History ZeroPunctuation / TropesAToD

* AdolfHitlarious: In the "Top 5 of 2012" review, he compares ''VideoGame/KaneAndLynch2DogDays'', which he describes as "offensively bad", to the #1 worst game, [[spoiler:''VideoGame/{{Amy}}'']], which he describes as "the kind of bad that dresses up like Hitler and starts doing impressions of people with cerebral palsy."

* BerserkButton: As someone who is professionally angry, Yahtzee has quite a few. While many are specific to a game (and thus too numerous to list) some recur:
** In the ''[[VideoGame/TransformersWarForCybertron Transformers: War for Cybertron]]'' [[http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/zero-punctuation/1951-Transformers-War-for-Cybertron review]], the mention of Creator/ShiaLaBeouf sent him into a barely-restrained seething rage.
** Creator/NolanNorth's presence in a game tends to be a sour point for him (especially if he voices the [[Franchise/AssassinsCreed main]] [[VideoGame/{{Uncharted}} character]]). However, he's stated that it's nothing against the man himself, though even cases of PlayingAgainstType will make him hate the character as long as he knows it's him. He did, however, give a glowing [[http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/zero-punctuation/6021-Spec-Ops-The-Line review]] to ''VideoGame/SpecOpsTheLine'', in which North plays the protagonist, perhaps because the game is in part a [[PlayingWithCharacterType deconstruction]] of North's usual character type.
** PressXToNotDie.
** He seems to developing one over reboots/sequels that [[RecycledTitle share identical names with their predecessors]], such as ''[[http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/zero-punctuation/916-Wolfenstein Wolfenstein]]'', ''[[http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/zero-punctuation/3250-Mortal-Kombat Mortal Kombat]]'', ''[[http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/zero-punctuation/5531-Twisted-Metal Twisted Metal]]'', ''[[http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/zero-punctuation/1516-Aliens-vs-Predator Aliens vs Predator]]'' and ''[[http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/zero-punctuation/7025-Tomb-Raider Tomb Raider]]'', saying it's needlessly confusing to have two identically titled games in the same series separated by nothing but time, even if that time in some cases is a few decades.
** He got really ''pissed'' with viewer accusations that he named ''VideoGame/ModernWarfare3'' and ''VideoGame/{{Battlefield 3}}'' as joint "[[http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/zero-punctuation/5207-Top-5-of-2011 Worst Games of 2011]]" just because he "doesn't like shooters" as shooters are actually one of his favorite genres.
--->'''Yahtzee:''' ''[[[OOCIsSeriousBusiness in a genuinely furious tone of voice]]]'' Oh, you ignorant little ''bastards''. Stick your balls up your arse and clench yourself castrated! I was into shooters when you were still sucking on Wii-motes, you cover-loving, health-regenerating, murderer-come-latelies!
** He tries to be fair about it, but he really doesn't like multiplayer in general (because he feels it brings in factors beyond the game's control and thus affect the review), so when he faces a game with executive-mandated shoehorned-in multiplayer (like ''[[http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/zero-punctuation/6891-Dead-Space-3 Dead Space 3]]'') he'll get particularly steamed. However, due to ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'' and ''VideoGame/TitanFall'', he's getting a bit more kinder for multiplayer.
** Croshaw has an absolute dislike of games that shoehorn in gimmicks. Since most games made for recent Nintendo systems make excessive use of either motion controls (for the Wii), the secondary screen (UsefulNotes/WiiU) or 3D graphics (3DS) he'll usually go off on Nintendo as a whole for this. His issue isn't so much that gimmicks exist as it is that they tend to handicap the game more than enhance it. However, he doesn't hold them as much as he does the others due to various things, Nintendo being more focused on games and fun being a major part.
