Guardians of the Galaxy | The Completionist

00:00:00.080in 2014 marvel studios was writing a

00:00:03.439wave of success having proved with

00:00:05.6802012's avengers that this whole

00:00:07.680cinematic universe thing might actually

00:00:09.840have something to it but when they

00:00:11.440announced guardians of the galaxy it

00:00:13.840looks to be the first real test of how

00:00:15.920far the audience was willing to follow

00:00:17.840them marvel had turned captain america

00:00:20.080iron man and thor into household names

00:00:22.880but could they really do the same for a

00:00:24.640talking raccoon or a tree or chris pratt

00:00:28.640the answer was yes obviously the

00:00:31.279guardians of the galaxy films rule we

00:00:33.680all kind of know this and it honestly

00:00:35.440seems kind of quaint now that we've ever

00:00:37.440thought their specific brand of wacky

00:00:39.200cosmic space adventure would be too

00:00:41.360weird but when it comes to video games

00:00:43.760marvel's track record is a lot spottier

00:00:46.079recently from the crazy success of the

00:00:48.160spider-man franchise to the unfortunate

00:00:50.399results of marvel vs capcom infinite the

00:00:53.039lows and highs have been drastically

00:00:55.120setting a weird bar for all of us to

00:00:57.520even get remotely comfortable with just

00:00:59.840ask anyone who takes a substantial

00:01:01.280amount of time and or money into the

00:01:03.039black hole that is the recent avengers

00:01:04.799title me you can ask me

00:01:10.320oh

00:01:11.439hey everyone

00:01:12.400and welcome to an all-new episode of the

00:01:14.159completionist where we don't just beat

00:01:15.840the games we complete them when

00:01:18.159guardians of the galaxy was announced i

00:01:20.080was intrigued specifically because it

00:01:21.920was a single-player story-driven

00:01:23.759experience and when that's the case in

00:01:26.000my opinion things tend to go a lot

00:01:28.479better just ask either of the

00:01:30.240spider-mans

00:01:32.240spider-mans

00:01:34.159look i already really enjoyed the

00:01:36.000guardian films and the characters from

00:01:38.400those movies so the game doesn't have to

00:01:40.000start from scratch when it comes to

00:01:41.759building affection for any of them even

00:01:43.840though these are different versions it's

00:01:45.840hard for me to imagine hating any

00:01:47.600iteration of drax for instance so put

00:01:50.720those characters in a decent story and

00:01:53.200about a third of the work is done right

00:01:54.880there the next third is making sure it

00:01:57.119looks and sounds great which i feel

00:01:58.719pretty confident about on top of all the

00:02:00.719trippy cosmic visuals i played this game

00:02:03.200on the xbox series x using dolby atmos

00:02:05.759for headphones largely so i could get my

00:02:08.000face rocked off by the game devs over at

00:02:10.319idos montreal and their classic

00:02:12.400soundtrack for this title

00:02:14.319guardians of the galaxy was created with

00:02:16.480dolby atmos in mind and i can't believe

00:02:18.720i'm saying this it's my honor to

00:02:20.720announce that for this video i have

00:02:22.640partnered with the good folks at dolby

00:02:25.040so i can experience the audio in the

00:02:26.720best way possible so thank you to dolby

00:02:29.200for sponsoring today's video

00:02:31.360as an aside as a

00:02:33.840massive film nerd this is a huge honor

00:02:36.080so once again thank you dolby for

00:02:38.720sponsoring us today so if the game looks

00:02:40.879great sounds great and even has a chance

00:02:43.120at pulling out my heartstrings then the

00:02:45.040last ingredient is

00:02:47.040well you know

00:02:48.720having good gameplay

00:02:51.280that's the easy part right

00:02:54.160right

00:02:56.640i'm sure things will be fine

00:02:58.560we'll be fine i'm i'm ready

00:03:06.400yes

00:03:11.280all glory goes to the winner

00:03:24.400game over

00:03:28.480wake up

00:03:31.280last one standing twins

00:03:44.290[Music]

