Rob reviews YouTubers Life 2 on Xbox Series X...
We currently live in a world where Internet stardom is part and parcel of life. Platforms such as YouTube, Twitch, Instagram, and Tiktok offer numerous ways to create various content for potential viewers. But being an Internet personality is quite hard work. While many believe that it's just as simple as playing video games and talking a load of nonsense to an online audience. It's incredibly hard work that not only demands a lot of time but there's never a guarantee that you'll "make it". Not only that you'll need to keep up with current trends, as well as audience engagement, and that all important networking.
Youtubers Life 2 takes a somewhat cliché look at what being an Internet star means. While it's certainly not a simulation, it is an over the top exaggeration of Internet life. You could say rather than being a game it's a look into the brain of every 12-year old Fortnite player, and their weird outlook on being the next big thing.
Am I'm being overly critical?
To be fair Youtubers Life 2 is as close to a weird Animal Crossing/Stardew Valley hybrid as it is to real life. While the original Youtubers Life OMG! Edition had us sitting in the confines of a bedroom, this time around we're thrown into the dizzying heights of NewTube City. Once you've chosen which district to live in - Downtown, Port, or City Hall - your manager and best friend - Xavier then hands you a drone. This drone (which you can name) will then follow you around NewTube City and allows you to interact with the inhabitants in that influencer way.
The main bulk of the "story" is to gain as many followers as you can while keeping them happy and entertained. This is managed by constantly grinding out content whilst keeping up with social media, and doing tasks around the city to finance your dream. It's certainly a challenge as you'll be managing both your real and virtual lives simultaneously.
As in real life, to make it as an influencer you'll be recording content in several ways. It's not overly obvious how you achieve this, but with plenty of trial and error things slowly click into place. Once you've recorded your content, it's then over to the painstakingly difficult editing to then put everything together. This works in much the same way as that seen in YouTubers Life OMG! Edition and is very much as painful.
Video clips are separated into four segments with each resembling a jigsaw piece. Much like a jigsaw - to get the best results these clips have to fit together. The problem here is that they quite often don't, which drastically lowers your overall grade. It can become quite infuriating as you'll often get a 5-star recording just to see it diminish when it comes to the RNG of editing. As you progress it does become easier for clips to connect, yet it never feels anything but random in its design.
Another gameplay mechanic is "daily trends". Sticking to these trending topics will allow your content to reach as many potential subscribers as possible. The current trends are shown via your in-game journal which is accessible at all times - unless your editing. I found it easier to focus on a couple of these trends rather than trying to appease everyone. While it felt more of a grind it was certainly easier.
You'll also have to wrestle with fatigue as you only have a small energy pool that dictates what you can do in a day. Much like in Stardew Valley, every action takes a chunk of energy and as such days can end with you doing as little as recording a video. You can purchase food that allows you to regain some energy, but during the opening few hours the need to grind out money un-fairly locks you out of exploring the one thing Youtubers Life 2 does well.
NewTube City is arguably the titles greatest asset. This sprawling city is filled to bursting point with things to see and do. Each of the three districts features various shops, clubs, café, and restaurants for you to visit. There are also various 'hot spot' locations littered around which allow you to stop and film content if you choose to. There's also plenty of NPC's to interact with too, yet your dialogue options are pretty vague. For example, characters can take an instant dislike to you before you've interacted with them. You're also given a list of each character likes and dislikes, as well as their current dating status - cause everyone has to have some romance...even budding influencers.
As you progress through your influencer career you'll also be able to meet up with real YouTube stars. At one point your character teams up with PewDiePie to hunt down a gang of crooks. Naturally, fans of PewDiePie will lap this content up, but to me, it felt a little pointless and unnecessary. If anything a better use would have been to have PewDiePie as a tutorial character, as to whether you are a fan or not, he has it sussed when it comes to content creation.
All in all, where YouTubers Life 2 is a step-up from the previous title, it's also let down by the same problems. The lack of any tutorial leaves plenty of the games opening hours to trial and error. Which sadly sucks any enjoyment out of the game and leaves you with the constant mundane existence of eat-sleep-edit-repeat. The energy system is also unfair as it also works against you. However, once you're able to explore NewTube City is the games crown jewel. It's a vibrant game world that's full of things to see and do. With plenty of real-world "celebs" to mingle with there's something here for any YouTube fan to enjoy. But if you're an old stick in the mud like myself, you'll wonder what all the fuss is about.
Rating: 7/10
YouTubers Life 2 is out now and can be purchased via the Microsoft Store by clicking here.
A code was kindly provided for this review.
Rob Lake - For more comic book and video game chat why not follow Geek Culture Reviews on Twitter and Facebook @GeekCultureRev
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