The Joy of Comfort Games

What actually makes a "comfort game" a comfort game?

This week around the campfire, Ryan and James talk about the games they can replay endlessly - from Metroid Prime and Resident Evil 4 to Pokémon, Fire Emblem, Marvel vs. Capcom 2, and even weird modded randomizers. Along the way, they dive into nostalgia, replayability, developer intent, childhood memories, and why some games just feel like wrapping yourself in a warm blanket after a long day. 

Also: James desperately tries to convince Ryan to finally play Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia. 

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Cover art: Falah
Logo: Psyonyx
Music: Robotic Park by Kyon

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Transcript

Intro

Ryan 0:00

Hello, hello. Welcome to another episode of Co-op Campfire. I'm here, as always, Ryan with my buddy James. How's it going?

James 0:10

I could not be cosier if I tried, truly. I am super excited for today's topic. I'm kicked back. I'm ready to talk about some of my favorite games. And let's just get into it, man. I'm just ready.

Ryan 0:23

It's been a while since we've recorded, you know? I know. We've both been pretty sick the past couple weeks. It's really knocked us on our butts, huh? Scumbag string strikes again. The true boss fight, pollen. See, I'm not exactly case in point. I'm not usually like prone to allergens or like allergy seasons. So maybe this is just me in my 30s getting a bad perk as a room. You level up for every year and you get you get a bad perk.

James 1:00

Now maybe it's allergy prone, but it's like in Rogue Legacy where you get passed down the uh unfortunate allergies. Like you you're you're just as capable as as the previous lineage, but this one has allergies now. Oh my god.

Ryan 1:15

Well, what have you been up to? What what's what you've been playing? What's uh what's going on, bud?

James 1:20

Okay, I don't necessarily want to get heated with the simple what have I been playing, but I've got some meaning behind it. So I don't know if you would like to start with this and have me finish this up or if you want me to get into it. I mean, I can start if you want. I got I got a good vibe topic.

Ryan 1:36

I'm happy to talk about it, and you know, but I I I'm gonna be honest about it. So okay. Well, you got me intrigued. We'll do like a sandwich of like good vibes, and then you can vent for as long as you want. You got me really intrigued now, Jerry.

James 1:49

Okay, fantastic. You will not be once I get into it, I guarantee you.

Cold Open - Ryan

Ryan 1:54

Well, mine has nothing to do with games, it's just again, we've been sick. Uh, I had to travel to I had to travel. I I had the honor of traveling for my uh grandpa's 90th birthday across the country. It was great. Saw family. Uh my poor wife got sick two weeks prior, and I had been navigating, dodging, dip diving, dodging, all the sickness that was going on because I wanted desperately to go on this trip to see my family. It's just been too long. So got there, it was fine, got back, and I was like ready for the post-trip sickness, and it came on, and I got a Z-pack right away, and I was able to navigate through it. So I've been just sick getting through that and on the mend. And today was the first day I was able to cook, and I forgot what it is to mean to have a nice home-cooked meal, and it was so good. It was just chicken with Dijon mustard and dill, just sprinkled throughout with like a little chicken broth, and it was a good little sauce. And you had like baked broccoli, and I tried air frying like more potato wedges in there again, and all of that was really just so you can have stuff to dip into the Dijon mustard because it was just it was so good. It's the vehicle, it's the vehicle for the sauce, you know. Exactly. And it was a great vehicle, and it was just so refreshing to have like a quick, like 40-minute prep time plus cooking time kind of meal. I was able to dish it out, it was great and just back to normal. I thought I wasn't gonna have anything to talk about, but I was like really happy before we started.

James 3:30

So that's great. That makes me happy to hear. And I gotta be honest, when you were talking earlier in that, you said you were like dip duck dodging, diving the uh the sickness you were trying to. And I I just imagine you're just like targeting on like a dark souls enemy and just dot like you you're literally just dodging and rolling around, just like all of the just bad vibes kind of closing in to get you sick. It's just funny.

Ryan 3:54

I got my dark wood grain on. I'm doing flips.

James 3:57

Yeah. Take your take your sunny D. Don't forget about your victory, Sonny D. You're fine now, but you won't be later after that hit. You had the Z pack equipped outside of the the Sunny D. You know, you had the cycle through.

Ryan 4:11

Z pack, Estus Flask, Sonny D. It's all there.

James 4:15

That's so good, man. That's awesome to hear. I'm really glad that things are kind of back to normalcy for you. And um, I know the feeling of like that like really satisfying meal that you're happy to cook, but it's not too intensive where it's like a project. It's really nice.

Ryan 4:28

Yes, that is seriously such a fine line because I I don't want to spend an hour and a half cooking. I can't do an hour-long prep thing.

James 4:36

I get it, man. It's tough.

Cold Open - James

Ryan 4:37

So, how about you, bud? Hit us. What's going on?

James 4:40

All right. So you text me quite a bit about a certain game that you play quite a lot of that I'm certainly happy for you. You know what? And for anybody listening out there, if it makes you happy, play it. I don't care. Like, life's too short. There's so much crap going on in the world.

Ryan 4:54

Just enjoy what you want. And that is a great thought to leave on. Thank you for not having an intervention with me. We'll see you guys later. Okay. Goodbye.

James 5:03

Now, I think there's certainly a conversation that could be had, and I already know you know you send me quite a lot of polls from Fire Emblem Heroes. Now, that's not the game we're talking about. That is not what I have been playing. Oh, we dodged the intervention. We did it. No, we haven't because I have been hooked. I have like claws have the talents have been inserted, like scraping into my back because I have been replaying Fire Emblem Shadows of Valentia because somebody won't play it. So purely, and I mean I I don't mean to sound like a dick, but I'm I started replaying that almost purely out of spite. I'm like, I just I'm so upset. I just need to play this game because I'm so sorry.

Ryan 5:44

I didn't realize that's such a pressure on you for me to play this.

James 5:48

Every time you send me a five-star from that game is like a dagger, it's literally just like a dagger into my chest, and I'm just like, you're sitting on a gold mine, man. You're sitting on like maybe one of the greatest strategy RPGs you could ever play. It's in your 3DS right now, and instead, all I get are waifus, Ryan. I get waifus left and right.

Ryan 6:09

Bam! Look at this new one. Oh, hey, bam! But the new Lyn skin, James. Come on.

James 6:15

I you know, you you know, I love Lyn. You know, I love, love, love, love Blazing Blade. It's probably one of my favorite games ever, but I promise you the reason I put it in and started playing was purely by spite.

Ryan 6:32

Strong statements being made.

