Fire Escape Cast #102

Summary

Fire Escape Cast #102 Summary

Release Date: March 10, 2025

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1. Travel Tales: Escaping to Puerto Vallarta

Mary Kish shares her first-time visit to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, as an escape from Portland’s prolonged rainy season. Describing the destination as highly touristy, Mary emphasizes the resort-centric experience, highlighting the abundance of margaritas and beach relaxation.

• Mary Kish [00:50]: “Puerto Vallarta is very touristy. It’s built to sit on a beach, have people bring you margaritas, and that’s it.”

Mary recounts a memorable food tour that explored eight different food trucks, each offering unique tacos. She praises the quality and flavor of authentic Mexican cheeses compared to American counterparts, noting how the food trucks focus on meat and fresh salsas without excessive cheese.

• Mary Kish [03:12]: “There are food trucks that are very focused on the meat and the salsa... But the truck that made the quesadillas had some of the best cheese I’ve ever had.”

The group appreciates the affordability of dining at these food trucks, with Mary highlighting a meal for four costing just ten dollars.

• Mary Kish [05:52]: “Four people. We ate dinner at a food truck for ten bucks. Total.”

2. Vacation Styles: Balancing Adventure and Relaxation

Dan Reichert and Mike Mahardy discuss their contrasting vacation preferences, illustrating the challenges faced by couples with differing approaches to travel. Mary Kish narrates a real-life example of a couple whose honeymoon highlighted their divergent desires—one craving excursions and adventures, while the other preferred lounging by the pool.

• Mary Kish [07:15]: “They had a big spat about it. Now they plan specific days for excursions and relaxation, and they are more in love than ever.”

Mike Mahardy shares their upcoming trip to Ireland, emphasizing a balance between planned activities and unstructured relaxation time.

• Mike Mahardy [07:48]: “We’ve been on trips where we’re usually pretty adventurous, but also awesome to not do shit for a while.”

Dan Reichert echoes the sentiment, appreciating days with no scheduled plans to simply enjoy being away from responsibilities.

• Dan Reichert [10:13]: “I think the mix is good. You don’t want to do nothing your whole trip either and have no memories.”

3. Culinary Adventures: Dan’s Journey into Cooking

The conversation shifts to Dan Reichert's newfound enthusiasm for cooking. Initially resistant, Dan describes his methodical approach to incorporating healthier meals into his routine, utilizing sous vide techniques and expanding to more complex dishes like salmon with roasted carrots and potatoes.

• Dan Reichert [32:21]: “Every night’s gonna be a boneless, skinless chicken breast that I sous vide... tonight I made salmon with roasted carrots and potatoes.”

Mary Kish supports Dan’s culinary endeavors, emphasizing the therapeutic and mindful aspects of cooking.

• Mary Kish [40:15]: “When you’re cooking, I got this sharp ass chef’s knife and I’m chopping up potatoes. Pay attention.”

The hosts encourage Dan to continue experimenting with recipes, highlighting the joy and satisfaction that comes from creating meals.

• Mary Kish [38:42]: “I think you’re never too old to learn. ... It turns out I actually do like cooking.”

4. Video Games Spotlight: From Metal Gear to Monster Hunter

Mike Mahardy and Dan Reichert delve into their favorite video games, with a particular focus on the Metal Gear Solid series and the Bond film adaptations within gaming.

• Mike Mahardy [12:12]: “We have been watching the Bond movies. ... Some revelations along the way.”

Dan Reichert shares his extensive knowledge of Bond video games, contrasting authentic Mexican food with American interpretations. They discuss the complexities of game design, noting differences between authentic experiences and streamlined, accessible versions for broader audiences.

• Dan Reichert [02:18]: “My knowledge, my dumb American knowledge of Mexican food is Taco Bell... It’s not actually Mexican food.”

The conversation transitions to critiques of Monster Hunter World, where Dan expresses his struggles with the game's design and pacing, despite acknowledging its depth and complexity.

• Dan Reichert [52:16]: “I know people love it, but it just seemed weirdly put together... I just don't think this is for me.”

Mary Kish shares her immersive experience with Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate, emphasizing the collaborative and role-specific aspects that make the game engaging for co-op play.

• Mary Kish [61:08]: “I got really into the cooking and I got really excited about building my character... It was sick.”

5. Interactive Storytelling and Narrative Design

Responding to an email from Wes from Baltimore, the hosts discuss innovative narrative techniques in media, drawing parallels between House of Leaves, The Beginner’s Guide, and games developed by Remedy Entertainment like Alan Wake and Control.

• Mary Kish [130:14]: “I think it really does mix people who love maybe like a book that's like a whodunit or murder mystery or Where Is She Discovery.”

Dan Reichert recommends Stanley Parable as a prime example of narrative-driven gaming that experiments with player interaction and story progression.

• Dan Reichert [130:26]: “If you like Beginner’s Guide, check out Stanley Parable for sure.”

The hosts also mention SCP Foundation and Backrooms as collaborative fiction projects that blend horror and surrealism, enhancing the storytelling experience through interactive and unsettling environments.

• Mike Mahardy [134:27]: “Those are still fun. Every once in a while, I’ll like, if I have Wi-Fi in a plane or something...”

6. Pop Culture and Memorable Characters

Responding to questions about memorable minor characters, Dan Reichert recalls a henchman from Roadhouse whose unique leg movement while shooting became a humorous and memorable moment.

• Dan Reichert [111:07]: “...the leg, you can’t... Like, he’s like, yeah, I don’t.”

Mary Kish highlights Julianne Moore’s character in The Big Lebowski as a standout minor character whose performance left a lasting impression.

• Mary Kish [130:32]: “Julianne Moore... She’s just so dictionate. And every line she delivers I can’t get out of my head.”

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Notable Quotes

• Mary Kish [05:57]: “It's not tequila.”
• Mike Mahardy [16:03]: “I have all the respect in the world for it.”
• Dan Reichert [07:15]: “I think there’s something to that.”
• Dan Reichert [32:18]: “I’m loving cooking a lot.”
• Mary Kish [44:14]: “I made pasta from scratch. I went to a course because I don’t know what the fuck I’m doing.”

Conclusion and Upcoming Content

The episode concludes with discussions about ongoing and upcoming projects, including Mike and Vinny’s Evil Campaign on Nextlander, encouraging listeners to subscribe and engage with their content. They also tease future topics and express gratitude towards their audience for participation and support.

• Mike Mahardy [145:03]: “This is fireescapecastmail.com. Send in more questions.”

Listeners are encouraged to support the hosts through Patreon for ad-free episodes, access to exclusive content, and participation in live gaming campaigns.

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Final Thoughts

Episode #102 of Fire Escape Cast offers a rich tapestry of personal anecdotes, in-depth discussions on video games and narrative design, and engaging banter among the hosts. From Mary’s first Mexican getaway to Dan’s culinary exploits and their collective love for complex storytelling in games, this episode serves both dedicated listeners and newcomers with insightful and entertaining content.

Transcript

[Mary Kish]

Foreign.

[Mike Mahardy]

Hello, everybody. Welcome back to the Fire Escape Cast. It is episode 102. I'm Mike Maharity, your host, as always, here with Dan Reichert.

[Dan Reichert]

Hey.

[Mike Mahardy]

And Mary.

[Mary Kish]

Oh, come on.

[Mike Mahardy]

No, I'm kidding. I'm kidding. I don't do that anymore. Let me restart.

[Dan Reichert]

Hey, what was the bit?

[Mike Mahardy]

I. I used to, like, sound disappointed that I was intro.

[Dan Reichert]

And Mary.

[Mary Kish]

Hey, everybody.

[Mike Mahardy]

Welcome back to the Fire Escape Cast. I'm Mike Mahardi, your host, as always, here with Dan Reichert.

[Dan Reichert]

Hello.

[Mike Mahardy]

And Mary Kish.

[Mary Kish]

A little more. A little more. A little more. Yeah, that's right. Down south, down under, as they refer to Puerto Vallarta. Mexico.

[Mike Mahardy]

Mexico. What were you doing there?

[Mary Kish]

It's my first time. I've never been to Mexico before, and I wanted to get away from Portland's rain. The Pacific Northwest has a really heavy rain season that's usually, like, four months long. So we escaped for five days and went to Puerto Verta. I don't know a lot about the different areas of Mexico, but Puerto Verta is very touristy. It's, like, very clearly built to sit on a beach, have people bring you margaritas, and that's it. And then you just sit there and you get drunk.

[Dan Reichert]

Have you been to Cabo? It sounds like Cabo to me.

[Mary Kish]

It sounds like Cabo. I have not been to Cabo.

[Dan Reichert]

Okay. Very resort and touristy. Yeah. Sit on the beach, all inclusive stuff. Like, yeah, that's fun.

[Mary Kish]

You don't really see too much, like, authentic culture. I feel like it's built around the tourism, but that's okay for me. I also like to experience, like, what it is to really, you know, walk around and enjoy the sights. But for this trip, I just kind of wanted to relax and chill. I did do a food tour, which was pretty sick because they took us to eight different food trucks, and I had different types of tacos, and each food truck was a different taco, but they were all so good, and I had more tacos than I could eat.

[Dan Reichert]

Were any of them even remotely resembling of, like, a Taco Bell taco?

[Mary Kish]

Um, let me know. Okay. Yeah, yeah. There was a quesadilla.

[Dan Reichert]

Okay, well. Okay, well, taco wise. Cause here's the thing. I've been to a million, like, authentic Mexican places, and of course, you know, like, they're great, but, like, I am always a bit shocked that, like, because my knowledge, my dumb American knowledge of Mexican food is Taco Bell, which is not actually Mexican food, and everything's just drenched in cheese. Not even Taco Bell. If you Just go to, like, growing up in Kansas City, it's just like, oh, all these, you know, quote unquote Mexican places were just like giant queso bowls and everything's drenched in cheese. And then you go to an authentic place, and it's like, that's not what. What it's like. So what was the cheese factor on your trip?

[Mary Kish]

Yeah, I think this is a fair question from you specifically.

[Mike Mahardy]

I like how you.

[Mary Kish]

You.

[Mike Mahardy]

You couched it and saying it's a fair question from you specifically.

[Dan Reichert]

So I understand, and I. Yes, I don't disagree.

[Mike Mahardy]

That's just a funny phrase. Sorry.

[Mary Kish]

There are food trucks that are very focused on the meat and the salsa, which is very important to most of these food trucks, which are people. These are people who make their living doing this. And so they are making these salsas by scratch, and they are sourcing their own meat and making them. And so there's no cheese on those tacos. The taco consists of usually pork and. Or beef and then cilantro and maybe maybe some onions. And other than that, everything is the salsa that you're putting on top of it. And they have lots of different forms of it, whether it's pico de gallo or something really spicy, and that's it. But we went to a very specific truck where they make quesadillas, and I swear to God, it was some of the best cheese I've ever had. And I was really impressed with the cheese flavor. Have you ever had, like, something that has a lot of cheese on it and you can chew it and you can taste it, and it's stretchy and it sounds good, but there's not a lot of flavor going on in the cheese. Like, the cheese doesn't have a taste.

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah. Not all cheese has a strong flavor, texture. Yeah.

[Mary Kish]

Even, like, sometimes nacho cheese, it's not tasty. It's like more of a dipping excursion. It's like, ooh.

[Dan Reichert]

It's like avocado, where it's. Yeah, it's like a texture thing. It's like avocado doesn't have the strongest flavor, but it's, like, pleasurable to eat.

[Mary Kish]

Yeah. And you can put stuff in it that tastes good. Right. That's how guac exists. And I feel the same way with queso, which is like a queso in. In America, at least, like, where we have, like, all this crap that we put in it. So it gives cheese, nacho cheese, like, a lot of flavor. So in these food trucks, the cheese that they put on these tacos is so flavorful and they tasted great. One of my favorite dishes that I had the whole trip was just. Just straight up. It was just beef and cheese, and it came with tortillas. And you scooped beef and cheese in these tortillas, and then you just. You just munged them down, and they were so jam packed full of flavor. I thought of you when I had them, and I wrote the restaurant's name down and I'll send it to you. And it was fricking great. It was just like the one. There's differences. I just want to clarify. Like, the restaurant is like a touristy restaurant, and then the food trucks are like, this is a mom and pop situation. So it's different experiences, but either time when I had a quesadilla, I was like, this cheese is fantastic. I loved the cheese there, and I would do it again. Also, the food trucks were insanely cheap. Four people. We ate dinner at a food truck for ten bucks.

[Dan Reichert]

Ten bucks total.

[Mary Kish]

Total.

[Dan Reichert]

Holy shit. That's awesome.

[Mary Kish]

I know.

[Mike Mahardy]

It's a lot of good. It's not tequila.

[Mary Kish]

I had a lot of margaritas. I am a mezcal girl. So I did a lot of mezcal and say, that's smoky drinks.

[Mike Mahardy]

Puerto Vallarta is in Jalisco, I believe, which is where most tequila comes from.

[Mary Kish]

They had. They had tequila tours. I didn't do a tequila tour. I only did the food tour. I was. I was not adventurous this trip. I didn't do any excursions. I didn't like just relaxing.

[Mike Mahardy]

Nothing wrong with that.

[Mary Kish]

I didn't ride my bike. You know what I mean? I didn't like. I didn't do shit. I specifically did one food tour, and then the rest of the trip, I basically sat on a beach and ordered drinks. If you go to these beach clubs, you can just sit and order drinks, and then often people will actually come up to you with, like, little things in case you want to buy little knickknacks, you know, like, they have so many different things, but, you know, just knickknacks that you might want to take home. And I sat there for two days, and that was it. And then my trip was over, so it went really quick. When you do a whole lot of nothing, I read that sounds all right, right? It was nice. I think there's other people who are like, aren't you bored? I was like, I chose to be bored. I wanted to be bored. Yeah, there's paid to be bored, if that makes sense.

[Mike Mahardy]

We. We're. We just booked 10 days in Ireland in June. And we liked what we did in France where it's like, there's that section in the middle where we kind of just relaxed, went to a nice hotel, did not do much at all. But we've been. We've been on trips too, where it's like, we. We're usually pretty adventurous, but also it's just awesome to not do shit for a while and also be away from home. So then you're not thinking about all the responsibilities you have when you come back. And you're also just not thinking about doing shit. So it's extra relaxing.

[Mary Kish]

Yeah. Have you heard of people who are like, I need a vacation after that vacation? Because it was very exhausting and they did a lot. I think this is an interesting topic because I have a girlfriend whose husband vacations very differently than she does. She's a relaxing girly, like me. She likes to sit and do nothing. She wants to sleep in on her holidays and, like, worry about what she's going to eat for dinner that night. Like, that's what she wants to do. He's the opposite. He's like, I'm paying a lot of money to be in this amazing country. We need to do an excursion every day so that we're seeing this place and we're experiencing it and, like, meeting other locals and other people on this adventure. And we have lots of memories and they both have valid things that they want, but they're extremely different. And on their honeymoon, they got into it because he was like, come on, we gotta make this boat tour by four. And she was like, I don't wanna walk anymore today. And he was like, but the boat tour. And she was like, but my, like, life. I don't care. I don't care about the boat. I don't care about the culture anymore. I don't care about the experiences. I want to sit by a pool and have a nap. And they had. They had, like, a big spat about it. And now on their vacations, they're still, like, married and in love, but they, like, recognized on that trip that they were very different vacationers. And so now they plan for it and they have specific days where he goes on an excursion by himself and she sits and does fucking fuck all. And then they come back and they're more in love than ever. But they had to, like, figure that out.

[Dan Reichert]

Sure. Yeah, there's. There's something to that. I feel like, like, when Bach and I travel, I think, you know, she does a lot of the planning. Like, like with Aruba, when we went There. And it's like, okay, so we're gonna have these days where it's like, we'll get up in the morning, we're gonna do. We're gonna ride horses by the shore and do all this stuff. And then we got a really nice, like, dinner reserved for later in the evening. But then there's this four hour chunk in. In between where it's specifically, we're keeping this open so we can just kind of like hang out and walk along the beach or just kind of explore or go to a bar or whatever. And I think that was. That's a good mix, you know, because, like, you go to a place like that and you want to be able to relax, but also you want to like, parasail and ride horses and do all that stuff. So you can kind of get both if you plan it right.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah, there's a balance. Some of the, Some of, like, the relaxing days end up being my favorite.

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah.

[Mike Mahardy]

Like, again, halfway through our long French trip, there was one day when both of us were exhausted and we're like, well, we don't have anything planned, so just kind of wander around. We ended up stumbling on, supposedly one of the more famous, like, farmers markets in central France. Ended up just cooking at the Airbnb that night and having wine from around the area that we had found, which was awesome. And did not have to stay up past like 9:30pm that sounds all right.

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah, that sounds good.

[Mary Kish]

But yeah, I think the mix is good. You don't want to, like, you don't want to do nothing your whole trip either and, like, have no memories, like.

[Mike Mahardy]

Right.

[Mary Kish]

Because even sitting by the pool, it's nice, but, like, you probably want to have a couple good fun things that happened. I just think I'm more of a spur of the moment person, not a planned adventure person. On our last night, we're like, it's our last night, let's go out. And so we googled a couple clubs. Last minute we stumbled into them and it turned out that they were great and the DJ was super fun and we danced until four in the morning and that's awesome. So, like, you can do both. It's just that, that mix. Are you a planner, Mike? Like, are you planning excursions and trips or.

[Mike Mahardy]

I'm more of a planner than my wife. We both like to. I think we both like the balance. Like for Ireland, for example, we've got. We booked a restaurant in each city. We're gonna, we're going from Dublin to Cork to Galway, but we're leaving Some time to find some, like, roadside pubs and spots between and little fishing towns. But I'm generally the one who plans stuff. But I'm definitely not opposed at all to sitting by a pool and not doing shit like our mini moon right after the wedding. We did not do much at all. I definitely make most of the restaurant reservations. You did stuff? Oh, we did stuff.

[Dan Reichert]

Come on.

[Mike Mahardy]

We did some stuff.

[Dan Reichert]

Oh, my God.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah, yeah.

[Dan Reichert]

Family podcast.

[Mike Mahardy]

Went through like three packs of Magnums. No, I'm just kidding.

[Mary Kish]

Just to clarify.

[Mike Mahardy]

So Ireland's been sick, though. What else is new? Oh, I've been. I'm just going to keep going. We have been watching the Bond movies. We're almost back to Daniel Craig. Some revelations along the way. Roger Moore was in was Bond for way too long. By the.

[Dan Reichert]

He's the most, right?

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah, he's got six or seven. And we liked him at first, even though his first movie was weird and bad and racist. Living my life.

[Dan Reichert]

I imagine that applies to numerous.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yes, but his first one, Live and Let Die.

[Dan Reichert]

Oh, Baron Sandy. Yeah.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yep. But by the end it. His last one was A View to a Kill, which Christopher Walken was the villain. I actually liked it more than I thought I would. Based on. That's like when Mayday is the. The henchwoman. He's get a. He got. He gets a blimp, brings it to San Francisco Silicon Valley. His plan is to do this underwater earthquake that destroys Silicon Valley so then his criminal syndicate can manufacture all the computer chips. I actually liked it. It was dumb, but I enjoyed it.

[Dan Reichert]

Now, which one was the last one you watched?

[Mike Mahardy]

We just finished. We just started Die another day before recording.

[Dan Reichert]

Okay. Okay. Because, like, I. The first one that came out while I was old enough to, like, watch movies was goldeneye, which we've talked about. But, like, I've seen every. All the Brosnan ones and then I saw the Craig ones up until Spectre. So I haven't seen Spectre or no Time to Die. And I've heard Spectre was terrible boring. And then I heard most people liked no Time to Die. So it's like, if I want to go back, I'm curious, should I watch no Time to Die and just skip Spectre?

[Mike Mahardy]

Unfortunately, Spectre does set up. I think it's Leah Sedu is the. Her character is pretty huge and no Time to Die. No Time to Die is really long. Specter is boring is the worst part. If memory serves. I'll confirm that when we get back. But from what I remember, if you don't want to just read a Wikipedia. I do think Specter is kind of integral to no Time to Die.

[Dan Reichert]

Okay.

[Mike Mahardy]

I do remember liking no Time to Die.

[Dan Reichert]

Okay. I feel like I should check it out because that's probably gonna be the last Craig one, right?

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah, I believe it is. And who knows what's gonna happen now that Amazon owns all that shit.

[Dan Reichert]

Oh, right, right.

[Mike Mahardy]

But, yeah, I. I don't think this is that unpopular of an opinion, but re watching them, I'm pretty sure goldeneye is Pierce Brosnan's, like, only good Bond.

[Dan Reichert]

I remember Die Another Day was like. It has some so stupid. They're kind of fun things between, like, the laser and surfing on the snow and the Madonna fencing thing has the invisible car.

