Your favorite youtube "Let's Play" series and why.

I've recently been growing an interest in this addicting side of gaming that consists of watching others play. In the past my idea of Lets Plays was that it's just boring people who record their gameplay and expect others to sit there doing nothing and watching them run and gun or something along those lines, but after watching a couple of speedruns of games such as Super Mario 64 and Dark Souls, I found that watching another person play a game, how they approach different situations and how they like to do things, is quite intriguing. 
 
I haven't watched many of them, only about a dozen, most of which bored me off rather quickly, including a silent Max Payne series, a series where an obnoxious dudebro plays Dead Rising 2, and one where some loud kid attempts to play Dead Space 2 and scream into the microphone. 
However, I have found a couple that totally hit the spot, where I'd just lay in bed at night or in the morning with my headphones on, watching the gameplay and enjoying the fitting commentary. It's become what I enjoy doing when I wanna be in a gaming atmosphere but am not in the mood to shoot anyone or swing my sword at anything. 
  
The first one is Robbaz' Let's Play of Nightmare House 2, a Half-Life 2 horror mod. 

Damn I guess I need to start doing that Let's Play again

Thanks Metallic

You might want to try out the LP Archive, since that's where you'll find a ton of the good LPs out there. However, about YouTube:

• DeceasedCrab's Cocoron. Perfect amount of personality between the player and the game.
• Uh.......I can't really name any others. KingBroly's LP of Fire Emblem 4 might count, since it's actually a good FE4 LP (trust me, they're hard to find), but he never finished it.

Tobuscuas

Not a fan of a specific series by AccountingNightmare but I find her playthroughs of the Devil May Cry games very impressive. I think they're very informative and very fun watching how insanely good she is at those games. I also found Hamst3r's Amnesia playthrough great as well. Amazing that while watching someone else play the game I was scared even with the sexy voice of Hamst3r chiming in from time to time.

I've been a fan of Vash12349 ever since his GodHand videos. Very comedic and his PS3 videos allow me to check out games I don't buy.

@Dagbiker said:

Tobuscuas

Kikoskia and Hamst3r

@ESREVER said:

@Dagbiker said:

Tobuscuas

Kikoskia and Hamst3r

Anything by Kikoskia, really. He's the only LP dude I can tolerate, or even like. He's awesome.

Watch TotalBiscuit and Jesse Cox play Terraria. It's hilarious.

OMFGCata, PlumpHelmetPunk, and Jefmajor for me.

OMFG for his quality content, Plump for his rather calming voice, and Jef for his awesomely random indie games.

I'm asking for specific series of specific games like the examples I gave, not Lets Play personalities

@McGhee said:

Watch TotalBiscuit and Jesse Cox play Terraria. It's hilarious.

Also, in this group of dudes, the Yogscast guys make some hilarious Minecraft stuff.

YouTube mikelat, I liked his early stuff when he talked about tf2 but his newer stuff is meh to me.

I'm "new" to the LP thing also, so far my favorite playthroughs are from(random order): Tetraninja, HardangelfanLP, CrumbsSlayer, Barnif85, Getsumara, Jestem135... some of these might not be a part of the official LP club -in fact, some uploaders there i find annoying or boring-. And favorite videos? there's many i like, too many games to list: L.A Noire, Yakuza, Heavy Rain, Mafia 2, Farenheit... Just search in Youtube for: playthroughs, walkthroughs, endurance run or gameplay videos.

SPECIFIC SERIES, NOT LP PERSONALITIES, BRO

ChipCheezum uploaded all of his LPs to youtube awhile ago, so those I guess

@AhmadMetallic said:

I'm asking for specific series of specific games like the examples I gave, not Lets Play personalities

Alright then, here's some:

OMFGCata's Lord of The Rings War in The North (awesome CO-OP commentary and good laughs) and The Witcher 2 (filled with nice blind-play through fuck ups)

PlumpHelmetPunk's Sid Meier's Pirates Gold (great pirate fun) and Rune Factory 3 (harvest moon is the shit)

Jefmajor's Assassin's Creed (awesome mix between stupid fun and looking into some of the more serious parts of the game) and Black and White (just dumb fun)

also try out

Veriax's Interactive Morrowind (cool viewer-player interaction)

GrimithR's Emperor- Battle for Dune (strange humor, might not be for everyone)

Do they have to be videos? Because TheDarkId is still the best not-Giant Bomb LP personality I've found. His Drakengard playthrough in particular is amazing.

