Fire Escape Cast #110

Summary

Fire Escape Cast Episode #110 Summary

Release Date: June 30, 2025
Hosts: Dan Ryckert, Mary Kish, and Mike Mahardy
Description: Formerly known for their engaging conversations about video games, Dan, Mary, and Mike continue their discussions from across the country on the Fire Escape Cast.

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1. Introduction and Weather Banter

The episode kicks off with the trio humorously lamenting the scorching weather:

• Mike (00:39): "It is so goddamn hot here."
• Mary (00:42): "We're in a bubble."
• Dan (00:44): "Is that the start?"

Their playful exchange sets a lighthearted tone as they transition into the main discussions.

2. Reflections on Game Reviewing and Integrity

The hosts delve into their experiences and challenges in game reviewing, emphasizing the importance of maintaining integrity despite external pressures.

• Mike (02:24): "There are times when reviews go from a 6 out of 10 to a 9.5 out of 10 because everyone else likes it."

Dan shares anecdotes about peers who doubted their initial negative reviews, only to see the game's ratings soar once released.

• Dan (04:36): "I think they realized they might have been going too hard into the negative direction."

Mary adds insights from her time editing video reviews, highlighting the meticulous effort to ensure reviews are well-supported visually.

• Mary (06:01): "It's always really interesting to me when I'm searching through the footage to make sure that I could support your points."

3. Mary's Experience at Cannes and Fun with Self-Tanning

Mary recounts her trip to Cannes, France, where she worked at a Twitch booth, leading to amusing mishaps with self-tanning lotion and tooth gems.

• Mary (14:55): "I drove up through all of them. I shot a sign for champagne, and I didn't pull over."

Her humorous story about unintentionally using self-tanner provides a relatable and entertaining segment.

• Mary (18:02): "I bought soap that looked like Dove soap, and I bought lotion that was, like, in a brown bottle."

The conversation continues with jokes about her over-tanned appearance and the temporary tooth gems she acquired.

• Mary (24:38): "I went to an afterparty... there was a lady in the corner doing tooth gems. And I was with the CEO of our company, Twitch."

4. Travel Recommendations and Experiences

The hosts share their travel experiences, particularly focusing on Ireland and offering recommendations for listeners.

• Mike (41:00): "We started... Dublin, drove down to Cork City, and then drove up the Wild Atlantic Way to Galway."

Dan expresses his admiration for Galway's beauty and the efficiency of Dublin's public transportation.

• Mike (41:53): "Galway felt more like a vacation where people from Ireland were going there for the weekend. Super gorgeous beaches around there, pubs. The whole trip was amazing."

Mary emphasizes the culinary delights they experienced, recommending specific pubs and restaurants.

• Mary (43:32): "It's perfectly, like, brown top to this, like, braided pie. Unreal."

They also discuss plans for future meetups and the joy of connecting with listeners in unexpected locations.

5. In-Depth Gaming Discussions

The core of the episode revolves around detailed discussions of various games, including "Death Stranding 2," "Expedition 33," and "Pipistrello."

a. Death Stranding 2

Dan provides an extensive review of "Death Stranding 2," highlighting its improvements and unique features.

• Dan (49:43): "It is fantastic. It is more of a big fun toy sandbox than ever. And I adore it."

He praises the game's mechanics, narrative surprises, and the seamless integration of personality throughout the gameplay.

• Dan (60:03): "It drops you in really, really quick. I remember the first one had a lot of exposition, but this one just gets into it."

Mike echoes Dan's enthusiasm, noting the game's engaging weather effects and the balance between technical prowess and creative vision.

• Mike (55:39): "There's so many weird items and aesthetic pieces that you can equip. There's just a lot of surprises in this game."

b. Expedition 33

Mike shifts focus to "Expedition 33," commending its evolving gameplay and character systems.

• Mike (64:16): "The game is pretty content to let you just fly through if you're not interested in talking to every townsperson."

Dan concurs, appreciating the game's creative world design and the freedom it offers players.

• Dan (72:07): "This is the RPG I could get into. It's a turn-based RPG that seems very special."

Mary shares her positive experience, emphasizing the game's whimsical and engaging dialogue.

• Mary (78:10): "It's really calm... this is probably one of the chillest games."

c. Pipistrello

Mary introduces "Pipistrello," describing it as a cozy fishing game with stunning visuals.

• Mary (87:09): "It's a very simple, cozy fish game. There's no must, there's no fuss."

She elaborates on the game's mechanics, upgrade systems, and the relaxing nature that helped her unwind during stressful times.

• Mary (88:27): "Freddy wine breeding systems are quite similar to Hollow Knight. You can have different skills that enhance your playstyle."

6. Listener Emails and Interactions

The hosts respond to listener emails, offering advice and sharing personal stories.

a. Metal Gear Solid Inquiry

Tim from Baldwin asks about starting "Metal Gear Solid" for the first time.

• Dan (98:29): "Get the Master Collection Volume 1 on Steam. It should have the PS1 version."

Mike adds details about the collection's compatibility and suggested versions.

• Mike (97:29): "It's Blue Point, right?"

b. Near-Death Experiences

Doc Hensla shares a personal story of a threatening situation in New Orleans, prompting a discussion on near-death experiences and their impact.

• Mary (98:39): "Have y'all ever had a near-death experience or times you did a hard retrospective on your life after a major thing happened to you?"

The hosts exchange their own experiences, ranging from sports injuries to severe turbulence on flights, highlighting the introspective moments such events can bring.

• Mike (100:07): "The first thing that went through my mind was I want to make sure the people who were really meaningful in my life know."

7. Additional Recommendations and Closing Remarks

Towards the end, Mary and Mike provide travel recommendations for Portland and New York City, suggesting must-visit spots and local favorites.

• Mary (109:14): "For pizza, I like Pizza Shoals. There's like five dozen different types of pizza. Homemade ranch."

• Mike (115:30): "My personal favorite is LA Company On Center Street. Wear a Hawaiian shirt on Fridays for a discount."

Dan praises Minneapolis, sharing his favorite eateries and attractions, while Mike adds insights into New York's diverse neighborhoods.

• Dan (114:05): "Pasta place in Northeast. It's so fucking good. They have the Doppio, which is incredible."

The episode concludes with a humorous exchange as Mike struggles to recall a specific game he enjoys, leaving listeners with a teaser for the next episode.

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Highlighted Quotes

• Mike (02:24): "There are times when reviews go from a 6 out of 10 to a 9.5 out of 10 because everyone else likes it."

• Mary (18:02): "I bought soap that looked like Dove soap, and I bought lotion that was, like, in a brown bottle."

• Dan (49:43): "It is fantastic. It is more of a big fun toy sandbox than ever. And I adore it."

• Mary (87:09): "It's a very simple, cozy fish game. There's no must, there's no fuss."

• Dan (98:29): "Get the Master Collection Volume 1 on Steam. It should have the PS1 version."

---

Conclusion

Episode #110 of Fire Escape Cast offers a blend of insightful gaming discussions, personal travel anecdotes, and engaging interactions between the hosts. From deep dives into "Death Stranding 2" and "Expedition 33" to lighthearted stories about dental gems in France, the trio ensures a captivating listening experience. Listener emails add an interactive dimension, allowing for personalized advice and shared experiences. Whether you're a gaming enthusiast or someone looking for travel tips, this episode provides a comprehensive and entertaining overview of topics that resonate with a diverse audience.

Transcript

[Dan]

Riverbend Motel and Spray salutes America's armed forces and all of our military veterans for the sacrifices they've made. Our troops are our angels of freedom and our wings of protection fighting to defend our country. So please honor our warriors for their dedication and bravery, as well as our veterans and those who have given their lives in the line of duty because they are America's true heroes. A message from Riverbend Motel in Spray. That's Riverbend Motel in Spray.

[Mike]

It is so goddamn hot here.

[Mary]

We're in a bubble.

[Dan]

Is that the start?

[Mary]

That's the start.

[Mike]

I guess we can start. I don't want to start with the weather.

[Mary]

That's the start.

[Mike]

I don't start with me whining too late about the weather.

[Mary]

You're always whining.

[Mike]

I'm always whining.

[Mary]

Not.

[Mike]

I'm more interesting things than the weather, though.

[Mary]

But here we are.

[Mike]

It's all it crossed. 110 is a sultry day here.

[Mary]

Same as the weather outside. About 110 and we are back at it with another episode. That's Mike.

[Mike]

Is this how I talk? Is that how I sound to other people?

[Dan]

I thought it was actually you. Yeah. Oh, here.

[Mary]

Here with Dan.

[Dan]

Hello. Hi.

[Mary]

And I'm Mary, here as always with another episode of Fire Escape Cast giving you all of your hot gaming takes. Just like the weather. Hot. Is that.

[Dan]

Do we do hot gaming? I don't think we do hot gaming takes.

[Mike]

We do hot games.

[Mary]

I think so.

[Dan]

Do we?

[Mary]

Yeah.

[Mike]

My. My opinions are always straight down the middle. I never.

[Dan]

Yeah, we just look at the Metacritic and we decide how we feel.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Mary]

It's exact death stranding.

[Mike]

Two is good.

[Dan]

Yes, it is.

[Mike]

Two is fine.

[Dan]

I think it's good. Ah, I'm gonna get fired from Fire Escape.

[Mike]

Damn.

[Dan]

Outside the norm.

[Mike]

We don't do. Yeah. Devices.

[Dan]

I knew a guy back in the day. I won't name anyone. Mike, you'll probably know who would be like reviewing a game and during the review period, he'd be like, oh, this sucks so bad. This game sucks so bad. Come check this out. Come look how bad this game is. Come look how bad this game is. And then he would hear from other, like, reviewers and stuff that everyone was like liking it. And the score would go for like, the draft would go from like a 6 out of 10 to like 9.5 out of 10. It turns out everyone likes it. I don't want to, you know, make any waves here.

[Mike]

I honestly, there's like two people I could think of.

[Dan]

You're right about one of them, I'm sure.

[Mike]

God, the, the Middle east right now. No, I'm just joking. We. You're talking about Divisor cakes.

[Dan]

Yeah, we got a lot of days before this goes up. Who knows what the situation is then?

[Mike]

But yeah, yeah, there's. I, I. At a certain point I realized, and this is not. I'm not trying to like blow smoke up my own ass because I also, I would initially, when I was first reviewing games, I would have, you know, enough thoughts on the game as I'm playing it and then talk to other people. And when those situations where I'm like, what the fuck? Are we playing the same game? Yeah, I would definitely feel like, am I dumb? Do I have bad taste in games? I'm new to all this. But like, later on, like, especially in my Polygon tenure when I really didn't give a fuck with other. Well, I gave a fuck what other reviewers thought, but not insofar as it influenced my opinion. I barely talked to people until reviews went up.

[Dan]

There are times there are special games where in the pre release period, you know, people I haven't talked to in a while will reach out and text me like, holy shit, are you playing. This is one of the best games ever. It happened with Breath of the Wild, happened with Elden Ring, and it happened with Blueprints. Most recently of just people being like, you're playing this, right? We have to fucking talk about this.

[Mike]

Yeah, yeah, I remember there was a point and I won't even name the. It might have been GameSpot, it might have been Polygon, but there was a game that highly anticipated first party. And during the review period, like several higher ranking members of the staff were like, we need to have stories ready to go. Like, how did this even make it to market in this state? Like, who made, who made these design decisions? And reviews start hitting and everybody's loving it. And like these people like just stopped. Like, just like once the reviews were up, they just stopped bringing those ideas to the table. Like, I think they realized they might have been like going too hard into the negative direction.

[Dan]

Oh sure.

[Mike]

Which is funny to me.

[Dan]

As long as you can back it up. Like, I don't know, I think about like, I got some crap for my Mario Party jamboree review was like, definitely on the very, very low end of what people were saying. And I look back at my review that was for gamespot and I look at that and no, I know the series, I know what I'm talking about. And my points are all Very salient this is. Yeah, I have no problem with that.

[Mike]

Yeah, I remember the funny one. For me, the first time I really got heat for a review, I did Gears Ultimate Edition for Xbox One or Series X. Xbox One. The remaster of the original Gears game and Jeff Gerstman, back in the day when the game first came out for GameSpot, had given it a nine out of 10. I gave the remaster. It might have been a six, it might have been a seven out of 10. And people were like, so the remaster of a game gets. How did it get, like, drop three points since it originally released? Like, from the same outlet?

[Dan]

And then the dumbest shit first for, like, you're like six reasons. That's a dumb idea.

[Mike]

So I was like, oh, we're different people. A and B. Games, like, more than any other medium, tend to age poorly. And we're. How many years after Was this? Like 11 years after the game came out. And then the funniest part was when Gerstman himself for Giant Bomb put up a review. And it was also like six or seven out of ten.

[Dan]

It was like a two out of five or something.

[Mike]

Yeah. Like a person who loved it back then. I also loved it back then. I still like the game quite a bit.

[Mary]

Well, he's loud because he's Jeff Gersman.

[Dan]

That's right. This is why Mike got fired from GameSpot.

[Mike]

So, yeah, I gave the remaster way too low a score.

[Mary]

And yeah, I think it's interesting as someone who didn't review. I reviewed a couple games during my time, but that's not what I. That wasn't my job. My job was to edit your guys's words into a video review. That was my job. Right. And so a lot of times I would be looking up visuals that helped support your claims. Right. That something was working or something was missing the mark. And it was always really interesting to me when I was, like, searching through the footage to make sure that I could support your points. Because when you're. Especially if you're saying something negative, if the video doesn't back up what you're saying properly, it can. Can come back to haunt you. Or the comments will be like, that's not even like a good. That's not like a really good example of it. Like, I don't agree with them. And so there was a lot of pressure on video editors as well to make sure that you felt like you were getting the proper review footage that you needed to back up your points saliently and make you feel really Good. I think I did a Final Fantasy, a very unpopular Final Fantasy game. It was the one that, like, you had to do it and, like, a certain amount of time to beat it. A lot of people didn't like it doesn't matter which one it was. I'm gonna say 12. Anyway, it wasn't very popular. And I was like, scouring through this footage to make sure that every time Chris Waters said this game just kept going, like it just wouldn't stop, that I had these long stretches of dialogue to make it seem basically as boring as he felt when he played it. And that was the joy to me to make sure, but a lot of pressure to make sure that you guys always felt like you were getting the review quality you wanted in your videos.

[Dan]

Yeah, that's something that really helped with, like, the era of consoles having the share button and things like that. Because then it's like something fucked up can happen, like a bug or something. And you can just be like, okay, let me capture the last three minutes of that. And then, you know, you can use that. Whether it's a social post or in part of a video review or something like, see, this is the shit I'm talking about.

[Mike]

Yeah. And then there's also to the counterpoint when you. You people, I think, are savvy enough now. And it's like video reviews are so ubiquitous that people can see bullshit on YouTube. Like, when someone's not doing what Mary is and doing their due diligence, it's easy to see when they might have. I don't want to say they fabricated and the footage, like, edited. I just say, like, sort of acted in the game in a way to support the script. It almost having edited not as many as Mary, but my own fair share of video reviews, I'm like. Feels a bit like they're kind of using the gameplay to support the script in a way that I don't actually think is indicative of the game. No one specific comes to mind. I just know I see it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I liked our process. It could definitely get. At first, it was a bit of a strain on reviewers because we were already, you know, like, just trying to get through a game and have our thoughts down for that editorial piece. But then I think Gamespot, there were some growing pains in getting everybody on board with capturing and, like, not just learning the tools, which I think are incredibly necessary, but just having those extra muscle memory down pat while you're reviewing a game, which, again, I think was very useful in the long run. But I remember at first it was like, this is all inside baseball. I don't know how much people care. I just remember, like, you know, going through that.

