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[sgjackson]

I don't have much to add that hasn't been mentioned, but I am so happy to see the freelance astronauts mentioned in the OP of an LP thread (even if it is a series that has irregular hunter instead of ferr/pipes)

do they still do anything? i miss the freelance astronauts. loved ferr and pipes so much.

 

[BatDan]

I'd say DarkSydePhil is pretty unique
There's no one else on YouTube as shockingly inept as him.
Well, I'm sure there's plenty of inept people, but nobody as egotistical and narcissistic as him.

 

[Skrams]

Oh shit, are their Gaf handles public?

Yeah, Pat is Snapshot King. Matt's been banned for a while so he probably just lurks. I doubt Woolie or Liam have accounts, but they also lurk at least.

Pat posts occasionally in the SBFP threads, but not often. He usually just rounds people up from the steam group for Monster Hunter or other shenanigans. He posts in regular topics semioften.

As far as the topic goes, I think the Choose Your Own Adventure style LP of Silent Hill Homecoming was really neat for the little bit I've watched of it.
Link

 

[Sergiepoo]

Let's Play IMDB!

Some crappy game lped with commentary composed of cheesy movie puns (starts around 8 minutes in).

 

[Kriken]

They're members here as well.

Just Pat, right? Matt is perma'd and I don't recall seeing Liam or Woolly

 

[Crash Station]

I'd say DarkSydePhil is pretty unique
There's no one else on YouTube as shockingly inept as him.
Well, I'm sure there's plenty of inept people, but nobody as egotistical and narcissistic as him.

His fanbase also mostly consists of people that hate him. He's like the LP version of reality shows featuring scummy people, yet everyone watches them anyway.

 

[Dominic_Shade]

Everything by The Dark Id. A classic by now, but haven't seen him mentioned in the thread yet.

You get everything the games have to offer and more with this author, great writing included. Be it the hilarious Drakengard, the depressing Drakengard 2 or the hugely informative NieR, there truly is a load of additional value in these LPs that really makes the games shine. And the Xenogears LP is probably the best way to enjoy that particular title nowadays.

Still hoping for Drakengard 3 some day.

He's currently doing a Drakengard 3 LP at the Something Awful forums.

 

[JBourne]

I'd say DarkSydePhil is pretty unique
There's no one else on YouTube as shockingly inept as him.
Well, I'm sure there's plenty of inept people, but nobody as egotistical and narcissistic as him.

I think DSP is the most obnoxious asshole I've ever seen, but I love watching the This is How You Don't Play... videos his "fans" make. The Black Mesa playthrough, in particular, is amazing to watch. At the 13 minute mark, when he's supposed to crouch jump. Faaaantastic.

edit: there's 7 minutes dedicated to him getting past a single crouch jump area. That video is sped up, too.

 

[Arcia]

supergreatfriend plays [MODE]

[MODE] is a weird '90s FMV game that nobody's ever heard of. The basic premise is you attend a party and talk to people. You don't have normal dialogue options, though. You can only respond with colors: red (negative, or "no"), blue (neutral), or green (positive, or "yes").

What makes this LP unique is how he did it. He didn't just run through the game himself. He played it on a stream and let the stream decide how they were going to reply in conversations by voting. You might say it's similar to Twitch Plays Pokemon in a way.

After a few runs like that, he then does a few more runs on his own where he shows off the game in a much more thorough manner. And it's very thorough. I don't think there's anything in the game that he left out.

It's all very well-edited and genuinely makes this weird FMV game enjoyable to watch.

Everyone should watch this one! Its such a bizarre, obscure game and the way the chat decides what to do really makes it hilarious. And if you like this one, you should also check out supergreatfriends other LPs and videos. The ones he did for Illbleed and Deadly Premonition are amazing. Special mention for Strange Loves: Vampire Boyfriends too because it is treated in a similar way to the MODE LP.

