1 00:00:07,519 --> 00:00:10,039 Speaker 1: Hey, everybody, welcome back to the Game and Former Show. 2 00:00:10,199 --> 00:00:12,160 We've got a bit of a different episode this week 3 00:00:12,199 --> 00:00:15,240 for you. Instead of our typical roundtable discussion where we 4 00:00:15,279 --> 00:00:18,359 talk about the ladies gaming news and reviews and exclusive 5 00:00:18,359 --> 00:00:21,920 reveals alongside Game and Former staff and special guests from 6 00:00:21,920 --> 00:00:25,000 around the industry, today we're changing it up and we're 7 00:00:25,039 --> 00:00:28,640 each going to be recording in a little solo segment 8 00:00:29,160 --> 00:00:32,799 talking about our games that we're looking forward to checking 9 00:00:32,799 --> 00:00:35,079 out over the Thanksgiving break, And I think it's a 10 00:00:35,079 --> 00:00:36,439 great way for you to know what we're up to, 11 00:00:36,520 --> 00:00:38,840 what we're playing behind the scenes, and as well as 12 00:00:39,079 --> 00:00:42,079 you know, get some recommendations for games maybe you want 13 00:00:42,079 --> 00:00:45,600 to check out. So I hope you enjoy this special episode. 14 00:00:45,640 --> 00:00:48,320 It's going to be shorter obviously than usual, but I 15 00:00:48,320 --> 00:00:49,799 think it's a great way for us to at least 16 00:00:49,799 --> 00:00:52,719 get something up for you, whether you're listening in between 17 00:00:52,880 --> 00:00:55,520 you know, runs to get a new plate at Thanksgiving, 18 00:00:55,840 --> 00:00:58,719 or if you are not someone who celebrates the holiday, 19 00:00:58,799 --> 00:01:02,119 or you're in another location where the holidays is not 20 00:01:02,159 --> 00:01:04,400 a holiday week. You know, we hope you enjoyed this 21 00:01:04,439 --> 00:01:09,319 episode regardless. Thanks as always for listening, folks, and hope 22 00:01:09,359 --> 00:01:09,799 you enjoy. 23 00:01:10,359 --> 00:01:13,079 Speaker 2: Hey everybody, it's Matt Miller here, editor in chief at 24 00:01:13,280 --> 00:01:14,000 Game Informer. 25 00:01:14,359 --> 00:01:15,319 Speaker 3: Happy Thanksgiving. 26 00:01:16,000 --> 00:01:17,920 Speaker 2: We wanted to talk a little bit about some of 27 00:01:17,920 --> 00:01:20,239 the games we're going to be playing over the break, 28 00:01:20,640 --> 00:01:23,359 maybe give you some ideas about things that you might 29 00:01:23,400 --> 00:01:27,400 be to enjoy. For me, I'm diving back into one 30 00:01:27,400 --> 00:01:29,359 of my favorite games of the last several months. I 31 00:01:29,400 --> 00:01:31,480 don't know if everybody's had a chance to play it yet. 32 00:01:32,200 --> 00:01:36,799 Absolum is an amazing brawler and it's one you should 33 00:01:36,840 --> 00:01:41,280 absolutely check out it. It parkens back to some of 34 00:01:41,280 --> 00:01:44,719 those old kind of fantasy brawlers from the early days, 35 00:01:44,760 --> 00:01:47,599 even things like Golden Acts or the early like D 36 00:01:47,680 --> 00:01:50,760 and D brawlers like Champions of Mystara and that kind 37 00:01:50,799 --> 00:01:51,079 of thing. 38 00:01:51,680 --> 00:01:53,120 Speaker 3: But man that. 39 00:01:53,079 --> 00:01:56,799 Speaker 2: By adding in a rogue light component to what they're doing, 40 00:01:56,920 --> 00:02:00,120 it's a perfect matchup for the way that you'd want 41 00:02:00,120 --> 00:02:00,359 to have. 42 00:02:00,280 --> 00:02:01,319 Speaker 3: A brawler experience. 43 00:02:02,719 --> 00:02:05,239 Speaker 2: They also have some really fun build crafting as you 44 00:02:05,319 --> 00:02:08,599 go through each run, So you choose your character and 45 00:02:08,639 --> 00:02:11,360 you're going through this big fantasy world and fighting different 46 00:02:11,400 --> 00:02:13,599 bosses and that kind of thing, and as you go, 47 00:02:13,879 --> 00:02:18,039 not unlike Hades, you are selecting a build and different 48 00:02:18,120 --> 00:02:20,439 powers to focus on, and there's a certain level of 49 00:02:20,479 --> 00:02:24,520 like they push you towards cool build combos as you progress, 50 00:02:25,879 --> 00:02:28,479 and they also change the state of the world quite 51 00:02:28,560 --> 00:02:31,800 regularly to advance the story and to change things up 52 00:02:31,840 --> 00:02:33,639 and to give you different paths to pursue and that 53 00:02:33,719 --> 00:02:38,479 kind of thing. It's incredibly fun. I think you're for 54 00:02:38,520 --> 00:02:39,840 a lot of folks when you think about it, beat 55 00:02:39,879 --> 00:02:41,439 them up. You think about a game you might play 56 00:02:41,479 --> 00:02:43,360 for like a few hours and then put down, but 57 00:02:43,400 --> 00:02:45,199 this is a game that you could play for just 58 00:02:46,319 --> 00:02:50,039 dozens of hours. It's a really, really robust, big game, 59 00:02:50,599 --> 00:02:52,879 and I think it's one of those that would be 60 00:02:52,960 --> 00:02:55,719 easy to have gone under the radar in twenty twenty five, 61 00:02:56,400 --> 00:02:58,800 and it should not be missed. You can play at solo, 62 00:02:59,039 --> 00:03:01,680 but you can also play with a friend, either locally 63 00:03:01,800 --> 00:03:06,039 or online. I kind of wish it had for player 64 00:03:06,120 --> 00:03:08,520 that was maybe the be the only thing I kind 65 00:03:08,520 --> 00:03:10,800 of wish that it had that it didn't. But the 66 00:03:10,800 --> 00:03:14,840 game itself has tight combat, it's really fun, it has 67 00:03:14,879 --> 00:03:18,759 this great progression loop. I highly recommend it if you're 68 00:03:18,759 --> 00:03:23,680 looking for a fun kind of fantasy action experience. Another 69 00:03:23,719 --> 00:03:28,199 thing I'm planning to go back to is Assassin's Creed Shadows. 70 00:03:28,759 --> 00:03:31,879 That's a game that, you know, I think it's fair 71 00:03:31,919 --> 00:03:35,560 to say no pun intended here. It was overshadowed, perhaps 72 00:03:35,680 --> 00:03:38,520 by by Ghost later in the year, but I'm a 73 00:03:38,520 --> 00:03:41,319 big Assassin's Creed enthusiast. I really like what they did 74 00:03:41,319 --> 00:03:45,879 with Shadows in a lot of ways. I like the 75 00:03:45,879 --> 00:03:48,199 big open world that they have in that game. There's 76 00:03:48,240 --> 00:03:50,159 a lot of activities to do, and one thing that 77 00:03:50,199 --> 00:03:52,479 I haven't had a chance to really fully explore yet 78 00:03:53,080 --> 00:03:57,360 is the expansion that they released called Clause of Awaji, 79 00:03:58,840 --> 00:04:02,479 that suppose, from what I've heard, helps to wrap up 80 00:04:02,520 --> 00:04:05,960 some of the lingering story threads that got left behind 81 00:04:06,960 --> 00:04:09,439 at the end of the core game, which I think 82 00:04:09,639 --> 00:04:11,960 for myself maybe some other folks who played that game, 83 00:04:12,400 --> 00:04:14,159 it was easy to feel like there was a lot 84 00:04:14,159 --> 00:04:17,920 of build up along certain plot threads that didn't maybe 85 00:04:18,040 --> 00:04:21,720 totally get where it needed to go. And I've heard 86 00:04:21,720 --> 00:04:25,079 that Clause resolves some of that, which I'm stoked about. 87 00:04:25,120 --> 00:04:27,439 And I'm also just excited to go back into that world, 88 00:04:27,800 --> 00:04:31,480 see those characters again, which I like, revisit my my 89 00:04:31,600 --> 00:04:34,120 hideout space that I spent so much time building up. 90 00:04:35,160 --> 00:04:37,079 I think if you played Ghosts this year but you 91 00:04:37,120 --> 00:04:41,279 didn't play ac Shadows, it might be worth thinking about. 92 00:04:41,319 --> 00:04:43,040 Speaker 3: It's it's it would be. 93 00:04:43,040 --> 00:04:46,519 Speaker 2: Easy to overlook it, but I wouldn't do that. It's 94 00:04:46,560 --> 00:04:49,000 it's a it's a cool game. It's a cool advancement 95 00:04:49,040 --> 00:04:55,160 of the Assassin's Creed gameplay style, so I would check 96 00:04:55,199 --> 00:04:59,839 it out. The other I think another game I have 97 00:05:00,120 --> 00:05:05,439 been thoroughly engrossed in for the last year that I 98 00:05:05,879 --> 00:05:09,240 continue to want to sing the praises for is Marvel Rivals. 