0:00

Are we the Suicide Squad of

0:03

video games journalism? Okay,

0:07

speak on that. Because as soon as

0:10

you said that very evocative phrase, and

0:12

I think there's enough old men in

0:14

here, I started forming one in

0:16

my head and none of us made the list,

0:18

fellas I gotta tell ya. Yeah, I

0:20

like, you know, I like, I

0:23

like picked myself as a stinker on

0:26

the outskirts, beyond

0:29

the border of what is

0:31

acceptable in video games journalism, as

0:33

evidenced by the fact that I effectively left it

0:36

six years ago. What's your alias? My

0:40

alias? Weirdly, Captain Boomerang.

0:42

Oh. Oh, okay. Yeah, but that's just

0:44

because like, you know how I used to be, I was like

0:47

reviews editor at Joystick for like a minute, and like if I

0:49

didn't like a game, I'd throw a big boomerang at it, and

0:51

show a video of me hitting it with a boomerang, making it

0:53

shatter. That's where that

0:55

came from. Obviously,

0:57

King Shark, Russ. Yep.

1:01

That's what they call me. Just Dr. Chococola,

1:03

right? Oh,

1:06

wow. No. No, why not?

1:08

Yeah, I think. That's Dr. Chococola. It's

1:10

in there. I

1:13

mean, the most subversive thing I

1:16

ever did was pop amoebas into

1:18

my glob for a

1:20

long time, a facet

1:22

of my history that my children are

1:24

now becoming aware of. I think that means

1:26

we have Dr. Chococola and Professor Voor. Okay,

1:29

I'd rather have any other name. Hey

1:31

guys, please remember after

1:33

this call to have a legitimate conversation about

1:36

who this is, because it is going to

1:38

be a real treat. Gotta shut these mics

1:40

down, but boy, outie. I'm looking forward to

1:42

that conversation. Well, and these mics are ice

1:45

cold. Yeah, ice cold. We'll unpack this. Do

1:50

we have one for fresh? Who's fresh? Freshstick

1:54

is, I mean, he's, I don't know that.

1:56

I mean, they both love egg steam. Who

1:59

is both? You know what I mean

2:01

captain make me bars Rotten Russian

2:03

Harley Quinn just the Joker

2:06

yeah Yeah, I do

2:08

have this is a build the Joker bill

2:10

Yeah, you do and and it's really just

2:12

one more dig at me and that might

2:14

be enough for me to send me off

2:17

The edge and you make you make you

2:19

make me laugh Yeah, you

2:21

make me laugh all the time. We're us like the

2:23

Joker does yeah, but but are they laughing at me

2:25

or with me? Yeah

2:33

We live in a society bro, I would paint your face

2:35

on a fan Chris you can be

2:37

the Joker too if you want cool. Thanks.

2:39

I appreciate that other Joker. That's a real

2:41

generous status Joker

2:44

jokers two jokers and Professor

2:47

Choccola and me and

2:50

I'm still workshopping my mouth man mouth man

2:52

mouth man matter eater lad You

3:16

My name is mister Macroy, I know the

3:19

best game of the week My name is

3:21

Griffin Macroy, and I know

3:23

I know the game we're talking about this My

3:25

name is Christopher Thomas plant, and I actually do

3:27

know the best game of the week my name

3:30

is Ross Froschke Not the best game of the

3:32

week Welcome to

3:34

the besties where we discussed the latest and

3:36

greatest and home interactive entertainment It's a club

3:38

and just by listening to more than 30

3:41

seconds of a single episode you have become

3:43

a member This week

3:45

we're discussing Suicide squad

3:47

kill the Justice League Chris

3:50

plant what's up suicide squad kill

3:52

the Justice League is the much

3:55

anticipated awaited video game follow-up

3:57

to the Batman Arkham trilogy

4:00

by Rocksteady Games. They

4:02

took quite a long

4:04

time to get this one out into

4:06

the world, but it is finally here.

4:08

You get to play as all

4:11

four members of this version of the Justice

4:13

League. Unfortunately, it has little...

4:15

Oh, sorry. Oh, sorry. Oh,

4:18

no, the Justice League. Justice

4:20

League, Kill the Suicide Squad, is the

4:22

sequel that's coming. Is that the good

4:24

one? We're all fucking stoked out of

4:26

our minds for that one. It's

4:29

kind of a messy... a

4:32

moose. It's just a mess. Let's

4:34

get into it. I can't talk about it. Yeah.

4:36

Let's make... Yeah. Quick break. There

4:41

was a cognitive dissonance I had when

4:43

the reactions to this game

4:45

started coming in, and

4:48

I just couldn't make my brain accept... ...that

4:50

I couldn't understand how it could be that

4:53

bad. You know what I mean? Even

4:55

watching it and hearing people talk about

4:57

it, I couldn't quite believe it.

5:00

I had to still play it. Yeah,

5:02

it wasn't... And it's funny, because for us, I feel like you

5:04

were in a similar position. It wasn't like that

5:06

with Starfield. So remember when Starfield

5:08

came out, we all played it

5:10

before it came out, and we

5:13

dropped our impressions, and it

5:15

didn't match up at all seemingly with a lot

5:17

of what the reviews were saying. Yeah. This

5:20

is not that. This is not that, isn't it? Not that.

5:22

This is... I

5:25

think it was just pure fascination.

5:27

I knew, having seen gameplay, going into

5:29

it, I was like, this doesn't look very appealing,

5:32

but they've been working on this game for nine

5:34

years, or whatever it is. And

5:36

so I'm like, from an academic

5:38

standpoint, I need to know what

5:40

the end result was. And

5:44

it should be worth noted, two of us on

5:46

this podcast did not have that same urge.

5:48

Did not want to suffer through the... No,

5:52

dog. No, I Don't think they're curious what

5:54

they have to say, because I earned this,

5:56

and Russ earned this, and they didn't. And

5:58

This is our time, darn it. That's right,

6:00

it's our time now. What Is. What?

6:03

What Is this game? Ross your great Describing

6:05

games are facts. So.

6:08

It is a. Oh

6:10

been world third person

6:13

shooter. The. Closest analogue

6:15

being Crack down down. But.

6:17

Without the fun, the fine down

6:19

there you know was so that

6:21

that differentiator here is that unlike

6:24

Crackdown where you're playing as one

6:26

character that you're constantly like advancing

6:28

here you can play. As for.

6:30

Pretty. Distinct characters. eyes it you know,

6:33

think Shark and Harley Quinn and the

6:35

gang. I'm barely to say one wants

6:37

a shark like for fuckin' once a

6:39

clown. Want to start like yes, they

6:41

look remarried of things and they actually

6:43

do. Play. Pretty the newly

6:46

different as well. They move

6:48

very differently. Now I'm. An

6:50

example has a swing. Mechanic.

6:53

A captain Boomerang for reasons

6:55

that. Are part of the

6:58

story. Gets the ability like teleport. Ah,

7:01

Dead Shot as a jet and

7:03

in Oregon things hearts as and

7:05

subscript religions really high and they

7:07

instance throw different way to in

7:09

a in a flood choice. Yeah,

7:11

so I mean that's kind of the

7:13

loop is like yo, You'll do these

7:16

missions in the open world. In this

7:18

case, Metropolis Playing is one of these

7:20

four characters that obviously supports multiplayer for

7:22

up to four people. Say you could

7:24

do this in all in multiplayer for

7:26

it's worth I didn't I just played

7:28

in solo which actually I think might

7:30

have been better off as a way

7:32

to experience it because there are also

7:35

like cut scenes and like story that

7:37

kind of ties these various missions together

7:39

featuring. A. Bunch of brainwashed just

7:41

as lead characters like God, the Flash

7:43

and Batman and various other known just

7:45

as the characters who appear. And I

7:48

mean if you are leaving out a

7:50

pretty significant part of this which is

7:52

that it has the. Trappings

7:54

and structure also have a of Adidas

7:57

service is it does. That's true. There

7:59

is like a looter shooter element to

8:01

that's why I know. I think that

8:04

the nearest I mean the most obvious

8:06

and near assertive. Like.

