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Speaker 1: This week on the Game in Former show, Brian Jay

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takes a deep dive into his Ninja Guiden for cover story.

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Speaker 2: Ninja Guiden three came out in twenty twelve, and it

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just seemed like this franchise was dead for all intents

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and purposes. If you haven't familiarized yourself with Ninja Guiden four,

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it's just this super intense action game. The original Ninja

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Gaiden on Xbox, at least the original three D Ninja

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Gaiden kind of served as like this defining entry in

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the action genre. I traveled to Tokyo, visited Platinum Game,

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spent a full day in the studio, which was really

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cool to be in, kind of like the building where

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all of these incredible games were born out of.

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Speaker 1: Emmy nominated television writer and former Nintendo localization writer Mike

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Drucker dives into his thoughts on UFO fifty Metal Gear,

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Solid three Snake Eater on three DS.

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Speaker 3: And I texted Mike.

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Speaker 4: I was like, Mike, this is this is almost unplayable,

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Like this is like you have to use the face

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buttons to aim and answers.

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Speaker 1: A couple of questions for us about as time working

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at Nintendo.

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Speaker 5: A lot of the things that I was assigned to were,

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you know, punching up certain scenes where they wanted more jokes,

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or things like writing the idle text. You know, writing

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the idols were basically trophies in the game, So getting

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to write the text for that was super fun because

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they basically let you do whatever you want to know,

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so that was super fun.

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Speaker 1: We also talked Shanobi, Art of Vengeance, the Rogue Prints

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of Persia, Luminous Rise, and a new Rogue Light FPS

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void Breaker. The more that you increase your fov slider

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in the graphics setting, the faster you move, and there

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are other ones that are the higher your frame rate

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is the higher damage you do in the game. There's

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really like game breaking things that are really exciting. The

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podcast is about to begin. If you haven't yet, hit

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that subscribe button. Like the video and consider picking up

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a Game Informer magazine print subscription. Hey, everybody, Welcome back

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to the Game Informer Show, a weekly podcast covering the

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video game industry. Join us every week for a discussion

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with the latest gaming news, reviews, and exclusive reveals, alongside

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Game and Former staff and special guests from around the industry.

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I'm one of your hosts today Alex van Aiken and

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Today I'm joined by Kyle Hilliard.

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Speaker 4: Hello, Kyle, Hey, I got ahead of myself.

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Speaker 3: I was excited.

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Speaker 1: Oh you're you're excited. I get it. We've got We've

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got a pack show. We're gonna be talking about our

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Ninja Guidan for cover story, the Rogue Prince of Persia,

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lumit Us Arise, and a lot more, alongside Charles Hart.

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How you doing Charles?

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Speaker 6: Hello, I've played a little bit of one of those games.

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Speaker 1: Hell, yeah, that's what that's what we're talking about mainly

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here as as like as a fun guy. Yeah, fulfilling

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your usual role. We are glad to have you here.

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Bryan Shay, Welcome back to the show.

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Speaker 2: How you doing, Hey, I'm doing good. I recently rewatched

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eight Mile for the first time in like almost twenty years,

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and now I have his Terrible Sweet Home Alabama freestyle

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stuck in my head for the.

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Speaker 1: Last Yeah, that's that's amazing.

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Speaker 4: But also of gutten four, So we're gonna' that's.

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Speaker 1: The big one. That's the big one. We'll get into

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that in just a moment. We're also joined by Emmy

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nominated television writer and producer Mike Drucker, Howda, and Mike.

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Speaker 5: I'm doing great. Thank you very much, Thank you for

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having me.

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Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, I've been following your work for a while.

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I everybody here has.

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Speaker 4: It's funny to be led with the TV stuff when

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there's like, oh yeah, I was.

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Speaker 1: Going to get into it. I was going to get

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into you know, known for Full Frontal with Samantha be

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the Tonight Show. You worked at Nintendo as a localization

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writer for a while on titles like Zelda, Skyward Sword

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and Kiddick Risk. And you have a book out right, Mike.

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Speaker 6: Yep.

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Speaker 5: It's called Good Game, No Rematch. It's available hardcover, digital,

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and audio, and it's basically a book about me growing

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up with games and how I've humiliated myself throughout.

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Speaker 3: My life with it.

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Speaker 1: That's awesome, It really good.

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Speaker 4: It's really good to hop in there. I really liked

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that book a lot.

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Speaker 3: Mike.

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Speaker 4: I don't know if I've talked to you directly about

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your book, but it's like, it's like David Sedaris liked

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video games, is kind of how I feel about.

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Speaker 5: That's a huge complement and I appreciate that.

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Speaker 6: And he's also in the issue.

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Speaker 1: Also, I was gonna say, yeah, yeah, you wrote a

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feature for us in this new issue of Game Informer.

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What was the feature about Mike?

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Speaker 5: Well, in my book, I have a whole chapter about

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King's Quest and how much I love Roberta Williams. And

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so Kyle was kind enough to come to me and

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be like, do you want to talk to her for

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an article? And I was like, yes, I would like

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that very much, and so I got to have multiple

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phone conversation with Roberta Williams. If you don't know who

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she is, she was a massive, massive, massive video game

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designer in the eighties up till about the mid late nineties.

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She created King's Quest. She basically kicked off a lot

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of the big Sierra games, like even though she didn't

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make Space Quest or Police Quest, like, her games kind

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of were the reason those got made. And she, you know,

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did games like Phantasmagoria like she was one one of

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I would say, like one of the early game designers

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to have like a big name across the box where

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it's say ROBERTA Williams King's Quest.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, it's it's incredible. I'm so excited to read that feature.

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I actually normally in the cycle, i'm a little more

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involved with you know, knowing what's going in the issue

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ahead of time. It's just been so busy around here.

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There's a lot of a lot of cool stuff in

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that issue I haven't had a chance to look at yet,

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which brings me to my point. If you're listening, you

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can support us today by going to GameInformer dot com

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slash subscribe, picking up a print magazine subscription, or if

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you're overseas and you'd like to support us and read

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a lot of great and well researched articles about games.

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We've got a digital version as well for a cheaper price,

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so go check that out. GameInformer dot com slash subscribe.

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You still have time to place your order for the

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Ninja Guide in for cover, and we've got a lot

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of great ones coming down the pipeline as well. But

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we will get right into the show. We won't wait

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any longer. Brian, you have been playing Ninja Gaiden four

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as part of his cover story. I'm very curious about this.

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Can you tell us about it?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, for sure. So usually, Alex, you get to tag

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along on a lot of these covered story trips. This

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was kind of a unique one in that I went

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solo and so I'm the only person who had a

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chance at least on the game and former staff to

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check out Ninja Gaiden four. And you know, I have

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a long history with the Ninja Gaiden franchise. I remember

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going over to my neighbor's house and playing the original

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NES game, so dating all the way back to like,

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you know, the early nineties, I have a history with

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Ninja Gaiden, and I played the Dead or Alive games

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as they came out, and then like Ninja Gaiden kind

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of faded into the background of like being a dormant franchise,

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and then when they you know, revitalized it as this

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three D action title for the original Xbox just called

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Ninja Guiden, and then two and three came out in

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subsequent years. I remained a fan, although I'm not like

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the biggest fan of three. I think I gave it

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a pretty scathing review on another website that I wrote

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for before Game Informer, But it's been dormant for over

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a decade now, you know it was. I think Ninja

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Guiden three came out in twenty twelve, and it just

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seemed like this franchise was dead for all intents and purposes.

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Like I think there was like the Yaiba Ninja Guiden

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game that came out in twenty fourteen.

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Speaker 3: Oh yeah, Ninja's right.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, so its it. But that was twenty fourteen. I

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think it was pretty critically bashed, and you know, we

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haven't heard a peep from that franchise since, and it's

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been We've gotten a few dead or a live games

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here or there, but nothing like mainline Ninja Guiden.

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Speaker 1: And this year and this year, yeah, this year we're

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getting three.

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Speaker 2: Yeah. This year it's been like I've called it the

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Year of the Ninja since like this year started coming

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into like focus because we got Ninja Guiden Black two,

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which was you know, an Unreal Engine five remaster of

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Ninja Guiden two, which came back out or came out

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back in like the three sixty. We've gotten Ninja Guiden

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Rage Bound, we got Assassin's Creed Shadows earlier this year.

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We had Shanoby Art Avengeance, which I reviewed for US

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this week and we can talk about that a little

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bit later. And we got Ghost of Yote coming out

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next month. So that all has been like this giant

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like re emergence of Ninja games, and it's been really

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cool because, like you know, ninjas are incredibly fun to

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play as because they have just this incredible suite of

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abilities and like tools and weapons at their disposal, and

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it's it turns out you can make a wide variety

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of games based on ninja's Like Assassin's Creed Shadows has

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so little in common with Ninja guid And four, and

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Ninja gid And four has so little in common with

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something like Shanoby Art a Vengeance. So it's like the

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diversity that we're getting even within like the subgenre of

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like ninja action games is incredible and having spent you know,

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time with all of them, I think, aside from Ghost

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of Yote, at this point, I think it's been an

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incredibly strong year for fans of ninjas, and it last

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release in that category for this year in terms of

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at least like mainstream is going to be Ninja Gaiden four.

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So it kind of feels fitting to have like this

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be like our end cap of like, all right, we're

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gonna kind of put an exclamation point on this year

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of the Ninja by putting Ninja Gaiden four on the cover.

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And you know, if you haven't familiarized yourself with Ninja

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Gaiden four, it's just this super intense action game. The

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original Ninja Gaiden on Xbox, at least, the original three

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D Ninja Gaiden kind of served as like this defining

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entry in the action genre for difficulty and like reflex based,

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skill based action combat. And it was kind of like

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the influential difficult action game before Soul's likes existed, So

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it was at that time it was like heavy combo emphasis,

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using like a wide range of tools and you know,

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defeating a group of enemies or a boss in like

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the most stylish and fast paced manner possible.

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Speaker 1: Yeah. I think of that and Anna Musha as those

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early titles.

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Speaker 2: Yeah and Devil May Cry.

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Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah.

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Speaker 2: Games like that really defined that era of like like

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a stylish, adrenaline fueled action games. And in the time since,

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you know, the Souls like has really emerged as like

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the preferred three D action title. But it's really cool

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to see Ninja Guiden four kind of bringing the franchise

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back into the forefront alongside what would turned out to

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be an excellent two D side scroller in Ninja Gaiden

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Rage Bound, which came out I think end of last month,

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and so Ninja Gaiden four it actually unites two of

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the most iconic action oriented studios really in the history

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of video games. You know, Team Ninja's been the developer

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of Ninja Gaiden since the Xbox release back in the

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early two thousands. But they're bringing in Platinum Games, who

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you know, near Automata, the Banetta series, astral Chain, all

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these incredible action titles. They're bringing that wealth of experience

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into the franchise. And I've seen some people kind of

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express some concern that maybe this won't feel like a

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tried and true Ninja Guiden game because Platinum Games is

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co developing. It's not even like a support studio situation.

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It's like they had There are two co directors on

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Ninja Gaiden. One is from Team Ninja, one is from

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Platinum Games. They're really working hand in hand. So yeah,

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I traveled to Tokyo, visited Platinum Games, spent a full

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day in the studio, which was really cool to be

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in kind of like the building where all of these

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incredible games were born out of.

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Speaker 1: I have a question about their office. Is it is

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it like a fancy office like a band diy or

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is it more of like a just four walls and.

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Speaker 2: Cubicles it's very sterile, which I found is often the

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case with a lot of high profile Japanese studios.

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Speaker 4: You know, I'm visited games laughing because it's like has it.

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I don't, Mike, have you ever been to like Japanese studios.

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I don't know if your career is every taking there,

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but no, but.

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Speaker 5: I have worked for a Japanese game company that had

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somewhat similar design philosophy in America.

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Speaker 2: He worked out of the Redmond office. So, like you've

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seen the inside of Nintendo, I've been upstairs at Nintendo

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and it it's very similar to that, where it's just

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like all right, we have very like white walls and

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like a TV up on the wall with a conference

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phone in the middle of the table.

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Speaker 4: I think from Software has like a like two dark

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soul statues or something they.

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Speaker 1: Have they have gone down to one gone like right

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next like the.

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Speaker 4: Yeah.

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Speaker 2: So I've been to studios like game Freak and Atlas

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and Sega over in Japan, Squaring Nicks. They're all kind

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of similarly like uneventful in terms of like the decor,

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Like you see some cool artifacts, like they have a

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display case or several display cases at Platinum and you

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walk in, you're like, oh, yeah, they worked on that game,

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or that's a really cool like replica gun from Bayonetta.

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But like outside of that, and like the fact that

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there are like you know, twenty five gaming PCs in

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a conference room for like people to play builds of

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and everything, there's really not anything that would hint that

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like this is where these incredible games came out of.

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But you know, I got to play several hours of

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Ninja Gaiden four. I talked to the co directors. I

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talked to like the lead level design environmental guy, the

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one of the art directors, and one of the composers.

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So it was a pretty deep dive into not only

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how this game came to exist, Like we dove deep

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into like you know, how these studios united, how they

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got signed under the Xbox Games publishing label, and also

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like you know, just drilling down into the core mechanics

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of this game, because like they have to walk that

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like tight rope of Like, all right, there hasn't been

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a new Ninja Guiden game in over a decade, so

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the game design conventions have evolved so thoroughly that they

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have to address that in some way. They can't just

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put out Ninja Guiden four and have it play just

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like two or three. It has to evolve in some fashion,

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but if they evolve it too much, people are going

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to be mad. They're like, oh, well, I waited so

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long for this game, and it's unrecognizable as like a

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successor to the games that I loved. And so they

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had this difficult task of doing that, and I really

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think that they nailed it, Like it feels definitively like

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a Ninja Guiden game, while also implementing various things that

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Platinum Games absolutely brought to the table, like small things

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like you know, Platinum Games, when you hit an enemy

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with your weapon, there's usually a hit stop, like there's

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a brief pause when like there's a moment of impact

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and then you follow through. Right. That adds just a

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little bit like a visceral feeling. That's not something that's

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been present in most Ninja Guiden games. But they did

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implement that for something like when you delimb an enemy,

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because what that tells you is now you can perform

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these abilities that are like basically finishing moves called obliteration techniques.

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So that was the thing that Platinum Games brought to

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the table. They also designed the new protagonist Yakamo, who

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is like the super agile. He almost seems like he

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would fit like in with a Platinum Games title, Like

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he's very like stylish, action driven. He's kind of like,

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you know, edge Lord look to him, so he would

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fit right in. And like just uses the word.

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Speaker 4: D limb with the reckless such like a video game

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thing that we just like walked right by. It's like, yeah,

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we literation technique is also.

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Speaker 5: Because amputate sounds so broke, like when you amputate an

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arm off a character, You're like, wait, wait, wait, why

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are you doing.

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Speaker 2: That's so surgical, You're not really like like you know,

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doing like a procedure.

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Speaker 1: Stylish.

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Speaker 6: Brian, your cover story used the word uh dismemberment a lot,

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which I feel like also fit d limb is like

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it fits in the vent diagram of like it is

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what I feel like they'd use in the plane office building.

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They're like, oh they do limit systems.

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Speaker 7: Yeah, but yeah, Like so it feels really good in

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the combat is I would say, much better than what

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I remember Ninja guid and three, being like it's funny

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because I posted it on the Ninja Gaiden subredditor I

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was hanging out in there.

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Speaker 2: Somebody else actually posted it and I was just answering questions,

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and somebody was like, how was the AI compared to

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previous entries, And I'm like, dude, it has been thirteen

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years since.

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Speaker 4: I played ninjakaid in three.

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Speaker 2: But they were, you know, they are quite aggressive, like

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the bosses in particular, and I checked out multiple modes.

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I fought three different bosses, and you know, all the

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bosses are instructive in their own ways. Like one taught

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you to, like, you know, use your your grappling hook

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to get out of danger and like remain super aggressive.

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The other one taught you to like how to deal

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with crowd control while there's also like a big bad

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in the middle of it, like you know, trying to

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take you out, but like there's also summonning minions and everything.

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And then another one was like just saying mobile as

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much as you can in a boss box. If you

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plant your feet for too long, they'll either throw a

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projectile at you or one case, she even grabbed me

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and like just basically like almost one hit KOed me.

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So there's a lot of like, oh, this boss teaches

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you this, and this boss is skilled checking you on this,

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and I think that's what a lot of Ninja guid

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and fans are gonna want, because, like, you know that

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these games are built around being a challenging and like

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skill testing experience, and I always felt like it was

355
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teaching me something new and then testing me on that

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very shortly after that. And Ryu and Yakimo are both

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playable in the game, even though Yakimo is the protagonist

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of this one. So I got to play the story

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chapters with Yakimo and then got dumped into challenge mode

360
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where I could go back and actually play Yakimo's levels

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as Reu Hayabusa, the longtime series protagonist. And they do

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control similarly, like they both feel like you know, if

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you if you just picked up your controller and played

364
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either of them, you'd be like, oh, yeah, they control

365
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the same, But when you bounce back and forth between

366
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the two, it's like Yakimo is so much more adile.

367
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He has a wider array of weapons, whereas Rio is

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just like a physical force. Like he he's a little

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bit slower, but he also has like just just his sword, right,

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he doesn't really have like a wider range of weapons

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in scam.

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Speaker 1: Do you have a preference on how either of them felt.