99 00:05:10,879 --> 00:05:13,759 That has has emerged for me really, I think a 100 00:05:13,759 --> 00:05:15,120 lot of us at this point kind of have like 101 00:05:15,199 --> 00:05:18,480 a hobby game that while I while we're playing other things, 102 00:05:19,639 --> 00:05:22,040 you're also playing this one game that you go in 103 00:05:22,040 --> 00:05:23,560 and you do a few matches, or you do a 104 00:05:23,639 --> 00:05:27,199 few rounds, or you play a raid or whatever. For 105 00:05:27,319 --> 00:05:31,000 me right now, that really is Marvel Rivals. I I 106 00:05:31,079 --> 00:05:34,279 think it scratches that same itch that overwatched it years ago, 107 00:05:34,399 --> 00:05:37,360 but it hits harder for me because I'm a you know, 108 00:05:37,959 --> 00:05:41,839 Marvel Comics enthusiast. I like the third person action, I 109 00:05:41,920 --> 00:05:45,720 like the destructibility, the environment. I really like the art 110 00:05:45,759 --> 00:05:49,360 style of that game. And uh and I think they've 111 00:05:49,360 --> 00:05:51,519 done an awesome job of supporting it here. I mean, 112 00:05:51,600 --> 00:05:53,959 we're about a year in. It's an annivers you know, 113 00:05:53,959 --> 00:05:56,040 it's the anniversary now, first anniversary of. 114 00:05:56,040 --> 00:05:57,040 Speaker 3: The game being out. 115 00:05:57,680 --> 00:06:00,879 Speaker 2: But they have expanded it with new characters, is new maps, 116 00:06:01,279 --> 00:06:06,839 new modes consistently throughout the last twelve months. And I've 117 00:06:06,879 --> 00:06:09,079 found it to be a really rewarding and fun game 118 00:06:09,319 --> 00:06:13,399 to try out different characters and and dive in and 119 00:06:13,680 --> 00:06:16,040 try to get good with one, and you you climb 120 00:06:16,079 --> 00:06:17,920 them up the ladder, and then when you're getting kind 121 00:06:17,920 --> 00:06:20,240 of sick of him, you're like, I'm gonna go, I'm 122 00:06:20,240 --> 00:06:22,959 going to go try to learn this other character now. 123 00:06:24,000 --> 00:06:27,560 And in particular, I'll say that the new character that 124 00:06:27,600 --> 00:06:30,600 they just added, Gambit from the X Men, is a 125 00:06:30,639 --> 00:06:34,360 really really fun healer, a strategist that has some unique 126 00:06:34,360 --> 00:06:38,240 twists on the game, on the gameplay that you're used 127 00:06:38,279 --> 00:06:40,800 to having from a healer. I think he's really rocked 128 00:06:40,879 --> 00:06:43,839 up the meta quite frankly, and in how that game 129 00:06:43,920 --> 00:06:45,759 is playing, you see him in a lot of matches, 130 00:06:45,959 --> 00:06:47,560 so you might be hard, it might be hard to 131 00:06:47,600 --> 00:06:50,839 snag him sometimes at the character select, but. 132 00:06:52,480 --> 00:06:53,000 Speaker 3: He's cool. 133 00:06:53,160 --> 00:06:58,399 Speaker 2: He's a really really interesting variation on the on the concept. 134 00:07:00,079 --> 00:07:02,079 So you know, check that game out if you if 135 00:07:02,079 --> 00:07:05,800 you haven't tried it yet, or if you maybe just 136 00:07:05,839 --> 00:07:08,600 tried it at launch and and had your fun and 137 00:07:09,000 --> 00:07:09,959 went elsewhere, I. 138 00:07:09,959 --> 00:07:11,639 Speaker 3: Think it's worth going back and checking out. 139 00:07:13,759 --> 00:07:16,959 Speaker 2: I do a lot of the tabletop you know, the board, 140 00:07:17,079 --> 00:07:20,040 card tabletop role playing game covers, like all that kind 141 00:07:20,040 --> 00:07:22,399 of stuff here at Game Informer, and so I also 142 00:07:22,399 --> 00:07:24,959 wanted to take this chance to to throw out a 143 00:07:24,959 --> 00:07:29,120 couple of fun recommendations there of things that I'm gonna 144 00:07:29,160 --> 00:07:30,879 be playing over the holidays. 145 00:07:31,040 --> 00:07:33,439 Speaker 3: We're gonna have a lot more of this in. 146 00:07:33,439 --> 00:07:36,120 Speaker 2: This next issue and over the holiday season, and I'm 147 00:07:36,120 --> 00:07:39,480 gonna have some like a top ten tabletop game board 148 00:07:39,519 --> 00:07:43,160 and card games, a separate list about the tabletop RPGs. 149 00:07:42,680 --> 00:07:44,240 Speaker 3: That we're really strong this year. 150 00:07:44,480 --> 00:07:46,480 Speaker 2: So you can keep an eye on GameInformer dot com 151 00:07:46,519 --> 00:07:50,199 and on the magazine issues for that. But in the meantime, 152 00:07:50,240 --> 00:07:51,839 I did want to throw out a couple that were 153 00:07:52,319 --> 00:07:56,040 we're very cool games that I think you could snag 154 00:07:56,120 --> 00:07:58,639 sometime soon if you're looking for something to play with 155 00:07:58,680 --> 00:08:03,600 family and friends and uh and offer some ideas there. 156 00:08:04,759 --> 00:08:07,319 One of those games is Lord of the Rings Fate 157 00:08:07,399 --> 00:08:10,839 of the Fellowship. This is a really slick, cool board game. 158 00:08:11,120 --> 00:08:13,959 It uses the old pandemic system if you've ever played 159 00:08:13,959 --> 00:08:17,480 any of those board games. It's a cooperative game where 160 00:08:17,519 --> 00:08:20,079 you're you know, you're playing the members of the Lord 161 00:08:20,120 --> 00:08:22,240 of the Rings Fellowship as you're trying to save Middle Earth. 162 00:08:22,240 --> 00:08:26,120 You're trying to get proto to throw the Ring into 163 00:08:26,199 --> 00:08:29,279 Mount Doom, all that kind of stuff. But there's different 164 00:08:29,439 --> 00:08:31,560 missions that you have to do in the meantime while 165 00:08:31,680 --> 00:08:35,399 the Armies of Mortar and the Ring Rates are spreading 166 00:08:35,399 --> 00:08:38,240 out across the map. It's a it's a very very 167 00:08:38,240 --> 00:08:40,919 cool twist. It's i would say, maybe the most complex 168 00:08:41,039 --> 00:08:45,000 and interesting variation on that pandemic formula, which has been 169 00:08:45,200 --> 00:08:49,080 very well tread by the publisher. They've they've done that 170 00:08:49,120 --> 00:08:52,279 in a bunch of different themes and and settings. But 171 00:08:52,320 --> 00:08:54,440 this Lord of the Rings one is is very very cool. 172 00:08:55,440 --> 00:08:57,320 Might be hard to track down a copy. I'll say 173 00:08:57,360 --> 00:08:59,759 I had to really search through the local game stores 174 00:08:59,759 --> 00:09:02,720 here the Twin Cities before I found found when I could, 175 00:09:02,759 --> 00:09:06,519 I could snag. But it's it's great. If you want 176 00:09:06,559 --> 00:09:08,720 something that's a little bit more party game, ask for 177 00:09:08,759 --> 00:09:09,399 the holidays. 178 00:09:09,440 --> 00:09:09,919 Speaker 3: I point you. 179 00:09:09,919 --> 00:09:17,879 Speaker 2: Towards chit Chat. Chitchat Is is a fun, little conversation based. 180 00:09:19,159 --> 00:09:20,879 Speaker 3: Game. It's it's cooperative. 181 00:09:20,919 --> 00:09:23,440 Speaker 2: Actually, you are working together with the other people who 182 00:09:23,440 --> 00:09:26,000 are playing, and you're trying to figure out It's like 183 00:09:26,080 --> 00:09:30,080 get trivia questions on the cards that all have numerical answers, 184 00:09:30,440 --> 00:09:32,440 and you don't need to know what the number is. 185 00:09:32,840 --> 00:09:35,200 You need to know how the number fits with the 186 00:09:35,240 --> 00:09:38,240 answers to other questions that that there that might be 187 00:09:38,360 --> 00:09:40,679 on those cards. And so you might have like one 188 00:09:40,679 --> 00:09:43,159 weird trivia question that like the answer is six hundred 189 00:09:43,200 --> 00:09:45,879 and forty three, and another one that the answer is, 190 00:09:46,399 --> 00:09:49,720 you know, two thousand, and you need to know that, 191 00:09:49,799 --> 00:09:51,840 like the six forty three one comes before the two 192 00:09:51,879 --> 00:09:56,679 thousand and one. And it makes for some fun, kind 193 00:09:56,679 --> 00:10:02,399 of absurd conversations, and I think it's worth it's a 194 00:10:02,399 --> 00:10:02,840 good time. 195 00:10:03,240 --> 00:10:04,039 Speaker 3: I like it a lot. 196 00:10:05,440 --> 00:10:09,200 Speaker 2: Another one that I would point folks towards is finn 197 00:10:09,440 --> 00:10:12,720 span Uh. I bet if you even have even a 198 00:10:13,200 --> 00:10:17,000 passing awareness of board games, you've probably heard of wing 199 00:10:17,120 --> 00:10:23,200 span Uh. You know, board games have had some big, 200 00:10:23,759 --> 00:10:27,519 kind of like standout success stories in in the last 201 00:10:28,360 --> 00:10:31,480 decade or so Wingspan was a really really strong board game. 202 00:10:32,399 --> 00:10:35,080 Finn Span is a is a I don't know if 203 00:10:35,080 --> 00:10:38,840 i'd call it a sequel exactly, but it's a it's 204 00:10:38,879 --> 00:10:42,159 the same idea but brought over to fish, where you're 205 00:10:42,600 --> 00:10:45,039 you know, you've got different fish that you're you're hatching 206 00:10:45,080 --> 00:10:53,360 and you're you're growing. Uh this environment, uh, this bias 207 00:10:53,360 --> 00:10:56,480 sphere of fish, and and the way that the different 208 00:10:57,519 --> 00:11:00,720 fish interact and how you grow and how you develop 209 00:11:00,799 --> 00:11:04,720 and try to win the game is really fun. I 210 00:11:04,759 --> 00:11:08,399 think it's one that's worth exploring if you're if you're 211 00:11:08,440 --> 00:11:12,559 looking for a fun one to play with friends. And 212 00:11:12,600 --> 00:11:15,360 the last one I threw out there is a game 213 00:11:15,399 --> 00:11:20,360 called Jungo. This is This is a card game. Yeah, 214 00:11:20,440 --> 00:11:23,080 maybe a little bit in a in the party game sphere, 215 00:11:23,120 --> 00:11:25,919 but maybe a little bit more involved in that kind 216 00:11:25,960 --> 00:11:27,240 of a strategic thing. 