WEBVTT

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This was supposed to come
out in December! Oops.

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Well, whatever.
Let’s do it anyway.

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Hi! These are some of my favorite
bits of game animation I saw in 2019!

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Let’s begin with one of last year’s
early animation highlights...

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ANTHEM

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I think it’s fair to say that this is some of the
best-looking animation in a BioWare game yet.

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Characters are generally the highlight
of any great BioWare experience,

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and I don’t think I was prepared for how much
performance capture was going to add to that.

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Like, Owen as he’s voiced by T.J.
Ramini is already really charming.

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But Owen voiced AND physically performed
by Ramini brings a new level of charisma

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to that character that I don’t think
would have come across otherwise.

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Owen: " Hey, considering that
the Monitor is both lancer and cypher,

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we could probably use a VERY fabulous 
cypher/javelin pilot combo of our own."

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Player Character: "Owen, be patient."

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Of course, most of your NPC interactions use
this game’s conversation animation system,

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and there are some
gains on that front too,

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but seeing characters like these brought to
life with more natural performance detail

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in cinematics really makes me
excited for future BioWare projects.

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Also: running, jumping and especially flying
around in a javelin just feels cool as heck,

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in large part because the animation
sells their power so well.

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I will never get tired of sprinting toward a
ledge and launching into the air in this game.

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It just feels so cool.

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Next I want to
talk about Sekiro!

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The animation in FromSoft games has rarely been
the most polished-looking in the AAA space,

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but it almost always succeeds where
it matters: functional clarity.

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And that clarity is crucial
in a game like Sekiro,

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where players are expected to watch enemies
carefully and react to their attacks

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with so much more speed
and precision than before.

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The devs have talked in interviews
about how they spent a lot of time

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tuning each enemy’s attack animations
frame by frame, and it shows.

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Because, this game’s combat would not work
without those quickly-recognizable tells.

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And for their cinematics,
I love that From has maintained

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their trademark slooooow
timing and scene pacing.

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That willingness to let
characters move unnaturally slowly

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is a big reason why FromSoft
cutscenes feel so distinct,

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and it allows the sudden sharp movements
to feel even more surprising by contrast.

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From’s soft animation team really
is just getting better and better.

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Elden Ring cannot
come soon enough.

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Next up:
Luigi’s Mansion 3

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Next Level Games has one of my favorite
animation teams in this industry.

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This is the same studio behind the
previous Luigi’s Mansion game for the 3DS

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AND - one of my favorite game
animation showcases of all time -

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the absolutely stellar
Punch-Out for the Wii.

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I already made an entire video singing
the praises of that game’s animation

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because this team is so good at delivering both
function and appeal simultaneously at 100%.

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And by gosh they are
good at animating Luigi.

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Next Level consistently brings
the best out of this character,

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from the moments when
he’s feeling scared,

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to the moments when he starts to feel
some of his confidence coming back

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to the moment that NOPE
NEVER-MIND, HE’S TERRIFIED AGAIN.

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Whatever Next Level is working on
now, I cannot wait to see it.

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Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order

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We’ve seen a lot of Star Wars games
with lightsaber combat at this point,

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and a lot of different
approaches to animating it.

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Some of them have aimed to
replicate the fighting styles

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of existing characters as
we’ve seen them in the movies,

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and others try to create an
entirely new style all their own.

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And one thing that I really
enjoy in Fallen Order

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is the way Cal’s fighting animation feels like
it stylistically succeeds on both fronts.

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The way he handles a
lightsaber feels distinctly him

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and a little different from the stances or movements
that I’m used to seeing in Star Wars games,

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and yet I could totally see some Jedi moving
like this in a proper Star Wars movie

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which is something I’m not sure I
could say about the Force Unleashed.

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Combine that aesthetic balance with
some sharp controls and some stylish

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finishing animations and no wonder
the combat in this game feels so cool.

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Also, this? One of my
favorite Star Wars droids now.

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Look at ‘em. What a good little buddy.

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But next.
Pokemon Sword & Shield

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I’ve said before in a previous video
that the animation in the Pokemon series

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is a triumph of scope management rather than
visual flair, and that’s still true here.

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But in addition to the fact that they keep
managing to maintain a consistent level

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of charming animation quality across
these 400 creatures and human characters

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(which is still a feat
in its own right),

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I’m really digging the additional focus they’re
starting to put on animated personality.

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Like, the way the game instantly familiarizes you
with the personalities of all three starters

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just by showing you how they interact with
each other in one tiny cinematic is SO GOOD.

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And I think this cutscene
highlights a shift in focus that,

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really, has been happening
over the last few generations:

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Game Freak appears to be focusing
more and more of their resources

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on presenting Pokemon outside of
battle, which I think is a great call.

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Because one of the core elements of
the Pokemon fantasy is just living

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and traveling with
your team of creatures.

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And the earliest Pokemon games
just couldn’t provide that,

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so I really love the idea of the franchise
making that a higher priority now,

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because that’s where your Pokemon’s ability
to express themselves really shines.

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I think it’s telling that almost every time
I’ve seen people showing off their team online,

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or sharing clips
from their own game.

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Those clips tends to be video of their
Pokemon being goofballs in the Camp.

