Where are the Lost Soul Aside Reviews?! - Kinda Funny Games Daily 08.28.25

Summary

Kinda Funny Games Daily: Where Are the Lost Soul Aside Reviews?!

Date: August 28, 2025
Hosts: Blessing Adeoye Jr. & Snowbike Mike (Mike Howard)
Podcast: Kinda Funny Games Daily

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Episode Overview

Today's episode tackles the mysterious absence of reviews for Lost Soul Aside on the eve of its release, alongside major news stories in gaming: Tim Sweeney addresses Unreal Engine 5 optimization woes, former Black Panther game devs land at Wizards of the Coast, the future of Yakuza, new Elden Ring content, and industry layoffs. The hosts weave in candid first impressions, playful banter, and community Q&A, providing an essential round-up for gamers eager for the latest developments.

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Main Theme

Why is Almost No One Reviewing Lost Soul Aside?

• Blessing investigates the lack of early reviews for Lost Soul Aside as it launches, unboxing a review code to deliver a live first-hour impression. He connects this silence to reports of a critical day-one patch, setting the tone for wider discussion about publisher review practices and game marketing strategy.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Lost Soul Aside Review Blackout & Day-One Patch

[09:13 – 23:21]

• Background: Lost Soul Aside, once a solo-dev project and now a PlayStation-published China Hero Project game, is finally out—but early reviews are almost non-existent. Social channels hint the game needs a significant day-one patch for stability and performance (09:13).
• Developer’s Statement: The day-one patch promises “performance optimizations, stability improvements, visually enhanced effects, and gameplay upgrades.” Players are encouraged to patch before playing or reviewing.
• Blessing's Hands-On First Impressions:
  • Received the code on launch eve, with no embargo—a sign, Bless suggests, of the publisher’s low confidence in early impressions (11:47).
  • Played & streamed the first hour before recording:

    "It's not a bad video game. Also not a good video game. That's where I'm at so far, and that's only within an hour." — Blessing [13:41]

  • Core takeaways:
    • Feels distinctly “double A”—lacking standout features, “as if someone tried to make a Final Fantasy with action mechanics.” (14:17)
    • Comparisons made to PlatinumGames, Nier, Devil May Cry, and Stellar Blade, but falls short in narrative, character charisma, and gameplay engagement.
    • Blessing notes technical awkwardness and lack of design polish—awkward cutscenes, muted audio, and lackluster environments.
    • “The combat is... fine and so basic. Honestly, it's serviceable, but there's not really anything here that jumps out at me.” [17:41]
    • After the first hour: “I don’t really want to go back.” [17:57]
  • Mike asks if it will find an audience: Bless doubts it, noting he'd rather replay Stranger of Paradise (which he calls a “6.5 to 7 out of 10”) than continue Lost Soul Aside. [21:16]
• Community Reaction (Superchats & Live Chat):
  • Some question whether one hour is enough; Bless provides industry context for previews:

    “People will write full articles, do full podcasts based off of that first 30 minutes to a few hours... I’m not giving a review—just impressions.” —Blessing [30:03]

  • Steam refund policy mentioned as a de facto "first impression" standard.

2. Unreal Engine 5 Optimization Blame Game

[23:21 – 27:12]

• Headline: Tim Sweeney, CEO of Epic, claims devs, not the engine, are to blame for UE5’s performance complaints. Many studios build for high-end hardware and only optimize for lower specs late in the process.

  "He said you're doing it wrong." — Mike [25:30]

  • Sweeney introduces new Epic initiatives: more automation tools and improved developer training/support to address optimization.
• Host Perspective: While neither host codes, they discuss the importance of tool makers (Epic) offering better education and the value of Fortnite as a UE5 “showcase.”

3. Former Black Panther Devs Join Wizards of the Coast for New Game

[36:24 – 39:41]

• What Happened: 14 ex-Cliffhanger Games developers (from the canceled Black Panther project) led by Michael de Plater join Wizards of the Coast to “incubate” a new team and game.
• Mike’s Take: Excited at Wizards investing in teams, but not a fan of their previous game output.

  “Always cool to hear that we’re giving people more jobs... would love to see this get to the finish line.” —Mike [38:08]

• Reflection: Bless laments the lost Black Panther open-world game (“that is a moneymaker... just went through your fingers”).

4. Alex Garland’s Elden Ring Movie Gets Real

[39:43 – 42:43]

• News: Director Alex Garland wrote a 160-page script and 40+ pages of concept art unsolicited to pitch an Elden Ring adaptation, impressing A24 and FromSoftware.

  “Now that I’ve had time to sit with it and read more about it... I’m being fucking fully got here. But... everything here sits right with me.” —Blessing [41:56]

• Hosts’ Mood: Excitement, especially that Garland is a true fan, and speculation Miyazaki will be involved in production.

5. RGG Like a Dragon / Yakuza Summit Incoming

[43:48 – 46:37]

• Announcement: RGG Studio will host a summit before Tokyo Game Show, likely teasing new Like a Dragon games and potential spin-offs.
• Predictions:
  • Bless: Possible return for zombie spin-off (Dead Souls) or Yakuza in space.
  • Both hosts: Excited at the developer's creative momentum.

6. Elden Ring: Night Rain Deep of Night Mode Is Even Harder

[46:37 – 49:28]

• Update: Deep of Night will offer a high-difficulty, five-layer challenge to test seasoned players when it launches September 11.
• Hosts: Amused at the community’s demand for ever-tougher modes; Mike might return if there's a good horde/boss rush angle.

7. Crystal Dynamics Layoffs Linked to Perfect Dark Cancellation

[49:58 – 53:49]

• News: Layoffs at Crystal Dynamics cited as part of ensuring long-term health after Xbox cancels Perfect Dark, a project they were co-developing.
• Context:
  • Rebecca Valentine’s IGN report highlighted as source (50:58).
  • Discussion of industry contraction, the aftershocks of gaming’s pandemic-era “boom,” and the risk of Microsoft/Xbox's reliance on big franchises (e.g., Call of Duty) over a broad portfolio.

8. Mega Hawlucha Announced for Pokémon Legends Z to A

[53:49 – 54:43]

• Reveal: New mega-evolution revealed in a clever animation, pleasing the hosts and sparking ideas for “Greg Miller’s perfect Pokémon team.”

9. WE News (Quick Hits)

[56:15 – 57:18]

• Sworn launches September 25 on all platforms.
• Xbox August Update: Cross-device history, better app navigation, new retro classics, play-anywhere streaming.

10. Community Q&A and Food Chat

[57:18 – End (~61:30)]

• Superchats: Birthday shoutouts, ongoing “first hour impressions” debate, and shout-outs to local Seattle food.
• Blessing recommends: Nigerian jollof rice, Dick’s Drive-In, By Tong Thai restaurant (though Chat suggests it might’ve fallen off!), and King’s Barbecue in the International District.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Blessing on early reviews:

  "It's not a bad video game. Also not a good video game. That's where I'm at so far, and that's only within an hour." [13:41]

• Blessing on leaving the gym and deciding to stream Lost Soul Aside:

  "I tried, you know? That's all I ask myself—is I tried… I got back under my covers and picked up my phone to play some Magic: The Gathering Arena." [11:42]

• Mike on UE5 optimization:

  “He said you're doing it wrong.” [25:30]

• On Alex Garland’s Elden Ring pitch:

  “160 pages of a script… And instead of just the pitch alone, Garland spun up a 160-page script and 40 pages of imagery to convince creator Hidetaka Miyazaki.” [41:41]

• On industry layoffs:

  “That absolutely sucks. We're kind of getting the fallout of [Perfect Dark's cancellation] here for sure.” —Mike [51:36]

• Listener debate over preview impressions:

  (On if one hour is enough) “People conflating initial thoughts with a review. And that’s like the thing I’m trying to disconnect… I am not giving my review of Lost Soul Aside.” —Blessing [33:29]

• Joking poker-for-Greg segment:

  “This is what I want to do: create a Pokémon party for Greg—a perfect Greg Miller Pokémon party.” —Blessing [55:04]

• Blessing, candid about food recommendations:

  “That’s honestly, like, I try to gatekeep [By Tong] a little bit, but I’m done gatekeeping.” [60:08]

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Lost Soul Aside review discussion / Blessing’s first hour: 09:13 – 23:21
• Unreal Engine 5 optimization story: 23:21 – 27:12
• Debate: Are first-hour impressions valid content? 27:12 – 34:19 (thread throughout)
• Former Black Panther devs join Wizards of the Coast: 36:24 – 39:41
• Alex Garland / Elden Ring movie: 39:43 – 42:43
• Yakuza / Like a Dragon summit preview: 43:48 – 46:37
• Elden Ring Night Rain “Deep of Night” mode: 46:37 – 49:28
• Crystal Dynamics layoffs / Perfect Dark context: 49:58 – 53:49
• Mega Hawlucha in Pokémon Legends Z to A: 53:49 – 54:43
• WE News (rapid fire): 56:15 – 57:18
• Seattle food/local recs/community Q&A: 57:18 – end (~64:00)

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Tone & Style

• Playful and candid: The hosts mix deep gaming insights with self-deprecating humor, lively banter, spontaneous idea brainstorming, and strong engagement with their “best friends” community via superchats and live Q&A.
• Industry-savvy but accessible: Both are transparent about the realities of game coverage, the preview process, and the challenges currently facing developers, publishers, and media.
• Honest & empathetic: Blessing especially is open about the disappointment of an anticipated game falling flat and acknowledges both sides of industry debates.

