1
00:00:06,799 --> 00:00:08,480
Speaker 1: Welcome back to the Game Informer Show.

2
00:00:08,519 --> 00:00:08,919
Speaker 2: Everyone.

3
00:00:09,000 --> 00:00:12,279
Speaker 1: This is a weekly podcast covering the video game industry.

4
00:00:12,560 --> 00:00:15,880
Join us every Friday for discussion about the latest gaming news, reviews,

5
00:00:15,919 --> 00:00:19,440
and exclusive reveals, alongside Game and Former staff and special

6
00:00:19,480 --> 00:00:21,719
guests from around the industry. I'm one of your hosts

7
00:00:21,719 --> 00:00:25,800
today Alex van Aiken, and today I'm joined by Marcus Stewart.

8
00:00:25,920 --> 00:00:30,039
Speaker 3: Hello. Hello, I am back. I've been away. I can't

9
00:00:30,079 --> 00:00:32,079
talk about where I was. I was on a fun

10
00:00:32,079 --> 00:00:35,759
little work trip recently overseas, but you'll learn about that soon.

11
00:00:35,840 --> 00:00:38,280
But you know, it feels good to be you know,

12
00:00:38,600 --> 00:00:40,159
have you guys ever had this when you travel for

13
00:00:40,159 --> 00:00:42,640
a while and then you're like, I need to almost

14
00:00:42,679 --> 00:00:44,719
become an American again, And I do that by eating

15
00:00:44,799 --> 00:00:45,880
like the most American food.

16
00:00:45,880 --> 00:00:49,719
Speaker 1: I gu yes, I do. Actually, it's so funny that way.

17
00:00:51,600 --> 00:00:54,359
Speaker 2: I come home to the States, I'm like, yeah, we

18
00:00:54,479 --> 00:00:57,079
nailed this ac and ice in my drinks.

19
00:00:57,159 --> 00:01:02,560
Speaker 1: Let's go. Yeah, that's that's I think. An atrocity overseas

20
00:01:02,679 --> 00:01:05,719
is just like your drinks don't always have ice in them, Like,

21
00:01:05,719 --> 00:01:06,640
what are we dealing here?

22
00:01:06,799 --> 00:01:07,599
Speaker 2: No, it's crazy.

23
00:01:07,840 --> 00:01:10,920
Speaker 3: It's still in sparkling, but not ice.

24
00:01:11,319 --> 00:01:15,359
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah. That other voice you heard is the voice

25
00:01:15,400 --> 00:01:18,719
that's rounding out the show this week. Wesley LeBlanc. How

26
00:01:18,760 --> 00:01:19,359
you doing Wes?

27
00:01:20,040 --> 00:01:21,920
Speaker 2: Hello, Hello, I'm doing great.

28
00:01:22,159 --> 00:01:22,319
Speaker 4: Uh.

29
00:01:22,400 --> 00:01:25,879
Speaker 2: The number one reason why is Pumpkin spice creamer is

30
00:01:25,920 --> 00:01:28,480
back in stores. Ladies and gentlemen, get those.

31
00:01:28,319 --> 00:01:32,719
Speaker 1: Ice made wow already early July.

32
00:01:33,680 --> 00:01:35,760
Speaker 2: It is, it is very early, but I saw it

33
00:01:35,799 --> 00:01:37,040
and I was like, I have to have it. I

34
00:01:37,040 --> 00:01:37,519
gotta get it.

35
00:01:37,760 --> 00:01:40,920
Speaker 3: Are Christmas decorations being sold already? Are we? Are we doing.

36
00:01:40,719 --> 00:01:43,560
Speaker 2: This after Halloween? They will? Yeah?

37
00:01:43,640 --> 00:01:46,400
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, Well before we get into the show, I

38
00:01:46,400 --> 00:01:48,040
do just want to say if you are a fan

39
00:01:48,400 --> 00:01:51,680
of Game Informer, please consider picking up a copy of

40
00:01:51,760 --> 00:01:55,120
our print magazine. You can head over to Game Informer

41
00:01:55,159 --> 00:02:00,799
dot com slash subscribe to pick up your year long subscription,

42
00:02:01,159 --> 00:02:03,359
or if you're not in the US and you want

43
00:02:03,359 --> 00:02:06,959
to pick up the magazine, you can find us at bookstands,

44
00:02:07,040 --> 00:02:10,159
news stands around the world, or in places like Barnes

45
00:02:10,199 --> 00:02:15,879
and Noble Books, a million chapters, Indigo, all tg Jones,

46
00:02:16,000 --> 00:02:21,120
all sorts of places across the world. But yeah, we thought, hey,

47
00:02:21,479 --> 00:02:23,120
there's a lot of games that have come out this year.

48
00:02:23,120 --> 00:02:24,800
We've covered a lot of the big ones so far,

49
00:02:25,879 --> 00:02:27,719
and we've covered some of the you know, the smaller

50
00:02:27,800 --> 00:02:31,719
hits like Cairn. You know, I've talked about Mina a lot,

51
00:02:31,919 --> 00:02:34,560
but there's plenty of other games that we play that

52
00:02:34,639 --> 00:02:38,960
we might not you know, have talked about in like

53
00:02:40,639 --> 00:02:43,120
either on here, or maybe we talked about it on

54
00:02:43,240 --> 00:02:46,159
here early and didn't get a chance to go back

55
00:02:46,199 --> 00:02:48,800
to it and talk about it and why we loved

56
00:02:48,800 --> 00:02:50,960
it so much. So yeah, this episode's going to be

57
00:02:51,000 --> 00:02:54,960
about the unmissible small games of twenty twenty six, which

58
00:02:54,960 --> 00:02:57,000
we're going to get into in just a second. I

59
00:02:57,039 --> 00:02:59,439
do want to say thank you. If you are a

60
00:02:59,479 --> 00:03:03,879
magazine subscriber, a podcast listener, you watch our YouTube videos.

61
00:03:03,919 --> 00:03:05,560
If you're here, we just want to say thank you,

62
00:03:06,080 --> 00:03:08,400
and we we can't do it without you. If you're

63
00:03:08,439 --> 00:03:11,080
if you're new around here, please click that like button

64
00:03:11,080 --> 00:03:14,240
and subscribe. If you're listening on podcasts, share the show

65
00:03:14,280 --> 00:03:18,400
with a friend. We'd really appreciate that. Okay, So Michael

66
00:03:18,560 --> 00:03:21,560
wrote in on our discord when Marcus put out a

67
00:03:21,599 --> 00:03:25,759
call for listener questions, Marcus said, what are your unmissable

68
00:03:25,840 --> 00:03:28,879
indie games so far this year? I've got two months

69
00:03:28,919 --> 00:03:31,280
with nothing to play, and I want to catch up

70
00:03:31,280 --> 00:03:34,319
on some non Triple A titles from this year. Also,

71
00:03:34,560 --> 00:03:38,039
I do genuinely want some pirate book recommendations from Wes

72
00:03:38,400 --> 00:03:42,560
whenever he's next on, So I will I'll put that.

73
00:03:42,639 --> 00:03:46,000
We'll come back to that that second part Wes about

74
00:03:46,039 --> 00:03:48,719
the Pirate books during the listening I got I got

75
00:03:48,759 --> 00:03:51,240
a segment that'll be at the end of the show.

76
00:03:52,240 --> 00:03:55,879
But yeah, guys, let's get into I think you know

77
00:03:56,000 --> 00:03:58,520
non Triple A. I think I think we just say

78
00:03:58,520 --> 00:04:02,719
small games, you know, small teams, small games. What are

79
00:04:02,759 --> 00:04:04,680
the unmissible ones? I want to go through first what

80
00:04:04,800 --> 00:04:08,000
we've played, and then get into maybe some of the

81
00:04:08,000 --> 00:04:10,520
ones we're looking forward to, which is more of the

82
00:04:10,560 --> 00:04:15,680
spirit of the magazine article I mentioned. So Marcus, can

83
00:04:15,719 --> 00:04:18,240
I toss it to you first and you run us

84
00:04:18,240 --> 00:04:19,879
through some of your picks?

85
00:04:21,199 --> 00:04:25,040
Speaker 3: Uh? Most recently, I will shout out the incident of

86
00:04:25,079 --> 00:04:29,040
gal The incident at Galley House game I spoke about

87
00:04:29,040 --> 00:04:31,360
a couple of weeks ago. I have since published my

88
00:04:31,399 --> 00:04:35,720
full review. This is a narrative puzzle game by William

89
00:04:35,800 --> 00:04:38,480
Rouse as well as Evil Trout, who the latter of

90
00:04:38,480 --> 00:04:40,800
which was responsible for the Root Trees are Dead which

91
00:04:40,879 --> 00:04:43,240
is one of my favorite games of twenty twenty five.

92
00:04:43,680 --> 00:04:45,480
This is very much in the same vein of like

93
00:04:45,560 --> 00:04:48,800
Root Trees or something like a Return to Overden Return

94
00:04:48,839 --> 00:04:53,519
of the Overden, where you are investigating a decades long

95
00:04:53,560 --> 00:04:56,399
cold case of a series of deaths at a house.

96
00:04:56,759 --> 00:04:58,800
It's got a really inventive kind of like puzzle solving

97
00:04:58,839 --> 00:05:02,160
system where you're sort of like creating scenes, trying to

98
00:05:02,160 --> 00:05:04,639
figure out where people were at what time and in

99
00:05:04,720 --> 00:05:08,120
what room of this house and sort of like basically

100
00:05:08,199 --> 00:05:12,199
constructing the events leading up to the demises of these

101
00:05:12,480 --> 00:05:15,680
like eleven or twelve people. But it's really really good.

102
00:05:15,759 --> 00:05:19,959
It's a great sort of like time sync, because once

103
00:05:19,959 --> 00:05:21,680
you get on a roll of like finding clues and

104
00:05:21,720 --> 00:05:24,120
realizing how to search for new scenes that sort of

105
00:05:24,160 --> 00:05:26,839
like piece together more and more of this really good mystery,

106
00:05:26,959 --> 00:05:30,439
it really just like consumes. It just consumed you.

107
00:05:31,040 --> 00:05:31,639
Speaker 1: Yeah.

108
00:05:31,839 --> 00:05:33,519
Speaker 3: So, yeah, like much in the way that Root Trees

109
00:05:33,519 --> 00:05:36,319
did last year. I think it's awesome and people should

110
00:05:36,360 --> 00:05:37,439
go out and play it.

111
00:05:37,519 --> 00:05:39,360
Speaker 1: Is Yeah, you're a big fan of these kind of games.

112
00:05:40,720 --> 00:05:45,199
Speaker 3: Is it is it scary? Not scary? It is like eerie,

113
00:05:45,480 --> 00:05:48,480
Like it's got like an eerie vibe to it, and

114
00:05:48,480 --> 00:05:50,639
there's like I was actually talking to Charles about this,

115
00:05:50,680 --> 00:05:53,040
who also finished this game and liked it, but he

116
00:05:53,199 --> 00:05:55,839
was kind of expressing sort of like, oh, there's a

117
00:05:55,839 --> 00:05:58,560
couple of moments that really kind of basically like raise

118
00:05:58,639 --> 00:06:01,079
my hairs of just like whoa. Okay, but I wouldn't

119
00:06:01,079 --> 00:06:05,079
say it's like explicit. It's scary in the way and

120
00:06:05,120 --> 00:06:09,319
maybe to a lesser degree that immortality was okay, Okay,

121
00:06:09,920 --> 00:06:12,399
that's fair. Yeah, like maybe a rung below that.

122
00:06:14,120 --> 00:06:16,199
Speaker 2: Okay, I can play it. Then I used to get

123
00:06:16,279 --> 00:06:19,519
nightmares from like the local news and my grandparents. So

124
00:06:19,639 --> 00:06:22,279
like anything with crime or murders or anything, I just don't.

125
00:06:22,959 --> 00:06:24,720
I just am like it needs to be like so

126
00:06:24,920 --> 00:06:28,199
far fetched that like demons or ghosts or something that

127
00:06:28,240 --> 00:06:30,079
I'm like, that's not gonna happen. But whenever it's just.

128
00:06:32,160 --> 00:06:34,920
Speaker 1: Yeah, true, I can handle every day murder. It's the

129
00:06:35,040 --> 00:06:37,399
supernatural that that scares me.

130
00:06:38,120 --> 00:06:40,319
Speaker 3: Yeah, whenever you hear about a murder on the news,

131
00:06:40,360 --> 00:06:42,120
you just sort of yawned, Alex.

132
00:06:41,959 --> 00:06:43,360
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm like, oh that's old hat.

133
00:06:44,920 --> 00:06:45,759
Speaker 3: Another one.

134
00:06:47,279 --> 00:06:53,199
Speaker 1: They gotta get on that, Okay. So incident at the

135
00:06:53,240 --> 00:06:58,600
Galley House Wes do you have one that's jump at you.

136
00:06:59,360 --> 00:07:01,720
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm gonna go with a game that I recently

137
00:07:01,759 --> 00:07:05,639
beat called as Send to Zero. Not quite indy, but

138
00:07:05,720 --> 00:07:08,240
it's definitely got an indie feel because it's published by

139
00:07:08,279 --> 00:07:11,040
kraft On, which is a very large South Korean game

140
00:07:11,040 --> 00:07:14,800
developer corporation. So definitely not indy, but when you play it,

141
00:07:14,800 --> 00:07:17,279
you'll understand why I'm including it here on this little

142
00:07:17,600 --> 00:07:21,360
small games list. It is a game where you're trying

143
00:07:21,399 --> 00:07:24,519
to you're going back in time to save the world

144
00:07:24,519 --> 00:07:28,120
from ending, and you only have at first thirty seconds

145
00:07:28,160 --> 00:07:30,480
to do it. And it's a roguelike, so you need

146
00:07:30,519 --> 00:07:33,040
to get from the beginning stage to the very final

147
00:07:33,079 --> 00:07:35,959
boss and defeating all the bosses in between and thirty seconds.

148
00:07:36,600 --> 00:07:39,560
Of course, you have all kinds of power ups and

149
00:07:40,160 --> 00:07:43,199
abilities to unlock that eventually extend how much time you have,

150
00:07:43,360 --> 00:07:46,040
extend how much damage you can do. But it is

151
00:07:46,079 --> 00:07:53,519
a really fascinating twist on the progression, the extreme progression

152
00:07:53,519 --> 00:07:56,920
that I think games like Vampire Survivors have. It has

153
00:07:56,920 --> 00:08:00,199
that kind of Survivors like feel to it, where just

154
00:08:00,319 --> 00:08:02,600
numbers go up and the screen goes crazy and you're

155
00:08:02,639 --> 00:08:06,560
just looking at chaos and it's cool. I remember beating

156
00:08:06,560 --> 00:08:08,040
this and I'm like, how on earth am I ever

157
00:08:08,079 --> 00:08:11,639
going to get through this run in thirty seconds? And

158
00:08:11,680 --> 00:08:15,720
then it turns out it's not just thirty seconds, but

159
00:08:15,759 --> 00:08:19,519
you're defeating enemies in the beginning like instantly, and those

160
00:08:19,600 --> 00:08:22,079
enemies used to take me ten seconds at one point,

161
00:08:22,079 --> 00:08:23,279
and it's just a really like.

162
00:08:23,360 --> 00:08:25,959
Speaker 3: Is this all combat? There's no like I was thinking

163
00:08:26,000 --> 00:08:27,360
like if it would be something like did you ever

164
00:08:27,399 --> 00:08:29,480
play a minute the game called minute, where you have

165
00:08:29,600 --> 00:08:31,959
like I did, yes, one minute to finish the game,

166
00:08:32,039 --> 00:08:34,120
but it was a little more like puzzly adventury.

167
00:08:34,559 --> 00:08:37,879
Speaker 2: Yeah, I know this is this is exclusive combat, but

168
00:08:37,960 --> 00:08:40,480
it is. It does have that something I really like

169
00:08:40,519 --> 00:08:42,240
in combat is when the combat itself feels like a

170
00:08:42,240 --> 00:08:45,080
puzzle where it's like, there's an optimal way to defeat

171
00:08:45,799 --> 00:08:48,080
XYZ enemies so that you can get to the room faster.

172
00:08:48,559 --> 00:08:50,159
So it does have that feel where you're kind of

173
00:08:50,159 --> 00:08:54,440
analyzing a combat arena as a puzzle, but ultimately it's

174
00:08:54,480 --> 00:08:58,720
just about like making numbers go up and just bashing

175
00:08:58,720 --> 00:09:02,279
your way through rooms. Like the first stage took me

176
00:09:02,440 --> 00:09:06,840
hours to get through, like finally reach the next stage

177
00:09:07,039 --> 00:09:09,159
and then now When I play the game, I'm through

178
00:09:09,200 --> 00:09:12,240
that first stage in like probably forty seconds. Like I'm

179
00:09:12,399 --> 00:09:15,360
just I'm so powerful now that I can blitz right

180
00:09:15,399 --> 00:09:16,840
through it, pick up the rewards, and head on to

181
00:09:16,919 --> 00:09:21,679
the next stage. It's just a really fascinating mix of

182
00:09:21,879 --> 00:09:25,480
survivors like gameplay, although you are like still moving around

183
00:09:25,559 --> 00:09:28,919
in this three D space and roguelike progression, and it's

184
00:09:28,960 --> 00:09:32,399
perfect for like a handhoult I've played exclusively on handheld.

185
00:09:33,519 --> 00:09:36,639
Speaker 1: Oh cool, my first pick is going to be a

186
00:09:36,879 --> 00:09:40,360
super battle golf. Are you guys familiar with this one?

187
00:09:40,480 --> 00:09:42,639
Speaker 3: I've heard the name, I don't think I've really seen

188
00:09:42,720 --> 00:09:43,399
too much of it.

189
00:09:43,600 --> 00:09:47,639
Speaker 1: So it's a multiplayer golf game. Like you're walking around

190
00:09:47,639 --> 00:09:50,159
in three D space, like think about like a very style,

191
00:09:50,279 --> 00:09:52,679
think about like the the art style of like Peak,

192
00:09:52,960 --> 00:09:55,080
like the color palette of like Peak from last year,

193
00:09:55,679 --> 00:10:00,919
with like like a very stylized and cartoony shape. But

194
00:10:01,000 --> 00:10:04,240
you're running around. Yeah, you're running around the golf course

195
00:10:04,480 --> 00:10:08,000
sort of in in three D space, controlling your golfer,

196
00:10:08,639 --> 00:10:12,679
and essentially in the modes that I play, you're like

197
00:10:12,840 --> 00:10:16,440
rushing to see who can get to the hole and

198
00:10:16,759 --> 00:10:18,519
not in the hole. In one but to like finish

199
00:10:18,559 --> 00:10:23,720
the course fastest and then under par on par whatever.

200
00:10:23,799 --> 00:10:26,000
So typical golf rules. If you get a hole in one,

201
00:10:26,240 --> 00:10:30,360
you're getting a bunch of points, right. However, if you

202
00:10:30,360 --> 00:10:32,919
you know, you're three over par, you're gonna be like

203
00:10:33,279 --> 00:10:35,879
ranked last. But it's really fun because there's like all

204
00:10:35,879 --> 00:10:41,159
sorts of power ups, almost like Mario Kart style spread

205
00:10:41,159 --> 00:10:43,759
throughout this course that you're running through. You can you

206
00:10:43,799 --> 00:10:46,679
can get access to golf carts and like run people over.

207
00:10:47,200 --> 00:10:50,720
You can get guns and like snipe people from you know,

208
00:10:50,799 --> 00:10:54,840
across the map. It's it's it's very chaotic, but it's

209
00:10:54,879 --> 00:10:58,919
a ton of fun. It's the developer's Brimstone. It's published

210
00:10:58,919 --> 00:11:03,799
by Orro Interactive. But this has been one that has

211
00:11:03,879 --> 00:11:06,519
just been like when I want to kind of you know,

212
00:11:07,000 --> 00:11:10,200
burn off some some some time of my evening and

213
00:11:10,240 --> 00:11:12,840
I just want to want to play with some friends. Uh.

214
00:11:13,039 --> 00:11:17,559
It's really fun. It's really really polished as well. And

215
00:11:18,159 --> 00:11:21,399
importantly I think for this list, you can jump in

216
00:11:21,840 --> 00:11:26,600
and play around and probably twenty minutes smacks that if

217
00:11:26,639 --> 00:11:28,360
you want to do like you can kind of customize

218
00:11:28,360 --> 00:11:31,200
how many holes you want to do. So I really

219
00:11:31,200 --> 00:11:34,279
really like it again. It's super Battle Golf. It's probably

220
00:11:34,279 --> 00:11:36,080
on my top ten list right now out of what

221
00:11:36,120 --> 00:11:41,600
I've played this year, granted or time.

222
00:11:42,360 --> 00:11:43,440
Speaker 2: Okay, okay, that's cool.

223
00:11:43,639 --> 00:11:46,759
Speaker 1: So it's like, yeah, it's a real time, very frantic. Yeah,

224
00:11:47,039 --> 00:11:49,000
it reminds me of like, you know, Mario Golf, Like

225
00:11:49,039 --> 00:11:52,200
they're the most recent one had like the Battle Golf

226
00:11:52,679 --> 00:11:55,759
or I think was it Aces or Fever they had

227
00:11:55,799 --> 00:11:58,000
like a Battle Golf kind of. I guess that those

228
00:11:58,000 --> 00:12:01,639
are both tennis games. Sorry, but the kind of the

229
00:12:01,639 --> 00:12:03,240
point stands like a lot of those games have like

230
00:12:03,519 --> 00:12:07,080
those zany modes where like it's just chaos. That's kind

231
00:12:07,120 --> 00:12:09,480
of what this game is as well. But I think

232
00:12:09,519 --> 00:12:12,360
it kind of takes it to the next level in

233
00:12:12,399 --> 00:12:15,759
a really fun way. But yeah, Marcus, what's your what's

234
00:12:15,759 --> 00:12:16,399
your next one?