8:09

Comparison I'd I would make is to

8:11

the of enters dame. It came out

8:14

what a few years ago now? Ah

8:16

from who did that Crystal Dynamic yeah

8:18

Kobe's I am I the set I

8:20

would as well as much better. But

8:23

without that is a much better It had

8:25

game as our eyes again had some neat

8:27

stuff go at odd yeah I think Sneer

8:30

Com for what it's worth. The live service

8:32

stuff exists insofar as you're finding loot and

8:34

I know after launch there is gonna like

8:36

they'll be dropping like the joker will be

8:39

viable and stuff like that. But

8:41

mostly as you're going through the story, it seems

8:43

like a lot of that stuff has like. Not.

8:47

As much of an impact on the

8:49

actual gameplay which is a weird thing

8:51

is kind of. There's a question of

8:53

how much did they remove after guess

8:55

after it was pan. Yeah when they

8:57

started to reveal the get yeah From

9:00

what I understand there is like in

9:02

the game loops in the style of

9:04

a game has data service game graham

9:06

I did not get nearly that far.

9:08

But yeah is it really does seem

9:10

like. I mean, it seems like many

9:13

pivots that. Are taken with this one.

9:15

I want it. I feel like

9:17

there are many, many problems with this game,

9:19

but it is sort of a House of

9:21

Cards. Because. I

9:24

want to know they isn't specifically to you will miss

9:26

the first time you're like, oh, that's a problem. Oh

9:30

I mean it isn't what

9:32

i was gonna say but

9:34

it instantly vs the of

9:36

the okay. Very.

9:39

Whatever the forty for mobility absence right?

9:41

If you are dead shot you have

9:43

a jet pack your. Jetpack,

9:45

Goes forward with our one. goes

9:48

fast as our one writes ah

9:50

and is point and shoot you

9:52

compress L One. To.

9:55

Do like and afterburner. move that coors it off

9:57

and get you some more boost. While.

9:59

Your boot. The with our one you

10:02

can press x to do

10:04

like a boosted superfast thing.

10:06

And then you can also press l one.

10:09

To. Do like a mid air-

10:11

And. Also your ex button jobs and

10:14

can do a double jump. Okay,

10:16

that's getting around right? Each.

10:18

Character that you play has

10:21

a completely different set of

10:23

those moves. And. This is

10:25

the tutorial of the game is

10:28

rather then slowly introduce you to

10:30

these. They. Make you

10:32

learn endless like barely start to maybe

10:34

get the hang of one of the

10:36

mobility sets then instantly switches you to

10:39

a different character and makes you guys

10:41

the other bases and almost caught alarm.

10:43

but it's even harder to learn. Because

10:46

you are still try to the things were

10:48

before as it does that four times A

10:50

That's like the opening of it's like literally

10:53

the opening. The as again if they're crazy

10:55

things about ability to toil. The crazy thing

10:57

about that is at the end of that

10:59

you've played as all four characters they're like.

11:01

Okay, Who. Would.

11:04

You like to play as. Yeah. And

11:06

I stared at that screen

11:08

for like five minutes Was

11:10

None of them felt great

11:12

to me. Yes, At. The

11:14

best that I am in my opinion

11:16

is Carly. but just because Harley has

11:19

Batman scrapple, right? And it's pretty similar

11:21

to Bank Scrabble except ah man, It's.

11:24

All has to be on l one

11:27

and are one all the mobility stuff

11:29

because our to is always suit shooting

11:31

right or or. Melee. Depending but

11:34

but like it's it always has be

11:36

reserved for those I'm so just always

11:38

feels a little bitty. Yeah.

11:40

I I ended up with King Shark

11:42

but like I just I don't ever

11:44

ensues on the like. I thought I

11:46

was using who I was going play

11:48

through the campaign as right. I took

11:50

a little time really thinking about it

11:52

once in a game even just press

11:54

the d pad and like switch at

11:56

any time. In fact it's encourage you

11:58

to switch characters between love. By

12:00

making one character like boosted to the at

12:03

more xp and better damages of like that?

12:05

Yeah, I think it's one of the worst

12:07

tutorial experiences I've ever had. My light. And.

12:10

I'll fight or are turned off by the

12:12

am was baffling and this is A you

12:14

know we're kind of talking about like who

12:16

is to blame for what happened with Suicide

12:18

Squad and this is where I think a

12:20

lot of people have pointed the blame it

12:22

w B as the like owner of Rocksteady

12:24

who like force the live service stuff down

12:26

their throats. But. When I

12:29

play the tutorial of this game to

12:31

me, he says this game has been.

12:34

Problematic. From day one

12:36

Yemen a green lit the like.

12:39

White box demo of the mobility

12:41

stuff and it didn't feel good.

12:44

Someone. Needed to be like pump the

12:46

brakes. We need to figure this out. And.

12:49

No one did and they can I don't think is worth

12:51

around that. I think heard noting if you don't

12:53

because of the. Arkham. Trilogy.

12:56

Came. Out a while ago now. Yeah, argument

12:58

on One thousand nine are consenting twenty eleven

13:00

and are coming to me to seats. And

13:02

nine years ago so there's probably played a

13:05

few people who didn't play those games and

13:07

don't have may not be able to truly

13:09

appreciate be. Outrageous departure of it's

13:11

who has got our Justice League is from

13:13

from those games where those were. I

13:16

mean. Revolutionary sort

13:19

of genre defining. Ah,

13:21

Action Exploration games yeah ha.

13:23

not quite Search as his

13:26

family that certainly had elements

13:28

of us. And this is

13:30

a this is a C

13:33

O open world sort of.

13:35

I've sort of frenetic third

13:37

person shooter. That. Is

13:39

really really all about the guns,

13:42

which none of which are particularly.

13:44

I mean, there are least not

13:46

in any less her about Suicide

13:49

Squad. You didn't play. Yes, I

13:51

play some Suicide squad are you

13:53

didn't? Said okay

13:55

I didn't know that you are one hundred percent

13:58

said you weren't Guess. Wire

14:00

own so offended for your participated

14:02

in a rather than saw known

14:04

I'd okay good I the second

14:06

time that I do like oh

14:09

this is really bad. The.

14:11

The sort of main saying about the

14:13

suit. Like the main. Point.

14:16

Of the shooting yeah I think the crux it all

14:18

kind of hangs on his. You have a sealed. And.

14:22

Is it doesn't recharge automatically because Amanda

14:24

Waller pace you're freaking good at is

14:27

actually a narrative beat where the narrative

14:29

billie on why doesn't reach for her.

14:31

It's ah and so this is the

14:33

hazy that Richard see have to do

14:36

like shield bash is basically on enemies

14:38

and the way you prepare them for

14:40

that is you see them in the

14:42

legs since you know that. find. Them

14:46

funny video gave his innocence.

14:48

Everybody always talks about thirty

14:50

three boys, the leg. Ah

14:52

so the Suicide squad issue people in the

14:55

leg and that feels like bad. Does this

14:57

look good? You know I would seem good

14:59

am aiming for the leg and then they

15:01

get down enough that you press are too

15:03

and it goes into kind of a nod

15:06

fluid. Melee Animation.

