What's makes a good Let's Play good?

[JFKRowling]

As a huge fan of the Rooster Teeth (Achievement Hunter) let's plays, I think that humor and intelligent editing are the two most important things in a let's play video. Be yourselves. Don't necessarily let the choice of game or what's happening (which are kind of secondary) dictate your commentary. There are a lot of let's plays out there for almost any game that you will select, so your personalities will be what draws an audience. My personal preference in let's play videos is for humor, so that's what I recommend, but play to the strengths of your group, be they humorous banter, non-sequiturs, or serious commentary on the subject material. Most importantly, given the absurdly large amount of content that you have to compete with, especially on YouTube, try to find and cultivate any "x-factor" that you can that will separate you from the crowd.

 

[ATRAYA]

I watch LPs pretty much all day, so I think I have a pretty good grasp on the medium. And really, it depends on what you're going for.
Are you the role-player, like Rythian of the Yogscast? If so, you have to be very invested in the games you play - immerse yourself completely, and make sure you play games that focus more on story than anything else. You have to pretend you ARE the character.
Are you the joke-maker, like Jesse Cox of OMFGCata? If so, you must always be ready with witty things to say, and if you can't pull that off, you may as well flush your series down the toilet.
Are you the multi-player, like Duncan, Simon, and Lewis of the Yogscast (they tend to play together a lot, at any rate)? If so, make sure your friends are somewhat varied in their personae. For instance, if everyone you're playing with is a massive troll/noob/stoner, your series will suffer. Have a friend for each (or whatever other personalities you want, not necessarily those negative ones), and take the chemistry into account. Just because YOU laugh at everything your one friend says, doesn't mean the audience or other members of your party will respond in the same way. The coop experience in LPs should make the audience feel as "in" with your group as you are.
Of course there are other ways you could go, like the walk-througher, who shows you how to complete absolutely EVERYTHING in a game and will show you cut-content and hidden lore and all that. And you can cross into multiple types of any of these fairly easily, so long as you know what you're doing.
Another tip: don't try to BE somebody else (i.e., acting ridiculously annoying like PewDiePie or some other famous YouTuber). I only listed the people above as examples; a template through which you may critique and tweak your OWN work, not mirror theirs. There are millions of LPers out there who are trying to be somebody else and they ALL suck.
And remember: if you're not having fun, the audience isn't either. If a game is too frustrating, or you simply can't say enough about it to keep the commentary interesting, just move on to another game.

There's also the general stuff that's true of any uploader: make sure your mic is HIGH QUALITY. NO EXCEPTIONS. Always upload in at least 720p, and make sure your video fits the screen properly and the like. You want your stuff to look as professional as possible.

I always kind of wanted to dabble into LPs and game reviews myself, but I just haven't the time or proper working environments right now. After college, it may be a different story, but then again I may be too busy MAKING games to review them. :/
If I was to do an LP, it would be a cross between the walk-througher and the joke-maker, for sure.

 

[Sectan]

I didn't read through the comments because I'm just lazy. All I can really think of is a few that I like.

A let's play doesn't have to be all WHOOOAH WAAAAHT SO FUNNY! You can have more laid back commentary and still be interesting to watch.

It's totally cool if you want to play the latest big release, but realize you'll be going up against all of the big names. Making a niche for yourself with your games will probably help in grabbing someone's attention. Plus your games list looks pretty good as I haven't seen too many of them LPd to death. Biggest thing after all of those is make sure you're at least acquainted with a game before you jump in. It can turn me off of an LP if someone's totally shit at a game because they didn't read the tutorials.


On the quality side just make sure you have a clear mic and good video recording software.


BTW what channel are you planning to start on? I would be happy to give it a bookmark and take a looksee.

 

[Bruce]

I generally find they are better if the game itself doesn't have that much of a plot, particularly if the people doing the Lets Play can make a story of it.

 

[Mocmocman]

* Make it look good. I Have a good frame rate, play on fairly high, if not maxed-out, graphics, use good recording software, etc. If I'm watching something, I would like it to look nice, or at least not jarring.
* Make it sound nice. It doesn't matter how good your commentary is if it's too painful to listen to.
* Don't have too long of videos. At least not to start out with. If I don't know you then I don't think that I'm going to watch the video if it's 2 hours long.
* Edit the video.I don't mind if I miss out on the boring parts, so don't feel afraid to cut them out.
* Don't try to be some other channel. Why would I watch someone trying to be, let's say, Nerd^3 when I could watch Nerd^3.
* Have fun. Maybe there's a massive untapped demographic of people that hate seeing people enjoy something, and you could net them in by the hundreds by ignoring this piece of advice, but I doubt it.

Um, yeah, that's about it for now. I wish you luck on your endeavor, and I probably will check it out.

 

[Snotnarok]

+Good microphone
+No ear rape screaming
+Non irritating voice
LPer not being forceful with their dialogue, you know where it just comes out as forced or awkward.

 

[Alfador_VII]

Lots of good advice here, especially the good audio equipement, and no yelling your heard off at each other. Also although you don't only have to talk about the game, you shouldn't just avoid talking about it either.

Another game not to play is Minecraft, yes it's good to LP, but there's so many people on the bandwagon that the wheels fell off ages ago.

Also don't be Pewdiepie, or anything like him.

Be yourself, don't put on silly voices all the time, or scream for no reason.

As for accent, well it doesn't matter what your accents are, you'll get a LARGE number of comments hating on them. But if that's all they can find fault with, you're probably on the right track

 

[Da Orky Man]

You need a good, clear voice, preferably a British accent for LPs in English.
Decent-quality recording equipment. Nothing hugely expensive, but it really ruins an otherwise good LP if you can scarcely here what the player is saying.
Comedy. This is more a personal thing than the others, but I only really watch LPs with humour. TotalBiscuit is a good compromise, with a good, solid description of the game itself interjected with sarcasm, wit and irony.
If doing a horror LP, I much prefer the ones with facecam. Much better to be able to see the player's face freeze on the slightest hint of something in Amnesia.