[Mary]

I think it's fascinating. I think it's fascinating because people so quickly say, like, oh, yeah, you guys, like worked there. You must have reviewed games. But they had a long, drawn out process because we had a lot of integrity as our sites, like, you can't. We had a lot of systems, we had a lot of checkups and follow throughs. I mean, it's amazing how many review, like edits a review, a game review went through before it actually was shipped. And the same thing with the video review. It took a long time to get those things out.

[Dan]

You know who's great at the video review stuff is, or video like, like text to video stuff is one judge, Jake Decker. Because, you know, there were a few times I got to work with him on that type of stuff when I would write something for Gamespot and I like went to that Metal Gear Solid three trip and I told Jake, I was like, hey, I know you guys want to get a video out of this. But like, here's. They didn't give a lot of B roll. Here is like a trailer and here is like eight screenshots. And my thing, if I read it out is going to be like nine minutes long. He's like, no, I got it. And it's on YouTube now. If you look up, like the Metal Gear Solid three Delta thing that I narrate, like, Jake cut that all together and he made it work with, like, nothing to work with. So it's definitely a skill that a few people are very good at.

[Mike]

He's okay.

[Dan]

He's fine. He's fine.

[Mary]

Yeah, Jig's very good. And I think there's. There is an art to making sure you feel supported. The very few games that I reviewed, I reviewed Stardew Valley, I think I cut my own video. And I was really excited about that. And it was really fun to have full control outside of how much of my words were obviously edited by our editor in chief at the time, Peter Brown, or at least reviews editor, who like, was meticulous with the way you could say something. And I'm a dingus. Like, the way I would say something was often like, man, it's really cool that you could just walk around town and like talk to anyone, you know, including like the guy who works at the bar or the person who's like homeless, like down the street and he like, Pete Brown's like, everything out.

[Mike]

Try, try social Fabric is fragile in the town of Stardew Valley.

[Mary]

And you are just so thoughtful.

[Mike]

And you must be the spider swallowing up the trapped flies.

[Dan]

It's about the American dream writ large.

[Mike]

Yeah, I was gonna say. I don't know why I'm making fun. Like, Pete never did stuff like that.

[Mary]

No, he. Pete was awesome. But I think you are right in the sense that, like, I would write a bunch of drivel and he would read, he would help me formulate it in a way that sound made me sound really smart. So when you read that review, that's not. If you compare my Stardew Valley review to. To my top five or 10 games that I'm allowed to write for Giant Bomb every year, there is a stark contrast with what I was allowed to say in my Stardew Valley review, which is heavily edited and curated and make sure that it fits the mark. Whereas my top 10, literally, you guys didn't edit anything. There's typos in that shit. I'm just like, this game is so fucking rad with like multiple A's and you allow me to have it in my. My like, top 10 giant bomb games of the year.

[Dan]

That's going to change now that I own the company. No more of that sh.

[Mary]

Not. You're gonna let me be stupider. It'll probably be worse.

[Dan]

No, absolutely not.

[Mike]

Dan's gonna come down iron fist on your typo ridden insanity.

[Mary]

The social fabric of our society in 2025 only allows us to say so many games that can really, truly articulate what it is to be man.

[Mike]

Death Stranding 2 is an encapsulation of the post truth era in ways few games and few creators have ever been able to. To suggest. I am but I am but a passenger looking through the foggy window at the passing countryside with the Doppler effect of the screams of dead American ghosts.

[Dan]

He's still got it.

[Mike]

I know.

[Mary]

That's why it did not make my top five.

[Mike]

That's why I hate this game.

[Dan]

Yeah, when I reviewed Destroying the first one, I just said it sucks. Like verbatim terms. Yeah.

[Mike]

Really did not like it.

[Mary]

Four for the first one. Originally, I didn't review it.

[Dan]

I. We were just doing like it. I think Brad might have reviewed it. I just talked on a podcast about it.

[Mike]

Yeah, we met fucking Kojima himself at a death stranding event and both of us just immediately launched into talking about how much we liked Snake Eater.

[Dan]

That's right.

[Mary]

What a nice way to avoid the subject at hand.

[Dan]

But now I like it. So now I can suck up to him.

[Mike]

Yeah, we'll get. We'll get to death training too. Of course. During the game section, we've been talking a lot about games, but, Mary, I'm curious how you're gallivanting through France when.

[Mary]

Thanks for asking. This is my second time in France ever. For work. This was now. The first time I went was for TwitchCon. Paris, obviously, in Paris. This time I went to Cannes, which is south France. I've never been south of. Is it called south of France?

[Mike]

It's in the south of France, yes.

[Dan]

Where's Paris? That's the one I know.

[Mary]

Paris is north.

[Dan]

Oh, okay. Not by the ocean.

[Mary]

And it's crazy because. No, it's not. It's completely landlocked and, like, not. Not France. Paris.

[Mike]

No, I know what you mean.

[Mary]

I'm just tripping you in general. Thank you. Because I don't know that much about Europe. I'm, like, still learning as I'm, like, figuring this out.

[Mike]

All the older cities are on rivers. Not all of them, but there are many. Most cities. Or Minneapolis is too.

[Mary]

But France isn't that big. It's like, you know, they're kind of like states. And what state is France the most? Like, we'll say in size, just overall, all categories. Well, it takes about seven hours to get through it, so I don't know, like, all of New York takes about.

[Dan]

Okay, so France is just like New York, you're saying?

[Mary]

Yeah, it's exact same.

[Dan]

Okay.

[Mary]

Same people, same wine.

[Dan]

Okay.

[Mary]

Anyway, so I went to the French Riviera in Takan for a festival called Cannes Leon, and I worked a booth. So this is, like, such a surreal concept to me. But a lot of.

[Mike]

They still had booth babes in France, and they're.

[Mary]

Yeah, I felt like one. Honestly. It was like 95 degrees. I was wearing, like, the smallest clothes I was allowed to professionally get away with because it's so fucking hot. It was like, a real, like, heavy heat, too. Just because you're, like, on the, you know, oceanside. Anyway, it was just humid and sticky. It was. It was rough. Anyway, a lot of business people go to. It's like, mostly, like, ad stuff, and you'd see, like, lots of other businesses.

[Dan]

A peloton was there. My peloton instructors were Instagramming from Paris.

[Mary]

If it's a big business, whatever. Right. Like, Meadow was there. Instagram was there. Well, I guess that's a. Same company.

[Mike]

The way. The way you described it sounded almost like a South by Southwest kind of thing. The way that's Evolved.

[Mary]

Yeah. Pinterest was there, and so Amazon was there, and they have booths for all of Amazon's companies, which is a part of Amazon. So I actually worked the booth. My job, very booth babe ish, honestly, was to explain what Twitch is to a lot of people who still don't know what Twitch is. And then we had them do a personality quiz, which we connected to a keychain that was of emotes, and then we would give them these keychains, and it was extremely popular. We had, like, lines down around other not as good booths to get our cool keychains. But what I found interesting was so many people, I would say, hey, do you know anything about Twitch? And they would say to me, like, verbatim, no, but my kids are on it. And I was like, okay, well, let me explain to you what your kids are watching. And then I'm gonna give you a keychain that you will undoubtedly give your children like these, and they'll be probably jazzed about it. Yeah, they were. They were doing the personality quiz specifically with their children in mind so they could get the keychain they thought their kids would want. So it was, like, all, like, swag for kids, which I found kind of fascinating. Um, but it was like my understanding of this process was just, like, making good with people, explaining what Twitch wasn't and keeping it in their heads. Because there's a lot of ad deals going on, I guess, at this place where people are buying ad space and, you know, making money. So that's kind of, like, was my role. But the Airbnb I was at didn't have anything. It didn't have soap, it didn't have lotion. And so I went to a store to buy all that stuff. I don't speak a lick of French. Nothing. So I just bought soap that looked like Dove soap, and I bought lotion that was, like, in a brown bottle. And it looked fine to me. And I was putting it on every day. And three days into the event, everyone was like, mary, you look so tan.

[Mike]

And I was gonna say, you can't bronze.

[Mary]

It must be this French sun.

[Mike]

It's the Riviera.

[Dan]

It's the same sun.

[Mary]

It must be the French sun, though.

[Mike]

It's not a different planet in Star Wars.

[Mary]

And then when I was like, I didn't understand it, but I looked amazing. I was so tan. And then I was, like, shaking people's hands, and I realized the webbing of my hands was, like, black. And I was like, that is so odd that my hands Are like a different color. Like, they're almost like severely dark. I was like, maybe there's something wrong with my skin or I'm eating bad food or something. And so finally my roommate speaks French and I just showed her the bottle and I said, what kind of lotion is this? And she was like, oh, this is self tanner lotion. You've been self tanning every day in France for the past four days. And that's why I looked so dark.

[Dan]

How long does that take to, like, to take a shower and that's gone or how long does that stick around?

[Mary]

I thought that it would be gone in a shower, but I was very like, I mean, I've been showering and look at the webs.

[Dan]

I don't know if it's the camera, but yeah, it does look way darker there, actually.

[Mary]

So dark. You guys like the.

[Mike]

That's what your whole body looked like.

[Mary]

It was incredible. I. I was very dark in most of the photos that I took. And I was like, oh, my God, I look so tan from all this. But I was literally never in the sun. Never. So I'm an idiot. And I bought self tanning lotion.

[Mike]

It happens. I. In France, Amanda was just finishing getting ready, so I popped down in some year to a grocery store to get, like, sunscreen, etc. I know the general words for some, but I ended up getting, like, instead of sun block, I got like, the sun accentuating, like, oil.

[Mary]

Oh, no.

[Mike]

I mean, once I applied it, I knew exactly I got the wrong thing. I didn't do, like, several days of it, but, like, I knew right away the sun.

[Dan]

Yeah, well, they have a really good one.

[Mike]

Yeah, they have.

[Mary]

They have a better one.

[Mike]

Rank European sons. Mary.

[Mary]

Ooh, you mean the different countries.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Mary]

France, Spain, Italy.

[Mike]

It's Italy's third.

[Mary]

Yes.

[Mike]

Whoa. I thought we wouldn't have hot takes.

[Mary]

And then I'm gonna go all the way down to the bottom. London.

[Dan]

You rarely see Ireland. Yeah. Yeah.

[Mary]

Oh, you rarely see that one.

[Mike]

Yeah, that's. That's. That's all. That's only on, like, the cool. That's only on the paced list.

[Mary]

We laugh. But as you can clearly see, some places have better sun.

[Mike]

Yeah, I actually came back with some. I was. We were in Ireland for 10 days. It poured the first day, and then we got the most gorgeous, like, 73 and sunny for most of the trip. And I came back with, like, at least my face got color. And you can ask if what you can. I'm not lying. It was sunny. We got a photo At a pub called the Swan, John Lynch's the Swan in Dublin. And I posted it. There's a photo, like, we were outside, like, pub culture, obviously spilling onto the street. And we were having a few last pints on our last night there, if memory serves. And then a fire escape listener was like, oh, that's me in the background. I thought that was you, but didn't know why you'd be in Dublin. I was like, yeah, you should come say hi. But that's impossible.

[Mary]

It's impossible that you could have been there. So he didn't say anything. That's funny.

[Mike]

But France sounds. It looked rad. Were you. You were in, like. You went up through, like, the country. You stopped at, like, a chateau for a bit.

[Mary]

I did. So I was curious. I assume you've been to all of France and you know where I was, but I went to a small town called Cigarette and I've been calling it Cigarette.

[Mike]

Yeah, that sounds good. No, I have not been to all of France. I've been to, like, up, up and down the west coast, Paris several times, and then below Paris in the center of the country. But I haven't been to, like, Provence or the south of France or Lyon or burgundy, champagne, etc.

[Mary]

I drove up through all of them. I shot a sign for champagne, and I didn't pull over. I didn't pull over. I was like, we're going straight home.

[Mike]

Champagne's a quick hop from Paris. Just east of it. No, like, northeast of it, actually.

[Mary]

I'm not a huge champagne person, although I do love an aperol spritz, which I think includes champagne, but I find champagne by itself kind of. It always gives me a hangover.

[Dan]

I have it with mimosas. I had some of those last week.

[Mary]

I love a mimosa in the morning.

[Dan]

They're great.

[Mary]

Yes, I think so, too.

[Dan]

Yeah. It's purely a morning thing for me, but, yeah.

[Mary]

You're not taking the bait.

[Mike]

No.

[Dan]

What's the bait?

[Mike]

You don't. You wouldn't use champagne in those. You use Prosecco.

[Dan]

Mimosa.

[Mike]

You use Prosecco?

[Dan]

Oh, I've never actually made one, but yeah.

[Mike]

Hey, we just combine orange juice and Prosecco.

[Dan]

Oh, I thought it was OJ and champagne the whole time.

[Mike]

It's sparkling wine, but you could ostensibly use champagne for sure. I just don't think if you're getting it at a restaurant.

[Mary]

Here comes the wine.

[Mike]

No, no, no. Just purely from a price point. Most restaurants would be losing money if they did that with champagne when they could be doing prosecco. Which is much cheaper. I'm not trying to be a dick about him saying it was most likely Prosecco, but you could do it with champagne.

[Dan]

I assume you are right about this.

[Mike]

I am.

[Mary]

He is right. But you're also speaking to, like, when I grew up, when. When you clink glasses of sparkling wine, you say, oh, champagne.

[Dan]

Yeah.

[Mary]

The first fucking time in my life I heard someone say the word Prosecco was when we had the Australians come over for E3, and one of the Australians asked for a glass of Prosecco, and I was like, what's that? And they were like, it's sparkling wine. And I was like, oh, champagne. And they were like, no.

[Mike]

Australians have a pretty good base for wine knowledge, I have found. I mean, I know the country has a grows wine, like, a lot of it, but. Yeah.

[Mary]

No, I just always assumed that sparkling wine was champagne. Growing up. I never.

[Mike]

No, I did, too. It's like Xerox, Frisbee. Those words that become kind of synonymous with the thing itself to the point where they overtake the actual word or whatever. I get it. I was just saying, like, if you're. If I'm a restaurant and I have bottles of champagne, they're always going to be more. Almost always going to be more expensive than Prosecco or Germany has Zecht or Spain has Cava. It's just like, you make more money off the mimosa by pouring Prosecco the cheapest.

[Mary]

And other news of fancy culture. I got a tooth gem.

[Mike]

What is that? Tooth gem.

[Mary]

It's.

[Mike]

Oh, it's exactly what it sounds like.

[Dan]

What the hell? What am I looking at here?

[Mike]

Whoa.

[Dan]

What are these French dentists doing? What the fuck?

[Mike]

Who's this brown woman? Tooth gem.

[Dan]

Is that permanent?

[Mary]

And she has a gem on her tooth? Three months, Dan.

[Dan]

Oh, okay, so they're not, like, damaging your tooth at all to do that, right?

[Mary]

No, it's not like drilling a hole in your tooth.

[Dan]

It's.

[Mary]

It's probably done with, like, the same dental concrete that they use to put on your braces, though.