217 00:11:28,200 --> 00:11:29,519 Speaker 3: It's one of those games that. 218 00:11:29,480 --> 00:11:32,840 Speaker 2: I often when I've played it, I feel like it's 219 00:11:32,879 --> 00:11:37,000 one of those games that's like like go Fish or 220 00:11:37,120 --> 00:11:39,440 Uno or something like that, that you're while you're playing, 221 00:11:39,480 --> 00:11:41,759 you're like, this totally feels like something that must have 222 00:11:41,799 --> 00:11:45,200 been around for decades, but it's not. It's a new game. 223 00:11:45,480 --> 00:11:48,240 It's very cool. It's very easy to learn. It has 224 00:11:48,279 --> 00:11:50,840 to do the jungle name comes because all the cards 225 00:11:50,840 --> 00:11:53,919 are monkey themed. It's a very very light theme that 226 00:11:53,960 --> 00:11:56,879 doesn't doesn't do much. The fun is actually that the 227 00:11:57,759 --> 00:12:01,320 numeric quality of things, because each of the cards has 228 00:12:01,639 --> 00:12:06,480 UH has a number on it, and you're trying to 229 00:12:06,559 --> 00:12:12,200 create larger sets or higher sets in your hand that 230 00:12:12,240 --> 00:12:14,000 you can then play out onto the table. And so 231 00:12:14,080 --> 00:12:18,759 if there's like two two's on the table, then you 232 00:12:18,799 --> 00:12:24,639 could play you know, three threes onto the table or 233 00:12:24,639 --> 00:12:26,960 something like that. And so you're you're always trying to 234 00:12:27,759 --> 00:12:29,720 up the ante of what's been played out of. 235 00:12:29,720 --> 00:12:31,440 Speaker 3: The table to get rid of all your cards. 236 00:12:31,720 --> 00:12:34,279 Speaker 2: You're not allowed to rearrange the cards in your hand, 237 00:12:34,320 --> 00:12:35,960 which is kind of the one of the other twists 238 00:12:36,000 --> 00:12:38,399 on the experience. It makes me a really fun kind 239 00:12:38,399 --> 00:12:41,320 of tactical play, but something that you can play quickly 240 00:12:41,440 --> 00:12:44,519 in between rounds of other larger board games if you're 241 00:12:44,519 --> 00:12:46,279 having like a board game get together with your friends. 242 00:12:47,039 --> 00:12:49,120 I think it's one of the coolest new card games 243 00:12:49,120 --> 00:12:52,960 in the last year and one that's worth checking out. 244 00:12:53,919 --> 00:12:54,519 Speaker 3: So there you go. 245 00:12:54,799 --> 00:12:56,480 Speaker 2: That's some of the stuff I'm gonna be digging into 246 00:12:56,679 --> 00:12:59,639 over the Thanksgiving break and in the holidays. 247 00:12:59,720 --> 00:13:00,440 Speaker 3: Be that. 248 00:13:01,080 --> 00:13:06,120 Speaker 2: I hope everybody has a really awesome holiday coming up. 249 00:13:06,200 --> 00:13:09,639 Speaker 3: And hey, thanks for following along with Game Informer. We 250 00:13:09,840 --> 00:13:10,799 really appreciate it. 251 00:13:11,480 --> 00:13:15,840 Speaker 4: Hie everybody, Hey, everybody, Marcus Stewart here, and yes, by 252 00:13:15,879 --> 00:13:18,039 the time you're listening to this, I am probably knee 253 00:13:18,039 --> 00:13:21,320 deep and a bunch of Thanksgiving food and catching the 254 00:13:21,360 --> 00:13:23,799 itis and passing out on a cap somewhere. But when 255 00:13:23,799 --> 00:13:26,120 I'm not doing that, I do plan to spend this 256 00:13:26,240 --> 00:13:30,559 Thanksgiving break playing a bunch of games. Probably it'll be 257 00:13:30,600 --> 00:13:33,519 a mixture of new stuff that I haven't touched yet 258 00:13:33,559 --> 00:13:36,440 from this year, as well as making my way through 259 00:13:36,480 --> 00:13:39,720 my twenty twenty five backlog. One of the games I'm 260 00:13:39,759 --> 00:13:42,240 definitely gonna be spending more time with is Hades two. 261 00:13:42,799 --> 00:13:45,200 I have completed a few runs. I still have not 262 00:13:45,759 --> 00:13:48,120 finished the full game, but I'm having a blast with it. 263 00:13:48,240 --> 00:13:51,480 As a Giant Hades fan, I am very happy with 264 00:13:51,480 --> 00:13:53,879 what Super Giant has accomplished with this sequel, so I 265 00:13:53,879 --> 00:13:56,600 will definitely be putting in more runs than that. I'll 266 00:13:56,600 --> 00:13:59,279 also be working my way through Holiday Silk Song, which 267 00:13:59,559 --> 00:14:02,440 regret I have not played as much as I've been 268 00:14:02,639 --> 00:14:05,159 wanting to just because I've been tied up with other games, 269 00:14:05,799 --> 00:14:07,600 but I did pick it back up recently and I've 270 00:14:07,679 --> 00:14:09,679 kind of found my groove again, so I want to 271 00:14:09,759 --> 00:14:12,720 kind of continue that momentum keep working my way through 272 00:14:12,799 --> 00:14:15,159 that game. I still have a ways to go. And 273 00:14:15,200 --> 00:14:17,440 it's also great because it's a good podcast game. As 274 00:14:17,519 --> 00:14:18,919 much as I do like the music and I game, 275 00:14:19,039 --> 00:14:23,399 I do like putting it on when I'm watching or 276 00:14:23,440 --> 00:14:27,279 not investead of necessarily watching something, but listening to a podcast, 277 00:14:27,360 --> 00:14:30,080 if for no other reason, because it distracts me from 278 00:14:30,120 --> 00:14:34,120 all the constant deaths and failures and sort of alleviates 279 00:14:34,320 --> 00:14:37,519 the frustration that comes with that. In terms of stuff 280 00:14:37,519 --> 00:14:40,559 that I want to try to start for the first time, 281 00:14:41,200 --> 00:14:44,200 I've been sitting on wander Stop for a few months now. 282 00:14:44,240 --> 00:14:46,799 This is the game by I believe, the creator of 283 00:14:46,879 --> 00:14:51,360 the Stanley Parable, and it's sort of the sort of 284 00:14:51,399 --> 00:14:56,320 like Cozy Shop like Owner game, but it's stars like 285 00:14:56,360 --> 00:15:00,279 a Soldier and the story gets into some PTSD some 286 00:15:00,360 --> 00:15:02,960 burnout themes that I think is really interesting. I know 287 00:15:03,039 --> 00:15:04,879 Kyle was a fan of it, so I definitely want 288 00:15:04,919 --> 00:15:07,120 to try that. And then I've also been sitting on 289 00:15:07,120 --> 00:15:10,279 and consume me cool indie game that kind of touches 290 00:15:10,320 --> 00:15:14,600 on eating disorders and sort of like, you know the 291 00:15:14,639 --> 00:15:18,720 negative effects of that. Two smaller games, but twos that 292 00:15:18,759 --> 00:15:20,720 I've really wanted to get to, So those will probably 293 00:15:20,759 --> 00:15:24,919 be on docket, and then who knows what else. Like honestly, 294 00:15:24,960 --> 00:15:26,679 even the game was saying, now, who knows how much 295 00:15:26,720 --> 00:15:28,440 I'll play, if any of them, or if I'll commit 296 00:15:28,480 --> 00:15:30,440 to them, because a part of my himself wants to 297 00:15:30,480 --> 00:15:32,559 fire up the Call of Duty seven or Black Ops 298 00:15:32,559 --> 00:15:36,200 seven campaign and run through that. Thanksgiving Day we'll be 299 00:15:36,279 --> 00:15:40,000 at with family and friends, probably play some Jackbox and 300 00:15:40,120 --> 00:15:43,000 Mario Kart, maybe some Team Sonic Racing. Who knows. It's 301 00:15:43,039 --> 00:15:45,120 going to be a bunch of stuff. As much as 302 00:15:45,159 --> 00:15:47,759 Thanksgiving is about eating a bunch of food, it's just 303 00:15:47,799 --> 00:15:49,440 as much about playing a bunch of games for me. 304 00:15:49,639 --> 00:15:51,440 So I'm excited to dive into it. It should be 305 00:15:51,480 --> 00:15:53,559 a great holiday in general, and I hope all of 306 00:15:53,600 --> 00:15:57,320 you watching and listening have a lovely Thanksgiving yourselves. 