Upcoming Releases and Closing Thoughts

He the Aher, It's a low key video game podcast. My name is Brandon Bigley. My name is Stephven Hillger. I have two things to say at the beginning of this episode, Steven. Yes, hear. Number one, this one is video game related. Okay. We are soon approaching summer Game fest season. Oh yeah. It's like next week, I think. Preree wild. That is wild. I have no idea what's happening and I have no idea if I'm excited about anything I've heard nothing and I know nothing. I just know it's happening. The one thing though is that I will so suummer Game Fest happens in California. I will be in California when suummer Game Fest is happening I will be off the grid though. So I won't have any idea what happens until it's over and I'm back. A low probability of this being the case in your life that you know nothing ahead of time and that you will be off the grid. Yes. I think that spells something very exciting will happen. not to deny you S song two. Actually, this lookooks on DLC might get something because that was's true like just sort of given a Elder Scroll six trailer. Yeah. and know I'm sure we'll learn more about that soon. Yeah. you might be right. Yeah. I'm excited to find out that like when I get back, I'm excited I think going into Summer Gamefest knowing I won't be able to really pay attention to it while it's happening. Yeah and then only learn about the stuff when it's over, I feel like I have a higher probability of enjoying myself than if I sat down and I watched it. I think there's a non zero chance that that's when fire emblem gets announced Yeah Nintendo does do stuff there every once in a while. Yeah, either during it, just on their own app. It' like here it is. Yeah. I just think we'll probably know more about like the latter half of the year for Nintendo in June. And then also I would bet anything we'll see some kind of trailer for GTA six. Yeah, Take two did an earnings call recently where they like reconfirmed that the game is still coming out this year because there was a lot of speculation and like it was affecting their stock price, the speculation that they might push it again. And they were like, no, it's happening I think they said they are expecting to make eight billion dollars this year I mean, Yeah, who knows? who knows That's a whole other thing. It's so funny having a Vame podcast and being like completely like true neutral about GTA six. I was at a party the other day and somebody found out what I do for a living and they werere like, Ohh are you excited for GTA and I was like, how do I have this conversation? It's like I will play it out of professional curiosity. Hour two. So Elliot is the coolest, most charming down earth guy in Philibildia. And get this. He wears a red hat. You know It's a Fedora. Wait, don't leave, come back No, no, I'll play GA six. Yeah, no again, I'm going to play it out of professional curiosity. I have only finished one GTA game, but I am excited to be a part of the mono culture as mono culture never happens anymore. So it's exciting to see it happen. And I think the nice thing about Grand Theft Auto at the end of the day is that it breaks containment You know, it's like when I get text from people, I know who know that I do this, but don't play video games frequently who are like, should I buy a PS five? And I'm like, whatever gets you into video games, you know, like if if you get to like rekindle some kind of childlike wonder in your life with this medium because of this video game, great. L that I love that. Yeah. Although I did have one friend who he would buy a console when a Grand Theft auto game came out And then sell it when he was done with it. So he would like mainline it for like two weeks then be like listing on eBay. And that's I think, you know, and this is not a judgment truly. I just think that's kind of I imagine in a way the target audience of GTA six. Obviously, it's like reaching a very wide audience. Yeah. But I feel like the people in my life that are most excited for it are the people that will get like one or two games a year And will like only play that until it's fully done and then they'll kind of move on fully. Yeah. whichich is like I get why that's like, you know, I know people who that's what their schedule allows for and that's also how they enjoy games. L we are freaks. So like the way we play games, is honestly like not how you probably are or should be playing games But yeah, I think I was thinking I was talking to a friend about GTA six and I f like, you know, I will also check it out because like I'm curious. I've said this before, but my main curiosity about GTA six is like, I really liked Red Dead two. And I'm like what does GTA look like post Red Dead two? You know I like the Bonnie and Clyde framing of it. I think that's like a fun direction the series I also, my favorite like older GTA game is Vice City, primarily just for the setting. And I feel like that sort of setting in the neon lights like fits GTA's tone very well. Yeah. I expect it to be not my thing, but I'm sure I'll like enjoy it. But it's also just so hard to separate from like a million different conversations that are like, you know Just like Rockstar's reputation right now and likeute the human costs of that game. And also like I was talking to a friend about GTA six and also Elder Skrolls. I was like, what if Elder Skrolls six came out in twenty sixteen and was just Skyrim in a new place with a few different mechanics? As much as I want a sequel to like defy expectations and push boundaries, that's kind of all most people want from it, including myself. L if it's just Skyrim in a new place, I think this requirement to have the follow up to a huge game be like a physics defying, you know, like yes. An economy defying also How many times has a game been pitched that way and it is actually that? Like when you think about the games that actually were these landscape shifting moments, like Skyrim, I mean even a game as big as Skyrim, I don't think people were expecting that to break containment the way it did. Yeah, I can list like so few games that I have experienced that kind of explosion with and it's like Skyrim was one, definitely Minecraft over time. Yeah, Grand Theft Auto five Yeah is definitely one of them. four as well, actually, four also was huge. And honestly, the one that's really sticking out to me right now is Halo three. Like I remember going to Manhattan and seeing every single billboard in Times Square being a Halo three billboard and being like, this is different than most video games. Yeah I mean, I guess there's like the marketing containment, but then I'm thinking about like the games that changed the form of Oh I got you know what I mean like Yeah. because I remember like in the lead up to Cyberpunk, everyone was sort of talking about it as if it was going to be like the definitive endpoint of games as we know them. R. And everything would change after that. yes. I don't expect GTS six to launch in the state that that game did. I think it will be in a better place than Cyberpunk was and cyberpun of course has like regain deposit reputation over time, but even people that love cyberpunk, I don't think would describe it in a way that matched the pre laaunch hype. Yeah. And I just kind of get exhausted when there's like that amount of pressure put on anything because it almost never happens. And when it does happen, it's kind of a surprise or is like builds up over the course of years. Yeah. like Breath of the Wild, for example, I would put in the surprise category. Yeah I think people were excited about Breath of the Wild. obviously, like aew Zelda game is always going to be exciting. Right I don't think people understood how like tectonic it was going to be in terms of shifting the landscape of what we think of open world games until you got your hands on it. Yeah, so I wouldn't be surprised if GTA six, especially how it does financially, it could be the end of this particular style of hype. You know, L I do think if this doesn't make eight billion dollars It might be the end of like ten plus years of development to make the biggest best thing ever made. Yeah. And according to at least reporting from Jason Treyer at GDC this year, like there are already executives kind of whispering that to each other in the halls of of game studios. like that's already like that writing is already on the wall. When you think about, I mean another game that actually did And this is the irony is that like many of the GTA games are the things we're describing of GTA three, actually great gameemakers' toolkit video about how they got that game to work on PS two. Oh yeah. I know we're doing a PS one episode, but it is thinking about like how certain levels of production are possible on CD's and DVDs. It's really cool. Anyway GTA three, like that was a game that like even doing a GameCube episode, you can feel the impact that GTA three had. It changed the expectation of what was possible in games. It also changed who games were marketed to. Yeah. You know, I think you can feel that with a lot of the GameCube games like kind of suddenly shifting to like a more teenage demographic.. And you know the games that followed GTA three obviously were iterations on that When you get to four and five, that's in an era where like, okay, the sandbox is now firmly established. It's no longer a novelty to have a sandbox game. Now games are trying to be more ambitious with their like cinematic storytelling. Yeah, the big thing about four was the cinematics and then also, we were like firmly planted in the era of this is the biggest open world ever Skyrim. you know, we're the era of Skyrim. Exactly. I remember that being the big selling point about four. And then five was, you know, obviously had the three protagonists, but it was more about density than anything else. It was like there's a lot of stuff to do in this world. kindind of like the Yakasa formula. Yeah, and I expect six