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Let's Play Thumper: Surreal Intense Rhythm Hell! (1)
Feb 19, 2024
A "rhythm hell" game with fantastic surreal visuals! Steam: http://store.steampowered.com/app/356400/ PS4: https://store.playstation.com/#!/en-us/cid=UP1613-CUSA03559_00-THUMPERPS4FULL00?smcid=pdc:us-en:pdc-games-detail-thumper-ps4:leadproductinfo-buy-download:thumper:up1613-cusa03559_00-thumperps4full00 ? Links & Social ? ██████████████████ Join our Discord Server: https://sirtaptap.com/discord My site for game guides & articles: https://sirtaptap.com/ TapTap's Twitter: https://sirtaptap.com/twitter/ Facebook: https://sirtaptap.com/facebook/ Subreddit: https://reddit.com/r/sirtaptap/ ❤️ Support The Channel ? ██████████████████ ?Donations & Memberships ██████████████████ Get chat emotes & more as a Channel Member: https://youtube.com/sirtaptap/join Monthly benefits on Patreon: https://sirtaptap.com/patreon Buy me a Coffee: https://sirtaptap.com/kofi
View Video Transcript
0:00
I'm SutapNap and this is Thumper, a VKapis game provided by the developer
0:04
I'm playing the PS4 version, not in VR. I have, I'm getting a PSVR, but it's, it's
0:10
just a review, it's not a review unit so it comes Thursday. I do want to, I'll
0:15
probably do another video of this in VR, maybe. So if you haven't heard of Thumper
0:21
shame on you. This is a, they describe it as a rhythm hell game. It's got this
0:27
lovely surreal art and it's really best, better seen than explained. So we'll just
0:34
we'll just play it. I'm sorry, Parker. I've only played level 1 and a bit of level 2
0:39
so far. I'll probably be a little rusty, um, but I, uh, I really like this from what I'm
0:46
playing. I knew the aesthetic would be totally me. There's some horror elements
0:51
as you might already be noticing. This is not like jump-scare stupid stuff, but it's
0:55
like this really weird, it just has this vibe that I adore and I don't tend to
1:01
like Thumper. I'm not, I'm not in my rhythm mood, that's, that's my excuse. But it goes
1:11
easy on you, I'm putting it out. It, it eases you in pretty well. So, there's gonna be times
1:20
where it's gonna be hard to talk, unfortunately. Rhythm games are hard to do
1:24
like, with live commentary. But yeah, what I played I really liked and it, it does a really
1:30
great job of, of, uh, weaning into the mechanics. I'm probably gonna be quiet whenever there's
1:42
important stuff going on. It's just hard to get in, like, hard to focus. All rhythm games are
1:48
kind of like that. But yeah, this, I played level one of this and I was just mouth agape, like, wow
1:55
Like, alright. Like, I just, I absolutely adore the aesthetics and what's going on. And I can't
2:02
wait for the VR version. I, uh, like I was trying to say earlier, I don't usually get too into the
2:09
rhythm games. Like, they tend to be really hard and, like, like, they put on this facade that
2:15
like, oh, they're, they're cutesy. They, you know, they're casual. It's like, no. You failed. You missed a
2:20
single beat in this 3,000 beat song. You get an S, you get an F rank. And it's like, but this just, I
2:28
wouldn't call it chill. It's not chill. You might have guessed that from, you know, just taking a
2:33
look at it. But it feels so good. I can't quite describe it. You just get in this mood and, and
2:42
like I said, it does such a good job of easing you in, even for, you know, rhythm hell. And the VR
2:48
version, I can't wait for it. It's, this game really solidifies my desire for that PSVR. I will be
2:55
playing some PSVR games as soon as I can. I've got a bunch of stuff requested I should be able to
3:00
check out. Not really the whole launch lineup, but I should be able to check out a decent chunk
3:08
that looked interesting to me personally. But I was just really stunned by just the visual look
3:23
the visual look, as opposed to the auditory look. It's just, I really wish AAA did stuff like this
3:32
Can you imagine if instead of like brown concrete textures for, you know, a bombed out city street
3:38
you know, AAA artists were making stuff like this. Like AAA doesn't look like it does because the
3:44
artists are bad. There's amazing people making AAA games, but you know, they got to make, you know
3:49
what marketing, what, what the CEOs want them to make. And that's, you know, super grit and
3:55
realistic McShootBro gun shoot games. You know, some of that's fine, you know, I enjoy, I'll enjoy
4:02
a shooter once in a while, but the variety is definitely lacking. A-Rank, I think I messed up
4:09
that last beat. All right. I really like how the game, like, I don't know how to answer, just press
4:19
the buttons and it just throws a bunch of buttons at you on screen. And this game, it's like, this