15:08

Ah, That really pulls you out of

15:10

it and it doesn't slow. Into.

15:13

The next thing, it doesn't. A

15:15

is it really stops you every single

15:17

time you do it. And her sentence

15:19

emphasis on my palm combo like keeping

15:22

your combo and yeah and that is

15:24

not aided by the fact that the

15:26

momentum kind of keep how to a

15:28

dead stop. How is this story? Because.

15:31

That. That that wasn't the same night I

15:33

was holding out hope for. That.

15:35

The rioting would work, but. I.

15:39

Also think make me a funny

15:42

video game is a you know

15:44

exact stream degree of difficulty increase

15:46

really hard. Yeah, and

15:48

by funny Suicide Squad saying.

15:51

News. To. I'll give

15:53

you an example. From. A Writings The I

15:55

does not the story but this is just like

15:58

a writing sample in the first fifteen minutes. There

16:00

are. Literally. To.

16:02

gentrification, Jokes. In.

16:04

The first fifteen minutes of again I

16:07

there I will say this and it's

16:09

very indicative of something that has been

16:11

in development a long time. And I

16:13

don't. I don't. Know anything about

16:16

make a video games, but I have written

16:18

script before, and I it feels like there

16:20

is every template is a punch. And.

16:22

That is actually good. gag that works

16:24

like it. I every yeah every once

16:26

in awhile there's one moment where are

16:29

their their restraining I'm I think it's

16:31

Captain Boomerang. Ah, And.

16:35

I use a green, a Wonder Woman is

16:37

is has pinned to the ground with her

16:39

boots and Harley Quinn says from off camera

16:42

step on me nests and it's like a

16:44

good is a Dc gag as a good

16:46

gag of Imo same as the either of

16:48

them. Sarath it goes. It says, it says

16:51

a lot of jokes. A

16:53

you his I in terms of quantity

16:55

is it is. It is delivering a

16:57

lot of just. I think that t

16:59

start play by Samoa Joe is a

17:01

revelation. I agree. I joined a lot

17:03

of stuff on or off for me

17:05

that road that belongs to rom area

17:07

I can't see anybody else in that

17:09

I asked him to like. It runs

17:11

like very I you know area date

17:13

kings shark doesn't necessarily match most of

17:15

the king sharks that in are they

17:17

were in the Dc universe so I

17:19

get why they didn't go that way.

17:21

but it has. Made me a little

17:23

bummed. I think the storytelling stuff is the

17:26

is and this is not. Saying.

17:28

A whole lot. He is the

17:30

strong point of. The

17:32

game for it Like a I

17:34

think this is a cool concept.

17:37

Pretty busy Brainiac has descended on

17:39

Metropolis and as as taken over.

17:41

That the Justice League and so like

17:43

hunting. hunting them down and seeing them

17:45

be bad guys is at the very

17:48

least like kind of interesting. Maybe not

17:50

the best use of. specifically

17:52

batman and kevin conroy in his final

17:54

wrong i was it actually they found

17:56

out this week he's in like one

17:58

more animated oh really I

18:00

know yeah, yeah cuz this one I will

18:02

say does not send him off With

18:05

a particularly fun though evil

18:08

yeah, and he's enjoyed himself. I'm glad you got

18:10

to do it the

18:12

the problem that I was having is that there

18:15

is no establishment of these

18:17

four characters as villains

18:20

and We know like

18:22

canonically right that they're technically villains,

18:25

but like Captain boomerang

18:27

deadshot King sharks Harley Quinn

18:29

none of them are like

18:33

They're all basically anti heroes at this

18:35

point So it doesn't feel that interesting

18:37

to have these quote unquote villains when

18:40

most of them are like C

18:42

to your villains that nobody You

18:45

know recognizes, so they're not established as

18:47

villains. They're just kind of like anti

18:49

heroes basically Yeah, and then the way

18:51

you are The

18:53

way you are treated throughout the entirety of the

18:55

game I talked to my wife about this sometimes

18:58

where she's telling me about a Heated

19:00

exchange that she had right and eventually I'm like

19:02

hey I'm picking up on the I know you're

19:04

not mad at me But like I

19:07

feel like I feel like you're getting mad at me this

19:09

game Every

19:12

line everyone says to you is

19:14

so mean Everyone hates

19:16

your guts and even when you do a

19:18

good job They're like I

19:20

guess I won't explode your fucking brain today And

19:24

it's like okay. That's cool. This is

19:26

the second time I've had to escort

19:28

people to a bus in a row

19:30

can we all can you please help

19:32

me out here? Like give me anything

19:34

it's like there's another bus to stuff

19:36

with people jerk one It

19:39

feels so bad all the time What

19:41

do they do with the Justice League stuff because

19:44

yeah? I get that brainiac like takes over

19:46

their their brains and makes them bad and

19:48

stuff But did they get

19:51

chances to like be here are they like

19:53

kind of fighting against that so we first

19:55

introduction of them is Like

19:58

the first time you see Green Lantern uh,

20:01

Batman, I think Superman, they've

20:03

already, they're already evil. Like there's no real

20:05

establishment of them as, as not.

20:08

Well, I guess the flash, yeah, the flash, you sort of

20:10

like see more of a progression, but the, I

20:13

think the like stark moment, and

20:16

this happens very early is like, you see

20:18

evil Batman and evil Batman

20:20

is basically like, um, chasing you throughout like

20:23

a darkened warehouse. That's actually

20:25

the museum for Batman, ironically enough.

20:28

And Batman fucking throws a

20:30

batarang into the like carotid

20:32

artery of a, um, guard

20:36

and the guard is just dead. And

20:39

that's like pretty fucking grim. Here's

20:42

my concern and hopefully this is not

20:44

true, but why

20:47

I really did not want to play this

20:49

game is because it's called Suicide Squad, Kill

20:51

the Justice League. But every time

20:53

I watch the trailer, it looks

20:55

like it was Suicide Squad kills a bunch of

20:57

characters who look like the Justice League, but we

20:59

have no reason to believe they're the Justice League.

21:01

Oh no. No, no, no, no, no, no, no,

21:04

no, let me, let me be clear. I'm not

21:06

saying they're literally not Superman and Batman. I'm

21:08

saying that we spend so much time

21:11

with him as just pure bad guys

21:13

that they, they're like inhuman,

21:15

they're, they're just like their bizarro versions

21:17

of the character. I mean, but you

21:19

know, by history with Superman, you have

21:21

a history with Batman, you know, these

21:23

characters. To their credit though, I will

21:25

say one of the first missions

21:27

you go through is in the Hall of

21:29

Justice and you're actually going through

21:31

like, it's a museum that's open to the

21:34

public now and that's the gimmick, why there's

21:36

like all these exhibits. But you do see

21:38

a lot of like audio clips and video

21:41

and pictures of them like being heroic, like

21:43

they give you sort of the tour on

21:45

all of them. By the

21:47

way, Justice League, uh, if

21:49

you're looking for a place to invite

21:51

a bunch of civilians to, um, one

21:54

place I recommend is not the place where you guys

21:56

all hang out all the time in the big white

21:58

building. But it's like, I don't know. Feel

22:00

like it's not the safest thing to

22:02

have your base. At the

22:04

same place as your yeah have liked to as

22:06

Gideon Henry on Sunday? Ah have you ever gone

22:08

to a towards the White House. Okay

22:11

I mean that's fair. yeah I guess

22:13

is as their ah I think so

22:15

what? you know what it was no

22:18

way except boy probably get into to

22:20

Chris plans point about who you're fighting

22:22

and who you may Borromeo. I.

