Great LPs outside of Talking Time

Believe it or not, Talking Time isn't the only place on the internet that does LPs (shock! amaze!). I thought we could use a thread for discussion great LPs we've found elsewhere.

I found this extremely hilarious one on Youtube tonight that you might enjoy if you like old crappy movie tie-in NES games: Jeremy Plays Home Alone.

Leovinus's Final Fantasy VIII LP is one everyone should read, to the degree that I've done so multiple times. There is one instance where the narrator demands a certain character to "save [her] sexy metaphors for Lesbian hell."


All of The Dark Id's Resident Evil LPs are great at investing the reader in how absurd those games are, and in many cases, I'd prefer them to playing the games myself.


Slowbeef's Metal Gear 2 "strategy guide" was an LP before LPs, and has the same appeal as The Dark Id in its careful account of Kojima's cutting-edge insanity. Another one I've read several times.



As for video LPs, I have only one recommendation to make, but I can't make it enough: Over the Gun's "How to Successfully Fail" series.

OTG is a man of contradictions: he seems kind of slow-headed until he surprises you with his insight, and he's humble except when he gets that elusive headshot -- at which point you will probably hear the phrase "P R zero." All in all, he's just incredibly entertaining to listen to (the Yorkshire accent can't hurt). I'm pretty sure his run through Resident Evil 4 comes in well over twelve hours, but I gladly listened to every minute of it.

He can also do some clever things with editing, such as this synopsis of the second loop of Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts.

It's pretty good, but damn that guy is shrill.

The Spoony One (no relation) has a pretty funny Let's Play-ish walkthrough of Phantasmagoria 2. It's broken up into 5 hour-long segments, so watch this one in chunks. It does get really funny into the second hour.

He's also in the middle of a Final Fantasy VIII review/rant which he started over a year ago, took nearly a year off and finally returned to following the end of the Phantasmagoria 2 review.

I read about half of the Resident Evil 4 LP and it was so entertaining that I actually started playing the game again (despite not liking it very much). Also, on that same list, you'll find the Flashback LP that was written by Yahtzee of Zero Punctuation fame, which is pretty funny.

Everyone's probably heard of it by now, but over at the lparchive, the Dwarf Fortress saga of Boatmurdered is pretty damn epic. Since it's a rotating LP, some sections are much better done than others, though.

I'm enjoying the Phantasmagoria one, but I couldn't help but notice: the dude has a single bed underneath his Highlander posters.

I think that speaks to a certain something.

The Animal Crossing LP is amazing for making Animal Crossing a dramatic experience.

The Sprung LP is funny, partly because of the writing and partly because the game itself is so ridiculous.

Jurassic Park: Trespasser is not a very good game, but it is pretty interesting and the guy who LPed it has a great voice.

Siren and Siren 2 are creepy and I'm glad I got to watch someone else play through them, because I am a wuss.

I'm pretty fond of RedChocobo's Pokemon ones. Pokemon Emerald, Pokemon Crystal, and Pokemon Fire Red. Also can't be missed is Zorak's Pokemon Quartz, a crazy Rom hack.

I really enjoy watching DeceasedCrab do his thing. He's got a few more in the archive as well, such as War With the Evil Power Master. His La Mulana play throughs are long, but I've never seen such an indepth playthrough of the game. He even beats Hell Temple.

From Earth's Silent Hill series is also pretty good.

=)

Cybershell's Half Life (2) LP is my favourite. The Silent Hill ones are excellent.

Ugh, I remember that game. It was amusing to see that the ending wasn't worth it at all!

Also, yeah, that guy is impossible to listen to.

What is this... "outside"?

I don't really like listening to video LP's usually since they're usually really rambling and long, but the Hell part of La Mulana was too horrifying for me to not watch.
There's a lot of great parts here, though it helps a lot that the game is so absurd in the first place. I also used a couple croppings of this drawing for avatars for a really, really long time. It's so amazing!

This one. Right here.

From the same writer is The Oregon Trail, which must be read to be believed.

That FF8 writeup is what introduced me to the whole concept of Let's Plays. Yes, I consider that piece of writing a classic of the field.

La Pucelle: Tactics is a great example of combining screenshots and video. The text portions cover the game's plot and an overview level of gameplay with suitably snarky commentary (from other NIS characters), and are both enjoyable and complete by themselves. The videos, which are all narrated, showcase the gameplay in more depth. It's a clever, well-executed way to split up a SRPG LP for both casual and dedicated audiences.

Freespace 2 starts off good but not exceptional. However, about 1/3 of the way through, it switches to a different author who really knows the ins and outs of the game, and - critically! - a good eye for pretty screenshots.

Oh god, it's so good.

Those may very well be my favorite LPs ever. Also, The Dark Id created an LP of another survival horror game, Clock Tower 3. If anything, it shows how the RE series isn't the most insanely absurd survival horror series out there.

Docfuture did a pretty fun lp of Sonic1 easy mode. DeceasedCrabs Iji lp was entertaining too. kungfujesus has a couple of torturus but strangely compelling lps of Kingdom Hearts 2 and Sonic2006.

Something not lost on him if you watch some of his other reviews.

That Oregon Trail one was like the best thing I've ever read. This thread=victory.

They're the very reason I started playing Pokemon in the first place! RedChocobo's illustrations (and some of the audience's fanart) are amazing.

I loved that one, especially for his (and the SA audience's) reactions to the more batshit insane concepts. Did he ever pick up Dirge of Cerberus again? I was following that one (as well as Leo's unfinished FF7 LP) but it kinda... stopped and I lost track of it.

The Princess Maker 2 LP has to be seen to be believed. Shame the archive doesn't keep comments from the peanut gallery, though.

This Final Fantasy Tactics one had a great gimmick, was outrageously funny, and had lots of potential... but the author was unable to continue due to circumstances beyond his control.

I'll second Spoony's videos (I started with his run-through of The Thing), Research Indicates' Trespasser LP (that game looks like it had SUCH potential, really), and the Animal Crossing LP mentioned earlier, and add this guy's Earthworm Jim 2 LP, also from the SomethingAwful archive.

He has the good sense not to take himself too seriously and make a great many jokes at his own expense.

Spent about two hours reading the Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri LP, as that's one of my favourite games evar.

It was a pretty satisfying read!

The Animal Crossing and Oregon Trail ones are like twin thunderbolts of genius from heaven.

I'm loving that Dwarf Fortress LP, I just finished reading StarkRavingMad's run of it, and he had me laughing so hard.

Man, I got sucked into that Pokemon Quartz LP. Insanity. Please give me my several hours back.