The Grumps may be fun to watch as they generally grump around, but they're definitely quite the polarizing figures when you get right down to it. These are the moments that make you go "WHAT IS THIS!?"
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Dethroning Moment of Suck. - No ALLCAPS, no bold, and no italics unless it's the title of a work. We are not yelling the DMoSs out loud.
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- fluffything: I like Game Grumps. I find their videos to be either funny, engaging, or both. But, sometimes, their commentary just isn't good. But, until now, I never found it to be insulting. That's changed in "Part 15" of their Banjo-Kazooie LP. To put it bluntly, at one point in the video, Jon and Ego (Mostly Jon, though, as far as I can tell) start making jokes about Asperger's Syndrome (Even using the cliched "Ass Burgers" joke) and Jon saying how Asperger's is (paraphrased) "The new ADD for parents to explain why their kids are socially awkward". As someone with Asperger's, I can utterly say that I'm absolutely disgusted by this.
- InTheGallbladder: Super Mario Sunshine, part 42. The game outright told them how to unlock the secret of Casino Delfino, and they still misinterpreted it. In the end, they resorted to consulting an online walkthrough to tell them what they'd already been told to do. But in the meantime, the Grumps spent so long helplessly scurrying about that the challenge proper had to be cut for time.
- Tropers/klom99: The Game Grumps are usually pretty funny. Even when they make mean jokes, it's done in good spirits. But the ending of Guild Grumps #2 just left me with a sour taste in my mouth. I understand that the "Ross as overbearing coach" joke is the crux of the mini-series, and it got quite a few laughs out of me; but seeing him revel in Arin's legitimate frustration without even a hint of sarcasm tanked the mood of the whole thing. Not helped by the implication he makes that the segment was made solely for him to play that role. I get what they going for, but it came off needlessly cruel.
- Tropers/Oliveira: Their Sonic Adventure playthrough has been pretty problematic overall. However, while you can argue Arin is entitled to his opinion on the needless amounts of bashing he gives to this 16 year old game, you can't argue things got a bit out of line. I'm talking, of course, about the Knuckles stages, where Arin and Dan check an walkthrough and proceed to mercilessly mock the writer for not giving the exact location of the emerald shards, never mind that said locations are randomized at every attempt on a given stage. Instead of wondering why the writer would make his walkthrough that way, they immediately assume he's just lazy. This comes to a point where Dan actually reads out the name of the writer in the episode and he and Arin proceed to mock him more, and most baffling of all, Dan jokes about their fans giving the writer of the walkthrough shit for writing said walkthrough back in 2004. Guess what happened, on the same day even. They were quick to delete the episode and re-upload a version with the name bleeped out (PIZZA!), but by that time, the damage had already been done. I know Arin and Dan are good people, but in this particular case, they were way out of line.
- SenorCornholio: The Grumps' entire playthrough of Sonic Adventure DX was the official start of Arin continually shitting on the Sonic franchise and degrading it into the Sad Clown of a meme that it was in the late 2010's. However, the playthrough is so big and has so many things wrong with it that just listing "the entire playthrough" just wouldn't be enough. Thankfully, that just means even more moments to pick from. And for this entry, I've picked what I have decided to dub the "Monkey Destruction Switch Incident"
, also from Knuckles' campaign; it's a small moment, but it sums up everything wrong with Arin in under two minutes and has to be seen to be believed. There's a room where you get the Shovel Claw, and the door locks behind you as soon as you enter the room. The only things in the room are the Shovel Claw, the aptly-named switch that you can pick up and carry, a dirt mound containing the switch with a bright, glowing Eggman-shaped marker above it (which Arin even notices and jokes about), and a monkey robot that the switch is specifically designed and labeled to destroy, which opens the door once it's out of commission. Arin himself has used five Darknuts as an example of a puzzle in Sequelitis, so for all intents and purposes, a simple monkey robot is just another example of something he's been preaching in those videos.Quote So how does Arin solve it? He gets the Shovel Claw, digs up the switch, fails to pick it up because he's too far from it, takes the longest while to realize he can still pick it up and use it to get out of the room, and then gets angry because it wasn't obvious enough to him. You know, all that talk about putting the pieces together yourself starts to ring a tiny bit hollow when the simplest puzzles in the world suddenly require Arin to use 100% of his brain just to figure out. The only thing he does right is realizing he needs the switch to get into Red Mountain, but that's after he's done fuming from using it the first time. At that point, the playthrough went from pretty dang annoying but easy to riff on with friends to downright unsalvageable, and the Grumps' doxxing of Leadfoot later down the line was just the icing on the cake.
