Hello, and welcome back to the Fire Escape cast. This is episode eighty
three. I am joined by Dan Reikert. Wow, Micah you you adopted
a French accent while you were over there. And Mary Keish, Oh my
god, you sound so amazing. I'm just in love with this new mic.
There's no reason this wait, it was a new mic, Mary,
I think it is. But wait, who is that? Mary here?
Here? Hit me with the live take that that's who is that? That's
Manati? Hello, everybody, I'm Mike Manatti. I am filling in for
Mike Maharty is off in France. Now what do you say that? Mike
Manatti? Oh my god? Because I made such a good impression on Mike
when I first met him, who loved to wait Hell Divers two? Together
we talked about token a bunch, It's fantastic. And then like later Mary
uh rated my stream or something. I was like, oh, they're so
great over there on Fire Escape, Mary and Dan and Matt Mahardy like he
has the safer staves be How could I get that wrong? And it's because
of wrestling. It's because of the wrestler Matt Hardy messing me up. Matt
Maharty. I see it's wrestling blame okay, always is it? Always is
okay? And then at SGF, I was talking about Mike again and like
I was talking to you. We had a few drinks. I was like,
blah blah blah blah, Matt Maharty and I was like, oh my
god, it came out again. I'm so stupid. You immediately started texting
in me, son of a bit, dude, immediate Wait, I don't
believe you. Let me check it out. I did this, dude,
let me see. Oh oh was it three point thirty five in the morning.
It's a blurry picture of you. It's very blurry at oh, looks
like we're at JW. I said. I took this picture literally five seconds
after he called you Matt Maharty again, un ironically and not as a joke.
Okay, I guess he got me there. Yea earlier I was like,
you both have knocked at me, and you're like, I never knocked
on you. Like, what are you talking because that's clayton and obvious nark.
I've never seen such a clear nark. You a good bud grubbed your
narks first. You know, I don't really have a on here. You
know who's about to narks is our fucking listeners, Because two seconds before we
got on the zoom call, I was like, oh shit, Mike usually
does the emails. I gotta I gotta get emails together real quick. And
so I'm going through the real quick and there are many emails being like,
hey, Mike, I know you're the one who checks the emails. Just
want to let you know that Dan, your friend who listens to you and
cares about your opinion, just on a giant BombCast said that he doesn't know
anyone that plays Total War. It's like, first of all, missed the
fucking joke, obviously, but second of all, narks, just fucking narks.
Is how last week you say you didn't know anybody who cared about Fantasia,
Disney or Mickey Mouse. Also, thank you so much for trying to
explain the history of Mickey Mouse without me. That was fun to listen to.
What percent right where we as a group? Uh ten? He was
on the boat that part. I was on Steamboat Willie. But yeah,
Steamboat Willy was the first sound cartoon. There was perhaps a story being told
that Mickey was originally silent and then had sound. But the whole big reason
Mickey was so important was because his first cartoon was the first synchronized with sound
cartoon. I mean, everybody lost the mind. The problems that we have
to like identify here is that this is like not the type of podcasts where
we want to learn about Disney. No, we don't learn about anything.
Really, we really try and have a hard stance against learning. Here are
we are we? Like you know, Seinfeld had the rule where it's like,
what was it, no hugging, no learning character? Yeah, like
you can't eat, Yeah, no hugging, no learners, and there's no
nothing sappy. No one learns or improves as a person. I think,
are we not to compare us to Seinfeld? But I mean, you know,
in terms of that, is it d actively trying to be a better
person by actually playing holl of Night though we be well we'll get into the
game section. Here's here's how I'm trying to be a better person. Well
maybe this is more just comedic sensibilities. I'm trying not to. I don't
want to overdo the soundboard thing too much. So you think that is probably
right? Thank you? You think you think who is probably right, who
can say. I mean, maybe an occasional sniper shot of a good opportunity,
but hands free. I'm going to see how much restrained. I'm a
man of moderation if nothing else. You are not. You have no sensibility
with you whatsoever. It has taken me like absolutely losing my goddamn mind for
even consider doing this. You have changed the evolution of podcasting as we know
it. Well, I can't say you're right anymore because you've ruined it.
You have changed the way we communicate as a society. I can't be myself
anymore because I don't want it snippeted and then used against me without my control.
Well, just do you think Mary is probably right? Well, don't
snip anything, spiller, goddamn business. Well, for a moment in time,
I'm just I'm just practicing moderation. Not I'm not not complete abstinence here,
just just moderation. You are not important enough to be this annoying.
Wow, oh oh, that's really great. If somebody told me that,
I think I would just fall over and die. Put that on my dooms
the next time I write a book. I'm just no matter what the book's
about. When you just ship that back of the box quote from You Were
Shot. Oh my god, it's incredible. I don't want to sniff that
one. Geez. It's great seeing both of you in La. By the
way, you learn nothing. I've learned things. You haven't learned. How
to peel a banana. Apparently, I can't give you shit for that.
I've never peeled a banana. But there we go. Most of this podcast
doesn't know how to work a banana. I don't know banana's learned. I
do like the concept of bomb bakes, where you try and bake something a
very simple, pared down recipe and we just say go for it, and
we I mean, somebody has to eat it. But I think it would
be really lovely to see you make the effort. I've done a few like
cooking stream type things, and like it hasn't gone terribly poorly. I made
a grilled cheese once. I did a couple of couple of sponsored streams that
were that worked out pretty well for the most part. You know, bank
is always like, you know, okay, Marry quick wrestling reference here,
if they're gonna do a fire spot, like if someone's gonna go through a
flaming table, there are guys just out of front flame frame with five frame
flame frame fire extinguishers are ready to go, and that's me with the cooking
stream is bonk is just right out of frame, just an adult ready to
jump in. If I'm like, rad, is this gonna blow up?
What's happening? Like? Yeah, so she's she's keeping us alive here.
I would do that too. She checked on me every once in a while
constructing the mac and cheese tub, and I really appreciated that. We didn't
really have any incidences during that. It was only post cheese that there was
an incident. Yep, yep, still still doesn't bend all the way down.
Really, My wrist already feels better at there. I broke mind just
better. It's improved quite a bit. But it's like it like has like
a bar that can Like the doctor did tell me to be like July fourth
is before it, so I was getting have you gone through finger physical therapy?
They taught me, They taught me things to do and gave me all
these little like splints and things like that. So I've been I've been,
you know, doing the stuff they said. I mean, I guess I
did for like a week use of a finger anyway, Like, yeah,
it was hard for like opening stuff. You don't think about how much you
use that middle finger. But uh, you know, at this point,
like all the functional things are kind of back. I mean I can shake
hands without pain, I can open those things, so I can pick my
nose. Yeah, yeah, so everybody uses their middle finger. Yeah that's
no. Maybe after the carve out the inside of my sinuses, I'll have
bigger you know, middle to your sized. Yeah. Good, well,
it was really good seeing you all during Summer Games Fest. I have to
say there's a lot of criticism of like whether or not Summer Games Fest is
E three worthy, and I think there is discussion to be had there in
terms of like reveals and the quality and the caliber of everything. But what
I will say is is it really fills my cup to see a lot of
people in person that I interact with almost every day on Twitter or via email.
I can't tell you how many times I'm like talking to a PR person
like Tinsley or some incredible, amazing person and I never actually see their face,
and so interacting getting drinks with like John Drake and you guys, and
just hanging out and enjoying each other's company is extraordinarily valuable for me. I
would take any excuse just to have three days to drink with my friends,
even like a silly thing like starting the trip with us three and grub.
Just watch mcgrber in my hotel room, like that is just like you one.
We're setting the tone. We're setting the tone, got you one.
I felt swep during it. I think, didn't you? I think so,
but I tried to be really quiet about it. Yeah, it's a
steff sleep. I did not notice, like three fourth the way through it,
I thought your fall asleep. I was so glad I kept triggering Dan's
like ear robot marking on me again for being too loud at night. The
robot hotel. Yeah about hotel. I was very very pleased just to see
how much you were laughing. I'd like to think that was all shoot laughter.
That wasn't. Oh, but I just realized I have an internal rule
on podcasts where if half of the podcast crew are wrestling people, I give
myself kind of permission to do wrestling references and phrases and stuff, but if
it's less than half, I spare it. So that's why fire Escape is
usually fairly wrestling free. But Mike serious, and we're crying like sixty sixty
six percent in here, so we'll go to deep ninety percent Disney. So
I don't think he like is counts as like a full wrestling person. Oh
there's room in my heart for all sorts of stupid fans. But in your
background is wrestling? Prove it? What? What? What? What?
Am I back? Oh? H here we go all right? By the
audio listener thumb phone kiss, No, that is an official aw merchandise.
Some'm like, weird pervert thing. Well, let's break it down here.
Never mind, we're not going to make that gesture for those audio listeners.
He was making the whackoff gesture. So, Mike, if we had to
like that percentage wise thing, like what percent of you, would you say
is made up? Okay, let's just break make it simple. Wrestling,
video games and Disney wrestling would definitely be the smallest of those three. Remember,
let's say fifty percent video games, forty percent Disney, ten percent wrestling
honestly, which, yeah, that's probably right. Video games is so much
of it. I mean, that's work. And then I still I think
you were talking to us last week Dan, like, oh, like,
you know if every time, I like sometimes I'll just stream and it seems
kind of crazy because that is work. That's kind of where I am where,
you know, I joke around on content sometimes, like movies and TV
shows are mid and I kind of am that way though, Like I don't
if I have every time, I'm still just playing video games for the large
part. Even my Disney consumption isn't necessarily like watching Disney movies or shows.
It's kind of like listening to podcasts about is the theme parks while I'm playing
a video game. Wow, Okay, Mary, let's say for you pick
three things. Let's say one of these video games for all of us,
uh, two other passions, and let's get a let's get a percentage breakdown,
Like if there was a pie chart of Mary, I would say,
uh, I kind of follow the Minati method. Even when I'm watching TV,
I'm playing a video game. I usually have video games in the backdrop
of most of my life. When I'm on a plane, that's video games.
When I'm winding down for the evening in bed, I'm playing a video
game. So chances are my pichart is sixty percent games, which sounds excessive,
but it's usually around somewhere in my life. There's got to be a
really good chance that twenty five percent is my dog. I do count that
as a personality, and I don't give a shit if anyone's like, that's
her whole personality. We two hobbies because otherwise family obviously hobby not going bad.
I didn't include my dog. Yeah, all of my family members and
pets. It's a huge part of what I do. I walk them.
It's important to like go outside with him. If like, okay, would
you consider like me walking outside a hobby. Yeah, let's just say,
like yeah Outdorector. I literally don't do without my dog. Though. Yeah,
I can understand what Mary's saying. That is like a whole personality for
people, especially like you know, the big cat people. Right, Like,
I get that that's a lot like and like it's not like I love
my dog least, but I don't like think of it as is that way.
My dog's almost like a roommate, right. I would have never put
my roommate as one of my hobbies. Mary, this is a bit he
does. He doesn't actually have a dog. Yeah, Dan things, my
dog's fake. I like this bit. But what I will say is like
family members aside. What I'm saying is like when I go outdoors, which
is a big part of my hobby and things that I do to not be
looking at a screen. My dog is literally every ever present. If you
want to say the outdoors, we will mentally picture a dog there, yes,
plus dog parentheses dog. It's important parentheses dog. Yes, so outdoors
parentheses dog. What percentagees that twenty five percent? Okay? And video games
are what sixty? Okay? What's the other one? More slice? I
like going out to eat that's fifteen? Yeah, I do like that.
That's great, of course, And like eating and drinking usually not good for
me. Food, you know, like cheese fries and cheese fry proba and
had a big cheese fry problem for a while. Guess what I did two
hours ago, Mike, But I had cheese fries. I can't even do
it anymore. I'm like, no, it's sicking years off my life every
time I indulged so heavily. Back when, back then we go to Longhorn,
we'd get that cheese fry appetizer and be like, what two sides do
you want? I was like I would like both of those to also be
cheese fries. Please don't skip out on the ranch dressing. I need to
dip them off. They were just did that for years along. Ranch dressing
is so important, amazing. I feel like it's funny that you went like
through AA for cheese fries. Like, I can't look like that anymore.
I can't do it. My name is Mike Manatti, and I'm addicted to
cheese fries with branch dressing on the side. I've ruined my family. Like,
one step is I have to call all the people that your relationship with
cheese fries is Johnny Rockets everybody, sake and shake. I'm sorry. All
right, So Mary Big slices, video games, Middle Slice outdoors, Prince's
dog, Little Slice is going out to eat, Yes, specifically like bar
food. I think that's kind of important, but I don't know if that's
too specific. All right, that's me go. I'd say fifty percent video
games, forty percent wrestling, and ten percent movies. I would say,
okay, what would your percent chance be if you were to go one on
one with Kurt Angle at Sacrifice though, Oh, it would be like one
hundred sixty six percent at best. All right, thank you? Yeah,
yeah, that's that's a wrestling reference. Mary, that's a good one.
Oh did you do yours? What's your pie chart? Did first? Yeah?
What are you? Dan? You got? Catching Dan's memory? I
was a lot, although I think about probably more like sixty video games,
thirty Disney ten wrestling. We could do that media only I might have cheated,
Like do you know what we tried to We tried to get you off
of making your dog part of it. That's all right. I mean I'm
more angry every time, you know, sometimes I fight just to do it,
just to feel like I get it. You're scrappy, Yeah, Mary,
I think I've probably learned it from you. Dan. Sometimes, even
when like I don't really have a leg to stand on, I do during
Goady a lot, Like during Game of the Year, sometimes I just disagree
just to watch you squirm. I don't actually believe in it. Why would
you merch the good name of our Game of the Year by just controlling just
a troll. I don't see why you would do something just to get someone's
eyere up. Ye do that You think you can get away with a statement
like that is so vile. If we get a high chart of what your
personality is. It's ninety percent troll. There's probably like five percent gas,
and then the other five percent is just a waste. It's nothing, it
has nothing. You're on You're on this podcast with two journalists. If you
want to be a troll instead of a journalist, then that's your prerogative.
You're you are two mediocre men that have stumbled on an iota of success in
games. You have just been existing in this space for so long that you
have found a way to be here, and now I'm stuck with you like
an audio based venereal disease. Wow, what did I do to deserve that
album? We are connected by proxy. You do not get out of coming
into the show tonight with just Bold Chambers just unloading Jesus Christ. I don't
know what, like which I hurt in a previous life. To be stuck
with both of you for three hours tonight changed you. Okay, this is
its you. But damn, I don't know what's going on with you today
because you also tweeted at me. Your opinion is worthless and your soul is
cat pissed. So something's going on today. You knew what was coming down
the pipe for that one. Yeah, you knew what you were doing.
We'll get to it later. But I got a great recommendation for you.
I hate this like this is you were like, whoa, Mary is like
really aggressive tonight. You've been building me up for this. You've been wearing
it down for years. You have just been touching at my very existence so
that you can watch me deep sigh on this podcast when you finally break me.
Oh, they're falling apart without Mike hear. Oh no I did.
He was the glue together. Mike say it. Play something on my tin
whistle, something something relaxing. Please, yes, is zoom is eating all
of it? I can't believe up ship It's beautiful. Don't worry. It'll
be on the Audacity recording. Wonderful. Do you want to take a dentist
call on this? Thank you Mary. This happened on it the BombCast.
Yeah, it's like I was like I had a like my dentist called,
so I just like what I muted, like the like discord not Audacity.
Yeah. On the call, we didn't hear it. So we're just talking
like things are normal. And then on the BombCast we just hear Mike making
a dentist appointment. Oh my god, I just got a warning from my
watch about it loud environment and the only thing in the room is me.
I'm the only person I know hotel, and I can I can leak through
headphones. I've heard that before. That's incredible. I'm a loud asshole.
Well, I hope you're teeth through okay, Oh yeah, they're great.
Yeah, and everything going on okay in there? Yeah? Yeah, No,
I had a I had to get a root canal. But I chipped
this tooth when I was a kid trying to fighting over a puppet with somebody,
and there's been like, yeah, there's been issues with that tooth.
My back, I was there's no great story. It wasn't even like a
fight. It just meant some other kid wanted a puppet, so we're yanking
on it. And somehow I like yanked too hard or something, and my
head smashes onto like a marble windows sill, and part of my tooth chips
off. But I was like young enough that my you know, teeth were
still kind of growing, so it kind of came in awkwardly. And so
this tooth is mostly capped and then there was like an infection that happened related
to it's beginning, like trying. Yeah, oh yeah it was. I
was bad one time. It almost got to my eye and I was in
the hospital. Then it was fine. It it popped and puss went everywhere
and I felt way better. Mike, you and I are clearly just falling
apart as we age. Mary, are you falling apart as well? No?
I keep it together. Geez, serious casts and better diet. That
does might be this is all the cheese fries catching up with me again.