22:24

Do want to highlight that like. Ninety

22:27

nine percent of who you're fighting. Are.

22:29

Blue Guys Assistant: oh yeah forgot

22:31

your go about their some color

22:33

of deeds okay are they not

22:36

blue? Mostly purple most a purple.

22:38

Their purple guys in like various

22:40

forms of crystals and you fight.

22:42

Those guys came now hundred million

22:44

below in Australia. I mean legitimately

22:47

he You won't believe. It's

22:49

just barely a game and my heart goes out

22:51

to him. Causes a lot of time. And

22:54

a lotta energy and a lotta love

22:56

it. It's so depressing during of how

22:58

many people spend their years working on

23:01

this project. So embarrassing. just bear like.

23:03

I'm I. I am failing to

23:05

come up with an example of

23:08

a like this level of release.

23:10

That. Was this level of like. Barrels.

23:14

A early I mean the alley I

23:16

have. I feel bad, especially for people

23:18

who were there the whole time. And

23:20

then like that though heads of the

23:23

studio left, you know, A

23:25

year or so ago. Nobody. Really

23:27

talks like week for order your thing.

23:29

yeah time and now it's it is

23:31

there are you, get updates and we're

23:33

still here like that so hard I

23:36

think that there is a i think

23:38

there is a. I

23:41

think there's an impression. Amongst folks

23:43

who may be possessed a certain to

23:45

stayed for games analysts that we like

23:47

to. Night. Gleefully,

23:50

Shit. All over and Bear

23:52

Bay. beat these

23:54

types of of games that are him as

23:57

a bomb as me so of so deeply

23:59

out how there are parts of this

24:01

game. I mean this game required so much work

24:03

that went into it. And

24:05

there are certain elements of it that

24:08

are like I think it looks great. Not

24:10

when you're fighting and there's a billion trillion

24:12

things happening on screen at the same time

24:14

it gets very very close. That's the other

24:16

thing. It might as well be a single

24:18

player game. You can almost never parse the

24:21

other people on your game. But like from

24:23

a performance perspective, both on the technical side

24:25

and the like you know character performance side,

24:27

like that's great. And there are lots of

24:29

parts of this game that had a lot

24:31

of love that went into it. And then

24:34

also the structure of it is so fundamentally

24:36

fucked up by this desire to make it

24:38

be a third

24:41

person action shooter games

24:43

as service game. Which like you can say

24:45

they peeled away a lot of those trappings

24:47

but like when you've picked up your fourth

24:49

boring ass rifle with like .01 percent

24:54

like extra headshot damage. And it's

24:56

like it falls prey to every

24:58

single thing that I do not

25:00

like about that whole genre

25:02

in a way that the

25:05

thought of playing it at length to

25:07

grind out and get access

25:09

to more of this game is just

25:11

unthinkable. It really is a bummer. To

25:13

be really clear, those studio heads that

25:16

left like a year or two ago

25:18

like to what plant was sort of

25:20

implying there which is right is like

25:22

they led this charge

25:24

to make this game. There's no way the

25:27

game was that dramatically changed over the course

25:29

of a year or two given how big

25:31

and how expansive it was. So

25:33

like this was their idea and the fact

25:35

that like people had to like finish out

25:38

their idea even if they were grumpy, if

25:40

the studio heads were grumpy with WB or

25:42

whatever it was, they agreed

25:44

to do this and move forward with

25:46

it and it's just a bummer. I

25:50

think one of the best things, one

25:52

of the things I enjoy the most about games

25:54

having played my whole life and having like a

25:57

pretty deep understanding of just games in general is

25:59

like feeling the

26:01

intent behind the game, feeling the

26:03

desire. This is the game that they wanted to make

26:05

and this is how they did it, cool. This

26:08

game is impossible to do that

26:10

to because it doesn't feel

26:12

like, as you were playing it doesn't feel like, ah,

26:14

this is a game that a lot of people really

26:16

wanted to make. It feels like

26:18

eight games that

26:22

nobody really wanted to make all

26:25

of. It is, I cannot, there is

26:27

no comparison to it as far as

26:29

I could tell in the whole of

26:31

games of just completely

26:33

inscrutable design. It's really, can you

26:36

all think of, because there's a

26:38

lot of stuff that is of

26:41

a lower scale budget-wise,

26:45

where it's not supposed to look great,

26:47

maybe they'll nail some stuff, but a

26:49

game that has this level of production

26:52

value, but with

26:54

almost no game

26:56

underneath it. There's

26:59

a production value is nuts. I

27:02

mean, I agree on it. There

27:04

is a mission where you have, you

27:07

can only attack enemies with a car and

27:09

it's like a car that has a big

27:11

rifle on it. This and boy howdy, it

27:14

is a blast. Yeah, and there's

27:16

some genuinely great cutscenes. The cutscene

27:19

after you, I

27:21

don't want to spoil it on the off

27:23

test, but the cutscene after you defeat Green

27:25

Lantern is genuinely really delightful.

27:27

King Shark is a very good

27:29

beat after that battle. And

27:32

that brought me an amount of

27:34

joy that I was not expecting from this game. But

27:37

Jesus Christ, when

27:39

my fingers were on the buttons, I

27:41

was not having a great time. Yeah,

27:45

when I talk about a game where it's fun to have the fingers on

27:47

the buttons. I would love to talk about

27:49

a fun finger button game. Let's do that on the other

27:51

side. Okay,

27:55

y'all, we're back. It's time

27:57

to talk about Granblue Fantasy Reelink. For

28:00

the first time ever, you are looking

28:03

to me and saying, maybe I should

28:05

have played that RPG. Maybe this

28:07

time I should have listened to the plant. Maybe I made

28:09

some good choices. I do want to say, just to take

28:11

people behind the curtain, I did play an RPG this week,

28:14

but it was the wrong one that we were going to

28:16

be talking about. We're going to talk about that one next.

28:19

It's not my fault. There's 100 fucking RPGs coming

28:21

out in the first two months of this year. Do

28:24

any of you know anything about Grand

28:27

Blue Fantasy? I know.

28:29

I know Grand Blue is a franchise.

28:33

Right? And it's a mobile franchise. You

28:35

could tell me literally a plant. You could

28:37

make it. My mind is a blank slate.

28:39

What is that saying? Get your pallet and pay whatever.

28:42

If you said Harley Quinn was in this one too,

28:44

I would not be shocked. It's

28:48

a long-running RPG

28:50

franchise, mostly known for a mobile

28:52

game in Japan. It

28:54

has the pedigree of

28:57

former Final Fantasy people, so a

28:59

score by Final Fantasy composer Nobuo

29:03

Uematsu and some other artists

29:05

from the series. This

29:08

is the big RPG to get

29:10

people excited about it. Was

29:12

there a fighting game too? There was. There

29:14

have been a few different spinoffs. Blaze Blue.

29:16

No. Good guess. No.

29:19

Unrelated. But

29:21

I really appreciate you trying to get a hand on the ball.

29:23

Yeah. Great. I

29:30

got this one. Blaze Blue. Got Blue in it. Handy

29:33

hit the rim. Here's

29:36

a problem for this game. And this is more

29:38

of a PSA for everybody listening. I

29:41

did not fully appreciate that this

29:43

is a sequel. And

29:46

I assumed, hey, this

29:48

game is pretty difficult to play, the previous ones,

29:50

so it'll try to pull in newcomers. When I

29:53

say difficult to play, I

29:55

mean the game that

29:57

this is a sequel to... is

30:00

a mobile game that was released

30:02

over a decade ago and effectively not

30:04

released in the US. You can play

30:07

it on a browser here, but like,

30:10

come on. That's not a huge... I don't even think you can

30:12

play it. I feel like it's

30:14

been delisted. Like the original Granblue is not accepted.