to go like the one screenshot I saw recently of six was that a car had a low Washing fluid iconit up and I fully expect That's so red dead too co. Yes. And I fully expect you have to like actually refill your car's car washing fluid. Yes. need you need to go to a mechanic. Where those mechanics, I think really work for people is in the online because GTA five online is essentially like second life at this point where like you can really Fully immerse yourself. and I haven't played it, but I imagine that that's the appeal. because like it's ironic that I think a lot of people who play at GTF five online are not even doing the like violence and heist. They're just like, yeah, this is my apartment that I spent like four real years building up. I follow all the traffic lights, yes.. And so yeah, I imagine S will have like full ass games that are like minig game stuff. I'm sure that's going to be very exciting, but my hunch just based purely on vibes, that I think that this game will make a lot of money. I don't think it will make eight billion dollars, but I do think it will probably set records of some kind. I also expect the reaction to be inherently a little bit more muted than in the past. Yeah. The way people talk about open world games, I think there's still a level of open world fatigue And I think we're all no longer buying that pitch as much of like, this is the biggest, greatest thing. We talk a lot about how like in a post Minecraft world, there are there's more of an audience that expects and desires a game to have a deeper sense of meaning and interaction than just being big for the sake of big. You know, you play a game like Starfield and like there's a lot about that game that I admire, but it also ends up feeling very bland becausecause when you make a planet as big as a literal planet, but there's nothing to do, it just feels meaningless Right You know, And yeah, I think GTA six will have more meaning and more function, but I also expect it to feel kind of bloated. Yeah. but we'll see I mean, I don't to make judgments about it before it comes out. I just I'm very, very, very curious how the response will be. because I just don't see it being like universal acclaim, you know. Yeah. My feeling about it in general is like In the years since five released, the thirteen years ago. Yes, The YouTube Gifter pipeline has grown pretty significantly where like there's always you know, five hundred people on the internet who will just scream and shout about everything, like either being woke or being worse than it was or whatever And blaming somebody for it. And in some ways, like that entire subset of the internet is obviously very much excited about Grand The Autero six, and I'm sure they will find something to hate about it. L I think there's no way that Grand Thft Auto six can live up to the hype that that part of the internet has set for themselves. And it kind of feels like an Ourboros waiting to happen. Like it kind of feels like the situation where like The audience that will be the most vocal about Grand of Auto six will probably rally against it. And I think the discourse about it is going to be so weird and not in like a way that I will find exhausting in a way that I will find like almost anthropologically fascinating. That's the weirdest thing that's happened I would say in the last like three years, specifically the discourse about games has been shaped by that YouTube pipeline. Yeah. It's look, we sa all the time. like I can't believe we need to say this as adults to other adults, but it's okay if we disagree. Like it's okay if you like a video game what the fuck? If you like a video game that someone else doesn't like or vice versa, at this point Publicly saying that you like or don't like a certain game is taken as a stance pro or against something that threatens their very existence. Like if I talked to any normal person and I said, I played two games this week, Crimson Desert and Mixtape, I liked one of them and I didn't like the other. Yeah. That would be the end of the conversation for most normal people. Yeah. But if I just put that online somewhere, which I haven't played either game to be clear. Yeah but if I just said that Me liking one of those games over the other is not just a preference, but is like a stance about something. People would block you on Blue skky. Yeah. for saying that even without And saying which one was with. Right know Even us saying like Mario Cartt worldorld is pretty good. We got all these reviews. Oh, so you're f in favor of eighty do all games? You're in favor of eight do all games' like No. We experienced that firsthand with Claire Obscure. We're like, you know, that's a game that admittedly we were outliers on for, you know not fully connecting with. We still admired it. Like that's the funniest thing. It's like we still liked it. Yeah I have a lot of thoughts about. I finished it. I have thoughts about the ending. I don't know. There's lot to say about it. But not liking that game is taken as like, oh, so you're you know, you aren't in favor of new ideas and affordability and How did this happen? Yeah, it all boils down to the you say you like waffles on Twitter and somebody responds to you and says, oh, so you hate pancakes. Like it's literally that. But also it's mixed in with the I think the rise. and I have to assume that this is mostly like the impact of capitalism in general in these entertainment brands, like kind of optimizing for exactly this, but like parasocial relationships between intellectual property and people in some ways, where like you define your personality based on the fact that you like Star Wars. So anyone saying they don't like the Mandalorian and grogu means it's an attack on you. Yeah and not an attack on like a movie. and not even it's not an attack in the first place. It's an opinion about a piece of media. Yeah. The point that I'm trying to make, I guess, and sounds like we're in agreement on it is I feel like Grnd A Autero six feels like maybe the catalyst for the biggest ever exploration of that as an idea. Like I don't think there will ever be a bigger game to experience and watch that play out in real time than Grnd F Autero six. And I find that so fascinating. And that honestly is like maybe thirty percent of the reason I want to play that game is like just so I have the context to understand when all of this stuff unfolds about it because I'm just going to be so curious. I'm going to want to click on every link. It's just it's just very unfortunate that like things have gotten flattened in that way. You know, we can say on this show like we kind of like this game and it's exciting that this is a new IP from a new team And the reaction is still, oh, you like eighty dollars games. Like to be clear, this is like one or two people, but like it was my first time experiencing that firsthand and then like seeing the larger YouTube ecosystem and just like the way people talk about the stuff online. L it's just I understand like that games end up, I think, creating a stronger sense of like emotional attachment and ownership because like you were physically playing it and they're so expensive. And like I don't want this to become a hobby for the rich. I don't want it to be X number of dollars by default. There are a lot of other societal problems that are causing all this stuff to be more expensive. And it's like case by case when I feel like the team behind the game is at fault for pricing it a certain way because the reality is just like some of these some of these productions are so fucking expensive. they like have to to break even. And some of it's great and some of it's not's like I just I think we're at a time right now where there's a lot of justified anger about a lot of different things. I think that we're like overall as a society more aware of like how much like know normal people are ripped off by corporations and all this. Tally. Yeah. But I think a lot of that anger is being like funneled into YouTube grifters and like pointed at all the wrong directions Well, yeah, I mean that is like that's its own like homunculus or what are they called like the Mitrofska dolls, like the dolls. Like there's so much to unpack there too, because it's also obviously influenced by like, well, if you are a person and look, I am a person who makes YouTube videos, so are you? If you're a person who makes YouTube videos, the backacke end of YouTube stududio will like give you recommendations about what kind of videos to make and the people who make those kinds of videos will slowly drift more and more negative because that's what gets them higher engagement over time Because like they have a business that they're running, technically at the end of the day. There's like a financial incentive to have you angry in the comments or whatever, or to like continually align with their way of thinking forever. And then you match that with, again, the parasociality of Yeah. like I guarantee like if that crowd doesn't find a reason to hate GTA six, then the video will be they can't stand this. L be unknown if it's finally an unpolitical video game. Yeah It'll be like IGN or just a generic they. like everyone who's not us doesn't get this game and they you know, are in support of X, Y and Z. It's just so fucking brain dead. It just drives me crazy And that's the kind of stuff that I can't separate from like, you know, GGA six in a vacuum is like,, yeah, sure, why not? I'll check out that's kind of as far as my thought goes, but I know there's this whole like stink cloud around it. Soes we'll see. Yeah, the one lion version of this I said to somebody the other day and I was like, I just feel like I need to write this down is like it's people who would call other people' sheep being sheep Yeah Yes. And actually related to all of this, is a great piece from a while ago by our friend Joshua Rivera about like just the way GTAs talked about and also this like, o ye tention economy around it and how