What Games Can Learn From Pro-Wrestling 

Howdy! In case you were thinking there are some.... *unusual editing choices* regarding some of the wrestling clips in this video, that's because there are! WWE decided that even though I've been throwing money at them my entire life, that they needed to gift me with some copyright claims for a few 10 second clips in this video and block the whole thing worldwide.... Thank you WWE. So to make this thing visible, a few clips needed to be tweaked. I'm sure you understand. Fingers crossed it stays live. Anyways, thanks as always for being here, hit ya boy up on twitter, and do me a big favor: have yourself a beautiful holiday season. I'll see you again in late January :)

The bit about the legendary Pokemon is true. I was PISSED when I killed Entei in a single hit.

I normally don't care much for wrestling, but when someone I like talks about something he likes a lot, with this amount of passion, I can't help but be interested in it as well :)

1:29 "I'm sorry... I love you..."

The entirety of the fight against the hollow knight in (you guessed it) Hollow Knight is a very well done example of visual storytelling in combat. Also, happy holidays Daryl and to anyone who's reading this!

The final boss of undertales neutral ending immediately comes to mind for fights that sink up with the story

"I'm sorry i love you" The wrestling community: 😭😭😭😭😭😭

Halfway into this video I'm reminded of that perfect example of ludanarrative that was Dynasty Warriors 3's Lubu. When your ally say "DO NOT PURSUE LUBU", you listen because unless you've practiced relentlessly just on that one level, you will be knocked down and you will be knocked out in two combos. Clean and simple. He's just too strong.

I’m surprised you didn’t mention the Yakuza series, as one of the main themes of the game is to convey your emotions through your fist. The final fight of Yakuza 2 is a perfect example.

Long essay about Wrestling and Storytelling? Who are you, Eyepatch wolf? lol

Shawn Michaels didn't throw Jannetty threw that window, that coward Marty Jannetty tried to dive through the window to escape!

The final mission in Halo Reach had my 13 year old self almost in tears. They didn't change the battle mechanics so much, but the slow loss of each spartan until its finally the player's turn was brutal in the best way possible

The Legend of Heroes Trails in the Sky and Trails from Zero/Trails to Azure are amazing with this. I'm not going to spoil which characters and where, but the way they hype up some characters as ridiculously strong and powerful and the way they deliver it with a hard boss-fight you can canonically lose is amazing!

Just over a year ago, I saw the video you made on Loss Aversion in Dead Cells, and I'm so glad that I've gotten to see this channel grow this year. Can't wait to see where you go next year. Love ya, Daryl. Love the vid. Everyone stay safe this holiday, and see you in 2021!

You are the first person able to explain to me how poignant and in depth wrestling really is. A feat no one has ever even remotely achieved. Yet again, absolutely blown away by your content. Thank you. 💕

*Every Boss in Nier Automata.*

Awesome video as always. I'm so glad you commented on the importance and emotion of Shawn Michaels hesitating to perform his finisher on Ric Flair. Ric was one of Shawn's idols and heroes, and it was a heartbreaking moment in wrestling history, for both of those men and for the fans. Because we all knew it was the end of a legend, and that Ric Flair was retiring that night. Shawn Michaels had such a deep love and respect for his opponent, and that moment of hesitation and reflection on the man's career was incredibly touching. There are a lot of memorable moments in wrestling history, like the first hell in a cell match between the Undertaker and Mankind, the night Sting returned in his now famous "Crow" attire and makeup, and many more. But this moment was one of the saddest and most emotional.

I don't even watch wrestling, but yours and Super Eyepatch Wolf's videos on wrestling, and how it relates to gaming or other mediums, have made me interested in the subject as a whole. Thank you for this!

Snake in mgs2 is actually a really competent ai teammate.

The one use of a "in game" mechanic i really liked was octopath traveler chapter 3 of oberion, what i thought it was only gonna be a cutscene then got hit by the "challenge" promp it feels amazing

Yakuza is really great at developing its characters through fights.

The several fights against Kuze from Yakuza 0 come to mind.

This video had eerily perfect timing, are you spying on me?!? Crazy coincidence how just yesterday I was replaying undertale, and thought about how nice it was that Asriel’s attacks get weaker and how well that communicates his hesitation to attack you without the need for any dialogue or a cutscene. I had to stop and give this video a like immediately when you mentioned Toriel doing the same thing! I pondered a bit about why we don’t really see It often and realized it introduces a bit of a barrier of entry, though. As maybe someone with less “video game literacy” wouldn’t quite understand what it’s supposed to mean. I might wrong, but I don’t think this kind of combat story telling is intuitive for everyone, just like I wouldn’t have had any idea those wrestling moves were throwbacks if you hadn’t told me. So as much as I love it, I understand developers might be careful with using mechanics as a storytelling medium for the sake of broader accessibility. It’s very hard to strike a good balance when it comes to that. Love your channel, thank you for reading my mind and making a video on a topic literally the day after I thought about it!