James 6:34

If my friend will not enjoy Peak, I will. So that being said, I actually am kind of glad I did, not just for obvious like seeing red reasons. I think this is a great conversation for like maybe opinions on like a second play-through. I think a lot of times you're playing a game fresh and like it's that first play-through. You know, it's exciting, you're experiencing it for the first time with like no knowledge, right? So it's such a fascinating game. It is such a weird fire emblem game, and it's kind of in a Majora's Mask lane of like, that's why I love it. It is so unique and has so many mechanics that just aren't in other games. I would argue the map design for this game is terrible, but in a way, it sort of creates these really unique memories. Like when you think of like a fire emblem game and you're like, okay, I just have to get to the siege point, right? I just have to kill this boss, do whatever I want for however many turns. He's not gonna move. I just have to like kill him. In this game, I remember the I believe it was, I don't can't remember if it was the producer or director mentioned the way this game was designed was like seizing a castle should be difficult, right? That's not like an easy thing to do, especially as like an attacking or invading force. So that is reflected in the map design. You have like a single lane and like archers that can pelt you from all like literally five. You would love this, Ryan. Your archers have like five to six range in this game. It is nuts.

Ryan 8:07

What?

James 8:08

Yeah, it's crazy. Oh my god, and they can attack up close. It's crazy, it's crazy. So, like trying to like solve the puzzle of how do I break through, how do I siege this castle, and like the enemies are like it's just crazy. It's such a uniquely playing game to anything else in the series. I learned to like understand why I love this game so much, the cut-scenes, the story, how it keeps you invested, the gameplay changes. So, like, I genuinely have been enjoying my replay of this game, even though mechanics have been like frustrating and may have been frustrating the first time. There's like a weird appreciation for them the second time around. So I'm really happy to go through it again. And I'm just I'm I can't stop playing it. It's a perfect game that like gives you just a little bit of a tease at the beginning of each chapter. It drops you with like a bomb, and then it's like go ahead and play. Or it'll like when you get to the end of an act and it's like that was nuts. I can't believe they just did this. Now you're into the next act, and it's like such a it's such a good flow that's like it really just keeps you wanting to keep playing.

Ryan 9:15

Man, that sounds amazing. And despite the pressure to enjoy this game because of the spite, so you can have this argument. What was it like? I mean, going through the first time then, like when you were forming these opinions, and now with this mindset of, well, this is why they did that, is that more of like a coping mechanism, or is it like a genuine, like, I understand it, so now I can appreciate this a little more for what they were trying to accomplish?

James 9:43

I think it's the latter. I think it kind of feels a little souls-ish in a way, where like some of the design choices they make in Souls games can be maybe interpreted as like mean, right? Or like it's really brutal your first play-through, where there's enemy placements or specific attack patterns or bosses in particular that are like ridiculous. And it's maybe a little bit of a different conversation, like genre-wise, because it's a strategy RPG versus like a third-person action game that's very particular with like dodging and I-frames and things, like you play it differently. Same concept though. Yeah, I mean, it kind of comes across to me like there's intent behind these decisions. They had an opera, this is this is a remake of the second Fire Emblem game ever made. In a lot of ways, it feels kind of like the adventure of Link, like Zelda 2. Bold swings in very different directions from normal series conventions. It was the second game, so they didn't really have like an established formula yet. But they had a chance for a 2017 3DS remake to do whatever they wanted, literally whatever they wanted. They could have remade maps, they could have given you more units to control, they could have done so many different things, and they kept to what the original sought out to do. And I appreciate that. While I I would still argue I enjoy many, many other maps in Fire Emblem. The maps themselves maybe are not memorable, but the battles I fought there stick with me. I remember this guy broke through the barrier, this guy survived this lucky attack, or this guy did this really crazy thing, and like that's what I remember rather than like chapter 15 is always a cool one, you know? Like it just hits, it just scratches an itch in a different way that's like really refreshing.

Ryan 11:24

Yeah, it's it sounds like you're accustomed to the state of things and like why things are they are the way they are, and you're just like in the moment, those moment-to-moment moments. I'm saying moments so many times, but it's like really so many moments, let me tell you. So moment number 137.

James 11:44

I I think you might agree with this as well. I don't know, we haven't really talked about this, but like I don't want every Zelda game to be Majora's mask in play style, you know? I appreciate that this is kind of that like odd one. And and I think a lot of Zelda games are honestly pretty unique in their own way. You think of like a Spirit Tracks or like a Minish cap or Majora's mask. Like, there are some that like really kind of do their own unique thing, like within the confines of the formula, but like I wouldn't want every game to be like Shadows of Valentia 2 or whatever, you know, to design around these mechanics. It still feels like Fire Emblem, it still feels like you're it's got a lot of the core mechanics and it's got like the through lines and the drama and the story, but like it's just interpreted in such a different way. And like you said, you you've experienced it before, you have the knowledge of like having played through it before. So a little bit of the frustration is taken out because I already know what to expect. You know, some things I've forgotten, or I'm like, oh man, they really like this map sucks, dude, or this map is brutal, or like I can't believe they started me in this scenario. But like as you play through it and like buckle down, you're able to take what you're playing and like look at it through a little bit of a different lens of like there is fun in this, but I'm just seeing it like I'm not being just bombarded the first time around with this game, you know? That's what I'll end this on, and just this is kind of a side thing, but something that I really appreciate this game is it makes you think creatively. I think like in Blazing Blade, I love it to death. Again, it is one of my favorite games of all time. I would argue that game gets pretty easy. There are definitely certain chapters that jump out to me as like pretty difficult late game, but like upon replaying it so many times, it's kind of hard to challenge you in certain ways or whatever, you know. Like, I don't know, you can always play on hard, you can play Hector hard mode, but like I've thought that game in comparison to other games in the series isn't super difficult, at least for me personally, not trying to like, oh, I'm so good at these games, you know. You are good, James. Don't sell yourself short. I guess it's sort of like that creativity breeds, uh restriction breeds creativity kind of mindset where like in later Fire Emblem games, you're able to do so many more things. Like you cannot rescue drop and shadows of Valentia, you cannot just pick a unit up and take them back. Can't do that. Using magic or special abilities costs HP. So like you have to be very mindful of okay, I can kill this guy, but can I get killed on the backswing because now I'm at this HP? Or like there's a lot of things you you like you have to come up with creative solutions to like solve the map, to like make it out unscathed. And like sometimes I've had maps where units that I'm like, bro, you're you're like the bench warmer the second I get somebody new was like the all-star finding a way to utilize him or like block a path or get a kill so somebody else could go, like so many little micro decisions that all feel so impactful. And I feel like it's all this perfect weird blend of bizarre mechanics and map design and just old crusty game design that just is meaningful in its own cool way. So, like, I've really, really been hooked in this game.

Ryan 14:57

Well, that sounds very genuine. I I won't deny that you're having a good time. Maybe I will turn on the 3DS tonight.

