The Games Gone By Podcast
Ramblings and retrospectives from three lifelong gaming enthusiasts.
The Games Gone By Podcast
Midyear Recap - 2026
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Austin and Adam sit down to talk about what they've been playing so far this year: what they enjoyed, what they didn't, and what they've missed out on.
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Intro
SPEAKER_00Still fun, but like, oh my god, where's my voice?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, your voice just like disappeared.
SPEAKER_00Testing, testing. Oh, is it better? Am I back? Yeah, yeah. Now you say you're normal.
SPEAKER_01Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00Both of the sick here.
SPEAKER_01I thought I was the sick one here.
SPEAKER_00And welcome back to another episode of the Games Gone By Podcast. It is May 30th at the time of this recording. I'm your host, Adam, and joining me today, as always, the gaming expert and enthusiast. Austin, you ready to talk about some of the things that happened this year, both in our gaming lives and the gaming lives of others?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I I love these little like mid-year recap episodes. They're some of my favorite things. Because, you know, it's they aren't games gone long by, but they are games gone short by, you know?
SPEAKER_00Well, yeah, they're clearly not in the future. So uh exactly.
SPEAKER_01Although I guess we will talk about some of those, but uh, you know, look, it's it's 2016. That'll be a year that has gone by sooner or later.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so today we're we're just talking about a few, you know, our mid-year recap. I noticed that every June we have had an abnormal episode, I would say. So why not just continue the trend? And also like things we've just been busy lately and we've it's been hard to put like uh games together, but we'll we'll manage. We'll have something next month for sure. But today we're just gonna talk about some of the games that we've played up to this point in the year, some of the games that have just kind of made a lot of noise, whether we played them or not, and kind of look forward to the future a little bit, and maybe talk about some of the hot button issues this year, which have um, you know, unsurprisingly mostly been like AI related, but we'll we'll get there. Um so you know, I think we'll start with some of the highlights of the games that you and I have played together. And one of those has
Game of the Year Contender - Slay the Spire 2
SPEAKER_00been Slay the Spire 2, which I think both of us were completely caught off guard. How damn fun this is, not just as a game, but as a co-op experience.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I never played Slay the Spire. I never played the original. I knew about it, I knew it was like a deck builder and everything, but I never actually got to play any of it, and that's mostly just my own. Like, I think I even own it. I just never downloaded it and played it. Humble Bundle, I'm sure. But this was so much fun and still is fun. I mean, I haven't played it in the last like month, but I know you and Connor are still playing regularly. I know you've been playing with other family members.
SPEAKER_00Like, he's still sending us clips like every day of him fishing.
SPEAKER_01Every day it's just a new clip of Connor like fighting some boss as the silent and doing some crazy shit. Um because the what I loved about this going into it is you only have five characters, but every single one of them can be built so differently just within itself. Like you can build each character in three different ways with the way that you're collecting cards and like building out your deck as you go through these runs. And there's so many options that I was really impressed by.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and for those who aren't familiar, it's like Austin said, it is it is a deck builder, it is a roguelite, it is, I guess, yeah, you could call it you do unlock more stuff. You don't really unlock like permanent passive upgrades unless you just include the fact that some of the relics you unlock seem to be better than some of the ones you start with.
SPEAKER_01But but but you're not guaranteed to get those in the run. So I would say it I would say it qualifies more as a roguelike than a roguelite overall.
SPEAKER_00Like with a K. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Yes. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00It it's a lot of fun though. You know, you pick you pick five different characters and that determines the types of cards that you get as you progress through the combat encounters. And the way it worked in the first one is, you know, enemies are across from you. You you draw your cards, you always get a preview of what the enemy is gonna do. And what the co-op does for the second game is you you always everyone in your party always gets hit by the enemy each turn. So you're sort of managing your own health and blocking, but then the opponent has health, like I guess a multiplier based on how many people you're fighting. So I'm pretty sure it's straight up like their base health value multiplied by how many people are in the game. And I think there's probably like a couple slight, you know, variations in there to keep it interesting, but it's really well balanced. We've had a great time with it. Uh, like you were mentioning, I played it with both my brother and my sister, not at the same time, because I would never play it. But no way. Um, I don't think though I can say there's any game out there that I have played co-op with both my brother and my sister at some point. So it's it's really had a large appeal. Um, unless you're a Chinese streamer, apparently, because there's just been this huge controversy with them like review bombing it. It's crazy. If you go to Steam, it's like upper 80% liked English reviews and then like 40 something otherwise. Um, just some controversy with like them changing boss mechanics in early access or something. But overall, man, I just it could easily end up being my game of the year. I've just had such such a blast with it.
SPEAKER_01I definitely think it's my front runner right now for game of the year. It just completely caught me off guard. I think what makes this such an interesting co-op experience is that it almost functions as a single-player experience that you're playing with friends until you start including like the colorless cards and the things that let you manipulate your allies. Like, I can give you more shield if I get shield. And like that just completely changes how you think about building out these decks based on a single player run. Because it's like, do I want to emphasize helping my allies as much as I can versus boosting my own abilities? So, like, there's so many cool options in builds that I've I've been really impressed by what you can do no matter which character you are.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and there's there's some things in there where, you know, there's there's obviously just like you can coordinate, like, oh, hey, you have a vulnerable, why don't you use that first before I attack so I can do more damage, etc. But then if you stack the same character, sometimes there's stuff that's just like, you know, there's the necromancer and you have this little hand called Osti, which is which is fun, a little bone hand. And it'll be like all characters get 10 extra health for Astie, which if you're not playing as the necromancer, you just get like kind of a little one-time hand that'll shield 10 damage for you. But of course, if you are playing as the necromancer, that just buffs yours, which you're already building around. And so stacking classes for the whole party can actually be really, really fun and not feel like you're like competing with each other in a way that you don't want to, right, for certain resources or whatever else. Um, but then it's also fun to pick like four or five different party members and just go through all the different uh versatile things that each one does, you know, and each each character itself can be built in so many different ways, right? For instance, there's the silent, who's like this kind of ninja who, man, you can make her have a bunch of poison focused stuff, or you could make her have the ability to just throw like 80,000 kunai every turn for free, or you can have her do stuff where she does like uh she has a thing called Sly. So it's like if you discard a card with Sly, you play it for free. And and every class seems to have more than one way to build itself. So there's just such an endless combination. And uh, yeah, man, I I was really impressed with with how fun this game has been to play with just like any amount of people.
SPEAKER_01I love that every character has like a very unique mechanic tied around it too. Like the regent has the floating sword thing and it's its entire extra resource that you can build with the stars, and then you know, the what's the what's the robot dude called the defect? Yeah, the the defect has like six different orb types that you can build around. It's like and you would think this could be really complicated, and like it can be at initial like glance, but once you start experimenting and trying things out, it's so easy to get a build that like feels really good to use, and you end up just rocking.
SPEAKER_00You're like, yes, like yeah, and then there's little ascensions as you clear it. You know, each time you clear the map, you can like go to ascension one, which makes like more elites spawn or something, and then the next ones are like little you have less potions and get less gold, and just kind of little modifiers to make it harder, and that really puts like a challenge on it and keeps it interesting. And um, there's the daily runs, which just have crazy modifiers, and you can like mix and match characters' card sets, just truly an a very surprising amount of depth for in content for like an early access title. And um, I mean it doesn't, you know, it feels early access in that there's some stuff that they're clearly not done with, but it doesn't feel early access in that it felt like you didn't get a complete game when you purchased it. I mean, there's so much game there already, and uh yeah, I what is else is there to say me? I've just I've loved this game so far.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it's it's clearly my front runner for game of the year, and I I don't know of too much that'll overtake it for me. So it's definitely high in the running.
SPEAKER_00Wait, you're not uh super anticipating GTA 6 to the year.
SPEAKER_01We'll we'll get there. We'll get there.
SPEAKER_00So another game that probably the only other game that we've played together a lot this year is uh
Bungie's Tough Year - Marathon/Destiny 2
SPEAKER_00Marathon. And that I wouldn't say we played that one quite as much as we've played Slay the Spire. I think we fell off of that one.
SPEAKER_01Certainly not.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, we fell off that one a little quicker. Uh also, you know, like most of the people who bought Marathon to have Fallen All. It's fun though, I gotta say. Like we when we were playing it, we were having a pretty good time. So for those who don't know, that's Bungie's new like live service extraction shooter. Um it's got a really weird aesthetic. It's like dystopian sci-fi, and it doesn't I I don't know, it definitely doesn't have the same flavor as like Destiny does. And for some people that works, for some people it doesn't, it makes everything feel weird to me. Like I think, particularly the menus, have felt so strange. Um, you know, you get used to them pretty quick, but initially I was like, oh my god, these are all an eyesore, and I do wonder if that has something to do with the way people have bounced off or just not attached.
SPEAKER_01It definitely feels like a like a retro cyberpunk type vibe where it's like it it harkens back to an older time while still trying to be futuristic in a way, uh, which kind of works for me. I like it at times, but other times I'm like, uh yeah, this does kind of look ugly to look at. Um I have really enjoyed that game when we played it, but I also don't have a strong desire to go back to it. Like, compared to Arc Raiders, which we did play for a little while, I found myself more intrigued by Marathon. And I think it's just because the guns felt a little better to use for for me. Like, I really like the way Bungie creates gunplay mechanics, they feel sharper and snappier, and like I just feel more engaged when I'm shooting. But I just don't think I can get into like extraction mechanics. They don't they don't do it for me. The the idea of like do this run, collect a bunch of stuff, escape, and then run it again. I don't know. It doesn't give me like this the same sense of satisfaction that I think it gives a lot of other people. And I feel like we always would just get absolutely demolished by other people. But then most of the time the the PvE elements, like the the AI enemies, aren't super difficult. So it's like this weird balance of I'm not getting enough of a challenge when I'm fighting the AI enemies, but then I'm getting crushed by the player enemies, and I don't really know how to compromise those two for me.
SPEAKER_00One of the things I found interesting about Arc Raiders is because so many of the PvE things in that game are so difficult, particularly the larger ones, and it's really difficult to take them out by yourself until you get a lot of gear built up. There's this cooperation with strangers element that comes through, and people want to talk on the proximity chat. And man, there have been just the dumbest like armchair psychoanalyzing going on in the subreddit for that thing about how like certain people just psychopaths because they want to engage in PvP, but uh it just created a very interesting tension to it, where every time you'd meet someone, you'd kind of talk to them, and then it's like, are they gonna shoot me in the back? I really was hoping Marathon would have something like that, but because none of the AI is as difficult to kill, or I mean, there's some stuff that's hard because it's like a unit will spawn with a ton of health and armor or whatever, but it's just it's not like a big monstrosity that takes up a huge part of the map and is like uh gonna blast you with one hit. No one talks to each other in that game. Every single person we came across in Marathon, it was kill on site. Like they started shooting first, or we started shooting first. There's there's proximity chat. I don't think we ever used it.
