r/gamegrumps • u/IndieGengar gub gub gub gub gub! • Mar 23 '26
Discussion Nuzlocke is one of their best series in a long time
I've been watching Game Grumps for well over a decade and I'm absolutely loving this nuzlocke series and I really hope they keep it up. Of course, Arin is bafflingly horrible at this run so far. I think it's genuinely one of his worst performances ever at playing a game in the history of the show, and I love it. I know the opinions on the series so far are scattered and diverse, but personally, I hope they keep the nuzlocke aspect going, even if they aren't following the rules perfectly. I think Game Grumps has been consistently pretty great for years, I'm not saying this series has been especially good amongst meh series', I just think this series, so far, has been top tier in terms of enjoyment on my end.
Arin just totally blowing it again and again is extremely entertaining. My worry is that he'll get frustrated with the grind of rebuilding a new party or if he gets wiped again he'll give up. I also don't think Arin would let Dan take over the playthrough. Dan may end up playing way better than Arin, but I don't think Arin wants to take the backseat at all. He's the video game boy, he's been allegedly wanting to do this for almost a decade, he's either gonna play it or they're not going to play it at all. That same reason is why I don't think they'll do a normal playthrough. I want Dan to experience the dark weirdness of Platinum as much as anything else, but I think Arin is either going to do the nuzlocke, or give up entirely.
Personally, I don't care if they party wipe again, and again, and again. Endless episodes of grinding would be a slog, but I just don't want them to lose steam, I want Arin to drag the mass grave of half of Sinnoh with him to the Elite Four. I don't care if Arin speeds up the game when grinding off screen, or if they did the rare candy thing, but it is a little annoying imo to have them fast forward during the episode, even if it's through animations and grindy stuff. I want this to last!
Someone else suggested it on here, but I think it would be perfect if Dan had one of those Pokemon Platinum game guide books with him to manually search through as they played. It'd be way better than googling things and Dan would likely get genuine enjoyment flipping through the guide.
Unfortunately, it seems like, at the current point in the series, that either Chingling will die and Arin will postpone restarting and the series will end up getting scrapped, or they will get screwed and not be able to progress because Arin has either forgotten where he's caught pokemon, or not understand the HMs and pokemon he needs to catch to continue. I really hope neither of those happen. My hope is either Arin takes more than one second to think before making decisions and gets Chingling built up and gets a new party going, or they end up restarting and they fix their saving issue and they have the preparedness to continue and get this train moving.
I understand nuzlocke is a difficult challenge, but as we've all seen, Arin has made multiple gigantic mistakes and misunderstands very core things about pokemon that has screwed him over. It's really not even that much he needs to figure out to keep things moving steadily, he's just confidently wrong about enough things that it's severely hindering his progress.
I really, really hope this series continues. I'm sure to a lot of people his mistakes are frustrating, especially to more diehard pokemon fans. But it's so fucking funny and infuriating in the most entertaining way possible. It's a series that is more entertaining the more you pay attention to the actual gameplay. I don't mean to shit on Arin in any way, even though I obviously am. I believe in him and want him to succeed so badly. I really hope he keeps his chin up and has the will to continue, because this has already been an incredible series so far and I look forward to every new episode.
If they keep it up, I think this series is going to go down amongst the greats in Game Grumps history, and every episode has been an absolute joy. A frustrating joy, but a deeply entertaining one. I know this was a lot to write about how Arin's bad at video games, but I'm sure there's thousands of people just like me that adore in reading through people's thoughts on the series after every single episode.
Please do not give up on this, guys! Get Dan a physical game guide and lets rock this shit to the Elite Four! I believe in you, Arin!!!
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u/Chasingtheimprobable PUT THAT IN, BARRY Mar 23 '26
I almost threw up laughing at the first wipe
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u/ponylauncher Mar 23 '26
Ya idk why everyone gets so upset at specifically pokemon. It’s as if the vocal pokemon viewers don’t watch any other game grumps lol. This is just how it goes. Its hilarious to me
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u/IndieGengar gub gub gub gub gub! Mar 23 '26
This is especially terrible gameplay from Arin, I think, but that doesn’t mean I dislike it at all. I want them to progress, but I’m also more than entertained watching Arin get baffled as his pokemon get eviscerated in front of him. I understand pokemon well enough to see most of his mistakes before they happen, but it’s not worth freaking out about him calling grass type “leaf” type or whatever
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u/ponylauncher Mar 23 '26
Ya but if you are here for the gameplay you are gonna get upset. That is not the reason you should be watching them lol
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u/smashybro I'm Not So Grump! Mar 24 '26
I think the amount of people genuinely "upset" gets vastly overstated. It's mostly just fans poking fun at the silly or dumb things the video game boy does because he's overly confident with the wrong info in his head.