[Mike Mahardy]

Halle Berry.

[Dan Reichert]

I'm half the woman I used to be. Like, yeah, it's the guy who has diamonds in his face. Like, it's so stupid.

[Mike Mahardy]

Therapy.

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah, I kind of liked.

[Mike Mahardy]

It's entertaining so far. We're about halfway through. I used to like when I was younger, World is Not Enough. Just rewatching that with Christmas Jones. Denise Richards, who.

[Dan Reichert]

Right. Christmas only comes once a year.

[Mike Mahardy]

I thought Christmas only came once a year. Which, let's be clear, is a phenomenal line.

[Dan Reichert]

The rest of the. A really good one. Yes.

[Mike Mahardy]

The rest of the year. The movie, though, is really bad dialogue.

[Dan Reichert]

But Terry Hatcher, that's Tomorrow. Right, right. And so be. Who's the French lady that was in a movie about dogs? She was one of the Bond girls during one of those. And then Timothy, the bad guy, the tech. The Elon type dude in Tomorrow Never Dies. Jonathan Price.

[Mike Mahardy]

I'm thinking Jonathan Price was. Yeah, he was like. He was the media mogul who was, like, creating wars to get his broadcasting station bigger. And he's talking about how much of a genius he is the whole time, yet he can't foresee that broadcast news would be dying in, like, four years.

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah, but it was like Katzenberg making quibi. He thought he was a genius.

[Mike Mahardy]

Michelle Yeoh is his, like. What's the word I'm looking for? Like, a Chinese counterpart. Chinese intelligence counterpart.

[Dan Reichert]

Okay.

[Mike Mahardy]

In Tomorrow Never Dies, World is. The World Is Not Enough. It's Denise Richards. I forget who plays Elektra. Who ends up being the real villain. She's just pretending that she was kidnapped.

[Mary Kish]

Spoilers I.

[Mike Mahardy]

This movie 99, I think Sophie Marceau.

[Dan Reichert]

That'S who I'm thinking of. What was she in? She was in. She's in one of the ones we're just talking about.

[Mike Mahardy]

It might be Electra.

[Dan Reichert]

The World is Not enough.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah. Electro, right? Yeah.

[Dan Reichert]

Yes. Electra King. Yeah.

[Mike Mahardy]

She's good.

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah. Yeah, she's a babe.

[Mike Mahardy]

They all are.

[Dan Reichert]

Weird.

[Mike Mahardy]

I know. So really excited to get back to Casino Royale, which is one of the best. I've been ranking all of them.

[Mary Kish]

Do you have like a actual list of the rank?

[Dan Reichert]

Yep.

[Mike Mahardy]

You want to hear my current one? So we have not finished Thigh Another day. I've watched 19. It might take a few. People are gonna go crazy over.

[Mary Kish]

Are you doing it? Can you do it from. What do you want to see?

[Mike Mahardy]

I think more interesting to start with my favorite.

[Mary Kish]

Okay.

[Mike Mahardy]

Because I don't think my favorite. I think my favorite will catch people off guard. Thunderball with Sean Connery, specifically because that was the first one where I feel like they finally started actually, like doing a bunch of cool ass set pieces. And the dialogue is nowhere near good enough in that era to carry the movie by itself. The globetrotting gets old after like four movies. Thunderball's awesome. There's this whole sequence where they, like stop a jet and it goes underwater and a bunch of divers attack it and take the bombs out and then they put netting over it to hide it. It's great. Two is From Russia with Love.

[Mary Kish]

Let me ask you another question. Did you watch them in sequential order?

[Mike Mahardy]

We are, yeah. We got the Blu Ray collection.

[Mary Kish]

Okay, go ahead.

[Mike Mahardy]

It was on sale for like $20 a few months ago. I was like, I should get this because I don't know why not. From Russia would Love is my second. I don't think that'll surprise anybody.

[Dan Reichert]

Never saw it.

[Mike Mahardy]

It's good. It's slow. It feels more like a, like Criterion movie. But it's just him and what's his name? Quint from Jaws.

[Dan Reichert]

Oh, Robert Shaw. Yeah.

[Mike Mahardy]

He's like his Russian, like, assassin stalking him the whole movie. It's cool. Like cat and mouse. Goldeneye is my third one rewatching goldeneye. That movie's still great.

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah, it's really good.

[Mike Mahardy]

The whole. Sean or. Yeah, Sean Bean, Alec Trevelyan. Like, the fact that I'd never paid attention to the whole Leon's Cossack backstory with him. When I was younger, the. The group that was, like, sided with the Nazis then at the end of the war, agreed to help the British and then the British, like, killed a bunch of them. I don't know if they manufactured a lot of that for. I got. I have not.

[Dan Reichert]

Oh, I don't even remember that. I've seen that movie 10 times. I don't remember that at all.

[Mike Mahardy]

That's like, his whole motivation. He wants revenge on the British government, so he infiltrated MIA. He became 006.

[Dan Reichert]

There's parts of that movie I remember very well.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah, still really good. Goldfinger number four, License to Kill Dalton. Yes. He did two movies, and I loved both of them. And he's awesome. He might be my third favorite Bond after Craig and Pierce Brosnan.

[Dan Reichert]

Is he alive? He's alive. Look at that. Good for him.

[Mike Mahardy]

The last thing I saw, Timothy Dalton, he was in Hot Fuzz. He was like, the main villain, right?

[Dan Reichert]

Yes, he is.

[Mike Mahardy]

Living Daylights was his first one, so he's got the five and six spot right now. Man with the Golden Gun, which I don't think a lot of people love, but I liked it quite a bit. It was really dumb. It's just Sean Connery versus Christopher Lee, who is the man with the golden Gun, who just invites people to his island and brings them into a funhouse and then, like, makes challenges for himself to kill them.

[Dan Reichert]

This sounds great. That's like me in 40 years.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yes. Yeah. You should watch man with a Golden Gun. You're just crystal.

[Dan Reichert]

But I wouldn't kill anyone. I would just, like, throw pies in their face or something.

[Mary Kish]

Man with a Nacho Cheese Gun.

[Mike Mahardy]

This one is.

[Mary Kish]

I don't expect you to do anything, Mr. Bond. Just die. And you're eating so many schnachos, you're eating a chili cheese bean burrito while you try and laser his groin.

[Dan Reichert]

Sounds like a good time.

[Mary Kish]

That's just.

[Dan Reichert]

It's a good Friday night.

[Mike Mahardy]

I think this one will be controversial. Number eight for me right now is Her Majesty's Secret Service. First one on Her Majesty's Secret Service. No, George Lazenby's only.

[Dan Reichert]

I thought that was the first one.

[Mike Mahardy]

He came after Sean Connery, and then it went awry and they brought Sean.

[Dan Reichert]

Connery back for Never say Never Again.

[Mike Mahardy]

No, that was the Non Aeon film one. He did another one. It's here somewhere on this list, but I don't remember which one. Then Tomorrow Never Dies. And then for your Eyes Only, which was Roger Moore. But they did it. That was like Greece and Turkey. They did some, like, revenge stuff there where the. The Bond girl wanted to kill James. What did I just say? For your Eyes. The Spy who Loved Me, which is when he gets married and then his wife dies right at the end.

[Dan Reichert]

Okay.

[Mike Mahardy]

And he doesn't seem to care that much. I forgot how long they carry that through. Now that I say it out loud, I don't think I like that. Movie. You Only Live Twice.

[Mary Kish]

Which number are you at?

[Mike Mahardy]

Oh, 13, unfortunately. You only Live Twice. Sean Connery basically does Yellow Face, so that's not great.

[Dan Reichert]

No.

[Mike Mahardy]

There is like a huge kung fu fight toward the end and there's a secret base under a volcano.

[Dan Reichert]

That's. Those parts sound all right.

[Mike Mahardy]

When I describe all these out loud, I don't think I liked any of them. The World Is not enough at 14, live and let die at 15, which is Roger Moore's first one. And they do a lot of the like. Like voodoo culture kind of shit that they do terribly that. Not that that's shit. You know what I mean? It's shit. In the movie A View to a Kill, Octopussy, which was terrible. Diamonds Are Forever, which is like Vegas and awful. Although there are the two henchmen in Diamonds Are Forever that are very weird and actually kind of have something to do with an email we got for later and then Moonraker. It's as bad as everybody says, but, like, it's Main Moon Breaker. Yeah, yeah.

[Mary Kish]

That's not even a good name.

[Dan Reichert]

I think it's an awesome name. It's.

[Mary Kish]

What's the Moonraker?

[Dan Reichert]

The laser.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah, it's a laser. But also the movie's boring as shit. And it came out, I believe, like, right after Star wars, so they're like, oh, we got to. We got to do some sci fi stuff.

[Mary Kish]

Got to do moon stuff.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yes.

[Dan Reichert]

It's so weird.

[Mary Kish]

The moon is so hot right now.

[Dan Reichert]

I just. The only one before a Brosnan movie or goldeneye that I've seen is. I think I said Goldfinger in college. But I think I was just so into goldeneye, the movie and specifically the game, which the game does some things where it's like you can unlock Baron Semite and Jaws and Odd Job and all this stuff, and you got the Moonraker laser and all this shit that, like, there was a period I was just like, looking up a lot of Bond stuff. So, like, I know all the Bonds and I know a lot of the big beats of all the movies and stuff, but I basically just seen Brosnan and Craig and not even all those, but it's just like through Osmosis, through being obsessed with the game, I think I learned, like, so much about that.

[Mary Kish]

That's cool that you got to, like, have all that. There are. There are the ladies in the games. I feel like they're not in multiplayer.

[Dan Reichert]

Well, yeah, yeah. There's like a boss fight against Xenia in GoldenEye. There's a lot of, like, protecting Natalia from GoldenEye in that, and then Mayday's in it.

[Mike Mahardy]

She's a unlock character in multiplayer.

[Dan Reichert]

Sure, sure.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah. So not many.

[Dan Reichert]

Some of them. I mean, the only one that's really, really great is Golden. There's a lot of good ones. Like, the PS2 era had some good Bond games. It's a really cool thing they did with From Russia With Love is they, like, brought Connery back when Connery was probably, like, 70, or at least late 60s. And they had. In the end, they had Connery voice Bond again for the first time in forever. And this game came out in, like, probably the mid to late 2000s. And I just thought it was a really cool thing for a game. It's like, all right, we can have him be young Bond again. He still sounds like Sean Connery.

[Mary Kish]

Does he still sound like it? I feel like when you're 70, you kind of sound like you're 70.

[Dan Reichert]

I remember it not being. I mean, I have. I'd have to go back. I haven't seen it forever, but, like, I remember thinking, like, this is cool. Like, it wasn't the best game in the world, but I thought it's like, this is a noble attempt at doing something cool here.

[Mary Kish]

That's cool. I mean, I just. Like, they didn't get the original actor for Indiana Jones Game, you know, like, he's 70.

[Dan Reichert]

Super worked out, though. Like, yeah, they got him for the movie. They got Harrison Ford for the movie. Did a bunch of shitty de aging. But then you got Troy Baker to.

[Mary Kish]

Do the voice, which worked in the opposite, though, right? Like, don't de.

[Mike Mahardy]

Should have been Indiana Jones Baker in.

[Mary Kish]

The movie and get the OG Voice, because all he has to do is do his little quips against the Nazis, which he can do.

[Dan Reichert]

I don't know. I heard the Harrison Ford Conan podcast, and he sounds like an old man.

[Mike Mahardy]

Oh, yeah.

[Dan Reichert]

But he's still, like, he's super there. Like, he still has all of that wit, and he's hilarious on the Conan podcast. And, like, so he's. I love seeing old guys that. It's like, okay, that's still. Even though he doesn't look the same or walk the same or talk the same, it's like, he's still that guy.

[Mary Kish]

You know, he's very funny and shrinking. And I've heard.

[Dan Reichert]

I've heard the show's good.

[Mary Kish]

He's killing it and shrinking. People are talking about that show a lot, and I finally ended up watching it, and it's great, and it is really worth watching. I think it's a fantastic. Just a great acted show from everyone. But he's kind of the star. He's kind of the comic relief, which is so odd and it has some serious subject matter in it. And anytime he's in the room, we're just like, you know, that old coot's gonna, like accidentally take too many mushrooms. Like he's gonna do something, you know he's gonna do something wacky. He ends up just always being the comedic relief in every scene.

[Dan Reichert]

I. I'm a big fan of old guys getting paid. Like, you know, so Harrison Ford, I feel like, was gone for like 15 years and then he pops up. Now he's just doing car commercials, showing up in movies and just getting paid. What's that? Oh, yeah, yeah. John Carpenter is in that same category. I think, like, De Niro is fully. De Niro and Pacino are both in full on. Like, hey, we did our stuff where we won our Oscars and did our art house Scorsese stuff and they can still dabble in that. Boy, yeah, they will just show up in a Sandler movie or a Meet the Fockers and just get paid. And I have all the respect in the world for it.

[Mike Mahardy]

There's an interview with Harrison Ford recently. I think it was some just press circuit kind of thing where they're like, the interviewer asked him because they had had a good report. He's like, so do you feel kind of like ridiculous playing the red Hulk and Harrison Ford? Like, I thought he was going to be pissed. He's like, well, yeah, but that's what the money's for.

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah, yeah.

[Mike Mahardy]

They're paying me to be an.

[Dan Reichert]

It's like every Comic Con where they bring John Carpenter out and somebody asks like, oh, so what are your thoughts? They're making these new Halloween movies and some of them aren't being received well. And it's like, you know, like, this is your baby. And it's like he's. He's so old now and he's just like, listen, this is my involvement with that. They say, we're gonna make a movie. And then I put my hand out and they put a bunch of money in it and I say thank you. And then I never think about it again. Like, fuck, yeah, that guy's awesome.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah, they're. I appreciate that. They're not, like, stuck up enough to be like, oh, they're ruining my creations. Like, yeah, it's out of your hands. Just.

[Mary Kish]

They evolve. I think, like, there's an element of this where the original fan base who have worked, who have put a lot of time and energy into that space, have every right to be like, oh, this isn't for me. Right? This happened with Star wars time and time again where, where the original fans are like, you have fucked up this thing that I love.

[Dan Reichert]

Sure.

[Mary Kish]

But at some point it's actually just not for the original fans anymore. It's for children or it's for like a new generation, it's for a new audience. And you have every right to say, oh, this isn't for me anymore, and not watch it. But you can't hold on to something and try and own it. It's just not in our control anymore. Once like the cultural zeitgeist has taken it, it might evolve into something you don't like. And then that's just, that's just the way it is, man.

[Dan Reichert]

That's why it's so funny when it's like something like a Ghostbusters or a Ninja Turtle or something that was popular among like guys my age, like a new one comes out and then like 40 year old ass men are just like, this isn't for me. And it's like, yeah, dude, those cartoons you watched in the 80s and 90s weren't for your 40 year old parents either. Like, this is for a new generation here. Like you mentioned Star Wars Mary. That was the ultimate one where it's like when that new trilogy, the prequel trilogy came out and all these like older fans now are like, what the fuck? Jar Jar is a kid's character. And it's like, well, no, but you talk to kids that were like 6, 7 when the Phantom Menace came out and they have very fond, you know, young memories of those movies.

[Mary Kish]

Jar Jar was very popular with annoying children. They love annoying characters.

[Mike Mahardy]

They can see themselves in him.

[Mary Kish]

They can empathize and relate. And I feel the same way with all of the remakes of the Disney classics, right? They're like, they keep like remaking my beloved Disney classics into real life. I don't like them. But that they're not for me. They're not remaking these classics for me. They're making them for children to relive my young. Oh my God. My experience of seeing Aladdin in theaters. Oh, I just have to say I think we are the best generation of all time. I know all generations think this, but like I saw Aladdin in theaters as a child.

[Dan Reichert]

Same.

[Mary Kish]

And it was so sick, you guys. And it blew my tiny child brain when they did this 3D part of the, of the rug. And it was like, weaving in and out. And I was like, you can't animate that. That's not possible. And my dad was like, 3D is here. And it just blew my mind.

[Dan Reichert]

The. The sand, like, lion thing, when that opened. That looks incredible. That looks so great. Or the tower when it was rolling and stuff like, that was magical. Like, I feel like, yes, Mary, you're right. That Disney era, like, when I think about my Disney childhood, it is firmly Aladdin. It's a lady, and it's. No, no, no, no, no, no, no.

[Mike Mahardy]

I'm joking.

[Dan Reichert]

We're gonna. We're gonna turn hard on it. Aladdin and the Lion King. And it's like, yes. When you're 8 or 10 years old, those are masterful experiences. When it's, you know, an entire catalog, an entire brand obsession and you're, you know, 40, then it's a little more troublesome. But, you know, they did some good stuff back then.

[Mary Kish]

I'm not saying that I'm gonna go to the kingdom that they've constructed for children, you know, and get the season.

[Dan Reichert]

Pass and make it your whole personality as a nearly 40 year old and.

[Mary Kish]

Get the ears for each season.

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah.

[Mary Kish]

That's not how far I'm in.

[Mike Mahardy]

We just go to Nintendo museums and.

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah, like cool adults.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah, exactly.

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah, you get it. Mario. Which is like gritty and adult.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah, Totally different. Same time.

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, you get it.

[Mike Mahardy]

We get it.

[Dan Reichert]

We're cool adults.

[Mary Kish]

We're cool. We get a pass.

[Mike Mahardy]

Geeks. So what's going on with you guys?

[Dan Reichert]

Oh, oh, Mary mentioned quesadillas earlier. I made a note on my game notes document that I need to make a quesadilla. Well, no, yeah, it does, because it literally does.

[Mary Kish]

And he just drew a quesadilla because he doesn't know how to spell it. And it's just a circle.

[Dan Reichert]

Give me where I deserve it. Spelling is not that spot.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah, yeah. He gets really defensive by his spelling bee chop.

[Mary Kish]

Because it's true.

[Mike Mahardy]

Actually, have I. Have I asked you to spell the word that I weirdly remember the word that the kid won the script spelling bee with in. When was I in sixth grade. I would have been 12, so that would have been 2003. Okay, 2003, the script spelling bee. The word was autochthonous. It's a. Basically a synonym for indigenous.

[Dan Reichert]

That I don't think I could.

[Mike Mahardy]

It's autochthonous. I think we did this, like, episode four.

[Dan Reichert]

Is it a U T? Is that how it starts?

[Mike Mahardy]

Yes.

[Dan Reichert]

Say it again.

[Mike Mahardy]

Autochthonous.

[Dan Reichert]

Autoc och after that.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yes.

[Dan Reichert]

A u t o c h.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yes.

[Dan Reichert]

T e n o u s Stay that again. T e n like tenuous. T e n o u s. No.

[Mike Mahardy]

But very, very close. T t o n o u s. Okay, okay.

[Dan Reichert]

Like, okay. Yeah. Okay.

[Mike Mahardy]

All right.

[Dan Reichert]

Sure, sure. But back to quesadillas.

[Mary Kish]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I feel like we've gotten way off from quesadillas.

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah, yeah, Quesadillas. Dispelling. I'm loving cooking a lot, and I'm doing it more like, you know, I was doing the cocktail stuff and everything. I was like, oh, I like doing cocktails, but I can't cook. And then it's like, you're not telling.

[Mike Mahardy]

Me this until now. I've been telling you to learn how to cook for, like, 10 years, and you don't give me a text or anything.

[Dan Reichert]

I'm not going to text you every time I sear a chicken. So it started very simple with me just being like, I need to start eating vegetables and fruits or I'm probably going to die quicker than I should, that is. And so I just started doing, like, all right, every night's gonna be a boneless, skinless chicken breast that I sous vide, and then, like, I'm gonna make a vegetable. And so it'd just be like, okay, here's a sous vide chicken breast and, you know, asparagus or something like that. And now I'm usually doing two veggies, and now I got a cast iron pan, and I'm doing the searing on that with some canola oil and all that. Tonight I made a salmon with. With roasted carrots and potatoes. And, like, I'm doing all these things with different seasonings, and I want to just keep stretching out like. Like the taco. I bottle, like, taco holder thing for the air fryer, and I'm making. I'm spreading olive oil on little tortillas and folding them up and do an avocado mashing them up, and made my own taco seasoning. I so, like, yeah, when I make quesadilla, turns out cooking. Super fun.

[Mary Kish]

Yeah, I like it.

[Dan Reichert]

It's very exciting for me.

[Mary Kish]

Where did this come from?

[Mike Mahardy]

Because we were trying to piss me off.

[Mary Kish]

You told us you wouldn't cook.

[Mike Mahardy]

Dan, this is. This is. I'm actually like, this. I'm. This is not a bit. I'm angry.

[Dan Reichert]

This is not a bit with me either.