I maybe in twenty years we'll see where I'm at. But I really do
make an active effort to like walk every day. I just sleep eight hours
every day. I am active, but I do like cheese. I started
running because of Dan, honestly, because you were talking about I don't know
if you're still doing that with everything else today, and it's it's hurting and
it's gonna be real hard after two weeks off with the surgery. But yeah,
I'm still on steroids right now, so nice, doing pretty good with
that. Nice. So it's all natural. It's not going to go away
once those are done. Absolutely not. No, No, But like I
don't know Dan some I listening to fire Escape because I was going on just
walkies and actually listening to you guys, and it was literally Dan was talking
about running and at that moment I felt shave it, just started running for
the frost, like in that way you're talking about. I was like,
I was like the dig do it? Soak it up? Rocky music playing
in my head. You know, I'm inspirational. I have a positive influence
on the use of the industry that right now, that is like your saving
grace. You think you can be. You could be a positive influence if
you choose to be. How you choose to spend your time positively and negatively
I think is debatable, but I agree like your running is inspirational, and
I think it's wonderful that you do it. Oh thank you. I do
think they we're going to do. We'll do a Disney marathon together in a
year or two. It'll be great. How many children have opened bananas stupidly
because of you. I'm advocating. I'm not saying my way is right.
I'm saying I was stupid about that. For the record, for those who
didn't see the thing I tweeted out, I bought bunks out of town,
and when boks out of town, I just don't know how anything works.
And yeah, us I was. I went to go get bread at the
grocery store today because I need peanut butter sandwiches to stay live, and I
was like, oh, bananas, fruit would probably be good. I haven't
had a fruit in like months. So I four bananas and they were perfect.
There were four perfectly right bananas. The cashier was even like, oh,
these are ready to go. These are great bananas, and I was
like, yes they are. I was like proud of myself and I go
home and I went to separate one from the pack and it just like the
whole top just and like it just all four of them opened up, and
I'm like, oh, great now they're all just compromised. And I ate
one. It was great, but then the other three years just like,
well, okay, that's just I'm not gonna eat four bananas at once.
Well you should have just maybe frozen them. I did. Yeah, people
like froze. Not me. Could never be me, but some people like
frozen bananas, and BANK can do like banana bread stuff. So hopefully I
have salvage it to some degree. Oh yeah, that won't go to waste.
Yeah, fine, Yeah, I absolve you of this crime. Thank
you, Thank you say I'm a reasonable man. Yeah, Dan is right,
thank you. Oh my god, you promised that you would stop.
I did it. That was for the audio listener through her mouth moved when
that was said. If the lies continue, you have not grown an inch.
Are still the same absolute garbage dump of a man that I always thought
you were. You have opportunities to better yourself. I think you should see
it as a compliment, because like, I'm not like this with people like
and just normal, like I'm just meeting someone, or if I just like
kind of know someone, I don't do this. I don't someone's not in
the crosshairs until I know them very well and uh and it's a good,
fun, friendly relationship and then then I can do this stuff. So it's
kind of jealous, honestly. It used to be I was the first one
he collected voice wise, and now you know he barely replays mine. He's
so enamored with your voice samples, probably because you get the most upset about
it. And I have no statements that I think are universal for different things.
But it also pisses me the fuck off. Oh it was nice.
I mean, I don't know, I'm mostly thinking about the Disneyland chyps.
So that's what I really enjoyed, which I thought that was super fun.
And we'll talk about it more when we're on because I know we're doing the
BombCast with you know, like Grubb and others that were on the trip.
But yeah, just a short version here. I really really get it a
lot more. I got a little bit of it when we went to the
Star Wars the thing last year with whatever was the Disney Lose n Island thing
were like two hours. But this was like a day. It was a
day of Disneyland, and I had I had Mike, I had Bailey,
I had Jenny, I had people that knew their shit with Disney, like
like probably three of the best people on the planet. Two kind of like
shepherd me through Disneyland, and goddamn if it wasn't just a delightful day with
friends. I just absolutely love that. Well I'll say, you know,
like, you know, you do a lot of jokes, but you you
entered there without a cynical bone in your body. You were game for everything.
You were interested and engaged so yeah, you were ready to have a
good time and you did. Yeah. I just I don't know. I
don't know if it's just seeing my dad go into things so negative all the
time that made me really against that mindset of just like you know, going
into something with the like, man, this is stupid, this is a
this is for the dorks, this is for me. Like, I don't
know, I figure, like, if I'm gonna go to this thing,
what am I am? I just gonna go there to not enjoy it because
I've I've had a predetermined idea in my head what it's like and also make
the experience worse for everyone I'm there with. Like that doesn't seem like a
way to do that, Like, you know, I think that's valid.
I also think there's like some kind of upside to Stockholm syndrome. Like we
all joke about it, but if you think about it, if you're going
to be stuck with your captors and in a really like tough situation, you
might as well be like, what if this is my life? Maybe I
do like these people, Maybe this is a nice home. I think I
could have a couple of kids and make a good life out of myself.
Here. I mean, I think you've changed your perception for the better,
and unironically, I do think it's good that you went into it to have
a good time. I did the same thing when I went with a bunch
of Disney adults to Disney Paris last year. I don't know, and I'm
not a Disney person. And the people I went with, one of them
had a Mickey Mouse tattoo like on their neck, like behind their ear,
Big Disney. They did the thing too where they map out, so we're
gonna go here first at eight thirty in the morning. It makes this perfect
loops that will be at this place that I made. They had to make
uh what do you call it? Like, they had to make reservations for
lunch because they book up really quickly at the it was like a thing like
a shrinking and large food what lunch in distantly Paris a shrinking and large lunch
thing. Yeah, it was like ant man lunch. The oh they had
and so some hot dogs were like this big. Some hot dogs were like
the size of your thumb. It's like the Mario World or the Mario three
big small World. That's my favorite. Shit. They have a real version
of that. Yes they do, and it's it books out like weeks in
advance. You had to get reservation. We had to be there on time
and it was very expensive. I'll just text you on Drake again. It
was drink. I will say I drank the kool aid that day. Dan.
Like they had hamburgers that were like, you know, the size of
a pizza, and then they would do the opposite too, so like they
would have hamburgers that were like really really really tiny, and they did it
randomly. So you need Oh, so you pay like one price hot dog,
pay one price and you go up to the thing, and if they're
serving a giant hamburger, you get a slice, and if they're serving tiny
hamburgers, then you take a plate of a tiny hamberg It was very funny.
I thought it was really cool. That's amazing. But I think,
and I'm trying to think of the circumstances where I would want the bigger one.
I think I would want a bunch of tiny cheeseburgers or a bunch of
tiny hot dogs so I can just like scoop it, like like eat them
like cereal from a bowl, you know, instead of milk. Was the
perfect example. Yeah, they're like little tiny cookies, ton of cookies.
I love cookie. Chris would have concept what food would be concept, what
food would be better if it was the bigger version? What what was a
giant? They had a giant Oreo and it was like a cake and so
you put plice of Oreo. It was really neat. Visually, I bet
all the big ones look really cool, But in terms of just like eating,
I feel like the smaller ones would always be the most because wists are
designed very specifically. For like, because pizza is the way it is with
the triangles you can grab it, you kind of make it smaller bigg unless
you put it on a bagel and then you can have pizza anytime that works
out. That's true. I bought the giant skittles from that weed candy store.
They were awful. So that was an example of the bigger ones.
Understand how those cost you? Like eighty you bought like six bags seventy five
dollars Sonic skittles and it was eighty bucks or something. I don't get dollars
for skittles. Yeah for perfect well, it was like it it was only
six normal bags, little bag not normal bags. It wasn't like the little
like grocery stryal ones. It was like you know, the stand up bags,
but like volume, there weren't like a ton in there. They should
have been like four dollars each, and they were like twelve dollars each.
But we ate them on care, so that's an expense. Yeah, they
were the only one that was okay was the desserts flavored one because there's just
normal skittles with like weird flavors like I don't know, lemon meringue or something
like that. That was fine. Yeah, there was about shells or gross.
Yeah, they had unshelled skittles, so it was just like the innards.
Yeah, what do you think about you know, the sweetish fish?
You think about a fish sized Swedish fish. Yeah, that's a good one.
Can take a big bite out of it, like a big red Yeah.
Do you ever have a baked Alaskan baked Alaska, because that's a big
fish. It's like ice creamy, right, Yeah, but it's not a
sweetish fish. It's just also shaped like a fish. I'm just I guess
I'm surprised how many foods are shaped like fish that aren't fish. Goldfish,
gold fish, I don't like goldfish. They don't taste anything like cheese.
Yeah, anything like, Oh I a good big one, the big cheese
that from uh Taco Bell, so you know they got the cheese and stuff.
Now where they got the like cheese it crunch wrap and the tostato.
My my buddy Brian Vorer, when he came over for my birthday recently brought
me one where he bought just like the toastata, but just asked for everything
off of it except for the cheese it. So we just bought me a
big ass cheese it and brought it to my birthday party. And uh yeah
that that was fun to be because like cheese its are already small, so
the novelty is Yeah, it was great. It was a big ass cheese
it. It was also it was exact same as you would expect from a
cheese it, but larger one hundred percent when you want the same like just
kind of crispiness and feel to it. It's just what you just take a
big bite out of it like a pizza slice. Great. God, what
was it that the kids ate? And honey, I shrunk the kids?
Was it a big orio or big like whoopee? Uh, cream filled dessert
thing. I remember, yeah it was. I just remember it was creamed
because they like put they stuck their hand in the cream white center of it.
I the ant and stuff. Yeah, no, they had the friendly
ant and then the ant died defend them from some other evil insect. It
was very traumatizing. You know what isn't half bad is I'm not a big
oreo guy, despite like the Nato cheese. Yeah really I'm not because I'm
not a big chocolate guy. But not either, But I do like oreos.
It's like the one chocolate thing I like, but go ahead, not
big on it. Once again, Brian vor was over for like a wrestling
pay per view thing recently, and he brought the sour patch uh oreos,
and I was like, gross, it does and I don't. I like
sour patch kids a lot, but like the idea of that being in an
oreo is kind of weird to that by it's actually pretty damn okay. So
when we slop you right there, because I have also had them, No,
they're not they aresting you. They're pretty good. I think. Do
you think do you think they're better than that you would expect? No?
Absolutely not. I thought they would be gross, and they were gross.
No, no chocolate, it was like the vanilla cookie instead at least,
but it was still very weird and like way too sweet. And then that
sour kick that that that does not anywhere near an oreo, absolutely not.
They always do these gimmick oreos, and I get it. I think that
normal oreos got us there. And if you want to have the oh golden
orio whatever, that's fine too. Let's stop the double yeah, okay,
that's just like gott to give credit. Double stuff is good, even the
thins are good. I also like the ones that are dipped in like the
white fudge, kind of like Christmas tiny. Yeah, that's pretty good,
a little festive fun for you. I got it too. A big fight
of a friend because he's like, double stuffed oreos are standard oreos. I'm
like, no, they're not. That is nuts. That what they're called
double stuffed? What are they doubled from if not the standard? I feel
like double stuff it's case cuss. I feel like I'm feeling right now what
a lot of people think when I say things on podcasts where it's like somebody
said something that's like obviously ridiculous and It's like, that's insane. Why why
wouldn't he think that it's not default? No, Default was the first one
that came out with the OO. It's just one of the ones called ore.
That's like saying, uh, oops, all berries is the generics cereal.
They literally say, you should be We've made it all Barry should be?
You guys, you ever played Kings or like any game, we have
to do categories Kings like the Kings, it's a drinking game where it's like
each card is a different mini game and like one of them will be like
category. So go around the table, everybody say a breakfast cereal? Don't
know they can think of one? One person repeats one that's already been said,
or can't think of an omerginal. They have to drink it. Okay,
okay, we're like okay, go racy puffs and it goes around and
around until someone panics. What pull out oopsaw berries for that? Every time,
always gets a laugh, always works. What's one? It's unique?
What's one? All three of us would be evenly matched a category? Ah
oh, indie games maybe that'd be fun, although I do love them.
Yeah, yeah, they're all over your top tens every fucking game I had
today. You wait, do you get in the game section? Every fucking
game I have is an indie game. You're just doing that because we caught
you and now you're trying to make up. Okay, Okay, let's do
it. Let's do ani games. Okay, I'm so confused. We're gonna
just rat, We're gonna prattle off indie games. We'll go, We'll go
and Mike Cancart, he's the guest, and Mike marry me, and we'll
go until somebody can't name one and they get eliminated and we get like five
five is tennis seconds round. Let's go fast daily dollar, you know,
pull it up and they Okay, go Mare, Now go Undertail. You
start Stardo, hollow Night, you son of them, Me Shoot Adventures,
Celeste, Thirsty Suitors, raid O, God, blasphemous. I must sit
it, Castle Crashers. I'm gonna drink drinking that marries the first one out.
I guess the biggest disrespector of indie games on the podcast Limbo. Oh
no, I'm done. There's only there's only losers of this game. Dan.
Okay, So Mary is the biggest disrespector of India yes, loser.
We all know who is right now, and it is not about the game
at all. It is about a person who thinks that this drinking game is
going to define them. Let's look at the top tens, Dan you Triple
A shill. Okay, okay, okay, okay, look at the Maybe
we looked through some some top tens. I didn't have a ton of indie
games on there, but Triple A shill. That's only you don't consider Nintendo
Triple Ad. That's like Disney Fruit. Yeah, okay, get you,
yeah you understand. Yes. I was extremely negative on God of War Ragnarock.
I was extremely negative on Red Dead Redemption too. Like Triple A stuff,
I am not like if it's good, You're down on a very specific
direction that some Triple A games have taken that's very narrative focused and kind of
slow pace. I've always hated Assassin's Creed. That is like the most Triple
A fucking yearly instalment thing. I think Call of Duty has been mostly boring
recently, I think, you know, like Battlefield I think has been boring
for ten years. You know, like I do not consider my like for
real, I do not consider myself a big Triple A guy, if you
told me gun to my head, death stranding like a person, I know,
I I like that s training now, but I also think it's like
if I reviewed it, I would give it like an eight. Metal Gear.
Metal Gear is medle here Mario Zelda, Yes, yes, three.
I like a lot of big ass Triple A games. Absolutely, Astrobot I
played at SGF. That is fucking the coolest thing I played forever. That's
a big budget and Triple A game. But I'm saying it's gun to my
head if a Genie popped up. I don't know why a Genie's got a
gun, but if a genie pops up and says, hey, we're gonna
for the the rest of your life, you can either play games with a
budget over five million dollars or a budget under five million dollars, I'm going
to say under for real. I just I want to make a concept album
called Genie's Got a Gun or something. It's like sound yeah, yeah,
that rolls off the time. I mean that that's not a bit. I
really I think smaller, like kind of like the B game type stuff down
to like Andy and everything. I think that is where way more interesting stuff
happens than the big Triple A stuff. I mean that, I agree.
I we we've talked about this before. I consider it like the food truck
of the games world. They're able to try things without as much concern.
I do actually think their entire livelihoods depend on it. So I don't want
to say it's less concern. But what I'm saying is is because the budgets
are smaller, they are able to take these risks and go for it,
and you will see these like incredible success stories that you would never have seen
there, pushing boundaries of game design because they could be like, Hey,
the three of us in a living room thought it was really rad and we
didn't have eight executives telling us what the fuck to do. I think that
that is freedom incarnate. Yeah, I agreed. I agree, And also
like, like, okay, Final Fantasy seven Rebirth. I was not super
hot on that thought it was a good game, but I think it was
a great game. One and two right now on my game of the year
are probably Blatro and Prince of Persia. With Prince Persia is not a little
indie game by any means, but it's also not massive, cretly different from
like the decks far Cry sure, and you ow you liked Rebirth for you're
high on rehearth. I do. And for the record, I do like
Rebirth a lot because I did peter out by the end. It's way too
long. I petered out by the end, you know, like I don't.
I never cared about the story necessarily that game, But like Animal Well,
I found Animal Well more interesting than than Final Fantasy Year. Okay,
you guys had that question last week. It was somebody like, well,
what's a game that like? It's it kind of like diserves you some but
doesn't like it. Jeff Grub, my good friend who loves like puzzle kind
of games, loves Metroid Vanius. You thought Animal Well was okay, And
I'm just like, ah, I'm trying to come to terms with that one.
I can think I can see it because the more I play it,
the more I struggle with the idea that even though Metroidvanias are about finding a
place and not knowing what to do with it, and coming back to it
at a later time with more power and understanding, Now, that's what you
can do. I think excellent game design is that the second that you acquire
that power, being like I know exactly where I'm supposed to go, or
the game is so incredible that the level design places you in that space so
that you're like, I have this power now, and you have placed me
in a space that I have been before, and now I can reach that
moment. Like that feels really good that the player isn't questioning themselves and the
entire time you play Animal while you're questioning yourself, because it doesn't tell you,
shit, did did you figure out the fast travel yet? Mary?