[Dan]

Okay.

[Mary]

I went to an afterparty, so can is kind of, like, known not just for, like, these, like, interesting day booths where you, like, meet and. And make money deals. Big, big money deals. But at the very end, there's always, like, these big parties where, like Odessa or, like, Diplo Play. And I went to one of these parties, and just there was, like, a lady in the corner doing tooth gems. And I was with the CEO of our company, Twitch, and. And I was like, yeah, I was with Bezos.

[Dan]

Does he let you use the spaceship when you do these?

[Mary]

No.

[Dan]

No. Okay.

[Mary]

Doesn't let me have. Okay.

[Mike]

Mary texted, there's a tooth gem. He's in the middle of his Italian wedding. He hopped up to France and was like, got a tooth gem. Came back, and we.

[Mary]

And we both got tooth gems.

[Mike]

No, he got every tooth done, covered entirely.

[Mary]

Like, braces.

[Mike]

Making out with him. Be like a cat. Just course I got.

[Mary]

I panicked, though. I was like. Because I think you're supposed to get them, like, on your main teeth so that it's, like, really obvious when you smile. But I was like, no, I got it on the lower canine. That way I can, like, show it off. But if I don't want to, it doesn't show. But it's three months, and what I assume happens is one day I'll be talking and I'll just be like. And I'll just swallow my teeth.

[Dan]

It's not like a cyanide tooth or anything, though, right? You're fine. If you swallow it, I don't think.

[Mary]

It'S gonna kill you, but I do think I'll have to, like, poop it out eventually.

[Dan]

If it's a tiny little thing, that should be fine.

[Mary]

I think it's pretty small. I don't. I think you can barely tell that it exists.

[Dan]

Imagine on camera here. I can't really see it.

[Mary]

Yeah, I had to, like, kind of get it. It is weird. I like. I, like, touch it with my tongue a lot. I'll, like, recognize it. Jessica. It'd be like having one brace. Not braces, but just one brace on one of your teeth. And you're kind of like, what is that? Like, I touch it a lot and I. I notice it a lot, but sure.

[Dan]

Any, like, change to your bite or anything? Like, the whole time I was doing, like, the Invisalign stuff and everything. Like, every time it shifts or something doesn't bite down. Right. Or is different. It's like, you super notice that, you know?

[Mary]

Yeah. It's weird to. With your mouth. I do think it's, like, probably something the kids are getting into. Right. Like, when we were growing up, I think it was, like, super valuable, at least for the girls. It was like, you gotta get your belly button pierced. Like, that's like what a lot of kids were doing. Right. It was like, the way to alter yourself. I actually think that a tooth gem is way better because you just swallow it in three months and it's no must, no fuss.

[Dan]

It's like, you can do that with the belly button. Ring too, though.

[Mary]

No, because you. Well, yes, but you always have, like, a little hole in there.

[Dan]

Yeah, but you can swallow the ring. Wouldn't it.

[Mike]

Wouldn't the hole.

[Mary]

You can swallow the ring, but you.

[Dan]

Have a whole option. Yeah, same thing.

[Mary]

I'm just talking one day and I swallowed my belly button ring.

[Dan]

That's right.

[Mike]

You look like. You look like Joe Pesci from Home Alone. He's got the gold.

[Mary]

My gold tooth.

[Dan]

I'm gonna kill him.

[Mike]

Don't worry.

[Dan]

Oh, I can see it.

[Mike]

You're in good hands, tween.

[Mary]

Yeah, it's a go back. It's go back. It's a funny thing to get, like. It is just such a funny thing to acquire on a work trip. Especially on a work trip. I can't tell you any work trip where I have acquired, like, an alteration to my body aesthetically, because that's never occurred. But at this very particular party, they were doing all sorts of, like, strange alterations, temporary tattoos, hair gems and tooth gems. And so, like, I just got one.

[Dan]

Temporary aspect of that. Probably makes that an easier sell. For sure.

[Mary]

It is a. It is a sell. But months, right?

[Dan]

Like, still, let's temper. That'll be before you know it.

[Mary]

Yeah, Like a temporary tattoo of like. Like a snake on your face. But it's three months.

[Dan]

Not face for three months. No, I would do a stupid temporary tattoo somewhere. Like arm or something like that. Even something super stupid, you know, that's temporary. It's temporary as long as you can kind of show it when you want to. I was doing the opposite of traipsing about Europe. My trip, my last one was Kansas. Midwest lake culture, which I think is very different than European trade shows and stuff. It's. Is this just like a Midwest lake culture thing where it's every fucking bar is. It's the wet spot, it's the hungry beaver, it's the slippery oyster is an Edom run. It's like, you know, it's just like. Everything's just like the lamest innuendo you've ever heard. And everyone thinks it's the funniest thing in the world. Yes. Is this just a Midwest thing?

[Mike]

No, that's. That's. I mean, okay, Central New York might as well be the Midwest. So I can't really tell you whether it is or isn't it. Okay.

[Dan]

I just know, like, the Ozarks and, like, Kansas stuff and everything. I guess I go to a lot of lakes in Minnesota.

[Mike]

It's West Coast. And west coast as well has stuff like that in the, like, vacation, beachier lake country for sure.

[Dan]

What is it about drinking near a lake that makes people come up with lame sex puns?

[Mike]

I think it's just like, lake kitsch kind of like, that's their idea of, like, humor, as it latterly.

[Dan]

We don't take ourselves too seriously here.

[Mike]

It's like tiki bars have their own version of that kind of humor. And then I think lake country gets that. That in a different way. And it's a lot of innuendo.

[Dan]

Gotcha, boy. Certain. Certain type. At those Midwest lake places, it's just. There's a real act of disdain for people from, you know, the coasts or certain cities and things. Like, I just. I swear I. I go home and I just feel like everyone thinks I'm Noam Chomsky. Like, it's just like, wow.

[Mary]

Yeah.

[Dan]

Many people are saying this. Yeah.

[Mike]

You're like both Marx Brothers combined.

[Dan]

Yeah. But it's just like, even, like, just every has to be like, hey, those people on the coast, right? Or it's like, here we're having cowboy caviar. It's like they like all their fancy caviar, but ours is shitty because we don't care. And it's just like this weird, like. I don't know, there's just this weird.

[Mary]

Disdain, anti culture, but, like, the proud.

[Dan]

Like, anti culture thing, which is fine. I love going and getting Drinking shitty beers on a lake and everything, but it's just like. I don't know, everything's gotten. I don't know if it was always this way, but it just feels like everything's just a little more. A lot of flags, a lot of weirdly aggressive stuff. But, you know, hung out with the family. It was. It was a good time. Got to drive a golf cart around for a while, so that was good.

[Mike]

It does seem to be getting more intense every time I go home. Like, that kind of resentment chip on the shoulder and like, yeah, yeah, different. Different world. Like, I've heard. Yeah. But I have those friends who are like, oh, sorry, this isn't a shut nove du pape. I'm like, dude, I will still drink you under the table with bud lights to this day. Don't fuck.

[Dan]

Is why no matter how far you go into wine, Mike, no matter how deep you go down this wine hole.

[Mary]

That piece of shit is still really in there.

[Dan]

Yeah, I will. I will give you shit. I will give you shit for the stuff, but you are still that dumbass. In fact, I shotgun my second beer ever because I lost mini golf at the lake. And I was thinking to you, Mike was like, this is the second time I've ever done this. And Mike taught me how to do this many, many years ago. Yeah, you are. That dumb ass is there. And you don't look down your nose at that one bit.

[Mike]

So you got videos of me sprinting and diving into trash cans, like, not far from where I live right now at all.

[Dan]

Yeah. No, I deeply respect that.

[Mike]

Yeah. Every time I go home, people are like, I was like, I, I would love a Bud Light. I'm not. Well, I'm not going to actually like, like the taste. Of course, that's beside the point. At that point, like, I, I'll drink them. But a Blue Light, there's nothing better. It's. It's blue Light. Labat Blue Light. Guinness wine, dude. In that order.

[Mary]

PBR on a hot day.

[Mike]

Smoke a peeb? No.

[Dan]

This weekend.

[Mary]

Yeah, I really do like them. And to this day, even here in my hometown, PBR is like, one of the more affordable drinks you can get. And I, I love, like, after a long day, especially on a hot day, having cold PBR and fries, like, that is my go to. So, like, it's still in there.

[Dan]

I got to say, I don't think I'm in any way a snob, but. Because, like, any shitty beer, like, I just drink nothing but Milwaukee's Best Light. And I'll do that to this day. Whatever shitty beer you give me, I'll.

[Mary]

Drink whatever somebody sends you, too. I think the way to your heart is just for people to send you things, and then you'll be like, I love brand. You know what you would have loved Can Leon. It was essentially Brand Fest. It was, that was all it was.

[Dan]

I, I, I disagree there, because the beers that I've gotten for free, I had the thing with Bud Light in Connecticut, and I got the thing with UDA pills here, and I genuinely like both of those. I don't even work with Bud Light anymore, but I still say I like Bud Light. No, but I'm about to say there is a beer I tried that I did not like, maybe for the first time. Quick Trip. Do you know the brand Quick Trip? Not the one. Everyone thinks they know it, but it's. Yeah, but it's the Midwest, like, red sign Mike. You might have seen it because you.

[Mike]

Spent some time Missouri and stuff everywhere, some reason.

[Dan]

Yeah, in the Midwest. And I love Quick Trip. They got great taquitos and I and like, all sorts of great stuff there, but apparently they introduced their own beer called Quitting time and there was a bunch of that at the lake. And I drink some quitting time and it ain't good at all. They had nothing. It was a lot of quitting time. And like one of the Kelsey's beers. Oh, garage beer or something. Yeah, that's the one I shotgun was Travis Kelsey's beer.

[Mike]

That's the only way to drink it.

[Dan]

Kelsey, who's the Kansas City one?

[Mike]

Travis.

[Dan]

Okay. I think Travis Kelsey has a beer called.

[Mary]

They're not the same guy.

[Dan]

They're. They both have beards.

[Mike]

His. Now, his brother Jason Kelsey was a center for the Philadelphia Eagles and Travis Kelsey is the tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs. But they're both all over the place. Yes.

[Dan]

Oh, it's co. Owned by both Kelsey brothers.

[Mike]

Even worse. No, that's what it is, Jason. I don't mind and I don't like the Eagles whatsoever. Fuck them.

[Dan]

Yeah, that beer was fine. The Kelsey's have a better beer than Quick Trip, but that's all very.

[Mike]

I'd be worried if they didn't because Quick Trip, if memory serves, was kind of like we had like nice and easy. Cumberland Farms, you're pumping munches. You know, it's a gas station, but meets like not quite. Not bodega at all, but like mini grocery store with like pizza convenience store.

[Dan]

With like rollers and like taquitos and hot dogs and. Yeah, I love that.

[Mike]

Beer caves they always call it. It's always a beer cave.

[Dan]

Yeah, roadside, you know, very. You're on a road trip going down I35 and you stop and get some to refuel.

[Mike]

Yeah, I don't, I don't miss driving really, but I do miss like hot summer nights with my buddy like 14 years ago. Not that like, not. And I'm not. I'm still talking after high school, like college years when I went back for a couple of years, like when it's hot as shit and you get out and you walk into that like walk in beer cave and you're just there for the temperature and you walk out. Maybe a couple Molson's, maybe a few Labats, and it's just, it's a great, great rest of the night because. Because you have shitty beer.

[Dan]

I mean that was, that was my move when I worked at the liquor store. You know, couple comes in. It was a college liquor store. I probably told this, but like it's usually just college dipshits coming in a game day buying a, you know, cheap beer. But you'd occasionally see a 30, 30 something couple coming in and they would go to the wine section and oh no, they're going to ask me a question about wine. And that's when I hide in the freezer until they leave.

[Mike]

It's my entire job at the bar is people coming in and asking for wine recommendations.

[Dan]

I had the inverse of your. Yeah, you had the.

[Mike]

Imagine if I. I'll be right back.

[Mary]

With your recommendation, sir.

[Dan]

You're just peering between the cases like.

[Mary]

Are they gone yet?

[Dan]

Are they gone yet?

[Mike]

There's a painting in the corner with the eye holes cut out that Dan's watching him through. It's just a.

[Dan]

Paintings in Kansas.

[Mike]

No, dude, you know what?

[Mary]

I like buzz balls.

[Dan]

Ooh, what flavor?

[Mary]

I like the green one.

[Dan]

That's okay. That's the one we had. Have you seen the giant ones that are like two liters?

[Mary]

Yeah, I've seen the giant ones.

[Dan]

That's the one we had the cream.

[Mary]

Ones that are like made of milk.

[Dan]

Yeah, we. We went to the Airbnb for a giant bomb summer games fest place and there was a fridge that didn't work in a garage and we opened it up and there was a 2 liter green buzz ball in there from God knows when. And I'll be damned if we did not kill that thing. Jan Edward 40, hands that thing and taped it to his hands and was going around. I video on my phone of him going around to a bunch of games. Media people who are kneeling on the floor as he is. Like a communion ritual. And he's pouring the green buzz ball into everyone's mouth and we killed the thing. I poured it on a fucking burger and ate it. I would love green buzz ball.

[Mike]

How was it? Is it green apple, I'm assuming.

[Dan]

No, it was like a weird tequila. It was. It was bad. It was. And I made the burger so it was extra.

[Mary]

It was margarita.

[Dan]

Oh, that. I think that might have been it.

[Mary]

I think that's what it is. The color is a better way to describe it than the flavor profile.

[Dan]

Like a Jolly Rancher.

[Mary]

The way buzz balls work. Exactly. You're just having orange or blue, but you're not really having like a flavor.

[Mike]

It's.

[Mary]

It's a Pixie stick, dude, with. That gets you drunk with liquor in it. It's. It's great. We used to. I went on a work trip once where we got the buzz balls and then we watched the James Bond one. That is about the gambling with buzz balls.

[Mike]

Casino Royale.

[Mary]

Casino Royale. And you know how like in that one he gets trapped and they tie him to a chair and.

[Dan]

Yeah, and they hit his balls for a while.

[Mike]

Turns me on every time.

[Dan]

Oh, that's not great.

[Mary]

You have to drink a buzz ball every time the balls get hit.

[Dan]

Full buzz ball. Every ball hit.

[Mary]

No, just like a full arsenic swig.

[Dan]

Okay. That's such a short scene. Like, that's not a drinking game. I think of a drinking game. It's one that like. Oh, throughout this movie they're going to say this word a bunch. And you drink every time they say it. There's only like one ball. Torture scene in Casino Royale.

[Mike]

Yeah. Why are you not drinking until.

[Mary]

Name a movie with more balls then Dan.

[Mike]

More balls.

[Dan]

Balls. Pop star has more dick.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Mary]

No, that's not what I asked.

[Dan]

More balls.

[Mike]

Oh, you don't see his balls?

[Mary]

No.

[Dan]

Pop star. No. You just see the dick rubbing against the window.

[Mike]

Right. Okay, so ball references. Not.

[Dan]

Oh, a reference.

[Mike]

Fucking waiting. Which Dan maybe watching his basement.

[Dan]

I didn't make you to Dr. Ryan from the chat maybe do that. I've never even seen that.

[Mike]

In a salamander infested basement. In Walter.

[Dan]

He was still waiting. The sequel to Waiting.