- SenorCornholio: The Grumps' entire playthrough of Sonic Adventure DX was the official start of Arin continually shitting on the Sonic franchise and degrading it into the Sad Clown of a meme that it was in the late 2010's. However, the playthrough is so big and has so many things wrong with it that just listing "the entire playthrough" just wouldn't be enough. Thankfully, that just means even more moments to pick from. And for this entry, I've picked what I have decided to dub the "Monkey Destruction Switch Incident"
- metamaster54610: Y'know, I was excited to see they were playing SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom. That game is a huge part of my childhood. It's an incredibly fun platformer that still holds up to this day. However, my hopes for a fun series were very quickly dashed. Arin spent most of the time either not focusing on the game, allowing Dan to comment on the strange events that happen, or whining and complaining about it for literally no reason whatsoever. TEN PEOPLE sent them that game, and they only played for four episodes because Arin was being closed-minded and not paying attention. I shrugged off EVERYTHING that happened up above, but this leaves a very poor taste on Arin's record and cements Dan's status as my preferred Grump. At least he was willing to give the game a chance...
- Melancholy Utopia: This is the main problem my brother has with Arin, as do I. He either doesn't pay attention or his Bias Steamroller clouds his judgement. Another good example of his closeminded-ness is episode 19 of their playthrough of "Sonic Boom", where Arin's stupidity and blind hatred of Sonic reaches a new low. Dan correctly points out that certain parts of the stage are Colour-Coded for Your Convenience; that pink poles means that you should somehow use Amy's specialty there. This is something a kindergarten student could figure out, but Arin insists that Dan is wrong, having the gall to call him out on being "insane" or "over-thinking it" for having the audacity to use his brain. Sonic Boom is awful, so I am in no way defending it, but blaming a game for your own idiocy doesn't count as constructive. Arin, how did you manage to beat any of the Legend of Zelda games, again? You know, games that require actual brain power to beat?
- Bearded Troper: The entire Ocarina of Time Let’s Play is one. Arin’s clear Bias Steamroller to the game was enough to deter a fan but what made unbearable is that he cannot seem to grasp 3D gameplay. Platforming, Z-Targeting, inability to remember puzzle and boss scenarios. There is a reason this is the only video series on This Is How You DON'T Play. The only saving grace is Dan trying to lighten the mood but absolutely letting Arin take the controller.
- Dr Zulu 2010: For me, it has to be the whole Water Temple segment. At first, Arin claims that the Water Temple isn't that hard. So far, so good; even I can find myself breezing out into some of the hardest bosses or levels. But he also claims that he's using a walkthrough during the whole of the temple. And to that I say: "No shit things will be easier if you already know what to do or where to go!" And if that wasn't embarrassing enough, most of his deaths in this particular dungeon is not against Dark Link, but with freaking clams! Clams! One of the less threatening enemies in the whole game. Annoying, yes, but even I don't have this much hard time against them. Between this humiliating showcase of skills and admitting to use a walkthrough to arguably That One Level who reinforced the reason why Water Levels are seen as the worst, he lost any credibility and respect as a Zelda player in my eyes.
- Keyblade333: Like the above, the The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask playthrough is what really killed any enjoyment possible with their content. They take the chance to criticize the graphics (ignoring the game's date of release), treating the game's development time as a negative aspect of the game's quality, in addition to all the same problems they had with their Ocarina of Time playthrough like controls and getting lost. What really killed it was Arin's attitude during it; actively being sour about the game, doing obnoxious voices to sour the experience all while complaining about the game again. There was no passion, no emotion, it was just Arin being as dour as possible for no reason.
- The Lucky Cat: I love Game Grumps, I really do, but it was really difficult to enjoy the Breath of the Wild playthrough because Arin kept using the game to repeatedly shit on all of the other Zelda games. I get that Arin really likes BoTW and the playstyle is something that hasn't really been used for a Zelda before, but the way he constantly complains about how the other Zeldas (except Link to the Past) are too "handholdy" and should just let you figure things out on your own is more than a bit rich of him, considering that whenever the games don't tell him where to go/what to do next, he complains they're "bad design", but then he doesn't listen when the game does outright say what to do next. Arin's enjoyment of BoTW comes off as saying that what he wants out of a game is to have barely any plot so he doesn't look stupid for being unable to follow very simple instructions that a child could follow. He even complains when he gets to the Rito village and it shows a brief cutscene of Vah Medoh because he doesn't like being told that he needs to go to it, even though it's just a really small cutscene and not every player might have noticed it while flying above the village like he and Danny did. It's fine to enjoy the game but he doesn't need to drag every other Zelda down to make BoTW look better, especially when BoTW has flaws of its own that Arin doesn't acknowledge.