4:24
is an action you're actually performing with each of the things. It feels so organic and I really
4:31
like it. And it's, but it's no less musical. Like, it starts out pretty simple, but you can, like
4:39
see, you can hear it. You can feel, like, the actual music stuff. It just works. And it gets
4:50
more complicated as you go on, as you're already seeing. The game does a really good job of
4:55
introducing new mechanics, like, not too slowly, but not, not so fast you get overwhelmed. Not so
5:01
fast that I get overwhelmed, and I'm not good at these rhythm games. I, uh, I tried to play Rudy
5:04
McColl, the Dark Witch, Legend of Dark Witch music game, because I really loved that series, and I
5:09
wanted to play more of it. I'm really bad. I beat all of the levels on easy mode, kind of barely in
5:16
a couple of cases. And the harder difficulties for some levels, just, I can't do it. But, uh, I've
5:24
been really enjoying this. And it seems like a game where, like, you can die in this game, but
5:30
it's more, it's usually just, you don't get quite perfect, is what happens. And, you know, you won't
5:37
get the S rank. You still gotta play basically perfect for the S rank, but you don't have to get
5:41
the S rank to proceed. And that's, I don't like when I feel like I'm hitting roadblocks in a rhythm
5:46
game that I'm really enjoying, or that I'm not really enjoying. But, like, there's nothing worse
5:51
than that thing where it's just like, nah, you can't finish the song, you're not good enough. It's
5:55
like, how freaking rude. Like, bullet hell games will let you finish the level. You can credit feed
6:00
you can finish the level. They're not gonna take that away from you. But, like, super cutesy
6:07
rhythm games. No, you miss two beats in a row? You're out of here, pal. But, uh
6:18
as it gets more intense, I might have to talk a little less. Yeah, I'm super excited for the VR version of this. I'm super excited for this version of this
6:27
This is on PS4 and PC. It is out today. It's out early, which I'm pretty surprised. It was supposed
6:34
to come out the same day as PSVR. It came out a little early. If you don't have a VR headset
6:39
don't worry. If you're gonna get a VR headset soon, I mean, you can play it before you get
6:46
the VR headset. I'm really enjoying it like this. I'm definitely gonna play it again once I get the
6:52
PSVR. That's right, Parker. I would definitely say, get it on whatever platform you're planning
7:00
to get VR on, if you care about VR. Oh, and spec-wise, this game is really impressive
7:07
So, on PS4 Pro, this game renders at 60 frames per second at 4k, and it renders at 90 frames
7:22
per second on PSVR. I'm pretty sure that's just on a normal PS4. Like, I don't know if any games are
7:29
PS4 Pro yet. At least, I think that's what... that's the way I read it on Twitter. It might
7:38
be 90 FPS on PS4 Pro. I'll ask that and toss that in the description or a comment if I figure that
7:47
out, but I'm super excited for this on PSVR. And it plays at 60 frames per second, of course
7:53
on a normal PS4. Just a 1080p. I'm super excited. I've already got a couple other
8:02
games for PSVR, but I can't... I don't have my PSVR. I love these boss fights
8:11
And so that last... after you get a hit off, you get the opportunity to
8:18
heal, if you make that beat. Damn it. And not every missed beat hurts you. There's only certain
8:23
things that'll hurt you. Like, only colliding into certain things will hurt you. Dang it
8:42
I love the horror aspects. I really love game... like, horror in games that are not, like, trying
8:46
to be, like, mega spooky. Like, it's obviously an intent to have some horror elements in here
8:53
But... But it's like... it's not jump scare spooky. Oh, I was... I was scratching the back of my head
9:11
Never scratch the back of your head in a rhythm game. You can scratch your head while you see
9:15
that little score thing pop up. That means you got a few seconds. All right, it's boss time. Final... er, sector final boss time
9:26
And we haven't seen all of the game's tricks yet. I love that background. The feeling of this game
9:32
It's like... it's like fighting the ending of 2001 A Space Odyssey
9:47
There we go. If you get perfect all the way through to that flashing one
9:56
that's when you do your attack. There's no attack button. You just... you hit the beat
10:05
That's what happens when you take damage. You lose your little shell. And we get our shell back if we make that... that particular beat after the attack
10:14
Oh, I think I screwed up that beat a little bit. That's... I really prefer when... ah, dang it. There we go. Would rhythm games punish you by not giving you
