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An Overly Long and Critical Review of Pokemon Sword and Shield (Arlo)
- Thread starter It’s Time To Go
- Start date
Ignore him. He is just mad that Gamecube Nostalgia is what is popular right now with most Nintendo fans.
As for Arlo, I like him. Surely, his opinions and mine clash sometimes, but those are his opinions. If you don't like them, then search for another youtuber that delivers content more suited to your tastes. You are no hero for trashing him. Go spend your time more constructively.
Regarding the video itself, I agree for the most part. As far as main entries go, SwSh is ok at best, mediocre at worst. Perfect comfort food for those like me who want more pokémon in their lives, but nothing more. Years down the line they'll probably only be remembered as the first proper games on console, but that will be it. (Hopefully, gamefreak will be able to take their time to polish the next entries to make them more worthwhile).
As for Arlo, I like him. Surely, his opinions and mine clash sometimes, but those are his opinions. If you don't like them, then search for another youtuber that delivers content more suited to your tastes. You are no hero for trashing him. Go spend your time more constructively.
Regarding the video itself, I agree for the most part. As far as main entries go, SwSh is ok at best, mediocre at worst. Perfect comfort food for those like me who want more pokémon in their lives, but nothing more. Years down the line they'll probably only be remembered as the first proper games on console, but that will be it. (Hopefully, gamefreak will be able to take their time to polish the next entries to make them more worthwhile).
I guess some people just really don't like puppets or the gamecube.
I'm not an expert on Arlo, and I didn't say a majority of his content is negative. But in at least two or three recent videos he has addressed this, starting the video with something along the lines of "I know I've been putting out a lot of negative videos lately, but here's something else I wanted to take about."
For example at the beginning of his video "Lack of Legacy Content on Switch Hurts Nintendo More Than Us" he starts the video saying "A quick note before we begin, as I've already joked about I've been putting out a decent number of what one might consider 'negative' videos recently." Why anyone would feel the need to defend him against claims he's been negative recently is beyond me.
I understand that he has a mix of content and likes some recent games. I just think it's ridiculous to defend him against a criticism that he has openly acknowledged several times.
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It's more the ridiculous criticsim that he is gamecube obessed and hates everything else.
I don't know.
If I'm ever told to be completely honest about certain Games. I'll probably be seen a negative person as too lol
If I'm ever told to be completely honest about certain Games. I'll probably be seen a negative person as too lol
You said the majority of his recent content which is what I was referring to, which again still isn't true. All it takes is two seconds of scrolling through his page to see most are still positive takes. He made a video on the slow drip feed of NSO games (which is very much true) and a video on Paper Mario's anniversary restating his qualms with the last entry. Beyond that even if you just look at "recent" videos they're not at all negative.
What a fucking disaster of a thread, deciding someone isn't positive enough to review a game based on... the generation of games they like?
With the next entry, a skip option is imperative. There were a lot of people who said there wasn't enough of a story in SWSH, and those who thought the story was too intrusive. They need to find a good balance moving forward.
I didn't need to get far enough to give up on this game. Im mostly mad at myself. I saw all the signs that I wouldn't like this game but got myself wrapped into the Pokemon hype. Same thing happened with Sun and Moon. I have finally admitted to myself that the Pokemon games are no longer for me unless there's a huge revamp in the whole gameplay cycle. But I know that won't happen.
Hopefully I won't get sucked into the Pokemon hype when next gen of Pokemon happens.
Hopefully I won't get sucked into the Pokemon hype when next gen of Pokemon happens.
Seriously, people are being way too transparent with the repeated talking point of being "overly negative." He's not nitpicky--he's detail-oriented. There's a difference. He's extremely good about honing in on what he likes and dislikes about a given game and going the extra step of teasing out exactly why he likes or dislikes it... and then going the extra, extra step of communicating all of that in an extremely articulate and entertaining manner.
Like, I get why his approach can chafe when his target of criticism is something you like. I'm a big skill-based platformer guy, for example, and hearing Arlo be disappointed because a game is "just" that can be a tad annoying. But Arlo is a damn fine gaming critic because I can always count on him to be honest (and eloquent) about the way he feels.
This is one criticism I can't understand though. He's a self-deprecating muppet, how is his review pretentious?
That's weird that he himself gave that disclaimer that his recent content has been negative. Guess he needs to take a closer look at his own feed, or maybe someone like you who has a better grasp on the tone of his recent videos than he does can do him a favor and catch him up to speed.
Very few people who throw that word around actually know what it means. If anything Arlo comes across as more humble than many YouTubers, like you said he pokes fun at himself a lot, addresses his own biases and shortcomings, and always acknowledges that other people have differing opinions that are no less valid than his.
I'd love to hear from risq_au what came across as pretentious in this video as well!
One way to solve this, honestly, is to tell a good story for once.
They've told multiple good stories imo. The SM story was great, which is why the complaints about "too much story" that led us to the complete lack of one in SwSh sting extra hard.
The game story is sub mediocre Saturday Morning cartoon level.
I love how earlier this year Arlo was well loved and had his videos posted regularly as a good example of criticism on a video game.
But then he isn't too thrilled about Sword and Shield and suddenly people turn on him, calling him overly negative and pretentious.
But then he isn't too thrilled about Sword and Shield and suddenly people turn on him, calling him overly negative and pretentious.
User Warned: Thread Whining
Why does this deserve it's own thread? Seriously? Does Arlo have an account here or something?
While I'd agree that SM had a good story, it's let down quite a lot by being badly told, with constant interruptions and handholding. It's really that second bit that people tend to chafe against.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't we have threads for tons of Youtubers? Jim Sterling and Girlfriend Reviews come to mind. Not sure why this is any different.