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Speaker 2: So I grew up playing games starring Reo and I

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will always like him, But like, I think Yakimo is

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a little bit more in the style that I like

376
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to play, like fast paced action games. I like a

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little bit more speed and like the ability to swap

378
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between weapons. Yeah, so Yakimo eventually will have four weapons,

379
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and then he also has this form that he can

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take on called Blood Raven form. He comes from the

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Raven clan, so he he's the Blood. He can transform

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into Blood Raven form, and that also transforms his weapons.

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So like he has like the dual blades as one

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of his weapons, which are like really like you know,

385
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evasive and fast paced, but when you take on the

386
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Blood Raven form, it actually turns into like this really

387
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like just ridiculously low blade that you can just like

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attack enemies from halfway across the arena. And then there's

389
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another one that transforms it from like a rap year

390
00:19:07,119 --> 00:19:10,400
sword into like a drill and you just like could

391
00:19:10,480 --> 00:19:13,119
perform like finishing moves on like the enemy with like

392
00:19:13,240 --> 00:19:15,640
just drilling a hole through their chest. Basically.

393
00:19:16,359 --> 00:19:18,400
Speaker 1: Meanwhile, Reeve's just got a sword.

394
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Speaker 2: He's got a sword, but I know, it's like it's

395
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the legendary sword that he's had in all of the entries.

396
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Speaker 1: Though it seems like they're really pushing you to play

397
00:19:24,240 --> 00:19:27,039
with his Yakamo character. It's like, oh, it's also got guns,

398
00:19:27,240 --> 00:19:27,599
you know.

399
00:19:28,519 --> 00:19:29,079
Speaker 4: Well he does.

400
00:19:29,119 --> 00:19:32,079
Speaker 2: I mean, so Yakam also has this staff that turns

401
00:19:32,079 --> 00:19:34,119
into a hammer that you can just like smash enemies

402
00:19:34,160 --> 00:19:36,759
heads in with, and then he has this other the

403
00:19:36,799 --> 00:19:39,720
fourth weapon that we just learned about are the assassin's tools,

404
00:19:40,200 --> 00:19:42,440
and it's just this wide range of things like you know,

405
00:19:42,519 --> 00:19:46,559
a giant shroken and like uh like the claws that

406
00:19:46,640 --> 00:19:50,279
ninjas have sometimes and just this just wide range of weapons.

407
00:19:50,440 --> 00:19:52,480
And then the raven, the blood Raven form of that

408
00:19:52,680 --> 00:19:56,000
is he just sprouts two robot arms that give him

409
00:19:56,039 --> 00:19:58,200
more range and power with those same weapons.

410
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Speaker 5: So it's just like just for.

411
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Speaker 2: An indicator of how like absurd this is. Like it's

412
00:20:02,599 --> 00:20:04,599
not like they are like, oh, this is like we

413
00:20:04,640 --> 00:20:07,720
are taking this so seriously. This is only for like, yes,

414
00:20:07,799 --> 00:20:09,839
the challenge is serious and the gameplay is serious, but

415
00:20:09,839 --> 00:20:13,480
they're leaning into just like the bombastic storytelling and like

416
00:20:13,599 --> 00:20:16,920
over the top absurdity. So like you will not go

417
00:20:17,039 --> 00:20:18,680
into this thinking like all right, well this is we

418
00:20:18,680 --> 00:20:20,839
got to sit down and straight face to take this

419
00:20:20,839 --> 00:20:23,880
this game seriously with every every story beat that it delivers,

420
00:20:24,200 --> 00:20:27,359
like it's a fun story. I'm enjoying it. Like there,

421
00:20:27,440 --> 00:20:31,480
you know, like the basically like off screen ryu habusas

422
00:20:31,519 --> 00:20:34,799
like sealed this creature called the Dark Dragon, which is

423
00:20:34,799 --> 00:20:38,759
a recurring enemy in the Ninja Guiden series, sealed him

424
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away and thought he defeated him, but it turns out

425
00:20:41,799 --> 00:20:45,359
he's just raining down like this like toxic rain on

426
00:20:45,400 --> 00:20:47,559
top of Tokyo, turning it into like a ghost town.

427
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And Yakimo goes to like assassinate the Dark Dragon priestess,

428
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and she convinced him that actually we have to break

429
00:20:57,599 --> 00:20:59,240
the seal and that's the only way we'll be able

430
00:20:59,279 --> 00:21:02,559
to truly defeat him. So it is a very like, uh,

431
00:21:03,720 --> 00:21:07,079
just absurd story, so you'll be able to experience that,

432
00:21:07,680 --> 00:21:10,079
but like the combat itself, that that's where they really

433
00:21:10,119 --> 00:21:10,920
take it seriously.

434
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Speaker 1: Mike, are you are you a Ninja Guiden guy?

435
00:21:16,559 --> 00:21:19,400
Speaker 5: I was an old school Ninja Guiden guy. I think

436
00:21:19,519 --> 00:21:21,680
I liked what's weird is I like the Ninja Guiden

437
00:21:21,720 --> 00:21:23,599
that was on the ds because you got to like

438
00:21:23,880 --> 00:21:26,039
use your pet, use the stylist to like make the

439
00:21:26,039 --> 00:21:28,160
moves and stuff. The I think when I played the

440
00:21:28,160 --> 00:21:30,240
new ones, I just didn't have the patience for giving

441
00:21:30,279 --> 00:21:33,079
the difficulty a shot. I'm a little more patient now,

442
00:21:33,119 --> 00:21:34,480
so I should go back to them. But I think

443
00:21:34,519 --> 00:21:36,200
like when those came out, I was like, this is

444
00:21:36,279 --> 00:21:38,720
too hard. I don't want to learn this, and then

445
00:21:38,920 --> 00:21:39,680
just never went back.

446
00:21:39,799 --> 00:21:42,640
Speaker 2: Yeah, there is there is the Master Ninja Collection, which

447
00:21:42,680 --> 00:21:46,480
is on including Switch like all major platforms, and I

448
00:21:46,599 --> 00:21:48,519
just bought that after playing Ninja Gaiden four because I

449
00:21:48,519 --> 00:21:51,319
was like, oh, I should replay some of those like sequences,

450
00:21:51,319 --> 00:21:54,680
because I remember really liking one and two in particular,

451
00:21:54,680 --> 00:21:56,039
and I heard that like they made a lot of

452
00:21:56,119 --> 00:21:58,480
updates to three and it's still not great, like it's

453
00:21:58,480 --> 00:22:01,359
still the weakest of the trilogy, but like they improved

454
00:22:01,359 --> 00:22:04,799
it from the state that I reviewed, like the vanilla version.

455
00:22:05,279 --> 00:22:06,960
But yeah, I mean I think that was even recently

456
00:22:07,000 --> 00:22:08,759
on sale for like fifty percent off and you get

457
00:22:08,759 --> 00:22:11,680
all three of those games, like the revitalized versions, and

458
00:22:11,720 --> 00:22:13,200
it's on it's on game Pass too.

459
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Speaker 4: I bet I bet if we pulled, Like, I bet

460
00:22:16,480 --> 00:22:19,720
if we pulled like fifty thousand gamers about Ninja guid

461
00:22:19,759 --> 00:22:23,000
and I bet we wouldn't get a single person calling

462
00:22:23,000 --> 00:22:28,920
out the DS game Dragon Sword.

463
00:22:29,559 --> 00:22:31,000
Speaker 6: I was gonna ask, what's the full title?

464
00:22:31,240 --> 00:22:33,559
Speaker 4: It was it's not you held it like a book,

465
00:22:33,720 --> 00:22:37,640
I remember, right, and dragon Sword was like the DS acronym.

466
00:22:37,680 --> 00:22:39,359
I was like, all right, I'm into all that. But

467
00:22:39,440 --> 00:22:41,799
it's like it's so it's.

468
00:22:42,519 --> 00:22:44,519
Speaker 5: It's a goofy game. It's a goofy game. But that's

469
00:22:44,519 --> 00:22:47,440
why I love DS games. They're so weird.

470
00:22:47,640 --> 00:22:53,839
Speaker 1: Also, Stylus is mightier than the sword. That's all I got. Yeah,

471
00:22:53,839 --> 00:22:57,720
that would be my lead, Ryan, What were we gonna say?

472
00:22:57,759 --> 00:23:00,519
Speaker 2: I'll just say Also, the Dragon Sword is is where

473
00:23:00,799 --> 00:23:03,079
I think we last saw the Dark Dragon, which is

474
00:23:03,119 --> 00:23:06,319
like one of the main like catalysts for Ninja Guidenf's

475
00:23:06,519 --> 00:23:08,440
story in game.

476
00:23:08,480 --> 00:23:08,880
Speaker 3: Anyway.

477
00:23:09,519 --> 00:23:13,240
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, well cool. I mean it sounds really interesting.

478
00:23:13,319 --> 00:23:16,160
I mean, the the Yakomo, apart from sounding like he

479
00:23:16,279 --> 00:23:19,119
just got all of the budget put into him and

480
00:23:19,160 --> 00:23:22,400
for Rio is just you know, giling the dragons. Is

481
00:23:22,440 --> 00:23:24,680
there any other big highlights that that kind of came

482
00:23:24,759 --> 00:23:28,079
from from your your time in Tokyo? Or is that

483
00:23:28,119 --> 00:23:31,200
the predominantly, Like big focus of this story is that

484
00:23:31,279 --> 00:23:32,519
is that combat.

485
00:23:32,599 --> 00:23:36,200
Speaker 2: The story itself, I mean the combat the contrast that

486
00:23:36,240 --> 00:23:38,960
exists between Ryu and Yakimo. Yakimo being kind of like

487
00:23:39,000 --> 00:23:41,440
the young upstart Ninja, he has like a full like

488
00:23:42,039 --> 00:23:45,559
he's got like the support of his clan behind him. Yeah,

489
00:23:45,599 --> 00:23:47,640
and like you know, so you'll be playing through and

490
00:23:47,680 --> 00:23:50,400
like hearing them chatter back and forth about stuff and

491
00:23:50,480 --> 00:23:53,319
like discussing like what's going on and what the current

492
00:23:53,319 --> 00:23:55,559
mission is and like the state of the world. Whereas

493
00:23:55,559 --> 00:23:57,319
with Ryu you don't get any of that because he's

494
00:23:57,359 --> 00:24:00,480
always been kind of like a lone wolf. But Ryu

495
00:24:00,599 --> 00:24:03,279
does have he doesn't have the raven form, the blood

496
00:24:03,359 --> 00:24:05,640
raven form, but he does have Gleam state, which is

497
00:24:05,720 --> 00:24:08,160
like achieved in the same way. And what that does

498
00:24:08,200 --> 00:24:10,400
it gives him like more aggressive combos and it also

499
00:24:10,480 --> 00:24:14,400
lets him use like the elemental like Ninpo abilities like

500
00:24:14,480 --> 00:24:16,680
the fire Ninto and I think there's one that like

501
00:24:16,759 --> 00:24:19,200
kind of creates like a singularity that sucks enemies in

502
00:24:19,359 --> 00:24:22,119
so Okay, he does have some tricks up his sleeve

503
00:24:22,200 --> 00:24:25,599
and he does have a lot more power behind his attack.

504
00:24:25,720 --> 00:24:28,440
Speaker 1: Yeah. I think it's interesting that both well, the last

505
00:24:28,680 --> 00:24:31,039
I guess what Rage Bound and then Ninja Guidon four,

506
00:24:31,480 --> 00:24:33,960
Reu's kind of taking a back seat in both. Yeah,

507
00:24:34,000 --> 00:24:35,480
do you think do you think they're kind of setting

508
00:24:35,519 --> 00:24:39,359
him up to be Sunset or is this just a

509
00:24:39,359 --> 00:24:41,799
way to kind of reintroduce people to the series through

510
00:24:42,119 --> 00:24:44,000
through kind of new new protagonist eyes.

511
00:24:44,200 --> 00:24:46,000
Speaker 2: I asked them about that, and they said that this

512
00:24:46,119 --> 00:24:49,000
they wanted it to be kind of more approachable. So

513
00:24:49,359 --> 00:24:53,000
by introducing it and having introducing Yachamoon, having the story

514
00:24:53,079 --> 00:24:55,680
told primarily through his eyes, they were able to achieve that.

515
00:24:55,720 --> 00:24:58,039
So it wasn't like you had to pick up, you know,

516
00:24:58,119 --> 00:25:01,599
Ninja Guidens one through three in or to understand the story.

517
00:25:01,680 --> 00:25:04,119
All you would understand was like, all right, Yakimo has

518
00:25:04,160 --> 00:25:06,640
been convinced that he has to free the Dark Dragon

519
00:25:06,680 --> 00:25:10,680
to defeat it, and Reu, the guy who sealed the

520
00:25:10,759 --> 00:25:13,559
Dark Dragon away, wants to stop him, and that's kind

521
00:25:13,599 --> 00:25:18,000
of like the core conflict. And so that was kind

522
00:25:18,000 --> 00:25:19,960
of the main reason why they wanted to introduce a

523
00:25:20,000 --> 00:25:22,920
new character, was so like it was a very basic storytelling.

524
00:25:22,920 --> 00:25:25,680
It wasn't a continuation. But if you played the original

525
00:25:25,799 --> 00:25:28,599
or the original trilogy of the Ninja guid in three

526
00:25:28,680 --> 00:25:31,759
D games, you would understand like some references and some

527
00:25:31,839 --> 00:25:34,279
callbacks and some recurring enemies.

528
00:25:35,519 --> 00:25:38,279
Speaker 1: Well cool, Well, I know that you need to go

529
00:25:38,400 --> 00:25:41,640
here a second, but you mentioned Shanobi Art of Vengeance earlier.

530
00:25:41,640 --> 00:25:43,039
I just want to hear your quick thoughts on that

531
00:25:43,160 --> 00:25:44,599
now that you've you've reviewed it.

532
00:25:44,960 --> 00:25:48,240
Speaker 2: Yeah, So this is a game from lizard Cube, which

533
00:25:48,440 --> 00:25:50,480
is the studio that did Streets of Age four and

534
00:25:50,519 --> 00:25:53,480
they also did oh nice, okay, the WonderBoy Revival, So

535
00:25:53,519 --> 00:25:56,720
they've actually made a name for themselves kind of revitalizing

536
00:25:56,799 --> 00:25:59,119
these old Sega ip that had just been you know,

537
00:25:59,599 --> 00:26:02,359
kind of own in the storage closet for a while,

538
00:26:02,880 --> 00:26:05,640
and Sega has always licensed it to them, but this

539
00:26:05,759 --> 00:26:09,119
time they actually worked like hand in hand with lizard Cube.

540
00:26:09,559 --> 00:26:12,319
So it's co developed by Sega and published by Sega,

541
00:26:12,359 --> 00:26:15,079
whereas Streets of Rage four was just licensed by Sega

542
00:26:15,200 --> 00:26:17,559
and then developed fully by lizard Cube and then published

543
00:26:17,599 --> 00:26:20,519
I think by dot Emu. So it this is the

544
00:26:20,519 --> 00:26:22,960
first time that lizard Cube has worked directly with Sega,

545
00:26:23,119 --> 00:26:26,039
and I will say that the partnership has paid off

546
00:26:26,160 --> 00:26:30,079
completely because you know, it feels similar to what I

547
00:26:30,119 --> 00:26:32,640
was talking about with Ninjagaidon and four. They really walked

548
00:26:32,640 --> 00:26:37,119
the tightrope of like this is not completely unrecognizable as

549
00:26:38,119 --> 00:26:41,359
a new entry in this very very long, dormant franchise.

550
00:26:42,839 --> 00:26:44,960
I think the last one came out on three DS,

551
00:26:45,039 --> 00:26:50,480
so it's been quite a while. And they also made

552
00:26:50,519 --> 00:26:54,079
it so it is fully in line in step with

553
00:26:54,160 --> 00:26:56,039
like what you would expect from a twenty twenty five

554
00:26:56,119 --> 00:27:01,240
action platformer. And you know, it's arguably one of the

555
00:27:01,279 --> 00:27:04,880
most beautiful games I've played, probably in adulthood. Like it

556
00:27:04,960 --> 00:27:09,759
is just absolutely stunning. There was there's one sequence, there's

557
00:27:09,759 --> 00:27:13,559
some bonus stages in between like the long like main

558
00:27:13,759 --> 00:27:17,519
mainline levels, and you're just you're riding on a wolf

559
00:27:17,880 --> 00:27:19,720
and in the background there's all this stuff and it's

560
00:27:19,799 --> 00:27:22,640
very like painterly art style, and I was just like

561
00:27:22,799 --> 00:27:25,400
stunned at how gorgeous it was. And like eventually, you know,

562
00:27:25,440 --> 00:27:27,319
you do adjust to it. I'm not just like whoa

563
00:27:27,480 --> 00:27:30,279
every single time like something's happening on the screen, but

564
00:27:30,400 --> 00:27:33,319
like the first couple of levels, I was like, holy crap,

565
00:27:33,440 --> 00:27:36,880
Like this is just a beautiful freaking game. And it

566
00:27:37,160 --> 00:27:38,839
does carry through all the way to the end. It's

567
00:27:39,039 --> 00:27:44,039
challenging without being like controller throwingly difficult, although there were

568
00:27:44,079 --> 00:27:46,000
some parts that I got stuck on for quite a while.