307 00:15:57,559 --> 00:16:03,399 Speaker 5: Hey there, Kyle Hilliard, game in former magazine executive editor. Yeah, 308 00:16:03,840 --> 00:16:08,519 we're recording individual thoughts on kind of you know, Thanksgiving 309 00:16:08,600 --> 00:16:12,639 games and games throughout the year, and maybe games that 310 00:16:12,720 --> 00:16:16,000 didn't get a lot of highlighting. One that sticks out 311 00:16:16,039 --> 00:16:19,559 for me that I don't think I talked about it all, 312 00:16:19,639 --> 00:16:23,000 whether that was Game Informer or even you know where 313 00:16:23,039 --> 00:16:27,000 I contribute over at mid Max as well is Blade Chimera, 314 00:16:27,200 --> 00:16:29,399 which came out early in the year. I'm actually gonna 315 00:16:29,440 --> 00:16:33,440 google the release date for it because it really passed 316 00:16:33,480 --> 00:16:38,840 me by. Blade Chimera one word technically came out January sixteenth, 317 00:16:38,960 --> 00:16:41,320 So this is this is this is like an early 318 00:16:41,360 --> 00:16:45,919 twenty twenty five game, one of the earliest, but it's cool. 319 00:16:46,039 --> 00:16:51,360 It's it is a metroid Vania. It has just fantastic 320 00:16:52,039 --> 00:16:56,399 pixel animation, just like awesome looking sprites, a lot of 321 00:16:56,600 --> 00:17:00,279 Symphony of the Night inspiration in a huge way in 322 00:17:00,320 --> 00:17:03,399 the way your primary character moves. But you have a gun, 323 00:17:03,759 --> 00:17:05,960 which is kind of what sets it apart from Symphony 324 00:17:05,960 --> 00:17:08,279 of the Night is you do have a blade, but 325 00:17:08,319 --> 00:17:12,279 you also have a gun, and it when I explain 326 00:17:12,319 --> 00:17:13,839 it or when I pitch it this way, and I 327 00:17:13,880 --> 00:17:16,079 don't know, maybe it's not very exciting, but a lot 328 00:17:16,119 --> 00:17:18,799 of the combat, at least the gun combat, is you 329 00:17:18,920 --> 00:17:21,720 kind of slowly walking on a two D plane and 330 00:17:21,799 --> 00:17:24,559 like just like loading up enemies with bullets as you're 331 00:17:24,599 --> 00:17:27,599 kind of like walking and reloading, and it's just very 332 00:17:27,640 --> 00:17:30,519 satisfying and it looks cool, and it's kind of gives 333 00:17:30,559 --> 00:17:33,519 that symphony of the night vibe, but with guns, which 334 00:17:33,559 --> 00:17:35,599 is unique, and I don't get that a lot. There 335 00:17:35,640 --> 00:17:40,119 are certainly plenty of Metroid inspired games jump, you know, 336 00:17:40,200 --> 00:17:43,279 search action games that have guns, but I don't know. 337 00:17:43,319 --> 00:17:45,119 This one just felt a little unique, and I just 338 00:17:45,160 --> 00:17:46,920 I love the way it looks. I'm a sucker for 339 00:17:47,000 --> 00:17:49,920 great pixel art, and this is a game with great 340 00:17:50,000 --> 00:17:56,319 pixel art. And in the face of an upcoming Metroid 341 00:17:56,839 --> 00:18:01,160 this year, and Hollow Night is the big one Silksong, 342 00:18:02,279 --> 00:18:04,039 I do fear that Blade Chimera will get a little 343 00:18:04,079 --> 00:18:08,440 left behind because it is a pixelated Metroid inspired game. 344 00:18:09,039 --> 00:18:11,480 And if a lot of folks, if they're gonna spend 345 00:18:11,519 --> 00:18:14,359 time with a Metro inspired game, they're probably gonna play 346 00:18:14,400 --> 00:18:16,720 Metroid or they're gonna play Hollow Night Silksong, which are 347 00:18:16,759 --> 00:18:20,759 great games, absolutely, But I was kind of getting frustrated 348 00:18:20,799 --> 00:18:24,519 with Hollow Night silk Song in that it's in that 349 00:18:24,559 --> 00:18:27,000 it's a very difficult game, and when it came out. 350 00:18:27,079 --> 00:18:29,440 I eagerly downloaded it and I was excited to play it, 351 00:18:29,440 --> 00:18:31,079 but I found I just was not in the state 352 00:18:31,119 --> 00:18:33,799 of mind to be challenged in that way. I just 353 00:18:33,839 --> 00:18:36,319 wasn't in the mood for that. I'm sure I will 354 00:18:36,359 --> 00:18:38,640 get back to Hollow Night at some point before the 355 00:18:38,680 --> 00:18:41,200 end of the year and spend more time with it, 356 00:18:41,240 --> 00:18:43,720 but I just was like, Ah, I like this two 357 00:18:43,799 --> 00:18:47,039 D action. I want to explore a big map, but 358 00:18:47,079 --> 00:18:48,759 I just don't know if I want to be challenged 359 00:18:48,759 --> 00:18:50,319 this month. I don't know if I want to keep 360 00:18:50,359 --> 00:18:52,319 fighting the same bosses over and over and over and 361 00:18:52,319 --> 00:18:54,799 over again. And I kind of landed on Blade Chimra. 362 00:18:54,839 --> 00:18:56,440 I've been playing on I'm playing it's a switch one 363 00:18:56,480 --> 00:18:59,759 game I've been playing on my switch to and I 364 00:18:59,880 --> 00:19:02,599 just I really got into it. I didn't It's it 365 00:19:02,720 --> 00:19:04,960 just hit that sort of like that thing that I 366 00:19:05,079 --> 00:19:08,039 wanted in the moment of like a search action game 367 00:19:08,519 --> 00:19:12,720 that wasn't just so punishing. In Blade Chimera, the handful 368 00:19:12,759 --> 00:19:15,880 of bosses that I that I've defeated have taken me 369 00:19:16,039 --> 00:19:18,680 like at most two to three tries, you know, with 370 00:19:18,680 --> 00:19:21,400 a couple of just one. And it's and that's the design. 371 00:19:21,519 --> 00:19:23,839 It's it's not meant to sort of frustrate you, but 372 00:19:23,920 --> 00:19:26,079 it's it's satisfying that it looks great, and it's got 373 00:19:26,160 --> 00:19:29,839 kind of an interesting story. You're like an amnesiac soldier 374 00:19:29,880 --> 00:19:32,440 who has like a demon who's kind of connected to you. 375 00:19:32,480 --> 00:19:35,680 Which is funny because Possessors, which came out later in 376 00:19:35,720 --> 00:19:38,400 the year, kind of had sort of a similar sort 377 00:19:38,400 --> 00:19:41,680 of utterly set up. But I'm sure they differentiate themselves 378 00:19:41,759 --> 00:19:45,599 quite a bit. But yeah, Blade Chimera, I I would 379 00:19:45,599 --> 00:19:47,480 recommend it, but I don't know if it's going to 380 00:19:47,559 --> 00:19:50,000 be on a lot of like end of the year 381 00:19:50,599 --> 00:19:53,119 games and or end of the year lists and things 382 00:19:53,160 --> 00:19:56,440 like that, including game informers. I don't I don't think 383 00:19:56,440 --> 00:19:58,200 we have a We put a side space for it, 384 00:19:58,240 --> 00:19:59,839 which would have been my call. I would have been 385 00:19:59,839 --> 00:20:01,839 the on to st step up four. But this is 386 00:20:01,880 --> 00:20:03,519 I think this is a good platform to talk about 387 00:20:03,519 --> 00:20:06,119 play time here. I also want to use this opportunity 388 00:20:06,480 --> 00:20:11,240 to talk about Thanksgiving memories because it is a holiday 389 00:20:11,279 --> 00:20:17,559 that I associate with video games in a huge way. Nowadays, 390 00:20:17,799 --> 00:20:20,759 I feel like we get big releases throughout the year. 391 00:20:21,559 --> 00:20:24,559 February and March have weirdly become these windows for like 392 00:20:24,680 --> 00:20:28,000 huge releases. But certainly when I was growing up, certainly 393 00:20:28,039 --> 00:20:30,119 when I was in high school and most in part 394 00:20:30,119 --> 00:20:33,039 of college, it felt like when you know, when retail 395 00:20:33,359 --> 00:20:36,400 was still huge part of video game sales, and like, 396 00:20:36,519 --> 00:20:39,720 you know, the Xbox Live Arcade was not quite a 397 00:20:39,759 --> 00:20:43,559 thing yet. Steam wasn't really quite a thing yet. I mean, 398 00:20:43,599 --> 00:20:46,119 certainly Steam started in two thousand and four, but you know, 399 00:20:46,319 --> 00:20:48,480 it took a couple of years to sort of become popular. 