Let's Talk About SMG4... 

Another point that I left out of this video on why I'm leaving: Wotfi 2022 was also a major factor. After I gave criticisms towards it and showcased why I believed that Glitch Productions should stop doing arc ending Wotfi's, I was harassed by thousands of people calling me slurs, "fatherless", and telling me to "leave the SMG4 community". Was even told to kms multiple times. This community is toxic and I deserve basic human respect for my contributions to it and the hard work I've done. Criticism is important and you can't just agree with everything SMG4 says or does just because it's SMG4. Otherwise the series will become insufferable to watch. In terms of the future for this channel, I may turn it into just Nintendo content at some point. No idea when. However, you can expect a Wotfi 2023 AI Rap video this year as well. Figured I'd do one more because they're genuinely funny and people tend to like them.

SMG4: * makes silly comedy skits and everyone loves it * Also SMG4: * makes complex stories with character arcs and everyone hates it * Something’s a miss here.

to be honest I've considered leaving the SMG4 side of the community but stay for Glitch Productions it's been a blast over the past 6 years but I think I need to move forward

I remember when SMG4 promised to do more story lines with Wario and Waluigi

I understand. I do agree that tari should've been the main character in the western movie since meggy gets a lot of character development.

I completely respect your decision, man. As someone who's been watching since "Smexy Soccer", I can honestly say that my interest in SMG4 has died down slowly after the Lawsuit Arc, and moreso after the Western Spaghetti movie. I hold nothing against Luke, Kevin, and the Glitch Productions staff. It's just that I've come to realize that SMG4 might not be my cup of tea anymore.

I miss the days when SMG4 just did silly meme videos back in the day.

I’ve fallen out watching SMG4 for like 2 years at this point

SMG4 Feels like they've been in a several year long identity crisis. Imagine if SpongeBob tried to be Avatar the Last Airbender for a few episodes in a row and then just tried to be random chaos the show is normally known for

Honestly, I completely understand, I even agree. I left ever since the Lawsuit Arc started, and the way that it ended practically solidified my choice to just not keep up with the series. I've only been lightly revisiting it every now and then to see how it's doing. SMG4 still holds a really big place in my heart, I remember rewatching every arc and introducing my ex to the series. Was wonderful. I thank SMG4 for what it's given me, and the things that it has caused (like Sunset Paradise) but I hate seeing it stray so far from what it was before. Everyone says that it's not that SMG4 became unfunny, it's that we got older, but it isn't true. Rewatching old videos still bring a smile to my face. It just isn't the same anymore.

I watched SMG4 since the edgy era. The good times where the only voice clips were from other material and everyone talked through text bubbles. Where Toad and the Blue Marios existed--etc. I slowly stopped watching ever since the new cast replaced the old. It just feels less funny as I still watched a lot of old videos and chuckled. While the newer ones left me stone faced, MAYBE a smile every now and then. It sucks, but I think the main reason may be Glitch Production. SMG4 is no longer a content creator doing for fun skits. He's... basically a business man. SMG4 appearance change DID mean something. The death of "SuperMarioGlitchy4" and the birth of "SuperMemeGuardian4". Which is sad.

I honestly get it. I kinda feel the same way as well. SMG4 has been good and something I have loved since 2018. It is definitely declining in quality. Characters are getting more bland and the story. I don’t mind SMG4 being story driven but it kinda defeats on why I liked the series so much. I could just put on a SMG4 episode in the background while doing homework or something but now I feel like there is so much more going on. And yes, I find that many characters is development over and over

