Hello good people of Euchronia ! I have an update for you and regrettably, it's not a good one. As some of you may know, I am currently working on my next big video: beating Metaphor:ReFantazio at Level One. In my last community post on August 11, I told you guys that I had finished recording the 7 hour long voice-over for my 131 pages script. Due to technical issues, the video will take longer to complete. I'm going to explain what happened below:
While editing the video, I noticed that the sound quality of my voice-over wasn't up to my standards. After a lot of troubleshooting, I came to the conclusion that the issue was coming from the USB Mic itself. After assessing the situation, I tried to salvage the VO in post-production. Unfortunately, even after doing that, the VO still didn't sound good enough to me. So for the sake of the video, I decided to re-voice the entire thing from scratch. Since my faulty mic was the only one in my possession, I had to order a new one, and then wait for that mic to get here. I ordered the mic on August 14, and I received it on August 26. In addition to my new mic, I also made sure to order 2 backup mics just to be safe.
Needless to say, I wasn't able to make much progress while waiting for the new mic. I started re-voicing the script on September 4 and so far, 50% of that script has been completed. Due to the sheer size of the script, IRL obligations, as well as an annoying cold, I haven't been able to make progress as fast as I would've liked. Having to redo a 7 hour long voice-over really sucks, but I'm willing to do whatever it takes to ensure that this video will be as good as I want it to be.
So yeah, that's the long and short of it. Now, I would like to apologize to all of you. I know how much many of you look forward to these videos, and that's why this setback is so frustrating. I've already started editing the parts that have been completed. Progress is going well but as things stand, I cannot tell you when the video will be ready. What I can tell you, is that I still plan to upload this video before the end of the year. So once again, I'm gonna have to ask for your patience as well as your understanding.
Thank you for your continued support of my work, and I'm looking forward to sharing this video with you once it's done !
P.S. Time marches on, and the age of a new video draws nearer...
Hello good people of Euchronia. I have an update for you ! I have finished voicing the 131 pages script for my Metaphor:ReFantazio at Level One video. The full thing is roughly 7 hours long. Yeah, I am as surprised as you are ! It took 13 days over the span of 3 weeks to voice the full thing. In terms of hours, it took 38 hours to voice it all. I only have enough energy to voice 10~15 pages per day, so it took quite a while to finish this voice-over.
Now that this is done, I can properly move to the next step of the process: the editing cave. Truth be told, I've already started editing the audio (trimming, selecting, cutting, etc...). As per usual I'm going to remove the fat for the sake of improving the pacing. While I don't expect the final runtime to be 7 hours, it will still be quite massive when compared to my previous projects.
As I'm sure you'll understand, I can't give you a release date at this point in time. What I can say is that I am really pleased with the voice-over. I'm excited to work on a project of this scope, and I'm looking forward to sharing it with you once it's done. More updates will come as I keep making progress.
P.S. Time marches on, and the age of a new video draws nearer...
Hello good people of the kingdom of Euchronia... I mean Youtube ! I have emerged from my cave with an update for you all. I've finished writing the script for my next project: the Metaphor:ReFantazio Level One challenge video. It's 131 pages long, and this is by far the longest script I've ever written for a youtube video. To put this into perspective, the script for my longest video to date (Shin Megami Tensei V:Vengeance solo) is 69 pages. I knew that this was going to be a big one but even I got caught off guard by that page count.
Metaphor:ReFantazio is a very important game to me. Its story resonated with me on a personal level, and the gameplay from the Level One run is easily some of the best gameplay I've ever recorded for a video. That's why my top priority when writing this script was incorporating both the story and the gameplay to properly tell the tale of this epic journey. Those who are familiar with my work know that I put a lot of care in the narrative of my videos. I'm really happy with how the script came out. The gameplay of this challenge complemented the many themes of Metaphor's story better than I expected. I also managed to craft my own little narrative throughline so that will be fun to show you !
I learned a ton of amazing things about the game while working on this challenge, and I really want to accurately showcase that to you. I have a lot of things to say and that's why this video will certainly be longer than the typical "Deus Masochism Extravangaza".
Now that the script is done, I'll soon move to the phase where I voice it. I expect this to take a couple of days. Once that's done, I'll be able to start editing. As per usual with these big videos, I can't give you a release date just yet. What I can tell you, is that this video will be worth the wait. So please be patient with me ! I'll also update you as I keep making more progress.
