Shadows of Doubt (Zero Punctuation) 

Meanwhile,on the other side of the gaming sphere: "HEY TIM,the vampire we put in the tutorial level says that the players will NEVER see the Sun again...But they still CAN,even before setting up their HQ & quest hub..." "FUCK OFF WILL YOU?I wasted all my time writing quippy dialouge that showcases how these vampire hunters are hipsters,& I don't have the energy to fix any bugs.Go code something that'll distract them,like 2-player coop with 4 playable characters..."

I think all these details are what surprised and delighted even a crusty old gamer like Yahtzee (or myself, I imagine). Diving into a game and realizing it goes to lengths we have learned not to expect. Does things most games don't, or even can't. Reacts to the player and the player's personal journey - making a little pixelly game world feel so much more real than seventeen squintillion polygons with a hyper-realistic face texture spouting the same boring filler dialogue from another triple-A cubicle slave farm's soul-sick throng of writers.

@@Noobie2k7 Hit the the nail on the head with this one, AAA is so worried about graphics they forget they're supposed to make the game enjoyable or even playable nowadays

**WARNING, AT THE END OF THIS COMMENT I WILL SOLVE THE CODED MESSAGE PUZZLE. DO NOT READ FURTHER IF YOU HAVEN'T CRACKED IT YOURSELF** I got very stuck on one case where the only clue was a coded note with a fingerprint. Spent several hours trying every cypher algorithm I could think of, before spending more hours getting my hands on every fingerprint I could find. Finally, I just start going door to door asking anyone for information and finally, an elderly woman said she'd seen a suspicious person in the lobby at 10:10am. So I go to the security room and look up the time, and find the unknown person. After adding him to the suspect list, I started tracking the guy through the building, before suddenly realising that he was outside apartment 103 just five minutes ago! Less than three seconds later, I got notified of another murder, in apartment 103! Caught him in the lobby leaving the building, whacked him with a nightstick, and found the murder weapon on his body. Fingerprints match the coded note. After verifying the evidence in the fresh crime scene, I finally turned him in. Case closed. But one last thing. In the fresh murder scene, I found another coded message. I looked at the jumbled letters and, armed with the suspect's name, the letters rearranged themselves before my eyes and I saw the code for what it was, the name of the killer! It was just an anagram. Not any of the advanced cyphers that I immediately jumped to, just an anagram. I could have saved that second victim :/

@@Noobie2k7 Honestly this is why something like Unreal Engine 5 is going to fundamentally help game devs. By making true to life realistic graphics *almost* drag and drop easy, it lets people go back to spending time on actual gameplay.

Congratulations on solving the case of the cunning bedroom phantom!

"Ah, they always come back to the scene of the crime"

This time they never left.

Long live jank

Honestly, except for the glitching, I think I've seen a true crime instance of basically that happening. Except I think the dude was hanging out in the basement.

Jokes about ActiBlizz will always be relevant, but the timing on this one was mint.

It turns out that if you write jokes just *assuming* Actiblizz will fuck something up sometime soon, it'll pretty reliably pay off.

​@XiremaXesirin hilarious really, just assume Blizzard will screw up some time in the future and wait for it to become true. Now there's a new screw up with blizzard Adding Wow tokens to Wrath Classic even tho the selling point of wow classic is that it's wow before it became insidiously monetized.

Lol I had a similar experience where the killer hadn’t even left the apartment yet and got knocked unconscious by the police when they busted in.

You are not Rorschach, you are Batman

You became the first responders. XD

@@sumdude5172 "WANT BE BATMAN!" -Yahtzee Croshaw 2015

@@MrObviousJester You'd think that in that case, the Enforcers would actually arrest the person. XD MAN, they're so useless.

So he wasn’t an apologist like all the others are. Got it.

That is the ENTIRE point of Early Access, after all.

Aka criticism

How so?

@@philiphunt-bull5817 They just killed the pve in overwatch 2

@@philiphunt-bull5817 they just cancelled PVE on on Overwatch 2 because...Activision-Blizzard

@@tomstonemaleSO NO STORY MODE?!

@@zigslotheon Apparently there will be story stuff similar to the archive missions. You know, those modes you played once in OW 1 then never touched again because of how repetitive they got.

What doing something for 16 years does to a mf.

There's almost an uncanny valley effect when Yahtzee posts videos on games he likes.

Wait,is it really?I feel like Ben would've done close-ups before.

@@BrunoMaricFromZagreb I can’t THINK of any instances when that occurred, but I’m fully prepared to be wrong!

@@TorremThonius I also can't think of any examples and I've watched every episode thrice.

Context?

​@@philiphunt-bull5817They just cancelled the pve mode for overwatch 2

@@philiphunt-bull5817 Further context on what Daniel said: The entire stated reason overwatch 2 HAD to happen, according to blizzard, was the PvE mode. The one that just got canceled. Cancelling the PvE essentially reduced the transition from Overwatch 1 to Overwatch 2 down to a storefront update and a patch... naturally, people aren't happy.

LetsGameItOut?

