Fire Escape Cast #118

What's going on? Walter Pronan, We're back fire escape cast?

I think I like that worse what's happened? I like it less.

Billy Krappnan, what's Gucci? Stanley Tucci?

Billy Crappnon's growing on me.

I sink I'm starting to like this guy. That's Dan Reikert. OHI that's me Yellow and that's Mary Kish Back back back from Japan, your gallivanted around? Did you knock over any restaurant walls? Again?

I have a new embarrassing story. All right, Yeah, I was in Japan for work. So I did Tokyo Game Show, which was awesome in Tokyo, and then I went to Kyoto.

Uh and uh.

Where else did I go to?

Be a museum? Nintendo museum?

I did go to the Nintendo Museum.

I have a cool That one was embarrassing, But I will just say if anyone has ever heard of this in Kyoto, the original like Nintendo Home and it's a hotel. It was so sick and I'm so fortunate that I got a tour of this place and I saw the actual physical playing cards that the i Machi family made to essentially that became Nintendo.

And in the tour, I got.

To see the elevator that they used to bring these cards up and down because back then obviously all paper cards very heavy. And it's just like a really fascinating history that ended up becoming what Nintendo is. And that was one of the highlights of the trip, was to be able to meet the people working in that space and what is to become of it now, which is like more of a incubator for upcoming projects and programs

What the museum is, Like did you make your own cards and do all that stuff and like painting the cards And it was.

Mostly for me, Like this hotel was essentially just going through the rooms and seeing like the grassroots of these original halls and spaces, and I think we got to see some places that like you really should not see

And so we had can I guess you had a bad diarrhea situation and you had to go out in the woods. But he excellently crapped on a shrine and he didn't have no paper, so you had to use like this ornamental robe to wipe your ass and they got upset with you bad.

Is that what happened exactly?

Yeah, that's what she told me, she texted me yesterday. Is exactly what happened.

I did not ship my kimonos.

Call their white guys. No, you shit on the shrine and wiped with the kimono.

That's just such a bad story. No, mine was what are you doing? You made it sound now my story isn't so bad. I was actually like, I was really embarrassed when I walked in. They have all these signs saying do not wear your shoes in this space, and I know that you're not supposed to wear your dirty shoes inside their beautiful, like all the floors so delicate, right, like everything is very old, it's very proper, and you're really not supposed to wear your outdoor stuff in there.

That's what they are. In the Netherlands.

A lot of people don't know that the Cross family originated in Kyoto. Wooden sandals right by the entryway.

Did they have the little the beer bottle opener on the bottom that you can use when you're.

On the beach, like the real classic ones?

Really quick because I'm gonna forget. Yeah, a genius was the person who decided I'm gonna put a beer bottle over on the bottom. These flip flops.

Is there a better feeling in the world than somebody needs a bottle open? You're like, how about this.

And shoes opening my beer?

Anyway?

I don't knock it, yeah, till I come up. Till I come up.

Belt buckle would be cooler.

Oh my god, he's just trying to high kick.

Now's not flexible anyway. I look at these shoes and I say, Okay, I understand. I take off my sneakers and socks and I put on these wooden shoes to walk inside this place. That's what it's guiding me to do. So I do that. I take off my shoes, I put on these wooden shoes and I walk into the house and there I say, where's your bathroom?

And they say it's upstairs.

And I I walk up these long, very difficult staircase with these shoes, and I'm like, this is such a hazard. I cannot believe they would ask me to do this. And I get upstairs and a woman looks at me and goes, no shoes. And she obviously doesn't speak like very much English, but she knows to yell at me and that I fucked up.

And I I look at her.

I go but I put on the and as I say it, I realize that I am wearing someone else's shoes in this house. I had taken off my shoes, and I had seen all these other authentic shoes and thought, those must be the indoor shoes. That's just another fucking person's shoes.

You're supposed to wear, wear their proper shoes, to wear their or were you supposed to.

Save You just wear bare feet in this.

House, so you weren't supposed to be wearing any shoes, much less someone else's.

Shoes, a stranger shoes in the upstairs of this house.

And I had bonking up the stairs when you're fucking wickerman feet.

And I had to clom all the way down, and all the women who worked there were all crowding around the staircase as I was making so much noise in these wooden shoes.

That was the sound of a fucking moron coming down the stairs.

And there was a light up shoes from ninety three where the lights happened?

Are you disrespectful?

I were very.

Loud wooden clog shoes, and I like clunked my way outside and took them off. But like from then on, like the ladies never really looked at me the same, and I knew that we had all agreed that I had embarrassed myself, but like the audacity of myself looking at her and being like, no, ma'am, I believe I put on the shoes that you asked me, Yeah you have, no, I did. As soon as it like came out of my mouth, I went, no, these aren't these aren't these aren't shoes for me?

Are they?

Wait?

Sorry, what was stopping from taking them off upstairs and then carrying them down?

Embarrassment?

I turned right around and I just clink clunked all the way down those stairs and out that fucking house.

That's that's that's funnier than the wall. I don't know.

Yeah, and then I got a tea somewhere, not because I needed it, but because I needed to pee so bad, and I would not go back and ask them to use the bathroom again. Like you know, the story was over for me at that point, so I just yeah, I just found somewhere else.

Well, we're glad you survived the embarrassment and made it back.

Thank you. I'm glad to be back. I was severely jet lagged. I do you think i'm i'm, I feel functional grateful to be able to go to Tokyo Game Show and see the spectacle that is Tokyo Game Show. As we all know, PAS has like these very strict rules about like what can be a booth babe, But in Tokyo Game Show they let them hang and I.

Two thousand and five all the.

Time there you see everything. I mean, it's crazy. They just let those booth babes go all in and you know AI is here and it is real. And like these they have like giant screens of anime girls with the biggest gigondo boobies you have ever seen.

AAI anime ladies boo.

I mean I think they're constructed. Yeah, they don't seem super uh artistically inclined, but they get the job done.

Not like.

I have a problem with these AI titties. I want I want them a little bit more real. Anyway, just like all over the place, it's it's uh, it's hard to avoid.

It's really fun.

Dan hounk Dong at a Tokyo Game Show once.

Yeah, I don't know how to yes and that.

Well, it's not my problem.

Did you hanged on not at Tokyo Game Show?

Now sorry.

I've been to Japan many times and change my clothes while taking a shower into in Japan.

It was in public, it was in Boston. I think as a pecks East, I don't.

My penis has never been exposed at a at a games event.

You know, No, what were you going to say about? What else did you Japan? Mary?

That's about it. I mean I did like the usual stuff. I ate a shit ton of ramen and ate a lot, and I enjoyed Tokyo Game Show. I went there on bealf of Twitch, so we had like a little booth and we did a meet up and that was it. It was great. I loved it. I was grateful to go and see all those sexy booth babes. And I am sorry to the people in Kyoto that I embarrassed with my stupid, stupid shoes.

He desecrated it.

I can't.

I mean, I was all up in that house because the bathroom was upstairs, so I went all the way through the middle, all the way up the stairs and all the way up like the main floor before I was caught.

What was your favorite part of the trip.

I think I ran into Peter Brown. He just happened to be able to go for tote. We didn't think he was going to be able to go. I play a lot of peak with Peter Brown used to be a game spot networks at Sony, and I just happened to be able to run into him in Osaka, and uh we did my favorite thing, which is we met at a random alley and then walked until we found a place that we thought looked cool and the name of it was called Guts. So if you're ever in Kyoto, check out Guts Kyoto. Sorry, osakach go.

To Guts anyway. Stuff there is great.

Japan in general is just incredible for just like you know, there's just so many, like all these buildings in any big city, you're just like eight to ten floors of

Yeah, you find My recommendation for anyone who's like I don't know how to Japan, you obviously can just look up touristy things and do it. My genuine thought is like, go get lost, Go walk down the alleys, go walk down the streets. Most of the restaurants are excellent. The meat quality is so high there. They have very high standards for food quality. So like just stumble into a random place and love it and love getting lost and love like not knowing what to do. We ordered too

It was the best night ever.

And it's just really nice catching up with an old friend like Peter and I get along like peas and carrots and so it was like absolutely fantastic to see.

Him in Japan. And that's probably one of my favorites.

The other thing I'll say is I found a tour guide who's lived there for like thirty years. He speaks fluent Japanese and English, and he took us to some onsense which are like essentially public hot springs that you could not go to unless you speak Japanese like they would because it's all locals, like you would.

Didn't go into some of those if you have like tattoos either show yeah, oh wow.

Yeah, they're particular. And so he kind of guided us in the spaces. He like made sure the locals understood that he was also a local. He's been living there for thirty years, and so they kind of left us alone, and then we were able to enjoy these really unique and interesting hot springs as a result of him. Oh, one of the people in my group shit their pants,

And then we got.

To the first hotel. These are old on sense in old towns. These are not like super nice refined hotels. These are like owned by a grandma. She's not fucking having it. And you get the room, you get whatever you get. And he had to go to the bathroom so bad. He just asked to go as he first got there, and she was like, oh, there's like a

But wait, was the hole meant for shit?

It was meant for shit, but I okay, it was whether.

A tower outlet or something.

It wasn't it wasn't not a toilet, but I would say compared to our standards, it was not what he was hoping to explode, you know, his stomach into Like he was hoping for a toilet, and that's just not what he got.

That's when we're down recording, I'm gonna ask you who that was.

I'll tell you.

Yeah, we're we're considering doing for leisure. Doesn't have anything to do with TGS. We're considering Japan as one of Amanda and I are considering Japan next year. I don't it was Sokka twice. I've never left Oscca, though I want. I want to see Tokyo, I want to Kyoto, but there's also like I'd love to make it up to Hokkaido if I can.

Oh, that'd be so nice.

Well, I'll say the same thing to everybody, which is the person who was my guide. He has a website called Unbeaten Japan, and he's just a dude who's like lived there for thirty years. That's it, like that's his experience and he just loves it. But because he can translate, he was our key getting into these places.

And so that's who I recommend, and he's just a he is this a nice guy. He is a bit of a personality.

I think that's just what you get when you get someone who's like traveled most of their life. And he had a lot of information and insight that I didn't have without him and basically took us to a bunch of newdion sends for the week.

It was great.

I saw a lot of the hanged on. I saw a lot.

Yeah, every time we went to one these.

I mean, because they're public, people use them to like bathe and relax and that's like totally accepted.

So yeah, I saw it.

Saw a lot.

How many how many dongs?

How many of each?

I'm honestly going to say two dozen. I saw a lot, yeah, two Yeah. It wasn't the same dong twenty four times, right. Yeah.

There was these signs. I'll share you guys.

I took a photo of one when you walk in and it just had a photo of a guy, like a cartoon guy ending like this and it had a no symbol and it said no showing off. It's like the Onsen's way of being like don't fucking wag your dick around.

Like applying his dick staff or is it just like you shouldn't be doing cartwheels.

Don't show you? It just said, don't show off, like, don't show off your your helicoptering.

Yeah, one for everyone?

Yeah, yeah, I mean.

What was happening twelve Yeah.

The rest of the trip we kept saying like, don't show off, like put it, put your goddamn dick away.

I don't want to see it anymore.

You know, you just kind of got to you gotta contain the locals.

All right, have a Have I talked?

I haven't talked to either of you since my house almost exploded. But were you aware I did one Instagram story about this?

Did you?

I didn't know.

I don't think about the explosion and explode war with your birds?

Oh the birds are that's a that's the forever war here is like that's well, I mean like I did a bunch of shit in the last week and it didn't work, and I just don't know what else can be done.

Henry Kissinger of his neighborhood with the birds.

The explosion actually might have actually solved the larger war, but so no, I'm getting a new driveway and I.

Can't peck a house that's fucking blown up.

It's true.

So I was getting a new driveway and they were, you know, they dig up the old one and everything and they get rid of all the concrete. They're still working on it. They're almost done. But I'm down here. I was doing the boy smail dump truck. It's one

These pipes are supposed to be and these gas lines.

But you know, the house is from like the seventies and stuff, and it's like maybe they don't have all those records or whatever, so like it wasn't marked and so they just like drunk chunk. They just took out the ground and it wasn't a nick. It was a full on sever of the gas line leading into the house. And so they're like, you gotta get out of the house right now, Scots, scram on out there.

They spark it outside, it'll come inside and blow everything up and it wouldn't be good.

Yeah, it's like seriously like bad news.

So we get out there, Box got the dogs, and it's like I instantly started thinking about the cat, like what the what the fuck do we do about to get the cats in there? Like you know that there's gas, there's potential explosion stuff. And they're like they have fireman come, the city comes, they bring excavators, they fire trucks, they.

Bring everything in.

All these guys, you know, the driveway dudes, the firemen everything are going door to door in my neighborhood and saying get out of the house, go down, go like over a block away. Do not start your car because I have a car. Like by the way, everything reeks of gas, like just ad like for a block.

That's the thing.

So we had razor and gizmo and you know, box down amount of leash and everything. She was able to grab the leash and then we had to scramble out and so I'm asking like I'm like I got a cat in there. I gotta get in there. And the driveway guys were like, uh yeah, go ahead, go in there.

I don't know what's going on.

So it was like it was really rough because it was like, you know, we have to stay far away from the house, and it is like, I mean, they were being very serious about like the slightest spark could like ignite the fucking neighborhood, like the house would be so and yeah, it's it's interesting because like you know, you can't you can't manufacture these type of like potential emergency situations, so you don't really know how you react in it until you're there, and you know, it is

I just assurances for but you can't replace beloved exactly.

Yeah.