Is this a christmas gift? Happy holidays, Daryl!

I love how this intro details exactly why I liked Shawn Michaels so much as a kid

The final fight in MGS4, I know it’s not everyone’s favourite. But it exemplifies exactly what you’re looking for by the end of the video, it brings back up, every mechanic, music, sounds, health bars of the games previous to it. Masterclass.

Tekken 7 holds a masterclass for this topic in it's story from start to end. Not every interaction is a home run and the narrator has become kind of a meme for how bad he is, but the actual fights with story elements are exactly like what you speak about in this video. Playing as 7 year old Kazyua fighting his grown father where every attack barely does chip damage and no hit stun makes you feel the struggle of how unfair a fight Kazuya is in. Fast forward later to the fight with older Kazuya and Heihachi in the dojo, when the Jack robots start flying in and flashbacks to Tekken 5 start overlapping by cchanging the colouring of the frame, the Hud, the names of the characters, is all good fan service but also narratively conveys how history keeps repeating itself for the mishima family. And then there's my favourite example of this towards the end of the game where Heihachi holds his final stand against Kazuya. The game gives you super armour but the game intends you to barely win so it gives Heihachi very little health at the outset of the match. In Tekken 7 they introduced a mechanic where if two attacks are about to trade and one player has low health, the game will slow down and zoom in on the attacks to add suspence because the attack that connects could be a decisive moment in the match. When applied to the story fight with Kazuya and Heihachi the slow-mo effect is triggered by almost every single trade and because of Heihachi's super armour state, even if he does get hit, he can still tank really strong hits that would normally kill without the armour. This moment really makes you believe in Heihachi's stubborness to stay alive and fight Kazuya who at this point is narratively several times stronger than Heihachi at this point. It is the best last stand moment I've seen in gaming and I love it :)

Granblue Fantasy (yes, the gacha game) has a lot of cool moments during the story and during events where they use the combat system to tell a narrative or to build up to a super special moment. I really love when you mentioned how “if you understand the combat system you can follow along”. I’ve recently started watching DDT wrestling and, despite no English commentary, I can enjoy it because I can read the ring. Enjoy the rest of the year.

I gotta tell you, man this video was moving to me. As someone who often tries to draw parallels between forms of media in storytelling methods. Wrestling has long been a love in my life and much like you I see the in-ring storytelling as something powerful and riveting. One powerful and unique story from recent years I look to very often is Seth Rollins vs The Fiend al Hell in a Cell. I know this isn't the most beloved match in the world, but it's one I might look to make into a video sometime myself. As for me, that story is that of dissension into madness for Rollins, the dissent that while he could put away the beast, a king, and every other challenger, the guy simply couldn't put away the evil within. Articulated through his actions which led to the controversial ending, but annunciated a deeper narrative. It was called off as a no-contest meaning neither man had won. However, it's with the utmost certainty that I can say Seth lost in this match. He went on to lose the title and of course adopted the Messiah gimmick following this. Giving in to a darker side, and showing the full transgression into his now twisted persona. Again, thank you for making this video! It was an absolutely lovely watch and I look forward to more from you! :D

I'd like to put forward the final "fight" of Jedi: Fallen Order. When Darth Vader rocks in, you realize how weak you are in the grand scheme of Star Wars. You attempt to lock sabers with him and he immediately overpowers you and picks you up by the throat. You pull the pipes and ceiling down on him in desperation, but he just stops them without even needing to look. After you wiggle out of his grasp, he chases you through the facility, pulling walkways and hallways out from under and around you. If he catches he up to you during this sequence, he instantly kills you with no chance of struggling again. When you finally make it to the end, the only that stops Vader is the fact that you broke the tube you're in that's surrounded by ocean, letting in a torrent of water. Holding back the water takes all of Vader's concentration, so he *let's you go*. You didn't win, you survived.

i feel like kota ibushi kicking out of the one winged angel honestly makes the move feel so much more impactful to me. The only person who could ever kick out of the one winged angel is the one person who was by his side all those years-it makes it feel even more like no one else will ever be able to replicate that, because no one else shares that bond with kenny that ibushi does.