569
00:27:46,000 --> 00:27:48,680
But the checkpointing is such that like you don't feel like,

570
00:27:48,720 --> 00:27:50,119
oh my god, I have to play through like the

571
00:27:50,160 --> 00:27:53,119
last twenty minutes of whatever. Yeah, it's it's you know,

572
00:27:53,279 --> 00:27:55,359
forgiving in that way. But at the same time, like

573
00:27:55,440 --> 00:27:57,720
you need to nail these jumps, you need to nail

574
00:27:57,799 --> 00:28:01,759
these combat encounters. You can seek out more difficult combat encounters.

575
00:28:01,799 --> 00:28:04,240
Like there are these like rifts that you can enter

576
00:28:04,319 --> 00:28:06,559
that are gonna be either like a really tough platforming

577
00:28:06,640 --> 00:28:09,599
challenge or a really tough combat challenge, and.

578
00:28:09,519 --> 00:28:12,480
Speaker 1: That's like a little side room and keep going after that.

579
00:28:12,799 --> 00:28:15,839
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, and it's optional. And then there's also like

580
00:28:15,960 --> 00:28:20,440
elite squadrons that you can challenge in order to really

581
00:28:20,519 --> 00:28:22,519
challenge yourself. And like there's like I think four of

582
00:28:22,559 --> 00:28:24,880
those per levels or three or four of those per levels,

583
00:28:24,880 --> 00:28:27,839
so like you have like an ample opportunity for exploration.

584
00:28:28,920 --> 00:28:31,279
There's relics that you can find that allow you to

585
00:28:31,319 --> 00:28:33,559
open up more options in the stores. There's lots of

586
00:28:33,559 --> 00:28:38,400
rewarding explanation or explanation exploration, and that that gives you

587
00:28:38,599 --> 00:28:42,279
plenty of reasons to poke around these largely linear but

588
00:28:42,400 --> 00:28:44,920
like still Metroidvania inspired stages.

589
00:28:45,440 --> 00:28:47,480
Speaker 5: So like the stages.

590
00:28:47,039 --> 00:28:49,440
Speaker 2: Are laid out that like you know, as you explore,

591
00:28:49,519 --> 00:28:51,880
the map kind of like builds out and there are

592
00:28:51,920 --> 00:28:54,079
times where you need to go back and like, all right, well,

593
00:28:54,079 --> 00:28:56,200
now I have this ability, I can crash through this

594
00:28:56,319 --> 00:28:59,680
wall now or whatever. But they are largely linear, and

595
00:28:59,720 --> 00:29:01,359
like there's a point A, and there's a point B

596
00:29:01,440 --> 00:29:03,039
that you're trying to get to. There's a boss waiting

597
00:29:03,079 --> 00:29:05,000
for you at the end of every stage. But the

598
00:29:05,079 --> 00:29:08,759
exploration borrows so heavily from Metroidvania. For like, all right, well,

599
00:29:08,799 --> 00:29:12,039
if I want to expand my shop availability, I need

600
00:29:12,079 --> 00:29:15,039
to find these Oboro relics, and then that's gonna lead

601
00:29:15,119 --> 00:29:17,519
me to like take this path that's very clearly a

602
00:29:17,559 --> 00:29:20,599
side path, or like you know it's gonna it's gonna

603
00:29:20,599 --> 00:29:22,240
ask me to go back to level one now that

604
00:29:22,319 --> 00:29:25,400
I have like this new ability to punch through the

605
00:29:25,440 --> 00:29:27,640
ground and like reach through like to this other area.

606
00:29:27,680 --> 00:29:30,880
So like, there are so many reasons to explore, and

607
00:29:30,960 --> 00:29:34,000
like it's all very rewarding and the combat is super

608
00:29:34,039 --> 00:29:36,480
satisfying by the end of it. You have so many

609
00:29:36,480 --> 00:29:39,559
different combos and like customizable like load outs that you

610
00:29:39,599 --> 00:29:43,680
can build like through like either like the Ninpo abilities,

611
00:29:43,759 --> 00:29:49,079
the Ninjutsu like Ultimate abilities, that it starts feeling almost

612
00:29:49,160 --> 00:29:50,480
like all right, well, first of all, you can customize

613
00:29:50,480 --> 00:29:53,519
it however you want, and then two like it starts

614
00:29:53,519 --> 00:29:55,519
feeling almost like a fighting game where it's like, all right, well,

615
00:29:55,559 --> 00:29:58,720
now it's like, you know, square square triangle, triangle is

616
00:29:58,759 --> 00:30:00,440
like your your most basic comba. And then it's like,

617
00:30:00,720 --> 00:30:04,039
what if I throw like you know, some sharkens into

618
00:30:04,039 --> 00:30:07,720
that or some like some like Ninpo in the middle

619
00:30:07,759 --> 00:30:09,440
of that, like light the guy on fire in the

620
00:30:09,440 --> 00:30:12,000
middle of doing like a light and heavy attack, and

621
00:30:12,519 --> 00:30:14,799
you know, there's all these different combinations that you can

622
00:30:14,799 --> 00:30:17,079
pull off and you you unlock them through the store

623
00:30:17,119 --> 00:30:19,759
as you go, and it like the boss battles are fantastic.

624
00:30:19,799 --> 00:30:22,680
The levels, I would say are probably the levels in

625
00:30:22,720 --> 00:30:26,279
the art style really compete between like how like what

626
00:30:26,359 --> 00:30:28,960
is the what is the most perfectly designed part of

627
00:30:28,960 --> 00:30:31,680
this game? But also you know, the platforming feels great

628
00:30:31,720 --> 00:30:35,039
and the combat is fantastic as well. So right now

629
00:30:35,480 --> 00:30:37,279
it is the front runner for my personal game of

630
00:30:37,279 --> 00:30:37,559
the year.

631
00:30:38,119 --> 00:30:38,440
Speaker 4: Wow.

632
00:30:38,599 --> 00:30:39,799
Speaker 1: Damn.

633
00:30:40,839 --> 00:30:41,880
Speaker 6: Yeah, that's crazy.

634
00:30:41,960 --> 00:30:43,039
Speaker 1: Yeah, that sounds cool.

635
00:30:43,240 --> 00:30:45,240
Speaker 4: Highly recommend it on the d Lemming scale.

636
00:30:45,240 --> 00:30:46,200
Speaker 3: Where does it land though?

637
00:30:46,319 --> 00:30:48,839
Speaker 2: I mean, you are you do unload a lot of

638
00:30:48,880 --> 00:30:51,119
heavy damage into people, and then you can perform an

639
00:30:51,119 --> 00:30:54,799
execution style attack that finishes them off and makes them

640
00:30:54,839 --> 00:30:58,240
explode like pinatas with like you know, drops and stuff.

641
00:30:58,279 --> 00:31:00,640
Speaker 1: So sounds like a real obliteration to it is.

642
00:31:00,839 --> 00:31:04,839
Speaker 2: Yes, So Year of the Ninja and between the you know,

643
00:31:05,039 --> 00:31:07,359
I wrote a Shanoby Art a Vengeance feature a couple

644
00:31:07,480 --> 00:31:10,759
issues for our first issue back, I wrote the Ninja

645
00:31:10,759 --> 00:31:13,720
guid and four cover story, and then I reviewed Shanoby

646
00:31:14,079 --> 00:31:17,160
Art a Vengeance. I'm just kind of tapped out writing

647
00:31:17,200 --> 00:31:18,200
about Ninja's right now.

648
00:31:19,119 --> 00:31:22,799
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's fair, that's fair. Well, Brian, thanks for joining

649
00:31:22,920 --> 00:31:25,359
us today. I'll let you get back to your your

650
00:31:25,559 --> 00:31:28,359
very busy Tuesday, but appreciate you coming on and talking

651
00:31:28,400 --> 00:31:30,960
about Ninja, Guiden four and Shinoby.

652
00:31:31,440 --> 00:31:32,519
Speaker 2: All right, thanks for having me.

653
00:31:33,000 --> 00:31:36,160
Speaker 1: All right, bye, Brian, all right, we are back and

654
00:31:36,200 --> 00:31:39,240
we're gonna toss it over to Mike Drucker here to

655
00:31:39,720 --> 00:31:43,039
chat about UFO fifty and anything else that you honestly

656
00:31:43,079 --> 00:31:46,079
want to talk about. Mike, this game came out I

657
00:31:46,079 --> 00:31:48,200
think during our Dark time? Is that right, Kyle?

658
00:31:48,359 --> 00:31:49,240
Speaker 3: The Dark Period?

659
00:31:49,279 --> 00:31:52,440
Speaker 1: I like a dark period version.

660
00:31:52,599 --> 00:31:55,160
Speaker 4: We all were hibernating or something. I don't remember it.

661
00:31:55,079 --> 00:31:58,440
Speaker 1: Was, Yeah, yeah, it was. It was during the Dark Period.

662
00:31:58,480 --> 00:31:58,920
Speaker 3: I believe.

663
00:31:58,960 --> 00:32:00,799
Speaker 4: Are you playing the Switch version? Is that what you're

664
00:32:00,839 --> 00:32:02,279
Is that what you're doing or yeah?

665
00:32:02,359 --> 00:32:05,759
Speaker 5: I mean I have the PC version and I bought

666
00:32:05,799 --> 00:32:09,480
it again on the Switch, both because I there's a

667
00:32:09,480 --> 00:32:10,920
certain type of game where I'm like, I want to

668
00:32:10,960 --> 00:32:12,960
support it enough where I want more of this type

669
00:32:12,960 --> 00:32:15,200
of game, so I'm willing to buy it more than once. Yeah,

670
00:32:15,240 --> 00:32:18,640
you know, And also I just wanted it more places.

671
00:32:18,839 --> 00:32:21,200
Speaker 1: That's totally this v game you could just jam on

672
00:32:21,319 --> 00:32:22,160
for a long time.

673
00:32:23,319 --> 00:32:25,200
Speaker 5: That's what I love about it. I mean, like I think,

674
00:32:25,279 --> 00:32:27,880
what I think what people don't realize is it's not

675
00:32:27,960 --> 00:32:30,640
like Warrio where where there's a ton of minigames in here,

676
00:32:30,839 --> 00:32:33,920
or you know, micro minigames. These are full game, some

677
00:32:34,039 --> 00:32:36,799
of which take hours to complete, some take like fifteen

678
00:32:36,839 --> 00:32:39,400
minutes if you know what you're doing. But if you're

679
00:32:39,440 --> 00:32:43,720
not familiar with it, it's basically a collection of fake

680
00:32:44,480 --> 00:32:47,960
nes era games on a fake console. As if you're

681
00:32:48,000 --> 00:32:50,200
going through the chronology of these games from like nineteen

682
00:32:50,240 --> 00:32:52,519
eighty three to I think like nineteen eighty seven or eight,

683
00:32:53,519 --> 00:32:55,960
almost like you're going through the whole lifetime life cycle

684
00:32:56,000 --> 00:32:58,119
of the NES or the fancom except again, it's a

685
00:32:58,160 --> 00:33:01,000
fictional system. There's also sort of like a meta thing

686
00:33:01,240 --> 00:33:03,200
under the games, like the better you do in the games,

687
00:33:03,240 --> 00:33:05,359
you start to unlock little things that give you information

688
00:33:05,400 --> 00:33:09,799
about like this fake console. That's cool, but it's it's

689
00:33:09,839 --> 00:33:12,200
but like every genre is represented. There's a there's like

690
00:33:12,240 --> 00:33:16,680
a horror adventure game that's actually great. There are platformers,

691
00:33:16,720 --> 00:33:21,039
there's like a bubble bobble soccer type game. There's uh,

692
00:33:21,079 --> 00:33:22,880
there's a game called party House, which is just an

693
00:33:22,920 --> 00:33:23,640
amazing streated.

694
00:33:23,680 --> 00:33:25,839
Speaker 1: That's a game the only game I played from this

695
00:33:25,880 --> 00:33:29,960
compilation so far, and I love party House. That game rules.

696
00:33:31,200 --> 00:33:34,720
Speaker 5: Party House is almost worth admission, like the price of

697
00:33:34,759 --> 00:33:38,519
admission alone. It's so good. Basically, party houses kind of

698
00:33:38,599 --> 00:33:40,480
it's not a deck builder, but think like a deck

699
00:33:40,519 --> 00:33:43,440
builder where you're trying to h around. You're inviting people

700
00:33:43,519 --> 00:33:45,279
over for a party, and those people either bring in

701
00:33:45,359 --> 00:33:48,839
money or they bring in popularity. Those are the two

702
00:33:48,880 --> 00:33:51,160
resources and with popularity, you can buy more people, and

703
00:33:51,200 --> 00:33:53,119
with money you can expand the size of the house

704
00:33:53,200 --> 00:33:55,359
to have the party in. And then there's like little

705
00:33:55,359 --> 00:33:57,559
things like there's some people who are worth a lot

706
00:33:57,559 --> 00:33:59,440
of points, but they're jerks, so if too many show

707
00:33:59,519 --> 00:34:03,039
up at once, the cops come to the party, it's

708
00:34:03,079 --> 00:34:08,000
it's it's it's like an astonishingly fun and fast strategy

709
00:34:08,159 --> 00:34:09,280
and I love it so much.

710
00:34:09,320 --> 00:34:12,880
Speaker 6: Buys people, but popularity increases the size of the house.

711
00:34:13,840 --> 00:34:16,280
Speaker 5: I might have got that reverse reverse Okay.

712
00:34:16,519 --> 00:34:19,239
Speaker 6: I heard it, and I was like, that's crazy game design,

713
00:34:19,280 --> 00:34:22,480
that's exactly awesome. I was about to I was ready

714
00:34:22,519 --> 00:34:26,760
to write an essay about No I hadn't.

715
00:34:26,559 --> 00:34:32,119
Speaker 1: Swapped like from the game. Oh go ahead, Kyle, What

716
00:34:32,159 --> 00:34:32,559
were you saying?

717
00:34:33,039 --> 00:34:34,880
Speaker 4: Is it a switch to proper game or is it

718
00:34:34,920 --> 00:34:35,800
a switch one game?

719
00:34:36,880 --> 00:34:39,840
Speaker 5: Switch one? Switch one? But like it's also simple that

720
00:34:40,360 --> 00:34:42,800
you know, I'm someone who still uses my switch one,

721
00:34:42,840 --> 00:34:44,519
Like my switch one has become sort of like I

722
00:34:44,519 --> 00:34:45,920
live in New York City, so it's not like my

723
00:34:46,000 --> 00:34:47,719
throat in my bag and take it on the subway

724
00:34:47,760 --> 00:34:51,039
type console because I no longer care if I break

725
00:34:51,079 --> 00:34:53,079
it or lose it, because I have another one, which

726
00:34:53,119 --> 00:34:55,559
is a terrible way to view your things, but it

727
00:34:55,639 --> 00:34:59,280
runs just as well as on one is too, and honestly,

728
00:35:00,880 --> 00:35:03,159
you could say it runs a little better because it

729
00:35:03,360 --> 00:35:06,840
upscales to the higher resolution on the switch to and

730
00:35:07,519 --> 00:35:09,400
a few of the games you have a slight like

731
00:35:09,480 --> 00:35:11,719
dithering type effect a little bit with some of the

732
00:35:11,800 --> 00:35:15,079
pixel art. It's not a big problem, but like if

733
00:35:15,119 --> 00:35:17,360
you on like the fan forms, there's one or two

734
00:35:17,400 --> 00:35:20,280
people who aren't happy about it, but it works great

735
00:35:20,320 --> 00:35:21,039
on either console.

736
00:35:22,000 --> 00:35:26,360
Speaker 1: The rules, any other any other highlights from besides Party House.

737
00:35:27,679 --> 00:35:30,960
Speaker 5: God Like, like I said, I forget what the Horror

738
00:35:31,039 --> 00:35:32,920
one is named, but like, once you get into it,

739
00:35:32,960 --> 00:35:36,039
that's really good. There's the problem is they all have

740
00:35:36,119 --> 00:35:39,119
like sort of generic any style names, and so like

741
00:35:39,440 --> 00:35:41,639
I'll be like the one where the lady is jumping

742
00:35:41,679 --> 00:35:44,000
on clouds and going up a lot, and I put

743
00:35:44,800 --> 00:35:46,960
probably one hundred hours into this, and I'll be like,

744
00:35:47,000 --> 00:35:49,639
I think that's velgris because I'm so used to just

745
00:35:49,719 --> 00:35:51,679
clicking on the icon of the game and being like,

746
00:35:51,679 --> 00:35:55,360
all right, we're gonna play more of a Samurai Dodgeball,

747
00:35:55,400 --> 00:35:57,719
which is not the name, which is not the name

748
00:35:57,719 --> 00:35:59,719
of it at all, which is, but another one of

749
00:35:59,760 --> 00:36:02,119
the game is basically kind of like a sports game

750
00:36:02,119 --> 00:36:04,599
where you're to samurai who are hitting a disc or

751
00:36:04,599 --> 00:36:08,679
a ball back and forth. It's so good and it's

752
00:36:08,719 --> 00:36:11,159
so much value for your dollar, which I know is

753
00:36:11,159 --> 00:36:13,719
a weird thing to say about video games when I'm

754
00:36:13,719 --> 00:36:17,320
constantly begging them to be shorter. But there's so much

755
00:36:17,360 --> 00:36:18,840
to do in it, and like you said, like because

756
00:36:18,840 --> 00:36:22,480
there's fifty essentially full sized games in it each I

757
00:36:22,480 --> 00:36:24,039
mean not each, but a lot of them in very

758
00:36:24,039 --> 00:36:27,800
different genres. Like there's a game called There's There's a

759
00:36:27,840 --> 00:36:30,400
pin Golf where you're it's basically pinball and golf put

760
00:36:30,400 --> 00:36:33,119
together rules. There's so much to do there that it's

761
00:36:33,159 --> 00:36:34,760
It's one of those games also that like you can

762
00:36:34,760 --> 00:36:36,920
play for fifteen minutes with the sound off if you're

763
00:36:36,920 --> 00:36:38,880
on the couch, Like, you don't need to put a

764
00:36:38,920 --> 00:36:41,079
lot of time into it. You don't need to be like, Okay,

765
00:36:41,679 --> 00:36:43,800
if there's a cut scene, I'm not going to be

766
00:36:43,840 --> 00:36:45,960
able to play this because I only have forty five minutes.

