Fire Escape Cast #89

Summary

Fire Escape Cast #89: A Deep Dive into Travels, Video Games, and Hilarious Antics

Released on September 9, 2024, Fire Escape Cast #89 features hosts Michael Mahardy, Mary Kish, and Dan Ryckert engaging in their trademark candid and entertaining discussions. This episode seamlessly blends personal anecdotes, travel experiences, and passionate conversations about video games, ensuring both longtime listeners and newcomers find something to enjoy.

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Reuniting the Fire Escape Crew

[00:43] Michael Mahardy warmly welcomes listeners back to episode 89, reintroducing himself alongside [00:53] Mary Kish and the returning [01:02] Dan Ryckert. The trio shares light-hearted banter about scheduling conflicts and their upcoming trip to Portland, setting a relaxed and friendly tone for the episode.

Dan remarks at [01:02], "All the stars are here. We've all assembled again," highlighting the excitement of being together after their individual travels.

Airport Adventures and Travel Missteps

The conversation quickly shifts to personal travel stories. Dan shares his first-time experience in Portland, discussing the city's unique attractions and their plans to explore iconic spots like waterfalls and vistas with Mary.

At [05:32], Dan recounts his trip to Germany, humorously describing his swift Uber ride on the Autobahn and the challenges of navigating with speed unfamiliar to him. He humorously mentions the “saga of DJ Ass Tits,” where they met a local DJ for a cameo in their Giant Bomb video.

Dan shares with laughter at [06:05], "We saw a sign that said DJ Astitude... So we met up with DJ Ass Tits. She was an absolute delight."

Mary complements Dan’s experience, reminiscing about their interactions at Gamescom Cologne and the friendly yet competitive atmosphere among international gamers.

Transitioning to Portland and Local Plans

Michael shares his excitement about visiting Portland for the first time without the comical, exaggerated fears he joked about earlier. The hosts discuss logistics, family visits, and the influence of local weather phenomena like heat domes (“hot pockets”).

At [04:50], Michael jokes, "Leapt the hot Pocket leapt straight from New York to Portland," adding humor to their discussion about the unexpected heat.

Mary reassures the group about the trip, planning to take Dan and Michael to scenic spots and enjoy Portland’s vibrant environment, despite challenges like managing family and work schedules.

Video Games: A Central Theme

The heart of the episode delves into their shared passion for video games. The hosts discuss recent releases, favorites, and gameplay experiences with enthusiasm and expert insight.

Astro Bot and Platformers

Dan passionately praises Astro Bot as "among my favorite games ever" and compares it favorably to titles like Breath of the Wild and Super Mario Odyssey. He highlights its seamless controls, engaging level design, and the joy it brings him.

"Astrobot is the new Astrobot is among my favorite games ever. It is unreal how fucking good it is," says Dan at [34:22].

Mary echoes Dan’s enthusiasm, emphasizing Astro Bot’s innovative physics and accessible gameplay that appeals to both seasoned gamers and newcomers.

Core Keeper and Slider: Indie Gems

Mary brings attention to indie titles like Core Keeper and Slider, elaborating on their unique mechanics and engaging puzzles. Slider, a free puzzle game, receives particular praise for its thoughtful design and brain-teasing challenges.

At [48:17], Mary describes Slider: "It's a BR Brain buster," highlighting its intricate puzzle design that goes beyond traditional sliding mechanics.

Dan shares his excitement about discovering these indie games, appreciating their creativity and the fresh experiences they offer compared to mainstream titles.

Tactical Breach Wizards and Strategy Games

Michael introduces Tactical Breach Wizards, lauding its blend of tactical gameplay with magical elements. He discusses the game's strategic depth, character abilities, and the enjoyable blend of humor and intense combat scenarios.

Michael explains at [66:08], "And Druids and shit like that," referring to the game’s unique character classes that merge tactical prowess with fantastical abilities.

Gaming Series and Remakes: Navigating the Legacy

The hosts touch upon their experiences with long-standing game series and the impact of remakes. They discuss how playing later entries in a series can influence their perception and enjoyment of earlier titles.

Dan reflects at [107:03], "If you're curious about Call of Duty, you need to go back to the first one," emphasizing the importance of understanding a series’ roots to fully appreciate its evolution.

Mary and Michael add their perspectives on various franchises, highlighting the balance between nostalgia and modern gameplay enhancements.

Listener Interaction: Would You Rather?

Transitioning to listener engagement, they entertain a fun segment where they answer a "Would You Rather" question submitted by Aaron from Dallas:

“Would you rather slip and fall every time you enter a new room or have to scream every fifth word you say at the top of your lungs?”

Mary selects screaming for its lesser physical risks, while Michael sides with her, and Dan opts for screaming as well to avoid injury.

Concluding Thoughts and Future Plans

As the episode wraps up, the hosts discuss their ongoing and upcoming projects, including Mary’s involvement in the Objectively Positive Podcast, Dan’s streaming endeavors, and Michael’s gameplay with Alien Dark Descent and others. They encourage listeners to engage with the podcast through reviews, merchandise, and Patreon support.

Michael signs off with warmth at [129:10], "Thank you for joining. We appreciate it, as always. We'll see you on the next episode of Fire Escape Cast."

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Notable Quotes:

• Dan Ryckert at [34:22]: "Astrobot is among my favorite games ever. It is unreal how fucking good it is."
• Mary Kish at [48:17]: "It's a BR Brain buster."
• Michael Mahardy at [66:08]: "It's Tactical Breach Wizards, Heat Signature, XCOM of Stardew, Floating point, gunpoint."
• Dan Ryckert at [107:03]: "If you're curious about Call of Duty, you need to go back to the first one."

---

Conclusion:

Fire Escape Cast #89 masterfully balances humor, personal stories, and in-depth discussions about video games. The hosts' chemistry shines through as they navigate various topics, making the episode both informative and highly entertaining. Whether you're a dedicated gamer or a casual listener, this episode offers valuable insights and plenty of laughs, embodying the essence of what makes Fire Escape Cast a beloved podcast in the gaming community.

Transcript

[Michael Mahardy]

My dad works in B2B marketing. He came by my school for career day and said he was a big roas man. Then he told everyone how much he loved calculating his return on ad spend. My friends still laugh at me to this day.

[Mary Kish]

Not everyone gets B2B but with LinkedIn.

[Dan Rykert]

You'Ll be able to reach people who do.

[Mary Kish]

Get a hundred dollar credit on your next ad campaign. Go to LinkedIn.com results to claim your credit. That's LinkedIn.com results. Terms and conditions apply.

[Dan Rykert]

LinkedIn the place to be. To be.

[Michael Mahardy]

Hello everyone. Welcome back to the Fire Escape cast. It is episode 89, I think. I'm your host as always. Michael Mahardy here once again with Mary Kish.

[Mary Kish]

Hi.

[Michael Mahardy]

And returning to us after a long absence. Many travels around the world. It was one episode. He's back. It's Dan Rykert.

[Dan Rykert]

All the stars are here. We've all assembled again. Do we only miss one? Were we all together two episodes ago? Because I feel like we almost had to miss this one. But we were able to eke this out.

[Michael Mahardy]

Mary might assemble. I'm glad I can't remember.

[Mary Kish]

They're all subbed in a hot minute. I've been. I've been active. I feel like I've been present. I missed one episode like in early summer because I was at Twitchcon in Europe. But I'm pretty good and I'm glad I was. We almost missed this week because I have so much family in town. But y'all moved your schedules around for me, which I appreciate.

[Michael Mahardy]

We're doing the same this coming weekend.

[Dan Rykert]

Come to poor travel.

[Michael Mahardy]

This is the first time I'll be coming to Portland, not by myself in the middle of the night to stare through your window with a knife. It's going to be really fun.

[Mary Kish]

I am really excited you guys are both coming. It's a really cool time to be in Portland. And Jake isn't coming, is he? We. We are going to have Jake. So avoid him. Yeah.

[Dan Rykert]

God. We were just talking about how much we don't like him.

[Michael Mahardy]

When did you.

[Dan Rykert]

Off air.

[Michael Mahardy]

We were on fuck jake.org and yeah.

[Dan Rykert]

We were trying to buy fuck jake.de yeah.

[Michael Mahardy]

Yeah.

[Mary Kish]

Fuck jake.org an organization for us to talk about the sweetest boy in the whole world that we don't like. Jake Jacker. Yeah, he's never done anything wrong in his life.

[Dan Rykert]

No, he's great.

[Michael Mahardy]

He killed that kid.

[Mary Kish]

We don't talk about that.

[Michael Mahardy]

Jake. Cut that, cut that, cut that.

[Dan Rykert]

He's in the proud boys, but he's a Nice guy.

[Michael Mahardy]

Yeah. He's a big conspiracy guy as well.

[Dan Rykert]

Oh, but like the, like dangerous ones.

[Michael Mahardy]

Yeah, the misinformation and the hate.

[Dan Rykert]

Yeah, like the, oh, Cooper shot the moon landing stuff. It's like he's like dangerous conspiracy theorist. Yeah.

[Michael Mahardy]

Yep. Yeah. So that's Jake. You. If you want to learn more about him, go to jake.org we haven't bought it yet. We need to buy goes up. We need to get jake.org and put a Photoshop photo of him with a rocket launcher pointed at a hospital. Just a joker. Yeah. Yeah. We'll be in Portland for a couple nights. Going to be fun.

[Dan Rykert]

My first time in Portland.

[Michael Mahardy]

Oh, really?

[Mary Kish]

It's lovely. You're going to enjoy it. I'm going to take you to some iconic places and we can talk about them on the next epi. But I'm going to take you in theory provided, like everybody's everything, everybody's on time and everything goes well. You're going to see some vistas and I'm going to take you to some waterfalls too.

[Dan Rykert]

Oh, really? That sounds awesome.

[Michael Mahardy]

Nice.

[Dan Rykert]

Hell yeah.

[Michael Mahardy]

I'm looking forward to it.

[Dan Rykert]

And we don't. I love this. We can just show up and then you just take us wherever and we don't have to worry about planning anything. That sounds great.

[Mary Kish]

I took care of it. I took care of the boys because I feel like if you're getting your butts here, especially you, Dan. After all this travel internationally and you just got back from pax, you are tired. So it's. You get here with vistas. I got you. Yeah. Vistas and drinkies. Open bar.

[Dan Rykert]

Ooh. Yes. Yes. This all sounds perfect. This is like kind of the end of like my travel gauntlet. So honestly, the timing is perfect because it's been every weekend this summer since my surgery and this is the last one of the consecutive weekends. So just go hang out with you, have some drinks and look at vistas.

[Mary Kish]

Yay. Come hang out with me and vistas.

[Dan Rykert]

Even if Jake's there?

[Michael Mahardy]

Yeah, even if Jake's there. I just telling Dan that it's the beginning of my travel gauntlet. So we're looking forward to like being outdoors and relaxing and hanging out with friends.

[Mary Kish]

You gotta have lulls.

[Dan Rykert]

Heard it's gonna be a crisp 90 degrees.

[Mary Kish]

Yeah, it's gonna be so hot. I don't understand it. It's really weird. Like a weird hot hot pocket situation.

[Michael Mahardy]

The heat, like, I believe they're called.

[Mary Kish]

Heat domes, but I like calling them hot pockets.

[Dan Rykert]

Hot pockets. More fun.

[Michael Mahardy]

Leapt the hot Pocket leapt straight from New York to Portland. And I'm following it. It's gonna be. Can't wait.

[Mary Kish]

You love the heat, but yeah, for Australians, it's not bad at all. There's a bunch of Australians in town and it's usually like 110 degrees in Australia. Australia, dude, their summers are brutal.

[Dan Rykert]

Brutal. Is it like Vegas dry heat or is it humid in 110?

[Mary Kish]

It can be humid.

[Dan Rykert]

It's everything that. That sounds terrible. Yeah.

[Michael Mahardy]

Australia gets like every kind of weather. They're the size of the United States. Ish.

[Dan Rykert]

Oh, wow.

[Michael Mahardy]

But it's farther south, so it's not.

[Mary Kish]

Just drop out of the sky. It's just melting.

[Dan Rykert]

Jeez.

[Michael Mahardy]

Oh, speaking of travels, Dan, first time in Germany, Correct?

[Dan Rykert]

Yes, yes.

[Michael Mahardy]

Would you. Did you stick in Cologne? Did you get anywhere else?

[Dan Rykert]

I flew into Dusseldorf and then went to Cologne. Yeah, I think so. Yeah. And spent like, that was the fastest Uber ride I've ever had from the airport. I think it was technically the Autobahn. And that guy, he was. I tried to look at the knob thing on the dash, but it was in crazy kilometers. Yeah, yeah, but it was in like kilometers. So I didn't know what the fuck it meant, but it felt very fast. But yeah, we just stuck in Cologne and drank a lot of kolsches. Ate a lot of meat. Did I tell you about the saga of DJ Ass Tits?

[Michael Mahardy]

No.

[Mary Kish]

I saw a picture of DJ Aztets of.

[Dan Rykert]

Yeah, yeah. Okay. I think the video should be up on Giant Bomb by the time this goes up. But there's a whole saga with DJ Ass Tits and give us the TLDR on.

[Michael Mahardy]

Yeah, because I'm not going to watch it. I just want to know what happened.

[Dan Rykert]

Basically, we saw a sign that said DJ Astitude.

[Mary Kish]

Watching all that?

[Dan Rykert]

Yeah. I found her on Instagram and message her being like, hey, we're at a video game website. We love your name. We're in Cologne. Do you want to do a cameo in a video we're shooting about being in Gamescom? And she said yes. So we met up with DJ Ass Tits. She was an absolute delight. And she did a little cameo for the end of our Giant Bomb video. It was fantastic.

[Mary Kish]

Lady.

[Dan Rykert]

Yes. Yeah. So big DJ Ass Tits fans over here now.

[Michael Mahardy]

I. I like that. Giant Bomb is building up its own, like, Channel 5 roster of characters.

[Dan Rykert]

Oh, yeah.

[Michael Mahardy]

That you just find in the world.

[Dan Rykert]

I love that. I love. It's like, you know, Letterman once found the. The guys at the bodega next door. He, Muji burn, Sergil and had them be his, like, Olympics correspondents. Like, I've always loved that. Like, let's just find a random person, like, bring them into the fold and, you know, as long as they're interesting, nice people and DJ Assets is interesting and nice. So, yes, friend of Giant Bomb, for sure.

[Mary Kish]

Yes, A friend of Giant Bomb. DJ Assets reminds me. This was ages ago, but I remember vividly, me and Rob Handler, he had an E3. There was a DJ with just really big boobies DJing with their little MacBook Pro. And we were being little bastards. And we were like, I wonder what her name is. We were like, we bet it's DJ Fun Bags. And then we, like, came up with a Persona for DJ Fun Bags. And she would always just be like, everyone put your hands in the air and grab your dicks. DJ Fun Bags is getting it started. I'm about to hit Space Bar. And we would just like. We would just like, kind of be little bastards about it. But anyway, she took it in good fun. She didn't know about it. We were just having fun with it.

[Dan Rykert]

You probably have not heard the Mike Minati English story, have you? I'll give you the TLDR on this as well for anyone who may have heard this, but on the first night, I was flying in, but Bailey and Cologne. So Jan and Bailey had gone out to get food with Minati, and they were asking about recommendations. The guy's like, oh, you gotta go to this bar. This is the best bar. So they go to this bar afterwards and it's very busy. They're doing trivia in German as they walk in. And the lady behind the bar is, like, trying to wave them over, like, hey, you order drinks over here, not over there. But Minati, for some reason thought she was asking if they spoke English or German or Dutch. And so she's going, hey, stand over here, stand over here in German. And Minati just goes English. And then everyone, all the bar bags, everyone turned immediately and, like, their eyebrows went up. Jan and Bailey just 180 and walked out of the bar. She just walks, like, barked English at this woman speaking German.

[Michael Mahardy]

Yeah. And from my experience in Cologne during Gamescom Cologne, very nice people. However, bear in mind that like, once a year, gamers from all over Europe and the world descend. So they can understandably be a bit touchy when, like, you're just imposing your Americanness on them or English, whatever. So that makes it even funnier. Also, I, like, I could just hear it in Mike Minati's voice and everybody like, what?