I haven't gone back to Animal. Well, I have to be honest with
you. I will also say maybe I'm I like Animal well more than Grub,
but maybe less than some people, because like I saw credits and I
felt like fine, like like I'm like frying with like stopping there, you
know. I I know there's like credits, ever credits, and you can
play fifty sixty hours if you want to. I played like ten hours of
it, and I was like, I really liked that game a lot,
but I didn't feel like I needed to, you know, beat my head
against the wall looking at every pixel on the map and make sure I did
a hundred percent during I'm probably like, you know, Jeff beat the game
and he liked it, but I think he's just kind of like a lot
of people were like, you know, really freaking out about this, and
you know, I thought it was I thought it was good, but maybe
it wasn't super super in love with it. But grab's another one who like,
I can't get the get into Hall of Nights somehow, even though again,
guy, I do want. Yeah, well we'll wait till we're in
the official game section about cheese fries again and I'm bringing up video games were
going in. Yeah, be a journalist, name your sources. Jeff Graub,
I speaking friends of him, watching him at SGF is just like,
yeah, what is that skill? That like impressive? Dude? Yeah,
And it's you know, I saw it with Gersman, I see it with
Grub where it's like I'm just in awe of like, Okay, you're gonna
have twenty thirty maybe more people on this couch tonight, And neither of them
ever had any notes, neither of them ever, Like you know, it
is just that thing of like, all right, let's just talk. And
man, I'm a talker. I like conversation and everything. I do it
for a living. But like the idea of like, here's people I barely
even know where, maybe just met tonight, and these people don't necessarily know
each other, and then like they all have very different jobs in the industry
and like keeping everything going and keeping it interesting, and like, I that
is a rare, rare ability, and I was, I was really have
yeah, a panic attack just having to introduce people because I would not remember
all the games. I think it's incredible what he's able to do. I
will say I actually think he like keeps it on the rails more than previous
hosts. I think he like has an ability to pivot or like keep things
to someone of a degree, like on schedule, and I think there is
a talent in being able to do that. It's really not something I would
want to do either. I wouldn't ask for that job. You know.
I want to be the person that's trying to derail the show. That's where
I shine. Well, that's just you, and we wouldn't try to derail
anything. You have those of how to keep anything together. And this entire
thing has been brought together and kept together by Mike Maharty, who is not
here, which is why at any moment in time, this could absolutely dissolve
and it would be on the blood would be on Minatti's hands. Are we
given Maharty too much credit? Yeah, properly? Or what do you think
he's doing right now? He's drinking wine, he's about he's having his wife
take a picture of him as he's standing in front of architecture. He's wearing
sunglasses and an expensive shirt. He's got a half drink bottle of wine and
he's looking up into the ocean. It. Yeah, it would be to
see he's in France. Would be the It wouldn't be the ocean, be
the mentoring mister geography. France's it's smart. You could definitely get to the
ocean from France as I think about it. Please, being exhausted of you,
Oh my god, thank you for having It's been great. You guys
want to talk about video games? Sure? Mary Kish, Yes, Dan,
our buddy, Mike Maharty is cawarding across Europe right now, spending thousands
of dollars and then chasing wines across all the vineyards of France. That's foolish,
I say, because you know what, You're gonna have it delivered right
to your door. Thanks, to person leave. You know, right now,
it's my favorite time of year. It's it's renewal time for person leave.
That means reconnecting with friends and family I haven't seen for a while,
and when I do, I want to make sure I have plenty of wine
on hand, right here in my house, not in Europe, for us
to celebrate with. That's why I have pers Leaf. Tell them about it,
Mary who has time for France. As America's most personalized wine company,
First Leaf takes the worry and guesswork out of buying quality wines. When I
got started, I just answered some questions about wine I like, and First
Leaf sent it to me In about five minutes. I finished my personalized wine
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friends and family over bottles of First Leaf wine. I bet you feel the
same way too, Right, well, you should get first leave a try.
Head on over to try first Leaf dot com slash fire escape to sign
up and save fifty percent on your first six hand curated bottles plus free shipping.
That's t RyR s t l eaf dot com slash buyer Escape to save
fifty percent on your first six bottles plus free shipping. Try first leaf dot
com slash Fire Escape. All right, Dan, I know you've been trying
to do some of that growing we've been talking about. You went back to
Hallow Night, getting it a real shot. I believe. What do you
have to say to us? Well, first, I really like I don't
know. I feel like we've done this podcast for four years or something now,
and I've gotten to know Mary's sensibilities with games and stuff, and so
I want to give a very firm recommendation for this game to Marry. Check
it out. I don't know if it's on game Pass or anything. Take
a look real quick beforehand. But I do think Mary, I know you've
talked to You've talked up metro Vanias and stuff in the past. I know
you like indie games. It's got an awesome art style. It is.
There's a lot going on here, and I just you know, we've been
giving each other kind of assignments lately before we go into the next episode.
So that's Mary, before the next episode, Try Hollow Night. Okay,
let's talk about it. This is so fucking exhausting that you think you can
just get away with this little piecemeal piece of shit thing that you have been
doing to me. This isn't just like a four year bit. This has
been going on after a decade. I have been game for ten years.
That has been ten years. Really, you fucking wouldn't know because you don't
get about indie games. You fucking fink ship. Okay, you don't know
anything. All right, that's a handshake agreement here, Mary Cash. I'm
dropping the holiday bit and then you drop you. You know I like indie
games, So let's say I will I will be host this situation. Yeah,
there we go. Oh god, okay, I'm dropping the bit entirely.
Let's let's talk holiday. Does that sound good? You also have to
give up all audio recording bitation hands hands free this whole I pressed it once
this episode. I'm talking about permanently. That's oh, Mary, I think.
Come on, let's be reasonable. We always have one for one.
I don't remember asking you a goddamn thing. I like that. We have
to do a negotiation to disagree not to do bits and have a normal conversation.
Negotiate with me to not kill Manati because this is a no K fave
zone. This is all just us talking against people. No bits all a
deal. We're in the ok fame zone. Okay, all right, there's
an ernest conversation here. Okay, I am playing Holly Night again. I
am about four to five hours in right now. Okay. I will say
I am enjoying it more than I did the first time, and I think
I'm gonna keep going. I am seeing some of the things that originally bothered
me about it, but I'm being more patient with it now and I'm sticking
with it a little bit. And also I think it helps that like when
did this community? You said it was like ten was twenty seventeen. I
just twenty seventeen. Okay, So like at that point in Google Games,
while we're talking, Minati, I am it out for you. Now I'm
watching party does it like all the time? Well he doesn't. He stays
out of my fucking business because he knows better and you don't know any better.
But I'm gonna teach you, baby girl, You're not sucking Google shit.
While I'm angry, I rotated to Minati for a second, You're place,
so I don't put you in it. This is what happens. But
she realizes that she can only hurt dance, so much. Okay, so
if it came out in twenty seventeen, I think I played it when it
first came out, and I probably dabbled with like Souls games and things like
that and at that point, but definitely not to the level that like,
oh when I you know, I beat blood Borne since then, well no,
I guess I would have played bood Born at that point. Well,
anyway, like Elder, I think I'm just more open now to the like
the Soul's type of systems are like everywhere now, and I think I'm more
used to it now. It's the same way like when I played Binding of
Isaac and I was like, what the fuck is this? I lose all
my shit and I have to start over because I hadn't played a lot of
Rogue Lights. Well now I've played a lot of Souls likes and so now
this idea of like losing some currency or whatever or like the big thing for
me originally was like going to areas and not having the map and then I
have to find and buy the map. That hasn't been that bad this time,
because I think I'm That's Apprecia did the same thing many two adventures.
Like I was talking like flying around for a long time. Yeah, it's
it's so it Honestly, that does not really bother me. Fucking elden Ring
does that, Like you don't have the map until you get to that little
thing on the side of the road or whatever. So like that was such
a big thing for me where I was like, what that hell was this?
And I formed an opinion based on that, and you know, and
honestly, like the art style thing that that was a bit you know,
like, oh, thank god, I guess that was the one that drove
me. Oh, I'm so relieved society judged you for that one. Like
you can look zone right now, Okay, I agree. I mean I
think there is quality of life. And we'll actually talk about this later in
the game section because I played metroidvani As this this last two weeks too.
That have just improved so much in the last five years or so. The
marking of the map is so valuable to me. Now when metro Venias don't
let you mark the map, I'm a little like, come on, like,
I don't want to have to visit this place six times because I forgot
that I need something I don't have to get through here. So I think
it's valid now to say I wish there was some quality of life things that
have been more modern, but for its time, a lot of the things
it was doing was quite innovative. I mean, this might have been was
this pre bread the Wilder it would have been it was twenty seventeen, it
would have been right around here. So like, I mean, you know,
when I think of marking a map, I mean I go right to
Breadth the Wild But like hell, I mean, Holly Night was doing it
around the same time, so I have to give a credit for that.
And then I look at like how much I love Prince of Persia, the
one this year, and it does things that are clearly inspired by Hollow Night.
Like when I think, because I love the Metroidvania genre, I can't
think of a lot prior to Hollow Night that let you do the thing this
does where it's like you've got your charm slots and you can kind of equip
them based on like, okay, I for this boss fight, I could
use this stuff or like by default, I like ones that will like mark
my exact spot on the map, or it'll help me like collect currency even
so I don't have to pick it all up, So like it's fun having
like the different kind of loadouts depending on the situation, and like, I
think want a pressure straight up? Took that from Holiday, so did.
I'm like the second like the first or game was kind of before Hall of
Night. Yep, the second or games that's where and all of a sudden
or was a lot more like Colin. Yeah, the charms or whatever and
the slots, Like you remember how valuable it was. It wasn't just that
you were getting the the whatever they are, the charms, but the idea
that if you could get another slot, which would make you were able to
have three charms instead of two gold Like, yes, you know, it
was more valuable to me than an extra heart on my life, right,
Yeah, the most valuable thing I could find. Yeah, because I've got
several terms now that are like it takes up three slots. I'm like,
well, this thing sounds great, but I'm not going to like sacrifice two
other terms for this. So it's that is really cool. I like that
a lot. Yeah, So I am getting I don't know, I'm not
getting like pissed off or super frustrated, but I am like finding myself a
lot of times being Like one thing I do miss that Prince of Persia introduced
later on was that like very quick like screenshot thing, because there's a lot
of times where it's like when I'll beat a boss and I don't know where
to go next, and it's like, Okay, well, I know there's
this spot, this spot, this spot, and this spot, and I
don't really remember what those are, and like I don't really remember, like
you know, maybe I need to get better with my Matt markers because like,
oh I put some red markers there, I put the blue marker there.
I don't really remember what that place is. And like, man,
that Prince of Perga thing is so great. One of the like one of
the interesting things about holl of Night, and it's sometimes to its detriment,
is that it is huge. It's it's got to be the biggest metro venue
I've ever played. That scale is impressive, but it is like false victim
more so in another metro venu sometimes of where the hell do I actually go
next, And like by the end of the game, there are sometimes so
many possible places you can go now. It so does the Metroid Venia thing
where because you're looking for what to do you're going to find other things and
more upgrades that you weren't expecting anyway. So it still does feel good,
but it can be an easy one to get a little bit lost and confused.
Then yeah, and I'm early enough now to where it's like when I
am getting abilities that a lot of times they are like big, like I
just got the dash and like now it's like, oh shit, now I
can clear all these gaps now with the jump dash and all this stuff.
And I'm also just moving around faster, so like it's getting less annoying,
Like I don't think I got the dash last time, you know, So
I never got a point where it's like, okay, I feel like moving
around past where are you are you in like the swampy area there's like a
christ the lantern, and so now I can go into like the mine area.
That's cool. Yeah, So but yeah, it's like I'll beat a
thing and not like I don't know who to talk to, you Like I'll
go up with that main like dirt mound or whatever the area up top,
and I'll kind of talk to everyone, and like I don't have like a
go to like oh this thing is going to point me in the right direction.
So I'm just kind of like doing laps a lot, being like just
checking spot. Oh right, that thing, I don't even know what that
is. The mantis area, the mantis area, I don't know. You'll
know because there's a lot of mantis. What is the plural mantis? Praying
manti manti. I'm not a botanist, which I won't google it. I
don't want you to do it. I'm not mad anymore. You can google.
I don't want to know. You've been trained nice about Holidnight and stop
doing bits and suddenly she's just a lot colder and they say you can't fix
men. I'm glad you're enjoying it. I hope you keep up with it
because I think it's a game that really does just keep getting better. There's
so many amazing areas. The boss fights. I think you've already done some
fun ones, but they get really interesting and they're awesome. Yeah, And
you know that is kind of a bit more that Soul's DNA, where you
know, like the mechanics of it are simple. It's just like really getting
that timing down and kind of optimizing when it's your turn to attack and getting
it in there. You know when it is your moment or knowing when your
turn is to heal. And that's the thing where it's like I think probably
person i played this, I was like, what the fuck? Why do
I have to sit here and wait to heal? But now that I've played
enough of these games where it's like, no, there's a flask animation and
Eldon ring, I've done this a bunch, Now I know how this works,
and like I'm getting like one of the charms I'm using now is one
that gives me like a shell when I'm recharging, like when I'm getting hell
and it's like one for a while. Yeah, yeah, yes, So
it's like I don't know, like a lot of these things that maybe just
rubbed me the wrong way the first time around. I'm like, oh no,
okay, I've I've played games like this. Now I get this now,
and I'm just going in more open mind. Yeah. And the combat
is fantastic. It's really really good. Uh that's such a fast attack.
Feel it's good. Would you feel it connected? You know, it's awful
in the way you can kind of pogo with it. Yes, they did
a good job with the combat style and the way that you can use your
charms to increase it. One of my favorite charms is the nail extender.
It gives you just a little bit more length on the tip of your nail.
It costs a lot, but my god, it's so worth it to
be at the shop. Oh it's it's the number one for me. Once
I had that bad Boy, I never went back. You know, that
was like my favorite, and I do appreciate, like the the changing of
the charms is so nice. The ability to like have one where your heels
are faster or they take less juice. I forget what that one's called,
but like the less juice, Yeah, the less juice charm where you can
like heal with very little mana or whatever it's called. I honestly forget.
I want to say it's soul. It's been a really long time since I've
played this game. No, I kind of want to play again, but
I keep like, no Silk song will come out, and I know we're
such fool you believe they didn't announce anything about it. I can't around me
now. It sure could a short Yeah, God himself could show up on
stage and you know, take a huge deuce, But I don't think it
will happen, And I don't think that Hollow Night will ever appear or Silk
Song. I'm like, I've I've let it go, like I just don't
know when it's going to appear. It's so mess up to me. I
played Silk Song at E three twenty nineteen. Is that Nintendo's booth that was
for heavy playable? I was playing both three Pandemic three at E three.
You look nobody respects what they're doing the follow night more than me. It's
it's still allowed to me that that's the game that's like five years later,
it's like, who knows when it's coming out? Is that the new Is
this the new Duke Nukem forever? Chinese democracy of the game's world? This
don't say that because there's no way. There's no way. I'm not saying
MS being bad. I'm saying is and like the one that is the most
storied, it's the last, Yes, exactly, I'll do that because that
came out to know, like everyone's fine with it and it was beloved.
Yeah. I think Silk Song has the potential to be to to top the
original. I really do. And I think that the reason it's taking this
Song is because the expectation of these types of games has increased since the original
game. I mean again, so like the map and the way that you
are able to navigate this space is expectations have increased since the original game came
out. I am looking for quality of life that have improved since the original
game, and like that's a lot of pressure on that team. But maybe
that's a big part of the reason why it's been What's that, I don't
know, it's a small, very I mean the original game, like when
I played it, all of the updates had come out because it was a
kickstarter thing, so by the time I played it, it was like a
very, very big game. But I'm sure, like if you have gotten
when it first came out, it's kind of you know, a bit here,
a bit there. And I think now there is the pressure of it
to come out and be huge right away. They can't kind of piecemeal it
like that. Again, Yeah, such a good experience. I mean,
I'm I'm really looking forward to Silk Song and oh my god, like more
than anything, like I will I'm going to take a week off of work
when they announced the release date, Like that's this this experience for me,
I am like this much of a freak about it, and that's the thing
went jokes like, oh, where it's it going to be? And it
like does suck to keep play anybody like it's clearly going to happen, and
when it happens, it's going to be very exciting and I'm going to lose
my mind and I'm going to lose my fucking mind. And I do think
it will be a phenomenal game like one for the books, will get to
be there from the beginning, and so great if I'm playing this game for
the next couple of months, so you gets announced that the direct and it's
coming out like this Fallen, It's like I beat the person went and wait
no time at all a whole another one whoa the year for him? Yea,
both are game of the year. I'd allow it even if with all
of our bad blood about this, like it's such an important game, I
wouldn't stop you for fighting for it, like I wouldn't wedn't we have best
game we played this year that didn't come out this year, So like Matred
for You does not like succeed no k FAE zone, I am taking that
into account. I've waited my response. Accordingly, you considered it, and
that's what you said. If best isn't my favorite genre at least like one
of my top three, and and it is, you know, a mount
rushmore for the genre for me, like like Super Metroid. Yeah, and
then like this and like maybe or an Orry or something like that would be
their Prince of Person was so good. I really use Prince of Persia as
the bar now, like I expect my Vanias to hit that bar. And
actually, if we're okay with it, my game that I played this week
is very much in line with what we're talking about. Okay, one last
quick question before that, Yes, how do you feel both you about if
I am stuck, should I give myself permission to check? Oh? Look,
it's such a I did it a couple of times. It's a and
I waited a bit like I did my best, But it is such a
big game that's sometimes just gonna have to go and look, yeah, I'm
doing my due diligence. I'm checking and everything. But if I'm lost,
like I shouldn't, you know, it's fine to just take a guy,
Oh, go go to this general area over it, you know, like
I used to spend sometimes three hours dinking around in the game before I found
it where I was going to go next. That did not bother me.