10:29
the best score instead of being like, hey, sorry, you can't play the game anymore. No
10:34
I'm just gonna kill you. It was really weird, like, playing one of those like kitsumiku games. It's like
10:40
no, you're not good enough. I'm sorry, you can't play my game anymore. It's like, oh, thanks
10:49
All right, level two. I have not actually beaten this one, so this might be bad. I was meaning to play more and I was meaning to have this game
11:00
earlier today, but I ran out of time. I was doing so much stuff. I can't... I wanted to get streaming
11:06
working again. And that took kind of all my day yesterday and a couple hours today. Oh
11:26
and a couple hours today. Okay, I might not be able to talk as much this level
11:33
Damn. Just that slight bit of visual feedback. I actually kind of like how
11:39
if you screw up in this game, unless you lose your shell, it's not really a huge punishment
11:47
The game isn't really all about punishing you. It's more reward than
11:51
than, you know, it's more carrot than stick. It's kind of surprising for rhythm how, but
11:59
it's interesting. It's this, you know, super hostile aesthetic and vibe, but also very
12:06
chill at the same time. Like, the game's not trying to be mean to you
12:15
Like, you're in a hostile world, but not in a hostile game, I would say, like, at least so far
12:20
Maybe it gets super crazy hard, but oh! I don't think the tutorial showed up like it did the
12:27
first time I played it, unless I wasn't watching for it. Yeah, there's something we can do about
12:31
that. I was expecting to be, you know, spoon-fed, but yeah, you just, you just hold up when that's
12:40
a thing. Like that. Also, this is a nice visual feedback on whether you're gonna survive a, uh
12:53
the ramp, you know, when you need to do the fast turn. They turn blue
12:57
instead of blinking red when you're gonna hit it right. I also like that you can hold certain actions you can hold early
13:05
and it's not, there's no detriment to your score. Because multitasking tends to be the death of me in rhythm games. Oops
13:20
I kind of wish rhythm games would have just an option to unlock all content
13:24
because some of us are bad. Some of us like music. We like rhythm games in theory
13:28
but we're not very good, and I'll admit, I'm not very good at rhythm games
13:33
You know, my focus is more like bullet hell games. That's where, you know, more of my
13:39
focus is. I don't really like rhythm games. I don't really like music. I don't really like
13:45
bullet hell games. That's where, you know, more of my higher end skill is
13:53
Um, I still want to see all of the game, you know? It's so freaking rude when a game won't
14:00
even let you finish a song. And this game does have health, so I mean, it is kind of like that
14:06
but I haven't, I don't know, I haven't felt insulted by this game yet. Like, I have
14:14
some other rhythm games. I'm kind of surprised that was a bee. Gotta mess some things up
14:21
How can you not love these visuals? It's so good. It's freaking beautiful
14:28
This is what I want to see in VR. People are like, oh, you can't make the new Call of Duty
14:32
in the VRs. You know, you can't have that amazing high quality brown grass texture
14:38
in VR. It's not worth it. It's like, no, I want this. I want this in VR. Give me this
14:46
Give me the crazy surreal shit. Give me, give me worlds that I cannot experience. I can experience brown grass
14:54
Just, I can just go outside right now. Oh frick, I messed that up
14:59
Um, oh, ow. I just hit lots of things suddenly. Yeah, give me this. That's what I was, that's the point I was making. Dang it
15:17
See, you get that, you get that red light that says like, hey, you missed a beat, but it's not
15:22
like, hey, I'm gonna kill your family because you missed that beat. It only kills your family if you
15:27
do that on boss or like certain other things. Crap. Oof
15:57
Phew. C rank, yeah. Boss
16:16
Oh, dang. Ouch, okay. See, that came slower. I think, I'm pretty sure that's because I screwed up the first time
16:34
So it's like, hey, it's having some mercy on you, but if you're doing well, there's no mercy
16:38
which, you know, at least I think that's how that worked. Basically my first time experiencing this, so I'm kind of guessing
16:58
That's another thing I think, oh. Yeah, I didn't complete a hit, so I, uh
17:08
And it doesn't make you redo the whole level, you only do the section
17:20
Dang, that's a long combo to get off a shot. Huh, I was jumping
17:49
There you go. So for the bosses, basically all you have to do is not fail two
17:58
attacks in a row, and damn it, like I just did. It should be all right
