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  What is this? YIIK (Pronounced Y2K) is a turn-based RPG made by Ackk Studios with Unity Engine, released on Steam, PS4, PSVita, and the Nintendo Switch in 2018. The initial conceit of the game are that it tries to capture an Earthbound-like charm through its colorful representation of a 1990s setting. However, early impressions of the game have been...mixed. We’ll be doing a blind run of this game. If all goes well and our combined experience with RPGs and tolerance for total nonsense holds fast, we should both survive to see the end of the 90s...again. Wait, isn't someone else doing this? Yes! GrandmaParty and I picked this up at the same time. We are struggling together. The Cast  Diacorn Class: Wannabe LPer Diacorn was there for the 90s and thinks they were alright. He’s more used to piloting wheeled vehicles than RPG protagonists, but he tries.  ModeWondershot Class: Magazine Sage ModeWondershot has the patience of a saint and a developed tolerance for weird Japanese stuff. If there's a JRPG out there, chances are he's played it. Update Schedule Once a week, on Friday nights, as per our norm. Fridays and Tuesdays depending on what editing this thing looks like. Spoilers If you are familiar with this game and its content (and if you are, I’m sorry), we ask that you keep discussions free of spoilers for both mechanics and story, for the sake of viewers and LPers alike. We’ll get to it when we get to it. diacorn fucked around with this message at 01:14 on Jun 22, 2019 |
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Feb 5, 2019 18:13
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diacorn fucked around with this message at 07:08 on Oct 5, 2019 |
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Feb 5, 2019 18:14
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 It took us a little while to muster the fortitude needed to dive into this thing. There's a lot for us to say about this game (and its designs, in particular) that can't really be covered in a 20 to 30 minute video, so these updates will include my thoughts and observations on the game thus far. After recording this episode, I was hoping that the over-writing issues we'd seen would eventually disappear as Alex meets people who exist outside his own head, where the inner monologues live. I'd be completely fine with those monologues if they were at all interesting, or novel, or provided some greater insight into Alex's character besides showing me he's an unaware jackass. This game seems to use inner monologue the same way that a book would use narration or prose-- to join the gaps between things happening and provide greater insight into the universe. The problem is that by limiting the narration to just what Alex thinks about things, it expects that you're invested enough in his character to care what he has to say, and nothing could be further from the truth in our case. (Just look at what Alex's monologues did to the cat.) ModeWondershot and I both touched on the similarity of dialogue between characters. Everyone in this universe is a snarky, sarcastic Daria-but-not-as-funny type, and that's a serious issue for the story and universe as far as I'm concerned. What's the point of meeting new people if they're all the same person? Also, I'd be interested to learn where those pieces of fantasy art on Alex's wall come from. My guess is DeviantArt. You can't hardly make out anything on the left wall of Alex's room (except that it's badly pixelated), but the one next to the bed is fair game. diacorn fucked around with this message at 18:44 on Feb 5, 2019 |
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Feb 5, 2019 18:40
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I'm here for this poo poo. I want to watch ya'll suffer, too. And I'm glad you're taking a more serious, in-depth look at it than my "Constantly mock this game" insight.
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Feb 5, 2019 18:48
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gently caress, pacemaker is genius.
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Feb 5, 2019 18:54
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diacorn posted:Also, I'd be interested to learn where those pieces of fantasy art on Alex's wall come from. My guess is DeviantArt. You can't hardly make out anything on the left wall of Alex's room (except that it's badly pixelated), but the one next to the bed is fair game. Well one of the posters in the room as well as Alex's loving shirt is a reference to Ackk Studios' previous game Two Brothers (the char on Alex's shirt is the game's protag). This game used to be on Steam but was taken down because it was a buggy, broken mess. The remake was supposed to come out in 2018 but it never materialized. It's decently likely that some of the posters are concept art for that game, because apparently Ackk has the loving stones to reference their previous failure multiple times across the whole game. The game and its world was admittedly interesting and some of the bits were pretty inspired. It was very reminiscent of Legend of Mana. Now if only its scripting didn't break all the loving time requiring frequent resets, you could resize and improve graphics without breaking the script, the hit detection was fixed and the story was better, I'd understand putting its name everywhere. There was a decent-to-good game in there, one that needed a programmer and an editor, but it was there. I'm a lot less kind to it now seeing how much Ackk tries to pimp it all across this game.