SPEAKER_01Um and nobody used it for us either. It's like anybody tried to reach out to us as we were approaching, like, hey, don't shoot. Like it was always like on site. Like, yeah.
SPEAKER_00So the two very different approaches. I think Marathon hoped it would have something similar going on like that, like Arc Raiders does, because that's why the proximity chat is in the game. In none of our playthroughs or our batches did we ever experience it anything like that. Um, there's there's some interesting stuff going on in there with um, there's like the different classes you can pick that have different abilities. You know, ArcGraters doesn't exactly have that. You can, there's like the rook, which is like a solo only one. It's kind of meant for like going in and salvaging stuff and getting out and avoiding people. So there's like a whole different approach it took. It just seems like uh if they were expecting anything to happen with the Proxy Money chat, they're probably disappointed because nothing is. And just overall, people have been kind of the the retention wasn't high, if I recall right. Like there's like 1.2 million sales initially, but then it's fallen below like 80,000 concurrent players on Steam. And um, just doesn't seem like people are really sticking around for it, including us. I I wish them the best. We might check it out again for season two. I mean, we all still own the game.
SPEAKER_01I was about to say, season two is launching soon, I believe. I think they said they were ready to do like their full recycle, and and every, you know, I think everybody being on the same page again to start will be helpful, but it's just a matter of like, I don't know if the extraction genre is is something that is going to grab me and keep me hooked. Like, as much as I am bad at PvP, I really do like it, but I just feel like in this game there's so much like waiting to get to an encounter, and then you can just get crushed so fast, and there's just like nothing you can do about it. And so it gets kind of frustrating.
SPEAKER_00Well, while we're on the topic of bungee, they have been in the news for another reason, and that's that, you know, what is arguably their greatest success since Halo, Destiny 2, is being sunset. They have basically announced that, like, hey, you know, obviously the game, we're not antheming it, it's still going to be available to play, but we're done with updates. And it's it's almost like tragic in a way, because I know there's a lot of people who really thought the last couple of expansions were good. The, you know, particularly the one that kind of wrapped up the main story, was like thought uh uh received very well. And this is kind of what Bungie has been known for is the Destiny franchise ever since they moved away from Halo and you know started their own thing and were bought by Sony. And it's just like, I don't think Destiny 3 is on the horizon. There's been no real news about it. I think Jason Schreier, you know, I almost said friend of the show, um, icon of the show, hero of the show. Source of the show. Deference of the show. Yeah, source of the show is probably a good way to put it. He he did a video recently talking about how they're they're not making it. Like, not to say they would never, but they're not currently working on it. And it's just because like the whole era of gaming publishers investing hundreds of millions of dollars into live services is starting to die down because it's just too expensive to do those, and they have been massively risky. Like everyone thinks they're gonna be the next Fortnite. You're lucky if you're the next Destiny 2. And while Destiny 2 did pretty well, Sony paid so much money for Bungie in that acquisition that they really haven't been able to recoup their investment. So it's like in that standpoint, it's still been disappointing for them. And then Marathon hasn't been what they hoped it was, and it's just like, man, uh it is interesting to see over these next couple years, or we get to see nearly as many like live service things come out and be funded. I'm guessing no.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, Schreier had said something interesting in that video that he did, kind of talking about the the sunsetting of Destiny 2, and he he said like he hadn't been playing Destiny 2 lately, but it was something that he always felt would be there that he could just kind of go back to and like would be getting updates. And that's kind of how I felt about Destiny as well. I mean, for how how old is the original Destiny now? Like 10 years old? Maybe even a little older at the spot. Yeah, I think a little older. Like it's it's been such a staple and such a you know thing that's been around. And I beat the original, like the the I guess the first main chunk of Destiny 2, not the not the any of the expansions or anything, but I beat the original Destiny 2 campaign and had a good time with it, and then never went back to it, because I just I can't keep up with five service games. But but it it it felt like a modern day equivalent of something like a wow or a Final Fantasy XIV or something that would just be there and keep getting updates and keep developing and growing into something bigger. And for it to be officially like we're done supporting this game is a really crazy thing to think about for as long as that series has kind of had a staple in the industry.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it's you know, Trier was talking about how the original Destiny, under Activision, they basically gave him like 500 million and we're like, the plan is one year destiny, next year Destiny expansion, next year Destiny 2. Yeah after that. And that was kind of the pattern. It didn't really work out that way. It took them so long to get Destiny 2 going. And then under Activision, uh, or under Bobby Kotick, Kodak, uh, Activision was like all obsessed with the yearly releases, right? That was the way they wanted to do things. But Bungie was really thinking, no, like we want to be more of this live service thing. We want it to be Destiny, maybe eventually we'll have a Destiny 2, but we want to put out a lot of content. We want people like attached to these characters and everything else. And that was part of kind of their divide and why they ended up splitting from them, but they were unable to retain a player base that allowed them to like generate the kind of revenues that Sony was looking for after buying them. And I think part of that was just being unable to get new players in. As like a longtime player of various MMOs is very difficult to master the onboarding process for new players when you have a continuous story over a decade, continuous game mechanics and upgrades and stuff. And it seems like Destiny 2 struggled with that. I know we tried to play it together with Connor a couple years back, and the story just made no sense because they were so much that it was skipping and trying to catch you up with, and it just felt like the gameplay was a lot of fun. I mean, if if one thing's Bungie's amazing at, it's it's their gunplay, right? But everything else around the game just felt so confusing and so unapproachable for for like new players.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I think that's a big reason that I never hopped back onto the destiny train. Like we we tried that one time, and like you said, it was fun, and it never got brought up again. Like none of us were like, Yeah, let's let's maybe boot up Destiny 2 again. It was just kind of after that one play session, was kind of like, okay, like that was Destiny. We're not gonna do that again. And I imagine a lot of people felt similar. We'll try it, but it's it's just so far gone now. It's it's the reason that I don't jump into any MMOs, right? Like, I tried to play Final Messy 14, couldn't get into that. Like, it's just it's so much so much time you have to sink in at this point to catch up to everybody else's that it it feels overwhelming. It's like this is a thing that I needed to jump on 10 years ago and I didn't, so now it's it's past me. And I I think that's probably what they're experiencing with Destiny 2 here, and and it's a shame because you know, I think there's some real concern about Bungie's future and what they as a company are going to do, because like Marathon not doing as well as they hoped, Destiny 2 being sunset, like do they make a smaller experience, maybe something that's single player again with less budget, or you know, is Sony going to I I think Schreier said they were looking at like major staff reduction at Bungie potentially. So it's like, you know, what is what is the future of such an iconic company in the industry look like? And it's sad to see.
SPEAKER_00Ultimately, it was nowhere near the failure for Sony that Concord was. Um, so you know, it's it again, like Destiny 2 sold well. It's just they were expecting it to do way bigger numbers given the price they paid for Bungie, which was like almost three and a half billion dollars right now. It's a lot of money, dude. Yeah, which sure is nothing compared to the like 69 billion Microsoft bought Activision 4 or whatever, but you know, that was because there were so many other studios and stuff under that umbrella, right? Like three three and a half for one studio for really one game, let's be honest. Right. It basically just destiny, like but uh speaking of games that flopped as hard as Concord, um, another thing that you and I tried to play together this year
The Short Lived Shooter - Highguard
SPEAKER_00was Highguard, the the infamous High Guard. Uh, you know, it was announced at the Game Awards end of last year, kind of out of nowhere. It got that that big teaser trailer. It wasn't like the last spot or the covenant spot.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it was that spot where everybody was waiting for like Half-Life 3, and it ended up being this like weird 3v3. Uh I don't even know how to describe what High Guard's gameplay was like, but this like weird 3v3 shooter thing, and it just was not what people were expecting from that spot at the game awards.
SPEAKER_00Dude, part of why it's so hard to describe what Highguard's gameplay was like is because it seemed to just be this amalgamation of every competitive shooter genre you had ever touched before. Like, I mean, I remember the matches start off, and I think you're doing something from Rainbow Six Siege. I haven't actually played that, but that's what everyone was comparing it to. And it felt so weird. It was like you have like 40 walls in your base, and it's like, pick four of them to make stronger. It's like, why even fucking bother? They're just gonna go around them. Like it felt so strange. And then there's like this minute and a half before the match really starts where you can go out to like loot these chests and mine this ore to like build up a currency and get better guns and and armor, but you can still, if you run into the other players, you can still attack them, but you can't really do the objective yet. Then then the objective starts and it's like this sort of capture the flag deal, but when you bring it back to the other person's base, you get to like then do a base assault. So it was like it was like Unreal Tournament and Counter Strike and Rainbow Stitch and Halo and and just all of these things blended together, but not really in a way where it felt like it was doing any of them better than the ones you'd experienced before.
SPEAKER_01And I think I think part of that is just you never had enough time to do anything. Like the the matches did not last. Long enough to make it feel like any of these particular phases were effective. Like it the first phase when you're like reinforcing your walls, you can get that done in like 20 seconds. So then you're just like walking around in circles until the gate opens. But then you don't have enough time to really mine anything or find any like great resources because the objective's coming up and you have to go position yourself there to collect the the objective crystal thing, the the flag. Yeah. And then the the base attack, like it was so hard to defend. It it was a struggle for sure for that game to come together in a way that made a lot of sense.
SPEAKER_00It was like you both felt like you were waiting around forever for something to happen and that you didn't have time to breathe. Like it's somehow to make you feel under pressure despite nothing happening around you. And it just felt it just felt so unsatisfying all of the time.
SPEAKER_01Like there was we had a couple good runs, I think. We did. There was a couple runs where like everything worked the way it was supposed to. Like, I think the way that the high guard devs envisioned it, like it worked that way. And when it did, it it felt fun. Like I actually enjoyed a couple rounds we played, particularly once we went to PS5 and turned off crossplay, because like there is no aim assist in this game.
SPEAKER_00It's just like Dude, I don't understand this. This this whole thing was from the Apex Legends devs or whatever it was, right? Yeah, or from some devs from Apex Legends, I should say. But Apex Legends and Titanfall and all these other games that are supposed to be like associated with the studio or members of the studio, had pretty generous auto aim if you played on a controller. And so you could crossplay relatively okay. I mean, obviously, people with mouse and keyboard always dominate to some degree. But with Highguard, first off, there was no auto game if auto aim if you plugged in a controller whatsoever. You could not match make based off of input type like you can with the modern Halos and Call of Duties, right? Then when you go to PS4, crossplay is on by default, despite the fact that none of this auto aim exists. It was like the default experience was miserable. Like you had to go into settings. And let's not even get started on what you had to do to play this fucking game on PC. Because, like, what was it, the secure system boot you had to do with Windows 11?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, you had to like literally go into your bio settings, secure boot, like so many red flags. Yeah, it was all for like anti-cheat stuff, but like, man, was not worth it because the game wasn't fun enough to cheat in anyway.