The thing with the filler goes hand in hand with how the characters have nothing to do. How can you make a story when your characters don't have a story? Meggy and Tari have something, but what about everyone else? SMG4 and SMG3 have been perfectly fine since the cosmology. Saiko had Kaizo introduced and Melony could continue to learn to live as a sort of Superman figure. Instead, we get jokes about how everyone forgot the previous events and how things logically don't add up, like how SMG4 questioned how Meggy and Mario got money to make stuff in Tunnel of Doom. Yknow what other show does this? She Hulk, one of the most poorly written shows of all time. This doesn't make it funny. It shows the writers obviously don't care about continuous plot lines. Further proof was Colin, a writer from WOTFI 2022 to IGBP, had an entire arc with a similar premise to IGBP, but also tackled the fallout of the Lawsuit Arc. That's what SMG4 needs to make these stories feel relevant. If you want a stupid Mario parody, great, but that's not what SMG4 is about fully. These stories make SMG4 special. It's what got people to enjoy the modern era, even with massive cracks showing early on. Rather than fix them, they doubled down. Bigger threats, grander scales, and then less of the grounded, smaller things to piece it together. It wants to be both things, but it just can't be. You create a divide that people are turned off by. What happens when we accept everything they say is an echo chamber. That's honestly what IGBP felt like and part of the reason I absolutely despise that movie. It didn't care to actually make the series better, and honestly spat in the face of us at points. It felt like it was trying to rejustify Lawsuit's facade of a potential DMCA with "this is what we want the show to be," but as you pointed out, it's the exact same thing. There isn't anything special besides the feelings of the actual creators of the show. It ran its course like every single long lasting adult cartoon on TV. As Medi said in his video back in December, it's the little things that matter. Those little things don't exist for the story and are only references to classic videos. That's cool, but give us some meat to the new stuff as well. The complacency of the series has hurt the series, and while we see flashes of greatness, it's just not gonna reach it consistently and prove itself to be more than a Mario meme show that gets clicks for the true creative endeavors of Glitch. DaftPina (I know, he's not a good person) made a video that openly admitted SMG4 was a rock to build Glitch upon. Just ask yourself this: what comes next for these characters? The answer is... nothing. They aren't relatable people anymore. They're an object to give comedy and stories through, then reset once it's done. Ironically enough, Peach was so hated because she was simply an object to move the plot, as Kevin himself said, whereas Meggy was someone with direction. Boy, does that look wrong in hindsight. Since Western Spaghetti ended, she's appeared probably a dozen times, yet she hasn't coached once despite having that little Inkling girl at the castle grounds. It's more about the dopamine rush than actual narrative integrity. It's just classic SMG4's chaos with a narrative thrown in for a couple months to get you excited, then keep you around until the next big thing. As the old saying goes, "just consume product and get excited for next product." And once again, this isn't meant to slander those who work on the show, but there is clearly an issue here of the content serving little to those long time fans who are invested in the character growth they often preach, unless you simply accept everything they try as a good thing because it's their show. It just doesn't make sense when a show like Murder Drones doesn't work like that. You must put the show's quality first. You don't control it, you care for it. It is a baby to them. You may want something else, but a good show runner must put the show first, otherwise you will lose those fans of the show. I appreciate all the team does, but that's not enough to make me stick around. A bad product is a bad product. Judge it off of that and not the intentions of the creators' behind it. Needless to say I rambled here, so I'll stop now. Stay hydrated, have a nice day.

watching smg4 was fun & comical up to desti's death. ever since then, its been bittersweet. i genuinely think if his universe didnt introduce death like that, it'd be fine. what's really bothering me is that she died in a world where 1-up mushrooms exist.

0:00 Introduction 0:56 Criticism Introduction 1:44 It’s Gotta Be Perfect 3:07 Western Spaghetti 6:41 New Castle 11:16 Why I Left SMG4

This is what i have thought since 2017. I used to like him, when he made like actually funny videos but i felt as if it just became less of a passionate thing and more of a money thing

Man, after all this I'm just so glad that Weegeepie's channel exists, even if his episodes come out much less frequently.

Understandable, you have your opinion and we have ours, we will support you no matter what.

Kinda ridiculous to think how low budget stories with nothing but randomness on a shitpost-level and a ton of memes were more enjoyable than what SMG4 does nowadays. I miss the old times man...

Smg4 never needed lore to begin with

Understandable, gonna miss your theories about every arc and character! Thank you, Cibles. Farewell! 💙👾💙

Yes! Thank you! I thought I was the only one thinking about all of this. How is Meggy being a sports director but teaching Tari not being afraid. After everything they been through and seeing it not improve their character development. I think the problem with SMG4 is there are too many characters. Sure having more characters is good but I feel like SMG4 is forgetting his own characters. I still do like SMG4 videos but if they aren’t going to acknowledged their characters growth then what’s the point of Western Spaghetti

Its very understandable, I’ve been watching since 2015 and seeing the current state of smg4 I totally understand. I miss the era when everything is simple, Who let the chomp out and Mario’s Spaghettieria as an example.