@@edisontrent618 Indeed, my comment was inspired by our patron saint of chaotic game interaction

@@subtlewhatssubtle Nice.

Don't forget about getting lost in the air vents because no, there is no handy dandy guide to tell you where to go. I swear, first time I played, I spend 30 minutes in those vents, trying to find some place to exit until I figured "fuck it" and just barged through someones home.

@@Mandemon1990 yep I hate to navigate the airvents because currently they are whofully poorly generated. whit vents that does full loop around between two vent covers (like one was enter in appartment 1501 kitchen run into the bathroom, into the 1502 bathroom then 1503 kitchen then back to 1501 out for like 3 sec then back again and droped me off at 1501 bedroom (it whent noware and there was no other entry/exit).

It's a very good game! I highly recommend it.

A good rule to follow for early access is to ask if you'd be okay if the game never got anymore updates. Some games are bare bones in early access whereas some are Factorio or Rimworld. Personally, I think the game is good enough as is to justify the relatively low price. If you go by the $1/hour of playtime rule, you'll get the value.

I played the demo during Steam Next Fest and absolutely loved it. But during my playthrough I did, while navigating a vent, fall through the floor into the middle of a busy diner like a Florida Man CCTV. So I am also waiting until the game leaves Early Access.

It definitely is interesting, but suffers from performance issues rn, thats a good call.

Good to wait on it. Game has huge potential but is suffering massively from performance issues.

Honestly it sound like we’re doing ever closer to the possibility of a 3D Dwarf Fortress

​@@Broomer52The holy grail of immersive sims. realistic 3d first-person dwarf fortress. Then after that, we simulate an entire mini-universe just so we can make a goofy run with wacky hijinks. Establish new field - ludoethics. Is it immoral to create and sustain the simulated creatures only for our amusement? Realise that's basically what every parent/petperson has ever strived for. Realise complacent, mocking hedonism is still somehow more comforting a stance to the subject that perfect apathy and death, which is why people have invented the most mentally deranged figures possible to sit on the thrones of gods, because frankly, it's all just too funny

Just found out about it today, it is very quick

Also considering this is a week old video. (cause they are on their site first) makes the joke age like a fine wine.

@@zakanyimen no kidding, I completely forgot about the early release of ZP. He's so quick he's seeing into the future, then.

​@CapacitatedFlux yeah, he's the simpsons of snarky internet reviews

Well blizzard patch out good stuff constantly

loved it! just confirming that humour is best when it's true! or close enough!

i fail to see the controversy here..

I literally choked on my Diet Coke and had to explain what was so funnny.

Gives the same feeling as back in his xcom review when he bragged for 30 seconds about his plan with his heavy and sniper

Leafing through the phone book is in fact a thing that happened in my first case. I got stumped, because I had two first names from the victim's journal but no other leads...but I *also* had a phone call that came in about an hour before TOD, so I broke into some phone switchboards, narrowed it down to the apartment, then looked over every name with the correct first initial in the directory--and found her! The next day I opened a newspaper to hide myself while I staked out that apartment...only to find news that someone else had been killed. Someone whose first name was the _other_ name the first victim had mentioned in his journal.

@@TehNoobiness that feels more like an American detective movie then an actual series of events lmao

@@evilsclone2499 I know, it's amazing!

Or Hello neighbour patching out the adaptive enemy ai

While we're listing Early Access games that patched out the good bits, let's not forget to add Starbound and Subnautica: Below Zero to the list.

Onward by Downpour Interactive is a often-mentioned example of this, as in their pursuit to optimise their game for Facebook's Quest VR, they utterly downgraded not only visual fidelity, but even AI, feature-sets & contents entirely for every available version in the single jump from v1.7 to v1.8 (I hear attempts to bring it back to parity have been made in subsequent updates, but I think the damage has been done, plus Downpour Interactive are now reportedly owned by Facebook/Meta/The Zuck/Whatever-They-Are-Called-These-Days).

Cube World had a promising premise during the alpha stage and then after years of no updates or news, the game suddenly goes gold and the gameplay was greatly changed to the point that people went back to playing the alpha version cause it was more fun.

@@DanVzare What's wrong with Below Zero?

Although sometimes the leads can be quite silly. "Okay, we need to find this guy and steal a very important document. His blood type is A+, he has average build and alcoholism. Good luck!" Just a to let people know, there is no way to search for medical conditions beyond just randomly going through files of every single generated NPC.

Have you not heard of the massive betrayal they pulled on their fans for their Warcraft 3 re-release?

....lots.

If I may direct your eyes to a lesser known game called "World of Warcraft"...

​@@HaaalpHonestly just a re-release like that would have gotten a halfhearted "it is what it is" if they hadn't had the audacity to make the original inaccessible legally in the process.

@@mightytoast2693 wayyy back when as a shaman I really enjoyed that I had a 1 in a billion chance to chain windfury procs and one shot anything Shame

Spiritfarer wasn't. I'm not saying it was bad (except for the platforming bits, those were bad), but it was, at most, OK. From the way Yahtzee fawned over it I thought it was going to be another Portal. Well, not literally another Portal, but something equally awesome to play.

