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"A game about stumbling home from a pub" must be the most British game ever.

i do love how Yathzee has a nice, rounded view when it comes to "art", not instantly dissuading meme infested versions of games as "just a joke" Probably the reason he's one of the people who's opinion I consider when thinking about buying a game

There's probably something to the idea that every post-punk aesthetic, big or small, must inevitably slide towards self-indulgence. Once you've undercut, subverted or thrown out every rule you can (to the limits of your time, wits and energy) then pleasure-seeking is about all that's left until you start building up new structures again. It's the natural equilibrium point for one end of the pendulum.

TVTropes calls this "deconstruction" and "reconstruction". A deconstruction of the RPG genre would be something like You Have To Burn The Rope: it takes the idea of a quest being meaningful and tries what happens when it isn't. A *re*construction of the RPG genre is something like Undertale: it uses the arbitrariness and accepted conventions of the genre to create new sensations, like by having character moments and comedy told through its combat mechanics or a plot that centers on how a player interacts with disposable characters.

In 1994, spending 2 hours downloading a 100-200k file from a BBS just so the monsters in Doom would turn into Barney the dinosaur. The kicker? The BBS was in Canada, and my parents got a surprise $140 phone bill. $140 for a 200k file just to chainsaw Barney.

Never thought I'd see the day where Yahtzee mentions not only The Heavy Is Dead, but also EMESIS BLUE?!? What a time to be alive!

Emesis Blue feels like an excellent example. Something which takes the inherent comedy of its parts, and twists them into a gripping "Jacob's Ladder"-esque thriller.

0:47 Post-Spunk was right there Yahtz...

I can't wait for this video to be part of some media studies curriculum because I think this is an incredibly valuable observation

I like how Jack Packard seamlessly segued into what is essentially the opposite end of the punk-iness spectrum

Killer7 on the thumbnail is an instant watch.

This is one of my favorite Semi-Ramblomatics so far. I’m Glad Yahtzee hasn’t succumb to the cycle of punk-to-normie as a game reviewer

0:08 I live for Toffee’s indignant little yip every episode of Semi-Ramblomatic. ❤

The first No More Heroes was the last game Suda directed for a good while up until Travis Strikes Again, so that may be an explanation for the visually striking yet somewhat standarized games like Lollipop and Let it die. The first three games of his company (Silver case duology and Flower, Sun and Rain) are some of the most unapologetically subversive yet mastefrfully structured pieces of media i've ever interacted with and have my full recommendation for someone who would be interested in taking the wildest of the rides out there (Silver case and it's sequel are in steam and switch)

I always felt that, in the realm of TV, Ed Edd 'n' Eddy was pretty punky/post-punky. With its idiosyncratic artstyle, and sound design that seemed as if the sound director had said "I want the SFX to be as far away as possible from the actual sound, whilst still being recognisable as that sound". It felt very much like a specific person's vision, and a window into someone's mind; kinda weird in the parts you don't quite understand, but made all the more interesting by the parts you do understand. In the era of KZfaq, The Big Lez Show did something similar.

Can we get, like, 50 more videos like this one? This was truly enlightening.

My cold take: Creators can only ever have 1 true punk/post-punk game. If Punk is about fighting the establishment with an idgaf like attitude, then repeated entries, even if they're at the same level of quality, just progressively stray from the point. Like that one meme online (the one where everybody fights over the details) of a Punk kicking over a trashcan, followed by his mate doing the same thing shortly after. The first time is punk, the second is trendy.

7:41 I think that's the most excited I've ever heard Yahtz.

It was extremely weird to hear Yatzee reference both Heavy Is Dead and Emesis Blue in a video, and I say that in the best possible way. It was weirdly a perfect explanation.

i gotta say i love this way of looking at culture. a perpetual cycle of Culture inspiring Counter-Culture breaking down established trends only to then slowly become the new Culture to inspire new Counter-Culture. Post-Punk being that which follows the breaking down of established trends that Punk accomplishes to then become the new Establishment in a decade or two is an inspired take on all this.

Art-punk movement in TTRPGs comes to mind. Mork Borg, Troika!, various Cairn hacks... Games often made by graphic designers, with minimal rules ("if uncertain, make shit up and stick with it"), cRAzY layouts, settings presented in short evocative blurbs rather than detailed walls of text... A lot of them are interchangeable and bring nothing new to the table, simply cutting out stuff from bigger games and reinventing the wheel; but some interesting ideas do get born there (and later spread to other such games): usage die, slot-based encumbrance, die-drop tables, etc. In any case, it's nice to have wide variety of products and to see creativity at work. P.S.: I kinda feel like Yahtz would enjoy Troika!, at least for its sheer weirdness and britishness. A lot of Douglas Adams and Pratchett vibes in that one.