Yeah, so sad well, well, I mean happy ending in case anyone's listening here, but yeah, yeah, yeah yeah.

So I'm just sitting out there saying I can't.

Go in there in his house.

Mike, Yeah, animals are Dan, are.

You in the house?

So yeah, I'm just didn't all you can. Is just I'm just standing outside just watching, like you know, people like cautiously approach the house, and neighbors like they're all coming up and asking and stuff like what's going on.

It was just a hole to do.

And I'd say, you know, thirty forty minutes or whatever, they did a test. They were able to go inside, and they're like, okay, the levels inside the house seem okay, Like it's like these the gas line was outside, so most that gas is just in the neighborhood air at this great.

Yeah, the bird's problem birds, yes, falling left.

Yeah.

Right.

They're like, because I have to ask about the cat, and they're like, okay, you can go in, but don't leave the door open long because more gas will get in.

And also just don't be in there long. You know.

It's like, you know, because any sparks anything, there's gas in relations up here.

Yeah, And I smelled like crazy when I was going in there.

So I get in there and I'm just like, okay, the cat's probably under the bed upstairs, and so I run upstairs. Sure enough, this asshole is sitting smoking a cigarette. Yeah, just having a great time, sunglasses on, and he's a dead center under the bed and it's like you know, king sized things. So it's like I can't just easily reach there. So I'm like, buss, come on, and he's a fucking cat. Like the dogs you can like cook, come on, man, and.

They'll need a broom handle or something.

Yeah. So the cat was not having it.

I was like, dude, we are we need I'm trying to save our lives here, Let's get out of here.

Yeah, And so I take my cut.

There was like a little pad or something under there, like a little like seating pad for the cats, and I grabed I swiped it at the cat and he ran to the other side and I was like okay, and so I crawl around to the other side and he runs to the center again like you motherfucker, Like we are going to die.

So just like poking him. He's going to the other side.

And finally I just had to like kind of like put my fingers kind of on the back of his neck a little bit when and just kind of like yeah, the scrub, and I was able to just kind of lead him out and grab him throwing a c and take him outside.

It's unfortunate, but like there is just a rule to save a save an animal's life, I would absolutely it up.

I would ask, oh, yeah, just to get him the fuck out of the house.

Yeah, we've thought about it all. If we have, like if we ever had a fire here, I always think about, like, oh god, Daisy and Luna would be easy enough to get. We know all their hiding spots when they're like anxious. Scarlet is the one who does goes to the center of the bed when if there's There's been a couple times when I needed to get them to the vet or I had to get when I was living by myself before I'm an Amanda, I had to get Daisy and Scarlett to the vet because Daisy was all of

Yeah, and he did not like it because like put him in the crate took him outside. He's never outside. He's a you know, fancy flufy as cat. He doesn't go outside. So he was nowing a lot and everyone, all the dogs were freaking out and stuff. Then eventually, like the fireman go in to try to like give the all clearer basically because like you know, just to

And I was like, uh, I was like my first day was.

Like okay, this is like a giant bomb finger, like, what's what.

Is going on here? And he just goes no metal gear solid, I love metal.

He saw his house, he saw the Big Boss statue. Inspirement's going around looking for Gast like, oh ship is that big Boss?

We gotta save this house.

Everyone walking around unopened, and sixty four cars just mysteriously disappeared.

In the cast.

I wish unopened ones.

Is just bulging.

Yeah, he's got all the.

Convention Yeah, so funny.

Or Marge, I guess yeah, But he told me later once it was all done and everyone was leaving, He's like, I'm sorry if that was unprofessional back there, but it's really cool.

Yeah, man, about.

Saving the cat. I thought it was because you came right back.

In to save the cat.

He didn't say shit about the cat.

About that cat, but he was like, you are so cool with all that fucking gamer ship in there. Wow.

Yeah, so avoided. Uh you know we got back in that night. You know they're back working on the driveway. I just, yeah, I don't know. It's an insane sequence of vincent. I was on the air when it happened to be like, I gotta leave this podcast now bye and hang up.

And yeah, just a terrifying way to end.

But I'm glad that everything worked out and you're okay, and it looks like your house is in order and they've cleared up all the gas.

I hope it hated into the air.

I mean that was last Thursday. I've I've made it almost a week, so it should be okay.

I feel like if you were to have blown up, it would have happened by now.

I don't think I'm I think we're fine. We've used fire in the house.

Since then, so you used a fire.

Actually, I can't confirm that, but I'm sure Banks used the stove. I have not made a fire since then, but forever really, but yeah.

You very barely if ever make a fire.

Dawn, No y I happened. We'll talk about that later.

Oh yeah, I will say.

When I was in Osaka, Osaka has a castle and my hotel kind of like faced the castle, and I thought to myself, a castle times, what would we do in castle time?

A different type of castle times?

Like when I say castle times, I mainly think, you know, swords and knights and stuff totally, you know, like this is like times, right.

I mean you can think about it when you're in Yota as well, because yeah, we probably wouldn't have a lot of jobs back.

Then, right right, Yeah, I would have sucked back then too, But yeah, I.

Believe took place far in the future compared to what Dan's talking about.

Yota was after castle times and hundred years after Sushima.

And there's guns, you there's guns.

That's going to be least eighteen hundreds right.

Actually, now I'm curious what is the exact year we'll get.

To when you last Samurai happened?

When did guns get invented?

Guns are probably eighteen hundreds, right, would they have those big stupid.

Must until you see the whites of their eyes?

Was no?

Late eighteenth century, seventeen hundreds.

Did they have guns in the Revolutionary War?

Did they have guns?

You're asking me if they had guns in the Revolutionary War? Did assume they did?

I assume they did.

It was only swords back then, Dan.

I don't believe you. You're not This is yes, we fought the British off largely with guns. I mean, yes, I would have that's I would have said, yes, that's probably what happened. But you're just asking for clarification.

Okay, I mean there's not like a famous like like okay Lincoln got assassinated with the gun that was the eighteen hundred. It's like what was like a famous gun thing that had like a gun incident from the seventeen hundreds.

She just wore no, she said, don't the shot heard around the world is what started the Revolutionary I don't know what that is. And Lexington, Lexington and Concord and Lexington literally like one musket supposedly, you know, the Revolutionary War. She just said, don't shoot till you see the whites of their eyes. But I have no idea the context

Mary, is this one of those things where you're you also didn't like Hamilton, but you didn't want to say it.

No, I mean I think I know a little bit more about guns than you. But I will say, Mike, your war knowledge of like knowing the battle is.

No, I don't know Bunker Hill. I don't know where there were so low on ammo that don't fire until you see the whites their eyes. Oh, it was an animal conservation thing. Yes, they're so close you see the whites of their eyes. Don't fire until you know you're gonna hit something with the one musketball you have or whatever. You ago.

What I never thought about that would have phrase before.

I thought it was just because like their guns sucked whenever they said that, and so they got to wait till they're closer.

No, Yeah, we had. There was plenty of guns during the Revolutionary War. I'm trying to think of the earliest one that like didn't the.

Jesus times didn't have guns.

Correct.

Is Jesus times Castle times, Jesus American dimes. Figure if he had a gun, Oh, Jesus had a gun. Yeah, Jesus with a glock would have been a very different massides.

I turned that water into one. And now check this out?

What is he looker? Yeah, I'm curious. Okay, now I'm gonna actually look up the dumble chat. I don't think it was Bunker Hill now they think it was. Uh no, what about Yorktown? Yorktown? They didn't have an ammal problem. And then the French were there, I believe.

Uh, the French were in the Revolutionary War.

The French funded us.

What do they have to do with anything? It was America and England.

They were rivals with the British. England. They were colon like colonial rivals with the British.

Did they send dudes over here? Yes, dudes?

Uh? Marquita sat like guns dudes.

He was the guy thatcked all the word sex.

Uh right, your memory is so selective.

Marquis is sadist. Wait now, so this is the funny thing, Like I I now I'm miss mixing up stuff. So Marquis Sat I think he was a French writer Nope, I got it wrong. He was a guy, yes, correct.

I think it was like smut, stop saying sex guy.

That was his deal though, right. They made after how much is he liked sex stuff?

Everybody?

He was like, he was crazy about it.

It was Bunker Hill on June seventeen, seventeen seventy five. I was correct, but I was not correct about Marquis de Sade. But uh yeah, no, they were read a book lots of guns in the Revolutionary War.

I did how sadism was invented a book by freaks.

Marquis de Sade was horny intro.

By Dan Reikert, who apparently loves this shit.

No, I do get confused about, like there's sadism and masochism and one of them is hurting and one of them is loving getting hurt, And I don't whatever Marquis dead was into is what sadism is, because I think they named sadism after him. So masochism is there a dude named like Steve Masochism and he loved getting hurt Steve Macho, Yeah yeah, and he was like, oh step on my dick, yeah yeah.

And Marquis was the one who stepped on his dick. That's how we got right.

Yes, the Revolutionary War go off, and.

Then and then we did not have guns of the Revolutionary War. So and then all of a sudden, Marquis Dead showed up with like a fucking fifty kl machine gun. They're like, what is this and he's like, I'll show you, and he had a rock hard dick. Steve Maso was like, shoot me, shoot me over and over and over, and he fucking spooged all over everybody. That's where spooge Town, the capitol of Virginia came from. Okay, yeah, yeah, don't see what that Yeah, no way, No, let's be quiet

What do you do?

I would run direction you.

Wait until you see the whites of their dicks.

But the other direction is just the top of a hill that's still surrounded.

You coward.

You're gonna get fucking talk about hanging dong during the Revolutionary War.

You gotta face it, Mike, you coward.

Yeah, I guess so.

I'm gonna report you for abandoning your post. Are you from being afraid of Big Dick?

You guys want to talk about video games? Okay, Mary, now that you're back from your escapades, uh, we are able to talk about a couple of games that you missed out on the conversation about Hades two Ghosts of Yota. I believe you played both. We have some new stuff, but let's do some some circling back the time being how much what are you thinking of Hades two so far?

I am really enjoying Hades too as a comfort food. This reminds me of Hades. It's so fluid and smooth and everyone's ridiculously hot. And I think you know this. But like whatever they did in one where they were like, yeah, we love to make everyone really attractive, in this one they were just like, let's give aphrodite no clothes and maybe just a sliver of hair over.

It was a controversy because they think she's not hot enough. The internet is mad about you said, and.

Fordite isn't hot enough. That's insane.

It's the Internet.

It's the same type of dude who said that Margot Robbie wasn't hot enough to play Barbie.

You're just not allowed to have those opinions and a penis. I think it's ridiculous. Those people are so hot, And I understand that to a degree, this is all subjective, right, Like whether or not someone is attractive is personal. You know, you can have a different vibe than I do.

That's fine.

But to tell me that Aphrodite isn't hot and is like they've like made a mistake constructing this character is outrageous.

I think the argument that's, well, my internet translators are well Jeff Grubb, but to a bigger degree, Mike Manatti, because Mike Manatti is extremely online and he was saying I think the thing is that they said Aphrodity they made look more like a dude, is what they said. I look, I've seen that Diity model a lot. That looks like a naked lady.

Yeah, naked, seen a naked woman. I'd say she probably aligns with Well, if you've seen a naked woman. You would agree she looks like a naked woman.

She looks like a naked.

Woman, and Trogyny is also hot. Like I think it's kind of like again going back to subjective, but there's so many people who are like, yeah, are on the verge of like who's to say, they have elements of all genders and they look smoking hot. It's like ridiculous that someone's not lady enough to be hot. She's hot, period, end of story. I refuse to entertain that she's so fucking hot. Everyone in this game is very attractive that I feel we don't talk about our boons enough.

Good boons, yeah, boom.

I've enjoyed the mechanics that you essentially start with everything right. You're not like, uh, you have your X, your y's, your b's, and your a's right, you have a dash, you have your main attack, you have an additional attack, and then you have like an aerial. I don't know what you would call that, but like maybe it's usually it is like some kind of freeze or pose.

So good you can you can freeze them and then hurt them or and then the way you can.

But I've been enjoying like unlocking all the different, uh, different types of weapons and kind of playing around with them, right, the fire sticks that like throw fire from a farce that's like more of a distance weapon, Maine that I've been enjoying a lot.

I am stuck. I haven't beat it yet. I'm at the dog.

Okay, so you're the third third boss when you're going out, Yes.

And I wish I had more time with it. I think like with more time, I absolutely would be a little further. But I've unfortunately been a little limited with my work and travel schedule. But with the time I've put into it, I have been consistently able to get to the dog. But that dog is hard. Yes, It's very difficult.

Yeah. The bosses are all hard, i'd say in their own way. At first, when you're fighting the band at the end of oceanis like it's one of those games where we're like, how the fuck am I ever going to beat these these the bosses, the sirens sirens. Yeah, So you get to a point where like they just become more of like a light stepping stone on the way to the new boss. It's giving you trouble.

It also kind of becomes like, you know, like a good rogue light. They've just become nothing at a certain point, Like I died the probably ten times before I moved on, and then it's like I don't even think about it.

When I approach it.

Yeah, you're like not even questioning it anymore. I think it's it's a I think it's brilliant, and I don't really have a lot of notes. I think the only thing and this is like just the minoriest of things. But maybe this will come up in Gody. I don't really know which is Like, this game was our Gody once upon a time, and it really scratched an itch for me that I didn't know I had. I didn't know that I would be so addicted to a game

I kind of went the other direction where it's like the first one I loved, you know, like I didn't you know, I don't think it was my personal game of the year, but I think I definitely didn't push for anything else to be our game of the year. Sure, talk about it, yeah yeah, but the thing.