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Feb 5, 2019 19:08
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Do your best. Remain strong. I believe in you both.
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Feb 5, 2019 20:40
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GrandmaParty posted:I'm here for this poo poo. I want to watch ya'll suffer, too. And I'm glad you're taking a more serious, in-depth look at it than my "Constantly mock this game" insight. If for whatever reason other readers can't get enough of this game, then I would absolutely recommend your LP as well. Zanzibar Ham posted:gently caress, pacemaker is genius. Not Operator posted:Do your best. Remain strong. I believe in you both. Thank you both kindly. Concerning my view of this game, as I told Diacorn before we started I'll try my best to keep an open mind and give credit where due when this game does something decently, but it is quite striking how early the writing problems and general feeling of incompleteness sticks out even this early. I'd completely believe that Ackk Studios put out a prior bug-riddled mess of a game if the first hour or so of this one is any indication.
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Feb 5, 2019 23:14
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GrandmaParty posted:I'm here for this poo poo. I want to watch ya'll suffer, too. And I'm glad you're taking a more serious, in-depth look at it than my "Constantly mock this game" insight. ModeWondershot posted:If for whatever reason other readers can't get enough of this game, then I would absolutely recommend your LP as well. diacorn fucked around with this message at 01:55 on Feb 6, 2019 |
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Feb 6, 2019 01:49
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Ackk is an appropriate name for the studio, because it's what I say whenever I see one of their games! Queue 90s laugh track.
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Feb 6, 2019 03:43
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I just realized that those are characters from Two Brothers in the fountain from the Frankton intro.
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Feb 6, 2019 04:14
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Blind Sally posted:Ackk is an appropriate name for the studio, because it's what I say whenever I see one of their games!
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Feb 6, 2019 05:57
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That weird sound effect sounded like the Zora-king-moving-over sound effect from Zelda: OOT.
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Feb 6, 2019 06:46
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So, while the writing could not be as bad as Major/Minor - the impression I'm getting is that the creator is of the same kind of clueless inept creator?
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Feb 6, 2019 17:51
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SystemLogoff posted:That weird sound effect sounded like the Zora-king-moving-over sound effect from Zelda: OOT. That checks out. Well heard! Samovar posted:So, while the writing could not be as bad as Major/Minor - the impression I'm getting is that the creator is of the same kind of clueless inept creator? What I got from Major/Minor was that the writing was kind of half-assed in order to cram in as many cameos and plotlines as possible in order to meet obligations to contributors and accommodate a giant but ultimately meaningless cast. In this case the writing seems to be trying to overcompensate for the "postmodern" moniker and the more lacklustre parts of the visual and game design. Not that those other things are particularly good, but the whole thing reeks of the writer erroneously thinking that the game's writing is its greatest strength. In that sense I would say slightly different levels of cluelessness are at play, but the writer's overestimation of their abilities is absolutely apparent in both.
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Feb 6, 2019 18:21
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ModeWondershot posted:That checks out. Well heard! It is amazingly appropriate that this game begins, more or less, on the sound of someone scooting their rear end across the floor awkwardly. Also another big flaw with the writing is that the author is clearly both in love with the sound of their writing voice, has nothing really worth saying with it, and no external or internal editor to pare things down. Hence the dude out in front of Alex's house who gives you the Wikipedia entry on what a zine is and why zines were so loving cool in the 90s (despite allegedly being in the 90s when he is ranting in the past tense) just to try and ultimately fail to sell you a zine. Or the minute long monologue on Mustache Cat. It's tedium that thinks it's clever...
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Feb 7, 2019 06:46
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Zine Guy has to be a high-level "get put in the game" Kickstarter backer, right? I wonder what he thinks about it, or if he's even acknowledged it.