[Mike Mahardy]

Okay, then I am even more angrier. Dan, go back like, four episodes. I told you, once you start cooking, you'll love it. I believe me.

[Dan Reichert]

No, I'm not with you. I believe.

[Mike Mahardy]

Warhammer thing. You don't listen to people.

[Mary Kish]

I think I feel like a lot.

[Dan Reichert]

Of people take this personally where it's just like, dan, I told you. This is like, look, anyone who hears me say something and then I forget it. It's like, just know that's everyone. Mitch Imanotti does it every time on Blake Love.

[Mike Mahardy]

You're a solipsistic person. And you're a narcissist. What got you past. What got you past your sphere of.

[Dan Reichert]

Flames, wanting vegetables in my life and.

[Mary Kish]

Trying to figure out how to make that happen.

[Mike Mahardy]

But you had this whole thing about you how you couldn't find time to make broccoli because you got to beat all these video games. Where did you get the time?

[Dan Reichert]

Well, I mean, you know, you got to change your schedule around a little bit. And like. Like today I spent like an hour in the kitchen.

[Mike Mahardy]

You know, I'm not. I don't. I'm.

[Mary Kish]

Maybe you incepted it into his brain. Like, have you ever considered the fact that you are his hero?

[Mike Mahardy]

You could find time to make broccoli. I think you're fucking with me.

[Mary Kish]

Maybe you fixed him.

[Dan Reichert]

I swear to God, I'm not with you.

[Mary Kish]

I was there. I'm telling you.

[Dan Reichert]

I remember the conversation. I do remember that. Yeah. Okay. I mean, I. I was even talking about just broccoli in the air fryer, which takes like 10 minutes. Yeah, I don't know if my. Well, you know what? Maybe that was during the time I was traveling non stop, and I've actually had a couple months off of traveling, so maybe that's a big no.

[Mike Mahardy]

You said you literally ran through your entire day's schedule with us. Mary and I did the math.

[Mary Kish]

I wrote it down. Remember?

[Mike Mahardy]

Three hours, you said all these video games.

[Mary Kish]

I put 45 minutes down for teeth. Remember that?

[Mike Mahardy]

Yes.

[Dan Reichert]

That's too much. And now that's what it was. I'm done with the tooth stuff now, so maybe that's it. Maybe my tooth stuff got figured out. Now I'm finding all this time, his.

[Mary Kish]

Teeth is now five minutes. And now there's 40 minutes extra for broccoli.

[Dan Reichert]

Tooth is easy now. Broccoli.

[Mike Mahardy]

I swear to God. I swear to God. I'm so fucking. If you one day decide to spend like six months getting into wine and then you do a bit on the show and you just casually bring up like the different difference between Chianti and Chianti Classico, I think I've gone as.

[Dan Reichert]

Far as I can now with the white. I went from being like, I'll never drink this because my dad says it's for high maintenance women. And only that the whole time I was growing up, then I came around, I became.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah, I'm a high maintenance. I know.

[Dan Reichert]

That is what my dad thinks of Mike. Yes.

[Mary Kish]

Lady, that's what I'm.

[Mike Mahardy]

That's like exactly what I'm going for.

[Dan Reichert]

So, yes, I got past all that old Paul stuff and I got to the point now where it's like, oh, every once in a while, if I want to have some drinks, I will just pop open a bottle of wine. And I think, you know, I've tried, you know, the fine wines and I've tried, you know, like.

[Mike Mahardy]

Never mind.

[Dan Reichert]

Well, no, not. I know what you're talking about, but I've had the ones that you've recommended, like when we go to restaurants and stuff like that. And it's like, it's good, it's all good. But I definitely don't have the palate to like, I didn't. I don't think I'm going to become a, like, wine guy on that level. I just am a guy who enjoys wine on occasion now, which is.

[Mike Mahardy]

I meant I could see you doing it to spite me.

[Dan Reichert]

That would be funny.

[Mike Mahardy]

I know. And I'd be pissed.

[Dan Reichert]

But if I act like I know more than you would do it for the.

[Mary Kish]

But I don't think he would do it to destroy you. I think he would do it just to watch you squirm.

[Dan Reichert]

But I.

[Mike Mahardy]

What I meant by the stove thing is what you had, like, this fear of it. I know that you decided you needed was like Bianca helping you or did you watch videos on how to use it? What got you past just the actual, like, anxious fear of using it?

[Dan Reichert]

A big part of it was just like the splattering of like, it was just like a murder scene every time I put a chicken breast on the thing. And now I'm just realizing now, like, more like what oil to use. How much oil to use specifically. Big thing is patting down the chicken breasts or the salmon.

[Mike Mahardy]

Like, when it comes down to oil in the.

[Dan Reichert]

No, I'm patting it the fuck down. It is pretty dry by the time I put it in there.

[Mary Kish]

Pretty.

[Dan Reichert]

So, yeah, so I'm just getting better at that. So honestly, YouTube has been very, very helpful with that.

[Mary Kish]

Well, yeah, I got some good recipes, food delivery services that give you, like, the chicken and the recipe. Those are really nice to teach you some basics.

[Dan Reichert]

It was really helpful because, like, I've done a couple sponsorship things on Twitch with, like, hellofresh and stuff like that. And it's like, okay, you're just going to give me all the stuff, tell me step by step what to do. Like, that was a pretty good intro to that stuff.

[Mary Kish]

Hellofresh is a great intro to cooking. I really do think so. They're all about the same, right? I don't think anyone is, like, way above the other. They all kind of deliver you the meat and the sauce, but they give you lots of tips and tricks of, like, seasoning and make, patting it down. And a lot of the times I was amazed with how often I was like, so wait, you're telling me this sauce is just the chicken crusties on the pan and butter and, like, sour cream and that's it? And that's my sauce. And I was like, oh, I can do that. And so eventually, I didn't use those anymore because I was learning that I can make a sauce from, like, the shit in my house. I could figure it out. But having that foundational knowledge of how to make a sauce for your chicken is really nice to have.

[Mike Mahardy]

Well, yeah.

[Dan Reichert]

And, like, you know, like, taco seasoning and stuff like that is something I never thought of in my life. And then when I learned, like, oh, okay, I just, you know, I'll get a little bowl, and I'll put some, like, cumin and some chili powder. You can make it pepper and paprika and stuff. It's like, I'm just gonna make my own little mix here. And then you can like, tweak things or it's like, oh, I really like the taste of cumin. I'm a little heavier on that. And it's. It's fun as hell.

[Mary Kish]

I think that's cool. I like that you're. You're excited about it. I do. I also like that it pisses Mike off, so I think I'm benefiting from both ends.

[Mike Mahardy]

I'm not. I'm happy for you.

[Dan Reichert]

Not the intention. No. I'm very much just an angry guy.

[Mike Mahardy]

I'm very glad you're cooking.

[Mary Kish]

He's just an angry guy.

[Dan Reichert]

He is. Hey, why don't you chill out and have a savangan?

[Mike Mahardy]

I have no idea what you're trying to say there for, like, both. All three syllables. I'm glad you're cooking.

[Dan Reichert]

I. You don't sound glad.

[Mike Mahardy]

I wish I had recommended it. Even harder.

[Mary Kish]

I wish I had spent recommend three hours. We spent a full hour trying to convince you, and I Think for the record, I think that information went somewhere into the Reese pieces of Dan's brain, and he did not acknowledge it. And he may never acknowledge it, but you might have flipped the switch that started him. Credit.

[Mike Mahardy]

I just want to. It's not like you want credit. It's like I. I want to know my voice is heard.

[Dan Reichert]

It is in the moment, and then it's forgotten and then it comes back. But I think it was my idea.

[Mike Mahardy]

Do you sit up straight, like bolt upright in the middle of the night, Be like, I can cook?

[Dan Reichert]

No, I feel like I'm coming to these realizations by myself.

[Mike Mahardy]

That's how I keep coming back to with you, Dan, is you keep bringing things up. Or we recommend things. We're like, hey, I think this would be good for your life. And, you know, add some. Like. I think there's also a meditative aspect to cooking. That's really nice.

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Mike Mahardy]

I think, like, I recommend those things because I. You've said before, I'm good at recommending games and movies. Like, I think I've maybe missed once.

[Dan Reichert]

You're great with recommendations. Yeah.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah. I'm glad you're cooking. It's great. Yeah.

[Dan Reichert]

Like. Like, it's like an hour. I was thinking that today. Cause it's like, you can't just like my. My head is usually in a million different places. I'm just thinking of something, stubbing my toe and all. I'm just like all over the place, falling downstairs and shit. And it's like when you're cooking, I got this sharp ass chef's knife and I'm chopping up potatoes. Pay attention.

[Mike Mahardy]

You're working with your hands.

[Dan Reichert]

I have to be paying attention. And it's like sometimes that you can.

[Mike Mahardy]

Enjoy that you made.

[Mary Kish]

Yeah.

[Mike Mahardy]

Are you. I'm giving you one more chance to tell me you're with me.

[Dan Reichert]

Mike, I swear to God, I am not with you. I think Mary's right in that. Like, I think people tell me things.

[Mary Kish]

You accepted it in there? Yes.

[Dan Reichert]

The part of my brain that is conscious, I think forgets it immediately. But I think there's some deeper part of my brain that, like, everything people are telling me goes in there and sometimes just bubbles to the surface. I'm like, ooh, idea.

[Mary Kish]

You are the sparkle in the eye of a future better dance. You just.

[Dan Reichert]

Thank you.

[Mary Kish]

You just don't know. That's not for you, you fucking idiot. This is for Mike.

[Mike Mahardy]

He's just accepting my confidence, intercepting my compliment.

[Mary Kish]

This is. You are making him a better person over Time. But you probably won't get credit for it. But that's what friends do.

[Dan Reichert]

Imagine how much Bonk does that. Like, tells me a good idea. And then later, I just checked this thing out. She's like, I told you that 20 times.

[Mary Kish]

She probably. She probably incepts you every day. She's probably just like, hey, you know, I was just thinking about how we should flush the toilet every time we use it. And you're like, oh, my God. I don't know.

[Dan Reichert]

I'm great at flushing the toilet.

[Mary Kish]

Who knows, dad? I'm just using a hypothetical neighbor of.

[Mike Mahardy]

How to turn you into her sleeper agent. I just. I don't know. Sometimes I think, like, I don't think anybody should kill that neighbor I hate.

[Mary Kish]

But I don't know, you know, she's evil. She's evil.

[Dan Reichert]

Why are we talking? Oh, I see what you're saying.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Dan Reichert]

Okay.

[Mike Mahardy]

I just like to think, like, Bon is, like, she's got.

[Mary Kish]

What do you think embezzling's all about? Like, what is that?

[Mike Mahardy]

That's like, what was that? How much money you think Giant Bomb had? I'm. I'm just curious.

[Mary Kish]

How does it work? You know?

[Dan Reichert]

Does Balar lock his doors? He's got to have a safe, right?

[Mike Mahardy]

I'm just curious.

[Mary Kish]

Kill people.

[Mike Mahardy]

This fandom, how many people, like, know who has codes to what accounts? You know, I don't know.

[Dan Reichert]

It's just interesting. Something to think about at some point.

[Mike Mahardy]

Fire Escape has, like, a decent number of lists. You think Mike really pays attention? Like, what if he. How long would it take him? How many countries?

[Dan Reichert]

He's a busy guy. Yeah.

[Mary Kish]

Anyway, go to sleep.

[Mike Mahardy]

Good for you. You're cooking.

[Mary Kish]

It's just in there.

[Dan Reichert]

He's rubbing my forehead.

[Mary Kish]

Yeah. Night, sweetheart.

[Mike Mahardy]

Well, I'm so glad that you're cooking. That's great.

[Dan Reichert]

I want to keep doing it. It's evolved just in the months I've been doing it, and I want to keep trying new stuff, you know?

[Mike Mahardy]

Let me know if you need. Well, you don't need any recipes, but I got some good ones.

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah. It's fun looking stuff up and finding different ways to do it.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah.

[Dan Reichert]

A million different ways.

[Mike Mahardy]

In 2025, you can find them soaking.

[Dan Reichert]

Sweet potato fries and bowls of ice to help crispiness and get the starch off. Yeah. Yeah.

[Mary Kish]

I also think you're never too old to learn. I think, like, that is something that is a nice reflection of this place. Like, I. I hope everybody who has never cooked before or, like, doesn't enjoy it. Gets inspired to cook at some point in their life and it's like, okay. It turns out I actually do like cooking. For the first time in my life. I made pasta from scratch. I. I went to. Went to a course because I don't know what the fuck I'm doing. And they showed me what kind of flour to use and to put an egg in it and to like knead it into a dough. And then I put it into a little machine and I cut it out and I made pasta.

[Dan Reichert]

Is it a play doh Gimmick? Like the different.

[Mike Mahardy]

You can do like linguine, you can.

[Mary Kish]

Do bucatini, you can make little bow tie pastas and they teach you how to make bow ties and they teach you how to make like boats and stuff. And so I made all these different little shapes and then I ate them with delicious sauce. And so this wasn't that long ago. I learned in mid February and I made it again on my own at home, just like last week or so.

[Dan Reichert]

Do you have the play doh?

[Mary Kish]

I did. I bought it because I liked the class so much. I have the extra. So I don't have the turn one. It's a machine that goes into my. It's electric. It goes into a machine toaster where you plug.

[Mike Mahardy]

You mean the pasta? Is it like an attachment for another appliance, is what you're saying?

[Mary Kish]

Yeah, it's an attachment for another appliance.

[Mike Mahardy]

Probably not your toaster, I'm assuming.

[Dan Reichert]

I just heard electric and appliance and that was the first word that came to mind.

[Mary Kish]

It's like having a conversation with another adult and like some ding dong that just walked into the room.

[Mike Mahardy]

Toaster. I don't, I don't like. Huh, Blender. Like what I'm. Yeah, now I'm trying to figure out the appliance.

[Mary Kish]

The dough mixer.

[Mike Mahardy]

Oh, yeah, sure. Like you're. I know you're talking about. Yes, it has a bowl to it, but yeah, I know what you're talking about. That's cool. Kitchen. What did you say?

[Mary Kish]

Our. I bet you our listeners are screaming KitchenAid. It's a KitchenAid. And then it's an attachment for the KitchenAid and it automatic, but you still have to feed the dough through it and you get to play with it and stuff. Dan, you probably like making your own pasta. And it tastes better. It tastes good.

[Dan Reichert]

And I'm a big pasta guy. I would like to try this.

[Mike Mahardy]

It tastes pressure.

[Mary Kish]

I think we should make pasta. It's great.

[Mike Mahardy]

It is a very, very good idea. If you're like, having people over. It's a great, like, several hours. Everybody makes pasta together. You let it sit, you have some drinks, and then by the time it's ready and have the sauce going on the stove. It's a very fun, like, dinner party thing where you're all active, then you eat it. Yeah.

[Mary Kish]

Everybody gets rewarded at the end. And I think the food tastes better because you're like, I put a lot of time and energy into this. So, like, it feels good when you eat it because you're like, I made this.

[Mike Mahardy]

I made a short rib ragu sauce with pappardell from the. We have the crank. It has the second attachment, which I have not used yet. It's got several pasta types that I've never heard of. We. We stick to, like, pappardell or linguine or.

[Dan Reichert]

Could. Could you make the thing that we had at that Dario restaurant? No, I don't. Hazelnut.

[Mike Mahardy]

I don't think it has.

[Mary Kish]

No one can make that ravioli.

[Mike Mahardy]

I. God, that was the best you could probably figure. Yes, we have a ravioli maker, but it's a mold with. Specifically with the circular pockets.

[Dan Reichert]

Oh, okay.

[Mike Mahardy]

But, yeah, if you get a ravioli tray, you just have to cut, like, wide enough dough and then you just let it sit, put some flour on it. It's very fun.

[Mary Kish]

You're gonna love it.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah.

[Mary Kish]

Yeah.

[Dan Reichert]

I think there's, you know, I think a lot of people, when I come to something way later in life than I should, there's always a. How do they not know what to do until then? For me, I am my age now, so I'm having the fun now. Although, like, discovery and like, oh, this is fun. I like this thing. So, to me, this is great. You know, it's not like, I don't think, like, oh, I could have been doing this for 30 years. It's like, I'm gonna do it now, and it's fun.

[Mary Kish]

So, yeah, you have, like, the beautiful mindset of, like, well, I didn't know what eggs were. And now you get to enjoy that experience of the egg way later on in life. I enjoy being fascinated by you, but this is not to harm you. I'm just receiving my joy by seeing, like, what is it like when a closet child has broccoli for the first time? I'm curious.

[Dan Reichert]

I think I can thank that for having a podcasting career. Like, a main topic for.

[Mary Kish]

You're a unique soul, Dan Reichert, but we are grateful to learn from you.

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah.

[Mike Mahardy]

The thing I was saying earlier is that When I'm recommending. When I was recommending that you start cooking your. Your, like, response every time I brought it up, which was several, many, just.

[Mary Kish]

Throwing that last credit.

[Mike Mahardy]

It's.

[Dan Reichert]

No, I meant it. I meant it. I remember these conversations.

[Mike Mahardy]

You said, like, I don't know how, like, any of this works. I'm like, nobody did at first. Like, you did not know how to produce live streams in 2020. You learned. Look, I didn't come out in the hospital, be like, oh, suv, I mean.

[Dan Reichert]

Maybe this is a cop out excuse, but, like, I don't think people understand enough how much of an influence good and bad, my father had on me. Where it's like, literally, I get it. Like, like within the last, like, year or two, he's asked me questions about, like, I want to figure out, like, I got a. Somebody gave me a slow cooker. I need something really low effort that I can make in it. And then, like, I forgot who was. I think he posted this on social media and somebody was like, oh, yeah, so you just gotta, like, chop up an onion. He's like, no, no. Low effort. Like, you know, like, the idea of, like, chopping up a vegetable or something was like, I'm not gonna get crazy or I'm not emerald, you know, so it's like growing up, it was just Mr. Frozen Food and fast Food and that was it. And mom was a waitress at night, so it's not like I was learning anything there with. With food stuff. So I. All I knew was Totino's party pizzas and. And stuff like that. So it's like, this is new to me for a reason.

[Mike Mahardy]

I understand the reasons. I'm just saying every time you're like, well, I don't know how people know how to do that. And like, you have.

[Dan Reichert]

And again, you're good at it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I still have that again. I'm still trying to scoop out all the parts of my brain. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Mike Mahardy]

All right, well, you guys want to talk about tariffs?

[Mary Kish]

Yeah.

[Mike Mahardy]

No. Video games. Video games.

[Mary Kish]

What's the wrong video games? Yeah.

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah.

[Mike Mahardy]

All right, we're back. Mary has a fly that's annoying her. She's going to busy herself with trying to snatch it.

[Dan Reichert]

It's like the Breaking Bad episode.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah.

[Mary Kish]

It's just like that. And I'm high as on meth, so it's like, makes a lot of sense.

[Mike Mahardy]

Bunch of parallels.

[Dan Reichert]

Do you think math is fun? But probably, like, I know it's bad and it kills people and stuff, but, like, when it's good it's, like, really good.

[Mike Mahardy]

I think most addictive drugs are good when they're good.

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah, that one. That's what makes them troublesome.

[Mike Mahardy]

Addictive.

[Mary Kish]

Yeah, that's what makes them addictive.

[Mike Mahardy]

So, yeah, math is very, very fun.

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah. By the way, this is a total aside that I just thought of. Okay, I know. Specifically, Mike. I know. You know this Instagram account, there's that, like, Norm MacDonald account that we've constantly, you know, sent each other, you know, old Norm bits back and forth from.

[Mike Mahardy]

That's like, how you see this shit.

[Dan Reichert]

Going on with it.

[Mike Mahardy]

No.

[Dan Reichert]

Oh, man. This is such niche, dumb drama.

[Mike Mahardy]

It's like daughter or whatever.

[Dan Reichert]

No, the granddaughter thing.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yes.

[Dan Reichert]

It's like every other post ever is just like, here's a Norm clip from whatever. And then all of a sudden, it's like, oh, Norm MacDonald's daughter or granddaughter is doing Onlyfans. Check this out. It's like, what the is this? And also, I know that he doesn't have a granddaughter. And I was like, what the fuck? And I saw, like, all these people saying, like, unfollowed, unfollowed, unfollowed, unfollowed. And I was like, okay, is this some shady, like, bait and switch type thing? And I look back, and there was another one previously. So it was like one of those shitty things where it's like, let's get a huge following by posting this thing that everyone loves. And then we're going to be like, oh, and also, check out this Onlyfans. What a fuck. Like, I unfollowed it. It's like, man, it. I like Getting my Norm MacDonald stuff all the time, but it's like, not if it's going to feed me some random. Only fans. Yeah. You know, God, the.