** Games-as-art products that forget the "game" part. While he doesn't dislike artistic games and indeed is a strong proponent of games being an artform he hates when a game lets being artsy get in the way of being something enjoyable to play. Something of which he praised ''VideoGame/WatchDogs'' for -- the trailer only showed gameplay. Relatedly, part of his hatred for the works of Creator/QuanticDream and Creator/SupermassiveGames is that he feels that "walking simulators" are basically glorified "choose-your-own-adventure books" that don't actually reward player choice and never seem to understand that actual gameplay can enhance a story for the better.
** He also seems to dislike kids, with many videos featuring him beating up or insulting children for BlackComedy; he admits he's mellowed on them somewhat since becoming a father, which makes it all the more notable when kids in a video game piss him off.
** [[BackFromTheDead Resurrecting the dead]], as seen in both ''VideoGame/OriAndTheBlindForest'' and ''VideoGame/MortalKombatX'', since [[OpeningACanOfClones it removes all sense of stakes for him]].
--->'''Yahtzee:''' When your plot establishes magical resurrection, all the stakes and drama immediately collapse. Where's the meaning in self-sacrifice if we can just get resurrected? Oh, the villain was motivated by her dead babies? NEVER MIND! ''PBTH'' they're alive again, be more careful this time! Actually, don't! Who cares? Here's ''three more babies, fuck it''!
** From his ''VideoGame/HaloWars'' review:
--->"We lost contact!" went the character... [[PunctuatedForEmphasis BULL. FUCKING. SHIT.]] (the words "[[GoshDangItToHeck WHAT. ARBITRARY. SILLINESS.]]" appear in synchrony with his swearing). All possible threats were dead! We didn't lose contact - I was looking at them - They were RIGHT. FUCKING. THERE! They were so close we could communicate by '''waggling our eyebrows at each other'''! What the fuck happened when the stupid arbitrary time limit ran out!? Did their ''Film/BattleRoyale'' collars explode!? Did they lose honor and disembowel themselves? '''WHAT'''?!\\
And just to put the cherry on it, you know who they were? ''Absolutely bloody no one!'' Generic faceless ''pricks'' of the sort I'd vat-grown about ''fifty of'' that day alone! But we didn't make it in time, so they were going to make me do the '''''whole fucking mission again!'''''\\
As the exasperated Chinese zookeeper said to the last male panda in the world, '''FUCK! THAT!'''
** In one of his Extra Punctuation columns he noted that he extremely dislikes Creator/RhiannaPratchett's writing style, having observed many recurring problems in the storylines of ''VideoGame/MirrorsEdge'', ''VideoGame/Thief2014'', ''VideoGame/TombRaider2013'' and ''VideoGame/RiseOfTheTombRaider'' that he felt were responsible for his distaste/hatred of them.
** {{Irony}} and BetterThanABareBulb "humor"; specifically when a work does something bad in an "ironic" fashion, which just means [[ByNoIMeanYes doing something bad]] and then [[LampshadeHanging pointing out that it's doing it, as if this excuses the badness somehow]]. He based an entire cult of obnoxious loony wackjobs around this in ''Literature/{{Jam}}''.
--->''<while [[DopeSlap smacking]]'' VideoGame/MyFriendPedro ''[[PunctuatedPounding with a rolled-up newspaper]]>'' [[PunctuatedForEmphasis IF! YA KNOW! IT'S BAD! WHY! ARE YA! DOING IT?!]]
** Bad poetry, since he's dabbled in a bit of amateur poetry himself. ''VideoGame/ChildOfLight's'' gimmick of every single line of dialogue being a tortuously crowbarred-in rhyming couplet eventually wore him down to the point that he just couldn't take it any more and had to stop playing.
--->I had to stop, because otherwise I would've bitten my controller in half and yelled, [[SeriousBusiness "You can't rhyme 'delicious' with 'ravenous'!]] ''Emphasis is on the wrong syllable!! '''You FUCK!!!"'''''