400 00:20:48,680 --> 00:20:51,720 All that to say is a lot of huge games 401 00:20:51,759 --> 00:20:54,000 would come out in November. The games that you were 402 00:20:54,039 --> 00:20:58,599 looking forward to all year dropped in November. And in 403 00:20:58,680 --> 00:21:02,160 high school and from me in college later it became 404 00:21:02,240 --> 00:21:05,799 this window. It became this dedicated video game window where 405 00:21:06,119 --> 00:21:07,680 I at least had a couple of days where I 406 00:21:07,680 --> 00:21:12,119 could fully focus in on a video game. And I remember, 407 00:21:12,119 --> 00:21:14,720 in particular in college, I remember it was a lot 408 00:21:14,720 --> 00:21:16,960 of you know, my friends at least, like we all 409 00:21:17,039 --> 00:21:19,519 kind of dispersed and went to colleges that were all 410 00:21:19,519 --> 00:21:22,559 a couple hours away, and then Thanksgiving break rolled around 411 00:21:22,599 --> 00:21:25,599 and we all kind of reconvened, and that is how 412 00:21:25,640 --> 00:21:28,559 we played games. Like Halo two was you know, we 413 00:21:28,559 --> 00:21:32,640 were a big Land party Halo group, and then you know, 414 00:21:32,720 --> 00:21:35,119 Halo two came out while we were all in college, 415 00:21:35,160 --> 00:21:37,240 and then we kind of came back together and all 416 00:21:37,279 --> 00:21:40,640 played Halo two together during the break kind of locally, 417 00:21:40,680 --> 00:21:42,119 which was like a lot of fun. I also have 418 00:21:42,799 --> 00:21:48,000 specific memories of Fable, the original Fable. I remember starting 419 00:21:48,000 --> 00:21:54,799 it in college and then really going all in on it, 420 00:21:54,839 --> 00:21:58,119 like coming home for the Thanksgiving break from college and 421 00:21:58,279 --> 00:22:02,160 just going all in on Fable and just being like 422 00:22:02,759 --> 00:22:06,759 just letting myself get fully lost in that world. And 423 00:22:07,200 --> 00:22:09,160 it's one of those games that for a long time, 424 00:22:09,200 --> 00:22:10,839 I was like, I wish I could delete the part 425 00:22:10,880 --> 00:22:12,799 of my brain that played Fable so I could play 426 00:22:12,799 --> 00:22:15,559 it again, because I really just have a fond memory 427 00:22:16,000 --> 00:22:20,119 of just you know, very limited responsibilities and just like 428 00:22:20,240 --> 00:22:22,799 not having school deadlines or anything and just playing a 429 00:22:22,799 --> 00:22:25,359 lot of Fable. And then you know, Meddle Gear Solid 430 00:22:25,359 --> 00:22:29,519 three was another one of those where I just had 431 00:22:29,759 --> 00:22:33,119 I hadn't started metal Gear Solid three because metal Gear 432 00:22:33,160 --> 00:22:34,880 Solid one and two were so important to me that 433 00:22:34,960 --> 00:22:37,839 I wanted to give Medle Gear Solid three sort of 434 00:22:37,880 --> 00:22:41,160 the full attention that it deserves. And it was a 435 00:22:41,200 --> 00:22:43,119 game that I kind of waited until I had some 436 00:22:43,319 --> 00:22:46,960 time off to play, and to my memory, that happened 437 00:22:47,000 --> 00:22:49,240 around Thanksgiving. But now as I'm saying it aloud, I'm 438 00:22:49,279 --> 00:22:51,119 kind of like, wait, hold on, did that come out 439 00:22:51,160 --> 00:22:54,079 around Thanksgiving? Did I make that up? Maybe it was 440 00:22:54,119 --> 00:22:56,559 maybe that was more of a Christmas break game for me. 441 00:22:56,680 --> 00:22:58,799 When what specific month did it come out? I came 442 00:22:58,799 --> 00:23:03,200 out November seventeenth. Yeah, that was like you know right there, 443 00:23:03,359 --> 00:23:05,640 Like I picked it up and I probably waited a 444 00:23:05,640 --> 00:23:07,519 couple of days until the week that I finally had 445 00:23:07,559 --> 00:23:12,799 talent to time off to finally play Metal Gearssault three. 446 00:23:13,160 --> 00:23:16,440 But unfortunately, in that time I read a lot about it, 447 00:23:16,480 --> 00:23:19,200 and many elements of the game I had spoiled them 448 00:23:19,200 --> 00:23:21,920 for myself. So I remember playing through uh meddle Gear's 449 00:23:21,960 --> 00:23:24,839 Sult three and being like, wow, that's really cool. Kind 450 00:23:24,839 --> 00:23:26,759 of wish I hadn't read about that. I wish I 451 00:23:26,759 --> 00:23:30,720 hadn't done that to myself. So but you know, that's 452 00:23:30,720 --> 00:23:34,559 my own problem. But anyway, Hey, thanks for supporting Game 453 00:23:34,559 --> 00:23:37,160 Informer this year. This is an odd year for Game Informer. 454 00:23:37,200 --> 00:23:41,319 We came back in February after the blip. We've come 455 00:23:41,359 --> 00:23:45,400 to kind of call it because we've kind of disappeared 456 00:23:45,440 --> 00:23:48,079 for a while, but we're back. People have been very 457 00:23:48,079 --> 00:23:52,960 supportive and it's been heartwarming, and I have confidence about 458 00:23:52,960 --> 00:23:55,960 the future Game Informer for the first time in a while. Frankly, 459 00:23:56,920 --> 00:23:58,759 I'm happy with the way things are going, and I'm 460 00:23:58,799 --> 00:24:01,240 happy to be writing about video games again. And I'm 461 00:24:01,319 --> 00:24:06,400 very happy that you can find Game Informer on store shelves, 462 00:24:06,680 --> 00:24:09,160 which is which is a wild thing. Never during my 463 00:24:09,920 --> 00:24:13,319 time at Game Informer has that been a thing. So yeah, 464 00:24:13,359 --> 00:24:14,920 you know, go to your local Barnes and Noble, pick 465 00:24:15,000 --> 00:24:17,319 up a copy of Game Informer. What a strange thing 466 00:24:17,400 --> 00:24:20,759 to pitch, What a strange thing to plug that shouldn't 467 00:24:20,759 --> 00:24:24,839 be odd at all. But hey, thanks, thanks everybody. I 468 00:24:24,839 --> 00:24:27,200 hope you have an awesome year. We'll be back before 469 00:24:27,240 --> 00:24:28,839 the year concludes, and we'll you know, we have a 470 00:24:28,839 --> 00:24:30,680 lot more end of the year game to talk about. 471 00:24:30,680 --> 00:24:33,400 But check out Blake Kimera and check out now You're 472 00:24:33,480 --> 00:24:37,039 Solid three Delta and think of me playing it during 473 00:24:37,079 --> 00:24:38,559 Thanksgiving and having a wonderful time. 474 00:24:39,039 --> 00:24:39,920 Speaker 3: All right, thank you. 475 00:24:41,559 --> 00:24:44,839 Speaker 1: Hey, it's Alex Van Aiken, senior video editor here at 476 00:24:44,880 --> 00:24:47,119 Game and form're talking about the games I'm going to 477 00:24:47,160 --> 00:24:49,640 be playing over the holidays. Number one I think for 478 00:24:49,720 --> 00:24:52,720 me is I really want to get to Morsels, which 479 00:24:52,839 --> 00:24:57,599 is a creature collector rogue Light. It's developed by Ferkula. 480 00:24:58,000 --> 00:24:59,519 I've met a few of the folks on that team, 481 00:24:59,559 --> 00:25:05,160 Toby and Sam Webster, the sound designer and composer who 482 00:25:05,200 --> 00:25:08,920 also worked on Grindstone. So if you know that soundtrack, 483 00:25:09,359 --> 00:25:12,839 you should really check out Morsels because Sam has also 484 00:25:12,920 --> 00:25:14,519 done all of the sound design in this game, as 485 00:25:14,519 --> 00:25:17,720 well as the music. So I'm really looking forward to 486 00:25:18,000 --> 00:25:21,039 playing this. Finally, I've played demos at various events in 487 00:25:21,079 --> 00:25:24,319 the past, and it finally just released on the eighteenth, 488 00:25:24,359 --> 00:25:27,799 just last week, and Yeah, I'm in the mood for 489 00:25:27,880 --> 00:25:35,079 something weird and something fun and gritty and grimy. The 490 00:25:35,200 --> 00:25:40,440 art style is excessive, and in the best way for 491 00:25:40,480 --> 00:25:44,640 folks who might not be unaware. Toby Dixon worked on 492 00:25:45,359 --> 00:25:48,880 Kndhog two and Atomic Crops, and so there's a lot 493 00:25:48,880 --> 00:25:52,079 of that DNA here and Morsels. You know, really neat 494 00:25:52,160 --> 00:25:59,039 scan lines and color gradients over top of really really 495 00:25:59,160 --> 00:26:03,240 detailed and gorgeous pixel art. Everything just has like this 496 00:26:03,359 --> 00:26:06,519 oozy vibe to it. You're playing these creatures that are 497 00:26:06,559 --> 00:26:09,279 like it's like you're kind of in a sewer system, 498 00:26:09,279 --> 00:26:11,680 it feels like, and you're coming across these creatures that 499 00:26:12,359 --> 00:26:16,480 you'll be able to collect to get past certain challenges, 500 00:26:17,240 --> 00:26:19,599 and they'll kind of evolve over time in really fun ways. 501 00:26:20,200 --> 00:26:23,119 I really enjoyed the demos, like I said, and I'm 502 00:26:23,160 --> 00:26:25,000 dying to play the full release. I have that actually 503 00:26:25,079 --> 00:26:30,599 up here on my switch to loaded up, and yeah, 504 00:26:30,720 --> 00:26:33,799 I