[Mike Mahardy]

The clips. Whoever made the account understood Norm's humor because they were finding good clips.

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah. Great stuff.

[Mike Mahardy]

When he's talking to Adam, he get. He's like. He's like, yeah, I saw my doctor the other day, and he said to me, you. You gotta stop eating, like, and you gotta lose weight or else you're gonna have a heart attack. And then Adam, you get. It's like, oh, that's not funny. He's like, what do you mean it's not funny? He's like, I was expecting a joke. He's like, from my cardiologist. He's not a comedian.

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah. So I followed that. So if anyone wants to make a really great Norm MacDonald daily Instagram account, I'll follow that. Just don't. Bait and switch. Yeah.

[Mike Mahardy]

Get It. Get it. Dan, what have you been playing? We both played Monster Hunter Wilds, it looks like.

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah, I played it a little bit. I played, like, four hours of it. And, you know, that was a series that. What's that?

[Mike Mahardy]

Do you remember what, like, what monster you got to.

[Dan Reichert]

I. Only a few. Like, it wasn't like I was doing the side stories and stuff. Like, I did the first couple, like, kill the cattle, tackle this, and then kill this thing, and then kill six of these things. And then I started doing some optional ones. And it's always been a series that I've struggled with because, like, I know people love it. And I reviewed one back in the day. Game Informer. I got kind of into worlds. Like, I played, like, 50, 60 hours of World Sounds like, okay, I'm kind of getting what this is about here. And then this one, I don't know what. Like, it just felt streamlined in a way that, like, I want to at least feel like if I'm playing this hunting game, that I'm, like, going out into the wilds and, you know, I'm, like, surviving. And, like, there is something about the. The cooking and prepping and stuff that I felt like, in other games, that would have annoyed me, but in this, it felt right. You know, it's like, yeah, you're prepped.

[Mike Mahardy]

For a big, like, big excursion that is, like, has this gravitas to it.

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah. And then in this one, it was just a lot of like, okay, I'm gonna talk to people at the base camp, then I'm gonna hop on my ostrich, and then I'm gonna press the hey, take me to the thing button. And then it's just like, a bunch of just like. Like, walk and talk stuff where it's like. I was like, oh, here's the part where I get to, like, go out into this, like, big world. I was like, no, it just takes me straight to, like, my guy hops in a very specific way across these specific rocks, and then takes me to this thing, and I'm just shooting a slingshot at things that I don't know what they do and collecting a bunch of shit that I don't know what it does. And, like, then I get there, and then it's like, okay, the combat's good. I like the combat of just, like. And the stuff with the wounds and how you can, like, hold this button to kind of focus in on, like, that's where he's hurt. And then I can, like, do a bunch of damage if I do, like, that part. Felt good, the hunting, but then everything around it was just kind of like they seemed to simultaneously be trying to streamline it to be accessible to new people. But also it still retained a bunch of extra shit that like, my understanding is that like people are like, oh, you don't have to pay attention to this. You don't have to pay attention to this. Like, well, yeah, but when I'm playing a game, I would like to understand the stuff I'm doing. So if it's giving me a million things and introducing a million systems, I don't really care if it's like, oh, you don't need to worry about it because I'm going to want to figure it out.

[Mary Kish]

Right.

[Dan Reichert]

And it's just, it just seemed weirdly put together in a way that I wasn't enjoying. So I don't, I don't feel the need to keep playing this.

[Mike Mahardy]

You know, it's a very oddly paced game because yeah, there is a weird amount of story up front with like several side characters and you're doing walking talks and oh, you lost your ostriches, their secretes back to the village they came from and then all of a sudden you don't have them. You're like, oh, maybe they're just going to make this like an arduous journey now they don't have. It's like, nope, you'll get it soon enough. And then all of a sudden you're hopping around these stone pillars like you mentioned. But also, I still don't think they figured out what they need to tutorialize because there are still certain things and I played a decent amount of Rise the one after world and I still in this one I'm like, okay, wait a minute, why don't I have ammo? Oh, right. I didn't manually take it from the tent. How do I switch? How do I have my other weapon? Oh, I got to board my mount my ostrich again. The two weapons thing is cool, but now it doesn't. I almost see why they didn't let you do that in past games because now it doesn't feel as dangerous and like you're not locked into one weapon. Yeah, I like so much of the. It feels good on a second moment to moment basis when you are actually in combat. But yeah, like getting around the world so quickly, it's just. I feel like a tourist more than an actual like hunter. There's.

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah. And it's just not well put together in terms of like if you're trying to bring in new people, like There was a thing at the camp at the beginning where they were like, hey, let's pick a weapon. You know, there's 14 weapons or whatever. Let's figure out what works best for you. Do you want to get in close or do you want to focus on defense? Do you want to be high flying? And so I was like, picking all this stuff and it's like, oh, smart. They're going to like, kind of like suggest something for me as a newer player, and that's going to be a good way for me to not have this choice paralysis. And so I answered these things and they were like, you should use the insect glaive.

[Mike Mahardy]

I was like.

[Dan Reichert]

And I got it. And then I was like, what? I have to send this bug out and it harvests. And then I can also like, okay, I like the mobility stuff, but what the fuck is this bug? And I was describing this on Giant Bomb and I saw people being like, oh, you picked the most confusing weapon. It's like, well, the tutorial shit. Like, I. It's not my fault.

[Mike Mahardy]

That is not. Yes. I was going to say, if you answer, if they're giving you, like, what's. What was the website that was famous for those quizzes for a while. Then it went to new. No. Then it went to News. Holy shit. People are, you know, it must be Sparkle.

[Mary Kish]

I think he's talking about Sparkle.

[Mike Mahardy]

It'll come.

[Dan Reichert]

It's a thing if.

[Mike Mahardy]

If you're answering like a I'm agreeing with quiz and they give you the most complicated weapon as a recommendation, that's their problem, not yours.

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah, yeah, they set it up like. Yeah, we had they talk about, like, you know, because that was the thing, that's why I played World and gave it a shot, is because they said, like, this is going to be the good one for, like, newcomers. And.

[Mike Mahardy]

And.

[Dan Reichert]

And I did butt my head against a bunch of stuff that didn't make sense back then and eventually got it. And I'm sure I would with this as well. But, like, I don't know if this is supposed to be this, like, streamlined, good for new people thing. And I'm coming in here.

[Mike Mahardy]

God damn.

[Dan Reichert]

Oh, yeah. Oh, right, right. Yeah, it's. I just don't think it's really succeeding at what it's trying to do. Like, And I also don't understand, like, it's just a weird reaction, this game because it, like, did very well on, like, Metacritic and a lot of reviews, but I feel like a lot of newcomers or, you know, casuals like me, and then Also, a bunch of hardcore Monster Hunter people don't seem happy with it. So it's like, what is going on?

[Mary Kish]

Are you playing this game a lot or are you playing by yourself? I blame by myself.

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah.

[Mary Kish]

I feel very fortunate that my very first Monster Hunter was Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate, which you could play on a 3DS, but I think you could also play it on the Wii U. And it had cross play. So I played it on the Wii U while, like, somebody else would play it on the 3DS and we played it together in the same world. And so we were both like you. I'm gonna do bow and arrow so I can be more range and you'll be the. The person with the shield and the hammer and so you'll be the close damage. And it got a little RPG for me where I was like, I'm a huntress and I'm covered in feathers and like, I. I really want this other armor. So, like, let's go. But I'm gonna have like a cheesy bun before we leave because it's gonna make me a little faster, you know? And so, like, I would. I got really into the cooking and I got really. I got really excited about like, building my character and having the right setup for like the very particular bird we were gonna kill, etc. Etc. That was sick. And I, I got it. It was like the first time where I was like, I get why people are obsessed with this game because you can really get immersed in the world of figuring out what food you want, which armor set you're interested in, which, which dude you're gonna take down, and then it takes an hour to get out there and kill the dang thing. But it's very fun to have that experience. I have not played this one, so I'm. I'm very interested. But it's a bummer that, like, I don't think the point of it is to streamline or to even be accessible for newcomers. I don't think that's the point. I don't think. I don't think, like, Dark Souls was ever like, how do we make this easier for new people? It's like, make the game that you want to make.

[Mike Mahardy]

I would say Dark Souls is maybe the, like, dark FromSoftware is probably the best developer ever at non verbally communicating how things work. I think Monster Hunter can't find the middle ground of, like, here are some things that are worth keeping a very high skill ceiling on. And here are some things, foundational things that would help People start the learning process when you're getting given a new weapon right away in that games like I went sword and shield and the lance. Lance is a bit more complicated, but I still think they could do. They could streamline the weapon tutorials a bit earlier on rather instead of just giving you a dummy to hit and showing you these combos that you still. They don't tell you the exact timing that you need to use to pull them off. So you're kind of just experimenting, which can be fun. But then all of a sudden, yeah, it's a walk and talk and then you're moving really quickly to the next monster and you fight a big monster that they built up to and it's cool as shit. But now you're like, all right, well, I'm back at the camp. I don't feel like I learned anything worthwhile there. Yeah.

[Dan Reichert]

And they give you some tools that are nice where it's like, I spent some time with like, you talk about the dummy and the camp and it's like it's this kind of like big machine thing and you can set it to like, okay, do I want this thing to just sit there and I can practice my combos or do I want it to move around and attack me and I can practice defense and stuff like that. So like it has some tools where you can try that stuff out. But it is still super fucking overwhelming. Like every time I try out a new weapon, it's like, all right, I'm going to try Y and B and see what happens. But then like in the middle of the animation, you'll see six different things in the corner that you can do. Or it's like after Blade Dance, do that. It's just like, it's, it's a lot. And I'm sure if you want to dig super deep, if this is your game, like, I'm sure it's great to have that many options, but it's still really overwhelming. As someone who hasn't played that many.

[Mary Kish]

Games, I think playing with Buds is the way to go. Like playing with another person that will guide you, they will protect you.

[Mike Mahardy]

Like, that might make it harder to learn some stuff. It's that it's extremely fun. That series is very fun co op and I love the depth of it. Again, I love the high skill ceiling. I just think they did choose to streamline weird parts here.

[Dan Reichert]

It's clearly a well made game. It's one of those things where it's like, I'm not going to come shit on it or Anything like that. But it's like I play it and I try it and I'm just like, I just don't think this is for me, you know?

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah, I'm going to keep playing it for the time being. I haven't played any other. I'm not actually only other playing. Oh my God, I can't talk. The only other game I'm playing is avowed right now. Which Dan, you're going hard on. You finished it, Mary. You played more of it. I'm curious what you think now because you seem sort of like you weren't positive what you thought yet.

[Mary Kish]

Last episode I was on the fence because there's a lot of talkie in that game. My side characters will not shut the fuck up about their problems and issues and I don't really care about them. But I did like solving crazy mysteries and finding random stuff in the world and I liked the Parkour and I, I played more in the last six hours. I am a parkour junkie. I actually really like the climbing aspect of it. It reminds me of just like old school games where it's like, solve it the way you want. Here's a giant building. Figure it out. I had this, I had this like quest where it was like, there's been a murder and you have to figure it out. I ended up like climbing through like the backyard and then the roof. And because I was able to do that, I got to like see the people in the action before it happened. It was sick. It was a really fun experience just climbing these buildings and like finding these secrets that I swear I would not have gotten that ending if I didn't figure out the climbing part of it. It's unique to this game. I mean, I just, I think it's really cool that they're giving me physical puzzles to solve and. And because I haven't played a lot of other games of this nature, I compare it to like Tomb Raider. But it's sick when you're solving puzzles physically by how do I get there? That is something I'm like really into.

[Dan Reichert]

I, I think this game does that stuff, like the Parkour stuff especially well because like there. I don't just like parkour for the sake of parkour. Like, I know that's dying light and I do not like those games. I didn't like Mirror's Edge as much as people like that. This one, like, it does feel like, like the Parkour on a mechanical level feels good. But more importantly, it does feel like you're rewarded for it and that There is, like, a fun search for it, and it's like an open game. It's so cool to just see something high up and be like, oh, I know there's probably like, I'm supposed to go in through this entrance, but I wonder if I can just get over this ridge here. I wonder if I can get to the very tip top of this tower. And it's just. It really encourages you to do that. And you're always rewarded. Yeah, there's always a chest or something. There's always plenty of stuff or an interesting story thing, a skeleton with a note by it. And then there's like, amulets and stuff that are like, plus 30 parkour speed and things like that. Or you can get, like, magic abilities that, like, speed up all your, you know, movement abilities. And you can really feel like you're just, like, sprinting around, clambering up stuff and everything. Like, it feels great in that game.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah, it's. I've. I've played a decent amount now, not a ton. Six hours in, maybe. I love how simple and satisfying the combat can be, but there is enough depth there where I never get bored. Like, they found just the right balance between just, like, crunchy and straightforward. But it's as complicated as I want it to be. I've just been going spear in one hand and spellbook Grimoire in the other, which is super fun because then I have, like, Elemental. Then, like, I can keep people at a distance. I'm fast where I can dodge. I'm. I'm liking the game in the sense that it gets out of its way as an rpg. Like, there's talky stuff, but at least it's like, it's still. At least as far as I am in the game. It's still pretty tasteful how every. How much everything lasts. I. It's also got the Bethesda thing of, like, there's enough skill checks in the conversation where, like, it keeps me just engaged enough. My. It's not even a complaint, really. Sometimes the world design, again, maybe this changes later in the game, but right now I'm still in the. The areas where it's like, it's more zones with branching paths out of them. I see why something like Skyrim works so well. That's not what they're trying to make exactly. Here. It's not a completely open world that you can go in any direction and find something on your compass. It's, oh, there's a cave up there on that cliff. I'm gonna go explore that. And then Come out. Oh, I have a bunch of side quests to pursue. Oh, there's a little, like, to the northeast on my map. I haven't explored that yet. Let's go check it out. I'm almost like, there's too many directions. Sorry. Not. Not too many directions. There's so many directions I can go at once that once I do, they don't feel as consequential as they would in something like Skyrim or Breath of the Wild, where everything I do is this kind of, like, surprising mini adventure. But again, the game is peppering everything with so many mini challenges and, like, new loot that has this actual effect on the way I play the game. And then there's a bunch of, like, interesting enemy mobs. Now as a mini boss popping up. It really just keeps me hooked every step of the way. It doesn't feel like the most organic exploration, but that's fine. That's not what it's trying to do, I don't think.

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah, it's compartmentalized a bit where it's like, you know, we've talked about Tears of the Kingdom and stuff, where it's like, oh, my God, you go underneath the ground, and there's this giant fucking map that's as big as the Overworld, and I gotta find all this stuff. Like, that's overwhelming, like, in a good way. I mean, obviously, that game did it very well. This one, I kind of like the fact that it's like, all right, I'm gonna do every fucking thing in the Emerald Stair before I move on to the next area.

[Mary Kish]

And you can. You can handle it.

[Dan Reichert]

You can. Yeah, you can. You can make it. So there's not a single open quest on that quest log. It's not like. Like, you know, like, I love Skyrim, I love Fallout. But, like, you will just amass dozens of quests. And, like, I've definitely never, like, 100 at every quest in one of those games with this, I think I almost did every single thing.

[Mary Kish]

That's really cool. I do think there are some big ones that might shock you. I forget what world it's in, and I talked about it on the last episode, but I did a side quest where Guy was like, I went on a quest with my brother, and we were gonna die, so I left. But my brother's still there. Can you go get him? If you see that quest, do it. Because that's a sick quest, and it does have a lot of really cool shit under there.

[Dan Reichert]

Is that the one with the brother who's a Virgin.

[Mary Kish]

Yes. And I. Yeah, I did that and it kept going. Like it just keeps going. And the world. There's. It is an under. First of all, it is an underground area like in a cave. And then the cave, there's systems and it's really cool.

[Mike Mahardy]

Started it and.

[Mary Kish]

Okay, well, I want to. Like there's like a God down there. Like there's a lot of down there.

[Mike Mahardy]

Oh, that one.

[Dan Reichert]

Yes, that one's awesome.

[Mike Mahardy]

It's got. It's like the entire map from Remember the Forbidden City a couple years ago.

[Dan Reichert]

Oh yeah.

[Mike Mahardy]

Time loop game. It's like they put that entire game underground and there's a whole. Yeah, the guy's been down there doing experiments and there's other. This other wizard that has been like corresponding with him.

[Mary Kish]

That's right.

[Mike Mahardy]

So good at that environmental kind of like they did.

[Mary Kish]

It's foreshadowing, right. Foreshadowing and like kind of guiding you of like what to do and what's really cool about that one. That's like the first time in any of these games ever where I was like, oh, I think I made the wrong call. I like destroyed the God set up because I was like, this seems evil, but I was like, I actually think there's a different ending here. I went back in time like 35 fucking minutes. I did it all over again. But I completed it and I finished it instead of destroying it. And it was a really cool ending. And I was like, oh, that's actually exactly what these games are meant to do. It's like I had the power in me of all the time and just going backwards and like tweaking my choices. I was able to see this like really cool different version of the story. And I walked away from that like a changed person. I was kind of going into that session of Avowed being like, I don't know exactly what Dan sees in it, but like, we'll figure it out. And I walked away and I was like, oh, like, yeah, this game is so cool.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah, it's the most. I'm. I'm more excited to play that than Monster Hunter Wilds after this or whenever it's. It's the most eager to get back to a game I've been in a long time.

[Dan Reichert]

I can't remember the last time I've had a game where it's like I am doing like eight hour sessions with this game. I am up till three or four in the morning because I just want to keep seeing the next thing. Like I. It's been a while since I'VE been that. That into something.

[Mary Kish]

I'm happy for you. I'm glad that you had that experience. Can I ask you a question? Like, because a lot of times, much like Lost, you might enjoy the journey, but if the end isn't good, you might be like, what the. You guys didn't answer any of these questions. There's a lot of questions in that game. I have a lot of questions about why I'm a. And I would like to know if you were satisfied. Not literally what happened.

[Dan Reichert]

Absolutely satisfied. I was absolutely satisfied with the overall, like, story, conclusion, everything. And also I was very satisfied and surprised by some of the stuff that, like, you know, sometimes it's very obvious, like, you know, like, Fallout 3, are you gonna nuke Megaton? Or, you know, like, that type of stuff where it's like, oh, this is a pretty big decision. You know, there were things that it was alluding to at the end. There's definitely, like, at the end a thing where it's like, here's the consequences of your actions, and you kind of see all this stuff. And I learned things that, like, oh, I thought that was just a part of the story. I didn't realize it could have gone a different way. Right. I'll speak generally here, but there is a part where, like, a big thing happens to an area in the game that is like, oh, God, this area got fucked up, or whatever. And I just thought that was a. A scripted thing. And then I found out, oh, I could have avoided that if in this one specific thing where it wasn't. It wasn't a clearly spelled out thing where it's like, do you want to do evil thing or good thing? It was just like. It was a gameplay thing even, where it's like, oh, did you do things this way, or did you do things that way? And you could have saved this area. And I was like, holy. Because, like, most of my stuff was all, like, the positive stuff. I was very happy with my decisions.

[Mary Kish]

Sure.

[Dan Reichert]

And things I didn't even realize would have impacts had huge impacts.

[Mary Kish]

That's cool. I. Obsidian is very good stuff in.

[Mike Mahardy]

Like, outer worlds as well.

[Mary Kish]

I've had a couple of those as well, where it wasn't necessarily whether or not it was wrong or right one. In the first area, there was a lady bringing a cart in, and the government stopped her. And they were like, well, you search her cart. And I saw a grenade in the cart. And so I was like, this lady's a terrorist. That was my instinct. And so I told him and called her Out. So it turns out, like. So she went to jail. And I was like, I did the right thing. But then for the rest of that area, the police were like, thanks a lot for helping us take out these terrible savages. And I was like, oh, that sounds a little bad. And all the. And all the people who are trying to help, help the poor people are like, we hate you. You're like, yeah, with the police. And I was like, I never meant to be pro police. And, like, I went down this terrible path.

[Dan Reichert]

That one's so smart. Because it's early enough to where it's like, you know, it becomes pretty apparent pretty quick that, like, the Idyrians that you represent and stuff are like, you're kind of this evil empire, you know? But, like, earlier, that was, like, one of the first things I ran into. And I was like, wow, that's a terrorist.

[Mary Kish]

I was like, grenades are bad. And she's.

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah, she's up to something. Yeah. Every other decision I made later was like, yeah, I was like anti Adirians with everything going forward, but at that moment in the game, I was like, but you're right, Mary. Like, I had the exact same experience where I was like, oh, man, I feel bad about that. Well, Mary, you probably. You probably, you know, reported that woman for trying to get contraceptives, right?

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah. Anti contraceptives, anti grenades, pro terrorists day in there.