 

[Darkangel]

Shesellssheshells did an "interactive" LP of Silent Hill: Homecoming that I thought was really cool. Most of the commentary is done through subtitles and he uses annotation links to let you "choose" certain things. For example, when he encounters a new enemy a small photograph will appear in the top left corner. If you click it you will be sent to a section of the video where he explains the background of that particular monster. He has tons of good information on both the development of the game, and the in-game universe.

Kind of hard to explain, you just have to experience it yourself.

https://youtu.be/frVgHYwd8wM

 

[Edzi]

I'm a fan of them but that thread scares me. It moves at an insane pace that makes it almost impossible to follow any of the conversations.

Yeah, agreed, there was no way I could keep up. I couldn't help feeling like it was just a handful of people constantly posting, and the conversations always seemed to go back to Persona for some reason.The subreddit is easier to follow though, so I just frequent that instead.

 

[Crash Station]

If we're going to recommend normal LPs like Best Friends, I might as well throw in Oney Plays when he's with his friends since I love the Sleepycabin crew so much.

 

[Scott667]

do they still do anything? i miss the freelance astronauts. loved ferr and pipes so much.

Sadly no; after ferr and pipes moved away the content slowed and eventually stopped.

To add something else to the thread, the Pokecapn/KungFuJesus/MyNameIsKaz/Medibot LP of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLPZd8MPtv0vh8007XlMp3RCSKG5EbUD1z

While you may argue that it is a fairly standard LP of a co-op game where everyone is competing against each other for points, the fact that they even got the game LPed at all is kind of amazing. Four Swords Adventures is a game that make use of a gamecube and 4 GBAs; so they needed to come up with a system to record 5 different screens at once. In the end they used a wii, 4 gamecubes, 4 gamecube/gba adapters and 5 different capture cards. They even made a diagram of how ridiculous the set up is http://lpix.org/829061/gigaquad.png

 

[Gentle Rodriguez]

People already talked about SBFP but their one Let's Play I thought was most unique was Matt's Let's Play of No More Heroes on PS3, he did Q&A in the Wii version and has a lot of interesting things to say about the differences and things you can't find out (easily) any other way. Can't link it because I'm on my phone but it's easy to find.

 

[sgjackson]

Sadly no; after ferr and pipes moved away the content slowed and eventually stopped.

yeah, remember them phoning in a few times but it wasn't the same. might go dig up majora's mask and some north and south videos for fun.

 

[Xpliskin]

This thread is gold, thanks a lot. Subbed.

 

[Edzi]

People already talked about SBFP but their one Let's Play I thought was most unique was Matt's Let's Play of No More Heroes on PS3, he did Q&A in the Wii version and has a lot of interesting things to say about the differences and things you can't find out (easily) any other way. Can't link it because I'm on my phone but it's easy to find.

Yup, already mentioned that specific LP on the first page. I really hope Matt or any of the other guys try something solo like that again... God knows I want another "Pat stares at" series.

 

[SystemBug]

I really like this one

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CyLQDnhtuV0

 

[Vitet]

The Half-Life 2 one is ... Half-Life 1 xD

 

[Haunted]

The Half-Life 2 one is ... Half-Life 1 xD

uuuh... no?

Clearly says Half-Life 2 in the bottom left.

 

[Vexidus]

One of the more unique LPs I've seen are the Let's Get Pissed and Play series by Spazfox where he gets drunk and bumbles through the games. It's quite entertaining. He did all of the Myst series, and other games like Skyrim, Fallout, FF7, Donkey Kong Country and more.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=bmGKszdHPrI

I also really enjoyed MetalCanyon series on Papers Please where he takes on the persona of the immigration worker complete with accent. Highly recommended:

http://youtu.be/5BCPESPSsXk

 

[OrangeAtlas]

Even though it's pretty notorious for the fact that it'll probably never get finished, ProtonJon's Let's Play of Superman 64 is really great.

Not only is it a really entertaining LP of one of the worst games of all-time, but he does a ton of research into the origin of the game, the bugs, the changes, and I believe at one point he even did an interview with the development team to figure out what exactly happened.