I think this is one of my favorite videos. Thanks, Daryl. The editing was great, the subject of interest was peculiar yet awesome, and the way you went about it was awesome. Thank you for making fantastic content like this.

I've just discovered your channel earlier in the day and the videos that you make are so damn binge-worthy; the fact that you've framed this particular video around pro wrestling makes the wrestling fan in me really happy. I kinda hope that you do more wrestling related videos.

I always say Dragon's Dogma has a very cool narrative that comes full circle. One of the 2 scenes that always stick to me were; when the main city gets attacked by a Cockatrice, you actually have clues spread around before that quest that points to it being a trap, including the chance to run into some guards outside the city carrying the "body" of the monster to the king as a trophy. And the second one is when to characters are fighting, one is a spy and the other one has been betrayed, the second one tells you not to interrupt the duel, and you can just sit back and watch their dialogue fueled fight, the spy fights with no remorse and the other character hesitates thanks to the shock of the betrayal. And of course you can interrupt them to help the second person, who berates you for soiling their honor (and can result on the death of the spy). An amazing game that often gets overlooked.

YO excellent stuff as usual. I’ve been thinking of examples of games doing this, and I think I have a good one. The ending of MGS3 (as in the last moment of gameplay before long ending cutscene) does some really interesting storytelling with the mechanics. Without spoiling too much, you’re challenged to a round of russian roulette, 2 guns, 1 bullet. Depending on whether or not you choose the right gun and depending on what you decide to do with it in the final moment, the game has 4 different endings that each have a different meaning, which is really really cool. Looking forward to your personality videos next year man, happy holidays 👏

I am not so sure how much this counts, but I feel every aspect of Hotline Miami 1 contributes to its story, gameplay included. The music and combat give the sense of a madman lashing out and killing everyone in sight in a brutal frenzy, while the moments after when the music dies down, all that is left is a quiet background track and you walking back to your car. The madman calming down after his spree.

Fuck yeah stories told trough mechanics are my jam. The best example I can think of is actually similar to the ones you pointed out, one of the last bosses in Fury. The way it usses ludonarrative dissonance to tell the story blew me mind completly. Their last game Haven also do great stuff in that regard. Glad to see you grow has you have Daryl, defently earned. I am sure you will get even cooler videos next year, can't wait!

just found your channel from the pokémon cinematography & psychology of shinies vid! kept seeing all the wrestling clips and started SCROLLING down your page looking for a proper wrestling vid - was not disappointed

I think of the last section of Lisa the painful (spoilers obviously.) It alters your move sets to reflect the emotions of the characters, and loss of control. Replacing martial art moves with crying and screaming, inflicting fear upon those who are trying to stop you. As your character is Turned into something feared throughout the whole game.

Final Boss Battle of MGS4. Each phase of the fight reflecting not just each of the games stories but the characters personality and philosophy of fighting at that time as well. It's possibly one of the best moments in videogames tbh. Despite the whole game not being of the same quality this boss battle reflected everything that made the series great and brought out all the emotions through its gameplay (as well what they say during it). Phase 1 our main hero Solid Snake readys his basic cqc stance when he was younger. Ocelot taunting and putting on more of a show than a fight. Your normal combo is no longer the grounded Old Snake style but his springy and athletic seeing him pulling off his old signature spin kicks and cqc holds. Ocelot doesn't really fight you here but invites you to hit him as he keeps taunting. When he puts you into a choke hold and you fail the grab break he doesn't finish you but instead kisses your head and laughs at you. Phase 2 kicks in and he's now more ruthless. No longer letting you get free from failed counters but instead eating big damage and no longer giving you free hits. I can go on and on but if you haven't seen that Boss battle please watch it is the best way to end the series

Hades. Yea there is a bunch of story going on elsewhere, but the combat is very much a part of that story. You get stronger because of your connection to the mirror (Nyx) and during your runs you pick up boons from your Olympian family members, and the better your relationship with them, the better the boons. Hell....depending on the boons / powers you have with you, you will get differnt dialouge during your fight with dear old dad. (i.e. "I see that my brother Zeus is meddling in my affairs again").

I couldnt give a damn about wrestling. But whenever youtubers talk about it with such a passion it makes me wanna start watching.