18:04
Like I said, this is my first time. Oh, dang, only halfway through the level
18:14
I never said that it was an easy game. Nobody says it's an easy game. Uh, it's a chill, like, I don't feel bad about losing in this. I feel very frustrated losing in
18:24
certain rhythm games. This game has never really frustrated me, which, that's an important aspect
18:32
of a difficult game. It's entirely possible to make a hard game that is not frustrating
18:36
It's entirely possible to make a frustrating game that is not hard in a good, meaningful way
18:45
I'm not good at timing that one. So
19:02
not giving my heals. Where are my heals? I figured I was always get a heal after an attack
19:12
which is why I'm dying now. Maybe not. So
19:31
okay, I guess you gotta perfect it. Ah
20:03
See, sometimes you just gotta memorize a bit, get used to what's going on
20:09
Once it's flashing red, that means one more hit. It's fixing itself up a little bit
20:19
There you go. I figured it'd be dead. Aw, frick. Get a little overeager for those heal ones, if I didn't need healing that time
20:30
Yeah, you can expect some more PSVR, well, some PSVR content to begin with
20:43
starting Friday, maybe. It might take a bit more than, like, it might take a day to get used to
20:50
all the stuff. I'm probably not gonna be, like, doing first impressions VR. I wanna, it'll literally
20:57
be my first time ever trying VR. I was pretty sure I want this, but I figured worst case, it's a
21:06
super rare item. It's sold out no matter how many units the store seems to have. I'm pretty sure I'll
21:13
be able to sell it if, for, you know, what I paid. If, damn it, I'm talking again. If I really want
21:20
to sell it, and I really don't think it's gonna be a problem, I, VR seems, like, made for me
21:24
Aw, dang it. I'm gonna blame also that on the talking. Yes
21:33
I'm not sure about VR streams, though. Like, how would you even, like, because I wouldn't be able to see chat. But yeah, VR streams probably not gonna happen
21:42
anytime soon. But I'm, I'm super interested to check out the launch lineup
21:49
And this is on Vive VR too. Like I said, this is on PC and PS4
21:55
I would play just whatever you prefer to play on or whatever you're gonna get VR on
22:01
Because this game does not have any performance issues at all on PS4 that I've seen. I mean
22:06
I'm only two levels in, but I mean, it's simply smooth thus far. Like I said, 90 FPS on PSVR
22:13
that's, that's great news. Oh, and so I don't have to answer a billion questions. Sony has... aw, damn it. Talking again
22:43
Sony has this big FAQ for, um, oh, perfect turns are a score thing
22:54
I'm not sure if that just means not taking damage or like, you gotta start it right before it
23:13
Also, I've never played a rhythm game with music like this. Like, I really like the music. It's
23:17
like, it's exactly what you expect from the atmosphere, but it's not like, you know
23:22
that's something you can never really replicate with, you know, oh, you play your own music
23:26
sort of game. I mean, there's a, there's space for those too, but, um, to really sell a mood
23:34
you gotta kinda, you gotta have curated music. And this is like
23:42
like, the music just so perfectly fits the world. It's just, like I said before, this is exactly
23:50
what I wanted for VR. I wanted these surreal, really interesting worlds that, uh, you can't get
23:57
around, you know, in the real world. Like, I don't want just my plain old green grass
24:01
blue sky. I want crazy shit. Oh, crazy, painful shit. Yeah, I let go of the, oh, I just let go of the, I just let go of the
24:17
I just let go of the, I just let go of the, I just let go of the, I just let go of the
24:23
I just let go of the, I just let go of the, I just let go of the, I just let go of the
24:26
oh, I didn't heal. I stopped leaning into the curb and apparently that does hurt you
24:36
Which it, it should really, so yeah. Oh, cool. They're like bones
24:57
Okay. This is another one of those double taps. My brain's like, huh
25:22
And yeah, when I play later, I'll, I'll make sure I've played whatever level I'm gonna play
25:26
like I just, I wanted to get out of video for this pretty soon and I just did not have time
25:30
to really prepare. I even have another video I want to record tonight. It's 9 23 p.m. and I
25:37
I have another video to record. This is not usually what I do on Mondays, but I've just been
25:42
really strapped for time. I was, the stream stuff just totally ruined my mood over this weekend
25:47
so I just could not get anything done. Uh, I hate dealing with technical issues. I
25:52
if I could ever afford a secretary, emailing people and dealing with technical issues
26:00