[Mary Kish]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm always trying to hold women down, and I feel like I never support them. There was another one in the second area where someone said, there's something at the bottom of this lake, and it is pretty nice, but it's also very coveted, so, like, everyone's gonna want it. And I was like, well, bitch, I'm going down there. And I swam to the bottom of that lake, and I got that gemstone. And then all these skeletons came out of the woodwork, and they have been trying to kill me since. I still don't really understand the facets of that one, but I think if I knew. I wonder if it was worth getting that gem, because I just keep getting fucking shot by skeletons. I cannot get away from these skeletons.

[Dan Reichert]

This game kicks ass. It really does.

[Mary Kish]

It's pretty good.

[Dan Reichert]

And, you know, I said I did pretty much everything, and I wound up beating it, like, 50 to 53 hours, which I think that's awesome. Like, you could beat the game if you want to just kind of mainline the story. Do it in, like, 30 hours, probably. And if you want to do everything, you know, 50, 50 something, it's. That's a very reasonable amount. You know, like, I'm not against a huge sprawling. If I'm loving something like a Breath of Wild, like, I'll put 120, 130 hours into it. But, like, I felt like this was exactly the right amount of time. I feel like if this had stretched on more, I might have fallen off or gotten tired of it or just prayed for it to end. I was happy the whole way through this game. Loved it.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah, I wanna, I'm gonna play much more. I haven't even gotten out of the first major area yet.

[Dan Reichert]

Oh, nice. There's so much good stuff to come. And, like, each of the areas does feel very distinct from each other. Like, Mary, are you on the second or third area?

[Mary Kish]

I must be on at least the second area, but I think I'm getting finished with that. I might be headed to the well, actually, I don't know. Is the third area. I'm in, like, an area where the crops are all dying?

[Dan Reichert]

Is it the animancy stuff and the, like, the crops and the. Yeah. Okay, so you're in the second. You're in the Emerald Stair.

[Mary Kish]

Okay. Yeah, I'm at the second. I'm at the end of the second area.

[Dan Reichert]

Then there's plenty of good stuff to come.

[Mary Kish]

I'm excited. It's been, it's been fun. I've enjoyed the ride. And to Mike's point, when I think about a new game and everybody's talking about Monster Hunter, but there's like, you know, back and forth about it and I have this sick game in my living room. I'm interested in playing Avowed. Like, that's what I will play probably when we finish recording tonight. It's maybe it's just low pressure. I just know I'll enjoy it. It's a good story. I don't know. I'm having fun. I made my character really hot and I like looking at him.

[Dan Reichert]

Oh, yeah, we got some weird fungus growing out of your ears or something. Really?

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah.

[Mary Kish]

So hot with my fungus.

[Mike Mahardy]

I, I, you gotta see my character. I picked the, what, what is it called? The God touched. Yeah, I did as much of that on my face as possible. I did the one mushrooms. The fungus mushrooms out of my eyes.

[Dan Reichert]

So I did the most, like, it's like a couple little red spots on my cheeks.

[Mary Kish]

That's about it. I have a, like, growing out of my mushroom.

[Mike Mahardy]

So anytime they're talking to me, it.

[Mary Kish]

Comes back and I'm just like, everyone can't stop it. And, you know, it's funny.

[Mike Mahardy]

They squelch every time I blink. It's the first.

[Mary Kish]

The NPC that's in the jail cell and the first thing she says to you is like they say you're God touched. But like I wouldn't say that by looking at you. And I was just like, how dare you. I'm hot.

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah. Mine was minimal, but my.

[Mike Mahardy]

I went as overboard as you can.

[Mary Kish]

I love it. It's cool.

[Mike Mahardy]

It's. It's Annihilation. Tessa Thompson.

[Mary Kish]

That's probably like right up your alley. Visually.

[Mike Mahardy]

I love the art. Speaking of Dan, are you playing pirate Yakuza in Hawaii?

[Dan Reichert]

No, I. I'm. Yakuza has a weird thing with me where it's like I have nothing but respect for that series of like how fucking weird is it? Almost like strikes like Metal Gear mix of like Deadly Serious with also the dumbest you've ever seen. Like I really do. I like that series a lot. I. Maybe I like the idea of it more than I enjoy playing it. Although the like turn based stuff, Infinite wealth was great. I didn't beat it. I mean I played like 40 hours of it and then it's like there's another 40. Like I don't know. I. It's a game I didn't want to spend 80 hours playing necessarily. Yeah, I. I like those games. I don't need to play them all.

[Mike Mahardy]

No, you don't have to justify. I was mainly curious because it like the game title just seems like something that you would love.

[Dan Reichert]

Like I love that they did that. I think that's great. But yeah, also like pirate stuff never really did it for me. I don't really care about pirate stuff, so I don't know. People seem to like it, but I'm good. Every once in a while I'll dive into a yakuza, but not all of them.

[Mike Mahardy]

I might go back to Ishin at some point. Samurai with Guns.

[Dan Reichert]

I've had a good chunk of Eshin.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah, yeah. But what is split fiction?

[Dan Reichert]

What is it?

[Mike Mahardy]

I'm just. It's my segue.

[Dan Reichert]

Oh.

[Mike Mahardy]

I know what split fiction is. But go for it.

[Dan Reichert]

It is. Well, it's the, you know, It Takes two. It's Joseph Ferris and Hayes Light's next co op game and it's really good. It is easy I guess to be cynical about these games because like I don't know, I think about It Takes two and I'm really enjoying it a lot. Me and Bong played it together but then it like super overstayed its welcome and was a Lot longer than it needed to be. And also there is, you know, I'm sure Joseph Ferris is a nice guy and everything, but, like, there's a bit of an obnoxious presence about his whole thing, you know. And like, constantly putting himself into stuff. And like, here again, like, the two characters are named after his daughters. And we've once again put my fuck the Oscar speech into a game. And it's a lot of like, look at me type stuff, which can be a little obnoxious with certain. Whether it's a movie director or game director or anything. So I don't know. I think I came in not being super excited about it, but Bonk and I have played probably five or six hours of it now. And it's just undeniably a fantastic game. I like it a lot more than It Takes Two so far. And I thought it Takes Two was great. I think it looks a lot better. It doesn't have the weird kind of wooden toy stuff. And also everything's kind of this family drama. Yeah.

[Mary Kish]

And they're not having a divorce in the middle of the story.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah. Make her little girl cry.

[Dan Reichert]

That's the things. Like, it was like the elephant thing and the girl crying thing and all that. And like, just a weird tone for this game.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yosafari is even going back as far as brothers. He's way better. His teams are way better at telling stories through gameplay. When they actually try to script something, well, it kind of falls apart, which is fine.

[Dan Reichert]

It is similar here where it's like, look, the cutscenes are not going to like. It's a very straightforward. It's like, oh, these two girls are writers. One's a fantasy writer, one's a sci fi writer. One likes the city, one likes the country. They don't get along, they don't relate. And then all of a sudden they get sucked into the same computer bubble thing because the evil publisher wants to suck their ideas out for a publishing whatever thing.

[Mary Kish]

What the fuck is that story?

[Dan Reichert]

No, that's it. And so it's like. But it's all just a setup for, like, allowing them to jump between a bunch of totally disconnected, in a good way, sci fi and fantasy settings and just wacky wild side things. Because like.

[Mary Kish]

Like they get.

[Dan Reichert]

The whole thing is like.

[Mary Kish]

Because it's like you can just. You could be like, you're in a new chapter now. So now you're actually in a western.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah.

[Dan Reichert]

You're a couple pigs on a farm. And it's like, oh, yeah, I wrote this is the first thing I wrote when I was like a little kid and stuff. It's like, it kind of just makes sense where it's like, okay, we're playing through what these writers were doing.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah.

[Dan Reichert]

I mean, yeah, not quite as rapid.

[Mike Mahardy]

But like, it is the thing where.

[Dan Reichert]

You don't know what's coming next. And like that is the pace of the game never gives you a chance to get bored. You know it like you'll get into an area and like I have these powers and Bonk has these powers and we play this for, you know, 15, 20 minutes and then it's completely fucking different thing. And now we're a couple of hot dogs and now it's like, oh, my hot dog can jump. Oh, like there's that fun moment of like, oh, I'm this new character or this new setting, like, what do my buttons do? And it never overcomplicates things. You've got like a jump, a dash, you've got your L2 and R2. That kind of does different abilities and it explains things. It doesn't have to explain things because it's not ever complicated. But the variety is so good that you just kind of want to keep seeing what the next thing is. And it'll go between like really high, fast paced boss fights and chase sequences and stuff to like, here's a big fun area for you to just kind of like sandbox run around and like, look at, here's all these pigs doing these cute things. Look at this. It's just everything seems so smartly put together. It's like the fact that there are no collectibles or anything like that to find. I think in a lot of games, like, you know, you want to pepper in collectibles inside things to do. But here, if there were collectibles, the pacing would be so different because it's like, oh, let's say Bonk's charging forward and I'm like, hang on, hang on. I think there might be something over here that's gonna fuck up the pacing of a game like this. That's meant to be a co op thing. So like, because that stuff isn't there, you can feel comfortable being like, like, okay, we're just running forward. Okay, we're grappling, we're jumping, we're fighting, we're doing all this stuff. And like the pace never lets up. And when there is side stuff, it is in the form of like these like orbs that you can go into and they're called side stories. And those are the ones that are Just totally disconnected from like, okay, this is a hang gliding thing. This is the pig sequence. This is all this. And I, you know, it's not like you get a level. There's no leveling up or anything like that here or currency. You just want to do it because it's like, man, that could be anything in that orb. I don't know what the fuck that's going to be. And all of this shit's been fun to do. So yeah, it's. It looks incredible. The writing is not great. I. But I do like that it doesn't get bogged down in over explaining the story. Like you literally get sucked into this machine and then the two girls are like, I guess we gotta collect these glitches to get out of here. Great, cool. Like there's no, like, we don't have to understand what the machine is or go into the backstory of the villain and stuff like that. It's just, it's incredibly well put together. Like I thought I was at like a 92 or something on Metacritic and it's like, yeah, yeah. I mean I like, like I don't know how you could play this game and not be like, oh yeah, this is like masterfully put together.

[Mary Kish]

Did you play Wonderful that it's doing so well.

[Mike Mahardy]

What was that? What was the game about? Escaping brothers.

[Dan Reichert]

A way out.

[Mike Mahardy]

A way out. Did you play that?

[Dan Reichert]

We started that.

[Mary Kish]

I did not care for it.

[Mike Mahardy]

That was self serious. Right?

[Dan Reichert]

That's the thing.

[Mike Mahardy]

And there's more like Spielberg shots and whatnot. Yeah, yeah.

[Dan Reichert]

I was trying to do this like, I don't know, it's like a Shawshank thing or something. But like a lot of like kind of walking down hallways and walk and talk type stuff. And like I've kind of liked all their stuff. I like Brothers. I liked It Takes Two. I love this. But like A Way out was the one where it's like, okay, we're getting a little kind of the pacing. I didn't love of it. Whereas this is just kind of slam bang fucking platforming action. Like it's thing to thing to thing to thing. And I've loved all of it.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah, I want to play this at some point. Maybe I'll play with Amanda.

[Mary Kish]

I root for that studio. I think they do interesting things. I think A Tale of Two Brothers was so brilliant and it's really cool. The progression of the studio. Studio has taken with more budget, more time, more people to be able to make these robust adventures. And It Takes Two was the pinnacle of a lot of that work, right? Like Tail Brothers, A Tale of Two Sons is genius and I think it's my favorite. But that doesn't mean it's the best. It's just, it's the one that like, I think had a tremendous story. It was so gripping and so powerful and the gameplay helped. Helped tell the story, which is the brilliance of this medium, right? If it's just a story, that's Netflix. If it's gameplay, you've lost the touch. It's the connection of the two. This studio has consistently struggled with finding the connection between a good story and good gameplay, in my opinion. I just haven't seen it yet. The one where they're breaking out of prison I think had a good story, but the gameplay was a mess. It just was like all over the place and you couldn't. No one was ever really in control. It felt like we didn't know which one was meant to be doing what. And then all of a sudden they were like, now you're shooting at the police on the back of a car. And I was like, I think we've just lost the plot a little bit about what we were doing here. I'm hoping that this game, it's a shame to hear you say, like, hey, listen, the writing's not great, but I do root for this studio because they're doing something that I want more studios to do, which is co op adventures for other people with excellent gameplay, like advanced concepts of that and it has a story that you can deal with and handle. But I was, I would love for them to actually have like a really gripping story one day.

[Dan Reichert]

It's a really cool niche that they found. And I'm with you, Mary, where it's like, I want to see more of this because like, you know, I, I think about like, you know, me and Bonk, where it's like, we both, both work in games, we both love games and like, you know, people assume that, oh, you're probably playing, you got a co op partner all the time. It's like, no, because we, we kind of like different games a lot and like even like a lot of co op games or you know, Monster Hunter and things like that are just a little over complicated and aren't really like meant for, you know, like couch co op type stuff. Whereas this and It Takes Two were ones that like Bonk and I are like, okay, yeah, we're gonna sit on the couch and we are gonna play this and laugh and you know, we're fucking, we're fucking up and laughing at each Other and dying and stuff like that. And you really do feel like it's a lot of like, you know, yelling, okay, get that. Shoot that thing. Okay. And then I'm gonna go through. Okay, time this. 1, 2, 3. And it's. It is really an ideal co op local experience. And I think that doesn't happen a lot. I think you see a lot of like these throwback, like oh, these Power Rangers or turtles, shredders, revenge type games and stuff like that. But like those are throwback nostalgia things. So like, you know, Bonk's not really interested in like those with me as much. But like this is. This does it so well that this is such a great excuse to like. All right, right, let's get down there and let's knock out a couple hours and have a great time doing it. So I've really been loving playing with her.

[Mary Kish]

I think that's great. You've inspired me. I will probably play this. Although I would play even a bad co op game because I like them and I seek them out and I look at co optional and like other places to seek out co op games to play with other people. So this is right up my alley. I would be playing it too. But yeah, I hope that they continue to be able to make these types of games and one day I look for like the ultimate brothers tale of two sons, Pinnacle, which is like a really gripping story and beautiful co op gameplay. So let's go.

[Dan Reichert]

I don't think you'll get the story thing here, but I think you'll have a lot of fun.

[Mary Kish]

I believe you because we're both Deweys and so if you're not gripped by the story like they up like, oh.

[Dan Reichert]

It'S doing shit for sure. It's super dewy.

[Mary Kish]

Yeah, well, I'll. I'll survive.

[Mike Mahardy]

What's my side? Me side?

[Mary Kish]

Can. Can you do me a favor? Can you not google this game? Yes, I would be happy to talk to you about this.

[Mike Mahardy]

Do you want us to play it or do we. You not want us to google it? While you're talking about it, I'm gonna.

[Mary Kish]

Describe it and then you can decide whether or not you want to play it. But I think that if you google it, it will ruin it because look.

[Mike Mahardy]

Like a flash game.

[Mary Kish]

No, that's not what I'm worried about.

[Mike Mahardy]

Gotcha.

[Dan Reichert]

Mike, you always say that.

[Mary Kish]

Dan, you remember when I told you to play that? I watched that horror movie and I.

[Dan Reichert]

Said to you, I love Barbarian and I loved Barbarian.

[Mary Kish]

You liked it?

[Dan Reichert]

Loved it. Yeah.

[Mary Kish]

Okay, well, I want to be careful here. This isn't barbarian level. My side is a. Don't do it.

[Mike Mahardy]

I'm not.

[Mary Kish]

My side is a. A hell of a twisty game and I didn't know a lot about it and I didn't have anything to play on Monday. And so I started googling games that are like, high reviews. This game is like crazy high reviews, but I'd never heard of it, which I think is weird and suspicious. Yes. Don't Google it.

[Dan Reichert]

And I'm making a note to myself to play it.

[Mary Kish]

Okay, Jess, hear me out. So I was like, either this game is committing fraud because it has extremely high reviews, or it is really good, but no one's talking about it, which is also weird. So I played it. I finished it. It's about a four hour journey. It's pretty fucking good. It is. The concept is that you are playing a game where you have a waifu and she's like, you lost him. Yeah, hold on, hold on.

[Dan Reichert]

Also, just describe that again, please.

[Mary Kish]

What is that? Yeah, so you're a game and you have a waifu and she's.

[Dan Reichert]

Which is like a hot lady or.

[Mary Kish]

She'S a super cute, cute, like, woman. Anime thing, anime style. She's got like a cute little dress. You're literally. The game starts, you're in your bedroom and you take out your phone and then the game and then the camera, like, zooms into your phone. So you're playing this game on your phone and she's like, help me cook dinner. And so you're like, cooking dinner. And she's like, help, you know, play some mini games. Like, I need to, like, buy. I want to. I want something for this house. Like, help me. And so you do these mini games and you. You get currency and you buy something for her and then she's like, I love you so much. Like, come stay with me. And then you're like, well, I can't. You're a game, sweetie. This game takes a pretty interesting twist pretty quickly. In this game, it is not about that at all. But the more I tell you, I think the more it kind of takes away from the adventure that you go on and what you learn. And. And I will warn all of our viewers who are interested in. What I'm saying is that this game has strong themes, including violence and stuff. And there are homages to PT in it. It gets really fucking crazy. Pt I swear. Yes.

[Dan Reichert]

Physical therapy.

[Mary Kish]

No.

[Dan Reichert]

What is pt? Wait, the game or like playable teaser?

[Mary Kish]

Pt. Yeah.

[Mike Mahardy]

Oh.

[Dan Reichert]

Oh, that. Oh, yes, yes, yes.

[Mary Kish]

Okay, so it has like it has like a lot of like really cool elements to it of maybe horror. And it twists.

[Mike Mahardy]

Is it on mobile or is it on steam?

[Mary Kish]

It's on steam.

[Mike Mahardy]

Gotcha.

[Mary Kish]

But you play streaming and it's important you play it like the whole game. You're playing as a person playing on their phone and that actually does come into play.

[Mike Mahardy]

Her story, something like that. Like anything Sam Barlow does.

[Mary Kish]

I think it has a lot of narrative design choices in it. It kind of reminded me of Slay the Princess, visual novel esque. But, but, but it's not, it's not talky. It's Dewey bud. It's not talkie. It's not talky. It's Dewey.

[Dan Reichert]

Okay, but the. You said waifu.

[Mary Kish]

Yeah, I lost you at the time.

[Dan Reichert]

It's an uphill battle after that.

[Mary Kish]

I understand and I know how quickly you quit games. You have to at least make it five minutes.

[Dan Reichert]

Five minutes. I can do five minutes.

[Mary Kish]

No, you can't. Bitch. We know you've played games in 30 seconds.

[Dan Reichert]

I made it 12 minutes into metaphor.

[Mike Mahardy]

No, you didn't. I. It was not 12 minutes. He didn't say the what is fantasy when you die or something. But he's got all this time. He is for. He needs more time for cooking these days. So I think it's.

[Mary Kish]

I think you might like the cooking sim. I think you might like, like what it does with the story. I will admit I think this is, I think I should say like this other piece which is like, I think it overstays its welcome. I think this would have been a really perfect three hour game. By the end of the fourth hour I was like, all right, I understand what you're doing here. I still recommend this game fully. It's full of twists and turns. It surprised me. It delighted me. I think it's actually quite well made. But you have to get past that hump because at first I was like, oh my God, is this highly reviewed because of a hunch or a bunch of horny boys?

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah, that's right.

[Mary Kish]

And I think that's possible, but that's not what this game is. But I can't tell you anymore because I think the joy that I received of playing it is because I had no idea what was gonna happen. So I can't tell you what happens and I don't think you should Google it because I would give it a shot. What happens.

[Dan Reichert]

I would have been more open minded if you hadn't said waifu.

[Mary Kish]

I disagree because you would have opened the game and played it and then you would have been like, why does Mary want me to, like, buy this TV for this sexy little girl who, like. And there's also.

[Dan Reichert]

This is not helping your.

[Mary Kish]

I'm just telling you the truth. Which is like, she's. She's like, teehee, thank you for helping me. And you're like, why am I playing this? But you. You figure it out within with. Within 10 minutes. Give it 10 minutes.

[Mike Mahardy]

No, I'm. I was going to get it on Steam.

[Mary Kish]

It's four hours. But don't look at the trailer.

[Mike Mahardy]

I'm not. I'm just. I'm on the Steam page.

[Dan Reichert]

Hey.

[Mary Kish]

I actually regretted looking at the trailer because, like, there were things that the trailer revealed that I would have really enjoyed.

[Mike Mahardy]

Holy shit. Discovering 90, 90,000 overwhelmingly positive reviews.

[Dan Reichert]

Oh, really? Is this Mary? Would this be a good one to go in blind on stream?

