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Speaker 1: Hey, everybody, it's not Tuesday, it's Friday. Welcome to the

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Giant BombCast Revengeance Podcast. I'm Jeff Grub from giant bomb

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dot Com and I have a full crew with me,

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starting with two more.

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Speaker 2: Who's saying, Tam, how are you doing?

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Speaker 3: How is Chelsea Handler? Is Chelsea Handler a good one?

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Speaker 4: I remember recently she was speaking ten fifteen years ago.

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Speaker 5: She definitely felt she was everywhere, but fell off hard.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, gotcha, Samantha, Oh damn, you gotta stop. How is

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Samantha Bee Show? I never watched.

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Speaker 4: Mike Drucker was executive producer on it, so I have

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not seen it. But there had to be some funny stuff.

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Speaker 1: A drugs had to be had to be something to it. Yeah,

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Drucker does good stuff.

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Speaker 2: Oh. We also have Nicki Grayson. Nicki Grayson, how's it going? Hello?

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Speaker 5: Something I've learned in the last couple of minutes is

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that my hair is still wet and it's kind of

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dripping down my back in a way that's kind of unpleasant.

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Speaker 4: Before a podcast, are you, like, you know, before Roman

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Reigns comes out and he sprays his hair, you do that?

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Speaker 5: Not not unlike that?

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Speaker 3: Yeah?

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Speaker 2: That is kind of what I did today.

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Speaker 5: I did hop in this hour and mostly focus on

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my hair, and then I did this a couple of

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times to get it to go. And now see now

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that shit all over my glasses.

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Speaker 2: Giant bomb, that's exactly right. Friend of Denim, Dan Reiker,

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Dan Kerd, how are you doing?

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Speaker 4: I'm not an enemy of den Denhim. Okay, I'm doing great,

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but I'm not an enemy of Denim. I don't think

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I'm wearing No, actually, I'm wearing the like extreme stretchy

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motion jeans.

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Speaker 3: Yeah.

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Speaker 4: So I don't know if this is like actual Denim,

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but it's like it's like what I think would wear,

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you know, very stretchy.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, it's the motion engine. Yeah, they have the emotion engine,

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and they get the motion engine, they put it in jeans,

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exact very good stuff.

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Speaker 5: Yes.

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Speaker 4: Yes, if you break down a PS three like a

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a vow, you get stretched jeans.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, and then you can reconsecute it into janes now. Yes.

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Speaker 1: And then Nathan Grayson with this as well, special guest,

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thank you for joining us.

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Speaker 2: Nathan Grayson, you have a book I do. It's called

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Stream Big, The Triumphs and Turmoils of Twitch and the

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Stars Behind the screen and it will be out on

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the eighteenth. You can pre order it now if you

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really want to, or you can just wait and order it.

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It's your call.

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Speaker 5: A really right now?

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Speaker 4: Is the on your wall?

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Speaker 3: Nice?

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Speaker 4: Look at that?

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Speaker 2: Yeah? And then I camera immediately goes out of focus. Fantastic,

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there it is.

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Speaker 3: That's okay.

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Speaker 1: I was reading it last night. You had the publisher

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sent me a copy. I appreciate that. Uh, it's what

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the fuck?

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Speaker 2: I know?

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Speaker 1: Right, just specifically block you all out from getting the

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copy too.

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Speaker 2: Does anyone else want one? I might know. I get that.

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Speaker 3: I read that.

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Speaker 2: I felt really bad about that. That actually really hurt me, so.

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Speaker 1: And then I said, you'd be quiet, let's be look

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at my book. I'm trying to read here. It's like

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really starts off. I like, oh, yeah, God, this is

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such a dramatic, dramatic story of like all of this

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a small community of people who are just doing a

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thing they really liked, and then how it blew up

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and of course, like all things, gets subsumed by a conglomerate,

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and how it has to change to meet the needs

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of the new master, and how the people who are

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there from the beginning feel about that and how they

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still just hire from the community. Like, there's so many

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fascinating aspects. Uh, I guess what, Let's do the basic

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questions first, like what prompted you to want to start

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writing about this other than of course you've been following

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this for a very long time, right.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, I mean that's a big part of it.

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And then the other part is that I think that

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there are you know, there are a number of books

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about like different platforms, different social media platforms. There are

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books at this point about YouTube, about TikTok, you know,

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about pretty much all the big ones, but they're very

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focused on the platforms themselves. They're like, you know, a

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history of this platform, a whatever, this platform. I wanted

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to do something that was more creator focused, and so

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from my book, the first chapter is kind of like

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an overview of Twitch in its history, but even then

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through the eyes of one creator, that being DJ Wheed,

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who's a person who used to be a very early

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live streaming creator went on to become one of the

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first Twitch employees. And then every other chapter is about

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just like a particular creator and their life and the

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way that the platform has shaped them and the way

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that they in turn have shaped the platform, and so

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it's much more people focused, I think, than a lot

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of these books tend to be. And I kind of

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wanted to tell the story that way because I think

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that the story of Twitch is very much one about

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its creators. It wouldn't be what it is without creators.

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So much of its early growth and development was centered

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around the company hiring people from its own community and

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like making decisions around what they wanted, and so much

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of the controversy that has ensued since has been about

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people saying, Hey, you guys have kind of lost your way.

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You've stopped caring so much about creators. You've started doing

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everything in service of profit and what Amazon wants from you,

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and that's not going over as well. So I wanted

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to sort of explore the material impacts of that on

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the people who are on that platform.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, and it's got to help that, like, you know,

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by talking to the people who are part of the community.

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A lot of them are big names, stars, people that

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have a history that is somewhat known by their audience.

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But maybe there's some aspects or some thoughts they they've

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had that you can elucidate a little bit better. Were

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there some things that surprised you to learn when you

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were talking to these streamers and these creators.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, and a lot of cases because also, like what

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I ended up doing for this book is I for

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every like big interview, for the ones that kind of

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are the backbone of each chapter, I did them in person,

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and usually like at that person's house or like in

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a place that represented their place of work. Essentially, because

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I think that when it comes to Twitch and other

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platforms like it, you can have this misconception that you

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understand or know everything about like your favorite creator. So

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I mean you see them for like, you know, depending

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on how much you watch, it could be up to

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eight ten hours per day. A lot of people don't

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watch that much. They probably tune in for a couple

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hours here and there. But you know, doing that, you're like, Okay, well,

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I see all the work they do, I know them,

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and therefore I don't need to know anymore. But there's

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a ton of invisible labor that goes into live streaming

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and content creation. There's a lot of stuff that happens

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in the background that you don't see when the cameras

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are off, and I wanted to sort of be able

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to capture some of that and show what that's like

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and all of the different like other people that contribute

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to that, not just the streamer. So I also ended

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up talking to like people's friends and families and their

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moderators and their editors and their staff and you know,

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pretty much anyone that I could get in front of

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a microphone. And then like, through that, I learned a

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lot of surprising stuff, Like I mean, I uh, one

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of the chapters is about Hassan Piker, who I'm sure

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you all know and follow. When I was at his place,

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his mom happened to be around, and so he was

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kind of cage on the subject of swattings and things

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of that nature. Right, But you know, Hassan has a

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pretty well known house. It was the source of some

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controversy a couple of years back because people were like

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a leftist buying a house, that's impossible, And so he

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wouldn't really talk about that. And so I was like, Hey,

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Hassan's mom, will you talk about this? And she was like, oh, absolutely,

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I'll tell you all suse the stories. And I was like, great,

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Hassan's going to be mad about this, but it still

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works for me. So when you're.

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Speaker 1: Building like the structure of the book, and you like

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begin to like have a piece together these the things

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you're learning from these interviews. Do you begin building like

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an overarching narrative of like here's the beginning of Twitch

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and the people that were there at the beginning, and

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here's how these things have changed and got complicated over

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over time. Like how does that narrative reveal itself to you?

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Speaker 2: I think it depends on the particular creator, because what

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I tried to do is get a mix of people

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who are like instrumental to Twitch's growth and you know,

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sort of represented like landmark figures on the platform, and

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then like you know, again one person who was kind

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of who worked for the company and was part of it.

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And then I also wanted like smaller creators too, so

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people who have existed on it not necessarily seen instance success,

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and in one particular instance, like you know, grinded really

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hard for success, like kind of had this viral moment

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and then tried to capitalize on that and like literally

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broke her body in the process. I wanted to sort

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of represent all of these different ways that being a

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creator on a platform like Twitch, one that more than

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anything wants your time can unfold, and so it was

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really more just like I set down and I talked

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to them, and then over the course of cause again,

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like the initial interviews for each of these chapters were

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like five hours long, so just you know, these things

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would reveal themselves to me as we conversed. You know,

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there'd be times where I was like talking to somebody

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and thinking like, oh, there it is, like that's the

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that's the opening scene of the book. That's the opening

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scene of the chapter. I got it, and.

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Speaker 1: That's yeah, I could totally see how that works out

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that way. Sometimes when when you talk to these people

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and when you begin like seeing the common themes, what

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do you get the sense that people believe is the

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future of Twitch from this point like going forward, like

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how are people feeling about it now?

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Speaker 2: I mean, I I don't think people are feeling super

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great about Twitch at the moment for a few reasons.

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One of them is that at this point Amazon really

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wants Twitch to turn a profit. It remains unprofitable, and

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so as a result, Twitch is taken to you know,

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overloading the site with ads, which everybody has been able

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to witness that you know, you'd be watching your favorite

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streamer or like a GDQ run or something, and then

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you get hit with a two minute ad block out

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of nowhere and you're like that that that killed all

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of my enjoyment of this. I'm just angry now.

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Speaker 5: I actually think it's a good experience personally.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, you're like, thank you, Jeff Bezos. I love so

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much Tina's pizza roles. I did not know about it.

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Speaker 5: You're telling me that they're making another that's crazy.

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Speaker 3: To find.

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Speaker 2: That would be a great way for them to sell cars,

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to be like, this is the final Honda. We're never

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making another Honda, and then say, like, just kidding. But yeah,

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So there's that, And there's also the fact that Amazon is,

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i think with Twitch, trying to cut its way to

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profitability too. So in the past couple of years they've

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laid off almost a thousand people from a company that

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previously had a little bit over two thousand, so that's

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like almost half the company. And so as a result,

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I think Twitch is kind of just in this holding

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pattern and they've been releasing like little new features where

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they can, but nothing that has genuinely changed the platform.

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And quite some time they're also like really focused on

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this one platform called or this one feature called guest

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Star that no one really seems to care about or use.

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It's just all this stuff where people look at Twitch

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and they say, Okay, it's kind of languishing. It's in

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a holding pattern. It doesn't seem like Amazon wants to

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really grow or expand it anymore or help it find

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new audiences, and so it's sort of like best case scenario,

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it kind of stays here. Absolute worst case scenario. Amazon

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eventually says, Okay, this is not working for us anymore.

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Let's put this in what Amazon calls maintenance mode, where

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they basically wind down a product and they stop updating it.

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They just keep it sort of functional, but they don't

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do anything with it anymore, the bare minimum essentially.

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Speaker 3: Well, last time I last time I checked, they were

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trying to pivot into like weird TikTok area with a

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redesign of the app. Because I watch a lot of Twitch,

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I try my best now to stay away from the

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app because it is atrocious.

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Speaker 2: Everyone hates the stories stories like functionality.

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Speaker 3: Yeah that and also like they formatted the main page

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to be like a swipe up to go through your

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different and it's awful because it's all encapsulated and like

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you open the app, if you press it will give

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you a stream Like let's say I'm watching Giant Bomp,

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It'll give you a streaming me. Then if I press

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Giant Bomb, if I hit the stream bind, it opens

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another instance of it. And you're like, yeah, this is

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the dumbest thing, And it's it's the kind of thing

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where I feel like if one person tested it, they

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would know this is bad. So it just makes me

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feel like no one there is paying any attention or

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what's going on. It's like close to unusable on a

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on a mobile phone. Yeah.

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Speaker 2: Well, it's also that classic issue of you know, there's

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still plenty of people at the company that care, but

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a lot of the people that power don't really use

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the platform I understand it or give a shit in

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ways that would prevent something catastrophic like that from happening.

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Speaker 1: They and then they hear something it'll be like TikTok

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and they're like, well, that sounds good, so let's do that.

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Speaker 2: Yeah. I mean, that's also like an interesting situation because

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there was clamor from the community for that kind of

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a feature. There's this moment where when they were putting

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all of the ads or like, you know, when they

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were flooding the flooding Twitch with ads, people were like, well,

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what you could do is create a stories like function

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and put it in the app and then put ads

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on that, because then you're not missing anything live necessarily,

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you just put it over people's VODs and their clips

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and so this is a version of that. But I

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think it's much more front and center within the app

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than people wanted it to be. And as as Tomorrow

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was saying, like it takes over the entire interface that

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you experienced by default, Like you just you're in this

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like river of stories essentially, and yeah, it's just it's

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not well done. It's one of many gaffs that they've

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had in the past year or two. Yeah, it's it's.

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Speaker 1: The story of everything right now, rightfications and then make

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it worse to make more money. Yeah, we can make

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We can make a little bit more money if we

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make it a little bit worse.

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Speaker 3: I got a question about I mean, like, how how

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much of the future I guess you kind of answered

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the question kind of, but how much of the kind

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of roadmap for Twitch have you been able to glean

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from these interviews? Because I know most recently, like they

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had that that time where they were just throwing money

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at various careers. Hasan's one of them. He openly talks

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about having a very specific contract that he no longer has.

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He Yeah, no longer has it, so there's no more

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top of the ad breaks. It feels like that's part

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of the kind of step away from trying to make

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Twitch happen. Have you did you get any sense from

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the creators of where Twitch is going or do you

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have did you get any sense on how dedicated these

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Twitch creators are going to be to the platform itself,

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because some of them have now moved to multi streaming,

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you know, but then some of them are like coming

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back to Twitch, like I think Ludwig or someone like

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that recently.

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Speaker 2: Can returned to Twitch.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, and like said he wouldn't stream elsewhere.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, So a couple of things happened here. One is

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that a lot of those contracts that big streamers had,

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because you know, to be clear for the audience, there's

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a period of time where big name streamers, people like

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Hasan or Pokemon which she was still Twitch exclusive, or

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even let Wig ever have one he might have he

320
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got a YouTube YouTube. Yeah, they had these multi million

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dollar contracts that were you know, keeping them exclusive to

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particular platforms. But that was kind of like the meta

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in the like twenty twenty to twenty twenty two to

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twenty twenty three era. And that's in part because YouTube

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emerged as a competitor to Twitch. They were directly trying

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to steal or not steal, but you know, cultivate an

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audience like Twitches, and so they started pulling over creators

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from Twitch by saying, hey, we'll give you millions of

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dollars if you come over here, even though like our

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audience for live streaming is not quite as big and

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you might lose some of your audience in the transition,

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will more than make up for that by giving you

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all this money. And so a lot of creators did it,

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and as a result twhich was like, well, we got

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to do something now. And so Twitch already had like

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some exclusivity contracts in place, but the amount that they

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were paying for those went way up and it became

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this bidding war. And because of the way that streaming works,

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these platforms were not making that amount of money back

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on those creators, Like ads and subscriptions were not making

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millions of dollars, and so it was more about like

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clout or prestige. It was to be able to say

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we have these particular people, therefore you should be over

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here watching our platform, not the other one. But then

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everyone kind of collectively realized that they were overpaying for streamers,

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and so as contracts expired in the past couple of years,

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they just let them.

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Speaker 1: Lapse or they just shut down their entire platform. It's

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like no more Mixer.

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Speaker 2: Well yeah, yeah, Mixer was I mean, that was just

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a disaster because Microsoft owned that they theoretically had the

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money to keep it going. They had made some big

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deals people like Ninja and Shroud, and then not even

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a year after they made those deals, which were set

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for two years, they're like, never mind, we give up,

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pull the play and they paid. They paid, They paid

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the money.

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Speaker 1: But it's like clearly they looked at the numbers very

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quickly and were like, oh, we did an oopsie, man,

360
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we did We didn't do this very good.

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Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah. It's also just really hard to make money

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on live streaming in general, because a platform like Twitch,

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as it expands, as it gains more users, it also

364
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becomes more expensive to run. Like this is one of

365
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the things that calculator.

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Speaker 1: There's a calculator, like the live streaming cost calculator. Is

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that thing accurate? Like how many minutes for how many

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people watch or whatever? I'd like you could do a

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little calculation it says, oh, that stream cost Twitch forty dollars.