767
00:36:46,000 --> 00:36:51,280
It's the perfect portable game that with experiences that take

768
00:36:51,280 --> 00:36:52,840
a couple hours or a couple of minutes. I know

769
00:36:52,880 --> 00:36:54,440
that I'm sounding like I made the game and I'll

770
00:36:54,440 --> 00:36:58,039
make money. I'm just such a big fan of this kind.

771
00:36:58,159 --> 00:37:04,760
Speaker 6: Yeah the job. Can I ask when you played the games,

772
00:37:04,800 --> 00:37:06,800
did you what order? Did you play them in? Did

773
00:37:06,800 --> 00:37:08,679
you go chronological order? Did you just see what like

774
00:37:08,760 --> 00:37:09,400
looked good?

775
00:37:11,159 --> 00:37:14,199
Speaker 5: I went, I saw what looked good. I thought about

776
00:37:14,239 --> 00:37:16,519
going in chronological order, but then I was like, I

777
00:37:16,519 --> 00:37:19,000
want to try the wall with the dinosaurs, and I

778
00:37:19,039 --> 00:37:21,519
went with again, there's a strategy game where you play

779
00:37:21,920 --> 00:37:25,480
birds who worshiped dinosaurs to get special powers for war.

780
00:37:25,599 --> 00:37:29,039
Of course, of course, as you do as you do

781
00:37:29,440 --> 00:37:31,840
so I initially my initial attention was like, I'm going

782
00:37:31,880 --> 00:37:34,519
to play them in order the way that God intended,

783
00:37:34,639 --> 00:37:36,920
And then I immediately jumped around when things look fun.

784
00:37:36,840 --> 00:37:39,920
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, and I love that. Like obviously, Derek, you

785
00:37:40,000 --> 00:37:42,559
kind of headed up the project, but he he pulled

786
00:37:42,639 --> 00:37:45,519
a lot of friends. I know Eric, I can't remember

787
00:37:45,559 --> 00:37:47,840
his last name. One of one of his buddies who

788
00:37:47,840 --> 00:37:50,079
has helped design I think he helped with like Spelunky

789
00:37:50,159 --> 00:37:53,400
and all that. It feels like such a fun you know,

790
00:37:53,440 --> 00:37:56,920
you kind of see their individual fingerprints on the various

791
00:37:56,960 --> 00:37:59,480
games as as you go through. I got it. I

792
00:37:59,519 --> 00:38:02,800
probably played like ten, ten or eleven of those games

793
00:38:02,840 --> 00:38:04,679
and was always one that I wanted to bookmark to

794
00:38:04,719 --> 00:38:08,119
come back to because it'd come out in a complicated

795
00:38:08,119 --> 00:38:13,199
period of my life, as we covered, and yeah, that

796
00:38:13,280 --> 00:38:16,000
reminds me pen Golf was. I was kind of looking

797
00:38:16,079 --> 00:38:18,519
up screenshots and I forgot that was the one that

798
00:38:18,519 --> 00:38:20,400
that I kind of had my eye on, but I

799
00:38:20,440 --> 00:38:23,079
never got to. So I might have to do we

800
00:38:23,119 --> 00:38:24,599
know how much it is on Switch? I can I

801
00:38:24,639 --> 00:38:27,400
guess I can look real quick. I won't say thirty bucks,

802
00:38:27,440 --> 00:38:30,239
but okay, yeah, oh yeah, twenty four ninety nine, Okay.

803
00:38:30,519 --> 00:38:33,079
Speaker 4: Okay, I have it on Steam Deck. I got it

804
00:38:33,159 --> 00:38:35,039
during the Dark period, but man, I was just like

805
00:38:36,159 --> 00:38:38,960
intimidated by it, Like it's it was almost like too much,

806
00:38:39,360 --> 00:38:42,199
you know, and I do I need to I want.

807
00:38:42,239 --> 00:38:45,760
I just prefer playing games on Switch or switch to

808
00:38:45,920 --> 00:38:47,840
just because it's like lighter than the Steam Deck. And

809
00:38:47,880 --> 00:38:49,639
so maybe that's the excuse I need to like give

810
00:38:49,639 --> 00:38:51,559
it another It's not that I didn't like it or anything.

811
00:38:51,559 --> 00:38:53,280
It was just like I played the first two games

812
00:38:53,280 --> 00:38:55,320
and I was like, oh my god, I have forty

813
00:38:55,360 --> 00:38:59,039
eight more of these to potentially try and enjoy or

814
00:38:59,119 --> 00:39:00,840
maybe not even like and that's fine because I'll just

815
00:39:00,880 --> 00:39:02,239
go to the next one. But I don't know just

816
00:39:02,519 --> 00:39:04,000
that is it's a full time job.

817
00:39:04,760 --> 00:39:07,039
Speaker 6: It's I mean, I like, I don't know if it

818
00:39:07,039 --> 00:39:09,159
has to do with our job. It probably has something

819
00:39:09,199 --> 00:39:10,559
to do their job. But there is a thing when

820
00:39:10,559 --> 00:39:12,920
I'm playing a game when sometimes I'm like, oh my god,

821
00:39:13,000 --> 00:39:15,719
I have like thirty more hours left of game before

822
00:39:15,719 --> 00:39:17,800
I get to the end of it, versus being like,

823
00:39:17,920 --> 00:39:19,840
I gotta upgrade my armor, I gotta talk to that

824
00:39:19,840 --> 00:39:21,559
weird guy in the alley. I gotta see if I

825
00:39:21,599 --> 00:39:23,559
can put these two pets together and make a third pet.

826
00:39:23,760 --> 00:39:25,679
Like all that kind of stuff is what like actually

827
00:39:25,719 --> 00:39:27,880
pulls me through the game. But it's like how long

828
00:39:27,880 --> 00:39:29,119
it is, Yeah, you can actually click with.

829
00:39:29,239 --> 00:39:32,440
Speaker 1: Oh the number one thing. Number one like self sabotage.

830
00:39:32,519 --> 00:39:34,079
Thing I do is I'll be playing a game and

831
00:39:34,119 --> 00:39:38,440
I'll google how many chapters are in X game. See

832
00:39:38,519 --> 00:39:40,920
it's like thirty six, and I'm like, I'm on four.

833
00:39:42,360 --> 00:39:45,519
Speaker 6: Knowing the chapters helps me a lot, Like chapters are

834
00:39:45,519 --> 00:39:48,400
really I way prefer chapters to an hour count because

835
00:39:48,480 --> 00:39:51,440
like I think I just play games slower than most

836
00:39:51,480 --> 00:39:55,320
people or I just get distracted very easily. But knowing

837
00:39:55,360 --> 00:39:57,440
I'm like four out of thirty six, I'm like, ooh,

838
00:39:57,480 --> 00:39:59,440
I can knock another chapter off today, and I feel

839
00:39:59,480 --> 00:40:03,760
like I'm making progress versus like I don't know fifty game.

840
00:40:03,800 --> 00:40:05,880
That's another example of like, you know, I could I

841
00:40:05,920 --> 00:40:09,760
know exactly how much I've done well, yeah, And but.

842
00:40:09,760 --> 00:40:11,800
Speaker 5: I'm sort of like that with mini games, where like,

843
00:40:11,840 --> 00:40:13,920
for for example, like Final Fantasy Rebirth, there was a

844
00:40:13,920 --> 00:40:18,039
point where I was like, how many of these goddamn

845
00:40:19,239 --> 00:40:22,159
are there? And that actually helped me stop doing the minigames.

846
00:40:22,159 --> 00:40:23,800
I was like, I'm not going to do all of this.

847
00:40:23,880 --> 00:40:25,840
When I saw how much there was, I was almost

848
00:40:25,880 --> 00:40:27,840
like relieve that I would not be doing that.

849
00:40:27,960 --> 00:40:28,320
Speaker 1: Yeahah.

850
00:40:28,360 --> 00:40:32,800
Speaker 6: There's also a knowledge of letting yourself be like I

851
00:40:33,440 --> 00:40:37,400
actually I would rather finish this game not one hundred

852
00:40:37,400 --> 00:40:39,760
percent than drop it in the middle. Yes, where it's

853
00:40:39,800 --> 00:40:43,599
like I want to enjoy five UFO fifty games rather

854
00:40:43,639 --> 00:40:47,280
than never picking it up because it's too intimidating. But

855
00:40:47,360 --> 00:40:49,320
you have to I don't know, I personally have to

856
00:40:49,320 --> 00:40:51,440
talk myself into that. I'm like, it's okay, I don't

857
00:40:51,480 --> 00:40:54,440
need to get full synchronization or whatever every single level.

858
00:40:56,199 --> 00:41:00,039
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's awesome. Yeah, great pull for UFO fifty. Have

859
00:41:00,079 --> 00:41:02,039
you been playing anything else, Mike, or is that most

860
00:41:02,039 --> 00:41:03,679
of what you've been kind of jamming?

861
00:41:03,719 --> 00:41:06,800
Speaker 5: I've been. I've been for some reason, even though I

862
00:41:06,840 --> 00:41:09,519
know the remake just came out. In defiance of that.

863
00:41:09,639 --> 00:41:12,920
I'm playing Metal Gear Solid three again, the HD Collection

864
00:41:13,039 --> 00:41:15,480
version and the three DS version. Oh, you did start

865
00:41:15,480 --> 00:41:17,400
playing the three D playing them at the same time,

866
00:41:17,440 --> 00:41:22,000
same time, because the three DS version is so weird

867
00:41:22,400 --> 00:41:26,079
and it's not great, no controls, weird controls.

868
00:41:26,079 --> 00:41:30,039
Speaker 4: Well, Mike and I left for we met, like when

869
00:41:30,079 --> 00:41:31,760
I was in New York doing the Meddle Gear event,

870
00:41:31,880 --> 00:41:33,880
like the review event, and you were talking, You're talking

871
00:41:33,960 --> 00:41:35,679
up the three D S version. I had remembered that.

872
00:41:35,719 --> 00:41:37,559
I think I think I actually got my copy from

873
00:41:37,559 --> 00:41:39,880
Game Informer, Like we got an extra copy back when

874
00:41:39,880 --> 00:41:41,599
we got like physical copies of games, and I gave

875
00:41:41,599 --> 00:41:44,039
it to my brother and I went to his apartment

876
00:41:44,039 --> 00:41:46,239
and got it and I started playing it, and I

877
00:41:46,280 --> 00:41:48,360
texted Mike. I was like, Mike, this is this is

878
00:41:48,480 --> 00:41:52,280
almost unplayable, Like this is like you you have to

879
00:41:52,400 --> 00:41:55,400
use the face buttons to aim in first person.

880
00:41:55,559 --> 00:42:02,239
Speaker 5: It's so it's okay, Yeah, I love, I love. I

881
00:42:02,280 --> 00:42:03,920
love a bad video game.

882
00:42:04,119 --> 00:42:04,480
Speaker 1: I love.

883
00:42:04,840 --> 00:42:06,360
Speaker 5: I mean, I love like a bad version of a

884
00:42:06,400 --> 00:42:10,639
great video the Game Boy version of Mortal Kombat. I

885
00:42:10,719 --> 00:42:13,599
will the worst. I want the worst version of the worst.

886
00:42:14,880 --> 00:42:17,679
Speaker 4: I will say it was picking the three DS back

887
00:42:17,719 --> 00:42:19,320
up and charging it up and turning it on. It

888
00:42:19,400 --> 00:42:22,360
was a moment of like, you know what, maybe we

889
00:42:22,400 --> 00:42:26,159
didn't talk about how cool this stereoscopic technology is, Like, yeah,

890
00:42:26,199 --> 00:42:28,039
it gives me a headache and I can't keep it

891
00:42:28,079 --> 00:42:31,159
on for too long, but like it does work, and

892
00:42:31,199 --> 00:42:34,199
that's pretty cool. You know, Because I just at a

893
00:42:34,239 --> 00:42:37,079
cert after the first like month of having my three DS,

894
00:42:37,119 --> 00:42:39,039
I like I would just turn it on to see like,

895
00:42:39,079 --> 00:42:40,000
oh cool it's in three D.

896
00:42:40,000 --> 00:42:41,400
Speaker 3: Okay, let me turn it off and play the game.

897
00:42:41,400 --> 00:42:43,320
Speaker 4: Like that's almost how I played every three DS game.

898
00:42:43,360 --> 00:42:47,519
Speaker 1: But yeah, I have this miserable Oh sorry, Charles, go ahead.

899
00:42:47,320 --> 00:42:48,360
Speaker 6: I was gonna say. I got to the point at

900
00:42:48,400 --> 00:42:50,800
the end of the three DS lifespan where I would

901
00:42:50,840 --> 00:42:52,679
start being like, oh, yeah, this thing's in three D

902
00:42:52,760 --> 00:42:54,800
and I'd check it and the game they didn't even

903
00:42:54,840 --> 00:42:58,960
bother to at the three D like a sixteen three

904
00:42:59,039 --> 00:43:01,440
DS game. It's like they were like, it's actually not

905
00:43:01,519 --> 00:43:02,440
worth the trouble.

906
00:43:03,119 --> 00:43:06,199
Speaker 1: Yeah, I got my three DS I think twenty sixteen.

907
00:43:06,239 --> 00:43:09,639
It was really late to it, and I was kind

908
00:43:09,639 --> 00:43:11,639
of I knew this. I think the NX the switch

909
00:43:11,679 --> 00:43:14,440
had been announced at that point, and I wanted just

910
00:43:14,440 --> 00:43:17,840
something in that realm. I was feeling, you know, nostalgic

911
00:43:17,840 --> 00:43:20,000
about Nintendo and all that, and I had this horrible

912
00:43:20,039 --> 00:43:21,760
desk job, and I would just go to the bathroom

913
00:43:22,199 --> 00:43:25,519
and sit in the men's shower room and just play

914
00:43:25,599 --> 00:43:29,320
three DS. There's animal crossing, but I remember the stereoscopic

915
00:43:29,639 --> 00:43:33,599
stuff was just like kind of enchanting, even in twenty sixteen. Ye.

916
00:43:33,719 --> 00:43:36,360
But I would get nauseous really quickly, and so then

917
00:43:36,360 --> 00:43:37,719
I would have to go and work the rest of

918
00:43:37,719 --> 00:43:42,320
the afternoon, just feeling awful. But uh, yeah, I should

919
00:43:42,400 --> 00:43:44,119
I should play something on three DS soon.

920
00:43:44,320 --> 00:43:45,199
Speaker 3: You know, are you?

921
00:43:45,400 --> 00:43:47,880
Speaker 4: Are you playing metal Gear on new three DS or

922
00:43:47,920 --> 00:43:50,760
like a classic three D? So can you use the

923
00:43:50,840 --> 00:43:52,599
control stick on the new three DS? Do you have

924
00:43:52,639 --> 00:43:53,719
to like change a setting.

925
00:43:53,559 --> 00:43:54,280
Speaker 6: Or so much better?

926
00:43:56,320 --> 00:43:58,599
Speaker 4: God, I don't because I couldn't. I didn't. I didn't

927
00:43:58,760 --> 00:44:00,960
dive super deep into or anything. I just played for

928
00:44:00,960 --> 00:44:02,880
a couple of minutes, but I was like, I, I,

929
00:44:03,199 --> 00:44:08,480
you know, I don't know to use to like I

930
00:44:09,119 --> 00:44:13,320
I fondled the nub yeah yeah, and it wasn't moving

931
00:44:13,360 --> 00:44:15,360
the camera. That was the wrong word. Okay, So I

932
00:44:15,400 --> 00:44:16,960
didn't know if maybe I needed to like change the

933
00:44:16,960 --> 00:44:19,000
setting or something, because I think it came out before

934
00:44:19,280 --> 00:44:22,480
New three DS. But you, I said you were wrong

935
00:44:22,519 --> 00:44:24,199
at the time, but you were right. You can use

936
00:44:24,239 --> 00:44:27,199
the circle pad, so it must there must be some

937
00:44:27,199 --> 00:44:28,360
way to turn it on. I just don't know how

938
00:44:28,360 --> 00:44:30,199
to do it. Maybe I'll give it another shot so

939
00:44:30,239 --> 00:44:31,920
I don't have to aim with the face buttons, because

940
00:44:31,960 --> 00:44:34,519
I was just flabbergasted that that's how it worked.

941
00:44:35,639 --> 00:44:38,480
Speaker 6: Mike A, someone who's who's never played Metal Gear Solid

942
00:44:38,480 --> 00:44:43,280
three has just started playing Delta. Can you pitch me

943
00:44:43,400 --> 00:44:47,239
the reason that I should drop my PS five version

944
00:44:47,280 --> 00:44:49,960
of Delta and pick up the three DS version instead?

945
00:44:51,920 --> 00:44:52,360
Speaker 1: Uh?

946
00:44:52,440 --> 00:44:53,400
Speaker 4: Do you hate yourself?