Hearing Yatz give a delighted, wholehearted, _uncensored_ *fuck* at the end of a surprisingly upbeat video is all I need to restore my faith in the world

Now I’m hoping that Yahtzee’s post-punk definition will spread like ‘Spectacle Fighter’ did, looking forward to the new steam tag

I was half expecting a breakdown of a "postpunk" aesthetic. That is, the aesthetic of post offices.

The first rule of punk, for me, has always been: If you have to tell someone that your (band, art, book, whatever) is "punk", then it isn't. Defining it belies the point. A thing is either punk or it isn't and it's self evident. It defies explanation because fuck your explanation. As far as "Post-Punk", I think this is as good an explanation as one could hope for. Well done.

i love weird rambling about weird art, there's something about going into genres and subgenres that scratches the itch, even though i sometimes think genres are stupid. probably my favourite semi ramblomatic yet

Mercy, a The Fall album cover used to illustrate a point. Great stuff

Thank you for putting the ad read at the end instead of the middle!

If we're talking Suda51 at his most posty and punky of post-punk, then The Silver Case and its sequel need to be mentioned. It's plot is impenetrable, it's artistic and sound design nothing short of baffling, and it's basically Killer7 if put through the filter of obtuse visual novels and moon-logic adventure games. But it's deliberate aesthetic and purity of vision make it worth checking out. Few games are as unique and memorable as these.

That was… soothing. I’ve just come from the classical video “How does it feel to live long enough to see all your favorite franchises go down in flames?”, where 1,5 second reply to this question is “Feels great”. Now I see. Thanks.

I love Fully Ramblomatic, but I increasingly find myself looking forward to this series more than the other. I love it!

I loved this essay and everything that it says. Keep this up please. We need more essays like this

Pretty interesting topic, also didn't expect to see Emesis Blue.

Punk: burning everything down Post-Punk: getting high off the ashes

Good essay, Yahtz. Points made and the obscure made informative! Thank you!

Dang, good job on releasing a scathing 20-second review of Suicide Squad between 3:40 - 4:00 without even needing to make a Suicide Squad video. The ultimate disrespect of giving them such a small amount of time and not even giving them an official review video to do it.

Bloody hell you're so good at writing. Loved every bit of this. Thank you!

Great content and awesome to see how the audience carried over to your new channel. I'm sure the Escapist will have great luck with some new Australian dude named Boggle.

This is a great video Yahtzee! Really love you having a space to talk about stuff like this.

This may be his best Semi Ramblematic/Extra Punctuation yet

Not only is this one of your best video essays to date, but it got me to watch Emesis Blue, and holy nuts that was not a mistake.

Gotta love the air quotes animated by the two floating ball hands.

I think there’s an interesting parallel with punk and post-punk that wasn’t really delved into in this vid. Punk was initially made as a response to bloated, overproduced, and “safe” rock from the early to mid 70s, but it quickly became a genre that was invested into heavily by giant record labels. The punk label was forced onto many bands looking to be the next Ramones or Sex Pistols, often to the point of said bands fighting back for creative control. Couple that with the saturation of many punk bands in the late 70s, it eventually fell out of favor, as highly polished new wave came into the mainstream, with a clear post-punk influence. I think this is also a pretty good representation of currently the most saturated genre in the gaming sphere, shooters. Doom started off as something fresh, edgy, an something to appeal to young people. Yet, as the 90s got saturated, there devs that came from that same sphere that pushed the boundaries of the genre at the time, and that’s where Half-Life came in. Nowadays, modern triple A shooters are taking more inspiration from Half-Life then Doom, although boomer shooters did end up seeing a resurgence in the indie game scene, much like how the original punk rock never died, just became underground with bands pushing the genre to the limits in different ways. Also Killer7 is still fantastic, great vid.

Favorite vid from Second Wind so far, love this kind of breakdown.

Wow. Almost halfway to a million subs! Slow and steady wins the race! 😉😎🤘☮

I would love a game featuring The Cure where you play as Robert Smith and can transform into a kaiju.

That last line was amazing and delivered perfectly. That needs to be a sound bite or even a shirt!

genuinely one of the best of these i've ever seen (been watching since ZP day 1). The gaming history video essay sphere wouldn't be able to take you, genuinely

This is some of your best work, Yahtz

Dive Kick is a fun post-punk game. I never thought you could make a fighting game with just two buttons.