[Mike]

Those movies. I am so ashamed I ever found that funny. When I was like 15.

[Mary]

It's so embarrassing. But I was a waiter. So like, I was like, I get it.

[Dan]

You know Joe Dirt, the dog who has the big saggy balls and it gets frozen to the deck and they have to use a spatula. His balls off the deck. Joe Dirt has a lot of balls.

[Mary]

Balls movie.

[Mike]

Other than that, though, I think, I.

[Dan]

Wonder if Joe Dirt holds up. I like Joe Dirt a lot. Back in the day.

[Mike]

Brandy, is it? Brandy, yeah. His sister.

[Dan]

Britney. Mur. No, Britney. Yes, Howard. Britney. Yeah.

[Mike]

She went on to be in a few things. She was a.

[Dan]

Including Joe Dirt too.

[Mike]

She was the cousin. She was a cousin as a guest star in one episode of that 70s show. And then she was also. She played a recurring character whose very name is. Her name's Carmen. But the gang and it's Always Sunny has a nickname for her, which I'm not going to repeat here, but people who watch the show know what I'm talking about.

[Dan]

Oh, yeah. Brittany. Daniel. Yeah. No. Always sunny Philadelphia. Yeah. Joe. Door two. Beautiful. Loser. Loser. White chicks. All the stars are here. Cheaper by the dozen. Yeah. That age. Holy.

[Mike]

I've seen Cheaper by the Dozen way more times than I care to admit.

[Dan]

Why?

[Mike]

Who is she in Cheaper by a Dozen? Was she a sister?

[Dan]

No, she's in Basketball Diaries. What the fuck? Okay.

[Mike]

Oh, that's way higher clout than most of her other Stuff.

[Dan]

No. She has an identical twin sister.

[Mike]

Oh, does she really?

[Dan]

Yeah.

[Mike]

What's her name?

[Dan]

Cynthia. Daniel.

[Mike]

Maybe it's her. And other stuff I've been seeing.

[Dan]

It could be she's also an actress and looks exactly like her.

[Mike]

So I've jaded to two different people.

[Dan]

I don't think that's how it works.

[Mike]

They're two different people.

[Dan]

I don't know if the other one's been in ones that you've seen.

[Mike]

I've had one more person in my spank bank than I thought. This whole time.

[Mary]

This whole time.

[Mike]

There's limited space in there. I'm very selective. Do you guys want to talk about. Oh, yeah, I didn't talk about Ireland yet.

[Dan]

What the fuck happens there?

[Mike]

Ireland's awesome. I miss it. We started. We did three days in Dublin, drove, rented a car in Dublin, drove down to Cork City, and then drove up the wild Atlantic way to Galway and then drove across the country back to Dublin. Unreal. We got phenomenal weather seven days out of ten the other times. I like rain a lot, but I was glad it was not rain the whole time. My wife does not like rain, but she was being a champ in case it did rain. It did not. We stayed on a houseboat in Galway in the bay.

[Dan]

I saw that, the picture of the houseboat.

[Mike]

Like, funnily enough, Amanda and I always talk about when we finally. I've never been to Amsterdam. She has. When I. When I finally go to Amsterdam, I want to spend at least a night on one of the houseboats there. This boat was a refurbished Amsterdam barge houseboat that, like, they used to use on the river there, canal, whatever, what have you. So we stayed there. That was great. We did two nights on the boat. I would not do any more than that. No, it was big enough where it was like, basically half of it was beached. But there she, the Airbnb owner, she's a Portuguese, like, captain. She owns two other boats that are moored right with it. So if you wanted. If you are going to Ireland with, like, a group of six people, you could rent out each boat and have a little, like, Armada party if you wanted. You're not supposed to have parties there, but it was. It was super cool. Galway is awesome. Galway felt more. Galway is the smallest city we stayed in. It felt more like a vacation where, like, people from Ireland were going there for the weekend. But super, like, gorgeous beaches around there, pubs. The whole trip was amazing. Tons of good Spanish food. I knew Ireland and Spain have this relationship going back centuries from trade Routes. But, like, all the tapas places we went to were unreal. I think most of our favorite food was Spanish while we were there. But Dan, I. I had a meal there that I think maybe my favorite meal the whole 10 days. I think you both like it. But Dan, you especially. I was like, holy shit. This is like. I feel like the. If fire escape ever goes to Dublin, we need to go to this place called Spitalfields. It's a pub. However, they are famous for, like, they do really good pies, like, pot pies. They have this thing called a cockaliki pie, which is just. I'm sorry, a cackaliki pie. It's just slang for chicken and leeks. Like big green onions, to be reductive. But they come.

[Mary]

Sounds like a bar that Dan would have found in one of his towns.

[Dan]

No, that was the Leaky Cock. It sounds similar.

[Mike]

Yeah, they danced around it a bit in Dublin. But, yeah, but no, it comes and it's like. It's perfectly, like, brown top to this, like, braided pie. Unreal. And then you also. We got beef stuffed Parker house rolls before it as well. It was like, short, slow cooked, like, braised short ribs inside a Parker house roll. Unreal. If you haven't been to Spital, if you've been. If you're going to Dublin, any point, go to Spitalfields and also, like, just a good pub in general, the whole. Amanda and I try to go to the, like, botanical garden or whatever is closest wherever we go. We did it in Paris. Paris has, like, Luxembourg Gardens. And then we've done stuff like that. But in Dublin, went to the botanical garden, one of our favorites. It was massive, gorgeous. They had, like, tons of different spots. They had a greenhouse full of palms from, like, South Africa and Africa and Australia. They had the cacti from the American Southwest. They had basically everything, and people were awesome. I love Dublin. I love. I liked Cork City a lot. It grew on me. It actually weirdly reminded me of San Francisco after a bit geographically, we didn't realize how hilly it was till we got into town. And it basically straddles the River Lee. So we went into a few pubs along, like, the touristy area. We're like, all right. I feel like we've seen Cork City. And then we climbed St. Patrick's Hill, found a field which kind of reminds me of this park where. Near where I used to live in San Francisco, where you could see a ton of the city. I was like, oh, it's like 12 hills here with houses and schools and Stuff on it. So I would have liked an extra day in Cork City compared to what we had. But Galway was amazing, too. But, yeah, Dublin was, like, really upended my expectations. I was just expecting the pub culture, which was absolutely there, and we had a blast with it. But so much good food, really cool people. Walkable, easy to get around. They take care of every single little park so well. Yeah, loved Ireland. Will absolutely go back.

[Dan]

Nice. I have to check that out sometime. Is that, like, right off the coast of United Kingdom or Britain or England or whatever?

[Mike]

That island is the isle. Okay, let me get this. The island itself is Britain.

[Dan]

Okay. But the country, England and Wales and Scotland are all on that island, right?

[Mike]

Correct. Okay.

[Dan]

And all of that's the United Kingdom?

[Mike]

No, the United Kingdom also includes stuff like the Isle of Man, which is, I believe, between Britain and Ireland and Northern Ireland. So Northern Ireland is basically across from, like, Glasgow in Scotland. I want to say I might be mixing up the latitudes there, but yeah. So Dublin's on the east coast of Ireland. It looks at, like, Liverpool, basically, if you're looking straight at the uk. Not that you could see it, at least I don't think you can.

[Dan]

I.

[Mike]

But yeah, but then London is on the opposite side of England, looking at mainland Europe, like France, I guess, so.

[Dan]

Just not a crazy flight. Like you've gone to England. It's probably. It's pretty much like that Dublin took.

[Mike]

I mean, going. Coming back is always a bit longer, but going there was six hours, probably. They probably did it like five and a half. Super easy flight. And then Dublin itself, we got on the. Dublin's got it figured out. I got. We got off the plane, we got onto Dublin Express. It's the airport shuttle that brings you to the city. Like, the people in the lines were like, hey, where are you staying in Dublin? And I told them. They're like, okay. You could see them doing, like, this, the mapping in their head. They're like, all right, you want to get off at this stop off the 784, and there's three buses that pull up, and you get on the 784 and you get off at the stop. They told you it's like 15 minutes on a bus from the airport to the city center.

[Dan]

Oh, nice.

[Mike]

Yeah, it was awesome. And then on the way back, same thing. It's like, okay, here's a bus you want to get on. And they get you to the airport in, like, 15 minutes. Yeah, phenomenal. Not at all like any of the airports near here in New York.

[Mary]

Yeah, dude, the airports suck.

[Mike]

We. We need to do like a. We should do a, like find an excuse to do a fire escape Dublin meetup.

[Dan]

I want to just do another meetup period. That one we did was great.

[Mary]

I think it was good. We had a good time. I think they're fun to do and you get to like meet really interesting and like lovely people. I think, like, that is a joy to do, but I think it's always nice to try and do one in an area where you wouldn't expect. Expect that you could do it. I think Min Max does that quite well. Where there should be like, we're in this wild town, we're gonna do a meetup. And I think that that's a really lovely thing to do for not just the listeners, but for everybody just to be able to meet each other. Right. Like listeners want to meet other fans of the show too. So that's really exciting to do.

[Dan]

Yeah. And I think it was Drew Scanlon and Patrick Klepic did one in Reykjavik when they went out there for Giant Bomb many years ago. And like, I do like the idea of like, you know, fans in a place that they would never expect that, like, oh, these guys are gon a meet up here like that. That is a fun thing.

[Mary]

Yeah.

[Mike]

We should plan something. I'd love to do it.

[Dan]

I would like that.

[Mike]

I don't want to drink catnip at this one though.

[Dan]

No, you won't. I will be in New York in about a month, so we should talk about that, Mike.

[Mike]

All right.

[Dan]

Yeah, let's do it very briefly, but I'd like to see you.

[Mike]

Yeah, for sure. All right. You want to talk about video games? Okay. Reviews are officially out for Death Stranding 2. They have been for some time, but Dan, you've been playing it a lot. You went to Kojima Productions a couple months ago at this point. Played a lot of it.

[Dan]

September, few months.

[Mike]

Was it that long ago?

[Dan]

I thought so.

[Mike]

No, not at all. This was like two months ago when you kept telling us that you were there, was it?

[Dan]

Oh, yeah. It wasn't that long ago. What the fuck am I thinking of?

[Mike]

I don't know.

[Dan]

No, September was the Nintendo Museum. No. Yeah, I went more recently too. Yeah, yeah, that's right. Yeah. Yeah. You're sorry. I get all these cool trips to Japan, so.

[Mary]

Yeah, you're always confusing which time you're sucking at the teat of these Japanese developers. But tell us a little bit about Death Stranding 2.

[Dan]

I talked about it a bit after I played my 30 hour preview and I was in first in academia production.

[Mike]

So you had to replay those 30 hours.

[Dan]

I did. But you know, the thing is, it's like I kind of got the sense it would be this way when I played it the first time. Is that like, all right, it's a Kojima game. There's a lot of talking, there's a lot of cutscenes and like, you know, every time you go back and deliver something, a hologram's like, hey, Sam. Wow, look at this. You really. These diapers are in great condition. And so I was able to skip through all that this time. So I was able to in about, I would say 10 or 12 hours, get past or get up to like the 30 hour mark or at least that level of progress. So burn through that pretty quick. And also it's just a fun game to play. The mechanics are great. So there really wasn't even an issue with that of me being like, God damn it, I have to do this all again. You know, a lot of games I would not like that. But it's a tremendous game. It is fantastic. It is this and blueprints easily for my like game of the year contender for my personal number one. You know, I haven't beat Death Training two yet. I think I'm like right at the end. My PlayStation thing says that I'm like 80 something percent in right now. But it's just in a industry where it's like, I don't know. When you've played a lot of video games, a lot of video games tend to do the same things. And you know, some can incrementally make things better or different or whatever, push something forward. But it's rare that you're just constantly surprised by something. And I do feel like with this game, it's just there were so many times where I'd get a higher porter rank with some, you know, guy and he'd be like, hey, check this out. I'm giving this to you. And it's a rubber pizza that you can use and it'll. You can fold it up and put it in your grenade pouch and you can throw pizzas at guys now. And I'm like, oh, okay, I didn't expect that. Or you know, just a fun little moment with doll man, you know, by the way, I'm not going to spoil huge story points here, but like, if you're worried about like mechanics and items and things like that, I will probably be talking about that type of stuff or little surprises. Just there's. It is just dripping with personality. And I can't help but think when I play it that, like, it's using the Decima engine that Horizon uses. And Horizon. Horizon's a great example of the thing I was talking about before of like, look, it's. It's a good game, but it's so just like, yeah, on a technical level, on so many, like, obviously so many talent people worked on this, but it's not surprising me in any way. You know, when I play through a Horizon game, it's like, yeah, okay, this is all very impressive, but this sure is a video game. This is an open world video game. This is using that incredible technology and also just having this like, really weird, uncompromising vision of what Kojima wants this thing to be, which is what he's always done. And it is surprising me all the time. And, you know, even 50 hours in on this run, you know, plus the 30 before it is just every once I'll get a new item and like, oh, it's a fucking cyber coffin that I can surf on and I can like accelerate. So I'm basically like, have a snowboard basically made out of a coffin that I can surf on up these mountains and stuff and carry stuff. And I can use it to like jump into if I want to do stealthy stuff. And it'll take me into the tar under the ground, and then I can stun bomb and come out and kill guys and just. There's just so many weird items and, and like aesthetic pieces and stuff like that that you can equip. There's just a lot of surprises in this game. In fact, I played it on my birthday. I played it on the morning of my birthday. I went down, got a couple hours for work. And you, you frequently go back to the. The Magellan, your home ship. And I went in there and instead of taking me to the private room, Sam was kind of like. He walked into the bridge and I saw it was all dark and Elle Fanning's character was like ducking behind a chair. And I was like, what the fuck is going on here? And then doll man, the fucking puppet drops down from the ceiling and he's like, happy birthday. And I was like, what? And all of a sudden all the lights come on. Norman Reedus and. And George Miller, the director of Mad Max, and all these actors, stuff like Leia Sadu. And everyone's coming out looking at the camera, just breaking the fourth wall with confetti cannons. And they shot him at the camera, which is a little insensitive considering my recent history. Yeah, in the puppet and they sang Happy birthday, birthday to me. And like totally breaking the fourth wall. The villain, Troy Baker Higgs comes out with a pizza. And he's like walking out with a pizza, looking at the camera like, happy birthday dear someone. It like shows me a pizza and then he. Then the mannequin robot pops up and spills the pizza and they're all like, God damn it. And it's. It's just this silly, silly little scene that I don't know if anyone else has really seen this because I don't know if they're playing it on their birthday pre release. Like I was, but I was just like smiling like, God damn it. What a funny little thing. I just did not see this coming at all. And it's just that personality is all over this game. On top of it just being a top tier open world action game to play with anything that like you might have liked from the first game. The delivery stuff is all very fun and everything again, but it's just like. It's more of a big fun toy sandbox than ever. And I adore it. I think it's. I think it's fucking great narrative. What's that?

[Mike]

I asked. Well, no, no, sorry. Good, continue.