You are busy, Dan. I do not expect you to spend three hours
being like where do I get? That sounds frustrating for you. I cannot
tell you the hours I poured into this game being like I don't know where
to go? But like, look how pretty this is. I did that
a lot, so look it up. Like, don't get frustrated, It's
not worth getting frustrated over. Okay, all right, was that a satisfactory
I'm proud of you. Did I do it? Yeah? I mean I
didn't kill anybody, and I somehow I came closer to death than Dan during
that. That's all right, But what a lesson you learned today? I'm
learning. It's just good. It's a good grow for me. Yes,
thank you. And I got a new game that I'm playing. I'm liking,
so I think. I mean, this is rewarding for me as much
as it is for you. I would love to bury that ship. If
not in Minati's back, then in the ground. Just move on. This
is like Minatti finally seeing mcgruber and laughing the whole time. Yes, that
was like, no, that was the layed gratification of like a week when
you found out I had it and watch it. This has been so it
seven years of torture. I just like it. I was losing sleep.
Oh your logo, man, that was definitely the one that killed me,
even more than the sex scene. More than more than the sex scene was
the subtitle for that really good to me. It's like there's some things that
the bits were like meant to be really funny, and there's other things that
are really small jokes that are just extremely well done. That is the beauty
part of mcgroomer is that it has the loudest, least subtle jokes ever the
celery, the sex scene, the you know, like sending her into the
coffee shop type stuff. But then it also like, upon you know,
fifty viewings like I've done, you've realized that, like there are so many
subtle little jokes that are like, oh my god, this is like way
smarter than you would think on the perst view. Yes, Like even in
the first scene when he's like in the village and he's like these children are
basically like my own and they steal his necklace and they're like, suck at
mcgomer. This is my family. So good. Oh I laughed a lot.
All right, Mary, you had a uh rewind you. You had
a good segue. It was me talking about all a night and metro Vanus
of Okay, Mary, what are you thinking about? I have a hand
drawn two D action platformer that is very Metroidvania, but it is inspired by
Sekio Oh okay. It's called Nine Souls spelled s O l s so different
than you I know they was a flash game. God, damn, you
don't make me kill Manati. Don't make her kill me? No, sorry,
go ahead. This game is very clearly inspired by a lot of beloved
games, and it's you know before it and uh it has really beautiful sequences
of animation. But what's really cool about it is the combat style is very
aggressive. It's very difficult, and it's all parry based. Second row very
notorious that you couldn't possibly get through the game without parrying. This game is
very similar. Within its very first five minutes, it is essentially saying you
must parry to get through this game. This is not about hack and slashing
your way through the game. You must learn how to parry. When you
do that, you get a talisman that you can attach to the person and
then it kind of explodes on them that does more damage than your slash ever
could I have no idea what kind of character this is, but it's kind
of a cute little animal. That's where wearing a fun little cloak you are
fighting giant, monstrous beasts. It is brutal, and I will preface that
it is violent. One of the very first things that happens in like the
first thirty minutes is pretty gory and bloody, and I think it's meant to
set the tone that this is not a simple childlike experience. This is not
uh uh, what's that one that's a cute animal and nothing bad happens to
anybody. Cult of the Cult of the Lamb is pretty fine. I think
you can sacrifice people or I think is like kind of sweet and cut.
There's no blood in or real life. I'm not going to give it away,
but in the very beginning of Nine Souls, it kind of sets the
precedent that this is meant to be a very dark and troubled world that you
are in. Uh. The boss fights are big and brutal and very fucking
difficult. I found this game extraordinarily challenging but also very rewarding, very uh
very much. In the vein of Hollow Night, you have charms, they
have another name. This game is very machine that the concept of it is
like you're in a machine taking down the machine. You hack things, so
like, yeah, so instead of charming there, you're like, you have
a certain amount of nodes that you can activate, and it requires so much
power and you only have so much power, so you're activating certain nodes.
I activated one that lets if I stab someone in the back, I get
life steal by stabbing someone in the back. That's super fun. I've really
enjoyed that. So I've really enjoyed the world building. I have enjoyed the
combat very much. It is it looks like it's going to be a massive
world. I don't think I've put more than five hours into this, so
I haven't seen probably that. I don't think I've scratched the surface of this
world. But it looks very big. I really like it, I really
really do. I think it's I think it's well done, and especially for
Metrodvanea lovers, this is just like another one in the bucket you have to
try. Yeah, it looks so up my alley. I'm kind of shocked
I haven't heard of it. I can. People are talking about it.
It's good, yeah man, And it's funny because you know, the more
like this on Steam is just yeah, secro and then Holla night. So
you're right, that's exactly what it looks like. But I mean, this
art is gorgeous. In my combat, Yeah, that kind of Perry based
combat sounds appealing. I definitely think I need to try this one. It's
brutal. The negatives I will say, just with the time I've had with
it is that I have a couple of times been in areas in my map
and not known where to go, and you cannot take screenshots, nor put
stamps or write on your map. So I will look and say very much
like animal, Well, I will be like, where have I not been
on my map? That's probably where I should go, And I'll re trace
a door that I can't get through right because I don't have the right move
yet. That's frustrating to have that happen more than a couple times in a
five hour playthrough. I accept it as a you know as a part of
this series of game, but I don't like it. The other thing I'll
say is that the perry based combat system is a little cruel sometimes because the
main system of perrying, which gives you a power to put a talisman on
someone which explodes that's your big damage dealer, takes about a second. For
the talisman, you essentially kind of pray a little bit and that it explodes.
If anything hits you in that second, the talisman is disrupted, there
is no explosion, You've lost your power up and you took damage. If
there are more than two enemies, you're kind of fucked. I found the
entire concept when they throw me in a room with three enemies to be a
little rude. And maybe this is like something I need to learn, or
maybe I'll get a power up that eventually will help me navigate three enemies at
once. But it's like, how am I supposed to pray for a second
or two when three enemies are fighting me at the same time. I don't
have time to sit there and like be you know, thinking for a second.
And I basically have found myself every time I'm in a room with three
enemies, it takes me so many lives and like retries to get it done,
and I often find like it's just like luck that I'm fine, finally
able to get through multiple enemy rooms where they like shove me in a locked
area with three enemies that's very difficult to get through. Sounds like heavy on
the risk part of the risk reward thing if like you know, it sounds
powerful, but like yeah, in particular circumstances that sounds like that could be
helpful. That's the problem. I haven't a lot of Soul's games like right,
it's like I got this figured. It seems like it's always like a
combat system to sign for one on one encounters and then games like fuck you
fight multiple people now and it's like, okay, that sounds hard and it
is. Yeah, the uh the increase of difficulty went. The spike was
significant, and I can tell you the exact moment it happened is when they
locked me in a space with three enemies after I basically like opened I powered
up at like an elevator or some shit, and they were like I hate
that, like some like person in my ears, like I didn't like that,
you little bitch, and I'm going to send so many waves of men
at you, and I was like, whatever, bring it on, and
they send six waves of men and it took me ages to get through it,
and I was like, this guy isn' kidding, Like, well,
how did I how did I get here? Were these like these enemies are
all coming at me at the same time. I'm not ready for this,
but anyway, it is difficult. I will say it's not for everybody.
This is a very challenging experience and it has a lot of world building plus
rules of the world. I was reading more than I would have liked to
dan, and I needed to pay attention. I would be like, all
right, I'm in the lower left half of the map. If I die,
it'll give you like this little lotus flower of like where you died getting
there again, good fucking luck. You have to pay attention, you have
to think about like where you are and like what you're doing, and you
have to focus when you play this game. But I do think it's worth
it. I do recommend this game. I think it's a phenomenal uh you
know, homage to Second Row and Hollow Night and other metroid Vania indie games
that have come before it. So I think it's absolutely worth putting on your
list. It sounds like something that like would be better, or there's uses
of the switch that would be good for that, like when you you know,
not every game has the Prince of Persia picture thing, but like the
switch you can do that immediately and then like, I'm so snappy to get
back to your photo album and everything. Yeah, it's like I'm playing Hollow
Night on Steam in my steam deck and like I'm trying to think of it,
like, surely there is a way to screenshot on steam deck. There's
no way to make that conversation In the last episode of fire Escape, IOG
it's like, just listen to what game were I talking about. I don't
know, Animal, Well it's Animal. Well you're talking about how I can't
take a picture. Yeah, You're like, I don't know how to do
it, and I think my heart he was like, you put these two
buds, like it's not as easy, and you all kind of agreed.
Wow, But yeah, what's like what we've talked about on this show.
Yes, it's funny because I'm usually drinking during this show, so I don't
really remember all the things we talked about. I'm like, yeah, I'm
like the fire escapist story, that's great, looks so cold, sober,
like I do every BombCast and everything sober, and I can't remember anything there.
So, uh man, Marty just has a Minati has a functioning brain.
Matt Minati, Matt Minati, as we like to call you. Yeah,
I can't Dan. It would never call me by an incorrect first name.
That would be disrespectful, and I respond you too much to do that,
so I appreciate that. Thank you. Yeah, all right, mitge,
what are you playing? Gosh? You know what I played when I
got back home, because uh, I don't you know. I'm not like
a big civilization person. But when they announced Civilization seven, I was like,
Man, I like, si if I want to kind of play SIEV
six again. It's been a while and all of like the expansions and DLC
is super on sale right now because they announced the new one. I think.
So I actually started up a new game of SIEV six and that's been
real kind of cozy and comfy. I like the vibes of that game.
It's turn based, but it's relatively chill. You can play it as more
of like a wartime game. And I never liked playing civilization that way,
and like you kind of have to a little bit because you might have an
aggressive neighbor, so I have to have defenses or sometimes they take one of
my sales, have to take it back. And that's usually when I am
the least engaged, is moving military units around on these tiles and trying to
you know, attack forts and all that stuff. I almost prefer it like
this weird little city builder thing where I'm like, how many world wonders can
I build? Like, oh, I put the Eiffel Tower next to Machu
Peach. You isn't that so? So I'm always going But that's the good
thing about Sif you have different wind conditions, you can do a cultural victory
or a science victory. And that's usually the route that I that I am
always going for there. But it's because even back when they release this one,
I remember a lot of people didn't like the art style because it is
a bit more colorful. It's almost a little Pixar, like a big Surprise
from the Disney Adult I like the way it looks quite a bit like like
you have Teddy Roosevelt and he kind of just you know, he looks very
bumpastic and he's very animated and it looks fantastic to me. I just love
watching the world leaders do their little silly bits. Was that like the CIV
rev art styles that when that changed over? CHIVD was a bit like that,
But then like after that was CIV five and that was pretty realistic.
So I think that's why CIV six threw every play for a loop. CIV
rev was actually the first one I really got into. I think at that
point, like I played PC games, but not a lot of strategy games,
and Civilizations still seemed intimidating to me. So when they put it on
the three sixty and then Nintendo DS, I was like, Okay, now
I can I can get into this and I can have a good time.
And that kind of taught me the basics so that when CIV five came out,
it was I was ready to really understand what was going on. And
this is a main thing. But CIV pissed me off so much when I
was like in junior high because like there were certain games we were like allowed
to play and like we're on like the network computers at school and it's like
SimCity two thousand. It was like that that was that I played the shit
out of and I love SimCity two thousand. You know, like my classmates
like basically figured out how to put Duke Nukem three D on there. So
I played that, but like it was, we only had a handful of
games on there, and CIB two I think was one of them. Now
it makes sense for that time frame, I think, yeah, yeah,
And I was like I tried to play it so many times because it's like,
well, playing any video game is better than going to school and learning
things, so like I would like load it up, and I was so
pissed off at like why am I not like I just want to command and
conquer? And I was like, I'm just like I don't get to see
the units move. I'm not commanding them in battle the way I am,
Like I can't make tanks go around and like the whole like it was that
a hex grid or something like that. Back then, it was so squares
Okay, yeah, that drove me nuts. It was like I felt like
they took all the like video game parts out of the video game, and
so that was the one I just refused to play back then and have never
played as since. Like I wonder if well, I guess I tried a
couple of times and it didn't go well. But like, do you think
now new open minded dan, do you think do you think you know?
Again? Like SIF six is a new probably access to it. But at
this point, let's all wait for SIF seven. Huh. Let's all see
what they're gonna do with that. Yeah, they announced that, so okay,
yeah, but it'll be fun. It'll be very spiffy if nothing else,
right, and I like spiffy video games. Yeah, although they also
announced a new on no at uh, this is where I probably need more.
But he probably the only person who cares about ONO. I like the
on games though, So he's about to discord in from France with a thirty
minute rant about AO. I like, I think most people at the Ubisoft
thing we were we were in Disneyland, Damn. We didn't pay attention to
ubies off mose. People were like ubi Soft was bad, it was just
games we knew about. Then on No I was like, well, it's
that about on showed up. It's pretty cool. That's pretty cool. So
uh, I'm not like, I'm really not a big strategy game kind of
guy, but I do like the ones that are a bit more like like
not just a pure city builder, Like I don't want to play some city
or cities Excel or something like that, Like there's got to be a little
bit more going on there, but so something like a civilization or an on
o or I was playing Tropico six for the first time ever, right,
something like that is kind of fun for me, with the dictators, with
the dictators body a lot of myself and them the biggest cigars. I always
liked the box star of those games. Yeah, they make them look so
cute, those little friendly Mussolini's hanging out their little smiles. It's my favorite
breakfast Cereal is friendly Mussolini's friendly MUSSOLINII. I never played a Total Warhammer though
I'm not a freak. Okay, good good, we got normal people here.
Absolutely not Mary or you played, Uh, you played the Laurele Laurele.
I did I. I mean, we've already talked about it, so
I really won't dwell on it. I just want to say that I also
played the Laurel and the Laser Eye. I think it's also too smart for
me. I had my gamer notebook. I have a bunch of notes I
took photos on my phone of my Steam deck. I did a lot.
I think the puzzles are fun and usually things that you can solve within the
room using your noodle. I like that when it's like, oh, I
think I understand that this poster is telling me that I have to re order
the words. I have the words somewhere in my notebook. I just have
to find them and move them around in the order they wanted. I think
that's enjoyable. I liked that. At some point a ghost started chasing me
around, and I was like, there's too much puzz juice going around in
this game for you to also introduce death, Like, oh, I didn't
get that far. Wow, heavy, heavy thinking, you know where.
I was like, I gotta get through this puzzle when you're being chased by
a ghost. I don't have I don't have the capacity to worry about that
when I have so many puzzles indoors to unlock. I found it too stressful.
I want to say, I put seven eight hours into it and I
quit. I do like it. I think it's just for smarter people.
Yeah, okay, I did like three or four, so you got furder
than me, and uh yeah, I kind of bowed out at a certain
point with for the same reasons, like nothing but respect for that game.
It is clearly very very smart and cool with what it's doing. Love the
style it, but it's a lot lot. Yeah, I just don't know
if I'm going to dive in. I liked I kind of like the look
of it. I'm a freak, and I became interested when I realized tank
controls were involved. But like games that are just like only the puzzles like
that can only do so much. But I wasn't like a big overriden guy.
I played it, and I did like it, but I don't know
this week. Because I like games like that of a certain kind. Like
I'm a big fan of like old school nineties point click Adventures Layton, I
like Professor Layton, I like Phoenix Reder, I like I'm a big like
Monkey Island Guy, Day of the Tentacle, Grim Fin Dango. I have
a I've had a hankering to play some Misted games in that Riven remakes coming
out soon. I think I might do a whole Mist playthrough. Yeah,
that's the good stuff, but I don't know something about Loralai. I feel
like I would get frustrated. Maybe I should give it a shot though.
Okay, well, let me tell you on this then. And first,
Mary, I have to check because I cannot remember this. Did did you
tell me last time to play a case the Golden Nidol? Yeah? It
was me, Okay, okay, okay, yes, because there had to
be a reason I'm playing it. And I was like, I think Mary
told me. I know, Grub talked about it a lot during the Game
of the Year with Giant Bond last year. So now it's like, okay,
Mary told me about this, Grub, I loved it, and so
I gave it a shot. And was that I said, you're a good
friend. Oh okay, let me write that time stamp okay so much?
Yeah, No, I didn't need a timestamp for that, believe it.
I didn't say that you've changed podcast culture for the worst forever. Wow.