SPEAKER_00Like, and then the characters' abilities felt so out of whack with each other's. It seems like some were really used to one others were like, you know, a little eagle that tells them where they are. Like, I know where they are, they're always shooting at me. Right. It's and I don't know. I'm not it's it's weird because I'm sure there were some people who were really good at the game and could really make really good use out of all the different mechanics, and maybe they were more familiar with Rainbow Six Siege, so it's like, oh, I know exactly where at what walls I need to protect. But good God, dude. Um, the nine out of ten times we played this, I just felt like I didn't know what we were doing and we were getting stomped. And other than that, like one time where we made that awesome comeback by like blowing up their main generator, uh, which always made me wonder why you would bother with generator A and B anyway. And it just, yeah, dude, it was it was a strange game that was unintuitive with a strange presentation, with an art style that was like fine, but felt very generic, high fantasy, and didn't really kind of make itself stand out, particularly when you think about like how iconic Titanfall and Apex kind of look in their art style. And yeah, man, strange game. Not surprised that it basically shut down.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, there was some neat ideas there, but I think needless to say, it's not shocking that it no longer exists. Uh I don't think you can play it at all. Um Concorde lasted less time technically, but Highguard's pretty close. Like it lasted what, like two months maybe before it shut down.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, Concard didn't get a spot of the game awards, which was probably why people were so I think part of why Highguard was just regarded as so poor is that people were like, oh, well, you got like the spot at the game award, so you better have something to show for it. And the thing is like they really didn't, it was fine.
SPEAKER_01No, it wasn't egregious, but it was an interesting concept, and I and I think maybe in a in an industry that wasn't so overloaded with free-to-play, you know, character shooters or battle royales, or I mean there's hundreds of free-to-play games that you can play that are just better than High Guard, unfortunately. Like in a world where there weren't so many of them, maybe High Guard could have could have lasted a little longer, but there's just too many options that were better than High Guard.
SPEAKER_00There are so many games to play these days, and that is what makes it so difficult for all of these to stand out. And then what we're looking at the other day, you know, it's something like 68% of game revenue in the industry is tied up in the same like 12 games, so which is just madness, yeah. And like most of those games are games that came out 10 years ago or older at this point, which is just like it's like Fortnite, GTA 5, Roblox, Minecraft. That's like 40% of gaming revenue, right?
SPEAKER_01There, right, Call of Duty, like which, you know, new games, I guess, maybe, but they're basically the same. Come on.
SPEAKER_00And I do think these companies are starting to realize that like there is there is way more of a market for just really good single-player games that make an impact and and are and feel unique and fresh and satisfying, and they can go viral with TikTok clips and stuff. And I know you played one of them. I know you really had a good time with Pokemon.
Building a Life in Pokopia
SPEAKER_00Pocopia?
SPEAKER_01Pokopia, yes. Yeah, I love I love Pocopia. I did not expect to get as obsessed with this as I did, but it's it's basically like Animal Crossing meets Dragon Quest builders, meets a little bit of Minecraft like building mechanics, and the the idea is you play as a Ditto, and you are the humans are gone. They've they've been like exterminated from the Pokemon world. There's been like a mass casualty event of all humans. So you play as this ditto who takes the form of his old trainer, so you're like the only human like figure in the game, and you go around and you go to these different locations and talk with other Pokemon and basically bring the environment up to like a modern standard so that Pokemon will come visit you and like inhabit the land again. Because it's all desolate and like everything's you know ruined, so you're trying to rebuild the world essentially and have Pokemon come visit you, and this that there's this sort of flow to the game that you get into where it's come to this new area and talk to there's a there's a tangrowth, the evolution of Tangela from Jin 1, right? And this Tangrowth is he's a professor, and he basically gives you objectives in the area, which is like help us rebuild um a habitat for Charmander to come, so then you like you'll plant a tree and you get different abilities as did it. So you can like water the grass, you can cut down trees, it's all the HMs basically. Um like you can cut, you can move boulders, etc. etc. And you're doing this to kind of build environments for your Pokemon to come visit. And as you build up this area, you get more and more options. Like, okay, now I can build a furnace, and I can, you know, put sand into the furnace, and I'll get glass out of it. And now I can use this glass to make a bigger building or a better building. And so there's this like flow to making the world the this like new place, you get new Pokemon that can do different things, and you learn different abilities from them. And it's it's hard to really explain the appeal of it without getting into it. But if if you've ever enjoyed the Animal Crossing type of game, the the idea of kind of doing mundane tasks, but in a way that's gamified, like this game does it better than anyone I've played before.
SPEAKER_00There's something to be said to the like for the cozy game sort of feel.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Very, very much in that realm of the cozy game sort of vibe.
SPEAKER_00There's there's something satisfying about doing, you know, virtual chores instead of the ones that like around your house, right? Um Yeah, there's some there's something satisfying about that, and and that's really what I've been doing a lot in my in my spare time this year, is because I haven't had quite as much time to play a lot of the single-player games I wanted to. But my wife and I have been playing a lot of these kind of cozy games. She really likes them. You know, she's played, I don't know how many hours of like power wash simulator. And so we've grabbed a couple of those to play. And one we were messing with was called
Probing People in Roadside Research
SPEAKER_00roadside research. And it, you know, it's an early access thing. But basically, you are aliens that run a gas station/slash convenience store, but the whole spin is that you are trying to like gather data about humans to report back to like the mothership. So while you're doing something that's very much like supermarket simulator, you know, you're pumping people's gas and you're stocking up your shelves and you're ringing them up at checkout, you're also like trying to take pictures of them and video of them doing certain tasks without them seeing you. And then you can install, like, oh, this just looks like a little, you know, inflatable tube man thing, but it's actually sending out like mind waves that make them want to spend more money on higher priced items. And the more you do these things and like it increases a meter where basically the men in black show up and try to bust you. And so you have to kind of balance like all these things and make sure that you're not getting caught, you know, eventually you're like anally probing people with this gun to get like data from them. And and it's funny, like you can, and you know, you get a bonus for doing it to the men in black, and it's it's really, really goofy. Like the aesthetic is so over the top and silly. But it was a lot of fun to just try to like unlock new items to put in the store and then unlock new alien technologies, and then you know, each day you're feeling like riskier and riskier, like, oh man, today's the day I'm gonna like probe the men in black as it comes up, right? Right. So like I got her over there trying to distract the other one while I like sneak in the back, and there's all these goofy mini games you have to do if they catch you. And it's just like a lot of fun. It is ultimately one of those things where um, because it's an early access, after like the fourth time we played it, it was kind of, well, you know, I think we've we kind of feel like we've done sort of all there is to do. But it's just, it's so fun to play those games, and it they're really approachable for someone like her who doesn't necessarily play really hardcore games, then someone like me who, you know, I'm not like I've beaten Dark Souls three times kind of hardcore, but someone who does like to play games a lot and harder games a lot of the times and more in-depth games a lot of the times, it still feels like there's a lot there and it's satisfying. And uh, yeah, man, I've just been playing a lot of those and um roadside research. I would I would give that one like a big recommendation if you got 20 bucks to spare and you just want to have like a goofy weekend with your with your gamer wife to um run run the alien gas station.
SPEAKER_01That actually sounds really funny. Like I didn't know anything about that. I don't know anything about any of these games that you have listed here. This will be interesting to hear about. Um, but that that actually sounds like a lot of fun. Um but speaking
Dying a Lot in Saros
SPEAKER_01of hardcore games, uh Soros, uh the the kind of spiritual successor of Returnal.
SPEAKER_00That's right.
SPEAKER_01Yes. Did you you played Returnal, right? You you hated the you hated the the triggers on Returnal.
SPEAKER_00Returnal is the reason I turned off those trigger things in my PlayStation controller and have never put them back on. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01Um so I I remember really liking Returnal because I played it when it first came out, and I just I got just defeated so bad by that game so quickly. Like I never made it past the second boss. It's hard. It's so tough. Uh but right when when Saros was coming out, it's the same devs, right? Same, it's it's the spiritual successor. So it's not an actual sequel, but like very similar, like bullet hell type um mechanics, uh, the same rogue elements to it. But this one was being billed as more of a roguelite and a little bit more accessible than Returnal, which was like roguelike bullet hell, run through everything every time. Good luck. Like that it was so hard to get any sort of meta progression in Returnal. It was just like, hope you learned how to beat this boss because you're gonna have to go through everything again and hope you can beat it. But but Saros has much more of an emphasis on the meta progression between runs. It has like a teleporter where you can start in later biomes, like from the beginning, so you don't have to run through the entire game every time. Um the the bullet hell stuff is still there, it's really hard. You still get hit really hard per hit, the the bosses are tough, like all that is still there, but it is infinitely more accessible to me because you're gaining a resource every time that you can then spin when you finish a run. You can go spin that resource to like boost your health, uh, you can boost the the like level of your weapons when you start, you can boost how efficient uh you you gain this resource so that you can get more of it and and buy more upgrades and stuff. So, like a lot more of a of a progression, uh, of a meta progression each level versus returnal, which was just like go through and and run this thing. And I think that has made Saros much more approachable for me, and I've I've enjoyed that much more than Returnal. And I and there's been people who say, like, oh, Saros is just as hard as Returnal, blah. Some people have even said it's harder. That's crazy to me. Like, Soros is infinitely more accessible than Returnal, uh, just on the fact that you don't have to run the entire thing every time. Like you can start at whatever biome you were last at, and that makes such a huge difference to me.
SPEAKER_00I'm kind of with you that I I do tend to like the the rogue likes more than the no, sorry, the lights more than the likes, the t's more than the k's. Um which is not to say that like the case can't be fun. I really enjoyed Enter the Gungeon. Um, like the binding of Isaac is one that's you know always like a classic. When I think of something like Hades, what I always really liked about that is if you're good, you can still like get really far really early and be rewarded for kicking ass for being good. But ultimately, like it just lets people who are maybe not quite as good have a like ceiling of difficulty that slowly lowers. It it honestly kind of reminds me of like the way World of Warcraft used to do their raids back in the day, like Wrath of the Lich King, is it would launch and you know the boss had this much health and damage. But then it was like every week the boss did five percent less health and damage. And you can always talk with this off if you know you wanted the true challenge or whatever. But it was basically like if your guild is good and they're on top of their shit and they want to be world first, they have that ultimate challenge they can do and they can beat it in that first week or the second week, whatever it was. But then every few weeks for everyone else who wasn't, you know, being paid to play World of Warcraft, we could have we could have the boss with like 10% less health, and then a month later 20% less health, etc. You know, now they're they just have different ways of doing the difficulties, but that was it kind of reminds me of that where it's like roguelite-y in a way, because that all ultimately that skill ceiling, that difficulty ceiling is slowly lowering for you to accomplish the same thing. But if you're good enough to not need it, you can get there anyway. You know, I think maybe some are not as well designed to where it's like, oh man, if I if I don't beef up the meta progression, I literally can't beat this boss or whatever. But I think most of them have found a pretty good middle ground there. And I do like that kind of game a little more.