Thank you for your continued support of my work and most importantly, take care !
In 2023, I started working on a very special challenge for Shin Megami Tensei IV: the Solo Whisperless run. In addition to doing a solo run, I added an extra restriction on myself by banning "Demon Whisper". This mechanic is the only way for the protag to learn skills, so by banning it, I am unable to learn any skill whatsoever. This means that I can only use the basic attack of my equipments as well as items to deal any form of damage. Going in, I knew that this project would be difficult, but I was still convinced that I would be able to complete this run in a timely manner. So foolishly, I decided to announce this project to you guys. Little did I know... This decision would end up haunting me for years to come.
For a while now, many of you have been asking me what happened to that SMTIV video. I tried to communicate that this project had to be put in the backlog to prioritize newer Atlus releases, but that did not dissuade many of you from asking about it continuously. Very quickly, I realized that no amount of community posts could properly convey to you guys why the video was taking so long. That is why I decided to stop talking about it. And as of today, I finally feel comfortable updating you guys on this project again. The reason why you haven't seen that video yet is simple: difficulty.
You see, I have been working on this challenge for almost 2 years. This project ended up being one of the hardest challenge runs I've ever worked on. I could tell you how it took me 60 hours just to get out of the tutorial, how many months I spent stuck on one single boss, or how I decided to do this on Master difficulty, aka the hardest difficulty in the game... But ultimately, none of that can accurately portray the insanity of this run.
Initially I was working on the SMTIV video fulltime, but eventually, the run became so soul crushing, that I couldn't give it my full attention anymore. Being stuck on a project like that severely cripples my ability to upload.That is why I decided to give less priority to the SMTIV video, in order to work on challenge runs that I knew could be completed in a more reasonable time frame.
At the moment, my priority is finishing the Metaphor ReFantazio Level One video. Once that's done, I'll be able to work on scripting and editing my big SMTIV video. And whenever that SMTIV video eventually goes live... You guys will be able to truly understand why it took so long to make.
Hey everyone ! Now that my latest video has been uploaded, I can finally resume production for my next big project... my grand fantasy: the "Metaphor ReFantazio at Level One" video. This is a challenge run where I used the power of m̶o̶d̶d̶i̶n̶g̶ fantasy to prevent myself from gaining any form of normal EXP whatsoever. It's a run where I embraced and pushed the archetype system to its limits in order to see if fantasy was truly more than an empty dream. As some of you noticed, instead of calling this a "No Exp Run" I decided to call this video the "Level One Run". This might seem like a minor thing, but this distinction is actually very important. I did this because there is one key aspect of Metaphor that makes this challenge run stand out from a typical No Experience challenge. I'm not going to elaborate any further but know that this will make more sense in due time.
Currently, I'm at the scripting phase, and I've finished covering the 1st act of the game. I actually started scripting this video all the way back in December 2024, but I had to put this project on hold in order to finish the Superboss video for Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance. As per usual with my big videos, I can't give you a release date for this project just yet. That being said, I won't leave you guys in the dark because I'll periodically update you all on how things are going.
So far on youtube, there's been quite a few challenge runs for Metaphor that got uploaded. But one thing that I've noticed, is that none of those videos managed to get what I would consider to be pretty good views. Typically, the Metaphor videos that have gotten good views are videos that come from bigger channels. This suggests to me that the view count of these videos has more to do with the wide reach of those big channels. Metaphor is easily one of my favorite game Atlus has made. It's a critically acclaimed game that sold well, so I have no doubt that it managed to reach a lot of players. But while the game's success is undeniable, it's no Persona 5, so in the grand scheme of things it's still a niche game, and that can be felt on the youtube platform as well.
What this means is that my Metaphor video is most likely not going to give me the breakthrough I've been looking for. I've tempered my expectations in advance, so I don't think I'll be disappointed that much if this video ends up underperforming. I won't lie: putting so much time and effort into a project like this one is a source of fear and anxiety for me. But ultimately, I don't plan to let those feelings negatively affect this project. You guys have shown me a ton of support over the years. And that support is what will give me the strength and confidence to make a banger video ! I'm truly honored that so many of you decided to follow me on this journey, and I can't wait to share the video with you once it's finished !