that is like sort of inseparable from the game and its release. I'll put that in the show. It's a really good read. Yeah, I think when we talk about it, I'm sure it will Be a less depressing conversation because I feel like, at least unless it's like again inseparable, like if the response to it is so loud that you kind of have to address it. Yeah, I think it will just be fun to be like how I would want to approach the conversation is like how does someone like me who has never really attached themselves to the series enjoy this one? in this sort of current state of like open world fatigue Does this win me over? There's a chance that it would, you know, there's a chance that'm like guy I actually like this. Yeah, So we'll see. And to be clear, I probably will play Crimson Desert before the year is over. I'm curious about it. It's been compared enough to Dragon's Dogma that I feel obligated to. I'll also probably play mixtape as well. I feel that's probably something I would enjoy, but we'll see. Yeah yeah, mixtape is like an obvious one for me I gre up likeike I went to film school because I love the work of John Hughes so much.ight Yeah. It feels like a no brainer for me to play that game at some point. The other thing I wanted to do Yes, yes, yes.. Well, actually there was an un videoide game related thing that I was going to bring up, which is just that they cut down a tree in front of my house. so sad. I just wanted to put in an MP three file RIP to that tree. It was so lovely. And now it's so bright in this room. Reci and pece tree. But the thing that I was thinking about actually earlier on in the conversation that I did want to bring up, I'll give a shout to Jeff Grub over a giant bomb who reported recently That he's hearing, at least is a rumor. He's hearing that there is a Nintendo direct,s like a real Nintendo direct coming probably within the next couple of weeks. Like sometime in June, there will be one. So you and I were speculating pretty heavily a couple of weeks ago that like maybe it's just like farts on the Nintendo Today app and that's how we learn about games from now on. Sounds like maybe that's not the case, which is I think nice. Yeah, I think I remember that three houses got its own direct after it was announced. there was when they did the tree house stuff, there was like a tree house by that game. I would I would guess that that's a big enough release. They would want to do like its own kind of like sort of like how the Star Fox remake got like its own sort of separate video. Yeah. I would guess that if there isn't a direct, that three Fortuness Weave will get that kind of treatment. but we'll see, whoo knows? I'm excited to find out. Yeah, I just can't wait to see. And also I mean, the big thing for most people is like whether or not that Occarina remake is real. Yeah. because that's like the only thing that kind of makes sense for the October release window. You know I don't expect Fortunes Weave to be any later than like September probablybably I would guess at July or August We shall see. I'm feeling that way about it too. I feel like it's going to come sooner than we think if it's coming out this year. But it'd be weird if it was like a December release. No, I mean, Dcem December has become the garbage dump. like it's the Yeah for Nintendo, it's like if it's the holiday best selling game, it will come out in October or November. Yeah That's usually when like Pokemon or Mario or Or you know, those types of games come out. But December is when Metroid Prime four came out. and I December is because it's like after the Gie conversation has ended, it's like weirdly become this like void for like major publishers. There's obviously great games coming out all year, but or like unsure bets in general. Unsure bets. it used to be like that was the January time And now I feel like it's like December to early January. Yeah. Yeah. anyyway. let's take a break and when we come back, we'll talk about games that we've actually been playing. I didn't mean to go a half hour on GTA six. Well, whoops. We're going to go a lot longer than a half hour when that game comes out. Yeah, I'm sure. All right, later. Bye This week's episode of NTther is brought to you by Pka at Pika. page. Picka is a bloggking platform. It is I would say probably actually the easiest way to get a blog or a website up and running. It's a fantastic service that I actually use myself for wavelengths online. I'm a big fan of it. There is a free tier that you can go and just sign up and you can have up to fifty blog posts and three pages if you want, which is pretty cool Relatively affordable. It's six bucks a month or sixty dollars a year. And I very gladly paid that 'cause honestly, I bounced around between a bunch of different bloggking platforms and eventually landed on Pika. and it just allowed me to get basically all of the like design stuff out of my head and onto the page as quickly as humanly possible so I could just like get to writing and get to posting. So I'm very grateful that Pika continues to support the podcast. I love the platform. and it's changed a lot. It's from a company called Good Enough, and I feel like we arere way past good enough at this point It's like great enough. Just right. Yeahah. Yeah. greatreat enough is really good. It's great enough. So anyway, you go to Pika. page and you can check it out for yourself. Thank you again, so much to Good Enough and Pika for sponsoring the show. Yeah, thank you so much. If you would like to buy a commercial ad raid, you can do so at enter the cast at online. Bye Seea. Oh, hello, Stephven. I have a riddle for you. Okay. Are you some kind of rogue in a highly elevated seating arrange? You you already figured it out. Yeah you already figured it out. I've been playing Lego Batman. Legacy of the Dark Knight, a new game that is available on all platforms. I have been looking forward to this game for a while I feel like the Lego games in general have always been and I'm curious what how you feel about this. They've always been way better than you think they would be. There is a level ofity and fun with these games that is always like way past I think what they have any right to be. And now it feels like almost a sure thing, if you're buying a Lego game, it will probably be fun at the very least and great Probably. Yeah, there was a time where I feel like it was sort of Hatsworth core, where it looked like something in a bargain barrel. Yeah that your grandma would get you and probably was. But I think anyone who played them, like I didn't play Lego St Wars growing up or at least I didn't have it. Like I might have played at a friend's house. And that was a game that I was very pleasantly surprised by. They were like formative of those gube episodes Yeah. and then I think I played a couple there are there are a couple that are like, okay, like Indiana Jones like Indiana Jones like Yeahah. u But they're all like very solid collectathon platformers. And then yeah, in recent years, I think like the Skywalker saga and on Yeah, they they have a certain level of like ambition to them. That's very stid.'s what I was going to say. Yeahah, I I feel like they were kind of one note ish for the most part for a long time where it was like they got a new IP, they made the Lego game. Like I think the big transitional period was when they switched from justust having all the characters like gesture and go like murur into having actual voice acting. Yeah. But even then it was, as you were saying, like kind of Cectathon platformer, like it didn't really change that much between even like a Sly Cooper or a Ratchet and Clank and what was going on in a Lego game. It was just like a reinterpretation of scenes from movies or comic books or whatever with Lego people running around. And then Skywalker saga came out a couple of years ago and that being first of all, I guess in some ways, kind of a remake of Lego Star Wars one and two, but also just kind of like a ground up reinterpretation of all nine of those movies as an open zone slash open world video game that you could C op with a friend, which was also a collectathon that had like borderland style mini games in every open zone, but also told the story of nine video of all nine movies. like that as you were saying, unbelievably ambitious video game and ye like really fun and really good and filled with so I mean, there are like ten great O video games hidden within that video game, like the pod bracing stuff like could have been its own thing if they wanted it to be. It's just really impressive. I think it's really impressive. And this is the next big release since then. You know, that came out a couple of years ago and ever since they've been working on this, which is LeGo Batman, Legacy of the Dark Kight, which is like the Skywalker saga A reinterpretation of the entire legacy of Batman as a character across all media. so like television, movies, comic books, and video games as well, all wrapped up into one linear story that tells the story of every version of Batman that has ever existed which is unreal. I mean that's like even by itself just as a writing exercise. a unbelievable thing to do. And then it also has the same structure of Skywalker saga where like and actually I think expands on it in some ways where some levels in this game are straight up like this is uncharted. L this this is uncharted and you're playing as Batman. Like it's a linear level you need to run through and like do some stuff. There are big cinematic moments, you know, you're like crawling on the side of mountains and you know, the ledge gives way and Bruce goes,, you know, like that's's happening all the time. Yeah. And then there is the Arkham trilogy style and Arkham City in particular, style like open world drive your car around Gotham City and like go collect riddler trophies and unlock a bunch of like secret stuff all over the place stop crimes and do side quests and like they also have that as well. The