30:17

Like you can't play it. And

30:20

yet, when you start this game,

30:22

they're like, hey, everybody's here. You

30:25

know Ron or Jita, either of the

30:27

two characters you can play as, and how

30:29

they're tied cosmically to Lyria, the

30:31

small, quiet, magical, and perpetually hungry

30:33

anime girl character. You know them, right?

30:36

Oh, and you know the band of buddies

30:38

of which you are a sky captain for,

30:40

and you've been going around for years just

30:43

kind of hanging out, right? You're gonna be all of

30:45

that, right? So this would

30:47

be like playing Final Fantasy VII Rebirth,

30:49

not having played Final Fantasy VII Remake.

30:53

Much worse. Because Rebirth, if you're

30:55

going off of the demo that is now available,

30:57

would suggest that that is an easier jumping on

30:59

point. This is like playing a 60 hour

31:01

RPG and coming in at the 50

31:04

hour mark. And just

31:06

being like, everybody's here,

31:08

we're all friends, we've all kind of gone

31:10

through our character arcs, I hope you're ready

31:12

to go. The other comparison is, have you

31:14

ever gone to like a New Year's party

31:16

with a bunch of people who are not

31:18

your friends? Like, one person

31:21

invited you, and they all like know

31:23

each other, and they don't really need

31:25

to introduce themselves to you because that's not what

31:27

they're there for. It feels a

31:29

little bit like that. So

31:32

you might be wondering, why

31:34

did you say this is a good thing? Didn't you say this was a good thing?

31:36

Why good? It is good. It's good

31:38

for two reasons. One, it's short.

31:40

You did it again. It's so short.

31:42

Like, it's like

31:44

20 hours, and it's just like 10 really

31:46

straightforward quests, and you can fight

31:49

bosses and you beat it. But

31:51

more importantly, the combat in this

31:53

game is so good.

31:56

It is so, so good, and they know

31:58

it is so, so good. good and

32:01

they largely get the story

32:03

out of the way to just let

32:05

you have these battles and kind of

32:07

like grind and increase your RPG character

32:10

into oblivion. So the way the combat

32:12

works is you kind of do the

32:14

spamming, it's a it is controllable action

32:16

it's not turn-based, you

32:18

spam these kind of generic attacks and

32:21

as you do that you build up

32:23

specials and then there's a risk-reward system

32:25

of if you hold off

32:27

on using a special it gets more and more

32:29

and more powerful and you have

32:31

yourself plus kind of three AI controlled

32:34

characters but you can switch out

32:36

the characters so you

32:38

could play as the main character who's kind of like

32:40

a sword based character that hops around and stabs there's

32:43

a ranger type of character there's all

32:45

sorts of variants in the

32:47

like just moment to moment of feel

32:49

of it feels great

32:52

and when I said like you they get out of

32:54

the way of you being able to

32:56

actually spend more time in combat there is a like

32:58

moment very very early on where you go into a

33:00

village and they're like hey you know what the

33:03

story is probably confusing you this

33:05

person over here they'll just give you a

33:07

list of cool quest you can pick anything

33:09

you want and we will just transport you

33:11

directly into battle we won't even make you

33:13

do any of like the bullshit like wandering

33:15

around the world we'll just let you go

33:17

have a cool fight and then you come

33:19

back and we'll give you all the rewards

33:22

so it kind of like it shows

33:24

its mobile gaming influence almost in that it's

33:27

super bite-sized it's a great steam deck

33:30

RPG because you could really just kind

33:32

of pick it up choose

33:34

a cool quest play for 10 or 15

33:36

minutes and then call it a session which

33:40

which I like is

33:42

this like the world's most ringing endorsement no but

33:46

if you finish like a dragon which some of

33:48

us have and you're waiting

33:50

for Final Fantasy 7 rebirth which all of

33:52

us are and you don't want to play

33:55

Persona 3 Rila then then have I I

34:00

got the RPG for you. It's

34:03

called Granblue Fantasy Relink. Wow.

34:06

I think, can I say, I was

34:08

watching some trailers for this game yesterday,

34:11

and it does have some vibes that

34:13

remind me a lot of Phantasy Star

34:15

Online with the multiplayer. Maybe that

34:17

is a wildly not

34:19

accurate comparison, but that is

34:21

really all. All I needed to see was a bunch

34:24

of multiplayer action RPG shit happening, and I was like,

34:26

that's all I cared about. I tried to do multiplayer.

34:28

I had trouble getting it started, but I will say

34:30

this as a make good. I

34:33

found the area where they try to catch up

34:35

on the story, which is at the same vendor

34:37

as the quest, and the way it

34:39

works is you click. It's like for each of your characters,

34:41

there are 10 story beats, and you click it, and you're

34:43

like, oh, this must be like a mission where I learn

34:45

more about them. No, you click it,

34:48

and it just loads up a still image, and

34:50

then text scrolls over it, and tries to

34:52

just catch you up on their story, and

34:54

it's like, who can forget

34:56

when Lyria merged souls, and

34:59

it does that for about two minutes, and at

35:01

the end you're none the wiser, but it

35:04

gives you a big XP boost. As

35:06

if to say, we're sorry, folks, this'll make the

35:08

game better. I

35:11

don't know, man. No? It

35:14

looks great. It genuinely does look fun to play. I

35:16

don't really understand how the combat, is

35:18

there one identifier of the combat that makes

35:20

it stand out apart from

35:22

being good? Well, it's this kind of

35:24

trend of action RPG

35:26

combat. So you are moving

35:29

around, and it feels more active in that

35:31

way? Yeah, I wouldn't say

35:33

that it feels like what we've

35:35

gotten from the

35:38

Tales series lately, and Final Fantasy

35:40

VII, the remake. Right.

35:44

It feels like that, but it feels, I

35:46

would say more polished and coherent.

35:48

I don't know, I feel

35:50

like game developers have been kind of trying

35:52

to figure out what that type of action

35:55

RPG style, how

35:57

that works best, and this feels like

35:59

a noticeable step. for it in terms of the

36:01

feel of everything. That's

36:03

cool. Yeah. I don't think

36:05

I'm ever going to play this game.

36:07

No, definitely not. I mean, I feel

36:09

terrible for it because there's so much

36:12

stuff out right now. But I

36:14

don't feel terrible for it because I think it's doing

36:16

very well. So good

36:18

for all the people who are enjoying it. I

36:21

have a lot of people whose opinions on

36:23

this stuff I trust, including yourself, Chris, that

36:25

speak very highly of this game. And so

36:28

I will probably check it out at some point. But

36:31

boy, it's tough out there. I

36:33

mean, it's great out there. It's bad out there for

36:35

time if that is a concern. But

36:37

just to put a pin on it, there's no

36:39

relation to BlazBlue at all. No,

36:41

no, there's not. And

36:43

I will watch a story explainer on YouTube

36:45

and then probably find out that I love

36:47

this game. But I haven't hit that

36:50

point yet. So. Wild.

36:55

OK, well, thank you, Chris Plant. We

36:58

have some reader mail to go over,

37:00

which is exciting. Do you want me to open this

37:02

up? Yeah, crack a loop. This

37:05

one is from Durch. No,

37:07

we don't. Durch? From Durch. Durch.

37:09

I thought it was the sound effect of the bag opening.

37:11

I thought it said that. Durch.

37:14

Made me so happy to hear Plant is loving Tekken 8.

