HCBailly

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.
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I "Let's Play" video games in a walkthrough/commentary format for your entertainment and my own.
—The description of his YouTube channel

HCBailly produces Let's Play video series on YouTube for many Eastern RPG and S/NES-age Action RPG video games. Most of his LPs are for Squaresoft, Enix, and Square-Enix games, with the bulk of his library consisting in games from the 8- and 16-bit eras; however as shown in the list below, he has done LPs for games from other publishers and for other consoles as well, Final Fantasy XIII being his first LP for a current-generational console game.

The focus in his LPs lies mainly on information and completeness; as the channel description quote indicates, they are quite similar to a Walkthrough, though they still contain the humour, opinions and fridge observations usually found in Let's Plays. All of his series are for games he has played numerous times before, not only in his childhood (as with the older classics), but also in preparatory test-runs for the LP series. Having familiarized himself with these games, his LPs typically exemplify all the methods and secrets needed to achieve 100% Completion and Game-Breaking allocations of stats and resources, with minimal to zero Level Grinding whenever possible. He even explains how the game works and takes time to figure out how they work; which will help others play the game.

He also composed songs on Mario Paint.

His real name is Henri Carl Bailly. He revealed what H means in his Terranigma LP, and he revealed what the C meant in his very first episode of Seiken Densetsu 3 (surprisingly, it didn't turn out to be 'Cliff Hanger' or 'Catch Phrase').

His channel. He is also a member of The Game Station.

Has a page for all his catchphrases right over heeeere.

Games he's played, in alphabetical order:

Games in preparation, in alphabetical order:

Games he's highly considering Let's Plays for, in alphabetical order:

HCBailly provides examples of the following tropes:

As we all know, rumours and legends in jRPGs are always 100% accurate.

  • Alternate Ending: To the second-to-last episode of the Crystalis LP, in which HC and the boss have a funny conversation.
    • Though not exactly an ending, there's an alternate entire video of what the death of Aerith would've been like if HC was talking throughout the whole thing like normal.
    • He does an alternate cut of his reaction to Golbez's introduction where he makes jokes the whole time.
  • Anticlimax Boss: In-Universe, his opinion of Final Fantasy XIII's final boss.

"It's time for the joke final battle!"

  • Uploader Appeal: Green hair, like Rydia.
    • He's also mentioned that he can give a game that's not very good a pass as long as it has good battle mechanics, witty dialogue, fun puzzles to solve, fun exploration, or a great soundtrack.
    • Then there's if the game allows you to tank damage or if there's an ice level.
  • Ax Crazy: A little bit.

"You get to live. ... For now."

Beginning:
HC: Hullo, this is HCBailly.
JB: And I'm having a nice, tasty beverage.
Ending:
HC: I'm HCBailly.
JB: And my drink's empty...
HC: Signing off. Have a good day!

HC: (mentions not wanting to do something)
JB: Quit being a wussy.

Like all good bosses, he (explodes/melts/shatters/...)