Was likely didn't discuss it.

Yeah yeah.

Like to beat that one, though, to really beat it, you have to beat Haiti's like ten times or whatever. And I remember I beat it once and I was like, Okay, good, great game. Love that game. Uh with this one, you know, I won't spoil anything, but like it is not a thing of like, oh, you don't just beat Kronos once and then you're done. And I was still so so into it that I very much went all the way in and beat it many many times.

Got the credit. I know, there's like the real super duper ending thing and everything, but like I saw credits.

You know, I.

People who be I will know what that means. But and I think I like this one way way more. And I adored the first one. It's just like this one does so many smart little things, like even as simple as like the cast thing like that is such a more effective way to attack and contain enemies now really an update.

I also just want to say too, like I think mechanically they've made this sharper, but I think they've added more human too. I heard someone singing when I got home after you know, losing a battle, and like went up to them and there was a button to sing with them, and I just sang with them for like five minutes, and it was so beautiful and it was such a delightful addition to this space to just let me sing a song with someone who it's the person the archer I think marine yeah, And I just I

I think you really know that they cared about this game.

I mean, this one really makes me appreciate I guess the first one too, like early access, because you know, I've said plenty that, like I don't play games in early access really because I just want to wait till they're like done, done, done. And like I learned my lesson with like Rogue Legacy two I was so excited about and then I played in an early access and I was like not really, there's not a lot there, and by the time it actually came out, I like didn't really even really play it that much.

In case in point, I didn't play in early Access. I have played it since it's like been finished, and I fucking love game.

Yeah, and I hear it's great, but it's like and I'll probably get to it at some point and be like, oh shit, I missed out, but like it's because I played it a bunch when it came out in an early access and blah blah blah. You know, I've said this for it, but like, I once again feel justified in waiting for this one because I love what Early

It's just not for me. But this game is tremendous.

I've since played much more since I talked to Dan, you and Jesse about it. It's funny talking to people about their favorite weapons. I've gotten a very wide spread same. Uh, like I don't I don't see one clear front Runner. What do you think mine is? This isn't fun.

I'm gonna say short, the short ones that are really fast.

I'm gonna say the gun, the gun, I'm gonna say the skull gun.

So what remind me? What of the names? It's like the sickle and this, the knife, one of those witch, the sister blades, Sister blades, those are awesome. Yeah, I just like you. Yeah, I know you're not the biggest fan. I think the umber torches are you say?

I came around on everything like the torches, the skull gun, the one yeah, yeah, I didn't love them, and then like.

I don't just stuff the original weapon. It feels like the spear from the first game. It reminds me of the age of Spear whatever it's called. I like the staff, yeah, yeah, it's and I love the reach of it.

Yeah, honestly, they're all very good. Yeah, it's great, especially you get a couple of hammer up grades. You find an aspect that works for you, like you can really make it work for you, and they're all.

Battle Axe has its own stuff going forward.

I love the battle Axe, the site, the battle Axe, and I just like upgrade the shit out of the attack speed and it's like, oh man, I think it's a killer.

So yeah, yeah, I wrote it through you. I like the game a lot, like I'm kind of more in Mary's Camp where I played the first game to death. So now this feels like a meaningful evolution in which the character mechanically plays much different than zagrias did. Melanoe feels much more. I think that my favorite builds in the first Hades were very much about not giving a fuck about my spatial positioning. I would get Poseidon's Rage

Well there's weird ones where it's like the skull is like it is ranged in that you are dashing, but it is also in your way of like retrieving your AMMO.

Yeah, which that reminds me of the cast from Hades where you had to retrieve the AMMO.

Oh right, you had to go around like you drop three or four casts then yeah come up yeah.

Which that was a cool mechanic. But I do appreciate that Melanoi feels very much like a new character. I had the weirdest reminder of Dark Siders the franchise when I was playing this, because they're very similar. Actually, No, Dark Siders two went Open World three was like an action RPG, but you're pulling characters from a like a pantheon. This is obviously Greek myth. Dark Siders was more actually Dark Siders with some Greek myth too, but then some

I do you know the official name for shit?

Yeah?

Like you know the super area, It'll come to me.

The crossroads, right crossroads, I think it's Crossroads. I it's just not the easiest space to parse, even as I've played, I don't know, I have fifteen twenty hours at this point. Like I think the the original just rooms of the first game just were way easier to kind of jump around when you had some chores to do before you went into your next run. I agree with you, Mary, it's gorgeous. I love how characters come in and out. I love Nemesis. Uh, she's cool as hell. I like Odysseus.

Is that?

Am I getting there?

Right?

First?

Boss? Yeah?

She's cool?

No, no, no, no, Heckita the.

Hephestius.

Hephestius is the smith, the godd.

Eric Aris got a war. Who's the fucking fire gimmick?

Hecatay, she's the Goddess of fire.

He is the witch from the main area that for the first boss fight.

Okay maybe, yes, okay, so she's like your mentor.

Yes.

What is the name of the Goddess of fire? She's the Uh, hell's her name. She's Scottish, she's got a Scottish accent. She's one of She's she's definitely bigger than Afrodity.

I'll go.

I don't know, it doesn't matter, but I just like I last Estia, thank you when you're start with an h. Yeah, Heckata is the witch. Yeah. I like this game a lot. It's so I don't know what I would want them to do if it wasn't just make more hades, So I appreciate that's what they did, but the minor meaningful tweaks add up to a experience that's larger than some of its parts. So I'm really liking that game.

Dan, as someone who beat it, Can I ask you a question about the narrative? Yes, I think that generally I'm in agreement, even though I have not completed this game. That gameplay wise, I think it is a step up from the first Hades. I think they've just done a little bit more mechanically, and it just seems like it's

I feel the exact same way as I did in the first, and that, like I can tell this dialogue is really well written. But at the end of the day, I'm not really following anything. I'm kind of hitting a through a good amount of the dialogue. I was like, yeah, I get it. R just give me my boon, give me my boon. I don't care. So there's bad I got there's like, look, every video game is just there's a bad guy, go kill it, like Silk Song, what's the story. Look there's a big crazy spider, go kill it.

I couldn't tell what the story was.

Yeah, I've been reading.

Let me try again, Mike, what do you what's your opinion?

I mean you kind of said it. I felt like the first game was just a spoiled prince, like just having a tantrum the whole time. It led to a fun game, so I was fine with it. I liked a lot of the surrounding characters this one. Actually there's way more at stake, like melanois on like Legit Revenge.

It feels like kill Bill and family right, like my family was killed.

I said this last episode. I didn't realize how much this game also reminds me of kill Bill, because Yota very much is kill Bill to me, But this game is like, you're the way that they present enemies in kill Bill. In the both of them, it's like they're these mythic enemies like the Fighting forty nine or whatever they are, and then it's like a black mom Yeah it's at Yeah. So I I think Hades two to

Which is just hot rod. Yes, I do think it's the way that Hades presents it that makes me not necessarily care. Is that, like Yota, you brought up, is this revenge story? Just like apparently maybe it's it was a revenge story. I don't think I knew that, But like Yota is like, it's like the whole blood of the game, what do they do to run away? I don't, I honestly don't know what she's getting revenge.

She talks, She's like I have to get them and killed my whole family.

They're in the game, they're not dead. What I'm saying is my point is that Yota is like a movie.

You know, you're watching cut scenes, there's you know, there's characters talking to each other. No I mean actually no, I did switch to Japanese audio, so I am reading the stubbs. But it is presented like a movie. It is very like wonderfully shot and everything where it's like I just don't need to look at an animated still frame and then a paragraph of text like I don't really care about that. But a movie, Holy lord, I

Like you play through it, like I think this is early enough that it's not a spoiler, but like you play as your young child self, and you like find a guy in the forest and he helps you find mushrooms and then he is bad, and like.

Is like, I know, it's literally with an hour of the game.

M might be right.

I'm just saying, like it's like the main plot point.

I think, like one of the very first things that happens is you see the tree of your house on fire, like it's very clear.

Very early.

Well that's the first cut scene, yes, but you don't know how it leads up to that until later on. I'm just saying if someone can start it, I don't think so. I think that sometimes calling you out right.

Well, it's very early in the game, very very so you like meet someone and so you're kind of like literally playing the characters that are impacting your family, which is and I think a huge mechanic of the game is that you change back to your child self.

Early on. Yeah, And it's like I think that works.

But like there are a bunch of just like traditional put your controller down cut scenes in the otay and I guess, I guess we'll just move on to Ota here.

Mary, you weren't here, Okay, let me really quick before I asked Mary, I'm curious what she thinks.

Dan.

How again, the whole thrust of the game, as you're tracking down and killing the Yota six, whether that's successful or not, we will leave that to people to see when they play themselves. But like, what what how many members have you like done their main story for.

Two although one of them was very involved, which I found interesting because it's like, look, this game gets a lot of comparisons to like Assassin's Creed Shadows, and I definitely did not beat that game, but I saw enough to be like, oh, you could just stumble upon one of the dudes and kill them. Yeah, and Shadows, and maybe that is the case with some of Theta six. I don't know.

I don't know. I only killed two, and one of them happens, you know, like it's not a super long thing, it happens very early on. And then I just did one that is like, oh my god, this is like a fucking game in itself, like a yeah, there were not just a quest line. It's like multiple quests getting

Again like, yeah, it's almost set up like a Zelda game where no, you go to a new biome and a member of the OTE six is the like main boss there, and the whole time you're basically you're doing side quest, you're maybe building up kind of a rebellion maybe you're trying to find a way into their fortress. Like I think you went for the one right away, right, yes, because you told me you went to the autumnal area. What was that called? It'll come to me.

I went to plans, I think Ishi planes.

I went up to find U Katsune the Fox in the snowy area. And so the cool thing in this game that I like a lot, every time you get a new weapon or a new armor set, there's really cool context and storytelling around it that makes it feel more impactful. When you get the crimson kimono, or you get the black mask up in the snow area, in the bamboo forest, there's just the game does a really

Wolf tends awesome, so in the beautiful.

And then like there are other times where different villagers you talk to are talking about, oh, this person who lives over there across the shoals. And then when you get a new weapon, it's not like you just haven't know how to use it. Generally that you have to go through some sort of actual training it.

Yeah, it reminds me of like, you know, Kill Bill, and there's a lot of comparisions to make here and Kill Bill, just like Pime sequence of training, Like I'm a sucker for that stuff.

Yea, Like they totally have that in this Like you literally have.

To like practice cutting through bamboo and stuff to like to use it.

Yea.

Yeah, was it last week where your last episode were you talking about like them kind of like it's hard at first and then like as you train, like that's so cool.

Yeah, you have to learn. Basically, the atsu is learning how to use her offhand and the way that Sucker Punch contextualize that. I think the vast majority of people playing this game are going to be right handed, so you actually have to use the left side of the controller with the bamboo cut, which if it's your weak hand. It's also just not like you're like, oh fuck, I noticed.

I'm in the snowy stuff, I think, Okay, yeah, yeah, I'm on the third because I've killed two.

So you did the you did Ishikari planes, the autumnal he's building the fortress. Okay cool, uh yeah, so you're on the third I think I because there are points, there are points where you think you're about to bump up against the main encounters, and then they're yeah, like and then you're like, oh wait ship, no, that's down the road.

That's gonna have this goober that shows up.

Hey, I want to They keep pushing me around, they keep kicking the can a little bit. I think there are times I'll just start by saying, I think this is the most beautiful game I've ever played. I think stunningly gorgeous. I think I smealed the style riding my horse and like having all these wild horses next to me. I am like loving visually what is going on in this game.

They just absolutely aesthetically. I am swooning.

I'm just a late title card. When you're red horse and use of color yeah.

Yeah, purple flowers, and then all of a sudden you're in the snowy area. But then you see like red trees, but the orange trees that you're tracking down for that side quest.

Yeah, and just like the detail, you know, allowing like petals to fly, you know, through the leaves to kick up when you're fighting. I mean, I think it's absolutely incredible. I'm getting a little tired of the in this area you have to use a giant katana and if they have a certain weapon, you need to use your giant katana. If you use the double katana, it's not going to be as effective. And it's just like I don't want to change my goddamn weapon eight times.

I kind of don't love that either, Like I wish it was a thing where it was like it made it harder to like if you're in a fight and somebody's got a spear, it's like, Okay, if you use the dual katanas, it's going to be easier. It's like if you do it with just the standard katana or the spear whatever, it's just like, yeah.

Maybe I'm misunderstanding. It is easier when you use the right rock paper scissor combination.

I mean you really should be like, I'm sure you can technically do it, but if like they make it a pain in the ass intentionally, if it is the wrong thing, which like that's fine on like you know, encounter to encounter basis, if it was just like one

I also like.

Mastering something right, like I like playing.

I do like that they're teaching me, so like going back to like the learning how to cut the bamboo.

Loved it.

I thought that was a really neat sequence, And I agree with you, Mike. I thought it worked for me, even though if I'm describing it, it feels gimmicky when I describe it.

But in the moment, I was like, I'm learning.

To cut through bamboo because my master's teaching me. I felt really invested. When it starts to pull me out is I've learned this giant sword. I don't care for it. It's too slow. I think it's kind of heavy. They want me to use it to block, but it's just like not, it's not really my weapon of choice. I feel obligated to constantly pull it out every time I see someone with their two swords because it's the right sword that they've educated me to use.

It's just not how I want to play.

And I think sometimes the game is essentially being like, well, you're meant to use all of the weapons that were giving you. I would prefer to just master the weapon.