00:03:54.560so

00:04:03.920the version of the guardian to the

00:04:05.360galaxy that everyone fell in love with

00:04:07.200when the movie came out back in 2014 was

00:04:09.920far from the first and was actually a

00:04:12.239pretty recent introduction in the comics

00:04:14.640at least when considered in the grand

00:04:16.160scope of the marvel universe that is in

00:04:18.320fact for a long time the name guardians

00:04:20.880of the galaxy belonged to a totally

00:04:23.360different group of characters the movies

00:04:25.440even gave us a glimpse of them in the

00:04:27.440post-credits scenes of volume 2. the

00:04:29.919team everyone knows and loves formed out

00:04:31.840of two major cosmic marvel events

00:04:34.320annihilation and annihilation conquest

00:04:37.120in which the universe faced such dire

00:04:39.120circumstances that peter quill decided

00:04:41.520to round up all of the weirdest and most

00:04:43.600powerful space heroes he knows and form

00:04:46.320a reluctant team this spun into a

00:04:48.479relaunched version of the guardians

00:04:50.160featuring the main guardians we know

00:04:51.759from the films and a couple of others

00:04:53.840and also tied into other cosmic books

00:04:56.000that were happening at the same time

00:04:57.759with characters that are now a staple of

00:04:59.840marvel's far space setting across

00:05:02.000multiple mediums i'm telling you all of

00:05:04.240this because it's this very specific and

00:05:06.560fairly recent era that the guardians of

00:05:08.880the galaxy game pulls from to create its

00:05:11.199world and story and although it's

00:05:12.880accessible to those who only know these

00:05:14.639characters from the films it also feels

00:05:16.880very much like a love letter to this

00:05:18.720particular corner of marvel's comic book

00:05:21.360universe in this version of the

00:05:22.800guardians of the galaxy the story is

00:05:24.560told across 16 chapters picking up after

00:05:27.520star-lord and his buddies have been a

00:05:29.360team for a bit longer than we're used to

00:05:31.199seeing in the films at least 17 missions

00:05:33.759worth our story starts off with the

00:05:35.680guardians trying to capture a rare

00:05:37.840monster to sell to the queen of monsters

00:05:40.400lady hellbender in order to get some

00:05:42.560credits in the middle of the space

00:05:44.320adventure they found the soul stone but

00:05:46.639held within it was a shadowy space

00:05:48.960entity and that is awoken and tries to

00:05:51.120attack the guardians they flee as

00:05:53.120quickly as possible but very soon

00:05:55.039afterwards learn that high concept space

00:05:57.440adventures don't always pay the bills

00:05:59.520enter the nova corps the galaxy's

00:06:01.520helmet-headed space cops who find the

00:06:03.919guardians of the galaxy for a legal

00:06:06.000contraband our guardians need cash to

00:06:08.720pay the fine to the nova corps one of

00:06:11.120whom corel is even an ex of peter quills

00:06:14.000with the daughter nikki that she implies

00:06:16.560might be his after trying to con lady

00:06:19.199hellbender and adopting a llama named

00:06:21.039kami the team tries to pay their fine

00:06:23.520only to discover that the nova corps has

00:06:25.600been taken over by the universal church

00:06:27.919of truth via the gross shadow entity

00:06:30.240released from the soul stone the church

00:06:32.080of truth essentially becomes a crew of

00:06:34.000creepy space fanatics who are sweeping

00:06:36.479through the galaxy and taking over

00:06:38.240people's minds with something called the

00:06:40.560promise now this gives me huge dead

00:06:43.520space vibes and i am all here for it

00:06:46.720this all leads to of course our

00:06:48.560guardians coming to the rescue to save

00:06:50.720nikki defeat the church and save the

00:06:52.880whole flark in galaxy oh and work out

00:06:55.520all of their on going into personal

00:06:56.960drama because that's kind of their whole

00:06:58.639deal alright so going forward i want to

00:07:00.400avoid giving away too

00:07:02.080many of the late game character reveals

00:07:04.160because while i don't know the comics

00:07:05.840all that well one of my writers assured

00:07:07.840me that some of them were truly

00:07:10.080mind-blowing in the game so if you're a

00:07:12.319big marvel fan you're gonna have a great

00:07:14.240time in fact i think he's the one who's

00:07:16.080been dropping those comment boxes in the

00:07:17.919corner on the screen you can see here

00:07:19.360because he wants to show that off that

00:07:21.520said though i think a lot of the

00:07:22.880locations and supporting characters

00:07:24.400stand out even if you're not a big comic

00:07:26.319book nerd like nowhere which is also in

00:07:28.720the movies and is the severed head of a

00:07:30.639colossal celestial or its security chief

00:07:33.280cosmo a russian space dog who is the

00:07:35.520galaxy's very best boy but as good of a

00:07:37.840boy as he may be the main draw here is

00:07:40.319obviously the guardians themselves it's

00:07:42.560the same core team from the first film

00:07:44.879star-lord drax gamora rocket and groot

00:07:48.560and as much fun as it is spotting all

00:07:50.479the references and easter eggs in this

00:07:52.160game the success of the story was always

00:07:54.720going to come down to whether or not it

00:07:56.879nailed these particular characters and i