  • Cliff Hanger: Darn near every video, even his FAQ on himself. He really, really enjoys these.
    • Notable subversion, in one episode of Seiken Densetsu 3, HC is just about to do a cliffhanger, when JB accidentally walks into the next area of the level, causing HC to have to extend the episode with a boss fight.
  • Completely Missing the Point: At one point in Seiken Densetsu 3, he doesn't know why monsters in a certain elemental environment wouldn't be weak to their respective element, thinking they're weaker from heavy exposure to it. JB tries to tell him why, but ultimately abandons it.
  • Crowning Music of Awesome: Points them out and occasionally creates his own, i.e. here.
  • Curb Stomp Battle: Makes short work of Cagnazzo, thanks mostly to Tellah's spells.
  • Deadpan Snarker: His brother pulls this off whenever he's around.
  • Demonic Spiders: Cockatrices, Red Magi, Ashasins , Green Dragons and Gold Batboons, between others.
  • Dissimile: Some of his "X are like Y. Except they kill you!" similes.
  • Doing It for the Art: In the finale to Final Fantasy Tactics he mentions a new sound setup with a comma in the price tag.
  • Dull Surprise: Part of his mild Early Installment Weirdness: "And we get a (treasure), yaaay." Not that it wasn't still funny...
  • Evil Laugh: Whenever he ends on a cliffhanger and is feeling particularly troll-ish that day.
    • Whenever he utterly obliterates an enemy.
    • JB has a quiet one.
  • The Faceless: Up until very recently, but finally averted.
  • Foreshadowing: He often foreshadows what'll happen in other games; as well as what might happen in the future. Commonly, he says "If only there was some way I could get past this obstacle/some power that would do this/weapon that would help my situation."
    • Often he will make a pun that relates to something he will be doing so that those familiar with the game know what to expect without ruining it for newcomers.
  • Four Point Scale: During the credits, he reviews the game he just played, and a 7 is about the lowest he ever goes. Though it's justified since he only plays games that he really likes.
  • Fridge Logic: A mini-rant about how useless a dragoon's heavy armor would be if they're always jumping out of range of enemy attacks.
    • In The After Years, he points out that if Yang's ship had lost speed because of damage, that would be fine. Instead, the ship is losing speed because the fuel tank has been damaged. On a sailing ship. Cue Head Desk, three times.
  • Fun with Acronyms: During Seiken Densetsu 3, HC tells his brother to kill a certain enemy last because of the item they'd drop. JB tries to explain it, but it goes right over his head.

JB: There's always some POS item you have to get.

Voice: Who is arousing me from my sleep?

HCBailly: Heheh.

HC: And she cried.
JB: How hard should I punch him, viewers?

HC: Or will Baron throw a MONK-ey wrench into our plans? (foreshadowing the fight against Yang in Baron)
HC: Or will Baron's army deliver us a crushing defeat? (foreshadowing Cagnazzo's attempt at ending the lives of the heroes)
HC: Can this game get any edgier? (foreshadowing the arrival of Edge, a ninja of Eblan)

I don't know why lava is so popular in video games...

  • Let's Play: Yeah, but occasionally posts videos about his progress in random games like Minecraft, or "FAQ Me" videos in which he answers questions asked by his viewers, or more recently his occasional blog videos.
  • Level Grinding: Usually averted. He demonstrates stat- and resource-allocations which allow you to bypass grinding, assuming you engage (rather than run from) all the enemies randomly encountered while traveling from Point A to Point B and during dungeon exploration.
    • With older RPGs which necessitate grinding, he will lampshade it in the opening: "Are you ready for massive level grinding??!!"
    • In his Final Fantasy V LP, which requires some targeted grinding, he conveniently breaks the grinding down into neat little evenly spaced 5-10 minute portions so that it's ... less of a grind. Thanks HC!
  • Made of Iron: Lampshaded with RPG characters, who can apparently survive any fall or explosion.
  • Man Behind the Man: He often talks about the "bad guy" and the "real bad guy", especially in Final Fantasy games.
  • Most Annoying Sound: Delita's reed flute was this to him in Final Fantasy Tactics.
  • News Travels Fast: He often references this, for example here.
  • Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: He often discusses and criticizes this trope.

As you all know, in RPGs you'd be better off if you just never got involved in the plot at all, because the villain is trying to manipulate you into helping them.

  • Nostalgia Filter: He often has these mocking spiels of "Back in my day, we....and WE LIKED IT!". However, brilliantly averted when, during Crystalis, he went on a spiel about how there were no save points mid-dungeon and if you died at the boss, you had to trek all the way through the dungeon again. Right as he's about to say that they liked it, he interrupts himself and says, "Actually...no, we didn't."
    • His word on most modern JRPG's in general. He does play them and like some, but it's clear as day that he finds a good majority of them to be inferior to the SNES-era ones.
  • Obfuscating Stupidity: HCBailly will often feign ignorance to the plot of the game he is playing, even though he has already played the game numerous times in preparation for the Let's Play, so that he doesn't spoil future events.

HC: I'm sure that's not true.

HC: Oh, blow me if you don't know who [the Man in Black] is!

"It has a 94% chance of hitting, so it should--"
*Missed!*
WHAT THE HELL, GAME?!?!? (he had to dampen the sound so it didn't damage anyone else's speakers.)