I also didn't like Spiritfarer, but one of my mates loved it. However, imho Yahtzee was bang on about Obra Dinn - an awesome game I happily smashed through over two evenings.

@@Hundeputzmunter I'm the opposite. While I liked Papers, Please as much as Yahtz did, Obra Dinn went completely over my head. Perhaps I'm stupid, but I was completely stuck and frustrated after around 1/3 solved. I do enjoy the usual puzzle game so I was confused, but I figured I hate it when I can stumble on guesses or solving things without understanding fully - which is the reason why I play puzzle games at all.

I hate when people go on about how high standards, when it’s mostly just different standards. I have similar taste for the most part, but Subnautica didn’t do it for me at all.

I watched a let play where the literal floor was just wack. the floor had 4 apartments 301, 302, 303, 304. person gets murdered in 301, killed lived in 302, later new killer and 303 gets killed by the cop in 304.... that was the cop sent to search 301 and 303. yes the cop can be killer and the killer can be ordered to guard the crime scene.

Its not a glitch, its actually just how the AI in handcuffs works.

@@LunerKunai to be fair I could see a AI that just woken up after been unconscious go... ohh where Im I... I hear something... hay what are you doing in my house.... shortly after going why im I cuffed.... ohh wait now I remember you smacked me (if he saw the attacker).... if not he might ask the player if he/she can unluck the cuffs.

Holmes did cocaine

What's the correct pronunciation?

Rorscharch

A quick Google search reveals it to be pronounced “roar shack,” so I’m gonna blame the extra r sound on Yahtzee’s accent.

Its weird I swear he said it before but differently

It's not really that he's saying "shark" it's that in his accent the long A sound in "schach" is the same as an A followed by and R. It's a non-rhotic accent so that means they don't really pronounce R's (in certain parts of words anyway) they just modify the vowel that precedes it.

I literally downloaded a pirate version to try-before-buy (I've been screwed by Steam refund policy multiple times) TEN MINUTES after I saw LGIO's playthrough. Worth every damn penny and it's on sale. You will not get more fun for ~$15 anywhere in the near future. Seriously, shell out, I spent 4 hours on the tutorial mission because it was that fun. The freaking tutorial. Because you aren't railroaded and 90% of stuff isn't locked out.

Perhaps the time ZP reviewed Obra Dinn? He loved that one too.

@@SimonClarkstone oh yeah that was a very positive one too... great game too.

It's on sale, 20% off. Go get it.

I got it full price right before that sale and I'm not even mad. This game is worth the 20 dollars, easily.

For other confused readers, Dio here means "Early Access" not "Electronic Arts" as you might be quick to assume. The publisher's name is Fireshine Games.

@@gingerinajacket8519 Electronic Arts and their microtransaction-stores are so far off my mind that I didn't even think about them. But I can see how it can be confusing.

@@Dionysus24779 you're fine, I just was clarifying because I needed it.

I wouldn't call an apartment useless. You can kit it out as a one stop shop for food, drink, status cleansers, and tools. If you put a case tray in it, you can even sit at home until a murder happens, grab the case file from the tray without needing to go to city hall. I got an apartment on the 16th floor and with the No Fall upgrade I have great fun grabbing my case files, then going to the roof and jumping off like I'm pretending to be batman. I do think I've sunk almost 50k into kitting out my apartment though.

@@jakinbandw truly the world's greatest detective

Ehhhh, at least Top 5. Probably 2 or 3 at most depending on how the rest of the year rolls out. Don't forget, Hifi Rush came out earlier and Yahtz couldn't stop beaming about it and that was a finished game

@@burnsyburger This is still gonna be top 1 IMO since Hifi Rush is great in a general audience sense, whereas Shadows of Doubt actually feels like a game specific for Yahtzee similar to Obra Dinn and Hardspace Shipbreaker.

I'm very happy to see someone else who remembers Covert Action. That was a fantastic little game for its time.

It can also be boring as hell till the game clics with your brain, so I doubt he will play it anytime soon

he already tried pathologic 2 and didn't like it. described it as dreary and inscrutable, don't remember the episode

@@elizabethmcwhorter3445 You're right, it was in the Mechwarrior 5/Watam one. Fair point, the game IS dreary and inscrutable at first, and stays dreary till the end

I spent 2 hours goofing around in the apartment building i spawned in, practicing stealing and stealth, roleplaying that I was fed the F up with having almost nothing to eat and I was gonna fridge-raid the entire complex. And i. had. fun. doing it. 20% sale until August 10th. Go get 'em.

I’m pretty sure the devs said that in the final game there will be some kind of longform serial killer investigation you do as a main story case while also doing all the sandbox stuff.

He's not THAT broke.

Hello fellow LGIO fan! That's how I found this gem as well!

or you can just find a pc thats in a public area of the city hall and use that.

Yahtzee never misses a chance to dial the LULZ up to 11.

Yeah they need more loot variations and penalties for pawning too much (decoy loot, cops searching your apartment, the fence saying "I can't move any more for awhile").

That sounds disturbingly possible for a corporatist hellhole where OSHA and safety regulations don't exist.