- DevNameless: There's a lot of good Game Grumps moments out there for me (by that I mean genuinely fun to watch moments, not dethroning moments), but if there was one incident I consider their lowest point, it would be Arin's rant on the stream of Skyward Sword. For context related to the original playthrough I don't particularly understand why Dan wasn't the one playing the game, considering how notorious Arin's opinions are about the game. It honestly would have been much better as an experience, as Arin's complaints could either be disputed or validated by Dan as he played through, but instead, Dan has to just take Arin's word for it, even when it's pretty clear Dan is actually enjoying the game a lot more. The actual gameplay on display actively servers to invalidate many of the things Arin wants to critique, such as his constant getting lost and forgetting things serving to completely justify the existience of Fi as a helper. However, I still had some hope that the stream where they revisited it might mitigate some issues. Unfortunately, that was soured for me when Arin decided to go into a massive spiel implying anyone who liked the game was objectively wrong, seeming so genuinely sincere in his belief that nobody could possibly like a game he didn't. It's at that point I realized Arin was (and in many ways, still is) way too insecure about his beliefs, and feels a need to prove himself factually correct, when nobody would mind if he just said "I just don't think the game will ever be for me" and moved on or let Dan try the game out himself. He just comes off as whiny and insecure, and it comes off as extra grating when paired with the lack of skill he has (which would not normally be a problem for me, as Danny's play through of the Wii Punch-Out is my favorite Game Grumps series, and Danny clearly struggled to beat a lot of it). I think it says something when I've seen people who also hate Skyward Sword call Arin out on his attitude towards the game's fans.
- Kashima Kitty: In Episode 13 of Sonic Heroes, Arin's almost compulsive desire to ridicule the Sonic series starts to get insufferable when combined with his constant claims to "love Sonic", with a dose of hypocrisy thrown in. Arin makes the claim (yet again) that all Sonic games are terrible and that's why he always wants to play them. Dan brings up some of the more beloved games, such as Colors or Generations, which Arin refuses to play, saying that it would be boring. And Arin wonders why Sonic fans hate seeing him so closely associated with the franchise, as he only seems to get enjoyment out of mocking the franchise.
- batmany: Their playthrough of Danganronpa is an absolute trainwreck to the point where I'm not sure if I'm still watching in the vain hope it'll get better or if I'm a masochist and haven't come to terms with it yet. Oh, where to start with what is a prime example of their downfall? Well, how about with their jokes...or lack thereof? Every other joke (and I use the term very loosely) either falls completely flat, gets no more than a pity laugh from Arin or Dan, or is repeated ad nauseum to the point where it's no longer funny. Yes, we get it. "Maizono" vaguely sounds Italian. Now, please say it 30 times over because that makes it hilarious. Next, we have the Grumps' (mostly Arin, but Dan is still guilty to an extent) utter hypocrisy when it comes to certain aspects of the game. A good example of this would be how they complain about the game flashing back to previous events only for them to forget what happened in the previous episode. Not only that, but they mock the game for characters being "dumb" only to then say or do something just as (if not even moreso) idiotic. A particularly egregious example is when Arin mocks Makoto for pointing out Mukuro's upper body is soaked from him putting out her burning body. He then suggests that they should look at the face to find out who it is, and that they could probably ID the body via examining the eyes. May I remind everyone that we're talking about a corpse that had been set on fire via an explosion? Arin, how daft are you? Even if the eyes weren't torn to absolute confetti from the blast itself, I'm pretty sure they would've melted from the sheer heat of the fire. Makoto observing that Mukuro's body is wet from him putting out the body isn't stupid. Saying you can examine the now non-existent eyes for clues, is. And, the cherry on top of this DMOS is Arin's absolute laziness when it comes to the "voice acting". Long story short, Arin only does three voices for nearly every character (Dan voices the rest of them). There's the "Friend Arin" voice for Makoto, the "Every Female Character" he does for...well...every female character (and Chihiro), and the "Peeweedidi" for Monokuma. He's not even trying. Normally, this wouldn't be a problem...until you realize that Arin is a professional. Voice. Actor! Heck, Dan, who isn't paid to do voicework, is doing far more effort at making the characters he voices sound distinctive. I'm not sure if it's from burnout or something else, but I really hope the Grumps take a break from Danganronpa and go on vacation. They need it, especially if they want to get back to how funny and entertaining they used to be.
- Asue: When I said that I felt that the Game Grumps were a mere shadow of their former selves in a previous example, I was just being figurative. But with their latest Sonic Colors video, they are going towards the bottom of the barrel in terms of "humor". The title of the video is "'Chocolate' Craving" and they show a character literally covered in feces, especially around the mouth. There's Toilet Humor and there's being pointlessly gross and disgusting akin to a Gross-Out Show. And given it's about Sonic, it once again really show how much of a liar Arin is being about "being a Sonic fan", if he's willing to go there. The video itself is just mediocre, but, seriously, what the hell?