37:16

I finally took the plunge into fighting

37:18

games for real during the pandemic. And

37:20

it's since become my favorite genre by

37:22

far. For anyone that's been vaguely interested

37:25

and are curious about the genre but

37:27

have been understandably intimidated to do so,

37:29

I highly recommend checking out the YouTube

37:31

video, How to Get Started with Fighting

37:33

Games and Have a Nice Time, by

37:35

Capilagon's very own Pat Gill. Couldn't

37:37

be a better time to jump. Yeah, it's a great

37:39

video. He really did an amazing job on that video.

37:41

Yeah. Fresh, do you see anything

37:43

else in the mailbag? Indeed, there

37:45

are more letters in the mailbag. This

37:47

one comes from Sirius Michael. Loving

37:50

and shrouded, but I must say the multiplayer

37:52

right now stinks. All quest progress is

37:55

tied to the server. So if you're not online when others

37:57

are doing a quest, you can be locked out of it.

37:59

I think. I think they're working on it being player-based

38:01

instead. That being said, it's one of the most fun

38:03

and interesting survival games I've played in a long time,

38:06

and the building system is really well done. I

38:09

pulled this letter out specifically because

38:12

I started playing and shrouded, first I

38:14

started playing it on Griffin's server. Griffin

38:17

set up a server, and I arrived, and there

38:20

was a fucking Las Vegas waiting for me, and

38:22

Jeff still, it's like magical gems, and everyone was

38:25

level nine, and I was level one, and I

38:27

didn't have any powers, and I didn't have a

38:29

glider or anything, and I was very overwhelmed, and

38:32

I did what I would recommend everyone

38:34

do, if you're interested in this game,

38:36

is leave that populated server with all

38:38

your buddies, and start a

38:40

totally blank solo server on your own,

38:43

and just play through the arc of

38:45

the game. The really cool thing about

38:47

en-trouted is that your

38:49

player progress carries over, as does

38:51

your inventory. So if you hit

38:54

level nine in your private server,

38:56

you will be level nine when you bring that character

38:59

over to any other server, and so all your

39:01

skills, like if you unlock the double jump and

39:04

stuff like that, you'll still have that, which

39:06

is huge. I have actually made a private

39:09

offline game, because

39:12

every time that I played it on Steam Deck, I

39:14

would have to log into the server, which was kind

39:17

of a pain in the ass, that you couldn't basically put

39:19

this Steam Deck into sleep mode, and then turn it back

39:21

on and get back on, because it's an online game, so

39:23

I have a private one for like, when

39:26

I'm leveling and exploring this stuff. There

39:28

is some structural issues with en-trouted, and this is

39:30

one of them, and they are working on it.