00:07:59.680honestly think it does

00:08:01.840really well this version of the

00:08:03.919guardians has been together longer and

00:08:06.000certain relationships are different like

00:08:07.919having star-lord and gamora's

00:08:09.520relationship be totally platonic and

00:08:11.840that's fine when it comes to their core

00:08:13.840attributes they feel decidedly like

00:08:15.759themselves the writing doesn't

00:08:17.199necessarily have the exact same

00:08:19.120sharpness and specificity as james guns

00:08:21.759and fewer of the jokes land but enough

00:08:23.680of them still do i'd say these jokes

00:08:25.919land different or more effectively

00:08:28.080because this is a video game and you can

00:08:30.560kind of tell these characters know that

00:08:32.479too these aren't the versions of the

00:08:34.159characters that everyone knows but at

00:08:36.000the very end of the day they're both

00:08:37.680similar and different enough to ride

00:08:40.000that wave of affection while doing their

00:08:42.080own thing a story about literally any

00:08:44.560version of the guardian is always going

00:08:46.320to be about a rag tag group of

00:08:48.880learning how to be a family and that's

00:08:50.800definitely still the case here so

00:08:52.560thankfully the voice acting and

00:08:54.160character models are all super solid

00:08:56.080because the story draws out a shocking

00:08:58.000amount of emotion and everyone seems to

00:09:00.399be up for it the characters don't even

00:09:02.320feel like impressions of the movie

00:09:04.240versions the possible exception of drax

00:09:06.640who still feels very batista but i was

00:09:08.959cool with it because who doesn't love

00:09:10.480dave batista the movie version is one of

00:09:12.560the only costumes i really ever used for

00:09:14.959drax because anything else just felt

00:09:16.880weird just chatting with the team and

00:09:19.279working through their personal issues is

00:09:21.040a big chunk of the game and since a

00:09:23.120video game has the luxury of spending

00:09:25.120more time with the characters than the

00:09:26.720movie gets to it felt like i really got

00:09:28.880to dive deep into their heads quite

00:09:31.040literally in the case of one of the team

00:09:32.959members an outside knowledge of these

00:09:34.880characters might help the story connect

00:09:36.640slightly more but even for someone like

00:09:38.560me who really only knows them from the

00:09:40.720films it was very impactful for instance

00:09:43.760take this game's version of gamora

00:09:45.519having been part of the team for longer

00:09:47.519means that she softened a little but

00:09:49.360she's still carrying around a ton of

00:09:51.519baggage from you know having thanos as a

00:09:54.160dad or drax who gets more time dedicated

00:09:57.279to the loss of his family than the movie

00:09:59.360version while still being hilarious and

00:10:01.920wholesome it was awesome to see the

00:10:03.839characters that i know from the movies

00:10:05.519and still feel like i got to spend the

00:10:08.000game getting to know them all over again

00:10:10.399because sure they're all kind of

00:10:12.160but they're who are

00:10:13.839worth hanging around with

00:10:25.760that mixing of the familiar and

00:10:27.839unfamiliar also expresses itself through

00:10:30.320all the designs which are instantly

00:10:32.640recognizable to anyone who knows who the

00:10:35.519guardians of the galaxy are while

00:10:37.519hinting at a more game specific

00:10:39.600backstory and there's nowhere in the

00:10:41.519game that the balance is more apparent

00:10:43.360than in the visuals and the audio all

00:10:45.680the designs here are really gorgeous and

00:10:48.720cool from the core members of the team

00:10:50.800out of the supporting cast and the

00:10:52.720surfaces of the various deadly planets

00:10:55.200the universal church of truth especially

00:10:57.440has a very unsettling cube-centric

00:11:00.399aesthetic that is highly ominous and

00:11:02.640otherworldly just like an evil space

00:11:04.800church should be same goes for all of

00:11:07.040lady hellbender's monsters which are

00:11:08.880appropriately gross each character has a

00:11:11.200variety of costumes adding up to a total

00:11:13.519of 45 super cool outfits for your crew

00:11:16.399to wear everyone has a novacore outfit

00:11:18.720in the movie outfit and then a bunch

00:11:20.480more pulled from specific storyline

00:11:22.480throughout comic book history most of

00:11:24.240which look pretty dang dope the cosmic

00:11:26.320corners for both the movie and comic

00:11:28.240versions of the marvel universe are

00:11:30.000known for being bright and colorful so

00:11:32.320it makes a lot of sense that the visuals

00:11:34.000in this game keep that trend going it

00:11:36.160feels like they pulled visual reference

00:11:37.760points from the movies the recent abnet

00:11:40.000and laning comics and the older cosmic

00:11:42.160jack kirby stuff to arrive at something

00:11:44.160that is constantly cool to look at give

00:11:46.640or take some bugs here or there it's

00:11:48.720also cool to listen to which brings me

00:11:50.560once again to what the folks at idos

00:11:53.040montreal have done with this game using

00:11:55.519dolby atmos technology because not only

00:11:58.000is this a game with a lot of dialogue it

00:12:00.560also borrows the movie's penchant for

00:12:02.720needle drops with the soundtrack of