I love it when the story in a game is reflected in the gameplay. One of the oldest examples I can think of is Final Fantasy IV on multiple points. First is when you first meet Rydia right after torching her village and killing her mother, no matter how much you level her up, she will never learn to cast Fire, because she's afraid of fire ever since it destroyed her village. It's only when she's the only spellcaster in the party and they need someone to melt some ice blocking the path up a mountain, that she finally learns Fire, after realizing that fire isn't necessarily bad in itself. A later case is after Mt. Ordeal, when Cecil becomes a Paladin and Tellah learns to cast Meteor. No matter how much Tellah's level increases, he never gains more MP, meaning he's stuck at 90 MP for the entire game, and Meteor costs 99 MP, as it's meant to be a spell that's so powerful that no mere mortal ought to be able to cast it. And then there's the thing with the twins, Palom and Porom, when returning to Baron and after defeating Cagnazzo there. The two twins decide to cast Petrify on themselves to stop the moving walls from crushing the party like in the trash-compactor scene in A New Hope. Following this, you can try using items like Softs or Remedies on them, but nothing will cure their petrification, until much later in the game, when they turn back on their own. It's just one of those games where I really feel like the devs went out of their way to really make the story reflect in the gameplay.

First off, big fan dude. I just discovered you and have been BINGEING all of your videos. I love your work and the way you think. I’m not gonna lie. I almost missed this one due to not watching wrestling. (Not anymore. I grew up watching Matt and Jeff Hardy, I had their dvds and forced all my friends to watch when they came over). But I’m so glad I did. This was wonderful to watch and a perfect end for the night. Second, about the question in the video.. I know the perfect game analogy for this kind of moment and I’m sure plenty more in the wrestling world. And it’s the fighting game scene. More specifically for me, the Super Smash Brothers Melee scene. I know firsthand bc quite literally it went from a hobby to my career in what seemed like an instant. I don’t know much about the current wrestling scene but seeing how passionate you are with this video I had to show my appreciation and respect for your passion. Keep it up homie🤙

My 'magnus opus' would be the final monster added to Monster Hunter World, the Fatalis. I don't know how to explain it properly, but the fight was so hard, and required so much form even veterans of the monster hunter series, that it *felt* like a final boss, without having to rely on cutscene dialogue.

Zelda games aren't usually narrative driven, but I found the Music Box House in Majora's Mask to be pretty telling. Pamela's often seen walking around the house, and will retreat if she spots Link. When you finally manage to enter, you're greeted by her Gibdo-infected father that appeared to be sealed away in a casket, presumably for her protection. Suspenseful music starts, leading the player to assume that they're supposed to save Pamela from her father. She forces Link outside of the house for trying to harm him, and the game can only progress once the player performs the Song of Healing for her ill father.

all my absolute favorite channel talk about pro wrestling somehow

MMA 2v1 irl is very fun. I do it as an exercise.

I ABSOLUTELY ADORE watching videos about those WWE narratives FUCK! As I'm a storytelling lover, I can't help myself but to smile with that kind of video.

For all the places where Octopath drops the ball in regular story and scenario, it IS mechanically fantastic. A couple examples that come to mind are in Disgaea 2 when Laharl shows up and he's straight up lvl 1000 (you finish the main game around lvl 100) and also Nier Automata does a lot of this with how 2B and 9S not only fight very differently but also how 9S's hacking opens up a whole new aspect to the game and just shows you so much more of what the story is building on top of that IS invisible to 2B when you're playing as her

Well aside from the FF7 example that you used, the only other example I can think of is the fight with Vile at the end of the intro stage of Mega Man X. You fight this purple Boba Fett lookalike with a shoulder mounted bazooka in a walking tank, who repeatedly slams through you no matter how hard you fight, never showing any signs of damage. Then as your life bar gets down to it's last few pips, he paralyses you and grabs you in a strangle hold like a rag doll. Then as he mocks you for your weakness, off screen you hear a buster shot being charged. Then with a single shot Vile's mech arm is blasted clean off, and drops you as Zero dashes to the rescue and takes aim with a second shot. Vile immediately retreats in his crippled mech without a word exchanged between them. Without a doubt, this is one of the best character introductions I've ever seen in a video game! And it makes abundantly clear the gulf in power between X and Zero.

I actually wanted to be a WWE Wrestler at one point to express a hyper masculine bombastic part of myself. The Doom Comics were actually a inspiration, alongside Dragon Ball Z drama.

Trails in the Sky FC, the battle against Lorence, and in general the Trails series. Is a battle with someone who you've already seen is strong far beyond most other characters, and his battle does encapsulate that and forces you to use every bit of knowledge you've gathered to not even beat him, but show him you are worth his expectations. It's an optional battle for a reason, but oh boy does it feels nice to beat him. Also, Trails series is consistent in the fact that if a fight is supposed be hard lorewise, you're going to HAVE a hard time beating that fight.