235
00:12:17,799 --> 00:12:25,000
Speaker 3: My next one is Titanium Court, which is by ap Thompson, who, uh,

236
00:12:25,039 --> 00:12:28,039
the last game they worked on was Consumed Me from

237
00:12:28,120 --> 00:12:32,360
last year, which is a collaboration with Oh my Goodness

238
00:12:32,399 --> 00:12:35,879
forgot there, the woman they were with on that game,

239
00:12:36,200 --> 00:12:38,759
but doesn't say that ap Thompson is kind of a

240
00:12:38,879 --> 00:12:42,200
Titanium Court is like a solo project by EP and

241
00:12:42,240 --> 00:12:45,080
it's what I love about it is basically a combination

242
00:12:45,159 --> 00:12:49,120
of like a match three kind of game combined with

243
00:12:49,200 --> 00:12:54,919
a bit of like tower defense slash like city building

244
00:12:55,080 --> 00:12:59,679
sort of where like you're you're like this almost like

245
00:13:00,840 --> 00:13:04,279
into this weird kingdom that is like a medieval camdom,

246
00:13:04,279 --> 00:13:06,279
but also everyone there is really weird. It's like a

247
00:13:06,320 --> 00:13:09,840
really just bizarre game, and you're kind of tasked with

248
00:13:09,960 --> 00:13:12,960
sort of protecting everyone. So the first stage of the game,

249
00:13:13,000 --> 00:13:15,720
you're playing this match three style game where you're sliding

250
00:13:15,759 --> 00:13:17,960
tiles and each tile is like a different sort of

251
00:13:18,000 --> 00:13:22,559
resource of like forests and wood and castles, and depending

252
00:13:22,559 --> 00:13:24,320
on what you match, it sort of feeds into like

253
00:13:24,360 --> 00:13:28,240
an inventory that you're sort of accumulating, and then once

254
00:13:28,279 --> 00:13:31,399
that portion's over, you get into like the sort of

255
00:13:31,480 --> 00:13:35,399
like explorations last defense. And by exploration, I mean you

256
00:13:35,440 --> 00:13:37,200
get a bunch of soldiers that you can send out

257
00:13:37,240 --> 00:13:39,759
into a field, and then they can either some of

258
00:13:39,799 --> 00:13:42,120
them can be sent to gather crops, and then others

259
00:13:42,120 --> 00:13:46,799
can be sent to either attack enemy castles or defend them,

260
00:13:47,279 --> 00:13:49,919
and sort of like the way they play out it

261
00:13:50,000 --> 00:13:54,360
depends on how the board shapes up at the end

262
00:13:54,440 --> 00:13:56,960
of the match three part, because the match three part

263
00:13:57,080 --> 00:13:59,600
also kind of serves as the battlefield for the second part,

264
00:14:00,000 --> 00:14:01,919
depending on how you arrange things of like, oh, I

265
00:14:01,960 --> 00:14:03,799
was sliding things in such a way to where there's

266
00:14:03,799 --> 00:14:05,879
an enemy castle right next to our home castle. So

267
00:14:05,919 --> 00:14:07,679
now that means we have to defend it. So you

268
00:14:07,720 --> 00:14:09,639
kind of have to have like you have to be

269
00:14:09,759 --> 00:14:11,759
extra thoughtful of like, oh, I want to match these,

270
00:14:11,799 --> 00:14:13,480
but do I want to match these if it means

271
00:14:13,559 --> 00:14:16,039
this sort of like tile ends up really close over here,

272
00:14:16,080 --> 00:14:18,519
do I want that? So you're always kind of wing

273
00:14:18,600 --> 00:14:21,440
those decisions. But it reminds me a lot of I'm

274
00:14:21,480 --> 00:14:23,840
a huge fan of eighty eight games. Is mobile games

275
00:14:23,879 --> 00:14:26,320
like a ten million and you must build a boat?

276
00:14:26,679 --> 00:14:28,000
Speaker 1: Ye adore those.

277
00:14:27,840 --> 00:14:32,320
Speaker 3: Games, and so this kind of scratches some of that

278
00:14:32,360 --> 00:14:35,039
itch because it's been so long since that we've gotten

279
00:14:35,080 --> 00:14:37,799
a game from them. So that's kind of why I'm jelly,

280
00:14:37,879 --> 00:14:40,600
like I haven't beaten it. It's become one. It's games

281
00:14:40,600 --> 00:14:42,440
where I fire up and do like a couple of

282
00:14:42,519 --> 00:14:45,200
rounds every now and then I'm just like in between

283
00:14:45,200 --> 00:14:47,799
a bigger thing. But it's like I'm always.

284
00:14:47,879 --> 00:14:49,960
Speaker 1: Is it easy to kind of keep up with what's

285
00:14:49,960 --> 00:14:51,840
happening in the game, even though you're doing that.

286
00:14:53,080 --> 00:14:56,200
Speaker 3: Yeah, at least for me, like, I think maybe the

287
00:14:56,200 --> 00:14:59,559
the part that's a little more complicated is probably the

288
00:14:59,600 --> 00:15:01,919
second sting where you're just kind of sending soldiers out

289
00:15:01,960 --> 00:15:04,559
and doing the like non match three stuff. But even that,

290
00:15:04,720 --> 00:15:07,960
at least from what I've played, isn't like crazy complicated.

291
00:15:08,240 --> 00:15:12,720
But the two sort of like formats bleed into each

292
00:15:12,720 --> 00:15:16,320
other in a really interesting way. And yeah, it's and

293
00:15:16,360 --> 00:15:18,480
it's also just like I mentioned before, it's just weird,

294
00:15:19,000 --> 00:15:21,159
Like there's some funny writing. The characters were all just

295
00:15:21,240 --> 00:15:26,759
like just weird, bizarre, just just weirdo's basically, So it's

296
00:15:26,799 --> 00:15:28,919
got a fun vibe to it on top of the

297
00:15:29,039 --> 00:15:30,480
actual gameplay being pretty fun.

298
00:15:31,039 --> 00:15:33,759
Speaker 2: I got a lot of like early I mean early

299
00:15:33,840 --> 00:15:35,519
game of the year praise. Is kind of a silly

300
00:15:35,519 --> 00:15:37,360
thing to say, but I remember when this came out

301
00:15:37,559 --> 00:15:39,320
because it was like near the top of twenty twenty

302
00:15:39,399 --> 00:15:43,000
six if I recall correctly, and people were really stoked

303
00:15:43,000 --> 00:15:46,679
about it, like within you know games media circles.

304
00:15:47,559 --> 00:15:50,679
Speaker 1: Yeah, I remember the demo hit and people really latched

305
00:15:50,720 --> 00:15:54,279
onto it. And then I think it was in like

306
00:15:54,279 --> 00:15:56,039
one of the early Steam Next fests this year, it

307
00:15:56,720 --> 00:15:58,879
kind of was in there and got a lot of attention.

308
00:16:00,200 --> 00:16:01,279
What's your next pick?

309
00:16:02,000 --> 00:16:05,440
Speaker 2: My next game is another roguelike. So if this question

310
00:16:05,600 --> 00:16:08,000
was for somebody who does not like roguel likes, I'm sorry,

311
00:16:08,039 --> 00:16:08,840
but it's.

312
00:16:08,679 --> 00:16:10,039
Speaker 3: Called Rid.

313
00:16:11,879 --> 00:16:16,120
Speaker 2: The Grid is a game Into the Grid by Flatline Studios.

314
00:16:16,120 --> 00:16:18,960
They're also publishing it. I've been following this game for

315
00:16:18,960 --> 00:16:21,000
a while. I think it was an esteem Next Best

316
00:16:21,080 --> 00:16:26,159
in twenty three or twenty four. I'll say it's not

317
00:16:26,279 --> 00:16:30,120
like the most special incredible game, but it is a

318
00:16:30,320 --> 00:16:35,600
very very good cyberpunk roguelike deck builder. I don't think

319
00:16:35,600 --> 00:16:38,200
it's necessarily doing anything like unique that makes it like

320
00:16:38,240 --> 00:16:41,320
a put this over other deck builders you might have

321
00:16:41,799 --> 00:16:44,000
in your rotation, but there are so many deck builders

322
00:16:44,000 --> 00:16:47,440
out there that for me, something like it being a

323
00:16:47,480 --> 00:16:51,519
really cool cyberpunk setting with a cool protagonist and like

324
00:16:51,600 --> 00:16:54,320
fun cyberpunk music, that's like a good hook for me

325
00:16:54,399 --> 00:16:56,799
to get into this deck builder versus the other countless

326
00:16:56,840 --> 00:16:59,080
ones out there. And I think Into the Grid is

327
00:16:59,120 --> 00:17:04,519
just like a really strong melding of what makes roguelike

328
00:17:04,519 --> 00:17:08,079
deck building so fun and some type of a genre

329
00:17:08,160 --> 00:17:11,119
that you can obsess over. It's it really is. It's

330
00:17:11,400 --> 00:17:13,640
just simply put, it is just like a one more

331
00:17:13,720 --> 00:17:17,000
run type of game. And if you like cyberpunk, I'm

332
00:17:17,039 --> 00:17:20,160
a big fan of Neon and lights and I just

333
00:17:20,279 --> 00:17:23,880
like the cyberpunk genre. Into the Grid is the best

334
00:17:24,839 --> 00:17:29,240
deck builder that plays with that kind of setting. Also

335
00:17:29,279 --> 00:17:31,319
really great on handheld as well. I'm realizing now I'm

336
00:17:31,319 --> 00:17:34,079
just giving my handheld recommendations as well. But Steam deck

337
00:17:34,200 --> 00:17:36,000
or like a rog ally it's perfect for that.

338
00:17:37,240 --> 00:17:37,880
Speaker 3: Is it on switch?

339
00:17:38,960 --> 00:17:40,920
Speaker 2: No, it's not on switch because it's in early access,

340
00:17:40,920 --> 00:17:42,559
but I think they have plans to bring it to

341
00:17:42,640 --> 00:17:45,680
consoles and stuff. Yeah, I guess I should preference and

342
00:17:45,680 --> 00:17:48,759
say it is early access. I wouldn't really be able

343
00:17:48,839 --> 00:17:52,359
to tell that it is. I mean, they're working on it,

344
00:17:52,400 --> 00:17:54,839
they're adding more to it, but like it's a completely

345
00:17:54,880 --> 00:17:57,839
playable game right now, and one that I.

346
00:17:59,519 --> 00:18:05,680
Speaker 1: Cool. I guess my next one is probably I think

347
00:18:05,799 --> 00:18:09,240
I feel like it's gotten some buzz with like min

348
00:18:09,359 --> 00:18:11,119
Max and that kind of cruise of you. If you

349
00:18:11,160 --> 00:18:12,759
listen to that podcast you might have heard of it.

350
00:18:13,359 --> 00:18:16,480
It's called Motor Slice. Are you guys familiar with this one?

351
00:18:16,519 --> 00:18:19,240
I think I've talked about it maybe maybe on the

352
00:18:19,279 --> 00:18:25,759
podcast one time this year. It is Okay, you play

353
00:18:26,200 --> 00:18:33,440
a a woman and she her she has the ORB

354
00:18:34,039 --> 00:18:37,799
that also acts as like the diegetic camera in the game.

355
00:18:37,880 --> 00:18:41,480
It's it's kind of weird. You play as her camera essentially,

356
00:18:41,960 --> 00:18:44,720
but it's like this ORB who like follows her around

357
00:18:44,720 --> 00:18:47,759
and they are You kind of start at the bottom

358
00:18:47,799 --> 00:18:51,839
of this massive like megastructure and it's like you don't

359
00:18:51,839 --> 00:18:54,880
really know what this facility is for, but it's almost

360
00:18:55,160 --> 00:19:00,920
reminiscent of like like some echo or like just games

361
00:19:00,920 --> 00:19:04,519
that have like these massive sort of structures that you

362
00:19:04,519 --> 00:19:06,400
can see the whole of at once, but you don't

363
00:19:06,400 --> 00:19:08,279
really know how you're going to get to the top.

364
00:19:10,319 --> 00:19:16,720
And you have a chainsaw that you use to like

365
00:19:17,000 --> 00:19:21,880
wall grind like run across walls. You have a wall run.

366
00:19:21,960 --> 00:19:27,000
It's like a very parkore focused game, so you're jumping, running, sprinting,

367
00:19:27,720 --> 00:19:30,960
taking leaps off of buildings, kind of doing wall to

368
00:19:31,039 --> 00:19:33,720
wall while trying not to get sliced up by like

369
00:19:33,799 --> 00:19:38,279
big the big kind of hazards in the game, and

370
00:19:38,319 --> 00:19:44,160
the enemies are are sort of like construction adjacent, so

371
00:19:44,279 --> 00:19:48,319
like there'll be big grinders and gears and the enemies

372
00:19:48,319 --> 00:19:51,119
that show up are like little mini like you know,

373
00:19:51,200 --> 00:19:58,920
the big cats, like those you know, construction truck things. Yeah, yeah, yeah,

374
00:19:59,000 --> 00:20:02,920
talk just like evil talka trucks basically, yeah, and you're

375
00:20:02,960 --> 00:20:03,839
chopping off did.

376
00:20:05,279 --> 00:20:09,039
Speaker 3: Well, he said, thought he made conceptually like a big cat,

377
00:20:09,119 --> 00:20:11,319
like a lion or a leopard.

378
00:20:11,759 --> 00:20:14,079
Speaker 2: So when he sees one, he's like, that's really big cat.

379
00:20:14,759 --> 00:20:17,279
Speaker 3: That's what you call those cats. They're called the big cats.

380
00:20:17,519 --> 00:20:22,839
Speaker 1: Yeah. I'm pretty sure they're called big cats, like you know,

381
00:20:22,920 --> 00:20:24,240
but yeah, let's say talka trucks.

382
00:20:24,319 --> 00:20:26,160
Speaker 3: That's also the name of the kit cat. That's just

383
00:20:26,240 --> 00:20:27,599
the single giant kit cat.

384
00:20:27,920 --> 00:20:28,440
Speaker 2: That's true.

385
00:20:28,480 --> 00:20:28,960
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah.

386
00:20:29,039 --> 00:20:31,720
Speaker 1: I love the idea of Marcus like walking along a

387
00:20:31,759 --> 00:20:34,799
street in public and like, uh walking by a construction

388
00:20:34,920 --> 00:20:38,079
site and uh pointing to like the big bulldozer, like

389
00:20:38,079 --> 00:20:43,400
a big talka truck quick there. Yeah.

390
00:20:44,000 --> 00:20:44,119
Speaker 4: Uh.

391
00:20:44,480 --> 00:20:47,039
Speaker 1: But I would say, like, so far for me, I'm

392
00:20:47,039 --> 00:20:49,559
probably I actually don't know how far in the game.

393
00:20:49,559 --> 00:20:53,079
I am several hours though, but the focus is much

394
00:20:53,119 --> 00:20:56,079
more on like movement and exploration.

395
00:20:56,079 --> 00:20:59,079
Speaker 3: Than it is good the platform feel good.

396
00:20:59,000 --> 00:21:05,200
Speaker 1: I think, so yeah, there there are sometimes where I think,

397
00:21:05,240 --> 00:21:08,119
like this game is like really high up on my list.

398
00:21:08,200 --> 00:21:13,160
It's very like experimental in a lot of ways. It's like, oh,

399
00:21:13,279 --> 00:21:16,559
this is like this feels like a game that like

400
00:21:18,640 --> 00:21:21,200
I don't know, it's it's kind of the the vibe

401
00:21:21,240 --> 00:21:24,200
is unlike anything I've played this year in terms of

402
00:21:24,279 --> 00:21:27,200
like the setting and all that. There is a little

403
00:21:27,240 --> 00:21:31,640
weirdness with like the orb camera that you are like

404
00:21:31,720 --> 00:21:35,200
you're playing as the camera in the game, but during

405
00:21:35,319 --> 00:21:39,920
cut scenes it will like go to a separate camera

406
00:21:40,000 --> 00:21:43,200
and you can kind of see yourself in like talking

407
00:21:43,240 --> 00:21:49,119
to her, and there's like an underlying like sexual tone

408
00:21:49,279 --> 00:21:52,480
I think between the camera and he's like kind of

409
00:21:52,519 --> 00:21:54,480
obsessed with the girl he's following around.

410
00:21:54,480 --> 00:21:56,559
Speaker 3: I would say, does the camera talk, like is there

411
00:21:56,559 --> 00:21:57,000
a person?

412
00:21:57,079 --> 00:21:59,000
Speaker 1: In cut scenes? It's like tech you know, it's like

413
00:21:59,039 --> 00:22:02,480
text dialogue, but there is like an option at one

414
00:22:02,480 --> 00:22:05,079
point where like I forget what they're talking about, but

415
00:22:05,119 --> 00:22:08,559
it's after like a pretty lengthy section and he just

416
00:22:08,599 --> 00:22:13,000
like says like good girl, and I was like, WHOA, Okay,

417
00:22:13,039 --> 00:22:14,319
what the hell.

418
00:22:14,200 --> 00:22:15,759
Speaker 3: Can you say that? His tone like is it like

419
00:22:15,759 --> 00:22:17,519
a seductive like good girl?

420
00:22:17,680 --> 00:22:22,720
Speaker 1: It's it's not voiced, so it's just oh text.

421
00:22:23,599 --> 00:22:25,799
Speaker 4: If I had the voice it to be good girl,

422
00:22:26,880 --> 00:22:32,279
like kind of like a dork good girl. Yeah, it's

423
00:22:32,359 --> 00:22:34,359
kind of like I haven't honestly, I haven't played the

424
00:22:34,400 --> 00:22:35,960
game since that happened because I was like.

425
00:22:36,200 --> 00:22:38,680
Speaker 3: What it kind of looks like because I'm looking at

426
00:22:38,680 --> 00:22:40,160
the trailer. He kind of has like almost like a

427
00:22:40,160 --> 00:22:44,519
weekly kind of yeah so maybe voice and it sounds

428
00:22:44,599 --> 00:22:45,839
less creepy and more endearing.

429
00:22:46,079 --> 00:22:48,799
Speaker 1: But also some of the camera angles and stuff like

430
00:22:50,200 --> 00:22:55,599
it feels like they're definitely like, I don't know, a little.

431
00:22:55,440 --> 00:22:57,839
Speaker 2: Near on it, near automaton on it.

432
00:22:57,839 --> 00:23:00,559
Speaker 3: It actually reminds me a lot, especially her design, like

433
00:23:00,599 --> 00:23:02,839
her between her design and a kind of desert environments,

434
00:23:02,839 --> 00:23:04,440
it reminds me of Recoor.

435
00:23:04,400 --> 00:23:06,880
Speaker 1: A little bit. Yeah, sure, yeah, she looks.

436
00:23:06,680 --> 00:23:09,559
Speaker 3: Like the protagonist from Recor a little bit, Everyone's favorite,

437
00:23:09,559 --> 00:23:12,880
a game that we always talk about, Yeah, which also

438
00:23:13,160 --> 00:23:16,799
dealt with machines a lot. Yeah, and it also orbs

439
00:23:16,839 --> 00:23:17,319
funny enough.

440
00:23:17,559 --> 00:23:22,039
Speaker 1: Yeah, The vibes are just occasionally like huh are they

441
00:23:22,039 --> 00:23:25,559
intending to do that? Like is this is the intended

442
00:23:25,599 --> 00:23:28,839
effect of like this dialogue? And like also some of

443
00:23:28,880 --> 00:23:32,160
the camera shots, I'm like, huh, okay, I'm gonna like

444
00:23:32,400 --> 00:23:36,079
I don't know it's it's an interesting game, though I

445
00:23:36,079 --> 00:23:38,319
don't think it does anything like I don't think it

446
00:23:38,359 --> 00:23:41,640
ever has become gross or anything so far that I've seen,

447
00:23:42,839 --> 00:23:45,599
But it's definitely like like if anything, it's like, oh,

448
00:23:45,640 --> 00:23:48,599
this is like a weird relationshipship between a camera and

449
00:23:48,640 --> 00:23:52,039
a protagonist. Like maybe I don't know, maybe there's something

450
00:23:52,039 --> 00:23:53,279
there that they're exploring.

451
00:23:53,839 --> 00:23:57,480
Speaker 3: Listen, she's an adult. I assume she can what she wants.

452
00:23:57,559 --> 00:24:00,880
Speaker 1: Yeah, but still like I don't know, I don't know

453
00:24:01,000 --> 00:24:03,960
that she has. It seems like they've been together for

454
00:24:04,000 --> 00:24:06,880
a long time, like they have a relationship, but he

455
00:24:07,000 --> 00:24:10,680
is always the one kind of being the creep and.

456
00:24:12,200 --> 00:24:12,680
Speaker 3: From her.

457
00:24:13,119 --> 00:24:16,400
Speaker 1: But also it's written in a way that it feels

458
00:24:16,400 --> 00:24:19,480
like this is just kind of like their dynamic. I

459
00:24:19,480 --> 00:24:22,720
don't know, it's it's I say that to just let

460
00:24:22,720 --> 00:24:25,960
people know there is like some vibes of that. If

461
00:24:26,000 --> 00:24:28,960
that's not like a roadblock for you, I would say, Uh,

462
00:24:29,039 --> 00:24:33,519
the gameplay and such and like exploring and climbing, it's

463
00:24:33,559 --> 00:24:34,240
really cool.