difference being that instead of like Arkham City or Arkham Knight, where it's like, here's your version of Gotham. We're telling a story within this version of Gotham, the version of Gotham is changing over time as Batman and the storyline changes over time as well. So like the beginning of the game is essentially a retelling of the like Bruce as a child into Bruce becoming Batman stuff from Batman begins, like the Nolan verse version of it with Batman the animated series lore sprinkled in throughout, which is wild. But you go up through the part where, you know, like Raal Ghl takes him in, he goes to the mountain, he needs to climb the mountain, get the flower And then you know, the League of Shadows is like, now you need to learn to kill and he's like, I'm out. and then he bails and burns down the League of Shadows along the way. And they introduce like more characters in that sequence as well. So like Talia Al Ghouul shows up who like shows up in the Dark Knight Rises in like that Nolan verse trilogy, but like is crucially important to the story of Batman kind of early on in this way as well. So like You have this kind of buddy, buddy experience where the two of you are trying to pass the test to join the League of Shadows simultaneously, so she's like the other character who's alongside you. So as you're learning all the different stealth mechanics and how to throw shurkens, which become batterangs and stuff obviously, like you have a partner there with you. So when you're doing the very arkam game style stealth missions where you're like in a room and there's a bunch of like kind of pillars that you can stand on top of and like jump down and get a guy. Taly is also doing it alongside you. So when you jump down and get a guy, if there's like a guy kind of on the other side of the room in the same spot, Taly will jump down and take him out as well. So like there is this kind of cooperative thing happening with the NPC But alsoso you can have another player jump in and play as that character in co op mode as well. So there is like a couch co op element to this going on, which I think is amazing. When you get past that, you then jump into the Matt Reeves Robert Pattinson Batman game because that is like the beginning of him as Batman and it's like the beginning of him you know going and meeting the penguin, taking out the crime lords in Gotham specifically, meeting Catwoman, like all that stuff happens that movie. So they then introduce that as well. like all that stuff is in there It plays out as an Arkham style game. Like you get in the Bat moobile, you drive around and you go to like Fontaine's Fisheries, which is secretly the nightclub where Caramine Palconeone works and stuff and you need to like, you know fight one hundred million guys alongside Jim Gordon on your way there. It's a really ambitious, unbelievable thing that they've made. L I think that, you know, and then you know from there you jump further into Batman lore and you get into like the Bat family as well When is Adam West? I know that's in the game. but I don't know I'm so excited to find out. Like Adam West is in the put a pin in that for second actually because I would argue that Adam West is everywhere in this game, but Oh, he just informs the comedic sensibility exactly. Yeah. But I think like as just a holistic idea for a video game, it's unbelievable that they made it work at all. Like it's so ambitious and they made it happen After the game came out or right when the game came out, there were a bunch of reports that it turns out Rock Steady was secretly working on this game as well. So like the team that made the Arkham games also pitched in with with I just forad the name of the studio that makes this game TT, I think is the initials. But either way, like they worked on the game together. So Rock Steady brought in the like high level like open world ideology of the Arkham games. and then it also has the same combat as the Arkham games. Like it plays exactly the same. It's just you're playing as Lego Batman. So you're like running around and you're punching and kicking and guys are coming up to hit you in the back of the head and you can press a button to like stop them from doing that or dodge out of the way. and when people try to shoot you, you can dodge out of the way. You can throw batatterangs and use gadgets at people Whenever you want, there are some enemies, of course, with shields that need to jump over and like hit in the back of the head. There's a lot of stuff going on that is just pulled from the Arkham games and it really does like as a person who likes Batman a lot and has for most of my life, they have done an unbelievable job melding all of Batman together into one thing. like that Again, the ambition is off the charts and they nailed that part of it. It looks like you figured out the name of the studio. Did you? You're really good at reading my face. Am I that expressive or you just know me that way? or little com little comy. I was smoking a big pipe and I put on my detective' photora. Yeah, it's Travelers Tales, TT Games City Unimited and it's so interesting that Rock Stady is like a ghost developer on this and they're like The creator of the Archam Troog. It's fascinating. It's so interesting. Now, here's a question. becausecause Batman obviously has a lot of different iterations of himself, including the Lego Batman movie and a pretty large role in the Lego movie. So in Lego Batman, is Lego Batman also an arrc? Like is there like Will Arnet? I don't know That's a great question. I assume maybe at some point. like I have to imagine that might in there, but yeah Well that's the thing like you would think that it would be confusing and somehow it all works. Like none of what I've described should work at all and yet it does. Like one of the things in particular that they've been doing also is seeding in Jack Nicholson's joker slowly over the course of the game. likeike they've been there was kind of a reference to him early on When Bruce is like in his twenties or is a teenager before he goes that tries to join the League of Shadows. And then when you get into Matt Reeves the Batman arc, Falcononey is meeting with the Red Hood or who is like kind of who the Joker was early on in like some versions of the lore So we will eventually get to Michael Keaton Batman also, but they're doing a good job of just kind of like sprinkling in different pieces of lore from all over the place. So So it probably makes sense when you fully transition to that era. Yes. Now, is it the same Batman like like when like in LeGo Star Wars, for example, like there are like distinct worlds for each of he plays different characters in each world. Yeah Is that how it works here or is it like just sort of a linear singular Batman? It seems to be a linear singular Batman who is experiencing all of this. It What they're changing is the partner you have along the way. Oh So when you're doing that first bit, you have Talia with you. When you're doing the second bit, you have Jim Gordon with you And I think that's probably a smart way of doing it because it also it allows them to keep like the same voice actor, like doing kind of a linear thing the whole time. Yeah whichich I think is smart. It's not Wrnet. It' is not Willrnet. No. It's like a much more and maybe it'll change later, but it's like a much more like kind of spry Batman than you would expect. I'm interested to see when I get further and further like if I get if there is a Dark Knight Returns arrc, for example, like I'm interested in this become like like how that direction goes. I'm also curious. and I love that I don't know any of this also really withheld Googling because I don't want really any spoilers for this game because I just find it so charming. I just kind of I want to find out what's in here. But I'm curious if we're going to get into like Justice League territory. L will there be other heres in here as well? Will they do like a Snyder verse thing at any point? L there's so much weird open runway for them to play around in here I'm just so'll do what was it total Batman? What did you show me when we were together? Oh, absolute Batman. Absolutely' a giant axe and he's like six foot nine. Yeah. There could be absolute Lego v. Yeah. Maybe they do. I have no idea. like that' so interesting. And I think that's one of the things that's so fun about this game. The thing, okay, just to take a step back, one of the things I keep thinking about this game is first of all, if I was eight years old This would be the most important game I've ever played in my life. While I'm playing it, I just keep having these moments where I'm like in thirty years there will be a YouTube essay that is like a retrospective on how incredible this game was. You know, it feels so ripe for that. It feels like such an obvious candidate for this to be so many people's favorite video game. There is also think The actual legacy of Batman as a character in fiction has changed so dramatically throughout the years that it's interesting to kind of combine it all into one space considering every single adaptation interpretation of Batman, I think, is coming at it with a different lens that starts with who is the target audience. Like Batman has always been a character for F first and foremost, kind of the same way Star Wars was, you know, like that was the intention of Batman. Like kids will go to the comic book store and pick this up and read it. And then obviously as kids like grew up reading Batman and they got older, they kind of demanded like a harder version of Batman. Yeah I would guess it's like I'm not like super well versed in Batman history, but I would wager like the eighties is when that relationship Yeah. I, Dark like Frank Miller like really was kind of a big moment for that character. Yeah That's when we start and start to get into like the dark and gritty aesthetic, which, you know, is kind of like a meme at this point, but for a long time