Game Over Media

My last post was dedicated to discussing the Let’s Play format. This time, I wanted to talk about some of the more entertaining screenshot LPs I’ve stumbled upon over the last few years. Check them out if you’ve played the games. Especially check them out if you haven’t. Part of the fun of LPs is learning about games you’ve never had the chance to experience. (Assuming, of course, you have no intention of playing them yourself someday. Spoilers ahead!)

(One of) Brickroad’s Final Fantasy I LPs: Brickroad, of the Talking Time forum community, is pretty much the authority on the original Final Fantasy and its myriad of remakes. His latest LP of the game includes (an attempted) solo run with the thief class that is probably one of the most hilariously frustrating events I’ve ever seen. (And that’s saying something. As a grad student, my life is nothing but hilariously frustrating events.)

Chewbot’s Animal Crossing LP: How on Earth do you LP a game that never ends, has no real narrative to speak of, and mainly consists of digging holes in the ground and fishing? Chewbot answers this and so many other questions in an LP that will never let you look at Tom Nook the same way again.

Fanart for Chewbot's Animal Crossing LP created by Something Awful forum user "Demon Allie." One of the best parts about LPs is the interactions with the community.

Zoolooman’s Civilization 4 LP (unfinished): This LP is an interesting one in that it displays the best qualities of an LP but, possibly as a result, falls victim to that horrible fate of the author simply becoming too busy or burnt-out by the process to finish it. An exhaustive amount of effort can clearly be seen here as Zoolooman explains an incredibly complex game like Civ 4, while simultaneously constructing his own narrative history to go around the events that take place within his game.

The Dark Id’s Drakengard LP: The Dark Id has, at this point, become a sort of comedic screenshot LP god. He has an entire series dedicated to the abundant lunacy that is the Resident Evil series, but it was this LP of an obscure, completely insane PS2 action game that really stood out to me. And I don’t mean insane as in “Wow, what an amazing tour-de-force of gaming!” I mean insane as in “lock your doors and windows, barricade yourself in the bedroom, and contemplate giving yourself a quick end as opposed to what awaits you.”

Eddie’s Final Fantasy Tactics LP (ongoing): Final Fantasy Tactics was one of those games that everyone praised, but I tried several times and simply could not get into. Then I started reading Eddie’s LP. And everything clicked. I’ve since completed the game and had a blast doing it. All it took was someone showing me the way.