[Dan Rykert]

And he Thought they were going to stay in, order beers. But Janet Bailey would not be seen in that bar after that.

[Mary Kish]

I would be out of there so fast. That's so embarrassing. I would have. Yeah, I would have Anxiety passively through Minati.

[Dan Rykert]

That happens a lot when you're around Minati, but it's all in good fun. He's a nice boy.

[Mary Kish]

What happened?

[Dan Rykert]

No, he just turned around and he didn't see Janet Bailey. He's like, oh, I guess we're not getting beers here.

[Michael Mahardy]

Oh, a man walked in during trivia, shouted English.

[Dan Rykert]

Yeah. Everyone got pissed at him and then they all left. Yeah.

[Mary Kish]

Yeah. Oh, that was so sad. But I was embarrassed. I knew what I had done. Did Minati even know?

[Dan Rykert]

No, he's. He is very unaware of a lot of the stuff he does. Again, in a very, very nice way. But. But yeah, I've heard. I can be like that too. I feel like seeing Minati in a lot of circumstances, I am understanding more. Have experienced being out with me and things like that of me just being oblivious to things. Yeah, yeah. But no, he's. He's a great guy.

[Michael Mahardy]

Yeah. You and Minati out by yourselves, that's like, you need a straight man there for that.

[Dan Rykert]

Yeah. Jan and Bailey were the adults for sure with, with me and Minati. But the actual show floor and everything.

[Michael Mahardy]

Yeah.

[Dan Rykert]

Yes. The show floor was just like, you know, I've done a million E3s, but this was very different. I don't know what I expected. I always heard about how it was packed and everything, but, like There were like 11 plus halls and a lot of them are like, you know, 4.1 is the lower floor and 4.2 is the upper floor. And it's just the sea of humanity on the public days where it's just fucking impossible to get around. Like, it was. It was a lot of fun, but it was staggeringly big. I was, I was not expecting how big this convention was.

[Michael Mahardy]

What's the most surprising thing about, like everyday German life that you noticed?

[Dan Rykert]

You know, it was barely easy to like, you know, everyone kind of spoke English, so there weren't. Oh, the fucking public transportation was the easiest thing in the world. You just takes you everywhere. It was confusingly, it seemed free. Like we were trying to pay and didn't even see places to pay. Somebody told me it was free, but then it was very confusing. They gave us tickets from Gamescom to like. I don't understand how it works, but it seems to be a good system.

[Michael Mahardy]

Gamescom ticket, like comps, a certain number of rides.

[Dan Rykert]

Okay.

[Michael Mahardy]

Memory served. At least when I went.

[Dan Rykert]

Oh, here's the thing that surprised me the most. So I was looking forward to having a bunch of pretzels and cheese there because that seemed like a thing in England or Germany. And they have cheese pretzels, but they're all this weird style where they're hanging on hooks and it's like they melted a bunch of cheese over it and just let it dry and then they stick it up. I wanted a big ass pretzel with a big ass thing of beer, cheese dip or something. It was still good, but it was like we were just having like flat cold cheese all over the pretzel, you know?

[Michael Mahardy]

Huh. I wonder if that's a just a like German wide thing or a cologne thing.

[Mary Kish]

You might have been in like a. More of a. Like an authentic work. Because I did a pizza from a. Sorry, a pizza. I did a pretzel from a vendor and it came with dunker.

[Dan Rykert]

Oh, dunker cheese.

[Mary Kish]

Yeah. So I think you just. You got it in a different way. But when I.

[Dan Rykert]

Four places that had the cheese thing. Yeah. Or the flat one. Yeah.

[Michael Mahardy]

Just imagine Dan is actually just at a dry cleaners pulling eating suits off the rack.

[Mary Kish]

So dry.

[Dan Rykert]

That might have been my problem. Yeah.

[Mary Kish]

And he's running up to people going, I need dunkers.

[Michael Mahardy]

Yeah.

[Mary Kish]

Don't you have any dunkers? There was a couple things that surprised me about Germany. Did you see anybody wearing. They had like. There's like a thing where people wear like a giant cookie in a heart on their neck.

[Dan Rykert]

No.

[Mary Kish]

And you're not supposed to eat it. It's like decorative.

[Dan Rykert]

What? But it's like a real cookie.

[Mary Kish]

Yeah, but I think it's meant to be decorative.

[Dan Rykert]

Don't like flies eat it and stuff?

[Mary Kish]

I don't know.

[Dan Rykert]

Huh.

[Mary Kish]

We had very different German experiences. Cause I got dunkers and I saw people wearing cookies and you had a dry pretzel and no dunkers.

[Dan Rykert]

It was good. I'm not complaining. Like, you know, the meat and everything was good. Overall, I think I like the food in England more.

[Mary Kish]

What? Nobody ever fucking says that. Nobody's ever said that the food in England is better than the food in Germany. You're fucking out of your mind.

[Dan Rykert]

I played the reputation with England, but, like, the stuff I had there. The best meal I had in all these trips to Europe I've had in the last few weeks was me and Minati went to a little pub in Brentford and had fish and chips in Guinness. The most stereotypical British ever. But it was easily the best fish and chips I've ever had. It was amazing.

[Michael Mahardy]

So, yeah, fish and chips is definitely really good in England. Do you have anything else with Nando's?

[Dan Rykert]

Because I always heard about that being like a good chain, like Peri. Peri chicken thing. And it was very good. I had. You know, I'm not a huge coffee guy. I just kind of have like the Nespresso little pods in the morning. But this was like the first time I've had coffee at some Queen's Mayfair in England where I was like, holy shit. Like, like, the taste of the coffee was like, oh, this is not a utilitarian, I'm waking up in the morning thing. This is. I. This tastes amazing.

[Michael Mahardy]

So in America, we have, like, known for a coffee obsession in America.

[Dan Rykert]

Yeah. But I don't really know where to. Like, I go to Caribou if I'm going out. I don't know if that's nice.

[Michael Mahardy]

Yeah, that's a big. Yeah, barely. I know, but it's not a Caribou.

[Dan Rykert]

Like, it's all good. Like caribou, Starbucks, all that stuff. You can get good stuff. But, like, this is, like, strikingly good.

[Michael Mahardy]

Yeah, Caribou. You're just naming the American chains. But we also have, like, we have boutique coffee spots. I guarantee you Minneapolis has many of them, like, around every corner.

[Dan Rykert]

We probably do, I guess. I've never looked for a coffee place.

[Michael Mahardy]

But that's good that you like English food because I will say England, like, has great restaurants, but most of the ones I've been to are not like English style food. It's like, I don't know any number of different restaurant styles that they're doing there.

[Dan Rykert]

They had the best ice cream I've ever had.

[Michael Mahardy]

What kind of. What was. What was good about it? Just, it was.

[Dan Rykert]

It was biscoff and honeycomb was one of the flavors. So every night I went there and I got a Biscoff and Honeycomb scoop and one other scoop that was incredible. Also Europe in general. I found this in Germany, England and Iceland. Fucking Maum. Do you know maum? M a O a m. No. It's this candy and it comes in all sorts of different forms. There's like fun sticks. There's like little, like little pads. There's pinballs that come in pinball form. And they all. It's like Starburst is my favorite candy ever. And this is like if Starburst had a bunch more flavors and came in different fun shapes and they were better.

[Michael Mahardy]

We brought these back from France. The wild Red berries, the chewy. We have some of these in our jar right now because we're saving them. They're like. They look like gumdrops, but they're.

[Dan Rykert]

Those might be the pendants. Okay.

[Michael Mahardy]

Red fruit berries, and they're covered in, like, a sugary kind of substance. Those are awesome. I agree.

[Dan Rykert]

Yes. All of the joysticks, the stripes, the party mix, the mal mix. This is the. This is like my favorite candy period now. So, like, I just load up my bag with Malm when I'm coming home from Europe now.

[Michael Mahardy]

But yeah, that's not like, one candy. That's the company that owns a bunch of different candies.

[Dan Rykert]

Yeah. But all their shit is awesome. And it's all that kind of, like, fruity Starburst style. Can I get this on Amazon?

[Michael Mahardy]

Oh, yeah.

[Dan Rykert]

Anyone in. Oh, my God.

[Michael Mahardy]

Doesn't Haribo own it?

[Dan Rykert]

Yeah, Haribo. Okay, Europe people listening to this just send me a shit ton of Malm.

[Michael Mahardy]

Wait, wait. I like saying it like. Yeah. So mom is a brand of sweets produced by the German confectionery company Haribo.

[Dan Rykert]

Oh, okay. Well, that's the thing is I don't love Haribo because it's all, like, gummy stuff. And I'm not a big gummy bear guy. I don't like the texture of gummy bears. I like the starburst.

[Michael Mahardy]

I think, like, the gummy bears have become synonymous with Haribo, at least in America.

[Dan Rykert]

Yeah, yeah.

[Michael Mahardy]

It's a big company.

[Dan Rykert]

It's like, I don't dislike gummy bears, but it's like, I don't ever seek them out. Whereas, like, Malm and Starburst, I seek out. And I've just been going apeshit on those since I got back.

[Michael Mahardy]

Yeah, the red berry things are awesome. We had a lot of.

[Mary Kish]

I don't think I've ever had these.

[Dan Rykert]

You got to get some Malm. You're always in Europe.

[Mary Kish]

I got to have my Malm.

[Dan Rykert]

Get yourself some. Let's get a Malm sponsorship.

[Michael Mahardy]

Dan's going to wake up in the middle of the night tonight, just walk into a German bar one day and shout, maum. And then leave without ordering anything.

[Dan Rykert]

Man. I got a bunch of, like, artisanal, awesome cheese in Germany. Brought it home. It was fucking great. Like, I loved some good ass cheese and bought a big block of it. Travels fine. Yeah, Europe's cool. I like it. I'm into it.

[Michael Mahardy]

Well, how is this cheese wrapped? Like, was it like plastic?

[Dan Rykert]

It was like a wedge and then it was, like, vacuum sealed.

[Michael Mahardy]

Yeah, yeah.

[Dan Rykert]

Like a label on it.

[Michael Mahardy]

Okay, that makes sense. I still like the idea. I just like the idea of you traveling with cheese.

[Dan Rykert]

Well, I bought some in England, but they just wrapped it up in paper that wasn't airtight. And so I didn't think it would travel without stinking up all my clothes. So I just ate like, a block of cheese in my hotel room at like, 2 in the morning when I couldn't sleep.

[Mary Kish]

Too much cheese is too much cheese before a big flight.

[Michael Mahardy]

Any amount of cheese before a big flight.

[Dan Rykert]

My body's used to cheese. It's. It's like a block. Before I got on that flight, when.

[Michael Mahardy]

I was thinking about the people near you, not you, oh, farting style, anything.

[Dan Rykert]

Oh, I didn't fart on a plane.

[Michael Mahardy]

Oh, that's when you got pop.

[Mary Kish]

I never would ever believe anyone who says that, ever. I didn't fart on that plane.

[Dan Rykert]

I fart plenty. But I have some decorum in my old age, and I will not fart on a plane. I didn't. Maybe. Maybe if it's feeling a little dicey, I might let one go in the bathroom.

[Michael Mahardy]

Oh, I fart in the bathroom for sure.

[Dan Rykert]

That's fair game in there.

[Mary Kish]

Farts in the bathroom.

[Dan Rykert]

Yeah, I'll fart up that bathroom, but I'm not doing it. Sit in my seat.

[Mary Kish]

What if you're in the window?

[Dan Rykert]

In the window?

[Mary Kish]

The window. The window seat.

[Dan Rykert]

First of all, I haven't had a window seat in 15 years. But no, at no point in the cabin would I fart.

[Michael Mahardy]

Wait, have I told you my fart on a plane story? I must have. This is probably, like, episode 12 material.

[Dan Rykert]

Let's hear it.

[Michael Mahardy]

I did the thing, you know, when I didn't have a pillow or anything and I had fallen asleep. And you know how when your head falls, your body's like, goes into shock? Yeah, I, like, jolted awake. And it wasn't just that, like, my whole upper body kind of went upright. Like, I. It scared me so much that, like, my legs came off the floor. So I farted.

[Dan Rykert]

Not.

[Michael Mahardy]

And it was a red eye, so pitch black, which makes it relatively better. I would say, like, safer to fart, but I'm trying to just figure out how to describe the. It wasn't loud, but it was crystal.

[Dan Rykert]

Clear of a fart cut through the air.

[Michael Mahardy]

Yeah. So of course, I start, like, looking around subtly to see who noticed. And there's a lot of people were asleep, but there was someone watching Con Air across. Across the aisle and, like, on the. In the middle seat who was like, Leaning past the person in the aisle to look at me. And they weren't smiling. They didn't. Wasn't a knowing look. I don't. I truly have never seen a more neutral face. And then I went back to. I forgot what I was watching. But yeah, that's. I need a pillow so I don't fart again. This was like 2015 or something.

[Dan Rykert]

Nice.

[Michael Mahardy]

Well, that's cool. Glad your European travels were fruitful.

[Dan Rykert]

Yes, they're quite good. I might be going maybe going to another continent here in the near future, but working that out.

[Mary Kish]

Believe it.

[Michael Mahardy]

Nice.

[Dan Rykert]

Yep. This month. So we'll see.

[Michael Mahardy]

Yeah, we're will be be Portland this weekend and then I think I'm doing a quick LA leg late September and then Hawaii for the first time. Also around Australians.

[Dan Rykert]

Nice.

[Michael Mahardy]

We're going to go to Kauai for a destination wedding for a couple of our good friends and he's Australian and Hawaii is exactly halfway between New York and Sydney where most of them are from.

[Dan Rykert]

Nice.

[Michael Mahardy]

And that's also our anniversary week. So we're going a few days early because we're at a super nice resort. We're going to do some hiking. Kauai is supposedly like the more rustic island. Like not as active as other ones. Not as touristy from what we've heard, but there's a lot of good hiking. I think the. I gotta look up the name of the famous trail that I'm forgetting, but looking forward to that.

[Dan Rykert]

Oregon.

[Michael Mahardy]

Yes. And then the week after that we're down in D.C. and then that's not counting two Europe, two European trips and a Canadian trip for me for work.

[Dan Rykert]

Boy, it's a good thing we decided on this podcast being every other week. That would have been pretty fucking hard.

[Mary Kish]

Yeah, I think it would have been almost impossible with our schedules. I'll be in San Diego in two weeks for TwitchCon, so and then I think I just have a couple like more more basic trips maybe like to SF or something like that, but you never know, like things pop up.

[Dan Rykert]

Yeah. We should also probably give the disclaimer since we did just mention that like all of Fire Escape is going to be in Portland. If you. We're worried about hearing like about a meetup or in person stuff. Just want to make sure we're setting expectations. It's not a content fire escape thing we're doing. It's a. It's for a personal thing so don't expect in person. We love doing a personal stuff in. In person stuff, but we.

[Michael Mahardy]

We really enjoy impersonal we invite people to bars for meetups and then just neg them the whole time.

[Dan Rykert]

Yeah, that's from us.

[Mary Kish]

We will probably. We'll definitely do a selfie though. But my favorite was when we got together last year for Mike's big wedding. Mike was like, let's do the thing where we photoshop Marian. And I was like, but it's your wedding. And you were like, get over there and we'll take a photo together. And I was like, no, I like made sure I was in the photo. Because I was like, no matter how funny this gag is, I'll be pissed if I'm not in this photo.

[Michael Mahardy]

Yeah, especially when everybody's like dressed up next in person.

[Dan Rykert]

Actual like fire escape thing would probably be game of the year. Did we say. Are we doing that here? We do.

[Mary Kish]

We haven't decided.

[Dan Rykert]

Okay. I'm up to host again. But we could talk about it. But I'm up for whatever fun at your house.

[Mary Kish]

But I like doing it here. About it.

[Dan Rykert]

I got some new places I could show you guys too, so.

[Mary Kish]

What do you mean?

[Dan Rykert]

It's the same house in the city.

[Mary Kish]

Oh, I thought you meant in your house. I thought you meant like you found some weird.