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Feb 7, 2019 07:02
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Antivehicular posted:Zine Guy has to be a high-level "get put in the game" Kickstarter backer, right? I wonder what he thinks about it, or if he's even acknowledged it. He's so far the only non-Alex person to get a first and last name rather than just a descriptive title when they talk, and his dialog is loaded with not-at-all coy references to Kickstarter, so yeah that's what I was thinking too. At least when I pledged the "be in the game" level amount to Project Wingman's Kickstarter, a) it was a 100-person pool level thing, b) it was the rough cost of what the game and its extras would be retail, and c) I didn't use my real name so if the game turns out to be a turd I'm technically not even in it. I beat the system!
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Feb 7, 2019 07:09
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The limited frames on the walking animation gives me a headache. There are just enough frames in the walking cycle that it just looks off.
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Feb 7, 2019 13:37
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SystemLogoff posted:That weird sound effect sounded like the Zora-king-moving-over sound effect from Zelda: OOT. I love this forum. Well done! I was going to offer something to someone who got this, so DM me if you want an avatar/name change or something. Samovar posted:So, while the writing could not be as bad as Major/Minor - the impression I'm getting is that the creator is of the same kind of clueless inept creator? ModeWondershot posted:What I got from Major/Minor was that the writing was kind of half-assed in order to cram in as many cameos and plotlines as possible in order to meet obligations to contributors and accommodate a giant but ultimately meaningless cast. Major/Minor suffered from a ton of issues, but I'd say the ginormous cast (and the story obligations thereof) set it up to fail. Creating a large cast, almost by definition, implies you don't have as much space to drill down into each individual and show the reader what they care about and what makes them tick. That in turn means your burden as a writer is higher, because you have to give people something (like the characters) to get attached to if you want them not to bail out. Having basic, unsympathetic characters that exist just to present a story beat or get chumped by the author's OC closes that avenue off to you. Antivehicular posted:Zine Guy has to be a high-level "get put in the game" Kickstarter backer, right? I wonder what he thinks about it, or if he's even acknowledged it. nine-gear crow posted:He's so far the only non-Alex person to get a first and last name rather than just a descriptive title when they talk, and his dialog is loaded with not-at-all coy references to Kickstarter, so yeah that's what I was thinking too. I'll throw my hat in for this, too, but I haven't found a reference to a crowdfunding campaign for this game thus far. Stay tuned. Goodguy3 posted:The limited frames on the walking animation gives me a headache. There are just enough frames in the walking cycle that it just looks off. I noticed that as well, and it extends to other characters' animations, too, not just Alex's walking. In the opening cutscene with the title card, you'll notice the women move their arms the same way, dropping frames evenly. I think this is intended to emulate the sort of stylized animation you'd see in games like the PS1-era Final Fantasy games, where you might want to drop frames or LODs because resolution and image quality was bad back then and you could save your graphical processing power. But I'm playing this game in 1080p60, so I'd rather they'd just rate limit it to 30 FPS and see how it looks. Stylized animations can be a great way to give a game some personality, but in this day and age, they're probably a tool more than anything. Some games use them better than others.
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Feb 8, 2019 10:25
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Feb 9, 2019 02:23
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It's interesting watching a later version of this game and playing an older version at the same time, because the lighting filter(?) at around 2:30 is not present in the Switch version (Ver 1.01):  Also I brought this up in the other thread but it 'bears' repeating. In the switch version they straight cut out the word 'circle' during the Panda tutorial and called it a day. Combat Lobster fucked around with this message at 03:53 on Feb 9, 2019 |
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Feb 9, 2019 03:47
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Neither of them talk like human beings but Alex is more annoying because of his monologues.
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Feb 9, 2019 04:07
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Alright, so about the aiming thing with Panda. There's a game I've been playing called CrossCode, where a big part of it is needing to aim at things to shoot, but also do platforming without a jump button. Instead you jump if you run off a ledge, or up a ledge that's 1 level above you. Now, a cool thing is that when aiming you get this line coming away from your character, but it also has a shadow, and that shadow super helps with platforming since it tells you what height another floor is in relation to you so you can judge if you can jump there, and also line up jumps to a narrow surface. This seems like it would have really helped here, especially if the line started closer to Alex than it does in practice. Maybe have that circle that appears under Panda show up before actually placing him, so you know where exactly he'll appear.