947
00:44:55,360 --> 00:44:58,480
Speaker 5: Because if you do, and which I hate myself, it's perkay,

948
00:44:58,760 --> 00:45:00,559
Like if you if you want, if you want yourself

949
00:45:00,559 --> 00:45:04,000
to have a slightly worse time, if you want to hear.

950
00:45:04,039 --> 00:45:06,519
Speaker 6: Any any other selling points.

951
00:45:07,679 --> 00:45:09,639
Speaker 4: Oh the other The other thing. The other reason I

952
00:45:09,679 --> 00:45:12,719
was almost mad about having been tricked into playing it

953
00:45:12,760 --> 00:45:15,320
is I was laying on my back playing it and

954
00:45:15,360 --> 00:45:18,199
the opening it's like you climb up the tree and

955
00:45:18,239 --> 00:45:21,760
get your pack, and it's like it adds a balancing

956
00:45:21,840 --> 00:45:24,360
mini game right where you have to like balance snake.

957
00:45:24,719 --> 00:45:27,119
But the thing was I was holding I was like

958
00:45:27,199 --> 00:45:29,840
holding it on my back and it doesn't work, and

959
00:45:29,880 --> 00:45:31,480
it was like the middle of the night, and I'm like,

960
00:45:31,559 --> 00:45:33,480
a snake just keeps falling off the tree and I'm like,

961
00:45:33,599 --> 00:45:36,800
and I was calling the colonel or whatever, a commander zero.

962
00:45:36,840 --> 00:45:37,840
Speaker 3: I forget what his name was.

963
00:45:38,519 --> 00:45:40,239
Speaker 4: Which is funny that he was talking about the three

964
00:45:40,320 --> 00:45:42,679
ds and the tilt controls because they re recorded new

965
00:45:42,760 --> 00:45:45,000
dialogue for him to talk about it, which is very funny.

966
00:45:45,159 --> 00:45:46,760
But I had to like sit up at like I

967
00:45:46,760 --> 00:45:49,519
don't know, one o'clock in the morning and like properly

968
00:45:49,599 --> 00:45:51,760
sit so I could balance snake on that.

969
00:45:52,039 --> 00:45:52,239
Speaker 3: Yeah.

970
00:45:52,480 --> 00:45:54,400
Speaker 4: So yeah, does that does that help you, Charles? Does

971
00:45:54,440 --> 00:45:55,760
that encourage you to go pick up?

972
00:45:55,960 --> 00:45:56,000
Speaker 1: No?

973
00:45:56,119 --> 00:45:57,039
Speaker 6: It really doesn't.

974
00:45:57,119 --> 00:46:01,960
Speaker 5: I mean yeah, I mean I got I can't. I

975
00:46:02,000 --> 00:46:04,519
can't convince you to drop the malder one for the

976
00:46:04,599 --> 00:46:07,599
last one because I don't have a good I think

977
00:46:07,639 --> 00:46:09,599
it's just you know, like a game.

978
00:46:10,119 --> 00:46:11,880
Speaker 4: Ye, yeah, you know, while.

979
00:46:12,400 --> 00:46:14,880
Speaker 5: I don't know, I don't know, I will I will play.

980
00:46:14,920 --> 00:46:18,239
Like like a few months ago, like almost on a Dare,

981
00:46:18,440 --> 00:46:21,559
I emulated and played the ZX Spectrum version of Street

982
00:46:21,599 --> 00:46:24,800
Fighter Too, which is as I just I love. I

983
00:46:24,880 --> 00:46:27,280
love a good bad video game. I love it so much.

984
00:46:28,239 --> 00:46:30,639
Speaker 4: While we're on three DS, this might be a good transition,

985
00:46:30,800 --> 00:46:33,480
But Mike, I want to at least talk a little bit.

986
00:46:33,719 --> 00:46:36,000
I wanted to connect to you and Charles because Charles

987
00:46:36,119 --> 00:46:39,000
is a big kid Icarus fan, and of course you

988
00:46:39,159 --> 00:46:41,639
worked on us and you and you wrote it and

989
00:46:41,679 --> 00:46:43,079
you talk about it in your book too.

990
00:46:42,960 --> 00:46:49,039
Speaker 3: Working on Kid Chorus, which is fun. So yeah, I.

991
00:46:48,679 --> 00:46:51,719
Speaker 5: The nicest compliment I got was that my Jason Schreyer said,

992
00:46:51,719 --> 00:46:53,840
my book has more about the inside of Nintendo than

993
00:46:53,840 --> 00:46:54,440
Reggie's book.

994
00:46:55,079 --> 00:46:59,760
Speaker 4: Wow. Yeah, it really probably does. Yeah, he talks. It

995
00:46:59,800 --> 00:47:02,599
is funny because Reggie's book has a lot of discussions

996
00:47:02,639 --> 00:47:04,719
about like going out to dinner with me at Moto,

997
00:47:04,760 --> 00:47:08,599
which is like outside of literally this is how I

998
00:47:08,760 --> 00:47:09,840
outside the office.

999
00:47:09,920 --> 00:47:15,679
Speaker 1: Yeah yeah, Charles, this is remind me your favorite game

1000
00:47:15,800 --> 00:47:18,840
is the is Lego Batman? Is that right, Lego Batman too?

1001
00:47:19,639 --> 00:47:21,079
This is this is there for you?

1002
00:47:21,480 --> 00:47:24,280
Speaker 6: Yeah, my first game I ever played was Lego Star Wars.

1003
00:47:24,320 --> 00:47:26,079
So I have a very I have a lot of nostalgia,

1004
00:47:26,159 --> 00:47:28,159
specifically like Charles is a baby.

1005
00:47:28,199 --> 00:47:29,559
Speaker 3: That's fair. I'm a baby.

1006
00:47:30,679 --> 00:47:32,079
Speaker 6: I was born in the year two thousand, which is

1007
00:47:32,119 --> 00:47:35,960
relevant for my Kiddichrius story of it was it was

1008
00:47:36,000 --> 00:47:39,800
like maybe the first game I remember finding out about

1009
00:47:39,840 --> 00:47:42,159
on my own, Like I think there was like a

1010
00:47:42,199 --> 00:47:46,079
we what even was it? They had like a Wei

1011
00:47:46,360 --> 00:47:48,840
news channel or something like that, but it wasn't like

1012
00:47:48,880 --> 00:47:50,800
the actual Wei news channel. It was like the way

1013
00:47:50,840 --> 00:47:53,360
you they like played trailers for games or whatever, and

1014
00:47:53,440 --> 00:47:55,039
that's how I learned about this game. And I was like,

1015
00:47:55,119 --> 00:47:57,400
this seems cool, and it was like the first time

1016
00:47:57,400 --> 00:47:58,960
I played a game, and like none of my friends

1017
00:47:58,960 --> 00:48:01,400
had told me about it. I don't think I knew

1018
00:48:01,400 --> 00:48:03,519
anyone else that knew what it was, but I was like,

1019
00:48:03,800 --> 00:48:05,519
this might be the best thing anyone's ever made. And

1020
00:48:05,559 --> 00:48:09,840
I'm twelve and I know that definitively. But then to

1021
00:48:09,880 --> 00:48:12,599
return to it later and be like, oh, I actually

1022
00:48:12,719 --> 00:48:15,519
I do genuine love this thing, and not in a

1023
00:48:15,599 --> 00:48:21,199
metal gear solid three D way. But yeah, I don't

1024
00:48:21,280 --> 00:48:22,880
I don't know what what you remember of it or

1025
00:48:22,920 --> 00:48:24,159
like what I think.

1026
00:48:24,199 --> 00:48:24,440
Speaker 5: I think.

1027
00:48:24,440 --> 00:48:30,159
Speaker 6: The thing I am curious about is uh localizing like

1028
00:48:30,760 --> 00:48:35,880
uh text and stuff. Uh that can come I imagine

1029
00:48:35,960 --> 00:48:38,800
at a lot of different places in the development cycle

1030
00:48:38,840 --> 00:48:40,440
of a game like that could be something that happened

1031
00:48:40,480 --> 00:48:43,559
really early, or it could be like pretty late, right

1032
00:48:43,599 --> 00:48:45,599
as you're like we're got to record stuff, we're gonna

1033
00:48:45,599 --> 00:48:47,599
write it all up. So I don't know when you

1034
00:48:47,719 --> 00:48:49,920
join the team or just what you remember about that.

1035
00:48:52,000 --> 00:48:55,280
Speaker 5: I mean, we The lucky thing about the Treehouse at

1036
00:48:55,360 --> 00:48:59,880
Nintendo is a lot of their localization product projects, you know,

1037
00:49:00,000 --> 00:49:03,320
so probably starting in like the you know, mid or

1038
00:49:03,440 --> 00:49:06,599
late two thousands, they started working at the beginning of

1039
00:49:06,599 --> 00:49:08,760
the cycle. So rather than it being like the old

1040
00:49:08,800 --> 00:49:11,360
stories of a Final Fantasy game where like a translator

1041
00:49:11,559 --> 00:49:13,920
got a giant stack of papers in three weeks to

1042
00:49:13,960 --> 00:49:17,639
translate something, we were playing early builds of the game

1043
00:49:18,199 --> 00:49:20,639
while you know, Soccari would give us notes or you know,

1044
00:49:20,679 --> 00:49:22,639
we'd get an email that was like, hey, we've changed

1045
00:49:22,679 --> 00:49:25,679
the story beat, which means that this dialogue in this

1046
00:49:26,199 --> 00:49:29,320
section of the document has changed, you guys need to

1047
00:49:29,320 --> 00:49:32,559
review it or you know, so like it. It's not

1048
00:49:32,599 --> 00:49:34,920
like we were development with them, because that's a little

1049
00:49:34,960 --> 00:49:38,000
bit grandiose to say, but we were part of the

1050
00:49:38,000 --> 00:49:40,360
whole development process, so as the story changed, we got

1051
00:49:40,360 --> 00:49:44,400
to change with it. And because Sakarai wanted it to

1052
00:49:44,400 --> 00:49:47,079
be a funnier game, he was much more open to us,

1053
00:49:48,239 --> 00:49:51,400
you know, not changing jokes without his permission, but making

1054
00:49:51,440 --> 00:49:54,159
sure that things idiomatically made sense, making sure that the

1055
00:49:54,239 --> 00:49:57,599
humor that he wanted in specific moments was evoked, rather

1056
00:49:57,679 --> 00:50:00,480
than we've got to stick to this translation as closely

1057
00:50:00,480 --> 00:50:04,639
as possible. Like, he encouraged us to like really make

1058
00:50:04,679 --> 00:50:07,440
it our own. And it was such a cool, fun

1059
00:50:07,480 --> 00:50:10,400
process I think. I think I personally feel lucky that

1060
00:50:10,440 --> 00:50:11,920
I got to see it as it was being made.

1061
00:50:11,960 --> 00:50:13,440
I think like, if I was just playing a really

1062
00:50:13,440 --> 00:50:15,760
fun game and localizing it, it wouldn't have been as magic.

1063
00:50:16,280 --> 00:50:18,360
It was honestly just so cool to be in the

1064
00:50:18,360 --> 00:50:19,480
middle of that process.

1065
00:50:19,719 --> 00:50:22,960
Speaker 6: Yeah, that's cool. So does does Sagarai? Does he speak English?

1066
00:50:23,119 --> 00:50:25,840
Does he understand the jokes when you send it to him,

1067
00:50:25,880 --> 00:50:28,000
or would it be like would he get you a

1068
00:50:28,000 --> 00:50:30,440
thing you would translate it and then someone would translate

1069
00:50:30,480 --> 00:50:32,800
it back for him to understand or for the Japanese

1070
00:50:32,840 --> 00:50:34,000
team in general to understand.

1071
00:50:35,960 --> 00:50:37,480
Speaker 5: That would be like most of it, because a lot

1072
00:50:37,480 --> 00:50:40,119
of it would be communicational with email, like he does

1073
00:50:40,159 --> 00:50:43,559
have a good grasp of English, but we I'm sure

1074
00:50:43,599 --> 00:50:45,400
there must have been at least one video call, but

1075
00:50:45,480 --> 00:50:47,920
I can't remember it. I remember a ton of emails,

1076
00:50:48,679 --> 00:50:51,320
including at one point he injured his hand from playing

1077
00:50:51,360 --> 00:50:53,079
the game so much so we got like emails from

1078
00:50:53,119 --> 00:50:54,920
someone else that was like, Hey, you're gonna get emails

1079
00:50:54,960 --> 00:50:56,360
from us for a little while because he injured his

1080
00:50:56,400 --> 00:50:57,199
hand playing this.

1081
00:50:58,119 --> 00:51:00,639
Speaker 4: So that we talked about it retroactive at least.

1082
00:51:00,719 --> 00:51:04,360
Speaker 6: Yeah, that's so funny given the complaints people have about

1083
00:51:04,400 --> 00:51:09,400
the game, uh, just the controls that literally. I also, I,

1084
00:51:09,519 --> 00:51:12,119
for the record, always liked the control scheme. And maybe

1085
00:51:12,159 --> 00:51:14,000
it's because I was twelve and had twelve year old

1086
00:51:14,079 --> 00:51:18,440
sized hands that bothered me in the same way, but yeah,

1087
00:51:18,480 --> 00:51:20,000
they should have just had a second I mean, they

1088
00:51:20,000 --> 00:51:21,800
did eventually add the second control stick.

1089
00:51:21,639 --> 00:51:25,000
Speaker 5: On there, but yeah, I mean I remember, you know,

1090
00:51:25,199 --> 00:51:28,719
even during development, this wasn't really part of our conversation.

1091
00:51:28,800 --> 00:51:31,280
But since you know, you're also as a localizer, you're

1092
00:51:31,280 --> 00:51:34,400
also writing the you know, you're localizing the man in

1093
00:51:34,440 --> 00:51:38,440
the box art. That there was that conversation of whether

1094
00:51:38,519 --> 00:51:40,159
or not to include a stand, whether or not to

1095
00:51:40,199 --> 00:51:42,880
include some extra thing to make it work, Like I

1096
00:51:42,920 --> 00:51:45,679
remember there being internally a lot of conversations about making

1097
00:51:45,719 --> 00:51:51,400
this game more playing, yeah, because it is a difficult

1098
00:51:51,440 --> 00:51:53,800
game to play on a regular three DS A little Did.

1099
00:51:53,920 --> 00:51:56,280
Speaker 6: You all you said you were translating of the manual

1100
00:51:56,320 --> 00:51:58,000
and the menus and stuff. Did you all do all

1101
00:51:58,039 --> 00:52:00,880
of that? Were you like assigned different parts? How did

1102
00:52:00,880 --> 00:52:01,840
the work breakdown?

1103
00:52:02,519 --> 00:52:04,519
Speaker 5: Well, I it was me, and then there was I

1104
00:52:04,599 --> 00:52:07,800
was sort of like I wouldn't say, I would say

1105
00:52:07,880 --> 00:52:09,480
like junior. I would say I was the junior writer,

1106
00:52:09,519 --> 00:52:11,559
and there was a senior writer named Anne Lynn, so

1107
00:52:11,599 --> 00:52:13,599
she was sort of the overall person. And a lot

1108
00:52:13,639 --> 00:52:16,440
of the things that I was assigned to were, you know,

1109
00:52:16,480 --> 00:52:19,599
punching up certain scenes where they wanted more jokes, or

1110
00:52:19,800 --> 00:52:22,239
things like writing the idol text. You know, writing the

1111
00:52:22,599 --> 00:52:24,719
idols were basically trophies in the game, So getting to

1112
00:52:24,719 --> 00:52:27,039
write the text for that was super fun because they

1113
00:52:27,079 --> 00:52:30,400
basically let you do whatever you want, so that was

1114
00:52:30,440 --> 00:52:32,599
super fun. I mean, like to a certain extent. I

1115
00:52:32,599 --> 00:52:35,480
couldn't like, you know, you know, dropping a slur or something,

1116
00:52:35,639 --> 00:52:38,760
but it was like an amazing thing opportunity to write

1117
00:52:38,760 --> 00:52:41,760
all those idle texts. So Ann would sort of like

1118
00:52:41,800 --> 00:52:43,800
assign me to do different things, and she was sort

1119
00:52:43,840 --> 00:52:45,920
of in charge of the overall project, but she was

1120
00:52:45,960 --> 00:52:48,840
also the one that was like helping to direct the

1121
00:52:48,960 --> 00:52:53,119
voice recording and whatnot, so it was very collaborative. It

1122
00:52:53,159 --> 00:52:54,719
was it wasn't like go off to a corner and

1123
00:52:54,760 --> 00:52:57,320
do this. It was more like, hey, this new issue

1124
00:52:57,440 --> 00:53:00,320
or this new change or you know, this new thing

1125
00:53:00,360 --> 00:53:02,159
has popped up. Can you go handle that?

1126
00:53:02,920 --> 00:53:03,400
Speaker 6: Cool ell?

1127
00:53:03,480 --> 00:53:07,760
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, very cool. Thank you for uh oh.

1128
00:53:07,519 --> 00:53:10,599
Speaker 4: I just wanted to make a request Mike to you personally.

1129
00:53:10,639 --> 00:53:12,280
Could you get that game over to switch to?

1130
00:53:12,719 --> 00:53:13,960
Speaker 3: Yeah?

1131
00:53:14,039 --> 00:53:16,360
Speaker 5: Oh man, I would I would love that. I would

1132
00:53:16,440 --> 00:53:18,679
love that, despite the fact I would not be paid

1133
00:53:18,679 --> 00:53:21,039
for it. And there's like a ninety chance my name

1134
00:53:21,119 --> 00:53:22,320
is not the credits for that one.