SPEAKER_01I was about to say, Soros definitely is the type of game where you can choose not to engage in the meta meta progression stuff and still be fine. Like you can do a run from the beginning every time if you want and never meta progress. And you could still beat it. I mean, people have done it, people have talked about it, especially like paternal veterans are like, oh yeah, like I ran through the game and beat it in four runs or whatever, and never bought a single upgrade, you know. And it's like, okay, you can do that, and that's good for you. But for me, I need those upgrades, and I've been trying to like run it a couple times, like run each area a couple times before buying a bunch of upgrades, just to get a feel for how difficult it is. And even then, I find it easier than Returnal. Returnal was brutal, man.
SPEAKER_00Some people just like that like 90s MMO difficulty, basically, where it's just like it is brutal, and if you're not willing to be up to the task, you're just you're not gonna get through it, and that's all there is to say.
SPEAKER_01Which is fine if that's the kind of game that you want to play, right? I mean, Dark Souls is infamous for that, and and having very little ways to to to lower the difficulty or get anything to make it easier. It's like you just figure it out. But that's never been my type of thing, and and that's why I've I've really gravitated towards Saros more than Returnal. And also, like the main character is played by Raoul Kohley, who I just I like him as an actor. He was an iZombie, if you've ever seen that like CW show iZombie.
SPEAKER_00I know of iZombie, actually.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I I watched all six seasons of iZombie. That show has uh very equality, but it's look, it's not as bad as Riverdale, is all I can say.
SPEAKER_00Oh my god, dude. We're we're in season four right now, and it's just like I I don't know if we're gonna make it. I don't know if we're gonna make it.
SPEAKER_01You won't, you won't. Again, once you once you drop off, I need to tell you what happens in season six.
SPEAKER_00We're trying. But see, I I don't want to go back to 99 in every way with my games, but one way that I have enjoyed going back to 99 is a game that my wife and I have been playing called Rewind
Running a Rental Store in Rewind 99
SPEAKER_0099. And it's another one of the.
SPEAKER_01That was a good that was a good transition. I got off one. Thank you.
SPEAKER_00I think it was maybe a little forced, but that's all right. I liked it. You run what is supposed to be like the last video rental store on Earth. So it's another very over-the-top, silly thing. It's another one of these cozy games. And the sort of thing here is that like Redbox, you know, it's not called Redbox, but it's Redbox, is like your competitor, and it's actually these like killer robots. So part of what you have to do while you're managing your store and hiring employees and stuff is go around and take a baseball bat to all of the red box machines, and you can get free inventory that way instead of having to pay for it. So you can basically rob the red box machines of the movies and then go stash them in your store. Uh, sometimes these little killer robots come after you with like a red box as a head and they're trying to kill you with bats. Um, there's like scooters that are you can ride around because it really just seems like they just put in a bunch of random, like horizontal slice level like things. There's not a ton of depth to it, but it's like, oh, here's our travel mechanic. Here's like, you know, this and that. And it's another game where after four or five times, it was like, okay, have we have we seen everything there is in this game? Maybe so. But it was really fun to run the last video rental store on Earth for four or five play sessions with your wife, and just uh, you know, the it had all the stuff she likes where it's like, oh, I want to arrange the store this way, and I want to run the self-checkout counter and I want to like decorate the things. And I'm like, yes, and I want to optimize like our layout to where people are getting snacks over here and then this movie over here. And then and then you can like people who don't bring their movie back, you can go hunt them down and like shake them down for a rental, like uh a late fee, right? That's funny. So it's it's really goofy, but it's a lot of fun. And we've we've just been having a lot of fun with these quote unquote cozy games. And um, I'm big into the Sims, the the management Sims lately.
SPEAKER_01About to say, the the management Sims seem to be your uh your cup of tea right now.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, the the Sims, the the management sims are fun because it's kind of like this alternate life, right? It's like I I don't want to do my life and my job, I want to do something that's just kind of goofy and like we're running a you know an alien gas station or the last rental store on earth, right? It's just a life that's a little stranger than mine and a little more out there.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, okay.
SPEAKER_01You can't even keep the straight face on that. All right. So I I'm gonna talk about Life is Strange
Reuniting with Dead Friends in Life is Strange Reunion
SPEAKER_01reunion.
SPEAKER_00I told you, I'm I'm I'm trying to force the segues way too hard, but no, no.
SPEAKER_01I mean, look, I can appreciate the attempt.
SPEAKER_00Okay, so I'll say this. I played the first Life is Strange, and I have not touched any of the other ones. Most of them have not involved Max, correct?
SPEAKER_01Correct. The the only Life is Strange that has involved Max past the first one was Double Exposure, which was the the previous one before this one.
SPEAKER_00Okay.
SPEAKER_01There was a like DLC kind of for the first one called Before the Storm. That one was like Chloe's story leading up to Life is Strange. So you played as Chloe in the like months leading up to Life is Strange.
SPEAKER_00That's right.
SPEAKER_01Double Exposure brought Max back, like, you know, five years after Arcadia Bay or 10 years, whatever. I don't know how exactly how long. It might even be that long, it might even just be like two or three years, but it's her, like, in she's a professor at this college in, I think, like Colorado. And uh that one started to kind of deal more with like other people having powers. You you had a friend that was like a shape shifter, and at the end of the game, she goes off to find more people with powers, and they were really setting up this thing coming into this new one, reunion. At the end of Double Exposure, they I was worried they were setting up almost like an X-Men style, like we're gonna have a bunch of people with powers and Professor X, Professor Max, you know, right. Yeah, exactly, right? Um, I was really worried about that. I was like, that is not what I want from Life is Strange. Like the focus of this series should not be about the powers, it should not be about like it's the relationships, it's the intermingling of Max or whoever your main character is, and the people in her community, and how the powers affect those relationships, and like how it affects you know her interactions with people, but not the powers themselves. And and so we
SPEAKER_00Indie soundtrack sprinkled throughout the indie music. Of course.
SPEAKER_01Of course. And and this game has that indie soundtrack sprinkled throughout. It's good soundtrack. Um and it goes away from what I was worried about with the powers thing. Instead, it it was really controversial, but it it brings Chloe back. And I think the way it does that, it does it pretty well because it treats it as like the the end events of double exposure. Max kind of is faced with a similar choice that she had at the end of the first game. And instead of picking one, you kind of break time and pull your new friend, her name's Safi. You pull Safi out of this weird universe where she's stuck and like has to make this choice. You you choose not to do that and like pull her out of this weird parallel universe and save her life. Uh what this does is it it kind of breaks time and it causes the two timelines at the end of Life is Strange to meld together. So like Chloe, whether you save Tor, whether you saved her or you saved Arcadia Bay, it created two separate timelines. When this game it brings Chloe from whichever timeline like you choose at the beginning of the game, whether you saved Arcadia Bay or saved Chloe, you can pick which one you did. Okay. And then it it brings the Chloe from the opposite world kind of back into like if you saved Arcadia Bay, it brings Chloe from the timeline where you save Chloe, it brings her into this timeline. And if you save Chloe, it it brings in like Arcadia Bay, essentially, or you know, you just kind of continue your life with Chloe into this new world. So you get to interact with Chloe. And I think the choosing the Arcadia Bay, like saving Arcadia Bay, makes this so much more interesting because you have to deal with like Chloe discovering that she doesn't survive in the like real timeline, right? But like she is from an alternate universe where she doesn't survive and Max didn't save her, and so there's some good drama there that that you get out of Chloe and Max. All in all, I I think Life is Stranger Union is okay. Um all the interactions with Chloe and Max are really good. It it feels like a continuation of that dynamic in the first game, but a lot of the stuff surrounding it, like there's like this fire that's happening, and you're trying to figure out who set the fire and like what is because like at the beginning of the game, there's a fire, and then you use a photo to go back in time to the like two days before the fire. So now you're trying to discover who set this fire, what happened, how do you stop it. You know, the fire is gonna kill you and all your friends, or whatever, it's gonna burn down the school that you're at. How do you stop it? I I found like the overarching story around that fire to be not nearly as engaging as the personal dynamics between Chloe and Max's new friend Safi and Max herself, and like all their interplay there is much more engaging than the overall story, but it's worth it just for those moments of Max and Chloe again and like having that interaction. But it's not gonna go in like the Hall of Fame for me or anything. It will be it will be a decent sequel to Life is Strange that plays with some interesting ideas with Max and Chloe, and and that's about it. I probably won't revisit this one like I would be willing to revisit the original.
SPEAKER_00And the original, you know, it does such a good job of not only doing all the interpersonal relationship stuff, but the main plot is pretty intriguing with, you know, Mr. Jefferson and the the missing student and everything. Would you say so, like one of my favorite things about the first game is the ending and how just, you know, I mean, save Arcadia Bay and then the other one's like whatever. But that one, it's just so emotional. There's like the funeral scene, and it just feels like so final in its ending. Do you think any of that is kind of undercut by bringing Chloe back? Like, does it feel worth bringing Chloe back for this new game? Or does it feel like, I don't know, it kind of takes away from the original one a little bit?
SPEAKER_01It it didn't for me, because I think what's interesting about bringing Chloe back is that you're having she's having to deal with the fallout of those things by like having to accept that she's dead. And a lot of the game deals with that of like she's in this weird limbo where she's like phasing out of reality and losing time because she's in this weird limbo where she's actually dead, so so it's like she's in this like weird limbo space. Um so it's like she's having to deal with those those losses, and there's this moment where Chloe is having to reflect on what happened to her mom, and like how her mom has been dealing with her loss. And so it's like you get to see those elements, and I think that makes it worth it to explore this, because you're not just ignoring the fact that she died, you're you're dealing with the fact that she died and how she would react to that and and how that would affect her and her other family and friends and her life before. So I I think there is something worth there, something to pull out of that. But I can also see an argument where like this this whole game wasn't necessary, you know? Like Life is Strange could have just stuck as the singular experience that it is, and maybe it would be better for that. But there is some cool stuff that is pulled out of here. It does suck that the original Chloe voice actress isn't there, like Ashley Birch does not do the voice. Oh. And it does take a little bit of adjusting, but I do think the new voice actor does a good enough job that like you'll get over it pretty quick.