Since there's so many indie examples to draw from, might as well point out how a triple A game did something kinda like this in terms of long-form buildup. In Kingdom Hearts 3 near the end you have to fight what were essentially the 3 Big Bad Bosses as the 3 Warriors of Light, it's a culmination of all their fighting styles melding and complimenting one another in some crazy ways with the music fitting it as well, with each character defeat making it ever so slightly harder to continue in that sprawling match. The last final Fight with Xehanort alongside Donald and Goofy, the silly guys who've been with you the entire time also has this great emotional impact near the end.

Super late to this but Dark Souls does "narrative through combat" very well, especially in boss fights: Great Wolf Sif limping and whimpering as he nears death, The Dancer of the Boreal Valley and her strange but graceful movements, how the Twin Princes are powerful but also essentially crippled without each other... the series really emphasizes to the player how much narrative and character can come across in game and combat mechanics.

Wolf Sif in Dark Souls, I feel like there was a enemy in a zelda game, that became more desperate, attacking more and faster, but also missing a lot more?

A good example would be Liquid Ocelot vs Solid Snake in Metal Gear Solid 4. Two old men past their primes, a wealth of rivalry, and nothing but determination to beat the other. They go so far as to let each other boost their own strength to fight as hard as they can.

I'm late to the party, but as someone below mentioned Monster Hunter thrives with this. More so with the climax monster. You have been training, learning battling each challenge thrown at you, getting stronger and stronger then the big monster is revealed. Reinforcements of the guild can't come in time or you are ordered to evacuate... Yet you remain, the town you are in, all the people you have bonded with have faith in you. You can do this, so you head out. The fight is long, hard, you learn this monsters patterns, ranges, habits all on the fly. The monster hits as hard as hinted at, is as strong as feared but losing is not an option. Then after a time the final blow is struck, the monster falls, the skies in some caes clear. Sunlight pours in. And you come back to thanks and happiness of the people. And that's fights that don't have the 'turning point' in them. Some fights give you a special weapon and when you land it the monsters music fades out then *your* theme kicks in, the final push, the moment you become the biggest threat on the field, the monster now scared of *you*. Monster Hunter gives me these moments of story triumph I just don't get in other games and I *live* for the moment "Proof of a hero" kicks in.

Tales of the Abyss has a scene where the party is attacked by a group of people and Luke (the player character) who has been shown to be sheltered and naive in cutscenes and things, is now unable to fight back, when he has no problems fighting monsters, and you have to let your teammates handle things. I believe he expressed hesitancy earlier about it as foreshadowing, as well. I feel like that's a great moment in combat storytelling.

Gonna go with The Unending Coil of Bahamut (Ultimate) fight from Final Fantasy 14. The fight itself is a summary of Bahamut's creation, imprisonment, and purpose; with the first and second bosses being two parties that sought Bahamut's power, and the last boss being Bahamut himself. And at the final phase of the fight, the entire party is promptly wiped before being revived by the phoenix, and given a special buff to push through to the very end.

Happy holidays everyone! Also great video Daryl, you never disappoint.

Definitely the insane parallels of the Celeste chase in chapter 2 and the Celeste battle in chapter 6. You know if you've played the game

While there might not be a game with as much story in a fight built in, I'd say that any game fight can have a story added by you. For example, when I play pokemon, my main team ends up with certain personality traits that I attribute over the span of the play through. Any outcomes in a given fight can be further shaped by those personalities, and a story arc for that pokemon can form. I often do this for most games I play, but I think that's more because I prefer story/immersion more than the mechanics themselves.

This reminds me of Gilgamesh from fate series. He's so overpowered and cocky, yet everybody loves him. He is an unbeatable force yet his pride became his weakness. Instead of ending the MC, he didn't bother to fight at his fullest and was beaten instead just because he thinks the MC wasn't worthy of it. He tried to take out his universe ending treasure but was too late. So beautifully done, I couldn't believe something similar happened in wrestling.. it's amazing.