1135
00:53:23,800 --> 00:53:27,480
Speaker 6: Make make them make Kidd's Uprising. It can either be

1136
00:53:27,519 --> 00:53:29,480
a sequel or it can be a port or whatever.

1137
00:53:29,559 --> 00:53:31,840
Get it on switch to and the day it comes out,

1138
00:53:31,920 --> 00:53:33,880
I will not play it, and instead I will go

1139
00:53:33,960 --> 00:53:36,840
back and play the three DS version all the way

1140
00:53:36,920 --> 00:53:38,760
through the completion and be like.

1141
00:53:38,679 --> 00:53:41,159
Speaker 1: You, guys, you gotta play the three DS version. It's

1142
00:53:41,199 --> 00:53:45,320
so much better. I love it. Also, you're in New

1143
00:53:45,400 --> 00:53:47,639
York apparently, Yeah, I'm in New York. That's what.

1144
00:53:50,840 --> 00:53:51,599
Speaker 4: Talks language.

1145
00:53:52,199 --> 00:53:57,199
Speaker 1: Yeah, my mother was born there. Really is that true?

1146
00:53:57,360 --> 00:53:58,199
Is that Charles Law?

1147
00:53:58,960 --> 00:54:00,960
Speaker 3: Yeah? I mean I I don't know that.

1148
00:54:01,840 --> 00:54:03,920
Speaker 1: I just know Cincinnati, Cincinnati.

1149
00:54:04,320 --> 00:54:09,239
Speaker 6: My my mom born and raised in New York, lived

1150
00:54:09,239 --> 00:54:14,320
on Long Island. My parents met at school in Ithaca,

1151
00:54:14,639 --> 00:54:16,760
but my dad was always like from Ohio, and then

1152
00:54:16,800 --> 00:54:21,400
he convinced, convinced, he got my mom to move back

1153
00:54:21,440 --> 00:54:26,400
to the Midwest with him. And my mom's immigrant parents

1154
00:54:26,400 --> 00:54:30,519
were like, who's this white boy that's stealing our stealing

1155
00:54:30,519 --> 00:54:34,079
our daughter away from us here to go live in Kentucky.

1156
00:54:34,280 --> 00:54:37,320
That's weird. And it all worked out obviously good.

1157
00:54:37,440 --> 00:54:42,599
Speaker 1: Yeah, well cool. I also recommend if people haven't go

1158
00:54:42,719 --> 00:54:45,039
on the YouTube channel YouTube dot com slash Game Informer,

1159
00:54:45,360 --> 00:54:48,519
we put up a rapid fire interview with the folks

1160
00:54:48,519 --> 00:54:51,760
from the Chinese room on Vampire the Masquerade Bloodlines too,

1161
00:54:52,320 --> 00:54:55,679
and Cincinnati does make a does get a mission and

1162
00:54:55,719 --> 00:54:58,920
a really funny joke. Actually, so go check that out.

1163
00:55:00,199 --> 00:55:02,800
But kind of moving on, got a couple more topics

1164
00:55:02,800 --> 00:55:05,320
can attack before we get out of here, Kyle, I

1165
00:55:05,400 --> 00:55:07,760
want to toss it to you. Number one, The Rogue

1166
00:55:07,760 --> 00:55:11,559
Prince of Persia came out last week surprise drop.

1167
00:55:11,400 --> 00:55:11,920
Speaker 3: In one point.

1168
00:55:12,119 --> 00:55:14,679
Speaker 1: That makes one point one point. It came out earlier

1169
00:55:14,679 --> 00:55:17,800
this year, I think what April may Ish, I.

1170
00:55:17,719 --> 00:55:18,000
Speaker 6: Think it was.

1171
00:55:19,199 --> 00:55:23,559
Speaker 4: I played it, yeah, I did when they announced it.

1172
00:55:24,320 --> 00:55:26,519
When they announced it, I did like a preview for it.

1173
00:55:26,559 --> 00:55:27,400
Speaker 3: I remember.

1174
00:55:28,559 --> 00:55:31,360
Speaker 4: For the shutdown, yes, yeah, and then and then the

1175
00:55:32,159 --> 00:55:34,000
sort of surprise detail was like, oh yeah, and it's

1176
00:55:34,000 --> 00:55:35,639
going to go into early access within like two or

1177
00:55:35,639 --> 00:55:38,039
three weeks. So it's it's it's been. It's been in

1178
00:55:38,119 --> 00:55:39,159
early access for a while.

1179
00:55:39,280 --> 00:55:39,440
Speaker 3: Yeah.

1180
00:55:39,480 --> 00:55:41,119
Speaker 1: I don't know why I thought it was earlier this year.

1181
00:55:41,199 --> 00:55:44,440
Huh okay. But regardless, even playing the one point, oh

1182
00:55:44,559 --> 00:55:48,000
kind of came out of nowhere, surprise drop. How is it?

1183
00:55:48,239 --> 00:55:51,119
I know, like the big the big difference between that

1184
00:55:51,400 --> 00:55:55,719
and The Lost Crown that came out last year also,

1185
00:55:55,800 --> 00:55:58,400
which is that you can kind of wall run along

1186
00:55:58,480 --> 00:56:00,639
kind of like the the two D Escape.

1187
00:56:01,000 --> 00:56:03,639
Speaker 4: I mean, I mean there's a lot of differences. I mean,

1188
00:56:04,039 --> 00:56:06,039
the only similarity is they're too they're both two D

1189
00:56:06,199 --> 00:56:09,159
Prince of Persia games kind of ultimately, because I mean,

1190
00:56:09,320 --> 00:56:12,800
Lost Crown is a great Metroid inspired game that I

1191
00:56:12,840 --> 00:56:16,159
really love, and this is this is this is a

1192
00:56:16,320 --> 00:56:19,599
rogue game specifically. You know, it's from the folks that

1193
00:56:19,639 --> 00:56:22,440
make Dead Cells, so it feels a lot like Dead

1194
00:56:22,480 --> 00:56:25,400
Cells in a very complimentary way. And then and then

1195
00:56:25,400 --> 00:56:27,519
there's a bunch of like Prince of Persia mechanics where

1196
00:56:27,559 --> 00:56:29,960
it's like, yeah, like the it's kind of hard to

1197
00:56:30,000 --> 00:56:33,679
explain without like seeing it, but like sure you can

1198
00:56:33,719 --> 00:56:36,440
see the wall behind you, Like there's not always a

1199
00:56:36,480 --> 00:56:39,920
wall in this sort of the background, but when it's there,

1200
00:56:39,960 --> 00:56:42,920
you can run along it. And that feels very like

1201
00:56:43,000 --> 00:56:46,360
Sands of Time. I I love Prince of Persia, like

1202
00:56:46,360 --> 00:56:49,880
that trilogy, like Sands of Time and Warrior Within and

1203
00:56:49,920 --> 00:56:52,679
Two Thrones, like I adore those games. Those were like

1204
00:56:52,880 --> 00:56:55,719
some of my favorite of that generation. And then the

1205
00:56:55,719 --> 00:56:57,440
two thousand and eight game, I think is this like

1206
00:56:57,519 --> 00:57:01,719
kind of underrated, beautiful game just for a million different reasons.

1207
00:57:02,280 --> 00:57:04,039
So I've always like I've always been a big fan.

1208
00:57:04,119 --> 00:57:06,599
And then rogues. I kind of like, I kind of

1209
00:57:06,639 --> 00:57:09,320
like I'm like a fair weather fan, you know, like

1210
00:57:09,360 --> 00:57:11,960
there are some that I really love. I love Undermine

1211
00:57:12,119 --> 00:57:13,719
to the point where like when we were in the

1212
00:57:13,800 --> 00:57:17,119
Dark Period, I went and like worked with Thorium on

1213
00:57:17,119 --> 00:57:18,800
on Undermine and stuff like that because I adored that

1214
00:57:18,840 --> 00:57:20,599
game so much. But then even the original Dead Seals

1215
00:57:20,639 --> 00:57:23,199
I've never beaten, Like it's just like it never really

1216
00:57:23,239 --> 00:57:25,960
clicked with me. But this one I really I really

1217
00:57:26,039 --> 00:57:28,760
like because it's like the I just like the I

1218
00:57:28,920 --> 00:57:33,400
like the the IP, which sounds really lame to call it,

1219
00:57:33,480 --> 00:57:39,880
like you're a big jake Jill Princes, but it like it.

1220
00:57:39,880 --> 00:57:42,840
It feels good for the combat. The wall running is unique,

1221
00:57:42,880 --> 00:57:44,760
like it's not it does. It feels like Prince of Persia,

1222
00:57:44,800 --> 00:57:46,039
but it doesn't really feel like a lot of two

1223
00:57:46,119 --> 00:57:50,000
D action games. And then I also like this sort

1224
00:57:50,039 --> 00:57:53,239
of story which fits well into a rogue structure because

1225
00:57:53,280 --> 00:57:56,320
like the whole idea is like the Prince, the titular

1226
00:57:56,360 --> 00:57:58,760
prince that you're playing as, has always been able to

1227
00:57:58,880 --> 00:58:01,159
like rewind time. It was like a secret that he

1228
00:58:01,280 --> 00:58:04,599
kept to himself. But then something happens where like the

1229
00:58:04,679 --> 00:58:07,320
Huns come and invade his home and so he's having

1230
00:58:07,360 --> 00:58:10,239
to like relive this day over and over where he's

1231
00:58:10,239 --> 00:58:12,079
trying to get the Huns out of his home and

1232
00:58:12,119 --> 00:58:14,079
like save his family and stuff like that. And I

1233
00:58:14,159 --> 00:58:16,119
just always love like Hades does it well too, where

1234
00:58:16,119 --> 00:58:19,440
it's like I love a contextualization of the mechanics, you know,

1235
00:58:19,519 --> 00:58:21,880
and it's yeah, and it's it's cool that like the

1236
00:58:21,920 --> 00:58:24,599
Prince has a memory of everything that's happening, like he

1237
00:58:24,760 --> 00:58:26,800
is reliving this day over and over, and then he's

1238
00:58:26,840 --> 00:58:29,159
like finding people and bringing them to this one area

1239
00:58:29,199 --> 00:58:31,559
where they can like stay and they are also kind

1240
00:58:31,599 --> 00:58:33,920
of aware of what's going on. So I just like

1241
00:58:34,400 --> 00:58:36,960
I like the lore of it, like in a weird way.

1242
00:58:37,000 --> 00:58:38,400
It feels good to play, and I like the lare

1243
00:58:38,440 --> 00:58:39,880
of it, and it's it's one of those it's one

1244
00:58:39,880 --> 00:58:42,039
of those games I've been playing on steam Deck where

1245
00:58:42,039 --> 00:58:43,400
it was like one of those things where I was like, oh,

1246
00:58:43,440 --> 00:58:44,920
let me check this out. I like Prince of Persia.

1247
00:58:44,960 --> 00:58:47,480
I liked playing it last year and I did like

1248
00:58:47,519 --> 00:58:49,239
three or four runs and I was like, I think

1249
00:58:49,280 --> 00:58:51,199
I might be seeing this thing to the end, you know,

1250
00:58:51,360 --> 00:58:53,599
like I really I really want to keep going with it. Yeah,

1251
00:58:53,679 --> 00:58:54,480
it just feels good.

1252
00:58:55,440 --> 00:58:57,159
Speaker 1: I need a new Steam back game right now. My

1253
00:58:57,440 --> 00:59:00,960
couch game, well, I tried to make it World of Warcraft.

1254
00:59:00,960 --> 00:59:04,000
I'm trying to catch up on the last expansion before

1255
00:59:04,039 --> 00:59:06,119
they dropped the big, the big new one next year

1256
00:59:06,440 --> 00:59:08,679
with like the housing update and stuff. But then I

1257
00:59:08,719 --> 00:59:10,960
forgot they they now Word of Warcrap is like a

1258
00:59:10,960 --> 00:59:13,400
bunch of cinematics in it, and so it doesn't make

1259
00:59:13,400 --> 00:59:16,320
it a good couch game anymore, unlike like Vanilla Wow.

1260
00:59:17,639 --> 00:59:19,039
So then I've kind of been playing a lot of

1261
00:59:19,119 --> 00:59:23,360
Magic the Gathering Arena and loving that. But last night

1262
00:59:23,440 --> 00:59:26,199
I got like super punished. I've ranked up to I

1263
00:59:26,199 --> 00:59:29,800
think like silver, which it really isn't that hard. You

1264
00:59:29,840 --> 00:59:32,639
just have to play a bunch of matches, and I

1265
00:59:32,679 --> 00:59:34,920
just got walloped, and I was like, I need another

1266
00:59:34,960 --> 00:59:39,079
couch game because this is starting to stress me out.

1267
00:59:39,159 --> 00:59:41,360
So maybe maybe the Rogue Prins of First or maybe

1268
00:59:41,360 --> 00:59:44,519
that gets added to the rotation, because I mean, I

1269
00:59:44,519 --> 00:59:49,400
think the that's I also own UF fifty on Steamduck already,

1270
00:59:49,400 --> 00:59:52,599
so I should just play that instead of buying a

1271
00:59:52,639 --> 00:59:55,840
new game. No, but I think the Saturday Morning kind

1272
00:59:55,840 --> 00:59:58,519
of cartoon vibe of the art style really stood out

1273
00:59:58,519 --> 01:00:03,679
to me for Robe Prince of Persia, and I heard,

1274
01:00:04,119 --> 01:00:07,000
aren't there like something like, uh, isn't there like a

1275
01:00:07,320 --> 01:00:10,000
special attention given to the weapons in the game? Am

1276
01:00:10,039 --> 01:00:11,800
I remembering that from like the previews, like there's a

1277
01:00:11,840 --> 01:00:13,320
lot of various weapons you can grab?

1278
01:00:13,519 --> 01:00:16,280
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean if you think of Dead Cells, right, Like, okay, okay,

1279
01:00:16,320 --> 01:00:20,400
so it's similar. It's works but basically identically. Like it

1280
01:00:20,440 --> 01:00:23,280
almost sounds like I'm like being rude to the game,

1281
01:00:23,400 --> 01:00:24,760
but it's like, man, I feel like Dead Cells.

1282
01:00:24,760 --> 01:00:26,800
Speaker 3: You should check out Prince of Pressure like they're very similar.

1283
01:00:27,639 --> 01:00:31,079
Speaker 1: Yeah, all right, Yeah that sounds cool as hell. Kyle.

1284
01:00:31,119 --> 01:00:33,800
You've also been playing Luminess a rise, right, Yeah.

1285
01:00:33,880 --> 01:00:37,320
Speaker 4: Yeah, there's a demo that came out today. And I

1286
01:00:38,119 --> 01:00:41,119
don't know how you all feel about Luminez Mike U

1287
01:00:41,199 --> 01:00:41,880
Luminez fan.

1288
01:00:43,679 --> 01:00:44,119
Speaker 5: Uh?

1289
01:00:44,280 --> 01:00:44,679
Speaker 2: You know what?

1290
01:00:44,800 --> 01:00:46,960
Speaker 5: It is a puzzle game that I think I enjoy

1291
01:00:47,079 --> 01:00:50,079
once every eight years where there will be like a

1292
01:00:50,079 --> 01:00:52,039
week where I'm like, I love this game. Why don't

1293
01:00:52,079 --> 01:00:54,039
I play this more often? And then I'll never play

1294
01:00:54,039 --> 01:00:55,920
it again for like eight more years and be like,

1295
01:00:56,519 --> 01:01:00,760
why why haven't I played this fun musical puzzle but

1296
01:01:00,840 --> 01:01:03,000
I love Tetris effects, so like I do trust them,

1297
01:01:03,000 --> 01:01:04,760
and this feels like that version of.

1298
01:01:04,719 --> 01:01:08,519
Speaker 4: Tetris effect was I was like a Day one PSP owner,

1299
01:01:08,760 --> 01:01:10,400
and if you're a Day one PSP on or you're

1300
01:01:10,400 --> 01:01:13,079
automatically a luminous fan because it is it was the

1301
01:01:13,119 --> 01:01:14,960
best game for the platform, and it was also the

1302
01:01:14,960 --> 01:01:17,880
one that you could most easily justify to your friends

1303
01:01:17,920 --> 01:01:19,159
who are like, wow, you spend a lot of money

1304
01:01:19,199 --> 01:01:20,559
on that thing, and be like no, no, no, but its

1305
01:01:20,639 --> 01:01:23,599
like it has new Tetris on it basically. But so

1306
01:01:23,920 --> 01:01:27,119
I love that game. And then when they released that

1307
01:01:27,280 --> 01:01:30,719
game on Switch like twenty eighteen or something like that,

1308
01:01:30,800 --> 01:01:33,079
I felt like way back in love with it, and

1309
01:01:33,119 --> 01:01:34,800
I was like I was like doing a lot of

1310
01:01:34,840 --> 01:01:38,360
like elliptical biking at the time, and I found that

1311
01:01:38,360 --> 01:01:40,639
that was a perfect game to like turn off my

1312
01:01:40,719 --> 01:01:42,519
brain and not think about the fact that I was

1313
01:01:42,559 --> 01:01:44,719
like moving my body more than I wanted to and

1314
01:01:44,760 --> 01:01:48,519
like time would just disappear, you know. And then it

1315
01:01:48,599 --> 01:01:51,039
was funny. I played the demo and like was a

1316
01:01:51,679 --> 01:01:54,320
pretty much immediately enamored, and I was like, this is wonderful.