What bothers me is that the discussion is centered around his persona over the points he made.
Then again, criticism towards SwoSh is usually received negatively.
This thread sure is full of toxicity. If you don't like Arlo's content, then don't subscribe to him or enter threads about him. That's not hard. There's nothing seriously objectionable about him or his content, so comments like this are bizarrely petty and uncalled for.
I will enter the threads I want to enter, thank you very much. If you can enter and say Arlo is good, I can enter and say Arlo is bad.
Good Lord, I'm not big on the guy, but this thread's pretty toxic.
Go ahead, but people can also call you out for coming off as hostile.
Go ahead, but people can also call you out for coming off as hostile.
The hell happened here? Guess that's what happens when SwSh is involved. Not a fan of Arlo, but his criticisms for the most part aren't anything new.
I'm a bit intrigued about his point of battles still having the same pace (i.e. move + effect text, turn progression) after all this time. I've been playing USUM (so I can finally say I played it) and a way it does seem a bit stale? Dunno if that's because other parts of USUM are tiring me out but it's got me thinking.
But then, I'm not sure how they could slim it down without losing what makes "Pokemon".
I'm a bit intrigued about his point of battles still having the same pace (i.e. move + effect text, turn progression) after all this time. I've been playing USUM (so I can finally say I played it) and a way it does seem a bit stale? Dunno if that's because other parts of USUM are tiring me out but it's got me thinking.
But then, I'm not sure how they could slim it down without losing what makes "Pokemon".
Trash is probably a word better saved for more obnoxious or acerbic content creators, or to describe Fallout 4. Like, I'm not even a fan of Arlo's content, but unless I'm missing something, this comes off as an unusually harsh way to describe someone whose got a shtick that you don't enjoy.
after the dust has settled the brave arlo enters the ring to re litigate the list of negatives from a month ago
so brave
so brave
By sound does he mean the soundtrack? Because that shit is fucking fire. It's the only thing about the game that's straight up fantastic. It's not a bad game but it's extremely disappointing and I probably won't play it again unless my friend wants to battle or something. I put a good 70 hours in it though.
Sword and Shield have a huge laundry list of issues. Y'all just need to get over it.
Hilarious reactions. This goes far beyond Arlo and people aren't slick. Not just on Era, but on Youtube, FB, Twitter, etc. All I've seen is that if you are a person who does not like SwSh even if you liked some aspects of it, you may as well be considered toxic or just a troll. Then we get people going after other people's tastes/exceptions for games as an excuse to shit on them or refer to them as "trash". I've seen so many people go through so many mental gymnastics to dismiss criticisms of these games. But I guess that's the norm when it comes to most Pokemon fans.
"Too negative" my ass just because he isn't praising these games as if it's God's gift to gamers.
"Too negative" my ass just because he isn't praising these games as if it's God's gift to gamers.
You do you. I'll save my criticism for the developer that just released these middling games with poor performance, a poor story, and horrible online options instead of lashing out at people pointing the issues out🤷♂️
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He didn't really mention music much from what I remember. He seemed to be referring more to sound effects and he seemed to think they were still a bit too retro for his tastes, and compared it against Zelda that also tends to use nostalgic sound cues but they are reimagined in more satisfying ways as the games go on.
He also didn't like the lack of voice acting and thought it was a disservice to the presentation.
The only option is to not post in Pokemon threads at this point, to be honest.
Ok cool. I can't watch it right now. The music is something they get right consistently at least.
Really good review and editing, for something that long. The points were well made and valid.
The take-down of the beyond rushed and outright dumb story was justified.
The last 2 gyms being non-gyms, and showing a picture of the big dynamax event was a joke lol
The take-down of the beyond rushed and outright dumb story was justified.
The last 2 gyms being non-gyms, and showing a picture of the big dynamax event was a joke lol
It was really mostly about the sound effects because Pokémon has developed the same weird quirk Kirby has where a bunch of the sound effects have sort of become frozen in time at a point where they're clearly mimicking limitations of older hardware. Personally I think it works considerably better in Kirby, though I can't quite place why I feel that way.
Honestly, the problem with Arlo is that his opinions and criticism are on the level of an average Nintendo forumposter and we are too familiar with that. It's not so much a problem if he affirms your opinion but when you see the flaws of the criticism, it sounds kind of whiny.
Also, Sword and Shield do have a plot but since it isn't videogamey and is using the throughline that Pokemon games usually just say instead of have, it is ignored. It's the full realization of the League story. The story is honestly the third-best in the franchise behind Black and White and Sun and Moon. In some ways, it is an improvement upon Sun and Moon's story which overly focused on the Lillie/Lusamine plot to the point of making the rival basic and the final Kahuna fight a nonevent. It's the first one where all the rivals have complete character arcs and the arcs actually build up the player's character arc. The Eternatus fight isn't the climax; it's the final piece to show how far your character has come before the true climax against Leon
Also, Sword and Shield do have a plot but since it isn't videogamey and is using the throughline that Pokemon games usually just say instead of have, it is ignored. It's the full realization of the League story. The story is honestly the third-best in the franchise behind Black and White and Sun and Moon. In some ways, it is an improvement upon Sun and Moon's story which overly focused on the Lillie/Lusamine plot to the point of making the rival basic and the final Kahuna fight a nonevent. It's the first one where all the rivals have complete character arcs and the arcs actually build up the player's character arc. The Eternatus fight isn't the climax; it's the final piece to show how far your character has come before the true climax against Leon
Marnie and Bede's arcs literally happen almost entirely offscreen and they have like 20 minutes of total screentime each in a 25 minute game.
