Masked Longplayer

Hey, ladies and gents.
I decided to start an interesting walkthrough series regarding Dark Souls 1. But since many content creators are doing hard or weird challenge series, there's little to do in that category - no hit or LV1 runs aren't that fresh of an idea anymore, even if they do show skill. And "only X weapon" runs aren't exactly too fun nowadays too...
But then I thought... alright, the game plays with a concept that you can create whatever the character that you want; and, even though it's fun as a game mechanics, it relies heavily on player's imagination and creativity, which is why most of us eventually say "f@ck it" and go with Giant Dad, or some bulky mage build, or whatever.
But what if I told you that there is a more fun way to play the game, by imposing certain limitations based on existing characters and enemies from the game? The idea came to me after playing the Dark Souls Network Test Demo, where the game actually allowed you to pick actual character, as opposed to starting class - characters like Black Knight or Solaire. So I thought, it would be really interesting to recreate this in the final game, considering how many different characters with their own ammunition and armor exist. And we don't just talk NPCs here - every humanoid character or enemy that has something interesting to him or her is worth a try, in my opinion. Ofcourse, in this case a little stretch of imagination is expected, as I clearly can't grow or shrink in size for specific characters, but I still can "cosplay" them. Hence, the name of this whole project - "Dark Souls Cosplay Series". Starting classes are, ofcourse, worth their own runs too, provided I won't change their equipment too much.
I'll be using the PTDE / DSFix version of the game, not the remastered. The rules are simple: this is not "mad skillz" challenge, so I'm allowed to use a special save where I preemptively 100% the game, get max level and stats, and all equipment, spells and consumables, to be able to use the proper build from the get-go, the moment the game starts in Asylum. Naturally, All Bonfires are going to be pre-kindled to 20 and Estus Flask pre-upgraded to maximum, with Humanity at 99. The fun part of the challenge is rather in going through the game using only the equipment and behavior that the character would normally use, and nothing else (e.g. knight-type characters would not roll, even if they can use light or mid-roll; melee-focused characters wouldn't use spells, and so on). All in all, there are like 100+ characters like this, each with his/her own unique behavior and equipment, giving the runs unique flavors, even though it's going to be basically just a skipless speedrun of the game (all bosses). Normal enemies will mostly be ignored, offline invaders will be fought whenever they spawn, and co-op phantoms summoning is going to be something that's specific to the character in question - for instance, mad hollow styled character would not use any help, where as Solaire, a Cleric or any supportive type character definitely would.
Last but not least, it's important to understand that I'm going to limit myself to established characters/classes/builds that are canonical part of the game. That means no popular (or unpopular) community builds, as they are just mishmash of what is otherwise already in the game.
Except for GiantDad, ofcourse. THE LEGEND NEVER DIES.

1 week ago | [YT] | 5

Masked Longplayer

Sup everyone.
A lot of people are asking me whether I use emulators or actual consoles for recording retro games.
Just wanted to clarify that I actually utilize both. So far I've managed to get Genesis Model 1 and 2, US NES, PS1, PS2, PS3 and TurboGrafx16 consoles, as well as some Famiclones, as far original hardware goes. I also have a pretty stylish Retron 3 HD Setup (in the picture below), which frequently replaces NES/SNES/Genesis setups for my recordings. As for emulators, I have my Windows-driven ROG Ally Z1X, and use different emulators like Gens, Retroarch, PCSX2, RPCS3, Flycast, and others for different platforms.
The output from the consoles obviously does not look like CRT output, especially so if played on an LCD. That's why I apply special post-processing on the videos when I edit them and prepare them for the publishing on youtube. That's also when and where I add the side-bars to make the videos HD-aligned.
As for cartridges, I use various Everdrives (currently I have N8 Pro, Mega Pro, FXPAK Pro and Turbo Pro). I'm not a collector, and I don't really like to have huge spaces occupied by hardware I don't use often enough, expecially if it needs periodic maintenance, so I appreciate the ability to have all the games loaded into single ultimate cartridge. On the other side, I have some of the cartridges which I've managed to preserve from my childhood, such as the FamiCollections (999999-in-1s, etc) and some standalone carts like Adventure island and Chip'n'Dale for NES, entire Sonic collection for Genesis, and some others. They aren't English though, as I got them locally back in the day.
So there you go. I know I've stated it many times in the comments under the videos, but I use save state features on emulators and on consoles through Everdrive carts. Other than that, I do announce when I use actual cheats in the games - either in the videos' titles, or in the descriptions. Trolls appear here and there, trying to trash comment sections under my videos, but I really don't have any tolerance to those - I always try to explain things normally to everyone at first, even though I already did so in the channel's description. But if someone does not want to listen - then it's their own problem; I don't have time for such people.
And for the rest of those that are simply curious - well, as you may have seen, I try to answer your questions in the comments every time. I do like to engage in conversations, I just don't like baseless aggression and trolling.
Have a nice day!