can't wait to give Morsels another try, but for 505 00:26:33,839 --> 00:26:37,279 real this time. Another game I'm looking forward to getting 506 00:26:37,319 --> 00:26:39,240 to is a game that I started actually when it 507 00:26:39,359 --> 00:26:44,720 launched in July. It's from Bubby dark Star, who's a 508 00:26:45,200 --> 00:26:50,400 really well known indie developer who worked on Subway Midnight 509 00:26:51,519 --> 00:26:54,880 and Bubby has also put out a lot of Itch 510 00:26:54,920 --> 00:26:57,880 titles over the years. I'm pretty sure, just like if 511 00:26:57,920 --> 00:27:00,119 you're in the indie space, you probably heard of them, 512 00:27:00,160 --> 00:27:02,960 and if you haven't, you should definitely familiarize yourself because 513 00:27:02,960 --> 00:27:07,880 I do really neat work. Over over the summer, Bubby 514 00:27:07,960 --> 00:27:12,759 dark Star put out a like a hand drawn FPS 515 00:27:13,759 --> 00:27:21,240 slash like narrative game, and the art style is it's 516 00:27:21,279 --> 00:27:23,880 it's two D and it's almost like a boomer shooter 517 00:27:23,960 --> 00:27:31,039 and where everything is on billboards. So like billboards is 518 00:27:31,079 --> 00:27:34,440 like a term often used and game designed to talk 519 00:27:34,440 --> 00:27:38,000 about like a a sprite or a two D image 520 00:27:38,400 --> 00:27:40,960 that is always facing the player. It's kind of like 521 00:27:41,000 --> 00:27:47,319 what gives classic like Boomer shooters like that vibe where like, 522 00:27:47,559 --> 00:27:49,880 you know, everywhere you look the enemy is always facing you. 523 00:27:50,359 --> 00:27:53,359 That's kind of what what that what that's from? 524 00:27:54,160 --> 00:27:54,359 Speaker 2: Uh? 525 00:27:54,400 --> 00:27:57,240 Speaker 1: And and and Shooty Shooty. Robot Invasion does a similar 526 00:27:57,680 --> 00:27:59,519 sort of tech and it's it's kind of like this. 527 00:28:00,400 --> 00:28:09,039 The art style brings about this really new, feeling, uncanny 528 00:28:09,079 --> 00:28:13,680 and irrelevant vibe. You're essentially like there's robots invading and 529 00:28:13,759 --> 00:28:17,359 you're you're defending Earth, you know, but there's all these 530 00:28:17,400 --> 00:28:22,519 like weird, interesting characters who are asking favors for you 531 00:28:22,720 --> 00:28:27,000 of you and and amitst like this in this Invasion. 532 00:28:27,000 --> 00:28:29,599 It's a really it's a really cool looking game, and 533 00:28:29,640 --> 00:28:32,119 it's one that I wish I had put more time 534 00:28:32,160 --> 00:28:35,160 into when A launched. So I'm planning to to go 535 00:28:35,279 --> 00:28:38,160 back and check that out this holiday. I also know, 536 00:28:39,000 --> 00:28:42,440 you know, probably Dark Star, Uh you know, I I 537 00:28:42,640 --> 00:28:44,000 want to see them make more stuff, and so I 538 00:28:44,000 --> 00:28:46,240 want to I want to support them, and especially shout 539 00:28:46,279 --> 00:28:49,000 them out here on this this podcast hopefully get some 540 00:28:49,000 --> 00:28:50,720 more people checking out that game, because I think it's 541 00:28:50,759 --> 00:28:56,559 definitely worth checking out Shooty Shooty Robot Invasion. What else 542 00:28:56,720 --> 00:28:59,079 I I I have been playing. I'm back on League 543 00:28:59,079 --> 00:29:03,480 of Legends with one Eric Van Allen, fellow video editor 544 00:29:03,480 --> 00:29:06,920 here at a Game Informer, and we've been playing a RAMU, 545 00:29:07,079 --> 00:29:11,440 specifically a new mode called Mayhem, which is a if 546 00:29:11,440 --> 00:29:13,000 you don't know what a ram is, and if you 547 00:29:13,039 --> 00:29:14,880 don't know what the League of Legends, League of Legends 548 00:29:14,920 --> 00:29:19,799 is or the specifics of it, it's a mobia and 549 00:29:20,519 --> 00:29:24,079 which means you are controlling a hero character and helping 550 00:29:24,400 --> 00:29:34,119 to escort escort these grunt like AI minions uh to 551 00:29:35,079 --> 00:29:36,839 eventually like if they if they make it far enough, 552 00:29:37,079 --> 00:29:39,680 they'll kind of take out enemy towers and you have 553 00:29:39,720 --> 00:29:41,599 to kind of use them to get close to a tower, 554 00:29:41,599 --> 00:29:44,640 otherwise you'll take tower shots and die. And so both 555 00:29:44,640 --> 00:29:47,759 teams are trying to do this and slowly dismantle the 556 00:29:47,759 --> 00:29:52,839 the other team's defenses and and eventually you get to 557 00:29:53,599 --> 00:29:55,359 if you if you get rid of all their towers 558 00:29:55,440 --> 00:29:57,720 and and there are other structures you can take out 559 00:29:57,759 --> 00:30:01,079 their their nexus, their core at their base and win 560 00:30:01,160 --> 00:30:05,519 the game, and ARAM simplifies the concept. Usually in the 561 00:30:05,559 --> 00:30:08,319 League of Legends there are three lanes. It's where like 562 00:30:08,319 --> 00:30:10,240 stay in your lane. You know, a lot of people 563 00:30:10,240 --> 00:30:13,000 say stay in your lane. Well, there's only one lane 564 00:30:13,000 --> 00:30:16,519 in a RAM, and it goes to it goes to 565 00:30:16,559 --> 00:30:19,119 the base, and there's there's there's fewer towers and such. 566 00:30:19,200 --> 00:30:23,519 But it's really a sped up version of a regular 567 00:30:23,599 --> 00:30:26,160 League of Legends game, and it's usually pretty chaotic because 568 00:30:27,000 --> 00:30:32,960 typically you're playing characters like randomized characters. You don't know 569 00:30:33,160 --> 00:30:36,240 who you're gonna play, uh, and you kind of have 570 00:30:36,319 --> 00:30:39,200 a like small pool of characters to choose from that 571 00:30:39,240 --> 00:30:42,599 your team has, and it's just like a fun chaotic way. 572 00:30:42,599 --> 00:30:44,920 You get a lot of team comps that that are 573 00:30:44,960 --> 00:30:49,480 normally not not played do do like sort of like 574 00:30:49,599 --> 00:30:57,880 roll Q and stuff. But Mayhem is a version of 575 00:30:57,880 --> 00:31:00,000 of a RAM that's even more zany. And then they've 576 00:31:00,079 --> 00:31:05,079 kind of introduced similar I guess I've heard some friends 577 00:31:05,119 --> 00:31:08,279 call it like almost like rogue light perks. I don't 578 00:31:08,319 --> 00:31:10,640 know if it's I wouldn't necessari say like rogue Light, 579 00:31:10,759 --> 00:31:16,240 but like you're getting like a series of six perks 580 00:31:16,880 --> 00:31:19,640 every so often throughout the game, and you're like, they 581 00:31:19,640 --> 00:31:22,960 are like game breaking things, like they are increase your 582 00:31:23,079 --> 00:31:26,279 range by two hundred and fifty, so suddenly a melee 583 00:31:26,400 --> 00:31:32,839 character can hit you from across the field or turn 584 00:31:33,000 --> 00:31:36,599 into a tiny version of yourself. And the bigger your 585 00:31:36,640 --> 00:31:40,759 opponents are, the more like distance and scale difference in 586 00:31:40,759 --> 00:31:43,440 scale between you and your opponents, the more damage you do. 587 00:31:43,599 --> 00:31:47,839 It's like really fun, silly, stupid kind of augments to 588 00:31:48,880 --> 00:31:51,839 the base normal game, and it's a lot of fun. 589 00:31:52,319 --> 00:31:54,680 It's you can really make some busted characters. You also, 590 00:31:54,799 --> 00:31:58,759 you know, you can make some pretty you can make 591 00:31:58,799 --> 00:32:02,119 some duds, which I often do, but I still have 592 00:32:02,160 --> 00:32:04,799 a lot of fun. There's like very little stakes. It's 593 00:32:04,880 --> 00:32:07,759 just a fun way to explore the game and and 594 00:32:07,839 --> 00:32:10,319 to learn learn more about characters that you normally normally 595 00:32:10,359 --> 00:32:13,000 don't play because there are there are hundreds of characters 596 00:32:13,039 --> 00:32:16,559 in the League of Legends, and so yeah, I'm really 597 00:32:16,640 --> 00:32:20,319 enjoying Legal Legends a RAM. Similarly, another update to an 598 00:32:20,359 --> 00:32:24,160 existing game I've been playing, uh, you know, Fortnite Simpsons 599 00:32:24,200 --> 00:32:28,480 having a lot of fun exploring Springfield, as as Marge 600 00:32:28,519 --> 00:32:33,119 and and Bart in them, And I think Fortnite continues 601 00:32:33,160 --> 00:32:36,279 to to impress me with just like the level of 602 00:32:36,279 --> 00:32:40,200 detail that they bring when when partnering with with some 603 00:32:40,240 --> 00:32:42,960 of these big ip I think it's funny that, you know, 604 00:32:43,359 --> 00:32:48,039 other other collaborations, you know, they'll transform a couple of zones, 605 00:32:48,039 --> 00:32:51,000 I'll introduce some characters or like a new ability or something, 606 00:32:51,440 --> 00:32:55,799 whereas Simpsons, the entire level is just the Simpsons everything 607 00:32:55,880 --> 00:32:58,400 is in it and more of a Simpsons art style. 