I want a master. Yeah, it's my opposite of which obviously they give you. It's just funny we're talking about hades too.

We totally and how much we love it that we can make those all be your favorite.

Yeah, and I like that Yota is making me switch. I know if for those who haven't played Sushima, June did not have a ton of weapons. He had basically a couple options, but he had different stances, so he had to use high stance against shields. He had different stances to take them on. But like I've started, it's almost like it's tough to talk about all the weapons and yota without spoiling because it actually is kind of they do stuff later on, you get some cool tools

It's like a minor thing for me, and I think I'm gonna continue. I don't think it's gonna stop me from playing the game. I think for me though, I am. I am playing this game because I'm interested in the story. I think the acting is really good. I think the voice acting is excellent. I think Eric she killed it. It's a really good performance. And as Dan said, like those cut scenes where there's like family drama, you're like meeting these new bad guys that are telling you they're

So I think it's beautiful.

I do enjoy it. I wish I could just focus on one weapon. And I think the last thing I'll say is like, when it comes to like an RPG, you're just like a game where I feel like I should be immersed and really want to be this person personally. Get is stoked to be a samurai in this era as I would like Red Dead Redemption era.

This is like such a minor things.

I would do that too, But I think like in general, this isn't usually like the type of role play I want in a game, but I am allowing it because it's so damn beautiful and it's so immersive. I'm enjoying it despite the fact that this is usually the type of game that I would I would pick.

Yeah, the world, I'm loving it.

I'm I think I'm twelve, fourteen, fifteen hours and something that maybe more.

Someone said that it was twenty two to beat, and then I saw someone reply to that and be like, that's fucking bullshit, So.

I have no idea how long to be said something like in the twenties, and I was like, are you kidding me? I just killed my second guy like yesterday, and I've played a ton.

Of this game.

Maybe the other ones are weak as fuck.

I was gonna say, but this game's designed to lure you off the beaten path. Literally, there's a gold there's a bird that shows up, there's a fox that you like chase. It's it's just trying to pull you every which way and.

I can't help but like follow all of that. Also, the fast travel being so easy and there's no load times.

Oh, it's just like one of.

The best quality of life things I've seen in an open world game in a while, not only in so with the locations in villages, you click on the village and then it brings up that radio. Not radio, it brings up that the row of icons you can pick. Yeah, it's awesome.

I will do it with then, like I'm already in the fucking town. I'm buying maps from a dude, and I'm like, I know I could probably find the Arrow Lady very quickly.

But I will just warp to words because like I don't want to look around. Yeah, that's great.

Yeah, it's it's amazing.

It's the opposite of that Red Dead thing where it's like, no, you have to like you got to hike all the way back to game.

You have to enjoy it because it's beautiful and we're going to raise the music ever so slightly when you ride your horse because you're in a movie. I think you can have it all with this game. I think it's a good example of the fact that you could have it all because it is beautiful to ride your horse and just enjoy. But if you just want to go to the taverns that you can cash in that money prize, then fucking fast travel, I go for it.

It's not ashamed of being a video game in a way where it's like, you know, it's got those things where it's like if you want to sit down and make camp and like you can like set the options where it's like I'm gonna do the cooking mini game every time.

Music with a dude for like fifteen minutes. The other day we were like, you know, playing string instruments. I can give a ship you can waste.

Yeah, it's like if you if you like that Red Dead two style of just like everything's gonna take a while and everything you can turn on things where it's like, yeah, everything is gonna be manual and I gotta make the fire every time and everything. But if you just want it to be a fucking video game, you can just set it to be, like, all right, I want the cooking thing some of the time or none of the time.

Hold on, buddy, I gotta get off and pick this flower and all right, body get back. Hey, you know know you just hit our two and you keep going. You don't even fucking slow down.

Like I love that, love that you don't have to get off the horse to pick it.

You get it. You get a fucking you get an armor that like, like you get a percentage chance if you're riding through white flowers to pick up crafting materials. I want ship like that just be a video game, like you can be something and be a video game. Read That Too is one of my favorite games. But I agree with everything you're saying. Yeah, even if Arthur is catching strays as they say, I don't.

I mean, and I'm not as harsh on Readed two as I used to be, but that stuff still is just kind of like the reeks of the rock Star like, no, we've made art and you have to take it on our terms.

It's like I hate that shit.

Yeah yeah, I think it's a beautiful statement. Just to say it.

It knows it's a video game. It kind of embraces that video game aesthetic of like, yeah you can fast travel, Yeah you can pick up stuff really quickly. Yeah you can craft super fast. But if you just want to sit and enjoy it, you can do that too. It lets you make that choice. And this game is so beautiful that you might find yourself riding your horse to the next area even if you can fast travel. And I have done that because it's pretty and I want to enjoy it. Also, I stumble across random shit I

Also, the most like made for photo mode game I've ever seen in my life.

Crazy.

I rarely ever messed with that, but there's just times in this game where it's like, good God, look at this, Like I'm just standing on a cliff overlooking like an ocean, and like there's lightning in the distance, and it's just like, yeah, I'm gonna take a photo of this.

That's incredible.

Yeah, a little remote corner of the world that you didn't really need to go to. And there's like a shunk at Shrunken Shrine. There's a hole in the ground where some dudes poop in like you don't. It's so funny that zoom in enhance computer load upole please.

Yeah, I like it tremendous.

Oh, last thing I'll say. I'm gonna start bringing this up. I know none of us have time to play older games like Semi.

I play whole games all the time.

No no, no, no, not old.

Okay, it's talked about it before.

In another zone of not retro but current last.

Like five years. I've said this before.

What my like?

You know how I think Blight Club you guys do it where or I don't know the rules. I don't watch Giant Bond stuff, But like, I think it's like you get to you eventually get to recommend a game that you think someone will like that they didn't play correct.

We do. I think call Delight Club every once in a while Delight Club or no, you're thinking of punishments.

That's another thing.

But yes, okay, yeah, punishment that's what it was.

I knew.

I liked it so so many stupid names.

God, the great names. I we were talking about.

Different PP hour.

Yeah, that's where we haven't launched that yet. Mary, I told you off stream Jesus Jay cut that.

Jake Jay cut that they cut that.

Ruined the announcement.

We're talking about switching weapons you're talking about in this case, I'm talking about Star Wars Jedi Survivor.

No.

Yeah, that game got ripped at first for bad technical performance. I think people thought I had a slow beginning that game. I've we talked. I think it was like a year ago. I brought it up, and I'm like, I don't know if, like Dan you of all people, once you get into that game, it becomes so much like three D platforming focused. And then also you're just collecting a fuck ton of different lightsabers and you can actually do And I've stopped

I mean for me, it was like I remember it was running fine on my PC when it was about to come out, and it was it wasn't even so much that it was just slow. It's just that I feel like, you know, I played like an hour of it or something, and every bit of it just seemed like every by the numbers triple A, just like here's the bar of this happens, and here's the bar where I learned this, and here's the skill tree that doesn't really add anything that I haven't seen a million times before.

But if anybody's looking for some play, which.

You know what, I did write it down here because like I I liked a lot of that first game, and I didn't give it a full shot.

I will say this though, the first game was trying, way trying, to its detriment, to be a Frumsoft game. Sure, this game just went all out there, like, no, you know what, We're gonna put wall running in Prince of Persia kind of puzzles in. We're gonna do three D platform and we're gonna do way more puzzles, and we're gonna do just like you collect a new fucking like outfit every five seconds. Okay. I like it a lot. At some point, maybe the opportunity will arise to play it,

Yeah, let me say, because we were talking about like, you know, from stuff, talking about Yota and and you know, kind of combat focus melee focused games. I have been playing Ninja guid In four quite a bit, and that is the reason if you notice the episode went up late today, it's because the embargo just lifted. I didn't

When did three came out?

Three?

I want to say, was that like a Wii you excluded?

No?

Did a we you addition or something?

Was re you always the protagonist before the.

Anys ones, they s ones and the Xbox One.

Okay, I remember when I remember when he when that game first came out for the Xbox, I wasn't allowed to play it because well, I mean because it was purportedly violent, but also my mom was like, I'm not sure I left his outfit it was like tight fitting leather ninja. Really yeah yeah yeah, And she was she loved his outfit.

Yeah too much?

Too much? Want to go?

How hot is he?

She didn't want you to convert me when I was eight.

It is better not awaken anything in me. He's interesting, like my straight straight son.

You'll get you with a shirk.

Those characters always had like a like wet charsk to you just cover a bedazzled look at this all day.

Okay, all right, I'm a game.

I'm a.

Sorry Dan, I'm so sorry you were talking. You were saying something.

Uh yeah, Mary, it came out in twenty twelve, was the last one?

Okay, Yeah. So that's why I say, like, when I saw the trailer, I'm like, hell yeah, I like old things that I recognize.

And then it's like, oh wait, what is this actual game going to be?

Uh? And god damn if it isn't like one of the best Ninja guide in games it is, I would say like, I'm oh God, what am I like ten twelve hours in or something like that.

I'm like six seven chapters or whatever.

Uh.

I am enjoying this in a way. I don't remember liking a Ninja Guiden since that Xbox one the first comeback, and like I think, oh four, And it is cool because it makes me nostalgic for like the character action games of the two thousands. You know, I'm thinking Devil May Cry. I am thinking, you know, those those Ninja Gaiden games where I have always really appreciated the from approach that has kind of taken over third person action

Now it's like it's like that.

It's also there's a lot of like Metal Gear Revengeance going on here, which I know a lot of fans of that genre like love that game. So it's like, you know, very fast paced, just kind of like almost like auto parcouring over stuff and unbelievably fast combat, a like almost overwhelming amount of moves and combos and stuff to unlock. You know, you're just getting red orbs, buying stuff, huge crazy boss fights and everything. It's it knows what it's doing, it knows who is coming to this game.

And that's enable, and it's like, okay, what about do you do you want the bloodbath killed camera? Yes?

I do. Yeah, it's like no, I'm not going to turn off the ball buster SlowMo.

Yeah, Hitler's nuts came or whatever there for Yeah. Yeah, So like they they know their audience. Like there's not even like an opening cut scene, Like you just start and you're on a fucking train, which there's a lot of like train levels, and then you guide in history and so it's like okay, yep, already in. Then you're on a train, bunch of dudes shooting at me with guns and you're just slicing these motherfuckers up and they're just their parts and bits are just all over the

It's it's exactly what you want from this.

And like when I talk about knowing the audience and everything, like you know, anybody who play those old Ninja guid In games, especially that four one, it's like the Flying Swallow and the Azuna Drop where two that's the moves, Like the Flying Swallow is the one where you jump and you hit wye in the air and you like dash in and like if you do it right, you can just like cut someone's head clean off. And the Azuna Drop is this thing where you can like juggle

What was good about those games.

Yeah, it's it's extremely difficult, but it's fair. There's a lot of like accessibility options. You know, I'm just playing the Defaul difficulty, but it looks like there are a bunch of different options and things. But like it's a game where you get to a boss fight and I will just get my ass kicked ten times in a row, and I will just keep going back because it's like, all right, I just need to learn these patterns more.

I just need to like dodge better. You know.

It does some of that kind of like which time Bayanetta stuff. If you do a perfect dodge out of the way, you get like a moment of slow down or you can really just get in their ass afterwards. And it's just NonStop. It's NonStop action. And if you're not slicing someone up, you are grappling hook you know, a wall running. You know, you're you've got a hang glider thing that if there's the winds, you're flying between mountains and stuff.

It's just NonStop action and uh, I love it. This is this is a game for me. And holy shit, this year with.

Ninja Gaiden tune, Ninja Guiden games, a Shnoby game Yo tailor between like the year of the like you know Ninja Samurai, like this this year is.

I mean, I think we're gonna have to discuss that at some point, sooner rather than later. Like what's your favorite Ninja game?

Oh boy?

I mean, like I haven't beaten this yet, but like Shnoby is probably I Looby's fucking awesome. Yeah, that's probably my number one right now. But this this has been killing it and I'm pretty deep into it, Like I I just can't wait, probably after this podcast keep playing. I've playing it right before we went on the area.

So I like that. And uh was it Ninja Guiden and Shanobi did that like Steam package those two together did? Yeah?

Yeah, that was awesome. I thought, yeah, because I.

Think you put it out there in a couple episodes ago. It's like these two what the Sega and the Nintendo Origin Ninja games were kind of having a moment in the same year, and they decided to do this bundle together. It was a nice nice thing to see.

Yeah, and like, this is so cool to me as like an old guy gamer who also very much is nostalgic for all this old franchises and stuff, like the fact that it's not just like slapping Ninja Guiden onto a thing and it's like, no, no, this is like, this is a Ninja guid This is what I would want Ninja Guiden to be in twenty twenty five. It's not just a nostalgia play. It works for that.

But also if I'm fucking fifteen years old and I just want to play a cool Ninja game. I've never heard of Ninja Giden before, there's no denying this is just a good fucking game.

Yeah, yeah, I want to play that really badly. I gotta play. I gotta go back to Shanoby. I mentioned that I started Chinobi. I got like I got I don't know a few levels in however you want to call levels in that game where it's kind of Metrovnia. But I loved it from what I saw. But they were adding so many new abilities and tools into my

So they do that here where it's like even for me, who like, by the way, I'm playing this in Yota like concurrently, like in the same night, like this is a three day weekend. I played both these games every day, and it's like I have to remember all these things I'm unlocking and the combos for like both Atsu and uh A Ninja guid and for so it's kind of been a lot.

But Mary, you were bringing up how like in Yota.