[Dan Rykert]

Yeah, I've got like an upside down Castlevania castle that I added on.

[Michael Mahardy]

He's a fucking shadow world of his house.

[Dan Rykert]

Yeah. Pull on this statue head and the wall will rotate.

[Michael Mahardy]

It's just house of leaves happening inside his house.

[Mary Kish]

There's a coal lever and there's like a closet with a gimp in it.

[Dan Rykert]

Yeah. That won't be ready by the time you guys are here.

[Michael Mahardy]

A finished janitor next to a huge tree. Yeah. So it's busy fall, but looking forward to kicking it off in Portland. Mary, I saw Alien Romulus.

[Dan Rykert]

Oh, me too.

[Michael Mahardy]

We both did.

[Mary Kish]

So Dan, when you were hyped this film.

[Michael Mahardy]

Yeah. When you were gone, Mary was talking it up.

[Dan Rykert]

Oh, really? Really.

[Michael Mahardy]

So I did.

[Mary Kish]

I did talk this movie up.

[Michael Mahardy]

That also did spark me rewatching several Alien movies and replaying a few Alien related games which I'll talk about down the episode. But I. If I had to place this movie in the franchise, including all the directors like ranking wise. And bear in mind, I'm a sicko who actually really liked Alien Covenant.

[Dan Rykert]

So take the only one I haven't seen.

[Michael Mahardy]

I would put Romulus at like a firm middle or right above middle.

[Dan Rykert]

I think that's where I would put.

[Michael Mahardy]

It too, considering, you know, like there's some stinkers there. I liked it. I thought it was Entertaining. I thought it was. Once things started going, I was like, all right, now it's like. It feels like there's some good moviemaking happening. And I also started to like several of the characters much more. I also felt like it spent way too much time calling back to the first movie, which I get chronologically. It takes place right after the first movie that's going to happen. But there are certain things that weren't really, like, organic callbacks. They were like, hey, knowing winks to the audience. And I was like, I didn't need.

[Dan Rykert]

That Game over, man. When they was playing the video game, that was. Yeah. I mean, there's some that are a bit much.

[Michael Mahardy]

There's the.

[Dan Rykert]

The.

[Michael Mahardy]

More. The most famous line from the first movie. Or is it alien? Sorry, get away from her, you. They put that there in a spot where it didn't really make sense, but.

[Dan Rykert]

A few of them are kind of forced. Like, I want to say, I did overall like it. I gave it three out of five on letterboxd. I thought it was good. Three. That's a good. Three is a good score. Three is. I liked it. Twister's got three and a half. This got three.

[Mary Kish]

This is way better than Twister. Twister.

[Michael Mahardy]

They're both good.

[Dan Rykert]

They're both good. No, I'm pro Alien. Romulus. Me too. One thing that did actually bug me. How spoilery can we get here?

[Michael Mahardy]

Bug me.

[Mary Kish]

Not too.

[Dan Rykert]

Okay, then I'll just say this. Generally, I think you'll know what I'm talking about. There was a recurring CGI thing that felt unnecessary and weird in a movie where everything looked really good. I love the vibe of it. Yeah, there was. Yeah. But then there was one thing that stood out like a sore thumb, and I thought it was very avoidable. I think you didn't even necessarily need to do that. I don't think the way they did it added to any part of the story. It didn't have to be this way. I'm trying not to spoil anything, but, like, you know what I'm talking about. It's an effect that is distracting and repeated throughout.

[Michael Mahardy]

I mean, you can say, like, they have to call back to a movie. That's. What year was alien? 77. Yeah, but they're trying to call back.

[Dan Rykert]

They're calling back to the appearance of a character when it wasn't necessary. Because the thing we're looking at in this movie is not even supposed to be the same thing we looked at in the old one. So it was like, it didn't even need to look like that person, you.

[Mary Kish]

Know, like, it was unnecessary to look like.

[Dan Rykert]

Completely, completely avoidable. And I did find it weird and distracting. But I mean, look, that alone wouldn't have like, ruined a movie or anything. I. I thought this was solid. I think the end, I thought was really cool. Like the last, like 20, 25 minutes. I thought there was some really cool 20 minutes.

[Mary Kish]

I freaked out.

[Dan Rykert]

It's cool. Yeah. And then there's like a really cool, like, for lack of a better term, like a set piece where there. There's certain things in play that I thought were really unique. Yeah, no, I liked it.

[Michael Mahardy]

I really enjoyed how it reminded me of the Force Awakens in the sense that there was some really cool mirroring stuff it was doing with the movies that it's really paying homage to or I guess really strongly calling back to. I could have done with a fewer of the winx, but it was very entertaining. And again, I placed that right above the middle of the quality of the series for me.

[Dan Rykert]

I put 1, 2, and maybe 3 over it, but I think this. I put this above Resurrection, put it above Prometheus, put it above Alien versus Predator, certainly. Yeah. So, yeah, I'd say high middle for me too.

[Michael Mahardy]

I put those over. I don't know about three, but I'd put Covenant over it. Prometheus is like my least favorite.

[Dan Rykert]

I've been meaning to rewatch 3Bonk and I watched 1 and 2 in recent years, but never got around to 3. But I remember thinking it was like, bold in a way, like, you know, Fincher making some real decisions, especially with the end that pissed off a lot of people. I remember thinking that was kind of a cool, bold thing back when I saw it. But I was a kid.

[Michael Mahardy]

I like maybe yearly rewatch one. And every time I watch it is one of the few movies that I gen. It genuinely gets better every time I watch that. I realize that almost inevitably is going to sound like hyperbole, but it really does. Like, no, because you're right between those watches, you're watching so many other movies that, like, the first 10 minutes of Alien are just. It's quiet shots of hallways and, like, really good set design and such natural conversation building up to this horrific fucking thing that happens that half the actors didn't even know was going to happen. It's just one of the. More like every time I rewatch it, I'm like, I don't think I've seen a movie in the last year since I rewatched Alien last year that has nailed a sense of place and a set of characters and believable human reactions to horrific shit. In the last year, like that's become my metric of what a good movie is. And only a few movies between each rewatch are like, oh right, this. Yeah, this was really good.

[Dan Rykert]

And you put it in context of 1977 and what other movies are doing at the time and there was just nothing like this. It's. Yeah, I'm right there with you, Michael Bunk. And I watched it again like within the last year and it's like, God, I think this is my favorite watching of this, you know?

[Michael Mahardy]

Yeah. And I watched Aliens like three nights ago. That movie still kicks ass. It's awesome. Like the energy of that movie, the like velocity once things that movie takes like 15 minutes and then all of a sudden the rest of the movie is just like propulsive toward the end. It's awesome. Not to say it's. There's not like good pacing and some quiet moments and good characters. But like, I mean all due respect to Aliens, that's I, I'm definitely more of an alien one person, but it's, it's apples and oranges at a certain point. Just a great action movie. Anything else feel like it's been, I.

[Dan Rykert]

Mean obviously a ton, but you know, can't, can't catch up on a month's worth of stuff in a few minutes. But it's been. I'm glad we all got on this.

[Michael Mahardy]

It was weekend. Well last weekend if you're listening now, we are back from Portland. But as of the recording, it's this upcoming weekend. We'll get to catch up. I'm sure Jake will be there. We'll talk about him.

[Dan Rykert]

Oh no, keep it on the website.

[Michael Mahardy]

Yeah. Fuckjake.org oh, Todd, I haven't bought it yet. Oh my God, we'll expense it. No, I shouldn't pretend that's what patron money is going to proof. It's gonna be really funny. Just like a little bit of. A little bit of how the sausage is made. For anybody who doesn't know, basically when we do actual our ad reads when we submit them to sponsors, they get like a 10 second or 15 second bookends of the ad so they can hear the context that went into the ad. So I just like the idea of being like, so go to fuckjake.org hey guys, do you like wine? Do you want to go? It's always funny to listen to 10 seconds before and like every once in a while I shave it to like five because out of context we have some weird conversations. Well, as well.

[Dan Rykert]

Yeah, I like, we didn't even ease into this bit at all. We always just talk glowingly object Decker. And then we just decided it's a bit where we all hate him.

[Michael Mahardy]

Is it funnier if we don't explain it?

[Dan Rykert]

I don't even know there's much of an explanation.

[Mary Kish]

It's too late. We already explained that guy.

[Michael Mahardy]

Okay, do you guys want to talk about video games?

[Dan Rykert]

Yes.

[Mary Kish]

It's party season, boys. You're going to get your party on always. Oh, good. Well, when I'm partying, I'm glad that I have First Leaf because it has fantastic personalized wines just for me. But it's also my secret weapon for holiday season, which is coming up. Mike, what are you doing for all your fancy parties?

[Michael Mahardy]

First Leaf's great because even if you don't really know much about wine, it can help you kind of get into it. It'll ask you, like, what kind of foods do you like? Do you like these bitter things? Do you like these buttery things? And it'll kind of extrapolate from there, and then you can customize your box. Throughout the years, I've gotten some great stuff from firstly, but recently been having a lot of, like, chilled lighter reds like Pinot Noir Beaujolais to wave goodbye to the summer. But definitely getting ready for holiday season and planning on putting some. Some heavier stuff like some west coast Zinfandel in there. Maybe even go go Italian with a few other options. I'm looking forward to it. Dan, tell people how they can prep for the holiday season.

[Dan Rykert]

Well, those folks can bring a great bottle to their next gathering. With Pursleaf, you can go to tryfirstleaf.com fire escape to sign up, and you'll get your first six handpicked bottles for just $44.95. That's T R Y F I R S T l e a f.com fireescape try firstleaf.com fireescape all right, looks like.

[Michael Mahardy]

We'Ve all been dabbling in a bunch of games, diving deeper into a few others since we last spoke as a group. Dan, I know you have a long history with Astrobot since you had the. Was it. Was it. Was this the game that. It turned out Grubb was better than you at the original.

[Dan Rykert]

I was better than him at that on the speedrunning thing. But the speed running for this one won't be up until later this year.

[Mary Kish]

Because I think we have it in our notes that Grub was.

[Michael Mahardy]

Well, Wikipedia says that too.

[Dan Rykert]

I was there. I was there. No, no. We'll see when the Speedrun mode goes up later this year. But hey, it's one of the greatest games of all time. And it's easily, I would say, my favorite game since Breath of the Wild. This new Astrobot is the new Astrobot is among my favorite games ever. It is unreal how fucking good it is. It is. I don't know if you played much of Playroom or Rescue Mission.

[Mary Kish]

They're good.

[Dan Rykert]

Yeah, they're amazing. But it's like there was like caveats with both where it's like, God damn it, this is amazing. But you know, Rescue Mission is VR and I don't want to wear this clunky thing and you can't really play it on your PS5. And, and playroom is incredible, but it's very, very short. It's basically like a demo a few hours long. It's like a demo that comes at your PlayStation, but an incredible one. And all I'd wanted was a full on game made by them. And they did it. And they did it exactly right. Oh my God. I've never ever compared platformers to Mario in terms of putting it on that same level of quality. But I will put this up there with Mario Odyssey with 64. I'll say right now it's, it's definitely better than Super Mario Sunshine. And you know how I talk about that game. I love it, but it's deeply flawed. Astrobot is not flawed. I, look, I haven't beat it yet. I'm like, I only been playing for the last like 24 hours when I started it because I've been traveling. But as soon as I got back I started. But as of right now, I, I want to use the word perfect. I. And I don't ever use that word. I've used that for like Mario World and Link to the Past. You know, I don't use that word often with games. This is a game that when I used to review all the time, I now I gave five out of fives at Giant Bomb because it was a five star system and the five is easier to give out than a perfect ten. But when I had a ten point system at Game Informer and before I never gave out tens. I reviewed a thousand games on 10 point systems. I gave out 110 and that was to link between worlds. This I would not hesitate to give a 10 to again have not beaten it yet. But there's just not even a question in my mind, what is there? What?

[Michael Mahardy]

Yeah, what's how Is it like a full game? Are they doing like, are different, like more varied worlds, et cetera?

[Dan Rykert]

Oh, yeah, yeah. So it's really great with the variety because like some of them, I'd say a lot of the bigger levels are more, I don't want to say like open hubs, like Mario 64 style. They are more like there is a place you start and you are kind of working generally linearly towards an end point. But like there are larger like areas in between where basically instead of stars, like in Mario 64 or Odyssey and the moons, you're finding bots. And like, you don't have to rescue these bots to beat the levels. Actually you do eventually. Like some bosses and stuff are gated by like, oh, you need 70 bots to break this lock and fight the boss or whatever. So at a certain point you do need to get a certain amount of bots bots. But you can beat a level and progress to a point without getting them. But I was obsessive. Every single level I did, I would not move on to the next one unless I got every bot, every puzzle piece. Like these big ones typically have seven bots. And you know, some of them are just normal bots hiding or in peril. And some of them are actually a lot of them. I want to say it's like 169 are references to PlayStation first party stuff. And there have been some. I saw one about an hour before we started recording where I seriously looked out loud by myself, said, are you fucking kidding me? That I couldn't believe they included this fucking character in the game. It's one that I love a lot but no one ever talks about. So it's. Yeah, it's got like the obvious PlayStation stuff. Like, you know, you're gonna see Crash Bandicoot and the Last of Us characters in Metal Gear and stuff like that. But then there's stuff where it's just like, oh man, this is a weird deep cut third party thing that I can't believe. What's that?

[Michael Mahardy]

Gex.

[Dan Rykert]

I haven't seen gex. I haven't seen gex. I've got. I've got Crash. But like you can also like. So they populate like this hub area. You're basically like building your ship back and your ship is a PS5 that breaks apart when it crashes. And so all your little dudes that you rescue, and there's 300 total, they kind of get sent to this hub world, the crash site, when you. When you save them. And there's also a Gotcha machine there. So you're collecting coins throughout the game and you can use coins, you know, 100 for a pull of the gotcha machine. And most of them are like little props and stuff for like, oh, like Leon Kennedy. His little prop or set is like a heart door and like a keychain. He's like little bot. Leon's like flipping through all these like, you know, heart and spade keys and stuff like that. And you know, you go up and interact with them, punch them, stuff like that. And they all have like little flavor text and one liners that are really clever. But it's just, it's got so much personality. And everywhere you look in this game, whether it's the hub world or a little linear level or one of the bigger hubs, I. Every area I go into I just have to look around at everything because some of the stuff is like, oh sure, here's a hidden path to get to a bot. And some of it is just like, oh, I don't know, here's this fun little, here's a little bot, you know, squirrel that's like popping out of the ground with a golf ball. And then you look around and you're like, oh, there's a golf hole over there and you're trying to like hit the ball into the hole. And that might get you a puzzle piece that might just be a little animation. But there's just so much personality everywhere. There's so much discovery. There's more like discovery and joy in the first level of this game than in like almost any other full game. It's and down to like the little tiny things. Like one of the first levels is this creamy canyon and it's like a snow level. But everything is kind of like ice cream. And you know, so as you're going through the snow you see the underneath it is like waffle cone texture. And you know, the trees are waffle cones with like soft, soft serve ice cream. But then there's sprinkles all over the ground and like the physics going on in this game, like just piles and piles of sprinkles. And it's so fun to just run around and punch the sprinkles everywhere. And the stuff it does, you know, this is a first party PlayStation game and it really makes a lot of use out of the controller motion stuff. You know, all the like very specific little haptic feedback stuff. It is so just the tactile sensations of going through a pile of leaves or sprinkles or whatever are done way better here than Any rumble thing I've ever felt before. Even like the controllers, I think they're.

[Mary Kish]

Known for their physics. I remember the first Astro Bot. There was a water world and it was so much fun. And there was an area where I think you wore a floaty tube or whatever and you had to float on the waves of the water. And I remember thinking for like a game that a little studio put together, I was like, this is incredible. The physics of this water and the puzzles they did with it were really cute and innovative too.