00:12:04.639classic rock jams meant to get both the

00:12:06.720guardians and the player pumped for

00:12:08.959battle which means that the sound

00:12:11.040basically has to be good in order to get

00:12:13.839the intended impact across the music

00:12:16.320choices are a bit more obvious than the

00:12:18.320ones from the movies but who doesn't

00:12:20.160love don't fear the reaper or take on me

00:12:23.120you can truly tell they went absolutely

00:12:25.760wild with the licensing and i'm here for

00:12:28.000it wham is on the soundtrack wham and

00:12:31.040you don't get to hear any of this in the

00:12:33.040video because of copyright stuff

00:12:34.720unfortunately however thoughtfully there

00:12:37.279is a streamer mode to disable that stuff

00:12:39.920for when all of you at home want to

00:12:41.200stream for your friends or whatnot but i

00:12:43.040obviously wanted to hear all 28 of the

00:12:45.680game's licensed tracks there's also an

00:12:48.399entire album's worth of music by lord a

00:12:51.920fictional band formed entirely for this

00:12:54.480game which is just

00:12:55.880incredibly dope having a badass song

00:12:58.800kick in during a boss fight is amazing

00:13:01.360and the only potential issue is the fact

00:13:03.600that the characters in this game

00:13:05.279essentially never stop talking even

00:13:07.680during fights and puzzles they're either

00:13:09.519dropping hints or bantering with each

00:13:11.279other pretty much constantly and

00:13:12.959sometimes i just want to jam out and

00:13:14.720hear the music my friends it was way

00:13:16.560less of an issue when i played on

00:13:17.920headphones with dopey atmos though

00:13:19.360because it suddenly felt less like the

00:13:21.040music and the dialogue were competing

00:13:22.639with each other and more like i was

00:13:24.079actually in the middle of a fight

00:13:25.600hearing the cacophony of battle going on

00:13:27.519all around me including from above while

00:13:29.600the music also came through on star

00:13:31.279lord's walkman headphones it's a lot to

00:13:33.360take in all at once but the atmos

00:13:35.279capability took what could have been a

00:13:37.440distraction and instead turned the

00:13:39.680overlapping audio into a feature like

00:13:42.480when the universal church of truth's

00:13:44.240colossal ship would appear overhead the

00:13:46.560audio would really help convey the

00:13:48.480ship's scale by making it sound like it

00:13:50.800was in the same space that i was in if

00:13:53.120you've ever seen a movie in a dolby

00:13:55.040atmos enabled theater you know how

00:13:56.959enveloping and immersive it all can be

00:13:58.959and the fact that the technology is

00:14:00.320available for me to use at home on my

00:14:02.560headphones is honestly kind of

00:14:04.639mind-blowing it's also the most

00:14:06.480affordable way to get the atmos

00:14:08.160experience since it's just a one-time

00:14:10.399purchase on the dolby access app and can

00:14:13.440be used on your xbox one series x series

00:14:16.880s and pc which is a small price to pay

00:14:20.320to have every part of your ear targeted

00:14:22.320with laser like precision

00:14:25.120also on that note i said laser like as

00:14:27.680far as i know dolby atmos for headphones

00:14:29.839does not blast your ears with actual

00:14:32.079lasers

00:14:33.680although honestly that does sound pretty

00:14:36.399dang cool in fact movies and games set

00:14:38.160in outer space seem like prime

00:14:40.160candidates for something just like this

00:14:42.160right on top of this game's dialogue and

00:14:44.320kick-ass soundtrack it also really

00:14:46.240highlights all the classic sci-fi sounds

00:14:48.639your whooshes your swooshes your bleeps

00:14:51.040your bloops they're all here projected

00:14:53.440through your headphone speakers in a way

00:14:55.519that really feels like you've been

00:14:56.959blasted into space alongside the

00:14:59.120guardians themselves

00:15:00.720the only thing that was occasionally

00:15:02.480able to ruin the immersion created by

00:15:04.160the game's audio visuals story writing

00:15:07.760and overall pacing was a couple of bugs

00:15:10.320that i'm hesitant to even mention

00:15:12.000because i was playing this game in my

00:15:13.839own little reviewer bubble and i know

00:15:15.920there was some type of day one patch for

00:15:18.000most consoles so the problems i had may

00:15:20.240not even be there anymore sometimes i'd

00:15:22.399be chatting with one of the other

00:15:23.680guardians on the milano having a

00:15:25.440heartfelt talk that may have enlisted

00:15:27.360tears if it weren't suddenly for some

00:15:29.279random pixels popping in and out of the

00:15:31.199wall behind them it speaks to how

00:15:32.880immersive the story of this game really

00:15:34.560is because i really noticed when a

00:15:36.880technical issue would suddenly yank me

00:15:38.880out of the moment and have me thinking

00:15:40.480about the game instead of thinking about

00:15:42.079whatever my team was going through and

00:15:44.000again this may have all been fixed now

00:15:46.079but it was very jarring to see the

00:15:47.759contrast between how incredibly polished

00:15:49.920the game is in certain moments compared

00:15:51.759to moments where it suddenly wasn't

00:15:53.199quite where it needed to be as a result

00:15:55.360my involvement sometimes felt very hot

00:15:57.440and cold where i'd totally be wrapped up