8 months ago | [YT] | 39

Masked Longplayer

Hello guys and gals.
Today I would like to make an official announcement regarding my new personal original Project, which I've started working on recently. It's based on Unreal Engine 5.
As of now, I've decided on the working name "Crystallis" - the final name will be different to avoid any copyright issues, but for now the project has to have the name that can be referenced.
A video discussing the details and references for the project will be out soon, but for now I can say that it's going to be a Single-Player Action RPG with Platforming/Puzzle elements. Vagrant Story and Dark Souls are the main inspirations behind it, but as I've mentined above, more details will be revealed in the follow-up video.
Unlike Digimon World 2 HD or Adventure Island 4 Plus, this one is completely my personal new IP, and therefore will be developed and released as a commercial product without any legal restrictions.
The main release platforms are planned to be the desktop ones (Windows, Linux, Mac), as well as Steamdeck (which is a special version of Linux under the HUD).
For now I don't know the extent of popularity the project will gain, but if it will be possible, and if it will make sense - I will also think about other platform ports.
For instance, Mobile Ports are not out of the Question, but will otherwise be hard to pull off, considering this is Unreal Engine 5, after all. Maybe latest generation iPads and Galaxies, we'll see.
Consoles like Switch or XBox are very much possible, but I will need to get a professional console developer license from Microsoft and Nintendo respectively for those, which is actually doable, even for individual developers.
Finally, PS5 is probably out of question simply because the only way to develop games for it is to rent a very expensive Development Kit from Sony, which, at this point, does not appear to be feasible and possible for me, because only big companies in specific world regions are applicable, so no individual devs. Time will tell though.
For now, there's a huge body of work for me to do, but this time I'm not doing it alone - my wife joined me as a 2D/3D Artist for the project, so you can expect a progress that's even more swift that it was for Digimon World 2 HD.
Unlike fan-games which can be hurt by too much exposure, this project will actually benefit from absolutely every ounce of attention it can muster, so I'm really counting on the support from people who are genuinely interested in the quality games.
As the game industry in general stands right now, we're being burried by a squall of AI slop, "whatever" online-based senseless gameplay craze, and microtransation madness. I believe the industry is due for the next huge and glorious renaissance, and I intend to make my own contribution to it.
Kickstarter/Patreon/etc. is being considered, but for now it doesn't make sense to jump to those - first I'm going to work on the basic prototype, and when the project starts being fleshed out, I'll think about it, provided there will be anyone wishing to support it.
Stay tuned, and have a great day!

8 months ago | [YT] | 34

Masked Longplayer

Hello everyone.
A very important announcement regarding the Digimon World 2 HD Project here.
After I received a fake legal letter last year regarding the project, I've since become paranoid of the project's future. And then I've decided to further educate myself on the whole legal process regarding such projects, and the IP licensing as such.
Turns out, there IS a proper and official way of applying for licenses like this, and it may actually be possible for the project to become official and endorced/supported by Bandai Namco. The downside is that it will no longer be considered as free/open-source, and also I cannot share any discussion and development details in it's regards until everything is properly discussed and arranged with the IP owner.
As of now, I've applied for the license, but I haven't got any answer from Bandai's legal representative yet. The response may be one of several things - they can start negotiations for the commercial development; they can also refuse the whole thing and order me to stop working on the project; finally, they can refuse the commercial side but still endorce the project as the fan-game one.
Regardless of the potential future answer, I've decided to put the project on hold until the situation becomes clear. Unfortunately this process can last from several months to several years, depending on how Bandai reacts to this.
This does not mean the project is cancelled - it simply means it will be paused until the situation is fully resolved. I believe this is infinitely better than to shadow-develop it for a staggering amount of time, only to get taken down by the legal hammer out of nowhere.
Lastly, back when I was dealing with the fake letter, I've alluded to possibly starting a work on another project which has too been a passion of mine, should this one get cancelled or paused. It's not a fan-game, but rather an original IP which can freely be worked on. So while this Project goes on hiatus, I've decided to start a work on another one, so that I don't lose any time, and so that I still get to work on something cool that I can also share publicly with everyone.
Please stay tuned as I will soon announce what the next steps regarding all this situation will be.
Cheers!

8 months ago | [YT] | 83

Masked Longplayer

Hey guys,
I've decided to (temporarily) expand the amount of videos released, as I've started the walkthrough of TES: Oblivion Remastered. I already see myself why the game gets a reasonable amount of hate, but for me the original Oblivion is one of the best Western Action RPGs ever made, alongside Morrowind and Skyrim. And I've decided to do a full 100% playthough (meaning not only the main quest, but also absolutely everything - guilds, city quests, secret quests, daedric shrines, dlc quests, as well as explore all map locations). I want to do a true in-depth walkthrough which could server as a guidance point for other people, and I also want to (later) do the same walkthrough for the original game (albeit with some mods and patches, probably), so that we can see definitively what has changed between the 2 versions of the game.
If you're interested in these walkthroughs - they will be scheduled as 4 videos per week - meaning they will occupy the remaining slots that previously were empty - Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.
They video are going to be long, but I'm structuring the whole walkthrough so that I do one quest at a time, meaning the videos will have strong and natural sense of continuity. That's also why there will be no premieres - they vids will be published as is.
If you're interested, and are generally fans of the TES games - your views, likes and comments will be greatly appreciated, as always. Have a good day, everyone.

