This week on Zero Punctuation, Yahtzee reviewed The Lord of the Rings: Gollum. www.escapistmagazine.com/the-lord-of-the-rings-gollum-zero-punctuation/ Watch it early on KZfaq via Patreon or KZfaq Memberships and support the channel directly for $2/month!

You might think that Yahtzee's comment about kitting your coach out with a pancake maker was some silly, off-the-cuff gag item but, no, that's actually an item in the game

dude I find it hilarious that outfitting your carriage with a pancake dispenser is something you can actually do

"Yeah, I'm doing Zelda next week." - Yahtzee a week after doing Zelda

I can't imagine playing Arkham Horror with someone who doesn't read out the flavor text. That's the whole point of it.

Every time Yahtzee brings up the Arkham Horror story it feels like I live in the bizarro world because that's every experience I've had with the game

that feeling of not wanting to play because you're paralyzed by fear that you are not do something right is so relateable it hurts. Got 40 hrs in the og and it's still one of my favorite games ever, but I still refused to go into the hardest difficulty cuz i was afraid I wasn't playing optimally and ill get some of my best characters killed. In other games, Id save scum but theres none here and I hate recovering from failure.

One thing I kind of liked about Cultist Simulator is that while it does do the confusing menus thing, it commits to the bit. For the most part the jank fits with the lore, to the point that knowing the lore makes it feel slightly approachable. Which is important, because the writing is the game's strongest element and that gives you more reason to care.

The biggest problem I have with the game is that it still feels like there's no good reason to keep pushing on in the face of partial failure, something I noticed and commented on early on in the beta. If you lose a hero, you've lost an integral part of the comp you've built, and there's probably no replacing them. Better to just nuke the run and start over than try for a whole 4 extra candles, especially if you lose before the final cultist fight of a map, because you're probably not limping your way to the next inn with only 3 characters when those cultists mean so much business. And even if you do, the fourth you might pick up probably doesn't even fit the roster you have, so the majority of the time it's still going to be a loss for little-to-no gain. Meanwhile, in the first game, pushing on meant the promise of real measurable rewards - maybe I can get enough money to finally cure that one Bounty Hunter who saved my ass a dozen times of his crippling kleptomania, or maybe I can finally put that new wing in the sanitarium and buy some fresh new manacles for the operating room. And in most other roguelikes, if they have partial fail states then they'll have something similar. But in this, the cost/benefit ratio is too skewed, the encounters too brutal, to the point that the right call 90% of the time is to just give up once someone dies and start over, with the last 10% being to give up once you get to the inn because the person who died happened at one of those damnable cultist fights at the end of a route. There's just no light at the end of the tunnel once a run starts going sideways, because the cockup cascade potential of DD2 makes Hitman look full of hens.

That opening sentence is going to be really odd to the general viewers when this video goes public

0:24 _"Yeah, I'm reviewing Zelda next week"_ *Me: double-checks to make sure that the Zelda review already happened last week and that I'm not going crazy.*

DD1 really clicked for me when I realized it is NOT unforgiving. In fact, it is literally impossible to lose (unless you're playing on Stygian mode), so it is infinitely forgiving. Even if you get a full party wipe of your best adventurers, you can just train up new ones. I think of it like a sports management game; yeah it sucks when your star player gets a career-ending injury, but the team will live on.

technically you can have permanent quirks that stick around, but only on characters who survive all the way through the battle with a run's final boss. You can then give them a small bonus item called a "memory" and use them again on a new run, but the moment they're dead you're back to a default randomized version.

The best part is, in the game there IS a pancake dispenser

3:30 this is why i really liked their little info card you could bring up with ctrl, i really wish more games would do this.

It's weird. I really loved DD1 to the point where I got 2 in early access, but it never quite stuck with me. I think one of the reasons was my ability to create my own party with multiples of the same class. My personal favorites were 3 houndmasters and the abomination (for the ultimate goodest boy party) and the two arbalests and two leper party (were the entire party always goes last but hits like a truck at the start of an Isekai). Incidentally: Playing Arkham horror without reading the texts *shudder*

I agree with the last bit, having the characters reset each time really takes away that sense of progression and party building, it seems to arbitrarily make the game harder too since, you can't build a team that gets better over time while also having to manage any issues they incurr from a run. The feels odly more streamlined but less polished than the first.

I think Fear and Hunger would be more up Yatzhee’s depressing and existential alley.

Well good news...I've discovered I have the innate ability to time travel because I've already seen "next week's" review of Tears of the Kingdom.