James 15:04

I'm not trying to sound like I'm begging or like pleading or like becoming desperate. I just you are go on. Okay. Um no, it's funny. It's just funny. Go ahead. Um I simply want you, you can watch the intro. So, like when you boot up the game, they do one of those like, hey, before the title screen, there's like a little cold open. It kind of does like a little prologue thing, like for a minute. I just want you to boot up the game. You can just hit start, create your save file, maybe do a map if you feel like it, a map or two. That's it. Give you 30 minutes tonight. I'd love to hear your reaction.

Ryan 15:48

Love stakes. Just watch the first few episodes of the anime, see where it gets you.

James 15:52

I'm excited for your reactions. That's all I will say.

Ryan 15:56

I promise by the end of the week I will try out a couple maps. How's that?

James 16:00

I'm not even asking for like a couple maps. Like, I I'm telling you, and like this game will hook you and intrigue you from when you hit start. I'm telling you. Like, you just need to believe me. Trust, believe in the me that believes in you to start this game. I've I'm going into anime references, Ryan. Please, I'm giving something.

What is a Comfort Game?

Ryan 16:24

He's gone deep, folks. He's pulling out all the straws. I'm pulling out the drill, man. Drill that'll pierce the heavens. Just remember, he's not begging. Alright, we've been pretty passionate about some games already, but now we're gonna dip into a very cozy, comfy, feel good vibe, and that is all about comfort games. Now, comfort games have to have like some sort of criteria to it. So when you sit down and you have a backlog of 500 games and the newest, biggest, hottest release came out and you don't feel like playing any of it, what causes you to like pick up a comfort game and what qualifies a comfort game to you?

James 17:14

It's interesting, right? When you have your 500 game backlog, like just opening up your Steam library probably gives you some sort of mild anxiety just seeing what you have bought and not even touched. I think the biggest things for me are how easy it is to replay. I think that is maybe one of the biggest criteria. I am an RPG guy, you know that I love them, I will play them until my dying breath, but not super easy to replay all the time. They're very long, especially if it's replay where I'm convincing myself to go for optional side quests or objectives to check off every box. I mean, we're talking 100 plus hours, and that can add to stress, honestly. I think about a lot of the side quests in Xenoblade, where there's so damn many of them, it stresses me out. I put it down. So it needs to be easy to replay, whether that's due to length and or familiarity. If it's a game that I've played 15, 20 times in my life, and I just that's gonna be something that just makes me feel good in the moment, and I just want to play something and just turn my brain off a little bit, that helps. And I think there's like a reasonable path to credits or like being done with it, you know, like whatever goal I set out to replay this game, it's reasonable to do so. Maybe I don't hit credits, or maybe I say, you know what, we're going straight story, just ignoring it. I just want to play this game and have fun, and it's like eight hours. Great. Play it a couple nights, I'll be done with it. And I think to maybe add on portability, I am a Switch truther, and I know you are a Steam Deck truther, but any game that I can play from the comfort of my bed or the couch, big ups.

Ryan 18:59

It honestly plays a huge role. I will agree with that.

James 19:02

Like there are some times where I've had some like PS1 games on my PS3 or like the PS2 that's just kind of like a hassle to set up and get all the chords out or the cables, and like I can't play it wirelessly or like in a comfortable, you know, like I've gotta be out in the living room, and it's like, you know, like I'm not saying that those can't be comfort games. Um, but to me, it it definitely helps. It's not required, but like big. If I can just like, is there a Switch version? Sure.

James's Personal Pick Resident Evil 4

Ryan 19:31

Yeah, like the Nintendo Switch Online version that's already hooked up. Like maybe you have the N64 controller, but even if you don't, like it's just so easy to boot up. So you named a few things, and uh like so familiarity, I think, is a good general thing. It's almost a requirement for a comfort game, because to me, like a comfort game is something that you have to be familiar with because you already know the good vibes it brought you the first time or the second time or whatever play-through number you're on. That last point like has more grip on some of those reasons you listed too of what is your goal for this play-through? Are you trying to like learn something a little newer about it? Are you trying to like get something out of it that you didn't see before? Like in a hundred-hour RPG, maybe you've only done like 90% of the quests. Maybe there's like that 10% area you never did. It could be any play-through really, but statistically, it would be like more in your first like five play-throughs, let's say. Like maybe by the fifth play-through, you finally like got to that bit you missed out on. So then it gets into like 10 to 15 play-through. Like at that point, you feel like you you probably milk the crap out of this game. So, like, what are you trying to recreate at that point? And I'll list an example for you, like Resident Evil 4. How many times have you played that?

James 20:47

If you want me to gush about this game for the next 39 minutes, whatever, I will do it.

Ryan 20:53

I will let's like this is gonna be a hard chat because we're gonna have to like hold back a little bit. But this is such a perfect example. I know you've talked to me so many times about like, yeah, I'll just do like an RE4 run today. And I'm wondering by like the 10th time, what are you getting out of it that time?

James 21:12

This is a good example, I think, that checked most of my boxes, right? I'd have to check the numbers. I think this might actually be more re-released than Skyrim, which is pretty hard to fathom. Like any game being re-released more than Skyrim, but I think it's definitely gunning for it. I mean, we're talking about like weird mobile phone ports, like iPod touch ports. Like, I mean, this game has been on like anything since the GameCube that you could play. It's very accessible. Play it on the Switch if you want, you can play it portably, but each version kind of has its own unique quirks in some ways. Like the GameCube original still is very impressive. Even today, you know, it's just one of those games that has aged very well. It was pushing the graphics at the time, it was a beautiful looking game on the GameCube. The PS2 added some light content, like that version. There's the Wii version if you want to play with like uh you know motion controls, if you want to get kind of weird with it. So that adds a unique layer to it. Sometimes I just like got the game. I'm in a GameCube mindset. I just want to play RE4. Boom. I want to play my childhood version, right? This was the one that I grew up with, and that has some allure to it, you know, of playing like that game's original version, original hardware, you're playing the authentic experience. But sometimes a valuable play-through is doing something different or weird or like maybe not outside of the norm with it. Playing on the Wii with motion controls is a completely different experience. Being able to aim with the precision that a Wii remote gives you versus slowly moving around with a stick is so different. That completely changes a play-through and makes it feel so fresh in its own different way. For the sake of not gushing again about I will talk about this game until you tell me to shut up. RE4 is a great game because there's so many unique ways to play it because there's so much variety baked into it. You can do like a handgun only run if you want to do like a challenge run. Every gun has a very unique upgrade that is specific to it. So like the starting handgun has weaker stats, but if you upgrade it all the way, it has like a crazy one-hit kill headshot rate. That's like the final upgrade. So there are runs where people will do just the handgun, starting handgun only, or you don't really have enough resources to get everything on your first go. So maybe I'll use the shotgun I didn't use in the first play-through, or I'll use the semi-auto rifle instead of the bolt action one or whatever. So there's a lot of different ways you can customize your loadout for repeat play-throughs. Resident Evil as a series is always a series designed on speedrunning, very akin to Metroid. RE4 is a little bit different. I mean, that's almost like just a bona fide action game, but especially like the older puzzle-centric ones, and to some extent this one, and I guess kind of with any game, but you know, the more familiar you are with it, the quicker you beat it. And so there's a satisfying loop of now that I have the knowledge of the first play-through, how can I optimize this section? Or how can I, you know, a section that I struggled with where I'm getting ambushed and attacked from all angles, I am now clearing with ease. RE4 is kind of like that perfect length. It's 10 to 12 hours on like a casual play-through, many different ways to replay it. It's on any system you'd ever possibly fathom. Almost any time I need to turn my brain off, re4 will be there forever.