was like what people wanted and that's why that was like a n the sort of spawn era. Yes. And I think I think that's where you get into like the Nolan verse also starting to work so well Like financially and also pop culture wise, just because like, you know, you're not eschewing so much of the dark and gritty, but you are grounding it more in realism, which I think is also what that era called for. And that like I wouldn't consider those movies to be as for kids as for example, the Michael Keaton and Tim Burton stuff, you know? I would say that The Nolan trilogy is even just in the way they're like the way they tell the story, like not even the grittiness of it, but it's like I just can't imagine they would be fun for anyone younger than like sixteen. Yeah. As someone who saw Batman begins and fell asleep as I think we could lower it at past sixteen. I think I would say probably like a teenager in general, but I know what you mean. Yeah, a teenager in general. Yeah, young adult, let's say But you know, in between all of that, you have things like Batman Beyond and you have the animated series and all of these things that are like very explicitly for kids. And I think that question of like, which version of Batman is for what audience is so interesting to me. And that's, I think one of the biggest magic tricks of the game is that it's taking all of these disparate versions of Batman and trying to retell their stories in one tone that is like four one specific audience. you know this is a game that anybody can play anybody can have a good time with it, obbviously, it's not only for four kids, but I would say by and large like that is the target demographic. Yeah. And so much of that comes in through The humor. The game is so fucking funny. It's so funny. And that's a trademark of all the Lo games.' like they they're genuinely good like, I don't know if satire is the right word, but they're like very humorous takes on whatever they're riffing on. you know. Yeah, ye there is parity maybe. There is satire. There is parity. Yeahah, it feels Yeah honestly the thing that I feel like it maps best to is like the naked gun airplane, like kind of Mel Brooksy first stle of comedy like that. Yes. That's the stuff that's going on here and imbuing things like Matt Reeves the Batman with Mel Brook style comedy I think is so great. And the thing that's making it really work for me on a level that I wasn't expecting is just I think when the new Naked gun of Liam Mesason came out, and did you watch that by the way? No, I've been dying too. I've heard only good things. Oh my go, it's amazing. Yeah. It's so good. Yeah. But watching that movie, I just had this thought that's like, man, we don't get that many comedies anymore. and that's really sad When we do get comedies, they're not they're not like this anymore. And there is something specific about that genre of comedy that is still so charming and stupid and fun to experience. Yeah. And I think I mean, I can't think of any really other video games that are chasing after that brand of comedy outside of the Lego games. Yeah, I mean, comedy, as we've said many times, comedy is hard to pull off in games. Yeah. I think I feel like weirdly my first thought is like Ace Atorney is like another series that like makes me laugh quite a bit. I think, you know, games with a stronger sense of narrative, but Ace attorney is very good at like at the drop of a hat flipping between being extremely goofy, like muppets adjacent and then being very heartfelt or dramatic. Yeah. But I would say like it's at least seventy percent a comedy until you get kind of hit with it's almost like how scrubs would switch in that way. were like it would be this sort of like airrevere like, you know, we're doing all these like cutaway gags and then somebody's dead. Yes. you know, and then suddenly. And that's I remember as a kid and being a really pretentious teenager who fell asleep during Banon begins, felt like this is tonal whiplush. but I remember reading that like, you know, people who had worked in hospitals were like, well, that's what it's like. You know, you work in a hospital, you're like making jokes with your coworkers, then suddenly there's a call to action and somebody's dead. Yeah. So yeah, games games that I think usually the humor, the most I've laughed at a game is usually when it's like like peak or something that allows for like organic player interactions to happen in a way where like you're laughing at what's happening in the game or something like oblivion where like the humor is like from just the absurdity of it and sort of the camp of it. Yeah. But yeah, there are a few games that pitch themselves as like Cedy first in a way that the Lego games are going after. Yeah. You're right in that s. Yeah. It' just it's not happening very frequently. So anytime I turn this game on, it is just a joyous experience. L I think two good examples that come to mind from that opening sequence or from the Matt Reed's Batman sequence. There's a scene or a sequence in The Batman, the movie, where the penguin is driving away, Batman is chasing him in the Batmobile and Batman like knocks the car over, the car flips over a whole bunch. and there's this like really intense shot of the car flipped over from the penguin's perspective, of like all of this fire on the highway and Batman's walking toward him, that's like, you I caught I caught the penguin. That scene happens beat for beat in Lego Batman. It just ends with basically like the penguin has a box of donnuts with him in the car. So when he gets pulled out of the car, he has donoughnuts for eyes. And then they play out like there's an interrogation sequence that happens in the Batman. They play out the interrogation sequence with the donoughuts still on his eyes the whole time. Just a good visual gag. And then there's another one when you go into the nightclub, the DJ is just like talking over the microphone or over the speaker the whole time. And there's this one it just feels like very kind of self referential understanding that it's a video game moment. As he's calling all this stuff out, he's like, who's ready to listen to the same beat all night, baby? And then the song just starts over again. And every time it loops you just have this moment of like, oh yeah, that's very funny, because of course that's video games work. I've seen one gag, friend of the show, Eric, Eric Morrison sent me a clip of he was standing outside or Batman was standing outside the entrance to Arkham Asylum, but I think it said like Arkham Sa Asylum. It had Sa in the tle somewhere. And you could hear through the doors like just like this sort of dopppler effect, like trumpets and like sound of Sa. So so good. Yeah. I mean, yeah, that's I think also like going back to Mel Brooks, of the One of the main reasons why those movies are so effective and so funny and fun to watch is that he really studied like the craft of whatever genre he was making fun of. Yeah. So like like Blaze and Saddles is actually like a well filmed western. And like any you know the silent movie, like all his genres are like rooted in the craft and are like just good examples of those genres And then twisted to his comedic sensibilities. And I think with the Lego games, it's like, yeah, they made a good Batman game first and foremost and then it gets like accentuated by this humor. But like you do have to actually make it a fun Batman game first and then you can have fun with the rest. Y. Yeah, which is so impressive. Yeah. And they yeah, they nailed that. I mean, is it is legitimately great. And if you liked the Arkham combat, like it is fully here. There is a skill tree of stuff that you can unlock and get more powerful over time It's great. It's really, really, really great.'ve been I've been really surprised by like I knew I was probably gonna like it just based on my experience with the Skywalker saga and how much I like Batman. but I mean it is like it feels like a flex every time I'm playing it to see what they've managed to pull off here. Do you think you like this more than the Star Wars one? I think I need to play more. Yeah. I think probably by the end, I will have Yeahah I think just the effort of making it a singular story is really impressing. Yeah I haven't played a ton of the Skywalker game, but we have this now in our Steam library, so I'll definitely give it. this sounds right up my alley. Yeah, I feel like it probably runs well on Steam Dck would be my guess, but maybe' I'm gonna Google that. Yeah, mayaybe I'll find out. Yes. it's great on Steam Deck. is what people say. Set it to thirty frames per second seems to be the adv They also I don't know if I just tweaked the settings enough, but I mentioned how I was playing Pragmata on the Steam Deck and it was like really just barely doing it. Yeah. It seems like they've updated that game to run better on Steam Deck. That could just be a total lie, but like when I went back to, I'm like, this looks way better. Having that handheld is actually really fun. So it looks and runs better than it did last's like That's listed as verified and that's one where I'm like, I don't think that's verified. I think it's playable. Yeah. It is on the swwitch too also, which I think is cool. I think it just goes to show how incredible the RE engine continues to be. Yeah, I mean, the Msterter Rise being on the first switch and looking that good was was baffling. Yeah pretty wild. And as we talked about last week, it seems like a lot of R resen evil games are probably going to make their way over to Switch two also. and I would imagine also look great. Exciting. Lego Batman, Legacy the Arknight, really good video game. I will talk about it more when I've played more. And if you play it also, I'll definitely check it out.ounds I could use a comedic game, especially considering what I'm playing and bringing up next. Yeah. I think Oh yeah. I For you in particular, just treat it like which will be very easy for you