[Dan Rykert]

Yeah, that's all over this too. Like the. There's a lot of water physics, a lot of liquid stuff going on. There's like some of the powers you get. One of them is like this little elephant backpack you get. And if you go on top of like honey or like goo, you can pull the right trigger to kind of suck it up. And that'll give you three charges of like, if you jump and you hit R2, the elephant will like spit it down. And so if it's like the. If it's this one, like green goo, it'll create this like plant platform. It's kind of like the Cloud Mario thing in Mario Galaxy. So you can create platforms in the air with this like, elephant thing. There's one where you're a fucking sponge. You turn Astrobot into a sponge and if you jump into a bottle of water or a body of water, he gets really huge. And you can kind of stomp around and run through walls and stuff. And then if you are two again, you squeeze yourself out and also shoot a lot water out so you can put out flames or create platforms and lava. Like, it's got a ton of powers, which like Mario and other platformers have done, but it's all stuff that I haven't seen before where it's like, okay, you got these two frog hands that turn into like basically like extendo boxing gloves or grappling hooks for like swinging on stuff or. Yeah, you're a sponge or, you know, you've got this weird goo sucking elephant on your back. And like all this is really fucking fun. I'm smiling the entire time I'm playing this game. The boss fights are incredible. The animation, the actual gameplay of them, the variety and the levels. You know, it's rarely just like, oh, here's the lava level, here's the ice level. Like, they all have their fun little twists on it. Fuck it. I mean, every second I'm playing this game, I'm just like, I have no complaints. I can't complain about this game, everything's so fucking snappy. The hub world's nice. Everything goes in and out with almost no load times. It's just. There's one part in this one level, it's called like funk of trunk of Funk or something. You'll know it when you get there. But like you just start doing like a random thing in the level and then a thing happens where I'm just staring and watching this for a while. I'm like, this is crazy and hilarious and awesome and I just want to soak in every fucking nook and cranny of this world. It's. And then just the sheer, just platforming, the control, the way it feels to run around as Astrobot is untouched. I mean you, you go on ice and you're, you're skating and when you jump, it's a pirouette and you know, there's the attention to detail is, is fucking crazy in this game. I. It's one of the rare times I can think like, I'm going to be so bummed when this game is over and I'm already looking forward to the Speedrun dlc. I'm. I'm definitely going to platinum this game, which I rarely do that with games these days, but yeah, without reservation. Just based on the first two and a half worlds, I've played one of the best games of all time and my favorite game, at least since 2017.

[Michael Mahardy]

Sounds all right, fine, I'm looking forward to playing it. I. That like, it also sounds like it'll be a good palate cleanser for. No, that's not the right word. So many of the games I've loved this year have either been like very, very big, like open world kind of stuff or small contained, very focused indie things. This sounds like it'll be a good way to get back to that, like really creative AAA space.

[Dan Rykert]

Yeah. But it's also really good at like if you want to sit down for hours and really like, you know, save 50 bots, you can. But there's also times where it's like, oh, I got to leave for this doctor's appointment in 20 minutes and I'll load it up and I'll pick because you can see on the hub world, like, oh, this one has seven bots to rescue and three puzzle pieces or this one has one. So like, oh, this is going to be a short little challenge level so you can crank out a few of those on the hub world and you know, have a good 15 minute session with the game and be done. Yeah, it's I, I cannot wait to play more of it. I will probably do that tonight as soon as we're done recording.

[Mary Kish]

Wow. I mean that sounds really exciting. I really liked the last Astro bot I played and it was one of the very few games that when my parents visited me and my parents are not gamers, I was able to give them the controller and they could functionally like run around and understand what was going on. I think it's like, it's skilled and challenging, but it's also so lenient to people who are like, what's a game?

[Dan Rykert]

That. That's a great point because really most of what you do is X and square X is jump. X again is to do the laser hover. Square is punch, you can hold square to charge punch. And then like when you get the power ups, it's L2 and R2 to do some stuff. But it's pretty easy to explain. So I think like a kid or someone who's not a traditional gamer could really enjoy it. But also there's like, for someone like me that wants to get everything, like there is a good amount of challenge in like, oh, how do I get to that bot? Oh, where am I missing this guy? And then you know, the fact that it's, it's so good, it controls so well that it lends itself to speed running. Well, like that can be extremely high level play if you want to. Or you can hand this controller to a six year old and they're probably also going to have a really fun time just looking at all the incredible visuals and personality. It's. Yeah, I, it's a genre that I care so much about and I love so much, but I just feel like outside of the core Mario games it's not. I mean you'll see like there's a lot in the indie space and a lot that I have enjoyed, but I still think there is so much more room for great 3D platformers and like to see something on this level of quality that's not just the next Mario game. I really, I hope it does well and I want to see more of this because it is this, this is the type of game that makes me love video games.

[Michael Mahardy]

Yeah, it's. It's 3D platformer has been one of those genres for years now. Been saying like Nintendo is the only thing keeping it from truly going extinct. Like it's extinct is super strong because there are some, you know, quote unquote, like smaller budget games that have been doing some really cool stuff. But again, it is nice to see like PlayStation come out with its version of its swing at Mario in 2024. They've had. Obviously they have. PlayStation has no shortage of notable mascots in the platforming space, but nothing that really went for that. The breadth and creativity of Mario.

[Dan Rykert]

I mean, there was that period in PS1 where, you know, Crash was kind of a big thing, but like Spyro. I liked Crash, but. Well, yeah, but you know, Spyro at the time was, you know, third party and you know, Crash was very much like the, like first party attempt. And even at its peak, I liked Crash Bandicoot. It was not on the same level of Mario.

[Michael Mahardy]

You know, those games, same thing. It was like, you know, like, those were great. I love the first one especially. But like, those had flaws you had to kind of forgive while you're playing them.

[Dan Rykert]

And also like Jak and Ratchet, like, I love both of those series, but like, those were kind of action platformers, you know, especially Ratchet with the amount of like, you know, guns and level up stuff and everything. It wasn't just like a pure Mario 64 style platformer. This is a pure 3D platformer. And it is as good, if not better than any Mario game I've ever played. And I don't say that lightly.

[Michael Mahardy]

Definitely want to check it out.

[Dan Rykert]

Yeah, yeah, it's.

[Mary Kish]

Don't think I understand what a referral.

[Dan Rykert]

I mean, look, I can't hold back. It's. This is. It's making me incredibly happy to play.

[Mary Kish]

Wow.

[Michael Mahardy]

All right, so Mary, you have to follow that up. Is Slider one of the best games you've ever played?

[Mary Kish]

I mean, I don't think it's one of the greatest games of all time.

[Michael Mahardy]

Move on, move on, move on. What about Core Keeper?

[Mary Kish]

Wait, yeah, Core Keeper is actually pretty cool.

[Michael Mahardy]

No, no, I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. Slider. What's going on with Slider?

[Mary Kish]

Okay, Slider is going back to remember how we were. Like, we don't like the puzzles where you like move a slide puzzles to the right. That's all Slider is.

[Dan Rykert]

Oh, my God.

[Mary Kish]

But they did it with puzzles that are really interesting. So, for example, you start on one block. So it's. Let's say it's a nine by nine grid. You understand?

[Dan Rykert]

Yeah.

[Mary Kish]

And you're on block one and it'll be like you need to get this block to the right so that you can get something from the right. And so you slide the block over and then you walk off the grid and you collect something and that helps you get slide two now you have two slides. You interact with the puzzles in between two slides that'll give you the third slide, so on and so forth. And so you're basically collecting nine slides so that you could move everything around. Despite the fact that I've very clearly said I don't like it when you have to move the nine pieces around when you only have four. It's really interesting.

[Michael Mahardy]

It's.

[Mary Kish]

The puzzle is not about how hard it is to move them around. It's wait, how am I moving these pieces around in order to solve this puzzle? And the puzzles are actually very thoughtful and interesting. I. And it evolves incredibly. I cannot believe. I think I'm on Area 4. And Area 4 is insane. The puzzle design is so complicated and so interesting. It's a totally different dynamic than Area one. So very advanced at this point, but very intricate, thoughtful puzzles that will absolutely rack your brain. And I've enjoyed running around talking to characters. They'll be like, I'll try and give you an example. I was gambling with someone and they were like, I won't even talk to you unless you can beat my dice roll. And they roll a seven. And so you roll and you roll a four and they're like, haha, you suck. And then it's like, oh wait, I can move the slider. And so when I move the world, the dice keep rolling. And he's like, wait, how are you able to change your slider? And so like now I can change my dice roll and beat him and get a slider in another one. I'm like doing a race. And what I do is, you cannot beat them physically, they're faster than you. But if I go down and then I slide it over twice and then go up, I can beat him. And so it's about putting all the slides in the right spot, thinking about what the game wants you to do to solve these puzzles and interacting with the characters to figure out what every person needs or their desires are in order to get it done on time. It's a BR Brain buster.

[Dan Rykert]

So I'm looking at a video of this right now. Is this free to play? Am I looking at it? It's got kind of a Game Boy style, like art style.

[Mary Kish]

It does have a Game Boy. It's like black and white.

[Dan Rykert]

Yeah, yeah. It says it's free on steam. Is that I have to just always wonder, like, is there in game? Like is there a catch there? Or what's the deal?

[Mary Kish]

How did I acquire this?

[Dan Rykert]

I'm looking at. It says free.

[Mary Kish]

I guess I Just, I guess I just downloaded the free game.

[Dan Rykert]

Yeah. Here's how Slider releases for free. Slider is now available through your journey. How did they, how do you do that?

[Mary Kish]

I don't know. There's no, like, secret, you know, Doritos ads in there. I don't know how they did it. It's not a virus.

[Dan Rykert]

You just don't see that.

[Mary Kish]

I think I, I found a couple games on Twitter this last. These last few weeks and it won best student game at the igf. And I'm a big sucker for the igf. I love when they help me discover, like unique puzzlers. I, I really have to recommend this. I was very surprised. Now that I know it's free too. Like that changes everything but like, I forgot that I. How I acquired this, quite frankly. But like so many interesting, different puzzles that really rack your brain. And this is a bit of a cheat, but I think it's worth letting you know that when you're playing this, if you get really, really stuck, there is a one button that gives you three hints before telling you the solution. And I love that because it's not just about moving the sliders where they need to be a lot of it. The puzzles are complicated and you're like, I actually don't understand how to solve this. And so the game will give you one to three hints before they actually literally say, this is what you need to do. Ding dong. And it's nice.

[Dan Rykert]

Are the hints text based or is it like stuff on the screen, like pointing at things?

[Mary Kish]

It's text. It's like, I think it actually takes you to the Steam page and the Steam page is like a text based walkthrough. But again it gives you multiple hints before it actually just tells you what to do. And I love a hint or two when I'm getting stuck after a certain amount of time. Yeah, it's, it's, it's hard to describe, you know, outside of just sliding the world around, but I've had a lot of fun just moving the world around and figuring it out. I'll give you another one. Like there's one where someone's like, I'm fishing, but the, the fish can't get upstream, so there's no fish anymore. And you'll notice that all the sliders have a river in them and it's like, oh, I'll just complete the river. And if you move all the slides in the right spot, the fish go upstream and now the fishermen can fish and they give you another slide.

[Dan Rykert]

Oh, cool stuff.

[Mary Kish]

Like that it's just neat. But they don't say complete. The river, the guy's just like, these fish ain't biting no mo. And then you have to be like, why aren't the fish biting anymore? Well, the river isn't completed. Hey, there's a river. If I put all these sliders in a certain order, then the river would be completed. Bing, bang, boom. That's a game.

[Dan Rykert]

That sounds better than just, like, slide puzzles for slide puzzle sake. That sounds fine.

[Mary Kish]

100%. What I don't like about the nine slides is that it's, you know what you're trying to do. You're like, I'm trying to make a snowflake, but I can't get the one where I want it. I hate puzzles like that. That's not what this is. This is. There's four sliders. It's very easy to move them around, but how are you getting them into the spot? And what spot do you want them in? Because there's a puzzle that you're solving, and that's interesting to me. So that's why I think it gets away from the trope or, like, from that annoying type of puzzle design. This one's more about, like, what are you trying to solve, not how you solve it.

[Dan Rykert]

Nice.

[Mary Kish]

Yeah, I think it's cute. It's free. Can't beat that. I'm also playing a game called Core Keeper. Now, this one I'm interested in, it's.

[Michael Mahardy]

Are you playing on Game Pass or what are you playing on? Because it came out early last year, I believe.

[Mary Kish]

Yeah, I bought it. I bought it on Steam.

[Michael Mahardy]

Did you know it was on Game Pass?

[Mary Kish]

Yes.

[Michael Mahardy]

Okay. Okay.

[Dan Rykert]

I want to play Intentional Kish.

[Mary Kish]

I think it's an intentional Kish, because if you don't.

[Michael Mahardy]

If you want it on PC and not Xbox, then I don't want it on X.

[Mary Kish]

Well, you can play Xbox games on a PC. Yeah, I want it on my Steam deck.

[Michael Mahardy]

Okay, fair enough. Gotcha.

[Mary Kish]

I didn't know it was on Game Pass, though.

[Michael Mahardy]

Yeah, that's fine. It only just.

[Mary Kish]

It's not an educated decision, but it.

[Michael Mahardy]

Was like, early access early last year. Memory serves.

[Mary Kish]

Yeah, this game fucking slaps. It is, I want to say, 8 player online co op. It has Terraria slash Minecraft vibes. You start in the middle of nowhere, like in a hole in the ground, and you have to make everything. So you have to make your first pickaxe. You have to make your first shovel. They're made of dirt or crap. And you just slowly, like, hack Away at the dirt, there's an energy system, a food system. So you get hungry because you're, you know, chopping at the dirt, and you have to eat mushrooms and stuff in the world. But the real joy comes from playing with other people and beating the bosses. There's bosses in the. In the world in various locations. And so when you're playing with other people, you just slowly will find these very aggressive bosses. And you have to work as a team to tear down these giant bosses and kill them in different ways. One of them is like a huge worm. And it's impossible to just hit this worm to death because it's too fast. So everybody's basically like, cool, we need to make traps. So, like, I'm gonna go mine iron and, like, you get a bunch of food and so that we can cook it, and it'll give us three times our damage, and then we'll trap it, and then we'll all take our. Our food and get three times damage, and we'll all hit it simultaneously. And that's how you, like, take down the bus. So it's teamwork. It's world building. Oh, there's. There's like, some just casual stuff in here too. I got animals, and I put them in a farm, and I milk them, and I drink the milk for defense increase. And I have a farm, and I farm all the food for the team. So I've kind of become like the farmer person that makes the crops and the meals and the milk, and then I go kill bosses with it.

[Dan Rykert]

So are the bosses just, like, like, wandering the world? Like, is it you? Like, oh, this guy stomps around the forest here, so, you know, stay away. Yeah, that. I was thinking of Valheim. It kind of sounds like that.

[Mary Kish]

It does now, because they can really. They can section off the world better because there's certain areas that you wouldn't be able to get to with your level one ax. Like, the dirt won't break. It's, like, too hard, and so you can't get there till later. So they've kind of determined that you're gonna go to certain bosses first. And then once you kill them, you'll get an item that you bring back to your base. There's also, like, some kind of, like, supernatural stuff going on. And so when you, like, bring the egg back to your dome, it'll. It'll light up some lights and be like, now your next boss is over here. So it does have that vibe to it. But you can also build a house. Oh, that's Also like Valheim and live in it and just enjoy the experience of like making beds and decorating. I painted my house, which I thought was pretty rad. So you can kind of decide what kind of person you want to be. There's a lot of different characters that you can build and grow. I, I started as a ranger, but I really grew my farming skills. The more you do something, the more you're. You'll get points in that system and grow that system. So I became quite an avid farmer and fisherman and just animal trainer and whereas like other people, they became like a really good swordsman because they were just running around killing stuff the whole time. So you, you grow your skill tree and what you're doing the most. I have poured hours into this. I am blown away. Very similar to Minecraft, how you can throw eight hours into this game and be like what? We spent the whole day doing that. And I did. I spent multiple full 8 hour days playing this game and I was never bored or felt like I didn't know what to do. The only time I got frustrated was I think I'm on a boss that does lightning damage. It can really zip zap. You and I, I, we keep dying and so that's kind of frustrating. But it's just like obviously we have the wrong tactic or we need to like up our food supply before we take it down. But it's, it's really fun getting a bunch of people together and being like we're all gonna kill this boss. You think it'd be fun. I feel like this game is meant to play with friends. I think you could have fun by yourself because much like Terraria, it's about exploration and, and building and you can play your way. I just think that the true joy in it for me is running around with buds, hacking into the dirt and not knowing what is next. And so if there is a boss back there, we can all take it down together. So I think that's kind of what I like about it. It's really fun to get on Discord and play this. So I think it's a great team game.

