The Best, Worst & Blandest of 2019 (Zero Punctuation) 

Since he's been doing this for a decade, he could do a "Best and Worst" of the decade

Is Yahtzee going to review Ion Maiden/Ion Fury at some point even though it's been out for a good while?

I'm simultaneously annoyed, because you keep advertising your website all over RU-vid, and impressed because I keep clicking on it.

@@jakeawe1966 Well hopefully you're at least finding new content to read and watch that you wouldn't have known about before. That's the goal! Not to spam you with crap, but things you'd maybe actually be interested in.

The Outer World's was my favorite but it was a new memory. Love playing it but want it to become the next Fallout New Vegas with DLC that are good. There was no "original" game of 2019 I liked the most. Devil may Cry 5 comes to mind but wait, wasn't it from 2018?

I was shocked Days Gone was only third before I remembered the rest of the year.

@@TheInsaneMan it had Devil May Cry 5 at least It also had Mechwarrior 5 but that one would go to blandest or bad.

I thought Ghost Recon Breakpoint would be on the worst games list. I don't care what anyone says, that thing is an insult to gaming and to Tom Clancy himself.

Let's all Laugh at an Industry that never learns anything Tee-Hee-Hee

@@joeyparkhill8751 On another note, the bit during the end credits about climate disasters actually kinda hurt me... And dipshits STILL ingore extreme climate change evidence! We're doomed...

He sounds so pleased about it.

"Can I also make myself a boss fight?"

I love that clip, it's kinda wholesome

And you got that slant rhyme yourself with "ZP" and "scheme"

I want another limerick review

I agree. Reminds me of his intro to the Destiny review.

Indeed

@@kuramacon if anything gets that boring going forward, it's not a bright future....

I have a feeling that was the point

There was a cough!

*awkward silence and cough*

i knew what was coming and that cough still made me laugh

@@Questioningbasics Yeah, hyperbole is strong here.

@NoneOf YourBusiness There are 2 ways this comment could be taken, and one of them makes me hate you

Funny thing is, the Black Death _already_ happened twice, in 541 and 1347. This Coronavirus thing is actually round THREE

@@Linosek279 Okay, like how?

@@TARINunit9 How so? The number of deaths are drastically different.

@Average Joesson barely at all deadly whatsoever

It did

Me to.

Considering Disco Elysium was made by 2 Lithuanian dudes thats about as far from the "industry" as you can get

@@GuyWithTriangle true, but most modern indie titles are extremely pretentious. disco elysium somehow manages to be a true work of art, without seeming overly pretentious

Well, it's still a bit hard for games like such to thrive because there's still the problem of 'the market.' Most people who play games have a short to medium attention span which is why action games dominate the market. Now it's just a problem of making an action game with either a good story, good gameplay, good graphics, you get what I mean. Point is, Disco Elysium is an artistic masterpiece to some (including myself), but the bitter truth is it's boring and uninteresting to a lot of people too. There are many video essays about 'touching' games and I only found around 2 about (or at least mention) Disco Elysium, even though it's a quite known game.

@@LuigiGamesful Disco Elysium was a success, commercially and critically. It's not that it's too experimental and under the radar or anything, it's not. It's a thoughtful game with a living, breathing world. The issue is publishers and game developers don't want to stray from the beaten path, why risk money when you can keep pumping out mediocrity and pay your rent?

... This comment did not age quite so well...

Fallout 76 is the game that I've enjoyed the most without ever playing.

I see so much news about the bullshit that happens in and around 76 that I genuinely thought it came out this year.

Anthem has been endlessly entertaining... to laugh at of course. 2019 was a warm year huddled around that dumpster fire.

@@reed1645 you mean the like 3 times anthem was mentioned after it came out?

@@demonintellect9834 it was a weekly thing for a few months actually. The first gun in the game is the strongest Removing armor makes you stronger Most of the roadmap was deleted The cataclysm has been delayed People at bioware were locking themselves in offices and crying during its development The cataclysm looks nothing like in the trailer The rest of the roadmap was deleted I could go on lol. For a while you could just google 'anthem' every week and find some new hilarious problem or insane issue with the game.

@Thomas Varblow Watch his borderlands 2 review you will understand why he doesn't like it.

there is a borderlands 3? who wanted that game?

