I watch a lot of video game content on YouTube. I mean a LOT. Most of that content tends to be people playing my favorite games, such as “Starfield”, but more often than not it is “Balatro”, “Brotato”, and “Vampire Survivors” content. And more often than not, those are tutorials and walkthroughs on how to play this deck or that character, depending on the game.
The thing is, these tutorials all suck. But they also are extremely helpful, at least in minor ways.
I’m sure this makes little sense, so let me explain.
“Balatro”, “Vampire Survivors”, and “Brotato” are all different examples of roguelite games. Which is to say, they depend upon highly random gameplay elements, so that no two games are ever the same, which keeps these games fresh. But this is also the problem with these tutorial videos: With these games being so random, no tutorial video will ever really show someone how to play a particular deck, character, or whatever. Sure, they can give you general hints, and ideas for what you should avoid (particular Jokers for a given deck in “Balatro”, items to avoid in “Brotato”, etc), but they can’t really tell you how to play. Which is the whole point.
Let me tell you a story: A few months back, I was trying to beat every character in “Brotato”, on both the base game and the DLC. I watched tutorials for each character, tried to focus on the weapons and items that played to their strengths, and yet many of these characters took forever to win. And in many cases, it took going completely against the advice in the tutorials I watched, to be able to move forward.
I’m going to be honest here… I was beginning to hate the YouTuber “Dex”, before I finally finished all of the characters. But that’s neither here nor there.
In the end, the problem wasn’t really the tutorials, but the games themselves. What works in one run-through may not work in another, simply because of how the levels randomly played out. So while these tutorials can give general advice from that person’s perspective, it may not apply for everyone else.
I’ve played games of “Balatro” where I swept through a match on high difficulties, doing things absolutely wrong. And I’ve been smashed to pulp in only a few antes, doing everything “right”. In the end, the randomness is what really controls the game, and unless you restart over and over and over again, until you get the perfect match, all you can do is play the hand you’re dealt.
Same with the characters you choose in “Brotato”, or in “Vampire Survivors”, or any other roguelite.
That all said, I’m still going to watch these videos, if only to enjoy the gameplay.