1317
01:01:54,440 --> 01:01:57,519
The music, it's very Tetris effect. Inspired. But then I

1318
01:01:57,559 --> 01:02:01,440
had this moment where I was like, like the sort

1319
01:02:01,440 --> 01:02:05,199
of the shifting style of like that that Tetris effect

1320
01:02:05,280 --> 01:02:07,480
sort of does where it's like it changes like the

1321
01:02:07,519 --> 01:02:09,480
way your blocks look and the music and all that stuff.

1322
01:02:09,480 --> 01:02:12,599
I was like, I never connected the dots until that

1323
01:02:12,760 --> 01:02:15,360
till this moment that I was like, oh, that's what

1324
01:02:15,480 --> 01:02:18,400
Luminez has been doing from day one, Like this is

1325
01:02:18,400 --> 01:02:22,280
how Luminez always works. It always changes music every couple

1326
01:02:22,280 --> 01:02:24,920
of minutes, it always changes art style every couple of minutes.

1327
01:02:25,320 --> 01:02:26,960
And it was it was just kind of a moment

1328
01:02:27,000 --> 01:02:29,480
where I was like, oh, yeah, this is like perfect,

1329
01:02:29,599 --> 01:02:32,599
Like this is like like this isn't really it's it's

1330
01:02:32,639 --> 01:02:35,320
more that it's less that this is like Luminez's take

1331
01:02:35,360 --> 01:02:38,079
on Tetris effect and more that Tetris effect was, you know,

1332
01:02:38,159 --> 01:02:42,000
it's take on Luminez sort of retroactively where but yeah,

1333
01:02:42,039 --> 01:02:44,840
but it's but it's it's great. Like I was sad

1334
01:02:44,880 --> 01:02:46,559
when I beat the third level and I was like

1335
01:02:46,599 --> 01:02:47,519
I wanted to keep going.

1336
01:02:47,639 --> 01:02:48,480
Speaker 3: This is so just fun?

1337
01:02:49,800 --> 01:02:50,159
Speaker 1: Is this one?

1338
01:02:50,199 --> 01:02:50,400
Speaker 5: Also?

1339
01:02:50,519 --> 01:02:50,760
Speaker 3: VR?

1340
01:02:50,880 --> 01:02:53,079
Speaker 4: Does it have a VR mode PlayStation VR two?

1341
01:02:53,199 --> 01:02:53,440
Speaker 2: Yeah?

1342
01:02:53,480 --> 01:02:56,320
Speaker 4: Yeah, which I.

1343
01:02:55,119 --> 01:02:56,599
Speaker 5: Oh, I'm one of eight people.

1344
01:02:57,760 --> 01:03:00,599
Speaker 4: I'm one of the eight as well, but only because

1345
01:03:00,639 --> 01:03:02,000
Sony sent me once a review.

1346
01:03:04,159 --> 01:03:06,039
Speaker 5: Sony sent me one that I paid five.

1347
01:03:08,039 --> 01:03:12,519
Speaker 4: But this is I mean to sort of insult PSVR

1348
01:03:12,599 --> 01:03:15,880
a little bit. This is the first time I've considered, like, oh,

1349
01:03:15,880 --> 01:03:18,000
maybe it's time to plug that headset back in and

1350
01:03:18,039 --> 01:03:22,360
play some luminez Arise, because yeah, Tetris Effect in VR

1351
01:03:22,480 --> 01:03:23,960
is like one of the one of the best VR

1352
01:03:24,039 --> 01:03:26,239
games frankly, you know, like period.

1353
01:03:26,079 --> 01:03:29,599
Speaker 5: It's so good. It's it's it's and I like that,

1354
01:03:29,760 --> 01:03:31,719
you know. I like the PSVR two. It's actually like

1355
01:03:31,760 --> 01:03:35,039
a pretty good piece of technology that just wasn't used

1356
01:03:35,039 --> 01:03:35,480
that much.

1357
01:03:35,760 --> 01:03:38,719
Speaker 4: It's comfortable, it feels good on your face. But like

1358
01:03:38,840 --> 01:03:42,679
I just will always go Quest three first because like

1359
01:03:43,039 --> 01:03:46,480
it's just so much simpler, you know, like it's it's

1360
01:03:46,559 --> 01:03:48,360
just like a pain to plug in the PSVR two,

1361
01:03:48,360 --> 01:03:50,280
even though it is it's a nice piece of hardware

1362
01:03:50,320 --> 01:03:50,719
for sure.

1363
01:03:51,480 --> 01:03:54,920
Speaker 5: Yeah, although PSVR two is also really good for like movies,

1364
01:03:55,679 --> 01:03:57,519
it's like a it's a little bit better, I feel

1365
01:03:57,519 --> 01:03:59,239
like it, you know, if you have Blu rays and

1366
01:03:59,239 --> 01:04:01,920
stuff like that, just watching them on a giant screen

1367
01:04:01,920 --> 01:04:03,960
and isolated blackness is really fun.

1368
01:04:03,960 --> 01:04:04,760
Speaker 3: Maybe I should try that.

1369
01:04:05,000 --> 01:04:07,440
Speaker 5: Yeah, I'm a terrible person. I feel like I've just

1370
01:04:07,440 --> 01:04:11,119
convinced you guys. I have the worst game again version

1371
01:04:11,119 --> 01:04:13,320
of Ports of Games, and I watch my movies.

1372
01:04:12,960 --> 01:04:17,199
Speaker 6: And VR and you look up multiple VR twos to

1373
01:04:17,360 --> 01:04:18,800
one PS five.

1374
01:04:19,639 --> 01:04:20,760
Speaker 3: Oh, I don't know.

1375
01:04:21,119 --> 01:04:21,639
Speaker 1: I don't think.

1376
01:04:22,519 --> 01:04:25,960
Speaker 6: I'm just I'm just trying to be like this is

1377
01:04:26,039 --> 01:04:27,920
I don't I don't mean this WI is sound mean?

1378
01:04:28,079 --> 01:04:32,079
Speaker 1: I was like, the answer is alone.

1379
01:04:32,679 --> 01:04:34,840
Speaker 6: This sounds like a really cool way to watch movies

1380
01:04:34,840 --> 01:04:35,519
with my partner.

1381
01:04:35,679 --> 01:04:37,280
Speaker 4: Oh, I have to Oh.

1382
01:04:37,159 --> 01:04:38,199
Speaker 5: I can't buy two.

1383
01:04:38,320 --> 01:04:39,400
Speaker 1: Oh that's not what I need.

1384
01:04:39,559 --> 01:04:41,440
Speaker 5: No, no, no, no. Remember when I said you got

1385
01:04:41,519 --> 01:04:44,039
to yourself. Listen, man, If you work on that every day,

1386
01:04:44,079 --> 01:04:45,000
you can have a gaming life.

1387
01:04:45,000 --> 01:04:49,320
Speaker 4: Like what's the last movie you watched in the PSVR? Sinners?

1388
01:04:49,400 --> 01:04:52,440
Oh that actually that actually sounds pretty freaking great and

1389
01:04:52,800 --> 01:04:55,559
r actually yea, yeah, damn it, that's great massive. I

1390
01:04:55,599 --> 01:04:57,559
was hoping you were going to say something real embarrassing,

1391
01:04:57,559 --> 01:04:59,800
but that's that actually is like damn it, ye Sinners

1392
01:04:59,800 --> 01:05:01,440
of the perfect to watch in there?

1393
01:05:01,639 --> 01:05:02,039
Speaker 3: Uh yeah.

1394
01:05:02,079 --> 01:05:04,119
Speaker 4: We were talking the other day speaking of PSP, about

1395
01:05:04,199 --> 01:05:08,119
watching Spider Man two on PSP and like being that's

1396
01:05:08,320 --> 01:05:10,840
kind of reminds me of that. It's like a really unique,

1397
01:05:11,360 --> 01:05:13,960
kind of terrible way to watch a great movie.

1398
01:05:14,719 --> 01:05:19,079
Speaker 1: No, I had Yeah.

1399
01:05:18,159 --> 01:05:19,880
Speaker 5: Yeah, they had Shrek on the Jeep on the Game

1400
01:05:19,920 --> 01:05:20,880
Boy Advance remember that.

1401
01:05:21,079 --> 01:05:22,800
Speaker 1: Oh yeah they also had Yeah they had you get

1402
01:05:22,800 --> 01:05:27,920
I had Pokemon. Yeah, Bob also a Lizzie McGuire episode

1403
01:05:27,960 --> 01:05:30,039
that you could watch on the game Boy Advance player

1404
01:05:30,079 --> 01:05:33,239
that I definitely owned because I was obsessed with with

1405
01:05:33,400 --> 01:05:38,599
Hillary Duff as a kid. But yeah, that sounds that

1406
01:05:38,679 --> 01:05:44,239
sounds awesome. I'm I recently got sent a Metaquest three

1407
01:05:46,599 --> 01:05:49,239
The Less Powerful or the Less It has less resolution,

1408
01:05:49,440 --> 01:05:51,679
But I really I feel like this is my chance

1409
01:05:51,719 --> 01:05:54,679
now to go back and replay a lot of enhances

1410
01:05:54,800 --> 01:05:57,599
VR titles. You know, I loved Humanity on like a

1411
01:05:57,599 --> 01:05:59,760
flat screen, but I want to play Humanity and VR.

1412
01:06:00,000 --> 01:06:02,199
I think they also have some like exclusive levels in

1413
01:06:02,280 --> 01:06:06,000
VR or something, and then Tetris Effect, and I think

1414
01:06:06,519 --> 01:06:09,280
I can just do the Steam link thing where I

1415
01:06:09,320 --> 01:06:12,840
plug the cable in and I could theoretically play Liminess Arise,

1416
01:06:14,239 --> 01:06:15,960
So that might be that might be on the docket.

1417
01:06:15,960 --> 01:06:17,480
Speaker 3: Fee Yeah, I was.

1418
01:06:17,440 --> 01:06:19,960
Speaker 5: Just gonna see Yeah, and the Quest three not for nothing.

1419
01:06:20,000 --> 01:06:22,440
The Quest three. Also, if you do the right pass through,

1420
01:06:22,920 --> 01:06:25,400
have a giant steam deck screen. Really you're just sitting

1421
01:06:25,440 --> 01:06:26,880
on the couch and want to have a giant steamed

1422
01:06:26,920 --> 01:06:28,960
I know you could just hook it into the TV. Yeah, yeah, yeah, no,

1423
01:06:29,159 --> 01:06:31,679
I've totally I've totally played it almost in that like

1424
01:06:32,519 --> 01:06:34,400
ar type setting. You have a big screen floating in

1425
01:06:34,400 --> 01:06:34,639
front of.

1426
01:06:34,639 --> 01:06:37,840
Speaker 6: Alex Is just looped back around to playing Wow on the couch.

1427
01:06:40,079 --> 01:06:44,719
Speaker 1: So cool, Yeah, exactly, exactly, Yeah, hell yeah, I can't wait.

1428
01:06:44,800 --> 01:06:47,719
I I played Limitess a Rise a little bit at

1429
01:06:47,800 --> 01:06:51,079
this past summer game Fest. I think I played like

1430
01:06:51,199 --> 01:06:54,960
four or five stages and was really blown away. I

1431
01:06:55,000 --> 01:06:58,039
mean the music is just I think, is it idellic?

1432
01:06:59,360 --> 01:07:01,719
They did the Tetras effects soundtrack. I think they're coming

1433
01:07:01,760 --> 01:07:04,800
back for this one as well. And I remember they

1434
01:07:04,840 --> 01:07:08,760
were playing it through like Jeff Keeley's Samsung Partnership TVs

1435
01:07:09,199 --> 01:07:11,800
that are like this, so there's like no headphones.

1436
01:07:11,239 --> 01:07:12,920
Speaker 6: That's the product saw Amazon.

1437
01:07:13,599 --> 01:07:16,519
Speaker 1: Exactly. Yeah, and so I remember like, can we can

1438
01:07:16,519 --> 01:07:18,239
we turn the TV up? Because it's in like one

1439
01:07:18,280 --> 01:07:21,679
of those private little appointment rooms and I'm just like

1440
01:07:22,039 --> 01:07:24,400
ear up to like the TV as much as possible

1441
01:07:24,800 --> 01:07:27,559
playing Lumines, but from what I heard, it's not great.

1442
01:07:29,199 --> 01:07:31,880
Speaker 6: But yeah, I played it for the first time when

1443
01:07:31,880 --> 01:07:33,920
I played this demo, which I didn't even finish because

1444
01:07:33,960 --> 01:07:36,719
it was like right before we were recording the podcast. Yeah,

1445
01:07:36,840 --> 01:07:39,039
I just wanted to say they explained the rules to me.

1446
01:07:39,239 --> 01:07:42,400
I kind of understand it. There's a chain mechanic that

1447
01:07:42,480 --> 01:07:46,000
I didn't really grasp and that's new.

1448
01:07:46,280 --> 01:07:47,400
Speaker 3: So I was a little confused by too.

1449
01:07:47,480 --> 01:07:50,199
Speaker 6: Yeah, okay, so I didn't it didn't really matter, and

1450
01:07:50,239 --> 01:07:52,119
I was like, I think I'm doing a bad job.

1451
01:07:52,199 --> 01:07:55,280
But Brian earlier was talking about the background art and

1452
01:07:55,320 --> 01:07:57,840
Shanobi and how he's like, whoa, that's cool, and he

1453
01:07:57,920 --> 01:07:59,400
was like, but I was like playing the game, like

1454
01:07:59,400 --> 01:08:01,159
I get blown away, but that i'd be playing the game.

1455
01:08:01,400 --> 01:08:03,480
I don't think i've recovered from from that. When I

1456
01:08:03,519 --> 01:08:05,880
was playing Luminous, right, I think I was just kind

1457
01:08:05,920 --> 01:08:08,880
of transfixed. And the fact that it makes like a

1458
01:08:08,880 --> 01:08:11,480
little piano note every time you move it back and forth.

1459
01:08:11,719 --> 01:08:13,239
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, yeah, I felt like.

1460
01:08:13,199 --> 01:08:14,199
Speaker 6: An iPad baby.

1461
01:08:14,239 --> 01:08:15,159
Speaker 3: You know, it's like.

1462
01:08:15,280 --> 01:08:18,199
Speaker 1: You're gonna love it. Yeah, knowing you and your taste, Yeah,

1463
01:08:18,199 --> 01:08:19,399
you'll you're gonna really like that.

1464
01:08:19,600 --> 01:08:21,520
Speaker 3: I'm excited for it for sure. Yeah.

1465
01:08:21,720 --> 01:08:23,079
Speaker 1: Yeah, when's it come out?

1466
01:08:23,600 --> 01:08:24,479
Speaker 4: Not soon enough?

1467
01:08:25,359 --> 01:08:26,359
Speaker 1: Yeah, October.

1468
01:08:27,119 --> 01:08:27,880
Speaker 3: I'm on the website.

1469
01:08:27,880 --> 01:08:28,760
Speaker 1: I bet I could find it.

1470
01:08:29,199 --> 01:08:30,880
Speaker 4: I also, I was just googling around to see if

1471
01:08:30,880 --> 01:08:32,319
it is coming to Quest, which I don't know if

1472
01:08:32,319 --> 01:08:33,880
they've confirmed November eleventh.

1473
01:08:34,640 --> 01:08:38,800
Speaker 1: Okay, they have not confirmed Quest. They've confirmed PS five

1474
01:08:38,800 --> 01:08:41,239
and Steam. But I was thinking I could hook my

1475
01:08:41,239 --> 01:08:43,600
my Quest up to Steam with the cable. Maybe what

1476
01:08:43,640 --> 01:08:44,880
I was meaning by that.

1477
01:08:45,000 --> 01:08:47,119
Speaker 4: Yeah, but yeah, demo's out now. To be clear, like

1478
01:08:47,159 --> 01:08:50,159
it's you know, this isn't like we had early preview access.

1479
01:08:50,239 --> 01:08:51,960
Actually I think we did have early access to it,

1480
01:08:51,960 --> 01:08:53,399
but I wasn't able to get around to it, so

1481
01:08:53,439 --> 01:08:55,680
I just played it the same time as everybody else.