An old one but one that comes to mind is Final Fantasy V, the death of Galuf at the climax of World 2's story. The whole party gets floored by ExDeath's abuse of World 2's crystals, and all looks lost. But as she did earlier in the game, Krile shows up and gets a shot in at ExDeath seemingly creating an opening for the heros to fight back. But last time she was only stopping a mind controlled puppet - this time the tree-man himself is present and does not take kindly to her interference. But neither does Galuf take kindly to a threat to his beloved Granddaughter. Pushing past the crystal beam pinning the team to the wall, he saves Krile from the ring of fire threatening to engulf her *by taking it on himself*, straight up shattering the crystal that was holding him back at the same time, and engages ExDeath in direct combat. This is the part where the action takes place in a familiar gameplay space - the battle screen. Galuf is constantly losing HP right from the get go, and ExDeath absolutely POUNDS you with some of the deadliest attacks and spells in the game. Including the three 'sealed' spells you yourself only get much later - Holy, Flare and Meteor. Even when Galuf's HP reaches zero, he'll take the 'I'm on low health' knee, but he does not go down. You can keep swinging away with whatever you have, forcing ExDeath to wonder how you're so resistant to the traditional methods of separating a man from his soul. He thinks it is hate, boasting that no amount of hate can best him. Galuf manages to speak out something to the effect of 'it's not hate' before ExDeath is repelled and the group is saved. But Galuf - in fighting with absolutely everything he had to save his friends, his beloved grandaughter, and (attempt) to save the crystals of his world - burnt himself to effectively a cinder. No known method of healing the game is so used to letting you fix your problems with - Cure spells, Raise spells, all matter of healing items - works and are tried desperately by the grieving party. Because of the era of the game's original release (SNES), he vanishes in his granddaughter's arms as she cries out for her beloved Grandpa with the chilling message on screen confirming yes, one of your four characters whom you've been with for possibly literal days of your real life (depending on your meandering) is well and truly dead. He might have some ghostly cameos later on, but he gave his life to continue the story and help save the world(s) of Final Fantasy V.

If you’re looking for great examples of enhancing a story through combat, grab Earthbound on Wii U. A lot of the comments here are obviously mentioning undertale, but its main influence has the best combat/narrative integration I have seen in a game thematically. Even though, just like some runs of Undertale there are times it specifically is grindy and rough, especially near the beginning, but it’s worth the journey. Also, thanks for the shout out! I know I’ve been getting to these videos a few days late lately due to life chaos, but I’m still always glad to be supporting your fantastic content. Merry Christmas!

Congrats again on 3 years! Love this channel!

Thank you for your awesome work ! I'm a happy new patreon from France. ^^

I haven't seen anybody else comment about it, so I have to mention the Hollow Knight fight. Especially when you have the context of the Pure Vessel fight, and see how THK fights in its prime. The fight starts out with it using typical nail fighting moves, the way it was trained. As the fight progresses, it starts doing wild attacks using the infection inside of it, and it becomes very clear that THK isn't the one fighting you, the infection is. The more obvious way this is presented is how THK literally stabs itself to try to help you defeat the infection. But I've also always thought the move where the infection literally throws THK's body at you as an attack showed this even better.

I guess you could say storytelling through combat just . . . hits different . . . I'll see myself out . . .

This is my second time watching this in the middle of the night. Just in a mood to watch your wrestling videos.

Pyre, although it tells its story and relationships throughout multiple battles, its one of my fave games ever for not only what it does with them but how it does it. Great videos and channel, glad I found you and thanks for making all this.

Lisa: The Painful is a really great example of this!!

You are the SuperEyepatchWolf of gaming

Metal Gear Solid surely says a lot with the final boss battles of each game.

Saved permanently to my list of best/favorite game and story design tips

One fantastic game (and series) that does such a great job in telling stories through its battles is Yakuza (specifically Yakuza Like a Dragon). The final boss battle in particular is absolutely fantastic at setting such a great scene between the main character and his rival, and its epicness is accented beautifully through the combination of cutscenes and the actual battles (it's a two-phase battle). I'm not a wrestling person, but I think that Yakuza Like a Dragon is the best comparison I can think of that fits the feel you seem to be going for.

Thank you lots, mate, for 3 years of quality videos! Have a good time with your folks, and here's to 2020 part 2!

Let's go, another Hollow Knight video coming! Also, I don't know how you are content with 100K subscribers. You make some of the best content in RU-vid along with channels like Core - A Gaming.