[Dan Rykert]

Nice.

[Michael Mahardy]

I heard great things about it when it was early Access last year.

[Mary Kish]

It's smooth too for eight people. Drop in dropout. Like not a lot of technical issues. I was pretty amazed with how seamless it was. Somebody basically hosts in the server and you can have your little characters join and you can have multiple characters. So I have a character who's more of a farmer and I have one that's more of a Ranger and I have. You know, you can. You can really expand the way you want to play this. But I see stuff like this, and I just think it's so brilliant and, like, the future of games. This is like, everybody from around the world pop in here and just play on one server. I think it's awesome. I love shit like this, and I hope this game does well because this is the kind of game that I love to play.

[Michael Mahardy]

Would be a fun fire escape game.

[Mary Kish]

I think so. I think you can have a lot of fun, like deciding what kind of person you want to be. And it's also nice when someone's like, I've discovered how to make train tracks and. Or, like, tracks and. And then we can all, like, fast travel different places by getting in a little cart and getting on tracks and stuff like that. You remember, like, Dan, the first time you got, like, a horse in Stardew, and you're like, this is the greatest thing on Earth. It's really fun to, like, find travel systems and get fast and speedy or find a really fucking good gun because you, like, killed some gu for it. Now you just have, like, the most powerful weapon. It's really fun.

[Dan Rykert]

Nice. You mentioned Stardew. Have you played Fields of Mystery?

[Mary Kish]

Yes.

[Dan Rykert]

What are your thoughts?

[Mary Kish]

Did I like it? My response was it's very Stardew, almost to a fault, because I like Stardew and I can always play Stardew. And it's just like, this is kind of Stardew, but everyone's smoking hot. And I have enjoyed it, and I've put in not that many. I say, like, eight hours into it, but I just feel like I've already played this game and it's called Stardew.

[Dan Rykert]

That's the thing is, like, I have. Every time I've recommended this, unlike Giant Bomb or Elsewhere, I've, like, I'm really enjoying this game a lot. But when it comes time to differentiate it from Stardew, it's kind of like, hey, you can jump. You don't have to fill your watering can. You know, it's. There's a check mark on the inventory. Yeah, yeah.

[Mary Kish]

Do you fill my watering can?

[Dan Rykert]

What's that?

[Mary Kish]

I fill my watering can.

[Dan Rykert]

I didn't know you could. There's not like a finite. There's not like a water bar like.

[Mary Kish]

There is in Stardew, but it says you're out.

[Dan Rykert]

Oh, I haven't. Maybe I haven't gotten there yet. I have, like, nine plants. Oh, you can run out.

[Mary Kish]

You can run out of water.

[Dan Rykert]

I've never filled it once. That's a deep fucking can. Shit. That was, like, my one talking point for how it's different is that you don't have to fill up the watering can.

[Mary Kish]

You have to fill up the watering can.

[Dan Rykert]

For sure. Yeah. It's a Stardew, but you can jump. Yeah. That's the thing is, like, I'm trying to figure out, like, is this game doing anything significantly different, or has it just been long enough? And I like playing Stardew, you know.

[Mary Kish]

And people were starved for something else. Right. And the haunted chocolatier hasn't come out. I think people are itching for something like this, and I do think it scratches that itch. I just think, for me, I like new experiences. I like trying something I've never tried before. And so for me, it was a hard sell because I was like, I just feel like I prefer to start new games as opposed to playing the same game that I feel like I've played. Yeah. I mean, they do things a little differently, but even just the fact that, like, on Friday, if you go to the bar, all the people are there and they're having their little party, I was like, oh, this just reminds me of Stardew.

[Dan Rykert]

It really, really is.

[Mary Kish]

Yeah.

[Dan Rykert]

And I've, like. I know Stardew has added a billion things since last time I played it, and I've always been like, ah, maybe I'll go back to it. And I'm like, I've already played this game, and I think so that this being technically a new game, is what kind of, like, made me okay with, like, okay, it's a new game. I'm not just playing a game from 2017, but. Or 2015. Yeah.

[Mary Kish]

And it is good. It's well done.

[Dan Rykert]

It's really good. I am really enjoying it. I'm gonna keep playing it. It's a great plane game, but, yeah, it's. It's definitely Stardew.

[Mary Kish]

Yeah. It also has, like, the same systems of, like, collect them all, right.

[Dan Rykert]

Oh, yeah.

[Mary Kish]

Museum.

[Dan Rykert]

Yep. But. And that's another reason I. I was hesitant to criticize it for being too much like Stardew, because Stardew was just doing Harvest Moon. So it's not like Stardew was like, we've invented a genre, you know, it's like, no, it just did a really good one. Modern Times, you know, at a.

[Mary Kish]

At a perfect time, too, when people were really looking for something like that. Right. Like, it really says, timing is everything. For all we know, somebody right now is making the perfect dig Doug Duplicate and now everyone will be like, this game is brilliant. How come it's never been done before? Steamroll.

[Dan Rykert]

Dig.

[Mary Kish]

Steam world. Dig. Doug.

[Dan Rykert]

All right, I'm in.

[Mary Kish]

It's like the same thing, but if you do it at the right time, it's brilliant. And I do think that Fields of Mystery is a solid stardew for the stardew enthusiast. I am playing other things.

[Dan Rykert]

Sure. Yeah. There's a lot out right now.

[Mary Kish]

So what else? Mike, we haven't talked to you in a while. Yeah, shut up.

[Michael Mahardy]

I've been playing several things, but the one I have been enjoying the most is tactical breach wizards.

[Dan Rykert]

I started that.

[Michael Mahardy]

Yeah, it's good. I like the game a whole lot. From the developer of Heat Signature, among other things. Look that up just to make sure. I'm Tom Francis, I believe. Let me just look that up quick.

[Mary Kish]

The XCOM one, right?

[Michael Mahardy]

Yeah. XCOM Chimera Squad.

[Dan Rykert]

Sound like something Mike would like.

[Mary Kish]

Yeah, but your wizards.

[Michael Mahardy]

Correct. And Druids and shit like that. But it's suspicious developments. Technical breach wizards, Heat. Heat signature, XCOM of Stardew, Floating point, gunpoint.

[Mary Kish]

It's the same game, but everyone's hotter.

[Dan Rykert]

Yeah, everyone's a hot wizard.

[Michael Mahardy]

Yeah. So tactical breach wizards.

[Mary Kish]

Bloody wizards. Xcom.

[Michael Mahardy]

If you have played XCOM Chimera Squad, that game is very much about. You're actually turn based breaching into these close quarters as opposed to XCOM 2 XCOM enemy unknown within. Those were outdoors, largely urban environments, rural. This is small rooms. But you get different characters who have different powers. And the world building here is pretty unique. They took really hardcore tactical aesthetics of a Navy SEAL or a Green Beret or a SWAT team and then combine them with fantastical stuff like your main. The first character you have, he's dressed like. I don't even know, like a ghost recon soldier combined with like a Gandalf ass looking wizard and clothes like that. And he has a light machine gun that like has crystals on it that can manipulate time. His power is basically among other things, he generally speaking can kind of just set up things one second in the future. He also that one second into the future which I don't know if you've seen. Was it knowing with Nicolas Cage?

[Dan Rykert]

I always get knowing and next confused.

[Michael Mahardy]

Yeah, knowing is like when he knows like 9 11's coming or something. Next is one second.

[Dan Rykert]

Yeah, one of those is that.

[Mary Kish]

How did they make that film?

[Michael Mahardy]

We watched it at a post or. No, we watched next post E3 in Venice. Mary when we got that Airbnb Gamespot crew. Anyway, he could see one second of the future, which kind of leads to the into the Breach mechanic. So into the breach you get a limited number of what fucking value is.

[Mary Kish]

One second into the future gonna do?

[Michael Mahardy]

So I was literally about to tell you he can you set up.

[Mary Kish]

I know what's going to happen. You're going to tell me what's going to happen in one second.

[Michael Mahardy]

See, there you go. It's an advantage. You basically can like decide to preview what's going to happen if you end your turn. That will show you if the stuff you did is going to get anybody hurt, if it's going to take out all the enemies in one fell swoop, or if it's going to lead to some more catastrophic stuff as opposed to into the Breach. These rewinds that you get, if you don't like that outcome, you get unlimited rewinds. They really want you to like, min max this game. Like and like, try to get perfect missions in as few turns as possible. As little damage as possible. I'm at a point in the game now where I don't know how anybody wouldn't take damage on some of these moves. I just like. There's another character, for instance, she is a more of a witch and she's got like some of this druid stuff like all over her. And among other things she has like. She could just like push people out windows and or like levitate stuff and also just knock people off course into the first character's like traps he set up. Basically you are doing the into the breach thing where you're using different characters to kind of set up this chessboard and then unleash it. And then you kind of. They give you every tool you need to know what's going to happen next. But when you end your turn, it.

[Dan Rykert]

Seems like they're big on like letting you kind of play at your pace and your skill level. Because one thing I noticed early on was that like, you can just fucking pick whatever mission you want to do regardless of if you've gotten that far. Like, you could like skip to the last mission in the game if you wanted to and just start it, which it's rare to see that level of just like, nah, fuck it. Yeah, you can skip this level.

[Michael Mahardy]

Yep. Yeah. Then you get like character who has a riot shield and you're going up against enemies that are like basically traffic police it. Like again, the. The world building here is very much like. There's a lot of humor between missions about like bureaucracy and you're kind of playing detective with these characters. But I actually find a lot of the writing to be quite funny. I wouldn't put it on par with like, I'm. Thank goodness you're here. Sure, it's not that funny, but nothing is.

[Mary Kish]

Nothing is.

[Michael Mahardy]

And Tactile Breach Wizards I like quite a bit. It's very tightly designed. My gripes are kind of the similar things I had with Chimera Squad and with XCOM 2, which I have also been playing a lot of, because I saw Alien Romulus and I was like, oh, XCOM was really inspired by aliens, so I'm going to go play that again. And I've been playing with more mods, but that's not right now.

[Dan Rykert]

Mike, I would just like, credit for how noble I've been for not saying anything the 49 times you've said Alien on this podcast.

[Michael Mahardy]

Thank you.

[Dan Rykert]

Yeah, I just want. I just want credit for that, please. Thank you. You also, Mary, you heard it too. It becomes a problem with one of.

[Michael Mahardy]

Our sponsors is like, he's pronouncing our name wrong. You got to re record this.

[Dan Rykert]

No, he's just from Syracuse. Yep.

[Michael Mahardy]

And like, there's people from upstate New York listening that are like, we don't say that. I don't know where Alien. Yeah, no, actually a lot of people curl their A's like that up there, but I don't know if it's ever A's. I've never heard that instead of a. It's like, ah, like curl it Italian.

[Dan Rykert]

Okay. Okay.

[Michael Mahardy]

As opposed to Long island, which be more like Italian.

[Dan Rykert]

Say the Nintendo's mascot's the name.

[Michael Mahardy]

I. I grew up saying Mario, but I've now living here, I've. I've come around to accepting Mario.

[Dan Rykert]

Okay. You've accepted the backfire style. It's insane. Yeah.

[Michael Mahardy]

No, I mean like around here. Yeah. No, but no, I grew up saying Mar Mario.

[Dan Rykert]

Okay.

[Michael Mahardy]

No tactical breach wizards. I want to keep playing. I love the variety in the environments too. Some of them you're an office building, some of them you're on like tankers out at sea. It's. I. I'm really enjoying the game. It's exactly what I've come to expect from the team that made Heat Signature. It's just very tight. I. Again, I don't. Sorry, I don't even know if I finished my thought. Xcom, Chimera Squad and this. There are certain instances where it's actually not completely clear what an attack is going to do. And I know I said earlier that you know exactly what's going to happen next. You have every tool at your disposal. The game gives you as many as it can. However, there are some times where, like, visual bugs pop up and that gets in the way of you making the right decision. It's hard to gripe when you can literally rewind as many times as you can. Sure. So then I'm like, oh, right. Okay. Let me just double check that I'm lining this up the way I wanted to. So again, that's like, if the game. If I, like, was getting people killed, like, I was in XCOM 2 and that was happening, that becomes way more egregious. But here it. It doesn't matter that much, but just a really unique, cool, like, intricate game. I'm getting to the point in the game where it does really feel like those hectic just, you know, chess matches that you get into and into the breach and, you know, you, like, starting to really get a feel for every character's nuances and how they synerg. And then you could pick. You can rearrange the doors each character is going to breach through, similar to Chimera Squad. So that adds another layer to, like, not just what do I want to do this turns. Like, how do I even want to kick off this whole puzzle? It's absolutely more of a puzzle game than anything.

[Dan Rykert]

So cool style, too. Like, I like, you know, knocking guys out of windows and the whole, like, you know, kind of cop vibe thing in between missions. Like, it's got a real. It's got a real unique feel to it that I appreciate.

[Michael Mahardy]

Yeah, I was trying to put my finger on what it looks. Reminds me of visually. And it's a cross between, like, Kentucky Route 0 and 12 minutes. Remember that?

[Dan Rykert]

You're a big 12 minutes guy.

[Michael Mahardy]

I never played it. I know people really hated it the more they played it, but it, like, it has a similar palette, if that even makes sense.

[Dan Rykert]

I can see that. Yeah.

[Michael Mahardy]

But cool game. And It's, I think, 20 bucks. Well worth it. Go check that out. Nice. Dan, you saw some Nintendo stuff recently? I did.

[Dan Rykert]

I took some Nintendo appointments at pax, which is why this episode's going up a few hours late. Yes. Yes. Yeah. I'll start with Zelda Echoes of Wisdom, which I thought, look, anytime there's a new Zelda game announced, my ears perk up. But this one being, like, a very unique one where it's. Oh, okay. First full one where you're playing Zelda, it seems like it might be kind of a swan song for the switch as we go into this last stretch of Switch games and it's also got that kind of like top down Link's awakening remake art style, which I think is pretty solid. So I like the idea of using that art style for a whole new adventure. And I think this really over delivered. I was already really excited for it. But playing it and messing around with the echo system, which you've seen that trailer where it's like, basically what she's doing is creating echoes of enemies and torches and rocks and sea urchins and things like that. And then using it like she does have a sword mode that you can use and like attack traditionally like in a Zelda game, but that's very, very limited. That's like a bar of energy you've got. So it's the echo system that the first time I played it, it reminded me of the first time I played Scribblenauts where you would get to a puzzle or something and it would be like, oh, get past this thing or defeat this enemy. And you're thinking like, you know, you've got this, oh, I can type in anything. What do I want to do? Like, it's not quite that level of typing in whatever you want, but once you've like assembled a good amount of items, it's like, oh, could I climb up above this thing and just drop beds on this thing's head? Or you know, do I want to spawn a bunch of bats and attack this enemy? Like, it just feels like there is a wide variety of ways. Even in like the short time I play. Well, I guess I played like an hour and a half but like, you know, had a limited amount of echoes. Let's say I had 15, 20 various things I loved every time I encountered like a boss or a puzzle and being like, all right, let's see what I got here. And cycling through them is kind of like that Tears of the Kingdom style where you just kind of like hold a D pad button. I think it's a D pad button and you cycle through and you can sort by last used, most frequently used. So it's all like, even though it has all these things in your inventory you can cycle between. It is pretty snappy and easy to access everything. And it just leads to a lot of funny situations where it's like, oh, okay, I need to get this fire over to these boxes to get up to this thing. I wonder if I can put this bed down here. And the bed catches on fire. But all of a sudden you're just in a flaming bed. And Link's on fire. And it's like, oh, that didn't work. Okay, let's try this way here. Which it's a really funny thing that if you spawn a bed, you can sleep in it. Like, you can tuck under the covers with a. And like, recover hearts. So literally in the middle of a boss fight, you can just like put a bed in the corner and try to get a quick nap in to get some, like, health and then pop back up and spawn a bunch of bats or spiders or whatever. So, yeah, Interesting.