 

[opticalmace]

I have a dumb question, Is a LP supposed to be that you play along with the guide, or is it just that you read about it as they play? I know you could do either, but I always wondered that about the "Let's play" phrase.

 

[Wreck-It Ralph]

I have a dumb question, Is a LP supposed to be that you play along with the guide, or is it just that you read about it as they play? I know you could do either, but I always wondered that about the "Let's play" phrase.

I believe it was originally coined on the Something Awful forums, where somebody would make a thread saying, "Let's play _____" which meant that you were supposed to play along with the OP. But a lot of people just started following the threads without playing along, and it evolved into something different.

 

[Tupinambis_WOT]

This LP series was by far the most entertaining I've ever seen. It's a shame he hasn't done another series like it since then.

Shesellssheshells did an "interactive" LP of Silent Hill: Homecoming that I thought was really cool. Most of the commentary is done through subtitles and he uses annotation links to let you "choose" certain things. For example, when he encounters a new enemy a small photograph will appear in the top left corner. If you click it you will be sent to a section of the video where he explains the background of that particular monster. He has tons of good information on both the development of the game, and the in-game universe.

Kind of hard to explain, you just have to experience it yourself.

https://youtu.be/frVgHYwd8wM

 

[Man Called Aerodynamics]

There was a guy on YouTube called Average Gatsby who did a bunch of great Mass Effect 2 Insanity playthrough videos. No big gimmick or anything but he was just an interesting guy to watch and listen to, had a font of helpful information about the gameplay and classes. He has some Fallout stuff and a few other games too, but as far as I can tell he stopped making videos a few years ago.

 

[DAREALGUMMY]

I'm a fan of them but that thread scares me. It moves at an insane pace that makes it almost impossible to follow any of the conversations.

Yeah they're all a bunch of weirdos.

 

[L Thammy]

I have a dumb question, Is a LP supposed to be that you play along with the guide, or is it just that you read about it as they play? I know you could do either, but I always wondered that about the "Let's play" phrase.

I didn't follow it as it happened, but apparently the first Let's Play threads on Something Awful were in screenshot form, then the video ones came and far overtook them in popularity. If you watch Slowbeef's LP of The Immortal, he says something like "I like to do something crazy for my LP threads, so here are some videos". It's usually cited as the first video Let's Play ever. So at that point LPs already existed in screenshot form. YouTube is more popular and accessible than SA so that just pushes the video format even further.

 

[Shift Breaker]

While I can't link it because I can't find, it wouldn't go amiss to mention Slowbeef's Metal Gear 2 walkthrough which was one of the earliest examples of a text/screenshot LP, warts and all. Helps that I prefer that format to LPs.

 

[Banana Aeon]

I'm going to find a screenshot LP of GTA San Andreas that I found amazing. It was pretty played fully in character.

I wish more games had in character LPs. Those are always a treat to read.

 

[Jb]

Don't have much to contribute but just wanted to say thanks for all the recommendations guys

 

[crimilde]

I'm not sure if these qualify but Matt Lees's Dark Souls / Demon's Souls Pants Man series up on Videogamer is the one I liked the most. It turned me into a Souls fan. And it's really funny too.

Dark Souls Pants Man

Pants Man: Origins

 

[pancakesandsex]

There's a sakura wars let's play with in-character color commentary from a while back but it's never hit the archive, and still exists only buried in the SA forum. Which is a shame because it's AMAZING. Here's a link for anyone who can actually look at it. I can't.

http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=2564759&userid=0&perpage=40&pagenumber=2

 

[Scott667]

I didn't follow it as it happened, but apparently the first Let's Play threads on Something Awful were in screenshot form, then the video ones came and far overtook them in popularity. If you watch Slowbeef's LP of The Immortal, he says something like "I like to do something crazy for my LP threads, so here are some videos". It's usually cited as the first video Let's Play ever. So at that point LPs already existed in screenshot form. YouTube is more popular and accessible than SA so that just pushes the video format even further.