Shin Megami Tensei V is a funny game. In a world where you have to fight the gods from various religions and cultures, the strongest being isn't the hindu god of destruction Shiva, or Zeus or even the devil. It's this angry samurai dude who's been sealed in the front yard of a building.
So in my latest video dedicated to the Superbosses of Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance, I decided against doing the run in godborn. For context, godborn is a New Game Plus mode where every enemy is at level 150 and gets a crazy boost in their stats. To balance this, the game allows the player to do something that's normally impossible: in godborn you can straight up purchase stat boosters for your main character and demons as well.
I decided to completely disregard godborn in my run for a simple reason. Casually, godborn is a cool NG+ mode but in the context of a challenge run, I'm not a fan of it. Godborn puts the emphasis on the numbers too much. That forces you to also raise your own numbers high enough to deal with the increased stats of your enemies, and that is something that I find boring. If I had done the run on godborn, the answer to all my problems would've been to grind enough money to max all my stats (vitality in particular) in order to survive the attacks of my enemies.
This is something that I've already showcased in my OG SMT V video against the Demi-fiend. Vitality is a really powerful stat that allows you to facetank everything if you dump enough points into it. The only reason I was fine with doing that back then was because getting enough vitality to facetank Demi-fiend's Gaea Rage was an impressive fit in and of itself. Vengeance made obtaining stat boosters far easier, so raising my stats in that game is less interesting than it used to be. If I had done the solo run in godborn, then the video would have suffered in 2 ways: the stats would've been really easy to raise, and the strats would've suffered because of that.
When making challenge run videos, completing the challenge isn't the only thing I care about. I care far more about completing a challenge in a way that feels satisfying. By doing the run in normal NG+, I was able to put the focus more on the strats rather than the stats. Ultimately, I firmly believe that this made for a far more entertaining video for you guys and for me as well.
Deus
Deus
Hello good people of Euchronia ! I have an update for you and regrettably, it's not a good one. As some of you may know, I am currently working on my next big video: beating Metaphor:ReFantazio at Level One. In my last community post on August 11, I told you guys that I had finished recording the 7 hour long voice-over for my 131 pages script. Due to technical issues, the video will take longer to complete. I'm going to explain what happened below:
While editing the video, I noticed that the sound quality of my voice-over wasn't up to my standards. After a lot of troubleshooting, I came to the conclusion that the issue was coming from the USB Mic itself. After assessing the situation, I tried to salvage the VO in post-production. Unfortunately, even after doing that, the VO still didn't sound good enough to me. So for the sake of the video, I decided to re-voice the entire thing from scratch. Since my faulty mic was the only one in my possession, I had to order a new one, and then wait for that mic to get here. I ordered the mic on August 14, and I received it on August 26. In addition to my new mic, I also made sure to order 2 backup mics just to be safe.
Needless to say, I wasn't able to make much progress while waiting for the new mic. I started re-voicing the script on September 4 and so far, 50% of that script has been completed. Due to the sheer size of the script, IRL obligations, as well as an annoying cold, I haven't been able to make progress as fast as I would've liked. Having to redo a 7 hour long voice-over really sucks, but I'm willing to do whatever it takes to ensure that this video will be as good as I want it to be.
So yeah, that's the long and short of it. Now, I would like to apologize to all of you. I know how much many of you look forward to these videos, and that's why this setback is so frustrating. I've already started editing the parts that have been completed. Progress is going well but as things stand, I cannot tell you when the video will be ready. What I can tell you, is that I still plan to upload this video before the end of the year. So once again, I'm gonna have to ask for your patience as well as your understanding.
Thank you for your continued support of my work, and I'm looking forward to sharing this video with you once it's done !
P.S. Time marches on, and the age of a new video draws nearer...
3 weeks ago | [YT] | 1,908
View 110 replies
Deus
Hello good people of Euchronia. I have an update for you ! I have finished voicing the 131 pages script for my Metaphor:ReFantazio at Level One video. The full thing is roughly 7 hours long. Yeah, I am as surprised as you are ! It took 13 days over the span of 3 weeks to voice the full thing. In terms of hours, it took 38 hours to voice it all. I only have enough energy to voice 10~15 pages per day, so it took quite a while to finish this voice-over.
