18 replies to this topic

[jjjj]

i want this to be a topic about your thoughts on barkley gaiden now that it's really old. i don't really have any good thoughts on it worth sharing (or any at all) so i'm just gonna put this out there and hope any of you bite since whatever you post will undoubtedly be insanely good. but not before my thought.s

 

personally i think it's really dated and i sometimes struggle to see why people like it (or even call it the best comedy game they've ever played and stuff like that (i hear it on 4chan a lot (you'll probably hate me for saying i come from 4chan but w/e (speaking of 4chan, every barkley thread i've seen there feels like the same three or four posters are just posting there, i've seen the same things being said about it a lot ("this game had no right being this good" being one that sticks out a lot but i digress))))))))). the game is really rough around the edges, the music is very amateur fl studio and maybe i'm illiterate or something but the writing/jokes don't really tickle me like they seemingly do most people. this definitely feels like a case where getting the joke and actually finding it genuinely funny is an indicator of good taste and probably intelligence (don't ask me how i came to this conclusion) so i kinda do want to understand the frame of reference i need to be in to "get" it in hopes that it increases my e-peen or whatever. though what i'm getting at is that barkley doesn't really hold up today, and is probably something that would've been mindblowing back in 2008 and left such a strong impression on the people that played it thensadjkfsd

 

so what i'm wondering is how do you feel about the game now, and how would you rate it objectively in 2016 A.D. i want to hear it from you guys since you're all very well spoken and i can't go another night without being told what to thingk

[Ragnar]

what ever happened to barkley 2 btw

[jjjj]

11/11/2023, do not forget this date. i'm gonna be kissing/f*cking my cyberdwarf bodypillow and listening to qcd mashups every day until then. that's what makes me a TRUE DOOM MUDERHEAD!!!!!! @chefboyardee mystical greetings semper games #wow #whoa  applebottoms 

[jjjj]

#ThePromiseHAsBeen Made

[A1A1inE8]

I would have to play it again to be sure, it was a long time ago now. But back when the demo (and later the full game) came out, playing it was a blast.

 

Ignoring the actual storyline, in my memory the gameplay and the battles were pretty entertaining and it never felt boring. I always liked chef's music, I actually learned how to play one of the tunes in Barkley by guitar. You're right it is very amateur and sounds a bit cheap, but I think he has a talent for melody. Also the space jam theme song is incredible.

 

To me the main attraction was the story of the game. The way the storyline is just played straight all the way to the end was hysterical. Really enjoyed the whole ridiculous premise, dialogue between the main characters, barkley's personality and so on. There were some things which many people seemed to love, e.g. furry city/diabeetus/ghost dad/applebottoms that I didn't really find that funny. But overall playing through Barkley is one of the best experiences I've had playing video games.

 

Still eagerly waiting for Barkley 2, which looks very promising... I think it's the only kickstarter I ever backed.

[hukt own fonikz]

So if you hang out in #saltw on espernet sometimes Frankie will come around and advertise that he's drawing art on Twitch and you can watch him making art for Barkley 2. I always loved Chef, I never played the game, but he always made me laugh so when I saw a preview of Barkley 2 on PCGamer (before they went super SJW) I got a big ole hard on.

[rudy the red-beaked reindeer]

I don't want to be a meta snark shark/fight snark with snark like everywhere else on the terrible internet, but this thread isn't going so hot even despite some positive effort. I'm sorry.

 

I haven't played the game in many years, tho I don't doubt that parts aren't as funny as they seemed years ago. I dunno for sure if 2 will be good, but chef is one of the funniest guys, and everyone else working on the game that I recognize is really talented too.

 

 

what ever happened to barkley 2 btw

I dunno, but they posted a few updates recently after a long absence. looks like it's pretty far along.

[rudy the red-beaked reindeer]

Now that I'm thinking about the game, I remember one of the main appeals to me was the character of the game's creator, the type of person who would seriously create a game like this. in more established mediums they call it 'the visible hand'

 

the character itself is probably a reference to the RM2K days of game making, where you had tons of people really excited about video games and this new ability to MAKE them!!! so you had a ton of people churning out amateur RPGs in amateur style, and in between the derivatives of whatever mix of RPGs were someone's favorite, you'd sometimes get these bizarre moments that were kind of like glimpses into the creator's psychology. eg MrBigT's fart games (I wanna say there were multiple games that were in fact fart-themed very clearly on the surface, but this may be just how I remember them). that's an easy example because it's fetishism, but you'd also get less conspicuous obsessions or strange takes on things. that's the frame of reference I think barkely belongs to. I dunno if this is why other people like it, but if it wasn't part of my understanding of the game I don't think I personally would have liked it much.

 

edit: actually iirc I think there was a pretty lengthy period of time where it wasn't widely known as an intentional joke. maybe most people still think of it as some guy's earnest bball rpg.

[jjjj]

this post was great, thanks chips. also sorry for the dumb spam.