Theory of Reaffirmation

Ryan 24:44

Okay, so I'm seeing a couple patterns there. One is just as gamers, we are all naturally born to be efficient. If there's a point A to point B solution, we will find the quickest and most efficient way to point B. It takes a lot of thought to be in a mindset of I just want to smell the roses. In open world games, a lot easier to say that, but I don't know. After a while, you just find yourself gunning for Hyrule Castle and holding sprint until you can't sprint no more and just rinse and repeat. So there's that drive to be efficient, and then there's also a reassurance of your skill set. Do you find that like replaying RE4 is like a reassurance that you can still get through it really nicely and like this is still under your thumb in terms of your skills?

James 25:30

Uh it's not necessarily that I'm like, I don't know if maybe this is stretching what you were just pointing out. Like, I'm not necessarily seeking my validation of like, oh, I'm still I've still got it, you know.

Ryan 25:42

It sounds a little prideful when you put it like that, I will say.

James 25:45

Kind of feels like coming back to like an like an old trip that you went on or something, or like you go to a theme park and it's like, ah, these these things I still love and enjoy. I still love them today, you know?

Ryan 25:56

Okay, okay. So not a reassurance, a a reaffirmation of what you liked in the first place about it.

James 26:03

Yes. And again, maybe bouncing off a little bit of my shadows of Valentia, but like you've played a game enough that it's been established as a comfort game, right? Where why do I keep replaying this game? Why is this one latching on so much? A good thing with a comfort game, too, is that maybe a little hard to define, but like it's stuck with you. I've played many, many, many Resident Evil games. This is my comfort Resident Evil game. This is the one that I would love to go back and play more than maybe any other one in the series. They do have their moments, they do have their things that stick out, but like this one has it just hits, you know?

Ryan 26:42

And that is a that's an experience personal to you. It's easy to come up with like patterns of what a comfort game can bring, but there's something unconveyable about what a comfort game means to you specifically. We can dissect this all day to get to the bottom of it, but it's just very clear like Resident Evil 4 is your comfort game.

Ryan's Personal Pick: Metroid Prime

James 27:03

I feel like I don't want to be wearing a lab coat and holding a clipboard, like uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh. Yeah. You know, like you shouldn't have like a comfort game speaks to you in its own way. With that being said, Ryan, I'm curious to hear about one of your comfort games.

Ryan 27:18

I love me some Metroid Prime. That fits a lot of the points we were talking about here. So time commitment. I mean, it's a speedrunnable game. I'm not like that much of a speedrunner because I feel like for most games, I feel like that breaks the fun out of it. I still want to be able to like enjoy my time going through it. I don't want to just find the efficient path, and then every subsequent play-through, whenever I'm not doing that, I feel like inefficient. So like there's a weird pressure there of like, I want to give myself room for discovering things slowly. Again, like time commitment for Metroid Prime is not very long. I think it's like a 10, 15-hour game, like pretty comfortably. It's got great pacing of each new area you go to. You can like, you don't overly spend too much time in there, but you spend enough time, you beat the boss, and then you go on to the next one. There's like four or five areas, I think I remember of it. And then act two or three of the game has you going through them again to like find the remaining artifacts for the big final climax of the game with the last areas. Playing it once, you can easily remember that cadence of going from area to area. And it's not like a very daunting time commitment, even if it takes a few sessions to play through. In regards to like the different versions, I started with the GameCube version, and I thought it was weird as hell you hit B to jump. It's like the GameCube controllers just designed were like the action button that you do the most is like the big A button, and then the smaller action is like the little B button. They purposely designed it. And just for Metroid, I mean the thing you do most is shoot. So it makes sense that A is no longer jump, A is shoot. It's the big green button there. I digress. It was weird to hit B to jump. Uh, it was also reportedly like kind of weird to look around. It had a kind of tank. It's not exactly tank, but it's like you you move the joystick left and you turn your body left. You don't like strafe.

James 29:22

It's kind of tanky. I mean, that's kind of how like tank controls are designed, right? Where like if you do horizontal inputs, you shift your character that way, and then you have forward and back. So you have to kind of orient yourself real time as you're kind of swaying around, or it's not full 3D movement where it's just you point the stick, you go that way.

Ryan 29:43

Yeah, you know what, you're right. So it was tank controls, but it works better for an FPS because you can turn and keep going forward if you need to. But with the Wii, you now have this immersion machine here. You literally have Samus' arm cannon in your right hand with the Wii mode. You are pointing and you were shooting. And it's just it's so immersive, and it's like it's such a fun new way to play that like it will make you want to buy the Wii version for it.

James 30:11

Like, it's great. This is me with my lab coat and my clipboard. It turns out Wii versions are comfort games. Wii equals comfort. Yeah, we would like to play. Wii would like to comfort you. You got me Miyamoto again. This is your two for two. We haven't even gotten to the rest of them.

Ryan 30:34

Uh it's it's it's just great. So, like, that's a a comfort game I didn't realize that I would have so much fun playing, but like the final nail in the coffin here is that like I have so many memories of playing Metroid Prime growing up. And that's what I latch on to. And we're in our 30s, we're like prime for nostalgia stuff, and you know, revisiting our childhood. And I mean, that genuinely does play a big factor into this. I have memories of like Wind Waker and Halo is another comfort game because I remember a very I have a very vivid memory of playing with my cousin, and there's a part in the second mission where like a guy goes like, Oh, they're coming up around us, they're trying to flank us, and my cousin goes, They're trying to flank us. Like he's just kind of mocking them. I still do that to myself every time I go through that part, and I I have that vivid memory in my head, and it's just such a cozy, nice memory that I associate with this game. So it's like, how can I not have fun with it? How does how can I not see the value of comfort that it brings me?

Can Remasters be Comfort Games?

James 31:35

So there's two things I wanted to ask about. How do you feel about the Switch version of Metroid Prime?

Ryan 31:41

Oh my god, amazing. So the base version was great, it establishes the experience. The Wii version gives you better controls. The Switch version's graphics were phenomenal. That was such a nice new graphical experience. Already exploring a world that I was familiar with. Now I get to just look at it in a better revamped style. It was awesome. I loved that.

