Joakim Learns from Metroid Fusion (Action Gameplay Flow)

[Sonoskeakigawa]

Your voice is extremely goofy in a really awesome way. I really like your commentary- do more!

[niespeludo]

Nevermind the commentsmocking you in this video. I acually loved this video and the approach you gave to game design in this video. Even if this is old, I would love to see more videos like this. As someone who is striving to be a game designer, I appreciate people giving such a good insight on game design.

I hope to see one of these videos in the near future.

[SonnyBone]

Great video with tons of valuable insight. Opened my eyes to a few things that I had previously overlooked.

[drewmaster10]

In reference to about 1:18 to 1:23 or so, when Samus kept getting damaged by those monsters while falling, the fact that you can't possibly know that those monsters are in your path should you decide to free fall like that gets on my nerves sometimes. Maybe there should be some kind of in game indicator, perhaps a radar power up attachment or something, that could serve the purpose of letting you know you are close to and enemy. To my knowledge, no platformer has this feature.

[EpiquestGame]

I think the bottom line is... people hate backtracking so doing it as quick as possible is a plus. People like secrets too and feel special so if they find something new while backtracking they feel special.

[laurenmslater]

Brilliant.

[samushunter242]

i must be your opposite because i love menu navigation

[sparkster7744]

Castlevonia!

[TrueSoreThumb]

I love how you spoke throughout the video--not so much an accent, but how you change your voice or speech to emphasize something. B)

Great discussion and use of gameplay screens-- subscribe for this video. Time to look at the rest!

[Cryomundus]

Just curious, but have you ever played Gunstar Heroes? It's just pure awesome fast paced action.

[obijord]

If you can what program did you use for your games? It just gamemaker seems to generic for me :'/

[CightonProductions]

@obijord He now uses Construct, and he used to use Mutimedia Fusion I think.

[TheGreatGats]

@CightonProductions Yeah he used to use Multimedia Fusion. I had no idea he stopped using it.

[TheGreatGats]

@obijord He never used Game Maker.

[obijord]

@TheGreatGats never said he did lol

[TheGreatGats]

@obijord Also how's Game Maker generic? People always put Multimedia Fusion over it. Which is saddening.

[mrpeach32]

I love the map of Sweden at 3:14.

[fraudcakes]

Without trying to suck your dick, I think Noitu Love 2 had the best flow of any action game I've ever played.

You will probably never read this, but here are a bunch of great 2D action games which get it right:

Alisia Dragoon (MD)

El Viento (MD)

Chelnov Atomic Runner (MD)

Spiritual Assassin Taromaru (Sat, arc)

Thexder Firehawk (PC)

I think platform-shooters-with-homing-­attacks is probably my favourite sub-sub-genre.

[Gamescook]

Delightful accent!

[Terrorgan]

Wonderful video - huge fan of everything you make. Keep it up, man.

[PootisScootis]

This was an enjoyable video from start to finish, for a lot of reasons.

[tedmilk]

Holf Life!

[Sumez]

So if you -need- to be able to attack while moving for an action game to be great, the Castlevania games are all doing it wrong, in your opinion? I love the pace and precision and the risk-vs-reward of those games, opposed to just plowing through your obstacles. A good game makes you feel super strong, preferably superhuman, but it's important to maintain the feel that you do so through the player's own control, and not because the game makes you overpowered.

[konjakonjak]

@Sumez I'm not listing rules here, just analyzing what makes gameplay satisfying in games like Fusion in my own opinion. I don't think I was giving the impression I was condemning other approaches.

[Sumez]

@konjakonjak Fair :) I wasn't assuming you did, I was just asking.

I think many games that let you breeze through enemies often end up making it seem more like an interactive tour of the game, rather than letting you feel like you as the player are responsible for being awesome. 'course, Metroid is one of the best examples of how to do it properly.

By the way, props for promoting changing enemy behavior rather than the enemy hitpoint count. I wish more western developers would consider this

[konjakonjak]

@Sumez Okay! I love some of the Castlevania games, by the way.

[Lobsterkin]

@konjakonjak You came across as having a ton of respect for Castlevania, actually.

Just, wanted you to know that.

Also! I love showing this video to my friends who kind of like video game design, but have bad ideas about it. I think you could change a lot of lives by making a series of videos like these. Certainly, more videos of this quality would find a home on boingboing and kotaku's home page.

[konjakonjak]

@Lobsterkin Cool!

I am making more videos, there's just a "hold up" at the moment.