[Urotsuki]

not really new/a regular here but I played it a while ago and in my opinion you have to be the kind of guy that finds everything that doesn't make sense funny. some of the things I find the funniest are sort of subtle, like all the semi-obscure game rips. the background of the dating sim part is from a nancy drew game which I played like 15 years ago, that made me flip out. the whole dating sim part is great too and somehow I think without the girl's dumb look it wouldn't be as funny. "may be erotic for child" was great too

 

some things I found the funniest: the shrekmono (imagine if the meme didn't exist), incan gold, columbus day transformation, all of truckpump, vinceborg writing the furry poem, barkley/other character's weird outbursts (so desu ne, gatdam, baka, etc), gun's, the obvious plotholes, out of place sprites, and many more

 

I think thecatamites' Goblet Grotto kind of has this sense of humor but to a more insane degree, and some of million dollar extreme's stuff (example paradigm shift)

[bonzi_buddy]

oh hey fellah. we're not that edgy in here, we're just old farts and i don't like forcefeeding opinions on unsuspecting young guns anymore.

 

dat being said, i do get that the fanboyism or insider jokes in general are grating, but barkley 1 is legit imo. i wrote this insanely long message (AGAIN) but imo you're better off with what others have said here. dats some good ole summups from dem guys... job well done dudes. i can retire to a house in a prairie for me old dayz.

 

oh and hats off to urotsuki for objective outsider + in general thought out post. For Services To Humankind. i cracked when you reminded the columbus day transformation episode ahahah, i had forgotten it by now.

[rudy the red-beaked reindeer]

this post was great, thanks chips. also sorry for the dumb spam.

you're welcome. sorry again for flipping out like that

[Madolah]

Man BSJ:G is so classic. 
Yes 50% of the jokes are inside tongue n cheeks to the community, and its a bit tacky at times in story.
but as an indie game, and for all of the guys who took part in it. the game was one of the last big things to come out of this indy community and it got viral recognition before 'viral' was even a thing. 

The art Medieve did for it was stunning too. I seen a file on my ftp recently that was the gif of the 4 banners fading into each other. brought me back here tonight actually (usually creep once a month) 

[thecatamites]

aside from the jokes it's really well paced and i think it also does a lot with not just the videogame thing of nebulous or shifting boundaries, like setting up a static frame of reference only to immediately blow right past it for the sake of an elaborate joke or digression, but also the way that sudden digressions can become folded back into the narrative as a whole in a weirdly flat and unemphasised way. go to desert -> sudden event battle against the floating head of tv's ghost dad -> "i hope his mournful spirit can find peace some day....." -> the quest continues again. like a skipped beat where the emphasis gets pushed back onto the main line of the game. everything that happens is immediately cannibalised by the narrative for usable parts and then pushed back into the short-term videogame memory fugue pit along with wheelchair cloud and chocobo minigames. i think it avoids coming across as jokegame in usual sense because the joke isn't really that all this goofy stuff's happening suddenly so much as that, no matter what happens, the game as a whole can still stretch to accomodate it within that rpg format and still end up with something that feels coherent and natural on some level. 

[bonzi_buddy]

aside from the jokes it's really well paced and i think it also does a lot with not just the videogame thing of nebulous or shifting boundaries, like setting up a static frame of reference only to immediately blow right past it for the sake of an elaborate joke or digression, but also the way that sudden digressions can become folded back into the narrative as a whole in a weirdly flat and unemphasised way. go to desert -> sudden event battle against the floating head of tv's ghost dad -> "i hope his mournful spirit can find peace some day....." -> the quest continues again. like a skipped beat where the emphasis gets pushed back onto the main line of the game. everything that happens is immediately cannibalised by the narrative for usable parts and then pushed back into the short-term videogame memory fugue pit along with wheelchair cloud and chocobo minigames. i think it avoids coming across as jokegame in usual sense because the joke isn't really that all this goofy stuff's happening suddenly so much as that, no matter what happens, the game as a whole can still stretch to accomodate it within that rpg format and still end up with something that feels coherent and natural on some level. 

hell yes/well said!!!!!!!! :_^} great to see u again.

 

did you guys know that borderlands 2 has a direct reference/a quest dedicated to barkley 1?

 

i'm not good with words but i think there's only like, what, Just Cause 3 that parodiazes the (80's but action movies in general) action movie teenage powerfantasy stuff (eg you can spontaneously fly with a glider because james bond logic; all locations are exotic locales with (french?) accented drug mafias and evil overlords; you can ride nukes like a cowboy; half the game fun comes from using an elastic hookwire to attach "enemies" into ANYTHING eg dildoes and throw them off the cliff etc awww yeah look at that death animation *cold silence*) but the self-seriousness doesn't really work and you're still nonironically enjoying it. But the self-consciousness works - i'm this 11 o clock shaded angry gruff dark looking 2000's american buff saving the day in indigenious exotic locations ahha hell yeah. maybe that's the condition of getting a AAA game put some subtler cultural commentary/self-consciousness anyways. newest far cry is bit like this too but yeah it's not like neither of the games got any good writing themes or anything. oh and Dark Premonition. i'm not counting in space funeral cos it's mostly self-serious in a good way? but i fucking love the dracula convo in that game, i was laughing in tears when i first got there, holy shit at the game's pacing... blah blah...

[rudy the red-beaked reindeer]

jjjj, how did you know to come here to ask?

[EpsilonEagle]

I remember Barkley Shut up and Jam Gaiden way back in the day, if I recall it might have even been during GamingW's prime. I thought it was a pretty hilarious game and also a pretty good game in general.

[jjjj]

jjjj, how did you know to come here to ask?

i've known about this place for a while, i think i first discovered it from a barkley or space funeral thread on 4chan.

EDIT: i just wanted to say that every reply in this thread has been golden. seriously, thank you all for sharing your thoughts.

[EpsilonEagle]

Ah Space Funeral, AKA: David Cronenberg presents Earthbound.