* CoolButInefficient: A recurring critique in his reviews is when designers add gimmicks to spice up their mechanics which inevitably turn out to be worse than just playing normally. For instance, in ''Spec Ops'', you have the ability to order a squadmate to shoot an enemy, but by that point you have your crosshairs over them already, so you might as well just shoot them yourself and cut out the middleman.

** He also seems to dislike kids, with many videos featuring him beating up or insulting children for BlackComedy.

--->I had to stop, because otherwise I would've bitten my controller in half and yelled, [[SeriousBusiness "You can't rhyme 'delicious' with 'ravenous'!]] ''Emphasis is on the wrong syllable!! '''[[PrecisionFStrike You FUCK!!!"]]'''''

--->'''Yahtzee:''' The only reason I wanted to talk about (''Hunt Down The Freeman'') was because of the depressing indictment of modern gaming it creates; not by itself, but by Creator/{{Valve}}'s [[CreatorsApathy apparent indifference]] to this waterfall of piss trickling down either side of its legacy's nose. Twenty years ago, ''VideoGame/HalfLife'' was a focal point in gaming's ongoing development as an artistic narrative medium. The next few years saw a slew of titles that combined triple-A game design with genuine emotional storytelling. ''[[SuddenlyShouting But what happened between then and now!?]]'' Why are the games routinely rewarded with triple-A status and income exclusively [[RevenueEnhancingDevices lootbox-infested live service bullshit]] -- games designed not to inspire or stimulate our emotions, but to ''numb'' them and hypnotize us into lab rats mindlessly pawing the button that makes the treats come out -- while the games [[DoingItForTheArt created with love and artistic integrity]] [[SturgeonsLaw drown beneath waves of bottom-feeders]] like ''Hunt Down The Freeman'' that tear chunks of rotten flesh from the corpses of Valve's children, as Valve itself -- [[BrokenPedestal once habitual founders of new ages of narrative gaming]] -- merely waves them on, [[MoneyDearBoy barely glancing up from their tax paperwork?]] [[WhatTheHellHero What happened to you?]] What happened to ''us?!'' To the people we were supposed to become? ...[[MoodWhiplash I don't know, but it's probably safe to blame]] Creator/JohnRomero.

** A warped sense of humor (often overlapping with BlackComedy) is also a big plus for him, as in ''VideoGame/{{Psychonauts}}'', the ''VideoGame/MonkeyIsland'' series and the aforementioned ''VideoGame/{{Portal}}''. One of his few criticisms of ''VideoGame/Psychonauts2'' was that he felt the humor was lapsing too much into PoliticalCorrectnessGoneMad at some points to stay funny.

* AluminiumChristmasTrees:
** While he did later acknowledge that "warfighter" is an actual term used by the military which rather justifies its usage as a subtitle, he still notes that this didn't make the title of ''VideoGame/MedalOfHonor: Warfighter'' any less ridiculous.
** Apparently, he thought that [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flak_tower Flak Towers]] were completely fictional in his ''VideoGame/MedalOfHonorAirborne'' review.

* ADateWithRosiePalms: One of the things which have just ''slightly'' less screen time than the devils and someone being violently assaulted onscreen. In particular:

---->'''Yahtzee:''' "Welcome back to the second week of our excursion to opposite-land, where the carpets go on the ceilings, people eat feces and poo out breakfast cereal and somehow the best games going are AAA movie franchise tie-ins"

* BuffySpeak: His metaphors descend into this while reviewing ''VideoGame/LittleBigPlanet.'' {{Lampshaded}} in the same review -- it was very hot that week and he couldn't think of anything better.

** Yahtzee also seems to be a big fan of the MagicalRealism genre, loving stories that juxtapose the mundane against the supernatural in interesting ways. While he has given negative reviews to ''all'' of the games developed by Creator/Swery65, his criticisms have been more aimed at each game being poorly-designed {{Obvious Beta}}s and he has praised each of them for their {{Mind Screw}}y UrbanFantasy plots. Similarly, Croshaw is a '''huge''' fan of both ''VideoGame/{{Earthbound}}'' and the ''VideoGame/{{Persona}}'' franchise in large parts due to how well each game juxtaposes their mundane SliceOfLife plots against a CosmicHorrorStory for the former and epic pseudo-HighFantasy for the latter. He also gave both ''VideoGame/{{Control}}'' and ''VideoGame/{{Unavowed}}'' props for executing their NewWeird storylines in compelling manners (though he lamented that the combat for the former was very derivative and frustrating, and he also felt the latter was a bit too close to ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'' for his comfort), and his favorite parts of ''VideoGame/{{Hades}}'' was him being able to wade into the MundaneAfterlife and family drama-focused interludes found in the House of Hades following each of Zagreus' deaths.

