RamblePak64 Archive
This category contains all posts relating to the RamblePak64 video channel. Each video posted comes with additional notes and commentary. Sometimes it pertains to content left on the cutting room floor. Other times it involves my thoughts and feelings working on that video.
An explanation of why I love one of Nintendo's more underdog titles for the Switch.
I under-estimated this video from start to finish, and if I’m speaking honestly it is only up right now because I expect it to be one of my least popular videos simply based on the game itself. I don’t expect people to be interested in why Fire Emblem Warriors might be better than they’d assume. This video was put out in the haste it was because I’m eager to move on to Iconoclasts.
I’d rather be honest about this, because if people think it’s a poor video I want them to understand that I recognize it and fully blame myself. Of course, if I thought the modifications necessary could have truly made it better, I’d have taken the time to do them. I put in the effort to rerecord three whole audio segments due to erroneous information, only to scrap two of those bits in the final editing phase. One correction turned out to be even more erroneous than the original recording, and the second was inconsistent with my footage. In the end, I decided the point I was making was fluff and discarded it.
It only took over half a year, but I finally have my analysis on Metroid Prime: Echoes available for viewing.
There is so much more that can be said of Metroid Prime: Echoes, yet now that the video is complete I find myself with a cavernous cranium. Thoughts and words have fled, and I am unable to grasp onto them.
There have been hardships which I shall cover in the next RambleLog, but on the whole this project has honestly been a great one despite the stress. I’ve found a new appreciation for the Metroid franchise as a whole and have learned quite a bit about its creation. It has only made the series that much more fascinating to me.
A collection of observations and realizations made during the course of editing my latest RamblePak64 video on the video game Toren.
After almost a year without an update, I finally managed to get a new RamblePak64 video up. I’ve spoken in the past about ways I wanted to update the series more often, but it was typically with the intent of releasing shorter-form content between longer videos. In the end, the amount of work was not reduced, particularly as audio editing is not something I’m a fan of. However, as I sit here and type this, I already have two new scripts partially written and am converting the remaining footage for the next video. Typically I don’t even begin recording new footage until a video is done. However, I feel like I’m more likely to be productive and create new content if, after the script writing phase is complete, I immediately begin capturing footage of and taking notes on the next project. Script writing, audio, and the video editing combined can take anywhere from a month to two months depending on the length of the video and time available for me. If I’m lucky, it can all be completed in the span of two or three weeks. By having these projects sort of lap over each other, I’ll hopefully be able to better maintain an output of a new video every one or two months.
Of course, one of the issues I’ve often come across during the process of editing video is either picking up on little details I’d incorrectly remembered or minutiae I’d missed out on altogether. In the case of Toren, there was an onslaught of little details I hadn’t picked up on until I was more closely scrutinizing every frame while trying to select clips to match my audio. In order to combat the typical crippling self-doubt and existential crises that accompany these realizations, I’ve decided to have a sort of “Afterthoughts” section following each video. In here, any notes or details that were left on the cutting room floor or picked up on will be observed here. Toren is a perfect game to follow up on, as it’s so densely packed with symbolism in its short three hours that, in the moment, can easily be missed. Or I’m just out of practice and am super oblivious while playing games these days. Either way, let’s start with something minor.
My latest video review on a game with a troubled development history.
I went through some introspection during the process of crafting this video. While the response to it has been positive so far, watching the completed product leaves me with little more than a dissatisfaction within myself. This should not have been the final draft of the video’s script, and the next pass should have been willing to delve more deeply into many of the game’s flaws that I briefly reference. Instead, I wanted to try and get this video out as soon as I could, though a lack of faith in it only contributed to delaying its completion further and further.
I’ve felt stressed every week my blog is missing a post, I don’t put a new video up, and/or I go without a new article on GamersWithJobs. I put pressure on myself to try and be productive, but I ultimately end up feeling burnt out. This leaves me feeling animosity towards my day job, which only succeeds in burning me out even further by time I get home. The energy to do work diminishes and the desire to escape increases. My mental state collapses, as does my diet, which only contributes to further plummets down emotionally draining holes.
The latest episode of RamblePak takes a thorough look at Capcom's reboot of the Devil May Cry series.
It feels good to have finally moved on from Resident Evil 6. Though I still believe the experiment was well intentioned, of analyzing the game in separate videos in order to keep it from being one huge monster of a time sink, I also think it killed a lot of interest in the series. Even disregarding the amount of time that had passed and therefore additional stray views here and there, my view count plummeted as Resident Evil 6 progressed on. I don’t know if it was dedicating such a length of time to the game or it was the choice of game altogether, but it has certainly taught me a fine lesson.
I am, however, still paranoid of making overly long videos. I feel like twenty minutes is the limit I want to aim for, and any further will drive potential viewers away. That, and it will only take so much more time to put together such an episode. Is such a limitation wise? I don’t know, but I also don’t believe I have to worry all that much from here on out.
The fourth part of this long video analysis is finally available for viewing.
I think I’m finally starting to enter a place of satisfaction with my work, as well as understanding of just what sort of voice I want the RamblePak series to have. I don’t want to try and make jokes, for example. I’m not so good at it and I don’t really have a voice for comedic rage. The best humor from my videos comes from smaller moments that don’t distract from the overall message I’m trying to make.
I’ll also be removing the censorship, though this will likely have greater impact on the footage I use as I have little reason to cuss or swear myself unless I’m trying to be funny. Seeing as I don’t want to try and force humor, I won’t need the censorship any longer.