and I, given what we're going through right now, treat it like a PS one platformer until you get to the first open worldorld segment. Yeah, that sounds like that's kind of what I'm expecting. Yeah. I also think it's going to take me way longer to beat than the estimate because the estimate is like ten to fifteen hours, and I think I'm five hours in and done with like two levels. Is there a lot of extra? Oh my Godd, there's so much Yeah. And I cannot do all of it. It's funny when you go to Hell on to Beat and it's like five to six, but if you're a completionist like two ye. It's unreal. Yeah. Imost had five thousand hundred that's like real rug rats c. fifty Yeah in Tommy pickles for a second. Am I the chucky to your Tommy? Let's take a break. Well we speculate. Bye bye. See ya I remember the point where I fell off of rug rats was when they brought in Dill. Oh yeah. deffining trait was that he was a baby. Right. What It was more of a baby than the other babies Yeah. It's sort of like how like Goofy has a pet dog. why is there a baby amongst talking babies? Yeah so interesting. the Dill pickles. That was from the movie. And then they incorporated Dill into the TV show. Yeah, yeah, I think that was the jumping the shark or the rug rats Yeah tune in to our secondary show if you want more rug grass lore. I just into the cl pen. Whenever like a clip shows up, like I often will send my friends that horrifying clip from Rugrats where it's stew pickles turning around and going, I'm not stew. Yeah it's horrible. Yeah. There are so many episodes that just end with like a dimly lit shot of the house and an adult screaming That's like the credits ro I feel like that show probably takes on a whole different tone when you're a parent, which is like, oh yeah, kind kind of brilliant. Yeah. man, you're almost convinced me to do a rug rtz rewatch I'm not going to do that There are some shows where I'm like, I shouldn't watch this just like by myself. you know I'm an uncle and my friends are starting to have kids now We're at that age. And I hear Blueie is like an amazing show. anyone with kids like loves Bluey. and I'm sure as like someone who loves animation and someone who loves shows that like succeed at being, like we said with like Batman like really succeeded at actually being for everybody. I'm sure I would love it, but it's just like a step too far to like turn on Blueie withithout the presence of my niece or someone elseeses. Watching it as an adult is a little strange. I've also not watch Bloie, but I imagine at some point to watch Blueie and I will probably enjoy it. Yeah. it's in the queue. When the destiny of Fatherhood arrives, we'll do a Blueie bonus. I won't spoil why. but in the most recent episode of Game Changer on Dropout, there's an extended sequence where somebody tries to guess who Blueie's family is. That is like one of the funnier moments of that show ever I'm happy Game Changer is back. Oh, good j. Update. Yeah. So my niece is she's at the age where like she's becoming infatuated with certain things. Oh yeah. she's two and a half. She had and is having her Disney phase. So like loves Moana, loves Elsa. True. She specifically loves Mario Right now. Oh. She has like a Mario doll. she carries with her. I just feel like that feels like a challenge to you as a lover of Waluigji. Yeah. That someone's like Mario is my favorite. Yeah Mario is never anyone's favorite, but my niece loves specifically Mari. I think it's fair. Yeah, over a certain age, you know, I think you're allowed to have Mario be your favorite until I think you go to high school. I feel like I always liked the big guys and the freaks, you know, like my favorites were always like Bowser or Donkey Kong but I just think Mario is this like idealized version of a person with but that also means that like he's so sanded off that he has no really like flaws or character traits of his own. I guess in the movie he kind of does so there's a little bit of leeway there you're if you're like growing up watching the movies, but I do think as you get older you start to accentuate certain traits in yourself and look for them in others and you will find those more in secondary characters than in the protagonist. You know what I mean? Yeah, that somehow is a perfect segue to Xeno Gears, a game that I've been playing belieelieve it or not. Okay, question for you. have you started this I have not started Xeno Gears yet. Okay, so Xeno gears, we've both been like throughout the Xeno series. We've like weirdly been working backwards. Yes. The first Xeno game that you and I played and really, really loved was Xeno Blade Chronicles three Yeah. And since then we've like bounced around. I've checked out Xeno saga, I've checked out actually the last one that I played that I also like am dying to go back to is The definitive edition of Chronicles X. Oh ye on the switch too. That was a lot of fun. a single player MMO one. I guess a lot of the Bade games are like that. Anyway, Xeno gears is what started all. I'm always tempted whenever Zeno comes up to go through the whole history of it because like even if you never play these games, I recommend like find a good YouTube essay about history of the series because it's like one of the best never give up on your dreams story in video games.. Essentially Xeno gears. So let me explain what this game is first and then we'll go from there. In our PS one prep, like the playlist we set for ourselves for our upcoming PS one episode, ten of the games we said would be decided by you, the listeners. So we had a poll that you could vote for your favorite PS one games and the games that got the most votes the ten that got the most votes would be in the playlist no matter what. And the game that got the most votes by far, number one, this isn't a competition, but if it was, there's no content. It was kind of a competition. It was kind of a competition, but Xeno Gears got the most votes by far. Yeah. It's a game that we probably would have chosen even if it didn't win the poll, but it was like, okay, we are definitely like within a day of that poll being live,'m like I could tell you, Brendon, that we are going to play Zeno Gear nothing else. Xeno Gears had sixty eight votes. The next game was Mle Gear solid with fifty four. Yeah. And then there's like a drop off to thirty for the rest I think. But first of all, thank you all for voting For that poll is fun to put that list together. Yeah. So I've been dying to play Xeno gears. I kind of always assume that like of all the different sub series and franchises under the Xeno name that this would be the one I connect with the most. It's also commonly like considered the best one. as much as like, I think Xeno Blade Chronicles has become the most popular iteration of this story Xeno Gears kind of remains like legendary. And I think part of that is accentuated by the fact that it never really finished. but there is something like right, right Mythical about a game that ends saying it's part five and then you never get any other parts. You know, It's as if like Star Wars ended with episode five. Right. What Yoko Taro is doing on purpose this team did by accident Yes, exactly. One bit of fun history because we haven't talked about this series in a while. So the team that would eventually become Molithsoft is the team at Square that initially pitched Xeno Gears led by Tetssuya Takahashi and his wife who goes by the pen name Suraya Saga. They pitch this game that will become Xeno Gears as a pitch for Final Fantasy seven So it was almost follow seven. And what's interesting is that square rejects the pitch from what we know because it was too dark. But at the same time, a lot of the pitch does inform the development of FF seven. So like it's hard to know exactly what was sort of planned ahead of time and what was informed by the pitch, but the connection between the two protagonists, Fe and Cloud is pretty noticeable B bothoth like people that have it's not uncommon for an RPG to have like a protagonist with amnesia Yeah. but both of them go a step beyond where like they have something really fucked up about their memory. And you like get that from minute one of the game. L whenever anybody asks a question to cloud in the early game of FS seven, like, oh, you were in soldier, right? You hear like a and he goes like, yeep I was in a soldier. it's very clear that something is up with this memory. And in Xeno Gears, it's a similar thing where like Fey, who's the main character, shows up in this village and's kind of like adopted into this small village and his room is full of these paintings of like different places and horrific battles. and the game coold opens with like you in a mech, like in this village on fire then that becomes one of his paintings. So it's clear that he's like troubled by something he's either blocked out or maybe like had a whole life before he arrived in this village. Anyway, this game is pit as F of seven gets rejected. It's then potentially going to be the sequel to Chrono Trigger. So I feel like F of seven, Chrono Cross and Xeno gears are all in this like shared You know specific style of PS one RPG. Yeah. And then it eventually becomes its own thing. And it becomes its own thing to the point where Takahashi and team want this to become like its own final fantasy. R withithout saying how it ends like the I haven't finished it yet, but like I know that the game ends with episode five complete. Right. out of nine, I think, right? was or was it twel six six It's a little bit confusing because I think it was supposed to be six episodes That doesn't necessarily mean it was going to be six games. Right From what I've read, it was like there might have been one game that dealt with like before the events of this and then definitely one that was after. So it might have ended up being a trilogy with just like world buildilding and maybe multiple episodes in one game. But regardless, like it had a very, very ambitious goal becoming