James 32:07

For my devil's advocate thesis, does the Switch version crack a comfort level for you? Or is it the first two games that stand out so strongly? Like you said, the immersion of the Wii version, the childhood version you grew up with. You know, is like if you go to replay Metroid Prime this year, next year, are you going to hit the Switch version or are you gonna just stick with the other two?

Using Mods as an Experience Enhancer

Ryan 32:30

I think I would stick with the other two. It was a cool experience to see the revamp graphics. And if I want that experience again, it's it's there. But first point is randomizer mods exist. So that gives me a new like gameplay incentive of like, I don't know what I'm gonna get. There's still more to discover here in this Metroid Prime game, like every run. That gives so much more longevity to it. And second, it's just the nostalgia. Like even seeing the old graphics, I still think they look great. And I still like having a wee controller, a nunchuck in my hand. And it's just it's just a I'm back, you know, it feels good.

James 33:08

It's interesting you said that, and I didn't even think about it when I talked about re4. They definitely upscaled and like cleaned up a lot of textures and things, like in subsequent re-releases of RE4, but there's an argument to be made that it actually still looks better on the original hardware because it was designed for that, and it's not trying to like upscale or change any kind of weird. It's like this was the resolution it was designed for. It pushed the limits of its console to a very specific, like it was a showcase of what the GameCube could do. And yes, uh, sure, it's HD now in these newer versions, but like it looks really damn good on the GameCube, just like Metroid Prime did. That game looked phenomenal when it came out. Yeah, the Switch version's amazing, and it is its own unique graphical style and rendition of the game, but there's still something pretty immaculate about that first version.

Ryan 34:02

Yeah, with RE4, was it like fuzzy looking at all? Or is that what lent it to the style of it?

James 34:09

Um, yeah, I think um again, it wasn't a full screen, it wasn't like widescreen or anything, kind of like larger resolution. It was designed for a smaller console, and the textures look a bit maybe muddier, or like maybe the tone is a little more muted. But again, I think it kind of just it's hard to explain without just seeing it in person, but you can definitely tell like they just kind of slapped a shiny coat of paint on textures that weren't meant to be upscaled the way they were. So rather than reimagine the textures or redesign them in a way that like scales up better, they just kind it just looks I don't want to say shoddy like it looks bad, but it definitely's noticeable, you know? Where like in the original GameCube game, I mean, there's kind of an argument for just that era of time. I mean, yeah, there's probably aspects of Metroid Prime Remaster you'd say might look better or just this area has such a glow up now or whatever. Like, sure, but there's a reason it was done the way it was on the original console, and it sort of just kind of has a nice like glue around the whole experience to where it's like they're not trying to do something they're not.

Ryan 35:15

Yeah, purposeful intent is very key in these kind of decisions, and and that's what I was trying to ask was like the muddiness, like it could be criticized as bad, but actually that's like that was purposeful, or would you argue that that the muddiness was purposeful?

James 35:30

I I definitely think so. And I mean, there's definitely like you get to many unique and different areas throughout the entirety of Resident Evil 4, but in that intro village, that like first third of the game, again, it's sort of just kind of lends itself well. I don't know. Also, I didn't want to say it, but I'm glad you did. Uh, mods. Like, uh, I looked at the rest of our list, and I'd say almost every game on the list is mod accessible. So, is that like how much do you factor in mods? Because yeah, I there's re4 randomizers. I've got fire emblem. I mean, people do ROM hacks of Fire Emblem all the time, or like balance patches or whatever. Like, if if a game wasn't comfy for you, or maybe teetering, does mod support elevate it for you enough that that helps?

Ryan 36:19

Oh, a hundred percent. Pikmin is a what was the first game I picked on my list, and that's actually a rare outlier for me of like where a speedrunner mindset is actually more fun because the game is built around doing it as fast as you can without dying on the 30th day. So, like subsequent play-throughs throughout the years, I've gone from like 18 days to 16 days, and I'm hitting about like 14, 13 days. That's still nowhere close to like what's possible with like speedrunning. But the mods that adds something new. You don't know what part you're gonna get, you don't know how many Pikmin you're gonna need. You don't know what enemies are around the corner. It's all so exciting. And for a game where you when you feel like you've explored everything you can out of the main game, absolutely mods are like the way to go, especially randomizers to like just milk more out of the experience. It's great.

James 37:13

I just was curious. I think there are definitely some people that will never touch a mod in their entire lifetime. Some people may not know how to do it. I kind of curated my list without mods in mind, but yeah, absolutely. I have played mods for many of these games or adjusted them. It's just interesting. It's an interesting piece into that puzzle of like what separates a comfort game from a favorite general game or a highlight game you've played, but maybe you won't ever touch again. Like, I don't know. It's just kind of an interesting piece to that.

Ryan 37:45

Well, when you played with mods, first question is like, what mod was it? And second, did that give you like the same comfort feeling along with the excitement of discovering something new?

James 37:57

Yeah, I've had experiences where I have tried mods and then kind of turned them off. I don't want to seem like this OG elitist or anything when it comes to games. That's such a weird thing to say. But it's just like I put a ton of value into developer intent. That is something that is like so high at the list of my appreciation for games, is like when you have there's so many moving parts and people and philosophies that go into creating one video game, one game, and it's like it's designed in a very specific way. I mean, we talk about Majora's Mask being designed around time constraints, like literal physical real life time constraints. What did they have to do to make that game? Why did they make it the way they did? In some ways, there's a part of me that's like it's kind of taking away from the pure play-through. It's separating a part of what makes this game unique in its own way by adding more. I'm not saying less is always more, but then there are also times where I'm like, yes, I think Pokemon, which is another one of my comfort games that I listed, super cozy RPGs, very turn your brain off. I think they are mostly pretty easy, especially the way they're designed. I mean, they're designed for a general audience. They're not pushing you the same way that Dragon Quest or Final Fantasy or Xenoblade or some of these other RPGs will push you in combat. Turn your brain off, kind of catch stuff, play things a little differently, maybe use different team comps, you know, Pokemon team comps and different play-throughs, different starter. There's always kind of that, like, oh, maybe you'll get a shiny kind of excitement to it. But I love Pokemon mods because in some ways I am a little frustrated at the lack of until Scarlet and Violet, there really wasn't a way for you to like self-impose Pokemon challenge. If you wanted to like freshen up a play-through, it did come down to those things maybe I just talked about, but there's no hard mode. The Nuzlocke, the most popular side category in maybe any video game play-through ever, is like still a thing you have to do with your own self-imposed rules. There's not really a way to bake it in. But now there are mods for Nuzlocke runs, for roguelike modes, for randomized Pokemon, randomized movesets. And like that is the shit that I love. It's weird. It's like I it's hard for me to separate because I just had a separate tangent of don't take away my pure experience, you nerds. But like in some cases, I do love this shit.