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Speaker 2: For a couple hours. That's almost certainly Napkin math. I

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doubt that it's like fully accurate, but it is generally correct. Yeah. Like,

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as as a platform like Twitch grows, it becomes more

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expensive to run, and as a result, a company like

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Amazon has to find new ways to monetize it. Now

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there's some other like you know, Amazon is also making

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up the math as it goes. So like, is Twitch

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profitable is it not? It depends on how you decide

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where Twitch is making money. There's a lot of tech

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Amazon uses that Twitch originally developed, and now Amazon charges

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Twitch to use that tech internally. That's so that's.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, what I My biggest worry is Amazon will

382
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do what it did to Twitch to what it did

383
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to Comixology, where they just like stripped it of any

384
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sort of presence and and kind of like any independence

385
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and comics Oology no longer exists. It's just the kind

386
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of kindle. It's like folded into kindle, and it's one

387
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of the worst reading experiences for digital comics that I've

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ever seen. And my fear is, as much as I

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think Twitch is not great to use right now, it's

390
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going to be much worse when they just jam it

391
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into like a Prime video or something like that. So

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it's a big concern about that. One other question I had, Sorry,

393
00:18:25,839 --> 00:18:26,400
go ahead.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, no, I was just going to say, Twitch is

395
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also like where the community is right and so if

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Amazon ever pulls the plug or degrades it so much

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that people have nowhere to go or they end up leaving,

398
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then that that thing that makes Twitch special, that reason

399
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that like a lot of streamers have returned to Twitch,

400
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for example, after being on YouTube and cultivating audience, is

401
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there that goes away? And if that goes away, what

402
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if anything takes its place?

403
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Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm one other thing that I'm interested in. I

404
00:18:52,079 --> 00:18:53,839
don't know if you explore it. I'll find out when

405
00:18:53,880 --> 00:18:56,319
I read the book. But did you do you kind

406
00:18:56,319 --> 00:18:59,680
of explore the impact that politics has on the growth

407
00:18:59,720 --> 00:19:03,359
of t which and perhaps other platforms, because you know,

408
00:19:03,440 --> 00:19:06,799
you have the likes of Aiden Ross, for example, being

409
00:19:06,839 --> 00:19:09,799
a huge presence in the streaming space and then having

410
00:19:09,839 --> 00:19:12,440
his right wing pivot and then going to you know,

411
00:19:12,519 --> 00:19:15,920
a specific platform, and you know, currently the biggest I

412
00:19:15,960 --> 00:19:20,480
believe political streamer is Asthma Gold, who you know, originally

413
00:19:20,480 --> 00:19:23,480
started off as a water warcraft person and now has

414
00:19:23,839 --> 00:19:29,960
interesting perspectives on life and that kind of like you

415
00:19:30,000 --> 00:19:31,799
know that that the ebb and flow of it and

416
00:19:31,839 --> 00:19:34,200
the success of generation Socrates.

417
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Speaker 2: It's not what's not mince words asmen Gold called Palestinians

418
00:19:37,680 --> 00:19:38,720
like a lesser people.

419
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Speaker 3: Oh yeah, yeah, that's not mince word. That dude is

420
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a fucking gremlin.

421
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Speaker 1: So he also he also gags when he drinks water,

422
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you know, you know, not as bad but pretty bad.

423
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Speaker 2: Still. Yeah, that's you know, I didn't think about.

424
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Speaker 3: It any any kind of like that, that exploration of that.

425
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Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah. So the last chapter in the book is

426
00:20:02,559 --> 00:20:05,880
about Hassan, and it uses him as a kind of

427
00:20:05,880 --> 00:20:08,240
a lens through which to view that section of the

428
00:20:08,240 --> 00:20:11,079
livestreaming world and how it's grown and how it's become

429
00:20:11,240 --> 00:20:14,880
its own sort of portion of twitch and even a

430
00:20:14,920 --> 00:20:16,759
little bit like we were saying, what it means for

431
00:20:17,240 --> 00:20:20,240
people to sort of cross pollinate into doing politics when

432
00:20:20,279 --> 00:20:23,359
their original background is not being a political streamer, or

433
00:20:23,400 --> 00:20:25,559
even like necessarily in the case of somebody like Aiden

434
00:20:25,640 --> 00:20:29,119
Ross having much knowledge in that space, like Aiden Ross,

435
00:20:29,319 --> 00:20:31,799
you know, we'll talk about politics when he's going down

436
00:20:31,799 --> 00:20:33,799
some red pill rabbit hole. But it's not like he

437
00:20:33,839 --> 00:20:37,319
studies this stuff. It's not like he's read history. What

438
00:20:37,480 --> 00:20:39,279
was the There was a clip of him trying to

439
00:20:39,400 --> 00:20:45,960
like sound out like a very call said it was

440
00:20:45,960 --> 00:20:47,920
something pertaining to like politics, and I was like.

441
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Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm going to find it.

442
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Speaker 2: Yeah yeah, But you know, nonetheless, this is a guy

443
00:20:54,319 --> 00:20:56,440
fist he said fastest. Yeah, oh yeah, that's right. He

444
00:20:56,440 --> 00:20:58,359
was trying to sound out fascist, which is perfect, by

445
00:20:58,359 --> 00:21:01,400
the way, given that he, you know, months later, had

446
00:21:01,440 --> 00:21:03,960
Donald Trump on his stream and conducted a long interview

447
00:21:03,960 --> 00:21:07,160
with him that drew like almost five hundred thousand concurrent viewers,

448
00:21:07,319 --> 00:21:10,519
a ridiculous number, as you yourselves know, as people who

449
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stream those regularly.

450
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Speaker 3: You know, I think it was it was an ultranationalist, okay, right, yeah,

451
00:21:20,359 --> 00:21:23,160
I mean still an absolutely perfect word for him to

452
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not be able to say.

453
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Speaker 2: But yeah, like it's hard to measure the impact of

454
00:21:28,759 --> 00:21:31,960
these things on like an election but you know, there

455
00:21:32,119 --> 00:21:35,880
was disproportionate turnout of young men voting in favor of Trump.

456
00:21:36,400 --> 00:21:39,359
You know, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to conclude

457
00:21:40,359 --> 00:21:42,720
Aiden Ross's stream and others like it might have had

458
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some impact on that.

459
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Speaker 5: Yeah, and so there's I think, oh sorry, I just

460
00:21:47,440 --> 00:21:50,519
think that there's like, there's such an interesting lack of

461
00:21:51,319 --> 00:21:58,079
acknowledgment by institutionalized powers on how straight the fucking line is?

462
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Are political movements being empowered by people who are watching

463
00:22:03,359 --> 00:22:07,000
shit on Twitch dot tv And it's like and like

464
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radicalized by Reddit and in the wake of gamer Gate,

465
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like it is just it is simply a straight line

466
00:22:13,519 --> 00:22:16,880
with no variants or like or or ups and downs,

467
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ebbs and flows. It is literally a straight line. You

468
00:22:18,880 --> 00:22:21,039
can track every single beat and be like oh yeah,

469
00:22:21,079 --> 00:22:26,000
all of this, Yeah it makes yes, And it's like yeah,

470
00:22:26,160 --> 00:22:31,079
absolutely fueled and empowered by by these platforms. Yeah, yeah, I.

471
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Speaker 2: Would say quick note, Aiden Ross is on kick not Twitch,

472
00:22:34,519 --> 00:22:37,079
but it's a similar culture. Aiden Ross came from Twitch.

473
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Originally he got banned for not preventing people from being

474
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racist in his chat, and it's not surprising what he's

475
00:22:43,400 --> 00:22:45,799
turned into with that history in mind.

476
00:22:48,440 --> 00:22:50,920
Speaker 1: Okay, let's get people the details on the book again.

477
00:22:51,000 --> 00:22:53,119
So it's out next week. They can pre order it

478
00:22:53,680 --> 00:22:55,359
from where what should they know?

479
00:22:55,440 --> 00:22:57,279
Speaker 2: Yeah, you can pre order it pretty much wherever books

480
00:22:57,279 --> 00:22:59,880
are sold. There's like a main link though from Simon

481
00:23:00,039 --> 00:23:02,319
Shooster is the publisher. If you just search like stream

482
00:23:02,359 --> 00:23:04,759
Big Book, you can probably find that on Google. If

483
00:23:04,759 --> 00:23:08,319
somebody can drop it into you that you'll maintain.

484
00:23:08,839 --> 00:23:11,200
Speaker 5: Yeah, if you're a bomb chat, it's up at the

485
00:23:11,240 --> 00:23:14,119
top and then I will head over to twitch chat

486
00:23:14,200 --> 00:23:15,400
and pop it in there.

487
00:23:15,799 --> 00:23:19,880
Speaker 3: I just pray. Is there a preferred place you would

488
00:23:20,240 --> 00:23:23,039
want us to get it from in terms of like

489
00:23:23,200 --> 00:23:24,480
cuts and that kind of stuff?

490
00:23:24,599 --> 00:23:26,319
Speaker 2: Can I sorry, I gotta see if I can do this.

491
00:23:26,799 --> 00:23:27,119
You can.

492
00:23:30,400 --> 00:23:32,000
Speaker 1: Line it up perfectly and then you move it and

493
00:23:32,039 --> 00:23:33,200
it's like it's still there.

494
00:23:33,279 --> 00:23:37,240
Speaker 2: Yeah, exactly exactly. I should have done that sooner. But

495
00:23:37,960 --> 00:23:40,960
is there a preferred place? No, just get it where

496
00:23:41,000 --> 00:23:41,400
you get it.

497
00:23:41,880 --> 00:23:42,079
Speaker 3: Yeah.

498
00:23:42,240 --> 00:23:46,839
Speaker 2: Also, if any viewers are If any viewers or listeners

499
00:23:46,920 --> 00:23:50,559
are in New York, there's a launch party on Sunday

500
00:23:50,720 --> 00:23:55,960
at Wonderville and Bushwick. So it's a two pm come through.

501
00:23:56,960 --> 00:23:59,640
Speaker 1: Last real quick question, who optioned the book and when's

502
00:23:59,680 --> 00:24:00,240
the movie.

503
00:24:00,039 --> 00:24:05,440
Speaker 2: Come out nobody so far. Although when I first got

504
00:24:05,480 --> 00:24:07,440
the deal, because I got the book deal forever ago,

505
00:24:07,960 --> 00:24:09,640
and then the pandemic happened and I had to sort

506
00:24:09,640 --> 00:24:11,599
of pause working on it for a minute because doing

507
00:24:11,599 --> 00:24:14,640
stuff a person was functionally impossible, And so like the

508
00:24:14,720 --> 00:24:16,799
day after I got the book deal in twenty nineteen,

509
00:24:17,000 --> 00:24:19,319
some person emailed me and it was like, yeah, we

510
00:24:19,359 --> 00:24:21,720
could turn this into a movie, and I was like,

511
00:24:22,079 --> 00:24:26,160
a howe, and be hold your horses. The book is

512
00:24:26,200 --> 00:24:27,160
not even close to that.

513
00:24:29,000 --> 00:24:31,839
Speaker 5: Yeah, so you we have the same last name. Does

514
00:24:31,880 --> 00:24:32,319
that work?

515
00:24:32,640 --> 00:24:36,759
Speaker 2: Yeah? Yeah, that's that's how that ever, always played somebody

516
00:24:36,759 --> 00:24:37,440
with their last name.

517
00:24:37,920 --> 00:24:41,519
Speaker 5: Yeah, okay, awesome, cool, Yeah, that's bind excellent, Sorry, Bud.

518
00:24:42,680 --> 00:24:46,119
Speaker 1: All right, what we're gonna do is, Sean, I'm gonna

519
00:24:46,160 --> 00:24:48,359
say we're gonna take a break right now. We'll come

520
00:24:48,400 --> 00:24:51,200
back with more after this for the podcast version, and

521
00:24:51,240 --> 00:24:52,200
then for the live version.

522
00:24:52,200 --> 00:24:55,519
Speaker 2: We're gonna come right back. Okay.

523
00:24:56,160 --> 00:25:01,000
Speaker 1: So let's uh, let's talk about split fiction. Let's see Nick,

524
00:25:01,160 --> 00:25:06,400
Nikki and Tam you both were in LA recently earlier

525
00:25:06,440 --> 00:25:06,799
this week.

526
00:25:06,880 --> 00:25:08,559
Speaker 2: Was it to play split fiction or was it late

527
00:25:08,680 --> 00:25:09,119
last week?

528
00:25:09,759 --> 00:25:13,920
Speaker 5: Uh? It was fuck me running it was supposed to

529
00:25:13,960 --> 00:25:19,559
be the hard question. It's nuts.

530
00:25:20,039 --> 00:25:22,480
Speaker 2: I mean, it's understandable given the state of man.

531
00:25:22,559 --> 00:25:23,319
Speaker 3: That's crazy.

532
00:25:23,839 --> 00:25:26,880
Speaker 1: Damn all right, tell me about split fiction. Just as

533
00:25:26,920 --> 00:25:29,480
quick reminder, Joseph Faris Hayes Light is that the name

534
00:25:29,480 --> 00:25:32,839
of their studio, their new game, People Made Brothers. People

535
00:25:32,839 --> 00:25:35,240
that Made It Takes two. Game of the years, twenty

536
00:25:35,240 --> 00:25:38,240
three million copies sold, very popular in China because apparently

537
00:25:38,240 --> 00:25:40,079
divorce is popular in China. Now I think that's a

538
00:25:40,119 --> 00:25:46,240
shoot popular. Yes, popular, Yes, divorce is hot. Yeah, they

539
00:25:46,240 --> 00:25:48,880
are like into divorce in China right now. That one

540
00:25:48,920 --> 00:25:53,480
of the helping that game out. Okay, so you guys,

541
00:25:53,720 --> 00:25:55,799
you played it. What's one of the basics that people

542
00:25:55,799 --> 00:25:57,000
should know? And how'd you find it?

543
00:25:57,359 --> 00:25:58,839
Speaker 5: Do you remember it Takes two?

544
00:25:59,839 --> 00:26:03,599
Speaker 2: Yes? Okay, okay, cool, thank you.

545
00:26:05,759 --> 00:26:09,480
Speaker 3: It is pretty accurate that that kind of format is

546
00:26:10,640 --> 00:26:13,079
is something that they like to stick close to. I think,

547
00:26:13,119 --> 00:26:17,319
like perhaps Away is the biggest departure from it. But

548
00:26:17,880 --> 00:26:20,680
in the same way that It Takes Two is a

549
00:26:20,680 --> 00:26:25,359
a collection of really wildly varying ideas. Split fiction is

550
00:26:25,480 --> 00:26:29,519
very similar and it still has a cohesive element to it.

551
00:26:29,599 --> 00:26:33,720
And it was like top down broad kind of take

552
00:26:33,759 --> 00:26:35,599
on it. It was a lot of fun. I had

553
00:26:35,640 --> 00:26:36,960
a lot playing that game.

554
00:26:37,240 --> 00:26:42,039
Speaker 5: Yeah, I think something that like it's really it's I

555
00:26:42,079 --> 00:26:43,640
was trying to figure out how to talk about this

556
00:26:43,680 --> 00:26:45,480
when I was like in the shower today, I was

557
00:26:45,519 --> 00:26:48,519
like trying to form my words. And it's in a

558
00:26:48,559 --> 00:26:50,960
way that is not denigrating to the game at all.

559
00:26:51,160 --> 00:26:53,359
It's like the last it's more of the last one,

560
00:26:53,559 --> 00:26:55,599
and if you really liked the last one, you're gonna

561
00:26:55,640 --> 00:26:58,680
really like this one. There are new different ideas. It

562
00:26:58,680 --> 00:27:00,519
feels like they came up with a huge list of

563
00:27:00,559 --> 00:27:04,160
ideas on ways to do two player co op experiences.

564
00:27:04,720 --> 00:27:06,519
They put some of them in the last one, and

565
00:27:06,559 --> 00:27:09,599
then the last one sold, you said, twenty three million copies.

566
00:27:09,640 --> 00:27:11,880
So Joseph went to EA and said, you're gonna give

567
00:27:11,920 --> 00:27:16,200
me triple the budget and they said absolutely, and then

568
00:27:16,200 --> 00:27:18,599
it gave him however much money he wanted. And then

569
00:27:18,839 --> 00:27:22,160
now the ideas are bigger and better. And I think

570
00:27:22,200 --> 00:27:26,400
that the beautiful thing about the time that I spent

571
00:27:26,440 --> 00:27:30,359
with Split Fiction was that none of it and it

572
00:27:30,559 --> 00:27:33,200
takes to have this, I think to a different degree,

573
00:27:33,240 --> 00:27:35,920
but really really felt this with Split fiction. It didn't

574
00:27:35,920 --> 00:27:37,640
feel like any of the stuff that I was doing

575
00:27:37,640 --> 00:27:40,839
felt throwaway. It all felt like a like team was

576
00:27:40,880 --> 00:27:44,559
really like, Okay, we're making a pinball level where one

577
00:27:44,599 --> 00:27:46,559
person is the ball and then the other person is

578
00:27:46,559 --> 00:27:50,440
controlling the paddles. What if we made sure that every

579
00:27:50,519 --> 00:27:54,480
single part of this experience felt good. It didn't feel

580
00:27:54,519 --> 00:27:57,400
like any of it was like second thought or like

581
00:27:57,720 --> 00:28:00,119
one person. Well, sometimes it did feel like one and

582
00:28:00,119 --> 00:28:01,839
I had to play second fiddle. And I want to

583
00:28:01,839 --> 00:28:04,920
talk to you about that, Tim, because I did feel

584
00:28:04,920 --> 00:28:06,519
like there were some bits where I was like, I

585
00:28:06,519 --> 00:28:09,119
wish I was I was being jammed right now and

586
00:28:09,160 --> 00:28:10,799
I'm sure Jan Also.

