Games That Save the Best for Last

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Jacob discussing Thumper, Pistol Whip, and Superhot: MCD: "The final level of this game introduces a significant change to the gameplay that retains continuity with what it has already taught the player while ratcheting up the tension in an impressive way." Jacob discussing The Wonderful 101: The phrase "Holy shit" repeated ad nauseam.

i love how Transistor waits until the very last fight of the game to have someone use the same time freeze/action planning powers that you've been relying on, it really makes you feel uniquely helpless when the boss pauses the game and just stands there carefully deciding how best to attack you.

The X-COM games do a fascinating version of this, especially X-COM 2. Throughout the game, losing even a single squad member can be a crippling disadvantage, so you try very hard not to - you learn to play cautiously, conservatively, carefully managing every risk you take. But the last level changes all of that, simply because it is the last level. With no more levels, there's no need for everyone to survive anymore. Which is important, because the enemy force is much, much larger than any previous level. It's a last-ditch suicide mission to save humanity, and everything you've learned about how to play effectively no longer applies. Caution becomes suicide, and so you're frantically learning how to play aggressively and take entirely new types of risks. The strategic landscape opens up tremendously for that last, final mission, and it's deeply satisfying.

"You make the first level perfect because it makes sense, it's the first thing people play, it's what you show off for demos, it's the sensible, marketable, profitable decision. You make the last level perfect- Because you love the god damn thing." ~Jacob Geller, 2021.

Okay that Wonderful 101 ending is totally sounds like 3 different guys came up to their boss like "hey I have a great idea for the final boss" and boss just went "put them ALL in"

The best thing about Jacob as a video creator is the little tingle in his voice when he says something like “and then I played The Wonderful 101” and you just know you’re 5 minutes away from redownloading it and giving it another shot

"Mash A to Protect Earth" has the same energy as "Press F to pay respects", but it actually makes me emotional for some reason.

The Ashtray Maze in Control comes to mind for me, absolutely blew my mind because of how serendipitous it felt. I had the biggest grin the entire time and was so grateful I kept playing to get there.

21:00 "Let me tell you the times i thought i reached the end" Ah yes, classic platinum games you defeat the boss that's about to destroy the city and doing that ressurrects the boss that wants to destroy the sun as a starting phase of their 40 phase final boss, love those guys

One of the few occasions I've full on belly laughed at a game, probably because I was already grinning like an idiot, was when it cuts to the characters inside the robot at the end of W101 and they are all button mashing just as frantically as you, it really is amazing.

I'm so glad you gave some love to Thumper, easily one of my favorite games. The ominous, reoccurring horn motif that plays every time you see the final boss triangle disappear over the horizon is peak hair raising

An example that comes to mind is Everhood The game changes halfway through from a rhythm game to a rhythm action game but near the end, you're not fighting specific characters but the fabric of reality and it feels as if the worlds falling apart as you do it It's pretty great

If you do read these comments, you’re fuelling so many of my English assignments and essays, turns out English teachers love Wang Wei. Thank you Jacob ⁉️

I enjoy how Supergiant Games have twice made their final bosses shocking by just giving them the same abilities the player has been using all along - stopping time, summoning a companion. It massively unsettles the gameplay, but with mechanics you are familiar with, and in a way that can't feel anything but fair.

“My omniscience has limits” is my new favorite qualifier

Getting the double dash towards the end of Celeste was amazing

My favorite recent example of this is when Devil May Cry 5 made you play throught the whole game without Nero's Devil Bringer, then they give it back to you for the final boss fight AND give you a Devil Trigger on top of that, then let you play through the whole game again with both unlocked.

I feel like I need to mention Okami here, with the fact that Yomi literally depowers you into a normal dog, even with the most op gear you can get. The sheer panic I felt the first time as I struggled to draw anything to help me fight was amazing, especially when I slowly got them back and realized just how strong I became over the course of the game.

I love how he actually saved the best for last in this video. I dont think 101 was ever mentioned in the video before the ending so I thought it was a bonus mention.