[Dan]

Oh, I was just gonna say like if. Look, the narrative, it's nonsense. Like, I never thought that was the strongest point of the first game where it's just like, look, this is a bunch of just terms and weird ideas and things like that don't quite follow everything. I'm impressed by the technical stuff, but whatever, it's better this time just because there's way more scenes of like this group of like this weirdos on your ship that are all kind of like talking to each other and befriending each other and kind of that camaraderie type stuff. So it is more better with that stuff this time around. But I would not go in expecting this to be like, look, Metal Gear felt like nonsense to a lot of people, but like there actually was kind of this like epic tale being told throughout those games. This is the needles more on the side of nonsense on this one. But it's still. Whenever a cutscene started, I was never like, oh, here we go again. It's just nonsense, but it's fun to watch, you know?

[Mike]

Yeah, I was going to say the. It was the emerging gameplay, like the systems kind of like you. You finding the story in the first game that was to me the most entertaining part. And this sounds like it's leaning even harder into like open world. Immersive sim kind of shit, like, with different tools to be playing around with. Yeah.

[Dan]

There are just so many times that, like, I'm trying to do something, you know, I have so many tools at my disposal. And, you know, you'll approach a bandit base or something, and you'll have an idea of, like, okay, what if I like an immersive sim? You know, like a dishonored or something? You'll, okay, well, here's my plan with this. And it will inevitably go awry, at least if you're me. And then you got to kind of like, figure out a way around this. And they give you so many tools to make it silly and fun and exciting. I would recommend watching the Quick look that we recorded today. Should be up definitely by the time this podcast comes out for Giant Bomb showed off a lot. There's a lot of those moments where I'm, like, trying one thing and I have to switch to another. I also showed off a really cool kind of, like, boss battle lead up at the end of the Quick Look. It's just a really.

[Mary]

Battles, like, are they also about, like, utilizing mechanics or.

[Dan]

A lot of them. Like, some of them are similar to the ones in the first game where it's like you're just in the overworld and there's just a bunch of tar everywhere, and it's like a big robot or a BT or something, and you're shooting weak spots. Some of them are like that, and then some of them are a little more interesting. Where in the first game I had the Mads Mikkelsen ones where it was kind of removed a bit from. Yeah, it was trench warfare. It's like different wars. It was like, this one's World War I. This one's Vietnam. This one's, you know, this or this or that. There is a different character. You've seen him in the trailers. It's the solid snake guy, Neil. And, you know, he's a big focus of some of these flashbacks and story things this time. And, like, he kind of has that Mads Mikkelsen role this time of like, oh, okay, I'm in a different place. What is this place? Who is this guy? And that's still kind of unfolding where I'm at in the game now. And it's intriguing, but, you know, it's all still just very abstract feeling. But it's very, very cool the way everything is directed and presented.

[Mike]

I asked this as someone who really liked the excruciating minutiae of, like, shifting my balance just so to not topple stuff. I know a lot of people found the on ramp of that to be too long in the first death stranding to get to the actual really cool action stuff where you see everything kind of come together. Does it get there more quickly in this game or is it still pretty plodding early on?

[Dan]

A thousand percent it is. That is one of the big strengths of this game. Like I've had a lot of people ask me like if I didn't play the first one or I didn't love the first one, you know, can I just jump into this? And I think yeah, I tell people like watch a explainer video, watch like some 20 minute thing on YouTube be it kind of a basic idea of it. And then this one drops you in really, really quick. I remember the first one. There's a lot of like Norman Reedus crying in the rain and meeting Lea Seydoux and all this stuff and trying to like a lot of exposition about what time fall rain is and the Chiral Network and all this. It's this kind of just gets into it like right at the beginning it's just like, hey, you're with your baby, get back home. And then there's just a bunch of really cool, you know, music and avalanches and you know there's a lot more like weather effects and wind storms and earthquakes and stuff this time around. So it gets into it much, much quicker.

[Mike]

Yeah, someone was telling me this game's weather effects, it does a bunch of different cool weather effects that are feeling like actually like next gen or of like they didn't expand because I told them not to tell me too much. But they said there's some like stuff it's doing with weather that actually makes it feel like new.

[Dan]

Yeah, I mean a lot of games have had like weather cycles where it's like, okay, now it's raining, now it's not this one. Like there are times you're going across a desert and it's not like a scripted thing or whatever, it's just like, hey, I'm trying to do the side mission out there in the desert. And you're walking, you're like, yeah, I'm doing fine. I got enough battery, I'll be okay. I got enough stamina. And then you'll see like from way far in the distance like this red sandstorm coming your way. And you're like here Norman Reeves like, oh, that doesn't look good. It's like, oh shit. Like so you're kind of like looking at your map like I'm still about 600 meters from there. And that looks like a big fucking storm coming this way. And before you know it just. Everything's red and there's lightning and it's just like you're just trying to, like, you know, get to the place you're delivering things. Could you get in a lot of.

[Mike]

Cyber coffin for shelter?

[Dan]

Well, this here's the thing, Mike. The cyber coffin only works on the. When you're on the chiral network. So if you're delivering to a place that you've not attached to, you're cur to yet, you can't utilize the tar currents on your coffin board.

[Mike]

I'm embarrassed. I should have known that.

[Dan]

Are there anyway, Mary Game of the year is what I'm trying to say.

[Mary]

Are there new biomes or, like, things that you find are, like, fast? Is it a larger world?

[Dan]

Is Mexico in Australia a biome?

[Mike]

Well, Australia has every biome.

[Dan]

Yeah.

[Mike]

So Mexico has.

[Dan]

It's in Mexico and Australia.

[Mary]

Oh, my God.

[Dan]

So Australia.

[Mike]

Yeah, so. Oh, okay. So death training one was like, America.

[Dan]

You're connecting America.

[Mike]

The first section of the game that, like, ended up feeling the prologue after was like D.C. to.

[Dan]

You're starting on the east coast and then there's that huge open thing, like.

[Mike]

Midwest, the big lake in the center. Yeah. And then like city. Yeah, yeah. And then you get across over the.

[Dan]

The Rockies and stuff.

[Mike]

Yeah, yeah.

[Dan]

It's similar. So, yeah, the first, like, I'd say like eight hours is Mexico. And then you travel via the plate gate to Australia. Plate gates, the tectonic plates or something in the Chiral network make a big gate. And then like these crazy monk cult guys have a whole ritual around it. And then if you walk through it, you kind of go through a LSD trip and then you wind up in Australia. Yeah, yeah.

[Mike]

I have this game downloaded right now and I'm fucking ready to go.

[Dan]

It's. It has a very strong start, I think. Like, like, you know, so much of it is just that Kojima factor and like the music and everything. And right at the beginning when you're just kind of walking over these mountains and it's, you know, the. The rocks are tumbling down. It's playing this wood kid song and it's just like, oh, boy. No one really does it quite like this, you know.

[Mary]

Oh, yeah. People did really like the music in the first one. In fact, there were bands discovered in the first one.

[Dan]

Low Roar was a big one.

[Mary]

Music is going to be a big one in this as well.

[Mike]

Helen Mirren's like stepson. Didn't he put the sound?

[Dan]

Yeah, he did a lot of it. Yep. For the first one. Yeah. This one has awesome music and it's all like. It's no one I've heard of before but now I'm like shit. Yeah. Okay. Some of this wood kid stuff is really good and it's all extremely fitting and it's a really good game to just turn off all the lights and get a little high and just sink into and yeah, I think it will be polarizing to some, but I think it's going to be less so than the first time because like people kind of know what the deal is with desktrending now. And this isn't reinventing the wheel, it's just doing it all a lot better, I think.

[Mary]

Do you need to play the first one to play the second one?

[Dan]

I don't think you do. I'd say just watch the explainer and, and get in. I mean in a perfect world, sure, but like not everyone can play through a 50, 60 hour game.

[Mary]

Will you understand the story if you haven't played the first one?

[Dan]

You're not gonna understand the story if you have.

[Mike]

Yeah, yeah, I was gonna say Dan. Like I don't.

[Mary]

Hello boss.

[Dan]

Heard we're talking about that stranding.

[Mary]

Yeah, yeah.

[Mike]

Did you tell them about the rubber pizza?

[Dan]

Yeah.

[Mike]

Did you tell them about the gay mice?

[Dan]

Well, we'll know the pizza stuff. No, you learn pizza kune do. I helped a man open up his pizza chef thing in Australia and he taught me pizza kune do. So I can now do like spinning psycho crushers with pizza dough flying out of me and whirlwind kicks with pizza dough. And now the rubber pizza. Yeah, you gotta like get the balance perfect and you throw a pizza at a ghost mech and you're good to go. Sounds it's a good video game.

[Mike]

It sounds amazing. I'm excited because like just like a review. Death Stranding 1 got so good. Death Stranding 1. I love the like slow ramp up to all the really cool shit when like bandits are chasing you and you're using all the tools at your disposal and then you're like trying to figure out how the fuck to get across a ravine and someone left a ladder for you at the perfect moment. But like when I was recommending it to people I was like it's really slow going. I don't know if it's worth like diving into the fact that they get to it more quickly now to that really cool overlapping system memory emerging gameplay scenarios is Exciting.

[Dan]

And he just goes so full. Kojima. It's just like, okay, I went to this weapons factory to pick something up and oops. Okay. Troy Baker pops up in a red coffin from the ground and he's got clown makeup and a robot suit and he's quoting Talking Heads lyrics while playing a, like, weaponized guitar at me that shoots lightning bolts. And it's.

[Mike]

Yeah, there's Talking Heads involved.

[Dan]

Yeah. He does the thing. It's in the trailer. Like, same as it ever was.

[Mike]

Like, oh, my gosh. I did. Yeah. I've like, purposely not watched trailer stuff as much as I can. My favorite band of all time. I know I just got David Byrne tickets for New York on October. October 10th or something. We're going to see him and some of the people he played with for American Utopia. But I can't wait to see Troy Baker doing Imagine if they did the Giant Suit dance.

[Dan]

Higgs has this giant.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Dan]

Yes. Yeah. It's just a fucking cool game. I really love it and I'm really glad I gave it another shot and that we gave it game of the year for the Director's Cut and we'll do it again for on the beach this year.

[Mike]

Yeah. Can't wait.

[Mary]

Did not happen.

[Dan]

Death Stranding Bonanza.

[Mike]

Mary, I'll ask about your games. I'm gonna. I want to talk a little bit more about Expedition 33. Even if it kills us. The more I play that game, the more I'm really liking it a lot. And that game starts off extreme. The fact that that game starts so strong and just keeps getting better, generally speaking, throughout it. Despite my hang ups, no Minimap is still annoying. Despite the lore reason for it. I get it. There are still some points where I do think they overwhelm you with too many new items to mess around with. But I guess I can't complain about that because the pictos and the way that those interact with the weapons you're getting and the weapon upgrade system, everything just comes together so well in that game. And there are several things that have really started to impress me that I appreciate. For one, the game is pretty content to let you just fly through if you're not interested in talking to every townsperson and getting the lore dump from them.

[Dan]

Really. Okay.

[Mike]

However. Oh, yeah, like. Well, that was actually a complaint of mine the very beginning of the game when they're setting up this thing called the Gommage, which is the central conceit to the story that makes it work. If you're not talking to everybody on the way to that. And they do not make you. There are some. There are like two main characters they make you talk to, but there are a lot of side characters you could talk to that would say like, oh, it's the Gomage. It happens every year. It's always scary, but we've just, you know, it's kind of a fact of life. It's just, you know, death's inevitable. Why freak out if you're going to die at 33 as opposed to 55? Whatever. They don't force you into talking to any of these people. So you can just kind of breeze through it. I get a lot out of talking to a few of them, much like you wouldn't a Zelda game. It's like, oh, they just told me something that's actually useful about this item that I found. It's not. And also the. They're pretty brief most of the time when I talk to these people. I appreciate that Sandlands Sandfall. The studio is not forcing me to, but if I want the lore, like I want to learn more about gesturals, these weird Kokiri esque woodland creatures, then I can. But I also do think that the like blend of that Dark Souls pattern recognition with the turn based tactics, they do really cool stuff with that throughout the game. And also I believe I have every character now possible that I can. You can only have three in a fight at once, but you can have like five. I believe in the game there might be one more. I'm not sure I have five. Every single character feels like they were pulled from a different rpg. Like they all. They all functions so differently that it's like you're using a whole new combat system with each one. I got the character cl. She has the scythe and the cards. She's kind of like Gambit from X Men. She. Her system took me a while to wrap my head around because you're trying to gain cards basically, but gaining them will give you sun points, but then spending them will give you moon points. And you kind of want to keep those balanced because then you stay in Twilight, which is when she just does like plus 50% damage. So you're kind of balancing that stuff out as her. But then you go back to Mile and she's all about different stances like Neo or whatever. And okay, I want to be in defensive stance so I can use the thing where the sword shoots up out of the ground like up their ass and then that'll bring me back into virtuoso stance where with this particular sword I do plus 200% damage. The sword just happens to be a katana with like fucking purple laser lights down the middle. But then if I go into offensive stance, I can do fire damage and then. Oh, right, Luna.

[Dan]

Her.

[Mike]

Her attacks. This ice attack will do more damage if the character's already on fire.

[Mary]

Fire.

[Mike]

And then if I hit a flaming character with the ice, I'll generate an earth tint which will then make this fire attack more powerful against all the enemies. So it's like the way that they synergize such vastly different characters is incredibly impressive. That's not even to mention the fact that if you are good enough at timing the parries, the jumps, the counter attacks, the dodges, much like you could ostensibly beat Margit in Elden Ring with a level one character. If you're that good, you can beat a lot of these bosses, mini bosses, before you're technically ready. But much like something like Elden Ring, the option is there to grind to. To kind of tailor the difficulty to how you want it to be. So I'm just like. I guess the more I play Expedition 33, the more I kind of see like the overall picture come into focus and it impresses me more and more. I still don't think it's perfect by any means. I really. I do think this level design gets a bit too complex in a game where there is no mini map. And then I also think the game really has problems. What's the word I'm even looking for? A colleague became a narrative designer and they were saying there's a difference between level design and writing and narrative design. Narrative design, at least at the studio they were at, was very much about contextualizing your mission in a way that made the mission itself feel important. In Diablo 3, the narrative designer at I don't know how Blizzard works, but for instance, using Diablo iii, the narrative designer wouldn't be the one writing the dialogue. They wouldn't be the one designing the actual area. It'd be like, how do we contextualize this mission? Oh, this skeleton king lost his skull and we need to go get it back. And then this thing happens along the way. I think Expedition 33 has problems with that sometimes where even when I'm playing for longer sessions, like if I've been playing for three hours, I'll kind of. And maybe it's just my short term attention span, but I don't think it is because I've been playing for three hours and like synergizing and theory crafting different stuff. I'll forget what I was even like what they wanted me to do at all. And you can't really check until you go out to the Overworld. There might be a way you can that I have not found in the menus. There just is not much narrative info for me to reference to remind myself what I'm even supposed to be like, doing. And that's just kind of exacerbated threefold when I come back to the game after a trip away in Ireland and I haven't played. So I'm like, what the fuck was I? Oh, right, this kind of. And then I just end up like wandering this gestural village or whatever trying to find the one character that will point me in the direction because there's no real like logbook that I found. But yeah, I like that game quite a bit. It's one of my favorite games of the year so far. If you're into turn based games, you haven't tried it. Definitely do it. But if you're not into turn based games, see if those real time elements kind of do it for you enough that you could get into the turn based aspects. But I don't know, just similar the way Dan was talking about Death Stranding 2 and different biomes and the worlds. Like Expedition 33 has such creative world design. Like you're in this like you're in a coral reef, but it's not underwater.