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Feb 9, 2019 05:50
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I just realized that since Two Brothers isn't available anymore, it's even dumber that there are so many obvious references to it at the start of this game.
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Feb 9, 2019 06:04
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I’m mildly miffed that this game wastes the symbolism of poking the All-Seeing Eye in the... well, the eye, on a one-off meaningless gag. It lacks the setup and context that would make it a more meaningful image. If the game had a pervasive air that you were constantly being watched and/or judged by something that you know is there but just can’t see, then poking the Eye of Providence is a nice little way of expressing resistance or overcoming, assuming that’s what the theme of the story is is about. Or an expression of arrogance, poking a finger in the All-Seeing Eye, and then immediately paying for your transgression. But here? Yeah, it just means nothing and it let lets you get out of the room. Womp womp.
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Feb 9, 2019 09:57
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Monologues about oneself are staggeringly grating.
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Feb 9, 2019 13:50
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 I do not like our protagonist. I wish he would shut up.Placing the panda for puzzle solving seems like a chore, I wish they could've tweaked a few things to make things easier, especially since screwing up can cost a minute or two. Makes me worry about later puzzles, assuming the dev doesn't forget about the panda after this. I'm enjoying the commentary and analysis for this LP, keep it up!e: nine-gear crow posted:Also just a small reminder that Fixed the above post.
Mega64 fucked around with this message at 23:02 on Feb 9, 2019 |
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Feb 9, 2019 18:42
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The humor in the game is really dire. Even when there is a quip that should land, the miserable pacing of the dialogue just buries it in trash.
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Feb 9, 2019 18:50
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Also just a small reminder that exists as an emote on the forums now because someone dropped the coin to immortalized Alex’s supreme douchieness, so please make liberal use of it.
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Feb 9, 2019 20:39
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it's too bad it's not 
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Feb 9, 2019 21:06
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I kind of wish it were :ackktually:. I am impressed that the dialogue almost has more monologue than actual dialogue in it. Cyouni fucked around with this message at 23:51 on Feb 9, 2019 |
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Feb 9, 2019 23:48
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Cyouni posted:I am impressed that the dialogue almost has more monologue than actual dialogue in it. I came here to post this exact sentiment. Turns out pausing a conversation multiple times to provide live annotations can destroy your flow. You all remember Saved By The Bell where Zach would sometimes freeze time to talk to the audience? This is like if he'd done it fifty times every episode, sometimes just to roll his eyes at the uncultured swine around him.
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Feb 10, 2019 00:29
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Combat Lobster posted:Also I brought this up in the other thread but it 'bears' repeating. In the switch version they straight cut out the word 'circle' during the Panda tutorial and called it a day. SSNeoman posted:Neither of them talk like human beings but Alex is more annoying because of his monologues. Samovar posted:Monologues about oneself are staggeringly grating. Cyouni posted:I am impressed that the dialogue almost has more monologue than actual dialogue in it. Zanzibar Ham posted:Alright, so about the aiming thing with Panda. There's a game I've been playing called CrossCode, where a big part of it is needing to aim at things to shoot, but also do platforming without a jump button. Instead you jump if you run off a ledge, or up a ledge that's 1 level above you. Now, a cool thing is that when aiming you get this line coming away from your character, but it also has a shadow, and that shadow super helps with platforming since it tells you what height another floor is in relation to you so you can judge if you can jump there, and also line up jumps to a narrow surface. Such a system wouldn't adequately address the other issues with the Panda, though, like how the laser sight has to flash red to be seen against the backdrop of the Eye of Providence room, or how the camera's offset and the saturated visuals make it difficult to do fine platforming in the first place. Solitair posted:I just realized that since Two Brothers isn't available anymore, it's even dumber that there are so many obvious references to it at the start of this game. nine-gear crow posted:I'm mildly miffed that this game wastes the symbolism of poking the All-Seeing Eye in the... well, the eye, on a one-off meaningless gag. It lacks the setup and context that would make it a more meaningful image. If the game had a pervasive air that you were constantly being watched and/or judged by something that you know is there but just can't see, then poking the Eye of Providence is a nice little way of expressing resistance or overcoming, assuming that’s what the theme of the story is is about. Or an expression of arrogance, poking a finger in the All-Seeing Eye, and then immediately paying for your transgression. But here? Yeah, it just means nothing and it let lets you get out of the room. Womp womp. For what it's worth, I think the surrealist aesthetic could have gone well with the All-Seeing Eye and the themes of paranoia and surveillance to create a stellar horror adventure game. Alex's encounters with the Proto Woman and the Sparklingly Entitress (?), in another world, could have highlighted how utterly alien they are to the universe that Alex comes from, and that could potentially be really compelling. But here they're just objects for Alex to yell "What's going on?" at. Alien Rope Burn posted:The humor in the game is really dire. Even when there is a quip that should land, the miserable pacing of the dialogue just buries it in trash. Mega64 posted:I'm enjoying the commentary and analysis for this LP, keep it up!  Not Operator posted:I came here to post this exact sentiment. Turns out pausing a conversation multiple times to provide live annotations can destroy your flow.