SPEAKER_00So the next game I want I
Feeling Disappointed in Reanimal
SPEAKER_00I played was another one with my wife, and this one is not a cozy game. Uh have you have you played Little Nightmares?
SPEAKER_01I am familiar, but I haven't played it.
SPEAKER_00So I think it was after the second one. The original Dev Studios like split apart from their publisher, and Little Nightmares 3 was like a different studio, and so this is what they have been working on. And it's I think intended to be co-op. Um it Little Nightmares and this and Reanimal, they're they're probably pretty similar. I've only seen like gameplay footage of of my wife playing Little Nightmares, but it's like kind of a horror thing, and you're you know, it's like a uh whatever's the opposite of a power fantasy, right? It's like you there's these things that kill you, and there's monsters, and you're trying to escape them. And I think the whole gimmick in Little Nightmares is like, that's actually the humans or whatever. But Reanimal has been, I think, kind of disappointing for us. I didn't really have a whole lot of expectations because I didn't really play Little Nightmares, but Becca said it's just like everything is very hard to read on the screen, and you just spend so much time going through these sort of running away set pieces, and it doesn't feel like the puzzles are as interesting to solve. And the the co-op element, like it doesn't seem to be as integral to the gameplay as you would hope. Like there doesn't seem to be a whole lot going on where it's like you have to work together. Um, I do think it is like a forced co-op game, right? Like, I'm not even sure there's a single player version. I could be wrong about that.
SPEAKER_01Like a split fiction kind of thing. Yeah. Almost it takes two, okay.
SPEAKER_00But it just doesn't, it just does not feel like we are as as necessary for each other as we should be. And in fact, a lot of the times it just became like, uh, you got me killed again. I guess we'll we'll play this section over. And I'm not, and don't get me wrong, it was me every time, right? Right. It wasn't like she was so much better at this, she's played these games. But it just, it wasn't something we played more than a couple times. We actually found it a little disappointing. I think the a lot of the reception around it has been similar, where it's like, yeah, you know, it's not quite Little Nightmares. And uh Little Nightmares 3, a different studio, but also went co-op. And so it wasn't like since Little Nightmares 3 ends up getting out before Reanimal, it wasn't even like we could rest, uh, you know, we could say, oh, well, at least we now have a unique experience where it's little nightmares, but co-op, we haven't seen that yet. Well, Little Nightmares 3 got out first. So yeah, overall, just a little disappointing. Um, I would I would much rather have spent that time just going back to Rewind 99 or roadside research. It it also might not help that we're sitting, you know, those other two games we're playing in our PC, we're in front of our monitor. Reanimal we're trying to play on this PlayStation, and maybe I just need like a bigger TV, maybe I need better prescription on my glasses. I'm not sure. But the whole game is so fucking dark, and like it's supposed to be dark, but it's just it's so unreadable to me so much of the time. And half the time I'm dying in these chase sequences, it's like, oh, I just couldn't tell I could hop on that platform, I just couldn't tell I could go down that path. And yeah, I don't know, not probably of all the games I'm going to talk about that her and I have played, the the least enjoyable of them, I think.
SPEAKER_01It it's interesting you say that is Re-animal like it's like 3D platformer-esque, like it's not not a platformer, but like in that same kind of vein. Sort of, yeah. It's it's not like as focused on precision jumps and stuff, I imagine. No, no, no, no. Yeah, so it's interesting you say that's your your disappointment because my disappointment is in a similar vein. Uh oh, yes. I have not enjoyed
Sliding Around in Super Meat Boy 3D
SPEAKER_01Super Meat Boy 3D as much as I would have liked to have.
SPEAKER_00Um I know you love Super Meat Boy, like we've talked about that so many times.
SPEAKER_01I love Super Meat Boy, I think it's one of the best 2D platformers to come out of the sort of indie platformer renaissance that's happened. I think it's one of the best. I mean, the quick respawns, the like super precision jumping, the the really brutal level design. All of that is technically in Super Meat Boy 3D, but it just doesn't translate to 3D as well as I would have hoped. And I really like 3D platformers in general. I mean, I love Mario Galaxy, I I like a lot of the like Jack and Daxter type games, and and 3D platformers in general are something that I I tend to like, but the the really hyper precise and like brutal level design of Super Meat Boy does not translate well to 3D in my experience. It's really hard to make some of the jumps because you're slippery, right? I mean that you're you're still a blob of meat. So you still slide on walls and stuff, but it's still it's still expecting that really precise jumping that you had in the 2D space, but it's so easy to just like slide off a wall or miss like misplace where you you think you're jumping, but then you can't tell the shadows very well, so you're just like falling into pits that that you really think you should be making the jump, or you over jump by a lot because it's hard to place yourself in this 3D space. Whereas like with a 2D game, right, you can you hit the wall and like that's it, you know. Then you can bounce off that wall and go the opposite direction or climb up or whatever, but here it's so easy to just like fly off the handle and like get sent into oblivion, and I I just don't find it very very precise, and the level design is not as sharp as it is in those other games because there's so much more space that you're kind of working with. Uh it's harder to create that really that really defined sense of because these games are meant to be played so quickly, like the goal is always to finish level super fast, and you're supposed to be running at full speed and everything. Yeah, yeah. It's so easy to just like fly off the handle and and end up in a completely wrong spot. And you can kind of slow down and take it slower, but a lot of jumps you have to be sprinting to clear the jump. So it's like it wants you to play it super fast, but it isn't precise enough, I feel like, to do that. So it's been disappointing for me. The there were a couple levels that I really felt like, ah, this feels really cool, and then I'd get to another level where I was like, I don't feel like I'm bad at this, I feel like the game is not letting me be good at it.
SPEAKER_00I can definitely see that because yeah, part of the appeal with Super Meat Boy was that like you were kind of going full speed, balls to the wall, all the time. And even when you would die and need to like learn a section, you usually wouldn't get there and like slow down. It was more about like, let me try this over and over and get better at my fast movement through it until I solve it. And like 3D platforming is just hard, man. It's it's pretty miraculous that Mario 64 was as good as it was because there were so many uh transitions from 2D to 3D platforming that were garbage, that were fucking awful. Um, and a lot of a lot of times it's just hard to do. And I don't think just the fact that we've we've gotten 30 years of the industry gone by since then has really made it an easy thing to do. I think it's still a really hard transition.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, like there is definitely some there is definitely some appeal to doing Meat Boy in a 3D space, but it doesn't come anywhere near to me what the original game does, and and I don't think I'll be picking it back up. I got like midway through World 2, and I'm kind of like, okay, this I don't think this is for me. And and you know, I know a couple other people, like a couple other reviews have talked really highly of it, but not for me. I don't think this is the right game in a 3D space.
SPEAKER_00You heard it here, folks. Super Meat Boy does not translate to 3D. The expert enthusiast has declared. All those other reviews wrong. The last game on my list is a game called uh the Spell Brigade, or
Shooting Magic Missiles in The Spell Brigade
SPEAKER_00just Spell Brigade. And have you played uh Vampire Survivors or anything of that sort?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I've played I've played a bit of survivors. I never got like too deep into it, but I I have played it before.
SPEAKER_00So this one is like your wizards and it's co-op. Um and when you first start off, you actually deal damage to each other, which is crazy. Uh it's definitely there's definitely like an element to it that was interesting, but after basically like you unlock stuff, you know, from doing achievements and different things. And one of the first ones is like if you hurt your teammate, you unlock the ability to equip something that turns off friendly fire, right? So by your second match, if you want to turn it off, which we have elected to do every time. But I can imagine why. Oh yeah. But like it's a lot of fun, man, because you, you know, you get the different spells, you can infuse them with elements, you get you know, there's that rogue-like thing of just constantly getting the um the level ups where you can increase spell size and spell damage and lifetime and stuff. And it's just been a blast to play together. You unlock new characters with different starting things and and different passive attributes. Um, it it's you know, there's like meta progression too for just damage and health and all these other things. And it's just been a really satisfying, polished version of something like Vampire Survivors that is, you know, a more like 3D aesthetic. It's not like retro pixel, um, but it's still kind of cartoony and it's got a really cool just vibe to it. We've been loving it. We we actually played like two or three matches this morning. Um, we've played actually a match every day for the past week or so, I think. Um it's just a really great time if you're into those kind of games. And I I love a good meta progression, and I love unlocking new characters that have sort of different playstyles. Um, and every character has its own unique spell that once you do something with it, unlocks that spell in every character's rotation, right? So that's kind of how you unlock new spells. It's just been a great time. I I've been having so much fun with it, and I really recommend it to anyone who's into what they're now calling Bullet Heavens on Steam. That is sort of like the official genre tag on Steam now is Bullet Heaven. So Okay, all right.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, that no, that actually does sound cool because I never played a lot of vampire survivors, but I wonder if like a co-op version of that could uh is it only local co-op or like could we do Oh, you can matchmake.
SPEAKER_00Um it's up to four players. We've just been playing just the two of us, but there's also like objectives that spawn every once in a while, and they range from like herd these little demon goats into a pin to like basically play soccer with like eight balls where you're all trying to hit it in the same goal, uh, to like just run around and collect these mushrooms that are growing. And it's stuff that you have to do while all the hordes are, you know, right getting stronger. And yeah, it's been a really fun time. Um we have not yet unlocked the second difficulty, which I'm hoping we do soon, because we've gotten to the point where like we are just crushing it. Um but the first few matches, I mean, it was a bit of a struggle, like because you, you know, you really haven't figured out like what's the great combinations of things, and there's so many damn enemies, and you only have so many lives that you can revive. Um, it's kind of like hell divers where you get down to your last one, you'll you'll slowly regenerate one more that you can use. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, but no, I mean, great, great time. I I'd highly recommend anyone that's got a little gaming group to check out Spell Brigade.
SPEAKER_01I'd say I may have to check that one out. That actually sounds cool. Out of the ones you've talked about, that's the one that sounds the most appealing to me for sure.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, man, come join us. We'd love to so that about wraps up everything you and I have actually played this year. Now there have been some other big games that have gotten a lot of press that you and I have not gotten around to. Um, one of them has gotten press for dumb reasons, as well as like being received as a good game. And that is uh Capcoms, right? Pragmata. Pragmata?
Games We Missed - Pragmata
SPEAKER_00This is like, you know, it's got the trope of you're you're you're kind of the Joel and Ellie, right? You got the little girl and you get your Ashley and Leon, you gotta get her through the the demons and the bad things, you gotta protect her. Boys, it caused some weird conversations on the internet. Both, both from people being like rule 34 level, let me make uh let me have Grok make inappropriate images of this little girl, let me say weird things about her, to the other side of it where it's like anyone who enjoys this game is a pedophile and like just dude, I hate the culture war, right?