* ButHeSoundsHandsome: A variant. Yahtzee notes that, out of the entire cast of ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedII'', he really enjoyed the MeanBrit character who makes fun of a lot of the other characters...

* AbsurdlyLongWait: In the ''Medal of Warfighter: Above and Beyond'' review, when Yahtzee tries to download the game, he discovers that it's '''130 gigabytes'''. The computer screen humorously displays "Ready to play in [[TimeAbyss one million billion years]]".

* ADateWithRosiePalms:
** One of the things which have just ''slightly'' less screen time than the devils and someone being violently assaulted onscreen. In particular:

* AllWomenAreLustful: Brings this up in ''Franchise/TheWitcher'', but takes it as a sign of the game including {{fanservice}} in attempt to come off as mature.

* AlmightyIdiot: "God" is represented as a giant, etherial ocleot (something like a FunSize leopard)'s head telling whoever He appears to to "Kill the whores!" It's implied that this isn't actually God himself (usually, the Big Guy is represented as a classical GrandpaGod), but a remarkably similar hallucination seen by various lunatics.

** He did acknowledge that "warfighter" is an actual term used by the military which rather justifies its usage as a subtitle, but didn't think this made the title of ''VideoGame/MedalOfHonor Warfighter'' any less ridiculous.

--->"...and by this method, we recruit to our cause: a toddler, two hotties, an old man, a comedy stereotype of a homosexual, and an ''actual'' homosexual."

--->''...it's as if men are all directionless tidal waves and women are all dikes built in the path of their raging floods. [[LampshadeHanging Blimey, what a badly worded metaphor]].''
--->'''[[QuoteMine "WOMEN ARE ALL DYKES"]]''' ''[[CreditsGag ~Yahtzee Croshaw]]''
* AndIMustScream: Starts ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossing: New Leaf'' off describing a hypothetical situation in which a person's mind is locked out of his body, but is still fully concious as his body proceeds to move around on its own... only doing utterly mundane and insignificant things.

* AndThatLittleGirlWasMe: Invoked in his ''VideoGame/RedFactionGuerrilla'' review, where he talks about how he got the original ''Red Faction'' when he was younger.
* AngstWhatAngst[[invoked]]: Identified during his ''VideoGame/HalfLifeAlyx'' review as one of the weirdly defining parts of ''VideoGame/HalfLife'''s SignatureStyle, where in spite of apocalyptically tense circumstances, characters all retain a very casual and laid-back sense of humor, creating [[MoodDissonance a very weird emotional tone]].

--->'''Yahtzee:''' Oh, you ignorant little ''bastards''. Stick your balls up your arse and clench yourself castrated! I was into shooters when you were still sucking on Wiimotes, you cover-loving, health-regenerating, murderer-come-latelies!

** Games-as-art products that forget the "game" part. While he doesn't dislike artistic games and indeed is a strong proponent of games being an artform he hates when a game lets being artsy get in the way of being something enjoyable to play. Something of which he praised ''VideoGame/WatchDogs'' for - the trailer only showed gameplay.

** From his VideoGame/HaloWars review:

** In one of his Extra Punctuation columns he noted that he extremely disliked Creator/RhiannaPratchett's writing style, having observed many recurring problems in ''VideoGame/MirrorsEdge'', ''VideoGame/Thief2014'', ''VideoGame/TombRaider2013'' and ''VideoGame/RiseOfTheTombRaider''.
** {{Irony}}; specifically when a work does something bad in an "ironic" fashion, which just means [[ByNoIMeanYes doing something bad]] and then [[LampshadeHanging pointing out that it's doing it, as if this excuses the badness somehow]]. He based an entire cult of obnoxious loony wackjobs around this in ''Literature/{{Jam}}''.

* BoringButPractical: As ''VideoGame/Persona5'' reveals (and some other reviews), he's actually not all against stories with simple plots if the rest of the game is good enough. Using ''Persona 5'' for reference: "The story works because here's a bad guy and we hate him for the same reason we may like UsefulNotes/McDonalds but hate spiders hiding in [=McDonald=]'s Cheeseburgers: It's simple but it gets the job done." Simple, doesn't correlate to boring though, as a boring story will turn him off.