587
00:28:10,920 --> 00:28:13,160
Speaker 4: If you're the ball is helpless, right.

588
00:28:14,960 --> 00:28:18,640
Speaker 3: Was the hardest? Yes?

589
00:28:18,960 --> 00:28:23,839
Speaker 5: Really so yeah, the ball the ball physics didn't feel

590
00:28:24,119 --> 00:28:28,519
very good, but like there was yeah, yeah, he's going

591
00:28:28,599 --> 00:28:30,279
to be mad. There was like after touch on the

592
00:28:30,319 --> 00:28:32,839
ball also, which like so the ball would go in

593
00:28:32,880 --> 00:28:34,759
the air and then you would kind of be able

594
00:28:34,759 --> 00:28:38,200
to move. It left burnout space a lot like burnout.

595
00:28:38,279 --> 00:28:40,359
Speaker 2: Yeah, I went to tig Woods.

596
00:28:41,000 --> 00:28:44,640
Speaker 5: Yeah, Tim, I did you at any point feel like

597
00:28:44,680 --> 00:28:47,440
you were wishing that you were being the role that

598
00:28:47,519 --> 00:28:49,839
Lucy was? No, did Lucy feel like.

599
00:28:50,839 --> 00:28:53,319
Speaker 3: I don't think so. I think the balance there is

600
00:28:53,359 --> 00:28:57,359
good because there are times where one person, like for example,

601
00:28:57,400 --> 00:29:00,480
in the pinball level, Lucy was the ball and I

602
00:29:00,599 --> 00:29:05,000
was the flippers, and it can feel like the other

603
00:29:05,039 --> 00:29:07,559
person is having more fun. But they, I think they

604
00:29:07,599 --> 00:29:10,319
do a good job of inverting that as much as

605
00:29:10,319 --> 00:29:12,799
they can, so there will be a level fairly soon

606
00:29:12,960 --> 00:29:15,039
after where you'll be having the fun thing and the

607
00:29:15,079 --> 00:29:17,880
other person is doing kind of like the support thing.

608
00:29:18,160 --> 00:29:21,240
And that is to say neither time is like it

609
00:29:21,279 --> 00:29:23,079
wasn't like Lucy was having all the fun and I

610
00:29:23,119 --> 00:29:25,839
was just like, oh, it was like I kind of

611
00:29:25,839 --> 00:29:28,160
want to beat the ball to try it out of

612
00:29:28,240 --> 00:29:30,319
that kind of stuff. The ball, the big ball one

613
00:29:30,440 --> 00:29:35,079
was rough because one the ball based on me watching Lucy,

614
00:29:35,119 --> 00:29:38,400
who's good at games, and was like we were both

615
00:29:38,400 --> 00:29:40,880
struggling through this. The ball felt a bit too heavy

616
00:29:40,920 --> 00:29:43,400
and wasn't like jumping as high as you want it to.

617
00:29:43,759 --> 00:29:46,119
And then the flippers, which is what I had, There

618
00:29:46,200 --> 00:29:49,400
was like a delay to when you hit the bottom

619
00:29:49,480 --> 00:29:52,680
and the flip actually happening, so we were constantly not

620
00:29:52,799 --> 00:29:56,359
able to kind of synchronize properly. That's a very small

621
00:29:56,440 --> 00:30:00,440
thing that they will hopefully iron out, but that it

622
00:30:00,480 --> 00:30:03,920
was like whatever. Then you know, a few sections later,

623
00:30:04,319 --> 00:30:07,559
I was in we were in this like motorbike section

624
00:30:07,720 --> 00:30:11,440
in a futuristic like like a city where we're being

625
00:30:11,519 --> 00:30:14,319
chased by like a helicopter with a gunner on it,

626
00:30:14,559 --> 00:30:17,720
and we're both on the bike. I'm controlling the bike

627
00:30:18,039 --> 00:30:21,240
and Lucy is trying to disarm a bomb by reading

628
00:30:21,319 --> 00:30:25,720
through a and user license agreement and capture on a

629
00:30:25,799 --> 00:30:29,599
mobile phone. It's like moving around chaotically, and it was

630
00:30:29,640 --> 00:30:32,640
like we were both like like I was technically having

631
00:30:32,680 --> 00:30:35,160
the fun there, but she was like in the next

632
00:30:35,160 --> 00:30:36,960
to me, just screaming like I can't use this thing.

633
00:30:36,960 --> 00:30:38,960
I can't do THET. I can't do THET. So like

634
00:30:39,000 --> 00:30:41,799
it balances out, and then we're like we're two pigs

635
00:30:41,839 --> 00:30:45,519
and my my traversal ability is the ability to far

636
00:30:45,680 --> 00:30:48,519
and launch myself and she's a spring and it's like

637
00:30:49,079 --> 00:30:51,519
there's always a good balance. It's not like if you

638
00:30:52,000 --> 00:30:54,960
take control of meal, the other character is like done

639
00:30:55,079 --> 00:30:56,039
and bored for the rest of it.

640
00:30:56,839 --> 00:30:59,880
Speaker 5: Back and yeah, they're that back and forth between facility

641
00:31:00,480 --> 00:31:03,039
of fun and then doing the fun. That relationship is

642
00:31:03,039 --> 00:31:05,519
really good and then which makes the moments where you're

643
00:31:05,559 --> 00:31:09,559
both in the same space as like, because the game

644
00:31:10,039 --> 00:31:13,000
does create environments where it's like, oh, we're separated, and

645
00:31:13,000 --> 00:31:15,160
then we're kind of back together doing the same thing,

646
00:31:16,359 --> 00:31:18,880
where they're like, oh, we're both doing the same platforming

647
00:31:18,960 --> 00:31:22,599
style situation. We're both doing the same There's another there's

648
00:31:22,640 --> 00:31:26,079
a stage that we've played, there's I'll take a step

649
00:31:26,079 --> 00:31:28,440
back in the way that this This demo was formatic

650
00:31:28,440 --> 00:31:30,240
because we played a three hour chunk and they jumped

651
00:31:30,319 --> 00:31:33,920
us around a bunch. It sometimes felt like we were

652
00:31:33,920 --> 00:31:36,519
in a car that all of a sudden, sometimes the

653
00:31:36,559 --> 00:31:39,119
handbrake would get pulled because we would finish the stage

654
00:31:39,119 --> 00:31:40,640
and we'd be like, oh, I can't wait to see

655
00:31:40,680 --> 00:31:42,079
what's going to happen, And they will put a big

656
00:31:42,119 --> 00:31:44,440
black screen on the black screen, and then it would

657
00:31:44,440 --> 00:31:45,920
have some white text on it that would be like,

658
00:31:46,240 --> 00:31:47,519
now we're going to take you to the sci fi

659
00:31:47,559 --> 00:31:50,680
time p s and then I would I kind of

660
00:31:50,839 --> 00:31:52,960
was like, it would fucking bang if that was how

661
00:31:52,960 --> 00:31:56,359
the game actually was, it would be awesome. If they

662
00:31:56,480 --> 00:31:59,240
were like, we're sci fi time, no transitions, We couldn't

663
00:31:59,240 --> 00:32:03,240
figure it out that is how it goes. But yeah,

664
00:32:03,240 --> 00:32:07,559
there's I lost some thought the part, oh we're we

665
00:32:07,640 --> 00:32:10,119
moved into the dragon zone? Did you did y'all get

666
00:32:10,119 --> 00:32:13,799
that far in the demo? And that was really cool

667
00:32:13,839 --> 00:32:17,359
because there were these two you're in the fantasy chunk.

668
00:32:17,799 --> 00:32:19,640
The core conceit of the game, if you don't know,

669
00:32:19,960 --> 00:32:22,839
is that these two people get book deals, what they

670
00:32:22,880 --> 00:32:25,319
think are book deals. They go into this publishing company

671
00:32:25,359 --> 00:32:28,799
that very obviously gang. I don't know who the fuck

672
00:32:28,880 --> 00:32:31,960
these girlies are. Read the contract and look at the building,

673
00:32:32,880 --> 00:32:37,599
publishing houses. There are so many steps on the path

674
00:32:37,640 --> 00:32:40,319
to they got stuck inside the computer, which is what

675
00:32:40,400 --> 00:32:42,519
happens to them. That I would have been like, No,

676
00:32:42,680 --> 00:32:44,960
I'm okay, I think I'm good. I think I'm so

677
00:32:45,160 --> 00:32:46,000
good on this one.

678
00:32:47,960 --> 00:32:50,799
Speaker 3: Come back one of the immediately he is like what

679
00:32:50,839 --> 00:32:54,000
the and the other one, I'm so excited to get

680
00:32:54,039 --> 00:32:58,039
my book deal by having my ideas sucked out of

681
00:32:58,079 --> 00:33:00,680
my brain. It's like, that's how it works.

682
00:33:00,799 --> 00:33:04,960
Speaker 5: Yeah, that's just how it works. So one of the

683
00:33:05,039 --> 00:33:07,559
characters is a fantasy writer and then the other one

684
00:33:07,640 --> 00:33:09,680
is a sci fi writer, and then you are moving

685
00:33:09,720 --> 00:33:13,119
back and forth yourthhoe genres and you're moving back and

686
00:33:13,160 --> 00:33:16,400
forth between their ideas. There is one part where you're

687
00:33:16,400 --> 00:33:22,039
a dragon. You're both dragons, and there there was such

688
00:33:22,160 --> 00:33:25,160
interesting back and forth there because I was kind of

689
00:33:25,240 --> 00:33:28,680
under the impression that that ability set was going to

690
00:33:28,720 --> 00:33:30,519
be the same for both dragons, but one of the

691
00:33:30,559 --> 00:33:33,680
dragons couldn't fly and actually had a sonic the hedgehog

692
00:33:33,759 --> 00:33:37,960
spin dash roll situation. Yeah, so you're like knocking this

693
00:33:38,079 --> 00:33:42,079
ball around, trying to do like puzzles where you're moving

694
00:33:42,119 --> 00:33:44,200
this ball through this stage, and then the other dragon

695
00:33:44,279 --> 00:33:48,640
can spit acid to like blow up the ball and

696
00:33:48,720 --> 00:33:51,599
fill up a cup that will move bits of the level.

697
00:33:51,640 --> 00:33:55,480
So it's it really does subvert what you are under

698
00:33:55,640 --> 00:34:00,359
like what your expectation is for that format. I was like, Oh,

699
00:34:00,359 --> 00:34:02,119
we're going to be dragons. We're gonna be fighting other

700
00:34:02,200 --> 00:34:05,200
little monsters because we're fucking dragons, and like no, no, no, no,

701
00:34:05,400 --> 00:34:08,519
it's puzzles, And I was like, oh, okay, I like puzzle.

702
00:34:08,760 --> 00:34:12,880
Speaker 3: That part was really cool because they kind of make

703
00:34:12,920 --> 00:34:17,320
sure that you're having different paces in the type of

704
00:34:17,360 --> 00:34:19,880
cooperation that you're doing. So in that dragon section, it's

705
00:34:20,000 --> 00:34:22,719
very much like take your time, figure out how you

706
00:34:22,760 --> 00:34:25,559
solve this puzzle for the longest time, I didn't know

707
00:34:25,639 --> 00:34:28,000
my dragon could fly because I wasn't moving. When I

708
00:34:28,079 --> 00:34:30,079
hit the fly button, I was just like fly, fly, Fly,

709
00:34:30,119 --> 00:34:31,960
it wouldn't work. And unless it was like move you

710
00:34:32,480 --> 00:34:35,840
then hit the fly all right, man. And then so

711
00:34:35,880 --> 00:34:38,239
like that's a very kind of like at your own

712
00:34:38,320 --> 00:34:40,960
pace and then like the final level of the demo

713
00:34:41,239 --> 00:34:44,679
is very much not at your own pace cooperation. It's

714
00:34:44,719 --> 00:34:50,559
like a side scrolling shooter, like a twin stick shooter,

715
00:34:51,239 --> 00:34:54,800
but it's also got like that Ikaruga element where you

716
00:34:54,840 --> 00:34:58,199
can only interact with your assigned color, but it means

717
00:34:58,199 --> 00:35:00,639
that when it splits you up. It's like she was

718
00:35:01,320 --> 00:35:03,679
she had like a wall of fire coming towards her,

719
00:35:03,960 --> 00:35:05,920
and the kind of block in front of her was

720
00:35:06,039 --> 00:35:08,679
my color. So I have to quickly divert my attention

721
00:35:08,760 --> 00:35:11,079
from platforming to shoot her thing to help her out,

722
00:35:11,119 --> 00:35:13,079
and back and forth, and it was like you had

723
00:35:13,079 --> 00:35:15,360
to we had to fight bosses together, where I was like, oh,

724
00:35:15,360 --> 00:35:17,079
I can't hit him, you need to hit him with

725
00:35:17,119 --> 00:35:20,719
your color. So that was like intense cooperation. I think

726
00:35:20,760 --> 00:35:23,119
they in the demo that we've played, they spread out

727
00:35:23,119 --> 00:35:26,599
that kind of different pacing of cooperation really well.

728
00:35:27,360 --> 00:35:31,239
Speaker 1: Yeah, and oh sorry, go ahead, I was just going

729
00:35:31,280 --> 00:35:33,559
to ask to you. Guys mentioned a very similar in

730
00:35:33,639 --> 00:35:34,800
terms of the way it placed.

731
00:35:34,920 --> 00:35:35,480
Speaker 2: It Takes Two.

732
00:35:35,880 --> 00:35:38,239
Speaker 1: Uh, I think It Takes Two is a very sold game.

733
00:35:38,280 --> 00:35:41,440
Obviously a lot of people really love it. Uh, where

734
00:35:41,440 --> 00:35:43,880
where do you see If you do see refinements, where

735
00:35:43,880 --> 00:35:45,719
are they? And do you get the sense maybe that

736
00:35:46,920 --> 00:35:49,440
the PA scene might be a little bit tighter because

737
00:35:49,519 --> 00:35:51,639
the one complaint I always hear but It Takes Too,

738
00:35:51,719 --> 00:35:53,159
is it maybe dragged on a little bit?

739
00:35:53,559 --> 00:35:55,880
Speaker 5: I think the thing that's so hard for this is

740
00:35:55,920 --> 00:35:59,400
like we they it's very explicitly we're like we're bouncing

741
00:35:59,440 --> 00:36:02,159
you around, so we don't know if any of it

742
00:36:02,199 --> 00:36:05,199
oversays it's welcome because we were really never doing anything

743
00:36:05,239 --> 00:36:08,119
for too long. Because I also felt the same with

744
00:36:08,199 --> 00:36:10,119
It Takes Too. I was like, wow, I like I

745
00:36:10,239 --> 00:36:12,880
get it gang like like I had a good time

746
00:36:12,960 --> 00:36:14,400
and was having a good time, but like at this

747
00:36:14,440 --> 00:36:17,599
point I'm kind of I'm over it. I'm here so

748
00:36:17,639 --> 00:36:20,400
I can finish the game. I have no idea like

749
00:36:20,480 --> 00:36:25,440
if they've gotten if they've trimmed it down that in that.

750
00:36:25,960 --> 00:36:29,079
Speaker 1: Taking an editor's eye to yeah, we're gonna and also

751
00:36:29,199 --> 00:36:30,920
we're not the way long. This game is out next month.

752
00:36:31,039 --> 00:36:33,800
Speaker 5: Yeah, it's next month, like on the third or sixth, seventh,

753
00:36:33,880 --> 00:36:38,920
six really soon. The other thing I will say is

754
00:36:39,239 --> 00:36:44,360
I think this one will have a longer or I

755
00:36:44,360 --> 00:36:47,639
think I can see myself being invested in it longer

756
00:36:48,000 --> 00:36:50,239
than it takes too. Because at some point with this

757
00:36:50,519 --> 00:36:52,800
with it takes too, I was like, God, these fucking

758
00:36:52,800 --> 00:36:55,559
people just shouldn't be together. Like the narrative of it

759
00:36:55,639 --> 00:36:59,400
made me kind of quit on the me playing it

760
00:36:59,440 --> 00:37:01,880
because I was like, I just these people just you're

761
00:37:01,960 --> 00:37:04,679
hurting your child, like like I was like, this kind

762
00:37:04,679 --> 00:37:07,440
of sucks. I didn't really want to participate in it anymore.