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Who Should Listen/Read This?

Anyone invested in today's biggest games, the realities of the release cycle, PlayStation's current publishing direction, or the unpredictable world of game development and adaptation. Also, Kinda Funny fans will enjoy the friendly jabs, PAX recommendations, and community shout-outs.

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“Each and every weekday we run you through the nerdy news you need to know about—live on YouTube, Twitch, and on podcast services around the globe… until next time, game daily.”

Transcript

[A]

Today's stories include what's going on with Lost Soul aside, Tim Sweeney's response to Unreal Engine 5 issues and former Black Panther devs join a new studio of all this and more. Because this is kind of funny Games Daily. Yo, what's up? Welcome to Kinda Funny Games daily for Thursday, August 28, 2025. I'm on your host blessing, Addie Oye Jr joining me is 20 the master of hype, Snowbike Mike, my main man.

[B]

Bless. Good morning. It's Thursday, Big Dog. One day closer to you up in Seattle at Pax West.

[A]

Oh yeah, it's happening.

[B]

Going on vacation. Little vacation.

[A]

Little vacation. Little vacation. How are you doing, Mike?

[B]

I'm doing good. Bless. I. I had a nice night away from Pokemon. My big Nuzlock continues. And so it's just a good night to like celebrate Reset. I've noticed that I've been going hard in the paint with this game and in this journey where it is every day. Multiple hours of grinding, learning from the chat, getting better as a pokem trainer into master. But you know what I got as far as I've ever been? I completed Gym 4 in Pokemon Emerald.

[A]

Nice.

[B]

And so I'm at the top of the volcano and I'm just happy to be like, you know what, let's take a night. Let's celebrate what you've done.

[A]

Let's take it all in. Let's take a little break. What number playthrough is this for you so far?

[B]

This is number seven.

[A]

Number seven.

[B]

Number seven.

[A]

Oh my God.

[B]

This is technically the first official Nuzlocke where I'm following all the rules. You know, me and Nick and Kevin, we called it the Nick lock cuz we changed some of the rules. I was doing the mic lock for the first six. Now on number seven, I'm following the rules.

[A]

Oh yeah. Well I'm rooting for you.

[B]

Thank you. Bless.

[A]

Yeah, you got me excited for Pokemon, but I'm trying to weigh, I'm trying to hold off until Pokemon Z to A comes out. Hey man, za A dude.

[B]

They got real time battles. That's crazy.

[A]

Yeah, which I. I got to get my hands on it. I still don't know how I feel about it.

[B]

I wanted to put up a meme cuz I was listening to kind of funny games daily when I think you guys were talking about it and it was like take your Pokemon and sneak attack of it. I was just thinking of like Splinter Cell, like my Pokemon choking somebody out.

[A]

Snap somebody's neck. Golly. Well, Mike, we Don't have time to waste here because we have a lot of news stories, cuz.

[B]

Remember, I can't waste some time. I gotta waste one time.

[A]

Well, waste one time because I just got signed out of my cooldown.

[B]

I have something special to share with you in the audience. Of course. Blessing, you and Andy are going to packs this weekend where your boy Snowbike Mike got a special package from his friends.

[A]

Oh, my God.

[B]

Treyarch in Activision. Bless. Can you read this note for me? What does it say?

[A]

Today says welcome. We have been expecting you on September 30th. You will see the importance of our work safeguarding tomorrow.

[B]

Now, Kevin, if you have the top down view because Blessing do not. Inside of this box we have a very special video that is played. There's some numbers on that card. Bless.

[A]

I mean nine. 9:30 for September 30th.

[B]

Let's. Let's spin the dial chat. There's a special code and lock on this. And of course, this is celebrating Call of Duty next.

[A]

Yeah. Since we don't have the top down camera, I'll describe it.

[B]

You can see the virus, the fear virus.

[A]

The is the Mission impossible type stuff. What is this? Oh, yeah, that's cool. It's like a screen in the box.

[B]

Screen in the box.

[A]

There's a screen in the box. Damn. I feel like Ethan Hunt right now.

[B]

So of course, thank you to all the kind of funny best friends, Activision, Treyarch, and you know, all of you that make this dream a reality. Thank you.

[A]

Smoke just turn into a butterfly right now.

[B]

Your boy Snowbike Mike will be boots on the ground. Excited to report live from Call of Duty next. Just like we did last year. So we'll have the fun. I'll be telling you all the good times and reporting live from Vegas.

[A]

I'm. I'm really excited for you. What does make me sad is that I believe that weekend is the same weekend as Magicon Atlanta.

[B]

Don't.

[A]

Which I'm going. I'm going to Magic on Atlanta.

[B]

Jealous.

[A]

I've been talking to my friends about it for like the. Since Magicon Chicago that me and you went to. And I was like, I got to make Atlanta happen. I got to make Atlanta happen. And we're making Atlanta happen. And so we're sad. I'm not going to have you there.

[B]

You and I are making a rule.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

You ready for this?

[A]

No.

[B]

We're going to the Vegas Magic on every year now.

[A]

Every year you want to go to Vegas.

[B]

Let's start with one. But like let's make this a rule blast because we had so much fun at Magic.

[A]

You understand that Match Con Vegas, at least this last one was in June.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

In the height of summer.

[B]

You hit me with the. I got Summer Game Fest. I got to switch to and I was like blessed. But like, what if we added to the fun and. And we hit. Hit him with Magicon.

[A]

I'm not going to do anything that's going to take away from my coverage of the switch to summer Games, but maybe next year we'll see where it lands next year. Next year also has evos in June and so we'll have to see where it lands. But enough about that. Let's get into today's story because remember, this is kind of Funny Games Daily, each and every week that we run you through the nerdy news you need to know about live on YouTube, Twitch and on podcast services around the globe. If you love what we do, support us with the kind of funny membership on Patreon, YouTube, Spotify and Apple podcasts to get all of our shows ad free, watch us record them live and get a daily exclusive show for a chance to be a part of the show. Some of your thoughts and opinions as YouTube super chats as we go. Housekeeping for you. We're an 11 person business all about live talk shows. So today after kfcd, you're gonna get gamescast, which is Greg talking about how he's played Pokemon Legends. Z to A. Z A. We stopped calling it Z.

[B]

Z. Yeah. Once he learned it was Z to A, then we stopped immediately.

[A]

Greg went to the event and all of a sudden he got all professional.

[B]

He learned about it.

[A]

He learned and he was like, it's Z to A now.

[B]

It was pretty cool coverage from him too.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Pokemon World Championship.

[A]

We're going to hear more about it right after this. After Gamescast is Prey in review. Then the stream after that is Abyssus, the little co op roguelite shooter underwater.

[B]

Nailed it.

[A]

It looks cool.

[B]

A first person shooter, roguelike. This is one. Andy made me and him play the robot one Robo Quest, because he loves that one. Now this is one to four players and I'm hoping he enjoys it as well. It's got some good buzz behind it when it first dropped.

[A]

Is it like Gunfire Reborn? Do you know Gunfire Reborn?

[B]

I've seen Gunfire Reborn.

[A]

Chad, if you've played Gunfire Reborn is Abyssus just Gunfire Reborn underwater? Let me know.

[B]

Oh, okay.

[A]

Let me know.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

If you're a kind of funny member, today's Greg Way is blank. Greg didn't fill it out today, but I'm sure it's great. I'm sure it's wonderful.

[B]

Well, yesterday you talked about how he's Taylor Swift to our audience.

[A]

What do you. How do you. Who are you to our audience? Do you think. Who do you think you are to our Carrot Top?

[B]

Just an idiot.

[A]

I. Here's the thing. That's the same energy of me accidentally calling myself Stephen A. Smith, because, like, I see where you pull the Carrot Top from, but. Yeah, no, I put you above. I put you above Carrot Top of my eyes.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

Just like I should put myself above Stephen A. Smith, I guess.

[B]

Above Stephen A. Smith.

[A]

This was. I don't know if I told the context of this. I put it out. Put out a Blue sky. Where I went to Eclipse concert a few days ago.

[B]

I saw you put post from there.

[A]

And I met up with some friends, and there were some new people. And, like, we're hanging out in the group on a rooftop bar right before the concert. It was a good vibe. That's a vibe. It was a great vibe.

[B]

You're taking advantage of San Francisco now.

[A]

Oh, it was a fantastic vibe. But then, like. And everybody's going around, like, talking about what they do, and all these people work for tech companies. It's like, oh, this guy works for Apple. This guy works for Amazon. This guy works for this guy.

[B]

I see you.

[A]

Oh, this guy works for Google. And it gets to me, and I'm like, oh, you know, I work for an independent media company. You know, we. We make podcasts, stuff like that.

[B]

That's how you say it.

[A]

That's how I say it. Okay.

[B]

I like that.