Also worth noting that the first use of the phrase "Let's Play" was actually indicating "Let us Play" and often involved participation from other forum members. Usually this would be holding votes for naming certain characters, or allowing the forum to decide on certain actions in non-linear games.

If anyone wants to read a bit about the early days of LP, SA member Slowbeef has a pretty nice write up: http://slowbeef.tumblr.com/post/41879526522/did-i-start-lets-play

 

[opticalmace]

I believe it was originally coined on the Something Awful forums, where somebody would make a thread saying, "Let's play _____" which meant that you were supposed to play along with the OP. But a lot of people just started following the threads without playing along, and it evolved into something different.

I didn't follow it as it happened, but apparently the first Let's Play threads on Something Awful were in screenshot form, then the video ones came and far overtook them in popularity. If you watch Slowbeef's LP of The Immortal, he says something like "I like to do something crazy for my LP threads, so here are some videos". It's usually cited as the first video Let's Play ever. So at that point LPs already existed in screenshot form. YouTube is more popular and accessible than SA so that just pushes the video format even further.

Also worth noting that the first use of the phrase "Let's Play" was actually indicating "Let us Play" and often involved participation from other forum members. Usually this would be holding votes for naming certain characters, or allowing the forum to decide on certain actions in non-linear games.

If anyone wants to read a bit about the early days of LP, SA member Slowbeef has a pretty nice write up: http://slowbeef.tumblr.com/post/41879526522/did-i-start-lets-play

Thanks, it was something I always wondered about.

 

[Menome]

I'm not sure if these qualify but Matt Lees's Dark Souls / Demon's Souls Pants Man series up on Videogamer is the one I liked the most. It turned me into a Souls fan. And it's really funny too.

Dark Souls Pants Man

Pants Man: Origins

Was about to post these. This is what got me to play Dark Souls. After the first episode, I played it myself, would complete a few areas, then come back to the videos and see how Matt had played it.

Also, never forget: #BlameChris

 

[Reedirect]

I'm a fan of them but that thread scares me. It moves at an insane pace that makes it almost impossible to follow any of the conversations.

Agreed. Been a huge fan since the Downpour LP, but that thread is indeed terrifying. Nothing against the people who enjoy it though.

Anyway, if you're searching for something out of the ordinary, Matt's No More Heroes playthrough is just that.

 

[Choppasmith]

I think I have something that has you all beat as far as "unique" goes. I found this a few years ago before I started browsing GAF. I found it on Nico Nico Douga while trying to find Final Fantasy fan animations.

FF5 BGM Shibari (sadly you need an account to view the videos)

It's a Let's Play in the sense that it covers Final Fantasy V from start to end in large chunks. But it adds quite a few neat quirks.

-Gives the characters voice acting sampled from random games and anime.
-Replaces and adds music and SFX
-Replaces the boss battles with these over the top animated sequences that seems like crude MSPaint and pixel edits, but are surprisingly well done. And really worth watching

I wish I could explain it further, but I really don't know Japanese. I tried uploading pieces to my, now defunct, Youtube channel. But it's just so hard to describe. Overall, I'd recommend a watch if you've played FFV before.

 

[hoggert]

Lost Planet 2 by helloitsdan & lithuanian dad

Art! Animation! Music! Funny accents! Comics! Also, hats. Amazingly informative too. I played the shit out of the game at release and still missed so much.

 

[Dragoon En Regalia]

D2 by supergreatfriend is a classic; I still wish TB's LP of Shining Force III was up on YouTube, but SEGA took it down...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fL8k7SO72zQ
I made this, it's for Project Firestart. C-64 survival horror game from the people that went on to make Tribes. Not a lot of people know much about this game. I also try to show some nice grungy real C-64 output along with the emulated stuff.

This one's pretty good! Never thought I'd see a Project Firestart LP, one with some production values and comparison made between an RF-quality video capture and emulation capture. Very laid-back and relaxing stuff, not to mention informative.