Mr. Safer they were trying to cash in on the fans of the first 2, but kinda dropped the ball. Not as good writing, and the gameplay is somehow worse.

@@nicolausteslaus I mean borderlands 1 2 presequel and 3 are all inspired games apparently you didnt play them at all. Also 3 has some gameplay improvements just got to start getting your build correct. Having played all of the games 1 is still one of the best.

@@nicolausteslaus Borderlands is very much a series where you'll either play it for 5 hours and then drop it forever or somehow end up racking up 1000hrs+ total across all games. Its a bit like dark souls or demons souls in that sense. Borderlands 1 hit a major up turn with its Dlcs but I can see how base game can give a bad first impression. As for Yatzee and borderlands 3, ignoring the plot ( being combo of feeling over PC and bit limp) Borderlands 3 is very much play BL2 first and if you like that then its for you otherwise best to just ignore.

I thought Anthem came out last year.

@@merrittanimation7721 Yea it has a similar flashy thing from MiB quality to it. I keep getting Break Point mixed up with Wildlands too, because they seem to be the same game.

@@merrittanimation7721 By this point, it technically did.

It's the opposite of Fallout 76. A game so bad and that screwed up so much last year, I forgot it came out in 2018.

@@BLY99 I played it. Picked it up as a rental, as I didn't want to take the chance due to the negative reception. It wasn't a BAD game, but it was a bland one. Personally the 6-8 range most reviewers gave is pretty spot on. I sent it back, and I think I got Spider Man (rented as I'm not a huge comic book n' Marvel fan), a Sony open world game, that's better in pretty much every single way. I do think that the game has got a few people whailing on it because of the game being a disapointment, but that doesn't make the game any less bland. If you liked it, and it had you gripped, great, but that doesn't mean everyone who doesn't is wrong. Enjoy the game, I wish I could have. People are here because we like games, not because we like hating on them.

Because Covid started in December 2019 maybe?

Because the bubonic plague had several historic outbreaks in Europe. Not every mention of a disease is a reference to COVID.

Hello there!

@@captinobvious4705. General Kenobi!

@@williamfrancis5367 You are a *bold* one.

Count Dooku is such an underrated character.

Classic line

Exactly what I came here to say as well.

Haha yep

@Timothy Fitzpatrick Rather, the enthusiasm.

Once

Makes me feel sorry for who ended up with it.

I mean he did a poem only at the begining, so we know he still has some soul in him. If he didn't, it'd be another Wolfenstein type video

Huh I wonder if anything changed. Prob not.

Must have been when they made him go to E3

I was surprised there were enough good games from this year to shunt Remnant (HRUUH) From The Ashes down to 5th best.

Not according to Todd Howard, to him "it just works." Emphasis on just.

I received an enormous amount of attention. I bought it, not knowing all the pre-release hype and drama. I thought it was OK, but not good. Strangely enough, the game was far more unstable for me (crashes/disconnects) a few months after release. Haven't even thought about it in months.

The most surprising thing is how little has changed. It's almost been a year and they've added one mode which is no longer in the game and a stronghold mission... that's pretty much it. They don't even bother advertising their seasons on youtube.

@@reed1645 All thats left is the server shutdown and the lawsuit of the 20 people who still played it.

HOLY CHRIST! You are 100% right!

I miss Rhymedown Spectacular! Such an underrated series

Why? I got the game the other day and so far it's just more borderlands but with far better gameplay

@@james_42 Hope not on PC. If PC then 3 words: Epic. Games. Store.

@@james_42 It's in rejects because Yahtzee has a rather infamous hatred for the series. He probably hasn't spoken about it because he doesn't want to get a bunch of angry emails.

@@ShadowStarGaming Awww does that meawn you need to leave your steam comfort zone, get real snowflake

@@blackace7782 I am real, it's an overall terrible store and exclusivity is never good. Fuck Epic

Every year is a mixed bag. This year was particularly mediocre.

@@hubblebublumbubwub5215 How was this this year mediocre? It had Death Stranding, DMC5, Sekiro, Jedi Fallen Order, The Surge 2, Code Vein, Remnant From the Ashes, Outer Worlds, Control, Disco Elysium, the Medievil and RE2 remakes AND Kingdom Hearts 3 all released in the same year. I honestly can't think of another year with that many hits.