763
00:37:07,920 --> 00:37:11,920
And because this story is not that, I think I

764
00:37:11,960 --> 00:37:15,320
will be more willing to kind of be invested in it.

765
00:37:16,360 --> 00:37:19,519
And I think that's just like a time play setting situation.

766
00:37:20,199 --> 00:37:23,079
Speaker 3: So yeah, I think that's that's the right kind of

767
00:37:23,280 --> 00:37:25,440
angle on that one. They it's more of a case

768
00:37:25,480 --> 00:37:31,159
of two people discovering commonalities and building a friendship than

769
00:37:31,199 --> 00:37:35,159
it is like the degradation of a relationship in slow

770
00:37:35,679 --> 00:37:38,079
drawn out you know, whimsic away.

771
00:37:38,880 --> 00:37:41,840
Speaker 5: Yeah, it is an easier it is a more complex story,

772
00:37:41,880 --> 00:37:44,480
I guess, but it is an easier story to swallow.

773
00:37:44,760 --> 00:37:46,280
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah uh.

774
00:37:47,199 --> 00:37:48,800
Speaker 1: One of my favorite moments last year was at the

775
00:37:48,800 --> 00:37:51,159
Game Awards where Joseph Ferris was on stage and he

776
00:37:51,239 --> 00:37:54,119
pointed out that he does still have a wife because people.

777
00:37:53,880 --> 00:37:58,239
Speaker 3: Just think of him as I mean, the two characters

778
00:37:58,239 --> 00:38:01,639
are named after his daughters leave, so which is very cool.

779
00:38:02,800 --> 00:38:06,360
I also would like to know Nikki about dried mango,

780
00:38:06,480 --> 00:38:08,239
because you had an experience with dried mango.

781
00:38:08,280 --> 00:38:12,480
Speaker 5: Dog hold on, crowd, I think I might hold on

782
00:38:12,840 --> 00:38:13,480
fucking start.

783
00:38:13,519 --> 00:38:14,960
Speaker 3: I think I have it. I don't want to put

784
00:38:16,039 --> 00:38:18,320
this is just like a random stupid thing on the side.

785
00:38:18,320 --> 00:38:22,320
But like they had snacks and ship this at this event,

786
00:38:22,440 --> 00:38:27,079
and Nicky like tricked me into eating some dried mango,

787
00:38:27,119 --> 00:38:28,320
which is genuinely the one.

788
00:38:28,360 --> 00:38:29,800
Speaker 5: That's not what happened.

789
00:38:29,920 --> 00:38:32,239
Speaker 3: You looked at me like mango, and I was like,

790
00:38:32,360 --> 00:38:35,760
I love mango, and you were like, try this.

791
00:38:36,320 --> 00:38:40,239
Speaker 5: And then I said, try this. It's really bad, and

792
00:38:41,400 --> 00:38:45,360
it was already in my mouth at that point. It

793
00:38:45,400 --> 00:38:49,079
was the wackiest dried mango I've ever had. It came

794
00:38:49,119 --> 00:38:52,039
in as in a bag that looked like cheese. Its

795
00:38:52,079 --> 00:38:55,400
like the color schemes exactly cheese. It so opened it

796
00:38:55,880 --> 00:38:58,880
and then it was crunch and dry mango is fine

797
00:38:58,880 --> 00:39:00,800
if it's like there are many textures that you can

798
00:39:00,800 --> 00:39:04,760
try go at, but this was like it was crunchy

799
00:39:04,840 --> 00:39:08,440
and as soon it tasted rancid to me, would you

800
00:39:08,519 --> 00:39:11,519
just would you also describe this it this way? And

801
00:39:11,559 --> 00:39:14,760
then the worst part is that it just sat in

802
00:39:14,800 --> 00:39:18,400
your fucking molars like it took you to write today,

803
00:39:18,400 --> 00:39:20,440
and all it did was like a third of it

804
00:39:20,519 --> 00:39:22,599
went down your fucking gullet and then the rest of

805
00:39:22,639 --> 00:39:23,679
it just sat in the.

806
00:39:23,639 --> 00:39:27,639
Speaker 2: Fucking dance yourself and your teeth, like sit with it.

807
00:39:28,519 --> 00:39:30,840
Speaker 3: It's a dry and mango that you would find in

808
00:39:31,079 --> 00:39:36,480
like a Fallout vault, right yes, and like.

809
00:39:36,719 --> 00:39:38,760
Speaker 5: It wouldn't have even hit That's how bad it was.

810
00:39:39,239 --> 00:39:41,320
I still would have been pissed if it was Fallout.

811
00:39:41,719 --> 00:39:44,800
If I was like, oh ship, yeah, dried mango. I

812
00:39:44,920 --> 00:39:48,599
haven't had fruit ever, and then I've opened the package,

813
00:39:49,039 --> 00:39:50,719
I'm still pissed. That's how bad it was.

814
00:39:51,039 --> 00:39:51,199
Speaker 4: Man.

815
00:39:51,280 --> 00:39:52,760
Speaker 2: That's what we need, though, we need to be able

816
00:39:52,800 --> 00:39:57,360
to taste the next Fallout game, and this one that's

817
00:39:57,440 --> 00:39:59,679
everything that you encounter. Not only can you pick it

818
00:39:59,760 --> 00:40:01,480
up and like put it in your inventory. You can

819
00:40:01,559 --> 00:40:05,760
lick it first. It's got Todd taste technology.

820
00:40:05,880 --> 00:40:09,639
Speaker 3: Alright, Todd is the most cursed thing I've ever had.

821
00:40:10,159 --> 00:40:12,480
Speaker 4: They gave out Cola's at E three two thousand and six,

822
00:40:12,480 --> 00:40:13,199
and they're pretty good.

823
00:40:13,440 --> 00:40:13,639
Speaker 2: Yeah.

824
00:40:14,199 --> 00:40:16,280
Speaker 5: I bought a new Co Cola when they were selling

825
00:40:16,320 --> 00:40:18,639
them for Fallout four and I was like, this is soda.

826
00:40:19,679 --> 00:40:20,199
Speaker 3: Yeah, huh.

827
00:40:21,000 --> 00:40:25,239
Speaker 1: To Nikki before we move on to Avowed, my understanding

828
00:40:25,360 --> 00:40:27,760
is that you and jam did some sort of gaming

829
00:40:27,880 --> 00:40:30,360
performance that directed attracted an audience.

830
00:40:30,840 --> 00:40:32,639
Speaker 2: Dude, a lot of attention. What happened?

831
00:40:32,639 --> 00:40:35,559
Speaker 5: So we didn't realize. I think Jane and I were

832
00:40:35,679 --> 00:40:38,440
and Jane has the all of the audio, so I

833
00:40:38,519 --> 00:40:40,679
think maybe I think it would be fun once the

834
00:40:40,760 --> 00:40:43,320
video game comes out if we just put out the

835
00:40:43,840 --> 00:40:45,960
put the video out. Because Jane and I were just

836
00:40:45,960 --> 00:40:49,039
streaming but for ourselves. But at some point someone like,

837
00:40:49,280 --> 00:40:51,320
Jan did you tim you.

838
00:40:51,360 --> 00:40:54,880
Speaker 3: Took this picture? Yeah? Because we could see Yeah, yeah,

839
00:40:54,920 --> 00:40:55,719
and we we.

840
00:40:55,880 --> 00:40:57,519
Speaker 5: I had we had. Jane and I were just playing

841
00:40:57,559 --> 00:41:00,559
the game, talking to each other, and then apparently at

842
00:41:00,639 --> 00:41:02,920
some point there were like six or seven people from

843
00:41:03,000 --> 00:41:07,840
the Split Fiction team, every member watching. We're just seeing

844
00:41:07,960 --> 00:41:11,400
behind usn't watching us play and we had literally no idea.

845
00:41:11,440 --> 00:41:15,159
We were just like to play video game. So I

846
00:41:15,239 --> 00:41:17,199
think they were having a good time watching us, which

847
00:41:17,239 --> 00:41:20,039
is like, honestly, that's probably That's probably like thirty or

848
00:41:20,079 --> 00:41:22,679
forty percent why they do these events. It's like, is

849
00:41:22,760 --> 00:41:28,320
the game fun? Do people like it? So it was?

850
00:41:28,519 --> 00:41:30,480
It was, It was fun, it was a cool event.

851
00:41:30,559 --> 00:41:33,840
It is a weird little studio in Hollywood. They it

852
00:41:34,000 --> 00:41:36,199
was nice in there. We had I had a slider

853
00:41:36,400 --> 00:41:37,280
that was good.

854
00:41:38,639 --> 00:41:41,320
Speaker 2: But was the tomato appropriately sized for it? No?

855
00:41:41,599 --> 00:41:42,000
Speaker 3: It was not.

856
00:41:43,119 --> 00:41:44,119
Speaker 5: The beam slider was bad.

857
00:41:44,159 --> 00:41:48,719
Speaker 2: The chicken slider, sliders and video game events name a

858
00:41:48,800 --> 00:41:55,760
more iconic. Do they love those guys? All right, this

859
00:41:55,920 --> 00:42:00,679
game's out March sixth. We said on Everything Switch.

860
00:42:01,559 --> 00:42:03,920
Speaker 4: PS five, I was just looking at that. It's definitely

861
00:42:03,920 --> 00:42:05,400
PS five Steam an Xbox.

862
00:42:05,800 --> 00:42:08,079
Speaker 5: Okay, I would assume that it is not coming to

863
00:42:08,159 --> 00:42:11,280
the original Xbox or to the original Switch because it's

864
00:42:11,360 --> 00:42:14,320
unreal five. But okay, yeah, I would bet that it

865
00:42:14,440 --> 00:42:17,159
is coming to switch to as soon as they are

866
00:42:17,199 --> 00:42:19,039
allowed to say that video games are coming to the

867
00:42:19,079 --> 00:42:19,440
switch to.

868
00:42:19,960 --> 00:42:20,880
Speaker 2: Right, that's not coming.

869
00:42:21,000 --> 00:42:23,320
Speaker 5: That would be not not confirmed, but it would be

870
00:42:23,440 --> 00:42:25,760
nuts if if it did, and it.

871
00:42:26,239 --> 00:42:29,039
Speaker 3: Takes too was on Switch has that friend posting where

872
00:42:29,199 --> 00:42:30,760
one of you the other one gets it.

873
00:42:31,880 --> 00:42:33,199
Speaker 2: That's actually really handy.

874
00:42:33,559 --> 00:42:36,039
Speaker 1: Yeah, that like not many games do that, but this

875
00:42:36,119 --> 00:42:38,559
one day it's like you the other person just fully

876
00:42:38,639 --> 00:42:40,920
gets the game. It's not like, oh, the download play

877
00:42:41,000 --> 00:42:43,079
you head on the three DS or whatever. It's like, no,

878
00:42:43,199 --> 00:42:45,119
this is a full pass to actually owning the game.

879
00:42:45,159 --> 00:42:48,039
Speaker 2: And it's also really smart because think about the number

880
00:42:48,039 --> 00:42:49,719
of games that have sold them like word of mouth

881
00:42:49,800 --> 00:42:51,840
and co op over the past handful of years, like

882
00:42:52,320 --> 00:42:54,559
Lethal Company blew up because of that ship, and so

883
00:42:54,679 --> 00:42:56,119
if you can bake that into the way that your

884
00:42:56,199 --> 00:42:59,639
game is sold and marketed, then like you're vastly increasing

885
00:42:59,639 --> 00:43:00,800
its chance is selling. Well.

886
00:43:00,880 --> 00:43:02,360
Speaker 5: Yeah, it also.

887
00:43:02,280 --> 00:43:05,159
Speaker 3: Creates a yeah, I was gonna say, I talked to

888
00:43:05,239 --> 00:43:07,400
Joseph Harris and I and that is something that we

889
00:43:07,480 --> 00:43:09,480
talked about where it's kind of interesting way Hayes like

890
00:43:09,599 --> 00:43:13,159
has developed their own kind of like many ecosystem where

891
00:43:13,199 --> 00:43:15,559
they're the only ones that are really making these types

892
00:43:15,599 --> 00:43:19,719
of split screen co op games and then so and

893
00:43:19,760 --> 00:43:22,119
they're making good ones and then they have the friend

894
00:43:22,199 --> 00:43:24,079
past thing where it's like, so if you play one

895
00:43:24,119 --> 00:43:25,480
of these and you're like, oh, that was good. I

896
00:43:25,639 --> 00:43:27,400
like more of that. Pretty much. The only thing that

897
00:43:27,440 --> 00:43:29,480
you're going to get is one of their games, and

898
00:43:29,559 --> 00:43:32,079
you can rob someone else into playing that again with

899
00:43:32,239 --> 00:43:34,559
you by buying one copy, and then you play that

900
00:43:34,639 --> 00:43:36,440
one and you're like, I won't mind another one, and

901
00:43:36,519 --> 00:43:39,000
it's another one of their games. So it's like really

902
00:43:39,280 --> 00:43:39,840
really smart.

903
00:43:40,480 --> 00:43:43,280
Speaker 5: Yeah, that that knock on effect I think is really

904
00:43:43,360 --> 00:43:46,639
big because it even if it isn't in that like

905
00:43:46,920 --> 00:43:49,239
that loop, a person who has played off of the

906
00:43:49,320 --> 00:43:51,079
free copy can then be like, I'm gonna buy it

907
00:43:51,079 --> 00:43:52,519
and I'll play it with a different person as a

908
00:43:52,559 --> 00:43:55,199
different as the other role that I didn't play. So

909
00:43:55,280 --> 00:43:57,360
it's a it's a really good loop. Fulton chatter asking

910
00:43:57,400 --> 00:44:00,159
if it has single player support, No, find a friend.

911
00:44:01,440 --> 00:44:03,000
Speaker 3: I saw it than you. I didn't play a text

912
00:44:03,039 --> 00:44:04,119
too because I don't what to play with.

913
00:44:06,960 --> 00:44:07,360
Speaker 2: All right?

914
00:44:07,880 --> 00:44:12,039
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, any any final thoughts on split fiction spliction

915
00:44:12,199 --> 00:44:13,760
as we call it infliction?

916
00:44:15,039 --> 00:44:19,159
Speaker 2: All right, avowed Dan Riiker. I think you've probably played

917
00:44:19,159 --> 00:44:20,119
the most out of all of.

918
00:44:20,199 --> 00:44:21,679
Speaker 3: Us last night.

919
00:44:22,000 --> 00:44:23,599
Speaker 4: I'm at like thirty six hours.

920
00:44:24,239 --> 00:44:27,159
Speaker 1: Okay, why don't you kind of break down what this

921
00:44:27,280 --> 00:44:29,000
game is for people that are that still don't know

922
00:44:29,039 --> 00:44:30,719
and then kind of give your thoughts.

923
00:44:30,800 --> 00:44:32,880
Speaker 4: Well, jeez, it's I saw the reveal of it, what

924
00:44:33,079 --> 00:44:35,599
was it at Summer Games Fest last year, and it's like, okay,

925
00:44:35,639 --> 00:44:37,559
sure that looks fine. Didn't really like you know, Clock

926
00:44:37,599 --> 00:44:38,920
with me at all and not a big, you know,

927
00:44:39,079 --> 00:44:42,079
RPG guy, but so yeah, I just downloaded and I

928
00:44:42,119 --> 00:44:43,280
was like, I'll give it a shot, see what this

929
00:44:43,360 --> 00:44:45,960
is about. And first night I downloaded, I think I

930
00:44:46,000 --> 00:44:48,840
probably played six seven hours. I just immediately got into

931
00:44:48,880 --> 00:44:53,119
it because, like, as much as I've enjoyed Oblivion, Skyrim, Fallout,

932
00:44:53,199 --> 00:44:54,840
the Bethesda framework.

933
00:44:54,679 --> 00:44:55,679
Speaker 2: You don't dislike those games.

934
00:44:55,760 --> 00:44:57,599
Speaker 4: You actually really like them, you know, I really I

935
00:44:57,880 --> 00:44:59,639
but I feel, you know, I'm ready for the next

936
00:44:59,719 --> 00:45:02,400
level of that, which kind of is what this feels like,

937
00:45:02,440 --> 00:45:06,960
because the old bethesta ones always felt so wooden, even

938
00:45:07,039 --> 00:45:09,400
like going to Starfield and everything, like, you know, it

939
00:45:09,559 --> 00:45:11,639
just kind of felt woulden, not just the dialogue and

940
00:45:11,719 --> 00:45:14,920
things like that. But you know, I'm a dewey video

941
00:45:15,039 --> 00:45:17,679
game guy. I like the moment to moment. I like platformers,

942
00:45:17,719 --> 00:45:19,840
I like action games, and it's like I think GB

943
00:45:19,840 --> 00:45:21,559
you and I were talking about that first time that

944
00:45:22,320 --> 00:45:27,199
you're basically your guy coming from this government force to

945
00:45:27,320 --> 00:45:29,760
come into this island called the Living Lands, which is

946
00:45:29,840 --> 00:45:31,360
just kind of this like No Man's land. A bunch

947
00:45:31,360 --> 00:45:32,960
of people have just set up cities and things like that,

948
00:45:33,079 --> 00:45:34,679
but it's just kind of doing its own thing over there.