[Mary]

The underwater world is really cool because you're not swimming.

[Mike]

Yeah. And then the stone, stone wave cliffs basically look like the cliffs of Moore in Ireland. Which is probably why, like, it's funny, I played those before I went to Ireland. Just like super high cliffsides. There's like Ferris wheels destroyed Ferris wheels down below you from amusement parks and stuff. Really, really inventive game I like. I'm so glad it's done so well because like that is a studio I want to keep working and getting paid and doing their thing.

[Dan]

It is definitely, it's definitely something that I intend on getting like as soon as there's a lull. I'm going to check this out because I feel like this is the RPG I could get into. Like the turn based RPG I could get into based on what I've seen Bonk play, what I've seen. Everyone whose tastes I respect says it seems like it's something very, very special and I'm really looking forward to it.

[Mike]

I think you'll appreciate it. Like right from the bat they've got this huge fucking premise they really need to get across. They're not Forcing you to talk to everybody who's like, oh man, the gommage is about to happen. Here's what it is. Even though you. I know you know, but let's talk about it. It's like, no. Like you could rush through a bunch of past a bunch of characters and all of a sudden like the. This giant in the distance paints a new number on this huge like, like plank. And then all of a sudden a bunch of people disappear. Like, whoa, I should have talked to those people. But yeah, they're not forcing you. Every once in a while, like, it'll. It'll fade. The screen will zoom out to a cutscene when you go into a new area. And. But that's kind of the extent of it. And I. The game's getting funny. Not like, not super laugh out loud funny, but I have snickered a few times. There's a couple of the character. S.K. mary. Have you gotten S.K. yet? Yes, him and his. I did laugh fairly hard because this game is also extremely French. But Ski, who sounds like Javier Bardem is like talking about. He's like, I need this. I need this. It's a very Kojima esque. He's like, I need. I have a bunch of different pet rocks and I can't do this without that. I can't fly without this pet rock. I can't swim you to the painters without this one. He's like, I'm missing Flory, my pet rock that lets me swim. You know who's taking it? The man who lives over there in that cave. My arch nemesis, Francois. And then you go and you have to go fight Francois and he's this turtle who shirts shoots fucking ice laser beams.

[Dan]

Okay.

[Mike]

Yeah. It's really dumb. Yeah. I don't know the game. It's just funny that the way when you're talking about dust training too is like you could be describing some, like some sections in an Expedition 33. Obviously very, very different kinds of games. But I don't know, it feels like developers at a certain point were like, we've kind of created a world in which anything goes, so why not just do anything? And it works really well. Yeah, I like the game a lot. That's. That's my main focus now. I kind of want to finish that because it. I've heard it's.

[Mary]

Are you close, you think?

[Mike]

I think so.

[Mary]

Do you have to go? I feel like when you have all the characters, you have to be pretty close.

[Dan]

Yeah.

[Mike]

My save file says 23 hours, so I've heard people say they Beat it in like 30. Which like, was. It was also another reason for me to dive in. I'm like a fucking turn based RPG I could beat in 30 hours. That's. Hell yeah. Let's do it. So I think I'm gonna finish that before I truly just absorb myself in death stranding. Because I don't want to like sell either game short by not devoting myself to it.

[Dan]

Same. And I can definitely tell that Expedition 33 is going to be talked about a lot on both here and giant bombs game of the year. So I'm going to need to. Need to play it. Yeah.

[Mike]

If only just to like, at least have some like context for why another game is doing something X or Y better than that. Yeah, it's. I. I think it might grab you in a way. In a way that like even I was like, no, Dan, you wouldn't like metaphor. But like, I think this has a better chance at least. I'm curious what you think. Mary, you played more. What was the name of the game? Pipistrello. Or you both played it, but Mary, you played more.

[Dan]

Mary's played more. Yeah.

[Mary]

I'm really liking it. I think I'm almost. I'm getting there. My plan is to complete Pipistrello. I've decided it actually is quite good. Now some of this is within the constraints that I've been traveling so much. I've been playing it on Steam Deck on the plane and it's just such a great plane game. It's very easy to pick up. You can go anywhere you want, but there's like certain directions you need to go in order to like get certain things accomplished. I mean, I really enjoyed the second boss area. You like go into a construction site and you have to get all the proper documentation. They're like, you don't. Mikey, you don't have your documentation. Where are you? So you're like getting your documentation so you can go down to this layer. I'm getting the coolest upgrades to my yo yo. It is like they are puzzles, dude. Like, it is getting to the point now where I am, I am walking across water. I am able to jump backwards over three blocks based on things that I've learned and accrued over the time. So all this stuff that I previously was like, oh my gosh, that's an upgrade. But I can't get to it because it's. It's past water or it's like past this like cavernous area I can't get past. I can do it now. And it's really cool. Just like in any Metroidvania, being able to go back and get all the upgrades and all the bonuses. Because my character is so mobile now, I'm so strong and I've been doing all these upgrades. The upgrade system, for anyone who missed the last time we talked about this game, Pipistrello has this, I think, really cool upgrade system where you essentially borrow an upgrade. Let's say the upgrade is that your yo yo attack is stronger now, but it costs $1,000 until you pay off your debt. You have one less attack power and every dollar you accrue is split in half. Half of it goes to your bank where you just get to have it to spend, and the other half goes to paying off your debt. Once you pay off your debt, all of the negative effects are gone and you get to keep your positive benefit forever. I've got like 12 positive benefits right now.

[Dan]

And it feels great too, because, like, when you're getting your coins and stuff after you defeat enemies, it's like, it's not like, oh, 100% is going towards paying off debt. Like, okay, I'm increasing my wallet, but I'm also paying this off. And as soon as it's paid off, it's like, oh, hell yeah, now I got the thing. No downside. This is great.

[Mary]

There's no downside. I mean, it's really fun. I've been also been buying. So you can find badges and you can also find blueprints. I find this a bit silly that you can't just find badges, but essentially take the blueprints back to a person and they turn it into a badge. Badge system is very similar to Hollow Knight. You essentially have a certain amount of pins that you can assign, but you can pay to have a badge have its amounts reduced, which I do for every one of my badges, because it's a benefit, it's a boon.

[Dan]

And you can increase like the amount of your pips too, right? Like your overall, like, yeah, those are.

[Mary]

Also found in the world. They're also upgrades, as is the amount of hearts that you have. You have to find heart containers. If you find eight heart containers, which I find such an obscure, like, random number, you get a permanent heart added. Same thing with your little badge pins. You can find them in the world. I think for every two badge pins you find, you increase the amount of badges you can have. And it's. It just is really rewarding. I'm so much stronger than the last time I talked to you about this game. Like, I've. I'VE accomplished so much in this game. I still find the world very whimsical and light and funny and cheeky. And the side characters say the funniest, stupidest things. Like, I. I really have enjoyed going to the different areas and I talk to all the side characters and hear all their dumb dialogue.

[Dan]

It's.

[Mary]

It's cheeky and funny. I actually think a lot of heart went into this game and I think it's quite good, especially for, like, an indie ass. Indie game. I think they. I think they nailed it. So I'm just. I'm just loving Piper Estrello.

[Dan]

It's. It's really good. I. I can tell. I like it enough after playing, like two or three hours on Steam that I'm mainly traveling with my Switch 2 now. So I got a code for the Switch 1. It's like, all right, well, I'll start over. I'm like, enjoying the moment to moment enough on this that, yeah, it's going to become a plain game for me.

[Mary]

Yeah. To me, this is like one I'll be playing until I complete it. This is a completer for me. But again, I do think that it is. There is a part of me that would have played Expedition 33 if it wasn't for how much travel I've been doing. I'm actually not sure if I could play Expedition 33 on a Steam deck. If I could, I probably would.

[Dan]

I've heard it's not great. I was talking to people that were doing that and it's like. I guess the, like, input lag type stuff is really a problem for the parrying and all that. Oh, yeah.

[Mary]

You don't have a Steam deck. Yeah.

[Mike]

That parry's punishing to begin with. The window.

[Mary]

Yes.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Mary]

It's brutal. And you will literally die if you cannot dodge properly in that game. Like, you'd be doing the same boss fights like, a hundred times.

[Mike]

Yeah, for sure. But also today, there was a fucking. I, like, I perfectly created this party in which, like, I waited on purpose. I skipped a turn on purpose to try to kill a character with a counterattack because my counter attack did more damage to burning characters. And then also her ice sword, her ice scythe did more damage to what was it marked characters. And I had just marked it with another counter attack. And then it fucking did like, like the entire health bar. Oh, it's really good. Anyway, sorry, I want to.

[Mary]

All those little caveats and you get to, like, kill a boss.

[Mike]

It was like. It was like, what do you want to call it?

[Mary]

Secrets?

[Mike]

Our Game of the year last year. Why am I the name Balatro. Balatro in miniature in a turn based game is like, oh man, they let me break it. One other detail I forgot to mention. They warn you there's an option in the menu there or in the menu at the beginning of the game or on the. The character menu. They're like, just so you know, you can toggle off. You can keep. You can toggle it to default costumes and cutscenes, or you can use whatever costume they have attached. But there may just be unintended tonal shifts. So there's one where they run into someone like, I don't want to spoil too much, but like basically several different parties thought the other one was dead. And finally they meet up and it's this really like, emotional reunion because this one woman, like thought she was the last one alive and fine. She's. She's like reuniting with. With Gustav and whatnot, the protagonist. And then everybody's like, we need to. We really need to get going. And then they just. They can't like bring themselves to move on, even though they know they need to because it's like the weight of it's hitting them. And all of a sudden, Luna comes out from off screen with a baguette slung over her shoulder and red rim sunglasses. She's like, guys, we need to go. And then I was like, oh, that's what they were talking about. It's really good.

[Dan]

I extremely have that industrial too as well, because it's like I'm wearing like Elton John star glasses with Norman Reedus and like a giant camel hat that has like bladders of water. So in the desert I don't overheat. It's like someone's like delivering a baby and screaming and Norman Reedus and his camel hats there, you know, that's amazing.

[Mary]

I feel like in that game there's like so much separation of reality that you just allow it.

[Dan]

Like, but there's a lot of just like crying.

[Mary]

Break. The fourth wall is so funny.

[Dan]

Yeah. But like, it's so earnest with the weirdness that it's like, here's this extremely earnest scene with like crying and babies in peril and stuff. And here's Norman Reedus wearing a camel and it's like, okay, sure.

[Mike]

Dan, you said you're traveling with your switch. Are you still playing a lot of World Tour Mario Kart?

[Dan]

I am. And yeah, I had the big family test this weekend with the local multiplayer and everything. Because that's always the thing with Mario Kart. It's like, that is the great uniter of casual gamers and hardcore gamers. Like, okay, everyone can get together and play some Mario Kart. And did that with several groups of people while I was home. And resounding success. People absolutely loved it. It was a great time. The camera thing, everyone finds the camera thing fun when you can see everyone's head above their carts and everything. I found the. The Knockout Tour is very, very popular. Everybody I showed it to that has not. Doesn't really keep up with game news, is like, oh, that's a really cool idea. But, yeah, it's like, I. I feel like people that have played a million of these games and podcasts and stuff about it, like, there have been complaints about Mario Kart being underwhelming or whatever. I have not felt that. And certainly the people that just occasionally play a Mario Kart game have all been like. Like, oh, this is awesome. Like, we just had a great, great time, like, at the lake, hooking up the Switch at night, having some beers and playing. It's. It's great for that. And Knockout Tour is a blast. There was one night I was just hanging out with Kayla, and everybody had gone to bed, and we were just, like, each had our Switch twos out, and we told my Discord, like, hey, here's the room code. Just a bunch of people jumped in. We weren't streaming or anything. We were just playing. And, like, in between races, we'd talk shit in the Discord and stuff, and it was just like, man, we played for, like, four. Four hours or something and just had an absolute blast. Me and Kayla sitting on the couch playing this game and, like, it's a good fucking Mario Kart. I do love the Switch, too. I understand that it's not like, the most loaded launch lineup or anything like that, but Mario Kart's great, loving it. And, you know, Donkey Kong is right around the corner. I'm. I'm certainly pleased with the Switch, too.

[Mary]

There will be more Switch games that I am not worried about. I think, like, you're an early adopter, and because you are such a fan of Mario Kart, I think it makes a lot of sense for you. I also think it's completely reasonable for other people to hold off until there's more games. But I think for you, your truth is, is that it's totally acceptable reason to get it now.

[Dan]

Oh, anyone who's saying, like, I don't want to spend 500, if you get the bundle with tax, it's like, $550 for a Switch 2 and Mario Kart. And it's like, if someone's like, I like Mario Kart, fine, but I would. I'll wait a little bit before I spend $550. Yes, obviously. Completely understand that. But for me, I really love Mario Kart and I just don't see it as a disappoint. Like, I've heard people describe it as a disappointing launch game, and I see it as, like, kind of a killer app. Like, if you love Mario Kart and you've got the money to spend, like, I'm certainly not disappointed with this.

[Mary]

Didn't they launch the first Switch with a Zelda, or am I crazy?

[Dan]

First Switch launched with Breath of the Wild, which is insane. And it was also released on Wii.

[Mary]

U at the same time, comparatively. And, you know, that's maybe where some of that disappointment is coming from, because if you weren't playing Breath of the Wild when that came out, you were fucking absolutely missing out on the best game ever. And that's just not the case this time.

[Dan]

As much as I love Mario Kart World, it does not remotely compare to just the crater that Breath of the Wild left. Like, that was an industry changing game.

[Mary]

And that first year game of all.

[Dan]

Time, I mean, yes, it's probably like the best game ever. So, like, in the first year of the original Switch, we had Breath of the wild, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, which is just a better version of Mario.

[Mike]

Kart, all 96 tracks, which is.

[Dan]

No, no, no. They. It took time for.

[Mike]

Oh, Deluxe. Gotcha.

[Dan]

They added that later with the Switch online expansion pack thing. But then Mario Odyssey was that year too. So 2017, it was like Breath of the Wild, Switch, Mario odyssey, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. It was just unreal. Like, best launch year maybe ever for a console. So by no means is the Switch two meeting that. Not by a long shot. I mean, I guess we still have the rest of the year. Donkey Kong looks great. Who knows what's for the holiday? Metroid. It looks like a really solid year, but, like, Switch one's first year was legendary. So don't mean to put it on that pedestal, but Mario Kart World's really fun. That's cool.

[Mary]

I got one last one for you.

[Mike]

I mean, is it a fishing game?

[Mary]

It is a fishing game.

[Mike]

Is it cozy?

[Mary]

It's cozy. It's called Cast in Chill. Look it up. It is stunning. Stunningly gorgeous.

[Mike]

Oh, yeah.

[Mary]

Graphic style.

[Dan]

I was wondering if it was in chill, like Toys R Us. And it is a lowercase N.

[Mary]

Yeah, it Is so I like Dave the diver relaxing. Yes. I think Dave the diver has like going on. This is simple.

[Mike]

The reflection on the water is crazy. Looking for eight bit.

[Mary]

And they do a good job with adding.

[Mike]

No, I. I mean, sorry, I'm being reductive. Like pixelated art style.

[Dan]

Sure. Yeah.

[Mary]

They. They do a good job with adding a lot of nature elements. So while you're fishing on this river.

[Mike]

Damn, that's really good looking.

