I spend a lot of my free time watching gaming videos on youtube. Most of these would fall into the 'essay' style. Who are your favourite videogame subs on youtube?
I think Jeremy Parish's videos are astounding if you're interested in retro games. He just started a series about the Epoch's Cassette Vision from 1981.
ThorHighHeels' videos have a relaxed, positive vibe that I always enjoy. He usually covers lesser known games from the mid 2000's and his appreciation of visual design, music, and aesthetics really resonates with me. My favorite video of his is the one on Mysterious GBA Games.
I love Aliensrock's videos. They play lots of interesting puzzle/strategy games and the editing especially on their later videos is amazing. The editors somehow always manage to represent their complicated thought process. Also, they're good at explaining stuff which is I guess a must for puzzle/strategy channels.
I'm personally a fan of Noah Caldwell-Gervais. His essays can be quite long, like several hours long, but it's always very thought-provoking. I like to watch them on a second monitor while doing something brainless to wind down at the end of the day