[Lobsterkin]

@konjakonjak That's awesome. Can we expect more hilarious scenarios for your perhaps ill-fated caricature? :)

[ngmatt8652]

um the cult was rely distracting

[ngmatt8652]

'-'

[Kanasai1911]

I am forever pronouncing castlevania the way you do. I love you Konjak.

[moneymaker582]

wt$

[finbeard]

please make more of these videos. this was illuminating!

[Jackelbeaver]

Hope to see more videos like this. :)

Beta Testing is always very important, many games feel like they dont test early enough or often enough.

[KissChad]

KONJAK JUST DIED!?!?!

[ssfsx17]

Please finish the Iconoclasts!

[zevex747]

Konjak, what do you think of the flow of VVVVVV? It's a game I've been playing a lot lately, and I really enjoyed playing through it multiple times. I think it's because of the "starting off where you died" aspect you mentioned.

[zevex747]

Man, the story is creeping me out (mostly the very end). What exactly happened in your homeland?

[marsgreekgod]

I should learn a lot from this game when I get it for free on my 3ds!

[NotMadeByMe]

some character all right

[NotMadeByMe]

you're some character, konjak

[LentFilms]

Is the cult in the video trying to kill you because you have black hair? Wonderful video by the way! I hope you make more.

[BigDaddy7O]

I hate to say that but.. finish iconoclasts!

[UntrustworthyRainbow]

Have you played Castlevania Dawn of Sorrow? If not, it's right up your alley. I'd rank it as right up there with Metroid Fusion as far as exploratory platformers go.

[DamienThornes]

@UntrustworthyRainbow Correction: in Sweden, it's called Cast le Vonia ( 6:38 ), probably Dan of Zorro.

[konjakonjak]

@UntrustworthyRainbow I love that game, but in relation to this video, all you really do is smack enemies 'till they die with the latest spear, not being able to move as you do. :)

I like Ecclesia most of the Castlevania games.

[UntrustworthyRainbow]

@konjakonjak Haha, yeah I know what you mean about the spears. That's why I made sure I got the persephone soul to mow through enemies and used light swords while jumping (it skips the holstering animation letting you continue moving.)

I'll have to give Ecclesia a go, it looks very fun. c:

[MrFoxInc]

@konjakonjak

Oh, you do? Me too! If it's not too much of a hassle, could you maybe elaborate on why it is your favorite Castlevania and more importantly, why you apparently vastly prefer it over Dawn of Sorrow? Especially game-design-wise. That should be interesting. Thanks in advance!

[eduddiputs]

Really great video. Your voice reminds me of GMan from Half-Life 2, but more fun. Have you considered voice acting any of your games?

[Galbalan]

Nice video! These days I'm all about games with interesting story... So, I usually happily accept any kind of "story-time" when it is interesting.

Though, I admit I loved Half-Life's nonstop gameplay with story...

Reminds me, the SNES game Front Mission : Gun Hazard had a lot of dialogue where you could keep on playing as it scrolled. It *can* get messy sometimes but, it does keep the player's freedom intact. Also, you have to be careful to not let the player be distracted from...

[konjakonjak]

@Galbalan I like dialog too, depends on games, etc

[Studeb]

Grym video, du måste jobba snabbt för att hinna med detta brevid allt utvecklande. Tyckte sättet du pratade på funkade rätt bra, det var ju menat att parodiera svenskan.

[konjakonjak]

@Studeb Pff, jag bara skiter i spelen helt enkelt

[wild0999]

I really enjoyed your analysis of good flow in gameplay. It vocalized some thoughts of mine that were lingering in the back of my head as well as some things I hadn't even thought of.

I really hope you make more of these analysis videos about good gameplay mechanics and their small details. It's something I rarely come across and quite frankly, this is the analysis I've ever seen/read. If you know of any other in depth analysis' of good gameplay design please let me know. This was quite a treat

[DualAnalogReviews]

I don't understand 2:25.

[Narga1111]

I love your swedish pronounciation on certain words <3

[grenadier42]

Horflarf! :D

<3 konjak.

[kiddi1000]

I love you you mentioned my homeland (Iceland) :D

(In Iceland, and some other countries, Iceland is spelled island)

[MeatMaggot]

Wub yer pseudo accent. Reminds me of Spader from the 8 Bit PWNY club (only that he's a Brit).

[sonicblastoise]

Joakim, you ARE so GAY. But I still love you.

ech uch guck yech ach

[LordShiru]

Awesome ! Sincerly, awesome review ! I like the way that you've made some animations in ! Good job !