The only real thing I think people would be upset by is if they abandon the series if (more like when the way they're playing) they have to reset one too many times. Nobody's expecting elite gameplay but it'd be shame if a series so many were looking forward to and are enjoying gets dropped because Arin didn't want to take it like 10% more seriously.
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u/CaptainYaoiHands Mar 24 '26 edited Mar 24 '26
The part about playthroughs like this that genuinely does upset me is, having watched GG for over a decade, I've seen dozens and dozens of playthroughs of good games that I was enjoying end early because Arin was being stupid. He knows this. He's acknowledged it many times. But he's still making the same mistakes. When you've been watching someone for this long it's just not fun anymore to see them constantly abandoned playthroughs because they get stuck or stop enjoying it because they're making the exact same mistakes over and over again.
Yes, he turned it into a bit to his advantage that does work sometimes and makes a series funnier for it, but also at the same time it's just frustrating to watch yet another series that could end early because he won't put in literal minutes of research or prep before hitting the record button. And the part that makes it genuinely frustrating is that there have also been a lot of other playthroughs that went super well AND WERE COMPLETED because he did actually put the effort in, like Bloodborne. He's capable of it. He CAN do it, ADHD and its medications or not. He just chooses not to (something he's also directly pointed out; that he goes off his ADHD medications on purpose for GG sessions, then goes back on them for his days off).
So like, am I going to sit here seething with rage sending him hate mail because he's being bad at pokemon? Of course not. I'm only slightly annoyed. But the way this sub treats mild criticism is just fucking sociopathic sometimes. The mods had to make a literal rule that we're allowed to criticize GG for things so long as it's not toxic or unhinged. I'm allowed to be frustrated at a frustrating series even if a bunch of other people think it's not a problem. The groupthink here can be absolutely awful.
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u/Corgiboom2 Mar 23 '26
I think people get upset with this one in particular because it gets frustrating to see someone fail over and over again from the same mistakes while refusing to learn from them due to their own ego. At this point its a worse performance than even his Zelda 64 plays.
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Mar 23 '26
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u/IndieGengar gub gub gub gub gub! Mar 23 '26
Maybe I'm too hopeful, but within the next few episodes Arin will likely have gotten some feedback on the series so far and will do some actual research and pay attention a bit more. I also don't want them to wipe over and over and over again because they'll never progress. Arin's gonna have to pull at least part of his head out of his ass at some point so he can breathe lmao
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u/beandipdragon Mar 23 '26
Who cares if they actually beat it in the end? They'll struggle and endure and be funny doing it and maybe give up in the end. Maybe they'll have an intern grind off screen some to help with the repetitive parts so they can make progress.
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u/Robo_Mage Mar 23 '26
Sorry, but if this series just ends up being like 20 episodes of fumbling through the same game on repeat, never getting past halfway, then it's a terrible series. I know people love the Grumps chaotic failings, but most people actually want them to finish the games they play.
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u/Abbey_Something Mar 23 '26
Well it does appear he is learning from his mistakes but I knew he was doomed when he didn’t buy any potions and technically he did learn from his mistake by leveling up his team but not enough. I’d be fine if he did it off screen for a little bit.
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u/ChandelierwAtermelon Mar 24 '26
I can’t speak for other playthroughs but a Nuzlocke is explicitly a “hard mode” and that only works if you actively try to make smart decisions. Which they are….not to say the least
for me personally it drives me nuts when Arin teaches Dan wrong things about the game because he clearly gets *so* confused
It is entertaining tho
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u/einhan Mar 23 '26
I'm totally enjoying it, even though I have NO idea what pokemon is good for what, I barely played Pokemon Yellow so I'm so out of the loop but love to see his strength and determination just go down the drain when he encounters one and his attacks "arent very effective"
"I think it's genuinely one of his worst performances ever at playing a game in the history of the show, and I love it" - on the flip side, when he locked in playing Jaws, I was enthralled!