[A]

And then, like, the two people that know me, they're like, he's underselling it. And, like, I don't. I don't know what the words are to describe what I do.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And, like, sports came into play, so they're like, oh. Because one of them was like, well, you do, like, journalism. And I'm like, no, I'm not a journalist. I'm more of a pundit. You know, Think of it more as, like, Stephen A. Smith.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

And then they're like, oh, you're like, Stephen A. Smith for video games. And I was like, ooh. I mean. And I couldn't. I was kind of just like, yeah, sure, why not?

[B]

Like, I mean, that's a very high compliment. Stephen A. Smith at the top of his game.

[A]

And that's what I thought. And then I said that on Blue sky, and everybody was like, bless your way. You're people. People thought I was, like, hating on myself. People thought I was putting myself down.

[B]

Do you want to be Mike Wilbon and Tony Kornheiser, the OGs of the game?

[A]

Those aren't real names that PTI parted.

[B]

Pardon the interruption. Those guys are the OGs, you know, I mean, Stephen A. Smith is kind of a new face. He's been around for a while now, top of his game. Okay, interesting. Maybe you want to be a Pablo Torre. You want to be a me?

[A]

Can I be the Michael Cole? I'll be a Mina Kimes? Me kind's cool.

[B]

Yeah. Mina Kime's got games. She. She's blossoming and being an incredible superstar.

[A]

But then who are you?

[B]

Who am I?

[A]

Because I don't. I don't accept Carrot Top. Yeah. Who are you in that? Like, what are we comparing you to for video games?

[B]

If I was gonna get down in there, right. Who would be your favorite Jabroni? Let's see. Okay, let me sit down, somebody.

[A]

Who's the dude that does commentary for WWE sometimes, but he also is in football and stuff.

[B]

Oh, you call me the Pat McAfee of video.

[A]

I can see Pat McAfee.

[B]

Okay, okay, okay. He's a little bit bigger than me. He's a little bit bigger than me. I could be like third generator Pat McAfee show.

[A]

Yeah, like that guy.

[B]

I like that guy's energy, but sometimes he could be off the show. You know what I mean?

[A]

Chaff. Figure it out for me. Also, I. I also saw the not in the news, but like I was listening to podcast. Apparently Stephen A. Smith been saying some wild. So maybe I shouldn't consider myself. He was saying some wild shit. I was like, ooh, maybe not. Maybe I'll disagree myself. But chat figure it out for me. Who am I? Thank you to our Patreon producers, Carl Jacobs, Omega Buster and Delaney the Psalm Twining. Today we're brought to you by xreal, but we'll tell you about that later. For now, let's begin with what is and forever will be the Roper Report. It's time for some news. We have nine stories today. Baker's Desert nine stories starting with our number one early Lost Soul aside, PS5 reviews are axed as comprehensive day one patch is announced. This is Robert Ramsey at Push Square. Lost Soul aside, the PS5 previously PS4 action game that's been in development for what feels like a lifetime will receive what sounds like a significant day one patch. As revealed on social media by the title's official accounts, the update which will be available to download on August 29, features comprehensive performance optimizations and stability improvements. In other words, we're fully expecting Lost Solarci to be a bit of a mess without this patch. In turn, that probably means a distinct lack of reviews on the game's release. Publishers will usually hold back on review code if their game has clear technical issues. The Day 1 patch also covers visually enhanced effects, overall audio refinements, and final polishing and gameplay upgrades. Naturally, developer Ultizero strongly recommends downloading and installing this patch before playing. Okay, now here's the thing. This article, it's like a day or two old, okay? Right. There's a tweet that Kev has pulled up here from the Lost Soul Aside Twitter account detailing the Day 1 patch. The reason why I bring this up now is because Lost Soul Aside is out tomorrow. Mike. This morning I woke up. I Woke up at 6:30, as I do to go to the gym. I wake up, I go to the gym. I then see that my gym is closed for renovations.

[B]

So you went to the other one down the road?

[A]

No, I went home is what I did. I went home and I was like, I tried, you know? That's all I ask myself is I tried. I gave a valiant effort. I would have done it if they let me in. But guess what? It was closed. I came home, I got back under my covers.

[B]

Smart move.

[A]

Smart move. I got back under my covers and I picked up my phone to play some magic. The Gathering Arena.

[B]

Even better move.

[A]

And when I picked up my phone, I saw a little Gmail notification. I got an email in. That email had a Lost Soul aside code in it. I read the email, okay? I read the embargo. There is no embargo, is what it said.

[B]

Meaning it's game time.

[A]

Meaning it's game time. Meaning you can play that game then and now. So what I did, I got up out of my bed.

[B]

Whoa.

[A]

I downloaded Lost Soul aside. I streamed for an hour this morning. I streamed my gameplay of Lost Soul aside for an hour before work this morning.

[B]

Just bring up his Twitch stream right.

[A]

Away so I could talk about it a little bit. Because I've been so interested in this video game for years. Mike.

[B]

Yes. You and Andy have identified it. I mean, every time we. Whenever we sit down and see this, you or Andy pipe up and talk about, like, what could be and what might happen.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

And so what? Where did it land?

[A]

It's not Lost Soul side. It's not a bad video game.

[B]

Okay?

[A]

Also not a good video game. That's where I'm at so far. And that's only within an hour of playing. Okay. I think for context, right. To build. Build it up. If you don't know what Lost Soul site is, it's a PlayStation published game. It's a. I don't know if they're calling it First Party, but it is a game that's part, I believe, of either their China Hero project or the Korean Hero.

[B]

Great job. Yeah, I'm looking it up. Supported by Sony's China China Hero project right there.

[A]

There you go. It is a project that started off as a one person developed thing and then it grew over time. If you look at the trailers for this game, it looks like Final Fantasy 13 versus. You know what? Final Fantasy 13 versus?

[B]

No, no.

[A]

It's a Final Fantasy game that was announced like a decade and a half ago that never came out, but then kind of came out as Final Fantasy 15 because they changed the name. It's a whole thing basically. Think dark, edgy Final Fantasy with action in it.

[B]

Like the one where he yells, I'mma kill chaos.

[A]

It has some of that energy. Yeah. This game looks heavily inspired by that and also heavily inspired by a lot of different final fantasies. Slash, you look at the combat, and the combat reminds me of a Platinum game or like a Nier or like A Devil May Cry. Right. You know, heavy, fast action type of game that excites me. I like, I love those kind of games. Playing this first hour, I think the first thing that was very evident to me was that one, this feels double A. And then also this feels like somebody saw Final Fantasy and just tried to recreate Final Fantasy with like action mechanics. And it kind of bummed me out a little bit because I. It's hard for me to. Yeah. Like, as I'm playing this game. Oh, you're. You're looking at my game.

[B]

I'm looking at your YouTube right now.

[A]

Yeah, yeah. You want to send that to Kevin? If Kevin wants to show game, Maybe will. As I'm playing through the game, I am finding nothing that's really jumping out to me. You know what I mean?

[B]

Like, okay, okay.

[A]

I'm. I'm going through the motions of. All right, cool. I'm walking around this character that looks like he's trying to be Noctis. Slash, the Final Fantasy 13 versus character. I am talking to other characters that aren't really giving me anything worthwhile. I'm now going through these levels that have like, a lot going on as far as like them being placed in like these big environments. But the combat encounters I'm getting into, I'll get into. And it's like, all right, fight two guys, that's over in five seconds. And then I move on to the next thing. Right. Like, they're not really giving me much substance either in story or in gameplay here. That's making me super engaged with what's happening right now. Kevin has the gameplay pulled up, Mike. And like again, Mike, you look at this and you go, oh, this looks like a Final Fantasy game.

[B]

That comes to mind, huh?

[A]

Change your paradise.

[B]

No, not Mirrors Edge, but Infinity Edge. Remember the one that was on Xbox, that was made by one person and it was super memory infinite. Thank you. Yeah, it's giving me these kind of vibes right now. Okay.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

From the way you're describing it at.

[A]

Least again, you're seeing the gameplay here, right. I'm going through these levels. The main, like a lot of the main obstacles in this first hour of the video game are find these blue crystals. So yeah, so you can open up the way.

[B]

Now we chalking this up maybe to hey, first hour tutorial. We're slow rolling this. Like can we chalk it up to that or do you think we're not seeing much more past this?

[A]

I think I can chalk it up a little bit to that. What I will say is that it is not a great first hour if you're just trying to display why this game's fun. If you're trying to pull people in. I think that first hour of a video game needs to be the hook. I think you need to get the controller, the. You need to get control of the player character in players hands and let them feel that fun immediately. They did not do that in a really good way. That said, like, halfway through this demo, they gave me an additional combat tutorial because I met my little buddy, my little like ghost fucking demon guy that now floats around me that gives me special powers.

[B]

Shout out to those little buddies, Tom.