I've watched you for over 10 years! First comment (: In DD2! The characters that actually beat a run will "survive" and maintain their traits for the next run, and there is an additional screen you unlock that even allows you to outfit them with "memories" that act as permanent buffs that will persist until that character dies! Love your wit!

As someone who played Deathtrap Dungeon, all those references make me wish he'd do a retro review of it. Unless he already has, and I never saw it.

This best sums up a first playthrough of Darkest Dungeon 1 and 2 so perfectly it's hilarious, just how overwhelming everything is. Though the satisfaction of having a plan work makes the game so addicting and fun, despite how painful it can be.

Having someone with an attack that ignores part of an enemy's death save chance tends to be helpful

I'm still relatively new to the game, but for anyone running into Yahtzee's issue with enemies/bosses not dying to death's door - their death's door resistance level goes down each time they are saved. Make sure you have at least one status effect on them (bleed/burn/blight) to get an extra knock every time they attack. Especially for the bosses that attack multiple times a turn, you'll be hitting them, say, 6 times a turn instead of 4. (Also some characters like highwayman have abilities that have a higher chance to finish off enemies on death's door.)

I love your oddly specific Arkham Horror rant lmao I have that same experience constantly

Can’t believe he loves the new Zelda so much that he’ll review it twice

Adding in my two cents that I'd love to see Yahtzee review Fear & Hunger along with Termina. Even if he ends up taking a massive dump on them I'd still like to hear his thoughts.

The drive-thru all devouring maw has the best french fries.

Genuinely didn’t expect this after so long but I’m so glad he’s covered it!

I think they actually addressed his 2 big issues. The death saving throws are now death armor tokens. Once you bring them to 0 hp one breaks off then if has one left you have to hit it twice once removes the last one then its killable. Not all enemies have it and its balanced well who has how much. For the agonizing process lf setting up your party exsactly right every time you can now save and load teams on the menu.

My biggest gripes with the game were that the bosses are just too hard, runs take too long, and characters resetting after each run diminished the feeling of progress. I think it's a good game, but it could have been so so much more

I didn't know I was supposed to be a scholar recounting adventures. I thought in the original game, I was something between a gym coach and a cheerleader. "Okay scrubs, school funds only allocated me upgraded for... Abombiation, raise your hand next time before asking a question, but yes: the Vestial will not be here today, she is... busy. Yes, she's alive, she's just gambl-on a personal vacation... Yes Highwayman? The Leper is fine... he's fine. He's at the church. He's fine... We got a very nice new Hellion, the Hellion will do. You guys will like her. Yes Bounty Hunter? I know you miss Man At Arms, I do too. Hellon is here to help, not replace... I know, I know, we all miss Crusader too. Abomination, it's okay, we'll find another Crusader. Okay gang! Let's wrap up! We got the Plague Doctor, he'll... He CAN heal, I know why you think he can't, BUT trust me, he DOES HIS JOB."

Deathtrap Dungeon was a hardcore classic. I remember there were weapons you'd get in the early levels that you had to completely save for the final boss.

I was genuinely belly laughing, Yahtzee!! Loved this one!

When he mentioned that he liked the idea of choices inevitably leading to the final big bad, I thought "wow it almost sounds like Yhatzee has a thing for those types of games, I wonder if he may have created one in the past that does exactly that???" Anyway, play The Consuming Shadow, it's pretty good

Yeah, seems like this time around the team was more focused on their new 3D graphics and battle animations. While the overall mechanics and story have been pushed more to the side. Some heroes like the Crusader haven't returned either, which was depressing for me. If seeing the new graphics made me excited for anything, it was seeing how my favorite heroes did battle.

I actually found myself getting more attached to the characters this time around, mainly because they're actual distinct characters with backstories rather than one of the endless bodies to throw into the meat grinder in DD1. I also think the area and enemy design is much more inspired than before, feels like Darkest Dungeon has more of it's own identity rather than being a random mishmash of dark fantasy and lovecraft.

Thank you for mentioning Deathtrap Dungeon! It's one of those games that you'd want, but couldn't get at the time. And then forget all about. This really jogged my memory

I had the exact same experience with DD1, and you saying that felt validating

Also will say one major positive point about Darkest Dungeon 2. It feels like the right choice for making a Darkest Dungeon Sequel. Yes, they could've taken the original and added EVEN MORE to it like more quirks, areas, items, enemies, classes, etc. but then there's a point of whether we'd NEED that, or if we could just play the original again. DD2 serving as a more traditional roguelike, streamlining the core concept into shorter individual runs gives it a unique identity and a reason to play it over the original.