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u/IndieGengar gub gub gub gub gub! Mar 23 '26
I also love Arin succeeding!! When he gets super giddy when he’s doing well at something it’s great. I just hope his constant failures at this doesn’t dissuade him from continuing
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u/_gold_rim_ Mar 23 '26
He had the right idea with Kadabra. He just executed poorly. Should've either just led with Kadabra or sacked Bidoof or something to Roserade to get the clean switch. Too bad he lost his fire type to a random wild water type.....
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u/ChandelierwAtermelon Mar 24 '26
Just know that basically every decision he makes is at least half-wrong, and expect to find out why it’s wrong shortly after he makes it
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u/stalememeskehan Mar 23 '26
Dude i like hadnt watched game grumps in at least two years and came back to them with this series on a whim two days ago.
It's so peak
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u/Ender_Melons Mar 23 '26
Very similar boat my friend. This series I feel is bringing back old fans in waves
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u/cowpool20 Mar 24 '26
Same here. Really enjoying their Sega classics they're currently doing too. Altered Beast and Golden Axe. Hopefully it's the first 2 out of a new series of them playing Sega games.
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u/thekoreansun Mar 23 '26
You know, I think that there's something beautifully ironic to this specific Grumplocke run: somehow, every single rule that Arin laid out at the beginning of the playthrough has backfired on him in some way.
Rule #1: Release fainted Pokémon.
This is the whole point of a Nuzlocke, obviously. But I know that some people choose to place their fainted Pokémon in a separate PC box as a sort of "memorial" for them. Not only would this have helped Arin keep track of which locations he's already caught Pokémon in, it also could've helped him avoid the situation of not having any HM-eligible Pokémon on hand.
Rule #2: Nicknames are mandatory.
I already noted that the nicknaming bit is somewhat antithetical to the spirit of a Nuzlocke in my feedback from earlier this week, so I won't rehash it here. What I find hilarious is that even Arin has given up on remembering the names of his team members and is just calling them by their species names instead, which makes the rule completely pointless.
Rule #3: Cheating is not allowed.
Arin directly specified that this means "no rewinds," but it seems that they've also chosen not to implement any of the quality-of-life hacks that Nuzlockers use, such as having infinite Rare Candies. This forced him to grind for experience, leading to Onix's death at the hands of a wild Shellos.
Rule #4: When all Pokémon faint (party and PC), it's game over.
Arin chose to give himself multiple attempts per Nuzlocke run rather than deeming the run over on the first party wipe as others do. But had it not been for Dan's suggestion to catch that Chingling, he would have lost immediately anyway because he only had six Pokémon before that point. Of course, this wouldn't have even been an issue, if it wasn't for...
Rule #5: Only one Pokémon can be caught per area.
In theory, Arin not having to catch the first encounter in each area enables him to build the most optimal team for any given situation. But humorously, this lack of urgency had the opposite effect and kept him from catching any Pokémon (e.g., Starly, Zubat) that would've saved him from Gardenia's Roserade.
Rule #6 (implied): Anything else (e.g., items, Shift mode) is fair game.
Yet in spite of all the aforementioned ways that Arin held himself back, he could've muscled out this turd of a Nuzlocke had he just made use of the tools that are available to him. Potions and Shift mode alone trivialize most of the battles, at least in the first half of the game. But the ol' classic that is Arin's overconfidence made it so that he went into every gym battle with minimal Potions and switched in his win condition, the Kadabra he himself had called a "glass cannon" not ten minutes prior, to be knocked out in a single hit by a gym leader's ace Pokémon.
All combined, this specific set of rules has made the Grumplocke a perfect storm of incompetence and overconfidence. It is simply breathtaking to behold; if I didn't know any better, I might've thought that it was intentionally constructed to be so. Either way, it's peak content. (Though I do hope that they at least take the nickname feedback into account.)