HC: FUCK YOU AND DIE!

HC: YOU'RE FUCKING KIDDING ME! THE OWL?! THE OWL IS THE REAL FINAL BOSS?! REALLY, GAME?!

HC: What the fuck is that?!]]

    • During the LP of Final Fantasy V, he pulled an Atomic F-Bomb, with his impression about Exdeath revealing itself when he was disguised as a splinter, to show he survived the last battle against the heroes.

HC: YOU'RE FUCKING KIDDING ME! He disguised himself as a splinter, because he was a tree! Come on, game! Come on! What the hell!? We defeated him already!

HC: YOU'RE FUCKING KIDDING ME! A SPACESHIP?! Right THERE?! Waiting for us?! In our general direction?! Of course! Why not?!

HC: Really game? Really? The fate of the world hangs in the balance depending on who I choose to watch the FUCKING FIRE. This is ludicrous!

    • And who can forget his suffering about rebuilding the bridge to Arus in the Lufia LP?

HC: YOU'RE FUCKING KIDDING ME! WHY!? Just fix the damn bridge!! What's wrong with you?

  • "Previously On...": When recapping a previous video's events, he usually plays small clips with movie quotes, or maybe even just with movie quotes. Like this one for Final Fantasy VI.
    • But in recent days, he doesn't put clips of movies due to copyright issues. Ever then, he has made some, like this for the Final Fantasy IV: The Complete Collection LP, to prove he doesn't need clips to reference movie quotes or such.
  • Punctuated! For! Emphasis!: Generally does a variation of this whenever he says the name of the game he's currently playing in his videos.
    • In Seiken Densetsu 3, one antagonist cannot be killed or else a sympathetic character will also be killed due to a curse.

HC: Wouldn't she be a lot easier to kill?
JB: Not really preferable.
HC: Of course not, but the world's coming to an end. Gotta do what you gotta do. Take one for the team!
JB: ... Not. Really. Preferable.

  • Retsupurae: A target of a couple of their videos. One of their more Base Breaker videos, given there seem to be more people in the comments defending him than usual.
  • The Reveal: In his FAQ video, he showed a picture of himself from a few years previously. Then on 2012 new year, he finally shows his face to his fans, who have been wondering for a long time. The page image might have spoiled it though. Here you go.
  • Rule 34: JB guesses that this applies to HC now that he's shown his face.
  • Running Gag: For a few episodes in a row during the Seiken Densetsu 3 LP, it will open like this:

HC: Hello, I'm HCBailly.
JB: And I'm (something different each time).

HC: I hate the Laws of Probability!

  • The Scrappy: Doesn't care for Cait Sith.
  • Scrappy Level: The cave to Arus in Lufia, but mentions how it's the only truly low point of the game compared to everything else and isn't too long.
  • Scrappy Mechanic: Randomly generated dungeons and the aforementioned Guardian Acorns.
    • Subverted in Dragon Quest IV: he doesn't mind the Tactics system of the NES version as much as other people seem to. For those curious, in the NES version of the game, you could not directly control anyone aside from the main character in Chapter 5, so you had to set their Tactics instead.
  • Self-Deprecation: His intro to the beginning of the Dragon Quest IV LP.

"And now, for another edition of Square-Enix Fanboy."

I just love that "ding" sound my barrier makes. It reminds me that I'm invincible.

"Oh what, you want out of the room now? You wanted so bad in my room to sleep with me... ON MY BED! Not... Never mind...

HCBailly: MARCO?! You're the one who killed everyone?! *Face Desk, 3 times* ...You have the worst DPS in the game! So...choosing to turn in Mimel caused Marco to SNAP, KILL everyone, and bring the world to an end! Now the game's just trolling me!

HCBailly (in his forum, imagining how he'd comment the game in a Let's Play): Did Illusion of Gaia make too much sense for you?

NPC: Woah, I guess the war started while we were having our epic battle.
HCBailly: Our epic staring contest. Next, we will play... Beat ...table tennis.

Suspend your disbelief, viewers!

Who doesn't love the kitties? If you don't like cats, you're a monster.