464
00:24:35,039 --> 00:24:38,519
Speaker 3: Maybe it's like a transitionor situation where like it's like

465
00:24:38,559 --> 00:24:40,920
the orb has like the soul of her life, dead

466
00:24:41,160 --> 00:24:42,599
boyfriend or something.

467
00:24:42,640 --> 00:24:45,200
Speaker 1: Maybe maybe I haven't maybe it hasn't you know, been

468
00:24:45,240 --> 00:24:48,079
revealed to me yet, but we can move on to

469
00:24:48,119 --> 00:24:51,559
the next game. Marcus, do you got another one for us?

470
00:24:52,160 --> 00:24:55,039
Speaker 3: Yeah? I mean this is uh my, this probably falls

471
00:24:55,039 --> 00:24:59,119
back into category of things we've we've covered, but I

472
00:24:59,160 --> 00:25:01,400
would just quickly say, mean to the hollower, it's one

473
00:25:01,440 --> 00:25:04,799
of my favorite games of the year so far. You know,

474
00:25:04,799 --> 00:25:06,319
I won't spend too much time on it because you know,

475
00:25:06,359 --> 00:25:07,839
we've talked about it a lot, but it's really good

476
00:25:07,880 --> 00:25:12,000
if you like like game Boy era Zelda basically with

477
00:25:12,119 --> 00:25:14,640
a bit of you know, it's I don't know why

478
00:25:14,640 --> 00:25:17,839
I didn't make this comparison with the Hollowing, but since

479
00:25:17,880 --> 00:25:20,319
I've been playing Splatoon Raiders, it dawned on me of like, oh,

480
00:25:20,359 --> 00:25:24,079
you're just splatoon diving everywhere, like not even just like Hollowing.

481
00:25:24,119 --> 00:25:26,200
It's literally just like, this is the first game I've

482
00:25:26,200 --> 00:25:31,119
played that has just maybe unknowingly, just borrowed the Splatoon

483
00:25:31,200 --> 00:25:34,160
traversal and kind of made it their own, which is

484
00:25:34,160 --> 00:25:36,440
great because playing Splatoon Raiders right now, it's like a

485
00:25:36,519 --> 00:25:38,039
reminder of like, this is one of the most fun

486
00:25:38,039 --> 00:25:40,440
mechanics and video games. How can more people just haven't

487
00:25:40,480 --> 00:25:43,000
taken this and then being like, oh wait, Yacht Club

488
00:25:43,079 --> 00:25:46,680
kind of did with Mina because it is fun to

489
00:25:46,759 --> 00:25:48,920
just swim around in the dirt, especially when you attach

490
00:25:48,960 --> 00:25:51,480
some upgrades that you do it longer at like effects

491
00:25:51,519 --> 00:25:55,759
to your Halloween and stuff. But like, I haven't finished

492
00:25:55,759 --> 00:25:58,160
it yet because I've just been kind of like distracted

493
00:25:58,160 --> 00:25:59,920
with other games. But I'm like over halfway through it

494
00:26:00,160 --> 00:26:03,920
and I've got like a lot of trinkets and abilities.

495
00:26:03,960 --> 00:26:06,640
Now it's I'm having a fun time. But I like

496
00:26:07,200 --> 00:26:09,799
kind of like solving the giant puzzle box that is

497
00:26:09,799 --> 00:26:10,319
that world.

498
00:26:11,039 --> 00:26:13,519
Speaker 1: Yeah, I I don't want to, Oh, I guess I

499
00:26:13,559 --> 00:26:15,640
do want to blow up Wesley's spot. Wes, you don't

500
00:26:15,839 --> 00:26:17,079
you didn't like me, no, the.

501
00:26:17,079 --> 00:26:20,839
Speaker 3: Hollower, Yeah, and by association you don't like me either.

502
00:26:21,039 --> 00:26:23,519
Speaker 2: Yeah, well yeah, No, I hate me to the Hollower.

503
00:26:23,599 --> 00:26:27,519
I hate Marcus. That's it.

504
00:26:28,079 --> 00:26:31,119
Speaker 3: No, I know, and I will not elaborate.

505
00:26:31,680 --> 00:26:33,240
Speaker 2: Hate is a strong word. I don't hate me to

506
00:26:33,240 --> 00:26:35,279
the Hollower. I think it's a well made game. I

507
00:26:35,359 --> 00:26:39,519
just think that it is like the most annoying game

508
00:26:39,599 --> 00:26:42,240
I've played in maybe my adult life.

509
00:26:42,319 --> 00:26:46,400
Speaker 3: I like, that's crazy. I know.

510
00:26:46,519 --> 00:26:48,720
Speaker 2: Yeah, I've given I gave A four this year on

511
00:26:48,839 --> 00:26:49,519
a game.

512
00:26:49,799 --> 00:26:51,680
Speaker 1: Which got brought up in an interview I did, by

513
00:26:51,720 --> 00:26:54,839
the way, with the CEO.

514
00:26:54,079 --> 00:26:55,720
Speaker 2: I would love to hear.

515
00:26:55,920 --> 00:26:57,480
Speaker 1: No, he was a good word about it. Actually he

516
00:26:57,480 --> 00:27:01,000
was a good sport. It's not for everyone, but I

517
00:27:01,119 --> 00:27:02,599
did specifically get brought up.

518
00:27:05,319 --> 00:27:05,519
Speaker 3: Yeah.

519
00:27:05,559 --> 00:27:09,079
Speaker 2: The thing is, it's like it's it's it's more it's

520
00:27:09,079 --> 00:27:11,039
made more annoying for me because I can tell that,

521
00:27:11,160 --> 00:27:13,359
Like I would really like the core idea of the game,

522
00:27:13,400 --> 00:27:15,000
I just think some of the stuff on top of

523
00:27:15,039 --> 00:27:17,839
it really annoys me. And I don't want to blow

524
00:27:17,880 --> 00:27:19,759
up the game too much because I think it is

525
00:27:19,839 --> 00:27:21,920
a game that a lot of people have liked, so

526
00:27:22,039 --> 00:27:25,160
the person who is asking for recommendations might really enjoy it.

527
00:27:25,400 --> 00:27:27,720
I'm definitely the minority. It's just I don't know if

528
00:27:27,759 --> 00:27:33,640
the two D Sprite work really coalesced into like the

529
00:27:33,799 --> 00:27:39,039
type of precision and like challenge that Mita brings to

530
00:27:39,079 --> 00:27:42,039
the player. Like I was, I constantly felt like despite

531
00:27:42,240 --> 00:27:44,559
how much I thought its systems were well designed and

532
00:27:44,559 --> 00:27:48,000
how great it felt to do those things, I think

533
00:27:48,079 --> 00:27:51,279
like the actual enemy design and the platform and it

534
00:27:51,359 --> 00:27:54,480
wanted me to do just like never came together into

535
00:27:54,519 --> 00:27:56,440
something I experienced and by the time I finished it,

536
00:27:56,480 --> 00:27:58,279
I had just take hate finished it, like I rolled

537
00:27:58,319 --> 00:28:02,559
the credits, like stupid, stupid game. I'm done with you instant,

538
00:28:02,599 --> 00:28:07,400
delete off my switch to But it's Yacht Club, you know,

539
00:28:07,440 --> 00:28:09,400
they make great games, and I do think that they

540
00:28:09,440 --> 00:28:14,079
have a very honestly probably the most admirable I don't

541
00:28:14,079 --> 00:28:16,559
even want to call it accessibility because like it is accessibility,

542
00:28:16,559 --> 00:28:19,359
but it's also just complete tuning of the game to

543
00:28:19,400 --> 00:28:21,480
however you want. I've never seen this many options to

544
00:28:21,559 --> 00:28:24,279
completely shape the game into what you want it to be.

545
00:28:24,440 --> 00:28:27,400
So like, if you're annoyed, or you dislike something, or

546
00:28:27,400 --> 00:28:29,000
you really like something, there is an option and the

547
00:28:29,039 --> 00:28:32,119
accessibility to like tweak to your liking. I think there's

548
00:28:32,119 --> 00:28:35,759
like over one hundred and fifty options that you can tweak.

549
00:28:35,799 --> 00:28:38,079
It's it's super elaborate. It's crazy.

550
00:28:38,160 --> 00:28:40,160
Speaker 3: It almost feels like a debug menu.

551
00:28:40,319 --> 00:28:42,160
Speaker 2: For yes, actually it is.

552
00:28:42,319 --> 00:28:43,480
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, like.

553
00:28:43,480 --> 00:28:46,079
Speaker 2: You can change every single aspect of the game that

554
00:28:46,119 --> 00:28:47,839
you can think of. It's you can you can mess

555
00:28:47,880 --> 00:28:51,920
within the settings. It's really cool. Yeah, but yeah, I'm

556
00:28:51,960 --> 00:28:52,400
just a hater.

557
00:28:53,119 --> 00:28:59,839
Speaker 1: That's fair. Yeah, is it my go.

558
00:29:01,559 --> 00:29:06,160
Speaker 2: My h wes because I yeah, I'm gonna technically cheat

559
00:29:06,160 --> 00:29:08,000
because this game came out like right at the tail

560
00:29:08,119 --> 00:29:10,599
end of twenty twenty five. But I really loved it,

561
00:29:10,640 --> 00:29:13,359
and it just has a it has a switch to Yeah,

562
00:29:13,400 --> 00:29:16,240
he Marcus hates it for sure, and I think it

563
00:29:16,240 --> 00:29:18,119
has a switch to port coming out, and it just

564
00:29:18,119 --> 00:29:20,920
got a really cool retro mode. But this is Total Chaos.

565
00:29:21,000 --> 00:29:24,119
This is one of my favorite horror games I've played

566
00:29:24,640 --> 00:29:27,799
in recent years, outside of uh Ari Requiem because that

567
00:29:27,880 --> 00:29:31,799
game kicks ass. But Total Chaos was originally a Doom

568
00:29:32,000 --> 00:29:36,440
two conversion mod that was then transformed into this single

569
00:29:36,480 --> 00:29:40,279
player survival horror game. I won't spoil too much about

570
00:29:40,279 --> 00:29:43,039
the story, but you go to like an abandoned mining

571
00:29:43,480 --> 00:29:49,559
coastal town and you're kind of losing yourself while also

572
00:29:49,720 --> 00:29:54,640
losing everything that like made life worth living. Oh my god,

573
00:29:54,640 --> 00:29:57,359
this auto played the trailer and it scared the crap

574
00:29:57,400 --> 00:30:00,000
out of me. If you saw the fear of my eyes.

575
00:30:00,759 --> 00:30:03,279
And yeah, it's like a heavy emphasis on crafting. There's

576
00:30:03,359 --> 00:30:05,119
lots of like things to pick up in the environment.

577
00:30:05,519 --> 00:30:08,400
You're constantly creating new tools that you haven't used before.

578
00:30:09,279 --> 00:30:11,839
The enemy design is really cool, and it just has

579
00:30:11,880 --> 00:30:14,960
like that kind of it's hard to describe, but it's

580
00:30:15,000 --> 00:30:17,759
like that, uh, I don't want to say unpolished, but

581
00:30:17,759 --> 00:30:20,000
it has like this rough and tough like survival horror

582
00:30:20,000 --> 00:30:23,039
field that it reminds me of like PS one, PS two,

583
00:30:24,359 --> 00:30:26,839
And I think it's a it's just a really really

584
00:30:26,839 --> 00:30:29,599
fun time and the story kind of like blew Me Away.

585
00:30:29,599 --> 00:30:31,000
I actually did like a whole op ed on the

586
00:30:31,039 --> 00:30:33,759
site that people should read if you like the game.

587
00:30:33,799 --> 00:30:37,240
But yeah, it's one to check out, and I recommend

588
00:30:37,240 --> 00:30:39,359
it because it's a horror game, and I feel like

589
00:30:39,359 --> 00:30:42,559
we don't see small team or too much throughout the year.

590
00:30:42,559 --> 00:30:45,000
I mean we do, but not this style of horror,

591
00:30:45,000 --> 00:30:47,400
this first person survival horror. So check out.

592
00:30:47,480 --> 00:30:49,200
Speaker 3: Yeah, I wanted to play this. It came out, like

593
00:30:49,200 --> 00:30:51,039
I said, it came out like tail end twenty twenty five,

594
00:30:51,079 --> 00:30:52,720
which is like, at least for me, a weird time.

595
00:30:53,119 --> 00:30:55,200
Speaker 1: Yeah, and I just yeah, I think it was like

596
00:30:55,279 --> 00:30:58,640
after we had to submit our lists at the end

597
00:30:58,680 --> 00:31:01,200
of Yeah.

598
00:31:01,440 --> 00:31:03,480
Speaker 3: So yeah, it's been like hearing you talk about it

599
00:31:03,519 --> 00:31:05,680
and also just being a horror fan in general, it's like, Man,

600
00:31:05,720 --> 00:31:07,759
I need to make time and play that. I think

601
00:31:07,799 --> 00:31:11,039
I have it on PlayStation. Yeah, I need to pick

602
00:31:11,039 --> 00:31:13,319
a weekend because it's not like crazy long, right.

603
00:31:13,279 --> 00:31:15,599
Speaker 2: No, it's like ten to twelve hours, and they have

604
00:31:15,680 --> 00:31:18,920
added so much stuff. There's like new endings, there's additional

605
00:31:19,000 --> 00:31:21,920
chapters to experience. They just put out a retro mode

606
00:31:21,920 --> 00:31:25,519
which like, uh it makes the graphics look very like

607
00:31:25,559 --> 00:31:27,799
PS one, like a lot more polligonal, which is really

608
00:31:27,880 --> 00:31:29,000
at least really awesome.

609
00:31:29,799 --> 00:31:30,680
Speaker 3: Free updates too.

610
00:31:30,839 --> 00:31:33,799
Speaker 2: Yeah, these are all free updates and it okay. Even

611
00:31:33,839 --> 00:31:36,119
the retro mode included a new ending. Like every time

612
00:31:36,359 --> 00:31:39,160
he updates the game, the developer he adds like new

613
00:31:39,240 --> 00:31:41,160
chapters to twist and the ending or give you a

614
00:31:41,200 --> 00:31:44,400
new ending to to find, because I think like the

615
00:31:44,400 --> 00:31:46,440
people that play the game is pretty dedicated to it.

616
00:31:46,519 --> 00:31:49,920
So but yeah, it's I really really enjoy the game.

617
00:31:49,920 --> 00:31:52,240
I've got a review on Game and Reformer and uh

618
00:31:52,279 --> 00:31:56,039
an op ed to go with it, so highly recommend nice.

619
00:31:57,160 --> 00:32:00,920
Speaker 1: I think my next one is it's there's so many

620
00:32:02,759 --> 00:32:05,559
I'm gonna say one thing. One game I've I've been

621
00:32:06,839 --> 00:32:10,279
sort of toying with here and there, and also it's

622
00:32:10,359 --> 00:32:13,119
nice because it also plays on Mac pretty well. It's

623
00:32:13,119 --> 00:32:18,720
called Para Lives. This is it's an early access, but

624
00:32:18,920 --> 00:32:22,799
it is sort of trying to be like a new

625
00:32:23,519 --> 00:32:26,759
uh sort of like SIMS competitor, right.

626
00:32:27,359 --> 00:32:27,480
Speaker 2: Uh.

627
00:32:27,680 --> 00:32:30,680
Speaker 1: You at the start of the game, you kind of

628
00:32:30,720 --> 00:32:34,000
roll into town on a train. You're designing your your

629
00:32:34,039 --> 00:32:36,599
first character, and like you get to pick where they

630
00:32:36,640 --> 00:32:40,720
move into uh, and it's, uh, you know, just kind

631
00:32:40,720 --> 00:32:43,480
of a lot of like what you would expect from

632
00:32:43,519 --> 00:32:46,279
the SIMS. So you're like building houses, you're kind of

633
00:32:47,519 --> 00:32:51,599
giving giving your your I forget what they're called in

634
00:32:51,599 --> 00:32:54,119
this game. They're not obviously not called SIMS. They're called

635
00:32:54,160 --> 00:32:59,000
like we'll say people Perry's, Perry's. Is that the real thing?

636
00:33:00,160 --> 00:33:02,200
Speaker 3: I don't know, I can look at up parafolks.

637
00:33:02,240 --> 00:33:03,799
Speaker 1: Here we go, parafolks.

638
00:33:03,839 --> 00:33:04,279
Speaker 2: What it is?

639
00:33:05,799 --> 00:33:09,720
Speaker 1: You're kind of giving them personalities, what their social perks are,

640
00:33:09,839 --> 00:33:12,960
you know, if they're talented at something, And it's kind

641
00:33:12,960 --> 00:33:15,599
of like, you know, if you are somebody. I love

642
00:33:15,680 --> 00:33:20,039
games that let me, you know, build a home, you know,

643
00:33:20,160 --> 00:33:23,599
decorate a room, that kind of thing. And so I've

644
00:33:23,599 --> 00:33:25,680
always been a fan of the SIMS for that reason.

645
00:33:26,319 --> 00:33:28,839
And this has like it's it's in early access, but

646
00:33:28,920 --> 00:33:32,599
like they're patching it pretty frequently, like even I saw

647
00:33:32,640 --> 00:33:35,160
in social media I think yesterday they're like, hey, we

648
00:33:35,240 --> 00:33:39,039
know the babies in our game look weird. We're given

649
00:33:39,079 --> 00:33:40,400
them new faces.

650
00:33:41,039 --> 00:33:43,759
Speaker 3: Like to be fair, a lot of video game not

651
00:33:43,799 --> 00:33:46,319
even babies, but just children tend to look weird.

652
00:33:46,799 --> 00:33:50,519
Speaker 2: Yeah, like Cyberpunk twenty seventy seven that had the adults,

653
00:33:50,920 --> 00:33:52,680
they just made them smaller for the children.

654
00:33:53,039 --> 00:33:54,119
Speaker 1: Yes, I think so.

655
00:33:54,519 --> 00:33:56,759
Speaker 2: God. Yeah.

656
00:33:56,799 --> 00:33:59,359
Speaker 1: But there's also huge community around this game, so there's

657
00:33:59,400 --> 00:34:02,319
like all sorts of great tutorials, Like there's things that

658
00:34:02,319 --> 00:34:07,920
aren't officially supported by uh, you know, the the game,

659
00:34:08,000 --> 00:34:10,880
but people have either found out ways to do it.

660
00:34:11,199 --> 00:34:14,360
There's also I think it's got a big sort of

661
00:34:15,079 --> 00:34:18,559
market on Steam Workshop, so like you can install like

662
00:34:19,119 --> 00:34:23,519
furniture or you know, other sort of like decors that

663
00:34:23,639 --> 00:34:26,360
kind of thing. And I know throughout that they've they've

664
00:34:26,400 --> 00:34:28,880
got like a long list of like here's our roadmap,

665
00:34:29,599 --> 00:34:32,199
like they're going to be bringing like pets and animals

666
00:34:32,239 --> 00:34:35,320
and weather systems and you know all sorts of like

667
00:34:35,679 --> 00:34:39,920
ways like cars and bikes and boats. Pool right now

668
00:34:40,119 --> 00:34:41,719
right now that you can't you don't have a pool.

669
00:34:42,000 --> 00:34:44,639
The community has there's tutorials out there on how to

670
00:34:44,679 --> 00:34:46,440
fake it essentially, but like.

671
00:34:48,199 --> 00:34:50,199
Speaker 3: All sorts of scoffy as the Sims.

672
00:34:52,280 --> 00:34:58,239
Speaker 1: I tonally so far, maybe not not quite as much. No,

673
00:34:58,400 --> 00:35:02,159
I think it's more based on Again, I have only

674
00:35:02,199 --> 00:35:05,119
put a few hours into it. My guy hasn't been

675
00:35:05,199 --> 00:35:11,840
quite so uh silly as the Sims. It is like

676
00:35:11,960 --> 00:35:16,880
very lighthearted and like chill. But yeah, I haven't quite

677
00:35:16,880 --> 00:35:19,360
gotten that, like, and I think maybe maybe they could

678
00:35:19,559 --> 00:35:22,559
kind of further develop that. But I think it's it

679
00:35:22,599 --> 00:35:25,599
feels a little more grounded to me than maybe the

680
00:35:25,639 --> 00:35:31,119
SIMS is in like it's you know, animations and that

681
00:35:31,159 --> 00:35:32,000
sort of thing.

682
00:35:31,880 --> 00:35:35,880
Speaker 3: You know, like people aren't having crazy like overblown reactions

683
00:35:35,920 --> 00:35:36,199
to the.

684
00:35:36,280 --> 00:35:38,039
Speaker 1: Yeah, like their heads aren't on fire or that kind

685
00:35:38,079 --> 00:35:41,400
of thing. I haven't seen that yet. I I could

686
00:35:41,400 --> 00:35:45,119
be wrong, but it definitely feels more more I would say,

687
00:35:45,159 --> 00:35:47,039
like grounded in reality.

688
00:35:47,239 --> 00:35:49,719
Speaker 3: We got to torture your guy to get them. Yeah, yeah,

689
00:35:49,719 --> 00:35:53,199
we can take the doors out like all the good

690
00:35:53,280 --> 00:35:54,159
SIMS stuff. You know.

691
00:35:54,559 --> 00:35:56,599
Speaker 1: My first guy I made was like a hermit music

692
00:35:56,679 --> 00:35:59,000
dude who's just like he actually kind of looks like

693
00:35:59,039 --> 00:36:05,320
Wes if we really let himself go, And he's like

694
00:36:05,360 --> 00:36:08,599
really into music and he doesn't pick up on Social

695
00:36:08,679 --> 00:36:12,880
key as well, and I'm excited to make more different people.