949
00:45:35,159 --> 00:45:37,840
And you crash on this island nearby and you start

950
00:45:37,880 --> 00:45:40,800
fighting these lizards, and right away I was like, ooh

951
00:45:40,880 --> 00:45:42,599
that felt good. Oh that felt like it really connected.

952
00:45:42,639 --> 00:45:44,400
There's some good collision going on here. This is a

953
00:45:44,760 --> 00:45:48,119
you know, first person melee combat is famously difficult to

954
00:45:48,280 --> 00:45:50,760
make feel good, and that felt really great. And then

955
00:45:50,800 --> 00:45:52,880
oh shit, I got a wand and I got this

956
00:45:53,079 --> 00:45:55,239
grimoire and now all of a sudden, oh shit, I'm like,

957
00:45:55,519 --> 00:45:57,679
you know, dual fisting this. I got this cool wand

958
00:45:57,760 --> 00:46:00,599
with like infinite magic amos. It's like a stamina. And

959
00:46:00,679 --> 00:46:02,519
in this Grim War where I can just hold LT

960
00:46:02,880 --> 00:46:05,840
and pick one of four fun like fire and frost

961
00:46:05,960 --> 00:46:09,119
and lightning effects and everything. So I was very quickly like,

962
00:46:09,440 --> 00:46:12,119
oh shit, this feels really good, whereas like if it

963
00:46:12,199 --> 00:46:14,800
felt like a traditional like Bethes the game, I might

964
00:46:14,840 --> 00:46:17,480
have fallen off pretty quickly. And then I started playing

965
00:46:17,480 --> 00:46:19,360
more and more, and the story started getting me more.

966
00:46:19,480 --> 00:46:21,880
And you know, I'm not a story character narrative guy,

967
00:46:21,920 --> 00:46:24,599
but I'm like, man, the whole idea of like, it's

968
00:46:24,639 --> 00:46:26,920
not just the same fantasy tropes. It's not just you know,

969
00:46:27,000 --> 00:46:30,199
dragons and castles. It's this whole dream scourge. It's it's

970
00:46:30,280 --> 00:46:31,639
this thing like if you've seen the key arts, if

971
00:46:31,639 --> 00:46:34,760
you've seen the box art and the title screen, it's

972
00:46:34,840 --> 00:46:36,920
really cool. It's just like a skeleton with like trees

973
00:46:37,000 --> 00:46:39,119
and flowers and shit grown all inside them. And that

974
00:46:39,360 --> 00:46:41,639
is very much what's going on with this dream Scourge,

975
00:46:41,679 --> 00:46:43,679
which is the main kind of story beat here, is like,

976
00:46:43,880 --> 00:46:46,000
oh shit, this thing's kind of taking over this island,

977
00:46:46,519 --> 00:46:48,400
and they've sent you in to kind of like you know,

978
00:46:48,480 --> 00:46:51,239
look into it and send a message to the ambassador

979
00:46:51,360 --> 00:46:53,639
and blah blah blah. But you know, the thing is,

980
00:46:53,760 --> 00:46:56,000
there's a lot of choices that feel like they matter,

981
00:46:56,239 --> 00:46:58,000
and you come in as kind of this like naive,

982
00:46:58,079 --> 00:47:00,360
like I'm just working with the Adyrions, and you start

983
00:47:00,400 --> 00:47:02,440
learning more about the Adirrians, and you learn more about

984
00:47:02,519 --> 00:47:04,760
kind of the rebel faction here, and then there's like

985
00:47:04,800 --> 00:47:07,440
these kind of religious zealots over here, and then it's

986
00:47:07,519 --> 00:47:10,920
just like you get to make really interesting decisions about

987
00:47:10,960 --> 00:47:12,840
like kind of which side you want to take. And

988
00:47:14,280 --> 00:47:15,800
I'm you know, thirty six hours in, I'm in like

989
00:47:15,840 --> 00:47:19,880
the third big area. Basically, it's not big, you know,

990
00:47:20,119 --> 00:47:22,000
square open world the way that a lot of these

991
00:47:22,079 --> 00:47:24,440
games are. It's more kind of zones where it's like,

992
00:47:24,440 --> 00:47:26,960
here's like a big ish area here, do all your

993
00:47:27,000 --> 00:47:28,679
stuff mopped up, and then a story thing will take

994
00:47:28,719 --> 00:47:30,320
you to the second one, then on to the second one.

995
00:47:30,360 --> 00:47:33,039
You can go back, but like you know, enemies stay dead.

996
00:47:33,360 --> 00:47:36,679
There are some like story based events that change, you know,

997
00:47:36,760 --> 00:47:40,840
the previous places you've been to. But yeah, I've always

998
00:47:40,840 --> 00:47:42,679
been wary of like side quests in games like this

999
00:47:42,760 --> 00:47:45,480
because you know, even like you know, Fallout and Skyrim

1000
00:47:45,519 --> 00:47:46,800
and stuff like that, there's just a lot of like,

1001
00:47:47,000 --> 00:47:48,800
oh there's bandits down by the river, go kill a

1002
00:47:48,800 --> 00:47:50,159
bunch of them minutes just like Okay, I did that

1003
00:47:50,320 --> 00:47:53,679
and got whatever. Like here is closer to a Witcher

1004
00:47:53,760 --> 00:47:55,679
type thing where it's like I want to do every

1005
00:47:55,800 --> 00:47:58,199
side thing because I don't know which one of these

1006
00:47:58,280 --> 00:48:00,800
is going to turn into a hour and a half long,

1007
00:48:01,360 --> 00:48:04,039
you know, trek through all these caves and this mystery

1008
00:48:04,119 --> 00:48:07,880
and choices and stuff, and it's everything's paid like there

1009
00:48:07,920 --> 00:48:09,480
haven't been side things where'm like, oh, I gotta do

1010
00:48:09,480 --> 00:48:11,159
another one of these things. You know, it's got bounties

1011
00:48:11,159 --> 00:48:12,400
and stuff like that that you see a lot, but

1012
00:48:12,440 --> 00:48:13,599
those are still fun too here.

1013
00:48:13,760 --> 00:48:14,400
Speaker 2: So fun.

1014
00:48:15,239 --> 00:48:15,840
Speaker 3: Yeah, it is.

1015
00:48:16,039 --> 00:48:18,239
Speaker 4: I think it's tremendous. I love the way it does

1016
00:48:18,400 --> 00:48:20,519
kind of that cotor style because I've always hate turn

1017
00:48:20,559 --> 00:48:23,199
based combat and this one. You can do the moment

1018
00:48:23,239 --> 00:48:25,719
to moment just you know, shooting and stabbing and stuff.

1019
00:48:26,000 --> 00:48:28,079
But then at any point you can hit LB on

1020
00:48:28,199 --> 00:48:31,159
plane on controller and you've got companions and you can

1021
00:48:31,199 --> 00:48:33,280
say like, okay, you I want you to do your

1022
00:48:33,320 --> 00:48:36,480
explosive thing to this group over here. You you do

1023
00:48:36,599 --> 00:48:38,440
a heel and then when I un pause, I'm going

1024
00:48:38,519 --> 00:48:40,599
to do this bull charge into this group here, and

1025
00:48:40,599 --> 00:48:43,440
it's like okay, unpaused, and you see all this stuff happened,

1026
00:48:43,480 --> 00:48:46,599
bodies flying everywhere, good rag dolling and all that. Just

1027
00:48:46,679 --> 00:48:49,239
immensely satisfying no matter how you play the combat. And

1028
00:48:50,079 --> 00:48:54,199
I've seen the complaints about the difficulty and the crafting

1029
00:48:54,440 --> 00:48:57,360
and the grind and honestly, like, I feel like most

1030
00:48:57,400 --> 00:49:00,159
of the negative sentiment I've seen has been because of that.

1031
00:49:00,880 --> 00:49:03,119
And I don't know if this is the game's fault

1032
00:49:03,880 --> 00:49:05,960
at not surfacing this more, because like I have not

1033
00:49:06,000 --> 00:49:07,559
found that to be a problem at all. I feel like,

1034
00:49:07,599 --> 00:49:09,880
on the normal difficulty, I've died exactly how much I

1035
00:49:09,880 --> 00:49:11,400
would want to die in a game like this where

1036
00:49:11,400 --> 00:49:13,360
it's like I stumble into the wrong camp or whatever,

1037
00:49:13,400 --> 00:49:15,079
I get my ass kicked, you know, I'll go level up,

1038
00:49:15,119 --> 00:49:17,519
get some gear better, and come back and win. Because

1039
00:49:17,599 --> 00:49:20,719
as far as like your health, I think making food

1040
00:49:20,960 --> 00:49:23,119
at there's camps that you can set up, and that's

1041
00:49:23,119 --> 00:49:25,159
where you kind of chat with your companions. You level

1042
00:49:25,239 --> 00:49:29,000
things up, just go to the pot the fire, and

1043
00:49:29,199 --> 00:49:31,440
make everything you can make. There's no reason to have

1044
00:49:31,480 --> 00:49:34,920
these individual components, these apples, these whatever, make all these

1045
00:49:34,960 --> 00:49:37,679
stews and beers and potions and things like that. And

1046
00:49:37,760 --> 00:49:40,920
then if you're having trouble with this combat encounter, go

1047
00:49:41,039 --> 00:49:42,519
in there and just drink a ton of shit and

1048
00:49:42,599 --> 00:49:44,880
it's like, all right, I'm dealing twenty percent more damage,

1049
00:49:44,880 --> 00:49:47,480
I'm taking twenty percent less damage. I'm you know, health

1050
00:49:47,559 --> 00:49:50,320
regenerating stuff. I've got tons of that, and then you've

1051
00:49:50,320 --> 00:49:52,639
got the essence potion stuff like that. For your magic,

1052
00:49:52,960 --> 00:49:55,760
you get like your own personal godlike powers where it's

1053
00:49:55,840 --> 00:49:58,000
just like basically a mana thing that you can do

1054
00:49:58,079 --> 00:50:00,880
to heal yourself and your companions, and your companions can

1055
00:50:00,920 --> 00:50:03,000
get powers too to heal you. So like I felt,

1056
00:50:03,039 --> 00:50:05,199
at any given time, it's like, oh shit, I'm out

1057
00:50:05,239 --> 00:50:07,039
of potions. Okay, well I'm going to have them heal me,

1058
00:50:07,119 --> 00:50:10,920
or I'm gonna use my god power and take your time, pause,

1059
00:50:11,840 --> 00:50:14,920
look around, heal when necessary. I did not find it

1060
00:50:15,000 --> 00:50:19,960
that difficult. And the crafting stuff, I think, Okay, this

1061
00:50:20,079 --> 00:50:22,000
is something I was thinking about a lot. I was

1062
00:50:22,039 --> 00:50:24,599
thinking back to when I played Red Dead two and Destranding,

1063
00:50:24,719 --> 00:50:27,119
and I hated it the first time around it, And

1064
00:50:27,239 --> 00:50:29,679
both those times were because I was rushing through it

1065
00:50:30,039 --> 00:50:31,760
and I was like, goddamn of this game keeps going.

1066
00:50:32,119 --> 00:50:34,320
I gotta get this beat before embargo because we're gonna

1067
00:50:34,320 --> 00:50:36,039
talk about on the podcast or I might be reviewing

1068
00:50:36,119 --> 00:50:38,760
this or something, and so I'm rushing from thing to think.

1069
00:50:39,039 --> 00:50:40,719
And I hated both those games, and then I came

1070
00:50:40,760 --> 00:50:43,039
back to both of them years later, taking my time

1071
00:50:43,199 --> 00:50:45,519
with no time restrictions, and I was like, oh, okay,

1072
00:50:45,840 --> 00:50:49,599
I think the rush pre release really impacted my enjoyment

1073
00:50:49,639 --> 00:50:52,159
of this. And I could see myself like if I

1074
00:50:52,199 --> 00:50:53,920
had to review this because it came in kind of hot.

1075
00:50:54,000 --> 00:50:56,679
The Coach came in barely, like within a week or so,

1076
00:50:57,079 --> 00:50:58,760
and I saw some reviews saying they beat it in

1077
00:50:58,880 --> 00:51:01,039
like thirty hours. It's like, Fuck, I'm thirty six and

1078
00:51:01,079 --> 00:51:03,000
I feel like I'm not even quite close to the end.

1079
00:51:03,320 --> 00:51:05,880
So it makes me wonder, you know, we're reviewers or

1080
00:51:05,960 --> 00:51:08,360
we're people trying to rush through this a bit and

1081
00:51:08,559 --> 00:51:11,039
not doing the side quest stuff. That if you're doing

1082
00:51:11,079 --> 00:51:13,239
side quest stuff and you're exploring, you're getting all that

1083
00:51:13,360 --> 00:51:15,920
fucking petrified wood and the leather and all the stuff

1084
00:51:15,960 --> 00:51:17,880
you need. And there's systems in place to where you

1085
00:51:17,920 --> 00:51:20,079
can take the smaller stuff and make the bigger crafting materials,

1086
00:51:20,159 --> 00:51:21,480
or you can break down the bigger ones to get

1087
00:51:21,480 --> 00:51:23,719
the lower ones you need. Like all the systems are

1088
00:51:23,840 --> 00:51:25,920
there in this game to make it a smooth experience.

1089
00:51:26,400 --> 00:51:28,639
But I don't know if A it was surfaced enough maybe,

1090
00:51:28,840 --> 00:51:31,039
or b if some people pre release were rushing through it.

1091
00:51:31,119 --> 00:51:33,079
Because I've I've had no problems with that.

1092
00:51:33,599 --> 00:51:36,159
Speaker 5: I also think that like a lot of people are,

1093
00:51:36,840 --> 00:51:38,880
and I'm that's why I'm so deeply curious to see

1094
00:51:38,920 --> 00:51:42,480
what the conversation with this game is post and actually

1095
00:51:42,519 --> 00:51:45,280
being out because you can if you have game Pass,

1096
00:51:45,280 --> 00:51:47,880
you can get it now and it's day one. It's

1097
00:51:47,880 --> 00:51:52,519
still yeah, yeah, it will come out for a sheet

1098
00:51:52,559 --> 00:51:54,760
on the eighteenth. But I think a lot of people

1099
00:51:54,920 --> 00:51:57,039
are used to games that do not have any kind

1100
00:51:57,079 --> 00:52:01,920
of friction in them at all, which is like, that's fine.

1101
00:52:02,199 --> 00:52:04,880
I think I personally, all of this stuff is so

1102
00:52:05,159 --> 00:52:08,159
deeply exciting to me because I am really tired of

1103
00:52:08,280 --> 00:52:12,159
playing games that are like we like not where Avowed

1104
00:52:12,239 --> 00:52:15,440
wants you to play it, obviously, but it also is

1105
00:52:15,760 --> 00:52:18,239
is like, you're supposed to engage with this thing. We

1106
00:52:18,400 --> 00:52:20,519
don't want your brain to turn off while you are

1107
00:52:20,639 --> 00:52:23,480
engaging with this thing. We want you to kind of

1108
00:52:23,599 --> 00:52:27,320
play it. I've been playing a lot of Citizens Leaper two,

1109
00:52:28,280 --> 00:52:32,480
which is like, is different, obviously, but it is also

1110
00:52:32,519 --> 00:52:34,880
a thing where I'm like, I'm really having to sit

1111
00:52:35,039 --> 00:52:38,239
down and kind of figure out I have to. My

1112
00:52:38,360 --> 00:52:41,199
brain is actively working all of the time when I'm

1113
00:52:41,239 --> 00:52:47,360
playing that game, reading that game, and this seems like, yeah,

1114
00:52:47,519 --> 00:52:51,360
there are ways that you can fuck yourself over, like deeply.

1115
00:52:51,559 --> 00:52:54,199
If you spend all of your currency or your resources

1116
00:52:54,280 --> 00:52:57,360
on shit that you actually don't need or want. Yeah, absolutely,

1117
00:52:57,360 --> 00:52:58,559
you're gonna be fucked moving.

1118
00:52:58,400 --> 00:52:59,840
Speaker 2: Forward to fix that.

1119
00:53:00,000 --> 00:53:02,719
Speaker 1: Oh yeah yeah, and anytime based some gold and kind

1120
00:53:02,760 --> 00:53:06,159
of reallocate all your all your uh, your ability points

1121
00:53:06,199 --> 00:53:08,000
and things like that, what are you gonna say, damn, Nikki.