This was an absolute joy to watch, Yatz. This is why I consider you to be the absolute GOAT when it comes to the critique of art.

Great insight Yatz!

Thank you for your work!

Great video, always lovely to see someone bringing artistic theory to the videogame medium

I paused the video when he mentioned Emesis Blu and went to check it out. I am now back after watching the entire thing twice in a row and it's fucking incredible

You've finally put words to what I've always sought out in life. I really enjoy it when artists take the piss, yet continue to strive for quality. Punk was something I could never get into because it felt so directionless and destructive as a culture. "Rebel without a cause" was never my bag. "Rebel *with* a cause," now that's something I can get behind. The conventional AAA studios have been so busy eating their own tail that even the Ouroboros is telling them to slow down and chew first. Somebody has to be willing to push the medium forward. I hope that more developers with this attitude can make their way out of the cell-shaded, 2D sidescroller, and pixel art pigeonholes as well. I want better stories told with those AAA visual toys. I hope that the increasing number of procedural generation tools can help independent artists achieve that. I know graphics aren't everything, but they're not nothing. Manifesting realism has been prohibitive for many because it involves a lot of tedious busywork. I'd love to see that change so the visionaries can unleash some fresh weirdness and take the big studios down a peg.

Incredible video, perhaps the best one yet

Pizza Tower being here is extra cool since it's a reconstruction of a subversion. Wario Land turning the normal Mario-esque platformer on it's head and then Pizza Tower taking the series apart and putting the most fun parts back together while still putting it's own spin on it.

I love the finger quotes done with the fingerless white ball hands

Probably the best Semi Ramblomatic episode so far.

Sick new intro Also, great fucking video, loved every second of it

Man.. you get it. You absolutly get it.

This was absolutely fascinating! I love it when Yahtzee gets to go more slow paced and in-depth on certain subjects like this. It gives me a different perspective on things that I already love.

Second Wind is the post-punk of Escapist

I love the irony of the subject matter of this video, then the exact length being 10 minutes. If intentional, bravo.

I think this might be my favorite video Yahtzee video ever

top notch and thoughtful again

Its kind of comforting to know Yahtzee has the same response I did to Nemisis Blue.

Thank you!

Very thoughtful video! I think in the case of some creators, the adoption of "post-hardcore" from the music scene might also be fitting. The kind of games that started as these insane, "real gamers only" trips but then the creators had some sort of moment where they started establishing their own patterns. I'd say Hideo Kojima if the man wasn't so insanely successful as to make the mainstream himself.

Coming up on Punk music, it really hits home to have (Post)Punk defined so succinctly.

I too am obsessed with Emesis Blue. I've watched it over and over.

Thinking about you explanation of post-punk, and I would say that we're also seeing that right now in comic books, especially the independent market. The titles that come to mind are Doug Wagner's serial killer trilogy (Plastic, Vinyl and Plush). They're not big stories about people with superpowers saving the universe or anything like that. They're small, personal stories about universal concepts like love, family, and identity, seen through the eyes of psychopaths that the story doesn't bend over backwards to make sympathetic.

i love these semi-ramblomatics so much.

I like the detail that Yatz moves his hands to make air quotes around “post-punk” at least once

Thanks for explaining that, I kinda had the right idea, but it’s good to have a bit more understanding about the subversive side of art

This was great stuff.

2:57 the editor deserves a raise after this one

this is probably the best semi-ramblomatic/extra punctuation so far. very interesting perspective.

Wow, this has to be (in my opinion at least) one of Yahtz's most important essays to date. Loving the insight!

I love this kind of thing. I love the sort of personal stories clearly made by someone with intention, even if that intention is itself somewhat anarchic. I love "Heavy is dead" and the deeply self-referential surreal memes of "Meme Man" and the work of Joel G. It's inscrutable, but meaningful in a way that can either be throw-away fun or deeply engaging to try to dissect.

This was actually pretty instructing, I feel like I learned quite a bit from this.

Heading to CA right now to tag up Ben's gaff

Unexpected Emesis Blue jumpscare. A surprise to be sure, but a welcome one!

When I was at school, I always thought Art wasn't for me because I couldn't draw anything and the teacher seemed determined to take that as a personal insult. Being not into art almost became a bit of my identity as it sometimes can be for sciencey-type people (which I am). Yahtzee however has taught me more about art than almost anyone, I would happily listen to a lecture series of him discussing all the points of artistic and narrative nuance that he covers in these videos, and it's helped me blend an understanding and appreciation of art into things that I already like (i.e. video games). Thanks for that.