696
00:36:12,920 --> 00:36:15,840
But the building tools are like really intuitive. I've really

697
00:36:16,000 --> 00:36:18,719
kind of enjoyed that part of it. But yeah, if

698
00:36:18,760 --> 00:36:21,320
you're looking for like something, of course SIMS is still

699
00:36:21,320 --> 00:36:23,199
going So if you want to you want to do that, sure,

700
00:36:23,679 --> 00:36:25,719
keep playing the SIMS. But if you're looking for something

701
00:36:25,760 --> 00:36:30,039
that's maybe newer and and coming from a different team,

702
00:36:30,199 --> 00:36:32,320
a little bit of a different take, I think it's

703
00:36:32,440 --> 00:36:36,119
it's worth worth checking out. That's Paara Lives.

704
00:36:36,559 --> 00:36:38,880
Speaker 3: Did you try out here? As did you try inzoy

705
00:36:39,159 --> 00:36:39,480
at all?

706
00:36:40,199 --> 00:36:43,559
Speaker 1: I didn't. I have thought about downloading there's Enzoy. There's

707
00:36:43,559 --> 00:36:46,320
also I've wanted to check out. One that came out

708
00:36:46,320 --> 00:36:52,159
recently is Go Go Town. There's a few. Yeah, I've

709
00:36:52,159 --> 00:36:55,760
been in the mood lately for like a good like

710
00:36:56,079 --> 00:36:59,920
management games, like whether it's the SIMS or I've been playing.

711
00:37:00,440 --> 00:37:02,840
One of my other recommendations I'll get into is like

712
00:37:02,840 --> 00:37:05,400
a city builder. I've been like in that mood lately,

713
00:37:06,559 --> 00:37:09,400
and yeah, Enzoy I've seen it and I'm like, ah,

714
00:37:09,480 --> 00:37:11,599
I don't know if I if it's necessarily my speed,

715
00:37:13,400 --> 00:37:15,679
But Marcus.

716
00:37:15,159 --> 00:37:18,519
Speaker 2: Like enjoy is the hyper realistic one.

717
00:37:18,599 --> 00:37:24,719
Speaker 3: Right, Yeah, it's like super nice looking KOREANTIV.

718
00:37:26,000 --> 00:37:30,480
Speaker 1: It's Crafton and then yeah, craft published, Yeah, Crafton publishes it.

719
00:37:30,960 --> 00:37:34,000
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's also.

720
00:37:33,280 --> 00:37:36,159
Speaker 1: In early access. I think it's just like this, the

721
00:37:36,199 --> 00:37:39,159
realism of it, like it didn't I don't know, for

722
00:37:39,199 --> 00:37:40,880
some reason, it kind of like put me off from it.

723
00:37:41,440 --> 00:37:44,960
I think, I uh, I wanted to be a little

724
00:37:44,960 --> 00:37:47,039
more cartoony.

725
00:37:47,760 --> 00:37:50,519
Speaker 3: Yeah, funny enough, that's what Go Go Town is. Where

726
00:37:50,719 --> 00:37:52,840
Go Go Town is like the hard opposite of Enjoy,

727
00:37:52,880 --> 00:37:56,880
where it's like incredibly stylized and super cartoony, like everyone

728
00:37:56,920 --> 00:38:00,519
just looks like a playmobile place it looking thing and.

729
00:38:01,639 --> 00:38:03,760
Speaker 1: A little It's like I wish it was a little

730
00:38:04,360 --> 00:38:08,480
bit in the other direction, but it's definitely like I

731
00:38:08,519 --> 00:38:12,000
just wanted something like easy going and like relaxing and chill.

732
00:38:12,679 --> 00:38:15,400
Speaker 3: Para Life seems to be like that perfect in between

733
00:38:15,440 --> 00:38:15,719
of those.

734
00:38:16,000 --> 00:38:18,960
Speaker 1: Yeah, yes, so far. And of course it's it's different

735
00:38:18,960 --> 00:38:23,039
than like than those other games. It's more different from

736
00:38:23,079 --> 00:38:29,400
Go Go Town than it is Enzoy sure aesthetically, yeah exactly, Marcus,

737
00:38:29,400 --> 00:38:33,880
do you have another one to talk about? Hmm, it's

738
00:38:33,920 --> 00:38:34,519
okay if not.

739
00:38:38,320 --> 00:38:39,480
Speaker 3: Real quick. The Mermaid Mask.

740
00:38:39,639 --> 00:38:41,880
Speaker 1: Oh yes, Okay, I wanted to talk about that. I'm

741
00:38:41,880 --> 00:38:42,800
glad you brought it up.

742
00:38:43,480 --> 00:38:45,800
Speaker 3: Yeah, Charles has talked about it before he reviewed the game.

743
00:38:45,920 --> 00:38:48,320
I'll just echo his sentiment. I'm almost done with it.

744
00:38:48,599 --> 00:38:51,480
But I've been really enjoying this game. I I love

745
00:38:51,519 --> 00:38:54,320
Tangle Tower. I actually reviewed Tangle Tower for screen Rant

746
00:38:54,360 --> 00:38:57,079
in Another life, and it was like a pleasant surprise.

747
00:38:57,880 --> 00:39:00,320
This is SFP game. So you might know as the

748
00:39:00,360 --> 00:39:04,320
makers of snipper Clips and crow Country. This is kind

749
00:39:04,320 --> 00:39:07,039
of part of their detective grimoire series that started way

750
00:39:07,079 --> 00:39:10,320
back as a flash game on new Grounds. But yeah,

751
00:39:10,400 --> 00:39:12,920
so this is the sequel to Tangle Tower. It's very

752
00:39:13,000 --> 00:39:15,559
much in the vein of like point and click adventure,

753
00:39:15,719 --> 00:39:19,079
with like a bit of like Phoenix Wright style, sort

754
00:39:19,119 --> 00:39:24,800
of like puzzle solving and like interrogations of this colorful

755
00:39:24,880 --> 00:39:27,559
cast on a submarine where you're trying to find out

756
00:39:27,559 --> 00:39:31,679
who murdered the submarine's captain. So you're interviewing these eclectic personalities.

757
00:39:32,039 --> 00:39:34,199
But I think the story so far is great. I

758
00:39:34,199 --> 00:39:36,599
think the writing and the dialogue's phenomenal. I think the

759
00:39:36,679 --> 00:39:40,079
voice acting is also phenomenal. The character portraits, like I

760
00:39:40,079 --> 00:39:42,800
love the art style of this game, like all the

761
00:39:42,840 --> 00:39:46,039
characters are just like really well animated and just so

762
00:39:46,119 --> 00:39:48,639
expressive to where like, yes, because a lot of this

763
00:39:48,719 --> 00:39:51,199
game is dialogue, like it is just talking to people

764
00:39:51,239 --> 00:39:54,360
and listening to conversations, but it's such a joy to

765
00:39:54,360 --> 00:40:00,480
do so between of how just how lovingly animated everyone

766
00:40:00,599 --> 00:40:03,239
is and just their reactions to things, on top of

767
00:40:03,360 --> 00:40:07,440
just how stellar the voice cast is for every single character.

768
00:40:09,199 --> 00:40:11,119
And yeah, it's it's just fun, Like it's it's my

769
00:40:11,360 --> 00:40:14,159
I have it on switch so it's like my end

770
00:40:14,159 --> 00:40:17,119
of days like either sit down the couch or lay

771
00:40:17,199 --> 00:40:21,559
in bed and just chip away at this thing. But yeah,

772
00:40:21,920 --> 00:40:24,440
it's been of really kind of like within this week

773
00:40:24,440 --> 00:40:26,199
because this game came out the same week as Incident

774
00:40:26,239 --> 00:40:28,480
at Galley House. So it's like for someone that like meat,

775
00:40:28,519 --> 00:40:30,400
that loves these games, this is just like, oh, I'm

776
00:40:30,400 --> 00:40:32,440
eating real good right now. This is great.

777
00:40:33,480 --> 00:40:36,079
Speaker 2: Like the genre is like maybe it's just being paid

778
00:40:36,119 --> 00:40:38,679
more attention to now or blowing up. But like last

779
00:40:38,760 --> 00:40:42,400
year had the Root Trees, the Seance of Blake manor

780
00:40:43,000 --> 00:40:45,320
we have Mermaide Mask now Incident at Galleyhouse, Like I

781
00:40:45,360 --> 00:40:48,400
just feel like this genre is exploding or something like

782
00:40:48,480 --> 00:40:49,519
it's everywhere now.

783
00:40:50,440 --> 00:40:55,239
Speaker 1: I really I was kind of I heard everyone talking

784
00:40:55,239 --> 00:40:57,440
about how good it was, and I was like, Okay,

785
00:40:57,440 --> 00:40:59,559
I want to try it, but like I was kind

786
00:40:59,559 --> 00:41:01,320
of worried like this it wasn't gonna be my thing,

787
00:41:02,880 --> 00:41:05,639
cause I think like the screenshots and like just seeing

788
00:41:05,639 --> 00:41:09,280
it in like images doesn't really similar with other the

789
00:41:09,320 --> 00:41:11,519
other games that we talked about incident at Galley House.

790
00:41:11,840 --> 00:41:14,119
I imagine like when you look at like a you know,

791
00:41:14,159 --> 00:41:16,840
the Steam page, I feel like I feel like you

792
00:41:16,880 --> 00:41:18,800
really have to like try it yourself and see how

793
00:41:18,880 --> 00:41:22,519
it all connects together. And like, especially like the animation

794
00:41:23,440 --> 00:41:26,920
on this one, like you mentioned, Marcus is really great.

795
00:41:27,119 --> 00:41:29,000
And I was kind of worried, like, oh am, I

796
00:41:29,039 --> 00:41:31,440
gonna is this gonna be my thing? And then it

797
00:41:31,519 --> 00:41:36,079
grabbed me so quickly. I think I was worried about

798
00:41:36,119 --> 00:41:40,800
like everything kind of feeling sort of like, uh, maybe

799
00:41:40,840 --> 00:41:45,519
like on rails or flat. But then I quickly realized

800
00:41:45,559 --> 00:41:48,280
that I was incorrect. And like the ways in which

801
00:41:48,280 --> 00:41:50,840
you like explore the ship and go from you know,

802
00:41:50,880 --> 00:41:53,440
you can go from room to room to figure out

803
00:41:53,480 --> 00:41:56,360
you know, uh, find clues in that kind of thing,

804
00:41:56,440 --> 00:42:00,960
and I think that really kind of gave me because

805
00:42:01,000 --> 00:42:04,719
I haven't played any of these games before the Tangle Tower.

806
00:42:04,760 --> 00:42:09,719
I haven't played Detective Grimoire, but like, very quickly, the

807
00:42:09,800 --> 00:42:13,760
characters are super charming, Like the main two characters I

808
00:42:13,760 --> 00:42:19,079
guess it's Detective Grimoire and Sally. Yeah, they're like the

809
00:42:19,159 --> 00:42:23,039
voice acting is really good, paired with the animation like

810
00:42:23,159 --> 00:42:25,440
feels like it's like right out of a cartoon show.

811
00:42:26,599 --> 00:42:28,760
And then there's also like a cool I really like

812
00:42:29,400 --> 00:42:32,239
when you open up you find like new evidence and stuff.

813
00:42:32,639 --> 00:42:35,000
How it's like a it's a three D eight asset

814
00:42:35,079 --> 00:42:37,440
that's been hand painted, so it kind of good. It

815
00:42:37,440 --> 00:42:39,360
fits with the art style of the game, like the

816
00:42:39,480 --> 00:42:42,320
environments and all that are I believe mostly two D,

817
00:42:43,320 --> 00:42:45,800
but then like you almost get the resident Evil style

818
00:42:46,440 --> 00:42:48,800
like getting to like inspect items and stuff.

819
00:42:49,480 --> 00:42:51,800
Speaker 3: Yeah, and it actually matters, like there are like hitting

820
00:42:51,840 --> 00:42:55,719
clues on objects that yeah, you need to turn them

821
00:42:55,760 --> 00:42:58,159
around and spot like really crucial details.

822
00:42:58,519 --> 00:43:04,239
Speaker 1: Yeah. It's really very quickly shot up my my like

823
00:43:04,400 --> 00:43:06,639
what I want to be playing right now, And I'm

824
00:43:06,800 --> 00:43:08,599
very early. I think I'm still in the first I

825
00:43:08,679 --> 00:43:11,679
literally started it like a night ago, two nights ago,

826
00:43:13,039 --> 00:43:17,079
so I'm very early. But yeah, Mermaid Masters. Somebody's really solid.

827
00:43:17,360 --> 00:43:19,440
Speaker 3: Some of those characters are already like on my list

828
00:43:19,440 --> 00:43:21,960
of like, oh best characters of the year, whether it's

829
00:43:22,039 --> 00:43:26,199
like like like most liked or maybe even like dork

830
00:43:26,320 --> 00:43:30,199
but like endearing in a way. Shout out Symmetry.

831
00:43:30,320 --> 00:43:34,519
Speaker 1: She's precious as somebody who's like, you know, I'm not

832
00:43:34,559 --> 00:43:37,559
as I'm not familiar with this series, The Detective Grimoire.

833
00:43:38,320 --> 00:43:40,960
I didn't play Tangle Tower. It almost reminds me like

834
00:43:41,000 --> 00:43:43,679
I feel like I'm I know, I know crow Country obviously,

835
00:43:43,679 --> 00:43:48,599
that was a really well respected and people loved that

836
00:43:48,679 --> 00:43:53,440
as a survival horror game. Yeah, all that I really respect.

837
00:43:53,480 --> 00:43:56,239
They're like all their games are vastly different from each other.

838
00:43:56,280 --> 00:44:02,280
It seems like Snipper Clips, crow Country, this, Murmers. They

839
00:44:02,320 --> 00:44:05,599
remind me of a studio like Double Fine, And I

840
00:44:05,639 --> 00:44:09,360
think that even even as I'm playing The Mermaid Mask

841
00:44:09,360 --> 00:44:11,880
I'm like, oh, this reminds me of like some of

842
00:44:11,920 --> 00:44:15,360
the Double Fine games. I love, you know, but but

843
00:44:15,480 --> 00:44:18,320
without it, it doesn't it feels totally. It's like its

844
00:44:18,360 --> 00:44:21,880
own thing though, you know it's cool.

845
00:44:22,079 --> 00:44:24,960
Speaker 2: Marcus, did you do the crow Country feature on them?

846
00:44:25,079 --> 00:44:27,239
That was kind of about the studio's history as well,

847
00:44:27,360 --> 00:44:28,440
or was that somebody else?

848
00:44:29,199 --> 00:44:32,599
Speaker 3: Yeah, I so I reviewed co Crow Country, But I

849
00:44:32,599 --> 00:44:36,840
also did a big sort of like feature on SFB

850
00:44:37,079 --> 00:44:40,519
as a studio interview of the two brothers, who are

851
00:44:40,760 --> 00:44:44,559
pretty much the entire studio, Like they do outsource some stuff,

852
00:44:44,800 --> 00:44:49,519
but they're the only two like actual employees. The SFB

853
00:44:49,639 --> 00:44:51,880
game stands for Super Flash Brothers because that's where they

854
00:44:51,880 --> 00:44:53,840
got their start. They were really big on new grounds

855
00:44:54,199 --> 00:44:55,960
back in the stage and they put out a ton

856
00:44:56,000 --> 00:44:58,360
of flash games and their first console game was actually

857
00:44:58,400 --> 00:45:02,199
Snipper Clips for the sway in that story they have,

858
00:45:02,400 --> 00:45:05,079
they have a very fun story that I included in

859
00:45:05,079 --> 00:45:06,960
a feature where they talked about how that happened and

860
00:45:06,960 --> 00:45:09,519
how Nintendo kept it a secret that it would be

861
00:45:09,599 --> 00:45:11,440
a launch title for the Switch and they didn't find

862
00:45:11,480 --> 00:45:14,639
out to like halfway through making it, and how like

863
00:45:15,119 --> 00:45:17,800
exciting and terrifying that is just the pressure of like,

864
00:45:17,880 --> 00:45:20,119
oh my god, we're on a Nintendo council and we're

865
00:45:20,119 --> 00:45:23,000
gonna launch, Like that's crazy, but also man to be

866
00:45:23,599 --> 00:45:28,400
great to note that earlier. Yeah, but I mean, like, yeah,

867
00:45:28,559 --> 00:45:31,800
I think they're of like indie developers that maybe don't

868
00:45:31,840 --> 00:45:34,920
always get their due. I think they would be on

869
00:45:34,960 --> 00:45:37,079
that list of like they don't get talked about very

870
00:45:37,079 --> 00:45:39,639
often in the way that other maybe small teams do,

871
00:45:39,760 --> 00:45:42,440
but I think they like with Mermaid Mask now, I

872
00:45:42,440 --> 00:45:44,400
think they should absolutely be in that conversation for the

873
00:45:44,400 --> 00:45:48,239
reasons you've just mentioned, Alex of there. They have such

874
00:45:48,239 --> 00:45:50,960
incredible range and like, but they seem to like just

875
00:45:51,079 --> 00:45:53,079
hit it every time they put something out.

876
00:45:53,679 --> 00:45:57,960
Speaker 1: Yeah. I have since in this conversation, followed them on

877
00:45:58,079 --> 00:46:00,480
Steam so that I'm you know, alerted to when they

878
00:46:00,480 --> 00:46:04,239
put out new games. Because yeah, I mean they're I'm

879
00:46:04,320 --> 00:46:06,840
really impressed by and I'm kind of mad at myself

880
00:46:06,840 --> 00:46:09,280
that I've missed out on their other stuff. Haunt the

881
00:46:09,320 --> 00:46:11,440
House seems really cool. I don't know if you've played

882
00:46:11,440 --> 00:46:13,119
that by them.

883
00:46:12,880 --> 00:46:15,159
Speaker 3: No, we talked about Haunt the House in that feature though.

884
00:46:15,239 --> 00:46:16,360
Speaker 1: It sounded cool. Yeah.

885
00:46:16,400 --> 00:46:19,519
Speaker 3: Yeah, Like there their flash catalog which is extensive, which

886
00:46:19,519 --> 00:46:20,719
I think some of it. I think a lot of

887
00:46:20,760 --> 00:46:23,360
that stuff is still playable, like on your website. I

888
00:46:23,360 --> 00:46:25,599
think they have links to all their flash games. Yeah,

889
00:46:25,599 --> 00:46:27,039
so you can just play them in a browser if

890
00:46:27,039 --> 00:46:29,239
you want to, like really dive into their history, which

891
00:46:29,239 --> 00:46:29,639
is cool.

892
00:46:30,000 --> 00:46:33,119
Speaker 1: Yeah, this is This is really cool and a great

893
00:46:33,159 --> 00:46:36,360
pick for this list. I think I was likely going

894
00:46:36,360 --> 00:46:38,000
to sleep on this game, and I just happened. I

895
00:46:38,039 --> 00:46:41,119
got a code through work. People on staff were talking

896
00:46:41,159 --> 00:46:43,239
about it. I was like, all right, let me let

897
00:46:43,239 --> 00:46:44,800
me like boot it up for five minutes and see

898
00:46:44,800 --> 00:46:46,719
what it's about. And I was like instantly hooked. I

899
00:46:46,760 --> 00:46:49,599
was like, oh damn, I almost just missed a really

900
00:46:49,639 --> 00:46:53,840
good game because I was being you know, obtuse essentially.

901
00:46:54,000 --> 00:46:59,559
But yeah, is a great pick. I think we'll be

902
00:46:59,559 --> 00:47:01,079
talking about that one at the end of the year

903
00:47:01,480 --> 00:47:03,599
if i'd have to guess, because I know Eric's also

904
00:47:04,360 --> 00:47:06,880
really into it.

905
00:47:07,039 --> 00:47:07,840
Speaker 2: Ile like it, Wes.

906
00:47:07,880 --> 00:47:10,199
Speaker 1: Thank he's playing Wes, you got one more?

907
00:47:11,400 --> 00:47:13,159
Speaker 2: Yeah, I actually have three more, so I'll just rapid

908
00:47:13,199 --> 00:47:17,320
fire thee real quick. Perfect Vampire Crawlers the Turbo wild

909
00:47:17,360 --> 00:47:21,440
card from Vampire Survivors. It is a dungeon crawler from

910
00:47:21,800 --> 00:47:25,400
a punko who made Vampire Survivors. So basically it is

911
00:47:25,440 --> 00:47:30,039
all the numbers go up fun and screen explosions and

912
00:47:30,239 --> 00:47:33,519
effects and blue bitty blobbody that you expect from the

913
00:47:33,559 --> 00:47:36,760
guy that made Vampire Survivors, but it's in a like

914
00:47:36,800 --> 00:47:39,760
a dungeon Crawler, which is a really cool like first

915
00:47:39,760 --> 00:47:42,880
person throwback that there's not many games out there like it.

916
00:47:42,920 --> 00:47:45,519
Maybe like Ytrian Odyssey I think is maybe holding the

917
00:47:46,559 --> 00:47:49,280
market on that, but it's really cool. I re viewed

918
00:47:49,280 --> 00:47:50,559
it for game before I gave it an eight. It's

919
00:47:50,599 --> 00:47:53,159
a good time. I also want to shout out rat

920
00:47:53,239 --> 00:47:54,920
coin Coin Pusher Road.

921
00:47:55,400 --> 00:47:57,559
Speaker 1: Yeah, I really liked that one.

922
00:47:57,800 --> 00:48:01,639
Speaker 2: Yeah, in the vein of Bilatro, I would say where

923
00:48:01,840 --> 00:48:05,280
it's kind of this game that feels I don't want

924
00:48:05,280 --> 00:48:09,039
to say mindless, but like very quickly becomes I've used

925
00:48:09,079 --> 00:48:10,519
numbers go up a lot. I guess I just really

926
00:48:10,599 --> 00:48:13,000
like these numbers go up a lot games. But it's

927
00:48:13,039 --> 00:48:14,880
a coin put It's like the coin pusher from the

928
00:48:15,000 --> 00:48:17,400
arcade games that you don't ever touch because they're kind

929
00:48:17,400 --> 00:48:21,440
of rip offs. It's a video no whoa, whoa, whoa.