(Note i don't hate or dislike Luke, Kevin or anyone at Glitch Productions just they way they're handling the Smg4 series) I’d say there are 2 reasons for the amount of filler. 1) Arcs take time and money more so than the regular videos so spreading it over a year with filler episodes in between means they don’t have to spend so much money on numerous arcs and save Luke and Kev time so they can work on glitch more. 2) These year long arcs keep people who are interested in them coming back every week in order to see if it has anything arc related adding to the view count. As for the castle and character changes smg4 is trying to get as far away from Nintendo ip without getting rid of Mario. It’s very clear that smg4 wouldn’t get many views without Mario and the Nintendo ip, they know this so they’re trying to do the next best thing. That and there is more merch that can be made with all these design changes. For the fillers, well they're fillers, all it is popular meme/trend and random ideas they left over from a week ago or somthing ( i'm not saying this is all of them, but it seens to be most from what i've seen people talking about on discord ) As for the focus in the movies i'd say it's mainly due to the smg4 series not being the main priority , Luke and kevin most likley pop in from glitch stuff and say hey lets do this and so they do so, paying not much attention to the previous filler and other arcs. ( Of course this is just my guess as i don't know the inner workings of glitch) Smg4 nowadays doesn't seem to be something that is done because Luke wants to but more so an obligation in order to keep glitch production going. I'm happy glitch is doing well but smg4 is being neglected and is suffering ( in quality) due to the lack of focus from it's creator/show runners not paying full attention to the series and it's direction.

I’ve been watching smg4 for almost 10 years, and just seeing the content rapidly go downhill is extremely disheartening. But I think I’m finally ready to move on. This video pretty much summed up my feelings on modern smg4.

I honestly agree about everything you said, especially on how the between episodes feel like filler, the development in the movies being forgotten about within an episode or so, and the new changes just for the sake of change. I'm still watching SMG4 cuz I still wanna see if anything major happens, which probably won't soon, but whatevs. I made it all the way into the vid BTW!😉👌

In all honesty you did a right choice, Modern SMG4 nowadays is just farm RU-vid Kids Ohio Content which isn't even funny anymore and you did the best you could to make Theories and predictions Sadly that sure 100% Glitch Productions will not listen to these criticisms beacuse like one of my friend said "It's like talking to a brickwall" They won't Listen and they never will

I remember watching SMG4 with my dad years ago, we used to both laugh at pretty much all the jokes that came on screen. can't even watch it by myself nowadays.

I left smg4 like 2021 after the WOTFI and its bc well i grew up and started getting into different things and also i feel like their content is now the same besides the arcs and WOTFI it mostly been like “Mario reacts” or maybe that was just for 2022 but even still I dont get the same enjoyment i used to have watching it

I think the reason they redesigned most of the characters were because if they were to use them in merchandise, they would get copyrighted.

Honestly i still enjoy the series, but i totally understand why you're leaving. In retrospective, i think what a lot of people that leave the series miss is the fact that *maybe*, when SMG4 just started getting popular, it mostly felt like a passion project and now to these people it doesn't feel the same anymore. Now, couple that with the RU-vid audience also being mostly posiitve: won't lie, i'm also proud of how far the channel has come, but i was always kinda surprised that there was basically no sign of any kind of criticism. r/SMG4 instead is the exact opposite (speaking through personal experience) and wants to help fixing the show's flaws, but they ALMOST never got listened to. Now, i say almost because the sub did make itself heard a few times and to address the elephant in the room: yes. The sub was most likely responsible for the re-redesigns of 3, 4 and Boopkins. Other times were mostly minor, mainly because Mediexcalibur was a very frequent editor and actually listened to the sub. There's a lot more that i'd want to say, but the comment would be way too long so, if you want to know more just ask and i'll try my best to answer

Smg4 has been on a downhill ever since all the way back in the anime arc to be honest

I personally don't mind all the new stuff. I know there's the fans of the old stuff, and I totally understand why they like it (because the old stuff was really good), but I do like all the stories and arcs being told, each one being it's own unique adventure. I know there are some flaws, but I'm honestly not here to try and compare new smg4 to old smg4. I'm here to enjoy a channel about memes, Mario, and smg4 and friends having funny, wacky adventures.