** {{C|uteKitten}}ats seem to pop up a lot in his reviews (which [[CatsAreMean sort of]] [[CausticCritic makes sense]]), as do [[PreciousPuppy dogs]]. In fact, he said that one of his three wishes would be a puppy.
** A warped sense of humor is also a big plus for him, as in ''VideoGame/{{Psychonauts}}'', the ''VideoGame/MonkeyIsland'' series and the aforementioned ''VideoGame/{{Portal}}''.

** In his review for the VideoGame/MassEffect2, he spends almost the whole review talking about the changes in gameplay, then mentions casually how the writing and characters have gotten better, but because it's [=BioWare=] they don't get any points for it.

** He mentioned a particular fondness for Shaun of the ''Franchise/AssassinsCreed'' series, partly because he reminds him of himself and partly because he often insults [[Creator/NolanNorth Desmond]] [[TheScrappy Miles]].

** He has a thing for large open environments with interesting ways to traverse the world, such as LeParkour or flight. Jetpacks in particular, which he admitted in TheStinger for his review of ''VideoGame/DarkVoid'': "I guess jetpacks for me are a pretty easy sell".
** His [[{{Eagleland}} distaste of America]] which puts them as overly decadent whiners who try to make a world empire.
*** Quite literally TheEmpire in his review of ''VideoGame/MedalOfHonor: Warfighter'', as one scene involves you controlling a robot against people armed with rocks, reminiscent of [[Film/ReturnOfTheJedi the Empire vs. the Ewoks]].
** He's also a fan of first person games that allow a bit of freedom and reward exploration such as ''VideoGame/HalfLife'', ''VIdeoGame/{{Thief}}'', ''VideoGame/SystemShock2'', and ''VideoGame/DeusEx''.
** As several of the above examples demonstrate, what he really likes above all else is the opportunity to be ''creative'' in games, which leads to an inclination towards any game that [[EmergentGameplay uses procedural generation to allow the player to make their own stories]]. ''VideoGame/MiddleEarthShadowOfMordor'' was his game of the year in 2014 because of the individual orc character arcs that could be generated by the Nemesis System, he was very close to being the ''only'' critic with anything nice to say about the otherwise universally despised ''VideoGame/TheWalkingDeadSurvivalInstinct'' for its procedurally-generated scavenging gameplay and survivor management system, and he even went rather easy on ''VideoGame/WatchDogsLegion'' (despite not liking the first 2 games much and having several issues with its gameplay balance) for letting him create personalised stories for his various resistance fighters.

** Yahtzee's review of ''VideoGame/SpecOpsTheLine'' is barely humorous, with Yahtzee apologizing for the lack of humor and with a downright depressing wrap-up.
--->'''Yahtzee:''' ''[weary sigh]'' Remember when shooters were about [[VideoGame/{{Doom}} killing demons from hell?]] Those were good days. Perhaps this is an inevitable part of gaming growing up as our childish fantasies are torn from us, and we are forced to confront consequences in an unfair, uncaring and unavoidable world of ''hatred, misery, and '''death'''''. ([[MoodWhiplash Farting noises.]])

--->'''Yahtzee:''' The only reason I wanted to talk about (''Hunt Down The Freeman'') was because of the depressing indictment of modern gaming it creates; not by itself, but by Creator/{{Valve}}'s [[CreatorsApathy apparent indifference]] to this waterfall of piss trickling down either side of its legacy's nose. Twenty years ago, ''VideoGame/HalfLife'' was a focal point in gaming's ongoing development as an artistic narrative medium. The next few years saw a slew of titles that combined triple-A game design with genuine emotional storytelling - But what happened between then and now!? Why are the games routinely rewarded with triple-A status and income exclusively [[RevenueEnhancingDevices lootbox-infested live service bullshit]] - games designed not to inspire or stimulate our emotions, but to ''numb'' them and hypnotize us into lab rats mindlessly pawing the button that makes the treats come out - while the games [[DoingItForTheArt created with love and artistic integrity]] [[SturgeonsLaw drown beneath waves of bottom-feeders]] like ''Hunt Down The Freeman'' that tear chunks of rotten flesh from the corpses of Valve's children, as Valve itself - [[BrokenPedestal once habitual founders of new ages of narrative gaming]] - merely waves them on, [[MoneyDearBoy barely glancing up from their tax paperwork?]] [[WhatTheHellHero What happened to you?]] What happened to ''us?'' To the people we were supposed to become? [[MoodWhiplash I don't know, but it's probably safe to blame]] Creator/JohnRomero.