608 00:32:59,000 --> 00:33:02,440 You've got you know, the factory and the neighborhoods of 609 00:33:02,440 --> 00:33:06,400 Springfield and all that, uh and and that's it. Like 610 00:33:06,440 --> 00:33:10,480 there's no regular non Simpsons POI and so it like 611 00:33:10,799 --> 00:33:16,880 makes our very immersive and silly experience. But yeah, I 612 00:33:16,880 --> 00:33:19,160 think I think I'm gonna pass it to another editor, 613 00:33:19,240 --> 00:33:20,119 or maybe I'm at the end. 614 00:33:20,160 --> 00:33:20,519 Speaker 6: I don't know. 615 00:33:21,640 --> 00:33:23,279 Speaker 1: But thank you for checking out the show this week. 616 00:33:23,319 --> 00:33:25,519 It really means a lot, and we hope that this 617 00:33:25,640 --> 00:33:29,480 was like a fun way too for us to kind 618 00:33:29,480 --> 00:33:31,519 of share about what we're talking about, share about what 619 00:33:31,519 --> 00:33:35,319 we're playing rather uh and and talk about what's on 620 00:33:35,359 --> 00:33:39,200 our plates, you know, outside outside of that food. 621 00:33:39,319 --> 00:33:40,000 Speaker 3: You know what I'm saying. 622 00:33:41,240 --> 00:33:44,359 Speaker 1: All Right, I'm done here. Thanks for watching y'all, I'll 623 00:33:44,400 --> 00:33:46,279 see you next time. Goodbye. 624 00:33:47,200 --> 00:33:50,160 Speaker 6: Hey game a former show, It's associate editor Charles here, 625 00:33:50,680 --> 00:33:52,680 and this year the game I'm thankful for. 626 00:33:52,960 --> 00:33:54,720 Speaker 3: Is Dungeons and Dragons. 627 00:33:55,599 --> 00:33:57,759 Speaker 6: I've talked about this game a good bit on the show, 628 00:33:57,759 --> 00:33:59,680 I'm pretty sure, and if you know me outside of 629 00:33:59,720 --> 00:34:01,559 just the game and former show, you know this is 630 00:34:01,640 --> 00:34:04,920 kind of one of my things. I very much like 631 00:34:05,079 --> 00:34:07,400 Dungeons and Dragons obviously, but it's not on my list 632 00:34:07,680 --> 00:34:12,440 because I'm planning to play it this Thanksgiving break, although 633 00:34:12,480 --> 00:34:16,039 I would like to if I had time. I'm just 634 00:34:16,079 --> 00:34:17,679 planning to watch a bunch of it, and I thought 635 00:34:17,679 --> 00:34:20,440 it was an interesting thing of games you're grateful for, 636 00:34:20,559 --> 00:34:24,159 or games that you're fans of not necessarily because you're playing, 637 00:34:24,199 --> 00:34:28,159 but because you're observing other people play it, or you're 638 00:34:28,199 --> 00:34:30,800 kind of existing in the community, and kind of in 639 00:34:30,840 --> 00:34:35,800 the way that like games are unique in that you 640 00:34:35,840 --> 00:34:39,000 can kind of be an auxiliary fan of a thing 641 00:34:39,079 --> 00:34:42,559 without necessarily participating all the time. So, for example, Dungeons 642 00:34:42,599 --> 00:34:45,000 and Dragons. I really like the show Dimension twenty. I've 643 00:34:45,000 --> 00:34:47,679 been listening to not Another D and D podcast a 644 00:34:47,719 --> 00:34:51,639 lot lately. I'm in the second campaign on that one, 645 00:34:52,199 --> 00:34:54,320 and just the notion that someone someone could listen to 646 00:34:54,440 --> 00:34:56,960 a ton of dungeons and Dragons content. I listened to 647 00:34:57,039 --> 00:35:01,159 all of the Adventure Zone Balance before I ever actually 648 00:35:01,159 --> 00:35:03,199 played a game. The notion that you could be a 649 00:35:03,199 --> 00:35:05,480 fan of a game without ever actually having played the 650 00:35:05,519 --> 00:35:08,000 game does also extend to some video games, like there's 651 00:35:08,039 --> 00:35:12,000 people that I know I really enjoyed watching like Competitive 652 00:35:12,039 --> 00:35:14,639 and Justice Too for a while, even though I had 653 00:35:14,639 --> 00:35:16,119 the game and I kind of played it, but I 654 00:35:16,159 --> 00:35:19,599 wasn't watching it in the sense that I was trying 655 00:35:19,639 --> 00:35:22,000 to practice my combos or competing in tournaments or whatever. 656 00:35:22,039 --> 00:35:22,920 Speaker 3: I just thought it was cool. 657 00:35:22,960 --> 00:35:25,360 Speaker 6: I liked watching it, and I liked understanding how the 658 00:35:25,480 --> 00:35:28,320 characters matched up and if people were mastering this or 659 00:35:28,360 --> 00:35:32,280 who was good or whatever. And I do think there's 660 00:35:32,320 --> 00:35:34,199 like an esports component of it in the way also 661 00:35:34,280 --> 00:35:36,239 that you know, if someone says I'm a really big 662 00:35:36,239 --> 00:35:39,519 fan of football, you probably don't assume if they're an 663 00:35:39,559 --> 00:35:42,119 adult anyways, you don't assume that they play football. You 664 00:35:42,159 --> 00:35:44,039 a seem that they watch football and learn a lot 665 00:35:44,079 --> 00:35:46,400 about it, which is also a game. It's just a 666 00:35:46,440 --> 00:35:51,159 way that humans enjoy games is finding the masters of 667 00:35:51,199 --> 00:35:54,840 a game and just really enjoying all the statistics and 668 00:35:54,880 --> 00:35:56,800 the gameplay and the mechanics of that. And that does 669 00:35:56,800 --> 00:35:59,760 extend to video games and tabletop games. I think there's 670 00:35:59,800 --> 00:36:02,920 even and a further extension of they don't even have 671 00:36:02,960 --> 00:36:04,440 to be masters of the craft. They can just be 672 00:36:04,559 --> 00:36:07,840 entertaining people. If you're watching a streamer you like, for example, 673 00:36:07,920 --> 00:36:09,679 you really like someone that plays the Sims, you really 674 00:36:09,679 --> 00:36:12,679 like someone that plays Animal Crossing, or even like a 675 00:36:12,800 --> 00:36:16,039 Northern Lion type right where he's playing a roguelike or whatever, 676 00:36:16,079 --> 00:36:18,159 and you're not necessarily ever gonna play it, but you'll 677 00:36:18,239 --> 00:36:20,639 be like, oh, yeah, I like Balatro. I've never played it. 678 00:36:20,679 --> 00:36:22,360 I've just seen other people play it a lot. 679 00:36:23,079 --> 00:36:23,920 Speaker 3: And I think. 680 00:36:25,880 --> 00:36:29,440 Speaker 6: In the video game space because so many of us 681 00:36:29,440 --> 00:36:33,440 are ostracized for lack of a better term in school 682 00:36:33,880 --> 00:36:37,519 and varying degrees of severity depending on your social situation, 683 00:36:37,679 --> 00:36:40,840 but there's a real intense need to like Gatekeep and 684 00:36:40,880 --> 00:36:44,199 say no, I'm a real video game fan because I 685 00:36:44,280 --> 00:36:46,400 played Dark Souls or I played this game all the 686 00:36:46,400 --> 00:36:48,159 way to the end, and you don't even count because 687 00:36:48,159 --> 00:36:51,360 you're not playing. But when we talk about video games 688 00:36:51,400 --> 00:36:55,880 as a culture, as an industry, it's not necessarily just 689 00:36:55,960 --> 00:36:59,920 the players. Sometimes now it's the viewers or the wider enjoyers, 690 00:37:00,159 --> 00:37:03,880 or you know, you're sitting in the Marvel Rival subreddit 691 00:37:03,920 --> 00:37:05,840 and listening to all the back and forth, which is 692 00:37:05,880 --> 00:37:07,679 what I'm doing. And I haven't played in weeks, but 693 00:37:07,719 --> 00:37:09,400 I still find I still pay a touch to the 694 00:37:09,400 --> 00:37:12,760 game and updates and all that. So this year, I 695 00:37:13,360 --> 00:37:16,119 guess if I'm thankful for a thing or a concept, 696 00:37:16,639 --> 00:37:19,480 it is the idea that games are meant to be played, 697 00:37:19,480 --> 00:37:21,199 but you don't always have to be the one playing them, 698 00:37:21,280 --> 00:37:24,440 and you can still enjoy them like dungeons and Dragons, 699 00:37:24,639 --> 00:37:29,079 like an esport, like a casual streamer, without necessarily being 700 00:37:29,079 --> 00:37:31,239 the ones with your hands on the dice around the controller. 