The first part of the Resident Evil 6 video review is finally complete, covering most of the shared gameplay elements across all campaigns.
This video should not have taken as long as it has to complete. I’m still getting used to writing a script for video, and while I avoid some mistakes, I continue to make new ones. There are some issues that I should not have groaned on about as long as I had, such as tripping over bodies, or mentioning specific moments like a foe diving for cover as soon as a shot is lined up. There is hours of gameplay footage to shuffle through, and when you’re looking for a single moment of three second gameplay, well, a lot of time gets wasted. That is when making a video goes from being fun to a grind.
There are some items I also forgot to mention, though perhaps I’ll bring them up in Chris Redfield’s campaign analysis since that’s when it first becomes prominent. The transformation of enemies into weird monsters seems to lack a real system. It’s like a game of chance, where shooting them in certain body parts is more likely to cause their body to morph somehow. Shooting them in the arm is likely to cause their arm to become a long, club-type weapon that they can strike at you with, or perhaps a tough shield type of object. Getting headshots should be how you reduce the chances of this happening, but that’s part of the problem. A headshot can still lead to the enemy transforming into something else, and then you have to use even more ammunition to destroy it.
Headshots are supposed to be difficult yet rewarding. A skilled and possibly patient player can save ammunition by aiming right for the head, though in this game you’re just as likely to waste your rounds. Instead, no matter how well you pull it off, you run the risk of morphing the monster into something even harder to kill.
In the latest episode of RamblePak64 I analyze how Marvel executed the Mandarin and why I'm a fan of it.
I completed this one a week ago, and rather quickly as well. I think this is the one video that I am most happy with. While I feel I can delve into greater detail on the subject, and have in the comments section, the video says all that needs to be said within the ten minute time frame.
It also turns out that I can basically do all the editing for a ten minute video in a single weekend. I’ll be keeping that in mind for the future. I’m sort of paralyzed with indecision, though, as there are a variety of games I’d like to discuss right now. Resident Evil 6 is still on the table, yet I want to make a video for Bioshock Infinite and The Walking Dead as well. I also would like to visit games like Catherine and Halo, or non-game topics such as the Scott Pilgrim
The Amazing Spider-Man, or go more in-depth to my analysis of The Dark Knight Trilogy.
There’s no shortage of topics, just of time. In any event, expect at least some of those topics above to be covered this year. I’m already in progress of writing the script for Resident Evil 6 and have all the footage captured already, so I’ll likely do that next. I may need more time to reflect on Bioshock Infinite, so I’ll probably sit down and replay The Walking Dead to get the footage and get it fresh in my mind as well. So those are the next to videos you should expect to see. Hopefully you’ll find them enjoyable.
Until then, let me know what you think of The Mandarin video in the comments below (either here or on YouTube). Don’t forget to share if you like it.
After two months of work, I've finally completed my video review of Aliens: Colonial Marines.
It took a long time to complete and a lot of sifting through recorded footage, but I finally managed to complete my review of Sega and Gearbox’s Aliens: Colonial Marines. The overall impression: not as bad as everyone makes it out to be, but not really worth anyone’s time to go through and play. The story, meanwhile, is pretty damn terrible.
I’ll be honest, one of the reasons it took me so long to finish this video was because I became less and less pleased with it as time progressed. It doesn’t help that it was also so long, and what little progress I could make in a single night seemed like hardly a dent. As a result, I will not make a video longer than fifteen minutes in the future. If I have a topic that needs more time to discuss, I’ll separate it into segments and create multiple videos for it.
I have already begun work on the next video, however, which should be available a lot sooner.
In episode two of RamblePak64, I take a look at games that teach you how to play without telling you how directly.
Not as much to say about this one. I learned a few more technical lessons in creating a video, and I feel the audio is a lot better than the first. In fact, with the exception of a few awkward sentences I didn’t catch during rewrites, I’d say everything about this video is superior to the first.
Okay, well, maybe not everything. I’m still cringing at some of my attempts at humor.
The premiere of new video series RamblePak 64, as well as a look into the lessons learned while developing it.
After two months of effort I have completed the first entry in my new video series. I introduce to you RamblePak64.
It is a lesson I learn repeatedly, but it is a good one to constantly be reminded of. Even a terrible product can have a lot of hard work and effort put into it. While I do not think the video I made is terrible, it is flawed in many ways. The technical aspects of it are an easy fix, such as wearing the microphone headset properly next time or rendering the video at the same frame rate that I captured the footage in.
Yet the argument itself seems flawed to me. It is obvious I wrote the script in a single draft, and while I made a few edits here and there while recording, it didn’t give me the chance to see all the large problems. My argument is not properly structured to support the thesis. I promise to return to a point that I forget all about. Most of all, I open up the opportunity to destroy my credibility with a poorly written conclusion.
Aside from “delightful feeling hooks” being one of the worst things I’ve ever spoken, let alone written, the very statement “games aren’t supposed to be immersive” is the sort that gets crowds on the Internet fully of fury and fire.
On the plus side, embellishing on my meaning would make for an excellent episode, giving me another idea to jot down for a future date.
I learned many lessons with this first experiment. Don’t try too hard to be funny, always write multiple drafts before recording, render at the same frame rate you recorded, and so on. Yet the most important one to keep in mind, especially if I’m going to criticize the work of others, is to remember how much effort goes into it. It’s easy to demand that someone else respect my time as a consumer, but I should also respect the greater time they spent creating something.