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Feb 11, 2019 03:17
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God, the pacing in this game is so screwed up. To use the obvious Earthbound comparison, they went Onett -> Threed -> Moonside -> Magicant, with maybe one slightly-interesting thing (the Eye of Providence room and its generic puzzle/"protagonist is guided by a mysterious force to do the necessary action for no reason" setup) happening in all of it. It feels like the developers are just trying to win the player over with maximum wackiness to disguise how little meat is on these bones. Also, the dialogue is insanely awful, even before you get into the voice acting. Sammy's VA seems not to have been given cues about the emotional tone of her lines, and Alex's is definitely recording on a cell phone, possibly underwater -- but all of that would be forgivable if these characters weren't getting awful, hamfisted dialogue. Jesus Christ.
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Feb 11, 2019 04:40
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Antivehicular posted:God, the pacing in this game is so screwed up. To use the obvious Earthbound comparison, they went Onett -> Threed -> Moonside -> Magicant, with maybe one slightly-interesting thing (the Eye of Providence room and its generic puzzle/"protagonist is guided by a mysterious force to do the necessary action for no reason" setup) happening in all of it. It feels like the developers are just trying to win the player over with maximum wackiness to disguise how little meat is on these bones. Oh yeah, it is definitely a case of "it's an indie game so all the voice actors have to record with their own equipment" and in the case of Alex's VA it's clear that he was just using a mic bought over the counter at Best Buy and no proper sound dampening set up, which can be forgivable in some cases, but not when you're voicing the main character and have significantly more voiced lines than any other character in the game by a factor of 10 thanks to all these stupid monologues.
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Feb 11, 2019 04:46
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 : A Postmodern SA SmilieAssuming anyone wants to fork up the coin so it can join
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Feb 12, 2019 01:47
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 Couple notes about this chapter of Alex's SaGa. When I was going through editing, I inferred that Sammy's info portrait was probably foreshadowing for the elevator scene. If that's the case, I genuinely think that's a cool twist. Even so, the scene in question is sort of let down by the stiff in-engine animations. It was pointed out in the thread earlier that just enough frames are dropped in the animations that you couldn't really call it stylized, but the Andromeda-style flat facial expressions make it hard to sell. That and Alex's not-insignificant soliloquy after the fact. I'm also still lost about the The Room reference, so someone please fill me in. diacorn fucked around with this message at 00:54 on Feb 16, 2019 |
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Feb 16, 2019 00:44
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This is the part where we bring up the fact that Sammy, and the elevator scene, are based entirely off of a real life death, of a woman named Elisa Lam. Have fun with that fact.
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Feb 16, 2019 01:14
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diacorn posted:I'm also still lost about the The Room reference, so someone please fill me in. I expect it's this. Warning: The video behind that link contains a portion of The Room. It is a short enough portion that it is unlikely to cause lasting damage, but discretion is advised.
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Feb 16, 2019 02:04
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