SPEAKER_01Like I just think that's really where it boils down to is like it's just so ridiculous.
SPEAKER_00I just want a good game to be able to be talked about as it being a good game and not have all these fucking weirdos who either haven't played it or are playing it for the worst reason to just like fill up all of the online discourse about it. But ultimately, like it's getting good reviews as far as like a game that's like a semi-escort quest kind of style. It's got really good like combat mechanics, it's sold very well. I mean, I think the people like the people who are just talking about the game itself have had really positive things to say about it.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I think Connor's been playing it, he's been enjoying it. Um I like it's one that I definitely want to keep my eye on because Capcom has been on a run these days. I mean, they've been nailing everything they've put out. I just I hate that every time I see anything about this game, it's like some dude going, ah yes, they've made characters hot again, and it's like a nine-year-old girl. And it's like it's like, can we not talk about the weird nine-year-old robot girl like that?
SPEAKER_02Like, it's so stupid.
SPEAKER_01I just it's so odd. I I want to play this though, like it looks cool. I'm probably gonna wait for a sale on this one. Like, this feels to me like the type of game that's like when it's like $20 or $30 on a Black Friday sale, I'll pick it up and and hopefully can get a couple hours out of it and really enjoy it. Uh, because it looks cool.
SPEAKER_00The nine-year-olds are hot again. Woke is over. You heard it. It's god, dude.
SPEAKER_01It's so weird, dude. I was just like, why are we talking about the nine-year-old characters? I mean, and and we're seeing the same thing with like, you know, like when Last of Us, everybody's like, uh, Ellie's so ugly, like, like really hating on Bella Ramsey, uh at like the TV show. And it's like, you know, she's supposed to be like 14, right? Like, like, why do we need the teenager to be hot, guys? Like, can we just like stop?
SPEAKER_00Watching too much Euphoria is probably the problem.
SPEAKER_01You're right, right.
SPEAKER_00Aren't high schoolers supposed to make me horny? Isn't that the way a TV show is that the way an HBO TV show is supposed to work?
SPEAKER_01That's a good point. That's a good point. You euphoria's ruined everything.
SPEAKER_00It's also so mean because it's like, all right, dude, like, shit talk the way a character in a fictional universe looks all you want, like whatever. You think it's ugly. A real actress, but god, the character's so ugly. Like, oh my, what is wrong with you?
SPEAKER_01Like, and like she's not. Yeah, exactly, right? Like, like, like Bella Ramsey is like a, you know, she's not like the hottest person anyone's ever seen, but like, she's a a traditionally attractive person, just a completely pretty woman.
SPEAKER_00Like, just nothing abnormal about stupid.
SPEAKER_01The the the culture stuff is insane, man. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00We were talking about Capcom being on a roll. Yeah. You know, they also put out the next Resident Evil game this year, which I guess is
Games We Missed - Resident Evil Requim
SPEAKER_00Resident Evil 9, uh, Resident Evil Requiem. Yeah. Now, to my knowledge, this has basically looked at what they've kind of done over the history of the franchise, and they said, why don't we have two characters? And one of them plays more like the uh what do you call this? The opposite of a power fantasy, right? The the where you don't have the power. Um, there's a word for it, and it's just totally escaping me. Like one of the characters controls like in more of an outlast style. You're always running from things, you have very limited weaponry and stuff. And then Leon is back to basically be Leon from Resident Evil 4, just like loaded up to the gills with explosive and guns and and kicking all the ass. And so they really kind of merge both of those together into the same game. And I think people have have really enjoyed this one because it it managed to strike that balance.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, this this one's done really well reception-wise, too. I I didn't play eight, I didn't play village, I really like seven, and I I want to check out Requiem because I feel like it's gotten so much like positive buzz. I I just it's so hard for me to like get into a Resident Evil game and be like, yes, I want to play that. But with everybody talking about it so highly, I I definitely want to check this one out too.
SPEAKER_00I do think it's kind of like what you said about uh Pragmata, where once it goes on sale, I will I will certainly pick it up and play it. Because like I I had mixed feelings about the way Resident Evil changed as a franchise over time because I really thought that, like, like four, great game, but like four, five, six were just like action games. And not even like five and six, not even necessarily like great action games. And it really felt like a lot of the survival horror part has really been left on the sidelines. Seven and eight really brought that back. Seven more so. Eight, I think, kind of went back toward the action a little bit, but still like it being in first person can add a lot to the horror element. Um, because like in the first three, you had that fixed camera angle with all those pre-rendered backgrounds, and there was something scary about that that didn't really translate into the like 3D of the PS2, PS3 error, I think. And now we've kind of come back around to where it's like, well, now we have the graphics and the fidelity and the sound and all this other stuff to make it like a cinematic scary, and we can put it in first person and we can do these things. So I do, I do think the franchise is starting to find that like horror roots that it lost for a few years there. I think it's really starting to like find it again.
SPEAKER_01And I think people have said that the the Grace sections, I believe that's the name of the character who is the the opposite of power fantasy, since we can't come up with that word. Um those sections I've heard are pretty scary. Like people have talked about them as being really genuinely scary. I thought seven was pretty scary at times for sure. I mean, there were definitely moments where I was I tried to play that game in VR, but I just get way too emotion sick. But I imagine it's like terrifying in VR. Like just like sitting there and not being able to escape because it's literally in your everywhere you turn, you know? Like that would be insane.
SPEAKER_00I yeah, I can't imagine playing that game in in VR because I was I was already kind of doing that thing where I'm like squinting a little bit as I go around corners, so I don't I don't have to be like too scared by the most high-resolution weird Spanish zombie or whatever, whatever you are in Louisiana, right? Were you in seven? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, you're next. This next one, uh, Crimson Desert. I know actually very little about this game, but I do want to say, is it a Korean developer?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so it's it's the single-player version of Black Desert,
Games We Missed - Crimson Desert
SPEAKER_01essentially. That's that MMO that is like really popular from uh I think Pearl Abyss is the name of the dev. Uh and so Crimson Desert, this one I thought was interesting because I've been keeping an eye on this one for like I feel like six or seven years now. I've been seeing trailers for Crimson Desert, and I love every trailer I see of Black Desert, and then go, it's an MMO, so I'm never gonna play it.
SPEAKER_04Right.
SPEAKER_01So Crimson Desert, I was really interested in because it looks like it has a cool like action, it it evokes like Elder Scrolls or Avowed, like that kind of first person or third person. I think you could do either. And it has that same kind of vibe to me, but this one ended up getting pretty middling reviews. I feel like when it came out, like it's I think it's sitting around like a 75 or so in Metacritic. Okay, people talked about it in like a you can do anything and everything type of game, but it's really janky, is I feel like the reception that I saw. I was like, there's so many options, and like, you know, any anywhere you see, you can go, and and there's a bunch of stuff on the map, and there's like all kinds of crap to do, but from like a story perspective, it's kind of average, mediocre, and there's just a lot of jank, is what I've heard.
SPEAKER_00There's a whole um there's a term called Eurojank that people throw around a lot, where it's basically these like Eastern European studios that are like five guys in an apartment building that put out some game like vastly exceeding their budget. I wonder if there's now there's like a Korea jank that that is starting to start to come out. Like, but no, that's interesting. I do like uh I do always like when these games that kind of blow up in a multiplayer way decide like, can we make a focus single player version of this? It doesn't happen often. Um, and it's just cool to see them like even attempt it. I I don't know much about this one. Uh it does I do know it's been a long time in development though, right?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I and I think there are some people who've played it who've been like really into it. They've been like, oh I love it, like I love all the options and all the different things you can do. There's a bunch of different weapons and different like like it just feels like a very dense game, like there's just a ton to do. And I think some people really really gravitate towards that kind of style of like get into a big open world and there's hundreds of quests and things to do, and you know, it feels reminiscent of an MMO that way, I imagine. You know, like I imagine they took some of their MMO expertise there to be like, how much can we pack into this game that is essentially a single-player game, but maybe has some of the the feelings of MMO like questing.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, or like every system has to beget three or four other systems. Right, right. The the last game that's really been getting a lot of good press this year, I shouldn't say the last one, the last one we're gonna talk about uh is
Games We Missed - 007: First Light
SPEAKER_00007 First Light. Uh, a game that I remember being skeptical about just because of the way the game awards was like every game has an iconic villain. Every 007 movie art is like Lenny Kravitz.
SPEAKER_01Um but I really did not like Lenny Kravitz.
SPEAKER_00I mean, I don't even have anything against Lenny Kravitz, right? But it just the the the clips they showed and the way they presented that, I was just like, what are we doing here? Like, does anyone like like 80% of this audience has to have no idea who that guy even is, right? I mean, he hasn't been anyway, it doesn't matter because his game has been getting really good reviews, and people have been saying that it's like just an awesome James Bond experience. Um, I have not really seen a whole lot of clips or anything of it. Have you been checked it out?
SPEAKER_01A little bit. It's definitely been one that I when I saw it, I was like, okay, cool James Bond game. Probably not gonna get this. Like, I'll wait for reviews, we'll see. And then the reviews came out, and I was like, oh shit, like maybe I need to get this. Because everybody's saying it's like a really great blend of hitman, uh, particularly like it's it's developed by IO Interactive, right? So it's it's that new age like hitman style of like stealth and uh methodical like planning of your missions, but then also with that uncharted level of like cinematics and set pieces and like this like intense action and like big big sequences mixed with just that classic James Bond like swag and suave mentality. That's awesome. Right? Like that's a really cool sales pitch to me.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. I know you uh you played the new Indiana Jones game, right?
SPEAKER_01Yes, yep.
SPEAKER_00And that one got really good reviews, and you enjoyed that, right?
SPEAKER_01I I think it's I think people are talking about it similarly. Like it it is doing for games for James Bond games what the Indiana Jones game did for Indiana Jones games, like a similar reception and a similar like vibe that the game gives off. So I I definitely want to check this one out. I will almost certainly be getting this one with all the reviews. I might just wait a little while on it because I did just get Mina the Hollower and I'm still playing Forza. Like there's a couple other games out there that I'm I'm like still dabbling in, so it's like okay, I'll get there. Um, I I do, but I do want to play this one because I I've been yearning for another like Uncharted style game with that same level of presentation and like big set piece moments. Like I really love that about Uncharted. So if it's giving that energy, like I'm excited for that.