Like you said, critism on smg4 helps the channel writing a lot, and im glad you gave this critism, because the smg4 show definitely needs to be more consistent in writing. I jsut really hope with this video, a person who works with smg4 could pick up on this and use it to make the show better.

I still remember when I first found out about SMG4 around 2013. I loved watching SMG4 back in 2013-2015 (possibly even later). Heck, I still watch "Who let the Chomp out?" once in a while. What was significant about SMG4 back in 2013-2015 was that the videos were just silly comedy skits. There were no overly complex stories or character arcs (or worst of all, character redesigns). You know what has overly complex stories and character arcs? SMG4 videos today. As an SMG4 veteran, coming back to SMG4 after a few years (around 2019) just never felt the same.

I enjoyed seeing your analysis and critique on the SMG4 series, it is sad to see you go however it is your decision and I respect you for it. I restarted watching SMG4 again a few years ago I enjoy his content, I have a friend that enjoys old SMG4 content and I saw a few episodes and I can see the appeal for the old content over the new. Good luck to you Cibles and keep up making great content. Don't let negative comments drag you down, although I agree it is best to avoid toxic communities rather than fight them.

Earlier this year… I had a similar situation like this. I used to have a close friend, but after a few years, I had to call it off. We were also roleplaying, so I wasn’t able to focus on my content well enough… Now that I’m no longer roleplaying, I can finally concentrate on what I like doing. You know what? You’re a hero. You did the right thing.

I realized that I haven't been watching any SMG4 for a super long time, and this video helped me figure out why. Honestly, I liked it better when SMG4 _didn't_ do arcs. What got me into his content in the first place were the memes and the utter silliness of the videos, and how each video didn't need to be watched in a certain order to make sense. They were able to stand on their own as funny videos without being part of a series. The characters didn't _need_ to go through development, and that's what made it so enjoyable. But after doing arcs, well, you can't exactly go back to those non-linear videos without it feeling off. Plus, he used to have his videos be mostly done with an even split between the Super Mario 64 emulator and _Garry's Mod_ (sometimes with the emulator being used moreso than Gmod), and _occasionally_ having Source Filmmaker bits in there. Now, it seems to be mostly SFM and Gmod, with the SM64 emulator only _sometimes_ being used. More effort is being put in, but subsequently, it's making the videos have not as much stupid fun, and stupid fun was what most people +Subscribed to SMG4 for in the first place, myself included. And adding their own characters to the SMG4 roster just doesn't work for me. Meggy, Tari, Axel, Melony, Saiko... they feel like they're made for more serious continuities, and slapping the silliness of SMG4 onto them won't necessarily make them fit into the universe. I still don't know if Bob is an OC of theirs or something, but if he is, then I think he's the only OC that fits in the SMG4 universe. And then everybody else are characters from Mario (and sometimes Sonic) with more silly personalities, and it was FUN. It felt like fanart being made into video form. But by adding their own OCs, and introducing arcs and stuff, it's turned SMG4 (the channel) into something that it's not. Like, yes, the IRL people on the SMG4 team do have incredible talent, especially with animation. But good animation doesn't work for the universe of SMG4. We came to see the Mario characters going about Peach's castle or masked into Gmod environments, and seeing ragdolls physics straight out of Gmod. Smooth, polished animation doesn't work for that kind of universe, which is why I don't like when they use SFM in any of those videos where they're supposed to be silly. I do like how they have a separate channel, "GLITCH Productions", where they can showcase their animation talents, but I think those talents should be reserved _only_ for that channel. The goofy animations that SMG4 used to have is what made me love his channel in the first place, and now that they're gradually doing away with that, it's resulted in his videos not being as fun. But these are just my opinions. I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels this way.

Cibles is finally living long enough

I can see your points i have found myself not being as exited for new episodes, i havent actually seen the past two or three, some of the reasons why were brought up brilliantly

I agree with you. Except, i think the funny episodes are still pretty funny and im gonna keep watching the series.

i honestly agree with you here, ever since the lawsuit arc, i kind of just felt like smg4 wasn't very interesting anymore, but i kept watching, but afterwards i just started to feel like the episodes were really bland but i tried to be optimistic, then the "its gotta be perfect" movie came out, and i just didin't enjoy it, fast forward to "western spaghetti" which i really liked but i still felt like smg4 wasn't really fun to watch anymore, not only do they mostly use like 4 characters every episode, but even the "comedic" videos just aren't funny, the "hype" moments are just boring now, but i know SMG4 can improve his content if he didin't stick to weekly uploads, because if he did the episodes will be way better than they are now.

