Are Rhythm Games Genius? | Video Essay on Rhythm Game History, Realism vs Fun, Sayonara Wild Hearts 

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Arguably, rhythm games are some of the most immersive for me because they are one of the few game genres that consistently manages to capture *all* of my attention when I play. When I play rhythm games, my whole world becomes just me and the music and nothing else matters for like 3 minutes.

I think realism in small doses is wonderful for the times when I can't get out to a beautiful waterfall or forest or to see an amazing fantasy environment, but it's definitely never the reason I pick up a game or fall in love with it. Also DDR was a core part of my personality as a teenager and I accept that xD

SAYONARA WILD HEARTS MENTIONED. WE STAY WINNING 💜

You are UNBELIEVABLY underrated. I felt like i was watching those video essays from those big channels. Wow.

One of the reasons I love “what the golf” is because of its wakyness without need of an explanation

I play rhythm games because I feel like I'm playing an instrument. It's a really good and fun way for me to vibe on bangers :D

some notes: 1. Of all the that made it so Rhythm games didn't bloom until the PlayStation 1, technology is likely to be the largest. Between storage space limitations and APU's (that's Audio Processing Unit) being tricky to sync with, it's no wonder that music dictating gameplay didn't come around until the advent of audio streaming. 2. Realism does not always make for immersion, and immersion is not always made with realism. Rhythm Games can be immersive the same way that music can be immersive.

So what you're saying is I'm truly a Video Game Connoisseur(TM) because I play Hatsune Miku Colorful Stage every night before bed? Another wonderful video that makes me think about games differently. I love rhythm games and this really helped me put my finger on what it is I love about them. Thank you for another insightful video!

I love seeing rhythm game documentaries from people who i've not really seen playing rhythm games at a high end before. Being able to see my own passion being talked about by different people is such a nice thing, and can very likely expose me to some games i've not seen before/heard of before outside the hardcore rhythm gamers, like Sayonara Wild Hearts and Overpass (i will 100% give those games a look at some point, thank you)

Yet another amazing essay, definitely adding some of the games featured that I haven't played yet in my backlog :D

Did the rhythm game create the qte or are rhythm games just one nonstop series of qtes??... Another great video! It'll be interesting to see how VR and AR play into realism in rhythm/dance games in the future.

seeing JSaB on that intro part makes me so incredibly happy more people need to talk about it, i love it to death

I love rhythm games!! the art styles are just so fun

I haven't watched much of the video yet. But i can already tell that this is going to be great. Its a shame to see so little reccognition and really just proves that popularity says little about quality yet again.

Another thoughtful and well researched masterpiece.

Dont forget the elite rhythm games on mobile. We got Starri, Lanota, Arcaea, Dynamix, Phigros. Theres so much behind the mobile rhythm game scene. It needs attention!

Bro, I'm from Brazil and I'm shocked that your channel doesn't have more views. This video was amazing and I will definitely share it with my friends. Also i am really bad at rhythm games, but i still love Patapon, LocoRoco and Metal Hellsinger. Hugs from the soccer country.

me an avid rhythm gamer veteran casually revolutionizing gaming

Interesting video as always 😊 From your commentary and editing :) Albeit I don't play much rhythm games, so I learned some new info and releases. I should check out more though since I love music in general. Only played some such as Muse Dash, Crypt of the Necrodancer, Guitar Hero etc... and I gotta play Sayonara Wild Hearts for sure it seems amazing. Though, I think it's nice both realistic & very non-realistic games exist. Major props to many indie developers trying/putting out fresh and creative experiences though!

Brilliant! Fascinating, I learnt loads! I’m downloading Melatonin immediately :)

More rhythm game essays! They're too underrated

not badly researched, but i wish you had mentioned more of the modern arcade rhythm game side, such as bemani's sound voltex and beatmania as well as sega's gekichuumai series

Another great video, keep it up man!!!

This intro is the most amazing edit ive ever seen, omg.

Man the quality your videos have is insane

as someone who has been playing rhythm games comparatively for 2 and a half years I definitely agree with the entire video my first rhythm games were the ones all about just the fun of it like rhythm heaven fever, rhythm doctor and everhood(the ending to that almost made me cry lmao) but I think u could of mention how rewarding rhythm games themselves are when you hit a perfect score or an achievement it feels so satisfying and really wants to make you push yourself for better scores. But for sure the initial charm for me is the simplicity and the rewarding feeling of a rhythm game whether it be a competitive rhythm game with leadorboards and thousands of custom songs or a simple one button game with a heart warming story I always know I am going to have a good time

OO TUNIC MUSIC AT INTRO ALREADY MASTERPIECE VIDEO 10/10

I feel like the gaming gods heard you and brought us Hi-Fi Rush, would love to see a follow-up video about that and your opinion on it c:

Great video! Never thought about the connection between rhythm games and games like dark souls or god of war demanding precision/good timing from the player.