SPEAKER_00It is cool to see both that one and the Indiana Indiana Jones games kind of because like Indiana Jones had some really well-received adventure games in like the 90s, and then it was like quiet for a long time. And then, you know, James Bond had some really well-received shooters in the 90s, and it was quiet for a long time. It's cool to see both of those come back and like actually, you know, a studio really take the time to do it right and not just like try to license the franchise for because not like either of those are really franchises that are like these days the kind of things that are gonna bring in millions of buys right off the bat, unless the game is actually good, right? It's not like uh an Avengers or something, right? So, which even at this point that might be an out-of-date um franchise that that that that will get a bunch of buys, right? But yeah, no, super happy to hear it's good. And I think I'm pretty interested in checking it out one day myself. All right, so no year in gaming would be complete without its controversies, because if there's anything that gamers love, it's to get really mad about something, whether it's worth being mad about or not. And I know we have a couple here that'll be fun to talk about. Uh,
Controversy! - Mixtape
SPEAKER_00Austin, you played mixtape this year. You enjoyed it. You have told me that there was some strange drama, some around it getting a 10 from IGN, which has like those types of set. But then, like, there was a particular thing about it that that I find really fascinating. Um, but why don't you talk to us just a little bit about what mixtape is and some of these weird controversies surrounding it?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so mixtape is a like throwback 80s game. It's an indie game that's very story-based, very little like gameplay involved. That there's a bunch of little like mini-games. Like you like, it opens up with you riding on your skateboard down like some mountain roads, and like you can do tricks and stuff, but like none of it's for points, or there's really no like fail states, you know. It's it's very in the like visual uh life is strange vein, right? Very like story-based interactive game, and it's just about this this girl and her two friends and their last day of high school, and like their lives are about to go separate ways, and just like what that looks like. They're getting ready for a party, and it's all it's all put to this like curated soundtrack by the devs that feature artists like the cure, Portis Head, um try to think of other, I can't remember off the top of my head, other artists that are in there, but a lot of like big well-known artists tracks from that era, and it's like it feels very it's it's a game very focused on curating a mixtape for the perfect day, but like what how what would a soundtrack to this particular day sound like? And that's that's what this girl is all about. She's like, How does music affect you? How does it affect people? Uh how can you soundtrack your your perfect day, you know? And and so it's it's a really neat game, it's like three hours long, it's got some fun little mini games, but it tells a really small, concise story, and and just talks about the relationships that these characters have with each other, and it it should be completely inoffensive, right? But alas, gamers will game. Uh, so this got a tin from IGN, uh, which is now given three tins in the last like month. Forza, Horizon 6, mixtape, and Mina the Hollower have all gotten tins from IGN.
SPEAKER_03Wow.
SPEAKER_01This this, of course, has people like outraged, like 10 is special, like we can't give tins when this is like 10 different, like three different reviewers giving tins for three very different types of games. Right.
SPEAKER_00As if IGN is one person, right?
SPEAKER_01Like Right, as it as if they're this like one monolithic and its entity that you know is the and it's people are treating them like they're the the authority on games and that like nobody else has opinions, right? It's really it's really odd. Um, I personally wouldn't give mixtape a tin, I don't think, but I I can understand why you would. Like what it does, the way it makes you feel coming out of it, is is really cool. Like it gives this. I I said it, it it makes me nostalgic for an era that I never even like experienced. Like it's so effective at making you feel nostalgia for the 80s, and I was born in '95. Like, like, so so it's really good at what it does. Um, but you know, people are mad that people are happy about it. But the the the real controversy that's been like so funny to to look at, there is a like five-second kissing mini game where you're technically underage, right? So like you're like 14, it's like a little flashback sequence where you're kissing another 14-year-old, and like you actually like see inside the mouth of the person, and like you're like, you're like, like, you're like battling with their tongues. It's like a really awkward, like, fringe kiss kind of, and it's so uncomfortable, and it it ends almost immediately as you start it, because there's a button that says, like, that's enough that you can click, like, within like two seconds of this. And it's it's literally supposed to be a reflection on how awkward, right? Of how awkward your first kiss is, and how like weird and uncomfortable these these moments are as a child, and people have like, it's promoting pedophilia, and like, you know, it's underage people kissing, and you have to watch their tongues battle, and it's like, guys, like this, these are the games that's like, look, I like I'm interested in playing this.
SPEAKER_00Me and Beg will probably play it together. Maybe I'll like it, maybe I won't. I'm not saying you have to like it, but this is what an artistic medium does is it tries to like explore how it can evoke emotions, and particularly with games, is it's about the interactivity. We have seen plenty of movies, we've read plenty of books. Well, there's people out there that have not read plenty of books, but as a society, we have plenty of those things that involve like the awkwardness of young relationships when you're like exploring like what it is to like be in love with another person and like puberty and hormones and all these things. It creates a very awkward time. The fact that like a game wants to try to explore that should not be controversial, like it's just crazy. It's just crazy.
SPEAKER_01It's so silly too, because people are like, you have to play as underage people kissing, and you like it's gross, but it's like it's supposed to be gross. So, like, like it's a weird and awkward scene, and I felt very uncomfortable because I was like, I don't want to like, I don't want to control this person's tongue making out with somebody else, right? Yeah, but like that's the feeling that it's supposed to evoke, and it does it really well because immediately I was like, eh, this is this is this is creepy, and it's like, yeah, that's that's and it was awkward and uncomfortable for the person doing it in the game, too. Like, right, that's the point. It's super worth it, by the way. Mixtape is very good.
SPEAKER_03Okay, cool.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, like you should play it. I think you'll really like it, especially because you're a little bit older than me. Not that you were like rocking out the 80s either.
SPEAKER_00But I lived for two months in the 80s.
SPEAKER_01But but you know, growing up in the early 90s, you probably still have a little bit more of a connection to that era than I would. I think you could definitely see what they're going for, and like it it is very much a game that is is artsy, right? It's going for a certain artistic idea, and I think it does it really well.
SPEAKER_00I just reminded me of um the God of War trilogy. I think it's the second one, maybe. There's like a mini game where you're fucking Aphrodite. Uh, it's like it's like off-screen, but your her maidens are basically on this bed as you're just playing like a D VR style thing with the buttons, and they're basically like reacting to whatever moves Kratos is doing off screen. And it's just like, look, if that wasn't controversial, I don't understand why this needs to be exactly, exactly.
SPEAKER_01This is so much less offensive than that, but but we're just it's just the modern era, right? I mean, it's just the time that we live in that like everything has to be controversial, everything has to be, you know, something to rage about, uh, anger, controversy, get the clicks. I mean, that's that's what it is, you know?
SPEAKER_00Well, these people have never kissed anyone, so it's ridiculous. Also true.
SPEAKER_01Also true. They're like, they're like, man, I wish I could have kissed somebody awkwardly at some point in my life.
SPEAKER_00So um moving on to some other, I guess you could call it controversies this year. We have seen a lot of price increases on consoles. And that is really atypical for what anyone our age has ever experienced in our life. It is typically a console comes out, and
Controversy! - Rising Console Prices
SPEAKER_00after a couple years, the price goes down. Makes sense. There's like you you sort of reached your market cap, you're like, the people who are going to buy it at this price point have already gotten it. We want to expand our customer base. We can maybe get the moms doing Christmas shopping, whatever else, if we cut a couple hundred bucks off the price. Well, um, between the tariffs that have hit a lot of the countries who produce these things and the AI data centers that have been driving up the demand for various computer parts, it has caused a lot of these consoles to be more expensive to produce than they were two or three years ago. And in order for these companies to still make anywhere near the same amount of money per console, they really have no choice but to increase the the price on them, right? There's only so much of a loss you can sell a console at. And most of these, you know, we've talked about this. Other than Nintendo, these consoles are usually already sold at a loss. So it becomes a point where it's like, okay, we'll take a 20% loss to try to get people into our ecosystem, but when that becomes a 50 or 60% loss, it's like this is not a sustainable practice, right? So man, uh, why don't you go through some of the prices here, dude? Because they are crazy.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so Nintendo actually is probably the least offensive of these. Um, this in this like console hike price situation. They took the Switch from 449 and they've brought it up to a standard price of $4.99, but they've also bundled in that they've announced that they're going to bundle in in the future like one game of your choice. So it's like kind of the same, right? Like you'll get you'll get to pick one of like three different third-party game or first party games and get it for free. So it's like not much of a huge increase.
SPEAKER_00If anything, that's a good deal, right? Because aren't these games like $80 or whatever it is?
SPEAKER_01Yes, some of them are like some of them are $80. So that that's not a huge deal. Uh, but these other these other increases, the Xbox One X and the PlayStation 5 base models both went from $4.99 to $649. The PS5 Pro jumped from $699 to $8.99. It's almost a thousand dollar console.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, dude, that's crazy.
SPEAKER_01The the Steam Deck just announced their base model went from $549 to $7.89, a near 50% increase.
SPEAKER_00Still sold out immediately.
SPEAKER_01Um, which is insane. And that their their higher tier model is like, I think $9.49 or like something like that. Like it's almost exactly $1,000. Like, just insane price increases all around. And with the Steam machine looming on the horizon, like I am concerned about the price point of that thing coming out.
SPEAKER_00It's definitely like Steam has a hardcore enough, I say like Valve has a hardcore enough audience to where like there will always be people to scoop up the limited supply of these things that they release. Um, I am a little more worried for people like Sony. I mean, I know I know a lot of these are also like, hey, Grand Theft Auto is coming out in a few months. There's probably been a lot of people waiting to buy it, and we're pretty sure that they're gonna, they're still gonna pay $900 or $700, whatever it is, so they can play Grand Theft Auto 6. Um, it's not coming out on PC at launch. So that's the only way to play it. I do think that's part of the strategy. But yeah, man, that's it's these things have it's just crazy because we have gotten so used to the opposite happening our entire lifetime. And it doesn't seem like that's going to be the case, probably for the rest of our lifetimes.