Now that this is done, I can properly move to the next step of the process: the editing cave. Truth be told, I've already started editing the audio (trimming, selecting, cutting, etc...). As per usual I'm going to remove the fat for the sake of improving the pacing. While I don't expect the final runtime to be 7 hours, it will still be quite massive when compared to my previous projects.
As I'm sure you'll understand, I can't give you a release date at this point in time. What I can say is that I am really pleased with the voice-over. I'm excited to work on a project of this scope, and I'm looking forward to sharing it with you once it's done. More updates will come as I keep making progress.
P.S. Time marches on, and the age of a new video draws nearer...
2 months ago | [YT] | 1,642
View 95 replies
Deus
Hello good people of the kingdom of Euchronia... I mean Youtube ! I have emerged from my cave with an update for you all. I've finished writing the script for my next project: the Metaphor:ReFantazio Level One challenge video. It's 131 pages long, and this is by far the longest script I've ever written for a youtube video. To put this into perspective, the script for my longest video to date (Shin Megami Tensei V:Vengeance solo) is 69 pages. I knew that this was going to be a big one but even I got caught off guard by that page count.
Metaphor:ReFantazio is a very important game to me. Its story resonated with me on a personal level, and the gameplay from the Level One run is easily some of the best gameplay I've ever recorded for a video. That's why my top priority when writing this script was incorporating both the story and the gameplay to properly tell the tale of this epic journey. Those who are familiar with my work know that I put a lot of care in the narrative of my videos. I'm really happy with how the script came out. The gameplay of this challenge complemented the many themes of Metaphor's story better than I expected. I also managed to craft my own little narrative throughline so that will be fun to show you !
I learned a ton of amazing things about the game while working on this challenge, and I really want to accurately showcase that to you. I have a lot of things to say and that's why this video will certainly be longer than the typical "Deus Masochism Extravangaza".
Now that the script is done, I'll soon move to the phase where I voice it. I expect this to take a couple of days. Once that's done, I'll be able to start editing. As per usual with these big videos, I can't give you a release date just yet. What I can tell you, is that this video will be worth the wait. So please be patient with me ! I'll also update you as I keep making more progress.
Thank you for your continued support of my work and most importantly, take care !
P.S. Fantasy lives on
2 months ago | [YT] | 1,472
View 72 replies
Deus
In 2023, I started working on a very special challenge for Shin Megami Tensei IV: the Solo Whisperless run. In addition to doing a solo run, I added an extra restriction on myself by banning "Demon Whisper". This mechanic is the only way for the protag to learn skills, so by banning it, I am unable to learn any skill whatsoever. This means that I can only use the basic attack of my equipments as well as items to deal any form of damage. Going in, I knew that this project would be difficult, but I was still convinced that I would be able to complete this run in a timely manner. So foolishly, I decided to announce this project to you guys. Little did I know... This decision would end up haunting me for years to come.
For a while now, many of you have been asking me what happened to that SMTIV video. I tried to communicate that this project had to be put in the backlog to prioritize newer Atlus releases, but that did not dissuade many of you from asking about it continuously. Very quickly, I realized that no amount of community posts could properly convey to you guys why the video was taking so long. That is why I decided to stop talking about it. And as of today, I finally feel comfortable updating you guys on this project again. The reason why you haven't seen that video yet is simple: difficulty.
You see, I have been working on this challenge for almost 2 years. This project ended up being one of the hardest challenge runs I've ever worked on. I could tell you how it took me 60 hours just to get out of the tutorial, how many months I spent stuck on one single boss, or how I decided to do this on Master difficulty, aka the hardest difficulty in the game... But ultimately, none of that can accurately portray the insanity of this run.
Initially I was working on the SMTIV video fulltime, but eventually, the run became so soul crushing, that I couldn't give it my full attention anymore. Being stuck on a project like that severely cripples my ability to upload.That is why I decided to give less priority to the SMTIV video, in order to work on challenge runs that I knew could be completed in a more reasonable time frame.
At the moment, my priority is finishing the Metaphor ReFantazio Level One video. Once that's done, I'll be able to work on scripting and editing my big SMTIV video. And whenever that SMTIV video eventually goes live... You guys will be able to truly understand why it took so long to make.