[Mary Kish]

Made to break, I think.

[Dan Rykert]

Yeah, there's going to be some crazy Speedrun stuff for this. I think it's going to be really cool to watch. And yeah, I went from being very curious to very excited after the 90 minutes we had with it.

[Mary Kish]

Very cool.

[Dan Rykert]

Yeah, I think it's going to be a really cool one. And yeah, I always wonder with things like this, is this a mainline entry of the series? Technically. And they straight up said this is a mainline entry in the Zelda series. So let's put that in the ground right now. It is a mainline Zelda game game. And yeah, I'm sure it'll be the last, like, main entry we get on the switch. So, yeah, it seems like they're going out with a really interesting one.

[Michael Mahardy]

20, 24. Dude, you got to stop with the whole I don't want women in my Zelda games.

[Dan Rykert]

That's Mike Minati's gimmick. No, that's a Jake Decker. Yeah.

[Michael Mahardy]

Go to fuckjake.org if you want to learn more.

[Dan Rykert]

Yeah. And also leading this to be the most me Nintendo appointment I could have. I saw Zelda and Mario Party Party, so I played Super Mario Party Jamboree. We got some little miniature looks at like several different modes. So we did a few turns of like the standard party game mode, which I liked. It's got seven boards. It's got two. If you remember, Superstars was the one that was like all classic minigames and maps. This one is mostly new stuff, but it's got two classic maps and two of my favorites. And it's got like. I think it's like 22 characters or something. It's. It's a huge, huge cast. But yeah, it's more straightforward than Super Mario Party, the last all new one. It kind of does away with the partner system, like the ally thing that they had with that. So it's a little more streamlined. Should be a little easier to just like get new players in. But yeah, as far as the main. Not story mode, but the main mode It's a Mario party. It's got a shitload of new minigames and I really enjoyed the ones I played. They also had us play the 20 player online mode, which I was a little unclear if you could like party up with or room code with like 20 people. Like I don't know if we could start a stream and share a code and have 20 people join. They said you could party up with eight people. But like I. A lot of this was a little unclear based on my time with it. But we did play it with eight people and it's got like a racetrack and it's all like bespoke minigames to this mode. So it's these modes where you're like fighting to get coins and things like that and live. You're seeing the standings go around the like racetrack and completing laps as you go. So it's, it's definitely not the traditional roll dice, go to item shops, all that stuff. Nintendo game, it's a different deal. So I don't know for anyone thinking it's a 20 player Mario party thing, just know it's not the traditional Mario party mode. But it was fun.

[Michael Mahardy]

Sounds like fall guys adjacent or something.

[Dan Rykert]

Yes, there were several, several parts where it's like, okay, we're fighting Bowser here and you've got 20 characters and you're all running away from Bowser and there's like fire and the floor is dropping out. Felt very, very fall guys. I definitely had that thought.

[Mary Kish]

Oh, interesting.

[Dan Rykert]

Yeah, yeah. Which you know, I want to try all these online. Like I love Mario party but like, you know, I'm not against, you know, trying some new things with it. As long as we still core board game element. And then the other one they had us play was an eight player co op mode where you're like on a little stage, almost like a Mario Kart battle mode stage. And Bowser is kind of rampaging around or he's imposter Bowser technically. And you're running around breaking open these crates of bombs and you're all like, you know, loading up on bombs, loading it into a cannon and then just shotgun blasting Bowser with bombs. And he's got a health bar. There's MIN games in between. You can get power ups and stuff. Like if you do good on the MIN games, it's like now you can get this glove that helps you carry. You can carry four bombs at a time instead of two or you're doing more damage to Bowser. So that was fun. It felt like it was from a different game than a Mario Party outside of the mini games. But again more modes, not a bad thing to me as long as you got the core thing. And the core thing is more boards, more minigames, more characters than like any of them have had. So yeah, look, it seems like this is another game that I'm going to be pulling out every time I go back home and playing four player with my sisters and friends and stuff. So, so yeah, Mario Party is alive and well.

[Michael Mahardy]

I'm not trying to trigger you, I promise because I enjoy Mario Party. I'm not. My question is you just mentioned like the core thing here seems to be more. Has that not always been the case? Like what? Like have mainline Mario Party games introduce like big new wrinkles often.

[Dan Rykert]

Yeah, like Mario Party. I want to say 9 and 10. Definitely 10. The Wii U one had this thing where everyone, they were kind of trying to speed up the board game aspect of it so everybody was in the same like car driving around the MA to try to get you to the minigames faster. And like honestly I didn't like that nearly as much because like that's part of it is everyone's kind of taking their own paths through the map. Everyone's getting to boo first or something. You know, it's and so having everyone in the same car like on rails kind of ruined 9 and 10 for me. Again it might just be 10. It could be 9 and 10. And then like Super Mario Party introduced the Ally system where it's like all the maps have this thing where you're basically getting allies that are rolling extra dice with you. They're, they're going around sometimes I think they participated in mini games but it's definitely a different, different vibe to it. It was an interesting not against them trying new things but I don't know it was a little, little distracting to be in every map. So this just being a little more straightforward and just giving you more characters, more maps, more minigames like but then having the extra stuff be on the side. These like side modes. I, I, I much prefer this. So yeah between this and Superstars and I liked Super Mario Party but yeah, I think we've got three good to great Mario Party games on the switch so, so it's awesome.

[Michael Mahardy]

Cool.

[Dan Rykert]

But yeah, yeah good stuff right before.

[Mary Kish]

They get a new switch.

[Dan Rykert]

Yeah, yeah, look, please be backwards compatible on the new one because I want to be able to play all these.

[Mary Kish]

Games still the Nintendo Swatch.

[Dan Rykert]

It'd be a bad name.

[Michael Mahardy]

Kind of be weird to not be able to play like Tears of The kingdom on the next one.

[Dan Rykert]

Yeah. But you know, we saw with Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, it's, hey, we're going to put out that game and charge again for it and it's going to be like one of the most, the highest selling games ever. Know.

[Michael Mahardy]

Yeah. Mary, you've been playing something called Crypt Custodian.

[Mary Kish]

Yeah, I'm on my indie again. This is a Metroidvania that I think has promise, but is a bit rough on the edges. You can tell this is a small team or even smaller than a small team. But I, I like some of the things they're doing. That would be interesting because it is popular.

[Dan Rykert]

I think the Internet would be big on that.

[Mary Kish]

Yeah. So this is a cat that has gone to hell. They are a custodian cleaning up trash in an afterlife, essentially as punishment for their crimes against humanity. You sweep up trash, you kill any baddies that come in your way. There's an interesting concept with ghost puzzles. I think that's what these are where essentially you'll see a cat head that looks like it's made out of gas. And if you hit it with your broom, it'll fly in the direction you want and bounce. So you have to hit it in the right direction so that it gets to an area where it'll open up a gate and you can get some goodies and some secrets. I enjoy the puzzle parts of it. I think the combat is not impacty for me. Doesn't feel chunky when you're hitting enemies. And I really do think that a Metroidvania needs like a chunky feeling when you're hitting stuff. But I do think that it has a nice expanded map that will remind you of a hollow knight or Ori, where it like really expands over time. And I do like that much. Like any Metroidvania, you're expanding your skill sets, which allows you to traverse the world in new and interesting ways. And so I like that about it. I just think it's a little rough. I wish that it was a bit more polished with its combat, which is such an important part of Metroidvanias. But I find it interesting. I like the idea of being a cat in an afterlife, going to a bar and buying little juices from a bird and taking on the boss fights. It locks you into spaces, certain areas once you're in, you can't get out until you kill what's in it. And if you die, you just respawn at an earlier checkpoint. So it's not that punishing. I don't Even think it has like a soul system. Like I remember dying and I don't think I had to like go find my souls. It's just a very not punishing death system. So. But for the cat enthusiast that likes Metroidvanias, this could be for you. I, I'm gonna keep playing it. I'm not done yet. I'd like to get at least least five or eight hours in before I like make a very distinct choice on this. I, I think it does some creative things. It also had some interesting boss designs. There was like this really funky one with arms that comes out of it and then it claps you. And I thought that was pretty fun. Like I like when they have creative designs. I also think the art style is nice. It feels kind of hand drawn to me. That vibe to it.

[Michael Mahardy]

It's almost like a knight in night in the woods.

[Mary Kish]

Yeah, I think that's a good, I think that's really fair. I think it's good looking.

[Michael Mahardy]

I want to try this. This looks good. Oh, there's like, yeah, there's almost like hyper light drifter looking environments too.

[Mary Kish]

Yeah. It's got a lot of traversal later on. That's very heavy platforming. So you're going to want to enjoy your platformings to do this. But I, I found that it grew on me after a couple hours. I think it's unfortunate that maybe like the first three hours are a little slow where you might be like this isn't pushing me enough. This isn't innovative enough. But I do think it gets there. You just gotta give it probably like five to eight hours for it to warm up to you. Yeah. I think it's worth playing especially for someone who wants a Metroidvania in their life. Well, yeah.

[Michael Mahardy]

The cat looks just like my cat Luna.

[Mary Kish]

Like she has a, she's got that flat evil face for sure.

[Michael Mahardy]

Huge, huge eyes.

[Mary Kish]

Soulless.

[Michael Mahardy]

No. There's a lot of soul to her.

[Mary Kish]

Void. No.

[Dan Rykert]

17 bucks.

[Mary Kish]

It looks like evil.

[Michael Mahardy]

No, she's very sweet. She just doesn't like you.

[Mary Kish]

Evil face, evil presence.

[Michael Mahardy]

Yeah. Wanna try this out?

[Mary Kish]

Yeah. I think it's worth it. I, I, I have enjoyed it so far and do recommend it. I just think that it's got some rough edges still.

[Michael Mahardy]

Okay, good to know. Nice Dan. Anything else you want to touch on?

[Dan Rykert]

Let me kind of lightning around some short ones here. Just some updates and some new things. While I was in London checking out Metal Year Solid Delta, I also played a game called called Deliver At All Costs. It's a new one coming From Konami. It is like a isometric driving game. You can get out of your car and run around. But it reminded me of like the early GTAs, but you're just like driving around delivering stuff and it's very, very weird humor. That was very much working for me. It's a lot of like, oh, I have all these like shitty rotten watermelons that I want to sell but nobody wants them so I'm going to like take them around. Or they were like, they were like rotten something and I spray painted them to look like watermelons and sprayed them with cologne or something and just like you do a bunch of bullshit and then take it back to the same place and sell it to them as like new watermelons even though they're rotten gross fruit. Or here's like a live marlin that I'm strapping to the roof of my truck and I'm like driving it around. It's a lot of like weird physics stuff, driving through houses and fences and kind of timed racing delivery kind of GTA type missions. But I was very, very impressed by the humor. It's very much in that kind of like weird sort of 50s kind of, you know, Fallout type vibe, but funnier here. So yes, I was pleasantly surprised by that at an event that was all about Metal Gear and Silent Hill. Metal Gear. I will say just the short version. It's very, very good. It's exactly what I think I would want out of a metal gear solid 3 remake. For my full thoughts on it, I pulled out the old writing chops again. I wrote an article for Gamespot.com so if you just search Gamespot Metal Gear Delta, you'll probably see my thing. I also put up a video on GameSpot's YouTube where I narrated with some screenshots and things like that, but lots of quality of life visuals are great. It's the same old voice acting that sounds great. So it's, it's what I want. I am now confident in this one where I was skeptical before.

[Michael Mahardy]

It's my favorite castaway. Wait, wait. I have questions. That's my favorite game.

[Dan Rykert]

Yeah, please.

[Michael Mahardy]

When you say it's just basically where you are they sticking to? Like are they being super faithful with the like level design and everything? It's still like it's sectioned off contain.

[Dan Rykert]

Yeah, like one to one. So like you will get to the breaking point between this area and that area. It fades to black, fades back in with the name of the new one at the exact same spot. You know, I wonder if they're going to because I only play the virtuous missions. So I do wonder with things like the end boss fight, will that be more of a contiguous, big open area. But I mean, it seems like they are very cognizant of, like, we are not straying from Hideo Kojima's vision here. This is as it was. It's just going to play better and look better. Yeah.

[Michael Mahardy]

When you say play better are like animations wise, is it the Phantom Pain engine?

[Dan Rykert]

I don't know engine wise, but they had made some control tweaks where it's like switching between weapons is on the D pad now instead of the triggers like, you know, Metal Gear 1 through 4 were, it's got like hot swap stuff with camo. So like, you can just hold in a D pad button and like switch camo on the fly. You can, you know, use the D pad to kind of like just call someone on the codec without going to the dedicated screen. But if you want to, you can still do the old way. One thing I really loved was like, tool tips. Because, like, CQC was a cool system in Snake Eater, but you could do so much with it that I would forget how to do specific things. And this one, like, you know, you grab a guy with. I think it's R2 now instead of circle, and things will pop up. Like, this is for human shield, this is for slit throat. This is interrogate. And it's like, oh, thank you. It's right there. Or like you're dangling off a bridge and it'll like remind you, like, oh, hold this to aim your gun. And it's like, oh, right, I can aim while I'm hanging. Like, I was doing more stuff that I could have done back then, but it was just. It was. It's easier to surface now thanks to the tool tips.

[Michael Mahardy]

Okay. I asked about the animation specifically just because Phantom Pain and Ground Zeroes are like the best feeling third person games that come to mind. The way it transitions from prone to crouch standing. I don't know if they were using that here.

[Dan Rykert]

It's closer. It's closer to Phantom Pain than it was the original Snake Eater. Yeah, absolutely. And there's things where it's like you can roll from a standing position now. You know, all the buttons have changed around everything, but in a way that feel immediately recognizable to like a modern gamer. Whereas, like, you go back, Snake Eater, I'm sure you and I can go back and we remember how to do all this, but it's. It feels weird going Back to if you've never played it.

[Michael Mahardy]

Yeah, I mean I love those games with all my heart. Especially Snake Eater. I, I'm, I'll be the first to admit it's like. Or I'll be the first to acknowledge rather it's not the most intuitive button layout. Maybe there's a universe where every game is designed like that, but I think the wider games industry has kind of figured out some more seamless control schemes.

[Dan Rykert]

Yeah, I think this is the perfect line of like people like me and you that love Snake Eater are going to love it. And also if you're coming to it for the first time, both in terms of where it's at in the story and how it controls, I think it will feel great to jump into for the first time now. So very, very happy with that. A couple other quick ones. Castaway is like a little miniature Zelda in the way that like like minute or half minute hero. Were these like very condensed experiences of like a Zelda type game or an rpg. This is a game that the first time you beat it, you'll beat in like a half hour. And it still looks sucks Cast away. I know, it really does. Yeah. But it's like there's like a few dungeons, there's boss fights, boss keys, you're getting heart pieces and it's like there's an overworld. It's all of the Zelda trappings are there. It's just like a speed run. There is actually a speedrun mode. But yeah, you'll beat it like 30 minutes the first time. I bet you can beat it in like five to ten minutes easy the second time. But it's. Yeah, I don't know, it kind of gets a lot of the beats. It's like, you know, almost like a baby's first Zelda kind of gets you all there. Like, oh, you get a hook shot, you fight this boss and move on to the next thing. Like it's got a death mountain area. But yeah, it's very much billing itself is like this is like a very short Zelda. Oh yeah, it's the save your dog so you get your items back and you save your dog. That's it. It's very breezy but very fun. I love a good Zelda. Like that has like an interesting little tweak on it. And this being like the super fast Zelda was, was fun for me.

[Mary Kish]

This is a really good game idea. I love this. The idea of it's like, it's a, it's a bite sized version of Zelda. That you're meant to like play quickly. I love this.

[Dan Rykert]

Yeah. And then when you beat it, there's like a 50, 50 floor, like tower mode with almost like a roguelite thing where you're leveling up as you go through and you can buy upgrade grades and stuff. So there's a little bit past that. But yeah, really, really enjoyed my short time with that. And last little update is just steamrolled Heist 2. I've continued to play that and pretty far into that at this point with all the flights. That has been my go to flight game. And it's a real good one for just killing time on a flight because like every one of those missions you're thinking so much about every turn you make. And I'm restarting missions all the time just to make better decisions and save crewmates. And yeah, before you know it, you know, hours have passed. I. I think Heist 2 is a.1 of my favorite Steam world games.