39:32

I think they actually just released an update that

39:34

is trying to address some of this stuff, but

39:37

that is the issue of having a game where

39:39

your character is not bound to

39:41

the server, which I think is ultimately the

39:43

right decision, where it makes it

39:45

feel more inviting, and less like you're wasting your

39:47

time if you're not playing in

39:49

the right place, but the fact that there

39:52

are quests, and stories,

39:54

and unlockables, that gets

39:56

very confusing. There's a whole element to this

39:58

game of rescuing the enemy. NPCs And

40:02

then you can like place them down in your world

40:04

and then they can like craft new shit for you

40:06

But like when you start on a new server are

40:09

those characters also unlocked there like

40:12

that stuff is is not particularly

40:15

streamlined but I

40:17

was gonna talk about and trout it in the honorable

40:19

mentions because I played a fuck ton of it And

40:22

I think that game kicks ass. Yeah, I I'm really

40:24

enjoying it We can we can wait until then because

40:26

we have a I think one or two more letters

40:28

from the mailbag This

40:30

letter comes from Randall Williams every time

40:32

I hear these grab bag episodes is

40:35

referencing last week's Episode of

40:37

all the indies we talked about various games we talked about

40:40

I hope you guys would talk about the

40:42

void reigns upon her heart Well

40:45

dope ass game. It's a

40:47

bullet-hell rogue like boss rush

40:49

side-scrolling shmup hundreds of

40:51

unlockables and bosses with multiple variations

40:54

developed by one person released in

40:56

2018 But but

40:58

constantly updated might have missed

41:00

because it has a We

41:02

might have missed it because it has a

41:04

nudity tag on steam Which is entirely non-sexual

41:06

and can be censored smartly in the game

41:08

options check it out I've

41:11

not heard of this game. That is a

41:13

dope ass title. The game is again call

41:15

good night The void reigns upon her heart

41:18

Sick title. Yeah, I've never

41:20

heard of it, but that's that's really

41:22

cool to hear looks very very cool

41:24

I am definitely downloading this immediately also,

41:27

yes team maybe should have like

41:29

a divider between like whoopee

41:32

whoopee nudity and like Art

41:34

I guess I guess there's no way to do that

41:37

saying that out loud. There's there's yeah Yeah,

41:40

I yeah. Yeah, I don't want Gabe

41:42

Newell with his mouth deciding

41:44

what is it? Juggling

41:48

some knives and just seeing where they fall I

41:51

Will say steam is usually pretty upfront

41:54

about what you can expect when it

41:56

comes to genuinely period

41:59

stuff in there Hey

42:04

what all have y'all been enjoying outside

42:06

of The stuff

42:08

that we talked about on this episode since we

42:10

just talked about we should talk about in shrouded because yeah

42:12

I know it's please yeah Yeah,

42:15

I mean we talked about it last week the

42:19

the you know It is a survival

42:21

crafting game with a sort of solsy

42:23

aesthetic and action RPG mechanics and

42:27

Yeah, I will say this just on the basics of

42:29

it I've never played a

42:31

survival game that feels as good to

42:33

play as in trout it does yes

42:35

It all of them have this like

42:37

jank where you're punching trees And you're

42:39

trying to be sliding across the ground

42:42

rather than actually walking through yeah And

42:44

then trout it feels like an actual like it

42:46

feels not far off It's not as good granted,

42:48

but it doesn't feel that far off from like

42:51

an Elden ring quite on yeah It's

42:53

amazing. I I

42:56

think that the combat is great, and I think it is what

42:58

sets it apart But I

43:00

also think just the building is Amazing

43:03

yeah, you have like this suite

43:06

of tools that is like

43:08

largely sort of shape-based, so it's like you

43:10

know you drop a foundation

43:13

block down here, and then I mean

43:17

the flexibility is almost like Like

43:20

Minecraft like where you can just create basically any

43:22

kind of building that you want And it looks

43:24

great like it looks very cool does not take

43:27

very long for you to make a base of

43:29

operations that like feels

43:31

custom and looks

43:33

great and Provides all of these like

43:35

very tangible benefits for your character and

43:38

like I love that shit in in

43:40

this in the genre of games The

43:43

exploration is where I think it really

43:45

shines because just getting around also feels

43:47

really good You have a glider that lets

43:49

you zip around I

43:52

have built like an elevated base on top of

43:54

a mountain and now whenever I like set off

43:56

to go on an expedition Or complete

43:58

a mission or something like that I

44:00

have like a like almost an

44:02

Assassin's Creed style like diving

44:04

board that I go off of and then I glide

44:07

for Like a couple of minutes to get to wherever

44:09

it is that I'm trying to go Which

44:12

is very very cool. You have a grappling hook

44:14

all that all that stuff but there's so much

44:16

stuff to find and unlock and uncover

44:19

and there's just constant quests that

44:21

you're getting from the NPCs

44:24

that you can unlock and put in

44:26

your base and those unlock more recipes

44:28

and more things for you to include

44:31

so like that Vegas that that Russ

44:33

described now has like a functioning

44:35

like farming area and It

44:39

has it has a like a guild

44:41

hall where all of the NPCs do their

44:43

their shit and

44:45

I also know that like People were

44:48

a little bit grumpy before launch when

44:50

they found out that the world the

44:52

map itself is like a set map

44:54

So it's not randomly generated when you

44:56

create everyone basically has the same map

44:59

But I think the reason that it all

45:01

feels so good for exploration is because

45:03

of that because it is handcrafted So

45:05

you have these like pacing beats that

45:08

a randomly generated map will generally not

45:10

have And

45:12

it's good like is Valheim randomly generator is

45:15

it see yes Valheim is randomly generated Yeah,

45:17

I know it has that has okay moments,

45:19

but you'll never have the like Oh this

45:21

cave is like perfectly into

45:23

the mountain and it's just this amazing

45:26

like deep delving experience

45:28

And there's also like I it

45:31

is very very possible to go somewhere. You're not

45:33

supposed to go Yeah Which is I very much

45:35

enjoy in any any type of game and so

45:37

like this base that I built is on top

45:39

of this mountain Called the pillars of creation where

45:41

the enemies are like five levels higher than I

45:43

was supposed to be at But

45:46

I I damn it I was like I'm not quitting

45:48

until I get to the top of this mountain and

45:50

build a base on top of it It'd be a

45:52

cool place to and so I spent like you know

45:54

one entire play session just like trekking across the map

45:56

and Like mining

45:58

into a mountain to make a tunnel

46:00

that I could climb up and then

46:03

building a staircase and then just doing

46:05

all of this shit and sneaking away

46:07

from big mean dragons to

46:09

get to where I wanted to go. And it

46:11

was just a really satisfying, very

46:15

improvisational, sort of like

46:17

world-based storytelling thing that

46:20

happened. Yeah, I

46:22

can't put this game down. I am

46:24

wild about it. And it runs great

46:26

on Steam Deck. I got

46:28

two hours of Batterliff on the Steam Deck, and

46:31

I was like, wow, that's impressive. I

46:33

think a lot of it has to do with the art style

46:35

kind of scales really well, even on a smaller screen with the

46:38

settings dialed down. I think it is, it's

46:41

still in early access. I think there's a lot that can

46:44

and should be done to the game

46:46

to improve it. And

46:48

I also, Russ and I were talking about this earlier,

46:50

I would be shocked if this game does not get

46:53

copied like verbatim

46:56

by a much bigger and more

46:59

canny publisher or developer. It's surprising

47:01

just because obviously the genre is

47:03

not new and the

47:05

genre has made a fuckload of money through

47:08

various survival games. So it's surprising to me

47:10

that there hasn't been quite the one-to-one. I

47:12

guess Tears of the Kingdom gets a little

47:14

bit close to some extent. I mean, yeah,

47:17

Tears of the Kingdom does something pretty wildly

47:19

different. It also is not multiplayer. Yeah. And

47:21

it doesn't have the base building. Well, it kind

47:24

of does. But I do see a company like

47:26

Ubisoft, they already have the open world tech, just

47:29

adding layers of survivability

47:31

in. I

47:33

could see that happening. Yeah. But

47:36

yeah, I guess Fallout tried to do it, Fallout 4 and

47:38

it was a mess. So. This

47:41

is a weird recommendation because I

47:43

think also if you hold off on Enshrouded and

47:45

play it six months from now, it's going to

47:47

be even much, much better. And maybe

47:50

they will have worked out a lot of this

47:52

structural stuff. But I don't know,

47:54

man, there's a time of year where there's lots of shit

47:56

that is sort of competing for my time. But Enshrouded kind

47:58

of continues to be the thing. that I want to go

48:01

back to and spend my time playing. Agreed.

48:04

Okay, so Justin,

48:07

you want to talk about something that isn't

48:09

untrouted, so please do. Sure,

48:11

well, I mean, I'll talk about anything. I'm happy to

48:13

keep talking about it untrouted. It

48:15

sounds great. I'm

48:17

still, I'm almost done with Infinite Wolf. I'm

48:19

in like the last sort

48:22

of room around the world. I keep

48:24

getting dispatches from Hawaii, from Justin, and

48:26

they are delightful to get. I've loved

48:28

Hawaii, but. Griffin, you finished it. Here's

48:30

what I'm gonna say. Yeah, I finished it.

48:32

Here's what I'm gonna say. If this isn't the

48:35

best game of the year, it's gonna be a

48:37

real good year for games. Yeah. Hey.

48:40

It's February, and it

48:42

is good. I'm currently, like

48:45

my most anticipated game currently is whatever

48:47

the next one of these is, because

48:49

I keep them coming, baby. It'll be

48:51

a while. All this day. What?

48:54

It'll be a while? They make like four years a year, it

48:56

seems like. No. I guess until you start paying

48:58

attention. I don't think you would

49:00

like the other ones, quite honestly. I'm not sure. I

49:03

disagree. I might go back to this well again. You

49:06

gotta give another shot to that first Like a Dragon

49:08

game, man. If not only just to find out more

49:10

about Ichibanyakasuka, New Inn, I

49:13

Will Stay. Probably

49:15

the best video game character of like the

49:17

last 10 years, like easily. It's not even

49:19

close. You guys, I will just say this.

49:23

Go ahead and submit to playing

49:26

a lot more of this game now, both of

49:28

you two, because you will have to both

49:30

talk and hear about it relentlessly, especially towards

49:32

the end of the year. This is great.

49:35

I really want to do a spoiler episode

49:37

for this game. Yeah, man, I'll do all

49:39

the episodes you want. Yeah, there's a lot

49:41

to talk about. I just

49:43

wanted to quickly recommend a

49:45

movie called Orion and

49:47

the Dark, which I had never heard

49:49

of before. We're just kind of cruising around Netflix looking

49:51

for something to watch. And

49:54

it is a kids, well

49:56

not kids, it's a family animated

49:58

comedy. written by

50:00

Charlie Kaufman about

50:03

anxiety. It

50:05

is basically about a boy

50:08

played by Jacob Trimbley, Ryan,

50:11

who is afraid of the dark, and he is the

50:13

most afraid of the dark, basically of any kid on

50:16

earth, and the embodiment

50:18

of dark, basically a

50:20

personified version of dark

50:24

makes him a way to

50:27

show him what he does in the world

50:29

and why it's important. It's not

50:34

a simple story about like he learns dark isn't

50:36

such a bad guy and he's no longer afraid

50:38

of the dark. It's a lot

50:40

more complex and a lot more satisfying

50:42

than that. I really,

50:45

really liked it. It's not a

50:48

perfect thing, I mean what is, but

50:50

you can definitely feel where knowing

50:52

what I know about Charlie Kaufman's career,

50:54

it definitely feels like

50:56

there are some studio additions to

50:58

this film. There is

51:01

like embodiments of some other

51:03

nighttime things like there's quiet

51:05

and strange noises and sleep and

51:07

they're all like characters a lot

51:09

inside out, insomnia, that kind

51:11

of thing, and it feels a little tacked on. But

51:15

overall it's really good. It's

51:17

fairly dark, I will say. If you have little,

51:19

little kids, it's probably not a good fit for

51:21

them, but I just thought it

51:23

was great. Cool.