[Mary]

Ducks will swim or fly by sometimes. There's deer in the forest. There's lots of like, little secrets that make you feel like you're in a living, breathing world. But you essentially fish. And as you fish, you sell your fish. For the very beginning, you're selling your fish for like $5 a fish. And you use the money to upgrade everything. Your rod, your line, your ls, the strength which you need for bigger fish deeper in the lake. And then eventually your boat, how many fish you can carry back. And ultimately different lakes that you can swim in different environments.

[Mike]

Dredge cast.

[Mary]

Yeah, it's, it's. But it's so cozy. It's like not scary at all. You cast with a. It's very simple. And you reel with a. You can redrop your line if you need to. But ultimately, like, I'm basically just throwing my line in and like, hoping a fish grabs it. There's some minor games with the fish. If they're really strong, they can actually pull away and break your lines. You have to be careful with like, how quickly you reel them in. But I mean, like, you guys, this is like, this is such a sleepy, calm, Zen, relaxing game. I bought this because I was working. I was so like, you know, it's stressful working in another country. I don't fucking speak French. I wanted a game that allowed me to unwind after a long workday and fall asleep. And that is exactly what this did. I fell asleep playing this game in a good way, if that makes sense.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Dan]

Is it. Would you in level of like fishing complexity? How would you compare it to like the Stardew system?

[Mary]

Right? I mean, Stardew has that mini game of like making sure that you can keep it within that bar that doesn't have any of this stuff. It is just simply like the fish is pulling, pull back. If it pulls too hard, you can break your lines. You need to let it go sometimes and then bring it in. There's no mini game, there's bar. It's just reel in the fish as best as you can. And again, when you lose the fish, you just Cast again, like it's super casual. It does have a. What do you call it, like a dossier. It has like a book of every fish you've ever caught. So when you catch a new type of fish, when you break a record for your biggest fish ever, you get like a little star being like, you broke your record. You know, this one's a 14 pounder. That's crazy. So you're like, it's really calm, you guys. This is like probably one of the chillest games. Oh, also, I just have to mention your boat has a dog in it. And every time you successfully catch a fish, he gives you a little heart because he loves you and you're so good at catching fish.

[Dan]

The picture I pulled up, it does look like you can pet the dog with the mouse cursor.

[Mary]

Yes. It's, it's so sweet, you guys. It's. It's just a relaxing fishing game. There's no must, there's no fuss, there's no friendship system. There's no. Their dialogue between you and the fisherman is so simple. If you come back with really small fish, he's like, what did you go? What'd you do, go to a guppy farm? And you're like, shut the up, you old. And then you like buy better lures. You get like big ass bass fishes. And the guy's like, what? What a haul. Like, that's it. Like, this is a very simple game that does it quite well if you're open to beautiful style, like pixel style graphics like this. I mean, this is expertly crafted. Yeah, it's gorgeous visual design. It's, it's stunning. Very simple, cozy fish game.

[Mike]

Cool. Nice.

[Dan]

I love a good fishing game. Like whether it's simple arcade stuff or more like a, like, you know, dedicated fishing controls. I should check this out.

[Mary]

Yeah. I think it's so sweet and it's, it's, it's well done and I don't think it's getting a lot of. I hope people are going to talk about this game. So I'm glad. I am. I do think it's quite good. So I'm glad, I hope, I hope somebody grabs it from this.

[Mike]

Cool. All right. Do you guys want to do emails?

[Dan]

Sure.

[Mike]

All right. As usual, you can write into firescapecastmail.com for questions for our show. We got a bunch since last time. Keep them coming. It helps us keep it stocked so we have the picketh litter to choose from every time we get in. I do have one really quick favor I need to ask people. There's been a couple episodes over the last 10 or so where I've mentioned this game and it's fucking eluding me. It's like a white whale of a game. And I have several things I could tell you. I can't. I don't even know how to search for it. I cannot find this game that I played and really liked. I want to say it was 20. 20, 2021.

[Dan]

We'll get there.

[Mike]

20. I don't. I don't know. All I know is about it. It was very colorful. It was either a Metroidvania or like a two Ultros action game. But the, the main thing was you're. You're recruiting this big like fairly large squad of characters and it's not cute, but it's like colorful.

[Dan]

Not Wild bastards.

[Mike]

No, no, no. It was way, way. Yeah. And the thing was you could basically have four, four characters equipped and from what I remember you have like a. You hold a trigger and you press a D pad direction and it would swap you to that character really quick.

[Dan]

What's the perspective?

[Mike]

2D side scrolling, isometric top.

[Dan]

Oh, side scrolling.

[Mike]

And I can't. I don't think it was a Metroidvania. I might have had Metroidvania light aspects.

[Dan]

But like Beat him up is just like a street rage.

[Mike]

It was like an action oriented game. Yeah. Because each character you equip again and you're developing a big roster of characters. You're just traveling across this world.

[Dan]

Nobody saves the world.

[Mike]

No, that I would know.

[Mary]

That's a good.

[Dan]

But this was top down. But.

[Mike]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. This was before that. That was like two years ago. I want to say this was four or five. I don't. I remember doing the show.

[Dan]

Were we doing this?

[Mike]

It might have even been right before we did the show. So it was like it could have been 2020.

[Dan]

Early pandemic.

[Mike]

It was 2019 or 2020 or 21. I know because I had just moved back to the East.

[Dan]

Are you punching? Are you shooting?

[Mike]

Melee. A lot of melee. I want to say there was one character who had kind of this like the conical hat.

[Dan]

Blasphemous. No, it's not.

[Mike]

No, it was, it wasn't dark. It was like a bright game. Even though it was pretty, like fairly violent. I don't even know how to search for it. I remember really liking it and I remember not loving the name. But I played through the whole thing though, and I don't remember the last time someone's talked about it. And I've looked through all my libraries on Steam PlayStation. I think I played it on PC so it might be somewhere on Steam. I just need to go through the fine tooth comb melee.

[Dan]

Is it like a combo? Are you juggling? Juggling combos?

[Mike]

Yeah, not quite beat them up but like yeah, it's pretty action heavy but you're going across this really colorful world so you're not, you know, it's not like super confined.

[Dan]

Is there a map, like overworld map or is it just like. I think so stage to stage?

[Mike]

I think it's, I think you're doing a bit of backtracking and I just remember like you have four characters in your party basically, but you're like swapping between them on the map to fight. And I remember you could do it at the press of a D pad and like if that, if anybody. No, no, no. It wasn't like humor, humor or no, sorry. Tonally it was like it even reminds me of the tone that the League of Legend like Saga games are going for. Those like one off games that people are making. I, I, if, if that's not enough, I don't know that I'll ever find. I'll just need to go through my Steam.

[Dan]

Like I'll think about it and like now that we have put it out there, I'm sure somebody will.

[Mike]

I played it and I don't even remember the name. So clearly the name was forgettable. Anyway, if that helps. And please email firescapecast gmail.com it's been killing me and I want to Ragnarok. That's it. Okay, never mind. I don't need the emails. All right, Dan. Mary usually reads first, but this one's specifically for you from Tim.

[Dan]

All right. Hi, this is for Dan. I first tried Metal Gear Solid from a demo disc back in the PS1 era was the Pizza Hut one because that's when I played it. I thought it was super boring and never even finished the demo. I haven't played a minute of a Kojima game since then. I figure I should at least give it a second try 25 years later. I know there are a few collections and remasters out there. If somebody was picking the Metal Gear Solid games up for the first time, what consoles or versions would you tell them to get? I have everything including a high end PC. Thanks Tim from Baldwin. Oh, I think this is easy. I think you know, if you have everything including a high end PC, I say the Steam version of the Master Collection Volume 1 because that actually all that plays very well on the Steam deck as well. And that should have kind of that PS1 version of metal Gear Solid. It should have. I don't know if it's the substance version of MGS2, but it shouldn't matter. The important thing with 3 is that is the subsistence version with the camera, which I believe the Master Collection Volume one has. And then you'll have to figure out how to play four, which that's a whole different thing. Like I don't know if you have a. Well, if you have everything, you have a PS3, play it on there. There's other, you know, ways, funky ways you can play metal gear solid 4, but I just think get Master Collection Metal Gear Solid Volume 1 on Steam and download it to your high end PC and your Steam deck and you should be set. I think they did a pretty good job with that.

[Mike]

That's Blue Point, right?

[Dan]

Was it? I think it was, yeah. Right.

[Mike]

Yeah, I have that still somewhere.

[Dan]

They've done a few of those, the HD collections and stuff back in the day and everything. But I think, you know, just go ahead and get that one on Steam. Cool.

[Mike]

Thank you, Tim.

[Dan]

I love hearing people's thought. Please email back Tim because like anyone playing Metal Gear Solid for the first time now in 2020, I heard everything. Like I hear more people say like, ooh, it's actually still really fucking cool. Like obviously some like controls and things like that are a little dated but like people tend to still really like playing them as old as they are.

[Mike]

Tonally and just like vibe wise I think it's still. It still hits really well. Yeah, I'd be curious as well. Thank you, Tim. Mary, do you want to read this one from Doc? Sure.

[Mary]

Greetings everyone. Dan's story about the 711 got me thinking. I was in New Orleans for my wife's B day two years ago with her friends. We were out with a big group of people, drinking, eating, having fun. We live near Nola. At the end of the night I ended up at the casino with a friend of mine. As the night ended, we left the casino and I cracked a joke about my friend's co worker looking like Greek Jesus. Apparently he didn't like this joke and pulled a knife out and held it to my neck. Oh my God. My buddy pulled him off of me and I peaced out instantly. First and last time I will hang out with someone I suspect of using coke as well. Anyway, have y' all ever had a near death experience or times you did a hard retrospective on your life after a major thing happened to you? Doc Hensla first, What was the 711 story?

[Dan]

I don't remember that.

[Mike]

You were coming back from a 711 in LA and the homeless person.

[Dan]

Oh, the recent one. Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah, sure. Okay.

[Mary]

Yeah. It could be like any of your seven elevens stories where you like, choked on a hot dog or something. Like.

[Dan]

No, no, I'm saying 11.

[Mike]

The closest to near death experiences I've had are when, like, I. I see that I'm about to break a bone in real time and time kind of slows down. That's happened several times. I also took a 98 mile an hour shot in lacrosse to my lower back that ruptured the muscles down and fractured my tailbone.

[Dan]

You tell me about that. That sounded very bad.

[Mike]

I didn't. I didn't think I was gonna die. But the pain from my tailbone being fractured for the next two weeks, the spasms going up, my bad. I won't get too graphic. That made me honestly that I was like, oh, I reexamined my whole life. I was like, I don't care about lacrosse as much as I thought I did. I'm gonna go figure things out. Oh, what? Wait a minute. I can. I can make $50 to review a video game and then. Yeah, the rest is history.

[Dan]

That is, that, that is something that I think is probably. I can't speak for all sports, but like, knowing wrestlers and stuff, I know, like you, but know Big E. Who. Guy who broke his neck on national tv and like talking to him about it and stuff, it's just like, yeah, like, something like that, like a serious, serious injury will make you reconsider everything for sure and for good reason.

[Mike]

Yeah, there's been a. I also like, went over this dirt ramp we made on my like, BMX bike when I was 12. And I. As I was coming off, I knew right away I was getting way too much air. Like, I was getting actual air. And I did not know how at all to deal with it. Like, I'm not fucking. And Matt. What was his name? What was the bmx, the famous one? Matt Kaufman. I'm like, I'm not Matt. I said that out loud in midair to my friends. Like, I'm not Matt. No, I didn't. But, like, I fell off my bike and I was like 16ft in the air. I might, I don't know, I might be overselling, might be underselling it. But I knew as I was falling, I consciously was like, well, I know I should technically kind of rag doll right now because I stand more of a chance to not break anything. And I still broke some stuff. But, like, I. There was a flash where I was like, I might die if I land on my bike the wrong way. And I was also going downhill after the ramp. It was a terrible situation that we created for ourselves. Yeah, it's all like. I've been in a couple minor car accidents. Those weren't that. They weren't scary accidents. It was more like snow involved stuff.

[Dan]

That's a recurring dream I have is like, there's something that's like a bike or something where it's like I ramp off of something and I'm so high in the air where I have enough time to think, like, oh, I don't know. I'm fucked. I'm just. I'm gonna have to land here in, like, 10 seconds. I'm super gonna die.

[Mike]

Yeah. The metaphor.

[Dan]

I feel like the time I most thought I was gonna die was when my friend was breaking into my place with a knife, which I've surely told that story before. Seemed like I was definitely gonna get stabbed to death for that. And question saying, do you ever do a hard retrospective, change things afterwards? No, we kept going to the bars after, after that. So, yeah, that was probably the closest to death I had. Yeah.

[Mary]

I don't know if I've ever had, like, a close to death. I think the closest is, like. And this isn't very close. On the way home from, I think my first Japan trip, we had such crazy turbulence on that flight that I actually got out my phone app and, like, wrote some drafts of, like, really, it was so bad. And, like, the guy was like. Even on the. On the speaker, he was like, just so you guys know, like, this is normal. Nothing out of the ordinary. Like, he was trying to reassure us that it was fine, but it was just so dippy, you know what I'm talking about? Where the plane.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Mary]

Dips and you kind of feel your stomach and. Yeah, a little bit. It happened all the time. Like, consistently through the flight.

[Dan]

Duration of the flight.

[Mike]

Yeah, 10 hours to San Francisco, isn't it?

[Mary]

It was hours. It was hours of, like, extreme. Where it got to the point where I. I was, like, writing notes to people. Just simple notes. Not like, you know, not like full retrospectives, but just like, mom, I love you so much. Like, I think about you all the time. I was like, literally, like, telling people I loved them because it was freaking me out. That's like. It was psychologically fucking with me. After hours of turbulence, I think that's the closest. I don't Think I've ever had someone pull a knife on me. And I've never, like, almost died by doing anything. The closest is, like, I was a gymnast for many years, you know, and one time I undercut a pass, like a tumbling pass, and when I hit, I, like, basically popped, like, both of my ankles at the same time. That was very severe for me. But I was like. I wasn't like, this is it my mom. I love her.

[Dan]

No tap. You're laying on the mat. I'm going to miss you.

[Mary]

Like, I basically was like, fuck. My ankles are fucking shattered. And I was fine.

[Mike]

Mary's just shouting, yates. Midway through a triple flip, she's like, do not go quiet.

[Mary]

Tell my mom I love her. Like, I. I was fine, but it was an extraordinary pain. And it did ultimately, like, alter forever my ability to do gymnastics and, like, even my ability to walk. To this day, jeez, if something tweaks my ankle wrong, I will just fall over. So it's like, it's been kind of like a permanent change to my physical being. But, yeah, I'm very fortunate. I've never been, like, so sick that I thought, Mike, something might happen to me. And I've never been. As far as I can remember, maybe I blocked that memory out. But, like, as far as I can remember, like, I don't think anyone's ever tried to, like, yeet me. So I feel pretty good about that. But, man, I mean, I. I will say even. Even that one, like, flight when you think you're gonna go. The first thing that went through my mind was I want to make sure the people who were, like, really meaningful in my life know. And I just started thinking about the things of, like, how much they mean to me and how important they were so that it doesn't just not happen. Like, that's what I would do if someone, like, if I thought I was gonna die, I think I would be like, I gotta call my mom and tell her she was the best mom in the whole world.