its own series. And to the point where This game alone was so ambitious that famously the second disc is like a visual novel. Like they had to rush development of it to the point. It mirrors Evangelion in that way where the finale of that show is like sort of a totally as a gu., R? Which I think also kind of adds to it. I would bet anything that you and I are gonna love disc two who cares Um So I've known the legend of this game and I've been really excited to play and it's unfortunately pretty hard to get. L I think emulation is basically your best bet here. You can get a used copy for PS one or PS two, but they go for like one hundred dollars at the lowest. And I think if you have a Vita or a PS three or a PSP I don't think the E store is still active on the PSP, but you can get it on the Vita or PS three through like what remains of the digital storeonts there. But otherwise emulation is your only bet. And I would be very pleasantly surprised if this ever gets like a remaster or a modern port just because like based on what I've seen, I don't know this for a fact, but it kind of feels like The monolith soft team didn't leave like on the best terms with Square. Xeno Gears is owned by Square and I guess now Square Enix and then Xeno Saga is NAMCco and now Xeno Blade is Nintendo. And I think the combination of like multiple parties probably having to sign off on it, combined with its like inherent like no holding back, like religious to the point where it wasn't even released in Europe because of that. It just feels like kind of a mother three scenario where like no one wants to touch this thing, even though there's still like a very, very passionate fandom for it. Yeah. So I finally played it. I'm about seven or eight hours in. it is fucking remarkable. Like I fully expected this to be a distant and cold experience. like something about this feels like Yeah th there is a version of it that's like sixty eight people asked us to eat vegetables. Yeah, exactly. It a table filled with desserts that they were like you just need to slam carrots for fifteen hours. I fully expected to like appreciate it and respect it and be happy I played it. But like I knew it was very, very different totally from Xeno Blade Chronicles, which is like Way more upbeat, you know, even three, which is like probably the bleakest of the trilogy, although I still have to play one, which I'm dying to. I think that might end up becoming my favorite, honestly. But two and three have a lot more of like what you expect from kind of the shon and anime like vibe. Like there's sort of an ensemble of quirky characters. The world is a lot more like vibrant and colorful Yeah It gets to these really heavy places, but like there's a lot of levity added by all those other elements. Xeno Saga is like very, very, very unsettling and bleak. There are moments of humor here and there, but like that game is really like, you know it is a very challenging RPG in that way. So I was kind of expecting it to be closer to that. And I would say Xeno Gears is like kind of in the middle. it is much more fun than I was expecting It's very well paced. The combat is like fast and fun and like so well animated. And you know, talking about like GTA and just like impressive productions and older hardware. what I've really enjoyed so far in playing PS one games is just seeing like the canyon between certain productions. Yeah. Like this is a time where Not only do you have like, you know five plus years of developers learning how to make games work on PS one. So by the end, you have something like Chronocross, which is like how the fuck did this work on the PS one? It looks like a PS two game. You also have like three D being new. So like you have sort of like some games you play and it's like very, very basic, you know, kind of clunky three D models. I mean, even FF seven kind of has that with the polygons And then you get to something like Xeno Gears where it's like this hybrid of three D and like hand drawn illustration and like two D kind of anime cutscenes. From the first opening cutscene, like you just get that feeling where you're like, oh, I get it. I get why this won the poll. I get why this is like everyone's favorite game And it's funny. like the first hour or two, I was like, this is way more upbeat than I was expecting. Like it gives you that kind of like Xenoblade village right away. Okay. And then something happened that made me go for a walk. I was just like, I cannot like it is okay. It does not pull its punches with when it gets devastating. It has a very similar tone to somethingone like Evangelion But it's very distinct. and it's also borrowing a lot from Star Wars in a way that's kind of fun and also adds some levity where like you meet this dude who is just Darth Vader standing on his meck that's doing the same pose in like the bloody moonlight Yeah. And he's like dying to not say like, join me and together we will rule, you know But it's just like kind of like what we said about like in order for Lego Batman to work, it needs to be a good Lego game or it needs to be a good Batman game. Like it needs to be like a fun action platformer for all the humor to work. I think for all the like wildly ambitious narrative swings that ZXeno Gears is taking, it first and foremost needs to be a fun Like adenture for those other elements to work. And that's why I think Xeno Saga misses the landing a bit. L it's just the sort of like cerebral part of it. So it's like it's a really fascinating game to play, but it's hard to say like I enjoyed my session of Xenos Saga episode Wondervillasermmach. Yeah. whereere Xeno Gears is like fun in a way that like it's just on a very base level So fucking cool to like hop in a mech and then in your inventory screen, like play armored Cps for a few seconds and like swap out parts. And the fact that like the turn based combat goes from in and out of the mech and how like the combat feels a little bit different, but how like you can learn a combat it's sort of like legend of Lgea or Carnal Cross where like when it's your turn You push a series of buttons in like a fighting game combo. Oh sick. And if you unlock those combos, you can then perform them in the mech. So like the mech is like an accentuated version of the character. And the story is just like really gripping. It's got excellent world building, a lot of mystery, great music, it's just an incredible RPG. I cannot believe I waited this long to play it. All right. I think you'll love it. I think I' pizing this you've really sold me on it And you know, it has yeah, I think it has like, if Xenoblade is maybe a little bit too cheesy for some people and Xeno saaga is too like depressing and unsettling, this is like the perfect middle ground so far.. I'm sure dis two is going to get more into Xenosaga lamps. But I really love it. I really, really love it so far Xeno gears. Xeno Gears, Yeahah. Okay. We have so many we have so many RPGs to play. I did ye, like I decided which of the RPGs am I going to see through and I'm glad this is one of them. I'm going try to play as much as possible obviously, but like Xeno Gears is so so much about the narrative and I'm also enjoying it so much that I'm like this is one You know, this is one I definitely want to see through. kind of like C persona for Golden was like a must for the V episode. This feels like a must for PS one. Yeah. All right. Yeah, I'll probably add that to my list of things I need to finish also. I'll probably do that. I think in terms of the RPGs like that and Final Fantasy nine are non starters for me. like that in terms of skipping. I mean, like I have to see those through Yeah. abbsolutely very least. And we both finish seven already. Yeah. Cron Cross if you can, I think that caname' my like Yeahah, it's a white whale. I would very much like to It's Cron Cross isn't too long. Yeah. It's like thirty ish hours.. I'mready halfway through it, which is nice. Yeah. So I'm very excited. But yeah, it's just like funny how immediately I felt while playing this, which like, you know, sometimes on this show, there's like a pressure. like I think it's meant with love, but a lot of people want us to talk about their favorite game and to be as passionate about it as they are. Right. Yeah. And that's not always going to happen, but like Xeno gears is just like within seconds I was like This is so fucking good And now it kind of curses you to then be like, oh my God, I wish we got all six parts. but it also makes it even more impressive that we get something like the DLC for Zen ofablyably Chronicles three is essentially like a micdrop for this entire story. Yeah, you know And I'm excited to kind of work my way back I do at least want to finish three because I got right up to the end and I just felt burnt out. because I literally play like eighty hours and it was still not over. and I felt like what had just happened felt like an ending and then I got an airship and I'm like, So that's always how it works. Yeah. Yeah. I think there's more Xeno ahead of me, but I think gears for now is my primary focus. Yeah, sick. yeah, I'm excited to play it and then I can speak to it as well. Yeah. But that sounds great. Yeah. think I think in particular, the thing that is really sticking out to me is the idea that it's not just an eat your vegetables video game. I think that Yeah, it really it really like gives off the energy and it's like, it's funny hows it's such a The sense of adventure is so strong and like just the sort of like base level fun of the premise of like, this is a game about mechs. And like that is in the sense of like the sort of cerebral evangelion like philosophical religious way. And then also like, isn't it cool to like replace this joint with a machine gun? Like that's how you It's also like sometimes you'll be in the mech fighting like twoi people or animals. So just seeing like like there's a whole dungeon I did where it's you and this pirate named Bart, who I love, of