One of my favourites to date

You should really read his first couple titles under grasshopper manufacture. The Silver Case (as well as anything in the initial parts of the KILL THE PAST series) is a wonderfully fascinating experience.

Good Vid!

Thanks again

I knew we were in for an artistic adventure with this one, but I was not expecting Yahtzee to dive into "joke machinima" (or as I call it "Source Dadaism" since it's usually surreal, avant-garde, and made in either SFM or Garry's Mod), then veer into Emesis Blue, which is probably one of my favourite machinimas of all time. Also, one could probably argue that the creative side of fandoms, including Rule 34, is also kinda punk. Especially when it comes to Overwatch SFM porn, since that's breaking down a product that was ruined by corporate greed, and using the assets to make its characters bang. Out of all the Rule 34 I've seen, Overwatch porn is probably the most "punk" of them all, even if that punk is accompanied by spunk. But to be fair, you can't even spell spunk without punk being present. So while some might say that punk is dead, the truth is that punk can never truly die, for it is an axiom of humanity itself. And even if fascism tries to stamp out punk, that just means that punk is gonna have a lot of scalps to harvest, making all kinds of artistic masterpieces in the process.

I think it’s common for people to feel that a post-punk artist has slipped into self indulgence as their career has progressed. This is something I’ve reflected on, and here’s one theory I have: Often the thought process that went into the post punk artist’s earlier subversive art was at least partially _‘I don’t see enough of these weird things I love. Like inanimate objects talking to the protagonist! And Brechtian themes! And portraying the inhabitants of quaint old fashioned English villages in oddly sexualised ways! So I’m going to make some art where they’re the point, and no one can stop me.’_ And because they’re rare to see, the first time audiences experience them it’s a rush of fresh air. _‘Oh wow, look at this passionate yet alien assemblage of things! Look at that Yorkshire constable with his silly hat and ludicrously tight pants! His bicycle is quoting ‘The Threepenny Opera’’_ It’s out of the blue and doesn’t adhere to an established pattern. But then the artist follows it up with other art, which they also put some of themselves into, and now a pattern is starting to be established. _‘Oh wow, their next thing is coming out. What are the chances there’ll be some comically eroticised Church of England vicars and a talking kettle?’_ The artist was indulging from the beginning, and that was at least partly what motivated them to start making their art. But first time around it doesn’t seem like indulgence because it’s so new. Sometimes the artist hasn’t changed as much as our expectations have. The artists that survive this period of audience disillusionment are often the ones who have a broad palette and a sense of curiosity. Because they’re more likely to discover new things to indulge in that they haven’t gotten to try yet. Or they are introspective enough to figure out _why_ they like the stuff they do, and are able to start drilling down and interrogating their own fascinations throughout subsequent works. There’s nothing wrong with indulging, necessarily. Just if you’re set on sharing your art with the masses, remember to always leave the audience wanting more.

Just excellent.

After hearing your description I fully see why you see titles like Pizza Tower and Cruelty Squad as post punk games. I do think there needs to be more descriptive ways to explain what a games tone is when it comes to a lot of the obscure indies that take on a style that's hard to describe. For example I've no idea how to describe the tone of Inscription or Buckshot Roulette. I can explain the gameplay as being like a deck builder with items and strategic gameplay but the actual visuals and style doesn't really have anything to compare it to. You could call it horror but it's not really trying to be scary, more so have a creepy vibe with additive gameplay.

I played the daylights out of Mutant Camels from Mars when I was a kid. Ridiculous man!

Somewhere, Hagel is watching this and smiling.

Suddenly hearing The Heavy is Dead and Emesis Blue name dropped both surprised me and gave me great joy

Playing Killer 7 back in the day was a trip. I had no idea what i was getting myself into, the narative information in the manual seemed to activly contradict the game (maybe), and what was happening was often very confusing/discordant but clearly had real meat to it. You have to hold on for the ride and accept you just wont understand everything, but it is both genuinly fun and a great peice if art.

When I was studying post-modern literature in undergrad and had to explain to anyone what that meant, I explained it as 'classics' are the works that establish the medium or genre's definition and main rules, 'modern' works set out to make the best thing they can within the confines of the rules set by the classics, while 'post-modern' works see how far they can go with breaking the rules while still reaching an end product that fits the definition of the medium or genre. I think your idea of 'post-punk' fits that same concept.

Oh boy. This brings back fond memories of hacking Macintosh games in the 90s using ResEdit.