Not sure if Freeman's Mind can be considered an LP, but he does play though the whole game...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SQhfkpX9bc

This gets classified as machinima, actually. It's further beyond something like SirRonLionHeart in terms of improvising commentary about the game; there's a character development arc for the otherwise silent protagonist.

 

[Imbarkus]

I also really enjoyed MetalCanyon series on Papers Please where he takes on the persona of the immigration worker complete with accent. Highly recommended:

http://youtu.be/5BCPESPSsXk

I just watched all 47 parts of this over the weekend, in the background while grinding on some Demon's Souls and Rogue Legacy. Really great way to experience a game I just DID NOT have the patience to play. Thanks for posting!

This one's pretty good! Never thought I'd see a Project Firestart LP, one with some production values and comparison made between an RF-quality video capture and emulation capture. Very laid-back and relaxing stuff, not to mention informative.

Thanks! It's been a while, I'm gonna make a comeback any day now, just as soon as I get my shit together, you know.

 

[Dee Dee]

Thanks for all the great suggestions in this thread so far!

I used to be a pretty big yogscast fan for the longest time, but a lot of shit things have surrounded the casters lately. Which is a real shame since I still really love a lot of the stuff they did. If you are not understandibly opposed to giving them some views, I still think their main series is extremely special and worth watching.

ANNOYING SCREECHES WARNING - not for everyone

Shadow of Israphel (Minecraft)
- This is the series they got big for. The reason is that it starts off as some kind of quick look at Minecraft but gradually evolves into a scripted epic voyage. The graduation is really slow, I would say about the first 5 or 6 episodes are just two guys being bad at Minecraft, until things start to happen...
They even had a cut off where they just started showing off an unrelated adventure map, but that other series then evolved back into their big storyline. It is really good at its high points, and feels like a labour of love - they abandoned the series but released some new episodes that are clearly overworked and overthought later (so hopefully they just leave it at that).
While it is scripted, I still consider it a let's play because it captures a lot of the phenomenon that is minecraft. From the creativity it inspires, to a lot of randomness and bugs, to neverending additions and things to discover. Personally I felt this is one of the most inspiring and wonderful minecraft series ever created.

 

[Tetraeon]

That Animal Crossing WW one is fantastic.

 

[Machinehead]

I believe Kay's channel deserves a mention. She's done Dark Souls, Dark Souls 2, Demon's Souls, Antichamber, NES Zelda and is in the process of playing SotC right now.

Rarely have I seen such a meticulous, observant and methodical blind Let's Player. Tbh, in a perfect world these wouldn't be super unique characteristics, but... well, here we are. She's great.

I'm watching it and, yeah, it is awesome!
She's not obnoxious like most LPs and is a kick ass DeS player.

 

[Hero_of_the_Day]

Link's Awakening: Can't Make an Omelette Without Breaking a Wind Fish Egg!

Starts here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3uzz1xlaqU

What makes it unique? Oh, you'll see.

This is fucking insanity.

 

[L Thammy]

I just want to reiterate that Egomaniac's Yakuza Kenzan LP is amazing. Lots of people claim tht Researchindicates' Trespasser is the best LP ever, but I think Kenzan is on the same level. Anyone who prefers the informative style of Let's Play owes it to themselves to try it out.

You don't have to be familiar with the Yakuza series to understand it since it's a spinoff. And it's one of the only ways to experience the game in English. It really deserves more attention.

Here's an example of some of the things you can learn from the LP. It's probably one of the least obscure subjects. Egomaniac's posts aren't generally this long because he explains this stuff in the video.

It's mentioned in the video and in the sidequest section, but the Tokugawa rulers established an official four-tier class system to divide the Japanese people based on Confucian philosophy imported from China. The highest level would be the samurai, who were the ruling warrior class. Next came the farmers or peasants, since they produced the most essential commodity - food. Third were the artisans or craftsmen, because they had special skills and produced less vital goods. Finally, at the bottom were merchants, ostensibly middlemen who produced nothing of value. Social mobility was nonexistent and one's class was determined by birth.