One of the best storytelling through gameplay moments I think I've ever seen is in Tales of the Abyss. From early in the game, the main character Luke has been in this weird, tense opposition to Asch, an enemy who looks a striking amount like him. After a huge reveal in story you find that Luke was actually a clone of Asch, and they're forced to fight. Asch has all the same abilities Luke would have learned up to this point, and then some. Having the same foundation but so much more time to train and perfect his style, Asch has learned more than Luke, and the fight feels hopeless. Asch hits extremely hard, and you're supposed to lose, but you don't have to. Winning even plays into the story. The way cloning works in Tales of the Abyss means that Luke and Asch are linked, and the power that flows between them is kind of a zero-sum game. As Luke gets stronger, Asch will eventually weaken. He's beatable specifically to show that that process has already begun. Luke still loses the fight either way, but given the situation it makes sense he'd be overwhelmed with everything he's learned and what's just happened to him.

Magnum Opus of game battle storytelling for me is Ike’s battle against the Black Knight in Path of Radiance. It’s the only time a 1 on 1 has really ever worked in Fire Emblem. Ike deals little damage but Black Knight is devastating. Ike wouldn’t stand a chance without Mist there to heal, and she is threatened in turn 3 by soldiers appearing, who are told not to interfere and protect the Black Knight, and instead hunt down Mist. Ike can choose to protect Mist by going after the soldiers but in doing so sacrifices his win against the Black Knight. Mist can run to protect herself, but Ike loses his healing, and after turn 5, the fight is over; you took too long and lost your shot. The game doesn’t even give you a goal here. The mission clear goal just reads: “???” It’s uncertain that you’ll win, and so very perfect for the confrontation between the two.

My magnum opus video game fight moment has to be Naked Snake vs. The Boss in Metal Gear Solid 3 Snake Eater. A classic master vs. student battle where mastering close quarters combat that your master taught you is the key to beating her. While it's more Shawn Michaels vs. Ric Flair than Bucks vs. FTR, the amount of callbacks to previous moves and techniques is a nice way to show players how Metal Gear Solid has evolved over the years.

As a pro wrestling fan and a gamer, I really enjoyed this video. Thank you!

My "magnum opus" for this is from Yggdra Union. In one chapter the main character has finally enter the deeper end of the Villian's Empire. The thing is that when Yggdra (the main character) gets there, instead of enemy army being present, it was the civillians and city guards of the empire lead by a couple who oppose the mc. When really makes the whole battle gut wrenching is that by this point in the game, your team is effectively at their mid-to-late game power while the civillians are pathetically weak. Aside from the intro cutscene and after you killed one of the couple. The whole foght is just your army slaughtering the enemy who are just trying to defend their empire. Even after battle, everyone said that it leaves them with bitter taste in theor mouth and us the player felt like we have become the same as the villian.

this man helped me get through 2020 thanks daryl

Probably not the first one to mention the fight with The Hollow Knight but it's just beautiful storytelling

The final fight against Vergil in DMC3, I felt so bad for having to fight him that I would literally hesitate to do anything.

When you listen to a song so much you can remember it by the first the notes - luna by Tenno Great taste Daryl

Hey DG imma be making a game in the future that tells a story of many struggles of life and emotions but in a way where it will be in my own universe. So i wanna say thank you for making videos like these that fuel my passion to create a story and that give me so many new ideas keep up the amazing work

I’d say the Soul of Cinder from Dark Souls 3 hits on that story through combat pretty well. You go in expecting another average final boss who has some big lore significance but isn’t nearly as hard as some of the other things you’ve done so you’re like “eh whatever”. Then you recognize some of the attack animations the Soul makes...then you recognize some of the abilities. Then you recognize some of the weapons and spells. Then it dawns on you. This is your soul. You are overcoming 3 souls games worth of items, builds, spells, deaths, and perseverance. When you defeat the Soul of Cinder, DS3 is making you play out the statement that the real challenge of Dark Souls is overcoming yourself.

Dammit Daryl I already have so many games to play and videos to make but NOW you are getting me into Wrestling? Haha great video man. Looking forward to seeing what you do in 2021.

i've some! (will try to be as spoiler-free as possible) -Cecil's "off" fight in FFIV -Ryudo's brother fight in Grandia 2 -Panthurnax optional fight (Skyrim)

Can't wait to see what you have in store for us next year. Always love when my two favorite worlds (games and wrestling) can come together like this. The Soul of Cinder battle at the end of Dark Souls 3 is the only example for myself of a game telling an amazing story to the caliber of the Bucks vs FTR (still not quite as good as that match, but close). As you battle the 4 different styles Soul has, and you think you've won, you hear that familiar tune and get to close out the series the samw way the story and my love of From Software began.