[Michael Mahardy]

Yeah, I talked about it last episode and you're gone. I put a lot of time into it. I'm still playing that too. Really, really good. Like it a bunch. I especially like it's one of the more interesting or enjoyable strategy layers in an X Com. Like the. Just the. Yeah. Upgrading the submarine and I like the world itself, the worlds themselves.

[Dan Rykert]

Yeah, that loop is amazing. Like going back to your, you know, sleeping at the end of the day, you know, going to do your sub upgrades and your personnel upgrades and things like that. Trying to find like a shop. Do I want to.

[Michael Mahardy]

Do I want to buy. Recruit a new member or do I want that heavy machine gun on my sub or do I want to get a upgraded sledgehammer for my tank class or melee class?

[Dan Rykert]

Yeah, a lot of personality, good writing, good visuals. Just love that kind of like 2D tactical thing it's got going on. It's. It's a lot fun. Yep.

[Michael Mahardy]

Mary, anything else you've been playing?

[Mary Kish]

Yes, one more. I also found this on the Twitter. A dev was talking about a game that they made and how they were kind of getting good reviews but not enough reviews. And I was looking at the game style and I was like, this kind of looks cool. So I asked them for a key and I've been playing it and I am into this game. Arco is. I'm trying to think of how you of a game that you can compare it to but side scroll with combat that when you're making your action, it stops, but it is live action when you're moving around. So you have to like make your decision. But when it's your turn to make a decision, it stops so you can think about it.

[Michael Mahardy]

Yeah, it does sound like. Oh like Frozen Synapse was a, was a game that kind of did something along those lines back in like 2016. But yeah, it's real time.

[Mary Kish]

But it pauses that you can like.

[Dan Rykert]

Reminds me like a Cotor. I don't know if you ever played that but like combat that someone.

[Mary Kish]

When I was streaming it was like, hey, this kind of reminds me of transistor. And I was like, oh yeah. Like you know, where you can like stop and think for a second but it is real time and you have to be moving around. So this is what. That's very similar. This game is a rpg. It blends turn based in real time combat. But I really like that the stories are very raw. Raw. It's very bloody, it's very murdery and it feels like it's kind of in a old American style, like old, old western. And you are a rugged, ruthless dude. You don't really have a name or when you do, you don't really give a. You don't meet people. You don't. You can decide how you talk to people. So you can, when you meet people you can be like, I don't give a what your name is. Little, little, little Billy. Or you can like actually be nice to them. You can decide like how aggressive you are right away. Within the first 30 minutes of this game, violence will happen that's I think pretty intense. And so you're, you're, it's setting the tone that this is an adult themed situation where you're like killing people who have killed people. You can decide if you are an anti hero or a hero. Multiple times I have essentially helped people because let's say lizards were killing their livestock and so I go kill the lizards. You can decide whether or not you do that. You can actually not help people. You can avoid doing the little extras for the townspeople. I liked doing them and trying to help everyone out, but very rugged and very intense. I died a lot playing this. You have to be very thoughtful with your upgrades. Upgrades are precious. And so whether or not you get a heavy arrow arc that will stun enemies or whether you go with a knife attack that doesn't stun them but does more damage close up is up to you. You get to use your, you get to pick your character pyramid the way you want to build it, it. But because it's so precious, I think you have to be very thoughtful with where you want to put all of your different skill sets. I got really into arc arrows that do aoe damage. And so my. I'm more of a shoot and run away like a little type aggressor. I shoot my arrow, I run like hell. I shoot my arrow, I run like hell. But you have to mix it up, especially with the way they throw enemies at you. I. I love, loved the different dynamics that they gave us throughout the. I would say, like the 10 or 12 hours that I've been playing with it so far, I've been thrown into all sorts of different scenarios that I have thought were very interesting. There's also environmental kills. A lot of spaces in the environment explode upon damage. It's really fun to have like six bad guys be like, we're gonna kill you unless you give us five dollars. And it's like, over my dead fucking body am I gonna give you five dollars. And I shoot the explosive and kill like five of them. Very rewarding. You kill all sorts of stuff in this game. You also get items that you can use to kill people with. I thought it was really interesting. I got dynamite and threw it at a bunch of people and exploded them all at once in one. One playthrough. I also did one that's sticky and it makes them not be able to move. So if you have a fast enemy that's zip zapping around, you can make them stuck to where they are. Beautiful. This is a beautiful game. You will look at it and you will say, oh, what? This is just like eight bit. It's gorgeous.

[Dan Rykert]

I'm looking at it now. Yeah, it's got. Do you ever play West Dorado? Yeah, it's got kind of that, like, very pixelated, like, western aesthetic for sure. But like, I. I don't mind that.

[Mary Kish]

The music matches the western aesthetic to a T. I also think the writing feels quite authentic and genuine. I've played a lot of games like this where they're just like, this town ain't big enough for the two. This is very well written. You can tell that the writers or the people who have made this are quite invested in having authentic representation of the characters that they are having in this game. I think it's quite thoughtful. Of all the games that I'm talking about, I think this is the one that, like, I kind of can't put down as of late. Like, I. I just get really excited when I get to play this game. It plays like a dream on the switch and it lends itself to a casual experience. I think this is a great Plane game. I think you could play this and do a couple tasks when you're on your plane. This is a game that I think has a lot of promise and I also think it's a bit of a hidden gem. I don't think people are talking about ARCO enough for how well made it is, how thoughtful it is is and how enjoyable it is. So I really. This is like the one for me.

[Dan Rykert]

Okay, I'm making a note to download this on the Steam deck.

[Mary Kish]

Woo.

[Dan Rykert]

That sounds solid.

[Michael Mahardy]

Cool. All right. That was all for me. I've been playing some other older stuff. Like I said, I've been meaning to try Alien Dark Descent came out last year. Had it downloaded Steam forever. It's like a top down real time XCOM esque or like maybe like top down Republic Commando but set in the Aliens universe. I mean to play that. But I also started a new XCOM 2 campaign because I love just seeing what new mods people have come up with over the years. But yeah, outside of that, nothing major. Do you want to do emails?

[Dan Rykert]

Let's do it.

[Michael Mahardy]

Okay, before we jump into emails, reminder you can write into firescapecastmail.com that is Fireescapecast for comments, questions, stuff you want to be read on air. If you do have any corrections, I will only read them if they are directed at Dan and Mary. Mary, do you want to read this? First question we have from Matthew. Maybe I should have. No, I meant I saw it was fairly long, but that's because it was also in regards to something we were talking about today. So makes sense.

[Mary Kish]

Here we go. Hey gang. Following your discussion about the Alien franchise this week and I was reminded that I have never seen Alien or Aliens or pretty much any of the other movie that is actually how you say it.

[Michael Mahardy]

Alien.

[Dan Rykert]

Alien.

[Michael Mahardy]

Aliens.

[Mary Kish]

Alion.

[Dan Rykert]

It says Al like the name Al.

[Michael Mahardy]

It's so weird that you can't even do it.

[Mary Kish]

It's like alien.

[Dan Rykert]

Alien.

[Mary Kish]

Croatian Alien.

[Dan Rykert]

Yeah, that's. You're getting closer.

[Michael Mahardy]

Alien. I'm trying to think of what. What word do you. Are you. Do you actually pronounce the A correctly like that?

[Dan Rykert]

Al. Like Al Bundy. It's Alien. Alien.

[Michael Mahardy]

Alien.

[Dan Rykert]

And then the letters en is how he says it. Al.

[Michael Mahardy]

So continue.

[Mary Kish]

Weird. It is the only one I've ever seen is Prometheus, a film that as far as I can tell is largely disliked by fans of the series. But I freaking love that movie. I was super hyped when it came out and was not disappointed. The funny thing is that I don't know that it was Alien film until the very end when it shows the xenomorph, which if you recall is literally the last five seconds of the movie. I'm sure for fans of other movies, it might as well been have had this is an alien movie flashing on the screen the whole time. But I was clueless. So my question for you is, are there any games or movies or books that are that you like, but you're entirely unfamiliar with the series? Series? Have you ever tried a late entry in a series and been inspired to go back and try the originals or there even some you feel like you don't need to experience the original to enjoy the newest one. Thanks for my favorite podcast. It's a highlight of mowing my lawn every two weeks. Much love, Matthew from Bentonville.

[Michael Mahardy]

I've been to Bentonville.

[Mary Kish]

You have not.

[Michael Mahardy]

I absolutely. Arkansas, where I went to school is like an hour from there. Bentonville's famous for its big like Christmas blowout decorations and market. Matthew, correct me if I got any of that wrong, but yeah, I've been to Bentonville. That's really funny that you didn't know that that was an Ellie movie till the end. That's like the bit in Sunny where Charlie thinks the twist in the Sixth Sense is that it was Bruce Willis the whole time. Like the actor was Bruce Willis the whole time.

[Mary Kish]

That's funny.

[Michael Mahardy]

Like that's a different twist than I think they intended.

[Dan Rykert]

I was kind of late to Ratchet. It was the third one because I just thought they were like kids games. And then like IGN gave the third one, I think up your arsenal and like a 9.8 or something. And I was like, what? That's a really high score. And so I checked it out. It's like, oh, it turns out these are fucking great. And I went back and played the originals and.

[Michael Mahardy]

I mean that's how I was with Metal Gear Solid.

[Dan Rykert]

What was your first?

[Michael Mahardy]

Snake Eater.

[Dan Rykert]

Oh, that is a good first one because Chronic in the timeline, it's great. Bonk's first one was four, which is fucking crazy to me because that is the most fan service. I hope you've read up on all this stuff before we show you movie length cutscenes and she liked it. All right, cool.

[Michael Mahardy]

If ever there's a game that's going to turn you away and I love that game. But if there's a game that's going to push you away from the series, that's it.

[Dan Rykert]

Or if you are into the series though, it is the most like here is the first you like.

[Michael Mahardy]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, Snake Eater. And then I went back to play one and immediately missed a lot of the stuff. Yeah, it's funny because Snake Eater introduced so much stuff. Like just the fact that it had so many like outdoor stealth options and different movement and the camouflage survival light kind of elements. I missed those in Metal Gear Solid. But going back to see where it's from, Metal Gear Solid one is still my, like second favorite of the series after Snake Eater. Trying to think anything else. There's probably movie series that aren't occurring to me yet, but I think the big one was Snake Eater because Zelda. Zelda might not count as much because it was an age thing. My first Zelda was Ocarina.

[Dan Rykert]

Right.

[Michael Mahardy]

Going back to those early ones was obviously pretty rough. Rough until I got to link to the past, which was, you know, still to this day, really, really good game design that holds up really well. But.

[Dan Rykert]

And visuals.

[Michael Mahardy]

Yeah. Ocarina of Time is. Was my first Zelda and now that's become probably my favorite series.

[Dan Rykert]

Mary, you got me.

[Mary Kish]

Shows would be really interesting for games. I definitely played Half Life Life 2 First and I felt fine. I felt totally in control of that situation, that there was nothing that I missed. Other ones, let me think. You go. I can't think of any.

[Dan Rykert]

I. I definitely had the order. I watched Rocky was really up and I. It's because of my age. So I was born in 84. So the first one I remember seeing was 5, which is universally considered the shitty one. The only shitty one. Well, yeah, but the thing is we. I saw five, I think in the theater and then we had it on vhs and so I watched it all the time on VHS before I ever saw another Rocky. And so like at the beginning they would show the Drago fight and every time I'd watch Rocky 5, I'd be like, man, this looks cool. Who's that big from Russia? But I never saw four for years. So I went, went like five 1, 4, 2, 3 was the order, I think, which is messed up.

[Michael Mahardy]

Might be the weirdest order. You could watch those. Wait, five.

[Dan Rykert]

But I still obviously fucking love it.

[Michael Mahardy]

But it's like from five to like a genuine Oscar worthy movie to four, which is the best movie ever made, to two, which is like the continuation of the Oscar to three was like.

[Dan Rykert]

Late and by the time Balboa came out I was pretty caught up. But yeah, but I love five. I mean, I didn't know any better. It was the first one I saw and so like it's almost A good way. Because it's like, oh man, I love this character. I love this format and this music. And then it's like, oh, now here's the good ones after that.

[Michael Mahardy]

Yeah. That's the only way you can enjoy Rocky V is if it's the first movie you watch.

[Dan Rykert]

Yeah. And you're also, you know, six years old.

[Michael Mahardy]

Yeah. Outside of that, games were a total war. I played the Warhammer games, then went back to the historical stuff and then they didn't have wizards and dragons and shit. So I was a bit torn on them.

[Dan Rykert]

Final Fantasy, I didn't really try. I tried a lot of 7, 8 and 9 or 7 and 9. I tried a lot of Final Fantasy.

[Michael Mahardy]

Is a good one. Because he also asks here, what's a game that you enjoyed where you don't feel like you need to play the other game in the series? I love six, I loved. Was it. I love nine, but I. And ten, but I don't. I have no intention of playing any other Final Fantasy at this point.

[Mary Kish]

I got it. The Witcher.

[Dan Rykert]

Oh.

[Mary Kish]

Yeah. What even is in there?

[Dan Rykert]

Yeah. How do you play that?

[Mary Kish]

What's it about?

[Dan Rykert]

No one's ever seen it outside of Poland.

[Michael Mahardy]

It's a document text based rpg.

[Mary Kish]

Poland.

[Dan Rykert]

It's a dice game.

[Michael Mahardy]

You can only play it at a museum in Warsaw.

[Mary Kish]

You can only get it in Poland.

[Dan Rykert]

Yeah. Like fan hacks and stuff.

[Michael Mahardy]

Yeah. No, that's a good one because I have played the first two and Jake might disagree. But if you played Witcher 3 and are been meaning to play one and two, you don't need to look up a synopsis of it. And that's not to take away from the fact they do some cool stuff.

[Dan Rykert]

But I'd be willing to bet the large majority of GTA fans started with 3, 4 or 5 or maybe vice.

[Michael Mahardy]

Or San Andreas today.

[Dan Rykert]

Yeah, like I started with one and two, the top downs. And like I remember thinking those were pretty fucking crazy for their day. But like, I don't know, three is when it kind of entered the like super duper mainstream. Everyone's played this, you know.

[Michael Mahardy]

Oh, dude. I mean, I mean Statistically speaking, GTA 5 is so big that it's. It's alive today. I don't know why people who start with four would be dead yet, but.

[Dan Rykert]

I would suggest one that you can't just hop on now is if you're curious about Call of Duty, you need to go back to the first one, otherwise nothing's going to make sense. So you got to play every Call of Duty in order. Every one of them. Even like the big red one and the DS one, or you're not going to know what the fuck's going on.

[Michael Mahardy]

I like that you just combined the, what you just did with those two titles. Do you realize what you just did?

[Dan Rykert]

No.

[Michael Mahardy]

You said the big red one as if it's like the game is a big red one. Because then you said and the DS1 big red one.

[Dan Rykert]

But the Big Red one is the actual title of the game.

[Michael Mahardy]

Yes.

[Dan Rykert]

One is like mobilized from World War II.

[Michael Mahardy]

That also reminds me. And now I'm just thinking a series where it's like, I played a really good game and now I either went back to try the earlier one ones and they didn't hold up or like, I didn't need to. Fallout's a good example. Fallout 3 is one of my favorites. I went back to play one and two when I was younger. Really cool stuff going on. Like if they do a remake, I think a lot of like Baldur's Gate 3 fans would be psyched. But like, you do not need to play those first two in their current state because they don't hold up well. And Fallout 3 obviously is just night and day. It's open world onward.

[Dan Rykert]

You know, on that same track, I would guess that Elder Scrolls is the same way.

[Michael Mahardy]

Yes.

[Dan Rykert]

Because I think like, you know, I definitely know a lot of Morrowind, like big time fans. Like Bonk's the biggest Morrowind fan I know. And then obviously Oblivion Skyrim got huge, but I don't hear anyone talking about one or two Now.