FYI, as of September 2023 they changed the Death's Door mechanic for the enemies; now it's token based rather than RNG.

I appreciate the Ivy scattergories reference from Slightly Something Else

I will say that listening to Wayne Junes narration in the game makes me interested in picking the game up on a sale. Im a bit burnt out on rogue games.

Yahtzee's thoughts on DD2 pretty much mirror my own. If his jokes and end-cards are anything to go by, he also enjoyed the relationship system and the additional role-playing it sparks. I too started shipping my favorite characters and inventing stories for their dynamic relationships. It definitely exacerbated my main criticism of the game, which was how un-nuanced permanent progression is now. The hamlet and heroes of DD1 were very personalized and lent themselves to telling a developing story. In DD2, the Altar and Memories systems definitely don't achieve the same thing. The relationships seemed like a great opportunity, but they ended up being very random and frustrating for me.

Ooh nice to see the final boss from Splatterhouse used in this vid.

Delightful, a decisive deliberation detailing Darkest Dungeon Dos.

Good review, just one thing...you CAN still maintain your heroes quirks and all, just give them memories on the end of each successful run, it makes them maintain every skill and quirks you got and there is even some achievements about it...

2:19 but it makes sense on a table top i’ve seen battle reports where one person is dominating and then once they roll, and then that same person is the one that loses

a lot of the bosses (lair and mountain) feel like you're meant to wipe to them once or twice to learn their gimmick before you can actually win, and that ticked me off a little, so I decided looking it up on the wiki was morally permissible. Enjoy the game a lot though, Encore-Solo-Finale Jester my beloved

Interesting thing I have noticed. If your game has fundamental problems with say character detachment, add pancake dispensers and cute pets and somehow that will make it ok. Still, while a lukewarm review is probably more appreciated by red hook, I can't help but see it as a testament to the nature of DD2. It's not a terrible game like some are too eager to describe it as, but it doesn't feel exceptional either. DD1 felt like a big deal, it made some rumbles in the indie scene, it's a game that will be culturally remembered in the future. DD2 just kinda feels like just another game, one more to that endless pile. Not sure how much of that is the game's fault versus the indie industry though.

Hoky shit i remember watching this dude YEARS ago... cant believe hes still going strong. Awesome find!!!

Now I want a Yahtzee DD1 video

If your a fan of lovecraftian games then I’d recommend giving Sunless Sea and Sunless Skies a review. There both just as difficult as Darkest Dungeon but are less combat oriented and have more of a focus on story and world building. Go give them a shot, I think you’d enjoy it.

Lmao at the opening sentence

There are skills that give % to skip death door or you can tripple dot them for almost auto death next turn.

There are mechanics for some of the mentioned issues (press ctrl to see most token meanings, keep memories if you win), a lot of it is indeed quite convoluted. It feels less like a reward when you keep your skills selected, and more like the game will punish you if you ever get unlucky or experiment. The UI is often a bit of a mess too - readability if you're not used to stuff is terrible, and still lacking once you've got 100 hours in it.

Quirks do stay if you win and get memories but yeah they made relationships more ephemeral after everyone hated relationships being changed in fights

I loved the AH reference since I am a big fan of the board game.

I mean a herb is “any plant with leaves, seeds, or flowers used for flavouring, food, medicine, or perfume” so as long as you’re eating it it’s a herb

I will always remember the one and only time I played Arkham Horror. Because all year in college, I was told it was this intense hardcore board game where most people die. And then when we go to play it, one of my friends got the Nun. Proceeded to get a shotgun and a motorcycle and a dog. And he/she proceeded to just MOW through all the demons and portals. Just the concept of a motorcycle riding, shotgun wielding, chihuahua purse nun killing demons sounds fun to me. The game also took about 7 hours and despite having fun, no one has time for that except after finals in college.

Honestly, taking your time with the monster that is Zelda is a good idea. I'm still finding new things after way too many hours spent... Did all of the lightroots, doing the shrines now...

I will say, that the party members DO keep their traits earned in a run if you get through it alive, thus carrying over to your next one. If they die, then they get reset.

2:25 Second wind, lmao

Just want to say Existentially Challenged and Differently Morpheus are great books - thanks Yahtz!