[A]

Shout out to my little guy. Yeah, he's a little guy that floats around, met him and that allowed me to like of go into my super Mode by pressing R2L2. That gives you like extra combat abilities. That allowed me like an extra jump on my double jump. That allowed me an extra like dash roll thing that went down. Right. And like even that alone, I was like, oh, the combat already feels a slightly bit better when I go into my menu even being this far into the video game. Right. Like I'm sure this is probably 40, 40 to 50 minutes in when I go into my menu. There are like four locked menu options that are like skill tree kind of kind of things. Is that it's equipment is locked. Right. Like things that might be aimed more toward long term progression. All that stuff is locked in the first hour. So they don't really give you even a good preview of oh, this is how I'm gonna build over time. All that said, putting down the controller after this first hour of playing, I don't really want to go back. Oh like, you know, I, I, it'd be one thing if I saw those hints of oh, this is where this could go. And I was excited about getting there. I was excited about leveling up my character or anything like that. But the combat is. Feels so fine and so basic. Honestly. It's like, it's serviceable as far as it feels good to like hack and slash things.

[B]

Yeah, right.

[A]

But there's so many different action games, so many different hack and slash style action games that I have that like there's not really anything here that jumps out at me immediately where I'm like, oh, okay, this is the thing that I'd want to do. And then story doesn't appeal to me. The character so far aren't really doing anything to me. There's been a lot of awkward moments as far as like cut scenes and like character interactions and like audio cutting out weirdly at the end of cutscenes where I'm like, oh, this just feels like there's a lot missing. There's an energy that's missing in this video game. It feels empty. Ish.

[B]

You know, it's interesting. Bless you. Talk about this and kind of where the game is at right now and we kind of, I want to direct it towards more the developer.

[A]

Right.

[B]

Of like first time game out here. Is this one of those where we can build off of and learn and get to a sequel or do you think we won't see something else from this team? Right. I mean that's kind of the moment we're in now is like you get like one really good chance and then it's tough to get a second chance.

[A]

My hope for this game as we're leading into it was that it would be like a stellar Blade to where, hey, it's not a 10 out of 10, but it's a damn good time that I'd want to see iterated upon and I want to see more from Stellar Blade. I want to see a sequel because I think you can take that game and mold it into something that's even better. This game I'm not even getting that right. Like, I sell. If this was a something that I would say is good or great, then maybe right now I'm in the okay to mediocre, mediocre range of how I feel about this so far. And again, this is me speaking about my first hour. This is like, you know, this is a preview, right? This is like, you know, earlier, early. So it's hard to be hard for me to speak on like, you know, where you go from here. That said, again, I'm in a place where I'm like, all right, after that first hour, I'm not enticed to go back. I'm so curious, so, so curious to see what reviews for this game are like.

[B]

It's interesting because you say you had like a mediocre right there to an okay and when we talk about, hey, maybe giving it another try right at that kind of nestled in point. It's interesting of like, there's just so many games. It's tough to be like, yeah, I want to go back to a possible mediocre game and continue to give more of my time when there are great games and I still haven't played that.

[A]

I need to go, especially right now, especially when we're on the precipice of a silksong, especially when we have like, Hell Is Us is coming out soon. And there's the Marvel Token beta that's happening next week as well. Like, you know, Borderlands is not that far away. There's Kronos that's coming out next week as well. There are so many games happening. And if you remember, Mike, this game was originally coming out the same week, if not maybe even the same day as Elden Ring Night Rain and then got delayed until here. And one of the things that surprised me this week was that it felt like there wasn't any sort of like grand marketing push from PlayStation because remember, PlayStation published, right? We're coming off of Gamescom Opening night Live. We're coming off of Gamescom the event. We're going into packs right now. Everybody is marketing their video games coming off of Gamescom. The fact that I wasn't seeing like hands on previews for Lost Soul aside, and the game was about to come out for me, that was the canary in the coal mine of, oh, this is not going to be a fantastic.

[B]

Video game, of course.

[A]

And so I want to. I'm curious to see where people land when they actually finish this thing. Expect reviews to come out next week, I imagine.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

But yeah, from my first hour playing, I'M like, oh man, it bummed me out to not to come out of it like this.

[B]

Do you think this game finds an audience, though? Are there the stellar Blade sickos, those people chasing that kind of action high that like, that look of this game provides, that maybe they'll give it a chance even without the reviews being out here?

[A]

I think some people, yeah, but I don't. I. I'll put myself in that audience of. I'll play a fucking action game. You know what I mean? I'll play a 7 out of 10 action game. But for me, I use the comparison I'll make because I'll bring in Stranger paradise into this in a more strong way. Right? Where I played through Stranger paradise and I liked it even though that game was fine. I'll say fine to good. I would say Stranger paradise is like an example of a 6.5, 7 out of 10 video game for me. But I really, really enjoyed it. I'd rather go back and play more Stranger paradise than go back and play this game after its first hour. And I think part of that is how authentically Final Fantasy Stranger of Paradise is, because they have the IP and it really is a Final Fantasy game. Right. I think the combat in that game felt a bit more engaging. I think even the first hour, even though there's a lot of hokey stuff going on with its cutscenes and its characters, and it can be very campy and corny, it was still fun to me. I think here the characters are overly serious in a way where it'd be one thing if it was like a. You know, the main character is serious, but everything around him is goofy. It's like, no, this is all kind of like bland and melodramatic in a way where I wish there was a more goofy side character. I wish there was more stuff happening in the world where I was like, okay, that's the funny guy. Oh, that's the guy that's like, I don't know that. Like, this guy has a bit that's like, you know that I'm. I'm here for that. I'm following with that. I'm falling in love with. None of the characters are doing anything for me in a way where I'm like, oh, man, now it's just boring. Like, it's not even. Like, it's not even mediocre in a fun way. It's just mediocre in a boring way.

[B]

Well, bless. I and the audience appreciate you waking up so early in the morning, getting right to this game to at least give us the heads up.

[A]

I appreciate you saying that. Like I got up to play this.

[B]

You could have drove down to the other gym a couple blocks down the road, but you chose to go back home. And you know what, you gave us this great preview. So for the audience out there now you got the heads up if you're jumping in or waiting on reviews now, you know, to maybe wait a moment and see what other people say. Yeah, of course if you jump in, let us know what you think of it as blessing might not return.

[A]

Yeah, let's move on to story number two. Unreal Engine 5 performance issues are mainly due to devs not optimizing properly, Epic CEO Tim Sweeney says. This is from Chris Scolion at vgc. The CEO of Epic Games has suggested that some platforms struggle to run Unreal Engine 5 games because developers aren't optimizing them properly. It's been suggested in recent years that Unreal Engine 5's demanding technical requirements can sometimes mean that running UE5 games on less powerful hardware can result in poor performance and sluggish gameplay. Epic Games founder and CEO Tim Sweeney, who created Unreal Engine in the first place, says the reason for this isn't necessarily the fault of the engine itself, but the way developers are using it. In a media Roundtable interview during the latest Unreal Fest event in Seoul, South Korea, Sweeney was asked if Epic Games was doing anything to address claims of optimization issues with Unreal Engine 5 games. As reported by Korean website ThisIsGame, Sweeney suggested that too many developers focus on making their games for the most powerful hardware, then try to optimize for less powerful systems at the end of the development process, causing issues. Of course, optimization is by no means an easy task, it's a very challenging one. Ideally, optimization should be implemented early in development before full scale content build begins. We're preparing two major solutions to address this issue. One is to strengthen Unreal Engine support. Optimization requires significant manual effort, so we plan to provide automated optimization features for various devices, making the process faster and easier for developers. The other is to strengthen developer training in addition to providing education on the overall testing and optimization process. It's crucial to raise awareness of the importance of early optimization. If necessary, our engineers can provide direct intervention to raise awareness of optimization techniques and and provide technical assistance. Quote we're actively incorporating the optimization technology and expertise we've accumulated while servicing Fortnite into Unreal Engine and are working diligently to ensure the game runs smoothly even on low spec PCs. End QUOTE mike Damn bless.

[B]

He said you're doing it wrong.

[A]

Yeah. He pointed the finger.

[B]

He just straight up looked at y' all and said, you're doing it wrong.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Yeah. Bless. I can't give you much insight on this as I've never been in the game, no development world. I really don't know the tech behind it all. We'd have to find someone doing it day in and day out. But that is a wild one for him to be like, y' all are doing it wrong. But also it seems like, hey, they've seen that you're doing it wrong and they're going to address that and try to help you out with a couple of options here to maybe get you doing a little bit better. If that's really true.

[A]

Yeah. Have you seen. Because I know we. I feel like lately the conversations picked up as far as Unreal Engine 5 and games not, like, running as well on Unreal Engine 5. Like, has it seen, like, seemed like a big deal from, like, what you've heard about things? Because I feel like I only hear it when I'm on this show or I'm listening to the show.

[B]

No, only if it would be around you and Andy and the really in intuit people around there. I don't hear this much from my friends or anybody like that.

[A]

I guess all the. I'll ask the question to chat too, of, like, is this a thing that you've noticed and is this a thing that genuinely feels like a consistent problem Amongst Unreal Engine 5 games? Because, yeah, I don't think I've. If I clocked it earlier, I maybe would have like, been like, all right, this Unreal Engine 5, let's see how this perform type thing. Right. But I've not looked at it in that way. That said, reading through this story, I think my big thing as I started reading it was like, all right, Tim Sweeney's point of the finger, like, are you all doing anything to help? And then he listed ways that they're helping. And so I think that's the big thing is. Oh, okay, so you're. You're taking steps.

