I made a video game review video. Feedback would be cool

[Trooper]

Pretty shamelessly imitating a style of video I've seen on numerous other channels but whatever - I'd feel bad if only one other guy made stuff like this but I see it a lot nowadays. Seems to appeal to a certain selection of YouTube users (though probably not entirely 3dmmer-friendly, haha) so I thought I'd try it myself.

So yeah, is this good? Is it dumb and annoying? Is it something you'd be likely to share with other people? I'd quite like to do more but it took so long to edit that I'd have to know that it was actually enjoyable for the viewer.

Thanks, threedee emmemm!

Edit: Oh yeah, SuperDuck is my other internet alias because, you know, when offered the opportunity to not have a lame name like Trooper, I chose a lame name like SuperDuck.

[Old Rivers]

i liked it. funny and also made the game look pretty interesting.

[Jt Copper]

haha, yeah man that was fun watching. I usually dont like review videos, but this is an exception. Make more.

[Roadkill Dave]

Originally Posted by Trooper

Edit: Oh yeah, SuperDuck is my other internet alias because, you know, when offered the opportunity to not have a lame name like Trooper, I chose a lame name like SuperDuck.

shoulda gone with pussy poop

[Dominator Dan]

Hahaha man there were a lot of hilarious moments for me early on in particular "the voice" part, and AND I THOUGHT MY COMMUTE WAS BAD *bah dum tish* full on cracked up at both of those. Generally great/fun to watch pacing throughout. It is strange though, it felt like all the best/funniest lines were earlier on in the video.

Negatives: I'll start with the biggest issue, SOUND LEVELS, i found a few moments where the sound really spiked unpleasantly, notable moments are when you said JESUS!!! at 5:40 when it cuts to the mine lift crashing all over the place, GIANT ROBOT at 8:22 and also when you'd use that strange voice effect every now and then.

You did talk about the intro a lot, the video was a bit long i think, it's a review so you should have probably gone with a brief intro about the games story and then cut straight to how the game plays and stuff. Whether you talk about the ending like you did or not is up to you. But if you do, embrace the fact that it shouldn't be seen as a proper review, and more of a LOOK BACK at an old game, a video for other people that have already played it.

Some of the voices you put on seemed unnecessary and cringy at times. Like when you'd put on some voice for when you're emphasizing anger. I'm all for voices but I dunno, I think you could have gone with better TONES. Perhaps that's why I liked the video earlier on, you had a lot more of that monotone smoothness going on, it delivered things so much better I found. That's definitely where your strength lies as a narrator I feel, pretty sure that's why your drunk chain movie parts were so well received, you had this (not)drunk lazy casual monotone shit going on and it just made everything work so well, so yeah, you really shouldn't feel the need to put on voices, but hey don't poo poo it entirely. EXPERIMENT.

So yeah overall, I think you did a great job, especially for a first video. But I think you should put more thought into the voices, and ensure the sound stays at a good level and doesn't spike.

Edit: this is long because you did a great job and i believe in you and want to help however i can [/cheese]

[Trooper]

Thanks man. Yeah, the sound spikes were, admittedly, deliberate. Like I was trying to emphasise shocks by suddenly boosting the sound - basically like a jump scare, which I normally hate haha. So I can definitely see what you mean.

I can see the difference in voice style and you might be right. I hadn't considered the lazy low-key voice as a funny thing really. I think I only chose to do it so that when I got angry by the end, the change would be more noticeable. But yeah, maybe I should consider more DCM and less fake rage.

[Evil Ash]

I agree with Dan, but I really liked when you got angry. I laughed really hard at some of those moments like the "LET ME PLAY THE GAME" bit at the beginning.

I found myself a bit bored around 12 minutes in. I'd maybe try to trim things down a bit, if possible - it's hard to keep somebody into a 20 minutes video these days.

I would suggest when you get angry - just get angry! Use your angry voice. No filters, no volume jumps - just be natural.

Your funniest moments are definitely your dry ones though, the really monotone cynicism.

I see some resemblance to ZP reviews, but you keep things paced differently and I think that lets you be FUNNIER.

As a full on review it's a bit "here's the plot" but just as a, say, retrospective on obscurity - it's a good amount of content.

[Trooper]

Length was definitely an issue. I'd already cut bits out from what you can see there and it still came out at 20 minutes long. I guess it's because of what I've actually made here which, as you and Dan both point out, isn't really a review. It ended up being that long because I decided to cover most of the plot and show off all the game modes and music that I liked, so yeah, good to know.

[Slime]

I pretty much agree with what Dan said. Also, while I think you did a good job, I do not think this video will get many views. You are reviewing an old overlooked game. Its not really a hidden gem and its not so terrible that you're able to pick it apart to the point of hilarity. Its just an OK old game.