1122
00:53:08,079 --> 00:53:10,199
Speaker 4: That reminds me. That's another tip. If people are struggling

1123
00:53:10,239 --> 00:53:13,119
with that, do not sell your stuff as you were getting.

1124
00:53:13,480 --> 00:53:14,920
You know, you'll get a bunch of O fine ax

1125
00:53:15,039 --> 00:53:17,519
or fine bow or you know, all these things. There's

1126
00:53:17,519 --> 00:53:18,800
a temptation to sell that stuff.

1127
00:53:18,960 --> 00:53:19,440
Speaker 2: Don't do that.

1128
00:53:19,880 --> 00:53:22,679
Speaker 4: Money comes fairly easily in this game through side quest,

1129
00:53:22,760 --> 00:53:24,679
and you can sell like there's loot. There's like emeralds

1130
00:53:24,719 --> 00:53:27,199
and topazes and things that are it tells you specifically

1131
00:53:27,280 --> 00:53:28,960
like this is for money, sell this at a vendor,

1132
00:53:29,480 --> 00:53:31,559
all the other stuff. Every time you get a weapon

1133
00:53:31,559 --> 00:53:33,599
you're not going to use, break it down. You just

1134
00:53:33,719 --> 00:53:35,760
look at it and the menu hold an X breaks

1135
00:53:35,760 --> 00:53:37,599
it down, gets your crafting materials. I think that's a

1136
00:53:37,599 --> 00:53:39,360
big part of the reason I have not been want

1137
00:53:39,679 --> 00:53:41,679
for crafting materials at all. So that's a big tip

1138
00:53:41,719 --> 00:53:42,760
if you' struggling.

1139
00:53:42,519 --> 00:53:43,199
Speaker 5: People can't read.

1140
00:53:46,039 --> 00:53:50,880
Speaker 4: I mean literally because because Tam, I can't do the

1141
00:53:51,000 --> 00:53:54,800
get good thing. Tam is mister frumpsoft. So this isn't

1142
00:53:54,800 --> 00:53:57,280
a skill issue. So I'm curious TAM's experience.

1143
00:53:57,519 --> 00:53:59,599
Speaker 1: Yeah, Tam, but will give you the floor here in

1144
00:53:59,599 --> 00:54:01,760
a sex Yeah, We're very curious to hear your perspective

1145
00:54:01,760 --> 00:54:03,719
because it's a different perspective. I'll just say, like to

1146
00:54:03,760 --> 00:54:05,679
add on to what Dan said and kind of what

1147
00:54:05,800 --> 00:54:09,079
Nicky was saying, like dance describing like okay, yeah, taking

1148
00:54:09,119 --> 00:54:11,760
all these potions and and setting up so you know

1149
00:54:11,840 --> 00:54:15,400
how to use all your your companion's abilities and things

1150
00:54:15,440 --> 00:54:17,039
like that. It's like, okay, yeah, that stuff was working

1151
00:54:17,079 --> 00:54:19,000
for me. But I also found my own way of

1152
00:54:19,079 --> 00:54:21,280
dealing with problems of like I found I stumbled upon

1153
00:54:21,480 --> 00:54:23,920
a grimoire that had some cool stuff in it pretty early,

1154
00:54:24,360 --> 00:54:26,519
and so I was able to like get some magic

1155
00:54:26,679 --> 00:54:29,119
armor and a magic staff that can take on much

1156
00:54:29,800 --> 00:54:32,480
higher level enemies. So I just like mixed that into

1157
00:54:32,760 --> 00:54:36,079
the spells as I'm in combat, and that stuff wears

1158
00:54:36,119 --> 00:54:38,000
off after a minute or two, so it's like, Okay,

1159
00:54:38,000 --> 00:54:39,440
I got to back up, and that's when I send

1160
00:54:39,480 --> 00:54:42,000
my companions in to kind of keep stuff away from

1161
00:54:42,039 --> 00:54:44,320
me for a minute while I am recharging on cool down.

1162
00:54:44,679 --> 00:54:47,199
And so it's like, I it's just a role play.

1163
00:54:47,239 --> 00:54:50,000
It's the roleplay of combat of I've got these options

1164
00:54:50,039 --> 00:54:51,880
in front of me, I've explored them. This is what's

1165
00:54:51,920 --> 00:54:54,000
working for me. It's going to be different from what's

1166
00:54:54,039 --> 00:54:56,519
working for Dan. And that's some of the magic here

1167
00:54:56,639 --> 00:54:58,679
is that you can really express yourself through the combat,

1168
00:54:58,800 --> 00:55:00,400
and you want to because it's some much fun.

1169
00:55:00,639 --> 00:55:02,840
Speaker 2: It's also noteworthy and this is a really small thing,

1170
00:55:03,480 --> 00:55:05,599
but unlike a lot of fantasy role playing games, where

1171
00:55:05,599 --> 00:55:07,400
you know, you go and do the menu, you equip

1172
00:55:07,440 --> 00:55:09,320
and on equip your stuff, you have two load outs

1173
00:55:09,360 --> 00:55:11,159
in this game, and so at any moment you can

1174
00:55:11,199 --> 00:55:13,840
just tap why and switch to your other set of weapons,

1175
00:55:13,880 --> 00:55:15,840
and so you can like alternate and juggle between those

1176
00:55:16,360 --> 00:55:18,719
mid fight and like use all these different abilities that

1177
00:55:18,760 --> 00:55:19,599
those each grant.

1178
00:55:20,360 --> 00:55:22,880
Speaker 1: It adds a lot of variability too, and everything's fun

1179
00:55:22,920 --> 00:55:25,239
to use. The bow and arrow is fun, The daggers

1180
00:55:25,280 --> 00:55:28,320
are fun. The guns are fun to use. Though of course,

1181
00:55:28,400 --> 00:55:31,880
the magical wand it's a great time. Yes, magic is fantastic.

1182
00:55:32,079 --> 00:55:34,079
I just started to it was so impactful. I just

1183
00:55:34,119 --> 00:55:35,679
started it last night and I tried to do this

1184
00:55:35,800 --> 00:55:37,119
and I think it worked, but I don't know. So

1185
00:55:37,159 --> 00:55:38,159
I'm going to ask you guys.

1186
00:55:38,880 --> 00:55:44,400
Speaker 2: You can like you can electrify water, right and yeah, yeah.

1187
00:55:44,320 --> 00:55:50,639
Speaker 3: Yeah right now pistol electrifiers. So I just I'm constantly

1188
00:55:50,679 --> 00:55:51,880
shooting up puddles of war.

1189
00:55:52,639 --> 00:55:55,360
Speaker 4: Yeah, electrifiers.

1190
00:55:56,800 --> 00:55:57,880
Speaker 2: Day yeah. Yeah.

1191
00:55:59,719 --> 00:56:02,119
Speaker 4: You talk about Nathan uition the like switching between sets,

1192
00:56:02,199 --> 00:56:04,280
and it's not a thing where it's like, oh, it

1193
00:56:04,440 --> 00:56:07,159
also includes your armor. It's simple and that it's like,

1194
00:56:07,519 --> 00:56:10,119
all right, I got my wand in gramoire for range stuff,

1195
00:56:10,159 --> 00:56:12,079
and then if some skeletons getting up in my ass,

1196
00:56:12,119 --> 00:56:14,280
it's like I'll hit. Why all it switches is I

1197
00:56:14,320 --> 00:56:16,079
got a big fucking axe and you know, it's not

1198
00:56:16,400 --> 00:56:17,599
all my armor and everything.

1199
00:56:18,000 --> 00:56:20,320
Speaker 2: I'm kind of amazed that other fantasy games have not

1200
00:56:20,519 --> 00:56:22,719
really done that because it's such a simple thing from

1201
00:56:22,760 --> 00:56:25,320
like fresh pressent shooters, and so why not to say like, okay, yeah,

1202
00:56:25,360 --> 00:56:28,400
switch to your other weapons. It's like ingrained in us

1203
00:56:28,440 --> 00:56:29,960
as people who play video games.

1204
00:56:31,119 --> 00:56:33,679
Speaker 4: And it's fairly simple to, Like, you know, there are

1205
00:56:33,719 --> 00:56:36,239
times where it's just like, Okay, each world or each

1206
00:56:36,280 --> 00:56:38,519
area has like these six gold totem things you can

1207
00:56:38,559 --> 00:56:40,400
find that are very worth finding, and so a lot

1208
00:56:40,400 --> 00:56:42,280
of times I'm just running around trying to uncover the map,

1209
00:56:42,320 --> 00:56:43,920
and so it's like very easy to just like I'm

1210
00:56:43,920 --> 00:56:45,480
gonna put on a bunch of boots and stuff that

1211
00:56:45,599 --> 00:56:47,880
give me a speed bonus, and then I've got this

1212
00:56:48,000 --> 00:56:50,599
companion that has an ability that gives me a speed bonus,

1213
00:56:50,639 --> 00:56:53,079
and I've leveled that up for longer duration everything, and

1214
00:56:53,159 --> 00:56:55,199
I'll switch to the third person. I literally it looks

1215
00:56:55,199 --> 00:57:00,519
like a cartoon. Good are like purple light cut me out,

1216
00:57:02,159 --> 00:57:04,320
Hell yeah, And there's boots and stuff. It's like plus

1217
00:57:04,400 --> 00:57:06,519
thirty percent per horse speed. So I'm just dashing it

1218
00:57:06,639 --> 00:57:07,960
just like clambering up everything.

1219
00:57:08,519 --> 00:57:12,159
Speaker 1: Horse speed, which rules. And that stuff's also very good

1220
00:57:12,199 --> 00:57:14,559
in this game. I love, uh, you know, as great

1221
00:57:14,559 --> 00:57:17,000
as the combat is, the expiration really works where like

1222
00:57:17,079 --> 00:57:19,079
if I see something or on the mini map, I'll

1223
00:57:19,079 --> 00:57:20,840
see a little red dot of like, oh, there's an enemy,

1224
00:57:20,880 --> 00:57:23,079
but there's a door that's barred there. How can I

1225
00:57:23,079 --> 00:57:24,880
get in there? I bet I can, and I always

1226
00:57:24,960 --> 00:57:27,280
find a way by like just looking around. If there's

1227
00:57:27,320 --> 00:57:29,320
a ramp there, I'll jump up there, go around the

1228
00:57:29,400 --> 00:57:31,199
long way, and it's I love that.

1229
00:57:31,639 --> 00:57:33,239
Speaker 2: That is really good in this game. That is the

1230
00:57:33,320 --> 00:57:34,920
thing that has stricken me about the game in the

1231
00:57:34,960 --> 00:57:37,239
few hours that I played so far, is the world

1232
00:57:37,320 --> 00:57:41,440
feels so intentionally crafted, like compared to even other like

1233
00:57:41,719 --> 00:57:44,800
kind of open worldish games, Like you can feel a

1234
00:57:44,920 --> 00:57:47,920
human touch in like every corner of this thing, and

1235
00:57:48,000 --> 00:57:50,079
like there's so many little secrets and there's so many

1236
00:57:50,119 --> 00:57:51,880
little areas where like you're clearly meant to go in

1237
00:57:52,440 --> 00:57:54,400
and look at one thing and then realize, oh, there's

1238
00:57:54,400 --> 00:57:56,400
this other thing over here. Actually if I climb up

1239
00:57:56,400 --> 00:57:58,559
over here and climb here and do that. And like

1240
00:57:58,880 --> 00:58:00,920
my favorite example of this, it's that tower that you

1241
00:58:01,039 --> 00:58:03,559
find in the first like major port city that you

1242
00:58:03,719 --> 00:58:05,559
just like see off in the distance and it's covered

1243
00:58:05,599 --> 00:58:08,199
in like brambles and vines and everything, and you're like,

1244
00:58:08,800 --> 00:58:13,719
I'm gonna climb that, and yeah, but I just.

1245
00:58:13,760 --> 00:58:16,119
Speaker 4: Found the tallest tower I've seen yet in the game,

1246
00:58:16,480 --> 00:58:18,239
and I saw the very top there was like a

1247
00:58:18,400 --> 00:58:20,719
plank going off, and I was like, wait a minute,

1248
00:58:20,719 --> 00:58:22,159
And I got on a plank and I looked down

1249
00:58:22,440 --> 00:58:24,840
and there was a thing like a square of water there,

1250
00:58:24,840 --> 00:58:26,079
and like, I'm fucking jumping off this.

1251
00:58:27,960 --> 00:58:29,800
Speaker 2: At the very beginning, you can jump into the ocean

1252
00:58:29,800 --> 00:58:31,199
because I was like, I don't want to climb down this,

1253
00:58:31,559 --> 00:58:33,760
and it like has some little boards with a rope

1254
00:58:33,800 --> 00:58:36,039
hanging down it, which tells the story to itself like

1255
00:58:36,119 --> 00:58:39,960
somebody probably trying to climb down, and and so you're like, well,

1256
00:58:40,039 --> 00:58:42,320
I'm not gonna die. I'm the main character, and so

1257
00:58:42,440 --> 00:58:45,039
you just like sprint run off, and as you drop down,

1258
00:58:45,079 --> 00:58:47,000
your character literally literally screams.

1259
00:58:47,119 --> 00:58:50,679
Speaker 4: He goes and you see the feet like flailing, like, yeah,

1260
00:58:51,639 --> 00:58:53,159
it is funny, Like a lot of the writing has

1261
00:58:53,159 --> 00:58:56,639
been really solid. Some of the choices are very funny. Yeah,

1262
00:58:56,679 --> 00:59:00,199
it's great too, because like most encounters and stuff, it's like, Okay,

1263
00:59:00,239 --> 00:59:01,440
do I want to be a dick about this? Are

1264
00:59:01,519 --> 00:59:03,199
they being cool? Am I going to be cool? And

1265
00:59:03,280 --> 00:59:05,679
then there's usually like the attack thing at the bottom

1266
00:59:05,760 --> 00:59:07,960
you can do, and I feel like I've so rarely

1267
00:59:08,079 --> 00:59:09,800
done that. It's usually I can find a way to

1268
00:59:09,880 --> 00:59:11,320
kind of talk myself out of it even with that

1269
00:59:11,440 --> 00:59:13,480
like skill check type stuff. But then every once in

1270
00:59:13,519 --> 00:59:16,039
a while, there's like a group where it's like, man,

1271
00:59:16,280 --> 00:59:18,480
fuck you guys, Okay, I'm just gonna fucking kill all

1272
00:59:18,559 --> 00:59:21,440
of you. Dialogue and magic everywhere is just slaughter, and

1273
00:59:21,480 --> 00:59:22,760
it's like, oh man, that was fucked up.

1274
00:59:22,840 --> 00:59:23,960
Speaker 2: Like it feels great.

1275
00:59:24,559 --> 00:59:27,360
Speaker 1: I think that's like the Nathan you were saying, like

1276
00:59:27,639 --> 00:59:32,119
intentionality everywhere, there's also that like it goes. It's broad

1277
00:59:32,239 --> 00:59:34,400
in its intentionality, but it's also deep in that when

1278
00:59:34,440 --> 00:59:37,079
once you start going in these quests and you see

1279
00:59:37,119 --> 00:59:39,440
the various options that you can pick and the forks

1280
00:59:39,480 --> 00:59:41,719
in the road, there's a lot of stuff that feels

1281
00:59:41,800 --> 00:59:43,599
like we're going to put this in here, even though

1282
00:59:43,599 --> 00:59:45,320
we know a lot of people are not going to

1283
00:59:45,960 --> 00:59:49,360
see these things, and that's okay because having the option

1284
00:59:49,519 --> 00:59:52,760
and ignoring it does feel empowering to players still, and

1285
00:59:52,840 --> 00:59:55,039
we recognize that, and so we're going to make this

1286
00:59:55,159 --> 00:59:58,400
a deep personalized experience. And that also has really worked

1287
00:59:58,440 --> 01:00:01,039
for me throughout all these great conversations I'm having with

1288
01:00:01,079 --> 01:00:01,719
the NPCs.

1289
01:00:02,480 --> 01:00:06,199
Speaker 2: All Right, let's not everyone does like this game now.

1290
01:00:06,280 --> 01:00:08,760
Speaker 1: In tam I think where you set it up, you're

1291
01:00:08,800 --> 01:00:11,000
like cool on it to kind of like not really

1292
01:00:11,039 --> 01:00:12,239
find it a very engrossing.