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So yeah! Real excited to see where
Game Freak takes things from here.

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Now high-quality traditional hand-drawn animation
is something of a rare treat in games,

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so I’m always grateful to see
the Banner Sagas and the Cupheads

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and the Hollow Knights out
there keeping that torch lit.

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And this year’s hand-drawn
champion was Indivisible.

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It is real fun seeing the
Skullgirls crew try on a new genre!

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I love these characters,
I love their designs,

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and their combat animations are just
loaded with tons of great little details…

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the team even brought in Studio
Trigger to animate the game’s opening!

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If you are enjoying the look of this
right now, I recommend picking it up,

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because not only is this
game loaded with charm,

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but you just don’t see games that
look like this coming out every day,

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and frankly I want to see studios like
Lab Zero, MDHR, Stoic and Team Cherry

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able to keep doing
what they’re doing.

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But, moving on.

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There were a LOT of extremely
AAA games raising the bar on

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photo-realistic human game
character animation this year.

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Devil May Cry 5, Modern Warfare,
Resident Evil 2, Death Stranding…

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lots of extremely
impressive work.

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I can’t imagine the hundreds of hours it
took hundreds of people to make all this.

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But the one team I’d like
to call out in particular is

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Remedy Entertainment for
their work on Control.

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I am legit impressed by
the degree of subtlety

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in character face performances
during some of these story scenes.

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Granted, certain moments and scenes can
dip into the uncanny from time to time,

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but this game’s setting already
exist so deep in the uncanny that,

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somehow, those moments kinda
just help contribute to the vibe.

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But the thing that push
this over the edge for me,

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and I’m sure that this effect is impart due
to the fact that your player character's

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based on real
actor Courtney Hope

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and they occasionally use some live
footage of her in specific scenes,

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but I've got to confess: once or twice
while watching these story scene,

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there would be just a moment
that had me questioning:

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“...wait, is this the real
actor or the digital character?”

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And I can't remember a time where a game
succeed in making me unsure of that before.

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So kudos, Remedy!
And good job making a darned cool game.

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But, leaving the realm of
the photo-real for a bit,

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let us all give thanks
to the indie scene

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for blessing us with so much
incredible pixel animation this year.

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Wargroove, Blasphemous, Cadence of Hyrule...
Katana Zero, for heck sake.

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Y’all spoil us.

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I do want to give special mention
to one in particular, though,

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and that is River City Girls.

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The Kunio-kun franchise has NEVER
had animation this gorgeous.

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Every character’s moveset is
just so fun to frame through.

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I highly recommend doing
so yourself sometime.

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Misako’s rage-y headbutt.
Kyoko’s selfie parry. The bookbag swing.

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The spinning power dab. How can you not
love a brawler with movesets like this.

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I’m so happy that games
with pixel animation

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are not only surviving in the year
2019, but THRIVING.

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And now for a couple
of honorable mentions!

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The first goes to Kingdom Hearts III, which
would almost definitely be on this list,

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except for the fact that I
intentionally have not played it yet.

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I’ve really been wanting to do
an unspoiled playthrough of it

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over on PlayFrame once
the ReMind DLC drops.

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But I’m just going to
take a shot in the dark

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and guess that the
animation was pretty darned good?

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Because it’s Kingdom Hearts

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and the animation in Kingdom Hearts
games tends to be pretty stellar,

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combat especially.

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And what I’ve seen of the Disney and Pixar
characters in trailers looks pretty incredible,

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so I am really excited to finally see
all this for myself pretty soon.

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And the other honorable mention goes
to Monster Hunter World: Iceborne,

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which I would talk
about at length here,

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but I already said all the exact same nice
things about Monster Hunter World last year.

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So just take everything
I said back in the 2018

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Favorites videos and
add some snow I guess,

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because the animation in this
expansion is every bit as fantastic.

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And finally, before we wrap up,
let’s talk about Untitled Goose Game.

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Because having incredible game animation
isn’t always about realistic fidelity,

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or massive scope or
flashy movesets.

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Sometimes it’s about getting
one crucial thing exactly right.

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And for this game,
that thing is the goose.

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The perfection of that waddle
completes the comedy of this game.

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It’s amazing; it puts you in the right frame of mind
to be a dorky little nuisance almost instantly.

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And so many of your available moves
double as a tool for player expression!

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Like, I’m sure this wing-extension
move does something practical,

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but most of the time I’m just
using it to go MYEHHHHHHHH.

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Seriously, though,
if this waddle didn’t feel just right,

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I’ll bet this entire game would
feel noticeably less entertaining.

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And that makes this one
incredible piece of animation.

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But I think that should do it!
Did I miss anything?

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I mean, I will admit I
haven’t quite finished

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playing every single game
that came out in 2019,

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so… yes,
probably I did miss something.

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But, if you happen to know of
any games with stellar animation

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that I didn’t mention,

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please do call them
out in the comments,

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because I’m always eager
to see something cool!

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And here’s to all the great
game animation coming in 2020!

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I’ve got a lot planned for
New Frame Plus this year,

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so be sure to subscribe so
you don’t want to miss out.

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And consider supporting the show
like all these wonderful people.

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Thanks for watching,
and I will see you next time!

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[music]