* DoNotCallMePaul: Apparently he hates being called Ben by people on the internet. In one podcast, Yug and Matt of Australian Gamer (his best buds) stated that they don't even call him that in real life. Matt says everyone except his ''parents'' calls him Yahtzee. Summed up best during one of his ''Let's Drown Out'' videos on youtube

* AbsurdlyLongWait: In the ''Medal of Warfighter: Above and Beyond'' review, when Yahtzee tries to download the game, he discovers that it's '''130 gigabytes'''. The computer screen humerously displays "Ready in [[TimeAbyss a million billion years]]".

* {{Bowdlerise}}: In the video for the review on ''Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons'' and ''Papers, Please'', he originally commented on the single-player co-op mode in the former game, which was just like saying, "I'm not gay, I only suck off pre-op [[UsefulNotes/{{Transgender}} transsexuals]]." [[WordOfGod According to Yahtzee]], it was supposed to be a joke about cognitive dissonance; but [[http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/video-games/columns/extra-punctuation/10550-Bureaucracy-Em-Up once he discovered his mistake on a poor choice of words]] because some people who identify as female also have their manhood, he had to change the line in the video review, which now says, "I'm not gay, I only suck off ''pantomime dames''" (which is a British term for "DragQueen").

* AwesomeMcCoolName: The little Fairy refers to Yahtzee as "Benjamin Yahtzee Sebastian Godzilla Croshaw" in his [[http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/zero-punctuation/93-Haze review]] of ''Haze''.

* BewilderingPunishment: Yahtzee notes that you never find out what one's character did in the backstory to ''VideoGame/{{Oblivion}}'' to get thrown in jail. He comes up with the most badass crime he can think of, namely, screwing the Emperor's wife and daughter on top of the desecrated corpse of one of the local deities.

** Called back at the end of Yahtzee's Most Influential Games of the Decade video; the credit sequence displayed his #1 best and #1 worst games of the previous 10 years, ranked from 10 to 1 on the scale of his own personal enjoyment, and the last credits screen showed... ''[[BrickJoke Ride to Hell]] with a "?" instead of a number rating, while tottering around and drinking heavily

** Felt that ''VideoGame/{{Rage}}'' was "basically ''VideoGame/{{Borderlands|1}}'' but better", since they had similar core gameplay but ''Rage'' also featured better graphics and the interface wasn't horrible.

* AndNowForSomethingCompletelyDifferent:
** His ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyModernWarfare2019'' review is ''actually'' a review of ''VideoGame/DiscoElysium'', a game he found much more creative and artistic, and a perfect antidote for the ''Call of Duty'' games that he considers intellectually and morally bankrupt.
** Similarly, he finds ''VideoGame/GhostReconWildlands'' to be so boring and generic that it doesn't even warrant a full review, and instead spends the last minute-and-a-half of the video reviewing ''VideoGame/NightInTheWoods'' instead.

* AdultFear: In his review of ''VisualNovel/DokiDokiLiteratureClub'', Yahtzee is actually relieved when the game enters [[NightmareRetardant "silly horror town"]] after [[spoiler:Sayori hangs herself]], since he found [[spoiler:her realistically-depicted depression]] really uncomfortable and sad. [[invoked]]

* ButtonMashing: In his review of ''VideoGame/DmCDevilMayCry'', he notes that he always ends up doing this reflexively in action games so moves that require him to pause in the middle of a combo are extremely difficult for him to pull off.

** In his ''Extra Punctuation'' [[http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/columns/extra-punctuation/6793-Uncharted-2 article]] of ''VideoGame/Uncharted2AmongThieves'', Yahtzee portrays Nathan Drake as one, accusing him of massive MoralDissonance due to the massive number of people he kills while looking to get rich. (He also makes a RunningGag out of claiming Drake is a racist, as the majority of antagonists are dark-skinned.)