Well, I thought you're gonna say best Okay, So okay, okay's the
Golden Idol. I feel like Mike, you were just saying, Obra Den,
you didn't really jump into all the way. I liked it, but
like so many people I know played it, was like, this is one
of the best games ever and I was like, it was okay, I
guess I feel like I was stumbling into solutions a lot more than like I
was brute forcing it a lot, which made me feel dumb. So yes,
I would put okay, so Obra Din and Loralai to me kind of
occupies some similar mental space. I think ober Den is a little more elegant
and how you can like get to these solutions and things like that, But
it still was like a little much, and I did stumble into things a
little more than I actually like sust them out myself. Case the Goldennidol,
I think is exactly the right amount of like I am fucking having to think
hard about all these things like I was doing tonight. I did the final
level, and it was ours on the final level of just like numerous different
giant note documents up about like Okay, here's my theory document, and here's
my timeline document, and here's my like the different locations and what happened there
and what order documents. I'm just kind of like pouring over it and reading
letters time and time again. For those who don't know what it is,
basically, it's like it's like twelve levels basically, and each one has the
thing where it's like it's usually a dude's dead, and then here's some other
people, and then here's some drawers and notes and clues and weapons and things,
and you're just kind of clicking things, and there's like an exploring and
like a thinking tab, and exploring is looking at the stuff. Thinking is
like filling in the blanks on like Okay, this person killed this person with
this, and then this thing happened. So it's very much a logic puzzle.
It is I think the exact right amount of that and the exact right
amount of difficulty that said I did. By the end, I really really
wanted to beat that last level without looking up anything at all. Like they
have a hint system in game, and it's it's very adamant that when you
click it, it's like, hey, you should probably just take some time
just think about it. It's all there, you know, but if you
want to, and then you have to like solve like basically busy work puzzle
just to get the hint. And so I was trying not to do that
much. But the last puzzle was like insane, and there were a couple
of things that I just did not I was like, oh fuck, I
didn't even like that wasn't even on my radar, so yeah, what was
it my Oh no, no, I was just I was just you know,
thinking like, yeah, I've heard other people say similar things about how
amazing it is, and I feel bad I haven't tried it to this point.
It every time I like, Okay, I'm gonna do it. I
look at just the steep page kind of it's kind of an ugly game.
I'm just gonna say it really screenshots, doesn't it look kind of I don't
like it. It's like weird art that I'm into, Like I actually think
that's on the stronger points. I think if I'm actually playing it, like
I will like that vibe and I'll be into it. But just like when
I look at like the steam page screen shot, like I usually i'm like
all about like weird pixel art thing. It's like Oregone Trail pixel art in
this weird kind of way, which again I feel like I should be into.
But it's like it's it looks like intentionally gross and again intentional ways,
but uh, I don't know why. That's the one thing that's like keeping
me from fully diving in. Yeah, that didn't really bother me. I
actually just I really did like the look of it. I don't know,
Mary, were you into that? Yeah, I think the look of it's
really cool, and I think it's the reason I recommended it in the first
place. Tell me more about the puzz Is it like too hard or is
it the right amount for you? I think it was the right amount.
I think it's like there were so many things where it was like I would
just be barking up the wrong tree entirely, and then it's like, you
know, I don't know how many times I would fill in like seventy five
percent of this solution and then I would just like throw it all in the
trash. Me let's start over. And it's like, oh, I was
thinking totally the wrong way. I was focusing on this thing that happened in
this room. I should be focusing more on what's happening over here. Or
then you find that one item like oh shit, I didn't realize this thing
was missing off this guy's clothes, or this weapon was here, or this
thing was missing from the wall, and like that just recalibrates everything. And
I loved every time I just threw everything I thought into the trash and like
re examined everything from scratch, like, and it's got just kind of a
cool lure to it. And it's almost like kind of rends me like weird
John Wick like underground society type stuff where just this weird uh just kind of
yeah, underground society of weirdos trying to like control like this election and stuff.
And it's set and like it's kind of like a medieval type land or
whatever what. By the way, I don't know if it's medieval land.
I think it's probably said in like the real world, but I didn't know
a new one. Yeah, there were swords. I don't know it's medieval,
but that's that's If there's a sword, it's medieval. I didn't realize
there's a sequel coming out, so, like, as I was getting really
into this, I got super excited when I saw, Wait, what's Rise
of the Golden Tidol. I go to the same page it's coming out this
year, and it's like seventies detective story. Shit. I'm like, oh
my god, that's gonna be like way more up my alley, I think.
So I'm super excited about that. I think I might honestly like parties
like, oh I should try this. I almost want to wait for a
rides. So I'm a big Columbo fan, right, and that is super
seventies detective stuff that is maybe a bit more my vibe. I think I
could just kind of gel with that a bit easier. I can see that.
Yeah, Like, despite not being into like the kind of fantasy medieval
stuff or whatever. Swords, you know, there's some that genre of sword,
the sword genre, the D and D genre, there were some that
have like really cool settings where it's like one of the later ones is like
it's in this tribunal or this like kind of court situation where like the society
is taken over and they have these new rules of like okay to figure out
what this society's like virtues are and what things are illegal, and like there's
a merit system where it's like you are you get demerits based on like oh
I had this like a piece of vulgar art, or I wore this really
crazy you know wig or something like that. And so you're going through everyone's
dossier's and seeing what they were accused of and you have to fill out like
exactly how many points they were demerited like things like that, like just weird.
There's math involved and just a lot of just like looking through like leafing
through paperwork and stuff, and goddamn it was As someone who's always loved like
a good logic puzzle, I feel like this was presented in a way that
I found better to play as a video game than like Oberden. M I
really was one of the weird people that did not get into Oberden. It
was too far for me, and I also don't like it was like something
about being like, what what race is this person? Right, also was
a little uncomfortable something right about it. I don't want to have a book
like assuming things all these like very specific nuances of people. So I want
the puzzles to be expansive enough where I'm like exhausted, my brain is exhausted
by this one type of puzzle. The game gives me a completely different type
of puzzle that exercises something else in my brain and does let me feel smart,
and then I can come back to the other one. Obra Din was
the same puzzle again and again and again, so I just got tired of
it. I love the idea of a game that kind of mixes it up
a little bit and lets you try different forms of like what a puzzle is.
Some are math, some are not math, thank you very much.
Yeah, this does a good job of like mixing it up. Like some
stuff is like the actual Golden Idol itself can do like basically like magic,
but you have to figure out like there's ruins on the back and you have
to decipher like, okay, so this is like increase, this is decrease,
this is matter, this is heat, this is and then you can
like like there's a lot of puzzles involving the Golden Idol, but then there's
a lot of just like mystery stuff, and then you've also got like the
math stuff. So like I did feel like, you know, it has
a pretty condensed you know, it's it's like here's twelve levels, and each
one of them feels pretty different from each other. So I really really loved
it. I burned through it really fast, like basically over the last week.
I beat the game. Yeah, I really really love it. I'm
super impable. How long do you think it is? Ten hours? Maybe?
Okay, that's what the same thing said. And of course disclaimer that
could have been on a menu or but dinking around for half of it,
but I think that's a good length of time for a puzzler as well.
I, if I could be so bold, I also played a moderate puzzler
that wasn't too long, which I appreciated. I was encouraged to play this
game from Lucy who tweeted about this game, and then when I googled it,
I googled duck Detective because I thought it was a really good name.
That makes sense. That's not the name of this game. It's Duck Detective
the Secret Salami. That is a good name and a good subtitle. Google
That like reminds me of like that. It seems like it should have been
like one of those like Putt Putt or Pajama sam games with a name like
that, right, seems like one of those things where they were like,
we can't just have it be duck Detective. It needs to have a bunch
of stuff so that there's no way that anyone can copy us. It has
to be very iconic and have its own trademark. So Duck Detective the Secret
Salami. You are a duck detective in an animal world. Anybody can be
different varieties of animals. There's strafes there's bears, there's alligators, and you
are going to an office to investigate a salami bandit. Somebody is stealing lunches,
there's like salamis going missing, and there's chaos, and you are the
detective. You are the person that is talking to people, writing down things
in your handy dandy notebook, and you solve the case. I was okay
on this game. I think there were some things I really liked. It's
very cheeky and cute. It has funny, quirky humor in it that reminds
me of what's that other detective game? But you're detective from No be serious.
You're a frog, but you're also a detective crime I can't think of
it. Yeah, So it's similar where you're like cheeky humor, right,
and there's little jokes in all of the writing, which I think is adorable
and I like it very much. This one, you don't even you solve
even like the character's name. So you'll meet someone and they'll say, sorry,
I'm just like a little angry right now, and you'll look at them
with your magnifying glass and you'll recognize that their eyes are red, and she'll
be like, oh, this person has been crying, they're having a bad
day, and you'll look at other things on them, Oh they're tired,
or they it is and then and then so you'll you'll read stuff on the
walls and it'll say something like the calendar will say, oh, it's Jackie's
birthday, and you'll check and you'll say, oh, gosh, you're what
it's today, And so you'll be like, it's somebody's birthday. This person
has been crying. Maybe it's Jackie and we forgot their birthday. As you
start piecing together the clues of the things that you found, but your notebook
will literally have people's names and no sorry, it'll have faces and no name,
and you have to solve it's their name, this is what they're upset
about, this is what their day is like, this is their job,
and you have to do that for every person in this office. So it
gets very specific with the things you need to know and what you need to
do. By the end of this game, I kid you not, it
will give you a sheet that says blank is feeling blank because blank tried to
blank the other blank. But blank is blank, and that means that blank
and you have to put all of the words in these blanks. Now you're
not typing these words. I want to preface that what happens is during your
destigation with your handy dandy magnifying glass, you will highlight words as a part
of your investigation, and then those words will be in the drop down of
those bubbles. So when it says blank is feeling blank, ye, all
of the feelings will be options that you've uncovered. However, there canna be
like eight options, and if there's twelve blanks, it's pretty funny when you're
like trying to piece it together and the game is like do you need help,
and it's like, bitch, I got it. There's like none of
my blanks are right. But whatever you are just describing like that, that
is exactly like a golden idol where it's like you're just reading diaries and there
are words that are like I know that because I recommended that to you.
Wait, wait do you recommend it or head? Have you not played it?
I have not played it. Okay, i's gotta say wait a minute,
because you're describing like exactly the same gameplay thing. But yeah, it's
just a bunch of blanks, and it's like you're not typing it in.
It's words that you find on like diaries and things like that, and so
like, this really does sound like a tonally very different version of like what
I was doing with Golden Nidol. Very interesting. I mean, what I
will say is like, I think this game is for a very specific type
of puzzler person who likes to uncover lots of words and then be like,
what is the solution based on all of the evidence that I have in front
of me. I don't care for that type of puzzle game. I don't
think that it's for me, But I don't think it's a bad game,
and I want to set the record straight. I think this is a very
well done game that is for a certain type of person that likes looking at
a book full of clues and solving the case. I like Professor Layton Puzzles,
which is like I gotta get this glass of water to halfway full,
but I can only fill it with a top in this third cu like,
yes, I don't know why. That scratches a part of my brain that
makes me feel really smart. This one is more like I'm beating my head
against the wall being like I don't know was it Delilah with the boot?
I don't know, and like I'm just like you're playing. Yeah, at
some point, Sargent Pepper with the candlestick. Sergeant Pepper is a beetle.
What are they called? What are those characters names? There was doctor Plum,
professor yeah something, Professor Plums, Mustard, Colonel must that's the famous
one. It's like I should at least know Colonel Mustard. I have Sergeant
Slaughter and Sergeant Hammer in there. Who could forget the murderer could be anyone.
Sergeant Slaughter, here's an American hero, slaughter his stripes. This art
style reminds me of paper Mario a lot. Is that kind of like the
aesthetic vibe. Yeah, heavy outline, like heavy black outline, like everything
was lined in a giant marker sticker style. I think it's cute, it's
endearing. There's nothing harmful in this game. It's family friendly, it's for
everybody. I just think that it's for a person that enjoys solving clue.
Who's sorry, starving puzzles with like a mountain of clues that you write down
in your notebook. It's it was short. I think it was like I
think I finished it in four hours, and when it was done, I
was glad, but I solved it, and I did think that it was
very cute and well done. So Duck Detective I might try that out,
because like I am so just in that mode of what I did with the
Golden Idol and like this seems like almost like a lighter load in one of
those like if it's four hours or so, you know, I man,
this might be the year of like Golden Idol type games for me, because
I've got the sequel. I think I want to try out this Duck Detective
thing, like I think I'm I'm also into the Professor Layton style, so
like I think I like both. Like I'm just I fucking love logic puzzles.
I always did. We're like this person's standing next to this person,
this person's holding this, but will not stand next to this person. This
person won't be in a room with any of these people. And you have
like the grid and you're doing the x's and the o's and all that like
that shit. Like my brain works very well with stuff like that. So
I think this is like a genre I want to spend more time in.
You know, it's funny because I'm doing Like so I'm playing Paper Mario thousand
Year Door and I'm in the train level, which is just like Paper Mario
thousand Door is so good at this where it has all these chapters and they
each feel different, and the train one is just the mystery chapter, right,
So it's like a very liked version of this where it's like, oh,
who stole the stew and follow the tracks over here? And you know,
it's not like this deep puzzle thing, and yet it still has very
much that vibe and there haven't been like random encounters, so it is like
a nice break from other things happening in that game to do something different any
know before that you're on like a kind of piraty adventure then earlier in the
Spooky Town of God. That game is just so good at switching things up
while still being you know that turn based paper Mario style. Didn't uh,
didn't Hat in Time do something like that too? Like I had like a
murder on the Organ Express type thing I didn't get. I didn't get very
far and hat in Time, But I don't know why I feel like it
should have been my thing. I want to go back problem with my problem
is I only tried to play the Switch version, which didn't run super great.
Oh okay, I feel like that is someone who loves three D platformers
so much. I think I want to spend more time with that. Yeah.
Always, I feel I think we're getting out of a place where indie
three D platformers are starting to get there. There was that Yo Yo one
earlier in the year, then no No for Penny's Big Breakaway. Yeah,
it felt pretty good. Like I'm still kind of waiting for like that big
breakout one where it's like, here's the one that's just as good as a
Mario game, right, Astrobot, Well, that's not indie indie lover Dan
I'm talking about, except for that. Just because a game isn't a Horizon
doesn't mean that it's suddenly an indie game. God damn it, Golden Idol
indy game, right, that's that's true game. Right. Yes, we
have mostly talked about end games Paper Mario not so much. I know that
it's Nintendo though, Uh you know, I I loved thousand Year Door back
by playing the GameCube, and it's just been nice playing this this remake.
I haven't played it since then, and it's like, oh, this game
is great. I was right to like this game. I'm good, I'm
smart. Yay. I hate that, like I did the same thing.
I know I've said it before, but like the Metroid Prime thing where it's
during the pandemic, I played Metrod Prime. I also played Paper Mario that
was near door, and it's like they remade both of them, and I
haven't touched either of the remakes, and there most would be good remakes,
and I wish I would have just waited a couple of years, not that
I could have known it was coming, you know, but like share,
I'm almost done with wind Wacr HD, and it's like they're going to fucking
announce the remake of that day. I swear, like the day after this
podcast goes up. If that rumored direct happens on Tuesday, if they announced
wind Way for HD, I'd just gonna be insane. There's a decent chance,
Like right, there's a decent chance, and I appreciate your services.
At this point, I probably have like four or five hours left of wind
Wacer HD. I think if they announced it on Tuesday, I would just
be like, all right, fuck it. I will actually just wait and
I will play the remake. I want. I want to play one of
these remakes. It might just be like a port of that HD version.
You're already fine, It's well, okay, It's all I'm saying is at
that point you wouldn't have to really get all worked up about start it.
Bit is the support and like that age that first HD version on we you
like, there's so much shit already and it's so good. The way they
fix it, the way I could like look at your items and stuff like
that, the swift sale and the tangles with the maps and everything, it's
so much water. The one thing I would really want if they give another
pass edit is I want the music to be orchestrated. Now, I would
workers one of my favorite games ever. I love the music, but like
that GameCube Midi style didn't sound great to me. One of those things where
it's like I love Mario, I love Zeld and all that gun to my
head. I could not tell you whether any game was orchestrated or Midi or
now. Like I just I know, like if I heard the music,
I'd be like, oh yeah, this sounds good. But like you,
Mike, I've seen you with super Bell Hill and all that stuff, like
you know, all the names, let's go. Yeah, yeah, you
know this stuff on. Like with video game music, I feel like there
are people like you Manati and like like Tim Turrey that will like listen to
it and know the tracks and listen to like remakes and all this stuff and
all other scene. It's a whole other kind of part of the community.
There's whole conventions and everything. In me, it's like I like video game
musical, especially like Mario and Zelden stuff, but like I hear the song
and while I'm playing it, I'm like, oh my god, I love
this song, and then like I don't know the name of it. I
don't listen to it outside of the context of the game. I you know,
so it's like I don't. I mean, they're like super famous ones
in a Bloody Tears and stuff like that. Were's like, yeah, okay,
I get that, but oh that's such a good name, you can
forget it. Yeah yeah yeah, But like I mean, yeah, ninety
nine percent of the time, I'm just enjoying it while I'm playing the levels.
