At this rate, it'll take ya 100 more podcasts to catch me! Welcome back to NOCLIP! This week we're going to be talking about Super Mario RPG, Square's take on the Mario franchise and the first RPG to carry Mario's name. Square handling a Nintendo RPG seems like a natural fit, and their touch is noticeable here. However, Nintendo's influence can be seen as well, and a lot of the "Mario" elements are the things that make the game feel unique. We're going to talk about the evolution of the RPG, ted...
Sep 17, 2017•1 hr 17 min
Podcasts are software, bodies are disposable. Welcome back to NOCLIP, where this week we're going to be breaking down Superhot. The central gimmick to Superhot is controlling time. Time only progresses when you move, turning the skill set required for a first person shooter completely on its head. This makes for a more contemplative, though still tense, experience. The mechanical themes of this short game are incredibly strong, but unfortunately, looking further into the narrative can distract y...
Sep 02, 2017•1 hr 16 min
Sasha, come outside. It's time you learned how to podcast. This week on NOCLIP, we're going to be talking about Drinkbox Studio's Severed. Severed makes use of the touch screens prevalent in modern devices by creating a frenetic sword fighting dungeon crawler while striking a very somber tone. The pieces fit so well together, and we enjoyed our time with this game so much that it's one of the few games we've covered that we absolutely recommend getting and playing if you've never heard of it, or...
Aug 19, 2017•1 hr 30 min
Once our podcast here is complete, we will peer inward and discover the truth. Thanks for joining us this week as we talk about Metroid Prime. A severe turn from the appearance of previous Metroid games, Prime retains a lot of the DNA that makes up the series it belongs to, despite the shift in perspective. Because of these similarities, design appears to have been focused around making a traditional Metroid game play well in first person and were generally successful enough that the game has ma...
Aug 05, 2017•1 hr 46 min
Who's leaving podcasts on your answering machine? Welcome back to the show this week. We're going to be talking about Dennaton's Hotline Miami, an ultra violent top down beat 'em up that became a bit of an indie darling at the time of its release in 2012. While we end up thinking the game misses its narrative mark, the games punishing but intensely satisfying mechanics combine well with the cocaine-fueled pseudo '80s aesthetic making the game difficult to put down. We're going to be talking abou...
Jul 23, 2017•1 hr 19 min
How can I work under a doctor that doesn't even try to podcast? Welcome back to NOCLIP! This week we're going to be dissecting Atlus's Trauma Center: Second Opinion, a Wii game that used the Wii Remote to simulate surgery of all things. An expanded version of Under the Knife on the DS, Trauma Center changes up its control scheme for the console and creates an entertaining and incredibly challenging game that manages to feel unique and interesting over a decade after its release. We're going to b...
Jul 08, 2017•1 hr 19 min
NOCLIP. Innovation comes standard. Apologies for missing a week, our Trauma Center episode will be going up this Saturday. In the meantime, what you're going to be listening to today is more of a general discussion podcast. We had the (retrospectively not super bright) idea of duct taping our microphone to the dashboard of my car while we took a trip and recorded our conversation. Because of this, the audio quality isn't up to our usual standard, but I think the discussion topics we cover warran...
Jul 04, 2017•1 hr 15 min
Do you think a podcast can bloom, even on a battlefield? Welcome back to NOCLIP this week, where we're going to be discussing Konami's classic stealth action game, Metal Gear Solid. Before Konami went complete off the rails and their business philosophy drifted toward "we hate Kojima," they released one of the most prolific stealth games of all time which spawned an extremely popular series, lauded by players and critics alike. We crack open the first of the series to examine how it holds up tod...
Jun 17, 2017•1 hr 35 min
Like a bolt from the blue, it's time for the podcast review, Welcome back to NOCLIP, today we're going to be talking about Square's unique DS Action RPG that is absolutely JAM PACKED with mechanics. Like an environmentally conscious hunter, Square uses every part of the console from the touch screen to the microphone to the internal clock to govern the myriad systems that sacrifice user accessibility for a complicated and ultimately satisfying combat system that has you constantly doing somethin...
Jun 03, 2017•1 hr 37 min
I don't think I've got time to entertain your blather. I'd much rather hear it straight from your podcast .Thanks for joining us again this week while we talk about Bayonetta. Platinum's flagship franchise started with this send-up of classic Devil May Cry games featuring satisfying action combat and a tone that's straight out of grindhouse cinema. We talk about combo systems, Bayonetta's character design and the cultural ramifications thereof, and the best Subway sandwich advertisement of all t...