[B]

Yeah. I think that's what you want to hear, right. From the people who are providing you the product there for you to use. It's like, okay, well, if I'm doing it wrong, give me ways to learn and try to make it better. And so I know in the future and we can address this. And it seems like they're giving you some options there.

[A]

Yeah. Which is great.

[B]

I mean, who better to hear it from? If Fortnite is on Unreal Engine 5, and that's the big dog in town. Teach me the ways, then let me make my game as great and figure out the ways that you're doing it.

[A]

Yeah, I want to get a super chat from Flying Penguins who writes in and says, blessed, I love you and you're better than Greg, but that preview seems a little disingenuous. The first hour is not enough time to judge a game and then they leave a heart.

[B]

Okay, okay. I mean, he gave me the first hour without reviews being out early. I mean, he gave you his thoughts, but I think the first hour blesses a game when it's supposed to capture you, you know, the first hour is, hey, let me show you the systems. Let me get you engaged and let me get you excited.

[A]

Yeah, I mean, after that, we roll to that. I'd say that yesterday we did a gamescast on Outer Worlds 2 where we all played the first 45 minutes of Outer Worlds 2 and gave you an hour long, like, discussion about it. Right. Like, this is the way that video game previews work. I'm not sitting here being like, oh, I'm giving this game a 5 out of 10 and that's my final score. Right. Like, I'm giving you the context of I played an hour of this game. This is how I feel after playing an hour of this game. Flying Penguins. It's on you for what you want to take out of that. Right. Like, I feel like it's totally fair to talk about your feelings about a thing if you've play if you give the right context around it. If that's not enough for you, then that's not enough for you. But I don't think it's disingenuous by any means. Kyle wrote in and says it wasn't mentioned during the topic, so I want to at least shout out. There is a demo coming out for Lost Soul aside tomorrow for those interested, which is a good point. Yes. There's a demo that they announced today that's coming out or tomorrow that's coming up. D.J. kento writes in and says, just want to say blessing looks fresh as you hit up. You hit up your barber because damn, dude, hair is sick also. Hi, Mike. You're cool too. Thank you.

[B]

His hair does look very sick. It looks good.

[A]

I appreciate it.

[B]

I am still waiting on you. You promised me. You said, mike, I'm growing it out. I'm going to do something different. And I love the look right now. I think you look great right now. I think you look sharp, but like, you did say you were going to try something different. I haven't seen that out of you yet.

[A]

Yeah. I'm still seeing people say that you can't make a definitive decision after an hour. I want to hear more about that. If you want to chat in and sort. Super, chat in. Because, like, I totally disagree. You can or cannot that they're saying that you cannot make a definitive decision after an hour of playing a game.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

As far as, like, what your thoughts on it are, and I can't reiterate this enough that I'm not giving a final score.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And I'm not saying that the game is bad. I'm just saying I feel like if.

[B]

I give you a game and I said, okay, we're going to sit down here uninterrupted, you're going to be totally focused for a full hour.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

By the end of that hour, you could. You would be able to look at me and go, I'd play more of that. Or, no, I'm good.

[A]

Yeah. It's like, I don't want to play more of this after an hour. I feel like that's a fair thing to say about a video game. And also, if that's your opinion, then, like, you got to throw out a large portion of video game previews that come out, because I. I guess to. To peel back the curtain. Right. Like, video game previews are usually going to be 30 minutes to four hours. Right. And, like, people will write full articles, people will do full episodes of podcasts, people will do full videos based off of that first 30 minutes to a few hours of playing a video game. And so I don't know if this is maybe a disconnect thing or like an education thing of, hey, this is how video game previews work. And also, it's not. I would also say that this is the. This is the embargo timing that they gave us. Right. I got the code in this morning with no embargo, which means that, hey, I'm going to make the content that I'm going to make based off of the timing that you gave me this code. Right. And like, for me, guess what? I can't put out a full review of this game by tomorrow. And probably we're not going to do a review of this game because I don't know if there's interest for it like that. But, like, yeah, people are going to put out their early impressions when you give them a code the day before launch with no embargo. That's just how this works. Kebabs Writes in and says birthday tax, KFS and BF's. Thank you for being so cool and supportive for nearly a third of my lifetime.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

Happy birthday, kebabs.

[B]

It's really, you know what to celebrate you today. Very, very awesome.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Happy birthday. That's great. Thanks for being a small part of our lives. It's really special.

[A]

Joshua writes in and says birthday tax. It's been a couple of rough years and y' all have helped me through some. Y' all have helped me keep some of my sanity intact. Thank you KF and KFBFS. If anyone is on TJ, you are invited for some burgers at 7. Hit me up.

[B]

We got another birthday. Heck yeah. Happy birthday.

[A]

Happy birthday, Josh. Let's see. Oh, another Brendan writes in here with another birthday tax. 49 and feeling fine. Thanks for the years of fun and knowledge and keep being gentle with.

[B]

You're in your prime at 49. I'm going to be in my prime.

[A]

I want to bring in some more super chats because people are talking about this. So like that Motorworld hype writes in, it says bless. I think it depends on the game, its mechanics and depth. An hour in Forza Horizon is not equal to an hour in for. In Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth. Mike, what do you think about that?

[B]

I mean, an hour in Forza Horizon, you're going to know if you're interested in a racing game for the next 25 hours or not, right? Like, I think for sure you would know that. But what was the other one?

[A]

Right, that clearly had way more Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth.

[B]

Yeah, because like, I mean there's going to be games that are going to have long story cut scenes, a slow burn and a start. But at least with Final Fantasy 7, they're going to capture you with the story, right? Like it's a story based game. So it's on them in that first hour to be like, hey, bless, there's a cool narrative here and we want you to come along for the ride. Hey, bless, we're going to infiltrate this enemy base. We're going to show you at least the basics of combat and hopefully you're interested in that. And if you're not, then you know that this isn't going to be for you.

[A]

Yeah, I, I guess the question I throw back at y' all is, is it a timing thing, right? Is it the fact that we're at launch and you would expect reviews by now, Right? But the fact that people are getting codes in today, they're just going to give you their impressions. Like, is that it because like I feel like if this is a year ago or two years ago and I told you, hey, I played an hour of Lost Soul aside, that'd be a thing that y' all for sure would click on and be excited for.

[B]

This feels like a Steam refunded or keep playing situation like Mike and Nick did with Mind's Eye, where when we put you and Andy in the room and just say you got two hours on the clock, we refunded it or we keeping it. You know what I mean? Like that kind of situation.

[A]

I mean, speaking of that, right. Jakey Song writes in and says as Steam. Steam offers refunds on a game after playing up to a couple hours, first impressions do matter. Lucid Dream writes in and says people conflating initial thoughts with a review. And that's like the thing that I'm trying to disconnect is like I am not giving my review of Lost Soul aside. I am telling you my impressions of the first hour of the game because we got the code this morning and nobody here has played the game. And so I figured that'd be valuable content.

[B]

But again, I thought it was pretty good.

[A]

Let me know, let me know. I'm so interested in what people's thoughts are. But Mike, we got a lot more news to cover. So before we get there, I want to tell you about patreon.com kinda funny and YouTube.com kinda funny games where you can go and get the Kinda Funny membership which allows you to get shows ad free. Speaking of ads, let us tell you about our sponsors.

[C]

This episode is brought to you by Xreal. As of August 25th, Xreal One Pro is finally available on Amazon and BestBuy.com plus it's back in stock now on Xreal.com a few months ago, my life changed forever when I brought a pair of xreal One Pro AR glasses on a incredibly long flight to New York City. I legit could not believe how easy it was to use and how high quality my experience was playing games with my Steam deck and watching movies with my phone on the plane on a theater sized OLED screen right in front of my eyes without too much extra stuff or a giant goofy headset involved. No joke, this is my favorite new piece of tech in years and it has earned a permanent spot in my travel bag. It's only hard to believe it works as well as I'm saying, until you try xreal AR glasses for yourself and then you will see that the tech is here. Connect extra One Pro glasses to whatever you're playing like a handheld console, PC phone or home console and get a massive 150 inch virtual screen anywhere, anytime for any game gaming on the go like a long flight, you need Xreal One. Next starting to hurt from staring down at your handheld, you need Xreal 1. It's plug and play with all your devices via USB C built in audio with sound by Bose anchoring your screen literally anywhere inside space. 1080p full HD and you can make it bigger, smaller, farther, closer, ultra wide or regular widescreen, horizontal, vertical, even 3D if you have a 3D movie. It's all built in and can be controlled by pressing a few buttons on the glasses. These are what make Xreal One Pro a must have. Xreal 1 Pro is now available on Amazon and Best Buy.com and from August 25 through September 1 you can get $50 off if you bundled Xreal 1 Pro with the Xreal Beam Pro AR mobile device on Amazon or xreal.com There is nothing better than when a sponsor of Kind of Funny is something we are legitimately obsessed with. So get yours today at kind of funny.com/exrael that's kind of funny.com/xreal.