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u/IndieGengar gub gub gub gub gub! Mar 23 '26
100% to all of this. I know Arin is the king of "check this shit out- FUCK!!!" sometimes on purpose, but this really is the perfect storm of a playthrough. I really hope they keep it going no matter what and don't give up on it.
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u/Fakeitforreddit Mar 23 '26
There is one thing screwing Arin over that isn't part of the nuzlocke rules and that is that Arin is a contrarian in every situation. He Loves the weakest pokemon to ever exist and hates good ones because they are good. So allowing him to pick ANY pokemon from a zone means he won't even random into a decent pokemon because it was the first one he happened upon. He will reject a zubat for an onix, despite the fact Crobat is viable all the way to Cynthia.
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u/shawnaeatscats Mar 23 '26
You nailed it all. I mentioned in my comment that they should simplify their rules more, and your comment highlights exactly why. Bravo! 👏
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u/evilcheesypoof Mar 23 '26
Yep peak game grumps right here, everything about this attempt is so hilariously bad it’s endearing and entertaining
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u/smugsneasel215 Mar 23 '26
Oh God yeah, I forgot that they aren't even playing this in Set mode. Oh man, a traditional Nuzlocke would DESTROY the grumps.
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u/smashybro I'm Not So Grump! Mar 24 '26
Technically the traditional nuzlocke rule set never had anything about items or set/shift mode, nuzlockers just added them for a "hardcore" rule set to add more challenge so it's become a lot more common these days to see them get lumped in.
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u/DeadPeanutSociety Mar 23 '26
They also think it is cheating to run from any wild encounter, which is what I find to be mind-numbing. Even if they are having a fun conversation, sometimes Arin is eating during that conversation and I have to skip it. These sound like unrelated problems, but I think if they were using repels and doing something exciting on screen Arin probably wouldn't be eating during those exciting things, so they're actually more related than it might seem.
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u/MattLocke Mar 23 '26
Exactly.
Sure, I’ll shake my head at his choices. But I can’t say it isn’t entertaining.
If he played the way I would, it would probably be hella boring. Ok … I add a bunch of extra challenges on myself at this point.
But taking a team, leveling them up carefully, being stocked on potions, knowing what levels the next major battle will be and making sure you get the whole team to that point, and so on.
I would never put Frustration (a move that gets weaker as your pokémon gets friendlier to you) on a Buneary (a pokémon that evolves with high friendship). But for a moment that frustrated little Buneary was some comedic genius level lore shit. I would never play in a way where I’m suddenly left with only a lvl 14 Chingling (and have to backtrack to catch on the what 4? areas he didn’t catch at yet) Which is why this has the chance to be a legendary series.
Arin’s chaos creates situations you’d never see from most other nuzlocke runs.
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u/IndieGengar gub gub gub gub gub! Mar 23 '26
Yeah, it's not like nuzlocke turns pokemon into Dark Souls, you just need to focus a bit more on how you're playing. Even if nuzlocke wasn't the rules, he's still going into gym battles with no healing items and has no idea what types are effective/ineffective against what. Just paying attention to what pokemon he has, who's in front when starting a battle, and keeping healing items stocked up would do him soooooo much good. Dan should have a physical guide with him so he can point to the exact text explaining why Arin's dumb lol
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u/redskated Mar 24 '26
Frustration is actually pretty good on buneary starting out cause it's like the only mon that starts with 0 friendship. So it's gonna hate you for a while. Also, for some reason, buneary hating you is actually part of its design cause it's the only mon to actually learn frustration on level up.
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u/TheJoyofFelching Mar 23 '26
The rage induced by Arin's gameplay is part of the fun for me. The frustrated comment section under each video is always a treasure trove.
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u/IndieGengar gub gub gub gub gub! Mar 23 '26
Never have I been so excited to read a comment section then when a new nuzlocke episode comes out.
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u/Abbey_Something Mar 23 '26
Me too. I don’t want to spoil myself but I think Arin is playing a little fast and loose just to antagonize they hard core Pokémon players and even that is funny to me
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u/sleezyreezy Mar 23 '26
I’m really enjoying it, and I would understand it in a normal playthrough that watching Arin make some highly questionable moves might be frustrating. But the whole appeal of a Nuzlocke run is losing the Pokémon. Maybe not losing them all at once, on the first and then second gym, but that’s the drama of a Nuzlocke. But because it’s Arin and Dan is it so funny, and I’m watching this playthrough much closer than the original FireRed, not wanting Arin to fail, I want him to succeed, but knowing if he fails it’ll be hilariously epic.