930
00:48:21,719 --> 00:48:28,159
Speaker 1: Don't speak ill on coin pushers. All right, there's one

931
00:48:29,079 --> 00:48:33,440
I would us. I spent like sixty dollars on one

932
00:48:33,440 --> 00:48:36,360
of these on my birthday. My friends just kept bringing

933
00:48:36,440 --> 00:48:37,719
me coins to keep playing.

934
00:48:38,360 --> 00:48:40,280
Speaker 3: And how much did you recoup from that?

935
00:48:41,159 --> 00:48:44,400
Speaker 1: None? But well, actually I recouped like I recouped like

936
00:48:44,440 --> 00:48:48,920
twenty dollars and reinvested it. But I knew what I

937
00:48:49,000 --> 00:48:53,280
was doing. Uh but bonus hole, that's what they call it,

938
00:48:53,320 --> 00:48:57,800
near us bonus hole. I love it, just like gets

939
00:48:57,920 --> 00:49:01,280
all of the all the the engines are firing up

940
00:49:01,280 --> 00:49:03,719
in the old noggin when when you're.

941
00:49:03,559 --> 00:49:06,719
Speaker 2: Push because like maybe it's because I'm in Jacksonville and

942
00:49:06,719 --> 00:49:09,039
it's just a very Jacksonville coded thing, but I swear

943
00:49:09,159 --> 00:49:12,639
to God, like every single coin pusher machine, the reward

944
00:49:12,760 --> 00:49:15,000
is like a monster energy, Like that's what they have.

945
00:49:15,920 --> 00:49:19,280
They have like multiple monster energies to like knock down

946
00:49:19,360 --> 00:49:20,599
and get which.

947
00:49:20,440 --> 00:49:22,719
Speaker 1: All the ones I play, it's like nothing but like

948
00:49:23,119 --> 00:49:28,920
ten dollars, bills, quarters dollars like your you're getting I'm

949
00:49:28,960 --> 00:49:31,840
actively getting money back as I play, But then I'm

950
00:49:31,880 --> 00:49:34,480
taking that money and putting back putting it back in

951
00:49:34,519 --> 00:49:37,119
because I'm like, yeah, but I know, I knew what

952
00:49:37,159 --> 00:49:39,639
I was doing. You know it is, yeah, you're throwing

953
00:49:39,639 --> 00:49:40,360
your money away.

954
00:49:40,719 --> 00:49:44,199
Speaker 3: But well, if you're a coin pushing makes right coin,

955
00:49:45,320 --> 00:49:47,039
yeah yeah, that's what makes right coin great. You get

956
00:49:47,079 --> 00:49:49,119
the thrill without your money sink.

957
00:49:49,760 --> 00:49:52,360
Speaker 2: Yeah yeah, And I'm like.

958
00:49:52,920 --> 00:49:55,440
Speaker 3: Just got to consoles.

959
00:49:55,880 --> 00:50:00,480
Speaker 2: Is it just xbos? I think both okay, see yeah,

960
00:50:00,480 --> 00:50:03,719
actually an email about it coming to Xbox. But if

961
00:50:03,719 --> 00:50:05,480
you don't like the real game because it takes your money,

962
00:50:05,559 --> 00:50:07,719
rack Cooined is about getting lots and lots of money,

963
00:50:07,719 --> 00:50:10,079
and there's it's a video game, so there's fun twist

964
00:50:10,119 --> 00:50:11,960
on the types of coins you use to shoot through

965
00:50:12,000 --> 00:50:14,960
and like different gadgets you can deploy, and like it's

966
00:50:15,000 --> 00:50:17,679
just a very kooky's any game. I think it's a

967
00:50:17,760 --> 00:50:21,840
little more mindless than Bilotro probably, but it's still a

968
00:50:21,880 --> 00:50:24,800
really good time. It's a short burst game. It's perfect

969
00:50:24,840 --> 00:50:26,920
again for playing on a handheld or sitting on the couch.

970
00:50:26,920 --> 00:50:28,960
That's where I play it. It's a really good time.

971
00:50:29,079 --> 00:50:30,679
Highly recommend. And then the last game I want to

972
00:50:30,719 --> 00:50:33,159
shout out is not really an unknown, but I think

973
00:50:33,199 --> 00:50:35,920
it's being slept on, probably because it's still an early

974
00:50:35,960 --> 00:50:38,639
access and it also kind of launched like inter early

975
00:50:38,679 --> 00:50:40,920
access very late last year, which was Moonlighter two the

976
00:50:40,960 --> 00:50:44,559
Endless Vault. Moonlighter is a cool game, but for me,

977
00:50:45,159 --> 00:50:47,920
Moonlighter two, which has completely shifted its art style to

978
00:50:47,960 --> 00:50:49,639
be from this like two D sprite thing to like

979
00:50:49,679 --> 00:50:51,880
this three D almost kind of looks like it's made

980
00:50:51,880 --> 00:50:54,960
of Clay style that works for me a lot more,

981
00:50:55,000 --> 00:50:57,480
and I it's the same type of game. Go out

982
00:50:57,480 --> 00:51:01,519
and adventure, fight, kill monsters, acquire objects that you can

983
00:51:01,559 --> 00:51:04,119
then go and sell in your shop for the other

984
00:51:04,119 --> 00:51:06,199
half of the game, where you're kind of like managing

985
00:51:06,199 --> 00:51:08,440
a shop and trying to get sales and bartered with customers,

986
00:51:08,480 --> 00:51:13,079
and it's just a really fun, solid loop and it's

987
00:51:13,119 --> 00:51:14,559
a really good time. It's still an early access I

988
00:51:14,599 --> 00:51:16,559
don't really know what their one point oh plans are

989
00:51:16,719 --> 00:51:21,000
because there's a lot to it already, but I I've

990
00:51:21,000 --> 00:51:22,960
been enjoying it even as an early access game.

991
00:51:23,639 --> 00:51:26,280
Speaker 1: Yeah, I was looking at their most recent because this

992
00:51:26,320 --> 00:51:28,920
is a game I've been really interested in. I really

993
00:51:28,960 --> 00:51:30,559
like the first one. I've been kind of waiting for

994
00:51:30,599 --> 00:51:35,159
the one point oh. But early Access update number six

995
00:51:35,440 --> 00:51:41,960
June thirtieth, current dev status and essentially they are as

996
00:51:41,960 --> 00:51:45,440
a bit closer alunch. It seems like they're nearing nearing

997
00:51:45,559 --> 00:51:54,519
launch soon. Yeah, they've let's see following Day which introduced me. Yeah,

998
00:51:54,519 --> 00:51:56,639
the team is still hardwork preparing even more. Yeah, so

999
00:51:56,719 --> 00:52:00,559
the next step is one point oh release in their roadmap.

1000
00:52:00,719 --> 00:52:03,880
Speaker 3: So yeah, they already confirmed it's coming to switch to

1001
00:52:04,079 --> 00:52:06,920
at launch. That's okay, that's the only console that it's

1002
00:52:06,960 --> 00:52:07,719
been confirmed for.

1003
00:52:08,159 --> 00:52:08,559
Speaker 1: Yeah.

1004
00:52:08,679 --> 00:52:11,400
Speaker 2: Yeah, the Access talk reminds me I have one more

1005
00:52:11,400 --> 00:52:14,000
to shout out. Honestly, it's probably one of my favorite

1006
00:52:14,000 --> 00:52:17,159
games I've played this year, which Fire Oh. It's been

1007
00:52:17,239 --> 00:52:19,159
really access forever, but it's coming to one point Oh

1008
00:52:19,159 --> 00:52:24,440
this year. That is a incredible first person I guess

1009
00:52:24,480 --> 00:52:27,159
you could say souls like because it uses the mechanics

1010
00:52:27,159 --> 00:52:29,559
of like losing your resources when you dine, all that

1011
00:52:29,599 --> 00:52:32,480
kind of stuff. But it's just like this really awesome, dark,

1012
00:52:32,519 --> 00:52:35,719
gothic first person shooter that's hard as nails and has

1013
00:52:35,719 --> 00:52:38,360
a really good progression loop, and I cannot wait for

1014
00:52:38,400 --> 00:52:40,159
the one point oh launch like. It's already one of

1015
00:52:40,199 --> 00:52:43,199
my favorite games of the year. We're still in earlys

1016
00:52:43,719 --> 00:52:44,559
which for which fire?

1017
00:52:44,599 --> 00:52:45,639
Speaker 1: Which Fire? Nice?

1018
00:52:45,920 --> 00:52:46,119
Speaker 2: Yes?

1019
00:52:46,199 --> 00:52:49,239
Speaker 3: Yeah, Yeah, that's one that uh GI editor in chief

1020
00:52:49,239 --> 00:52:51,800
Matt Miller has also been very very high on because

1021
00:52:51,800 --> 00:52:54,440
he's played the early I have the game on Early

1022
00:52:54,519 --> 00:52:56,159
Access and I still haven't fired it up. There's a

1023
00:52:56,159 --> 00:52:58,079
part of me that's just kind of like, I'll just

1024
00:52:58,079 --> 00:53:00,280
wait for the one because it's supposed to be like

1025
00:53:00,519 --> 00:53:05,159
in the near future. But yeah, you're me, like, I

1026
00:53:05,159 --> 00:53:06,800
should fire it up at least get a run in

1027
00:53:06,880 --> 00:53:08,519
just to get a feel for it before it comes out.

1028
00:53:08,519 --> 00:53:11,960
Actually busy, but yeah, like the game has looked cool.

1029
00:53:12,760 --> 00:53:15,239
Speaker 2: It's from the Astronauts as well, by the way, self

1030
00:53:15,280 --> 00:53:16,400
published coo cool.

1031
00:53:16,559 --> 00:53:20,639
Speaker 3: Yeah, this is the Vanishing of Ethan Carter. Yeah team right, Yeah,

1032
00:53:20,800 --> 00:53:21,239
oh wow.

1033
00:53:21,320 --> 00:53:23,719
Speaker 2: I think it's their their first game since that too,

1034
00:53:23,760 --> 00:53:29,400
which is yea very different twelve years. Yeah.

1035
00:53:29,440 --> 00:53:33,079
Speaker 1: Well let's uh, I guess real quick. My Rapid Fire

1036
00:53:33,159 --> 00:53:38,880
ones slave this Fire too. I mean, that is just

1037
00:53:38,960 --> 00:53:42,440
a game that I continue to go back to Cairn.

1038
00:53:42,559 --> 00:53:45,000
I've talked about it on the show a bunch. It's

1039
00:53:45,159 --> 00:53:49,000
in my top five this year. Rock climbing or yeah, yeah,

1040
00:53:49,039 --> 00:53:56,239
like kind of mountain climbing, really great performances like from

1041
00:53:56,280 --> 00:54:01,280
the actors, and just like a unique gameplay system that

1042
00:54:01,320 --> 00:54:03,400
I haven't seen in other games in the way that

1043
00:54:03,400 --> 00:54:06,639
it's all implemented here. And then Town to City I've

1044
00:54:06,639 --> 00:54:10,320
been playing more and it's a city city builder that

1045
00:54:10,440 --> 00:54:14,159
came out a few months ago. Uh, and yeah, you're

1046
00:54:14,199 --> 00:54:17,039
kind of building Mediterranean towns from the ground up.

1047
00:54:17,639 --> 00:54:18,880
Speaker 3: It's kind of like a Bauxhil.

1048
00:54:19,360 --> 00:54:23,119
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's a bouxeil, so like three D pixel art

1049
00:54:23,239 --> 00:54:26,639
is if you don't know what a bauxhill is. But yeah,

1050
00:54:26,719 --> 00:54:32,000
both of those I'm very much enjoying. But I think

1051
00:54:32,039 --> 00:54:36,880
with that we can kind of get into the next topic.

1052
00:54:36,960 --> 00:54:39,519
I guess. I guess we haven't gone over What's to Come.

1053
00:54:39,679 --> 00:54:42,079
We've spent like an hour on the games we really liked.

1054
00:54:42,960 --> 00:54:45,159
Maybe we save that What's to Come piece, I mean,

1055
00:54:45,239 --> 00:54:47,360
or we could talk about what's kind of a few

1056
00:54:47,360 --> 00:54:51,280
of the ones that are in the issue real quick. Yes,

1057
00:54:51,360 --> 00:54:56,199
we wrote, yeah, slap out of It is one. Yeah,

1058
00:54:56,239 --> 00:54:57,880
that's why I don't know if I wrote this entry,

1059
00:54:58,360 --> 00:55:01,960
but I definitely played it. Actually you wrote that one.

1060
00:55:02,079 --> 00:55:04,079
I played it at Summer Game Fest. It was probably

1061
00:55:04,119 --> 00:55:07,559
my game or the show at Summer Game Fest. Really

1062
00:55:07,639 --> 00:55:08,199
enjoyed that.

1063
00:55:09,679 --> 00:55:10,239
Speaker 3: I'll guess that.

1064
00:55:10,599 --> 00:55:12,239
Speaker 2: Actually you go ahead, do you want to go Marcus?

1065
00:55:12,280 --> 00:55:12,960
And we follow up?

1066
00:55:12,960 --> 00:55:16,079
Speaker 3: Sure? I mean, that's in there. There's a game called

1067
00:55:16,159 --> 00:55:18,199
I never know how to pronounce it, but Melissa's here

1068
00:55:18,760 --> 00:55:20,840
about the giant cop that you have to escape from.

1069
00:55:20,880 --> 00:55:23,199
That's like watching This Town. I've had my eye on

1070
00:55:23,280 --> 00:55:25,559
that game for like years now, just because I think

1071
00:55:25,559 --> 00:55:29,719
it's such a fascinating premise, so I'm hopeful, hopefully we'll

1072
00:55:29,760 --> 00:55:32,639
get more news on that soon. Usual June is another

1073
00:55:32,679 --> 00:55:35,719
one I've been waiting for for a long while. That's

1074
00:55:35,719 --> 00:55:39,440
by Finji, who is a developer and publisher. Maybe most

1075
00:55:39,480 --> 00:55:43,079
recently might think of them from Tunic Tunic, but yeah,

1076
00:55:43,159 --> 00:55:47,159
Usual June's got like kind of like ghost and like

1077
00:55:47,199 --> 00:55:49,639
a bit of a like kind of coming of age

1078
00:55:49,679 --> 00:55:52,320
sort of story to it that it just it's got

1079
00:55:52,320 --> 00:55:55,559
a cool vibe and look to it. And then the

1080
00:55:55,639 --> 00:55:58,559
last one I'll shout out real quick is Abyss x zero,

1081
00:55:59,039 --> 00:56:02,440
which is the next game by the developer studio Pixel Punk,

1082
00:56:02,480 --> 00:56:05,679
who did Unsided, which is the game I reviewed years

1083
00:56:05,679 --> 00:56:07,920
ago for GI that I gave a nine too, And

1084
00:56:07,960 --> 00:56:10,159
I think that game's awesome and maybe a little bit

1085
00:56:10,159 --> 00:56:14,800
of an unsung like game of the twenty twenties. It's

1086
00:56:14,800 --> 00:56:17,880
a really good kind of like isometric Zelda esque two

1087
00:56:17,920 --> 00:56:20,039
D action game with like a really cool sort of

1088
00:56:20,079 --> 00:56:23,360
like time limit aspect. Nice. But I've been waiting to

1089
00:56:23,360 --> 00:56:25,800
see what that team would do next, and a besic

1090
00:56:25,880 --> 00:56:27,840
zero dave anounced for a while, and I've just kind

1091
00:56:27,840 --> 00:56:31,800
of been semi impatiently waiting for a release date for

1092
00:56:31,840 --> 00:56:36,760
that thing, but yeah, it looks cool, well cool.

1093
00:56:36,639 --> 00:56:41,559
Speaker 2: I'll shout out the Floorist, which comes from publisher developer

1094
00:56:41,639 --> 00:56:46,079
Unclear Games. This is a throwback Resident Evil style game.

1095
00:56:46,119 --> 00:56:50,320
It has most importantly fixed camera and pre rendered backgrounds,

1096
00:56:50,320 --> 00:56:52,840
which I still love in twenty twenty six and I

1097
00:56:52,880 --> 00:56:56,360
can't wait for it. It's about like horrific flowers and

1098
00:56:56,400 --> 00:56:59,599
stuff like that. It looks awesome. Valor Mortis, which is

1099
00:56:59,639 --> 00:57:03,559
from developer One More Level. They are the ghost Runner team,

1100
00:57:03,559 --> 00:57:06,679
but they're making a first person souls like a set

1101
00:57:06,760 --> 00:57:08,360
during the Napoleonic Wars.

1102
00:57:09,079 --> 00:57:11,000
Speaker 3: I played it at a summer games fest and thought

1103
00:57:11,000 --> 00:57:11,800
it was very fun.

1104
00:57:12,079 --> 00:57:14,000
Speaker 2: Yeah, Valor Mortars rules. And then the last one I'll

1105
00:57:14,000 --> 00:57:17,800
shout out is Where to Go. Burn nine is coming

1106
00:57:17,840 --> 00:57:21,239
this year. It's being published by Fellow Traveler, which they

1107
00:57:21,280 --> 00:57:23,920
have a very excellent taste as a taste maker. They

1108
00:57:23,920 --> 00:57:27,360
do Citizen Sleeper and stuff. The developer is fourteen hours production.

1109
00:57:28,000 --> 00:57:31,960
Burn nine is metal Gear Solid, but instead of being Snake,

1110
00:57:32,079 --> 00:57:35,079
you are the person in the chair. You're like the coms.

1111
00:57:35,119 --> 00:57:39,960
You're autoco side yes exactly, and your mission goes wrong.

1112
00:57:40,039 --> 00:57:42,079
There's one survivor left and you've got to help them

1113
00:57:42,079 --> 00:57:45,719
survive while also like dealing with the politics of what's

1114
00:57:45,760 --> 00:57:48,159
happening back at the base. And it just looks like

1115
00:57:48,199 --> 00:57:51,320
a really fun twist on metal Gear Solid in a

1116
00:57:51,719 --> 00:57:55,960
industry that has lots of metal Gear Solid likes. Very cool, that's.

1117
00:57:55,880 --> 00:58:00,000
Speaker 1: Cool, awesome. Uh, Well, we're gonna take a quick break

1118
00:58:00,239 --> 00:58:02,920
and come back before we Before we get out of here,

1119
00:58:02,960 --> 00:58:05,840
we'll dive into Scarlet Deer in, a game that Marcus

1120
00:58:05,880 --> 00:58:10,039
has been playing, and then a puzzle game Helix Descent

1121
00:58:10,199 --> 00:58:14,199
and Ascent. I've been playing some books, yes, and then

1122
00:58:14,199 --> 00:58:17,239
we'll get into listener questions. We'll be right back right

1123
00:58:17,320 --> 00:58:21,920
after this, and welcome back to the Game Informer show, Marcus.

1124
00:58:22,079 --> 00:58:24,679
I would love to hear about Scarlet Deer in.

1125
00:58:26,480 --> 00:58:28,719
Speaker 3: Yeah, I've been waiting on this game for a good while,

1126
00:58:28,760 --> 00:58:31,480
ever since I played a Steam Nextfest demo like two

1127
00:58:31,639 --> 00:58:35,880
years ago. It is a sort of like two D

1128
00:58:36,400 --> 00:58:39,440
adventure game with quite a bit of platforming and even

1129
00:58:39,440 --> 00:58:42,039
a little bit of action, that is set in a

1130
00:58:42,280 --> 00:58:46,280
medieval small town where you play as this widowed mother

1131
00:58:46,440 --> 00:58:51,599
named Elise. The probably biggest selling point of the game

1132
00:58:51,760 --> 00:58:56,159
is its art direction, where it's got an embroidery look

1133
00:58:56,400 --> 00:59:00,400
to it and like, and I mean that like quite literally,

1134
00:59:00,679 --> 00:59:05,679
like the characters were actually animated using actual embroidery. Like

1135
00:59:05,719 --> 00:59:07,480
I forgot how they did it. It's been years since

1136
00:59:07,480 --> 00:59:09,760
I've watched videos, but pretty much like every frame of

1137
00:59:09,800 --> 00:59:13,519
animation is like an like an embroidered figure that they

1138
00:59:13,559 --> 00:59:16,280
then just sort of like put splice together to make

1139
00:59:16,599 --> 00:59:18,239
animation in the video.

1140
00:59:18,280 --> 00:59:20,920
Speaker 2: It's like it's like how you would draw for animation.

1141
00:59:21,000 --> 00:59:24,880
You would draw each frame they have like embroidered it.

1142
00:59:24,880 --> 00:59:27,840
It's it's kind of nuts a lot of work.

1143
00:59:28,559 --> 00:59:30,360
Speaker 3: So like all the characters are done in that style

1144
00:59:30,400 --> 00:59:34,119
and they're all against these kind of these hand painted backgrounds.

1145
00:59:35,320 --> 00:59:39,800
But it's got a despite how like whimsical and nice

1146
00:59:39,840 --> 00:59:42,800
it is, it's actually a pretty dark game and kind

1147
00:59:42,840 --> 00:59:45,519
of the way that a lot of like medieval fairy

1148
00:59:45,519 --> 00:59:48,519
tales are Like if you about your old favorite fairy

1149
00:59:48,559 --> 00:59:55,639
tales and maybe yeah, the raw versions, you're just like

1150
00:59:56,199 --> 00:59:58,039
it's got a bit of that. I I don't want

1151
00:59:58,079 --> 01:00:02,440
to say too much about like the twist or whatever.