Chip and Ironicus plays 50cent: Blood on the Sand.

It's just plain awesome, the game is awesome, the commentary is awesome.

Watch it naaaaow.

Cholera Ninjas Paper Mario LP.

Missed the only two suggestions and description part of the post.

I put in a small description into my post and I think the fact that no one else is posting any actual links should make up for me posting too many.

This is the only "Let's Play" I've seen from beginning to end, I really enjoyed it, the guy goes all out trying to make sense of what's happening in this whole game. He makes fun of how terrible the whole game is, but at the same time, he explains with depth about the Silent Hill games and how little this game relates to it. I highly recommend it!

I like Kaseius.  I like it when he plays Raw Danger.
I won't say why though.
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUqidYBn9T4&feature=results_main&playnext=1&list=PL321FA6DD6505527B

TheAuZZieGamer has LPs for a couple of games stuff like Hitman: Blood Money, Splinter Cell: Conviction and Perfect Dark on the 360. He's pretty entertaining. I personally watch him for his MP stuff, always good to learn some tips and tricks.

Hamst3r's Super Meat Boy lets play.

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLE69B2FFC45F2A03E

SpoonyOnes Lets play of Phantasmogoria II: A Puzzle of the Flesh is by far the most entertaining LP I've seen. It's so hilarious. I watch it every so often it's that good.

Here's the first hour http://spoonyexperiment.com/2008/10/21/lets-play-phantasmagoria-2-a-puzzle-of-flesh-hour-1/ to get you on your way.

Hamst3r and ChipCheezum are both great LPers.

I think my favorite is the MGS2 LP by Chip & Ironicus.

Chip puts a lot of work into his LPs with great editing, multiple encodes and dual audio for people who don't mind commentary during a cut scene.

Slowbeef has a really good Snatcher LP as well.

@jtman54179 said:

I've been a fan of Vash12349 ever since his GodHand videos. Very comedic and his PS3 videos allow me to check out games I don't buy.

I second this dude's post. Vash is a pretty chill dude with some quality humor.

Oh and Spoonys Final Fantasy reviews are great too. His first and best one is the Lets play/review of FFVIII. Quite hilarious. Not a full LP but still entertaining nonetheless. Here's part 1. http://spoonyexperiment.com/2007/04/04/final-fantasy-viii-review-part-1/

SpoonyOnes Lets play of Phantasmogoria II: A Puzzle of the Flesh is by far the most entertaining LP I've seen. It's so hilarious. I watch it every so often it's that good.

Here's the first hour http://spoonyexperiment.com/2008/10/21/lets-play-phantasmagoria-2-a-puzzle-of-flesh-hour-1/ to get you on your way.

Tobuscuas

Well, besides EVERY SINGLE ONE OF MY SERIES (except not really.), I really like any Chip/Ironicus Suda51 LP, Freelance Astronauts Karaoke Revolution/Vice City, and HiLeonardo Little King's Story.

No links because I'm lazy.

lololol youtube LP'ers are terrible

Have you ever wanted to see a complete pussy play doom 3?? Aplfishers play through is for you then.

@Dagbiker said:

Tobuscuas

I was gonna say that.  Recently he's started to make some rather risque jokes.  Hilarity. 
 
FOR AHMAD'S BENEFIT:-
 
Toby is running four LP's at the moment, Ass Creed Rev, Skyrim, Minecraft and Terraria, but I personally love his Ass Creed and Terraria ones.
 
  

For screenshot LPs- I will agree with an earlier poster, you won't find much better than TheDarkId's LPs. (Most of which- if not all of them- are on the LP archive) Just be warned- his LPs tend to be LONG. :P

There is also a really good screenshot LP of X-com: UFO Defense on the LP archive. :D

For video LPs with subtitles instead of voices (If voices in general annoy you :P ), I'd suggest Malorie's LPs of Alone in the Dark 1 and 2. I actually remember those to be pretty decent- despite their reliance on subtitles. (Both of these LPs are on the LP Archive)

For Youtube LPers... Total Biscuit's cooperative LPs with Jesse from OMFGCata or the Yogscast are quite good. For an actual LPer though, Kikoskia is one of the better choices I've seen. Especially since his co-op LPs and three X-com LPs are pure gold. XD