Ryan 40:32

Well, okay, let me let me write that back to you because those points are valid and you cover both sides of the same coin, if you will. It sounds like your first point is you've yet to really milk the game at that point. And you still, if you were like, oh, I'm gonna turn on mods for Breath of the Wild, it's like, well, they designed this hill to be discovered a certain way. Like, you don't want to just like mod your way around that. Maybe go down this path that the developers took to Zora's domain to like see what challenges they had to give you. And it's in a way of you having a conversation with the developers that we will never meet, but we are like communicating in this fascinating way through the game medium. So you don't want to really tarnish that experience. That's valid. And I am very partial to that too. On the flip side, yeah, with Pokemon, I totally agree. Even with Nuzlockes, you have to approach them a certain way. You're still only gonna get Pidgeys and Rattatatas. Rattatas. James is shaking his head.

James 41:34

This is a cozy podcast. I cannot break the integrity of what we set out to be for Pokemon pronunciation. So I'm just gonna put a pin in that. We'll discuss post notes.

Ryan 41:48

Anyway, ratatat.

James 41:50

Fuck.

Ryan 41:51

You get birds and rats the first route. So that's all you can catch. You know, even with that self-imposed limit, it's like you still have a seemingly like similar nuzloc play-through on subsequent runs. But with the randomizer mods that you're talking about, absolutely you can get like a Jigglypuff Route One or a Matop or something like out of the blue. And that totally freshens up a game that is very ironically kind of linear for as many monsters as you can catch. So, in short, I think it comes down to like, have you milked the game enough where you feel like you need mods to like want to experience it more?

James 42:31

For me personally, mods are not an end-all be-all to like elevating a comfort game. They're a supplementary thing, but in the right cases, absolutely is like a slam dunk. But for certain games, I don't know. Fire emblems on my list, like, don't touch my fire emblem. I just I don't need that experience altered. Sure, there's like maybe a balance patch or something I look at, but those are ones that I've tried before where I've tried the mod and then I just went back to playing the original. Like, I just I don't know. Mods can be interesting. Again, that's part of your conversation of like kind of experience are you looking for? Mods may be a part of it, they may not. Maybe they are for some games, you know? It's a wide and wacky world out there.

Ryan 43:14

It sure is, and it's all up to you what a definition of comfort game means.

James 43:19

Before we move on, was there any other games you wanted to talk about, Ryan, comfort-wise, just for like anything that stuck out to you, or maybe something we didn't quite hit yet that you wanted to put a point in?

Unique Game Experiences: Spiderman 2

Ryan 43:30

Yeah, I think there's a couple that like talk about different points. So we've covered like familiarity as a foundational thing. We talked about time commitment being low key. It doesn't have to be another big undertaking to get into unique gameplay experiences through mods. You can also find unique games themselves. Ironically, this is a bad example to start. I don't know why I'm starting with it. But Spider Man 2 for me was always a good replay. Come for game because of the swinging mechanics. I guess actually, I take that back. It kind of is still relevant because the swinging mechanics in that game are very different from the modern Spider-Mans. I would argue like the physics-based swinging there is it's it's still a very unique experience and very fun to try out.

James 44:18

That was my question, and I hate to I hate to ask it. Are you talking about Spider-Man 2 from 2001? Are you talking about Spider-Man 2 from 2024 or whatever?

Unique Game Experiences: Red Faction

Ryan 44:28

Yep, yeah, had to clarify. I even wrote uh until recent generation like next to it. But like I guess you could still argue it. One game I definitely have not seen do this again was Red Faction Gorilla, is a fun, fun, fun, fun. Like sandbox, tear down this building with a hammer physics game. It's it's so fun. I absolutely love that. It's I've not seen that done well again since.

James 44:55

I've played Red Faction once in my life, and I love the shit out of it. And I don't know why I never replayed it. It's so weird. Like, I might argue that many aspects of that game are maybe unremarkable. Like the story doesn't really stick with me. Maybe the gunplay is not the most tight out there. But like you said, that one idea that it executes, it does so well, and it hasn't been done. It hasn't been done in the same way sense. So like I absolutely see what you're saying with Red Faction.

Ryan 45:24

Again, it comes back down to developer intent. What were they trying to do? They were trying to make a fun, like destroy everything kind of game. So the story was there and it was fine. It did the job of moving things along and pushing you to the next area where there's bigger buildings and you can still sneak around and shoot guys, but like it it was just they nailed it and they haven't done anything like that since.

The Art of Discovery: Marvel vs. Capcom

James 45:46

I think Discovery may have been touched on a little bit earlier of like, well, maybe like how is it hitting new play-throughs? What are you doing to maybe freshen up the play-through? Kind of talked a little bit about that. For me, I'm just gonna talk about Marvel versus Capcom. Why are fighting games such a comfort game for me? I think, especially like the old retro ones for me, and not one I'm trying to keep up with. Tekken makes me want to smash my monitor. That is not comfort for me. But Marvel versus Capcom, there's no stakes, there's no rank for me to care about. It's just whenever I end up playing it, super cozy. As a game develops over time, this doesn't have to be just fighting games, but like a game is sort of figured out. We're playing Dark Souls right now, Ryan. There are optimal builds that you should be working towards, or there are weapons you should or should not be using in comparison, or like there's not a statistical advantage for you to use this type of thing. Same thing in fighting games. I think it's oh god, off the top of my head, I'm such a fake fan. I want to say maybe there's like 56 characters in Marvel 2. I'd say 48 of them are bad in comparison to like if you're playing competitively, if you're playing at the top level, you only pick the top 10 characters. They're they're the only ones viable. But why limit yourself to just all of that? So I love hitting the lab. I fucking love going to the lab in a fighting game where you just go into practice mode, you pick whatever three dudes you want, and just hit the practice dummy. Try to find new combo routes that you didn't have the skill for when you were a kid playing this game, or I've never used this character. Is this somebody I might secretly like, or is this like a weird move-set that jumps out to me? The exploration and discovery of just like what the full capability of like the roster is is really satisfying to me. There was a phase last year for my comfort block of time. I had the Marvel collection on Switch that just had all the Marvel versus Capcom games. And I would just take 30 minutes to an hour a night, and I'm like, I'm gonna do this arcade run. I'm just gonna go hit the lab and just practice some combos. That stretch of time where I was able to just fuck around, it was great. That was super cozy for me, and it was super satisfying to like find the right team that I wanted to play to like do the combos in the lab and then execute them in the arcade mode was like the chef's kiss. I've I've practiced it against a non-moving, non-blocking opponent, but doing it when they're actually fighting, super satisfying.