[Dan]

I mean, that is like, not to get dark here, but, like, I don't know if you guys have been to the 911 Museum, but the thing that. Obviously, it's a very heavy place to go to anyway.

[Mary]

Yeah, people called their family.

[Dan]

That is the thing that, like, that has stuck with me. It's an incredibly effective museum. Like, but there's this part where it's like, as you're walking through certain things, or you can pick up phones and you're hearing actual voicemails from people that were on the flights Being like, hey, I don't know what's going on. It's not looking good. I kind of heard there was some stuff going on. They've got the plane. I see buildings and water and it's just like, like, oh, my God. Like they were able to like, you know, call with the satellite phones or something. And hearing the actual. Like that has been. That's maybe the most like just kind of gut wrenching, just like, holy shit. Thing I think I've ever heard is those voicemail recordings.

[Mike]

Yeah, I. That's the kind of stuff that's like. Yeah. When you hear someone who knows that the ends coming and the way that they deal with it, it's like you have a lot of admiration for how some people handle it, which is just.

[Dan]

Yeah, I'd be doing a lot of screaming. I'd be screaming a lot.

[Mike]

I think about like when I broke.

[Mary]

Both my ankles at the same time. I wasn't like, cool at all.

[Dan]

I wouldn't be cool so much.

[Mary]

I won the cursing award that year for most cursing because I would not stop saying as they like drug me off the floor.

[Mike]

It was Mary's like, fuck you, you, you, you.

[Mary]

You too.

[Mike]

I already said it to you. But you again, Mom.

[Dan]

You.

[Mary]

My ankles. I was.

[Dan]

You shouldn't have encouraged me to pursue this.

[Mike]

I hate you, Mom.

[Mary]

I can't believe you told me this is a good hobby.

[Mike]

It's been a real asshole of a day. Oh, God. We covered some ground in the last 60 seconds.

[Dan]

Yeah. Wow, folks.

[Mike]

Well, thank you. Also, I'm embarrassed I said that poem was Yates. It was Dylan Thomas.

[Dan]

Yeah. We were judging you, but we weren't gonna say anything.

[Mike]

I'm sorry to the Irish people and the Welsh people who I offended for that one. I feel bad. Thank you, doc. Last one. We've gotten some like. We've gotten a bunch like these in the last few years, but it's been a while, so I figured it might actually be good to re up because more people are traveling to Portland, New York, etc. That we haven't told before. So. Hello, fire escapers. Mary, my best friend and I are going to Oregon this summer. Other than bowling and getting our holes filled. Holes drilled. What are the most sorry.

[Mary]

Freudian sleep. Freudian slip there.

[Mike]

Other than bowling and getting our holes drilled, what are the must see and do things in the state and in Portland? Mike and Dan, my friend and I aren't traveling to New York City where the woodpecker infested backwards in Minnesota, but still. What do you usually Recommend to people who travel your states and cities. Thanks for escaping fires for us every two weeks. Alex from Dallas.

[Mary]

When people come to Portland, I usually say I'm not going to literally tell you where to go, but there are so many good, excellent food and drink spots. Specifically, we're really known for coffee, pizza and donuts. I will give you a couple just to get you started. But I think what I really want to emphasize is you don't have to go to the spots. I'm just saying, like, research those three places because there's infinite amazing places within those three things. Coffee, pizza and donuts. And you will be happy for coffee. I really like Sorosoro Cafe. They are a like local mom and mom and pop Japanese style coffee. They do the coffees with like little like bears or cat faces in the milk. It's adorable. And you can like literally. They're always working there. It's always like the, the husband and wife working there. They're so cute. I just adore them. For pizza, I like a pizza shoals. There's like five dozen different types of pizza. Ranch pizzas. Fucking crazy.

[Mike]

It's.

[Mary]

It's so delicious. And they do make their own homemade ranch. Yes, please. For donuts. Sesame Donuts is the casual donut place. But you can also get bougie donuts from Blue Star. Take your pick and then go to a freaking park and enjoy the beautiful parks there. And then the other thing I always recommend is go on a trip through the gorgeous. That's what I always take guests. When Dan and Mike come, I was like, you're going to the Gorge. And you guys can probably attest it's one of the most beautiful places on earth. No matter where I've traveled, and I've traveled a lot in my years, I'm very fortunate. I still think the most beautiful place on earth is the Gorge, where you can like, look at over two dozen waterfalls and just hang out by the river. It's stunning and it's just so beautiful. It's. It's heaven. It's heaven on earth, you guys.

[Dan]

Yeah, I love it. It was great.

[Mike]

Every time we turned a corner, the view got better.

[Dan]

Also, Portland, like, like that breakfast place you told us about, Mary. Like, I'm still thinking about those biscuits and. Biscuits and gravy I had. And like, that was like the best breakfast I'd had in forever.

[Mary]

I have so many recommendations and a lot of it depends on like, what you ask me, right? But yeah, Dan one time was asking me for a good breakfast place and I Said Pine State Biscuits. And it was. And it is good. It's consistently fucking awesome. So, yeah, I'm glad you're coffee, the.

[Dan]

Biscuits, the gravy, all that. Just incredible. Incredible.

[Mary]

It means a lot to me because I have a lot of pride in the city. I think it really is amazing. So when people visit me, I'm like, God, I hope they have a good time. But you and Bonk and Bonk wrote me the nicest, loveliest note. I don't know if I've ever said this story before, and I. I think I just didn't see it for, like, a long time. And when I finally read it, I was like, this is so meaningful and so sweet. And I think I told you, and you were like, yeah, I don't think you, like, responded in a while. And she thought maybe it was like. That she, like, was rude or misspoke. And I was like, I am the worst friend ever. But I just didn't see it for, like, weeks. Sometimes I leave messages on red for, like, weeks. It's not.

[Dan]

No. It meant she loved it. And, yeah, that whole trip meant a lot to us.

[Mary]

So nice when people, like, say this recommendation or, like, whatever is meaningful. So if you go to Portland, it sounds like you are Alex in Dallas. Feel free to, like, message me what you ended up doing. I. I really do love it when someone does take me up on a recommendation and said, yes, I went to a park and I had a pizza Shoals, or, you know, whatever it is you end up doing. I. I hope you enjoy yourself. I adore this town.

[Mike]

Yeah. I would say for New York City, it's like, I think the thing you can do that not everybody does, because everybody wants to, like, do all the big neighborhoods in one day. And if it's their first time, they want to do Times Square, but then they also want to pop down and see Wall Street. The thing you could do that I. The one of the reasons I love New York is I'm still stumbling into, like, little neighborhoods that I have never been in before, and it becomes my favorite neighborhood. I think think New York's individual neighborhoods have such distinct identities. One thing you could do, if you have the time, pick one day and then pick, like, the West Village or the East Village or Lower east side or somewhere in Brooklyn. If you're gonna go to Greenpoint or Red Hook or Upper west side, pick a neighborhood and just make a few reservations there. Find a few bars you want to pop into. I think it's. It's really fun to get the Feel of a single neighborhood in New York. And you can't really do that if you're going in for dinner and then now then you're jumping on the subway to go all the way downtown, say the West Village. Tree lined streets, really like small bars and restaurants. You could pop into really local feel. Ignore the fucking West Village girl. Story from the New York. From New York magazine. Like, I hate that kind of person just as much as most people do when they run into them in the Village. There are a lot of cool people there. Upper west side's amazing. Just get, like, ensconced yourself in one neighborhood for a day. If you have like a spare Saturday on the trip. I think is how my recommendation for New York.

[Dan]

I think Minneapolis is weird in that, like, it's not like it's tourist friendly, like you're gonna have a good time, but it's not like a New York or San Francisco or something where it's like, there's the obvious. Like, if you go to San Francisco, it's like, okay, we're gonna go to Land's End. You're gonna go check out this. This bridge or this part of town. Like, it's Minneapolis, I think is an amazing place to live. It's maybe not the most obvious great place to visit for just a few days. But if you are just visiting for a few days. Some of my favorite places to go, which I've taken you guys to. Some of these. Dario is a place in Northeast. I'm going there tomorrow. It's me and Bunk's anniversary and so we're gonna go tomorrow. It is my favorite place to eat in the city.

[Mike]

Really?

[Dan]

Pasta place in Northeast. It's five incredible. They have this order the Doppio. Get a bunch of different plates and stuff. The Doppio is this weird, like, pasta thing where it's like two little pockets and like two ravioli.

[Mike]

One of them's like raviolis.

[Dan]

Yeah, like vertical raviolis. And it's got like, rosemary in one fold and like ricotta and the other and all these, like, season. It's just. It's every. I'm like, angry every time I bite into it. I'm like, how is it? This. Yeah, this is. The Doppio is like my favorite thing to eat.

[Mike]

And they're stamped at the end ends with the. With the. With the metal. So they, like, are bound, but they're still the pot, the hole between them. So they are separate. Yeah. It's impressive.

[Dan]

It's insane how good it is. And just. Just order a bunch of plates of appetizers and salads and pasta dishes. It's so fucking good. Also, if you just want a good ass burger and fries like Matt's Bar, the Juicy. If you're gonna Juicy Lucy, if you wanna do the gimmick thing, it's very, very good. Go to Matt's Bar. You guys have had the. The Juicy Lucy. It's delicious, but I actually think Lion's Tap is better. Yeah, it's out in Eden Prairie. I took both you and Jake there and just all they have is like beer, burgers and fries and that's it. And it is just so fucking good. Lots of space to sit down, everything. It's very kind of like divey feel. It's just on the side of the road. It is. Lion's Tap is like my favorite burger in the city. Breakfast Scrambling Egg is this place that has incredible breakfast sandwiches and everything. And if you go to northeast Minneapolis, which is a great spot if you just want to bar hop and all that stuff.

[Mike]

Stuff.

[Dan]

Start a night by going to Spring Street Tavern and get some spring Wings. I took you both there. That's where we saw birds and everything. And then you walk over to Vegas Lounge for some karaoke and some northeast afterwards. But yeah, Spring Street Tavern, great wings. Walk over to Vegas Lounge for karaoke and then if you just have like an afternoon, go to the Chain of Lakes, walk around beautiful, beautiful lakes. A lot of cool stuff around there. Go to Sebastian Joe's for some ice cream. But yeah, it's not like the tourist trap type of city. But if you know where to go, there's just a million awesome places to eat and explore and walk around and I just love it.

[Mike]

One, one last specific recommendation. I talk enough about wine. I try not to on the podcast, but I do that I should recommend. There's a lot of wine bars in New York. My personal favorite, which I spend a decent amount of time at, is called LA Company On center street. There are two. There's one in Flatiron, one down in Soho on Center Street. Go to the center street location if you go in. I don't think so. Okay. If you go in on Friday wearing a tropical shirt, you get $5 off by the glass wines. It's a low.

[Dan]

How do they determine who decides what's tropical?

[Mike]

The gm who is Hawaiian and came up with the idea.

[Dan]

Okay, if I wore my Mario Sunshine shirt.

[Mike]

Remind me what it. Yeah, I think Mario.

[Dan]

Well, okay, on the shirt, Mario is wearing a Hawaiian shirt.

[Mike]

Yes, I think that would pass. And I think it Would get. The person who instituted Aloha Fridays is also plays games to the point where I think he would want the shirt. Yeah. Wear a Hawaiian shirt on a Friday in. Say hi to Layla the bartender. It's an awesome place. Despite the name being. The full name being LA company Divan Surnatural. It is a very down to earth place. Like I mentioned, wear Hawaiian shirts on Fridays. They do a bunch of like different, different turntables. Incredible. By the glass list if I might be there hanging out. If you want recommendations on the bottle list, I'd be happy to. It's a great spot. It's also a cool, really cool little pocket of New York between the hectic chaos of Canal street and the hectic touristy chaos of Spring Street. It's like in this little pocket, the terrace. If the weather's nice, there's tables outside. It's a really great, great spot with amazing small plates and food. So that's my specific recommendation. And the staff is all very cool and will answer any questions you have and share their passion and they will not be dicks about it. I can vouch for each and every one of them.

[Dan]

We all live in really cool cities.

[Mary]

Yeah, we do.

[Dan]

I like it.

[Mike]

Got three different time zones to that end. Thank you so much for writing in, Alex. And with that, that's the end of emails. That's the end of our episode. That's firescapecastmail.com please, please someone remind me what that game was. It's been killing me.

[Dan]

It's gonna drive me nuts.

[Mike]

Dan, I will say this. If it's another clue, it. I don't think it's a game you would have liked.

[Dan]

Not Wildermyth.

[Mike]

No, no, no, no, no.

[Dan]

I remember that. That was when you were talking about a lot back in the day that I didn't play.

[Mike]

No, it was Wildermouth was turn based tactics, right?

[Dan]

Yeah. But I would have played a side scrolling action game. What are you talking about?

[Mike]

Actually, I think it might have been a bit too cute for you at the time. Yeah, you've changed. At the time I just wouldn't know. I don't. I. I don't remember talking to anybody else who liked it. I think it was a very one off like flash in the pan thing.

[Mary]

People like a game I played.

[Mike]

Now I'm gonna find Tooth Comb through my Steam list. But that just takes so long. I don't even know what like I don't know. I'll figure it out. But if anybody else knows what it is. And like I loved that game. I think it was 2019 or two. 20, 2020. Because I was definitely back in the east coast, but not for long. So that's it. Please tell us. And then also we have what is today? If you are a Nexlander subscriber, we have a new episode of Mike and Vinny Destroy the World where we play co OP. Total Warhammer 3 evil campaign that is up on Nexlander today. New episode to catch up on. If you're not, go be a patron for them. They're top tier. Top patron tier. You can get access to those. Next week we'll have our new episode of Mike and Vinny Save the World here on Fire Escape Cast. If you're already a video tier patron, don't worry about it. That'll be up as scheduled. If you're not a patron here, you can get those. You can get other bonus episodes. You can get our video versions of the show. There's another tier you can get ad free episodes. There's another tier you can just treat like a tip jar if you appreciate what we do. Or you could just stay up to date on our Patreon page. You don't have to pay anything and it'll tell you when we put up free content, which we do from time to time. Outside of that, Mary, what do you have going on?

[Mary]

Twitch streaming on Mondays. I had to take two weeks off just because of so much work and travel. But I'll be back by the time this episode goes live.

[Mike]

Dan, what about you?

[Dan]

Was a code shifter?

[Mike]

I don't think so.

[Dan]

I'm looking stuff up. Oh, what am I doing? Giantbomb.com Check that out. We're doing a lot of good stuff up there, having a lot of fun. Blight Club Mike is about to actually, by the time this goes up, he'll probably have finished Rascal and then I will have to play Blight Club next. And I don't know what my next game is. The only thing I've heard is they have to research if it's problematic. So I don't know what that means. I'm just hoping it's not Fugitive Hunter, War on Terror because I'm not dressing as bin Laden. But yes, check out giantbomb.com and our YouTube and socials and everything. And personal Twitch.

[Mike]

Cool. And also a reminder, we do have merch@firescape merch.com firescapecastmerch.com I don't know. We'll figure it out. Go to our Instagram page. You can find stuff through there. And through our Patreon get some hot threads.

[Dan]

All right.

[Mike]

Well, that's our episode. We will be back in a couple of weeks with episode 111. And we will be back with more Warhammer next week. Stay up to date. We'll see you then. Thanks for coming. Bye.

[Mary]

Thanks.

[Dan]

Bye, Sa.