[Mike Mahardy]

What?

[Mary Kish]

Yeah, that's what I did.

[Dan Reichert]

Okay.

[Mary Kish]

I had really.

[Dan Reichert]

Not, like some weird. It's going to be some demon vagina anime thing.

[Mary Kish]

Well, a demon vagina, but there are like, tough.

[Dan Reichert]

Am I going to get arrested?

[Mary Kish]

No, no, it's not like. It's like some like, Pinot pervert game. Okay.

[Mike Mahardy]

I will say pervert games all the time.

[Mary Kish]

I will admit that the girl is very cute and her age is nebulous.

[Dan Reichert]

And, like, not helping.

[Mike Mahardy]

Just.

[Mary Kish]

I'm pretty sure she's 18.

[Dan Reichert]

I don't think I'm downloading. I might call the cops on you by the end of this podcast.

[Mike Mahardy]

No, what's going to happen is he's going to forget this whole conversation. Happen. He's going to get really into waifu fiction in like three weeks and then.

[Mary Kish]

He'S going to forget and not give me any.

[Dan Reichert]

Guys, have you checked out waifu fiction?

[Mike Mahardy]

There's this waifu game. It's called Me side, My Side.

[Dan Reichert]

I don't know why I thought to play this, but I got into waifu fiction.

[Mary Kish]

I. I'm so grateful that I played this. This is how I'll end it. I think it was worth the money. I think it was worth absolutely the four hours. I am recommending it, but it is a journey and I don't think anyone should Google it. That's just how I feel about it.

[Dan Reichert]

Okay. As long as I can stream this without getting arrested.

[Mary Kish]

Mike, what are you doing?

[Mike Mahardy]

I'm on the Steam page. You didn't tell me not to look at stuff.

[Mary Kish]

Don't look at the Steam page.

[Mike Mahardy]

I saw the developer content description warning and I was like, it includes this and this and this and what? What the It's a different game. No, not, not pervert weird stuff.

[Mary Kish]

Not pervert weird stuff, but there's that.

[Mike Mahardy]

This.

[Mary Kish]

Yeah, yeah, it's a cool game. I, I really, I really liked it. I will say, like, yeah, it's, it has moments where it will surprise you or maybe even scare you. I think like, I would not recommend this for people who are like, I don't like being scared. It's like, okay, well then you won't like this game. Like, I think this game tests your emotions and like, yeah, it's interesting. I, it just did. I didn't. I haven't seen in a long time, you guys.

[Dan Reichert]

I, I, I, I will take. I will not.

[Mike Mahardy]

Look, I'm not, I'm not.

[Mary Kish]

I wish I could sell it over, but I don't want to describe it.

[Dan Reichert]

I'm sorry.

[Mike Mahardy]

I'm not hard headed.

[Mary Kish]

I played it one stream, Dan. I, I started it and finished it in the same stream.

[Mike Mahardy]

It's $15.

[Dan Reichert]

I will consider doing it.

[Mary Kish]

Don't be a little cheap ass.

[Mike Mahardy]

That's like four case.

[Dan Reichert]

It's not a cheap thing. It's just the anime stuff that I.

[Mary Kish]

But that actually also comes into play in it. So like, I think it's actually important to the story. But it is hard to probably just. It's a hard pill to swallow. But I think it's, it's, it's worth it because it kind of plays on these tropes. So anyway, I can't describe it anymore without like giving too much away. That's it. That's how I have, that's all I have to say. I think you should.

[Dan Reichert]

I will probably next time we record have something to say about it.

[Mary Kish]

It's four hours. Like give it four hours and I'd be very curious what you have to say.

[Dan Reichert]

Okay.

[Mike Mahardy]

Dan, you played quit.

[Mary Kish]

I think that's also interesting.

[Dan Reichert]

I will probably quit.

[Mary Kish]

That's not interesting. Don't quit in 10 minutes. Come on.

[Dan Reichert]

We'll see. If they say waifu, I'm out.

[Mary Kish]

They don't, they don't say that.

[Dan Reichert]

Okay.

[Mike Mahardy]

I think he's gonna get to the Steam page to download it and see just like the artwork.

[Mary Kish]

I'm worried that when you download it, you're gonna look at it and you're gonna be like, this is like for little wiener boys.

[Mike Mahardy]

Is there a way it's good? Well, if you can describe a game like that, I wouldn't recommend it to somebody.

[Dan Reichert]

Or little wiener. Is that the genre?

[Mike Mahardy]

It does sound like something Dan's dad would say. Little wiener Boys and his high maintenance.

[Dan Reichert]

Woman drinking Franzia drinking franchise and playing waifu games.

[Mike Mahardy]

Is that what he imagines I. I do all day?

[Dan Reichert]

He just gets mad every time he.

[Mary Kish]

Thinks about you as a woman.

[Mike Mahardy]

But then we hang out, like we get along really well. Or is he just.

[Dan Reichert]

That's the thing, Mike. Like he would. He finds you funny and smart and everything, but like everything about your interest and everything he just deeply disapproves of.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah, I get that.

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah.

[Mike Mahardy]

Dan, you also play WWE 2K25.

[Dan Reichert]

I won't bore you for too long with this because this is not the wrestling podcast by any means. But yeah, I, I wish I liked wrestling video games more than I do. I think that they have done a really good job in the last few years of turning it around after very disastrous like 2k20. I feel like they've gotten. Every one of them's gotten a bit better since then. But as good as they've gotten, I still, you know, every year I play them, I'm like, oh, it's getting better. And then I don't feel any desire to play them longer. So it's just weird to me that like, I'm the guy who. The two things in my life forever have been video games and wrest and I just cannot get into the new wrestling games even if they're good. So like, the gameplay is solid, it feels okay. But like, all the new stuff they added, like there's this thing called the island where you're like living on this Roman Reigns island and you create a character and you get a smartwatch that sends all of your data to Roman Reigns. So like your wins and losses and stuff like that to like, oh, I'll sit next to him on the. I'm not gonna bore you with the bloodline stuff and what that is and everything. It's just like that mode is just a bunch of like microtransaction stuff and online play that. Like I never do online. I'm not interested in that. The showcase mode thing where you kind of play through like history and stuff like that is based on the bloodline and all the different members of the bloodline and Yokozuna and Roman reigns and the USO's and everything, and those are fine. It got rid of the parts where you're watching like real matches and things like that eight times between every normal match, which, which gets annoying. It's still a lot of putting the controller down and watching as things play out. The gameplay feels pretty wooden. They added inner gender matches, which that was a Thing that my understanding from knowing people who have worked there over the years is that like, people are weirdly ravenous about wanting to have intergender matches in WWE 2K and they brought them back. So I'm sure those folks are thrilled. I did one match where I was Terry Funk and I fought Stephanie McMahon and a backstage brawl and sure, it just feels like every other match. Basically they added the Logan Paul's prime bottle to the center of the ring and also the hydration station then. So there's plenty of Logan Paul advertisements throughout the game. It's. There's too many modes. It's. For me, like, the only things that appeal to me is like, okay, the roster's updated. It's like if you were like into Madden and it's like you get the year to year stuff. Like, okay, at least the, the rosters are updated and if there's a new stadium or something that's included, like, oh, that's. That's the most recent WrestleMania stages there and Bron breakers here and all these different, like, you know, the. It's just the gameplay feels the same. The gameplay doesn't really inspire me. I'm sure I will download a bunch of stupid creator wrestlers and make AI fight each other and laugh about it on stream, but there's too many fucking modes here and most of them are not good. I'm glad the gameplay has gotten better year after year, but like, it is still not a thing that is that I will keep coming back to.

[Mike Mahardy]

You know, I get the desire to play it as like someone who used to be into yearly sports games, but not so much anymore.

[Dan Reichert]

But it's just been like, I haven't like, wrestling is such a weird fucking industry and it has not translated to games well in a long time, I think. You know, like, everyone has their N64, you know, memories and stuff like that. And. And even before that I liked a lot of that stuff. But like, I don't know, the more simulation it is, the more it's trying to simulate what actual like pro wrestling matches on TV look like. The less I'm interested in it, and that's a common thing people like, the more arcadey stuff typically. It's just. It's a weird industry to translate to video games. And I don't like most of them.

[Mike Mahardy]

All right, fair enough.

[Dan Reichert]

But that's to say this is a good game. Like, I think this is a. They've definitely made huge improvements for several years now. But like, it's still not for me. Really.

[Mike Mahardy]

When did, when was the last time a wrestling video game was good that you like.

[Dan Reichert]

Well, I mean, but that I liked. Okay. Because like, like I said, like, this is. I think this is a good game. But that I was really into. Here Comes the pain on PlayStation 2. So we're.

[Mike Mahardy]

Wow. Okay.

[Mary Kish]

Can I give you some?

[Dan Reichert]

Sure.

[Mary Kish]

You know how Mike has a tiered list of all the Bond films? Would you do a tier of your best to least wrestling games for next epi?

[Dan Reichert]

Oh, yeah, yeah. I mean, that'd be easy. I could do. I could rattle it off right now.

[Mike Mahardy]

Here Comes the pain. Number one.

[Dan Reichert]

No.

[Mike Mahardy]

N64.

[Dan Reichert]

What would have been all the N64 wins. So like no Mercy, then WrestleMania 2000, then WCW NW Revenge, then I would probably say Here Comes the Pain and it's just nostalgia. I kind of like the Roar, Rumble and Raw ones.

[Mary Kish]

You don't want to think about this.

[Dan Reichert]

I mean, I already named the important ones, like the 64 ones and here Comes the Pain are like the important ones to me. And then there's a bunch of like bad ones that I have nostalgia for. Like the acclaim in 64, Warzone attitude stuff and Royal Rumble and Raw. And then there's just a lot of super fucking forgettable modern ones.

[Mike Mahardy]

There you have it. Homework. Finished.

[Mary Kish]

A plus.

[Dan Reichert]

Thank you.

[Mary Kish]

A plus plus plus.

[Mike Mahardy]

Dan doesn't get it. Dan, we're about to get the thing remastered.

[Dan Reichert]

Oh, it's cool. It's an old PS2 game and I think we all like the Thing here, right?

[Mike Mahardy]

It's like Mary's favorite movie.

[Dan Reichert]

My third favorite thing. Podcast.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Dan Reichert]

It's just, it's interesting to play now and like Night Dive, what they're doing. Night Dive studios, I have so much respect for what they're doing because like they are just taking these games that are not the most, you know, like it's not a Metal Gear or a Zelda remake. It's not the most, you know, big, you know, AAA name and stuff like that. They're taking cool weird stuff from like, I love that PS2 era where, you know, a lot of weird stuff was getting tried, including this thing Remastered, which I didn't play back in the day. I had not not seen the movie back then. And it clearly was doing the thing where they were trying to do justice to the movie where back then, especially if you saw a license on a game, it was just like some studio got or some publisher got access to the license and they just make just a very, you know, it's gonna skate by on the license and not have Anything interesting story wise or anything? Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, they're good. And this was a clearly going for like the themes of the thing and like not being able to trust the people around you. And like, okay, you'll find these people that join your squad, but they might like get freaked out because they saw a bloody murder scene and you need to like, you know, give them adrenaline shots to make them cool or whatever. Or like you need to give yourself a blood test to show that you're not the thing. Or you need to give them a blood test so you're proof to the other guys that they're not the thing. And it's, it's all very like, it is from 02 or something like that. So don't expect it to be this like super deep be AI or anything like that. They're getting stuck on walls. They'll be like, hey, where the are my guys? They were supposed to be with me, but they were going for it. It is all set in that very Antarctic nighttime. There are references to the movie. There is the likeness of John Carpenter and you'll see cameos from other characters from the movie and stuff. It was meant to be like a canonical follow up to the movie. So it's just like all those things are really cool that it takes from the movie where it's like the tiny little critters and stuff you can kill, which is like a gun. But like the bigger things are like, if one of your crewmates turns into the Thing, you need to shoot him with guns and stuff until he's weak enough and then you turn on like a blowtorch or a flamethrower or flame grenades to just torch him. So I don't know. I really respect. I respect it. I respect the ambition more than maybe I enjoyed the moment to moment, although I didn't like the moment to moment. I didn't think it was a bad game by any means. But more than anything, I was just like kind of impressed with the ambition of this thing. In an era where licensed games had anything but ambition, you know?

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah. I want to check this out.

[Dan Reichert]

It was cool. I really did a great Steam Deck game. I played the whole thing on Steam Deck. It was great.

[Mike Mahardy]

Cool. Mary, have you played that? The original, like the, the game or the remaster? I feel like that's something you play.

[Mary Kish]

No, I feel like I should and I have not. And this is all news to me. Well, yeah, I'm gonna be honest with you. I don't think I knew that this game was ever a Thought thing.

[Dan Reichert]

It's called the Thing.

[Mary Kish]

I didn't know that it existed.

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah, I mean, honestly, it's not really one that anyone talked about that much.

[Mary Kish]

It's just that every time the Thing ever had any adaptations, including, like, sequels, they were dog. And I'm just. When things are perfect, you just don't mess with them. So.

[Dan Reichert]

And this isn't perfect, but, like, I do feel like it. It. It's earnest and it's. It clearly that came from people who love the film.

[Mary Kish]

You know, that's cool. I mean, I find that appealing. I really, really liked. I mean, this is my favorite movie. It's just hard to, like, imagine it as a game. But I could be. I could be convinced it's better than.

[Dan Reichert]

You might think it is.

[Mary Kish]

All right, I. I would like to play it just. Just to have the experience of it. And Michael Warhammer.

[Mike Mahardy]

Oh, yeah, I won't talk about that enough. Vinnie and I have started both of our campaigns for the shows we're doing. I've seen a bunch of people say they are subscribing to both to watch the Evil and the Good Campaign.

[Mary Kish]

Oh, that's cute.

[Mike Mahardy]

It's going well. Vinnie's learning quickly. The Good Campaign is a lot more in depth because he's playing. We're playing fact. He's playing a faction that takes more thought in the Evil Campaign. He's playing a faction that you just send demons with flaming swords and people on motorcycles with blood shrines and giant monsters at people and let them do their thing. But I'm the vampire pirates in that campaign. So I'm trying to, like, work my way down the ocean and come into Lustria where he's fighting. So we're going to try to figure out an alliance. I might backstab him, I might not. We'll see if I'm in a good mood that day. And then the other one's going, well, I'm a war. I'm a lizard who warps around the world doing XCOM style missions. I'm trying to get a mission to proc. To. What's the word? To spawn near him. Have not gotten that RNG yet, but I'm gonna try. And then once I get over there, we'll join forces. It's really fun. It's nice to play co op.

[Dan Reichert]

That is on both our Patreon, the Fire Escape Patreon, and the next Lander Patreon.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah. The Evil Campaign is specific to Nextlander and you can just. You're not gonna miss any episodes of each campaign if you only subscribe to one, but if you want to watch the evil campaign, Vinnie's playing skull taker, I'm playing the vampire pirate captain, and then the good campaign is on fire escape. Both of them are the top tiers for our respective sites. So if you. It's our video tier and it's there. I don't know what the name of the tier. It's their top tier, so go subscribe to that if you want it. But it's very fun. A good mix of, like, me Sherpa ing Vinnie through the game and also like, like, also just fun and funny.

[Mary Kish]

Plus it has Vinnie. Like, you can't lose. What a sweetheart. Like, what a great person to go through this with. Like, we are obviously big fans of Nextlander, so this is a match made in heaven. But Vinnie is just such a lovely person to co op with. I've played co op games with Vinnie. We used to do our, like, cute little cozy corner games section together. It was really fun. I'm like, really happy for your journey. And I feel like anyone who loves Vinny's gots to get in on this series. It's a miss to not see this.

[Dan Reichert]

And if you don't love Vinny, maybe try to figure out what's wrong with you.

[Mary Kish]

Yeah. And just like put up with Mike. It's Vinny.

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah, look, Mike's not great. We all agree, but Vinny's awesome. It's Vinny and me, but Vinny and Mike's there.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah, and me and Vinny. You guys want to. Do you guys want to talk about some. You want to do emails?

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah, Vinnie, that'd be great.

[Mike Mahardy]

All right. As usual, you can write in questions you want read on the show, comments, concerns to firescapecastmail concerns.com. yeah, we. We read concerns. Don't you worry about that. It's firescapecastmail.com We've got some questions left in the tank, but send in some more because we've been going through them. Which one do I start with this week? Wes, who's a constant emailer, always sends in good questions. This one I did. We had that conversation several episodes ago where we were saying some of these would be better if we knew beforehand. We were aware of this one. And I like during our breaks when we're recording, I've thought of a few answers and I think it'll be good. Mary, do you want to read this first one from Wes?

[Mary Kish]

Yeah, sure. So I recently watched the coming of age film Sweethearts There in it, there was a minor character Named Kurt, who had, like, a minute of screen time, but he absolutely nailed it and ended up being one of the most memorable parts of the whole movie. What are some of your favorite minor characters in movies that had a big impact on the film? Thanks, Wes from Baltimore. I'm gonna caveat this and say I don't think this is just big impact on the film, but, like, big impact on you. Right? Like, you're like, I love.

[Mike Mahardy]

I just think of it like amazing actors who stole that one scene they were in.

[Mary Kish]

Yes.

[Dan Reichert]

Okay. So I. Mine is very much of that because it's not a big impact on the film. In fact, I think most people who have seen Roadhouse, which is my choice here, probably don't even remember this moment. But it's just one of the henchmen, what he's shooting. Do you know what I'm talking about? Yo, he's going to do it. Mike's going to do it. No, no, you're not getting in there with the legs. All right.

[Mary Kish]

Yes, I am.

[Dan Reichert]

He's not nearly as aggressive as the guy. Okay, that's getting better.

[Mary Kish]

Yes, I am.

[Dan Reichert]

All right, I know. Let me describe it for our audio listeners. So, yes, I am. It is near the end, Swayze is, like, driving a car into the evil guy house or whatever, and there's just a bunch of henchmen out on the lawn with, like, shotguns, and they're all just looking like 80s, you know, movie henchmen and stuff up. But there's one guy with a hilarious mustache who was doing the funniest thing with his leg ever. And face, while he's shooting, he's like, I. The leg, you can't. Like, it's just like. He's like, yeah, I don't.

[Mike Mahardy]

I don't understand.

[Dan Reichert]

No one's ever shot a gun like this ever.

[Mike Mahardy]

In fact, it's detrimental to shooting a gun to lift your leg like that off the ground.

[Dan Reichert]

A shotgun. He's shooting at a car that's speeding. And, like, we just die. We frame by frame that in college. Like, just the best shit.

[Mike Mahardy]

It's really good. He's good. There's one line. I don't even know if you can see the character when he says this caveat this. By saying, I don't know how Cool Runnings has aged.

[Dan Reichert]

I was just thinking about this, but.

[Mike Mahardy]

You were just thinking of Cool Runnings.

[Mary Kish]

Thinking about Cool Runnings.

[Dan Reichert]

Dan says, yeah, because Jeff Grubb was talking about doing a toboggan trip with his family, and I was like, wait, what's Difference to that? No. How's Cool Runnings held up? Yeah, I've been thinking about Cool Runnings.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah. So again, I barely remember most of the movie, but I do remember this one scene where the character's basically, like, convincing the Jamaican guys to do the bobsled event. And he's giving this speech next to a bobsled, and there's a crowd, and he says, the bobsled gentleman is a sophisticated machine. And then just in the background, you hear some random dude shout. Yeah. So it's a toilet.

[Dan Reichert]

That's pretty good.

[Mike Mahardy]

My friend and I have just quoted that our whole lives just. And it gets more ridiculous each time we say it. So at this point, we just be like, yeah, so I was a toilet. That guy just. That's one of the funniest things I've ever heard in my life. And I don't. I don't even think he's credited. I don't think they show him. And they might, but in my memory, they don't. He's just some un. Unnamed person. Nice.

[Dan Reichert]

I feel like Mary got one.

[Mary Kish]

I feel like I. I did it differently. I was thinking of someone who was not the main character. And, like, maybe not.

[Mike Mahardy]

I've got a few more that are, like, actual characters.

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah.

[Mary Kish]

But it doesn't mean that they are like a nothing character. I just recently watched the Big Lebowski again. It has so many memorable characters. But I think one person that really just blew my mind because I kept thinking about them later, was Julianne Moore, who plays. Oh, my God, the crazy artist in it. And she just has such thorough. Yeah, she has such great luck. It's her delivery. You have to see the doctor, please. He's good and thorough. And she's just so dictionate. And every line she delivers I can't get out of my head.

[Dan Reichert]

The Coen brothers are fantastic at, like.

[Mary Kish]

They're fantastic at making characters.

[Mike Mahardy]

Paul Thomas Anderson is too. Too. One of my other ones. Alfred Molina and Boogie Nights.