51:27

I wanted to talk about Casey

51:29

Neistat's Apple Vision Pro video, which

51:31

is on YouTube. You can watch

51:33

it. Thank you. I

51:35

tried the Apple Vision Pro just at

51:38

like a demo event thing and

51:40

I thought it was interesting. It's certainly like when

51:42

they showed like footage of like IMAX-esque

51:45

footage, it was like the best

51:47

IMAX experience I've ever had. It's

51:49

also $3,500 which is kind

51:51

of batshit from a pricing standpoint, but

51:54

Casey's video has him wearing

51:57

the headset for basically a full day

51:59

in Manhattan and

52:01

I just found it fascinating. This is not a

52:03

reason to buy it. I'm not saying like, oh,

52:06

this video convinces you or anything like that, but

52:08

just seeing like how it really

52:12

does feel in some ways like a glimpse into

52:14

the future because I do believe this like kind

52:17

of AR element will exist in the

52:19

future where it's kind of just like

52:21

implanted on your glasses. And I think

52:23

he does a very good job showing

52:25

how that technology will like slowly seep

52:28

into your normal day-to-day life. There's

52:31

a shot in this thing where he's

52:33

waiting on the subway and he's

52:36

watching a video and the world around

52:38

him is darkened as he enjoys this

52:40

video and his train starts barely into

52:43

the station. And I'm like, wow, we

52:45

are absolutely bode. Yeah. The whole enterprise

52:47

is suspect. Yeah. I

52:49

think it rules, man. If this thing were $2,000, if

52:52

this thing were $2,500 cheaper, I

52:54

would definitely buy one because I like to see this. And it was

52:57

$3,000. Me too. I love

52:59

dumb new tech and this is like I love

53:01

seeing Apple make some genuinely

53:03

wild shit for the first time

53:05

in forever. The price point is

53:07

just banana cake. To be clear,

53:10

I think the thing's cool

53:12

as hell. If I could get one for

53:14

an affordable price, I would. I just think walking around

53:16

and going, oh my goodness, it really scared the shit

53:18

out of me. Yeah. He

53:20

looked like Doc Brown from Back to the Future,

53:23

like walking down the streets. It was genuinely impressive

53:25

that he. I would like

53:27

to recommend in a similar vein Rocco

53:29

from Mega64. He was unboxing of

53:32

the Apple Vision Pro while

53:34

he was at a sushi restaurant. And

53:36

so it's just him unboxing it while

53:38

knocking food over and like putting things

53:40

out on top of just like a

53:42

bowl of rice. Like, oh shit. Oh

53:44

fuck. And all of the comments are

53:46

people who just like don't get it.

53:48

They don't know about Mega64 and Rocco's

53:51

sort of history. Just like, what the

53:53

fuck are you do? Why did you

53:55

do this here? Why did you unbox

53:57

this here? It's hysterically funny. With the

53:59

case. I will say I

54:02

was really skeptical of that, that it

54:04

was gonna be a like another Casey

54:06

prank. But I was

54:08

really happy with how much it is not that. It

54:11

kind of takes what Apple is promising

54:14

at face value, which is like this

54:16

is a mobile portable augmented reality thing,

54:19

which is cool. And also, yeah, I

54:21

agree that I think this is the future. But now I

54:24

feel like this is the future in 20 years. And

54:28

it really hit me. We've had enough time to save up $3,700.

54:32

Yeah, like, just so far

54:34

away from whatever future this

54:36

is promising. But

54:39

it's a cool video. It's very cool. Hey,

54:42

I got one thing that I wanna share. I

54:44

wanna pitch y'all on a game that we can

54:46

talk about next week. It's

54:48

called, I think pronounced,

54:51

Lisfanga. It

54:53

is not a great- I'm gonna need a dialogue

54:55

in this one. Gonna need a spelling, Lisfanga. What

54:59

if I told you it was Lisfanga,

55:01

the time shift warrior? Does that make

55:03

it work? That makes it better. Better?

55:06

Okay. Well, not my favorite

55:08

title, but here's the pitch. You

55:11

remember that Lara Croft isometric game,

55:13

where it was co-op and you kind

55:15

of like saw puzzles while fighting baddies?

55:18

Tomb Raider Ghost? Lara Croft, The Guardian

55:20

of Light, I think is what it was called. Oh,

55:22

right, yeah. You had your buddy with you. Yeah.

55:25

Yeah, and it was a great game. What if you

55:27

could play- It's on YouTube, you can watch it. What

55:31

if you could play that co-op game with

55:33

10 people, except for you

55:36

are all 10 people? That

55:38

is the pitch of this game. It

55:40

is an isometric puzzle solving action game

55:42

where you play as clones of yourself

55:45

and basically every time you enter a combat

55:47

arena, there is a like, thinning amount of

55:49

time, like, I don't know, 15 seconds, and

55:52

as that time runs out, you're not

55:55

going to be able to kill all the enemies in the arena during

55:57

that time. So, yeah, you- You

56:00

get as far as you can, oop, it resets,

56:02

and now you've created a ghost that is going

56:04

to go do everything that you just did. And

56:06

the goal is to clear these arenas with the

56:09

number of clones that you have on hand. And

56:11

at first, that's as simple as like, yeah, just

56:13

go kill the enemies. But as you go on,

56:15

there are puzzles that you need

56:18

to be able to solve in that specific

56:20

time. So maybe there's an enemy

56:22

that can only be killed if

56:24

you kill two of it at the exact same time.

56:27

So you need two clones killing it. And

56:29

it needs to happen at nearly the exact same

56:31

moment. So you know, okay, halfway through this run,

56:33

I need to be at this spot

56:35

so I can kill the other half of that enemy

56:38

so that it actually dies. It

56:41

is so clever and so fun. I

56:43

really wish it had a different title.

56:46

I feel like Super Time Force was at

56:49

the, I think, what's she doing?

56:51

Yeah, well, I think that's the best

56:53

bet is we should all play it, and

56:55

then we can try to break it down in

56:57

next week's episode. I

56:59

wanted to give people a taste of it because I think a

57:02

lot of people should give this a try, but especially

57:04

like our little squad. Cool. I

57:07

think that does it. Plant,

57:09

you wanna recap the games you talked about? Yes,

57:11

I do. We talked about

57:14

Suicide Squad, Kill the Justice League.

57:16

We talked about Granblue Fantasy Reeling.

57:19

We had recommendations

57:21

for games like The

57:24

Void Rains Upon Her Heart. We

57:28

also talked about Infinite Wealth, the

57:30

new game in the Like a Dragon series, Enshrouded,

57:33

Lisfonga, and we recommended

57:36

you check out Orion in

57:38

the Dark, Netflix, the

57:41

new KC Niasat, Applevision

57:43

Pro video, and we

57:45

had a recommendation of Pat Gill's video at

57:47

Polygon about how to get into fighting games,

57:49

and you can find all of that and

57:52

more at bestuse.san with helpful

57:54

links. I

57:57

wanted to thank the following people for writing reviews for the besties

57:59

on Apple Podcast. We have Jables

58:01

48 we have this

58:03

app is stupid fair and

58:05

we have perker 909

58:08

thank you for writing reviews for the besties on

58:10

Apple podcast and thank you to everyone else who

58:12

has subscribed to the newsletter Which is great and

58:14

and we'd love to see it and everyone else

58:16

who supports the show in a variety of ways

58:19

We greatly greatly appreciate it

58:22

next week Griffin gets

58:24

to talk about the RPG that he played this

58:26

week. Hey Hey, persona

58:29

3. Yeah the remake of

58:31

persona 3 and I guess

58:33

we're also talking about the Sangha the time

58:35

Bandit or something. Yeah, whatever. Yeah,

58:38

the song of the time bandit. That's what it says in

58:40

the box cool

58:45

Thank you so much for listening besties and be sure to

58:47

join us again next week for the besties Because

58:49

shouldn't the world's best friends the world's

58:51

best games you

59:20

Besties