@@hubblebublumbubwub5215 It was a pretty solid year in my opinion but it depends what you're into. If you like rpgs for example the new fire emblem and shadowbringers expansion were there with hundreds of hours of playtime. There were some phenomenal indie titles as well. Some of the best games had a slightly niche appeal as well like sekiro. If you like a challenge then that game alone made it a great year.

I thought this year was pretty solid but I can understand why people thought it was mediocre. A lot of games got pushed back, and like, next year is going to be pretty amazing. The pounding that Q1 is going to subject my wallet to is going to be so graphic that it will be featured on the front page of PornHub.

@@timjennings4342 The year was only solid as it gave everybody an excuse to go back to their backlog and clear a few games they've been meaning to get to. There were definiate winners this year but the releases were just riddled with games that were either bland, forgettable or just plain bad. What was truly surprising were the games that you'd think would be sure-fire hits being surprisingly divisive. Games like Seikero, Wolfenstien: Youngblood, and Borderlands 3 (not so much for me but still).

I wish we heard this jingle more often... then again that might make it not as funny...

Activision gets the award for biggest dick-heads of the year. Release cod/crash team racing then add microtransactions when review period is over.

It feels like the industry is actively unlearning things.

And then they laugh at us when they take our money :(

It's been long since the industry not learning was funny though, these days it's more of a mix of sad and scary.

It got an honorable mention in the credits at least

Really thought it was going to be on the Blandest list somewhere.

@@Keithustus it wasn't bad, the story is kinda meh even though it's supposed to be a side story to the 3rd, Rogue One and 4th movies. It doesn't tell a story as interesting as Bioware's 2 and only 2 Knights of the Old Republic Games.

Jonathan, exactly. Not bad but certainly hard to call good. Bland.

@@Keithustus no, he called it good, he liked its gameplay and even recommended the game, when have you seen him recommend a bland game?

He did during the COD: Modern Warfare review apparently. When a game is really dull to him (Like FIFA) He reviews other games during the main review.

supersasukemaniac you really went for that huh?

@@supersasukemaniac r/woosh

@@tempo4760 stfu redditor

You really think this shitter's smart enough to figure out Pathologic?

@@madprophet6891 unlike the rest of Escapist, yeah. Yahtzee has shown competence and appreciation for experimental approach to storytelling even if the game itself wasn't up to his taste. Even if he disliked it and lambasted it to high heaven it would still have material for an interesting ZP episode.

I've played a little of the first one. Supposedly the doctor is the second route in the sequel and that ruins the mystery/suspense of his route, whereas he was the first route and an outsider perspective in the first?

@@yumyum366 yeah but the second game gives more characterization to the Haruspex and the steppe culture. Him and the Changeling suffered a lot in the first game due to time and budget constraints.

@@Srksius2802 So doc playthrough in the first game then jump to the second?

Dmc 5 isnt just my GOTY, it's also the best action game of all time and a fairy tale of how the passion of fans lead to major success for them and the publishing company, bless itsuno and capcom, they made a mediocre year a little more exciting

Yahtzee was pretty light on it during his review so I thought it would end up in the top five or an honorable mention, but I guess not.

I think a lot of people forgot about DMC 5.

No it is just that the series has an interesting story hidden behind sophomoric humor and edginess that was sort of endearing the first and second time around, but has gone on to beat a dead horse to the point of punching gravel. Any review yahtzee did would either be pointing at BL2 or a minute long tops because there isn't enough soul put into the game to even inspire insults at this point.

He'd shoot himself on the characters alone because my god, everything is your goddamn fault, ava. Shut the fuck up and stay on the ship before you get someone else killed and made the token role for that character too

At this point its a game. Borderlands fans will defend until their dying breath, and Yahtzee wants their dying breath to be the waft of a triceratops's taint.

I think it was more people kept asking him "WhErE's TeH BoRdErLaNdS rEvIeW?" Not because they were fans but because, like Smash Bros, they wanted to see him rip it apart as he is known for not being the biggest fan of Borderlands. The Escapist made a RU-vid post about it showing an image of it and straight up saying, "Stop asking him now please."