[Dan Reichert]

Oh. Oh. With the firecrackers and stuff like that.

[Mike Mahardy]

Amazing. And he sells it. And then he just starts singing Jesse's. No, no. What song is it? No.

[Dan Reichert]

8675309. Or it's one of those, like, 80s.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah. Yeah. But he's amazing in that scene. He's another one. It's like, I. I can't imagine that movie. That scene is basically integral in the sense that it's showing his continued downfall. But I still think the movie could exist without the scene. But I can't imagine existing because of his performance.

[Dan Reichert]

Oh, I love that part. And Cohen's reminds me of. There's part in Raising Arizona where Nicholas Cage is like going to a gas station, like side of the road, highway. And he's like looking at the balloons. There's like a bunch of balloons on the counter and he's like, don't we got any balloons that come in like, you know, funny, funny shapes or anything like that? And there's just this like older guy working the gas station, stone faced. And he goes, goes, not unless round's funny. It's a good line.

[Mike Mahardy]

Well, the, in the gas station scene with Anton Chigurh.

[Dan Reichert]

Oh, the. No country.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah, the dude he's talking to is perfect for that scene. Just this like West Texas dude who. Now that I'm thinking of this scene, I mean that scene's amazing for the coin flip monologue, but he also, at one point he's like, yeah, so I own this shop. Well, my wife's father owned it. So Anton Sugar, like coughs. He's like, you inherited this gas station the most. Like he's already this evil character. He's being so fucking condescending to this guy that he's about to potentially kill if the coin lands a certain way. Also a recent one which was not funny. In fact it was very grim. Jesse Plemon's character in Civil War. Did you guys see amazing in that role? And he's. I don't think he has more than the scene itself is a. Is like probably maybe six minutes. But he hims, he is like detox for three of them. And he's.

[Dan Reichert]

I mean, you can tell in the trailer of that when he's like, oh yeah, what kind of American aria. Like, it's like, oh, this is an intense character.

[Mike Mahardy]

Is amazing. Yeah. I was uncomfortable as they as Alex Garland wanted me to be. That whole scene, it was rough. I don't know if I have any others that are like come in and out and there's probably some like supporting characters that say are one offline that I quote all the time to my friends and just forgot about.

[Dan Reichert]

But yeah, Chris Farley and Dirty Work. I don't know if you've seen Dirty Work.

[Mike Mahardy]

Dirty Work. You sent me the scene with Norm in the movie theater and what's his name?

[Dan Reichert]

Oh, Don Rickles.

[Mike Mahardy]

Don Rickles, yeah. Keeps making him laugh.

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah, that's good.

[Mike Mahardy]

But anyway, yeah, Alfred Molina is great, but yeah, so is a toilet. Okay. Dan, do you want to read this one from. Oh, actually, yeah, I guess. Does it make more sense if you read. Let me. Let me read this one.

[Dan Reichert]

Oh, I see. Let me raise my desk for my camera. This might be one you need to watch the video for. Maybe we'll do a social cut. Okay.

[Mike Mahardy]

Okay. I did check with David Dan before this to see whether he want to double up with giant bomb content, but.

[Dan Reichert]

No, no, we can do this. Yes.

[Mike Mahardy]

Hey, fire escapists. I'm currently watching a program titled Voicemail Dump Truck that a certain Dan Riker is on. He's attempting to. Oh, he's currently watching. Okay. He's attempting to explain how he puts his phone in his pocket. Since I greatly value your collective input, if it's not too much trouble, please give us a live reaction to Dan as he demonstrates how to put his phone in his pocket. And also, please ask Dan what the fuck he is doing after you witness it.

[Dan Reichert]

It.

[Mike Mahardy]

Thanks. This is very important, Jerry from Wisconsin. So, Mary and I don't know, you.

[Dan Reichert]

Haven'T seen the clips or anything?

[Mike Mahardy]

No. So you're totally blind based on the email. If you're doing well, it's okay.

[Dan Reichert]

Or maybe you will. For the audio listener. For the audio listener, definitely describe what you're seeing here. Well, let me start by asking when you put your phone in your pocket.

[Mike Mahardy]

Oh, now I'm worried. I do it weird.

[Dan Reichert]

Well, which. First of all, which pocket are you doing? Front. You do in back.

[Mike Mahardy]

I do front.

[Dan Reichert]

Your front, Mary.

[Mary Kish]

Front.

[Dan Reichert]

Okay, so we're all on the same page here. Screen out, screen in, screen.

[Mike Mahardy]

Facing my thigh, Mary.

[Mary Kish]

I don't care.

[Dan Reichert]

Okay, that's probably reasonable. The charging port, is that facing down into the pocket or up towards your face?

[Mike Mahardy]

Facing up toward me. Like, I kind of treat it like a gun holster.

[Mary Kish]

Again, I do not care.

[Dan Reichert]

All right, so, Mary, you're probably the reasonable one here. Okay. Mike, you were doing it the total opposite way of me. I do screen out, port down. And so this is what everyone freaked out about is how you have to pull it out. So let's say. So I've got my phone in my pocket as described right now, as always, it's port down, screen out. So if someone's sending me a text, this is what I have to do. Okay. And just describe what I'm doing here, because I'm gonna back up.

[Mike Mahardy]

Okay, he's backing up. Someone just sent him a text. Okay, he's realizing he just pulled it out. Wow, you just did like a 180. Like a. But a forward gain or twirl with your. Do that one more time.

[Dan Reichert]

Okay, I'm putting it back in my pocket.

[Mike Mahardy]

Normally it sounds okay. Do it slower. More slowly.

[Dan Reichert]

Okay.

[Mike Mahardy]

He's slow motion.

[Dan Reichert]

Am I getting a text?

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah, I think you got it. It's vibrating.

[Mary Kish]

It's like a gymnast.

[Mike Mahardy]

A fucking, like, twirl and a twist.

[Dan Reichert]

Now let me ask. So you do port. I want.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yes.

[Dan Reichert]

So watch screen well. Okay. And then I'll try your way, too.

[Mike Mahardy]

Okay, tell me I'm getting a text.

[Dan Reichert]

You're getting a text.

[Mary Kish]

Mike, this isn't how phones work.

[Dan Reichert]

He had to do a little turn. He had to do an inverted.

[Mike Mahardy]

I didn't have to spin it. It was in my. In position of my hand. I just flipped it.

[Dan Reichert]

Now I've got my phone in my pocket. Mic style. Weird style. Now let me try this.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah. To be clear, I pulled my phone out.

[Mary Kish]

Stop asking us. Yes. You know, if you have a text.

[Dan Reichert]

You have to cue me up.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yes, you're getting a text.

[Mary Kish]

You're getting a text.

[Mike Mahardy]

What?

[Dan Reichert]

There's so many more steps involved. If you do it your way.

[Mike Mahardy]

Mike, I just showed you how to do it normally. If you put your hand.

[Dan Reichert]

Do it again. Do it again. Okay, you're getting the text. Okay, wait. So what are you doing? Go slower so I can see. I'll try it your way.

[Mike Mahardy]

Okay, I'm reaching into. Let's do it on the outside of my pocket. Pretend it's X ray.

[Dan Reichert]

Oh, reaching in.

[Mike Mahardy]

I'm grabbing it. My hand is already in the position it's going to be when I finally read it. I pull it out and I look at my phone.

[Dan Reichert]

Let me try.

[Mike Mahardy]

Like a gun. Like, you don't.

[Dan Reichert]

Let me make sure you're like doc.

[Mike Mahardy]

Holidaying with your phone. And it's not necessary.

[Dan Reichert]

So screen and so it's upside down both ways. Okay.

[Mike Mahardy]

It's not upside down.

[Dan Reichert]

Am I getting a text?

[Mike Mahardy]

Yes. God, he's a psycho. Yes, you are.

[Mary Kish]

What?

[Mike Mahardy]

What is he doing?

[Dan Reichert]

So up when I pull it out of my pocket that way.

[Mike Mahardy]

Okay, I. I was. At first I was trying to do.

[Dan Reichert]

It your way, but it's upside down and up. I have to.

[Mike Mahardy]

Are you sure you're doing it my way? Because at first I thought you were.

[Dan Reichert]

You're saying upside down. Screen in. So let me try to.

[Mike Mahardy]

Let's see. No. Okay, so this is tough.

[Dan Reichert]

Look, here's. Here's the camera on my phone.

[Mike Mahardy]

Literally, it's flipped upside down like that.

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah, that's the camera. You see that?

[Mike Mahardy]

Yes.

[Dan Reichert]

Put.

[Mike Mahardy]

Okay. Yes. Okay. Slip it into your pocket. And don't let go of the phone. Don't let go of the phone. Now pull it out the same way you just put it in. Do the reverse. Just. Just do the reverse of how you put it into your pocket. He's so confused how simple it is.

[Mary Kish]

It can't be that simple.

[Dan Reichert]

That is better.

[Mike Mahardy]

What? Okay, so what, Mike, you got your ac. No, no, no, no. Yeah. Yeah. Great.

[Mary Kish]

He doesn't know what to do.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah.

[Mary Kish]

I write.

[Mike Mahardy]

To be clear, I get how muscle memory is a powerful thing. Like, I.

[Dan Reichert]

It is, you know?

[Mike Mahardy]

Have you had a shower before? Well, we talked way too much about showers last time when you.

[Mary Kish]

Yeah, those.

[Mike Mahardy]

It feels weird what you're doing because you did one thing out of order. You're like, oh, God, I got to start over. Like, I get it, but I'm trying to figure out what you're doing.

[Dan Reichert]

You.

[Mike Mahardy]

You had to do, like, two full spins.

[Dan Reichert]

So let me go slow my way.

[Mike Mahardy]

Love to describe it to listeners. I don't know how to.

[Dan Reichert]

Mine is.

[Mike Mahardy]

It looks like pulling his gun up holster and twirling it, putting it down this way.

[Dan Reichert]

So I'm going, mm.

[Mike Mahardy]

I mean, that's. That's definitely not as simple as what.

[Dan Reichert]

I was crazy, right?

[Mike Mahardy]

No, but. There's no but. The way you just did it, it's almost like in order to do what you just did, when your phone is put in your pocket like I do, instead of just going to the simplest route, like I just showed you, your body's like, oh, we need to do hours and then array, like, account for the second one.

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah, like, I'm gonna have to, like. Look, I understand now.

[Mike Mahardy]

Keep doing what you've been doing.

[Mary Kish]

You can do whatever you want. There's a reason that when cops holster their gun, when that they put their hand in the holster, it's in the exact position that it needs to be to use the gun. And I ask you, have you ever seen a cop where they have to take the gun and then. And turn it around and flip it.

[Dan Reichert]

Cooler if they did?

[Mike Mahardy]

Well.

[Mary Kish]

Well, there's a lot of things they could do.

[Mike Mahardy]

Cool. Let's stick to the wild west gun thing, because I like to think of Dan going into the middle of, like, this. Like, there's a tumbleweed goes by, and someone challenges to a duel.

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah. And he has revolver ocelot.

[Mike Mahardy]

Dan, your gun, in this metaphor, the barrel would be pointing up and the handle would be forward.

[Dan Reichert]

Look, if I. As long as I get there quick enough, that's all that matters.

[Mary Kish]

You wouldn't the other guy and standoffs work.

[Dan Reichert]

Well, the part where it got extra confusing was I was like, oh, God, is this some stupid thing that, like, is this a genetic thing? I called my dad on the dump truck live, and I put him on speakerphone. I was like, dad, when you put your phone in your pocket, is it screen out or screen in? And he said, it's facing my ass.

[Mike Mahardy]

He goes, back pocket.

[Dan Reichert]

It's back pocket.

[Mike Mahardy]

I think. Am I correct in thinking a lot more women put their phone in their back pocket?

[Dan Reichert]

I think because of pan. I think women have less pant pocket options.

[Mary Kish]

Traditionally, front pockets in our pants are deceptively shallow, and that's to allow for, like, maximum thinness, so we look really streamlined. But I do think that our pants in general are sexist. My favorite dresses have pockets.

[Mike Mahardy]

Okay.

[Dan Reichert]

Pockets are great. We should bring cargo pants back.

[Mike Mahardy]

They are. They're pants. They're in, are they? Yeah.

[Dan Reichert]

Okay.

[Mary Kish]

Good news, Dan. They're back. Yeah.

[Dan Reichert]

Really? Yeah. Could I get away with wearing cargo pants again?

[Mary Kish]

Maybe.

[Mike Mahardy]

I mean, there's a third. They're. They're like. I don't know what brands are selling, but there's, like, nice ones that people are wearing.

[Mary Kish]

Get a pair of jancos, Dan.

[Dan Reichert]

No, I. Even back in the day, I was in ground zero of Jenko's culture, and I never. I. I was too afraid to do Jenko. I didn't want to stand out.

[Mary Kish]

The little tassels hanging off of you.

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah. Want to stand out.

[Mike Mahardy]

There's a lot of, like. Like loose fit. Yeah. Like, these are. These are. I'll send it to Discord. These are in. Now, I see these a fair amount more and more every day like that. You've probably seen these before, now that you think of it. Kind of a bit baggy, loose fitting, but, like the olive green.

[Dan Reichert]

Okay.

[Mike Mahardy]

You like gaps? Got one somehow.

[Dan Reichert]

Oh, yeah, that's cargo. That's great. Especially now because I always want to carry around a bunch of, like, little handhelds and stuff.

[Mike Mahardy]

Remember. Remember Carpenter jeans with the hammer loop? Did you wear those? That was awesome.

[Dan Reichert]

No again, I never wore anything that was in style. I just didn't want to be noticed ever.

[Mike Mahardy]

Oh, yeah.

[Dan Reichert]

So just like, plain colors and normal pants and nothing in trend ever.

[Mike Mahardy]

Okay, fair enough. But anyway, yeah, I keep doing what works for you, but I. I will.

[Dan Reichert]

But I do. You did help me there. I think doing it outside the pants, I think showed me that, like. Oh, that is a pretty. Just smooth. Yeah, I.

[Mary Kish]

Maybe I like doing it. Yeah. Yeah. That's a little twist.

[Mike Mahardy]

If it's, like, part of your, like, little mini routines throughout the day.

[Mary Kish]

I don't think anything do it. You can open your phone however you want. I think they just want the acknowledgement that it's not.

[Mike Mahardy]

It was. Yeah, stream. I understand it was confused that you thought that was the simplest way.

[Dan Reichert]

I never. I just never thought about it ever. It's just like that's how you put your phone in your pocket. Because, like, things should be right side up. In general.

[Mike Mahardy]

I will say things should be right side up.

[Dan Reichert]

I think that's it. It's like, I'm not going to intentionally ever put something upside down, but it.

[Mike Mahardy]

Would just be so. Honestly now the more I think about it, it kind of is weird because that would be really. That would be more. It's. It's not the screen facing out that messes with me. It's the charging port. The bottom of the phone being at the bottom.

[Dan Reichert]

But that's the bottom. But that's the bottom. The body. What's the bottom of your body? Your feet.

[Mike Mahardy]

I don't disagree that it's the bottom of the phone. It literally. It is. But you're not. That's not how, like, pockets work. Again, that's my. Like, that is the barrel of the gun facing up.

[Dan Reichert]

When you put your wallet in your pocket, are all of the dollar bills upside down? No one thinks about that.

[Mary Kish]

They just go in there, bud.

[Dan Reichert]

I can't even follow my own dumb logic on that.

[Mike Mahardy]

I put in. Oh, no, actually, that are the president's.

[Mary Kish]

Heads facing off this bankroll.

[Dan Reichert]

I'm not. I'm ocd. I'm not that ocd.

[Mike Mahardy]

Wait, do you use a. Do you use a bifold wallet? No, I'm curious.

[Dan Reichert]

No, I got one of those minimalist gimmicks.

[Mike Mahardy]

Okay.

[Dan Reichert]

Never mind if it's like five cards. Yeah.

[Mike Mahardy]

Oh, I still use a wallet. I will say people who put their wallet. I'm curious now if there are anybody who puts their wallet in their pocket. Crease up, open part down.

[Dan Reichert]

No, open part down is what I do.

[Mike Mahardy]

Really? That feels so.

[Dan Reichert]

Is that weird too? Yeah, it feels less like if it's like the open part is near the opening, there's too much open. Open. You want to clasp it down.

[Mike Mahardy]

I could see that logic, but I feel like it's more likely it will. Like something will fall out into my. Like, be less secure. And also, again, when I pull it out, it's already at the facing the way that I want it to be. Straight out wallet.

[Dan Reichert]

But the opening is facing up. Well, things would fall out if they were facing down.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah, I. I don't know. Well, thank you from Jerry in Wisconsin. Dan, do you want to read this one? This is not necessarily for me, it just mentions an example of me at first.

[Dan Reichert]

Sure. Hi Fire Escape A fair while ago Mike spoke about House of Leaves. His description sounded intriguing and I finally got around to starting it this last week. I'm about halfway through in loving it. The structure is so interesting and the plot is extremely creepy and compelling. My question is, do any of you have any recommendations in this vein for books, movies, games or any other media that play with the form of the medium to create interesting new ways to tell a narrative? The only other examples I can think of are the game, the Beginner's Guide or any of the games made by remedy, Alan wake 1 and 2 control etc would love to hear any and all thoughts on this topic. Thanks Will from Australia. Yeah. Oh hell yeah. That's a fun topic guys.

[Mary Kish]

So many.

[Dan Reichert]

Well if you like Beginner's Guide, check out Stanley Parable for sure.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah, especially Stanley Parable. Get the Deluxe Edition, Ultra Deluxe, play the original content and then do the other stuff after.

[Dan Reichert]

That's one of the best of that. Honestly. Metal Gear, like Metal Gear does a lot of just kind of playing with like you know, the interaction of a player in a game and things like that. Metal Gear is great at that.

[Mike Mahardy]

I mentioned it earlier. This isn't as much at like picking apart how games are played, but I do love like her story and I didn't, I didn't fully like what was the video editing one from like two years ago? Sam Barlow as well.

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah, Immortality.

[Mike Mahardy]

Immortality. I didn't love the game overall, but I did like the gameplay conceit of scrubbing through timelines to find like frames that were out of place.

[Dan Reichert]

Sure.

[Mike Mahardy]

So anything by Sam Barlow and her story's on mobile.

[Mary Kish]

Brilliant. And I really appreciate you bringing it up because I think it really does mix people who love maybe like a book that's like a whodunit or murder mystery or Where Is She Discovery. But the game is the only way that you can actually have a choose your own ending novel. And it is the perfect use of game as a medium but you get to discover it and read it your way. And so I really think her story is genius in that. So I just appreciate you saying that. I think that's like one of the best examples of like a genre bending. It's a book, it's a movie, it's a game, it's all three and it's the best as a game. It has to be a Game for it to work.

[Mike Mahardy]

I still like Cabin in the Woods. I went back to it recently. I was wondering if it was gonna be like, oh, has this not aged well? Was I just like like in my college years thinking, oh, this is great. I don't like most shit Joss Whedon does in retrospect, but.

[Dan Reichert]

Oh, I didn't know that was Joss Whedon.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah. Cabin in the woods, unfortunately I still like quite a bit.

[Mary Kish]

It's very. It's such a good movie.

[Mike Mahardy]

It's so fucking fun. It's still just right.

[Mary Kish]

Yeah, it like keeps.

[Mike Mahardy]

It's video gamey.

[Mary Kish]

Changing your expectations every time you think something is going to happen. It's like. Like with you. I think it's very well done. That's such a good. You're killing it. These are like examples I wish I came up with. Those are.

[Mike Mahardy]

Well, these are all like fart sniffy games, so it makes sense. I would like.

[Mary Kish]

I love it. Yeah, I love that stuff. Those are all great.

[Mike Mahardy]

What's. But is there subtext? Is what I want to know.

[Dan Reichert]

This is probably about capitalism.

[Mike Mahardy]

Oh, the tariffs. It's hurting my brain to be so smart.

[Mary Kish]

It's about tariff.

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah, probably when you think about it.

[Mike Mahardy]

And then the metatech and the terrorists. Have you. Wait, have either of you read. Going back to the original email. Have either of you read House of Leaves?

[Dan Reichert]

I own it. I think I've. But no, I've always liked the idea of it because like the gimmick of like, you know, the house that's bigger on the inside than it is on the outside. And then like I've seen the pages where it's like. It was like there's blank pages and there's one where the text is spiraling around. Like I like gimmick. Like it seems gimmicky in a good way and I like good gimmicks. And so I always wanted to read it.

[Mike Mahardy]

It's got control vibes for sure. Like Remedy. Remedy. Like Kyle Riley and Sand Lake. Absolutely. Like that helped inspire control. Among other things.