4 months ago (edited) | [YT] | 1,380
View 119 replies
Deus
Hey everyone ! Now that my latest video has been uploaded, I can finally resume production for my next big project... my grand fantasy: the "Metaphor ReFantazio at Level One" video. This is a challenge run where I used the power of m̶o̶d̶d̶i̶n̶g̶ fantasy to prevent myself from gaining any form of normal EXP whatsoever. It's a run where I embraced and pushed the archetype system to its limits in order to see if fantasy was truly more than an empty dream. As some of you noticed, instead of calling this a "No Exp Run" I decided to call this video the "Level One Run". This might seem like a minor thing, but this distinction is actually very important. I did this because there is one key aspect of Metaphor that makes this challenge run stand out from a typical No Experience challenge. I'm not going to elaborate any further but know that this will make more sense in due time.
Currently, I'm at the scripting phase, and I've finished covering the 1st act of the game. I actually started scripting this video all the way back in December 2024, but I had to put this project on hold in order to finish the Superboss video for Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance. As per usual with my big videos, I can't give you a release date for this project just yet. That being said, I won't leave you guys in the dark because I'll periodically update you all on how things are going.
So far on youtube, there's been quite a few challenge runs for Metaphor that got uploaded. But one thing that I've noticed, is that none of those videos managed to get what I would consider to be pretty good views. Typically, the Metaphor videos that have gotten good views are videos that come from bigger channels. This suggests to me that the view count of these videos has more to do with the wide reach of those big channels. Metaphor is easily one of my favorite game Atlus has made. It's a critically acclaimed game that sold well, so I have no doubt that it managed to reach a lot of players. But while the game's success is undeniable, it's no Persona 5, so in the grand scheme of things it's still a niche game, and that can be felt on the youtube platform as well.
What this means is that my Metaphor video is most likely not going to give me the breakthrough I've been looking for. I've tempered my expectations in advance, so I don't think I'll be disappointed that much if this video ends up underperforming. I won't lie: putting so much time and effort into a project like this one is a source of fear and anxiety for me. But ultimately, I don't plan to let those feelings negatively affect this project. You guys have shown me a ton of support over the years. And that support is what will give me the strength and confidence to make a banger video ! I'm truly honored that so many of you decided to follow me on this journey, and I can't wait to share the video with you once it's finished !
5 months ago (edited) | [YT] | 1,713
View 128 replies
Deus
Shin Megami Tensei V is a funny game. In a world where you have to fight the gods from various religions and cultures, the strongest being isn't the hindu god of destruction Shiva, or Zeus or even the devil. It's this angry samurai dude who's been sealed in the front yard of a building.
5 months ago | [YT] | 1,684
View 70 replies
Deus
So in my latest video dedicated to the Superbosses of Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance, I decided against doing the run in godborn. For context, godborn is a New Game Plus mode where every enemy is at level 150 and gets a crazy boost in their stats. To balance this, the game allows the player to do something that's normally impossible: in godborn you can straight up purchase stat boosters for your main character and demons as well.
I decided to completely disregard godborn in my run for a simple reason. Casually, godborn is a cool NG+ mode but in the context of a challenge run, I'm not a fan of it. Godborn puts the emphasis on the numbers too much. That forces you to also raise your own numbers high enough to deal with the increased stats of your enemies, and that is something that I find boring. If I had done the run on godborn, the answer to all my problems would've been to grind enough money to max all my stats (vitality in particular) in order to survive the attacks of my enemies.
This is something that I've already showcased in my OG SMT V video against the Demi-fiend. Vitality is a really powerful stat that allows you to facetank everything if you dump enough points into it. The only reason I was fine with doing that back then was because getting enough vitality to facetank Demi-fiend's Gaea Rage was an impressive fit in and of itself. Vengeance made obtaining stat boosters far easier, so raising my stats in that game is less interesting than it used to be. If I had done the solo run in godborn, then the video would have suffered in 2 ways: the stats would've been really easy to raise, and the strats would've suffered because of that.
When making challenge run videos, completing the challenge isn't the only thing I care about. I care far more about completing a challenge in a way that feels satisfying. By doing the run in normal NG+, I was able to put the focus more on the strats rather than the stats. Ultimately, I firmly believe that this made for a far more entertaining video for you guys and for me as well.
5 months ago (edited) | [YT] | 1,104
View 40 replies
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