Ryan 48:31

So, in practice, I'm on Pluto and you're on Earth. That's how far apart we are in enjoyment of like what you described. But I can absolutely see the like the appeal. I'm kidding. It's not my cup of tea, is I'll I'll rephrase that. But just hearing how passionate you are about this, it makes more sense now. Like you are building a skill, you're putting in the time, you're enjoying that time practicing, and you are learning about this one out of 80 characters. And I have to ask, how many characters do you feel like proficient with as of today, after all of your experience with this game?

James 49:09

I don't know. It's that's hard to say. If you threw me into an arcade and I had to play Marvel 2, I could probably comfortably play like maybe six total characters if you like wanted to spread the team compositions around a little bit. Six. Okay, that's a bad example because Marvel 2 is a 3v3 fighter, right? If you look up tier lists today, there is an entire tier that it that most people will call assists only, where like their one function is being the best assist in the game, and hopefully you don't have to be stuck playing them.

Ryan 49:43

That's it. Wow. See, this is like a whole nother universe you're explaining to me right now. That's that's fascinating.

James 49:50

I have to say it, it's completely unrelated, but it just makes me laugh every time. Old Capcom mascot was Captain Commando. Very old, very 80s. Like he was in some of the promo art. He had an arcade game. He wasn't really in a lot, but like he was kind of the de facto Capcom mascot. He is in Marvel 2. He was also in Marvel 1, MVC one. He is commonly the the the slang. The the community nickname for him is "Captain Suckass" because he is he is literally you. That is brutal. So he has the best assist in the game, bar none. Like there are teams that have him on, and you're like, why would you play somebody called "Captain Suckass" if he's that bad? He is, he is literally awful in every sense of the word. His frame data is trash, his special moves leave him unsafe, like on hit. When you hit somebody, he can be counter-attacked. Like bad, bad, bad. Horrible character. But his assist is so freaking good. There are teams that basically play like 2v3 because you just have Captain Commando on your team. So, like when I say I'm good with six characters, quote unquote, there are teams where I play like Psylocke is a good one. You may have seen her in Marvel Rivals, or if you're an X-Men fan, like she's a better character than him, but her assist is basically like a one-frame invincible, cannot be hit back, perfect air anti-aerial. She's super valuable against certain match-ups on certain teams because her assist is that good. I have played arcade runs where it's like Cyclops, this guy, and Psylocke for the assist. So maybe a little cheating, but you know, I still tried to learn some of the move-set. Like I've seen people play matches where like they get down to just Captain Commando and they put down the controller. They literally will just put down the controller and let you kill them because it's not worth it.

Ryan 51:47

Give their fingers a break.

James 51:48

If you can hit one button on your controller, you already know how to play Captain Commando. You just have to hit left bumper for the assist. That's it. That's that's all you'll ever need with them. Great. So that's one character. You too can be a Marvel versus Capcom 2 player. Last I'll say on it, because again, I'm just getting on a tangent. A lot of the teams have this lingo now where it's it's such a well-established game. And like if you play these three characters, there's like uh like MSS is one where it's like Magneto, Storm, and Sentinel. There's a team called Team Scrub where it's Sentinel, Cable, and Captain Commando, because like you could hand the controller to almost anyone, and if you just give them like a quick one-minute primer, they could win with that team. All right, so that's my end. Yes, what you're saying. Yes, all right. If we ever play Marvel versus Capcom, I'm giving you Team Scrub. And see, and I know Ryan, I know like it translates differently, right? We're talking about fighting games, it's a completely different genre, but I know how experienced you are with Souls games, and I know you know frame data. I know you know that aspect of video games, and that is such a critical aspect of fighting games that like you will get it, and you'll get why Team Scrub is fucking cheap. When you get to just jump in the air and cable, do a super in one frame and it's unreactable. Like, imagine like a Dark Souls move where you just hit right bumper and you've already zapped them with a spell, and there's just like no feasible way the human eye can even like react to it in a reasonable amount of time.

Ryan 53:17

Unfathomable, crazy crazy.

James 53:20

Don't ever play fighting games, you'll hate it.

Ryan 53:22

Roger that. All right, quote, we'll follow that advice. Uh, that's fascinating. I mean, like, so what I was like trying to get at is like how many characters you're good at, which holy crap, what a fascinating deep dive on that. There's still a lot of discovery potential for you with this game that you've played for like over 20 years. That's insane. That's insane that you can still get value out of this. What an actual comfort.

James 53:49

Yeah, there's a lot of community-run formats too. They've implemented ways of like there's 10 characters you should play in Marvel 2 and nobody else. But what if there was like a point system? There's a ratio format that some tournaments run where, like, if you pick one of the top 10 best characters, that's basically your whole team, and then you have to pick two absolute trash people. So you can't in that format play the top teams that everybody plays all the time. When you watch Evo or when you watch competitive tournaments, it's usually the same 10 characters. But like a Nuzlocke run or like a specific self-imposed kind of thing, there are formats that are run where it's like you are not allowed to play that same aspect. So that opened up a whole new world of discovery of like, is it worth it to play one of these guys when I can have two or three in the middle groups? Or like I can pick one of the best guys and it's worth it because he's that good. And then I just pick two people that get me killed, but like, whatever. If I don't ever have to be in that scenario, it's like there's a lot of community discovery, and there's a lot of new avenues that are opened up when you can expand beyond the expected play-through, the expected characters to pick in every single matchup. So it is fun to go back and like just try to play with a bunch of weird goobers, you know?

The Game Awards... Described Poorly Quiz

Ryan 55:08

It's just so fascinating. Like from fighting games to Souls likes to traditional Nintendo stuff to Pokemon, there is comfort in every genre you can think of. And it proves that there is something out there for everybody. To all our listeners, we would love to hear what makes a comfort game a comfort game to you. Is it the reaffirmation of your skill set? Is it the challenge? Is it the nostalgia? If you'd like to send us your thoughts, please click on the send us fan mail button in the show notes. We would love to hear from you. So, James, we're gonna move away from Comfort Games, and I'm gonna give you another challenge here. How familiar are you with the game awards?

James 55:57

I gotta say, Ryan, I tune in every year. Uh, it's always a great time to watch them live, but I can't help but feel super nervous about what is about to uh fall into my lap here.

Ryan 56:10

I have more faith in you. You can do it. So, what we're gonna do, we're gonna play Describe It Poorly, the Game Awards edition. Uh, from the past five years, 2021 to 2025, we're going to poorly describe a game using poetry for Neanderthal rules. And you're gonna have to pick out the game and you get bonus points if you recall if it was the winner of the Game of the Year award. Okay.

James 56:35

I feel like I I feel like I could get a little bit of that correct, but I don't know if I'll be able to even reach the game, but we'll find out.