The only reviews I actually laugh out loud during. :D

Huh, I wonder how you’d feel about Fear and Hunger, where instead of asking “are you sure you want to do that” at every action, the game instead tells you “you really don’t want to do that” at every option

Darkest Dungeon 2 took one step forwards and two steps back with its game design.

That Arkham Horror bit absolutley slaps, its appreciated.

HP in Lovecraft's name stands for Hit Points

I'm still going to buy it eventually, but I am definitely lowering my expectations thanks to this review. Thank you. I was about to be disillusioned.

This is one of the best reviews. How the character relationships don’t carry over to the next run was a horrible design choice. Also, Lose a hero ? Well .. Fuck off with what’s his name let’s just hire a clone at the next inn and run this loop again.

I now have a craving for Jam Wagon Wheels.

I remember Yahtzee mentioning that bit about Arkham Horror in LDO, now I'm sad again.

Shout out deathtrap dungeon! That’s a blast from the past. Don’t think I got much further than the carnival area when I was a young boy, that was ball bustingly hard!

The death defiance in the first game was already perfect, mostly because a lot of the enemies hit harder than you and every bit of damage your party took was one step closer to disaster. Death's Door allowed you to try to scrape yourself out of a colossal mess and get out alive. Now with the enemies who hit even harder than the first game also having Death's Door just makes it so there's only really two ways to play: either cheese the heck out of an exploitable system or brute force your way through the combat, which doesn't feel like DD anymore, as the point of the first game was your party working together to help each other out in their own unique way.

At least I'm on the same page as Yatz regarding Tears of the Kingdom. Nowhere close to done yet.

This is by far the most accurate review of DD2 I have ever seen. Loved DD1 tho

The Bourbons I love it

You got that admin part spot on. I'm literally loading the exact same characters and skills, why do I have to select this all again? Should be able to save preferences.

He did not hate it, thats "must buy" in Yahtzee speak.

New Kick Starter, raise money to stencil the cover onto a pig.

Scattergories is a treasure

I havent laught irl from yt video in years,thanks for the cure

Honestly, i don't vibe with DD2 at all, despite being a big fan of 1. What I liked about 1 is that its barely a rougelite. If you play well, you're never pushed back or reset like other roguelites even after a death, even on harder difficulties. You retreat, lose a guy, no big deal you'll train another one. Your town is ever expanding, your roster grows stronger, and you slowly chip away at the map dungeon by dungeon. Its more a city builder/RPG dungeon crawler than an actual roguelite. In DD2, its gone full roguelite. You have to lose everyone or beat the whole game, no in betweens.

2:39 Aw poor Death Trap :(

Good or bad, I would like to see his thoughts on Fear and Hunger.

An other thing I preferred in DD1 is that the death of a team wasn't that big of a deal. Once you really got going you could have three of every hero, so even if you lost a whole team you could just send out another, and another, and another, which just added to the bleakness to the setting. None of these characters matter, they are just interchangeable cogs in the machine. It was like being a ruthless ceo who saw their employees as nothing but tools.

death's door on enemies is the worst idea ever

sorry, the intro kinda confused me. didn't yahtzee review Zelda TOTK last week?

Pressing Ctrl brings up a legend for the combat icons.

"You could probably hire someone to stencil it onto a pig"

Lets be honest: He really pulled his punches with this video! Glad he enjoyed the game (in his own way)

I had the same problem with the boss not dying. Gotta bring someone with a move that can negate deathblow resistance.

I thought DD2 was going to be a 5 act journey and breaking past the Mountain Deathtrap would be the "Start" to your quest.

anyone you'd recommend? For the pig stencilling that is!

By the way, all the little buffing and debuff symbols appear on screen with With an explanation if you hit control

4:53 Well, today I learned that the Plague Doctor was a lady...in the most ZP way possible

Yahtzee talked about that Arkham Horror friend on LDO multiple times.

God do I look forward to you tearing into Tears of the Kingdoms story >__

DD1 was a very good game to get on sale, because honestly a very low percentage of plsyers that bought or have the game ever end up beating it. I think I checked some numbers for a platform or two & it was a less than 10% final horror clear ratio. Couple that with the unforgiving difficulty, but still able progression, some of it might suck but you can still make it through. I don't see that in DD2, the introspection for each character's stories & background is good, but the death's door being accessible to enemies & resets of progression in each run, coupled with that same level of difficulty just makes it sound worse than before. The animation changes & combat look very nice & i love that, but i dont see myself ever buying this game the way i did the first just because of how frustrating it inherently is losing because a boss won the RNG lottery and didn't want to eat a deathblow.