I think a complaint that I share about Yota is what you said about like I don't want to have to like constantly think this rock paper sissor thing. I just kind of want to be in the moment and

Than you can in the OTA.

I think that sounds nice.

I mean I do.

I do also like respect the idea of like, in this situation, you're really gonna want to use X, but it's like, ultimately, I usually fall in love with a system, and I want to be able to just enjoy my system. So that sounds really cool. I don't think i've ever played this series before. Do you think like there's anything.

That I'll miss in the story or understanding what's going on?

Oh you're you're just aninja.

How would you describe the world on Ninja Guiden, because like it's.

You're a ninja in like modern times.

You're a ninja.

Yes, you are a ninja, but yeah, not like it's like Industrial revolution in the first in the Xbox Revamp, wasn't it Industrial Revolution time? Like trains and steampunk kind of things.

There's like zeppelins and stuff.

Yeah.

I don't really know what the Industrial revolution is, but it's like.

There's buildings and like tanks and helicopters and you know, it's like there's modern technology. It feels like kind of a modern ward like modern world. Like I don't know if they say you're in Japan or you're in whatever, but like it's buildings, it's tanks.

It's cars, it's zeppelins, it's you know. Yeah. Cool, it's a very very fun game.

I want to play it.

There's so many things going on.

I feel overwhelmed.

What is this character you're doing?

It's just me.

I'm just complaining.

It's what would you call it? What are they called first world problems?

Yeah, I mean that's all. Yeah.

Yeah, Like I'm just complaining because.

That's not like the Woodpecker thing. I understand that is not a real problem. I mean, it's a pain in the ass.

But yeah, Mary, you we talked about Baby Steps on the last episode. Have you played much of it? How far have you gotten?

I did, Uh, I've quit and I didn't like this, and I wanted to tell you I felt like that's how you guys would feel. I've liked his previous games, and I got really into getting over it with Bennett Foddy. I thought that was a really lighthearted and cheeky way to kind of push players into maybe like a bit of like a frustration, but it's so rewarding when you're able to kind of get through it. It's also narration is very cheeky, and I I really appreciated that original game.

Did you guys get the duck?

I have not played the game. I have no plan to play that game.

If you stumble across a barn, you'll find a couple animals in the barn, including a baby duckling, and the baby duckling will follow you in the game.

And I kind of thought that maybe it was challenge for me to try and get through this.

Game with this duckling. It's cute, it can't travel in every way that I can, and so I had to like make accommodations to the path that I picked that the baby duck could join me. It just got to a cruel area where like the steps that I was taking, the baby duck couldn't jump. So I had to decide to abandon the baby duck or you know, keep going. There was, in my opinion, no path forward that I could find that I could save this cute little baby

I'm with you, Like, I think the writing is great, Like obviously there's like a metaphor they're going forward that I'm sure is brilliant or whatever, but it's like.

I.

I just got to a point where it's like I love the idea of like, you know, a quop like weird physics bullshit games and stuff like that. Like I think that's really funny. And so I thought I was gonna love this, and I got to the first part where it's like I kind of went up this mountain and i'd go across this kind of like rocky river thing, and I slipped on a rock and my guy fell down like a while, and I was like, Aha.

That's funny. And then it was like it didn't.

I thought it was gonna checkpoint and like send me back up or whatever, and it didn't, and every thinking it was just such a while, like oh my god, I just lost like ten or fifteen minutes of progress that I like saved the clip when we're like, oh, when the barber's up, people aren't gonna believe how much progress I lost here. And then I found out, like the day of release, how much people are falling down entire mountains and losing like an hour of progress. I'm like, oh,

That's fine, you know I cannot wait.

Yeah, I'm never playing that game again.

Go ahead, Yeah no, no, I said this last time. And I have to like kind of like check myself, because who am I to judge other people for how they spend their time and what they find the experiences that they find to be worth time investment. I don't know. I'm into stuff that no one else gives a shit about, Like who the fuck else? Like, I'm sure people would look at the amount of time and money I've spent,

Will man break her. The big thing, Like that's the thing is like it is a good spectator sport. Like grubbed something about this game. Yeah, but something about this even without the streaming aspect, you know, talking to Grub about this game and here I'm talking about on the BombCast, He's like it really spoke to him in a way that like I'm prepared for him to like push for it to be high up on Game of the Year this year, and like it really resonates with some people

To Mary's point, though, is Grub playing it off stream at all?

I mean he certainly has at times, and I think when he got to the man Breaker, I think he was like, this is gonna be my like every morning, I'm.

Gonna you want you want the lore, you want the people, and I think.

Yeah, like I get and like body in games have all like Getting Over It, Yes, for sure, and there are games many many games have gone viral Repo, Lethal Company Chain together, Pasmophobia would not be near only would not be nearly as big if it wasn't for king yeah, like these.

Are games for for psychopaths who just want to get through incredible even uh like honestly, even Silk Song to a degree like these later areas are so miserably difficult. I am like, oh my god, I don't know how I could do this. But when you have a crowd cheering you on and they're like, this is impossible. I could never spend my time doing this. I will watch this person who's dedicated way too much time playing this game to beat this. There is a system for this.

Yeah, I think they made exactly the game they wanted to make. Yeah, I don't think it was an acting.

I don't they failed. I think they succeeded.

And it seems very clearly not for us, but it is very clearly for some other people, and so I guess good on them, it was a success. I just I have no interest in playing it further.

Yeah, I'm not even like I'm over it.

Like I like, I look forward to their next Psycho game that I think other people will enjoy, and I appreciate that, but I yeah, I'm so over it. I'm like, I I will not play that game again. I also didn't like the story. Did you say you liked the story? Dan, I do not like that story A guy in video games, Yeah, I love.

They were just drawing of the Cheeto boy.

If you're just a drawing of the Cheeto boy with a paragraphic text, I think that's how you do storytelling.

Yeah, yeah, simple m hm.

Speaking of cheetos, Dan, you played Consume Me?

Yeah, this is boy. This is the type of Have you guys heard of this? Yeah? I guess I don't know. I want jay leno.

Have you seen this? Weird about this? It's this guy, this guy, this guy, uh he he he's got shakes, baby steps up a mountain. I actually have not seen enough leto ever to do it good.

You've had a better life for it. You know, he's he sucks as a person and a comedian.

Well he was a good standing meeting, but he's anyway.

Consume Me is the type of game that like.

I would have never gravitated towards or tried really and this is very much, uh you know, a bonk influence here, which I always appreciate because she is, you know, over ten years, introduced me to a lot of things that I would not have normally tried or been interested in, and I think I've bettered as a person for it. So this is one that she started playing was that.

Felt for literally everyone by saying we agree, Yeah, yeah.

You both knew me pre bunked every day.

So she, uh, she brought this up to me, and I knew, like this was like all I knew about it was that it was like, you know, one of those like empathy games where it was about eating disorders and you know, disordered eating. And I, you know, I respect the things like you know, Depression Quest or you know, Papers Please and things like that you know exist, It's just never been really the things that draw me to

You know, she was like really really struggling with that in a very major way.

And it was a thing that like I had never thought about disordered eating or antarexia or anything beforehand. I heard of it, didn't really know anything about it, but yeah, I learned so much when I met her, and you know, I wanted to learn more about it because something she struggled with and I've read like Porsadarossi's book from Arrest of Development and like learned about like oh, okay, this isn't just a like you know, I always think about how like with anxiety, if you talk to a lot

And it's like that's not outworks, and like yeah.

It's like super dismissive of like a oh god, you told me that, sure, Like oh, have you tried militonin I'm like yeah, But the thing is.

It does come from a lot of people that think they are just like they're not trying to come from a bad place.

They're just like you've got nothing to worry about it.

It's like, you know, you just don't get it. You just don't really understand what anxiety is. Not that I would expect someone to do whatever, you know, but like you know, I think with annaxia, and there's probably a ton of people that have that same dismissiveness. Cheezberg, what's

This girl, Like I don't know what grade she's supposed to be.

It's clearly like a junior high high school type age, and it is via many games like almost like Warriorwaar style minigames telling the story of this girl trying to like figure out how to manage her like calorie intake while still getting all these other parts of her life under control. So like you literally have meters for like diet, athletics, academics, chores, and you have a certain amount of like time basically

So it really.

Illustrates it extremely well via a game of just like how much this thinking in this disorder can kind of take over your day to day life where it's like, man, I do have all this stuff I need to do, but I'm so fixated on staying under this calorie limit and things like that that like, oh shit, I didn't do the laundry cleaning mini game this week because I was too busy trying to stay under.

My calorie limit.

So oops.

Between class and this thing a bus, there's a little viniet that plays of a bus splashing you, and your clothes are dirty and you can't change because you don't have any clean clothes. You didn't do that minigame that week, so it's like then your mood, Like there's these meters for like mood and gut and you know stuff like that.

But there are like these thought bubbles that.

Come in, and the thoughts will be like your mom yelling at you the scale, you know, the boy you have a crush on or whatever, and if the cone hits that, it reverses. So you got kind of like feather the a button to kind of keep it on the book. While all these other thoughts are like it's just it all kind of works together really well, Like it's very gamified, but they all it's all in service of the message it's doing. So yeah, I haven't beaten

I think, yeah, I appreciate it. That's great because like the that's also is like probably a good follow up to the conversation about Baby Steps, a game that I just really don't want to fucking play. Maybe there's some mindset that Baby Steps is conveying that they're going forward with that type of gameplay, that it's trying to convey a story that I'm just not aware of. That's the time thing.

It's about depression or something, or like not being able to do your life in order.

But like, yeah, but consume me. Yeah, I want to at least just like put that out there that I'm sure there's some like something going on there, but no consume me. I've heard good things from several people that's saying I should try it out because it's a yeah, I played like that Dragon Cancer back in the day playing games like that that, you know. I I love when games can can tell a story that way. I'm

And like, especially if you I think it's almost more effective if you have not dealt with the issue, because you know, like I asked Boncle she was playing. I was like, did you feel like this is like an accurate rate? And she's like, oh my god, absolutely, this is resonating. But like if you don't, like she's felt all that stuff before, I think for those that haven't struggled with it, it's eye opening and that like the

It's it's yeah, I remember what game it was now and it's not the same type of game. It's what remains of eith Finch had certain aspects of that, where obviously what remains VII Finch is more you know, walking simulator, gone home adjacent Firewatch kind of game. But sure, there was that one set everybody goes to the rapture but good exactly, And there's that one sequence where the sun and like the everybody in this family just dies young

It's yeah, I think it's a really cool game.

I just saw that this.

One the IGF Samus McNally Grand Prize, which Papers Please also won. So this is like a It's obviously indicative of something that is a great way to teach the player something that's bigger than the mini games with the gameplay.

Itself, but about life.

I resonate a lot with learning about others through media and understanding what different disorders are, and so I appreciate you sharing the book that you read. I just wanted to throw out another that's really worth reading for anyone who's like interested in understanding a little bit more about disordered eating, but maybe in a light way that won't like stress you out. I'm glad My Mom Died is one of the best books about this subject and other subjects I've ever read.

It's so freaking good.

I think it's it's written by a child Disney star Jeanette McCurdy.

She was on I Carly.

I don't know if you guys grew up watching I Carle, but I didn't it was I Carlely is so good. But one of the little the girls who like grew up doing the show. She wrote a book called I'm Glad My Mom Died and it is so damn good. I wonder if Bunk would like it. But it's it kind of touches on a lot of this stuff, and a lot of it's really similar about like how the mom is like you need to practice more. How many

Live with now.

And that is very much like again a show don't tell, Like I mean, the mom is a character in this game where she will show up and just kind of like give you shit for something, and you just kind of like see how that impacts the character, like not through a long cut Sander dialog box or anything, but just like the way, oh that thought bubble of the mom pops up and distracts you from the mini game, It's like, oh, it's just kind of like an elegant way of getting that message across.

Yeah, good on the developer for having the guts to put her in there. It takes a lot of guts to share, uh, you know, a personal issue with depressive depression, disordered eating anything like that's really hard to put that in a game.

But also to be like my mom was.

A huge bitch to me all the time is like the icing on the cake of like, good for you to put in your trauma out there, because that's gonna.

Help a lot of fucking people.

My way of coping with that with my father was just putting him in front of a microphone for fifteen years and letting people figure it out. O.

Yes, this is why I'm fucked up.

I didn't have to spell it out. Just talk dad, y all love.

You, d Yeah yeah, take the take the stress out of explaining you to people.

Yeah yeah h they'll figure it out. Consume me, check it out. I really really it does a great job.

Yeah yeah, thanks for sharing this, Uh, Mary, I think you both played clover Pit correct. Yes. Yeah.

I don't know if Dan you feel like the way I feel.

About it, but I like it.

It's good.

It is good. I have thoughts about it because I think a lot of people are going to compare it to blotro understandably. Oh you know, it's just like it's that like oh, instead of like you know, tweaking, like, oh, I can make the three of a kind the most powerful thing. I'm going to make clovers the most powerful thing for those Sorry, we're jumping right into it.

And Mary, do you want to like explain kind of what the game is?

Sure, this is a game about uh gambling, and you have to make enough money or the game kills you. That just means game over. But it like throws you into a death pit. And so you're putting money into the machine. You're trying to gamble to make enough money, but you have to vest in these I think they are like cards or tokens. Essentially, these items arms build a better deck essentially that way, maybe like if you

It's like a torture chamber, and there's like corpse parts and stuff in there, dark and evil, and there's.