I'm so excited for Rhythm Doctor Act 5

there’s this platformer celeste that has a mechanic that needs you to follow the beat. you don’t need to use it super often, but there’s a section in a turbo difficult dlc that is strictly off that mechanic. i call it rhythm game section and the ONLY reason i’m good at it is because i already loved rhythm games lol

This video is insanely good!

Great video man I have no idea how I missed this

Good video you got my sub

This video seems to ignore guitar hero live :P (yeah I get the point of the video though) Also, thank you so much for including all the games you used in the description! You got a subscriber for that!

Excellent video as always! When ori though? 👀

Goddamn I cant believe how few views this has it deserves way more

Two things. 1. I adore music and how it can be used to tell and enrich stories. However, I never realized the connection between rhythm games and extremely non-realistic games, stories, and art styles. It then makes all the more sense why I would love this genre as I get bored by realistic fiction quickly unless it's mixed together with another genre like mystery or comedy. And second . . . 6:10 I know why I dislike this mascot costume (the whole point of Parapa and his game is that all of the characters are flat as paper and this is anything but flat), but I don't understand why I hate it so viscerally. It genuinely makes me want to banish it from this realm like a demon.

Ah yes, "Super Battleworn Insomniac" at the beginning. I see you're a man of culture as well.

12:33 it can (probably) also be called visual music/sound(s)

this why i'm so excited by games like Ultrakill, that vibe so hard without any restraint

Us dance game players haven’t gone anywhere. I originally started playing dance dance revolution over 20 years ago. I’ve always played consistently and my passion still burns to this day. I moved over to pump it up where the difficulty ceiling is astronomical. I mean dance games are esport for crying out loud. I mean there are players out there pushing their stamina and timing to the breaking point. Just a quick RU-vid search will show you some of the world’s best players. It truly is beautiful to watch. Also you really didn’t talk about the rhythm game’s central focal point. Japan and Korea. These are the 2 places where all the biggest rhythm games are coming out. Nobody can talk about rhythm games without talking about beatmania. This series is still going strong after 20+ years in existence. It’s become a religion at this point. Same goes for pump it up and ddr. It’s player base is so hardcore that many players have spent tens of thousands on their own their own arcade cabinets. Not to mention we have simulators such as stepmania is testimate to the overall passion of the community. In the end dance games might not be mainstream anymore but they still exist and are successful. Lastly, I love the initial thesis of this video. I don’t care about realism. As someone who’s in is mid 40s and played rhythm for half of those years. There is no other genre like it. I continue to play them for the rest of my life.

I always love hiking up mountains in Elder Scrolls games to just look at the view. I like the realism but I prefer to just go outside lol But i am also super lucky to have access to nature and the ability to explore it. I know when I'm old and nature doesnt exist anymore you will catch me plugged into some realistic VR duck pond simulator haha I imagine with the cost of doing realistic stuff you kind of have to bet on things that appeal to the most people. Same with movies, which is unfortunate because it all just feels like a showcase of visuals and everything else goes to the wayside. As long as things are OK enough people will spend the money. Money hinders art but also fuels it. Not really sure what I'm getting at anymore lol BUT GREAT VIDEO! THANKS FOR POSTING! :)

I feel like, although it isn't a technically a rhythm game, Geometry Dash definitely fits in with the point this video is trying to make. GD has always been special to me because of the endless possibilities the community can conjure up and express when creating custom levels, all the while still maintaining that familiar vibe of clicking/tapping at the right moments. Beautiful and diverse artstyles, banger music, and even some profound storytelling at times, it really encapsulates a lot of different aspects of art in general that many people tend to gloss over when first they think of the often frustrating and rage-inducing nature of GD.

tysm for giving rhythm games the spotlight they deserve!

Incredible video, I feel like you might get more clicks on this video tho if the title was a little shorter

I been playing rhythm games for three years now I think the way you look at rhythm games is interesting, tho I don’t really play the ones by indie developers, I find myself really love those charts in rhythm games filled with visual effects, the charter’s creativity, at first I found the infamous 666 from SDVX, when I saw the chart got slit in half I was shock ,the music the feeling it’s a perfect boss fight ,I never thought rhythm games would have such things like this, I tried to find more of these things ,Phigros, orzmic and than I found notITG , with the most crazy effects I’ve ever seen, and they sometimes have tournaments that people genuinely having fun seeing the people who loves the game and playing the new -hell- chart

Sekiro is my favorite rhythm game because you don't realize it is a rhytm game until you play it and realize how the gameplay mostly works with the sounds of the swords slashing

Surprised at the views for the quality of the video!

awesome intro music!

Could it be said that Rock Band also suffered from attempting to add more realism, aka the Pro instruments? I don’t think a lot of people took up Pro Guitar because 102 buttons with six strings seems incredibly intimidating. I was even able to pick up the 25-key Keyboard instrument three years ago brand new, which tells me a lot of people didn’t feel like playing 25-lane. Also this video is slow. 1.25x was mandatory for a listenable experience

This was a really well made video but how did bro manage to mention Osu! even one time this whole video? It astonished me beyond compare since Osu's range is so far and its been almost everywhere.