[ClJNT]

Great stuff.

[kvalsternacka]

That svengelska is pretty boss. Also interesting points.

[MetroidChild]

in the window you see the place he is in the end of the video

[AdrienMenielle]

I remember the day i thought i was too old to make fun of someone's accent. It was around the time i learnt to tie shoelaces.

[321cheeseman]

@AdrienMenielle If you didn't crack a smile at Cast-le-vone-ya, Donkey Kong Yoongle Beat, Horf-Life, or Yoshi's Eesland, then I feel sorry for you.

If you were indirectly responding to people actually MAKING FUN of the accent, rather than just finding it entertaining, then whoops! Sorry to bother you. Carry on.

[mongolloyd47]

Good content, but do you HAVE to talk like that? It's very annoying.

[konjakonjak]

@mongolloyd47 Just wondering if you meant accent or attitude, or both?

[Endisaster]

@konjakonjak Just cause feedback is good, I think you could lose some of the tension in your voice and use that smooth tone in a more relaxed way. The accent cracks me up though, the mispronounciation/swepronounci­ation of some game titles are hilarious to me. Also good video, I liked it, you'd probably benefit from clearly highlighting each specific THING you're bringing up about the game so it's clear exactly what you're talking about. Maybe pause a little between different concepts

[Meehuuu]

@konjakonjak I personally dislike the accent, it seems forced.

[lneh]

03:10 Giant indicators and handholding was what Fusion was all about :/. Still a good game, but a huge let down for a Metroid game. The wall jump was also terrible in Fusion, taking away control forcing you away from the wall. Going from Super to Fusion was downright sad in that respect.

Still liked the video even though I have some pretty strong reservations regarding Fusion. More would be cool.

[konjakonjak]

@lneh As I've said to others, I'm using Fusion as the basis for a subject, and all those HILARIOUS cutaways with grunting sounds are usually used to point out Fusion isn't perfect either. I say "giant red indicators" because I just showed Fusion using them with the computer always saying literally where to go, instead of the game only relying on, say, the changing visuals.

[Jurianug]

Really nice, it was relaxing indeed. I'm looking forward to another one if you ever turn this into a series or something. (Also, I love your games!)

[GotchaYT]

2:26 rape?

[ndril]

This video made me realize how good games like Yoshi's Ees-land and Cost-le-von-ia truly are.

[racoonknux49]

@ndril Don't forget Donkey Kong: Hun-gle beat and Hoilf-life

[Randarg1]

@ndril What about Hoff Life?

[hobomasterxxx]

@ndril I liked Horf Life the best. Truly a classic of our time.

[LightninLew]

2:25 what the?

[restitution69]

One of my favorite action games, Prototype (Xbox 360), has a lot of what you mentioned. The momentum is so well maintained, that even as I started running out of content to play through, I still managed to remain entertained by running through the world with little to no direction.

Great video, I look forward to more from you in the future.

[BegoggledFox]

That's some framing device! I lost it at the end there. XD

You've got good points. A smooth flow is very important, and I hope we'll see (and bring) games with proper flow in them in the near future.

[cory1337]

Whats the hell was that priest doing to you at 2:24 ?

[iSTALKforCASH]

@cory1337 0.o

[gabrielverdon1]

Donkey Kong Yoongle Beat

[taatudi]

a i learned is that sverige or what ever it was is between germany and australia :) just kidding. Btw im from finland (jag bor i Finland) and i speak very little swedish. Also C418

[Ruirize]

Sorry. What? Horf Life?

I understand you have an accent and all, but seriously. Horf life. Can't wait for oopisuede 3.

[Sjupppp]

I love this fake accent.

[MrSirDrAlex]

Dat svenglish

[girlflash]

so, is this what ultimately happens to people in the iconoclasts world who study game design? D: (great vid, if you make more, I won't mind ;) )

[studiospecialplace]

Classy - love the extra-fake accent and the animation. Obviously you become a great designer by getting sacrificed by a christian cult.

[tnomad]

Really awesome little documentary / opinion piece / weird animation.

[zarawesome]

The greatest gem of Metroid Fusion was having the world change as gameplay progresses. Pity it used that so little.

[TheEchoSystem]

Hurp durp thumbs up if konjak sent you here \(e> O / )

[lordician]

Interesting and i agree on the fact that it is true that it is impossible to make an perfect game.

[retropixlstudios]

I lost it when I saw the inbox.

[C418]

I wish Twitter would stop that someone sent me bullshit on youtube and concentrate on the video. Seriously guys.