1293
01:00:12,360 --> 01:00:14,760
Speaker 3: Yeah, I don't. I don't necessarily disagree with a lot

1294
01:00:14,840 --> 01:00:17,119
of what was said there. I think the combat is

1295
01:00:17,199 --> 01:00:20,239
far and away the best part of it. I'm running

1296
01:00:20,320 --> 01:00:25,000
like a gun slash knife build where I shoot from

1297
01:00:25,000 --> 01:00:26,880
a distance and if anyone gets close, I have a

1298
01:00:27,000 --> 01:00:29,159
sword that every time I hit him it gives me

1299
01:00:29,199 --> 01:00:33,599
a halfback. So I'm basically unkillable cool. So it is

1300
01:00:34,360 --> 01:00:38,360
very very satisfying to play in a lot of ways.

1301
01:00:38,679 --> 01:00:44,039
I think that the economy of like upgrades and the

1302
01:00:44,199 --> 01:00:48,239
system I do have had, I have run up against

1303
01:00:48,280 --> 01:00:51,079
it a few times, and I think that it's definitely

1304
01:00:52,440 --> 01:00:57,719
resolved in large parts by doing everything. But the fact

1305
01:00:57,760 --> 01:01:01,760
that that's a basically in this necessity is something that

1306
01:01:02,480 --> 01:01:04,679
rubbed me the wrong way because a lot of the

1307
01:01:04,760 --> 01:01:07,679
side quests I found to be quite boring and like

1308
01:01:07,960 --> 01:01:12,840
narratively speaking, quite uninteresting. Most of the characters I've encountered

1309
01:01:12,880 --> 01:01:16,039
are very very forgettable and throw away, even your main party.

1310
01:01:16,480 --> 01:01:18,599
Like the first dude you meet, fish Man, whatever his

1311
01:01:18,719 --> 01:01:23,840
name is, I can't even remembers Garrett Garret. Like I

1312
01:01:24,159 --> 01:01:27,360
realized there was an issue there. When I meet him

1313
01:01:27,719 --> 01:01:30,719
and you speak to him, you have one conversation, He's like, oh,

1314
01:01:30,760 --> 01:01:32,960
hell yeah, I'll help you through everything. And I was like,

1315
01:01:33,480 --> 01:01:38,079
what you you barely know and he's like, oh yeah,

1316
01:01:38,079 --> 01:01:40,719
I'm coming with you. And I was like what, why? What?

1317
01:01:42,480 --> 01:01:43,159
What is the deal?

1318
01:01:43,480 --> 01:01:47,480
Speaker 2: Likestand he's a hot fish man who likes you.

1319
01:01:47,559 --> 01:01:51,639
Speaker 3: What more though, every time I see him, this is

1320
01:01:51,760 --> 01:01:55,559
an ugly ass character, really weird.

1321
01:01:57,639 --> 01:02:02,719
Speaker 2: He'ser you did not you did not take away the

1322
01:02:02,760 --> 01:02:04,079
intended message from Shape of Water.

1323
01:02:06,960 --> 01:02:08,920
Speaker 3: He looks he's got a shark peth and he looks

1324
01:02:08,920 --> 01:02:10,920
like he's made out of foil, And I'm just like, what,

1325
01:02:11,280 --> 01:02:12,960
It's such a weird looking character.

1326
01:02:14,199 --> 01:02:15,880
Speaker 2: His skin text shits are fucking amazing. What are you

1327
01:02:15,920 --> 01:02:16,440
talking about?

1328
01:02:17,480 --> 01:02:18,360
Speaker 3: Finding him weird?

1329
01:02:19,119 --> 01:02:22,599
Speaker 2: I mean, but even there, the amount of craftsmanship in

1330
01:02:22,639 --> 01:02:25,320
this game is crazy to me, Like it looks it's mesrizing,

1331
01:02:27,119 --> 01:02:27,320
And I.

1332
01:02:27,440 --> 01:02:30,000
Speaker 3: Think that's kind of a large part of why I'm

1333
01:02:30,039 --> 01:02:32,440
not vibing with it. I think it just hits for

1334
01:02:32,559 --> 01:02:35,719
some people and won't hit for other people. For me, Like,

1335
01:02:35,880 --> 01:02:39,400
the narrative is completely gibberish to me, Like, I don't

1336
01:02:39,760 --> 01:02:42,440
I'm not, I do not care. The main quest is

1337
01:02:42,639 --> 01:02:45,400
not helping me at all, and it's.

1338
01:02:45,239 --> 01:02:47,440
Speaker 1: Also we're pointing out this is a offshoot of the

1339
01:02:47,480 --> 01:02:50,239
Pillars of Eternity branch, so there's a lot of existing

1340
01:02:50,880 --> 01:02:52,800
and it has a that they are using this backdrop.

1341
01:02:52,840 --> 01:02:54,880
You can press F on keyboard when you're playing at

1342
01:02:54,880 --> 01:02:57,480
any time and they'll bring up if there's a blue word,

1343
01:02:57,719 --> 01:02:58,280
they'll give you some.

1344
01:02:59,719 --> 01:03:00,679
Speaker 3: But yeah, it's.

1345
01:03:03,639 --> 01:03:06,920
Speaker 2: Very like a wall of options of like proper nouns

1346
01:03:06,920 --> 01:03:09,440
that you've heard in like three sentences and you're like,

1347
01:03:09,559 --> 01:03:10,280
I don't really want to.

1348
01:03:10,239 --> 01:03:12,119
Speaker 3: Go And that's the issue. One of the issues where

1349
01:03:12,159 --> 01:03:15,440
like I felt like I was a line would come up,

1350
01:03:15,599 --> 01:03:18,199
someone would say something, and then I was reading for

1351
01:03:18,360 --> 01:03:22,039
like ten minutes through like the sequence of terms, and

1352
01:03:22,159 --> 01:03:26,360
now I'm consuming the narrative in the weirdest way possible,

1353
01:03:26,679 --> 01:03:29,760
where I'm like hearing someone say something and then I'm

1354
01:03:29,880 --> 01:03:33,079
basically absorbing bullet points and then going back to it

1355
01:03:33,199 --> 01:03:35,840
and trying to connect why that's relevant. And then in

1356
01:03:35,920 --> 01:03:38,679
the next line there's a different set of proper nouns

1357
01:03:38,719 --> 01:03:41,159
where you're like, what the what is going on. It's

1358
01:03:41,199 --> 01:03:43,000
a very strange way to and like I know a

1359
01:03:43,039 --> 01:03:44,480
lot of people are like, oh, I love it. It's

1360
01:03:44,519 --> 01:03:47,239
really like dense and that kind of stuff. But it's like, yeah,

1361
01:03:47,400 --> 01:03:50,320
mass effect is very very dense, but the way it's

1362
01:03:50,360 --> 01:03:53,440
revealed to you, it's very contextual and like you're you're

1363
01:03:53,519 --> 01:03:57,400
part of the understanding and the discovery process of it,

1364
01:03:57,639 --> 01:04:00,280
where like when you learn something new, you learn it

1365
01:04:00,360 --> 01:04:03,199
because you're part of that and it's necessary to what

1366
01:04:03,360 --> 01:04:07,800
you're about to embark on, or it's good context with this,

1367
01:04:08,079 --> 01:04:12,119
it's just like here's something that exists in our world.

1368
01:04:12,559 --> 01:04:15,159
Here's everything you need to know, here's a Wikipedia entry

1369
01:04:15,239 --> 01:04:18,119
on it. And also you don't really it's not relevant

1370
01:04:18,159 --> 01:04:20,320
right now. It's like, Okay, why why did I need

1371
01:04:20,400 --> 01:04:23,039
to know any of that? So like it's it drowns

1372
01:04:23,079 --> 01:04:24,800
you in. There's a lot of like law, and I

1373
01:04:24,840 --> 01:04:28,440
think the pillars of eternity like foundation can really work

1374
01:04:28,599 --> 01:04:32,239
against it. And and that is an issue that I had.

1375
01:04:32,320 --> 01:04:34,119
And also like a lot of the characters I speak to,

1376
01:04:34,800 --> 01:04:37,280
I think I genuinely feel like some of them. They

1377
01:04:37,400 --> 01:04:39,079
come up on screen, I'm like, what the why do

1378
01:04:39,159 --> 01:04:40,719
you look like that? It's so ugly.

1379
01:04:43,719 --> 01:04:47,320
Speaker 4: Defend Yeah, I defend the companions the first three and

1380
01:04:47,400 --> 01:04:49,199
then I just got the fourth one. I was like, ah,

1381
01:04:49,320 --> 01:04:49,880
fuck this thing.

1382
01:04:50,199 --> 01:04:54,880
Speaker 3: Yeah, there's secs where I've rung up to it and

1383
01:04:54,920 --> 01:04:57,320
I was like, are you a child or a short adult?

1384
01:04:57,519 --> 01:05:00,679
What are you going? What's going on? It's so weird,

1385
01:05:01,000 --> 01:05:03,039
So like that's that's a part of it. And then

1386
01:05:03,119 --> 01:05:04,800
like I do think that the fact that you have

1387
01:05:04,960 --> 01:05:09,960
to do everything is indicative of an economy that isn't

1388
01:05:09,960 --> 01:05:13,079
properly balanced, because the fact that you need to engage

1389
01:05:13,119 --> 01:05:16,559
in every single element of the side quest to kind

1390
01:05:16,599 --> 01:05:20,400
of more seamlessly or smoothly, or to have a better

1391
01:05:20,400 --> 01:05:23,840
experience in the main quest is not a good kind

1392
01:05:23,880 --> 01:05:28,639
of indication of balance because designers know that not everyone's

1393
01:05:28,800 --> 01:05:32,199
gonna want to do everything. But if the options to

1394
01:05:32,559 --> 01:05:35,679
ignore the things that you don't want are not available

1395
01:05:35,800 --> 01:05:38,079
or you're punished for it, I don't think that's a

1396
01:05:38,119 --> 01:05:40,880
good balance. Like I've been doing everything and even I

1397
01:05:40,960 --> 01:05:43,480
still will have like go into a battle where it's

1398
01:05:43,599 --> 01:05:46,480
like a cut to the end of it, and like

1399
01:05:46,599 --> 01:05:48,840
I've fought that battle and have won, but it's been

1400
01:05:48,920 --> 01:05:50,760
a grind. But the moment you go into a battle,

1401
01:05:50,840 --> 01:05:53,199
like your companions are like you need better armor, It's like,

1402
01:05:53,320 --> 01:05:54,760
how how am I going to get better armor?

1403
01:05:54,880 --> 01:05:58,119
Speaker 4: I've picked that a lot it like, even though I've

1404
01:05:58,199 --> 01:06:00,400
got good enough armor for this stuff, they yelled at

1405
01:06:00,400 --> 01:06:03,280
a lot. So that is kind of annoy fine.

1406
01:06:03,199 --> 01:06:06,199
Speaker 3: You know, it's also frustrating when you go into like

1407
01:06:06,360 --> 01:06:08,960
your inventory to upgrade something. You know, you have that

1408
01:06:09,000 --> 01:06:10,519
feeling where it's like I'm gonna uprade something. You go

1409
01:06:10,559 --> 01:06:12,360
in there, you're like, oh, yes, this is available for upgrade.

1410
01:06:12,519 --> 01:06:14,480
This game has the opposite effect where the amount of

1411
01:06:14,519 --> 01:06:17,719
times I go into an inventory or an upgrade menu

1412
01:06:17,840 --> 01:06:20,079
and so a lot all my stuff is not upgrading

1413
01:06:20,679 --> 01:06:22,880
is far more frequent than when I open it and

1414
01:06:22,920 --> 01:06:24,800
I'm like, oh, I've got this one thing to upgrade.

1415
01:06:24,880 --> 01:06:27,079
It's always you need this much, this of this thing,

1416
01:06:27,199 --> 01:06:29,280
just much of this thing, and you might find it

1417
01:06:29,360 --> 01:06:31,239
in the while, or you might not find it for

1418
01:06:31,360 --> 01:06:32,920
hours and hours and hours on end. And I'm just

1419
01:06:33,000 --> 01:06:36,960
like I'm doing fine, but and I'm getting through the game.

1420
01:06:37,079 --> 01:06:41,280
I'm just not having fun with it. I enjoy apart

1421
01:06:41,320 --> 01:06:43,719
from when I'm in combat and I'm like, you know,

1422
01:06:44,159 --> 01:06:46,599
doing the gunning and like stabbing and all that kind

1423
01:06:46,599 --> 01:06:48,760
of business. That's enjoyable. But at the moment I'm like

1424
01:06:48,880 --> 01:06:50,679
in the world and I have to go and speak

1425
01:06:50,719 --> 01:06:53,800
to a human learn about what they're talking about here

1426
01:06:53,880 --> 01:06:57,679
about some god that I don't really know about. And

1427
01:06:57,760 --> 01:06:59,800
also like the God keeps talking to me and I'm like,

1428
01:07:00,800 --> 01:07:03,360
I just what are you talking about? What are you

1429
01:07:03,440 --> 01:07:06,559
on about? And if it was like being cryptic and

1430
01:07:06,599 --> 01:07:09,440
then I was getting a revelation about something like small

1431
01:07:09,480 --> 01:07:12,079
and it was like building towards something, I'd be more

1432
01:07:12,159 --> 01:07:14,679
into it. But it's just like God appears and it's like, oh,

1433
01:07:15,039 --> 01:07:17,599
you haven't heard from us for hours. We have we'd

1434
01:07:17,719 --> 01:07:20,039
like to converse with you. And you're like why, why,

1435
01:07:20,159 --> 01:07:21,480
why do you need to talk to me? Why did

1436
01:07:21,519 --> 01:07:23,679
you make me come here? Like I've had question lines

1437
01:07:23,679 --> 01:07:25,440
where they're like, oh, come back, you need to talk

1438
01:07:25,480 --> 01:07:28,480
to me about moving my soul and I was like, okay,

1439
01:07:28,519 --> 01:07:30,679
I did it. I moved your soul into this giant

1440
01:07:30,880 --> 01:07:34,599
thing that someone was trying to use the like nukea civilization.

1441
01:07:34,760 --> 01:07:38,280
But there's no meaning, there's no meaningful, like nothing changed.

1442
01:07:38,280 --> 01:07:41,320
You were like okay, cool, we'll see you later. Like God,

1443
01:07:41,599 --> 01:07:44,039
it's like the annoying character in your ear that has

1444
01:07:44,119 --> 01:07:46,480
got nothing really to say but just wants you to

1445
01:07:46,599 --> 01:07:49,119
remind you that they're there. And there's like way too

1446
01:07:49,199 --> 01:07:51,400
much of that, and it does eventually that like Touched

1447
01:07:51,480 --> 01:07:55,400
by a God, thing does eventually build to some small moments,

1448
01:07:55,519 --> 01:07:58,079
but it's not significant enough for me. And also like

1449
01:07:58,119 --> 01:08:00,320
the way it manifests with their box art thing where

1450
01:08:00,320 --> 01:08:03,119
you're like flowery and stuff, Oh that looks good man,

1451
01:08:03,440 --> 01:08:05,840
Like every time I see it it cause it seems

1452
01:08:05,840 --> 01:08:08,760
I'm just like, ugh, that's good.

1453
01:08:09,320 --> 01:08:11,239
Speaker 2: But I also feel like it's not necessarily meant to

1454
01:08:11,320 --> 01:08:15,079
look good. And I kind of like that because also,

1455
01:08:15,320 --> 01:08:17,880
characters react to you, and I think that's like, what

1456
01:08:18,119 --> 01:08:21,760
what's with your face? Like, oh, yeah, that you often

1457
01:08:21,800 --> 01:08:24,239
get in video games usually, Yeah, in video games, people

1458
01:08:24,279 --> 01:08:26,640
treat your character as though they are like perfect, or

1459
01:08:26,680 --> 01:08:29,079
at the very least, like their appearance is immaterial, it

1460
01:08:29,119 --> 01:08:31,720
doesn't matter. I think it's more to actually get a reaction.

1461
01:08:32,119 --> 01:08:34,279
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think it's more entertaining if you turn that off,

1462
01:08:34,680 --> 01:08:36,640
because they still react to you as if your face

1463
01:08:36,720 --> 01:08:39,039
is fucked up, but you just look normal and they're like, oh,

1464
01:08:39,119 --> 01:08:41,399
what's wrong? Get a face and you're like, what normal?

1465
01:08:42,239 --> 01:08:42,760
Speaker 2: I'm a guy.

1466
01:08:43,079 --> 01:08:43,680
Speaker 3: I'm just a guy.

1467
01:08:44,600 --> 01:08:47,279
Speaker 2: It's like in a world where it's bad to look normal.