And fine, I mean that's how that's what it is designed to be.
I think it's a you're being a bit more of a freak like me,
Like you're listening to a lot of video games soundtracks instead of real music.
Quote unquote, that's Tim. I mean every time I walk by his
desk a Game in Former, it's just like, oh, here's a Sonic
Knuckles playlist or a tribute to Sonic and Knuckles playlist or something. You know,
Yeah, see remix dot com. All right, the iconic, iconic
soundtracks of sound Sonic and Knuckles. Tim Terry will fight you if you're bringing
sarcastic about that a little bit. I Texonic one over at any d actually
go Sonic one, song two and song three, Knuckles ranking the gen assists
on it. Of course. I don't need to tell you guys this.
You know, if they announced wind Wacker HD soon, I want people to
just start venmowing me to get me to just play Bloodborne so they make a
remake of that. You can make a lot of money. If I have
a melligability, or if I start playing an old game, they will remake
it in the next year or two. Yeah, yes, is this Danning
it? Now? We had Kishing it and this is Danning It? Okay,
Wow, I like it seems much more parentheses positive, I have to
say. But yeah, he always gets away with that somehow, Yeah,
somehow, his quirks are cheeky and adorable. Yeah, you'res just lose you
money. Uh, Mike, you are playing metaphor re Fantasio. This so
this was something I played at Summer Game Fest. Okay, okay, yeah,
god not really. JRPG people on this podcast usually are there. Yeah,
Dan, it's just gone getting a drink. This is the new game
from the Persona People. This is the Persona People are finally making a fantasy
RPG. Fantasy RPG. Yeah, Dan, the Persona People. Dan,
I'm making a fantasy RPG. I'm sure you're you're just tickled with enthusiasts.
Give it five years. I'm suddenly gonna play a Persona and be like,
this is Persona is so good. I've heard, as somebody who loves like
turn based RPGs and other series like FOM Fantasy are kind of retreating from that.
I love that we still have at list here making new ones of those
that feel very big. They do. They feel very spiffy and kind of
top on line. I don't necessarily want to say Triple A, but that
that is part of it. It's a good feeling when there is like a
company around that is like putting the work in too, like keep something alive
that you love, Like I really thought that with like I'm not gonna go
on a whole tangenty, but like Astrobot where it's like when I was playing
that, I was like, damn, this is a big, expensive,
top of the line three D platformer, which I feel like we don't get
enough of these days. But anyway, so sometimes some genres do go like
we haven't really had RTS in a long time. Times it's just right car
combat been along gone. So yeah, I'm glad that we you know,
and it would it would be fine if we just only had like indie or
smaller ones, like if see if Stars was the representation for turn based Arpugis,
I would be okay with that. But it is nice still seeing like,
oh, this is what it looks like when there is like high production
values behind this thing and it looks kind of expensive and cool. In it
looks very expensive and cool, and there's you know, a lot of it
is persona stuff, but there's some interesting things like when you're on the field,
it can almost be more just a hack and slash, but your hack
and slashing not to beat an enemy nless they're really low level, then you
just kill them. It's usually so that you get advantage so that when you
start the turn based battles, you're the one who attacks first. But if
you're hack and slashing and they hit you, then you start the battle and
they have It's a little bit of a paper Mario thing, but it's a
bit more because it's like it's not just you know, the one attack they'll
have, like not the health bar, but like a stagger bar, and
that's what you're trying to whittle down there. And while you're doing that,
they might attack you and you have to like use a dodge button. It's
not like, you know that will make crime mechanics for the hack and slashing,
but there's a surprising amount more there than just hit them once to get
advantage. Nice. It's fun stuff. I think anybody who likes Persona is
going to be super over the moon with this one's coming out last year.
Aside from Astro, it's my most anticipated game for the rest of the year,
probably to Nintendo, and that's just all their stuff were they worried about
their SEO. With a name like this, you would think it's not great,
is it? Yeah? I wonder if there's a part and that's like
we can't we work on word persona there or something. But you know,
I don't know. It might be one of those things where it sounds super
weird to us now and then in ten years it's like, of course metaphor,
we're friend Tazio five is coming out. That's the most beloved name in
RPGs. I don't think so. I don't think this is going to be
like a refantaz the Vanya type game that we're gonna talk about. It's a
metaphor, like, actually, I'm gonna go ahead, Like sounds like a
fuck up thing to say those sports are metaphor. Like, it's a metaphor,
Like I'm already gonna put it right here in our twenty twenty four game
of your categories and their worst title metaphor. That's a really good idea.
And also I also I brought up this game and sabrety guys never played to
talk about great is your big takeaways that the Dame is back, you are
replacing Mike, you deserve to have the mic experience and that's that. I
don't give a about talking about nerds. Te a million coffees. This game's
gonna sell very well. Problems at okay, Well, good job capitalism,
Mike Capitalist Nerd Mike Manati. Yeah. I also I have a new category
for this year. I put down a best Think Them, and I put
DUCKT Detective and Rise the Golden Idoland there. I think we got Dewey,
we got Dewey Talkie and think Them. I think those will big good for
this year. Three food groups. Yes, you guys should all play the
Riven remake together, but it'll be a good candidate. I've never played Missed.
Oh really no, I don't have Surprized because that was miss was like
a game that you like, grow up with that like the older sibling is
good at. Do you ever have a Sega CD? I did have a
Sega CD, but the only game I ever bought I traded in my anys
and every game for a segacy D, and all I had was Sewer Shark,
which rules fucking w F rage in the cage. Those are the my
whole nes collection of ship. That would be like all these mega mans and
all this ship now like a great move there. Raising the cage was not
that great either. It's funny because there's a time in my life where I
was like, I think this is the biggest game in the world. I
heard about it all the time, but I just never saw it. Yeah,
I just my step dad wouldn't let he had a he had a Packard
Bell. I wasn't allowed to play on that because he thought I would give
it a virus if I played a game on there. So hmhm, yeah,
Mary, I don't think. Why do you talk about one of your
weird ones, because I've heard about one of yours? Dan, which one?
I've heard about this stupid game that everyone won't shut up about called Banana.
Apparently it's like the fourth most Oh you're playing this? Well, literally
fifteen minutes before we went on the recording here tonight, I saw Mike Drucker
tweet about a game called Banana, and I had no idea what it was.
Raving about this stupid game. Are they really raving about it? I
mean, it's like, I don't know if raving is the word. It
seems like a meme to me. It's like the fourth most downloaded game?
How did you free? And it definitely seems like a meme. Like it's
like at the Flappy Bird phenomenon got taken to its extreme. What a game.
It's just popular because like literally what I did was I loaded up there
is a banana. It looks like a jpeg of a banana, and I
clicked it and a number goes up, and I clicked it about one hundred
times, and nothing happened at a hundred and I didn't see any sense that
there was anything beyond that you're really bad at bananas. Though we've discovered today
be doing something wrong. That is true. I might have sucked it up.
Yeah. My takeaway is I don't know what this is. It seems
like it's a meme. I don't know if at any point anything happens,
Like it seems like there's a store where you can spend money for real to
make your banana look like matrix numbers or whatever of glass or so. Yeah,
that's my banana experience. Do you recommend banana? No, based on
what I've seen, No, I would not. I would recommend it.
Not recommend banana banana. Like, shoot, bananas are pretty good, Like
those are that's first fur goes Mitch. I know, Mitch, have you
ever eaten a banana? Never? Nough, have you ever eaten a banana
flavored thing? Yes? Like I had a banana flavored I will say,
like I can eat like the candies are like, you know, runts taste
like fruit ruts. Yeah, it's a good one. Runt's like, oh,
the grape brunt, that's fine. That banana runt is disgusting. Look,
even like I like bananas, banana runts are kind of weird and hard.
Flavor never really truly captures the essence of banana. Yeah, it's messed
up because like, yeah, all the other fruits just tastes like sugar something,
and then the banana one's got something else going on. Flavor scientists that
came up with banana are all like, whatever, we're close enough, pack
it in, let's go home. It's not even near there. We're inventing
fruits like blue raspberry that are amazing in candy form, but we can't get
banana figured out. God, there's a part of me that just wants to
be like, I can't believe you've never bitten a banana, Mike. But
then it's like, I guess that's like everybody that's ever known me for like
forty years. Sure, yeah, but it's sure when I was like a
baby before I can remember I had a banana before the hang ups really started.
Who knows? Would it be incentivized? Uh? Money, it can
never be. Apple could ever be? Maybe you can get oh, because
I have like a phobia appage. I know we've said this for but like
there was a line somewhere. Was it ten thousand dollars ten k in a
suitcase cash taking a bite of an apple? Yeah? I think I think
ten k is what s is b for an apple. I'd probably be lower
for banana for sure. Like I don't want to give you a thousand dollars,
I'll take a bite of a banana, Like I don't want to eat
a taco bell thing with sour krem on it. But you offer me like
five hundred bucks, I'm going to do it. See interest, I feel
like we've all accidentally had done that one at least, because that's with yourself.
Lower my price, all lower my price, Like that's easy money.
I'm not going to turn down easy money. Uh tiny Terry's Turbo trip.
Have I talked about this on I have not a Well it's another great endie
game that I played it and beat it is it's not a bit I love
any case. This is everything. It's an indie game this week. H
Tiny Terry's Turbo Trip is an open world, super condensed like goofy, like
actually funny, Like the writing is is very funny. Made me laugh several
times. Like it's like take all the things you think up with like a
I don't want to say, like a GTA, but like more of an
open world kind of three D platformer, and it's kind of got all of
it condensed into like this four hour experience. Like you're driving around, you're
buying upgrades, there's like character interactions and stuff. There's a very condensed open
world. There's collectithon elements and it's just a thing where it's like you're trying
to collect a bunch of bullshit to level up your cars so you can drive
it into space. And that's it. And he's got a few friends in
the town. Everyone's got their different things where it's like, oh, I
want to date this girl, but she doesn't like this food, so I
got to find a new food for her to like, or you know,
this guy's an asshole, and there's like a whole like Pupper Cars mini game,
Like there's a several different mini games with leader wards and stuff on it.
Like there was a surprising amount of variety and heart and personality to this
game that is just like a four hour thing on Steam. And yeah,
I played it in two sittings. So it was like when I played a
Mary you told me about Children of the Sun, and it was like two
sittings, and this was a similar thing where it's like I enjoyed every second
of that and I didn't need it to be longer, but that was just
a delightful experience. Yeah. Yeah, big recommendation for Tiny Caerry dense huh
it is. I mean I was always doing something like You're never just kind
of like you know, aimlessly wandering around or anything like that, and like
even if something is across the map, you get there pretty quick. It's
a it's super fun. I don't think I've played like an open world type
game that's that condensed and solid. I don't know why, but it gives
me SpongeBob video game vibes. Oh a little Battle for Bikini Bottom. I
went on there, y see it. I saw the little the things I
heard people bring up were yeh, SpongeBob and Simpsons Hit and Run as comparison.
Yeah, I just played through that for the first time, like last
year. That's still pretty fun, does it age? Well? I played
that when I was growing up, and I thought it was amazing. I
think it holds up. But I'm also pretty like I play a lot of
old games all the time, so I'm kind of immune to like games feeling
age. Yeah, I should ask a regular person. I think a free
click. Yeah, I would, And I don't know why I did that.
I don't learn anything from this. I loved it. I thought how
old and shitty it was speaking of new and uh not shitty. I forgot
to mention this last episode. I don't know why I forgot, but I
think it's worth mentioning that I played Little Kitty Big City. I thought you
brought it up because I thought Mike perked up. I think I forgot.
Oh, sure, episode, I don't think it came up. Thank you.
I'm glad that Mike is here to set the record straight. I'm like,
I'm like so confident because I even put in the discord, I said,
did I not talk about Little Kitty Big City? And you responded to
me, Dan, No, I don't think you didn't. I was like,
well, I fucking played it. I don't know why I didn't talk
about it. So I'm not just forgetting things we did talk about. Now
my brain is telling me we did talk about things we didn't. That's a
good sign. We had a full conversation about it. Dan, that's good.
That's good. It's concerned. Uh. I played Little Kitty Big City.
It is on game pass. I did not kiss it. This game
is very cute. You're a cat. It has elements of a goose.
What's the goose game? Whatever, it's very goose game. You are messing
with people. You can bump into them and steal their phone or steal their
bagel. You can catch little pigeons that are or birds that are like,
you know, minding their own business. You can pick up stuff, lots
of hats. It's extremely cute. And then you're doing those things to achieve
things like so like if you mess with someone, you can actually like get
them to chase you, and then they knock something over, and then you
get something out of the garbage that they knocked over. It's like an example.
I don't think that actually happens, but that's not the point. You're
slowly uncovering things in the world, and as you do that, it grants
you fish. The fish give you longer climbing ability, and so as you
play the game, you travel upwards because now you can climb up buildings gets
you to the second third levels. By the end of the game, you're
like literally on top of the rooftops of the city. It's super cute.
I think it's really it's really adorable, especially for a game pass game.
I feel like there should be a name for this genre of like you know,
little Kiddie, big City, and god damn one. In the middle
of that sentence, forgot the other line of talking about what's another word goos
game yes or titled it doesn't have a title. You're not wrong to forget
it not necessarily like not all animal things, Like I don't count Stray in
this because Stray was trying to do like a narrative and stuff. You know
I've talked about, you know, yeah, go simulators totally one, yes,
yes, yeah, just animal bullshit gamesh is a really good genre.
This is one hundred percent animal bullshit. You're not really achieving anything. Nothing's
very important. There's no stress, there's no must, there's no fuss.
You do have to think about things. Sometimes there's like an underground system of
tunnels that you uncover, and so you need to like get through all the
tunnels which uncovered certain spaces. It's very cute. One of the goals is
that a duck sauce. It's ducklings. So you find these ducklings and they
follow you and you bring them back to their moms. Very cute. I
did. I was watching somebody play it and they were doing that segment and
it was very cute. How like you were marching with the ducklings, and
like the humans you walk by even kind of like stopped and like looked and
took pictures because even they're like, oh, this shit's pretty cute. They
knew. Did you see Mike at Disneyland. Were you there with us when
we saw all the baby ducklings. Yeah, Well, as we were in
line to get our dull lip and the baby ducklings came out. Yeah,
there's a lot of baby ducks in Disneyland. It's so funny because I love
it because you're in Disneyland, there's like zillions of dollars put into this to
make it like visually interesting to you and then like some baby duck shoup and
everybody, shit, look out, here's baby ducks. Isn't that the greatest
thing you've ever heed? So you don't see is that they are pumping out
baby ducks that everyone has a really good experience, and as soon as you
leave and they get to like three months old, they kill them up.
Well, we didn't see a dead bird just floating in the river while we
took the riverboat ride or whatever. I knew it, so that was the
Mark train riverboat. Do you remember what I was telling you Dan about how
it's like really hard to find trash at Disney because there's somebody who picks it
up within like thirty seconds. I didn't see trash anywhere I did. I
didn't remember what you were saying about, like the music, like the transitions
between stuff and the trash and all that, and like, yeah, yeah,
I get it, I get it. You can see behind the buildings
like they've done in expert jobs that you never like see someone leave or like
come in. It always looks like they're coming in and out of like a
nice door. You never see them go behind the scenes and the park first
opened, Walt Disney had them give everybody watched in the park just like a
free thing of bubble gum. Right, so I was like, oh,
free bubble gum. And then he looked and saw where did they start throwing
the bubblegum wrapper onto the floor. It's like, okay, that's how that's
how se is kind of trash cans everywhere. That's the that's the amount of
patience people have before they will just litter. That's how they got a barometer
of like how frequently the space out trash cansy? Holy shit. He also
gave everybody a free baby duck to see how long it takes before they get
bored and just throw it in the river. Very soon, shockingly early.
You'll be amazed at how quickly you get bored with a baby duck, snap
its neck and toss it in the river. Ye, just to feel something
got to take its life away. Mary, can you bring me through the
timeline? Leave the duck's eyes. There's the next duck detective who's murdering these
baby du murders? Oh, I've been murdered the end of an escalation for
the Salamie episode. Mary Murry, What is the timeline from when I handed
you with that bag of kitty litter on stage at John Bombs Free put it
on the ground. Just walk me through the very heavy I really don't think
I was pretty heavy. And then when we were leaving, I was like,
what am I supposed to do? Like pick this up? It's very
heavy. So I just picked it off the stage. Mary, did you
try any of my headcake? I had a skittle. It's pretty good skittle
though, huh. The cake was good. You should have had some.
It was a red velvet. It was good. I enjoyed it. I
didn't know whose fingers had been in there at that point. There I saw
someone rip your nose off. Yeah, yeah, they got my nose.