Like lots of secrets and stuff. I use to use the bathroom. If you use the bathroom, yeah, you take a shit and then you get a token that's like everything that's like a brown item is worth more, right, Yeah, if you pee, everything that's yellow is worth more. Things like that. I mean, it's that's it. That's that's the core mechanic. And so you're choosing the right totems, which

So you get like basically for every round, you get like three rounds. Well, I guess for every set there's like three rounds, and a round can be like you know, five to seven poles of the slot machine lever. So it's like it'll tell you basically you've got three rounds to get to seventy two gold, which is your debt

Yeah.

I think that it's funny that you were comparing it to bilatro. I've been comparing it to inscription.

Yes, yes, it's got that too, for sure. Like tonally, I think it's it's way more Tonally.

It's so inscription.

I just want to set the audio listeners expectations that if you're like I fucking loved inscription.

It's not as good as an inscription.

It's not as I mean, no game is as good as Plato, Beyonce, Platro. Are you out of your time?

Any any game.

Compared to balatro, you're fucking, like, fucking with people's minds. It's it's not even a fraction of nobody's blatro. But inscription.

I'm like offended, but don't even bring it up.

Inscription had these like moments of deception where you kind of felt like you were smart and beating the game.

I think this game lets you do things like that. It's just not on the same level.

So just I'm pulling it back from this idea that like it's bigger than it seems, and there's all these like ways that Inscription really toys with you.

This game is a much more simple.

Version ridiculous man he is, he is his father. I know you can hear me through much Normally when I get a beer.

I gotta go take my headphones off.

There funny bilical cord from the computer your.

Head like a baby trying to crawl out of the world.

Now I need chords in my life all the time.

I can't ever take It's a strand.

Yeah, I can't do life anyway. This game is a simple, simplified version of Inscription. It doesn't have as many alterations. My biggest criticisms of this game is that, like, I really feel like there's only like four or five good hooks of items that work super well together. They need to put more time into making more items that allow me to play in different ways I get. I've put a taste in my hours into this game because it's really fun to play while I want it's uh spoop Tober,

I can do well, and so to make it more randomized, Like I feel like that is the thing that I don't like about it, because like you just don't want to gamble any well, any gambling is gonna involve, you know, some element of luck, certainly like poker does. But like I feel like with Blatchtery you had a little more control over the hands you were trying to make and

Yeah, get that perfect hand because you're just pulling a slot machine. Have you gotten one where it's blackout where all of them are there?

Oh yeah yeah.

Yeah.

You can get like crazy ones where like breaks and you get so many fucking points and everything, but like there's nothing like you can manipulate it to like, Okay, well i want there to be just treasure chests, so I'm going to pick these upgrades to make it so there's less clovers and sevens and more treasures. Like you can move things more in your favor and kind of tweak the odds, but there's nothing that makes it not a slot machine.

Pull.

Yeah, it is for the gambler.

And I will say, like, for me, I like to cambl and like I enjoy not like all the time.

I don't have a problem anyway. I enjoy the occasional thrill of the gamble. And so this scratches that itch for me where I am gambling, especially with my like fake life. So when I don't when I when I risk it for everything and I lose and I fall to my death, I'm like, that's cool, I'll just do it again. It's a really nice, low stakes gambling game that I think makes me enjoy that element of gambling.

Fun, You're just fuck Sometimes you can make every right decision strategically, yeah, like you can set yourself up for success and more often than not it'll pay off. But like, there are just times where it's like you'll pull the things seven times in a row and it's just like, well, nothing fucking came up, and I died and it's like, well,

So I've had a.

Lot of time recently where I have been working really heavy hours. I've been coming off of a plane, and I'm mentally not in a good spot to play. Like you know, when I got back from Japan, I could not play Ghost Fyote like I could not. I was like, I'm barely functioning right now. But I can play clover Pit half brain Dead. I can sure I can pull that slot machine. So if you're ever wanting to play a game but you just don't have the capacity, that's where I think this one really comes into play.

Sure Dan, you're playing Lego Party as well.

Fuck folks, it's it's bet it is just better than Mario Party.

Yeah, just that I can't sit here despite having what Mario Party came out in like two thousands, so at least like twenty five years of playing Mario Party with my friends and family and colleagues and everything in between, and loving it so much and loving the Mario universe so much. I cannot sit here and say into a microphone that Lego Party isn't better than Mario Party, because it is in every fucking way as a video game. Like sure, I love seeing Mario and Wallawejien Monty Mole and stuff.

That's great. They can't do that. They can just make the game how they wanted, and they made the game better in like every fucking way. It takes everything that works about Mario Party.

And makes it so fun and just makes it so much the quality of life, quality of the mini games that you know, Like I know, I like the bullshit randomization,

You know, so it.

Manages to do that, like there's enough I don't want to say randomization, but there is enough like chaos that they can throw into there to where like I think anybody could stand a fighting chance for plans, like I mean.

Ideal Land, did I know?

I think?

I think I won once and I lost the second one.

So so I was gonna say the I had family in last weekend, So I had my sister Katie and not Kaylee because Kayle plays a ton of games. Katie is her twin who doesn't play games, and her husband and her daughter came to town and they spent the weekend here. And Katie was always playing Mario Party with me growing up and to this day, like whenever it's Thanksgiving Christmas, we always all get together and play Mario Party, and Katie's brought her husband into this, and like it's

So it's like it is.

As it's so, it's so many smart little tweaks to the formula it's still a board game. And at the end of the minigame, you all roll dice and go around the board and you're trying to get gold bricks instead of gold stars. You're getting studs instead of coins. It is like a lot of the stuff is one to one Mario Party, but the tiny tweaks are just like, okay, so if you you know, the moment to moment mini games and Mario Party don't really fucking matter that much.

So play mini games for the initiative, I mean, you get.

The studs and stuff, like just like Mario party, but you also get like placement of like okay, I can get to that star first. That's super smart. They do these like two versus too mini games called brick battles. We land on this thing, so it's like'll randomly put like okay, me and Mary are together against Mike and Jake, and it'll be like for a golden brick, Like each each winner gets the golden brick. So it's like suddenly there's major stakes of these two verse two ones. They're

You answer and things like that, like trivia of like the artist.

Yeah, it'll be like, oh when was this made or whatever? Or what is the name of this and things like that.

Oh, that's like your kryptonite.

Well but I mean that's I was playing with bomb.

It's like a lego gun and it's like when was the first gun invented? And Dan's like no, but.

I shoot it.

Back.

Fucking hates Mario Party, but like there was enough in there for everyone, so it's like, you know, she knows art very well, and so it's like, oh shit, it's an art trivia things.

So she's winning that and stuff.

Like I asked her, and she's never enjoyed a second of Mario Party.

I watched her face.

It's just just pure, just like I'm just going to get through this because it's a family thing that this weirdo family I'm married into takes seriously. But she actually liked playing Lego Party. It's just less time wasting bullshit. It's more just quality of life stuff that nintended would never do. It's got cross play, it's forty dollars instead of seventy dollars. It's just in every way, it's just a much much better experience. I will still play Mario Party and have a ton of fun with it and

Is just better.

Okay, it's just better.

Who are you and what have you done with?

I'm glad. I'm glad that he can evolve.

It's so noble. It's noble as what it is.

Thank you, I was thinking of so, so maybe that's why that firefighter, an actual hero.

Called you a yeah, yeah, Yeah, I don't know.

I think I'm probably more important since I have a big boss statue.

Yeah no, Dan, last game. You played a little bit of Battlefield six. Yeah, it's look, I haven't really played since three. I think I reviewed three for Game Informer and I maybe played a little bit of four. I'm not a Battlefield guy. I like Bad Company more than the core numbered series.

But it's it was fun. I played like an hour with Mike Manati. We had a good time. Like I mean anything, you're playing a game with your friend online, Yeah.

You're a streaming game with your friend.

Yeah, Yeah, it was good.

It's just like it's a note like I'm just not the multiplayer shooter guy anymore. Like maybe I had a heyday with like some of the Call of Duty's and stuff like that. But I mean, there's just no way this is going to be my game when I'm going to put one hundred hours into Battlefield six.

It's it's it's a good one.

I didn't play the fucking twenty whatever one, the last one or Yeah, so I just I'm coming from not at all an expert on this series. Uh, it seemed fun and it seems likeeople that like the series are enjoying it, so that's good for them.

I'm probably not gonna play a ton more.

Yeah, I'm looking forward to playing with Jake at some point. They've definitely had to write the ship after twenty forty two, which got to a good point in its life cycle way too late. They had some problems early on with that game that I don't think they ever fully recovered from.

But yes, then they got Andy mcmher in there. He got down. You got in the garage and just kind of built it, you know, just two by fours and hammers, and here you go and fix it, all right, Swap a.

Couple zeros and ones, and you got yourself a stew going.

Yeah, yeah, they got it. They got a good stew of military shooter going on with it.

I gotta play with the people at war Say what a stew of military action they talked about.

They talked about Stu and warfare the movie. It was a it was a weird scene out of nowhere. They just start talking about stew. I don't remember that part. We're doing a bit.

Is the bit that they didn't talk about Stu. Yeah, oh yeah, yeah, I remember when they talked about.

Yeah, that was great. You guys want to talk about emails, let me let me.

I do want to quickly bring up just because I know we all are on the go and play games and the go. I got the the rog Xbox. Yeah, dance quick bit that he does? Is it an Xbox hand hell is talking about?

I know it's Joe. I just didn't see on the list. Yeah, go for it, tell us, tell us I got her here.

Uh, I'm not the super techy uh going and all the like how many kibble bits and stuff it's got.

So I'll just say it the way I know it.

The least interesting part about it, I think is the Xbox integration, just because like I don't know, I'm kind of like a lot of people right now where Xbox is not really top of mind in terms of like the platform I'm really playing a lot of or enthusiastic about because they keep kind of making we'll say, quiteable decisions and uh, but I will say, as a piece of technology, uh this, you know, I like the rog ally ax and stuff. I've used that quite a bit.

Why not a steam deck?

What's that?

Why not just steam deck?

No, you could do it on either.

I mean, I know it had a little bit more power, but it was just as Oh yeah, no, the thing's expensive as hell.

Yeah is this one?

I is it just a thousand? I thought it might be more. I I don't know, but it's yeah, the black one here is the.

One changed it Dan. He doesn't pay for it.

No, I know you so well, this to you with a whole hat and maybe some chairs that, yeah, because they probably give you, like some extra little swag that you like downed in your house.

No, it just came in the box.

There's some nachos and then.

Oh man, if it came with nachos, I'd be saying.

Came with rog boxers that he's wearing right now.

The flap of the flap opens right in the center of the Oh yeah, yeah, sure, I put my wiener through. Yeah.

I will say it is more powerful obviously than the steam deck. I think there are use cases I will go to for Yeah, yeah, that's a's expensive shit. Like I'll say it this way, I would not like if I didn't get this for free. I don't think I would spend one thousand plus dollars on this thing.

Dollars on a handheld is a choice.

Yeah, there's I do not think I would do that.

We have to convince Dan to spend ten dollars on a multiplayer game. Sometimes, I don't think he'd buy the rog X.

Is the curse of getting everything for my entire life is that, Like, I really don't like spending money, so it's very difficult for me. And thank you for empathizing. I'm gonna make an empathy game about I'm going to spend ten dollars.

You're gonna make an empathy game and find out how much it costs a higher one.

Dev you find all the free stuff you get so that thing and then and then the game became a review.

Of Dan what a piece of ship holding up his thousand dollars handheld, telling us that he thought it was pretty good, but he doesn't know about all the kibbles.

And bits of it.

Fuck you. A slow piano song starts. It's like there's no, there's no room for the Bojangles Xbox.

That's like the room.

Room, all right.

It's heavier, heavier if you're holding it.

It's if you're in bed and he put them on your jan and Joe is always dropping his fucking Steam deck on his head.

This will break your fucking nose.

It is clunkier in terms of the UI because it's like there's like an Xbox button on it and stuff, but like, ultimately I'm playing this like like everything I want to play for the most parts on Steam, So like, okay, sure, it's great that I can download Fortnite. Yeah, I mean like or hay lo, what things would you need outside of Steam? And then at the games so well, that's things. It's a Windows thing, so you can do things outside

Consume me because Bob told you to, because she's a queen and you're fus.

She thanks you every episode.

Uh what about eighties two? That's an indie game?

Right?

Soaks On?

Soaks On?

I love soaks On?

How about that?

Now?

Does that give me some points? Shobi?

That's sega.

May God have mercy on your normy God damn it? Okay, anyway, shill your sol you're free fucking xboxtizing it.

I get everything for free. I shit on things appropriately or praise them appropriately. I will praise them for the power stuff. It is good, I will say. One of the weirder ones for me is Megabank, because Megabank is like a fucking what forty megaby game, four hundred megabay game, whatever it is. Megabank actually runs a lot better on the Steam Deck than it does on the old which is weird to me that this thing is running like like Ninja Got in four. I am playing that on

So that's right, so many handholes to choose from.

God's gift to gamers.

I'm just doing my job a hero.

Thank you.

Yeah, it so noble. You guys want to talk about emails please?

All right?

As usual, you can write into fire Escape past at gmail dot com questions, comments, concerns. Might read those questions on the air concerns I'll probably ignore, but that's fine. We still have the email. You can send stuff to it. That is Firescape past at gmail dot com. We have a couple tonight. I'll read this first one because it's about something I said last episode. Uh Hi, gang Phil

I mean, God, what fandom immune from this? You know?

I mean they're all there.

There's this is ample right, I'm sure we have lots of them, but it's like, what's like the primo example, I think I have a pretty good one. Rick and Morty.