May 20, 2017•1 hr 49 min
NOCLIP is recorded inside of a dead studio audience, This week on NOCLIP we're going to be talking about Playdead's Inside. Inside is the second puzzle platformer from the developer of Limbo and the evolution in design is immediately apparent. The game evokes a dark tone in a way that is incredibly effective given its presentation. We discuss striking visual design, puzzle difficulty and pacing and how deep underwater you can be before you can no longer make friends. Thanks for checking us out t...
May 06, 2017•1 hr 36 min
The Blood Cast rises once again... Welcome back to NOCLIP as we finish out our discussion on Breath of the Wild and are joined again by Dan and Janelle. With the formalities out of the way, we get into the depths of the design of the dungeons and the ways in which you interact with the physical world. We're going to be talking about physics simulations and weapon degradation in games, the lifespan of narrative tropes in the medium, and the... it's a... well it's a door that's like... it's sphinc...
Apr 22, 2017•1 hr 59 min
The podcast that must shine upon Hyrule once again, Welcome back to NOCLIP, where this week we are beginning our discussion on The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and we're joined by our friends Janelle and Dan. This game's release is an event for a number of reasons, as it launched a new Nintendo console and represents a departure from what most would consider the way a traditional Zelda game works. The fact that it has been embraced by fans of the series in light of this is testament to ho...
Apr 09, 2017•1 hr 31 min
The world needs podcasts, This episode of NOCLIP is going to look at Blizzard's populous dominating FPS, Overwatch. The key to the overwhelming reaction to this game seems to be the game's near universally appealing design that was assembled and iterated on from a number of sources. We're going to dive into that design and see why this game keeps us playing it for a number of hours that is frankly embarrassing. We talk about incredible character design, the reasons behind frequently balancing an...
Mar 25, 2017•1 hr 46 min
You cannot grasp the true form of Giygas's podcast, This week, we're going to be talking about one of the most interesting RPGs to come out of the SNES era, Earthbound. Known as Mother 2 in Japan, Earthbound is the first entry in the Mother series to be released in the States and despite underselling on its initial release has developed a cult following and it's tone and visuals have inspired both game players and developers for years, and we haven't seen too many games that are this unusual and...
Mar 12, 2017•1 hr 33 min
Once we're done with this whole thing, I'm gonna teach you how to podcast. Yeah, I reckon you'd really like that. Welcome to NOCLIP this week, and this time we're talking about The Last of Us. One of the most popular games to release on the PS3, Naughty Dog's take on the zombie apocalypse got a lot of people talking about the narrative elements of games, including a lot of people who seldom considered games to be a great storytelling medium beforehand. We break down that story, as well as the ga...
Feb 25, 2017•1 hr 51 min
We are born by the cast, made men by the cast, pod by the cast, Welcome back to NOCLIP everyone! Having established ourselves as a podcast that likes to talk about Dark Souls, we sit down to talk about FROM's Souls-alike game Bloodborne. Despite the fact that the games do have a lot in common and share the majority of their major design points, we find a lot to talk about to differentiate the two series and talk about the points that make Bloodborne a unique experience in its own right. We discu...
Feb 11, 2017•2 hr 22 min
When Adam decided who would podcast, he chose incorrectly, Welcome to NOCLIP and this week we're talking about Metroid Fusion, the first GBA game in the series and one that attempted to add an explicit narrative with dialogue and also dial back the difficulty present in previous Metroid games. The result is a game that feels very unlike its predecessors, but still manages to nail a tone and be enjoyable to play. We talk about claustrophobic level design, conveyance of tone, and a non-threatening...
Jan 28, 2017•1 hr 44 min
Our top 3 games (each) that released in 2016 After a full year of podcasting, we've decided to do an obligatory January retrospective episode. We sat down and talked about what games really gripped us this year, and generally speak to why these games were successful, which games we think are interesting and what really failed to meet expectations. Not much more explanation is necessary, so let's get to the high-octane, hyperinteresting blathering. Hope you enjoy this bonus episode, and check out...
Jan 21, 2017•45 min
If the Police Aren't Complaining, You're Not Podcasting Loud Enough, Thanks for joining us for our second series examination where we're looking at the genre defining games of Guitar Hero and Rock Band. We look back on why these games were so immersive, and why they started a sensation in a way no other rhythm games could. Basically, we're looking at plastic guitar peripherals. We talk about the popularity of Rock and Roll, difficulty of Metal music, and the differences between a human being and...