1152
01:00:02,559 --> 01:00:04,159
It's not even it's hard to even called it twist

1153
01:00:04,159 --> 01:00:06,760
because it's like immediately or it's very early in the game.

1154
01:00:06,800 --> 01:00:12,119
But basically early in the game, your two children go missing,

1155
01:00:12,920 --> 01:00:15,599
and so you're trying to find them, and along the

1156
01:00:15,599 --> 01:00:19,079
way you sort of stumple upon this very dark secret

1157
01:00:19,199 --> 01:00:21,760
that no one else in the town seems pretty to

1158
01:00:21,960 --> 01:00:27,159
that involves other children that have disappeared. There's a lot

1159
01:00:27,199 --> 01:00:31,079
of depict like there's some like some gruesome imagery for

1160
01:00:31,159 --> 01:00:35,360
a game where a bunch of embroidery characters, and there's

1161
01:00:35,360 --> 01:00:37,599
actually quite a bit of an action and like act

1162
01:00:37,639 --> 01:00:40,599
of like it's not just running around, uh to scene

1163
01:00:40,639 --> 01:00:42,559
the scene and talking to people, but there's actually like

1164
01:00:42,599 --> 01:00:45,199
full on dungeons where you're doing some platforming, like you're

1165
01:00:45,239 --> 01:00:49,199
jumping around. There's like not chase sequences, well I guess

1166
01:00:49,199 --> 01:00:51,880
there's chase sequences where you're chasing someone and you're trying

1167
01:00:51,880 --> 01:00:54,960
to like platform alongside them, like like it's more involved than.

1168
01:00:54,920 --> 01:00:56,800
Speaker 1: You because the camera always kind of stay on like

1169
01:00:56,800 --> 01:01:00,679
a two D like the same sort of goal. I guess.

1170
01:01:00,840 --> 01:01:04,920
Speaker 3: Okay, Yeah. There's also a lot of like a mechanic

1171
01:01:04,920 --> 01:01:08,800
around keeping a torch let when you're in these dungeons

1172
01:01:08,840 --> 01:01:11,679
where you're trying to move through space as quickly and

1173
01:01:11,800 --> 01:01:14,800
light torches along the way because if you run out

1174
01:01:14,800 --> 01:01:16,719
of light, one you can't see. But then also there's

1175
01:01:16,760 --> 01:01:20,239
these kind of like these like weird supernatural entities that

1176
01:01:20,239 --> 01:01:22,000
will kill you if you're in the dark too long.

1177
01:01:22,480 --> 01:01:26,519
So yeah, yeah, there's some dark some dark themes in

1178
01:01:26,559 --> 01:01:29,960
this game that I kind of appreciate. I'm enjoying the game,

1179
01:01:30,039 --> 01:01:34,360
I do have some issues with it my One of

1180
01:01:34,360 --> 01:01:36,320
my biggest is that it can be pretty hard to

1181
01:01:36,360 --> 01:01:38,239
keep track of where to go when you're not in

1182
01:01:38,280 --> 01:01:41,679
the dungeon, uh, because when you're not doing the platforming stuff,

1183
01:01:41,679 --> 01:01:43,280
it's a lot of like, hey, you need to go

1184
01:01:43,280 --> 01:01:46,679
over here to talk to somebody, uh, And kind of

1185
01:01:46,960 --> 01:01:49,079
keeping track of the layout of the town for me

1186
01:01:49,119 --> 01:01:51,159
at least, has been a bit tricky. There's no map

1187
01:01:51,199 --> 01:01:53,320
in this game, so it's more about remembering like, okay,

1188
01:01:53,360 --> 01:01:58,159
which road takes me to the next like scene of

1189
01:01:58,280 --> 01:02:00,239
like like just like which part. It reminds me lot

1190
01:02:00,280 --> 01:02:03,519
of This game in general reminds me a lot of pentiment,

1191
01:02:04,760 --> 01:02:07,800
just in terms of that. Yeah, when it comes to

1192
01:02:07,880 --> 01:02:10,079
just like how you move around from like area to

1193
01:02:10,199 --> 01:02:12,719
area in that game gives me like some pentiment vibes

1194
01:02:13,760 --> 01:02:15,840
and all top of just like the time period in

1195
01:02:15,840 --> 01:02:19,079
the setting like it like you're talking to these medieval

1196
01:02:19,079 --> 01:02:22,039
people and and whatnot. It's just yeah, I just I

1197
01:02:22,119 --> 01:02:23,880
keep thinking of Penniment when I played this game, even

1198
01:02:23,920 --> 01:02:26,440
though the subject matter is a bit a lot different.

1199
01:02:26,519 --> 01:02:27,840
I don't even know if this game is set, and

1200
01:02:28,559 --> 01:02:30,360
I don't think they ever say where it's actually said,

1201
01:02:30,400 --> 01:02:32,559
Like it gives me the sense of like Holy Roman

1202
01:02:32,599 --> 01:02:35,719
Empire era like Eastern Europe or like Germany or whatever,

1203
01:02:35,760 --> 01:02:41,840
but I'm not totally sure if it's ever been explicitly communicated. Yeah, yeah, yeah,

1204
01:02:41,920 --> 01:02:49,920
actually yeah, this is a South Florida fifteenth century. But

1205
01:02:49,920 --> 01:02:51,800
but yeah, I think the music's really good. There's some

1206
01:02:51,880 --> 01:02:54,800
really good just like medieval like strings and flutes that

1207
01:02:54,840 --> 01:02:59,039
I appreciate. There's also a little bit of a in

1208
01:02:59,119 --> 01:03:03,800
terms of my issues. There's some like and I like

1209
01:03:03,800 --> 01:03:06,000
like bugs. I guess we'll say like this has only

1210
01:03:06,000 --> 01:03:07,800
happened to me once. But I was looking at like

1211
01:03:07,880 --> 01:03:10,760
Steam Support, I saw similar instances of some people of

1212
01:03:10,880 --> 01:03:13,599
just occasionally getting like soft locked, where like you can

1213
01:03:13,679 --> 01:03:17,079
kind of like trap yourself in areas and not have

1214
01:03:17,119 --> 01:03:19,400
a way to get out. Like there's one point where

1215
01:03:19,440 --> 01:03:21,920
I fell down like a path that I need to

1216
01:03:21,920 --> 01:03:24,480
go down and I needed to break through a door,

1217
01:03:24,559 --> 01:03:26,400
like there's breakable doors that you can smash through with

1218
01:03:26,440 --> 01:03:28,519
your torch, but for whatever reason, I wasn't able to

1219
01:03:28,519 --> 01:03:30,760
pull out my torch, so I was stuck there and

1220
01:03:30,920 --> 01:03:35,239
had to restart the game. But thankfully, the checkpoints are

1221
01:03:35,440 --> 01:03:39,199
generally pretty good, but like little things like that happen

1222
01:03:39,239 --> 01:03:41,599
every now and then. The combat itself, which is very light,

1223
01:03:41,760 --> 01:03:45,199
is just swinging your torch at the occasional enemy. It's

1224
01:03:45,199 --> 01:03:48,360
not great, almost like intentionally so, but at the same time,

1225
01:03:48,400 --> 01:03:50,159
it's kind of like, well, if you're gonna have combat,

1226
01:03:50,199 --> 01:03:53,559
at least should be feel good. Otherwise just maybe don't

1227
01:03:53,559 --> 01:03:56,960
have it. Yeah, and yeah, it's a lot of like

1228
01:03:56,960 --> 01:03:58,960
like the attacks have no impact, and it's just kind

1229
01:03:58,960 --> 01:04:00,920
of like, I guess I'm gonna get close enough to

1230
01:04:00,960 --> 01:04:03,920
this thing and then maybe if I read the frames right,

1231
01:04:03,960 --> 01:04:04,639
I'll hit it.

1232
01:04:04,679 --> 01:04:07,920
Speaker 1: But it looks like you're coming to this for like

1233
01:04:08,239 --> 01:04:12,960
the presentation, like a unique, very novel presentation of like

1234
01:04:13,360 --> 01:04:17,440
you know, embroidery, music, and then the story. It seems

1235
01:04:17,440 --> 01:04:20,119
like those are like the three maybe being like the

1236
01:04:20,159 --> 01:04:22,360
general mystery of like what happened to the kids? That

1237
01:04:22,440 --> 01:04:24,840
kind of thing. It seems like that's like the strengths

1238
01:04:24,840 --> 01:04:26,239
of the game, would you say, that's right?

1239
01:04:27,159 --> 01:04:29,280
Speaker 3: Yeah, Like the exploration I mentioned before can be a pain,

1240
01:04:29,360 --> 01:04:32,599
especially because some of the squests can evolve like running

1241
01:04:32,639 --> 01:04:35,599
a lot of running back and forth between locations of like, hey,

1242
01:04:35,639 --> 01:04:37,239
you need to go here to bring me this. Okay,

1243
01:04:37,239 --> 01:04:38,840
I found a thing, and now I got to go

1244
01:04:38,920 --> 01:04:40,440
back to where I was, But now I've got to

1245
01:04:40,480 --> 01:04:42,199
turn around because of the layouts, like how do I

1246
01:04:42,199 --> 01:04:44,119
get back to where I was? And I the map?

1247
01:04:44,440 --> 01:04:47,400
So that stuff can be pretty annoying. But I don't

1248
01:04:47,400 --> 01:04:50,920
want to say, like I can't tell. I don't want

1249
01:04:50,920 --> 01:04:52,559
to say if the story is like great or not,

1250
01:04:52,679 --> 01:04:55,360
because I haven't seen how it ends. Like fair, I've

1251
01:04:55,440 --> 01:04:57,199
hit a crescendo to where like I think I can

1252
01:04:57,280 --> 01:04:59,519
finish it in the next sitting, Like this doesn't strike

1253
01:04:59,639 --> 01:05:03,559
me as a particularly long game, but I need to

1254
01:05:03,599 --> 01:05:06,559
see how sort of like how the revelations built to

1255
01:05:06,639 --> 01:05:09,719
like the big ending of like what's actually going on here?

1256
01:05:09,760 --> 01:05:11,559
But that has been enticing it, just like what is

1257
01:05:11,559 --> 01:05:13,519
going on? What's really going on in this town? Where

1258
01:05:13,559 --> 01:05:15,360
her kids are they okay? And why is this even

1259
01:05:15,360 --> 01:05:18,280
happening in the first place. But yeah, that's the hook

1260
01:05:18,400 --> 01:05:21,159
is like it's you know, it looks all nice and

1261
01:05:21,199 --> 01:05:23,199
pleasant in the front, but it's actually pretty dark. So

1262
01:05:23,280 --> 01:05:26,920
if you're into sort of like that subversion of expectations,

1263
01:05:26,920 --> 01:05:29,119
maybe give this a look sounds.

1264
01:05:29,000 --> 01:05:30,840
Speaker 2: There's like a bug and they have to fix something.

1265
01:05:31,000 --> 01:05:32,440
They have to like go back to their.

1266
01:05:32,360 --> 01:05:39,559
Speaker 1: Like, Okay, it's gonna be I gotta you're gonna hate.

1267
01:05:40,440 --> 01:05:43,480
Speaker 3: Yeah, did you put your sewing machine away? Oh crap, Okay,

1268
01:05:43,559 --> 01:05:45,239
we'll break that out. Yeah.

1269
01:05:45,280 --> 01:05:47,880
Speaker 1: I would love to see their workspace, Like what that

1270
01:05:48,000 --> 01:05:48,599
does look like?

1271
01:05:49,920 --> 01:05:53,199
Speaker 3: Do you think they keep all their thread and a

1272
01:05:53,280 --> 01:05:56,519
little cookie pin that every grandma has, like the little

1273
01:05:56,519 --> 01:05:59,880
bit different types of European cookies or whatever, all those.

1274
01:06:00,400 --> 01:06:01,199
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's funny.

1275
01:06:01,639 --> 01:06:03,639
Speaker 3: We all know the ones. We all know. The pretzel

1276
01:06:04,000 --> 01:06:05,320
one is like the best one.

1277
01:06:05,519 --> 01:06:09,239
Speaker 1: I know what you're talking about. Well cool, Well, real quick,

1278
01:06:09,239 --> 01:06:10,880
before we get to listener questions, I do want to

1279
01:06:10,960 --> 01:06:14,679
highlight another game that I think actually Marcus you in particular,

1280
01:06:14,760 --> 01:06:21,360
will really be interested by. It's called helicks descent then

1281
01:06:21,440 --> 01:06:26,400
space the letter in like shortening and ascent, so descent

1282
01:06:26,679 --> 01:06:32,599
and assent, and it is a hand drawn black and

1283
01:06:32,599 --> 01:06:39,800
white puzzle game where it's it's very everything about this

1284
01:06:39,880 --> 01:06:45,400
game is like presentation wise is like sort of well

1285
01:06:45,440 --> 01:06:50,039
number one, very stylish like, but otherworldly is like the

1286
01:06:50,039 --> 01:06:52,880
the common uh sort of thing that comes to my

1287
01:06:52,960 --> 01:06:57,400
mind and alien and just like there's a general sort

1288
01:06:57,400 --> 01:07:00,239
of like it's not a scary game at all, but

1289
01:07:00,320 --> 01:07:05,360
it's like creepy in a way because it is so foreign.

1290
01:07:06,360 --> 01:07:08,840
Speaker 2: It looks really cool, yeah, and.

1291
01:07:10,320 --> 01:07:16,159
Speaker 1: You are essentially collecting, completing a series of puzzles to

1292
01:07:16,280 --> 01:07:19,719
unlock new powers and stuff, and you're kind of teleporting

1293
01:07:19,719 --> 01:07:22,239
all around, and there's it seems like you are playing

1294
01:07:22,239 --> 01:07:25,320
two different characters, or maybe two different versions of the

1295
01:07:25,320 --> 01:07:28,559
same character, and you'll kind of balance between a the

1296
01:07:28,639 --> 01:07:32,159
white version of a character who's like on mostly like

1297
01:07:32,199 --> 01:07:35,800
a black background, and you're like doing certain puzzles with them,

1298
01:07:36,320 --> 01:07:38,159
and then you'll see cut scenes of like the white

1299
01:07:38,280 --> 01:07:42,199
version of you doing other things, and then you'll complete

1300
01:07:42,239 --> 01:07:44,639
a puzzle and now you're playing as the other version

1301
01:07:44,679 --> 01:07:47,159
of yourself or I don't know if if it's actually

1302
01:07:47,239 --> 01:07:49,519
two versions of you or if it's two different characters, but

1303
01:07:51,159 --> 01:07:53,960
there's like one of the one of the I've unlocked,

1304
01:07:54,000 --> 01:07:57,320
like two of the main powers so far which are

1305
01:07:57,440 --> 01:08:01,039
tied to the face buttons, and eventually you will unlock

1306
01:08:02,360 --> 01:08:03,719
so many that like I think you have to hold

1307
01:08:03,719 --> 01:08:06,320
the triggers down almost like you're playing an MMO on

1308
01:08:06,360 --> 01:08:08,239
a controller, where like, okay, I need to hold the

1309
01:08:08,320 --> 01:08:10,280
right trigger down and then that opens up a new

1310
01:08:10,320 --> 01:08:14,400
thing of face face button actions. But that's how many

1311
01:08:14,440 --> 01:08:17,000
like little powers you have in the game. The first

1312
01:08:17,039 --> 01:08:19,640
one you get is all about like you can summon

1313
01:08:20,680 --> 01:08:25,600
blocks to like hold down uh you know, uh, plates

1314
01:08:25,600 --> 01:08:27,319
on the ground that you need to like keep doors open.

1315
01:08:27,359 --> 01:08:30,840
That kind of thing. Typical like pretty standard uh stuff.

1316
01:08:30,920 --> 01:08:34,479
The second one you get is like a mind drone

1317
01:08:34,720 --> 01:08:38,159
thing that like you go remote control on this little

1318
01:08:38,199 --> 01:08:43,680
flying dude and you're kind of like going through pipes

1319
01:08:43,720 --> 01:08:46,000
and stuff to like activate switches that are far away.

1320
01:08:46,520 --> 01:08:48,840
But there's only the drone only has like a certain

1321
01:08:48,840 --> 01:08:51,680
amount of life before it will blow up. So you

1322
01:08:51,720 --> 01:08:54,079
have to like be strategic and solve puzzles based on

1323
01:08:54,319 --> 01:08:56,560
which is how drones always work. Yeah, oh of course,

1324
01:08:56,600 --> 01:09:00,840
of course, or they follow they drop an the Icelandic

1325
01:09:00,880 --> 01:09:05,640
ocean sometimes as well. But but and so you kind

1326
01:09:05,640 --> 01:09:07,199
of do that and then you realize later I'm like,

1327
01:09:07,239 --> 01:09:10,119
oh wait, if I put down a piece of you know,

1328
01:09:10,479 --> 01:09:13,720
a column, and then I fly the drone into it,

1329
01:09:13,520 --> 01:09:19,119
if they're like these same colors, then the drone then

1330
01:09:19,199 --> 01:09:23,000
transforms into like it essentially becomes the pillar, and now

1331
01:09:23,039 --> 01:09:26,119
I can move the pillar around across surfaces that I

1332
01:09:26,159 --> 01:09:29,079
otherwise couldn't, like across water, and it's like the drone

1333
01:09:29,159 --> 01:09:31,560
is lifting it up and moving it's like and it

1334
01:09:31,680 --> 01:09:34,760
just continues to I've only put in probably forty five

1335
01:09:34,800 --> 01:09:38,359
minutes last night, but even just like those first forty

1336
01:09:38,359 --> 01:09:40,239
five minutes, I was just like, oh man, I have

1337
01:09:40,399 --> 01:09:43,119
like this is a game I gotta I gotta play

1338
01:09:43,159 --> 01:09:48,000
more of and yeah, it's really fascinating. I think it's

1339
01:09:49,039 --> 01:09:52,960
it's uh, maybe the puzzles aren't super difficult, but like

1340
01:09:53,039 --> 01:09:55,520
it's enough to where like, you know, if you're a

1341
01:09:55,520 --> 01:09:58,359
puzzle game fan, there might you know, I feel like

1342
01:09:58,359 --> 01:10:00,880
I'm kind of breezing through some of them, but then

1343
01:10:00,920 --> 01:10:03,119
there's been a few at the end of like at

1344
01:10:03,119 --> 01:10:08,640
the end of each sort of like vignette that's kind

1345
01:10:08,640 --> 01:10:10,079
of like what it feels like. It feels like you're

1346
01:10:10,079 --> 01:10:15,000
playing through vignettes tied to these powers, like the ones

1347
01:10:15,039 --> 01:10:17,039
that really kind of test your knowledge of the power.

1348
01:10:18,279 --> 01:10:21,680
Like the last puzzle, it feels really really fun to solve,

1349
01:10:22,159 --> 01:10:24,079
and then you get teleported to a new one and

1350
01:10:24,119 --> 01:10:26,359
now it's like, Okay, now I'm gonna get a new power.

1351
01:10:26,439 --> 01:10:29,840
Let's see how I do this. Yeah, it's really kind

1352
01:10:29,840 --> 01:10:32,079
of like I don't know what's happening in the game,

1353
01:10:32,640 --> 01:10:37,119
like the story wise, it's very obtuse, but it's really

1354
01:10:37,119 --> 01:10:39,600
cool and I think you guys should play this again.

1355
01:10:39,680 --> 01:10:42,800
It's called Helix Descent and Ascent.

1356
01:10:44,199 --> 01:10:46,079
Speaker 2: Yeah, it looks awesome on my wish list.

1357
01:10:46,600 --> 01:10:50,720
Speaker 1: Yeah. Cool. Yeah, and it only has like thirty two

1358
01:10:50,800 --> 01:10:54,600
reviews on Steam, Like it's more people need to need

1359
01:10:54,640 --> 01:10:58,000
to play this thing. But I think we should get

1360
01:10:58,000 --> 01:11:03,039
into listener questions. You know, we've kept We've kept Michael

1361
01:11:03,319 --> 01:11:07,800
waiting long enough. Michael, of course wrote in on our discord, Uh,

1362
01:11:07,880 --> 01:11:10,880
if you don't have access to our discord, you can

1363
01:11:10,920 --> 01:11:13,920
email us podcast at gaming from dot com with your question.

1364
01:11:15,119 --> 01:11:17,760
That's the easiest way, and we check that and we

1365
01:11:17,840 --> 01:11:22,239
will include those. But the second question of that Michael

1366
01:11:22,279 --> 01:11:24,640
asked at the start of the show was I do

1367
01:11:24,840 --> 01:11:28,880
genuinely want pirate book recommendations from Wesley whenever he's on next.

1368
01:11:30,159 --> 01:11:32,880
Speaker 3: For those that are wondering, this is uh kind of

1369
01:11:32,880 --> 01:11:36,479
a follow up to our previous Assassin's Creed black Flag

1370
01:11:36,520 --> 01:11:38,720
episode we did a couple of weeks ago. Or Wes,

1371
01:11:38,840 --> 01:11:41,159
you gave us some pirate trivia because you are so

1372
01:11:41,319 --> 01:11:43,239
well versed in all things pirates.

1373
01:11:43,560 --> 01:11:46,359
Speaker 2: Yes, a big fan of pirates, have been for a

1374
01:11:46,439 --> 01:11:49,399
lot of my life. Pirates are awesome and I've read

1375
01:11:49,399 --> 01:11:52,359
a bunch of books about them today.

1376
01:11:53,079 --> 01:11:55,560
Speaker 3: Uh have you rea done an ancestry to find out?

1377
01:11:55,640 --> 01:11:57,079
Speaker 2: No, I don't know if I want to find out.