would be the things that I would want to pay people for, for me to not have to do
26:07
I want to play my video, James, and I want to, I want to talk about them critically
26:12
and I want to share them with cool people like you, my friend, and that's what I want to do. I
26:19
that's what I want to do. I, video editing is all right, but I just do it because it's kind of
26:24
necessary. I don't think I would ever want to be a video editor is like my only job, like
26:33
editing videos that I had nothing to do with myself beyond editing
26:38
like editing other people's footage. I don't think I would ever want to do that. I mean, maybe if it was really good pay and it enabled me to do this more
26:49
like if I could do it as a side job, supplement myself and just, you know, do what I like to do
26:56
even more. Sure. But I mean, that's a job, not a passion sort of thing. S rank. Level two Omega
27:07
Let's do this. Yeah. Omega is so much cooler than Z. You never see somebody be like, I mean
27:13
Z is pretty cool though. That's the thing. Omega is so much better. Even though Z
27:17
Z and X are pretty cool letters, but Omega just has that oomph to it. But, uh, I guess anything
27:25
exotic kind of has that sort of feel to it. It's like how, it's kind of like how Engrish becomes
27:30
a thing. It just feels, oh, centipede legs. Oh, I got so distracted by centipede legs
27:37
I forgot I was playing a video, James. Hold that and talking. I was so busy talking and enjoying the intermission. I like forgot
27:43
there's like a video game in here. There you go
28:03
I want nightmares like this. My nightmares are usually not this fun. I try to write down my nightmares if they're interesting, God damn it
28:13
Um, never had a nightmare quite like this though. I don't, I don't think I would want to wake up
28:17
At least not immediately. More video games should be like really fun nightmares
28:25
I'm never expecting that. I'm never expecting the Spanish Inquisition and then it happens
28:33
See it. There we go. I also like that you can flub, like you can do an early jump and I don't think it counts
28:38
against you. Like, I'm not sure, maybe it, maybe it lowers your score. I haven't noticed it drop my
28:44
thing, but I kind of like it when you're not like, when literally anything wrong does not
28:51
necessarily mean, you know, take a hit or something. Interesting
29:20
There you go. Oh, already? Oh no, not already. Wait, maybe? Oh
29:29
Okay, I did not expect that to be the end. Well, this is really enjoyable tension in this game
29:38
Like, I don't feel frustrated. It's like, yeah, it's just, it's tension. It's not, it doesn't
29:44
feel entirely stressful. It definitely doesn't feel frustrating. It's just tense, but you never
29:49
feel like, I never feel like super stressed out. Maybe I will later on
29:57
Maybe I will later on. Yeah, that's only level two, but when I'm dying, I'm not like, oh, I
30:04
hate this game. You know, and I never, like a lot of people will play games like that, but I'm not
30:09
I'm not one of those people that be like, you know, oh, throw my controller. I hate this game
30:13
I hate all these people, blah, blah, blah. And then you just sit back down 15 minutes later and
30:17
play it. If I don't like a game or if a game is taking me off, I just got to stop. I can't
30:23
I don't want, I don't have time for that. Even if I did not like, even if it didn't bother me
30:30
I just don't have time to play games I don't enjoy. That's why all my coverage tends to be
30:35
positive. If I'm not really enjoying a game, I tend to just stop recording or don't ever think
30:41
to record it, you know? Um, yeah, I try to keep a nice, chill, positive atmosphere on my channel
30:49
you know, contrast to the whole angry gamer ordeal. Yeah, that's, that is Thumper for today
30:56
Um, I'll probably check it out maybe a couple later levels in, uh, VR once I have my stuff and I
31:03
have some time to do so. And that's on PS4 and PC. You can play it in VR and not VR
31:10
This was, of course, the not VR version. It's not, like, it's not first person in VR, like
31:17
pretty sure it's, like, you know, same perspective. This idea that everything has to be first person
31:23
VR, it's not really true. It's the most obvious way to make VR work, but it can be interesting
31:28
to be, you know, a third-party actor or, like, you know, on, uh, like, this is more of an on-rails
31:34
thing, you know, like, like Star Fox. Anyway, um, I'm distracted because I had a very amusing
31:47
um tab open after my stream. I was, I put on some Knuckles memes, and anyway, that's not relevant
31:53
Um, but yeah, this has been Thumper
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