00:15:59.040in one scene and then pulled out into

00:16:00.720the next i can relate this whole

00:16:02.160experience to watching a film that may

00:16:04.959not be 100 ready for the public eye

00:16:07.440unfinished shots and weird audio cues

00:16:09.759can take you right out of the experience

00:16:11.680guarding to the galaxy didn't have that

00:16:13.600much of it but when it did it really

00:16:15.839pulled me out in the moments where i was

00:16:17.600most caught up in this game it was

00:16:19.199always because of the thoughtful

00:16:20.560character development visceral sound

00:16:22.399design and high concept sci-fi visuals

00:16:25.279happening all around me just like the

00:16:26.959movies which created a corner of the

00:16:28.959marvel universe that i'm always excited

00:16:31.040to go back to so i definitely mean it as

00:16:33.199a compliment when i say that this game

00:16:34.639ended up being a very good guardians of

00:16:37.120the galaxy movie but games also have

00:16:39.839well you know gameplay because they're

00:16:42.079games so you play them i don't need to

00:16:44.240explain this to you guys you know what's

00:16:45.680up

00:16:58.079it probably sounds like i'm chewing up

00:16:59.839to dunk on the combat and gameplay of

00:17:01.680guardians of the galaxy but that's not

00:17:03.279really the case here the gameplay is

00:17:05.120fine but this is a linear incredible

00:17:07.600story and character-driven game and it's

00:17:09.600clear that that's where a huge amount of

00:17:11.839the love and attention went it's an

00:17:13.679experience that makes you want to make

00:17:15.679you feel things which means that

00:17:17.600completion and gameplay element can

00:17:19.199sometimes feel secondary however for me

00:17:21.679the true sticking point can be why not

00:17:23.919both you can tell a super compelling

00:17:26.160story and have succinct gameplay while

00:17:28.079also encouraging players to complete

00:17:29.679your product it sounds like i'm

00:17:30.960demanding this game be completionist

00:17:32.960encouraging but it's not mean it's doing

00:17:34.960that the game already does that it does

00:17:36.960that all on its own the balance between

00:17:38.799gameplay and completion are very off

00:17:40.799it's especially clear that the pacing

00:17:42.400and gameplay run into each other a ton

00:17:44.320the very early parts of the game felt

00:17:46.000very stop and start to me as soon as i

00:17:48.080felt like i was getting the hang of

00:17:49.200things or i was excited about a new

00:17:50.480mechanic or upgrade the game would stop

00:17:52.400to explain it in great detail and the

00:17:54.400story stuff is awesome like i mentioned

00:17:56.160but i would get taken right out of it in

00:17:58.000the hand-holding moments like that or

00:17:59.679when the guardians would instantly give

00:18:01.120me clues during combat

00:18:03.280and during puzzles

00:18:05.039and exploration and there seems to be a

00:18:07.120toggle for this but the default setting

00:18:08.880is instant which i wish i would have

00:18:10.720noticed earlier because it was truly

00:18:13.280instant sometimes the game places an

00:18:15.440emphasis on choice but not leading to

00:18:17.520like multiple endings or anything like

00:18:19.600that instead the choices are all about

00:18:21.919forming connections between the

00:18:23.440characters and it's in those moments

00:18:25.360where the gameplay works best this is

00:18:27.440executed super well when you realize

00:18:29.600that different choices affect not only

00:18:31.360the narrative for progression but for

00:18:33.039skipping certain tedious sections in the

00:18:34.960game because you answered correctly so

00:18:37.280for example in chapter 2 if you form a

00:18:40.000great relationship with nikki she'll

00:18:41.840slip you her key card so that later on

00:18:44.000in the game you don't need to figure out

00:18:45.760what the password is because you have

00:18:47.600her key card another fun example of this

00:18:49.679is that in the beginning of the game

00:18:51.039you'll have to choose to sell either

00:18:53.039groot or rocket to lady hellbender to

00:18:55.440make some money whoever you choose the

00:18:57.600next chapter will be drastically

00:18:59.600different in terms of story beats

00:19:01.520gameplay collectibles even level layouts

00:19:04.720the game does encourage multiple

00:19:06.160playthroughs and luckily it doesn't get

00:19:08.000stuck in the small minutia of making

00:19:09.840sure you experience every single choice

00:19:12.240at least once or twice david cage so

00:19:14.400when it's forced to stand on its own way

00:19:16.160though i could feel myself getting

00:19:18.240yoyoed in and out of the game drawn in

00:19:20.320at one moment and yanked out of the next

00:19:22.160in guarding to the galaxy the player

00:19:23.919plays as star-lord and only star-lord

00:19:26.400the rest of the team can be issued

00:19:27.840commands during combat with each of them

00:19:29.840having a specialty groot helps with

00:19:31.679crowd control drax targets an enemy

00:19:33.840stagger meter etc star-lord himself

00:19:36.080fights with the signature twin blasters

00:19:37.600which can be modified with one of four

00:19:39.200elements ice lightning plasma and wind

00:19:41.919each of which can also be used for the

00:19:43.600purpose of solving environmental puzzles

00:19:45.600but if i can just speak my truth here i