Whatever you decide to watch though- you can't consider yourself a serious LP watcher if you haven't watched a Sonic 06 LP. >:D

I suggest either Pokecapn's LP of it on the LP Archive, or Hellfire Commentaries' playthrough of it on Youtube. I've watched both and they are both awesome in their own ways. ^_^

I haven't been into LPs for very long, but I really enjoyed L0rdVega's LP of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. I wouldn't say he was especially proficient at it, but overall it was a pretty solid run through of the main campaign. The thing that usually ruins an LP for me is overly critical sarcasm or outright hatred in an attempt to be funny. It doesn't make sense to be doing an LP if you just want to be cynical about the game. Go play something you enjoy, maybe? That being said, I think L0rdVega's commentary was generally successful at making light of a lot of the more serious aspects of the game's story/dialogue. Because as much as I love TES, it's just hilarious at times.

I also really got into this 3-person co-op LP of The Lost Vikings during my last finals week of undergrad last year. It's chill enough to play in the background while studying or whatever, but engaging and funny enough for me to actually watch a game I've personally played countless times. I wouldn't say there's a ton of depth to the game or the commentary, though, so I guess it might only be enjoyable if you love this platformer as much as I do.

If you watch only one let's play this year (And really, I wouldn't um... uh... bother uh... *cough* uh... um... well, like... you know... like... watch any um... more. *snort*) make it this one!

@Hyperglide said:

SpoonyOnes Lets play of Phantasmogoria II: A Puzzle of the Flesh is by far the most entertaining LP I've seen. It's so hilarious. I watch it every so often it's that good.

Here's the first hour http://spoonyexperiment.com/2008/10/21/lets-play-phantasmagoria-2-a-puzzle-of-flesh-hour-1/ to get you on your way.

I was going to post that

His Ripper LP is also very entertaining. You can't go wrong with a FMV game featuring Christopher Walken.

Here's the first twenty minutes : http://spoonyexperiment.com/2009/08/19/lets-riff-on-ripper-act-1-part-1/

I like JefMajor he's not the best at games but his videos are dumb fun to watch, especially his Mount & Blade LP and weirdly his Bridge IT! LP

Other good ones are slowbeef's and Diabetus' LP of Dead to Rights and Dead to Rights Retribution

Research Indicates' LP of Jurassic Park Trespasser is fantastic

And just check out Chip and Ironicus' LP website, it's full of brilliant stuff (highlights are: Uncharted 1 & 2, 50Cent Blood on the Sand and Cabella's Dangerous Hunts)

I've been watching Gix's YouTube vids for a couple of years. He does ES games and has ongoing playthroughs of Morrowind, Oblivion and Skyrim . His personality is a little dry but he a meticulous playstyle makes things interesting.

Edit: Can someone point me to a good Demon's Souls LP? Not a speed run (those bore me) but someone less experienced who has to work through challenges the game presents. Thanks!

Day9's Amnesia playthrough is hilarious.

theradbrad 
His Dead Space 2 Let's Play is probably the first Lets Play series Ive ever watched.  I like how he doesnt talk during the cutscenes 
  

I can't stand the majority of who do Let's Plays......the only person I found interesting was some guy who did a let's play of a reverse boss order Super Metroid run, but that was the only let's play he did unfortunately.

I pretty much never watch Let's Plays but the one that I love to death is NintendoCentral's (now known as MilkWad) playthrough of RE4.

Mike and Geoff from Achievement Hunter doing Lets play Saints Row the Third.

This one is really fucking weird

Also, retsupurae is quite funny, they take the piss out of bad youtube LPs like the one above.

I've watched very few of these, but I did really enjoy NanosuitNinja's Crysis Ironman series.  This dude has played a lot of Crysis, and it's interesting to watch somebody who has really dedicated themselves to knowing the shit out of one game.  He's also got a Warhead Let's Play, and I think there's a Crysis 2 one now as well.
 
I'm about to start watching an Evochron Mercenary Let's Play that I've recently stumbled upon.  He's only got four sessions up so far, and I have no idea if they're any good.  I'm going to watch the first one tomorrow after work.

Wikigameguides "Drink Alongs" are really entertaining. It is basically a let's play where they get really drunk and take a drink after common things in video games like ladders, or ammo crates, or other random stuff for each game. They also have a great sense of humor.

http://wikigameguides.com/