Never even knew about your channel but I relate to these content creation challenges quite a bit. Its anxiety and dress inducing and sometimes you put out products you're not even proud of. Mad respect for leaving this behind and focusing on what you find important. Wishin you the best of luck and much love Cible!

No No No it’s ok, I respect your opinion

Im sorry for this. I hope you'll be okay

The criticisms in this video are in all honesty very valid, but there’s one other problem, and it’s what made me stop watching SMG4. The series has become shockingly tame due to RU-vid’s changes over the years, that and it kind of lost the point of itself. SMG4 at its core was a jokey, generally edgy and comedic series made for fun based around existing Nintendo characters. It worked, old SMG4 is still very funny. It didn’t entirely rely on said edgy comedy, it often relied on the low quality and generally fun nonsensical happenings, with a touch of edgy early 2010s RU-vid. No need for an overarching plot or serious stories, it’s just dumb fun. Newer SMG4 isn’t that. The entire edgy tone is gone, and it just feels completely toned down from what it was. None of the jokes are particularly funny anymore, I can’t really name too many at all, and it’s lost it’s edge. And the overacting stories as well just generally feel like they go against what SMG4 is. The Waluigi Arc is the exception to this, that actually worked with the dumb fun of SMG4. SMG4 has become the opposite of what it is, and it’s just not the same. I loved SMG4 when I was younger, discovering iconic episodes for the first time was an incredible experience for my younger self, and without the edge that made it SMG4, it just doesn’t feel like SMG4 anymore to me. I actually actively stopped watching SMG4 when Western Spaghetti released. They leaned so hard into the story stuff and how toned down it all was that I just couldn’t watch it anymore. This is generally the problem I have with SMG4 as a whole now, for me at least, I understand if someone would like the newer episodes, just isn’t for me, and in my eyes isn’t really SMG4. I would rather watch classics like Luigi Labyrinth, Freddy’s Spaghettiria and Who Let The Chomp Out than literally most of the modern episodes, except If Mario Was In Among Us. That one was okay. Anyways, thank you for coming to my TED talk.

I remember watching it at a younger age, years ago, kinda ignored and got back into it, im pretty sure the first video of smg4 i watched is the t pose apocalypse, but a year or years later i got back and watching it often, i know it has grown up alot but im still gonna watch it and im not leaving the SMG4 community anytime soon but, that's okay if you leave too!

Being completely out of the loop, this was interesting to hear. This is my first vid of yours, dunno how it got recommended to me, but ey, was a good vid nonetheless. When it comes to me as a viewer, I've watched SMG4 from 2013-2017, enjoying their videos & laughing my ass off, & simply outgrowing them respectively.

Whatever floats your boat. The series is going through ups and downs and the fanbase is becoming a little conflicted, so sometimes it is best to let go of something.

Smg4 always feels like the Marvel Cinematic Universe, just Jokes after Jokes After Jokes and after Jokes, Just this non stop trian ride of Filith

I am glad that I have managed to find this channel again, since I couldn't find it after I watched your review of the lawsuit arc and the ranking of the arcs up until then (forgot to subscribe, sorry). Because your video analysis are entertaining (in terms of enjoying, even only listening like if it was a podcast) and because I have also started to watch less and less SMG4 content, I found my perfect binge-watching channel that I was looking for. So yea, new sub for ya.

Honestly. I think you just described all of my recent criticisms in this video. I really hope a glitch member sees this and takes it in and applies a majority of it

I've also started to lose interest in the series. I'll be honest, every episode only containing smg4 smg3 and mario maybe meggy, got stale after a while. I still very much enjoyed Western Spaghetti... But that was the last episode i truly enjoyed. I'd love to see the series flourish.... But with shoddy writing and bad character balance it probably won't...

So long, buddy, you were a key part of his videos to me

words cant express how happy it makes me to find out the quality just dropped. I saw the video and really thought smg4 had fucked up. I can't take any more of my childhood icons being outed as awful people

I never thought I would hear someone call smg4 stressful

Start of a new era.