00:19:47.360would have liked the combat to be a

00:19:48.880little more fleshed out here it felt

00:19:50.559very basic that by the time they

00:19:52.480introduced another element i already

00:19:54.320knew what i was doing hands down and the

00:19:56.559info prompts once again just got in my

00:19:58.880way combat gameplay here is all pretty

00:20:01.120straightforward which isn't

00:20:02.320automatically a bad thing but never drew

00:20:04.400me in a way that the audio visuals and

00:20:06.480story did even on the hardest difficulty

00:20:08.480setting it felt like i was mostly able

00:20:10.080to blast my way through the combat

00:20:11.919without thinking too strategically

00:20:13.919spamming the other guardians moves as

00:20:15.840often as possible and even the puzzles

00:20:17.760and exploration seemed very simple but

00:20:19.840that just might be because of my default

00:20:21.919settings were programmed to have my team

00:20:23.760shout the solution at me right away that

00:20:26.000said i really appreciated how much the

00:20:28.240combat and exploration is all geared

00:20:30.240towards the game's main theme which is

00:20:32.320team cohesion it's just that that

00:20:34.320doesn't necessarily add up to something

00:20:35.840that's super thrilling to you know play

00:20:38.720take the huddle mechanic for example in

00:20:40.240which star-lord can gather up the team

00:20:42.159to give them a pep talk and by choosing

00:20:44.240the right motivational approach gives

00:20:46.159everyone a buff in combat now that is a

00:20:48.559very fun idea in fact it's actually my

00:20:51.360favorite thing to come out of this game

00:20:52.960especially because after you buff up it

00:20:55.039randomly picks one of the many awesome

00:20:57.039licensed tracks to blast through outside

00:20:59.440fights it's very fun to rick roll your

00:21:01.520enemies via rick astley after a great

00:21:03.679group pep talk but in practice it's just

00:21:05.760kind of

00:21:07.200fine there are words floating above the

00:21:08.960team's heads and they really tip you off

00:21:10.880as to which option you're supposed to

00:21:12.640choose here i think i only got it wrong

00:21:15.039one time and that was mostly because i

00:21:17.120got distracted by my dogs that was kind

00:21:19.360of sitting around me it feels like there

00:21:21.039was one clue too many or maybe slightly

00:21:22.960less interaction than i wanted in those

00:21:24.720moments also it almost felt like every

00:21:26.880single time the right choice was

00:21:28.640literally almost always on the right

00:21:30.400side of the screen for me which makes

00:21:32.000sense linguistically speaking but isn't

00:21:34.080very thrilling on a gameplay level there

00:21:36.080are times where the characters move sets

00:21:37.919combine in a way that's really

00:21:39.280satisfying and unique to their

00:21:40.720personalities like drax kept straight up

00:21:43.120dropping wrestling moves on enemies and

00:21:44.640i was on the edge of my seat waiting for

00:21:46.480a batista bomb that never arrived using

00:21:48.559the various guardians moves to defeat

00:21:50.240enemies is also the primary method for

00:21:52.080unlocking the game's 58 achievements

00:21:54.159over half of them are unlocked just by

00:21:55.840simply playing to the story but most of

00:21:57.679the others involve killing a certain

00:21:59.280number of enemies with specific moves

00:22:01.039there are a couple around collectibles

00:22:02.880like the aforementioned outbits logs

00:22:04.799left behind by different characters in

00:22:06.240the universe or the guardian

00:22:07.520collectibles that can lead to great

00:22:08.880conversations with your team the only

00:22:10.880other thing it's really necessary to

00:22:12.320collect are two types of resources which

00:22:14.559are used to purchase the perks at a

00:22:16.000workbench and these are permanent

00:22:17.440upgrades there are about total of 15 of

00:22:19.360them some of them which are more useful

00:22:20.720than others the one that allows

00:22:22.000star-lord to scan for resources made

00:22:23.919sure that i had all 15 perks relatively

00:22:26.720early on in the game and never really

00:22:28.320worried about falling short by any means

00:22:30.400so if you're really looking around it's

00:22:32.080not all that difficult to find all the

00:22:33.840collectibles because this isn't a open

00:22:36.159world game that's all about tracking

00:22:38.080stuff down quest markers and whatnot

00:22:40.080most of completing guardians of the

00:22:41.520galaxy is just playing through the story

00:22:43.520getting as many achievements and

00:22:44.720collectibles as possible in a run and

00:22:46.640then using chapter select or new game

00:22:48.640plus to clean up the stuff you missed

00:22:50.400the first time which is a reasonable

00:22:51.760amount of content for a game like this

00:22:53.360don't get me wrong i'll take something

00:22:54.799like that over a 300 hour completion

00:22:57.120process any day of the week but the fact

00:22:59.200of the matter is guardians of the galaxy

00:23:01.360is not well optimized for completionists

00:23:04.320despite its cleanly labeled menus and

00:23:06.240achievements and thus began one of many

00:23:08.960headaches for myself when it came to

00:23:10.720completing guardians of the galaxy let's

00:23:12.720start with somewhere that we all can

00:23:14.159relate to

00:23:15.200bugs

00:23:29.020[Music]