1482
01:08:57,119 --> 01:09:00,439
Speaker 1: Well, speaking of early access, I've been playing a game

1483
01:09:00,560 --> 01:09:05,439
called Void Breaker on Steam. It is a first person

1484
01:09:05,560 --> 01:09:10,920
shooter rogue light, and you are the whole concept is yours,

1485
01:09:11,000 --> 01:09:15,279
this person trapped in a digital construct prison, and you

1486
01:09:15,359 --> 01:09:20,399
are fighting through combat scenarios to collect combat data for

1487
01:09:20,439 --> 01:09:23,439
an algorithm, and you're kind of like stuck in this

1488
01:09:23,439 --> 01:09:26,399
this hell, just replaying these these levels over and over,

1489
01:09:26,760 --> 01:09:29,239
and there's kind of like you get introduced very early

1490
01:09:29,279 --> 01:09:31,600
on to this you know this way out and you

1491
01:09:31,680 --> 01:09:36,920
kind of like that is kind of the the main

1492
01:09:37,079 --> 01:09:40,000
thrust for like your upgrades and stuff. But the core

1493
01:09:40,079 --> 01:09:44,039
concept is you have this weapon and think, like I

1494
01:09:44,039 --> 01:09:46,560
think I was describing for the podcast, it's very people

1495
01:09:46,560 --> 01:09:50,319
have played ghost Runner like very Parkore focused. There are

1496
01:09:50,359 --> 01:09:54,000
some other additional things you can do, like grinding on

1497
01:09:54,000 --> 01:09:56,600
on on rails and and you know, you've got your

1498
01:09:56,600 --> 01:09:59,880
mid air dash, your typical kind of like FPS modern

1499
01:10:00,119 --> 01:10:04,560
PS mechanics. But there is a really robust layer of

1500
01:10:04,640 --> 01:10:09,479
destructibility in the world and you are essentially being thrust

1501
01:10:09,479 --> 01:10:13,479
into these arenas where there's these corrupt robots that are

1502
01:10:13,640 --> 01:10:16,119
are kind of all coming at you. There's it feels,

1503
01:10:16,199 --> 01:10:19,920
honestly yeah. It Void Breaker kind of reminds me a

1504
01:10:19,920 --> 01:10:23,880
bit of of the stylings of of Returnal just in

1505
01:10:23,920 --> 01:10:27,960
like the very like big lasers, lots of haze on

1506
01:10:28,039 --> 01:10:31,159
the map, that sort of thing. But what makes it

1507
01:10:31,199 --> 01:10:34,439
really interesting is there is a stagger system tied to

1508
01:10:35,600 --> 01:10:38,960
various enemies, and similarly to like a doom game, where

1509
01:10:39,000 --> 01:10:43,640
like you have to perform these staggers and rather than

1510
01:10:43,640 --> 01:10:45,560
like an execution and doom and that's how you get

1511
01:10:45,560 --> 01:10:48,399
health and AMMO back, and so you're really incentivized to

1512
01:10:49,079 --> 01:10:51,680
you have a telekinesis to like pick up objects and

1513
01:10:51,720 --> 01:10:54,640
throw it at folks and that'll help stagger them. Or

1514
01:10:54,720 --> 01:10:56,800
you have a grenade that you can, like a basic

1515
01:10:56,840 --> 01:10:59,640
grenade you can throw and like if they are above

1516
01:10:59,640 --> 01:11:01,960
a st shore, if you're underneath like a bridge fighting,

1517
01:11:02,399 --> 01:11:05,560
you can throw a grenade up above and the debris

1518
01:11:05,640 --> 01:11:09,199
that falls down from the destruction will stagger the enemies

1519
01:11:09,239 --> 01:11:11,720
and it kind of gives you another layer. Yeah, it's

1520
01:11:12,199 --> 01:11:14,439
it's very cool. And then the I think the really

1521
01:11:14,640 --> 01:11:17,560
big hook for this game is the way in which

1522
01:11:17,600 --> 01:11:24,119
you upgrade your weapons. Essentially, it almost reminds me of

1523
01:11:24,159 --> 01:11:29,119
the hacking mini game in Marvel Spider Man, where it's

1524
01:11:29,159 --> 01:11:31,039
like this this like grid.

1525
01:11:30,680 --> 01:11:32,680
Speaker 4: That comes where you can press skip and not bother

1526
01:11:32,800 --> 01:11:33,039
with it.

1527
01:11:34,239 --> 01:11:37,520
Speaker 1: Yeah, that part, that part, Yeah, yeah, I actually think that.

1528
01:11:37,600 --> 01:11:39,279
Speaker 4: To be clear, I actually quite enjoyed those and I

1529
01:11:39,279 --> 01:11:40,760
did all of them. Okay, so I just want to make.

1530
01:11:40,640 --> 01:11:45,319
Speaker 1: That Wow, Kyle, you're really mean, think about like that

1531
01:11:45,359 --> 01:11:48,439
Spider Marvel Spider Man like grid kind of look, but

1532
01:11:48,680 --> 01:11:53,279
instead you have these sockets that as you progress to

1533
01:11:53,359 --> 01:11:56,359
the run, and you can kind of similarly to other

1534
01:11:56,439 --> 01:11:59,359
rogue lights, like you can kind of pick which which

1535
01:11:59,439 --> 01:12:01,439
path you want to go through on your route. So, oh,

1536
01:12:01,560 --> 01:12:03,560
there's a shop coming up, I'm going to prioritize that,

1537
01:12:03,960 --> 01:12:07,319
I'll do that. But whether you do that or you

1538
01:12:07,399 --> 01:12:09,600
clear an arena and a chest drops at the end,

1539
01:12:10,159 --> 01:12:13,840
you are collecting these modules. And there are basic modules

1540
01:12:13,920 --> 01:12:18,119
like increase your grenade damage. There are also other modules

1541
01:12:18,159 --> 01:12:23,560
that are whenever you use your telekinesis and hit an

1542
01:12:23,640 --> 01:12:28,039
enemy with it, they are briefly frozen, or you do

1543
01:12:28,159 --> 01:12:30,960
extra damage to enemies that are on fire, and so

1544
01:12:31,239 --> 01:12:33,720
those kind of like ramp up in a very natural

1545
01:12:33,760 --> 01:12:37,079
and really fun way. There's also some really broken ones

1546
01:12:37,079 --> 01:12:42,640
that I've seen on Blue Sky, where the module the

1547
01:12:42,840 --> 01:12:46,079
more that you increase your fov slider in the graphics setting,

1548
01:12:46,479 --> 01:12:50,279
the faster you move. And there are other ones that

1549
01:12:50,359 --> 01:12:53,560
are the higher your frame rate is, the higher damage

1550
01:12:54,279 --> 01:12:56,239
you do in the game. There's some really like game

1551
01:12:56,279 --> 01:12:59,399
breaking things that are really exciting icy. Yeah, I have

1552
01:12:59,439 --> 01:13:01,479
not gotten as Yeah, but that's kind of definitely like

1553
01:13:01,479 --> 01:13:02,640
a carrot on the stick for me.

1554
01:13:02,800 --> 01:13:04,520
Speaker 6: Just to be clear, are we sure that that's actually

1555
01:13:04,560 --> 01:13:06,399
a thing and not a joke, but a joke.

1556
01:13:06,479 --> 01:13:08,800
Speaker 1: But no, no, that is very crazy.

1557
01:13:09,000 --> 01:13:09,520
Speaker 5: I love that.

1558
01:13:09,880 --> 01:13:13,840
Speaker 1: Yeah, and then there are the other these other sockets

1559
01:13:13,840 --> 01:13:19,520
that are multiplier sockets. And so let's say you have

1560
01:13:19,680 --> 01:13:22,239
like a I had one socket that was like, if

1561
01:13:22,239 --> 01:13:25,079
you press F, you will shoot a missile cluster down

1562
01:13:25,079 --> 01:13:26,439
on the ground, like you'll kind of call on an

1563
01:13:26,479 --> 01:13:31,119
air strike. And then I found a multiplier where I

1564
01:13:31,159 --> 01:13:34,359
had to slot. Let's say my my missile was on

1565
01:13:34,399 --> 01:13:37,920
the right, and I had a modifier that would go

1566
01:13:37,960 --> 01:13:40,439
into the left of it and it would multiply that

1567
01:13:40,479 --> 01:13:44,560
effect three times. And so now when I press the

1568
01:13:44,680 --> 01:13:47,600
F button, I shoot down three missile clusters. But you

1569
01:13:47,640 --> 01:13:51,039
can apply that to whichever effect you want, so if

1570
01:13:51,079 --> 01:13:52,680
you wanted to, I did one where I had a

1571
01:13:52,720 --> 01:13:57,560
modifier where my the I mean, the recoil on this

1572
01:13:57,640 --> 01:14:00,640
gun was ridiculous, and I cranked it up even more

1573
01:14:00,760 --> 01:14:03,720
in exchange for extra damage, and then I added a

1574
01:14:03,760 --> 01:14:06,359
three times modifier on that. So like every time I

1575
01:14:06,359 --> 01:14:08,439
shoot this pistol, it's like I'm shooting like a bazook down,

1576
01:14:08,760 --> 01:14:13,359
but I'm doing like this ridiculous damage. And there's some

1577
01:14:13,399 --> 01:14:16,279
really great recipes and there's that's like really where a

1578
01:14:16,279 --> 01:14:19,119
lot of like the theory crafting and like the character

1579
01:14:19,159 --> 01:14:23,680
building comes into play and all of that on top

1580
01:14:23,720 --> 01:14:27,479
of it. FPS that feels honestly just incredible.

1581
01:14:27,640 --> 01:14:28,840
Speaker 3: It's it.

1582
01:14:29,479 --> 01:14:31,239
Speaker 1: One of my friends, Jesse Vittelli, was like, this is

1583
01:14:31,239 --> 01:14:34,199
what Marathon should have been. I was like, Oh, that's funny. Yeah, sure,

1584
01:14:34,600 --> 01:14:37,520
Like it's very much got that like that aesthetic, right,

1585
01:14:39,439 --> 01:14:42,319
and I'm I'm really digging it. I'm only probably an

1586
01:14:42,399 --> 01:14:45,640
hour in, but I'm gonna be playing more tonight. I'll

1587
01:14:45,640 --> 01:14:48,199
tell you that. Like it's it's really neat. It's called

1588
01:14:48,279 --> 01:14:51,600
Void Breaker. It's in Steam Early Access. But if you're

1589
01:14:51,680 --> 01:14:55,399
kind of looking for something that feels really fresh and

1590
01:14:55,399 --> 01:14:58,880
and just really playful, I think this is this is

1591
01:14:59,119 --> 01:15:01,800
one to watch or if you're cool. I know some

1592
01:15:01,840 --> 01:15:05,239
people avoid early access stuff, but it feels really polished

1593
01:15:06,319 --> 01:15:09,239
and I'm really liking it. I can't recommend it enough.

1594
01:15:09,640 --> 01:15:12,039
I'm excited to come back next week and hopefully I've

1595
01:15:12,479 --> 01:15:15,760
stumbled on some of those more broken builds. I really

1596
01:15:15,800 --> 01:15:16,960
want to get the FPS one.

1597
01:15:17,199 --> 01:15:20,079
Speaker 4: Yeah, early access, right, is there a timeline for a

1598
01:15:20,119 --> 01:15:21,239
release or it's probably not?

1599
01:15:22,079 --> 01:15:24,039
Speaker 1: There might be I'm not familiar with it, to be honest,

1600
01:15:24,079 --> 01:15:27,439
if there is. But yeah, that one's called Void Breaker,

1601
01:15:29,000 --> 01:15:32,439
and I very much recommend it. I think next week

1602
01:15:32,600 --> 01:15:34,359
Eric's going to be on the show. I think we

1603
01:15:34,439 --> 01:15:37,600
might talk about Deadlock. They've just released a huge update

1604
01:15:37,600 --> 01:15:40,000
for that game, a bunch of new characters, they reworked

1605
01:15:40,039 --> 01:15:42,000
a lot of it. And I also want to talk

1606
01:15:42,039 --> 01:15:44,760
some magic next week, but I think that's gonna do

1607
01:15:44,840 --> 01:15:48,920
it for this episode. Mike, thank you so much for

1608
01:15:49,000 --> 01:15:51,800
joining us and for taking the time out of your

1609
01:15:51,800 --> 01:15:54,119
busy schedule. Where can people find you find your work?

1610
01:15:54,199 --> 01:15:56,439
Is there anything want to plug? Yeah, anything you're working on.

1611
01:15:56,920 --> 01:15:58,880
Speaker 5: You can find most of my stuff. If you just

1612
01:15:58,960 --> 01:16:01,600
search at Mike d that'll probably get you in my

1613
01:16:01,640 --> 01:16:07,279
social media page. Good game, No rematch. It's available everywhere

1614
01:16:07,880 --> 01:16:11,000
in most English speaking countries at this point. I believe

1615
01:16:11,479 --> 01:16:13,439
we finally got it out in the UK last month

1616
01:16:13,520 --> 01:16:18,920
or in July rather. And yeah, digital audio, hardcover. Also,

1617
01:16:19,399 --> 01:16:20,800
when does this podcast come out?

1618
01:16:21,800 --> 01:16:24,720
Speaker 1: It'll come out later this week on Thursday.

1619
01:16:24,800 --> 01:16:27,800
Speaker 5: On Thursday, September fourth. If you're in New York City,

1620
01:16:27,840 --> 01:16:30,600
I'm doing my bad video game show called shit Arcade

1621
01:16:30,960 --> 01:16:33,479
at Union Hall. Oh I saw that years.

1622
01:16:33,119 --> 01:16:37,439
Speaker 1: Ago Yeah, I highly recommend that. That is awesome.

1623
01:16:37,560 --> 01:16:40,319
Speaker 5: It's so much fun. I have spent like two hundred

1624
01:16:40,359 --> 01:16:44,119
dollars on eBay buying new bad games. So you know,

1625
01:16:44,159 --> 01:16:47,159
Wayne's World on the Super Nintendo. Probably going to bring

1626
01:16:47,199 --> 01:16:49,359
back Balls three D just because everyone loves that. It's

1627
01:16:49,399 --> 01:16:51,439
going to be a really fun, bad video game show.

1628
01:16:51,439 --> 01:16:54,359
We've got some amazing comedians on it, like Josh Gondlman

1629
01:16:54,399 --> 01:16:57,039
and Dina Hashem. So yeah, if you're in New York,

1630
01:16:57,119 --> 01:16:58,840
check it out September fourth at Union Hall.

1631
01:17:01,199 --> 01:17:01,880
Speaker 1: All hit it up.

1632
01:17:04,199 --> 01:17:11,960
Speaker 4: Charles, Charles's mother, I think is I also, I do

1633
01:17:12,039 --> 01:17:13,760
want to plug We didn't talk about it extensively, but

1634
01:17:13,800 --> 01:17:15,520
I do want to plug. Mike's piece in the new

1635
01:17:15,520 --> 01:17:17,439
issue where you just you just talked to a bunch

1636
01:17:17,439 --> 01:17:20,199
of you spent what like three or four hour long

1637
01:17:20,199 --> 01:17:22,600
phone calls with ROBERTA. Williams, and you broke this really

1638
01:17:22,640 --> 01:17:24,960
great funny feature about just like what it's like to

1639
01:17:24,960 --> 01:17:26,840
meet your heroes and stuff. I really, I really like

1640
01:17:26,880 --> 01:17:29,479
how that piece came together. So it's if you're a subscriber,

1641
01:17:29,520 --> 01:17:31,159
you can read it the digital version. It'll be in

1642
01:17:31,199 --> 01:17:34,640
the Ninja Guy and four issue gameforma dot com slash subscribe.

1643
01:17:34,680 --> 01:17:35,920
Thanks for thanks for doing that, Mike.

1644
01:17:35,920 --> 01:17:37,920
Speaker 5: I think, of course, no, thank you for setting that up.

1645
01:17:37,960 --> 01:17:38,119
Speaker 6: Man.

1646
01:17:38,279 --> 01:17:41,399
Speaker 5: That was honestly, meeting ROBERTA. Williams was like the conversation

1647
01:17:41,439 --> 01:17:42,720
of a lifetime. That was so great.

1648
01:17:42,800 --> 01:17:43,640
Speaker 4: Oh good, good.

1649
01:17:44,079 --> 01:17:47,640
Speaker 6: It's also it's it's good in that it's very Mike like.

1650
01:17:48,000 --> 01:17:50,640
I feel like we have a lot of when we

1651
01:17:50,640 --> 01:17:52,600
have freelancers come in. Everyone has their own voice, but

1652
01:17:52,640 --> 01:17:55,520
I feel like his was a very strong, personal author voice.

1653
01:17:55,920 --> 01:17:58,439
I don't think there there'd be any confusion anyone else

1654
01:17:58,479 --> 01:18:01,520
wrote that piece. That's I think that's really cool.

1655
01:18:02,760 --> 01:18:05,520
Speaker 1: Love that well Again, if you are interested in picking

1656
01:18:05,560 --> 01:18:08,239
up that issue, head over to gaminformer dot com slash

1657
01:18:08,279 --> 01:18:10,920
subscribe that I'll get you all the details. I think

1658
01:18:10,920 --> 01:18:12,600
there might be a promotion running right now so you

1659
01:18:12,600 --> 01:18:15,199
can pick it up a little cheaper. But yeah, that

1660
01:18:15,239 --> 01:18:17,399
would greatly. That's the best way to keep the lights on.

1661
01:18:17,640 --> 01:18:20,279
Help us out. Second best way is to share the

1662
01:18:20,319 --> 01:18:23,760
show with a friend and review the podcast on your

1663
01:18:23,800 --> 01:18:28,720
podcast platform of choice. Kyle Charles, Mike, thank you for

1664
01:18:28,840 --> 01:18:32,399
joining me. Follow Charles at Chuck Tuck three six five

1665
01:18:32,640 --> 01:18:37,239
and follow Kyle Hilliard at Kyle Hilliard on Blue Sky. Yeah,

1666
01:18:37,640 --> 01:18:41,039
that's really you can follow me at it's Van Aiken.

1667
01:18:41,159 --> 01:18:44,640
Don't forget to follow Mike as well and Game Informer

1668
01:18:44,680 --> 01:18:46,680
while you're at it. But that's gonna be it for

1669
01:18:46,720 --> 01:18:49,800
the show this week. We really appreciate your support. Uh,

1670
01:18:50,039 --> 01:18:52,359
and go follow Mike, go follow his work. If you're

1671
01:18:52,359 --> 01:18:54,840
in New York, go check out his show next week,

1672
01:18:55,239 --> 01:18:57,479
and uh, we'll catch you all next week. Have a

1673
01:18:57,479 --> 01:19:03,760
good one, I te