8 months ago | [YT] | 15

Masked Longplayer

Sup guys. Another poll here.
Across several recent years, I've been trying to adapt different resolution videos from retro consoles to a FullHD format (1920x1080, which is 16:9), despite the fact that each of those consoles had it's own output screen ratio (ex. NES is 1.06666, Genesis - 1.518? etc.). In the end, though, we can all agreee that originally all these consoles were used together with standard 4:3 CRT TVs.
So here's my question: do you think I should do for retro games? Keep the 4:3 ratio, making it look like a CRT TV output? Or adapt it to 16:9 using secondary width-based scaling with blur, like I did it up until now?
Youtube actually supports both 16:9 and 4:3 as separate modes, and will adjust the player frame accordingly, which is pretty convenient. Plus some of the viewers surely use iPads, which always had 4:3 screens to begin with. The question is important because different people watch youtube in different way - some like it in fullscreen mode, others preffer windowed mode; people like me typically use it in theater mode. So there are many ways you can enjoy the videos.
As always, your input is greatly appreciated, and will help make the channel better in the long run, so thanks in advance.

10 months ago | [YT] | 6

Masked Longplayer

Apparently we now can't do pure and unmodified walkthroughs of the games without the fear of Copyright Strikes.
Today I had to delete 4 of the videos of various 2000's Kamen Rider games for PS1 (Kuuga, Agito, 1, V3), because some obscure company called Nippon Columbia Ltd. have decided that, instead of claiming Music in the videos, they should just throw a Copyright Strike my way. The videos weren't even being monetized, precisely because of the music. But Claims are one thing, while Strikes... Apparently people playing their games somehow damages their income. Imagine that.
I don't know if other videos with japanese music are going to be future targets of the corporate monkeys doing their job, but this Channel could very well be deleted if someone on the otherside keeps waking up every morning off the wrong foot. And I honestly don't know if there's an actual way to combat that, aside from deleting around 20 of my other videos (some of which exist since this Channel's creation days), just so that they can't go after those videos. But if anyone can just abuse Copyright Strike system that way, then who is to guarantee that I don't get Strikes on the videos that aren't even suspects for Claim system?

11 months ago | [YT] | 11

Masked Longplayer

The Poll for the Post below (check the images and the explanation first).
Would you like me to revisit the old videos for retro consoles and re-record the walkthroughs with the new CRT Setup?

11 months ago | [YT] | 7

Masked Longplayer

Hello guys,
today I'd like to conduct another quick poll.
Several days ago, I've finally managed to get a retro/CRT TV setup for several consoles of mine that's both visually great AND is recording-friendly at the same time.
As you can see on the first image, that's how my usual videos look like with added filters (while being recoded pixel perfect with hdmi output or from emulator). And on the second image, you can see what I can achieve using the RF output from the actual console (megadrive in this case). It looks fuzzy thanks to low-res output, sure, but it also looks very beautiful as far as retro games go. Sonic 1's waterfall is absolute benchmark at this point when testing.
So it got me thinking: when I started this channel, I did a lot of videos while experimenting with visual effects in the videos. But now that I finally got the holy grail of retro gaming visual eye-candies, I could probably go back to those games and re-do them with this setup. So far I have the necessary setups for SMS, MegaDrive, NES, SNES, PS1 and Dreamcast, while I'm also planning to expand my setup with PS2, TurboGfx16, and some of the Arcades. Maybe even more can be done (write down your suggestions in comments).
Thus, I'm interested in your opinion - would you like me to re-visit some of the older videos on my Channel, and re-do them with new Setup? I'm mainly talking about really OLD videos, that have those black/static bars and no additional effects like fake CRT, but I can do the later ones too if people are iterested. For now though, it's the old ones.
The Poll Post goes separately, because I wanted to properly showcase the differences in visuals, and YT's image pools are really bad at this, so I need to circumvent this problem like that.

Also, alternative suggestions or just ideas in general are also welcome in the comments!

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11 months ago (edited) | [YT] | 15

Masked Longplayer

Sup guys and gals,
as you know, I've been releasing videos while keeping specific schedule structure:


- Monday: DMW2 Remake Vlog
- Tuesday: 8-Bit Retro Games
- Wednesday: Another Eden
- Thursday: 16-Bit / Arcade Retro Games
- Friday: Another Eden
- Saturday: 32-Bit Retro Games (PS1/Dreamcast/PS2/etc.)
- Sunday: PC / Newer Generation Games (Switch, PS3, etc.)



As of now, I have to shrink my schedule for 2025 (at least), because I have very little free time as a result of juggling many different responsibilities. Therefore I've decided to go on a 3-video schedule for now.

My question here is: does my audience cares about the exact format for the schedule, like it was before? Or should I release the videos whenever I get them ready, regardless of the Platform/Genre/etc.?

It is very important for me to understand what you guys like, so that I focus my efforts onto the most efficient strategy from now on, so thanks for your feedback in advance.

1 year ago | [YT] | 22