00:23:31.679now i'm talking specifically about one

00:23:33.760bug where after i'd finished the story

00:23:36.080let the character moments and story

00:23:37.600beats wash over me and then tried to

00:23:39.919start up new game plus to finish things

00:23:42.000up only to find that somehow the game

00:23:44.880erased my entire save file the whole

00:23:47.840thing gone as though my copy of the game

00:23:50.400was brand new which meant adding a whole

00:23:52.880other playthrough on top of everything

00:23:55.200else and no matter how good a game story

00:23:57.600is having to do an extra playthrough

00:23:59.919because of a bug is a really great way

00:24:02.080to suck at least some of the joy out of

00:24:04.159it and that's where my story should end

00:24:06.640but unfortunately it does not my friends

00:24:08.799this game breaking bug ended up really

00:24:10.960showing me how this game is not

00:24:12.320optimized at all for completion and how

00:24:14.720some of the bugs in the game end up

00:24:16.240holding back my interest as a

00:24:18.000completionist first and foremost

00:24:20.000skipping through cutscenes is exhausting

00:24:22.320because there really isn't a skip button

00:24:24.240that works well due to the nature of how

00:24:26.880often choice becomes apparent you can't

00:24:29.440skip a cutscene because you have to make

00:24:31.520a decision which means you have to mash

00:24:33.520the buttons to skip moments sentence by

00:24:36.320sentence and not all moments are

00:24:38.799skippable so if you've experienced

00:24:40.400something and you don't want to relive

00:24:41.600it again too bad you will have to second

00:24:44.799chapter select is a lie chapter select

00:24:47.520is only to relive the game chapter by

00:24:50.080chapter which means that it disables all

00:24:52.640progress for your entire file and

00:24:54.720account levels guardians collectibles

00:24:57.360logs and costumes all remain stagnant

00:25:00.320when you play the game via chapter

00:25:02.240select so in my case because my game got

00:25:04.960completely wiped chapter select was

00:25:07.039meaningless and things were so bugged i

00:25:09.360had to go back and delete both my local

00:25:11.840and cloud saves for guardians on my xbox

00:25:14.720to ensure that i would get everything

00:25:16.480without things breaking third since

00:25:18.720there's no chapter select you have to

00:25:21.200start over from the beginning of the

00:25:22.640game in case you missed something or

00:25:25.120just finish out that playthrough and

00:25:26.960start new game plus and hope your game

00:25:28.880doesn't break you see the problem here

00:25:30.720right this game casually and narratively

00:25:32.880speaking can take up from 12 to 20 hours

00:25:35.919so if you're actively trying to complete

00:25:37.440the game without having any idea as to

00:25:39.600where everything is it's going to be a

00:25:42.480massive time sync fourth and i can't

00:25:45.200believe i'm still going we have to have

00:25:47.440the ongoing discussion as to what

00:25:49.360constitutes as completion right all the

00:25:51.840achievements and trophies in this game

00:25:53.440are a pretty standard example of how

00:25:55.120easy street this game is a great beacon

00:25:57.840of how to encourage your audience to

00:25:59.679explore every nook and cranny without

00:26:01.679making it too difficult getting the

00:26:03.440platinum trophy and guarding to the

00:26:04.799galaxy is very easy nothing here will

00:26:07.120make you feel bad or hate life by any

00:26:09.120means but there's two achievements that

00:26:10.880i do need to point out because it kind

00:26:12.799of contradicts the whole point of having

00:26:14.799compendiums that log your progress in

00:26:16.799order to get 100 completion in this game

00:26:19.200guarding to the galaxy has a compendium

00:26:21.360that keeps track of everything both

00:26:23.200account and save wide there's two

00:26:25.360achievements associated with collecting

00:26:27.120items logs outfits and data points for

00:26:30.000the compendium one for doing it all for

00:26:31.919at least one character and another for

00:26:33.919earning at least 65 percent in all

00:26:36.880category types normally this would be

00:26:38.960fine and i wouldn't complain especially

00:26:40.559because i know that getting a hundred

00:26:41.760percent doesn't do anything but getting

00:26:43.76065 of the items logs outfits and data

00:26:47.200points doesn't seem like completion and

00:26:49.760that's where theoretically speaking this

00:26:51.600can get bad because you all know for if