Jan 15, 2017•1 hr 37 min
Five Out of Five Podcasters Agree, Rascal is Terrible, Thanks for joining us, and our guests Dan and Steven, again this week while we talk about an objectively awful game, Rascal on the Playstation. Developed by Traveler's Tales, Rascal is a mostly unheard-of action platformer that focuses on a young boy traveling through time to shoot enemies with bubbles and rescue his father. As exciting as this might sound, Rascal is truly a masterclass in poor design decisions and a lack of understanding of...
Dec 31, 2016•1 hr 31 min
Your Pokémon Was Holding This Podcast, We Have No Idea How it Got There, Today, we're concluding our discussion on the Pokémon franchise. It's been a constant part of the gaming landscape for twenty years, and those twenty years have been pretty stable for the Pokémon Company. Now with the seventh generation released and a new console on the horizon, the franchise has to look to the future and start designing hundreds of new monsters to keep itself relevant. Or does it? We look into the design o...
Dec 18, 2016•2 hr
NOCLIP Unleashes Its Full-Force Z-Cast! On today's episode, we're going to begin our massive undertaking that is talking about the Pokémon series as a whole. With the franchise celebrating it's 20th anniversary, the popularity of what was the biggest fad among kids in the nineties has spiked back up to numbers rivaling those it had in the beginning. The games have largely stuck to their roots, offering minor changes from generation to generation of main series games while nurturing a ballooning ...
Dec 03, 2016•2 hr 36 min
You Broke Her Heart! Now I'll Cast Your Pod! Welcome back to the show, today we're going to be talking about Ubisoft's follow up to 2007's Assassin's Creed, Assassin's Creed 2. Released two years after the first, AC2 is widely considered to have successfully iterated on the concepts the first game pioneered and has become warmly remembered by fans of the series. This, however, does not keep the game safe from retrospective criticism, and we take a look at what about this game worked at the time ...
Nov 19, 2016•1 hr 47 min
How's the Podcast? 590pts? Hmm, It's Not Very Good..., Today on NOCLIP we're going to be talking about Pokémon Snap, the oddball N64 game where you ride around and take photos of Pokémon. The game has quite the following and is remembered fondly by most people who played it, ourselves included, despite having very little actually going on. However, the nostalgia surrounding Snap and the design sensibilities it represents are exactly what make it such an interesting game to discuss. We talk about...
Nov 05, 2016•1 hr 19 min
You Want to Come Back to My Place for Some... Podcasting?, Welcome to our second and last October horror episode on Resident Evil 4. Released on the GameCube way back in 2005, RE4 is often held up as the best game in the series, and we dive into why that is. The action elements of this game mark a significant departure from the series' Survival Horror roots, and the result is a very different kind of game, groundbreaking at its time, that still wants the player to feel unsettled. We're going to ...
Oct 25, 2016•1 hr 45 min
NOTE: For an unknown reason, a popping noise was picked up on our recording for the first half of this podcast. This begins around 14 minutes, and ends during the second half. If this proves incredibly annoying to you, skip to 57:10 for our discussion on P.T. and the end of that sound. Apologies for the terribleness. The only me is me. Are you sure the only pod is cast?, Welcome to our first episode for the month of October. Being the spookiest month of the year, (got my eyes on you, June) we ha...
Oct 08, 2016•2 hr
Thank you for listening to NOCLIP! A year ago we released the first episode of this podcast, and while it hasn't resulted in a whole lot, we have definitely gained some momentum. We love doing this and we appreciate everyone who listens. So, in honor of this slightly less-than-momentous occasion, we present you with half an hour of some of our dumbest jokes and silliest tangents that didn't make it into actual episodes. Learn to make iced coffee, take a few lances to the chest, and answer the ag...
Oct 03, 2016•30 min
Together We Cast!, Today, we're going to be talking about the first entry in a long running series to come to the U.S. only in its seventh installment, Fire Emblem. This game has become Intelligent Design's flagship series, and it focuses on turn based, tabletop RPG-like combat and heavy character development. We're going to discuss strategy, characters and dialogue, and the seeming inefficacy of poison in the middle ages. Thanks for joining us for NOCLIP (and for JJ's month of picks!) this week...
Sep 24, 2016•1 hr 56 min
Fucking Pods, I'm Gonna Cast the Shit Out of You, On today's episode we're going to be talking about Atlus's block pushing, trust shattering, heavy drinking puzzle game Catherine. The off-the-wall aesthetic, odd subject matter and brutal difficulty make this game a hell of a thing to behold and it rests comfortably in the "only thing like it" category. We discuss puzzle mechanics, visual craziness and Chad being an absolute baby. As always, thank you for listening, and be sure to check back in n...
Sep 10, 2016•1 hr 58 min