Ryan 56:43

We will see. As a reminder, the poetry for Neanderthals rules are you can only use single syllable words to give clues. So if I say more than one syllable, you'll have to virtually hit me with a two-foot inflatable club, whatever you have lying around. What is your object of choice that you are going to virtually hit me with?

James 57:03

Well, I've got a bottle of cider right here. Or um yikes. You know what? I've got it. I've got a copy of Fire Emblem Shadows of Falentia right at my desk. Right in the camera, right across the head.

Ryan 57:18

We've gone full circle, ladies and gentlemen.

James 57:20

Maybe I'll intentionally whiff it just so I can, just so you can see the cover art. Well bam!

Ryan 57:26

I will play it. God.

James 57:29

Now I do have a rules question, a super quick rules question. Sure. Are these games that have been so like at the game awards? Are we talking like this was just a trailer that was at the game awards or were Oh no, no, no.

Ryan 57:42

These are nominees for Game of the Year Award and their winner.

James 57:46

Perfect.

Ryan 57:47

So there is a certain amount. It's usually like five or six per year. I think it's gonna be about 28 entries. So we'll see how you do. If we want to actually like give you a little preview of like a reminder of what everything else was, we'll take we'll uh we'll let you refamiliarize yourself with the stuff, but we're gonna try to just burn through these and see what we got. Okay?

James 58:10

Let's do it.

Ryan 58:11

All right. I have a random name generator, so we're gonna go ahead and get started here. Uh crap. Okay. This is gonna rely a lot on me thinking too. Shoot. Okay, first up is damn it, this is already so fucking hard. Uh-oh. Okay, update. I suck at ad libbing, so we're gonna put three minutes on the clock. We're gonna try to get James to guess as many as he can, and I'm not gonna feel bad about skipping stuff because I'm bad at vocabulary. So three minutes on the clock, here we go. Start. First spin. Ooh. Um Lord Circle.

James 59:02

Elden Ring. Black ground. Um uh plant. Not no, it was not Sekiro. I'm trying to think. If you were like screaming at that, no, we're getting farther away. We're getting farther away. Oh no. Um Death Stranding. I'm trying to think of what's one.

Ryan 59:26

Um maybe I should just give it. Okay, we're gonna be nice. I'm gonna give it to you. It was it was Elden Ring, but it's Shadow of the Earth Tree, is what I was trying to say. All right, next. Oh my god, that's already freaking minute. Um Bug Boy.

James 59:43

Bug Bo. Bug Boy 2? Uh God, I'm gonna I'm gonna hit pass.

Ryan 59:51

Red Bug.

James 59:53

Oh, Hollow Knight Soak Song. No. Uh Red? Okay. Uh Spider-Man 2? Yeah, yeah, yeah. You got it. You got it. Okay.

Ryan 1:00:07

Spin, spin faster. Oh. I am

James 1:00:11

Astro Bot.

Ryan 1:00:13

Yep. We got it.

James 1:00:15

And that did win. Give me the point.

Ryan 1:00:18

Yeah, you got it. All right, extra point. Um, no, this one's no, I'm not gonna get this one. Okay. Um Ape. Escape. Dark uh Wukong. We five Wukong. Yes, good job. You saw it. All right. Um it's Ryan time third.

James 1:00:42

Xenoblade Chronicles three.

Ryan 1:00:44

Yes, let's go.

James 1:00:46

"Now it's Reyn time three" He's probably not even in that game

Ryan 1:00:52

Oh, um can you say letters, I wonder? Nah, probably not. Uh oh my god. I'm an idiot. I can't. It's like a group exercise. Oh, shoot. It's uh DND third. Baldur's Gate three. You got it. Mind spy second. Ah, I was about to say second. You were gonna be able to whap me. Mind spy second. Mind spy. I guess we have to skip because I said second. Hit me with the shadows. Oh. Look at them.

James 1:01:32

Um, look at how beautiful they are. We have six seconds. Hold on. French. Expedition 33.

Ryan 1:01:41

Yeah, all right, that's time. Oh my fuck. French.

James 1:01:46

Yes. We wee. Yeah, fuck you. Any Ubisoft game that's ever been nominated. It was definitely Expedition 33, and I got it.

Ryan 1:01:56

Oh my god. I'm sweating.

James 1:01:58

That was intense. We needed more time on that one. I feel like that you were just as under duress as I was.

Ryan 1:02:07

All right. Okay, so we got we got one point for Black Myth, uh, one point for Elden Ring, two points for Claire, because you got the winner.

James 1:02:18

How could it not have won? It won everything.

Ryan 1:02:22

What didn't it win, really? What uh did you did you say Astrobot was the winner?

James 1:02:27

It was, yeah. I said it was the winner. I remember we were there.

Ryan 1:02:29

You you had your saving grace moment of like, thank god I don't have to be upset because it what Balatra was winning everything else, and I was just so happy that Astrobot came through. You were ecstatic. I remember it so vividly. All right, so we got six points. Uh Resident Evil 4. I was I couldn't, you it was like for as much as we just talked about it, I cannot figure out a way to say that with one syllable. So I had to pass on that. I'm so glad you got Bug Man, Bug Boy 2.

James 1:03:02

That was tough. I'm thinking, I'm thinking hollow. I'm thinking silksong, like fresh off of it. Like you said red, and that was like fuck.

Ryan 1:03:09

Yeah, oh my gosh. I was trying to say like red for Marvel, but that probably messed you up. High school kid bug boy. There it is. Yeah, uh, you got Ballsgate 3 and declared it the winner. That was good. So nine points. Xenobino 3, you got that. And then I was trying to say Psychonauts 2 with Psychonauts 2.

James 1:03:33

Oh my god. Man, I can't I completely forgot about that game. Completely forgot that it came out, unfortunately.

Ryan 1:03:40

And that's where we have it today, folks. Ten points for James. Honestly, pretty good between my ineptitude with words and your knowledge with the game awards. We'll do better next time. We'll do better next time. That was meant as a compliment for you.

Outro

James 1:03:55

I appreciate it.

Ryan 1:03:56

All right. Well, James, thanks for talking with me about comfort games today. That was really fun. I learned a few things, did you?

James 1:04:02

I absolutely did. It's such a I don't want to say intimidating is maybe not the right word, but it's a topic that kind of expands so much more than you expect it to. I said at the beginning of this podcast, I could not be cozier if I tried. And just thinking about what comfort game will hit my backlog next is I feel even more comfortable thinking about it and all of like what makes it special.

Ryan 1:04:26

Couldn't have said it better myself. That's exactly it. Well, thank you for the conversation. I can't wait till next time for more, even if it's not comfort games, I'm just comfortable hanging out with my pal.

James 1:04:37

Aw, absolutely, buddy. Right back at you.

Ryan 1:04:40

All right. Well, thanks for joining us for another episode, and we will see you at the next campfire.

James 1:04:45

Stay cozy.