Rick, don't.

I would pull you aside and what are you doing?

Mary?

Yeah, but I do like the show.

I think it's a good I think it's a good idea. I think it's a really smart concept. I thought it was funny and I like stand by that. But it's hard to say that publicly anymore.

Yeah, I have to think for what it's worth.

I do think less of you now, thank you.

Figured it's like it's unfortunate. I think there's like there's redeeming qualities of the show. I think you could make maybe some arguments with a lot of shows of that nature, like South Parker or something like that where Our Family Guy, where people are like really and it's like listen, there are times where that show. Those shows are pretty good, but the audience can make it tough to love.

I think. I think it's because like the overwhelming thing that you hear about with that audience, it's like, oh, you're just not smart enough to understand it.

Like that is just the most like fuck you not great?

No mine, mine is. It's probably wine. I I know it gets.

Specifics.

I I am friends now, I've made friends recently who are some of the most intelligent, curious people who will never once be judgmental about someone liking or disliking wine or having a certain preconception of wine. They're very, very grounded people who share the same passion for it that I do. But I absolutely I'll come across I'll stumble across videos and Instagram where like, wow, these two are acting like douches and it's not inviting people into wine.

But I think it'd be easy with you, in particular, that if someone didn't know you to think that like, oh, this guy you know wants to be a smalli A AND's obsessed with wines, Like do have some preconceived notions, but like I do always defend you when it's like I'll give you shit for it, but it's like I always say the thing was like, no, he gets it, and like he'll roll with the jokes about mbay yeah, high flutin or fancy.

So I think a lot of people probably don't why know, Yeah, a lot of.

Those people probably don't have I mean, tell me if I'm wrong. I would imagine a lot of people who are very into wine don't have that same sense of humor about themselves that you do.

Uh correct, One the ones I'm good friends with, they do like they get it. They also are in on it. But there are many, many, many, I'd say probably more people who get into it for very different reasons than I do. Yesh, Yeah, yeah, no, definitely, Dan, I don't know if you have one locked in the life.

I mean, I mean, there's my two or just like you know, when I say every fandom, it's like the two things I know more about than anything are wrestling in video games, and both fandoms are just like, if you were on the outside and you just saw some of the shit that becomes controversies or huge online firestorms and stuff, you do, what the fuck are these maniacs talking about? Like how many stupid fucking video game controversies

You know? Yeah, I actually like to flip Phil's question, what is a fandom that you automatically assume you're going to like because they're a fan of something, or what is a thing whose fandom you're like, oh, fuck, they're probably really cool. You know.

It's interesting is that the first thing that came to mind are is NORM. Yeah, because it's like that is the thing. But here's the thing with NORM too, is like, when I hear someone's a big NORM fan, I have the feeling of like, okay, okay, you you're funny, you

Really, you know, the.

Comedian's fallacy of like you love them because they like said something really racy and like spicy and that can really hook people. But if that's all you can appreciate about that comedy, then you're really not ingesting what they're saying behind all of this, you're just saying like ooh, they said a curse word, and like yeah, like.

Norm was never just saying something to be offensive or whatever, Like there was always just waste. Like I don't know if anyone knows the women driver joke from weekend up day way back in the way, but that that three part thing that just ends up with the audience just being like what the fuck? How do we even respond to this? Like that's the genius of Norm. It's not just like I made a joke about women drivers, Like that's lazy comedy shit, you know, So, yeah, it's I that's that's that's the.

Thing with Norm.

We always he was unpredictable, Like when he did the roast and he was he said really like kind of really neutral soft jokes towards it.

They were just joke.

Yeah, he was bombing on it, but like everyone expected, like oh in a roast, Like I remember I went into that thinking he's gonna tell the like craziest ship every Cloris Leachman they say, you're over the hill, but you'll never be over the hill, not in that car you drive, like you know, it's just like the it was like ancient jokes and everything, and just watching Greg Giraldo and Godfried and all these guys look around like, what the fuck.

Is he doing?

When the genius is that all these professional career comedians are like, what is this guy doing right now?

Like that that's the genius of it, you know, I agree, I think he was the king.

I think that's a good example.

But I think all of these examples there could be people who take it too far. Probably I have one.

I have one more from the previous question. Again, once you sit down with someone, Dan, I I I've talked to a man about this. I generally don't like the wrestling fan base. However, when you sat me down and showed me all these historic, historic matches and like the backstory, and I was like, I get it, Like I get a peek into that world, and I totally understand how

I like the Japanese studies class in college and there were a lot of flame shirts and you know, spiky hair.

And yeah, but again, and then I went to a Soaka I was like, oh fuck, I fucking get it. And then I went back again. I'm like, I get it. And then we talked to Mary and I'm like, funk, I'm jealous. You just went I loved Japan. When you actually give, you know, the attention and time to something that it deserves, it's to the fan base when they actually want to like try to bring you in on it.

It's great, but it's actually pronounced oh sorry, but yeah.

In terms of fan bases that I assume I'm gonna like, I will say, trying to think of like shows, I would definitely say, I'm curious if you guys hear that someone's a fan of It's always Sonny, do you have a preconceived notion of them? Or is that show kind of neutral enough these days where it's big.

I think it's really hard.

I think people I don't like like It's always sunny, because again I actually think, much like Norm, that show is spicy as hell, and there are people who are really superficial that are like.

I can't believe I did that show.

Yeah, they did, you know, racist jokes and they have like really spicy episodes where they like do things you're not supposed to be able to do, and they fuck up that one guy who's like a priest, like ruined his life. Yeahsom you can. You can enjoy that show without understanding the nuance and the brilliance of the writers and the direction that show is like brilliantly directed too. I feel like that's not talked about enough, But I digress. There are a lot of idiots that love it's always Sonny.

Oh yeah, for sure. I I tend to like, I think it's I don't know if that's a matt of me thinking they're gonna be cool, or think it's like, oh, that's my kind of common ground with them as I get to know them, or something like that.

Maybe, I mean, what a brilliant equalizer I have. I have bonded over The Simpsons my entire life with people of all backgrounds, of all ages, of all creeds, of all everything. Like, if you love the Simpsons, I have a commonality with you, and I can talk to you about very specific jokes from very specific episodes. It's locked in and I will probably like that person a lot better because we've bonded over those episodes, even if we don't have anything else in common.

Mary, I think that's the best answer is because like, especially like that speaks to a certain like, oh.

You grew up with the.

Work.

It was on all the fucking time, but.

It's also aged incredibly well, and all those jokes are still really fucking funny, and like that if someone was like a Simpsons could grown up, Like I feel like Alex Navarro when I first started talking to him in like two thousand and eight or whatever, It's just like, okay, or Simpson's guys, yep, I totally get it. We can we can make these references. You're going to get it. So Mary, you're the same way with that. You know, Michael's jock but whatever.

Yeah, he was too cool for school.

I think like this is something like to this day, I send people Simpson gifts when like something bad or good happens at work and there is like a person who will like DM me and be like that was good, and it's just like all right, we get it, we get it. I have I'll die with that, like I will die with these Simpson references. It'll be a part of me forever.

There's the last one. Mary, you'll appreciate this this time of year, very specific thing. Anybody else who's as into the movie the thing I'm.

They have to be cool, right.

I don't know that I've ever heard that someone loves the thing, like loves it, like goes to see it in theaters still in twenty twenty five, et cetera. And I've been like, oh, they probably I probably won't get along with them, Like I assume I will get along with that person. If that's the case. I guess it's just one of my times a certain responsibility. Yeah, Like, and it's not it's not a pretentious movie too, So like I don't think there's any chance there being pretentious about it.

Yeah, I'll put mcgroober in that category.

Yeah, mcgoverer, I do you really like and get.

What makes mcgoover so exceptional? It's like, I'm just gonna like you.

Yeah, I don't think you forget a lot about mcgrooover to think I.

Kind of do.

I think you kind of do.

It's like, I don't know. I'm not going to it this year because I fell asleep halfway through and Dan put his finger like up to this fucking wrist in my nose.

I came here, I will say. I will say, you kind of rung the bell on macgoober. I feel like people didn't talk about that anymore, and as it kind of rises in popularity, I recognize that you were like an original seer of that.

I think I'm maybe one of the loudest in Christopher Nolan has done interviews talking about how much he loves mcgover. But like, I've been yelling about it for fifty teen years, about how it's the best comedy I've ever seen. So I will take credit for a Groover's current cultural status.

I'll give you that one you should and the others.

All other content is worthless.

Okay, there's probably a lot of game other reason in terms of like good or bad?

Are we on the are we on the bad?

I got one.

I just I can't help it say about it may seem judgmental.

Anime or something.

I mean, it's worse. God, it's worse than anime. It's like if I find out someone is like obsessed with or deeply interested in Kingdom hearts.

Yeah, you were so surprised when I told you I liked the first game right, like I would.

I've been friends with a lot of like Mike Manati is one of my favorite human beings on the planet, and he loves Kingdom Hearts. Yeah, but if if someone is like a Kingdom Hearts person, they got to kind of dig themselves out.

Of that hole a little bit with me.

You know, it's like, ooh, I'm gonna all right, I'm not going to immediately judge it, but like, yeah you did. You got a longer way.

To go with me than if you hadn't said that.

Yeah. No, I remember I told you when I told you that I have a soft spot for the first Game. I don't like any other ones that much, but that first game has a special place mare. But I didn't tell you that until we had been friends.

For glad you didn't otherwise our entire lives. I waited this podcast wouldn't exist.

Yeah, I waited twelve years to tell you good because we were talking about Nadi. But that brings me to my next one. And I know this has been controversial on this show before, and I'm trying to come around on it because people have pointed out like, oh, people can like things you don't like, but I if someone is uh thirty or older and still obsessed with Disney, I am going.

To you're going this way, I'm going to.

Judge you, and I I'm not saying it's good that I'm judging you. I'm not saying it's good if in fact, I'm gonna come out and say it's bad on me for judging them right away.

But but shame on me.

It's probably a defense mechanism. I have learned to distrust those people because they don't fit into my lifestyle and my circles of friends. You ever, but I have like some family members who I love, love to kibbles and bits and the kids.

Yeah, okay, that makes it a little better. I try to be reasonable about this. Despite my knee jerk reaction of being like, oh that's weird, I think like.

Oh, okaying me and you are being very noble about this.

We're being noble and smart and respectable people here.

Yeah.

Yeah, I fucking love Mario.

If you were like a normy, if you were just somebody who doesn't know shit about Disney or followed it like it's the last time you engage with Nintendo or Disney was in nineteen eighty eight, and you put me, who's obsessed with Mario and Donkey Kong and all these things, and Mike Manatti, who will also Mario and Donkey and all those things. But more importantly the Disney thing. I don't think it would look that different. I think they would look at it as like media that is for kids.

It's just the Disney thing is I know, we've talked about it, but it's just.

Uh, people, if you don't have our hobbies are freakishly weird.

Like I have family members that are like, are you.

Still playing all those video games?

And they you guys, you guys are in the video games and Disney. I'm in the wine.

And when it's the only cultured one.

Yeah, Marror, you're probably the most I don't know welcoming is the word, but like even like like a del she's in games, right, but even like like a K Pop demon Hunter's thing, it's like, do you have me watch it? And like I was kind of like, I see, I get it. Okay, yeah, this is well made. This is well made. And then you see the level of just like what a phenomenon it's been like with adults

I just can't.

Adults in Brooklyn are are donning merch with kpe Op Dema Hunters left and right.

They love it. I mean, it's a cultural zeitgeist thing at this it is. I just wanted you to jump on the wave. I think I like can respect quality and so even though that also I was like this is the leap of faith for me personally.

But I was like, animation is so good, songs are catchy. I was like, I'm fine with this.

I can accept this, even though it's not something I would usually go down into like and be like really into. But like I feel that way about a lot of Disney films too, where I'm like, this doesn't seem like it's going to be something I love, But every once in a while.

Disney film like totally gets me and I'm like this is great.

I'm glad I watched this even though I'm not eight, so everyone can appreciate a good Disney film.

I will never deny the obvious quality and artistry that goes into Disney, like Disney, Pixar all that. You know, like clearly they're extremely well made. But as an adult who's just like, oh, everyone's talking about Wally, is this transcendent piece of film. I saw Wally and I left and I'm like, yeah, they probably did a good job

Yeah, it's a good good you can hear it.

What is China?

I'm saying.

The way people talk about it is like how did you you were not your life was changed and moved by Wally. It was like, I don't know, it was a robot. And then they were like the animation was good, whatever, it.

Wasn't that deep.

Yeah, Like again, if you if you have kids and stuff, it's like, oh, my kids are really into this and everything. But like, I just can't imagine being affected by a Disney movie or a Pixar movie.

Like as an adult, you.

Know, Pixar, I will go to bat for Pixar over Disney, but that's.

I would pick them over. I mean, I guess I'll have really seen this Toy Story but yeah, yeah, and like Toy Story.

Like they're all good movies.

I remember, like Hanson was yelling at me about seeing Toy Story three and The Incredibles for like most of the time we worked.

Incredibles is his like favorite movie, right.

Probably he's also obsessed with Incredible.

Yeah, there's something about dress Bar. I would guess he would friend.

An. I don't know if he would.

Say, what my favorite movie of all time? Well, I made him watch it with me, but.

It's fucking mcgrib We all know.

Bocklips now is my.

Favorite movie movie?

The kill They kill a boat full of puppies. I'm an alude, that's me that's ad about the war that he cares more about surfing and he means face.

Joins our list of media that we don't like the people who love that film.

