Just mildly curious, since there's not many quality people on the platform who don't have issues nowadays imo (Often drama/politics-related), I'm curious to see if anyone's got any recommendations for some good ones left.
Side note: I use invidio.us instances to avoid giving my data (and views) up to YT, plus its a lightweight front-end to youtube that doesn't get ads or anything like that. Would recommend it to anyone interested in those benefits.
Some of mine off the top of my head in terms of gaming that I regularly watch(ed):
SsethTzeentach - many already know about this dude, basically an old holdover memer from 4chan/8chan days who makes funny game reviews, he's an entertaining guy, though he has self-censored compared to his past self because of YT, still worth watching. He spawned a bunch of clones on YT and is probably this generation's equivalent of AVGN in that respect.
Mangs - Fire Emblem and Advance Wars (and strategy/tactics video games) youtuber, he's a pretty uncucked and funny guy. Does what he wants, shitposts and plays games, a lot of memes come from him. Was cancelled by pretty much the entire Fire Emblem community 2 years ago but still survived and stayed strong despite it.
LoreRunner - Probably autistic dude who does analyses of many different kinds of games, he's probably a mild to moderate leftist if I had to guess, but I've rarely heard him bring up politics and he's willing to justify villains in his analysis instead of being some cringy pearl-clutching guy. Seems alright to me at least.
AfreecaTV (and various other channels) - I just watch for the Starcraft 1 and 2 content, the ASLs and GSLs with Tastosis were nice; don't watch the Masters shit outside of Korea, its awful.
Used to watch Day9TV but he turned soy in the last 3 years, though if you want some great content, he had some great stuff pre-2020 (where Floyd turned even people like Day9 who never brought up politics into openly leftist ideologues). His Amnesia playthrough is still the best on YT imo, though I'd watch his stuff through a front-end like Invidio.us to not give views. He has some great playthroughs in the past and his old Starcraft 2 content is top-tier.
There's others I don't regularly "watch", but their stuff was always funny in the past if I go revisit it, like Manslay3r's gamer poop videos.
In terms of anime YTers:
Gigguk is a pretty funny guy who makes high quality videos ranging from tongue-in-cheek stuff, to recommending anime/manga, genre breakdowns, shitposts, abridged series, etc.
Joey/TheAnimeMan - More his old content, his new shit doesn't even talk about anime anymore, he's pretty pretentious and less interesting compared to Gigguk, don't expect too much but he's alright. He's a moderate leftist though, not a total pearl-clutcher since he's willing to defend controversial stuff in anime but a naive "nice guy" idiot.
Trash Taste is an alright podcast who features the above 2 youtubers, plus a guy named Connor and sometimes some big guests, they only occasionally talk about anime though so its kind of a meme now.
And various other YTers for one-offs and videos otherwise.
Political/Social Commentary
Styxhexenhammer666 - Political news from a right-leaning occultist libertarian
Timcast - I know, I know, but he does cover stories that don't get much attention from MSM
The Critical Drinker - Generally focused on movies/shows
It'saGundam - Comedic gold about current social issues
Video Essays
Jacob Gellar - Really interesting, shorter, video essays that usually cover phobias and bizarre history
Wendigoon - Long form video essays covering multiple types of horror, from movies to analog horror to real-life
Matt McMuscles - Shorter video essays generally focused on flopped and horrible video games
For Fun/Just Because
Guga Foods/Sous Vide Everything - Steak, grilling, and sous vide. Entertaining experiments involving food.
Ordinary Sausage - Dude makes sausage from odd ingredients. That's about it.
Tasting History with Max Miller - Guy makes food and recreates historical recipes while explaining the stories about said recipes.
Townsends - Colonial larper that explains life and food from that time period.
Nuke's Top 5 - Spoopy ghost videos. All fake of course, but sometimes you want to watch people freak out over a shadow they MIGHT have seen.
Roanoke Gaming - Science guy breaks down horror stuff
Kyle Hill - Science guy breaks down pop culture stuff and talks about nuclear power in a good light
Goniloc - Goofy weirdo makes humorous videos about heafy metal
Isaac Arthur - Sci-fi themes talked about from a standpoint of real world physics and science.
Reviews
FoundFlix - Horror movie breakdowns and reviews
ACG - Game reviews with a rating system that actually makes sense (Buy, Wait for a Sale, Never Buy)