*Beware of spoilers for Final Fantasy Crisis Core* My "magnum opus" would be the ending of Crisis Core in which Zack confronts the soldiers of the Shinrah. Throughout the game, you gain finishing moves that are represented by the interventions of other characters in the story. But during this last fight, each time one such move is about to activate, the portrait of the character fades away instead. And at that point, we can truly feel as if Zack's life is flashing one last time before his eyes as his end draws near. At the end of the fight, when no character is left to disapear, even the move set for Zacks abilities is changed as he can barely walk anymore but still fights on and has a hard time against run of the mill soldiers. There is not a single word uttered during the fight but Zack's banter, but we know exactly what is happening.

The closest thing I can think of to story through battle mechanics is a game called Library of Ruina. Its an an indie game in early access and its a card battle sim but the way the enemies fight and the cards they use are based off of their ideologies and tactics, as well as their special abilities and bonuses

Thanks Daryl! Congrats on 3 years! I can't wait for next year! Have a great holiday season!

Hey Daryl, you said this was different to your usual content but I absolutely loved it, I could feel the passion and it was a tonne of fun, your videos are always passionate but this one even more so. Thank you for the great videos!

I don't even like wrestling, but this video is so well done, I can really appreciate it.

Hey Daryl, I think this is your best video so far, really excellent. I'm looking forward to what you come up with in 2021!

Careful y'all! Long comment ahead. Omega Zero from both Megaman Zero 3 and Megaman ZX as my Magnum Opus. I'll also add Ultra-Necrozma from Pokémon Ultra Sun & Moon and Primal Dialga from Mystery Dungeon. Pokémon REALLY can throw some nasty Legendary battles when it wants to. The story in the Z3 hinges on the idea that the main character you've been using has a strange body, with both the villains and key characters from your side hinting at the idea that you're not fighting the way you normally would. Throughout the game, you find pieces of information regarding that fearsome force, Omega, who's the new antagonist of the series and whom your character has apparently fought in a previous war. It only takes until the end of the game for you to battle him in a final confrontation - which is extra cool because Omega is both the first, _and_ the final boss of that game. He has three forms: the first one is the one you've been fighting all along. The second is a giant hulking behemoth with two heards, one per shoulders. One is a giant head shaped like Megaman X, the player avatar from the previous generation, while the other is a giant head shaped like Zero, AKA the player avatar of both the previous _and_ the current generation. What's extra cool about this is that Zero has a completely different design from the one he had in the X series. His gameplay is essentially the same, but his feel and look are both different. When you reach the third form, you find yourself in an abandonned lab that is the exact same as the one Zero woke up in. And when you look at Omega, you realize that what you were fighting was just an armor, and that he, in fact, _is you._ Or, more specifically, he's an AI entity that took your body and made it stronger than your current one. He represents the bygone era in which Zero only fought with a beam saber and a buster gun, while your new body represents the current abilities you've developped throughout your new journey. None of this is actually said, you simply notice when you fight Omega: he's not exactly easy, but the reason you can match him despite him being factually stronger and sturdier than you are (he has the most health and damage output out of almost any Megaman boss ever, even without his other forms) is because you're decked out with pretty awesome alternative weapons and skills unique to you, and not to him. You beat him _specifically_ for that reason. Then, you're given the possibility to end the fight as he starts to regenerate. The game stops, the music too, and it's just you and Omega. You can stretch the moment for as much as you want, but as soon as you hit him, he explodes and you win. When you meet him in ZX again, he's a literal ghost of what he used to be, even stronger in death than he was in life. The background of the battle arena glitches in and out, and you can see glimpses of the abandonned laboratory in which you fought him back in Z3, which silently confirms that this current Omega isn't suppossed to be here. Your player avatar doesn't know him, but when you enter the secret room leading to him and he utters his signature line, "I am the messiah", you know _exactly_ who he is. There is no cutscene for this fight: it's just an old revamped challenge for you to either discover (if you didn't play the previous games), or rediscover, if you've fought him before. And that regeneration ability you've seen in Z3's cutscenes? This time, he's fully equipped with it, and he will frequently regenerate his own life at random points of the battle. _Even_ if you come equipped with healing items, it won't save you if you're simply not skilled enough. There are no walls to wall-jump on, no slopes to go under him, it's literally just a pure fight with a haunting remix of his battle theme, Cannonball, playing in your ears. I used to struggle to defeat him in Normal Mode with potions and health upgrades: now, I can basically farm him every day in Hard Mode, simply because his gameplay forced me to get waaay stronger than I was the first time I fought him. I. _adore him_ for that.