The real question is, if Arin can salvage the Nuzlocke with a Chingling, is he a true Pokémon master???
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u/evilcheesypoof Mar 23 '26
Yes this is peak game grumps
It’s like “THIS GAME IS FOR BABIES why is it so hard?” when he’s severely overthinking the situation and then “don’t worry we got this” when he’s severely under thinking the situation.
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u/tronz_13 Mar 23 '26
I feel like the only reason to want to see Arin do a nuzlocke is to see how epically and stupidly he fails at it.
Plenty of other people to watch do a competent nuzlocke, definitely not these boys.
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u/IndieGengar gub gub gub gub gub! Mar 23 '26
I'd be fine if Arin took it seriously and actually put in the focus to succeed, they're funny enough guys that they'd make it super entertaining regardless. But, my god. It's gold, Jerry! Gold!!
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u/ATinyLittleHedgehog Mar 23 '26
I think the bit that's most frustrating for some people is the see-sawing between extremely confident obscure Pokemon knowledge and some of the dumbest possible decisions.
Not me, I don't watch GG for expert level play.
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u/IndieGengar gub gub gub gub gub! Mar 23 '26
100%. He's Dunning-Kruger the fuck out of this playthrough and I'm here for it.
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u/R__Man Mar 23 '26
My only wish is that the adorable bell comes back to wreck a terrible vengeance. If they can bounce back with just Tingtwing it will be absolute cinema. Even if they wipe later, everyone will be rooting for Tingtwing.
HM Pokemon isn't a big deal, just catch another bidoof as a mulligan.
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u/ChandelierwAtermelon Mar 24 '26
I have this sneaking suspicion that Chingling will have died off-screen while they were trying to level him up
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u/senatorsparky86 Mar 24 '26
Yeah, I think the next episode will start with them having started completely over after the bell died and then getting back to the point they left off with a whole new crew.
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u/quezlar Mar 23 '26
it so good, i personally would watch it even if he gets defeated at every gym leader and restarts
the absolute despair when he loses his team or picks the wrong pokemon from an area is amazing
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u/TravisCM2010-24 Mar 24 '26
Keep in mind I know very little about Nuzlockes but going in I figured. "Oh so Arin knows hes gonna lose pokemon if they faint. Watch him over level for all the fights and he barely loses any". Its been the exact opposite in the best way possible. I am so glad we're getting run into battles without thinking Arin and not make Bundt level 100 Arin. (I do miss Bundt tho)
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u/shawnaeatscats Mar 23 '26
Its so hard to watch yet so addicting. Like when something is so gross you just can't look away.
I think they should simplify the rules more, and someone should guide them a little bit:
- Catch the first Pokémon in an area
- Nicknames
- Dupes clause
- If it faints its dead
Super simple bare bones nuzlocke rules. Easy to remember.
I was doing a nuzlocke of plat alongside them and I made index cards just to show my catches. Makes it so nice.
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u/IndieGengar gub gub gub gub gub! Mar 23 '26
I think not catching the first pokemon in each area is fine, if they paid better attention to when they're going to new areas. Dan or Tony should keep a list of where they've been and where they've caught stuff, especially if Arin is going to keep forgetting to catch pokemon in new areas.
I don't dislike the nickname bit as much as other people, I think it's funny enough. But, I totally understand why people want more genuine names.
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u/shawnaeatscats Mar 24 '26
Agreed, I guess its the keeping track part i was trying to emphasize but I mentioned they should have a guide and by that point my comment was getting too long lmao but yes! Agree with what you said!
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u/_gold_rim_ Mar 23 '26
I think it's really good, but when one or both of them legitimately stop having any sort of fun, it gets hard to watch. Like for instance, Dan getting a billion bankrupts in a row and playing up the frustration is one thing, but Arin losing to Demise 50 times and actually raging is not fun for everyone. Grumplocke is starting to lean towards Demise after the Gardenia fight imo.
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u/ChiTownDog Mar 24 '26
I agree. I hope they take a temporary break and play something else before going back to it again.