1378
01:11:57,119 --> 01:12:00,920
As cool as like pirates are in media, like the

1379
01:12:01,000 --> 01:12:03,680
actual history not so great, so I hope I don't.

1380
01:12:03,720 --> 01:12:07,159
Speaker 1: I also just recommend doing Ancestry dot Com has brought

1381
01:12:07,199 --> 01:12:10,800
nothing but havoc to my family. That's all I will be.

1382
01:12:10,960 --> 01:12:16,800
That's all I'll be saying. But you know, some things

1383
01:12:16,800 --> 01:12:21,760
aren't worth knowing all the time, so obinous, there's a

1384
01:12:21,800 --> 01:12:23,359
lot of a lot of changes in my life, thinks

1385
01:12:23,399 --> 01:12:26,520
the ancestry dot Com. I'll say that and leave it there.

1386
01:12:27,520 --> 01:12:28,640
Speaker 3: Sponsors ancestry.

1387
01:12:28,800 --> 01:12:35,600
Speaker 2: No, I also think those companies like take your genetics

1388
01:12:35,640 --> 01:12:37,439
and give them to insurance companies or something.

1389
01:12:37,439 --> 01:12:40,760
Speaker 1: I don't probably give them, who's that billionaire with the

1390
01:12:40,760 --> 01:12:43,439
blood boy who's his own son. They're probably giving.

1391
01:12:43,279 --> 01:12:46,000
Speaker 2: It is trying to stay young forever.

1392
01:12:46,479 --> 01:12:49,920
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, they're just making a worse in real life.

1393
01:12:51,640 --> 01:12:54,199
Speaker 2: But pirate books and I got to today a non

1394
01:12:54,239 --> 01:12:56,680
fiction into fiction. For the nonfiction, I want to go

1395
01:12:56,760 --> 01:13:00,720
with Steven Talt, It's called The Empire of Blue watertain

1396
01:13:01,239 --> 01:13:04,720
Captain Morgan's Great Pirate Army, the epic Battle for the Americas,

1397
01:13:04,760 --> 01:13:08,520
and the catastrophe that ended the Outlaws, Bloody Rain. This

1398
01:13:08,680 --> 01:13:11,760
is a long ass title that's like this, that's like

1399
01:13:11,800 --> 01:13:16,840
the little sub Okay, Yeah, the actual title is Empire

1400
01:13:16,920 --> 01:13:20,760
Blue Water. It's a really it's one of those nonfiction

1401
01:13:20,800 --> 01:13:23,560
books that reads like fiction because the author is well

1402
01:13:23,680 --> 01:13:26,039
versed and is able to like kind of bring you

1403
01:13:26,119 --> 01:13:28,760
back to this period of history. But it's a really

1404
01:13:28,760 --> 01:13:32,640
great resource for finding out what pirate life was like,

1405
01:13:32,760 --> 01:13:36,039
which is the non romanticized version from Pirates of the

1406
01:13:36,079 --> 01:13:38,840
Caribbean or Assassin's Creed and stuff like that. Like, if

1407
01:13:38,920 --> 01:13:41,720
you want to find out what why pirates had it

1408
01:13:41,760 --> 01:13:44,800
to your lifespan once they started piracy, like this, the

1409
01:13:44,800 --> 01:13:47,000
book is really good for kind of bringing you through

1410
01:13:47,039 --> 01:13:50,560
a story of an actual pirate of Captain Morgan, who

1411
01:13:50,600 --> 01:13:53,520
is that is the captain that's on the rum bottles today.

1412
01:13:54,239 --> 01:13:57,039
And then the fiction book I want to recommend is

1413
01:13:57,520 --> 01:14:00,760
Pirate Latitudes, which is by Michael Crichton, uh, the guy

1414
01:14:00,800 --> 01:14:05,439
that wrote Drastic Work. It's a quick read. It's a fun,

1415
01:14:05,600 --> 01:14:08,960
little action pirate adventure rop. The thing I really like

1416
01:14:09,000 --> 01:14:11,159
about it is that it uses fictional characters, but like

1417
01:14:11,199 --> 01:14:16,680
pools on a lot of real pirate history. One particularly,

1418
01:14:17,239 --> 01:14:18,680
I was kind of impressed that it was in the

1419
01:14:18,680 --> 01:14:21,359
book because it's a weird bit of pirate history. But

1420
01:14:21,840 --> 01:14:24,880
Anne Bonnie is known to have been in fights when

1421
01:14:24,920 --> 01:14:28,000
she was when she would go to fight typically other men,

1422
01:14:28,079 --> 01:14:28,640
because that's.

1423
01:14:28,479 --> 01:14:36,880
Speaker 1: What no, no, no no, although she is from Florida,

1424
01:14:37,319 --> 01:14:37,760
my state.

1425
01:14:37,840 --> 01:14:40,039
Speaker 2: Unfortunately, I'm sorry to the world that.

1426
01:14:40,079 --> 01:14:45,000
Speaker 3: You said Bonnie. Four.

1427
01:14:47,000 --> 01:14:49,800
Speaker 2: Yes, in history, there have been I don't want to

1428
01:14:49,840 --> 01:14:52,920
say like myths or anything, but there's like been reason

1429
01:14:52,960 --> 01:14:56,000
to believe that a tactic she used when fighting pirates,

1430
01:14:56,039 --> 01:14:59,840
which is majority men, is she would like undo her

1431
01:15:00,079 --> 01:15:02,800
shirt so that her breast route and then that would

1432
01:15:02,800 --> 01:15:05,359
distract the men. Fine, I don't know why I said

1433
01:15:05,359 --> 01:15:07,880
breast like a that was weird, but she would do

1434
01:15:07,880 --> 01:15:10,520
that to distract the men and then kill them while

1435
01:15:10,560 --> 01:15:12,840
they were busy looking at her boobs. And this book

1436
01:15:12,960 --> 01:15:15,119
has a fun bit about that that kind of draws

1437
01:15:15,159 --> 01:15:17,640
on that. And as a pirate fan of pirate history,

1438
01:15:17,640 --> 01:15:19,439
I was like, I see you, Michael Crichton. You've you've

1439
01:15:19,439 --> 01:15:22,560
read some encyclopedias, but it's just a really, it's just

1440
01:15:22,600 --> 01:15:26,159
a fun It's like a uncharted esque pirate adventure book.

1441
01:15:26,159 --> 01:15:27,640
And it's Michael Crichton, so you know, it's a it's

1442
01:15:27,640 --> 01:15:30,560
a good read and then bonus. Not a book, but

1443
01:15:30,640 --> 01:15:33,000
if you have not watched Black Sales, it is a

1444
01:15:33,119 --> 01:15:37,359
Star's pirate show. It's on Netflix now, which is great

1445
01:15:37,399 --> 01:15:40,479
because I don't even like Stars is a subscription that

1446
01:15:40,479 --> 01:15:42,960
that people get. I guess I don't know, but yeah,

1447
01:15:43,039 --> 01:15:47,960
check it out on Netflix. It is very rated, m

1448
01:15:48,119 --> 01:15:50,479
very It's like, it's hard to say. I used to

1449
01:15:50,479 --> 01:15:52,479
say Game of Thrones but pirates, but now that Game

1450
01:15:52,520 --> 01:15:55,399
of Thrones kind of didn't end so well, that doesn't

1451
01:15:55,399 --> 01:15:57,640
really work as much. But it's like all the intrigue

1452
01:15:57,640 --> 01:15:59,800
and the politics and the mystery and the action and

1453
01:15:59,840 --> 01:16:01,760
the gore and the sex and the violence and all

1454
01:16:01,800 --> 01:16:03,159
the blah blah blah of Game.

1455
01:16:03,239 --> 01:16:06,319
Speaker 3: It's very much like the prestige television of Pirates, Yes,

1456
01:16:06,479 --> 01:16:09,399
if you want, like, yeah, like the prestige television budget

1457
01:16:09,520 --> 01:16:13,760
and like grittiness of Game of Thrones. That's basically black sales.

1458
01:16:14,000 --> 01:16:16,720
Speaker 2: Yes, and it takes it takes the characters of Treasure Island,

1459
01:16:16,720 --> 01:16:20,439
like Captain Flint and John Silver and stuff, and uses

1460
01:16:20,479 --> 01:16:22,920
them to create like a new mythology for these characters.

1461
01:16:23,520 --> 01:16:25,520
And it's just it's really good. The actors are incredible.

1462
01:16:25,560 --> 01:16:28,720
It's just four seasons. The theme song and all the

1463
01:16:28,840 --> 01:16:31,600
music is done by Baron McCreery, who you might know

1464
01:16:32,279 --> 01:16:34,640
as the guy that made the Walking Dead theme. He

1465
01:16:34,720 --> 01:16:38,199
does the God of War music. He's a really great

1466
01:16:38,199 --> 01:16:40,560
composer and it has one of the most it's one

1467
01:16:40,560 --> 01:16:43,039
of my all time favorite like opening theme songs for

1468
01:16:43,359 --> 01:16:43,880
a drama.

1469
01:16:44,000 --> 01:16:46,760
Speaker 1: It seems like you're really not it's not active on

1470
01:16:46,840 --> 01:16:50,239
Netflix right now, weirdly, but it has like a button

1471
01:16:50,239 --> 01:16:53,039
on that This has remind me, so I wonder if

1472
01:16:53,039 --> 01:16:53,399
it like.

1473
01:16:54,600 --> 01:16:56,199
Speaker 3: That's I've never heard of that. So it's like not

1474
01:16:56,319 --> 01:16:58,880
on Netflix, but it has at.

1475
01:16:58,640 --> 01:17:00,439
Speaker 2: Maybe it's back maybe maybe.

1476
01:17:00,560 --> 01:17:06,920
Speaker 1: Yeah. I like real licensing, Yeah yeah, cool? Uh next

1477
01:17:07,000 --> 01:17:09,760
question comes from then Tom was like, when's the last

1478
01:17:09,760 --> 01:17:12,760
time you felt totally uninformed on a game? Have you

1479
01:17:12,880 --> 01:17:16,119
gone in blind any games lately? I think I talked

1480
01:17:16,119 --> 01:17:17,800
about that with Mermaid Mask earlier on the show. That's

1481
01:17:17,800 --> 01:17:20,880
probably my answer the second part of the question. But

1482
01:17:21,000 --> 01:17:27,399
games I feel totally unaware of, are uninformed on, probably.

1483
01:17:26,920 --> 01:17:29,199
Speaker 2: Gone into uninformed on or ones that.

1484
01:17:29,119 --> 01:17:33,560
Speaker 3: Were just just went in blind basically, Okay.

1485
01:17:32,760 --> 01:17:38,680
Speaker 1: Probably yeah, probably Mermaid Mask for me. Yeah, I know

1486
01:17:38,760 --> 01:17:41,119
that's that's a born answer because we just talked about it,

1487
01:17:41,159 --> 01:17:44,760
but uh, that's the honest, the honest truth for me.

1488
01:17:45,960 --> 01:17:48,760
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's tricky for us because like even I can't

1489
01:17:48,760 --> 01:17:52,000
think of something that I've played and even forgetting something

1490
01:17:52,039 --> 01:17:54,079
that just had no heads up on, because even the

1491
01:17:54,119 --> 01:17:56,039
closest thing to that is like if I get a

1492
01:17:56,039 --> 01:17:58,680
press release for something that I had no prior knowledge

1493
01:17:58,720 --> 01:18:00,479
of and then I wind up it comes with a

1494
01:18:00,520 --> 01:18:03,199
code and I'm like, oh, just reading this press release,

1495
01:18:03,520 --> 01:18:05,760
that sounds interesting. I'll put this code in and try

1496
01:18:05,760 --> 01:18:07,800
it real quick. But even then that's still like a

1497
01:18:07,840 --> 01:18:09,760
little bit of a heads up. Say, at least I

1498
01:18:09,840 --> 01:18:11,159
read a press release to know what it is. So

1499
01:18:11,199 --> 01:18:13,039
it's like in terms of just firing up something and

1500
01:18:13,079 --> 01:18:17,600
like not reading a description or anything. That's that's that's

1501
01:18:17,640 --> 01:18:19,920
really for me, at least because of this job. It's

1502
01:18:19,960 --> 01:18:23,479
really hard because I feel like if I personally have

1503
01:18:23,520 --> 01:18:25,119
not kept up with it, I at least get some

1504
01:18:25,159 --> 01:18:28,199
heads up, either from you guys or from like just peers.

1505
01:18:28,680 --> 01:18:31,239
But I mean, it's funny enough you said MraY Mask.

1506
01:18:31,279 --> 01:18:34,920
I remember Tangle Tower, the predecession to Murray Mask that

1507
01:18:35,079 --> 01:18:37,920
was just given to me to review when I was

1508
01:18:37,920 --> 01:18:43,039
a screen rant with like no warning. Yeah, it's like

1509
01:18:43,079 --> 01:18:45,520
I've never heard of this, what even is this? And

1510
01:18:45,560 --> 01:18:48,039
then just played it and then was completely like bowled

1511
01:18:48,039 --> 01:18:50,039
over because that game is great. But that was like

1512
01:18:50,039 --> 01:18:51,880
twenty nineteen, So I was like, there's probably a more

1513
01:18:51,920 --> 01:18:54,720
recent example if I thought about it, But in general,

1514
01:18:54,800 --> 01:18:57,319
it's still the closest thing is sort of like like

1515
01:18:57,359 --> 01:19:00,680
maybe Alex, I try to don't let it Star because

1516
01:19:00,720 --> 01:19:02,600
of you, and I had not heard of that game

1517
01:19:02,640 --> 01:19:04,039
at all, So you talked about it on the show

1518
01:19:04,079 --> 01:19:06,560
a couple of weeks ago, and so I went into

1519
01:19:06,600 --> 01:19:10,159
that and I like that game. That's fun. So maybe

1520
01:19:10,199 --> 01:19:12,279
that's like a recent answer that fits.

1521
01:19:12,560 --> 01:19:14,399
Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't know. If I have any this year,

1522
01:19:14,439 --> 01:19:17,560
but last year I actually have two, both games I

1523
01:19:17,600 --> 01:19:20,720
really enjoyed and reviewed for Game Reformer. One is Metal Eden,

1524
01:19:21,279 --> 01:19:23,640
which is from the Ruiner team, which is really all

1525
01:19:23,680 --> 01:19:25,520
I knew going in. I just kind of I got

1526
01:19:25,520 --> 01:19:27,920
a key and I was like, first person shooter. Sure,

1527
01:19:27,920 --> 01:19:31,920
I'll try it out. And it is a really really good.

1528
01:19:32,079 --> 01:19:35,880
But yeah, it's ghost Runner but with guns, which is

1529
01:19:35,920 --> 01:19:39,560
parkour arena based combat, fast paced, you're slowing down. Time

1530
01:19:39,640 --> 01:19:42,399
you take a couple of hits, you're dead. Fantastic game.

1531
01:19:42,479 --> 01:19:44,920
And then another one I talked about maybe last year

1532
01:19:44,960 --> 01:19:49,760
on here, Eric Schulm, The Stolen Dream. Yeah, really had

1533
01:19:49,840 --> 01:19:52,079
no idea what this was like at all. I just

1534
01:19:52,640 --> 01:19:54,760
I saw it and looked cool, picked it up, and

1535
01:19:54,800 --> 01:20:00,600
it's like a very It's a beautiful, rich stealth gain

1536
01:20:00,880 --> 01:20:04,039
person stealth game. Yeah, like a classic stealth gain There's

1537
01:20:04,079 --> 01:20:06,119
not really combat. It's just I don't want to say

1538
01:20:06,119 --> 01:20:08,279
immersive sim, but it has like an immersive sim feel

1539
01:20:08,359 --> 01:20:10,840
where to stealth your way forward, you need to use

1540
01:20:10,840 --> 01:20:13,279
what's around you, and the game doesn't really hold your hand.

1541
01:20:13,319 --> 01:20:15,600
It's like you need to know that if there's a

1542
01:20:15,680 --> 01:20:19,359
light above you to distract the guard or to turn

1543
01:20:19,399 --> 01:20:21,279
off the lights. You need to find something that hits

1544
01:20:21,279 --> 01:20:23,760
the light bulb to get rid of it. And it's

1545
01:20:24,760 --> 01:20:26,760
really cool. But yeah, like Marcus said, it's really hard

1546
01:20:26,760 --> 01:20:31,399
to come across games in the sense that like it

1547
01:20:31,520 --> 01:20:33,520
is our job to know, and we do try to

1548
01:20:33,600 --> 01:20:36,319
keep an eye on at least as much as we can,

1549
01:20:36,399 --> 01:20:40,520
even in the smallest sense, because we write previews for

1550
01:20:40,560 --> 01:20:42,479
the magazine, or we make our lists, or we do

1551
01:20:42,520 --> 01:20:46,119
discussions like this. But I do enjoy whenever a game

1552
01:20:46,119 --> 01:20:49,319
I have nothing no awareness about ends up becoming something

1553
01:20:49,359 --> 01:20:50,560
I really really love.

1554
01:20:50,800 --> 01:20:55,720
Speaker 1: Yeah, Matt Storm asks, how do you not give in

1555
01:20:55,720 --> 01:20:58,920
a despair? Seriously, though, with the current state of the industry,

1556
01:20:58,960 --> 01:21:01,199
how do you engage in self care to not get

1557
01:21:01,239 --> 01:21:06,840
buried or burned out by it? Yeah? I take breaks

1558
01:21:06,840 --> 01:21:09,479
from it. I feel like I play. I feel like

1559
01:21:09,520 --> 01:21:12,960
there are gaming fans out there that probably play more

1560
01:21:13,000 --> 01:21:15,720
games than I do. And granted I typically am not

1561
01:21:15,840 --> 01:21:18,560
on reviews for US, I do other things for US,

1562
01:21:19,920 --> 01:21:21,600
and so it's I I feel like I'm in a

1563
01:21:21,680 --> 01:21:24,600
unique position on the team where like Marcus and West,

1564
01:21:24,640 --> 01:21:27,079
you guys are always reviewing games like constantly, you have

1565
01:21:27,119 --> 01:21:31,039
something that you're on review for and I don't typically

1566
01:21:31,199 --> 01:21:35,920
and so I feel like I I will just kind

1567
01:21:35,920 --> 01:21:38,239
of like you know, I'll clock in, do my job,

1568
01:21:38,399 --> 01:21:39,800
you know, work on what I need to work on.

1569
01:21:40,359 --> 01:21:43,760
But in my personal life, like I am, I honestly

1570
01:21:43,760 --> 01:21:45,680
have like one game that I play like the last

1571
01:21:45,720 --> 01:21:47,920
month outside of like some of the stuff we talked

1572
01:21:47,920 --> 01:21:50,680
about on the podcast, And it's kind of the question

1573
01:21:50,760 --> 01:21:52,720
there's another question on here that I want to I'll

1574
01:21:52,760 --> 01:21:55,199
save that game for that. But like I pick a

1575
01:21:55,239 --> 01:21:57,960
thing that's like not really related to work, and I

1576
01:21:58,000 --> 01:22:02,680
play that thing. And you know, usually for me, it's

1577
01:22:02,680 --> 01:22:05,319
like a multiplayer game or something, but like or even

1578
01:22:05,319 --> 01:22:07,920
like an old game that like, you know, I'm not

1579
01:22:07,920 --> 01:22:10,439
gonna be talking about this really, but I'm just like

1580
01:22:10,520 --> 01:22:12,760
playing it to for the love of the game, you

1581
01:22:12,840 --> 01:22:15,960
know what I mean. But yeah, I think Marcus said

1582
01:22:15,960 --> 01:22:18,960
it sucinctly like gut side touch grass. I think Marcus

1583
01:22:19,000 --> 01:22:21,920
has talked about many times on the show. Uh, you know,

1584
01:22:22,159 --> 01:22:25,359
you can only control what you can control and focus

1585
01:22:25,399 --> 01:22:26,319
on that and.

1586
01:22:27,279 --> 01:22:31,479
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, and and bet be grateful for like what

1587
01:22:31,520 --> 01:22:33,439
you do have. I think that always starts for me

1588
01:22:33,560 --> 01:22:37,159
is gratitude is a big thing for me. Yeah, I

1589
01:22:37,199 --> 01:22:39,800
don't think if I can add much more than that gratitude.

1590
01:22:40,119 --> 01:22:42,279
Go outside, like seriously, like disc out for each other,

1591
01:22:43,079 --> 01:22:45,119
look out for each other, do what you can within

1592
01:22:45,199 --> 01:22:48,479
your circle to make other people's lives a little bit better.

1593
01:22:48,840 --> 01:22:50,520
Speaker 2: Yeah, I take lexapros.

1594
01:22:56,640 --> 01:22:59,720
Speaker 3: Play a coin Alex, say, go pull a play a

1595
01:22:59,720 --> 01:23:00,560
coin usher game.

1596
01:23:00,680 --> 01:23:04,880
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, that's that's really a wild hole or whatever.

1597
01:23:04,920 --> 01:23:06,399
It was a bonus hole.

1598
01:23:09,640 --> 01:23:13,319
Speaker 2: It's a big hole and wild hole, which is a

1599
01:23:13,359 --> 01:23:16,560
lot worse than uh.

1600
01:23:16,640 --> 01:23:18,640
Speaker 1: Duke Fason asks, what was the last game you were

1601
01:23:18,720 --> 01:23:21,560
genuinely pumped for and not because you had to do

1602
01:23:21,600 --> 01:23:23,399
a review on it, because you wanted to play it

1603
01:23:23,439 --> 01:23:26,239
on your own time. That was the game I was mentioning,

1604
01:23:26,680 --> 01:23:28,520
Like the game I have that I'm like kind of

1605
01:23:28,560 --> 01:23:32,760
always playing. I've put ninety seven hours into Deadlock, and

1606
01:23:32,800 --> 01:23:35,800
that game is not even like publicly available yet.