2023 has been pure hell for me with the show, but I'm still strapped to it. And yeah, he REALLY needs to use characters like bob, Chris and swag more, not constantly spam arcs, redesigns and deaths and all that other stuff.

You too, huh? I can’t blame you. I’ve started watching him since 2015, and have kept up with him until I stopped with the “It’s gotta be perfect!” movie he released. All I can really say is… we got our limits.

I missed the old cast when it was just mario, smg4, smg3, bowser, luigi, toad, and peach. Every episode at that time focused on those characters and some recurring side characters like wario and waluigi. Especially having bowser and smg3 be the set villains instead of everyone taking turns being the big bad of the episode or arc.

I understand your opinion even from a guy like me who likes the OG and Modern stuff, and some of the changes I'l be it just pointless depending on what someone's take on them. And at least Glitch side is been good with the likes of Murder Drones, Meta Runner and soon Digital Circus I can see why some people are not watching it anymore even with the amount of changes that are "important" and "pointless" good luck Cibles for what content you may have with you.

Great video, for me personally, the reason I stopped watching SMG4 recently is mainly because, well, I’ve grown up; and his content just doesn’t interest me anymore. When I found his channel in 2016, I was 12 years old, now I’m 19 going on 20 and it just doesn’t hit the same anymore. I still have massive respect for him and his team and wish them the best, but for me, this is a farewell. Thanks for the laughs Luke and Kevin, best of luck on future endeavors!

I don't watch the SMG4 videos on the date of upload, but I have kept up with them when nothing else was on. One thing that does bother me is how Tari just has recycled voices in most episodes, then she got new lines in Western Spaghetti, and now she's back to plain ol' Tari.

The episode of It's gotta be perfect is not just for our entertainment, but also for the creators to express themselves of how they're feeling. It's already difficult making the perfect for the people they love: the audience, and I know it hurts them also. Obviously we all want to be perfect, but it just cannot be

There are times where fans can negatively impact a creator, and SMG4's situation shows. Not only that, but I think there might be some toxic fans out there that can affect the quality of certain pieces of media. Long-runners usually have the highest risk of "Seasonal Rot", and SMG4 is no exception, especially in regards to the Lawsuit Arc's shark-jumping ending... and sometimes, the creator may or may not be unaware of the downgrade of quality. Also, when it comes to writing a good story, it can sometimes be addicting to the point where you want to write another. A problem a few long-runners have. All-in-all, I understand your decision. I may not agree, even though I haven't seen the Waluigi arc, but I do understand. I pray things go well, for both you and SMG4.

Although I don't think the series is as good as it once was back in 2017 - 2019, I can still come back once in a while for a good laugh. I also love your criticisms with the show. ❤

geez, i completely understand your struggles and emetions on why you left SMG4 and why you didn't like the storyline arcs of "IT'S GOTTA BE PERFECT" or "Western Spaghetti". i understand why you felt and i understand your opinions on them overall. i feel very very sorry for you.