[A]

And we're back with story number three. Former Black Panther developers join Wizards of the coast for new game project this is Rebecca Valentine at Ignition, a group of individual God that Word up A group of individuals who formerly worked at the now shuttered Cliffhanger Games on its canceled Black Panther game have been picked up by Wizards of the coast for a new project as reported by Games Industry Biz. The group is led by Monolith Productions veteran Michael Deplatter, who previously was director of Director of Design on Middle Earth Shadow of Mordor and VP Creative for Middle Earth Shadow of War. Quote we were actually able to bring him and 14 key people that he's worked with there and many of them at Monolith to incubate a new team, a new game for us, said Wizards of the Coast President John Haidt to games industry Biz. He added that the project is still in early early stages and is expected to go through a lengthy concept process. Height compared it to a similar new D and D video game project Wizards of the coast is supervising under Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order director stig Asmussen. The 14 other developers joining Deplatter are veterans of Cliffhanger Games, a studio formed under EA in 2023. Largely comprised of veterans from Deplatter's Shadow of Mordor team. The studio was working on a single player action adventure open World Black Panther game as part of a multi title collaboration between EA and Marvel. However, the game was canceled and the studio closed earlier this year as EA moved to focus on only a small handful of franchises. Battlefield, the Sims Skate and Apex Legends, alongside its sports division. Mike, those Black Panther developers moved over to Wizards of the Coast.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Who me and you love.

[B]

I love Wizards of the Coast. I don't like their games. Bless. I had to look up Wizards of the coast video games and of course there's Dungeons and Dragons Dark alliance, which I played with Gary Whitta back in the day and I did not enjoy. We are riding the high, of course, of magic. You think of Dungeons and Dragons.

[A]

Dragons, yeah.

[B]

Baldur's Gate 3. Right. And so this is cool. This is one like put a little, little, little eye on that one of like, hey, we'll see that in the future. We'll see if anything positive comes from this. But always cool to hear that we're giving people more jobs, giving them the opportunity to hopefully create something. And maybe you would love to see this get to the finish line and for it to be something really good.

[A]

Yeah, I would love to see. Because you mentioned you don't love their games, right? I would love to see them get there. I would love to see them if they're able to spin up, you know, a couple of studios or grow these studios into something that could be special. Because, yeah, you're sitting on, well, you're not sitting on D and D, right. But you have D and D and you have the future of Baldur's Gate or the future of what could be way more D and D games. Right. Like D and D is such a huge thing in the world and there's so much sauce for, I think, what it can offer in video games. As we've seen, who's going to work on the next Baldur's Gate? We don't know yet. Right. Like, who's going to work on the next, like, you know, non Baldur's Gate D and D games. I would love to see that go somewhere. And also you have the other franchises they have as well. So, you know, I love this. I was thinking about Black Panther yesterday actually just randomly of like, man, I can't believe EA had a Black Panther game, an open world Black Panther game and that didn't get to the finish line.

[B]

Oh.

[A]

Because that is a money maker and I get licensing, I get like video games industry is in such a fucked place right now. I get all that shit. Right. But like a Black Panther video game would do such numbers. And the fact that you fucking. That just went through your fingers there. Damn insane. Let's move on to story number four. Alex Garland really wants to wanted the Elden Ring movie to happen. This is Tyler Culp at PC Gamer. If there were any concern that Alex Garland isn't an Elden Ring fanboy, we now have evidence that the movie director is as devoted to FromSoftware's 2022 epic as the rest of us. In addition to playing the game several times through, he was apparently so eager to make a live action Elden Ring film that he wrote up an entire script before anyone had signed off on it. Tucked inside a New Yorker feature about a 24's rise in the film industry and its future ambitions is a small anecdote about how the upcoming Elden Ring movie was born. According to the story, a 24 head of film, Noah Sacco, visited visited Garland and watched him play the game after the director gushed about it on the phone. Impressed by the fantasy world and similarities to Lord of the Rings, Sacco gave Garland a fuck yeah when he asked if a 24 would work with him on it. And instead of bringing just the pitch alone to FromSoftware and Bandai Namco, Garland spun up a 160 page script and 40 pages of imagery to convince creator Hidetaka Miyazaki that he was serious about it. It's strangely fitting that despite not knowing what the Elden Ring movie will be about, we do know that its director is about as obsessed with it as its fans. Not that you need to be that. Not that you need. Not that you need to be as a requirement. But it's nice knowing a world as large and eccentric as Elden Ring seems to be is in caring hands. That's crazy.

[B]

That's what you want to hear.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

That's a wild story to follow and be like, wow, this guy is really into it. And it seems like they're got a good match.

[A]

Dude, 160 pages of a script. I like I. When they first announced this, yeah, I was a little bit like, oh man, Elden Ring movie, Alex Garland. Like, I like Alex Garland, but like Elden Ring, that seems like a lot now I'm fully in.

[B]

Seems like the guy's into it.

[A]

Now that I've had time to sit with it and to like read more about it. I'm not. And I know this is going to come off as like, oh man, I'm being tricked by the marketing. I'm being fucking fully got here. But I don't know. I. Everything here sits right with me as far as how they're talking about it, as far as I think understanding the weight of the IP and how much it means to the audience and how dedicated people want you to be with an Elden Ring, like that shit means something to people. And video game adaptations, even though in recent years have gotten better still I think, come with a level of like, people not trusting that it's going to come out and be all the way good type shit. I think they're saying all the right things to make people go, okay, maybe this is in good hands.

[B]

The next thing you're going to hear is when they start shooting. They're going to be like, alex Garland brought on Vidya. He's on the set.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

He's providing information in the background. That's what you're going to hear next.

[A]

100%.

[B]

And everybody's going to be like, what? That's crazy.

[A]

You're going to. You're going to get set photos of. Yeah. You're going to have vidya and George R.R. martin.

[B]

They're going to be pointing that thing.

[A]

And Miyazaki all standing next to each other, like pointing out things, you know, making directions, questions. Let me check into the super chat, see what people are saying. Motorworld Hype writes in and says, this is really the canceled Black Panther game. Is there any info floating out there as to why the single player Black Panther game was canceled but the single player Iron man game wasn't? I think that just comes down to different studios. Okay. That's why, I mean, that would be my assumption, right? Of like, hey, maybe progress on the Iron man game is just looking better than the progress of the Black Panther game. Who knows? Joshua Mitchell writes in and says, I love DND and DND games, but whenever I hear about Wizards of the coast getting into games, I get worried. Do we remember the MTG RPG that died on the vine years ago? I don't remember this.

[B]

No. I have no idea about this.

[A]

Imagine the Gathering rpg. They're supposed to make a movie or something, right?

[B]

Yeah, I thought they had. That's going to be another great one for your podcast. Like, is that. Are we taking this or we. We live. We let this go.

[A]

God Story number five. Like a Dragon's developer is set to hold its next big reveal event ahead of Tokyo Game Show. This is Andy Robinson at vgc. Like a Dragon Slash Yakuza developer Ryu Gaka Toku Studio has confirmed it'll hold its annual summit live stream ahead of Tokyo Game Show. Next month. This year's event will take place on Wednesday, September 24th at 8pm PT followed by an RGG Direct which will further detail some of the announcements made during the summit. It said last year's RGG Summit, which also took place ahead of tgs, saw the announcement of Like a Dragon Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii, which was released the following February. In addition to the next Like a Dragon entry. It's possible the RGG summit could reveal more details about Stranger Than Heaven, the game previously unveiled as Project Century. Do you think we get a new Like a Dragon game announced because we got the pirate one? I feel like we get these spin offs. We're rolling. We're rolling right now.

[B]

I mean I would love to see more Ichiban.

[A]

Right?

[B]

But like, are we already there for another one of those? I'm going to say it's crazy. They just keep. They keep pushing it, you know, I'm.

[A]

Going to say zombies I think you get because they had one called Dead Souls Chat. I remember there being like a zombie or undead yakuza game for PS3 that came out like 15 years ago or something. I remember seeing it on the shelf of GameStop.

[B]

Looking at it right now. Yeah, yeah. You call it Dead Souls.

[A]

Dead Souls, yeah. I think, I think something like that. Either we're bringing that back or like, I don't know, they've already. So they've done. They've gone back in time. They've done zombies, they've done pirates.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Where do you go from here?

[B]

Space.

[A]

Space.

[B]

You got a space.

[A]

You go to space.

[B]

I mean, shout out to this team for just absolutely cooking. They have found their, you know, kind of lame. They're sticking in it, they're having fun within it. As someone who really jumped on board with pirate Yakuza and I, I finally got like, I'm in now and having a good time with it. I'm definitely excited, especially Project Century. That definitely wowed us all of like, oh, this is exciting to look at. I can't wait for more. I'm excited to see more of that. If they bring back Ichiban, of course I like him a lot. I just can't. Well, I'm. I'm turning the corner on turn based games right now. So like maybe I, maybe I can finally really dive in. But I do love the character. I love his cast and crew. So even if we just get a little teaser of what could be way out in the future of him showing up. Yeah, man.

[A]

Yeah. Virtual Fighter. I imagine we get the next Virtual Fighter they're working on. Dude, I'll love, love, love like a demo of Stranger Than Heaven. Like I'm sure maybe previews or something. Like something to that effect. Right. Come out. That game looks fucking sick.