course in your mix. and it's like one thing I'll say is that the dungeons have a decent amount of platforming and the platforming is pretty not good. It's not enough to like hurt the game, but like It is just be prepared for a couple annoying jumps that like you think you can't do, but you actually can. But like in the meix, you know, had to find two switches and then like, you know, go to this place and fight a boss. And there's a point where you have to get out of your mex and go on this little like gondola on cables to another part of the cave And the moment where you see the two characters get out of the ms and they're like ants, you're still like, whoa, this cave is fucking huge. Like what is felt like just sort of a normal video game level suddenly like it completely changes your framing of like what this place is and how important it is. Yeah There's a lot of moments like that that are really cool. Okay. Yeah. everything you tell me is getting me more and more excited to like hang up the phone and then go play's Al also runs great on Steam deeck. Yeah But there's a character in your party who the main guy Fei calls Doc. and hes I think you'll like him because I know you like characters that like have read the script beforehand. And like he's just a character that like he's as if Shinji's dad who's always in that pose. He's like if he was nicer and in your party the whole time But like has the same level of like, oh, this guy knows fucking everything and there's like eight steps ahead. Yes. I think you'll like him a lot. I sound like I'm gonna to like him a lot. Yeah. As somebody who watched Evangelion and then was like, I do Shinji's dad's pose to Youube I'm doing it all the time whenever we're recording. I mean, people can't see this as an audio media, but I'm doing it all the time when we're recording. I'm in that pose constantly. I also just double check. this is another Mitsuda score as well. which doesn't surprise me because his music is so good person And also the connection to Cronac Cross there. Yeah exactly. Yeah, it's a really special game. It's kind of funny because against all odds, it's still sold very well. Like it did well. It just didn't. I remember reading that when we were doing research. Yeah. Like it got like, you know, Square wasn't sure about it and it didn't get released in Europe and it' still like broke A million I forgot exactly the number it sold, but like it did well, but not well enough for Square to be like, this is now its own series. Yes. And it's just so funny how that journey leads to Nintendo. Yeah. L making a game that is too dark and too to release as Final Fantasy and doesn't even come out in Europe. Yeah and then making another series in AMcoO that has Jesus as a supporting character in the wiki Yeah. And then they end up at Nintendo how much The team at Nintendo were like, you gott to tone this stuff down. L I wonder how much of Xenob Blade is like scaled back in some ways. L I made it a little bit like, you know, speaking of Yo Katara, is a little bit like Yokotara working with Platinum and Square and like having a good editor and that kind of being the thing that you know made made his career in some ways. What I've read after Xenosaga kind of like because Xenosaga was their big attempt to like do the Xeno Gears plan. L it was kind of a spiritual successor, but also it was going to be like that six part series they always wanted to make. Yeah. And it ended up having to be at least they got three games out of it, but like that series sold so poorly that like it kind of just got like Lost history. People don't really talk about that series. it really is the like awkward middle child series of like the very, very popular and successful Xenob Blade and the legendary Xeno gears, you know. But I remember reading that like they basically were ready like modelists off the team there was ready to give up and then they like kind of needed to work on something to lift their spirits And there was the image of like sort of the The two dead giants, which I think has even more meaning behind it when you consider the series that preceded it. you can read the dead giants as like, this is what we try like Xeno Gears is dead. I like it never came to be. And now we're building a game on the literal corpse of what came before. Yeah. I think basically my read on it based on Quotes, which is not, you know, conclusive data, but like I imagine that Xenunoblade disorganically had maybe a more abeat tone because they like wanted to try something one last time. And I do I would guess though that being at Nintendo, certain things had to be toned down. But it is pretty amazing the places that even Zenob Blade goes. Yeah, No you're They don't really literally the opening of that video game is like darker than you would expect it to be Yeah, yeah, and just the imagery too, like there's the symbol that like recurs over the course of all like, it's essentially like a cross of some kind, but like it's in Xeno gears, it's in Xeno Saga, it's in Xeno Blade. And it feels like a few shapes away from creating real problems with with, you know religious groups. But yeah Xeno gear, it all started here and it's a very, very special game. excited to play more of it. The ice cream truck is outside. Hey, episode six, here it is. So it's like just p right outside my house. It's waiting for me to say something. Anyway. I guess that's it for the episode, huh? Yeah, That's all got for now. I just wanted to you I don't w want tona share too much PS one before we do the episode I think it is fun to share updates and I couldn't just keep this a secret. So I'm sure there are many you know Gears fans that are very happy that I finally got to it. Yeah. Thankks for your patience. And I'm excited to get to it. I'll definitely be playing. A I do need to dip into Yoshi and the mysterious book which I did pick up and I haven't had time to play it this week. AJ, make sure to not cut out the ice cream truck that's just outside my window blaring the song. There's nobody buying ice cream. It's just parked outside my house playing the song. Anyway someone spying on you. Yeah. yeah, it's the mysterious book.rying to figure out why I haven't started's mysterious book. Man created Giants to kill God. Oh, interesting Yeah yeah, that's gonna to be it. I'm gonna play Yosh in them Series book and then Zeno Gears, that'll be fun There's some other video games that I am trying to play. It's so hard to focus with you say something now. I'm excited for you to play whatever you want. And same with me. I'm excited to get a strawberry shortcake ice cream. Do you like those? Not really.m I'm always on the edge with That's like rolling a D twenty and you need to get it to enjoy them. ' I like them a lot, but everyone I talk to doesn't like them. Anything berry flavored, if it's not actual berries, I'm like, I don't want like red sugar number four.ay with artificial banana. Yes, yeah. That's a bake off sin. If anyone ever uses like banana's like, what is that? his whole face starts up. It's the only time he throws something at the wall ye I told you once, I told you one thousand times. Yeah. Don't open the mysterious book. Bam. Wow. All right, that's it for this week's episode. Thank you all so for listening Io the Cast onnline is our website. If you like the show, the best way to help it grow is share with a friend. You can also rate and review us on your podcast app of choice. You can support us directly at patreon dot com slash intoo the cast I think let me check my calendar and see what's Oh, Mina the Hollower comes out this Friday. Oh yeah, dude. I'm very excited for that. Yeah, because this will be coming out Wednesday the twenty seventh and two days Mina will be here. I'm sure I'll bring that up next week. This episode comes out the same day as the z seven game also. I keep forgetting about that C curious about it. I'm really, yeah, I'm very, very interested in what the reviews say. And I think it's really interesting that the reviews are not live yet. Wh who' making that? It's Iio interteractive. It's Hitman team. Oh, interesting. It's it's the team that should be making that game You know what I mean? But it also looks like an uncharted kind of game. Yeah it looks like it's like a softer jam. From what I understand, well, yeah, so this is supposed, I mean, it's in the title, but this is supposed to be like early on in his career, Batman year one, if you will, of the James Bond life. But it is like kind of an uncharted style story that does have a hitman esque immersive Sim moments throughout. cool. which I don't know what that means, which is kind of like what the Indiana Jones game was too. Yeah, yeah, totally. The Great circle. Yeah. And I'm very interested to get my hands on it and see what that's like That feels like the kind of thing that I may end up enjoying. We'll find out. The Adventures of James. The Adventures of James. Well, okay. EllieF's biggest ifal. Yeah, no that I mean in the hollor I'm really excited about. Yeah, yeah.'s a fun fun week for video games. Also story of seasons, The Grand Bazaar comes out on Thursday on the Nintendo Switch two. Oh, no, just kidding. PS five and Xbox, which I guess it was't now for Oh, weird, yeah, that's a great game. We will flight that quite a bit. And then I think Starfox comes out's next month. That is next month. Yeah. Wait, what? Yeah, it's the end of June. Yeah. That's another one I'll need reviews for, I think.. If people are like, I don't know, I don't really I'll let you know how I feel about it because there's no way I'm not getting the new Star Fox game. Okay, cool. I'm looking at my calendar and there's an event that just says potentially freeze. And I'm like, what does that mean? What does that mean? Probably like some account that I'm not using. Yeah. All right, I'll figure that out later. Hey, thank you for listening. We'll see you all next week. Take care of yourselves, H a great rest of your day Bye bye byye everybody