Video Ideas/Suggestions

wow i know im late to the party on this but a tear down of how Journey and Sky children of the light integrate themes and make AB fetch quests compellng and interesting might be good. i really think we need more stuff talking about why some games that are linear work and others are terrible.

Edward Worrall

For a short game series, maybe Metal Saga / Metal Saga Xeno Reborn. There's not much dialogue, so the actual video could be pretty short (1 or 2 episodes), but maybe the game takes a lot of time to play (30 hours or so to completion). Maybe just a short 10 minute analysis of what the series is, and how it uses open-ended emergent gameplay from a Japanese perspective. (It sometimes comes across as "Japanese Fallout" but there's differences of course).

Sorry for a new post, but one other idea occurred to me: Personally, I'd love to see your "First takes" on new / indie JRPGs. Just the first 30 minutes of gameplay, and your thoughts / predictions on where the story will go. Something like SplatterCatGaming or GiantBomb's "Quick Looks", with minimal prep, but focusing on a genre that doesn't get much attention. Maybe it's not the right fit for the channel, but I think it'd be interesting to see you guys dig through some newer JRPG-inspired games, like Ara Fell or Fell Seal, etc and give first takes.

Personally, I'm curious about how Mike broadly perceives Dragon Quest. Casen did a great video for DQ XI, but I noticed in the "Top 50" video, no DQ games get mentioned, not even honorable mention. I thought maybe it was the graphical style or something, but maybe it was the silent protagonist? I guess an overview of DQ vs FF could be in order. I do feel like DQ XI or especially DQ V has some great storytelling moments, so I was curious why there's relatively little discussion of them. A second idea would be digging deeper into the craft of game writing. A short video talking about one idea in relation to storytelling, but pulling examples from multiple games may be interesting. For example, you guys had a great discussion about openings in the FFVIII series -- that could be a topic on it's own that stands apart from FFVIII. Like "What makes a good game opening?" or "What makes a good initial story hook?" or "Best Inciting Incidents in JRPGs" or "Games that build meaningful relationships between characters". I'm not sure if the market is there in terms of viewership, and it might spoil games for others, but I feel like it could be in line with the existing focus on story. For one example of a podcast that does this well -- check out "Writing Excuses" by Brandon Sanderson and others -- they spend 15 minutes deep-diving into story writing. Perhaps you can each give your perspective on the topic (Mike as a budding author, Casen as critic). It doesn't have to be a "how to" guide, it could be a more of "Let's revisit" like "Let's revisit the best examples of Silent Storytelling -- storytelling without dialogue"

I'd be interested in seeing some battle system analysis. I know you primarily focus on story but given that you do experience the full breadth of a game, I'd like to hear some mini "deep" dives on combat mechanics.

Though I'm sure you've touched on a few of them, short bio videos of some of the most influential game designers would be cool. Digging up some old photos and their history would make for some fascinating and inspirational videos. You can list their most important work in the title to insure clicks.

Evolution of the Breath of Fire series or how any of them tie together.

Best and worst games in each franchise/series, or ranking

Whatever you're passionate about!

Ryan Gardner-Cook

What game do you wish could be played from a different characters perspective?

I defer to your discretion.

Robert Molt

I think shorter retrospectives like you did with Hyper Light Drifter would be great. Just kind of getting to the core of what the game is about, or maybe focusing on one particular element of a game that really stood out to you or was most impactful to your experience. Could be for any game you're interested in or maybe just games you don't think will ever get on the analysis series. Though even if there's a cross over it'll still be a different type of content.

Luciano D'Amico