Yeah. It was something about the just yeah, the sanitary conditions of your
open skittle brain. I like, you know, I've got one skittle and
tried it, and then I was just like, it's just too dangerous,
you know, too many conditions, too many shown. Should I be more
unnerved about like having a lifelike cake face, because I just mostly I'm like,
oh that's neat, and I cut it and stab it in. It's
great. I would have the same yeah, I think I have the same
reaction. It's a peer listening and have not seen this. Check out either
my Instagram or it's probably on Giant Bombs or Fat Lemon SD. That's the
baker who made it, and she is incredibly talented. It is just Mike
Manati's head as Kwan she filled with skittles as a cake with big gross feet
that I threw into the audience and uh boy, howdy does she just nail
it? Like I'm really excited for the people who didn't know what we're talking
about, who just had the quant chi aspect of it. Oh yeah,
from Mortal Combat four, everyone's favorite. I do you remember seeing it and
my immediory action going like, oh that is fucking disgusting. That's so vile.
And Mike was like, Mary, that is you know based on my
face. You were talking about the feet though, and I was like you
were the first time. So Mary was like, ah, it's so I'm
looking at It's like me, she's vomiting in front of this kid. Disgusting.
Put it in a closet. People are like eating skittles out of my
brain trying to cover it with a blanket. It's a Weird Life. We'd
yeah, yeah, good stuff. Uh we hit that. We hit all
the games. You want to hear me talk about MEGAMU five for the Game
Boy. I think that's about play right. It has planet Bosses. There's
a cat, got it. I'll check it out. All right, it
is email time. We got a handful here, and let's just start with
this one from Jerry Hey Fire Escapist. Apologies if you all get this question
a lot, but I was wondering, what are your some What are some
of your all time favorite video game trailers? Are there any you rewatch or
go back to over the years. I personally love watching Old Breath the Wild
trailers because it reminds me of the awesome experiences I had with the game,
all delivered in a three minute hype reel instead of having to replay through the
entire game again. Also a potential follow up question for Dan, have you
watched the Metal Gear Solid two trailer or the WrestleMania seventeen Stone Could Burst the
Rock Olympus Get My Way video package more in your lifetime? Love the show?
Dan's probably right, Cherry in Wisconsin. I'll get that one out of
the way first. That is incredibly close. The middle Gear Solid two trailer
and the my Way video package probably them. I bet both of them are
well over fifty. I would imagine like I guess a gun to my head,
my Way, but it's it's very very close. So but yeah,
I like this question. Uh, Like, I definitely do the Breath of
a while. That trailer was so good with that music, And around that
same time, we also had that Mario Odyssey trailer that had the Superstar thing
that one. I just watched those trailers so much. What's interesting is when
it's a trailer for a game that like I didn't don't really care that much
about, and even in retrospective, like I really liked the trailer for Assassin's
Creed Revelations, which was like the second sequel to Assassin's Creed two. It
had this really intense song by by wood Kid and it was just like very
dramatic and it was like the snare drums wing from from and it was like
all old now and like sad, and I was like, this is important.
I remember being at the E three that year. It was when like
Ubisoft's booth was just this giant open space with the booths surrounding it. And
there's this giant screen that would would play like Rapids go to the Moon or
whatever and just dance, but then every other one it would play that one.
I was stuck in some line and when that one came on, I
was like, here we go, here's the good shit again. He's gonna
get looking real sad. They're going to hang him. Then the last second's
gonna stab him instead, and I'm gonna think it's pretty freaking cool. But
so that trailer great, the game that was okay, Mary, I have
to ask, I know how much Gears means to you? Were you because
like with the first on the Mad World trailer, like, did you know
when that trailer came Like, were you into it when you first saw that
before you played the game? Yeah? This was gonna be my absolute generic
answer. You have me one percent. The Mad World trailer was like iconic
for me growing up, Like this was like the song that I was listening
to on my iPod which I had walking to college. I listened to this
song regularly. When it was associated with Gears, I was like one hundred
percent. So in I was like, this is genius marketing. I love
both of these worlds together. I also think it changed video game trailers forever.
When it may they were all sudden period. What I was talking about
with Revelations was exactly a response to that. It was the same kind of
vibe. Yes, I think somebody brilliantly in their marketing world was like,
let's have a nice solemn, slow song and put violence to it. And
everyone was like, that's crazy, You're crazy, and it was like epic
and ultimate and and to this day, I have Mad World favorited on my
you know, on my Spotify playlist, Like it's just a really good song
and it does make me think of Gears, and I think it's the perfect
embodiment of this question. I don't think it's an original or exciting answer,
but I think it is like the ultimate answer, and it makes you kind
of happy, makes you kind of sad. It's it's funny because the dreams
in which Dan's dying is the best I've ever had. It's funny because I
like Gears. I kind of fell off it by a time four and five
came around, I haven't really thought about much. I didn't think i'd care
about a new one, but that new trailers they brought in Mad World back
then they were like, let's just go just a little snow slower and sadder
one hundred on board with the merchants to day now. I mean, like
all of mine are middle year ones for the most part, and I have
different feelings about like all of them. But like, if I had a
point one, it is the middle gear slid two to one. When you
first saw what that looked like, it was like eighty three two thousand or
something, Oh my gosh, that was just that was like the trailer of
trailers at the time. Nothing ever looked like a bigger leap than that.
It was insane. It was. It just seemed voodoo. I mean,
going from like the fucking like the what the first one looked like and then
being like, no, there's no way the PlayStation two can like this.
That's fucking insane. Like that was the one that famously, you know,
he would play on a loop ad at e three two thousand and just everyone
stopped and everyone watched it and no one could stop talking about it. And
I'm sure I had to like download a super compressed, shitty real player version
of it off of IGN or something in two thousand, but like it just
it seemed impossible, and then like also you factor in all the weird Kajima
shit he was doing with it, where he was manipulating it to hide the
fact that you don't play a snake for most of these things, like he's
like inserting scenes that don't happen in the helicopter fight on the George Washington Bridge
and all that, like just to kind of throw you off. Like that
was kind of like the earliest like you know, Kajima did stuff with like
metal Gear in game with a person one that like threw you off, but
like straight up manipulating the audience and like being like, well, this guy
is he's willing to like fuck with us. Yeah, it's the first time
that I think there's probably a big advertising campaign for a metal Gear game at
this point, right, Like, you know, the Melgear games were popular
enough, the you know eight bid six whatever. Once Melgar Salid won being
such a big deal as kind of a surprise, like I was somebody that,
yes, I didn't even really know what metal Gear was. I just
cared about Mugar saw it because it got all these amazing reviews. So you
know, Megasawid two is just one of the most hype video games. Ever,
and then it just came out swinging with this incredible trailer for a system
that was still very new that people were very excited about it. It was
the biggest deal in the world, and he just kept doing it. I
mean, like, you know, Snake Eater having that like, you know,
very stylized Bond movie trailer was incredible. And then there was that the
Phantom Pain one that had that New Order song in it, and it was
just like just every Metal Year trailer. I've gone through it and like almost
like frame by frame, what the fuck is that horn coming out of his
head and this cool New Order music is playing. There was a twenty seven
minute Twin Snakes trailer in like two thousand and three. Remember that. It
was like most of the games, it was all of the fucking cut scenes.
And I swear to god, I watched that thing numerous times daily in
my dorm room in college. I can't believe they put out a twenty seven
minute trailer and I watched all of it over and over. The fucking Snake
Eater one where I'm watching it like theorizing with people on the message boards,
like oh, here's how you can tell it's a virtual mission that like half
it's gonna be in the sixties and half of it is gonna be after Metal
Your solid too, and like Kajima knowing that fans are picking it apart that
way and fucking with people and even like Destrand and all that, like Kajima
is just on like, look, I'm preaching the choir like having people people
know this, you know, but without a doubt, it's every Kajema trailer
for me. Bonus points to the Dead Island original trailer God that had a
really devastating family get murdered in slow motion in reverse, and I think it
ends on the dead child like girls, like a small dead girl's eyes.
It's just wild. Game is silly. Didn't love the silly game that I
didn't love, but like this trailer that got everyone's attention. Then a fucking
special addition of just like Bloody Woman Torso everything around that game was just weird,
you know, like yeah, not not not huge on that series.
The next one. I'm just gonna read this. I don't know if this
is a question, but it says muppet Mike, so I think it's it's
it's for Mike. Muppet Mike. Dude is ranking months based on what food
reservations he gets. Question Mark, what a muppet? Also, Danny O'Dwyer
is more Irish. Pocket Brock would still beat his ass. The alphabet has
a letter in it called oh. Sounds like oh, look it up,
dog. They ain't all a's rock, flag and eagle. That's an email?
What that's for? Mike? He wasn't here to defend himself. Well,
I just I just want to make sure that's the that's for Maharty,
not me. I believe that. Are you now the most Irish man in
games? You're Italian? Hey remembered, Buddy, Good job? There you
go. All right? He can't fucking remember a conversation we had five minutes
ago. You should be very blessed. And it's confusing with a name like
MINAUGHTI that could be anything. It could be anybody. Hello Byronscape crew on
the recent episode eight forty one of the Giant BombCast, during a new segment
discussing a rumored total or okay, narks stuff, narks stuff, Okay?
What other areas of gaming are blind spots for you? All? Where you
know something has a huge audience but you were completely oblivious to in parentheses,
have got FIFA Madden Mobile Games, roadblocks. Well, I mean, I'll
say all that does in Pennsylvania. Yeah, literally, FIFA Madden Mobile Gaming
and roadblocks. I'll say all of those. Also, oh at Arma and
Tarkov and all the Legends League of Legends, doda uh kind of any online
heavy multiplayers. When I say oblivious to, like, I mean, I
know I know all of them, but I do not play them. And
I wouldn't pretend to know anything about like any of these total war games.
I just don't. I don't know. It's just probably not something that I
plan on delving into. I try. I like being well rounded, and
I think I generally do a pretty good job. It's impossible to do everything.
Like, you know, I play some sports games, but I even
played a Madden in Forever or an NBA two K in forever, and for
some people that's a home. I played the NBA Ones when they did the
face scanning. Yeah, it was even. Like even if it's a sport
I like, like I love baseball, I don't play the show every year,
even though it's always good, it's still kind of just the same game.
I just you know, I got I'd rather be prioritizing other things.
I say, you know, strategy games like I play, you know,
I play some here and there like a sieve, but never touched a Warhammer,
which I think if you asked a strategy fan, did you be a
fan of this genre or not play a total Warhammer, I think they would
scoff at you. So yeah, not really thinking mobile is just I just
don't like playing games on my phone. So that's a different. Fighting games
as well that are massive that I just have never really gotten super into the
techans. It's not that they're you know, it's just that is you have
to be kind of committed. You'd be quite good when you play. It's
hard to be a kind of casual fighting game fan these days. Consider myself
a casual Immortal Kombat player. Yeah, that's why I love the ones that
are like giving good solo player options of like Immortal Kombat is kind of the
trailblazer with like we're gonna give you a fun story mode you don't need to
fucking you know, learn all this shit like or ones that are giving you
better control methods or like you know, easier more accessible stuff like Street Fighter
does that. Tecan's got a lot of story mode and single player stuff.
So like, I'm very much in that boat too. I'm never going to
be a competitive fighting game guy, but I do love fighting games and the
characters and how wacky they are and everything, so like, I yeah,
I think we're all kind of aligned on that. StarCraft did that as well,
and I think it's like the only way that I can play a game
like that is to be able to play a story mode and just ease my
way into it and enjoy it on my own time without feeling the heavy pressure
of an opponent saying that I suck so much. I don't want to play
games with random people online really, Like I just am I the only Momo
person here. Yes, I love MMOs oh so much. I don't even
like I play him constantly, so I don't really talk about him a lot.
This is like I'm on podcas, Like I don't need to tell people
that I've been playing Found Fantasy fourteen again, because of course I am.
You know, there's like an expansion drop, I'll bring it up, but
god, that's it. But it's funny because like I do notice like that
that is one. It's like a very even split. It feels like amongst
kind of our peers, right, Like, some people are in those scenes
and I'll see them at those MMO events, and then there's a lot of
people just aren't going to touch that twenty foot pool. There's a lot of
Giant Bomb people who play Final Fantasy fourteen, and I know that because a
buddy of mine, Nina Freeman, was playing Final Fantasy and when some she
met some Giant Bomb fans that knew her, they would give her lots of
gifts and make sure that she had all the good stuff. And they were
like super friendly and we're like, you're part of our crew now, and
they like make sure she had all the good Final Fantasy whatever items, you
know, the choke, a boserver, the shit they do. Yeah,
I gotta get the Gieschel Greens for the check well, yeah, shout outs
the Donko. That's the guild over there. I thought it was very nice
how friendly they were and immediately inviting to outsiders, especially who are other Giant
Bomb fans. And I find that very cute in general, that who knew
that within Final Fantasy there would be a Vinco group of Giant Bomb people that
are so sweet and so welcoming and that's it's not my jam. But how
lovely is it that they were like, Yay, We're so glad you're here.
Here's a bunch of items and friendly faces. It's just lovely. I
think that's free fans and not staff, because I think Manadi is the only
person I know that plays them all people like people who listen or watch Giant.
Yeah. Sure, the vibes of Fantasy fourteen is very good. One
of the best things about that game is the community is just very nice.
You do not get that with bus other embo. Not that everyone's an asshole,
but you know, it's a bit more what you expect from just online
video game people. If you're playing a World of Warcraft, for example,
Uh, here's another one, hey escapees. A couple of weeks ago,
on a BombCast, Jeff Grubb brought up the Total War series to mention the
recently rumored Star Wars edition in the franchise, Dan fully ignorant asked what kind
of games are those and seemed genuinely curious to check them out after Grubb described
the gameplay these fucking marks man. I'm sorry, Mike, So my question
is, what is something that a person told you to check out in music,
video games, TV shows that you completely ignored and forgot about until somebody
else mentioned the same thing. Cheers Jeremy from Montreal. Immediate one that comes,
by the way, I love. Is it not obvious that I'm joking
when I do that? I, I mean, it seems obvious to be
dan, But okay, I can't expect everyone. I think they know,
but I think they're just want to make sure exhausted. I see, Okay,
that makes sense. My answer for this would be I remember my entire
life growing up. My dad would give me so much shit for like,
you don't respect for Springsteen enough. Here, you're an idiot, listen why
why don't you listen to person Springsteen? And like it was always in that
way of like you're a dumb ass for not you don't do this enough.
You're fucking this up. You know you should listen to Springsteen more. And
I was just kind of like I just never really did. And then,
uh, you know, like twenty eleven, twenty twelve, I was dating
a girl and she was really in a spring scene. But her approach was
just like, oh yeah, I think he would really like him, like
he really fits in, like he like Pop Dylan, he like Neil Young,
you like the stuff singer songwriter type stuff here, you know, start
with you know, here's Nebraska, Here's you know, Born to Run,
Here's all this stuff, and like, you know, help me get into
it. And then suddenly I was like I was like, oh shit,
Bruce Springsteen's awesome. And then you know, when I got into him,
my Dad's like, I guess you like it even good as you didn't like
it. It's like, no, somebody just like you were a dick with
the way you were trying to like get me into it. And then somebody
was like genuinely trying to like help me get into it in the right way.
So that's why I was, I guess ignoring the first time around,
and then came around. Yeah, my tastes are so well defined. I
think that most of my friends just kind of I don't know, they already
know and I already know too. I don't get like a lot of recommendations
that aren't things that I'm already going to do. Have you tried Infinite Jest
by David Foster Wallace? No, I've not go play it. Go read
that, Go read that, bad Boy. I'll get right on that one.
Like for me, it's more like just things like I'm just not like
ready, what infinite jest? Wait was that random? Or did you just
see the next one? Mary, It's it's random. Oh okay, okay,
okay, look at this. It was a nineteen ninety six novel is
featured in Time Magazine's list of the one hundred best. Wow. Very cool.
I can't wait to hear your review of it. Okay, yeah,
one thousand pages, that seems yeah, I'll get right out. For me,
it's more just sounds like two God, it's like reading the Bible.
For me, it's just usually like suddenly, Mike, something shifts to my
personality a bit and new things open up, Like I couldn't touch any horror
things, especially like video games maybe, but in a movie not at all
until a few years ago, where like suddenly I'm like, okay, I
can watch the shining and the thing, and oh, it turns out these
these are very very good and I like those a lot. Like and so
that kind of extends to other things like playing more scary games or you know,
like I love theme parks. Obviously, Universal does these Halloween whre nights
where they have very elaborately themed haunted houses that are always themes specifically to like
certain movies and stuff. I would never consider doing that, and now I
want to do all that stuff, So not really turning it out recommendations,
but some sometimes switches just randomly flip and then I'm into new things. But
I have never throw away the old things. I honestly find that like that
is the thing that has been very rewarding in the last like ten years or
so for me, is like when you give something new a shot and like
a lot of times it's still not going to be for you, but like
when you go in like we're talking about Disneyland earlier, it's like it's always
all a good thing. What's the worst case scenario, the thing that you
thought you wouldn't be into, you're still not into it. But then there's
the best case scenario where you get something a shot and you're like, oh,
now I've got this new thing that I like, you know, like
now I was thinking about Disneyland, Like god, damn, next time we're
all in LA I would love to do another trip and like go a whole
different route and everything, and you know, yeah, there's still things you
haven't seen. I mean, I kind of feel bad. You always talked
about much you have New Orleans. We were in the New Orleans theme section
Disneyland for like a moment, but it's just you know, kind of running
around a practice, right. Yeah. I still you to Trader Sam's a
tiki bar, which is super cool, but that's more near the hotel.