You know fnf feels like a fighting game more than a rhythm game nowadays because of the abundance of mods that incorporate attacking and dodging as game mechanics 😂

Fair, but i do love when a game justify a mechanic in a diagetic way. And obviously, realism =/= immersion. Games like Breath of The Wild, Hollow Knight or Journey pours immersion but not much realism.

Aw sweet, another rhythm game video for me to tell people to play Mad Rat Dead in the comments of!

ive always wandered why ive been so drawn to rhythm games

is that REZ? :') 0:59

btw, you also forgot the king of free rhythm games osu and phigros (pc). (mobile)

I love rhythm games!!

CatJAM

This doesn't even talk about rythm games on mobile

Any patapon enjoyer?

Rhythm Games Matter.

I'm pretty sure neversoft made guitar hero 3 and not harmonix also the best indie rhythm game is arcaea by a long mile

This was a good video.. however, a bit to long/ramble-y... 🙂

6:47 Activision had nothing to do with Guitar Hero until the third title in the franchise, "Rocks the 80's". Guitar Hero was published and conceptualized by RedOctane and brought to Harmonix Music Systems to be developed, due to their back catalog. (FreQuency, Amplitude and Karaoke Revolution on ps2). Activision bought RedOctane after the success of GH2 on PS2 & 360, and Harmonix left the franchise after quickly developing 80's as they weren't happy with how Activision wanted the games to go. (Contractually obligated to make a 3rd title) It was then that we got RockBand from Harmonix, Electronic Arts and MTV Games.

Sekiro is the greatest rhythm game ever made

Another video essay on rhythm games featuring mostly Indie crap and real rhythm games like IIDX, SDVX, Chunithm, maimai, etc. . .

Correct keep playing osu

The intro was painful, please consider my criticism, You picked the most watered down shooters, and they are all military shooters. That only makes up a generous portion of shooter games. (Tf2, enter the gungeon, dead frontier, dead frontier 2, fortnite, fortnite is probably the biggest example.) You're comparing apples to bananas. And you're over exaggerating realism, nobody is "so immersed they can't tell" and nobody is playing those ultra realistic games except for rich guys who thinks that's what the best is. And that number is small. This reminds me of freeskates, they are weird skate things. The main company, jmkride, makes endless endless ads for their products, A majority of those adds say "yeah skateboards are great but, these are cooler and better!" And I've noticed this specific content method just results in people defending what they like: skateboards, and doesn't get people excited for freeskates. It comes off as toxic and unnecessary, Like comparing shooter games to rhythm, and then only showcasing the most generic military themed shooters, while showing the most unique rhythm games, When I know, we all know, for every generic shooter there is a generic rhythm game. There are so, so many bad rhythm games. Especially if you're a top tier player used to the hardest difficulties on the hardest games. What does that mean? It's really, really really hard to make a good rhythm game. The art has to be perfect, crisp, clean, The frame rate has to be perfect, absolutely smooth. The maps have to be fun, it's not easy to make maps fun. There are community mapped rhythm games, those are usually really good, regularly updated. There are licensed music games as well, they have a difficult time getting good songs that can be mapped well. But the entire video here is just.....You're obsessed on "realism" Realism, immersion, realism, what are you talking about? Real quick ima hop on my ps5 and look at the vest selling, we'll do the top 4 rows. That's 20 games, the top selling ones right now. First, there are only three games here with a focus on realism, that is: call of duty war zone, gta 5, and rainbow six siege, and it's a stretch to say gta 5 graphics are immersive. And I guess gran turismo, but I would expect a racing game to be high res, racing/fighting/rhythm games are all extremely skill based and need very smooth gameplay. But let's take a loot at how many of the top 20 games are using smooth or simple graphics, Diablo 4, fortnite, street fighter 6, spider man, destiny 2, apex, minecraft**, hogwarts, jedi survivor, rocket league, genshin impact, I probably missed a few, and the rest were sports games, which aren't very difficult to program or apply high res graphics to anyways. If you look at the most successful games right now, the realism hype train left in like 2019. The new trend is smoother cartoons graphics since its quicker and cheaper to produce and results in less game breaking bugs, This is something I've been saying for years: the most competitive shooting games I've played were low resolution shooters, (like gunz the duel, more popular in Asia sorry you guys missed it) and ofcourse, as cringe as fortnite is, it's an incredibly competitive skill based game. High graphics shooters also happen to be some of the worst, laggiest, buggiest games I've played, bf2042? The last 10 years of call of duty? Most of the other shooters that tried to copy them? All terrible, clunky, awkward messes. I hope this post has made a lot of corrections as, nobody is talking about immersion right now, And nobody was ever talking about immersion in rhythm games And the rhythm game community has never argued about their stance on immersion or realism I don't know what this video is about, I'm not really sure why you're making this comparison, or the point that you're making

no mention of IIDX. discarded.