SPEAKER_01Um, we unfortunately it's been crazy to watch the the numbers go up as much as they have, and and it's like the PS5's been out since 2020. Like, it's been out for six years now. Like you would have any other time you would have expected the price to drop by this point, but in fact, we've gone the opposite direction, and I feel like they're you know, people are getting priced out of buying these things, so it'll be interesting to see what the future of the console market looks like in the next, you know, five or so years. I I feel like all these all these companies were kind of sitting on on their new gin thing. They were gonna start talking about it soon in the next two years or so. They'd be like, oh, here's our new gin thing, but with prices so high, it's like they might just keep trying to sell what they got instead of pushing a whole new line out.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it'll be interesting to see how long this console life cycle lasts. It could be, it could be a particularly long one. Um yeah, man. There's also like the inflation over the last five years, um, you know, poor uh shipping issues with the war in Iran. There's been a lot of like, not to make this uh particularly political episode or anything, but there's been a lot of a lot of like policy decisions by by various individuals in various nation states that have you know exacerbated some of this. And yeah, it's just it's it's not the best time price-wise to be a gamer, especially if you are one who plays, who wants the top of the line stuff. Um, NVIDIA is basically like the the money they make from like retail graphic card sales now is just sort of like a blip on their earnings report compared to like what they're selling for AI related things, right? Um obviously, like as we'll always say on the show, it's the best time to be a gamer from the standpoint of like the amount of different games you have. If you're willing to dive into indie games, there's plenty of very affordable games. You can play games on like a variety of machines. You don't have to get like the latest and greatest everything. But if you're the person Was always used to just keeping up with like the latest console and the latest releases is getting tough. It's getting tough.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, the there are so many gaming options. Like there's more than ever. But it it is feeling like keeping up with the newest, latest, and greatest is is concerning.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. But sort of staying in
Controversy! - AI and Video Games
SPEAKER_00the realm of AI, you know, there was also the the SAG AFTRA strikes that happened. Uh, was it the start of this year or end of last year? I can't quite remember. But it was all around like video game voice acting and AI usage. And one of the things that they were basically concerned about was like, okay, are you like, are these companies just going to use AI to take voice acting I've already done to emulate me and then continue to use these characters that were my voice, and now they're just an AI voice. There was there, you know, this finally the strike stopped and and the new bargaining agreement got made. There was there was a lot of things in there that were like, okay, if a company does this, they have to do this and that. There's like, they have to be paid for any, you know, if someone's gonna use an AI of my voice, like I have to be paid for, yada, yada. So there was like a bunch of good stuff in there, but I do know a lot of people thought like the concessions on behalf of Segafro were a little high, and that a lot of these companies still have what like is an uncomfortable amount of leverage. Um, and I think some people just generally speaking were like, this just shouldn't be a thing that should be allowed, like regardless of whether someone's compensated or not, like this is just not a good road to head down. So that is that has definitely been a discussion this year.
SPEAKER_01Well, I think there's just there's so much around AI in games, in art forms specifically. Like, this is just kind of a an all-encompassing topic of how much should we let AI infiltrate the, especially the creative, in quotes. You can't see my quotes, but the the the the creative elements of games, like how much should we let AI invade those spaces of games, movies, TV, music, anything, right? Like, how much is the human element of those things integral to the art of it, you know? And I think we see with Steam, they're you know, they're they're requiring people to disclose AI use, right? Like, if you use generative AI in this, you have to disclose it. But how is that being enforced? How is that, you know, is that a trust-based system?
SPEAKER_00Like it basically is, as far as I can tell. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01So so it's like you don't have to say, and like to what extent, right? I mean, we had the controversy with E33 last year, or kind of at the beginning of this year, I guess, with them discovering the like one AI poster that's in the game, and then we're like, ah, Expedition 33's been riddled with AI and it's ruined, and and it's like it's one AI poster that got left in pre-production that was set as like a placeholder asset that they just didn't get out of. It's like at what point are we vilifying every single bit of AI use? Should it be used as a tool to help get more efficient creativity, you know? Like, is that allowed? Is that okay? You know, it it's such an ethical line that I think we as a society are walking, but especially in like the creative spaces, people are trying to figure out what is acceptable, you know?
SPEAKER_00It's it's tough too. People have such a wide variety, um, like array of opinions on it. And you know, something I keep seeing is people saying, like, why ever risk using it as placeholder art? Do what like we used to do back in the day, and it's just like a purple square that's like, you know, not done yet or whatever. But I think I think the answer to that is obvious, and it's like sometimes you're trying to, maybe you're trying to get more funding. So you need this particular part of the game to be like somewhat complete to show to an investor or to show to marketing or to show to like your character designer. It's like I it isn't just that I want this to be a place someone can just play for five minutes regardless of what assets are around. I need it to be somewhat convincing as a finished product, to like get the vibe across to the composer or to get the atmosphere across to the cinematics director. And that's very hard to do when you have floating purple blobs that say, do not done, you know, not done yet. Um, but there is a risk. There is the risk that it gets left in. Happened with E33, happened with that game, the altars. Like they're very small things, but these are causing like fans to get really angry. Like a particular subset of them will like go to your game and leave bad reviews just because of this. Um, there are some people who don't want any trace of it. Becca has been playing a cozy game called like it's like arcane library, sort out the mess. It's got some goofy subtitle. But it's basically two guys, two individuals, don't know, their gender, um, who created this game. And they were basically like, hey, up front, we for all so to describe the game, you basically go into this arcane library and there's just books all over the floor, like literally, like thousands of books on the ground. There's all these shelves around the top and bottom floor of the library, and based on like the sort of genre of book it is, you have to find the shelf, put them in the shelves, collect complete sets, and like the more sets you collect, you get powers that help you sort these books like more efficiently, right?
unknownOkay.
SPEAKER_00Well, a lot of them have really goofy names. Some things like one of them is just literally like the psychology of like cleaning up a virtual library rather than your room. And some of them kind of sound like a goofy thing AI would come up with, but they also just kind of sound like a goofy thing that a person would come up with. And they're basically like, we use the AI to come up with some of the titles and proofread the titles, and we went behind and checked it, and also to like alt to finish up some of the art in the game. Like it's like four or five pieces specifically. And there's people on, you know, the Steam that's like, wow, how insulting it is to take like an artist's work and use AI to like touch it up. And they're like, Well, the the art was mine, like one of the designers. It's my art. It was there's literally art from us. Like I used it to touch up my own art. And brother, this game cost six dollars, right? And and to me, I think this is like a totally legitimate use of AI where it's like there are two people made a game that costs six dollars, right? Like, no, you should have hired an artist for this, and you should have hired that. Well, then the game wouldn't have been six fucking dollars, or it would have taken three more years, right? Like, if that's a trade-off you're willing to make, great, it's not a trade-off everyone's willing to make. There's a lot of people that say, no, I wanted to play this today for six dollars, not three years from now for 25. Like Becca was even saying, I don't know that I would have bought the game if it was much more for than six dollars, right? Like, this was a few afternoons of fun, it it's it's six dollars. And I think ultimately it's gonna be one of those things, dude, where it's about how noticeable it is, right? People, for the most part, like if they don't know it's AI, they're not going to care. Some things are really jarring. God, there was, I can't remember what game it was. There was this video going on the um gaming subreddit the other day, the game subreddit, where it's like some visual novel, and at one point in it, you look at a TV screen and like something plays, and that animation was like AI generated. And it's oh, dude, like the frame rate just changes between like 12 and 60 at random. Like when the guy swivels in his office chair, the color of things just like is is different behind like it was very obviously like sloppy AI video. And and then like I think that's the kind of thing that's really jarring and will really upset people. But like, how many people got through the last stage of E33 and never noticed the poster? And never would have if someone didn't bring it to like everyone's attention, right?
SPEAKER_0199% of people.
SPEAKER_00And I think ultimately when it comes to like the art, the artistic element of things, that's going to be the case. Like, yes, when it comes to human creations of art, I think a lot of there's a lot of it, a lot of genres, a lot of mediums where it's like the second you find out it's made by a human, you do not care anymore. And that's fair enough. Like the reason someone like Taylor Swift or Olivia Rodrigo has such a following is because there's a human to connect to, and that part is actually really important for a lot of the fans. Maybe not for every fan, but clearly for a lot of them. And without that aspect of it, that same potential, like success can't be reached, the emotional connection can't be achieved. There's all these like things around that aren't just the final product that are impossible from AI, and they always will be. And I think like that's fine. But yeah, I think at the end of the day, that it's just gonna depend so much on the context of whether people care about whether something is generated by AI or not. Well, yeah, man, uh that's
Closing Thoughts and Outro
SPEAKER_002026. We've talked about a lot of the stuff that's happened so far. I don't know if you have any closing thoughts here, because uh, you know, some of these games we're definitely more excited about than others, but I'm always willing to give a lot of things a chance. Uh, you know, it's that video games are the medium that like if something gets a lot of attention, I will hop on it and look at it. Because like I'm always really intrigued by that. Whenever there's a big movie, I don't care. Whenever there's like a big album, I don't care. But video games are like, man, it's getting 9.5s across the board, it's selling millions of copies. It's something I've never heard of, it's in a genre I've never expressed interest in, but like it is it is clearly like reaching through the zeitgeist, and that intrigues me.
SPEAKER_01So yeah, it's been a pretty good year so far. I don't think it's been as like defining as last year, with like we we all already knew what game of the year was gonna be by this point last year with X33, just like absolutely dominating, and like we already know what game of the year is gonna be this year, too. It just hasn't come out yet, it's it's GTA 6, but it won't be my game of the year, but it'll be everybody else's. Um, but but it's been a pretty solid year so far, and there's plenty of cool things down the horizon, too. Like, I'm excited for stuff that we don't even know about yet, right? I mean, there's so many games that are probably gonna be announced next week with Summer Games Fest and State of Play, and like the PC gaming show, Nintendo Direct later this month, or um in June, I'm sure. So, like, there's still so much that we don't know, and the stuff that we do know is exciting. So, like, yeah, 2026, great year, and like you were saying earlier, right? It's a great time to play video games and to be in this hobby. Things are expensive, sure, but there are so many options that are affordable. There's so many small games that we don't even know that are coming out yet that are probably gonna be awesome. You know, we'll have your the peaks or whatever of this year that come out of nowhere and people glomp onto. So yeah, it it's I love getting these recaps because I like to kind of look forward but also kind of see what's happened throughout the years so far. And I just it's a good year.
SPEAKER_00And look, while I don't endorse um emulation per se, I will say if you are on a budget and you don't have the the funds for a lot of these new games coming out, just never forget the endless amount of amazing games that have come out in the past, and that there's like more accessible ways than ever to get them on the cheap. And you know what? In my opinion, if you bought a PS2 at one point and you owned that game, you have the right to go emulate that shit.
SPEAKER_01Just don't let anyone just burn the disc yourself, just go get the there's like plenty of programs that do it, just go drop that in the in your buy like a $20 CD player, drop that in there. You know, that's why I did a five SC10.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, there you go, man. Um, you have uh all kinds of like websites out there now. Put on a VPN, you know, protect yourself. But uh it's actually pretty crazy how many like ROMs and stuff and ISO sites are just are just still out there that you can you can just download from. But look, uh, but on a serious note, like if you're finding it hard to keep up either financially or just you don't have the time with all the latest stuff, just never forget like this is what this podcast is about. So many good games have gone by, and some of them are still so fucking fun and so worth playing. And just uh yeah, there's always the past to look forward to if you're nervous about the future. So uh I will end with that. And that wraps up our discussion on what's happened so far in the year of 2026.
SPEAKER_01You can find this episode as well as all of our other episodes on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or your favorite podcasting platform. And as always, you can find everything we do on our website, gamesgone by.com.
SPEAKER_00Starting off for Games Gone By, I'm Adam. I'm Lusson. Thanks for letting us rant. We'll see you next time.
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