However, class had little to do with material wealth and comfort. While only samurai could hope to have direct political power, the merchant class was always the wealthiest while the farmers were always the poorest and lived the hardest lives. As the Edo Period wore on and the samurai's martial skills waned for lack of demand, most families became essentially parasites on Japanese society. Producing nothing and filling no positions of power, they fell ever farther into debt - debt owed to the merchant class, who grew wealthier each year. Several times during this era the shogunate declared sweeping amnesties on all samurai debt, wiping out entire merchant class fortunes and livelihoods. Of course, this had the eminently foreseeable effect of making the townsmen reluctant to issue loans to samurai families at all, ultimately putting them in even more dire straits once the money ran out again.

Quite a few members of society did not fall into any one of the four tiers. At the upper end, there were the hereditary nobles, essentially relics from the Heian Era some 500 years earlier when the Emperor had held court in Kyoto. At that time there was no such thing as "samurai" and the capital was filled with clans of rather softer and more artistic types who lived more or less oblivous to what was going on outside the city walls. When the rural lords who later became daimyou and samurai officially began running the country they gained legitimacy by simply marrying into or arranging to be adopted by these noble families, which in turn assured the nobles' continued existence in the luxury to which they had become accustomed.

Monks and priests also stood outside the system, and could have been born as members of any of the four classes. How comfortable their actual existence was and the degree of their political power varied widely by period, sect and location.

The most famous outsiders were considered the last after all other classes: the outcasts or burakumin - untouchables. These people suffered the same fate of their more familiar counterparts in India for much the same reasons. Because of religious taboos regarding defilement by association with death and blood, tanners, cobblers, executioners, butchers and others like them were considered little more than animals and segregated strictly from the rest of society. This continued well into modern times, and even today there is a very low rate of intermarriage between buraku people and other Japanese, largely due to the latter group's institutionalized distaste for the former. Given how non-religious modern Japan is as a whole, it's safe to assume that these feelings, where they do crop up, are not due to any real feeling of defilement by occupation (particularly when almost no burakumin have jobs different from anyone else) but simply to a legacy of discrimination.

This system continued until after the Meiji Emperor had asserted control and officially nullified the caste distinctions in 1871. However, although great strides have been made, burakumin still face measurable discrimination in Japan today.

 

[Aaron D.]

Jurassic Park Trespasser Let's Play!
by Research Indicates

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0058A651EB882B48

One of the greatest Let's Plays I've ever seen. Dude is crazy knowledgeable about the game's turbulent dev cycle and has a soothing narrative voice like those old Mutual of Omahah NATURE programs. You don't have to give a whiff about the game in order to enjoy the production, the guy is simply a fantastic presenter.

Incredible stuff.

 

[ReyVGM]

Any LP that doesn't involve the player talking, repeating whatever the characters on the game are saying, cursing, yelling, etc. is unique to me.

What I would like for LP's to do is talk only when necessary, talk about what certain sections or levels or characters mean to you, explain how to find certain secrets or hidden weapons or levels. In other words, be informative.

But then again, most act like teenage assholes that think they are funny because that's what gets the views.

 

[I H8 Memes]

Any LP that doesn't involve the player talking, repeating whatever the characters on the game are saying, cursing, yelling, etc. is unique to me.

What I would like for LP's to do is talk only when necessary, talk about what certain sections or levels or characters mean to you, explain how to find certain secrets or hidden weapons or levels. In other words, be informative.

But then again, most act like teenage assholes that think they are funny because that's what gets the views.

Kay Plays

 

[Nanashrew]

Link's Awakening: Can't Make an Omelette Without Breaking a Wind Fish Egg!

Starts here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3uzz1xlaqU

What makes it unique? Oh, you'll see.

Okay, this is pretty great.