[Michael Mahardy]

Arena and Daggerfall are again, like, honestly, like they're like. The Bethesda catalog of RPGs had like that 1, 2 phase where different developers, completely different styles. And then they took some really cool world building and then just went, you know, basically established the formula for like freeform open worlds going forward. And from the early aughts to the 2000 and tens. Yeah, again, I think there's some cool remake material there. Like remake, not remaster. And again, I'm not saying there's not cool stuff in all those, but yeah, God, Morrowind is still well worth trying out just to see what it's like. Play five hours of that game if you haven't before and then if it doesn't hook you, that's fine. You've still seen one. Cool stuff it's doing.

[Dan Rykert]

Yeah, I mean, just hearing the stuff Bonk has described about that game, it's like it seems like it was doing some bold crazy, like maybe even before A lot of the hardware, especially the Xbox, was ready for it.

[Michael Mahardy]

It literally wasn't the draw distance in that game. You can't see past like the load.

[Dan Rykert]

Times and stuff where it like actually like shuts down the system and restarts it. Yeah, yeah.

[Michael Mahardy]

Bonk wrote a very, very good article about that game on Polygon. Anybody who hasn't read it, go look up 20 years later Morrowind. Looking back on Morrowind 20 years later, the game, that RPG that changed everything, I might be butchering that, but that's. Those keywords will get you there. Yeah, I mean, I think it's a very. I'm sure there's like movie series. It's tougher for me to think of specifically because A, it's way easier to go back to an early movie and spend like 90 minutes, two hours watching it. Yeah. It's not easy to go back to.

[Mary Kish]

From personal experience that I don't know anything about Marvel and I haven't like been paying attention to the series. But I watched Thor Ragnarok and I thought it was pretty good and I didn't know nothing.

[Michael Mahardy]

That's a good one too. Yeah, because it's like. That's especially good because that's funny because Marvel, the, the. The franchise itself is built for you to watch any of them. And then like, they hope you go back and watch all the 35 previous ones because they're so interconnected. There's Easter eggs, but I like that Taika Waititi came along and made one where it's like, no, this is just funny on its own. And you don't. It's like a heist action where you don't need to. Don't worry about the first Thor movie and whatnot.

[Mary Kish]

Yeah.

[Michael Mahardy]

But yeah, games are just so much harder. They've evolved so fucking quickly in the last 40 years or whatever it is. And they're also much more time consuming, so it's easier to go back and watch. Like, Matthew hasn't seen Alien. Alien, Sorry. And absolutely. If our earlier conversation didn't queue you in, you should watch Alien and Aliens immediately. They hold up really well. But it's like, you know, going back to Dagger Fall and Arena are. That's way different. Or even like early Baldur's Gate games. Like, I'm sure there's a lot of Baldur's Gate 3 fans who have wanted to go back to 1 and 2 and are finding it. It's like, no, I'd rather just start a new run in three because these are a bit dated or even interesting.

[Dan Rykert]

Ones where it's like, I could see people getting into metal gear solid 5 because, like, that gameplay is so good and it's not, doesn't really require a ton of story knowledge because there's not that much story in that game. And then, like, if you went back to the early Metal years, it's like, this is a different thing, you know? Like, I, I love five, but it's, I love it for very different reasons than one through four.

[Michael Mahardy]

Yeah, I, I, I also wonder if, like, Breath of the Wild got some young people into the series and they're like, huh, it's different. There's some stuff there. It's just funny to think that, like, we came into Breath of the Wild thinking, okay, they took like the eight dungeon format, sprinkled many ones all over in an open world, whereas those people would go back like, oh, they took shrines and made eight huge ones.

[Dan Rykert]

Yeah.

[Michael Mahardy]

With like a pretty bare bones, open world between them. But anyway, thank you, Matthew, for writing in looking. I'm not going to go to Bentonville this year, but I had fun when I was there. Dan, you want to read this one from Aaron?

[Dan Rykert]

Sure. Hi, Fire escapers. I know. Would you rather. Questions are overdone, but I think there's no better crew to discuss this important question. Would you rather slip and fall every time you enter a new room or have to scream every fifth word you say at the top of your lungs? That's Aaron from Dallas. Scream. Definitely scream. There's no injury risk.

[Mary Kish]

There's no injury. I agree. As we get older, as we enter our older stages, I can't afford to fall.

[Dan Rykert]

Yeah. I'd be risking serious injury so many times a day versus, like, oh, I'm kind of embarrassed. Every once in a while you could.

[Mary Kish]

Get like a fall guard, you know? Have you seen that new thing that, like, you wear it as a jacket, as an old person and when you fall, just it just like an airbag for your body.

[Dan Rykert]

Yeah, I have to wear that. I'll just tell people, hey, I got this weird thing. A genie cursed me.

[Michael Mahardy]

No, you wouldn't.

[Mary Kish]

No, no.

[Michael Mahardy]

You wouldn't be like, you'd be like, weird thing. I'd be like, hey, I've got this weird thing.

[Dan Rykert]

I'd write it down. I'd hand everyone a note when I enter a room or get on a plane.

[Michael Mahardy]

You wouldn't finish the explanation before you do the thing you're explaining.

[Dan Rykert]

Why it's a note. That's why it's a note.

[Michael Mahardy]

I would absolutely, at this point in my, like, at any point I would rather slip and fall.

[Dan Rykert]

Because you're 20. I'm.

[Michael Mahardy]

Yeah, I'm 20 years old.

[Mary Kish]

I think you're young, your bones will be fine.

[Michael Mahardy]

Both are going to do damage to your reputation. I think the screaming one is going to do it worse. But yeah, to Mary's point, you could prevent as much as you can some physical stuff. I don't know.

[Mary Kish]

I would just get like a mobility aid and then I would, I would just avoid, I would, I would cheat the system.

[Dan Rykert]

You would do the fall thing.

[Mary Kish]

Yeah, and then I would sit.

[Dan Rykert]

Oh. See, I feel like as you get older, you worry less about embarrassment and more about physical harm. And so I think it's the long term play to go with, with the screen.

[Michael Mahardy]

There are also people that live with both of these problems. For real. But like, for the record, is it.

[Dan Rykert]

Falling every time they go into a room? I don't know if that's a malady that people.

[Michael Mahardy]

That's what. So then you're thinking it's like, okay, you're going to a, like a. Not that we, any of us really do business lunches unless we're at a convention, but like, say you're going to like a professional lunch.

[Dan Rykert]

You're gonna Dick Van Dyke into it.

[Michael Mahardy]

You're gonna slip when you walk into the restaurant.

[Dan Rykert]

Yeah.

[Michael Mahardy]

Hopefully you don't have to go to the bathroom because you're gonna.

[Dan Rykert]

Every time I pee a lot, I'm falling on every bathroom floor, floor I've ever gone to.

[Mary Kish]

Is it, is it a new room in the sense that it's a room you've never been into before or just.

[Dan Rykert]

Is there like a 24 hour cooldown? Like you're safe for a bit. And then after midnight though, you fall in that bathroom again.

[Michael Mahardy]

It would be more, would be more manageable if it was like every brand new room.

[Mary Kish]

Yeah.

[Michael Mahardy]

For the first time.

[Dan Rykert]

So like my house, like when I first move into my house, I'm falling for all of them and then I'm.

[Mary Kish]

Sleeping all over the place.

[Michael Mahardy]

Yeah. Plan ahead. You could go to that restaurant that, you know, you have a business lunch at the.

[Dan Rykert]

Oh, dinner's at 7. I'm gonna get there at 6:30 and.

[Michael Mahardy]

Fall down in our rooms, break in and just.

[Dan Rykert]

I'll just get there early and I'll explain it. I'll hand the note to the. Wait, no, I don't have the screaming thing. I don't need a note. I can just talk.

[Mary Kish]

I'll have the Caesar salad.

[Michael Mahardy]

Imagine, imagine seeing security cameras have a break in at A restaurant, and someone just kicks down the door, slips, runs through into the kitchen, slips. Goes into the store, dry storage, slips.

[Dan Rykert]

In both bathrooms, bathrooms, runs out, doesn't steal anything.

[Michael Mahardy]

Yep.

[Dan Rykert]

Comes back for dinner the next day.

[Michael Mahardy]

It's gonna scar the security guard for the rest of his life. What's the worst place? What is the worst situation? Or, like, building, you could be in where the slip and fall would, like, be a nightmare more than spike factory.

[Mary Kish]

Mousetrap and glass factory.

[Dan Rykert]

Yeah, that's bad.

[Mary Kish]

Oh, you guys always made in the same space, place.

[Michael Mahardy]

Or like, every time you go into a new room when you're sprinting to catch a flight at the airport, it's.

[Dan Rykert]

All kind of one room, though. Like, what determines a new room? I think a door. I think it's a door. Like, a standard size doorway is a new room.

[Michael Mahardy]

TSA is like, okay, step forward.

[Dan Rykert]

You go the metal detector. Eat. Sorry, sir, you got to go through again.

[Michael Mahardy]

If it's not a new room. And you actually, like, every time you go through the doorway, you slip coming toward TSA and then slip going back.

[Dan Rykert]

Getting onto the jetway, getting onto the plane, moving between first class and coach.

[Michael Mahardy]

Slipping and falling in a plane bathroom.

[Dan Rykert]

It's not good.

[Michael Mahardy]

What are. What? Yeah, I'm just. There's got to be, like, just at the Met or the Natural History Museum.

[Mary Kish]

We're not going to the Met.

[Michael Mahardy]

Every new exhibit, everybody's being quiet and observing. Like, you know, just being really respectful and. Or a library in general would be funny. Or a ice floor building.

[Dan Rykert]

Yeah, like an ice floor building.

[Mary Kish]

You just mean a hockey rink.

[Michael Mahardy]

Yeah, I think that's what you're describing.

[Dan Rykert]

And that's just kind of one big room. So you're probably okay, you know, like a turf.

[Michael Mahardy]

A turf floor bowl.

[Dan Rykert]

Turf floor bowl. Yeah.

[Michael Mahardy]

Go spelunking. The descent would have been a very different movie with this melody.

[Mary Kish]

You'd never make it.

[Michael Mahardy]

I would. I would still go with the slip and fall, regardless of simulation that we assigned to it, you're going to.

[Dan Rykert]

You're going to regret that.

[Mary Kish]

I got to go with the yell. I feel like I already yell every fifth word.

[Dan Rykert]

Yeah, that's the thing. I'm, like, halfway there. Like, might as well just lean in. But what if. Like, what if you just adjust your talking, all your words. No. Yeah. Just scream everything and then it doesn't even stand out.

[Michael Mahardy]

I think you'll stand out still.

[Dan Rykert]

I mean, but not as, like, staccato, you know, like, oh, man, he keeps doing this weird thing. It's more like, oh, he just yells everything.

[Mary Kish]

You get one of those masks like Bane and it just mutes you a little bit.

[Dan Rykert]

I think that's cheating.

[Michael Mahardy]

So I was breaking into a restaurant to slip around it for a bit.

[Dan Rykert]

That was your idea. I wasn't going to break the law.

[Michael Mahardy]

Yeah. You didn't call me out for cheating.

[Dan Rykert]

That's true. Look, we approach these things differently.

[Michael Mahardy]

Yeah, fair enough. All right. Well, thank you, Aaron from Delas. Well, that's our. That's our episode.

[Mary Kish]

Good stuff.

[Michael Mahardy]

More. More stuff. If I want like a genuine. I feel like anytime we get a. Would you rather. We've been pretty. It's been fairly civil. It's been pretty cordial. We've never really been like, you're fucking wrong. I want someone to send in a genuine stumper for us that like, divides us.

[Mary Kish]

Come get us.

[Dan Rykert]

We're reasonable adults. But yeah, they can test that.

[Michael Mahardy]

I want one that's really gonna test us. But yeah, Write that into firescapecastmail.com if you're not a patron, you can go to firescapecast.com you can go to Patreon look for us. You can contribute just a few dollars if you want to treat like a tip jar because you appreciate what we do. Or you can get the ad free episodes or the video versions of every episode. And you can also get clued into when we're going to have bonus episodes. You'll get access to those. We have a few. We've been planning tons of travel. We do have some ideas percolating. We gotta make them happen because we really want to. You can also go subscribe to our YouTube channel right now. Mary and I are very close to the end of Resident Evil 4 remake in our ongoing Resident Knievel series. This one has been taking particularly long. Again, just a very busy year. But you'll know when those publish if you subscribe to our channel there. And that's also where we put all those bonus episodes. So you're just kind of two birds, one stone. Mary, tell them what they can get@firescape merch.com.

[Mary Kish]

Oh, you can be getting some hot merch. We just had a purchase. I'm not going to call them out in case it's a gift. You never know. But we've just been getting some people getting some really nice T shirts. I can't wait to see your banana yellow logos. You're about the author shirt. You post them, I'll retweet them. I love it. Enjoy that merch.

[Michael Mahardy]

Dan.

[Dan Rykert]

Yes. Does.

[Michael Mahardy]

Does do the reviews help at all any more these days.

[Dan Rykert]

I mean, they don't hurt. It's. I feel like last I heard about that being a big thing was like when I was a debit or you like, oh, you gotta get the five star reviews. But hey, look, if you're looking to do something, yeah, you can give us five stars. It's not gonna hurt.

[Michael Mahardy]

It'd be nice if it was like Steam and it said like overwhelmingly positive, positive user reviews because I feel like we'd get whatever the top tier is. But yeah, go review us if you like it. And outside of that, that's, that's about it for the ways you could support us. But Mary, what do you have going on outside of Fire Escape?

[Mary Kish]

I did a different podcast. I still love you guys, but I did a podcast called Objectively Positive Podcast Past, which I really, really enjoyed. I was invited on by Tatum. I hung out with Tatum at the Giant Bomb at night at E3 this past year. And we talked about media, any media that's had a really positive influence on your life and, or just hugely impactful. And I gush about Rocket League for an entire hour. I talk about how much it impacted Gamespot and, and the team there and how much we loved it and all the fun we had with it and how much it had me have lasting friendships with my coworkers just because of Rocket League. So I encourage you to listen to Objectively Positive podcast. Good, good stories in there. I really enjoyed doing that.

[Dan Rykert]

Nice. Dan, what about you, Giant Bomb? Got some fun stuff from Germany that travelogue should be up if you go to the YouTube channel. We also have Mike Bonatti playing through Alone in the Dark for the Wii on Blight Club, where we play the worst games ever. And that has been hilarious. So check that out. But yeah, Twitch, now that I'm done with most of the travel stuff, hopefully doing some more streaming on Twitch. Jane Rykert. That's my stuff.

[Michael Mahardy]

Nice. I'm just here at Fire Escape Cast outside of my day job. Well, great. That was episode 89. We will be back with episode 90 in a couple weeks. At that point, I'm trying to think there actually might be a couple. Oh, that'll be the day after I turn 21.

[Dan Rykert]

Ooh, big plans?

[Michael Mahardy]

Probably, yeah. Ooh, if you're not a video page, am I allowed to drink on Patreon?

[Dan Rykert]

I guess I'm gonna see what you think of wine. I'm gonna show you some wine.

[Michael Mahardy]

Ah, wine seems pretentious.

[Dan Rykert]

Well, you're. You're a big boy now.

[Michael Mahardy]

Seems a bit too highbrow. Do you have any white zinfandels?

[Dan Rykert]

It's my favorite.

[Michael Mahardy]

Oh, nice. I'd like to try that.

[Mary Kish]

That's all I'll drink.

[Michael Mahardy]

Is it in a bag?

[Dan Rykert]

Yes.

[Mary Kish]

A goon sack.

[Michael Mahardy]

I've heard good things. Mm. But, yeah, we'll be back on September 23rd. The fall. It's here.

[Dan Rykert]

I like it.

[Michael Mahardy]

Me too. Cooling down. Except this weekend.

[Mary Kish]

In theory.

[Dan Rykert]

Yeah.

[Mary Kish]

Sorry.

[Michael Mahardy]

All right, well, everybody, thank you for joining. We appreciate it, as always. We'll see you on the next episode of Firescape Cast.

[Mary Kish]

Bye.