But it's so fun. Yeah, there's a million, million million things we
can still do there, and god forbid we ever go to Disney World.
We need a whole week. Boy, is it the same as it was
in nineteen ninety four when I went or whatever her added? They've added a
few things except for the Star Wars hotel. They added that and it's gone
out. I went to Typhoon Lagoon. That was fun. Typhoon Lagoon's fun.
I don't do a lot of the big slides there, but they have
a wave pool that's exciting. It's a good wave pool. Mary ever tried
the wave pool a Typhoon Lagoon. That's my recommendation for you. That's just
a piss palace. I don't think something. I know it is. I
know it is because you can smell the chlorine from like four hundred feet away.
At least you can't smell the piss. That is the pissin is activated
by pis. Oh, I know that you smell chlorine that is activated chloris
chen to piss. What the vomit dust is to vomit? Oh? Oh,
you just activated a very like a very strong smell memory in me.
And I don't like that. One vomit elementary school. They still do solve
it? Do it? What would be the new solution? Elementary school?
And see what happens To break it to an elementary school and vomit. That'll
go fantastic. Your kids puke, Oh yeah, kid's puke all the time.
Still, like when I had never nieces. I don't believe how much
they can't believe to throw up. I'm glad I don't throw up very often
anymore. That was that's arobably miserable. I'm the Game Awards this year.
I got a food bug and I puked for two weeks. Oh no,
I know it was right after the Game Awards. I don't know what I
had, but I woke up two in the morning and it was bad.
I won't go into too many I gotta tell you this one part though,
I was really sick. And my flight home was that morning at like nine
am, and I was up all night puking and like at it everywhere.
It was gross. I was disgusting, and I like put on the clothes
that I could. I laid down on the ground until like the minute I
had to fucking get in the car. I haven't eaten or even had an
ounce of water. I just can't. I can't have anything in my body.
But I'm really thirsty. When I arrived at the airport and I realized
as I'm going through security that I have a full bottle of water right,
and I'm like, oh, I should have a sip of water. I'll
dump it out right as I go through the security checkpoint, and I have
a sip and I dump out my water. And as I put my bag
through the scanner, I realized I am going to puke. And I go
back to the area where you dump your water bottle and I puked in it,
oh, in front of a whole line. They ignored it and said
walk on through. They did not want anything to do with me. They
wanted me out of their sight. And I picked up my bags embarrassingly and
I got on that fucking plane and I went home, but I was like,
I cannot. I don't think I've ever been so embarrassed to puke in
front of the entire TSA. I would be so anxious if I was puky
and I was about to go on the Great sky Tube for a while.
Okay, that's not where I want to be. That's not where I want
to be when I'm like that. I had to take a lot of bathroom
breaks. That was a really miserable experience. And then I didn't eat again,
Like I didn't. That was like the day after right. I didn't
eat for two weeks. I went to the doctor because I was like,
you have to eat at some point, right, And she looked at me
and in a very nice way, I was like, you'll be okay for
like at least another week. And I was like, you bitch. I
She was basically like, you got enough body fat on you that you're gonna
go. It's like fine, And I ate within like another twenty four hours.
But yeah, it was like the longest period of like seeing miss I've
ever had. Yeah, that's my game. That's my Game Awards story from
this last year. Wow, my my nightmare scenario for this next couple of
weeks is something that I picture the scenario many times, and this is how
my anxiety works, and that I'm going to get the surgery a week from
tonight as we record this, and you can't breathe through your nose, and
also you know, like when you puke, you know how it goes up
through your nose. Some definitely like there's a scientist component, Yeah, totally.
So my head's gonna be fucking carved out like a jack of lantern.
It's all just gonna be this big, bloody wound inside my head. I'm
not allowed to blow my nose and I can't breathe through my nose. So
I feel like once I'm out of the surgery and I come to I'm going
to be so just like freaked out by not being able to breathe through my
nose that I'm gonna have I'm gonna work myself up and have a panic attack,
and then I'm gonna go to throw up, and I'm gonna throw up
and it's gonna go into my nose, but I can't blow my nose,
so I'm having a panic attack and my nose is filled with vomit and the
inside of my head is just an open wound, and I'm just like losing
my fucking mind, Like that's that's how my head works, where it's like
just picturing all the worst case scenario as far as this thing that goes it
don't come out of your ears though, that'd be funny. That sounds fun
Yeah, that sounds good. Yeah, So I hope that that doesn't happen.
Mike. Honestly, what you said about the pain meds recently, about
how he stopped in the middle of the stairs and we're like, I've never
felt better. I hope I have a a naughty experience with this and just
relaxed, you know, just yet. Look, if they give you some
feel good meds, then just take this. I haven't been on pain meds
since I had a start when I was eighteen, So it's been twenty two
years since I've had any kind of like non ibuproven pain meds. That's good.
That means they're gonna definitely work. That's good news, I hope.
So yeah, I'm sorry Dad, poor guy. Once up on the other
side of this, I feel like I'm just like a month or two a
way from me on the other side of a Visil line, the Sinus Ship
and all that, And I can just be a normal forty year old dude.
That's all I want to get everything. Just have a slight brain issue.
Yeah, whatever, that's fine. I'm used to that. That's endearing.
We all like that. Yeah, I can say whatever I want to
them. He'll forget tomorrow anyways, idiot, very so. Next on podcasts,
fantastic. I'm sure something nice. Yeah, both my grandpa's had to
mention. I'm sure I'll be fine. They're gonna solve that one very soon.
Don't worry the other time. I'm baby. Yeah, and we'll be
fine. Yeah. That and old age and everything else will be great.
Oh yeah, alright. People going to Disneyland over five hundred it's gonna be
fantastic. I can't wait. Imagine being five hundred years old and going to
Disneyland. Stitted. Yeah, you should have seen good Head of the Night,
The End of the Night, Levitt. Everyone is so dead tired.
I think the steroids I'm on right now for something else are helping. But
I was still skipping, like, ah, what are we going on next?
Else? I die at Disney right around like eight pm. I'm like
I don't want to fucking be here anymore. It depends on the park.
But Disneyland closed at midnight that night. It is too late. That's too
late. That he's like eight. I was there for like yeah, like
fifteen sixteen hours, and man, there's like something's exhaust me if by something
about the parks. Man, It's like, I gotta maximize hours I got.
I want to be there when that rope drops, and I want to
be out when they kick me out. I gotta be there as long as
I can. That's the Disney Adults sickness. I admit it. Who it's
beautiful, all right. Well, let's see one more here, howdy.
On the very first date I had with my now partners, she was talking
about this supposedly amazing book, Infinite Jest, that she had started reading for
the third time but was never able to finish. Fuck wait, did you
ahead? I swear to you really didn't. I always it is my bit
that anytime we talk about like a book that we've recently read, I always
say Infinite Jest by Daily Foster. Wa, Holy shit, I thought you
went ahead. It is like the joke that I say all the time because
it's a horribly obnoxiously long book that mostly like sorry, really obnoxious readers will
be like, of course, I've read that book. It's my favorite book,
So please tell I don't actually have to read this book. You have
to read this book. You won't get through it. There's no way you
can get through this book. It's so it's so like long and exhausting.
I've tried to read this book like five times. Go on to Jesus okay
that she started reading for the third time but was never able to finish.
Just to talk, just to taunt her, I decided to read and finish
it myself because how hard can reading one book be. It took me about
a year to do it, and I hated the first months of it until
it won me over. And now it's one of my all time favorite books.
And I could rub the fact that I did it in her face on
a daily basis. I'm making fun of Phil as we speak, because I
have not read this email ahead of time. This is the exact person I'm
talking about. People who read infinite. You just do it so they can
say that they read infinite Jess. This is literally why well he's doing it
Toatrol, which is like, I do respect that. That is a lot
of effort toatrol who does it is? This is why Wow. So Phil
says, what is the most time or effort you've put into doing something out
of spite or just to be an annoying asshole? Take care Phil from Finland.
I'm I'm not a very spiteful person. Usually things are targeted at me,
like I had I think you could see it back there a Fireland Magic
the Gathering card. I had an anonymous person hide Fireland Magic Gathering cards in
my apartment and then my house for like five or six years, and I
would just like open like a book and it would be in there. Or
I would go through a specific drawer, bea there, up in my microwave,
it would be in there. So I'm the target these kind of things,
Uh, you shouldn't be. I don't do anything out of spite really,
but annoying asshole. I've done some of those. And I was a
teenager. I was trying fourteen or fifteen, and this was an asshole move
because this was a waste of a lot of people's time. I would not
do a prank like this nowadays, but me and my friend Charlie would just
like stay up laid and like prank people and some like like it was always
just like radio DJs. We would just call because they were the one thing
that like you could call in the middle of the night that chick up and
we'd like just do dumb pranks and stuff. But then one night we grabbed
the Yellow Pages this is the fucking nineties or whatever, and we had a
friend Ryan that we would fuck with, and we called He lived on a
cul de sac and we spent hours between it was like one am to like
four or five am, hours where no company would ever pick up, and
we called every like roof for in, plumber and electrician and every just kind
of like had like deck repair, driveway repair, just everything. And we
would leave these messages with everyone where it's like, hey, I know you're
closes, it's middle of the night. My name's Ryan. I got a
real deck emergency or electricity emergency. Just you know, send someone out in
the morning and once you're open, you know, like we'll figure it out,
Like I just I just need someone out of here asap. And he
lived in the cul de Sac, and so the whole fucking next day we
called so many places. The cul de sac was like getting backed up with
like all these like some of these things were like almost like semi truck things
and these large like repair trucks and construction vehicles that all showed up and then
like knocked on the door and he had to be like it was like his
mom that was like, no, my son's friends are idiots, Like we
don't need anything. It's God, what a fucking wasted time for everyone.
I thought that you and I were gonna prank Grub for like the next few
months here with what the name of our Blake Club episode, But you forgot
that it was a prank on Grub, so you included him in the group
test to rank. Yeah, you thought I wasn't part of it. You're
like, how was this prank work again? Do I like a grubber or
do I like grub Katana grub good thing? He didn't read it, so
at least we got him for what But he just went in and he was
like like I can't believe you. We're doing it again with Lego Horizon.
We're good this bit for basically the rest of the year, when we pretended
to think it was the most exciting game of the year, and you did
it for the reveal, and then when I started talking about it on the
couch as this great thing, You're like, wait, are you really excited
for that? Actually, Dan, I would just see while they're in there
for my sinuses and they can fix my brain. Dan, I love your
brain the way it is stupid to punk. Maybe I'll fix my sinuses and
then I can suddenly work a banana. Sometimes I think that a lot of
my goals and movements are founded in spite. I would probably go as far
as to say, is like one of the reasons it's so important for me
to succeed in games and have the job that I had, is that,
Like very initially, when I was trying really hard to have a job in
games media and I I was doing like let's plays and stuff like that,
I posted like a photo of me and some other people from GameSpot doing a
let's play this before I was hired. I was like a contractor, and
someone from my high school put in the comments you know, person's name,
person's name, and obligatory the girl because you have to have one, and
essentially like belittled me that you have to have a girl on one of these
and I was like the token girl, and I kind of did that like
Magruber, you know, K five B eight forty seven, K five eight
me ver seven. I remember this person's name, and I like thought about
it a lot, and I was like, this is not just because I'm
a girl. I have a lot to add to this. I am going
to absolutely make it in this industry. I'm going to do really amazing things.
I'm going to win awards. I'm going to succeed, and that guy
is going to eat shit and I will watch him and I haven't. That's
right, where's your fucking emmy. I really do feel strongly that that having
some kind of like anger inside of me, that fire. It's a huge,
massive motivator for a lot of my late hours and my hard work,
because I don't want anyone to say that I was handed it or that I
stumbled across it. I earned it because I worked really fucking hard, and
a lot of that is because of comments like that. So you fuel me,
haters. Thank you very much for telling me that I'm only here because
of, like, you know, the way I was born or the way
I look like That's why I have an Emmy and you're sitting there being nothing
so corent whatever. I forget what his name is now I face book.
I actually don't remember him anymore. But I think I think you won that
encounter there. I think his name was Dan, but I don't think,
but I think it actually was. That's incredible. Who do you generally like
better all the dance in your life, for all of the mics in your
life? Really? What right like is it for general party with Let's just
say you got a bucket of the dance, bucket of the mics you score
of both. Yeah, there's a lot of good mics out there. I
have been really blessed with a lot of good dance too, Dan Horrick,
I there's there's a lot of equal oh d that's pushing it. Yeah,
I would say probably no more really solid dance than mics. Okay, Mike,
I'm trying to think of like really important mics. I can't think of
you think of at least one other one. It's me beating Manati and Maharty
with one answer. That's great. Why did I even bring it up?
No, I'm just saying there's a lot of really important dance. Dan,
you hate do you want to make it. I waited. Mike would never
Mike my hearty constantly threatens to kill her. I mean she's starting to kill
me too, and I don't think that with everyone. That's fine whatever.
Yeah, we're working terms on the podcast. I don't know what's going on
when we talk about wrestling now. Usually this is the part where Mike brings
it on home, but without trustee Mike. Uh, Dan, you want
to round this bad boy out? Yes, let me throw it to you
with uh. We got some merge, tell the folks. Yeah, we
have merch at fire Escape cast dot com and all of our socials. You
should check it out. We are having still a sale, and I actually
don't think it goes much longer. I think it ends like July, so
a week or two. Yeah, Mike, you got our tide I shirt
and you said it was soft. I did. I almost wore it here.
Then I'm like, now, that be like wearing the band's shirt to
their own concert, even though I'm an Iron Maiden fan, and that's like
the one band where everybody does it because the shirts are kind of half the
point of liking Iron Maiden. But uh, the tide I shirt is very
high quality. I was very impressive that. Jeff and I we're even like
talking at summer game fests, like, oh we got we got to talk
to them and find out how they do their merch because it's a I mean,
I shouldn't have put down my our merch, but it's better than our
So yeah, I love that tide Ie shirt. I highly recommend it,
all right, thank you. It's good merch. Get it while it's available
because it does end when the summer ends. That's why it's a fire sale.
That's right. Could the summer catalog right now? What was the u
r L on that? Mary, fire escapecast dot com. Yes, or
check our socials because I we tweet it. Yes, we retweet anyone with
the did every banana yellow, including a banano banana banana yellow bathing suit that
looked so smoking hot wow on one of our incredible listeners. I won't name
him because I don't want to dox anyone for being too hot, but my
god, that but you can just tell them it was me. It's fine,
Mary, give you permission. Check out the Patreon. Look up fire
Escape Cast on there if you want to get ad free listening. If you
want to watch a video of us right now. You can see exactly how
many fingers Mike Mana he's holding up right now, had of Mike, You're
you're not gonna believe how many. Well that's a crazy Okay, that got
real fucked up. Okay, Wow, the video patrens know that. Who
all right, that'll go to them. Uh, and that is it.
Check us out on Instagram, Twitter, that business there, and uh,
Mike, where can the folks find you? I'm managing at her over at
gamesbet dot com, which is a good source for video game industry news.
Popping off on all sorts of stuff on Giant Bomb with Dan and other friends,
especially Blight Club. Always a good time with Jeff Grubb. I am
doing our Nintendo podcast Less Than to ten Dogs, and our general gamme podcast
Game Messed, aside the Disney Side Nineties Disney podcast that's where me and my
brothers talk about everything with Disney in the nineties. And then check me out
on Twitch at toll Coat. So that's a lot of things. I pimped
too many things to do it. You're good, but people on our side
hustle Ara these days, aren't we You gotta have it? M Mary,
where can I find you? You can find me reading Infinite Jest by David
Foster Wallace every day on Twitch dot tv. I gotta do it. Play
indie games, which I am known for. Every Monday, I play a
indie game on my channel Mary Kish because I am the number one indie game
player on fire Escape, Dan, where are you up to? You can
find me at a Giant Bomb along with Mike Manatti there. I'm also Dan
Reichord on Instagram and Twitch. I get back on Twitch. This has been
a crazy summer already, and the between surgery and travel and stuff, I
hope to find some time in the coming weeks to do some more stuff on
Twitch because I really enjoy doing that. So that's it for us. That
is it for the podcast. Mike Manati, thank you so so much.
We don't get many opportunities to have guests. But when we realized, you
know, Mike was gonna be gone and there was our favorite, well,
look, you guys have to fight. You You and Maharty will have to
have a physical fight to determine the favorite. Monkey Never I could never.
I'm winning him back over. We're gonna be best friends. It's gonna be
great. Thank you so much for having me. I really do actually love
listening to the podcast. You are are all great, so it was a
good amount of fun to be here. Thanking yay. We enjoy having you.
Thanks for coming on, Thanks everyone for listening. We will see you
in a couple of weeks. Bye bye bye