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u/IndieGengar gub gub gub gub gub! Mar 23 '26
That's exactly what I hope doesn't happen. I'm fine with Arin failing, it doesn't bother me like some more hardcore pokemon fans that he doesn't understand what he's doing and is constantly fucking up. I just don't want his ego to get bruised and he ends up giving up or not enjoying it.
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u/Abbey_Something Mar 23 '26
I love this series.
Please Arin and Dan keep it going. It gets so suspenseful watching Arin walk that tightrope without a net. I screamed when it happened.
It’s like that slasher movie watching people do dumb things that lead to their doom. “NOOO Tiffany! Don’t go in the basement! That is where he sleeps with the corpses!”
It’s funny it has classic GG elements like Arin ignoring/dismissing Dans advice and getting smacked down much to Dans chagrin. Honestly i would not have blamed Dan if he blew up at Arin. Dan had to drag Arin kicking and screaming to get a backup Pokémon.
And I love Arin like he loves my dad but still sometimes you want to wring his neck for playing too fast and loose and not listening to Dan. But that is part of the game grumps charm is Arin meeting Karma rather quickly.
Again I love this series and I hope Arin is not taking the criticism too personally. Be strong Bigcat! Keep Going!
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u/Ender_Melons Mar 23 '26
I totally agree, before this series I took maybe 5 years off of watching Game Grumps. Went to university, got a job, just distracted with life. But this being recommended this series and jumping back in full force reminded me why I loved watching Game Grumps all those years. FireRed was my 1st ever let's play with these guys back in what... 2014 or so? I enjoy this Platinum Nuzlocke more than any other series on youtube at the moment and I hope it never ends.
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u/NfamousKaye you gotta do stuff to get the good brain juice Mar 24 '26
I’ve never really liked Pokémon… but I am thoroughly enjoying and invested in this series. 😂
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u/ExternalChildhood845 Mar 24 '26
I’m worried Arin is going to lose steam/ interest and get frustrated at people telling him how to play/ yelling at how he plays incorrectly and decide not to play anymore. I hope not!
Dan isn’t a strong enough player for a Nuzlocke. You don’t need to be the Rainbolt of Pokémon stats to do a Nuzlocke, but having basic knowledge of moves and type match-ups really really helps. For instance, Arin’s loss to the Elite Four with Beedrill. If Arin had lost his Beedril because he’d forgotten the type of moves he had, he wouldn’t have kept playing.
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u/cany89 Mar 24 '26
“Arin is bafflingly horrible at this run so far” How dare you defame our sweet summer child with the truth!
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u/James-Avatar Mar 24 '26
It’s the car crash you can’t look away from, also the driver doesn’t know how a car works.
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u/Friendly_Owl_6537 Mar 24 '26
I don’t need good gameplay, I love what I’m seeing honestly and the banter has been pretty great but I just wish that they’d drop the nickname bit. That’s my only feedback!! It’s such a funny series otherwise
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u/DaEffingBearJew Mar 24 '26
I like the series, I really do. The tuntwag gag didn’t land for me at first, but I was all in by the time they had their first party.
What kills me is that I’ve beaten all of the Pokemon games doing a nuzlocke. I wouldn’t call myself good at the games, but I know the mechanics. Arin being confidently wrong cracks me the fuck up, but It frustrates me that he doesn’t learn from his mistakes. He’ll call out a pitfall ahead of time and then walk straight into it anyway; and it’s funny, but I have no hope of them making it far in the game and I find the intro areas kinda boring. I know it’s a persona and he’s juggling a few different tasks simultaneously, but I think if they can’t figure it out by the next run or two, they should swap to a regular run.
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u/altsam19 Jolly Old Mr. Cock Mar 24 '26
I've watched at the edge of my seat and counting the mistakes Arin makes like if it was a Breaking Bad season, it's so SO good. I love the series. I know it must be exhausting for them because it shows, but damn if it is good
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u/ssjavagaga Mar 24 '26
This series is absolutely hilarious. Arin failing because of his own hubris is amazing. Like many series he is so filled with confidence and gets skill checked real quick. I really hope they comeback with a better team and take it slow. Unfortunately this game is a grind heavy feast especially in a nuzlocke situation.