This is gonna be a long post. First things first, I do hope you enjoy your future endeavors & wish you the best. (I will refer to SMG4 the channel as SMG4 & SMG4 the character as Four, just so it’s easier for those who chose to read.) TLDR: SMG3/Mario should’ve been the MCs of the IGBP movie, with it concluding with a canon good guy SMG3 getting what he’s wanted for years, but without it feeling *right*. Meggy’s arc needs tons of headcanon to work due to the unfortunate timing of when it started. MDT/SMG4 Crew are a neat sub-series that should take the occasional break when major changes to the channel occur. SMG4 arcs need to relevant to each other/call back to the established lore in them. Four’s redesign although visually pleasing now, was poorly executed by building the Lawsuit Arc around that idea. 3:29 This point I *really* agree with! The IGBP would’ve worked as a SMG3/Mario movie. Mario wanting to save his best buddy & SMG3 wanting to get tf outta danger. That way we could get a SOLID redemption for SMG3. Not a ‘enemy of my enemy’ or a ‘bigger threat means we must team up’ temporary truce kinda deal. Him * *genuinely* wanting to help out the main characters outta the goodness of his heart. This doesn’t mean he’d be 100% good, just willing to help out when needed (Like Bob & to a lesser extent, Kaizo) This idea would also solve the loose plot thread of the ‘Mario’s best friend award’. Sunset Paradise (which was probably already at least written when the unfortunate things occurred) and the Tari coaching thing could technically be rolled up as ‘honing her craft’ in teaching others but that involves TONS of head-canon to work. Yet they dropped the idea and the Inkling Girl along with it. 7:12 This point I slightly disagree with. Mdt/SMG4 crew are weekly filler/ slice of life episodes that are there to keep revenue up, them contradicting with the narrative was the point. It’s a dosage of ‘Classic’ (I hate that term) SMG4 randomness for those who didn’t want arc drama to deal with. The weeks the castle came out/sank however, they should’ve taken a pause from the sub-series to reflect the bigger changes to the channel. 9:12 This is the biggest problem with the series. SMG4 is in the same issue mid season Steven Universe/Adventure Time had. They do BIG major arcs, but they don’t do much with the ideas presented in them between each arc. Have Lawyer Kong/Nintendo view Four as a threat or worthy of taking down since his channel puts Mario in danger, like in the G/R arcs. Hell IGBP has SMG3 mention that Four wants to go back to his old design. Have Four’s insanity not be about wanting to make a perfect video but instead about him wanting to go back when things were, in his eyes, perfect. Just tie in how he saw Mario un-memeifed in Lawsuit, the horrors caused by the other arcs, & have Four try and turn back time to when he didn’t need to be some grand hero. (When problems just fixed themselves between episodes.) And when the castle crumbles around him let him show genuine remorse & sorrow for his actions. Tie into the RU-vid Arc with Four handing the SMG4 channel off to SMG3 at the end, due to Four feeling that he’s caused to much damage to the kingdom. 11:14 Four’s redesign although nice, is pretty meaningless in context. I understand why they wanted to redesign him. Luke himself stated that he wanted to do so in/around 2019, but the Lawsuit Arc felt that they built the arc AROUND the redesign idea. SMG3 doesn’t even contribute to the arc and get’s changed anyway.

I agree with you, It’s ok to stop watching SMG4, I still watch SMG4 but I respect you. man whenever I hear people say “SMG4 never fails the not disappoint us” sometimes I Beg to differ

Most of these issues are also present in GLITCH Productions' Murder Drones. Which is sadly another series you cannot criticize, otherwise you will get personally attacked by the "Fans"... And also the story has become pretty crap-

I stopped watching SMG4 as well, as of recent, for the same reasons you did. The channel doesn’t feel fresh anymore, and I wish they would find a way to revitalize the content.. very good video essay; I hope you do well

Do what you want to do, we may not see eye to eye but I’m always gunna respect your decision. The influence you’ve had on this community is nuts, and it was great to have you around.

To me, the saddest part is I didn't discover the smg4 channel till after the lawsuit arc so I never really got to experience the old smg4 channel.

I literally remember that SMG4 did a video on Mario in GTA 5 back in thanksgiving weekend 2015, it was a good old time until these voice acting came in

hooooo boi this thing is gonna be so good (i'm still havent seen the video complete)

The way the character developed is like a cycle from every video which feels like the character development doesn’t change in a single bit and it just make feel like u are watching the video like the previous videos (I respect your opinion and I understand that making smg4 videos is hell)

Remember when smg3 showing up was somewhat rare and made the episode more memorable? Yeah me neither

I did the same thing. It went way downhill and became to story driven rather than jus t funny scenarios which is not what I want from a channel dedicated to memes (at least originally)

My kids love SMG4 . I dont mind watching it myself with them. I havent been watching SMG4 for years. Maybe like 2 years now, along with my kids. I never expected that folks have been about lore on this series.

i hope that the team behind it is going to suceed, they clearly have a lot of potential. its just that smg4 isnt something im into anymore.

I feel like most of the problems boil down to "they don't know how to properly write characters/arcs" and distinguishing between plot-related and non-plot related episodes isn't easy (how are you supposed to be able to tell if any given episode is the start of a new arc or not?). They ARE able to create really good videos IN ISOLATION, such as western spaghetti. Western spaghetti is a fantastic movie, but the main problems it has are mostly related to everything that happens surrounding the movie (before and after is not that great). Also, I don't think *every* episode needs to be plot related, but it does make sense that developments should stay for episodes released after a big movie or some large plot-related thing. "Mario takes a fat shit"-esque episodes ARE some of the best ones they make if you disregard the need for everything to be plot related, after all that is how ANG4 got off the ground in the first place. Also SMG4 crew videos are basically non-canon to me. They feel like they exist in isolation and not much else.