00:26:54.640not for science for all of you at home

00:26:56.559watching the show i have to complete it

00:26:58.799which leads me to 5. there's a set of

00:27:01.440plushy collectibles you can get from a

00:27:03.360crane game in chapter 6 of guardians

00:27:05.679while you're visiting nowhere there's

00:27:07.360three plushies total you can only get

00:27:09.600one plushie per playthrough at a time

00:27:12.320you cannot use chapter select to earn

00:27:15.039side plushies you cannot use multiple

00:27:17.600save files to do so you have to

00:27:19.919literally boot up new game plus get to

00:27:22.559chapter six get that plushie finish that

00:27:25.600current run start a new game plus for a

00:27:27.600second time get up to chapter six again

00:27:30.000and then you're done so for those of you

00:27:32.000at home doing the math that means that

00:27:34.240for me personally and for this video to

00:27:36.720ensure 100 completion i had to do four

00:27:40.720full playthroughs to make sure i earned

00:27:43.200everything in this game and of course i

00:27:45.760got nothing for my efforts for going

00:27:48.080that extra mile welcome to the show

00:27:49.679welcome to the completionist where i

00:27:51.120just go crazy for things that no one

00:27:52.799cares about all told across multiple

00:27:55.200playthroughs and some extra cleanup i

00:27:57.600sink roughly 70 to 80 hours of my

00:28:00.640playtime into guardians of the galaxy

00:28:03.120and i really enjoyed at least 20 percent

00:28:05.760of that time the game constantly lost me

00:28:08.399then won me over again then lost me then

00:28:11.120won me over again ad nauseum the stuff

00:28:13.840that really works really works and i

00:28:16.240found myself highly invested in this

00:28:18.399version of the guardians but the

00:28:20.000gameplay has a stop and start quality

00:28:22.159that never really challenged me or

00:28:23.919sucked me in which isn't to say that

00:28:25.360it's bad at all just that it's not quite

00:28:28.000as good as the game's presentation

00:28:29.840deserves but even with those caveats

00:28:32.000guardians of the galaxy is definitely

00:28:33.679worth at least experiencing one time

00:28:35.600through especially if you're already a

00:28:37.679massive fan of these characters from the

00:28:39.919films or the comics which frankly you

00:28:42.320should be because they're great and the

00:28:44.000fact that we live in a world where even

00:28:45.760most grandmas probably know who rocket

00:28:47.840raccoon is today is just pretty magical

00:28:50.240almost as magical as the fact that we

00:28:51.919have an opportunity for the very same

00:28:53.600raccoon to make us cry not just in one

00:28:55.919medium but in two plus i'm hard-pressed

00:28:58.320to think of any other game where you

00:28:59.760have to fight an evil space church while

00:29:01.679the final countdown plays that should be

00:29:03.600enough all on its own right

00:29:05.360i know i may not have been quite as

00:29:06.720crazy about guardians of the galaxy of

00:29:09.200the game as most of the other people i

00:29:11.360know would be but there's a lot here to

00:29:13.520like even if i never quite settled into

00:29:15.919the groove of loving the game non-stop

00:29:18.720but the story has plenty of emotional

00:29:21.120impactful moments with characters that

00:29:23.520are a blast to spend time with even if

00:29:26.240they talk a little bit too much at times

00:29:28.240plus

00:29:29.120tons and tons of easter eggs for comic

00:29:32.480fans you know if you're into that sort

00:29:34.399of thing and if that's not enough it

00:29:36.640looks great and sounds great thanks to

00:29:38.880the magic of dolby atmos for headphones

00:29:40.960which is definitely way better than

00:29:42.480starlord's walkman

00:29:44.159it folds all the game's various songs

00:29:46.159and sound effects into a soundscape

00:29:48.000that's truly worth exploring as for

00:29:50.640exploring every inch of the game itself

00:29:52.640i say don't worry about it the gameplay

00:29:54.799is just good enough that it never gets

00:29:56.640in the way of the story or the

00:29:57.919presentation but experiencing the story

00:30:00.080from the beginning to end should be your

00:30:01.840priority and then if you want to play it

00:30:03.919again you totally can but the game puts

00:30:06.320no pressure on you to do so so with that

00:30:08.880in mind guys i give this game my

00:30:10.799completionist rating of finish it

00:30:17.440finish it

00:30:19.740[Music]

00:30:29.520so

00:30:31.660[Music]

00:30:39.279you