1607
01:23:36,000 --> 01:23:38,760
Speaker 3: Yeah, that game is technically barely real when you think

1608
01:23:38,760 --> 01:23:39,199
about it.

1609
01:23:39,279 --> 01:23:44,760
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, of course, of course. Yeah, I

1610
01:23:44,760 --> 01:23:49,199
have ninety seven hours in that game, and like at

1611
01:23:49,279 --> 01:23:52,760
night time when I don't when everything else feels like overwhelming,

1612
01:23:52,760 --> 01:23:54,000
I'm like, oh, I don't want to play it. I

1613
01:23:54,000 --> 01:23:55,560
don't want to start a new game. I don't want to,

1614
01:23:56,119 --> 01:23:58,399
you know, I don't really want to keep playing something

1615
01:23:58,479 --> 01:24:00,640
I'm playing right now because I just I don't you

1616
01:24:00,680 --> 01:24:04,680
want to think about it. But dead Luck and uh,

1617
01:24:05,159 --> 01:24:07,600
yeah I play. I played like the the fun like

1618
01:24:08,319 --> 01:24:11,319
mode that's not even the real it's not even the

1619
01:24:11,359 --> 01:24:17,520
real mode. Yeah, and it's great. What about Yeah, that's it.

1620
01:24:17,600 --> 01:24:20,439
Speaker 3: I mean for me, I'm I'm genuinely excited about games

1621
01:24:20,479 --> 01:24:23,520
all the time. Like it's not I feel like the

1622
01:24:23,560 --> 01:24:28,600
question almost phrases it. It's like I said, I don't

1623
01:24:28,640 --> 01:24:30,479
know that the tone of the question almost makes it. It

1624
01:24:30,479 --> 01:24:32,800
sound like it's a rare occurrence. But it's like I'm

1625
01:24:32,800 --> 01:24:35,560
always excited about something, like in a genuine sense and

1626
01:24:35,600 --> 01:24:37,920
not even if anything. Sometimes it's more exciting when I

1627
01:24:37,920 --> 01:24:39,800
don't have to review it because then it doesn't become work.

1628
01:24:40,000 --> 01:24:41,000
I can just play it.

1629
01:24:41,319 --> 01:24:41,520
Speaker 1: Yeah.

1630
01:24:41,520 --> 01:24:44,439
Speaker 3: But like I was excited for, like super excited for

1631
01:24:44,479 --> 01:24:46,600
Resident Evil, some huge Residuel fans that I was a

1632
01:24:46,600 --> 01:24:49,399
big one, uh Pragmata just because I liked what I

1633
01:24:49,399 --> 01:24:51,960
played of it before and just because of the concept.

1634
01:24:52,319 --> 01:24:56,399
Like right now, I'm super excited for Castlevania. I mean

1635
01:24:56,439 --> 01:24:58,439
GT six, But that goes with I was saying, Uh,

1636
01:24:59,439 --> 01:25:01,840
Residents of Tail Legacy is one I'm personally really excited

1637
01:25:01,840 --> 01:25:03,600
about as a fan of that series and having gotten

1638
01:25:03,640 --> 01:25:06,840
to play it myself. Only Musha as Wes is holding

1639
01:25:06,880 --> 01:25:09,520
up our issue, Like I've gotten to play that twice

1640
01:25:09,600 --> 01:25:12,720
at two different pre release events and enjoyed at both times.

1641
01:25:12,760 --> 01:25:17,439
Like there's for me, there's always multiple multiple games that

1642
01:25:17,439 --> 01:25:19,239
I have my eye on that I'm like, man, can't

1643
01:25:19,279 --> 01:25:21,319
wait to play that, which is great, you know, I

1644
01:25:21,319 --> 01:25:24,079
mean that's what keeps you a fan of the of

1645
01:25:24,119 --> 01:25:27,800
the medium, right is too? Yeah, even when even for

1646
01:25:27,920 --> 01:25:30,199
us where we can probably more so than any other fan,

1647
01:25:30,359 --> 01:25:34,640
fall to cynicism because we're critics. Ultimately, like, I think

1648
01:25:34,640 --> 01:25:38,600
it's always healthy to kind of like allow yourself to

1649
01:25:38,800 --> 01:25:41,840
get excited for things, like to not be overly cynical

1650
01:25:41,880 --> 01:25:45,039
about everything, like totally you've always want to be willing

1651
01:25:45,119 --> 01:25:46,359
to be wowed by something.

1652
01:25:46,840 --> 01:25:51,880
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, yeah, My answer is the last game I

1653
01:25:51,920 --> 01:25:54,439
was like the most excited I've been this year was

1654
01:25:54,720 --> 01:25:58,600
Double seven First Light. I have a I loved Double

1655
01:25:58,600 --> 01:26:02,159
O seven games growing up, Like those were my multiplayer

1656
01:26:02,199 --> 01:26:05,199
experiences on PS two, like playing Agent under Firelight Brother

1657
01:26:05,560 --> 01:26:07,600
multiplayer all day and all night long.

1658
01:26:08,680 --> 01:26:11,279
Speaker 1: Obviously, I think we've talked about it before.

1659
01:26:11,680 --> 01:26:14,960
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, there's no multiplayer in First Light. But I

1660
01:26:15,039 --> 01:26:18,560
just love being in a James Bond game world, like

1661
01:26:18,600 --> 01:26:20,960
It's just it feels like home to me. And I

1662
01:26:21,000 --> 01:26:24,079
really think Io Interactive unsurprisingly knock it out of the park.

1663
01:26:24,119 --> 01:26:27,680
And I genuinely enjoyed that game so much, Like I

1664
01:26:27,800 --> 01:26:29,600
was very hyped and it lived up to the hype.

1665
01:26:29,920 --> 01:26:31,680
And it's still what I'm thinking about a lot today,

1666
01:26:31,720 --> 01:26:34,840
and they seem to be tackling like a Hitman style

1667
01:26:34,920 --> 01:26:37,960
approach to supporting it over the months. They just hadn't

1668
01:26:38,000 --> 01:26:39,680
dropped this week, I think of content.

1669
01:26:40,279 --> 01:26:44,399
Speaker 1: Yeah, last question of the show, howdy Gi. This is

1670
01:26:44,399 --> 01:26:50,359
from an Attack an attack Corgi, a longtime, longtime community member.

1671
01:26:50,960 --> 01:26:54,000
What are your video game beige flags? Like red flags?

1672
01:26:54,039 --> 01:26:56,399
But instead of alarming you about a bad game, they

1673
01:26:56,479 --> 01:26:59,560
just shout this game is hella boring and a generic

1674
01:27:00,239 --> 01:27:03,600
an I G N six attack Cory, You why wouldn't

1675
01:27:03,600 --> 01:27:05,560
it be a Game in Former six? Come on? What

1676
01:27:05,600 --> 01:27:06,279
are we doing here?

1677
01:27:06,359 --> 01:27:06,560
Speaker 2: Yeah?

1678
01:27:06,600 --> 01:27:09,720
Speaker 1: Come on? What are we? What are we saying? What

1679
01:27:09,760 --> 01:27:11,479
do we You can't even mention?

1680
01:27:12,039 --> 01:27:14,560
Speaker 3: This is some respect for our six for for our

1681
01:27:14,720 --> 01:27:15,880
minute appeal score.

1682
01:27:17,079 --> 01:27:21,000
Speaker 1: I'm kidding, that's a good question. This game is heliboring.

1683
01:27:21,479 --> 01:27:23,520
Speaker 3: And then that's tricky because those are the games. I

1684
01:27:23,560 --> 01:27:25,319
feel like those are games that are hardest to remember

1685
01:27:25,359 --> 01:27:27,680
because like the bad games can be memorable because they're

1686
01:27:27,720 --> 01:27:30,880
just so awful or probably bad, but the games that

1687
01:27:30,920 --> 01:27:34,119
are just like this is perfectly cromulent, this is just fine,

1688
01:27:34,159 --> 01:27:36,840
but I will forget about this an hour after finishing it.

1689
01:27:37,000 --> 01:27:39,800
Those are those are tough to recall sometimes.

1690
01:27:39,880 --> 01:27:41,600
Speaker 1: And this is even like not they aren't even saying

1691
01:27:41,640 --> 01:27:45,439
like specific games, like what are like the features within

1692
01:27:45,520 --> 01:27:49,399
those games, or like what quality is about like the

1693
01:27:49,439 --> 01:27:51,079
Beijes flags of those games.

1694
01:27:52,039 --> 01:27:54,279
Speaker 3: It's because I don't know if it's tied to a

1695
01:27:54,319 --> 01:27:57,680
specific feature. I think it's just any existing feature but

1696
01:27:57,800 --> 01:28:02,119
just not done remarkably well, but also not done remarkably

1697
01:28:02,319 --> 01:28:06,680
bad either. It's just like this is this is that thing.

1698
01:28:06,800 --> 01:28:08,800
Like it's like when you say this is one of

1699
01:28:08,800 --> 01:28:11,199
the games of all time, it's like, yeah, they did

1700
01:28:11,239 --> 01:28:15,359
this feature, and they nailed it at on a fundamental level,

1701
01:28:15,479 --> 01:28:18,159
but they've done They've neither ruined it or done anything

1702
01:28:18,239 --> 01:28:21,520
interesting with it beyond making it functional.

1703
01:28:22,840 --> 01:28:24,039
Speaker 1: That's a tough one.

1704
01:28:24,439 --> 01:28:27,920
Speaker 2: I've got to I've got a weird, weird one to include.

1705
01:28:28,039 --> 01:28:31,159
I don't like when you're in a game and a

1706
01:28:31,239 --> 01:28:34,119
character is talking to you, whether that be like in

1707
01:28:34,159 --> 01:28:36,159
your ears and a calm or like with you, and

1708
01:28:36,159 --> 01:28:39,239
you're you're allowed to move in this space.

1709
01:28:39,520 --> 01:28:41,560
Speaker 3: But you walk away from them, but they only let you.

1710
01:28:41,600 --> 01:28:45,680
Speaker 2: Walk, like I can't talk about a certain game I'm

1711
01:28:45,680 --> 01:28:49,199
thinking of yet, but in my head, I'm like, you're

1712
01:28:49,199 --> 01:28:52,039
talking to me. I'm moving around listening to my ear,

1713
01:28:52,079 --> 01:28:53,840
but you're making me walk. I have to just sit

1714
01:28:53,880 --> 01:28:55,880
here and walk while I'm doing it instead of running

1715
01:28:55,880 --> 01:28:58,239
around and jumping because I have I want to be

1716
01:28:58,279 --> 01:29:01,239
sitting there jamming buttons. I'm gonna be jump in doing

1717
01:29:01,279 --> 01:29:03,840
whatever stuff you're talking to me. And when you just

1718
01:29:03,880 --> 01:29:05,720
slow me down and you're like, you can move, but

1719
01:29:05,800 --> 01:29:07,600
you got to move real slow while I talk to you,

1720
01:29:07,640 --> 01:29:10,359
I'm like, beige flag, beige flag.

1721
01:29:11,319 --> 01:29:14,479
Speaker 3: Yeah. Another one when you can auto walk? Does that help?

1722
01:29:14,600 --> 01:29:16,119
Like it so you don't have to actually do it,

1723
01:29:16,159 --> 01:29:17,760
like you just hit the auto walk button then, just

1724
01:29:17,840 --> 01:29:18,720
like an.

1725
01:29:18,600 --> 01:29:21,039
Speaker 2: Assassin's Free, like an auto follow. I do. I do

1726
01:29:21,159 --> 01:29:24,239
like that feature. Yeah, but I will say, you put

1727
01:29:24,239 --> 01:29:27,039
that feature in the game. You just created a perfect

1728
01:29:27,199 --> 01:29:30,239
let me check Instagram moment during your game, which is

1729
01:29:30,239 --> 01:29:33,199
not always what I think developers are going for. It's

1730
01:29:33,279 --> 01:29:35,239
very easy for me to grab my phone whenever you

1731
01:29:35,319 --> 01:29:38,840
show me a like auto follow button on screen, but

1732
01:29:38,840 --> 01:29:40,840
that might be more of a beige flag for myself.

1733
01:29:40,880 --> 01:29:43,760
Maybe I need to to work on myself and my attention.

1734
01:29:44,479 --> 01:29:46,000
Speaker 3: Yeah, you're the problem.

1735
01:29:45,680 --> 01:29:51,479
Speaker 1: Withst I think. I think characters that are like like,

1736
01:29:51,800 --> 01:29:55,720
there's this is stemming from my and I hesitant to

1737
01:29:55,720 --> 01:29:57,840
mention it because I don't remember the name of the

1738
01:29:57,840 --> 01:30:01,000
creator and I wish I could credit them. There was

1739
01:30:01,479 --> 01:30:04,000
a woman on my TikTok feed who was she's a streamer,

1740
01:30:04,520 --> 01:30:06,560
and she was complaining about I think it's an exit

1741
01:30:06,560 --> 01:30:10,119
at the upcoming Exodus game, like some of the dialogue,

1742
01:30:10,159 --> 01:30:12,840
and like the characters that are always like really, oh

1743
01:30:12,880 --> 01:30:17,920
my god, like are like like millennial cringe kind of

1744
01:30:18,000 --> 01:30:21,279
characters that are like, well, I guess we'll have to

1745
01:30:21,319 --> 01:30:28,159
do this, like uh part ah, like cat humor, like

1746
01:30:28,199 --> 01:30:31,720
the quirky scientists who's like really geeky and nerdy, and

1747
01:30:31,800 --> 01:30:33,640
like there's a lot of those tropes, not just that

1748
01:30:33,680 --> 01:30:37,199
one in games and in in media movies whatever. I

1749
01:30:37,199 --> 01:30:39,520
think when I see those like archetypes like oh, well

1750
01:30:39,560 --> 01:30:42,039
we gotta have the tough guy, we got to have

1751
01:30:42,359 --> 01:30:46,479
the geeky scientists, we gotta have It's just like when

1752
01:30:46,479 --> 01:30:49,960
I see those those kind of tropes played out, they

1753
01:30:50,000 --> 01:30:52,000
don't really I know, like they're meant to like kind

1754
01:30:52,000 --> 01:30:54,560
of warm you to the characters, like oh, these are

1755
01:30:54,600 --> 01:30:59,039
the familiar archetypes that you're used to. It just doesn't

1756
01:30:59,039 --> 01:31:02,039
do much for me usually like okay, well I would

1757
01:31:02,119 --> 01:31:05,960
rather you have done something a little more interesting.

1758
01:31:07,039 --> 01:31:10,560
Speaker 3: On a specific note, like I remember this was a

1759
01:31:10,560 --> 01:31:13,520
big thing in the PS three generation, like post Uncharted,

1760
01:31:13,720 --> 01:31:15,399
where it felt like there was a couple of years

1761
01:31:15,399 --> 01:31:20,560
of like like Nathan Drake likes, oh, we need like

1762
01:31:20,600 --> 01:31:23,119
a Nathan Drake, like a Quippi cool guy, Like he's

1763
01:31:23,119 --> 01:31:26,680
not a complete badass, Like he's an everyman who quips

1764
01:31:26,720 --> 01:31:28,279
a lot. And I felt like there was like a

1765
01:31:28,680 --> 01:31:32,600
run of games that just did like Nathan Drake but worse, or.

1766
01:31:32,680 --> 01:31:37,079
Speaker 2: Like what was the sci fi shooter that is Nolan

1767
01:31:37,159 --> 01:31:39,319
North and it's just him being Drake.

1768
01:31:40,119 --> 01:31:41,640
Speaker 3: I mean there was Dark Void where he has the

1769
01:31:41,720 --> 01:31:45,439
jet because that is and he's pretty much doing Nathan

1770
01:31:45,520 --> 01:31:49,319
Drake in the game, and it's not a good game. Yeah,

1771
01:31:49,560 --> 01:31:52,920
But I for me, maybe this is a this is

1772
01:31:53,159 --> 01:31:54,880
more or less not even more or less. This is

1773
01:31:54,880 --> 01:31:59,479
almost entirely directed like Japanese games, but like sometimes dialogue

1774
01:31:59,680 --> 01:32:02,640
in Japanese game specifically is written in a bit of

1775
01:32:02,680 --> 01:32:05,640
a way that makes me cringe, Like I think Kingdom

1776
01:32:05,640 --> 01:32:07,600
Hearts is maybe the worst offender I can think of of,

1777
01:32:07,800 --> 01:32:14,239
just that classic style of characters having to needlessly say

1778
01:32:14,399 --> 01:32:17,239
a character's name even though they know them. Of just

1779
01:32:17,279 --> 01:32:20,560
like every conversation start with Riku and it's like you've

1780
01:32:20,560 --> 01:32:24,199
seen him like two minutes ago, and like they'll say like, hey, hello,

1781
01:32:24,359 --> 01:32:27,000
it's me, or hey, how are you doing, and instead

1782
01:32:27,000 --> 01:32:30,479
of just saying I'm good, they're like Riku and it's like, yes,

1783
01:32:30,560 --> 01:32:33,239
I'm it is me, I'm standing right in front of you.

1784
01:32:34,840 --> 01:32:38,600
Like the Kingdom Hearts three particularly drove me nuts with that,

1785
01:32:38,800 --> 01:32:40,920
Like I think it's maybe the worst offender of that,

1786
01:32:41,119 --> 01:32:45,359
But there are other like JRPGs or just like Japanese

1787
01:32:45,399 --> 01:32:48,840
developed games, and even maybe just other like areas of Asia,

1788
01:32:48,880 --> 01:32:51,039
that that's just like a recurring thing. And sometimes if

1789
01:32:51,079 --> 01:32:53,199
the game's good enough, I can kind of like forgive

1790
01:32:53,239 --> 01:32:55,000
it and like turn my brain off to it. But

1791
01:32:55,000 --> 01:32:58,359
if the game cannot get past that, then it's just

1792
01:32:58,399 --> 01:32:59,920
a bit like I don't even know what you would

1793
01:33:00,079 --> 01:33:02,119
call the style of dialogue, but I assume you guys

1794
01:33:02,199 --> 01:33:03,960
know what I'm talking about. You've probably encountered.

1795
01:33:04,640 --> 01:33:06,640
Speaker 2: It's like a I wonder if it's like a loss

1796
01:33:06,640 --> 01:33:11,439
from translation thing like in yeah, like it makes more sense, yeah, localization.

1797
01:33:12,279 --> 01:33:15,159
Speaker 3: Maybe I feel like I've played games like with subtitles

1798
01:33:15,159 --> 01:33:17,760
and it was still like translated that way. I think

1799
01:33:17,800 --> 01:33:21,399
that's just the approach. Yeah, like in an age where

1800
01:33:21,640 --> 01:33:24,800
video game writing has gotten so good and sophisticated, like

1801
01:33:24,880 --> 01:33:27,119
going back to when Charted of like some like Naughty

1802
01:33:27,159 --> 01:33:30,359
Dog dialogue being excellent, or like a rock Star game

1803
01:33:30,439 --> 01:33:35,439
like Red Nitsu or something like that, or like people, Yeah,

1804
01:33:35,720 --> 01:33:37,840
like it stands out even more. But if I fire

1805
01:33:37,920 --> 01:33:41,920
a game and that's happening, that's already like a I'm

1806
01:33:41,920 --> 01:33:44,399
already like I'm already like writing off the dialogue and like, well,

1807
01:33:44,439 --> 01:33:45,920
this is a lost cause. Hope the rest of the

1808
01:33:45,960 --> 01:33:48,279
game can can pick up the slack.

1809
01:33:49,520 --> 01:33:52,479
Speaker 2: I have one more, one more niche beige flag very niche,

1810
01:33:52,720 --> 01:33:53,600
my most niche.

1811
01:33:54,319 --> 01:33:56,399
Speaker 1: Be quick because my food's been sitting outside in the

1812
01:33:56,399 --> 01:33:58,640
heat for like ten minutes now.

1813
01:34:00,319 --> 01:34:00,640
Speaker 3: One day.

1814
01:34:00,720 --> 01:34:06,560
Speaker 2: Yeah, hey when it games audio options are just bars.

1815
01:34:06,640 --> 01:34:09,640
Like if you don't let me choose headphones or speakers

1816
01:34:09,720 --> 01:34:12,319
or TV, I'm upset. I don't like that.

1817
01:34:12,479 --> 01:34:15,800
Speaker 3: I don't like it's just a volume meter. I want

1818
01:34:15,920 --> 01:34:17,399
are you yes?

1819
01:34:17,439 --> 01:34:19,079
Speaker 2: And I want the game to adapt to that. If

1820
01:34:19,119 --> 01:34:21,399
you don't beag flag, I like that.

1821
01:34:21,399 --> 01:34:22,159
Speaker 3: That's interesting.

1822
01:34:23,920 --> 01:34:26,680
Speaker 1: Well, that's gonna be it for the show this week, everybody.

1823
01:34:27,199 --> 01:34:29,800
Thank you for tuning in. Of course, if you haven't,

1824
01:34:30,079 --> 01:34:32,119
pick up a copy of Game and Form a magazine

1825
01:34:32,159 --> 01:34:35,720
find us on newsstands, or pick up a subscribe to

1826
01:34:35,800 --> 01:34:39,479
the magazine, get a get a an actual subscription Gameformer

1827
01:34:39,520 --> 01:34:42,840
dot com slash subscribe. That'll be it for this week.

1828
01:34:42,960 --> 01:34:45,560
Thank you for listening. We'll see you next week, and

1829
01:34:45,840 --> 01:35:12,720
I hope you have a good one. Bye.