[Dan Reichert]

I think I would like.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah, actually that's two things now that just came to mind as well. SCP Foundation. You guys know that Internet archives.

[Dan Reichert]

I've heard of that. Yeah.

[Mike Mahardy]

Those are still fun. Every once in a while I'll like if I'm like if I have WI fi in a plane or something. Actually, actually I had a weird one where I came across a plane horror story on SCP while I was on a plane. So maybe be careful. It's an Internet Archive. That's basically. If you're into the environmental storytelling and control, it's very much that, like CIA that hunts down and covers up supernatural shit that they don't want people to know about. And it's really eerie and surreal and off putting. There's also that other one, the back ways. Hallways. Limited liminal spaces.

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah.

[Mike Mahardy]

And that's very video gamified. And it's actually. Now, I gotta. Let me look this.

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah. Mary, when we were in Portland, seeing you, our Uber driver was asking about what we did and we brought up video games and he brought up this game and it's like we had not heard of it before. And it's like, this sounds crazy and weird.

[Mary Kish]

That's crazy. That's like such a fun interaction to have.

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah, I know. It was a great talk. Yeah.

[Mike Mahardy]

Back ways. Oh, God.

[Dan Reichert]

It's like a big building. There's different floors and stuff.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah, right.

[Dan Reichert]

The back rooms.

[Mike Mahardy]

Back rooms. So just. What is the website? It's actually really cool. It's so it's. At its core, it's a collaborative fiction project that's structured like SCP Foundation. If you just go to. It's basically a wiki and it's designed for you to go down individual rabbit holes. And if you want to write some stuff for it, you have to post photos and you have to describe the rules of how they got there. It's. The fiction is like once someone gets into the back rooms, they're caught there forever. But most of the photos start with like, liminal spaces, like abandoned. There's the one that really has stuck with me. Did you guys ever go into the back hallways, like the maintenance corridors at your mall?

[Dan Reichert]

I've been in those type of things at like a bunch of like, arenas and different.

[Mary Kish]

I've seen malls, so I feel like I know what you're talking about.

[Mike Mahardy]

I used to. I met someone who worked down in the food court when I was working up. My first job was at the movie theater, Regal Cinemas at the Carousel Mall at the time. It's now Destiny in Syracuse. And to get from the movie theater, which was third floor, I used to have to go across these two walkways. And I'm terrified of heights. And the center of this mall is big and open and I would hate going across the hallways. I got into a conversation with someone at the time who worked down in the food court. And I was saying, I hate having to walk across those to get back to the main escalator. She's like, oh, just take the backstairs down the back hallway, come out behind the Taco Bell, and you'll be near the parking lot. I'm like, oh, wouldn't I be in trouble? She's like, no, you work here. No one gives a shit. It's not like the custodian's gonna be like, hey, what are you doing? You're in a fucking. The red polo shirt that says Regal Cinema. I was like, all right. I guess this is what it feels like to have some privilege. And then so I went down and there were certain nights when I got out at like 2am after resistance with Daniel Craig had ended. And I cleaned up the final movie theater and I went down and it would be just empty and eerie. And it was so weird because I knew this whole public space was right next to me, but there was no one in these way. It felt like I was trespassing even though I hadn't. So the backrooms is very much about those quote unquote, liminal spaces.

[Dan Reichert]

Sure.

[Mike Mahardy]

Abandoned places that used to have a purpose. Now they just feel like they're floating in the middle of nowhere. And it's actually kind of cool. You can lose hours. It's just. If you've ever gone down a wiki rabbit hole, that's what it is. Like, oh, so to get to level three, which is just these, like, abandoned underground maintenance corridors with pipes running. And then. Oh, if you get to level four, no one's ever come out. And then there's different factions down there. I don't like that stuff. I just like the horror more. It's like it's pitch black. There's no noise. Supposedly. We did find a no. Then how would they have escaped? I don't know. They're like, if you get down there, there's been rumors that there's a pitch black level and it stretches on for as long as, like, Canada. And no one's ever gotten out and they can't see. And then they have to feel their way around the walls and map it out like that. It's cool, but it plays with the act of going down a rabbit hole in a really interesting way. And also some of the people on there, super talented writers. There's actually a young game developer who I don't know what the progress is, but was making a video game based on it minute. And people are like, when's it happening? When's it coming out? I think it's on steam, like the preview page. But, yeah, super cool stuff.

[Mary Kish]

I have two. I think Doki Doki Literature Club belongs in Here because it is genre bending where you think you're having an experience and it's not the experience you expected. Dan, do you know anything about doki Doki literature?

[Dan Reichert]

It's a visual novel, right?

[Mary Kish]

It is.

[Mike Mahardy]

Is.

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah.

[Mary Kish]

But it takes.

[Mike Mahardy]

He knows he hates it, but he.

[Mary Kish]

Knows he knows he hates it. It takes large twists and turns and it also does really fun stuff where it like it self quits, if that makes sense. It. It does the thing. There's a bit of a spoiler, but I think it's. It helps to answer this, which is like, it does this thing where like it says it's going to quit the game but you're still in the game. And it even like shows you the file of where the game is on your computer. Shit like that. It fucks with you. And I think that's so brilliant. Where it's like, we know you're playing a game, but that doesn't mean you're out, bitch. Like, you think you can quit me. That shit is so sick when it does stuff like that. Another game that does that is Inscryption Inscription has a section where it actually shows you files on your computer and says, I'm going to delete this permanently off your computer if you don't do what I say. And it might show you a file that you really like, right? Like it might show you like me and Meemaw Photos 2018. And you'll be like, I can't lose those. And it's just like, it's very interesting that it actually searches your hard drive for files that you personally have and then throws it back in your face as a way to like, whether or not you are going to be able to get through that game. I think both of those examples are great games where they. They literally play on your. Your brain that you can always quit the game. And these games are like, but can you? And I really respect that in the genre for going outside of the box of maybe you can't quit the game. Maybe the game is playing you. And if you think you can leave, then this is, we're actually gonna fuck with you now and we're gonna get you such a good moment anytime a game can do that to you.

[Dan Reichert]

And that's the stuff that makes me think of like when I say Metal Gear Solid because specifically to narrow it down to one and two, you know, one had the boss fight with Psycho Mantis where he's like, I'm read your mind and he reads your fucking PlayStation memory card. You like Castlevania Symphony of the Night playing that, saying stuff based on like, oh, you easily fall for traps. And he'll only say that if you fell into a bunch of traps and stuff like that. And then in two, when like two, the Colonel calls like, Ryden, you've been playing the game a long time. You should probably turn the game off. You should probably stop playing this video game. Like, it's like so many people were like, I've been playing for six hours this point. It's the middle of the night and the Colonel's telling me like to just turn off my PlayStation 2 and tell.

[Mary Kish]

Me to turn off my PlayStation 2.

[Mike Mahardy]

Imagine a kid coming up to the like the living room and his mom didn't know what he was doing. And the kids like, ah, the Colonel told me to stop playing. Yes.

[Dan Reichert]

One and two. Like I think really if you play one and then you play two, the entirety of two is just this commentary on expectations of a sequel and the player relationship to a character and stuff. Controlling Solid Snake and stuff like that. And you were basically Raiden's kind of the surrogate for the player. It is. You need to play both of them and then just look up a bunch of shit. And I'm sure There's a million YouTube videos about the subtext of two and it is just. I still think it's the most fascinating thing that video games have ever done is Metal Gear Solid two.

[Mike Mahardy]

That remind me of a few, few last ones. Or for me, last ones. Monument Valley, those mobile puzzle games. Third one just came out on Netflix recently through a Netflix subscription. But the way you're kind of rotating your phone and playing with perspective. Same with fez.

[Dan Reichert]

No, FEZ is great. Yeah.

[Mike Mahardy]

Speaking of fez games that basically tell you up front you should have a notebook as an ancillary thing. Return of the Obra Dinn. Oh, and Lorelei and Her Laser Eyes, which I still have. Sorry, Jake, I still have not played. I need to. I told Jake it's top of my list. Simogo, top of my list. Swedish developer who made Lorelei Her Laser Eyes and Sayonar Wild Hearts, the former of the latter of which I don't Love of made device 9 or device 6. Device 6 back in 2013. Mobile puzzle game. If you're looking for a good puzzle game, and I know it's 12 years old at this point, if it you could still find it on, I don't know why it wouldn't still be in the Apple Store. Probably only a few dollars. Three hour puzzle game, incredible aesthetic. Kind of like Weird art deco, mid century modern, but eerie, incredible puzzles. I remember, weirdly, I talked to Jeff Cork, who also loved it back in the day because I had just finished my internship when it came out and I had messaged him saying it seems like something he would like. And he said he had already played it. But that game similarly is playing with being a phone mobile game, which was pretty cool back in 2013 on my. I might have even played that on my itouch at the time. No, I can't remember what phone I would have had in 2013.

[Dan Reichert]

But anyway, yeah, I like that stuff a lot.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah. All right, well, thank you.

[Mary Kish]

That's a good question. It's great to just ask that because I usually do find my favorite things by saying like, this is something that maybe you don't recognize is so valuable because it's niche in this very nuanced way. I think it's cool to have that conversation where you're just like, this isn't for everyone. Like, the games we've all recommended aren't universally beloved. They're just like really good for a very specific reason, which is just they're kind of fucked up and play with you a little bit.

[Mike Mahardy]

What a. Oh, yeah. All right. Thank you, will.

[Dan Reichert]

Again.

[Mike Mahardy]

That's firescapecastmail.com Send in more questions. Load that bank up. That's our episode. It's been a good one. If you're not a patron, you can go treat it like a tip jar. If you appreciate what we do, you can get ad free episodes. You can get video versions of the episodes. You can see Dan's weird Doc Holliday phone flipping. You can also get access to the good campaign that Vinnie from Nexlander and I are doing on Total Warhammer 3. If you're not subscribed to their top tier, go do that. If you want to see the campaign we're doing there. I just realized I. When's this episode going up? Monday.

[Dan Reichert]

Okay.

[Mike Mahardy]

I didn't spoil anything. I just realized I might have spoiled something from the show. But the evil campaign starts on Monday on Next Lander. I should clarify. Yeah.

[Mary Kish]

Oh, I thought of another. I thought of another one that uses the medium really well.

[Dan Reichert]

Yes.

[Mary Kish]

Undertale.

[Dan Reichert]

Oh, yeah.

[Mary Kish]

That was crazy. You guys, like. It's just like, you'll, like, play the game and by the end of it it'll be like, what do you mean you murdered people? Like, it's so sick.

[Mike Mahardy]

Near Automata.

[Mary Kish]

Yeah, that's a good one.

[Mike Mahardy]

Chrono trigger back in 98 was doing or.

[Mary Kish]

No, it was like the first. First. It, like, laid the groundwork for this question.

[Mike Mahardy]

Am I way off with 90? Yeah.

[Dan Reichert]

That's one thing that I thought was cowardly about Senua's, the Whatever the hell blade. Well, yeah, they said that, like, oh, yeah. If you do this or if it gets too bad, it's gonna delete your save. Oh, I love. That's some Kojima. I love that. And it turns out it was just a bluff. And it's like, no, commit to it. If you're gonna say it, do it.

[Mary Kish]

If you're gonna say that. That. Delete my save because I suck.

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah, I want that.

[Mary Kish]

I agree with you. There was a point where I was losing and, like, I just wasn't doing good enough. And I was like, I don't want my save to be deleted, but make.

[Dan Reichert]

It real, you know?

[Mary Kish]

But it made you.

[Mike Mahardy]

In playing devil's advocate, didn't it make it more tense every time you died because you thought it was real.

[Mary Kish]

Kill.

[Dan Reichert]

But it would have been better if it was real.

[Mike Mahardy]

I agree. I agree. But, like, Kojima wanted to do a.

[Dan Reichert]

Fucking game back in the PlayStation era, when if you died, your disc burnt up in this drive.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yes, I know.

[Dan Reichert]

I so wish that happened. He made the game. He made Botai, where you has a solar panel and you have to take.

[Mary Kish]

It out into the sun. It's like a Banksy. It, like, it, like, erases itself and, like, shits its pants. Yeah, if you don't win.

[Mike Mahardy]

But. But, like, I want to draw the comparison between Kojima and Ninja Theory. Am I getting. Is it Ninja Theory?

[Dan Reichert]

Kojima has balls. Ninja Theory doesn't.

[Mike Mahardy]

Hold on, hold on. Is it Ninja Theory? I want to make sure. Sure I'm naming them correctly before I say this.

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah, it's Ninja Theory.

[Mike Mahardy]

Hell Blade. I mean, I get that they lied.

[Dan Reichert]

That was a gimmick.

[Mike Mahardy]

So. So Kojima never lied about anything, especially, like, big gameplay demos before a game came out. Is that what you're saying?

[Dan Reichert]

He should have lying about the fucking.

[Mike Mahardy]

What Metal Gear Solid two was gonna be.

[Dan Reichert]

And that was incredible.

[Mike Mahardy]

Okay, so he lied.

[Dan Reichert]

Obfuscating the.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah, he lied in order to get to an intended emotional effect with the game. They lied because they wanted to feel like you might lose your progress at one point. There's similarities.

[Dan Reichert]

But. But when you found out. Listen, if you. When you find out the reasoning for why Kojima did that, it's like, oh, I get that. When it's. You find out the. What happened with the Hellblade, it's like, oh, they're Cowards.

[Mike Mahardy]

No, they were creating an emo. They were making it more tense every time you died. Did you Kojima Balls.

[Dan Reichert]

Hellblade Cowards.

[Mike Mahardy]

Kojima was trying to get. Get to the player to a specific.

[Mary Kish]

Place to have big balls.

[Dan Reichert]

Just swinging hairy balls coming off the disc. Yeah, big like truck nuts coming off my Metal Gear disc.

[Mary Kish]

They're big balls.

[Mike Mahardy]

It just won't even go into your console.

[Mary Kish]

Yeah.

[Dan Reichert]

Cuz the truck nuts, they can't shut the lid. Yeah.

[Mary Kish]

Does your game cartridge have nuts?

[Mike Mahardy]

Oh, that's disgusting.

[Dan Reichert]

You got one of these ass games. No nuts. That.

[Mike Mahardy]

What is this game? Elden Ring has no nuts. That game's probably for.

[Dan Reichert]

No Elder Ring's got nuts brother.

[Mike Mahardy]

No, there's no truck nuts on it. It's for.

[Mary Kish]

There's no truck nuts on that game.

[Dan Reichert]

Oh, these marines got truck nuts. These.

[Mike Mahardy]

These from software guys must be huge for not putting truck nuts on their discs.

[Dan Reichert]

Such a stupid visual.

[Mike Mahardy]

It's a truck.

[Dan Reichert]

That's what weighs so much more than the disc.

[Mary Kish]

They're pretty small because.

[Dan Reichert]

Tiny little truck nuts.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah, it's true.

[Dan Reichert]

They're there.

[Mike Mahardy]

It's trying to go to the console but it won't. So it just keeps trying to go.

[Dan Reichert]

In console because they put nuts on the disc.

[Mike Mahardy]

The next PS5 version is gonna have a slot for the nuts to go through.

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah. Kojima would do it. Oh yeah.

[Mike Mahardy]

He would do it.

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah.

[Mary Kish]

Perfect. Little nuts.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah.

[Mary Kish]

Center the nuts fall in.

[Dan Reichert]

The PS6 will have a little like trough for the nuts so it doesn't break the laser.

[Mary Kish]

It's spins so it goes upwards.

[Dan Reichert]

Oh yeah. The centrifugal forest.

[Mary Kish]

The nuts because of the centrifugal force. Thank you, Dan.

[Mike Mahardy]

The game's gonna be. It's. The game's gonna be called like Nut tray and it's gonna have characters like Dickman and Penis Woman and Vagina Babe. And he's like the. The intention was we wanted to create a metaphor for players who might buy a console with a truck nut. Nut slot.

[Dan Reichert]

I'm Scrotum Dick Man.

[Mike Mahardy]

Scrotum Dick man is a stand in for energy drink drinkers. So we needed to include Monster.

[Dan Reichert]

We don't deserve him.

[Mike Mahardy]

No, we don't.

[Mary Kish]

But I love that we're like de evolving games because we have to have little connected nut sacks on them.

[Dan Reichert]

I like it. I think that's the next Physical media is dead. But I think this is. It's going to come back Death Stranding.

[Mike Mahardy]

Best game of 2022 was all about deconstructing Fetch Quest. Quests it's true. That's training director's cut. Best game of 22.

[Dan Reichert]

That's what we said.

[Mary Kish]

Damn it.

[Mike Mahardy]

All right, that's firecase. Gmail.com. go to patreon.com firescape to become a patron. Go to nextlander. I don't know their exact URL. Just go to Patreon and find nextlander. You'll find them.

[Mary Kish]

Go to deepditchpussy.com deepdom.

[Dan Reichert]

They have funny URLs. Yeah. Come on, Vinny. Brad, Alex, what do you got?

[Mike Mahardy]

Go to deepdishpussy.com if you want to become a Patreon member. Feel like we had one other thing. I don't think so. Dan, what do you have going on in the meantime?

[Dan Reichert]

Oh, we're doing fun stuff over at the Giant Bomb. We're launching new kind of like always on during the day programming schedule stuff. And I got my own show on there. Grub's got his own show. We got. Well, I don't want to name specific shows that haven't been announced yet or anything, but we got fun stuff going on. So basically tune in to Giant Bomb or GameSpot's YouTube or Twitch throughout the day. If you're at work, open us up in a tab. We got stuff going on. It's been very fun.

[Mike Mahardy]

Cool. Mary, what about you?

[Mary Kish]

Usual Twitch for live streaming game experiences. Because I'm downloading a lot of my old vods. They're all going on my YouTube channel. Just so that you can watch old twitch pods from 2018, which is such a mind for me that I've been streaming for that long. That's it. What about you?

[Mike Mahardy]

Just here forward facing, busy with day job consulting stuff. Wine certification test coming up on May 1st.

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah, Mike, if I wanted to as a bit, could I sign up and like could I last the same? Like could I. Yeah, could I get past you? Like if I put my entire free time towards this?

[Mike Mahardy]

I think there's like an intensive week long version of what I. I don't know. Mine's 16 weeks, two and a half hours class time a week. But like 60 hours of self study.

[Dan Reichert]

I'll think about it.

[Mike Mahardy]

You would have to. You'd have to gain. No, I. I mean feasibly maybe, but you would have. You're skipping to level three.

[Dan Reichert]

I just think it'd be funny to like all of a sudden know more than you about.

[Mike Mahardy]

I just. As I think it would be hilarious as well. But just talking realistically, I don't think so.

[Dan Reichert]

Okay, well then maybe I won't do it. Like you talked me off the ledge.

[Mike Mahardy]

What region in Spain has the most vino de pagos?

[Dan Reichert]

Madrid.

[Mike Mahardy]

No, you just.

[Dan Reichert]

That's the only Spain place.

[Mary Kish]

That's the only Spain place I know named a Spain.

[Dan Reichert]

That's the only Spain I know. Just south of Spain.

[Mike Mahardy]

I got no, you know, other. You know, at least one other big city in Spain.

[Dan Reichert]

Hang on, hang on. Don't wait. Madrid. Spain.

[Mike Mahardy]

Mary was here.

[Dan Reichert]

Barcelona.

[Mike Mahardy]

There you go, right?

[Dan Reichert]

Running the bulls.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah, that's Pamplona.

[Mary Kish]

Barcelona, I believe, is what it's called.

[Dan Reichert]

Barcelona was the Olympics, right?

[Mike Mahardy]

It's.

[Dan Reichert]

Was it like 90, 92?

[Mike Mahardy]

I'm sure at some. I'm sure every city was the Olympics.

[Dan Reichert]

At some point in my lifetime, I feel like.

[Mary Kish]

I guess so.

[Dan Reichert]

You know, like Barcelona, Atlanta, I think.

[Mike Mahardy]

Barcelona was the Olympics when I was a year old. Yeah.

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah, that's the one. I remember.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah.

[Dan Reichert]

I didn't watch it, but I knew it was there.

[Mary Kish]

The only way I keep my countries in order, it's, have they been in Olympics in what year?

[Mike Mahardy]

Well, that's our episode. That's 102. We'll be back in a couple of weeks. In the meantime, like I said, if you're listening to this episode, as of right now, you can go watch the first episode of the evil campaign of that's called Mike and Vinny Destroy. Vinnie and Mike Destroy the World. Next episode of Mike and Vinny Save the World will be up on Monday. This coming Monday on our Patreon, we're alternating. We got a bunch banked, so we're not gonna miss any. We'll see you in a couple weeks, Dan. Mary, see you too.

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah.

[Mike Mahardy]

Until then, everybody have a good, good couple weeks.

[Mary Kish]

Bye.