Let's just get this out of the way now: the Double Dragon QL is going to be unbearable because it's just going to be Jeff saying "Konami beat-em-ups were quarter thieves, so ALL beat-em-ups are bad, I HATE BEAT EM UPS" over and over.
No, it'll be unbearable because, while being very funny, it still goes after the easy dumb joke, which is a kind of comedy that Jeff doesn't really react to.
DDN as a game is pretty bad. It has a lot of hitbox issues, doesn't do very much to explain systems (I didn't realize that there was a instant block mechanic until watching someone else play through it, because it makes no sense to put it on duck while omitting a proper block), has odd reaction effects on enemies (certain enemies having an almost random amount of armor with weaponry or not being able to "red-duck" certain moves) and is strangely slow compared to enemy movement.
But yo, that game is fucking funny. But stupid funny. It's written like a later Chris Farley movie; the jokes are very obvious and very dumb and are usually little more than extremely silly one liners or references to older video game staples. It has no lasting appeal, but for the first few play throughs, you get chuckles. And the soundtrack is stellar. I got the game free on PS+, but I gave the guy who did the music 10 bucks for a copy of the OST. Jake Kaufman is becoming one of my favorite indie composers, his Mighty Switch Force OST was really really great as well.
I had more fun watching "Matt and Wooly Play..." through this game rather than myself playing through it. I got the comedy, I got the soundtrack, and I didn't have to wade through the muddy gameplay.
No he's completely right, I've had this discussion with people before.
If Dynasty Warriors wasn't based in ancient China and was based on something else like fantasy, or a licensed property people would be eating that shit up. Mechanically it functions like a beat-em up with RPG elements a la say River City Ransom. You beat up on a bunch of stupid mindless dudes as filler with tougher enemies/boss battles all while leveling up stats and getting better equipment. I completely believe that if these games were coming out as say Lord of the Rings games or something like that they'd be huge successes in the US. Dynasty Warriors and it's offshoots have become so completely entrenched in people's minds here one way or the other that no one actually really pays attention to or actually thinks about the gameplay. Playing DW (or at least most versions of it) is fundamentally the same as oldschool brawlers from a gameplay perspective.
The Gundam Dynasty Warriors and Fist of the North Star Dynasty Warriors games argue against your statement pretty vigorously.
I had this discussion the other day at a fighting game tournament. Old school beat'em'ups just turned into Character Action games. This generation's Streets of Rage 2 is Bayonetta or Devil May Cry 3.