@@derrickmelton5844 I mean the humour is still great it's just 3s humour isnt good basically ignore the story it's kinda bs

Same. I can't even think of a single friend that bought the game, even though it was over-hyped for years.

but generally, people don't review shit they don't play...

hahahahaha 69 lieks funni secks numbahr

For me it was fucking Days Gone. I completely forgot it was a thing, which is gibing it too much credit.

Kind of is, though

@@Mene0 I'm saying it being 5th worst shows that it still wasnt bad enough to any higher up.

Out of a year

Tho I feel it should rather belong on the Bland list. Imho it wasn't really a bad game. But it surely missed some potential, even if you consider it's a budget spin-off.

The movement, guns and levels I was fine with but the characters and story were weak. It felt short and tried to turn into a soft Borderlands type enemy damage model. Worst of all it's like they created this "soft" live service model like Division or something but never properly planned it out. I love Wolfenstein but totally understand why people hate it.

I think because he found it too admirable in its creative vision and sheer unique weirdness to be bland, too technically competent and engaging to be bad, but too flawed in a variety of significant-but-not-deal-breaking ways to be good. I think his assessment of it would be "A decent try".

There was hype for that game? I remember a ton of ads and everyone I heard mention them thought "yeah, that looks like it's gonna be nothing special"

@@zegreatpumpkinani9161 I think there was hype after the first trailer but once the others came out everyone was like "oh it's one of those"

@@zegreatpumpkinani9161 There was a lot of hype for the game in 2017 or 18, I can't remember TBH. But then ea fucked up, and like half of the hype died, because everyone knew ea was going to fuck it up. But I along with a few people had some hope for the game, and then they released the beta, and that official killed the hype.

well people wer ehyped cause it was a bioware game..and then hype died when it became clear it was a bland attempt at ripping off destiny with a barebones 'story', lackluster antagonists and like zero actual characters

It was overall bland.

Patholohic 2, Disco Elysium and Sekiro are some of my favorite games of the decade, but 80% of the rest ranges from mediocre to bad.

DMC5, REmake, pathologic 2, disco elysium, outer worlds, outer wilds.. Even the new cod was alright. I'm sure I'm forgetting a couple more. Definitely not a bland year for gaming.

@@samuelw01 80% of the games was always bad but before the internet they faded away

@No name here Oh yeah, i remember the internet not existing in 2017 (one of the best years for games).

I think Yahtzee made Disco Elysium his game of the year because that's the video where I finally put an end to Paradox Acres continuously asking him to review HuniePop.

@@E1craZ4life wait he actually stopped?

The Modern Warfare review

@@lukylooper r/whoosh

@@eudgenius46 It ain't a woosh if it actually helps people who have that question. I didn't, but you never know.

@@eudgenius46 people who say "r/woosh" when they're not even on fucking reddit should probably have their fingers removed entire hands if they say it to people who didn't even miss the joke

@@VanessaMagick I agree

Runner Ups/Rejects at 5:53 Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice Star Wars: Jedi: Fallen Order Control The Outer Worlds/Outer Wilds Rejects: Borderlands 3

it is, you can see the same with movies. a movie, good or bad, can still be entrtaining. think of the room, or those tomb raider movies with angelina jollie. but nothing is going to save a movie or a game thats just boring

GET OUT THE CHAMPAGNE!

What about his review made you think it was going to be on his worst. He didn't love it but he didn't hate it either and it was to much its own thing for it to be on the bland list.

IIRC; he described Remnant as "positively numbing".

The first chapter of the game feels less inspired than the rest (some don't like Rhom either). IMO the game only got more interesting as it went along and is way more fun with a full group.

It was pretty clear to me he had trouble filling out his "best" list this year, and most likely settled for "annoyed me the least" for a few entries.

RE3 was a beloved entry though. If they do nemesis justice the game will be fine. The original was more action focused anyway. They just have to give it a good Thanos balance of Action/Horror. Like the original.

He didnt hate it

@@azzzanadra he did however admit it would have been a better movie.

it's not bland. It can be boring if it's not your cup of tea but so can cities skylines or eurotruck simulator. It's also creative, intriguing, beautiful and not a remake, reboot or sequel to established frenchise. So it's not bland

Theres certainly nothing bland about it. Nobody dislikes it because its bland. Its just not for everybody.

@@supersasukemaniac Death Stranding would be such a shitty movie. And that would take away everything actually special about it as a piece of art.