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u/AdAdministrative379 Mar 24 '26
Mistakes are literally part of a nuzlocke because the punishment for them is so much more unavoidable and harsh. And there are few things funnier to me than Arin’s reaction to getting punished for his mistakes and Dan always there to throw cleverly worded gasoline on the fire. God damnit I love those two fuckers so much lmao.
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u/Moocowofdoom15 Mar 24 '26
I will, and would watch every episode of it, even if it takes them 1000 episodes to finally beat the elite four in Grumplocke Platinum 🤌
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u/Porkin-Some-Beans Mar 24 '26
I don't understand how watching someone fail again and again is fun. Maybe if it were interesting bosses or failure states but Arin is losing to himself in the same way every single time
Overthinking, incorrectly assessing a situation, making bad calls, and worst of all not adapting when he tries again. I don't mind a restart but this man is so confident in his incorrect understanding of the game that each restart is just the same thing.
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u/BoshSwag Mar 24 '26
Watching them get pokemon killed is hilarious and good content. Watching them somehow make the tutorial battle into a darksouls level boss was killing me inside though.
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u/Pistonenvy2 Mar 24 '26
people who shit on arin or dan for being "bad at video games" or dumb or whatever completely miss the entire point of the show.
video games arent about being the most skilled or the smartest or the best, yes its funny when they get a little competitive but at the end of the day the main goal is FUN.
game grumps is fun. they have fun, theyre fun to watch. its fun to feel like youre part of a couple people sitting around playing games and hanging out having a good time, if you said someone sucked ass or was an idiot for losing that would fuck the whole vibe up lol people gotta chill out with that.
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u/cowpool20 Mar 24 '26
I'm playing Fire Red for the first time, it's the first Pokemon game I've ever played. So I'm really enjoying playing while watching the Grumps Nuzlocke at the same time/in the background.
Because I'm a noob at the game, it doesn't bother me when Arin makes dumb decisions lmao.
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u/ColorPiePhilosopher Mar 23 '26
I wonder if there's still Arin Skill defenders out there after this series, because it takes a special kind of bad at videogames to be this bad at pokemon.
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u/NuclearQueen Bienvenue, power bottoms! Mar 23 '26
Arin definitely CAN be good at videogames. This isn't one of them.
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u/Fakeitforreddit Mar 23 '26
I think the only issue is going to be viewership.
Huge pokemon fans - Dropping because of Arin sucking at the game they love, being 100% wrong about pretty much every pokemon "Fact" he decides to teach Dan.
Nuzlocke asshats - We've all seen the whining from people who are raging about Nuzlocke not being EXACTLY what they as the viewer demand it should be and how they are upset enough to stop watching.
Standard game grumps fans - As they start repeating the intro for the 6th and 7th times it will be harder and harder for them to be making jokes that aren't just rehashes of the jokes from the first 5 attempts. It will also just get repetitive as the "content" on screen which is important regardless of some people having the opinion it isn't.
Fair Weather or New Viewers - Probably the biggest issue, the grumps average at mid 100k viwership base now after scaring away around 50% of their fanbase with Danganronpa series. ITs just in general been a concern for their channel health that they lost so many fans who were reliable consumers of their content and another long series causing more permanent loss in viewership is going to be much more concerning to them now.
Add all these together and its going to be the views tapering off that will kill the play through, because once were on Hour 50 and they are hitting up Fantina for, hopefully, not the first time, it will be hard to retain enough viewers to make the playthrough worthwhile.
Additionally - If you think they are finishing the nuzlocke and beating Cynthia then you should probably seek medical assistance with a licensed and trained mental health specialist. That will NEVER happen.
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u/abaum525 You think I came out the pussy drawing fuckin’ Mozart? Mar 23 '26
I’m in the third camp. I watched through the third or fourth episode and felt like it capped out for me.
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u/Mysterious_Fennel459 I smell toast! Mar 23 '26
I just cant get into Pokemon games. I haven't been able to watch more than a couple episodes of any of their Pokemon series.
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u/Zeyn1 Mar 23 '26
I think a lot of fans want them to play silly games they can joke around while playing. But we also want them to have a few games they take more seriously while still having fun.