[B]

Roger somewhere out there and Brittany. Brittany are both looking around excited for this.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Con Story number six Elden Ring Night Rain is getting even harder in September. This is Andrew Webster at The Verge. If FromSoftware's multiplayer take on Elden Ring was just a little too easy for you, the dev has just the thing. Coming up, the studio announced Deep of Night, a new mode for Night Rain that is focused specifically on difficulty. Namely, it sounds like it'll make things much harder. From describes it as a high difficulty challenge mode designed for seasoned players who have navigated through the night many times. There aren't a lot of firm details right now, but the mode will include stronger enemies, weapons with detrimental effects, and a difficulty level that quote increases the deeper you descend. It sounds like there are five layers to work your your work your way through. And if you make it through the first three, you'll be treated to an endless battle for those seeking even greater thrills. Sounds like just the thing for Night Rain sickos. And it's also launching pretty soon. Deep of Night will be available September 11th. You excited for this? You ready to play Elden Ring Night Reign, but harder.

[B]

It's already very hard.

[A]

What you doing? September 11th. I need never playing this. Never forget, never forget.

[B]

I'm never forgetting. Yeah, I man, I need something to bring me back into that one. I was the big live service guy of like, I need more of this all the time. And I fell off hard after I beat the first run of bosses. That was kind of the end for me. I didn't go back to when they did the hey, once a week or whatever. We're gonna pick one boss, make them even harder here. Hey, we've now got Duos mode. Like none of that brought me back and so I need an excuse to come back to it because I love this game so much. And so maybe, I mean the interesting part here, maybe I. I haven't played in a long time. It sounds like there are five layers to work your way through now. Yeah, I mean I was always used to the three days and then the idea of like an endless battle. Right. That's some sort of crazy horde mode, a boss rush mode where the bosses just keep coming. But eventually me and Bless, like only have so many flasks and eventually they wear out and it's like well, we can't get past this guy. Yeah, that would be cool.

[A]

Yeah, I'm. This is more support than I think I expected this game to get. And I absolutely love it. Right. Like I thought this really was going to be a set it and forget it. Hey, we put it out, we'll add some like variable stuff in there. It's from software, but after this we're gonna move on to the next thing. We're gonna start focusing in on Duskbloods in the next big FROM software game. The fact that this is getting so much, so many tweaks, so many updates. Right. You've got the two player like duo mode that people have been asking for. It seems like they're doing all the things that people want. With Elden Ring Night Rain and I fell off it. Like, I mean I played a lot of hours of Night Rain, but I never. I didn't beat like those last two to three bosses complete the 18 I didn't complete. I didn't complete complete them fully. This is something that's making me want to go back though.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Like I'll totally go back for this.

[B]

Okay. Okay. I like that. Bless. Maybe we, you and I can go back. We'll get Andy to jump in. But yeah, I mean they're. The positive here is you're. If you're a FROM fan, right. You're looking at it. It's like they're constantly updating this game. They're learning, they're getting better. Right. And if multiplayer is not your bag, that's just fine. But for the people who want to team up with their friends for the future of all this and the stuff, it seems like they're learning and growing and getting better each and every time. So that's exciting stuff to me. Who is looking for that kind of aspect of their games. Yeah.

[A]

Story number seven, Crystal Dynamics has been hit with layoffs. This comes directly from a post they made on LinkedIn. Today we made the very difficult decision to part ways with a number of our talented colleagues as a result of evolving business conditions. This decision was not made lightly. It was necessary, however, to ensure the long term health of our studio and core creative priorities in a continually shifting market. To those impacted. We recognize and thank you for your hard work, talent and passion. We are committed to offering the full extent of our support and resources at our disposal during this transition to our teams, players and partners. Thank you for your continued support as we build a creative, sustainable and resilient tomorrow together. This includes the future of Tomb Raider which remains unaffected by this decision now to add a little bit of context to the story. I'm pulling this from Rebecca Valentine's story about this at ign. While the statement does not explicitly mention Perfect Dark as the reason behind the layoffs, multiple former workers have posted on social media whose posts and profiles suggest that. That suggest that was the game they were working on. These layoffs seem to be a delayed reaction to Xbox canceling Perfect Dark, which Crystal Dynamics was working on with the initiative earlier this year. The initiative was shuttered at the time of cancellation back in. In July.

[B]

Yeah, shout out to Rebecca Valentine for adding that extra context. I think most of you knew after hearing that story, you immediately point to, well, yes, they canceled Perfect Dark with Xbox. That means the cash flow. That means that team is probably getting the axe, and that absolutely sucks. And, yeah, we're kind of getting the fallout of that right here now.

[A]

Yeah. Yeah, it sucks. Again, this is another one, too. Like, the conversation of Xbox and what's going on with, like, the publishing over there and what's going on with, like, a lot of the public partnering deals that they've seemingly slashed. Right. Whether it's this, whether it's the John Romero game, whether it is.

[B]

What happened to Contraband? Did that.

[A]

Contraband? Yes, Contraband got slashed.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Well, right. Like, it seems like there was a long list of those. I. I forget if I made the bet with somebody, but I think me and Greg were talking about the Kojima game and whether or not you see that slash. Yeah, I don't think so, but the more we get these stories, the more I'm, like, not looking good. I think that's the last one to hang on.

[B]

That was during probably the games industry really feeling coveting, riding that high and starting to stretch out of, like, well, let's double down on this. Let's make as much as possible. And then we had the snapback of, like, oh, wow, we're not there yet, and the money there is not there. We're gonna start cutting everything, and we're seeing the rollout of that here for sure.

[A]

Yeah, it's just a ridiculous amount of studios and games in development. You know what I mean? Like, I feel like after all those acquisitions, one, you have the snapback of, like, all right, like, Call of Duty now is now becoming our focus as far as what we really need to monetize and what Microsoft is like, you know, what they have their. Their eyes on, but then also the industry and how they snack back in general. But beyond that, Microsoft, as far as the amount of game studios they already owned like they have a lot of fucking studios. And then you're going to partner with more studios to make more first party things. I mean that seems so unsustainable.

[B]

We could go deep into it. Bless of like Game Pass and the. The need for a larger catalog at all times. Right. You could talk about COVID and Postco of gamers were gaming and there was just so much money flowing into that.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And they thought we're going to ride this high.

[A]

Right.

[B]

And we kind of snapped back into reality. It was like, well, we overestimated a lot of that and now this isn't happening. Right. And so there's just so much. There's projects that are coming out that aren't hitting. And now you got to reevaluate your projects of like, oh, that might not be worth our time and effort here. When do we cut this off? And yeah, Microsoft had a lot of money to play with and be able to get involved in the double down of hey, the more games the better. So we can really get people over here now. It's more, hey, how do we put our games everywhere and we just make money off those games.

[A]

Yeah. Story number eight, Mega Hawlucha has been announced for Pokemon Legends Z to A. This is Jordan Midler at Video Games Chronicle. I'm sure we'll talk about this more on Gamescast, but they announced Mega Hawa. It will debut in Pokemon Legends Z to A. Yeah, we can bring up the video. There's not really much to this story.

[B]

I mean, where's Greg Miller?

[A]

This is why this is one decision.

[B]

He was tweaking about. Yeah. Yeah.

[A]

So they announced this via like this fun animation where it's Hallucha versus Machamp. It's funny because they title it just Full Match.

[B]

That's cool.

[A]

Well, yeah, like you see the mega evolution happen about halfway through. Looks pretty cool.

[B]

I love this.

[A]

Pretty cool.

[B]

You give me more Pokemon stuff like this. Any Pokemon stuff that I can just watch and enjoy and sit back, I'm in for. Bless.

[A]

1,000%. Yeah. Yeah, I agree with that. Actually. Give me more Pokemon. I know there's a million Pokemon animations already, but. Yeah, give me more. I'll watch the shorts.

[B]

Yeah, I love the shorts also. But like, here's the problem. Bless. I'm on a different Pokemon right now when it comes to the fighting genre.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Because I'm riding the high. We're calling it my crutch right now.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

I don't know if you've ever seen sumo wrestling, Pikachu. No, there's a Pokemon that looks like Pikachu, but he's like a boxer slash sumo wrestlers. He's my guy right now, so I can't get behind any other fighting type Pokemon looks.

[A]

This is what I want to do. Not now, but sometime is we create a Pokemon party for Greg. Like the perfect Greg Miller Pokemon party.

[B]

Pokemon stadium mini games, cake.

[A]

No, not party. Not like party is in like.

[B]

Oh, you want to pick a six.

[A]

Pick a six. Okay. And we throw a party. And we throw a party too. We get cake, we get Pokemon stadium minigames. But also it's like, what is Greg Miller's six Pokemon that he has? Hawlucha is one of them.

[B]

Oh, you're putting it. You're putting that one down there.

[A]

Oh, for sure. Yeah. I think he already loves Hawlucha.

[B]

Okay, okay.

[A]

Hawlucha Porygon. He loves.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

These are the ones he loves.

[B]

Don't share yours yet. We all bring him a different six that he picks. Oh, without knowing this is what he picks. Who's his favorite?

[A]

I like this.

[B]

Who he would get down.

[A]

If we thought ahead of this, we could have done this for next. The next episode for Gamescast.

[B]

All of us walk up and present our sick.

