught on geo all the time.
@@IlNamelessKinglI His janky controls are pretty thematically on point tho. But the controls are mainly bad because its a very old game.
@@Insanityltself What theme bro go play the Cimitery hill level in the remake you get stuck on every trench hole you enter and you are supposed to use those as cover from the rocks. You simply get hit unfairly because geometry gets you stuck everywhere. Even when you are shield bashing or jumping or combining the 2 to do the platforming sections you literally have to jump everywhere frame perfect or you fall down and lose 1 health potion for nothing. Apart from that I enjoyed the game, its a solid 7.
It sure seems like it but it is often seen by many as gimmicky or lazy. I mean you are free to have your own opinion but the idea that John is completely off base is a bit exaggeratory, I’ve felt and heard this sentiment in many different games.
Fairly reasonable cast - Paul Darrow doing his best Jon Pertwee and Helen Lederer. Never played it besides the demo, so this was very interesting
same here, didn't play the full game till 2004
Medievil... Never played it besides the demo out of 10
I played the fuck outta that demo disc I was obsessed with this games demo and the parasite eve trailer
I used to play this as a demo! Alot and for a few minutes of play it's was pretty fun for it's time. Kudos mate!
I remember the first mission came on a demo disc of games which I believe came with my PS1 my sister and I loved it and played over and over. Never before had we seen this type of gaming as we had always played snes. We were fascinated at the camera angles , scary theme, colors, everything. Christmas 1998.
Having beaten the remake last Halloween, it's the one case where I didn't mind a remake being so slavish to the original, the native analog support and fixes to the camera was all it needed to be fun for me. Good luck if you ever want to tackle the sequel because some of the design choices they made can make it borderline unbeatable if you're not good enough.
Judging by the gameplay shown in this review... That seems likely.
I remember replaying this on the PlayStation demo disk so many times until I finally got the full game for either my birthday or Christmas. I loved this game so much!
What happened to getting all the Charlices? The ending proves you didn't get all of them.
That pseudo-Wilhelm scream was pitched and slowed down and heavily distorted for the zombies in Gothic, and it still gives me fucking nightmares.