701 00:37:31,280 --> 00:37:33,880 And I think that's a perfectly valid and exciting way 702 00:37:33,920 --> 00:37:34,320 to do it. 703 00:37:35,480 --> 00:37:35,760 Speaker 7: Yeah. 704 00:37:35,800 --> 00:37:38,679 Speaker 6: I hope this Thanksgiving you find some time to chill, 705 00:37:38,960 --> 00:37:41,119 whether that is playing a game or watching a game 706 00:37:41,239 --> 00:37:43,440 or something in between. I hope you guys have a 707 00:37:43,480 --> 00:37:44,400 happy Thanksgiving. 708 00:37:45,039 --> 00:37:47,719 Speaker 7: Hey, Game Informer, this is Eric Van Allen, one of 709 00:37:47,719 --> 00:37:51,239 your video editors here, and for this holiday, I think 710 00:37:51,280 --> 00:37:54,000 I'm dipping into Trails in the Sky first chapter again 711 00:37:54,519 --> 00:37:57,039 It's really been my kind of go to game for 712 00:37:57,079 --> 00:38:01,480 the last few months, I think, and it's been a 713 00:38:01,599 --> 00:38:03,599 joy to just always have there to go back to 714 00:38:03,719 --> 00:38:07,800 after every assignment, after every review game that I pick up. 715 00:38:07,920 --> 00:38:10,960 It's been the thing that I kind of constantly returned 716 00:38:11,039 --> 00:38:13,119 to over and over and over again. I love the 717 00:38:13,159 --> 00:38:18,000 story of a Stelle and Joshua learning to become kind 718 00:38:18,000 --> 00:38:20,960 of junior Bracers and come into their own in a 719 00:38:21,000 --> 00:38:23,840 world that feels really fully realized. I think that's one 720 00:38:23,880 --> 00:38:25,760 of my favorite parts of the game so far, and 721 00:38:26,400 --> 00:38:30,039 really like what feels like the appeal of the Trail 722 00:38:30,199 --> 00:38:32,679 series is having this world that feels very lived in, 723 00:38:32,960 --> 00:38:36,079 has all these different moving parts and cogs that interconnect 724 00:38:36,159 --> 00:38:41,199 and form the sort of tensions that happen around the character, political, 725 00:38:42,559 --> 00:38:46,840 or whether around different forces moving in the background. I 726 00:38:46,920 --> 00:38:49,880 love that stuff. So that's probably top of my list 727 00:38:49,920 --> 00:38:52,320 for the holidays is to get some more progress and 728 00:38:52,320 --> 00:38:58,639 done in that. Otherwise, I think I'm looking towards probably 729 00:38:58,639 --> 00:39:03,960 Clubhouse Games. That's always a classic that comes out. I'm 730 00:39:04,360 --> 00:39:07,199 play no secrets, I hold nost versions that I'm not 731 00:39:07,320 --> 00:39:12,280 like a Clubhouse Games megafan. At the end of the day, 732 00:39:12,519 --> 00:39:15,239 I love just sitting down with that game and going 733 00:39:15,239 --> 00:39:20,239 through all the different versions of old board games, card games, 734 00:39:20,280 --> 00:39:25,599 strange marble based games like Nine Men's Morris, and working 735 00:39:25,599 --> 00:39:27,559 on my different metals for them and getting all of 736 00:39:27,559 --> 00:39:29,159 them locked in, or playing them with a family. We 737 00:39:29,239 --> 00:39:33,199 love playing stuff like Ludo or Last Card, which is 738 00:39:33,280 --> 00:39:39,239 a Nintendo's version of Uno. It's a really really enjoyable thing. 739 00:39:39,320 --> 00:39:42,079 I think my family has always really liked doing some 740 00:39:42,599 --> 00:39:45,920 kind of board game, card games something like that during 741 00:39:45,920 --> 00:39:48,719 the holidays, and clubhouse games kind of slotted in really 742 00:39:48,760 --> 00:39:50,639 well for that, something where we could all kind of 743 00:39:51,360 --> 00:39:55,360 grab a controller, hook the dock up, pass pass around, 744 00:39:55,400 --> 00:39:58,760 play some Ludo, play some blackjack. We've done that a 745 00:39:58,760 --> 00:40:03,119 few times before, kind of silly or just you know 746 00:40:03,800 --> 00:40:06,480 Connect four stuff like that, you know, and then that's 747 00:40:06,519 --> 00:40:09,440 the physical version of Connect four, but I think there 748 00:40:09,480 --> 00:40:13,760 is a digital one in clubhouse games as well. Anything 749 00:40:13,880 --> 00:40:15,800 like that I think always really gets a lot of 750 00:40:15,840 --> 00:40:18,599 play during the holiday times. So I'm going to be 751 00:40:18,639 --> 00:40:21,440 bringing that back with me. I'm also going to try 752 00:40:21,480 --> 00:40:25,440 to teach my family how to play Magic. The Avatar 753 00:40:25,599 --> 00:40:29,559 set finally broke the seal. Multiple members of my family 754 00:40:29,639 --> 00:40:34,719 are big Avatar fans, and so they really were like, hey, okay, 755 00:40:34,760 --> 00:40:37,480 you win, teach us how to play magic. We saw 756 00:40:37,519 --> 00:40:40,360 the Avatar art that looks really sick. We want to learn, 757 00:40:40,760 --> 00:40:42,920 So I'm bringing a bunch of Jumpstar packs home. If 758 00:40:42,920 --> 00:40:45,159 you've ever wanted to learn how to play magic, or 759 00:40:45,199 --> 00:40:47,639 if you if you yourself play magic and you want 760 00:40:47,639 --> 00:40:49,480 to teach somebody else how to do it, I think 761 00:40:49,480 --> 00:40:51,559 the Jumpstar packs are actually one of the best ways 762 00:40:51,559 --> 00:40:54,440 of doing it. You just buy two of them. They're 763 00:40:54,519 --> 00:40:57,440 kind of thicker booster packs, and the whole idea is 764 00:40:57,440 --> 00:41:01,159 that you smack them together and they make one playable deck. 765 00:41:01,599 --> 00:41:04,480 And so you just get two of them, smack them together, 766 00:41:04,559 --> 00:41:06,800 get two of them, smack them together, You've got two 767 00:41:06,880 --> 00:41:08,800 decks to play with. I'm bringing like eight of them 768 00:41:08,800 --> 00:41:10,679 home so that way we can kind of mix and match. 769 00:41:11,599 --> 00:41:15,039 They each come with different color combinations or focuses or 770 00:41:15,079 --> 00:41:17,239 ideas in them that can play well with each other. 771 00:41:17,760 --> 00:41:21,679 And this set for Avatar, I think is really maybe 772 00:41:21,719 --> 00:41:23,639 my favorite of the year, which is weird to say, 773 00:41:23,800 --> 00:41:26,800 considering Final Fantasy was also this year, and I also 774 00:41:26,840 --> 00:41:30,440 really liked the Edge of Eternities, but the Avatar set 775 00:41:30,559 --> 00:41:33,840 has really incredible mechanics. I think the air bending, the earthbending, 776 00:41:33,840 --> 00:41:35,920 the water bending, the fire bending, all of it feels 777 00:41:36,039 --> 00:41:41,079 very fully realized in magic creating these mechanics that feel 778 00:41:41,159 --> 00:41:44,119 like they do in the show, and then also feel 779 00:41:44,159 --> 00:41:47,199 really good as magic mechanics for opening up avenues of 780 00:41:47,239 --> 00:41:52,360 different kinds of play. They all have very cool, unique 781 00:41:52,400 --> 00:41:55,840 ways of being employed and doing cool things with them. 782 00:41:55,880 --> 00:41:58,559 And I can't wait to see how the jump Star 783 00:41:58,639 --> 00:42:02,800 cards land with the family. I know some folks will 784 00:42:02,800 --> 00:42:08,480 be hoping to get certain characters, obviously Zuko Katara, famous 785 00:42:08,519 --> 00:42:11,000 characters like that. I just I want to run a 786 00:42:11,039 --> 00:42:14,639 cabbage merchant. That'd be sick, you know, get some get 787 00:42:14,679 --> 00:42:18,639 some bossco the bear action out there. But it's always 788 00:42:18,679 --> 00:42:20,960 really fun. I find that the holidays are a time 789 00:42:20,960 --> 00:42:25,800 for me of social playing stuff. Sitting at a table 790 00:42:25,840 --> 00:42:28,880 playing a game, sitting around a TV playing some jack box, 791 00:42:28,920 --> 00:42:32,880 playing some some clubhouse games. It's always about being together 792 00:42:32,960 --> 00:42:35,199 and in the moment. And I love games that put 793 00:42:35,199 --> 00:42:38,320 you in the moment with other people, and so I 794 00:42:38,360 --> 00:42:40,599 love this time of year for that. And then you know, 795 00:42:40,639 --> 00:42:43,159 when it gets late at night, it gets cozy, you know, 796 00:42:43,199 --> 00:42:46,400 the temperature drops get a little RPG, you sit down 797 00:42:46,400 --> 00:42:49,559 with that, you go off to your cozy rocker by 798 00:42:49,559 --> 00:42:51,480 the fire or something like that with the trails in 799 00:42:51,519 --> 00:42:54,559 the sky. It's a good pick. So yeah, check those 800 00:42:54,559 --> 00:42:57,199 out if you're looking for something for this holiday break.