I don't really see this sort of video as following the popular reviewers of today like AVGN, Angry Joe, or Yahtzee, because they all have a heavy emphasis on their personalities as a draw to their videos. I see your style being more along the lines of today's professional video reviews like from IGN and Gamespot, if you were to tone the jokes down a bit and make them more suitable for professional reviewing, and maybe get a bit more technical at parts. I know this doesn't sound as fun though.

Have you considered reviewing today's games? You would get guaranteed traffic if you did something soon after it released. Search for reviews on any of today's games. Every decent one will have tens of thousands of views. It would be a good draw to your channel. Surely you like some of today's stuff? Even smaller titles get lots of hits cause people are actively searching to see if they should buy the games. Very few are going to search for Haven.

[Slime]

Also this game's footage was already 4:3, and then a black bar was added to the top and bottom making it even smaller. When you spend so long on a video, you really gotta get the cropping right!

[Cubert]

I liked it, and I don't normally watch this kind of thing at all.

I agree that some of the jokes were great and some were a big too "big", but I also know that that humour works on Youtube. I'd echo, largely for your own sake, that the video could have been half as long. But it's a pilot as you said and there's a few different approaches being experimented with, so I assume once you've settled into a distinct personal style you'd not have to have it be 20 minutes long.

Also, things like timing title cards to each word you say as you say them, in the moments you got angry and whatnot. They look lovely, but that must be a lot of syncing and editing for a few seconds. For a video-game review, you could get away with less editing. The professional look is good and keep it clean of course, but for a video game review you could get away with less I feel, whilst still looking slick.

But yeah like Dan said, overall this was great, I liked it, I'd watch more like it, and I've only gone on so much about what I'd change because you wanted the feedback and I feel this could be a great thing. Also note that I'm one guy who now and then plays like the same 3 video games he's been playing since he was 16, so... subjectivity.

[Slime]

Originally Posted by Cubert

Also, things like timing title cards to each word you say as you say them, in the moments you got angry and whatnot. They look lovely, but that must be a lot of syncing and editing for a few seconds

no way, those easy to do quickly, and they're everyones favorite thing these days. i know trooper does them fairly quickly too cause he just upped an entire vid with those going on through the whole thing. theyre like one of the simplest thing you can do to automatically make typical youtube viewers like your video/jokes more

[Cubert]

hahah i've not done that with anything myself since like... 2010. And back then I had to listen, take notice of the soundwave spikes that visually started each word, and in premiere trim the start of the title clip and drag on the timeline to the same exact frame I'd decided the sound 'began'.

...this is why I'd stress that my opinion on youtube video game reviews is, though perhaps overly thought out, based on little or no knowledge of youtube trends, video games, their video reviews or the making of those reviews.

[Compcat]

"looks like the sixth member of nsync" made me lol

also lol, nice job noticing the dude who was mining into a metal grating.

At times the jokes stick out a little too much when they don't land, like the structure is a little too obvious, but I think that'll change quickly if you keep working on stuff like this and get more experience.

This is really good, man. I'd never heard of this game before, and this is a really entertaining look into it.

[Trooper]

Originally Posted by Lohr

I do not think this video will get many views ... its not so terrible that you're able to pick it apart to the point of hilarity. Its just an OK old game.

Yeah, this is true. I think when I initially had the idea, I remembered the game as being a lot worse and thought I'd have a lot to make fun of (probably because my most recent memory of it was the horrendous ending) but I guess it then found that this wasn't the case and carried on regardless.

Originally Posted by Cubert

I assume once you've settled into a distinct personal style you'd not have to have it be 20 minutes long.

I imagine so, yeah. I think I should definitely avoid doing it this way again. I basically played through the game and reviewed bit chronologically. Literally all of the footage you see in this thing is in order of when it appears in the game. That's why I keep going back to "Oh yeah, and the music is good" or "Oh yeah, and there are more new things to do". It would have been much more sensible to make a point and then show all the relevant bits, rather than wait until they show up in the game.[/quote]

Also, yeah, the rapid text is pretty easy to do. I can see the waveform in the audio track as I'm editing the video so it doesn't take long to sync it up. The only bits that were annoying were trying to get the big purple head to look vaguely lip synced, and the Scar head too.

Thanks for all the comments guys. This is exactly what I wanted. To be honest, I find myself agreeing with pretty much all of what's been said. I'd just not really noticed it myself.

[Pizza The Hut]

sorry I'll just be honest I don't like this kind of humor. however I did smile a couple times and beyond just the humor the review was well done. so gj

[Trooper]

Yeah, I mean...

Originally Posted by Trooper

Seems to appeal to a certain selection of YouTube users (though probably not entirely 3dmmer-friendly, haha)

I expected a lot more replies like yours to be honest, so that's cool.