[A]

Because for me it's like, are there six wrestling Pokemon? You know what I mean? Hawlucha, Incineroar, Machamp, and then three more. Okay, that's not just fighting, but like wrestling. Yeah, but I'm not going to spoil it for you.

[B]

I like that. Yeah.

[A]

Because I think when we do that's going to.

[B]

That would be fun.

[A]

That's going to be a big idea. But if I wanted something smaller. Mike, say the tiniest news I need to know.

[B]

Plus you gave me a mega packed show. A big show.

[A]

Big show.

[B]

I would like to take us to our last news story. The WE News channel where we cover all the small news items that people need to know about.

[A]

Store number nine is we news sworn launches September 25th on Xbox PS5, Switch and PC. And then Xbox has detailed it's August 2025 update. You're getting cross device and cloud playable play history. You're getting my app section on Xbox PC. Better controller navigation in the Xbox PC app. More games added to retro classics and then new new stream your own games and play anywhere titles. And that is it for WE News. Let's take another peek into super chats real quick before we get out of here. Red Misfit writes in and says bless you. Mentioned on a previous episode some kind of West African Rice. That is really good. What's it called again? And what's good to eat with it? It's called jollof rice, spelled J, O, L, L, O, F. Make sure you get the Nigerian jollof specifically. All right. Don't go to. Don't go to these other places for your.

[B]

Lock it in.

[A]

You want Nigerian jollof rice specifically. And usually it's served with like a meat. You know what I mean? Like.

[B]

Okay. You know, some sort of protein.

[A]

You got some sort of protein. Yeah, but like jollof rice is the main dish. I know a lot of cultures. You have rice as the side. Jollof rice is the main.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

And then you have like your meat as the side.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

And so that's pretty simple as that. Maybe some fried plantain. Actually, fried plantain to eat with it is good. You know, Uncle Death writes in and says, hey, Mike, just curious. What's up with NBA 2K and why is it so garbage?

[B]

Yeah, Uncle Death is riding my ass. Well, you're gonna find out this Friday when I play NBA 2K, because I'm making a player and I'm getting back to the neighborhood. But you just can't say that.

[A]

You just can't say that.

[B]

You can't call it that. Say that. Okay? We're talking about a franchise over two plus decades in the works. You can't just say the whole franchise is garbage. That's crazy stuff. It's crazy stuff.

[A]

Mr. Hawks writes in and says, Attention all SLC KFBFs. My RSL group is hosting a free event tomorrow night at Urban Lounge. Live music from local bands and a raffle with awesome prizes come through.

[B]

That's real Salt Lake.

[A]

Oh, okay.

[B]

Soccer.

[A]

Nice.

[B]

Football.

[A]

Football, as they call it.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Well, there you go. I love people that are just now using this as like advertising local events to our world, to our worldwide audience. Hey, if you have.

[B]

Just in case, if you happen to.

[A]

Be in my neighborhood.

[B]

You know what the fun part about that is? Like, it's worldwide, but it's also small world. You never know who could hear that and come by.

[A]

That's true. That's very true.

[B]

You know what I mean? Yeah.

[A]

Mellow fellow says calling it now. Mario Party yakuza game early 2026. I love that idea. Kobe writes in this is Kobe aren't and says, bless, I live in Seattle and hope to see you at pax. That being said, I'm always looking for food spots to hit up any suggestions. Ooh, Mike, do you have any. Any Seattle food? Food suggestions? You've been to Seattle, right?

[B]

I've been to Seattle. Do I have any food suggestions? Absolutely not. I've only been a couple of times. I mean, I. I'm the normal tourist guy, right? You got to go up to Space Needle. You got to go down to Pikes Place Market if you have an opportunity. You see a Mariners game andor Seahawks game. A blast to be over there. But that's all I got, food wise.

[A]

No, Dick's driving. That's what I. That's very much like a. Kind of like how Beeps is here. Oh, if you're like.

[B]

If it's like that, then you got to go.

[A]

Yeah, it's like Beeps, right? You know, late night, you're hanging out with friends, maybe you're a little drunk, Want a cheap burger option. But, like, still something that's kind of fun. Dick's Drive in. See, the thing is, I don't know which restaurants are still open because I liked marination when I lived in Seattle, but, like, the pandemic fucked up a lot, a lot of spots. Marination was like a Hawaiian food spot that was really, really good. Let me think of one more.

[B]

Go see the campus as well, U Dub. Go, dog.

[A]

I love you, Dub. Yeah, one more throughout to you. And this is honestly, like, this is a spot that I try to gatekeep a little bit, but I'm done gatekeeping.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

By Tong. All right.

[B]

You've been trying to gatekeep this?

[A]

Yes.

[B]

Well, you're willing to let the people.

[A]

I'm letting the people know. All right.

[B]

You should be putting on the people. Yeah. Let them know.

[A]

You know, it's been a long episode of KHD and we're here all. You made it this far. You deserve. You deserve to hear about By Tong. All right. B A I Space, T O N G. It's a Thai restaurant, and they. They make some of the best old fashions I've ever had. Oh, if you like old fashions.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

By Tong, one more call out.

[B]

It's not. It's not game or it's not food. Pink Gorilla games I always enjoy.

[A]

Oh, Pink Gorilla.

[B]

You know, if I'm up there.

[A]

Oh, no. Big Bad Beluga in Chat said, and this is funny, I used to go to By Tong with Big bad Beluga. He says By Tong isn't good anymore, unfortunately.

[B]

Fell off.

[A]

Damn, that's tough.

[B]

How many times you have to test the place before you say it's falling off? Because what if they just have one bad night?

[A]

Yeah, I'll give you one bad night. If I go the next time and it's still bad, then you fall in love.

[B]

I give him three on the third.

[A]

I put the napkin on it the third time. You're putting the napkin again.

[B]

I'm gonna give you two. Bless. Had a bad day in the kitchen right there.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Bad meal. I show up one more time, this is gonna be like the. Am I gonna do this one more bad meal? Like, okay, third time. That's it.

[A]

One more spot I'll throw out there. And I've not had this spot, but I. I'm planning on going. And don't try to catch me there. All right. Don't try to. Don't wait for me. But I'm planning on going when I. When I'm down there this weekend, King's Barbecue in International District. It's right. It's actually really close to the Pink Gorilla in International District. Okay. Keith Lee actually put me onto this place. Not personally. He put up a video Innocent. It's barbecue duck. They give you a full ass duck. They'll cut off the head, but they'll give you the full ass duck. And I watched Keith Lee eat King's Barbecue and he made that look so good. Oh, just duck and rice. That's all there's. That's all.

[B]

Making videos.

[A]

That's a good question.

[B]

Getting a lot of Keith Lee on my feet anymore.

[A]

Same.

[B]

And I'm on every single night for hours on end and I'm not getting Keith Lee like I used to.

[A]

There you go. Yeah, King's Barbecue House here.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

Oh, and I used to love the International District. I used to hang out in the International District all the time. Because the dance studio that I would go to sometimes is there. Shout out that dance studio.

[B]

You think about stopping by, popping and locking, Give a quick little.

[A]

I mean. Yeah, yeah. Actually. Yes, you say that. I was looking at their schedule to see if they had any, like, events and they didn't have any, like, battles or anything. But I might drop by for a class. And that is it for we. Oh, that's not it for we news. Hold on. We got one more. One more from Mad Rocks. Who? Mad Rocks is making me mad earlier, but I'll read this thing he said tied to the Pokemon Z to A news. CML is doing matches to promote Pokemon in September 21st. CML. All right. No idea what that is, but again, hey, I'll take in the local advertisers.

[B]

Comcast long. Look, I don't know.

[A]

Let's hop into kind offunny.com. you're wrong. Rewrite in. Let us know what we got wrong as we got it wrong so you can correct it for those watching later on YouTube and listening later on podcast services around the globe. Interesting. Noctis writes in and says blessing said Final Fantasy 13 verses. It's Final Fantasy versus 13. Is that true?

[B]

Okay.

[A]

I think I've always called it 13 verses. And so that's a good. You're wrong if that's actually wrong. Gary III says Magic is getting an animated TV show on Netflix.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

This is from yesterday. We're not doing the one from yesterday. Eric says. Hold on, hold on.

[B]

There might be a lot from yesterday if it should look help you out.

[A]

Oh, here we go. We just got one more from Timmy buddy, who says CMLL is a Mexican wrestling company. It is the oldest active wrestling promotion in the world.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

So they're going to have Pokemon battles after the wrestling event.

[A]

That's. That's pretty sick. I feel like that's the right audience too.

[B]

Now how do you host that? You bring in your Nintendo DS and we'll battle. Or I have seven Nintendo DS's and I let you battle on those.

[A]

I mean, soon is going to be Pokemon champions. Just put your Pokemon in that. Yeah, it's gonna be a good time, Mike. That brings us to the end of Kinda Funny Games Daily. Each and every weekday we run you through the nerdy news you need to know about live on YouTube, Twitch and on podcast services around the globe. If you love what we do, support us with the Kinda Funny membership on Patreon or YouTube to get all of our shows ad free, watch us record them live and get a daily exclusive show. Enjoy the Gamescast next and everything happening after. But until next time, Game Daily.