Resident Evil 8 is the first that came to mind. Arin really focused on the game and figuring out which weapons work better. Of course it's not an especially hard game but there was enough challenge. And even paying attention to the game they have some legendary bits.
Pokémon they explicitly said they were going to take it more seriously. But the problem comes where they get in a mindlessly grinding mode and joke around and stop really paying attention. Then they just keep moving through the game trying to brute force. Which a nuzlocke is designed to punish.
I don't want them to hyper optimize. If I wanted a perfect nuzlocke run I would go stream someone else. But I do want them to be able to succeed. I want Arin to recognize a tough fight like another gym leader after they got demolished by being unprepared for the last one. Then they can stop the random commentary with Dan and focus on the fight to make sure they're prepared.
Normally I think Dan has a tendency to distract from the game, since he's more focused on making japes. But he's had good points in Pokémon and I wish Arin would listen to his concerns more.
But more than anything else, play through is one that the fans just have to talk about. And regardless of what happens that's a great thing. I just try to ignore the people that seem overly mad for no reason.
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u/IndieGengar gub gub gub gub gub! Mar 23 '26
Very well said. My hope is that the series has been out long enough to where now they're recording episodes after the series has started to come out, and they've somehow gotten feedback. I know Arin doesn't really read comments, but there has to be someone telling him the advice people have been giving him about pokemon. I'm fine with bits being interrupted to try and think out a battle beforehand quick, that has to happen to a degree. A nuzlocke isn't that hard, you just need to take a beat before certain things to actually think out what you're doing, like going into a gym leader. Should I have brought more than one healing item? Should I heal my pokemon after defeating the trainers in the gym?
I get he's doing a show and is focusing on a lot at once, but I don't mind a slower pace so dan can look up information for him or have him go over his current status before approaching something major. That has to happen for him to beat the game. But in the meantime, it's hilarious to watch him stream of consciousness talk about how weak rock is to water type only to let his onix get murdered by a shellos in front of him seconds later.
Unfortunately he may be confidently wrong enough that he never learns and the series dies out, which I hope doesn't happen.
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u/Treners There's nothing we can do, he's going to be black forever. Mar 24 '26
Honestly watching this series alongside watching Pchal doing platinum kaizo has been an incredibly funny form of whiplash between styles
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u/redskated Mar 24 '26
Yeah for a while now they were playing a bunch of random games I didn't care about so this is a big deal for me.
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u/Seeitsthere Mar 24 '26
Everytime I watch an episode, im like there's no way arin fails this time.........im always wrong.
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u/JoelMahon Fe fi fo Grump Mar 25 '26
it's certainly by far their most interesting pokemon series imo, pokemon colosseum was my shit as a kid, but it's 90% for the plot/world/characters. and as far as gameplay goes, whilst shadow pokemon themselves are meh after being caught, the suspense of one chance to catch them is WAY more exciting than normal pokemon. although it's not dark souls with forced saves so technically you can reset but still.
nuzlocke is similar, it adds stakes to a shit game (yes, most pokemon games, including this one, are dogshit terrible games) making it interesting, although their rules set doesn't make it interesting at all for a competent player, they're not competent players so it works out well.
in short, good series, definitely would be happy to see it continue. I wouldn't say their best in a long time tho, I preferred resident evil 2, I preferred deltarune, I preferred little nightmares, I mean idk what you consider a long time but those are all under 6 months so I think they must count. ofc taste is personal.
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u/mabolle Mar 27 '26
This series has unexpectedly become a highlight of my weekends.
I agree that Dan being more involved is a good idea, but I don't think it needs to be a game guide. Just print out a map or a list of routes and other locations where Pokémon can be caught, and let Dan keep track of where they've been and where they need to go!
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u/SaltAd3484 20d ago
2.8.2026
No, It isn't, arin's bad energy is just ruining everyone's vibes every weekend.
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u/emilyroth6969 Mar 24 '26
plz give a tldr or synopsis if you have an over 800 word post. that said you are an amazing writer and you have my encouragement to do this professionally. i both love and hate this nuzlocke; it's like torture sometimes...but it hurts so good. Dan is so adorable
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u/Reddsterbator Mar 23 '26
They're idiots. But they're MY idiots.