1468
01:08:47,560 --> 01:08:50,800
Speaker 3: Yeah, I do, genuinely think this is one of those

1469
01:08:50,840 --> 01:08:53,760
things where it's one of those like divisive games where

1470
01:08:53,800 --> 01:08:55,520
either it will click for you and you'll be like,

1471
01:08:55,600 --> 01:08:58,760
I'm into this, or you'll be like, I'm hitting just

1472
01:08:58,920 --> 01:09:01,239
enough like rough it just that I don't like it

1473
01:09:01,680 --> 01:09:05,000
for me. I'm just like I'm enjoying. I'm still playing

1474
01:09:05,079 --> 01:09:06,840
it because I want to see where it goes a

1475
01:09:06,880 --> 01:09:09,960
little bit. But I could drop it at any moment

1476
01:09:10,079 --> 01:09:12,880
and not feel like I'm missing out on anything but

1477
01:09:13,039 --> 01:09:14,680
the fact that it's on game Pass and if you

1478
01:09:14,760 --> 01:09:16,520
have game Pass, it's a no brain and give it

1479
01:09:16,600 --> 01:09:19,119
a few hours see how you feel. I don't hate it.

1480
01:09:19,239 --> 01:09:22,239
I think it's a decently well made game. I genuinely

1481
01:09:22,319 --> 01:09:25,119
do think if they rebalance the economy of like upgrades

1482
01:09:25,159 --> 01:09:27,880
and that kind of stuff, it'll be a considerably bad game.

1483
01:09:29,119 --> 01:09:29,319
Speaker 2: Yeah.

1484
01:09:29,520 --> 01:09:32,359
Speaker 1: I think this is one that people will have a

1485
01:09:32,399 --> 01:09:34,359
better time with if they do do a dance and

1486
01:09:34,560 --> 01:09:36,439
they like kind of let themselves get into the ebb

1487
01:09:36,560 --> 01:09:38,880
and flow of of the way the game pushes against

1488
01:09:38,920 --> 01:09:39,600
you and stuff like that.

1489
01:09:40,079 --> 01:09:42,880
Speaker 2: So like when you are running up against those rough.

1490
01:09:42,800 --> 01:09:45,159
Speaker 1: Edges, it's like that's actually the game pushing your back

1491
01:09:45,199 --> 01:09:47,000
and say go do something else for a little bit.

1492
01:09:47,079 --> 01:09:49,439
And if people feel like they can get into that,

1493
01:09:49,680 --> 01:09:51,000
I think they're going to have a really good time

1494
01:09:51,039 --> 01:09:52,720
with this game. If they're not in the mood for that,

1495
01:09:52,800 --> 01:09:55,439
I think they will bounce off. But I think over time,

1496
01:09:56,039 --> 01:09:58,319
the vast majority of the audience probably will be find

1497
01:09:58,359 --> 01:10:00,359
themselves to be like, no, I am ready to kind

1498
01:10:00,359 --> 01:10:01,800
of get myself over to what this game is trying

1499
01:10:01,840 --> 01:10:03,439
to do, and I think it's going to have a

1500
01:10:03,560 --> 01:10:05,439
kind of long legs and yeah, kind of a.

1501
01:10:05,520 --> 01:10:06,640
Speaker 2: Reassessment here pretty soon.

1502
01:10:06,720 --> 01:10:08,159
Speaker 3: I will say, for a lot of players that really

1503
01:10:08,239 --> 01:10:13,600
enjoy it, it's the best Bethesda game in a long time. No, No,

1504
01:10:13,760 --> 01:10:23,000
I mean I mean it's Obsidian. Obsidian have one basically

1505
01:10:23,119 --> 01:10:27,279
built a kind of legacy on making better versions of

1506
01:10:27,840 --> 01:10:31,520
what you know Bethesda does. And this is another in

1507
01:10:31,760 --> 01:10:34,720
that line where Starfield came out. Starfield very different game.

1508
01:10:34,800 --> 01:10:36,159
I played it and I was like, this is asked.

1509
01:10:36,159 --> 01:10:38,119
I don't want anything to do with it. And but

1510
01:10:38,239 --> 01:10:40,840
I still had the kind of itch for a Bethesda

1511
01:10:40,920 --> 01:10:42,840
style game, like I want it to feel like I'm

1512
01:10:42,840 --> 01:10:45,520
playing Skyrim Oblivion and something like that, and this does

1513
01:10:45,560 --> 01:10:48,039
scratch that itch doesn't work for me in the same way.

1514
01:10:48,079 --> 01:10:49,279
But I feel like a lot of people are going

1515
01:10:49,359 --> 01:10:51,239
to play it and be like, oh, this is this

1516
01:10:51,359 --> 01:10:53,239
is what I've been waiting for in the lead up

1517
01:10:53,279 --> 01:10:55,199
to like an Elder Scroll. So a lot of people.

1518
01:10:55,359 --> 01:10:58,560
If you're if you're into Bethesda games, definitely play this

1519
01:10:58,800 --> 01:11:00,399
because it probably will hit for you.

1520
01:11:01,039 --> 01:11:03,239
Speaker 2: Oh then again with that, with the caveat that, I

1521
01:11:03,279 --> 01:11:05,560
think Bethesda games tend to be like very wide open

1522
01:11:05,600 --> 01:11:08,720
and unfocused, and I think this world feels much more

1523
01:11:08,960 --> 01:11:11,279
crafted and much more like it wants you to do

1524
01:11:11,399 --> 01:11:13,520
certain things. It wants to nudge you along the siddle halfs.

1525
01:11:14,399 --> 01:11:18,319
But also it occurred to me, Obsidian does what Bethes

1526
01:11:18,439 --> 01:11:19,199
don't there.

1527
01:11:19,439 --> 01:11:21,159
Speaker 3: Yeah, there you go. That's good.

1528
01:11:22,079 --> 01:11:23,279
Speaker 5: Put that on the back of the box.

1529
01:11:23,920 --> 01:11:25,800
Speaker 3: Just put that on the back of your new book.

1530
01:11:29,039 --> 01:11:30,920
Speaker 4: A quick anecdote of the ship that I love about

1531
01:11:30,960 --> 01:11:32,319
this game. I saw Chap mentioned like, oh, I just

1532
01:11:32,319 --> 01:11:34,159
saw that you can freeze water and walk on it.

1533
01:11:34,239 --> 01:11:36,359
I'm like, yes, you can. It teaches you that because

1534
01:11:36,359 --> 01:11:38,199
you can like knock down these like little freezeberries and

1535
01:11:38,199 --> 01:11:40,119
if it lands in water it makes a little ice platform.

1536
01:11:40,560 --> 01:11:43,199
Not just that I learned that. I was like, oh,

1537
01:11:43,279 --> 01:11:45,279
if that works hang on, I had a spell that

1538
01:11:45,439 --> 01:11:47,479
makes like an ice ring around me. It's like a

1539
01:11:47,560 --> 01:11:50,640
defensive frost shield thing. So I went out to like

1540
01:11:50,760 --> 01:11:53,199
a big lake and I did the frost shield thing,

1541
01:11:53,199 --> 01:11:55,520
which lasts for twenty thirty seconds, and I was able

1542
01:11:55,600 --> 01:11:58,720
to sprint across the lake as it froze underneath my feet.

1543
01:11:58,840 --> 01:12:00,319
Speaker 2: And it's yeah, yeah, that.

1544
01:12:00,439 --> 01:12:07,279
Speaker 1: Type of this is a video game, and it doesn't

1545
01:12:07,279 --> 01:12:09,279
have a lot of systems that that it's not like

1546
01:12:09,399 --> 01:12:11,840
ready to fully flesh out, Like there is no real

1547
01:12:11,960 --> 01:12:15,199
law system. Usually, Uh, everything that's in the world that's

1548
01:12:15,199 --> 01:12:17,560
sitting around, even if it's in other people's houses, you

1549
01:12:17,640 --> 01:12:18,359
could just pick it up.

1550
01:12:18,399 --> 01:12:18,960
Speaker 2: You're not, you're not.

1551
01:12:19,079 --> 01:12:21,600
Speaker 1: It doesn't qualify as stealing. And you get the sense

1552
01:12:21,640 --> 01:12:24,079
they're like, we could have done that, but we would

1553
01:12:24,079 --> 01:12:25,800
have had a half asset, so let's just not do

1554
01:12:25,920 --> 01:12:28,119
it at all. And I'm probably the right choice.

1555
01:12:28,159 --> 01:12:28,239
Speaker 3: Now.

1556
01:12:28,279 --> 01:12:30,720
Speaker 1: I miss some of that stuff, but I'm glad it's

1557
01:12:30,800 --> 01:12:33,880
not here and done in a way that is half asked. Yeah,

1558
01:12:34,279 --> 01:12:36,319
and and and then I just think overall that that

1559
01:12:36,520 --> 01:12:38,560
they really just focus on the stuff they.

1560
01:12:38,479 --> 01:12:38,840
Speaker 2: Wanted to do.

1561
01:12:39,399 --> 01:12:41,800
Speaker 3: You were going to say, Tam, how is your technical

1562
01:12:42,199 --> 01:12:44,760
performance because I've been playing on X up and down

1563
01:12:44,960 --> 01:12:48,199
and it's not very consistent. I've had areas where I

1564
01:12:48,279 --> 01:12:49,680
walk into and it's like, oh.

1565
01:12:50,319 --> 01:12:52,399
Speaker 1: This is an Unreal Engine five game. It is an

1566
01:12:52,439 --> 01:12:55,960
open world Unreal Engined five game. As always, those can

1567
01:12:56,039 --> 01:12:58,560
be pretty heavy in some areas. This is especially in

1568
01:12:58,640 --> 01:13:00,800
the city. With the fifty eight, I was getting like

1569
01:13:00,840 --> 01:13:02,239
thirty frames per seconds sometimes.

1570
01:13:02,359 --> 01:13:04,399
Speaker 4: Yeah, I'm finding with the forty ninety, I have not

1571
01:13:04,520 --> 01:13:06,800
had issues I had on The one issue I had

1572
01:13:07,239 --> 01:13:09,439
was not a performance thing. It was like a bounty

1573
01:13:09,520 --> 01:13:11,079
thing where it's like you have to kill five of

1574
01:13:11,159 --> 01:13:13,119
these pretty tough enemies and I died several times, like

1575
01:13:13,159 --> 01:13:15,399
oh I finally did it, and only four of the

1576
01:13:15,680 --> 01:13:18,640
like trophies that you have to return spawn and so

1577
01:13:18,720 --> 01:13:20,199
it's like I picked up four of them and it

1578
01:13:20,279 --> 01:13:21,560
was like you still need to get one more, and

1579
01:13:21,640 --> 01:13:23,000
it was looking around, like what the fucks I did

1580
01:13:23,079 --> 01:13:25,039
have to roll back and save it were? That was

1581
01:13:25,079 --> 01:13:25,880
the one big issue that.

1582
01:13:25,880 --> 01:13:29,199
Speaker 6: Were not but that but not very buggy otherwise, especially

1583
01:13:29,199 --> 01:13:31,239
for an upsity, I think it kind of varies because

1584
01:13:31,319 --> 01:13:34,600
I know our review. I had a bunch of bugs,

1585
01:13:35,760 --> 01:13:38,479
like quest lines that would break and required him to

1586
01:13:38,560 --> 01:13:42,640
like restart and it's interesting because like nicely interesting, but

1587
01:13:42,760 --> 01:13:45,920
like they patched it like a few hours before the

1588
01:13:46,039 --> 01:13:48,119
reviewing bargo went up, so we had to like quickly

1589
01:13:48,239 --> 01:13:51,000
change our reviews because they fixed that stuff. But it's

1590
01:13:51,000 --> 01:13:54,079
still is very much like for me, I find it too.

1591
01:13:54,079 --> 01:13:56,680
I wanted to play on Xbox because Xbox I don't

1592
01:13:56,800 --> 01:13:59,520
play it enough, so I wanted to play a bunch

1593
01:13:59,560 --> 01:14:03,399
of that on and I've been having some no crashes. No,

1594
01:14:03,520 --> 01:14:05,520
I did have one crash. Actually it was just in

1595
01:14:05,560 --> 01:14:07,279
immensely It was like, I don't know what to do.

1596
01:14:07,600 --> 01:14:10,720
Speaker 5: The Xbox loves to crash though, like that that thing

1597
01:14:11,840 --> 01:14:17,039
to crash playing fucking eyedarb it is not difficult to

1598
01:14:17,159 --> 01:14:18,720
get the Xbox to turn off.

1599
01:14:19,079 --> 01:14:20,600
Speaker 4: Yeah, it was the weirdest bull.

1600
01:14:22,359 --> 01:14:22,680
Speaker 3: What is it?

1601
01:14:22,880 --> 01:14:25,439
Speaker 2: What is that for? I drew a red Box.

1602
01:14:27,119 --> 01:14:28,520
Speaker 4: The kids can't stop talking about.

1603
01:14:29,560 --> 01:14:31,800
Speaker 1: My children are obsessed with it for sure, and they

1604
01:14:31,880 --> 01:14:33,680
watch all their favorite Eyed creators.

1605
01:14:36,199 --> 01:14:36,840
Speaker 3: Shouldn't be watching.

1606
01:14:39,319 --> 01:14:41,079
Speaker 2: Uh last couple of things.

1607
01:14:41,920 --> 01:14:44,239
Speaker 1: But the I think to speak to the economy thing

1608
01:14:44,319 --> 01:14:48,279
that Tam was talking about, one quick fix just put

1609
01:14:48,279 --> 01:14:50,079
in a blood moon so that some of the in

1610
01:14:50,199 --> 01:14:52,800
world enemies could just respawd so you can go out

1611
01:14:52,840 --> 01:14:55,479
and get more resources when you want, just do that immediately.

1612
01:14:55,560 --> 01:14:56,800
Speaker 2: That I think this is going to solve a lot

1613
01:14:56,800 --> 01:14:58,840
of people's problems, uh with this game.

1614
01:14:58,920 --> 01:15:01,680
Speaker 1: And then so people in chat were just wondering, how

1615
01:15:01,720 --> 01:15:03,720
did everyone feel about Outer Worlds and how do you

1616
01:15:03,760 --> 01:15:04,319
compare it to this?

1617
01:15:04,479 --> 01:15:06,560
Speaker 2: I I liked Outer world a lot at first.

1618
01:15:06,760 --> 01:15:08,720
Speaker 1: I cooled on it over time because they just didn't

1619
01:15:08,720 --> 01:15:10,560
have the juice as it went on, and I think

1620
01:15:10,600 --> 01:15:11,680
this is a better game overall.

1621
01:15:11,760 --> 01:15:14,520
Speaker 4: I feel the exact same beat Outer Worlds enjoyed it,

1622
01:15:14,760 --> 01:15:17,000
but not nearly on the level I'm enjoying this.

1623
01:15:17,359 --> 01:15:17,560
Speaker 3: Yeah.

1624
01:15:18,520 --> 01:15:22,239
Speaker 1: Cool, all right, I think that's going to do it.

1625
01:15:22,720 --> 01:15:25,680
Let's see here the anything else from Giant Bomb. Yeah,

1626
01:15:25,680 --> 01:15:29,239
we are going to have upf here in a little bit. Nikki,

1627
01:15:29,239 --> 01:15:30,960
you want to play some rocket?

1628
01:15:32,159 --> 01:15:33,760
Speaker 2: Yeah, that sounds like fun to me.

1629
01:15:34,239 --> 01:15:35,560
Speaker 3: Everyone going by sports this book?

1630
01:15:35,760 --> 01:15:39,359
Speaker 2: Yes, yes, and then once again Nathan's book available next.

1631
01:15:39,359 --> 01:15:41,640
It's called it is I'll wait, do you have a copy?

1632
01:15:41,800 --> 01:15:42,920
How we can both hold them up?

1633
01:15:43,479 --> 01:15:45,239
Speaker 6: It's it's over in the other room, so I don't

1634
01:15:45,239 --> 01:15:47,079
have again.

1635
01:15:47,239 --> 01:15:50,520
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's called stream Bag, The Triumphs and Turmoils of

1636
01:15:50,600 --> 01:15:53,720
Twitch and The Stars Behind the Screen by Nathan Grayson,

1637
01:15:54,199 --> 01:15:56,720
and it's out next week on February eighteenth. You can

1638
01:15:56,720 --> 01:16:00,880
pre order wherever books are sold. Also, I am the

1639
01:16:01,479 --> 01:16:04,319
co founder of a website called aftermath Dot site we

1640
01:16:04,600 --> 01:16:07,000
write about video game news and things of that nature.

1641
01:16:07,760 --> 01:16:11,800
We're worker owned, users are reader supported. Go check that out.

1642
01:16:12,760 --> 01:16:14,600
I think we do good work. And also if you

1643
01:16:14,680 --> 01:16:16,279
like Giant Bomb, they'll probably like what we do too.

1644
01:16:17,199 --> 01:16:22,039
Speaker 1: Yep, one absolutely great website, all right, for everyone from

1645
01:16:22,119 --> 01:16:24,520
Giant Bomb, for Nathan, thank you everybody for joining us.

1646
01:16:24,520 --> 01:16:26,119
We're gonna get out of here. Until next time, have

1647
01:16:26,159 --> 01:16:28,319
a good one, take care of yourself, and goodbye.