I left like years ago when I said “ this sutff isn’t wacky no more “ then disappeared

I like all years of smg4 equally. From beginning to now, I enjoy watching smg4 videos

I stopped watching SMG4 like 3 years ago, but I still love watching Glitch Production's stuff like Murder Drone and I'm ready for the Digital Amazing Circus

At first I was like,Ok let's see what he has to say Then after finishing the video,you sir,are very very very very very right about every letter you said And sorry for the movie situations

When a thing I love is criticized (whether deservedly or not, but in this case it is deserved), I don’t want to yell and scold someone, I just feel ashamed, ashamed of myself that someone says that the thing I love is bad, and I feel wildly ashamed of myself, I start to wonder why I’m so bad if I like something that the author of the video or someone else doesn’t like. But personally, I see myself as the main disadvantage lately: The atmosphere of the crazy Garrys Mod machinima has disappeared In the latest releases, the atmosphere is kind of strange, but I liked the fact that the world of SMG4 is like a Garry's Mod player’s fantasy come to life, a bunch of random models live their own lives, a bunch of random locations, etc. And now... Well... There is no such thing there anymore. If SMG4 is trying to make its world connected and with its deep fucking lore on a universal scale with a bunch of written characters and original locations, then its lore turned out to be more similar to FNaF books, it’s not clear what is canon and what is not canon, I don’t understand how it works lore in this universe. So I wish the author of the video good luck in his new endeavors, good luck bro!

I still watch SMG4, because it cheers me up when I watch an episode. 😀

I like the old vids of SMG4 they made me laugh in tears but now... They just hit different now...

I can tell that SMG4 in its current style feels stagnant - in terms of plot, in terms of character arcs, in terms of a lot of things. Some people like it that way, others don't. And because there's no much change as of late, at some point I believe SMG4 is going to end, and Kevin & Luke and the team at Glitch will completely pivot to new and original concepts.

yeah i agree with most of the points here i do think smg4 in 2023 has just not been very good but i really enjoyed western spaghetti i thought it was the best thing to co me out of the show is so long witch gives me hope so i think their is still hope because the people at glitch are amazing and talented so i really hope they can save it

No idea what SMG4 is. But I think you brought up a good point on how focusing on one type of content can be very stressful and difficult. Wishing ya the best for the future!

His Shorts are Cringer than Modern Spongebob

Cibles you are absolutely right, at this point I only watch the series like enjoyment but just that, the lore and writting is more than confusing and the thing with the character usage is what I truly hate, I wanted anyone but SMG4, Meggy, Mario and SMG3 at this point

I'm gonna be honest Mario said it best... Mario: "LOOK AT ME I'M MEGGY, ALL I DO I CRY ALL THE TIME AND UNDO CHARACTER GROWTH"

I’ve been watching SMG4 for over a decade now. The channel changed a lot and I see why. I think it’s understandable and I’d say natural that fans may leave and new fans may come. This happens with long-terms series as well. I don’t dislike how SMG4 is now. We just grew with the channel, video after video, and wish to see it back as it was before. but since time moves forward, both the viewer and the content creator change in prospective and tastes. Overall, I think it makes sense if you want to leave SMG4, and I wish the best to you and your channel.

I still love SMG4's content despite the problems people have with it. However, I respect your opinions. May you and whoever else reads have a good day/afternoon/evening/night.

Today I realized people watched SMG4 still and watched them for a story. I always thought they were just mario 64 gmod shitposters

It's not about the style or being kid friendly. One of my favorite SMG4 episodes is "Road Trip" It's in new style and isn't very edgy, just a few slurs, but the humor is amazing and It's packed with memes, references and characters + no deep lore. New videos just don't have that charm.

This was a pretty interesting video to watch since I used to like the randomness of smg4 episodes and hated the arcs with a passion and the reason I left was because of how much I hated the arcs and how the episodes inbetween became less and less random\interesting It‘s interesting to me that even the part of the community that loves the arcs and character development dislike some Things about the current state of the show (good video btw)

I feel like I'm watching someone explain the history of StarFox. Long story short franchise starts, characters get built up, and/or explained, then franchise "resets" and throws away the past for a similar beginning, middle, and end where everything "resets" and repeats.