Yeah no, but I did.

That's to say that, like I finally have for years of em bugging me, watch Toy Story three and The Incredibles, and my only memory is the credits roll and me being like, yeah, I get those those seemed like they

I guess the last thing I want to say is there It's funny when you run into someone who's a part who's also a fan of the thing you are, there's always that moment of like feeling each other out. I think, where are you really cool? I'm using wine as an example because I will say even I, when I first find out someone's into wine, this is how much I the fan base can be stand or can push me away. When I first find out someone's super into wine. And this is why I'm so self aware

That I mean, I can't tell you like I struggle with it with games, but I do kind of stay away. Like here's difference in like games in wrestling. Thing is like whenever I see like the bullshit like gaming controversies and stuff, it's so embarrassing, but like I don't really see it. It exists on like Twitter and YouTube comment

But like.

You know, from just you know, misogynistic stuff for just shitty you know, chants and stuff like that, to like just dumb stuff where it's like I'm going to an NXT show once and Simojoe was wrestling. I know, you guys aren't wrestling people. You know, Smojoe Man's a fucking tank. He's he's fucking awesome, like and he would beat the

Fucking a muscle. What are you fucking talking about?

Or like, you know, I've seen so much shit with like female wrestlers and stuff and people chanting stuff about who they're fucking are, like you know, page if the sex tape came out, and like all this stuff and like just see people being really fucking gross and shitty, and uh, that's the thing is Like with wrestling, it's more visible for me because I have to sit in a crowd around them sometimes, and with video games it just kind of exists outside of my blinders, you know.

So yeah, yeah, I mean they're both.

No. I brought it up because it's tough. I wish I could do more to bring down that those stereotypes, you know and one felt swoop, But I can't because they stem from somewhere and these people still exist out there and I run into them all the time at a company where I work. It's like, you see it, we take, you know, pains to try to make it approachable and on Fridays. If you wear a Hawaiian shirt

That's what I was gonna say.

If it was a legitimately pretentious place, they wouldn't let you host a Smash Brothers turnament.

So so, but then you also get people in there who like, know, our seller is really good. We have like twenty five hundred bottles, We have really good wines. We have stuff you can't find anywhere else in the city. They come in and there are the people who many people who go in there are more knowledgeable by wine than me. And many of them really want me to know it. And no, I shouldn't say many a bunch of them want me to know it, and they want the table that they're with to know it, and they

Yeah, it kind of feels like just this like completely, like I don't have opposite the word, but like you know, with the wrestling thing, where it's like wrestling everyone assumes they're total idiots, and with wine people they assume they're all pretentious and things like that, and it's like if you exist somewhere, not on the extremes, it's.

Just kind of thing where you see the compute. Yeah, yeah, I.

Think also, I like sometimes it resonates with me, just the idea that the things you hate and other people are often the things you hate in yourself. Yeah, there's a self reflection that can be lost on people when they're like, oh, do you know wine as good as me?

And it's like, who hurt you.

That said that you didn't belong here, because you do. If you like wine, you do belong here. And I feel the same way about every genre.

Like we can peek out right now if you want.

You're a gamer unless you play it on expert mode, and it's like, babe, like it's not that deep, And I feel bad for you that you felt like you weren't a good enough gamer because you didn't you weren't able to beat that game that one time, and so now now you're hurt and like that that's sad.

I think about that and like not to get like introspective or whatever three hours into a podcast here here, it's.

Gone, way to run fucking show.

This is something I've realized a lot. Or it's like I think you guys can both attest. I'm not an angry person. I'm not someone who ever wants to get in a fight. I've never thrown a punch or you know, like stuff like that, Like I'm not that's not me. I'm not an angry guy. There is one like again, my father, you know how much I fucking love him and bring on stuff and I have a complicated relationship,

He's my father. I love him to death.

But it's like I will get like worked up and be like I could throw a punch right now, and it's like, oh, probably because I think I probably still do some of that.

That you can control yourself ultimately, and you can recognize it in yourself when you're doing those things, and then you can stop it. So then when you see someone else doing the things that you have the impulse to do yet control.

Yeah, you can't do this. You can't realize what you're saying.

The only way you ran in the face. Yeah, yeah, it's it's frustrating. Yes, yeah, but yeah, thank you, thank you Phil.

Thanks Phil. Let me go think about my life.

Oh who's this? Who's better to read this? Either one? Either you could read this? Who wants to read it. Actually, yeah, it's from uh it's it's from your neighboring state. I guess uh lewis LOI.

Yeah, Hey, mister Crappin and Friendshi Hello with mister With Mister yot With had some beers with Yota in the current gaming discussion and the inevitable comparison to its predecessor, I lament as I have the past few years the lack of recognition for Sushima's amazing multiplayer mode. At it as a free post on She'll See. I've invested the majority of my time in that game with my.

Friend ever played it not the multiplayer.

Of four player wave based mode with multiple difficulty levels culminating in nightmare gear based leveling, build crafting in class based, but it sounds like Randy pitch redier player choices that promote skills, synergies, and teamwork in addition to a two v two mode that plays like a third person Tetris attack, all the amazing combat mechanics of Sushima with Friends set

I have enough there myself to uh to say, I'm not the biggest fan either. It was all the Southwest men. Sorry, yes, got Sushima's mode they added with the DLCs. Fucking awesome.

What was it called? There was like legends, Yeah, yeah, we did it on a stream and it was like it was really good.

It was. It's fucking rad. The progression was amazing, Like you're basically thrust into almost like years of war Horde, but you are the attackers and then you have to figure out how to approach it with different classes. Oh, it's amazing, and uh, each of the classes had such a good progression tree. It felt like, I don't know, almost like as deep as a single Some single player games really good. But I love this question because I

People would say you are tacked on, like I feel like Buiershock two kind of got.

That boats Shock two. I will also say Resistance to that three player co op mode that it had. There were three character classes and it was way more in depth than anybody needed to make. They had the spec Ops, they had the Medic, and they had the Assault, and me and my brothers we just like dabbled in it because I just finally the PS three was not new, but I just finally got a PS three and we were all home for Christmas, and I was like, let's

Oh?

Oh, I think we talked about this. You can hack enemies, they're they're like brain chips, you can curve bullets. I want to say Gershman was a huge fan of the shooter.

At the first first personularity. No, it's I know what you're talking about. Starts as an as I thought. Not same people are not saying to me in their cars right now, is it might be saying I think Conneticut.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, that game was. That game was awesome too, Like you're you you can hack ais like almost like uh, Cyberpunk twenty seventy seven style. I had multiplayer, yeah, co op mode, like uh, I don't I think it was separate from the It was definitely separate experience, like these other games from the single player, but it had it. Yeah, those are the ones that come to mind.

I Uh, the first one that comes to mind for me is kind of weird because the multiplayer was loved and perfect dark you know, the campaign was great.

Multiplayer is great.

But the thing I think people never talk about though was great was a multiplayer mode based on the campaign. So you could do counter op mode where let's say I am playing as Joanna going from level to level just like it is in the campaign, and then Mary you could play as any enemy on the level, so like where the actual enemy n PCs would be in everything, and you could like, you know, if you get killed, you could, you know it swap to the next one or whatever. And you can like shove like there were

Played on I played a lot of the like a lot lot of the multiplayer bot based stuff.

Oh yeah, yeah, that'suff was awesome. Yeah, but counter Out mode was really cool, interesting.

I think one that is beloved, so I'll say this with a caveat, but wasn't.

The main purpose of the game was Years of War three, which had a fucking baller competitive mode that is still beloved to this day and actually still has a competitive player base because is that like.

The smash Bros Melee of the franchise that people still roll with Because people still roll with it.

It's so fun.

They had this like train level where like trains go through and you have to like go after each other with the torque boat.

I mean, it was so fun to attack.

Real people, like you know, humans instead of NPCs in Gears of War, and they just cracked it. It was awesome the way they put it together. And I remember, I think I was working at GameSpot at the time, but I remember when it came out, everyone was like, why is this so good? Like you didn't expect it to be that good and to this day, people talk about it and play it.

I don't play it no more. But like I loved that multiplayer when I came.

Out, I was surprised to be like that game. Obviously, the campaigns were great, and it was known for co op. It was like one of the big first online.

Totally, I guess it is playing. But the competitive multiplayer was shocking, and.

That's what surprises me.

As Like, you know, I played through all of them with Kayla in the last couple of years, and we just recently were going through Gears reloaded, and we would end our streams with, like, let's just do a one on one match a small map torqubos only, so you can only get chainsaw kills or torque bows, and it's like it's so tense and like the levels are designed very well, and it's like that shit, I think we maybe slept on a bit of the like competitive multiplayer Gears It's good.

I mean I still play a lot.

Yeah, yeah, the competitive mode of these are still really good.

Like there's still I would still recommend them.

They're like brutal because you're playing against people, so they will fuck you up.

But it's in the shotgun people that just fucking yeah.

Yeah, especially if they've been playing now. Yes, if you're joining a lobby now a good fucking luck, because you're playing against people have been playing for ten year were probably like insane.

Yeah, yeah, I'm trying to figure it out. Okay, so uh doublo James Bond Double O seven Agent Underfire. We had it for the PS two. There was a multiplayer mode competitive that was one of the coolest fucking things. Basically, one team, you're on each side of a train track. Mary, you you mentioning the Gears map. Just just jog this memory, yes, you like? This is my Uh you proosted me hard. One team is defending a VIP. It might be called VIP. I can't I just tried googling. I couldn't find it.

Kent from Saint Louis, Missouri sucks.

Momo, Dan make fun of something Missouri, you can't.

That's too broad of a question. It's just bad state, bad people, bad cities, bad food.

Food they got.

I mean, here's the thing, a lot of Casey barbecue. Technically on the Missouri side. I was technically on the Kansas side. But like the middle of the state, you got Columbia, you got greg Millertown. That's just another good comes out of the middle of Missouri. Oh no, wait, I think Chapelone actually was kind of from the middle of there. People that would say that, uh, it's just a bad time if you're driving through it, you know what I'm talking about. It's just a dirty, bad place,

Are gross.

I've spent a decent amount of time. Those are the parts I saw were nice there.

There are some places you have fun. You have fun anywhere, camp.

Fun, anywhere.

You have fun in a trash can if you want to.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, you know, I knew You've got photos of me doing it. I do, I do trash TC's are my favorite peas to be all right, Thank you Kent from Saint Louis and mimomo. That's our episode. You can ride into firescape cast at gmail dot com. Go to join the fun, get it red on the air. Good questions Kent and and Phil. Just some housekeeping stuff before we get to the end of the episode. We do have some new merch on the way. We've got

Speaking up this season, yeah, speaking time of giving.

Yeah, and Game of the Year we are officially doing on December sixth, Saturday, December sixth.

Got a calendar thing here, it's it's on my Google calendar, so be changed.

Now.

We're fine to Minneapolis. We're descending on Minneapolis, as we always do. Jake, Mary and I are going to go to Dan's to argue and celebrate and dump on some games. Dumb.

It's a month and a half away. That's crazy.

It's crazy.

I have a lot to play.

Yeah, so do I. But yeah, December sixth, that'll be on I believe it'll.

And what we've done recently is what we do is because we don't do the twitch. We don't.

We might have the twitch account, I don't know, but we stream it on my channel on Dan Record and then the VOD will go on fire Escape channels. So if you haven't seen fire Escapes vod and so, we have smooth resident Knievel we got you know. We we've put more stuff up there there in the last couple

Around din din time.

Go get your bucket of fried chicken or bunch and champagne because it's a celebration, baby, Go get your taco bell. Get ready and sit down with us for seven hours. It's gonna be fun.

Yes, And then in the meantime before we launch the new merch, you can gotta you can actually go to Firescape merch dot com. That will lead you to our main merch site where you can get bikinis, you can get banana hammocks, you can get some some flashy stuff. We do have the white stainless steel water bottle that was out of stock, that's back in stock. A bunch of people are buying that, So if you want that

Usually I'm live on Twitch every Monday. I've missed a lot because of all of my travel, and when this goes live, I'll be I think, still traveling, so really sorry about that, but when I can, and when i'm home, I will be live on Twitch playing whatever the latest indie game is that is my joy and that is what I always defall to Dan.

What about you? Dan?

Record on Blue Sky and Instagram and we are doing a twenty four hour live stream from a Giant Bomb on October twenty seventh. We are doing the Giant Bambathon, So follow Giant Bomb on YouTube and Twitch. We will be starting at five pm Eastern on Monday, October twenty seventh, twenty four hours.

We will all be on this, taken together.

Who's taken the late shift or you got.

We're all in person.

We are going to figure out based on like when people are tired and need to like sneak in like an hour of anap or whatever. Like we're gonna just make it work. But for we're gonna have multiple people on stream at all time at the entire twenty four hours, so lots of games, lots of incentives, subscriber drive stuff. We got Chuck and Sean coming out if you know them from Giant Bomb. It's going to be a lot of fun. So put a lot of a lot of planning into that. October twenty seventh, five pm Eastern.

Be there, all right, what's our episode? Thank you everybody for joining Episode one eighteen Game of the year. At this rate, will that be one twenty.

Yeah, yeah, we've got that fucking way alone. One way.

Okay, this is the twentieth. Uh no, no, we got we have a lunch before.

I just like panic you. Okay, Well, thank you everybody for joining. We'll be back in a couple of weeks with the next episode Firescape cast. Meantime, go check out all this stuff Dan and Mary just talked about. Go subscribe to Next Lander, et cetera. We will see you in the next episode.

Bye.